Novaris. Quin. 905. AGC.

Nodel. Waning Crescent 🌘. Day 26.

The first thing they did before actually speaking with the guards was get Tesilim some basic camping gear. This basically amounted to a bedroll and not a very good one, as Tesilim didn’t have a lot of gold. They didn’t need anything else, as between Alyx and Lili, they had everything they could possibly need. So, after their quick shopping spree, they headed to the city gate.

Like always, the gate was manned by half a dozen guards who wore the city's green armor with a tree symbol for their heraldry. However, the guards didn’t all wear the same armor, and much like adventurers, they often separated themselves into a variety of roles. Three of the guards wore half-plate armor and were equipped with swords and shields, while the other three wore leather and had bows or wands along with some daggers or short swords. Tesilim wondered where the healers were, but he imagined they could see any threat coming and could call for assistance as needed.

As always, there was a constant trickle of adventurers coming in and out of the city, with a full contingent of guards leaving or entering every so often. Seeing as none of the guards were particularly busy, they decided to approach a gruff-looking orc with a rough voice to match. They showed the orc their adventurer's contract, and he told them to wait for a bit as he disappeared into the walls via one of the doors.

A few minutes later, the orc reappeared, holding a piece of paper and a small crystal orb. He told them to tap their adventurer's token to the crystal orb, which caused it to glow a bit. Apparently, it was a way for them to register that they were, in fact, on patrol and also so they could send a simple alert to the guard in case they were in real danger. Additionally, the orb temporarily shared their location with the guard so they could, in turn, send help. Overall, Tesilim felt that the patrol quest was much safer than regular old adventurer work. However, he also believed that it would prove to be much more annoying.

Finally, the orc provided the party with a map showing where the city's various watch towers were in case they needed to get somewhere that could give relative safety. Though none were very close to the actual city, the towers were randomly scattered through the forest.

After they registered their tokens, the party finally set out for a long walk and an even longer job that would last at least a week. And it wasn’t just the fact the quest said that but the fact Lili was actually wearing armor. She had sleek-fully black leather armor that fit her body like a glove, and Tesilim presumed it was to help her dash and jump. Her leather pouch was also attached to her waist, though the pouch was a bit different from the one he was used to seeing. The thing was a bit bigger, which made sense if it held all her camping gear. Additionally to the pouch and her fancy daggers, she had a black belt pouch thing across her chest and back that was filled with bottles. Upon asking, Tesilim learned they were healing and mana potions, along with poisons and other odd concoctions.

That brought Tesilim to ask how the heck mana potions worked, and he was informed mana potions were rather rare as they were more soul boosters than anything. Mana potions pretty much put a soul on overdrive by using a mix of ingredients that affected the soul. However, unlike healing potions, which could be used many times in a short period, mana potions were much more limited. A creature could take a healing potion of their rank about two to three times an hour if they were technically fresh, aka had not been fighting and injuring themselves for weeks on end; however, if they had been fighting and got injuries, that healing potion usage went down to one per hour. On the other hand, if you took more than one or two mana potions a day, you would start feeling some less-than-great side effects.

Tesilim was also told that it was why it was vital for them to gain high levels of mana regeneration so they didn’t need to worry about using mana potions.

As they walked, Tesilim also practiced some more body enhancement with Lili's assistance. The practice mainly consisted of stealth as well as learning how to further specify the type of enhancement he might want. As they had hours of walking in front of them, Tesilim also practiced with his presence, though it was much harder yet essential he did. He was still in the same fire spark-creating stage and was working on creating them further out. It was annoying because he still had a lot to learn in regards to his presence, such as just extending his senses, creating magic circles, or the more advanced stuff, using techniques to create domains.

The forest's edge was around a 12-hour walk from the city, and it was made longer because there wasn't any actual road. Even more annoying was the fact that they weren't interrupted by anything trying to fight them. Everything that approached was scared off by their presence. Even so, Tesilim still wanted to tumble but was told off by Alyx and Lili, as these monsters were good practice for starting adventurers who didn’t have powerful magical items or amazing teachers like he did. Also, there was the fact that Amphis, the city's patron, had a whole thing against picking on creatures weaker than yourself for no good reason. The goddess was part of the whole balance of nature philosophy, and even if she was okay with things hunting each other, it was more acceptable when done for legitimate reasons, like feeding oneself.

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Eventually, late into the afternoon, Tesilim noticed the difference. The forest near the city had been tame and full of small paths created by constant adventurer traffic. It also had a much more tame feel. The trees weren't as thickly bunched together, almost as if by design, and travelers could see some distance in front of them, and here wasn’t a lot of overgrowth on the ground, allowing for easier walking.

However, the change had been happening very slowly. The trees had been slowly growing closer, creating a much thicker canopy and blocking easy visibility. Additionally, where the forest near the city had been rather flat, the further out they went, the more uneven the terrain got, and adding more overgrowth, rocks, and even a few yet random hills and cliffs made the terrain much harder to traverse. Thankfully, the sun still shined, and the birds chirped, but the atmosphere was different, something that Tesilim noticed much later than his two companions, who had gone from a rather relaxed walk to a more alert state. Tesilim wasn’t sure, but something in the air seemed different, so he asked.

“Hey, guys, is there something going on with the mana around here?”

Smiling, Lili looked at Alyx from Tesilim’s right and spoke up. “See, what did I tell you? He was going to notice.”

“Yeah, it took him an hour, but I guess he did,” Alyx responded while rolling his crystal eyes.

“What did I miss!?” Tesilim blurted annoyed.

“Yes, Tesilim, the mana in the area changed. It's not purer, just thicker. There is more of it. That's how the World Crystal likes to separate different zones on the planet.”

“What!? Earth didn't have that!”

“Yeah, figures, not every planet is the same,” Alyx responded.

“So what, the World Crystal just changes these things about as it pleases?”

“Yes and no,” Lili responded quickly, continuing the conversation. “It happens slowly, and it often bases it around our civilized points, though not always.

“Yeah, what she said,” Alyx responded, following up on Lili’s answer. “And no, we don’t know why, though we have figured it's something to do with its preferences and the gods. And neither have bothered to share these things.”

“Basically, think of it as a way for it to help separate humanoids and monsters. If monsters have a place with higher mana, then they are less likely to invade and kill non-ranked individuals. As if they did, civilization would collapse.” Lili said.

“And then, with some patrolling and whatnot, you can have large cities like Wildwood. Even then, this place is not as safe as the Empire since we are still in the full wilderness away from bigger points of civilization.” Alyx commented.

“So, what? Monsters don’t attack in the empire?”

“No, it's just that there are more guards to keep people safe. If anything, more people will still attract more monsters. Also, the empire is huge and has lots of wilderness, so there is plenty of land for both to live in, for the most part.” The gnome answered.

“By the way, I recommend you summon your weapon, as we could be attacked at any point.” Lili pointed out.

So, Tesilim quickly rolled his dice, with his spell dice already being assigned to the same spells as before. He got the boxing gloves and quickly identified them.

🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷

Boxing Gloves - Item Rank: Epic - A pair of red and blue boxing gloves enchanted with self-repair, sturdiness, and increased user strength. The red glove is attuned to fire magic, and the blue glove is attuned to ice magic. Both gloves have the following abilities: Envelope. Blast. Missile. Dodge.

Envelope: Each glove is an envelope in their attuned magic and will deal extra damage with each direct hit. The ability slowly drains mana while active.

Blast: Unleash a blast of each glove’s attuned magic in the direction you swing. The blast's range and power depend on how much mana is used. This ability cannot be used along with Missle.

Missile: Unleash a magic missile spell attuned to the corresponding gloves magic. The missile's size, range, and damage are based on the amount of mana spent. Each missile travels in a straight line. This ability cannot be used along with Blast.

Dodge: Spend mana to teleport 5 feet in any direction while wearing both gloves.

🔷

Of course, he was incredibly excited to have them and was extremely pissed off when they disappeared a minute later.

Rolling again, he got them again, which was amazing, and the best part was that they didn't disappear after one minute, which meant he would have them for at least an hour. And the first thing he did was begin teleporting around like a maniac, at least until Lili smacked him in the head. Apparently, “They were in dangerous territory, and he needed to stop being an idiot.”

So sighing, he just looked around excitedly, inviting any monster to fuck around and find out. And almost as if the world wanted to teach him a lesson, he felt something wrapped around his ankle before he was dragged through some bushes.

“Help!” He yelled before he realized he could teleport and teleported out of the vine.

Teleporting upwards with his dodge ability, he looked at the massive bramble of bushes, branches, and vines in front of him and just smiled. He then swung his red glove and unleashed a blast of fire at the stupid plant.