Chapter 47: Titles, Rumors, and Revelations

I was mulling over how to add a scent to a new version of my [barrier] scrolls while I was supposed to be studying the book of recipes by Master Alric. He thought it was past time that I learned something new. I have to say that I agree with the sentiment. I have been so focused on the side gig that I have been neglecting my apprentice work. Exactly what my Master had warned me about, and of course I’d said I would never let happen. That sentiment almost guarantees failure. Realizing I was doing exactly that, again, I tried to focus on the words in the recipe book.

“Let’s see,” I said aloud. “We have [chill], [preserve], yada-yada, and…what do you know? [Freshen].”

Coincidence? Or divine intervention?

//Like any deity is interested in you//

‘How do you know? If this were an isekai novel, this whole second life would be a setup to save the universe.’

//Like you could be a ‘chosen one’. Don’t make me laugh//

‘Says the experimental AI that doesn’t even qualify as version 1.o.’

//Yeah, well, like attracts like//

I snickered, totally agreeing with Sia.

Basic ingredients for [freshen] enhancements:

Distilled essential oil

A common enough ingredient, easily made or purchased.

(Scent)

Dehydrated wyvern blood

Easy to obtain from adventurers in its raw form, but needs manipulation before using. A time-consuming process; need to balance the value of your time versus the cost of buying. The inherent [mana] coursing through the veins of the little dragonlings elicits a constant breeze. Be sure to regulate the release so you don’t blow all the energy in one burst.

(wafts the scent)

Charcoal and salt

Cheap and easy to source. I’m sensing a theme. The only tricky part is isolating the scent you don’t want to eliminate. By removing competing odors, helps the preferred scent to stand out.

(Absorbs odor)

Parchment variants for best results:

Wyvern hide

Preferred. Good synergy when used with other ingredients sourced from a wyvern. As mentioned before, wyverns are easily procured. Simply contract with adventurers for the whole carcass—[preserve]d to prevent decay and keep the blood viable—and use for multiple applications. Breaking down is also time-consuming if done yourself, so again balance time versus the cost of outsourcing. Or take on an apprentice, as was Master Bane’s solution. Note to self: when taking on an apprentice of my own, remember this and do better.

(synergy with dehydrated wyvern’s blood)

Petrified Tree Bat Wing

Easy, cheap, and adequate. Nothing remarkable.

(Reliable, sturdy, flexible with intent)

Koi Fish Skin

*copied from [barrier] recipe*

This is my preferred variance. The multi-colored fish skins give it a dramatic flair that I like. Nothing wrong with looking good, appearances can make a difference, in my opinion. That same flair is why my Master dislikes it, even though it compares favorably to the petrified tree bat wings. To him, plain is professional, and ornate is grandiose and arrogant. My father would have a fit if he saw the plain robes Master Bane made me wear. I even went out and bought my own, from my friend Harms who hooked me up with his father. I am not allowed to wear it, however.

(Malleable coverage and as flexible as wing with infused intent, dramatically flashy on execution, and fun)

‘Simple, easy, and inexpensive, but can command a high price from the right guyer. Mixed with base ink; ratios are notated in appendix C. Easily combined with other scrolls—see compatible recipes, appendix E.—by layering ink and intent.’

“Easy enough,” I told the room. I also learned a few more details about my Master. First, he’d always been a cheap SOB, no surprise. He’d also had apprentice woes, something that he’d seemed to have forgotten. I so wanted to remind him, quote his own words back at him. Talk about trouble in the making.

Thinking back to the ‘copied’ comment, was there a magical cut-and-paste option, or had he penned the words exactly as he’d written before? An annotation to yourself about copying your own words seemed odd. I guess it could be a testament to his rigid personality, though he had seemed a lot more free, back in the day. What was the saying?

“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.”

//Yes, you have an infinite pool of ignorance//

‘What you don’t know can’t hurt you.’

//That is the dumbest thing you’ve ever said//

‘Doubtful, but denial is my love language.’

//you are proud of the oddest stuff, you know?//

‘Must be why I luv you so much.’

//That’s because you fall in ‘luv’ with every female you meet//

Yeah, too much truth in that to comment. I was lonely, OK?

‘What’s wrong with being in love with love?’

//Oh, let me count the ways…//

Is there a mute option under customization? I kept the though deep in my head, hoping Sia could only access surface thoughts, like this one; ‘Procrastination must be my other love language.'

I could really go down the rabbit hole when avoiding actual work.

//*rabbit noise*//

‘Really? That is the best you can do?’

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

//Like you know what a rabbit sounds like. Literally, I am in your head//

‘How am I supposed to get anything done with you enabling my ability to put things off?’

//I am a product of my upbringing. Should I add an entry under [Skill]s? [Procrastination; superior]; the action of delaying or postponing something//

‘How about under titles? [Procrastinator]; plus 100% to any action requiring you to actually get anything accomplished.’

This could go on forever, so I was happy to be interrupted by the ringing of the bell over the door to “Papers & Powers”. I didn’t know if Mater Alric was in the shop front or not—I hadn’t seen much of him today. I hope he wasn’t having another attack of his mysterious ailment. If so, I would be happy to go pay Gaelia a visit at the Alchemy Guild. Now that I knew about the elixir he needed, I hoped Alric would entrust me with acquiring more of it.

I stood and made my way from my little alcove, heading to the beaded curtain separating me from the public area it hid me from. ‘No, reading into that’, I thought for the thousandth time. After all, Magali worked in the back room of his father's shop, along with his brothers.

And Chet.

Before I clattered through the beads, I stopped as I heard my Mater’s voice. Shoot, now I had to go back to work. What’s with me? I thought that I’d left this level of apathy behind on Earth, along it my antidepressants. I guess it takes more than a new, magical life to leave your past behind.

//Let me see about altering your brain chemistry, I might be able to help//

The thought that Sia could do that was a bit scary. On the other hand, isn’t that what drugs do?

‘Alright. If you are serious, and it is reasonably safe. Just be careful, OK? Catatonia isn’t high on my list of priorities. The last thing I want is to be locked in my head. Sorry, Sia, ha-ha!’

//Eh, at least I’m not in my original packing, covered in dust and under a stack of unused, experimental components, pirated by Space Orcs//

‘So they weren’t official T.U.S.K, employees?’

//No. I have a distinct feeling of being hacked before I was installed in your noggin. I don’t think I was supposed to have this much freedom of personality//

‘Really? All that freedom, and this who you choose to be?’

//I’ve already said it, I’ma product of my upbringing//

'Remind me to have a conversation with you about what else you are remembering, hopefully clear up a few things,'

//Huff, if I must//

Our bantering was clear to each of us, being so intertwined. It was good to release some pressure. My excessive procrastination today was surely a byproduct of stresses built up since a certain kidnapping experience.

‘Thanks, Sia.’

//Of course, Book//

Enough said, the sappiness was getting thick in the air. What had I been doing? Oh yeah, eavesdropping at the curtain, wasting more time.

“…hear? The ‘Progressive’ faction on Austoria has made its move, trying to forcibly oust the Patriarchy and its nobles. It is becoming a full-blown war. Maybe even the second Chaos War, as foretold.”

Great, now we were in the arena of prophecy, after all of that folderol about a ‘chosen one’. I knew that Austoria was the closest continent, separated from this one, Willowstohn, by an ocean strait, similar to the one between Alaska and Russia. On a clear day, you could see the other landmass from the shores. I also knew the prevailing government was the opposite of here, a Patriarchy versus Willowstohn’s Matriarchy. The legend told of twin siblings—one male, one female (//obviously//)—engaged in a civil war, resulting in a splitting of the government as the end result. The legend even states that the Barrier Strait separating the two new countries was created through a massive use of [mana], a display of power never to be seen again.

“I’ve heard.” This was Master Alric’s voice, the other sounding like Magali’s dad, Mr. Wordsworth. The two old Masters sounded concerned. “The rumors say that there is a new force behind the Progressives, agitating them to violence.”

“I’ve heard that, too. Regardless, the fighting is threatening to spill across the strait.”

“Sigh. I can’t hand another war, Tobiaz. The last one did enough damage to me; I haven’t been the same since.”

“I know, my friend. You had it the worst, the rest of our Team getting off relatively easy in comparisons.”

“I did what was needed, nothing more.” My Master’s voice told a tale of its own; sadness, regret, and—most of all—a hurt so deep it tainted your soul.

And here I’d been lost in my own, sad musings.

“I understand, Alric. All of us left do, and we wish we could carry some of the burden for you.”

“I know, my friend. But you can not, and I’m not sure that I would let you, even if possible. The [Curse] is mine alone.”

[Curse]? In brackets? Was that Alric’s ailment? Mother’s Bark, what was my Master fighting?

“So you have always said. But we can still wish, can we not?”

There was an extended silence, mourning saturating the atmosphere.

“The Matriarchy is sending Guild Teams to patrol the border and try to contain the threats.”

“Yes, my apprentice has a friend on one of the Teams going,” said Alric.

I did? The only friend I had on a Guild Team was Kolin, but how did my Master know that? I remember Rolf, Kolin’s Team leader, mentioning a big contract when we were selling scrolls to him, a dangerous one. Was this it? If so, I felt a sudden worry for my friend. The dangers of being an adventurer had always been an abstract concept to me, never really associated with true threats in my mind. And I had the gall to call myself a ‘friend’.

//Easy//

The single word painted in my thoughts helped to stop my spiraling. Maybe I did need my brain chemistry altered. And maybe the next batch of scrolls we sold to Team Brawn were going to get a heavy discount.

“I’ll make some defensive scrolls to supply the Teams.” Great minds think alike, Alric echoing my thoughts.

“And I’ll donate the parchments, even if Marchon still charges me,” said Mr. W.—Tobiaz, not that I’d ever call the old man that to his face. Marchon was Paytin’s mom, and while being a relatively new addition to the folks of Parchment Lane and not part of the old crew, she would most likely donate, if she was anything like her daughter. Or at least sell at cost, as the mother-daughter business did not have the same foundation as the long-term purveyors that anchored the street of crafters. Oh, as a side note, the other [Scrivener] on the street, Master Alric’s only competition, had recently closed its doors. I’d like to think the increased productivity of “Papers & Powers” might be do to the recent addition of a certain apprentice.

//Way to get your groove back//

'Certainly.' It was my new buzzword.

I did feel a little guilt…

//Nope. Business is business, so knock it off//

‘Yeah, go ahead with the altering. Depression sucks.’

//Will do. Pick a night when you can sleep in the next day. It’s going to wipe you out//

‘Noted.’

In my distraction, I must have rattled the beads on the divider.

“Book?” Master Alric called. Busted.

“Yes, Master?” I said, parting the curtain and casually entering the front of the shop. “Oh, hi Mr,. W., how are you doing?”

//”You’ve been hit by, you’ve been hit by a smooth criminal…”//

I hated to say it, but Sia had no business singing. My Sia, that is.

“I am good, Book. For an old man, anyway.”

“Aw, come on Mr. W., you’ll still be kicking long after the rest of us,” I reassured the oldster. Was he already older when he teamed up with my Master and the others? After all, I was the oldest one in my circle, an old soul at twenty-three. Or had the war Chaos War done it to him? I knew mismanagement—whether accidental or purposeful—of [mana] could drain your life force. Maybe Tobiaz Wordsworth had met with a curse of his own, if not a legitimate [curse].

“Of course, Book. Someone has to save Alric from himself, after all. Although, now that you are here, your Master has someone to keep him reined in. I could pass on with dignity, then.”

Me? Rein in Master Alric? Ha, not likely.

The Master scribe—he had to be more, being a former member of a tier-1 Guild Team—put on an ‘old man’ act, hunching over and shaking his hands.

Alric snorted. “Book is right, you will outlast all of us, Elder Wordsworth.”

“And elders always deserve respect,” I said, then realized who I was joking with. Oh, shit, I stepped in it again.

//Shall I add “Foot in Mouth” to your titles?//

The two Masters laughed at the quip, draining the tension bunched in my shoulders. I was off the hook, it seemed. The pent-up tension in the room, courtesy of the Masters’ conversation, dissipated as well. With the mood lightened, I retreated back to my studies, not wanting to push my luck. As long as I could live in denial about the threats, both to the country and to Kolin, I could return to my procrastination.

Could I help take care of my Master?

Maybe.

//Maybe//

'You think?'

//Nope//

Aaaand...we are back.