I was arrested on Saadisday, the second day of the week. It was a few hours after midnight, but it counted. Harmin had the paperwork filed for a hearing before the Tribune on the fifth day of the week, Gaiaday. Harmin's Esquire, Bloomemia met with me and we discussed the situation. I wasn't being charged with paying for the illusion cubes. I was being charged with giving my unused illusion cubes to Laerenshel to distribute as election materials. The actual case being argued wasn't that I was innocent. Harmin was being damaged by his employee not being allowed to work. The proof of my innocence was the basis of Harmin's claim to have my release expedited.
Bloomemia assured me this matter would be straightened out quickly. Laerenshel testified it was her idea to give away the illusion cubes. She was a fan of Allalessa, and was promoting the Grandmaster Bard's election campaign at the same time. Bloomemia was surprised the Tribune took three days to issue her ruling. No one said it, but I attributed that to Awaesha'Feleen. I was released on Valoriaday. I missed all but the first training session this week. I was out a lot of gold, but I was still relieved and thankful that I wasn't being jailed or deported.
Bloomemia escorted me out of the Tribunal and I found some familiar faces waiting for me. Aern'Lenninisal cast [Tongues] on me, but he wasn't the first to speak.
“Pilgrim, I apologize. You are in this predicament because of me. Will you forgive me,” Nellamon asked remorsefully.
His face was pained.
I asked, “Why are you apologizing Nellamon? You didn't have anything to do with this.”
“Alas, it is not so. You were targeted by Awaesha'Feleen to get at my father through me. I must bear responsibility for what has happened.”
“I have heard that my mother seeks to destroy anyone who makes me a marriageable prospect.
Would it not be better to accept the direct motive instead of the indirect,” Aern'Lenninisal offered.
“Summoner, I have heard your honor, but Eric would not be in this position if your mother had not placed you here because of me. Would not it be better to accept the principle motive instead of an incidental motive,” he said.
Why was he being so nice to Aern'Lenninisal?
“I have heard that it is only because our Page was serving my interest that a cause to arrest Mr. Swindall even existed. Would it not be better to assign the cause of the problem to the cause of the action for the arrest,” I had never seen the beautiful redheaded elfess who spoke, but I did recognize her voice.
“Allalessa, it's nice to meet you. I hope you wont take it the wrong way if I say I wish I never had,” I said.
Aern'Lenninisal and Nellamon looked disturbed by my back-handed address. The Grandmaster Bard took it in stride and laughed.
“I believe there is a song in that sentiment,” she said.
“I had heard about Awaesha'Feleen, but I choose to stay anyway. Would it not be better for me to be allowed to claim credit for my own decisions,” I said, playing their game the best I could.
Nellamon said, “It would be best.”
He was followed closely in agreement by Aern'Lenninisal and Allalessa.
“Thank you for coming down to see me, but I have places I need to be. If you will excuse me, my first stop is the temple,” I said.
“Before you go, will you be coming to my election eve party,” Allalessa asked.
“It depends. Are you allied or opposed to Awaesha'Feleen,” I asked.
“I am allied, in that we both serve the Elven Alliance Faction. I am opposed in that I am in the Merchant's Party, and she is the Values and Virtues Party.”
“I'm still undecided. I need to think about it some more, but at this point I'm leaning toward coming. I could use some allies against Awaesha'Feleen. Are you are on my side?”
“I risked her anger simply by running for office,” she said. “I owe you for helping my campaign, but I am not looking to start a war for your vengeance.”
“Every little bit helps,” I said with a smirk.
I begged off of the pleasantries, and promised to talk more about my time in the elven slammer at our next training session. Jail time had delayed my plans. I had to get the temple, and now that it was the day before Celestiumday, I needed to travel to Everdale as quickly as possible.
My confinement hadn't been a complete waste of time. They removed the manacles that stopped me from accessing my [Inventory] long enough to get my Dungeon guides and maps. Another benefit was I got to review some basic numerical algorithms and started laying the foundations for a deep neural network. I was blocked from using Mana for Spells so I finally had time for math instead of Magic.
Celestium's temple in Aeseiriral was in the Outer City. City Hall and a series of administrative buildings occupied the place the castles had in the human lands of Everdale and Neral City. I had been transported to and from jail in the [Private Palaces] of my guards. I had seen the temples from afar but not up close. They were as large as the ones in Everdale.
The [Evil] temples looked abandoned, just as they had been in Neral City. The nine stadium sized buildings possessed the same styles as I'd seen before. The inside of Celestium's temple had all the same motifs of white and gold Angels, and a blue and gold priestly caste. The stained glass windows were just as beautiful, but more detailed. The only real difference was the number of elves, who made up about a third of the petitioners. All of the attendants and ushers were elves.
I had stopped by to get the Karma Quest for Level 4, which cost 10 golds. I had enough Karma, but I was running low on gold after spending so much on my Page Quest at the Chapterhouse. It was worth it as I finally started working on Archwizard Abilities.
You have received a Karma Quest to acquire the Boon [Waive Tier 2 Requirement: Lesser Metamagic Ability].
Quest Goal: Learn a new Spell.
You have one year to complete this Quest.
You have received a Karma Quest to acquire the Boon [Rewind Ability Count: Lesser Metamagic].
Quest Goal: Use a Metamagic Skill or apply a Style to Spell you cast.
You have one year to complete this Quest.
The Lesser Metamagic Ability was a Tier 2 Wizard Ability. It was one of the foundational Abilities of the Class. Many Tier 2 Abilities can be purchase more than once. The typical rule is that every time an Ability is repurchased the cost double. Buying the first [Lesser Metamagic] Ability would cost 10 [Ability Points], the second 20, the third 40 and so on. I needed [Waive Tier 2 Requirement: Lesser Metamagic Ability] to purchase the Ability. [Rewind Ability Count: Lesser Metamagic] would reset the purchase price back to 10 Ability Points. It was a great bargain, but [Rewind Ability Count] had Conditions. It only applied to Abilities purchased before reaching Tier 2, and [Rewind Ability Count] had to be purchased before buying the Ability again. I was going be working on this pair of Boons repeatedly.
The long wait for my Karma Quests had me leaving Celestium's temple near sunset. It cost a gold to get the Gate stations. In Aeseiriral, those stations were just inside the twelfth wall at the edge of the Outer Lands. The elves were very cautious about putting the Gates close to their Inner City. With powerful Magics it was possible to force the Gates to stay open. Military invasions from the Darkstone Continent had happened, but it was ages ago. The elves had a long memory to go with their extended lifespans.
It was another gold for the Gate to Everdale. Another gold for to fly from the porter's station to the Adventurer's Guild. I restocked on day passes and transport tokens. The Guild shop was expensive but convenient. I replaced my worn out leather armor and boots. I stocked up on some things for Level 4. That floor was literally a swamp. I purchased the Dungeon guides and maps for the [Neutral Evil], [Chaotic Neutral], and [True Neutral] Dungeon entrances. I was going after the Floor Bosses there to maximize the effect from my
The path to the Level 3 Boss Chamber was uneventful. Even the Giant Spiders left me alone. The path through every Level of the Dungeon descended. Sometimes more, sometimes less so. After passing through the empty Level 3 Boss Chamber into Level 4, there was sharp descent. A putrid smell, amplified by the humidity in the air, had hit me as soon as I passed beyond the Boss Chamber. The downward passage was similar to the descent right after entering the [Chaotic Evil] entrance, but there were no stairs. The path snaked down at irregular intervals for over a hundred stride until it leveled off.
I rounded a corner to see a narrow footpath passing along the edge of the cavern wall and around several shallow pools. The ceiling provided a sickly green glow that illuminated everything. Small shrubs and plants grew sporadically amongst the pools. Earthen mounds peaked through the water. Some were islands, some formed the land separating the pools. None were over a stride high. The ground was rich and black, filled with the decaying matter of dead things. The sound of crickets pulsed in my ears.
I shone my lantern at the far wall, only to discover I couldn't see it. My [Identify] Skill told me the green light was coming from Dungeon Moss. I could see the glow were the rock face should have been, but my lantern couldn't reach it. After squinting for a bit, I realized the other side of the cavern was so far away my lantern wasn't able to light it up.
A thunderous roar came from far away. It echoed through the chamber. The crickets went silent. I heard splashes nearby. Some were small. Some where bigger than my body would make. I hooded my lantern. It took a few moments for my eyes to get used to the dim lighting.
While my eyes were adjusting I heard a trickle of water nearby. The crickets had masked it earlier. I followed the noise to see straight, black, vertical lines on the wall. When I got closer I could see the light glistening off the lines. Those lines were trickles of water where the Dungeon Moss couldn't grow. The water was that stagnant after all.
While the light was dim, it was brighter than a full moon. I think I might be able to read under that light. What was even better was the light pierced the water easily. There some murkiness to the water from silt floating in it, but the light from the Dungeon Moss didn't reflect off the water very much. It very easy to see the bottom. Or more correctly, see parts of the bottom of the pools squirming.
I followed the path to its end about thirty strides onto the cavern. The walls and ceiling had widened by thirty stride on both directions. The entrance to this Level was a little alcove in a larger cavern. The ceiling went up to fifty strides in height a little further forward, but the floor widened as a large flat plane. Where the path stopped was a shallow ford, six or seven stride wide, but less than a foot deep. To my right a small waterfall only three inches high spilled into a set pools slightly lower down. It was the first rule of Dungeons, 'Dungeons flow downhill.'
I crossed the ford. My boots were just high enough to avoid getting flooded over their tops. I debated pulling my moccasins out of [Inventory] but I was saving them for [Personal Wardrobe]. I wanted them clean and spiffy looking when I achieved the Power Rating to put them in. I could have bought more, but I had been so excited to find them that I had become sentimental about them.
When I got the other side I saw a blur in the air off to my right. [Identify] spotted a Sapper Swarm. I smiled. It was good start this floor of with something I knew how to fight. The only problem was that Sapper Flies didn't do damage. They only drained Stamina. It wasn't going to help my Quest for [Armor of Justice]. Oh, well. I had plenty of time for that later today. For now I was going to enjoy attacking this swarm at a distance thanks to my Ratskin gloves.
----------------------------------------
The Elite Swamp Raptor retreated again. I [Dodged] the Swamp Raptor minion that had flanked me on my right, but the second one got me. [Just a Fleshwound] pulled me back. The raptor who missed tried for a followup attack. I diverted his head into the second raptor with [Local Portal]. While they were snipping with each other over the inadvertent collision, the [Portal] closed around its neck.
Finally! There was only one minion left for the Elite one to work with. I had been careful in battlefield positioning so that no more that two or three could get at me at once. I'd whittled the pack down from twelve to two. All that to get to this moment. I just needed a few more points of damage now.
The minion backed off to reorient itself for a charge. The Elite Swamp Raptor went back in the water and began circling me to my left. It was five strides long. It's body was like a crocodile, with a tail to propel it through the water. It could stand on two hind legs and was a stride and half tall at the shoulder. When it walked on land its neck lifted its beaked head three stride high. I think it could have swallowed one of my legs whole. I was counting on that.
The Elite squawked and the minion on land attacked at the signal. It loped at me, hissing and biting at the air. I had already learned to time the frontal assault with the flanking one. I had cued up the [Local Portal]. The Elite got a mouthful of stinky black dirt again. Under the accelerated flow of time the [Portal] stayed open for what seemed like two seconds, but was really one. With my faster casting I could have gotten off two Spells in that time, but I only wanted one.
I cast [Force Punch] to knock the charging raptors snout away from me. It kept coming and grappled me with its smaller front arms. A powerful raking cut sliced down my leg from the claw on its hind quarter.
Congratulation! You have taken 10,000 points of damage from more than 1,000 monsters in a Dungeon. You have completed your Karma Quest! You are awarded the Boon [Armor of Justice].
You gain 10% Experience toward Level 5, 10 [Law Karma Points] and 10 [Good Karma Points]
Congratulations! Your hard work and dedication have paid off. You made a plan to take 10,000 points of damage for a Karma Quest. You routinely rejected the [Resist Pain] Skill while taking the damage. This marks significant personal growth of your soul and body. Hidden Quest Rewards: 10% XP to next Level, 10 [Law Karma Points], and gain a [Spirit Attribute Point] and [Constitution Attribute Point].
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
The [Local Portal] closed pushing the Elite Raptor backwards. I pulled away from the smaller Swamp Raptor in front of me. I was so much stronger than it, it could only hold on to me if I wanted it too. Sod fell from the beak of the bigger packmate, as its ire rose. They simultaneously went to attack.
I threw my left hand up to block the larger creature, and I screamed, “[Armor of Justice]!”
My body lit up with a golden light. The Elite chomped down my left arm while the minion tried to bite my head. It didn't even tickle.
I started wailing on the smaller raptor in front of me with [Force Punch]. The first blow knocked it off my head. In close quarters I could use the extra Spell Power from the gloves for knockback instead of range. Once it fell away, I switched back to range and kept pummeling it.
The Elite tried to swing me around, hoping to snap something I guess. [Armor of Justice] didn't care like a honey badger. I had to stop attacking the smaller raptor. I couldn't target it as the world spun around me. What didn't move relative to me as the beak glommed onto my left arm. And the head attached to it. Going for the eyes was becoming my signature move. I laughed with wicked glee.
I changed the Spell Power to damage, and the eye popped in one blow. I called my shortsword from [Inventory] to rammed into the socket. And nothing happened. Duh! Dinosaurs had tiny brains. There was to much bone in the skull for this to work. I switched targets. I wasn't very skilled with the sword, but with enough force any weapon becomes effective. The jugular was protected by thick skin. The first few strikes only nicked it.
It changed tactics too. It slammed me to the ground and brought is rear legs to bear. The little one joined in. I backhanded it with the blade. Still no damage to me though. I, on the other hand, was making the big one bleed. It was a little at first but then I hit something squishy. Blood flowed all over me. The Elite panicked and jumped into the water with me.
Then I panicked. I could hold my breath for a long time with my augmented Constitution, but what if this thing had a death grip and it died under the water. I could probably get out on land, but could I do it while holding my breath? I began casting [Create Flame]. The wonderful thing about Spells in Elfandrael is that almost all of them didn't have any requirement for verbal, somatic, or material components. There were Metamagic effects that made the Spells more powerful if you used them, but they weren't necessary. With the accelerated time flow, it took twenty-four seconds of perceived time to equal the twelve seconds of normal time it took to cast the spell without a grimoire. It felt even longer.
The Swamp Raptor may not have batted an eye at a batted eye, but it did not like me using its throat as fireplace. It finally let go. It tried to swing it's tail at me as a parting attack, but I grabbed on. It was much harder to stab, but eventually it started bleeding. When I started slicing across the tail, the creature tried to roll me off but I held fast. The tail came off and the Swamp Raptor pulled away momentarily.
I expected a lot of blood, but there was almost none. I swam to catch up, finding it listless in the water. It started sinking, but it didn't have far to go as the bottom was shallow enough for me to stand on with my head just above water. I walked back up on the land to get the minion, and [Identify] triggered.
Marsh Lamprey
You've seen a drawing of this thing and decided not to read the entry because it looked too gross.
Yeah, that's how the [Identify] Skill worked. It reminded of you what you already knew in a summarized and convenient form. It was great for effortlessly giving you that information without mistake. I knew what a lamprey was from Earth and decided I didn't need to know more about them. I guess I did get a little lazy when I was studying at the Divine Helpdesk.
The nasty thing kept trying to attach itself to me, but my [Armor of Justice] wouldn't let it sink it's teeth in. I scraped it off, stabbed with sword, and got a kill notification. I looked over and saw the smaller Swamp Raptor laying unmoving on the ground. I put it out of it's misery. Another kill notification.
My [Armor of Justice] reached it's end. The light snapped off just as quickly as it had come. When I had looked at myself while it was active, there had been a transparent golden glow covering me. There had also been a golden fringe around the edges of my body. I pulled up my [Status].
[Status] Name: Eric Niall Swindall Title: Underdog Health: 108/136(79%) Race: Human Stamina: 39/42(93%) Class: Archwizard Mana: 47/50(94%) Level: 4 Chi: 180/183(98%) XP: 2110/4000 0 Attribute Statistics Strength 5 42 Constitution 5 42 Dexterity 5 42 Charisma 3 42 Wisdom 5 42 Intellligence 8 42 Luck 5 51 Spirit 7 52 Willpower 4 50 Alignment [Lawful Good] Magnitude: 131 Path Amplitude Magnitude Karma Points [Good] 97 93 14086 [Balance] 5 0 0 [Evil] 4 0 0 [Law] 101 93 18553 [Temperance] 6 0 0 [Chaos] 8 0 0 [Boons] [Skills] [HUD Options] [Abilities]
I was nice to see the improvement to Constitution and Spirit Attributes. They are so hard to raise. I navigated down to the [Boons] submenu.
Boons
[A Chance at Greatness]
[Remove Tier 2 Requirement: Class: Archwizard]
[Acquire Class Abilities:Royal Parasite]
[Cry of Souls]
[Armor of Justice]
I cast the [Identify] Spell on [Armor of Justice]. The Spell was used to learn things you didn't know. I was way more powerful than the Skill.
[Armor of Justice]
You acquire a Divine form of armor for a number of seconds equal to your [Lawful Good] Magnitude. This armor reduces the base damage applied before your Defenses and Resistances are considered by an amount equal to your [Lawful Good] Magnitude. This reduces Status Damage from Physical, Mental, and Emotional Damage that accompanies damage to Health, but not Status effects to Stamina, Mana, or Chi that an independently target those Statistics. Damage you wish to inflict upon yourself is not affected by this Boon.
[Chaotic] and [Evil] actions earn ten times Karma while performed while under the effect of [Armor of Justice].
[Armor of Justice] is usable one per day.
It was just as I had thought. I had a [Lawful Good] Magnitude of 131. That meant for 131 seconds I would have 131 points of damage negated from attacks against me. Under the accelerated time flow it would feel like more than four minutes. [Armor of Justice] wouldn't stop Status Attacks like Fear or Stupefy, but it would stop the Psychic damage from physical injury. The import thing is that it didn't stop damage I needed to do to myself.
I activated [A Chance at Greatness] and selected Willpower. When the [Limit Break] came I chose the Spell, [Resonating Echoes of Pain] from the [Psychic] School of Magic.
I activated [A Chance at Greatness] and selected Willpower. When the [Limit Break] came I chose the Spell, [Resonating Echoes of Pain] from the [Psychic] School of Magic.
Congratulation! You have learned a new Spell. You have completed your Karma Quest! You are awarded the Boon [Waive Tier 2 Requirement: Lesser Metamagic Ability].
You gain 10% Experience toward Level 5, 10 [Law Karma Points] and 10 [Good Karma Points]
I was too cheap to spend Ability Points on it without a Limit Break, so I would wait get [Lesser Metamagic]. For now I would cast [Identify] on my New Spell.
Resonating Echoes of Pain
This Spell returns to you a painful memory of your choice. You will suffer the Stamina, Mana, and Chi losses you did during that painful event, but none of the Health losses. Anyone in close physical proximity will suffer the same pain and more. For each six seconds the Spell is active on any creature in range besides you, they suffer a multiple of the Status losses you experience.
This Spell may be recast to extend the duration. It has a duration of six seconds per Spell Power.
The Spell must make contact through conduction along solid objects. It has a range of one inch per Spell Power.
It wasn't a Spell I would enjoy using, but was the most powerful Status Attack I could Perform at Tier 1. If some creature grabbed me while I was using [Armor of Justice] I needed a way to make it let me go. Anything that could withstand the Karmic Backlash that I took when I Soulburned my [Chaotic Evil] Boon multiplied several times was going to kill me anyway. If it didn't let me go it would go unconscious. Most creatures would pass out before they could take enough damage to them to die.
I walked back to the where the Elite raptor was laying in the shallow water. It wasn't moving. It breathed air, and it was unconscious. Even with the time dilation this was taking longer than I thought it would.
I went back to the dead Lamprey. The two foot long, tubular, gray thing had the appearance of an intestine with fins. The end of had open mouth in shape of sucker. There were no jaws or lips. Rows of teeth went down its throat as far back as I could see. This was a creature that looked like it was a monster out of a story, but we had them on Earth. I cast [Identify] on it.
Marsh Lamprey
This toxic creature has perfected the poisons in its body to Paralyze its victims. The blood sucker will then slowly feed on the fluids of its prey. Resistant to [Blood] Magic. Vulnerable to [Light] and [Fire] Magic.
Ew. The ones on Earth where pretty much harmless to humans. This one did Stamina and Chi damage. I should have paid more attention at the Divine Helpdesk.
You gain 20 XP, 2 [Law Karma Points], and 2 [Good Karma Points]. Claim your prize! A stalagmite of stone ground its way above the water. The glowing blue light of the loot ball on top of it was the same as in the Boss Chamber with the rat. I had to wade into the water to reach the loot. I was careful to look for more lampreys. I grabbed the belt without incident. I pulled out my grimoire and cast [Identify]. Raptor Hide Belt of [Regeneration] Level 4, Rare Magic Item. +1 Health [Regenerated] every six hours. It was a gray-green color and very primitive. The buckle was was a simple stick of bone pushed through slot in the belt. It wasn't high fashion but it was awesome. [Healing] didn't always replace crippling injuries that maimed. A lost hand didn't come back normally. Reiki could do it with a lot of Chi. Regeneration was powerful Magic that could regrow limbs. No wonder the Elite Swamp Raptor had taken so long to kill. It had [Regeneration]. It was time to start heading back. I looked back at the cavern. The ceiling and floor connected occasionally, but otherwise it was vast open space. All I had to do now was find the entrance again. ---------------------------------------- I awoke on Bestaalday and ate a roasted chicken. I was getting low and needed to restock. Aern'Lenninisal started teaching me [Tongues] today. I taught him [Teaching] first. To prove the point that I was not trying scam him, I then taught him [Recharge Mana]. Until he learned the [School] it wouldn't do him much good. Without the Spell Power Bonus from the[Psychic] School of Magic, all he could do was give his Mana away. Elves take a long to time to learn, part of the balance for such a long lifespan. It had taken all these months for him to get to this point, but I was finally starting to reap some rewards for my efforts. After we finished we headed down to the training room. The rest of the elves would be here shortly. On the way down stairs the desk clerk waved me over. “Mr. Swindall, I have your refund, sir. Please, sign right here for the money,” she said sweetly and offering me a sheet of paper. “Mother has been busy, I see,” Aern'Lenninisal said from behind me. “I didn't request any refund. What is this for,” I asked, barely hiding my irritation. “It would be wrong to keep your money sir. When we heard your temporary provisional work permit had been suspended we were alarmed, but were ready to refund a partial payment as per our terms and conditions. When a new sponsor came and offered to the rent the training room, we could not in [Good] conscious keep your money. So it worked out in the end,” she said, very happy with herself. “My permit was restored and I was released on Valoriaday,” I said. “There's been a big misunderstanding. Will I be able to use the room?” She became distressed, her mouth forming an “O” when she heard my story. “No, sir. I can't change the booking, but...maybe my manager can. Let me get her.” She took off into the back office. We waited in silence. Aern'Lenninisal wouldn't quite look at me, so tried not make him feel worse. The manager finally did come. “I am Shenfessala, the General Manager here. Arealemna tells me you had your temporary provisional work permit restored on Valoriaday. Is that correct,” she asked. “Yes,” I answered, “Can we get the training room back.” “What time,” she asked. “We reserved the room for five o'clock,” I replied. “I am sorry. What time on Valoriaday did you get your temporary provisional work permit restored,” she clarified. A little confused I answered, “About noon.” She nodded and turned to her clerk, saying, “I told you it was not fraud.” The manager faced me and said, “We received that notice at nine o'clock in the morning last Valoriaday. At the time it appears that you did have a suspended permit. With a valid cancellation we had to allow the next customer to rent the training room. I am sorry that cannot rent that room to you at this time.” I tried to explain the whole situation. I told her about the Page Quest, Laerenshel giving away the illusion cubes, getting Bloomemia to have the case dismissed, and how it was all a plot by Awaesha'Feleen to blackball me. “What I have heard is that you are not a criminal violating the [Law] in way that would bring disrepute on me this establishment, but are instead asking me to help you because you have made an enemy of woman so powerful she could destroy me and my staff at a whim. Would it not have been better for you to have remained quiet about both stories?” I hung my head as nodded in defeat. I signed the receipt for the money. It wasn't mine anyway. Harmin had paid for the room and divided the cost between us. At times like this, I wish [Acumen] suggested [Good] ideas, instead of just rewarding them. “Come on Aern'Lenninisal, let's go let everyone know the training is canceled,” I said. We walked to the room to find an elf in white standing by the open door to the training room. He smiled brightly, “Hello, Aern'Lenninisal. Hello, Mr. Swindall. It is good to make your acquaintance. I am Jernkallis. I will be taking over the training sessions for you this week, while you get your temporary provisional work permit taken care of.” He offered his hand for me to shake. I asked, “What to you mean 'taking over?'” Followed shortly thereafter by Aern'Lenninisal asking, “What to you mean 'this week.'” “Oh, yes. Awaesha'Feleen heard about your predicament and decided to help out by taking over the sessions. She did not want her inquiry into you to interfere with their training. She was so inspired she rented every public training in the city for a whole week and is providing trainers for them. I have heard her philanthropy is boosting her notoriety in the Philanthropist's Guild quite a bit. There is talk of her taking her next Guild Quest. It is very exciting.” His mouth and tone had the mannerisms of man happy to be doing [Good]. His eyes were the eyes of a predator. He knew exactly what he was doing. This was capable opponent, both mentally and physically. Before I could say anything else, a group of the elven trainees came around the corner, led by Nellamon. Jernkallis greeted everyone and explained the situation. I was stewing in my own juices, but Nellamon spoke up. “What I have heard is that Awaesha'Feleen will be paying for the training for everyone in this group,” he said. Jernkallis responded pointedly, “Everyone except for Mr. Swindall. He would be a distraction and is not need here.” Everyone seemed to except this. All but Nellamon started walking inside. “This...is...wonderful,” Nellamon exclaimed. He turned to me beaming, “Father will want to meet you. You have managed to get Awaesha'Feleen to pay for the training of the son of the Battlelord! It will be known to all you are considered her worthy opponent. I can scarcely can believe you know what you have done here today.” I he smacked me on the arm in a brotherly way and went into the training session. I mumbled, “I got played like a nitwit.” You have used your new word, and in a way that does insult anyone else! You gain one temporary Virtue Point toward [Acumen]. You gain one temporary Virtue Point toward [Integrity]. You will retain these Points for at least forty-eight hours. You have 4 Virtue Points for [Acumen] out of a maximum possible of 4. You have 2 Virtue Points for [Integrity] out of a maximum possible of 2.