The medical tent outside the dungeon had several guards standing outside, and a few well-dressed people stood outside the tent.
Tearis approached the others first. “Can you tell me if Backster is in there?”
“I’m sure you would love to know. But this is noble business.”
“Backster is my friend, knowing these things are my responsibility.”
“Still no. You do not have the right to see him.”
“...Who are you anyway?” Tearis saw no resemblance of the familial sense, nor did he see a crest or other family sigil. But, if he could guess, they were close in age.
“I’m his fiance.” The lady stated.
Tearis immediately lost interest in the woman. “Right. I’ll ask him if he wants to see me.”
“But he’s unconscious.” Said a blue-haired girl quite a bit younger than them.
“For you maybe. But he’s always awake for my bullshit.” Tearis winked
“Watch your mouth.” The fiance said.
Tearis walked towards the tent, the guards eyeing him suspiciously. “I do what I want. And right now, I want to speak to that idiot.”
“Watch you…”
Tearis looked between the guards. “Oi! Dumbass! I’m alive so quit yer moping around and heal up. The fault is mostly yours so let’s talk about repayment when we get to school!”
A muffled surprised voice came from the tent. “You’re alive!”
“You know damn well I am too stubborn to die from my stepmother’s sick games. Now heal up. Don’t wanna hear a peep until you’re back to your jolly self.”
“Then go home you idiot.”
“Sorry, can’t hear stupid. My intellect. has far surpassed yours.”
“You say yours and I’ll say mine at the same time.”
“Fine…”
“One… Two, three!”
“Twenty!
“Twenty three.”
“Almaria damn it!”
“That’s some decent improvement. But your a thousand years too early to best me in that”
“I’m gonna go read a book or something.” Tearis marched off.
“Right. Thanks.” Backster muttered and relaxed.
“Did you have to be so rude?” The fiance asked him.
Tearis soundly ignored her. The young man did have some reading and enrollment papers to sign. And then he had to see about joining an adventuring guild. Chances are home would be nowhere near safe, so he’d need to take a Job and find a place to stay. With 12 silver to his name, he’d need to last until school started, which was 6 days.
Tearis to another tent with a line of people going in and out. As it turned out, they were excited to go in, but the enthusiasm faded as they left.
Tearis entered the tent and saw an older man with a suit and two briefcases. Pulling a packet out, the left briefcase was passed to Tearis.
“Read the document in completion before signing it.” The old man repeated.
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Rules and conduct:
Duels between students are banned on school grounds outside of sparring or rank matches. An instructor must be present for the match as well. Otherwise, the participants will be punished. Both parties must willingly agree to a duel; if done under duress, the school will know. Offending parties will be punished accordingly.
Students are required to keep at least a 70 average in classes they won’t take an advanced version of and an 80 or above in their specialties. In addition, students must pass their exams at the end of the year to advance to the following year.
Students are required to stay on campus in the dormitories. Students are not allowed to be in dorms of opposite genders after lights out. Transgressors will be punished accordingly.
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Everything else was good until his skill, Read between the lines, activated on its own.
Signing this line is potentially dangerous and magically binding. If you drop out early, you’ll lose any skills or levels gained on their grounds before the end of the year.
The paper pusher looked up. “Something wrong?”
“Oh…Why do we lose skills and levels when forced to drop out?” Tearis asked the person handling the paperwork.
The elderly man looked up and smirked. “Keen eye or lawyer?”
“Lawyer skill?”
“I see. Then before you join my Class I’ll give you a heads up. That clause is supposed to be seen but it isn’t necessary. It’s for those who sign without reading everything. Those types can be dangerous with little magic training.”
“Ah I see. It’s optional.” Tearis read the contract over twice more, taking a while as his skill triggered twice more, and he opted out of military service and what he determined was a hazing ritual.
Read between the lines has reached Rank 2.
“I got a skill up…” Tearis handed over the packet and headed on out.
“Good. Now get going, the others are getting restless. Few actually bother reading the contract portions to begin with.”
Tearis turned and walked out of the tent, a red-haired woman eyeing him suspiciously.
“What were you doing in there?” The woman asked.
“Just getting ahead of the curve..” Tearis turned and ran off. Not wanting to be there when an incorrect assumption was raised.
The first guild he found was the Reavers. A group of strong fighters accepting new applicants. One of the larger guilds around. Outside of dungeon diving, its members take Jobs around town.
Walking through the saloon-like doors, Tearis entered the hall and noticed a crowd with similar ideas.
A short man with spectacles next to a large man with a maul approached him immediately.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“A mage with only six mana. Who do you think we are? Get out and don’t come back. We have no use for duds.” The spectacled figure said.
“I see.” Tearis was then shoved through the doorway. A few others in line decided this place wasn’t for them. Tearis, however, decided he would take this place down one day.
He tried a second guild, Mermaids Heart, a sea dungeon guild. They, too, kicked him out, albeit they were nicer about it. Tearis couldn’t swim and didn’t have any water or wind-based abilities.
The attempts to join a guild failed for one reason or another before he made his way to a beat-up building in the slums. As he opened the door, a rat scurried out only to get shot by a dart of red mana.
The rat shifted into an unconscious man with whiskers.
“Uh…” Tearis looked at the red-cloaked mage and then at the rat man.
“Don’t worry about him. He’s just a sicko. Sewer druids are the worst.” The mage fired a second bolt next to the rat man’s head.
“Got it. Getting lost.” The rat man shot to his feet and ran off.
“Should I come back at another time?” Tearis asked, having taken a step back.
“No, come on in. Do you have a Job?” The red-cloaked mage asked, perking up.
Tearis stepped into what he thought was a guildhall. “No… I was actually looking for a guild to join.”
“Ha! Are you a spy? If so, there isn’t anything worth finding here. “
“No… Apparently mages with low mana can’t aren’t a welcome addition.”
“How low?”
“Seven.”
“That is pretty low. Have you gained a skill for training mana yet?”
“No.”
“Did you check your gear after coming out of the dungeon?”
“Gear?” Tearis looked at his new outfit.
“You’re wearing set items for your Class. Or at least you seem to be. On rare occasions, the goddess will hand out training gear for Class related stats. Mana is important to most mages.”
“I see. How do I check what my gear does?”
“You need a skill known as Self Analysis. We could sell you the skill 2 Gold. But I see you’re a Violet Mage. You should probably hide that with your lie skill. Changing it to purple should hide you from most levels of, Analyze Other, and it’s free skill ups when people do try to analyze you.”
“Why can’t I just see it with status?”
“Status is very bare bones. While it may show your stats and potential conditions, Self Analysis will show you why a number is low. It can also be used to unlock the inventory function early.”
“Well I don’t have two gold.”
“Read what Mind Thief does and then we can come to an arrangement.”
“Skill description, Mind Thief.”
Mind Thief: You force your consciousness into the mind of either an unaware or willing target and potentially steal a skill. You may only ever steal on skill from a target once. If they are willing, then they choose what skill you obtain. If the target is unaware, you may name a skill; if they have it, you learn it. If not, a random skill is chosen. The target does not lose any ranks of the skill, nor do they lose access to it. This spell costs 100% of your mana. You may have up to 10 stolen skills active at once. Every skill gained from then will be added to the skill compendium, which is accessible when Class Level reaches ten.
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“So it doesn’t hurt to steal a skill?” Tearis raised an eyebrow.
“Correct. Unless you count pride, or privacy.” Kon added, the red-hooded mage nodding to themself.
“It has very little combat application.”
“Yup. However, sleeping targets are unaware. Doing it on unconscious people is a nono. Don’t use it on sleeping people in public.”
“Right… Why does this seem overpowered?” Tearis asked.
“Your mana is 6. At level 1 an emerald mage gets 200 mana. A Crimson mage gets a greater offensive magic skill. Sapphire mages get a powerful perception based passive. Diamond mages get a nice defensive skill.”
“Two hundred mana… Can I steal that skill?”
“Yes but it will be much weaker as it’s a high rank version of another skill. It’s what one would call a main Class skill. Class skills are advanced versions of something that can be trained from basic skills.”
“So you say steal skills like a kleptomaniac but don’t be obvious about it.”
“Low mana should also make recasting it easier. Cast once and wait thirty minutes for it to recharge, rinse and repeat.”
“And you’re offering to let me steal a skill from you?”
“If you join the guild I will in fact let you join. But you have to stay for at least one year.” The red cloak mage said.
“Who are you anyway?” Tearis asked.
“A top guild member of Acorn. The number 2 to be precise.” The red mage stated.
“What is your name?” Tearis reworded his question.
“Kon Aldrin, recruiter and vice guild master! At your service.”
“... Are you a bit short staffed?”
“That’s an understatement. So…you have the look of a receptionist. We need another receptionist.”
“...” Tearis realized the trap laid out.
“Come on, we have paperwork to do.” Kon handed Tearis some paperwork which was promptly filled out.
You have joined the guild, Acorn.
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“Mind Thief successful, you have gained Self Analysis.”
Tearis soon learned that his guild now contained 5 people, including him. Unfortunately, the receptionist was that rat man who ran out of the building. The guild master had gone on important business while the other fifth member wasn’t here. Tearis later learned that the rat man was scaring away potential recruits.
“This is going to be a pain. Isn’t it.”
“Yes but we’re still growing.” The red mage patted him on the back.
“Self Analysis!”
Hp: 32/52
Mana: 6/6
Stamina: 42/42
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 16
Vitality: 25
Endurance: 16
Mind: 19
Charisma: 19
Wisdom: 17
Intelligence: 20
Luck: 20
Passive effects:
Basic Mana Training Cloak (S Hidden: Demon Lord’s Cloak): Maximum mana reduced by 80%. Mana training is 80% more effective. For every two mana gained, eight mana is absorbed by the cloak. The cloak cannot be removed, but it can be hidden. When health is reduced to 0, the cloak is destroyed, and your health is restored to its maximum as mana floods your body and explodes outwards, dealing damage equal to your stored mana.
Intelligence training ring: Intelligence training is twice as effective until it reaches 50.
Dexterity training ring: Dexterity training is twice as effective until it reaches 50.
Charisma training ring: Charisma training is twice as effective until it reaches 50.
Vitality training ring: Vitality training is twice as effective until it reaches 50.
Mind training ring: Mind training is twice as effective until it reaches 50.
Other effects:
Tracking: Someone currently has a scrying ability active on you. Nature unknown. Duration: Unknown.
Mana bomb: Someone has planted explosive mana in you. It will go off in 13 minutes and 26 seconds. It will deal 3 times your maximum mana when it goes off as damage.
Curse of ignorance: Intelligence and Wisdom training is reduced by 90%. Duration: Permanent. This effect has been active for 4 years, ten months, and thirteen days.
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“Oh. No no no! They said all conditions go off when you enter the door.” Tearis began to pace.
“What’s wrong?” The red mage eyed him suspiciously.
“A bomb. I will explode in thirteen minutes dealing… twenty one damage to myself. Not that bad actually.”
“Quite bad actually. That’s internal damage. So double it.”
“Oh… That’s lethal then.”
“Can you loan me a potion?”
“Don’t have any. But I can try this. Greater dispel! Check say Self Analysis and the name of the Debuff.”
“Self Analysis: Mana bomb.”
Mana Bomb: Someone has planted explosive mana in you. It will go off in 6 minutes and 41 seconds. When it goes off, it will deal 4 times your maximum mana as damage. Hidden condition discovered: Greater Anti dispel: This curse gets stronger if a skill is incapable of dispelling this ability.
“The timer halved in time.”
“Oh that’s vindictive. Not a low level spell or skill then.” The red mage didn’t seem worried.
“Why are you so nonchalant?” Tearis asked.
“If you go boom I’ll be sad, but I kinda wanna see how it works up close.”
“...” Tearis wrapped both arms around the red mage and clamped on tight.
“Awe? Am I going to be your last hug?”
“When I explode I’m gonna ruin your clothes and inconvenience you heavily.”
“Ah… You may not know this but I dumped endurance, vitality, and strength so I could potentially be hurt by 21 damage.”
“Got any other ideas?”
“Hmm…If I say I have an idea. Will you let me go?”
“Depends.”
“We call the guard.”
“Great… I’ll just wait patiently here for the guard to show up.”
A tired figure in shining steel armor walked into the guild hall. Their armor made no noise as they walked toward the relatively quiet bar. Pulling an empty bottle of mead from a shelf and scowling like it owed them money.
“Kon? Did you drink my booze?” A gruff feminine voice asked.
“No mamn!”
“Was it the Therak?”
“The rat?” Tearis must have misheard.
“Therak the rat.” Kon answered.
“Oh…Someone knew what they were doing when they named him.” Tearis sighed.
“Ugh… I’m too sober to deal with nobles and rich kids.”
“Mamn! We just got a new member and he may die any moment. Someone put a mana bomb in him. Got maybe three minutes left.”
“Again? At least it isn’t a little kid this time. Who bombs their daughter?”
“Probably the same person who would bomb their stepson with a contingency… Wait! You need to go save Backster! He could.”
“The young noble will be fine. But who are you?”
“Tearis your newest member. Nice to meet you. Can you help me? I’d rather not be a stain.” Tearis let go of Kon.
“Hmmmm… Would be bad if our new members up and died. Sure I can fix you.” The armored woman approached Tearis and placed a hand on his chest. Her hands glowed a bright white as a purple orb, and a black orb was pulled out of Teris’ body before being stored in jars.
Tearis patted his chest.” Am I good?”
“Yup you’re good. Quite the curse you had there. No wonder you only have six mana.”
“Yeah I don’t know when I was cursed but now I’m irritated. Still do you have a place for me to stay here? My home is potentially either a crime scene or trapped.”
“We aren’t the room and board kinda guild and I wouldn’t sleep near this place. Too many rats.”
“Well that plan backfired.”
“Better than your innards burning.” A shelf holding various bottles fell over and clattered to the floor. Kon stared at the broken bottles and sighed.
“Great. Well I’m in and will come by tomorrow for my first Job.”
Tearis walked out the door and into the bosom of the city guard.
“Tearis Malvaris, you are to come with us immediately. This isn’t an arrest but you may be questioned.”