After we left the swamp, the last stretch until our next stop was mostly peaceful. We set up camp high up a giant tree again. Vel and I spent some time cuddling each other and watching the distant village. The mana lights made it a beacon among the darkness.
I took the first round of watch, nothing happened and I wasn't in the mood for any magical research. Instead, I just let the time pass with Meditation active. Half-way through the night, I woke Vel and she took over. In the morning, I woke up at the first light of dawn and shook Vel awake. She protested but I convinced her with the promise of a hot meal and bath. I packed my shelter and we made a beeline for the village. I wanted that freshly cooked meal and bath and nothing would stand in the way.
It took several hours until we reached the outer barrier and half an hour later, we had reached the gates of the village.
Ah, it's good to be home.
I waved at the guards on duty and they greeted us back.
"Ah, Velatha, Liscura," one said, "welcome back."
"Trial went well?" Another asked.
"We made it back in one piece," I joked.
"That's the spirit!"
Our first stop was the scout headquarters. We had to report in to end the mission. The scout at the front desk sent us to Alea's office as soon as we showed up.
"Your shadow is already giving her report," she said.
"Thanks," I nodded.
I wondered who she was, neither Vel nor I had spotted her at any point. On the way to Alea's office, I retrieved the golden bracelet from my pouch. When we entered the office, Amara was sitting in front of the head scout's desk.
"Ah, you're here, perfect," Alea motioned for us to sit. "Amara just finished her report. Do you have the item?"
I handed her the bracelet.
"Excellent. First, congratulations, you have completed your trial. Second, you two are absolutely insane! What made you think of taking on a full tribe of drakonians‽"
"Wait," I exclaimed, "the drakonians weren't part of the test?"
"They were," Alea answered with a frown, "but not a full tribe. When our scouts left the item, there was only a small group of a dozen hunters that was using the fort as their base. Additionally, there were no reports of a full tribe wandering about in this part of the jungle."
"Why didn't Amara stop us?" Asked Vel. I had the same question.
"From afar, the number of drakonians looked manageable," the woman answered, "I counted two dozen at most, higher than expected but not impossible to overcome. I had not expected the presence of a priestess."
"I didn't count but I think there were around forty of them," I said, "they used the barracks inside the fort in addition to the tents outside."
"I was unable to fully scout the interior before you arrived," Amara said.
"Well," Vel said with a shrug, "we managed. And we also found a hidden chamber under the fort."
"A hidden chamber? It wasn't mentioned in the report," Alea frowned.
"It was very well hidden," I said, "I don't think anyone without my specific combination of perception abilities could have found it."
"What abilities?" She asked with her brow raised. It was a bold claim for a mage to make.
"Magic Perception and Perception Sphere. I noticed the conspicuous void in my vision and found the enchantments on the wall. The whole area was shielded from detection, I think it was mostly luck that it didn't counter me."
"Of course she has the sphere," I heard her mumble under her breath. "And how did you enter?"
"I think the locking enchantment had a secondary key, I used my blood to channel the magic and it unlocked."
"I see, interesting. It matches some of what I have heard of ancient ruins in the jungle, the enchantments there do seem to respond to dark elf blood. What did you find inside?"
"An armory filled with crates of weapons, we brought back a few." I rummaged through my backpack and pulled out the axes and swords, "I also took some daggers, a bow, arrows, and a retracting spear for myself. We also found three sets of epic grade bound items."
I put one of the wooden boxes on the desk and opened it.
"Interesting find," Alea said, "is the key enchantment to control the door?"
"I couldn't test it. Vel convinced me to have them identified before trying to bind an unknown item to me."
"That was a good call. I will let you bring those to Breknir for identification, he will likely be able to tell you more. If they are harmless, you are free to keep them though I would be glad if one could be donated to the village."
"That was our plan."
"Excellent, now let's get back to the mission. What happened after you found the secret chamber?"
Vel and I continued our report of what had happened at the fort. Alea seemed pleased with our overall approach and congratulated us. She also mercilessly picked apart the mistakes we had made, the first being not turning back earlier.
After our report was finished, Vel and I went to the clinic to find Breknir. People congratulated us on the way there for our successful trial. It was fairly easy to find my mentor when we got there, he was waiting for us.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
"Welcome back," he greeted us with a smile, "and congratulations."
"Thanks teacher," I smiled, "we even brought back some surprises. Your identification skill is needed."
"Always full of surprises. Let us move to my office," he motioned for us to follow, "I had something for you anyway."
----------------------------------------
The weapons we had collected and the three epic items were spread out on Breknir's big wooden desk. While he examined them, Vel and I told him about the secret chamber.
"Interesting," he said while looking at the glaive, "I have seen weapons like those during my adventuring days, they fetched quite a price due to their high durability and extremely high quality enchantments. I can't ascertain how old these are but the spells on them have not degraded one bit."
It was impressive for uncommon quality items, their enchantments usually lasted a century at most.
"I'm sure some of our artisans will be delighted to get their hands on those," he remarked. "As for those gauntlets and bracers … the enchantments on them are fiendishly complex."
"What are the question marks?" I asked.
"They indicate that those items are part of a set. Probably around five pieces I would say. They will reveal themselves when all the parts are united."
"Are they dangerous?" Vel asked.
"No, I can detect no curses or traps on them. You can bind with them without fear. Though I recommend you do it here. Binding to an item can be disorienting, especially the first time."
Breknir pushed the boxes back in our direction. I nodded and grabbed a pair from one of the boxes.
I first slid on the glove and discovered that the wrist guard expanded to cover the whole forearm. The five rings were held together by spiraling metal bands, the cloth padded leather interior magically expanded as well. The cloth inside was certainly silk from the feeling and the outer leather was a dark ashen color. The bracer had the same base materials but didn't have any surprises.
When both items were on, I gently pushed mana into them. The enchantments greedily accepted it and pulled a large amount at once. I stumbled and caught myself on the desk, a bit woozy from the large mana expenditure.
> Bound Item [Ravri Ritual Bracer] for 250 MP
> Bound Item [Ravri Ritual Bracelet] for 250 MP
Instead of a loose fit, the two now hugged my skin with pleasant warmth. They almost felt like a part of me. In a sense they were. Bound items were special, when they were bound to someone, it was impossible for anyone else to use them. And if damaged, they would slowly reform if fed mana. They were the gold standard in terms of items.
I took a look at my status. Bound items also used focus like certain skills, this limited the number you could have at once.
Name
Liscura Van-Niu
Ancestry
Dark Elf
Status
Level 46 (Rank 3) | 95 Essence
Health: 900/900 (+120%/h)
Stamina: 985/985 (+134%/h)
Mana: 2560/3060 (+243%/h)
Focus: 80/164
Bound Items
Ravri Ritual Gauntlet (30 FP; 0/5 spells, 0/1000 MP)
Ravri Ritual Bracer (20 FP)
"That was a rush," I said.
"Yeah," Vel said while catching her breath.
She had put on hers at the same time as me and had also felt the effects.
"Thanks teacher," I bowed. Breknir gave the both of us a smile and a nod.
Vel and I put the pile of weapons on the desk back into our packs. I planned to bring them to Anlyth the next day, once we had a good bath and a long night's sleep.
"Before you leave," Breknir said as he put two wooden boxes on his desk, "Aelrie and myself commissioned those as a present. You have both stepped into the world of adulthood and we wanted to give you something special. For our dedicated apprentices."
My sphere could peek inside the box and I saw multiple items of jewelry. A letter was tucked into the silk strings that kept it closed.
"You didn't have to …" I began.
"Nonsense," Breknir waved me off with a grin, "now open them. I want to see your faces when you do."
I rolled my eyes.
First I looked at the letter. It was written in an elegant cursive script far removed from his usual scribblings.
> My Dear Apprentice,
>
> Congratulations on completing your trial. As a reward, I have commissioned several enchanted items from a friend of mine in Nis. He is a talented enchanter and was more than happy to create them in exchange for a few bottles from my private collection.
>
> Hopefully, they will serve you well in your adventures as I have no doubt you will go on to discover the world as I did in my youth.
>
> PS: I have included a silverwood ring as well, you know what to do.
>
> Breknir
"Teacher …" I sighed.
I opened the box and examined all the items present. All except one were tucked into a small cushion to keep them in place.
> [Lesser Amulet of Protection (Protection)]
> [Lesser Amulet of Storage (Storage; 0/50)]
> [Lesser Bracelet of Magic (+10 INT, +10 WIS)]
> [Lesser Bracelet of Mana (+20% MP/h)]
> [Lesser Bracelet of Health (+20% HP/h)]
The protection amulet was a small kite shield made out of a silvery metal. The storage amulet was made out of a dark blue metal with golden traces and a small black pearl at the center. All three bracelets were made of a dark orange metal with small pearls embedded inside.
The last was inside of its own, smaller, box. I peeked inside with my sphere and saw that it was the silverwood ring the letter mentioned. I smiled, it was entirely his style. And I would bet my arm that Vel had received one too.
I immediately put on the amulet of storage, I had wanted one of those for a long time. I tapped the small ring box and it vanished, a quick look at the amulet showed that one out of fifty spaces were used. I put on the other amulet and slid all three bracelets over my left arm where the Ravri bracer was. A small pulse of mana made them tighten in place, it was like they were made to fit there.
"Thank you teacher," I said as I gave him a hug. The look on his face was something I would cherish forever. "I'll make good use of them."