Heading to the Scholar's Tower was shaping up to be a longer trip than traveling to the Adventuring Guild until I stopped and asked a guard for directions. He directed me to a station similar to a subway system, which had major stops at all six Guild Towers, along with The Druids Grove and a stop at the center Tower. The cost of entry was quite pricey: one gold per person. However, it only took me 10 minutes to reach the Scholar's Tower. This crystalline Tower was the color of deep Sapphire, and at its base was an open portal revealing a similar city on the other side. Questioning people in the area about the portal, I found out that it was linked to a city solely Owned by the Scholar's Guild and dedicated to scholarly pursuits.
There did not seem to be any doors at the entrance of the Guild Tower, but upon crossing the threshold, there was a tingling of magic that washed over my skin. The lines to the teller ran fairly quickly, and the next thing I knew, I was standing in front of the teller, a stout Arachne with a brusque attitude. With a tone of contempt, he said, “What can I help you with? For your information, we don't accept walk-ins of your station at this guild.”
I bit my tongue so as not to snap back with insults and calmly said, “I am here to find my friends. They said they were all members of your guild and would be traveling here. I would like to know if they have arrived, and if possible, send them a message. I would be happy to pay to have a message sent to them. It is very important that I speak with them as soon as possible,” I said, making a stack of gold coins ten high appear under my hand.
The moment the tower of coins appeared, the attendant's eyes bulged, and their tone changed to that of the most polite and proper desk clerk. “Yes, sir. As long as they were registered upon arrival, we will have them in our system, and sending a message will be no problem at all. It's just a small fee of 50 silver per message. I can send the messages right this instant. If I can have your name and their names, we can get this rolling.”
“No problem, I need 3 messages. One to Valerie, Olivia, and Avery. All of them can say the same thing: 'Hey, I will be staying at the Bloody Shield. Come find me there. If you are too busy to come right now, I will be there for the next 20 days. Love, Havoc.'” I gave the attendant my full name and slid 3 gold coins over to them. They pocketed all the pieces while staring at a window I couldn't see. They nodded and started to fold each piece of paper, writing their names on the front. The paper vanished with a small incantation. I noticed that next to my wife's name, the attendant wrote "core."
“Alright, so I was able to find each of them, and the messages were sent. It looks like they are in different places. Avery is on the planet Nandor, working on a research project. Olivia is on the planet Nadja, working to reforest the southern half of the planet. Valerie is on the guild’s core planet of Laszlo. You have some truly brilliant friends. They have rampaged through everything we had to teach them in record time,” the attendant finished singing the praises of my friends. Two letters then popped into being above his desk. One was addressed to the attendant, the other was from Olivia to me.
I cracked the seal on the back of mine and read, “Hey Havoc, glad to hear that you made it to Urza. I am on my way to you now. Just stay there and ask to use a meeting room. We have a lot to talk about. See you soon. Love, Olivia.” I looked up at the attendant, who was setting their note on fire.
“The Director of this branch of the guild would like me to tell you that your wife can't be reached at this time, but as soon as we can take you to her, we will,” the clerk's face turned white, and he looked like he might pass out. “The guild head never responds personally. Your wife must be very important to warrant such a response. From the letter, it might be two or more days until you will be able to see her.”
I let go of the breath that I was holding. She is alive, thank the universe. “That is fine, can I rent a meeting room? Olivia is coming here, and I would like to meet in private.”
It took Olivia over an hour to get back to the guild headquarters. Upon seeing her, my chest filled with joy. I was so relieved that she was in one piece. I rushed over and swept her into a hug, and we hugged for a long moment. Once we broke apart, we sat down to catch up on everything we had missed. I listened with rapt attention as she explained being transported to Urza, the testing, the trials, learning magic, getting awarded an epic class, and the separation.
“About a week into learning magic, Valerie came to me crying and sad. She would not tell me what had her so upset; all she said is that she chose to undergo special training that would separate us. She insisted that I tell you she chose it and that she loves you. She also gave me the weapons that Jake created. From that point forward, I have not seen or heard anything from her. I have tried to write her messages, but none have gone through, and she has not appeared in my friends list," Olivia says.
“Well, shit. What could she be doing that is more important than staying with both of you to ensure your collective safety? I saw the guy at the desk write 'core' on the message I sent to her. Then he mentioned that she was in the core world of Lazlo. So maybe she is there," I say with confusion and hope.
“Ha, ensure our safety. It has been too safe. We have been fed experience by the fistful and have not taken a point of damage the whole time training. I don't think she is in that world. We both have been in that world for a while until we got to pick a project to work on. Not once did she pop up on our friend's list," she says, growing more worried.
“I should know for sure in the next week. The Headmaster of the guild sent the clerk a letter saying that he will take me to see her as soon as she is available. They called Valerie my wife, which was information that I did not give out when I told them who I was," I explain.
“No way. If the Director said they would do it, then it will get done. They are all about honor and keeping one's word. Their class was the most punishing and rewarding. It has to be that you are her husband, which is why you are given access to her. Please come and find me when you see her. I am worried. Okay, now that we have caught up, I have to head back to Nadja to wrap up a project I am working on. I will be available tonight if you are free to hang out," Olivia says.
“That sounds great. Just message me when you get to the world, and I can introduce you to my adventuring team. We can give you the whole story of how we got here."
“You didn't mention that you were part of an adventuring team. What rank are you guys?" Olivia says.
“We just hit Silver a week ago," I say with a bit of pride.
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“So soon. How? I know people here who have been stuck on bronze for years. Never mind, not now. I have to get back. See you tonight." Olivia says.
“Okay, I will see you tonight. Be safe and have a good day," I say as I hug her goodbye.
As she is leaving, I scan her so I can see what level she is. Olivia level 20 World Shaper, HP: 250, MP: 800, SP: 200. She spins around on me after my scan and unleashes a scan on me. Then her face twists up in frustration, and she shouts, “Damn it, Havoc! How are you 28 already? We have been learning and being fed XP. We will have to talk about it over dinner. I can't believe you." The rest of her muttering was cut off as she walked down the hall.
With the business with the scholars concluded and a great weight lifted off my chest, a pit of apprehension begins to form in my stomach. The tense state of not knowing where your loved one is is only slightly better than not knowing if they are alive. The rest of the day passes quickly. I meet back up with my party, and we shop around the town. However, I don't find anything like the items I got at Olmeg’s shop. I do find some armor for my missing slots; they are nothing special, just common items that give me small boosts. I'm able to fill my Forearms, Belt, Pants, and Shoes for only 50 gold, providing me with a solid +25 con and 10 int. I'm unable to find anything for my shoulders. This adds a much-needed 243 HP to my total. I need a special type of material that can be found in the druid's grove. The advice I received about filling the ring and earrings slots was to head to the grove.
The rest of the party found some upgrades, but none of them were groundbreaking. On our way to Druid’s Grove, I asked about something that has been bothering me.
“So why have I stopped getting augments from monsters? I've killed all of those creatures, and so far I have only gotten 2, and those were from zombies. Compared to Earth, where everything I killed gave me an augment, it just seems like I am missing information here,” I ask.
“That is an easy question; it has to do with the grade of mana in your world. Every world is graded based on the density of mana. Rodigar is a D-ranked world. The scale is simple: E is the lowest, a world that has some mana but not enough for any Manifestations. The highest is A, where they have so much mana that it can't support life under the level of 1000. Meaning that only the strongest of beings can travel there but return to the lower world to have children and live.” Trila
“So am I to understand that the mana level of a world affects how augments are dropped? Is there a chart breaking down the bell curve for the drop rate of these items? Do the same rules for rank A apply to rank B? Is there a minimum level to live?" I ask.
“No, not really. Rank A worlds are very close to the labyrinth, which means that the mana bleeds onto the planet, changing it. It takes a level of 1000 just to withstand the mana. You could go to one if you wanted, but you would just die. What is a bell curve? Yes, that is what I am saying about augments: the higher the world, the more mana the monster can gather inside themselves. When a monster reaches a certain level, they have the choice to evolve with a core or evolve an aspect. With a core, they get more general power, and with an aspect, they get more specialized. The monsters that took the aspect have a chance to drop an augment.”
“That is so interesting. I have so many more questions. What is the labyrinth being the most pressing?” I ask with a bit too much enthusiasm.
“That is a lengthy subject, and we are almost to the grove. To vastly oversimplify, think of it like 3 layers: you have The Stream on top, the material plane in the middle, and the labyrinth at the bottom. The Stream releases essence, which is filtered through the material plane where it gains form, meaning, and structure. This is then used in the labyrinth for something unknown, but what is known is that mana is released equal to the essence that entered. Oh, look, that took all the time, now we have to shop," Trila says, dancing off to look at the entrance to the grove.
“Never thought I would see the day. You have made Trila want to stop a lecture," Amurak said.
“Aw, that's not fair. I have so many more questions. Maybe we could find a library so I can read up on the subjects I am lacking," I say.
“There is not enough time in a lifetime to make up for your lacking," Xantcha says.
“Oh damn, what a burn. I am going to need skin grafts to heal those burns," I say, raising my hand for a high five.
Xantcha just stands there, looking at me like I am crazy. “You are not burned. I did not cast anything or attack you. What is a skin graft, and why would you not use magic to heal it? Why are you holding out your hand?" Xant asks.
“So the hand is a custom from my world. It is to honor a good job or any feat of cunning. Raise your hand like mine, and we slap them together." Xantcha cautiously raises her hand. I lightly slap it and say "High five." “In my world, when you make a dig or joke that is targeted like that, it is called a burn. The better the joke, the more it burns. It is all good fun as long as they stay jokes. Also, in my world, we did not have magic, so when someone was caught in a fire or was burned badly, we would cut the skin off an unburned patch of skin and graft it over the burned area. That was how it was, like 10 years ago. Now we have skin that is grown in a lab," I explain.
“What do you mean, lab? Like an alchemist lab? You mean to tell me that you grow flesh separate from the body without magic?” Trila says, appearing to my right and scaring the shit out of me.
“Whoa, holy shit, don't sneak up on me like that. I thought Xantcha was supposed to be the sneaky one. Yeah, it is like an alchemy lab but cleaner. Oh, ooh, I just realized that it might be a problem. How do flesh golems work? You know what, never mind," I say, walking into the grove. As I pass the entrance, I find the temperature is pretty much like walking into an air-conditioned store on a hot day. The grove is stunning; everything is made out of plants so small and intricately woven that they look like green and white houses and stores. The style matches the city outside at first, but as I walk deeper, the buildings start to look more organic. Popping into shops and buying some street food, I eventually decide to ask for directions to a store that sells rings and amulets.
Arriving at the shop the guard recommended, called the Stone Lily, I inspect some items and look at some potions. I walk up to the attendant and ask if she has any rings or earrings that would fit my class and are on the lower end of the price scale. I also pull out my chest armor and ask if they know where I can get shoulder pads that work with this armor.
“Oh, I see that you have been to see Master Olmeg. How is he faring these days?” she asks.
“He was great the last time I saw him. He was reminiscing about teaching at the great grove,” I say.
“That is great to hear. Unfortunately, we don't have any shoulder guards, amulets, or earrings for anything less than 750 GP each, sorry. We do have some minor rings that give a small boost to one's strength and dexterity. If you are looking for something to fill slots, we can make you an unenchanted set of shoulder pads. It would take a day and cost 100 GP,” she says.
“That would be great. I am looking to fill the slots and would like to have them enchanted at a later date if that is possible. I am going to pass on the rings. Thank you,” I say, handing over the 100 GP and my adventure badge so they can take down my information. With the shopping finished, we head back to the inn.
Walking back to the Bloody Shield is quite the culture shock. The city is filled with different smells and races that call this place home. It's an immaculate city, almost too clean. As I explore, I find that every area is nearly spotless, which is unsettling. How can there be no debris? Then I remember that there is magic, and perhaps a cleaning spell can be that effective.