Mike met Raj in the usual spot. Directly under the oasis next to Dune, in the enchantment chamber they had spent a month in. “Hey Raj, heard you wanted to talk to me?” He said as he entered the chamber. Raj turned to Mike from the enchantment he had been working on.
“Hey Mike, yeah I wanted to talk. Did Hobbes already tell you what this is about?”
“No, he didn’t.” Mike said, thinking that he would need to tell Hobbes to give more details next time he gave him a chore list. “What's up?”
“As you know, the safe zone barrier is due to fall when the average level of humanity reaches level 25. For a while now I have been getting more and more worried about how close we are getting to that deadline. I requested the council in Thudfall hold a census to find out how close we are to that, and I didn’t like what they found out.”
“You got the council to do something?”
“Yeah, I explained the situation to Devin and he pushed for it to happen. Anyways, they found out that the current average level in Thudfall is about 26, already high enough for the barrier to fall.”
Mike went a bit pale hearing that. “So it could be any day now?”
“Kind of, but not quite. We did some asking around and discovered that the average level is lower in most other villages and settlements. The next highest is only about 23.”
“So, we probably aren’t more than a month from it happening.”
“Once again, not quite.” Raj said. “We haven’t yet gone to Hildran to get a good look at their levels, but we are pretty sure they are quite low compared to every other place. There are children and parents who have gotten very few levels, as they have been focusing on other things. In reality, I think we only have 7 or 8 months before the average level gets to that point.”
“Only? That seems like enough time for you, me, and a couple of others to evolve and fight the serpent.” Mike said.
“It may seem like a while, but in that time we need quite a few people to get to a point where they can fight the serpent. I hadn’t realized until recently, but it is a far higher level than I had initially thought. I originally guessed it to be around level 120, maybe 130, but now I believe it to be closer to level 150 or 160.”
“Damn.” Mike said. “So we are going to need a large team to fight it.”
“Yeah. I myself have been doing my best to get into fighting shape, and I know many others have been doing the same. Anyways that's all I wanted to talk about. Just letting you know that we are on a tight deadline. How long do you think you will need to reach level 100?”
Mike thought for a few moments. Between his class and profession, he needed to level up 53 times in order to reach his next evolution. If he assumed it would take 3 days per level, which was actually a bit slower than he thought he could go if he really pushed it, he would need about 159 days to reach that lofty goal. “Just over 5 months.” He said with resolve. “Maybe less. Now that I am actually thinking about the numbers though, are you sure that we will have enough people to actually fight that thing? I mean, leveling up so quickly is quite a tall order.”
“I think we will be fine. I am already confident as well in reaching my next evolution, and I am sure that at least Lucas will too. There are more people, such as Otto and Mateo that will certainly make it to that level, but they won’t be much use in a fight.”
“Got it. Hopefully when Martin gets his new dungeon up and running he can help some more people get there. Speaking of Martin, I am pretty sure he will reach his next evolution in time as well.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about him and his Rabbit.” Raj said. “I have heard rumors of how strong the bunny has gotten, and I am sure it will be a valuable asset in the fight.”
There was a silence in the air for a moment. Mike decided that it was about time he left, and excused himself to leave. Right before he left, he saw Raj grab a knife and head towards the ritual he had been setting up.
The next person he was going to talk to would be Sam, and he was pretty sure he would also be seeing Antonio at roughly the same time as they were in the same party. It took a while, but eventually he managed to track down Sam and her party. They were all in the shopping district buying new gear for their next journey out to some monster lair.
Sam was the first to notice his approach. Mike had expected her to be happy to see him again, but the first thing she said threw Mike off. “Mike, hey. Have you seen Antonio anywhere? We haven’t seen him since he split up with us in the shark lair to come back here.”
From there, Mike suggested that perhaps the man hadn't survived the journey, but when he learned that it had been Antonio to clear the lair boss on his own, he didn't think that was the case. After he assured Sam that he didn't in fact know where Antonio was, he left the group to finish their shopping.
Mike didn't reveal the fact that he was going to speak with Antonio directly after, as he was sure the man had a reason not to let the group know where he was. Perhaps the man really was dead, but he simply had now way to know that. What he did know was that if Antonio was alive, it would be a very interesting conversation they would be having.
He hadn't been lying to Sam when he said he didn't have the slightest clue as to where the spear wielder may be, but he had left out the fact that he had a pretty good idea how to figure it out. Mike walked into the barber shop that he had first met Antonio in. The barber glanced at him, doing a nearly unnoticeable double take.
Mike sat in the barbers chair, getting his hair trimmed back to the length he was comfortable with. His beard had grown, and once more he simply had it cleaned up, leaving it to now be 7 inches long. He was quite liking the look of the long beard. He paid the cost for the service and walked out of the shop. The barber hadn't started any conversation, so unfortunately that meant that Antonio hadn't let the barber know to tip off Mike when he saw him.
He put his hands into his pockets as he started walking to Otto’s restaurant to find another lead to the man's whereabouts. He paused as he felt something in his pocket, and he pulled out a small folded up piece of paper. “I knew it.” Mike said after reading the small slip of paper, stowing it back in his pocket. He summoned his armor back onto his body, leaping into the air and flying to the location written on the piece of paper.
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Mike landed with a heavy thud, staring at the remains of what used to be the massive tree that stood tall in the center of Gratsden. He saw the occasional flicker of light come from inside the fallen tree, and he stepped inside an opening to see Antonio blasting off spells within the trunk. Mike watched as a green bolt fired from the man's fingers, traveling several dozen feet before exploding into sparks much like a firework would.
“Impressive.” Mike said, walking up to Antonio. “What's all this for?”
Antonio turned to Mike, a smile on his face. “Just practicing with my profession is all. I’m improving my skills and getting ready to put on one hell of a performance.”
“How is that working on your profession?” Mike asked, pointing to the little burn marks each of the sparks from the mana shot had made on the bark of the tree. In fact, when Mike looked a little closer, they were eerily similar to the mark he had seen in Alex’s lab.
“I’m a performer.” Antonio said, puffing his chest out. “I aim to please.”
“You aren’t worried about hurting anybody with all that? From what I remember you don’t exactly have the best control over your mana.”
“Yeah, well I have gotten a bit better at it since then. Now my mana is much more obedient, and it listens quite nicely to what I tell it to do. I am still having issues trying to convince it not to burn everything it touches though, so that's gonna take some work. Watch this.” Antonio holds a hand out and a small green ball of mana forms in his hand. “Go do three loops and return to my hand.”
Right on queue, the ball of mana shoots out of his hand, tracing along the circumference of the tree. After three full loops, it returns to hovering over his hand. “Wow.” Mike says.
“Neat huh? It's not just for show though. I have found a couple of ways to use it in combat too. Here, try and swing your hammer straight down.”
Mike was hesitant for a moment, but he summoned his hammer into his hands. He raised it over his head and pulled down to start his swing. Instead of moving, his hammer was caught by a small green loop of mana which was now wrapped around the handle just below the hammer head. Mike was surprised for a moment, but putting a little more strength into the effort snapped the rope of mana.
This seemed to dishearten Antonio a bit. “Well, it usually works better than that. The main benefit is that once I tell the mana what to do, I don’t need to put any more effort into focusing on it.”
Mike dismissed his hammer. “That is pretty impressive. How do you do it?”
“I just dumped a ton of my stat points into charisma, and my trait makes it so I can do it far more easily. At this point, my mana manipulation skill doesn't mean shit. I just tell my magic what to do and it listens.”
“Oh, so that's what that stat does? I thought it would have had something to do with how people looked at you or something.”
“It might, but honestly I don’t think it does. If it does, it is barely noticeable.”
“Interesting. Anyways, I wanted to ask you something. Why haven’t you told your team that you are alive? They think you might be dead, or at the very least lost somewhere in the wilderness.”
Antonio’s expression dropped a bit, and he took several moments to respond. “I’m scared of what they will say. I kind of abandoned them, and to them it probably seems like I just got sick of them or something. I don’t know if I am ready to face them.” Antonio was looking at the ground now, and he reached towards a pocket on his leather armor before pausing and putting his hand back down.
“They don’t think that at all. I think you should go talk to them.”
“Yeah, you are probably right, but I just need to psych myself up for it. I will have to do it before putting on my performances, as I can’t really avoid them after that. Anyways, change of subject. I wanted to talk to you because I wanted to ask for a new weapon.”
“Sure, what did you want?”
“I would like a new spear.” Antonio said, caressing the spear he held in his hands. “Old reliable here has served me well, but it’s not the best for my new combat style. The kind of spear I am looking for would ideally have very good mana conductivity and be capable of stabbing deep into large foes. So maybe a spear that I can make longer at will? I’m not completely sure how that would work, but I am sure you can figure it out. Do you have an estimate on how much that might cost?”
Mike thought about it for a moment. “If you pay for the materials and bring them to my workshop, I’ll charge you 40 gold for making it.”
Antonio sucked in a breath at the steep price. “That much?”
“Yeah, that much.” Mike said. He took out the piece of paper the barber had given him and turned it over, writing a list of materials and their estimated costs. He handed the paper over.
Antonio looked like he was about to pass out when looking at the paper. “That much?”
“That much.”
“Any chance I could get a loan?”
Mike almost refused, but paused. “Tell you what, I know you are going to be making a lot of money from your performances, so I’d be willing to loan the cost of the materials. I can give you the spear itself after you pay me back and pay the cost of my labor.”
“So I’m not taking a loan, I’m just buying it at a later date.” Antonio said.
“Hey, it's just business. Not my fault you wanted a legendary spear.”
“I didn't ask for a legendary spear.”
“Well trust me, you are going to want one. It will be worth the price.”
“If you say so.” Antonio sighed. “Just try to have it done within a month. By then I should have made enough money from the shows to pay for it.”
“Deal.” Mike said, shaking the man's hand. While they were shaking hands, Mike swiftly pulled Antonio towards him.
“What the fu-” Antonio yelped.
Mike reached his hand into the pocket in the man's leather armor, digging through a moment before pulling out a small green rock. Antonio winced as Mike looked at the rock, then looked back at him. “You better be careful with this stuff.” Mike said, holding the gemlock in his hand. “I know you are at a high enough level to handle it, but that doesn’t mean it’s super healthy for you. If I had to guess, that's also probably why your mana control is such shit.”
“What tipped you off?” Antonio asked, looking at the floor in shame.
“The green mana, your shit mana control, the burn marks your mana leaves even when not infused with the intent to burn, and Alex told me that one of his clients had dumped quite a few stats into charisma. Don’t blame him though, I’m pretty sure he never expected that I would know you well enough to know that.”
“Please don’t go around telling people.”
“I won’t. I just wanted to give you a fair warning.” Mike said, handing the small stone back to Antonio. The man looked like he was considering inhaling it, but after a few seconds put it back in his pocket.
“Thank you.” Antonio said. Mike left after that, flying back to Thudfall to get to work on the spear. His profession had some catching up to do to his class after all.