Tec Mage Chapter Twenty Eight: Pride And Shrine
Atlas and his team mates were nearing the entrance of the gnoll's underground home, it had taken a little longer to get back from the Sunken Crypt, with the massive line of mana mouses carrying Goro's bones Atlas had to make sure that they weren't followed but even with planing and the skill "Careful Listener" Atlas still needed to travel with caution, every now and again Atlas would get multiply message to let him know that a mana mouses had been destroyed by a hunter
The monsters of the forest stayed away from Atlas and his group because of the fact Atlas didn't kill but sometimes help them instead, rumour had spread through the forest that to attack Atlas wouldn't bring any gain, the hunters showed a kind of respect to Atlas but this wasn't extended towards his mana mouses, with each mana mouse death three messages popped up on Atlas vision
A mana mouse has been destroyed
Do you want to see the mana mouse memory's
Do you want to incorporate it's memory's to your own
What this meant was that all the memory's of the mana mouses could be absorbed so that they became Atlas memory's, when Atlas did this for the first time he witnessed the mana mouse actions though a small screen that appeared in the bottom corner of his vision, then he made the memory's of the mana mouse his own, this was a mistake as all the memory's of the mana mouses became his not just what they had seen and heard but what they had touched, tasted and smelt, this made Atlas feel uncomfortable and a bit dirty, so when the messages turned up over and over again with each mana mouse being destroyed Atlas started to ignore the messages
With each mana mouse's destruction it caused a small change towards the remaining mana mouses, when ten of the mana mouses had been destroyed the attitude of the mana mouses changed, when Atlas first made them they acted like dolls but now they swarmed any monster that tried to hurt one of there own, their attack was the smallest possible but with so many little mouths and feet attacking at the same time and the attacking monsters being completely covered from tip to toe they all fell to there deaths leaving behind there drops but unlike Atlas the mana mouses just left them there for a warning to other hunters, because the mana mouses had came from Atlas they knew things that didn't need explaining but there was also other things the mana mouses knew like self preservation and revenge, deep down every one had a dark side including Atlas
After giving the secret knock and password to the entrance of the gnolls home Atlas made his way in only to be confronted by a loud shout
"Yo.....You"
Forge was moving towards Atlas as fast as his undeveloped wings could take him, Forge was hovering above the ground, his wings weren't developed enough to completely lift him off the floor and so his tail dragged along the floor, Forge's mane of fire was burning deep blue, Forge's emotions were directly linked to his mane, a normal state of mind wouldn't even bring about his mane of fire but anger made it burn blue
Atlas stood to the side to allow his party members and the river of mouses to enter the cave
"What's wrong" asked Atlas towards Forge
"You told, you told that i was your pet" said Forge, his voice was getting higher with each passing word
At this point Mary was passing by while holding Sophie's hand "come along Sophie"
"But" Sophie was being dragged along by Mary
"Don't worry about them, it's probably just a friendship tiff" explained Mary to Sophie "lets get settled in and i will introduce you to every one, i think you will come to love it here"
As Sophie was introduced to the gnolls Atlas was in a heated discussion with Forge
"I didn't want to tell the police that you were my pet but it was a must to make sure that the dwarf didn't take you back" explained Atlas
Forge was an imugi, a legendary monster that had a high amount of pride, Forge had become Atlas pet on one condition that Atlas wouldn't tell others about him becoming a pet, Atlas had stuck to this rule until the dwarf that had imprisoned Forge for 300 years tried to claim ownership of him, one of the reasons that Forge was free to stay with Atlas was Atlas had shown the pet screen to the police officer but this harmed Forge's pride
"I don't care, you promised and you broke that promise" Forge had been stewing on his feeling for a week or so, if he had talked before hand about the reviling of the pet status and had a chance to come to terms with it he would of realised that it was for his own sake but with his pride as an Imugi and the week long stewing, all his reason had left him
Atlas tried to talk sense and reason but Forge was having none of this, across the room where the blazing forge was being reheated Mary stood with Sophie near her watching the discussion, as Mary watched the two talking to each other her thoughts started to side with Atlas, yes he had broken a promise but it was for the good of Forge, just as Mary was thinking this a cold wet thing had touched her hand, slightly jumping she looked down to be greeted by the black wolf called Midnight licking her hand
Midnight was a wild wolf but Mary had some how tamed him with love and affection, it didn't hurt that Midnight was scared stiff off everyone in the gnolls home and found comfort in Mary, before Mary had left for the Sunken Cave dungeon Midnight would only get near her to receive food but now Mary had returned Midnight was glad and was willing to call Mary master, slowly Mary petted Midnight while he hung his head low and had his tale between his legs, Mary unhooked her full plated steel spiked armour and put it away with her chain mail that she wore under the plate, even though it had been enchanted to weigh less it was still bulky and got in her way when she worked, now she was free and wearing her leather armour that weighed much less she reached out and held Sophie's hand and moved down the cave system that lead to the underground town that the gnolls had made, just as she was going out of sight of the forge Mary turned around to witness Midnight shaking in the corner
"Midnight come" ordered Mary, Midnight ears picked up and followed his masters call, he was so glad that he wouldn't be left alone with the gnolls that shot killing intent at him that his legs was a jumbled mess of movement as he tried to reach Mary quickly as possible, Mary walked down to the town with Sophie to her left and Midnight the black wolf to her right
Atlas and Forge was still talking when Mary left the area, Forge was so upset with Atlas he wasn't willing to understand the logic behind Atlas words
"You promised and said if you broke it you would sacrifice your skills" said Forge
Atlas was stumped, everything Forge had said was true, he had sworn to what ever gods there where that he wouldn't tell of the pet status but he had even though it was for the good of Forge, Atlas stood in front of Forge thinking there was only one answer
"I'm sorry" that was the only thing Atlas could say, it wouldn't do to push why he had done it but to just say he was sorry
Forge just looked at Atlas, his mane of fire had changed colour to a bright orange, his anger had calmed down but now announces had taken it's place
"Humpth" Forge just looked away, all around him was the little mana mouses that had carried Goro the giants bones in to the cave, Forge went his own way and on passing hit a mana mouse with his tail, the little mouse had hardly any health and evaporated into a mana cloud when stuck, with another mouse gone the other mana mouses stood to attention ready to attack but didn't, all they did was follow Forge with there tiny little eyes, this caused Forge to move a little faster out of the sight of the mana mouses
Forge was still upset about what he believed was a great injustice on his character, under his breath Forge muttered "An apology isn't enough, saying sorry dons't make every thing right", of course Atlas heard this, with his careful listener skill even a pin drop could be heard easily
Sighing deeply Atlas wondered if all children were like this, even though Forge was 300 years old he had spent all of his time in a closed of space and was still a child for his species age
There and then Atlas decided to do something, dropping of his bags full of loot Atlas filled a enchanted bag with odds and ends, he made sure to tell Mary, Sophie, Dracken, Loki and Beast the leader of the gnolls that he would be leaving for awhile, as he was about to leave Atlas looked over at Forge
Forge was looking at Atlas but just lifted his head in a smug way when Atlas looked back
"Good bye" said Atlas, he placed his magic staff against a wall and picked up a steel spear instead, Forge gave no response as Atlas left
4 DAYS LATER
Sophie had settled down and was playing with the gnoll kids, she had claimed a room for her self where she kept her dead father and his things, before Atlas left he had given the bones of Razor Finn, Sophie had already reformed Goro and placed him on the wall of the colosseum but Sophie needed to spend time with the bones of a good subject like Goro or Razor Finn, the better the bones the more time she needed to spend with them and infuse them with her mana, lesser bones didn't need such treatment but they were weaker, most of the time Sophie spent her time with Mary sitting near the forge talking to Mary and Forge and playing with the gnoll kids that came to feed the live stock such as rabbits, chickens and the horses that pulled the carts
Sophie was happily taked to Forge about odds and ends when her thoughts turned to Atlas being missing for 4 days, with this on her mind she asked Mary about Atlas
"Where is Atlas" asked Sophie
Mary went on to explained that Atlas was a freemen and some times left for 4 days
"HMMMPH" Forge was still in a tiff
"What's wrong" asked Sophie
Forge went on a rant to ease his temper and explained what Atlas had done
Sophie just sat there petting Midnight and listening to what Forge was saying
"I don't understand, daddy used to say the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing" this was oddly insightful for a ten year old but that wasn't all that Sophie said "a promise that would of saved your pride but not you is a stupid promise" the words of a child can be oddly effective
"I think what Sophie is trying to say is Atlas choice to break his promise was directly for your safety, he could of said nothing but there was a chance that you would of been taken away by the nasty dwarf" explained Mary
Forge was taken back, when he had first seen Atlas his anger had gotten the best of him but now he had a more calm mind and thought about what he had just heard, for the rest of the day he thought about what had he lost to what he had gained from Atlas breaking his promise
4 days later
Atlas had been away from the gnolls home for 8 days, this was the longest time away since he had first meet them and people were starting to get worried, just being away wouldn't spark such worry but Atlas had left behind his magical staff, the gnolls were starting to ask questions and all of them were directed to Mary, Dracken and Forge, these three were Atlas apprentices so if they didn't know then who would, Mary was still working at her forge just opposite to the entrance of the gnolls cave, every time it opened she would look up only to be greeted by gnolls coming back from forging in the woods, Dracken was also doing his bit by asking question in town but there he got no answer, Atlas had been doing odd jobs in the city and managed to gain some fame with the NPC so his name was well known, Forge was feeling guilty, his thoughts of his actions before Atlas left made him consider if he was the cause of Atlas leaving
2 days later....again
Atlas apprentices were very worried, 10 days of hearing nothing of Atlas, no rumours in the city where Atlas had some fame, even Dracken's extensive information network couldn't help, Mary had even gone so far as to talk to the mana mouses that Atlas had left behind but they wouldn't listen to anyone apart from Atlas, just as Mary was going to strangle one of the mana mouses for there unhelpfulness they all turned there little mana mouses noses to the door entrance, the door opened and in walked Atlas as bold as brass
Mary's mouth dropped open, all this time worrying and searching for Atlas and he just walks in, she quickly pulled her self together and closed her mouth, before she could say anything Forge had flown to Atlas
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN" screamed Forge, even though Forge sounded angry he was in fact relived, all the time Atlas was gone Forge had been thinking and accessing what had happened and if it was truly a bad thing that Atlas had broken his promise
Atlas raised his hand and supported the floating wiggling body of Forge
"Did you miss me" asked Atlas with a small smile on his lips
"N....NO OF COURSE NOT" Forge was blushing but his temper was raising
Atlas went to stroke Forge back but was stopped by Forge reinforced tail
"Answer me, where have you been" Forge had his anger in control but he was still annoyed by Atlas
"I don't know if i should say" replied Atlas
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN" Forge temper had resurfaced and his mane of fire was burning, Atlas was surprised by the sudden erupting fire and almost completely withdraw his hands from Forge's body
"Why are you so mad" asked Atlas
"Why, why you ask, are you as dense as a brick, telling some one of my pet status then disappearing for over 10 days and now when i ask you where you've been all i get is a vague no answer" Forge had flown away from Atlas and was near the exit
Forge looked over his flapping wings and said "I don't ask for much but what i do ask is not to be messed about, especially by friends" and with that he left the gnolls home and entered the forest just like Atlas did over 10 days ago
Forge was now on his own for the very first time, he was moving on the floor because his wings were tired, Forge was in such a temper that he didn't notice the very forest was making a path for him to follow, trees and vines would bend out of Forges way, leaves would peel back revealing a easier way to get though, even the stones on the floor were rolling out of the way
Forge was hitting a bush with his tail and releasing his frustration and anger out "futh futh grrrrrr" muttered Forge under his breath
"What's wrong little one"
"EKK" Forge yelled out in a squeaky voice, he was totally surprised by the voice, the voice sounded like it was coming from inside his head but also all around him
"Who's there...." squeaked Forge
"I have many names" Forge couldn't tell which direction the voice was coming from, even tilting his head in different direction he still couldn't tell where the voice was coming from
"But you can call me Demeter, if you don't know i am the small god of the land, I'm the small god of hunting, the wilds and survival"
Forge was shocked, the gods usually only talk to people with exceptional deeds towards there own church, it would seem that the small gods were different, with the explanation that Demeter gave Forge's confusion cleared up and was replaced with pride, pride that a god was talking directly to him
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Forge went on to explain what had happen in this past couple of days to Demeter
"Yes i saw what happened, your pride was affected, let me show you some thing" Demeter god voice echoed out, the vegetation spread out to revel a path leading deeper into the forest
It took hours and hours of travel and Forge was worried for his own safety, never before had he travelled this deep in to the forest, even though god had spoken to him it didn't mean he was safe but going against god would mean much more pain and suffering....probably
Forge was making his way though a thick bush when he was surprised by the clearing that was revealed before him
A shrine was inside the middle of the forest, the clearing area consisted of about the size of a tennis court circled, in the centre of the clearing was four trees in a square formation with a space of 3 meters between them, the trunks acted like pillars and on the tree trunks were thick vines matted together in a shape of a imugi with wings, the leafs of the tree acted like a roof, blocking any light from hitting anything below it, under the canapé was branches from all four of the pillar trees twisting in to a triangle cone pointing down and under that was a stone pillar and bowl the height of one meter collecting small drops of pink water that came from the cone, the pink droplets collected in the rough stone bowl, the area around the small shine had wild berry's, herbs and grasses planted to compliment each other
"This is my one and only shrine" Demeter voice rang over Forge's mind
Forge was instantly drawn to the vines on the tree trunks
"Is this me?" asked forge
"It is a imugi, the familar of my tempal, the very best beast to repersents my faith, no beast will hunt for food harder, no beast has the will to survive harder than a Imugi" explain Demeter
"Wow" Forge pride had reached an all time high with the knowledge that Demeter had given him
"Listen well little one, to survive is hard and you must take the best path possible to get to you goals, breaking a promise is nothing if you gain your freedom, but think this though carefully, harming you comrades can decrease your chances of survival" explained Demeter
"I understand what you say but i trusted Atlas, the first person i've ever trusted, but now all i can see is a liar" said Forge
"I'm sure Atlas is sorry for what he did, after all he did make this shrine for me and asked me to put the imugi as my repasentive" said Demeter
Forge was stunned, the gardens and shrine was a piece of art, only wild and natural things were used, judging how the trees bent and melded together Forge could of sworn that this place had been around for years, looking over the area Forge emotions turn form wonder to anger
"I've seen Atlas do things like this in less than a day by using his skills, which he said he would sacrifice to the gods if he broke he's promise to me, so it nothing special" Forge was impressed with the shrine but couldn't be to impress because Atlas had done things like this in the past, it was like eating the finest foods in the world everyday, you started to fail to be impressed
"Yes, he has done a fine job with the gnolls and their home but don't doubt he didn't work hard here making this shrine, especially seeing as Atlas didn't use his skills here" explained Demeter
"WHAT, H..HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE" asked Forge
"By shifting soil and finding the plants in the wilds and arranging the vegetation by using tools and his bare hands, he made the stone pillar and bowl by cutting and curving the stone using tools, the longest time he spent on was the tree pillars and the vine imugi's, he used some forest mana to increase the speed of growth and controlled where the trees grew by using stone wrapped around the bits he wanted no growth and by pruning, the best thing is the pink water that drips from the tree cone, it's healing potion for the wild creatures that live around here, herbs naturally grow in the cone, water collects in the leaves and pass down to the cone and the moss in the cone filters the potion"
"This is too extravagant" said Forge
"I did ask why Atlas was doing this, Atlas is the only Freeman I've seen that will take action to help without a mission or reward as a incentive" replied Demeter
"What was his answer" Forge was intrested in the answer
"He said that sometimes saying sorry wasn't enough, actions speak loader the words" said Demter
Forge was looking up at the vines that held the imugi likeness "Why didn't he say something" Forge voice was a little rough and a small tear was forming in the corner of his black eyes
"Mortals are weird, even though Atlas is very capable in many areas he's isn't great at sharing his emotions, maybe he didn't say anything because this was his redemption and by telling you it would look like he was buying your favour instead of a true act of saying sorry" explained Demeter
Forge was still looking back at the shrine, his pride was at a all time high, never before had he felt this way, shaking his head Forge brought him self back to reality "I think i should go back now"
As Forge moved back though the forest Demeter the small god of the land noted how strange this Imugi behaved
"He's not like the rest of them" said Demeter to no one
Getting back to the gnolls home was harder for Forge than before, the small god of the land had help Forge find the shrine but now he was on his own, entering the gnolls home Forge looked for Atlas, asking the other gnolls Forge was told that Atlas was down near the colosseum making a new room, when Forge entered the new room he found Atlas standing on a raised platform of earth, in front of Atlas the whole floor was dusted with white powder and earth from out side but the thing that hit Forge was the heat, the heat in the room was like a summer day and a nice gentle wind was circling around the underground room, Atlas had placed enchanted stones of heat and wind all over the place
Forge flew to land on Atlas shoulders making him jump a bit, this made Forge laugh a little
"I've decided to fogive you, after thinking about it i relise that you didn't breack your promise out of spite" said Forge
Atlas didn't say anything and just nodded, Forge moved his tail around Atlas neck and folded his wings back
"On a new note check this out" Atlas raised both arms and casted his spell, the whole floor started to rumble and sway, folds of earth raised and collapsed on each other like waves hitting the shore, the white powered mixed with the earth until it was indistinguishable from the rest of the earth
"It looks impressive but what are you doing" asked Forge
"I'm using the spell clay hand to mix the soil with the bone dust i received from the dungeon and the spell simple elemental control to change the consistency of the earth" answered Atlas
"This is clay hand spell, last time i saw you use it you could only make hands out of the earth, what happened for you to gain such control over your spell" asked Forge
Atlas was still flipping the earth around "lots of little things, it's really added up, first my spells are on the lower scale but I've passed intermediate stage, this has increased power and control while reducing mana cost, 2nd my affinity with the elements has greatly risen from many crafting skills passing intermediate, this has allowed me to use more of the elements and control them easier and lastly being credited for making Harken the magic metal has increased my magic in many ways, All in all i don't have to concentrate as much and the mana i use in a single spell is almost nothing, only by combining spells and casting multiply spells does it reduce my mana pool" answered Atlas
"You can cast multiply spells, did you learn that from a skill book" asked Forge
Atlas carried on explaining, he wanted to keep the talk on a light note "my mana manipulation gave me a 2nd mana source to work two spells at the same time, so i used to be able to cast two clay hands at the same time"
"Used too, what can you do know" asked Forge
Atlas stopped folding the earth and jumped down fro his piller of earth he was standing on "4, i can cast 4 spells at the same time now"
"Wow" thought Forge, his knowledge on spells and casting was limited but multi casting was the goal of any good mage or magic user but here was Atlas with four mana sources, he was just about to ask more about the skill when Atlas reading the mood answered
"This is only a theory but i think when the skill gets to a certain level the remaining mana spilt and make new mana sources, the first time this happened was when my skill reached intermediate so i put it down to reaching a new level but my mana manipulation skill is only on intermediate level 6" explain Atlas
[Mana manipulation, intermediate level 6
lets the user use spells faster and makes spells stronger or weaker depending on the users will
a fourth mana source has evolved in you, quad casting is now available
Increases and decreases Attack Power with a magic by -250% to +250%
Increases Attack Speed with a magic by 60%.]
"So i think that the skill alone isn't responsible, i think it's my mana pool increasing in size as well as the skill but this is just a theory" said Atlas
Atlas had compressed a earth river bank that connected to the caves water supply, the water rushed in and weaved around, hopping over the small river Atlas was now planting seeds in the ground and pouring the forest mana on top of it
"Do you think i could learn muilty casting" asked Forge
As soon as the forest mana hit the seeds they exploded with life and rapidly grew in to saplings and small bushes "i think you could be better than me in that, your mana and health increases 3x more than mine so i wouldn't be surprise if you just needed the skill to increase your mana sources" answered Atlas
Atlas was now fixing a lamp that was emitting a green light from it, this was one of his lamps of growth but it was bigger and had a stronger green light coming from it
"What are you doing" asked Forge
"I'm making a room for growing fruits and vegetables, the earth on the floor was lacking and so i made some bone meal and mixed it in to the ground, the saplings are trees that will produce fruit and the bushes will have berries on it, vines will have grapes and there is spices in different corners, the little river will keep the plants hydrated and my lamp of growth will give all the plants light and food that will make them produce food faster and bigger" explained Atlas
"It feels nice here, comfortable" said Forge as the warm summer like breeze brushed passed his face
"That might be my new skill at work" said Atlas
[Botany Beginner level 2
From the biggest trees to the smallest fungi and algae all plant life is under the botanist care
Any plant planted or cared for under the botansit care will grow stronger, faster and more plentful
Botanists also study the effect of plants on the eniviroment, protecting the enviroment from acid rain and other man made things
Your Affinity with the elements will increase by 10 per level]
"There, finished" said Atlas, the area that was nothing but rock was now full of plant life and they were steadily growing, with the effects of the growing lamp a person would have to look at the plants closely to see them grow before their eyes but with the added skill effect of Botany the plants were moving side to side with growth
"This looks impressive" Beast the leader of the gnolls had walked in smoking his long handle pipe, letting out a long breath that was filled with smoke Beast sighed
"What's wrong" asked Atlas
"I don't want to disturb you with such things" smiled Beast
"Don't worry about it, after all didn't i say i would help your clan" replide Atlas
Beast smiled widely showing off his razor sharp wolf teeth "that's what i want to hear, i'm glad you rememered, here is the problem, you've done our clan a great servise but i think you've done your job too well"
"Too well, how can you do a job two well" asked Forge who was resting on Atlas shoulders
Taking a new puff on his pipe Beast looked at Forge "my clan is thankful of all the hard work put in by Atlas, the clan respects Atlas so much that they call him Alpha, this title only used for leaders of our race so it is a great honer and very unusual for anyone out of the clan to receive it"
As Beast spoke streams of smoke poured out of his nose and covered Forge's face making him cough a little, Atlas raised his hand and caught the smoke in his hand, a perfect orb of smoke started to circle and pull in any smoke that was around them, Atlas had used basic elemental control and controlled the air which the smoke was part of
Beast looked at the sphere of smoke and just nodded in approval "The thing is my clan is running out of things to do, most of our time before we met Atlas was involved in surviving but now we have a very safe place to live, a meat supply from the breeding of rabbits and chickens, also the fish man farm and now this indoor farm for fruit and vegetables, the children look after the little animals but the adults are at a loss at what to do"
"What about the buildings and the colosseum" asked Atlas, he had been away for 10 odd days and didn't know if all the building were finished
"Done, the clan has even moved in to them, the colosseum still needs work but the gnolls aren't skilled enough to carry on, the only thing for the young to do is mine but we don't need any more stone" explain Beast
Atlas knew that some of the building had been completed due to his messages saying so but all of them?
"OK, i understand, first ask the elders gnolls to look after this farm, it will need a lot of work due to how fast it will grow" Atlas was thinking, he raised his hand to rub his chin but instead Forge intercepted it and rubbed his head against Atlas hand, slightly surprised that a imugi would allow this Atlas putted Forge, having his mind gone blank from Forge's behaviour Atlas mind wondered over to his regrets of buying a shop and having it burn down
"Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone, i think it's time to introduce the city to the gnolls" said Atlas
End Of Chapter Twenty Eight
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Hi all, this chapter is to fill the need pointed out to me about midnight and Forge
Some one mention it and i knew i had to fix the story so it involved the pride of Forge and the promise that Atlas made
I hope this will fix it
On a different note my back log of draft has been lost and so i need to rewrite them (back story, char profiles, stats of char, and inventions for the future) it might take a while if i can remember them
I hope you enjoy