Author’s Note: Next chapter arrives with fun stuff. A bit shorter than usual but I guess it averages out with last chapter being longer than usual.
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Chapter 27
“Wait, what?” Fio asked, surprised.
“Why are you acting surprised? Weren’t you intending to tempt me in wanting to be a Witch with that description of the classes?” I responded.
“Well, no actually. I was just giving my own biased opinion. To be honest, if you’re traveling around, being a Sorceress would be better for you. Being a Witch pretty much requires that you stay in one place and study and experiment for long periods of time.” Fio explained.
“She is correct my lady. Sorceress is a strong class and well suited to defending oneself. I myself am a Sorceress.” Myura added. I was astonished that she was backing up Fio so calmly and easily. She was still petting Nirvi so maybe she really did just need a dose of cuteness to relax.
“I’m surprised that you would be a Sorceress Myura.” I said.
“It is necessary if I am ever required to protect my chosen lord or lady. I have also leveled Warrior for that same reason. It would besmirch my pride as a servant if I let my liege be injured in my presence.” Myura clarified.
“Alright. I understand both of your opinions, but I still think the Witch class’ specialties are much more interesting and useful for me.” I replied.
“Then we have a problem. I can’t teach you how to become a Witch.” Fio stated reluctantly.
“Why not? You have the class so surely it would be easy to explain?” I enquired.
“Without you having a mana pool developed the best I could do is give you simple explanations of the steps necessary but nothing more in depth than that. For example I could teach you how to brew a potion but the magic infusion is the complicated and difficult step. I could try to explain that but it would be like trying to teach someone without legs how to walk. See? I just can’t do it. Until your mana pool is developed you won’t be able to fully understand what I’m teaching.” Fio said.
Damn. That was disappointing. “You can at least cover the necessary unlock requirements right? I’ll try to unlock the class on my own later when my mana pool is ready.”
“That just makes me really hesitant to tell you! A total novice messing around with magic without proper instruction and a teacher overseeing is a recipe for disaster!” Fio exclaimed.
“I wholeheartedly agree with her, my lady. My lady should not take risks like that!” Myura followed up with her own words.
“Fine. I understand when to give up! I’ll just try to learn how to get the class in the future.” I said dejectedly.
“Ahh, don’t be so down! I’ll tell you the steps but you have to make me a promise!” Fio stated.
“What kind of promise?” I asked warily.
“A very easy one. When your mana pool develops, go to a church and ask them to get you in contact with a Witch that accept pupils. That’s all.” Fio replied.
“Why would I need to visit a church for that?” I asked confused.
“It’s because the church is always involved with people looking to add to their classes since you have to go to a church to change class anyway. So a church will always know who in town is willing to teach. I’m surprised you don’t know that. Maybe because you only have one or two classes so you’ve never had to change them? I don’t think very well of whoever taught you growing up if they left you ignorant of an important detail like that.” Fio explained.
Wait. Is that how things work here? They can’t change their classes unless they visit a church? I don’t have any problem changing my class just as easily as I could in game, though.
While I was getting caught up in my thoughts, Fio continued wistfully. “It would be great if we were like the Spirits and could change our class whenever we wished.”
“We can’t be held to the standards of the Spirits.” Myura responded. “They had special powers far beyond our own. They even had classes that none of us could obtain.”
“I know! I really wish I could become an Archsage like Lord Airin was said to be in the legends. Just imagining the powers of magic a great being like that had access to is dizzying.” Fio remarked, still in that wistful tone.
I was getting left out of the conversation but I was deeply interested. Based on what they just said, doesn’t that make me a Spirit? I have classes the people of this world don’t have and I can change my class whenever I want. I’m not sure if I’m stronger than the people of this world but so far I haven’t seen anyone I couldn’t beat in a fight. Was there anything I could say to get more information without looking weird for not knowing it? It seemed like the Spirits are well known and respected so saying I don’t know of them would definitely be odd and stand out. Damn it! This is too big of a reveal for me right now. I can’t process it. I need to discuss this with Lynn before I put my foot in my mouth.
Their discussion had continued but it seemed like it had finally swung back to me. “That’s why you don’t have to worry Seri! You have Lord Airin’s blessing, so I’m sure you’ll have no problem getting a mana pool and becoming a great magic user!” Fio stated.
Blessing? Oh right, that commander of the fort mentioned that. Something to do with having this dark purple hair color meant I had a blessing. I guess I’ll just follow up on what she just said and move the conversation back to the safer topic of the Witch class information. “You’re right. Since Lord Airin blessed me, I’ll stay positive! Anyway back to our topic, I promise to visit a church for help once my mana pool is ready, so can you tell me the information for the Witch class now?”
“Good! The steps to unlock the Witch class are to be able to cast spells. Basic fireballs and things like that are enough. You’ll probably end up unlocking Sorceress just doing this step. It did for me at least. Next you’ll need to learn how to brew and then infuse potions with magic power. This one is complicated like I said before. Next you’ll need to learn to make some basic enchantments and do a couple successfully. That step is pretty easy. Basic enchantments are just simple runes usually. Don’t even need to learn how to set up magic circles for those. That’s only for the more complex enchants. Thankfully you don’t need to do anything regarding rituals for just unlocking the class. I’d still research the topic a bit, but it’s not a requirement. Get all that?” She finished.
I nodded. It’s interesting that I’ll unlock Sorceress just going for Witch. That won’t be a bad thing if it lets me train and increase my magic power. “Thanks Fio! Can you show me an example of a basic enchant and maybe of a more complicated one?”
“I suppose I could. To be honest with you, I don’t really do much on the enchanting side of things. I stick to potions.” She got up from her seat and walked over to a cupboard. Opening it, she pulled out a brush, small pot, and two pieces of paper. “This should work for a small example.” She opened the pot and I bent over to look inside and it looked like ink but a bit off. She dipped the brush in the pot and then drew a symbol on the paper. “This is the rune for light. So when I infuse magic power into it, it does this.” She placed her hand on the paper and I felt a small tingle of magic and then the paper lit up, giving off a brief flash. “A basic light enchantment. Not really very useful. If you wanted a more useful light you’d need to add a few extra connected runes.” She crumpled up the paper with the light rune and tossed it to the side. She took the other piece of paper and started drawing a circle with lots of interconnected lines and shapes. I noticed that she left a few spots that were open circles. A minute later she seemed satisfied with whatever she just drew and then she started drawing in those circles. The first circle she put the light rune she had just shown me. I didn’t recognize the next runes she drew in the other circles. After drawing them, she then drew another line connecting the circle to a swirl at the edge of the paper. She again placed her hand on the paper and I felt the magic tingle again but this time nothing happened.
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“It didn’t light up this time.” I said.
Fio laughed. “Of course not! That’s what the extra runes were for.” She pointed to them in turn. “The first one is ‘sustain’ which as it says makes the light keep working rather than a brief flash. The next two are ‘control’ and ‘toggle’. You’ll notice that the toggle rune is near this line I drew away from the circle that is connected to the swirl shape. The shape there doesn’t matter, it could be anything, but go ahead and press it.”
I did as she stated and now the paper lit up and stayed glowing. I pressed the swirl again and the light turned off. Now the paper was truly a light. “I see. So the magic circle was important?”
“Yeah. The magic circle describes how the magic should connect and work between the various runes. Control and toggle are close to each other because they both are necessary for the other to work. Magic circles can become very large depending on the complexity of the enchant you’re trying to make. Either that or you’d need to be an expert at drawing the magic circles as small as possible!” She crumpled up the paper again. “An enchantment on paper like this won’t last very long. It will probably be totally unusable soon. The material an enchantment is placed on is very important because not every material is good for conducting magic. Adamantite is one of the best metals for enchanting because of how well it conducts magic, but you’d need great luck to get any.” Fio explained.
Wow. This conversation was just full of surprising revelations. Adamantite, or as I know it etherenite, is good at conducting magic. Is that the reason the parts in my ship that used that material basically melted and destroyed themselves when we landed on this planet? Does that mean the titanil and chromanite are the same or were they just unwilling participants because of the etherenite? Another damn thing that requires testing. “How much would it cost for me to get those potions you mentioned before and how long would they take to make? I’m going to be leaving town in another day or two.”
“Those are expensive but they don’t require any kind of long brewing process. Could probably have a set made by tomorrow evening? Either that or the morning after. If you’re planning on being a magic user, you will need to look for a focus of some kind to use too. I prefer a wand, but a staff is the norm. At least at first it will help to have a focus. Once you get more used to how casting magic works you’ll be able to cast more without requiring it. Anyway the potion price would probably run about fifteen gold. I could make a dozen of them with the herbs and stuff I have on hand.” Fio said.
Another fifteen gold to spend? I’ve already spent seventeen gold and a few silvers out of my current amount of money. Another fifteen would take me down to almost half of my money gone. I still have another bag of gems to sell but I wanted to hold those in reserve for possible individual use. Magic is important, though, and I don’t think I have a choice. I can’t wait years for my mana to mature. “Alright. I’ll pay that price. I really hope those potions work like you said they would.”
“No problem. I never lie about my products. That would be really bad for repeat business!” Fio laughed. Her thoughts confirm her words. Actually, she’s being generous and giving me a bargain rate despite the already high price. Not sure how I feel about that but I’ll accept her kindness.
Thinking about the time, it should be around lunch time. “Myura, would you go buy ingredients to prepare lunch for us? Would some silver coins be enough for that?” I took out some coins. Myura had a sad expression on her face for a brief moment as she stood up and then placed the kitten gently back down on the chair.
She took the few steps necessary and took the coins from me. “Understood my lady. I will be back shortly.” She gave a brief curtsey before turning and leaving.
After she was gone I got up and stretched a moment. I had been sitting down for a while. “Alright I need to run a quick errand and then I’ll be back. I should be back before she gets back, hopefully. Since Coa is happily asleep, I’ll leave her here. I’d like to ask some more questions about magic when I come back.” I smiled. “Also play with the pets some more.”
“Did you send her off just so you could sneak away?” Fio giggled. It was the first time she had done that. It was a cute sound, much different than her laughter.
“Of course not. I was definitely here the whole time and never left right?” I said pointedly.
“Right, right. You never left. I guess I’ll get started setting aside the necessary ingredients for the potions.” She got up too.
“Thanks Fio. Okay I’m off for real now.” I left the room and then headed down the stairs and then back into the store area. The door out of the shop was unlocked. Did Fio leave the door unlocked earlier? Wasn’t that risky? Or more likely Myura unlocked it when she left. That made more sense.
I rushed to Huvreck’s shop, weaving through the people on the streets. There was two things I had to do there and I was on a tight timetable. When I arrived, I barged into the shop and went straight to the backroom. “Huvreck, I got your stuff!”
Huvreck, who had been focusing on some task, must have jumped a meter in surprise. “By the spirits lass, don’t do that! I almost ruined the gem I was cutting!” He waved the gem in his hand angrily at me.
“No time for that right now. Your hatchet and the wood you wanted is in the bag.” I held it out to him.
He took it and then pulled out one of the branches. “Oh, ya chose a good one here.” He pulled the others out too and set all the branches off to the side on a bench. “Thanks lass. Ya after that information now right? Alright come closer and I’ll tell ya. I don’t trust saying the name too loudly.” I walked closer and bent down slightly to put my ear near his mouth and he whispered, “Ghost. That’s the name.” I pulled back away from him. “There, we both fulfilled our sides of the bargain. Pleasure doing business with ya.”
“Actually, Huvreck I have one other thing I need from you.” I said.
“I ain’t giving ya no more information.” He bluntly stated.
“No, not information, a weapon crafting commission. I need a staff or at least some kind of magic focus.” I replied.
“Really? Weren’t ya a Hunter or Scout?” He asked. “I got staves and wands here if ya want to choose one.”
“I have a certain material and I want to know if it can be used.” I pulled out the sabertooth fang.
Huvreck’s eyes opened wide in shock, and then he sighed. “I should stop being surprised by ya lass. I can definitely make that into a first class staff. When do ya need it by?”
“Could you have it done in two days?” I asked.
“Two days? That would be a close call but I reckon I could manage.” He declared.
“That’s great. What would the charge for it?” I was prepared but I knew I’d probably be parting with even more of my gold.
“Free of charge.” It was my turn to be shocked. Huvreck saw my expression and his rumbling laughter filled the room. “Lass, using that fang as a material will get me some hefty experience. I might even level up as a Craftsman for the first time in a number of years. That’s why it’s free of charge.” I was still shocked and he took the fang gingerly from my hands. “Come back in two days to pick it up.”
I nodded and then left the store. Alright that’s my errand done. Let’s get back to Fio’s before Myura.