《Salt in the Wound [A Food-Centric LitRPG]》 Chapter 1: Another Day You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Chapter 2: What the F*** Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Chapter 3: Sunshine This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Chapter 4: Forest Gate Marco and Coron reach the edge of Woodholme and see a small line outside of the massive wood and steel gate inset into the city walls. A mingling of races is present in the line, humans with every skin tone imaginable, from near paper-white to deep black. People with slightly pointed ears like Coron, maybe elves? Short and wide folks that remind Marco of fantasy dwarves. ¡°Ah, just a short line today. It is still early in the day yet.¡± Coron remarks, joining the back of the line, Marco in tow. ¡°I hope this isn¡¯t a horribly offensive question but what is your race called?¡± Marco askes quietly, keeping his voice as low as possible to keep his ignorance from the ears of the other townsfolk. ¡°Definitely a Traveler,¡± Coron chuckles. ¡°The races of Omnia, the realm in which you now find yourself, are many. Other than my race, an elf, in this line I see other humans and a dwarf.¡± Coron explains, ¡°There are many more including; fairies, gnomes, and dragons. Probably many more in the far reaches of Omnia.¡± Coron goes on to explain that these are just the list of sentient non-monster races of which there is many more times as many. The line inches forward until it is Marco¡¯s turn, Coron being waved through after a quick look from the guards. ¡°Hello Traveler, welcome to Woodholme¡¯s Forest Gate.¡± Greets the elven guard, willowy and blonde much like Coron. ¡°Be welcome to Woodholme but please do not cause trouble. I assume Coron will give you the run down on the rules.¡± The elf guard and his human partner with paper white skin wave the pair through. ¡°Okay Marco Vito, Traveler. The rules of Woodholme are simple: Do not steal, do not kill, do not disobey System orders, and do not mess with the trees.¡± Coron rattles off the rules with practiced ease. ¡°Can you tell me more about Woodholme?¡± Marco askes, marveling at the city beyond the walls. Tall artistically built wooden building look grown from living wood instead of built from timber. ¡°Woodholme is a melting pot of races; we have a ruling council and no nobility here.¡± Coron explains, ¡°The Council consists of Sunlit mages, warriors, and administrators.¡± They pass by beautiful four and five story buildings grown of living wood and covered in a mosaic of ivy and vines, much like the walls of the city. Flowers of white, blue, and soft pink are artfully arranged to make the wooden building even more breathtaking. Cobblestone roads wander, making the city feel more natural and less planned, grown much like their buildings. The roads are clean and there isn¡¯t the typical medieval city smell that so many books describe, everything is pristine beautiful. They walk, reaching a bridge that stretches above them, a small round tunnel is dimly lit below, walls are covered in flowers much like most of the city but in stark contrast to the buildings, the tunnel is grown in dark shades of blue, purple, and even black. The vines glow lightly between the flowers. ¡°Woodholme is home to two hundred thousand people; this is including the smaller farming villages that help supply the Kingdom of Eldermyst with food.¡± Coron smiles at the artful display. ¡°That is an impressive population. I assume magic has a lot to do with it?¡± Marco askes. Coron nods and explains the different magics of Omnia. Magic is broken up into eight affinities, with each having its opposite. It is broken up as follows: *Ping* Air ¨C Earth Water- Fire Light ¨C Dark Salt ¨C Curse Affinities are measured by the closeness of the caster or warrior to their element. People, usually high-level mages have two affinities, in all of recorded history there has never been someone with three. Single affinities are the most common, making up 90% of the population. Everyone has an affinity, just in differing levels of strength. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. A System screen pops up with more information: *Ping* [Air]: The element of Air is composed of wind control, flight, battlefield manipulation and more. Mages of this element are famed for their slashing attacks and cloudkill area of attack spells. Warriors of this element are known for their speed and precision attacks, often favoring ranged weapons or small blades. Low affinities are known by many titles; Courier, Transportmage, and Messenger. [Earth]: The element of Earth is composed of earth and plant control, earthswimming, battlefield manipulation, and more. Mages of this element are famed for not only their battlefield prowess but also their ability to grow and control plants. Warriors of this element are known for their heavy strikes and group fighting style, often favoring blunt weapons. Low affinities are known by many titles; Earthturners, Farmer, and Roadcaller. [Water]: The element of Water is composed of water control, healing, tidal surfing, and more. Mages of this element are famed for their ability to control a battlefield, heal wounds, and speak to ocean creatures. Warriors of this element are known for their flowing style of combat, weaving around strikes and delivering devastating counterattacks, often favoring swords or flexible weapons. Low affinities are known by many titles; Waterdelvers, Welldiggers, and Tidecallers. [Fire]: The element of Fire is composed of furious flames, burst attacks, and massive area of effect spells. Mages of this elements are famed for one thing above all, Fireball. They are also able to control Heat to varying degrees making them dangerous mid-range fighters. The Warriors of this element are known for their relentless fighting style, often favoring fist weapons and hand to hand combat. Low affinities are known by many titles; Firestarters, Sparkers, and Bonfires. [Light]: The element of Light is composed of precision attacks, long range spells, and healing. Mages of this element are famed for their healing above all but are dangerous on the battlefield as well, using their long-range beams and hard light to devastating effect. The Warriors of this element are known for their blindingly fast attacks, misdirection and trickery, often favoring light weapons such as rapiers, foils, or whips. Low affinities are known by many titles; Lamplighter, Keeper, and Medic. [Dark]: The element of Dark is composed of brutal banishment spells, battlefield manipulation, and its destructive properties. Mages of this element are famed for controlling the battlefield with clouds of Dark and nasty slashing attacks. The Warriors of this element are known for their eye for an eye fighting style, allowing themselves to be hit if it takes out their opponent, often favoring great weapons such as swords or axes. Low affinities are known by many titles; Shade, Surgeon, and Peacekeeper. [Salt]: The element of Salt is composed of purification, banishment, and battlefield control. Mages of this element are famed for their prowess against undead, protection from enemy magic, and their ability to control a fight. The Warriors of this element are known for their near impenetrable armor, weapon conjuration, and massive damage against undead, often favoring their personal conjured weapons, great weapons or hammers. Low affinities are rare but known by titles such as; Cursebreaker, Witch, and Ritualist. [Curse]: The element of Curse is unavailable to humans, is composed of domination, curses, and minion magic. Mages of this element are famed for their prowess in control magics, domination spells, and undead creation. The Warriors of this element are almost unheard of, but known for their small strikes, hit and run tactics, and their enemies dying even after the Curse Warrior is dead. The huge screen caused Marco to stop walking, pouring over the massive amount of information and trying to absorb as much as he could. He waves away the window, continuing to follow Coron through the winding streets of Woodholme toward his home. ¡°We are close to my family''s home, where we have lived for generations, you may stay there as long as you¡¯d like.¡± Coron states and makes a turn down a side street labeled with a sign that says: Old City, the street becomes rougher, and narrower. A couple more minutes of walking down the new more narrow streets they arrive in front of a beautiful stone and wood manor with the Crest of House Ivory emblazoned on the front gate. ¡°Wow, this guy has to be loaded.¡± Marco¡¯s first thought makes him cringe. ¡°Your family has a beautiful home.¡± He looks at the massive home, containing multitudes of rooms, with swirling spires capped in shining white ivory, and pale green flowering vines covering the whole manor. ¡°Welcome to the Manor of House Ivory,¡± Coron bows and gestures at the huge estate. ¡°Please respect the gardens and stick to the paths, many generations of labor have gone into producing the beauty you see before you.¡± Marco nods in agreement, following Coron through the twisted wood gates with dark gray bark that looks like metal. The sprawling complex clad in vines and made of wood, stone, and ivory seems to blend into nature and fit into the city like it was there first. Past the Ironwood gates, the stone and grass path winds gently through hedges of beautiful plants and produce. Aesthetic flowering plants next to food-bearing plants in a dazzling display of harmony. Chapter 5: The House of Ivory This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Chapter 6: More Food and A Comfy Chair Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Chapter 7: Systemologist Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Chapter 8: Elsewhere Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Chapter 9: Lunch and Magic If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Chapter 10: Circulation Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Chapter 11: Scary Bastard This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Chapter 12: Practice If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Chapter 13: Others Oren ¡°Ever since that boy showed up at our front door with Coron things have been crazy around the House.¡± The Protector of House Ivory thinks to himself as he walks through the halls of the manor, making sure all of his shadow tendrils are still in place. The tendrils allow him to spread his danger sense through the mansion and beyond. He thinks about the young man he has taken as his trainee; a lightning-fast learner and a fantastic fighter considering the peaceful nature of his home world. ¡°A starting Affinity score of High as well? Almost unheard of.¡± Oren thinks to himself, returning from his short patrol to his office, a small closet like space that is hidden by [Dark]. Oren sits behind his small wooden desk, grown for him by the previous Matriarch of House Ivory. A gift and a sign of respect as he was officially elevated to Protector of the House, he leans back in his chair, small wisps of [Dark] dancing around his body, some grabbing pens and paper, other whispering secrets in his ears. ¡°Magic changes when you start reaching for the pinnacle,¡± Oren remarks to himself smirking slightly at the monster he will make of the new Traveler, a monster that will protect Woodholme and all its inhabitants from the plagues of Undead. His wisps of [Dark] begin to write many different things; a training schedule for young Marco, a report of a new House rising in Woodholme, and a letter of summons to distant members of the House for their shift on the wall. He leans back in his chair casual while he does this, looking like a dozing elder. If you were to look at Oren closely however, using Mana senses you would be reminded of a spider sitting in its web, weaving threads of influence and death. Ben Ben sits in his own personal library and small research area, flipping quickly through a book he has read more times than he cares to count. Travelers and Their Quirks is emblazoned on the cover in black blocky letters, a thick book of maybe three hundred pages, it listens known Travelers within the Eldermyst Kingdom and what they accomplished during their time on Omnia. He flips through seeing the entries but not reading them this time, looking for one specific entry near the back, added within the last twenty years. He finally finds the person he is looking for and the entry reads: Oliver Taylor: Arrived in the Eldermyst year of 701. A young Traveler who appeared on the edge of the Eldermyst lands to the north, bordering the Kingdom of the Svarog Mountains. A few small skirmishes were fought over the young man, eventually the Dwarves of Svarog conceding and allowing Eldermyst to be the Travelers first destination. Approximately twenty-one years of age upon arrival. Progressed from an initial Affinity score of 35%, a low medium, to a score of 65% within a decade. Incredible healing magic paired with Traveler knowledge of medicine, biology, and anatomy made Oliver one of the most valuable Healers before his assassination by Cursed Lichdom forces. Known Affinities: Water and Light Origination World: London, United Kingdom, Earth. Ben snaps the book shut with a sigh, placing it onto one of the seemingly precarious stacks of books around his library. He knew Oliver had been killed a couple of years ago, the successful assassination of a Traveler was big news in Eldermyst, especially because Oliver was a resident of the Captial City, Mystholme. He summons his Mana, a small orb of light dancing between his fingers, as the light dances, casting strange shadows through the crowded library, Ben thinks of Marco and his incredible talent for Mana usage. When Ben heard about his strange ability of alter the Mana Circulation technique he nearly passed out from curiosity. The circulation technique had been in the Ivory family for generations, each learning it as early as they could manage so they would be more used to it when the time came for combat. The technique having been a common technique back in the elven home country of Pando, the Ivory family brought it with them when they left the secluded vales and towering trees of the ancestorial home behind to try and make a difference in the world. The family had moved to Eldermyst in the early days of the Kingdom, Ben¡¯s mother Violet being nearly as old as the Kingdom. They settled in Mystholme originally but found the petty politics and scheming to be a waste of time and energy, so when Woodholme was settled nearly two hundred years ago, the Ivory family helped build it from the ground up. Ben had always lived in the city of Woodholme, only being thirty years old, however the young elf possesses a mind for research and makes advances in his chosen field of Systemology more often than some of his colleagues many years his senior. He smiles as he lets the [Light] dance between his fingers and around his palm, the kind man that he taught about the world around him and coached out of a panic attack was going to change the world, either through combat or food, Ben has high hopes for the former resident of Earth. Coron Coron panics slightly as Marco is launched away from him during their spar. He completely forgot to disable his passive defensive measure, not expecting the other man to be fast enough to close the distance. He quickly moves to the other man to help him up but Marco regains his feet with little pause. ¡°I cannot believe he comes from a peaceful world and has been training for two days.¡± Coron thinks, ¡°He will be a force of nature if he can continue this pace of growth.¡± They finish their spar, having a hard conversation about growth and stagnation, Coron realizes he has much to think about and promises himself he will not just put the House¡¯s needs in front of his once again. Marco finishes giving him the advice that he could and they part ways, Coron aimlessly wandering the halls of the mansion, thinking about the conversation. ¡°I know I have pushed House and City needs before my own for many years, taking menial jobs that must be done in favor of positions that will allow me to growth.¡± He finds himself in front of the door to his mother¡¯s suites, pausing before knocking lightly, knowing she is already aware of his presence. Having The Forestsong for a parent has its benefits but also its drawbacks. Having a legendary fighter as a mother opens many doors but the feeling that they know everything that is happening to you before you are done experiencing it is a hard to shake. ¡°Come on in Coron.¡± Violet¡¯s voice drifts to him, the large wooden door opens itself, soundlessly swinging open to allow Coron entry. ¡°Hello Mother, I just had an interesting conversation with Marco and it has me thinking.¡± Coron says, wringing his hands in front of himself. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°The conversation about how you are pushing yourself into menial work that you feel others will not do if do not take it upon yourself?¡± Violet says, standing up from behind her desk, her silver-streaked hair pulled into a tight braid today, running down the back of her head before resting over her shoulder still falling to mid torso. ¡°Yes, that conversation.¡± Coron says, knowing she would know already. ¡°I just feel that the work I do is valuable, is there truly others that can do it?¡± ¡°Yes Coron, we have a younger generation of trainees that is able to filter air in a similar manner.¡± Violet says, ¡°They have all been inspected by Oren and any issues they had with their magic has been trained out them.¡± ¡°Ah, I didn¡¯t realize that I had been taking jobs from those younger, stealing valuable work experience from them.¡± Coron says, beginning to beat himself up again. ¡°Stop it.¡± The tone sharp and loud, instantly causing Coron to freeze and stop spiraling down the hole of self-deprecation. Violet walks toward her first born, embracing the taller elf in a warm hug. ¡°You have put the needs of your House before your personal wants and desires for years Son, it only got worse after the passing of your father.¡± Her stern facade breaks slightly at the mention of her husband and she continues the hug for a moment longer before pulling away. ¡°I know, I think I¡¯ve just been trying to bury myself in work so I don¡¯t have to think about that.¡± Coron says, wiping his eyes slightly. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize that I was stuck in a loop of ignoring the world around me before Marco showed up in the Deadwoods a few days ago.¡± Violet nods, ¡°I also apologize that I didn¡¯t do more to pull you from that state, I threw myself into working on the House so I didn¡¯t have to confront the feelings of loss that came with the passing of Xander.¡± ¡°I feel like I missed all of Benjamin¡¯s growth; it¡¯s like I blinked and he has aged twenty-five years and become a prodigal scholar.¡± Coron says, sniffling a little. ¡°Little Ben has become a force in his own right in the last few years, pushing System research ahead just like Xander did in his younger years.¡± Violet says, ¡°Enough about your siblings, I want you to take time away from House affairs. After our shift on the wall of course.¡± ¡°Truly? I don¡¯t know what I would do with all the free time.¡± Coron says, ¡°I haven¡¯t thought about much other than House matters for the last few years.¡± ¡°Young Marco is going to need strong fighters and your current teammates are looking to begin a hiatus.¡± Violet says, waving her hand causing a branch to grow from her desk supplying Coron with a small bundle of documents. ¡°Join the Traveler¡¯s team, push back the blight of the Lichdoms and do something for yourself.¡± Coron, slightly dumbstruck that he didn¡¯t know his current adventurer team was seeking a break, nods and takes the bundle of papers. ¡°I will, perhaps I can push my Affinity to 61% in the next few years.¡± ¡°It is good to see you broken out of your thoughts. I must get back to work as there is much to do before our shift at the wall. I love you Coron.¡± ¡°I love you too Mother.¡± Coron says and walks out of the room, a slight smile on his face at the thought of the future. Alexandria ¡°Marco this, Marco that. It has been all I¡¯ve heard for the past few days.¡± Alexandria thinks to herself, exasperated. She walks briskly through the halls to the practice room and ballroom where Oren told her that Marco was sparing with her brother. She passes by a deep in thought Coron on the way, unsure if he even sees her. Reaching the ballroom where Marco is supposed to be, she is pleased to see the man seated in a lotus position in the center of the room. She watches him for a time, completely still other than he shoulders moving with his breath. She opens herself to the Mana around her, feeling the movements around the Traveler. Alexandria is nearly struck dumb at the sheer scale of Mana moving around the young man in the ballroom. A veritable tide of Mana ebbs and flows around Marco, flowing with his will and breath. Alexandria begins to sweat at the thought of having to move that much Mana, but doesn¡¯t see any signs of stress on the young man¡¯s face. ¡°He is quite handsome though.¡± The thought streaks through her head, a small blush splashing across her cheeks. ¡°What kind of training has this man done to be able to move that quantity of Mana with such ease.¡± Not knowing that Marco comes from a Manaless place and that he has had one training session with Oren thus far. The Mana in the ballroom shifts, snapping into a near solid state, beginning to weigh on the shoulders of the Heir of Ivory. Goosebumps and cold sweat covers Alexandria immediately, not having felt anything like this before. She has spent countless hours with her Mother and Oren both with higher Affinity scores than young Marco but never had she had to resist a pressure like this. Alexandria quickly musters her own Mana and pushes back against the pressure alleviating it just enough for her to make a quick escape. The Sisters Much later in the day, approaching the time to begin dinner prep, the two sister¡¯s sit in their room and think about the exciting young chef that has wandering into their home. Ethil and Doris, sitting in matching chairs and wearing matching outfits, basking lightly in the late afternoon sun. ¡°We should start making our way to the kitchens.¡± Doris says, seeing her sister already nodding before her statement was over. ¡°Yes, I wonder if Marco will help today and show up new food from Earth.¡± Ethil says, floating up her chair before quickly being joined by her sister. They leisurely hover to the wall of their rooms where a small staircase is inset into the wall. Floating down to their shared kitchen space the dance begins as it always does. They both wash up using [Water] before drying their hands with [Air] a frivolous use a magic and Mana but they have Mana to spare. Even though the pair didn¡¯t start growing their magic until a bit later in life than normal, waiting until they were nearly fifty and fifty-one years old before beginning their journey to their High Affinity scores with dual elements. It took them two hundred and fifty years to make it from their Low score to their current High, all while cooking delightful dishes and pastries for the family that welcomed them with open arms. The pair of sisters that match in almost all ways are called Broken Twins in their ancestorial home of Pando. They look nearly identical and act even more similar, along with their matching affinities. Elven culture three centuries ago thought Broken Twins a bad omen for the future, sending the pair away to Eldermyst where they could not bring negative energy to Pando. The House of Ivory, having been in human lands for centuries believed differently than the crotchety bastards in their mile high trees, immediately welcoming the young elf sisters with open arms. From that day forward the pair sore to do the best they could by their adopted family, learning to cook and bake to the best of their abilities to supply a delicious meal to their family members. Pushing Mana into all of their equipment; bowls, pots and utensils begin to float, some filling with water to do blanch or boil and other just placed over heat to stay warm until they are needed. The sisters make pasta bough, the rich yellow dough full of egg yolks and hearty flour. [Air] blades mix the eggs and flour together before a dome of [Air] allows the dough to rest without drying out. Milk is set to warm on the stove, reaching a temperature just shy of boiling before a small amount of strong vinegar is added and the heat is cut off. Small curds form in the milk, breaking into curds and whey, a couple minutes of setting before the curds and whey are separated and the cheese is placed in a strainer to lose just a bit more moisture. The ricotta is mixed with a hard parmesan-like cheese, a couple of egg yolks, salt and pepper forming a smooth speckled mixture. The pasta is rolled out into long thin sheets before being cut into four-inch circles. A small amount of filling is placed in the center before egg wash is spread around the rim, the pasta circle is folded in half over the filling and then folded around a finger to form tortellini. The sisters make short work of the pasta making, wondering if Marco would have any ideas for side dishes or anything to add to their food. Marco has told them stories of his career thus far, starting in a bakery before moving on to a casual restaurant as a dishwasher and working his way to line cook. He spent a few years as a line cook in various restaurants before discovering his love of fine dining and moving on to traditional French cuisine. The sisters were confused about what a French was before Marco explained that it was a country back on Earth that had a strong history of food and culture. Marco explained that fine dining was a type of restaurant experience where food usually comes in courses, sometimes up to thirty. Food is usually small portions with expensive ingredients and sophisticated plating. Doris makes a simple tomato sauce, sweating down onions and garlic before adding tomato paste, white wine, and peeled tomatoes. Blending the sauce with blades of [Air] and quickly boiling the tortellini for a few minutes Ethil combines the fresh pasta with the tomato sauce, a splash of pasta water and a couple of pads of butter. The extra fat makes the sauce extra smooth and luscious, placing the finished pasta dish into large bowls and topping it with grated cheese. They bring all of the dishes into the dining room and feed their family. Chapter 14: Adventurers Guild Marco returns to full consciousness after his deep meditation in the ballroom turned practice area. He stands, smoothing his clothes and stretching his aching muscles from long hours of sitting and trying to imitate the pressure that The Tree of Woodholme pressed on him in that extradimensional space. He follows his nose through the house toward his favorite room in the house. The dining room is full of excited chatter and people, Coron not present for the first time. He finds a seat, talking with those around him before the sisters appear and give their daily intonation and serve the meal. The meal is delicious as usual, delicious and tender tortellini coated in flavorful and acidic tomato sauce. The ricotta filling is light and fluffy but missing a touch of lemon zest in his opinion. ¡°Thank you for the meal, Ethil and Doris.¡± Marco says, standing and bowing to the pair. He finds Oren on the other side of the table, moving toward him, ¡°I am planning on going into town tomorrow and seeing the Guild with my own eyes for the first time. Is that alright?¡± ¡°Yes, that will be fine Marco but I want you back here for training at midafternoon.¡± Oren says, wiping the corners of his mouth. ¡°We will review your Mana techniques and then move on to simple weapons training.¡± Marco nods to the old elf, slightly scared at his idea of weapons training as his first training session was just him getting beat up. Marco returns to his room, very tired from the day of training and the emotional conversation with Coron earlier. He thinks back to the reason he used to throw himself into the hot confines of the bakery that first summer. Marco dreams of that very first act of defiance. Flashback Fifteen-year-old Marco Vito was going to get his first job even he had to beg for it, he had decided that he needed a way to get out of the house and away from his family. He loved his parents but they needed to know everything about everything in his life and he felt stifled. Marco walks into the small bakery in the center of town, the door emblazoned with the name: Giovanni¡¯s Italian Bakery. He pulls open the glass door and wipes his sweaty palms on his pants, walking up to the counter he asks the lady standing behind the counter for an application. ¡°Hello ma¡¯am, are you guys hiring right now?¡± Marco asks, trying his best to be polite and use proper language. ¡°Yes, we are. Would you like a resume?¡± The nice lady says, Alyssa according to her name tag. Marco nods and accepts the piece of paper and pen from the woman and fills out the application as well as he can. He passes the paper back to Alyssa, ¡°My parents told me to ask to speak to the manager when I turned my application in, is that possible?¡± Marco asks. ¡°Giovanni isn¡¯t in right now; he went home for the day already.¡± Alyssa explains, ¡°Giovanni is the owner, manager, and baker so there isn¡¯t really anyone for you to meet unfortunately.¡± ¡°That¡¯s alright, is there a time frame for when I should hear back?¡± Marco asks while gazing slack jawed at the vast array of pastries and goodies behind the glass. ¡°Not generally, but we are in need of help really bad right now so it should be within the week.¡± Alyssa says, a small smile on her face watching Marco drool over the baked goods. ¡°Would you like something from the case? My treat.¡± ¡°Oh! Are you sure?¡± Marco says, at Alyssa¡¯s nod he asks for a traditional cannoli and bids the nice woman goodbye and leaves the bakery. ¡°She was so nice, it would probably nice to work with her.¡± Marco thinks to himself, ¡°I just need something for myself, a way to grow and learn about new things.¡± Marco makes his way home, having eaten the cannoli on the way home and made sure he didn¡¯t have any powdered sugar anywhere on his person. He pushes open the door and his mother immediately starts squealing at him. ¡°Where have you been?¡± The sharp tone and high pitch making Marco want to hide and clutch his ears. ¡°I just took the long way home Ma. I wanted to get some sun and fresh air.¡± Marco says in a small and slightly scared voice. His mother wasn¡¯t ever physically violent but the same couldn¡¯t be said about the words that poured from her at times. ¡°Don¡¯t you lie to me boy! I know how long the walks to and from school take. You went somewhere else and you will tell me or so help me God, you will regret it forever Marco.¡± his mother Amelia yells at him. She stands up from her usual seat in the recliner and stalks toward Marco, pinning him between her and the wall with her presence alone. ¡°I just took my time, it is a lovely day outside Ma, I promise.¡± Marco says, shrinking back against the wooden front door. Amelia stares at her son, forcing him to make eye contact with her, a trick that he is long used to having to deal with. He stares into her eyes thinking about anything but his trip to the bakery, his boring school work, the test he had to take tomorrow, and the clubs he never plans on joining. She finally breaks eye contact and huffs out a breath before returning to her plush recliner. Marco scuttles upstairs away from his mother and her overbearing ways. Logging on to his computer, an old piece of equipment that ran slower than his Great Grandmother Sue. Ripping an official document from the school¡¯s website, he covers up all of the body texture with a solid textbox and makes a convincing looking club permission form. A form that would be required if he wished to join a club, something that he is willing to fake if it means he can work in that bakery. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Flashback Ends Marco wakes up with a start, having not thought of that day for many years, he rubs the sleep from his eyes and stretches. Rolling out of bed with a groan, he takes a quick shower and gets dressed in what he has been told is ¡®adventuring gear¡¯. An all-black outfit of tight-fitting clothes; long sleeves that cling to his skin and heavy denim-like material makes up the pants, cinched around the waist with a well-made leather belt. A small loop on the side of the belt is where weapons would hang if he was permitted to carry them, only Adventurers allowed to carry weapons in city limits. He grabs a small flatbread from the dining room table, filled with a warm mixture of scrambled eggs, vegetables sauteed with chilies, and cheese. A small waterskin was waiting by his normal seat, filled to the brim with black coffee, he smiles to himself moving toward the front door and makes a note to thank the pair of sisters. He exits the house, moving through vaguely familiar streets into the center of town where the towering spire of the Adventurer¡¯s Guildhall. A large amount of people mingle in front of the guildhall, every one of them dressed similarly to him, black clothes clinging to strong bodies. The occasional flash of metal is received to be small bits of jewelry; a ring here, and bracelet there, a few necklaces grace necks rarely. ¡°Why would people be wearing jewelry into a potential combat situation?¡± Marco having long been used to not wearing jewelry after years in various kitchens. ¡°Maybe its enchanted.¡± Marco thinks to himself, not knowing if Enchantments and Inscriptions are the same. He very carefully weaves through the crowd, having read enough wuxia novels to know a young master when he sees one. Not wanting to bump into someone and risk offending them, he avoids touching people as much as he can. Marco reaches the grand doors of the guildhall and enters the towering building, being greeted by even more noise. Crowds of people are gathered in line or in front of boards, seemingly empty of information. He walks to the nearest line, waiting patiently while gazing in order at building around him, ceiling somewhere around forty feet above him. Golden wood woven together with stone and decorated with ivy, similar to the outside decoration. Empty boards cover the rightmost walls, the top of each board having a small symbol of the rank that the board is designed for. A small orb of copper, a cube of tin, or thin sheet of bronze adorn the first three job boards. ¡°So, those boards must be sorted for the different ranks of Adventurers.¡± Marco slowly advances through the line, making to the desks that line the other wall of the guildhall within twenty minutes or so. ¡°Hello welcome to the Adventurer¡¯s Guildhall, what can I help you with today?¡± A short human girl who is sitting behind the desk asks in a peppy tone. ¡°I came to ask about my upcoming entry test. I don¡¯t need to know the specifics but just the broad strokes.¡± Marco asks, smiling nicely at the young girl. ¡°Ah, another newbie. Of course! You will need to report to your proctor at your assigned time and then the test has a couple of parts.¡± The young girl takes a breath and continues, ¡°In board stroke, the first part of the test is knowledge of Mana techniques, the second is the practical test of those techniques, followed by the combat test.¡± ¡°Thank you miss, my name is Marco and I appreciate the information.¡± he says, turning around and weaving his way out of the building. ¡°Not a problem, my name is Cassidy and I wish you the best of luck with your entry test.¡± Cassidy says and giving Marco a small wave as he departs. The guildhall suddenly quiets after a loud bang echoes from the far side of the room, Marco whips around ramping up his buffs in an instinctual flaring of Mana. His [Salt Skin] begins to form around him, chunky white crystals forming a suit of armor around his torso. The commotion quickly becomes revealed as a young elven man standing over a young human girl, outer forearms smoking slightly as flakes of some earthen material fall from his body. Another slightly older human, maybe nineteen to the girls seventeen stands with a palm outstretched, a small heat haze still pouring from around his hand. ¡°Why are you attacking people in the Guildhall?¡± yells the boy with the [Earth] Affinity. ¡°This little Healer declined our party''s invitation!¡± The [Fire] boy responds in an whining voice. ¡°So, they do have young masters here. I knew I wasn¡¯t being paranoid.¡± Marco grins to himself and lets his [Salt Skin] fall apart, becoming grains before disappearing into Mana all together. ¡°That isn¡¯t even close to enough of a reason to start flinging spell.¡± [Earth] boy yells once again. ¡°Do you know who my fath-¡± With a resounding thwack, almost every forehead in the Guildhall meets the floor. A pressure having billowed out of nothing and forcing nearly everybody prostrate in an instant. Marco manages to keep himself on his knees instead of face down, joining a small number of others. All of the other people that manage to kneel are much other than Marco, several decades to many time his age for the members of the other races. A small gnomish woman floats from a higher floor, a visible swirl of wind spirals around her body, holding her small body aloft without creating gusting swirls of [Air] around the room. A small high-pitched voice sounds from the space behind Marco¡¯s right ear, ¡°Very impressive for a man of not even thirty summers to resist our Mana Pressure.¡± The voice says, Marco assuming it is the gnome floating in the center of the room. ¡°Now, why have we caused a ruckus in my Guildhall?¡± She points to the teenager with the [Earth] Affinity first. ¡°Shen of House Lockheart, explain quickly your involvement in this altercation.¡± ¡°Yes Guildmistress. I was looking for a job that would allow me to test some newly gained skills and this man launched what appears to be a [Fireball] at the girl behind me. I managed to summon a partial version of [Earthen Armor] quickly enough to disperse the spell.¡± Shen says, bowing deeply to the flying woman. ¡°I see. Firebrand, I know your family and their reputation. Explain the situation I see before me.¡± The Guildmistress says with a steely tone. ¡°I invited the young girl over there to be our party¡¯s Healer, she declined saying that she was already in another party. We obviously have the better party so I tried again to convince her to join us as we needed a Healer.¡± The [Fire] mage says, ¡°She once again declined and told me to leave her alone in a very rude tone. I took offense and launched a low powered [Fireball] mostly to scare her into agreeing to being in our party.¡± The Guildmistress looks at the [Fire] Mage with the look most reserve for trash stuck to the bottom of their shoe. ¡°Elijah of Family Firebrand, that has to be the single dumbest thing I have heard in the last decade.¡± She says with a disgusted tone, ¡°By my power as Guildmistress of Woodholme, I EXPEL you from this Guild.¡± At the word ¡®expel¡¯ a ripple of power washes out from the gnome, affecting only Elijah and flinging him from where he was standing to the now opened doors of the Guildhall. Chapter 15: Guildmistress Samirah Following the forceful ejection of the Firebrand boy, the Guildmistress floats down to the floor, the pressure evaporates and the young human girl is helped to her feet by Shen. ¡°An amazing use of power, the fabric of the clothes around me not even rippling.¡± Marco thinks to himself as he pushes himself back to his feet, helping others to their feet as well. He makes eye contact with some of the others that managed to stay on their knees, nodding in acknowledgement of their shared feat. ¡°Please come to the second floor of the Guildhall.¡± A voice once again sounds close to his right ear. ¡°Past the job boards, just follow the right wall until you reach the back wall.¡± Marco follows the directions, walking around people and headed toward the stairs set into the back wall. He goes up the stairs and finds himself in front of the Guildmistress. He hurriedly bows to the diminutive woman and only stops when she gestures for him to do so. ¡°So, you are Oren¡¯s newest pupil, eh? I am Samirah Lon, Guildmistress of Woodholme.¡± Samirah introduces herself. ¡°Yes, Oren has trained me a little. You know him?¡± Marco asks, ¡°We got way back; I¡¯ve known that scary prick for years.¡± Samirah says, hovering a few feet off the ground, putting her height at near equal to Marco¡¯s six feet. Marco laughs at her comment about Oren, having had a similar nickname for the old elf himself. ¡°I saw that you resisted the Mana pressure that i used to lockdown the common room earlier. Most impressive.¡± ¡°Thank you, I have been practicing that technique on my own time as well.¡± Marco says but worries that he made a mistake when he sees Samirah freeze for a moment. ¡°And tell me, how did you come up with the idea for that young man.¡± A more serious attitude taking over her body in an instant. ¡°Meet a certain extradimensional tree?¡± ¡°Yes, I did. Woodholme pulled me in to its little grove between worlds on one of my first days here.¡± Marco says. ¡°That old tree loves meeting Travelers. I won¡¯t ask if it gave you any extra goodies but know that I am curious.¡± Samirah says, beginning to glide down the hallway, gesturing for Marco to follow her. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. They walk a minute or so down the corridor before turning right into a well-appointed office, dark wood furniture along with plush chairs and pictures on the wall dance with Mana and magic, swirling in patterns and flashing gently with color. ¡°Please sit, I wanted to speak to you about your goals regarding the Guild.¡± Samirah says, kicking her feet up on the desk. Marco sits, crossing his legs, marveling at how comfortable the chairs in this world are. ¡°I haven¡¯t been on Omnia for very long, so my goals are far from concrete.¡± Marco begins, ¡°I am enjoying magic, even for magics sake alone. Creating something from nothing is something that brings me great joy. I would say my short-term goals are to learn more about Omnia, Woodholme, and Magic.¡± ¡°Good goals at least in the short term. It is a good sign that those goals did not include combat, I know you have had some controlled combat experience, with Oren and Coron. Real combat with foes whose only goal is to kill you is very different than a spar.¡± ¡°Yes, I know at least in theory,¡± Marco says. ¡°Long term goals would include learning more about the local cuisine, maybe opening a restaurant of my own, and learning the most I can about my magic.¡± Samirah nods, ¡°Worthy goals, I enjoy eating and would love a chance to try Traveler food.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think its my place to invite you to House Ivory but I occasionally cook with Ethil and Doris, helping with breakfast or dinner usually.¡± Marco says, ¡°But if you¡¯re friends with Oren, I am sure you could snag an invitation somehow.¡± ¡°The Ivorys are wonderful and I¡¯m sure I could show up on the front door proclaiming that I am hungry and they would whisk me inside and stuff me full of delicious food.¡± Samirah chuckles, ¡°On to the meat of the matter. I want you for the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, Travelers always have a large influence on local battlefields and with Oren training you I¡¯m sure you will be a force to be reckoned with.¡± ¡°I always planned to swear the Oath, Guildmistress. I don¡¯t see myself just settling in one town when I have a brand-new world to explore.¡± Marco says, ¡°I want to make Woodholme a safer place, swear the Oath in a few days after passing my test and then join House Ivory on the wall for their shift.¡± ¡°You have a noble spirit Marco, not many would find themselves in a new world and be able to take it in stride so well.¡± Samirah smiles Marco, ¡°Now, I have kept you long enough. It is nearing midafternoon and I wouldn¡¯t want you to be late for your training with Oren.¡± She uses finger quotes around the world training, making Marco shiver in remembrance of the last session of training. ¡°I will take my leave then Guildmistress. Thank you for taking your time to speak with me.¡± Marco stands and turns to walk out of the office. ¡°Goodbye Marco, I¡¯m sure I will see you soon. Hopefully at dinner.¡± Samirah says, watching him walk out of the office, right as he is taking the final step through the doorway she calls. ¡°Marco, that armor spell you developed is very well formed. Excellent job, rarely have I seen such a well-crafted spell.¡± Chapter 16: Session Two Marco hustles through the streets of Woodholme, trying to ensure that he isn¡¯t late for the training session with Oren. From the main street on to the narrow side streets before finally arriving in front of the gate to House Ivory. Marco quickly navigates the large manor and exits through the back into the warm sun, he makes his way over to the grass ring walled with hedges. ¡°You made it on time. Good, I was worried Samirah would cause you to be late.¡± Oren says, stepping out of one of the shadows, one that was definitely too small to over the entire elf¡¯s body. ¡°Now, I know that your version of Circulation is constantly working at various degrees. I want to see how high and how low you can bring the level of Circulation please.¡± Marco nods and starts to follow Oren¡¯s instructions when he suddenly has to flare his physical buffs to dodge a kick at his sternum. As he moves backward, now dodging a combination of punches and kicks, he flares his Mana Circulation as high as he can and holds it. Mana surges through his body, pouring out of his channels and seeping into his muscles, bones, and ligaments. The infusion of strength isn¡¯t directed like the Mana Strengthening but feels to Marco like he is more solid, almost more real. He blocks the next kick with a forearm, not a great idea he quickly discovers and he bones bruise and muscles and skin bleed, forming a nasty purple bruise instantly. He shakes out his right forearm hoping that the increased Mana flow will speed his recovery. Moving inside of Oren¡¯s space to avoid the next sweeping kick, he brings his Circulation as low as he can possibly take it, the Mana fighting him the entire time. Sputtering and shaking in his channels as he spreads out the remaining Mana in his body, trying to make it as diffuse as possible. Marco kicks hard off the ground, pushing himself backward to avoid the next attack from Oren, stumbling slightly at the feeling of weakness that the lack of Mana brings. ¡°Very good, I can just barely detect your Mana at all. Now that we have discovered the baselines of your Circulation technique, we can move to improving them.¡± Oren says, stopping the fight and standing in his lecturing pose, arms clasped behind his back. ¡°It is also good that you have not slacked on your marital training in the day between our sessions.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Marco says, panting lightly and returning his Circulation level to normal, Mana rushing back through his channels and washing some of the fatigue away. ¡°I know that trying to the find the lowest your Circulation will reach seems unproductive but know that many monsters rely on their Mana senses to hunt.¡± Oren says, beginning his pace back and forth. ¡°Now flare your Mana once again and ramp up your buffs at the same time, the reflex and perception enhancements might allow you to reach a new height.¡± Marco does as he is told, flaring his Mana hard and pushing all that excess Mana into the buffs and enhancement he learned during the last training session. He does manage to reach a new height in Mana production, the extra Mana in the reflex and perception buff making time stretch enough that he manages to catch Oren striking toward his back. [Salt Skin] snaps into place as the fist connects with his shoulder, breaking the armor into small fragments in that area but leaving Marco unharmed. He smiles, rolling forward to dodge the follow up strike. The new power of his buffs makes the fight look similar to a quick slide show, strike and dodge, reposition and strike. New crystals form on his shoulder, slightly sharper this time. ¡°Hmm. That is new.¡± Marco thinks to himself. He gets caught between Oren and the hedge, unable to move out of the way of the next strike, covering his center mass with crossed forearms. The blow feels like his bones are bending, [Salt Skin] returning to magic, having been so damaged by the punch. Marco summons his old shield spell, allowing it to hide his movements for a second. [Salt Bolt] forms, hidden by the opaque shield so when Oren breaks through the shield he is greeted with a [Salt] projectile firing into his outstretched hand. A brief of nothingness vanishes his projectile into the abyss. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Having expected his attack to be deflected at least, Marco takes the moment of distraction to shoulder past Oren and quickly make some space. ¡°Very well done, I haven¡¯t had to use that spell against a new trainee before.¡± Oren says, returning to his lecturing posture. ¡°Now, I have a feeling the next conversation isn¡¯t one that will be enjoyable.¡± ¡°I am not one to beat around the bush. Please just tell me.¡± Marco says, slightly nervous about what Oren is going to say. ¡°Very well. I see tremendous talent in you as a Warrior, I have a feeling that you wish to follow a Mage¡¯s path however.¡± ¡°Oh. Thank you, you are correct. All of this magic makes me want to follow that path to the end.¡± Marco says, worried that Oren will say he isn¡¯t good enough to be a Mage. ¡°Stop with the self-deprecation, I can see it on your face.¡± Oren snaps. ¡°You have plenty of talent for either position in a fight, it is just rare that someone has so much talent for the Warrior path right out of the gate.¡± ¡°Sorry. I want to know the differences between the two fighting styles, beyond the obvious. Warriors still use magic, correct?¡± ¡°Yes of course, you cannot kill a monster, let alone most undead without magic.¡± Oren declares. ¡°Warriors devote a majority of their Mana generation to an armor spell, usually of a physical element but occasionally an energy element manages it.¡± ¡°A physical element is like [Salt] or [Earth], right?¡± Marco asks. Oren nods, ¡°Yes an element summons a physical substance are better for Warrior roles. Other than the armor spell, Warriors use shields or weapon manifestations most commonly.¡± The elf explains, ¡°Their magic focuses on melee range, keeping the attention of the enemy. Not all Warriors are tanks, with the correct spells Warriors can dish out good damage. I myself am a [Dark] Warrior.¡± Marco, having felt the strength of Oren¡¯s blows personally, understands a little better. ¡°So a damage based Warrior would be like a spellsword? A Warrior who casts their damage spells in melee range and buffs themselves and their weapon damage?¡± ¡°An excellent description. Spellsword, I will be using that with other trainees. Yes, while a traditional Mage is a back line fighter, often neglecting their Mana strengthening and pouring a chunk of Mana into reflex enhancement.¡± Oren explains, ¡°Large area spells and high single target damage are the realm of a Mage. Often mixing high damage with light crowd control depending on the party composition.¡± Marco digests the new information, still wanting to go into a Mage role but seeing the benefits of Warrior. ¡°Is [Salt] an unsuitable element for Mage?¡± ¡°No, of course not. [Salt] Mages are much rarer; you would be making your own path if you chose Mage. That is not a bad thing, often the most powerful combatants have forged their own path.¡± Oren says. ¡°Often those with [Salt] Affinities that don¡¯t desire the Warrior path fall into a Ritual Mage role, a noncombat role.¡± ¡°I want to be a combatant.¡± The conviction of his own voice surprises Marco. The thought of sitting and letting others fight for him and letting his friends go into danger alone making him uncomfortable. A smile plasters itself on Oren¡¯s face. ¡°Then I will make you into a monster to your enemies and a hero to your friends.¡± Several hours later, Marco is gasping for breath and staring up at the darkening sky, a gorgeous orange glow from the west keeping the darkness at bay. Oren pushed Marco to his limit with spars and Mana exercises; springing at him with a punch the moment he was low on Mana or tired from an exercise. Oren seems to fade into the darkness surrounding their grass circle. ¡°Good job today, Marco. You are growing stronger at a staggering rate. Same time tomorrow.¡± Oren walks into a shadow and is nowhere to be found. Marco slowly pushes himself to his feet, smoothing his clothes and groaning at his sore battered muscles. He slowly makes his way to his room to shower off the sweat and grass stains, hoping that he can help the sisters with dinner tonight. The hot water washes the stress of the day away; meeting the Guildmistress, the fight between Firebrand and Lockheart, and the hellish training session with Oren. Standing under the hot rain of the showerhead, he lets the water run through his trimmed brown hair down his lightly tanned skin and down his muscled abs before draining away. The steam comforting to his battered body, he stretches before shutting the water off and toweling himself dry. He throws on some clothes, a comfortable set of gray slacks and black shirt, nearly the same cut as a t-shirt from home. Slipping on his Berkenstocks he heads for the kitchen hoping there is still tasks he can help with. Chapter 17: Dinner Marco enters the kitchen, seeing Ethil and Doris busy with the preparation of the main meal which appears to be eggplant parmesan. They slice eggplants the long way, making long planks of vegetable that they salt heavily before putting them to the side. A simple but flavorful red sauce is bubbling on one of the burners and it looks like a pile of salad fixing are ready to be prepped on a different table. Marco washes up and grabs a knife, beginning with carrots, peeling them and cutting them into very thin disks before cutting those disks into thin strips. Having finished the carrots in a timely manner; cucumbers are next long cuts on a bias result in an oval shape that will stand out nicely against the mixed greens. Red onions are cut julienne and added to the bowl, tomatoes are cored, chopped and salted before being placed to the side. A block of parmesan is peeled into thin flakes for garnish, Marco moves on to the dressing he finds honey in one of the cupboards along with a weaker vinegar, something close to apple cider vinegar. Mixing the honey to vinegar in a three to one ratio, he also adds minced garlic and onion before a dollop of whole grain mustard finishes the simple vinaigrette. He turns to the sisters, ¡°Ethil is there anything I can do?¡± He starts to clean up after himself. ¡°Yes! Marco, can you make the garlic bread that you spoke of the other day?¡± Ethil says. ¡°Of course I can, those eggplants are looking delightful Doris.¡± He says toward the sister frying breaded planks of eggplant. He grabs a loaf of long crusty bread from the cupboard, cutting it in half down the middle, ending up with two thinner pieces of the same length. Butter is warmed and garlic is minced, Marco fries the garlic in the butter and then dips the cut edge of bread into the garlic butter. Sprinkling the buttered bread with chopped parsley and shredded parmesan cheese he places them on a cooking sheet and bakes them until crispy and golden brown. He pulls the buttered bread and then cuts each half loaf into eight pieces. The smell wafting off of the garlic bread is making Marco droll, paired with the smells of frying eggplant and bubbling tomato sauce. ¡°We are all set with you Marco, wash up and mingle. We will be out shortly with all the food!¡± The sisters say together, swirls of [Air] picking plates and platters up. Marco washes his hands, makes sure he doesn¡¯t have any grease stains from the butter and walks out into the dining room full of people. Coron is in his usual seat and waves Marco over, he goes to chat with his friend. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°How has your day been?¡± Marco askes as he approaches his chair. ¡°Great, for the first time in a while, my day was great. Trained with some of the younger members of the House.¡± Coron says with a smile. ¡°How about you Marco?¡± ¡°Awesome! It started with a fight at the Guildhall and ended with me getting beaten by Oren.¡± Marco says. Coron flinches, having had some training from Oren himself. ¡°There was a fight at the Guildhall?¡± ¡°Yeah, some guy named Elijah Firebrand got offended that someone didn¡¯t want to adventurer with him and cast a spell at her. Shen Lockheart blocked it thankfully.¡± Marco says, pausing as the sisters enter the dining room. Floating trays clack gently land on tables and connect to the warming Inscriptions, the sisters intone their greeting and people begin their various means of grabbing food. Marco participates this time; small globs of salt vaguely resemble a humanoid shape grab spoons and carry his plate from platter to plate, filling it with fried eggplant, salad, and garlic bread. The stumpy little creatures make their grand voyage back to Marco and dissolve into magic. ¡°That is crazy, I assume someone high level got involved afterwards? Everyone knows that you don¡¯t fight in the Guildhall.¡± Coron says, small tornados picking up small amounts of food and placing it placing it on his plate. ¡°Yeah, the Guildmistress herself flattened the room with mana Pressure and then had me come upstairs for a chat. It was a strange day.¡± Marco laughs lightly before he focuses on the beautiful food in front of him. The crispy shell of golden breadcrumbs filled with salted Japanese eggplant and topped with rich acidic tomato sauce and melted cheese. Marco nearly moans in pleasure at the tastes and textures mixing on his palate, he wipes his mouth and sips the drink of the night, a sweet cider with a small amount of bubbles that pairs excellently with the rich fried food. Marco eats his food quickly, very hungry all of a sudden after the hard day of training. He eats his plate wipes up the sauce with his garlic bread and has to hold himself back from licking the plate clean. He finally looks up as he finishes eating, accidentally making eye contact with Alexandria, every time he has tried to make conversation with her lately, she seems scared, flinching at his gaze and words. She quickly looks away from Marco, looking down at her food like it the most interesting thing in the room. Marco shrugs to himself, ¡°Strange but not even the weirdest thing that has happened today. Maybe she is just shy or something.¡± He forms more stubby little [Salt] golems, they latch on to his plate and utensil and carry them to the growing stack on the far side of the time. He decides to head to bed, already having showered and the stress and physical toll of the day catching up with him quickly. Marco washes his face, brushes his teeth, and swaps his clothes to the more comfortable pajamas that he has taken to wearing. He climbs in to bed, snuggling over the covers and making himself as comfortable as he can with his aching and sore muscles, sighing as he thinks about all he has accomplished in his few days on Omnia. He quickly falls asleep, completing his fifth day on Omnia. Chapter 18: A Few Days Later and An Oath Marco stirs awake on July 28th, excited for the events that he has planned for today, a little more training and he is finally ready to take the Adventurer¡¯s Oath later today. The last week was a hellish montage of training with Oren and Mana practice interspersed with delicious meals cooked by Ethil and Doris. He helped with the occasional meal but was so busy with Oren and trying to push his limits with his Mana techniques that more often than not he went to sleep without eating dinner, the need for food seeming to lessen as his prowess with Mana grows. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how I feel about the lessened need to eat. I love food.¡± Marco thinks to himself as he pushes himself out of bed and walks into the bathroom. Not usually one for vanity, Marco indulges a little bit, peeling his sleep shirt from his upper body and sees the progress that the Mana as forced upon his body. Lightly tanned skin covers taut muscles a huge difference from his pale lanky frame from just over a week ago. He laughs at himself as he flexes a little, his ab muscles rippling slightly under his skin. ¡°Damn! If I looked like this back home then my apartment may not have been empty so often.¡± Leaving the bathroom and entering the closet Marco quickly dresses in his adventurer clothes, the tight black fabric clinging to his body. He laces up his newest pair of combat boots; black leather shin length with laces making sure the boots are secure and not going to slip at the wrong moment. He quickly exits his bedroom, grabbing one of the breakfast flatbread burritos that he has become such a fan of. This particular one filled with crispy sweet potato, melty cheese, and seared mushroom, onion, and garlic seasoned with chipotle chiles and plenty of salt and pepper. The result is a spicy and delicious wrap that leaves Marco satisfied and ready for the day. While he eats Marco makes his way to the training area behind the Manor, he enters ring that Oren trains him in most often. ¡°Welcome to your final day of training before your Oath, Marco.¡± Oren says, stepping out of a shadow. ¡°Thank you for getting me ready Oren, I don¡¯t think I could do it without you.¡± Marco says bowing deeply. Marco is put through his paces as usual, ending up gasping and heaving on the ground, working hard to keep his delicious breakfast in his stomach. ¡°You are ready to take your adventurer¡¯s test, more than ready actually. I have rarely trained a more competent pupil.¡± Oren says giving Marco a small bow of his head, a sign of respect from the older man. ¡°Now go, you don¡¯t want to be late for your test.¡± Marco nods and bids Oren goodbye. He leaves the manor quickly, moving through the streets of Woodholme with increase familiarity. He spends his walk through the city gazing at the architecture around him, the swirling spires of wood and stone still causing feelings of wonder to grow within him. He reaches the Guildhall pushing open the doors, quickly joining one of the lines so he can ask about his proctor¡¯s location. The line moves quickly, much shorter than his previous trip to the Guild, he reaches the desk and is met with a familiar young girl. ¡°Cassidy! How are you today?¡± Marco greets the guild clerk. ¡°I¡¯m doing alright, we have had a busy morning today.¡± Cassidy greets him, not remembering his name. ¡°Come to ask about your proctor?¡± ¡°Yes, I just need to know the location of my test.¡± Marco says. ¡°Let me look it up for you.¡± Cassidy says, looking at the screen like Inscription screen in front of her. ¡°Here is your information. Please report to the Copper job board and ask for Phil.¡± ¡°Will do! Thank you, Cassidy.¡± Marco says, waving goodbye to Cassidy and heads toward the Copper topped job board. He focuses on the blank board, getting a System message for the first time in a while. *Ping* Copper Job Board Unavailable Adventurer¡¯s Oath Not Detected ¡°Interesting, the Oath is System backed.¡± Marco approaches the board and the man standing next to it. The common room of the Guildhall is strangely empty today, ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because its test day.¡± ¡°Are you Marco?¡± Phil asks, a tall human man with black hair, pale skin, and green eyes. ¡°Yes, I am, I presume you are Phil?¡± Marco asks. ¡°I am! I will be your proctor today.¡± Phil says, ¡°Please follow me to the basement where we can begin your tests.¡± Marco follows Phil through the common room of the Guildhall and down the stairs, reaching the landing in the basement Marco sees a cavernous space with practice rings, targets in spell ranges, and all sorts of workout equipment. ¡°Wow this is a huge basement.¡± Marco says, his voice echoing slightly in the huge space. Phil leads Marco through the basement past workout equipment and Mana measuring equipment. They end up in front of a ten-foot-tall black metal tower, there is a small screen like square on the side, Phil heads toward the screen immediately. ¡°Please stand in front of the equipment and engage your buffs when I say to,¡± Phil says, poking the air in front of the screen to the side of the tower. ¡°Start with Strengthening and then shift to Enhancements.¡± Marco stands in front of the tower, waiting for Phil to tell him to start. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m ready whenever.¡± ¡°Begin.¡± Phil says. Having turned off his buffs prior to the test, Marco reengages his buffs at what he thinks of as his passive level, the amount that he can keep going forever. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. He continues to ramp up the Mana consumption of his buffs until the tower behind him makes a chime, he stops increasing the Mana and just holds the current level, just under what he calls active mode. ¡°You may shift from strength to reflexes and perception.¡± Phil says. Marco follows the directions, time stretching before him slightly as his enhancements return. He ramps up the Mana, getting to just below the threshold of ¡®active¡¯ once again when the tower chimes. ¡°Very good! The speed of activation and consistency of Mana flow is very good.¡± Phil comments, ¡°Moving on to the next part of your test. Please use both your buffs and enhancements and run the obstacle course. It is designed to be impossible without at least baseline buffs.¡± Marco walks over to the start of the obstacle course, flaring both buff and enhancement as high as they can go. He begins the obstacle course; fifteen-foot jump, spinning beam to move across, twenty-foot vertical jump. He¡¯s through the first section, moving onto the section with swinging logs, arrow walls, spike traps, and pitfalls. Phil watches Marco with amazement, the young man makes the hardest Copper rated obstacle course look like a walk in the park. Marco¡¯s buffs and enhancements received very high ratings as well. Marco continues to run through the course, entering the next section of the obstacle course. Mana traps, [Fireballs], [Air Blades], [Earth Spikes], and [Vortex] traps. He continues to dodge, weave and jump through the traps and eventually ends up at the other end, completing the course. Marco, slightly out of breath, stands a little bit confused at the end of the course. ¡°I thought it would be harder. This is nothing compared to Oren¡¯s training.¡± ¡°Very well-done Marco!¡± Phil exclaims, ¡°You made that look easy. On to the combat portion of the test.¡± Phil starts to move away from the obstacle course, waving Marco to follow him. They head toward one of the practice rings, an Inscribed chain runs the perimeter of each practice ring, automatically deflecting magic back inward to prevent bystanders being hurt. ¡°You will be fighting me for the combat portion of the test.¡± ¡°Okay, is there any specific rules for the fight test?¡± Marco asks, starting to go through the fight stretches that Oren taught him. ¡°Other than the obvious; do not aim to aim or cripple. No.¡± Phil says, taking off his outer coat, black just like the rest of his clothes. ¡°These practice rings are Inscribed with judgement sensors and enchantments. The ring will begin the match with a similar chime as the tower.¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready whenever.¡± Marco says, already increasing his buffs and enhancements, and preparing to activate a spell. The chime sounds. Phils eyes widen in shock as Marco rushes in a blur of speed. His [Earthen Armor] snaps into place around him, reminding Marco of a knight''s armor back home. Marco¡¯s fist impacts hard rock and he jumps back [Salt Skin] forming around his chest. Phil takes a step forward but is immediately sent reeling by a [Salt Bolt] to the chest, shattering some of his armor. Marco closes in for another set of attacks, [Salt Skin] shifting down and covering his arms and fists, small spikes covering the knuckles. Marco lands another punch, shattering the [Earthen Armor] in that area. His follow up strike is blocked and Marco is tossed away from Phil when a part of the platform shoots up below him. Marco, a small pressure starting to build around him, charges at Phil once again. The Mana pressure surprises Phil, usually being a complex skill that takes many years to learn, it also slows Phil just enough that Marco is able to make contact once again, the punch rocking Phil¡¯s stone cover head backward. A follow up kick sends Phil reeling into the chain circling the arena, Marco doesn¡¯t let up his relentless series of strikes. Phil adapts his strategies, his knight like armor forming spikes and spines, protecting him from the strikes. Marco changes his fighting style, switching to damage spells and crowd control. One [Salt Bolt] and then another and another, then there are dozens hovering around Marco. He has moved most of the Mana out of his strengthening buffs and into his pool that he uses for active casting. The [Salt Bolts] fly at first a few and then many, the thudding sounds almost like gunfire as they hit the [Earthen Armor] around Phil. Each bolt that strikes Phil breaks off pieces of his armor and Phil starts to panic as more [Salt Bolts] shoot toward him in what seems to be a never-ending hail. Marco slows his barrage slightly worried that he will hurt Phil. He pauses, still ready to summon armor or evade a strike, and waits for the cloud of earth and salt debris to disperse. A shape charges out from the cloud, ragged chunks of his [Earthen Armor] falling from his body. Small spots of blood are visible from beneath the earthen and salt dust, but Phil charges at Marco at full speed, still both still having Mana to spare. Phil swings a haymaker punch at the younger man, Marco ducks the blow and retaliates with a left hook to the gut, somewhere missing pieces of [Earthen Armor]. Phil doubles over with a wheeze, briefly losing control of his Mana and allowing his armor to dissolve. He quickly raises his hands and the chime sounds again, ending the fight and bringing a System message to Marco¡¯s vision. *Ping* Congratulations you have passed the combat examination Marco checks on Phil, ensuring that the other man was alright, and then celebrates internally happy with his success. ¡°Sun, kid you are a monster in the ring.¡± Phil says, breathing heavily, ¡°Congratulations Marco, you have passed the Adventurer tests.¡± He holds a hand out and Marco shakes it gently, letting his buffs and enhancements fade back to their passive form. ¡°Thank you, Phil. The fight was exciting, it is the first time I have gone nearly full out.¡± Marco says. ¡°You had more? Damnation Marco, you¡¯re going to be a terror on the wall in a couple of days.¡± Phil claps Marco on the back and starts to move toward the stairs that lead back to the common room. They don¡¯t exit the stairwell on the common room but continue to the second floor and head toward a familiar room. ¡°Ah, young Marco. Congratulations on passing all your tests. Are you ready to the swear the Oath.¡± The Guildmistress says, poking her head out of her office. ¡°Yes, I am. Guildmistress.¡± Marco says with a bow. ¡°Very well. Come in to my office.¡± Samirah says, moving out of the doorway and ushering Marco into the room. ¡°Please hold out your dominate hand.¡± Marco follows the instructions, raising his right arm palm up, just about waist height. Samirah takes his hand, beginning to exert a fraction of her Mana pressure. ¡°Marco, formerly of Earth and now of [Salt], touched by Woodholme and Cursed by circumstance. Do you swear to uphold the Law of the Sun? Care for others, Uplift those that need it, Grow and Learn.¡± Samirah says in a powerful tone, ringing with some otherworldly quality that Marco cannot identify. ¡°I do.¡± Marco swears, and gasps slightly as a burning pain radiates through his right hand, a small symbol, a nine-pointed sun. *Ping* Welcome to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild You may now accept jobs from Orichalcum and below job boards You have sworn an Oath ¡°Welcome to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild Marco. I know the System gave you permission for Orichalcum and below jobs but I¡¯d like to ask you to work your way up, do at least five jobs from each board leading up to Orichalcum so you can get used to the Guild.¡± Samirah says, clapping Marco on the back having to hover several feet off the ground to accomplish the feat. ¡°You are now cleared to fight with House Ivory at the wall.¡± Marco exchanges niceties for a while longer and then begins his short journey home. Glancing up at the sun, it appears to be close to noon time, the sun nearing the apex of the sky. Marco speeds up slightly hoping to catch lunch at House Ivory, the sisters mentioned this morning that they were going to follow his recipe for bibimbap and serve it for lunch. Chapter 19: Bibimbap Marco walks into the house and is greeted with the intoxicating smell of his favorite food. He rushes toward the dining room and finds his seat just as the kitchen doors open and the sisters walk in and with them numerous stone pots float through the air, delightful sizzling noises follow them. ¡°Family, welcome to our dining room and be welcome to our table.¡± The pair of sisters intones as usual. ¡°Enjoy this meal in celebration of Marco. He passed his Adventurers test and swore his Oath.¡± A small cheer goes through the dining room and people start to grab the sizzling bowls of food. Marco grabs a bowl, a small skin of [Salt] protecting his palm from the heat, the smells are tantalizing and the contents of the bowls is colorful and looks delicious. The bowl of bibimbap is a hot stone bowl filled with thinly sliced tofu, hot crispy rice, sauteed carrot, spinach, and shitake mushroom all coated in a sweet sesame forward sauce. Other side dishes dot the table; pickled radish, chili marinated cucumber, and seaweed salad. Marco grabs a small amount of every side dish and eats his first bite of bibimbap, the sweet and spicy dish is a dance of flavors and textures. Soft fluffy rice mix with a layer of crispy rice from the hot stone serving bowl, tender tofu and perfectly cooked crunchy carrots. Marco fails to contain the moan of pleasure that escapes, his favorite food executed perfectly by the pair of chefs. He is flooded with memories of days spent in Chinatown surrounded by friends and enjoying delicious food. He quickly finishes his meal, accepting congratulations from others at the table He thanks them all between bites of delicious food and makes a note to find Oren later to today to express his appreciation of the training and to tell him how easy it seemed to be. He exits the dining room after a good meal surrounded by friends, smile plastered on his face. He decides to go back into town having received his Adventurer money after speaking with Samirah, enough that he should be able to purchase some armor before House Ivory goes for their shift on the wall. He finds a shop that sells the type of armor he wants and walks in. The sign above the door proclaims Clark¡¯s Customs, the bell above the door jingles and a male voice calls from the backroom, ¡°One minute! I¡¯ll be out shortly.¡± ¡°No problem! I¡¯ll just be looking around.¡± Marco says gazing around the store. Mixed armor hangs from hooks on the walls, in every color of the rainbow. Cloth armor is what Marco thinks he will prefer, light and movable with space for him to summon his [Salt Skin]. A slender human man exits the backroom, ¡°Apologies for the wait young man.¡± About six feet tall with brown hair and eyes, age lines having appeared around his eyes in his advanced age. ¡°No problem. My name is Marco and I am looking for some armor.¡± Marco introduces himself, ¡°I think I¡¯d prefer cloth armor with leather on crucial areas and space to summon my personal armor spell.¡± ¡°I see, I can definitely work with that. I am Clark, owner of this store.¡± The older man says. ¡°Let''s begin with your measurements, please stand over by the mirror.¡± Marco moves across the store and stands in front of the triple set of mirrors. Looking into the mirror three Marcos stare back at him, he listens to all the directions that Clark gives. Arms up, legs spread, bend, stand, jump and every conceivable other direction to move his body. ¡°Now, Marco what are you thinking about colors and style?¡± Clark asks pulling out booklets of colors, fabric types, and illustrations of previous work. Marco flips through the choices, in the books before him, deciding on a dark gray color with black leather for the joints and wrists. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The style that he planned to go with being a pair of black pairs with a dark gray shirt designed to fit under [Salt Skin], long sleeves but the top layer splits shortly after the waist, a secondary layer of a slightly different color falling in a panel down to the top of his thighs. A thin black leather hood, elbow length gloves reinforced with black metal plating with matching boots. A warm cloak designed for the colder months completes the outfit. ¡°It will take me a day to complete this order and I will need payment up front.¡± Clark says. Marco pays the agreed upon amount and leaves the store, a couple of hours having passed while Clark took his measurements. Marco heads back to the House, hoping to find Oren and discuss the training he went through. He wants to thank Oren first and foremost as he found it super easy to pass the tests laid out by the Adventurers Guild and he didn¡¯t think that would have been the case if he hadn¡¯t trained under Oren. He arrives home and asks several people to try and locate Oren but no one knows where he is. Marco shrugs, walking back out the front door to bask in the gardens and absorb some sun, he smiles to himself thinking about his accomplishment of the last few days. He wanders the hedges and flowers but freezes when he sees a tendril of [Dark] that is packed full of Mana. He reaches out with his Mana senses and touches the tendril; Marco is blasted backward into the nearest hedge and Oren is suddenly in the garden with him and standing over his prone form. ¡°That is one of the funniest things I have seen in recent years.¡± Oren says in his bland voice a slight tone of mirth present. ¡°You should know better than to touch unknown Mana by now.¡± Marco rolls over to his stomach and pushes himself to his feet, ¡°I¡¯m happy to be of amusement. I was looking for you.¡± ¡°Oh? What does the mighty Adventurer need from an old man?¡± Oren asks, the smile giving way his teasing. ¡°Old man my ass. That test was way easier than one of our sparring sessions.¡± Marco says, ¡°I appreciate your training, I don¡¯t think I could have passed without your tutelage.¡± ¡°You started on this world with a High Affinity score, this means you have vastly more Mana than the usual Copper that would be taking the test.¡± Oren explains. ¡°This gives you a huge advantage, paired with your unique Circulation and combat prowess. I imagine you just walked right through the obstacle course with those physical buffs of yours.¡± Marco nods and follows Oren as the older elf begins to lead the way through the bright garden. Golden sunlight shoots through the clouds and bathes the world in its radiance, Marco enjoys the golden rays as they walk through the garden, talking about little things and nothing of substance. They eventually enter the manor once again, the place full of frantic energy as people complete their last-minute preparations for their journey to the wall. All Family members are required to make the trek to the wall, housekeepers will keep rooms in the barracks clean and tidy, gardeners will tend the wall¡¯s gardens, and Adventurer¡¯s will push back the tide of Undead. Marco spends the rest of the day lounging in his room flipping through the books that Ben gave him long ago. There is nothing tremendously exciting about the books on politics, local policy, and local powers but he enjoys reading for the sake of it. The day fades and night begin its dark reign, Marco puts his books away and stands up before walking into the bathroom and getting ready for his evening shower. He removes his salt crusted Adventurers clothing and steps under the hot rain of his shower. Marco thinks about the upcoming adventure to the wall and his status as a sworn Adventurer. He looks forward to taking his first Copper job, hoping its something cliche like the stories from back home, rats, slimes, or the like. He smiles as he works shampoo through his brown hair, about three inches on top and kept short on the sides. Rinsing his hair under the hot water he sighs in relief and relaxation as the hot water washes away the sweat, dust, and grime from his body. He spends way too much time in the shower, just enjoying the warm water and feelings of relaxation. He finally shuts off the water and steps out, drying himself with the fluffy towels that House Ivory has. He decides that he will take his first Copper job tomorrow, allowing him a few days to complete it before its time to go to the wall. Marco grabs his normal sleep clothes, dark blue this time and slips into bed luxuriating at the feeling of the soft comforter and soft sheets. Chapter 20: Copper Job Marco stirs awake stretching under the comforter, not wanting to leave his cocoon of blankets and warmth. He procrastinates for a while before pushing himself up with a groan, he walks into his closet and puts on another set of the black adventurer clothing, hoping that Clark has his armor ready by the end of today. He makes his way down the stairs and into the dining room, pretty empty this morning and sticks his head in the kitchen. The sisters greet him with large smiles, ¡°Good morning, Marco! Thank you for that recipe yesterday, the bibimbap was a huge hit with everybody last night.¡± ¡°Glad to hear it! I¡¯m taking my first job today at the Guild, I was wondering if I could get some food in case the job is further away than I anticipate?¡± Marco asks, grabbing one of the burritos that the sister regularly make for him. ¡°Of course! We keep ration bars on hand for the Adventurers in the family.¡± Doris says, ¡°Do you just want a variety of flavors? We have sweet and savory bars.¡± ¡°Yes please, I¡¯m sure they are all delicious.¡± Marco says, taking the bars from Doris¡¯s cloud of [Air], bidding the sisters goodbye Marco leaves the kitchen and head to the front door, having to make a small detour back to his room to grab the cast iron pan and knife that he was isekaied with before heading toward the Guildhall. Heavy cast iron pan held onto his back with a harness of straps around his chest and a small but very strong magnet on his back and a small holster on his waist that was made to fit his knife. He makes his way through the streets still gazing up in awe at the builds, different flowers decorating builds, in flowing mosaics of color. Marco finds his way toward the Guildhall, entering through the throngs of people and makes his way in front of the Copper Job board. *Ping* Copper Jobs Available:
  1. Mysterious Monster Seen on North Road (0/1)
  2. Clear Enlarged Rats from Sewers (0/25)
  3. Slimes Seen in the Riverby Marsh (0/50)
Marco looks over his options, a large smile on his face as he looks over some classic starter adventures. ¡°Hmmm, which one do I want to tackle? I can¡¯t imagine any of these are going to be challenging for me as an Orichalcum rank Adventurer.¡± He thinks to himself and mentally selects the third option. ¡°Slimes, that''s so cool. I wonder if they are edible.¡± Marco focusses on his left hand and the little leaf tattoo present there, he pulls his little monster compendium that Ben lent him from his [Inventory]. Flipping to the page for slimes he reads the entry, Slimes, magical lifeforms that spontaneously bring into being from stray Mana. Mundane weaponry is almost useless against slimes, for larger specimens Slimes show a unique ability to absorb affinities and change their slime form to counter it. For best results, use piercing magical attacks on the core. Marco shuts his book and returns it to his [Inventory] and starts to walk toward the Tide Gate, the eastern gate leading toward the Riverby Marsh. Entering a new part of town stalls line the street, merchants shout their wares to passersby hoping to score a sale here or there. He looks at all the wares around him; food stalls overflowing with delicious smells, clothing vendors surrounded by flowing cloth, and burly smiths surrounded by clanking metal and a small cloud of smoke. He exits the barrage of smells, smoke, and snapping cloth and reaches the Tide Gate, exiting on a stone road surrounded by lush greenery. The smells of a verdant marsh fill his senses, moving along the road and increasing his buffs and moving quickly toward the marsh in the distance. Stone road smooth and well maintained, but worn from countless travelers walking on its surface. The verdant green paths of land surrounded by beautiful water with an abundance of plants, herbs, and flowers. Marco reaches the edge of the water seeing small bouncing shapes on one of the small floating islands of strong grass. He focuses on one of the pale green blobs and is rewarded with a System message. *Ping* Slime, Water/Earth Variant ¡°Interesting that the System tells you the variant type. I¡¯m sure that will come in handy for stronger monsters.¡± He thinks to himself. The slimes are a shade of pastel green, the darker the shade the more Mana they have absorbed. Marco smiles at the small bouncing creatures, ramping his buffs to extreme and jumping toward one of the closer islands. Marco lands on the woven grass island and the whole structure rocks lightly side to side. He forms a [Salt Bolt] in the air above his palm, the projectile quickly launching toward the nearest slime, piercing the outer slime and nails the core shattering it. *Ping* Slimes Eliminated (1/50) ¡°Nailed it!¡± Marco thinks to himself, forming a dozen [Salt Bolts] in the space around his body, each targeting a new slimes core. A few miss their mark, ripping chunks of slime from the creatures to no effect, most hit however destroying eight more monsters. *Ping* Slimes Eliminated (9/50) Marco smiles to himself, having thought the creatures would be easy to kill but this was like fish in a barrel. Marco begins to experiment, rushing toward slimes and stomping one, managing to get his foot stuck in it immediately with a second stomp crushing the core. He wipes as much slime off his boot as he can before grabbing his cast iron pan and smashing another couple of creatures. *Ping* Slimes Eliminated (13/50) This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. The current grass island is empty of slimes so Marco lowers himself into a lotus position and thinks about a spell idea that he had earlier. ¡°I was wondering if the slimes would be edible, they don¡¯t appear appetizing at the moment just pale green slime, but what if we manipulated the texture.¡± He looks into his core, the warmth growing through his body like every time he summons his Mana. Spiraling down into his center, he thinks about his time in a butcher shop before he discovered his love of cooking, curing meats is a very common way to change the texture of a protein. ¡°What if I can turn curing into an instant process with Mana and [Salt].¡± Marco ponders to himself, ¡°A quick cure, we used to use something similar to season fish and the like without drying them out all the way.¡± He pushes mana out into the space between his hands, held about a foot apart in his lap. Marco pauses and grabs a clump of grass from the ground, holding it aloft with a couple of pieces of [Salt]. He pushes Mana out of both hands, not trying to manifest salt but one of its properties, the drying and dehydrating properties. The clump of grass slow grows crystals before Marco discards it and grabs a new chunk, hovering it once again. He tries to filter out the properties once again, it immediately turns to dust. Marco sighs and grabs more grass, ¡°I want to cure the outside not dehydrate things to dust.¡± He pulls a ration bar from his [Inventory], not looking at the flavor but just taking a bite, ¡°Yum, blueberry.¡± Marco thinks to himself and repeats his failure many times before one clump of grass stiffens but doesn¡¯t dissolve. He inspects it, trying to feel what was different about his process in the last attempt. He feels out the change, needing to focus on the dehydration aspects instead of the drying. ¡°I am going to call it [Flash Cure],¡± Marco thinks to himself while pushing himself to his feet and ramping his buffs. He makes the jump to the next island causing it to rock, he moves close to a slime, trying to figure out the distance that [Flash Cure] will work best at. He finds out that it functions best at midrange, within a six feet range. He casts it on the nearest slime, causing it to harden almost like the cured egg yolks that he used to make for one tasting menu or another. *Ping* Slimes Eliminated (10/50) He touches the [Flash Cured] slime, finding a thick membrane of thicken and dried jelly. He grabs the ball of congealed slime and pulls it into his [Inventory] hoping to experiment with it later tonight. Having figured out a new spell, Marco smiles to himself and switches between [Flash Cure] and [Salt Bolt], racking up another island¡¯s worth of slime kills. *Ping* Slimes Eliminated (11/50) *Ping* Slimes Eliminated (15/50) *Ping* Slimes Eliminated (21/50) Marco collects all of the cured slimes, tossing them into his [Inventory] tattoo. He jumps on to another island immediately firing [Salt Bolts] at the hopping creatures before jumping to yet another island, completing his Job from the Copper Job board. *Ping* Slimes Eliminated (50/50) Congratulation on completing your first Adventurer Job. Rewards not available due to Affinity Disparity between Adventurer Marco and completed job. ¡°Booo, I want free loot.¡± Marco chuckles to himself. He jumps back across his islands and is quickly back on dry land. He ramps his buffs up to max and takes off toward Woodholme once again making it back to the Tide Gate within fifteen minutes. Making sure his body isn¡¯t covered in splattered slime and dehydrated grass; he enters through the Tide Gate and starts to make his way toward Clark¡¯s Customs to pick up his armor. Following the clean streets of stone framed in the swirling spires of livingwood and stone. The crowd grows and thins as he walks through the stalls and exits the loud space filled with energy. Across town, he enters Clark¡¯s Customs and the storeowner¡¯s voice once again sounds from the backroom. ¡°One moment! I just have to finish up some stitches.¡± ¡°That is fine Clark! I¡¯m just here for my order.¡± Marco shouts back. Clark exits the backroom, carrying a large box filled with Marco¡¯s armor. ¡°Thank you for waiting Marco, I just put the finishing touches on your order and packaged it up.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see the armor, Clark! I will put it to good use on the wall in a couple of days.¡± Marco says, grabbing at the box still in Clark¡¯s hands. Marco takes the box from the weaver and sets it on the counter in front of him, slowly prying off the lid and seeing the beautiful contents within. Thick and protective dark gray tunic with a detachable leather hood, slightly baggy black pants, black leather gloves accented with metal for protection, thick combat boots and a heavy cloak for the cold months. ¡°Clark! This looks incredible, the craftsmanship is perfect.¡± Marco says while pulling pieces of the outfit out of the box and moving toward the changing room on the side of the room. Quickly pulling off his black set of clothing, he pulls on the provided underclothes; a simple black tank top like undershirt that hugs his body and a pair of tight legging-like pants for protection from chaffing and pinching. He pulls on the baggy pants made of a strong canvas-like material that are similar to straight cut pair of pants from home, designed to be tucked into the nearly knee-high boot that Clark made. Moving onto the next piece of clothing, he pulls the new shirt on slightly tight around the shoulders before giving his arms room to flex and move. Built in straps run across his chest useful as a harness for weapons, he keeps the hood pulled down and pulls on the very comfortable boots. ¡°Young man, you make my armor look amazing.¡± Clark says with a big smile. ¡°It fits perfect, is it alright if I summon my [Salt Skin] in here? I want to see if I can shape the spell around the new armor.¡± Marco says, stretching and making sure there isn¡¯t any pinches or tight areas. Clark nods, and the [Salt] Mage summons his [Salt Skin], the spell failing to form around the new armor. A resulting small cloud of [Salt] is quickly dismissed and fades to magic. He focuses and reshapes his [Salt Skin] spell around his existing armor, shoring up weak points and adding in details like some cuffs around his lower thigh to be used in a combat situation. He pulls his clothes into his [Inventory] deciding to wear the armor home to the House of Ivory. He loves the way his armor looks and feels, confident in the style that he chose. Marco notices the turning heads as he wanders home through Woodholme and smiles to himself lightly, not used to attention brought on by his looks. He reaches the Ironwood gates of the Manor and lets himself inside, moving toward his room so he can stash his older clothes. He makes his way through the manor while thinking of what he going to turn the slime into, what kind of texture its going to have or what it will taste like. He smiles, starting to make a plan, ¡°I¡¯ll treat it like squid, maybe a calamari type set up. Marinara, cherry peppers, with lightly breaded slime rings.¡± Marco smiles and stores his new armor and pulls on his older clothes in preparation to cook something new for dinner. ¡°I need to make sure that the Ivorys will consume slime, to make sure they don¡¯t consider the Mana creature an animal.¡± Pulling on his more comfortable and casual kitchen shoes, he stores his weaponry in his [Inventory] and heads toward the kitchen. Chapter 21: Slime with Hot Peppers Marco enters the kitchen with a smile, finding his usual table and pulling out a cutting board and knife. Opening his [Inventory], he retrieves the first of his many [Flash Cured] slime bodies and inspects it before making his first cut. ¡°If I¡¯m aiming for calamari with hot peppers then I need to make rings from this slime. Maybe start with removing the core and then slicing?¡± Marco thinks rotating the blob, he sets it down and picks up his knife. Moving with practiced ease, he slips the knife into the slime pushing until he feels his knife make contact with the core. He carefully cuts around the orb embedded in the creature and removes it, leaving him with a semi-hollow cylinder that he cuts into rings. He repeats the process, firing three more slimes and cutting them into rings. He finds some milk in the cold storage and grabs the strong vinegar on the way back to his table. Vinegar into milk to make a quick buttermilk substitute, he puts two slimes worth of rings into the buttermilk and lets it rest and marinate. The other two portions of rings are put to the side so he can prepare a dredge and breading station. Salt and pepper seasoned flour, whisk eggs and add a splash of milk, and fine breadcrumbs seasoned with garlic, paprika, and some chopped herbs that remind Marco of oregano and basil. Marco starts the first unsoaked set of rings into the salt and peppered flour, through the egg wash, and finishing in breadcrumbs. He turns to the stove activating some heating Inscriptions and getting a large pot of oil heating to deep fry. He tests the oil with a sprinkle of flour, seeing the reaction he wants from the hot oil, he grabs his first batch of breaded slime rings and drops the first set into the hot oil. Quickly summoning a set of [Salt] chopsticks to flip and retrieve the breaded rings, he tends the pot of oil, breaded slime rings smelling amazing as they get golden brown. His footlong chopsticks blur with speed as he flips and takes slime out of the oil. Seasoning the finished product with salt and pepper, Marco decides that he wants some of the hot peppers to be fried as well. Deseeding and cutting the peppers into disks and throwing them through the standard breading and adding them to the pot. Mixing the finished slime rings and fried peppers together and then putting them on a warming station so he can whip up some aioli. Eggs are separated, mixed with mild vinegar, lemon juice, the herb that reminds Marco of basil, and parsley. Marco drizzles oil into the bowl and whisks vigorously creating a stable and thick emulsion that tastes like lemon and herbs. Grabbing a plate and adding a circle of aioli before piling his friend slime rings artistically, topping it with lemon zest, parmesan, and chopped herbs. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. He sticks his head into the stairwell leading up to the sister¡¯s set of room. ¡°Ethil and Doris! I made a new dish and I need opinions.¡± Marco calls up the stairs. ¡°Coming!¡± The blended voices of the pair return. The sound of feet on stairs comes a few minutes later. The pair appear in their normal set of matching clothing, pale blue clothes tied with an apron around the middle. ¡°Before we begin, I know that House Ivory doesn¡¯t eat meat. I killed some slimes and made them into a rendition of something called calamari from back home. Do you consider Mana based creatures to be animals?¡± Marco asks, explaining the dish a little in the process. ¡°Slime as food? We don¡¯t consider Mana creatures to be animals but usually slimes are not edible due to their texture.¡± ¡°I think I found a way around that issue. So, in front of you, a dish of fried slime and hot peppers on top of an herby lemon aioli and topped with lemon zest, parmesan, and chopped herbs. Please enjoy.¡± ¡°The food smells amazing.¡± The sisters both grab forks and dig in, they enjoy the first batch and Marco begins to drain the buttermilk-soaked batch. He repeats the same process for the new batch and breads and fries the rings to golden brown. He plates them in the same fashion before sliding the dish toward the sisters. He grabs one of the slime rings from the first plate, making sure he has a little bit of everything in the bite and tries his creation for the first time. Crispy breadcrumbs yield to soft tender slime rings, not quite the same texture as squid but delicious nonetheless. The aioli is a delicious accompaniment, an acidic bite to cut through the fried food and the hot peppers providing a nice heat to round out the dish. He tries the buttermilk batch and likes the plain batch just a little bit more. The more robust texture of the unsoaked batch is more appealing to Marco. ¡°Do you like the plain batch or the buttermilk batch more?¡± Marco asks, ¡°And do you have any suggestions?¡± ¡°I like the plain batch more.¡± The sisters say over each other, ¡°No improvements, this is a very nice dish. Unique and delicious. I think you are the first to conquer the slime edibility issue.¡± ¡°If the pair of you want to help me make more of these then we can serve them for dinner tonight.¡± Marco suggests. ¡°We would be happy to help.¡± Doris says, quickly grabbing a large bowl and some eggs to make a larger batch of aioli. Marco pulls all of the slime bodies from his [Inventory] and putting them on his table, he shows Ethil how to core the slimes and the correct thickness to slice the rings. Ethil summons a knife made of thin but strong ice, she expertly cores the slime and slices it perfectly. The hit their rhythm and soon slime rings are being cored, sliced, breaded, and fried before being placed on the warming station to hold before dinner. A crisp salad is made, Marco whips together a Caesar dressing without the anchovies of course. Crunchy greens are combined with shredded parmesan cheese and the creamy dressing before being topped with croutons and placed into a large serving bowl. Doris finishes up frying the last of the slime rings and grabs logs of cheese from cold storage and a variety of dried fruit from the cupboard. She arranges the ingredients into a beautiful cheese board to be served with dinner. They all clean up with the help of the sister¡¯s magical dishwasher and wash up before Marco leaves for the dining room, excited to see it full of people for a very special meal. He finds his seat next to Coron, chatting about the job he did earlier that day and the process of cooking the surprise meal of the night. Chapter 22: Tin Job Marco goes through his normal morning routine, getting dressed in his armor instead of his set of black clothes. He grabs breakfast to go as he has been for the last several days, and starts his short journey into the city center to visit the Guildhall and collect a Tin ranked job to complete. ¡°I hope the Tin monsters are a little bit more of a challenge.¡± Marco thinks to himself as he waves through people and reaches the Tin Job board. *Ping* Tin Jobs Available:
  1. Minor Elemental Spotted on the Border of the Deadwoods
  2. Cursed Wolves Encroaching on the Farmlands (0/25)
  3. Building Materials Needed! (0/30 Ironwood Logs, 0/30 Everstone, 0/30 Binding Ivy)
¡°Interesting choices this time, I think I¡¯ll go with the wolves. I could maybe harvest something edible from them.¡± Marco thinks to himself while mentally picking the third option, he pulls his monster compendium from his [Inventory] tattoo and reads what the book had to say about Cursed Wolves. Cursed Wolves: A normal wolf tainted by Cursed energies, making them stronger, faster and more intelligent than normal wolves. More resilient to energy magics than other creatures and can cast simple Curse magics; bleeds, diseases, and fear spells. Marco snaps the compendium closed and returns it to his [Inventory] before exiting the Guildhall and toward the Farmlands past the Wind Gate. ¡°Wolves in the Farmlands would be a disaster for Woodholme and the greater Kingdom of Eldermyst.¡± Marco thinks to himself, passing guard barracks and smithies that are throwing smoke into the air, quickly being filtered by Inscriptions lining the street. He exits the Wind Gate, gazing around at the sweeping plains in front of him, to his right the occasional tree in the direction of the Deadwood and the living forest that holds it back. He throttles his physical buffs reaching speeds that causes his body to blur to the other people on the road. He runs deeper into the Farmland, feeling stray bits of energy with his Mana senses and knowing the feeling of Cursed energy from his brief time in the Deadwoods. He follows the trail leading toward the fields of barley and wheat, quickly covering ground and leaving most of the growing produce plants behind. The trail quickly comes to an end, disappearing into the mass of [Earth] and [Water] Mana that the fields of barley and wheat produce. He keeps all of his buffs running at a high level, preparing for an ambush from the small pack, turning slowly to keep an eye on the field of golden grain for any signs of movement. ¡°There!¡± Marco snaps his [Salt Skin] into place, slightly green glowing claws skating off of the surface. He retaliates with a [Salt Bolt] to the wolf¡¯s soft underbelly, a bark of pain and a System notification telling him all he needs to know about that wolf. *Ping* Cursed Wolves Slain (1/25) Marco begins summoning [Salt Bolts] in preparation, expecting more sneak attacks and ambushes from the wolves. Pushes the spell, forcing the bolts to rotate around his body, like an active shield. A snarl of pain from behind him that he spins to face, a wolf with a bolt in the neck is flopping around in pain and trying to remove the salt spike. Marco stomps on the head of the wolf on the ground, quickly spinning as he hears the barley rustle behind him. A [Salt Bolt] taking the wolf in the head, ¡°I need to be able to see more of the battlefield.¡± *Ping* Cursed Wolves Slain (3/25) Marco tries to pull on the rings that his [Salt Skin] summoned around his lower thighs, trying to levitate his body like he held the grass aloft. Marco¡¯s feet leave the ground in a shaky and horrible approximation of flight, before quickly landing back on the ground with a small grunt, his body too heavy to lift with just the two rings of salt. He shifts a bit of his [Salt Skin] down his forearms and onto his new gloves, forming small but very sharp spikes. Two wolves rush at his sides, hoping to prevent his ability to attack both of them, a [Salt Bolt] takes both of them in the forehead, resulting in two System notifications. *Ping* Cursed Wolves Slain (5/25) Marco ramps his physical buffs to their maximum level, jumping as high as he can, a full fifteen feet. As he reaches the apex of his jump Marco launches all of his stored [Salt Bolts], five projectiles connecting with wolves on the ground. *Ping* Cursed Wolves Slain (10/25) As Marco begins to fall back to earth, black cloth and leather clothing fluttering around him, he summons more [Salt Bolts], another five spring in to being and circle around him like before. He charges the nearest wolf, elbow strike to the top of the wolfs head, its crumples and is still. Marco spins and fires three of his bolts into the fray, charging after them toward the remaining wolves. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. One of the living and unharmed wolves charges at him managing to leave a small gash in his armor, he manages to launch a projectile into the spine of the wolf that attacked him, crippling it. He turns his attention to the remaining wolves; they begin to show their intelligence more as they use tactics and strategic fighting. The remaining ten healthy wolves howl and Marco¡¯s heart speeds up and sweat breaks out all over his body. *Ping* [Fear] Partially Resisted due to Salt Affinity Marco hesitates due to [Fear] allowing the monsters to surround him, ¡°Shit this is bad, there is still so many of them left.¡± Marco summons more [Salt Bolts] allow them to flow around him again, protecting his flanks and back from attack. He moves cautiously forward keeping his buffs at near maximum, he moves toward one of the wolves, dark gray fur streaked with green so dark it is near black, the other similar looking wolves move in, the circle closing in. Marco tries something different, maintaining his circle of bolts, he casts [Flash Cure] on the wolf in front of him, a squeak of pain follows his casting along with a wheeze as the wolf staggers. ¡°I didn¡¯t think it would be that effective? Maybe its because [Salt] is [Curse]¡¯s opposite element?¡± He thinks to himself preparing to cast the spell a couple more times. *Ping* Cursed Wolves Slain (18/25) The wolves start to approach with more confidence, almost into biting range of Marco. He casts [Flash Cure] as fast as he can, eliminating three more wolves and launches his five held [Salt Bolts] into the wolves at close range, annihilating skulls and chests as the salt projectiles pierce through fur and skin. *Ping* Cursed Wolves Slain (23/25) Marco grins to himself, ¡°Only two monsters left.¡± A howl from further away shatters his calm and sets his heart to racing again. *Ping* [Fear] Partially Resisted due to Salt Affinity Marco charges the two remaining Cursed Wolves, hoping to take them out before whatever howled shows up. Pulling his cast iron pan from his [Inventory] he swings at the head of the first wolf, braining it with eight pounds of solid metal, it stumbles but remains on its feet. He stabs his kitchen knife into its eye, having equipped it when he pulled out his pan. ¡°One left and then whatever just howled.¡± Marco says, spinning and slamming his pan into the wolves snout, a pained yowl escaping before a [Salt Bolt] takes it in the eye. Marco heaves in deep breaths, resummoning his [Salt Skin] to repair the gash and starting to summon as many [Salt Bolts] as he can before the next monster arrives, hoping to repeat the barrage that he cast during his Adventurer test. A dozen bolts float around Marco, six of them forming the shield of projectiles that he has been using throughout this fight. A thud shakes the ground slightly as a huge wolf finally comes into view. *Ping* Alpha Wolf, Cursed ¡°Damn that is a big monster.¡± Marco says, shivering in fear at the ten-foot-tall black wolf with huge glowing green eyes. ¡°Well, this wasn¡¯t in the job request.¡± The wolf starts to charge at him, Marco flinches and begins to launch projectiles as fast as he can. Little pffs of displaced air sound in quick succession as a dozen and then two [Salt Bolts] fly off toward the monstrous wolf. Yelps of pain and roars of anger mix with the sound of [Salt] projectiles hitting flesh and rending it apart. A small cloud of [Salt] dust springs up around the monster, Marco focuses as intently as he can attempting to form new projectiles out of the billowing cloud of salt, he succeeds and a couple of more [Salt Bolts] form and shoot into the wolf. The onslaught manages to halt the wolf¡¯s charge and push it back several feet; the cloud disperses into Mana and the rest blows away on the wind and Marco¡¯s jaw drops at the wolf. The black fur is mostly gone, replaced with bloody strips of hide, bone peeking through in some places and one of the glowing green eyes has been reduced to pulp. The wolf roars again with half the flesh of its jaw missing, massive finger length teeth visible through the blood. The bloody monster steps toward and Marco readies his Mana once again, [Flash Cure] pulses out of his body, drying the monster and causing it to stiffen and slow slightly. Marco pushes himself forward, scared shitless but going to try his best to take out the truck sized monster. He charges, sliding under snapping jaws and bringing his cast iron pan down on the left leg, breaking bones and knocking shredded flesh off. The wolf howls in agony, snapping at and trying to step on Marco, he evades, taking glancing blows on his armor to avoid the stomps and snapping jaws. Marco tries to break another leg but is sent flying a dozen feet by a kick, gasping and pushing himself to his feet he casts more [Salt Bolts] quickly draining all his available Mana that he isn¡¯t pumping into his buffs. The new bolts take out the second eye and manage to detach the left leg just below the knee where broke it a moment ago. He approaches the monster again, trying to be as quietly as possible, not wanting to alert the blinded monster. He stores his knife in his [Inventory] grabbing one of the [Salt Bolts] that make up his shield, a few having crumbled to deflect damage from the earlier kick. Armed with a heavy pan in his right hand and a spike of [Salt] in his left, he charges the monster from a few feet away. Jumping, Marco plants the former [Salt Bolt] into the monster and pulls himself up, straddling its neck and beginning to bring the pan down over and over again on its skull. The wolf tries to shake him off and almost succeeds before Marco reshapes the [Salt] bands into sharp hooks that dig into the monster. The skull fractures and cracks allowing Marco to plant his last hovering [Salt Bolt] into the monster''s brain at short range, covering his body and face in gray matter. Chapter 23: Limping Home Marco gazes up from the ground at the blue sky dotted with fluffy blue clouds and tries to ignore the taste of Cursed Wolf brain, he unfortunately had his mouth open when he launched that last [Salt Bolt] and gray matter ended up in his mouth. ¡°That was brutal, I don¡¯t know why this job was so difficult even before the Alpha showed up.¡± Marco thinks, shoving himself to his feet and trying to scrape off as much viscera as he can. Congratulation on completing your Tin Ranked Adventurer Job. Rewards not available due to Affinity Disparity between Adventurer Marco and completed job. Bonus Reward: For Slaying the Cursed Alpha Wolf, You Receive: Mana Replenishment Marco feels a coolness wash through his center, scrubbing away all of the aches and pains from using so much of his Mana so quickly. He summons a bit of [Salt] to see if there is any lingering soreness, thankfully there isn¡¯t, the System having refilling his Mana and repaired his worn channels. He stands on shaky legs, covered in bruises from glancing blows and being kicked through a dozen feet of wheat and barley. Staring at the monstrous creature, he decides to take what is left of the head back to the Guildhall to see why there was an extra creature in the area. Marco takes a deep breath, calming himself and focusing on manipulating his bolt spell, flattening the projectile into a thin sheet, like the blade of a guillotine. It takes a few minutes and numerous attempts but soon the blade shoots from Marco¡¯s hand and severs the monster¡¯s head. He pokes it as lightly as he can, storing it into his [Inventory] and turning back in the direction of Woodholme, deciding to take it slow and wander home rather than expend more Mana and hurt his battered body more. Limping and resting through the fields of barley, Marco loves the feeling of the swaying golden grain, walking with his hands spread to feel the plants. He slowly makes his way back to The Wind Gate, taking much longer on the trek back almost fifty minutes. He enters the city, ¡°I made it back, thank goodness. That was way closer than it should have been.¡± Walking past the barracks filled with guards and the smithies still belching smoke into Inscriptions, Marco limps as fast as he can toward the Guildhall. He is fairly angry, not knowing why he was ambushed on a Job, something that he didn¡¯t know was possible. Pushing his way gently through the crowd that perpetually hangs around the Guildhall, reaching the giant wooden doors and pushing them open Marco storms to the line and impatiently waits. Marco knows it isn¡¯t the clerk''s fault but he is upset that his life was so close to ending with the giant wolf. He makes his way through the line, reaching the desk and immediately making his System screen visible to the clerk. ¡°There was an unaccounted for monster in the area. I don¡¯t know if this is common but it was much stronger than the other Cursed Wolves.¡± Marco says, almost pulling the Alpha Wolf head from his [Inventory]. ¡°You had a System relayed Job that was incorrect?¡± The middle aged man says, suddenly extremely nervous. Brown hair and gray eyes that are steadily widening, ¡°Oh Sun, it was System relayed. I will have to get someone higher than me to deal with this.¡± *Ping* Joseph, Clerk Joseph stands up and runs toward the stairs set in the backwall. He stumbles as he moves as fast as he can disappearing up the stairs quickly. ¡°Marco? Are you okay? You¡¯re covered in blood and other fluids.¡± A familiar voice says from behind Marco. He turns and sees Ben moving toward him, ¡°Are you injured or is that monster viscera?¡± ¡°All monster blood but I¡¯ve got some nasty bruises that I am recovering slowly from.¡± Marco replies, ¡°I got ambushed by an Alpha Cursed Wolf while fighting regular Cursed Wolves.¡± ¡°System relayed or regular posting?¡± Ben asks, freezing mid step before continuing his approach. ¡°System gave it to me from the Tin board.¡± Marco says. ¡°Oh Sun. That isn¡¯t good, the System doesn¡¯t mess up often but when it does people usually die. How many normal wolves on top of the big one?¡± Ben asks, hand glowing with [Light], Marco sighs in relief as his bruises fade quickly. He whips up a small cloud of [Salt] that quickly turns red and gray as the blood and viscera are absorbed by the mineral. He dismisses his element back in Mana, feeling better now that he is cleaner. He takes a deep breath and nearly chokes at a familiar Mana pressure explodes throughout the building. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. *Ping* Samirah Lon, Tempestarii A familiar gnome appears in a gale, moving so quickly that the winds scream and whip around the common room. ¡°MARCO PLEASE REPORT TO MY OFFICE.¡± The incredibly powerful Mage disappears in a snap of [Air]. Marco slightly stunned to be called out so loudly in the common room that he takes a moment to start moving, needing a small nudge from Ben to take his first step toward the stairs. He weaves through the crowd, most of the other Adventurers staring at him as he walks past, happy to be healed and not limping. He enters the office decorated in dark wood and moving storm painting. ¡°Marco reporting to your office Guildmistress.¡± He says with a little fake salute hand at his temple. ¡°Not the time to be messing around Marco, System mistakes are usually deadly.¡± Samirah says, ¡°You were sent on a Tin job to hunt twenty-five Cursed Wolves in the Farmlands, correct?¡± ¡°Yes Guildmistress, but an Alpha Wolf ambushed me right after I killed the last Cursed Wolf.¡± Marco explains. ¡°Sun! Alpha Wolves usually span from Bronze to Gold. Surprised and freshly out of combat you did well to not only survive but slay the creature.¡± Samirah praises, ¡°I am unfortunately unable to award you completion for a Bronze job with the System.¡± Marco flinches as he gets a System notifcation. *Ping* Error Rectified Congratulations on completing your Bronze Ranked Adventurer Job. ¡°I think the System just fixed that issue. I just got a notification about completing my first Bronze rank job.¡± Marco says. Samirah has a slowly growing smile on her face. ¡°Excellent, that is the best we can hope for when something like this happens. This makes it easier for you to complete your required one job per previous rank that I asked of you.¡± Samirah says, ¡°Also Marco, why are you doing jobs solo? System jobs are designed for four-man teams.¡± ¡°Oh. I wasn¡¯t aware of that. I thought because I was being offered the jobs that they were tailored to me.¡± Marco says, blushing in embarrassment. Samirah¡¯s palm meets his forehead in a superpowered facepalm, the smacking sound echoing lightly around the room. ¡°Interesting that the facepalm is universal.¡± Marco chuckles to himself. ¡°Young man, please gather a team and do your best not to hurt yourself.¡± Says the Guildmistress, ¡°You are dismissed Marco, good luck with future jobs and I hope to see you at dinner soon.¡± Marco bows to the Guildmistress and exits the dark wood office and makes his way back to the common room. He sees Ben where he left him several moments ago mingling with others, he heads toward the elf. ¡°Ben, I¡¯m sorry for interrupting but do you have a moment to chat?¡± Marco asks, approaching the small group of people. He recognizes Shen Lockheart from a couple days ago, the one that protected the girl in the fight. ¡°Oh, hello Shen, I was hoping to find you as well. Do you have a moment?¡± They both agree and they leave the common room together, exiting on to the street and heading toward one of the great smelling food stalls. Marco sees that it¡¯s a taco stand, he resists doing a happy jig in the street, wanting to make a good impression on Shen. Shen is handsome up close, the last time Marco had only seen him from across the room with his forearms smoking. Dark brown skin like tree bark, dark black hair and dark green eyes along with the elf¡¯s pointed ears all coming together like a fine sculpture. ¡°Hopefully I can get these two to be team members, a tank and a healer? Those are the hardest roles to fill, just need one more damage-dealer and we will be set.¡± Marco thinks to himself, ordering himself some sweet and spicy pork tacos with grilled pineapple and topped with cilantro and chopped onion, ¡°I am so happy they have an approximation of al pastor here.¡± ¡°Please order whatever you¡¯d like, my treat for interrupting your conversation.¡± Marco offers and steps to the side. The pair of elves ordering tacos filled with seasoned jackfruit and grilled vegetables. They eat in each other''s company and once they are finished, they settle in for a serious talk. ¡°So, it turns out I should be doing these Adventurer Jobs with a party of four.¡± Marco says sheepishly. ¡°You¡¯ve been doing jobs solo? Marco that is incredibly dangerous.¡± Ben scolds, a look of understanding coming over his face, ¡°Is that why you were so bruised today? What rank job did you do today?¡± ¡°Tin,¡± Marco smiles at the look of surprise and confusion passing over Ben¡¯s face. "And Bronze.¡± Shen¡¯s jaw drops. ¡°You were the cause of the commotion earlier? I heard there was a System error.¡± Shen blurts out, looking embarrassed at his outburst and tries to compose himself. ¡°I am sorry, I am Shen of House Lockheart.¡± ¡°I am Marco Vito, currently staying at House Ivory.¡± He introduces himself, ¡°I am impressed with your character, I saw you protect that girl in the Guildhall the other day.¡± ¡°I just strive to do what is best, I am a [Earth] Warrior and fit best into a Tank combat role. I presume that is what this conversation is about?¡± Shen says, ¡°I do not currently belong to a permanent party and would be interested to hear more about you.¡± ¡°Ah, you presume correctly. I am a [Salt] Mage and would fit best in the main damage-dealer role I believe. I have little true combat experience but I took down a Bronze Alpha Wolf alone less than two hours ago.¡± ¡°A solo Bronze kill? That is truly impressive and it was after slaying a bunch of Tin mobs right?¡± Shen says, dark green eyes widening. ¡°Yeah, twenty-five Cursed Wolves and then the big boy.¡± Marco says, fidgeting slightly, not great at accepting compliments. ¡°And both of you know that I am a [Light] Healer, best for a support role. I have some minor damage spells but I have mainly focused on healing spells and a touch of crowd control.¡± Ben says, a swirl of light dancing between his fingers. ¡°Show off,¡± Marco thinks to himself, imagining himself fumbling a cube of [Salt] through his fingers. ¡°If both of you are interested in forming a temporary party, I still have the afternoon free and we could take on a Silver job to see if we work together well? We would need a fourth, no?¡± Marco asks, excited by the prospect of combat with others. ¡°We could do a Silver with three of us without too much trouble, we have at least one of each role.¡± Shen says, ¡°Silver is one rank below both Ben and I so we shouldn¡¯t have any issue.¡± Marco knocks on the wooden surface of a table nearby, getting odd looks from others around him. ¡°I am available for the rest of the day and would be happy to do a Silver job with both of you.¡± Ben says, halting his fidgeting. ¡°I am also free for the afternoon,¡± Shen says, beginning to walk toward the Guildhall once again. ¡°Let¡¯s go pick out a job!¡± Marco and Ben follow their new Tank into the Guildhall, smiles on their faces. Chapter 24: Silver Job They stand in front of the job board topped with a gleaming silver marble, and the list of available jobs appears. *Ping* Silver Jobs Available:
  1. Dungeon Clear (Root of the Forest Dungeon) (0/1)
  2. Outer Deadwoods Patrol (0/1)
  3. Dungeon Clear (Badger¡¯s Den) (0/1)
¡°Dungeon?! I wonder if I¡¯m going to have to worry about cores and dungeon fairies.¡± Marco thinks, surprised that dungeons are real. ¡°Oh, two dungeon clear options? We don¡¯t have time for a proper patrol even if it is just the Outer Deadwoods.¡± Ben says, staring into the same space as Marco and Shen. ¡°So, it is just a choice between dungeons then?¡± Shen says, ¡°I would feel more comfortable in the first choice, seemingly nature based and probably containing plant monsters.¡± ¡°Plants monsters? I¡¯m down to tackle Root of the Forest if that works for everyone else.¡± Marco says, tired of sharp claws and if badgers were anything like back home, he didn¡¯t want anything to do with them. Both of the remaining team members nod to Marco and all of them mentally select the first option. Ben gestures for them to follow him and they begin to head out of the Guildhall, turning toward The Forest Gate. ¡°I only have a couple of spells but I can cast them both a ton of times before I have to rest.¡± Marco says, beginning an exchange of information on each of their spells and specialties. Shen uses a [Earthen Armor] as his main defense, dense rock covering any part of his body that he wishes. Once he is wrapped in his armor he relies on his armor for protection while he wields a manifested [Hammer of Granite], a manifested greathammer capable of dishing out massive blunt damage. Ben is a support role, focusing on [Renew], [Shield of Hardlight], and [Field of Wisps]. The first spell a basic heal, capable of restoring bruises and closing cuts. The shield spell is a manifestation of hardlight, deflecting blows until broken or dismissed and finally his crowd control spell is an area of twinkling lights that have a confusion effect on enemies and will wrap ankles and feet in a web of light, slowing enemies. Marco runs through his very short list of spells, telling them of his buffs and enhancements and his three active spells while they make their way through town and out of The Forest Gate. ¡°Can one of you explain dungeons to me? We have stories of them back home but I don¡¯t know how well those will translate.¡± Marco asks, an odd feeling of familiarity coming over him seeing the forest he appeared in once again. ¡°Yes, dungeons are just locations where Mana has compressed, luring in creatures and monsters. The high-level of compressed Mana twists and changes the creatures and can strengthen the monsters that wander in if they stay long enough.¡± Ben, rattles off, the systemologist in his element. ¡°Killing the monsters often keeps them from growing too strong and leaving the dungeon area and wrecking the local ecosystem.¡± Marco nods in understanding, ¡°Interesting, just locales of Mana density and not a underground cave area filled with respawning mobs.¡± The pick up serious speed, blurring by travelers on the road often forest workers that keep the area healthy and blight free. About thirty minutes later, having traveled through a good portion of forest, they arrive in a clearing teeming with Mana and monsters. The monsters are different than Marco anticipated, having imagined plants with huge thorns and teeth for some reason. The waist high tangle of roots and flora don¡¯t have any visible or recognizable faces, just bundles of green wandering around their clearing with Mana. ¡°Okay Marco, you¡¯re going to attack first. These are Root Tangles; whip attacks, mild poison, and swarm tactics.¡± Ben says, ¡°They are pretty weak individually but will swarm and cause large amount of damage with whips and poison.¡± Marco nods, beginning to summon [Salt Bolts], he looks over to see Shen covering himself to [Earthen Armor], pulling earth from the forest floor and hardening it into dense stone. Ben casts [Shield of Hardlight] on Shen and Marco, protecting them from the initial retaliation. Marco, having gathered a dozen or so [Salt Bolts] around his body, makes eye contact with his party members and fires his first salvo into the Root Tangles. Thuds and creaking noises sound from the clearing as he launches his projectiles into the small monsters, turning ten into lifeless chunks of brown wood and shredded greenery. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The onslaught forms a small cloud of [Salt] dust that Marco compresses back into a pair of [Salt Bolts] that fly at the closest monsters, turning them to debris and finally looks away from the monsters and sees the astonishment on the faces of his team. *Ping* Root Tangles Slain (12/124) ¡°What? Did I do something wrong?¡± Marco asks, casting [Flash Cure] on a Root Tangle that approaches Shen, the monster stiffening and falling still. ¡°No! I just wasn¡¯t expecting that level of damage.¡± Shen says, forming his [Hammer of Granite] and sending a root monster into the distance with a small swing. ¡°Watch the ground! More Root Tangles are coming, the disturbance from the first attack is going to make them more likely to swarm.¡± Ben says, [Field of Wisps] winking into existence in the clearing. ¡°Great opening Marco, focus on any monster that looks different and any that get around Shen.¡± ¡°Not likely!¡± Shen calls, voice muffled slightly by his armor. Mighty hammer blows turn the monsters into a smashed piles of brown and green, Shen stepping over them to get to new monsters. More [Flash Cures] turn the tangles into unliving statues and [Salt Bolts] form around Marco, firing two at a Root Tangle with lighter bark he is amazing when the monster lives through the attack. ¡°Variant!¡± Marco calls, warning his team members of the more dangerous monster. *Ping* Root Tangle, Ironwood Variant A beam of light flashes out of Ben¡¯s hand, spearing the monster through the center and killing it. The larger and lighter colored tangle falls slowly pinning one of its brethren under its larger bulk. *Ping* Root Tangles Slain (56/124) ¡°Obviously Shen is having a great time,¡± Marco thinks, watching the tank play whack-a-mole with Root Tangles digging their way to the surface. A near continuous stream of [Salt Bolts] is being summoned around Marco before streaking away, his competitive spirit not allowing the tank to kill more root monsters than him. *Ping* Root Tangles Slain (77/124) He smiles, killing a newly appeared Ironwood Variant with a trio of bolts, [Flash Cure] taking out another at the same moment. ¡°I need an area of effect spell so badly.¡± Marco thinks to himself, tired of having to cast his projectile so many times. He begins to think about what an AOE spell would look like for [Salt] easily envisioning spells for other elements. A flash freezing puddle for [Water], a mass of [Air] blades like Cloud of Daggers from D&D, softening the earth and solidifying it around a target for [Earth], a large pillar of fire; a [Flamestrike]. That last idea makes Marco freeze for half a second, missing one of his shots at the root monsters, ¡°What about explosive salt crystal growth? Compress [Salt] Mana until it explodes into a jagged crystal?¡± Marco splits his focus, watching out for different colored mobs and any sneaky roots creeping toward Ben, but thinking about his [Saltstrike], a compressed orb of [Salt] comes to mind. Launching that orb toward a target and having it rupture and grow into a massive pillar of spiky crystal and damage. He begins to use his stockpile of bolts while he tries to create his vision, an orb of [Salt] the size of his head to start quickly shrinks into a pebble the size of his thumbnail. A feeling of danger overwhelms Marco, he panics and shoots his bolt away into the forest a thunderous sound following the impact. A huge crystalline growth consumes a tree, like a pure white pine tree from the depths of hell. Massive jagged spikes nearly a foot long spear out of a central post of solid [Salt]. A wave of lightheadedness comes over Marco, the first casting of his new spell taking its toll on his body and Mana, he pants slightly and looks focus on the fight. *Ping* Root Tangles Slain (110/124) ¡°Yikes, I must have been focused on that new spell for a little bit too long.¡± Marco kicks himself; they were in combat and he wasn¡¯t focused. ¡°What was that!? Marco did you just form a new spell?¡± Ben says, looking at the mass of [Salt] with a look of incredulity before turning a look of exasperation on Marco, ¡°Did you just form a spell in the middle of combat? Marco! What is wrong with you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t realize it was such a long time. It won¡¯t happen again.¡± Marco says, a deep blush covering his face and neck. ¡°You are concerned it took too long? We aren¡¯t exactly outclassed here but that spell could have hurt one of us if it formed wrong!¡± Ben says, anger evident in his eyes. ¡°I know you are new to Omnia but spell formation is usually done in a controlled environment away from others so if something goes wrong nobody gets hurt.¡± ¡°Oh. I didn¡¯t know that, I formed my other spell, [Flash Cure] during my first fight with slimes.¡± Marco admits. Ben proves that facepalms are universal and turns back to combat just in time to see Shen finish of the last Root Tangle. *Ping* Root Tangles Slain (124/124) Congratulations, The First Wave of the Root of the Forest Dungeon has been cleared. Rewards not available due to Affinity disparity. The Second Wave will begin in Twenty Minutes. ¡°Great work! That was a painless First Wave other than the spell experiment.¡± Shen says, helmet dissolving to show his teasing smile. ¡°Rest and replenish as much Mana as you can.¡± He sits down on the spot, folding his legs into a lotus pose and starts to regenerate Mana. Ben quickly follows suit but due to Marco¡¯s unique form of Mana circulation he doesn¡¯t need to actively use the technique. He smiles and thinks about his new spell, the damage looks to be incredible, but the range is still lacking in Marco¡¯s mind, ¡°Maybe I can make it explode? I probably shouldn¡¯t work on that with my teammates so close!¡± Marco grimaces at himself, feeling dumb for making such a large blunder. Chapter 25: The Second and Third Waves *Ping* The Second Wave Begins in One Minute Shen, Marco, and Ben all do final checks of equipment and Mana before getting into position. Shen in the front, [Earthen Armor] growing back over his head and his greathammer appearing once more, ready to break some monsters. A couple of flashes of [Light] from Ben and his shield surround the party and prepared to deflect damage. Marco begins to cast [Salt Bolt] as usual, letting them hover around his body. Soon a dozen projectiles are ready to be launched into the new monsters that appear. *Ping* The Second Wave Begins Tree Ents Slain (0/21) ¡°Tree Ents? This might be a problem if they are the hulking brutes like stories from back home.¡± Marco thinks, scanning the clearing and the surrounding forest for any animate trees. A small tree, truck about the same thickness as both of Marco¡¯s arm put together, steps out of the shade of a larger tree and begins to shuffle its way toward the party on its roots. Several more step out of the shadows made by the larger and more grown trees; they all slowly lumber toward Shen. Marco once again launches the opening salvo with devastating results. Several of the Tree Ents now laying in pieces, scattered by others slowly lumbering toward the group. *Ping* Tree Ents Slain (7/21) He finishes his opening move with his first [Saltstrike], directed toward a grouped-up trio of Ents, turning them into chunks of orange hued bark and blade shaped leaves. *Ping* Tree Ents Slain (10/21) ¡°The new spell has got some power, damn. What is that smell though, so familiar?¡± Marco thinks, compressing the cloud of salt particles into a pair of bolts once again. Shen splits an Ent in half, the ten foot tree falling into uneven halves onto the forest floor. Ben joins combat with a [Focused Beam], the laser slamming to the middle of a trunk, rending it in half with the cut pieces smoking slightly. Marco continues to sniff, smelling something familiar but unable to place it in the midst of combat. He casts [Flash Cure] on an Ent with little noticeable damage, a few leaves browning and falling off and slowly drifting to the ground. Shen continues to crack and split trunks with ease, making Marco uncomfortable. ¡°This seems too easy for a second round.¡± He thinks, immediately jinxing himself. *Ping* Tree Ent, Ironwood Variant The new monster is much faster than its normal compatriots, rushing Shen before Marco can send bolts its way, knocking the tank back several steps before his greathammer is deflected off with a clang. ¡°That¡¯s not good!¡± Marco starts forming a [Saltstrike], holding it back and yelling at his teammates, ¡°[Saltstrike] incoming! Get out of the way!¡± Shen jumps backward with impressive strength, clearing ten feet of distance with the single jump. Ben is far enough away but renews his [Shield of Hardlight] on Shen, the Ironwood variant Ent having shattered it. The explosive crystal growth tears the monster to shreds, chunks of slightly shiny bark and wood scattering through the clearing. *Ping* Tree Ents Slain (19/21) ¡°Two more incoming from the left and right! The right one looks a little strange though!¡± Ben calls, a beam flashing out to meet the left monster only smoke and a light burn left behind on the large monster. A stream of [Salt Bolts] tear a sizeable chunk from the monster but it still lumbers toward them. Repeated clanging noises make the clearing sound like a smithy, Shen¡¯s repeated strikes on the other Ironwood Ent, ineffective but the strikes keep the monster¡¯s attention. Marco tries to cast [Flash Cure] this time focusing on the internals of the tree monster, the monster creaking as a result, the slightly shiny bark flaking off and crumbling to dust on the ground. The monster, slightly slowed by his spell finally falls to a well-placed bolt, breaking the monster in half. Marco turns, just in time to see the Ironwood Ent shatter [Shield of Hardlight] and take a root strike to the midsection, flying across the clearing. Ben immediately runs toward the downed tank, hands glowing with [Light]. [Saltstrike] after [Saltstrike] flow from Marco¡¯s hand, the sharp spines doing damage to the monster but crystalline growth is having trouble penetrating the Ironwood bark. ¡°Why is this one so much tougher than the last two?¡± He watches as a final [Saltstrike] tears the monster in half, the upper half of the trunk still held aloft by the giant crystal. ¡°Is he okay Ben?¡± Marco calls, moving toward the pair now that they have defeated all of the monsters. ¡°Yes! His armor blocked most of the damage, just a bruised rib, [Renew] took care of it!¡± Ben says, gesturing to Shen who has started his Mana regeneration meditation. *Ping* Tree Ents Slain (21/21) ¡°What was up with that last Ent? It was so much stronger.¡± Marco questions, a similar notification to earlier appearing once again. The new notification immediately answering his question. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. *Ping* Congratulations, The Second Wave of the Root of the Forest Dungeon has been cleared Bonus Reward: For Slaying the Steelbark Hickory Variant, You Receive: Mana Replenishment All of the party members sigh in relief, all of their Mana returning thanks to the System, Shen returns to his feet beginning to stretch and make sure none of his injuries were bothering him anymore. *Ping* The Third Wave will begin in Twenty Minutes ¡°We should except a Peak Silver boss variant for the final round. Steelbark Hickory is a high Silver material, the ents made of the wood are similar. Paired with the fact that we got through the first two rounds without issue we can assume that this dungeon is backloaded with strength.¡± Ben says with a serious look on his face. Glowing plates of light flash in existence around him, [Hyperion Plate] is one of Ben¡¯s highest rank spells. The light-yellow armor fashioned of Hardlight has a massive capacity for absorbing damage, best against blunt force damage. Shen¡¯s armor shrinks and molds to his body more, growing darker and sturdier. Marco summons his [Saltskin], feeding it extra Mana and causing it to expand over his body, thin layers of sturdy crystal coating his armor, turning black leather and gray fabric white and providing vastly increased protection. He spends a couple of minutes throwing Root Tangles into his [Inventory], getting a mixture of regular and [Flash Cured] bodies. The tangles smelling faintly of lemon, ¡°Interesting, lemongrass flavored root tangles? I will take it.¡± The smell from earlier in the fight finally clicks for Marco a mixture of cinnamon and cardamom, he looks at the regular Ents with a look of disbelief. ¡°Cinnamon Ents? This is awesome and I love this new world.¡± Marco thinks to himself, immediately going to work on peeling bark from regular Ents, his kitchen knife not great for the task so he summons a small hooked knife made of [Salt]. The process not taking very long with his increased physical abilities, soon having rolls and rolls of bark stored in his [Inventory]. *Ping* The Third Wave will begin in One Minute Ben, Marco and Shen all repeat similar movements as they get ready for the final wave of this dungeon; a helmet forms, shields spring in existence, and bolts begin to compress into shape. The minute ends and the ground begins to shake before exploding outward, a huge monster digging its way to the surface. *Ping* Root Abomination, Steelbark Hickory Variant ¡°Ah shit, we barely got through that Ent with the Steelbark Hickory variant. This is going to be rough.¡± Marco starts to sweat a little. The monster is fifteen feet tall, brown roots of every shade tangled together into a semi humanoid shape. Leaves of every shade of green cover the creature, glinting slightly as they move in the light. Marco starts his first attack, opening up with a [Saltstrike], the crystal pushing the humanoid root monster back a step but not breaking anything. Bolts target where important places would be on a normal person; several slamming into the head, knees, elbows and neck. All of the air vacates his lungs and he feels weightless as he flies through the air, a root had burrowed through the ground and hit him in the midsection. His [Salt Skin] manages to block all of the damage to his chest but he lands gasping for breath. ¡°Are you alright Marco?¡± Ben calls, he nods when he sees the shaky thumbs up and his eyes widen at the sheer amount of [Salt Bolts] forming around Marco. The cloud of projectiles flies, impacting the monster with a sounds like gun fire, pieces of the monster falling off. Unfortunately, the damage is main superficial, but Marco casts [Flash Cure] on the monsters exposed insides, slowing it marginally. Beams of light rake over the monster, lighting smoking strips of root and leaf, massive hammer blows from Shen rattle the monster''s legs, all of the damage combined finally showing up on the giant body. More [Saltstrike] explosions focused on the back of the monster to shield Shen from the damage, rip open more of the monster, more roots visible below the surface. The party has to dodge and roll from the numerous burrowing roots trying to knocking them across the clearing. Marco focuses on flattening out his [Salt Bolt] projectile like he did to remove the Alpha Wolf¡¯s head. A ten-inch guillotine blade might be able to lop off a limb, he focuses and pushes his intent into the projectiles surrounding him, slowing they flatten as he dodges around the clearing. ¡°I am getting close to damaging my channels again.¡± Marco thinks, finally getting the projectiles flat and sharp on one end. He fires them, smirking as they rip through the monster the left arm falling free of the Abomination. Breathing heavily from the strain of casting so many spells, [Saltstrike] taking a ton of Mana every cast. The guillotine bolts made an opening for Ben to channel his [Focused Beam] into the wound, starting a small fire inside the monster''s body. The Root Abomination goes berserk, lashing out wilding making Marco and his party jump, duck, and weave around flailing root tentacles. Shen finally turns one of the legs to pulp and causing the monster to fall backward, onto the many [Saltstrike] crystals, shattering them and littering the body with wounds. Salt burrowing into the root body, ripping and tearing as the monster attempts to stand again Bands of Hardlight snap around the monster and Shen¡¯s hammer grows unbelievably large, the head easily three feet long and a foot across of solid bedrock. Shen jumps with his giant hammer and brings it down on the monster¡¯s midsection, ripping the abomination in half with a resounding boom and a small quake. Marco hurriedly uses [Flash Cure] on both of the monster pieces, hoping that they don¡¯t try and reform. *Ping* Root Abomination Slain (1/1) Congratulations on clearing The Root of the Forest Dungeon Congratulation on completing your Silver Ranked Adventurer Job. Rewards not available due to Affinity Disparity between Adventurer Marco, Shen, and Benjamin and the completed job. Marco falls to his behind, breathing heavily and checking himself over for injuries. ¡°Is everybody alright?¡± He asks. ¡°I think you were the only one to get hit hard like that.¡± Shen says, his hammer dispersing into Mana and his [Earthen Armor] falling away to dust to mix with the churned-up soil of the clearing. Ben¡¯s [Hyperion Plate] breaks into particles before they too disappear and he joins Marco on the ground, flashing [Renew] through everyone causing sighs of relief. Marco¡¯s [Salt Skin] returns to Mana and he stretches out lightly in the destroyed clearing. ¡°That was a rough fight, I feel like our elemental match up isn¡¯t great against something like the Abomination.¡± He says, tiredness evident in his voice. ¡°Yeah, that was a tough one. Thankfully we outranked all of the monsters today or the whole dungeon would have been much more difficult.¡± Ben says from next to him, once again fidgeting with {Light]. ¡°We did well on the teamwork front though! Everyone worked well together and didn¡¯t get in each other''s way.¡± Shen supplies, ¡°We still need a final member, they will be able to balance out our elements as well.¡± Marco pushes himself to his feet, gather a couple of roots from the abomination and smelling them, he is amazing that the newest monster body smells just like horseradish. His mind begins to work on his future dinner plans, ¡°I have the Ent Cinnamon, Lemongrass Tangles, and now Horseradish from the Abomination.¡± He starts to think of all the dishes he can make, combinations of flavors between all of the monster ingredients. Chapter 26: A Feast with Friends Marco and his party enter Woodholme via The Forest Gate, moods high from their victory over The Root of the Forest Dungeon, Marco is extra excited for his haul of monster ingredients. He begins to plan his menu for the feast he invited his new friends to. ¡°So, for monster ingredients I have Tangle Lemongrass, Ent Cinnamon, and Abomination Horseradish.¡± Marco thinks to himself, ¡°Lemongrass is perfect for a curry base; using tofu as the protein substitution for my vegetarian friends. Lemongrass is generally very fibrous and hard to chew so if the monster version holds true to the regular kind, then we will focus on steeping and infusing the stock and curry with the flavor.¡± Marco makes his mental prep list and menu, ¡°Stuff the curry full of vegetables for texture and extra flavor and maybe top it with some crispy chickpeas.¡± He nearly runs into a group of older human women while he is daydreaming of food. He makes plans for a butternut squash soup and hopes to make deviled eggs, not knowing if they are a thing on Omnia. ¡°Shen, I know you agreed to visit House Ivory for dinner this evening, but do you have any food allergies or aversions?¡± Marco asks, ¡°I am planning certain foods but I can change things around if I need to.¡± ¡°No allergies or aversions other than the vegetarianism that you already work with at House Ivory.¡± Shen replies, the group moving through the streets of Woodholme. ¡°Awesome! Come by House Ivory tonight at sundown and I will treat you to a meal made of the ingredients we gathered in the dungeon today.¡± Shen agrees and they go their separate ways with Shen headed back toward House Lockheart. Marco and Ben head toward House Ivory and the kitchen within, Marco continues to daydream of food. Marco quickly moves to his bedroom, striping off his monster-stained armor and replaces it with functional clothes, just a plain gray shirt and darker gray pants. He immediately heads for the kitchen unable to hold back his interest in the new ingredients any longer. The kitchen is exactly the same as always, large bank of heating Inscriptions to the left, tables in the center and a large sink on the far wall. He grabs his usual cutting board and knife and his first set of ingredients, butternut squash, vegetables for the curry, and he pulls his Tangle lemongrass from his [Inventory]. He peels the butternut squash, the thick skin unpalatable and unappealing, quickly cutting it half and scooping out the seeds, placing them to the side. He cuts the butternut squash halves into long planks roughly half an inch thick and then dices those planks into small cubes. The cubes go into a bowl and Marco adds various spices and seasonings; salt, black pepper, finely ground chili powder, and finally his Ent cinnamon that he dried with repeated castings of [Flash Cure] until he could grind the spice in a conjured mortar and pestle. Allowing the squash to marinate with the spices and seasonings, shortening the cooking time required later and forcing the flavors he wants into the squash. He cleans off his cutting board and grabs the first of the vegetables he is going to use for the curry. Peeling the carrot and then cutting the root vegetable into rounds, about an eighth of an inch so they would cook evenly with the other vegetables later on. Cutting broccoli into florets, pulling the undesirable string off of his snap peas, and deseeding and chopping red bell peppers he works on the lemongrass next. Pulling the monster ingredient on to his cutting board, he first trims the large amount into a workable set of sticks, then using the back of his knife he bruised the lemongrass to allow it to infuse more quickly into his curry. He chops two stalks of lemongrass alongside green onions, some very spicy red chilis, ginger, and garlic; this is the basic set of ingredients he will need for his curry paste. He grabs a thick bottomed pot from the racks near the Inscription stove and begins to heat it. He mashes all of the curry paste ingredients in his conjured mortar and pestle until semi-homogeneous, adding it to his preheated pot with a splash of oil, frying off the paste until fragrant and gently browned. Marco moves to the cold storage, grabbing a bottle of blended tomato that he pours into the pot with the paste mixture, cooking off some of the acidity and allowing the flavors to mingle, he adds a heaping portion of turmeric to the pot for color and the gentle flavors it provides. He turns off the heat and moves unto the next step. Grabbing a new pot, he heats a moderate amount of oil until shimmering and hot. The vegetables join the oil in the pot, sizzling noises fill the kitchen and soon smells join the noises. Incredible scents of roasting root vegetable, fragrant garlic, and lemongrass waft from the pan, he retrieves coconut milk from the cold storage before adding it into the toasted curry paste. He removes the vegetables from the heat as they reach his desired doneness, adding the curry and coconut mixture into and allowing all of the flavors to marry and combine. Marco activates an oven Inscription, panning up his bowl of butternut squash and drizzling oil over the whole thing, he places the sheet pan into the oven to roast. ¡°Probably about thirty minutes.¡± Marco thinks to himself, remembering the squash seeds he set to the side earlier, mixing them with oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs- thyme and rosemary- he places the seeds on a different baking pan to roast and crisp. ¡°These will make a nice garnish for the soup.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. He begins his next prep task, grabbing a dozen eggs and placing them in a pot of cold water before setting it to heat on high. Once the water reaches a rolling boil, he shuts off the heat and covers the pot, twelve minutes later he pulls all of the eggs from the hot water and into an ice bath. Once the eggs are completely chilled Marco begins to peel the eggs, rinsing shell fragments and membrane from the peeled finished product. He cuts the eggs lengthwise and removes the yolks, placing them in a bowl to make the filling of his deviled eggs. A solid tablespoon of a Dijon mustard, a dash of vinegar based hot sauce, and a quick mayonnaise he made using a quickly spinning blade of [Salt]. Two separated eggs, yolks going into the bowl with the salt blade, a teaspoon of mustard, a splash of mild vinegar along with salt, pepper, and dehydrated garlic that the sisters keep on hand- all spun together by the salt blade as Marco drizzles in neutral oil until the sauce emulsifies and thickens to his desired consistency. The yolks are mashed together with the other ingredients making a thick paste before he grabs a grater and the Abomination Horseradish, adding a healthy amount, about three tablespoons to the paste before tasting and adjusting any seasoning. ¡°Delicious, the flavor of the horseradish is very nice. I will have to grate more of this for sandwiches or breakfast burritos in the morning.¡± Marco thinks, adding just a touch more salt to finish the yolks. He grabs a pair of spoons, filling the cavity of the egg white with the deviled yolk mixture, dusting the tops with smoked paprika and a small baton of chive. ¡°That is one dish down!¡± Checking on his butternut squash, he swears lightly at the slightly crispy pieces around the edge of the pan, forgetting to check the oven for hot spots earlier. He grabs brown sugar and another bottle of coconut milk pouring a quart of coconut milk into a new pot set on low heat, adding in a quarter cup of brown sugar, a generous two tablespoons of black pepper and a matching amount of dried chili powder. He stirs this mixture before adding in the squash, allowing the toasted and golden-brown cubes to soften and flavor the coconut milk before he blends the mixture smooth with various blades of [Salt]. Checking for seasoning once again, Marco is happy he didn¡¯t add more salt to the coconut milk, his [Salt] blades he used to blend the soup into a smooth and silky texture having seasoned the soup a fair amount. ¡°And that is the second dish done!¡± Marco is excited by the speed of his cooking thanks to magic and the allure of new exciting ingredients. Checking on his curry, he finds all the flavors have mingled and complement each other nicely, Marco grabs one more pot and cooks some white rice. He smiles, ¡°All done! And slightly ahead of schedule.¡± Marco starts to collect all of his dirty dishes after he places the curry, rice, and soup on warming Inscriptions to wait until guests arrive. Scrubbing all of his dishes and laying them out to dry in the Inscribed area. *Ping* Activate Bonfire (Low) Inscription? Marco mentally agrees and a warm wind stirs around his wet dishes, quickly drying them. ¡°I love magic so much!¡± He quickly scrubs his hands, making sure he isn¡¯t covered in any food particles and exits the kitchen into the dining room. He finds several people already at the table; Shen, Coron, Ben, and Alexandria. ¡°Hello everyone! I hope you all came hungry.¡± Marco greets, his stomach rumbling slightly at his own words. ¡°Marco! It smells amazing in here!¡± Coron greets the chef, ¡°What is on the menu tonight?¡± ¡°You know better than that Coron! You will find out what the menu is with everyone else.¡± Marco smiles as Coron groans, not enjoying surprises. ¡°Hello Marco, Coron is right, the smells coming from the kitchen is divine.¡± Shen says, pausing his conversation with Alexandria. The young heir to House Ivory, still looking slight scared at Marco¡¯s attention but nods in greeting. ¡°I really need to figure out why she is so scared of me.¡± Marco thinks to himself, finally turning and greeting Ben with a smile. ¡°Thank you, Shen! If we are all ready for dinner, let''s get everyone in here and get to eating.¡± Marco says. Minutes pass and the dining room slowly fills with members of House Ivory and Marco enlists the sisters to help him carry his dishes and platters into the dining room. Swirls of [Air] raise his food into the air and carry the platters and bowls effortlessly into the room full of friends. He stands at the head of the table, the sisters declining to give their nightly welcome as Marco prepared all the food himself. ¡°Welcome friends,¡± Marco starts. ¡°Tonight, I have made a variety of dishes with ingredients gathered from a nearby dungeon. Most of you were able to try the Slime with hot peppers, these ingredients are from plant monsters instead.¡± Marco takes a deep breath, preparing to start his dish explanations when the dining room is filled with a quick swirl of wind and a familiar gnome is suddenly present at his table. ¡°Everyone welcome Guildmistress Samirah to dinner tonight,¡± Marco greets the new arrival with a smile. ¡°If everyone is ready to eat then I will start explaining.¡± Unanimous nods travel around the table and Marco begins to describe his offers for the dinner table. ¡°I know these dishes don¡¯t necessarily mesh together all that well. The ingredients I got from the dungeon were varied however so I did the best I could to make delicious food.¡± ¡°The first dish I made is a Tangle lemongrass coconut curry; cubes of silken tofu coated in luscious and flavorful curry, a mixture of vegetables enhances the taste with additional texture and flavor. Plain white rice is the starch of choice for tonight, the fluffy grains will absorb all of that flavor.¡± Marco explains. ¡°The second dish I prepared tonight is a butternut squash soup, silky and delicious full of Ent cinnamon, coconut milk, and warm spices. Lastly, I made a snack food that I love from my home, deviled eggs. The boss of the dungeon that we cleared was a Root Abomination, the roots of the plant reminding me of horseradish, a common addition to deviled eggs.¡± Marco rambles on about his food, he goes on to describe deviled eggs to the dinner guests. ¡°Please enjoy!¡± At his words, a small battle of tiny magical conjurations occurs, many people starting with the deviled eggs or soup; treating the curry as a main course. Small gasps of pleasure or exclamations of joy cause burning happiness to grow in Marco, a similar feeling to Mana. *Ping* Affinity Growth +1% Marco smiles at the surprise notification, happy with his growth and being surrounded by people who enjoyed his company and his food. Chapter 27: Journey to the Wall Marco wakes with thoughts of the conversations he had the night previous with his new permanent party members. Shen seems to be a good person, stable just like his element. He pulls back the comforter and stretches, the morning sun streaming in from the window across the room, cream-colored curtains pulled back. Marco smiles as he remembers not only Shen, Ben, and himself coming to an agreement on forming a team but also that his coking last night increased his Affinity by a percent. ¡°With my limited experience it is hard to say what increase a single percent represents.¡± Marco thinks, pushing himself into a sitting position and continuing his stretching- years in kitchens and bakeries have made his stretching routine sacred. ¡°Today is the day that House Ivory leaves for the wall. I¡¯m a little nervous to be returning to the Deadwoods but excited to fight with my team and potentially find a new party member.¡± He thinks, pushing himself to his feet finally before heading toward his favorite place in the Manor, the shower. Several minutes later Marco emerges from the bathroom leading a fog bank of steam and heat. He heads toward his closet and starts to shove all of the extra clothes that House Ivory provided him into his [Inventory], getting dressed in his under armor gear. A plain but form fitting black tank top and the almost leggings before dressing in his armor pant but leaving the top pieces in his storage space. He exits his room into the hustle and bustle of a large amount of people preparing to go on a trip. House Ivory is bringing the entire staff and every family member is required to attend; housekeepers will transition to taking care of the barracks-style housing and gardeners will leave their garden behind in favor of the community fields at the wall. Marco reaches his second favorite place in his new world, the dining room. The sisters have prepared their usual travel fair along with Marco¡¯s favorite burrito and a stack of ration bars. He greets Ivory house members and House staff alike, with kindness that is returned with smiles and thanks for the delicious meal last night. Everything was a hit with the crowds, the curry receiving rave reviews; the vegetarians loving the depth of flavor and the uniqueness of the monster ingredients. It turns out that lemongrass doesn¡¯t exist in this region of the world and the Tangle version last night was their first experience with the delicious flavor. ¡°I should go find a quartermaster or someone similar to see if I can¡¯t ease the burden of transporting so much material with my [Inventory].¡± Marco thinks to himself, navigating the house until he find Eileen, Quartermaster of House Ivory. ¡°Hello Eileen! I have a storage space, Oren probably let you know, but I have a ton of space free and am happy to help transport things to the wall.¡± Marco offers, hoping to be useful. ¡°Hello Traveler, if you¡¯d like to help than we are happy to oblige. Please grab stacks E-G, if you have space for that much material.¡± Eileen greets him and directs him toward the labelled stacks of gear and material. Marco grabs all of it, nearly filling his [Inventory] and then heads off to find Ben, hoping to chat with him about what to expect on the journey. Walking through the halls, filled with paintings and pictures that tell the history of House Ivory, awe-inspiring as always. He quickly finds the [Light] Mage, packing his last things into a box and passing it off to a Transportmage contracted with House Ivory. The Transportmage wraps the box in layers of swirling [Air], lifting the box into the air and making the weight near nothing, it quickly joins a huge stack of others in the air. ¡°Hey Ben! How¡¯s your morning going so far?¡± Marco asks, walking toward the other man. ¡°Good morning, Marco! The day has started well and the rest guarantees to be interesting.¡± Ben greets Marco, standing up from his kneeling position and leading Marco out the front door of the House to go mingle amongst the crowd gathering there. ¡°Greetings Marco! Are you excited for the trip today?¡± Violet says from behind him, causing Marco to jump slightly at the unexpected voice so close to him. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am, a little nervous at the unknowns of the trip but excited to grow and see more of Omnia, even just a small piece.¡± Marco says, greeting the Matriarch of House Ivory. ¡°The journey to the wall, once a structure named The Wall of the Kingdom and the border of Eldermyst, now a structure of decrepit stone deep in the rotten forest of the Deadwoods, will be a simple thing but we will be harried by Skeletal Scouts, Fodder, and maybe some Zombies.¡± Violet explains. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Those are undead types, right?¡± Marco continues at Violet¡¯s nod, ¡°I¡¯m excited to fight more monsters, unfortunately we won¡¯t be finding many ingredients during our stint on the wall it seems.¡± ¡°It is uncommon to find non-undead dungeons in the area but it has been known to happen.¡± Violet says, ¡°Between the dungeons and the occasional plants hardy enough to survive in the Deadwoods without corruption you should be able to find things to cook and experiment with.¡± Marco nods, excited by the prospect of unique foods and culinary experiences, he is even more excited for the stint on the wall. It takes the rest of the family members and staff most of an hour before they are ready to depart but then they are on the road, Marco travels with Ben most often but occasionally walks with Coron or chats with the sisters about the usual fare they prepare at the wall. They explain that most of the food that they will be consuming is being carried with them by contracted Transportmages or will come with contingents of House guards that show up at the first of each month. Marco learns that they will be taking over the ¡®ownership¡¯ of the wall from Family Ebony, a human family of Dark Warriors, famous for pushing back the border and making deep dives behind enemy lines and known for their lich-slaying prowess. The trip out of the city and into the living part of the forest is without issue but soon Marco is back amongst the gray-green grass and washed-out star-shaped leaves of the Outer Deadwoods. They immediately encounter Scouts, some in the shape of small animal skeletons others misshapen jumbles of bone held together by the glowing green Curse Mana. The simple scouts are easily dispatched with a single bolt spell from Marco or the hundreds of others around him. The jumbles of bones are a little bit harder to kill, often requiring the body to be broken down into shard or smashed into dust to dispel Curse Mana within. Marco participates in the sniping of Scouts and starts to realize his piercing [Salt Bolt] isn¡¯t the best match up against the undead creatures that he will be fighting for the next four months. He focuses on his spell in between monster kills, focusing on returning the projectile to its blunt cubic form, he decides to call it [Salt Shot] to differentiate the attacks. He tests it on the next jumbled Scout, the new [Salt Shot] smashing into the jumble of bones with massive force, dusting the creature and dissipating the Curse Mana. ¡°Nice! That is way more effective than I thought it¡¯d be. It¡¯s probably the combination of an effective damage type and the opposing element.¡± Marco takes conjured a projectile and keeps it spinning around himself, his version of Ben¡¯s [Light] fidgeting. They make good progress through the Outer Deadwoods and are approaching the border to the Inner forest when a crowd of Fodder lead by a couple of Zombies charge at them from the dark tree-shaded woods. ¡°Incoming!¡± Someone calls from the head of the traveling column and projectiles begin to pour from the mass of House Ivory people. [Fireball] [Icicle] [Frost Bomb] [Dark Slash] [Catapult] [Root Strike] [Blast Wind] fly out of the group of people easily turning the group of humanoid skeletons into shards of bone and rotten dry flesh. All of the attacks churn the gray and dried out ground of the Deadwoods into a cloud of nasty smelling dust. [Earth] Mages grab the dust and pressing it back into the ground before the group surveys their surrounds and start to move forward once again. Violet stands watch over her family members and friends, like an ancient tree standing vigil over its younger brethren, not allowing her shadow to slow the other¡¯s growth. She watches all the projectiles fly and destroy the disgusting undead creatures, smiling at the ease that her family members dispatch the monsters. The cross the border from Outer to Inner Deadwoods and the green finally loses the battle completely to gray. More roving groups of Fodder dotted with increasing numbers of Zombies are dispatched by House Ivory and company. Fighting through the gray world of the Deadwoods for several hours, the relief is palpable when they can finally see the wall in the far distance. The wall is a huge edifice of gray stone, pockmarked with age and overgrowth, hard to gauge how large the defensive structure is from this distance but it takes up a majority of Marco¡¯s vision. It takes the large group another two hours to arrive at the gargantuan structure that used to be the border between kingdoms. Marco marvels at the massive wall, easily one hundred feet tall, and twenty-five feet thick, the wall covers a massive amount of land, stretching left and right for as far as the eye can see. Violet steps forward as the group slows to a halt, stopping in front of humongous portcullis and calling out in a booming voice. ¡°THE FORESTSONG AND THE HOUSE OF IVORY REPORTING FOR DUTY!¡± Violet¡¯s voice echos through the Deadwoods. ¡°Welcome back to the wall, Forestsong and House Ivory.¡± A distant voice calls back, a captain from the Ebony Family most likely. The portcullis in front of Violet rattles open slowly, an older human [Earth] Mage controlling the metal and raising it into the air so House Ivory can enter their new temporary home. ¡°Greetings! Mages and Warriors of Ivory please report to the marshalling field and Staff please report to Chamberlain Augustina Ebony to start the changeover of the guard.¡± The [Earth] Mage says, quickly introducing himself as Gatekeeper Hugh Ebony. The combatants of Ivory split off to follow the directions given to them by Hugh and the staff move to find the Chamberlain. Marco follows Ben, Shen, and Coron toward the marshalling field on top of the wall, up several hundred stairs, Coron cheating by hovering up the thin shafts next to the stairs meant for the purpose. Shen pulling a similar move but with a small [Earth] platform raising him up the side of the shaft. ¡°I need to figure out how to levitate myself around with [Salt], I''m tired of having to walk up all of these stairs already and this is the first time.¡± Marco thinks to himself, remembering his fight with the Cursed Wolves and his early attempts to pick himself up. He reaches the top of the stairs, not winded because of his physical buffs but the number of stairs still staggering. He looks out into the distance, getting his first view of the Cursed Lichdoms. Chapter 28: A View from the Wall The gray world expands from the far side of the wall, the Cursed Lichdoms a blight of black trees, glowing green streams, and gray grass. The rivers and streams of [Water] so full of [Curse] Mana that they glow sickly green, polluting the land and allowing undead to form and roam free. In the far distance there is a town of similar size to Woodholme, though it is hard to tell from a distance the walls look like bone, gray white and smooth. The tall walls reflect the light of [Curse] Mana in the surrounding lands, glowing the familiar sickly shade of green and illuminating undead workers digging outside the city. The marshalling field is a fenced in portion at the top of the wall, stretching from crenelation to crenelation with gated fences on the sides, allowing people to enter and exit but keeping everyone separated if needed. Marco enters the marshalling field and spots Oren for the first time on this trip, speaking with an older human man who is bowing respectfully to the old elf. The older man, presumably of the Ebony Family has skin reminiscent of his family name, dark and smooth, with a bald head and black eyes. Marco slowly walks over to the pair slowly, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. Oren gestures him over and introduces the older man, ¡°Marco, meet Geoffrey Darkflame, current head of The Ebony Family and an old student of mine.¡± Oren introduces, ¡°Geoffrey, this is Marco, Traveler and one of my current students.¡± Geoffrey gives him a small bow, ¡°Greetings Marco, welcome to the wall and Omnia as a whole. A [Salt] Mage, correct?¡± ¡°Yes, I was a Chef back home and I guess that translated to a High [Salt] Affinity here.¡± Marco shrugs, ¡°I look forward to my time at the wall.¡± ¡°And a High Affinity to start? Auspicious, destroy lots of undead while you¡¯re here, [Salt] usually has the easiest time of it.¡± Geoffrey comments, bidding farewell soon after to go speak to more newcomers. Oren grabs the attention of the rest of his party members and they quickly come over, interested in what the old elf has to say. ¡°Your first order of business now that you¡¯re on the wall is to find your last team member. I am extraordinarily biassed but as you need a damage dealer and control hybrid, I think you should look for a [Dark] Warrior or Rogue.¡± Oren says, taking the same lecturing posture as always; hands clasped behind his back. ¡°The Ebony Family is leaving some of their younger members behind for additional training and experience, any one of them would be a good fit for your team composition.¡± ¡°That sounds great! We will look into members as soon as we can.¡± Marco agrees after making eye contact with his party members and seeing their agreement. ¡°Secondly, I know it is the first trip to the wall for all of you so there are somethings I must explain about how things work out here.¡± Oren begins, ¡°We are out of Sunlit Lands, deep in the Deadwoods like this, the Sunlight System cannot reach us normally. There is an artifact here at the wall called the Sunlit Pillar, make contact with it and the System is able to function.¡± ¡°How cool, able to use the System all the way out here in the Inner Deadwoods.¡± Marco thinks to himself, ¡°Oren is right! We need to finish filling our party slows and then we can take on jobs together.¡± Oren dismisses them and walks off to find other people to inform about the happenings of the wall. Marco turns to his teammates and they find a quiet coroner to discuss what they want in a teammate. ¡°I think Oren is right, we need to fill our party soon, that way we can get used to fighting together and take on a Gold Rank job. The quicker we get comfortable the better off we will be.¡± Marco says to unanimous nods from his friends. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°A [Dark] Warrior or Rogue would be great but if we can find someone with dual affinity that would be even better.¡± Shen says, ¡°It will give the team more adaptability and options in a combat situation.¡± They chat about combinations they would love to see in future teammates and what elements they would avoid. They were interrupted eventually by Geoffrey and Violet silencing the crowd to complete the changing of leadership. ¡°Attention gathered Warriors, it is that time once again. Violet Forestsong of House Ivory, do you swear to care for the wall and all of its citizens? To protect Eldermyst from its ancient enemies from the Cursed Lichdoms? Do you so swear?¡± Geoffrey intones, power growing behind his words. ¡°I do so swear on my power and strength to protect Eldermyst and all of its citizens.¡± Violet agrees ritualistically. A small flash of overlapping Mana pressure form the pair nearly drives the crowd to their knees. ¡°And with that the Ebony Family relinquishes their time on the wall and passes it off to House Ivory. May your time on the wall be beneficial for all.¡± Geoffrey says and then takes a step backward into his shadow and disappears, [Shadowstep]. All along the wall more elder members of the Ebony Family do the same, stepping into shadows and disappearing from the wall. Marco looks on in amazement at the grand show of magic, not flashy but insanely useful and so cool. The Family left behind its younger members and those unable or unwilling to teleport in an effort to make them stronger. Marco and all of the other combatants are dismissed and given directions toward the barracks-style housing where they would be living for the next four mouths. He follows the directions that he was give, quickly heading back down the stairs and into the residential area of the wall. He finds his assigned bed and chest, placing cloths and extra shoes into the chest at the foot of his bed and makes a note to find the Quartermaster and leave her with the boxes he carried to the wall in his [Inventory]. Ben is assigned the bed next to his and Shen is one more bed over, the team all together for security and relationship reasons, ensuring that you at least go along with your roommates. One more empty bed completes their section of the barracks, no one coming forward to claim it until they find their last team member. ¡°Do either of you know where Eileen is located now that we are at the wall?¡± Marco asks, ¡°I have some cargo to return to her.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can lead you to the Quartermaster¡¯s area. It¡¯s on the bottom floor of the wall near the portcullis.¡± Ben says, finishing placing his items in the chest at the foot of his bed and making sure Marco is following him before they head down more stairs back toward the ground floor and Eileen. They walk through the plain but busy hallways of the wall, most people still looking for their rooms or headed toward the Sunlit Pillar to activate their System again. Marco talks to Eileen quickly and then dumps the cargo her transported for her in its designated spot, she thanks him for easing the burden and waves him away, the area extremely busy as House Ivory starts to settle in. Ben and Marco head toward the top of the wall once again, to the area containing the Sunlit Pillar, Shen meeting them on the top floor of the wall. They all quickly make contact with the strange stone pillar, a chest high column of golden stone threaded with the colors of every element; various shades of blue, red, black, golden yellow, white and even curse green. *Ping* Satellite Sunlit Pillar Found Access to System Granted Once per Day ¡°Cool, so it¡¯ll just update with everything once a day? Probably saves Mana to not have it active all the time.¡± Marco thinks to himself. Marco finds the dining area pretty quickly, grabbing food prepared by cooks of the wall, the sisters not yet settled into the kitchen. He sits with his party members and they make plans to find the recruitment center to find their newest teammate. ¡°This place is amazing; it¡¯s like its own little ecosystem or city.¡± Marco says, eating his mediocre plate of fried rice, carrots overcooked and mushy and the rice too salty. He sighs to himself at the sad food, filling but uninteresting and poorly executed. ¡°Food needs some work though.¡± ¡°The wall itself is a marvel of engineering and magic,¡± Shen says, the [Earth] Warrior able to feel the magic of the wall and how it was crafted. ¡°After we finish eating, let¡¯s find out where people seeking parties are congregating and see if there are any people that mesh well with us and fit our criteria.¡± Ben says, scowling at the plate of fried rice. ¡°Agreed.¡± Both Marco and Shen say at the same time. Chapter 29: A New Teammate Marco and the rest of his party walk into the recruitment area that they were given directions to, unable to find it on their own after numerous attempts. ¡°Hello! Welcome, what can we help you and your friends with today?¡± A nice older woman says from behind a cluttered desk. Gray curly hair and bright blue eyes decorate a weathered face, showing years of hardship and struggle. A small name tag on the left side of her chest reading, Angela. ¡°Hello, we are looking to round out our party with a [Dark] Warrior or Rogue, ideally looking for a candidate with dual Affinities but we know that is a large ask.¡± Marco says, greeting Angela with a small. ¡°That sounds doable young man. We have some candidates available that fit not only your first requirement but also the second, possessing two Affinities.¡± Angela says, grabbing folders from her desk. ¡°We have three people that will fit your criteria however, one of them is an older elf who just lost their party and may not be the best fit personality wise.¡± ¡°Okay so two candidates.¡± Marco immediately stops considering the older elf candidate and knows the others agree with him, all of them decided earlier that it would be best to have everyone in the party of similar age and experience. ¡°It would be best if we could meet them.¡± ¡°Of course, can¡¯t let people invite people to their party without meeting them now, can we?¡± Angela says, checking the folders one more time before putting them back in the large stacks, she then pulls open a drawer and grabs two stones and channels Mana into them. ¡°It should just be a few minutes for them to show up. Feel free to have a seat.¡± Angela gestures to the comfortable looking couches that line the edges of the room and the party members sit at one with a small table in front of it, sinking lightly into the cushions. Several minutes pass, the team making small talk amongst themselves, getting to know each other better. Simple and mindless questions like favorite foods, colors, and other things like that. Marco smiles at finding out Ben¡¯s favorite color is purple and his favorite food is some local form of pot stickers; a small pan-fried dumpling filled with seasoned mushrooms, cabbage, and green onion. Shen¡¯s favorite color is dark brown, just like his element and his favorite food is a food from The Svarog Mountains, a spiced veggie stew served with rice. Soon, the first of their candidates arrives, a young dwarven man, he introduces himself, a Slavic accent to his words, ¡°Hello, I am Garreth Coldforge, of the Svarog Mountains and the ice that surrounds them. I am a [Dark] and [Earth] Warrior and Rogue.¡± ¡°Hello Garreth, I¡¯m Marco and I am a [Salt] Mage, to my left here is Ben of House Ivory and he is our [Light] Healer with some control spells, and finally Shen of House Lockheart, our [Earth] Warrior and Tank.¡± Marco introduces everybody, ¡°We are currently looking to fill a secondary damage role, focusing on setting me up for bigger hits and controlling the battlefield.¡± ¡°I am a Rogue like a mentioned with my main focus being speed and whittling my opponents down. I use [Air] mainly for a speed boost with a couple of slowing spells and slashes thrown in.¡± Garreth says, ¡°I use small hand axes with an additional sharpened spike on top as my main weapons.¡± ¡°Hmm, not exactly what we looking for. He would be better in a team with him acting as the main damage-dealer.¡± Marco thinks to himself. ¡°Awesome, we have another candidate to meet but when we make our decision, we will have Angela use the calling stone once again.¡± Marco says, standing and shaking Garreth¡¯s hand and watching him leave. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Shortly after Garreth leaves the other candidate arrives and quickly introduces herself, ¡°Hello, I am Lucia Ebony. [Dark] and [Fire] Rogue with a focus on debuffing and control tactics.¡± Lucia introduces herself and her combat style. ¡°Hello Lucia,¡± Marco greets and goes through the introductions just like last time. ¡°She seems to be what we are looking for. Focus on enemy control and tactics rather than going for the big hit.¡± ¡°Greetings Lucia, you seem to be a good fit for our team however, we would prefer to see you in combat before we agree to anything long term.¡± Ben says. ¡°Of course! That makes sense, would a friendly spar work? I don¡¯t know if I trust anyone enough to go on a mission with total strangers, no offense.¡± Lucia says. The young woman is beautiful, dark brown skin, black curly hair, and black eyes filled with confidence and a touch of distrust. ¡°That is understandable! Let¡¯s find a practice arena and beat each other up a little bit.¡± Shen says, laughing a little. They all leave the recruitment area, waving to Angela as they exit the room. Asking for directions to the nearest practice arena Marco leads the way down to the ground floor and down one of the winding hallways, walking for about twenty minutes before they reach the section that contains practice areas. ¡°Alright, normal sparring rules apply here. No killing or crippling blows and let¡¯s have a good spar to learn about each other.¡± Ben says. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the damage-dealers against each other and we can move on from there.¡± Marco steps forward, smiling and stretching light as he summons his [Salt Skin], having pulled his upper armor on during the trip to the practice areas. The solid white armor spreads from the very center of his chest, forming plates around his most vital areas before running down his armor reinforcing it, turning black leather and cloth into gray speckled white. ¡°On your mark, Lucia!¡± Marco says, ready to summon [Salt Bolt] at a moment''s notice. ¡°On three! One, two, three.¡± Lucia summons a [Cloud of Darkness] around Marco, causing him to summon a set of six [Salt Bolts] to hover around his body. A small knife skates over his leg armor, the back of his thigh protected by [Salt Skin] thankfully, he spins while firing a bolt toward the Rogue, slowing the speed drastically. Hearing no exclamation of pain, Marco continues to track the area around him, more small knife strikes hit areas of his armor. Seemingly testing his defenses before going for stronger blows, Marco notices the small knicks in his armor are much hotter than they should be. ¡°That¡¯s a sneaky bit of magic right there.¡± Marco thinks, spinning the bolts around his body faster, trying to ward off Lucia. A bolt explodes eliciting a small yelp of pain from the human woman hiding in the shadows, more bolts streak toward the woman. ¡°I concede, I cannot go any harder without risking more permanent damage.¡± Marco says, lifting his hands in surrender. ¡°That is some serious armor!¡± Lucia says, appearing from the black cloud that slowly dissipates. Shen decides to go next, [Earthen Armor] flowing up his body to full encapsulate the Tank. Lucia once again begins the fight and summons the [Cloud of Darkness] once again, Shen immediately fighting back with a small [Quake] his conjured hammer slamming into the ground and shaking violently, causing Lucia to stumble. Shen brings his hammer around to where Lucia just was but misses the quick fighter. A small line of dust sprinkles from where a small knife tries to enter the back of the Tank¡¯s thigh. He kicks out, [Earth] covered foot impacting leather coated chest and Lucia ends up flying across the room to land gracefully on her feet like a human-shaped cat. She hurtles across the room in a flash of fire and smoke, almost immediately behind Shen once again, Lucia swings her knife nowhere close to Shen¡¯s body but a crescent of [Dark] Mana follows the movement of her blade, biting into the armor nearly to the skin. Shen immediately summons more armor to fill in the gash and the pair of fighters quickly reach an impasse, small cuts and gashes immediately filled in like it never happened. ¡°I¡¯m going to call it!¡± Ben says, ¡°Lucia, you are a terror in that cloud of yours.¡± Lucia smiles brightly, ¡°Thank you!¡± ¡°Lucia, we would like to offer you a spot on our team.¡± Marco offers. ¡°You are terrifyingly competent on the battlefield and seem to hold similar values as we do.¡± ¡°I accept.¡± Lucia says with a beaming smile. They all smile and chat lightly on the return trip to the barracks, where Lucia will be moving into the fourth bed shortly. They make the twenty-minute journey in companionable conversation and the friendly atmosphere continues into the barracks room. ¡°She seems like a perfect fit, and I get to cook for someone that isn¡¯t a vegetarian!¡± Marco thinks to himself. Chapter 30: Excursion Marco and his newly full party enter the extremely busy cafeteria and quickly get in line excited for the day of hunting they have ahead of them. They decided last night that they would take a Silver Rank job first, so they can iron out any issues they may have in the field before facing anything truly dangerous to them. The line passes quickly and Marco receives a steaming plate of scrambled, crispy home fries, and breakfast sausage links along with a slice of buttered toast. Marco nearly cries in happiness at the heaping bile of breakfast goodness. They quickly find a table with four seats free surrounded by hundreds of others enjoying their breakfast. Marco digs into the food, having to hold in moan at the greasy and sweet bite of breakfast sausage. Fluffy scrambled eggs finished with butter and crispy potatoes seasoned with garlic, onion, and paprika are both delicious bites, Marco uses his toast to wipe up the small crumbs of scrambled egg and last crispy bits of home fry. They all finish their breakfast, walking their plates to the hole in the wall leading to the kitchen designed for the dirty dishes, and they head out of dining room and ascend the stairs to the room the satellite Guildhall on the wall. The find the Silver job board and quickly the available jobs appear. *Ping* Silver Jobs Available: 1. Brute Spotted (0/1) (0/53) 2. Swarm Cleared (0/127) ¡°Only two available? I guess the wall is a higher level area than Silver.¡± Marco thinks to himself, the team agreeing on the first option as they are lacking in AOE damage. The team quickly descends back to the ground floor, headed toward the opposite portcullis that they entered through. Every member of the party is dressed in their full armor before they exit the safety of the wall, Marco and Lucia in black cloth and leather, Ben is in his white cloth with armored padding around the important bits, and Shen in normal clothes with his armor half-formed over his chest and legs. Marco leads the party according to the directions provided by one of the clerks at the satellite Guildhall, another Gatekeeper waits on the Lichdom¡¯s side of the wall, the [Earth] Mage quickly raises the portcullis and the team exits into the gray world of the Deadwoods. The gray ground stretches for miles, speckled with black anemic trees trying to grow in the rotten environments of the Deadwoods, the party crunches across dry grass in search of the Brute, a fairly high level undead that has monstrous strength but doesn¡¯t generally use tactics. The clerk at the Guildhall said that the last reporting of the monster put it about forty-five minutes away from the wall. They quickly pickup speed, blurring through the Deadwoods at a good pace. The party reaches the area where the Brute was last reported to be and assumes combat positions, slowing their buffs and making sure they are able to react at a moment¡¯s notice. Marco scans the surrounding woods, not immediately seeing any undead through the shriveled-up trees. A large shape looms in the far distance, several hundred feet away from the group stands a fifteen-foot tall hunched over monster. ¡°Spotted at twelve o¡¯clock,¡± Marco says in a quiet whisper. ¡°Prepare for combat! Fifteen feet tall and bulky.¡± ¡°I will grab its attention with a [Focused Beam] and then we go for the alpha strike.¡± Ben says, right hand glowing lightly with stored Mana. ¡°Three, two, and one.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. A [Focused Beam] flashes across the distance barely reaching the Brute but still gains its attention, the giant monster starting to charge. The lumbering Brute picks up speed, rushing toward the party, nearly a blur when they all unleash their spells. [Salt Strike] [Quake] [Focused Beam] [Fireball] ¡°Interesting they she cast [Fireball], I thought she would have gone for a [Cloud of Darkness] and started stabbing.¡± Marco thinks while repeatedly casting [Salt Bolt] and sending them fling toward the monsters. The monstrous undead manages to bellow with rotten vocal cords, dozens of Fodders and Zombies racing through the woods at the team. ¡°Incoming! Brace for a swarm.¡± Shen calls, pulling the stone around him into a [Rampart] using the small wall to block the incoming undead. Marco fires off three [Salt Strikes] in front of the small wall, the huge crystals ready to shred the charging creatures. [Field of Wisps] is cast by Ben on the left side of the battlefield while Lucia summons her [Cloud of Darkness] around the boss and disappears into the fray. The Brute is looking haggard, chunks of flesh ripped off by the onslaught of spells. Roars sound from the patch of darkness, the Brute somehow in pain under the ministrations of Lucia. Small bursts of [Fire] escape the cloud of black, usually right before or after a roar of pain echos through the woods, With the [Rampart] and [Salt Strike] crystals keeping all of the party members safe, Ben and Shan transition to full offensive. Shen starts to enlarge his [Hammer of Granite], massive hammer strikes crushing multiple undead at a time. *Ping* Minions Slain (23/53) Marco starts to build up a stock of [Salt Bolts] readying himself for a barrage to take care of the rest of the minions. Lucia is at home in her [Cloud of Darkness], dual wielding her dual karambits with practiced ease tearing off strips of huge undead Brute and leaving trails of burning blood in their wave- putrid smoke joining the deep darkness in the air around her. Shen is making his return as whack-a-mole world champion and driving Fodder and Zombies into the ground with tremendous force. Ben is doing an excellent impression of a laser, [Light] obliterating heads or burning out chests, Marco is holding his own using [Salt Shot] to blast through monsters before slinging the projectile back around and into the [Cloud of Darkness] making sure to shout and let Lucia know to expect the shot. A System notification lets them know that the Brute has fallen. *Ping* Brute Slain (1/1) *Ping* Minions Slain (50/53) The last minion falls not long after, Lucia cutting through a neck with a [Dark Slash], Marco sending a [Salt Shot] through the head of a Zombie and Ben kills the last with a [Focused Beam]. ¡°That seemed to go well,¡± Marco says, ¡°Nothing really challenging about the fight other than numbers.¡± ¡°I agree! A full team plus we outranked the monster.¡± Ben says. ¡°Yeah, a single Brute wasn¡¯t very difficult especially after that alpha strike.¡± Lucia comments, twirling her knives between her fingers. ¡°No issues on my end either, nothing got close to breaking through [Earthen Armor] and they fell to my hammer easily.¡± Shen says. Marco and team gather what they can the surrounding area, finding a tiny anemic patch of Stinging Nettles which he picks very carefully and shoves into his [Inventory]. Stinging nettles are exactly what he thought he¡¯d find out here in the Inner Deadwoods, a hearty little plant that fights back so much that you cannot eat it raw. ¡°So, let us head back and we will see if there are any Gold Rank jobs that are interesting.¡± Ben says, starting to head back toward the wall. The trip back is uneventful, a couple of roaming patrols of Scouts that are dispatched before they make it within throwing distance to the group. They finally see the wall in the distance and slow their pace, getting their first solid look at this side of the structure. Gray stone dilapidated with age wrapped in vines and ivy that twist and turn into something like runes. He expands his Mana a little bit and is nearly blown off of his feet by the sheer amount of Mana present in the vine and ivy patterns. He stands transfixed by the intricate swirls and loops of the Mana, not always following the vine or ivy pattern beneath, ¡°I wonder what spell or techniques allow them to weave the Mana like that.¡± Marco thinks to himself, snapping himself out of his stupor and continuing the short trip to the portcullis. ¡°Halt! State your name and business with the wall.¡± Gatekeeper Renee says, a halberd flowing into her hand from the stone below her. ¡°Marco, Shen, Lucia, and Ben reporting back from a Silver Adventurer job beyond the wall.¡± Marco rattles off. ¡°Very well, I saw you all leave this morning but it is procedure.¡± The Gatekeeper says, raising the portcullis and waving them through. Chapter 31: Gold Job The team walks through the portcullis and into the safety of the wall. Armor dissolves into Mana around all of them; flakes of [Salt] and [Earth] falling to the ground before disappearing all together. They ascend up the stairs to the residential wing, taking turns in the communal bathroom to wash Deadwoods dust and monster from their bodies, replacing sweaty under armor with functional cloths to head toward the dining area. Marco leads the way up the cafeteria and stands in the ever-present line and waits his turn. ¡°I wonder what is being served for lunch.¡± Marco tries to crane his neck but can¡¯t see anyone with a full plate, sighing he settles in to wait. The line moves fast, and soon the team is seated at a table with others, no four person tables available. Marco is happy to see that Coron is at his table, chatting excitedly with a familiar looking dwarf. ¡°Hello Coron and Garreth! How are you both doing today?¡± Marco greets, sliding into the chair next to the older elf. ¡°Things are going well! How do you know Garreth?¡± Coron says, turning to speak with Marco as he sits. Garreth echoes the sentiment around a mouth full of sandwich. ¡°We interviewed him yesterday for our party. Coron meet Lucia Ebony, our new Rogue.¡± Marco introduces, Lucia bowing lightly at the elf. Marco takes a moment to examine his food, so wrapped up in the conversation that he hadn¡¯t look yet. A slightly crusty roll hollowed out and filled with sliced grilled chicken, liver pate, mayonnaise, and various pickled vegetables. ¡°There is also cucumber in here, so good. I love Banh Mi.¡± He thinks to himself He takes a huge bite of his sandwich, marveling at the explosion of flavors and textures. Crusty bread with tender chicken and crunchy acidic vegetables all brought together by the smooth liver pate. ¡°Perfectly made Banh Mi.¡± ¡°A pleasure to meet you Lucia of the Ebony Family,¡± Coron says, before taking a big bite of his vegetable sandwich, Marco sniffs and smiles to himself smelling a hint of lemongrass from the elf¡¯s sandwich. ¡°You¡¯ve met Garreth but the other members of my new team are; Harold Sale our new Tank and Alya Lon, our healer.¡± The [Water] Healer nods in greeting, not seeming to be much for words. ¡°Good to know that the sisters are putting the Tangle ingredient to good use.¡± Marco thinks. ¡°Nice to meet both of you!¡± He greets the pair, ¡°Have you ventured past the wall together yet?¡± ¡°No, we have not,¡± Harold says in an extremely deep voice. The tall human Tank is handsome in a rugged sort of way with tanned skin, scruffy stubble that matches his naturally gray hair and offsets his dark eyes. ¡°And before you ask, I am not super old, only one hundred and seven. If your bloodline remains attached to an element for long enough, it tends to change simple things like hair or eye colors.¡± ¡°Interesting, I didn¡¯t know Affinities could interact with the body like that.¡± Marco thinks before replying, ¡°[Salt] Tank then?¡± ¡°Indeed! A fellow [Salt] Affinity is rare in these lands, my family is from the borderlands between Eldermyst and The Floating Kingdoms¡± Harold says, in his deep bass rumble. ¡°I am a Traveler actually, just appeared here on day nearly a month ago.¡± Marco says. ¡°Fascinating, to have such a High Affinity right out of the gate is incredible. We should trade knowledge some time.¡± Harold rumbles. Marco nods, always happy to gain more knowledge about his spells and Affinity. ¡°We are heading beyond the wall after midday meal,¡± says the gnomish woman, Alya in a slightly high-pitched voice. The three-foot-tall woman has deep blue hair streaked with various lighter blues, sapphire eyes and deeply tanned skin. ¡°It will be our first foray as a group.¡± ¡°We were discussing doing a Gold Rank job after the meal as well.¡± Shen supplies, finishing his sandwich and swigging some water. ¡°Our group did a Silver job earlier this morning to make sure everyone meshed well together.¡± ¡°Before we head to the satellite Guildhall, I¡¯d like an hour or two to try and develop a new spell.¡± Marco requests, ¡°I think it¡¯ll end up being a mass debuff against Undead, slowing them and doing minor but constant damage.¡± Harold nods, ¡°I have something similar, but it is more enchantment than active spell effect.¡± He says, ¡°I can apply it to my manifested weapons.¡± ¡°That is amazing, I hope to make mine a massive area spell.¡± Marco says. They chat companionably with the other team before bidding Coron and his team farewell and good luck with their mission. The teams go their separate ways with Marco headed to his bunk, to start his spell tests. Marco assumes his normal lotus position on the bed, focusing on the spell that he wishes to make. ¡°Back home, a circle of salt is a ward against evil and magic. Hopefully I can use that intent to form a spell that slowly leaches magic from Undead.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Marco takes continued deep breaths, cupping his hands together palm facing palm and focuses on what he wants to the spell to do. ¡°Protection from magic, sapping strength from Undead creatures, and providing destruction of Undead creatures.¡± He repeats this mantra in his head over and over again while pushing [Salt] Mana into the space between his hands, it takes several tries before his even able to control the [Salt] between his hands enough to prevent it from forming a solid ball. Thirty minutes pass and Marco is on to the next step of spell creation, he pushes the intent into his small cloud of [Salt]. ¡°Protection, Sapping, and Destruction.¡± is repeated over and over again and Marco tries to push those thoughts into his nascent spell, it immediately disrupts the formation and he has to start over. Again and again for another forty-five minutes he tries and fails to push the intent into the spell. Marco tries to change up his approach, spinning the [Salt] in his cupped hands while trying to infuse the intent works a touch better but still causes a failure. He slowly expands his hands and is shocked by the feeling of the [Salt] pulling in the intent before it expands to fill the barrack room and beyond. [Salt Circle] finishes forming and Marco beams a smile, and then nearly jumps a foot when he hears Ben¡¯s voice from the bed next to his. ¡°That is a very well-formed spell, Marco! You have a serious talent for Mana.¡± Ben says, matching Marco¡¯s smile. ¡°Did you manage to get all three pieces of intent into the spell?¡± ¡°Yes! It should protect from magic, sap strength from Undead creatures and begin to degrade them in its area of effect; which seems to be quite large.¡± Marco says standing and stretching, quite stiff from his nearly two hours of sitting. ¡°Let¡¯s get the group together and see if we can¡¯t rustle up a Gold Job.¡± Ben smiles and nods, leading the way toward Shen and Lucia. Marco and Ben join up with the rest of their party and make their way to the satellite Guildhall, quickly finding the Gold Rank job board and see what¡¯s available. *Ping* Gold Rank Jobs Available:
  1. Devil¡¯s Dead Dungeon Clear (0/1)
  2. Knight¡¯s Spotted (0/1)
  3. Ingredient Delivery: Stinging Nettle (0/1lb), Cursebreaker Carrot (0/1lb), Hen of the Woods Mushrooms (0/1lb)
Marco wants to accept the third option so badly it hurts; he manages to restrain himself and they all agree that the second option is best. Marco mentally picks the second option and they make their way back to the portcullis and Gatekeeper Renee, who raises the gate for them and allows them through with wishes of good luck. They quickly race through the gray forest, exactly the same as this morning, crunchy grass and the occasional patrol of lesser undead creatures. The party makes quick work of the monsters and continues their sprint through the woods, quickly finding the Knight in the distance. ¡°Yeah, it is a large skeleton but it doesn¡¯t look that scary.¡± Marco thinks to himself, preparing bolts and shots to be launched. The party repeats the same strategy as earlier with Ben starting off combat with a [Focused Beam] that lances across the distance, only leaving wisps of smoke on the skeletal monster. The monster whips around toward them, a roar coming from its skull and a full suit of icy plate armor forms around the monster. ¡°Oh, that looks much scarier.¡± The team waits for the monster to begin its charge, waiting until it¡¯s within forty feet to start their alpha strike, just like the fight earlier today bolts, beams, and [Fireball] flash across the distance to pummel the Knight clad in icy plate. ¡°[Water] Knight! Expect whips or something similar!¡± Ben calls over the sounds of the spells detonating against the monster. ¡°Heard!¡± Marco calls out, not even realizing he has reverted back to kitchen callbacks in combat. He smiles and continues to sling [Salt Shots] at the Knight, shattering chunks of its armor off but it quickly repairs itself. ¡°Lucia! See if you can get a [Fire] debuff to stick.¡± ¡°Going in!¡± The Rogue calls back, stepping backward into her shadow and out into the Knight¡¯s. She doesn¡¯t bother with the [Cloud of Darkness] as it didn¡¯t seem to hinder the Brute at all but made it harder to for her teammates to aim. She strikes mid-calf, about as high as can reach with her short weapons and the icy armor their starts to melt before refreezing soon after. Lucia strikes a dozen times in quick succession with her dual weapons, every strike causing some of the armor to melt a little bit more before it freezes once again. ¡°Debuffs won¡¯t stick!¡± Marco watches in horror as Lucia tries to step into her shadow but is kicked by the Knight, sending the small woman into a tree across the battlefield. ¡°Ben! Lucia took a huge hit.¡± Marco cups his hands together and casts his new spell [Salt Circle], pulling his hands apart quickly, the [Salt] expands to fill the battlefield and beyond, the magic starts to eat at the skeleton below the armor. The Knight stumbles slightly, catching itself but roaring in pain at the [Salt] Mana eating at it. Ben sparkles with [Light], his speed increases by several orders of magnitude, [Lightspeed], flashing across the distance and appearing by Lucia¡¯s crumbled form. Ben glows with [Rejuvenation] and Lucia stirs, her wounds closing and bruises fading. Shen manages to recapture the Knight¡¯s attention with earthshattering blows with his [Hammer of Granite]. The huge monster staggers under the repeated blows as it loses huge chunks of his armor, a [Water] whip snakes out and slams in the Tank¡¯s [Earthen Armor] pushing him back several steps. Marco targets the creature¡¯s head with [Salt Strikes], distracting the monster temporarily as the icy helmet shatters and [Salt] crystals dig into the skull, carving lines into the bone and reaching for the green orb within. The Knight moves backward, tripping over a well-placed [Rampart], and fails to catch itself, falling to the ground with a crash and the sound of shattering ice. The team redoubles their castings, dozens of [Salt Shots] shatter armor and allow [Dark Slashes] to rip apart ribs and [Salt Bolts] to drill through the skull toward the orb of [Cursed] Mana within. One final blow from [Hammer of Granite], enlarged by Shen¡¯s magic ends the Knight¡¯s struggle. *Ping* Knight Slain (1/1) Congratulation on completing your Gold Ranked Adventurer Job. Rewards for Regular Completion: -Ten Gold Per Party Member -Mana Purification Ritual ¡°Interesting rewards, I wonder what the Mana Purification Ritual is used for. Maybe it helps if you get touched by [Curse] Mana.¡± Marco thinks to himself, deciding to hold off on the ritual until later. Chapter 32: Foraging and Dinner All of the team members fall to their behinds in the churned-up dirt, catching their breath in the wake of the battle. ¡°That wasn¡¯t too bad, I wouldn¡¯t want to fight more than two of them at a time though.¡± Marco says. ¡°It hit really hard though!¡± Lucia says, rubbing her chest. ¡°Thank you for your quick response, Ben.¡± ¡°Of course, it is my role after all.¡± Ben comments, waving away her comment. ¡°It seemed weak for a Gold Rank job though.¡± Shen says, ¡°It would have taken several hits to break through my [Earthen Armor].¡± The Knight¡¯s armor starts to fade into Mana, revealing the battered skeleton beneath, poked with [Salt] growths and small holes. The icy armor turning directly into fog, similar to dry ice, before dissipating to Mana however, some of the chunks of ice stay solid. ¡°Interesting, what are these?¡± Marco thinks to himself, standing up to pick up one of the extremely cold chunks of ice. Marco fumbles the chunk as the cold burns his hands. ¡°Ouch! These are so cold!¡± ¡°Marco, please be careful when picking up mysterious magical phenomenon.¡± Ben says, throwing a [Renew] at his hands. ¡°Thank you! Do any of you know what these are?¡± Marco asks, gazing down at the three-inch cube of light blue ice. ¡°No, this is something new for me.¡± Ben says, squatting down to look at the cubes closer. ¡°Can you store these in your [Inventory]?¡± Marco pokes each cube with this pointer finger, the cold burning it slightly more each time but the five chunks of ice disappear. All of the party members push themselves to their feet and start to look around the clearing, looking for anything that can be foraged. Marco looks around the clearing for Stinging Nettles like they had found this morning, ¡°If I can find more maybe I can turn them into a pesto sauce and make some food for the group tonight.¡± ¡°There should be ingredients around here, given the other Gold Rank options we had earlier.¡± Marco says, looking around the base of trees and in the shade for anything edible. He quickly finds a large patch of Stinging Nettles, only picking half so it can regrow, and shoves it into his [Inventory]. Not finding anything else, the group heads back to the wall. They run into several roaming patrols of undead, including one led by a Brute, which they take out with minimal issues now that they know the Brutes fight. The rest of the trip home to the wall is uneventful, arriving back to the massive stone edifice with the sunset turning the gray stone to a gold color. Gatekeeper Renee is still on duty and stops them for a moment before letting them through with confirmation of their completion of the Knight hunt. Shen takes the elevator shaft while the red of them take the stairs to the residential area and their rooms. They all clean up and discard under armor into the pile for sure things and Marco changes into a dark purple tunic shirt and black pants, grabbing his apron and knife from the chest at the end of the bed and putting them into his [Inventory]. He tells his party that he is headed to the kitchens to make dinner for their party and runs down the stairs, excited by new ingredients and nervous to cook for Lucia for the first time. Marco arrives to the kitchens to find absolute chaos, people working nearly on top of each other and food going everywhere. He doesn¡¯t see the sisters at first but eventually makes eye contact with them in the far corner of the room. He begins to weave his way through the crowd with a combination of ¡°behind¡±, ¡°back¡±, and ¡°corner¡± managing not to disrupt anyone too badly. ¡°What is going on in here? Why is it not orderly?¡± He says as he gets close enough to the sisters for them to hear. ¡°The Chef didn¡¯t show up today and we don¡¯t enjoy leading so many.¡± Ethil says, Doris nodding beside her. ¡°Someone is going to get hurt. Will I cause trouble if I organize them?¡± Marco says, taking his ankle length apron from his [Inventory] and putting his head through the loop and tying the straps tightly around his waist. ¡°No, at least not until Chef Lucas comes back.¡± Doris says and then turns back to her prepping. Marco takes a deep breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose, he prepares to put on his Chef voice. ¡°I hate yelling but I think that is how the current Chef runs this kitchen so it¡¯ll be what they respond to at first.¡± He waits to see if there will be a lull in the noise but after a couple of minutes, he still hasn¡¯t noticed the general volume dimming at all. He sighs to himself and takes a deep breath. ¡°ATTENTION! WHO IS CURRENTLY IN CHARGE HERE?¡± Marco yells at the top of his lungs, noticing those closest to him covering their ears at the extremely loud words. Several of the works look toward an overweight man sitting near the back wall, furthest away from the range of Inscriptions. ¡°YOU!¡± Marco points to the man and walks quickly toward him, the fat man flinching at the attention from Marco. The man is the first overweight person Marco has met on Omnia, the general culture of combat and fitness causing most everyone to have a fit physique. The man, presumably a Sous Chef or something, has a balding head with stringy and greasy brown hair sticking to his forehead. Wide brown eyes look back at Marco as he approaches quickly, other people in the kitchen moving out of the way. ¡°Why is the kitchen in such disarray?¡± Marco asks, speaking at a normal volume now that he is closer to the man. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Not my job!¡± The man says in a surprisingly high-pitched voice, his stained Chef coat has the name Isaac over the left breast. ¡°Isaac, you are the Sous Chef? Or next in charge after Chef Lucas?¡± Marco asks, clenching his teeth in annoyance at the man''s comment, one of Marco¡¯s pet peeves. ¡°Yes, I am the Sous Chef,¡± Isaac says, sticking his nose in the air slightly. ¡°Ugh we have a dud here.¡± Marco thinks. ¡°Then it is your job to organize and lead the kitchen.¡± He says, ¡°If you¡¯re not going to do it, can I make sure dinner gets made and doesn¡¯t kill someone?¡± ¡°Do whatever you¡¯d like.¡± Isaac says, waving a hand in the air and going back to looking at the book he has in his lap. ¡°Idiot, it is your job.¡± Marco thinks, taking a deep breath and letting go of his annoyance at the useless man. ¡°Alright folks! If it isn¡¯t going to burn or go bad in the next three minutes put it down so we can discuss the plan going forward.¡± Marco yells above the noise, seeing most people put their knifes or pans down. ¡°Gather up! Let¡¯s see what we are working with here. Group up by station experience please! Prep, Colds, Sides, Pasta, Fish, and Meat please, if you don¡¯t work on stations in this kitchen just go with the group you have the most experience with.¡± ¡°Time to introduce the brigade system I guess.¡± Marco thinks to himself with a smile. The crowd of confused cooks slowly sort themselves into groups, chatting with each other to figure out which group is which. ¡°Okay! Now that we are in groups, I am going to quickly explain something called the brigade system! It is not a system like our Sunlight System but a system of organization used in fancy kitchens back home to ease workload.¡± Marco begins, ¡°First! Your Chef, I know he isn¡¯t current here so we will move on, next in the brigade order is Sous Chef, your second in charge and leader in the case that your chef isn¡¯t here. As it turns out, yours is useless and reading instead of helping with dinner service so we will ignore that as well.¡± Marco takes a deep breath, ¡°I guess I am going to have to be Chef De Partie today if we want the wall to eat tonight.¡± He sighs and continues explaining, ¡°Next is Chef De Partie, I will be filling in this role tonight to make sure everyone on the wall eats this evening. I will direct all of the stations and the stations are as follows: Garde Manger, in charge of cold items like salads, Saucier, in charge of sauces Poissonnier, in charge of fish cookery, Rotisseur, in charge of meat cookery, Entremetier will be in charge of vegetables and sides tonight.¡± Most of the cooks start to look excited at the new organizational structure, some remain confused and a few of them look angry for some reason. ¡°What was on the menu tonight?¡± Marco asks, receiving about thirty-five conflicting answers. ¡°Alright, we will work with some of the product you¡¯ve all prepped already but we will be shifting directions.¡± Marco explains his menu for the evening, shifting the direction of the Saucier station to be closer to a traditional Tournant, and focusing them on pasta preparation. He starts to explain his menu to the gathered cooks, going for simple fare for speed. ¡°The menu for this evening is as follows! Fresh Pappardelle pasta, Stinging Nettle pesto cream sauce, topped with toasted seeds and served with garlic bread. For people requesting a protein this evening, they will receive grilled chicken and for our vegetarian diners; portabella mushroom.¡± Marco says, adopting Oren¡¯s lecturing pose. ¡°We will need a salad from our Garde Manger station and if we have anyone interested in making dessert, please come find me once we split up! I will come around and explain things as needed. My name is Marco.¡± ¡°Yes Chef!¡± The assembled cooks¡¯ chant. Marco smiles and waits a for everyone to disperse to their stations and then finds a place near the range with room for a cutting board and sets up there. A young girl stays behind, interested in the dessert course for the evening and Marco gives her a recipe for flourless chocolate torte with raspberry coulis. Marco starts to wander the kitchen and finds the cooks making the pasta need some help. ¡°A touch more water in the dough.¡± He adds a splash of water, conjuring a rolling pin and showing them how to roll and stretch the pasta for the best results. He pulls his Stinging Nettles from his [Inventory] and brings them to the people he assigned to make the pesto cream. ¡°Be very careful with this ingredient, the plant has small fibers that cause extreme irritation when touched. Boil some water and blanch the nettles for one minute before putting them into an ice bath to make them safe to eat.¡± Marco says to a rod of nods from the Sauciers. He watches the hustle and bustle of his newly acquired kitchen, they work smoothly and in groups, working together when needed. He smiles and helps the younger girl in charge of dessert mix the torte batter and grease the pan with butter. The next hour flies by, the sisters taking the role of his supervisors and making sure everyone was making food that would be up to Marco¡¯s standards. Marco cooked a huge pot of rice during the break and made a fast vegetable curry with some of vegetables he keeps in his extradimensional space. ¡°Can¡¯t run a kitchen without feeding your cooks.¡± He makes sure everything will be ready in time for dinner and takes over finishing touches so that his cooks can eat family meal. A common practice in kitchens where a big communal meal is made before service to make sure everyone gets at least one meal that day and to bond the cooks closer together. Marco, Ethil, and Doris watch all of the pots, tasting and adjusting flavors as necessary. ¡°I¡¯m impressed; these cooks know their stuff but they just didn¡¯t have any guidance.¡± Family meal wraps up quickly and everyone scrubs their hands and returns to the work stations to prepare for the dinner rush, thankfully Marco has decided to just plate everything up family style, large dishes placed in the center of tables to make it easier on the cooks. ¡°A little bit nicer than buffet style, I¡¯ll just serve the proteins and protein substitutions on the side.¡± Marco watches and helps plate up large bowls of Pappardelle tossed with pesto cream sauce and topped with pinenuts, lemon zest, and parmesan. He talks to each any every cook after the last bowl of food leaves the kitchen, telling them all that they did an excellent job and should be proud of their performance today. He turns to the far back wall and the man still seated there. Isaac¡¯s mouth hangs open at the display of organization, book long forgotten as he watched Marco put the ever-dysfunctional kitchen in order. ¡°How did you do that?¡± Isaac asks, standing up and waddling over to Marco. ¡°Do what? Organize people? Communication and knowledge.¡± Marco explains and is shocked when Isaac gives him a bow of respect. ¡°That was amazing, Chef Lucas is my uncle but he doesn¡¯t talk to people, just yells and replaces people when they quit from the abuse.¡± Isaac says. ¡°I¡¯ve worked for several of those Chefs in my career and vowed I would never treat people like I¡¯d been treated in those places. I kept my promise to myself.¡± Marco says, ¡°Come on, I saw you didn¡¯t eat any family meal so let''s go get some dinner.¡± Marco leads the sous chef out of the kitchen and into the dining room. Marco is startled at the applause that greets him in the cafeteria. He quickly waves away the clapping and finds his team and sits, gesturing Isaac to an empty chair. He sees the bowls of pasta, chicken, mushroom, and garlic bread in the center of the table and smiles, proud of his cooks. He grabs a portion of all of them, with salad and dessert on separate plates. The tender pasta is draped in vibrant and creamy sauce all rounded out by that gentle peppery flavor that Stinging Nettles provide. ¡°Everything is delicious, they all did a great job in there. Hopefully Lucas isn¡¯t too mean to them in the future.¡± Marco tells the table about the special dessert and how delicious it turned out; they all try the chocolate torte with raspberry coulis and whipped cream. Embarrassing noises escape from Isaac, people chuckling lightly at the overweight man. ¡°It was a great day today!¡± Marco thinks to himself surrounded by his party members and unbelievably happy. Chapter 33: Retribution Marco stretches from under his comforter, slowly waking up and thinking about his day. Rolling over and pushing himself to his feet Marco is the first of his party to reach the bathroom and quickly strips down and gets into the shower, basking under the hot water and scrubbing the stress of yesterday away. He smiles as he thinks about his short stint in the kitchen and hopes there isn¡¯t any retribution from Chef Lucas. ¡°Those cooks will go a long way with proper guidance.¡± Marco thinks, working shampoo into his dark brown hair and smiling at his unexpected adventure into the brigade system yesterday. Turning off the water and stepping out the shower and activating the Inscription he found yesterday. *Ping* Activate Bonfire (Low) Inscription? Marco mentally agrees and a warm wind rips around his body, removing water and drying him off. He pulls out a set of under armor and gets dressed for the day, plans not set in stone but hopefully they head back out beyond the wall and do some more Gold Rank jobs. He walks out of the bathroom at the head of a cloud of steam and greets his party members, ¡°Good morning, Ben! Good morning, Lucia! I hope you slept well last night.¡± ¡°Good morning, Marco,¡± says Ben through a yawn. ¡°Morning!¡± Greets Lucia from under her comforter. ¡°I am going to get an early breakfast and see if I can find any good Gold Rank jobs for later on!¡± Marco says, kneeling down and lacing up his boots. He leaves his armor top off, leaving the room in just his armored pants and tank top under armor. He makes his way to the cafeteria and joins the line as usual. Marco is greeted and complimented by many people in the dining area, all of them with nice things to say about last night¡¯s pasta. He thanks everyone with a large happy smile on his face and thinks about breakfast, hoping for something like hashbrowns or maybe a frittata. Marco makes it to the front of the line but is surprised when a large man charges out of the kitchen in his direction. Marco pulls on his Affinity and quickly summons his [Salt Skin], protected in case the man tries to hit him. ¡°What the hell! Why are you running at me?¡± Marco says, backpedaling quickly to gain distance from the man in Chef whites. ¡°How dare you walk into my kitchen and change things?!¡± Chef Lucas screams at him, bald head shiny in the overhead light. ¡°Who do you think you are? I¡¯ve been Chef of the wall for longer than you¡¯ve been alive boy.¡± ¡°I am Marco, Traveler and Chef of Earth and I saw a problem that needed to be fixed to make sure that dinner was not only safe but delicious for everyone at the wall.¡± Marco explains in a calm tone. ¡°You had a problem with my kitchen? A boy like you?¡± Lucas laughs scornfully. ¡°Chef Lucas I assume? Rude of you not to introduce yourself and just run at someone like a crazy person.¡± Marco says, ¡°Your kitchen was a chaotic mess yesterday when I walked in there yesterday, people working basically on top of each other. How you make food three times a day for this many people is a mystery to me.¡± Lucas cannot form sentences any longer, so angry that all he can do is splutter and gnash his teeth. He manages to keep himself under control and takes a deep breath before speaking. ¡°I have been doing this for forty years boy, I know how to run a kitchen.¡± ¡°Evidently not, given what I saw yesterday. That was embarrassing and your so-called Sous Chef just sits on his ass and walks others work hard.¡± Marco spits, ¡°You have good cooks in that kitchen and they are propping you and your nephew up on their backs.¡± ¡°Did you tell my cooks to continue using the brigade system even after you were gone? Why are they insisting that it is better?¡± Lucas says with venom. ¡°Did you ask them why they thought it was better?¡± Marco asks, letting his [Salt Skin] fall off and crumble to dust. ¡°Why they insist that they like it more? Do you communicate with anyone or just dictate at people and hope for the best?¡± ¡°You cannot speak to me like this! I demand satisfaction, duel me.¡± Lucas yells. ¡°No, thank you. I don¡¯t want to waste my time beating up an old man.¡± Marco refuses, ¡°However, I will let you challenge me to a cook-off.¡± ¡°You would beat me up?¡± Lucas laughs, ¡°I am a Gold Rank Adventurer.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Orichalcum Ranked.¡± Marco says, ¡°I do not want to waste time with pointless duels but I am willing to cook for it.¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Lucas blanches to paper white, realizing he challenged someone a rank higher than him. ¡°Fine I challenge you to a cook off.¡± He says, grumbling and much meeker than a moment before. ¡°Conditions of the challenge? If I win, I want you to change your ways and respect your cooks more.¡± Marco says, mind starting to spin with ideas for the competition. ¡°Neutral party judge, System backed challenge and rewards.¡± Lucas says. ¡°Accepted.¡± Marco says. *Ping* Challenge Accepted You have accepted a challenge, Cook-Off, against Lucas Archimagirus Challenge: Cook-Off Breakfast One Hour to make a delicious breakfast. Judge: Nelson Iceborn ¡°Interesting that the System can mediate things like this. I guess the saying ¡®All is Fair Under the Sun¡¯ holds true.¡± Marco thinks. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why the System is working for this but maybe it¡¯s just one of those quirks?¡± *Ping* Time starts one minute after you set up your station Marco walks past Lucas and into the kitchen, preparing his menu mentally. ¡°Maybe benedict? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen that on this world yet. I can make a flavored hollandaise over some quick smoked salmon.¡± He enters the kitchen and find an empty space and grabs a cutting board, placing a moistened hand towel under the board to prevent slipping and pulls his knife from his [Inventory]. He makes eye contact with Doris across the kitchen and shoots her a questioning look, he¡¯d talked to her yesterday and told her of English muffins and how to make them. She nods, walks over and hands him a ball of fresh dough, finished it second proof already. Marco stands at his station, knife placed neatly next to the cutting board and a plethora of ingredients arranged nicely to the side. ¡°Ready.¡± Marco says, watching Lucas pile things in a disorganized fashion onto his table. ¡°Ready.¡± Lucas says, wiping his arm across his forehead to remove some sweat. *Ping* 3...2...1...Begin Marco picks up his knife and the side of salmon he grabbed from cold storage and quickly removes the skin and cuts the full side of salmon into manageable chunks that will smoke faster. A heavy bottomed metal tray with tall sides is put on the nearest Inscription and turned on low heat, Marco grabs a couple of flakes of dry wood that he¡¯d soaked in apple juice and puts them into the pan to create smoke. He conjures a lattice of [Salt] to keep the salmon pieces from touching the bottom of the pan and burning, his wooden flakes create smoke in increasing amounts before Marco places his salmon into the tray and covering it with a slab of [Salt]. Marco turns off the heat and moves on to his next item, English muffins. He grabs a new cutting board and divides the dough into four small pieces, rolling them gently into discs and pressing both sides into semolina flour for texture. ¡°About thirty minutes before those can be cooked.¡± He flips his cutting board over to the clean side and grabs the pair of lemons he grabbed earlier. Cutting them in half and juicing them into a small sauce pan along with some olive brine and set to reduce slightly, he adds a couple of peppercorns, a bay leaf, and a sprig of thyme. ¡°On to the next project, potatoes.¡± He grabs the tubers and peeling and shredding them on the box grater he has on his station. Shredding all of the potatoes into a large bowl full of cold water, he rinses the shreds of potato twice to remove as much starch as he can before placing them into a large dish towel and wringing all of the water he possibly can from the potatoes. He puts those to the side temporarily, heating a large skillet and griddle over medium and low heat respectively. Marco places a small amount of oil into the skillet, he leaves it to heat and seasons his future hashbrowns with paprika, salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder. Grabbing a small handful of potato shreds, he places them into the skillet to fry gently waiting until the edges are golden brown before flipping the hashbrown with a small offset spatula made of [Salt]. *Ping* Thirty Minutes Have Elapsed Marco smirks as he hears swearing from across the kitchen, placing a large shallow pot full of water to heat for his poached eggs, he checks on the salmon. ¡°Perfectly smoky.¡± He thinks to himself, casting [Flash Cure] on the smoked salmon to dry out some of the moisture. ¡°Salmon, hashbrowns, and acid reduction all taken care of.¡± Marco thinks, flipping more hashbrowns and seasoning them once they are removed from the pan onto a stack of paper towels. He cracks three eggs and separates them, yolks going to a small glass bowl and butter going into a small saucepan to melt. He mixes some of acid reduction into the yolks and whisks hard before placing the bowl on top of a small saucepan of lightly bowling water. Once the egg mixture starts to thicken and Marco starts to stream in his melted butter to make his hollandaise. He tastes the sauce, adjusting the amount of salt with another splash of olive brine and then adding a small scoop of chopped olives into the sauce to increase the olive flavor. He puts the sauce to the side, keeping it warm so it doesn¡¯t break and move on to the next task. He checks the griddle¡¯s heat and grabs his English muffin discs. Placing them on to the griddle and watching them closely so they don¡¯t burn. Small bubbles form on the surface and after he flips the muffin it is revealed as a beautiful golden brown. He steps away and slices his smoked salmon on a new cutting board, focusing on the thin slices of beautiful fatty salmon teaming with flavor. Marco grabs a plate and one of his English muffins, slicing it horizontally and placing them cut side up. He puts a healthy amount of sliced smoked salmon on the muffin and places it on a warming Inscription, and beginning to poach his eggs. A splash of vinegar into the water and he carefully cracks his eggs into the water, stirring it into a whirlpool. Pulling it out less than a minute later when the egg has fully set and the yolk is still nice and liquid. He scoops the poached eggs out of the hot water with a spoon and carefully lets the poached egg dry before he nestles the egg onto the smoked salmon. *Ping* Five Minute Warning! Marco transfers the still warm hashbrowns onto his plate, making sure there isn¡¯t any stray oil to get on his plate arranging them nicely into a fan next to his benedict. He grabs his hollandaise and his container of cut chives, spooning the velvety sauce onto the poached egg, watching it cascade beautifully to cover the poached egg and dribble down onto the fresh English muffin. He carefully garnishes his Salmon Benedict and the timer hits zero. *Ping* One Hour has Elapsed, Hands Up! Chapter 34: Judging Marco places a cloche onto his plate of benedict and brings it to the judging table that someone set up in the dining area. Lucas is beside him placing his covered dish next to Marco¡¯s on the table and stepping back to await judging. ¡°I am Nelson Iceborn and I will be the judge today!¡± The dwarf with ice white hair introduces himself. ¡°I am a gourmet that has traveled the realms of Omnia in search of delicious food for the last four centuries. I look forward to trying your offerings.¡± ¡°I will try the left dish first.¡± Nelson lifts the cloche on Lucas¡¯s dish. A messy plate covered by a large, browned pancake, soft scrambled eggs, seared tomatoes with garlic, and slightly too crispy bacon. ¡°There is bacon fat on the rim, and everything is just scooped onto the plate, no thoughts for plating. I bet those seared tomatoes taste really good though.¡± Nelson grabs a fork and begins to sample everything on the plate, starting with a small bit of pancake, he makes appreciative noises and moves on to the scrambled eggs, pushing them around a bit, looking at the separation of the scramble. ¡°Not bad! Great seasoning and the pancake is perfectly sweet.¡± Nelson says while continuing to move through the plate. He grunts and pulls a face when he eats the bacon, not going back for a second bite. The dwarf pops a tomato into his mouth and smiles, ¡°These tomatoes are very good!¡± ¡°I give this plate a seven out of ten.¡± Nelson declares. Lucas looks affronted but still prideful and smug toward Marco. ¡°Onto the next plate!¡± Nelson pulls the cloche from Marco¡¯s plate, pausing slightly in shock at the beautiful plate. ¡°I am unfamiliar with this dish if the competitor responsible can explain what we are looking at.¡± Marco steps forward, ¡°I have prepared a Smoked Salmon Benedict for you today along with some panfried hashbrowns seasoned with paprika and garlic.¡± ¡°Most excellent! This is one of the most interesting plates I have ever seen.¡± Nelson says, grabbing a new fork and breaking the poached egg and looking in glee at the soft yolk within. He tries a bite of the benedict, managing to fit everything onto the fork and nearly moans with pleasure. ¡°Incredible! You have created something I have never tried before. What is this flavor in the sauce that I can¡¯t figure out.¡± Nelson asks, trying the crispy hashbrown and having a similar reaction. ¡°Olive brine in the hollandaise sauce.¡± Marco says. ¡°Innovative! Incredible! Ten out of Ten! Congratulations!¡± Nelson spouts with fervor. Lucas stomps his feet and storms into the kitchen, yelling and slamming noises can be heard even from the dining area. *Ping* Congratulations! You have won a Challenge The System will enforce Fairness in Chef Lucas¡¯s Kitchen from now on Henceforth, it shall be a place of communication and respect. All is Fair Under the Sun! Farewell. The gathered crowd all watch in wonder as a small obelisk grows from the space between the doors to the kitchen topped with the nine-pointed star of the Sunlight System. Marco approaches the new pillar and rests a hand atop it and is rewarded with a System notification. *Ping* Forevermore, this place shall be considered Sunlit and Fairness shall reign. Whispers question if that is another Sunlit Pillar or something similar but Marco just basks in his small victory over a tired old Chef who has lost his love and passion for the work. He sees his friends and teammates and heads their way, accepting compliments and congratulations from many people on his short walk toward them. ¡°Congratulations Marco!¡± Ben claps him on the back in excitement. ¡°That dish looked great other than the smoked salmon.¡± ¡°Thank you, Ben!¡± Marco says, ¡°It was really fun to stretch those muscles again.¡± Shen and Lucia congratulate him as well, and they sit down to enjoy a mediocre breakfast, the effort put into the oat porridge and sliced fruit minimal while everyone was watching the cook-off. They are swarmed while they eat, most people asking Marco where he came up with the ideas and how he pulled off the dish in just an hour. He answers between bites of oats and fruit, explaining a little bit of his background and the steps he went through in the competition. They all manage to slip out of the dining area, away from all of the well wishes and congratulations, and up toward the Guildhall to find a Gold Rank job for them to complete. *Ping* Gold Rank Jobs Available:
  1. Knights Spotted (0/2)
  2. Devil¡¯s Dead Dungeon Clear (0/1)
  3. Lesser Abomination Spotted (0/1)
¡°Sun! A lesser Abomination would be a rough fight.¡± Ben says, ¡°Marco, your [Salt Circle] would probably wreak havoc on the jumble of bones though.¡± ¡°Is it at all similar to the Root Abomination we fought in that dungeon?¡± Marco questions. ¡°In someways, it is a jumble of bones animated by [Curse] Mana just like the Root Abomination was a bunch of roots and flora animated by [Earth] and [Water].¡± Ben explains. ¡°Undead Abominations usually have a secondary element; from what I¡¯ve heard [Fire] and [Earth] are the most common.¡± ¡°Interesting, that sounds like it would be a difficult fight. Do we just stick with the Knights?¡± Marco asks. ¡°That is probably the wise course of action. With multiple Knights present we may see an Archer or Rogue Variant as well.¡± Shen says, ¡°I don¡¯t think the Archer would be much additional challenge with Marco and Lucia but a Rogue would be tricky.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. They decided to accept the first option, everyone returning to the barracks to gather gear and anything they left behind in the room. Marco slips into his chest armor, leaving the warm cloak behind as usual and leaving the hood down. The party makes their way to the ground floor, greeting Gatekeeper Renee and leaving once the gate is raised, once more into the gray world of the Deadwoods. Marco follows the directions to the last known report of the pair of Knights and they pick up speed, occasionally having to stop to reduce a roaming patrol to bone dust. They reach the last known location after about an hour of running at high speed, the furthest they have ventured into the Deadwoods thus far. Marco summons his [Salt Skin] and scans the woods for any monsters, not immediately seeing anything. ¡°I¡¯m not seeing anyt-¡± Marco has to dive out of the way of an [Air] arrow, the projectile obliterating the tree behind him. ¡°Archer at two o¡¯clock! [Air] Affinity!¡± Shen calls, raising a [Rampart] to chest height and crouching behind it slightly. Marco pushes himself to his knees and hides behind the rampart and watches as Lucia disappears into the shadows to attack the Knight and Ben summons his [Hyperion Plate], the soft yellow plates of hardlight protecting the Healer. [Salt Shots] and [Salt Bolts] begin to appear around Marco with startling speed, his increased usage of Mana increasing his proficiency with [Salt]. He looks over the top of the [Rampart] and sees the Archer variant Knight in the distance, Lucia carving through the [Air] armor with [Dark Slash] and her burning debuffs. He launches his bolts at the Archer, the [Salt Shot] blunt damage not effective against the swirling [Air] armor. As the Archer knight is peppered with piercing damage and struggling to hold its [Air] armor together, Marco sees the other Knight. Arriving at the head of a small horde of minions, a [Fire] Affinity Knight wrapped in flaming armor and with heavy fist weapons conjured around its hands. ¡°Minions! Watch for the swarm!¡± Marco calls to his party members, letting his [Salt Shots] streak across the clearing and into the melee Knight. The dozen impacts shred the [Fire] armor into wisps of smoke and embers and a single [Salt Shot] punches through the fifteen foot tall monster¡¯s ribcage. Lucia is dancing around the Archer mob, it unable to hit her at such close range with its preferred weapon and her small dual knives not doing a ton of lasting damage. "Marco! Switch!¡± Lucia calls, falling back into her shadow and appearing behind the [Fire] Knight and driving her own dark-wreathed blades into the side of its skull. A massive explosion of [Salt Strike] rips through the [Air] Archer and sends it to the ground where a handful of [Focused Beams] snuff out the [Curse] Mana within. Shen is wreaking havoc on the minions, conjuring a field of spikes under their feet and then smashing them into it with [Hammer of Granite]. ¡°Hmm, that may be a new spell. Go Shen!¡± Marco thinks to himself, pivoting back to the [Fire] Knight and the rest of the minions. Marco cups his hands together and casts [Salt Circle], retching his hands apart violently and spreading [Salt] Mana throughout the clearing. The undead go berserk, feeling the sharp Mana begin to eat away at the [Curse] Mana within them. Bones become brittle and rotten flesh dries and falls out revealing pitted bone beneath. ¡°I¡¯ve really have to use this spell more often.¡± Marco thinks to himself, embarrassed that he didn¡¯t lead with it. The [Fire] Knight, sluggish from the debuffing [Salt Circle], finally falls to one knee and [Hammer of Granite] ends its existence. ¡°Lucia! That switch worked perfectly. Good call.¡± Marco says, holding up his hand for a high five. The gathered party looks at him funny and he has to explain what a high five is. After that they all high five and begin to look for loot or forageables. The party members chat and discuss what they would do differently next time, not noticing the bones moving slightly or the orb of green Mana that falls into the biggest stack of bones. The bones snap together, finally alerting the party to the Lesser Abomination forming in their midst. ¡°Oh shit! Gather up and form a bunker. Lets hope it is just a small one without a secondary element.¡± Ben calls, casting [Shield of Hardlight] on all of the party members and tossing a [Field of Wisps] onto the battlefield, hopefully enough to slow it a touch. Marco renews [Salt Circle] and begins to conjure as many [Salt Shot] projectiles as his Mana allows. Shen casts his newest spell [Caltrops] and the field of earthen spikes returns to the clearing and then pulls a massive circular [Rampart] from the ground to protect the party. The grotesque pile of bones lets out a warbling roar, and tentacles of bone and rotten flesh form from the blob-shaped monster. The lightly green glowing appendages slam down into the [Rampart], rending several large chunks off of the structure. Shen grunts, sweating heavily and tries to repair the damage but the tentacles strike again, breaking the spell apart. ¡°Looks like we are facing this monster in the open.¡± Lucia calls before falling back into her shadow, appearing from a nearby shadow of a tree and launching a fast series of [Dark Slash] at the horrifying monster. The crescent projectiles hit and carve off several bones but the monster doesn¡¯t seem to notice. Small pock marks are beginning to form in the outer monster portions of the monster¡¯s body, courtesy of [Salt Circle]. Marco launches his two dozen projectiles at the monster, the bolts digging through flesh and brittle bone to strike at the [Curse] Mana within but they don¡¯t manage to penetrate deep enough to wound the monster permanently. Ben follows Marco¡¯s attack with a bunch of [Focused Beams], targeting the holes where [Salt Bolt] lanced into the body, hoping to damage the core. The monster roars in agony and one of the beams makes contact with the [Curse] Mana within, striking out blindly with massive bone tentacles. Shen is flung away in the trees, Ben following him with [Lightspeed] and glowing with [Light] Mana. The Healer quickly gets the Tank back into fighting shape and they both charge back into the fray, [Hammer of Granite] growing larger by the second. Shen brings the greathammer down in a punishing blow, blowing away rotten flesh and bone and exposing the Mana core within. Marco capitalizes on the opening and blasts a [Salt Strike] into the body of the Abomination, ending its suffering. Every member of the party collapses immediately, sprawling out on the ground and gasping for breath. Tired from the fight and healing they had all received from the countless tentacles waving around. Ben, on the ground like everyone else, pushes out his [Healing Aura] a new wide-area spell he had developed. The spell constantly heals a small amount every second, not enough to close big wounds or get rid of bruises but enough to keep someone on their feet and full of energy. ¡°We are so lucky that was a Lesser Abomination without a secondary element.¡± Marco groans from the ground, struggling to sit up. ¡°Indeed, if it had any extra tricks, it might have put one of us out of the fight early on and then we would have been in a bad situation.¡± Shen says, rolling over and pushing himself to his feet. His armor dissolving into Mana around him, making movement a bit easier. Marco follows suit, dismissing [Salt Skin] and managing to make it to his feet with a groan. ¡°We did it though! Two Knights, one of them a Variant, and a Lesser Abomination. Good job team.¡± As everyone makes it to their feet, they move close to Marco and give him a high five with a large smile. ¡°You too Marco!¡± Lucia says. Chapter 35: Loot *Ping* Congratulations on completing your Gold Ranked Adventurer Job. Rewards for Regular Completion: -Ten Gold Per Party Member -Mana Replenishment Bonus Rewards for Lesser Abomination: -One Loot Box per Party Member The notification appears as the group touches the Sunlit Pillar and they all sigh in relief as their Mana channels are soothed and their Mana is refilled. The trip back to the wall was uneventful, all of the minions in the area were gathered by the [Fire] Knight into the horde that the party destroyed. The party immediately returns to their room and strips off dirty armor and jostles for position to get into the bathroom first. Lucia wins, using [Shadowstep] to appear in the dark bathroom and shut the door. ¡°Hah! I¡¯ll be quick!¡± Lucia calls, muffled voice coming through the closed door. She keeps to her word and exits at the head of small fogbank of steam, moving to the side and letting Shen go next. Soon everyone is clean, sweat and blood washed down the drain and under armor in a large pile on the floor to get cleaned. ¡°So, what is up with these Loot Boxes?¡± Marco questions, removing his seven-inch long box. The box is plain black with no adornments but is surprisingly heavy for the size. ¡°Oh right! These are boxes that have a tailored drops to each person. Usually a book about the person¡¯s Affinity, sometimes containing insight to new magic or deeper understanding.¡± Ben says, grabbing his box from the foot of his bed. ¡°Nothing dangerous though?¡± Marco asks to a round of shaking heads. ¡°No, the Sunlight System is benevolent. In recorded history, it has not harmed anyone with its rewards.¡± Ben says, removing the top of his Loot Box and gasping lightly as he glows with [Light]. ¡°An Affinity increase?! That is insanely rare.¡± Ben¡¯s comment sparks a whirlwind of movement and exclamations as everyone else opens their Loot Boxes. Shen and Lucia both also received a one percent Affinity increase, bringing them all to the mid-fifties. Marco pulls open his Loot Box, no Affinity increase forthcoming, he looks at the book nestled with the black container. ¡°Salt Magic Primer: Spells for Damage and Defense. Interesting! I¡¯ll definitely be reading this later.¡± He looks around the room, everyone also having received a book. Shen received a book on advanced earthen defenses, Ben got a primer of System information that brough a glint to his eyes, and Lucia received a book titled: Burning Dark. ¡°Interesting loot all around it seems.¡± Shen says, leafing through his [Earth] magic book already. ¡°Indeed,¡± Ben says, eyes not leaving the pages of System Quirks. ¡°I think I will check on the kitchen staff before dinner time and just spend the day reading¡± Marco says, sitting against the wall at the head of the bed and cracking open his book, happy to be reading. The hours pass, Marco taking short breaks to grab a plate of snacks from Doris and Ethil and use the restroom, but he is enthralled by the book gifted to him. ¡°Spells for levitation, advanced conjuration, and explanations on upgrading spells. I don¡¯t think I need additional spells right now; I just need to get better at using my current ones.¡± Marco thinks, placing the book into his [Inventory] for additional study later on. He smooths his set of light gray clothing, in the local Woodholme style and lets his group know he is headed to the kitchens to make sure Lucas is keeping his word. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Marco experiments with the movement techniques in the book as he walks toward the kitchens, starting with Salt Skating. He conjures a layer of smooth [Salt] onto the bottoms of his boots, focusing to make sure it is as slick as possible before taking his first step and trying to push himself forward with magic simultaneously, he immediately crashes into the right wall of the hallway and groans in pain. He continues to try, eventually managing to glide along the floor, pushing himself with magic and moving much fast than usual. He dismisses his conjuration as he gets to the crowded dining area, bypassing the lines and returning greetings from people and waving away compliments and congratulations with a small smile. He enters the kitchens, the usual wave of heat a small comfort to him in this still new world. He is a little shocked to see the brigade system in full effect in the massive kitchen, everyone having a task and doing it well. Chef Lucas, still looking unhappy but missing the rage that overwhelmed him earlier in the day approaches Marco. ¡°Ah Marco. Welcome back to kitchens.¡± Lucas says, a fake smile plastered on his face. ¡°I want to apologize for how I handled the mess this morning. Threatening you was out of line and inappropriate, thank you for suggesting a competition of skill instead.¡± Marco is visibly confused by the change in attitude and shocked by the apology, never in a million years would one of his old Chefs apologize to him over a mistake they made. ¡°Why the sudden change of heart?¡± Marco questions. ¡°The Sun has graced my kitchen with it¡¯s presence and has shown me the error of my ways.¡± Lucas says with something akin to extreme religious devotion. ¡°Look how well your brigade system is working.¡± Marco takes another look around the kitchen and sees a kitchen that would make a Michelin starred Chef jealous. Quiet competency and talent fills the kitchen as all of the workers he directed yesterday do their jobs well and produce excellent product. As he looks around he sees the beginnings of dinner being made. Potato and leek soup, two types of Wellington; one with the traditional beef and the other filled with a faux meat made of beets and mushrooms. He sees salad fixings and a beautiful berry vinaigrette, speckled with herbs and perfectly emulsified. ¡°Well done with making the change so quickly. I can¡¯t say that I was expecting something like this when I walked back here today but nonetheless I am happy to witness the change.¡± Marco says, holding his hand out for the older man to shake. ¡°I am not happy to be wrong but the Sun has shown me a better way, not only for my cooks but also for myself.¡± Lucas says, shaking Marco¡¯s hand in a firm handshake. Marco leaves the kitchen, confused by happy with the turn of events. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen that level of devotion to the System in anyone else so far.¡± Marco thinks to himself. ¡°None of my friends are like this. Ben studies the System and he isn¡¯t devoted to it like this.¡± Marco leaves the dining area, wanting a breath of fresh air after the weird encounter with Lucas. He talks to Gatekeeper Hugh and is let out on the Eldermyst side of the wall, still surrounded with gray trees and crunchy grass but more protected from monsters than he would be on the other side. He finds a weak sunbeam struggling to pierce the ever-present clouds and fog and leans against a tree, absorbing what warmth makes it to him through the thick overcast sky. Marco jumps slightly as he feels someone slide down the tree next to him. ¡°What are you doing out here?¡± Marco asks, shutting his eyes once again. ¡°I needed a break from the book, I am loving all of the new information but it is quite dense.¡± Ben says, head tilting up to catch some of the sunshine. The elf¡¯s white hair catches the light and seems to glow a warm sunset hue, accentuating his tanned olive skin and handsome features. ¡°I had an interesting encounter in the kitchen.¡± Marco says, not wanting to ruin the closeness of the moment but needing answers about the devotion to the System. ¡°Tell me about it,¡± Ben says, not moving out of his sunbeam ¡°You remember how the Chef of the kitchens was acting this morning right?¡± Marco asks, and continues at Ben¡¯s nod. ¡°He was totally different and told me that the Sun told him to change and showed him a different path.¡± ¡°Ah, Chef Lucas is a Devotee of the Sun.¡± Ben says, opening his pale blue eyes and looking at Marco. ¡°This is the first time you¡¯ve encounter one of them?¡± ¡°Yes, I went into the kitchens expecting to get reamed out but was instead thanked and it threw me for a loop.¡± Marco says, making eye contact with Ben. ¡°The Devoted tend to be intense about the System. They are generally thought of as harmless thought and perpetuate the Fairness of the Sunlight System well.¡± Ben says. ¡°How have I not heard of this group before?¡± Marco asks, maintaining eye contact with the sunlit elf. ¡°The Devoted generally keep their beliefs to themselves unless they are touched directly by the System.¡± Ben says, moving close to Marco until their shoulders are pressed together and their faces are very close. Marco feels a blush grow over his face, burning red hot under the gaze of the handsome elf so close to him. ¡°Umm Ben, I¡¯ve nev-¡± Marco begins but is interrupted by one of the loudest noises he has ever heard echoing out from the wall. ¡°Oh Sun! The wall is under attack!¡± Ben whips his head away from Marco and immediately begins to run toward the wall. Marco follows close behind, using salt skating to the best of his ability, keeping up with Ben while he is using [Lightspeed]. ¡°A HORDE IS APPROACHING THE WALL. ABOMINATIONS SPOTTED, DARK ENTS SPOTTED, LEGION KNIGHTS SPOTTED, LICH SPOTTED LEADING THE HORDE.¡± A voice slams into Marco and Ben as they get within a dozen feet of the portcullis. Chapter 36: The Horde Arrives Marco and Ben are let through the portcullis with little issue and told to report in full gear to the marshalling yard on the top of the wall as soon as possible. They rush to their barracks room and are met with Shen and Lucia gearing up, they quickly follow suit. Marco rips off his plain clothes and quickly replaces them with his tight fitting under armor. He pulls his armor from his [Inventory], pulls on the pants and slips into the top, making sure that all of the pieces are sitting correctly on his body before he looks up to check on the others. Everyone else is doing their final checks, making sure buckles are tightened and tucked away. They all nod to each other and rush out the door, joining the throngs of people in the staircases headed upward, Shen breaks off from the group and uses the elevator shaft to raise himself up to the top of the wall. They eventually join their Tank on the top of the wall, only to see the horde of monsters headed their way. Marco wouldn¡¯t even know half of the monster¡¯s names if it weren¡¯t for the announcement right before they made it back to the portcullis. Giant thirty-foot tall tree ents with light brown bark slowly move toward the wall, some old wounds showing an intensely black wood within. ¡°Reminds me of my African Blackwood cutting board back home. I miss that thing; it was so expensive.¡± Marco thinks to himself. The gathered crowd of combatants flinches when a new noise pierces through the hubbub. *Ping* The Sunlit Pillar is Now Active The pillar that all of the gathered Adventurers are familiar with raises from the center of the marshalling area, golden glowing nine-pointed star glowing ever brighter. Marco squints at the pillar and then turns his attention to the horde of monsters and smiles when he receives notifications. *Ping* Blackwood Ent, [Earth] [Water] *Ping* Legion Knight, [Fire] Variant *Ping* Legion Knight, [Dark] Variant *Ping* Legion Archer, [Air] Variant Marco swallows his nervousness as he scans through the hundreds of notifications, more appearing every second. The one that scares him the most isn¡¯t the Knights or Abominations but the one announcing the Lich leading the horde. *Ping* Ae¡¯Vondur, Lich of Hopesfall, [Curse] [Dark] Marco tries to look at the green glowing figure standing in the air above the horde of ravenous monsters but he immediately has to look away. A horrible feeling overcoming him, similar to the Mana pressure that he learned to use but instead of a steady weight pressing against you, this feels like a thousand carnivorous insects are crawling over your body. ¡°Bloodlust? Killing Intent?¡± Marco questions to himself, deciding to call it Bloodlust based off the feelings it gave him. ¡°Dusk and Night! A Lich is attacking the wall.¡± Ben swears next to him. ¡°And it brings so many monsters with it. This will be a challenge unless my Mother or Oren steps in.¡± ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t they?¡± Marco questions, turning to his Healer. ¡°It is a balancing attack between the Liches and our powerhouses.¡± Ben explains, ¡°If the Forestsong or Darkwraith attack then the Hopesfall will unleash its power as well. There is little doubt that we would win the engagement but the cost in lives would be staggering.¡± ¡°Oh, they are both attacking as deterrents, preventing the battle from escalating too high.¡± Marco says, pieces clicking together for him. ¡°Is there anything known about the Hopesfall? Known tactics or anything?¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Nothing solid. The prefix on his name means he is a city ruler.¡± Ben says, gesturing to the high walls in the distance. ¡°[Dark] is a nasty combination with [Curse]. Living shadows and horde enhancement most likely.¡± Lucia adds, looking nervously around at the shadows of the gathered Adventurers. ¡°ATTENTION!¡± Violet¡¯s voice commands silence as she steps through the gate made of wood and leaves that wasn¡¯t there a second ago. Oren appears from her shadow, looking intensely at the Lich in the distance. ¡°You can all see we are under attack by the Lichdom. We will defend the wall as we have done for centuries, we will keep Woodholme and greater Eldermyst safe from the horde on our doorstep.¡± Her voice carries such conviction and certainly that Marco is tempted to believe her, Oren picks up her speech in his normal monotone voice. ¡°Luckily, they sent us Hopesfall, a sniveling worm I should have stepped on years ago. The Lich is known for his horde tactics, using a combination of [Dark] and [Curse] magics to enhance his horde and strengthen and controlling them to much higher degrees than normal.¡± Oren says, hands clasped behind his back. ¡°Do not despair, he is merely a city Lich and this is likely the entirety of his horde. He is making a big move and hoping to take out important targets, like the Forestsong or myself.¡± Oren seems to find this amusing, a feral grin appearing on his face. Marco shivers in fright at the sight of the usually bored looking elf smiling. ¡°That Lich is screwed.¡± He thinks to himself, shaking the terror away. ¡°Normally in these battles, the higher-level combatants attack as deterrents against the others actions, however ol¡¯Hopefall over there likely brought his entire horde with him.¡± Oren says, smile remaining fixed in place. ¡°Meaning that we can remove an enemy of Eldermyst permanently today.¡± Oren flickers out of existence and a shockwave hits them along with a boom from above the horde. Marco squints, focusing on the blurry fight in the air above the horde. Oren is springing off the air as if it were solid ground, unleashing an absolute torrent of attacks, most just voids of color splashing onto the world before vanishing. ¡°Now that Hopesfall is occupied, it is our turn. I will be protecting the wall and standing overwatch, my plants will attempt to save you if you fall to a monster.¡± Violet says, the gray forest on the Eldermyst side of the wall shedding all shades of gray and returning to verdant vibrancy. A small sheen of sweat coats Violet¡¯s face as the forest begins to grow, scaling the wall and pouring over the top to form additional defenses. ¡°Keep yourself and your team safe and go kill some rotten undead.¡± Violet commands, an almost chorus of voices sounding in the movements of her plants. A swish of leaf blending beautifully with a scrapping of root into a magical song of beauty and violence. The party gathers around Marco, planning their targets and what they wanted to avoid. ¡°We have a bad match up against those Ents. If they have similar properties to the wood that shares the name then they will extraordinarily tough to damage.¡± Marco comments. ¡°I¡¯ve heard stories of Blackwood Ents, none of them good, I say we leave those to a team with more [Fire] Affinities than we do.¡± Lucia says. All of the remaining team members nod in agreement. ¡°We should avoid Abominations as well, we are a good match up for them with our single-target damage but I think a dual element Abomination may still be too much for us.¡± ¡°I think with Marco¡¯s [Salt Circle] we would do well against the Legion Knights and their minions.¡± Shen comments, ¡°My [Rampart] and armor spells should be enough to hold two at a time.¡± As they all make the decision on what monster they will hunt, a notification registers their choice. *Ping* Horde Attack, Legion Knights Eliminated (0/59) ¡°Woah, that is a lot of Knights. I think that is shared job with everyone that decided to hunt Legion Knights though.¡± Marco thinks, asking his teammates about the large number of Knights on the job notification. ¡°Yes, that job will be shared between everyone that has decided to hunt Legion Knights during this attack.¡± Ben says, summoning his [Hyperion Plate] and casting a [Shield of Hardlight] on each of them. Shen pulls his armor around him, gray stone from the wall stretching and melting over him to form [Earthen Armor]. Lucia is surrounded by her [Redirection Wisps], small black wisps of shadow that will deflect attacks and provide some protection. Marco summons his [Salt Skin], white salt crystals forming over his black leather and cloth armor. ¡°Last checks, everyone in good form and ready to fight?¡± Marco asks to nods. ¡°Alright, let''s do this.¡± One by one the party members slap the newly formed Inscriptions on the edge of the wall. *Ping* Activate Slowfall Inscription? Marco mentally agrees and a feeling of weightlessness comes over him, he takes one last nervous glance at the horde and hops over the edge of the wall and falls toward combat. Chapter 37: Battling a Legion Marco tenses as he freefalls from the one-hundred-foot wall, expecting the Slowfall Inscription to slow his fall by now he begins to panic. Double checking his [Salt Skin] and beginning to try and pull upward on the large armor with his magic, attempting to arrest his momentum. The tug of the armor grows but does nothing to slow his fall, half of the distance is already past and its only been a moment. Marco takes a quick look at the others and is surprised to not find panic in their features, Shen is forming a [Rampart] from afar, preparing them a place to land. Lucia has already appeared on the ground via [Shadowstep] and is dispatching a [Air] Archer with precision strikes to joints and its spine. *Ping* Legion Knights Eliminated (7/59) Marco starts to relax, hoping that the Inscription will catch them near the ground, and begins to cast [Salt Strike] in rapid succession, targeting the outside of Shen¡¯s [Rampart] giving them another layer of protection from the horde. He looks to the ground, still rapidly approaching and cups his hands together pushing as much [Salt] Mana as he can within them before wrenching his hands apart violently. The sudden movement makes his freefall wobbly but the [Salt Circle] hits the gathered minions like a solid wave. The weaker Fodder and Zombies immediately falling apart into bones or piles of rotten flesh, Marco tries to get his feet under him for landing and only half succeeds as the Slowfall finally engages. Marco lands gently but still stumbles, managing to kill a few minions with a few quick casts of [Salt Bolt] and [Salt Shot]. ¡°Gather up in the [Rampart]!¡± Ben hollers over the sounds of rattling undead and roaring Legion Knights. All of the party members listen and rush for the earthen structure, all of them enter the tight confines, breathing heavily from the hundred-foot fall. ¡°That was crazy! We should leave the minions to [Salt Circle] and focus on the Legion Knights, getting through the Shieldbearers should be our priority I think.¡± Marco says, the Shieldbearers are a Knight Variant with giant tower shields that his team should be able to punch through. ¡°Agreed,¡± The rest of the party members say. Loud booms and small shockwaves are pulsing across the battlefield from the aerial combat between Oren and Hopesfall, Marco looks up for a moment in awe at that level of combat. He snaps back into focus as a [Earth] Shieldbearer starts to charge their fortification, he launches all of his [Salt Shot] projectiles at the monster and ramps up his buffs and enhancements to stretch the seconds, allowing him to get a [Salt Strike] inside the shield of the fifteen-foot-tall monster. It falls, impaling its stone covered body further onto the wickedly sharp crystal of [Salt Strike]. Lucia disappears into her shadow, targeting a new Archer with a [Water] Affinity, blasting Ice arrows around the battlefield. Her precision knife strikes leave burning paths of flame in the ice armor that the monster is encased in. The monster roars as a [Dark Slash] blows through its armor, gouging bone underneath, Marco assists and sends a number of [Salt Bolt] projectiles at the ice armored Archer, taking a glancing blow from an Ice arrow at the same time. The cold permeates from the wound, attempting to slow his movements before Ben taps his shoulder with a [Wellspring], his heal over time spell. Shen has entered the fray, [Hammer of Granite] already growing and sending a [Dark] Shieldbearer across the small, wooded clearing that they are fighting in. Its [Dark] Shield attempting to eat into their Tank¡¯s hammer spell, but it reforms each time before striking again. Ben is firing off [Focused Beam] at charging Knights, targeting exposed jointed or attempting to disrupt spells with his burning beam. The Healer also tosses [Field of Wisps] onto the battlefield, the small wisps of Hardlight tripping and hampering their enemies. *Ping* Legion Knights Eliminated (12/59) ¡°Let¡¯s pick up the pace! We can all take on a Knight if the elemental match-up is good.¡± Marco shouts over the battlefield noises. All of his team members nod and split up slightly to find their preferred enemy. Marco casts [Salt Strike] on two different knights, a [Fire] and a [Earth]. The explosion of crystalline growth, destroys the earthen armor of the latter and the salt crystal stabbing into the [Fire] knight flickers with the same oranges and reds of as the [Salt] crystal begins to deform under the heat, burning the skeleton within. Marco smiles, happy to trap the undead creature in a trap of its own making. The [Salt] beginning to melt and glow with molten orange and red. The [Fire] Knight throws its sword at him, he evaporates the spell construct with a [Salt Bolt], but small wisps of fire make it to Marco, and he flinches at the small burns. The [Earth] Knight finally recovers, small pock marks still decorating its stone armor. Marco summons and launches more [Salt Shot] projectiles, slamming through the stone armor and into brittle ribs and [Curse] Mana within, dissipating it into a small puff of green dust and a horrid smell of disease. Stolen story; please report. He turns to the melting [Fire] Knight, the monster not able to keep its armor lit as its bones burn and char. He shoots a shot through its skull, turning it into shard of bone and green [Curse] dust. Shen is surrounded by bodies of [Dark] and [Water] Shieldbearers, the Tank¡¯s giant hammer turning all of their shields into shard of dissipating elements. Lucia is dancing through enemies, leaving a burning wake of [Dark Slashes] and [Fire] debuffs, some of the monsters having glowing gashes of flame decorating their body and armor. Ben is helping to finish off the monsters that Lucia injures, firing numerous beams through eye sockets and into the [Curse] Mana orb. A tree falls nearby and reveals a much larger Knight than normal, wrapped in a swirling gale of [Air] armor. A huge halberd of solidified wind held off to his side, Marco announces its presence as the System tells him what he is looking at. *Ping* Legion Knight, Commander Variant, [Air] ¡°Commander! Group up!¡± Shen and Marco¡¯s voices overlap as they have the same thought. Marco renews [Salt Circle] moving his hands quickly and covering the area with [Salt] Mana, the Commander roars and charges them. [Salt Strike] [Dark Slash] [Focused Beam] [Caltrops] [Infuse Heat] Spells flash out of the Adventurers; huge crystalline explosions, night black crescents of dangerous energy, and sun bright beams of burning [Light] lance toward their giant foe. Shen casts [Caltrops] and Lucia infuses them with [Fire] Mana, making the tips of the nasty little [Earth] spikes glow a brilliant orange. The Commander is pummeled with spells as it approaches the party, slowing slightly but still making it within striking range of them. Ben casts his [Shield of Hardlight] on all of his team members again, the quick cast of his shield saving Shen from a massive hit of the nasty halberd. Marco fires [Salt Bolt] and [Salt Shot] projectiles in his best approximation of a machine gun, large chunks and spikes of [Salt] streaking through the air to strike the swirling armor of the giant monster, punching through before the armor repairs itself near instantly. Marco tries to focus on his next cast of [Salt Bolt], trying to strengthen the projectile and make it deadlier to the massive monster. The Commander roars, the halberd swirling faster along its edge and headed straight for the focusing Marco, who is unable to move as he channels his [Salt Bolt]. Ben yells, attempting to push Marco out of the path of the dangerous weapon but fails, Marco being sent through a tree on the far side of the clearing, his [Salt Skin] protecting him enough to prevent the loss of a limb or worse. Marco coughs from the forest floor, trying to get air back into his lungs, the huge hit having knocked all of the air from his lungs. Marco looks to his team, the huge monster still uninjured, and sends his overcharged [Salt Bolt] into the Commander¡¯s chest. A javelin sized spike of pure [Salt] flashes across the distance, burying itself in the chest of the monster and shattering. Marco with the last of his available magic grasps those shards and pulls with all of his magical might, shredding the armor and ripping brittle bone into shards and chunks. [Lightspeed] Ben is suddenly beside Marco, hand glowing with [Renew] and helping the battered man to his feet. ¡°Are you okay? That was a nasty hit.¡± Marco attempts to speak but a round of coughing interrupts him. ¡°I am fine, the [Renew] is doing its job, and my [Salt Skin] protected me from serious harm.¡± Their section of the battlefield is temporarily empty, all of the other Legion Knights and Variants having fled the battle between mages and the Commander. *Ping* Legion Knights Eliminated (30/59) ¡°That is good to hear, excellent spell by the way. It ripped through the monster with ease.¡± Shen comments, patting Marco on the shoulder. ¡°Thank you, it took all of my Mana to make the projectile and then a little more to rip the shards out.¡± Marco says, ¡°I am out of Mana for the time being.¡± ¡°We can retreat to the wall and take a rest to recover some Mana.¡± Ben says, scanning the woods around them for enemies but only finding minions dissolving under Marco¡¯s [Salt Circle]. The party makes a fighting retreat, bashing in Zombie skulls and kicking apart Fodder, until they reach the root covered wall. Marco leans again the wall and slides down to his butt, taking deep breaths and focusing on Mana regeneration. ¡°That javelin was awesome. I need to figure out how to make it more Mana efficient before I use it in regular combat though.¡± He thinks, folding his legs into a lotus position and feeling Ben sit down next to him. *Ping* Legion Knights Eliminated (48/59) ¡°The other Adventurer groups are doing well out there, I am almost jealous that they have a higher kill count than us.¡± Shen says, joining them on the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, that Commander was a right bastard. I don¡¯t know how many parties with similar experience to us could have taken that thing down.¡± Lucia says, lowering herself onto the gray ground. Around thirty minutes later, they all stand and begin to stretch and warm up their muscles once again, recovered from the previous fights. Their break was punctuated with the booms and shockwaves of Oren dismantling the Hopesfall Lich over and over again, screams of panic and pain echoing over the battlefield. *Ping* Legion Knights Eliminated (59/59) ¡°Do Liches have phylacteries here?¡± Marco asks, the group looking at him with confused looks before shaking their heads. ¡°Considering that word didn¡¯t translate into any word that I know, I can confidently say no.¡± Ben says. ¡°Liches are formerly people with an Exceptional Affinity score for [Curse], right? They die and return as a Lich?¡± Marco asks to nods. ¡°So, they are just beings of [Curse] energy in a husk? On Earth we have stories of Liches, but they store their soul in something call a phylactery, an object that is usually hidden and trapped¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t the case here, Liches are beings of magic wrapped in corpses. They are basically a spirit of Mana. They are just extraordinarily hard to kill because of this.¡± Ben explains, ¡°[Salt] is the easiest way as it disrupts [Curse] so thoroughly.¡± ¡°Oh okay, that makes sense.¡± Marco says and the group begins to move back into the forest, ready to hunt their first Abomination. They sprint through the gray world of the Deadwoods, trees broke and thrown around the dry forest by battles. In the far distance a lone Abomination is fighting huge tentacles of root and flower, the Forestsong¡¯s plants attempting to rescue a team of downed Adventurers, the party speeds up and begins to pelt the monster with varied magic. Chapter 38: Abomination Marco and team, all having summoned their armor spells and refreshed buffs on their trip to the area with Abominations, charges the monster. [Hammer of Granite] slams into the Abomination¡¯s limb reaching for a downed Adventurer is cloth armor, blowing the bone and flesh apart. Marco begins his normal opening salvo, [Salt Circle] followed by a mass summoning of [Salt Bolt] and [Salt Shot] projectiles, which he immediately sends toward tentacles reaching for defenseless Adventurers. Lucia is suddenly behind the monster, leaving burning gashes and tears in the rotten flesh. She swings her blade at the air and a [Dark Crescent] follows the cut and bites into the monster, she is forced to dodge as the monster targets her with a trio of tentacles. Ben fires beams into the burning gashes, opening the wounds more and burning the monster more. The monster, enraged by their opening attacks, slams all of its tentacles on the ground. Cracking the earth and coating the tentacles in stone armor. ¡°Ah shit.¡± Marco thinks and switches to summoning more [Salt Shot] projectiles. ¡°[Earth] Abomination! Watch for quakes and those tentacles are going to be extra dangerous.¡± Ben calls out. The root tentacles controlled by the matriarch of House Ivory quickly dart into the fight and carefully retrieve the downed Adventurers. Marco casts a series of [Salt Strikes] at the monster, the large crystals breaking against the stone armor of the Abomination but still managing to push the monster away from the party. A wet squelchy roar bubbles from the monster, Marco continues to fire a mixture of projectiles, searching for a soft spot or something that will help them win this fight. Shen continues to wail on the monster with his giant hammer, breaking the armor for a moment before it reforms near instantly. ¡°Lucia! We need to stack your debuffs on this thing or it will just tire us out!¡± Ben calls, still flashing with beams and renewing shields as necessary. ¡°Shen, I need you to break the armor on the main body so I can reach the flesh!¡± Lucia calls and Shen launches himself into the air, coming back down with a massive hammer blow to the main body. Marco had timed the jump with a couple casts of [Salt Strike] to temporarily pin the Abomination¡¯s limbs. Lucia uses her shadow to [Shadowstep] onto the monster, a blur of strikes as she lands, piercing between the cracks in its stone armor to set the flesh below alight with [Fire]. She casts a [Fireball] under herself as he teleports away, the massive explosion stunning the monster for a couple of seconds. Plates of Hardlight snap into being around the [Fire] damaged areas, filling in the cracks between the stone armor and preventing it from repairing. Ben is panting and sweating heavily after that use of magic and Marco continues to attack limbs with varied bolts and shots and the occasional [Salt Strike]. [Salt Circle] is doing its own work as well, slowly weakening the pile of flesh and bone encased in armor, strikes more likely to break bone or shred flesh. Shen continues to hit the giant monster with massive blows from his ever-growing hammer, now a four by two-foot rectangle of bedrock, cracking armor with every blow. One of the root tentacles returns and slams into the monster, pinning it to the forest floor. The party goes all out, shredding flesh and breaking bone with varied spells, dropping defenses in favor of all-out attack. Marco attempts to form his javelin construct again but is unable to spare the focus. He switches to launching [Salt Strike] with abandon, slowly pulping the monster, Ben is channeling [Focused Beam], working on removing one of the tentacles. The monster finally goes limp, punctuated with a huge shockwave from the aerial battle and a scream cut short. They all look up to see Oren standing in the air, unruffled and untouched as the green glowing Lich falls from the sky and many of the minions fall limp and return to death. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°That is amazing! Standing the air looking like you''re out for a stroll and didn¡¯t just fight a angry spirit for two hours.¡± Marco thinks, checking on his party members and making sure everyone is doing alright. *Ping* Abomination Slain (38/38) A booming voice echos through the battlefield ¡°WE HAVE WON THIS BATTLE, PLEASE RETURN THE WALL FOR REPORT AT ONCE.¡± Marco recognizes Violet¡¯s voice and does as instructed, the party turning away from the pile of pulped monster and returning to the wall at speed. The arrive with a large group of other Adventurer, approaching the portcullis and slowing to a walk, all of them filing into the wall and beginning the trek up the stairs. All of the Adventurers eventually make it to the top floor of the wall, reemerging into the muted sunlight of the Deadwoods. Chatter about the battle and individual fights dies down as Oren steps on to the wall from a shadow and Violet suddenly appears in a burst of leaves. ¡°Well done! That was a fantastic showing from all of you.¡± Violet says, pausing for the round of cheering and celebration. ¡°We managed to avoid any outright causalities but some of our House members will be recovering in the days to come. Thank you to the teams who assisted my plants in any rescues.¡± Oren steps forward and takes over the speech. ¡°Hopesfall is no more, well the Lich that bears the same name, the city still stands and we will be mounting a rescue party for the people trapped there.¡± A thunderous cheer breaks out from his words, a Lich is dead and that is something to celebrate! ¡°We have an opportunity usually reserved for The Ebony Family, a chance to strike at a Lichdom¡¯s city and rescue the captives there.¡± Violet continues, ¡°This will be a dangerous mission followed by grueling work to restore this section of the Deadwoods to life.¡± All of the gathered Adventurers nod, accepting the future hard work and danger with little hesitation. ¡°Congratulations. Every single once of your answered the call and came out stronger for it.¡± Violet says, dismissing the gathered crowd and summoning a System notification. *Ping* Congratulations! You have helped defeat a Horde of Undead. Rewards for the Defeat of Twenty Legion Knights: -One Loot Box Per Party Member -One Gold per Knight per Party Member Rewards for the Defeat of One Abomination -Ten Gold per Party Member Rewards for the Rescue of a Fellow Adventurer Team -One Loot Box per Party Member -Mana Replenishment As teams of Adventurers check their notifications and leave the marshalling area, Marco and his party are quickly left behind, one of just a few teams left behind. ¡°Marco, Ben, Lucia, and Shen." Oren¡¯s voice carries from the edge of the wall. ¡°Please come join us over here.¡± The group moves toward Oren and Violet, the other groups still on the wall looking at them with jealousy. ¡°Thank you for sparing some time for us, I am sure you are all tired and worn out from this fight.¡± Violet says with a small bow. ¡°First of all, great job out in the field. Thank you for assisting with that rescue, I didn¡¯t have any other plants in the area to assist.¡± The gathered team all nod in acknowledgment of the thanks. ¡°Of course, it is the right thing to do.¡± Marco says. ¡°Yes, it is but it is still worth mentioning.¡± Oren says, ¡°Other parties used this time to settle their differences in a violent manner.¡± The old elf flicks his hand toward one of the remaining parties on the roof with them, shadows restricting their bodies completely in a blink of an eye. The party of four elves attempts to squirm and free themselves but they are unable to move a muscle. ¡°You are all member of House Ivory and are expected to behave as such.¡± Oren spits out the words with venom, ¡°You attacked a fellow Adventurer team from behind while they were engaged with a [Earth] Abomination. Why.¡± The last word rings with power and malice, all of the trapped elves go paper white, and their eyes are suddenly bloodshot. ¡°W we. They took our job earlier this week, it was just a small tripping spell, no real harm done.¡± One of the elves babbles. ¡°No harm done?!¡± Violet is suddenly directly in front of the elf. ¡°If another team hadn¡¯t helped my plants rescue that team, they would have died! Your ¡®small tripping spell¡¯ knocked them out of formation and the Abomination gained a shot at their backline.¡± The head of House Ivory yells in their faces. ¡°We didn¡¯t know that!¡± Another one of the elves speaks. ¡°The penalty for attacking a fellow Adventuring team in combat is expulsion from the guild at minimum.¡± Oren says, ¡°As you are also members of our House, it is entirely within our jurisdiction to decide the rest of your punishments.¡± ¡°With the Sunlit Pillar still active, we can let the System judge.¡± Violet says, the shadow wrapped elves following her to the pillar topped with a nine-pointed star. ¡°Place your hand on the star and be JUDGED.¡± The last word echoes with power, and the trapped elves are freed and allowed to touch the pillar. Chapter 39: Judgement and Dinner Marco watches as the group of four elves approaches the Sunlit Pillar, heads down and bodies trembling slightly, one by one they top the nine-pointed star adorning the top of the pillar. The elves gasp and collapse to the ground, sobs coming from a few of them. ¡°What was that?¡± Marco thinks, ¡°I guess I expected to be able to see a notification or something.¡± *Ping* You Worked to Right the Wrong You and your team worked to right the wrong that these elves committed, as such you may see their punishment if you wish. Marco mentally agrees and more System information pops up. *Ping* Affinity Locked to 10% You have been EXPELLED from the Adventurer¡¯s Guild Parole Available in Ten Years, after good behavior The notification blinks away and Violet steps forward toward the crying elves on the ground. ¡°Stand, you are members of House Ivory and still under my jurisdiction.¡± The elves stand on shaky legs, the remnants of magical effects dissolving around them, pieces of armor returning to Mana and a small [Light] glow winking out. ¡°Yes Matriarch.¡± They all say between sobs and sniffles. ¡°As members of The House of Ivory, you are supposed to reaching for the pinnacle of kindness, not backstabbing people for petty reasons in the middle of Horde attack.¡± Violet says, a slight green glow emanating from her skin as her tone becomes more and more clipped. ¡°By the power vested in me by the Sunlight System and the Kingdom of Eldermyst. I banish you from House Ivory and our lands.¡± Her proclamation is met with renewed sobs and cries for leniency, all of which are ignored by the House Ivory Matriarch. ¡°You have the day to collect your things and report to Gatekeeper Jeremy for escort back to Woodholme.¡± Oren says, ¡°Use this decade to grow and learn. Come back after a decade a better person than you are now.¡± The melancholy elves trudge away, down the stairs to their barracks room. Violet swirls away in a cascade of leaves, hard look vanishing into sadness now that the elves have left. ¡°Marco, do you have a moment?¡± Oren asks. Marco walks over to where Oren is standing, once again staring into the distance at the city filled with undead and prisoners. ¡°I hope we are able to rescue all of those captives.¡± Marco thinks. ¡°What did you think of the System meting out Judgement?¡± Oren asks, gazing to the distance. ¡°I think combined with the banishment from House Ivory, it is fair and will hopefully let them change and grow.¡± Marco says, ¡°It would be a different story if those other Adventurer¡¯s weren¡¯t saved.¡± ¡°Excellent, I am glad you don¡¯t feel like we were too harsh.¡± Oren says. ¡°With elven lifespans, a decade of good behavior is lenient and back home they would throw you into prison and throw away the key.¡± Marco comments. Oren nods, a little surprised at Marco¡¯s comment about prison but he waves goodbye to the party and steps into his shadow. Marco and team head back to their barracks, quickly striping their armor off and trying to make it into the bathroom first. Shen wins this time, the dark-skinned elf laughing as he slams the door in their faces. Marco waits his turn and after showering, exits the bathroom in a wave of steam and heat. ¡°I¡¯m headed to the kitchens! I have an idea that I want everyone to try.¡± Marco says, pulling on a set of baggy black pants and then a dark green shirt. ¡°Have fun! Try not to drive Chef Lucas to madness again!¡± Ben calls, entering the bathroom. Marco makes his way toward the kitchens, passing battle weary in the hallway and thinks over his own feelings about the fight. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°It was fun; exhilarating and dangerous but I don¡¯t feel tired from it. Not like working a day back home, I am excited by what we accomplished today and look forward to the rescue.¡± He thinks, ¡°It is different, the high of battle is more satisfying than cooking for sixteen hours and having a paycheck to show for it.¡± Marco finally enters the kitchen, the welcoming heat greeting him as always. ¡°Hello Marco! Come to make something for dinner?¡± Lucas greets with a large smile. ¡°Yup! Something from Earth, it was popularized by something called a movie!¡± Marco says, ¡°The story is about a rat who wants to cook and ends up controlling a horrible cook by pulling on his hair and making him good at cooking.¡± ¡°You have strange stories on your world Marco.¡± Lucas says, shaking his head and moving back to his station. Marco chuckles to himself, thinking about the dish he intends to make. Confit byaldi or layered ratatouille. He grabs a cutting board and pulls his knife from his [Inventory], making sure to clean it well before using it. He grabs a small bucket, filling it with zucchini, summer squash, tomatoes, and eggplants, along with garlic and herbs to season the dish. Marco cuts the summer squash and zucchini into thin rounds and places them off to the side. He grabs an eggplant, slicing them into similarly sized rounds before salting them heavily and setting them off to the side. He cores some of the tomatoes, chopping them and adding them to a pan with some chopped onions, garlic, and basil. Marco grabs some sweet peppers, removing the stem and seeds before giving them a rough chop and adding them to the pot. He leaves his tomato sauce to simmer and reduce and rinses his eggplant rounds to remove some of the saltiness. Marco finishes prepping his vegetables by the time that the tomato sauce is ready, he tastes it and adjusts the seasoning with a little bit of sugar and a sprinkle of dried thyme, before blending it with a high-speed application of [Salt] blades. Marco covers the bottom of the baking dish with a good layer of tomato sauce, and then begins layering vegetables, keeping the pattern of eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, and tomato. He occasionally breaks the pattern with a leaf of basil before continue, finishing the dish off with a thin layer of sauce and then placing it into a medium heat oven for about forty minutes. Marco cleans up, washing his knife and placing it back into his [Inventory], scrubbing his cutting board and returning it to its proper shelf. ¡°Hopefully this is a hit with everyone tonight!¡± He thinks, turning and jumping slightly to see Lucas standing close to him. ¡°That dish smells wonderful! The visual aspect is incredible as well, the colors are very interesting!¡± Lucas says, ¡°I wanted to thank you again. I was burnt out and had lost my passion for not only cooking but leadership.¡± ¡°It is no problem, I was in a similar place before getting taken to Omnia,¡± Marco says. ¡°I worked in fine-dining which means long days and complex food for little money and it is difficult in the best of times.¡± ¡°Tell me about Earth, the place without the Sunlight System, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± Lucas requests. So, Marco does, telling him of the complex foods of French fine-dining and multi-course tasting menus, the concept of a Chef¡¯s Table, and all of the interesting equipment he had used in his career. They talk and exchange stories as the smell of confit byaldi grows and wafts through the kitchen, attracting a small crowd as Marco moves to remove the dish from the oven. Marco focuses internally for a moment, [Salt Skin] gloves appearing on his skin, allowing him to pull the baking dish from the oven. Toasted edges of vegetables are draped in beautiful red sauce, a little bit of separated oil bubbling in puddles around the edge of the pan. The gorgeous layered vegetables are visually beautiful and the smell is lovely, people approach Marco, asking more about the dish and complimenting his work. ¡°It¡¯s perfect! The elves are going to love this, I guess I should have made a meat version too.¡± Marco thinks. ¡°Eh, the kitchen team is making delicious food with meat in it, everyone can stand to eat more veggies.¡± Marco washes up after placing his dish on the warming Inscription and walks into the dining area, waving goodbye to Ethil, Doris, and Lucas. He finds his team in line and joins them, to muted grumbles of the people behind them. ¡°What did you end up making?¡± Shen asks as he approaches. ¡°It smells great in here but a little bit meaty for my tastes.¡± ¡°I made a dish called confit byaldi or layered ratatouille. It is a dish popularized from one of those movies I told you guys about a few days ago.¡± Marco says, inching forward in line until they are at the front and receiving their food, including a small amount of ratatouille. The party finds a table with free seats and new people to meet and sit down to chat and eat. ¡°Hello! I¡¯m Marco and this is Ben, Lucia, and Shen.¡± Marco introduces, pointing to each member of his party in turn. ¡°Welcome to our table!¡± A dwarf with a loud voice and a slight Slavic accent greets them in return. ¡°I am Sven and this is Jessica, Harold, and Isabella.¡± The dwarf with ice blue hair and a matching beard says, pointing first to a young human woman with plain features and brown hair and eyes. Harold is a tall man with bright red hair reminiscent of a dying fire and eyes that look like coal, and the last member of the party is a petite girl with dark blue that wave around almost like she is underwater and clear blue eyes. ¡°Nice to meet you all. How do you all fare in the Horde?¡± Ben says, eating his first bite of confit byaldi and gasping in delight. ¡°Marco, this is delicious!¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Marco says, receiving praise from Lucia and Shen as well. ¡°Oh! You¡¯re the guy who beat Lucas in the cook-off!¡± Harold says with a surprisingly quiet voice, ¡°That dish you made looked delicious!¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Marco says, ¡°It was fun to stretch those cooking muscles once again.¡± Marco and his party chat and enjoy the food, bidding farewell to new friends, before returning to their barracks room, excited and nervous for journey to Hopesfall and the people they hope to rescue. Chapter 40: Into the Woods Marco stretches under the comforter and nestles gently into the warmth, enjoying a few extra minutes of comfort. ¡°Yesterday was crazy! My first large-scale fight, a Judgement from the System and new friends made with new foods.¡± Marco smiles as he pushes back the blankets and slowly gets to his feet, stretching muscles and working our any stiffness a good night of sleep always brings. He looks around the room, their plain gray stone box unadorned except for the beds and chests. Everyone else is still sleep, Shen buried under his blankets, Lucia doing an excellent impression of a starfish on top of her bedding and Ben is sleeping face down and snoring lightly. Marco walks quietly into the bathroom and turns on the Tidecaller Inscription, hot water beginning to fall like torrential rain immediately. Marco pulls off her sleepwear, piling it on the floor and steps into the calming hot rain, washing away the smells of the kitchen from last night and any stress he has going into this rescue mission. He works shampoo into his brown hair, frowning lightly at growth of it. ¡°I need a haircut but I don¡¯t know anything about those here. After the rescue I guess¡± Marco scrubs the rest of his body, turning his lightly tanned skin a light shade of pink from the abrasion and the heat of the water. He rinses all of the suds off and steps out of the shower, toweling dry and then pulling under clothes from his [Inventory]. He walks out of the bathroom, seeing the other stirring awake and quickly pulls on the rest of his under-armor clothes, fighting with the tight pants because of his damp legs. He stumbles slightly, catching himself on the bed with an outstretched arm. Marco finally manages to get dressed and greets his now awake party members. ¡°Good morning! Hope you all slept well.¡± Marco greets, to a chorus of mumbled greetings. The hallway is empty as he heads toward the kitchens to grab a tray of burritos from Ethil and Doris, two filled with scrambled eggs and an assortment of seasoned vegetables and two with pork breakfast sausage added. He also grabs some of the other treats that he asked them to make last night, for their upcoming camping trip. He quickly returns to the room, entering the stone box with burritos in hand, to see Shen exiting the bathroom and Ben entering behind him. ¡°I brought breakfast!¡± Lucia is sitting on her bed, bleary eyed and stiff with sleep still, reaches out a hand and Marco brings her a burrito. ¡°Thank you,¡± Lucia mumbles while quickly unwrapping the breakfast food and taking a big bite. ¡°Wow! This is so tasty.¡± Small bits of food spray from her mouth as she talks with her mouth full. Shen comes over to Marco and accepts a vegetable burrito, thanking the man and returning to his bed to eat. Marco unwraps his burrito, groaning at the flavors of cheesy scrambled egg and greasy breakfast sausage, ¡°Ethil and Doris knock it out of the park once again.¡± ¡°So, what do we know about this rescue?¡± Marco asks, between bites of burrito. Shen chews and swallows before saying, ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure, other than the fact that the city of Hopesfall is about a day¡¯s journey from the wall.¡± The bathroom door opens and Ben walks into the gray stone room, towel wrapped low around his hips, showcasing pale skin and tight abdominal muscles. Marco has to tear his focus away from the sight and focuses on making eye contact with Shen and Lucia, a small knowing grin on the latter''s face. ¡°According to our family''s records, the city will be filled with captives and lesser Liches along with scores of minions to tend the fields.¡± Lucia supplies, finishing off her burrito and lobbing her greasy parchment paper into the trash can across the room. Ben pulls on his white under armor and Marco sighs in mixed relief and disappointment as the sight disappears. ¡°Lucia and Shen are correct, the city of Hopesfall is just over a day¡¯s travel from here and the woods in the intervening space are full of roaming patrols lead by Legion Knights and Abominations.¡± Everyone finishes pulling on their armor pieces, Marco leaves his armor top off until they reach the Deadwoods and they leave to report to the portcullis and begin their journey. Marco and his team form up next to Coron¡¯s team, nervousness rippling through the gathered crowd. ¡°Hello Coron! Harold, Alya, and Garreth it is nice to see you all once again.¡± ¡°Hello Marco! Excited for the rescue mission?¡± Coron asks, the other members of his team extend greetings to Marco as well. ¡°Nervous, but excited to see more of this world, even an undead city!¡± Marco says, pausing in shock as a small explosion of leaves reveals Violet Forestsong at the head of the formation, back to the portcullis. ¡°Greetings Adventurers. Today we have the special privilege of entering the deepest parts of the Deadwood to travel toward Hopesfall city.¡± Violet announces, her regal voice mixing with the sharp smell of verdant earth and flora. ¡°It will be a day¡¯s long journey through monster infested lands.¡± When she finishes speaking the portcullis is raised, the heavy metal gate floating effortlessly upward as the Adventurers stream out. Marco once again emerges out into the gray world of the Deadwoods, pulling on his upper armor and casting [Salt Skin]. The others around him do the same; Shen with his [Earthen Armor], Ben casts his [Hyperion Plate], plates of hardlight snapping into place around him. Coron is covered in a swirling armor made of [Air], the members of his party also armoring up and making sure they were protected. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Harold has a much bulkier set of [Salt] Armor conjured around him, bulky pauldrons and thick chest plate make the tall man look even larger. Marco has to resist the urge to summon a [Salt Bolt] when two dozen golems made of roots and leaves rip themself from the surrounding trees and form up around the Adventurers, protecting them. They begin their journey to the south, slowly ramping up the speed until they are moving through the forest at a blurring pace. Anytime monsters are seen they are almost immediately obliterated by a rain of spell fire, in every element and form. Marco looks around as they run through the dead forest, keeping a look out for monsters and keeping up a running dialogue with those around him. He snaps to attention when a Dark Ent glowing with the sickly green light of [Curse] charges them, having disguised itself as a normal blackened tree. Marco launches a [Salt Strike], the large monster impaling itself ever deeper as its momentum pushes it forward onto the wickedly sharp salt spikes. The Ent dies, shredding itself on the [Salt] magic, the huge body of the former tree dissolving into dust and magic. ¡°Good hit, Marco!¡± Harold says in his booming voice, letting his conjured [Salt Hammer] dissipate. ¡°Thank you! Elemental match up did me favors!¡± Marco calls, catching back up to the group and matching their speed. They continue their trek through the gray expanse of forest, several hours pass before they reach a clearing filled with brown wood structures. ¡°Huh, they look like lean-tos.¡± ¡°Welcome to your home for the evening! We made great time on the journey here and will be able to make it to Hopesfall by midmorning tomorrow.¡± Violet¡¯s voice sounds from around the clearing, the root golems¡¯ mouths moving in time. ¡°Everyone, find a lean-to for yourself and your party and get some rest, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.¡± The root golems fall apart, tangling together to form a low wall around the entire clearing. ¡°Magic is so cool!¡± Marco thinks and heads toward the lean-to next to the one Coron¡¯s party already claimed. Marco tucks his upper armor into his [Inventory] and pulls sweater out at the same time, pulling the warm garment over his head he sighs, ¡°So comfy.¡± The summer heat is beginning to give way to fall chill in the depth of the forest, the perpetual fog and heavy tree cover making the ambient temperature much cooler than outside of the Deadwoods. ¡°Any opinions on dinner?¡± Marco asks while building a small fire pit with blocks of [Salt] and some wood from within his [Inventory]. ¡°Vegetable curry!¡± ¡°Beef stew!¡± ¡°Soup!¡± His group calls out. Marco thinks and decides to go with curry, with all of the elves present he can share the vegetable forward dish easier. ¡°Is everyone alright with vegetable curry and flatbread?¡± Marco asks, conjuring a [Salt] table with a thick top to use as a cutting board and work station. Everyone nods and he begins to pull out vegetables and ingredients to make the curry. ¡°Shen! Are you able to make me a metal pot?¡± Marco calls to the man within the lean-to. ¡°Yes! Give me a minute and I will be right out.¡± The elf calls back, appearing a minute or so later and concentrates, a large metal soup pot forming between his hands. Lucia seems to read his mind and lights the fire with a small low-powered [Fireball], the dry wood instantly catching and burning merrily. Marco puts his new pot over the fire, held in place by a couple of smartly fashioned feet on the bottom, and splashes a small amount of oil into the pot. Sliced onion goes into the pot, along with grated garlic and ginger, Marco allows those to sweat together and extract all of that flavor into the oil. He adds a chopped green chili and a tablespoon of cumin seed to the sizzling pot. The smells begin to draw attention and Marco decides he is going to need a bigger batch of curry and bulks up his batch size. He adds a dozen chopped tomato and lets them cook down and reduce before adding in some of the thick tomato paste. He toasts the tomato paste, cooking out some of that acidic flavor that tomato paste tends to have. Marco pulls out an assortment of spices; turmeric, chili powder, coriander seed, garam masala, and cumin and tosses a measured amount of each into the pot and allows them to toast and infuse. Once all of those flavors have had time to mingle and develop, he adds a large jar of coconut milk he got from Lucas and a quarter that amount of water. He peels his pumpkin, cutting into small cubes and moving on to dicing his summer squash and zucchini before separating the florets of a massive head of cauliflower. He adds the pumpkin and lets it cook for about ten minutes before adding the other vegetables. Those vegetables simmer for another ten minutes before adding his peas and ripped up baby spinach. Marco moves on to flatbread, mixing flour, water, yogurt, sugar, and olive oil in a conjured [Salt] bowl, he lightly kneads the dough and lets it rest for a second tasting his curry and adding a good amount of salt and a little more chili powder. He separates the dough into small portions and flattening them with a [Salt] rolling pin and a liberal amount of flour before asking Shen to give him another cooking surface. ¡°Can I have a plate of metal, as smooth as you can make it to cook these flatbreads on, please?¡± Shen nods and conjures a large griddle for him to cook bread on, he nestles it within the fire for Marco and sits back to watch and enjoy the smells once again. Marco throws a knob of butter onto the cooking surface and a splash of oil and then places his first three flatbreads onto cook once the surface is preheated. It instantly bubbles and puffs up; Marco turns it over and reveals a golden spotted bread. He finishes cooking all of the flatbreads and grabs stash of yogurt and chops some cilantro for garnish. Marco invites over Coron¡¯s team and begins to serve bowls of fragrant curry and a buttery flatbread to all of his friends. The curry is a beautiful shade of orangey yellow and full of different colored vegetables and visual textures. He serves up his own bowl but refrains from eating, instead offering the rest of the large pot of curry to those around him. Most everyone takes him up on his offer, walking over to the pot and joining the large crowd. Marco eats, surrounded by friends and fellow Adventurers and is happy and content, even deep in the core of the Deadwoods and approaching a dangerous situation. Everyone finishes up dinner, Shen dissolves his cook pot and griddle and Marco expands the firepit, spreading out the fire and letting the coals burn hotter. Marco gets everyone around the fire, sitting in various conjured chairs or hovering in a seated position. ¡°Tonight, I am introducing a beloved dessert and tradition from my home. S¡¯mores.¡± Marco pulls out the goodies he got from Ethil and Doris this morning, homemade marshmallow, graham crackers and nicely tempered chocolate. ¡°Shen, could we have a bunch of thin metal poles? I¡¯ll make the handles so no one gets burnt.¡± Shen conjures twenty thin metal poles and Marco begins to spear marshmallows and then pass them out. ¡°Toast the marshmallow until golden brown, be careful they are prone to catching on fire.¡± Marco explains, he watches with delight as everyone begins to toast the fluffy treat over the coals, some people ignoring his warning and letting their marshmallow light. Marco sets up all of the other things needed for s¡¯mores and helps people make their very own delicious marshmallow chocolate sandwich. ¡°This has been a great night!¡± Marco thinks to himself, watching seasoned Adventurers trying to toast their marshmallow with faces of extreme focus. He sees Ben out of the corner of his eye, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth in focus and smiles. ¡°Whatever tomorrow throws at us, at least we had this gathering.¡±