Tec Mage Chapter Twelve: Enchanting And Interrogation

Atlas was confronted by a skinny tall man who wore bright pink blusher on his cheeks, "are you stupid, i said what are you doing here" said the blusher man

Atlas needed time to think and act so he used he's skill Perceptual Chronometer, the skill was at level 2, so Atlas had a further 40% extra time to think. Atlas didn't know if most of the people in this game were jerks but it seemed that way, the last big jerk was the dwarf but that whole thing just kept escalating, Atlas decided to change the way he acted, and use the vainness of the enchanters against them but to do that Atlas needed to appear dumb

Atlas could of used the note given to him by Noah but being forced to do some thing against there will can and probable will cause them to behave like the dwarf did, Atlas thought that he would go about things differently

"Yes, and i'm here to learn enchanting" said Atlas

"WHAT" asked the skinny man with blush on his face

Atlas decided to be a bit slow "......yes, and i'm here to learn enchanting"

"WE, DON'T TEACH COUNTRY BUMPKINS" shouted the skinny man

This was the start of heavy lying, "Oh ok, i guess Master Noah was right about enchanters" said Atlas with he's head held down, Atlas was making his way back to the door but slowly

"WAIT, WHAT DID HE SAY" demanded the thin man

"What do you mean" asked Atlas, he was still pretending to be stupid

The thin man was going even redder, "WHAT..DID..NOAH.. SAY..ABOUT.. ENCHANTERS" he was shouting at Atlas and spacing his words

This was the chance to use the pride of the enchanters against them "MASTER.. NOAH.., WAS.. TALKING.. TO.. MY.. MASTER"

The thin man was going redder with each word Atlas said "WHY ARE YOU TALKING LIKE THAT"

Atlas was smiling inside but he made sure to keep his face clear "oh mm because your talking like that"

The thin man blinked and straightened his clothes "beg my pardon, what did Noah say to your master" he had changed the way he was talking to a soft voice

"Master Noah bet my master that he could teach anyone magic faster than the enchanters could teach there skill, no mater the intelligence of the person, that's how much more advance his skill is to the enchanters" Atlas made up

"Did he" the thin man was twisting his shirt between his hands

"Mmmm he bet 500 gold that he was faster and a better teacher", Atlas was playing a thin game, all the enchanter needed to do was ask Noah about the details but with the story's Atlas had heard about the vainness of the enchanters he was guessing he wouldn't face Noah in till he could rub his face in it

Thin man was going purple at this point "how long did it take him to teach you" asked the thin man

"A day" Atlas was aware that this was quick, so he decided to give the enchanter a little push, "Noah said that there was no way in hell that you could do it better and faster"

"ENOUGH" the thin man grabbed Atlas wrist and started to pull him to the next room, Atlas was heaver than the thin man so instead of resisting, he followed

Both Atlas and the thin man moved to the next room were there was a huge room with enchanters all around some tables, they looked more like scientist than mages, the thin man let go of Atlas and started to shout to the other people, he explained what Atlas had told him to his peers and at the end of his speech everyone was banging there fist on the tables, "Shall we show them that they can't think us inferior to them", there was a roar coming from them all, Atlas thought that perhaps he had made a mistake

Atlas was taught by 4 members of the enchanters, they were hounding him, every second was dedicated to learning enchanting, but he did learn, it turned out there was many ways it enchant thing, the rules were

1: Everything can be enchanted because every thing has there own mana

2: Things that were or are alive are easier to enchant and greater enchants can be given

3: To gain a new enchanting recipe is done in many ways

a: Random, enchanting a item with different magical energy causes different results

b: Learn from a book or a person

c: Destroy a enchanted piece with magic enchanting (only a 30% chance to work and dependent on enchanters level)

d: enchanting displacement, a enchantment in a item being moved to a different item

4: The more mana a enchanter has, the greater possibility the enchanted thing will gain a better buff

5: As soon as you stop enchanting the item, the item can no longer be enchanted with a greater buff

6: There is two types of enchants

a: Permanent power, like stats boast or magical gain of item, such as a normal sword gaining a flame attribute, can fade with time but it can take years or hours dependent on the enchanter

b: Magical pumping power, a spell or buff is in side the enchanted item but has no mana to activate it, the user uses there own mana to activate it

7: Non alive martial such as ores keep their enchantment for longer but lesser power compared to alive ingredients

After leaning the rules Atlas was moved on to the ways of enchanting,

1: Direct contact, touching the item and pouring mana into it

2: Ingredient enchanting, taking a ingredient with a element or stat and enchanting the ingredients proprieties to the item using mana

Then they moved Atlas on to practical enchanting, Atlas was sat down beside lots of daggers and told to pour his mana into the items, after the 3rd attempt Atlas got the hang of it, it was all about how deep you could get your mana in to the items not how much you could cover the out side of the item

Ding

Skill: You learned Magical Mastery.

Atlas was getting the hang of it but he could hear people talking "should we be teaching him enchanting" "its fine a dumb brute like him with low intelligence and even lower mana could never enchant any thing of worth", Atlas decided to ease up with enchanting

Ding

That was quick thought Atlas but when he checked the skill it was something else he had forgot about

+1 wisdom

+1 wisdom

Atlas was confused, what did he do to gain these wisdom stats increase, no mater how much he thought about it he didn't have a reason for it, so he check the other pop up logs

Skill: You learned Item Identification.

Atlas had totally forgot that he didn't have this skill, before he could finish wonder what other skills he was missing the enchanters moved him to a different seat and explained that the books in front of him were recipes for enchanting, two books later he had managed to get two skill

New Skill Bookworm: reading speed will increase by 20% per level

Atlas was happy with the skill he just learnt, without doubt it would help him when the time came to learn chemistry

Ding

New skill: Enchanting, making every day items in to useful items by magic, every level in enchanting gives 100 mana permanently and 10% increase in magic power per level permanently

Atlas was in a pickle, should he stay and learn more from the enchanters or get out as fast as he could, he thought it over and decided to learn more recipes, in till he over heard with his skill careful listener what they were saying

"we cant have him learn enchanting, it will bring down the whole art"

"your right we need to get ride of him"

"But what about Noah"

"What about him, we will just tell him he never turned up"

With each word Atlas heard it was making him more and more paranoid, by the sound of it they were going to kill him, that's it , thought Atlas he was going to leave and he was going to make a scene before he left. Most of the time he would want to leave on good terms to raise his relationship with people or even guilds but Atlas knew they would never except him, Atlas got up quietly and moved to the doors he came in, he opened them to make sure he's way out was clear, then he turned on the spot and breathed in a deep breath

"OH, YOU VAIN, PEA BRIAN, UGLY ANIMALS" everyone turned to look at the noise

"I USED YOU SO I COULD LEARN ENCHANTING, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO NOAH IS I JUST HEARD ONE OF YOU COMPLAINING ABOUT HIM AND DECIDED TO USE HIM, I DIDN'T EVEN THINK THAT THIS PISS POOR PLAN COULD WORK BUT YOUR STUPID ASSES FELL FOR IT, ALL YOU NEEDED TO DO WAS CHECK WITH NOAH BUT YOUR VAINNESS GOT THE BETTER OF YOU, Atlas had to distance him self from Noah and he new that the enchanters didn't know he's name, the look on most of there faces was bright red, but some of them looked impressed, Atlas could see them getting up

"I'M NOT EVEN A MAGE" Atlas was lying again, most of the enchanters was making there way to Atlas

Atlas was stepping back now, "I'M LEAVING NOW, SO IF YOU COME AFTER ME OR HIRE ANYONE TO COME AFTER ME, JUST BE AWARE THAT I WILL SPREAD THE RUMOUR OF A DUMB COUNTRY BUMPKIN OUTWITTING THE WHOLE OF THE ENCHANTERS GUILD", when Atlas had his say, he ran and closed the doors behind him and locked them shut by grabbing a metal candle stick holder and placing it across the door handles

Out side, Atlas ran while looking behind him, he could hear the banging of fists on door, Atlas wasn't watching where he was going and bumped in to Noah

"OWW watch were y... oh it's Atlas" said Noah

Atlas grabbed Noah on the arms, he wanted to explain what had happened, but he didn't have enough time "Noah, say nothing just listen, YOU MUST deny ever teaching me or even seeing me, i will explain everything later, if you want to know then come to the training hall at midnight in 2 days time, do you understand"

Noah looked shocked but still nodded

"And tell Matthew the same"

Atlas let go off Noah and ran around the corner he made his way back home while looking behind him and making detours and ducking in to dark alleys

Ding

You have learned a new Skill: Sneak

Not know, Atlas thought, as he ran passed instructor Borin

"Hey, Atlas i've got a message for you" Borin watched as Atlas rushed pass him and entered the back of the training building

Borin followed Atlas to the dojo where Atlas lived, he hadn't been here for about two weeks and was amazed by the difference he saw, there was what looked like a big forge in the corner and right beside it was a chimney like building, there was also a mid sized oven near the dojo and some wooden huts where Atlas had practices his architect skill and finally the old dojo looked brand new, Atlas had repaired it using what he knew from his real life skills

Borin looked over all the new instalments, as he was thinking to him self how well these things were made, Atlas came out of the dojo in his beginners outfit

"Hi there Borin, what can i do for you" asked Atlas

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Borin handed over the note, "this was given to me by a watch member"

"Thank you" Atlas gave Borin a bowl of soup with bread, cheese and slices of meat, Atlas didn't want Borin to feel like he was using him, Atlas made a fresh batch of soup every morning for himself the kids and Forge, but only now did he gain cooking skill, Atlas didn't have any plans for it but a skill might be useful in the future

Atlas started to read the note, "what is that about" asked Borin

"It turns out that the person who assaulted me has been caught and i've been asked to come in to identify them" replied Atlas

Atlas was leaving but first he needed to tell Borin some thing, "i've taken a new apprentices"

"Oh really, lets see him then" said Borin

"Keep in mind he isn't a typical apprentice" Atlas then called for Forge

Out popped Forge, he was huffing from the weight of the iron bracelet that was around his neck, Forge looked a little bigger then he had before and his scales looked brand new and shiny, as soon as Borin saw Forge he was stunned "a monster is your apprentices" when Forge heard those words he backed back into his oven home

Atlas asked Borin to take a seat, Atlas pulled out the red hot iron bowl that was in the oven bare handed, which impressed Borin greatly, Forge was on the bowl but he had wrapped him self up to a small disk shape, Atlas sat opposite Borin, he placed the bowl on his lap and patted Forge lightly, Atlas then told the story of the blacksmith dwarf and the imprisonment of Forge, after Atlas was finished telling the story he said "what i'm trying to say is, don't judge a book by his cover, Forge hasn't hurt anyone and wants to be happy, give him a chance or at least think about it"

Ding

+ 1 wisdom

Did i just get a stat increase for saying a idiom, thought Atlas, "Appearances can be deceiving" said Atlas, nothing happened, maybe you only gain a stat when you say a idiom that's connected to what your saying or maybe if someone learns from your idiom, thought Atlas

"Anyway think about it" repeated Atlas, he got up and made his way to sergeant Merek and the watch, on the way he picked himself up a hood to cover his face from the enchanters

At the watch station Atlas and sergeant Merek was discussing what the plan was

"The man called Tiny is in his cell for three days now, but he's a cool customer and hasn't said a word" explained sergeant Merek

"What about the man called Roger" asked Atlas

"Nothing, his partner has drop off from the grid" said sergeant Merek

"I didn't expect him to hang around, when word got round that you have his partner, Tiny, did you get the info that i asked for about the church healing some peoples hands and the dwarf..... i mean Mr Roark, did he withdraw money"

"All the information you asked for is on this page of paper" replied sergeant Merek

Atlas had a look at the paper, "i also need some leather armour, like what your wearing and some leather gloves you don't mind being destroyed"

Merek inhaled a deep breath, "fine, i'll get to it"

"Good, know we can start the interrogation" Atlas clapped his hands together

--------Tiny's P.O.V-----------

Tiny was a old hand with the law, what that meant was he knew to keep his mouth closed and after a while they would have to let him go, just because of lack of evidence, he was lying on his straw bed when he heard a lot of shouting and shuffling, he was still on his bed when he felt people coming closer, it sounded like many people were coming, he stayed completely still and pretended to be asleep but kept one eye semi opened, a private came pass with keys and opened doors that were deep in the jail that Tiny couldn't see, then very quickly two watch men went by dragging a tall man in leather with a sack over his head to the jail area that he could not see, after they were out of his sight another man that Tiny recognized as a sergeant slowly walked by tapping burnt leather gloves in his had

"Roger, you wont be visiting any whore house for a long time with this piece of evidence" the sergeant carried on walking in till Tiny couldn't see him, at this point Tiny's brain was racing with possibilities, was that the Roger he knew, the evidence they had on him, was it the burnt leather gloves. Hours went by with Tiny thinking about this in till the sergeant came to his cell with two other privates

One of the privates opened the cell up "Get up and stick your hands out" barked the sergeant

Tiny was still playing coy "where are you taking me"

"Prison, your friend gave you up so he could have a reduced sentence"

Tiny was shocked at that piece of information "that's.. imposable", Tiny was backing in to a corner

The sergeant pulled out a piece of paper unfolded it "you excepted 50 gold to torture a man by shoving his hands in to a forge but your hands slipped in to the flames with him, meaning you went to the church for healing at sundown, a person with your identification was seen there being healed and the burnt leather gloves with Mr Roger testament means that you will be going to jail"

Tiny was worried, it happened just as the sergeant said but the only other person who knew what had happened was Roger

"What about court" asked Tiny

"Only the rich or high profile criminal gets to go to court, plus even if you did go to court you would still have to wait in jail and the evidence is over whelming" replied the sergeant "private, put that man in chains"

As the private walked towards Tiny with the chains raised Tiny started to sweat, the chains were around his wrist now and he was being pulled away "you've got the wrong guy" Tiny was trying his best but couldn't think what to do

"No, we definitely have the right person, it's too late for you, you wont see the light of day for many years, all because your friend gave you up" remarked the sergeant

The anger Tiny was feeling towards Roger was great, great enough for him to say the next thing "I want to make a deal"

"Stop" called out the sergeant "bring him over here"

Tiny was lead in to a new room that had no windows and a table and chairs in the middle "sit" ordered the sergeant, the two private placed Tiny in to the seat, "that will do privates" said the sergeant, both of the privates left the room and the door was closed

"What deal do you want to make" asked the sergeant

"I want to be freed and in return i will tell you about the other illegal things that Roger has done" said Tiny

The sergeant was nodding his head "i'm listening"

For the next hour Tiny told of Rogers illegal activates

"That's good, but we already have Roger in a cell, tell me about the dwarf that hired you" the sergeant pulled out a different pieces of paper "a Mr Roark"

"But i told you about Roger, isn't that enough" asked Tiny

"When Roger gave you up he only got a lighter sentence, but you want to be freed, tell me about Mr Roark and you will go free" said the sergeant

Tiny had little choice in his eyes and he didn't care what happened to Roark, it only took 5 minutes for Tiny to finish telling the sergeant what he wanted to know

After hearing what Tiny had to say, the sergeant got up "ok, i'll be back in a moment"

With the sergeant gone, Tiny was getting nervous, he had given up his parnter and a client just to be freed, but to hell with Roger

--------Atlas P.O.V------------

Atlas was waiting in one of the cells when sergeant Merek entered "how did it go" asked Atlas

"Surprisingly well, we have enough evidence to put him, Roger and Roark away for sometime" Merek was nodding his head and was quiet impressed with the plan, "now all we need is to is catch Roark and Roger"

"Yes... we could do that or we could try something else" said Atlas

"What else is there?" asked sergeant Merek

"You have been very flexible with my plans and i did say that you could be promoted from this, so if your willing to go a bit further and have just a bit more patience we could try some thing more"

What could he be up to, he already has what he wants thought Merek

Atlas was reading the sergeants face, "just follow my lead" but first let me get changed from this leather armour

--------Tiny's P.O.V------

Tiny was still waiting and was getting tired, physically he was a mess, it had only been 5 hours since he saw what he thought was Roger being huled off, but he had been alert ever since he saw him and it had taken its toll, just when Tiny was going to rest his head on the table he was sitting at the door opened again and in entered the sergeant, but he wasn't alone this time, the other man was someone who Tiny recognized

"You... what are you doing here" asked Tiny

Atlas walked up to the table and slapped the burnt gloves on the table "you are in a lot of trouble"

Tiny didn't understand what was going on, his patience was running thin, "what's going on"

Atlas sat down opposite Tiny and placed the burnt gloves on the table "let me tell you what's going on, you have just ratted out your partner, we have the right to arrest him now"

Tiny looked stunned "WHAT"

Atlas carried on "not only that but you've grassed on your employer"

Tiny was still stunned "WHAT"

Atlas looked hard at Tiny "so, here is the deal, if word got out that you ratted on you mate and grassed on your employer then you would have no place to hide and no possible future employment"

"WHAT" Tiny still didn't understand

Atlas sighed and explained that they never had Roger and he had just incriminated him self, Roger and Roark, after he had finished talking, Tiny was resting his forehead on his hand

"Here is the deal, you are to work for sergeant Merek as a informant and in return he doesn't act on the information you have given today involving your self and Roger but not Roark"

Tiny was still rubbing his head, he was backed in to a corner and no where to go but deeper in to the hole he had dug himself into

"I'll leave you to think about it, sergeant Merek can i talk to you out side" Atlas and the sergeant left Tiny with his thoughts, when they were out side Atlas spoke to the sergeant

"There you have an informant but you need to set up a in between" said Atlas

Sergeant Merek understood that a criminal like Tiny couldn't be seen with anyone from the city watch and a in between was a must "do you have anyone in mind as a in between?"

"No, but my apprentice might do, i will send him to you so you can set it up" replied Atlas

Atlas raised his hand to shake sergeant Merek hand "don't forget Roark, also you may need to use a different method to get a confession out of him, try not to use anything that Tiny said or people might find out that where you got your information from"

After shaking hands and saying his goodbyes, Atlas moved on, almost all his lose ends were tied up, Atlas made a list in his head about the things he had wraped up

1) Set up a base

2: Learnt skills to help with studying

a) Perceptual Chronometer

b) Careful listener

c) Bookworm

3: Get the dwarf off my back and a bit of revenge

4: The kids are now fine on there own, so i don't have to look after them as much

5: Forge needed more help but it wasn't time consuming

Atlas didn't have any more plans for the day so he went to visit the tutor guild, Atlas said hello to the old lady receptionist and made a appointment for the next day

"The chemistry tutor is here right now, let me introduce you to each other" said the old lady

Atlas watched the old lady slowly walk off and with in minutes she had returned back with a skinny pale looking young man

"This is your tutor and his name is Loki" said the old lady

End Of Chapter Twelve: Enchanting And Interrogation