Chapter 74: Rewards and Punishments
Lawrence Ruffolk had been with the Church of Knowledge for much of his life. It was through the church that he gained his essences, as many priests did.
The Church of Knowledge suited him just fine—Lawrence was bookish and persistent and would read whatever was offered to him. Understanding was one thing, but his goddess was there to work through the new knowledge with him.
As he read, he diligently copied the information from every magic conjuration onto a physical page with an ability.
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Ability: [Record Knowledge]
Essence: Knowledge
Special Ability
Cost: Very low mana/Very low mana-per-second.
Cooldown: None
Effect (Iron): Duplicate any information or sight you sense on to a medium. Continual duplication, such as recording verbal or visual information, costs ongoing mana.
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A higher rank priest could have copied entire books at a time, but it was less likely the party would tolerate the presence of a higher rank priest all the time.
Lawrence wasn’t a spy. It was meaningless for a priest of Knowledge to serve as a spy. Knowledge knew everything the moment it happened. So Lawrence diligently did his duty—reading and copying books single-mindedly. He was happy to be of use to his goddess.
*****
“Eufemia, did you want one of those tattoos?” Encio asked, “In a few more days my grandfather will fetch us to go to Esmera-Mar for our appointment with Wisteria. If you want one, you’ll need to acquire one soon.”
“How much can they be? Some silver coins?”
“Gold coins, Eufemia, not silver.”
She groaned, as if Encio’s words had just stabbed an ice pick into her gut.
“Gold coins, for a fancy tattoo?”
“Plus what Wisteria will charge for her work.”
“You said you’d let us see yours.”
Encio stood, then yanked his shirt off, exposing his back towards the group, which was covered with a full back tattoo.
Two swirls of wind twisted like wings, condensing into a pure white blade at the center of his back. One wind was had vibrant undertones, like clouds at sunset—even the sun itself seemed to peek through the wind, setting them aglow. Barely discernable shapes formed within the wind, like almost-familiar faces, ocean waves, and leaves. The other swirl of wind was dark, like storm clouds—white colored with dark hues of grey, blue, and purple. Like the other wind, the swirls of the tattoo seemed to form images, yet the they seemed to shift and slip away.
Finally, his Whirlwind Sword rested in the center of his back, simultaneously serene yet sharp. It’s blade seemed to shimmer with color at its edges, like a rainbow corona of sunlight.
“Transfixed?” Encio said looking over his shoulder back at the team with a smug smile.
They couldn’t deny that he was right.
“Yeah, it’s gorgeous,” Nara said, “Is that your blade on there?”
“Abilities can have an influence on the tattoo.”
“Is your tattoo…moving? It feels like the wind is shifting and flowing.”
“It’s a magic tattoo of my soul, Nara. Am I the type to stay still?”
Encio pulled his shirt down, covering the artwork on his back.
“If Eufemia buys a tattoo—”
“Not if. I definitely want one now.”
“—then Aliyah and John will be the only two without a tattoo,” Sen finished.
“Funny thing that, I got one from my ability after clearing the trial.”
“You didn’t even completely clear it. How is that fair?”
“The ability counted the three of you for finishing it as completion, since we were linked with Nara’s Guide.”
Eufemia scowled muttering, “Outworlders,” under her breath.
When connected with Nara’s Guide, John’s ability gave out party rewards. They got some additional rewards, but no one else had received an Immortal Crest except John.
“Well, if we’re all getting soul crests, it feels weird to leave Aliyah out.”
“Aliyah, what do you think?” Sen said.
Sen already had his own crest.
“It’s hardly necessary. Most adventurers don’t have one. Yet somehow, in a fascinating coincidence, we will have nearly a full party of those with Immortal Crests.” She gazed at Nara and John, “I wonder if outworlders have a higher chance of receiving one, due to your circumstances? Your soul has undergone an extreme change once, from human to outworlder. So, expecting additional changes, your ability provides for you with a constant mark. You will always know you are you, no matter how you change in the future.”
She smiled, her warm cinnamon and spice voice pleasing to their ears, “I suppose it’d be humorless of me to be the only one left out?”
“You’ll do it then?”
“A full team of soul crests, it is rather unique.”
And maybe inspiration for a team name, although the suggestion of ‘Team Tatted’ drew Sen’s lips into a thin, unamused smile. Maybe not.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
*****
The soul crests were expensive, a few gold coins each.
But the team was swimming in spirit coins since the survival trial. They could exchange their iron rank coins up at a 20% exchange tax. Even then, they had slain and looted thousands of monsters with 150 other adventures and three loot powers. Plus all the equipment and materials, they were slowing selling through Nara in other cities, the team was astoundingly well-funded.
Not many passed the final trial, but those that made it past the survival trial were the richest iron rankers of their generation.
The team, plus Lawrence who had been invited to tag along, gathered in the portal plaza waiting for Sezan’s portal.
Lawrence shook with the nervousness of a hairless chihuahua. He never thought he’d meet a diamond ranker in his entire life. To him, gods were above diamond rankers, but only just so. For all practical purposes, diamond rankers ruled the world.
“Chill, bro, Sezan’s cool,” Nara assured him, patting him on the shoulder, “Keep shaking and you’ll jackhammer through the tile into the ground. Good thing you don’t have to pay for damage to public property around here.”
He shook his head, “I-it’s your reaction that is atypical, miss Edea.”
“Just call me Nara.”
He nodded, or just shook. Nara couldn’t tell. Lawrence distracted himself by reading another book, disappearing into the background like an advert on a busy street.
It worked so well that Sezan himself almost didn’t notice the iron ranker.
“Wait a minute, who’s this?”
“A human transcriber.”
“A what?”
“You don’t have transcribers here?”
“I know what a transcriber is!”
*****
If there was a question of whether Esmera-Mar existed first, or Sezan existed first, it would be hard to say. The city itself had existed for hundreds of years, but before Sezan Aciano, it was a small, middling seaside town situated on the Tier-Media, the Emerald Sea. The Tier-Media was a sea similar to the Mediterranean, stretching inward like a massive bay from the larger, connecting ocean.
Sezan Aciano built his clifftop estate away from the town, and the town expanded into a city. Those within sought the incidental protection of a diamond ranker, and the city expanded from a respectful distance away, at Sezan’s request. The city never crawled further beyond that invisible designation, and Sezan’s estate stayed private, although it was a landmark synonymous with Esmera-Mar which everyone knew the location of.
Protection was one reason, but many migrated to the now flourishing Esmera-Mar for other reasons. It had nice weather, nestled between pleasant hills and refreshed by the clean sea breeze—the reason Sezan himself had moved there. While some sought his protection, other admired Sezan. Whatever a diamond ranker did was the thing to do. If Sezan Aciano wanted to live in Esmera-Mar, that was as good as a reason as any.
The portal opened in Esmera-Mar’s plaza, where they were greeted by Sezan’s wife, Luciana. Luciana was a beautiful human woman of tan skin, dark wavy brown hair, and eyes like deep pools of honey. She was even and gracious; a woman that balanced her husband’s comicalness with sensibility. Encio’s beauteous features had been inherited down from his grandmother, and exuded her grace combined with Sezan’s laisse-faire attitude.
Despite Sezan’s local fame—everyone knew his face here, yet he went entirely undetected. An aspect of high rank auras was the ability to push away the detection of others. They could blend in seamlessly into the background like a tree in a forest. His face was unrecognizable to those he didn’t want to detect him, so Sezan could walk incognito in plain sight. To them, he was just another handsome essence user. For the people of Erras, beauty didn’t attract attention. An ugly essence user, conversely, would attract more attention than the inverse (if not for the high chance they could be a Death Essence User, whose abilities may unnaturally change their appearance). Citizens also knew beauty was synonymous with power—they were unlikely to bother anyone beautiful without a good reason. Treating diamond or gold rankers like Earth treated their celebrities was a quick way to ‘experience’ the miracle of resurrection magic.
The white sandstone buildings of the city contrasted to the deep azure of the sea. The buildings had a Mediterranean-inspired architecture, with arched windows, flat roofs, and carved columns. Many buildings featured an arched window of stained glass, often depicting local flora and fauna and famous legends and figures. Sezan had once been depicted in those stained windows, before he very politely (for a diamond ranker) told them to stop, which they promptly did. Instead, the locals turned to depicting gods. The goddess of the sea was especially popular here, her windows were rich in blues and greens and depicted her in flowing wave-robes. The local fashion was similar—freely flowing draped robes of white, blue, and green. In contrast to Aviensa’s simple and pastel style of sundresses, shorts, and shirts, the fashion of Esmera-Mar was resembled that of the Greeks, except more intentionally tailored, although bedsheets and curtains would have looked like the height of divine fashion on the Aciano family. Wide swaths of rich but light fabric precisely draped to create flowing silhouettes, with slim pants that balanced the flowing tops.
It wasn’t the style that Encio wore. Encio’s style originated in Saggia, another city in the Rona Kingdom known for their adventurer education. It was commonly worn in Esmera-Mar as well—the sleeker, clean, modern distinctive style in contrast to Esmera-Mar’s rich color and drapery. Like Sanshi, the city was populous enough to house a variety of cultures and styles.
As Sezan’s home base, he was already dressed in their fashion. He himself looked like a divine being straight out of Greek mythos. Encio was similar, a younger version of him, deciding to wear the robes of Esmera-Mar for fun. With a crown of laurels, Encio would have been a figure of myth. Nara eyed the wildflowers outside, wondering if she had enough dexterity and knowledge to weave a flower crown and tease Encio with it, although he’d probably wear it with easy pride.
Literature and art were the crowning glories of Esmera-Mar, evidenced by their intricate stained-glass windows. Galleries lined stone pathways, inviting windows displaying proud works of art. The workshop district contained many stained glass and glass workshops. Accordingly, the Glass and Hand Essences were popular for their commercial use, allowing craftsmen to mold melted glass by hand as if it were putty.
Esmera-Mar was a large city, but not a bastion of adventuring education that Sanshi was. In the entire world, Sanshi had the greatest low-rank Adventurer population. Esmera-Mar represented a more typical city, as well as a more typical distribution, less saturated with iron and bronze rankers than Sanshi, but with more silver rank adventurers. For the Adventurers of this region, lightweight, water-proof, and tight-fitting fabrics and leathers were the norm, which contrasted the flowing robes of the populace. The Water, Wind, and various sea creatures essences were common for adventurers that made Esmera-Mar their home. Esmera-Mar was located where Barcelona would be on Earth, making it an important stop for trade in the Tier-Media Sea, Erras’s equivalent of the Mediterranean. Since the Tier-Media Sea was a relatively shallow sea, the danger of diamond ranked monsters did not appear outside of monster waves. Trading vessels were escorted by sea-savvy adventurers that destroyed monsters before they got close.
Nara chatted with Encio, donning their travel-vlog personalities for the recording crystals. Nara had a surplus of money that she used to buy whatever caught her eye. She had no understanding of quality other than what her Guide ability provided, but for simple jewelry and small sculptures it did not matter to her. One thing in particular caught her eye—a stained glass lamp with specks of light within that danced like fireflies.
“I can’t say you’re particularly good at this,” Encio said.
“Well if I only did what I was good at, I wouldn’t be good at fighting.”
“You think you can improve at whatever—” he gestured wildly with his hands “—this is?”
“At being a travel-vlogger? Absolutely not. My family is going to have to put up with my enormous cringe when they watch my magic crystal vacation home videos. That will be the only thing occupying their attention, not the—” Nara held up the items she just bought, “—not the magically floating glowing wind chime I just bought.”
He observed it for a moment, before delivering a morose evaluation. “Don’t you think the design is a bit tacky?”
“I’m going for wow factor, not the intricacies of magic artisanship.”
“Those are not mutually exclusive.”
“Alright, art critic Encio, you think you can do better?”
“I can absolutely do better. Was that ever in question? I’ll show you the decerning eye cultivated by years of travel and deep pockets.”
“Humble brag,” Nara muttered under her breath.
“Ah youth,” Sezan said, rubbing his hands together mischievously.
Luciana gave him a light slap on his shoulder.
“Ow! What was that for?” The slap, of course, did not hurt. Luciana was gold rank, not diamond. But Sezan liked to ham it up for his wife.
Luciana wagged her finger at him disapprovingly.
Sezan pouted, “I need some motivation to behave.”
“Be good, and I’ll reward you back at home. Motivation enough?”
Sezan smiled and swept his lovely wife into his arms, her white robes glowing in the afternoon sun. To Sezan, she was his goddess.
Using his aura, he plucked a blooming yellow flower and placed it in his wife’s hair.
“That wasn’t yours.”
“If I’m misbehaving, will I get a punishment?”
“What did you want, a reward or a punishment?”
“Both.”