“This is the Trenshaen, right?” Colin asked, gesturing around him. The building he was in was filled with dark wood shelves and cubbies that held books and scrolls; all were supposedly magical. There were so many of them that Colin would not have been hard-pressed to call this a small library.
“Yes, this is THE Trenshaen,” the Elderly Goblin responded. Colin could tell his Senior Goblin status by the wrinkles, the hunch, and the lack of hair on his head. The males tended to lose their hair as they got older, with no exception; the women lost their green pigmentation, making them appear lighter-toned.
“The foremost magic knowledge dealer in the city of GrimHold, and you do not have any information on a single ritual that I was told existed,” Colin said.
The Goblin sneered, “I did not say that. I said that will not help you, not that I can’t help you. My wares are not for those who do not take knowledge lightly,” he said cooly. The Goblin walked around a nearby desk where a hefty tome sat and took his place on it with casual confidence. “And judging by your arms, your beat-up armored jacket, and that subpar magic I sense in you… let’s say that I doubt you will take proper care of my wares.”
Colin was having a very explicit and detailed murder fantasy revolving around this shopkeeper when Rielle walked up. She stood beside Colin and gave the Goblin a broad smile that Colin knew was disingenuous. “I’m sorry; perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Darielle; what can we do to show you that we mean business and take knowledge seriously?”
Pausing to consider it, the Goblin rubbed his chin, “Well, I have a quest or nine that you could do to prove your dedication. That would be the usual way to discern if you have what I look for in a customer. But luckily for you, I have something else,” he said, showing his teeth in a sharp-toothed smile. “Wait here a minute,” he said, walking away towards the back end of the shop.
“At least you could get him to help us,” Colin muttered. “Why did you want to come along?”
Rielle looked around the shop; she had a small wistful smile that looked more like her than the one she had shown a moment earlier. “I was hoping to get a few books while we are here. I don’t think you know this because we are always running around; at least, it feels like it, but I like books. But…” She looked around and looked at the labels. “I don’t think most of these will make good entertainment.”
Suppressing his first reaction, Colin said, “Oh, you’re right, I didn’t notice. Why didn’t you say anything while we were in BriarThorn, before the whole,” he made some vague gestures, “Golem Army thing.”
She sighed, “We had not known each other long, Walker. You literally had owned my contract for a month before ALAN arrived and tried to kill everything. I was not comfortable enough to tell you that I like books and would have loved to read some of the ones you… appropriated, is that the right phrase?” she gave him a small smile.
“It is,” Colin sighed in response. Suddenly, he felt like a massive asshole, “I’m sorry. If I had known, I would have saved some for you without me appropria-”
“Found it,” the Goblin proclaimed as he returned to them. In his hands, he held a closed cylinder with enchanting runes meant to save- no, preserve whatever was inside. The Goblin closed his book on the desk and opened the cylinder.
He withdrew a scroll and laid it on the table. This was a shade of pale and faded yellow, black ink bleeding through the material at several points. The Goblin seemed a little too enthusiastic to unveil the item but was careful not to damage it as he unrolled it. Even as he did, Colin recognized the style of the notes on the scroll. This was a Spell Diagram; he had seen a few of the books in his Mindscape Library have Diagrams that followed similar designs.
“It’s nice,” Colin said, looking it over and ascertaining its purpose. He felt this entire thing was self-evident, but he asked anyway. “But what do you want me to do with this?”
Smiling, the Goblin gestured at the Spell Diagram, “Cast it. I want the spell’s effect to be centered on my shop for at least a few days. If it works, one way or another, you can keep the spell for your use, AND I will sell you my wares.”
Colin looked at him skeptically, “What does this have to do with taking proper care of your wares?”
“This is to see how well you have learned your magic up to this point. If you can cast it, you will have proved that you have gained a sufficient amount of knowledge to be reasonably good for my shop, At least for my shop, The Trenshaen. If you went to my older sister’s shop, The Yershiron, you would have to have at least one magic skill up to at least level fifty, or she wouldn’t even look at you,” he explained.
“The Yershiron?” Rielle asked, “Why is it named that?”
“She named it after herself, just like I did, and our parents did,” he explained with a proud smile and a happy nod.
Rielle leaned into Colin’s ear and said, “I had no idea it was his name, did you?”
He shook his head in the negative and decided not to say aloud, “Alright, just let me copy this,” Colin told him, withdrawing the book from his Spacial Bag. It took a few minutes to copy the spell into his book correctly, and he was smiling at the magic he had just gotten for free, which was also helpful. Just… maybe not for combat.
The Spell’ Lesser Eclipsian Cleaning Force’ has been added to your SpellBook.
Spell name: Lesser Eclipsian Cleaning Force
Magic type: Mental, Shadow, Fire, Water, Kinetic.
Mana cost: 1-5 mana/ foot affected(cost increased with varied types of mess)
Casting time: instantaneous
Range: 10 feet (5-foot square area of effect to a max of 50-foot square foot area of effect)
Duration: 1 minute
Effect: You summon a localized spacial event that is manipulated with a temporarily created will and intellect that is bent to a singular purpose before disappearing. Cleaning. This spell brings gravity, light, shadow, heat, cold, and the power of almighty soap will be brought to bear against the power of chaos and grime. Using your will and intellect, the area effect will know what needs to be cleaned and what does not, be careful to use it where you understand the area.
Colin looked over the spell and confirmed that he copied it over correctly. He then looked at Trenshaen quizzically, “Are you sure you want me to use this?”
He nodded, “I am; just make sure you only think about the dust and cobwebs. I can’t get every nook and cranny, and this spell is rare to find someone able to use it due to its main component of Mental Magic Manipulation. I can’t even use it,” he chuckled wryly. “Just be careful.”
Colin nodded and considered the spell’s parameters, extending it to the max before aiming it above the Goblin’s desk. “Lesser Eclipsian Cleaning Force,” he said, incanting the spell and activating it.
Above the desk, a black hole appeared and fluctuated as if not entirely there. There was a slight howl in the room as the air was sucked into the distortion in space, but none of them felt any effect. Their clothes didn’t ruffle in the wind as the dust began to be sucked into the anomaly first, appearing in long streams like wisps of smoke. Next were cobwebs and rather wicked-looking spiders, followed by small streams of dirty water that Colin watched with fascination. Water appeared on some surfaces, scrubbed itself, and then flowed away toward the conjured black hole.
It was as scary as it was fascinating. There was a will behind the spell’s efforts, and he wondered if that was why the spell needed Mental Magic Manipulation to work correctly. Over the minute, Colin enjoyed seeing the spell work its touch but wondered how he could use this kind of spell toward his ends.
But then it ended, and the black hole vanished, winking out of existence as fast as it appeared.
The Goblin grinned, “Incredible. Give me a moment to look around and check and ensure the spell didn’t damage anything. Then and only then, we will discuss the access you want to my shop,” Trenshaen told them quickly before scurrying around and checking his things.
“I recognize that look,” Rielle said, furrowing her brow. “What are you scheming with this new knowledge of yours?”
“I don’t know yet,” he confessed. But he smiled as he thought about that spell he had just gotten and that will that moved it and aimed it where he wanted it. “But I have a few ideas, but I think-”
“I would suggest not thinking about it,” Trenshaen said, returning after only a minute. “This type of magic you are considering is Ecplisian Magic and not something you can just create like other spells.”
“Why not?” Rielle asked. “We can create other spells after attaining level five in the magic’s manipulation skill and properly creating the spell in a spell book. Why is this any different?”
Trenshaen looked between them and nodded, “Ah, I see; you haven’t encountered it until today. There are some types of magic that you can learn that are based on concepts, they still require certain elemental skills, but they just cannot be created. You still can,” he added, “but the Spellcraft Skill level requirement is much higher.”
“Okay,” Colin said, sighing to himself. There always seemed to be more to learn and more to accomplish. “But this does not stop me from learning the existing spells, right?”
The Goblin shook his head, “Not even a little. You must still meet the magic requirements to cast the spell; otherwise, you are good to go. Eclipsian Magic, specifically, is known for creating semi-intelligent spells, but good luck finding any. Even I only have another two Eclipsian Spells on sale. But you are not here for that today, are you?”
“No,” Colin nodded. “I am here for a particular Ritual.”
“Yes, the Miniaturize Ritual, right,” he replied knowingly. “Well then, good news for you. First is that the spell worked, and my shop is clean without damage to my shop. I have been trying to clean some of these things for ages and can’t get up high enough to do it. Secondly, I have that Ritual for you, it is a bit of a niche spell, but I suppose I can’t fault someone for wanting it.”
Colin considered commenting on why anyone would risk an errant spell that could damage his shop or goods. It was impractical and stupid to risk, especially considering how valuable everything in here must have been. But he elected not to comment on it. Mainly because it was some weird game shopkeeper logic thing; best not to overthink it.
“Great,” Rielle chirped. “How much?”
“That depends. Do you want the whole book or just that one rite?” Trenshaen asked, reaching under his desk and producing a different book. This one was marked as a catalog on the cover, and Trenshaen quickly looked through it. “Ah, yes, The Miniaturize Ritual is in a book called Aartrin’s Manual for Monster Collection. I can copy the specific rite for you or sell you the book.”
Colin asked, “How much for the book?”
“One-hundred and twenty-one Copper Coins,” He replied. “If you do not have the money, then I can offer you a quest for a dis-”
“Here you go,” Colin interrupted, pulling out the coins from his Dimensional Bag. He pulled them out in stacks of ten to make them easy to count, and each stack made Trenshaen more surprised. “One hundred and twenty-one Copper Coins.”
The Goblin blinked away his surprise, “Alright, give me a moment.” He told them and quickly counted the coins, it only took a moment, and he was satisfied by the amount. “Well, then, I’ll admit my surprise,” he said, walking away to get the book. He continued talking behind his back while looking among the shelves, “I was doubting anyone would ever buy the book and that you would have the requisite funds.”
Colin looked himself over and found himself agreeing with him. Most of his clothes looked somewhat shabby at this point, the jacket had held up well despite its abuse, but that was the only piece he had not had to replace over his time in Rosengard. “Fair enough; I think I need to upgrade my wardrobe.”
“It is something that everyone who fights beasties needs to consider eventually,” Trenshaen agreed, voice echoing. “While you do not look like a homeless bum quite yet, it looks like you are poverty-stricken and soon-to-be homeless.”
Colin hated to agree but found himself doing just that.
He was considering his following action with Rielle when the Goblin returned with a book he held in both hands. The volume he carried wasn’t a thick book; if Colin had to guess, it looked to be around a hundred and fifty pages and had a pale tan cover marked with the book’s title. “And here you go, one Aartrin’s Manual for Monster Collection.” He handed over the book, and Colin took it with no little amount of Joy.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
He Appraised the Book, and his smile got even wider.
Aartrin’s Manual for Monster Collection. Item Weight: 816 grams. Durability: 203/250. Item Quality: 9. Item Type: Book.
This book was written by a man that people consider to be both a Madman, a genius, and an eccentric all at once. Aartrin wrote many books, manuals, volumes, and encyclopedias in his long life, but this is one of three books he considered the Pinnacle of his career. A career that came out of nowhere that no one wanted, and few have ever wanted to tread.
This particular manual was written with over 20 different spells, enchantments, and rituals designed to be practical and level-conscientious. The point of this entire volume? To capture, tame, and preserve any monster or creature the Caster decides to keep.
Warning! Very few Creatures can inherently resist the Spells’ effects inside this manual. The big ones are any Boss above mini-boss, Higher Order Beings, and Outworlders.
Colin was more than a little happy with this. He wondered why an Archdemon like Baal would recommend a low-level ritual to anyone. But if the very description of this book were correct, it would significantly aid him in capturing monsters for his Chimerology Skill. He would have to Read the book to confirm how useful it could be, but he hoped that he could enchant a weapon compared to using a ritual and achieve the same effect.
“Will there be anything else? Perhaps a manual of the monsters that inhabit the tunnels or a grimoire of the Coldlight Lad- What are you doing?!” Trenshaen shrieked.
Colin was holding the book in his hand as magic in the form of a soft blue glow enveloped the book he had just purchased. The Goblin tried to scurry forward to stop him, but the magic advanced, and the original book disintegrated when the light vanished.
You have Appropriated the book, ‘Aartrin’s Manual for Monster Collection.’ This book can now be recalled to your hand using the Summon Book power and can remain for up to 3 hours. You now have 27/50 books in your Library.
“No,” Colin told him, enjoying the Goblin’s dismay.
<><><><><>
“Ready?!” Colin shouted, readying the broad dagger he held in his hand.
“Ready!” announced the team. Rielle and Larry were crouched in separate outcroppings on this tunnel intersection; both were directly across from each other. Milma had elected to join them instead of killing monsters for the Goblins. McKenna wanted to join them but had to return to the real world to care for her real body and the Not-Colin, as she had called him.
While he would rather have been in the real world with her, he did not envy that responsibility.
Colin withdrew the two kinds of monster bait he had procured for this purpose. The first was a small glass tube filled with Dire Pheromones, non-specific Dire Creature pheromones. The other was a charred piece of meat in a sealed paper wrapper meant to lure in fell beasts, even from other realities.
He ripped open the paper, breaking the magic seal keeping the smell inside, and threw both lures into the middle of the space they had prepared for Colin’s Chimerology Skill, primarily an ample open space with the complex circle burned into most of the area. Due to the Ritual being a whole skill and the nature of the Heretic Scribe Ability, the circle was done in moments and without flaw.
With the monster lures now smelling up the hallway, Colin and his party waited for anything to come to them. And they waited and waited, nothing happening for several minutes while the entire area smelled like a slice of unknown meat and piss.
“Walker? How much longer until something happens, do you think?” Milma called voice still a little cheery but weary. “You told me that I would see something cool!”
“You will,” Colin called back to her. “Just… wait!”
And so they did; the passage of time seemed to go by much slower without the sun to pass the time, but Colin wasn’t too phased. He had done many stakeouts and waiting games to be phased by a twenty-minute wait time. But that didn’t mean this was not boring; he could almost feel the wasted time slipping by him. Who knows what other skills he could be working on at this time?
A sniffling, shuffling sound came from one of the passages around them. It had a long and winding body colored in shades of gray and tan, much like the walls and floor around them. The creature moved on all fours, its forelegs were a pair of leathery wings and hook-like claws on one of the joints, and its hind legs were almost crocodilian. Its tail ended with a sharp spike of bone that almost looked like it belonged to a different creature. But Colin was focused on its head; its large fangs, sharp horns, and distinct, almost tyrannosaurus head made him recognize the creature.
It was a dragon or at least a type of Dragon. The Lindwyrm Golem they had killed in BriarThorn was a type of Lesser Dragon, and Colin was willing to think that of this creature.
The Lesser Dragon made its way to the pile of broken glass and sniffed the pheromone that had brought it here. It took one deep drag of the smell before its head shot up, and it began looking around, wearily checking the surroundings.
“Go!” Colin shouted, everyone, moving at his signal.
The battle was quick but not necessarily easy. The creature was small, not much bigger than Colin himself, but it was fast, and its natural weapons were vicious. Larry leaped in first and took the first sting from the barbed tail on his conjured HellRime shield before leaning in with another ability and adding a freeze effect to the tail. It slowed down the Lesser Dragons’ reaction to everyone else.
Milma leaped onto its back and thrust into its shoulders, hobbling and bleeding the beast. Rielle attacked the Dragon with her bow, aiming for anything considered non-critical. Both women dealt damage to the monster, the battle incredibly one-sided. Even with him, the creature would have gone down. But he was there, waiting for his knife to activate.
They beat it within an inch of its life, blood from its plethora of wounds leaking upon the floor while it howled. Then the knife glowed a quiet neon green, and Colin rushed in. His one attack in this fight was quick and decisive, a full thrust into the Lesser Dragon’s chest, plunging deep and the enchantment flaring.
“Back off!” Colin ordered, releasing the knife and hurrying away from the monster. Larry and Milma quickly moved away as the neon green flared up and became a beacon of light that overtook the beast. It howled in fury and pain as the light blocked their sight, and there was nothing but quiet in the tunnels.
The light steadily began to dim, and all four of them waited in anticipation to see the actual effect of the knife that had been prepared for this. Colin walked up as the light’s source dimmed from the sun’s level to a spotlight and then to a torch as he got close. He looked down at it with no small amount of curiosity as he watched the light dim and condense into a new shape. A shape that was only two inches tall.
The Lesser Dragon had shrunk down and changed into a small statue; it was only two inches tall and seemed made from some painted wood. Smiling, Colin picked it up, the little thing was a perfect likeness of the beast they had just been fighting, and it even stood upon a small platform of gray stone. Colin Appraised the item and smiled.
Miniature of a Dire Adolescent Wyvern. Item Weight: 90 grams. Durability: 5/5. Item Quality: 10. Item Type: Monster Parts.
This creature is a victim of a weapon that was empowered with the Miniaturize Ritual, turning this Dire Adolescent Wyvern into a token suitable for game boards. The monster is still alive but in suspended animation, all of its body functions and mind are paused until it is freed.
While the item description was a little sparse, Colin smiled at the monster he held in the palm of his hand. It did look exactly like the beast they were fighting only a moment before. Colin even thought he caught the sight of stab wounds and arrows protruding from its body-
“Walker, look out!” Milma shouted.
Colin looked up from the Miniature and at the open jaws of something coming right at him. At first, he only got a vague impression of the creature: it was large, humanoid, and had too many sets of teeth.
He attempted to move out of the way but found that the creature was fast for its size. It pounced and latched onto him with the ferocity of a predator and bit into him, attempting to rip chunks out of him and failing due to his mage armor jacket. The jaws still clamped onto his left arm and chomped down, dealing damage and crushing the arm.
Your arm was crushed with massive teeth. You have taken 167 points of damage and now have 708/875 health remaining.
Your right arm has been hobbled by a crushing force. You can only use that arm once the damage has been healed with the appropriate spells or treatments.
“Walker!” Rielle screamed, drawing and shooting several Heavenly Blight Infused Arrows into the monster. It cried out and released Colin, glaring at him with its somewhat human eyes, and Colin had a moment to size it up.
It was humanoid, only standing over ten feet tall and having unnaturally black skin that looked like its skin was made of burning charcoal. Cracks lined its skin like scars; these crevices along its skin burned with flames even as embers leaped away. Even more unsettling, Its torso and arms were covered in sets of snapping teeth that attempted to bite at Colin even as he scrambled to get a little distance. The creature let out a chuffing sound that Colin took as laughter as it turned to look at its attacker.
Rielle paled as it looked at her; its eyes burned, and Colin was glad the creature wore something to cover its pelvis. He did not need to know if the creature had teeth on its dick.
It moved and went from standing still to a full sprint in a second, covering the distance between itself and Rielle in a moment. It reached out to grab at her with hands that also had small mouths along its palms. It held her right arm with one of its hands and her opposite shoulder with its other, and she screamed.
“Gate Crasher!” Larry announced a large pair of HellRime Gauntlets formed around his hands. Larry shot forward like a cannon, his charge attack slamming a closed fist into its face and knocking it away from Rielle. Blood poured from her wounds, and small chucks were missing from where it grabbed her, but it could have been worse. And Colin had the sinking suspicion that if it had been able to hold on for much longer, it would have been.
It did that same chuffing laugh and flexed its fingers, Rielle’s blood coating them and soaking into its grainy skin. They were blindsided, if they had seen this creature coming, he would have been able to fight it appropriately, but this thing appeared from nowhere.
Milma moved in, running with incredible speed and leaping at it with sword swinging. It swiped at her as if she were a buzzing insect, but her swing cut into its skin, and she pushed away from it using the same swing. She landed and repeated the procedure; this time, she said, “Divine Edge!” enhancing her ninjatō with a golden glow.
Her attack bit into it more deeply than the last one, and she announced another buff, “Step of the Torrent!” And just like that, her movements were faster and stronger, washing over the monster like a tidal wave.
Colin saw an opportunity as the flipping Gnome was whittling the monster down. He looked around to find he was no longer holding the Wyvern Miniature. He must have dropped it with the monster’s initial bite. He looked and twisted around, trying to find the thing before either Milma tired out or she killed it.
He found it a moment later near the edge of the Ritual Circle he had created for this express purpose. Colin moved in, hurrying and trying not to think of his crippled arm for a moment longer, though it hurt with every breath and move.
“Die,” the monster said with all of its mouths at once, a multitude of mouths and voices speaking the same word. Liquid flames spewed out of all of its mouths at once, and Milma was forced away from the furnace while patting down her robes.
With Milma away from it, the creature stopped breathing fire from one of its mouths, the one where mouths belong and smiled at Colin. Then it began to approach, its mouths leaving trails of liquid flames and splattering everywhere; Larry stood before Rielle while she steadied herself. She opened her eyes wide and green-gold flames lit up along with the orange and yellow fire that the monster released, radiating the Heavenly Blight.
It wasn’t much, but the attack made the creature flinch with the damage, and Colin took the chance to do the deed. The Antagonist moved up and kicked the Miniaturized Wyvern into the circle and fell to one knee, touching the outermost edge of the circle. He moved mana into the circle, activating the Chimerology Ritual.
Magenta light lit up the cavern, and crystalline chains leaped up and the floor, manifesting from the Rituals light and wrapping around the monster. At that exact moment, the Miniature of the Wyvern shattered, and the beast reappeared, the same chain wrapping around it and binding the monsters in place. Then both froze in the center of the circle; neither breathed, twitched, and not even their eyes rolled to look at them. It looked like time stood still within the confines of the Chimerology Ritual, and Colin was okay with that.
A prompt appeared, and Colin read it over carefully.
Your Chimerology Skill has two acceptable monsters within its borders, ready for their fusion into one more substantial creature. At your low level, you can choose one of the creatures as the base monster and add one trait from the other onto it, enhancing the monster into something more. You have an Adolescent Dire Wyvern and a Fell Devourer within the border of the Chimerology Ritual. Please choose one of them to become the base creature.
“Guys,” Colin said before doing anything too rash. “Heal up, the Ritual is working, but I have no idea what will happen at the end of this, so just… be ready,” Colin informed them. He only waited a moment; Milma was already giving Rielle a potion to help her before returning to the reason they were here.
The choice was simple. The description did not mention the loyalty of the monster he created with this skill, so he chose the safer option.
You have chosen the Adolescent Dire Wyvern as the base for your new chimeric monster. Please select a trait from the Fell Devourer to add to the new monster. Fire Element. Breath Weapon. Stone Skin. Note: due to your low skill in Chimerology, you have limited choices compared to the complete list of traits from the Fell Devourer.
Yet again, this was an easy choice. He selected the Fire Element from the shortlist and received the following prompt.
Chimerology in Progress.
Colin watched in fascination as the chains dragged the two monsters together within the magenta light of the circle. The Fell Devourer crashed into the Wyvern, disintegrating and becoming motes of black dust and yellow embers upon impact. Those pieces of the devourer flowed into the rippling form of the Adolescent Dire Wyvern and seemed to blend with its seemingly unstable state. An unstable form that grew a little bigger, glowed a hellish red, and seemed to already billow smoke from a still-forming mouth.
Your Chimerology Skill is now Level 2. Relative might of Chimeric Creatures you create are increased by a small margin based on the other merged monster(s).
Congratulations! You have made a Chimeric Fire Wyvern!