Lucas awoke from his dream with a paplpable sense of relief. He had stopped dreaming of the [Pirate King] after seeing him butcher a dozen other captains and hold a crowning ceremony for himself. Apparently, that dream was supposed to teach him to be ruthless, but he felt that it just motivated him to never go near the water. The dream with the [Druid] was completely different. This person was a powerful [Nature Magic] user who seemed to work alone rather than a [Swordsman] and [Leader]. Most importantly, he seemed to be a good guy. Lucas had never heard of any of the gods that his hosts seemed to be fighting against, but it reassured him that his dreams could be of something other than robbery and killing.

With a brief delay to enjoy the sensation of actually waking up dry and safe, Lucas opened his eyes and prepared to start the day. Lucas got up and broke camp with his father. They set up before the sun was up completely. Every plant was still wet and mist blocked the view more than a few meters from their path. The forest was alive with sounds though, even this early. It was mostly the sounds of birds and smaller animals getting a start on the day.

The remainder of the journey back to camp was relatively uneventful. They made good time and camped twice more with a ragged and exhausted Lucas falling to sleep almost immediately as soon as camp was struck each day. When they got back to camp, Stan didn’t allow Lucas much time dilly dally. They spent less than an hour wiping away their presence and then they were off.

“I took care of most of the gobs, but that don’t mean they aren’t a threat. Something coulda’ pushed the main tribe to the edge farther north and deeper in the range and that something might do it again or come down itself. So, I still gotta give a report in Emmit’s Lake,” said Stan as he tied his pack closed around the last item to go in, the piece of tent from over the entrance. “Since we need to go back, but we’re not on a timer, I’m gonna’ let you lead us. Your [Navigate] could use some training, and you may pick up a little more skill at movin’ through the woods. I want you to start using your [Combat Focus] again, too.”

They worked their way back to the lake and eventually to the house. Any thoughts Lucas had about going to bed without being utterly exhausted were destroyed after the first day leading the two of them. During the trip, Lucas had gotten to the point where he was no longer perpetually distracted by the plants discovered using his [Herb Lore] skill.

When his home came into view through the trail, Lucas had never been so relieved. Lucas could smell his mother’s cooking as they approached the house and began to salivate as soon as the door was opened and he could smell it directly. He and his father approached the kitchen, only to be stopped by his mother’s voice.

“I hope you two aren’t tracking mud and whatever else you have on you from that forest through my clean livingroom,” she said.

“No, ma’am,” replied Stan. The man who stood against the charge of a tribe of angry gobs without flinching lowered his head without saying a word. They went around back and set their gear in the barn to be sorted later and entered the back door. The smell of roast was even stronger here, but they went immediately to the bathroom where there was already a change of clothes waiting for each of them.

With such a marvelous feast waiting for them in the kitchen, the two intrepid adventurers wasted no time getting cleaned and back out to the kitchen where the food was already sitting out in serving dishes and places were set for each of the family members. Mr. Snugglepuss even had a piece of fresh meat, diced and mixed with something that almost made it look appetizing to Lucas, in his bowl in the corner.

“Welcome home,” said his mother as they came into the kitchen. She stepped forward to give Stan a kiss on the cheek and then engulfed Lucas in a huge hug. Just as he thought that he was going to pass out, she let go and allowed him to take a breath. He regretted that she let him go for a brief second, missing the soothing comfort of her embrace, but he decided that it would be difficult to eat dinner while hugging his mother.

After dinner, Lucas and Stan went out to the barn to start putting away their gear. His sabre needed to be cared for to prevent any rust. The steel was well made but not magical and would eventually succumb to the elements like any other piece of metal. He had to inventory his collection of herbs and placed them in their own containers in the barn. His father had set aside a section just for him to use in his studies but he had never had need of it until now.

It only took a couple of hours before he was back in his room. He quickly reached under his mattress and grabbed Stick so that he could let his void cat in to snuggle with him. After he was comfortable, he decided to play with his new ability some. [Mana Control] indicated that he could do more with his mana than he had been. He knew that a [Mage] was able to cast spells by forming mana into specific patterns, similar to his [Keen Edge] ability.

Thinking of [Keen Edge] Lucas wondered if he could use it on more than his dagger. Maybe he could put it on arrows before launching them or even use it on his fingers to give himself claws. He spent a few minutes daydreaming about having awesome magic claws before finally picking up Stick and focusing on his mana. First, he tried activating the ability like he normally did, just by thinking about what he wanted and urging his mana to move. There was no response. He wasn’t too surprised by that though. The ability itself seemed to be designed for blades and the system was pretty strict about many of those little details.

He would just have to do it the hard way. I wonder what the skill will be called? He thought to himself. His experience with the system so far was that he simply needed to show a basic level of skill with something before an ability was granted. After that he just needed to practice. He wasn’t sure what the limit was, but he felt that it was important to be able to use his mana to do things like this if he was going to be a powerful combat [Alchemist] or [Adventurer].

He remembered distinctly the feeling of his mana when the [Keen Edge] ability was working. Sitting with his legs crossed, Lucas began to [Meditate]. He slowly began to feel the mana in his body. It wasn’t really doing anything. He thought about how it felt when he was riding along with the [Druid]. The mana then had felt almost like a solid core of power that sat just behind the belly button. It wasn’t exactly what Lucas had imagined when he was reading about forming a Mana Pool. When the [Druid] cast his spells the mana had flowed up and out and it had a vitality to it that Lucas’ mana currently lacked though.

Lucas decided that he would try to get his mana to move and cover stick first before trying to get it into the Mana Pool that the book talked about. He focused on the mana that he could feel sitting in his chest and tried to will it down his arm and into Stick. When he was stabbing the giant man-eating frog, the mana had flowed naturally. He remembered clearly the sensation. When he was using the skill, the system assisted and he had to do almost no work at keeping the skill up at this point. Now, though, he was trying to pull mana from inside his body, specifically from his right arm, and push it out and into Stick with the intent of adding an edge to something that didn’t have one and wasn’t even considered a true weapon by the system.

After an hour of struggle, Lucas gave up and went to sleep. He remembered to let Mr. Snugglepuss back out and close his shutters with Stick before dozing off. Sleep was dreamless and the first night in his bed was truly relaxing.

The next morning, Stan was setting out to Emmit’s Lake to inform the guard there of the threat posed by the migrating gobs. The sun was up and Lucas rushed to meet his father as he was exiting the barn. The wagon that they used to pick up supplies was hitched to their mule and Lucas was relieved when he saw that his father hadn’t left yet.

“You’re up might early, son,” Said his father, pretending not to know why his son was up and dressed so early after just coming home from the wilds.

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“Can I go with you to the village, dad?” asked Lucas.

Stan pretended to think about it while Lucas tried, and failed, to hide his anxiety about being left behind. Trips to the village were rare, and even though they were bringing bad news, Lucas still hoped to be able to go.

“Alright, you can go,” said Stan. “Tell your mother to pack you..” he didn’t get to finish the sentence because Lucas’ mother stepped out of the house at that exact moment with a neatly wrapped lunch for both of them.

“Be safe, boys,” said his mother as she bent down and kissed him on the forehead before giving his father a more robust goodbye kiss.

++++++++++

The trip to the village was significantly less eventful this time. They made the trip in good time and Lucas spent the time between uses of [Combat Focus] by attempting to push his mana out of his hand and into various objects. He tried a variety of different images for his mana and could tell that he was making progress. He could feel the mana in his arm starting to pool at his hand that was touching the small pebble in his palm. He would occasionally cast [Keen Edge] onto his dagger then try something similar on the pebble. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t add an edge to the pebble, even on the ridges that were already sharp.

As he slowly attempted to push the mana from his arm onto the pebble, the gate for the village came into view. Only, this time the gate was completely different. Where there used to be a simple, if heavily enchanted, wooden gate and palisade, there was now a stone column on each side of a massive metal gate. Scaffolding was still up on the wall as it was slowly being converted from wood to stone using the previous palisade as a frame.

The path leading up to the village was still well maintained and made of simple dirt, but where before there was a lazy guard giving visitors a quick once over there was now a large and intimidating man who stopped and asked each person a question or questions as they passed. People were lined up and it appeared as if they were quite used to the process by now as the village residents were displaying something to the guard as they passed by.

What created the line at the gate wasn’t the guard stopping each entrant. Nor was it the afternoon rush local folks from outlying homes coming in to shop or for lunch. What really slowed down the line was the twenty or thirty wagons with the golden hand sigil of the Norvos Merchant Guild embossed on their sides.

Lucas and Stan got into line at the end, but it had slowed down significantly as each wagon was thoroughly searched by two more surly looking guards. The wagons were then allowed to approach the gate where the man who asked entrants their questions seemed to be asking significantly more questions than he had asked the individuals who wished to pass.

The wagon was eventually allowed to pass then two or three individuals then another wagon. As they slowly worked their way forward, Lucas continued to surreptitiously attempt to force mana into the pebble in his hand. He had a small blanket in his lap and covering his hand so he wasn’t too worried about anybody spotting anything out of the ordinary.

Again and again the process repeated. One wagon searched, two people passing. Sometimes they showed a pass and other times they didn’t. Each time Lucas would focus on the pebble and the mana in his hand. He wasn’t trying to force it, just push it out of his arm and around the stone. He knew this was the gate he had to pass to get anywhere with his mana. It was almost like the stone was one of the wagons, slowing down his progress. He imagined the stone being as big as a wagon and blocking the gate for a brief second as he pushed mana out of his hand.

Suddenly, there was a drain and Lucas felt all of the mana in his arm coalesce into the palm of his hand before wrapping around the stone in his hand. The stone itself didn’t grow as large as a wagon, thankfully. Instead, the stone grew heavier by almost ten times. It wasn’t much, but the pebble in his hand was now the weight of a rock the size of Lucas’ fist.

Along with the new weight in his lap, Lucas received several notifications from the system to indicate that he had finally figured out how to push mana onto different objects.

Congratulations!

You have learned the skill Mana Control

Placing a square peg into a round hole is only impossible if you give up. By gathering a precise amount of mana and focusing it externally onto an object to manifest a specific effect, you have unlocked the skill Mana Control. You may now move your mana within your sphere of influence with greater proficiency.

Mana Control Level 1: Progress 1%

(Experience rewards for all levels gained in skill deferred until full System Access is acquired)

Congratulations!

You have learned the skill Increase Weight

Who said bigger is better? You can now increase the weight of an inanimate object by imbuing it with your mana. The amount of weight gained, duration of effect, and mana cost are based on the object that is targeted and skill level.

Increase Weight Level 1: Progress 10%

(Experience rewards for all levels gained in skill deferred until full System Access is acquired)

The trick was visualizing something and willing the mana out onto the object. More importantly, Lucas had discovered, was attempting to manifest an effect that was appropriate to the object. Earth was heavy and by trying to make the small pebble in his hand bigger with is inadvertent visualization, he had increased it’s weight.

I wonder if I can make things bigger instead of just heavier. Lucas thought to himself as their cart approached the gate. It was finally their turn to enter the village and Lucas was worn out from the constant attempts to force his mana onto the pebble. The effect didn’t last long. This was probably because of the almost insignificant amount of mana that Lucas had used along with the tiny size of the pebble, but he would keep practicing.

As they approached the man guarding the gate the guard looked at Stan and spoke with an almost bored tone, “By order of Baron Sucro, the city of Emmit’s Lake, will collect a tax on all goods brought into the city. If you are currently transporting any trade goods please present a list to the clerk and prepare to have your cargo inspected. If you are here to purchase trade goods, you will need to present a [Identification Card] which shows you are a citizen in good standing and have purchased a trader’s license.”

“We aren’t here to buy or sell,” said Stan. “We’re here to report to Captain Jenkins about a gob migration in the Beast Range”

There was a brief moment of surprise in the guard’s eyes as he realized what Stan had just said before he scowled and replied, “Excursions into the Beast Range are prohibited by anybody who does not have a Hunter’s License on their [Identification Card]. Please present your [Identification Card].”

“I haven’t needed to use that thing in years,” said Stan. “And I can go ahead and tell ya’, I ain’t got a Hunter’s License. I do know the kingdom doesn’t have any authority in the Beast Range and there’s no law that prohibits any man from going into it as they will.”

The guards grimace grew darker before he responded. “If you don’t have a Hunter’s License then I’ll have to detain you until the captain can talk to you. There’s a fine of 5 gold for unlicensed hunting in the Beast Range for vassals of Baron Sucro.”

“That’s fine, son, I wanted to talk to Captain Jenkins anyways,” said Stan.

“Captain Jenkins was let go.” Said the guard with an evil smile. “You’ll be interrogated by Captain Smith.” The guard then reached to his side and unlatched a bell from his belt. With three quick chimes, two more guards came running out of the guard house that Lucas could see just on the other side of the gate.

“Take these two to a holding cell. Confiscate any contraband from the beast range to be used as evidence.”

There was a brief moment where Stan tensed, almost ready to fight. It passed so quickly that nobody but Lucas, who had sparred with his father many times now, even noticed. The guards at the gate had no idea how close they had just come to a violent and bloody end to their day.

“We’ll follow you and speak with your captain. You try to take anything that’s mine and I’ll slit your throat. I’m not a vassal of your Baron Sucro and won’t pay a fine. Son, you stay close.”

“Threaten one of my men again and we’ll have more than words,” said a tall, imposing figure that stepped out of the guard house. He was at least six and a half feet tall and had a wicked battle axe strapped to his back. He wore a uniform similar to the guards, mostly black with red piping on the sides of the pants legs, but where they had chain mail on over theirs he had no armor on at all. Even without armor, Lucas knew that this man was dangerous. He gave of a feeling that reminded Lucas of the Wevil. His sudden appearance probably prevented an escalation between Lucas’ father and Stan, but Lucas still wasn’t happy to see this man.

“I agree, though,” said the tall captain. “If you aren’t a resident of the city or barony, you aren’t required to pay the fine for hunting in the beast range without a license. You are also prohibited from selling any goods found in the beast range within the barony. Now, what was it that you wanted to speak to me about?”