Ar'Kendrithyst

Chapter 28

Erick sat on his seat in the middle of the farm, under a weather [Ward] someone else had provided, on stone seats someone else had conjured. His usual group had expanded by a few members, and the space had been expanded to accommodate the newcomers. Killzone was there, in all his darker than black orcol self. Mog was there, too. She had a habit of smiling at Erick when he wasn’t looking. Silverite sat on the seat closest to him. Valok, Apogough, and Krakina sat in their usual spots. Mage Guildmaster Zago was there, too. She had a smirk that would simply not leave her face. She tried to school her joy away several times, but it always returned because every three seconds she was focusing on a different part of the farm all around them.

And up above, it rained. The spell took ten minutes of misty foggy glows to get up into the sky and start operating properly, but that was a while ago. Silver light had been raining for the last twenty minutes.

[Exalted Storm Aura] was a glowing white cloud that stretched for miles across the sky, heavy with silver that fell out of the cloud as drops of platinum light. Erick watched the rain fall, alongside everyone else. To his meditating sight the cloud was a brilliant roil and the shadows around him were pitiful things, too small to matter. The shadows were nothing compared to the radiance looming above.

And still, mana flowed through Erick, 1 point out every 4 seconds, 1 point in every 3.5 seconds, because:

Exalted Storm Aura, 1 MP per second, super long range ~{Favored Spell}~

Anoint the land with blessed rain, rapidly growing all to and restoring vibrancy to all other plant life and soil. If used in a , highly nutritious beans will sprout after .

Particle Mage Only

He had made [Exalted Storm Aura] a Favored Spell. Obviously. 900 mana an hour was doable with Meditation and his 1050 regen, but 1800 mana an hour? Not happening for many, many more levels, and Erick probably wasn’t getting any.

Fuck.

He needed that Scion of Focus if he was going to do this for an entire day.

His exhaustion cap was still around 5250.

The movers and shakers of Spur talked among themselves while watching the cloud, the farms, and occasionally Erick, from their dry seats inside a larger than normal weather [Ward].

“A bit slower growth than normal,” Valok said.

Apogough said, “Yeah, but its water and [Grow] and nutrition, all at the same time.”

Valok agreed, “No need to treat the soil with potions every evening.”

“You two! Business business, always business! Just look at it!” Krakina said, “It’s three times the size of [Call Lightning]!”

“It’s only going to get bigger with Aurify 3,” Zago said.

Valok said, “We’ll have a lot less need for growers, but a much, much greater need for pickers.”

“He can’t keep this up all day long, though. Mana Exhaustion,” Apogough said.

“Yes. That is a problem.” Zago said, “Scion of Focus is necessary for the last part of the spell to activate without greatly stressing the caster. You could use some Focus jewelry to artificially extend mental fortitude, but that would be… I think it would be economically unsustainable. I’d have to do a lot of math to be sure.”

Krakina said, “You were going for Scion of Focus, anyway? Erick?”

“Yes.” Erick said, “But I don’t have enough levels yet.”

“And that, too! A Class before 50!” Zago said, “Unprecedented.” She gazed upon the rice paddy in front of her. The plants in the water had filled out to yard tall, thick sprays of green leaves. Those leaves had then begun to peel back, revealing heavy golden grains on long stalks. “The rice has matured… so the water is rising! Fascinating.”

Mog said, “We can get you those levels, Erick. I have good local teams willing to take you anywhere you want. I won’t trust any transients with something this important, no matter how good they might be. I’ll personally escort you into the Crystal Forest myself, too, if that’s what you’d prefer.”

Killzone announced, “You gotta kill some monsters, Archmage. Anyway you cut it, you gotta get those levels and those ability points. You gotta do it fast. Today, if’n you can.”

Erick paled. Murdering monsters still seemed wrong, somehow. Especially after finding out that Shades were shadow monsters with sapience.

Silverite gestured at the whole of the farms. “People are picking apples in the rain, and then those branches grow more apples. This is a never ending harvest. This is a magic that changes nations; it changes everything.” She turned to Erick. “You’re going to get a lot of offers in the coming days and weeks. I vow to protect you—”

“Me too,” Mog said.

“Aye,” Killzone said.

“Of course!” Krakina said.

“Me as well,” Zago said.

“— but this is going to be difficult. You need more understanding of what you have done, as well as more levels to combat those who would see this as an attack.” Silverite continued, “Both professionally and personally I think you should go out and kill some monsters, then take Mog’s training courses. She is very good at helping people learn how to help themselves. Beyond that, 20 Strength and then Strong for 600 HP would go a long, long way to keeping you safe from many different threats. More Willpower would be good for a better personal [Ward], too. Have you hit 10 with that yet?”

“Not yet. Close. Another day or two to [Ward 10].”

Silverite said, “The final level will be very important for you.”

Zago was listening, but also not. She muttered, “This grain is just sitting here.” And then she probably cast [Telekinesis], because all of the matured grain in the rice paddy sliced off at the water’s surface, then floated into the air, bundling together to then float down by Zago to sit in neat stacks. “Look! It’s growing again from the severed stalks! This is amazing.”

A few others, Erick included, leaned over to get a better look at the rice paddy. And yes, Zago was right. The stems she had sliced were regrowing, soaking up drops of platinum water, poking fresh green leaves into the glowing rain.

Silverite brought them all back to attention. “Ah-hem! As I was saying… Erick?”

Everyone looked at him.

Fuck.

Erick was not such a pacifist that he was unwilling to see that he was changing the world a bit too much. There were going to be consequences for his actions; might as well face the music with a better Level. That would probably make Jane happier, too.

Jane was currently not happy.

Al had dropped the local drama upon Savral, Savral’s team, and Jane, with an impromptu morning [Telepathy]. Jane was both very proud, and very, very mad. It was hard to overstate the severity of Erick’s current Jane Situation, so he decided to ignore that problem until they all came back to Spur tomorrow. But ignoring a Situation was never a good idea. He knew that from vast experience.

But killing monsters? That would go a long way to solving many problems.

Jane would still be mad, but she won’t be as mad as she could be.

“Okay. Fine. I guess… I need to do this. So let’s make this easier. What’s the best [Fly], Zago?”

Zago smiled, and said, “It will take several days for you to level the relevant skills. You should just walk out there and kill some mimics today and get what you need for Scion of Focus; finding the mimics would be the only hard part. Then, when you’re ready, you come to the Guild Library and I will help you with anything you need.” She looked across the farm. “You could also invent some more spells to get some ability points. You seem to be rather good at that.”

He could do that, too, couldn’t he? In fact, that seemed like a much better idea than killing monsters.

Erick joked, “I was thinking of inventing a new school of light magic.”

The sound of the rain washed across the farmland.

“That was a joke,” he said.

Zago hummed. “You have a Class Ability in Particle Mage which helps you unlock new spells. Best to stick with that, and unlock whatever you can think to unlock, as soon as you can.”

Right. He did whip that out at the party last night, didn’t he?

Erick said, “You’re right.”

Zago said, “There’s a major rush to discover new spells. If you wait too long you might… You’ll… You’ll probably invent something that no one else has thought to create. However, all of the low hanging fruit will have been picked.”

Mog said, “There are some easy achievements that you could get… Ah. Wait. No. All of the easy achievements are from killing monsters on your own. Uhh. Eat more monster meat?”

“There are several non-combat achievements for an extra point here and there,” Zago said. “Creating a tier 4 spell gives 3 points. Tier 5 gives 4 points. But failing to create the correct tier 4 spell means waiting a full 100 days to try again. Failing at tier 5 is 1000 days of downtime. Failing at tier 6 is 10000. You see the pattern. It’s very punishing, especially for us non-immortals.” She turned to the rain, and said, “But you seem to have created exactly what you wanted with an enchanting rhyme. I have researched this phenomenon extensively over the last several days. I have found that ‘singing out your magic’ has a long tradition in some mage cultures. Particularly in the Songli Highlands, where the people are known for weaving song into almost all of their high-tier Script usage. I have ordered some more books on the subject so that I might try their methods. See what I can do with a song.”

Apogough pointed at the sky. “How are you even doing this? What was your thought process?”

Erick smiled. “It’s magic.”

Zago instantly groaned. “No it’s not!” She added, “Maybe the [Grow] aspect is magic, but you’re also renewing the land. There’s not a single yellow blade of grass or malnourished tomato on any of those vines over there. Your spell is granting vibrancy to the land as well as water and rapid growth. All for 1 mana a second! The sheer efficiency boggles the mind!”

Yellowed grasses?

“I’ve never seen any of those problems before.” Erick looked to Valok. “Have you?”

Valok smiled. “We fertilize the crops at sunset and spread potions at sunrise. Krakina ensures these aspects of the farm are well integrated into the land well before the pickers and growers show. If we didn’t do this, then all of the growth you’ve seen would result in yellowed leaves and withered fruits, as Guildmaster Zago says.”

Krakina pointed toward a trellis of not-tomatoes with a grey wing feather. “They’ve picked that grove four times since you started. Those tomatoes should be withered tiny things by now, but they’re not.”

Zago repeated Apogough’s questions, “How are you doing this? What was your process?”

Erick explained, “The rain is an extension of [Call Lightning]'s rain ability. The [Grow] aspect seems rather normal, if slightly slower than using [Grow] itself. I’m surprised the spell costs as little as it does since [Growth Aura] is so damned expensive. I suspect that might be because [Grow] is very, very magical, and thus probably not that great for plant life, which Valok just confirmed with that bit about potions and fertilizer. When I spoke those words to cast this spell, I concentrated on what a better version of it all would look like, together. I considered nutrients for the plants. I concentrated on nitrogen fixing and how beans are pretty good about enriching the land, though I’m not sure how they do all that, exactly. I do know that nitrogen is a large part of all the air we breathe, though. So I thought about [Grow] working through the nitrogen in the air, fixing it so it’s usable by the plants it rains upon.

“But nitrogen isn’t the only thing plants need to grow. There’s a whole host of other compounds and such needed for proper growth, but a lot of that is also airborne. In fact, there are a lot of plants that can grow on nothing more than the air they breathe and the water that falls on them. Looking over everything today, it all seems rather poetic; all the pieces are there, they just had to be put together. Don’t ask me what nitrogen is or what all the other compounds the plants need; I’m not nearly as knowledgeable about all that as I am about water."

Erick continued, "People probably shouldn’t be standing out in the rain, though, like I said before we started. What’s good for plants isn’t always good for people.”

Platinum rain fell across the farms of Spur, while the leaders of the adventuring town silently listened.

Valok said, “You’re worried over nothing. Spells specifically state if they’re capable of poisoning, and yours does not.”

“We’ll still test all the food with [Cleanse],” Apogough said. “Of course.”

Erick looked at his [Cleanse], saying, “But [Cleanse] doesn’t say poison?”

Cleanse 6, instant, short range, 10 MP.

Purge an area equal to the level of the spell in meters of all Toxins, Disease, Filth, and Corruption.

Exp: 270/1300

“Yes it does.” Krakina smirked at him. “Not all toxins are poisons, but all poisons are toxins.”

Huh!

Maybe I'll make tier 4 version of this platinum rain… to automatically cleanse everything afterward?

Ah. Hmm.

Zago spoke, “It occurs to me that a lot of the knowledge of magic we might have had in the past has been lost to the ease of the Script. No one knows anything about ‘nitrogen fixing’, as you have called it, or that this ‘nitrogen’ is in the sky; in the air we breathe. I know how some plants enrich the land for future crops, and some drain the land. About crop rotation to ensure a constant, good product. About the potions and bone fertilizers necessary to keep Spur’s farms in top condition in the growing season; I’ve even helped to create such potions and fertilizers in my younger days.”

Silverite said, “The alchemists and others will be able to transition easily enough into new work; we’re an adventuring town, after all. And we’re growing. Rapidly. I have over fifty teams waiting for approval to enter Ar’Kendrithyst. Dozens are already in the Crystal Forest, searching for crystal slimes and settling for mimics; lots are actually harvesting the agaves themselves. Some are even venturing into the entrances into the Underworld, to the north. The point is, is that people are coming to Spur in record numbers. [Exalted Storm Aura] is now worldwide news. This new magic has already angered a great many people.” She looked across the farm. “You can cut the spell now, Archmage.”

Erick did so. The glowing silver clouds began to wane, to float away on the desert winds. The final drops of [Exalted Storm Aura] fell. Platinum waters soaked into the ground, vanishing from sight, and slowly, the farm stopped growing.

Silverite said, “The people of Spur will be able to adjust to this new ability and whatever complications it brings because that is what adventuring towns do; we adjust. Alchemists can transition to more health potions and mana potions to keep up with adventurer demand, instead of needing to make fertilizer and soil potions. Growers can transition into pickers and planters. But this new magic is dangerous. You have changed the world with this ability. I wish to ensure that you are protected from those who will see this as an attack on their very ways of life. I would like to assign your bodyguards to you as actual bodyguards, full time. Poi has already expressed interest in continuing his appointed duty, if you will have him.”

Erick had no problem instantly saying, “Poi’s a good guy. I'll keep him. And I hear what you’re saying. I don’t plan on venturing anywhere. I will see about making some smaller spells, though. Maybe get Scion of Focus that way.”

“You should also work to get 20 Strength, if just for the HP.”

Erick smiled. “I think I’ll be fine.”

Killzone spoke, and his accent was gone. “My people prevented a threat against your life, last night: A male incani from Kal’Duresh, who, when the guards casually questioned, did not seem right. It was quickly discovered that the man had three blacknight daggers on his person, which are violently poisonous to humans. When he was brought in for formal questioning, it was revealed that he believes that you turned Bulgan to the Shades. As he did nothing except come straight here from Kal’Duresh and went straight for you, we had to let him go. He was an idiot. There are a lot of those in the world, but there are also a lot of smart people, too.” Killzone spoke, and Erick felt cold creep into his chest. “You need allies and we’re them. Please accept our advice with a greater weight than you are. We like you here. We want to keep you here, and happy, and alive. Some mutual protection is expected; it’s part of what makes a community a community. But we don’t want to have to protect you as much as you’re making yourself a target. You need to be able to protect yourself, too. Please make better decisions.”

The rest of the group nodded in their various personal ways.

Erick slowly nodded, saying, "Okay," reeling from what Killzone had said, barely understanding that someone would want to kill him. His throat felt dry, as he said, “That’s enough talking for today.”

Silverite said, “Poi will be along shortly.”

The air felt primed for more bombs to drop.

Erick tried to break the tension, “Am I ever going to meet the invisible second guy?”

Silverite smiled. “You already have.”

“Oh my god that’s almost as annoying as when Rozeta doesn’t answer a question.”

Silverite and Killzone tensed.

Silverite relaxed before staring Erick down. “… Please try not to blaspheme so much. Best not to talk about the gods at all, really.”

“… right. That was probably… Thanks for the advice.” Erick said, "Sorry for being... Uh. I'm not used to any of this. Sorry."

"Not a problem." Silverite gave a short, quick bow. “And, now, to tend to the rest of the day.”

Valok said, “The Farmer’s Council is going to need some time to investigate what you have done to this land, Erick. You can come work if you want, but we’re not going to want rain for three days. We’ll tell you when that changes.”

- - - -

Erick sat in his apartment. Poi stood to the side, at a respectable 10 feet.

Erick turned to the dragonkin. “Glad to see I didn’t chase you off.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Are we both employees of the city, now? I didn’t get a chance to ask anyone that, yet.”

“I have been an employee of Spur for the last seven years. You have been for a little while.”

“What does that mean, though?”

“Your duties are as before. Mine are as a full time bodyguard. Technically you’re a contractor for the army, like I am. Beyond that, we do need to go to the Courthouse and start finalizing what all this means, whenever you feel like going.”

“… I’m not doing that today.”

Poi nodded.

“… Actually. Maybe I am.” Erick got off the couch. “No... Wait. Let’s go look at property— No... Damn.” Erick sat back down. “Jane will want to do that with me. I’ll do all of that tomorrow.”

Five seconds passed.

Erick hopped off the couch, saying, “Nope. I’ll go now.”

Poi nodded, and followed Erick out of the apartment.

- - - -

Xemal stood in front of a perfectly flat field of stone, maybe 20 yards by 20 yards, or somewhere around there. She said, “They’re all almost the same size, since Al came through. He really did a number on this place. You could build practically anything you want on any of them.” She looked over to the neighbors. “They did alright.”

Almost all of the Human District was flat orange and brown stone, except for small walls here and there that Al had left untouched, a few trees and green spaces that had been cultivated, and one nice looking, four story tall mage tower and accompanying house. The house was the home of the three mages the Headmaster had asked to become citizens of Spur. It was a nice looking house. Certainly big enough for three people.

Whoever made their house knew what they were doing. Erick wanted a mage tower like that. It looked right and proper. There was even a small garden around the whole thing.

Wait a second.

A tall tower.

A double peaked round-top house attached directly to the tower.

And greenery all around. Bushy greenery.

Erick asked, “They have to know... Are they aware that their house looks like a dick? And balls?”

Xemal snort-honked a laugh, then said, “Their plans have another tower on the other side, but now that I look I see the rest of it is not up to code.”

“Not my business, I suppose.” Erick pointed to a plot of land with a short wall, maybe 50 yards away. “What did that house look like?”

Xemal peeled her eyes away from the dick house then looked at the wall Erick indicated. She scrunched her face. Realization came. “A tower, I think? Yeah. That’s a mage tower.”

“Oh?”

“You can [Mend] it up, if you’d like. See what you’re working with. If you don’t like it I can get someone to level the ground again.”

Erick took a look at his [Mend].

Mend 7, instant, touch, 10 MP

Touch a non-magical uncomplicated large object and restore it to its prime.

Exp: 1510/2100

“What size object does a house count as?”

“Large complicated. You'll want [Mend 9] at the least. It takes several hundred mana to fix a house, anyway. A house of that size might take 2000.”

“… What if I only have [Mend 7].”

“No time to raise your level like the present.” Xemal said, “If that is what you’re going to do, I’ll leave you to it?”

“Yeah. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Xemal bowed. “Good day, Archmage Flatt.” She looked to the dick house. “I have some papers to file.”

Suddenly wary of Xemal kicking up the Quiet War, Erick asked, “Uh? Are you going to…?”

Xemal blanched, her purple skin turning pale. She said, “I learned my lesson. But I can’t let that ...thing... remain!” She pointed. “It’s a giant dick!”

Smirking, Erick said, “Okay. Thanks for your help today, Xemal.”

She nodded then began to walk away, pausing for a moment to laugh at the dick house again.

Erick looked to Poi. “No time to raise my level like the present!”

Poi said nothing. He maintained a respectable 8 to 10 foot distance at all times. He was very good about that. Erick walked a short distance to the short wall and laid hands on the orange stone.

[Mend].

The orange stone flexed outward, gaining height and length. Maybe another foot on all sides. A corner had appeared on one side; this was a corner wall of some sort.

[Mend].

[Mend]. [Mend]. [Mend].

[Mend]. [Mend]. [Mend]. [Mend]. [Mend]. [Mend].

[Mend][Mend][Mend][Mend][Mend][Mend][Mend][Mend][Mend][Mend]...

- - - -

Erick stood in the middle of the bottom floor, of what might one day be a house. A short wall up to his knees rose all around him, showing Erick the foundation and the edges of the building. The first floor looked rather basic. A large open room, a side room, another side room that was probably a porch. That was a bathroom; Erick had mended a stone toilet back into existence. That one might have been a kitchen; maybe a bath. No! That one was a bath. That made thatother one a kitchen. All in all, It was a very boxy building. If there was a mage tower here, Erick wasn’t seeing it. A tower would have curved walls, right?

“Poi? Is it supposed to look this basic? It’s [Mend 7], so I guess that might have something to do with it, but… Isn’t a mage tower supposed to have curved walls? Where’s the curve?”

“All buildings in Spur are required to have square-ish foundations.”

Erick looked over at the dick-house. “That house looks rather curved… In multiple locations.”

Poi did not bother to look at the dick house. “There are likely more complaints lodged against that house than for their illegal foundation.” He pointed up at the empty air. “Past the first floor you are allowed to have curved towers. I suspect this house we are in is such a place.”

Erick looked all around him. “How defensible does this foundation look to you?”

Poi looked around. “Three points of entry. Looks like a garden space out there, a front door, and a servants door. Nothing unusual so far. Two staircases, one grand one not… Exterior walls are thick. Very thick. This foundation looks as defensible as any other nice house. You’d need to hire some proper staff to keep this place feeling good, but that’s for another day. You could both host social gatherings and have plenty of guests. You'd have workrooms. In-house servants quarters, too. All of that is likely somewhere in this house, once restored to full.”

With Poi’s evaluation, Erick felt a pang of unwelcome extravagance.

“… is this the sort of house I should be looking for? It all seems rather extravagant.”

“Honestly, yes. With a minimum 20G daily personal intake, you should consider something of this size. Maybe larger." Poi said, "Unless you intend to become a hermit, I foresee you entertaining many people.”

Erick frowned.

He certainly wasn’t going to become a hermit.

He touched the stone wall.

[Mend].

[Mend]. [Mend].

[Mend]. [Mend]. [Mend]…

- - - -

Erick stood away from the house to get a better look at the whole thing and Rest for a while.

The first floor was coming together; the walls had restored themselves up to the second floor, revealing more rooms. A curved mage’s tower was starting to appear out of the southern side of the house and the whole thing was certainly large enough for Jane and Erick, and more people besides. It even had multiple rooms for guests; if Jane wanted to bring home a theoretical adventuring team there was room enough for all of them. There was at least at a third floor, too, since the staircases kept going up. But, right now, the whole thing was reminiscent of a child’s melted sandcastle.

[Mend] had a problem restoring long-gone objects, like a house that had been reduced to a single wall. But it could recreate the stone mass of the house in more or less the correct places. After that, Erick would need to hire a stoneshaper to fill out the detail work. Or, he could do all that himself, too. He had [Stoneshape], after all.

“You know, Poi? I could get used to living in a nice house.” Erick looked back at the dragonkin. He said, “Could you live in a place like this? If you’re going to be my full time guard?”

Poi smiled at Erick, and said, “I could.”

“Where I’m from, I would want to hire you directly.”

“That sounds like a human custom to me, sir. We don’t do it like that around here since that would split loyalties. I’m an employee of the city, and I like it that way. You’re an employee of the city, too.” Poi said, “The citizens are protected, and we are the people who are expected to protect them. With our loyalty defined in this way, we have connections to easily and officially draw upon the assistance necessary to be able to discharge our civic duties when needed.”

Erick scrunched his face. “Okay.” He looked around at the flattened Human District. “Have you met the second guard I’m supposed to have?”

Poi shook his head. “No, I have not.”

“Are they a real person? Or was that a bluff?”

Poi smiled. “They’re real, whoever they are.” He looked to the left. “Silverite doesn’t bluff.”

Erick followed Poi’s sight.

“Hey! It is you!” A short human woman with short yellow hair was walking toward them. “Hey neighbor, Archmage! You moving in?”

It was Maia, from Oceanside. One of the Headmaster’s graduates.

“Hey, Maia.” Erick smiled. “Just checking the place out for now. My daughter is coming back into town tomorrow and we’ll make some sort of decision then.”

“Welcome to the neighborhood, anyway! We saw that rain earlier!” She laughed. “Just when Eduard thought he was hot shit making two spells, all these restrictions came rushing down the Script at him and then you go and solve agriculture. Anywho: Just wanted to say hello. Come on by sometime! We’re the only other house in the neighborhood. You can’t miss it.” She pointed toward her house. “It's the one that looks like a cock!”

Erick snorted a laugh.

Maia smiled. “It won’t look like that for long. We’re just pissing off an old woman with nothing better to do with her time than annoy her new neighbors. You’ll probably meet her soon enough; greyscale by the name of Ratchet.”

That’s an appropriate name for a neighborhood busybody.

Erick smiled, saying, “I accept your invitation. Right now, if you have time.”

Maia clapped her hands in excitement. “Really? Great! Ram made tomato cake yesterday. If you showed up tomorrow, it’d be gone.”

“… those purple fruits that grow on the vines? The savory ones?”

Maia cocked her head. “Yeah?”

Erick smiled. “Sounds great!”

- - - -

‘Tomato Cake’ was pretty damn fantastic. Apparently, not-tomatoes could be treated with a few drops of ‘Sweet Potion’ to turn all of the savory tomatoe-ness into sugar; effectively turning purple not-tomatoes into giant cherries. The taste and consistency was rather close to a cherry cheesecake, in fact, and it might have been one of the most delicious foods Erick had ever eaten.

“He likes your cake, Ramizi,” Maia said, smirking.

“Of course I do! This is fantastic!” Erick said, “How did you make this?”

Erick had arrived at the ‘Human House’, as they called it, and been treated to a whirlwind tour of the place. The three graduates of Oceanside had moved in to Spur over the last several days, bringing with them three libraries of various sizes, a large amount of herbs, vegetables, and fruits, and more arcane equipment than Erick had names for.

There were…

Baubles and trinkets, spin jets and pipettes,

Glass flasks, bronze burners, face masks, pot turners,

Bio reactors, high duty compactors

Freezers and fume hoods, tweezers and chipped wood

Heat disks and cold sinks, small whisks and chain links

Jars of green slime and clocks stopped in time

Bone fertilizer and auto-resizers

Shakers and mixers, plant growth elixirs

Books about runes, and boxes of shrooms

Humidifiers and drawers full of pliers

Wax for more candles and twine to make sandals

A blood centrifuge and damn—!

That motherfucking thing was huge!

That’s where Erick had to stop the tour. What the hell did they need a blood centrifuge that big for? But then Maia and Ramizi set him down for some not-tomato cake and he couldn’t rightly leave before he had cake. That would be rude!

Ramizi said, “I made this cake using that centrifuge you saw. The big big one. Sugar sells well.”

“… It’s not a blood centrifuge?”

Ramizi and Maia laughed.

Maia said, “You can fit four people in that thing! Why— Oh.” She smirked. “We’re not spinning people to death in there. I mean. We did torment those freshmen last year. But they deserved it.”

“Scrying for test answers! Tsk tsk!” Ramizi said, “Should have spun the brats ‘til they puked.”

Erick smiled as he ate his purple not-tomato cake. It was quite good.

“Where are you all adventuring? Jane told me she's just going for levels right now, but what do you actually do out there? ‘Adventuring’?”

“Haven’t been to the Dead City yet, but that’s just an approval away from happening. Mostly we hunt monsters for rads, then use those rads to make things.” Ramizi said, “Monster parts can be used to make things, too, but that’s pretty rare.”

“Monster parts?" Erick said, "I haven't heard that before."

Maia explained, “The shadow that lives on the monsters of Ar’Kendrithyst doesn’t always go away when you kill one of them, if you kill them right and butcher them correctly. You can use that for a lot of minor things, but one of the main uses is to make a full set of armor. It’s damned expensive, but if your entire body is covered by shadow armor, you can ‘eat’ the armor to permanently get the [Shadowalk] skill. It’s like a [Blink] crossed with a weightless [Ward] and a [Magic Mouth] and a host of other smaller effects, but only usable in the shadows. Doesn’t always work out for the person using the armor, though. Sometimes you get inferior versions, like [Shadowblend]. That’s basically a bad [Invisibility].”

Erick immediately saw a problem with shadow abilities. “Wouldn’t using a skill or armor like that in town get you killed? I once saw a guy disintegrate a shadowolf to ash with a single look.”

Ramizi nodded. “Yeah. Don’t [Shadowalk] near Ar’Kendrithyst.”

“That’s a minor restriction.” Maia ate a bite of her own not-tomato cake. “Ar'Kendrithyst is one of only three spots in the entire world with this concentration of shadowmonsters.”

Ramizi said, “Outside of here, shadow abilities probably won’t get you gibbed by some dude with a hardon for murdering shadows, and they’re incredibly useful. Even the most basic ability, [Shadowsight], lets you see in the dark. It’s black and white, but still a fantastic ability.”

“Is a lot of stuff like that? A full set of special armor and you get special abilities?”

Maia hummed, thinking.

Ramizi said, “No. I wouldn’t say so. But you can get a lot of weird abilities if you know where to look.”

Maia scowled. “There’s quite a few, Ram. There’s [Shadowalk], [Fire Body], and all the rest of the elemental Body abilities. [Stone Body] and [Water Body] are the two most useful, and all of them come from a full set of elemental armor, which is used and then gone forever.”

“And the only two you didn’t mention were [Lightwalk] and [Air Body], and that’s literally all of the Body abilities. So no. I wouldn’t say that there are a lot of stuff that you can wear and get abilities from.”

Maia scoffed at him. “Feh!”

Ramizi continued, “You can get a lot of weird abilities if you know where to look. It’s rare, but occasionally you do find strange rads that have crystallized monster skills. To use those rads you have to have the Class: Monster Mage, but you can get a lot of weird skills. The Script for monsters is a lot more open than the Script for people, but it’s all small-time I-desperately-need-to-live shit. Mostly survival stuff and killing-things-smaller-than-you stuff.”

Erick asked, “You can only have one Class, right?”

“Correct,” Maia said.

“Then I guess I’m full on that.”

“About that.” Ramizi, a bit more intense than before, casually said, “Show me your Class, I’ll show you mine.”

Maia punched Ramizi in the arm. “Sorry, Archmage. Ram’s an asshole.”

“What?” Ramizi protested.

Erick smirked. “I could—”

“No.” Maia said, “You really shouldn’t entertain the idea of showing your Class to people. I know you already have, but only because you didn’t know what you were doing.” She glared at Ramizi. “You want to tell him why it’s a bad idea to show off the specifics of your Class?”

Erick said, “It’s not a big deal—”

Ramizi sighed. “It is a big deal.” He said, “Sorry. I should not have asked for that. It’s like asking to know the weaknesses of the person you’re talking with. It’s… It's a very private affair. Or a prelude to violence.”

Erick glanced at Poi. Poi nodded, but remained silent.

Maia said, “I know you’re not from around here, so it might not seem like a big deal to you, but it is a very big deal to show off any part of your Status, and especially your Class.”

Erick hmm’d. He said, “Okay. Well. How about an overview, then? Because I don’t really know what’s so private about the whole thing and I’m interested in knowing some more about what a Class actually does.”

Maia frowned.

Ramizi said, “I’m a Force Mage. All my Force spells are cheaper and they do more HP damage.”

Maia frowned at Ramizi.

He just smiled at her.

Erick said, “Particle Mage. I can invent Particle spells easier—”

The both of them perked up, a lot.

“—and there’s some stuff about ability to affect Particle spells. Have you guys gotten all the memos on Particle magic? You said that a bunch of restrictions came rolling down the Script. But what happened, exactly?”

Maia said, “You’re… You’re just leaving ability points out there for others to take!”

“… That’s the part you focus on? Not what Particle magic actually is?”

“Whatever! I can’t use it. Now about those points! Archmage Flatt, you must—”

“It’s perfectly okay for me to leave points on the table. If other people actually understand what I’m doing, and are expanding upon what I started, then that’s a good thing. No one builds good public works if they don’t allow the public to participate.” Erick was almost going to say some trite comparison to ‘They didn’t build Rome in a day’, but Al could have built ancient Rome in, like, seven days. Probably. “I might be able to build a city all on my own, but I wouldn’t want to live there by myself.”

Maia said, “Your analogy is weird; I can kinda understand what you’re saying. But at the same time, I really, really can’t. You’re not the adventuring type. I’ll be surprised if you ever get past level 35, which means you have, at most—”

Erick smirked. “Now who’s talking about who’s privates?”

Maia shook her head, and continued, “You have at most 32 more ability points in your career, not counting inventions and other achievements. And that’s only if you go out and kill some monsters and get some levels. The thing is, is that you could easily spend all 32 of those points on abilities or spells, but you don’t even have a Scion yet. And only 20 Willpower!” Flustered, she said, “Pardon my forwardness, Archmage, but you’re making a mistake by not making more spells while you can.”

Erick finished the last bite of his not-tomato cake, and said, “Thank you for your concern. I probably will be making more spells, soon. Lord knows my daughter would love me to start thinking like her. But that’s just not who I am. If other people get there before I do, then that means the knowledge is spreading, and that is a good thing.” Erick stood. “Thank you for your hospitality. You two— Three? You three should come over when I finally get a house in the neighborhood. Where is Eduard, anyway?”

Maia sighed, then laid back in her seat. She spoke to the ceiling, “When his new spells got restricted yesterday he tried to push against those restrictions. Error backlash laid him out for the night; he's still recovering in bed.”

Erick winced. “Yet another reason to leave the experimenting to others. Tell Eduard I said hello, and good luck. Good luck to both of you, too.”

“You’re making a mistake, Archmage.”

“It’s my mistake to make.” He added, “And it occurs to me that you said you did not think you could create any fire spells. I think you are wrong. Stop thinking of fire as consuming and destroying. Think of it as particles moving faster, like how cold is particles moving slower.”

Maia went from uncaring acceptance, to completely focused, to realizing what she looked like and settling down a bit. She nodded.

Ramizi said, “Let me escort you out, Archmage.”

“Thank you. You can both call me Erick, you know.”

Ramizi smiled. “Between Mages that’s fine, but you went and invented a school of magic and a whole lotta shit besides. You’re an Archmage, Archmage. Good luck with that.”

- - - -

Erick [Blink]ed up to the third floor of the Sewerhouse. Poi stayed by his side.

Erick walked in to his apartment and sat on the couch. He almost laid down for a nap. But then he didn’t. He stared at the ceiling.

He turned to Poi. “Am I making a mistake?”

“Like you said: It’s yours to make.”

Erick nodded.

Then he got up, and said, “I guess I have mana to spend.”

Poi nodded. “To the roof?”

“To the roof!”

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