When I woke up, Flavius was already up and washing his face. He, as well as the girls, had a tough day ahead. Training in the morning, and in the evening - their first trip into Ain's dungeon. Alas, since I was already at iron rank, I couldn't accompany them or cover their mistakes. But they wouldn't be going alone; a group of experienced local tunnellers would accompany them, so nothing terrible should happen to my companions. Unless, of course, any of them commits some sort of fatal blunder.
As we descended downstairs, we met the girls, grabbed breakfast, and headed to the training ground. As soon as we left the inn, I told them what I had heard from Ender late last night. To my surprise, the fate of the fifth earthling transported to the Isle of Un barely sparked any interest among my companions. Apparently, their minds were occupied with something else.
"He sailed away, so what?" shrugged Ilona. "Maybe he's a yachtsman and knows how to skipper a boat. And if not, and he's just a fool, then all the more, what's there to discuss? He chose his fate."
"What interests me more is who Raven really is," said Flavius, looking at the girls as if he wasn't talking about me.
"What?" Miranda didn't understand him.
"What do you mean, 'what'?!" the blond guy became agitated, waving his hands expressively. "Is nobody here surprised by how he thrashed us during yesterday's training? Yes, one of his hands held a cup of water, and we were armed, but he still spanked us like little kids!" The guy turned to me and started drilling me with his gaze, not slowing down. "What were you on Earth?"
"Me?" I tried to hide a smile as I replied, "It's simple: I was a Mossad special operations officer. A master of Krav Maga and combat Sambo. I have experience in dozens of real combats and special operations in hostile territory. I was forty years old before I was transported to Ain, twenty of which I devoted to serving my homeland. I've killed more times than I can count. You couldn't have stood a chance against me yesterday."
In the previous cycle, Nate fed me the same kind of nonsense about his past, and now I was thoroughly enjoying myself, watching the astonished expressions on my companions' faces. It was especially amusing to watch Miranda: the girl went pale as a sheet, her eyes darting around anxiously. I could practically feel her recalling all the nasty things she had said to me and imagining all that someone with a past as mine could do to her.
After a minute of silence and my companions being in shock, I burst out laughing:
"Did you guys really believe that I'm forty years old?! I just made all that up."
"Really? Made up?" Flavius said skeptically, "My bones were ready to believe that story after yesterday."
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Ilona chimed in.
"Exactly! I'm not blind, I saw how Tuan looked at you with astonishment when you were wiping the floor with us without letting go of the cup! The sheriff's assistant was in shock, though he tried to keep his composure," Flavius wouldn't let it go.
"It's simple," I shrugged. "I'm not some Mossad officer; I just lost my parents early on, so I had to carve out my path in life. And I'm twenty-two, not forty."
"Carve out a path? You fought like Jackie Chan in a movie!"
He, of course, flattered me and grossly exaggerated.
"Yes!" My voice rings out with indignation, which I think I portrayed very naturally. "That's right; I carved my way up from the bottom of the bandit-ridden favelas of Rio de Janeiro! I killed my first enemy when I was nine! To survive, I learned how to fight, and by twenty, I became a champion in no-holds-barred fighting across the entire eastern coast of Brazil! That's what carving out your path means!"
I heard this story from Ronin, who was actually not a bandit from the favelas, but a CERN engineer and a master of historical fencing, to which he had dedicated more than two decades of his life. But after he killed two bandits of iron rank with a fork in front of me, him being on the same rank, I even believed his nonsense until two months into our acquaintance when he confessed that he had made up the story about the favelas and losing his parents at an early age.
"Oh!.." Ilona pressed her palms to her lips. "Forgive us; we didn't think you had such a difficult past."
"By the Fallen Gods of Ain!" I rolled my eyes. "Did you really fall for that?!! You can't be so naive!"
"Why don't you just tell the truth?" Ilona pouted, offended.
"And how will you know what's true and what's a lie?" I even stopped to hear the answer.
"Um-m-m..." Flavius pondered for a second and then gave the obvious answer, "We can't?"
"Exactly." I nod.
"As for me, I have nothing to hide." Ilona spread her arms. "I had my little flower shop, loved to embroider, dedicated all my free time to taking care of animals at the local shelter."
"Ah." The blond guy smirked at her words. "But in reality, you're an assassin who runs a flower shop as a front!"
"What?!" The healer was outraged. "Me?!"
"No way I'll believe that an ordinary florist would fight even with a broken leg! You should have seen your face yesterday. An assassin - that's a fact!"
Ilona didn't say anything in response, she just turned away from the guy, pretending to be offended.
"Yes, I also have nothing to hide!" Miranda shrugged. "School, prestigious university, then a regular job at a reputable law firm in a good position. Routine."
She's lying. In the last cycle, when she was thoroughly drunk, she complained to Arien in front of me that she was a total failure in life. The girl would get passionately involved in something and then lose interest just as quickly. Three attempts to finish university, each time in different faculties. Ten job changes in three years. At each place, she showed good results initially but got bored, and everything went downhill. By the way, this is a common story for those who have several equally high talents in elemental magic. It's not for nothing that elemental magic is also called Spontaneous. Such people are constantly thrown to extremes, but they also cool down quickly. On Earth, Miranda's talents and character hindered her life, but on Ain, she will find herself. If she survives, of course.
– Well, I'm actually pretty ordinary. - I pretended that they had convinced me. - I'm just a fan of martial arts. I have been frequenting a tatami since I was nine. Other than that, just a regular student who hadn't even finished college when all this started.
Flavius looked at me closely and then said:
"Well, why did you have to lie at first?" Did he really believe me again? However, let it be; I won't dissuade him. "I played baseball as a kid, then college at MIT. And a job at NASA, which, honestly, I didn't like."
"How can you not like working at NASA?!" Ilona didn't believe him.
"Well, I wasn't working as an astronaut," the blond guy shrugged. "Just a regular mid-level employee. Forty-eight hours a week sitting in a chair at a computer. What's there to like?" He tossed his ax in his hand. "I prefer it here on Ain. Just yesterday, my arm was broken, and instead of a month in a cast, I drank a potion and was healthy in three minutes!"
"But we could also get killed today," Miranda pointed out.
"And on Earth, I could have been hit by a car at any moment, or some druggie could have stabbed me for a dose," Flavius pointed his finger to the sky and declared theatrically. "Oh, how scary it is to live!"
In response, Miranda twirled her finger at her temple, to which Ilona, who usually always argues with her, just nodded.
At the training ground, they were already waiting for us. However, unlike yesterday, Ender sent Flavius to train with Ximi and the girls to Tuan.
Ilona was very surprised when she was handed a spear and began to be taught how to use it. The sheriff had to explain to her that a healer who just stands behind and heals the team is nothing more than dead weight and will be quickly expelled from any group. And he was right: on Ain, every mage or healer who wishes to rise up the Spiral learns to wield weapons. And warriors study magic and spells. This is not folly but a harsh necessity of local life. Real specialization here only begins at heroic ranks. And even at the precious steps, a healer who can't plunge a blade into the heart of an enemy that gets close to them will likely not live for long.
A spear is a common choice of auxiliary weapon for healers. First, you don't have to let the enemy get close. Secondly, learning to wield a spear at the initial stage is much easier than a sword. And thirdly, most people, even the most talentless, have two Talent stars in spear and stick. Most likely, these innate talents are inherent in humans due to natural selection, as sticks and primitive spears were wielded by the ancient ancestors of modern humans. As for mages, combat staffs, especially those magically enhanced, are enough. A strike of such staff with the "Weighting" spell can be much more deadly than a hit of a two-handed hammer. But you still have to land it, so the sorcerers of Ain also study martial arts. Not all, of course, but only those who do not plan to stop at the metallic Coil.
Ender took me to the other side of the hill and trained me separately. Today I was trying to master "Discharge." Unlike the similar spell "Lesser Lightning," which was considered ranged and could strike an opponent at a distance, "Discharge" was almost twice as powerful but was used only in a contact way. Even though I "remembered" a plethora of moves, strikes, skills, and spells, it hardly helped me at the moment. As the "memory of the future" did not bring along tactile or sensory memories. I had to start learning any skill almost from scratch. Almost, because once I activated this skill correctly, my training progressed in leaps and bounds. However, this didn't work well with auras because to allocate separate streams of consciousness to support them, you need to train the mind, not the body, and the memory of the future doesn't help much in this.
Following Ender's instructions, I sat in the lotus position with my hands outstretched and tried to concentrate electricity on the tips of my index fingers. In theory, I knew perfectly well how to do this, but in practice, everything was tied to the currents of magic and spirit in the body. And these currents were controlled by sensations, not the commands of reason. Even though, thanks to the "training" of the questers and the first rebuilding of my Core in the boundless void, I constantly felt the flow of prana and mana in my body, controlling these streams was incredibly difficult.
Having "scooped" a little mana from the Mental part of the Core, I pushed this "wave" further. From the chest upwards to the shoulder. From the shoulder to the elbow. From the elbow to the wrist. From the wrist to the fingertip. I needed to achieve a cohesive and continuous movement of this wave of mana. Such cohesion was reached quite quickly - on the thirtieth attempt. It took twice as many repetitions to consolidate the result. Then it became more complicated. It was necessary to make it so that, on the way from the Core to the wrist, my mana transformed into Lightning energy. Moreover, the final transformation had to occur just at the moment when the mana is concentrated on the skin and not inside the body. Because if you do it earlier, it will be painful. And how painful it was, I felt many, many times that morning. If it weren't for the "Enhanced Body," then after the third failure, I would have been forced to interrupt the training for at least a couple of hours. As a result of each unsuccessful "Discharge," in addition to a surge of pain, the arm also completely numbed due to the electric shock. But, thanks to my quick recovery, I didn't drop out for hours after a failure and quickly returned to training.
With Spontaneous magic, it's always like this. The first spell in each of the Elements is the hardest to train. You need to learn to transform your mana into an Element. And as soon as this is mastered once, it will be easier afterward. These thoughts comforted me when I bent over hissing after an incorrect transformation. Nevertheless, the memory of the future helped me. I "remembered" that the correct process should start precisely at my elbow, or rather – in the elbow pit. And while the energy flows from the elbow joint to the wrist, it just manages to complete the transition into the Element. The point of transition initiation is individual for each person, and many are forced to search for it for a very long time.
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Transforming mana into Magic is a delicate process, and nothing should interfere with it. This is precisely why on Ain metal armor never covers arms below the biceps and legs below the knees. And the hands are always bare; even thin leather gloves are undesirable. For elemental mages, it's also better not to wear even chainmail or any metal armor on the body. The only metal that doesn't create "interference" and doesn't hinder the transformation process is mithril. But a full suit of armor made from this material would cost as much as a medium-sized kingdom. Due to this specificity, protective armaments on Ain developed and evolved differently than on Earth. There were no full knightly plate armors and the accompanying protections. Chainmail and armor with plate inserts in various styles were the basis of local protective gear.
Helmets were also much more primitive than on Earth. But in this case, it wasn't due to Magic but because the core of the local armies was made up of tunnellers, whose primary job was dungeon clearing. Nothing should obstruct your sight or hearing in a dungeon. A shadow, unnoticed in time, an unheard rustle behind you - and you're a corpse. Therefore, the locals preferred either not to cover their heads at all or to do so with flat helmets resembling metal plates. These headgear pieces looked rather silly and provided weak protection, but the locals were satisfied with that. For them, it was better this way than to lose their field of view or cover their ears.
Despite such apparent "primitiveness," in fact, the locals thought through everything well. Even Katashi and Ronin, with all their experience and knowledge of Earth's warfare, could only introduce three elements of protective armament to Ain, which were significantly better than what the local tunnellers used. The first was forged cuirass, the second was morion helmet, and the third was gorget, cast protection for the neck, chin, and upper chest. As a result, by the time of the invasion of the demonic legions, the groups of earthlings resembled in appearance conquistador units who were similarly dressed during the conquest of America. And guns, cannons, and other firearms were replaced by our skills and spells.
Even before the sun had reached its zenith, I began to succeed in summoning a spark of electricity at my fingertips. As soon as I managed to do this ten times in a row, Ender made the task more challenging. I had to take a dagger in my hands and learn to concentrate the "Discharge" on the weapon, not on my own hand. Typically, this kind of complication poses significant difficulties for beginners, but I found it incredibly easy. The "past me" used the skill-spell "Shadow Blade," which imbued swords with Shadow magic, and did it so frequently that transferring magic to a weapon this way became ingrained in my memory and felt to me like a natural process. Because of this, I managed to perform the more complicated spell on my first attempt.
My successes did not particularly please Ender. Because by local standards, I was not mastering the spell that quickly. Locals have been sensing magic since infancy, and they cannot understand how hard it is for us - earthlings - in the early stages. However, learning to invoke "Discharge" was just initial training. The main difficulty in skills and magic is not to learn them but to apply the learned quickly enough for them to be useful in real combat. That was the main challenge - developing a habit or even automatic reaction when a spell or technique is triggered as soon as your mind gives the command. The locals even have a saying on this topic: "Learning a spell is easy. Learning to use it is hard!".
Like a boxer practicing a jab or any other strike, repeating it tens of thousands of times, training many skills and quick spells also require a similar approach to mastering. And, of course, talent in the Magic being used played no small role in the speed of mastering a spell. For example, Miranda learned the "Blazing Staff" skill even slightly faster than me. She didn't have my memories, but she had four Talent stars in Fire, which gave her an intuitive understanding of this Element.
As soon as I started showing some success, Ender stuck his pole into the ground and ordered me to strike it with a stick. Each strike had to be enhanced by "Discharge." By lunchtime, I was achieving ten such strikes per minute. This was very good for the first day of training but was utterly unsuitable for real combat.
After we had a snack, the training resumed. Almost immediately, the sheriff ordered not only to strike with "Discharge" but also to maintain one of the auras of the Basic Cross. It's easy for him, sitting on a rock, leisurely sipping beer, while I'm breaking a sweat from the strain due to his tasks! At five in the afternoon, the sheriff ended the training. My companions needed to rest before their first-ever dungeon expedition. Ximi thoughtfully brought us dinner from the tavern, and Ender and his aides briefly left us alone.
At first, we discussed the training. Well, it's hard to call it a discussion; rather, my companions were complaining about how hard it was and what savages the sheriff and his aides were. However, despite such griping, the earthlings still recognized the undeniable benefits of the training. Ilona even called Tuan a "magnificent teacher," though she cursed him for his habit of using physical force in case of a student's mistake. To put it in plain language, the scout did not hesitate to give a cuff on the back of the head or a kick if, in his opinion, the student wasn't trying hard enough. And he believed this to be the case quite often.
Once everyone let off steam, Flavius steered the conversation toward the upcoming dungeon expedition. The day before yesterday, Lao Fan gave him a dungeon map, and the earthlings had been studying it in their free time. I think it will be completely useless for them. They simply won't be allowed past the entrance hall until the local tunnellers have cleared the entire dungeon of goblins. And then they'll use my companions as salt collectors and porters. To prevent them from getting lost at this stage, Lao Fan probably handed them the map. But such an approach, studying all the available information, will undoubtedly be useful in the future, so I didn't interfere with the earthlings' planning. Sometimes I even suggested certain tactical maneuvers, like starting the dungeon clearance not from the center but from one of the flanks. It's a commonplace knowledge for the locals, but many earthlings neglected it in their first few months, which often made their dungeon runs unnecessarily risky and challenging.
"All this planning is a good thing, but I'm not sure they'll let us fight," Ilona, who could sometimes be very insightful, hit the nail on the head.
"Really?" Flavius was surprised. "Then why are they taking us?"
"For the same reason why they round up their group to a full dozen by the local youth," I shrugged. "So that we can carry what the tunnellers find in the dungeon."
"So, we'll be working as porters," the blond guy responded calmly.
"What if I don't agree to serve as a porter?" Miranda asked, raising her nose.
"Then you won't be taken into the dungeon, and all the achievements you could have obtained there will pass you by," I replied.
"Fine," the curly-haired girl waved it off. "Why are you staring at me like I'm a complete fool? Of course, I'll go and carry whatever they tell me."
"Then why did you ask?" Ilona didn't understand her, but Miranda didn't answer, only rolled her eyes and fell silent.
"I have an idea on how to make the locals let you have a little skirmish with the goblins, and most likely, they'll be the ones chasing those creatures toward you," I said.
All three of my companions turned around and started drilling into me with their gazes.
"Spill it." Flavius was the first to break.
"Have you seen many entertainments in Unudo?" I began from afar.
"No." Our healer shook her head.
"Yeah, it's a sleepy kingdom here, and even a brawl with sailors in a tavern is remembered by the locals for half a year," the blond guy agreed. "They remember it because nothing more significant happens."
"Right, Un is a real sleepy kingdom! Which is ruled by a council of elders, whose motto is 'may nothing happen, and let tomorrow be like yesterday'," the future sorceress astutely noted.
"Exactly," I agreed. "And that's what we can capitalize on. You are all novices. From the perspective of experienced tunnellers, you are downright clumsy."
"I'm not..." began Miranda but stopped mid-sentence and said something else, "Continue."
"And what could be more amusing than watching a novice trying to cope with the loathsome work that has gotten under your skin? Offer them this entertainment, and they will drive two or three goblins toward you themselves and watch how you handle them."
"You think so?" Ilona said dubiously.
"Sure," unlike the other earthlings, I understand the psychology of the locals much better. "And if you even offer to place bets on who among you will kill the first goblin, they will not only do it willingly but with great pleasure."
"I doubt it," Flavius didn't believe me.
"Well, there's nothing stopping you from trying, is there?" I asked.
"You're right about that," the guy agreed. "I'll try to rope Lao Fan into this."
"I'll play along," Miranda nodded. "I'll pretend to be an overconfident fool who thinks too highly of herself but can't really do anything. They should fall for it."
"So you'll just be yourself?" Ilona inquired with an innocent, sincere smile.
"Stop!" Flavius immediately waved his hands. "Ladies, don't start! Not now, at least!"
"I'll help you with this," I shift their attention to another topic. "Have you thought about what I suggested yesterday?"
"To rent chainmail from the sheriff's local arsenal?" Flavius clarified.
"Exactly," I nodded.
"The sheriff asks for one silver from each of us for renting for two days and demands that we work it off if we damage the armor," the healer spoke doubtfully. "They didn't just give me the spear for free either, it's also rented, and I'm too stingy to spend more!"
"Are you serious?" I couldn't believe it. "Don't you think your life is worth more?"
"But they might not even let us fight the monsters and just use us as porters!" Flavius interjected. "Why would we need armor then? Just to make carrying boxes of salt harder? And even pay for such a 'pleasure'?"
"That's what I'm saying!" Ilona supported him.
They have a point, but as far as I'm concerned, they should get used to wearing armor as soon as possible; it will definitely be helpful.
"But if you manage to pull off the trick I suggested..." I insist.
"Well…" Flavius scratched the back of his head. "If we really have to fight, then I might rent the armor."
In the end, the girls agreed with this as well, which pleased me.
In the city, we met up with the tunnellers. We discussed all the details of the agreement again. After that, I made a bet with Lao Fan that if they sent out three goblins against the trio of earthlings, Ilona would be the first to kill one. Sensing easy money, the head of the local tunnellers agreed to the bet. Since we were quite loud about this wager, it drew the interest of others. Ten coppers - not a big loss. Of course, Ilona won't be the one to kill a goblin first among my companions, but I didn't need to win. I needed the bet itself and, as a result, the opportunity for the earthlings to earn a new achievement, and I succeeded in that. Locals really love wagers, not only on this archipelago but on the other side of the Great Ridge as well.
Not only I, but the sheriff and his aides also went to see the earthlings off to the dungeon. Apparently, Ximi and Tuan were also somewhat worried about their, albeit temporary, apprentices. As for Ender, he figured out that I would be sitting at the Gate until my companions got through the dungeon and brought a wineskin and snacks. The sheriff, as usual, was always up for a drink in company.
It's not like I was really worried about the earthlings. I wouldn't say I was very anxious. They were just strangers, mere companions for a month at most, but something was still bothering me deep down. That's why I decided to sit here until they came out.
"Your feisty one surprises me - such an expressive face is rare to see, even in the West!" Ender said with a smirk, pouring us wine.
The sheriff was right about that; the irritation on Miranda's face was so pronounced that one could paint a picture titled "Disgruntled Girl" from her. The future sorceress didn't like that she was handed two enormous baskets, each about forty liters, and a box almost her size was hung on her back. However, Miranda didn't take it beyond an annoyed face and obediently carried out all the orders of the tunneller assigned to her.
"I noticed your companions don't know how to wear armor," Ender commented after taking the first sip.
He was probably talking about Ilona; her chainmail was improperly fastened, which made it constantly chafe the girl's shoulders. In addition, the iron armor provided by the sheriff was straight from the city warehouse, meaning it was heavily greased with animal fat to protect it from rust. The strong and not-very-pleasant smell even made the healer's eyes water a bit, and she tried not to touch the chainmail rings with her hands. Due to the combination of these two factors, Ilona, in her armor, looked like a clumsy puppet controlled by an inept puppeteer.
"They'll learn if they want to live," I replied, also taking a sip of wine.
"Or they'll die, yeah," the sheriff philosophically shrugged.
When the group assembled for the dungeon clearance disappeared into the Gate of the Salt Cave, I asked Ender:
"I saw exquisitely made obsidian crafts at the Silent Hey's shop. Do you know who makes them?"
"Did you like them?" the sheriff asked with a smile.
"Yes." They really were beautiful.
"Why are you asking?" Ender has this unpleasant trait of really liking to ask questions.
"I want to order something from this craftsman."
"Something?" My new mentor would not let up.
"I want to change the tip of my spear." He wouldn't just let it go, so it was easier for me to answer.
"That's why you didn't want to sell the Heart of the Monkey King!" Ender realized.
"Dark obsidian is stronger than ordinary, and if I maintain the 'Weapon Strengthening' aura, it won't be inferior to steel."
"Wasting one of the auras on a weapon?" The sheriff skeptically raised an eyebrow.
The locals really don't use this aura much, preferring others, and it's included in the Basic Cross more for tradition than for frequency of use.
"In this case, it will be justified." I stood my ground.
"Alright." The sheriff poured us more wine, agreeing with me. "In Unudo, there's a stone craftsman, the younger brother of the Silent Hey. He rarely shows up in public, which is why he got the nickname Recluse Laoy."
"If he's a recluse, that's bad." I frowned; it's always hard to find common ground with such people.
"Don't worry; I'll introduce you." Ender winked. "Laoy is not really a recluse. He just doesn't like idle chatter and is a homebody, but other than that, he's quite normal."
"Do you know if he will charge a lot for the work?"
"He's not very interested in money when it comes to his hobby. He's quite a well-off townsman. Offer him your yari tip made of dark bronze in exchange for his work."
"The tip?" I didn't understand - it was not that expensive.
"Yes, it is made using a technique unfamiliar here and will definitely interest Laoy. He collects such curiosities." The weapon I obtained from the questers' arsenal indeed had a casting, forging, and metal pattern unusual for Ain.
"I'll offer it." This was very advantageous since I valued the processing of the Heart of the Monkey King at almost all the money I had left.
A new round of wine and the sheriff's displeased voice:
"Don't forget to maintain your perception aura - I see you've gotten too relaxed here…"