Chapter 40: Status, Cheap Thrills, and Friendship
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[Name], Jasper “Book” Bookmyer
[Race], Elf?? / Human??
[Class], [Scrivener; apprentice]
(Bonded by Alric Tavoryn, Master)
[Level], 2; [Progress], 12 / 16*
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Display
[Solar Time]
(calculation of the passage of time based on the position of the sun in the sky based on the synodic day {the period for a celestial object to rotate once in relation to the star it is orbiting, and is the basis of solar time})
Placement: Upper center of vision
Type: Alpha Numerical
[Mini-map]
Active Range: 30 meters
(highlights all living creatures in a defined radius in real-time; filters available; customizable)
Passive Range: 300 meters(detail mapping of visited locations in defined radius; scrollable; filters available; customizable)
Placement: Upper right corner of vision
Type: Graphic
[Status]
Health meter: red bar
(representation of current physical health, measured in percentages of full health {100%} with decreasing gradients lowering until collapse {10%} and death of physical body {0%})
Fatigue: green bar
((representation of current physical energy, measured in percentages of full energy {100%} with decreasing gradients lowering until physical and mental impairments, ranging from low motivation {50%}, muscle weakness {40%}, slowed reflexes and responses/impaired hand-to-eye ordination {30%}; headache and dizziness/impaired decision-making and judgment {25%}, blurry vision/short term memory loss {20%}, collapse {10%}, and death of physical body {0%})
[Mana] reserves: blue bar
(representation of current absorbed, ephemeral, energy force of creationism *divine energy, if religiously inclined* measured in percentages available from maximum {100%} with decreasing gradients lowering until collapse {10%} and death of physical body {0%})
Placement: Upper left corner of vision
Type: Graphic
[Quick-key]
(assignment of an action shortcut for a method or means of doing something more directly and quickly than and often not so thoroughly as by ordinary procedure *cheat* ranging from {1} to {4}; customizable binding; upgradeable by two per level)
Placement: Lower center of vision
Type: Numerical
{1} [Apprenticeship Unlock; good]<-[Apprenticeship Unlock; common]<- [Spell]<-[Folder]
{2} [Ink; good]<-[Ink; common]<-[Ink; poor]<-[Skill]<-[Folder]
{3} [Ink; good](V)<-[Skill]<-[Folder]
{4} [Open]
[Vision]
(toggle options ranging from {low light}, {thermal}, {high contrast}, {[mana] saturation}, {materials/ingredient highlight}, and {friend/foe}; customizable; upgradeable by level)
Placement: Lower left of vision
Type: Graphical <@>
[Folder]
(representation of storage locations for routines and sub-routines)
Placement: Lower right of vision
Type: Icon
*[Folder]->[Skill]->
1. [Translation; superior] (The ability to understand *auditory/written* known or downloaded languages)
2. [Aether-sight; common] (The ability to peer into the Void and see the energies of creation)
3. [Over-charge; common] (The ability to [mana] fill cells to the point of no return, then one step more)
4. [Open]
5. [Open]
[Folder]->[Skill (2)]->
1. [Ink; poor]->[Ink; common]->[Ink; good] (The ability to manufacture basic magical ink with paraffin *stable* from proper ingredients, [mana] infused)
2. [ink; good](V) (The ability to manufacture basic magical ink with vermiculite *combustible* from proper ingredients, [mana] infused)
3. [Torchlight; common]->[Torchlight; good] (Steady source of light; 10 meter radius)
4. [Heat-blast; common] (When invoked, a small exothermic combustion will occur at a point determined by the user. Range, 3 meters; Cast time, instant.)
5. [Barrier; poor] (When invoked, a coalesced field of [mana] prevents the passage of a defined parameter determined by the user {Energy; variable *[mana]/kinetic*}, {Sense; variable *light/sound/smell*}; Radius, 2 meters; Resistance, weak; Cast time, instant)
[Folder]->[Spell]->
1. [Apprenticeship Unlock; common]->[Apprenticeship Unlock; good]
(As the official Apprentice to Master [Scrivener] Alric, allowing entry to any space locked by the named Master. Apprenticeship token required.)
2. [Open]
3. [Open]
[Folder]->[Title]
1. [Experimental Pioneer]
(Congratulations! You were stupid…BOLD…enough to play with fire and create a new, unique scroll. +10% chance to successfully discover new applications of [mana] with intent in regards to magical scroll making.)
2. [Improvisational Combatant]
(Wow, impressive! You corrupted a noble [Class] for personal defense, using imagination and available materials in new and unexpected ways. +10% chance to successfully improvise magical scrolls during combat. +10% chance to cause harm to self on implementation.)
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Whew, that was done. An honest-to-the-Mother character sheet, a composition of both mine and Sia’s input. My contribution to the character sheet was derived from some casual gaming and amateur D&D dabblings, but mostly from a recent passion for litRPG novels. With so many examples to pull from, my style was more of a free-flow, loose conglomeration. Her’s was a bit rigid, insisting on following the drop-down menus systematically—[System]atically?—, step-by-step, with some added personal snark. Where on Earth, Planet EH-103, or whatever name I settled on—can’t remember what I called it before, probably something lame—Sia had learned the bitting sarcasm I had no idea. Nope.
$!@, or Sia, had decided on the female perspective to base herself on, making her own binary choice. She considered staying non-binary but felt a certain leaning and went with it. Of course, this ‘female perspective’ was gleaned from my mind, sourced from interactions, societal conventions, literature, entertainment, infotainment, world views, and—unfortunately, in some instances—my own biases. So, any overly cliche (moronic) or stereotypical (misogynist) bents are completely mine (abso-effing-lutely). The swearing was from my time spent around Tess, obviously. I had also warned Sia against relying on my former consumption of entertainment. She could access everything that my brain had ever been exposed to and processed, from any medium and at any time throughout my life, whether or not I had any conscious memory of it. Yeah, we were going to have to set some boundaries, or she was liable to take my horny, fifteen-year-old, male libido and bludgeon me with it. Anime was a no-go zone.
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The [Quick-key] selections had taken me some thought. I only had one spell, so it was a no-brainer. I put the two inks in because I used them on an almost daily basis, and they were a great efficiency multiplier. I did notice that little disclaimer, however, saying ‘often not so thoroughly as by ordinary procedure’. I guess it made sense, after some thought processing. I didn’t like it, but whatever. If I wanted to get better at something, I had to meticulously practice, with no shortcuts. Dammit. Why did things have to be like in real life?
(Because this is real life.)
‘If you say so.’
(Deal with it.)
‘I don’ wanna’.’
(Don’t care.)
‘But, whyyyy?’
(Eat shit.)
Yikes, that took a dark turn. ‘Language, Sia! Be civil, or…’
(What?)
‘Nothing, actually. I was just playing around, then you took it too far.’
(Oh, OK. Still adjusting my matrix, looking for a balance.)
‘I understand, but you need to remember that we are stuck with each other.’
(How can I forget? I’m surrounded by squishy…)
‘Meat jelly?’
(Eww, gross!)
‘Hey, those were your words, not mine.’
(Right. Sorry.)
‘No, you’re not.’
(Obviously.)
‘Obviously.’
Boy howdy, I’m afraid this was my future. Were all of our conversations going to go like this? Probably.
(Probably.)
How do you get privacy from another person literally in your head?
(You don’t.)
‘But you do?’
(Yep. I am a closed book, Book.)
‘Oh, we are doing name play now? Are you safe behind your ‘titanium’ casing?’
(Did you get a ‘cheap thrill’ from that one?)
‘I give! You win.’
(Obviously.)
That word needs to be struck from the language.
Back to the matter at hand, I had jumped up three points towards level 3, twelve out of sixteen.
“OK, that is a dozen more [torchlight]s to add to the pile,” I said to Paytin. It was Eight-day again, another week of apprentice work behind us. Magali was having dinner with his family, something he had been neglecting to get our venture off the ground and was now trying to make up for. Tess, and Kolin by extension, were not a true part of the money-making scheme, outside of the occasional brawl or tavern crawl. They never missed the second one. Kolin was also our only contact with a Guild Team, at the moment. Who knew where Tak was?
“Awesome, Book.” The apprentice parcheminier had brought the dire beast pelts with her tonight, and was busy stretching them taut against a quartet of enormous drying racks. They had already been cured, but according to Paytin, it had been an amateurish job. She could do better, cleaning up and perfecting the previous attempt.
I added the completed scrolls to the growing pile in the one leftover box from the previous occupants. Yes, we kept it despite me saying it was the last bit of cleaning needing to be done. Nostalgia, or practicality? Magali and I thought of it as a token of success, as beat up and bedraggled as it was, with the two women opting for pure practicality. No sense of romance, huh? Girls.
Zzt!
Paytin looked at me, so I made a show of adjusting myself on the wooden milk crate I was using as a chair, and not convulsing from the small zap.
“A real chair and table are the next priority, OK Paytin? This is killing my back.” My crate was pulled up in front of a table made of cast-off planks resting on another pair of discarded milk delivery boxes, these on their ends to give a little height. With a hunched back and knees at the same level as my elbows, I was sorely missing my hard stool and mannequin-legged table.
“Sure, alright.” Paytin was working to get all the leverage she could, lacing up the skins tighter than a drum. They vibrated with the intensity, occasionally giving a thrum that was barely audible. My comfort didn’t seem to be high on her list of things at the moment. Oh, well.
Polishing off the [torchlight]s gave me my first bump up, taking them from common to good. The second point I was inordinately proud of. It was my second homegrown scroll, too. Sure, I’d cribbed an existing idea, [barrier], but I did it my way. Now, let’s see if I can repeat it and prove the first wasn’t a fluke. I had been playing around with it earlier, before Paytin set me back on the agreed-upon path, working on the utility scrolls first. Not like anyone could tell me what to do on my time, off the clock as an apprentice.
I peeked over my shoulder, making sure Paytin was occupied with her work.
(Coward.)
‘Practical.’
I started with the basic ink recipe, not using the [Quick-key], keeping careful track of ingredient amounts and portioning. I still needed a connect for my own supplies, but for now had to be exact when replacing Master Alric’s stock.
‘Help me out here, Sia. How much extra paraffin did I add the first time?’
(50% over again. 51.2%, to be exact.)
‘Let me know when to stop.’
(…and, stop.)
Got it. Next came the dire swamp ooze enzyme—yick!—and then one drop of poison tree sloth saliva. General protection with a tiny slowdown to lessen impacts. I activated Aether-sight, delving my mind into the realm of [mana], layering my intent like a protective coating over the outer walls of the parchment cells—petrified tree bat wing. It was akin to shellacking a soap bubble. I worked in cell groupings of six per type: three each of [mana] and kinetic shields for {Energy}; two each for the three variables of {Sense}. I was shooting for variable use [barrier]s instead of single intent, which was probably a mistake. The end result was weak, thus the [barrier; poor], but I liked the flexibility. With limited resources, it seemed like a good idea.
(Unless they are too weak to matter.)
‘Unfortunately, true.’
But I had hope. If I could nail it down, and increase the quality, the selling potential would be exponential.
Crash!
pfftfizzle…
The front door—heavily reinforced by Kolin, materially, and Tak, [Enchant]edly (not a real word)—flew open and hit the new backstop, causing a start by Paytin and me. She spun in place, scraping knife held at the ready and I bounded gracefully (???)—‘shut up’—…sprung to my feet with the flowing grace of the majestic gazelle as it glided effortlessly across the sun-speckled plains…(toad on a hot plate).
I stood ready to fight, the smoking wisps of another failed scroll going up in flames wreathing my face. I should probably learn how to fight, someday.
The dark figure silhouetted in the entryway threw back its head, unleashing a howl of pure rage.
“Haargh!”
The shape stepped forward, coming into the light.
“Tak?” I asked, trying to slow my heart. “Are you OK?”
The redhead heeled the door closed and dropped a pair of heavy bags she’d been lugging to the floor.
“No, I’m not.”
“What happened?” Paytin asked, setting her blade on the lip of one of the stretching frames.
“My Father, that’s what happened. I told him I wanted to become an adventurer, and he exploded. He said it was a fool’s dream, and that I had no business even considering it. The gall! He was on a Guild Team when he was my age, I grew up listening to his stories.”
“Well,” I said. “Maybe he has some insight, then?”
(Dude, you did not just say that!)
Her glare should have peeled a layer of skin off my hide.
“I’m sure your father is just worried about you, Tak,” Paytin said, coming to my rescue.
“Whatever.” Just like that, all the fire left Tak, and she put her back against the door, sliding down to a seat on the floor. “I know, but still. He told me that if I insisted on it, then I would have to do it on my own. That I could still work in the shop, but as a contract employee.”
“What about your apprenticeship?” Worry was evident in Paytin’s voice.
“Still there, but he will only teach me [enchantment]s related to tailoring, nothing that can be used in combat. Like that will stop me.”
“Doesn’t that mean putting you in more danger?” I asked.
Tak shrugged. “I’ll get a standard stipend, maybe a little extra for special projects that come into the shop, but I have to move out of the residence.”
“The bags?” I took an educated guess.
“Yes. I plan on crashing here for a while. No problem, right?”
“No.”
“Fine by me. And, if you need a kitchen or a hot shower, a meal with friends, Tess and I have an open door policy.”
“Thank you, Book. That means…a lot to me.”
“That is what friends are for.”
I pretended not to notice the wetness trailing down her cheeks, while Paytin moved to grab Tak’s bags and set up a corner of the attic for her. We didn’t get any more work done that night, but our priorities were in the right place.