ARC 3 PART 1-1
It’s been almost two months since we buried Higgins…
We shuffled through a dark cavern with only our headlamps to light the way. Wraith and I thought it would be a good idea to bring some from our world. Callus didn’t have flashlights after all. Arduwan kept an eye on the cavern leading towards the dwarf city while the two of us loaded a minecart with gemstones. You see, we’d been pulling heists all over the continent the past several weeks in order to bring commodities back to my world and sell for cash. I had gone damn close to broke after bribing…err…donating to the fine folks at CERN.
In my former life, a hundred thousand dollars would have meant an up in lifestyle. But dropping from over forty million pounds and owning an English mansion can really wane on a guy. Especially when I had four women under my roof to feed and with shopping habits to boot. Arduwan alone ate like a mammoth…not to mention the cost of replacing all the dishes and lamps she breaks.
But I digress. We had robbed stagecoaches leaving Vale. Pulled a vault heist on a rich lord. And now we were stealing recently unearthed gemstones from the dwarves. The penalty for doing so…was death.
“They’re coming, Eric!” Arduwan alerted.
Wraith and I grabbed a few more stones and loaded up into the minecart. Arduwan made her way to the rear and started pushing to get the wheels turning. Just as we saw shadows coming from around the corner, she hopped into the cart with us.
“You there! Stop!” shouted one of the patrolling dwarves.
Wraith took aim and laid down some suppressive fire in the direction of the dwarves with the Plasma rifle I gave him from Synthetica. That bought us a little time to gain some momentum. When we were well on our way down the mineshaft, Wraith sat back against the side of the cart facing the two of us and pulled out a map.
“Okay, just up ahead, there’s a fork. Make sure we take the left path,” he said.
“You’re sure?” I asked.
“Positive,” he assured, “this map that the Thieves Guild secured us is the latest schematic of the whole Dwarven tunnel system.”
I turned to look forward and saw a fork coming up. The track was set to send us to the right, but I saw a lever. I reached my hand out in front of me, closed my eyes, and concentrated. A moment later a spectral hand flew out away from me and grasped the lever. I pulled my real hand back and opened my eyes. The lever moved and set the minecart track to the left.
The Dwarves pursuing us were now well out of sight as we rolled on in towards the left-hand track. Arduwan and Wraith were smiling from both relief and victory. It wouldn’t be long now, and we’d have enough treasure to replace most of my dried up fortune. We started to see light at the end of the tunnel. But wait…
Something was wrong. Up ahead, the track straightened up and we were looking straight out of the mountain towards wooden barricades. We were at a cruising speed and could not easily stop but the track ahead was clearly unfinished. It dawned on me that the map Wraith had secured was the schematics for the construction of the Dwarf tunnels.
The three of us held on tight as we burst through the wooden barricade and flew off of about twenty feet of track that led outside. The cart dipped forward, and we were tossed out into the open air.
But let's pause there for a minute. You probably need more context for how we got to this point. You’re probably wondering how the other girls were doing? How were we dealing with the loss of Higgins? And how I was able to use magic?! Well, that’s actually not as exciting as you might think.
It started in the days after the funeral. I was obviously really sad that Higgins was gone and that it was at least partially my fault for what had happened. I also felt betrayed by Celica, who I thought was another human with real emotions like me. But she turned out to be another Devil incarnate.
I moped around the house for a couple of days. In the kitchen I would find Anabel crying as well. Emily kept her distance so we could grieve. Someone like her took death better than most. At least on the outside. Arduwan was strong though.
Then there was Stephanie. The former love of my life. She too was saddened by his loss despite not knowing him as long as the rest of us. Her way of dealing with it was by making herself useful. She took it upon herself to take over a good deal of Higgins' role. Anabel was great atthe cooking and the cleaning and general support. And I had Arduwan as a training partner. But neither they nor Emily knew enough about our world to handle my Earthly affairs while I was off Adventuring. Of course, nothing could replace Higgins, but I can’t tell you how grateful I am that Stephanie was doing her best to fill that role. Higgins was my only link, besides the journal, to my father. But Stephanie was now my only link to my world, even though I lived in it.
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After a couple days of grief, we had a conversation. Just the two of us. I told her that I needed to get away for a while. I was in no condition to take on another Devil, but I couldn’t just sit around the house anymore. Besides, with the current condition of the stones, we had time.
The stones from Bristol and Synthetica had both recently turned green thanks to me and my father’s efforts. With Josephine neutralized in World X and two other worlds that my father had handled, that just left two stones red. Callist and Murk. Alabaster, the Devil of Murk, was in prison for the time being and the Devil in Callist was nowhere near taking that world over.
So I made my mind up. I was going to do all I could do to get my head right. Physically, I was in the shape of my life thanks to constant adventuring and training with Arduwan. But I wanted to ensure I wouldn’t lose someone else the way I lost Higgins. So, Stephanie and I decided that she would get a grip on how to run my estate and I would go back to Callist with Wraith and Arduwan to secure some treasure to replenish our wealth. It was a tried-and-true tactic that my family had done for generations. Take a bunch of people’s loot from another world and then fence it back here for some cold hard cash.
But first. I asked Arduwan to take some time to go visit her tribe while her arm finished healing up. She had broken it in the fight with Celica. Wraith went back to his harem. I didn’t blame him after how badly he got thrashed in that fight too. But as for me…I roamed the countryside in search of a new mentor. I needed someone to teach me something new. Something fresh. I needed to take the Noble family lineage to new heights.
Eventually, I was referred to a man by the name of Tolly, who lived in the mountains north of Braytown. It was said that he was a high level mage with a keen understanding of all forms of sorcery. I was surprised when I arrived at his cabin how gruff he was.
He was a brawn, fiery redheaded man with a matching beard. He looked more like a lumberjack than a magic user. It was funny to me hearing him speak with his thick Scottish accent. Why was it that people in this world always had attributes of a society they had no connection to?
He agreed to train me in the magic arts. I suppose the fact that I had hundreds of hours logged into Diablo II gave me at least somewhat of an advantage in understanding magic. For two weeks I stayed at his cabin and observed him display spellwork as if it was second nature to him. A lifetime of dedication to the craft. One day, he went outside to start cutting down a tree for firewood.
“Master Tolly?” I asked, “why do you use an axe when you can just cast Wind Blade and take the tree in one swoop?”
“Aye, Sir Eric,” he replied, “It is for therapy. Keeping the body as fit as the mind can do wonders for the soul.”
He always had simple answers for complex questions. I’m not really sure why he took me on as his pupil. When I asked, he didn’t even put me through a test or ask for compensation. He just started to show me his abilities and asked if I wanted to do that.
“Yes! Of course!”
“Well, then ye must be prepared for a life of dedication. I started learning as a wee lad. You that have lived more than a quarter of a century have a tough road ahead to get on my Level.”
And he wasn’t joking. I spent twelve hours a day in meditation for nearly two weeks. But I needed it. I needed to get my mind off Higgins' death and keep myself fixated on protecting my friends. Disposing of the Devils was my next motivation.
But after two weeks, I realized something…I really wasn’t cut out for a lifetime of dedication to the craft!
Having a high level magician train me in my current state of focus certainly yielded results. I was able to learn basic magic on par with what amounted to little more than party tricks. Ignite, Chill, Flash, Splash, Gust, and Spectral Hand were spells I could do off the cuff a few times a day if I really focused. But there would usually be a cool down period of fifteen to twenty minutes between each. If I used too much it would tap into my stamina, and I would drag ass the rest of the day.
Other basic spells, like Shock, Illusory Script, or Shield took a little more out of me but I could do them at least once a day. Tolly said if I kept up with my training, I could probably throw a lightning bolt or a fireball in a matter of months.
“The truth is lad,” he explained, “that magic is easy if you know how it works. Even at the higher level, spells are easy to do if you’re in the right headspace and have cultivated yourself long enough. Someone like me could probably go a year without casting a spell and still be able to use some magic. But you’re essentially an infant who needs to build the muscle.”
The problem was…I didn’t wanna stay here another week. My time at the cabin served its purpose. I got my head right, rested, and learned some cool skills. But I had people waiting on me. Treasure to steal. And I could only distract myself by playing with magic so much.
“You’re leavin already?!” Tolly shouted.
“I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t consider what it would take to really learn how to wield magic.”
“You’re damn right you didn’t consider! What do ya take me for? A fool who thinks he’s got a new pupil for the next six months? Someone he can pass his lifetime of experiences down to, only to have it ripped away?!”
“Look, I’m really sorry. But it wasn’t all for naught, was it? I surely displayed some level of competency, right?”
“Aye, ‘tis true. You are a bit of a prodigy. Most adults can’t learn how to do even the most simple illusion magic in under a month. I can’t fault you for wanting to get on yer way. But please, do try to keep up with what I’ve taught ye.”
“I promise I will,” I assured him, “I’m certain I can make even the simplest things you’ve taught me useful.”
Now let’s get back to the minecart. I’ve given you enough of an info dump for one day.