108, 2/2

Erick walked through the Script-blue door to see Irogh sitting behind his white desk, like he usually sat. The orcol was as handsome today as he’d ever been, with his slightly greying hair and his massive muscles, lurking under an appropriate, yet sexy tunic, with the top buttons undone.

“Hello, Irogh.” Erick said.

Irogh smiled, as he lifted his hand and twisted two fingers through the air. The door shut behind Erick, as Irogh said, “Hello, Erick. Congratulations. I hear you made Archmage, in true.”

Erick took his seat, happily saying, “Thank you. I’m pretty sure Rozeta helped me along, though. There were clouds and a serpentine form hiding inside.”

“The gods help everyone, and what you made served a higher purpose than most.” Irogh asked, “So what can I help you with, today?”

“Another Ability Slot Quest, first.”

Irogh nodded. He tapped out across the air. The blue box for an Ability Slot Quest appeared in front of Erick, who immediately spent ten points to complete it. Irogh grinned, at that.

Erick said, “And now the Class Quests for Light Dedication and Force Savant.”

Irogh tapped across the air, saying, “Of course.”

 

 

 

Erick accepted his new Quests, and considered his options for completing them. The first was easy enough, and Erick was glad that he had chosen to forgo creating the aura-version of [Domain of Light]; creating that now, would automatically complete that Class Ability Quest. With Light Dedication increasing the power and durability of all of his light-based spells and effects, Erick felt like Bulgan would at least have to try the next time they fought. Maybe it wouldn’t be so very one-sided.

The Force Quest would be slightly more difficult, but looking at the Quest, Erick already had a plan. He needed a base spell to later combine with [True Plasma Bolt], and this Quest would fit well in line with Erick’s somewhat-conceived idea for such a base spell.

He didn’t really need Force Savant, though. This Class Ability was just a choice he decided on, because all magic involved a little Force, since Force was the basis for all magic. A few percentage bonuses here and there on all of his magic seemed as good of an idea as any.

Irogh interrupted Erick’s thoughts, saying, “You’ve earned another possible Class Ability Quest, if you’d like to see it?”

Erick tore his mind away from his plans, and looked to Irogh, saying, “Yes. Of course. Oh! And that reminds me. If I were to ask for the [Greater Treat Wounds] quest, which version would I get?”

Irogh tapped the air. He answered, “You’d get the 50,000 people version.”

“… Really?” Erick was okay with that, since [Greater Treat Wounds] was more something of a passing idea, than a necessity. But he had to know, “Why? I know my daughter got, like, 50 people saved, and her previous saves were already counted in her Quest.” He added, “None of my Quests have counted anything I’ve done previously, or else Light Dedication would automatically be complete.”

“The Script was created to stop the abuses of the Old Wizards.” Irogh said, “Besides. You save that many people every single time you go out and use your spells to clean up problems, like the Ballooning Spiders that threatened our world just a month ago. Without your efforts, and according to all known precedent, we would have lost 350,000 lives.” He stressed, “Erick. You qualify for the Hero of Veird Class Ability ten times over. If there were a higher iteration of that Ability, you’d qualify for that one, too.”

Erick didn’t really care about the [Greater Treat Wounds] Quest discrepancy. He was glad that Jane was able to get that spell for herself for as cheap as she got it, and glad for the limits imposed by the Script. Truthfully, no one deserved the power that he had, or that the Shades had. Veird would be better off if every spell above tier 4 were eliminated, and all enchanting was destroyed.

But that was just his own thoughts on the matter. Just like nukes, back on Earth, archmages shouldn’t exist, either.

But. Eh. Archmages on Veird did a lot of good, too. It was only the outliers like the Shades that did all the damage. Most archmages hid and worked solely on defense.

Erick waved Irogh off, saying, “I don’t know about that Hero stuff. I’m sure other archmages are just as capable and have done way more than me. Opal saved all of Spur from the Red Dot when she cast her [Grand Shield], or whatever she calls it. That’s a quarter million people, right there.”

“You’re being modest. But I won’t speak any more on the matter.” Irogh tapped on the air, bringing a blue box forward, as he said, “This is the new Class Ability you’ve qualified for.”

Erick read, and breathed deep. “Oh. …Okay. That’s interesting.” He asked, “Is this an archmage, thing?”

Irogh shrugged. “Possible. I don’t know why some people get this and others do not. But you are not the only one to ever receive this honor.”

 

 

“How does this work?” Erick asked.

“Accessing the Quest Board would be like accessing any other part of your Status; just think of it. The Quest Board will appear as a series of blue screens.” Irogh read from the air, but mostly looked to Erick, saying, “It might look similar to any quest from the Adventurer’s Guild, or Mage’s Guild, but the Quest posters are all Relevant Entities, and the rewards range from minor boons, to major boons, to other such rewards. The most common reward is a point, or a percentage of a point. The Quests themselves are either sparked by a parishioner who prayed for help, or created by the Relevant Entity themselves because they see a deficit in the world somewhere. The goals of these Quests depend on the Relevant Entities, and shift from saving a parishioner from a threat, to solving a complicated problem. It is possible for you to give a Quest to someone else, and have them solve whatever crisis there might be, as well as gain whatever boon listed, though such a transfer of Quest would require clearance from the Relevant Entity, first.”

That was a lot to think on.

“… I accept this Quest. But I’m not going to complete it today.” Erick said, “I’m already much too busy for more responsibility at the moment.”

Irogh smiled as he pressed some invisible buttons in the air. “Very well. Good luck on Shadow’s Feast, Erick. You’re going to need it.”

Erick accepted the Quest, as he said, “Thank you, Irogh.”

 

– – – –

 

A knock on the front door of the house brought Erick out of his library, and into the foyer. He threw open the door, already knowing who it was. Ophiel had been outside, on the lookout, and seen the two older ladies come from down south.

“Hello, ladies. You’re both looking lovely this evening.” Erick stepped aside, saying, “Come on in.”

Ratchet and Arial smiled on the other side of the door, both of them holding covered baskets, both of them wearing nicer clothes than usual. Ratchet wore a flowing mage’s robe that matched her yellow eyes, and might have matched her scales years ago before they turned grey, while Arial wore a more comfortable salmon-pink dress/robe outfit, that went well with her green eyes.

“Don’t mind if I do.” Ratchet came inside, saying, “Glad to be here, Erick. Now where’s this ‘everything candy’?” She lifted up the edge of her basket, letting Erick peek at variety of frosted cakes and sugared fruits. “I brought more samples.” She handed them off to Erick.

Erick graciously took the basket, chuckling as he said, “I’ve lost all of my extra kilos, and I’m not sure I want them back.”

“You can afford some pudge,” Ratchet joked.

“Thank you, Ratchet.”

Poi took the basket from Erick’s hands. Kiri waited just beyond Poi, ready to receive the next basket, or assist where necessary. Erick hadn’t asked either of them to do that, but they did, anyway, and he was glad for their presence.

Arial came into the house slower than Ratchet, eyeing the dense air that held in the doorway. She slipped through the space, almost skipping into the house as most of her got inside of the [Prismatic Ward]. Her eyes went wide as she looked to the air. “Oh my. That’s a strange feeling.” She touched the dense air all around her, poking at it with a manicured talon, saying, “I don’t do Meditation unless I have to, but this… This is pretty great.” She lifted her basket, saying, “This is for you. It’s a bunch of the candy that we’ve made.”

Erick took the basket from her, and peeked inside to see a plethora of candies, all laid out in what had to be the top layer of three nice stone trays. “Thank you. I look forward to trying it all.” He handed the basket to Kiri, saying, “But with regard to the calmness you’re feeling in the air: All you’re feeling is the Restful part of the [Prismatic Ward]. It’s possible to make that spell on its own, though I haven’t tried that, yet.” He turned to Poi and Kiri, both holding baskets now, and said, “Ratchet, Arial: This is my guard and my apprentice, Poi and Kiri.” He asked Kiri, “Have you tried to make a [Restful Ward], yet?”

“Oh no no.” Arial shook her said, saying, “I can’t ask for an archmage’s secrets on magic.” She nodded, saying, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Kiri. Poi.”

Kiri nodded. Poi stood, stoic as ever.

“If you’re not taking up the offer, then I can.” Ratchet asked Kiri, “Is it just Meditation and [Ward]?”

Kiri said, “Yes. The combination is more difficult than most, but as long as your [Restful Ward]’s duration is a lot longer than it takes to regenerate the mana that it took to cast, then you have made a decent version.”

Ratchet said, “That’s good enough for me. I haven’t had a spell to make in a decade. Gives me something to do every evening.”

Erick gestured to the hallway, that led toward the chocolate room. “Care to see the chocolate process, now?”

Arial’s green eyes lit with a soft glow. “Oh yes yes yes yes.”

Erick had made little progress with tempering, but he had managed to make a bunch of other chocolate items in his experiments. One such item was cocoa powder, and cocoa butter. As Erick introduced the two ladies to the chocolate room, and their eyes went wide and they breathed deep the smell, Erick set to making hot chocolate. Ratchet and Arial watched and asked questions, as Erick took cocoa powder, milk, and sugar, and mixed them all together under a [Heat Ward]. He already knew the resulting drink would be a success, for he had already tried it, but seeing the greyscales’ faces relax as they tasted, and hearing their words of wonder afterward, was music to Erick’s ears.

He showed them the beans, the grinders, the concher, and the process, all while he spoke of the ideas behind the process. All the while, they drank their hot chocolate, sampled untempered bars, and tasted the chocolate at all the various points of creation. A short trip to the backyard grove showed off the cocoa tree Erick had created, and another four that he had grown since. All that only took half an hour, with the two ladies asking their questions and Erick answering them, while he asked his own, and either Ratchet or Arial answered.

Soon enough, they retired to the sunroom. Kiri had already set out coftea and regular tea, while Jane set out milk to go with a batch of chocolate chip cookies she had made earlier in the day. Those cookies joined a host of other desserts that seemed to come out of nowhere, but had actually come from Justine. She too, had been busy while Erick was outside of the house; she had figured out how to make chocolate ice cream. Along with some scoops of vanilla, Erick almost felt back at home, sitting on the couch, ready to turn on a movie for the night. But there was no television here.

… He missed movies. And TV shows. And the news. Entertainment and edutainment used to be so easy to find and experience, but now… There weren’t even newspapers on Veird, or at least no newspapers in Spur.

… Yet another problem of the missing printing press. Or rather, the fact that people chose not to automate printing, because to do so was to miss out on incentives from Rozeta.

But those were thoughts for another day. Erick spooned a bit of cookie and ice cream into his mouth, and savored the flavor and texture. Soft and chewy, vanilla and cold, with bursts of chocolate flavor, this was exactly as Erick remembered it being, back on Earth. He said to Jane, “This is great, Jane.”

“I think I did okay.” Jane smirked, saying, “I already had five. Justine’s ice cream is pretty good, too.”

Justine bowed, then stood, saying, “Thank you for showing me how.”

Ratchet and Arial shared a glance, as they sat on the other side of the couch. The two of them had been talking with Erick about every part of the process, but now, with their shared look, they turned to him. He could see it in their eyes: It was time to talk business. Jane and Justine saw their look, too, so both of them stepped away. In a moment, the only people in the room were Poi and Kiri, standing off to the side, while Erick and the two ladies sat around the coftea table.

Ratchet began, “We would be honored to be your flagship store, though we wish for you to be a silent partner. An investment of funds in order to expand operations, for which you will receive a monthly repayment, in addition to a monthly split of the profit.”

“Fifty percent of profit, after taxes.” Arial said, “Half the store dedicated to whatever dessert products you envision. We can push this chocolate. It will be a success.”

Erick considered their deal. ‘Of profit, after taxes’ was the usual manner in which a silent partner entered into an existing business, so that was nothing special. Arial’s quote of 50% was a large one; possibly too large. But they were giving him a fair deal, according to Erick’s admittedly limited knowledge of operating a business in Spur. But he didn’t care about the money aspects of this venture. Erick wanted chocolate to succeed, and if they had a noose around their neck of payment, then that was just another worry Erick did not want either them, or himself, to have. Besides, for him, money wasn’t a concern. For the rest of the world, money was a constant concern.

Erick gave them a lower offer, and while the two ladies gave some platitudes of ‘oh we couldn’t!’ he could tell that they were secretly happy for the lower price.

The three of them got down to talking of money, and plans, and expansions. Erick would need to work his connections to purchase some space in the Garden for a whole grove of cocoa trees, or else he would need to purchase some Human District land and convert it into a cocoa grove. Either idea was fine, but until ‘And Dessert!’ got that space, there would be no chocolate grove in Spur, for anyone. All the Garden was already spoken for, with bitter rivals already clamoring over each other for Spur’s limited farmlands.

Rollo and Calizi formed the two major factions that controlled the Garden space, with Kip’s rice paddies and Missoli’s sugar cactus monopolies being the only major undisputed areas, simply because they refused to participate in any political shenanigans. Erick asked how Silverite could allow a monopoly to exist, to which Ratchet supplied that Silverite had worked behind the scenes to ensure those two monopolies arose, whereupon she mandated the costs of both rice and sugar. Kip and Missoli weren’t living like kings, but they were certainly supplying stability to prices. If the wheat wasn’t close enough in cost to match rice, then people just bought rice. If herbs and spices and all of those expensive, hard to grow items weren’t priced to match sugar, then people just loaded their food with more sugar.

Ratchet said, “It’s a gross simplification, but Silverite’s pricing floors have provided a good base for pricing everything else. There’s room enough to move, but not enough to leave people going without.”

“… And that works?”

Arial said, “Somewhat. It’s made candy cheap enough, which is one of the reasons I chose to open ‘And Dessert!’. I’m sure that the Mayor’d commit some other plan to keep Spur fed for a good price, if you weren’t around, or if she didn’t know and trust both Kip and Missoli.”

Erick didn’t know enough about economics to decry Silverite’s ideas, and he prayed he never would. Thank god for rads and spells big enough to collect them all.

The three of them hammered out ideas for another hour.

By the time Erick was satisfied with a business plan, and Ratchet and Arial were satisfied with Erick’s product ideas and assurances to purchase land for ‘And Dessert!’s use, the sun was already setting beyond the window of the sunroom, beyond Erick’s private garden. Meeting over, Erick sent the two ladies off with fifty kilos of chocolate liquor, which Jane had finally remembered the name of, but which had nothing to do with alcohol. The deep brown syrup was just chocolate that had been processed from bean to nib to liquid, but without any additives; no sugar, no powdered milk, no extra cocoa butter. Ratchet and Arial would report on their experiments with the liquid, on another day. They’d even try the ‘tempering’ Erick spoke of; maybe they’d have better luck than him.

Erick felt great, knowing that his chocolate was in good hands.

Feeling so good, dinner even tasted better than usual.

 

– – – –

 

Erick sat down after dinner in the library, with a cup of hot cocoa, filled with marshmallows, or rather, with puffs, taken from Arial’s basket, and a trio of small desserts. The first was a puff puff, because Erick kinda really loved the marshmallows Arial made, and her puff puffs were half mallow. The second was a black-speckled white-shelled tea cake, apparently made with a lot of vanilla, and other spices. The third was a gel candy, lemon flavor. The puff puff was on his plate simply because he wanted it, but the other two were specialties of ‘And Dessert!’, and also made with ingredients Erick had created. He had already eaten a puff puff, but he had yet to try the other two…

The spice cake tasted of a dozen different scents and flavors, all coming together under the umbrella of a solid, white-candy covering that broke under Erick’s teeth. A hard icing, perhaps? The cake was an autumnal blend, of warmth and heat, but not actually spicy at all, as all that flavor gave way to slick vanilla.

Erick smiled. It was good.

The gel candy was basically a gummy bear, or one of those orange slices Erick sometimes bought on impulse; the ones that hung on hooks next to any cash register at any gas station on Earth. It was okay. Sure to be popular, but not nearly as decadent as the spiced cake.

The puff puff was exactly as Erick expected, and desired. It was fantastic.

At that moment, he was content. And then he came back to himself…

Only to go out of body again, to check on Candlepoint. Candlepoint was fine. No fights, no blood on the streets, everyone hard at work, or relaxing with others, or growing food or just living life. Sure, there were people gambling and some smoking up in tall buildings or making alcohol in stills, or getting busy with it in some dark corner—

Erick hurriedly moved Ophiel along.

Finding nothing amiss, he came back, and pulled his enchanting books from the shelves. It was time to read up more on the process known as enchanting. The basic book had only gotten him so far, but much how the study of healing was a lot more than knowing how the body worked, enchanting was a lot more than knowing how to inscribe Ancient Script into metal. That part was just the most basic understanding of a vast, vast field of study. As large as alchemy, and as deep as spell crafting, enchanting required a great deal more of an effort than Erick had given it, if he wanted to get good.

… He wasn’t purposefully ignoring the upcoming Shadow’s Feast like it was a date with an executioner, no sir! He was just being prudent. Nothing would happen at the Feast, and it might be good to know what he was looking at when he went in there. Shades were known for making artifacts and magical items.

Repeating this rationalization a few times in his mind, Erick settled in for more reading.

Tomorrow he’d go out and find some monsters to fight in melee, or something.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

… Practice with Kiri was a better idea. He’d do that, instead.

That’d get the blood pumping, and get him ready for the Feast.

… A few hours of brawling wouldn’t get him ready for anything, compared to the years and years that most actual adventurers and people like his daughter put into the practice, but at least it might make him feel better about his ability to defend himself.

 

– – – –

 

Sparring sucked.

Erick had forgotten that.

He turned off [Hunter’s Instincts] and slumped onto a conjured chair, dripping with sweat like he had worn his clothes into the shower. His staff fell to the sand at his side, as he groaned out unintelligible words. He should have come out here sooner. Earlier in the day, when the sun wasn’t quite so bright.

Jane stood to the side, safe from the relentless sun under a very large umbrella, smiling wide, as she yelled out, “Get back up, Dad! You can do it! Kick her ass!”

Kiri twirled her own staff as she paced the sand, twenty meters away. She was breathing hard, with tiny flames licking out of her mouth as she centered herself, but she wasn’t exhausted. She wasn’t struggling for breath. As her breathing returned to normal, she said, “I’ve found time to practice every day, but you slacked off, Erick. Perhaps we should go out and find some monsters for you to fight, in person.”

Teressa, standing beside Jane, shouted, “I like that idea!”

Poi grumbled.

“How are you good at this, too, Kiri?!” Erick sat straighter, to stare across the orange sand at his apprentice. “When do you have time to practice this much?”

Kiri shrugged. “It’s just half an hour each day. Go out, find a mimic, kill it in close quarters. Sometimes I ask for a sparring partner from the Army.” She slammed the butt of her staff into the sand, saying, “I’ve done enough to keep myself sharp, and that’s it. You’ve just gotten worse.”

“… Shit.” Breathing deep and feeling like he was staring up at a metaphorical mountain of tasks, he stood up. With a thought, the staff on the ground slapped up into his waiting hand. He looked around himself, at the subtle white sheen in the air. He asked Teressa, “Count?”

Teressa’s eyes glinted grey for a moment. She said, “The [Ward] is at 25%”

Erick had cast an 8000 point [Ward] out here an hour before the sparring began, using his own mana, meaning it would last 24 hours or absorb 53,000 points of damage, whichever came first. His own [Personal Ward] was now worth 27,000 points, and more than strong enough to withstand almost any singular attack from most normal sources. Both [Ward]s regenerated almost 10 points of stability per second, while a hit suffered took stability from both Personal and Area [Ward]s.

Erick and Kiri had been beating on each other for a while now, doing most of their damage to the [Ward]s. Fighting in a [Ward] was like striking an opponent with very solid pillows. It wasn’t great for acclimation to a real fight, but it was good for generalized practice. Some actual damage still got through, but not much. Even pillow fights were still vulnerable to critical strikes. Most of the ‘damage’, though, was from Kiri and Erick’s own expenditure of Health, as they circled and struck and spent Health to fight.

Erick asked, “Ready?”

Kiri breathed deep. A certain flow entered her movements, as she stepped across the sands like a dancer stepping across the stage, gathering energy for her upcoming performance. She breathed out fire, then breathed in air, only to exhale normal air. She was calm. She was ready. She said, “Whenever you are.”

[Hunter’s Instincts] shifted Erick’s sights to see where Kiri would be, what the movement of her shoulders meant, what the cadence of her feet and hips shouted to the world, as she tapped across the sands. He saw what her eyes tracked, as she sought her own end to the coming conflict.

Thirty minutes later, Kiri was standing, breathing gouts of flame, while Erick had been sent flying via an 80-something Strength powered [Strike], for the fifth time. Erick slowly lifted himself out of the sand, while he breathed hard too, his lungs working to pull in as much oxygen as his heavy body could manage.

“You’re as good as any rookie adventurer I’ve seen in Ar’Kendrithyst, Dad.” Jane said, “But Kiri is a lot better.”

Kiri breathed deep, as a green light flickered across her body. [Rejuvenation], no doubt. Mentor and apprentice were of comparable Strength, and comparable Health pools from which to draw physical power, but while Erick’s Health Regen was over 35,000 due to his Blessing from Rozeta, Kiri had [Rejuvenation] to restore her lost Health. In ten seconds, one spell brought her back up to full. Her breathing calmed. The flaming parts of her deep breath vanished.

Jane smiled wide, asking, “I want a go! What do you say, Dad?”

“Absolutely not.” Erick said, “Not fighting you. Ever.”

“Neither of us are here for actual learning, Jane.” Kiri said, “We’d both fight with magic if that were the case.”

Erick nodded, saying, “Exactly right. This is just gearing up for a real fight.”

“Firstly, you could both be actual warriors thanks to those rings on your fingers. I do not agree with your stated reasons for not learning how to actually fight, nor do I agree with how they teach fighting at Oceanside, or anywhere else I’ve seen so far.” Jane emphatically added, “But now, I want to see a real fight.”

Erick sighed, as he dusted sand off of his clothes, but mostly left it there because it was stuck on due to sweat. He looked to Kiri, with a questioning tilt to his head.