“So Jeb, I understand that congratulations are in order for growing your first crop,” his grandfather said without preamble. The rest of his family generally cheered at the announcement.
“Thank you!” Jeb replied, “but I don’t think it’s really that big of a deal. The bed was already prepared, and the seeds were all fresh and ready to plant.”
Jeb saw the rest of his family brighten at that. “I’m glad you haven’t started developing too much of an ego,” his mother said, giving him a kiss on the forehead. “What did you go to the Library for? You didn’t take any books there, and you didn’t come back with any.”
“Oh!” Jeb realized he’d forgotten to tell his family about what happened after his aunt had dropped him off the night before. “Last night I stopped in the Library after Aunt Sue dropped me off. I came in near closing time, so I guess the Librarian was doing something with inventory with the Capital Library.” His family looked like they were about to ask a question, so he quickly continued, “that’s not relevant here, though. He wondered why I had Elementally Attuned wood and an Imbued lute, but I had questions about whether or not I should bind my lute, so we mostly talked about that. Today I went back to tell him how I made my staff Attuned to Water Mana, and it turns out the Glyphs I made for Attune Water Mana are original! He published them in the public Glyph Repository!” Jeb’s excitement at the situation boiled over, and he couldn’t stop smiling.
“Which Glyphs did the Librarian publish?” his grandfather asked.
“My Attune Water Glyph!” Jeb replied proudly.
“That’s not Glyphs plural, though,” his sister pointed out.
“Oh! I had to modify the Glyph a lot in order to fit on the staff.” Seeing that his family at least seemed vaguely interested, Jeb continued, “because Glyphs, or at least the Glyphs that I’ve learned so far, generally take up most of a square. The staff is long and thin, though, so it had to be shaped much differently in order to fit. It turns out that modifying my Glyph like that was good enough to be worth publishing.”
“Why didn’t you give him your other Attune Mana Glyphs?” his mother asked. “Are you keeping them private for some reason?”
Jeb cocked his head. “Hmm? Shoot!” he suddenly realized that he had left without sharing his other Glyphs with the Librarian. “He said that he needed a break, though. Maybe when I go back to explain how I Infused my lute.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” his aunt said. “Do you think there will be any issues from you publishing the Glyph in a public Repository?”
“I don’t think so!” Jeb said happily, “the Librarian said it would make it harder for me to profit off of them, but that’s not a huge issue to me. If I was able to make the Glyphs that quickly as a First Tier Mage, I’m sure that Higher Tiered people could have made them far more quickly if they had bothered. I’m just glad that I’ll save someone else the time.”
Despite his answer, the older members of his family still seemed a little nervous. Jeb’s sister tried to ask what they were so nervous about, but none of them were willing to answer.
“Circling the conversation back,” his Aunt Esther said, “did you grow something from seed in a single day?”
“Yes!” Jeb replied happily, glad to move the conversation away from whatever his family was being secretive about.
He heard her mutter “that’s on me,” before saying louder, “what did you grow in a single day and how?”
“Oh!” Jeb realized that he hadn’t explained anything, and his grandfather had too. “I grew Managrass. It turns out that it grows faster if you put Mana into it, so I poured all of the Mana I could into the field while it grew. I finished a few hours ago.”
His family nodded at that. “Any reason you were growing Managrass?” his Aunt Esther prompted.
“A few,” Jeb replied. “Most of which come from Grandfather, who suggested it. That’s the primary reason. Second, it apparently mutates really easily, which means that my Quest to breed a new trait into a Magical Plant should be easy, since Managrass counts as one. Third, Managrass is what Manaweave is made of, and that’s apparently really useful for Scribing Spell Glyphs. Now that I’m growing it, I am a little curious what would happen if I poured Elementally Attuned Mana on it instead of plain and unaspected Mana, but that seems like the sort of experiment to try after I manage to breed it to white.”
“Well reasoned,” his aunt replied, “though I can tell how much of that came from others.”
The rest of dinner proceeded off of that cheery note, and Jeb made his way back to his room. He debated Enforcing his lute again, but the conversation with the Librarian and his Aunt Sue still played in his mind. The more that he thought about it, the less sure he was that binding it was a good choice. He had started learning Bardic Magic to increase his Charisma, but that wouldn’t be an issue for a while, especially since he could just learn songs.
Also, if he continued down the path of a Mage, he would apparently lose access to Bardic Magic at all. If that happened, the lute being bound to him would be nothing but a disadvantage. With troubled thoughts, Jeb slowly fell asleep.
The next day, Jeb woke up to two Notifications flashing in his vision.
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Grok Glyphs Second Tier “Share Your Work” Using what you have learned from the Mana Mastery and Spell Glyphing Quests, you have shared one of your Modified or Original Glyph with another. Rewards: 39 Experience, 1 Intelligence, 1 Willpower, 10 Mana, Unlock Metagroking Chain Second Quest “Revise a Glyph”.
The second Notification was more or less identical to the first, just lacking the second Quest unlock. The fact that the Quest gave him Willpower was the extra incentive he needed to bolt out of his house and over to the Library. If he shared his other three Attune Mana Glyphs, then he would get another three Willpower.
When he made it to the door of the Library, he was surprised to see the Librarian waiting outside of it.
“Good morning Jeb,” he said, looking pointedly towards the east. Jeb followed his vision, but didn’t see anything in particular. Were the stars extra bright or something?
“Good morning!” he replied chipperly, “what are you looking at the east for?”
“Do you see the sun?” the Librarian asked.
Jeb checked again. The sky was probably growing lighter, though he wouldn’t swear to that effect. “I don’t think so!” he replied, “why?”
“What would you consider as the beginning of morning?” the Librarian asked, stifling a yawn.
That was a good question. Jeb thought about it for a minute as he watched the Librarian sip on a mug of something steaming.
Finally, he answered, “I don’t think that I have a strict definition for the beginning of morning. If I assume sleep, then when I wake up from sleep.”
“Is that a rigorous definition?”
Jeb thought about the times that he’d passed out in the middle of the day or woken up well past noon and rephrased his statement. “Assuming that I’ve gone to sleep after dark, the time between when I’ve risen and noon.”
The Librariana chuckled a little at that definition. “So morning is based on your schedule?”
“Mine certainly is!”
“That’s fair, I suppose. What are you doing back so early? If it’s about your Infused lute, I would rather wait until at least sunrise.”
“Ok! I’ll come back later for that then,” Jeb said happily. “I’m here because sharing my Glyphs with the public Glyph Repository satisfies the requirements for a Quest that I have. I’d like to share my other three Glyphs, if possible.”
The Librarian stared at his mug for a moment, clearly considering something. “What other Glyphs?” he finally asked.
“I made the Attune Mana Glyphs for the other three First Tier Elements,” Jeb said, calming down slightly. “Why, is that a problem?”
The Librarian considered Jeb’s question before responding. “It shouldn’t be. Until you log into the Glyph Repository at a terminal, your name is fairly unlinked from your Glyphs. Other High Tier Librarians will be able to see where you entered them from, but other Mages will just see your name. There might be some confusion over the fact that you made the Glyphs for all four First Tier Elements, but nothing too problematic.”
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“I’ll trust you on this!” Jeb replied happily. “Should I just cast the Spells briefly then or...?” he trailed off, realizing that he had no other way to show the Librarian.
The Librarian just sighed. “Until you have a better method for writing the Spell Glyphs down, casting them in front of me is probably the easiest solution for both of us. Now then, show me Attune Air Mana.”
Jeb went through the three remaining Glyphs he’d made. The Librarian noted them down and sent them off to the public Glyph Repository. “Hooray! Three more Quests completed!” Jeb exclaimed, beginning his walk back home. It was nearly light out, and he wanted to get a head start on preparing for growing his Managrass.
Back at home, he saw that the plot he’d used the day before seemed ready for replanting. Jeb gathered a trough of water, remembering how dry the plants had gotten while he grew them. Then, he carefully set out the seeds in the early morning light.
When all of the seeds were in the ground, Jeb saw that the soil was apparently slightly dryer than the ideal for the seeds to sprout. He poured water across the plot until it seemed appropriately wet. Then, he poured his Mana out on the field. The ground drank it in hungrily this time, which was a little strange. Jeb reasoned that it might be the plants adapting to absorbing Mana more readily.
After breakfast, he went back to the field. Shoots were starting to grow, so he watered them and poured the Mana he’d regenerated back on the plot. As it turned out, Managrass grew much faster in wetter soil, and he had harvested it before lunch. This time, he carefully pollinated only the absolute brightest of flowers, and then he only collected the lightest fibers when they finished growing.
After separating the fibers and seeds, he bagged them up. The almost white bag was far smaller than the remainder of the seeds, but Jeb knew that it would still be enough to replant the field. Unsurprisingly, the field needed the same nutrients as before. He quickly opened the Quest Notification
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Soil Identification First Tier “Fix the Plant” You have identified what is wrong with the growing conditions for a plant. Rewards: 1 Intelligence, 20 EXP
Fixing the soil took less time than it had the day before, and he was ready to replant just after noon. Jeb debated between visiting the Librarian and trying to finish breeding his white Managrass. Breeding the Managrass ultimately won out.
He scattered the seed and poured his Mana out onto the field. As Jeb watched, the ambient Mana levels even started dropping around the field. He hoped that his Managrass being more Mana hungry wouldn’t be an issue.
The field sprouted and Jeb went through to pollinate the flowers. They all appeared a uniform white, which was nice to see. When he finished harvesting the plot, Jeb saw that all of the seeds and fibers were an identical shade of near white.
He immediately saw the Notification he’d been waiting for, along with another.
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Pollinating Third Tier “Breed a Magical Plant to have a new Trait”. Plants, like the rest of creation, are yours to change. You have done so. You have created the Magical Plant “White Mana Hungry Managrass” from “Managrass” Rewards: 59 Experience, 2 Intelligence, 2 Willpower, 10 Mana
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Pollinating Third Tier “Breed a Magical Plant to have a new Trait”. Plants, like the rest of creation, are yours to change. You have done so. You have created the Magical Plant “White Mana Hungry Managrass” from “Managrass” Rewards: 59 Experience, 2 Intelligence, 2 Willpower, 10 Mana
Well that was a bit of a mixed blessing. Jeb ran to find his aunt talking to his grandfather.
“Did you finish the Quest already?” she asked, half joking.
“Twice!” Jeb exclaimed.
The look of shock on their faces was worth the questioning that followed.
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Human Age: 16 Class: Least Mud Initiate Level: 1 Experience: 4595/100
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Total Statistic Load: 303 Physical Load: 124 Strength: 28 Dexterity: 21 Endurance: 30 Vitality: 41 Presence: 4
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Mental Load: 179 Intelligence: 41 Willpower: 34 Magic Affinity: 51 Mana Depth: 25 Charisma: 28
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Mana: 625
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Glyph Attunement: 22 Least Shape Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Earth - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Shape Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Conjure Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Mud (Modified) Tier 2 Spell Attune Earth Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Water Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Air Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Fire Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell
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Bard Songs Known: 1 Lute Enforcement
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Skills: Least Mud Magic Meditation Mana Manipulation Spell Glyphing Improved Glyph Groking Gift of Gab Running Identify Soil Savvy Animal Handling Fertilizing Lifting Athletics Lute Playing Singing Musician Pollination Brewing Distilling Bardic Magic Smithing Wood Identification Woodworking
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)