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Chapter 37 - Cynicism 101
🕑 Added 2024-02-14 08:24:08 +0000 UTCNate and Kiri sat at the wooden table with Jorge while Rania busied herself a room over in the kitchen, preparing a late dinner for everyone. The walk back from the Guild had been done in silence but now that they had some privacy, the anger was flowing freely and had been for almost ten minutes.
“This is birdshit, Dad! That asshole attacked us and WE get banned from the Guild for two weeks?” Kiri raged, throwing her hands up in the air.
“It is. But Aisling’s hands are tied. It’s standard Guild procedure when the rule violator isn’t known. They ban everyone involved and conduct their own investigation. Problem is, they probably won’t be able to figure out who started it, and they know it,” Jorge replied. His voice was even but the undercurrent of anger was there, mirroring his daughter.
“So what? That asshole just gets away with it? He basically admitted to being involved in the disappearances!” Kiri screamed, standing and slamming her hands down on the table.
Rania’s voice floated out from the kitchen, “It’s not the furniture you're angry at dear. Try not to break anything.”
Kiri sat back down, cursing quietly under her breath, though Jorge’s raised eyebrow made Nate suspect he’d heard what his daughter had just said. He’d sat there sullenly through the whole tirade. The truth was, he had nothing to add. Victims being blamed was nothing new to him. It seemed to him that bureaucracy, no matter the world, was indifferent to notions of justice and fairness. Systems just had inputs and outputs. In this case, the inputs were the accusations; the outputs were the banning.
Jorge had clearly noted his silence and leaned back in his chair, the wood creaking with the older man's weight, “You’ve not said much Nate. What do you think?”
“I think…that organisations are always going to be unfair, and expecting them to treat you fairly is just a dream.”
Jorge snorted, “That’s pretty cynical for a kid, don’t you think?”
Nate shook his head, “I said organisations. Their rules and regulations…they dehumanise the people in them. Aisling may not know me very well, but she knows you and Kiri. I bet if it had been up to Aisling, she’d have tossed Torian out on his ass. But she’s bound by the rules of the Guild. Never trust an organisation to have your back. But I trust Kiri to have mine. Does that make sense?”
Kiri grinned at him with a blush before gently punching him in the arm.
“Yeah kid, that makes sense,” Jorge said, a smile decorating his own face. “Does that mean you told her?”
“I did,” he replied.
Jorge turned to his daughter, “Think you can keep up with him?”
Kiri looked unsure for a second before her eyes turned resolute and she stared her father down, “Definitely!”
“Good enough for me,” Jorge said with a nod of his head.
Rania took that moment to bring out their dinner. Some cooked bird drizzled in something like a cheese sauce with roasted vegetables. The smell was amazing and all chatter ceased as they dug in, interspersed with compliments for Rania and her cooking.
The food didn’t last long enough and while Nate thought the chef of the Oaken Ring was better, there was something to be said for a home cooked meal. Maybe all those television shows back on Earth about cooking with ‘love’ had been onto something. Either way, he couldn’t fit another bite in and sat in his chair, his offer to help clean up ignored as Kiri ferried all the empty dishes back into their kitchen.
Jorge waited till the dishes were cleaned and they were all seated back at the table before he posed his next question.
“So, you know what’s likely going to happen. What’s your plan?”
Kiri looked at Nate and looking into her blue eyes, he would’ve guessed she was frustrated.
“Train my Imbue Arrow skill and then maybe Nate and I can head out into the forest and try and get another level or two over the next two weeks,” she said, before looking at Nate.
Nate looked down at the table as he considered his words. He knew what his plan was, but figuring out how to phrase it without sounding like he was whining took him a moment.
“Against Torian, I really couldn’t do anything”, Nate started, still organising his thoughts, “Maybe, if I had some different runes I might’ve been able to do more than freeze him in ice long enough for us to escape. I threw some of my best penetrating attacks at him and they barely scratched him. My plan is to try and work on some Skills and prepare some things specifically for him. Then head out into the forest with Kiri. Also, I am still trying to push that Skill.”
The last bit he said looking at Kiri, who returned his look with an understanding nod. Fortunately, Jorge didn’t seem interested in prying.
“Sounds like you’ve got the basics of a plan. I’ll keep an eye out around the place, and maybe send word to Aisling to see what she can share. For now, how about you two head off to Kiri’s room and bunk down for the night. You’ve had a big day.”
Kiri got up and motioned for Nate to follow her as she started walking towards the back of the house. Nate meandered after her, a little surprised. Kiri’s room ended up being larger than he expected, with her bed as big as his in the Oaken Ring, if not as richly furnished. Along the wall she had a number of carved wooden figurines. Some were of beasts but quite a few looked like humans in heroic poses. The detail was exquisite and Nate gravitated to the mini sculptures, roving them with his eyes. On closer inspection, he realised they weren’t all human. There was one, holding two daggers, with pointed ears like he would’ve expected from an elf. It sat centre stage among the carvings and Nate glanced over at Kiri who was sitting on her bed watching him.
She glanced at the figurine, then back to Nate, “Her name is Aurae Keathana. But they call her Shadow’s Daughter. She’s a hero from the Ecryae Kingdom. She is what I wanted to be, when I was little. She’s like you. A confirmed Legendary Classer.”
Nate glanced at the figurine before looking back at Kiri, “She doesn’t look like an archer to me.”
Kiri laughed, though it had a bit of an edge to it, “She isn’t. But my parents couldn’t afford the kind of trainer that could’ve gotten me an Uncommon class that specialised in daggers for my first Class, let alone a Rare Class. That kind of thing is reserved for the nobility or I suppose really rich merchants. But Dad could teach me enough Archery to get the Achievements for an Uncommon Archer Class. They did their best. And I was just a little girl. I even managed to acquire the Skill for dual wielding daggers on my own. Never evolved it though.”
“I’ve got enough gold…if you still wanted that? We could hire some specialised trainer from the Guild right?” He asked.
Kiri smiled at that, “Thanks, I might take you up on that. But I've got plenty of time before my next evolution. I’m not even a quarter of the way there. Revisit it though, yeah?”
“Definitely,” he said with a grin. “So, got a blanket for me? This floor doesn’t look the most comfortable but at least my robe will keep me warm.”
“What are you talking about? Get in the bed you moron. Room for both of us. Just keep to your own side. I figure I am too young to be your type anyway,” she teased, with a small smirk on her lips.
Nate laughed a bit and lay down on the other side of the bed, staring at the ceiling, his robe still on and keeping him the perfect temperature. Thinking about his issue from his fight with Torian, it was obvious that the alterations made by his Runic Intent allowed him to manipulate his runes to do specifically what he needed, but that the strength of the effect was still reliant on his Magic Power.
“Kiri, Frick, how do normal Mages handle people like Torian, who are so heavily resistant to, well, everything?”
Frick flickered into view, the blue goblins' ears drooping down.
“They likely wouldn’t have the same problem. They normally have Skills that enhance their Stats when using their specific affinities. Like a Fire Mage would have Skills that increased the Magic Power of their fire spells. Even Common Classes have stuff like that, though the bonuses obviously aren’t as good. You even got offered a few of the Rare versions that are broader, remember?” Frick paused, giving Nate a pointed look.
“Now remember, that the broader a Skill is, the lower the bonuses. Even an Uncommon mage class probably has a fifteen percent bonus to their Magic Power. They also probably put more into it. Think about it for a second. Given what little you know about magic, what methods would you consider for increasing the power behind your runes, instead of just modifying them?” Frick finished ranting and stared at him with big blue eyes.
Nate took a moment to actually think about it. Frick was right. What he did with Runic Intent was closer to dynamic rune modification. He didn’t add more power, though some of his changes could slightly improve the effects. There were three ways he could think of. But he wanted - no, he needed - to confirm he was on the right track. Not to mention he wanted Kiri to feel included.
“I can think of three ways that should work. The first is more mana. Right now, I am not storing mana in the runes, which they’re capable of doing. I am sending mana to them when I want to activate them. I’ve got the materials to load them with enough mana that I could make up the quality of my mana with quantity,” He paused there, looking at Frick before glancing at Kiri to see their reactions. Frick was nodding while Kiri had rolled onto her side and was listening in interest.
“Alright, so the second method I see is improving the runes themselves. The quality is currently pretty good, but I am relying on Runic Intent to get the effect I want while making the rune itself fairly simplistic. I could make the runes more complicated so the Sigils handle more of the workload, freeing up more Intents to enhance the effect. It means making the runes less dynamic but ultimately more powerful,” he said, on a roll now as he could already see Frick agreeing with him again.
“The final option I see is probably the hardest in the timeframe we have. If I could evolve Runic Intent, I might be able to get an option that gives bonuses or prioritises enhancing the effect of my Magic Power on my runes,” He paused there, looking at Frick to get his thoughts.
“All good options, boss man. There are a couple of others that I am going to suspect you didn’t consider. The first isn’t likely. Finding more orbs with Magic Power would help a bit, but that’s pretty unlikely. Beasts with such Classes aren’t common and are pretty dangerous anyway. The other is kind of staring you in the face, boss man. Kinda dumb of you. You’ll get another Skill at level twenty. Could take something to bump up your Magic Power. Big miss on that one, boss man!” Frick teased, floating about the room as Kiri threw a pillow at him that went straight through the Spirit.
Kiri turned to Nate, “Sounds like we have a plan. Guessing you’re going with the first one you said. Then we can work on the one Frick pointed out. I wanted another level or two anyway. So, lots of hunting while we are banned. You in?”
Nate nodded, “Of course. I’m always in.”
Kiri grinned at him, flicking her brown hair over her shoulder.
“Good, get some sleep. Tomorrow is skill development, then we’re hitting the forest again. Deep this time. Deep enough that Torian and his dumbass lackeys aren’t going to find us. And we’re not coming back out till you’re level twenty. Which should be at least one level for me. Maybe two,” she finished, still grinning.
“Deal, but bring your daggers. Might be good to work on them a bit while we’re resting?” Nate suggested.
Kiri nodded with a small smile, “Alright, well I am going to work on one of my Skills a little. You doing the same?”
Nate nodded to her and with that Kiri rolled over and a moment later he could feel the mana stirring from her side of the bed. He guessed she was working on her magical skill but he couldn’t tell what she was doing.
Staying on his back he stared at the ceiling. Getting to level twenty wasn’t something that worried him. But it meant he had to figure out how to apply concepts via Improve Material. He was currently out of ideas and that was worrying him. Was he being greedy trying to get a Mythic Class? Did it matter that much if he failed? He’d still get another Legendary Class, or at least, he’d get more of the same Class. He was pretty sure he could stick with his current Class. Why did it make him feel like he’d be a failure if he didn’t achieve a Mythic Class? He knew the answer, deep down. It was because he was being given an opportunity. An opportunity the people of this world would kill for.
Power was everything here. Torian had shown that to him when he’d punted him through the forest like a bag of rubbish. If you had power, you could do what you wanted, and likely get away with it. That meant, to protect yourself and those you cared about, you also needed power. And he was letting an opportunity for power, like most of the people of this world couldn’t dream of, slip through his fingers because he couldn’t solve this problem.
Anyway, that was enough feeling sorry for himself. Rubbing the silver thread of his robe he considered the issue again. Maybe he was looking at this problem from the wrong direction? He’d mostly tried to use the way his Skills worked to apply a concept to a material and give it an affinity. But in the end, he didn’t truly understand how many of his Skills worked. Or magic for that matter.
What he did understand was some simple science. He had already figured out that the mana capacity improvements that Improve Material provided were because the Skill could change the actual molecular structure. He suspected it would make the structure more homogenous and geometric; closer to a repeating pattern rather than the regular lattice the molecules would take on in nature. So if it could alter the structure one way, could it alter it another? Could he force it to create the sigils for an affinity in the structure of the material? A repeating pattern?
Nate smiled lying on his back as the notification flashed before his eyes.
Improve Material 15 > 18
Walk your Path. Reach your Goal. Become One with Mana.
He’d finally cracked it. And tomorrow, tomorrow he would evolve Improve Material. He got up and set up his mana gathering runes around some of his, mostly empty, mana gems before lying back down and planning out exactly what he would attempt. Maybe everything would work out after all? Either way, with how excited he was, he probably wasn’t going to get much rest tonight, his mind running through all the possibilities and how best to achieve his goals.
Comments
Brandon Lydick
Tfc, here comes the magic!
