The first the next morning, I went to the Enchanters Guild to sell some mana and check in with Paris.
When I got in, Hood brought me up to see him
“Paris! Good to see you again. It’s been a while. How’ve you been?”
“I’m good, I'm good. Happy to see you back. I’ve been wondering if you were going to be coming by. Oh, I see you got promoted. Congratulations are in order.” He clapped then slapped my back. He then turned to Hood and asked them to bring a bottle of wine for us to celebrate, but I politely refused.
He seems friendlier than usual.
“Thank you! I just got back yesterday from the Dark Forest. It was a long journey, but I'm glad it is officially over. That being said, I will be going back in to do some more work this evening, so I'll have to pass on the alcohol for now.” Hood bowed, congratulated me, then stepped out of the room, preferring to stand in the hallway like usual.
“So! How much mana are you planning on selling today? Let me guess, 800?” He looked like he was joking, but I was going to do even more.
“900 actually. I gained a few skill levels, so I'll be able to sell a bit more for now. Thanks for the heads up you gave me about the Multicasting ability. When I first got the split projectile modifier,” I cast a 50-point Mana Bolt and split it 5 ways, putting it in an Arc above and behind me, “I thought that was what you were talking about. But then I reached level 14 in the skill and got the actual Multicasting modifier.” I added 5 more 10-point Mana Bolts to my Arc, but these were individual casts.
Paris looked stunned at my Arc. He started rambling and moved to examine the spells behind me. Before he got around me, I moved the spells in front of me and started having them do the various tricks I've been practicing the last while.
“How are you controlling so many spells at once at such a young age? Your incredible growth rate means you are clearly not an Elf. You are too tall to be a Dwarf. You have to be human, yet you look so young. How is it that you have such finetuned control? From what I've heard of you, you’ve only just had your Choosing Day maybe 2 months ago. I genuinely don’t see how you have so many spells cast at once, let alone the stability I'm sensing from the spell. What training were you doing in the Dark Forest?”
“I’ve mostly been practicing controlling increasing amounts of mana in an array of multiple spells. When I had the level of power down, I started adding movement to it, trying to make it fun while I practiced.” I switched from a figure eight to a circular loopty loop. “I’ve had an Arc like this cast pretty much as often as I could, proving more and more experience for my Increased Mental Capacity skill. It really helps with decreasing the mental strain of having multiple spells cast at once. In fact, that’s one of the biggest reasons I chose this specific skill, that and it also increases my Mana Pool.”
“Ah. I see. You have a skill specifically for it. I’ve not heard of Increased Mental Capacity before. Tell me about it?”
“Maybe some other time. For today, I'd like to sell some mana then be on my way. I’m not sure what to expect on my first day as a Silver Rank adventurer afterall.”
He bowed and backed away. “Of course, how rude of me. You said 900, correct?”
I nodded, and he set everything up. I pushed the mana out and he handed me a bag with 45 silver coins in it. “Pleasure doing business, Claff. Feel free to come back anytime you want.”
“Of course. I’ll be seeing you then.”
He’s starting to get too comfortable; I think. I’ll have to reconsider how often I come to sell. It was useful when I wasn't making as much as a Copper Rank, but now that I'm Silver Rank, I should be more than set on money. I’ll have to see how the next few days go before I make a firm decision. After all, I’m getting almost half a gold every time I come in here, and I can sell multiple times a day.
I made my way to the adventurer’s guild hall and went up to the fourth floor. I wanted to show off to Duke and Sarah. And I miss my friends.
“He returns alive!” Duke called out when he saw me. I grinned wide and made my way over to him. It looked like Sarah was helping a Dog Beastkin, so I wouldn't be able to converse with her for a bit.
“I don’t get why people doubt me. Of course I'm coming back alive. Nothing can kill me!”
“Don’t get too cocky. Someone might take that as a challenge.” Duke said with a grin of his own.
“Let them.” I replied, then told him of mine and Bran’s bet yesterday.
“Damn dude! How the hell did you win a bet with Bran the Ram! I can’t think of a single time he’s lost a physical challenge. And he’s good with puzzles and stuff too. I thought he was damn near invincible. Turns out I should be thinking that of you now, huh?” He stared with awe, so I punched him lightly in the shoulder.
“OW!” Duke exclaimed, rubbing his shoulder. “Dude, you’ve gotten stronger too. I thought you were a caster. The hell was that then?”
“Oh, all that running gave me a few levels of Enhanced Body, so I guess that includes my strength too. My bad.” Now I feel bad.
“It’s fine, but watch it. Us mortals are fragile, you know.” He laughed and punched my shoulder as well, though it looked like he hurt himself more than me.
“So, how’s everything been? Yall miss me too much?”
“I barely noticed you were gone. Although Sarah’s been asking about you damn near every day. ‘Oh, when is big, strong Claff coming back? I miss him so much!’” He did a horrible impression of her and we laughed. Unfortunately, Sarah had finished with the Dog Beastkin and they had come up to us just in time for her to hear that.
Sarah ran around the counter, punching Duke multiple times in the arm. He tried to run the other way around the counter, but I stopped him with a barrier, getting a barking laugh from the Beastkin next to me. She had the head of a Golden Retriever, the body of a human woman but with fur on the upper part of her arms, a blonde tail, and legs that seemed to bend the wrong way. All of this was hidden behind some leather armor, darker than the stuff I had, so presumably not from the guild. Or she got better stuff than I did.
After Sarah finished wailing on Duke, I released the barrier and laughed at how disheveled his hair had gotten.
“Hey Claff! I didn’t see you there,” she said while pushing her loosened hair behind her ears and making herself presentable again. “Back so soon, eh? Nice seeing you!”
I tried not to snicker too much, but it only made her ears and cheeks go red.
“It’s nice to see you too, Sarah. And who might this lovely lady be?” I turned to the Beastkin beside me. Her tail was wagging as I extended my hand, though I pretended not to notice.
“Oh, silly me. This is Goldy. She’s a Silver Rank. Just like you are now, I see.” She finally noticed my new build tag. “I take it the Dark Forest quest was a success?”
I nodded and thought back to my results when I turned it in to Luke and shared it with them.
Monster Hit List
1. Wolves 89/10
2. Hobgoblins 40.5/10
3. Killer Kobolds 32.5/10
4. Giant Slimes 11.5/10
5. Skeletons 439/10
Optional
1. Orcs 103.5/∞
2. Ogres 0/∞
3. Trolls .5/∞
4. Spiders 163/∞
5. Dire Wolves 2/∞
6. Dire Rats 0/∞
7. Dire Spiders 12/∞
“Though that’s only my share of the credit. I went with Grifith, so he got half credit as well.”
“Damn, you got credit for a Troll! That’s fuckin awesome! Excuse my language, ladies. But that is awesome! And only at Copper too! You have the potential to go down in freaking history, homie!” Duke started talking about how he can start bragging about how he’s friends with the ‘Troll Hunter’ and other fanatics.
“‘Troll Hunter’, eh?” a deep voice boomed from behind us. Duke immediately clammed up and Sarah straightened herself further. Goldy didn’t seem as bothered but I did take note that her tail stopped wagging and was tucked between her legs.
Bran finished his climbing off the stairs and made his way over to us. I didn’t see him as the all-powerful Guild Master anymore, but I knew better than to even think of mentioning that to them in front of Bran.
“Funnily enough, I have a couple Troll hunting quests if you want them. It’ll pay half a gold for each kill you get. Though I’ll say good luck getting someone to agree to going with you. Trolls aren’t exactly the easiest kills, despite how you make them look.” He came over and slapped my shoulder. Thankfully, I planned ahead and wrapped my whole body in a 200-point barrier as soon as I heard his voice.
His hand made contact with the barrier, and 25 points of charge were taken away just like that.
“So, I beat you in one challenge, and now I have to be on the lookout, constantly wearing a barrier around you so I don't die, huh?” I said as I was staring at his hand on my shoulder.
“Oops, my bad. And hey, being on the lookout for threats is a good habit to get into, so you're welcome.” Bran said with a grin.
“So, what’s this about a Troll quest?” I asked, trying to get the conversation rolling. Duke didn’t look comfortable around the man, so I wanted to get to the point as soon as possible.
“Well, seems a few Trolls have spawned in an otherwise low tier area. That, or they’re spawns from a higher-level area that were lured there for one reason or another. Regardless, I need them taken care of. Think you’re the guy for the job?”
“That depends. How many Trolls are we talking here? I can probably handle one or two. But I don't know about dealing with any more than that.” Hell, I'm not even sure how I feel about dealing with two.
“There’s 5. Even if you manage to just lure them away, it’ll technically count as a success, though I'd recommend killing them. I’d hate for them to make their way back to the town they're wreaking havoc in. They’ve mostly gone for livestock, but the farmers are in fear of one of their children going out one day and never coming back. I’d take it myself, but I have administrative duties to attend to.” He seemed remorseful for not being able to be the one to take care of it, and knowing his reputation, I believe him.
“Damn. Alright, I'll take it. Go get Juke to set the quest up for me now. I’d rather not leave them out there for too long. Let me grab a few potions real quick and I'll head out after taking a short detour to the Enchanter’s Guild. I want to see if I can get a good fire spell ring to use on them.” I doubt the Firebolt ring at the mystery enchanter’s shop will suffice for a group of Troll’s.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Glad you know to prepare. If you want, you can say I told you specifically to take the Troll quest. That should help convince Paris to get you properly equipped. A word of caution before you leave. I hear spell rings past the first spell can be pretty expensive. Though after that big haul you got from the Dark Forest, you should be able to afford it, depending on the spell.” Bran gave a knowing wink.
“I appreciate it. I’m not a fan of name dropping, but I'll gladly accept if it gets me a discount.” he chuckled, smacked my back again, which the barrier thankfully still stopped, then left back down the stairs.
“It’s not every day the Guild Master personally assigns quests.” Goldy said. Her tail was now in a more relaxed position, but her voice still sounded slightly uneasy. “Do you need assistance? I can offer some help, though I can't do much against 5 Trolls.”
It’s sweet she offered, but I think I'd rather do this solo. Depending on what spell ring I get, I might be able to do this with minimal problems. If it comes down to it, I cast my super Barrier then dip.
“I appreciate the thought but I think I'll be better off alone. I’d rather not take someone who can’t tank for me or who can also deal fire spell damage. No offense, of course. But different horses for different courses, and all that.”
“None taken. To be frank, I'm glad you declined. I hate dealing with Trolls. They heal too damn fast. I can usually evade a single Troll’s attacks, but 5 would be too many. I wish you luck though. It’s been a pleasure meeting you. I hope this isn’t our last.” she casually said, then bowed and left.
“Well, that felt morbid,” came Duke’s remark.
“Seriously.” I chuckled. “Let me go grab some potions real quick, then I'll be heading out soon. I’d rather there not be any sapient deaths when it can be avoided. Hopefully it’s not too far away.”
Sarak and I went to the racking with the shelves, and I started picking out a few. I pulled up my Storage to see what all I had, and how many I needed.
Storage (10/30)
5 g 7 s 28 c
1. Bowie knife
2. 25 shirts (varied colors, cloth)
3. 10 pants (cloth)
4. 10 underwear (5 boxers, 5 sock pairs)
5. 45 rations (varied flavors)
6. 6 Potions (varied)
7. 2 Leather armor set
8. 5 books
9. Water skin
10. Camping gear (tent, placemat, sleeping bag)
I focused further, demanding details about what potions I had.
6 potions (3 minor stamina, 2 health, 1 mana)
I grabbed enough to make 5 of each, coming out to 62 silver. It felt like a steep price, but when it comes to life or death, I was willing to take it.
When it came time to say goodbyes, both Sarah and Duke looked extremely serious.
“Claff, I know we mess around a lot when you’re here, and I get you’re a Silver Rank adventurer now, but you better take this quest seriously. Trolls aren’t light weights. You’re still a relatively new member, so I know you have to be strong in order to gain Bran’s respect, but you still need to be careful.” came from Duke.
Sarah looked like she wanted to be all serious too, but all she could say was, “You better make it back alive. I still need you around to spoil me, yeah? There’s that legendary rank Staff from the tree of life you need to buy from me for like a thousand gold so I can retire to a happy life, damn it.”
I gave them both a hug and said I'll be back as soon as possible.
“Nothing can kill me, remember that.”
I went down to the second floor and checked with Juke. He looked skeptical at me, but wished me well on my Troll hunting.
“Are there any other quests I can do while I'm out?” I asked. ”Seems a waste to just do one at a time, no?”
“Due to the urgency of the quest you’ve been given, you are to focus solely on that. However, I can assign you the endless quests for that area, since you will most likely meet a few strays.”
I handed him back my tag and he added a few more quests to it. When I got it back, I pulled up my extended status to see what was up.
User: Claff:
Health 360/360 (432*/hr)
Stamina 352/360 (36/hr)
Mana 1000/1000 (759*/hr)
Achievements
Slime Slayer!
Quests [4]
Kill Goblins 0/∞
Kill Slimes 0/∞
Kill Bell Sprouts 0/∞
Kill Trolls 0/5
Party [0]
Equipment
Ring of Mana Regeneration (+20%)
Slime Bracelet (+500 mana)
Ring of Ball of Light
Ring of Stone Bullet
Robe of Regeneration (+10% mana regeneration, +10% casting speed)
SKILLS
PASSIVE
Enhanced Body Lv 13 [56%]
Increased Mental Capacity Lv 20 [93%]
Regeneration Lv 21 [69%]
ACTIVE
Arcane Magic Lv 16 [86%]
Barrier Magic Lv 15 [72%]
Game-like Storage Lv 14 [92%]
Storage (10/30)
4 g 45 s 28 c
1. Bowie knife
2. 25 shirts (varied colors, cloth)
3. 10 pants (cloth)
4. 10 underwear (5 boxers, 5 sock pairs)
5. 45 rations (varied flavors)
6. 15 Potions (varied)
7. 2 Leather armor set
8. 5 books
9. Water skin
10. Camping gear (tent, placemat, sleeping bag)
“For the most part, there are similar tier 1 monsters around there, but there are also Bell Sprouts.” Juke explained, “Most magic will kill them, though honestly, you could do it by just stomping on them hard and grinding your foot. They drop a seed, but it’s dirt cheap, at 1 copper per seed. The kill is also only 5 copper per kill. That being said, there are more Goblins and slimes over there than there are over here. They don’t have any guards, but you are expected to kill any tier 1 monster you see, as per village customs. If you are seen to purposefully allow a monster to escape, you will be fined and may end up in a cell for the rest of the day. Though it’s customary for most places to have that rule, I feel it important to repeat it for those who grew up in places without said rule as a cautionary tale.”
“I appreciate the heads up. I planned on killing any I see anyways though. If not for the money, then at least for the skill EXP.”
“That’s how most folks with combat capabilities feel. But like I said, some people didn’t grow up with that rule in place. It’s a good reminder that children still haven’t gone through their choosing days yet and still need protection from monsters.”
“Makes sense. So how far is the village from here?”
“It's about 200 miles west. Being one of the further towns, it’s harder for information to be passed along. They had to use a disposable communication device to be able to tell us about it. You can get more information from the town elder when you get there. I recommend leaving soon though. Trolls are one of the few monsters that don’t actively seek violence, but they resort to it fast enough.”
He gave some more information about Trolls, none of which actually helped. After that, I left for the Enchanter's Guild again.
Hood sounded surprised to see me again so soon. It had been around 2 hours since I left, so I had more than enough time to regenerate my full mana pool again. I told her I was here not only to sell mana, but to get a ring with a fire spell in it strong enough to help me with a Troll problem.
“We can absolutely get that for you. Would you like to look at our wares before you sell, or would you like to make your deposit first?” they asked.
“I’ll make my sale first. I’d like to add to my pocket before spending.”
“I see. Paris has the next hour free, so you should be more than able to sell right now. Follow me please.”
I was led back up the stairs and to Paris’ office. I told what my situation was and how I needed a strong spell ring. He looked happy to be able to buy again, but refused the sale.
“My associate here can help you with all your enchanted ring needs. As I mentioned before, my services are rather expensive, and I'm sure you’re not quite at the level of being able to afford my wares. You will be more than adequately taken care of though, you have my word.”
Seeing no further conversation happening, I sold 900 points of mana and followed Hood back downstairs. Instead of leading me to the front hall though, we went into a side room.
The room I was brought to looked like a jewelry store. There were rings of all colors and patterns. Many had large gemstones on them as well. I could feel how much power was in here. It sent a shiver down my spine.
“Here we have a wide selection of spell rings available. Give me a moment and I can make a few choices for you to decide from.”
Hood grabbed a velvet lined box and walked around, inspecting rings and occasionally putting one in the box. After grabbing 5, they walked back over to me and presented them to me.
“These rings are all perfectly usable against Trolls. I recommend this one in particular,” They pointed to a blood red ring that seemed to glow. “It spews a beam of lava in the direction it’s pointed. The lava will stick to the Troll, causing continuous fire damage until either the Troll dies, or until the lava cools. It costs 1 gold 50 silver, and the spell costs 15 mana per 10 seconds of casting.”
Impressive. The continuous damage will help fight against the Troll’s healing factor. The mana cost isn’t too bad, but the price feels a little steep.
I nodded and Hood continued on to the next ring.
“This one here,” said pointing to a ring with a golden band going through the middle, “Will cast a fire debuff on the monster, making all fire damage taken deal essentially twice as much damage. It’s one of our more potent debuff rings we have. It costs 1 gold even, and the spell is 10 mana per target. It can be cast onto multiple targets at once, making it a time efficient spell as well. The debuff lasts for 30 minutes. It complements our other fire rings rather amazingly.”
A debuff ring sounds amazing. A 2x damage multiplier has some incredible uses as well. I might just have to get this one along with whatever damage ring I decide on.
I nodded again and Hood continued.
“The third selection I have for you,” they pointed to a ring that had a polka dot pattern on it with a darker red pigment, “deals strictly damage over time. It will cast a burning halo over the target that deals minor damage repeatedly for 10 minutes. The spell costs 10 per casting, the ring costs 1 gold 25 silver. This is another ring that will help keep the healing factor at bay. However, it doesn’t deal a large initial amount of damage like the lava ring will.”
I think I prefer this to the lava ring, actually. I feel it won't cause as much environmental damage either.
Hood went on to the fourth ring. I was tempted to just buy the debuff and damage over time rings and call it good, but I had to hear about the rest just in case.
“This one will deal large amounts of damage as a projectile, but it won’t leave anything for over time. It’s good as a finisher though, which is why I brought it to you. It’ll be 1 gold flat, and 10 mana per cast. I recommend using it when you have the Troll almost down and need that final push to get it completely dead. Or you could just cast it 90 times right in its face and call it good.”
Hood chuckled a bit at that, but it was a serious option I was considering. I have the mana capacity for it.
They then pointed to the last ring. It was a dark red and had a purple flame design. I was intrigued and asked Hood about the last ring they brought over.
“So, this one is technically fire, but it’s a Shadowflame. It’s usually the least suggested thing we carry, but for you, I think it could work well. Casting the spell causes the target to light up in a dark flame that causes both shadow and fire damage in great quantities. The reason we don’t suggest this ring usually is due to the high cost of a single cast. Each cast costs 50 mana. The caveat is that the spell won't go out until the target dies.”
I could hear the concern in Hood’s voice. I felt touched that they were worried about me, but this would go wonderfully with my barriers to keep the flame away from me.
“It won't burn any non-living thing or plant though, so it will most definitely help with your Troll quest, but if you were to touch the fire yourself, you could be severely injured or die. But if you still want it, I can give it to you for 2 gold. Being the strongest spell of the bunch, it comes with a higher cost of course.”
Yikes, talk about expensive. I’m glad I sold my mana though cause I’m definitely getting this. I think this and the buff ring should work well together. Actually, I should ask about that.
“Does the Shadowflame Ring work with the Debuff ring?” I asked.
“It does, but only provides a damage multiplier of 1.5 instead of 2, given half the damage is also shadow. I could grab a shadow debuff ring for you as well, but that would be another gold to your bill.”
Damn Still, 1.5 is still better than nothing.
“Tell me, is the Shadowflame spell strong enough to kill a Troll by itself? With it being so expensive, I have to wonder how high the damage really is. Can you add some perspective?” I feel like that’s a valid question.
Hood hesitated for a moment before saying, “Yes, but I can't recommend just casting it and running away. It would kill the Troll given enough time, but I believe it would cause the Troll to rampage until it dies, and given their incredibly high regeneration, it would take a while. If you had a way of paralyzing it so it can’t run away, then it may be a good plan.”
Paralyze it = make it unable to move = barrier = good plan. Sweet. Add the draining, add the Exploding Bullet bombardment, and add plenty of time, and I believe I have a solid plan.
“I think I'll take the Shadowflame and the Debuff rings please. Bran mentioned I might be able to name drop to get a bit of a discount. Any chance of that happening?” I smiled sweetly, though I'm not sure how much of a discount it could get me.
“I’ll give you a heads up. Paris likes you. A lot more than he likes Bran. I’m giving you a better deal now than anyone else coming in here would get. Bran might get similar if he pulled out a favor from Paris, but he’d still be paying 20% under market price. You are getting these at cost, as per Paris’ previous orders. Your mana is incredibly pure, and he wants you around for a while. Don’t tell him I said any of this though, and I also ask that you keep how much you bought these for a secret. It could cause some issues with certain higher ups if it came out that favorites were being played.”
I nodded as I contemplated what exactly that meant.
I want to say that I'm getting bullshitted, but how many other people would actually get to meet with the Guild master of such a rich and probably influential guild? I doubt many. I’m sure the average person gets passed from Hood to some other guild employee to sell mana. And I know Paris is giving me a ‘premium’ on my mana.
“I see. Thank you for telling me. And I'll keep my mouth shut about what was spoken here.”
I bought the two rings for 3 gold total and left for the village in the west. I had a long run ahead of me, and I had a lot to contemplate while on my way.