Nate sat across the table from Professor Marnier, his face a calm mask as Kiri explained the contract.
“I don’t understand why it needs to be so restrictive. This is beyond extreme. Fifty levels is an insane penalty for breaching a System Contract. Absolutely insane! I’d be almost a child again, but without the benefit of the Achievements that got me to where I am! It will even strip me of many of my acquired Skills, some of which came through synergies! How can this be worth it to me?” argued Professor Marnier.
The Epic Tier Runecrafter was red in the face as he argued with Kiri.
“Between the remuneration, “ explained Kiri, “coupled with the knowledge freely shared by Nathaniel Weber, you would be positioned to become one of the foremost crafters in all of Etrua. I am confident it would result in you achieving a Legendary evolution when you reach level one hundred and twenty. How much is that worth to you? You only take a loss if you violate the System Contract. Keeping any information you learn to yourself or those approved by myself or Nathaniel should not be that difficult.”
Nate couldn’t decide who he was more interested in paying attention to. Kiri was laying it on thick and apparently her Economics course included the usage of ‘business’ language. He couldn’t say he loved it, but it seemed to be working on the Professor. The man still looked uncomfortable but if Nate was any judge of body language, then he was coming around.
“Explain it again,” asked the Professor.
“You will be given a quota of items to complete each week. For these items, you will be provided the materials, mana and runes required. As part of this, you will be given access to runes and Sigils of a high tier of rarity. You will be given free use of these for any of your own work, on the condition that you follow certain restrictions which we will provide to prevent them from becoming widely known. Whether you wish to continue your work at the University as a Professor is up to you, but we will provide the workspace you will use and you will not be allowed to remove any materials from the room. This includes copying down any of the Sigils or Runes. In return, you will be given free usage of the workspace provided for any of your own work. In addition, Nate will give you one lesson a week on anything you ask for so long as he knows the answers himself. You will also receive a cut of all sales for what you produce. That cut is five percent of the total sale value after the cost of mana and materials has been deducted. I have included a bonus structure for exceptional performance as well.”
Nate glanced at Kiri who flashed a twinkling smile at him. He was starting to wonder if she had spent some of her own Stat Orbs on Intellect.
He sighed, looking back at Professor Marnier, “Look, Professor, I like you. If I am being honest, you seem a bit like me. Curious and fascinated by runecrafting. But I need to protect myself. That’s what this is. I had hoped we could work together, but if it’s too much, or too restrictive, I get it.”
He sensed Kiri give him a thumbs up under the table. He hadn’t meant to effectively play good cop to Kiri’s bad cop but he supposed if it worked, it worked. He didn’t see how this could be anything but good news for the Professor, assuming he agreed. The man would end up being rich, with knowledge and teachings that would see him through to the Legendary tier. He would be the equivalent of a Platinum badge Adventurer, except in crafting.
Nate sensed as the Professor’s body relaxed, or perhaps sagged would have been a better description.
“Fine. I agree. Let's finalise the contract so I can see what I have gotten myself into.”
Kiri handled the System Contract, which Nate was thankful for, before the pair signed the physical contract that mostly detailed, in very loose terms, the work the Professor would be doing.
“Well, that’s done. Suppose I won’t have to deal with the fools in the Enchanting department for much longer. I’ll resign as soon as you have the workspace set up. A week you said? That should be enough time to finish up my work here. Since we’re working together you might as well call me Jacque instead of Professor. Not like I ever really taught you anything,” grumbled Jacque. “Now, can I finally know why you’re so confident about all of this?”
Nate sent mana from his reserve towards his Skills, activating Conceptual Runic Creation, Empowered Runic Artistry and Conceptual Intent. Flooding his creation with mana he created an obfuscation runic array that utilised sigils for mana, soul, sound and light.
There was still a risk, albeit a small one, that someone could penetrate his protections. Maybe with Celestial or Demonic energy he thought. But this was about as protected as he could make himself and he hoped that he would at least be able to sense if someone was spying on them, if not how they were doing so.
With his protections in place, he brought up his Status sheet, revealing his Stats, Classes and Skills.
Stats
Physical
Mental
Magic
Strength
12
Intellect
364
Magic Power
154 (26)
Dexterity
78
Charisma
17 (3)
Magic Control
95
Agility
23 (10)
Creativity
143
Channelling Speed
87
Endurance
78 (3)
Willpower
32
Mana Reserve
195
Constitution
75
Perception
215
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Mana Absorption
80
Classes
Primary Class - Level 20 (40)
Secondary Class - Level 6
Tertiary Class
Wandering Runic Artist (M)
Wandering Realmwalker (L)
…
Skills
Conceptual Insight (M) Lvl 43 - (Excess Mana Absorption Rate increased by 21.5%, +53% Intellect)
Conceptual Material (M) Lvl 36 - (-18% Mana Cost, -50% Time Required)
Farsight of the Runic Artist (M) Lvl 45 - (+98% Perception, +18% Creativity, 22.5m Sphere of Awareness, 450 metre summoning range for 2nd Sphere of Awareness)
Conceptual Intent (M) Lvl 43 - (45 Intents, 22 Imbued Intents, +3 Subconcepts, +43% Intellect)
Conceptual Runic Creation (M) Lvl 42 - (-82% Mana Cost, +15% Creativity, +42% Mana Aspecting)
Empowered Runic Artistry (L) Lvl 38 - (-47% Mana Cost, +103 Magic Power for Runic Arrays)
True Teleportation (M) Lvl 33 - (359 metres teleport range, +18% Magic Control)
Empowered Amplified Magic (L) Lvl 32 - (+46% Magic Stats)
Conceptual Automation (L) Lvl 17 - (-17% Mana Cost, +103% Power, +28% Duration)
Material Shaping (E) Lvl 6 - (-42% Mana Cost)
Spatial Empowerment (E) Lvl 4 - (+9% to Spatial Skills and Spells)
The Stat Orbs Kiri had gotten for him had totalled an additional twenty-four in Constitution and twelve in Endurance. It still meant he was over two hundred Stats short of the Stat Orb cap, but he was committed to getting both Stats to one hundred before he switched to advancing his Creativity.
Of course, none of that mattered to the Professor who stared at the numbers and tiers like he was staring at a dragon. Nate made that comparison based on the flickers of astonishment and fear that seemed to be at war upon the Professor’s face.
“You…you’re…you’re Mythic! What is that Class! It’s not even Runecaster?!?! What in the Nine Hells is a Runic Artist?! And those Skills…how do you have so many Mythic Skills!?! You’re not even at your second evolution…it’s…it’s…it doesn’t make any sense! By the Gods you’re probably more advanced than the Royals!”
All the steam went out of the man and he flopped back into his seat. Maybe someone else wouldn’t have heard what Jacque muttered, but Nate’s Perception was more than high enough to catch his words.
“Did I just sign myself over to a God?”
“Not yet,” replied Nate, a quiet calm coming over him. “And the term is Divine, I think.”
Jacque blanched at being heard before he opened his mouth to ask the obvious question. Nate didn’t let him get there, though.
“We won’t be talking about that. Now, I need you to show me your Status sheet,” explained Nate.
“What? Why?” asked Jacque, confusion writ on his face.
“So I can figure out the best way to teach you and what, if any, Skills we need to acquire for you.”
“Oh, that makes sense.”
Nate spent the next ten minutes going over the man's sheet. Unsurprisingly, their Stat distributions were fairly similar. They were even close in terms of values despite the thirty level gap between them. A few pointed questions revealed that the cause was driven by the man's lack of Stat Orbs and the class tier difference. The revelation that Jacque’s Perfect Embodiment of ‘Curious’ meant that when the man was figuring out answers to questions or discovering new knowledge, his Intellect and Creativity Stats were tripled. The sheer scale of the bonus shocked Nate to his core. He knew that an Embodiment was meant to be a force multiplier, but the sheer scale blew him away.
The final piece of the discussion was reviewing the man’s Skills. He only had two Epic Skills. That might put him above most people, but was a long step below Nate. Runic Intent was the first, while the Skill that had given him access to the Runecaster Epic class was Runic Insight, which sounded a lot like a watered down version of Nate's own Conceptual Insight. The worst part was that the man lacked a material improving Skill. Certainly Nate’s own had started at Legendary, but he was confident there was a way to get a lower tier version with an associated lower tier limitation. The only Skill that Jacque possessed that Nate suspected might manage that transition was Gem Refinement, an Uncommon Skill.
With his plan in place for how to develop the man so Nate could offload some of the material improvement work. They finished up the meeting with Kiri promising the workshop would be ready within the week. It did mean Nate was going to have to slow down on his crafting for Kiri, since he still had to attend classes, devote a little time to Britt, and continue the manerium production. Balancing that with setting up the various protections on the workshop to prevent anyone from breaking into it would take up all his spare time. Well, almost all his spare time. He hadn’t forgotten about his Embodiment development plans and that meant it was time for another visit to the Slums. Somehow, he would fit in meeting with Evindal and Aisling as well. Sleep would just have to take a hit. He sighed as they left the room, already missing his cloud enchanted bed.
*************
Nate smiled as he appeared in the courtyard for the small trading hub. The source of his smile was the presence of Cutter, the old sailor already sitting on the fountain waiting. He couldn’t sense Kiri but he knew she was nearby. Gone were the days when the two would make a game of seeing if she could follow him on his graffiti escapades without him letting her know. After their meeting with Professor Marnier, he had told her he would be heading out tonight to create a new work of art. He had made sure she had plenty of time to inform Luc or Deverell if she needed to.
“Was wondering if ya were coming back, lad. Been a little while,” said Cutter by way of greeting.
“It’s been an…interesting few weeks,” replied Nate carefully.
“Ya sound like ya been doin’ it tough, lad. Don’t let the world get ya down. Harder ta get back up if ya don’t roll wit tha punches. Ya catch my meaning?”
“I do, Cutter.”
“Good lad. What ya got planned for us tonight?” asked the old sailor, leaning forward curiously and watching Nate with his strange eyes.
Nate pointed at one of the shop fronts, “This place sells food right? Grain, fruit, dried meat?”
“That it does.”
“Fresh?”
Cutter laughed at the question, the old man's hoarse voice sounding even rougher than usual, “Mostly, lad. We may not get enough food, down ‘ere in the Slums, but the food we do get…well, we keep it fresh. Rotten food gets destroyed.”
Nate nodded and with a smile pulled out his Brush of a Thousand Paints, getting to work. He had done plenty of artworks of late that focused on people. The risque painting of Britt was just the latest one. The memory made him blush a little, thinking of their time together earlier that evening. He still hadn’t been ready to be completely intimate, but there had been touching. If he hadn’t made plans to head out for some graffiti, it would’ve turned from touching into sleeping together. The thought made him smile, not because it meant he might see if she was free later tonight, well, not just because of that. No, he was smiling because it meant he was getting over the torture he experienced.
A sense of joy filled him and he decided that it would be one of the two runes in this painting. Joy, and of course, Smell. His plan was simple. Amplification of the smells of the food. That was why he had asked about if the food was fresh. If it wasn’t, well, amplifying the smells might not have been a great idea. Making the entire hub smell like rotten fish seemed like a terrible proposition. Enhancing the smell of fresh fruit though, well that sounded positively divine.
The next two hours passed in a blur as he painted a fanciful picture of various foods that he could sense within the store. The foods he painted were floating through the sky on plates made of clouds within the artwork. It was silly. He knew that. But he felt he needed to do something less serious. Everything of late had been incredibly serious. His work on his defences, the plans for scaling up his production of goods, the agreement with the Adventurer’s Guild, the System Contract with Professor Marnier and even Kiri and Luc finding a workshop near the Adventurer’s Guild compound. It was all terribly serious and responsible. He needed an outlet, and his art had always been that for him.
Apparently he wasn’t the only one who felt that way though. Cutter’s amused chuckle cut through the evening air.
“Where do you come up with this stuff?”
“Who knows,” answered Nate carefully.
He took that moment to add the last few touches, stepping back and sending some of his own mana into the painting to power the two runes. The smell of citrus fruits and melons flowed over him, along with a faint meaty whiff of what he suspected might be some kind of jerky and the salty tang of fish. The part of the painting that focused on joy was casually rebuffed by his Soul Barrier, but that was fine, he didn’t need the rune to help him. He was already filled with joy.
“I think, lad, this might be me favourite one so far,” said Cutter, the old man moving over to stand next to him.
Nate just nodded, enjoying the feeling of satisfaction he felt having created something new. After a moment he turned, preparing to leave.
“Not hangin’ roun’ for a bit, lad?” called Cutter.
“Not tonight, old man. I’ve got somewhere to be,” he replied.
His tone must’ve given him away as the old man’s laughter followed him out, “Well lad, don’t keep em waitin’. Women don’t like tha’ none. I’ll tell ya that fer free.”
Nate smiled a little. He supposed he had kept Britt waiting for long enough. Patience should be rewarded after all. With that thought he activated his teleportation Skill and vanished back towards the Royal University and his kind-of-girlfriend.