Zoe and Emma found a carpentry store run by a nice young woman who helped them find the right wood stain for them. They ended up with three different stains. One was a somewhat clear stain that they’d use in Emma’s and the cats’ rooms, the second was a much darker stain that they’d use in the library and the bathroom and the last was a lighter stain that they’d use everywhere else.
Zoe already knew most of what they’d need to know about wood stains and the whole process was relatively quick and much more affordable — a measly two gold for all of the buckets they’d be using for their renovations and then some.
“And that’s everything we need?" Emma asked as they left.
“It should be, unless there’s something else you can think of? We can make all the furniture we’re going to need, all of the walls and supports are going to be hand made by us. We might end up needing some cushions and stuff when we know what furniture we’ll actually be using. Or a couch for the living room, I guess. But right now we’re just getting the stuff we need to build the actual rooms themselves.” Zoe said.
“And this is all we need to buy? Everything else we make ourselves? Really? I thought there’d be more to it.” Emma said.
“Like what?" Zoe asked.
“I dunno. Nails?” Emma asked.
“You would need nails, but I have magic. I’ll use my wood and earth skills to attach everything to each other rather than needing to nail anything into anything. But if you didn’t have those skills, then you’d need some nails to attach all the wood together. Honestly it seems really annoying to build a room in a cave without magic. You’d have no real way to attach stuff to the rock walls. Maybe there’s special nails you can use, and you’d have to build up a foundation to attach your wood to? I dunno. I’ll just mold it to fit.” Zoe explained.
Emma nodded. “Ah okay, that makes sense. We don’t need glue or something either?"
Zoe rocked her head back and forth in an uncertain gesture. “Sort of. We’ll need some glue for some furniture and decorations probably. And definitely for the carpets, but we’ll buy that when we pick up the carpets themselves.”
“Alright. So what do we do in the meantime?" Emma asked.
“Well in the meantime, we can spend the next few days planning the room out and getting you used to how it all works. Then I’m off to Flester’s Might with Andrew and you can keep working or get distracted with whatever. And then I’ll be back to help out some more.” Zoe said.
Emma nodded.
The days flew by in a flash, hauling large planks of wood in and out of the new room they were building and cutting them to size. They managed to get most of the structural supports measured and cut by the time Zoe had to leave to meet up with Andrew.
All that was left were a few of the ceiling supports, as well as all of the additional support beams surrounding the numerous alcoves Emma had added in to the walls. But Emma was feeling much more confident to handle things on her own, and had even managed to get the Carpentry skill of her own to help with some of the more intuitive tasks.
The majority of the wood they were working with was stored inside the room itself, on a small raised wooden platform and the piles they kept outside had been covered with roofs of rock to keep away any rain while Zoe was gone.
“Keep it quick, alright?" Emma asked. ”I’m gonna get bored by tomorrow at the latest.“
Zoe laughed. “It’ll be at least a week, even if I learn the skill today. The deal was I escort Andrew through Flester’s Might for the duration I’m learning from him, plus a week.”
“That’s so annoying, Zoe.” Emma groaned.
“You can come visit us whenever. We’re just over in the dungeon, it’s not that far away.” Zoe said.
“Yeah but you’re not going to be building a nice comfy room for my kitties while you’re over there, even if I come visit you.” Emma said.
“Well. I could see if Andrew’s willing to let you spend a week escorting him through the dungeon instead of me, and then I could come back and get some work done.” Zoe suggested.
“Ew. No. I don’t even know the guy. This is on you.” Emma said.
Zoe laughed. “Yeah yeah. Alright, I’m gonna get going. He’s probably already waiting at Joe’s inn for me so I don’t wanna make a bad first impression. Second impression. Third impression? First work impression?”
“Get.” Emma said.
“See ya!” Zoe said before she Cosmic Stepped towards Foizo. She ran through the streets to Joe’s inn where she found Andrew sitting at a table reading through his book on Flester’s Might.
Andrew looked up when Zoe entered the inn and nodded. Zoe walked over to his table and sat down across from him.
“Hey,” Zoe said.
“Hello.” Andrew replied.
“You ready?" Zoe asked.
“Just give me a minute, getting some last minute reading in before we go. You have everything you need?" Andrew asked.
“I do. You’ve got everything you need to teach me the light skills?" Zoe asked.
“I do.” Andrew replied.
Zoe nodded and waited for a bit while he read through the last pages of his book. Joe came down the stairs a few minutes later and brought over some breakfast for the two of them to eat. Some simple fried eggs with a couple slices of dark, toasted brul.
“Thanks Joe.” Zoe said.
Joe shook his head. “No problem. Good luck out there.”
Andrew closed the last page of his book with a sharp clap and looked up to Zoe. “You ready to go?”
Zoe nodded.
“Alright, lets get going.” Andrew stood up and stretched, placing his book back in a bag he hung at his side, and Zoe watched as the book vanished.
An enchanted storage bag, instead of jewellery? That was the first item she’d used, too, all those years ago for that alchemist she did her first odd job for. What was his name. Liz? She chuckled, thinking of the stupid deal she’d made for him.
Was it easier to make a larger storage bag than a storage bracelet? What was the purpose behind a physical bag you could actually use, compared to jewellery?
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“How much storage do you have in that bag?" Zoe asked.
“Ten bags.” Andrew answered. “Do you need me to carry something?"
Zoe shook her head. “Just curious. I don’t see actual bags being used all that often, so I was wondering what the benefit is. Seems like a good capacity, though.”
Andrew nodded. “It was the cheapest they had while still being able to hold enough for me.”
“How much was it?" Zoe asked.
“Fifty.” Andrew answered.
“Gold?” Zoe asked.
Andrew nodded.
“Huh. I can’t even remember what I spent on my four bag items. I think a lot less than that. But they were also a lot smaller.” Zoe said.
Andrew chuckled. “I love the road to Inkley.”
“Do you?” Zoe asked.
“Yes, it’s lovely. I’ve never felt safer wandering through the wilderness.” Andrew answered.
“Huh. I’ve never actually seen it up close.” Zoe said.
“How do you get to Flester’s Might, then?" Andrew asked.
“I just teleport there, usually. I haven’t actually been in quite a while. Most of my time there was, I don’t know. Five years ago? Ten years ago? It’s so hard to remember the years, now.” Zoe laughed.
“How old are you, anyway?” Andrew asked.
Zoe shrugged. “Fifty? Somewhere around there, anyway.”
“Ah, you’re immortal. That makes sense.” Andrew nodded.
“Well if you don’t mind, I’d like to walk down the road to Inkley. I’ve never had the chance to do it before so this is a nice excuse to. You can show me some of your magic on the way. I’ll warn you though, I’m much better at learning these things than people tend to expect.” Zoe smirked.
“How quick do you think you’ll be? A month? Two?" Andrew asked.
“I was hoping by the end of the day.” Zoe said.
“The day? A single day?” Andrew laughed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I bet I can do it.” Zoe said.
“I’ll take you up on that, then.” Andrew said.
“Alright, what are you offering?” Zoe asked.
“If you can learn the light skill by the end of today, I’ll reduce it to one day of escorting me through the dungeon.” Andrew said.
“And if I don’t?” Zoe asked.
“We’ll make it two weeks.” Andrew said. “On top of however long it takes.”
“Deal.” Zoe said. “Get started on your magic then, Lucifer.”
“Lucifer?” Andrew asked.
“It means lightbringer.” Zoe said.
“Ah. I like that.” Andrew said.
Mana rushed out of him and flashes of light began bouncing around him. Tiny flashes that looked like mirrors, reflecting Zoe’s hand or chin for a brief moment. Other flashes of colours popping in and out of existence. It was almost blinding to watch, but Zoe couldn’t take her eyes off as she watched the wisps of light fly around him in mesmerizing patterns.
Zoe nodded. “Keep it up. I think I’ll be done by the time we get to Inkley.”
Andrew chuckled.
They made their way out of the southern gate of Foizo and onto one of the nicest roads Zoe had ever seen on Abyllan. Railings on either side keeping the smaller animals at bay, and a comfortable enough flat road to walk on. Guards were stationed every few hundred feet down the road and far more carriages than Zoe expected to see were pulled in both directions. Most had a tantalizing scent wafting off of them, though the odd carriage seemed to draw in a torrent of mana as it was pulled along the road.
Zoe spent her time watching the lightshow surrounding Andrew, at the wisps of light that twisted and bent around his form. For the first half of the road, she had notebook in hand as she scribbled down everything she saw. The specific paths the mana twisted in, the way the wisps combined together to form the mirrors and flashes of light.
But for the second half, mana twisted around Zoe as she tried to mimic the same patterns. It was the least mana dense skill she’d ever studied, but no less complicated thanks to the sheer speed the mana rocketed around at. Just making the mana move as quick as Andrew’s was a challenge itself, let alone controlling the mana so precisely at the same time.
“Maybe not by the time we get to Inkley.” Zoe chuckled. “But the deal was by the end of today!”
Andrew laughed. “Yeah yeah.”
By the time they reached Inkley, Zoe felt she had a good grasp over making the mana move fast enough to mimic his skill, but struggled to manage the exact motions needed for the skill to be made. It didn’t help that the system’s mana was wound throughout the skill, obscuring everything she needed to see, either. How many tiny wisps of light was she missing, hidden within the much denser mess of the system’s superfluous magic?
They walked through the small shanty town — although calling it a shanty town wasn’t doing it much justice. Inkley was much more than that, and in any other context would have been a wonderful town in its own right. Permanent buildings and even a rudimentary wall that kept the wilderness at bay. A town center with decorations and a statue that Zoe had to admit was rather beautiful. It captured the excitement Emma and Jeffrey felt in the moment they cleared it so perfectly, she almost felt like she was back up at the top of the library with them again.
And there was Zoe, as free and open as she ever was, wearing hardly anything that could be considered armour and a stone mask that she struggled to argue truly hid her features. But she found she wasn’t as upset about it as she once was. She almost felt a sense of pride, looking at her accomplishment.
She was the first to clear Flester’s Might, the first to try her hand at a new dungeon. She struggled through it, and had a bit of an elemental advantage to her side while she did it, but she still came out on top. Why shouldn’t she be proud of herself for that? Why shouldn’t she shout it to the sky, and let everybody know who she was?
“Zoe?" Andrew asked.
“Hmm?” Zoe hummed.
“You alright?” Andrew asked.
“I. Yeah. I am. Sorry.” Zoe shook her head.
“Wanna stop here and practice for the day?” Andrew suggested.
Zoe shook her head. “We can go in the dungeon. I’ll just watch your magic.”
“Alright.” Andrew said.
The entrance to Flester’s Might was a bit of an awkward one, the wall of Flester was maintained by the dungeon, even if it was broken or torn down by somebody, which meant that even at one of the gates of Flester the entrance was covered in rubble from the crumbling wall. It was a bit of an odd sight, seeing the pleasant town of Inkley and the well paved street lead right up to a pile of rubble they had to climb over.
The rest of the day passed with Zoe watching as Andrew used his magic to fight off the lower level elementals on the outer edge of the dungeon. She had to step in a number of times to help out as his magic was quite ineffective against the powerful elementals. His bright beams of light sliced through the elementals, but seemed to do more damage to the structures behind the elemental than the elemental itself.
Night rolled around and Zoe set up camp while Andrew let the light continue bouncing around his body.
“You don’t have much longer now.” Andrew said with a grin.
Zoe smirked. “But I have enough time. I think I’ve almost got it, now.”
“Do you?” Andrew asked.
Zoe nodded, and pushed the mana in the high speed patterns she’d been studying through the day. A handful of wisps raced around in front of her in fast but precise movements, twisting around each other and culminating in a small flash of light in front of her.
*Ding* You have unlocked the Light general skill.