After the soldiers left and Mahya and I stopped laughing, Sonak went to his room and disappeared until the next day when Al came back. I thought he felt embarrassed and didn’t want to show his face. Mahya opened all the windows, and I cast Clean on the room again and again until we got rid of all the whiskey smell. It took hours for the room to stop smelling, but we didn’t care. We were in this together, and the shared humor of the situation kept us going. While working, every few minutes, one of us would start giggling, infecting the other, and we would laugh again.
Rue joined in and helped me clean up. It was a fantastic idea to buy him the Clean spell, and I didn’t care about the three points it cost. I still had over two hundred points and was sure they would last me for years.
Finally, after the room was clean, Mahya and I decided we didn’t feel like continuing with the original plan of going gambling. Instead, the three of us played Monopoly for hours. We filled the game with laughter, friendly banter, and the occasional dramatic negotiation. At the end of the game, I owned the entire board. Mahya and Rue accused me of cheating, and I swore up and down that I didn’t, but I had a nagging suspicion that my Luck and Merchant class had a hand in the victory.
Al joined us the following day, his face glowing with pride and a broad smile stretching across his face. His eyes sparkled with excitement as he strode confidently into the room, shoulders back and chest puffed out. With an almost theatrical flourish, he announced, “The potion potency exceeded my initial expectations. The Valerian we purchased is truly remarkable, and I utilized some plants you gathered on the rats’ island.”
“How strong is it?” I asked.
Al’s grin widened, and he nodded enthusiastically. “As soon as the bullets make contact,” he said, his voice filled with triumph and pompous condescension, “The affected person, along with anyone within a radius of two to three meters, will quickly enter a state of deep slumber.” He spread his arms wide, emphasizing the range of the potion’s effect, his eyes locking onto mine to make sure I understood the gravity of his words.
“If it’s so strong, why don’t you fall asleep?”
Al’s lips curled into a small, confident smile. “I possess a unique ability that, once activated, serves as a shield against the creations I produce.”
“So it can put us to sleep if we’re in range?” I pressed, my eyes narrowing as I tried to piece together the implications.
Al’s expression shifted as realization dawned on him. “Yes. I failed to consider that possibility,” he said, sounding less enthusiastic all of a sudden.
Mahya, who had been listening intently, perked up. “Maybe we’ll put on gas masks?” she suggested.
Al shook his head. “It will not be of any help. Magic is an integral component of alchemy. While it may offer protection against physical substances, it is ineffective against the magical aspect. To accomplish that, you will require runic protection.”
Mahya’s face fell slightly, but then she brightened with determination. “We have a lot of books with runes. Maybe we’ll find something there.”
I nodded, though I felt a sinking certainty. “There was nothing suitable in the two runic languages I studied.”
“We have a lot of runic languages,” Mahya said.
“You do?” Sonak chimed in for the first time.
“Yes,” I said and took out all the books of runes I had. I returned the two languages I studied and started going through the rest. After paying the thousand mana to learn the language and activating the ability [Local Adaptation: Runes/Magic Script], I read the introduction and learned the first three Foundational Runes of the language to understand it. My face tightened with frustration. “No, that won’t help. All the runes here deal with strengthening materials, mainly for construction or building complex machinery.”
I moved on to the next book and quickly learned the written language, but I felt a barrier when I looked at the runes. My heart sank as I remembered the points I’d spent. “I paid for only three runic languages,” I muttered, glancing at the others. “I’ll have to pay a point for the other languages. Oh well, we don’t have a choice.”
After spending another ability point and a thousand mana, I read the introduction and studied the first two Foundational Runes. I felt the pressure in my head, so I didn’t study the third Foundational Rune of that language. Still, I felt elated. My previous limit was three runes, but now I could quickly learn five, and I felt that the break between learning sessions would be shorter. “Those are special runes for formations. Not going to help us here.”
Mahya snatched the book from my hand and said, “But it will help me with my projects.”
I checked the next book, shaking my head in disbelief. “Lis collected the strangest runic languages possible. This language is specific for clothes. You embroider the runes with special metal threads. At least the detailed intro saved me from learning the Foundational Runes.”
Giving it to Mahya, I said, “It might be good for the balloon, and the gold wire might work.”
Sonak suddenly jumped, his eyes wide with excitement. “Which Lis are you talking about?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, taken aback by his intensity.
“Are you referring to Lissarom Munyon?”
“How did you know?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.
Sonak’s face lit up with recognition. “He is famous. He is a very old Traveler who has helped many Travelers.”
“John and Lis have a bromance,” Mahya said teasingly.
Sonak’s eyes widened even further, and his mouth dropped in shock. “Is he your lover? I didn’t know Lis was interested in males.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “He is not. Bromance means very close friends, not lovers.”
“And he gave you books?” Sonak’s voice was filled with awe.
“He gave him his entire library,” Mahya remarked, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
Sonak looked like he was about to faint, his face paling. “How did you earn such an honor?”
“He and John are very close friends,” Mahya explained.
I turned to Mahya, a hint of a smile on my lips. “You’re his friend too, not just me.”
“He tolerates me; he loves you,” Mahya replied with a playful nudge.
“Not true. He thinks of you as an annoying little sister,” I said.
Mahya rolled her eyes. “How do you know?”
I gave her a knowing look. “Right,” she said, sighing. “Stupid question.”
Sonak looked at the two of us, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, but said nothing. I thought he might be speechless.
I returned to the books, my focus sharpening. The next book was another book of Runes for Magitech. I handed it to Mahya and checked the next one. My eyes lit up as I read. “I think I found what we’re looking for,” I said, excited. “It says here that these are general runes for everyday use. Sounds promising.”
I paid the skill point for the language but had to wait a few hours before learning the first five runes.
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In the meantime, I brought up another topic that was bothering me. “Regarding the paintball bullets,” I began, glancing around the room to gauge everyone’s attention. “I think sitting for hours, emptying the bullets and then refilling them, would be a nightmare. Does anyone have an idea how to do it faster?”
Sonak looked up, his expression puzzled. “What do you mean?”
I took out a paintball and held it up, my fingers absently tracing its surface. “We plan to empty the paint, cast clean on the bullet, and fill it with the potion we discussed. We have 500,000 bullets. Although I don’t think we will need the entire amount for this task, two or three thousand bullets is the minimum. Emptying and filling them individually will be an arduous and boring task.” I sighed, my shoulders slumping slightly as I looked around the group. “We need a more efficient way to do this, or we’ll be here forever.”
“We can use our storage to do that,” Sonak suggested.
“What do you mean?” I asked, intrigued by his proposal.
Mahya snapped her fingers, her face lighting up with sudden realization. “How come I didn’t think of that? Of course! We’ll remove only the paint into a bucket or something, leave the empty balls in storage, and then clean them. Likewise, we can also fill them with a potion!” She seemed very enthusiastic, nodding vigorously as she explained her idea.
We all got out buckets or pots; I gave Sonak and Al a bag of paintballs. Putting a separate bag in my storage, I concentrated and instructed only the paint to go into the bucket, not the containers.
It worked!
The bucket contained a few intact balls floating, but most of it was filled only with paint. I took out the empty bag and checked it - most of the balls were empty, with a few still left with paint. I felt a tremendous relief. The thought of emptying, cleaning, refilling, and mending thousands of bullets bothered me in the back of my mind for days. I was also proud that everybody had the same results as me, with some balls floating in the bucket and some balls still with paint in the bag—I wasn’t hopeless.
We fished out the full balls, dumped the paint in the sink, cast clean on the empties—I handled Mahya’s empties—and moved on to the next bag.
Based on our results, since not all the balls emptied ideally, Al suggested waiting to fill the balls until we had protection from the potion, and we all agreed. None of us wanted to fall asleep suddenly.
In the afternoon, I studied the first five runes from the book and suspected that it might not be perfect for our needs, after all. When the introduction said these runes were for everyday use, it meant they were for mundane everyday use.
This language had no Foundational Runes, and of the first five runes I learned, the first one was to strengthen clay cups and plates so they wouldn’t break easily, the second was for silver cutlery so it wouldn’t tarnish, the third was for engraving on pots, and then when mana is channeled into the rune, it keeps the food in the pot hot, etc. Just in case, I learned another five in the evening, but again, they were too mundane.
I sighed in resignation and went back to checking books. The next one was for water treatment runes and anything else you could do with liquids. I put it aside as a maybe since potions were liquid, but I didn’t have high hopes. The intro stressed that the runes were for cleaning and refining liquids, not protection. I gave the book to Mahya and hinted that she might want to figure out the water treatment system in the house and copy it for the boat. She stuck her tongue out at me but took the book.
The next book of runes was for communication and assessment. Intrigued by the subject, I set it aside for future study, but my attention was elsewhere. Runes for Weapons and Armor Enhancement was the title of the next book. To extend an olive branch to Sonak, I copied the book for him. I remembered he said he was a blacksmith. The next was also for rituals, one more for formation, another for complex systems, and two more collections of runes for general use. The general runes were more advanced than the mundane ones, but not by much. Well, the runes were a bust.
I thought about moving on to the books that weren’t rune books, but on specific topics, with runes as part of the topic. But just the thought of learning over four hundred languages made me feel so hopeless that I immediately gave up on the idea. The runes had already taken three days, almost all my mana and ten ability points. The gang was having fun in Vegas, and I was learning and regenerating. Not fun at all.
I moved on to the Magic Script books; they were more promising. The problem with a Magic Script was that it wasn’t in a particular theme or subject. These Magic Script symbols came from different worlds, and as a result, they were very diverse, but they were all general. The books contained long lists of signs, symbols, and shapes you worked with like a jigsaw puzzle to assemble a desired result. After a deep breath, I started reading the first book.
The entire issue of a Magic Script surprised me. With runes, I had to concentrate on learning a rune. After three days of study, I increased my limit to six, but still found the sixth rune complicated. The Magic Script was completely different. I still had to pay fifty mana to learn each symbol, but only needed to look at the symbol for one second to know it. And beyond the understanding I was used to when learning a rune, intuitive knowledge accompanied it, as if I understood the stated meaning of the symbol, but also understood its deeper meaning, its origin.
Also, I started feeling pressure in my head only after learning ten symbols, and it was easier to handle. It wasn’t like a balloon filled with too much water and about to burst, but more of an ‘okay, I need a quick break to process and then continue’ situation.
When I was halfway through the first book, after two days of intense study, I grasped an intuitive understanding of how to work with a Magic Script. It was a revelation beyond the typical proficiency I experienced with runes. It felt as though the script spoke my language, or more accurately, that I spoke its language. I was over the moon when I realized this. I knew I had found my niche and mentally abandoned runes for good. While runes had their charm, the Magic Script was simply extraordinary. I adored its adaptability, the mental challenges it posed, and the creative freedom it offered.
Unlike runes, which were structured, controlled, precise, and regimented, Magic Script epitomizes chaos and unpredictability. Yet, it was also artistic, flowing, versatile, and imbued with a playful sense of fun. Working with Magic Script felt like engaging in an art form, where every stroke and curve had the potential to create something unique and magical.
I was so taken by it I studied as fast as my regeneration allowed. After three books, I got ideas on integrating runes within the circles of Magic Script, thus giving the circles a more organized structure and bringing control into the chaos of the Magic Script. Enthusiastically, I combined the study of the two general books of runes, alternating between them. Three runes, five Magic Script symbols. I completely lost myself in my studies because it was so much fun. I discovered a new language of the world, of mana, which was my language. Then it dawned on me: my new Creativity trait! It had to be. Runes were structure and order, but Magic Script was chaos, expression, free-hand and art.
After a week, Mahya shook my shoulder and asked, “What’s going on? Do you have a solution? It’s been a week, and Sonak is getting nervous.”
Oops! I forgot I had a mission.
“Yeah, let me finish a few things, and then I’ll take care of it.”
I finished with the chain of symbols I was in the middle of studying and moved on to take care of the reason for which I started these studies.
I took out a gas mask and immediately suspected it wouldn’t work. It felt like dead matter, but Magic Script needed living matter that was part of the world. Just to be sure, I did a test. I quickly sketched a minimal magic circle whose purpose was only to test the compatibility of the material. As soon as I etched it on the gas mask, it started warping; parts of it melted, and within three minutes, it looked like an unidentifiable lump of plastic with flakes of melted plastic around it.
As I suspected—incompatible material.
Realizing fabric wouldn’t work, I opted for wood. I thought about asking Mahya to make wooden masks, and I was sure that the wood we got from the dungeon would be perfect, but the thought of wearing a wooden mask on my face didn’t appeal to me. I looked around, and my eyes fell on the Magic Script pages. Those were leather parchment and handled the script perfectly. A leather mask sounded much more pleasant than a wood mask.
An online search led me to the Love Store website—an adult store specializing in fetishes. I looked at the screen for a minute and decided I didn’t care. If they had what I needed, more power to them. Mahya and Al joined me on the shopping trip. As we entered the store, I focused on the task at hand. I needed five black leather masks, and I always liked to have spares, so ten should do it.
As I started browsing through the masks, Mahya approached me with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. “So, what exactly are we shopping for today?” she asked, amused, with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows.
“Ten black leather masks,” I replied, gesturing to the shelf in front of me. I turned back to the masks, inspecting them.
Al, meanwhile, was practically bouncing on his feet with excitement. “I must say, this place is absolutely astonishing,” he exclaimed, a broad grin on his face.
I focused on the masks, picking up several and scrutinizing them. “These should do,” I said, satisfied with my selection.
image [https://i.imgur.com/LWhRf42.png]
A while later, Al emerged from another aisle with a full basket, his face beaming with enthusiasm. “Feast your eyes upon the remarkable collection of items I have found!” he laughed, clearly enjoying himself.
Mahya raised an eyebrow at him, a hint of amusement in her voice. “You sure went all out, didn’t you?”
“Absolutely! This store is incredible!” Al nodded enthusiastically.
I shook my head slightly, a small smile playing on my lips. “Glad you’re having fun, Al,” I said, handing the masks to Mahya. “Let’s pay for these and get out of here.”
Mahya took the masks, her smile widening. “Lead the way.”
At the checkout, the cashier smiled professionally. “Did you find everything you were looking for?”
I nodded, my expression calm and composed. “Yes, thank you.”
Al placed his bags on the counter, still grinning. “Yes, indeed, we did!”
As we paid for our items and left the store, I carried the masks while Al juggled his many bags. Mahya laughed softly at the sight.
Back at the hotel, I took out my engraving pen and got to work. I had five masks to engrave, and the circle was pretty complex.