Duke awoke with a sense of positiveness. He knew there was much ahead of him, but he also felt that he had put so much more behind him. Stepping off the stairs in the Inn, he could hear Legionnaires enjoying their breakfast as they prepared for another day of their rotation of delving into the training dungeons. Calen greeted him with a wave as he headed to his table to greet someone he hadn’t seen in quite a while.
“Baslin! Good morning.”
“Duke, my boy! So good to finally see you again. You have been busy. Word is that you have chased all the invaders away and have brought back prosperity to the kingdom. Imagine one man having such an outsized influence.”
“I have been busy. That much is true, but as always, there’s so much more to do.”
“Good thing you are young enough to still do it all.”
“Enough about me. What have you been doing all this time? Madrigal told me that you haven’t been around court much.”
“What need have I to be around court? Especially with you gone. I have been researching and experimenting with all manner of interesting pieces I have picked up. These invaders brought something with them that I have never seen before, and it is absolutely fascinating. It’s an entire magical language of runes. These runes are nothing like the runes that we have used for eons. Our runes are function-specific, but this new set of runes is context-specific. Do you know what that means?”
“Not really, but I have learned a bit about the runescript. What do you mean by context-specific?”
“It’s fascinating. I’ve put most of my other experiments on hold to pursue this new realm of magic, even looking for Negron. It means that you can take the same set of, say a dozen, runes and the order they are placed makes them do entirely different things.”
“Like letters in a written language?”
“Yes, precisely! It’s like our runic system was single words that you could occasionally string together into rudimentary sentences. This new system is letters in a language that could be built to do anything! I need so many more examples so I can learn the syntax, the letters that can go together. The combinations are endless.”
Duke couldn’t help but be sucked in by Baslin’s excitement. He had read runescript and his XENOGLOSSIA had translated it for him but what Baslin was trying to do was to understand the language at a more fundamental level. He didn’t quite know why, but Duke was just as fascinated by it as Baslin. He’d just been running too hard and too fast to spend any time on it.
“Well, you have me excited about it. Let’s work on some of this together. I have quite a few examples of it in my INVENTORY. A bigger sample size should give us a stronger understanding, right?”
“Yes, yes, yes! Oh, how exciting. We can work on this today!”
“I have to check in on the rest of the kingdom, but when I am done with that, let’s play with the runescript and see what we can discover.”
Baslin stared at Duke pointedly long enough for Duke to actually become uncomfortable, “What is it, Baslin?”
“What are you waiting for? Go check in so we can get started as soon as possible.”
“I’m waiting for breakfast.”
Breakfast arrived shortly after that, brought out by a tall, thin woman with features that Duke couldn’t immediately identify as a race he was familiar with. She had pointed ears sticking out of her curly grey hair as well as a delicate pair of horns that curved from her skull. The rest of her proportions were human-normal, if a bit on the thin side. She greeted them with a smile that showed off her square teeth that were larger than Duke had expected but had no sense of sharpness to them at all.
“Good morning, Duke, Baslin. Here are your breakfasts. Would you like something to drink to go with them? We have a fresh batch of spring juice that seems very popular this morning.”
Baslin smiled at her, “I would love some spring juice and so would Duke.” His gaze lingered on her departing form, watching her tail swish as she walked.
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“You have a thing for her,” Duke commented amusedly.
“I’m old, not dead, you know. It is rare to see kidfolk around anymore. And you have to admit that she is a fine specimen.”
Duke considered asking about the kidfolk but he figured that he had enough information from her looks and context. He was more interested in Baslin showing an interest beyond his research. “Why don’t you talk to her and get to know her instead of being a creepy old man. What’s her name?”
“Name? I have no idea.”
Duke just shook his head at Baslin. Guess it’s time to play wingman again. Last time I did this it was for my actual wingman. I hope he made it out of that furball of a mess I led us into. Coltraine deserved better than to be dragged into that impossible situation.
The waitress returned and Duke came to a sudden realization – she was not a dungeon construct. Well, that is interesting. Is Sam hiring people now?
She deposited the drinks for them and turned to leave. Duke interrupted her, “Excuse me, miss. I didn’t get your name.”
Turning round with a shy smile, she looked back at Duke appraisingly, “I’m Brindlehoof. What’s your name?”
“My name is Duke, but you really should get to know Baslin here. He’s something special. Say hello, Baslin.”
Baslin smiled, “It is a pleasure to actually meet you, Brindlehoof. I find myself unable to look away from you. You have captured my attention like none have in ages. If beauty were measured in clover petals, I’d need a whole meadow to match even a glimpse of you.”
She smiled with a soft chuckle and reached down, giving Baslin a soft kiss on the forehead, “You’re adorable. That was so sweet.” She sauntered away with an extra swish in her hips. Baslin gaped after her while Duke held himself to a smile.
“She kissed me.”
“On the forehead.”
“But she kissed me. Physical contact like that is rare for the kidfolk.”
“So, you think you have a shot?”
“Go attend to your tasks. I have…matters to attend to.”
Duke quickly finished his breakfast and departed, leaving the smitten Archmage to himself, with one more remark, “You know that was a super-cheesy line. I can’t believe she fell for it.”
“Go on, apprentice. Leve the Archmage to his work.”
Duke was gone before Baslin was done speaking. He arrived in his office within the castle and settled down behind the desk. There was a ton of papers to sort through, most of which he had no idea where they had come from. Still, he dug into the pile, knowing that leadership was as much paperwork as it was decision-making.
Two hours later, Duke had managed to sort through the piles of paper, placing them into three separate piles. One for things he immediately approved, one for those he denied, and the third pile for discussion. Satisfied with the amount of administrative work he had accomplished; he placed all three piles in his INVENTORY and made his way to Madrigal’s office.
Stepping into the Duke’s office, he produced the three piles and dropped them neatly on the man’s desk, “Approved. Rejected. Need discussion but not right now.” He smiled at Madrigal’s befuddled expression before continuing, “I didn’t see anything in there about new warehouses. You didn’t forget what I told you, right?”
“I have not forgotten but since you specifically ordered me to build them, they are being built. And we are already seeing the effects of your Aura. Yesterday, our top alchemist reported that his failure rate for his most difficult potions has fallen from Seventy-six percent down to less than one percent and he is getting higher yields from each batch than ever before. He is providing the Legions with his highest-potency healing and Mana potions at a ridiculous discount because he doesn’t want to flood the market with them and undermine his own prices.”
“Sounds like we need to ramp up our trading caravans even more.”
“Just so. I received a report just this morning from the farm you went out to.” Madrigal sorted through papers for a bit until he finally found the one he was looking for. “Here it is. This is a report from the Centruy patrolling the area. According to this, the farmer, this Roger Shrubber fellow, is reporting that all his remining cows are pregnant and are ready to calve.”
“That was quick.”
“Yes, there are hundreds of similar reports. We are, after just a few days of you being back, undergoing a crisis of abundance. Can you tone down your aura any?”
“I honestly don’t know. I’ve never tried.” Duke delved into his character sheet to see what he could find. After approaching it from several different approaches, he found just what they were looking for – a slider switch. He slid it down almost all the way and found his Ability’s effect reduced to a mere 260%. “There, how about that? I was able to reduce the effect down to a about 260% instead of the nearly 26,000% increase.“
“That will help things. I think we can adjust it upwards as people get used to the increased production. I don’t know if we will ever be able to handle your full aura for any length of time.”
“In time, the kingdom will be ready for it. They are going to have to be. We are going to have to join the greater Cosmos sooner rather than later. When that happens, I want to have the whole planet united so that we can face the true monsters that lurk out there. I may not be available to defend the kingdom, let alone the planet all the time. We need to build up a cadre of defenders that can handle whatever comes our way.”
“Duke, we can barely handle this one kingdom. How are we going to be able to handle an entire planet?”
“I don’t know yet, but they say necessity is the mother of invention. When push comes to shove, we will find a way or destroy ourselves. Let’s make it the former. Now, tell me where we need Portals to the Hall of Possibilities.”