My backpack, weapons, and armor were all tucked away safely inside my storage amulet. I hadn't expected it to be able to store expanded bags but it could, at the cost of a few more spaces than usual, which made my life a lot simpler. I only had the shirt, pants, and boots left on and it felt freeing after a week of carrying all that weight on my back.
I left the clinic with Vel and we made a beeline for kitchens where we had a quick meal from the lunch leftovers. The cooks congratulated us on our success as well. Then, with our bellies full, we went to the baths to clean up.
"Hello," I waved to the attendant at the baths.
"Welcome back," she greeted us with a big smile, "and congratulations."
She handed us the baskets, they contained the usual towels and soap but also a loose dress and sandals.
"Why the dress?" I asked her.
"So you don't have to put those dirty clothes back on," she said, "you two aren't the only ones who come straight here after a mission. You can bring it back next time."
"Thanks," I chuckled.
I left my boots outside and my clothes inside the baskets in the changing room. The rest of my gear went into the storage amulet which stayed around my neck. I had no intention of separating myself from it. Once inside the baths, I tipped a large bucket of lukewarm water over my head.
It wasn't enough to wash off a week of grime but it was a start. Vel helped me with my hair again and I returned the favor, even if hers wasn't all that long. The sweat and dirt from a week-long expedition had turned them from a shining silver to a darker color.
"Let's not take missions that long too often," Vel said.
"Agreed," I said.
I used water magic to wash the dirt on the ground towards a nearby drain.
After half an hour, we were finally clean enough. I jumped into one of the pools with Vel for some well earned relaxation time. After a few minutes in the warm water, I turned off my Perception Sphere for the first time. I also cut down on the mental partitions back to only one in the background at normal speed. It felt strange, all the new senses had almost become part of me and their absence was confining. I knew I would get used to it in time if I left it off but I chose to enable the sphere back at an arm's length radius instead.
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"Interesting metal," Anlyth examined one of the Nefril Steel swords, "very high quality craftsmanship, and high quality enchantments too. You found a full crate of them?"
"Crates," I said, "swords, daggers, axes, bows. We only brought back a few."
"I see. I'll certainly push the council to get a team there," he said. He pulled out a box from his desk and started to fill a small bowl with beads. "Here's a little bonus for finding those beauties." I scooped my share into my pouch.
"Thanks," I smiled.
With the spare weapons offloaded, we brought back the gear to the quartermaster. He took some time to inspect it and sent us on our way with a congratulation. Finally, we went back home.
Both of my grandmothers were there, apparently waiting for us.
"Lili, you're back," Lythiene took me into a hug.
"I knew you two would succeed," Lorathana gave me a big smile and ruffled my hair.
We were dragged to the table and Lythiene started to prepare the tea.
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"Now, tell us all about it," Lythiene said. "It was a retrieval mission, right?"
"Yes," I said, "we had to get a golden bracelet back from a fort east …"
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I met back with the rest of the families, both Vel's and mine, at supper where we recounted our tale once more. Which led to the third lecture of the day on why it was a bad idea to infiltrate a fort full of drakonians. I didn't mind it too much, it all came from a place of love.
The next day, Breknir shooed us away from the clinic for an impromptu day off. Vel and I spent the day relaxing and not doing much. It gave us the time we needed to wash away the stress of being on a mission, I hadn't quite realized how tense I had been until all of it was gone. That day also included another celebratory feast in honor of all the apprentices for passing their trials.
I wore the same dress as the last time and Vel loved it. We were part of the guests of honor and everybody we crossed paths with gave us their congratulations. The musicians were gathered again and we danced around the fire to their enchanting tunes. I was fairly certain that at least one of them had a bard class.
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Over the next few days, routine took back its place. Vel and I resumed our duties at the clinic with increased responsibilities. We would still be apprentices for a few seasons, there was always more to learn, but we would become more and more independent as time went on.
Breknir had given me the task to manage the alchemy laboratory and pharmacy. I had to monitor the potion supplies and ingredient stocks, supervise the younger apprentices when they were brewing, and take care of the more complicated orders. Despite the responsibilities, it was not a stressful job.
Vel was given reign over two of the smaller greenhouses by Aelrie. She was in her element among the plants. Every time I visited to harvest ingredients, I saw her tend to the more capricious plants.
During the evenings, I practiced my spear skills with Vel. She used her control over plants to grow practice dummies for me and even managed to animate them somewhat. After two days of training, I unlocked the skill and managed to get it to level ten by day four.
I didn't neglect my magic training either. The perfect time for spell creation turned out to be the night shift at the clinic. Very few people got hurt in the dead of night which gave me ample time to put my mental partitions to good use.
Disintegration was demoted to a minor spell, Void Scalpel. This new spell could project a small blade to cut tissue or other materials, it kept the ability to completely disintegrate objects but worked much slower than before.
For the remaining two spell slots, I started to explore shadow magic. The element was interesting, It was a strange field of magic, fairly abstract in how it could be used. It wasn't directly centered on direct offense or defense but deception and battlefield control. Illusions and constructs were the two main uses but not the only ones.
The first spell I created was Shadow Evocation, a major spell. It used shadows to mimic the effects of any lower level spell, the effects were lessened somewhat but the versatility was unmatched. Targets with a high enough willpower would also be able to resist the effects. The minor spell slot was taken up by the comparatively simpler Shadow Concerto, the general manipulation spell.
All of that experimentation raised my nature magic skill to level twenty and increased the level of spells again. Sixth for major spells and third for minor ones, a nice improvement. I planned to get arcane to the same level as well soon.
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The items I had picked up from the fort were the subject of my attention as well. I had started to wear them all day, their presence was oddly comforting. Over time, it became clear that, despite being made of metal, they were not pieces of armor. At least not primarily, with the durability enchantments they would be able to take some punishment but their construction had too many gaps that could let a claw through. The large number of sockets on the bracer and the mana battery on the glove spoke more of something meant to support spellcasters.
With some experimentation, I determined that the slots on the glove gave me access to two more major and three minor spells and they would be fueled first by the battery.
The three elemental gems I had gathered from the turtle, once polished and enchanted, could be slotted in the bracers. Unfortunately, Niu had no artisans that specialized in that specific branch of enchanting. The closest was the elf who had created my storage amulet, he was from Nis and a friend of Breknir.
Maybe I could hitch a ride on a trade caravan headed there in the future, it would be a nice holiday with Vel to celebrate our first season together.
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Of course, life had other plans for us. Two weeks after our return, I was woken up by the sound of thunder striking. I wasn't the heaviest sleeper and I often woke up during thunderstorms. The problem was, there was no rain. I expanded my sphere to its maximum but I couldn't see a single cloud nor rain falling.
A blinding flash lit the entire village and a booming sound rang out. I felt my organs shake from the sheer force of the sound. Something was happening in the village. The remnants of a massive fireball were dissipating in the air above the buildings. I shook Vel to wake her up. Something was happening and I had a bad feeling about it.