Joe took a quick trip to Trenos to buy some tools and workstations for his workshop so he could start working on the fabrics he would be growing. He spent some time making resealable jars for the spices and herbs that would be growing in the greenhouse as well.
The next day Eleanor came to visit Joe and told him that Barney had decided on his class, and would need a couple of Elixirs to help. While getting fitted for his armor, Melanie had extolled the benefits of her own Arcane Knight class to the teen and he figured it could benefit him as well while letting him be a more effective Guard. That meant that they would need more steelwood sap to make an Elixir of Toughness, along with another Elixir of Intelligence.
Joe cut a larger branch off one of the steelwood trees growing along the river and cast Harvest on it to get all the sap he could. He had enough for two elixirs, as well as another two steelwood handles, which he gave to Melanie. The Elixir of Intelligence was made first, followed by one Elixir of Toughness. With the completion of that second elixir of the day his Imbue Alchemical Product spell leveled up.
Using the new level 3 version of the spell Joe used the last of the sap to make another Elixir of Toughness, this one providing a permanent increase of 150 points. Joe decided to drink it himself, but found a somewhat disappointing message from the CWEST Guidance Service when he did so.
An individual can only benefit from one permanent bonus on each of their attributes from elixirs. The highest bonus applies.
Fortunately it meant Joe didn't completely waste the elixir he just drank, but it did mean he only got 145 points from it rather than the full 150 points. Joe delivered the other two completed elixirs to Barney who was busy training how to use a sword with Ferric. He wouldn't gain any levels in Bladed Weapons, of course, but it would save time when he did unlock his Guidebook so he could focus on other things and improve quickly.
Unlike most other swordsmen Joe had seen in town, Barney wanted to wield a sword together with a shield. The Blocking skill wasn't too popular because it typically was of less use when fighting monsters or animals. Most people simply relied on their Defense to take care of everything, and of course an Arcane Knight also has an ability to get more stopping power out of their armor.
Joe had an idea how to make Barney's shield even more effective at improving his skills, though. “Barney, since you've now decided to be an Arcane Knight, have you considered what skills you're going to develop?”
Ferric let the teen stop the current sparring session to sit and discuss things with Joe.
“Well, yes. All except for a second source of Intelligence. I'm going to have my Mana Channeling, of course, but I'm not much of a reader, so I don't want to rely on Reading to improve my Intelligence. I'll have Bladed Weapons and Blocking for my sword and shield, Listening and Observation to be aware of what's going on around the town, Mana Channeling and Stamina Growth, as normal for my two resource pools, Mining for extra Strength in this mining town, the standard Endurance, Defense, and Pain Tolerance that everyone should have, and Running to be able to get to emergencies faster.”
“If I make you a special shield, I can help you get your last skill, and it will definitely help you with Intelligence. After you unlock your class let me know what spells you choose and I can make it so your shield helps you cast stronger versions of them. That will count as a Spell Conduit, which is an Intelligence based skill.”
“I've never heard of those,” Barney said as he looked to Ferric for confirmation. Ferric nodded while Joe manifested the physical copy of his Guidebook and displayed only his Spell Conduit skill under his list to show the other teen that it was indeed a valid skill under the CGS.
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Since he didn't require empowered copper and could just use Imbue Wooden Object, Joe made another food storage chest to sell to the merchant he had met in Petrosia, but rather than meet her himself, he gave it to Otto and had him make the transaction in Telknock. It was better for Otto's profession and it made it harder to prove that Joe had a special means of transportation.
Joe sought out one of the traveling merchants that visited Rust's Edge the next merchant day to inquire about any agricultural products that are requested in the circuit of towns but unavailable. The merchant had two answers: sugar and tomatoes. There were no places in this part of the continent that processed sugar from sugar beets, and tomatoes could never weather a caravan's trip, even under a Preservation spell, they were too fragile.
After discussing it with Kleo and her father Tyrik, it was decided that they would buy more plots of land from Ferric, with the eaglins working one field each of sugar beets and tomatoes, and Joe working one of each on his own. Ferrite would continue to focus mainly on the town's immediate food needs. Joe bought his land directly, but the Blackfeathers entered into a lease agreement with the town under very favorable terms to buy them when they could.
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When he went to Trenos to buy the seeds, Joe found the sugar beet seeds readily enough, but it took trips to several different farms and markets to get enough tomato seeds for both fields. The large population of Trenos made tomato cultivation less of a priority, but the few who did grow them always had popular crops.
Joe gained another level in Agriculture from working on 4 fields now, and leveled both his Speed Plant Growth and Move Water spells by 1 level each. With his armor and Boost Spell ability Joe had crops ready to sell to the next merchant who arrived a week later, but as usual let Otto handle that. The extra week of work did result in yet another level in Agriculture, though.
The following day was Barney's eighteenth birthday, which went off without any issues and the town had a second Arcane Knight. His first two spells were completely different than the ones Melanie had chosen, but one of them was perfect to be built into a shield as a Spell Conduit.
Prevent Attack (Level 1). This spell attempts to prevent a single physical attack. The first physical attack that hits the caster within one minute of the spell being cast is targeted. A portion of the attack's damage is prevented, comparing the caster's Intelligence to the attacker's Strength or Agility, depending on the nature of the attack. Higher spell levels provide a higher effective Intelligence.
Mana cost: 10 mana per casting
Channel Frost (Level 1). The spell allows the caster to add cold damage to his weapon attacks. The extra damage is equal to the caster's Intelligence multiplied by the spell's level. At the current level the spell adds cold damage to all attacks made within ten seconds.
Mana cost: 5 mana per casting.
Instead of using magisteel for the shield, Joe instead used very fine amounts of mana glass, using his Transmute Material spell to work it as a thread in a steel base. Both Imbue Spell Conduit and Transmute Material went up a level, which made level 5 for the latter.
Transmute Material (Level 5). This spell allows the caster to temporarily transform any non-living material to another type of material. The output material options are based on the spell's level. That maximum volume of material that can be transformed is 10 centimeters per spell level, cubed. The spell lasts for 1 minute per spell level. A portion of material can be specifically transmuted rather than the entire object. The current material outputs available are: Softwood (any), Rubber, Silicone, Fabric (any), Hardwood (any except steelwood).
Mana cost: 500 mana per casting
The shield wasn't as cheap as it would be if it were made with empowered copper, but it was certainly cheaper than using magisteel. Ferric used the towns' funds again, to buy the shield from Joe, as well as the sword and armor that Melanie had been working on for Barney.
After the first week of training in the mines, Barney was finally able to stand doing weapon and spell training with Joe in the evenings. Joe was attacking unarmed and unarmored against Barney with his shield and sword. Joe even let Barney practice Channel Frost against him. Even with the new Arcane Knight's high Intelligence he couldn't do enough damage to really threaten the felinoid Mage. Barney cast his Prevent Attack spell often but it could never actually prevent any of Joe's light hits due to the vast difference in Joe's Strength compared to Barney's Intelligence.
Even with Barney slowly gaining levels in Spell Conduits and Mana Channeling, the difference wasn't getting any better due to Joe also getting a new level in Punching, in addition to the one level each in Pain Tolerance, Defense, and Cold Tolerance in the following four days of training.
Barney finally felt ready to try actual combat. The cutting crustaceans would be the easiest test. His Prevent Attack spell would stop them from cutting into him or his armor. Barney didn't show any nervousness as he approached the water river to trigger the ire of one of the crabs in its depths. It was fortunate that he had the Channel Frost spell as his sword kept bouncing off the shell of the crab. Despite that, it still inflicted the cold damage from his spell, so the crab froze to death immediately.
Barney fought several more crabs before moving on to the wolves in the woods north of town. Joe kept watch over the inexperienced Knight from up in the trees, ready to throw out a Healing Burst if needed. Barney got a little flustered by the sheer number of attackers surrounding him, but his Toughness was too high for them to do anything to him, even without his armor, spell, and ability. In the end he slaughtered all of the wolves, trying to hurt more without his Channel Frost to make sure he knew how to use his sword well.
- - - - -
Joe taught Trila how to make BLTs in the newly expanded kitchen of The Rusty Cup while everyone got ready. The bacon was nice and crispy. This wasn't boar bacon, either, this was bacon from the pigs Joe had brought back from Trenos months before. Pigs mature relatively quickly so it was mostly a matter of ensuring adequate breeding so they wouldn't run out later. Ferrite grew the lettuce, something she tried to keep growing as much as she could for the diets of the town's residents. The tomatoes came from Joe's fields. And the bread was from Slivka's ovens, toasted on a griddle in bacon fat.
The aroma of the sandwiches being prepared was causing some impatience among the assembled townspeople. Lester and Jack begged and pleaded with Ferric to skip the formalities, but this was something Ferric had longed to do for years, he wanted to savor the moment. After finishing his speech, Ferric presented Barney with a small package. Inside was a silk tabard with the crest of Rust's Edge emblazoned on both front and back. Ferric placed it over Barney's armor and named him an official guard for the town. Barney opened his Guidebook and after a few moments turned it around to show everyone his new profession of Guard.