The Guild House
Janus woke up the next day with even greater excitement than the day before. He had met Dario Wall, and now he would learn from him.
He walked out of the front door, noting the absence of the flag his father put out the day before.
Looks like he didn’t want another citation after all.
Janus wished his dad would just accept that things are different now. He had learned about the tribes in school, it was no wonder they weren’t a fan of the American flag.
It was a small fine to display flags from the old world. The law was meant to strengthen solidarity between those who had to go below the ground. Janus wasn’t sure if the law had really succeeded in its purpose. He’d always thought it had to do with the bad blood between the stations founders and world above.
Setting out down the path, he watched as others left their homes and began their day. People watching wasn’t really a hobby of his, but by this time of day he was usually already on the sub-train. He was curious to see his neighbors out and about.
His walk took him past the station plaza — a large open area near the center of town sporting a rune-powered fountain. An enchantment was causing the water to shift colors as it sprayed from the top and cascaded into a stone basin below. A few of the others in the plaza we’re sitting on the edge of the basin while others idly tossed small coins into the water.
Many small shops surrounded the open space around the fountain. A few shopkeepers were already outside, trying to peddle their wares. But Janus wasn’t interested in buying anything. He was preoccupied by thoughts of Dario and the Delver’s Guild.
On his route, he checked his status, willing for the information to appear in his mind.
Status Name Janus Alamy Class None Level 7 Guild None Life 202 Max Life 202 Mana 238 Max Mana 238 Stamina 211 Max Stam 211 Stat Total Base Class Skill Item Strength 10 7 0 3 0 Endurance 8 7 0 1 0 Dexterity 7 7 0 0 0 Intelligence 14 7 0 7 0 Wisdom 17 7 0 10 0 Skill Level Bonus Bravery 1 5 Wis / Lvl Writing 8 1 Wis / 5 Lvl Sprinting 7 1 End / 5 Lvl Mana Manipulation 4 1 Int + 1 Wis / Lvl Str. Enhancement 3 1 Int + 1 Str / Lvl Locked --- --- Locked --- --- Locked --- --- Locked --- --- Locked --- ---
Improving my [Bravery] skill would help a lot with my mana. My wisdom has already gone up so many points. I should be able to get more intelligence by leveling [Mana Manipulation] and [Strength Enhancement].
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Early schooling had taught him that the five basic stats were the backbone of the system. Strength would make someone naturally stronger and inflict more damage with weapons or even their fists, intelligence was sort of like strength — but for spells — and dexterity would increase speed and agility. Although, as far as Janus was concerned, wisdom and endurance were the most important.
Wisdom would give him mana and mana recovery. Endurance — similar to wisdom — would improve his life force and life recovery. Both stats had an effect on stamina. That meant if he could get as much wisdom and stamina as possible, he could keep going for longer periods of time.
After all, who wouldn’t want more life force…
Janus willed for his new skills and [Mana Manipulation] to appear in his minds eye.
[Mana Manipulation]
Cost: 1 Mana per second
Cooldown: None
Description: You can control your own mana and ambient mana around you.
Bonus Stats: 1 Int and 1 Wis per level
[Bravery]
Cost: None
Cooldown: Always Active
Description: You have stood against a fearsome creature with a much higher level than your own. You approach dangerous situations more calmly.
Bonus Stats: 5 Wis per level
[Strength Enhancement]
Cost: 20 Mana
Cooldown: 5 Seconds
Description: You have learned to use ambient mana to increase the power of physical attacks, either for yourself or for an ally. For the next 10 seconds, the first physical attack your target makes will deal [30%] increased physical damage.
Bonus Stats: 1 Int per level, 1 Str per level
Janus had left home more than an hour early. There was no way he could stay in bed for a moment longer. The thought of being late to Dario’s lesson tied his stomach in a knot. He let the thought pass. He still had plenty of time.
Because he was so early, Janus decided he would use some of his extra time to stop by the library. It was a large, but nondescript building. A small swinging sign hung above the door with a colorfully painted book on either side. It was one of Janus’ favorite places in the station. He could simply bury his face in a book and not have to deal with conversation.
He stepped inside, the sound of a small bell fixed to the door above followed him in.
“Ah, Janus! It’s good to see you. We got the sequel to ‘The Runed Knight’ last week, I’m sure that’s what you’re here for.” said an elderly man sitting behind a small counter. Books had been stacked on nearly every available space.
Janus brushed his feet on a small welcoming mat and replied, “Hey, Feldson. Yeah, the first one was great, but I’m also interested in some other stuff. Are any runescribes free?”
“Of course, of course. The library doesn’t see much traffic these days, especially this early in the morning. Come talk to me if you need anything,” Feldson replied.
Janus nodded at him and continued on into the library. Rows of neatly arranged shelves containing books covered most of the library floor. Janus headed to a small desk made of wood with a tidy stack of runescribes to the side. He grabbed one of the devices from the pile.
The runescribe was keyed into a database containing every book in the library. The books were arranged by genre and several runes on the runescribe corresponded to the various categories. Janus pressed lightly on the rune indicating the adventure genre. He noted that “The Runed Knight: A second Tale” was at the top of the list as a new arrival to the library. The runescribe detailed which section he could find the book in.
New books were a rare thing in the stations and many people admonished authors who wasted time on frivolous non-fiction. But Janus was grateful. He’d nearly read everything else of interest from the old world that they had managed to save. Without new books, he would have gone crazy. But now he had more important matters to attend to.
Is this really something I should be doing? Wasting my time with this?
Janus made a new selection on the runescribe: system mechanics. The runescribe displayed dozens of works. It listed nothing at the top as a new arrival.
What am I going to learn here that I didn’t learn during class...
One book caught his eye, though. The title was, “Primer on Enhancement Magic”. Janus headed to the section described on the runescribe and located the book. He pulled it from the bookshelf and headed back to the exit.
“I think I’ll just take this one today. Maybe I’ll come back for the sequel to ‘Runed Knight’ another time,” said Janus as he approached the counter.
Feldson looked at him incredulously and said, “You’re not going to check it out? I’m surprised.”
Janus handed Feldson the book on enhancement magic and replied, “I’m going for something a bit more practical this time around.”
“Suit yourself,” said Feldson as he made a small mark in the book and another in the library records. “Take care, Janus.”
Janus waved back to Feldson as he left the library. He stuffed the new book in his pack and headed towards the plaza. Surely he had enough time for some light reading. Maybe he could learn something to impress Dario. If anything in the book could help him with his [Mana Manipulation] skill, then it was worth the effort.
Finding a comfortable enough bench, Janus sat and broke open the book. It was dry, but the author went in depth.
There are many different schools of enhancement, but the most common schools are physical and arcane enhancement. As their names imply, the first improves the efficacy of physical skills and the second improves the efficacy of arcane skills, especially spells.
Janus skimmed the introduction, but found very little that he didn’t already know. He skipped ahead to the section on physical enhancement and began reading about common skills.
Most practitioners break into the physical enhancement school with the [Strength Enhancement] skill. Sometimes the effect can vary from person to person, but in general this skill will increase the physical damage of the target's next attack. Common evolutions for this skill are the [Power Enhancement] skill, which improves both magical and physical damage, and the [Strength Boon] skill which can only be used to enhance the owner of the skill, but with a greater effect. As with any skills, these can have personalized effects based on the person casting them.
Janus continued and finished the section on physical enhancement. He spent a little more time thinking about what he had read.
I should go for [Power Enhancement]. I’m sure I could get into a delve group with that. Especially if I can get the [Enhancer] class or something related.
Janus had been reading for nearly half an hour. It was still a bit early, but he decided that he preferred being too early over being late. His philosophy was that you could never be too careful.
While leaving the station plaza, Janus spotted a group of guys wearing leather jackets. Emblazoned on the back of their jackets was an image of a crows foot. He didn’t recognize the symbol
Another new gang, huh. I wonder what Fao is up to right now. Probably sleeping….
Janus walked past the group and overheard their conversation about developing custom skills.
“I’m telling yah Jimmy, if we get enough members we can form a guild,” one man was motioning wildly in the air with his arms. “If we get a guild, we can get unique skills. The others wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Janus had already moved too far to hear anyone reply to the overly animated man. It was unlikely that a ragtag group could get the system to recognize them as a guild, but not impossible. He figured the unique skills they were discussing must similar to the skills that security officers in the station would receive upon joining the force. Like the basic identity obscuring spell that prevented Janus from seeing the officers levels.
It was an interesting thought.
I wonder if the Jacks have managed to form a guild?
-
Most of Crow Station was laid out in a neat grid. Buildings were arranged in square sections, with the small exception of some government offices and the station plaza. Over the years, however, the station had been expanded. Both officially and unofficially. These “unofficial” sections featured more chaotic layouts, haphazardly constructed buildings, and a variety of architectural styles. Many buildings were simply carved into the rock wall at the edge of the vast cavern itself.
The inhabitants of Crow Station referred to the region as the Backwash. Floods occasionally broke out in the area as people dug too deep or an earthquake freed trapped water, which helped popularize the nickname.
Janus had been walking for a few minutes and found himself standing before a building in the Backwash. It was larger than most of the structures within the station proper, sporting multiple floors. Each floor above the first was slightly smaller than the preceding floor, giving the structure a pyramidal shape. The back half of the building sunk into the stone of the cavern wall. It evoked feelings of a staircase for giants.
To the right of the building was a series of tunnels carved into the same cavern wall. Most of the tunnels were sealed with rune-inscribed vault doors. The few tunnels that were open had small noticeboards nearby.
To the left was a flattened area with various raised platforms. Each platform was only 30 or so centimeters off the ground, but were easily 15 or so feet across. On some of the platforms Janus could see people sparring. Bright flashes of light accompanied by an occasional shout emerged from the region.
Janus stepped inside the guild. The inside was an open area, broken by the occasional set of tables and chairs. There was a good amount of activity, even this early in the morning. One group sat around a table, a man in a white robe emphatically pointing at some papers arrayed before him. Another group was helping one of their members put on a complicated-looking set of armored plates. Each plate had carefully designed runes on it.
Janus was like a fish out of water. He had never been inside the guild before.
What do I do?
Near the middle of the room was an island style counter, a few people sat behind it. One of the clerks was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes when Janus approached.
“Hello, I’m here to see Dario Wall.” Janus tried to catch the clerk’s attention.
“Yeah, and I’m the governor of Crow Station. Beat it, kid.” The clerk yawned and rested his head on his upturned hand.
“No, really. He said he would be here this morning, but I might be a bit early.”
“Sure, kid. It’s not like I’m gonna kick you out. Just don’t bother anyone.”
Janus decided either Dario wasn’t there yet, or the clerk just didn’t know that Dario was in Crow Station.
He made his way out of the exit and towards sparring squares on the left side of the building. Taking a seat on a small bench, he decided that there were worse ways to spend time than watching delvers spar.
Turning his attention to the nearest sparring platform, Janus identified a pair happily wailing on one another.
[Striker - Level 22]
[Shield-Bearer - Level 24]
The striker was a short woman with hair shaved close to her head. Her stature was deceptive, though. Each hit from her fists reverberated outward with power, forcing the shield-bearer back.
The shield-bearer did in fact bear a shield. In his other hand was a simple rounded mace, which he used to counterattack. The mace collided with the side of the striker, and she was knocked to the ground. She quickly maneuvered herself into a standing position with a flourish of limbs and once more rushed at her opponent. Her fist collided with the man’s shield as if she meant to break straight through. This time, however, much of the energy was reflected. The reflected energy returned to the striker, once more knocking her off balance.
Taking this chance, the shield-bearer brought his mace down. This time, the striker laid motionless on the ground.
The shield-bearer shouted, “I need a healer here!”
Within moments, a bystander from the sidelines rushed forward. He had a patch bearing a red cross on the shoulder guard of his sturdy looking leather armor. He quickly arrived on the sparring platform and a green mist emanated from his body. A few moments later, the striker was slowly moving to a sitting position.
“Get used to it, that’s gonna be you. Peeling yourself off the ground will become a regular occurrence.” Dario’s voice came from Janus’ left side, “You this early today to make up for yesterday?”
“I, uh, no sir. I just couldn’t sleep.” Janus replied.
“That eager, huh? We’re gonna have a chat about that sir thing. This isn’t the army.”
“Right.”
“Well, the other two haven’t arrived yet. Let’s see what you’re made of,” With that, Dario made his way towards one of the sparring platforms. He beckoned towards Janus, “Today, son, my time is valuable.”
Janus hurried after him, finding himself on the opposite end of a sparring platform.
“Now I want you to hit me. Pump everything you’ve got into it.” Dario said.
There is no universe where this ends well for me.
Janus clenched his fist and slowly pulled ambient mana towards it with [Mana Manipulation]. He also activated his [Str. Enhancement]. The pain was already becoming unbearable. Before he struck, Janus identified Dario.
[Identity Obscured]
Of course, what did I expect?