《Old Version - The First Magician》 Chapter 1 - Yggdrasils Might The year is 2022 and scientists have managed to revolutionize data storage by devising a way to store digital information as DNA at an affordable price. The original idea involved converting the information to 1''s and 0''s and then converting it to DNA sequences as A''s, C''s, T''s and G''s. This new DNA was then synthesized into a liquid and could be stored as such until needed, at which time a DNA sequencer could turn it back into digital information. This did, of course, cost an astronomical amount of money in the beginning but seeing the difference that shrinking all of the worlds data storage facilities into small containers could have on the world spurred several groups to dedicate their efforts to make it affordable. By the year 2024, this dream was completed, and by the year 2028, it was affordable enough even for colleges to have them for students to work with before entering the field. It was at Harvard University in America that a curious student working on gene editing had the odd thought of what kind of gibberish the machine would spit out if he ran the entire human genome through it as if he was trying to convert information back into a digital medium. At first, the resulting information just looked like gibberish to him but after a few moments, he realized some of the mess of symbols looked familiar. He quickly did some searching online and found what he was looking for immediately. The information spit back out was incredibly similar to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics! He attempted to load the resulting information into a translator but unfortunately, it came back mostly as a mess. Many of the hieroglyphs were only partially complete but he could see some options for what certain ones should look like. Attempting to fix all the errors that the astronomical amount of data that the entire human genome supplied though was well outside his ability, unfortunately. Instead, the student notified the school who then notified the military, as this was clearly something big. The military took over the same day and both the student and the school were sworn to secrecy. At area-51 in Nevada the government continued to run hundreds of human genome samples through the machine to confirm the information and every test came back with hieroglyphics and most sections were the same but some of the areas that had been incomplete symbols were complete in other persons genome samples. The scientists at area-51 quickly set about gathering genome samples from as many varied people as they could from every section and culture of the world in an attempt to fill in as many of the gaps as they could before they attempted to make guesses. They even took the trouble to secretly obtain samples from the various protected indigenous tribes that lived on the various island around the world and in the Amazon and such, as their population had the least mixing. Eventually, someone had the bright idea of obtaining DNA samples from mummies as well, as some of it had degraded over time but they do still preserve some samples and that would give them samples from the same time period as the language this was outputting in. After months of gathering all the samples they could and continuously running them through and comparing the results to the rest, they finally had a complete set of information and set to work translating and making sense of it. It took dozens of experts and two years of translating before they finally had a large enough section of it mapped out to begin to understand the message. It seemed to talk about being some sort of instructions on how to create some sort of new biological being through gene editing and cloning using human DNA as the basis and heavily editing it. This was perhaps the greatest discovery man has ever made, finally hinting at their origins and even solidifying that some higher power or more advanced race had taken part in humanities creation. Still continuing in complete secrecy, the American government spent the next 10 years translating the rest of it with the largest team it could assemble that understood the hieroglyphics enough. Since many of the things they explained did not exist to the Egyptians much of the information had to be translated by hand rather than pushing it through a translation program.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. After 10 long years, they had enough translated and enough of the advanced terminology understood for what it was to devise a program to do the rest, as continuing by hand would take hundreds of years for this much information. The human genome is massive after all. The program succeeded and the American government began the project and created what they called "Adam" due it being the first of its kind. When completed Adam had the appearance of a normal oak tree seed despite its human base. The very second that Adam came into being however things began going terribly wrong. Massive amounts of unknown energies began appearing on the various monitoring equipment and Adam exploded roots out in every direction. Area-51 was quickly overrun and destroyed as the roots took over everything and nothing seemed capable of stopping it. Steel doors, napalm, explosives, freezing it and anything else in its way was simply ignored in its relentless spread. Its roots burrowed deep into the earth and it began growing into what was seemingly an enormous oak tree with its upper branches sprouting into the heavens. When Adam had finished its growth it was now encompassing a 100-mile radius around the epicenter and its top had expanded all the way past Earth''s atmosphere and into space itself before finally halting. This entire growth process took only a few hours, giving the American government very little time to do anything about it or to prepare a response for the world. Something of this size was, of course, visible for quite a distance and with modern technology was known to the world within minutes, but before panic could grip the world time itself seemed to freeze. People could not move or speak, planes were frozen in the air, birds in mid-wing flap and so on - yet people could still think and were aware of the stoppage. It was during this freeze that humanity first heard the voice of the System. A mysterious voice rang out in the minds of every human at once. Its language was not understood and yet people knew the meaning. Its words could not be remembered and yet the meaning was burned into their minds. It was as if it was their own bodies giving them this information rather than an outside source. "After many millennia Humanity has once again reached the zenith of its current evolution and the time has come for a trial to push it to its next level. As was done when we initiated the previous ice age, the weak will be culled the strong will survive and innovation and adaption will be forced upon your collective race. The seed of Yggdrasil has been planted and will soon bloom, spreading its children across the planet and bringing new possibilities to the human race. New energies and materials will come into being to be utilized, improved upon and experimented with on your journey to the next level of your species while you battle for survival. The creatures of the planet, however, will be affected by these energies just as you gain the power to utilize them. The energy will also condense and create creatures never before seen. These threats are what will truly push you. Within Yggdrasil and its offshoots lie places to test the strongest among you and conquering the challenges within will allow you to advance on your way to ascension. Good luck humanity." As the voice faded from the minds of humanity the being that waspreviously known as Adam, now known as Yggdrasil, suddenly shook as if in a violent wind. Suddenly from many of the billions of leaves covering the tree countless seeds identical to the first shot out covering the world. Wherever a seed landed it quickly grew into a slightly smaller version of the original but still covering many miles each. A few were near the size of the original, some simply the size of an office building and all sorts of sizes in-between. After each sprout grew they began emitting mana, Ki and other energies which fueled the growth of massive forests and plant life that soon took over the planet. Buildings had trees sticking straight through the concrete and out the top, vines dug through steel as they wound their way up and nothing stood in the way of this unnatural spread of nature. Electricity and running water were now gone with the exception of extremely small pockets where the infrastructure was lucky and still ran to some areas or in the cases of a private generation facility that was spared. Humanity was brought to its knees in a matter of hours. From this destruction, however, humanity will enter a new age - an age filled with magic, dragons, death, and growth - the age of Yggdrasil. Chapter 2 - Classic Time Skip -200 years later, outskirts of the ruins of Pine Bluff in Arkansas- ¡°Alex, wake up!¡± Yelled a young feminine voice from nearby. ¡°Whaa¡­¡± Groaned Alex as he slowly woke up and rolled over in bed. His eyes opened slightly and he took in his small room. He slept in an average bed similar to what people did pre-cataclysm and lived in a fairly small bedroom within his families apartment. Light shone through his window illuminating his small writing desk handmade of rough-hewn wood, an old metal lawn chair and simple dresser full of his meager supply of clothes; most of which were heavily patched by his mother at this point. Spread across the desk was his precious supply of spell scrolls although he could only afford the most basic at the moment since he wasn¡¯t a real adventurer yet. Next to his desk was his pile of trainee adventuring supplies, showing clear signs of wear. An old world backpack with some leather holding together a few sections, a pair of sturdy hiking boots and a bedroll meant to be attached to the bottom of the backpack. Inside the pack was all of the basic supplies that he would need to journey outside of town for any length of time or to enter a dungeon. Suddenly a sharp pain slammed into his stomach with a good bit of force and his eyes shot open, all signs of tiredness gone. ¡°How many times do I need to tell you to stop jumping on me to wake me up, Emily!?¡± His little sister had a habit of waking him up this way and despite the predictability of it Alex just couldn¡¯t bring himself to wake up fast enough to avoid her morning antics. Emily is just eight years old so sometimes it can be hard to get things through her thick head. ¡°But today is your awakening! You should have been up forever ago.¡± Emily complained in a whiny voice as she climbed off of his bed. ¡°Ah! My awakening is today!¡± Exclaimed Alex loudly as his eyes and mouth shot open in surprise. Back, in the beginning, every living adult got the choice of a few seemingly random classes and the benefits that go along with it but as things settled down people realized that children under 15 had not been granted a class but nobody was quite sure why. It slowly spread that as children reached their 15th birthday the dungeons would allow them access and upon entering they would be given the choice of class and the perks that came along with it. Today was Alex¡¯s 15th birthday and he had no time to spare! He jumped out of bed and started stripping off his night clothes to change into his adventuring gear. ¡°Eww!¡± Screamed Emily as she ran from the room at the sight of her older brother undressing. Alex could hear her run all the way to her room before tuning out the noise and getting dressed. ¡°Hmm, let''s see cant forget anything today¡­¡± He murmured to himself as he pulled on a beige linen shirt with dark brown leather on the elbows and various other sections for added protection. Alex also wore an extremely faded pair of blue jeans with dark brown leather patches and a pair of hiking boots. As he pulled on his sword belt with his wooden practice sword he silently prayed that he was given access to one of the stronger swordsman classes. He had been preparing for it his whole life! He grabbed his backpack last with its basic exploration supplies - rationed food for a few days, a canteen of water and some very basic medical supplies. Since the classless never actually left town alone he didn¡¯t need to have too much in there but it was best to carry the basics. As more teenagers got classes it became apparent that the class choices were in fact not random and were instead based off of several factors. The true personality of the individual along with the actions and achievements in their life up until this point seemed to be the main focus. Some class options still did not make sense to people but the new laws of the world were still mysterious despite how much time has passed as communication is now heavily limited. Some of the largest and strongest cities had limited electricity and plumbing but any attempt to run things out of town was always ended in it being destroyed by monsters as soon as it was left unguarded. To make matters worse it took several generations for humanity to adapt enough to start feeling safe again but by that point, most of the advanced knowledge had been lost. Digital information was inaccessible without power and many books had been destroyed in the initial years when most buildings got destroyed by plants and became open to the elements. ¡°Ok, all set!¡± Alex said triumphantly and did a quick fist pump in the air. He ran out of his room into the hallway and down the steps. The building was an old world building of some sort that had survived the worst of the cataclysm. The entire building was made out of concrete although they had made it more homey with some rugs and things hanging on the walls and such. Various vines could be seen along the walls, floor, and ceiling along with an entire tree growing out of the hallway at the far end, past where any of the usable rooms were. As he sprinted down the steps he saw his mother step out of the kitchen and into his path. ¡°Slow down there mister! I know you''re excited about your big day but you can¡¯t skip the most important meal of the day.¡± His mother Jaclyn smiled tenderly. She was a young woman most would assume was in her early thirties. She was of Caucasian descent, as were her husband and children, and she had waist-length light brown hair. ¡°Let me get a good look at my son before he heads off to become a man,¡± Jaclyn said as she handed Alex an egg sandwich. Alex himself looked to be an average height 15-year-old with dark brown hair just past his ears.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He had a bit more muscle on his than your average 15-year old since he had aspirations to be a swordsman but he wasn¡¯t massive. He had blue eyes and looked like he was used to handling himself. This world was a challenge after all and the children were being groomed for their awakening since the age of 8. His sister Emily was about to start her training as a potential healer in fact. His mother¡¯s intelligence stat was quite high after all and his sister was one of the lucky few who managed to not just inherit one of their parent''s stats but she even got their mother¡¯s highest stat! ¡®Lucky¡­ I wish I had gotten a strength boost.¡¯ He thought to himself as he looked down at the numbers lining his right arm. After the advent of Adam and the birth of Yggdrasil, all of humanity got a series of numbers on their right arm that looked like a black tattoo. If you thought about them you would inherently know their meaning but the visual representation was useful when dealing with others. These numbers symbolized the primary stats - Strength, Vitality, Agility, Lifespan, Intelligence, and Wisdom. Most of these were obvious, strength makes you stronger and agility makes you more agile. Vitality made you harder to damage, allowed you to take more damage before death and helped you to heal faster. Lifespan signified how many years you had left with each point being ten years, although it was not perfect. You could still die to disease or a monster attack, this was just your maximum time on this earth if you stayed healthy and safe. Wisdom was a bit trickier than the others. When people focused on it in their dream space, the location they could see their class and adjust stats while sleeping, the System told them what it did but nobody could seem to utilize it apart from extra mana regeneration. Supposedly wisdom controlled the effectiveness of shaping and wielding raw mana along with your mana regeneration rate. Many people have tried putting points into wisdom to be able to use mana freely without the aid of scrolls but despite the description of wisdom saying it could be done, nobody had managed it thus far. It also didn¡¯t quite seem to make you smarter per-say but more capable of making the best choices in a given situation. This made it useful to a point but it was still widely considered the least important of the stats in this brutal world. All of the stats could be trained higher through normal actions and several would simply go up as you age. A 5-year-old is, of course, going to have more strength than a baby for example even if they did not train, which a 5-year-old would not be doing. Wisdom was the hardest to raise and for most children, it simply went up by 1 per year on their birthday. Once you were an adult or in your later teenage years though you would start to see peoples wisdom raising more. Intelligence increased your internal mana reserves and the strength of spell scrolls used along with quick thinking and clearer thoughts. His sister¡¯s high intelligence was why she was in training to be a healer as she could use more healing spell scrolls before being out of mana than most others. The reason for that was one of the other biggest changes to humanity. When the first children started being born people noticed that they were being born with one stat usually much higher than the others. It was deduced eventually that some children are lucky enough to randomly gain 10% of one of their parents highest stat added onto their own starting stats. It was estimated from what they saw in their own town and when they travel to the nearby towns that this happened to around 1 out of every 50 children born, so the people it happened to were quite lucky. If they were also lucky enough to receive one of their parent''s high stats, well, that¡¯s how heroes were born. The town had very high hopes for Emily¡¯s future progress as a healer. So since their mother was a famous battle priest in the past and had quite high intelligence, Emily really lucked out inheriting it. Unfortunately, Alex was not quite as lucky and inherited neither his mother''s high intelligence nor his father''s high strength. This did, of course, do nothing to dissuade him from his dreams of becoming a great swordsman like his father though. Once they got a class the stats got a boost depending on the class and rarity which then updated the numbers of your arm to reflect them. The other details of the class, however, were hidden after you got to see them during the selection. To see them again and how your leveling progress was going, you had to go to sleep while thinking about your class and then you would be able to know more. Alex didn¡¯t know much about this process though as it was hard to explain and he would know when he got a class of his own he was told. Alex took a big bite of the sandwich and gave his mother a hug, before edging past her to escape. ¡°Ah, before you go!¡± She yelled and he stopped mid-step. Alex¡¯s eyes widened as he turned around and saw his mother pulling a scroll out of a carved wooden box about the length of a Childs'' forearm. ¡°Is that what I think it is!?¡± He exclaimed, but before he could try to stop her his mother began reading from the mid-tier barrier scroll. ¡®I can¡¯t believe she is using a mid-tier barrier on me! That must have cost a whole weeks pay!¡¯ He thought to himself in shock. ¡°Leather, metal, plate, or mail; magic defends where others fail. Shield!¡± Alex felt more than saw a small barrier line the edges of his clothing and body covering him entirely as his mother finished the chant. He silently watched as the scroll crumbled into dust in her hands. His mother slumped to the side and leaned on the wall for support. ¡°Mother! You shouldn¡¯t use so much mana at once, you know that!¡± Alex said with worry. ¡°I know I know sweetie but I couldn¡¯t send my only son off for his awakening without the best shield buff I can supply. Don¡¯t forget, your mother is a famous battle priest. This much mana expenditure will only take me a few hours to recover from and I¡¯ve been holding onto that scroll for years while waiting for this day.¡± Jaclyn responded with pride while slightly out of breath. ¡°Unless you take a serious hit that should last for the entire day. Good luck!¡± Unfortunately despite the world being filled with mana and Ki humanity seemed to only have a true aptitude for Ki, with most of the techniques originating from the Far East in China and Japan and such, so physical classes tended to be the norm. For people like Alex¡¯s mother who healed or people who wished to use magic, they had to rely on scrolls written with monster blood. The incantations originally were in an odd never before seen language that allowed anyone to understand the contents in their own tongue but without being able to fully comprehend the runes making it up, similar to the System¡¯s voice that humanity heard at the beginning of the cataclysm. After some testing, it was discovered that writing the incantations in your own language worked as well as long as you used monster blood for the writing itself still. Along with this discovery, it was also found that intent means just as much as the words and that the words must partially be there to help you keep a focus on the correct intentions. So if you were to read a spell in Spanish without knowing the language, it would do nothing if you did not know the proper purpose of the spell. They still drew mana from peoples bodies however and humanity seemed to have an abysmal mana regeneration rate compared to the monsters they fought. Certain alchemical concoctions could speed this up but in general spell casting was rare. ¡°Thanks, mom, bye!¡± Just like that Alex turned and bolted from the house, sprinting along overgrown mossy roads towards his destination, one of the offshoots of the great tree Yggdrasil which was commonly referred to as a dungeon due to their similarity to the idea of dungeons that humans was already families with. It was there he would finally get a class and start on the path to becoming a great swordsman and adventurer! Chapter 3 - Awakening Alex was currently standing in front of a large tree that stretched higher than he could see and would take him several hours to walk around the trunk of. It looked similar to a normal oak tree but scaled up massively and thrumming with the powers of mana, Ki and possibly undiscovered energies as well. New discoveries were still not uncommon in this strange new world. Around Alex were the other 2 teenagers from the community that were turning 15 today and would be awakening with him along with the two guards assigned to help them with it. One was Todd, a smaller shy boy that didn¡¯t talk much or play with the others. He was always exploring the dangerously crumbling buildings or running off to the forest despite the trouble it got him in. The other person was Rose, a bright-eyed outgoing tomboy that was also pursuing the path of the swordsman like him. They had trained under the same mentor most of the time and thought of each other as friendly rivals continuously pushing each other to be better. ¡°Ok! ¡°As you may or may not know, my name is Thomas and my partner here is Howard, and we are the members of the city guard assigned to watch over you during your awakenings today. Now that everyone is here, let¡¯s go over the ground rules again.¡± Said the guard Thomas. ¡°We will go in one at a time, with the other two waiting out here with Howard. This is to ensure that the individual who is awakening is not rushed in the choice by any nearby danger and so that those of you waiting are not jumped by something from the forest.¡± Howard continued next, saying. ¡°The order will be as follows. First Todd, then Rose and finally Alex. This dungeon has been farmed and scoured many times over the years by the community built around it so we know what to expect from it, but if something unexpected does happen that Thomas cannot handle alone, remember to run out of the dungeon and not deeper inside. Come out and tell me quickly what happened and then you will all run back to the town''s barrier as quickly as possible and alert more guards.¡± Most of the thriving human settlements left had a magical barrier around them that kept out monsters. If too many attacked the barrier or one that was too powerful it would crumble, however. The barrier generator was an orb hidden within the town hall and needed to be regularly fed with mana from the populace as well as copious amounts of monster blood in order to stay powered. Howard gave everyone a stern look as he finished speaking and Thomas took a step towards Todd. ¡°Ok Todd, let¡¯s go get you a class! I''m sure you''re plenty excited.¡± Todd quietly said, ¡°Yes sir!¡± And followed Thomas into the giant wood arch in the base of the tree leading inside. Rose turned wild-eyed to Alex and explained loudly and excitedly ¡°I hope we both get an amazing swordsman class! I''m going to be the greatest swordsman alive and you can be my sidekick forever!¡± Alex grinned defiantly and replied ¡°Oh well see about that! How about a duel after we get back tonight?¡± ¡°You''re on!¡± She replied happily. It wasn¡¯t until now that she seemed to notice the dull blue glow surrounding him though. ¡°You¡¯d better get that shield dispelled first though before our fight. Having a healer as a mother is cheating!¡± Rose said with a pout on her face. As they finished their exchange Thomas and Todd could be seen coming back out already. Todd quietly told the group ¡°I got the archer class. Hopefully, when I class up in the future I can advance to a scout type class.¡± He shuffled his feet as he stood back in line with the others. ¡°That''s a good fit for you.¡± Remarked Alex. ¡®Too bad it¡¯s a basic class though. Hopefully, I get a good fit for myself as well.¡¯ He quietly thought to himself. ¡°My turn! Let''s do this!¡± Yelled Rose as she jumped up and down. Thomas sighed as he and Rose half jogged through the entrance. The three of them left outside stood in silence since Todd was not really one to talk much. While Alex waited impatiently for his own awakening he took another moment to study his right arm and the numbers that lined it.
Strength: 67
Vitality: 62
Agility: 54
Intelligence: 60
Wisdom: 15
Lifespan: 8
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Alex was reasonably proud of his current stats. They weren¡¯t anything amazing like Rose or his sister, both of whom had gotten stats inherited from their parents, but his strength was still higher than most of the children his age and he could beat most of them in a fair fight with only Rose really posing a true challenge. The rest of his stats were fairly average and on par with the other trainees in his age group. Generally, the other children his age had stats around 60 or so depending on how hard they worked and what they focused on hence why his agility was a bit lower than average but in exchange, his strength was higher. Thankfully Rose and Thomas came back out even quicker than Todd had. She must have seen something that made the other options not even matter. ¡°Alex! Alex Alex Alex ALEX GUESS WHAT!¡± She screamed excitedly getting louder with each repetition of his name. ¡°I got an advanced class right off the bat! All these years of training paid off big time! You''re looking at a level 1 soldier, only the best for the best. ¡°Wow!¡± Exclaimed Alex in awe. The soldier was well known to be one of the more powerful classes you could start as for someone wanted to advance along the path of the sword. It is known that when given your class choices they are heavily based off of your training up till this point along with your personality. Someone who wanted with all their being to become a swordsman and trained the best they could for it was likely to see the class. If they only pretended to want swordsman however to appease a parent but still did the training they would likely see only the lower tier sword-wielding classes but also some related to what they truly want to be. For this reason, children are rarely forced into doing training for something they do not aspire to be great at. As you gain experience and level up it gets harder each time and your class gives certain bonuses to your attributes. When you reach level 15 and get to choose an advanced class one of the perks it comes with is increased attributes per level. However, if you started with an advanced class, you also had much higher attribute gain from the start. ¡°That''s just like you Rose. Looks like your claim from earlier about becoming the greatest swordsman wasn¡¯t just a boast.¡± Alex said as he gave her a warm smile. ¡°I just hope it gives me the fighter option at least so I can still advance to swordsman later.¡± ¡°You''re up Alex, let¡¯s head in.¡± Said Thomas as he jerked his head in the direction of the dungeon. ¡°Good luck!¡± Rose said and waved happily as Alex left for his own awakening. ¡®This is it¡¯ he thought to himself, ¡®the day I have been training for! I can do this!¡¯ As he mentally psyched himself up he studied the entrance to the dungeon within the trunk of the giant offshoot of Yggdrasil. Naturally grown right into the base of the trunk was a large archway tall enough for a grown man riding on another mans shoulders to walk through fine and easily four men wide. The bark was decorated with numerous arcane glyphs that helped humanity jumpstart its research into enchanting and scrollwork by a bit, although since there were so many woven together it was still a challenge to find out what each one did and how they interacted together. Any attempts to completely recreate the archway did nothing as well for unknown reasons. The purpose of the arch seemed to prevent people under the age of 15 from entering the dungeon and give those over the age of 15 a class when they first pass through one of the many arches in the world. It did nothing to prevent the creatures inside from roaming out but the town guard and adventurers kept the dungeon culled enough that it hasn¡¯t been a problem for years. As Alex and Thomas walked through the entrance Thomas took his battle-ax off his back and assumed a ready stance as they slowly entered the dungeon. Alex began to feel a tingling sensation all over his body and couldn¡¯t suppress his wide grin as he waited for the System to appear to him. As the tingling grew and the System did not appear, he started to become slightly worried. ¡®Why is it taking so long? I was always told it appeared almost right after you walked in.¡¯ Suddenly the tingling turned into agonizing pain as his body shone like the sun. ¡°Argh!¡± Thomas wheeled around quickly and nearly dropped his weapon as he stared slack-jawed at a sun shaped like a person. ¡°Alex¡­?¡± He breathed out in nearly a whisper before the light was snuffed out and a shockwave accompanied by a thunderclap exploded from where Alex had been standing. Thomas was thrown back several feet but being a seasoned guard quickly recovered. To his surprise, Alex was gone and just a scorched spot on the ground remained in his place. ¡®How am I going to explain this to the others!?¡¯ He thought in a panic as he ran his hand through his hair. ¡®What the hell happened to you Alex?¡¯ He thought as he sprinted out of the dungeon to tell the others. Chapter 4 - Can you repeat that please? The pain stopped as quickly as it had started and Alex opened his eyes which had been clenched shut tight. ¡®Where the hell am I?¡¯ He wondered as he looked around, or at least he thought he did. His head seemed to be turning and he could see himself but he was having trouble comprehending his surroundings. As far as the eye could see in every direction was an endless white void of nothingness. Alex appeared to be floating but did not feel as if he was nor did he feel hot or cold or really much of anything now that he thought about it. He just sort of was. Suddenly a voice boomed out within the void from every direction, sounding as if it was the void itself speaking to him. Alex couldn¡¯t understand the words themselves but yet the meaning behind them was crystal clear as if he understood it on an instinctual level. ¡°Hello, Alex. I am the Architect, the one in charge of the ¡°System¡± as you call it and in charge of the development of humanity. I am speaking to you directly because a choice lies before you that will impact the future of the world.¡± Alex¡¯s mouth and eyes opened wide and he attempted to speak but found himself unable to make a sound. ¡°Humanity is nothing without free will and I will not take yours away here and now. Your lineage has adapted to the new world over the generations well enough that you are capable of becoming the first of a new branch of humanity and taking the first steps along the path to ascension. Doing so will change you physically and may make some members of your previous race dislike or distrust you, but you will also gain great power by doing so. You will become an Archon, a being of magic, somewhat similar to the elves from your people''s fairy tales. You will be the first to wield magic as easily as the rest of the world wields Ki. You will be able to pioneer the field of magic and go down in history as the first true magician. Your other option is Sentinel which is on par with the strongest sword-wielding classes any human has ever obtained however you will be locked out of mana usage. So I give you this choice, take all the time you need to decide. Time will not pass while in here.¡± Alex could feel the information pop into existence within his mind and it was as if he was recalling an incredibly crisp and clear memory rather than seeing something physical. He had no issues whatsoever imagining a blue box with the information neatly sorted and organized.
WARNING: Arcanist requires race Archon to proceed. Do you wish to know more about Archons?
Yes or No
¡®Of course, yes.¡¯ Alex said in his mind as he was still unable to speak aloud. When nothing happened he simplified it and repeated ¡®Yes¡¯ and was flooded with information in his mind.
Race: Archon
Racial Description: Archons are the true wielders of magic and while other races and beings can often do so none come close to the level of skill Archons are capable of displaying due to they themselves being a magical race. As such they do have certain benefits and drawbacks unique to the race.
Racial Benefits: Archons naturally have higher wisdom than the other races allowing them to control their mana better from a young age. As their very bodies are infused with magic they naturally sustain themselves off of the ambient mana requiring less food and water consumed and greatly extending their lifespans. Due to the naturally extended lifespan Archons will stop visibly aging at the human equivalent of 25.
Racial Drawbacks: Archons naturally have lower strength and vitality compared to the other races causing them to often need to fight from the back lines behind sturdied classes or races. If there is no ambient mana in the area Archons will be in great pain and will likely be incapacitated. Due to the naturally extended lifespan the children age slower and this can make raising children significantly harder as they will be smaller and more vulnerable for much longer. They still gain classes at 15 years of age however despite the younger appearance.
Racial Appearance: Their eyes always have mana flickering through them back and forth like little bolts of blue lightning. Their ears extend back further and end in pointed tips.
WARNING: As you were not born this race certain adjustments will be made to both your body and your stats.
Class: Arcanist
Primary Attributes: Wisdom, Intelligence
Secondary Attributes: None
Bonuses per Level: +4 wisdom, +3 intelligence, +0.5 vitality, +0.2 lifespan
Bonuses when chosen: +20 intelligence, double current wisdom
Description: The Arcantist is a unique class given to the first member of a race to obtain the usage of mana. The Arcanist is a true magician capable of melding mana to their will with ease and is rivaled by none in the field of magic. They do not suffer from the downsides that other casters will face by being limited to certain elements or fields of magic.
Class: Sentinel
Primary Attributes: Strength, Vitality
Secondary Attributes: Agility
Bonuses per Level: +3 strength, +4 vitality, +0.5 agility
Bonuses when chosen: +25 strength, +35 vitality, +10 agility
Description: The Sentinel is the ultimate physical force on the battlefield. Rivaled by none in its strength or vitality it has both the power to cleave its enemies in two with ease while shrugging off a storm of arrows from the enemy archers. No one man can stand against a Sentinel for the Sentinel stands against armies themselves.
¡®WHAT!¡¯ Alex screamed out in his mind as he finished reading both options. ¡®What the hell are these classes? The Sentinel is ridiculously overpowered! I haven¡¯t heard of any of the heroes In the past being that powerful even.¡®This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡®But Arcanist? Having the power to wield mana freely like humanity has dreamed of for centuries even before mana became real? I can¡¯t believe it gives lifespan either! A magical class is no joke. I¡¯ve heard of a few exceedingly rare herbs and dungeon rewards that extended lifespan slightly but as long as I keep training and leveling I could live for a very long time!¡¯ ¡®Eventually I would need far too much experience to reasonably level up but still, that¡¯s amazing. Also, do I really want to give up being human? Archons sound amazing but changing my race seems a little¡­The Sentinel, however, is everything I have ever dreamed about.¡¯ So he chose to sit there and think for a while. He had no idea how much time had passed, although the Architect said time did not flow here, he had to imagine it had been the equivalent of several long hours. This was a choice that would affect not just him but the entire world after all. At that thought, his head perked. ¡®Effect the whole world¡­ That''s right, I can¡¯t just think about myself and my own dreams here. Unlocking mana will help pioneer magic going forward and allow future generations to know what they are doing when others start getting magical classes. Either way, I will be powerful and famous, but the needs of the world outweigh the dreams of a kid like me.¡¯ With his mindset and a mental voice full of conviction Alex brought back up the screen for selecting classes and confidently said ¡®I choose Arcanist.¡¯
Are you sure you want to choose Arcanist as your class?
WARNING: Arcanist requires race Archon to proceed. Do you still wish to proceed with your selection?
¡®Yes.¡¯ Alex thought he might be able to sense a hint of satisfaction in the monotone voice of the Architect this time as he spoke. ¡°You have chosen well Alex, first true mage and first of the Archons. Till we meet again¡­¡± The voice slowly faded away. Or was my consciousness fading away? ¡®Sometimes it''s hard to tell¡­ these¡­ things¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­¡¯ Chapter 5 - Ouch ¡°AH!¡± Yelled Alex as he suddenly was jolted awake, nearly falling over while feeling a wave of weakness wash over him. One second he was slowly fading away in that endless void and the next he was standing upright in a dimly lit room with luminescent moss covering the walls and ceiling. At the same time, his thoughts felt¡­ sharper? Faster? They felt different than before and in a good way thankfully. He assumed that had to be from the intelligence and wisdom boosts. ¡®Hmm, my weakness must be from the racial negatives mentioned. It didn¡¯t say how much would be taken away but I¡¯d better check before I do anything else. He looked down at his hands and flexed them. ¡®An Archon and an Arcanist, huh.¡¯ He stopped reminiscing and looked at the numbers on his arm and for a moment his mind went blank. ¡°Huh?¡± He dumbly said aloud as he mentally compared his new numbers to the ones he had when he woke up this morning.
Old New
Strength 67 Strength 47
Vitality 62 Vitality 42
Agility 54 Agility 54
Intelligence 60 Intelligence 80
Wisdom 15 Wisdom 30
Lifespan 8 Lifespan 12
¡®All of my strength that I worked so many years for¡­ gone like that.¡¯ Alex lamented for a moment before remembering something important. ¡®But with this new race and class, I can live much longer and stay in my prime that entire time! Even if my class bonuses won¡¯t raise it and it will always be lower than almost everyone else I can still raise it the old fashioned way over time. I will never be able to physically hold my own to a proper warrior but surely my magic will suffice.¡¯ He thought satisfied. It was then that he remembered about the physical changes and quickly put his hands up to his ears. He could feel that rather than the smooth rounded shape they were when he woke up this morning they now extended several inches backward at an angle and ended in a pointed tip. ¡®It¡¯s so weird having feeling in an area that never existed before¡­¡¯ He thought to himself as he rubbed them for a few seconds. ¡®Ok enough of that, I can¡¯t keep wasting time. This is clearly not the same place I vanished from and is likely deeper in the dungeon or a different one entirely as I am certain the one near town doesn¡¯t have any known sections with dirt, it should all be wood.¡¯ He stopped for a moment as he realized how much quicker and clearer he was thinking than he had just a few hours ago. ¡®Man that wisdom especially made a big difference. It¡¯s an odd feeling though changing so fast and still remembering how I thought just a short while ago.¡¯ As he thought he began rummaging through his pack to double check what supplies he had on hand. ¡®Let¡¯s see here¡­¡¯ What he found was his usual metal canteen with enough water to last him around two days if he didn¡¯t waste it, two days worth of preserved food for traveling, an apple, some basic bandages and ointment and of course his bedroll tied to the bottom of the pack. ¡®This should do for now but I need to make sure that I am careful with the food and water until I find out where I am and how long it¡¯ll take me to get back.¡¯ He thought back to the adventuring and survival lessons he had learned over the last few years of training. The floor was hard packed dirt and the walls were the same but covered in a tight mesh of moss that glowed with a faint greenish-yellow light. In small amounts, it wasn¡¯t much but when it was everywhere it lit things up as good as any torch. He seemed to be in a dead end room and only had a single direction to head. ¡®Well, only one way to try¡­¡¯ he glumly thought as he crept toward the doorway.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. As Alex poked his head into the doorway from the side he careful searched for any enemies but didn¡¯t see anything visible, so he entered the hallway and slowly crept forward. The hallway was made of the same packed dirt and had plenty of the moss as well. He could see that it opened up into a larger room several hundred feet ahead and there were 2 hallways on the way, both on the right side of the current hallway. He couldn¡¯t make out any other details from his point of safety unfortunately though so it was time to go. Alex crept forward slowly and carefully, essentially tiptoeing down the hallway while trying his best to stay on alert for any possible dangers that might be waiting for him. He came up to the first of the two branches and slowly peeked around the corner again as he had before. BAM! Alex yanked his head back as fast as he could and stumbled backward in a panic as he just barely escaped losing his head to the massive battle-ax embedded in the wall. ¡°ROOOAAARRRRRR!¡± Screamed the minotaur as it came barreling around the corner, enraged that it missed its target it had so patiently waited for. The Minotaur was a truly massive seven-foot tall monstrosity as wide as two grown men and covered in thick coarse fur. It had the head of a bull with 2 large curling horns and the body of the most impressive bodybuilder he had ever seen. ¡°What the!¡± Alex exclaimed aloud still reeling from his near death experience. ¡®What is a minotaur doing here? The town guard and adventurers guild regularly clear the dungeon so that only weaker monsters spawn! There hasn¡¯t been a minotaur or anything of similar strength spotted here in years! Now I know for sure that this is either an undiscovered area or a different dungeon entirely.¡¯ Alex turned around and sprinted back to the room he had come from as fast as he could. He knew it was a dead end but he couldn¡¯t get past the minotaur as things were. ¡°ROOAARRR!¡± Its roar shook Alex to his bones as it began charging after him. Heart pounding and sweating profusely Alex gave his legs everything he had and as soon as he entered the room he dove to the side letting the minotaur charge past him in its rage and smash into the opposing wall a few dozen feet away. The minotaur was only stunned for a brief moment however and quickly turned around, zeroing in on Alex and beginning its charge anew. His only choice was to run back down the same hallway and hope there was somewhere to hide before it caught up. As he neared the hallways where the minotaur came from he heard its loud footsteps catching up quickly and the stomping caused him to stumble! Thankfully his agility wasn¡¯t just for show and he managed to keep his balance. ¡°ARGH!¡± He screamed in pain as the minotaur¡¯s ax smashed into his side with the force of a, well, with the force of a massive minotaur hitting you with its ax. The place where the ax and Alex¡¯s body met exploded with a blue light and he slammed into the dirt wall with enough force to send him through it and into a tunnel beyond. ¡®My mother''s shield spell! It was still active, I had forgotten all about it with the rest of this going on. She will be glad to know it saved me from being cut in two. Seems it was used up entirely in that one hit though.¡¯ ¡°ROAARRRR!!¡± The minotaur roared again bringing the stunned Alex back to reality. He quickly scrambled to his feet in the new tunnel and turned to face the Minotaur. ¡°Ouch!¡± ¡®Damn my arm hurts! I think it might have gotten broken when I smashed through the wall. The shield stopped the ax but it didn¡¯t have any energy left to help me with the wall. He looked toward the minotaur and sighed in relief when he realized it could no longer get to him. The tunnel he had been thrown into was made of stone on this side and by some enormous stroke of luck, the section he had been thrown through must have been weakened over time. The rest seemed to hold up just fine despite the minotaurs frustrations though. ¡°BANG! BANG! BANG!¡± The minotaur repeatedly smashed against the wall shaking loose dust and dirt down onto Alex as he carefully watched the surrounding stone to see if it would budge but it looked like it would hold up just fine. It roared twice more before finally stomping away out of Alex¡¯s sight. ¡®Well now that I am relatively safe, albeit wounded, let¡¯s see where I got to now.¡¯ Chapter 6 - The right tools to get the job done ¡®Wow, I didn¡¯t know there were any parts of the dungeon that were made of stone. Everything I learned said that the surroundings were always wood. First, the section out there made of packed dirt and now an area made of stone? Is this still the same dungeon even¡­.?¡¯ He pondered silently as he took in the hidden passage. Unlike the dungeon known to his home town, this section was made of rough stone blocks held together by what looked like a crude cement. There was no glowing moss in this section to light his way but he could see light coming from the room ahead. Without any other choice, Alex once again began creeping forward trying not to disturb anything again like with the minotaur. ¡®I still have no idea how it even knew I was coming.¡¯ He thought ponderously. ¡®Could it smell me? I''m sure I was moving quiet enough that it couldn¡¯t hear me. I¡¯ll have to ask some of the adventurers when I get back.¡¯ Alex came out in a small bare room that, unlike the rough stone passage he had just left, seemed to be made of a perfectly polished white marble. ¡°Wow¡­¡± He muttered under his breath to himself. As he looked around he couldn¡¯t see a single speck of dust or spider web in here either, as if it has been perfectly sealed until his entrance. At the far end of the room was the only area that didn¡¯t look like it was carved out of a single massive block of marble. There was an indent in the wall about the size of a normal human door with two torches on either side that seemed to burn without fuel. These had been seen a few times in dungeons before, but usually near rooms of great importance! Many efforts had been made to remove them for use outside the dungeon but every experiment shows that if removed from the wall the flame goes out, unfortunately. ¡®I wonder how this door opens? If it even is a door, it looks like solid marble. No, the torches wouldn¡¯t be there if this place wasn¡¯t special. Hmm.¡¯ He tapped his foot on the ground lightly while resting his chin in his hand and thought. He slowly walked up to the door while putting one foot forward and pressing down hard first in an attempt to trigger any pressure plates without getting killed by whatever trap they might set off. Surprisingly there were no traps and he was soon standing right in front of the door gently running his hands over its surface. The marble felt warm to the touch despite the surrounding walls being a very cool temperature. As he felt the smooth door his hands brushed some indents and suddenly glowing green words appeared on the door! At the same time, Alex heard a loud boom behind him and spun around to find the room sealed off! The path he had come through looked as solid and smooth as the rest of the walls with no sign that there had ever been a hallway there at all. ¡®Well I guess it¡¯s not like I could have gotten past the minotaur anyway, but I might really be screwed now.¡¯ Unlike the usual runes found on the magical scrolls from dungeons, these words were more like the voice of the System and the Architect. If Alex were to try and copy them down as written he would be unable; the words morphed into his preferred language on the wall as he read. He knew they were alien and yet he understood them perfectly.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡®Within lies one of the true tools of the Architect. Only those who are on the path to ascension may enter. Prove your worthiness to receive such a tool. All others will go no further and perish here for their folly.¡¯ Alex read the words a few times over in his head. ¡®Did the Architect know I would discover this room despite it having no clear entrances? Also, one of the true tools? I wonder what could possibly be back here.¡¯ Underneath where the writing had appeared a handprint sized indent had sunk into the wall. Smiling Alex placed his hand on the indent while visibly shaking with excitement. Slowly however his smile vanished and began turning into a frown. Nothing was happening. Nothing at all. Alex took his hand off the wall and thought about what the words had said. ¡®Only those who have started on the path to ascension?¡¯ Suddenly a lightbulb went off in his head. ¡®It must mean my ability to use mana from the new class! The Architect had said that this ability was one of the steps. ¡®But how do I project it? Maybe it works similar to how the combat trainers described Ki channeling. Hmm.¡¯ Since this area seemed to be safe from the minotaur and the only entrance left was the sealed door Alex decided to make camp and try to find out how to use his mana. He was careful to set up camp in the far corner from the entry so he would have as much time as possible if he heard something coming. He laid out the bedroll attached to his backpack and set to the task of taking care of his injured arm as best as he could first. He only had basic bandages and ointment however which was proving a problem. ¡®Hmm¡­ First off I¡¯d better try to inspect the damage I guess.¡¯ He thought to himself with a grimace. He gingerly handled his arm and tried to remember as much as he could from class about how to tell what might be wrong. ¡®Aha, there we go! Thank god it¡¯s not a break.¡¯ He let out a sigh of relief and slumped slightly. ¡®Just a very bad bruise and maybe a crack but I can¡¯t tell more with my expertise. It should be usable, albeit painful to do so, after a good night of sleep.¡¯ He decided to have a small meal consisting of some hard bread designed to last for weeks and an apple. It wasn¡¯t much, but he hadn¡¯t been expecting to be away from town for more than a few hours and only had the standard two days of supplies that trainees were made to always carry in their packs to get used to the weight so he was attempting to ration it in case it took him a while to find his way out of here. Once he finished his small meal Alex sat cross-legged on his bedroll and began to meditate as he had been taught. ¡®I need to look deep within myself and find the power within my soul. If mana works similar to Ki I will likely find it the same way.¡¯ Alex thought as he slowly breathed in and out. ¡®In¡­ and out¡­ in¡­ and out¡­¡¯ After a few minutes, he fell into a rhythm and quickly stopped having to think about breathing slowly or emptying his thoughts. Time passed while Alex sat there and meditated trying to find the power within himself. ¡°Aha!¡± He suddenly yelled aloud, breaking his concentration and pulling him out of his meditative state. ¡°Damnit¡­¡± He muttered. ¡®I finally found it and in my excitement lost my focus. This time I won¡¯t make that mistake!¡¯ He thought with confidence as he resumed his meditation. Deep within his being inside his soul itself, Alex could sense an enormous ocean of power that he assumed had to be his mana. ¡®I truly have this much? I had heard that when beginning ones training with Ki the power is often perceived as a small pool or pond. But an entire ocean? I¡¯ve never heard of that.¡¯ He thought in confusion with a bit of pride mixed in. Alex came out of his meditation again but this time with a wide grin on his face and eyes sparkling with excitement. Unknown to him the sparks of mana within his eyes sparked extra bright for a moment along with his mood. ¡°Well now that I can locate it and sense it, let¡¯s see what we can do with this stuff!¡± He said aloud and pumped a fist in the air, before settling back down and preparing to start experimenting. Chapter 7 - Tests? Alex concentrated deep inside himself and imagined the ocean of mana he had sensed in his earlier meditation. A deep dark blue ocean the depths of which he was having trouble fully sensing with his current skill. He imagined a trickle of water draining from the ocean into his outstretched left hand, attempting to coat it in mana like the basic Ki covering. As he concentrated on a small section of the mana sea he attempted to pull what seemed a decent amount out and channel it into his good left arm. As he concentrated on a section of the mana sea it began to churn and roil as if water boiling on a stove which made him think of heat and flames. The second he thought of the image of a flame in his mind however his hand caught fire! ¡°Ouch!¡± He yelped in pain and the fire vanished as his concentration broke, severing the flow of mana. Alex inspected his injured hand and thankfully only had minor burns as the fire existed only long enough for his mind to register the pain. ¡®Is it really that easy to create fire with this power?¡¯ He thought in wonder. ¡®Although it wasn¡¯t exactly without cost. I need to figure out how to push the mana away from me before I try something like fire again.¡¯ ¡®Although¡­ I wonder if I can just as easily create some cool water to ease the pain a bit?¡¯ His eyes lit up in excitement as he pondered the uses of mana he could imagine already. ¡®Let¡¯s try this again!¡¯ Resolved to his path, Alex resumed his meditation position and repeated the process to create the flow of mana but this time imagined cool water encasing his hand. Suddenly he felt cool water covering his burns! ¡°YES!¡± He yelled in happiness and immediately lost the flow of mana once again. ¡®This is amazing! I know the class said it is capable of manipulating raw mana but you really gotta see it to get the full meaning.¡¯ He thought happily before trying to think of something else to try. ¡®My mother¡¯s shield saved me from that minotaurs ax and I seem to have an enormous amount of mana so maybe I can give myself another shield in case I run into more trouble on the other side of that door?'' ¡®How to go about it though¡­ Hmm¡­¡¯ He sat in thought for a while trying to figure out how that might work. ¡®Visibly the shield looks like mana is coating your entire body perfectly. So maybe if I try to circulate it like Ki and then push it to the surface?¡¯ He came to an obvious-seeming conclusion given what he knew about the other power known in this world. So Alex sat back down in meditation and prepared to attempt to circulate the mana throughout his body. ¡®Let''s do this!¡¯ He thought and mentally pulled a small stream of mana from the ocean and began to send it along the Ki pathways in his body. ¡°ARGH!¡± He cried out in pain as his insides suddenly felt like they were on fire and he immediately stopped channeling mana. ¡®Shit! The pathways did NOT like something besides Ki flowing through them. Ok, not a good idea.¡¯ Alex was panting and bent over in pain but slowly recovering. He went from his cross-legged meditation position to laying down on the bedroll after taking a swig of water from the canteen and he soon fell into a deep slumber. All of the pain and excitement of the day had worn his body down and he desperately needed a bit of recoup time.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­
+1 Vitality
Alex groggily woke up from his sleep and slowly looked around the unfamiliar room in confusion. As he scanned the room though suddenly all the memories and experiences during his awakening came rushing back to him and he sat straight up in bed and looked around more seriously for any danger or changes. ¡®Good, I managed to not get murdered in my sleep and nothing seems to have changed in here. Although maybe good isn¡¯t the right word, more like acceptable. It would have been nice if the doorway that got me in here had opened back up and provided another escape route if I can¡¯t figure out how to get this door open.¡¯ Alex took his time packing up camp as he was still a bit sore but thankfully he had use of his arm again, albeit with pain, and his body didn¡¯t seem to be showing any signs of permanent damage. In fact, his body felt perfectly fine, just the arm pain at this point but as long as it was usable he could work with that. ¡®I was being impulsive before, I shouldn¡¯t be experimenting with unknown forces down here. I¡¯ve gotta just do my best to get out of here alive and figure out the rest later.¡¯ Alex silently berated himself for the bad decision to try and make his own shield spell before even knowing how mana functioned or being in a safe place. ¡®Instead, I just need to use the obvious way to escape now that I know how to generate mana on my hand.¡¯ He thought to himself as he slung his pack and sword belt back on before standing in front of the engraved door once more. Alex took a deep breath and closed his eyes to steady himself before placing his hand on the imprint and willing mana into his palm as he had done with the fire and water. He felt the wall heat up under his hand and opened his eyes. ¡°Click!¡± He quickly jumped back in case of a trap. The stone door lit up with green light along the edges and slowy slid into the ceiling with a loud rumbling grinding sound that set his teeth on edge and shook the floor slightly. As it withdrew fully into the ceiling Alex peered into the new room beyond and was slightly disappointed to see yet another tunnel but this one dark and unlit. He could see a light but by the size, it must be quite a distance away. He stood there for a moment conflicted on what to do. He couldn¡¯t seem to make out any shapes in the tunnel but the light from his room and the far room left a lot to desire. Alex glanced at the smooth wall behind him where the door he came through used to exist and sighed as he turned back to the new opening into the darkness. ¡®It¡¯s not like I have any choice here I guess. As the door said, any unworthy will perish here so I¡¯d best keep moving and not waste time.¡¯ Alex took two steps towards the doorway before realizing something and stopping. ¡®Prove your worthiness¡­ What if it means more than just being able to channel mana into the door? Why would this hallway be so long and dark without reason? This must be another test of some sort!¡¯ He realized with a jolt.
+1 wisdom
With this new realization in mind, Alex turned around and laid back out his bedroll and prepared to do something a tad dangerous, but seemingly unavoidable in the current situation. He needed to figure out how to safely use the fire mana. Chapter 8 - The Orb Several hours later Alex was still sitting cross-legged on his bedroll and experimenting with pushing raw mana away from his fingers. He figured the raw mana had yet to cause an adverse effect to him except for the channeling mistake so it was safer to play around with than starting with fire right away. What he had discovered so far was that if he directed the flow of mana into his fingers as he had done before with his whole hand he could then direct it away from his body and still sense and control the mana but unfortunately, the range seemed quite limited. He hoped the range was something he could improve on in the future as so far he had not been able to push the mana further than about 2 feet or so in front of him. Any further and the mana escaped his control and dissipated in the air. He wasn''t sure why but for some reason once the mana left his range it was no longer a visible blue as usual either, it simply vanished as far as he could tell. Whether this was because it left that range or because it was raw mana and not something like water or flames was anyone''s guess at the moment but Alex judged that he had progressed far enough to attempt fire now. ¡®Here goes nothing!¡¯ He thought as he concentrated on the raw mana floating above his index finger and said ¡°Fire!¡± Aloud to help him keep focus and not accidentally think of something else at the wrong time. To his delight, the mana wove itself into a complicated set of runes! A small flame appeared above his index finger about 6 inches up right where he had directed the strand of raw mana to reside. ¡°Woo! I did it! I can actually use real magic.¡± He exclaimed. ¡®Now it¡¯s time for the real test.¡¯ He thought before willing that little flame to move out of his range as quickly as he could. While Alex watched, the small candle flame shot away from him and stayed visible well outside the range that his raw mana had. To his utter delight, the flame existed all the way up until it hit the wall on the far side of the room. ¡®A real fireball! Albeit small, but now that I have the theory down¡­¡¯ He thought to himself as he prepared a larger one. This time the ball of fire was conjured at the maximum distance of two feet away so that he could make it around the size of his head without the heat affecting him too much. The set of runes that it wove seemed to be very similar to the ones for the smaller flame but there were still many differences. He wasn¡¯t sure though if they signified the size, temperature, amount of mana used or what. It would take quite a lot of research to ever figure that out fully. ¡¯Uh oh. With it at the end of my range already, can I even accelerate it? Or will it just fall to the ground as soon as it tries to? Well, the last one didn¡¯t explode or anything so it should be fine since the ground is marble¡­¡¯ He thought with a bit of worry. He could have dispelled it of course and tested this issue with a small fireball but where¡¯s the fun without a little risk? ¡®Accelerate!¡¯ He thought as hard as he could at the fireball and it soared across the room in a straight line just like the smaller one and splashed into the far wall sending flames in every direction before they dissipated, it''s fuel source gone and with nothing to burn. ¡®Amazing. As long as I will it to accelerate while still within my range it will keep that command even after leaving.¡¯ He suddenly realized he felt much more tired than he should have for what he had done since he last slept. ¡®Does the mana expenditure tire me out? Or is this the recent experiences catching up to me? I don¡¯t even have a way of knowing how long I even slept for.¡¯ He pondered. ¡®Well there¡¯s not much I can do about it now and my supplies won¡¯t last much longer. Time to see what¡¯s hiding for me down that hallway!¡¯ He decided as he cleaned up his camp once again. He decided to have another quick bite to eat and some water before heading in as he wasn¡¯t sure when his next chance might be again. As Alex stood at the entry to the tunnel he summoned another fireball the size of his head and sent it flying down the dark hallway, lighting up the walls as it went. ¡°SCREEEEEECH!¡± Alex put his hands over his ears in pain as an ear splitting screech filled the tunnel. ¡®What the hell is that!¡¯ He thought as he panicked slightly. Focusing down the tunnel again he could see something seemingly made of shadows on fire, having been hit with his fireball. The creature was roughly humanoid in shape and around waist height. It looked to be made of shadows themselves but at this distance, it was hard for Alex to make out much more. Even with his hands over his ears the screeching of the terrifying creature was quite painful and Alex tried his best to summon another large fireball to send at it. ¡°Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!¡± He screamed multiple times as he kept losing the stream of mana from the headache.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Finally, he managed to summon one and rather than the usual trickle of mana he drew a raging river of mana, desperate to kill this creature as blood was starting to come out of his nose. The fireball in front of him was putting off immense heat but Alex did not notice the additional burning pain to his body while concentrating as hard as he was. ¡°ACCELERATE!¡± He screamed both mentally and physically, shooting another fireball the size of his head down the tunnel. This one however burned with a blue heat and when it struck the shadowy figure it''s screaming finally stopped, as the being ceased to be in an explosion of light and flames so powerful Alex closed his eyes. ¡®Thank god!¡¯ He thought to himself before collapsing to the ground. ¡°Shit¡­¡± He mumbled. ¡®Well, this solves one mystery. Too much mana expenditure does indeed come at a cost.¡¯ At this point, he also noticed the minor burns covering a lot of his body from the intense heat of the fireball before he sent it on its way. ¡®Damnit, I need to stop accumulating so many wounds down here.¡¯ He chastised himself, not that there was much else he could have done anyway. While he sat slumped against the wall Alex took out the ointment he had in his pack and smeared it on his face and hands alleviating the pain in most of the exposed areas. After another swig of water and a short rest, he hoisted himself up and prepared to continue down the hallway. ¡®I don¡¯t seem to be feeling the adverse effects of the mana anymore so at least the recovery time doesn¡¯t seem to be long for that level of usage.¡¯ He thought happily. ¡°Fireball!¡± He said as he sent another, albeit smaller, fireball down the hallway to make sure no more of those shadow creatures was lying in wait. He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the fireball continue down the hallway until it eventually hit the ground near the end of the tunnel. ¡®Time to go then.¡¯ Finally, at the end of the dark tunnel, Alex came out into a brightly lit room made of the same white marble that everything had been made out of since coming here. Things were a little more interesting in this room, however. In the center of the room he came out in which was about twenty feet by twenty feet with a ten-foot ceiling was an obsidian pedestal about chest high. The pedestal had all sorts of intricate runes carved into it which glowed with an unearthly green and was the only source of light in the room, save for the object floating above the pedestal several inches in the air. What he saw nearly made him faint right then and there. Floating in front of Alex just waiting to be taken was a pearly white orb the size of a grapefruit with odd lines running all over it and giving off a similar green light to the pedestal. ¡®Is that mithril!? The legendary material said to be the strongest known after the cataclysm and the best item to hold enchantments? So rare that only the greatest heroes have anything made of it and even then only small items?¡¯ He nearly fainted at the sight of it, having never expected to see even a shard of mithril in his life. As he got closer Alex noted that the orb was made of the purest white mithril and covered in the most intricate lines of runes that Alex had ever seen, too small to even properly make out. He speculated that without the machinery humanity used to have there was no way for them to hope to replicate such fine engraving. It was beautiful though, covered in such a fine web of enchantments. Alex could feel the orb thrum with power as he stepped closer and the light it gave off brightened. ¡®I have nowhere to escape to and this is the greatest treasure I will find in my life. Unless this is going to help me defeat the minotaur and whatever else lurks out there somehow then my life is forfeit anyway¡¯ He thought as he set his mind on the goal of obtaining the orb despite the dangers it may possess. Before attempting to grab the orb he reminded himself to at least check for traps and such first and took a good look around the room. The walls were made of the same smooth marble as the previous room and there was another door opposite the one he entered through. The door appeared to be the same as the last one with the hand imprint in the middle but there was also an enormous amount of glowing green carvings on the door as well. ''I wonder what''s so special about this one?'' The closer he got to the orb the brighter it got and Alex worried slightly if it would explode or harm him, but what choice did he have? As he got nearly close enough to touch it the orb was so bright he had to screw his eyes shut to stop it from searing them. ¡°Arghh!¡± He yelled in frustrated pain as he took the last step he needed and touched the orb. Immediately the light died down and he slowly opened his eyes to find the orb still floating in the same spot but dimmed down to a manageable dull glow. ¡®I did it!¡¯ He exclaimed happily in his mind while carefully taking the orb in both hands and pulling it away from the obsidian pedestal. ¡®It is so smooth despite the carvings and oddly warm to the touch.¡¯ He commented as he turned it around in his hands. As he ran his hands over the orb in fascination he wondered what the purpose of it was. ¡®These enchantments are so finely packed, I¡¯ve never heard of something like this. People find enchanted gear in the dungeons sometimes but all attempts to replicate them have failed and we know almost nothing about how they work. I do know though that sometimes the rarest and most powerful of the enchanted items supposedly have runes carved into them related to the enchantment but nobody has been able to get them to do anything when copied to new items. It''s basically an entire book worth of runes packed into such a small shape!¡¯ He thought excitedly. This was the find of a lifetime - something that could secure his future even if he wasn¡¯t now an Archon and an Arcanist. While Alex excitedly daydreamed of greatness and the implications of the orb he didn¡¯t notice the glowing getting brighter once more. ¡°Wait, what¡¯s happening now!?¡± He exclaimed aloud when he finally noticed the change in the orb. He attempted to bend down to set the orb on the ground but found himself unable to move! ¡®Shit shit shit!¡¯ He mentally yelled right before the orb went supernova and he ceased to think. Chapter 9 - Free at last! ¡®Where am I? Did the Architect contact me again already?¡¯ Alex wondered as he looked around the void he found himself in. ¡°Woah!¡± He exclaimed when he looked down though and saw a massive ocean stretching as far as he could see. It didn¡¯t look like water though. ¡®Is that mana? My mana?¡¯ He thought as he attempted to stretch his senses to his mana like when casting a spell. The results were odd, he could feel his mana but at the same time, he couldn¡¯t. It did not respond to his commands either but what he could tell was that the ocean below him was indeed his mana pool. ¡®This must be my soul!¡¯ He suddenly realized. He brought his hand up to his head to scratch it as he tried to figure out how the orb had caused this. When he did however he realized he was holding the orb still! ¡°Wow! What is this thing doing inside my soul!?¡± Alex panicked slightly but he had no idea how this had happened or what to do next. He continued rolling the orb around in his hands as he had while truly awake but nothing happened like last time. In fact, the orb was entirely dark, the dull glow from before gone entirely let alone the imitation of a sun it had been pulling. ¡®Hm I needed mana to get into the room in the first place so maybe the orb needs it as well¡­? Worth a try I guess since I will need it to open the next door.¡¯ As he thought this through he realized something potentially problematic, however. ¡°How do I channel mana from my soul while inside my own soul?¡± He said when he tried to channel the mana into the orb and failed. Hours, days, weeks - Alex had no idea how much time had passed while he attempted to sense mana from within his own soul. Time was hard to keep track of when you are in an endless white void with the only thing changing up the scenery is a giant sea¡­ of¡­ mana¡­ ¡®If I can¡¯t sense my own mana from within my soul, what if I just dip the orb into the ocean of mana below? How could I have been so stupid as to not think of that? Although I never really tried moving in this space either.¡¯ As Alex came to this conclusion and he thought above moving down he suddenly began dropping toward the sea of mana as if falling through open air! ¡°Ah!¡± He exclaimed in surprise and mentally yelled ¡®STOP!¡¯ In his mind and came to a jarring halt. During the sudden drop, his grip had loosened a bit on the orb and now with the sudden halting of his momentum, it slipped from his grip. Alex watched in horror as the orb fell toward the ocean of mana below.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡®Uh-oh¡­¡¯ He thought nervously to himself. ¡®I hope nothing bad happ-¡® ¡°BOOOOOOOM!!¡± Alex covered his face in fear and curled into a ball in the air. He peeked through his fingers and saw the orb down below sucking in his entire ocean of mana at an incredible speed! ¡°NO!¡± He shouted in despair as he felt the drain on his being. When he had tried to manipulate too much of the mana before it had caused pain and for him to have to sit down for a rest and that was nothing compared to what was being consumed below. If the orb was sucking up the ENTIRE OCEAN what was going to happen to him? As pain wracked his body he convulsed in the air, unable to faint as he was already within his own soul, he watched the seemingly insatiable Mythril orb consume over half of the mana. The more mana the orb took within itself the brighter it had gotten and was once again performing an imitation of the sun. After it reached peak brightness it also began to expand within Alex¡¯s soul! Where the ocean of mana touched the orb, it seemed to form a natural barrier around it! No longer being rapidly consumed but instead slowing seeping through the barrier in small amounts. As this happened the pain began to fade from Alex and he was suddenly torn from his soul and sent back to reality. He jolted awake and looked around, back in the room he had been in before and laying on the cold floor next to the obsidian pedestal. He slowly got up and inspected the room but there were no unexpected changes he could spot. The pedestal still gave off its odd green light but of course, the orb was no longer floating above it as Alex held it within his grasp still. ¡®Well at least I survived getting the orb I guess. But what in the hell was happening in my soul?¡¯ He immediately sat down and began meditating, trying to make sure he wasn¡¯t about to be taken over by a shade or inflicted with some soul disease or something. Obviously, he found something odd right away the moment he began meditating as he figured he would. ¡®I can feel¡­ something? Something foreign is in my soul but it doesn¡¯t feel wrong, just warm and different from myself. What could this orb possibly be? The fact that he no longer had it in the real world and that is truly merged with his soul was worrying. The door said it was one of the true tools of the Architect but why would he put items on Earth that did such unexplainable things? Then again, all his choices and motives are unexplainable to humans so I guess this can¡¯t be called odd for him.¡¯ Not finding anything else off within himself Alex finished off his snack and got back to his feet. ¡®Time to get out of here already!¡¯ He told himself. When he approached the door with the hand-shaped indent like the last one and attempted to do the same as before by channeling mana into his hand. Thankfully this seemed to do the trick and the door began to glow! After several seconds Alex suddenly found himself standing in the doorway to the dungeon staring out into the forest leading back to town. ¡°What the!¡± He exclaimed out loud in surprise. ¡®I just teleported!¡¯ He thought to himself in excitement. ¡®I¡¯ve never even heard of that happening to anyone from the adventurers guild! However it happened though, I can¡¯t believe I am finally out of that place!¡¯ As he thought this he jumped in the air and pumped his fist in the air as he often did when overly excited. ¡°Time to get back to town! YEA!¡± He yelled into the forest before remembering that he was basically defenseless and without anyone to help him if he got into trouble. ¡®Ah dang, I gotta stop making stupid mistakes like that! Stupid stupid stupid!¡¯ He silently chastised himself as he began walking in the direction of town. Chapter 10 - Home sweet home The moment Alex left the doorway of the dungeon to begin heading toward town something very odd happened. ¡®Why can¡¯t I move!?¡¯ He thought to himself in a panic. ¡®This is really getting old by now. What is this, the third time? I must have both the best and worst luck.¡¯ He grumbled to himself silently. He could move his eyes and look around but he didn¡¯t spot anything out of the ordinary and yet he couldn¡¯t move a single muscle apart from darting his eyes back and forth looking for danger. All of this was processed by Alex in the span of a second but before he could contemplate his current situation more suddenly The Voice boomed out in his ears, the System talking to humanity again for the first time in 200 years. ¡°One of your own has finally begun their journey to ascension and to bring humanity to a new level of existence. Now that one of the perquisites has been fulfilled however the world will also advance so as to keep pushing you ever forward. Creatures will advance in intellect and strength and new sections will open within the depths of the children of Yggdrasil. Good luck.¡± The moment the voice faded from his mind Alex fell to his knees, unprepared to have control of his body back suddenly. ¡®The world is advancing? More intelligent monsters? New dungeon sections? This is a catastrophe and I haven¡¯t even had time to figure out how to use my mana properly yet!¡¯ He thought to himself in exasperation. Alex got back to his feet and began to run through the woods with all pretense of stealth consumed by his worry for the town and what might happen to him as well if he dared to stay out here with these improved monsters. He darted down the path flowing between the town and dungeon as fast as his legs could carry him. He swatted low hanging branches out of his way and jumped over dips and threw himself around curves and ¡°BAM!¡± Suddenly Alex¡¯s world was all arms and legs and green childr-¡®Wait what!?¡¯ Before he had time to finish that thought he smashed into the ground and went rolling. ¡®What happened? I ran into a group of¡­ green children? Goblins!¡¯ Alex realized as his dazed mind started to recover and his thoughts came back into focus. He quickly scrambled to his feet and turned to face the creatures and sucked in his breath at the sight of five small goblins. They looked somewhat similar to ugly green human children at first glance but as soon as you inspected them more carefully the differences became more and more obvious. They were all around waist height of an adult man and wearing animal hide loin clothes. These ones had crude bows strung over their shoulders and daggers in hand, snarling at him menacingly. Thankfully for Alex, they were just as startled as him as they were traveling at another angle quickly as well and just all happened to smash into each other. These were goblin scouts though and they were plenty used to surprise encounters at this point and recovered fast. ¡°Human!¡± ¡°Kill it!¡± ¡°Die die die!¡± The small group of goblins each yelled different things as they jumped up and down in excitement. They seemed to be waiting for a signal from one in particular however and so Alex took his chance while he still had one. ¡®I¡¯ve only got one attempt to do this right. I need enough power to stun and maybe kill some but mostly to startle them and give me a head start to run to town. I have to be careful not to use enough power that it tires me out too much to run.¡¯ He quickly thought to himself, mentally trying to calculate how much mana he could use based off of his terribly meager experiments. Alex reached for the pool of mana and began to draw as much as he thought he reasonably could without straining himself too much. It was a slow process because he did not want to faint right now but he knew he couldn''t outrun the goblins in his current state without injuring them as well. At this point he had spent a bit too much time on preparations and the goblins had started spreading out and advancing but at the sight of the glowing orb, they stopped again, wary. ¡®Here we go!¡¯ ¡°Flame Blast!¡± He yelled, igniting the raw mana that he had spread around in a thick cone. He felt the fatigue hit him but not as hard as he expected. ''This will do!'' He thought excitedly. Bright orange flames shot out in a cone from Alex toward the stunned goblins who began screaming as the fire reached them. Some fell to the ground and began rolling around and some of them chose to flee into the woods. Either way, Alex could see he hadn¡¯t put enough power into it to kill them but simply injure and stun. They would be back up and after him again in no time and he needed to be out of here! Alex took his chance and ran with all his might praying that the town was close. After only a few seconds he could hear the footfalls of several of the goblins behind him. He could easily outrace them when in top condition but he was quite exhausted from his recent ordeals and mana usage. Even being injured the goblins were beginning to catch up to him.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. He dredged up some extra energy from nowhere and pumped on with his body covered in sweat and his body aching from the overexertion. ¡®Shit shit shit shit¡¯ he repeated in his mind as he ran. ¡®Shit shit sh- YES!¡¯ As he rounded the next bend town was finally within sight of the town and he made a mad dash. At this point, the goblins had nearly caught fully up to him but when they came around the corner behind Alex and saw the town they stopped in their pursuit. Goblins might not be the smartest creatures but even they knew not to openly attack a human settlement without a suitable host. ¡®Finally! Thank god I am finally back!.¡¯ A wide grin plastered his face as he half ran half stumbled up to the gate. Despite having settled in the ruins of an old world city they had quickly constructed tall wooden walls around the community in the first few years. Over time they had slowly evolved into thick stone walls and that is what they were now left with. So far it had saved them many times over the years from various monster raids or large infestations nearby, especially back before they had the strength and organization to keep the local population culled to a reasonable amount. ¡°Stop!¡± Yelled a gruff commanding voice from in front of the gate. One of the muscular city guards was standing post in the standard issue brown leather gear with metal reinforcing some of the important bits. Alex chose to slow to a slow jog but did not stop. As the guard saw this he lowered his spear and opened to his mouth to warn the ragged looking traveler again when recognition flashed in his eyes. ¡°Alex!? Alex Jones!?¡± The guard exclaimed while he went slack-jawed and wide-eyed. ¡°In the flesh, George.¡± Alex responded as he came to a stop a few paces away from George, panting and covered in sweat. He was thankful it was him out here on guard duty today since it would make things go much quicker. He was the father of Rose and since they were inseparable as children the two knew each other quite well. ¡°Where have you been? How did you survive? What the hell happened to your eyes!? No, don¡¯t answer that, I can find out later. For now, get inside and go straight to the elder''s residence and explain everything to him. Your disappearance in such a manner caused quite a stir and he will want to know that you are safe and what happened out there." ¡°Yes sir! But first I need to report- wait, what did you say about my eyes!?¡± Alex asked in a panic. ¡°Well boy, they look like they have a slight glow to them and little jolts of lightning are shooting around inside. It¡¯s a bit unnerving honestly but if you didn¡¯t even notice hopefully it''s not bad.¡± George responded slowly, trying to make sure he didn¡¯t cause Alex to panic more. ¡°I was not aware¡­ But as you said it has caused no problems yet. More importantly, I need to report that I was just attacked and chased through the woods by a band of goblin scouts.¡± George¡¯s eyes nearly bulged out of his head in shock. ¡°What! Are you sure boy? Goblins this close to town?¡± George asked just to be sure. ¡°Yes sir, I would not lie about something this serious. I have never seen one in the flesh before now of course but they were just as the drawings show and as I have heard them described. The only difference was that I thought goblins were incapable of human speech, but these ones spoke.¡± Alex explained as quickly as he could and then took some more heaving breaths. That run really took it out of him. ¡°They talked you say? Hm¡­ this must have something to do with the message we received from the System. All the more reason you¡¯d best hurry straight to the elder to explain what you know about all of this. I don¡¯t wanna hear about any side trips, you hear me?¡± George said sternly. The situation was quite serious and he had to be sure the boy understood that. ¡°On it now! I¡¯ll catch up with you and Rose later while we eat some of my mother''s apple pie.¡± Alex said with a knowing smile. George could never get enough of his mothers pies and Alex knew he would be looking forward to it until he got some now. George opened the gate and Alex started to head through but George grabbed him by the shoulder at the last moment. Alex turned back and looked at him with a questioning expression on his face. ¡°Rose is¡­ very torn up about what happened. Be sure to visit her sooner rather than later and¡­ well¡­ just be prepared. Now off with you!¡± As he finished speaking he let go of Alex and he gave a nod before turning back around and lightly jogging through town in the direction of the elder''s residence. ¡®Man I¡¯m gonna collapse if I need to do any more running for a while. Hoo boy.¡¯ As George watched Alex head off on his mission he turned back towards the forest and began scanning it closely, letting no detail go overlooked under his careful gaze. If there were goblins near town he would need to be ready to call more guards to help him out if he spotted any. ¡®Hopefully, the elder sends a few more men to each entrance¡­¡¯ He thought grimly. As he finished looking over the forest and found nothing suddenly all of the birds in the forest shot into the skies as a loud horn blasted its note far and wide. Three notes it blared out and far off in the distance in various directions George heard several other horns respond. ¡°Oh no. Gods do I hope what I am thinking is about to happen doesn¡¯t come to pass.¡± He quietly mumbled under his breath. ¡®A goblin war band is not what we need right now.¡¯ He gripped his spear tighter and stood his ground, sure that the right people would take care of the preparations for the coming storm. After a moment of hesitation he flipped open one of his pouches and took out an expensive looking scroll. He turned it over in his hands and the seal holding it closed said ¡®Emergency Flare¡¯. He slipped the scroll into his belt where he could access it at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡®Better safe than sorry¡­¡¯ Chapter 11 - Full Mobilization ¡°Take a seat, take a seat. Alex was it? I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ve formally met before but as you know I am the current elder, Jason. Most people just call me elder or old man though.¡± Jason said that last part with a small smile on his wrinkled face. The current elder has his position thanks to being one of the oldest members of town alive and for having a major role in the survival of the town over the course of his long life. When he passes on eventually the title will go to the next best-suited person as voted for by the council and the town members so that it is ensured to be someone that the general populace trusts and has faith in. The reasoning for this is that the council, composed of three people voted in every 10 years, takes care of most of the day to day issues but anything big the elder gives his wisdom to help the decision making process along and is also in charge of mediating serious legal cases. The three council members and Jason work together to divvy up responsibilities and manage the town. The elder position is held for as long as the elder wishes to however which is why it is only given to highly trusted members of the community. The previous elder does have quite a bit of sway in the choice of his replacement though. In reality, though the old man spent most of his time tending to his garden and playing with his grandchildren whenever he can dodge the council long enough. Jason is an Asian American born here in town and can reliably trace his roots to some of the original settlers. He has a bald head and a long white beard ending mid-chest. He enjoyed hand to hand combat in his youth and when he got old thought it would be funny to try and emulate the looks of stereotypical martial arts masters from the old stories. He had visible scars covering his face and arms and doubtlessly more hidden to the eye as he took part in every major battle this town has seen and does so now even at his advanced age of 72. ¡°So, Alex, those are some unique eyes you have. I am sure I would have met you before now if you had those since birth so I assume this also had something to do with your little vacation. Do you mind telling me what happened in the dungeon with Thomas when you attempted your awakening? You have been gone for nearly two full days at this point after all.¡± Jason asked as he raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Before answering Alex took another quick peek around the room, having never been in the elder''s office before. They were sitting on nice tall-backed wooden chairs with red pillows for the seat which was much more comfortable than most of the chairs available these days. It was a small room and between them was a wide heavy wood desk with countless drawers on the elder''s side. Around the room were bookshelves covered in more books than Alex had ever seen. He guessed most of the books the town had recovered so far must be in here safely under Jason¡¯s guard for when they are needed. The room had no windows and a single door to Alex¡¯s back which was currently closed for privacy. ¡°Well let¡¯s see, where to begin.¡± Alex was about to continue when the elder quickly cut in with a quick jab. ¡°May I suggest the beginning perhaps?¡± With a smirk on his face. Alex grinned as well and continued. ¡°Why thank you, old man, for the suggestion. I think I will do just that.¡± Over the next few hours, Alex recounted everything that had happened to the elder without leaving out a single detail. Hiding things from him would only bite him in the ass later as the elder was likely the best person to help him figure this mess out. At first, the elder¡¯s expression kept alternating between shocked, horrified, curious and so on before he realized that this roller coaster had a lot of ups and downs and remembered to control his expression. ¡°Well! That was quite the tale, my good young adventurer. Would you be so kind as to show me an example of this mana usage? I do not doubt the possibility after that announcement we got from the System, and your glowing eyes certainly lend to your story, but I do still find it hard to believe that after all this time mana can be freely manipulated by someone.¡± He paused here to give Alex a chance to say something. ¡°Of course sir, just give me one moment to meditate. As you are aware I have had very little time to practice or get used to this power and I am quite exhausted.¡± Alex responded tiredly and at a nod from the old man, he closed his eyes and focused. Alex repeated what was quickly becoming a habit and drew upon the sea of mana within him. He willed it into his left hand, which he had lifted away from himself just in case, and had the mana form a thin barrier over his hand which was now glowing faintly blue. As Jason watched the mana broke off from Alex¡¯s hand and floated above it before bursting into a small candle flame. ¡°Amazing¡­¡± The old man whispered under his breath too quiet for Alex to have heard. I''m getting too old for so many surprises in one day.¡¯ He quietly lamented. ¡®I have to stop being surprised by anything this boy does. He is surely going to continuing defying common sense at every turn.¡¯ He refocused on Alex and said ¡°Simply amazing my boy. You may cut the connection.¡± Alex nodded and let the mana dissipate and his hand went back to normal. ¡°You told me about the incident with the fire and water and then of your success both with the shadow creature and goblins. Do you have any ideas as to the rules of your power?¡± The elder asked Alex. ¡°No sir, I have not had the time. Now that I am finally back in town I plan to visit my family to let them know that I am safe and then visit my friend Rose to do the same. After that, I had hoped you might have some ideas for me while I try to experiment with this new power.¡± He briefly explained.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!¡± Both Alex and Jason were startled and turned toward the door. Someone seemed to be knocking so hard it sounded as if they were going to break the door down. In fact, Alex thought he saw it starting to splinter in a few spots¡­ ¡°Come in! Come in! Don¡¯t break my damn door down, you buffoon. If it¡¯s that important just barge in next time.¡± The elder said in exasperation. The door flew open and a young scout in his late teens stood there, out of breath and looking as if hell itself was chasing him. ¡°Sir! Urgent report! The war horns we heard earlier were indeed not the end of things, unfortunately. Several of the senior scouts have all confirmed reports of spotting goblin scouts sneaking around the perimeter of town scouting out the edges.¡± ¡°The goblins never leave the forest or go close enough to the edge for guards at the town to notice, but our scouts, of course, are quite good at not being noticed. A few of them killed the goblins they had found as they deemed they could do so without the goblin alerting the rest of its kind.¡± The boy paused for a moment to catch his breath. He had run quite a distance to get here and had said his report so far in only a handful of breaths as he tried to get it out as fast as possible. ¡°Take your time son, it sounds like they aren¡¯t banging on the walls yet at least.¡± The elder said to the young scout. ¡°Here, come get a glass of water.¡± He said and poured him a glass from the pitcher that had been on the desk. ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± The scout responded and gratefully chugged the water. After two more glasses, he seemed sated and continued. ¡°So far we have encountered several dozen patrols but the opinion of the senior scouts was to leave the vast majority alone so that they don¡¯t retaliate with a large force too quickly. A few of them not coming back is to be expected but most will report back fine. This way we have time to prepare defenses for the main forces.¡± ¡°Two of our most experienced men have departed in the direction of one of the horn signals from earlier in the day and should bring us plenty of information. Judging by the fact that Alex, who I presume is this boy, was chased into town by a scouting party before the horns went off, it seems safe to assume that they were looking for a human settlement actively. That concludes my report sir.¡± The scout finished his report there and waited for a response to bring back with him. ¡°Hmm.¡± The elder said as he stroked his beard and thought. ¡°This level of scouting and planning is out of the ordinary for goblins and must be part of the intelligence boost that the System had mentioned. The party that chased Alex even used basic human language which implies they are no longer the simple-minded creatures they were previously and we need to be careful not to underestimate them.¡± The old man said as he thought about the best course of action. His eyes drifted to Alex briefly before he turned back to the scout and continued. ¡°Go back to the guard HQ and tell your superiors that a full mobilization is in effect until further notice.¡± The elder remembered something and pulled out a piece of paper and a scroll from somewhere in his desk. ¡°Hand them this writ proving your words. You may go.¡± He said as he handed over the writ. ¡°Yes sir!¡± Responded the scout before promptly turning around and rushing out of the room to deliver the grim news. ¡°Excuse me, sir.¡± Began Alex when it remained just them in the room again. ¡°I have never experienced a full mobilization in my lifetime that I can remember and might have skipped out on some of my classes to train with Rose.¡± He said a bit sheepishly. ¡°Follow me and we will walk and talk. I have one more task to complete at the moment and time is of the essence.¡± Responded the elder as he got up from his chair and began to exit the room. Alex quickly got up and followed after him and they started to make their way out of the building. ¡°So what does the full mobilization mean?¡± Alex asked again as they walked. ¡°It is our code for the worst case scenario and is only used when it is believed that the survival of the entire town is at stake. All members of the guards will stop patrolling inside the town and instead take up positions along the walls and patrolling both inside and outside of them.¡± ¡°They also don their rarely used plate armor as the situation is dire if this code is used. It''s not practical for everyday use so they only train in it occasionally and use it for emergencies. In addition, our best guards are equipped with our stock of enchanted gear from the vaults.¡± ¡°Along with the guards the adventurers guild is conscripted and led by their leader and finally the militia and all combat capable personnel help defend the town. The only ones not fighting or on standby to fight are the people who can''t, hence the name full mobilization.¡± The elder concluded grimly. ¡°If the goblins gained enough intelligence to speak and scout us intelligently then that is plenty of cause to be prepared for their main war band. It will be unlike any goblin attack we have repelled in the past and humanity has not survived this long by underestimating our foes.¡± As he finished saying this they had walked out of the house and now stood in the center of the backyard under a clear sky. The elder lifted the scroll he had taken from his desk and carefully unfurled it. Alex peeked over his shoulder and audibly gasped at what he saw. The scroll was not one of the usual low-grade ones made by the inscribers in town but one of the rarer ones from the dungeon, and a high tier at that! He could tell by the look of the paper and writing and had no better way to describe it than majestic looking. The elder began to chant ¡°And I will shed my light over dark evil, For the dark things cannot stand the light, Show us the path within this darkness, Flare!¡± Unlike the flares that Alex had seen in the past however which would go up a few stories and light up a small area for a short amount of time this one was much brighter and shot up like a rocket! Up and up it went higher and higher until finally it exploded shedding its red light over the entirety of the town and miles around even. The flare seemed to hold in the air for quite a long time as well. ¡°How long will that last?¡± Alex asked in a breathy voice. ¡°It should last around an hour, plenty of time for everyone to see and anyone adventuring nearby.¡± Responded the elder calmly. ¡°It may help our foes a bit as well but it is a necessary price to pay for our own people to organize as quickly as possible.¡± As soon as the flare bloomed in the sky Alex could hear shouts of alarm and panic coming from every direction. People calling for their children to get inside, warriors scrambling to equip their gear and figure out who to report to and so on. The adults knew what the flare meant and what their roles were. For the first time in two decades, it was time for Pine Bluff to go to war. Chapter 12 - Eccentric? Nah ¡°So what do I do now? Can I still go to my family and Rose?¡± Alex asked in confusion, unsure of what his own role was since he had not properly awakened to be part of the trainees but was also not an invalid. The elder got a pained look on his face for a moment and turned to Alex and calmly stated. ¡°Unfortunately not, Alex. Your new skills will be too important in the coming battle. If you are truly able to manipulate mana freely and can replicate the effects of scrolls without the scrolls themselves then you should be capable of creating truly powerful magic. Magic capable of affecting an entire battlefield! But of course, we must first find your limits and how to expand them.¡± The elder stated. For a split second, Alex wanted to argue but he decided against it immediately. The town''s safety was more important than meeting up with his family, and of course, they were part of the town too. ¡®The elder is right though, this power will be capable of fantastical things in the future and I need to nurture it.¡¯ He smiled wryly and thought ¡®well I guess you get to be the best swordsman after all Rose. But I will become the first true wizard!¡¯ The elder continued. ¡°Are you familiar with Jeod the scholar? The one who lives in a workshop on the west side?¡± ¡°I have heard of him before but I have never met him, no. Do you think he might be able to help me out?¡± Asked Alex curiously. He had assumed this would be mostly self-discovery work. ¡°If anyone can my boy, he can. Jeod can get a bit obsessed with a project at times but he thinks outside the box and has discovered a lot of useful things about some of the magical plants and ores and such available in this world.¡± ¡°Ok Elder, I will head there next then. As my mother is no doubt part of the militia do you think you could have my little sister brought to Jeod¡¯s as well?¡± Alex asked hopefully. ¡°I see no reason not to send her over. If all goes well nowhere in town should be any safer or more dangerous than any other part and that way she has a familiar face to help watch over her. I will send word to her and your mother now.¡± Replied the elder in a soft tone. ¡°Keep in mind Jeod can be a little¡­ driven, at times. Especially with something new or interesting. Be careful not to let him push you too far and make sure you get some sleep soon, it is quite late.¡± ¡°Now off with you! I¡¯ve got much to do and we both know so do you.¡± He said in a commanding tone, signaling the end of the conversation. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Said Alex with respect as he turned and left the garden through its outside gate. ¡®Time to find Jeod and then get some real practice going! I can¡¯t wait.¡¯ He thought excitedly. A short time later Alex stood before a medium sized two story building. Many of the buildings in town, considering they were founded on the outskirts of the old world city they were named after, were either partially converted old world buildings that had managed to survive or brand new buildings as well which were made of wood. Alex was told that Jeod¡¯s workshop was a converted bank, a place that people used to store money he was told. Alex had a hard time imaging why they wouldn¡¯t just keep their money with them but whatever, much of the old world stuff no longer made sense to the younger generations. Some they were touch about but much of the knowledge was no longer useful and there was just too much to learn that was actually useful. The building had wood all across the front bottom floor where giant windows used to span while the top was a solid concrete square. This was one of the few buildings that had managed to avoid having a tree sprout right through it during the cataclysm but it still got its fair share of vines and such coming through the floors and walls. This place had long ago been chosen to do alchemical experiments when it was found that some of the new plants and materials could be quite explosive and destructive when used in certain ways, so they used the vault here to keep them secure from thieves or fearless teenagers. ¡°Knock knock knock¡± sounded out as Alex began knocking on the front door. Alex thought he could hear a faint ¡°¡­.oming!¡± Sound out from within the building but was unsure. ¡°Knock knock knock¡± he repeated and this time he heard what sounded like a stack of books or boxes falling over inside and then someone yelling out in surprise. ¡°Coming! Coming!¡± The voice yelled. Suddenly the door swung open and what stood there was a middle-aged Caucasian man about five foot ten, of average build and with dark brown hair and eyes. He had some stubble growing on his chin but his eyebrows were oddly singed off, with some small burns still visible in the area. He wore long brown pants, brown boots and a tan button-up shirt under a vest full of dozens of crudely sewn on pockets. ¡°Who are you?¡± He demanded in a curt tone. He did not like to be disturbed in the middle of a project. ¡®Man, this guy is even more eccentric than I had heard.¡¯ Thought Alex to himself while he took in Jeod¡¯s appearance and mannerisms. ¡®There''s only one way to deal with these types.¡¯ He thought slyly, a grin creeping onto his face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to bother you kind sir but I was told you might be able to give me some information about an odd phenomenon I keep seeing.¡± Alex replied while trying his best to sound like a shy child. ¡°Is that all? I am a very busy man, boy! What bauble or trinket or odd plant do you have that is causing this phenomenon as you say? A light bug in a jar? A spinning daisy?¡± Jeod continued to rattle off a few of the common things that children tried to ask him about how they worked on a fairly regular basis.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Alex listened calmly to the first few items but while Jeod spoke he simply lifted his hand in front of his hand, extended his pointer finger up with the rest of his hand in a fist, and conjured a small fireball above it about the size of his fingernail. Jeod suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence and stared slack-jawed at Alex, eyes bulging with wonder. Alex then shot the fireball straight up in the air at max speed and conjured a ball of water in the same spot. ¡°I-I-I-I-uh-uh-um¡­ ahhhh-um-¡° Jeod was having quite a lot of trouble producing a coherent sentence, his surprise so great. Alex had a wicked thought and expanded the water orb slightly before hovering it above Jeod¡¯s head and releasing his control. The cups worth of water fell down onto him and, as Alex had intended, finally knocked him out of his stupor. ¡°How did you do that!¡± Jeod yelled. ¡°Wait, no, inside! Quickly now quickly.¡± Jeod suddenly ran around Alex and began pushing him into the house with his hands on his shoulders. Alex stumbled for a moment at first but went along with it since the elder had recommended he come here. Once they got inside Jeod turned around and shut the door before spinning back around to Alex and studying him hard. They were now standing in a big open room with several different desks pushed up against the walls each piled high with what seemed to be an entirely different craft. There was a flight of steps against the far wall leading up and a door leading deeper into the back of the building. One of the desks contained a complicated series of pipes and tubes of various materials and a few beakers of unidentified liquids. Another table was covered in all sorts of flowers, roots, mushrooms, berries and so on. Yet another had the biggest pile of spell scrolls Alex had ever seen. ¡®Those must have cost a small fortune!¡¯ He thought to himself in wonder. ¡°I get bothered by the local children so often I was not even paying attention to your appearance at first but once I did I can see much has happened to you. How on earth did you manage to change your eyes and ears like that? Did you freely cast that fire and water magic? I heard no incantation nor did I see any scrolls or artifacts in hand.¡± He quickly rattled off a serious of questions. This was a big discovery! ¡°My name is Alex by the way, nice to meet you. Jeod, I presume?¡± Alex asked politely despite Jeod himself skipping introductions. Jeod¡¯s eyes lit up for a moment ¡°Ah, sorry sorry, where are my manners. Yes, my name is Jeod Silver-tongue, best scholar in town and heading our research in various directions. With so many new plants and combinations available out there Alchemy has been my major studying point and some of the potions able to be made have quite miraculous effects indeed.¡± ¡°I also work on trying to find out the secrets of the spell scrolls and how to replicate the effect without the full process. No luck on that front unfortunately though.¡± He spoke passionately about his work before suddenly stopping and switching gears in a split second. ¡°Would you like anything to drink? Tea? Water? Maybe a snack?¡± He asked with his head cocked to the side slightly. While he waited for a response he pulled a handful of some sort of berry out of one of the many many pockets lining his vest and began to eat. ¡®Wow his work is impressive but this guy is hard to nail down. He goes from thought to thought like a hummer bird between flowers, but his work has proven that he is capable despite his¡­ eccentricities.¡¯ Alex thought to himself as he listened to Jeod talk. ¡°I am fine, thank you. To answer a few of your questions, I am the cause of that System message earlier today. I am no longer human but a new branch of humanity called the Archons, and that¡¯s not all.¡± He paused a moment to make sure Jeod could keep up with so many revelations at once. ¡°I am also an Arcanist, the first Arcanist, making me the first true magician in this world according to the Architect.¡± Alex continued. ¡°Architect!?¡± Jeod suddenly yelled out. ¡°Do you mean Architect as the name implies? Someone in charge of the System!?¡± He reached out and grabbed Alex¡¯s shoulders and stared deep into his eyes. ¡°Y-yes. I do not know if he is the creator of it but he claimed to be in charge of humanity. He did not allow me to speak back or ask questions, only listen, so my knowledge is limited.¡± Alex said nervously. Jeod had startled him somewhat and his fervent attitude was a bit creepy at times. ¡°Even with this sparse information simply knowing that there is an intelligent being behind the System is BIG!¡± Jeod yelled and threw his arms up in the air. ¡°This changes nothing for us day to day but the implications for the future¡­.¡± He trailed off in thought and stared off into the distance. Alex turned around briefly to see where Jeod was staring but it was just a blank wall. ¡°Um, Jeod? Are you ok?¡± Alex timidly asked. When he got no response he said again, louder, ¡°JEOD!¡± And finally shook the man out of his contemplation. ¡°Ah! Sorry! Apologies, these are just a lot of revelations at once. I have spent years trying to find signs of some of this or how to use magic properly and you waltz up as a living bundle of information and magical aptitude. It was a bit jarring, but I promise I will be professional from here on out.¡± Jeod said in a serious voice while shaking his head in a yes motion. ¡°I assume that bothersome old man sent you here?¡± He asked next with a bit of annoyance in his voice. Alex smiled as he responded, ¡°Yes, he thought that you of all people might be best suited to help me discover the capabilities and limits of my powers in a short time so that I can be of use during the upcoming siege.¡± ¡°Siege? What siege?¡± Jeod asked curiously. ¡°Did you not see the full mobilization flare in the air? Or hear the dozens of people yelling and running around outside trying to organize as quickly as possible?¡± Alex asked dumbfounded. ¡®How could he have not noticed? Nobody could sleep through all this noise and the flare was bright enough to light up this building as if it were mid-day even despite the boards on the first floor.¡¯ ¡°No, before you knocked I was busy studying the effects of adding stinkhorn to boiled healweed and seeing how they would interact. A full mobilization though you say? It¡¯s been quite a while since we experienced one of those. I''m sure it¡¯ll be fine though.¡± He said in a nonchalant voice with a flip of his hand. ¡°Anyway, that is not important. I will certainly do my best to discover everything there is to know about your magic and physical changes.¡± Jeod said as he turned around and began walking away mid-sentence. Suddenly he stopped and turned to face Alex again. ¡°What are you doing? We don¡¯t have all day now. Come along, come along.¡± He said and continued walking without waiting for Alex to respond or to even see if he started following him. ¡®Sigh.¡¯ Alex thought to himself. ¡®I hope for that old man''s sake that Jeod is worth the trouble¡­¡¯ Resigned to his fate, Alex followed Jeod deeper into his workshop and mentally prepared himself for the worst. Chapter 13 - Experiments Alex and Jeod were sitting in the yard behind Jeod¡¯s workshop, outside of the building in case of accidents. As he looked around Alex could see small craters and sections of grass that refused to grow back, no doubt from Jeod¡¯s own past experimentation. ¡°So, Alex, from your description of how your magical abilities work and the scarce bit you know of the current limitations I propose that is where we start. We cannot fully deduce anything else about the abilities without knowing your limit for capacity. You mentioned that your mana pool is much larger than what you are able to actually channel without adverse effects so I propose we first start by getting you familiar with your exact limit.¡± Jeod finished his explanation in a calm collected voice not dissimilar to a professor giving a lecture. ¡°That sounds like a good spot to start, sir.¡± Alex responded respectfully. Even if the guy was an oddball Alex was still a 15-year-old child and would try to curry favor and be polite where he could. He sat down on the grass so that he would not fall over if he surpassed his limit. ¡°I am starting. You may want to step back just in case.¡± Jeod took the advice and retreated a few steps. ¡®My maximum amount huh¡­¡¯ Alex thought to himself. He began drawing slowly from his mana pool, slower than usual so that he could try to sense the drain on himself. For the first few minutes, he felt nothing, although he had only managed to amass a ball of raw mana around the size of his fist since he was going so slowly. He was determined to find the exact point that he began feeling tired however and continued at his slow pace. After quite a while the accumulated raw mana was finally equivalent to what he had thrown at the shadow being. He still did not feel tired, however. ¡®I wonder. Was it the act of turning the mana into fire and making it so hot that caused the drain? Does the raw mana not matter, or at least not as much?¡¯ He pondered silently while continuing to build up. ¡®Aha!¡¯ Alex had finally felt it, seemingly a tug at his soul, at his very being. He started feeling the early signs of general body fatigue and a small headache coming on. He had managed to surround himself in a veritable cloud of mana however before he got to this point, many times over what the fireball in the tunnels had consumed and the most mana he had attempted to control at once to date. ¡®I¡¯d better dispel this and attempt it with fire or water instead then. Is raw mana indeed easier to wield or did I somehow get better already?¡¯ He thought curiously. Alex took a short break and relayed his findings with Jeod who wrote them down exactly as Alex said them for future study. Once they finished with that he repeated the experiment in many variations. Keeping it all fire mana at the same temperature but increasing the size and area, keeping it small but as hot as he could, keeping it small but dense with a lower temperature but trapped together closely still and so on. That last one especially defied the laws that Jeod knew of but it made Alex ecstatic. When he compressed the flames as much as he could but kept the temperature at only a moderately high heat it would explode on impact rather than just spreading fire all around. He also found that he could create a ring of fire around himself but with a temperature so low it did not truly burn. The lower temperature seemed to cause him much less strain and he was able to make a very impressive wall as a bluff. ¡°Jeod I am going to attempt something completely new this time, so please send to me if I get injured.¡± Alex warned him and he decided he wanted to try another element besides water and fire. ¡®Being able to make walls of conjured stone on the fly would be incredibly useful in a fight. Stumble opponents, block arrows and more.¡¯ Alex thought to himself as he decided on his next course of action. He drew on the mana within and tried to shape it into a thin wall in front on him. Once that was done he willed it into stone and it worked! He noticed that the patterns within the magic were vastly different than water and fire and again wondered at their exact meanings. Both a good and bad thing he discovered about his stone wall, however, was that once created and connected to the ground it was no longer under his control. He could grow more stone out of it and thicken it but he could not detach it from the ground to lift it into the air nor could he cause it to vanish back into mana. ¡®Hmm. I wonder why that is.¡¯ He thought curiously. Next, he created small rocks and boulders and tested throwing them through the air and it went just as expected, working similar to the fireball spell. After that, he then proceeded to test a few air-based spells while stopping regularly for him and Jeod to note down all the findings properly. He managed to make a refreshing cool breeze, a small tornado around himself but not enough to do much and a force spell powerful enough to knock Jeod down.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. After many hours of testing, it seemed apparent that using any of the elements was what increased the difficulty drastically and depending on how he manipulated them it was either easier or harder. The more solid the effect the harder as well. This meant that stone was easily the hardest of the elements and making water into ice was the next hardest with air and fire being the easiest to manipulate. After pushing himself so many times though Alex was really starting to feel the effects and it was visible to Jeod at this point as well. ¡°I can¡¯t have the best test subject of my life collapsing on me from exhaustion so I suggest we both get some rest and continue this in the morning,¡± Jeod suggested. As Alex paid attention to his surroundings for the first time in a while he realized it was indeed very dark at this point and well past when they should have slept. ¡°Agreed.¡± He responded wearily. Alex struggled to his feet and Jeod quickly grabbed his arm before he fell. ¡°You may use my guest room for now. Come along.¡± Jeod said as he helped lead Alex back into the house in case he almost fell again. They reached the second floor and Jeod opened the door to a room on the far end from his and Alex was relieved to see a proper bed, with only one caveat. It was currently covered in a variety of scrolls, chests and odd devices that looked like failed experiments. ¡°Ah, um, sorry about that. I haven¡¯t had a guest in years and forgot that I had turned this into a storage room¡­¡± Jeod trailed off with a tone of embarrassment. He quickly went about clearing the bed of his belongings and making the room usable enough for Alex. ¡°We can clean it up more tomorrow, but for now we both need some well-deserved rest.¡± He concluded. ¡°Thank you, Jeod.¡± Alex said wearily. ¡°I will see you in the morning then.¡± He said and nodded before collapsing onto the bed, not bothering to remove any of his dirty clothing or even his boots. Jeod simply turned and left the room without another word and the two of them enjoyed a good nights rest in preparation for the day ahead of them. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Alex woke up within his soul again, his first visit since the event with the orb. ¡®I almost forgot, I still need to figure out what this thing is working towards. I could feel it in the background absorbing a sliver of my mana continuously but it still felt¡­ right. But that itself worries me. Is it affecting my thoughts and feelings? It is in my soul after all and intellectually I know I should be more worried than I am.¡¯ Before he could do any more thinking he heard a "DING!" that sounded as if it came from all around him.
You have leveled up! You are now level 2! +4 wisdom, +3 intelligence, +0.5 vitality, +0.2 lifespan
Name: Alex Jones
Race: Archon
Class: Arcanist
Strength: 47
Vitality: 44.5
Agility: 54
Intelligence: 83
Wisdom: 35
Lifespan: 12.2
Woo! My first level up!'' He celebrated in his mind. ''Fighting off that shade and those goblins must have been enough. I completely forgot about leveling up with all the other new stuff that happened today. I should have taken a nap earlier so I could have gotten the bonuses before the experiments.'' He lamented for a moment at his own shortsightedness. As he thought through all of his he slowly approached the massive orb splitting his mana sea. He studied the runes still etched across its surface and suddenly realized, now that they were super-sized and not the fine tiny work that he had seen on the original, that they were different than the ones on the spell scrolls found in dungeons! These were not proper runes at all but the same symbols that made up his spells! ¡®Is this orb itself a spell then? It¡¯s still feeding off of my mana after all albeit slowly.¡¯ Alex floated there and thought slowly, trying to figure out what he could do about this. ¡®Considering how complex the markings are its not reasonable for me to decode them anytime soon even if I cast every spell scroll in town to see what each spell matrix does. They are woven so delicately here I could never reproduce the right combinations.¡¯ As he absentmindedly floated around the orb, deep in thought, Alex noticed something out of the corner of his eye. ¡®The green lines making up the symbols do not connect in all spots like I remember them doing on the original.¡¯ He thought with excitement. ¡®A clue?¡¯ He floated as close as he could without touching it and finally at this distance he could just barely tell that the lines were still there but they were not lit up green like the others, just the same glowing white of the main orb. As he studied the spots where the green ended it looked almost as if the mana was petering out like it didn¡¯t have enough¡­ ¡®Do I dare?¡¯ He thought to himself. ¡®When it first expanded it took all the mana it needed despite the pain is caused me, but then it went down to a trickle shortly after that and seems to be taking so little it can¡¯t even power itself. Did it not want to hurt me? Or is it waiting for something?¡¯ A million thoughts rushed through his head but he had so little information to go off of that it was hard to decide what to do. So he did what anyone would do in this sort of situation: He sat down cross-legged, still floating in midair of course, and had himself a good long think. Chapter 14 - The Orb: Reloaded Alex had been sitting there inside his soul for quite a while now contemplating what to do about this orb. He suspected that if he willed it to consume more mana that it would and that in doing so the runes would be able to fully complete. ¡®But what would it do then? It had been labeled as a tool of the Architect so I really doubt it¡¯s designed to kill me after I managed to pass the tests to obtain it but I don¡¯t really have any idea of its true purpose either.¡¯ ¡®Hmm well, I should go over all the pros and cons once more at least.¡¯ He thought to himself and made a sort of mental list. Pros: Possible weapon, possibly get the orb back in the real world again (to do what? study?), maybe it will strengthen my mana pool somehow after stressing it Cons: Could kill me, could explode inside my soul, could do any number of bad things BONUS PRO: Will sate my curiosity either way ¡®Welp so far following my gut has worked out pretty well with all this craziness going on. Every time I try to sense the orb I don¡¯t get any bad feelings, only good ones, so let¡¯s get this show on the road!¡¯ He thought to himself with conviction. Alex floated back over to the orb and gently put his hands on it. The orb felt warm and solid but yet like there was a film around it that could be broken. ¡®It¡¯s now or never.¡¯ He thought with determination and began pushing mana into the orb. As soon as he did the runes lit up brighter and now that he knew was to pay attention to he saw the missing sections begin to fill at a trickle. ¡®I need more!¡¯ He thought before pushing a veritable raging river of mana into the orb. Being that he wasn¡¯t manifesting the mana outside his body like in the real world or transforming it into anything, just raw mana manipulation, he was doing pretty good despite the massive amount. ¡®The lines are filling much faster but I already feel the effects of using too much mana. It¡¯s faint, but growing.¡¯ He pondered as he stopped for a moment to see how the lines had changed. ¡°What!¡± He shouted aloud when he saw that the runes that had filled in were slowly darkening again while the parts lit before stayed lit. ¡®So it needs a constant source in order to fully light those? I wonder if it will shut down again as soon as I stop if I force a large amount in all at once¡­¡¯ He once again placed both hands on the orb and mentally prepared himself for some pain. ¡®GO!¡¯ He screamed both mentally and physically as he willed his entire ocean of mana to hit the orb at once. For a split second, he saw all of the runes light up finally before a giant crack split down the center of the orb. The next second his world was pain and Alex saw no more.
+1 Vitality
¡°Ah! Ha..ha¡­ha¡­¡­.¡± He breathed heavily as the pain receded while he sat up in bed. After the orb had cracked the pain had made him wake back up it seemed. ¡®What the hell happened there?¡¯ He asked himself as he began meditating to try to see what had changed within his soul. !!! ¡°WHAT IN THE!¡± He screamed and fell off his bed in a panic as he jolted out of his meditation. ¡°Ow!¡± He exclaimed when his fall was broken by an elbow on the hard floor. Suddenly his door flew open and Jeod jumped in looking slightly panicked. ¡°What happened? Are you alright Alex?¡± Jeod asked with a concerned voice.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not sure, honestly,¡± Alex replied in a shaky voice while staring down at his hands. ¡°There was one part of my story I did not tell you about, but with your wide knowledge maybe its time I do so.¡± He said slowly. Jeod raised one eyebrow in suspicion. ¡°I can¡¯t exactly help you with your powers if I don¡¯t know all the details Alex. You know that.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not exactly part of the magic, just related to it in a way.¡± He responded sheepishly. Jeod sighed heavily. ¡°Let¡¯s move to the living room and settle into some comfy chairs and you can explain what you need to explain and I will help the best I can.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Alex responded and followed him downstairs where they both took up posts on comfy looking cushioned armchairs. Both settled in, Jeod looked Alex in the eyes and asked: ¡°Now what is this other problem and what happened this morning?¡± As Alex began the retelling of the orb dubbed one of the true tools of the Architect, of it being made of solid white mithril and engraved finer than anything he had seen, Jeod¡¯s eyes lit up more and more. By the end of the tale, ending with the events of last night, his knuckles were turning white from gripping his armchair so tight and he was in danger of falling out of his seat from sitting so far off the edge. ¡°Amazing! Oh, what I would give to study that orb! Such a shame it vanished from the physical world when it merged with you. Shame shame shame¡­.¡± Jeod muttered quietly and shook his head side to side. Then his head shot up to stare at Alex again with a mixture of worry and excitement on his face. ¡°But so what had you in such a panic this morning? What did you see after looking again while awake?¡± Alex took a deep breath. In, and out. In, and out. ¡°I saw¡­. A girl.¡± He said simply. Jeod cocked his head to the side with a confused look. ¡°Could you elaborate? You said you saw a girl? Surely that reaction was a bit much for a simple wet dream Alex. It happens to all of us from time to time.¡± Alex¡¯s face lit up beet red. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a wet dream Jeod!¡± He shot back defensively. ¡°The orb is no more and there are no shards or remnants. Instead, floating curled up in a ball right above where the orb used to be, sits a young woman or something resembling one. A single tendril of mana flows upwards from the ocean and is connected to the back of her, its, whatever¡¯s, neck, supplying her with the energy she needs to live I assume.¡± He explained, his response getting quicker the longer it went on and a tinge of panic becoming audible in his voice. Jeod¡¯s face was an interesting combination of emotions at the moment. Excitement, worry, confusion and more all fought for dominance. Everything this boy did or was a part of made history! If he kept assisting him along his path they would both be a force that helped to change the world itself for sure. ¡°Calm down Alex. The situation is¡­ unique, but panic will not help you.¡± Jeod tried to sound reassuring. It wasn¡¯t exactly his strong suit, being a recluse and a scholar, but it¡¯s the thought that counts. ¡°Wait right here while I go fetch something that might help out a bit.¡± He said before getting up and walking out of the room. He came back moments later with a copper cup holding some sort of odd concoction and a few unidentified pills that also looked hand made. ¡°What is this stuff?¡± Alex asked with trepidation. That green concoction in the cup didn¡¯t look the most appetizing. Jeod smiled knowingly. None of his potions looked or tasted appetizing but they got the job done. ¡°The cup is a special brew that will temporarily heighten the strength of your soul in case whatever that is inside you starts trying to do any damage. It will only last a few hours however and the effects dimmish with every repeated use, so that is where the pills come in.¡± Jeod smiled here, knowing what kind of face Alex was about to pull. ¡°They will knock you out quite quickly and keep you down for a while so that you can go back in there and do whatever needs to be done about this girl or thing as quickly as possible. This is not something we have the ability or time to study and it needs to be sorted out fast before it or she does anything bad.¡± Jeod concluded. Alex took the cup and pills and in one swift motion tossed the pills into his mouth and downed them with the potion. ¡°Gurgh!¡± He half choked half heaved as the liquid went down. ¡®This is the worst thing I have ever tasted!¡¯ He thought to himself. Next to him Jeod grinned and handed him a glass of water he had been hiding behind his back. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± Alex mumbled as he swished the water around to rid himself of that horrible taste. Chapter 15 - There be Goblins A young adult dressed in clothes that clearly marked him as one of the town¡¯s scouts had just stopped his frantic run in front of a large sturdy brick building that he knew to be the guard HQ. Taking no time to stop he rushed through the front doors and up to the third floor where he found the commanding officers office. ¡°Sir!¡± He said loud and clearly as he stood to attention in front of head guard Warren. ¡°At ease, Michael. I assume you are returning from giving that old man the news?¡± He asked in a stern voice that clearly said that Michael had better have been doing just that. ¡°Yes, sir! Of course, sir! Here is the writ he gave me to prove my words.¡± Michael responded while handing over the writ. ¡°He said that until further notice we are to operate under a full mobilization of the town.¡± Michael relayed the elder¡¯s words in a grim but respectful voice. ¡°A full mobilization you say? Hmm¡­¡± Warren massaged his temples with his hand while he thought. ¡®It¡¯s been decades since we had to go this far, but the elder made the right choice of caution in the face of these new, more intelligent goblins. The reports so far from the scouts are quite worrying.¡¯ It was then that Warren remembered Michael was still standing in front of him awaiting new orders. ¡°Head to the armory and get fully kitted. When you are prepped for action, go find your group leader and get further orders from them. Dismissed!¡± Warren said in a commanding tone. ¡°Sir!¡± Responded Michael as he saluted again and turned on heel, heading back the way he had come. Warren walked around his office to stare out the window that overlooked the forest around town. ¡®These smarter goblins might end up being a problem, though.¡¯ He thought. ¡®Hopefully the scouts I sent out return soon with some good intel.¡¯ He continued to stare out the window deep in thought of possibilities for the upcoming fights. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- Deep in the forests about half a days travel from town at a run were two of Pine Bluff¡¯s most experienced and highest level scouts, Charlie and Tom. These two had been sent on the important mission of scouting out one of the directions the war horns had been heard coming from and to try to estimate what they were dealing with. What they found however was terrifying and beyond all expectations. Charlie and Tom sat high up in the trees above the rapidly growing goblin fort in their standard issue gear. It was made of various shades of dark and light greens and browns to help the scouts to blend in with the forest scenery. Up here in the trees, already partially obscured by leaves and branches, it was especially effective. Both Charlie and Tom are on the shorter side which was preferable for the scouts to help avoid detection, but that was where the similarities ended. Charlie is a tanned muscular Caucasian man in this thirties and Tom is an African-American in his twenties. They had been a team for years though, ever since Tom became a scout and Charlie was originally designated as his trainer. As the two sat up in their chosen perches, they looked down on the most advanced goblin camp they had ever seen being constructed. It left them awe-struck and worried, and also anxious to get back to town and report what they had found. Now, everything they knew of goblins up till this point was that they had very basic intelligence, hardly above any other animal but having opposable thumbs like humans made it easier for them to still advance somewhat. Loin clothes, crude stone axes, and spears, bows that fell apart after a few dozen shots and mostly living in natural caves or, rarely, an odd teepee-like structure that the first good storm would take out. What the two scouts saw below them now blew their minds away. There were hundreds of goblins in a massive clearing all working toward common goals in what looked like small organized groups. In some locations, they kept bringing in a steady stream of trees that had been cut down from the forest. Other groups were splitting those trees and yet another group was taking that and building a wall around the entire encampment. Goblins building walls? Real structures? That was unthinkable! If they were capable of this, then things were dire if all of the horns were other groups.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. The only saving grace here was the stream of goblins coming from various directions that looked as if they had been traveling for a distance but did not gather anything. The scouts surmised that these were the other warbands they had heard and that the goblins were all gathering in one place under a single banner, so at least they hopefully did not need to fend them off from a dozen different directions. ¡°Psst!¡± Charlie tried to quietly signal Tom in the next tree over. Thankfully his quiet noise was loud enough and when he had Tom¡¯s attention they continued conversing in American Sign Language, a staple for the scout teams. ¡°These goblins are insane, Tom!¡± Charlie signed over. ¡°I know, right? What should we do next? Report back or see where all these others streaming in are coming from?¡± Replied Tom while looking a bit worried. ¡°I¡¯d love to know where they are coming from myself and I am sure HQ would as well but it¡¯s more important that we make it back and tell them about these fortifications, numbers, and their level of organization first. We can¡¯t risk one of us having an accident on the way back and them not getting the information because we split up or chose to continue the mission. This is too big.¡± Charlie signed back over, ending the conversation since he was the ranking officer for this trip. Tom simply nodded his head in agreement and prepared to head back to town, his grim expression a mirror of Charlie¡¯s own. Things were not looking good for Pine Bluff. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡°Retreat! Go go go!¡± Screamed Martland at the top of his lungs. ¡®How the hell did this even happen!?¡¯ He thought to himself panicked. ¡°Arghh!¡± The man next to him, Colin, yelled out in pain as he went down with three arrows sticking out of him in various locations in his back. ¡°Goddamnit!¡± Martland yelled while he and another half dozen men attempted to retreat back the way they had come. ¡®How on Earth did it come to this!?¡¯ He thought to himself in a panic. Martland was in command of a party consisting of 10 guards. Most of them were CQC specialists, two archers, and a healer. They had been sent to patrol a bit further away from town and make a sweep in a circle around the town to see how close the goblins might try to get. Martland and his squad had wiped out many a goblin scouting force in the past and even a small den here and there, and by this point, they knew how a goblin fought and how best to fight back. These abominations were not goblins. Sure, they looked like goblins, but the level of intellect and planning they displayed was uncanny. Their ability to speak broken English and insult his troops while they ambushed and slaughtered them was terrible for morale. Overall, the mission was a failure. Rather than rushing at them from a single direction and alerting the forest for miles as they came, the goblins had chosen to slowly surround the humans and started off by firing arrows into their midst. In the first volley, 2 men were dead. By the time they realized what was happening the goblins had rushed out of the brush and began melee combat, quickly overwhelming the third man with sheer numbers and killing him as well. ¡®This is a disaster!¡¯ Martland thought to himself in a daze. ¡°Retreat! Go go go!¡± Screamed Martland at the top of his lungs. This now brings us to the present where Martland and his remaining 6 troops attempted to flee to the best of their ability. They quickly outpaced the short goblins but the arrows continued to rain around them. ¡°Argh!¡± Another man, Austin, cried out as an arrow struck his sword arm. Austin dropped the sword and kept running, however, determined to survive. His squadmates gave him a grim nod and they all kept running, pushing themselves to their limits. Eventually, the arrows stopped flying, the humans too far to hit accurately, but they did not slow their sprint until they burst out of the tree cover and entered the no mans land between the woods and the walls of Pine Bluff. ¡®We made it!¡¯ They all collectively thought to themselves in relief as they stumbled through the gates. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª While staring out his office window Warren was at the right place and time to witness Martland and his group returning. ¡®They are missing nearly half their squad¡­¡¯ He thought to himself with worry as he stepped away from the window. ¡®I hope Charlie and Tom bring back some good news because I now know Martland won¡¯t be when he comes to report soon.¡¯ Warren thought as he got out two small glasses and began to pour some of his limited stock of whiskey for himself and Martland. ¡®Only time will tell for sure though¡­¡¯ He sat back down in his chair and waited, sipping on the whiskey slowly. ¡°KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK¡± ¡°Come in!¡± Warren called out, and, as suspected, Martland stepped through looking as if he had gone to hell and back. ¡°My report, sir!¡± Martland said in a weary yet respectful voice, still trying to maintain his professional composure. ¡°Go on¡­¡­¡± ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­.. ..¡­ ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­.. Chapter 16 - The Orb: Revolutions Alex quickly headed back up to the guest room at the behest of Jeod who assured him he would be falling asleep very quickly once everything kicked in. So Alex laid down in the bed and stared around the room while he waited. Of particular note was a detailed map of the surrounding land and settlements. ¡®Huh, it¡¯s been years since I have seen an up to date map and this one seems much newer.¡¯ Alex thought to himself as he looked it over. This particular map had Pine Bluff located in the dead center which indicated either Jeod himself or someone else in town had produced it. Normally the center was wherever the map maker lived. It showed vast swaths of open land all around them for miles, as settlements were few and far between and most people have chosen to settle in old world cities which were vast distances apart compared to the current transportation of walking or rarely horses. To the north-northwest was the settlement of Little Rock which was, just like Pine Bluff, named after the old world city that they were located near. To their east across the river was the vicious town of New Haven, a source of bandits and villainy. Humanity was stretched thin these days and the inhabitants of New Haven chose to prey on anyone that wasn¡¯t them. To the south was Wilmar which was very similar to their own town both in size, politics and so on and to the west was currently nothing according to this map. Obviously, there were settlements out there but the map did not expand very far considering the time involved in traveling any large distances. Most of the old major roads had been destroyed by the growth of trees and plants and were relegated to simple paths through the endless woods at this point. As Alex was studying the map he suddenly realized how tired he was and struggled to continue reading the rest of the smaller settlements dotting the landscape and points of interest. ¡®I¡¯d better get comfy before I pass out and wake up with a crick in my neck¡¯ He thought groggily. ¡®Man this stuff¡­ really¡­ works¡­¡­¡­..¡¯ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Alex once again woke up within the void of his soul, glancing around nervously for anything out of place. Besides the obvious beautiful girl floating naked above the massive sea of mana with a rope of mana connecting the back of her neck to the sea. Nope, nothing else out of place here. ¡®Well, I¡¯d better get this over with.¡¯ He thought to himself. Despite this being within his own soul, and the girl having been born from whatever that orb was and likely not even a real girl, Alex¡¯s cheeks were flushed with embarrassment as he had never actually seen a naked girl before. Sure, she was curled into a ball which hid all the important bits, but from what he could see, she was quite beautiful and a little older than him. He estimated her to be around 5 foot 3 and she had some of the palest white skin he had ever seen. Everyone else in the community was shades of black or tan, with even the paler families spending so much time outside working, that nobody was ever quite this pale. Her skin was like unblemished fresh snow, and her hair was a long flowing blonde river that looked like it would reach her lower back when standing up. As Alex thought all of this over his cheeks continued getting redder and he kept slowly approaching her while trying to stay on guard for danger, but it was a bit hard presented with a sight like this. When he was finally within inches of the being he stopped moving forward and stood there, mouth agape, as he realized something he could not have noticed from a distance. Partially hidden by her long blonde hair, poking out of the top, were two long pointed ears! She was an Archon he realized with a start! ¡®Did the Architect make this happen so that I was not the only Archon?¡¯ He thought with embarrassment. He had not given the future of his race proper thought before now¡­. ¡®No, enough of that for now. I need to find out if she is a danger and if she knows anything.¡¯ He thought with conviction, attempting to wrangle his imagination back under his control.
+1 Intelligence!
Very slowly Alex reached out a hand toward her shoulder preparing to try and gently shake he awake when suddenly her head shot up and a hand grabbed his like lightning! ¡°Ah!¡± He yelled in fear as he attempted to pull back his hand but to no avail, her grip was like a steel vise.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. When Alex realized he would not escape, and that she had not moved a single muscle since grabbing him, he calmed down and looked at her face and gasped. Just like the rest of her, it was truly beautiful, and as he suspected after seeing her ears, her eyes had the lightning streaks characteristic of the Archon race. ¡°Hello?¡± Alex attempted to say in as steady of a voice as he could muster. She did not respond however and they simply continued to stare into each other¡¯s eyes for several more seconds.
Congratulations! You have encountered a soul-bound spirit and may integrate it into yourself! Doing so will grant you a portion of its knowledge and it a portion of yours. The personality and disposition of the spirit has already been pre-determined by absorbing the stray essence of the beings that entered the domain in which the spirit was born within. Do you wish to proceed with the contract?
¡°What??¡± Alex said aloud in a very confused voice. His face was a mask of confusion as well as he attempted to process what the message had said again. ¡®A soul-bound spirit? I¡¯ve never even heard of that in school or any of the adventurer''s stories.¡¯ He thought to himself. ¡®What have I gotten myself into now?¡¯ ¡°Sigh¡­¡± ¡°My information here is extremely limited but it¡¯s not like I can just deny this since it came from the orb. I refuse to believe that this is going to be something bad.¡± He said aloud to nobody in particular. Focusing his thoughts on the system message from before, he responded confidently ¡®Yes!¡¯. The moment he responded to the system message both he and the girl were surrounded in bright swirling light and she finally seemed to come alive. She smiled at him and, while he was stunned at recent events, pulled him forward into a kiss!
Spirit #18583, designation Alice, has accepted. Soul-binding is now complete.
The spirit, or Alice as he now knew, was still smiling brightly as she pulled away from the kiss. ¡°Bwuhh?¡± Alex unintelligibly said in response to his first kiss. ¡°Hehe¡± Alice giggled and covered her mouth with one hand. ¡°Hello, Alex.¡± She said in a sing-song voice. Slightly taken aback, Alex frowned. ¡°How do you know my name? What are you?¡± He asked rapid fire. Alice rolled her eyes sarcastically. ¡°I¡¯m Alice of course, didn¡¯t you read the notification? As it also said, I am a spirit, and I am now soul-bound to you for the entirely of your mortal life.¡± She explained something so insane calmly and as if it was a daily occurrence. ¡°But why?¡± Alex asked in response, still quite overwhelmed by this whole situation. Alice flipped her hair behind her shoulder, and Alex¡¯s eyes bulged as he realized she was still naked! With everything else going on it hadn¡¯t even registered that there was an amazingly beautiful girl in front of him in her birthday suit! He quickly spun around and stuttered out ¡°Could you please put some clothes on!?¡± ¡°If you insist. We are soul-bound now, Alex, and this soul is now shared by the both of rather than just you. I am not sure if you knew the extent of your powers within your own soul but if you wanted to you could have simply imagined clothes on me.¡± Alice explained as she willed herself a sundress into existence. Smiling and suppressing a giggle, she said: ¡°It¡¯s safe now.¡± As Alex turned back around, still embarrassed but relieved, Alice continued with her explanation. ¡°So essentially, the vast majority of my knowledge and common sense comes from the thousands of humans who have entered the nearby dungeon over the years. There are certain bits that are instinctual to me and certain bits that the System, as you call it, ingrained in me for various purposes, but the bulk of it is from your fellow humans. That is how I formed the basis of who I am as a person.¡± Alice continued unabated while Alex tried to comprehend all of this information. ¡°As a spirit, I am bound to your soul except for certain circumstances, although I do have some power still.¡± She said as she twirled around in her sundress, showing off her legs. ¡°The two of us can communicate at all times, considering I live and exist within you. Once you discover how to summon spirits and elementals however, you should be able to bring me outside for short periods at a time. The better you get the longer I can come out and the more of my power I can bring with me.¡± Alice explained succinctly. ¡°For the time being, however, I have only one item of true importance to discuss.¡± She said and paused here. Alex came out of his stupor and stood up straighter, signifying he had stopped trying to contemplate everything else she said and was devoting all of his focus the next part. ¡°I¡¯m listening,¡± Alex said in a calm and even voice. Alice gave another award winning smile and replied ¡°Good,¡± before continuing on. ¡°As you suspect, it was not entirely pure luck that you happened upon my resting place. Yes, I am sure the events leading up to it seemed so, but it was fate ordained by the Architect from the get-go. The first member of a new race can¡¯t be left to be the only member, now can he?¡± She said with a smirk. Alex¡¯s face once again reddened as she continued. ¡°So to that end, the Architect has created me. I am to impart on you the knowledge to convert certain humans to Archons and to expand the race.¡± Alice paused here again when she saw Alex¡¯s gaping mouth. ¡®I think I might have broken him¡­¡¯ She thought to herself, finger on her lip. Chapter 17 - Yup, Still Goblins Here Along the fifteen foot tall wooden walls surrounding the town of Pine Bluff roamed several guards on constant patrol during the full mobilization order. On the inside as well as the outside of the wall patrolled more units and they swapped out at individual times so there was never a large gap in coverage. It was morning the day after the full mobilization order first went into effect and the sun had just started rising a little while ago, making it still fairly dark but bright enough to see. It was in this twilight that one of the guards on the wall spotted a contingent of goblins walking across the field toward town! ¡®What are they doing walking so slowly?¡¯ The guard thought to himself for a moment before he rang one of the nearby alarm bells, alerting the rest of the troops. After his bell he heard bells continue to ring all along the wall as people repeated his alarm, letting everyone know to be on alert. The goblins were unaffected by all of this noise and continued their trek before finally stopping about halfway across the field. They seemed larger than your average goblin - taller, stockier, more muscular, - because they were in fact not goblins at all but hobgoblins, the elite warriors of the goblin race. They were donned in rough leather armor and carried pig-iron short swords and shields. What was odd to the human guards was that it seemed as if the hobs were guarding something, or someone, rather than coming here for a fight. That suspicion proved true when one of the hobgoblins stepped forward and loudly yelled in a deep gravely voice, ¡°Humans! Shaman bargain! Human chieftain talk! Come!¡± The creature¡¯s English was hard to understand and quite poor overall, but the words were unmistakable. The goblins, regarded as mere animals just a few days ago, wished to bargain with their leaders! The humans were stupefied for a moment until one of the commanding officers on the scene composed himself and loudly replied, ¡°Give us ten minutes and we will have our leaders here to talk!¡± The hobgoblin that had spoken before simply nodded and sheathed his sword. At this signal, the other hobgoblins sheathed their weapons as well, although none of them sat down or relaxed in any other way. Nobody could make out the figure, supposedly a shaman, hidden within the midst of its guards, but they were all plenty curious. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª By the time that the ten minutes were up, the three members of the council and the elder had all managed to make it to the wall in time and now stood facing the odd group of hobgoblins standing in the no mans land between Pine Bluff and the forests. After a brief conversation between the four of them, John, the youngest of the gathered leaders, was decided to be the liaison as he would be able to yell the easiest considering the ages of the council and elder. John was in his early fifties and had buzzed black hair, brown eyes, and tough wrinkly skin. He spent most of his time out in the sun and enjoyed working with his hands. He often took charge of the construction projects in town and made sure everything about them ran smoothly. ¡°Greetings! My name is John, and I will represent us during these talks. What brings you to our doorstep in such numbers? We know of your camp and war band.¡± Jason yelled across the field. He then turned to the side and said quieter to one of the younger guards on the wall. ¡°You there, boy, yes you!¡± He pointed at him as the young man looked around in confusion. ¡°Go get me a full flask of water! I can already see that all this yelling is going to be hell for my throat.¡± He growled out in an annoyed tone. John turned back to the gathered hobgoblin delegation and watched as their ranks split and an ancient grizzled looking goblin took center stage. He was not a hob goblin-like the guards but a regular goblin instead. He had long white hair and a long white beard, wore dark brown robes despite the goblins normally wearing naught but loin clothes and leather armor and carried a wooden staff with a skull of some sort mounted atop it. The goblin shaman swirled its staff around a few times and seemed to be muttering something. The guards and adventurers along the walls drew their weapons and some stood in front of the council to protect them in case of attack, but none came. After a few moments of this, the shaman planted his staff in the ground and looked up to the assembled humans.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°HUMANS!¡± Its voice bellowed across the space feeling as if it was rattling their very bones. ¡°Oops.¡± It said and smiled a toothy grin, clearly not sorry at all. ¡°Quieter, better. Still loud.¡± The shaman said but this time at a much more reasonable volume. It pointed its old gnarled hand at them and said ¡°Surrender, and mercy. Fight, and death. Ancient tale of war-lord true. Goblin tribes unite. One leader. No can stop us.¡± The goblin shaman gave its proclamation and the council members and elder quickly spoke among themselves. The elder spoke first before any of the other three could voice their opinions on the matter. ¡°Before you all state the obvious in different ways, of course we are not surrendering to goblins. The question we need to answer is how best to respond to the shaman so that we buy a bit more time to prepare versus angering him into committing to an all-out assault right away.¡± Amanda, an old Asian woman in her seventies with shoulder-length grey hair and a moderate sundress on, said: ¡°Why don¡¯t we try the old classic of asking for some time to think? It would be obvious to humans that we were just trying to buy time but the goblins might buy it. Worst case, the shaman denies us and we try asking to speak to this war-lord instead and buy some time that way.¡± She finished explaining calmly. Jordan, an African-American man in his mid-sixties with short cropped black hair and black eyes wearing a simple button up linen shirt and tan linen pants, agreed with Amanda¡¯s assessment. ¡°I agree, the plan that Amanda has laid out is likely our best approach to buy as much time as we can. All in favor?¡± He asked the group while looking at them one by one. ¡°Agreed¡± ¡°Agreed¡± ¡°Sure¡± ¡°Agreed¡± replied all four voices, as it was proper for even the person who presented the idea to vote. Jordan continued, ¡°Now that that is taken care of, if you would do us the honor, John?¡± Jordan asked politely while looking at their mediator. ¡°Sigh, always getting stuck with the jobs like this just because I¡¯m the youngest of you geezers¡­¡± John mumbled under his breath just loud enough for the others to hear. He turned back to the goblin shaman and began relaying their decision. ¡°Esteemed shaman, would you grant us a period to discuss this amongst ourselves before we give our answer?¡± The shaman gave a disgusted look and lifted his hand before jutting it out with a fist, then making an upside down thumbs up. ¡°No talk! No think! Surrender or die at hand of war-lord!¡± He screamed back fervently as he started to really get worked up, spittle flying from his mouth. John and the rest of the leaders collectively sighed, before he proceeded with plan B. ¡°May we speak to this war-lord and negotiate with him directly? If we are to surrender to such a mighty warrior, then we would like the honor of surrendering directly to him.¡± The shaman was visibly agitated and began shaking. ¡°No! No no NO!¡± It screamed at the top of its lungs. ¡°Surrender now or face the war band!¡± It screamed as its guards drew their weapons and got to the ready. John turned around to face the others and shrugged. ¡°Well, that went about as well as I would have expected a meeting with goblins. Mark!¡± He yelled out, but not loud enough for the goblins to hear of course. ¡°Sir!¡± Replied a voice some distance behind John. As John turned around to face the voice he saw a man in his thirties coming up to him. Broad shouldered, muscular, tall and looking like a god of war, was Mark, leader of their elite archer corps. ¡°Have every one of your men on duty fire at will. I want that shaman and his guards to have more holes than Swiss cheese.¡± He said seriously, but with a smile on his face. ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Mark replied before turning around and relaying the orders to his men. A moment later dozens of arrows flew from their wall towards the goblin delegation, where the shaman screamed in fear and hid behind a hobgoblin. True to their duty, the hobgoblins blocked the arrows with their shields and best they could and with their bodies where shields were insufficient. More than 2/3rds of the force present was felled by the arrows but the shaman and the rest managed to get under tree cover before another volley could be sent. Several that escaped had not done so unscathed and were visibly limping or cradling an arm, but this did not slow down the retreat of the sturdy beasts. The human leaders turned back to each other again and right as Amanda was about to speak a horn blast drowned out their speech. On and on it went before finally petering out. ¡°Well,¡± Amanda said, ¡°That could have gone better.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Responded the elder. ¡°We are already in a full mobilization so at least we will be prepared for whatever force they try to throw at us. I will check in on Alex and Jeod soon and see how they are progressing. If Alex can manage some useful spells he could very well turn the tide of this battle and save countless lives.¡± He said seriously. The other leaders nodded at him in unison and they spent a few minutes talking about the usual goings-on of the town and what needed to be done and of meetings and so on before eventually parting to go take care of the various tasks that fell under their purview. Chapter 18 - A dream come true Alex groggily woke up from his long sleep and noticed the light coming in the window shone from the opposite direction. ¡®I was out for quite a while, huh?¡¯ He thought to himself. ¡°That was one hell of a dream though.¡± He mumbled to himself thinking back over the lucid dream that had lasted for a little over a day. ¡®There¡¯s no way something like that would actually happen.¡¯ ¡®Hello Alex, how are you doing this morning?¡¯ Came a suddenly sing-song voice. Alex was terribly startled but not because of the voice itself, but because the voice was coming from his own head! ¡®It wasn¡¯t a dream!¡¯ He suddenly realized, wide-eyed. ¡®No silly, I¡¯m here to stay.¡¯ Replied Alice, and he could hear the laughter in her response. ¡®Yea yea you just keep laughing it up, it''s obvious I would think something as ridiculous as this was a dream.¡¯ Alex thought back. ¡®Especially that information you gave me to convert more people to Archons. Who would have thought a race change was possible without the power of the Architect?¡¯ He said to her incredulously. ¡®Well¡­.¡¯ She responded, trailing off at the end. ¡®Technically I told you about the method and I need to assist in the process. Plus after all, I was titled as a ¡°true tool of the Architect¡± so it''s not too far outside the realm of possibilities, right?¡¯ She asked Alex sheepishly. ¡®No, I guess not¡­¡¯ Alex replied as he resigned himself to his fate while rubbing his temples with his hands. ¡®Let¡¯s go find Jeod and get this over with, I doubt he will decline an opportunity such as this.¡¯ He thought to himself, although his thoughts were now also directed to Alice. ¡®This is gonna take some time to get used to¡­¡¯ He had fallen asleep in his clothes and decided to just continue wearing them as he did not have a change of clothes and doubted Jeod had anything that would fit him properly. He would rather wear slightly dirty clothes than end up looking like a child playing dress up with his father''s clothes. As he descended the stairs to the first floor Alex began to smell food, and so he gravitated toward the kitchen fairly certain that he would find both Jeod and breakfast waiting for him there. Alex was not disappointed when he rounded the corner and found Jeod in the process of setting two plates piled high with food down on the small table in front of him. ¡°Judging by the fact that you aren¡¯t dead, I assume last night went well?¡± Jeod questioned him with raised eyebrows. Grinning, Alex responded. ¡°Well enough. I managed to pick up a freeloader, but I think you¡¯ll agree that the gains are worthwhile.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Jeod said as he sat down in front of his plate. ¡°Enlighten me, if you would be so kind.¡± He said before he started stuffing himself. True to his nature he had an open notebook and a pencil next to his plate, ready to take notes while he ate. ¡°So after I fell asleep¡­,¡± Alex told Jeod what had transpired while he slept and about the existence of Alice. He had never heard of an instance of demonic possession or anything so Alex had no fear of being burned at the stake or anything like that. ¡°Extraordinary!¡± Exclaimed Jeod. ¡°Alex, do you have any idea how amazing this is? I mean, you have another consciousness living in there that was created by the Architect and System, which could go either way as far as safety is concerned, but this is unexplored territory! As a scholar, this is a dream come true. Everything you do, every action, every thought, alters history for generations to come!¡± Jeod was out of breath and had to stop to breath. Alex smiled sheepishly, embarrassed at the praise he was receiving. Turning serious though, he directed a question towards Jeod. ¡°So what do you think about the idea of trying to turn humans into Archons using the method Alice outlined?¡± In response, Jeod closed his eyes, stood still, and raised his arms out to either side. ¡°Take me.¡± He said in a serious voice, before opening his eyes and having a good laugh with Alex. ¡°But seriously though, being able to use magic has been my life¡¯s goal, you know that Alex. All of my alchemical research and class studies has been an attempt to unlock the secrets of mana manipulation for the human race.¡± ¡°If you have a method that a sentient tool granted by the Architect itself says will turn me into an Archon and allow me to use mana, go right ahead. I am fully prepared for the consequences of this experiment and would rather die here and now than pass up the opportunity.¡± Jeod concluded in complete seriousness while staring into Alex¡¯s eyes. ¡®He really wants this. Someone has to be first, so it might as well be someone who is so willing to accept the risks.¡¯ Alex thought to himself. ¡®I agree. His conviction is admirable and he will make a fine addition to the first of the Archons.¡¯ Alice said, adding her own opinion to Alex¡¯s own. ¡®From what I can tell looking at your memories of him so far I have a fairly good hunch he will pass the requirements as well.¡¯ She concluded. ¡°Let¡¯s finish breakfast first and then we will head up to your room then,¡± Alex suggested. ¡°It¡¯s probably best if neither of us has an empty stomach and I am unsure of what you will feel during the process or how long it will take, so it¡¯s best to have some food in you and be laying down before we start.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Said Jeod as he continued shoveling food into his mouth. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Now finished with breakfast, Jeod and Alex convened in Jeod¡¯s bedroom as he laid down in preparation. ¡°Jeod, I will say it once more, I simply know that this is possible, but I have no idea how it will actually work in practice. Are you prepared?¡± Alex asked in a shaky voice. This was quite an undertaking for a mere 15-year-old. ¡°I am ready to face the consequences Alex. Do it,¡± Jeod said with conviction while looking Alex in the eyes.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡®Alice?¡¯ Alex called inwardly. ¡®Yes, Alex?¡¯ Alice responded in her sing-song voice. ¡®Can you please start the process to convert Jeod into an Archon?¡¯ He asked of her. ¡®Of course, Alex. As we discussed previously, it is my primary purpose in life to assist you in this after all. I need you to will your mana to heed to my commands for a short while and I will take care of the rest.¡¯ She responded softly and with confidence. ¡®Ok, Alice will do.¡¯ He thought before he closed his eyes and concentrated on willing his mana to follow the orders of Alice instead of himself. It was an odd feeling, although having two souls within one body was already an odd feeling, but even more so trying to give the foreign soul control of his mana which was so inartistically connected to his own soul.
Do you wish to temporarily relinquish control of your mana pool to spirit #18583, designation Alice?
¡®Yes, I confirm.¡¯ Thought Alex. ¡®Ok, here we go!¡¯ Said Alice excitedly, and Alex nearly threw up as he felt the vast majority of his mana pool move at her command. What followed was very impressive indeed. Jeod, who was laying down in his bed, was surrounded in a glowing cocoon of mana not dissimilar to the orb that had birthed Alice. It glowed various shades of blue rather than the white and green of the orb, but the symbols covering the entirety of it were familiar to Alex as he watched in awe. The orb began spinning around Jeod, faster and faster, and the runes became a blur of blue just like the rest of the orb. It started glowing brighter and brighter and Alex started to feel faint as he felt Alice using the last of his mana. ¡®At least it¡¯s not debilitating for her to use the vast pool of mana like it is when I try.¡¯ He thought sulkily. Alex could picture the smirk on her face when Alice said ¡®Don¡¯t forget that I am born of mana, and in particular yours, so of course it would be easier for me to use it. Once you willed it to follow my commands it became like another limb to me. But enough of that, focus back on Jeod. The process is coming to an end.¡¯ ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-
Sufficient wisdom and intelligence present: Check
Current Race set to Human: Check
Sound of mind: Check
????: Check
????: Check
Preliminary requirements have been met and mana supply has been provided. Would you like to change your race to Archon?
¡®Yes¡¯ thought Jeod towards the message he sort of saw, sort of heard, in his mind¡¯s eye.
Selection Confirmed. Beginning transition. Stand by... ERROR. Class incompatible with race. Stand by¡­
Processing¡­ Processing¡­
Congratulations! You are now an Arcane Scholar! Would you like to see a class description?
¡®Yes,¡¯ he thought again, slightly worried now. Scholar had been his class his entire life and it gave him boosts to both his intelligence and wisdom. It was not a traditional combat class nor your run of the mill blacksmith but instead allowed him an easier time in his research and alchemy. He could read faster, write faster, eyeball exact measurements of reagents, had improved memory and more. It was a lot to give up, but at least this new one still had the word scholar in the name.
Class: Arcane Scholar
Primary Attributes: Wisdom, Intelligence
Secondary Attributes: Agility
Bonuses Per Level: +1 Wisdom, +2 Intelligence, +0.5 Agility, +0.2 Lifespan
Bonuses on Obtaining: None
Description: The Arcane Scholar is renowned far and wide for having all of the abilities as the Scholar class provided to the lesser races but with the inclusion of utilizing mana in new and exciting ways. Whereas most mana users are limited to a small spectrum of the craft, an Arcane Scholar is as free as the mighty Arcanist. The drawback, however, is that an Arcane Scholar can never directly use their magic to harm for their path is that of research and innovation.
¡®Haha! This is everything I could have hoped for and more!¡¯ Jeod thought in pure bliss.
Beginning procedure. Please remain still.
Jeod stiffened as he felt a tingling sensation start crawling over his entire body beginning at his feet and working its way upwards. It was similar to when a limb falls asleep but happening to everything and was quite an unpleasant experience. Jeod was relieved when the feeling reached his face and he finally faded away to finish the changes in the sweet embrace of oblivion. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- ¡°Uuuugghhhhh¡± Jeod moaned as he slowly woke up. ¡°Jeod!¡± Cried Alex as he jumped out of the chair he had been sitting in next to Jeod¡¯s bed. ¡°Jeod, how do you feel?¡± He asked excitedly. ¡°It¡¯s been half a day already!¡± ¡®How do I feel¡­.?¡¯ Jeod thought to himself. ¡®I feel¡­ great, mentally, but quite drained or weak or something physically¡¯ He realized. "Was the transformation a success?¡± He asked excitedly as he turned to look at Alex so he could see his eyes. Alex smiled widely. ¡°Indeed it was, brother. Welcome to the race of Archons.¡± Alex tried to stand straight and look majestic as he said this, but Jeod burst out laughing at the sight. ¡°Aw, you didn¡¯t need to laugh at me.¡± Alex pouted slightly before holding up a hand mirror he had seen laying on Jeod¡¯s dresser. ¡°Here, take a look for yourself.¡± Jeod took a long look at himself in the hand mirror, eyes widening. He slowly reached his hands up to his ears and felt the pointed tips. He then paused and thought back to how Alex had described his use of mana. ¡®Fire!¡¯ He thought, focusing on making a flame above one of his fingers. Instead, he lit the finger on fire and yelped in pain. ¡°Ow!¡± ¡°Hahaha!¡± Alex laughed at this, thinking back to his own first experience. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll get there. Why don''t you take a look at your stats real quick? There might be some surprising changes. After that, if you are feeling up to some magic, what say we get back to trying to find a good way to contribute to the defense against the goblins?¡± Alex asked with a grin. Jeod frowned slightly and pushed up his right sleeve so he could see the numbers that were ever present on his arm. "What!?" He cried out in dismay. ''My intelligence and wisdom went up by 10 each, likely as a result of the new race since the class did not list a bonus, but my strength and vitality dropped like a rock!'' He thought to himself in shock. That is until his eyes focused in on the oft-overlooked lifespan stat that rarely changed after birth. "Alex, my lifespan has gone up by 4!" Jeod shouted excitedly. ''Forty extra years added to my life, just like that! Forty extra years to conduct my research and live!'' "Well of course," Alex responded in a mock condescending tone. "Archons are a race of magic, of course we would live longer. Now hop to it, let''s go get to work! We don''t know how much time the town has left until the attack." Jeod turned to him and said ¡°I¡¯ve got just the thing! Meet me in the workshop in an hour and I will have the supplies prepared and ready. If you can pull this off then taking care of the goblins should be a walk in the park!¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Alex agreed and headed to the yard to kill some spare time with fine practice. Not a chapter - Few explanations First off, I want to be very clear that this is not a rant and I am not angry or upset. I mention this because I know from experience that sometimes I can come off as such and I want to assure you this is not the case right now. I 100% appreciate and am thankful for the people who made me think of this and do this research because I simply did not think about it and that was a big mistake on my part. This is definitely something I will try to work into the story where I can and if I ever do a third rewrite in the future will make sure is included. I wanted to type it up separate for now however to appease people and help shore up loose ends. Plus, I learned a lot on these topics that I did not know and it was super interesting. I spent somewhere around two hours reading as much as I could on the topic before gathering what I deemed enough information for my purposes. I will endeavor to prevent things like this from happening in the future though and I really am sorry I left such a big gap in the storytelling. Ok, so I am sure if someone does enough research and is a subject matter expert they can find a way around this, but to me, this seems like a reasonable list as to why the town isn¡¯t mowing the goblins down with a bunch of M4A1s. 1. Identifying the constituent parts is difficult if you don''t recognize them or know where they would be concentrated. How many people reading this could tell me where to find a reasonable supply of the various chemicals? Who would even recognize them? If they can be made out of common supplies that might still be in towns, how many of you know how to make it? 200 years have passed at this point and not many regular people know this information, let alone those that survived and passed it on somehow. Internet is not a thing and many books were destroyed early on. How many houses happen to have books on early gun creation sitting around? 2. Without a source of sulfur, which likely wasn¡¯t high on the priority list to mine for when trying to survive in this type of world, gunpowder is pretty hard to ignite. Sulfur lowers the ignition temperate by over 100 degrees which is why it was so important for guns to become useful in the past. Without the sulfur igniting it requires an ignition mechanism many times better than flintlock and that would not be reasonably available to these people.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. 3. The method for making it without sulfur is HARD as well and it would not be unreasonable for the few who might be trying to still fail at perfecting it enough for practical use. 4. Existing stockpiles of guns and ammunition would be largely depleted or useless. Most ammunition has a shelf life eventually before becoming useless or dangerous and 200 years is a very long time, especially if it was not stored well considering all the destruction the plant growth caused. 5. Since it would be hard to find non-electric powered tools for the manufacturing process they would need to make dedicated tools for it from scratch and that would take quite a bit of time and also the tools required are specialized enough that they would have no other practical use. 6. Creating primers is way too high tech to do so without real modern technology 7. Even if they did somehow know about and find all of the various supplies to make it, making black powder that is actually useful is a VERY exact science and took a lot of time to iron out. It would be hard to dedicate time and effort to this when people can defend themselves using Ki, enchanted items and scrolls from the dungeons which they need to keep clearing on a regular basis in order to keep the monster populations down. But why don¡¯t they have working electricity, machinery, refineries and so on after so long? 1. Any batteries or methods of power storage are trash after the amount of time that passed whether they had been used or left to sit. I did the research on this to be sure. 2. Prior to the industrial revolution, electricity didn¡¯t really have a lot of uses. There is not much work that needs to be done at night when you need to be sleeping and lighting indoors can be done much easier with fireplaces, lanterns and so on. In a situation like this people would prioritize and realize that electricity is not needed for survival at the moment. 3. Again, not many average civilians have the proper knowledge to set up an electrical system from scratch even if everyone knows the bare basics of how it works. How many of you are confident you could make your own electricity generation if dropped in an abandoned and destroyed city? Let¡¯s say you have 20 people willing to follow you (early on there would be many small groups, people all want to be In charge), how about now? 100 people but still just you having the knowledge of how to do so? 4. Old school water mills and such exist of course for certain uses but using them to generate electricity, let alone storing it, requires technology well beyond what a small isolated community would be capable of producing. Chapter 19 - Enchanting? About an hour later Alex and Jeod were both standing Jeod¡¯s workshop staring at a pile of miscellaneous items scattered over the table. Swords, boots, gloves, shields and more - and as far as Alex could tell, it was just a pile of random gear. Jeod was smiling widely as he saw the confused look on Alex¡¯s face. ¡°Judging by the expression on your face I assume you don¡¯t recognize any of these objects.¡± Jeod began. Alex shook his head and Jeod continued. ¡°Each and every item I have gathered here has been recovered from the dungeons and is enchanted.¡± Alex¡¯s eyes widened as he looked at the items with new appreciation. The enchanted gear was not rare per-say but it was far from common as well. Any of the higher level adventurers had at least one piece of enchanted gear but the riff-raff of the lower levels was rarely strong enough to enter the deeper parts of the dungeons often enough to stumble upon some. ¡°But what is it that you hope to do with it?¡± Alex asked in confusion, but then it dawned on him. Humans had never managed to figure out the secrets of how enchanted items work but humans had also never been able to properly use mana! ¡°I get it! You want to try and use our new abilities to study them and figure out how to replicate it?¡±
+1 Intelligence
¡°Exactly!¡± Exclaimed Jeod, happy that Alex had caught on without an explanation. ¡°The only information I have currently to go off of as I try to learn to use my powers is what you told me of your own experiences, so for now you pick something and see if you can figure anything out about it.¡± He said with a thin line on his mouth, slightly miffed that he couldn¡¯t help with this groundbreaking moment until he learned more about his mana. ¡®Hmm,¡¯ Alex thought as he studied the items spread across the table and tried to decide what to work with first. ¡®Well, I had wanted to be a swordsman so why don¡¯t I start with the sword?¡¯ He decided as he took it in his hands. It was a fine sword, around the proper length for a standard longsword and weighted perfectly for balance, as expected from a dungeon item. It was made of slightly tarnished steel, showing that it was likely one of the earlier acquisitions in years past, but as Alex held it in his hand he felt the power it contained within. Without even trying to do anything in particular, just by holding it, Alex was instinctually aware of what the sword''s enchantment was capable of. ¡®Wow, these items are quite something huh.¡¯ He thought to himself as he looked up and down the length of the blade, inspecting it for issues. After finding none Alex channeled a slight amount of mana into the blade and watched in awe as a thin current of electricity began circulating along its length. It wasn¡¯t much compared to lightning, but he knew in a sword fight it was plenty. Even a small hit would channel the energy through your foe and cause their muscles to lock up for a moment. At that point, even an inexperienced swordsman should be able to end the fight in short order. Simply channeling his mana into the blade however gave Alex no insights on how it actually functioned, despite being an Archon and Arcanist. ¡°Hmm¡± He stood there in thought for a moment before an idea came to him. Alex sat down cross-legged on the floor of the workshop and laid the bare sword across his lap before closing his eyes and concentrating. ¡®I hope this works.¡¯ He thought to himself as he began drawing upon his vast reserves of raw mana. Over the course of several minutes, he slowly but steadily permeated the surrounding area in a loose fog of his mana. ¡®I can feel everything¡­¡¯ He thought in wonder. Whatever his mana touched it was if he knew everything about it. The dust floating in the air, the scuffs on the floor and so much more.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. It was beginning to quickly give him a headache trying to process so much information at once and the pain reminded him to focus on the task at hand. Concentrating, Alex commanded all of the mana in the air around him to gather around the blade in a tight blanket covering every inch of it. As the mana got more and more compact around the blade, Alex felt as if he knew the blade better than his own body even. Smiling to himself at his success, he simultaneously pushed mana into the sword and activated the enchantment. Lightning crackled down the length of the blade and Alex FELT how it functioned, how the blade pulled in the ambient mana to fuel the phenomenon that it caused and how the runes invisible to the naked eye carefully controlled the effect. Alex felt confident that he could attempt to replicate such an effect if he studied the rest of the items that Jeod and supplied and quickly set about this task. It took the entire morning, nearly until lunch, but Alex managed to examine all of the enchanted items on the table. The sword that created lightning along its length, gloves that made it easier to climb a sheer cliff by sticking to most natural surfaces somewhat, boots that increased your speed by a decent amount but only within dungeons, a shield capable of absorbing the force of an impact up to an astronomical amount, a dagger that caught fire once stabbed into a living being, as well as several other items. Alex studied all of them and did his best to figure out what made each one work, what made them different, how they drew mana from the environment and above all how he might be able to replicate the effects into his own original works. While Alex was working on this all morning Jeod was out in the back yard meditating and working on sensing his mana as Alex had instructed him on. Having researched mana and classes for so many years his progress was coming along quite quickly and he was nearly Alex¡¯s equal at this point in control, although nothing could make up for his small mana pool. Not that he knew yet that his mana pool was much smaller than usual for an Archon or even a human¡­ ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- ¡°Fire!¡± Screamed Mark, the current commanding officer of the archers on duty along the northern wall. The arrows of his 30 or so odd men launched into the air before arcing down upon the fodder forces the goblins had been sending at them. ¡®When will they send the real troops?¡¯ He thought wearily. Ever since the failed ¡°negotiations¡± if you could call them that, between the town¡¯s representatives and the goblin shaman the enemy had sent a fairly regular force of weak goblins at them. The goblins sent did not seem to be meant to actually do any real damage but to simply keep the humans on their toes and deny them sleep. ¡°Bastards!¡± Mark muttered under his breath as he watched yet another group of them die under his troop''s relentless rain of arrows. The hob-goblins might be able to march with several arrows in their hide but the normal rank and file goblins fell even easier than a human due to their diminutive size. The real fight would be determined by how many hob-goblins that shaman had under his control. As Mark watched on with a grim face, the defenders at the base of the walls ran forward and put the injured and dying goblins out of their misery with a variety of swords, axes, spears and more. ¡®Everyone seems to have their own fighting style these days, but whatever works.¡¯ Mark thought to himself as he watched the brutal executions take place. The goblins were monsters for sure and would show humans no mercy when encountered, but Mark still wondered when the bloodshed might end. ''Specially since they were proven to now be capable of human speed and higher thought, could they not come to some sort of agreement?¡¯ He thought to himself as he knocked another arrow in preparation for the inevitable next wave. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Justin, the elder, was in his office listening to another report on the current situation. It seemed that despite their new intelligence the goblins were only coming from two directions for some reason, but this made things much easier on Pine Bluff¡¯s strained forces. A full mobilization order was not an easy thing to keep in effect for very long. Essential businesses shut down due to a lack of employees, patrols against petty crimes ceased and an endless number of small annoyances cropped up as a result. ¡®It¡¯s been two days.¡¯ The elder thought to himself. ¡®It¡¯s not much, but maybe it¡¯s time I visit Alex and Jeod to see how things are coming along. We could use a miracle in this fight and Alex just might be able to supply us with one.¡¯ As the young man currently reporting to him finished up he decided that he would pay a visit to Alex and Jeod in the morning and see if there was anything they could do to help. If nothing else, Alex could throw his fireballs from the wall and still take out a few hob-goblins if the power he described wasn¡¯t anexaggeration. ¡°You are dismissed,¡± Jason said to the young man at the end of his report, and went back to his paperwork and planning, Always more work¡­. UPDATE Yooo progress update. Sorry about the two chapters a day for a bit and then nothing. I am a bit of a perfectionist and cannot stand issues that I missed not having easy ways around them without going back and changing lots of other stuff. HOWEVER. Please do not keep this event from continuing to point out anything that seems dumb, wrong, too unbelievable, and so on. I wrote two entirely brand new prologues, both over 3000 words and one of them I actually want to turn into a second story later on because the idea I had for it is amazing and I am excited to work on it eventually. I have a small group of people whose opinions I trust on these matters and after the various feedbacks for each of the versions and changes and such it is looking like my best bet is to keep the Prologue and story as it is and go from here. I will treat this as a learning exercise, and it really is, since it''s my first proper storytelling attempt. Its something I have always wanted to get into but failed so having a solid base was SO exciting for me. Finding out it wasn''t so solid, not quite as exciting. But I am not letting that break me! I ran through all my options for new intros and such and decided to stay as is. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. I currently have the OUTLINE for chapter 20 mostly written at a 1000 words of rough outline, so it may very well turn into chapters 20 and 21 when all is said and done. 1000 words of an outline is a lot of story and events to flesh out. Anyway thanks to anyone still checking back to see what''s up. I don''t work late tomorrow and plan to have chapter 20 out. I am thinking it might be best for me to single releases until I have a stock built up for emergencies like how I didn''t post the last 2 days. Chapter 20 - It Begins Someone began knocking on the door loudly just as Alex had finished doing what he could for the moment with studying the enchanted gear. ¡®I wonder who that could be?¡¯ He questioned silently. ¡°Coming!¡± He yelled in the direction of the door while he quickly covered the collection of enchanted items with a nearby tablecloth. It was best not to let just anyone see such a pile of treasure sitting in the middle of the room. When Alex opened the oak door he was surprised to see a familiar face standing on the doorstep. ¡°Old man? What brings you here? I figured you would be too busy with the goblins to come to visit me anytime soon.¡± He asked with a small bit of confusion mixed with surprise, showing on his face. Suddenly Alex¡¯s eyes light up as he remembers something important. ¡°Hey wait, where is my sister at!? I had forgotten in all this commotion that she was supposed to be sent here, but she never showed up!¡± He said, slowly raising his voice as he got angrier throughout the accusation. Now it was the elder¡¯s turn to be surprised and confused, as he gave a puzzled response. ¡°Did you not receive the news from a courier? I specifically sent one over the same day we last spoke.¡± ¡°I did not, and I am sure Jeod would have told me if they came in my sleep. What happened to her!?¡± Alex asked, still angry and now getting quite worried. ¡®Mother wouldn¡¯t have let anything happen to her if they were together, not with her strength. But surely mother was deployed, being such a powerful and famous fighter.¡¯ The elder regained his composure quickly and attempted to soothe Alex¡¯s anger. ¡°I am most sorry, Alex, and I will personally look into why the courier dared to ignore a direct order from myself.¡± He let a bit of anger purposely seep into his tone to help show Alex that he was sincere about the situation, before reverting back to calm and professional demeanor. ¡°When we attempted to have her sent here your mother was just dropping her off at the local hospital where her training was supposed to soon begin. Since your mother¡¯s power will be desperately needed in the coming fight, she decided to leave Emily in the care of some friends there and Emily was quite happy to begin learning early and doing what she can to help the injured brought in from the skirmishes so far. The hospital is one of the few locations that retain guards and a standing defense even during a full mobilization is in effect, so there really isn¡¯t anywhere safer to be at the moment.¡± He concluded succinctly. Alex visibly calmed down, tense muscles unclenching. ¡°Ah, that makes a lot of sense then. I am sorry I went right to the extremes, Jason, I should have known my mother would find her someplace safe before just running off.¡± ¡°Your mother¡¯s contribution is indeed useful.¡± The elder continued, this time smiling brightly. ¡°She is with one of the groups purging the scouting forces from the forests and from what I hear she is like an angel of death on the battlefield. Her long brown hair flowing around her as she darts from goblin to goblin smashing their faces in with her fearsome enchanted mace, yanking the less experienced troops from the jaws of death, and keeping the injured alive to see another day. Between the number of people she has managed to save and the number of goblins she has managed to kill, not to mention her beauty, she has become a rallying force for the men.¡± Alex¡¯s face reddened at hearing the description of his mother. ¡®At least she is doing well out there.¡¯ He thought with a positive attitude. It is at this moment that Alex notices Jeod coming up from behind him. ¡°Alex, I heard angry voices so I came back inside. What is going on out here?¡± He yelled from the back of the house with concern. As Jeod rounded the corner and came into the receiving room, he and the elder got a good look at each other. ¡°WHAT!¡± The elder yells as he quickly jumped back with force, putting a good 10 feet between him and the entrance of the house. His hands are suddenly covered in two impressive looking metal gauntlets that had been no doubt something found in the dungeon and he readies into a fighting stance. The elder¡¯s face was a mix of different emotions quickly flashing by. Confusion, anger, suspicion, anger again and more as he struggled what to think of the situation. Alex and Jeod were both just standing in the doorway looked confused, unsure what was going on. ¡°Alex! Jeod! What is this? Why are Jeod¡¯s eyes now the same as yours, Alex?¡± As he studied them he could see the tapered ears on Jeod¡¯s head as well. How could someone just change race like that? Alex had been tampered with by the System and, according to his own account the Architect itself, during his awakening, but Jeod has been a Scholar all his life!Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. As Alex began to open his mouth in an attempt to explain, the elder cut him off loudly. ¡°No!¡± Startled, Alex stopped. ¡°Alex, you and I have only ever met when you came back to town, so I do not know the real you. Your mother and sister have not seen you since your return to help verify anything. Jeod, however, my old friend, I have known you for many years. I will ask you a series of questions that only the real Jeod could answer.¡± ¡°If I can determine that you two are who you say you are and not some sort of parasitic vampire trying to take over the town, then I will be quite interested in hearing how this came about. If it cannot be verified¡­ well, that is quite obvious.¡± He said with steel in his voice. He would do what needed to be done despite the resemblance to Jeod. Jeod¡¯s face grew grim and his lips formed a flat line. ¡°Do what you must. We should have prepared for this, but in our excitement, we did not even think of the problems that surely would have arisen from a change like this.¡± He stated calmly. ¡°Question number one.¡± Began the elder. ¡°Why did I choose the class I chose?¡± ¡°Haha!¡± Jeod replied as he thought of the reason. ¡°Because you could never get enough of the stories of ancient martial artists and hearing about the movies and such that used to exist. You thought they sounded super cool as a kid and started trying to emulate ancient masters all the time and it just stuck with you.¡± The elder smiled. ¡°Good. I truly do hope it is you and that my friend is not dead. Question number two. What is my true age?¡± ¡°You are 76 years old, you old fart.¡± Responded Jeod with a jovial smirk on his face. ¡°I still don¡¯t know why you keep it such a secret from everyone though.¡± The elder smiled back and responded, ¡°The older I get, the less everyone else lets me help out with the fun stuff like this upcoming battle. I am not as frail for my age as people would assume however so it suits my purposes to keep the true number hidden.¡± He grinned wider before continuing. ¡°Plus it fits the whole ancient martial arts master vibe that I have kept going." ¡°Hahahaha!¡± Laughed Jeod uncontrollably, tears coming from his eyes. ¡°That reasoning is so like you. So am I cleared, Justin? Surely an imposter could not know those things.¡± He said after he stopped laughing, getting serious again. ¡°Yes, indeed, I do believe that you are truly my old friend Jeod. I am sorry that I had to do this, but surely being as smart as you are, you saw why it was necessary. Would you two care to explain how this happened? Was it on purpose? How? What are the benefits and drawbacks? Why did you do this?¡± He shot out rapid fire, before stopping himself eventually. ¡°I have so many questions about this development, excuse me.¡± He said as he walked back to the doorway, closing the gap he had made as he readied for a possible fight. Jeod and Alex both stepped back inside the house while Jason follows them inside. ¡°The answers to those questions will take a bit of explaining, and I am not entirely sure how well we can explain some of them, so let us all take a seat at the table here and I¡¯ll get us some tea before we start,¡± Jeod said to the other two. The three of them sat down at the table in the small kitchen, Jeod having served tea for the three of them, and Alex begins. ¡°Well, it is kind of hard to explain, but-¡° Alex was cut off by the sound of an incredibly loud horn being blasted in the distance. Mere moments after the first horn dozens more could be heard, along with the low, steady beat of a large number of drums. ¡°The goblins!¡± All three of them shouted at once as they all stood up, spilling the tea from shaking the table so much. Justin looked grim as he let both Alex and Jeod know that he had to quickly leave and head to the gathering point for the council and leaders of the guards, adventurers guild, and town militia to help coordinate the defense efforts. Alex and Jeod quickly hurried out the front door with him, also ready to head to the walls, when the elder seemingly vanished. ¡°Wha-¡° Alex began before being hit with a shockwave of air, making him stumble slightly. Where the elder had stood the ground was now a small crater, cracks spreading out from the epicenter. ¡®Wow!¡¯ Alex thought to himself. ¡®He really is amazingly powerful!¡¯ ¡®Indeed.¡¯ Commented Alice from within his mild. Alex twitched a moment, almost having forgotten about the presence of Alice with her being so quiet recently. ¡®I am always here Alex, do not worry. I am simply content to watch and listen most of the time.¡¯ She said, and he knew that he could hear the smile in her voice. He was sure she found it quite funny when he jumped at her voice. After all, the two of them shared both a body and a soul space, and it was quite easy for them to sense the emotional state of the other. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not every day you see the old man get serious.¡± Commented Jeod dryly. ¡°Shall we get going?¡± He asked while glancing at Alex. Surprise obvious on his face, Alex asked ¡°Are you sure you want to come? I thought your class could not cause direct harm through the use of its spells?¡± Smiling devilishly Jeod said ¡°Yes, that may be, but what kind of Scholar would I be if I gave up the chance to watch you sling spells at the goblins? You might be almost as new to this as me but I¡¯m not the Archon here and surely there is much to learn from observing you in the heat of the moment.¡± He finished jovially. On that note, the two of them headed in the direction of all the commotion and attempted to prepare themselves for the event of a lifetime. Chapter 21 - Round 1: Fight! Alex and Jeod arrive at the wall where most of the fighting seems like it will take place and can already hear the war cries of the goblins and hobgoblins and the sounds of bows twanging as both attacks and defenders fired volley after volley of arrows. At the bottom of one of the steps up the wall they spotted Martland, the person in charge overall of the entire defense operation with the various group leaders then placed below him. Even the council was not above him in decisions related to the defense unless all 3 of them and the elder collectively agreed to the opposition. ¡®Alex, be careful of this man.¡¯ Alice said to him. ¡®That weapon¡­ it is very impressive and he must be powerful indeed to wield it.¡¯ ¡®We will be fine Alice, but thank you for the concern. Martland is a well known public figure and one of our best defenders against the stronger creatures that roam the land.¡¯ Martland was a grizzled guard veteran in his fifties. He had large muscled arms, a strong jawline and, piercing eyes that told you he was always serious. He stood about 6 foot 5 inches tall and was wearing an entire set of enchanted full plate metal armor that he had scoured from dungeons himself during his younger days as an adventurer, before retiring from that line of work and using his strength for the defense of the town instead. He held a massive 6-foot tall spear in hand with an elegant shaft made of a dark, almost black, wood few had ever seen, for it only grew after the Cataclysm and only in the most dangerous forests, and was as sought after as Mithril - Elerium wood. Elerium wood was, as far as humans knew so far, only capable of being cut or damaged by a mithril blade and even then was quite hard to work with. Carving such an elegant spear shaft from it must have taken a very long time. The main draw of the wood, however, was that is vastly multiplied the strength of Ki channeled through it, thus making its wielder a terror on whatever unlucky battlefield they chose to descend upon. Tipping the Elerium wood spear was a pointed blade made of mithril, thus completing the look of Martland¡¯s legendary weapon known to all - Gungnir, named after the spear used by Odin himself in Norse mythology. Martland kept Gungnir on him at all times and used it as a walking stick when not fighting, making him quite an imposing figure even when he had not donned his full gear. ¡°Hey, Captain Martland!¡± Alex called out jovially as they ran over toward him. Martland turned to look who had called for him and was surprised to see the Scholar Jeod having left the safety of his house at a time like this, and a young man running beside him. As they got closer his eyes widened when he realized who the boy was. The council had made sure to brief everyone of importance on Alex¡¯s identity and his peculiarities but Martland had not heard that Jeod somehow changed as well. As the two stopped in front of him, Martland wondered what they were here for. ¡°Do you two plan on taking part in the defense?¡± He asked curiously. ¡°I have heard some of the news about you, Alex, but did not know your powers were under control enough to help here. As for you, Jeod¡± He said as he shifted his gaze towards the Scholar, ¡°I don¡¯t recall ever seeing you heading toward a fight.¡± Jeod smiled sheepishly at that, for he was indeed a bit of a coward. His purpose is research, after all, not bashing skulls! ¡°You are half right. I do not plan to fight, but to observe, and indeed young Alex here did not have nearly enough time to properly experiment or master his powers but he should still be a big help.¡± Jeod finished as he gave Alex a friendly slap on the back. Martland rubbed his beard in thought for a moment, before deciding to just let them do what they think best since he has no information on their abilities and has his hands full coordinating the rest of the forces. ¡°Do as you will Alex, just do not get in the way of the soldiers. You know better than I how you can contribute at the moment, so it makes little sense for me to try and order you around. I must go now, however, stay safe.¡± With that final comment, Martland turned and left them.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get going then!¡± Said Alex with enthusiasm. ¡®I can¡¯t wait to help kill some goblins and get some more levels!¡¯ He thought to himself. ¡®Yes, indeed. The more powerful you become the more powerful I become by extension.¡¯ Alice said in response to his previous thought. ¡®Maybe one day you can discover a way to let me manifest outside of the soul space¡­¡¯ She drifted off in thought and desire. Alex and Jeod climbed the stone stairs leading up to the top of the impressive walls surrounding the town. It took many years to convert the wooden walls into proper stone ones, but it was well worth it, in the end, to keep the town safe. The current walls stood 20 feet tall and had 2 entrances. The outer stone portion was around 2 feet thick and then turned into wooden supports helping to hold it up. Jutting in toward the town from the top was a wood platform that ran the length of the wall all around, giving plenty of space for people to run along the wall while others could still fire from it uninhibited. When Alex and Jeod reached the top of the steps and took in the sights of the battle so far, it stopped them in their tracks for a moment. Neither had ever seen the horrors of a battle on this scale and it was quite a sobering sight. The goblins had sent several hundred useless fodder troops in first, as they had been doing for days, in an attempt to keep wearing down the human defenses and making them waste energy and arrows. As a result, the no mans land in-between town and the forest was littered with countless goblins, both dead and dying, and arrows continued to fly from both sides. Finally preparing for their proper assault the goblins and hobgoblins had lined up outside the forest and it was a fearsome sight to behold. The hobgoblin troops were spread out evenly amongst the normal goblins, no doubt to make use of their racial ability. As the hobgoblins began yelling and roaring and chanting war cries, it became obvious that their ability would play a major role, as hobgoblins could empower nearby goblins with their war-cries and chants, strengthening their skin to ward off stronger blows, allowing them to hit harder and removing their fear of death. It allowed the goblins to go from fodder troops to truly a fearsome sight in large numbers such as this. The front row of the goblins all had pig-iron short swords with wooden shields while sporting crude leather armor. The row behind them had spears, aiming to support their sword brothers by poking in-between the ranks. Further back were the archers and behind even them was the shaman, surrounded by what looked to be several fellow shamans and some normal goblins. Several goblins spaced throughout the army clearly had wooden ladders meant to help breach the walls as well. Now that the fodder troops are all used up and the main force was coming, the humans finally stopped holding back and began infusing Ki into their arrows before firing. This increased the power and range many times over and the goblins wooden shields did little to defend them as the arrows tore right through them. As soon as the goblins realized how powerful the enemy volley was however they began utilizing their own strength and channeling their meager Ki into the shields, giving them just enough protection to block most of the human arrows that hit them without it shattering in a single hit. War horns began sounding again from various points all over the battlefield, shaking the defenders standing on the wall to their core. As the horns finished their blast a drum beat took up where it had left off. Far behind the army, the group of goblin shamans was currently banging on drums in a ritualistic beat while the head shaman performed a dance and a chant, although the words could not be heard at this distance. At the start of the drum beats the goblin troops rushed forward and the defenders at the base of the walls did the same, meeting in the center of the no man''s land in a bloodbath that would be retold for generations. As Alex stared into the throng of goblins and humans, dumbstruck at the sight of his first large scale battle, he suddenly got jolted out of his stupor by Alice. ¡®Alex! Isn¡¯t that your mother down there?¡¯ She asked curiously and mentally directed Alex¡¯s vision to a particular point of the battlefield. ¡®It is! I know the elder told us she had been fighting the scouting parties on the front lines but I had hoped she would not fight outside the walls as well¡­¡¯ He thought with worry. ¡®I will concentrate my magic there and attempt to lessen the danger in that area.¡¯ He decided. ¡®It¡¯s not like I have any real orders, so it should be fine as long as I don¡¯t hinder anyone.¡¯ Alex quickly explained his findings and decisions to Jeod and the two of them ran further down the wall to get to a better vantage point for Alex to begin assisting in the fight. Chapter 22 - Round 1 for real this time: Fight! Jaclyn grimaced as her enchanted mace crushed yet another goblin skull. She had long ago lost count over the last few days of near constant fighting. Her thick leather armor was decorated with deep gouges, numerous scratches and dyed with the blood of goblins. There had, regrettably, not yet been a chance for her to clean up or patch her gear while hunting down the scouts in the woods and now this large scale battle. ¡°Derek, on your right!¡± She suddenly yelled out. Nearby a large hulking figure of a man quickly spun to his right and threw up his iron kite shield just in time to block the massive spiked club coming down on him from a hobgoblin. ¡°Thanks, Jackie!¡± He called back as he engaged in a life or death duel with the brute. Derek was what most would call a classic tank and a muscle-head on top of it. He was currently decked out in the heaviest full plate armor on the battlefield, apart from maybe Captain Martland, and even more so than Jaclyn¡¯s it had seen better days. Derek preferred to fight first and ask questions later so he accumulated a bit more than his fair share of hits. Being a big 6 foot 3 African American with bulging muscles and his skill set, he took care of himself pretty well. His armaments of choice included a large kite shield and a larger than normal falchion which looked essentially like a large curved machete with an ornate handle. ¡°Take this!¡± Derek roared as he bashed the hobgoblins spiked club to the side as it came in for another strike, causing it to stumble back and overextend its arm. Not one to miss a chance Derek brought up his falchion and swung it back down with all his might. As he brought the weapon down he pushed his Ki into the blade, enhancing the sharpness and durability as much as he could. The gash started at the hobgoblins shoulder and, after cleaving right through the clavicle, nearly cut the creature in half before the blade got stuck on another bone. ¡°Haha! Are none of you monsters a match for the great Derek!?¡± He yelled out his challenge boisterously, already moving onto another target. ¡°Jaclyn!¡± Yelled out a third voice, drawing her attention back to herself just in time to see a goblin with a spear in mid-stab, aimed directly at her torso! ¡®Shit!¡¯ ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª From his vantage point on the wall, Alex could see almost the entire battlefield, and he saw the spear-wielding goblin sneaking up on his mother while she was distracted. ¡®I need to save her!¡¯ He thought desperately. Holding out his hand for a moment and concentrating he gathered the needed mana for a fireball and compressed it further than he had recently, almost to the point he had when fighting the shadow, but he had to be careful not to overexert himself with a single spell. ¡°Fireball!¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª As Jaclyn mentally chastised herself for such a rookie mistake her body sluggishly attempted to move its shield fast enough, but she knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough. To her surprise, however, the goblin suddenly exploded in a blast of fire! ¡°Argghh!¡± Screamed the goblin as the upper half of its body charred nearly instantly at the heat. The small explosion had knocked the spear from its grip and it fell to the ground yelling. ¡®What the hell?¡¯ She thought to herself, quickly looking around. There were no more goblins in her immediate surroundings, having been cleared away by her companions Derek and Claire, and so she turned her attention to the direction of the mystery fireball instead. ¡®Is that¡­ Alex up there? Using magic?¡¯ She thought in wonder as he threw more fireballs out into the sea of enemies. ¡®I had gotten the missive from that old man Jason, but I haven¡¯t had a chance to talk to him¡­ I didn¡¯t expect him to be able to do something like this so fast either! Magic is truly a fearsome tool.¡¯ ¡°That your boy up there?¡± Derek asked her while they had a lull in the combat. The surrounding goblins and hobgoblins had lost a large number to just these three humans and were giving them a wide berth for the moment. ¡°It sure looks like it. I¡¯ve got plenty of questions for him when this is all over, so let¡¯s hurry up and kill us some goblins!¡± Jaclyn responded, full of adrenaline at the life or death experience with the spear. ¡®Saved by my own son only days after he awakened¡­ I must be getting rusty!¡¯ She chuckled silently as she ran back into the fray, her mace snuffing out life after life.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-
You have leveled up! You are now level 3! +4 wisdom, +3 intelligence, +0.5 vitality, +0.2 lifespan
Name: Alex Jones
Race: Archon
Class: Arcanist
Level: 3
Strength: 47
Vitaliy: 45
Agility: 54
Intelligence: 89
Wisdom: 39
Lifespan: 12.4
After sighing in relief seeing his mother safe, Alex returned his gaze to the battlefield at large and tried to decide what the best use of his powers would be. ¡®Hmm¡­ I wonder if this can work?¡¯ He asked Alice as he sent her a mental picture of what he wanted to try. ¡®It is an interesting idea for sure and would help adjust the tide of battle, but I am not any more aware of your capabilities than you despite my origins, so I can¡¯t really say if it¡¯ll work or not.¡¯ Alice responded with an apologetic tone of voice. ¡°Well, no time like the present then!¡± Alex said aloud, startling Jeod. He began emitting a large amount of mana in a cloud around him similar to like when he was working with the enchanted items, but he did not condense it. Rather, the opposite was the goal, and he tried to stretch the mana as thin as possible before he filled up the entirety of his controllable space.
Intelligence +1
With that done, he commanded the mana just like when he wanted fireballs or when he had made the wall of stone, and told it to form a dense cloud of small dirt particles. It was straining his mind a bit to control it in such a way and he could feel a headache coming on, but if this worked¡­. Pushing his limits just a bit more he pushed the cloud away from him as hard and fast as he could while aiming at the back lines of the goblins - where the archers and shamans resided. He fell to one knee under the strain of managing so many different applications of mana at once but his effort was not in vain as he watched the cloud spread out and get in the eyes of hundreds of goblin archers. The shamans, unfortunately, seemed unaffected in their ritual, but the hail of arrows suddenly stopped and he heard a round of cheering rise up from the men.
Wisdom +1
The archers seemed to be having a lot of trouble getting so much debris out of their eyes in a timely manner and many began dying to the human archers who no longer had to hide while the goblins retaliated and were now free to fire as fast as they could while they had the chance. ¡®Awesome, it worked!¡¯ Alex cheered in his mind, Alice congratulating him as well on the achievement. He was still on one knee for the moment as he recovered but he was already feeling fine again and stood back up. ¡°That was amazing Alex!¡± Yelled Jeod next to him. ¡°The impact that a single person just had on this battle¡­¡± He trailed off in wonder, thinking of the future. Smiling, Alex responded, ¡°The battle isn¡¯t over yet though so I¡¯d better get back to work.¡± He resumed scanning the battlefield and thinking when he saw that some of the goblins with ladders were beginning to make headway. ¡®That shouldn¡¯t be too hard to take care of.¡¯ He thought to himself with satisfaction. ¡°Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!¡± He quickly shot off a half dozen small fireballs in succession, having learned how powerful he had to make it after killing the one attacking his mother. One after another the ladder carrying goblins quickly fell in the span of just a minute or two. The several hundred men and women on the battlefield, seeing all these fireballs flying out over their heads and into their enemies midst, began another round of cheering and roaring. They had never seen anything like it but they couldn¡¯t be happier for the assistance.
You have leveled up! You are now level 4! +4 wisdom, +3 intelligence, +0.5 vitality, +0.2 lifespan
Name: Alex Jones
Race: Archon
Class: Arcanist
Level: 4
Strength: 47
Vitaliy: 45.5
Agility: 54
Intelligence: 93
Wisdom: 44
Lifespan: 12.6
While Alex was taking another short breather between spells, continuously slinging out fireballs whenever he had recovered enough, he could suddenly now hear the beats of the shaman¡¯s drums echoing across the land with an incredible volume. The drums got louder and louder and the fighting stopped across the battlefield, as everyone waited to see what was happening. Suddenly the goblins began cheering loudly, and then the earth heaved beneath Alex¡¯s feet like waves on the sea. Chapter 23 - Thats the way the cookie crumbles ¡°An earthquake!¡± Screamed Jeod in fear, realizing what was happening before everyone else. ¡°The crazy shamans managed to create a god damned earthquake! Everyone get off of the walls!¡± He screamed in a frenzy as the world shook under them and he took off for the nearest staircase. The tall stone walls were already beginning to crumble in sections and it was only getting worse as the incessant drumbeat continued. The defenders panicked and began flooding the steps, many in lighter armor choosing to drop their weapons and jump from the battlements to the ground below and risking injury to get away from the wall faster. Alex was in a stupor, having never experienced an earthquake in his life. As he looked down the wall and watched people run in fear he watched as a large section of the wall a good distance away from him fell apart entirely, dropping the remaining soldiers into a pile of rubble and bodies as it spread out like a small avalanche. Many people died from being crushed in the flow of rocks and debris and many more were wounded. As the rubble settled the drum beats finished and the ground stopped its nauseating shaking. It could be argued who was luckier though, between the wounded and the dead, as the army of goblins and hobgoblins suddenly concentrated its efforts at that area and quickly broke through the stunned and demoralized defenders. Some would say a quick death to the rubble might be preferable over being stabbed to death by a dozen goblins, but yet others would argue that dead is dead. While he still stood there like a deer caught in the headlights something important stood out to him from within the still settling dust of the crumbled wall: the unmistakable mess of tangled auburn hair, sitting atop a young girl around his age. Of average height, maybe 5 foot 4, and with a very athletic build while still managing to remain what most would call beautiful. Rose. ¡°Reinforcements won¡¯t make it in time¡­¡± Alex mumbled under his breath in shock. ¡°No no no¡­ Not Rose.¡± He said, getting louder at the end. ¡®Alex¡­¡¯ Whispered Alice within his mind, sympathy clear in her voice. She knew that he had no reasonable hope of saving her. Alex began a dead sprint down the half-crumbled wall watching as the enemies advanced and Rose, having been one of the people lucky enough to only suffer minor injuries in the collapse, had readier her weapon and took her stance with the small number of other survivors nearby. Even in the face of death, she would attempt to help hold off the goblins from flooding into the city until reinforcements arrived to push them back. While he sprinted down the wall Alex began desperately casting fireball after fireball. He didn¡¯t even know he could cast them while moving but his mind was working in overdrive at the moment and Alice was helping to offload a bit of the burden as she had done when transforming Jeod. Goblin after goblin after hobgoblin fell to his magic, but he realized he was still not going to make it before the main force hit. Already a few of the closer or faster enemies had run into the pitiful line of wounded defenders. ¡®Even if I could make it, what could I possibly do?¡¯ He thought desperately. ¡®I¡¯m so close, but what to do what to do what to do.¡¯ He kept repeating to himself in his head. ¡°I¡¯ve got it!¡± He suddenly shouted out loud as he thought of how he could try to save her. ¡®This might do me a lot of damage, but I need to try Alice. Please assist me as much as you can.¡¯ ¡®¡­. If you insist. I do not believe her life is worth more than yours, but I can feel how much you care for her, and by extension, it is beginning to cloud my own judgments to an extent as well. I will do what I can to assist you in this.¡¯ Alice concluded, sounding both perplexed and exasperated at the same time. Alex stopped where he was so that he could concentrate as much as possible and instead of drawing on a few drops of mana, or a trickle, or stream or even a river as he had done previously - he drew upon the ocean. Immediately the air around him grew heavy as if gravity had increased and he began bleeding profusely out of his eyes, ears, and nose. ¡®It¡¯s now or never!¡¯ He screamed in his mind as he took this veritable ocean¡¯s worth of mana and simply pushed in the direction of the approaching goblins and hobgoblins. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. He briefly witnessed a wave of raw power rush out from him and destroy all in its path before he promptly fell over and passed out in a pool of his own blood. The rest of the wall between him and the enemies was blown apart with ease sending large chunks of rocks into the armies below, injuring human and monster alike indiscriminately. The ground before the goblins lifted as if ripped from the Earth like a sheet from a bed and all at once the main chunk of their forces was hit with the power to shred rock and they were thrown back with enormous force. Most of the enemies were simply turned into a fine paste due to the pressure, gore coating the ground like a winter blizzard, with those further away injured horribly and tossed around like dolls. The destruction was truly horrifying and all across the battlefield people stopped and stood in silence, marveling at the pure destructive force of whatever it was that had just happened. A small few suspected that the mage they had seen throwing fireballs from the walls had done this, but many more had no idea what could cause such unimaginable devastation and did not even consider it being capable of originating from a person. Several people of importance had noticed Alex running along the wall however and one of them was now frantically sprinting to him as fast as her legs could carry her. Around the battlefield, the goblins and hobgoblins began retreating with most of their forces defeated and the survivors scared to death of whatever had just killed everything in its path. The humans who were not dead or dying quickly began tending to their fallen comrades with whatever emergency field care they could provide before a proper healer could assist. As Jaclyn arrived at the wall she pushed all of her Ki into her legs and feet and pushed off of the ground with all her strength. Thankfully the section of wall she was climbing was one that had partially collapsed in the earthquake and was no longer as tall as the wall normally was or she would not have been able to get up something so high. She continued like this, jumping from outcropping to outcropping twice more until she arrived on the top and began heading for her collapsed son. ¡®What did you do, Alex!?¡¯ She screamed in her mind. She knew that the blast of force had come from him but she just couldn¡¯t believe that her son was capable of such destruction. Not the moral aspect of the deaths, mind you, that part she was quite proud of, but she was unable to fathom that much power residing in a freshly awakened child. ¡°Alex!¡± She yelled aloud as she finally came upon his body. He was lying face down in a growing puddle of his own blood. ¡°Alex, hang in there! Your mother is here, just hold on!¡± She screamed as tears flowed down her cheeks at the sight of her baby boy in such a condition. ¡®You always were one to put forth your best¡­¡¯ She thought as she opened the small steel box hidden in a pouch on her waist. Jaclyn took the key from within the locket on her neck and opened the box, withdrawing the rarest thing she had ever found during her lifetime, back when she regularly went out adventuring. Derek, Claire and her had found been exploring an old-world city, an extremely dumb and dangerous thing to do, but they were all young and starved for adventure and treasures. By some stroke of luck, they happened to visit the city while the dragon that guarded it was busy fending off a pack of wyverns attempting to encroach on its territory. Dragons were very territorial after all and would not allow any living being to exist within its domain save kin. They made the rash decision to find and raid its nest while it was preoccupied and the heavens smiled upon them that day for the nest they did find. Within was where Derek had gotten his prized shield, Claire her best bow, and Jaclyn the item she had saved all her life until a moment like this presented itself. In her shaking hands, she held a small thick vial containing an incredibly small amount of clear liquid. Phoenix¡¯s tears. She was not sure if that¡¯s what it truly contained as she was not dumb enough to take it to an appraiser given that she had never even heard rumors of this item, but after testing its effects during an accident in the past that is what her, Derek and Claire had named it, after the ability of the Phoenix to revive after death. She had saved Derek¡¯s life with it and had enough left for one more dose judging by what she had needed in Derek¡¯s case. Jaclyn quickly unstoppered the bottle and carefully dumped the miraculous liquid into Alex¡¯s mouth, making sure she aimed for it to go down his throat as quickly as possible, and then she waited and prayed. Chapter 24 - Oops A full five days have gone by since the battle took place. The full mobilization order is no longer in effect now that the goblin army has scattered, and life has basically returned to normal for most of the town and its citizens. There is still the matter of the massive hole in the wall of course and the crumbling architecture of the rest of it, but that would take many months to repair so for the time being extra guards have been stationed at the damaged areas and a small excursion force was sent to their nearest allied town to ask for assistance in the rebuild. Out of the 2000 odd citizens, the death toll for this battle was a fairly large hit of 40 defenders. Of the 40, the collapse of the wall was responsible for 17 of the deaths and the rest were either killed in battle or as a result of the wounds they accumulated. There was a reasonable number of wounded being treated still but at this point, it looked like the survivors would make full recoveries soon enough. Speaking of recoveries. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- ¡°What happened?¡± Alex asked looking towards Alice. He remembered the final spell and some of the destruction before he suddenly woke up in his soul. She responded with a shrug so he looked around his soul and gasped at the ocean below, or, what remained of it. Even when the orb that became Alice had consumed enormous amounts of mana it wasn¡¯t this empty. He estimated that less than a fourth of it remained at this point and what was left was roiling and broiling like a sea in a violent storm. What worried him, even more, was that below the mana the ¡°bottom¡± of this space looked to be cracked and glowing red, breaking up the endless white of the void. ¡°Shit.¡± ¡°Shit indeed.¡± Said Alice as she too inspected the damage to their shared soul. ¡°It looks like you somehow managed to survive that spell, although I have no idea how and you shouldn¡¯t have been able to, however it still did manage to cause some serious damage to you in the end.¡± She shook her head in annoyance. ¡°I''m not sure if there is a way to fix this or if it needs to heal on its own but its likely the reason we are currently in here instead of waking up, since we can both feel that the physical body is in reasonable condition.¡± She concluded with her hand on her chin as she thought. ¡°It was worth it,¡± Alex said with conviction. ¡°As long as Rose survived, then it was worth it. From what I remember I may have even finished off the rest of the army too!¡± He suddenly remembered with excitement. ¡°I¡¯ve gotta check out my level ups!¡± He said as he willed the information into his mind.
You have leveled up!¡­
You have leveled up!¡­
You have leveled up!¡­
You have leveled up! You are now level 8! +16 wisdom, +12 intelligence, +2 vitality, +2 lifespan
Name: Alex Jones
Race: Archon
Class: Arcanist
Level: 8
Strength: 47
Vitality: 47.6
Agility: 54
Intelligence: 105
Wisdom: 60
Lifespan: 14.6
¡°Holy!¡± He yelled out loud, startling Alice who was playing with her long flowing blonde hair to pass the time. ¡°Hm?¡± She turned to look in his direction and cocked her head to the side in question. Then she, too, gasped as she felt the rush of power flowing into the both of them. Alex¡¯s strength was hers after all and her¡¯s was his, so as he accepted the new stats the power slammed into the both of them. ¡°Alex¡­!¡± She said breathlessly. ¡°So many points¡­ Do you know what this means?¡± Alex turned back to face her. ¡°Yea. This class had pretty insane stat increases already, but leveling is generally pretty hard. Even Captain Martland is rumored to be around the high 60s and he has been throwing himself into fierce fights all his life.¡± He said with wonder in his voice as the implications sunk in. The more powerful the class, the harder it was to obtain each level, and even the weakest classes still took time. ¡®Although most people did not wipe out half an army in a single reckless attack¡­¡¯ He thought wryly to himself. ¡°Level 8 already¡­ I did not expect to raise that high for several years. I must have really done a lot of damage to that goblin army.¡± Alice floated over and took his hands in hers and they spun around the space smiling and laughing with each other at this turn of events. Even if Alex stopped leveling now he was at the wisdom level of most people his mother''s age and intelligence to rival their scroll users and Scholars. Not to mention the lifespan boost! He would live longer than anyone else currently¡­ alive¡­ in the village¡­. That was a sobering thought as his smile turned to a slight frown and they stopped spinning. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Alice asked with concern and worry clear in her voice. She cared deeply for Alex, and not just because they shared a soul, although sharing feelings and memories were indeed a large contributor. ¡°I was thinking of my lifespan increase.¡± He replied with a hint of sadness. ¡°Ah¡­¡± She said quietly. ¡°I assume then that you were thinking of the far future?¡± She asked slowly. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Yes. It is a sad thought to outlive everyone I currently know, and as we get more powerful my life will only extend further. There is no telling for sure how long I could live for if I keep getting more powerful.¡± He responded deep in thought. Suddenly Alex was startled out of his thoughts when Alice rushed forward and embraced him in a large hug. She brought his head to her chest and his face lit up as red as could be, but he quickly relaxed into the hug. ¡°It will be OK,¡± she told him in a calm voice. ¡°I will always be here for you, after all. It is good to face reality and understand that this will be an issue to one day face, but that time is far off and even after the others are sadly gone I will always be beside you, supporting you on your path.¡± Alex¡¯s mood lightened back up and he smiled while closing his eyes, leaning into the hug. ¡°Thank you, Alice. Truly.¡± They stayed like that for a while and just comforted each other. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª It had been what felt like several days to Alex and Alice and still, he was unable to will himself awake and leave his soul. They had spent the time talking and playing conjured board and card games. Over the course of their confinement, they had come to understand each other much better than before, seeing as despite sharing a soul they had only known each other for a day before however long they had been trapped in here. The scarred section of their soul looked as if it had begun to heal slightly and his mana pool had calmed down to normal. It was still abysmally empty though and neither of them was quite sure but they figured it had to do with the remaining damage. ¡°At the rate of healing, this will take years.¡± Commented Alex dryly. ¡°Any ideas how we might be able to speed this up?¡± He asked Alice with hope in his voice. ¡°Remember, I had no soul before we met, and did not technically exist as a living being, so I know just as much as you do on this topic.¡± She said matter of factly while putting her hands up in front of her in a surrender gesture and shaking her head side to side. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Alex was getting quite bored here and desperately needed to know how the town had faired. He knew they had won since he was still alive, but what about Rose? His mother? How much was sacrificed for the win? He was dying to find out when he woke up. He decided to try something that he had been pondering for a while but was unsure how it might affect things. As he got up and began floating down toward the sea made of mana, Alice perked up and followed, questioning what he was up to. ¡°I have never actually touched the mana directly while in here, and I am wondering if that will let me control it while here and maybe direct it to heal the cracks. If that fails, I was wondering if I was able to submerge myself in the mana and go touch the cracks directly.¡± He explained in a matter of fact voice. ¡°What!?¡± She cried. ¡°We have no idea what any of those things might do! For all you know it¡¯ll make things even worse!¡± She shouted in alarm. ¡°We have both seen the current rate of healing Alice, and I am not willing to spend years of my life trapped within my own soul, even if I do have your pleasant company to help pass the time.¡± Alice blushed at this and turned away slightly. ¡°These are the best ideas I have and I have decided to test them.¡± He finished speaking. ¡°Fine!¡± She said with a tone of finality. ¡°You¡¯d better not make things worse though!¡± She continued as she followed him down. They finally reached the start of the mana and the two of them stared deep into its depths, although at the moment it wasn¡¯t quite so deep. ¡°Well, here I go¡­¡± Alex said uncertainly. He willed his boots to vanish and slowly lowered his big toe towards the mana like a toddler going swimming for the first time. As his toe slowly touched the mana he felt a jolt of power surge through his body and quickly pulled back with a yelp. ¡°Are you okay!?¡± Alice yelled with worry, rushing to his side and grabbing him by the shoulders. She noticed that the traces of mana darting around in his eyes was brighter and more active than usual. Alex rubbed his head and responded quickly, ¡°Yes, yes, I am fine. Just startled is all, I am sorry that I worried you so much. When I touched it I felt such a rush of power! It was amazing, like nothing I have ever experienced before.¡± He said while giddy with excitement. ¡®So much raw power! The things I could do if I could control it in the real world!¡¯ He thought to himself. Alice frowned and said ¡°Well don¡¯t worry me so much for nothing next time then. Off with you.¡± She pushed herself away from him but stayed closer than before in case something went wrong when he tried again. ¡°Time for round two¡­¡± He mumbled under his breath as he again lowered just a toe into the mana. From the feeling, he had before with just a toe in he feared that he might explode if he had tried something stupid like diving in. Little did he know, if not for all the extra wisdom and intelligence he had obtained from the recent level ups, he would not have survived dipping his toe in like he did. As his toe touched the mana he again felt the rush of power cascade through him. ¡®Is this what it¡¯s like to be a God?¡¯ He thought in wonder and awe. This time he did not pull back in shock and instead attempted to wrangle the overflowing power under his control. The task was impossibly hard however due to the amount of raw power that existed even within the small section that still remained of his mana pool. Alice saw the struggle clear on his face and again stepped forward, placing her hands on his shoulders and willing her power to aid him in his struggle. She felt Alex¡¯s muscles loosen some as things suddenly halved in difficulty for him with her added strength even as Alice tensed at the sensation of so much power rushing through the two of them. Both of their senses expanded and they could now feel the entirely of the mana pool as if an extension of their own bodies and minds. They could feel where it ended in each direction, where Alex¡¯s toe entered, and the vicious cracks that lined the bottom of the pool, injuring their very soul. Utilizing their combined wills Alex and Alice attempted to probe at the scars and felt the mana probing at their very beings. It was not a comfortable feeling, but it was not painful either, so they continued in search of any information that would help them. As the two endured the uncomfortable feeling of the mana probing the wounds, they realized with elation that it was slowly healing the wounds! The two of them knew what had to be done without verbal communication and willed the mana to condense around the wounds and slowly seep into them. The uncomfortable feeling grew to a burning pain deep within themselves but as they watched the injuries quickly closed up and after only a few agonizing minutes they were done. ¡°Yes!¡± They both cheered in unison. ¡°We did it.¡± Alex turned to Alice with a big smile on his face. ¡°Thank you for the assistance Alice, I could not have done it without you.¡± He said sincerely. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, this is my soul as well you know! I wanted it repaired just as much.¡± She said with a smile in her voice. ¡°Now hurry and wake up and see what has become of you in the world of the living.¡± ¡°Will do!¡± Alex shouted as he willed himself awake, and the world briefly went black. Chapter 25 - Uh-oh Emily and Rose both looked like messes standing vigil by Alex¡¯s bed in the village hospital for the 5th day in a row. ¡°Why isn¡¯t he waking up, mom!?¡± Cried Emily, Alex¡¯s eight-year-old sister. ¡°All his wounds were healed by your Phoenix tears!¡± She exclaimed as she broke down in tears for the millionth time in the last few days while helping her mother to care for her comatose brother. Jaclyn bent down and hugged her daughter tightly, burying Emily¡¯s face in her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m not sure sweetie¡­ The other healers and I have done all that we can and as far as we can tell there is nothing wrong with your brother¡¯s body. This must be related to the magic that he used to put him in such a horrible state¡­¡± She trailed off for a moment before continuing. ¡°Without any other magic users in recorded history, apart from Jeod now of course who is in perfect health, we have nothing to go off of and must simply wait and care for him until he wakes.¡± ¡°But he will wake up, right, mommy?¡± Emily asked with tears in her eyes as she pulled her head back and looked up at her mother¡¯s face. ¡°Of course sweetie. Your brother is the hero of the town after all! He single-handedly ended the war and saved all of us. Something like this isn¡¯t enough to keep him down. Surely he is just getting his beauty sleep.¡± Jaclyn responded with a fake bright smile. ¡°Now why don¡¯t you go play with your friends for a bit to get your mind off things?¡± She suggested. ¡°Ok mommy, if you say brother will be OK then I believe you,¡± Emily responded while instantly perking up with the reassurance that only a mother could provide. She quickly fled the room, off to do what children do best: play. As Jaclyn was about to ask Rose how she was holding up now that Emily was gone, Alex¡¯s body suddenly began emitting a massive pressure! ¡°What the-!¡± Jaclyn, Rose, and Derek - who had been placed on guard in the room until Alex awoke - all said at once. The pressure emanating from him was massive and Rose was forced to her knees while Jaclyn and Derek both managed to withstand it but not without real effort. ¡°Jaclyn, what the hell is going on?¡± Derek asked in a calm but questioning voice. ¡°I have no idea!¡± She said back, half in a panic. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen or felt anything like this except when in the presence of dragons and other high tier beasts!¡± Alex¡¯s body suddenly began glowing on top of the pressure being emitted and everyone in the room had to shield their eyes from the light show currently on display. ¡°What the hell is happening!¡± Screamed Derek loudly as he stood in the corner with his weapon drawn and eyes closed, shield positioned directly in front of him in case of attack. All at once the pressure and light show vanished as if they had never existed in the first place. Everyone rushed to Alex¡¯s side and inspected him but he seemed the same as he had been for days when suddenly his eyes opened! ¡°Alex!¡± Yelled his mother and Rose in unison. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- ¡°Alex!¡± He heard yelled in unison by two familiar voices as he opened his eyes, the bright light hurting them after so long spent sleeping. He slowly turned his head side to side and took in his surroundings. ¡°Mom. Rose.¡± He acknowledged both of them separately. He smiled at Rose and said ¡°I am glad that you survived. My final spell was indeed not in vain.¡± ¡°You dummy!¡± Rose yelled and slapped him across the face. As soon as she did she froze, taken aback for a moment by her own actions. Alex¡¯s mother smiled briefly with tears in her eyes and said ¡°Alex, I will be back in a few minutes to hear an explanation. There is something I forgot to take care of real quick.¡± She said and immediately headed for the door. Unseen by Alex and Rose, Jaclyn pointedly looked towards Derek and nodded her head toward the door. ¡°Oh, yea, I had forgotten we were supposed to do the thing,¡± Derek said clumsily as he quickly followed Jaclyn out of the room. Reading between the lines and subtlety were definitely not one of his strong suits. As soon as the others had left Rose really let him have it. ¡°How could you just vanish on me during our awakening!?¡± She accused. ¡°I was so worried! I was a wreck!¡± She cried. ¡°Then I hear that you had miraculously come back from the grave and get back to town, but not only do you neglect to visit me, but I also don¡¯t even get the courtesy of a courier letter! I learned of it from my father.¡± She took a deep breath and continued before Alex had a chance to explain or defend himself. ¡°To top it off, you nearly killed yourself trying to single-handedly win against an army of goblins and hobgoblins!¡± She yelled exasperated. ¡°What could have possibly possessed you to sacrifice your own life to stop the goblins? If not for your mother having a legendary Phoenix¡¯s tear you would be dead! What in the world is worth a risk that stupid?¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! As Rose took a deep breath ready to continue her tirade, Alex quickly butts in and said ¡°You¡±. ¡°And another thing-!¡± She stopped as she realized what he had said. ¡°What?¡± She said in a perplexed voice, surprise and confusion clear on her dumbstruck face. Alex smiled at her and continued. ¡°You heard me. I was willing and prepared to risk my life for your safety, to ensure your survival, as the monster horde descended upon you.¡± He said with confidence in his voice while staring directly into her eyes. Rose¡¯s cheeks reddened and she began stuttering. ¡°Wha-Wha-wha-!¡± She suddenly realized how ridiculous she sounded and chose the solution that made the most sense to her young teenage mind: she quickly fled the room, slamming the door shut behind her. As she left the smile vanished from his face and Alex grimaced instead. ¡®That could have gone better I guess¡­¡¯ He thought to himself. At the same time, he heard Alice begin laughing uproariously in his mind. ¡°Good job Casanova!¡± She jabbed at him. Suddenly the two of them could hear a commotion out in the halls. It sounded like a decent size group of people, and he thought he heard his mother yell something. A moment later the entire council of three complete with elder Justin barged into the room. Behind them, several heavily armored guards entered the room as well.They all stood in a row at the foot of his bed in silence until Justin chose to begin. ¡°How are you feeling, Alex?¡± He began with concern in his voice. ¡°Quite fine Justin, good as new I would say. Five days of rest will do that to you though I suppose.¡± Alex responded with a bit of mirth in his voice. Justin did not smile, however, nor did the council, and the elder continued from there. ¡°Alex, you must understand our circumstances here. You are freshly awakened and contain the potential to wipe out entire towns at your will as your strength increases.¡± He said grimly. ¡°Even in the infancy of your class you nearly single-handedly defended us from an army.¡± Before Alex could say anything another council member, Amanda, continued from there. Amanda, as with all the council members, was a bit older and in her mid-fifties. She was definitely shorter than average, had short cropped brown hair, a fair complexion and many wrinkles present. ¡°The townspeople and soldiers alike praise you as a hero and a savior, which makes sense given your accomplishments, but you are too powerful to be left uncontrolled and without proper supervision. What if you disagreed with a decision of the council? What if you decided you were better suited to run the town?¡± She said quickly and with steel in her voice. ¡°I would never-!¡± Alex began but was promptly cut off by another council member, this time Andy. He was a slimy sort of man, known to make shady deals by most people but never proven guilty enough for punishment. He got things done where others failed though, so the council tolerated his actions so long as they stayed hidden. He was a portly man of average height with greased back black hair and wore some of the finest clothes you could find these days. Even several feet away Alex could smell the strong pungent scent of his cologne overdose. ¡°According to you, young man. But who in your position would even admit to future accusations such as that, even if you planned on doing just so? Nobody, that¡¯s who!¡± He said in a loud and incredulous voice, every syllable accusing Alex of crimes he had yet to commit. ¡°We simply cannot take the risk. You will submit to our control and create Archons of our choosing to serve in our military or you will rot in the jails for the rest of your life.¡± He concluded while looking down his nose at Alex. Justin took back over again at this point. ¡°Surely you must realize the necessity of the current situation. Your power will change the world but to prevent chaos we must carefully curate the future Archons and be sure to limit them to protect humans. Not everyone you might choose on your own will be good choices for this power, so we will help you in this.¡± He concluded. ¡®What do we do, Alice!?¡¯ He thought in a panic. ¡®I have no idea!¡¯ She yelled back, also in a panic. ¡®Do they truly have the means to hold us in a cell with our magic?¡¯ She asked quickly. ¡®I have no idea, but I can¡¯t imagine it is an idle threat with how serious they are. Spell scrolls exist after all and maybe they have some sort of cell that accounts for someone sneaking a spell scroll or enchanted item in with them somehow.¡¯ Suddenly his mother, Derek, and Claire all burst into the room in full combat gear! ¡°Run, Alex, get out of town!¡± His mother screamed at him as the three of them descended on Justin and the council members. Justin alone was honestly close to a match for them, but thankfully the three council members had focused more on being politicians than warriors and cowered in the corner of the room while Justin held off the three attackers on his own. Not missing a beat, Alex quickly jumped out of the hospital bed and, utilizing his increased wisdom and intelligence to handle more spells at once, encased the armored guard''s feet in stone preventing them from moving. ¡®Oof! Just that little bit gave me a headache already?¡¯ He silently wondered. ¡®Your mana is still not regenerated from being emptied before. Now that the cracks are fixed it should start filling but technically you are still running on empty as far as your body is concerned.¡¯ Alice explained quickly. ¡®Right. Not more magic for now then.¡¯ Alex told himself as he turned and sprinted out the door. ¡°I love you, mom! Thank you!¡± He shouted back at the top of his lungs as he ran. Jaclyn smiled joyously as he heard her son shout his love for her while she and her lifetime friends faced off against Justin, the second strongest person in Pine Bluff after Captain Martland. ¡°Step aside.¡± Commanded Jason of the three veteran fighters standing between him and the doorway. Jaclyn, Claire, and Derek all looked between each other for a moment before turning their gazes back to Jason and the council and, in unison, loudly said ¡°NO.¡± Chapter 26 - The Great Escape Alex sprinted out of the hospital room and quickly ran into Rose only a short distance down the hallway. ¡°Alex!?¡± She exclaimed in surprise. ¡°What are you doing out of bed already?¡± She asked confused. ¡°The council wants to imprison me for my power!¡± Alex said as he ran past Rose, not even stopping to explain. There was no time and that would only increase the chances of him being caught. Without a single question, Rose began running after him and quickly evened out with him. ¡®Damn my lowered strength!¡¯ He thought to himself. It was fine that Rose had caught up to him so easily but it really showed how much his physical strength had dropped after becoming an Archon and Arcanist. Alex looked over at Rose as he jumped down the steps and began running through the first floor. ¡°What are you doing?¡± He called. ¡°What does it look like!?¡± She yelled, still keeping up with him. ¡°I won¡¯t just stand by while the council imprisons and uses my best friend!¡± She said with anger in her voice. ¡°I¡¯m going to help you escape and come with you!¡± She said matter of factly. A moment later the two of them burst out of the front doors of the village hospital. ¡°This way!¡± Rose yelled to Alex and took off in the direction of her house. ¡®Her dad is a guard so maybe they have a lot of supplies at home?¡¯ Alex thought to himself as he began following her as fast as he could. Nobody gave them a second glance as they sprinted down the streets. Seeing two teenagers out for a run was not uncommon after all and very few people knew exactly who the powerful wizard that saved the town was. The village was not terribly large overall and the two of them arrived at Rose¡¯s house fairly quickly. Throwing the front door open, they quickly ran in and Rose began gathering everything she could think of as fast as possible. ¡°Hardtack. Canteens. Bandages. Salve. Basic cooking supplies¡­.¡± She quickly lists off to herself everything as she grabs it, trying to make sure she didn¡¯t forget anything important in the rush. She ran into both her and her father¡¯s rooms and made sure to grab some spare clothes and threw Alex a backpack with duplicates of their supplies. ¡°Here you go!¡± She half yelled as she tossed it to him and pulled her own pack on. Both packs had the standard issue sleeping roll on the bottom as well. ¡°Thanks!¡± He said still in a bit of shock. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe this is happening.¡± He said half to Rose and half to himself. ¡®Now is not the time to space out, Alex!¡¯ Said Alice from within. ¡®Get out of town quickly, we have no idea how long your mother, Derek, and Claire will be able to hold off Jason and the council for!¡¯ ¡°Jeod!¡± Alex suddenly said out loud. ¡°What about Jeod, Alex?¡± Asked Rose as she belted on her sword and her traveling cloak, throwing Alex her father¡¯s traveling cloak. He caught the cloak and began to put it on as he spoke. ¡°Well I don¡¯t know about you, but I haven¡¯t ever been to any of the other towns or villages nearby nor do I know the locations. Jeod, however, likely has and might also be able to provide us with a map.¡± He said in a matter of fact voice with his hands on his hips. Rose rolled her eyes and him. ¡°Fiiiine, we can go try to get a map before we leave. I want you to know that you are taking all of the fun out of a real adventure though.¡± Still standing with his hands on his hips he rolled his eyes right back at her. ¡°I¡¯m sooooo sorry about your real adventure. I, however, would like to survive this trip.¡± Getting serious again though, he asked. ¡°Are you ready yet? We really should be heading to Jeod¡¯s as fast as we can.¡± ¡°Yup! All done!¡± She said a did a spin despite not wearing a dress. The two of them turned to leave when the front door suddenly burst open! Thomas, Rose¡¯s father, frantically searched the room with his eyes until they fell upon the pair. He quickly shut the door behind him before quickly walking over to them. ¡°Thank god you two are all right!¡± He exclaimed, slightly out of breath. ¡°I heard a commotion at the hospital and was stunned to find some of the villages best fighters locked in a duel with Jason and some of the guards! I know your mother and her friends wouldn¡¯t do that for just any reason so I suspected it had to do with you, Alex. Since you two weren¡¯t in the area I figured you were likely to try to skip town.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t stop us, dad, we need to get out of here before they catch Alex!¡± Rose said defiantly to her father.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Thomas¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, taken aback. ¡°Oh, no no no. I did not plan on stopping you. Just the opposite, actually. In my room, I have a map to one of the training grounds a bit further away from town that we use to train the new scouts every now and then and I was going to suggest you hide out there for now.¡± ¡°It''s just a small run-down bunkhouse in the woods, since its meant to help toughen up the newbies by making them fix whatever damage has happened since it was last used and to fend for themselves in the forest for a while, but nobody should bother you there for at least a few months. I hope to have this issue resolved much quicker than that, however.¡± He said, his tone getting angry at the end. Rose and Alex turned to look at each other for a moment before nodding their heads. Surely they could trust Rose''s father, and this plan was much better than heading to another town where they might be handed back over anyway. Facing Thomas again, Alex spoke next. ¡°Thank you, Thomas, but how do you plan to resolve this issue?¡± He asked curiously. ¡°The council didn¡¯t exactly seem open to bargaining on this matter.¡± Thomas smiled ruefully at the question and began answering while he retrieved the map from his bedroom. ¡°Rumors that you were the mysterious mage who saved the village during the battle had already been circulating, but I will go and tell key people that it is indeed you for sure and what the council is up to. Captain Martland especially I know will be against this treatment.¡± He said confidently. ¡°If I can get Martland and enough of the villagers on your side, then the council won¡¯t have much choice in the matter.¡± ¡°Really though, this doesn¡¯t sound much like them and I feel like there might be something big going on. But one step at a time! Getting you two safe is the most important.¡± Thomas continued, with a single clap of his hands at the end. ¡®That sounds like a solid plan for the moment.¡¯ Said Alice from within. ¡°Ok, we will go along with this for now then. Thank you, again, for everything.¡± Said Alex with sincerity in his voice as he took the map from Thomas and inspected it. ¡®Looks simple enough to follow.¡¯ He thought to himself. ¡°This should only take about two days worth of travel to reach if I am reading it correctly.¡± He said to Rose. ¡°That is correct, I''m glad you paid attention to those classes at least.¡± Said Thomas as he sighed in relief. ¡°Now get out of here! Take the side entrance, Darwin should be on guard by himself since we are stretched thin guarding the broken sections of the wall. He thinks he¡¯s sneaky sleeping while leaning up against the wall, but chances are you can get past him unnoticed.¡± He explained while shaking his head and going ¡°tsk tsk¡± at the thought of Darwin¡¯s work habits. Rose gave her father a big hug and then both she and Alex opened the door, off on an adventure. Or they would have been if there weren¡¯t three guards waiting right outside the door with weapons drawn. ¡®Shit! The council must have sent men to locations they thought we might try to go.¡¯ Alex thought in a panic. ¡®Remember Alex, they want to imprison and control you! We have to escape!¡¯ Alice yelled in his mind, hoping that he would not go too easy on them and end up caught. Beside him, Rose gave a yelp and cursed at the sight of the guards. She quickly began drawing her own weapon but Alex was faster. The vast increase in his stats from the recent levels made simple spells so much easier, despite his weakened state. ¡°Sandstorm!¡± He yelled and reproduced the hail of dirt and debris he had used against the goblin archers, achieving the same task of blinding his foes. While the guards yelped in surprise and pain, trying to get the foreign objects out of their eyes, mouths, and noses, Alex was already working on his next spell. Working as fast as he could with his mana still being mostly drained, he shot another blast of wind at them. Having bought himself some extra time with the whole blinding thing however, he compressed the air as he had when taking out of the goblins but was careful not to overdo it. He didn¡¯t want to kill these men, after all, that would just make things harder for Thomas to smooth over. He just needed to toss them back and stun them. Combined with the blinding, that should give them plenty of time to make their great escape. As the wind hit them the three guards were roughly thrown back over two dozen feet and smashed back down hard. ¡®Ouch, might have been a little too much power there. Likely some broken bones on some of them, but at least they will stay down and I didn¡¯t shred them.¡¯ He thought to himself. ¡°Wow!¡± Rose exclaimed in astonishment at the quick display of magic. ¡°You just incapacitated three fully grown men without even moving!¡± She looked at Alex with wide eyes, reassessing him in her mind somewhat. ¡°Did you already forget what I accomplished during the battle?¡± Alex asked in a voice as if he had been gravely insulted. ¡°Why, I never!¡± He said with incredulity. ¡®This isn¡¯t the time!¡¯ Alice screamed in his mind, making him wince. Rose tilted her head, curious what happened, as she was still unaware of Alice¡¯s existence. ¡®We have to escape! Do your stupid teenage flirting when we get to the safe house!¡¯ She finished with exasperation. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go! We gotta hurry!¡± Said Alex. Rose sheathed her sword and the two of them ran to the secondary entrance to the village that her father had suggested. Thankfully they did not spot any more men waiting for them along the way. The council must not have been able to dredge up too many bodies in such a short amount of time. They did get a few odd looks from people since they were clearly in full travel gear, but it also wasn¡¯t all that out of place so they made it to the gate without incident. Carefully peeking around from the inside, the two of them saw Darwin propped against the wall and asleep just like Thomas had guessed he would be. They quickly crept past him with ease, and headed into the forest, off to begin the first steps of their journey. Chapter 27 - Adventure! Woo Alex, Alice, and Rose had begun their journey through the forests outside town in search of the bunkhouse that they would hide out in for the foreseeable future. Once they got a short distance from town the thinned out forest that was regularly harvested for the usage of the town quickly gave way to the lush untamed wilderness that covered most of the planet since the days of the cataclysm. Rose had taken the lead for the time being so that she could cut a path for the two of them through the thick underbrush as they went. Alex, having not received a melee class during his awakening, was not graced with a real sword as Rose had been, nor had he really had the time to attempt to get any sort of weapon with all that had been going on. Although normally she would not have one for a few weeks still until she began specialized training for her class, but since her father was a member of the guards he had been training her with real steel for a while now already. While Rose cut their path, Alex kept up vigil so that nothing could sneak up on them. They were still fairly close to town and not likely to encounter anything they couldn¡¯t deal with but a lucky sneak attack is all an enemy needs to take you down for good. After about half a days travel in this fashion, judging by the sun when they got glimpses of it through the canopy above, they decided to stop for a short rest. ¡°This seems as good a spot as any,¡± Rose said, looking around them. It was the same forest they had been walking in all day but there was considerably more open and the ground had a large patch of soft ferns that she knew to be safe to touch. When Alex nodded his head in agreement Rose plopped herself down the ferns and relished the feeling of taking a break. ¡°Rose, I feel bad that you are doing most of the work here cutting us a path through the thick areas. Why don¡¯t you lend me your sword for a bit after this break and I will take the lead?¡± He suggested. ¡°It¡¯s fine Alex, I don¡¯t mind it,¡± Rose responded, happy that Alex had offered though. ¡°My father always told me to never let go of my weapon in dangerous territory. You have your magic of course, but I would be defenseless if we got attacked.¡± She finished in a voice that clearly said Alex had not thought things through fully. ¡°Ah, you are right, I hadn¡¯t thought it through fully.¡± He said sounding abashed. ¡®Think before you speak. Your wisdom and intelligence are above what most adults achieve even. Granted you don¡¯t have the life experience yet, but still.¡¯ Chided Alice from within. While the two of them had a small meal and drank from their canteens Alex made sure to take out the map and compass they had been given by Thomas and double check they were on the correct path still. Thankfully they had been finding the trail markers embedded in the trees every now and then so they were confident this was the correct direction, but it didn¡¯t hurt to check the map, especially since the destination was a testing area for the scouts. After about a half hour of rest, the two decided that it was time to continue their journey and try to cover as much ground as they could before nightfall. They resumed the journey the same way they had been so far, with Rose in the lead and Alex keeping an eye out of enemies. To the delight of them both they did not encounter any problems for the rest of the afternoon. ¡°The sun is setting.¡± Commented Alex as Rose continued hacking as some vines and briers. Rose suddenly stopped and froze for a moment, before turning her gaze skyward. ¡°Oh shoot, you are right. I was so focused on just getting through this forest that I hadn¡¯t noticed. Thanks for being the responsible one.¡± She responded calmly and gave him a warm smile when she turned around. ¡°There was a small clearing a few minutes back, why don¡¯t be backtrack slightly and camp there for the night?¡± He suggested. ¡°Sure, sounds great!¡± Rose responded enthusiastically, excited to get some food in her and rest. The duo backtracked slightly and came out into a small clearing that they had already passed through. It was just the right size for two or three people to space out bedrolls, have a fire in the middle, and still keep a reasonable buffer between the sleeping people and the edge of the forest. The perfect camping spot for the two of them tonight.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Let¡¯s split up for a few minutes to gather some firewood and meet back here. Even if we don¡¯t find much, meep back every few minutes and don¡¯t stray too far. Sound good?¡± Alex suggested. ¡°Sure, let¡¯s get started. I can¡¯t wait to sit down again¡­¡± She said wistfully. The two of them started heading out in opposite directions when Alex suddenly realized something important. ¡°Rose, wait!¡± He called and walked back to the center of the clearing as she did the same with a questioning look on her face. ¡°I completely forgot! I can just use my magic to cut down one of these smaller trees or a large branch off of one.¡± Alex said with excitement clear in his voice. He hadn¡¯t tried using his magic quite like this yet and he couldn¡¯t wait to try. Rose¡¯s eyes lit up as she heard his suggestion. ¡°Sure, go for it. Work smarter not harder, ya know? If we don¡¯t have to waste time searching the forest floor that¡¯s great!¡± She said enthusiastically. ¡®Ok, let¡¯s see here.¡¯ Alex thought as he scanned the nearby trees for a good solid branch. He didn¡¯t need a whole tree for a single night after all. ¡®Ah, there we go.¡¯ He had spotted a good sized one about 30 feet up at the edge of the clearing. ¡°Wind Bl-!¡± ¡®Alex, wait!¡± Suddenly yelled Alice and he cut the magic off before it left his area of control. ¡®What¡¯s wrong?¡¯ He asked confused, putting one hand on his chin. ¡®Stop yelling all of your spells out for the world to hear when you don¡¯t need to!¡¯ She chastised him. Confused, Alex responded. ¡®You said you have access to my memories, right? Didn¡¯t you see what happened in the dungeon when I attempted to use raw mana and accidentally thought of fire? My words guide my thoughts which guide the magic.¡¯ Alice, sounding smug, ¡®Yes, of course, they do. But the fact that you need words to help keep your thoughts on track just means that your mind is ill-disciplined and that you need to practice until yelling your spells aloud is not needed. Your spells launch a moment later, yes, but as we fight stronger enemies that moment will be all they need to dodge or counter in some way.¡¯ His eyes widened and his mouth fell open slightly. ¡®Ah! I hadn¡¯t thought of it that way, I just assumed I would need to keep doing that. So I just need to practice not letting my mind wander while casting¡­.¡¯ Tone turning from excited to dry, he said ¡®Certainly easier said than done though.¡¯ ¡°Alex¡­? Are you okay?¡± Rose asked slowly from nearby. He had been about to cast his spell, stopped mid-sentence and then stood there for the last while as different emotions flickered across his face with seemingly no cause. ¡°Huh?¡± He responded confused, as he turned to face Rose. ¡®Ah, shit! I¡¯ve been talking to you for a while and Rose has no idea you exist. I must look like a mad man to her right now!¡¯ He exclaimed to Alice. ¡°Ah, sorry Rose. Just lost in thought for a moment. Haha¡­¡± He tried to play it off, but this fake laugh was a bit too strained. ¡°¡­ If you say so.¡± Rose responded unsurely and a bit sulky as she took her backpack off and began setting up her part of the camp. She laid out her bedroll, removed her sword belt while setting the blade right next to her in an easy to grab location, and sat down for another bite to eat before bed while watching Alex do his thing. ¡®Ok, concentrate.¡¯ Alex told himself while still worrying about the exchange with Rose in the back of his mind. He stared intently up at the branch that he wanted to cut and tried his best to fill his mind with nothing but thoughts of it being cut by wind. While doing so, he began materializing his mana in front of him and finally when the runes had finished compressing, hopefully into the correct spell if his concentration had stayed strong, he released the magic and prayed. The loud sound of wood snapping rang out in the forest and a moment later the loud crashing of the heavy branch smashing onto the ground below. ¡°Yes! I did it!¡± Alex said aloud while pumping one arm up in the air as he sometimes did when excited. ¡°Did what?¡± Asked Rose while slightly confused. ¡®Wasn¡¯t this the goal anyway? I¡¯ve seen him do much more already.¡¯ She thought to herself. ¡°Ah, but did you hear me say anything out loud?¡± Alex asked in a boastful voice. ¡°I did the magic silently, which was the goal of this experiment and why I stopped mid cast earlier!¡± He exclaimed with pride. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s good, I guess?¡± Rose responded unsurely. Since Alex was the first magician she wasn¡¯t exactly certain how easy or hard this had been. ¡°Will we have that fire anytime soon though? It¡¯s starting to get dark and I don¡¯t exactly want to be out here in the pitch black with whatever is lurking in these woods.¡± Rolling his eyes at the lack of excitement or praise from Rose he began cutting the branch into more manageable pieces with his silent magic. ¡®Well, ¡°I,¡± think it was impressive.¡¯ Said Alice. Alex, now smiling, began piling the wood in the center of the clearing while setting what should hopefully be enough to stop it in the night nearby. A confused Rose looked on as he just sort of tossed the wood in a haphazard pile. ¡°Um, Alex?¡± She asked slowly and cautiously. ¡°You DO know how to make a fire, right?¡± Without acknowledging Rose right away, Alex turned back to the randomly thrown pile of logs and controlled a stream of raw mana to curl its way throughout and around the wood before setting it on fire. To Rose, however, it seemed as if Alex simply looked at the wood and it burst into flames. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Rose said in shock. ¡°Impressive.¡± Grinning happily, Alex began setting up his own sleeping spot. ¡°Sweet dreams, Rose.¡± He said before laying down for the night as she did the same on the other side of the fire. Chapter 28 - Never forget the basics Rose was suddenly jerked from her sleep by the sounds of muffled screaming and quick shot up on her bedroll. The fire had gone out during the night with nobody awake to keep it fed but the sun was just beginning to rise - giving the clearing a very small amount of light. It was enough to let her eyes make out the dozen dark shapes moving in the shadows though! ¡°Alex, wake up!¡± She yelled loudly as she grabbed her sword next to her and stood up, only to be knocked roughly forward as something squishy and wet, yet oddly solid at the same time, smashed into her. Rose yelped in surprise and swore under her breath as she stumbled heavily a few steps forward but managed to keep her balance and her weapon. Keeping your weapon at all times was drilled into her quite heavily by her father over the years. She spun around to face her attacker and was face to face with a slime! It was an amorphous blob of green with no visible features. They tended to stay in a teardrop-like shape most of the time unless trying to squeeze in somewhere tight, but they had no discernible face or limbs. They hunted in packs like these ones, which as she looked around the other shapes were indeed more slimes, and pummel their prey by bouncing into them hard until they got a chance to group together on top and slowly dissolve them for consumption. ¡°Alex, what are you-AHHHHH!¡± She had started to call to Alex again, wondering why he had not woken up yet, and found him covered head to toe in several slimes and unable to get up! ¡®The noise that woke me up, it was muffled screaming coming from Alex!¡¯ She suddenly realized. ¡°I¡¯m gonna get you out, hold on! Can you use your magic still?¡± She asked as she tried to run to him. ¡®Why hasn¡¯t he cast a spell yet?¡¯ She wondered in panic. Rose only managed to take a single step however before she got knocked to the side hard by another slime. ¡®Damn this darkness!¡¯ She yelled in her mind. ¡®We should have taken turns on watch and kept the fire going! How could we have forgotten the basics of traveling in the unknown!?¡¯ She berated herself over the stupidity of them both in such a situation. As she fell Rose made sure to roll as soon as she felt solid earth beneath her, not even taking the time to get her bearings and know where she was rolling towards. She had to keep the slimes from covering her like they had Alex! But she didn¡¯t have time to help him right away, there were too many of them. ¡®I can¡¯t help him if I get stuck in the same situation.¡¯ She thought with grim determination. ¡®I need to get rid of a few of these things first.¡¯ She quickly looked around her to take stock of the locations of the slimes she could see, before taking a few good steps back to space herself eventually from the ones coming towards her. After taking note of them all, she tried to calm herself a bit and got into a stance. ¡®I have only had access to my Ki for a few days now and my circulation is still not the best, but it¡¯s now or never.¡¯ She steeled her nerves and breathed in, and out. In, and out. Thankfully slimes are among the slower creatures, at least until it lunges. Rose circulated her mana throughout her body, a little unsteadily at first, but before the first slime reached her she managed to channel it through the palms and onto the blade of her sword, coating it in the Ki. ¡®Yes!'' She mentally crowed. ¡®The slimes will go down much easier with Ki on my blade!¡¯ Rose charged at the first slime and yelled out an unintelligible battle cry. The battle had begun. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- ¡®What the hell!?¡¯ Alex was jarred awake by a combination of crushing pain all over his body and a mild burning sensation on any exposed skin. He opened an eye for a split second despite the burning sensation on his face and immediately closed it again. ¡®Damnit, the pain hit too fast for me to get a good look at whatever is crushing me. I can¡¯t breathe!¡¯ He thought in a panic. He tried screaming and flailing as he lost control of himself in his panic, lungs quickly begging for oxygen. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡®Alex! Alex calm down!¡¯ Alice tried yelling to him, but he couldn¡¯t hear her over his own panic. ¡®Alex, you need to use your magic! You can still do it, just calm down and concentrate!¡¯ She screamed as she too started to get frantic. She could feel his consciousness fading away as his body ran out of oxygen. ¡®No no no what do I do? Alex, don¡¯t die on me!¡¯ She yelled with all of the emotion and conviction she could convey. She began frantically trying to use his mana as she had done when Jeod was transformed, but he had given her express permission at the time. She could feel the power, feel the vast pool of mana within them both but it seemed like a hard barrier kept her mind from drawing upon those damned reserves! Alice began throwing herself - her consciousness, her soul, her very being - against the barrier with as much strength as she could muster. Her own thoughts and senses were becoming blurry as well now with the repeated blows taking a toll. Suddenly she felt, more than heard, cracking in the wall. ¡®The barrier! It¡¯s crumbling!¡¯ She thought with excitement. ¡®Once more!¡¯ She screamed, and threw herself against it again, finally smashing her way through the barrier and into the vast pool of power! As she immersed herself in the power she suddenly realized that without Alex holding it back the entire ocean was rushing at her! ¡®Too much power! I don¡¯t have time for a proper spell, this will have to do!¡¯ She exclaimed as she grabbed as much power as she could without being overwhelmed and threw it out of Alex in an attempt to blow away the slimes with raw mana. As soon as it left her grasp she retreated from the mental barrier back into her own portion of their shared soul and mind, gasping with exertion. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª- An explosion of raw mana lit up the clearing as if it were day while shredding the slimes atop Alex and blowing away everything in the clearing with the shockwave it had created. Alex laid still in the center of the blast looking uninjured except for a few burns on his exposed skin, as the slimes did not have enough time to fully dissolve him. Unfortunately, he did not awake, however, simply laying on the ground unconscious. Rose was in mid-charge at the first slime uttering her battle cry when this happened and she was unceremoniously picked up and tossed through the air by the shockwave. ¡®What the hell!?¡¯ She thought frantically while screaming out loud. She hit the ground hard, wincing and grunting at the pain, as she skipped across the ground before coming to a stop in the bushes at the edge of the clearing. Her arms and legs both had minor cuts and scrapes and she knew that she would have quite a lot of bruises forming later. ¡®If I even survive¡­¡¯ She thought grimly. Rose pulled herself to her feet and was pleased to see she had still managed to keep ahold of her sword even while flying through the air. ¡®Dad will be quite proud to hear that beating this habit into me actually worked.¡¯ The thought made her smile wryly as she inspected the clearing. What she saw took her breath away. Alex laying in a small crater, all of their belongings blown away and scattered around the clearing, liquid slime splattered all over and at least half of the slimes now missing from the clearing. ¡°Wha!¡± ¡®What the hell did he do?¡¯ As she had that thought however we noticed he was still laying down and not moving. ¡°Alex!¡± She screamed and ran back in his direction. At this point, they were down to three living slimes and with fury and adrenaline fueling her system Rose managed to control her Ki quite well for a beginner and promptly finish them off. Slimes were one of the easier monsters to defeat of course, but you normally didn¡¯t face a whole group of them in the almost dark alone after being woken up surprised and with an injured ally. When she finally finished off the last slime Rose quickly sprinted to Alex and checked his pulse and breathing. ¡°Yes!¡± She said aloud with pure joy. ¡°He¡¯s alive!¡± She fell back on her butt as the events of this morning caught up her and exhaustion claimed her. ¡®If this is just the first day¡­¡¯ She thought to herself glumly. ¡®I¡¯d better try to see if any of the medical supplies survived that blast of mana and tend to Alex.¡¯ She thought with purpose as she got up and began to search the debris in the clearing. Over the course of the fight, the sun had continued to rise and it was now bright enough to make stuff out on the ground a short distance away thankfully. ¡®This will be a long day.¡¯ Chapter 29 - Revelations ¡°Ahh!¡± Alex yelled when he woke up several hours later. ¡°Fire blast! Windblast!¡± He screamed in a panicked voice and let his magic fly to attack his enemies that were no longer there. As the large wall of fire shot into the sky above him, a powerful gust of wind simultaneously blew all around him in a circle. He rolled to the side as he cast the spells and hopped to his feet, alert for the enemies that had nearly killed him. Rose yelped in surprise and alarm from across the clearing when she saw what was happening. ¡°Alex! Calm down!¡± She yelled at him quickly. ¡°The slimes are gone, we are both OK.¡± She said calmer this time when he looked in her direction, fear, and confusion on his face. ¡®Alex, listen to Rose! We are safe!¡¯ Alice stressed in his mind. ¡®The fight is over.¡¯ Alex stared at Rose for a few seconds in shock before plopping himself down on the spot and just sort of staring into the newly made fire that Rose had made. ¡°What¡­ what happened?¡± He asked in a slow, tired voice. Rose stopped the Ki circulation practice she had been doing while she waited for Alex to wake up and walked over to sit next to him. As Rose inspected him she couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of great sadness. He looked so broken, so vulnerable. This world was indeed brutal and they had forgotten some of the most basic basics in their panicked and stressed states, but they also had still not begun their proper training yet either. They had never truly been out this far in practical training or anything, just theory and training within the borders of the town. They had literally been thrown into the deep end of life and were expected to swim. She leaned over and gave Alex a tight hug which she held for a few moments before pulling back and beginning to recount the events of the previous night. ¡°I woke to the sounds of what I later learned was your muffled screaming.¡± She began with a shudder. Alex did not show any reaction and simply stared at the fire while Rose continued. ¡°We were naive and forgot to have someone stay up and keep watch. The fire went out as a result and slimes snuck into camp. Before I even woke up they had already covered you and¡­ did what slimes do.¡± She stopped again for a moment to take a few deep breaths. ¡°I tried to get to you quickly, but there were too many of them and they were ganging up on me. I ended up having to fight for my own life first.¡± Rose saw Alex nod his head in agreement here, still staring into the fire. ¡°As I began dispatching the slimes, you suddenly exploded in a blast of raw mana. It shredded the slimes on top of you and several nearby. It created the crater over there and also blew the camp to pieces, scattering our bags and gear around with a lot of it unsalvageable due to being so close to you.¡± At this, Alex finally showed some life again. His face was a mask of surprise as he turned to look at Rose. He did not speak to her, however, and she simply stared back worried and confused. Unknown to her, Alex and Alice had engaged in a short conversation about the events that transpired. ¡®Alice, what is the meaning of this?¡¯ Alex demanded. ¡®I do not remember sending a blast of pure mana out, just the¡­ well, I won¡¯t go into detail, but I do not remember doing so before the darkness claimed me. How did I cast magic while unconscious?¡¯ ¡®Well¡­¡¯ Alice began, unsure of how to proceed entirely. Would Alex be upset at what she had done? Happy at the new opportunities this opened? Scared of her perhaps? ¡®You were dying, Alex.¡¯ She said bluntly and matter of fact. ¡®I could not calm your panic enough for you to cast a spell and Rose was unable to get here in time. So, I reached for the magic as I had when you gave me permission to utilize your mana for Jeod¡¯s transformation. It was¡­ not within my reach, fully.¡¯ She paused for a moment again, letting Alex process the information so far. ¡®I did not wish to die, Alex, and I did not wish for you to die either. I threw my entire being against the barrier between me and the ability to use your magic and on the verge of death I finally succeeded. There was no time to try and structure a real spell and so I let the mana run rampant and free. The rest is as Rose described to you.¡¯ Alice finished sheepishly while still fearing what Alex¡¯s reaction might be.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Alex sat in silence for a few more moments and was about to respond to Alice when Rose interrupted. ¡°Alex, are you OK?¡± She asked worriedly. ¡°You have just been staring at me with various emotions flying across your face. What is going on?¡± He ignored Rose¡¯s question for the moment and consulted with Alice. ¡®I do not fault you, Alice, your actions saved the lives of us both and possibly Rose as well. We will need to experiment to find the full limits of your powers over me however when we get to our destination. For now, do you disagree with me telling Rose about you? She is quite worried and suspicious at this point and if we are to spend an extended period of time together in close proximity while we hide out here it will only get harder to hide your existence.¡¯ Alice did not take even a single second to think, instantly replying. ¡®Of course, Alex. If you believe that it is in our best interests to inform her then you have my permission to do so. As you said, we will all be together for a while and from my perspective I expect you to likely be friends for years to come. It would be hard to keep me secret that long and the longer you wait the worse the backlash from Rose will be.¡¯ Alice concluded in a calm and collected voice. ¡®Plus, then I can talk to her through you as well! I can make a new friend!¡¯ She said excitedly. ¡°Alex? Alex, you are really starting to worry me,¡± Rose said in a scared voice. ¡°Say something, please.¡± She begged. Alex finally came back to his senses in the world around him, finished with his conversation with Alice, and he pulled Rose into a hug before she could respond. ¡°Rose. Thank you. For everything.¡± He said with real emotion in his voice. He let her go and they sat facing each other, a look of confused shock on Rose¡¯s face. ¡°There is something very important that I must tell you, Rose. Someone special that I obtained within the dungeon after gaining my class, and someone that has been irreplaceable since awakening.¡± He said in a very serious voice. ¡°Someone?¡± Rose asked, confused. How could he have gained a person within the dungeon? Did he mean something? That seemed an odd mistake to make while sounding so serious, however. Alex smiled brightly at her question and responded, ¡°Yes, someone. Let me tell you about Alice.¡± He said and proceeded to inform Rose of the rest of his story that he had kept hidden from her. Finding the hidden rooms, the mithril orb, awakening the orb at Jeod¡¯s and its transformation into Alice, and finally all about how she had helped and guided him so far and how she was responsible for saving his life the night before while Rose was preoccupied. Rose was stunned for sure but recovered quickly. ¡°Then I must thank you, Alice, for taking care of my best friend so well during these confusing times and for saving all of our lives last night. I doubt I could have taken the entire swarm of slimes on alone had you not destroyed many of them.¡± Alex suddenly felt an odd feeling within himself, and then his mana responded without his will! Above his head and facing Rose was suddenly fire spelling out the words ¡°You are welcome¡± before vanishing as soon as Rose finished reading it. ¡®Alice was that your doing!?¡¯ He asked panicked. They had not yet experimented with her level of control, but she had just cast a spell entirely without his knowledge! ¡®Yes, that was indeed my doing, Alex. I am sorry for doing so without your permission but I was curious if I could still exert control over your mana and I wished to communicate with Rose. I will not do so again without your permission unless the situation is dire.¡¯ She promised sincerely. Rose, smiling awkwardly, said, ¡°I assume that was Alice¡¯s doing?¡± Alex sighed heavily and replied, ¡°Yes, although I did not even know she could do that. Enough of this though, we can get everyone introduced properly once we get to our destination. How do our supplies look after last night, Rose?¡± She began giving Alex a report on what they still had, what was destroyed, what was unusable but possibly repairable when they had time at their destination and so on. When she was finished with the report they got ready to continue on their way, eager to get to a real building even if it was likely damaged and still in the middle of nowhere. It would at least provide more defense than camping out in the open had. Preparations having been taken care of, Rose, Alex, and Alice set off once more into the woods on their journey to the safe house that Thomas would hopefully meet them at after a short amount of time. Not a chapter - also not dropped Ignore this chapter, I have decided against doing this for now. Heyyyyy! I will start this the same as last time to assuage any worries - No I am not dropping the story nor putting it on hold for months on end nor starting another work. So I know the story is still not super far along and I have only been writing it for less than a month but the amount of stuff I have learned about writing, storytelling, outlining, that I should design world systems that will be needed later ahead of time - just EVERYTHING is massive. Thank you, everyone, who has offered me advice, feedback, criticism, other author''s works to look at for examples and so on - basically anyone that left a comment or hit me up in Discord. I want this story to be great and as people are pointing things out and I am learning I have come to realize two major points. 1.) With the ways things are headed now it will be very hard to keep the story at a standard of what I would like. I failed to do some important stuff earlier on, such as actually having a defined magic system in place (yea I''m that dumb), and I would like to go back and fix these issues so that the story remains fun for me to write. In its current form, I am still enjoying the story and what I have planned but I do not think I can implement my plans well without adjustments.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. 2.) As some have pointed out, and again I love it it''s not a bad thing, my writing is not the best. The one guy on chapter 5 who left a nice big comment for me introduced me to a basic of writing I didn''t even know and have since read lots about techniques related to showing and not telling. Implementing this in the current chapters will be a BIG change to the feel of the writing and will enhance the reader experience greatly. So, I am going to take some time and begin another rewrite (for those of you not with us before, I did a rewrite around chapter 10) and I have no idea how long it will take. I will keep you guys updated in my Discord as well as on this post. I have a nice big list of stuff to change, fix, adjust, look into and so on and plan to start as soon as I am done typing this. I''m sure some will be disappointed and leave, and I am sorry I ruined a fun activity for you, but I am very much enjoying to write but can''t see myself enjoying it much longer as things are. Feel free to ask questions, give your own ideas/suggestions/changes/fixes and so on. I am about to go back through and read EVERY comment on EVERY chapter again and note down the contents and pluck out what seems of use. Chapter 30 - Arrival ¡°Man, this place looks like a dump!¡± Rose exclaimed, disgust clear in her voice as she and Alex finally entered the clearing that held the hideout they would be staying in for a while. Despite the setbacks during their first night, the second day of travel had passed without issue and they arrived on schedule, near night of the second day. ¡°Yea, for sure.¡± Agreed Alex. ¡°We were told it might need some repair, but surely it isn¡¯t normally THIS damaged.¡± He said as he studied the outside of the building. The outpost was a single story wooden building in the shape of a large T with the doorway sitting at the bottom of the T. Just from where they stood now though it was clear that the roof had collapsed in several sections, the front doors were missing and there were various holes in the walls. It looked as if something had tried to tear the place apart. ¡°Well, I guess we¡¯d better go see what we are working with¡­¡± Alex said with resignation as he began walking towards the hole where the front doors should have been. Rose followed and they entered the building cautiously, ready for any possible monster attacks. The first room appeared to be a sort of common area with couches that had seen better days and a few tables with cards scattered across them. Along the walls were alcoves, a few of which looked to have some worn gear, and ahead of them was a long hallway that seemed to stretch the length of the building. Every inch of the room was coated in a layer of dust, showing how long it had been since the place was last taken care of or used. Spiders had taken up residence in most of the corners and various other places like between chair legs and so on. The lack of front doors surely did not help with the condition of the room. Several of the tables and chairs present had been smashed by someone or something as well and sat around in various states of destruction. Overall, the place was a mess, and this was only the first room. The two of them continued through the building and down the hallway, still on alert. There were five visible doorways with two on each side and one at the far end. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s set up just like the barracks back home. Except¡­ covered in dirt.¡± Rose commented dryly. ¡°Makes sense to design it the same as the ones at home if this is for training.¡± Responded Alex. ¡°That means the doorways on the sides there should be three bunk rooms and a storeroom and the far room should be the kitchen and eating area.¡± As he finished speaking Rose nodded her head in agreement. Alex continued and said ¡°It¡¯s late and we are tired, so why don¡¯t we just check out each of these rooms and then try to camp in whichever is in the best condition for now?¡± ¡°Sure, that sounds like a plan,¡± Rose said as she approached one of the doors. She unsheathed her sword in case there was something in here, while Alex mentally prepared himself for a spell. They looked at each other, nodded, and Rose threw the door open and jumped inside in an attempt to catch any unsuspecting creatures off guard. What they found was an empty bunk room. There was a broken window across from the door and four beds in varying states of disrepair, each with a small wooden trunk at the foot of the bed for the occupant''s personal belongings. It seems they took the blankets and such back to town with them however as the beds were just wooden frames, which made sense if they expected the place to get damaged from such rare use. No point in ruining good bed materials every time and it gave the recruits another thing they had to carry during the march here. The room was just as dusty and covered in spiderwebs as the first room along with obvious animal droppings here and there. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like there is anything dangerous in here but also nothing of use. We should continue quickly before it gets too late.¡± Alex said and the two of them retreated from the room. ¡®Well, that was anticlimactic.¡¯ Said Alice. ¡®Anticlimactic, yes, but that means safe.¡¯ Replied Alex. ¡®I am all for this place being empty and boring so we can get a good nights rest.¡¯ The next two rooms that they checked were more bunk rooms and all in similar states to the first. Both of them had a large hole in the roof and mold on a lot of the objects. Some of the non treated wood inside was beginning to rot from the rainfall as well so they decided they would ignore those two rooms entirely while they stayed here and just seal up the doors later so nothing could get into the rest of the building through the holes in the roof. ¡°This is the last door apart from the kitchen and eating area so it should be a storeroom if this place follows the usual design,¡± Rose explained again even though she knew Alex was already aware. ¡°It¡¯s doubtful they would leave a terrible amount here but there are some things just not worth carting back and forth each visit, so hopefully we can replace some of what we lost the first night.¡± She continued, voicing the hopes of them both aloud while they stood in front of the door.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°It¡¯s now or never,¡± Alex said as he stepped forward and opened the door dramatically and¡­. Was greeted with darkness. ¡®Of course, this room wouldn¡¯t have any windows, they wouldn¡¯t want anything breaking into it easily.¡¯ He chastised himself silently as he conjured a small flame to light the room. With the room properly lit the two of them could clearly see that this was the most well-preserved room so far. The lack of a broken window or hole in the ceiling like most of the other rooms seemed to be suffering from had helped quite a bit for sure. The walls were lined with wooden shelving and it was large enough for two of the beds that were in the other rooms to fit in comfortably. About half of the shelves had various items on them to the delight of the group, Alice included, and they decided to close the door and continue to the last room for now and finish their sweep of the building. They would come back and inventory any useful supplies sometime tomorrow. ¡°Ok, one more room to go!¡± Alex said excitedly and pumped his fist in the air. ¡°I can¡¯t want to get some food in me and go to sleep after all this travel.¡± ¡®Although you have a lot of work ahead of you in the coming days to make this place livable even in the short term.¡¯ Alice said with a hint of amusement. Alex grimaced. ¡®Don¡¯t remind me.¡¯ Rose, unaware of the silent exchange going on without her, opened the final door and carefully entered the large room. It was dimly lit due to the quickly fading daylight and the size of the room so Alex conjured a few fireballs again while they walked around the room. What they found caused both of them to let out an audible sigh of relief for this room was clearly the best preserved so far. There were four windows in this room, one on each of the left and right walls and two on the far wall. A large metal fire brazier sat in the center of the room and several smaller ones were placed around the edges of the room. The ceiling was intact thankfully and none of the wood in here looked to be rotting nor could they spot any visible mold. There were, of course, a few spiderwebs still but much less for sure which they were both quite thankful for. There was one large table off center on the right side of the room with 12 chairs around it, just enough for the number of beds that the place was meant to hold. On the opposite side was the cooking area and this section was made of stone rather than wood so that they could cook better without worrying about a fire. Visible was a large wood oven, many shelves and plenty of counter space as well as another smaller table for food preparation. Still within the cooking area but furthest from the other furniture was a table covered in butchering supplies. ¡°Well¡­¡± Alex said and sort of trailed off, turning to look at Rose. ¡°Yea, a bit worse than I thought it would be as well. At least this room is suitable, but we have a lot of work to do on the rest of the place. It¡¯s better than sleeping outside again though at least.¡± She said while trying to sound optimistic. Shuddering at the memory of his encounter with the slimes Alex agreed wholeheartedly with her sentiment. ¡°Since nighttime is falling and we have been traveling all day let¡¯s just board this room up and get some sleep for now.¡± He suggested. Nodding in agreement Rose went to see what she could do about the door while Alex gathered some of the wood from the cooking area and filled the brazier in the center of the room. Having no windows was a bit of a problem and they wouldn¡¯t even have moonlight to fight by if there was trouble so he wanted to light at least the largest brazier to give them light to work by. After piling enough wood to make a large fire burn for a while he lit the stack and most of the room was quickly illuminated. Some of the corners remained shrouded in shadow but that was to be expected as he hadn¡¯t lit the surrounding braziers. It was plenty for them to work with though and Alex made sure to move plenty of wood from the cooking area to be closer to the fire for restocking during the night. While he was doing that, Rose had taken the smaller table and pushed it against the door with the top of the table flat against the door and wall. She then carefully piled the chairs against it as well in a way that let her fit as many as she could in a small space to make it harder to push through. It obviously wasn¡¯t a surefire defense but this was plenty to give them some preparation time in case something did try to get in here during the night. With both of their respective tasks completed the two of them met back near the fire in the center of the room. ¡°That should do for the night,¡± Rose said while nodding at the fire and door. ¡°For now, yes. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow though.¡± Alex said with a strained smile on his face while he laid out his bedroll. ¡°I¡¯ll take first watch?¡± He offered and gave Rose a questioning glance. ¡°Sure, thank you. Since we don¡¯t have the moon to go by just wake me when the fire needs stoking. It should burn for a good portion of the night.¡± She responded as she also began laying out her bedroll. The two of them shared a quick dinner of dried meat and bread before Rose drifted off to sleep and Alex began another long night of keeping guard. ¡®At least I have you to keep me company, right, Alice?¡¯ He said happily in his mind. There was no response however and he worriedly said ¡®Alice?¡¯ What he heard in response was some very badly faked snoring and then Alice bursting out giggling. ¡®Of course Alex! I will always be here.¡¯ She said when her giggling had subsided. Chapter 31 - Plan of action As planned Alex had stayed up to guard them first and woke Rose up when the fire eventually began dimming. Alex restocked the fire while she groggily woke up and they swapped places without issue, Alex finally getting some much-needed sleep. Once Rose began hearing birds chirping loudly outside and saw the sun start shining through the eastern window she decided it was time to wake up Alex. The night passed without worry or interruption but they both agreed that morning had come much too quickly for their liking. It was better than sleeping outside again though for sure. ¡®Morning, Alex. Did you sleep well?¡¯ Alice asked sounding happy and perky as usual. ¡°Mhm,¡± Alex responded while sleepily rubbing his eyes and then rubbing his hands on his face. ¡°What was that?¡± Asked Rose turning to face Alex with a questioning look on her face. ¡°Did you say something?¡± Alex was startled for a moment, having absentmindedly responded to Alice out loud. ¡°Uh, I, that is,¡± He stuttered incoherently before gathering his thoughts sufficiently for a real response this early in the morning. ¡°I was, uh, responding to Alice.¡± He said a bit hesitantly. Sure, he had told Rose about Alice the morning after the slime incident, but they didn¡¯t exactly sit down and have a conversation about her nor did Rose even ask any questions. He was sure she had just been pushing it out of her mind until they were safe and nervously assumed now that she was reminded this is when she would press the issue. He was right. ¡°Ah¡­¡± Rose responded in an uncertain tone. ¡°So. Alice. The girl in¡­ your¡­ head¡­¡± She said in a wary tone. ¡°Could you, uh, explain a bit more about it? Her? How did this happen? You are my best friend Alex and I want to believe you but you must see how this sounds¡­¡± She trailed off. ¡®Tell her everything, we can¡¯t afford to lose her trust. Although I am sure you likely would have even without my permission given who we are talking about.¡¯ Said Alice. Alex took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment to steady himself. When he exhaled and opened his eyes again, he began to tell Rose everything that had happened from the beginning of his awakening up until they were reunited in the hospital. Much of this he had already told her before but this time he gave extra detail concerning Alice. Rose interrupted repeatedly to ask questions and clarify various parts of the story but eventually, he had managed to answer every question she could come up with. ¡°Ok,¡± Rose said with a tone of finality. ¡°I believe you, Alex. You have been my best friend for as long as I can remember and you haven¡¯t lied to me since we were little kids.¡± She paused for a moment before continuing. ¡°I have to thank you again then Alice, this time sincerely, for saving Alex the other night.¡± ¡®Tell her I said that I appreciate her acceptance of my existence and look forward to having another person to occasionally talk to even if it isn¡¯t through my own mouth.¡¯ Alice instructed. Alex relayed what Alice had said and after a few more pleasantries were exchanged back and forth Rose suddenly yelped in surprise. ¡°Oh! With all the excitement and travel we both completely forgot to check our levels after fighting those slimes!¡± She said in excitement. ¡°How could we forget something so exciting!?¡± She practically yelled as she jumped up and down a few times before stopping to concentrate on her level information. ¡®Hm guess I should do the same.¡¯ He thought to himself as Alex also pulled up his information in his mind.
You have leveled up! You are now level 9! +4 wisdom, +3 intelligence, +0.5 vitality, +0.2 lifespan
Name: Alex Jones
Race: Archon
Class: Arcanist
Level: 9
Strength: 47
Vitality: 48
Agility: 54
Intelligence: 108
Wisdom: 64
Lifespan: 14.8
¡®Not too bad considering I didn¡¯t even do the work.¡¯ He thought with a smirk on his face. ¡®Your welcome.¡¯ Came the sarcastic voice of Alice.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°So did you gain any levels?¡± Rose asked as she tucked a loose strand of her mid-back length blonde hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind an ear. Her question pulled him back into focus and he looked into her dark green eyes as he responded animatedly. ¡°Yea, surprisingly I did.¡± Rose cocked her head to the side slightly and frowned. ¡°Why would it be a surprise? You wiped out half a dozen slimes in that explosion after all.¡± Alex grimaced, ¡°Well yea physically ¡°I¡± did, but remember it was actually Alice controlling my magic. I didn¡¯t think I would get any experience since I myself did not consciously do the damage. I can¡¯t fully say why I still got the experience, but I do have two theories.¡± He paused for a moment to take a sip of water. They had been talking all morning after all. He held up his pointer finger and said, ¡°Explanation number one is that it was still my body, my magic, and my abilities and therefore my kill, despite it not truly being myself in control.¡± He held up a second finger. ¡°Explanation number two is that anything Alice does counts for me as well since she does not have any levels and we share a soul. I¡¯ve never heard of anything like Alice¡¯s existence before though so this is all just some good guesses.¡± ¡°Anyway, enough about me, how about you? Surely you got some for all those slimes if I got one.¡± He asked excitedly. ¡°Wait, you participated in the goblin attack as well and should have gotten levels there. How strong are you now?¡± Rose¡¯s smile couldn¡¯t get any wider than it currently was, showing off her straight teeth. ¡°Level five! Take that!¡± She announced triumphantly with her hands on her hips, slightly below average chest thrust out, and chin raised in the air in a faux show of superiority. ¡°If not for that goblin invasion it would have taken me months to get this high!¡±
Name: Rose Yonwood
Race: Human
Class: Soldier
Level: 5
Strength: 83
Vitality: 77
Agility: 52
Intelligence: 67
Wisdom: 15
Lifespan: 8
Alex grinned and took on the same pose as Rose and proclaimed in an authoritative-sounding voice. ¡°Hah! Bow down before the might of the great Arcanist, peasant! For I am¡­. Level nine!¡± Rose audibly gasped and relaxed her exaggerated pose. ¡°How!? It should have taken you over a year to get that high! Even with the invasion!¡± Also standing normally again Alex shrugged. ¡°I wasn¡¯t keeping track after each fight really, but,¡± his voice took on sarcastic tone, ¡°it MIGHT have been the number of goblins I completely shredded in a massive spell that should have killed me and very nearly did.¡± ¡°Damn. Anyway enough sitting around talking, we really need to stop putting it off and decide what to get done today.¡± She responded, back to serious mode. ¡°Let¡¯s take a moment and think of the most pressing matters. Let me see if I can find anything to write on in the storehouse real quick.¡± ¡°Sounds good,¡± Alex said as they both worked to clear the chairs and the table away from the door so they could get out. Thankfully there was no big baddie waiting for them on the other side and Rose managed to find what she was looking for in the storeroom while Alex lit it up once again with his magic. After heading back to their small camp the two of them sat down at the large table and began making a list. 1. Secure the building better and seal up the holes somehow if they can 2. Find a way to cover the windows as there did not appear to be any curtains 3. Find out where the scouts got their water from 4. Secure a source of food, current supplies would last 2 more days 5. Gather more wood for the braziers and for cooking 6. Make a checklist of their remaining supplies and what was in the storage room 7. Search the building better for anything of use 8. Practice their still new skills and get stronger 9. Add more goals as needed ¡°Ok, so we are agreed on these basic items so far? I¡¯m sure we will run into other problems and think of things that need to be taken care of, but this should get us going for now at least.¡± Explained Rose. ¡°List looks good to me.¡± Responded Alex. ¡°I haven¡¯t played around with manipulating stone very much yet but I think I might be able to do something about some of the holes and such with my magic.¡± Smiling excitedly Rose hopped to her feet. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get started then!¡±
Name: Alex Jones
Race: Archon
Class: Arcanist
Level: 9
Strength: 47
Vitality: 48
Agility: 54
Intelligence: 108
Wisdom: 64
Lifespan: 14.8
Name: Rose Yonwood
Race: Human
Class: Soldier
Level: 5
Strength: 83
Vitality: 77
Agility: 52
Intelligence: 67
Wisdom: 15
Lifespan: 8
Chapter 32 - Scouting PLEASE READ THE BEGINNING AUTHOR''S NOTES BEFORE READING The bright morning sun blinded Alex as the two of them left the outpost, causing him to squint and raise his hand to help shield his eyes. Stretching out before them was a lush field of short, dark green grass, and knee-high soft ferns, still covered in fresh morning dew. ¡°First things first, we should find a source of water. There should be a well or stream nearby so that shouldn¡¯t be a very hard task.¡± Rose nodded and they starting walking around the outside of the building. Now that they could see it properly in the daylight, the outside of the building looked almost as bad as the inside. Lots of random debris had piled up on the roof such as piles of leaves and sticks, desperately in need of a good cleaning. Thin, light green, vines crawled up the walls and through the broken windows. Overall it looked as if it had been years since they last trained a batch of scouts out here, considering the recruits were meant to clean the place up. The clearing around the building seemed to stretch about fifty meters out most of the way around. ¡®Likely to give some nice open space for physical training and to make it harder for something to sneak up on anyone staying here.¡¯ Alex thought to himself as he looked around. As they made it around to the back of the building they found what they had set out to find. ¡°Ah, there we go!¡± Said Alex as he broke into a light jog in the direction of the small meandering stream that was winding through the clearing. Both ends of it came from and went back in the direction of the woods. Rose was right behind him, easily keeping up with his pace. The stream was maybe four meters across at its widest and as the two of them made it to the bank, they could see that it was just half a meter or so deep, depending on the spot, of course. The water looked to be crystal clear though and should be good for all of their drinking, washing, and cooking needs. A few fish of varying sizes could be seen flitting about, weaving under rocks and catching bugs that landed on the surface of the water. Alex lifted the strap tied to his canteen over his head and unscrewed the cap before dipping it into the stream, refilling it with some nice fresh water, before slinging it back over his shoulder again where it usually sat if he wasn¡¯t wearing a backpack to stuff it into. Next to him, Rose did the same after taking a few good swigs. ¡°So what¡¯s up next, then?¡± Rose asked curiously as she took a moment to kneel down on the bank so that she could splash some water on her face and scrub some of the grime off of her arms. Alex was doing the same next to her and enjoying the feeling of being slightly cleaner again. ¡°Well¡­¡± He responded, hand on chin. ¡°We got water covered and we have food for another two days.¡± He held up one finger and then another while mentally checking off what they would need to stay here for a while. ¡°Why don¡¯t we check out the other side of the building real quick and then get to work on finding a bit of firewood?¡± He was on a roll now, moving his hands animatedly as he explained, and was sounding more confident and assured as he continued speaking. ¡°After that, we can spend the rest of the day trying to make the place a bit safer and more livable. Then tomorrow we can work on food and inventorying the rest of our supplies and whatever is in that supply room.¡± Rose put one hand on her slender hip and lightly tapped her lips with the index finger of her other hand in an exaggerated thinking pose. After a moment she just shrugged, ¡°Sure, sounds fine to me.¡± Then suddenly she bolted away! ¡°Last one there is a rotten egg!¡± Alex could hear her laughter float back to him as she ran toward the side of the building they had not been to yet. ¡°Oh no, you don¡¯t!¡± He jovially yelled and took off running after her. Unfortunately for Alex however, Rose had nearly double his strength and only slightly less agility so he didn¡¯t have much of a chance at beating her in a fair race. That wouldn¡¯t stop him from trying his damnedest though. Legs pumping, heart pounding, Alex sprinted across the field for everything he was worth. ¡®Alice, I¡¯m actually catching up! I¡¯ve got this!¡¯ Just as hope was regained, Rose turned around with a bright smile on her face and faltered for a moment, nearly tripping up when she saw how close he was to her. Smile vanishing, she faced the correct direction again and put on another burst of speed, showing that she had only been playing around before now. ¡®What was that Alex? I didn¡¯t hear you before.¡¯ Came the snarky comment from within his head shortly followed by bell-like laughter. Eventually, Alex caught up to where Rose had stopped to wait for him, right at the corner of the building. She was smiling and had both her hands on her hips and trying hard not to look like she was breathing hard from the sprint. Alex could see the perspiration dotting her face though and the way her shirt stuck to her body. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Hah! I win!¡± She declared loudly while pointing a finger dramatically in his direction. ¡°Bow down! Mwahaha!¡± ¡°Yea, yea, laugh it up.¡± He took a pause for a few deep breaths. ¡°You just wait till I have a handle on my magic and we¡¯ll see how things go.¡± He said before taking a swig from his canteen and finally beginning to catch his breath.
Strength +1
Vitality +1
¡°Hah! By that time I will have a better handle on my Ki. This time we were both running normally, but next time it will be a real race.¡± She turned around and started walking along the side of the building and continued their objective to scout out the surroundings. For the most part, everything looked identical to the other side, big surprise there, but to the delight of both of them, there was one helpful difference. Attached to the side of the building about halfway down was a small lean-to with a small pile of wood and a large stump with an ax sticking out of it. The lean-to appeared very well constructed and even had a black tarp lining on top to help be sure the wood stayed absolutely dry. It was rarer to see stuff like reasonably intact tarp these days, although not uncommon to find plastic in general since the stuff seemed to be capable of lasting basically forever. The lean-to was somewhere in the ballpark of four by three meters with the long side built onto the side of the main building. The ax they found had seen better days for sure, but after Rose took a few practice swings and split some of the existing wood into smaller pieces for kindling, she deemed it ¡°good enough¡± and decided she would do some cutting for a bit since there was not a terrible amount of wood already there. ¡°Alex, think you can cut me down a small tree and get it over here with that fancy magic of yours?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Probably, I have a few ideas that could work. How do we get it over here though?¡± Rose simply smiled devilishly at him and didn¡¯t say a word. Alex sighed sarcastically and turned toward the forest and began walking in an exaggeratedly upset way, stomping slightly. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s pick out a small one. We don¡¯t even know how long we will be here so there¡¯s no point in cutting down the biggest tree we can find or something.¡± After a moment of thought while walking he suddenly added on, "Maybe we can even find one that¡¯s already fallen instead of cutting down a new one.¡± So off they went once again trudging through the underbrush and into the woods, albeit this time not intending to go far at all. Rather than going in deep in a single direction they planned to walk around the edge of the clearing just a short walk into the tree-line. ¡°There!¡± Rose shouted in excitement. They had been out here walking for close to an hour looking for a dead tree so that the wood was dried out already and they could more easily burn it right away, and she had finally spotted one. ¡°You see it, Alex? Right over there!¡± She pointed and began walking in the direction of the tree. ¡°Good eye Rose, this one is perfect.¡± The tree was long dead and looked plenty dried out. It had already fallen as well but got hung up in one of its neighbors, which should make things a bit easier for him to knock down with his magic. It wasn¡¯t too massive either and he estimated it to be two and a half meters tall. ¡°Ok, stand back Rose. Here I go.¡± After noting that she had indeed taken a few steps back in the opposite direction of the tree Alex began focusing on his mana but quickly stopped. ¡®Wait a second. Alice, what kind of magic do you think I should use for this?¡¯ He asked curiously. ¡®I can¡¯t decide what to try first. Wind magic and try to blow it down? Try to launch a ball of rock at it hard enough to knock it aside? Hmm¡­¡¯ ¡®We aren¡¯t in danger at the moment, so just try them all.¡¯ Came the response from Alice. ¡®It¡¯s not like it matters if you damage the tree a bit extra after all.¡¯ ¡®Oh, yea! Let¡¯s go with a rock blast first then!¡¯ He decided and began concentrating again. Rose watched on in awe as a small ball of rock the size of her fist slowly formed out of nothing. It was dark gray and looked to be solidly carved. It was clear that Alex had attempted to create a smooth ball but it was very bumpy which showed his lack of practice. ¡°Rock Blast!¡± He said aloud and the small projectile launched away from him so fast it was a blur! The two of them waited expectantly for the results, but the tree didn¡¯t budge. In fact, Alex had entirely missed the tree and the rock went flying off into the woods. His cheeks reddened as both Rose and Alice laughed. ¡°Oops¡­ Let¡¯s try that again.¡±
Name: Alex Jones
Race: Archon
Class: Arcanist
Level: 9
Strength: 48
Vitality: 49
Agility: 54
Intelligence: 108
Wisdom: 64
Lifespan: 14.8
Name: Rose Yonwood
Race: Human
Class: Soldier
Level: 5
Strength: 83
Vitality: 77
Agility: 52
Intelligence: 67
Wisdom: 15
Lifespan: 8
Not a chapter - Indefinite hiatus Sorry guys. I have been trying to find the time and motivation to continue writing but the short and sweet of it is that I have just come to hate writing TFM. It was incredibly fun at multiple points and I met a lot of cool people that have helped me to greatly improve as a writer. I was pretty bad to start with though, so every improvement made me see how bad my story was so far, not to mention all of the plot holes and issues that I had not thought of. I would still like to write TFM again in the future but at this time I think it is best if I work on a fresh project to let me recharge. This time I will not be publishing it quite so soon either so that I can still change and adjust things if I feel like it further in. I''ll let you all know when it is eventually (likely not for months) posted. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. I realized I was doing what I hate most on RRL by ignoring the problem. Every time I thought of it I got depressed at all the disappointed people, and its time I change the status to hiatus and give you guys this update. Feel free to PM me if you want any questions answered that were not revealed that and I will answer them if I can.