Over the next week Savani entered into a routine. First he would check his status then meditate and absorb as many particles as he could. After he would take a break and spend a few coins on food in the local kitchen. Luckily a basic meal was only a few gold so he could afford it. Once that was done he would go back into his room and enter the Virtual Training area where he would practice Acid Shot over and over until he was ejected. Once he was ejected he would take a nap before wandering around the tower trying to learn more about the social hierarchy as well as any infromation that could help him discover what to do next.
From what he learned during the week there are roughly 200 apprentices in the tower. Most of those have an affinity for either Darkness or Earth with a few Water and Wind apprentices spread around. However out of those 200, only 4 have mananged to get to the level of Pseudo-Sage. With those four as the core the entire apprentice body can be broken into two factions, the Earthen Court and the Shadow League.
The Earthen Court is headed by two of the Pseudo-Sages. The first is the Metal Lord Griff who has found a way to modify a normal Elemental Baptization and have it refined into a sub-branch of Earth magic focused on metal. This has given him a body made out of metal making him a powerful close-combat fighter. Whats more any metal object he uses can be strengthened to withstand more damage or increase the damage he can inflict on others.
With him is his lover and partner Flower Queen Kiana. Origionally she had a high affinity with Water but by using the large amount of Earth essence in the area as well as some knowledge on the Light element, Flower Queen Kiana modified herself into a half-plant women capable of controling various flora she grows. One of her most deadly flowers is a rose that releases a kind of poisonous pollen spread through the air.
Opposite the Earthen Court is the Shadow League run by Crow King Victor and Shadow Wielder Mary. Like Metal Lord Griff, Shadow Wielder Mary is an Elemental Baptization pseudo-Sage focused around the Shadow aspect of the Darkness element. Whats more she managed to get her hands on a spell that lets her merge into the shadows making her a powerful assassin.
Her partner in the court is the Crow King Victor who is following the path of Bloodline Enhancement. Supposedly he found a way to refine a stronger version of the bloodline of the local Shadow Crows which has given him the ability to control the local crow population. Along with controlling crows it has also increased his eyesite to be as strong as a bird of preys. With that he is the most feared apprentice when it comes to weilding a bow. Between the two many fear the intelligence network and assasination potential of the Shadow League.
When not collecting information on the social heirarchy or training, Savani browsed the prices for the local knowledge available to him in the tower. In order to get a lesson in Necromancy or Alchemy it would cost 20 contribution points or resources of the equivalent value. If he wants to self learn it would cost 1 contribution point to borrow a book out of the library for an hour. From what he gathered there are roughly 10 books on beginners Necromancy, another 10 on anatomy, and 15 on Alchemy along with 30 or 40 on the apprentice level knowledge of the Darkness element in the library meaning he would need at least 50 contribution points to create a proper foundation for himself just from self-studying. And that was excluding the books focused on magic as a whole or those focused on bloodlines. As for the Space element, sadly there were no books in this particular tower. Savani would have to travel to find that information. Luckily he had the assistance chip or it would cost probably double that amount, if not triple!
* * * * * * * * * *
Like every other day Savani awoke and opened his status. Looking at the progress he made Savani couldn't help but smile.
[Host name: Savani
Race: Human (beginner apprentice)
Affinities: Darkness, Space
Attributes: Strength: 2.91 Physique: 3.02 Vitality: 2.13 Agility: 2.46 Spirit: 6.08
Status: Healthy
Skills: Magic Language Proficiency (Basic)
Spells: Acid Shot (Proficient)]
Over the past week Savani increased his Spirit while also raising his skill in Acid Shot. Not only that but he raised it two grades! Before it was beginner and when he finally stopped causing it to backfire on him the skill was raised to Adept. With this he could actually fire the Acid Shot, though sometimes it either wouldn't go as far as it was suppose to or would deviate away from its target. It was only last night when the proficiency upgraded once again after hitting the target correctly several times in a row.
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This finally gave him the courage to start going out and accepting Tower Quests. From experiments he had done during the last week, after getting to the point the spell would not kill him once it was cast, to fire one shot of Acid Shot would take one Spirit. At 3 Spirit he would begin to develop a headache and at 2 Spirit it would feel like someone was plunging a spike into his brain. With that as a warning Savani could at most shoot 4 Acid Shots max while out in the field. At that point he would have to return and rest for several hours until his Spirit had recovered.
Once he finished breakfast Savani went and looked at the local Tower Quest board. On it ranged a large number quests that encompassed the surrounding thousand miles around the tower, many of which had to deal with monster problems in various towns far away from the tower.
"Chip scan data on tower quests and give the best quests for the contribution point value vs danger level. Only show quests that can be done in immediate area around the Tower. I'm not strong enough to be leaving the Tower's influence yet."
[Scanning quests and extracting appropriate quests based on parameters set. Sorting and extrapolating quest information. Based on hosts current aptitudes and requests there are 5 quests suitable for the host.
1. Hunt Giant Centipedes in the nearby caves. Needed for Alchemy project for a local visiting Sage. Reward is 1 contribution point for every body delivered up to a maximum of 5 points. Please note that Giant Centipedes are roughly a meter long and can blend with the shadows of the cave.
2. Herd the local zombies back into the appropriate area. 3 zombies have left the area they were assigned had have started heading to the area designed for plants and Alchemy ingredients. Please herd them back to the proper area. Reward will be 3 contribution points.
3. Catch some poisonous frogs from the local swamp. Poison from frogs is needed for Alchemy experiments. For every 5 frogs captured you will be rewarded with 1 contribution point. If you capture 20 you can ask for one beginner level potion instead of contribution points.
4. Need Alligator for Necromancy Experiments. If someone can bring 1 relatively undamaged body of one of the local Giant Alligators to the Tower you will be given 5 contribution points. I only need 3 bodies though so first come first serve.
5. Alchemy plants need cataloguing. Go out and catalogue all Alchemy plants in the appropriate zone. Every group will be given 1 point for every 10 types of plants catalogued. Warning: Data will be cross referenced with data from other groups as well as past data. If your data is deemed tampered with there will be consequences.]
Looking through the list of quests Savani ended up choosing the first one. With his only spell being Acid Shot and with no funds left to buy capturing equipment Savani didn't think that any frogs would survive. As for the Alligators, he doubted he could actually bring a body back with his low Strength. Those Alligators weighed several hundred pounds! And the herding the zombies quest would have Savani act as bait. One has to realize that though a zombie is concidered slow, thats only relative to an apprentice. For a fresh apprentice like Savani who hasn't started refining and strengthening his body, those zombies may as well have been jungle cats.
As for the cataloguing quest Savani simply wouldn't be able to know what plant was what or what it was used for. He had yet started learning Alchemy so the various plants couldn't be catalogued just yet. That left the Giant Centipedes the only quest left.
Quickly grabbing the quest from the board Savani went over to a young man with curly red hair behind a nearby counter.
"Hello I'd like to register this quest. Is it still open?"
The young man took the quest and placed in on a nearby crystal ball. Once the ball glowed white he nodded his head. "The quest is still active. Looks like it hasn't been claimed yet. Makes sense all the new apprentices are still learning meditation and the point value is too low for the older ones."
Looking over at Savani the red-headed apprentice starts studying his appearance. "You're one of the new ones right? Thats a surprise. Usually it takes a month for a new apprentice to get the hang of meditation." With a nod of his head the red-headed apprentice holds out his hand. "The names William. Glad to see we finally got some decent fresh blood in this tower."
Reaching over and giving the hand a shake Savani replied, "Nice to meet you William. I'm Savani and I just happened to be a bit lucky. I've always found it easy to clear my mind. My father often called me scatter brained because of it."
With a laugh Willian took out a pen and wrote Savani's name on the page before placing it in a folder. "Alright Savani the quest has been recorded under your name. If you don't finish it in the next two days someone will come looking for you. If you can't be found it will be assumed you were killed and the quest will be reopened. Good luck."
With that cheery note William turned to the next apprentice who brought him a quest. At the mention of death and how casually William mentioned it, Savani remembered just how cruel the world of Sages was. Death was a common occurence. No one would even blink if he died while adventuring.
With that cold reminder Savani headed toward the door. His first foray into the wilds of this world was about to begin.