As he exited the building, Jonathan thanked the two healers, Mira and Nathan, who had been taking care of him over the past month. He inhaled the cold, wet air, reveling in the feeling of the slow wind gently brushing over him. The moment later he spotted Alice, who was waiting for him at the front gate. Waving at her, Jonathan walked down the stairs toward the woman, his legs feeling a bit unsteady from the prolonged lack of use.
“How are you feeling?” She asked as he reached her.
“Not my greatest, but I will survive.” Jonathan smiled awkwardly, the scabs on his cheek making the gesture slightly lopsided. “I never really got to thank you properly.”
“No, you didn’t. I was starting to wonder if you were even going to.” She said playfully
“Thank you, Alice.” The words didn’t even come close to expressing his true gratitude, but the look in her eyes told Jonathan that she understood.
“You’re welcome.” Alice’s smile was somber, before her eyes lit up in excitement, as she pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to him “Oh! I almost forgot! I had my father make this for you! Can’t go around the town looking like cyclops, so… here!”
Jonathan took the long band of dyed black leather. A dry chuckle left his lips the moment he recognized the item, and slid the eyepatch over his head.
“Much better!” Alice nodded, satisfied at his appearance. “Are you good enough to walk back to the city? I can fetch a rickshaw puller if you can’t.”
“It’s fine. I’m itching to get back into action, so lead the way. I think it’s time that I joined the Order.”
The pair walked from the house of healing back towards the city. The house was located a couple kilometers off to the countryside, letting the patients recover in relative peace and away from the city’s bustle.
The city of Rong was far larger than what Jonathan was led to believe. As they approached the place, the surrounding fog was illuminated in soft, orange glow as gas lamps lit up the streets. He was somewhat taken aback with the architectural style of the buildings; Tall spires, pointed arches, and intricate carvings adorning the exteriors gave the place a gothic feel to it. Heavy cast-iron fences separated the streets from residential structures, guarded by intricate filigree statues. The verticality of the city was impressive, buildings often reaching four or even five stories high, connected by a set of ornate walkways.
Jonathan and Alice made their way through the crowds, Jonathan taking in the sights and sounds of the busy city life. Distant echoes of clanking gears and steam engines rang throughout the tight alleyways indicating heavy use of somewhat advanced technology. From what he could gather, the place was in the middle of its own industrial revolution, slowly starting to integrate science and its applications with magic.
People in the city seemed content enough. As with any place, poverty was still a problem, but not a huge one from the looks of it. Jonathan saw only a few beggars sitting on random street corners with their tin cups and ragged clothing. Otherwise, the streets were clean and quality of life decent for the majority of the people.
As they moved deeper, Jonathan grew more enamored with the place. The misty streets, pointy buildings and flickering street lamps gave the place an eerie feeling Jonathan hadn’t seen before. Humans and elves made up the majority of the population with some dwarves and gnomes sprinkled in, each going about their business. He saw vendors selling food from carts, street performers entertaining passersby, and children running around playing games.
The shopfronts lining the narrow walkways ranged from humble bakeries to blacksmiths and tailors, displaying their wares through lit windows. To Jonathan’s eyes the items sold weren’t anything too special, but the business kept moving as more and more people entered and exited the stores in a controlled chaos.
Alice pointed out some of the city’s landmarks as they moved past them, such as the grand cathedral, the clock tower that stood in the center of the city, and the palace of the city’s ruler, which was especially ostentatious in its architecture.
“Here we are then!” Alice came to a stop in front of a four story building that stood near the edge of the city, in the middle of a small square. Embedded in its steel reinforced set of double doors was a meter wide circular emblem, depicting a compass. Four arrows representing each cardinal direction pointed inwards, and the hands of the compass having been replaced with an ornate rune of travel.
“The order’s headquarters!”
Jonathan nodded, not really knowing what kind of a response she was looking for. As far as the building itself went, it was fairly impressive. The people moving in and out of the place were strong enough, anywhere between levels thirty and two hundred. Not the kind of company he was used to, however.
They entered into a large entrance hall. At the far side of the room stood a row of booths, each manned by a receptionist who were filling out reports, and managing the adventurers signing up for, or collecting their mission rewards. At the opposite side were multiple notice boards accompanied by plush seating, where members of the Orders sat around, discussing potential gigs. The operation was huge, Jonathan estimating at least two hundred people being inside with a steady stream of adventurers flowing in and out.
Alice led him to a vacated booth, where a middle aged man was clicking on his typewriter.
“Hi William!” She greeted the employee with a wide smile. “We need an Order sign up form! This is my friend, Jonathan! I mentioned him in my report! He’s here to join up!”
William finished his typing and handed the paper to his coworker, before raising his eyes to inspect the newcomer.
“A sign up form?” His focus moved to Jonathan, taking in his less than ideal appearance. His overly thin figure and an eye patch that didn’t hide the deep scarring ruining the right side of his face wasn’t making a good first impression. “Are you sure? He looks like he’s halfway down to the grave already.”
“I’m sure.” Jonathan answered shortly. Alice had already informed him of the benefits and requirements of joining the group. What it boiled down to was, you had to follow their rules, which were simple enough and didn’t interfere with his plans, and you might get assigned to a mandatory mission if the needs were great and your skill set was needed. Otherwise he would be able to get paid by completing board notices, and more importantly to him, he was free to travel around the rings if the current location wasn’t to his liking. Other benefits, such as guilds, access to Order exclusive shops and so on were nice for the locals, but didn’t much affect his current needs.
William gave him a simple shrug of ‘it’s not my life you’re risking’, and started rifling through papers in his drawer.
“I’ll get your personal details down. I’m assuming miss.. umm… Alison?”
“Alice”
“Miss Alice will vouch for you?”
“I do!”
“Very well. Then you need a seal of approval from one of the officers. Do you have an interview time already set?”
“We do!” Alice said, surprising Jonathan. Catching his expression, she grinned; “I had a talk with a superior when handing in my latest contract! He was the one who sent me to the village and already knows about you!”
“Alright. So, let’s start with the name. Jonathan was it?” William started.
Over the course of the next twenty minutes or so, Jonathan answered the employee’s questions one after another. The man’s expression grew more confused, the more Jonathan spoke. No home city, singular affinity channel as a caster, path of trials at his level and far too high skill rankings for someone at the start of his journey. He could have lied about his skills, but just couldn’t bring himself to do so. He took pride in his achievements, and couldn’t help but boast a bit. He did, however, leave out the higher ranks skills, such as storm channeling and weather control. Wielding those would’ve been outright impossible for him at his current stage, and he didn’t want to give away his most powerful aces in case later on he came to blows with the Order. Again and again the man asked if Jonathan was sure he wanted his answers to be put down as is. It was obvious William thought of him as a liar, but he didn’t care much. Either he was lying and got himself killed, or he was speaking the truth.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
After the paper was filled, William handed it to him and they got to waiting. Jonathan drew some attention from the people in the hall, but not enough for any of them to actually approach him. Eventually, Alice sprouted up, standing in attention as a man walked towards them. Jonathan turned his head towards the incoming figure, assessing him. The man was clearly a non combatant, the aura he radiated didn’t hold the steel of combat, but rather a feeling of authority. If he had to take a guess of the man’s progression path, it would’ve been the path of Diplomacy.
The man came to a stop in front of them, greeting Alice with a handshake. “Nice to meet you again, miss Althorn. This is him then?” He asked, nodding towards Jonathan.
“It is nice to meet you too, Morrison! And yes, this is Jonathan.” She kicked Jonathan’s shin as she spoke, making him stand up in turn. Morrison didn’t offer a hand to him, instead looking him over carefully.
“Follow me, boy. I want to speak to you privately before agreeing to let you in.”
Being called a boy irked Jonathan in the wrong way. He was eighty seven years old, for crying out loud. Still basically a child when measured in planeswalker’s infinite lifespan, but the man calling him boy looked half his age. Jonathan tried his best to dismiss the slight insult, as his current low level indicated a young age, and he still looked like he was in his late teens or early twenties. Even so, it almost got a rise out of him.
Jonathan followed Morrison to an office room on the second floor. He sat down without being invited, still annoyed at the boy quip, and slid his sign up form on the wooden desk. Morrison took a seat the opposite side of him, his expression annoyed at Jonathan’s impolite behavior. Ignoring the paper, he leaned back on his chair, waiting for Jonathan to break the silence. He wasn’t going to take the bait, and the two sat in silence for a long five minutes, before Morrison finally gave up and exhaled deeply.
“What is your deal, Jonathan?” He asked, his voice stern.
“My deal?” Jonathan asked, a bit surprised at the unexpected question.
“Yes, your deal. I already got a copy of your form delivered to me. You show up out of nowhere, with no background, no family or personal history. You claim to have abilities that are, quite frankly, impossible for someone at your age. You also seem to have a chip on your shoulder, and you’re not making a very good impression.” Morrison leaned forward, his eyes searching Jonathan’s face for any sign of deception. “So, I’ll ask again, what is your deal?”
“I want to join the Order.” Jonathan tried
“Why?”
“Fame and glory?”
“Bullshit. I’ll give you one more chance to answer my question. If your answer doesn’t satisfy me, I’ll have no choice but to blacklist you. Who are you? Why are you here?”
Jonathan thought about the man’s words. His situation was indeed somewhat unusual, so he felt the question reasonable enough to provide an answer.
“I got stranded on this… umm… ring. I don’t exactly know how, but as of right now I am unable to go back home.”
Morrison stared at him for a long while. Seeming satisfied, he nodded, signaling for him to carry on.
“I don’t have the resources to do what I need, and joining seems like the most convenient way to acquire them.”
“What kind of resources? What do you need to do exactly?”
“Power, levels, magical gear, the whole works. And my needs are my own, if you don’t mind.”
“I do mind. Please, elaborate.”
“For starters I find this thing with the cult quite intriguing. Should be a good warm up.”
Morrison sighed as Jonathan grinned inwardly. The man was getting tired of digging out the answers he was looking for.
“A warm up for what?”
“I intend to kill someone.” Jonathan answered casually, testing the waters. His statement didn’t seem to surprise Morrison, who just nodded, pleased that they were making progress.
“And who do you intend to kill?” The man asked, his eyes once again scanning him.
“My former master.” He shrugged, debating how much to tell the man. “Back home, she’s wanted for… uhhh… Let’s just say that she had done some awful things and leave it at that.”
“You need to be a bit more open than that.” Morrison encouraged him to elaborate, but Jonathan shook his head.
“I’m sure you understand that there are things I cannot tell you. All you need to know about me is that I intend no harm to your organization or the people of this land.”
Morrison seemed to consider this for a moment before coming to a decision.
“I suppose that is good enough. But understand that if any information comes to light that you are secretly acting against your Order, I will not just banish you, I will personally see to it that you are brought to justice. Are we clear?”
Jonathan nodded easily. He didn’t have much interest in this world, and certainly didn’t want any harm to come to it. All he needed was more power to finally take vengeance on his team's murder.
“Fair enough. So, are we done here?”
“Two more things. You listed a pretty impressive list of skills in your registration form. Why?”
“What do you mean, why?”
“Come on. We both know that someone just starting out cannot have expertise ranks in magic, let alone mastery. Enchanting alone takes years of practice. Years far above yours.”
Jonathan smirked.
“I can prove that particular one easily enough, if you’d like.”
“Please do.”
“Do you have a rune pen? And a dagger I can inscribe?”
“Inscribe? Oh, this I have to see.”
Morrison called for a secretary, and a few minutes later Jonathan held a silver rune pen, staring down a simple steel dagger.
“How about a wager?” He suggested, after deeming that the item was good enough quality to handle runes. “If I succeed here, these items are mine, and you sign me up with no further questions.”
Morrison was watching him with keen interest. “And what if you lose?”
“I won’t.”
He seemed to consider it for a moment, before nodding, an amused smile teasing on the edges of his lips. “Fine, you have a deal. But if you fail, you’ll tell me everything I want to know.”
With a sly grin, Jonathan got to work.
Enchanting wasn’t particularly difficult of a profession to start with, but it required a certain type of build and dedication. There were two main ways to imbue an object with mana, the first one, the easiest way, was to just channel your mana into the object. He could, for example, channel his wind blade through the metal, filling it up to the capacity. The item would remain magical until the mana was spent, returning to a mundane form right after.
The other way, the way Jonathan was about to do, was called inscribing. You drew runes directly onto the item, making it permanently magical. When done like this, a person could power up the runes as they pleased, but it drew some mana from them every time they did so. There were obviously ways to mitigate the mana draw, like inscribing a gem inserted into the item to draw in ambient mana, and linking it to the main set of runes, but that was either here or there when it came to this experiment.
Jonathan’s hand moved quickly, drawing two precise runes on the edge of the blade, and one on the handle. For the inscription to work, he needed to draw them with a rune pen, and fuel the process with his own mana. Some runes required more mana and finesse to draw, so his options were fairly limited with his current pool. In the end he settled on wind and blade for the dagger itself, and a channeling rune for the handle, to ease the mana draw from the person wielding it.
In the end he let out a sigh of satisfaction when the runes pulsed slightly and sank into the item. He wasn’t worried that it would fail, since when he wasn’t exploring planes, Jonathan had made a living as an enchanter, and with the risk of sounding boisterous, was very skilled with the craft. He took the weapon by the blade, offering the handle to Morrison who took it, a somewhat dumbfounded expression on his face.
When he channeled mana into the dagger, wind solidified around the edges of it, considerably increasing its sharpness.
“Impressive. The mana expenditure is surprisingly low.” Morrison said, hiding his awe. Clearly, he had expected Jonathan to fail.
Jonathan in turn pocketed the rune pen and held his uninjured arm out for the dagger.
“As we agreed. These are mine, and you sign me up without further questions.”
Morrison deactivated the runes and returned the dagger to him.
“Yes, yes… Although I have one more thing I want to know.” He muttered, clearly wanting to pry more, but managing to restrain himself.
“Fine. What is it?”
“What are your intentions with Alice? She has already asked for you to be placed in a team with her, so I have to know. Are you any danger to her?”
Jonathan thought of the question. The man seemed genuinely concerned about her, so he decided to be honest with his answer.
“I would like to consider her a friend. When I met her, I was in a bad state of mind, seeking battle, wherever. I won’t put her in serious danger again. Why do you ask?”
“Call it a favor for a friend.” Morrison took a stamp out of his desk, marking the sign up form with the Order’s seal. “Then, as we agreed, I won’t ask anything else and accept your request to join. I will, however, also assign another member to your team to assess your skills and judgment, until I’m certain about you.”
Jonathan stood and nodded in understanding. He took the signed contract and got ready to leave.
“Thank you for your time.”
Without another word from either of them, he left the office, making his way at the entrance hall once again. On one of the booths he exchanged the form to a brass emblem he quickly examined before fixing it to his belt. The backside held his identification number that other branches of the Order could use to access his past mission reports, his savings in the Order’s personal bank and other information relating to him.
He joined up with Alice, and together the pair got to the notice boards. It was time to grind himself some levels.