"Enough!"

Gaulden's voice came out loud, and just as the words were spoken, Erik had to halt his swing. He wasn't as proficient as the man before him, and so his swing continued to carry forward into the ground. This caused the boy to lose balance and tip forward. He was kept from falling fully by a branch of a tree, partially carved into a club and which knocked the wind out of the child.

Then he was on his ass, Gaulden holding the club at his side, striking the pose like any kind of knight facing down an enemy.

"Why'd we stop?"

"Because we've been out here for almost a month boy. We need to make it back home, and get you better teaching from your mother."

Had it really been that long since they had left home? Erik just groaned out, before pushing himself back to his feet. Looking over his ratty clothing, he groaned out again, before putting away his weapon in the now customary spot at his hip, under his belt.

"Breaking down then, got it Gaulden."

"After tonight, we will breakdown. Celenes is almost gone."

To which Gaulden pointed towards the lowering orb in the sky, the star was bright during the day, but indeed the old man was right. Stretching out, Erik found he was sore in so many more places than he cared to explain, and then he was looking at the cook pot which had already been started for the night. Another stew of the metallic boar, though this was a recent kill of the beast.

Erik had learned that they made their way into the forest, but their main stay was inside the mountain, to which they had scaled once and come back down.

Gaulden nodded towards the pot, and moved to it himself, dipping in a bowl of wood, only to pull out a portion for himself. Sipping at the bone broth, he grumbled about spices or something.

"So when do I get to learn more about the guild?"

"When you are ready or whenever you actually read that birthday present of yours. Figured you'd have brought it with you. Lazy."

The last word was said just under the man's breath, and then he was back to bringing in more of the drinkable meal., chewing at the more hearty parts of it. Erik's eye twitched slightly at this, but he inhaled slowly, stopping himself from responding to the man. Coming to sit next to the older man, he pulled his legs up in an indian-style cross, the man handing him a second bowl filled with the night's meal. At least it was filling, and would have him out in a matter of a few minutes with as much as they had been training.

"Once you're done, get your rest and we set out as soon as we're awake."

Nodding at Gaulden, Erik quickly finished his food, so as to find his pack and an easy place to sleep on the hard, stone ground. Within minutes, just as he predicted he was out, only to be greeted with his character sheet. Not even daining to look at the notification icon flashing in his sight.

Name: Erik Usoro Age: 3 Class: Blue Mage Job: Booker Miscellaneous: Guildsman Apprentice (Gold)

He stared at it for a second, before mentally flipping the page.

Spells:

Wing Blade

Metallic Shot

Aether Vision

Passives:

Winter Steel Lion's Perseverance

Winter Steel Lion's Sight

Mana Manipulation

Aether Control

Skills:

One-handed Clubs

Canes Mastery I

Metallic Boar's Charge

Now he was kicking himself for not having looked at the notification. The sigh of the steel lion was old news, ever since he was given the Aether Sight spell it had grayed itself out from his sheet. What caught him off his high horse was the last skill he had. Could he now charge through a rock wall? That's all he could think about it, he'd never been struck by the beast doing this, but had watched one do just that. He'd have to test it out when he got the chance. So he took the moment to see if the notification had anything about it.

"Due to ingesting so much metallic boar meat and bone, you have developed an innate skill of the beast."

"Due to intense training in higher altitudes your stats have been upgraded. Plus one to constitution. Plus one to strength. Plus one to dexterity."

"Due to intense training with GAULDEN your proficency with Canes has increased. It will now feel like the weapon was born with you, it is an extension of your body. Your training is still ongoing, you are not a master yet."

Well that was a nice outburst of information, he gave a mental eyeroll, before flipping the page again to see his actual stats.

Constitution: 7 Strength: 6 Wisdom: 29 Intelligence: 28 Dexterity: 6 Agility: 4 Luck: MAXED

Well at least the trip hadn't been completely sour. He had gained some stat levels out in the wilderness with his father. This was a good test, one he would have eventually tested out on his own, but no longer needed to do. His stats could, and rightly would grow with training and age. Though he wouldn't have known about this, if not for a notification that had popped up while training on their third day in the mountain itself. It had also finally triggered this third page to show itself. Mentally nodding his head, he attempted to flip the page one last time, but only ended up back at the first of his sheets. Then he did a small mental exercise, pushing away the sheets to fall into the black abyss of nothing that was his sleeping world.

----------------------------------------

Home, where the heart is, right? Erik couldn't figure this one out, it seemed his home was just a loud mess, or painful practice sessions, that even his cousins were now getting in on. Almost five years had passed since that first trip in the mountains, and never again had another come about. However, now he stood close to four foot in height, body already developing a clean muscle tone. He was sparring with two of his cousins out in the back yard, all three were dressed not to impress, with torn and bedraggled clothing. First a tonfa, really just a stick with a handle, came at him from the side, while a wooden sword sailed at him from the fore. He thrust out his cane, hoping to at least catch one of the attacks from this, he unfortunately, did not. The hit from the taller of the two boys came across his stomach, just under his ribs, while the sword cracked down against his head, bending him further over the first weapon.

Letting out a gasp, trying and failing, to get his lungs to start working again. His eyes were closed as pain welled up within him, letting out a retort as the two let him drop to the ground, for what was likely the tenth time that morning.

"You paddlecocked assholes."

Erik spat the words out at both of them, to which they both stared at him. Then both busted out in full belly laughs, turning away and heading back to the opposite side of the yard.

"We told you Erik. You're still too slow to handle us both. Take on the guild's agility course some time."

Jaq was the one who spoke. The one that had wielded a single tonga that match, having handicapped himself by not using both his weapons. As both cousins turned to face him once again they crossed their arms over their chests. Only for both to get popped on the back of the head by an aged woman, walking by. She just continued on walking while the two of them stared, dumbfounded.

"Yalereth you old bag, why aren't you rotting in the ground yet!?"

This time it was Salz, as he continued to rub at the back of his head where he was certain he would have a knot forming. The old woman merely turned her head to snort at the boy.

"Boy you'll be rolling around in your grave before I've even got a foot in mine!"

Then she cackled, continuing back towards the front of the house. Then the two boys looked back to Erik, the grin on his face quickly disappearing as he began to whistle a nonesensical tune, that did not go quite right.

"Fine, I guess that's a break. Go talk to your mom, she had something for you to do or some such. . . Old bag, needs to leave us alone."

Jaq was still complaining about the pain at the back of his head, and somehow Yalereth overheard, speaking loud enough for all three to hear.

"Jaq I'll do it again, you don't watch your mouth around me. It's Elder Yalereth or Grandmother Yalereth. Next time I'll leave a more permanent imprint of that on you."

This got all three to stiffen like boards, a visible shiver running across the lot, before they all nodded to one another, and in unison spoke.

"Yes Grandmother Yalereth. Please forgive us."

This got a loud snort from the old woman, but she made no more noise towards them. This was a good sign, and soon enough, both Jaq and Salz were motioning for Erik to head back inside. Bowing slowly to his cousins, he was awarded with a smack over the head from both of them, which he quickly grabbed at the back of his head.

"Oww. . . "

"Just go short stack."

Grumbling and still rubbing at the back of his head, he gave a rude gesture with his free hand at the two. This got a snort of laughter, before the two were facing off against one another. Leaving them be, Erik continued to make his way towards the front of the large building, the door already open, letting in a slow, gentle breeze. Looking about, he grinned a bit to himself, getting lost in memories of this area, this home, everything about it. His old life now seeming like nothing more than a dream from some long, forgotten time before.

"Linda! I was told to come see you!?"

Erik yelled out, only to walk into the home, Gaulden looking over at him from an unrolled scroll on the front desk, a brow lifting in question of the boy's yelling. Then he was looking back down at the scroll, looking through the contents therein, Erik just shrugged his shoulders at the man's antics. Then began wandering through the now not-so-large house, looking for his mother. He found the woman in the kitchen, and he stood there, curling his arms over his chest waiting for her to turn around.

It wasn't a long wait, as she was drying her hands from the sink and the dishes from the breakfast dishes.

"You're birthday is coming up, have you thought of what profession you'd like to join?"

Dumb-founded, his arms dropped, as he stared at the woman. His face a blank mask for a moment, before he shook his head, getting his beating back. Answering after a moment of getting his thoughts together as well.

"Long-range adventurer. Or a crafter. . . Though I'd still like to see more than Ashka village."

"Then you'll be going to the academy I take it?"

"Assuming Leviathan takes me, yeah, I'll be headed there."

Linda sucked at her teeth, shaking her head at the boy who stood in the doorway, just above the center of the door's height. Tossing the small, multicolored cloth over her shoulder she moved over to kneel in front of him.

"It's means you'll be leaving Ashka, you'll be headed to Glitter. Nearly a month away."

Then she lifted a hand to brush some of the dirt from his face, a grin coming to the older woman's lips. Only to continue speak to him, face-to-face like this.

"You have more than enough qualification to make it there, though you may need to go see Clothier Johan. At least for a single set of clothing, or do a job for the guild for some money."

"But. . . mission pention from Gaulden's original order of training me?"

Linda only grinned more at the boy, before standing up. Touseling his hair and moving past him, and out of the kitchen.

"Go to town and pick up an order."

Erik could only watch his mother go by, his arms and hands coming up in an emotion as if to ask her 'what?'. Then he let his arms drop, heading towards the baths, grumbling under his breath the entire way. Tossing his clothing to the ground, not even attempting to get it into the hamper, he slid into the cool water.

Where he had been exhausted from his morning exercise, he was pushed to being wide awake the moment the water crashed over his entire form.

"Gods below! Did you put ice in it this time!?"

He screamed out as he came to the surface for a sharp breath of air. No one answered his angered exclamation, and so he was quick to clean himself of sweat, dirt, dust and grime. He was shivering when he got out, not even flicking off the excess water, instead letting it trail down his body for a moment. Grabbing a towel to the side of the room, he dried off, before sneezing.

"Damned cold water."

He hadn't even noticed, but his speech patterns had begun to turn since he had been raised in this world. Then again, there were a lot of things he had stopped noticing, including the fact he was now almost eight years old. That his muscles were toned, and he was nearing a point where his muscles were beginning to define and poke out from his skin.

Walking out of the bathroom, he still had the towel wrapped about himself and was heading up the stairs, only to be called after by his father.

"Erik, when you go into town, go for a hunting mission. I saw one yesterday that was fairly low level, you should be fine."

Great words of advice dad. "Go out and kill things and make some money!" How is this normal?

His thoughts ran wild, and then he was back up the stairs and to the long, shared room. No one was up here, but that was fine, especially considering he was about to get dressed for the second time today. Pulling on hempen-spun pants and a cotton-like shirt, he moved to the metal slab upon the wall, looking himself over and then nodded. He'd been looking at this for the last nearly eight years, and was content with it now. He was especially content now that he wasn't a falling, waddling mess of a toddler.

Leaning under his bed, he pulled out the rope and wooden sandals, and then pulled them onto his feet. Kicking the toes towards the ground, he fit them fully onto his feet, before rushing out the door and to the bottom floor. He jumped all twelve of the stairs, and landed with a jarring hit, his entire body taking on the pain of his landing. He hadn't thought about that part. He wasn't quick to recover, and soon became a waddling mess once again, moving towards the front door where he grabbed a metal capped cane. Twisting it towards himself, the wyrm head upon the weapon almost seemed to turn and admire him.

Then that feeling was gone, and Erik settled the Wyrm-Head staff into his belt, beginning to head out of the house, making his way down the gravel pathway towards the main center of the village. With his arms over his head, and spinning slowly, looking over the bows of the trees that had begun to stretch over and becoming arches along the path.

"Someone's had to have cultivated these like this. . or Gaulden is just a really good landscaper."

He kept his footing fairly well, if you considered how he used to walk about, flopping and waddling from side to side. Now his strides were calculated and he could do more than just focusing on it.

He made decent time to the village center, taking no more than half an hour to do so, compared to his old times of upwards of an hour without pushing himself. As he made his way through the actual cobbled streets, he waved at a few of the traders and merchants in town. Some he knew, others, ehhhh, not so much. Though that was solely due to the fact that most were actually not from Ashka, though he did know one that wasn't, very well.

"Old lady Anri!"

Erik called out, cupping his hands around his mouth to cause his voice to boom out further. He smirked, as his arms came down, and an older woman popped her head out from a shop. A happy smile on her face, quickly disappearing into a frown.

"Oh by the saints above. . What Erik?"

"Someone's already grouchy I see. . . "

He almost said this in a babies tone, crossing his arms and pouting up at the woman. Only to burst out into a large smile and soft laughter and running over to her. He came to a skidding stop in front of the oldest shop in the town, one that only opened up every few months or so.

"Did you find the book?"

A hopeful look on Erik's face lay before the woman, who continued to look at him, as if he were just an annoyance, then she sighed. Going into the door, beckoning the boy inside. She was gone into the interior, searching through the bag at the back of the shop for what he was looking for.

"Yeah I found it kid. Sixteen coppers, you got the coin yet?"

"Eh. . . heh. About that Anri. . ."

"OUT!"

She had stopped in her stooped position, and pointed to the door of the establishment.

"Anri! C'mon, you know I'll get you the coin! I did last time didn't I?"

"After seven months you little shit. Go, now. Come back when you have the copper."

Sulking, Erik scuffed the ground with a slight kick. Then he made his way out of the building, only to pop his head back through the threshold.

"Don't leave! I'll be back!"

Erik hadn't even noticed that the store was just being restocked, or the book that sailed through the air and smacked him on the forehead. The spine of the item making loud cracking noises, and leaving a large bump on his head. He hissed and began rubbing quickly at the spot that had just been hit, waddling out of the business.

"Cranky bitch. . . "

His hand remained at his forehead, as he walked further into the town, making his way towards the guild. Then a second book hit him in the back of the head, the same as the first.

"Gah, fuckin-. . "

He cut himself short in his curses, as he almost tripped forward and onto his face. Now he was rubbing both spots of his head, not tempting fate for a second time. It was a few minutes and the pain still throbbed on his head, but at least it was good enough now not to have to rub at the spots.

Walking up the few steps towards the large building, he was about to open the door, only for it to open on it's own. Or at least it was helped that way by someone heading out. The feint glint of a clear medal upon the man's belt had Erik tilting his head slowly.

"Diamond. . No. . way."

The man looked down at him, lifting a brow slowly, only to notice the golden badge on Erik's belt. A smirk traced the man's lips, before he walked past him.

"Good luck kid. . I hope to see big, big things about you."

"Wha-?"

Was all Erik got out, only for the man to seemingly disappear with naught but a rustle of the wind. Shaking his head to clear it of the sight, he made his way into the loud building. Immediately he was greeted by three people. First came Belle, waving from the receptionists desk, a happy smile on her face and without much care beyond gaining a few coins. The second was one of his crafter aunts, Fran, also waving at him. She was a metal crafter and made things for the farms dotted around the village. Then the final person to greet him, a large man, walking with a cane in one hand. The clacking against the polished floors of marble causing those around to quite down, watching to see what the guildsman head was doing or who he was going to see.

"It's almost time to head to school Erik. What are you here for boy?"

The man's voice boomed, even when he was speaking quietly. How was that even possible? Erik shook slightly, he was certain this man could crush him if he really wanted to. Though he did quickly respond to the question, at least as much as he thought was needed to be said.

"Need coin. . . taking a board job. Gaulden said there was one up where I wouldn't die."

The room went completely still, quiet enough to hear a pin drop to the floor. Then all at once, the entire place busted into laughter, heads shaking, mugs pounding on tables and mead spilling over tankards. Even the old man was giving a full belly laugh at the response, this lasted a good ten minutes, each time a new wave of laughter rising from the patrons as they saw him.

"Nah ye' ain't apprentice. Yer goin' to be takin' on a recptions job."

The old man's full accent came out, slurring certain words and shortening others as he patted the boy's side with his cane and made him move with just pure force towards Belle.Erik almost fell over his own feet, arms flailing about wildly at his sides, then his face grew dark. Gaulden had set him up for this interaction. That old, good-for-nothing bastard had truly and honestly just set him up! Grumbling slowly, he made his own way away from the cane that had pushed him, towards the receptionists counter.

"Hello, Erik, so you're here for coin?"

Erik, blushing, could only nod, not trusting his voice at the moment, trying not to shake in rage.

"There are three jobs you can complete then. As you are still only an apprentice, I can only offer up wood and bronze jobs, and then only ones that Guildsman Head Liam deems acceptable."

Saying this, three scrolls appeared on her counter, she pushed them over, so that Erik could look over them. Peeling away the twine holding the papers in their rolled form, he began to read over the first one.

Guild of Leshan

Papers of Notice

License of Ashka and the realm of Cambria

A request has been put in for house-hold chores within the Village of Ashka. This is a wood ranked mission, the holder of this scroll will have to take on the roll of housekeeper for one - Anri Fellowhold. The pay for this mission will be ten coppers per hour of work done.

Must be able to lift weight exceeding fifty stones, read, write and do simple math.

Time limit on mission: Five Hours.

Rewards: Dependant on time worked, possible bonus

Looking over the scroll, he groaned a bit. Then he held it out to Belle.

"This one. . I know where she's at and I can do it. It'll also be all I need."

A simple laugh resounded from the receptionist, before she took the unrolled sheet from Erik, as well as the two that were still curled tight in their binds. Holding onto the paper, Belle quickly scanned the parchment. Her lips moving one way and then the other, before she set it on the desk before her.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Press your badge to the bottom to claim it as your active quest."

Coming to his tip-toes, Erik pulled his badge free, before placing it where she had motioned towards. The paper was sucked up into the badge and a notification popped across his sight without bidding again.

"New active quest alert. Helping Anri Fellowhold."

"Quest objective: Preform odd jobs for the merchant woman."

Then it was gone with a number coming up under the first he'd ever received.

1/50

0/???

He still hadn't advanced his mana nodes, not in the last nearly five years he'd been training. Though he was well proficient in his spells now, or at least so he though.

After the paper had disappeared from sight, he put his badge back upon his belt, before settling back on his feet. Cupping a hand over his fist, he gave a shallow bow and smiled. Speaking over his hands, as he was already bursting with energy to leave, back towards Anri's shop.

"Thank you, Belle."

Then without even a glance at Liam, he was gone throughout the door.

Liam merely lifted a brow towards Belle, a half-smile upon his lips as he spoke, when Erik was olut of earshot.

"I didn't hand you that one. . Did she send it in personally for that boy?"

Belle gave a mischievous grin, then shrugged her shoulders as she turned around, pretending to be busy with something else.

----------------------------------------

Erik made his way out of the building, not even noticing or hearing what had just happened, and instead was making his way back down the road towards where he had just come from. He wondered though, how was he supposed to get the scroll back out of his badge now. He halted mid-step, looking down at the golden metal circle at his belt. He began, of all things, to poke at it, wondering if there was a release mechanism somewhere.

"Oh come on. . . I can't accept the job if I don't have the stamped paper."

A red blinking notification came up in the corner of his vision, blinking it open the words spilled out across his eyes.

"Alert: Guild Badge features unlocked. Storing, Extracting, Identification."

He stared blankly at it for a moment, then sighed, holding his hand out in front of the badge.

"Extract."

Nothing happened, and his face fell a bit more, eye beginning to twitch in slowly building anger. Then he sighed, gripping the bridge of his nose, he was too young for headaches to start up, but here one was coming on. Grunting, he continued on his way back towards the center of the village, worrying the entire way about how to get the scroll from the item at his waist.

Finding his way through the open streets, he finally made it back to Anri's shop. Looking up at the sign, he grimaced, he hadn't expected to be coming back here today, at least. Walking up the two wooden steps, he opened the door and looked in hesitantly, the reminder of the books still pounding upon his head.

"Old lady. . Anri?"

He moved his head quickly as a third book came at him. Watching it thump against the door frame, he came to look back at the woman behind the counter. She wasn't even looking at him or the area she had thrown the book, how!?

"Here for a job, browse or do you have the coin for that book, boy?"

"A job Anri, posted at the guild."

"I know where you got it, now get over here and begin unpacking."

She hadn't even asked to see the scroll, instead was already using him for all his worth in the tasks she had prepared. Now though, he was getting a good look around the store, it was almost barren, meaning the woman had just returned from another village, or even another continent. That was something he had learned, while this village was a large place, it was only a small part of the planet, which he still hadn't come across the name of. There were fourteen separate continents on the face of the planet, and each almost seemed to be a different biome. He hadn't quite gotten a clear picture of the world yet, so all he really knew about everything, is that it was possible to get to each of the continents by some form of travel, by sea or by air.

As he got behind the counter, he found Anri was leaned over nothing more than just a hand bag.

"Is that a. . sto-"

His words got caught off by a fourth book, flying again at his head. How did she have that kind of aim? He did however, get to dodge this one as well, rolling to his side. This, did not go fully to plan though, as he wound up hitting his head against one of the wall shelves.

"I said unpack, I didn't ask you to spell out for the world what I have."

The woman's eyes were dark as she looked up from what was undoubtedly a storage space. Then she went back to looking inside of the bag, pulling out things that should not have been able to fit at all within the confines. Swords, staves, maces and other clubs, books and strange glowing crystals all began to come out of the bag. As Erik watched, he was mesmerized by this, completely paralyzed from the sight he was beholden to at this moment.

"Get to work lazy bones! Start putting things into the windows and the shelves!"

His hesitation was instantly smashed by the shrill shriek of the woman, and Erik was scrambling to get ahold of all the wares that the old woman was attempting to pedal in the streets. Looking over each of the items, he was smiling to himself, each piece was nice, though he was finding his mind pulled by the runes and glyphs across the weapons. What he wasn't expecting was the popup notification after examining all of the different weapons, books and miscellaneous items.

"Skill increased! You have learned the skill: Item Identification and Lesser Appraisal."

Well, that was nice of the governing system, to give him something so useful. . . So fucking late. He would have loved to have had that when he was three. Grumbling under his breath at the notification, he began to get into a rythm, putting something onto a shelf, a wall mount, an item display. Each time looking at the item and getting a small identification window in his eyes. It was unlike his popups as they just appeared while looking at the items. They didn't hinder his vision, as the screen was transparent enough to just be able to see through. He wondered if he could religate these popups into the back of his mind instead of his vision.

Making his way too-and-fro from displays to bag, he continued to empty the voluminous bag, which never seemed to grow any smaller or larger as items moved out of the opening. He had yet to actually grab a hold of the bag, so his skill hadn't activated upon it, though he would soon get that chance. He had now been going at it for about three hours total when he had to stop, stretching out his back and wiping away some sweat from his brow before he began to look over the store. His eyes looked over all the display stands having been fully stocked up now and grinned to himself.

"Looks like it always does when I come by. Stocked to the top with over-priced items but such a wonderful place to window shop."

He almost whispered this, his eyes landing on Anri, then they popped wide as she threw a broom at him. Ducking, he felt himself slip, before falling face first into the dirty ground. A slow resounding groan rolled out, muffled by the floor, before he heard the woman speak up.

"Quit oggling the wares boy. The floor is dirty from all your back and forth, now get to sweepin' you still got a few more hours in you!"

Grumbling, he started to rub at the mark that was forming on his forehead, then grabbed up the broom in an angry snatch. Rolling his eyes slowly, he began to do as the woman asked.

"Ain't no adventure I never done heard of. Farting around and sweepin up floors."

His tangent just continued on as he moved about the store. It wasn't quite open yet for the day, one of the things the woman prided herself in was her store's cleanliness.

It took Erik a whole two hours to bring the store to spotless perfection, or at least what he could get out of the place being so close to a cobbled road could be. However, he was now done with the mission, as a flashing alert spread over his eyes.

"Mission accomplished. 153/153 objectives fufilled. Please see Anri Fellowhood to receive compensation and payment."

Staring at the words for a second, he sighed, leaning on the shaft of the broom. It was finally over, the torture that was Anri Fellowhood. Slowly he began to walk towards the full-back of the shop, setting the broom up and going to look for the old woman. What he found was a maniacal witch brewing a pot in the back, full floppy-hat and giant wooden spoon and everything. Erik just stood there, crossing his arms slowly, before clearing his throat.

"Oh good, you're finished then? Grab a seat then, makin' some lunch!"

To which she began to cackle slowly, turning her head over her shoulder. Yup, definitely a wicked witch. That is to say, Erik was still going to listen to the woman, and thus was walking towards the small employee dining area for just such ocassions. Though it was called lunch they were well passed the normal time to be eating lunch, it'd be about an hour before supper was going to be prepared. The sun had peaked and was now starting it's descent through the skies.

He sat at the table, kicking his legs slowly back and forth, waiting for Anri to come in from the cook pot she was working with. Even though Erik had made the connection of her being a witch, he couldn't complain about the wonderful smell that came from where she was cooking. It was another few minutes, before Anri came through the door and set down a bowl of bubbling stew. Literally it bubbled up and attempted to splash Erik once it was set upon the table, which he quickly leaned back from, so as not to get singed by the heat.

"What. . . is it?"

"Well, I think there are some weeds in there, a couple of mushrooms, a split in-half mana pill, the shavings of multiple weapons, some sage and one flank of man steak."

Anri said this completely straight-faced looking at Erik, as if these were really the whole ingredients list that she had actually used. He gave her a blank stare right back, then looked at the stew, then back at her, a brow lifting slightly.

"Metal boar and thyme, the pill part was true."

She harumphed at him, crossing her arms at the child, only to take a seat across from him. She had a bowl in front of her as well, and slowly began to drink at the thick contents therein. Her eyes closing as she savored the flavors, Erik slowly following her lead and began drinking down his own stew, only pausing to chew at the meat that poured into his mouth.

"Thoughts boy?"

Erik simply kept chewing and drinking the stew, it was almost like an uncontrollable urge to do so. She hadn't been lying about the pill that was split in half within it. Though he surmised that it hadn't been split in the entirety of the stew, but his bowl in particular. It was gone in an instant and Erik was holding out his bowl to Anri. His face was flat, no smile, no frown only determination.

"More."

That was his only thought on the stew as he stared at the woman, who looked around one side of her own tipped bowl. Slurping loudly, she held out with her other hand a small half cylinder. It was completely transparent and only left a vague hint where it was with the distortion of her hand where it sat. A slow, greedy smile lifted the corners of Erik's lips, before Anri curled her fingers around the pill, lifting it up between two, then flicked it at the boy's head, again! Another item aimed directly at him, though this one had been aimed perfectly and slipped through the boy's lips and almost instantly down his throat.

"Start circulating your mana through your body, from your first mana node to the next and then the next."

----------------------------------------

"You're really not gonna tell me are ye' Belle?"

"Whatever do you mean guildsman head?"

"You know damn well what I mean! What the hell does that woman want with Erik!?"

He had slammed a fist onto the counter and his cane into the ground. Both ideas were, well they were really bad. The marble flooring cracked outwards from the impact and the counter that had been perfectly clean began to splinter in a circle around his fist.

"Liam, please, we have to replace the things you break when you aren't watching your strength. As for what High Witch Anri wants with Erik. . . I honestly couldn't tell you. Perhaps we will fi-"

An explosion could be heard from down the way from the Guild, many people screaming as they ran out to see what the reason of the commotion was.

----------------------------------------

Notifications appeared in Erik's vision, completely taking away his sight from the world around him, having to do exactly as Anri said.

"You have ingested a Mana Purification and Expansion tablet full. Your mana has been replinished."

"Your body possesses more mana than you can rightfully store or use, processing commenced."

"You have unlocked: Mana Node, Mana Node, Mana Node, Mana Node, Mana Node, Mana Node. Undergoing mana channel strengthening."

"Stats have increased, congratulations. Stats increased: Wisdom, Intelligence."

"Body modification ongoing: Path of the Mana Gods."

"You are now more intune with your own mana, and the latent mana around you, Aether Vision, Mana Manipulation, Aether Control have all increased in rank. New ranks; Aether Vision Novice, Mana Manipulation Novice, Aether Control Novice. Find a master to continue your growth."

"Due to an increase in your stats, new interface options have become available: Minimize, Religate, Simplify."

Simplify!

His voice sounded in his mind, which caused all of the notifications to colapse to three or four words at most for each one. His breathing was quickening as he could feel his mana nodes bursting open one after another. His mana circulation becoming quicker the longer he did it, sinking him into a semi-state of meditation. Each time a mana node burst fully open, he could feel the ambient mana being sucked into him, purifying and clensing the blue particles that radiated within him. Slowly his mana was going from blue magic to transparent magic, making each bit of his mana attribute-less, and allowing for his spells to grow in power.

Though as soon as his sixth node burst forth, all of the mana that had been circulating in his mana channels rushed out of him. It left him feeling empty, but also caused a loud, almost cannon like sound to resound from the shop. Not to mention the shockwave that rolled out of him, shattering all the windows in not just this shop but at least five others that were around.

The power that flowed back into his body began to slow, though anyone in the area would feel their own mana being sucked out to replace that which had been expelled from his body. His breathing was ragged as he began to open his eyes, they were brimming with a sapphire brilliance, laced with the same colored veins stretching fully to his iris'. As a new notification popped up under the small new numbers.

"Ather Vision: Passive."

6/50

As Eric was looking around he could see the particulates of mana floating about, drifting lazily as if on unseen winds. Then his eyes went wide upon seeing Anri, his head slowly cocking to one side. Why had he never used Aether Vision around the old woman? Maybe because she had never shown any kind of magic. However, looking at her now, he saw nothing but a brilliance of light, it was a kaleidoscope of colors, never just one in any given space.

"Anri. . . what are you?"

"The same thing as you Erik. A monster."

A slow, wicked grin crossed the woman's face, which Erik was surprised that he could make out, but slowly the little specks flying about began to dim and flicker out of his vision, the world returning from the monochrome it had been and taking on it's normal coloration. Though the natural colors of the world did come back to him, small particles could still be seen floating, by him. He had to take a deep breath, trying to calm himself after the ordeal he had just gone through, blinking rapidly a few times just to get the unnatural stars from his vision, now taking the mana as something natural for him to see.

It wasn't but a minute later, when the door to the shop opened with a soft tinkle of a bell. Then the clump, clack, clump of footsteps and a cane.

"By right of the Guild of Leshan, come out here this instant."

The old man Liam's voice boomed through the rather large shop building. Looking to the open door of the dining area, Erik was puzzled as to why that man was here of all people. Not to make note of the fact he could also hear a crowd of people beginning to form like a mob outside of the shop.

"Heh. . Guess I should have taken you to the forest. Give us a second Liam, we'll be out there in a second you old dog."

"What'd you just call me you bog witch!?"

Erik looked at Anri, then the both burst out laughing, settling the now cracked wooden bowls onto the table. Hopping down and out of his chair, Erik found his legs wobbly and unstable for a moment or two. Then he found his bearing, putting strength back into his legs as he began walking out of the door way, then down the short hall and into the main display room. Erik had not thought to find an angry, red-faced Liam standing there, nor all the shattered glass strewn across the floors. Groaning slightly, he grabbed the broom next to the door, not even noticing where all the glass had come from.

"I'll get to cleaning Anri."

Making a shooing motion with her hand, Anri left him to it, while she made her way to Liam, a quizzical look on her face.

"And what can we do for the might Guildsman Head, hmm?"

"What was that explosion woman!?"

Liam had raised his arms up in question with his actual excited questioning of the woman. His one good eye wide, while the other socket seemed to open up wider with the same motion under the patch there. Anri could only shrug, before pointing with her thumb over at Erik, then came back to hold up her pinky finger, and the rest of her other hand.

"Guess I should have only let the little monster have half of a mana pill, diluted by some delectable boar stew."

"Quit fucking with me bog witch. What really happened?"

Their voices had begun to lower bit by bit until they were using angry whispers. All the while, Erik had just been sweeping up the glass into small piles everywhere in the store, once he was finished he blanched. This was going to be a lot of clean up, there were at least ten piles of shattered glass strewn across the floor. Though he did catch his name once or twice in the heated discussion of the adults.

"Anri, is there a barrel out back or something I can stuff this glass in?"

Waving a hand at the boy, she made a quick remark to him.

"No, no. Read the sixth scroll in the bag behind the counter and use what it tells you to."

Shrugging, Erik made his way towards the counter, beginning to rifle through the bag of holding, which he finally found out was the name. Sorting and pushing things aside, he finally found the scroll Anri had pointed out, unfurling it slowly, he read just the title.

Scroll of Crafting

It was as far as he got, before the letters on the page grew bright enough to the point where it nearly blinded him. Though the beam of light shot directly to his forehead, searing into his mind the content that lay within. It taught him all sorts of low leveled crafts, as long as he had the mana and the materials, he could make it. An alert corresponding with it came to the back of his mind, one that normally would have appeared in his vision.

"Congratulations, you have learned the spell: Craft"

Well. . . that's super useful.

Then he moved to the window frames set within the log-esque building. Looking over it before pressing his palm to the empty space where the clear glass had once been. A prompt appeared within his mind, instead of his vision this time.

Would you like to craft: 15 times GLASS WINDOW?

Mentally he pressed an accept button that wasn't even there, but still somehow managed to make it work, and then in a flurry, he felt the wind rush past him. Then he felt his energy waning, and then he dropped to his knees, almost all of his mana drained from his body. As he looked up from his position he could see all the shards of glass rising into the air, before sailing into their original places, quickly fixing up the building's windows, and then settling into place with a dim blue glow to them. This glow didn't last very long, just long enough for all the cracks to seal up, leaving perfect windows.

Grinning to himself at that developement, he closed his eyes, trying to focus on remaining awake. Breathing in slowly, he had a tingle touch his nose, then he had to open his eyes. Looking around, he watched as his sight shifted just slightly, revealing more of the mana that floated in the ambience. As he inhaled, the particles began to pull to him, moving into his mana channels and refilling his mana pool. It was another form of cycling, though this was gathering the mana from outside of himself. He continued to slowly breath, cycling the new mana through his open nodes, and then through the core of his being, where his mana pooled together.

As he did this, he took in attributed mana, only to have his enternal systems dilute, condense and restructure it all into transparent mana. His mana had been mutated through the pill that he took from Anri, and was no longer just Blue magic. It took several minutes of this breathing exercise, taking in the mana and converting it within himself, and soon his core was partially filled. Enough so that he no longer felt drowsy, and could actually stand back up. Dusting himself off, though he didn't need to, considering he was fairly certain the floor was nearly clean enough to eat off of, he looked at the two dumb-founded adults.

"Boy. . . that ain't how that spells supposed to work."

Liam said, still gaping at the boy. Slowly the man looked from him at the newly finished glass around the building, before looking back at Anri.

"Headmistress Anri. . . you're taking him yeah?"

The old woman just looked back and forth between the two of them, then looked at Liam, speaking slowly, as if trying to control her emotions.

"I knew he was a little monster, but that. . That was impossible."

Swallowing slowly, she reorganized her bearing, taking in a breath herself, getting her constitution back under control. Then looking down at Erik, she bent down to get to his level and looked him in the eyes.

"You will be going to school soon, and I assume you'll be wanting to go to an academy yes?"

"I mean. . . if I can, yeah, otherwise I'm stuck with that old bag there."

Erik responded, motioning towards the now red-faced, one-eyed man. Just as Liam was about to raise his cane and point it at the boy, and start hurling insults one after the other, Anri smiled and nodded.

"And a waste that would be. Take me to your residence. I'll close shop early today, and as for your pay for the mission. . . We'll call it a silver even."

Erik's mouth dropped fully open, unable to controll himself. That was double what he needed, and what the pay was for the mission.

"Oh right! And this, the book you had me get for you. An Almanac of the world."

This is where she held out a rather large book, the one that Erik had wanted to get for a few years now, trying to learn more about the world. Reaching out slowly, Erik took the book, before hugging it to his chest and grining maddly. Though before he could go delving into it's pages he was interrupted by Liam.

"Before you go taking the bog witch to your home, you go to the guild and turn in your completed mission scroll boy."

"Eheh. . . about that. How do I get the damned thing out of my badge?"

Both of the adults looked to the child, then began laughing, shaking their heads in delight.

"A monster he may be, but I sometimes wonder about those stats. Call out the item you want, either in your head or out loud. Mission scroll, twenty-two."

Then in his hand he was holding onto a mission scroll, twirling it slowly between his fingers, like someone from Erik's past life might have done with a pen. Then he pressed it right back to his badge where it disappeared. Blinking, Erik watched the whole thing happen within a few seconds, then glowered.

It was really that simple, just Mission Scroll.

And within Erik's own hand his own mission scroll appeared, it even read on it that it had been completed to above satisfactory conditions.

"How did it update?"

"Magical contract, it'll update if all requirements are met and if you do better than expected. Now get to the guild boy, I'll keep the bog witch busy."

A thud came from the two as a booked smacked into the back of Liam's head, Anri showing no sign that she had heard or done anything. Liam on the other hand gripped at the spot he had just been hit and then began letting out a stream of curses even a sailor would be stayed away from. Erik watched this, and was now happy to know he wasn't the only one she would attack like that, and was soon out of the door, his contract completed for Anri.

He now had a few things to think on, even so, a smile rested on his lips. As he looked at his badge, he called the scroll back out, looking over the page before looking at the rewards. It had now properly filled itself out, with two items.

Due to above average service rendered on this mission you are awarded with: 1 times silver coin. 1 times Leshan Almanac.

Then he squinted, blinking a few times at the name of the last item, the book he still held against himself.

"Bullshit. . . I asked for one of the world not just this continent."

He continued his grumbling all the way back towards the guild, kicking loose rocks, and just completely sulking about the minor loss, that was still a win. Moving past his own distaste over the faux reward, he opened the book to begin looking through it. His walking continued as his feet moved on their own volition, leading him closer and closer to the guild building.

Erik was reading through the pages and absorbing the information within the book, until he came to a stop in the shadow of the guild. The darkening light around him snapped him out of his trance like state, and he had to close to the book so that he could open the door to the innards of the building. Moving inside, he noticed a cracked tile and the splintering counter, before looking up to Belle with a smile. Holding up the partially rolled scroll holding his first ever actual taken mission, he set it upon the counter.

"Job's done! So do I owe any kind of tithe or something?"

"Wha-? No?"

Belle wasn't expecting that question and was thoroughly confused by it, her head tilting enough to cause a loose strand of hair to drape in front of her face. However, she regained her mind quickly, looking over the scroll, checking that it was done correctly and smiled down at it, before nodding.

"I see you have the almanac already, so all that's left is just your payment."

Reaching under the counter, she pulled out a single silver coin, setting it on the counter, she slid it to the edge for him to grab. The smile never leaving her face as she pulled her hand back.

"Don't spend it all in one place, do try to save some money."

Why was this still a saying, even in this world? Erik merely grabbed the small piece of polished metal, and began to look it over. An alert coming to the back of his mind as his thoughts began to wander over the piece.

"You have fully completed a mission for the Guild of Leshan. In doing so your guild rank is one step closer to being upgraded. However, due to your current rank and the rank of the mission taken, reductions have been made. One point towards progression has been given."

Then a new counter appeared under the one constant that he'd had since he'd first started his quest as a mage. He was honestly wondering what it had meant by reductions, but quickly pushed it out of his mind to stare at the two sets of points, and then back at the silver coin in his fingers.

6/50

1/40

Then he remembered what he was supposed to be doing, quickly cupping a hand over a fist and bowing swiftly and shallowly towards Belle.

"I must get back to Anri's shop, Guildsman Head Liam is still there and I think he may get into trouble."

"Not the sort of trouble you may be thinking of."

"What was that?"

Then Belle was turned back around towards her rear counter, whistling completely out of tune, pretending she had said nothing or heard anything from Erik. He merely stared at her back, then shrugged and began rushing out of the guild and back down the road. As he ran, he picked up a few of the loose cobbles and some dust making his way back towards Anri's shop.

Making his way faster than before down the streets, his book was forgotten within his free hand, while he held tight to the silver coin. Erik nearly passed the shop, and had to come to a skidding stop, which inevitably snapped the hempen ropes of his sandals. This is when he went tumbling to the side, rolling a few times before bouncing back to his feet, looking around.

"Nothing happened! I'm okay! No one saw that right?"

He was fortunate enough to see that no one had been looking towards or at him, at least until he saw the door of Anri's shop. Two sets of eyes looked at them, though he didn't see the accusation in them, instead it looked as if he'd just caught a couple of dogs doing something wrong. Their faces were flushed, and their outfits were both disheveled, a few buttons on the old man's tunic undone, and Anri's shoes were completely missing from under her short dress. Blinking a few times, it finally registered what Belle had said.

"Oh. . . that's gross. . ."

He had only barely whispered it, and so it didn't make it to the two of them, and once he got his feet under him, Erik made his way back over. Clicking his teeth with his tongue he looked at the broken sandals in the middle of the road.

"Mind. . . if we stop by the cobbler first? I seem to have broken my shoes."

"You idiot boy. . . Just use your new spell, go on do it."

He had wholly forgotten that he'd just learned a new spell. Reaching down he picked up his sandals both, looking them over, then concentrated on them as a small almost blueprint like screen appeared in his vision. At the top it read: Design Maker. On the page itself, a picture of the sandals came up, and then a prompt came up asking if he would like to alter, repair, or desynthisize the footwear.

He wondered why this screen hadn't come up when he made the windows, and then it clicked in his mind. He was changing what was already made, not making something altogether new. Swiping his eye near the alter, he began to change the shape of the wood and hempen ropes. Making it so that the wood could curl and move with his foot and his movements, like one of those wooden snake toys that would wave in the air. Forming it to fit his feet, and then using the hemp to make a latice over where the top of his feet would go. Once he was happy with the design, he hit the accept button, feeling his mana drain just a little, compared to what had happened with the entire shop. Though, at the end, in his hands he held a pair of toe shoes made of wood and hempen mesh.

He grinned stupidly at himself for a few seconds, before slipping on the foot wear, getting his toes into each of the sockets before getting used t othe feeling of the now nearly weightless things. Kicking his toes to the cobbled street, he looked up smiling wide.

"Well, that is one useful spell."

"Did you just. . modify with the create spell?"

"Uhm, yes?"

"Impossible."

Anri shook her head, laughing slightly, a hand to her forehead. Then she looked up to Erik for a second and then turned to face Liam, a scowl crossing her once smiling lips, the man's arm having somehow found it's way around her hip.

"Get you old dog, go back to your guild and do-"

Flipping her hand in a slow spinning circle trying to think of the words she was trying to get out.

"Guild things!"

Then she shoved him slightly, before moving away from his touch and over to Erik, smiling again. Liam on the other hand was dumb struck still from the sight of the shoes that Erik now wore, not to mention having almost been caught in the act of some rather adult situations. Watching the two for a moment longer, Laim cleared his throat, putting his fist to his lips, before speaking up.

"Make sure that bog witch doesn't curse you boy."

This got a rude gesture from Anri, before Liam was thumb-clicking away with his staff pressing to the cobbles each second step. However, Anri kept her eyes fixed on Erik, a wide smile touching her lips as she spoke again.

"Come, let us go to your home, there are things we must discuss. . . Namely about Leviathan Academy."

This felt like a physical blow to Erik, as he found himself falling to the ground, ass hitting hard among the stones as he looked at her.

"Leviathan. . Academy?"

This got a chortle from the woman, as she came to her full height, then she turned from him. Moving into the shop, she was gone no more than a few moments, and then she was back out carrying the overly large hand-bag, while closing the door and locking it. Then she looked at him still on the ground.

"Come along, show me to your home, you little monster."