《Unlimited Potential》 Prologue: Dead to Life A red flashing started in his vision, words he couldn''t quite clearly comprehend. Erik floated in an endless abyss, only thankful that the agonizing pain had finally subsided from his chest, stomach and head all at once. The luminescent strobes in front of his eyes continued in a slow, rhythmic pattern like an old rotating sign at night. Lifting a hand Erik looked at what he thought would be his hand, only to find nothing there. This is where he began to freak out, the sensation of a phantom limb, flailing about and only coming to find himself spinning in place. What is going on? The only thought that rolled through his mind, which seemed to cause something to click into place with his previous lack of comprehension. The flashing words seemed to grow from the fog now, golden boarders surrounding the letters as they grew to the letters of the English language. "You are dead" There was no punctuation to it, and it just continuously flashed it''s red and gold coloration at him. Had Erik had a head, it would have tilted the slightest bit to one side. Then he tried to speak, as if to object to this absurdity. His voice did not free itself, it remained within him, and then he had to think. No way. . . I''m still in my seat, I still have my helmet on. . . I''m about to wake up and go get some food! Denial was the route to take on this one! He was certain of it, he wasn''t dead at all, nope, not one bit. Minutes ticked by before he had to come to the finality of his situation. Erik truly was dead, he floated around in an empty abyss with only those three words to mock him. As if coming to the acceptance of this situation was the key, the words shined brighter for a second. Starting from the center and spreading out like a golden wave of pixels before dispersing at the edges. Then it began to change, becoming a soft blue hue, and spelling out something new. "Welcome to the beginning of your life Erik. You will be reborn, do try not to mess it up this time?" Now he knew something, or someone was fucking with him. Had he had his arms they''d have been crossed, and a scowl would have been on his face. This was not funny, but he gave the words what could have only been considered an eyeroll. To which the words responded with by completely disappearing. Only to reappear as something altogether different once more. "You''ll like this new life, Blue Mage." This caught his interest, he remembered that being in one of his latest RPGs. It was a class that some found difficult, others found enticing, and everyone agreed, was completely borked. Then his mind went blank, as the empty abyss was pushed into a pinprick point, while a golden light surrounded his entirety. "A boy Linda!" The booming voice of a man cried out, while Erik flopped about, just like a newborn. Due to the shock of return from that dark abyss, his motor functions were all out of whack and his limbs began to flail about until his eyes fell upon his hands. No, no, no, no. . . Erik couldn''t find his voice, as blue eyes landed on chubby, tiny hands, connected to the same type of arms. Then his hands and arms were spread apart as his eyes landed upon this woman named Linda. A middle-aged woman, lay wrapped within a blanket, the signs of tears and receeding pain stuck upon her face as a large hand came into his line of view. A finger came down to touch the tip of his nose, as her voice sprang free. A weak, almost whispered response to the early exclamation about what Erik assumed was his own gender.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. "Hello my little boy. . . Erik." Erik mentally cringed, he was keeping his same name. Though now he could see the woman''s face completely. She had the same piercing, sapphire-blue eyes as he did, with black curls falling just at he could only assume was shoulder length, with her laying down and all. Just as soon as he''d commited her vision to mind, he was helplessly brought about to see a man. Another booming voice that wasn''t the same as before called out. "Erik Gauldenson! Hello my boy!" More piercing blue eyes, what was this? Though this man had orange locks rolling clearly down past his shoulders, but that was all Erik could tell before his head began to fall back. A sensation of vertigo overtook him, before his head was pushed back up. Erik''s head was spinning from this little bit of a trip. As his head came to a stop, his blue eyes landed upon this man, before his stomach made a loud gurgle, and then whatever had been there came up, spewing upon this new man. "Gods above and below. . Already attacking his old man." It was a whispered, almost angry stretch of words. Then it hit the baby in his hands, this man holding him, was his father. As this revelation came to him, the woman, Linda, spoke up. "That''s because you didn''t support his head Gaulden. Also, his last name isn''t to be Gauldenson, Yorikson. His name is Erik Usoro." "By the Gods, you''d name him after one of the Gods?" The response was immediate, however, Erik was lost upon this conversation, which faded into the background for him. He was certain he understood these people, and soon his eyes were roaming the small room. A lot of wood. . . Like more than should be in a house that wasn''t furniture, it truly stumped him. That was until he was pulled back into his mother''s arms and cradled. ". . .the God of monsters no less. ." Was where the conversation picked back up for Erik. Though, due to his own experiences, Erik already knew that this conversation was over between his new parents. He felt himself getting rocked in the arms of his mother, and the sense of comfort that came off of her was great. As he lay there, he was facing towards the ceiling. A peculiar lack of a fan caught his attention and was the last thing he thought about before his eyes closed. He was unconscious, instantly within this woman''s embrace in tandem with her rocking. What had he expected, honestly? He didn''t know, he was gaming and now he was a baby. . So strange. Unbidden, in this state of unconsciousness, a screen appeared before his mind''s eye. He knew what this was instinctively, a character sheet. Not to mention it seemed to display information, based on his previous life to his current situation.
Name: Erik Carter John Erik Usoro
Age (Relative): Adult (34) Newborn (1 day)
Class: Nerd Baby
Job: Computer Technician Baby
Miscellaneous: Gamer Baby
Someone or something was absolutely messing with him. He knew it, he could feel it, this character sheet was different compared to many he''d seen in games and- Wait, why was his class Nerd!? He had a mental grumble over this one, but just as if it had never been the character sheet began to erase everything from his past life, leaving only the stuff relavent to his new reality. Welp, thanks whatever thing or person for letting me keep my memories and mind intact. . . Didn''t need to experience the baby''s perspective of childbirth though. Then as if in response to his thoughts a voice invaded his mind with a soothing and teasing chuckle. You are welcome, Erik Usoro, house of Gundenson, my namesake. I do hope it will come in handy in this new life of yours. This new voice in his head left him in a state of not knowing what to say, do or think. Though, this alien voice didn''t come back, leaving him to his unconscious thoughts and the character sheet which seemed to be evolving as deeper sleep started to take him, leaving him to mull in the endless abyss once more. Chapter 1 - The beginning of a new life A toddler walked down the small lane from a rather ornate wooden home towards a gate and fence just the same. Fumbling from one side to the other, the toddler eventually made his way to the very exit of this homely property. Stupid baby body. Stupid no motor functions. Stupid. Stupi- That was how Erik in his new form received a new bump to his forehead, and possibly the entirety of his face as he walked straight into the pole of the gate leading outside. The impact caused him to fall back and frantically start rubbing at the afflicted area, grumbling in incoherent noises. Sitting there for a moment longer he would then look at the open threshold of the property. A few things happened in quick succession however, as he watched. Creatures that had only ever lived in game worlds ran by the opening and into the fields, or forest that surrounded around most of this home. Children of an age comparable age or older to himself chased many of the creatures. Then finally his father came out of the home to drag Erik back to his feet and usher him back inside. "Little one, you are not quite ready for the outside. . Let''s get you back inside and fed." These same words had been uttered to Erik on countless ocassions now. He made a noise in the back of his throat but followed along behind his father and then went into the house. Taking each step cautiously, and having to more-or-less climb each one as he did so. Entering this home, he looked around, almost amused at how different it was compared to his old life. It had now been two years since that time. The main thing that always got him besides the scenes, was the writing. It seemed to shift and turn in his eyes and his mind couldn''t make heads-or-tails of the whole thing. "Gaulden. . Why do we have no books?" Erik''s words were paused in between each as he came to look at his father. Using the man''s name was a sign of respect, or so he learned when his father taught him what little he knew. The man was a guildsman, but a lot of his profession was mostly a mystery to Erik. He assumed the older man was a receptionist or some kind of craftsman. Though, Erik couldn''t completely throw out the possibility that the man was an adventurer either. As these thoughts ran through Erik''s mind, Gaulden spoke up. "We have books boy. You just don''t get to see them." Erik through up his arms and hands, as if to ask why. Then slumped, he let his arms drop and began to make his way into the dining room, which was more like a dining hall. Looking at the commendations, or so he was told that''s what they were, that lined the walls he made his way to his assigned chair. Sitting upon the wood and whicker seat, his legs swung too-and-fro as he waited the food to be set for the family, which he came to find was exceptionally large. Three aunts, two uncles, several cousins and then his parents all began coming to eat lunch. Setting places between all of this family was a chore done by the older children as the younger ones sat in their chairs, waiting for the meal to be fully set out. What was put out was strangely colored meat, bread knots and vegetables that he was completely unsure of how they were cultivated or why they had faces. Picking up the two fronged fork, he stabbed at what could have only been blue monster broccoli. His mother and father both looked at him and frowned, before turning from him to their own plates and began eating. Erik''s mother grinned, and spoke around a mouthful of food. "Erik, eat it, grow big like your cousin." Different world, different food, same reasons. Giving his best grossed-out look, he turned to his mother. Then held out the thing on the end of his fork, waving it at her. This was now routine at this point, he didn''t actually dislike the taste, it was delicious. Then again, when he looked at it and it''s weird face-like structure he grew woozy. Closing his eyes, he brought the vegetable to his lips and bit off the floret, and sighed, before taking in the whole thing. Making a scene of chewing it, he sank into the astounding taste, only for it to be gone as quickly as it had started. Then he moved onto the bloodied, or at least he assumed, piece of meat on his plate. Lifting a corner of it, he brought it to his mouth, only a few teeth adorned it, but plenty enough to tear into the food and chew it. The meat was colred like liquid silver, with flecks of gold throughout it, but tasted just as divine as the devil plants. Each bite of any of the food he''d had since coming here, gave him a small boost of energy and he couldn''t really understand it. It was just a wonderful little bonus to each and everything he ate here. The meal went without a hitch, and soon he was ushered out of the home once more into the front yard. Stumbling and walking with a side-to-side wobble he began exploring the entirety of the yard for the umpteenth time. A path of his treading was beginning to appear over the countless times he had taken this path towards the back of the property. At the very back of the property he sat close to the fence, his legs poking out from underneath it as his head faced towards not one, not two, but three suns making their way across the sky. As he sat there, he leaned against the fence, turning his head towards the forest that surrounded more than half of the property surrounding the large home. "My uncle is a doctor. . . My father a guildsman. . my mother?" He posed the last part to his own mind as if something would answer him, then gave a disappointed sigh and leaned heavier against the post. Nothing came to his mind, and soon he was leaning his head on a side beam that connected the posts. Closing his eyes, only his normal character sheet appeared in his mind''s eye.
Name: Erik Usoro
Age (Relative): 2 (Infant)
Class: Child
Job: Child
Miscellaneous: Idle Fascination
He found it funny how this table continued to change as he got older. That and how the Miscellaneous section began to turn different with each passing day. One day it would be the same as his class and job, the next it could be any number of things. Opening his eyes, they cleared of the vision of his character sheet quickly, and he was then looking up into the eyes of a green chicken. He blinked, it blinked back, then he looked around as if to find something or someone else around. The chicken mimicked his movement again, before looking back at him. "Well. . . shit." As if it were some kind of activation phrase the chicken bawked loudly at him before rushing him. Having seen this creature before he knew full-well what it was capable of and began to quickly scoot backwards along the ground to try and get away. This fowl was strange, not just for it''s color, but due to the greenish air that began to surround it. As it ran full-tilt towards Erik, it jumped up and flapped it''s wings down towards him. Several lines of cut grass, dirt and rocks with lines began appearing all around him. The bird was using magic, that much Erik was certain of. Continuing to back up he found himself pressed against the home, and it didn''t sound like anyone was coming outside to help him out of this mess. Holding out a hand in a futile attempt to possible ward off the beast he got cut by one of these many. . . Cuts? Wind talons? Blades? He honestly wasn''t certain what to call what this was that was going on. Where the magic hit his hand a long red line appeared, the creature too weak to actually break his skin with this ability that it used. Tears came to Erik''s eyes, it still hurt like a horrible rash, but it wasn''t truly threatening. His eyes swiveled in their sockets, looking for anything that might be lying around. What he ended up finding; a small stick, as thick as his arm but what could have possibly used as a cane. Reaching out with his uninjured hand, he began to pat at the ground to find it with his grip. As he did so, the same green tinted air began to coarse around the bird once again. Picking up the stick, he gripped tight around the wood, before swinging it at the beast. The fowl had to release what it had to prevent itself from being hit by the stick, and in doing so the blades of nearly invisible wind cut down along the makeshift weapon. This didn''t stop the momentum of Erik''s swing, and soon the toddler sized creature was toppled to it''s side, having been struck squarely in the head. Breathing heavily in his small body, Erik made his way to his feet, knees shaking from the excitement. Then he swung the stick down at the beast four more times for good measure. Each swing flattening the head of the chicken, until like a ripe grape, it popped off. In the corner of his vision, in gold and red letters, flashing like an old-school notification marker he read. "Congratulations, you have slain your first enemy! Keep at it, old sport!" And then it was gone, just as soon as he had fully read the statement. Then he fell onto his backside, the stick forgotten from his grasp and resting in the gass besides him. Then he found himself lying back, going full spread as he looked into the sky. "Bollocks. . . I hate chickens." Then a booming laugh resounded from above him, Gaulden looking down at him from above. A smirk touching his lips as he lifted a slowly brow at his son. "Bollocks indeed. I don''t know many children who wouldn''t cry out for help my boy. You may take after me more than any of us think." Erik groaned out loudly, eyes closing as he just rested there for a long moment. His hands curling into fists before he looked up at the man, who stared down at his nose to Erik. Letting out a snort, the boy moved from his spot and left both his weapon and his kill where they lay. Sulking and pouting as he went back around the house. "Boy! You go to the guild tomorrow! We''ll see what your proficiency is." Gauldenson proclaimed from the window, loud enough for the entire house to hear him. Whoops and yells resounded from inside, and just as he came out to the front of the house all of his family dashed out to meet him. Some held books, others staves, some knives and daggers. Then a motley of words from everyone came about. "He''ll be a blugener." "No, a cook!" "Paddlecock, the boy will be a booker!" "Daggle swallow! He''s gonne be a sticker!" "He''ll be a summoner or tamer! Look how he dealt with the chicken!" Erik''s head was spinning by the time he made it past his family and into the home. Waddling through the large building he made his way up the stairs and to the living quarters. It was like a large, two story viking longhouse. For some reason, he was completely drained for some reason or another, but couldn''t understand why. As he made his way to the bed that was his own, he crawled into the blankets and then curled up tight within the folds of the covers. His eyes closed quickly and sank into unconsciousness. His character didn''t even show up this time, instead he was thrust directly into the abyssal darkness that was his dream scape. A bright ray of light through a window is what woke him up, or at least pulled him from his slumber. What truly brought him from the edges of sleep was the smell of what this world had in place of bacon and eggs. Pulling himself out of his knotted blankets, he fell to the floor with a huff. Attempting to pull himself further out, he made his way to wobbly feet, and then began walking down stairs towards the dining area. He was groaning, like he had a hangover, before his father made it worse. Gaulden looked at him with a bright, almost cheesy smile, and then boomed out. "Levelin'' sickness boy! It''s worse than the morning after terrasfruit wine!" Erik made a motion that was completely foreign to this land. His fingers curled together like he were shutting someone''s lips, a zippit motion, before he found his way to his seat. Already food was piled upon his plate, and soon he was digging into thickly cut purple meat and pure white eggs, even the yolk. Some kind of juice which he never actually caught the name of lay in a goblet next to his meal and was gone just as quickly as the food was.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. As soon as everything was down and in his belly, he stretched in his chair before coming to stare at his father. "Go get cleaned and dressed we go to the guild." "Ain''t I a bit. . . young Gaulden?" Erik''s retort was quick, but Gaulden snorted out a laugh, shaking his head. "You might as well be a genius. . Now go." The tone of finality in his voice had Erik moving from his chair and rushing to the bath tub. A wooden tub, where you bathed. That took some more getting used to, but he did indeed get used to it. Warm water was already drawn, and he cleaned himself quickly, scrubbing everywhere including along his unmentionables. Once he was finished, he waddled up the stairs to find his best set of clothing. It wasn''t really much, just a cotton shirt and some kind of trousers made by a creature he didn''t have a name for. Pretty much the only set of clothing without holes, rips, tears or patches. Fully dressed, Erik turned to a polished metal sheet that leaned on the wall. It was like a mirror, but it was much harder, and slightly distorted the image, but that was fine. Smoothing out any wrinkles, he made his way back downstairs to find his father in a similar attire. However, over the man''s breast hung a small medal. Inside it had a sword and bow crossed over the facade of a shield. On his belt he carried what looked like a smith''s hammer and a leatherworker''s awl on the other side. "Crafter!" Erik let the word stumble out without meaning to actually speak up. Gaulden merely lifted a brow at the boy, before shaking his head and heading out the door himself. "Crafter''s tools. . . Shift fighter''s weapons." These were the only words that Gaulden gave to the boy, before he himself began wandering out of the yard and down the gravel path towards the town. Erik was confused with this, but he merely shrugged and began padding off after the man. He still waddled from side to side with each and every step. He was after all, still just an infant. The trek into the large town and towards the guild hall took no more than an hour or Erik trying to keep up, or catch up with his father. The man''s strides were like four of him. By the time they had made it to the entrances of quite possibly the nicest building in the town, Erik was huffing and puffing, trying to get his breath back from almost constantly running. A doubled over child could be a funny sight to many, breathing in gulps of air before falling back on his rear. Gaulden looked back and down at him lifting a brow in question to this show of exhaustion. Then turning his head he looked up at the emblem above the marbled archway. The emblem was that of a gauntlet, gold in color and encruted along each visible joint with jewels. Each jewel held a different item within, a bow, a sword, a shield, a hammer, a book. The list could have gone on with all the distinct possibilities of each guildsman. "Gaulden. . I thought you were a receptionist." The look that came over the old man''s face was almost comical, lost between a smirk, a scowl and a laugh. Then he calmed himself and shook his head at his son. Turning he pushed open the large oaken doors to the sound of bustling people, some sat off to one side of the large building picking up papers from a board and then taking them to the receptionists. Others lounged at a bar area with long tables lining the floors, drinking away their earnings or preparing for the next outing. Then still more were coming from upper portions of the area, these people were better dressed than the lot below. The only smell that came from the place however, was that of freshly made food and cleaning supplies. Entering into the building with his same side-to-side gait, Erik made his way to a lovely, younger woman to whom his father was already speaking to. "Belle, he killed somethin'' earlier than we all had expected. A wind hen, pretty certain that creature has terrorized him since he was able to walk about." "Oh my. A wind hen at two?" Gaulden merely nodded at the girl. She couldn''t have been older than fifteen or sixteen as best Erik could guess. Her voice was pitched just high enough so that it cut through the crowd''s collective voice, but was still sweet on the ears. As she looked from Gaulden to Erik she gave an alluring smile. Temptress! It was the only thought that ran through Erik''s mind as he stared at her. Coming to a stand still, he didn''t know what to do with his hands and arms and so imitated his father, crossing his small arms over his chest and going with a wide-legged pose. This seemed to cause the woman to giggle, a hand going to her lips to hide away from the laughter she had let loose. "So strong!" The words were teasing, but they held nothing but good cheer behind them. Soon enough, once her fit was under control she began to rifle under her desk. It took her many moments to pull out what looked like a wooden cutting board with an abacus added to one side of it. "A proficiency reader. Haven''t had to use one in about a year." Belle explained without being prompted, before moving from around the desk and heading towards a small gathering of chairs and tables that wasn''t currently being used. Pressing the reader into the center of the table an audible click was heard as it settled into a small nook that was made especially for it. Something caught Erik''s eye as the woman did this. It was like the spinning green wind that had surrounded the chicken, but this was just like a transluscent, visible force that went into the tablet and table together. A series of runes along the edge of the table each began to fill with a soft white light, glowing in pulses before Belle sat on one side of the table. "Come along Erik, let us get your testing done. We should see what you are as soon as possible." Belle''s voice came out gently as she motioned to the seat opposite her with one hand, a pleasant smile upon her lips. Just like his own forewarning, he began to heed her motions and call. Climbing his way into the chair, before turning in it to look at her. She nodded and motioned again with her hand towards a small glowing hand print on the table. Erik took the hint and pressed a hand to the spot. What happened next surprised not only himself but all those that had gathered around to watch the display. All of the runes went black, and pressed to the hand print, each of the beads that were upon the abacus shot to the otherside, cracks appearing in the wood as if they wanted to go further and pull completely off the tablet. Within the center a small hologram of what could have only been described as a hexagonal chart floated. Each point had a color with points floating to each corner and then each center, the entire thing of which was lit up to it''s fullest. "A genius. . . I had been jokin'' but this." Gaulden''s voice called from behind him, though Erik was too ensensed to the floating image in front of him. A blinking icon in the corner of his vision coming again, only to open automatically. "Congratulations! You have attuned yourself to a proficiency tablet! Integrating with your current with current character sheet." "Erik Usoro. . . Before the guild of Leshan you are proficient in all things. All elements are yours to control and master." This voice was new, and it came from a balcony that overlooked the entire hall, a man with little hair upon his head but a bushy beard and one good eye stood with a cane smiling down at everyone. "Gaulden Yorikson! Train him well, and send him to school. These are your orders until Erik reaches the age of eight." Erik''s father simply pounded a fist to his chest and bowed in a salute, the hint of a smile twisting at the corners of his lips. That was when the table did something else, switching from the hexagonal grid, into a small emblem. It held a staff over a book on a multicolored background. The vision solidified and then pressed into the tablet itself, where a golden medal forged itself, embossing on it the symbol that had floated in the air not moments before. The gold medal hardened and then it was solid in the world, an audible click came from the now ruined tablet in the center of the table. It popped up and completely broke apart, leaving in it''s wake Erik''s badge of proof of being a guildsman. Belle stood from her place, a little shakey at what had just happened, and picked up the badge. Rounding the table, she pressed it to his chest and pinned it there, a cheery smile replacing what had been a thin line at her lips. "Congratulations mage. You are a booker." A ding sounded in Erik''s mind as another new notification made itself apparent. "Congratulations! You are now a booker! Your class has changed, keep it up!" Then just as quickly it was gone and he was ushered towards the receptionists'' desk once again. Standing there with his father, facing the counter, Erik looked up to the man, who was smiling. "Gaulden, as of this time, your new orders are to raise Erik. When he comes of age, you will bring him here to be schooled. Until that time we expect you to school, and train him. Reading, writing, fighting, spell craft and any number of things else that you may find useful." Belles words were crisp, sharp and like a blade eating into Gaulden. This showed on the man''s face as he cringed, but then he nodded, half-heartedly giving a salute to the woman, who return the saltue. Looking down at Erik, he lifted the boy up and held him on one shoulder leading him from the building and quickly back towards the home on the outskirts of the town. The trip was actually much longer this time, even though Erik didn''t have to use his own might. People stopped and gathered around, congratulating him upon his guildsman badge and of the color. Already a gold, and at the youngest age in the recorded history of the town. Not the youngest ever, but close. His father was also a gold, but the rest of his family were mostly iron ranked guildsman, and some of which weren''t even affiliated. Celebrations were had across the entirety of the town, which Gaulden had to push through, and which he did with little ease. Leading a troupe of people up the winding gravel path and to his home, Gaulden turned to meet the onlookers before raising his son higher into the air. A cheer went through the group, and soon the festivities faultered as the people began to disperse. It was a wonderful even for the town to have yet another guildsman present. The whole affair took most of the day, and when Gaulden and Erik returned home, the suns were beginning to settle on the eastern horrizon. Looking at the dimmer sky-lights Gaulden chuckled, before shaking his head. The motion caused Erik to sway a little before he attempted to find his own way down from his father''s shoulder. Ultimately, it was no use, the man''s grip was like a vice grip and wasn''t letting go of him. Squirming for a moment longer, he gave up and was at Gaulden''s mercy. It took time for Erik to finally escape Gaulden''s grip, as they stood watching the sunset together. However once Eristis, the third sun, passed below the horizon and the light began to fade from the yard, Erik was let down. Once put upon his feet the young boy stretched out towards the sky, before looking back at his father. "Gaulden. . . why the parade?" It was a wholly honest question, but one he wanted an answer to. It seemed odd for such a procession to go about just for one person to have joined the guild. He didn''t really understand the customs yet about what was going on. "You are the first person in a years time to have joined the guild. Not to mention shooting straight to gold rank no questions asked." This caused Erik to tilt his head just the slightest bit to one side. How was he the first person to join the guild in a year? Were people not having more kids or were people just not joining. "But, why?" Gaulden simply shrugged his shoulders, before heading for the house. Looking over his shoulder as he was about to step over the threshold with a smile. "Most people don''t get their first kill, ever." Then he was gone through the door way. Erik was left in the yard to mull over this new information, only to shake his head and follow after his father. Time for round two of the hooting and hollering. Just like that, his family was surrounding him. The only other gold besides himself and his father, was the doctor, his uncle. Something he hadn''t noticed before was the symbol upon his badge. A caduceus sat in the center, the universal sign of a doctor or healer, which now made even more sense to Erik. They were all gawking at the color of his badge, blinking and stammering, before his oldest cousing grinned wide and spoke up. "I told you all! A booker!" This got a round of laughs to come from the entire family, before they all began patting Erik on the head or the shoulder. He was coming to enjoy this type of treatment from people, it gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling deep down inside himself. Was it a feeling of accomplishment that he had yet to actually earn? Probably. Oh well, he would bask in it for the time being, that was until his mother called from in the kitchen. "Tonight''s supper, brazed winter lion." Everyone around him stopped all celebration to look towards the kitchen, and his father who was grinning ear-to-ear. Then Gaulden turned and beckoned everyone to follow him, to which everyone quickly obliged him. The house smelled of grilled meat, so something was indeed being prepared for celebration to his assignment as a guildsman. He wondered what would have happened if he hadn''t been accepted into the guild or had not had any proficiency. To which point, he could only shrug at this and moved on to follow along with his family. At the table they each sat in their seats, but the thing that surprised him is the meal was already laid out. Then his stomach went topsy-turvy, on his plate in front of him was the head of a silver lion the size of his father''s entire body. Blinking a few times he picked up his fork and began poking at it. "Winter lion, silver furs and steel skin." His father said from beside him, a smug look on his face as he lifted a brow to his child. As if that answered any of the questions running through Erik''s mind at that point. That just added even more to the piling questions. "How. . do I eat it?" This brought a round of laughter from the entire table, only for Erik''s father to reach over, tapping the base of the creature''s skull with his fork. A sound like rending metal came from the spot, before the entire head began to unravel. Leaving behind braised meat, including rather delicate looking innards. A brain lay in the open, surrounded by tough meat and other usually discarded pieces of meat. "Eat all of it Erik, it''s your present on getting into the guild. . Though it might be lacking with you being a gold." Erik was completely confused, but shrugged before dipping his fork into the brain. How would it be lacking, it was food, and it looked delicious. It also wasn''t the first time he''d eaten the brain of a creature from this world, that had been a trial. Ever since, he ate what had been given to him. When he bit into the meat of this creature however, something altogether new happened. A rush of power entered him like usual, but this time it was much stronger and seemed to put his mind into overdrive. A small blinking icon caught his attention at the corner of his eye. "Due to eating something that well outclasses you, you have finally leveled up. Good job Erik." And now he knew where these little pop-ups were coming from. They were stat or level increases, and they all had to come from the voice that had come into his head on the day of his birth. Well, he knew that''s who it was from, he didn''t know who it actually was or why. That was also when he began digging into all of the food upon his plate, finishing it all. Much like in his past life though, this is where he grew tired, not even attempting to read the three other notifications that popped up. Instead, falling asleep instantly at his plate. Before he could question this, another pop up bloomed in the darkness before his character sheet. Due to growth, character sheet has been enhanced and has evolved.
Name: Erik Usoro
Age: 2
Class: Mage
Job: Booker
Miscellaneous: Apprentice Guildsman
Then a second sheet appeared in his vision.
Spells: Wing Blade
Passives: Winter Steel Lion''s Perseverance Winter Steel Lion''s Sight
Skills: One-handed clubs, Canes
Before he could even think of any of these, the black abyss was back and all the notifications and his sheets were cleared away from his mind leaving him to float and think. Chapter 2 - Base of the Mountain "Get your lazy ass out of bed!" The call was instant, and not for the first time this morning. It had only been two months since Erik had been assigned his guildsman medal, and already he was being forced into a strenuous routine. Mentally he groaned, knowing better than to release one to the order given to him. Pushing himself off of his pillow, Erik looked around. Still dark, as had been the case six of the seven days of the week so far. Rolling to his side, he attempted to rearrange the cocoon of blankets he had about his body, only to roll onto the floor. Landing face first, he groaned this time, only to push himself up and getting dressed in what passed as suitable for what was about to happen. As soon as he had woken the morning after his assignment, Erik had found a new training regiment was what waited for him in the mornings and afternoons. Evenings were set aside for book learning and basic writing and reading. This was his life, or what had become of it so far, and from before the sun rose until the three moons were well gone beyond the horizon, Erik was doing some form of training or undergoing classes. On the plus side, he could now read and write in the strange glyphic letters that were the norm in this new life, though just like his last life, his was chicken-scratch. "Moving Gaulden. . . very slowly, but still moving." His last words were whispered out as he made his way from the long room and then down the stairs to begin heading for the door to the brisk outdoors. There was a slight chill in the air that the sun would burn off once it actually began to rise, for now however, Erik had to deal with it. Gooseflesh running over his arms as he closed the door to the home and dashed towards the back where his father was already standing, and somehow sweating. As soon as Erik was seen, Gaulden stopped a swing of his sword mid-swing. Muscles bulging slightly from the sudden halt, while veins showed over his entirety. "Took you long enough boy! You should be out of bed an hour ago! You are a genius three year old. . . How can you be so smart and so lazy?" The words rocked Erik for a half-second, his head cocking to one side, having not realized he had grown yet another year older. The look on his face caused Gaulden to gufaw, laughing hardily and having to press the end of his blade into the compacted dirt of the, now, training yard. They''d used the back yard so much now, that it no longer grew grass around where they moved. Anger rose up in Erik for but a small time, before he had to close his eyes, breathing in deep and trying not to yell at the old man. "I''m three. . . So what of it?" "You should be in school is what of it, unfortunately, all your schoolin'' time is with your mum. At least for the next five years. Your orders are otherwise damn near the same as mine! Train and learn until you''re eight!" This actually got an audible groan to ripple from Erik, only to be caught on the arm with a length of wood. Hissing in pain, he looked up the impromtu sword at his father who was smiling wider. Gaulden''s head tilting to point towards Erik''s own faux sword, which he moved over to pick up. Gripping the rough leather straps around the hilt of the fake weapon he lifted it to it''s starting position, focusing upon Gaulden. "That was painful, Gaulden." "And I told you last time that the first things you do are greet me and pick up your weapon. Now mark." With this, a routine that had been drilled into his mind began. Utilizing the wood to warm up with attacks towards the shadows, as if real monsters were about. Looking to all the world like an intricate dance, and soon having Erik in a fierce sweat like his father next to him. It was an hour before they were each done swinging their weapons, and moving in concert with the motions, and with the end of this the sun was beginning to cut through the darkness surrounding them. "Honestly. . . Boy. . how can you keep up with me?" Gaulden''s voice called to Erik, huffing and puffing, though Erik himself was no better. Soon they both landed on their asses, coming close to falling fully back, Erik wholly unable to respond through gasps of air, trying to fill his lungs completely. "Well. . whatever the case, today I get to teach you something a bit more than just your physical training." Erik''s brow rose in confussion to this, but he just let the man continue on, not daring to stop him as he still tried catching his breath fully. "So, today, you get to learn to call your status to the fore. I''m sure you see it every night, everyone does." Was this old man talking about the character sheet? Erik was even more confused now, he thought he was special in that he had a character sheet. Though when Gaulden tapped the golden medal at his belt, a small blue screen appeared in the man''s palm. It was Gaulden''s character sheet.
Name: Gaulden Yorikson
Age: 30
Class: Fighter
Job: Shift Fighter
Miscellaneous: Gold Guildsman
It was like a hologram, and spun slightly from side to side. Looking over it, He smirked, he was actually older than his father, at least mentally. The other parts of this most basic of sheets didn''t actually come as a surprise however, to Erik. "Now. . you can either call it verbally or mentally so long as you are touching the guild badge. Those who don''t have one, usually have another seal that allows them to show their status to others." Without waiting, Erik touched the badge at his own belt, mentally telling his character sheet to appear. Just like Gaulden had, and brought his up in his hand. It felt weird to see this in the real world, and the fact that it felt like a projection pushed onto water, as his palm seemed to feel wet now.
Name: Erik Usoro
Age: 3
Class: Mage
Job: Booker
Miscellaneous: Apprentice Guildsman (Gold)
His full character sheet didn''t appear, though he was glad that it had updated some things. Gaulden nodded, before looking over the columns that were shown. Sucking on his teeth, before sitting up fully and then standing. "Well as it is your birthday, today is a near full day off. Though you will still be going to class with your mother. Now, we open up the rest of your status pages, this is done almost the same way, and most people don''t have this unless they are part of the guild." Gaulden''s page had been floating in the air over his palm, now as he moved his other hand to swipe over his badge the vision changed over to a secondary set of stats. These stats looked like bodily stats, things that would naturally increase with training or teaching.
Constitution: 37
Strength: 31
Wisdom: 29
Intelligence: 25
Dexterity: 30
Agility: 31
Luck: 15
The stats looked fairly average, if not on the low side, though he had also noted a lack of any kind of overarching level system besides these as well. That was when Gaulden motioned for Erik to do as he had speaking up and telling him the command. "For this, you call up Full Stats, while swiping along your badge." Erik followed the instructions, still holding his palm upright, and swiping his badge while thinking the words. His own character sheet shimmered a moment, before refocusing in the same manner as Gauldens.
Constitution: 4
Strength: 4
Wisdom: 29
Intelligence: 27
Dexterity: 4
Agility: 3
Luck: MAXED
Reading his own sheet he blinked at his luck stat. He had to reread it multiple times, his father seeming to do the same. Both having forgotten to close their mouths, before they met each other''s eyes. "Boy. . . I know why you are a gold now. . you are possibly even a higher. . I think you may be diamond with that stat of yours." "Gaulden. . . what is maxed?" The question completely forgetting about what Gaulden had just said to him, as the man licked at his lips. "I. . I think something around a hundred? Maybe a hundred fifty?" Both were posed as questions, uncertain himself about the answer. However, as if on queue, a voice spoke into Erik''s mind directly, that same booming voice. No, no. . . A max stat''s value can only be determined to end when you''ve attained asendence. . So god level stats, or something closer to ten thousand. This caused Erik to cough, sputtering a bit, then his eyes narrowed. "If my luck is so high why the hell do I fall out of bed!? How did that chicken thing even hit me!?" Grumbling out this series of questions, he crossed his arms, unhappy about the bumps and bruises he attained in normal-every-day goings-on. This is when Gaulden began laughing again shaking his head some, both of them closing their hands and getting rid of the blue, holographic displays of their character sheets. "Those things are based around your agility and dexterity boy. Your luck. . . well that is a mysterious stat. It controls certain aspects hidden in life. Perhaps your first kill was based on it, or maybe just the fact that the stick was laying near enough to you to beat the thing to death." Which Gaulden shrugged to his own words, as he came to lay upon his back and stare up into the quickly brightening sky. His mind temporarily held in contemplation of seeing this development in his son. He hadn''t even made mention that Erik was almost as smart if not slightly more so than himself. He couldn''t go about the entire day thinking on this, so instead sat back up and brought himself to his feet, grinning down at Erik. "One more time, before we go for some breakfast. Light day boy." Erik nodded, more out of the near zombie-like state he found himself in after seeing his stats than any kind of obidience. Picking himself up, he moved again to his father''s side and began to run through the rigorous warm-ups that he had been drilled on time and time again for the past two months. By the end of it, the sun was fully in the sky, and noises and sound could be heard coming from inside. Both of the participants of the activity left the yard slowly. Breathing in deeply, attempting to get their breath back collectively. As they moved in, Linda spoke up with some huff to her voice. "Clean up, the both of you. I will not have your sweating, stinking bodies at my table." Both groaned, before having to run from the entrance to the baths that were set up for them already, lest they find some impliment forced into them via force. The baths that were drawn for them were cold, to soothe any of their sore and inflamed muscles. Allowing their bodies to tighten back up a little and heal the muscular tearing. It was many long minutes before the water went from cold to lukewarm, Erik sighing contentedly in the water and remaining within until his body began to prune up. He had begun to drift in and out of consciousness, before a bar of soap hit him on the head, his father standing wholly nude there, looking down. "C''mon, can''t sleep in the tub, move out and get dressed. Breakfast is ready." Peeling himself from laying within the long wooden tub, he made no mention of Gaulden''s nudity, and began to shake off excess water from his own diminutive frame. Looking over himself, he gave a deep sigh of disappointment, then shook his head clearing his hair of the cold liquid and then began to move himself out of the tub entirely. Once out he grabbed a towel and began to dry off, wrapping it around himself to hide the world from his birthday suit. Heh. . . Birthday suit, on my own birthday. His thoughts began, and then he was being ushered up the stairs by Gaulden. Slapping at the man''s hands, muttering things about how he could make his own way up them, only to land face first inside the room, one leg sticking in the air and twitching. "Ow. . . Luck my ass. . ." Pushing himself off the floor, he began to wipe away some of the dirt and dust from himself, only to look through the wooden drawers to find an outfit that wasn''t completely ragged and full of holes. Pulling on a hempen wool shirt and some linen pants he sighed, where were his wood sandals again? Looking around the drawers and even under them he began to get frustrated before taking a guess and looking towards his bed. Good guesses were good, there the wooden things were, tucked just under his blanket under his bed. GRumbling about people moving his things, Erik pulled the sandals close to himself, pulling one on and then the other and wiggling his toes between the stranded hempen that kept the simple things on his feet. When had he gotten used to this new, extremely itchy clothing? Perhaps a question for another time, and so he was walking back out of the room and down stairs towards the dining area. His entire family was already sitting in their places, while in front of the single empty chair were three items wrapped in wax paper. Two he could already tell what they were, but the last looked more or less like a carrot had been wrapped up. Long, thin and tapered towards one side, he gave a slow shrug in his mind, only to move to sit at the table and began to look around at the expectant faces all around him. "Come on Erik! Open up the presents!" A cousin spoke to him from across the table, which got a smack across the older boy''s head, before Erik could say anything in return. Looking at the three packages he smiled, and began to slowly undo the wax paper. Little by little he revealed the first item, a book, one he had wanted now since he saw it. A History: Introduction to the World. It read, it held no author but he was certain it would contain prudent information, or at least some things he was seeking. The other book though, as he unwrapped it had him tilting his head some. It was a black leather bound book and nothing was written on the pages at first. "Empty book?" "Spell book. . . " This caught him off guard as he looked down at it again. Then in the strange caligraphy that was this world''s written language as far as he knew, began to scrawl across the page. It simply read as: Wing Blade. The slight golden light that erupted from the book to write in this little thing caught everyone off guard. Him for the fact that it did it by itself, the others for the fact that he already had a spell without any teaching. "Linda. . . you already taught him a spell?" "No. . . I didn''t." Then the gold began to diffuse to blue, and settled along the entirety of the book. The black leather swiftly becoming navy in color, while on the front, where it had once been completely blank began to adorn itself with a single mark. It looked like the chicken he had killed, well, before he had killed it in any case. That was when an older woman, his grandmother he had found out, spoke up. Blind eyes looking towards him, as if she could actually see him. "Blue magic. . . That''s why you have a full affinity with all elements, because you are a spell thief!" Then she began to cackle, only to stop in a fit of coughing. Everyone had turned their eyes upon the old woman while she was exclaiming at Erik, but then turned towards him once more. His father''s lips parting to speak slowly. "You. . were caught by that chicken''s attack?" In answer, Erik slowly nodded, though he never lifted his eyes from his spell book. If this book was anything like his own mental character sheet, he already knew it would evolve over time. Turning it slowly to the back he read the new inscription. Unto this book shall the beast put a blessing. For each new beast a skill shall be added. Go now Blue Mage, and kill everything. A blinking notification came to the corner of his eye, though he did not mentally open this one, instead leaving it to blink in his vision as his family began to quietly discuss amongst themselves what this really meant. "This is what you get for giving him the name Usoro. . . Can''t blame the God of Creatures for making him into a mage of creature magic." One of his aunt''s quipped, just slightly under her breath before all eyes were back on Erik''s smiling face. It was a true, wide smile the touched nearly to his eyes. Then he looked at the final gift, which he was about to grab, before Gaulden placed a hand over it. "This one. . we need to replace. A wand doesn''t suit your uses, you''ll need something a bit. . bigger." "Give the boy his grandfather''s cane!" The old woman crooned out, cackling once more, before settling in her chair, being helped by another of Erik''s aunts and a few cousins. Looking pointedly past the lot that were settling the old woman down, she smiled a crooked smile at Erik, this blind eyes, he could tell were definitely seeing him. That caused him to shiver, gooseflesh chasing over his skin and prickling all over. God that is creepy. . . I know right? I thought blind people were. . Well blind? Did she transcend her humanity or somethin? Blinking, that booming voice caught him by surprise. However, this only made him shake his head, watching his father pull away what he now knew was a wand. Well he had assumed that''s what it was to begin with, or a carrot. Then as his father moved out of the room, he looked around at everyone, who were all smiling at him now. They awaited his father''s return, which he did not moments later after leaving. In the man''s hands was a long, slender rod of wood, capped with some sort of metal on both ends. The bottom end, he noticed had been fully blunted, scratched and worn with age, while the top was a fully different story. Polished and decorated with some form of creature''s head upon it. It looked like a lizard or a dragon. . . or a wyrm. Why had that thought occurred to him? He wasn''t sure and so pushed it out of his mind, that is, until he was handed the cane, which was almost twice his height. As Erik''s fingers wrapped around the walking stick, lines and runes down the entire shaft began to light up, wherever his hand held onto the laquered wood, the symbols and flowing line work could be seen, even from under his holding. This time a notification flashed across his face unbidden, giving him an insight as to what was going on, as if the exclamations from his family weren''t enough.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "Congratulations, Erik. You have bound a weapon to you, until your death or ascension, this weapon will heed no other than yourself." "Told you he wasn''t on this field of existence anymore. . I have been married to him longer than most of you have been alive." The old woman snorted out, before those glassy orbs once more focused on Erik. That was when he saw it for the first time, while yes, she was most certainly blind, the thin, blue veins that coarsed in and out of her eyes pulsed with a gentle magic. Then another pop-up came to him unbidden. "Yalereth Gundensbrood has taught you a new magic. You have learned Aether Vision." That was it, no kind of explanation, and no telling him what was going on before his mouth gaped wide. Everything around him bloomed in different colors, while the normality of his vision changed. It was like he became blind to all but the different colors that were vaguely human-shaped around him. As he looked around to stare at each of his family members in turn, he could see around where each member''s eyes should have been, began to take on a higher density of these sparkling particles of color. "And so. . . with your first spell, you are granted the Gundenson line''s own. Even blind, we see, we will always know the inner workings of those and that around us. This is the family''s gift to you, learn it, use it, master it." Then a bright, blue light erupted next to his chest, where his book lay on the table. The final few words of his grandmother being imprinted on the back of the book, displaying just under what had been there before hand. Even in this altered sight he could read the lettering, showing that the book had latent magical properties besides what had already been shown. Then he was looking back up at his family, a faint grin touching his lips, before his head cocked to one side. "So. . . how do I trun it off?" This caused a round of laughter from the entire entourage, many coming to wipe tears from their eyes at just how ridiculous it was. That and because it was what each of them had asked when they were first given the sight. Then all at once, they recited what Yalereth had told all of them before when they had each asked. "I''m blind why would I turn off my only sight!?" Which only drew more laughter out of them all. It took a minute longer for them all to get their bearings, before his father gripped his shoulder. The man was bustling with a yellow-red energy, while others were bustling with greens, silvers and whites. A few others had full red, or the same yellow-red but he was the only one pulsing with full blue particles. It seemed to him, that he had needed his spell book to take on this full glow, because he had a suspicion that he had been green prior to touching it. "Pull the mana away from your eyes, and let it flow naturally through you again. Try to imagine seeing as your normally do, and the spell will release it''s hold on you." Closing his eyes, Erik concentrated on not seeing the particles of mana fluttering about. On what the world normally looked like, then opening his eyes came to smile as everything went from noir with milions of dots of color, to full-scale coloration. Sighing with relief, Erik found himself sinking into his chair, as he looked all around him at each of his family members again. The blue veins in their eyes, all of them, were pulsing softly and staring at him. Some had veins that stretched fully to the iris, which he could only assume meant they had more advanced versions of this new spell. One by one each blinked, and returned their vision to normal, all save Yalereth, who smiled at him. "Your grandfather was also a Blue Mage. . . and that cane was his weapon. It will help you to guide the mana of the creatures you slay or more so the skills you steal from them." A many gap-toothed grin touched the older woman''s face, she was clearly close to the age in which she would be leaving this realm for another, but she also seemed overly happy. She didn''t shake, nor did she sway, she was just blind and quite possibly mad, in the head that is. Nodding now to Erik, she moved from the table, with little help from the others. "Eventually your eyes will adjust fully to the sight. . . When they do you will be able to see the world more clearly than you ever have before. Gaulden! Take the boy on a trip. ." Her voice grew angry, as she stared now at the boy''s father. Her arms crossed over her chest, even slumped over in age, she cut an imposing figure. "Think of it as part of your original orders. Knowing he is a blue mage, find as many monsters as you can." Then another grin, this one reaching her eyes, before she disappeared into the living room to do whatever it was old people did. With her exit, Linda clapped her hands together, before leaving the room herself to head into the kitchen. Within moments she was coming out with breakfast platters for all currently present within the dining room. "First you two eat. . then you can head into the forest. Teach him how to use his magic Gaulden." Her voice cut through the good cheer, like a knife through hot butter. Her eyes glaring daggers at the older man, as if he had done something wrong. Gaulden could only gape at the woman, as if she had something wrong with her head like Yalereth. Then slowly he shrugged at her, and went to eating what was placed in front of him. "Boys going to become more of a monster than the monsters are. . " Gaulden''s voice was barely above a whisper as he ate the food. Grumbling a bit in his own thoughts, while Erik ate his own breakfast. Erik''s thoughts turned to more training, and he began to cringe. Looking not at his food, and eating it without hesitation as he was focused on the cane that rested against his thigh and chair. It took him only a few minutes to fully clear his plate, and then both hands were wrapped about the cane to bring it up so he could study it further. Looking over the symbols and glyphs that patterned the wood. Tracing them slowly, wholly lost in thought about this weapon, though it did feel right in his hands. Like it was made specifically for him, to which point brought him to thinking about his old games. Soul bound equipment. . wonder why I don''t get the same sensation from my badge. Then his mind went towards his grandmother, what rank was she? It was something no one ever spoke about, and soon he hopped off his chair to satisfy his own lust for knowledge. Walking with the cane in one hand, something began to happen that he didn''t notice, but the rest did. The cane began to shrink to his own size and he was soon looking like a toddler-sized old man. He had unconsciously started to click the metal end into the wood floor, not even hearing the rhymic click of each touch down, until he came to stand by his grandmother. Both his hands gripping around the wyrm''s head, the eyes of which were glowing gently blue the same as his own mana particles had before this. "Yalereth, what rank are you?" He came out and flattly said it to the woman, something else he figured out about the world. No beating around the bush, always go directly to the point if you wanted an honest answer. Turning her blind eyes, a brow lifted over one of them, before she smiled and lifted up her ring. An obsidian band rested around her middle finger. That was her answer, and Erik felt his heart quicken at the sight of it. "That makes you the strongest person in the whole of the valley doesn''t it?" The woman thought on this question, then nodded, speaking only after her head bobbing was done. "The strongest. . person. Yes. Though there are some creatures around that are much more powerful, even than a diamond." Huh. . . Well that''s amazing. He let it go after that, spinning the cane over one wrist, before walking back towards the kitchen with soft clicks against the floorboards each step. As he entered into the dining room, his father was already turned around, stretching out the muscles in his back and looking at him. "Go get packed for a week at least. We are going to Dagger Teeth." A few of the cousins gave a slow, low whistle, though Erik could only shrug. He didn''t understand where, nor did he really care for the name of their destination. However, he simply nodded to the man, spinning the cane and setting it up in his belt. It hung low and loose within it''s new sheath, but it still held in place as he moved. They would leave as soon as both were ready, and ready they were in some time. Almost an hour of time passed, before they each had a rucksack on their backs. Curling their hands under and around the straps they began walking out of the home, heading towards the back yard and the forest thereafter. For someone so young, this ruck was a plight. He was already out of breath before they even made it out of the yard and into the woods beyond. He really needed to increase his stats. . . Or just ask them not to put a three year old through this. Rolling his eyes, he gave a sigh to his own self-doubts and thoughts. Zoning out to try and keep moving forward, his inate survival instincts kicking in and causing him to continually move forward. A small notification popping into his vision, which he allowed to poke from the corner of his sight. "Steel Lion''s Perserverance has activated. Training under pressure will result in increases to your stats." They trekked for another two hours, before setting up in a clearing, his father was fine, maybe a bit sweaty, but Erik was worse for the wear. Sweating and panting in strain, falling onto his pack, trying not to let his breakfast come up on him. Eyes stinging from the salty sweat that had gotten within, only to speak up in gasps. "What. . are. . we. . here for?" A few minutes passed before Gaulden answered, or at least that''s what it felt like for the toddler. "Three things. Teach you how to use your spell. Teach you how to use your weapon. Then finally, give you a little endurance training. Other things are just bonuses." He said this all with a wicked smile, only to move from his son and slowly beginning to make something at the far end of the clearing. What could have only been an archery butt was put together in moments, set on a tripod of sticks, and made of matted hay. Gaulden began to test all around the target, making certain it wouldn''t fall over or break apart, which gave Erik plenty of time to gather his bearing. When the older man was finally finished, he stretched up, speaking up. "Now we get to teach you how to use your spellbook. First lesson. . . do the opposite of what you did when you turned off your aether vision." Blinking, Erik tilted his head, only to do as he was told. Instantly, his vision paled into monochrome, only for everything around him to light up with dots of mana particles. "That was easy. . ." His voice came out unbidden, as he began to look around, and then found himself at a small area free of any mana, then it clicked. This was the target Gaulden had set up for them. "Good, now try to focus that mana towards your hand. . actually, no, pull out your cane and use that." To which Erik obliged the man, spinning the cane out of his belt, and into one hand holding it out in front of himself like a staff. His hand was curled down near the blunted end of the shaft, while the wyrm head was off to one side of his face. Feeling his mana curling through his body, he attempted to send it into his hand and then into the weapon. The power heeded his order, but slowly, reluctantly. That was no good, but it would do for what he was attempting to do right now. "Now recite the spell, and fire it at the target boy." Gaulden''s words seemed quickened, almost rushed out. panicked. The man was witnessing the first spell cast of his son, and his son was sending way too much mana into it. Unbidden to his lips, Erik spoke, he didn''t just say the name like he''d seen in the spellbook, instead he gave a full incantation. "Young bird of prey, heed my words, fire your feathers at my enemy and leave deep furrows in their flesh!" With that, the same shining blue eyes on the cane lit up brighter, before it''s head literally moved. The jaws opening wide as a series of feathers poured out of it. Each of the eight plumes firing off quickly and landing in a small circle on the target. Each one was shining green, and were beginning to sink further into the matted hay, before each one exploded into mana, leaving large gouges in the target. As the mana fully dissipated, all the was left was the long scores within the hay, proof that he had hit it. Blinking, Erik focused on his sight, to bring back his normal vision and tilted his head. What he had not expected was the eight gouge marks within the ground in a line towards the target, and had just barely missed Gaulden. Erik''s mouth hung wide open now, blinking a few more times, before looking at Gaulden. "A critical success. . . Though, we may need to get you to do it without an incantation. Matter of fact, I know you need to do it without an incantation." Nodding slowly, he could feel the slight wear on his frame from the loss of his mana. Though, it was slowly trickling back into him, as he lifted the cane again in front of him. Erik had gone through a total of seven different targets, each one withstanding two to three of his attacks. It wasn''t until the eighth, and many hours had passed that he finally managed to get the spell off without having to chant the incantation. Instead just channeling his mana through his arms and hands into the cane. By the end he was sweating and shaking as if he had done a full round of calisthenics after not having been to a gym in a years time. However, without the chant, while the attack was still a critical hit, it no longer left long grooves in the ground, but could leave furrows within the target itself. Though now that he could feel the mana flowing through him, a notification popped up into his vision. His eyes going cloudy as he ready the gold and red words that played over his vision. At some point it had changed from english, into the same calligraphy script of this place, though he hadn''t actually noticed the change. "Due to recent use, you have gained the skills: Mana Manipulation, Aether Control. Due to having attained the skill, Mana Manipulation, you are now able to find and break through mana nodes throughout your body to increase your power. There are many, and this will be a daunting quest." Then quickly it began to write out even more in his vision, and his face slowly grew into a large smile. "You have unlocked Questing. Your first quest; Unlock your mana nodes." Then a small counter appeared in the corner of his vision above where the notification symbol normally appeared. 0/50 Nodes Unlocked Well that was one hell of a mountain to climb, and he was just now getting started. At least he still had time to focus on such things before he had to worry about schooling. Though this did bring to mind a question, which he spoke aloud for Gaulden. "What in Delsi''s name is a mana node?" This got a rock thrown at his arm, which unfortunately did hit and caused him to cry out in pain, grabbing at the area. Only for Gaulden to speak up after having thrown the rock at him. "Firstly, don''t take after Linda, using a God''s name like that. Second. . . you must have just gotten your quest interface. A mana node is a point both on and not on your body, it will increase your mana exponentially and your power to boot, by giving you much better control. As a fighter I only had fourteen. You have to focus your mana, filling each node to bursting to move onto the next, how many did you end up with?" "Fifty." Erik answered flatly, which caused Gaulden to bring a hand to his face, dragging his fingers down slowly. "You must be one of Usoro''s children. You are a monster." Then, as if in retaliation of Gaulden''s earlier plight against Erik, a snuffling came from the side of their little campsite. A shimmering, metallic snout pushing through the underbrush, while copper tusks jutted out from around the area. "You''ve got to be joking. ." Gaulden said slowly, looking at the beast that was pushing it''s way out of the undergrowth around the clearing. A beast much like a boar made it''s way into the clearing. Aside for one fact, it was wholly just a boar, it was completely covered in metal plates that moved like muscles over the powerful form. Each of the swine''s hoof was capped in gold, dull as it may have been due to use, it was still gold. "I''d begin chanting that spell if I were you." Gaulden hissed out, his own hands moving towards the crafter''s tools at his belt. Spinning the awl along his fingers, while turning the forgemaster''s hammer into a reverse grip. Erik''s eyes focused on the boar, and then without bidding, his aether vision took hold. The creature brimmed with a bright silvery glow, the amount of mana particles inside of it so dense that it almost all seemed to be one giant ball of mana. Bringing his cane up slowly, he began to focus his own mana into his arms and slowly into his hands. Before he could begin chanting however, all of the mana that had been heading towards the cane rushed back up his arms and to the center point of his skull, just between his eyes and brow. A feeling like a door cracking resounded through his head, as he could feel the mana all coalescing into one spot on his mind. His cane dropped from his hand, as Erik fell to his knees. Just like that, it was like the starting gun of a race and the boar bristled, before charging at Erik. Gaulden was quicker, bringing the hammer under the large, heavy beast and flipping it away. He wouldn''t be able to actually pierce the beast, not with his current set of weapons. As he looked at the boy on his knees, he scowled, anger filling him. "Bollocks boy! Maxed luck my nethers." Then he was charging at the boar just as it was beginning to get back to it''s feet. The boar was quick, and met the charge with it''s metallic snout, the sound of metal screeching on metal coming from the contest of blows. However, none of this made it to Erik''s awareness, as he began to push through his first Mana Node. The pinprick of light growing until it burst fully, the feeling of his mana swelling and rushing through his body like water over his skin. Then he found his awareness, breathing heavily and shaking in place, cold from the ordeal. Looking up he saw his father and the boar pressing against one another. Only for the beast to snort, buck and then push Gaulden away to focus on the seemingly easier prey. The plates across the beast''s hide began to lift and separate, as steam hissed out slowly. As it did so, sharp spines of metal began to glint in the slowly dimming sunlight. Then with the sound of a compressed bottle expanding, the quills shot out towards him. Erik didn''t even get a chance to move as he was impaled through his left arm and scratched along multiple parts of his body. Grunting and then screaming as pain coarsed throughout the boy''s body, he tried to stand up, picking up the cane he had let fall from his hands. A blinking notification didn''t catch his eye, nor did the book at his hip glowing blue, only that now he was angry, hurt and wanted this thing dead. His hand held out the wyrm cane, and he began to chant, which then became two, both then forming into one flowing rhythm. "Oh feathered fiend and beast of land rend my enemy." It was an even quicker chant, but with it, it focused his mana, pulling it from his body and into the cane once more. The head of the wyrm growing white in luminous fury, the horns of the creature growing and firing as it opened it''s mouth wider, shooting out the same feathers as before. The metal quills rained down in a line from himself towards the boar. It was like a carpet bombing of metal spears, while the feathers shrieked through the air, clearly breaking the sound barrier as they went sonic in speed. Only a single feather reached the target, but what it did was devistating. It had only skated along the beast''s side, but it wrenched away at the metal plates, leaving a long gouge out of the Metallic Boar. Hot, red blood began to drip from the wound, as it began to squeal in pain. This was not the end however, as Erik focused again, and pushed his mana into the cane. The mana manipulation skill he had learned coming into play, and allowing him to guide even more mana than was needed for the spell. The horns on the cane began to grow rapidly, before spikes as long as the cane was shot forward in a spray, focused at the opened flesh of the boar. As he did this, he continued to pour his mana into the attack, the spires beginning to twist and shape into something like an intricate drill head which piled into the shrieking beast. Then the impromtu device began to spin and dig into the innards, drilling into it, quickly tearing apart any organ that had once held the beast to life, ending it near instantly. Gaulden simply watched, fascinated at the newest developement, until he saw Erik drop again. Each of the tiny spears and the large ones for that matter, disappearing into mana particles and going back to the heavens above. Mana defecent, Erik had grown unconscious, unable to keep his mind aware of anything, at least until he regained some mana. Gaulden was quick, moving to turn his son over, checking him for anything more than the few scratches and the wound to his bicep. Quietly he thanked whatever or whoever was watching over them, before getting to bandaging up the boy and beginning to set up the rest of the camp. "You are a monster, truly. . ." These words were whispered by Gaulden, as he watched Erik sleep. It wasn''t a restful sleep, no, he had been forced into unconsciousness due to over using his mana, but that had been a good thing, more or less. It had killed the boar in the end, and with it, gave them another meal for that night''s preperations. Due to how Erik was put into his state of unconsciousness, even his mind temporarily shut down. His character screen not appearing within his mind, not even when he awoke some time later. He had slept through the entire night, recovering his mana and energy, however once he was awake he gritted his teeth. A searing pain lanced from his arm, which he instinctively grabbed. This, was noteably, a bad idea. Screaming in pain at his own stupidty, Erik pulled his hand away quickly to look at the bloodied bandages on his arm. Breathing heavy, coming in and out in huffs. "Gods bedamned paddlecock. . ." His stream of curses faded as Gaulden came to look down upon the boy. A smirk touching his lips, before he spoke up, holding a bowl of what smelled like some kind of pork and bean stew. "Eat up. After, we train a little, though now that I know a sword won''t do ya'' anything good, we''ll do clubs training." Without even a second thought, though he was still in severe pain, he took the bowl from the man, drinking down the contents, only stopping to chew the pork and beans. A shiver ran through his body, straightening his spine fully, looking into the bowl, he then looked at Gaulden lifting a slow brow. "I did say pack for a while long trip, didn''t I? Healing herbs also go on all packing lists." The smirk never having left the man''s lips, and then he was standing up, looking around the clearing. There was a small pit where a fire had once lived, but now only a small line of smoke lifted up from the smoldering remains. Gaulden continued to look about, only to find a stick about the length of his own arm. Giving it a few test swings, he turned to face Erik. Holding out the wooden lump, he spun it around in a circle with just a motion of his wrist. "Finish up that soup, got a whole new routine to show you." That was how this new day began, a whole new set of motions to get used to, a lot of pain, and a few muscle groups that Erik was fairly certain wasn''t real, forming on him. It lasted two hours this time, and just as it ended, Erik was leaning over his knees, giving his breakfast to the forest. Then it was time to begin heading away from the clearing once again towards the mountain range further away. He was. . . not okay with this anymore. The hike was becoming a climb after just a little while, the flat, and sometimes mushy ground becoming rocky slopes that were leading away from the forest. "So. . . are we camping in the mountains Gaulden?" "Boy. . we are here to continue your spell training." Erik''s breath coming in heavy, having to carry his ruck with him still. Gaulden on the other hand looked to be a jaunty time of things as he made his way over slopes. It was a time before they came to stop, the sun at it''s mid point within the sky. The tree coverage was now sparse at the best of times, looking back the way they had come from, Erik could just barely make out a pinprick where their home was. Then he turned back towards the mountains that began to unfurl out infront of both of them. "We better start getting set up. . it was red this morn, water is bound to come in. Set up the tarp." Looking at Gaulden, Erik was glad the man had taught him many life lessons already, and many about the out doors. However, he didn''t enjoy the fact that it sounded like Gaulden wanted him to set up the tarp himself. Settling his pack down, he began to unravel a half tent, and then began looking for an anchor point as well as a large stick. Setting up a lean-to was easy, and soon he had the piece of dense, almost water-proof fabric pressed over a small area, to make a temporary covering. It wasn''t long before Gaulden had set up his own side of the large overhead covering. Their area fairly elevated from their surroundings, making a good campsite as well as a good place to stay dry. Settling down under the cover and away from the still glaring sun, Gaulden spoke up. "I feel like we should start by opening up more of your mana nodes. You seem to have also already grasped another spell." This was Erik''s queue to tilt his head, before pulling out his spellbook. There, on the cover next to the chicken, was now a boar, a fair indicator that something else had changed within it. Flipping through the pages, he found there were now multiple spells within. Within it now read out his list of spells.
Wing Blade Metalic Shot Aether Vision Mana Manipulation Aetherial Control
"Aye. . . as well as all the other things I''ve somehow managed to grasp. Gaulden. . . do you have a character interface in your eyes?" It was something that had no bugged him since his rebirth, and he crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at the old man. The target of Erik''s sight lifted a brow before laughing and nodding. "You may be a genius, but I must remember you have yet to go through an actual school. Everyone has that, even if not everyone can project it. Those who can''t. . . normally don''t have anything to really show. The dreggs of society." Then the old man closed his eyes, leaning further against his still plush ruck. Stretching out and resting in place, he began to speak once again. "You''re going to want to get very comfortable, you may pass out again with what''s coming next." Gaulden actually gave the young boy time to do as he had suggested. Setting his book to the side, and coming to stretch out along the ground and his own pack, he slowly grew more comfortable, before closing his own eyes in contentment. Only to be stirred from this respite by his father''s voice onece again. "You are going to open two more of your nodes and then we will go to hunt some of the beasts that live here in the Dagger Teeth." Chapter 3 - Monster "Enough!" Gaulden''s voice came out loud, and just as the words were spoken, Erik had to halt his swing. He wasn''t as proficient as the man before him, and so his swing continued to carry forward into the ground. This caused the boy to lose balance and tip forward. He was kept from falling fully by a branch of a tree, partially carved into a club and which knocked the wind out of the child. Then he was on his ass, Gaulden holding the club at his side, striking the pose like any kind of knight facing down an enemy. "Why''d we stop?" "Because we''ve been out here for almost a month boy. We need to make it back home, and get you better teaching from your mother." Had it really been that long since they had left home? Erik just groaned out, before pushing himself back to his feet. Looking over his ratty clothing, he groaned out again, before putting away his weapon in the now customary spot at his hip, under his belt. "Breaking down then, got it Gaulden." "After tonight, we will breakdown. Celenes is almost gone." To which Gaulden pointed towards the lowering orb in the sky, the star was bright during the day, but indeed the old man was right. Stretching out, Erik found he was sore in so many more places than he cared to explain, and then he was looking at the cook pot which had already been started for the night. Another stew of the metallic boar, though this was a recent kill of the beast. Erik had learned that they made their way into the forest, but their main stay was inside the mountain, to which they had scaled once and come back down. Gaulden nodded towards the pot, and moved to it himself, dipping in a bowl of wood, only to pull out a portion for himself. Sipping at the bone broth, he grumbled about spices or something. "So when do I get to learn more about the guild?" "When you are ready or whenever you actually read that birthday present of yours. Figured you''d have brought it with you. Lazy." The last word was said just under the man''s breath, and then he was back to bringing in more of the drinkable meal., chewing at the more hearty parts of it. Erik''s eye twitched slightly at this, but he inhaled slowly, stopping himself from responding to the man. Coming to sit next to the older man, he pulled his legs up in an indian-style cross, the man handing him a second bowl filled with the night''s meal. At least it was filling, and would have him out in a matter of a few minutes with as much as they had been training. "Once you''re done, get your rest and we set out as soon as we''re awake." Nodding at Gaulden, Erik quickly finished his food, so as to find his pack and an easy place to sleep on the hard, stone ground. Within minutes, just as he predicted he was out, only to be greeted with his character sheet. Not even daining to look at the notification icon flashing in his sight.
Name: Erik Usoro
Age: 3
Class: Blue Mage
Job: Booker
Miscellaneous: Guildsman Apprentice (Gold)
He stared at it for a second, before mentally flipping the page.
Spells: Wing Blade Metallic Shot Aether Vision
Passives: Winter Steel Lion''s Perseverance Winter Steel Lion''s Sight Mana Manipulation Aether Control
Skills: One-handed Clubs Canes Mastery I Metallic Boar''s Charge
Now he was kicking himself for not having looked at the notification. The sigh of the steel lion was old news, ever since he was given the Aether Sight spell it had grayed itself out from his sheet. What caught him off his high horse was the last skill he had. Could he now charge through a rock wall? That''s all he could think about it, he''d never been struck by the beast doing this, but had watched one do just that. He''d have to test it out when he got the chance. So he took the moment to see if the notification had anything about it. "Due to ingesting so much metallic boar meat and bone, you have developed an innate skill of the beast." "Due to intense training in higher altitudes your stats have been upgraded. Plus one to constitution. Plus one to strength. Plus one to dexterity." "Due to intense training with GAULDEN your proficency with Canes has increased. It will now feel like the weapon was born with you, it is an extension of your body. Your training is still ongoing, you are not a master yet." Well that was a nice outburst of information, he gave a mental eyeroll, before flipping the page again to see his actual stats.
Constitution: 7
Strength: 6
Wisdom: 29
Intelligence: 28
Dexterity: 6
Agility: 4
Luck: MAXED
Well at least the trip hadn''t been completely sour. He had gained some stat levels out in the wilderness with his father. This was a good test, one he would have eventually tested out on his own, but no longer needed to do. His stats could, and rightly would grow with training and age. Though he wouldn''t have known about this, if not for a notification that had popped up while training on their third day in the mountain itself. It had also finally triggered this third page to show itself. Mentally nodding his head, he attempted to flip the page one last time, but only ended up back at the first of his sheets. Then he did a small mental exercise, pushing away the sheets to fall into the black abyss of nothing that was his sleeping world.
Home, where the heart is, right? Erik couldn''t figure this one out, it seemed his home was just a loud mess, or painful practice sessions, that even his cousins were now getting in on. Almost five years had passed since that first trip in the mountains, and never again had another come about. However, now he stood close to four foot in height, body already developing a clean muscle tone. He was sparring with two of his cousins out in the back yard, all three were dressed not to impress, with torn and bedraggled clothing. First a tonfa, really just a stick with a handle, came at him from the side, while a wooden sword sailed at him from the fore. He thrust out his cane, hoping to at least catch one of the attacks from this, he unfortunately, did not. The hit from the taller of the two boys came across his stomach, just under his ribs, while the sword cracked down against his head, bending him further over the first weapon. Letting out a gasp, trying and failing, to get his lungs to start working again. His eyes were closed as pain welled up within him, letting out a retort as the two let him drop to the ground, for what was likely the tenth time that morning. "You paddlecocked assholes." Erik spat the words out at both of them, to which they both stared at him. Then both busted out in full belly laughs, turning away and heading back to the opposite side of the yard. "We told you Erik. You''re still too slow to handle us both. Take on the guild''s agility course some time." Jaq was the one who spoke. The one that had wielded a single tonga that match, having handicapped himself by not using both his weapons. As both cousins turned to face him once again they crossed their arms over their chests. Only for both to get popped on the back of the head by an aged woman, walking by. She just continued on walking while the two of them stared, dumbfounded. "Yalereth you old bag, why aren''t you rotting in the ground yet!?" This time it was Salz, as he continued to rub at the back of his head where he was certain he would have a knot forming. The old woman merely turned her head to snort at the boy. "Boy you''ll be rolling around in your grave before I''ve even got a foot in mine!" Then she cackled, continuing back towards the front of the house. Then the two boys looked back to Erik, the grin on his face quickly disappearing as he began to whistle a nonesensical tune, that did not go quite right. "Fine, I guess that''s a break. Go talk to your mom, she had something for you to do or some such. . . Old bag, needs to leave us alone." Jaq was still complaining about the pain at the back of his head, and somehow Yalereth overheard, speaking loud enough for all three to hear. "Jaq I''ll do it again, you don''t watch your mouth around me. It''s Elder Yalereth or Grandmother Yalereth. Next time I''ll leave a more permanent imprint of that on you." This got all three to stiffen like boards, a visible shiver running across the lot, before they all nodded to one another, and in unison spoke. "Yes Grandmother Yalereth. Please forgive us." This got a loud snort from the old woman, but she made no more noise towards them. This was a good sign, and soon enough, both Jaq and Salz were motioning for Erik to head back inside. Bowing slowly to his cousins, he was awarded with a smack over the head from both of them, which he quickly grabbed at the back of his head. "Oww. . . " "Just go short stack." Grumbling and still rubbing at the back of his head, he gave a rude gesture with his free hand at the two. This got a snort of laughter, before the two were facing off against one another. Leaving them be, Erik continued to make his way towards the front of the large building, the door already open, letting in a slow, gentle breeze. Looking about, he grinned a bit to himself, getting lost in memories of this area, this home, everything about it. His old life now seeming like nothing more than a dream from some long, forgotten time before. "Linda! I was told to come see you!?" Erik yelled out, only to walk into the home, Gaulden looking over at him from an unrolled scroll on the front desk, a brow lifting in question of the boy''s yelling. Then he was looking back down at the scroll, looking through the contents therein, Erik just shrugged his shoulders at the man''s antics. Then began wandering through the now not-so-large house, looking for his mother. He found the woman in the kitchen, and he stood there, curling his arms over his chest waiting for her to turn around. It wasn''t a long wait, as she was drying her hands from the sink and the dishes from the breakfast dishes. "You''re birthday is coming up, have you thought of what profession you''d like to join?" Dumb-founded, his arms dropped, as he stared at the woman. His face a blank mask for a moment, before he shook his head, getting his beating back. Answering after a moment of getting his thoughts together as well. "Long-range adventurer. Or a crafter. . . Though I''d still like to see more than Ashka village." "Then you''ll be going to the academy I take it?" "Assuming Leviathan takes me, yeah, I''ll be headed there." Linda sucked at her teeth, shaking her head at the boy who stood in the doorway, just above the center of the door''s height. Tossing the small, multicolored cloth over her shoulder she moved over to kneel in front of him. "It''s means you''ll be leaving Ashka, you''ll be headed to Glitter. Nearly a month away." Then she lifted a hand to brush some of the dirt from his face, a grin coming to the older woman''s lips. Only to continue speak to him, face-to-face like this. "You have more than enough qualification to make it there, though you may need to go see Clothier Johan. At least for a single set of clothing, or do a job for the guild for some money." "But. . . mission pention from Gaulden''s original order of training me?" Linda only grinned more at the boy, before standing up. Touseling his hair and moving past him, and out of the kitchen. "Go to town and pick up an order." Erik could only watch his mother go by, his arms and hands coming up in an emotion as if to ask her ''what?''. Then he let his arms drop, heading towards the baths, grumbling under his breath the entire way. Tossing his clothing to the ground, not even attempting to get it into the hamper, he slid into the cool water. Where he had been exhausted from his morning exercise, he was pushed to being wide awake the moment the water crashed over his entire form. "Gods below! Did you put ice in it this time!?" He screamed out as he came to the surface for a sharp breath of air. No one answered his angered exclamation, and so he was quick to clean himself of sweat, dirt, dust and grime. He was shivering when he got out, not even flicking off the excess water, instead letting it trail down his body for a moment. Grabbing a towel to the side of the room, he dried off, before sneezing. "Damned cold water." He hadn''t even noticed, but his speech patterns had begun to turn since he had been raised in this world. Then again, there were a lot of things he had stopped noticing, including the fact he was now almost eight years old. That his muscles were toned, and he was nearing a point where his muscles were beginning to define and poke out from his skin. Walking out of the bathroom, he still had the towel wrapped about himself and was heading up the stairs, only to be called after by his father. "Erik, when you go into town, go for a hunting mission. I saw one yesterday that was fairly low level, you should be fine." Great words of advice dad. "Go out and kill things and make some money!" How is this normal? His thoughts ran wild, and then he was back up the stairs and to the long, shared room. No one was up here, but that was fine, especially considering he was about to get dressed for the second time today. Pulling on hempen-spun pants and a cotton-like shirt, he moved to the metal slab upon the wall, looking himself over and then nodded. He''d been looking at this for the last nearly eight years, and was content with it now. He was especially content now that he wasn''t a falling, waddling mess of a toddler. Leaning under his bed, he pulled out the rope and wooden sandals, and then pulled them onto his feet. Kicking the toes towards the ground, he fit them fully onto his feet, before rushing out the door and to the bottom floor. He jumped all twelve of the stairs, and landed with a jarring hit, his entire body taking on the pain of his landing. He hadn''t thought about that part. He wasn''t quick to recover, and soon became a waddling mess once again, moving towards the front door where he grabbed a metal capped cane. Twisting it towards himself, the wyrm head upon the weapon almost seemed to turn and admire him. Then that feeling was gone, and Erik settled the Wyrm-Head staff into his belt, beginning to head out of the house, making his way down the gravel pathway towards the main center of the village. With his arms over his head, and spinning slowly, looking over the bows of the trees that had begun to stretch over and becoming arches along the path. "Someone''s had to have cultivated these like this. . or Gaulden is just a really good landscaper." He kept his footing fairly well, if you considered how he used to walk about, flopping and waddling from side to side. Now his strides were calculated and he could do more than just focusing on it. He made decent time to the village center, taking no more than half an hour to do so, compared to his old times of upwards of an hour without pushing himself. As he made his way through the actual cobbled streets, he waved at a few of the traders and merchants in town. Some he knew, others, ehhhh, not so much. Though that was solely due to the fact that most were actually not from Ashka, though he did know one that wasn''t, very well. "Old lady Anri!" Erik called out, cupping his hands around his mouth to cause his voice to boom out further. He smirked, as his arms came down, and an older woman popped her head out from a shop. A happy smile on her face, quickly disappearing into a frown. "Oh by the saints above. . What Erik?" "Someone''s already grouchy I see. . . " He almost said this in a babies tone, crossing his arms and pouting up at the woman. Only to burst out into a large smile and soft laughter and running over to her. He came to a skidding stop in front of the oldest shop in the town, one that only opened up every few months or so. "Did you find the book?" A hopeful look on Erik''s face lay before the woman, who continued to look at him, as if he were just an annoyance, then she sighed. Going into the door, beckoning the boy inside. She was gone into the interior, searching through the bag at the back of the shop for what he was looking for. "Yeah I found it kid. Sixteen coppers, you got the coin yet?" "Eh. . . heh. About that Anri. . ." "OUT!" She had stopped in her stooped position, and pointed to the door of the establishment. "Anri! C''mon, you know I''ll get you the coin! I did last time didn''t I?" "After seven months you little shit. Go, now. Come back when you have the copper." Sulking, Erik scuffed the ground with a slight kick. Then he made his way out of the building, only to pop his head back through the threshold. "Don''t leave! I''ll be back!" Erik hadn''t even noticed that the store was just being restocked, or the book that sailed through the air and smacked him on the forehead. The spine of the item making loud cracking noises, and leaving a large bump on his head. He hissed and began rubbing quickly at the spot that had just been hit, waddling out of the business. "Cranky bitch. . . " His hand remained at his forehead, as he walked further into the town, making his way towards the guild. Then a second book hit him in the back of the head, the same as the first. "Gah, fuckin-. . " He cut himself short in his curses, as he almost tripped forward and onto his face. Now he was rubbing both spots of his head, not tempting fate for a second time. It was a few minutes and the pain still throbbed on his head, but at least it was good enough now not to have to rub at the spots. Walking up the few steps towards the large building, he was about to open the door, only for it to open on it''s own. Or at least it was helped that way by someone heading out. The feint glint of a clear medal upon the man''s belt had Erik tilting his head slowly. "Diamond. . No. . way." The man looked down at him, lifting a brow slowly, only to notice the golden badge on Erik''s belt. A smirk traced the man''s lips, before he walked past him. "Good luck kid. . I hope to see big, big things about you." "Wha-?" Was all Erik got out, only for the man to seemingly disappear with naught but a rustle of the wind. Shaking his head to clear it of the sight, he made his way into the loud building. Immediately he was greeted by three people. First came Belle, waving from the receptionists desk, a happy smile on her face and without much care beyond gaining a few coins. The second was one of his crafter aunts, Fran, also waving at him. She was a metal crafter and made things for the farms dotted around the village. Then the final person to greet him, a large man, walking with a cane in one hand. The clacking against the polished floors of marble causing those around to quite down, watching to see what the guildsman head was doing or who he was going to see. "It''s almost time to head to school Erik. What are you here for boy?" The man''s voice boomed, even when he was speaking quietly. How was that even possible? Erik shook slightly, he was certain this man could crush him if he really wanted to. Though he did quickly respond to the question, at least as much as he thought was needed to be said. "Need coin. . . taking a board job. Gaulden said there was one up where I wouldn''t die." The room went completely still, quiet enough to hear a pin drop to the floor. Then all at once, the entire place busted into laughter, heads shaking, mugs pounding on tables and mead spilling over tankards. Even the old man was giving a full belly laugh at the response, this lasted a good ten minutes, each time a new wave of laughter rising from the patrons as they saw him. "Nah ye'' ain''t apprentice. Yer goin'' to be takin'' on a recptions job." The old man''s full accent came out, slurring certain words and shortening others as he patted the boy''s side with his cane and made him move with just pure force towards Belle.Erik almost fell over his own feet, arms flailing about wildly at his sides, then his face grew dark. Gaulden had set him up for this interaction. That old, good-for-nothing bastard had truly and honestly just set him up! Grumbling slowly, he made his own way away from the cane that had pushed him, towards the receptionists counter. "Hello, Erik, so you''re here for coin?" Erik, blushing, could only nod, not trusting his voice at the moment, trying not to shake in rage. "There are three jobs you can complete then. As you are still only an apprentice, I can only offer up wood and bronze jobs, and then only ones that Guildsman Head Liam deems acceptable." Saying this, three scrolls appeared on her counter, she pushed them over, so that Erik could look over them. Peeling away the twine holding the papers in their rolled form, he began to read over the first one. Guild of Leshan Papers of Notice License of Ashka and the realm of Cambria A request has been put in for house-hold chores within the Village of Ashka. This is a wood ranked mission, the holder of this scroll will have to take on the roll of housekeeper for one - Anri Fellowhold. The pay for this mission will be ten coppers per hour of work done. Must be able to lift weight exceeding fifty stones, read, write and do simple math. Time limit on mission: Five Hours. Rewards: Dependant on time worked, possible bonus Looking over the scroll, he groaned a bit. Then he held it out to Belle. "This one. . I know where she''s at and I can do it. It''ll also be all I need." A simple laugh resounded from the receptionist, before she took the unrolled sheet from Erik, as well as the two that were still curled tight in their binds. Holding onto the paper, Belle quickly scanned the parchment. Her lips moving one way and then the other, before she set it on the desk before her.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Press your badge to the bottom to claim it as your active quest." Coming to his tip-toes, Erik pulled his badge free, before placing it where she had motioned towards. The paper was sucked up into the badge and a notification popped across his sight without bidding again. "New active quest alert. Helping Anri Fellowhold." "Quest objective: Preform odd jobs for the merchant woman." Then it was gone with a number coming up under the first he''d ever received. 1/50 0/??? He still hadn''t advanced his mana nodes, not in the last nearly five years he''d been training. Though he was well proficient in his spells now, or at least so he though. After the paper had disappeared from sight, he put his badge back upon his belt, before settling back on his feet. Cupping a hand over his fist, he gave a shallow bow and smiled. Speaking over his hands, as he was already bursting with energy to leave, back towards Anri''s shop. "Thank you, Belle." Then without even a glance at Liam, he was gone throughout the door. Liam merely lifted a brow towards Belle, a half-smile upon his lips as he spoke, when Erik was olut of earshot. "I didn''t hand you that one. . Did she send it in personally for that boy?" Belle gave a mischievous grin, then shrugged her shoulders as she turned around, pretending to be busy with something else.
Erik made his way out of the building, not even noticing or hearing what had just happened, and instead was making his way back down the road towards where he had just come from. He wondered though, how was he supposed to get the scroll back out of his badge now. He halted mid-step, looking down at the golden metal circle at his belt. He began, of all things, to poke at it, wondering if there was a release mechanism somewhere. "Oh come on. . . I can''t accept the job if I don''t have the stamped paper." A red blinking notification came up in the corner of his vision, blinking it open the words spilled out across his eyes. "Alert: Guild Badge features unlocked. Storing, Extracting, Identification." He stared blankly at it for a moment, then sighed, holding his hand out in front of the badge. "Extract." Nothing happened, and his face fell a bit more, eye beginning to twitch in slowly building anger. Then he sighed, gripping the bridge of his nose, he was too young for headaches to start up, but here one was coming on. Grunting, he continued on his way back towards the center of the village, worrying the entire way about how to get the scroll from the item at his waist. Finding his way through the open streets, he finally made it back to Anri''s shop. Looking up at the sign, he grimaced, he hadn''t expected to be coming back here today, at least. Walking up the two wooden steps, he opened the door and looked in hesitantly, the reminder of the books still pounding upon his head. "Old lady. . Anri?" He moved his head quickly as a third book came at him. Watching it thump against the door frame, he came to look back at the woman behind the counter. She wasn''t even looking at him or the area she had thrown the book, how!? "Here for a job, browse or do you have the coin for that book, boy?" "A job Anri, posted at the guild." "I know where you got it, now get over here and begin unpacking." She hadn''t even asked to see the scroll, instead was already using him for all his worth in the tasks she had prepared. Now though, he was getting a good look around the store, it was almost barren, meaning the woman had just returned from another village, or even another continent. That was something he had learned, while this village was a large place, it was only a small part of the planet, which he still hadn''t come across the name of. There were fourteen separate continents on the face of the planet, and each almost seemed to be a different biome. He hadn''t quite gotten a clear picture of the world yet, so all he really knew about everything, is that it was possible to get to each of the continents by some form of travel, by sea or by air. As he got behind the counter, he found Anri was leaned over nothing more than just a hand bag. "Is that a. . sto-" His words got caught off by a fourth book, flying again at his head. How did she have that kind of aim? He did however, get to dodge this one as well, rolling to his side. This, did not go fully to plan though, as he wound up hitting his head against one of the wall shelves. "I said unpack, I didn''t ask you to spell out for the world what I have." The woman''s eyes were dark as she looked up from what was undoubtedly a storage space. Then she went back to looking inside of the bag, pulling out things that should not have been able to fit at all within the confines. Swords, staves, maces and other clubs, books and strange glowing crystals all began to come out of the bag. As Erik watched, he was mesmerized by this, completely paralyzed from the sight he was beholden to at this moment. "Get to work lazy bones! Start putting things into the windows and the shelves!" His hesitation was instantly smashed by the shrill shriek of the woman, and Erik was scrambling to get ahold of all the wares that the old woman was attempting to pedal in the streets. Looking over each of the items, he was smiling to himself, each piece was nice, though he was finding his mind pulled by the runes and glyphs across the weapons. What he wasn''t expecting was the popup notification after examining all of the different weapons, books and miscellaneous items. "Skill increased! You have learned the skill: Item Identification and Lesser Appraisal." Well, that was nice of the governing system, to give him something so useful. . . So fucking late. He would have loved to have had that when he was three. Grumbling under his breath at the notification, he began to get into a rythm, putting something onto a shelf, a wall mount, an item display. Each time looking at the item and getting a small identification window in his eyes. It was unlike his popups as they just appeared while looking at the items. They didn''t hinder his vision, as the screen was transparent enough to just be able to see through. He wondered if he could religate these popups into the back of his mind instead of his vision. Making his way too-and-fro from displays to bag, he continued to empty the voluminous bag, which never seemed to grow any smaller or larger as items moved out of the opening. He had yet to actually grab a hold of the bag, so his skill hadn''t activated upon it, though he would soon get that chance. He had now been going at it for about three hours total when he had to stop, stretching out his back and wiping away some sweat from his brow before he began to look over the store. His eyes looked over all the display stands having been fully stocked up now and grinned to himself. "Looks like it always does when I come by. Stocked to the top with over-priced items but such a wonderful place to window shop." He almost whispered this, his eyes landing on Anri, then they popped wide as she threw a broom at him. Ducking, he felt himself slip, before falling face first into the dirty ground. A slow resounding groan rolled out, muffled by the floor, before he heard the woman speak up. "Quit oggling the wares boy. The floor is dirty from all your back and forth, now get to sweepin'' you still got a few more hours in you!" Grumbling, he started to rub at the mark that was forming on his forehead, then grabbed up the broom in an angry snatch. Rolling his eyes slowly, he began to do as the woman asked. "Ain''t no adventure I never done heard of. Farting around and sweepin up floors." His tangent just continued on as he moved about the store. It wasn''t quite open yet for the day, one of the things the woman prided herself in was her store''s cleanliness. It took Erik a whole two hours to bring the store to spotless perfection, or at least what he could get out of the place being so close to a cobbled road could be. However, he was now done with the mission, as a flashing alert spread over his eyes. "Mission accomplished. 153/153 objectives fufilled. Please see Anri Fellowhood to receive compensation and payment." Staring at the words for a second, he sighed, leaning on the shaft of the broom. It was finally over, the torture that was Anri Fellowhood. Slowly he began to walk towards the full-back of the shop, setting the broom up and going to look for the old woman. What he found was a maniacal witch brewing a pot in the back, full floppy-hat and giant wooden spoon and everything. Erik just stood there, crossing his arms slowly, before clearing his throat. "Oh good, you''re finished then? Grab a seat then, makin'' some lunch!" To which she began to cackle slowly, turning her head over her shoulder. Yup, definitely a wicked witch. That is to say, Erik was still going to listen to the woman, and thus was walking towards the small employee dining area for just such ocassions. Though it was called lunch they were well passed the normal time to be eating lunch, it''d be about an hour before supper was going to be prepared. The sun had peaked and was now starting it''s descent through the skies. He sat at the table, kicking his legs slowly back and forth, waiting for Anri to come in from the cook pot she was working with. Even though Erik had made the connection of her being a witch, he couldn''t complain about the wonderful smell that came from where she was cooking. It was another few minutes, before Anri came through the door and set down a bowl of bubbling stew. Literally it bubbled up and attempted to splash Erik once it was set upon the table, which he quickly leaned back from, so as not to get singed by the heat. "What. . . is it?" "Well, I think there are some weeds in there, a couple of mushrooms, a split in-half mana pill, the shavings of multiple weapons, some sage and one flank of man steak." Anri said this completely straight-faced looking at Erik, as if these were really the whole ingredients list that she had actually used. He gave her a blank stare right back, then looked at the stew, then back at her, a brow lifting slightly. "Metal boar and thyme, the pill part was true." She harumphed at him, crossing her arms at the child, only to take a seat across from him. She had a bowl in front of her as well, and slowly began to drink at the thick contents therein. Her eyes closing as she savored the flavors, Erik slowly following her lead and began drinking down his own stew, only pausing to chew at the meat that poured into his mouth. "Thoughts boy?" Erik simply kept chewing and drinking the stew, it was almost like an uncontrollable urge to do so. She hadn''t been lying about the pill that was split in half within it. Though he surmised that it hadn''t been split in the entirety of the stew, but his bowl in particular. It was gone in an instant and Erik was holding out his bowl to Anri. His face was flat, no smile, no frown only determination. "More." That was his only thought on the stew as he stared at the woman, who looked around one side of her own tipped bowl. Slurping loudly, she held out with her other hand a small half cylinder. It was completely transparent and only left a vague hint where it was with the distortion of her hand where it sat. A slow, greedy smile lifted the corners of Erik''s lips, before Anri curled her fingers around the pill, lifting it up between two, then flicked it at the boy''s head, again! Another item aimed directly at him, though this one had been aimed perfectly and slipped through the boy''s lips and almost instantly down his throat. "Start circulating your mana through your body, from your first mana node to the next and then the next."
"You''re really not gonna tell me are ye'' Belle?" "Whatever do you mean guildsman head?" "You know damn well what I mean! What the hell does that woman want with Erik!?" He had slammed a fist onto the counter and his cane into the ground. Both ideas were, well they were really bad. The marble flooring cracked outwards from the impact and the counter that had been perfectly clean began to splinter in a circle around his fist. "Liam, please, we have to replace the things you break when you aren''t watching your strength. As for what High Witch Anri wants with Erik. . . I honestly couldn''t tell you. Perhaps we will fi-" An explosion could be heard from down the way from the Guild, many people screaming as they ran out to see what the reason of the commotion was.
Notifications appeared in Erik''s vision, completely taking away his sight from the world around him, having to do exactly as Anri said. "You have ingested a Mana Purification and Expansion tablet full. Your mana has been replinished." "Your body possesses more mana than you can rightfully store or use, processing commenced." "You have unlocked: Mana Node, Mana Node, Mana Node, Mana Node, Mana Node, Mana Node. Undergoing mana channel strengthening." "Stats have increased, congratulations. Stats increased: Wisdom, Intelligence." "Body modification ongoing: Path of the Mana Gods." "You are now more intune with your own mana, and the latent mana around you, Aether Vision, Mana Manipulation, Aether Control have all increased in rank. New ranks; Aether Vision Novice, Mana Manipulation Novice, Aether Control Novice. Find a master to continue your growth." "Due to an increase in your stats, new interface options have become available: Minimize, Religate, Simplify." Simplify! His voice sounded in his mind, which caused all of the notifications to colapse to three or four words at most for each one. His breathing was quickening as he could feel his mana nodes bursting open one after another. His mana circulation becoming quicker the longer he did it, sinking him into a semi-state of meditation. Each time a mana node burst fully open, he could feel the ambient mana being sucked into him, purifying and clensing the blue particles that radiated within him. Slowly his mana was going from blue magic to transparent magic, making each bit of his mana attribute-less, and allowing for his spells to grow in power. Though as soon as his sixth node burst forth, all of the mana that had been circulating in his mana channels rushed out of him. It left him feeling empty, but also caused a loud, almost cannon like sound to resound from the shop. Not to mention the shockwave that rolled out of him, shattering all the windows in not just this shop but at least five others that were around. The power that flowed back into his body began to slow, though anyone in the area would feel their own mana being sucked out to replace that which had been expelled from his body. His breathing was ragged as he began to open his eyes, they were brimming with a sapphire brilliance, laced with the same colored veins stretching fully to his iris''. As a new notification popped up under the small new numbers. "Ather Vision: Passive." 6/50 As Eric was looking around he could see the particulates of mana floating about, drifting lazily as if on unseen winds. Then his eyes went wide upon seeing Anri, his head slowly cocking to one side. Why had he never used Aether Vision around the old woman? Maybe because she had never shown any kind of magic. However, looking at her now, he saw nothing but a brilliance of light, it was a kaleidoscope of colors, never just one in any given space. "Anri. . . what are you?" "The same thing as you Erik. A monster." A slow, wicked grin crossed the woman''s face, which Erik was surprised that he could make out, but slowly the little specks flying about began to dim and flicker out of his vision, the world returning from the monochrome it had been and taking on it''s normal coloration. Though the natural colors of the world did come back to him, small particles could still be seen floating, by him. He had to take a deep breath, trying to calm himself after the ordeal he had just gone through, blinking rapidly a few times just to get the unnatural stars from his vision, now taking the mana as something natural for him to see. It wasn''t but a minute later, when the door to the shop opened with a soft tinkle of a bell. Then the clump, clack, clump of footsteps and a cane. "By right of the Guild of Leshan, come out here this instant." The old man Liam''s voice boomed through the rather large shop building. Looking to the open door of the dining area, Erik was puzzled as to why that man was here of all people. Not to make note of the fact he could also hear a crowd of people beginning to form like a mob outside of the shop. "Heh. . Guess I should have taken you to the forest. Give us a second Liam, we''ll be out there in a second you old dog." "What''d you just call me you bog witch!?" Erik looked at Anri, then the both burst out laughing, settling the now cracked wooden bowls onto the table. Hopping down and out of his chair, Erik found his legs wobbly and unstable for a moment or two. Then he found his bearing, putting strength back into his legs as he began walking out of the door way, then down the short hall and into the main display room. Erik had not thought to find an angry, red-faced Liam standing there, nor all the shattered glass strewn across the floors. Groaning slightly, he grabbed the broom next to the door, not even noticing where all the glass had come from. "I''ll get to cleaning Anri." Making a shooing motion with her hand, Anri left him to it, while she made her way to Liam, a quizzical look on her face. "And what can we do for the might Guildsman Head, hmm?" "What was that explosion woman!?" Liam had raised his arms up in question with his actual excited questioning of the woman. His one good eye wide, while the other socket seemed to open up wider with the same motion under the patch there. Anri could only shrug, before pointing with her thumb over at Erik, then came back to hold up her pinky finger, and the rest of her other hand. "Guess I should have only let the little monster have half of a mana pill, diluted by some delectable boar stew." "Quit fucking with me bog witch. What really happened?" Their voices had begun to lower bit by bit until they were using angry whispers. All the while, Erik had just been sweeping up the glass into small piles everywhere in the store, once he was finished he blanched. This was going to be a lot of clean up, there were at least ten piles of shattered glass strewn across the floor. Though he did catch his name once or twice in the heated discussion of the adults. "Anri, is there a barrel out back or something I can stuff this glass in?" Waving a hand at the boy, she made a quick remark to him. "No, no. Read the sixth scroll in the bag behind the counter and use what it tells you to." Shrugging, Erik made his way towards the counter, beginning to rifle through the bag of holding, which he finally found out was the name. Sorting and pushing things aside, he finally found the scroll Anri had pointed out, unfurling it slowly, he read just the title. Scroll of Crafting It was as far as he got, before the letters on the page grew bright enough to the point where it nearly blinded him. Though the beam of light shot directly to his forehead, searing into his mind the content that lay within. It taught him all sorts of low leveled crafts, as long as he had the mana and the materials, he could make it. An alert corresponding with it came to the back of his mind, one that normally would have appeared in his vision. "Congratulations, you have learned the spell: Craft" Well. . . that''s super useful. Then he moved to the window frames set within the log-esque building. Looking over it before pressing his palm to the empty space where the clear glass had once been. A prompt appeared within his mind, instead of his vision this time. Would you like to craft: 15 times GLASS WINDOW? Mentally he pressed an accept button that wasn''t even there, but still somehow managed to make it work, and then in a flurry, he felt the wind rush past him. Then he felt his energy waning, and then he dropped to his knees, almost all of his mana drained from his body. As he looked up from his position he could see all the shards of glass rising into the air, before sailing into their original places, quickly fixing up the building''s windows, and then settling into place with a dim blue glow to them. This glow didn''t last very long, just long enough for all the cracks to seal up, leaving perfect windows. Grinning to himself at that developement, he closed his eyes, trying to focus on remaining awake. Breathing in slowly, he had a tingle touch his nose, then he had to open his eyes. Looking around, he watched as his sight shifted just slightly, revealing more of the mana that floated in the ambience. As he inhaled, the particles began to pull to him, moving into his mana channels and refilling his mana pool. It was another form of cycling, though this was gathering the mana from outside of himself. He continued to slowly breath, cycling the new mana through his open nodes, and then through the core of his being, where his mana pooled together. As he did this, he took in attributed mana, only to have his enternal systems dilute, condense and restructure it all into transparent mana. His mana had been mutated through the pill that he took from Anri, and was no longer just Blue magic. It took several minutes of this breathing exercise, taking in the mana and converting it within himself, and soon his core was partially filled. Enough so that he no longer felt drowsy, and could actually stand back up. Dusting himself off, though he didn''t need to, considering he was fairly certain the floor was nearly clean enough to eat off of, he looked at the two dumb-founded adults. "Boy. . . that ain''t how that spells supposed to work." Liam said, still gaping at the boy. Slowly the man looked from him at the newly finished glass around the building, before looking back at Anri. "Headmistress Anri. . . you''re taking him yeah?" The old woman just looked back and forth between the two of them, then looked at Liam, speaking slowly, as if trying to control her emotions. "I knew he was a little monster, but that. . That was impossible." Swallowing slowly, she reorganized her bearing, taking in a breath herself, getting her constitution back under control. Then looking down at Erik, she bent down to get to his level and looked him in the eyes. "You will be going to school soon, and I assume you''ll be wanting to go to an academy yes?" "I mean. . . if I can, yeah, otherwise I''m stuck with that old bag there." Erik responded, motioning towards the now red-faced, one-eyed man. Just as Liam was about to raise his cane and point it at the boy, and start hurling insults one after the other, Anri smiled and nodded. "And a waste that would be. Take me to your residence. I''ll close shop early today, and as for your pay for the mission. . . We''ll call it a silver even." Erik''s mouth dropped fully open, unable to controll himself. That was double what he needed, and what the pay was for the mission. "Oh right! And this, the book you had me get for you. An Almanac of the world." This is where she held out a rather large book, the one that Erik had wanted to get for a few years now, trying to learn more about the world. Reaching out slowly, Erik took the book, before hugging it to his chest and grining maddly. Though before he could go delving into it''s pages he was interrupted by Liam. "Before you go taking the bog witch to your home, you go to the guild and turn in your completed mission scroll boy." "Eheh. . . about that. How do I get the damned thing out of my badge?" Both of the adults looked to the child, then began laughing, shaking their heads in delight. "A monster he may be, but I sometimes wonder about those stats. Call out the item you want, either in your head or out loud. Mission scroll, twenty-two." Then in his hand he was holding onto a mission scroll, twirling it slowly between his fingers, like someone from Erik''s past life might have done with a pen. Then he pressed it right back to his badge where it disappeared. Blinking, Erik watched the whole thing happen within a few seconds, then glowered. It was really that simple, just Mission Scroll. And within Erik''s own hand his own mission scroll appeared, it even read on it that it had been completed to above satisfactory conditions. "How did it update?" "Magical contract, it''ll update if all requirements are met and if you do better than expected. Now get to the guild boy, I''ll keep the bog witch busy." A thud came from the two as a booked smacked into the back of Liam''s head, Anri showing no sign that she had heard or done anything. Liam on the other hand gripped at the spot he had just been hit and then began letting out a stream of curses even a sailor would be stayed away from. Erik watched this, and was now happy to know he wasn''t the only one she would attack like that, and was soon out of the door, his contract completed for Anri. He now had a few things to think on, even so, a smile rested on his lips. As he looked at his badge, he called the scroll back out, looking over the page before looking at the rewards. It had now properly filled itself out, with two items. Due to above average service rendered on this mission you are awarded with: 1 times silver coin. 1 times Leshan Almanac. Then he squinted, blinking a few times at the name of the last item, the book he still held against himself. "Bullshit. . . I asked for one of the world not just this continent." He continued his grumbling all the way back towards the guild, kicking loose rocks, and just completely sulking about the minor loss, that was still a win. Moving past his own distaste over the faux reward, he opened the book to begin looking through it. His walking continued as his feet moved on their own volition, leading him closer and closer to the guild building. Erik was reading through the pages and absorbing the information within the book, until he came to a stop in the shadow of the guild. The darkening light around him snapped him out of his trance like state, and he had to close to the book so that he could open the door to the innards of the building. Moving inside, he noticed a cracked tile and the splintering counter, before looking up to Belle with a smile. Holding up the partially rolled scroll holding his first ever actual taken mission, he set it upon the counter. "Job''s done! So do I owe any kind of tithe or something?" "Wha-? No?" Belle wasn''t expecting that question and was thoroughly confused by it, her head tilting enough to cause a loose strand of hair to drape in front of her face. However, she regained her mind quickly, looking over the scroll, checking that it was done correctly and smiled down at it, before nodding. "I see you have the almanac already, so all that''s left is just your payment." Reaching under the counter, she pulled out a single silver coin, setting it on the counter, she slid it to the edge for him to grab. The smile never leaving her face as she pulled her hand back. "Don''t spend it all in one place, do try to save some money." Why was this still a saying, even in this world? Erik merely grabbed the small piece of polished metal, and began to look it over. An alert coming to the back of his mind as his thoughts began to wander over the piece. "You have fully completed a mission for the Guild of Leshan. In doing so your guild rank is one step closer to being upgraded. However, due to your current rank and the rank of the mission taken, reductions have been made. One point towards progression has been given." Then a new counter appeared under the one constant that he''d had since he''d first started his quest as a mage. He was honestly wondering what it had meant by reductions, but quickly pushed it out of his mind to stare at the two sets of points, and then back at the silver coin in his fingers. 6/50 1/40 Then he remembered what he was supposed to be doing, quickly cupping a hand over a fist and bowing swiftly and shallowly towards Belle. "I must get back to Anri''s shop, Guildsman Head Liam is still there and I think he may get into trouble." "Not the sort of trouble you may be thinking of." "What was that?" Then Belle was turned back around towards her rear counter, whistling completely out of tune, pretending she had said nothing or heard anything from Erik. He merely stared at her back, then shrugged and began rushing out of the guild and back down the road. As he ran, he picked up a few of the loose cobbles and some dust making his way back towards Anri''s shop. Making his way faster than before down the streets, his book was forgotten within his free hand, while he held tight to the silver coin. Erik nearly passed the shop, and had to come to a skidding stop, which inevitably snapped the hempen ropes of his sandals. This is when he went tumbling to the side, rolling a few times before bouncing back to his feet, looking around. "Nothing happened! I''m okay! No one saw that right?" He was fortunate enough to see that no one had been looking towards or at him, at least until he saw the door of Anri''s shop. Two sets of eyes looked at them, though he didn''t see the accusation in them, instead it looked as if he''d just caught a couple of dogs doing something wrong. Their faces were flushed, and their outfits were both disheveled, a few buttons on the old man''s tunic undone, and Anri''s shoes were completely missing from under her short dress. Blinking a few times, it finally registered what Belle had said. "Oh. . . that''s gross. . ." He had only barely whispered it, and so it didn''t make it to the two of them, and once he got his feet under him, Erik made his way back over. Clicking his teeth with his tongue he looked at the broken sandals in the middle of the road. "Mind. . . if we stop by the cobbler first? I seem to have broken my shoes." "You idiot boy. . . Just use your new spell, go on do it." He had wholly forgotten that he''d just learned a new spell. Reaching down he picked up his sandals both, looking them over, then concentrated on them as a small almost blueprint like screen appeared in his vision. At the top it read: Design Maker. On the page itself, a picture of the sandals came up, and then a prompt came up asking if he would like to alter, repair, or desynthisize the footwear. He wondered why this screen hadn''t come up when he made the windows, and then it clicked in his mind. He was changing what was already made, not making something altogether new. Swiping his eye near the alter, he began to change the shape of the wood and hempen ropes. Making it so that the wood could curl and move with his foot and his movements, like one of those wooden snake toys that would wave in the air. Forming it to fit his feet, and then using the hemp to make a latice over where the top of his feet would go. Once he was happy with the design, he hit the accept button, feeling his mana drain just a little, compared to what had happened with the entire shop. Though, at the end, in his hands he held a pair of toe shoes made of wood and hempen mesh. He grinned stupidly at himself for a few seconds, before slipping on the foot wear, getting his toes into each of the sockets before getting used t othe feeling of the now nearly weightless things. Kicking his toes to the cobbled street, he looked up smiling wide. "Well, that is one useful spell." "Did you just. . modify with the create spell?" "Uhm, yes?" "Impossible." Anri shook her head, laughing slightly, a hand to her forehead. Then she looked up to Erik for a second and then turned to face Liam, a scowl crossing her once smiling lips, the man''s arm having somehow found it''s way around her hip. "Get you old dog, go back to your guild and do-" Flipping her hand in a slow spinning circle trying to think of the words she was trying to get out. "Guild things!" Then she shoved him slightly, before moving away from his touch and over to Erik, smiling again. Liam on the other hand was dumb struck still from the sight of the shoes that Erik now wore, not to mention having almost been caught in the act of some rather adult situations. Watching the two for a moment longer, Laim cleared his throat, putting his fist to his lips, before speaking up. "Make sure that bog witch doesn''t curse you boy." This got a rude gesture from Anri, before Liam was thumb-clicking away with his staff pressing to the cobbles each second step. However, Anri kept her eyes fixed on Erik, a wide smile touching her lips as she spoke again. "Come, let us go to your home, there are things we must discuss. . . Namely about Leviathan Academy." This felt like a physical blow to Erik, as he found himself falling to the ground, ass hitting hard among the stones as he looked at her. "Leviathan. . Academy?" This got a chortle from the woman, as she came to her full height, then she turned from him. Moving into the shop, she was gone no more than a few moments, and then she was back out carrying the overly large hand-bag, while closing the door and locking it. Then she looked at him still on the ground. "Come along, show me to your home, you little monster."