The mercenary dealt three cards to Thrain and then three to himself. He played another warehouse and a thug.

“With your guards out of position my pickpockets can sack your market.” Scarlet said.

“I’ll move my thugs from my warehouse to the market.”

Scarlet grimaced.

“You lose two pickpockets.” Thrain said.

“And gain a card.” Scarlet said.

He hovered his hand over the deck looking at the board once more.

“I hope it’s a good one.” Thrain said.

He drew a guard house and played it. Then pooled the points from his brothels to play another pickpocket.

“That’s my turn done.” Scarlet said.

Thrain nodded and played a smithy. He pooled his points to upgrade his guards.

“These three guards strike this warehouse, and these 4 thugs take your brothel.” Thrain said.

“I’ll move my pickpockets to defend the warehouse and-“

Thrain interrupted Sarlet with a gesture.

“I’m buying your pickpockets, they are 2 gold each and I’ve got 30.” Thrain said.

They exchanged cards and Thrain moved the tokens to track the exchange of gold

“Then I sack your warehouse and take the gold back.” Thrain said.

“Ha! Well shit! That’s well played my friend!” Scarlet said. “Will you buy your last victory point?”

“I will indeed. That’s game.” Thrain said. “Well played!”

The two men shook hands and Thrain held on tightly not letting him go.

“Krag! An ale for our friend for the game!” Thrain said.

Krag nodded and poured a mug for the mercenary.

New Item: [Enchanted Lock picks - Durability] exp 250.

New skill: [Lock picking] lvl 1.

-

Some hero I am now. The first sign of strength and I go killing pets. It wasn’t a giant melon. It was a swarm of low level beasts without fangs.

Guile meat sizzled in a pan and Drew smashed red and purple Skeetles in a bowl.

These get pulverized and then boiled down with the fruit juice for a syrup. The cornmeal pancakes will be up next.

Drew used Mage Hand to flip the guile meat patties.

Not cornmeal, hopper flour, but it’s very similar. I bet they even pop like popcorn.

He transferred the mashed Skeetles to the pot and set the cooking stove to a low temperature.

How long has it been since I got a combat log for killing Skeetles? I mashed up at least 12 and didn’t get 1 exp?

How much longer until I level up enough that guiles don’t give me any experience?

Drew looked around their camp as one of the mercenaries patrolled past.

They were camped in a clearing beside the road. Pinniole trees surrounded them. Their dense foliage blocking out all but the top of the mesa they’d left behind yesterday. It stared flatly, looming over the forest.

The tents were closed and warded. Most everyone was still asleep. Only Drew, a John, and the two night shift mercenaries were awake.

“Don’t forget about the patties!” John whispered.

Drew quickly flipped them before they got burnt.

“Sorry my mind was elsewhere. Thank you for the practice session.”

Seraphina and another John joined the table.

“Morning brother. Another cooking training today?”

John set out one of their Golanh and changed one of the strings. It was a complex affair and he needed to remove covers and gears and tuning keys to get to the necessary components.

“Drew is dead set on becoming a chef. I can’t imagine why, it’s such a chore.” John said. “So many ingredients and procedures and general cooking like this does not award us any exp anymore.”

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“Besides the point, do you remember when we traveled with an actual chef? He made us prepare all sorts of ingredients ahead of time. And they couldn’t be stored with enchantments or they would not torment.”

“It was ferment, like an ale.” John said. “You were the only one tormented.”

“Rude. Yet I guess you are correct, seems you do remember somethings sometimes then.” He replied.

“I remember you whining like a spoiled brat about all the extra work. And I remember how fantastic the meals were.” John said.

How strong does yeast get here? I bet they could make an IPA that could literally knock your socks off.

Thrain would know more about brewing ale.

Would be a great time for a quest to learn brewing to pop up?

A few moments later the patties were done. Drew swiped away the notification.

Atleast cooking still gets me exp.

Drew moved them to the storage container to stay warm.

Then the syrup was ready and Drew moved it to cool.

Time for the pancakes.

Thrain and Krag were drawn over by the smell of food and their good humored banter woke the rest of the group.

“We should be out of the forest by mid day today.” John said as he passed plates to Seraphina and Damien. “Then we travel through a few days of open plains and we reach Valoria.”

Marcus took a chair at the other table next to Thrain and Will.

Drew finished another batch of pancakes and leveled up his cooking skill.

The travelers cheered for him and then tucked back into their food.

I guess my cooking is that good!

-

Another phrase of Mana Script burst into flame on the paper.

Ack! That’s the third one. I just can’t get this phrasing correct.

Drew had his cartographers kit out on the table. He started to continue the map he was creating of their trip but an idea for an enchantment pulled him away.

He was trying to work out the exact phrase for William’s armor so that it would be specifically attuned to a king.

Will has the idea that the suit is only for a king. So that’s got to be part of the enchantment. And I should get increased efficiency or higher output since it’s so specific.

Drew scratched out the word ‘monarch’ from his list of ideas.

Well of course I can’t just spell it out phonetically… that would be too easy.

He had tried ‘King’, ‘true king’ and ‘Regent’ already and they were all crossed out.

Better test the enchantment just to be sure it’s not the rest of the phrases.

He plugged the conditional phrase into an Emit Light enchantment on a wooden medallion and entered “Blacksmith” instead of King. He inserted a mana crystal and activated the enchantment.

It detected William a few feet away. And a warm glow of light brightened up the hazy morning.

Will paused, mouth full of his second helping of pancakes to look at the glowing light.

“It works if I use you as the king.” Drew said.

“Wermt’s thrmmt?” William asked with his mouth full.

Drew shrugged.

“I’m working on some phrases for your enchantment.” Drew said.

William swallowed and washed the lump of food down with some watered ale.

“Can I watch?” William asked.

Drew nodded and the young blacksmith slid his chair over.

What was I thinking? There isn’t a king around why would they work?

Drew carved a new enchantment into the disc.

He wrote it as “king or blacksmith”.

The script held together and he leveled up Enchanting.

The level up brought Damien over and he perused the designs William was looking at over Drew’s shoulder.

“What are you working on Drew? A light enchantment?”

“I’m trying to figure out the phrase for William’s armor. Something that will make the enchantment specific for a king. But there isn’t one around so the spells aren’t activating.”

“Makes sense. The library in Valoria will have the phrase you need. So you made the script more flexible somehow?” Damien asked.

“Yes, I made it check for a ‘King’ or a ‘Blacksmith’ and that’s working for now.”

“Try ‘Nobility’. It’s what we use in the capital for our security wards. It looks for royal blood.” Damien said.

“Nobility isn’t good enough,” William said. “They have to be the one true king.”

“Who is that?” Drew asked.

“There’s no such person.” Said Damien at the same time. “It’s just a legend from our pre-Ressian era.”

“There will be a true king someday.” William said. “I received a prophesy.”

Damien scoffed and went back to his seat to finish his meal.

“A prophesy?” Drew asked.

“Yes. A real prophesy.” William whispered. “I have a quest to craft a full set of armor for the one true king.”

If it’s a quest then it must be true. Right?

“Are those the exact words? Can you show me the quest screen?” Drew said.

New Quest: Craft the perfect armor, sword and shield for the one true king. Reward: unknown. Accept? Y/N

Across the land the kingdoms roar,

The one true king shall rule once more.

With shining armor, sword held high,

His reign will come, in due time.

Seems real serious to me. I can use this phrasing in my enchantments. Yes.

While Drew read the prompt, William was looking through Drew’s cartographer kit. He had been using the paper from the kit to draft his enchantment.

“What are you drawing here?” William asked.

“Oh just a few things. I am learning cartography and making a map of our trip.” Drew said.

He pulled out the map Drew made of Aldermere and was amazed at the accuracy.

“Amazing, is this how the city looks from above?” William asked.

William grabbed the next sheet and looked at an enchantment Drew had been working on for a wagon fender that smoothed out the road.

“What does this do?”

“It is supposed to smooth out the roads as wagons pass. The enchantment is too loud, it would attract monsters.”

“I’ve never seen an enchantment like this.”

“Yeah it’s a new idea to smooth out roads a little bit at a time. It would work over time if every wagon had it.”

“No no, I mean how the enchantment is formed. It doesn’t require a mana crystal, does it?” William asked.

Damien rushed over, spilling his plate on the ground.

“Drew! Let’s get you a notebook for your enchantments I have one in the trunk.” He said. “Trunk! Bring us a blank note book!”

“It’s fine Damien, I’ve got the case for my cartographers kit.” Drew said.

“Nonsense, an enchanter needs a notebook.” He said quickly.

The trunk skittered over and held up a slender blue notebook.

“You can put your experimental enchantments in here and Trunk can hold onto it for you.” Damien said.

Yeah no. You just want to review my notes and write all over the margins. A notebook would be easier to carry around tho.

Drew brought the notebook it into his gathering ring. Damien reached for it as it disappeared.

“I’ll just hold onto it in my magic gathering ring. It’s impossible for anyone to steal it since it’s soul bound, right?” Drew said. “And we can work together on any new enchantments once I’ve gotten stuck.”

Damien nodded.

“Apologies Drew, that is the most sensible idea. I keep forgetting you aren’t a golden flamingo. You would not eat the pages or tear it up for nesting material.” Damien said with his hands at his sides.

He looked around for a John and then turned to his trunk.

“Are we staying here all day? I’m packed up.” He said. “Trunk, climb aboard the wagon. I’m certain we are leaving soon.”