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Dexter

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I let out a groan as I gradually woke up. Everything still hurt, somehow even more so than yesterday. I slowly sat up in the office chair I'd passed out in. The faux leather peeled away from my skin as I lifted a hand to rub my face. I let out a breath as I felt the pounding in my head. I wasn't completely surprised that I was still dehydrated. I did end up running who knows how far yesterday, if it even was a new day yet. I lowered my hand and looked at my watch. 7:58 A.M. "Yep, definitely a new day." I let out another groan as I stretched, trying to ignore my practically screaming muscles. clack I turned as I suddenly heard something being set down on hardwood. Amelia was rummaging through a box and spreading its contents out on the table beside her. She looked up and grinned as she noticed me staring at her. "Morning," she said cheerfully.

I achingly waved a hand in response. "Aaaahhh Morning. So, what's the official haul?"

Amelia looked back at the neat rows she was making on the table. "For us; about a dozen staves, some manastones of varying qualities, nine spellstones for each of us, and some miscellaneous artifacts." She then reached down, picked up an old lantern, and held it up. It was made out of the same brass-type metal I'd seen at the Archive. The engravings seemed surprisingly ornate for medieval times. The design looked more akin to those old gas lanterns than the basic square lantern I expected. The glass was even clear enough for me to kind of see all the way through it, minus the warped quality expected in blown glass. "This lantern for example." Amelia continued. She then reached up and twisted a knob I hadn't noticed before, causing a cover within the lantern to pull back and reveal a miniature sunstone embedded into the bottom. "It uses a tiny sunstone."

I squinted slightly as the light assaulted my eyes and caused me to raise my hand to block it. "I can see that. Do you have anything more . . . intriguing? With what Salthu said about the Archive, I was kind of expecting more unique items; not a bunch of items we already have."

Amelia shrugged as she closed the lamp and set it back down. "It's still an older civilization. A lot of the things they saw as revolutionary would be trivial to a more modern nation. Besides, we still got the artifacts we were looking for. Brokil and Gremach are working on replicating them as we speak. Now all we have to do is wait for them to finish." I slowly stood and stretched as I gave our situation some thought. "We got the spellstones. So that's a plus. I was kind of hoping for there to be more weapon type artifacts in the Archive. Then again, if they had powerful enough weapons, they'd either have used them against the dryads or the dryads would have taken them before the Archive closed itself up. Either way, there's a chance the good stuff was taken before we even got there. I guess Amelia has a point. At least we got what we came for. Now I can start working on a way to attack Nione again. Speaking of points."

I turned towards Amelia as I continued stretching. "Last night you said it wasn’t likely for us to get the gauntlet back. Are you sure there's not a way? They did basically assault you guys and threatened us as a group. There's gotta be some sort of repercussions for behavior like that."

Amelia shrugged as she turned back to the box. "Maybe, but I doubt we could get the gauntlet back out of it. We gave them the gauntlet in a mutual exchange that occurred after we got out of immediate danger. At best any punishment they deal out will dock their allowance or put them in a cell for a few months. It's not like the legal system back home. We can't just sue the people that wrong us."

I let out a thoughtful grunt as I considered our dilemma. "Hmmm . . . It can't hurt to ask about it. If Oghash seems to think mages are in constant competition, we might as well show her what happens when you fuck with people like us."

Amelia turned to me as I started limping towards the door. "What do you plan on doing?" She asked.

I shrugged as I moved against the wishes of my sore muscles. "I'll just ask their information desk. The Institute probably has their own system. They do have to manage a few hundred people that basically have superpowers. They can't just go to Dubak if their complaint is against someone that's a one-man army."

I heard Amelia's footsteps come up from behind as I slowly made my way towards the door. She appeared in front of me and put a hand on my chest to stop me. "I'm putting my foot down this time. You're not strong enough to go out right now. I'm actually surprised you're standing to begin with."

I waved her off as I tried to step around her but stumbled and fell as the aching grew to flat out painful. "I'm fi-aaahhhhh. Shit that hurts."

I felt Amelia's hand on my back as I knelt there and rode the waves of pain. "See? You pushed yourself too hard yesterday. You need to rest."

I gritted my teeth slightly as the pain gradually subside. Eventually, I let out a groan and nodded reluctantly. "Fine, but only for today. We still have class tomorrow, and this isn't going to stop me."

Amelia nodded as she helped me climb to my feet and guided me back to the office chair. "Brokil should have the potion ready by then. You'll be in a lot better condition once you drink it."

I nodded as I slowly sat back in the chair and allowed myself to relax. The padding on the seat was unusually comfortable and I considering trying to go to sleep again. "Naw, my shins hurt too much. I'm not going to sleep after that. That leaves me to sit in the chair for the day. Kind of cuts down on my productivity, but I'll be damned if I don't accomplish something today." I turned towards Amelia as she walked back to the table. "You want help sorting through that?" I asked.

Amelia shook her head as she pulled out a pair of old leather shoes and set them on the table. "I'm good. You just get some rest."

I turned the chair and carefully pulled my way over, ignoring Amelia's advice. "I'm not one to sit in a chair all day, even when injured. I'm going to feel like a real asshat if I just sit here all day and let you sort through this."

Amelia shook her head again as she pulled out a set of necklaces and added them to the array of things on the table. "Don't feel bad. You won't be wasting the day if you spend it recovering. After all, even Champions need their rest."

I grinned and let out a small laugh as I finally arrived at the table and leaned over to rest my elbows on it. "At least give me something to do; something to sort through. At least then I'll be doing something somewhat useful."

Amelia paused as she seemed to consider something then gestured at a line of gemstones. "You could try and sort through the spellstones. They don't seem to be labeled in any particular way so using them right now would just be a crapshoot."

I nodded as I looked at the line. They were about palm-sized, about an inch thick, and cut in a circular fashion. The top and bottom were nearly identical, and the edge was lined with more brass-like metal. The spellstones were made from either murky quartz or an off yellow stone I couldn't quite identify. I think they were topaz. The quartz we had outnumbered the yellow stones by about three to one. For the topazes, the yellow tint made it hard to tell when the gemstone stopped and the metal began. I picked up and palmed one of the stones as I immediately started pondering a way to label them. "Engraving would solve the problem of labels, but I don't have the tools to do that. Though that could be a more permanent solution. For right now I could just draw a symbol on them with the lead I have left. I could also see if I have any markers left that haven't dried out yet. That is after I identify what each of the stones does."

I finally nodded as I swept the stones into my arms and rolled over to another table. "I'll get started. I'm curious to see what kind of spells they put in here."

Amelia nodded as she turned back to the box she was sorting through. "Just be careful when you try them out. Last time I saw them used, Oghash almost scorched her eyebrows off."

I let out a small laugh as I laid the stones out on the table. "Don't worry. I'll be sure to treat them with care. I mean, these are meant to be a weapon after all." Amelia seemed satisfied with my promise as she pulled more necklaces from the box and added them to the table. I started separating the gems again as I began considering how to make spellstones of our own. "I'll have to think about making healing spellstones. It'll be a good backup in case I need a spell that I can't easily cast. Once I get this figured out, I can turn back to making that weapon. A spell is looking easier and easier every day. Thinking too far ahead. For now, baby steps."

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I ended up spending the day examining the gemstones. I wanted to test their limits but decided against it when my legs sent up another jolt of pain. Brokil dropped by sometime around midday and dropped off about a dozen vials of his recovery potion as well as a scroll containing the recipe. I had to psych myself up to drink another bottle of the disgusting liquid, but after that, I was able to better focus on my work. At some point, I finally had enough sense to notice the grooves on one side of each stone. I gradually felt out the target like symbol carved into each stone and eventually found almost invisible symbols on each of them. I used a large almost dry marker to shade the face of the gems and reveal a negative of what was carved into it.

A circle ran near the edge of the stone and was cut into quarters by four straight lines. In the center of each of the circles was a symbol that I reasoned represented the purpose of each stone. The quartzes had a variety of elemental symbols and two with appeared to be shields carved into them. The topazes, on the other hand, appeared to be meant for a different purpose. Two topaz stones had a snakehead carved into them with a hand holding a gem. The gem appeared to be drawing droplets away from the snake's extended fangs as it gave off a symbolic glow. Two more stones had what appeared to be a forearm with a gash and the same hand making more droplets, this time sending the liquid away from the stone rather than towards it. The last topaz had just a simple plus symbol carved into the material. I felt like that one was pretty self-explanatory. I grabbed a bit of scratch paper and made a note of how many of each stone we had; four fire, three lightning, four waterdrops, one with what looked like a pile of stone, two shields, two snakes, two forearms, and a plus.

Once I was done, I sat back and let out an exhausted breath. I really wanted to stress test the stones, but the potion was draining my energy and now I kind of wanted to take a nap. I rubbed my thigh and felt a warm tingling sensation pulsing through it. "Must be the damage being repaired. I'll need to set aside time for training at some point. I can't always assume magic will be able to get me out of a situation. If that mage was almost able to beat me in a foot race, I'll probably encounter others with even more powerful spells. In all likelihood, most of them will rely on their spells. Those that don't will need a good balance of spells and physique to beat. Then again, that's assuming the worst. Still, it can't hurt to be prepared. I just got to stop thinking and start doing." I glanced over at Amelia as I let out a sigh. She was examining one of the necklaces she'd pulled out from the box.

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I turned and rolled myself over as she ran her thumb over the pendant. I rested my arm on the table and then my chin on top of that as I tilted my head to look at Amelia. "What ya got there?" I asked curiously.

Amelia scrunched her face slightly as she stared at the amulet. It seemed older than the other artifacts. A strip of leather was strung through what was probably the only piece of iron in the entire haul. The pendant had an eye carved into it. A thick curving stroke was carved just above the eye. The stroke began to the left of the eye then traveled up and over it as it grew thicker. The carved indent then turned upwards and thinned out into nothingness on the other side. It kind of looked like the eye of an owl. Amelia let out a sigh as she ran her thumb over the symbol. "I honestly don't know. It looks like a hawkeye pendant, but the symbol is wrong. I'm debating whether it's a different effect or it's just the symbol. Different cultures have different symbols. So, they might use owls for far sight."

I nodded as I stifled a yawn. "haah Did you put it on at all? You could probably find out what it does if you wore it."

Amelia shook her head as she lifted the pendant up a bit. "I have no clue what this does. I'm not willing to just try it out just to satisfy my curiosity. Brokil is better equipped to safely handle this, at least until I learn that magic detection spell he uses. I certainly wouldn't want to find out the hard way that this teleports me a hundred feet into the air."

I considered for a second then nodded. "Fair point. Caution to the wind is liable to get someone killed with artifacts like these. Still, do you have any guesses on its effect?"

Amelia shrugged as she looked out over the table. "Owls have a number of symbolic attributes; wisdom, mortality, change, even femininity. They also have a number of biological advantages over us, nocturnal sight, enhanced sight, and flight. The pendant could be any of these, none of them, or a combination of multiple. For all we know, it could turn you into an owl."

I looked at the pendant with caution as Amelia presented the possible scenarios. "If it activates upon contact and only deactivates with a word then we'd be screwed if we put it on. If they made the door voice-activated, there's no telling how many of these things need a word or phrase to work."

Amelia nodded as she set the necklace down and gazed at the other artifacts lying around it. "Anyway, how goes it with the spellstones? Find anything interesting?"

I tilted my hand back and forth as I let out a sigh. "Half and half. I did find carvings on the stones that tell us their purpose. Though the yellow ones seem a bit more creative in their symbolic representation. Still, we don't have to worry about mixing up which stone does what. Once we remark the others, we can use them in a more practical setting."

Amelia shrugged as she looked back at the table. "However practical some random spellstones could be." I shrugged but didn't say anything as Amelia looked over the table. I didn't really care how useful they were, just that I'd managed to do something productive today. Amelia gestured to the table as she grinned encouragingly. "Want to help me with the rest of these? It might be fun to guess what some of them do."

I grinned as I craned and looked at the table. It was littered with stones, staves, skins, and jewelry. It wouldn't have looked out of place in a treasury. The only thing that was missing was some coins. I nodded as I rolled the chair closer and scanned the items individually. "Sure. I'm up for it." Amelia nodded as she turned back to the table again and we started sorting through the artifacts.

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I groaned as I walked through the Institute. My muscles had recovered a bit, but it didn't detract enough from the overall pain I'd put myself though. I still felt like I'd been bitch-slapped by the hulk. Everything either felt bruised or was experiencing some form of structural repair. The potion helped the recovery, but as a result, I was basically starving the entire day. I'd stuffed myself with orcish bread and meat during lunch, but I was already anticipating the bear steak I'd go get from the kitchen for dinner. I never knew wild bear would taste so fucking good. I let out a sigh as I rested my elbows on the object of my journey and looked up at the orc behind the Information's desk. "Hey. I have a question about your justice system." I supplied wearily.

The orc looked at me curiously as he placed his quill down. "What do you wish to know?" He asked.

I stretched and slowly popped my knuckles as I let out an exhausted breath. "I recently returned from an expedition to the mountain city of Vedug. During that expedition, another group assaulted members from my group. For one, I’m ticked off cause they attacked my friends. For another, they took an artifact that my group discovered in the city. I'd rather they not be encouraged to repeat these actions to anyone. I'm also kind of hoping I get that gauntlet back so they don't go intimidating anyone with it. You wouldn't happen to have a way to enforce disciplinary action on them, would you?"

The orc rubbed his chin as he stared at me. "It depends on the circumstances. If a conflict was mutually provoked, then it's not likely that they will be punished. However, if they are the sole aggressors in the situation, then they may be punished in accordance with the severity of the attack. It may return the artifact to your possession, but that depends on the results of an investigation. If you wish to launch such a complaint, I have an investigation request that you will need to complete."

I nodded as I motioned for him to hand the form over. "That's perfect. How long do you expect an investigation like this to take?"

The orc shrugged as he reached behind the counter and pulled out a small stack of parchment. "Who knows. It may halt after a single interview or continue for an entire month. If punishment is deemed appropriate, you'll be informed when the Magistrates decide how best to reprimand the mages." I nodded as the orc reached behind the desk again and set an inkwell and quill beside the stack. He then pointed over to an empty desk near the wall as he continued. "Return the pages once you complete the form." I nodded again as I turned and walked over to the open desk. "Progress. Hopefully, we get that gauntlet back. I never liked it when bullies got anything they wanted, especially when they used force. I'm not about to let this be an exception."

I let out a sigh as I sat down and began sorting through the papers, carefully reading what each portion was asking and how I should answer them. I was about to put quill to parchment when I heard a vaguely familiar voice calling from across the room. "Dexter!" I turned to see Borba and Yotul walking over, Yotul waving excitedly as she walked.

I waved back as they stopped in front of me. "It's good to see you two again, especially considering the . . . less than pleasant situation of our last encounter." Their faces fell as I brought up the tunnel in Vedug.

Yotul looked down timidly as Broba's face grew solemn. "Listen." Broba began. "We were not intent on threatening your group. We only joined Oghash because of the opportunity to find the Archive. She had prepared us to face the magma worms near the peak of the city. We did not anticipate trailing your group deep into the heart of the mountain."

I let out an annoyed sigh as I turned to the page and began writing. "Still, you helped the person that threatened my friends. I actually wanted you to join my group before I found out you were already in the city. I was understanding of that, there were more groups heading to the city and it was possible that some of the people I knew would be part of them. However, I was kind of hurt when I saw you with them and noticed what they were doing. I am glad that you, Yotul, at least tried to convince Oghash against her actions," Yotul looked up and seemed to brighten a bit at the remark as I continued. "But honestly, Borba, I expected you to take more of a stand."

I heard Borba let out a scoff as she crossed her arms. "What did you expect me to do? We are healers. We were there to heal the others after they fought the magma worms. We could not just stop them from taking hostages."

I let out a sigh as I stopped writing and began rubbing my eyelids. "Regardless, I'm just disappointed that we had to meet again like that. I'm even less happy cause of the undoubtedly valuable artifact that was lost in the process. I'm not mad at you two, I'm just annoyed at the strain I had to put myself through in order to resolve that particular problem, then finding out that one of the artifacts we already had had to be exchanged with the contents of the Archive."

Borba let out a huff as she crossed her arms. "Well, we came over to say we were sorry about how Oghash treated your companions. However, since you seem less than forgiving at the moment, I do not think I want to apologize."

Yotul turned and gave Borba a look of astonishment. "Do you not wish to mend the misunderstanding this has caused?"

Borba turned and shook her head. "No, I think not. Come, let's leave him."

I immediately regretted my words and extended a hand towards them. "Wait." I said loudly. Borba paused and turned back to me with a look of contempt. I let out a sigh as I rubbed my aching leg and began explaining. "I'm not mad, not at you at least. I'm just really hurting right now and I think I lashed out a bit because of it. Trust me, I'd much rather Oghash was here getting chastised for her actions, especially considering the artifact she practically stole from my group. It's why I'm filling out this complaint form; so that I might get that fucking gauntlet back from her. I don't want you two to get punished over this, you seemed more like bystanders anyway. I just want to make sure Oghash doesn't get away with harassing other students."

Borba let out a long sigh as I finished talking and she seemed to consider something. Finally, she rubbed her head as she looked off. "She anticipated as much. That is why she is dedicating all of her spare time to studying the gauntlet. She hopes to be able to replicate it before the Institute confiscates it."

I grinned slightly at the development. "Good. She should know to act carefully when dealing with us. I'd rather have her fear me than respect me. The only language she understands is fear so I'm going to make sure she knows that other people can speak it too."

Borba glanced at Yotul before turning back to me. "I would call that unwise, though most of the things you've done have been unwise. However, your actions are your own as well as the consequences for them."

I nodded as I gestured dismissively and began writing again. "I'll be ready for whatever comes. In the meantime, I'm sorry for how I behaved. I always try to keep my aggravation in the designated areas and I'm sorry that I let it spill over. I hope that doesn't make you think less of me." I looked up to see Borba's response. Her expression was neutral as she stared at me. She seemed to be debating heavily and her eyes drifted slightly as she did so.

Finally, she let out a sigh as she rubbed her face. "It does a bit, but your words appear to be well-intentioned. . . I only hope that your promises on aggression are equally so."

I nodded as I turned back to the pages again and began writing. "Thank you. I'll be sure you don't get any flak for this. Good luck on the other artifacts though. It's always good to have more eyes studying things like this. The Institute as a whole would benefit greatly from being able to make spellstones." Borba nodded in response then glanced at Yotul, tilting her head to signal Yotul to follow. Yotul waved to me as she began following Borba towards the exit. I turned to the parchments as I began writing and I weighed the various possible outcomes of my next decisions. "I really don't like the gauntlet in her hands. Replica or not, Amelia said it was enchanted with other things and I'd rather Oghash not have personal access to those enchantments. I can't imagine how many others she'd intimidate out there that definitely won't-" I stopped and looked up as an Idea flashed through my mind. I pointed quickly in Yotul and Borba's direction as I called out. "Wait! Come Back Here." Yotul and Borba turned to look at me curiously as I stared in their direction. My mind was racing as I confirmed a possible outcome of my next decision. I flicked my index and middle finger as I motioned for them to come back. They looked at each other skeptically as they made their way back over. I brought my hand back and bit my thumb as I tried to anticipate any pitfalls. "Which gauntlet does Oghash have?" I asked.

Borba and Yotul glanced at each other curiously. "What do you mean which?" Borba finally asked.

I continued to pressure my thumb as I thought through the possibility again. "What's the symbol on the inner forearm?" Yotul and Borba continued to look at me curiously. I reached for my quill and quickly scratched out the symbols for Mars and Venus on a corner of the parchment. "Which one of these appears on the inner forearm of the gauntlet?" I repeated. Yotul and Borba examined the two symbols and briefly debated.

"Do you recognize either?"

"Was it this one?"

"No, that one is too angular."

"Are you sure?"

"Reasonably."

"They are so similar."

"This one is more recognizable."

Yotul finally pointed at the one for Venus with unusual confidence. "This one is on the gauntlet Oghash has."

I rubbed my face and began grinning at the development, despite the pain in my legs. "I think I have a better idea for the gauntlet, and I could really use some help from you two." They glanced at each other curiously.

Borba was the first to speak up as she turned back. "What do you have planned?" She asked skeptically.

I continued to grin as I looked at the two of them. "I think I'm going to teach you two about espionage."