“So, no dice, huh?”
Mikella grumbled along as she wagged her fork at the two men. The family was eating dinner Val and Mikella made along with the helpful kids.
It was a simple meal, since gaining supplies was rare these days, so they opted for seasoned stew packed with boar meat and veggies from the small garden outside.
Despite the simplicity, Zeke always loved the stew. It was mild yet tasty, and more importantly, easier for his stomach. He often focused better doing his runework after a good meal, but certain meals made him sleepy and work inefficiently. He certainly can’t have that.
The kids enjoyed it as well, and Mikella often tried to get Clara to eat her fill, wanting her to grow up big and strong and not the shortstack she was now. She used the word ‘shortstack’ profusely, making Clara resolute in not being so short when she grows up.
The conversation divulged into the visit to the kingdom post town, and the bad news they received.
“Pretty much,” Zeke answered with a shrug. “I can’t help but keep referring to it as visiting a governmental office asking for relief compensations.”
“Ugh, don’t even get me started on those,” Mikella’s eyes turned fierce as she placed her fork down. “Our family was on the poor spectrum so we often did that. Oftentimes they either pretended to not notice us or just plainly told us to deal with it. Whenever we do get compensation, it’s either because we kept pestering them or they do it because otherwise they’ll get in trouble. It doesn’t matter what reason–the government hates handing out cash for free.”
“Even though it’s the law they made?” Zeke asked incredulously, to which Mikella nodded with a strained smile.
“Ironic, huh?”
“The more you talk about your country, the more I think it’s better off you were sent here…” Val said with a shake of her head. She seemed so aghast after hearing about the two’s tales from their world.
They often talked about their world and how it was shaped compared to this one, and for some reason the two Journeymen here kept being frightened at the prospect.
“Promises never kept, and dealt with incompetence and sloth… is it really so different from ours?” Cloud answered, a sagely tone in his voice as he packed another mouthful of the stew and veggie combo into his mouth.
“So for now, we’re on our own,” Zeke said, hoping to get away from the subject. Honestly, talking about their world kept reminding him what a shit hand they were dealt with. He knew it was ridiculous, but still. “Thankfully, we weren’t attacked on the way. So at least there won’t be any more surprise horde attacks on the town.”
“We make sure we keep any strays away too,” Mikella mentioned. “Me and everyone else often find them when we start cutting trees. It’s kinda pathetic even. Their levels were lower than usual–around level 20 or so.”
“Really?” Zeke asked, his brows widening.
“Uh-huh,” Mikella nodded. “So, when do you think the merchants are gonna come back? We can keep cutting trees left and right, but I don’t think that’s gonna be enough. At some point, we’re gonna run out of trees.”
It was obvious Mikella was exaggerating, but perhaps not exactly. While they did live near the forest, cutting too many trees could lead to some trouble along the way. If the monsters keep finding their forest getting hacked away, they might have to go to another direction and leave the town without any monsters to hunt and gain XP, or even hides and meat to use.
Of course there was a matter of sending those same monsters to another area where it might trouble those that lived there, but honestly nobody cared about that. After all, the people there would most likely enjoy seeing weakling monsters come at them and practically hand them their loot and XP.
That’s a long time before that could happen, but if the town is ever going to prosper, they need to find a way to advance without using up too many of their resources. Zeke’s experiences with playing management games played a deft hand on that.
“Cloud?” Val asked, hoping for the same answer, but Cloud only shook his head.
“Unfortunately, the merchants are still staying far away,” Cloud answered, a frown visible on his face despite eating the delicious stew. “Though I’m not sure why.”
“You think it’s Bastion, or the Aetheric Federation, keeping them away?” Mikella asked, her eyes narrowing. “Kinda like ‘if you go there, we’ll kill you’ kind of thing?”
“Possibly,” Cloud said, mimicking her expression. “That would be a good way to keep us down and injured for longer.”
“I can’t believe this,” Val said, her tone reaching up there in exasperation. “What purpose do they have in trying to keep us down? No matter how you spin it, we don’t have much to offer. Just a lot of land and trees and low level monsters. Is this some kind of power play they’re doing that I’m not getting?”
Zeke frowned, disliking this idea more and more. He can’t help but remember the corporations and businesses doing this same tactic throughout his working life. It’s not just about the money or the prestige, but to keep the opposition down by doing exaggerated actions as if to strike fear into their hearts.
But people’s lives are included in this. It’s not just losing a job–it’s losing everything, including your family and friends. He knew this world is a lot more extreme and hardcore, but he would think there would still be some mercy for those who can’t even fight monsters on their own. Especially when gaining strength relies heavily on resources and a place to train.
If you don’t even give a noob an area to farm monsters to raise levels, what can you expect that noob to do other than to just live his life?
“As far as I know, Bastion is a smith-centered city filled with a population of over a hundred thousand people. As for the reason why they would attack us, there are several things I can think of. First, the land. Nobody is going to deny having more land with potential monsters that’s in the appropriate level range for their weaker soldiers. The second is that it’s not sanctioned by the kingdom. There’s no need to pay for fees or to get a license, so the faction might use that as a leverage to get more people to join their city.”
Zeke nodded. “I get it. It’s the small things to help them grow bigger.”
“Precisely,” Cloud nodded.
“But ambushing us? Killing our non-combatants and even the elderly? Couldn’t they just, I don’t know, force us to sign us up to their territory? That seems like jumping a few steps ahead just for kicks.”
Mikella sounded more frustrated the more she spoke. No matter how you spin it, it’s definitely overkill to go this far just to get this land and the resources. Normally, this is when talks between territories go awry and soon start a small war between them.
Though, blindsiding them like this is also an effective way to bring down their morale, no matter how immoral and cowardly that action is.
“While Eve Glade is not officially sanctioned by the kingdom, that doesn’t mean the kingdom doesn’t have their eyes on us,” Cloud repeated, looking almost defeated as he finished his stew. He really left his bowl utterly empty from the looks of it. “They can’t easily get us to sign up to be part of their territory as they need the king’s permission to get it. And as far as I know, getting an audience with the king is nearly impossible.”
“We should know, we had to do some incredible things to get his attention,” Val smiled, reminiscing about the time.
The two adults nearly spit out their remaining stew from their mouths. They looked at her in shock.
“You met with the king of Sham-la?” Zeke asked, putting each word out to make sure he got the right guy. “The sole living Grandmaster?”
Grandmaster–a stage beyond level 150. It was beyond Master, and further beyond than Journeymen. Zeke can’t even imagine the level of strength and prestige that came from reaching that high in level, especially after all the trials and effort he put in–or rather his partner Mikella–just to get to level 30.
“Yep,” Val cheeped, leaving both the adults to gape at her. “How do you think we got this plot of land to make a town?”
“It was a doozy, that’s for sure,” Cloud said, shaking his head. “Even at our stage, meeting him is like being with a being far beyond human. It was pretty damn nauseating. The mana swirling around him was just… packed with power.”
Zeke could barely imagine that level of power himself. He definitely felt power, back during the end of the zombie-infested dungeon, when he first got that attunement. But that wasn’t enough to faze Cloud, being a Journeyman mage and all.
So if Cloud is the one saying the king in such awe like that, just how powerful is a Grandmaster?
“Wait, hold on,” Mikella raised her empty hands, just as finished with her own meal. “You’re saying that the kingdom has their eyes on this town, but they’re ignoring us? What the hell?”
That did made Zeke tilt his head. Rather strange that the kingdom went out of its way to make this town without any taxes, yet they were okay with just letting it go to another territory belonging to a different power?
“You’re forgetting that Eve Glade is made up of those who can barely pay back taxes,” Val said. There was a sad tone in her voice, not wanting to bring this up, but it had to be done. “It was an experiment of sorts–nothing more. If the town is so weak that it gets taken over by more powerful territories for some reason, the kingdom won’t really think twice in trying to defend against that attack. It’s like asking to pay up to help protect your trash from someone else taking it.”
The otherworlders grimaced, the analogy being a bit more direct than what was really necessary. Still, it made the point she wanted.
“So if the king is out, that means Bastion could rely on forcing us through direct means,” Cloud went back on track with the conversation, bringing them into this morbid reality. “We’re on our own for a little while.”
“How long do you think we have before they attack us again?” Zeke asked, gripping his fork tight. “Do you think they’re gonna try to wipe us all out?”
“I doubt it,” Cloud answered. “But… I can’t divine the future. There could be many reasons why they want this town, maybe even something they want that we don’t know as of yet. That’s why we need to keep steadfast and handle everything they throw at us.”
Leaving it at that, the group cleaned up after themselves to get ready to rest for tomorrow. Mikella took the kids to give them a bath along with herself while Zeke was just about to head back to Cloud’s study to learn more about runes.
It was a good way to gain some levels without expending too much mana. While his channels were fine and recovered, he wanted to make sure to give his channels as many breaks as they needed. It wasn’t so serious as to gain a chronic illness or anything if he kept pushing them, but he wanted to follow the lords’ advice to have breaks whenever they could.
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He smiled, thinking about the potential progress as he opened up his status after two months spent after the zombie dungeon.
He made a lot of progress since then–well, as much as he could without seeing any form of combat outside of rare strays. As for Zeke, he had very important choices to make after finishing up the dungeon.
That were his maxed skills: Mana Perception and Barrier Craft.
Reaching the max level of their current state, Zeke was allowed bonuses, including an option to advance or evolve their skills.
Advancing a skill is the same as bumping up their rarities, as it happened quite a bit throughout their time. Hell, even his Recovery advanced after a rare skill has incorporated with another due to Myra’s attunement incident. It advanced to Epic rarity, allowing his skill to become stronger and more potent after integrating the useful General Skill Internal Senses into it–which added in an extra bonus of leaving more room for another potential General Skill, as the list is limited in slots.
Evolving, on the other hand, is transforming the skill into something else. Thankfully, it would usually jump up in rarity and usefulness, which was a boon. His Barrier Craft only had the option to advance, jumping it straight from Rare to Epic, just like his Recovery.
His Mana Perception, on the other hand, had the option to evolve. And after careful consideration along with other people’s input, he chose that particular option. He got two choices, almost the same as getting a new skill choice for his Class Skill, but this was for how his Mana Perception would change from here on out.
The first option was Hyper Mana Perception. Strangely, it was an upgraded version of Mana Perception allowing him to view farther away and sense further magical energies. In some cases, he could even view just how much mana one person has.
In other words, it was exactly like Internal Senses toned down a smidge. Internal Senses can normally be learned by other magic-based classes other than Runist, but it was still a more valuable skill even with its limited range.
Having his valuable skill evolve into something that his Recovery already has felt pointless, and he was pretty sure he didn’t have to see more mana to see… well, more mana. It was kinda redundant.
There was also the fact that one of his attunement ability might make taking this skill option pointless. His Overreach might be able to do just that and possibly more. But that was out of reach right now.
The other option was better in comparison. By a mile, actually.
> Skill Evolution has commenced.
>
> Your skill Mana Perception (Uncommon) has evolved into Mana Manipulation (Rare).
>
> Your skill Mana Manipulation has been reset to level 1. You will still retain the stat bonuses you have acquired before the evolution.
…..
> Mana Manipulation (Rare), Level 1
> Evolved from Mana Perception, you are able to further control mana as though it was a physical thing. Your control over your own mana, as well as any unowned magical energy around you, will increase according to the level of the skill and the current Spirit stat.
There was no reason to worry about losing his earlier powers after skill evolution, as according to the description, Mana Manipulation still had the foundation of Mana Perception, only now it was able to help him further control mana better than ever before.
He can even use it to help his barriers move–by like, a quarter inch or so. Mikella made fun of him for that, but for him, it was a major improvement.
Along with that, he could use Mana Manipulation to also help his runecraft better, which he was now starting to understand how to use his runes more effectively in combat.
Just as he was thinking about what to do with his improvement for today’s runework, Cloud called out to him.
“Zeke, can I ask for a favor?”
Zeke turned to find Cloud dressed in his casual clothing. He wore a simple tunic and long trousers, showing his writhe frame with some muscle packed in his exposed arms. Zeke could barely believe him to be that strong despite being a mage, but then again, he was a Journeyman. He might have some points in his physical stats without even meaning to.
“Sure, what’s up?” Zeke asked. “Does Val need some healing?”
“No, I’m good.”
Zeke became surprised to find Val walking up to Cloud, showing her own casual clothes. It was just a simple tank top and soft linen pants, something to sleep comfortably just like Mikella would wear.
“Thank you for asking though,” Val smiled genuinely at him. But then she turned to her husband. “Cloud?”
“Yeah,” Cloud nodded, then turned to Zeke with a heavy stare. “Zeke… come with me. There’s something I have to show you.”
…..
Zeke followed the two lords through the living room to the back of the house. Although it’s the back, it’s really going around the hallway corner and suddenly entering into a random place in the hall, facing against a normal wooden wall.
At least, that’s what Zeke thought it was. But there was something special about it. Not on the wall itself, but on it, and around it.
“...Mana?” Zeke muttered to himself, flaring Mana Manipulation and Recovery both into his eyes.
The wall was filled with a dense lot of it. It felt compact, as if gathered specifically together around the wall, and surrounding the entire hallway. The strangest part is that despite living here for half a year, he only just noticed it now. If the lords hadn't suddenly stopped here and stared at the wall for a second, Zeke wouldn’t have noticed it at all.
Cloud explained precisely what Zeke theorized it was.
“It’s a ward,” Cloud answered Zeke’s unasked question. “It’s actually part of my Runecraft skill mixed with my Class Skill to make it denser. This ward obscures the door here to where I want to take you. It also puts up a veil on your senses, not letting anyone see through it. So not only is it defended, you can’t even see it.”
“It’s Cloud’s proudest work,” Val shrugged tiredly. “He wouldn’t shut up about it for weeks when he was creating it.”
“Hey, take it easy,” Cloud looked faux offended by Val’s words. “I’m sensitive.”
Val just scoffed at him as he smirked back, motioning his fingers and creating a sort of connection to the ward with his own mana signature. Zeke could see it all with his magic infused eyes.
Then, the mana swirling around his senses and obscuring what was hidden vanished in a flash, as though he just turned on the light switch. His eyes could barely keep up when the very door they were talking about just showed up out of nowhere. It wasn’t even a specially fancy door. Just a normal wooden door decorated lightly like all the other doors. There was a golden knob, not real golden but plated, as Cloud turned it and let them inside.
Zeke followed the lords heading in, surrounded entirely in darkness. Then his eyes picked up as several lights turned on one after another in a short interval, showing a staircase that seemed to go down and down to the abyss.
Checking up on the lights, he saw that they were the fluorescent lights the dungeon he went through had, the one where he first found Mikella and Clara. The lights were encased in small rectangle glass and the lights themselves were actually moss like leaves that glowed a bright blue. Zeke wondered if perhaps these leaves were like the ones in his world where if you touch it, they close themselves up for protection.
“D-Do these lights react to someone’s presence and light up accordingly?” Zeke asked.
“That’s right,” Cloud asked. “They’re also pretty great for filling the area with ambient Mana, but they’re pretty rare to cultivate and grow. Though it’s worth it for this one.”
That was the first time he heard about plants that actually fill the area with ambient mana. As far as he knew, ambient mana is the energy in the atmosphere, in the air and the ground, like oxygen. While it’s in miniscule amounts, it’s the very same way that one can recover mana with ease thanks to the Meditation skill. It helps hasten the process, something like breathing in fresh air rather than one tainted with smog and pollution.
He was just about to ask why the lords didn’t have more of these for the town, since the healers would definitely need it for more healing. But quickly realized that they were rare according to what he said, and hard to gain. That made perfect sense. The world would be too perfect if they had everything they needed in abundance.
So if these responsible lords have these lights in abundance in this kind of place, what sort of thing needed this much juice?
When he reached the bottom of the staircase, he realized why. He wondered just how far they had to go down, considering they kept walking for a few minutes.
But the moment he laid eyes on it, he knew instantly. The mana surrounding the small chamber-like area was so dense, it felt like the ward covering the door from his senses. It was practically fogging his eyes, yet it was so clear.
What was resting beneath this house, what felt like underneath the entire town, was a diamond-shaped crystalline obelisk. Tinted bright blue, the obelisk had a resemblance of a blooming flower, the diamond standing up right up at the center with several spikes flowing upwards beside it, as if guarding the diamond.
It wasn’t just some giant-ass crystal resting in the chamber. It was an important giant ass crystal. Otherwise, why else is it charged with so much Mana? He could practically drown in all this Mana, and he felt his own channels being filled to the brim.
Yet, he can’t cast his skill. His channels felt stinted somehow, as though some force was bearing down on him. Now that he realized it, his entire body felt some kind of weight on him. It wasn’t bad, and he certainly didn’t feel any hostility or anything. He’s been through enough of that. No, it felt almost sacred, but his curiosity got the best of him.
“What is this?” He asked, unable to even use Mana Manipulation despite the mana being so dense here.
“This is our Unity Core,” Cloud explained as he stared at it. Despite the dense mana, Cloud looked at it as though it bore a heavy weight on him. Val didn’t look any nonplussed, but just like Cloud, she watched it with an intensity only a veteran could have. “This is the very object our town relies on for survival and continued growth.”
Zeke turned back to him, eyes widened. “Seriously? I get this is super magical, but what does it do?”
“Precisely as I said,” Cloud continued. He was patiently answering Zeke’s burning questions, knowing exactly what he felt as he answered. “The Unity Core provides our entire identity as a town. It recognizes the citizens as part of the town, their accomplishments and effort, while taking their resources to fuel its power, granting access to the town’s inner workings.”
“Like providing warmth during winter and an available water source,” Val continued. “Being the lords, we have access to it the most, but we let everyone in the town take its power as well. But that’s also a reason why we’re such a small town.”
Zeke was flabbergasted by all this, but everything started to make sense. The energy that supplied them with the power necessary to work the appliances had to come from somewhere, and Zeke knew Cloud wasn’t truly the only one capable of forking over a lot of Mana needed to charge this giant thing.
He knew that being the lords, they have some form of luxury, and in return they work for the sake of the town. Val being the captain, and Cloud being sort of like the mayor where he took in the citizen’s requests and complaints and dealt with them appropriately.
But that wasn’t all. The citizens can also enjoy their own luxuries, and while this town–and this world known as Tarial–lived in a sort of medieval era where there is no working electricity, they could still enjoy things such as baths and stoves, the hallmark of modern living.
Of course, it was through the runes that Cloud would sometimes aid in, and Zeke who mostly took over during the two months passing by as an official Runist. But it wasn’t as though he nor Cloud were supplying them with mana to charge them and make them work. There was also the blacksmith, Adam, as well as the other crafters that needed their own tools with higher energy output to put out their products for the sake of the town.
The energy had to come from somewhere. The Unity Core made that connection possible.
“But there’s only so much Mana this thing can give,” Zeke answered, almost in a trance. “The taxes of the other cities are for…”
“It’s to fuel their own Unity Core,” Cloud answered. “A bigger city needs more energy, and the only way to provide more energy to the city is to feed it power from ourselves. But there’s a balance. In our case, we have a small town and have enough energy to fuel everyone’s homes. For a bigger city, they’re gonna need more fuel.”
Zeke nodded, now understanding fully why some other cities and small territories charge so heavily with their taxes. It’s to fuel the Unity Core, capable of providing so many things, on top of granting them access to the System’s power, such as the quests generated by the lords needed to keep the economy going, and so much more.
But that begs another question, something that got Zeke to forget exactly why he was here.
“So, what do you need me to do here?” Zeke asked, and that got the two to stay silent and stare at each other.
There was resolution in their eyes, making Zeke pause.
“Are you guys gonna kill and feed me to this thing?” Zeke asked, half-joking, and half ready to run for the hills along with Mikella and Clara.
“What?” Val asked in surprise. “No! Of course not!”
“Don’t worry, honey. He’s just kidding,” Cloud smirked, getting Val to calm down. Zeke was kidding (half at least), but he was surprised how taken aback Val was. Cloud still had a smirk on his face, but then it slowly shifted into a solemn stare.
“Zeke… the favor I’m gonna ask you is probably the biggest yet. But you’re the only one I can count on,” Cloud continued, his eyes staring deep into his own. “Would you become the lord of Eve Glade along with us?”
Zeke had to do a double-take and rewind his brain to make sure he had it right. Ensuring that his mind was working properly, he asked.
“...I’m sorry, what?”