For Arch-mage Jennings, the past hundred years had been, in a word, 'dull'. While he enjoyed research, he had never been one to chase beasts, or fight in the mud like some moron too stupid to stay inside the walls. As such, it was through knowledge that he advanced, and his pursuit of the world’s truths was unending. But now he was over a thousand years old, and with every passing year, he felt there were fewer things to learn.
But today, something interesting has finally happened, and Arch mage Jennings felt invigorated.
“Did you feel it busting through the upper planes?” Jennings shouted over his shoulder into the hallway.
He was in his personal scrying chamber, with various screens flashing in a semi-circle, his arms waving around frantically while he tried to trace the anomaly back to its source. Holograms depicting scrolling data were overlaid across a constantly changing views of ethereal clouds intermixed with brief images of lands. Pausing the search, he turned to the door that was 20 units away.
“Gods Dammit Mathers, if you don’t get your ass in here in the next 30 seconds, I’m going to flesh shape you into a sheep and stick you in a herd with an overly affectionate shepherd.” Jennings voice boomed out into the hallway. Enhanced with essence, his voice shook the walls. Finished with his threat, he returned to his investigation of the planes with utter focus.
Coming into the room just as the Jennings turned away, Arch-Mage Mathers entered with his ears covered. He was a spry 550 and had long been accustomed to Jennings' particular brand of wit. Slowing down from his quick walk, he smoothed his white beard, and looked at what Jennings was doing.
“I’m here. Stop infusing essence into your insults and screaming them into the halls. People out there are working on projects that are actually useful. As it happens, I was working on how to increase the channel in the advanced targeted healing form. And besides, I don’t want to have to sit through any more mandatory meetings on ‘etiquette in the mage tower’. Now what is it you are bellowing about?” Mathers asked, his tone full of repressed rage.
Appearing to have ignored everything Mathers had just said, Jennings continued to work while speaking over his shoulder, “Good. You’re here. Did you notice it?”
With a sigh, Mathers replied, “Notice what?”
“You call yourself a mage and didn’t notice it?!” Jennings snorted.
“Jennings, if you don’t get to the point in the very near future, I’m going to… I’m going to do something you won’t like.”
“Good one,” replied Jennings. “Now listen closely, there was an anomaly in the upper planes. It came through one of the reincarnation points, I’m not sure what it is. I sent you the trajectory information and probable area of incursion. I need you to locate it. I have to see if the anomaly caused more of the origin to be revealed.
“There’s been a planar incursion! You found a planar incursion as it was happening, and your first thought is to track its source!” Mathers clenched his fists as he yelled. “Why didn’t you just look at the damn thing, that will tell you where it’s from.”
“I don’t care WHERE it’s from. I care what its journey has revealed. I’ve traced its journey to a reincarnation point. Its been on quite the adventure. Look here,” he pointed to his display as a large bulb of light took up half the room. “With this, I’ve already confirmed several theories on how the soul is reintroduced into the prime material plane. You go find the anomaly, and we’ll deal with whatever it is.”
Mathers eyes were wide as nodded in astonishment. “Of course. I’ll let you know what I find.”
Walking away, he shook off his sense of wonder, and focused on what was important. “I’m sure a planar fiend, or an extra-dimensional walker is simply not worth your time.” he muttered to himself while hurrying to his lab in order to find out the much more important details of this anomaly.
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The Captain walked me over to the end of the cart then gestured for me to hop up. I obliged, and suddenly started to feel like a kid getting ready to receive the facts of life by my stern faced father. The captain started off his speech in a calm, quite tone while resting his hands on his belt.
“So since you remember nothing, I’m guessing you had some kind of trauma or had a mental issue that was fixed by your awakening. Any of what I’m saying seem familiar?” he asked.
“Nope. I don’t seem to know anything about the world we live in. Do you mind giving me a general overview? Maybe some more information on awakenings?” I replied.
He paused and looked up. “Hmm… honestly, I wish we had a Wayfinder here for you, but I guess I can give you a some general information.” Seeing my look of confusion, he sighed and continued “Wayfinders are community servants that work at the Center. Look… this is not what I’m good at. Every group of civilized people, from a village all the way to a city, have a place where the people pool their knowledge and help each other grow. The Center is the core of our society. It has people that work for the community, and some of them are available to talk to and ask for advice. The Wayfinders are guides that help people grow and find their path.”
“Is that some kind of term for getting along with everyone or something? Like a home owner’s association?” I asked with a frown.
The captain snorted, “What? No. People grow through their experiences. The path is about how someone uses their Confluence. It is about how well in tune your soul, mind, and body are. The better you control yourself, the better you can use your skills and abilities. And through use and reflection, you grow. Your center is directly related to how powerful you are, and how powerful you can become. Everyone wants to grow and it’s easier to grow the more centered you are.”
A light bulb turned on in my brain, and I held up my hand for him to pause. Concentrating, I opened my stat sheet.
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Name
Nero Walker
Level
1
Race
Human
Growth
35%
Tier
1
Condition
92%
Age
14
Center
100%
Body
0
Mind
0
Soul
0
Confluence
10
So this is like some kind of personal growth chart. It's annoying how much that makes sense, while also resembling a You-Tube video. Confluence, which is how “Centered” you are. Maybe 'center' is like their equivalent of mana or magic juice. I guess this is like how those monks back home spent all that time getting to know their “inner peace”. However, in this world, finding that inner power has tangible benefits.
“So what is 'center'?” I asked.
Seeing how I was paying attention again, the captain replied “Your center is the core of who you are. You see the percentage in your identity? As you use abilities, or put yourself under stress, that number will go down. It will refill faster the more centered you are. You probably won’t have to worry about it until you are at least level 10. Then you can choose your first pillar. Then you get a pillar at 50, then 100 and very few people get that far.”
So if “Pillars” are what I think they are, I won’t be doing anything cool until level 10. “So what is the average level for someone my age? And are pillars like talent trees?” I asked.
He looked even more confused than before. “You’re a really weird kid, you know that? Everyone gets their identity on their 14th birthday, so you’re fine at level 1. You seem really weak though, like all your skills are low. I don’t know where you came from, but the Center there must have had some problems. As for Pillars, a talent tree is a really good way of thinking about it. You start at the base of the pillar and as you put in stars… um…. Stars are the points you get when you level; then you gain more affinity or abilities in that pillar.” He casually gestured off to the side and a semi-transparent gold rectangle appeared to his left. “This is a basic shield that comes from the Defense Pillar. There are other shields and other pillars but this one is pretty common” he said casually as he promptly dismissed it.
“Fuck yeah!!” I said, as I pointed with both hands at where the shield just was. “That. That is what I’m talking about. Full on magic powers. How common is that?” I asked with eyes full of greed and wonder.
“Ha Ha” the captain laughed. “Abilities are everywhere. As for shields? Most people with some kind of protection type pillar will have one. And anyone with basic mage training will know how to summon one, even without a pillar specifically for protection.” As he said this, he turned toward his men and pointed out a few oddities.
There were people using abilities everywhere, I just hadn't been paying attention. Everyone seemed to treat it as normal, so it didn’t draw any attention. Now that I actually LOOKED, I could see a few soldiers using some kind of telekinesis to pick up bodies and stack them in the back of some wagons. One guy was lifting a whole 10ft busted wagon with his bare hands. There was another guy that I’m pretty sure was talking to a horse. ‘So this is my new normal,’ I thought.
The Captain watched me become more amazed every time I noticed something. He went on to say “Everyone gets some kind of ability at level 10, and most people pick up a spell or two. Magic is kinda hard and very few people have the free time to spend studying it. Not to mention that you need to have a powerful mind and soul to do much with magic.
“Usually just living your life will get you to level 10 by the time you are in your 20’s. Growth becomes more difficult as you level. If you put in some effort to study and meditate, you could get to level 50 by the time you’re 100. Most people’s leveling speed falls off around level 30 or 40 unless you are focused and centered on growth. Put in the work and you could be level 100 by 100, as the nobles like to say. Only the elite are able to grow faster than they age. They are ageless in a way. Of course this all depends on you.”
Did he just say 100, as in 100 years old? “How common is it to live to 100?” I asked.
Waving his hand like it wasn’t a big deal. “Unless you get killed by a beast, bandit, or some monster, most people live to 100. Stay in a city, you shouldn’t need to deal with any of that. It’s not that hard to get enough stars into your body and your confluence high enough to take advantage of your time. The big problem is that pushing for levels and developing your center is hard. It’s not an easy life to focus on the climb. There is no way to avoid the personal aspect of the journey. You can’t buy focus. You can’t steal ambition. The world is large, and if you focus on the climb, you’ll always be moving. It’s a difficult life.” He finished the impromptu fortune cookie with a somber look on his face.
It’s rather interesting how power here is personal, while political power seems to be balanced away from the “young master” stereotype. If some noble kid didn’t get his shit together, he was never going to be “centered” or whatever. That kid would probably be put aside for someone who was more powerful. I’d have to see how the cities were organized, but if you can’t buy levels; the people in charge will have trouble abusing the system.
That brings up an interesting thought. I looked at the captain, who was patiently waiting as I worked through all he said. “So what will happen to me? If I just awakened, I’m assuming I’m considered an adult. Are there any opportunities that I can take advantage of with absolutely zero skills and no history?” I asked.
Nodding, he said “When we get to town, I’ll have someone take you to the Center. They’ll know how to help you get your memories back, or at least point you in a direction. To be honest, I’m not really good at this type of helping people. Usually my men and I are the avenging and preventing part of helping people. The army isn’t intended for community outreach. That make sense?” He seemed a little embarrassed to not have a better answer. However, this suited me just fine.
“No problem Cap. You’ve been a great help already. I have a thousand other questions, but they can wait for a Wayfinder.” I said, proud that I was starting to sound like I know what I was talking about.
“By the way, you wouldn’t happen to have a spare set of clothes and any ideas as to how I can get this blood off me?” I asked as I held up my tunic that looked like a Jackson Pollock painting.
The Captain laughed and walked over to his horse. ‘I guess I’ll be finding out the next step in town. One thing is for sure, I’m going to be learning how to do that golden shield thing, and telekinesis, and whatever the hell else is available.’ I thought.
The men were still clearing the road and I watched closely as they did freaking MAGIC. I’m going to learn it all. Seeing some horses grouped up, I realized that I don’t care about talking to horses. In fact, that one over there is eyeing me like I stole his apples.
Just as I turned back toward the captain, I was hit in the face with a bundle of cloth. “Change into these. And most people can cast a basic cleaning spell on you.” The captain said as he turned away and started doing soldierly things. I had no shame and stripped on the spot. Maybe I could find someone willing to TEACH me a cleaning spell.