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A Soldier's Life - 222 - Deep Pockets
🕑 Added 2024-07-01 02:44:43 +0000 UTC“What does that mean for us?” I asked.
“At most, six more weeks of training. Spring is eight weeks away. We have already cut the wilderness training in half; we will cut the city training in half as well. I expect Centurions Cornelius and Sergius to be here in a few weeks to review and select from the litter.”
Savino sat up, surprised at the news. “We haven’t completed the wild nocturnal training.”
“And you won’t,” Konstantin said harshly. “That is the most difficult training for a Hound, and we just do not have time for it.”
Savino rolled off his bed and headed for the door to tell his companions the news, leaving me with Konstantin. I listened, making sure we were alone before asking. “How did they discover Zyna didn’t have the dreamscape amulet?”
“First Citizen Boris had his uncle pressure the Collegium Scholarium to force Zyna to register the dreamscape amulet in their archives. They pressured her for weeks and even showed up at her door before she was forced to admit it was not in her possession,” Konstantin said bitterly. “You should have left it with her. I am sure Castian will also be made aware of this.” It was a warning to watch my back against the other pup.
I digested the news. “Do I have to stay here?” I asked Konstantin, indicating the bunks.
Konstantin grinned, “I gave you two days off. If you want to spend the next two nights elsewhere, that is your prerogative. Just know before sunrise on the third day, you better be in this room.” I nodded, collected my cleaned Hound clothes and weapons into my dimensional space, shouldered my pack, nodded to Konstantin, and left.
I circled off the main street, so I wouldn’t run into the other Hounds and headed to the upper city. It was not a long walk, and I entered the first good inn I could find. It was mid-afternoon, and two tired women cleared tables and cleaned the floor. Only one patron was eating a roast chicken at a table, savoring every bite.
The barkeep grunted in a raspy voice, “What can I do you for, traveler?”
“Best single room for two nights,” I replied.
He arched his eyebrow and settled his eyes on me. “Meals?”
“Just breakfast tomorrow,” I said, and one of the waitresses straightened her dress and smiled brightly at me. I was uninterested in the middle-aged woman’s flirtations as her eyes sized me up. She did have an exotic look to her, with darker skin and long silky black hair pulled back in a ponytail.
“Four large silver for the room and two large copper for breakfast.” The barkeep said, placing a key on the counter. I didn’t use dungeon coins to pay; instead, I produced Telhian-minted coins. Dungeon coins were only uncommon but may make me more memorable to the innkeeper. The room was much cheaper than I expected for the upper city, but the meal was more than twice what I would have expected. The cost of food in the Empire was most likely still on the rise.
The preening waitress stuck out her chest, “My name is Danielle. Follow me, sir.” I followed her up the wide stairs, and she smelled of beer, sweat, and waning sweet perfume. On the top floor she went to the end of the hallway. She indicated the door, and I used my key. “Do you need anything else for the evening? If you want, I could draw you a bath?” She looked expectantly, and her shapely body sported a friendly smile.
“Not tonight. I am tired from work today, Danielle. I need to get some rest.” She frowned at my reply. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. This wasn’t a brothel, but from the low activity level in the city, I assumed that coin was tight and extra income was being sought by whatever means available.
“I will check on you at first light to empty your pan,” she finally said, leaving reluctantly. After Danielle left, I secured the door and window. The room smelled slightly off, like clothes that had been in storage for years. The room had a large bed with deep blue wool blankets and one massive closet for clothes. A small bathroom had a large tub with two large buckets for filling it. Two full water pitchers were in front of a mirror, and the bedpan rested under the toilet.
After searching the room, I pulled the curtains and pulled out the elven tablet reader. I was curious about what all the essences and weeks of Hound training had gained me. I was quick about it, activating the table, reading it, and returning it to the space.
Physical
Strength (+6/+1)62/82
Power (+5/+3)57/87
Quickness (+4/+8)53/62
Dexterity (+4/+5)63/75
Endurance (+6/+3)76/98
Constitution (+8/+1)59/72
Coordination (+5/+1)55/68
Mental
Intellect (+2/+0)35/56
Reasoning (+0/+0)51/61
Perception (+3/+0)56/62
Insight (+1/+0)37/52
Resilience (+2/+0)54/71
Empathy (+0/+2)19/24
Fortitude (+3/+0)60/90
Magical
Aether Pool (+1/+0)24/26
Channeling (+6/+1)36/61
Aether Shaping (+0/+0)8/8
Aether Tolerance (+0/+0)50/56
Aether Resistance (+0/+0)15/19
Prime Aether AffinitySpace
I was satisfied with only a few stats that did not meet expectations. The potential for quickness and dexterity were lower than I had hoped, and I guessed the essences were becoming less effective. Still, that was offset by my physical gains from the training.
It was easy to see why I had surpassed the other pups. A fifty attribute was an exceptional score in the Legion. Generally, the men of the company didn’t talk about the tablet reader results, but the few times they did, the highest attribute that had been mentioned was a 62. I had three stats at that mark or higher. My progress was going to be much slower without constant essence to supplement my gains.
I reviewed my magic affinities next noting my spell forms as I went.
Elemental Magics (Common)
Fire 0
Air 0
Water 0
Earth 38. Earth Speak
Lightning (Energy) 8
Spirit (Healing) 23. Self Healing
Nature (Plant)0
Unaffiliated Magics (Uncommon)
Charm (Mind) 5
Illusion 13
Clairvoyance 0
Protection (Guardian) 30. Air Shield
Necromancy0
Celestial (buff)0
Abyssal (debuff)0
Rare Magics
Space 101. Dimensional Pocket
Time 90. Slow Aging
Displacement 80
Materialism 9
Worlds 88
Void 22
Convergence74. Metabolize Essences
All those displacement essences had increased the affinity to 80. Still, I lacked the aether to utilize the spell forms I wanted. I also had not found any spell forms for the World Affinity. My purpose in renting this room was to finish imprinting the purify self for the void affinity.
I took more precautions in case I was disturbed while I was in the dreamscape. I attached the amulet to a string and the door so it would be pulled from my grasp if it was open. I laid out magebane and Orc’s Torment within easy reach. I finished with wedging blocks into the window.
Satisfied, I entered the dreamscape in brief two-hour stints to study the spell form. I always added books to the library before beginning my study session. I knew I was close to finishing the spell form and silenced my manifestations in the dreamscape—with the exception of Oscar who happily sat in my lap while I studied.
On my third cycle into the dreamscape, I felt the spell lock into place on my core. Relieved, I reviewed how to use the spell form before returning to the real world. I stored the amulet and focused.
The purify self was going to work extremely well with my self-healing spell form. I could use self-healing to identify foreign matter and then target it. I started with the tiny tip of an arrow that had broken off from the Pathfinder encounter. I channeled the aether through the spell form, directing it to the metal chip. It vanished using a modicum of aether.
The purify self was designed to eliminate disease and poison, but it could also target larger objects, but I would have to be careful with larger volumes. I focused on my bladder next. From the text, it was important to do this purge slowly. Too fast, and you would create a painful vacuum. Over the next fifteen seconds, I slowly released the aether, targeting the urine. I felt some cramps for a few moments, and then I was fine. It had required nearly half of my aether pool, which was distressing. I was a success, but not something that I plan to do often.
I retrieved the vial of Hound paralytic poison next. This could be administered via the blood or consumed. I dipped my finger, lay down, and sucked. The bitter-tasting poison acted quickly as I felt its aether-enhanced effects spread through my body, my muscles no longer responding, and my body relaxed into the soft bed. I pulsed aether through the spell form. It took a few seconds, but I regained complete control over my body.
I realized my haste to use the spell form indiscriminately had purged other dangerous elements like viruses, toxins, and bacteria in my body that I didn’t target specifically. I kept dosing myself with the poison to fine-tune my use of the spell form.
As I experimented, I got better at focusing the spell form. It would always take a few seconds to purge the specific poison unless I just purged my entire body at once with a heavy dose of aether. That would be dangerous as it would recognize my bowels and bladder in the purge, creating the dangerous vacuum effect.
Still, I was happy with the spell form. I wouldn’t have to fear disease or poison in the future. I sat up a little dizzy from expending so much of my aether. I pulled a warm burrito into my hand to munch on. I decided to repack my Hound pack as I didn’t feel the need for sleep.
I laid everything on the bed, went through each separate kit, and packed them tightly before adding the heaviest items first. When I got to the summoner’s belt, I didn’t know what I should do with it. Remembering the backlash, either this item or the robe I had given Zyna had some type of dimensional storage.
I steadied myself and tried to cautiously to add the belt just the belt to my dimensional space. The belt slammed into the far wall with a loud whack, and my mind spun from the backlash. I fell on the bed, letting my head clear, and waited for the inevitable knock on my door. The knock never came as I sipped cold blood orange juice. Maybe there was no one else in the inn, or they thought I had just fallen and didn’t care to come check on me.
At least I was certain the belt was a dimensional object. The question was, how did it work? All the pouches were empty when I had searched them. Was there a magic word? If that was the case, maybe a revelation scroll would reveal it. It didn’t quite match my Hound belt, but the coloring was not too off. The summoner’s belt was definitely a softer, worked leather.
I stood with a migraine and tried the belt on, fastening it. I looked in the mirror and thought it didn’t look too bad. I tried to put some coins in the pouch on the left hip, but my hand kept going! I heard the coin clatter against some glass. It was a neat magic trick in the mirror as the depth half my forearm disappeared into the pouch. I felt around and guessed the space was about a cubic foot.
I retrieved one of the vials, and it was a potion! Reading the Elvish script, it was a stamina potion. I took off the belt and tried to get another potion. Nothing; the compartment was empty and shallow again. So, all this time, all I needed to do was be wearing the belt? I wanted to kick myself for not thinking of it sooner.
I decided to empty the belt on the bed after clearing away my Hound gear. Placing the belt back on, I emptied the potions, thirteen total. When I moved to the next pouch, it was full of spoiled vegetables. Yellow carrots and something that looked like limes. They were all soft, and I guessed the summoner had collected them in the dungeon. It told me the pouches were inferior to my own space in that they didn’t arrest time. Which meant some of the potions may have spoiled as well. It had been three months since I defeated the summoner.
The third pouch was stuffed with the cooking kit, thermal stone, spices, and four glowstones. Excited, I started pulling out different bones from the fourth pouch. My best guess was that these bones were the various creatures the summoner used in his ritual magic. That was reinforced when the fifth pouch had dozens of bags of different powders, and I had no idea what creatures they belonged to.
The last pouch had a dozen handwritten notebooks. They were all in Elvish, and the summoner’s handwriting left something to be desired. The bottom of this pouch had a lot of dungeon coins, all large silver. The summoner had obviously broken a few reward chests during his time, but where were the magic items? I searched each pouch again in futility.
The mess on the bed was extreme, and I couldn’t believe this belt had held so much. It had six cubic feet of storage and did not add any weigh to the belt. Still vastly inferior to my own dimensional space but useful.
I was quickly frustrated as all the Elvish healing potions had expired a month ago. Three stamina potions seemed viable and there was one greater dungeon healing potion in the mix that would never expire and proved the summoner earned one of the reward chests.
I started packing everything up and sending it all to my dimensional space. I decided to start wearing the summoner’s belt in place of my Hound belt, but I would need to line the bottom with something so it didn’t look like my arm was disappearing whenever I grabbed something.
A knock at my door had me freeze. Danielle’s muffled voice came through. “I have your breakfast. Do you wish a bath to be drawn this morning? The cooks are heating water now, and I have scented soaps.”
I considered her offer and then looked at the mess on the bed. “No, thank you. You can leave it on the floor. I will collect it when I am ready to eat,” I said. I heard her shuffle her feet and the tray tap the floor. After she walked away, I brought it inside. I munched on the loaf, hard-boiled eggs, and jams as I packed my new utility belt.
Unfortunately, the jade chalice that turned water in elven ambrosia did not fit in the belt. It would have solved my problem of letting the artifact recharge outside my dimensional stasis. Satisfied with my packing, I hoped to spend short periods in the dreamscape during the next two days training before I had to return.
I arrived back at the barracks before sunrise on the third day. Hearne and Cato were talking quietly in the hallway, looking much refreshed. Cato noted my approach, “I like your new belt.”
“Thanks, it was just something found in my explorations of the city,” I noted, unable to hold a smile in. Konstantin’s heavy boots were thundering down the hallway, and I could hear the others stirring awake from the pre-wakeup call. It was time to continue with the Hound training.
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Comments
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected I think
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected
Erick Thiemke
corrected....how are you marking suggestions now? just the * where it is confusing?
Andrew Crews
I knew I was close to finishing the spell form and silenced *the my manifestations in the dreamscape—with the exception of Oscar who happily sat in my lap. On my third cycle into the dreamscape, I felt the spell lock into place on my core. Relieved, I reviewed *on how to use the spell form before returning to the real world. I stored the amulet and focused. I knew I was close to finishing the spell form and silenced my manifestations in the dreamscape—except for Oscar, who happily sat in my lap. On my third cycle into the dreamscape, I felt the spell lock into place within my core. Relieved, I reviewed how to use the spell form before returning to the real world. After storing the amulet, I focused.
J S
Good stuff.
Apophixas
No time for the ones outside with all the specters.
GoodEnough Name
Seems odd that the summoner wouldn't loot the runic weapons from the 5 or so legionnaires he killed in and outside the dungeon
Space Cadet
I dont know about that. It is useful for other people, but is just a poor copy of his own skill. Most people already know he has a dimensional pocket, any first citizen is going to want the belt. It just adds some extra capacity for tools. If anything it is just putting a bigger target on his back. It is also not subtle to use as his arm disappears into the pouches.
Rayse
Essences might prevent that atrophy. Enough to hand wave the issue away, perhaps.
Jordan A
“Metabolize Essences” When he was reading spell forms with Renna in the first book this spell form was called ‘assimilation’.
Adunn
I feel like theres gotta be some consequences for purifying his poop away instead of just passing it. Like the lack of using those organs are gonna cause them to atrophy. Plus gut health and all that stuff.
Fortunis
Nice. The belt seems incredibly useful.
Ivan Kanewske
He took an empathy essence from the ogre, The way his score went up doesn't make sense
Tetsu-nii
Typo: /came as a sipped on/ => /came as *I* sipped/ (the "on" at the end isn't necessary)
Tetsu-nii
Suggestion/Typo(?): /I turned the pulsed aether/ => /I pulsed aether/ (remove "turned the" — artifact from a previous draft?)
Tetsu-nii
Another typo not too far past the last: /reviewed on how to use/ => /reviewed how to use/ (remove "on")
Tetsu-nii
Typo: /silenced the my manifestations/ => /silenced *the* …/ but only because I think it flows better. Could just as easily go with /silenced *my*/ there, but Mavik's sister really isn't his, IMO.
Tetsu-nii
Typo: /Dungeon coins were only uncommon/ => /Dungeon coins were *not* only uncommon/
Erick Thiemke
Void magic makes it disappear forever
Ben Walker
During purify self do the toxins come out of his body (and if it is his first time I imagine some serious toxins will come out) or does the magic make it disappear? Could lead to some interesting situations in the future when people think they have him poisoned or contained and suddenly just get this horrible smell ha (alwa
Erick Thiemke
it was already described - aether compresses the air but yes there is another version of air shield for the air affinity
Lemes
I think there is an error reading the tablet. Like your air affinity is zero? So where does your air shield come from?
yohan gu
I've finally caught up and there is something that bugs me: if the conspirators pretend to want the good of the empire, which seems doubtful, but whatever, or even if they want to profit from the spoils of the coup, they shouldn't want the empire to be overrun by its enemies. Killing their best tool for preserving their country at a time everyone is attacking is odd. They should at least wait for him to wipe the floor with all their enemies, and after the crisis is resolved eliminate him, if that's what they really want to do. It is quite clear that he is harder to kill in the capital, maybe because of some convergene attribute that allows him to draw from the ley lines, so they would want to attack him during his trip, but it is my hope they plan to do it on his way back. Plus this way you also give someone else the chance to do your work in your stead.
yohan gu
Let's see what creatures they were called to quell. Konstantin mentioned the presence of many creatures who used illusion magic to hide in the cities, hope he gets some essence for that. Though I hope he holds off imprinting a spell form for illusion as long has he doesn't have enough for high quality magic.
Erick Thiemke
this chapter or last - just recently
Angus
When did Eryk obtain the purify self spell?
camelDetective
yo these last few chapters have been absolutely bomb. Keep it up, champ!
Jake Sori
Quick caveat - you want to pack the heaviest items last, so that they rest on your upper back, and the lightest items on the bottom. This makes the weight distribute evenly accross your enfire back instead of ot all resting on your hips or your lower spine. Also, when you get items out of your bag, its easier to just pull out the few heavy, big items, then dig through the light stuff until you find what you need, if you put the heavy stuff at the bottom, you have easy access to the light stuff, but whenever you need the heavy stuff you will have to dump your whole pack to get it out....Source - Light Infantry for 8 years
Daniel kanevsky
Someone said speaking languages and understanding people. I think that's more Clairvoyance then Worlds affinity. A lot of these are really clever. Nice job guys!
Erick Thiemke
aether shaping is the size of the brush. as noted, many mages use their hands to trace the patterns in the air while learning to lay out spell forms - pushing aether from their fingertips. however that is a crutch and the dexterity aspect noted is not needed, just the easiest way to learn
Victor Skaarup
I am surprised/ curious why the increase in the MC’s dexterity and coordination, combined with the number of spell forms he has imprinted does not result in an increase in his aether shaping.
Silver Beard
Unfortunately, the empire is more likely to bite him for his kindness. I'm not disagreeing with your statement or Author's approach. Candidly likeable. Warlike culture tends to see kindness and weakness as the same thing. It is never celebrated. Quite the opposite. More likely an act of kindness will see him seriously wounded than any act of brutality in the interest of self-preservation. I wonder if that will be one of Sergio's tests? Hounds live up to the emperor's will not their own. Jeopardizing his mission to save another could be seen as betrayal of the emperor's trust. Suggests the Hound can think for himself which is another mark against him. His goal now is to be less Eryk more stooge. Becoming the Emperor's loyal idiot won't be a fun read. Let's hope for another time skip.
Roberto Dias
Something i like in this novel is the "kindness seeding" The mc goes around doing random acts of selflessness and kindness. Save a horse, ... Buy carrots for silver from a broken farmer.. pay an extra gold for a burnt healer, ... Overpay for the stableboys... OverPay for the bathgirls survive the winter/war/famine & give the twin herbalists company and free workforce ... Give fight lessons, expensive daggers and handaxes, and even a runic sword for his fling and hers two friends (for that he got a little something in return) ... Cover for the clumsy couple in the library... Give magic food, apex essenses and a magic cloack to Zina, .. By the golden rule, some of this kindness has to come around
larback
Not having any more items is very good for him, because he doesn't know how to hide his secrets very well. And he already has the best items, the collector and the amulet of dreams, items that help him become more powerful through training and time. Over time it will become powerful enough to not need to rely so much on other items. He doesn't need more items, in fact he needs to get rid of a lot of useless things he carries with him.
larback
Erik's spells cannot be seen by other people, just like the air shield.
Silver Beard
Wondering though- what do others see when Eryk uses his spell form? He's so private, insolated. Is there any physical manifestation that will give him away? It's the Void- is he shaded in blackness when he purges his body?
Silver Beard
5-6 seconds to overcome poison is more than enough to remove a man's belt. I agree with your comment, but the belt is a cheat Eryk can't afford. He should gift it away or sell it. Zyna owes him big time- Eryk should give it to her... and trade for Essences...
Silver Beard
Eryk is not quite the intellectual you appear to be. Nice math though.
Silver Beard
Admit I'm a little disappointed there wasn't more dungeon loot to be discovered; but it's done. Finally. So looking forward to first idiot who tries to poison him. 5-6 seconds to counter the poison is more than enough to steal his belt. He should really consider gifting it to someone else. Eryk doesn't need a handicap.
Roberto Dias
About surprises Erick can pull from his storage. 16'x16' have a 22'6 diagonal. Enough for a hand crossbow drawn and ready to fire. And it can be 2 inches flat wt a 1,5x1,5 barrel, and roman crossbows doesn't had pistol grip. So Erick can have TWO crossbows stacked inside his publicised space, and use it in openly, for a "not today" moment. And still have a 12x16 space free remaining (and the voids in the 4x16 occupied by the crossbows, has its only the limbs, the barrel, the bolt and the string)
Josiah
If he couldn't access it unless he was wearing it a pickpocket might not be able to access it unless they are wearing it too. Or someone just has to be wearing it to activate it so who knows.
Andrew
Thank you!
1536539
Thank you for the chapter, the belt is very useful for him since he does not need to spend ether to retrieve or insert items, and in a battle more ether for the fight is always a good thing.
Erick Thiemke
No those are correct, empathy went up one and then down one due to his actions with the other pups
Silver Beard
As for stats- some seemed off. I thought he was 44 for Earth?! Empathy seemed pretty low... thought he got an Apex from the Mother/unborn? Two potential and nothing actual is off.
Silver Beard
He's as ready as he'll ever be for the nastiness ahead. I admit I'm not looking forward to Sergious trials of loyalty. Likely have to waste of lot of lives for nothing special other than getting screwed over for the war. Those will be dark chapters. Wondering if he will admit to K about the new boots or his spell form? or Sergious? He should, but he avoided the question with the truth-seeker; that's the big rub. No choice but to be weak and pathetic if he doesn't want to reveal he can beat empire audit.
NightRider
Now Eryk knows the Purify Self works on the paralytic poison, I would like to have him store the poisoned arrows, with the arrow tips pointing up in one of the pouches of the summoner’s belt. A nasty surprise for pickpockets and other curious characters. If Eryk was to accidentally prick himself he can always remove the toxin by using the purify spell form! That is if the arrows will fit in pouch of course!
Erick Thiemke
3rd of 4 for cycle. Decided to take care of some plot threads in this chapter. The next chapter will be Tuesday.
