Joe gave one of the Strengthened Arcane Communication Tablets to Ferric and showed him how to use it, then cast a boosted Backtrack to go to the outskirts of the farms outside of Trenos. He pulled out his own SACT and pushed the button below the glass disc that should represent the screen of the tablet. At the top of the tablet was another button he pushed to make the connection to the other device when it was also activated. After a few moments the screen lit up with an image of Ferric.
“Can you see me, Ferric?” Joe asked of the image on his SACT.
“Wow, I can't believe this works. This is amazing, Joe. I can see and hear you,” Ferric confirmed.
“I think while I'm here I'm going to see if I can get a freshly killed pig. A treat for us as well as Belstak,” Joe said.
“Okay, I'll see you in a little bit, then,” Ferric said.
Joe had no problem tracking down one of the farms they had bought their piglets from, but sadly they weren't selling anything for the rest of the season. All the pigs they had left were too young. The farmer said the other farms were likely the same.
Not to be deterred Joe cast Backtrack to take him to one of the forest clearings where he had tracked giant boars on his journey a few months prior. There were fresh tracks in the snow, so Joe followed them, activating his Thermal Sight to have an easier time finding mammals in the wintry forest. It didn't take him long at all to find a few. He used Levitation to remain in the air above their line of sight. When he was over one he dropped down and cast Hidden Blade to slice through its spine with his dragon horn knife. While it was immobilized he stabbed directly into its heart to kill it quickly.
Before he could collect his bounty of pork the other two boars tried to rush him. It takes a few moments to choose a destination that is far away like Rust's Edge, so he grabbed onto the boar and used Backtrack to take him out to the road, which was out of sight of the remaining boars.
Backtrack spell leveled up to 15!
Backtrack (Level 15). This spell allows the caster to teleport to any location they have been before, within range of the spell. The range is the caster's Intelligence multiplied by the spell level in meters. Additional creatures up to the spell's level can also be teleported if they are within 3 meters of the caster.
If the caster forgoes additional passengers they can teleport one hundred times the distance for double the cost in mana.
Alternatively a semicircular portal 3 meters in radius can be created to any point the caster has been to within one hundred times the normal teleporting distance for a cost of ten times the mana. This portal remains for 1 minute, plus one additional minute per new level gained by the spell, but the caster can end it early. The portal can be traversed in both directions while it remains open.
Mana cost: 50 mana for the basic teleportation, 100 mana for the long distance solo teleportation, or 500 mana for the long distance portal.
Backtrack was Joe's highest level spell, and this new version was such a mana hog. He decided to replenish his mana via meditation out in the cold. He hadn't really spent much time in the cold back in Rust's Edge, being able to teleport wherever he wants to go in town. He finally unlocked his Cold Tolerance skill while waiting.
Cold Tolerance (Level 1). This skill is for bearing cold temperatures without harm. Higher skill levels allow you to ignore even colder temperatures and even ignore some cold elemental damage. To train this skill expose yourself to cold temperatures.
Key Attribute: Toughness.
While waiting Joe also tried to check in with Belstak through the Party Chat, but it said he was out of range, which was just 1 kilometer. At least they were still a party. After his mana was refilled Joe activated his SACT to check in with Ferric. Ferric answered before long.
“Joe, I thought you'd be back by now. Did you run into any problems?” Ferric asked.
“All of their grown pigs have already been sold off so I had to go get a giant boar instead. Where are you right now?”
“I'm in The Rusty Cup,” Ferric answered and swiveled the tablet around to show the interior of the tavern.
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“Go open the door, I want you to see something,” Joe urged Ferric.
When the orc opened the door Joe used Boost Spell then cast the new portal version of Backtrack. Joe wasn't sure what he expected from this magic portal, but he thought it would be opaque. Instead he could see the area in front of The Rusty Cup just fine, with a small line in the air marking the edge of the portal. He cast Levitate on the boar corpse and strode through the portal bringing the boar behind him.
Ferric just stared, mouth wide open. After the minute expired and the portal closed Ferric finally found his voice. “Is that Backtrack or did you learn another spell from somewhere?”
Joe smiled as he replied, “It's Backtrack alright. It takes a lot of mana to cast it like that, though. Five hundred for 972 kilometers, but I had to use Boost Spell to get all the way here, so it doubled the cost to one thousand mana. That's why I had to wait, so I could refill my mana.”
“That much mana is almost insane to me. Bear in mind that I don't have any, of course.”
“Well, now I want to refill it again before I cast Harvest on this boar.”
“Do you want to come inside by the heater?”
“No, that's alright. I finally got Cold Tolerance, might as well keep training it.”
“How many skills is that now?”
“Thirty seven. Still not sure why I haven't unlocked anything for the plants I've been tending, though.”
“Have you talked to Ferrite or Tess about it? They'd probably know best,” Ferric suggested.
“Yeah, you're probably right. Hold a sec while I message Belstak and ask him not to eat any of this boar yet.”
Belstak, there's a dead giant boar in front of the tavern. Please don't disturb it as of yet. I'm refilling my mana so I can use Harvest on it properly. The more mana I have, the better results I can get from something like that.
Belstak responded right away, Very well. Can I make a request for its bones, though? I need to strengthen my own wing bones and the bones of other creatures is a great help in that.
You got it, Joe replied.
Joe walked to Ferrite's farm to remain in the cold as well as to not waste any more mana while his Meditation was active. Of course she wasn't in the fields as it was winter, so Joe went and knocked on the door of her house. Joe heard a muffled acknowledgment as he waited for her to open the door. Before long the orc woman arrived and opened the door and hurriedly invited Joe in before too much cold invaded her home.
“Joe, what brings you here today,” Ferrite cheerfully asked.
“I had some questions about skills, if you don't mind.”
Ferrite gestured to a couple of chairs next to her fireplace. “Of course, I'm happy to help. What would you like to know.”
“Well, you know that I have no limit on the number of skills I can unlock, and I've been growing those Thessal Leaves for weeks, but I have yet to unlock any skills related to that work.”
Ferrite pondered the situation for a moment before getting an excited look on her face, “Of course, I get it!
“There are two skills I'm aware of for this type of work: Agriculture and Horticulture. What you've done in your greenhouse doesn't qualify for either one. Agriculture is for large single crop fields like what I grow on most of my land, whereas Horticulture is for small-scale planting of a variety of plants. Your single crop of Thessal Leaves isn't large enough to count as Agriculture and has no diversity so also doesn't count as Horticulture. I suggest that once you have a large enough storage of Thessal Leaves, let them go to seed, harvest them, then replace them with a variety of other plants. Come spring you can start a new, larger field of all Thessal Leaves and then you'll have both skills.”
“Thank you. I don't know why I didn't think to come to you sooner. Is there anything I can do for you in return?”
Ferrite gave Joe an exasperated look, “You've done so much for the town already, I still feel like I owe you even more, Joe. You've been here less than a year and have already doubled our population and made us richer than we have ever been.”
Joe rubbed the back of his head as he broached an awkward subject, “Well, since you offered. Has your brother told you what we discussed shortly after Belstak hatched?”
An angry looked quickly came and went on Ferrite's face before she responded, “No, I don't believe he has. What has he got in his fool mind this time?”
“It was my idea, not his,” Joe quickly interjected. “I suggested that we train everyone's combat classes. In the event people find out what we have here we may get unwanted attention. I'd like everyone to be able to protect themselves.”
Ferrite's eyes lit up like someone just told her she won the lottery. She jumped out of her chair and practically shouted, “Finally! I've been telling him for years that we need to get better at protecting ourselves in case another war ever comes so we can survive it next time. Plus, I have nothing to do for another month until it's time to start planting the next year's crops.”
Inwardly Joe groaned, he was afraid he may have just encroached on an overprotective brother's domain, but the cat was out of the bag now. “So, what weapons are you skilled in? Maybe Melanie and I can make you something to help.”
“I've trained in the Throwing skill. It's a skill that doesn't pair well with magic weapons, as you don't want to lose any.”
At that statement Joe's mind began to wander through various ideas on how to overcome such an issue.
Joe smiled at Ferrite, “You know, I think I have an idea for that.”