“Damn, I was hoping to see some fighting, this was boring.”
I hear a pair of soldiers talking to each other a few meters away. The entire camp was packing up preparing to leave. A few had already started running back to their villages.
“So you wanted the death and mayhem of a battle?” Asks an older soldier. Probably 60 years old, though with the system in place his physical condition puts him on an even footing with the two younger soldiers.
“No, of course not, but I think that it’s a mistake to rely on these system contracts. The levels we would have gained are just the bonus.”
“Best case scenario, a couple hundred from our allied coalition would be buried here. Even a thousand wouldn’t surprise me given the conditions. You shouldn’t be so hasty on saying what is better, not without considering the cost.”
“But that guy with the plant magic already did most of the work for us. Hell, we might even have been able to force them out of the village and they would have been lucky to cause more than a few broken bones.”
“Well, either way, that is not what happened. So we won’t find out either way. Now, do something useful and help me take this stake from the ground.”
“Why do you want that useless thing, just leave it there. You are…” Says the younger soldier who was silent to this moment.
I let their voices drift away as I run the same math in my head. Unless we wished to remain here for days on end, we would need to attack. Even after my significant increase in capabilities, it was still too slow for me to be entangling enemies. They had nothing else distracting them. Even Merlin couldn’t help, he didn’t have the range.
Something else they were not considering, is that the longer I take, the greater the chance they would develop effective countermeasures against my nature magic. It is better to limit its use to a minimum for as long as I could.
Though I have to admit, they had a point. Not sure I would choose the word anti-climatic, but something was missing.
My awareness goes to the tendril extending back to the village. It’s approaching 40 miles, almost connecting to the tendril in the spot we stopped at to sleep. Still, only a small part of the 260 miles voyage we made to get here.
Luckily, I didn’t need to spend longer on this. In the next weeks, even without any time growing them myself, I should see the connection become established. There is plenty of redundancy around so it won’t even be the worse feeling.
The mood, in general, is a little brighter around me. Even if the battle maniacs didn’t get what they wanted, something that had the potential to turn into an enormous threat for all the villages was cut down at the bud. Before I leave, however, I get a very intriguing offer from Sarah.
“So, do you want to come to our village? We saw what you did, and we want a few things like the runic structures that you can create from roots. We are not rich, but I’m certain we can come up with a suitable payment arrangement.”
I agree. I’m certain they can come up with plenty of good ideas for payment. I would accept mana, coins, and goods. The main thing that I wished for is a better way to bring into life Pando’s coin. Having another village start to recognize the coin would bring value to it.
I don't know the metrics the system looked at to assign value, but it didn’t hurt to try.
As Sarah approaches, she tries to make contact with my roots. I’m still mostly covered by the roots, though this is a lighter construct that helps me stand and move around.
Her movements, which I would guess were intended to sway me, end up feeling stiff and awkward. Is she actually flirting with me? Or is it something else? No matter, let’s pay attention to more important stuff for the moment, like how I’m gonna go to her village.
Something comes to mind then. Is the link between our villages up already? Probably not, but it should be close. Most of the seeds should already be in contact with their neighbors. I would only need to complete the circuit in a couple of intermittent spots.
Onward to another village I go.
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Sarah’s Grandmother – Matriarch of village
I stare at the child in front of me. Her age should already reflect someone mature. She should be married, but she was too headstrong for that. Her parents had all kinds of silly ideas in their heads. I failed with my useless daughter, I will not fail again.
Without their interference and I have a chance to correct the mistakes of her upbringing.
“Your movements were awkward child.”
“I told you it would not be a good idea to try flirting with him.”
“With a stiff posture like that, it almost seemed like you were petting a snake.”
“With the roots around him, I couldn’t do any better.”
“Excuses, excuses, if it was me in my younger days,…”
“Yeah, yeah, but it's not. Either way, he is going to charge a fair price. We might even get a discount for being the first. You know very well that most other villages are quite reluctant to invite someone so powerful. Having a second village like ours will be good for his ‘brand’.”
“You are correct, but if he was smitten with you, our benefits would be greater. He might even have done it for free. But it’s no use crying over spilled milk, get on with your tasks child.”
I watch as she leaves the small tent set up for me. The time for our departure is almost up and I leave as well.
I make my way to the carriage we bought from Charlie’s village. I could run back, even as old as I am, but it would be faster and far less tiring to ride on the carriage.
Why can’t the child see we are in the perfect position to attract Nash? With the situation as it is, we could easily become the second village in the instance with very little work.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
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Representative of a village.
“I told you it would be worth it to join this expedition. Even considering the mana costs incurred. Hell, they could have charged us a gold coin, and it would still be worth it to have come. And mobilizing 100 fighters was much cheaper than that. We learned much more than we could have learned through spying or second-hand reports.”
“Yeah, if Max had been more circumspect, he could have kept things us for much longer, and then he would have become a real threat. We also saw what trying to intimidate or bring ‘Overwhelming’ force against Charlie’s village results in.”
“Nash’s capabilities are frightening. We didn’t even get to see the other mages, though I’m told they are quite a bit less impressive, more in line with our own, perhaps a little stronger.”
“Take that with a grain of salt, but either way, I already heard of a couple of villages almost thinking of hiring Nash like the Matriarch's village.”
“They are too trusting, but to each his own. Our alliance will eventually dominate all the villages in the instance. You know very well what the system’s reward for that is.”
“Neither of us knows, but we can guess. I’m almost certain that the thunder Max used to attack was a result of his conquests.”
“Perhaps it would be worth it to enter an agreement of our own with him.”
“The limitations are too severe,” I say shaking my head.
“He can be a defender for our alliance. His military power was minimally affected, and I doubt that many villages will want to leave his little band. I was also paying close attention to the contract. I’m certain he has a very good lawyer by his side, a passage or two from the contract was very cleverly worded.”
I look at my companion tilting my head slightly as he gives me a wide smile. After realizing why he didn’t say anything in the meeting, I reply.
“So you knew all along, maybe even pushed gently for “our side” to accept the terms that he randomly threw in the middle of the contract, because he is a ‘Dumb Barbariam’.”
“I have no idea how everyone else didn't see through his charade, I’m just glad I did and managed to maneuver things in our favor.”
“So do you want to stick around?”
“Hell no, I will send a letter to him through one of the stealth classers we brought. Probably the assassin or the infiltrator. Being caught talking alone with him would paint us a very poor picture.”
We both grim, and start to make our way back. Too bad we didn’t bring enough copper or silver to snag one of the carriages that Charlie sold at the end of the campaign. We could have returned in style, but perhaps it’s better this way. We have our own engravers at the capital of our little 14 village coalition, and they will make even better progress compared to Charlie’s village. We just need to take care of one thing. We can never let one of our villages grow too strong. Let Charlie or someone else tank the system attacks while we were free to develop and reap the rewards.
The 350 miles voyage back to our village has just started and we have plenty of time to think and discuss all that happened and the next steps. But something is clear now. This guy is sneaky, very sneaky. I have to protect myself from any maneuvers he may make against me.
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As I start being carried on the carriage back to Sarah’s village, finally I can relax a little, so I open my system prompts.
I felt something tugging at me during the attack, I don't know what it was, but perhaps, just perhaps I finally have a class suitable for me.
I ignored everything else, as it would add very little to me, and run through all the options.
Pando’s Vessel - Uncommon
+3% All Stats +0.1 All Stats/Lv.
+5% Connection to Pando
There are have a few variations of this class and I might even have chosen if I was desperate or there was one with a higher rarity, but I already chose a related sub-class.
True Earth-shaper – Rare
+3% to All stats +0.1 All Stats/Lv.
+15% to Intelligence +0.75 to Intelligence/Lv.
Nature Mage - Rare
+6% to All stats +0.2 All Stats/Lv.
+5% Connection to Nature
Artificer – Rare
+10% to Intelligence +0.5 to Intelligence/Lv.
+3% to All stats +0.1 All Stats/Lv.
+5% Creation of Artifices
Runic Enchanter – Rare
+10% to Intelligence +0.5 to Intelligence/Lv.
+3% to All stats +0.1 All Stats/Lv.
+5% Creation of new runes
………………………
Creator - Legendary
+12% to All stats +0.4 All Stats/Lv.
+5% Connection to your creations (Bonus halved for creations of other people)
+5% Success Rate for Creating
One with the world - Scarce
+5% to Perception +0.25 to Perception /Lv.
+3% to All stats +0.1 All Stats/Lv.
+5% Better perception of the world
There are dozens more available, but somehow I felt that more would become available if I focused on something for just a week or two, but I won’t need them. The last two are the ones that draw my focus. They both pull me toward them. I preferred one, but they are both paths I would be happy with. So I open their detailed descriptions.
Creator – Legendary
The Holders of this class are people whose very life’s purpose is to bring ideas to life. The class adapts to the holder and is considered one of the least limiting classes in the system, as long as the holder’s goals are to create. From metal weapons to stunning works of art, from intricate engravings to the greatest speeches, nothing is beyond a Creator.
+12% to All stats +0.4 All Stats/Lv.
+5% Connection to your creations (Bonus halved for creations of other people)
+5% Success Rate for Creating
One with the world – Scarce
A very rarely chosen class. A class for those that seek to know the world around them. For those not content with superficial knowledge, but whose very makeup is about understanding the nature of things.
+5% to Perception +0.25 to Intelligence/Lv.
+3% to All stats +0.1 All Stats/Lv.
+5% Deeper perception of the world
I look at the massive and perfectly allocated bonuses of the first class. The text speaks to a deep part of me, and I can not take my eyes from it for minutes. It’s perfect for me, and it isn’t a combat class. It fitted me like a glove, I could spend the rest of my life bringing runic creations and new plants to life. I could bring anything that I desire into the world with enough time and effort.
When I finally take my eyes off it, the same happens again. The second one also perfectly describes who I am, worse yet it seems to do an even better job than the first option.
First I had none, now I have two amazing choices.
I move back and forth while I think. The second one has a grand name. Instinctively, I know that even if I’m stuck at a low rarity for the first few levels, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not much of a problem. Especially considering that it seems to be a class intended to grow with the user. Perhaps there are branches that I can take, but my gut tells me, this class is intended to be started at a low rarity even if the eventual real class is extremely powerful.
Only hours after my resolution to greatly diminish my Aether use, I start cycling it again. I try learning anything else from the system through interfacing with my Aether.
I succeed, but soon the Aether goes back to its place. It told me nothing my gut hadn’t already about the classes. Developing trust in my instincts would be even better than taking a shortcut and using Aether.
Indecision grabs a hold of me as the carriage bumbles along forward through the rough track laid out. I can choose the better fit, even if the immediate bonuses aren't amazing. Or something that I also yearn for, and grab all these extra stat points.
The decision that I unconsciously delayed comes to me, and I need to choose now. I know that I won’t rest I make it, not with such good choices.
I won’t step foot off this carriage before choosing, that is a promise.
Do I choose a class that will bring me knowledge of the world, or do I choose one that gives me the tools to change it? When I put it like that it almost seems obvious, but I cannot get myself to take that road just yet.
Yep, I’m not stepping foot outside before reaching a decision.