- 39 -
They sat by the water for a half hour quietly waiting for fish to bite. Drew's sadness didn't disappear entirely, but it eased slightly, as if it was carried away by the rushing water.
A boy died. I did everything I could. I need to be stronger.
Drew cawed sadly and checked the progress on his new skill.
[Mana Channeling]: 89%
There was a slight tug on his line but Drew was still lost in his thoughts.
I did save the rest of the children, they all survived. And they couldn’t save him either, they could barely protect themselves.
Another nibble tickled the hook. Then the line went tight! It nearly jumped out of Drew’s claws. The fisherman sat up straight on his stool.
“Focus! Ride it out, let out some slack, let it tug and tire itself out, then when you know you are stronger whip it up and bring it back.” He said.
Easier said than done! Dammit this thing must be huge! It’s nearly pulling me off the dock!
Drew struggled against the fish on the end of his line. Twice, he nearly was pulled off the jetty into the water. But at one point, when his stamina was down to 25% the line froze up and he knew it was his moment to rip the fish out of the water.
The surface of the water seemed to bend upwards then a dark shape surfaced, like a torpedo from a submarine. Drew pulled the rod all the way back and the fish flew at him in a straight line. He had to duck to avoid the flying fish landing on the boards where he had been.
New Skill: [Mana Channeling] lvl 1 - Proficiency holding active mana has improved. Efficiency channeling spells increased by 2%.
Woo! I got one! Drew Screeched.
“Hah ha! Fine fishing lad! Well done! You're a quick learner, little fella. Fishing takes time and practice, but I can see you've got the potential for it.”
The fisherman reached down to touch what Drew could only describe as a small log.
“This here is a Log Fish. Judging by its size it’s about lvl 5. Tough as tack to eat but remember, it's not just about catching fish. It's about finding peace within yourself.”
You must be joking! All that work for a damn log?
Drew looked down at the waterlogged branch and would have thrown it back in if it didn’t flare its gills and try to flop over onto its belly.
He attacked it without thinking and killed it with little effort. The fisherman laughed as Drew was flapping about wrangling the fish away from the edge of the jetty.
Combat results: Log Fish lvl 5 35 exp.
Drew checked his stats to see how much farther he needed to save up for his next rank.
I’ll need 800 exp for level 6. I reach the next rank at level 10. That’s alot of hunger quests but fishing will do double duty. Helping me level my mana abilities and get food. I wonder if I can find a way to cook this?
When a quest didn’t pop up he looked over to the fisherman, embarrassed by the carcass of the fish under his claw.
“Go ahead little fella, it was a twice won battle. Enjoy your victory and the prize that came along with it.” He said.
The fisherman settled back down on his stool and faced the river as Drew tore into the log fish.
This is delicious, although kinda grassy with an earthy aftertaste. I could definitely keep fishing.
Quest Complete: Hunger: 25 exp
Quest Complete: Hunger: 25 exp
Wanting to thank the fisherman, Drew hopped over to where the man sat at the end of the jetty.
Thank you for the fishing lesson, sir. Drew cawed and lifted the fishing rod to return it.
Without turning, the man shook his head. “Keep the rod little fella. It’s a gift. Keep fishing and that is thank you enough for me.”
Drew bobbed his head and transferred his new rod to his gatherer ring and flew back to town.
- 40 -
Drew returned to the Adventurer’s guild and stashed his rod in his nest.
News had spread of Ethan’s passing and there were more adventurers in the bar than usual.
There was a somber tone to the drinking but it was in no way diminished.
A few adventurers meditating in the shade outside.
He hunkered down and tried meditating, but his mind kept wandering to his skills.
If I had leveled up more I could have saved Ethan. If my mana pool was larger I could have healed him longer. And if I leveled up my healing spell it would heal faster.
After 30 minutes of meditating he’d only gained 12% proficiency in his Mana Regeneration skill. His gaze wandered to look at the strange carvings on the bakery across the street.
The most common were the medallions with crystals embedded in them. Most homes and businesses have several active medallions out front.
I have seen people swapping out crystals more than once. What do they do with them once they swap them out?
Drew flew over to follow a woman back into her bakery where she took the crystal to her oven. There was a slot surrounded by the same strange script that the crystal fit into perfectly.
Quest Complete: Puzzling: Strange Symbols: Reward - [Mana Script] Unlocked. Exp 450.
New Quest: Learn [Mana Script] - The language of mana, all enchantments and spells follow this script. Used by Enchanters and Alchemists to create their spell arrays.
Oh cool! It’s enchantments, do they charge off of solar power? It must be Mana, it’s in the name. So these crystals are all batteries!
Drew squawked in excitement and the baker chased him out of the bakery smacking him with a stale baguette.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
He used his Basic Heal spell to top off his health.
These scripts are all pretty long and convoluted. Too bad I don’t have a decoder ring. I guess I need to find a few more scripts and brute force a translation.
An hour later, Drew was scratching runes into the dirt with his claws.
These are the runes that I see the most often in the mana charging enchantments. If they are the important ones then what are all these other symbols? Are they letters or words? What if enchanters each have their own phrasing…
Drew huffed and ruffled his feathers.
The old enchanter walked by and stopped. He recognized the script and mistakenly thought the young Skurr was scratching it away.
“Hey, shoo bird. That’s someone’s script they are practicing.” He said kicking dust at Drew.
Jerk! Buzz off! It’s my script!
Drew cawed at him and stood his ground before pointing at the script and carving another symbol into the dirt.
“Well that’s a neat trick.” The enchanter said. “So you can copy symbols? Who taught you that?”
Drew carved a short phrase he had seen repeated multiple times.
“I’ll be damned, you are a smart bird, you have almost got the basics down. You just need the command runes.”
The enchanter pulled out a medallion for charging crystals and pointed to a few runes that sat at cardinal points of the circular rune script.
“These runes tell the mana exactly what to do, how much, and how fast to do it. A little wooden disk like this is inexpensive so it cannot gather too much mana too fast, or cover such a wide area.”
Drew’s instincts had him halfway in the air before he registered that the enchanter was explaining how the charging enchantment works. His bird instincts were screaming to flee. Drew tamped his bird instincts down and gave the man his attention, canting his head so that he could look at the man’s face and the medallion at the same time.
“See here, where the enchantment is wearing out? The connecting lines get rough and need to be carved again, the crystal gets full and can scorch the runes nearby when overheating, the ambient mana may drop below the minimum level and a different enchantment should be swapped out that operates at lower levels.”
It’s all very practical, like radio transmitters clashing, or trying to program dad’s VCR.
“Oh but you aren’t really understanding me anyways. Where’s your master?” The enchanter asked and looked around.
When he looked back down at the bird he noticed Drew completing the line with the command phrase he’d just shown him.
“This is remarkable! You copied it down so quickly. Do you understand me? Who’s familiar are you?” Damien asked excitedly.
Drew shook his head.
“Interesting, would you care to come see the medallions in action?”
The old man walked to go look at the fences. It was a 30 minute walk at his pace.
The old man was going on and on about hereditary proficiencies with skills and abilities. He kept coming back to the idea of a Skurr that could teach itself something new being extremely rare.
Maybe I stood out too much? I guess it’s pretty obvious I’m not like other Skurr. I might need to tone it down some.
The enchanter continued his lecture and Drew swooped and glided along behind him. Now he was explaining how mana flows through the world from the stars in the sky.
Wisdom +1
It’s more like wind power than solar power. But the idea is somewhere in between. This guy really likes talking about mana and enchantments.
They arrived at the perimeter of fences that protect the town from monsters.
The Enchanter showed Drew each wooden medallion, and how they are wearing out. He removed the charged crystals and placed them in the warding enchantments nearby, and puts the drained crystals from the wards into the charging enchantments.
He proceeded onto the next fence post 10 meters away, to repeat his inspection. This time the gem in the ward still carried enough charge so he pocketed the charged gem and pulled a new one from a bag at his waist.
“This type of charging and warding array works great in areas like this with high levels of ambient mana. If you were to travel to the capital, this charging script wouldn’t work at all until you arrived. They have mana gathering arrays in the Royal Palace that amplify the mana levels.” He said.
The man was old, and he took his time walking to each post. Drew flew on to the next post and he could tell that the enchantment was not functioning correctly.
Huh, this one is stuttering, and flickering. It is corroded like a battery that got wet. It’s growing crystals where it shouldn’t be. Are these mana crystals?
He pecked at it for a few minutes, and scratched the corrosion out of the script. It hummed back to life, no longer flickering.
New Quest: Puzzling: Learn [Carving] - If it’s artistry or craftsmanship you are after, carving is the first step.
New Quest: Puzzling: Learn [Enchanting] - The art of forming magic with mana script. Some say this is the most powerful magic there is. Those people are called enchanters.
“What did you do?” The old man asked as he caught up to Drew. “That’s not possible. You got it working again didn’t you? I see, it was corroded with mana crystals.”
He removed the crystal from the medallion, and put the medallion in his pocket.
“Looks like you got it working again, but we can clean it up completely back at my shop. Come along and I’ll show you how.”
If I can learn Enchantment and Carving from him then I can get a ton of exp more safely.
Drew followed him to his workshop, it was the shack sitting outside of town that Gionnathyn has pointed out.
So this old guy is the big meanie from the capital they were talking about? Seems nice enough to me.
There was a small apartment on the second floor with a small balcony garden on the back. The first floor was divided in thirds by his storefront, workshop and storage areas.
“Sorry it’s not as fancy as the workshop I had in Crownsgate. Retired enchanters like myself are employed by a town, or sometimes private individuals to maintain the enchantments. I spend most of my day just fixing the charging arrays and the wards around the city.” The enchanter said.
Inside, the enchanters shop had two workbenches, and shelves and cupboards from floor to ceiling.
The enchanter waved his hand and glowing crystal chandeliers came alight above the tables and shutters opened on windows high up near the ceiling.
Drew looked around at the workshop. The shelves lining the walls were filled with a variety of arcane items. There were jars filled with strange powders, wands of various shapes and sizes, and even a few glowing orbs in sconces around the room.
Damien noticed Drew's wide-eyed expression and chuckled. “I take it you've never seen an enchanter's workshop before?"
Drew shook his head.
No, I haven't. It's all so fascinating.
Damien chuckled at Drew’s pantomime.
“Enchanting is a difficult craft, but it's also incredibly rewarding. Enchanters get to create items that can help people in ways they never thought possible."
Drew nodded and Damien sat down at his work station and took out a small book. He turned to the middle of the book, and then past a few more pages of scribbled notes and diagrams to get to a blank page.
"So, you understand Common. Are you someone's Familiar? You seem quite intelligent for a Gallow Bird." Damien asked as he sketched out a rough image of Drew.
Drew shook his head noticing the extra meaning behind the words. He hopped over to look at another book that was open on the table but it was written in a language he couldn’t read.
"Interesting," said Damien. "And how smart are you?"
Drew tapped his beak against the open page of the book. Tap, tap tap, tap tap tap… Counting out consecutively higher taps up to ten.
"Interesting, you can count. And you know enough that other Skurr can’t count." He said.
"Can you do anything else?"
Drew tapped out a raunchy tune that he had heard in the adventurers guild hall, causing the enchanter to chuckle again.
"Well, you certainly are a talented bird. Let’s take a look at that corroded medallion then, shall we? Where do you think we should start?” He asked.
Drew nodded enthusiastically and they got to work.
- 41 -
Drew perched on the workbench, watching as Damien deftly handled the tools and materials around the workshop.
He had brushed a solvent onto the corroded medallion and it was dissolving the mana crystal from the scripts.
He handed Drew a blank wooden medallion with rune script marked out on it in charcoal.
“Here, can you start tracing these lines? The edges on this script need to be square so once you trace them we can file them down.”
After a few minutes, Drew was struggling to work the edges on the fine script with his claws.
Damien looked up from something he was writing, observing Drew's difficulty and quickly realized that he had a tool the right shape for a bird to use.
"Here," Damien said, holding out his hand. "Try this tool."
A ghostly hand extended from his physical one and grasped a tool with a delicate handle. The ghostly hand floated the tool up off the rack across the room and into Drew's claws.
"Try this one. It's small, easy to grasp for someone with, well, claws." He said.
Drew's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked up at Damien.
"It's called Mage Hand. It's a simple spell, but very useful for doing things like this." He said.
New Quest: Puzzling: Learn [Mage Hand]
Damien startled and reached out to touch a screen Drew could actually see.
Drew is asking to learn the spell [Mage Hand]. Would you like to teach it? Yes/No
“What? How is this even possible? Is your name Drew?” He asked. Drew nodded excitedly.
Oh yes! This is perfect!
“How does a Gallow Bird have a normal name? It should be something like Skycrumbs or Feathershaker” He asked and accepted the prompt. “This cannot possibly work, can it?”
Damien watched Drew closely.
Quest Complete: Learn [Mage Hand] - Reward [Mage Hand] lvl 1
New Skill: [Mage Hand] - Uses Mana to create a spectral hand. Able to reach 1 meter and manipulate physical and spectral objects. At each new level the hand becomes more durable and can reach farther.
Awesome! Okay lets give it a try.
Drew used Mage Hand to pick up the new tool. He was clumsy with it and he could only maintain it for half a minute at a time before his mana ran low.
It’s actually more practical to carve with the tool in my claws. At least for now.
He nodded his thanks to Damien, clicking his beak in appreciation.
“But how is that possible? Gallow Birds shouldn’t be able to learn this type of magic, their Mana reserves aren’t developed until their third Rank. They do not have hands… How can it imagine having hands? You would think it would be a mage claw…”
Damien looked across the workbench at the strange bird carving enchantments into a medallion as proficiently as any novice.
“One second, Drew?” The enchanter called over, causing the bird to look up. “I haven’t introduced myself, my name is Damien Hornbrush. I would like to create a party with you.”
Drew looked confused for a moment until he received a prompt.
New Party Invitation: Damien Hornbrush is inviting you to join his party. Accept? Yes / No
Yes.
“It worked? How is this possible?” Damien was shocked that he received the party invite prompt. “Your name is really Drew?”
Drew nodded, then shrugged.
"Alright another test then. Drew. I have a skill book for you around here somewhere.”
Damien rummaged around in a trunk, leaning in up to his waist, and tossing all sorts of parchment and tools and materials out. Until he finally brought out a fine red skill book.
“Drew, if you read this, if my theory is correct, and I think it is, you should be able to Speak Common. Give it a try, this would usually bring an apprentice’s proficiency up to level 8. Technically languages are just like any other skill proficiency. But you will need to overcome your physiological conditions.”
Drew accepted the book and opened the cover.
Do you want to upgrade [Understand Common] to [Speak Common]? Yes/No
Drew selected yes immediately and was rewarded with a burning pain in this throat.
New Skill: [Speak Common] lvl 1 (10%)
HP: 75%
Drew’s throat was sore, and his body felt tight in a few places.
“Well? Are you able to talk?” Damien asked excitedly.
“No.” Drew choked out, causing Damien to laugh.
“Only,” Drew’s beak locked up painfully. “Ten percent.” He clacked his beak in frustration.
“Well at least it is a start, we could go purchase a master level skill book but you likely don’t have the coin. You will have to practice speaking to make any real progress. We will keep to single words for now.”
Damien checked the sky and realized how dark it was getting. He looked at his notes in his book then turned back to Drew.
“It’s getting dark, come back tomorrow and we can practice, eh?”
- Interlude -
To the office of the King’s Adviser
Crownsgate, Ressalia
Dear Duke Deepwhisper,
I trust this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. Despite my unfortunate exile from the bustling heart of the capital, I feel compelled to share with you a most remarkable discovery.
Recent observations have unveiled a subtle yet undeniable awakening within the region's arcane fabric. The ambient mana levels have surged to unprecedented heights, suggesting a potent source of magical resurgence. This phenomenon, I believe, heralds a significant shift in the dormant forces of the dungeon this frontier city was named for.
Furthermore, the frequency and strength of formidable beasts traversing the surrounding areas have increased greatly. It is as if the very ground trembles beneath their formidable presence.
A most curious development involves the local wild Skurr, whose intelligence appears to be evolving at an alarming pace. One particular specimen, a Juvenile Skurr with an astonishingly sentient name, has shown the ability to learn on its own, the essential skills for carving enchantments and has managed the comprehension of common speech, and after a quick experiment, successfully utilized a skill book to learn to speak Common.
I’m sure you are aware of the significance, if you wish to send an assessor in light of these extraordinary findings to validate my observations I would be more than happy to host them.
I believe my discovery may hold the key to you have been searching for, secrets long buried.
Wishing you continued prosperity and anticipating your invaluable insights on this matter.
Sincerely,
Damienous Bombastic Thornbrush