Tom wanted to smack his head after Issac finished telling his story.
"God dammit," Tom swore. "It's not even day five, and we've already got two crimes that I needed to show up for personally. We're going to need to find [Lawyers], [Law Brothers], [Law Fathers], a freakin [Judge]." Tom groaned. "We're going to need laws and bureaucracy."
"I don't think it's that bad." Duncan tried to placate
Tom rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, unless we handle it poorly, then it's cluster fuck." Tom countered.
"Don't worry," Alex said. "Hanze is an actual Lawyer, so we don't have to worry about this shit too much."
"I'm sorry, are you asking me to codify an entire set of laws … for the guild?" Hanze asked.
"Pretty much," Tom admitted. "Grab the [Priest] class. You're going to want to upgrade yourself to a [Law Brother] and then a [Law Father] that's the class that actually lets you write laws down."
"Um," Hanze went a bit white at the news.
"Yeah, there's just one thing," Duncan said. "He actually made some decent gear," Duncan said.
"Decent for us or decent for a noob?" Tom asked.
Duncan shrugged.
"Decent for a noob. It's very mad, Max, no enchantments, and he only has a rudimentary understanding of runes. But I think he shows promise. He's already got the [Runesmith] class at level 6. Honestly, if he didn't run off on his own, rob the storage room and break into the foundry, I would have just hired him as an assistant." Duncan said.
"As if this wasn't complicated enough," Tom grunted. "I mean, I love that my life is basically a city management game now, but this is starting to get ridiculous."
"Just don't kill the kid, Tom," Duncan said.
Tom looked at his friend, affronted.
"What on earth would make you think I'm going to kill him?" Tom asked. "He's a dumb kid, and from the sound of it, both of the Brown brothers have been pretty useful."
"Uh-huh. You're forgetting we just scooby doo'd Brindly, or maybe we should talk about Dragon Deez Nuts?" Alex shot back.
"Oh right," Tom muttered, a frown across his face as the memory clicked. "I forgot about that asshole."
"How did you forget?! You caught him stealing from the guild, killed him, and then spent the next three months hunting down and killing the guys' in-game characters. He quit the game because of you," Duncan said accusingly.
"He robbed the guild hall. I was completely justified in spawn camping him for a few weeks," Tom protested.
"Three months," Duncan shot back.
"Totally justified now. Now let's go see the armour and decide on Mr. Brown's punishment … nope, I can't use the last name; it feels too weird." Tom said.
Tom said as he stood up and followed Duncan back to the Foundry. At one point, Abaddon had started to ignore them and returned to alchemy. For Abaddon, socializing was being in the same room as someone else.
When they arrived at the foundry, they were greeted by multiple people. Tom and Alex ignored them as their gazes were immediately drawn to the suit of armour on one of the tables.
DING!!!
Runic Spiked Football Armor
Armor Rating: 23
Durability: 154
Rarity: Inferior
Quality: Poor
Damage: 3
Runes:
* Protection Ⅰ - Reduces incoming [Physical] Damage by 10%
Created by the world's first Runesmith, Issac Brown, this armour is a massive leap forward in the Magengineering of Noralon, combining leatherworking, blacksmithing, and Runes in its construction.
More Details▼
Quality of Leatherwork: Inferior
Quality of Metalwork: Inferior
Quality of Sewing: Inferior
Quality of Runes: Inferior
Quality of Crafting: Inferior
Overall Quality: Inferior
More Details▼
Metals Used: Iron, Aluminium
Runes used: Protection Ⅰ
Enchantments Used: None
String used: Leather Strips
Leather Used: Giant Rat Leather
Crafting Materials Used: Car Tires, Plastics
<[Thirst for Knowledge] has Reached Level 18>
In Tom's professional opinion, the armour was a piece of crap. Issac clearly didn't know how to use Runes and had just slapped Protection Ⅰ on everything, and nothing had been enchanted, so it lacked any significant magical effects. It was poorly put together, and Tom wasn't even sure how he would even put the stuff on. Worse, Issac had also failed to add any padding, so chafing would be expected unless someone wore heavy underclothes. And that was just what Tom could figure out from his gamer perspective. He would bet there were issues he wasn't even aware of.
Despite that, it was of [Poor] quality, which meant the system considered it a suit of armour and not a pile of trash to be recycled. So, from that perspective, it was decent. Lots of room for improvement, though. The guy needed to learn about runes, at the very least.
"I give it 1 out of 10," Alex muttered.
"Really? All things considered, I would have given him at least a five." Tom counted.
"It's shit, not to mention the chafing." Alex pointed out.
"He's a noob. It's not like he's ever made armour before."
"Doesn't matter anyway. We're mages. We don't wear armor."
"Is that still the case?" Tom asked, suddenly curious.
"What do you mean?" Alex asked. "Mages wear robes."
"Yeah, that was in-game, but do those rules still apply to us now?" Tom asked. "In-game, we couldn't wear plate armour now …"
Alex froze for a moment.
"We may need to check this out." Alex cursed.
"Still have to deal with this shit first," Tom said as he turned away from the armour.
He looked over at the other people in the room. Issac was sitting on the foundry's obsidian black floor, shaking nervously as his brother stood by his side along with Luke and Sam.
"This is becoming a regular thing." Luke quipped.
"Tell me about it.
"Just don't kill him, Tom," Luke begged.
"Why does everyone think I'm going to kill them?" Tom asked.
"The Easter event." Alex shot back.
"Oh come on, I only killed like … a couple thousand people with that rockslide."
There was an awkward silence before Tom spoke up again.
"So, let’s review what happened. Is everyone up to speed, or do we need a recap?" Tom asked.
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That’s when Hanze cut in.
“My name is Hanze Gruburt. I am the guild's lawyer. Though I suppose in this case I may be acting as the judge."
Hanze cleared his throat before continuing.
"Anyway, the accused, Issac Brown, left the classroom and requisitioned several materials, claiming he was doing it on Mr …" Hanze turned to Duncan.
"Coffeehouse," Duncan supplied his screen name, now his last name.
"Is that your legal last name?" Hanze asked dubiously
"According to my status screen, it is," Duncan said cheekily.
"Alright then, on Mr. Coffeehouse's orders. He then took the materials here and worked on creating the armour set on the table without supervision." Hanze concluded.
"Well, we're not making this more public than it needs to be. We already had one trial," Tom said. "This will be a drumhead trial, understand?"
"What's a drumhead trial?" Luke asked.
Hanze actually answered before Tom did.
"It's a form of military trial. It was performed on or near the battlefield. An officer would flip a drum over to sit on it and declare a trial. Justice was dispensed swiftly and often brutal." Hanze explained.
Tom nodded in conformation with Hanze's description, absently wondering if Hanze liked Star Trek as well or if he was just a legal nerd.
"What would he have been charged with before the system?" Tom asked
"Normally, he could be charged with Theft, Criminal mischief, Trespass, and Breach of trust. Under the standard Canadian law, he could be charged with up to two years in prison." Hanze explained.
"You're forgetting reckless endangerment," Duncan added. "Poorly made runes tend to go bomb, and Issac's already admitted to blowing himself up a couple of times. It was fine this time. But he could have seriously hurt himself, and no one would have known about it until we found his corpse."
Issac stared at the ground between his legs, looking utterly devastated while Tom considered the issue.
"Of course, I'm not entirely sure how all this translates into our current situation," Hanze admitted with a grin and a shrug. "We have no jail to place him in. The Awoken Myths guild has made no rules for this type of thing. I don't believe the organization even legally exists outside of the system, and as far as I know, the standard courts are currently closed."
"There's also the fact that I don't think he was there for the start of my class. I don't think I told him what not to do." Duncan admitted.
"We could banish him," Alex pointed out, playing bad cop. "Let him find his home in one of the other settlements."
"You can't do that." Gareth started to argue. "He didn't hurt anybody."
"He stole from us, lied to multiple people and then wasted materials to make a suit of Inferior rarity armour." Alex pointed out. "Duncan, how many materials did he waste?"
Duncan took over at this point.
"Six giant rat hides, two tires, a couple of plastics," Duncan admitted with a shrug. We can melt the metal back down and recycle the plastics. We might be able to turn the leather into strips, and we could try to grind the tires down to recycle them, but I'm not hopeful."
Tom considered how to deal with Issac. He couldn't be too harsh without knocking heads with Luke's group again. For all his problems with Luke, he was one of the more powerful individuals in Hopkins, and he was only going to get stronger. So he didn't want to alienate him.
He wasn't willing to make this matter public because people would rather consider it a minor offence and not punish Issac, or they would go overboard and punish him too harshly. What he needed to do was punish Issac harshly enough that it would send a quiet message to others without inflicting so much harm that he was seen as a monster or upsetting too many people. That part was especially important as Gareth was fingering his axe. Finally, he came to a decision.
"Alright, Issac, here's what we're going to do. We don't have a system-enforced legal system or any legal system, just another thing for the to-do list, so I'm not even going to pretend that your punishment is going to be anything other than arbitrary because it is arbitrary. I'm going to give you a choice." Tom said.
Issac looked up at him to meet his eyes.
"You can leave Hopkin as Alex suggested. I'll kick you out of the guild, so you'll lose the title, and you can make your way in one of the other settlements. No hard feelings. But you won't be welcome back." Tom said, holding up his metaphorical stick.
Issac's face paled, and that was when Tom held up the metaphorical carrot.
"The second option is that you can work for Duncan as an indentured worker for six months. You'll do what you're told when you're told to do it, and you will like it. After six months, you'll return to being a standard guild member. Your choice."
"That's not fair." Gareth protested.
"Life isn't fair, Gareth. Issac made his bed, and now he has to sleep in it," Tom snapped as he looked directly at Issac, awaiting his response.
"I'll work with Duncan," Issac almost begged. Desperation was clearly in his eyes. "Please don't send me out there again."
Tom wasn't sure what that was about. He turned to Luke.
'Burned to death,' Luke mouthed
Tom winced. Tom's Ego stat wasn't high enough to walk off getting burned to death. For Issac, it must have been much worse on top of his previous death. He could guess that the guy was feeling squishy or maybe even traumatized. He really hoped he didn't have PTSD; they didn't even have a counsellor on board yet. Regardless, Issac seemed more concerned with personal safety than freedom. That felt sad. --
"Alright," Tom said as he activated his [Karmic Contract]. For the next six months, you're going to be working for Duncan as a crafter. You won't hide anything from Duncan, you won't try to steal anything from storage, and you will keep him up to date about your projects for everyone's safety. Duncan, you'll do your best to help Issac improve his skills as time allows. You agree to these terms or suffer banishment."
"Is this necessary?" Gareth growled protectively.
"I could lock him in a room until Hanze and a couple of other [lawyers] get enough levels to hold a trial." Tom offered.
Issac looked over the contract. Duncan didn't read a word; instead, he just tested the magic of the contract. Tom wasn't offended. While the contract would help stop Issac from doing anything stupid, it was primarily there to warn Duncan if he broke it. He made the karmic punishment as light as he could so this wouldn't be crippling.
In the end, Issac and Duncan signed the contract and created the karmic link.
"Well, that's over," Tom said. Hanze, come see me tomorrow. We're going to need to set up a legal system, which means you'll need an upgrade to your class. Not now, though. I need to go and help out our new soldiers."
Tom and Alex got up, leaving Duncan to deal with the fallout. But as they left, Alex tightened her grip on his arm.
"You are going to stay safe, or I am going to blast you with lighting," she warned
Tom gave her a nervous smile. A part of him just wanted to walk upstairs, flop into bed and play video games for the rest of the day. But he had more to do, always more to do.
You may skip to the next chapter.
Name: Tom Bruner
Race: Half-Elf ()
Type: Humanoid
LVL: 20
SubRace: High Elf / Caucasian
Age 18
Health: 1000
Stamina: 1400
Mana: 4000
Health Regen: 14.0 per hour
Stamina Regen: 18.0 per min
Mana Regen: 24.0 per min
Titles: Beta-Tester, First, Awoken Myths, Guild Master
Immune
None
Resistances
Mental 67% Soul 43%
Weakness
None
Bane
Manslayer
Classes: Augur 10, Tactiction 3, Exorcist 7
Total
STR: 40
AGIL: 40
DEX: 40
CON: 80
END: 40
PER: 220
INT: 200
WILL: 180
SPIRIT: 60
EGO: 40
CHA: 140
LCK: 40
Base
STR: 40
AGIL: 40
DEX: 40
CON: 80
END: 40
PER: 220
INT: 200
WILL: 180
SPIRIT: 60
EGO: 40
CHA: 140
LCK: 40
Personal: +4 PER +4 WILL +3 INT +3 CHA
Racial: +3 WILL +2 CON +2 CHA +1 SPIRIT
Bloodline: +5 PER +5 INT
Level Bonus: +2 to all Stats
Bloodline:
[Bloodline of the Keeper of Akashic Records]—Forgotten: Through your vein runs the blood of the forgotten Keepers of the Akashic Records. These monks, scribes, and scholars helped create the system, and within their blood are the keys to its secrets.
* [The Pen is Mightier than the Sword] - Level 32
* [Words Will Always Retain their Power] - Level 26
* [Library of Akashic Records] - Level 21
* [Universal] - Level 20
* [Wordsmith] - Level 27
* [My Mind is My Temple, My Soul the Altar] - Level 43
* [Thirst for Knowledge] - Level 17 >> Level 18
* [Visions of Akashic Records] - Level 11
* [Soul Forge] - Level 30
* +5 PER per level
* +5 INT per level
Skill Slots: 18/60: Skill Points: 1
Personal Skills
* [Analyze Person] - Level 25
* [Best of Both Worlds] - Level 13
* [Art of Water] - Level 15
* [Art of Earth] - Level 15
* [Teacher] - Level 9
* [Misalliance Crafting] - Level 3
Augur 07/16
* [Augurs Eye] - Level 7
* [Bright Arts] - Level 28
* [Art of Life] - Level 25
* [Prophetic Meditation] - Level 44
* [Far Seeing] - Level 17
* Capstone: [Hand of Mercy] - Level 48
* [Quest Giver] - Level 12
Tactician 05/6
* [Nascent Guild Leader] - Level 22
* [Leadership Ⅱ] - Level 24
* [Raider Ⅰ] - Level 20
* [Coordinate Ⅱ] - Level 21
* [Logistics Ⅲ] - Level 19
Exorcist 0511
* [Spell Trap] - Level 4
* [Karmic Contract] - Level 4
* [Shape Paper] - Level 10
* [Paper Armour] - Level 1
* [Paper Wings] - Level 1