Chapter 56
It was a stormy night so of course there was thunder and lightning. Even though Walter eschewed silly games such as dramatic entrances there was still a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder as he stormed in to Boland's offices.
“What the hell is this?” Walter demanded as he threw a multicolor tri-panel pamphlet on to Boland's desk. The pamphlet was partially open and showed a bright blue background with a bowl full of upgrade stones. “Take a chance at an upgrade!” it exclaimed in bright yellow letters.
Boland looked down his nose at the pamphlet Walter had placed in front of him. “It appears to be a pamphlet. Will there be anything else?”
Walter could hear a snort of laughter from Boland's secretary just outside of the office room who had been listening to the conversation. Walter stormed back over to the door and slammed it shut before whipping around to face Boland.
“Just what exactly do you think you're planning on doing with this pamphlet advertising Jay's abilities?” Walter demanded.
Boland leaned back in his chair not making any movement to pick up the pamphlet. “I'm planning on sending it to everyone who is anyone. I'm going to glue them to the sides of every business I can find. I'm planning on paying little scrappy street urchins to hand them out on every street corner in K'tharkle. What do you think I'm planning on doing with pamphlets?”
Walter glared at Boland as he reconsidered his approach. “Are you aware that I have been sending the boy on dungeon runs every weekend of late?”
Boland's gaze didn't waver, “I am.”
“And you are aware that as a Senior Guild member I can direct Guild recruits on various missions for purposes of training.” Walter said while trying to restrain his fury at Boland's interference.
“I am.” Boland replied simply.
“There just does not exist enough time for Jay to do his Guild mandated training as well as selling his services using your ridiculous pamphlets.” Walter insisted.
“Ah.” Boland said as he clapped his hands once. “And there it is.”
Walter glared at him. “I'm afraid you'll have to recall your pamphlet campaign.”
Boland laughed. “I don't think so. I think maybe I'll send them out anyway, keep records of the amounts offered. I think they would make a great comparison to what you yourself have been paying 'the boy' as you call him. Once his abilities are made public I'm predicting that interest will be brisk. I think that it will be you who Jay no longer has time for, not the Guild.”
Walter turned red not in embarrassment but in anger. “Now you listen here you little..”
“No,” Boland said loudly as he stood up. “You listen.” Boland pointed with one finger towards Walter. “I'm not in your precious Guild. I don't answer to you and I DEFINITELY do not take orders from you. If your Guild actually has a problem with this then they can send an actual representative over to speak with our representative and we will hash it out there. At which point I will draw attention to how you have been fleecing one of your own recruits.” he finished almost shouting.
“Fleecing!” yelled Walter who was now pointing back at Boland's chest from across the room. “I paid that kid three gold for just being there!”
“But he wasn't just there, was he!” shouted back Boland, “From what I saw he actually saved the group, MULTILPE TIMES.” Boland thrust his finger towards Walter for emphasis.
“He can't even fight!” Walter yelled as he waved his hands in the air.
“So what! He still kept the group alive when they would have died otherwise! That's more important than knowing how to fight sometimes!” Boland replied but appeared to calm down some.
“You can't have him.” Walter said obstinately, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“He's not a chew toy. No one gets to 'have' him. What the hell happened to you Walter?” Boland asked as he wiped his face with one hand. It was late.
Walter stopped yelling but continued glaring. “Three gold is more than fair.”
Boland sighed. “Fine. Just tell me this then, what does your Guild have to say about labor and compensation?”
It was Walter's turn to sigh and he spoke as if Boland had to pull the words out of his mouth. It was a well known phrase. “No labor without just compensation.”
“And do you think others, when they find out about your deal, will think 3 gold is just compensation?” Boland pressed, leaning slightly towards Walter.
Walter was stone faced and again spoke as if he didn't want to speak the word. “No.”
“Look,” Boland began, “I know a customer pays you 5 gold per group member, 25 gold, and you take 5 gold of that. The remaining four shares should each go to the other group members. So Jay should have gotten at least 5 gold the last run. That isn't even including the price you charged if the paying party member got an item rarity upgrade – WHICH SHE DID. That was all Jay but you took all of it. That is the exact opposite of just compensation for labor.”
It was Boland's turn to glare at Walter. “You basically stole from 'that boy.' It's not a good look Walter.”
Walter waved that away, “It wasn't theft, it was business.”
“Well, don't be surprised when Jay catches on and no longer does business with you.” Boland insisted.
“You wouldn't!” Walter said as he took a step towards Boland.
Boland raised an eyebrow. While it was common to get angry during a business meeting violence was not tolerated. Walter stopped moving towards Boland however and pulled himself together.
“I absolutely would. I'm his financial advisor – why would I advise him to continue his dealings with you when you're stealing from him?” Boland argued.
Walter growled, “It's NOT stealing, it was mutually beneficial.”
Boland held his hands on the desk in front of him, his fingers intertwined as if in prayer. “It was unfairly beneficial to you Walter and not beneficial enough for Jay. That can't happen again, you understand?”
Walter continued to glare but didn't argue.
“Pay the man or say goodbye to your runs. Just pay him what you should – you're still going to make plenty of money.” Boland insisted calmly.
Walter's shoulders slumped and he sighed, “Fine. I'll pay him the rest of what he made.”
Boland shook his head. “You stole from this man no matter how you may phrase it yourself. The City Watch would still call it stealing. You've wronged Jay and merely giving him what was his to begin with won't fix that.”
“What would you have me do?” Warren asked incredulously.
Boland looked over at him and replied simply with a disappointed look on his face, “Make amends, if you can even remember how.”
Walter looked stunned as if slapped but did not give a reply.
Neither of the men had anything left to say and moments later Walter whipped open the door surprising Boland's secretary. He calmly left Boland's offices in no better mood than he had arrived in.
----
Meanwhile back at the Guild Jay and his two closest friends on Eden had arrived at the library soaking wet. They had taken the time to dry off before even walking in to the Library proper after Glenda gave them a look that threatened grave bodily harm should they get even a single book wet.
Once dry they walked downstairs to the now familiar study room with the star on the door. They had taken all the books on the Dungeon of Rebirth/Death and set them to one side of the room. Jay had held a brief conversation with Glenda the Librarian when they had first arrived and a new cart of books had appeared in the study room upon their arrival.
The books were everything Glenda could find on the subject of Cloaks of Spirit, the first item the group would need to find and obtain. The three friends had each grabbed a book and started studying.
“I don't know what you expect us to find. I've never heard of such a generic sounding item as a Cloak of Spirit.” Aiden complained as he browsed through his book.
“I guess figuring out what it is would be a good first step. It's some sort of cloak. The teal color seems pretty in line with Gaia's penchant for all things teal. So maybe its a divine item of some sort? Should we ask a priest?” Aiden wondered.
M'redith chuckled, “Oh sure, I'm sure a priest would love to hand over some divine cloaks to a couple of level 1 students.”
“Hey, speak for yourself,” Jay exclaimed, “I'm level 4!”
Aiden grumbled, “And that's not fair either. You can't even fight!”
Jay sighed. “I'm seriously considering learning how to box just so I can punch every person that says that to me.”
M'redith let out a braying laugh without meaning to. “I'd like to see that - that would be funny.”
Jay picked up a few books and paged through them.
Miraklees's Compendium of Magical Artifacts lacked any entry that came even close to a Cloak of Spirit. Many other items were listed, but no Cloak of Spirit. So they checked Herosephat's Primer on Ritualistic Objects to see if maybe it was a religious item. No such luck. Plenty of named daggers and cups and other such items but not even a single Cloak of Spirit.
Pasquat's Hedge Wizards Almanac was mainly used for determining the right time for various spells but also had a handy appendix with various magical items. There was no Cloak of Spirit listed.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Why are we reading these books?” M'redith suddenly asked, setting her book on to the polished table in front of her.
Jay looked up from a book on Druidic Totems, “I've been asking myself that as well. I haven't found anything even close. Shouldn't all these books at least be related to what I asked Glenda for?”
Aiden chuckled, “Sure, but I'm guessing we're going about this the wrong way.”
M'redith looked over at him with a curious look on her face. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well, we got the name of an item from a children's book. What if the actual name is different from what was in the book?” Aiden began.
Jay pursed his lips in disagreement but didn't interrupt Aiden's train of thought.
“What if Cloak of Spirit really is a generic name for what we're looking for. We'd never find it if it is actually named even slightly differently. All of these books could have entries related to it, just listed under a different title.” Aiden said as he closed the slim book he had been reading.
“Where's that cardboard book where we found the item names in the first place?” Jay said as he got up and started looking through the various piles of books on the desks.
M'redith and Aiden both helped him look before Jay finally gave up and sat down.
“Giving up already?” asked M'redith in surprise.
“Yes. It's gone. I'm guessing we won't find it in the library either even if we ask Glenda to look for it.” Jay answered.
“What do you mean by that?” Aiden asked in confusion.
One of the lights in the room flickered for a moment before flaring back to full brightness.
“Its a familiar story trope – the mysterious book appears to help out the hero but then disappears before he can get all the information he needs out of it. Classic.” Jay said with a sigh.
M'redith and Aiden exchanged a brief look of concern for Jay before Aiden spoke up. “So.. the book just, what, walked off and disappeared on its own?”
Jay shrugged, “Maybe? Or maybe Gaia told someone to put the book there and then remove it after we had seen it. Or maybe Gaia has a way of doing that directly Herself. I don't know. It just seems fairly convenient that we can't find the book now right when we need it.”
M'redith considered that but wasn't entirely in agreement. “Maybe we can just ask Glenda to keep an eye out for it anyway?”
Aiden nodded in agreement. That seemed smarter than just giving up. Jay finally agreed to mention it to Glenda when they next went upstairs.
“Wait. I copied down parts of that book, didn't I?” Jay said as he put his Mighty Book on to the table and it rapidly grew in size to its full form. Jay paged through the various chapters and quickly found his notes. Jay showed the group his drawing and what little there was about the cloak.
Aiden looked at the item and shrugged, “So what, it's a cloak, that doesn't help us much.”
M'redith looked at the picture closely before shaking her head. “I don't think that is a cloak now that I look at it.”
Aiden threw up his hands in frustration, “Of COURSE it's a cloak. Look at it. It even says cloak in the title.”
M'redith shook her head though before sighing emphatically. “Boys. A cloak is a long garment worn over the shoulders. It covers a lot, the back, and even the head with the hood. What does that look like to you?” she said pointing to the garment displayed in Jay's book.
Aiden shrugged, “I don't know. A robe?”
M'redith nodded with a grin, “Exactly! But it's not a robe but a mantle. Names are important – you can't just call every outer garment a cloak and wash your hands of it.”
Jay grinned. “Great thinking M'redith. So what would you say we're looking for?”
M'redith looked up at Jay, “A Mantle of Spirit?”
Aiden made an oooo noise as he rummaged through the pile of books on his table. “I saw something like that but ignored it because of the mantle bit. It wasn't worded the same either though. Let's see.” he said as he finally opened a book and showed the entry to his friends.
“Spirit Mantle” the item description read and showed an open robe that fit over the shoulders. It was colored bright teal. It looked almost exactly like the one in the cardboard book with one major exception.
“There's no maker's mark on that though.” Jay said looking at the description closely.
M'redith took the book and looked at the cover. It read: Pasquat's Annotated Spellcasters.
“Spellcasters?” she asked. She picked up the book and flipped to the front as she read the introduction.
“So we need a spellcaster? A mage?” asked Aiden.
M'redith read a bit more before she shook her head. “Well this explains a lot. There is no item called a Spirit Mantle – we got the name right just not the object. Spirit Mantle is an effect caused by an item. We're looking for an item that can cast Spirit Mantle, not a Cloak of Spirits.”
Jay rubbed his head. “How the hell were we expected to figure that out?”
Aiden looked up at him with a grin, “What are you talking about? We just figured it out. It isn't uncommon for item names to drift away from their real names when written down in books. Who knows how many people told other people about it before it reached someone who wrote it down.”
M'redith looked up at Jay, “I wouldn't put it past Gaia to purposely throw in things like this just to make sure only the right people got these items.”
Aiden nodded. “So we're not looking for a mage, we're looking for an item that can cast a spell.”
M'redith agreed. “Right. And those items that can cast spells are collectively referred to as spellcasters according to Pasquat.”
“That seems confusing.” Jay said with a slight frown.
“It is.” M'redith said. “But when you write a book you can call it whatever you want.”
Aiden laughed, “That seems fair.”
“Ok, now that we know what it is called can you tell me what it does?” Jay asked.
M'redith paged through the book. Pasquat had left only a brief description. “For the handling of spirit.” it had read.
Jay groaned. “So unhelpful. I suppose I should be thankful that there is anything written about it at all.”
Aiden nodded, “There are a lot of books here too. They all must have something about Spirit Mantles or Glenda never would have brought them.”
Jay paused, “Do you think Glenda just remembers where all the books are or do you think magic is involved somehow when she picks out books for us?”
M'redith didn't even have to think, “Certainly magic. I mean I'm sure her memory is wonderful but an entire cart of books was delivered to this room in the time it took us to walk from the entrance to here.”
Aiden considered that before he remembered something. “I think I'm getting hungry.”
“If you're looking to find out what a fight with a Librarian is like by all means go ahead and eat something in the library. Otherwise I'd wait until we leave.” M'redith said with a grin.
Aiden mock sighed and went back to reading. Aiden turned out to be right, all the books did in fact have something no matter how small to do with Spirit Mantles.
Jay continued to read and found his eyes drawn to specific sections, each of which he wrote in his Mighty Book.
Carlo's Guide to Spirits: ..without a Spirit Mantle the inability to interact with anything not of their own is impossible. Mundane to mundane and spirit to spirit is the..
Vizier Frolm's Parables: ..is Mother to all who bear Her Mark. Her chosen granted the right to bless what She blesses, and to curse what She curses..
Marcot's Tome of Prophecy: ..Gaia Herself shall lead the righteous to the Mantle and shall pass it to those whom She favors..
Aqua Codex IV: ..those who enter shall not leave. None may pass save those bearing the Mantle..
Jurg's Journal – a Mage's Primer: ..may be cast but once a day, the Spirit Mantle vulnerable to excessive moisture..
The group continued through the night until finally Jay pushed back away from the table.
“I just read the same line in Jurg's Journal three times in a row before I realized what I was doing. I think it's time for us to head to bed.”
His two friends gave him no argument. If their task had not been so important they both would have left earlier to go to sleep. It had been a brutally long and tiring day for everyone.
M'redith grinned happily, “I feel like we got a lot done tonight. We know what a Spirit Mantle is, what it looks like, and where it comes from vaguely.” She stood up and stretched her arms above her head as far as they would go, her shoulders making two popping noises. “Ahh. That feels much better.”
The boys were too tired to speak and instead arranged the books in to three piles: Read and to be returned, read and to set aside for more reading, and not read yet. Once that was done the three left the room and trudged slowly back up the stairs. Jay waved to Glenda as they passed her.
“Hi!” she said happily as they went by her. She waved back to Jay.
They walked M'redith to her room and Jay gave her a hug goodnight. Aiden wiggled his eyebrows and gave M'redith a surprise kiss on the cheek which earned him a slap in the belly and quiet laughter from M'redith and Jay. After she had gone in to her room and closed the door he and Aiden walked to the men's dorms.
“So are you guys dating now or what?” Aiden asked Jay as they walked slowly along the dirt path to the men's dorms in the inky darkness. There was enough moonlight to make out where they were going but no more.
“I'm trying to stay friends until we graduate.” Jay said. “Trying being the main word.”
Aiden nodded. “You might want to consider mentioning that to her.”
Jay looked over at Aiden even though they couldn't make out each other's faces. “What? Did she say something?”
Aiden shook his head, that Jay could easily make out. “Nope. Not doing the he said she said thing. Just encouraging you to share your plans for the woman with the actual woman herself.”
Jay laughed. “You sound like T'lly.”
“What the hell Jay.” Aiden remarked crossly.
“Sorry! Not in a bad way!” Jay said emphatically. “She told me to talk to M'redith about it too.”
“For Gaia's sake Jay, who else do you need to tell you to talk to her? M'redith herself?” Aiden said with an exasperated voice.
Jay grinned and nodded. “Ok I deserved that. I'll talk to her next chance I get ok?”
Aiden smiled and nodded, “That's all I'm asking.”
Aiden dropped Jay off at his room and Jay closed the door behind him. He walked directly to his bedroom, got undressed, and laid down in bed, pulling his sheets up to his chin. Turning on his aura Jay sighed in contentment as it went to work and cleaned him, the underwear he was wearing, and the bedsheets themselves.
He turned off the aura a minute later and was instantly asleep. He dreamed of running after M'redith trying to tell her his plans but she ran from him every time and he couldn't catch her no matter how hard he tried. It was a foolish dream but one triggered by his subconscious and insecurities.
The night wore on and Jay's dreams gradually changed to one of M'redith, Jay, and Aiden all laying in the grass watching the clouds. M'redith's head lay on Jay's chest and he sighed both in his dream and outside it. His breathing calmed and soon he slipped in to a restful slumber.