~ CHAPTER 14 ~

THE MAGIC OF LEARNING AND BECOMING, PART 2

I was in bliss. By Inscribing the Rune, I had changed my character class, obtained an entirely new resource system, completed three entire quests, and reached a new threshold of Karmic Flow, all at once.

It was my first major achievement in game, the culmination of everything I’d done so far, but on top of that, it was also the start of something new and amazing. Somehow I doubted that (Part 1) or (Part 3) was the end of either quest chain, though why there were two different chains for the same thing I had no idea. That was a little confusing, but… that was the easy part.

Then came the really confusing part.

Karmic Flow was the mechanic the game used to visibly show, basically, whenever someone was due for a big reward. You got it by doing quests, usually, though there were several other ways. Achieving a new threshold was sort of like levelling up in another game: it meant the scale of whatever you wound up getting would be that much bigger, although it wasn’t necessarily a permanent thing. That was fine. Where it got confusing was that you usually had to do a lot of quests. First week was normal. First day? Something was off.

That was one thing. The other was: where in the Wild Continent had [State of Becoming] come from? To the best of my knowledge, no such quest had ever appeared until just now. I hadn’t accepted it, I hadn’t even known I had it.

Which meant…

Um, what did it mean?

That you could complete quests you didn’t even know existed? Come to think of it, that was hardly new game design, or even the first time I’d seen something like it in this game.

If that was the case, I wondered if there were any other quests I’d completed without knowing. Maybe that could also answer how I’d gotten so much Karmic Flow so fast.

I made the hand gesture to open my menu, and spent a little Mana and Stamina to *ploop* open my quest log, then checked the box to display their Karmic Flow rewards.

Completed Quests:

[The Ancient Keeper of Runic Magic (Part 1)] :: Flow +6

[Acquire and Deliver Preserved Amber Vitae Epicantunia] :: Flow +2

[The Ancient Keeper of Runic Magic (Part 2)] + [Optional] :: Flow +18

[Acquire Ancient Flame-Seared Ink] :: Flow +4

[Path of the Runemaster (Part 1)] :: Flow +4

[The Ancient Keeper of Runic Magic (Part 3)] + [Optional] :: Flow +9

[State of Becoming] :: Flow +26

That… well, it certainly did explain some things. Four was a lot of Flow for a single quest, reserved for quests that were particularly hard, long, or important. Every single one of the Keeper’s quests had given at least double that, well, except the first one that was literally just following an NPC for less than ten minutes. Eighteen was absurd, even if I had nearly died in the process. Twenty-six? Now I really wanted to know where it had come from. I touched the quest to bring up more detailed information.

[State of Becoming]

Objective: Commit to your chosen path. - Complete

Estimated Difficulty: [Extraordinary]

Reward: Flow +26

Quest Giver: [River]

Acquired: 26/1/1/14:42

Completed: 26/1/1/18:26

Yeah. Now there were even more questions. And very few answers. The estimated difficulty was extraordinary? The quest giver was myself? That didn’t make any sense.

I was tired of things that didn’t make sense.

I decided to close the window and move on.

The Keeper was standing within reach, but she was watching me with an expression that seemed like she was assessing my reaction. When she saw me look up, she smiled. “How does it feel?”

I looked away, feeling myself start to blush from her intensity. How long had she been watching me? “Um, good” I mumbled. “I…” I started, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say. I decided to just return her smile instead, to which she nodded.

“Good.”

There was a bit of an awkward silence. The Keeper broke it. “Congratulations.”

“I… thanks. I’m definitely going to do my best!”

“Of course. Of that, I don’t have any doubt, sweetie.”

“Um, is it supposed to, uh, sting like that?”

The Keeper snorted. “Keeps you paying attention.”

“Oh.”

“It only stings when it’s drawing Mana from your body, most of the time it’ll just be a little pinch. You’ll get used to it, don’t worry.”

“Good.”

“Do you want to sit down for a bit? You look like you need a rest.”

I nodded, but my mind wasn’t focussed on what she had said. “Sure.” Something was still bothering me. I called up my quest log again, luckily skipping most of the cost since I’d only closed it a moment ago.

[Path of the Runemaster (Part 2)]

Objective: Delve more deeply into the mysteries of the Runes by learning your first Sign.

Estimated Difficulty: [Easy]

Reward: Flow +1

Quest Giver: [River]

Acquired: 26/1/1/18:26

[Drop Quest] [Put Quest on Hold]

There it was. A quest I hadn’t accepted. The quest giver: me. I supposed if I was the quest giver I couldn’t really not accept it, though apparently I could drop it. This time I had seen the new quest notification flicker by, but I’d been too busy with all the other notifications. That wasn’t what was bothering me though.

“Um, can I ask a question?”

The Keeper gave me a look. Dummy.

“What’s a Sign?”

Stolen novel; please report.

Her look went baffled for a second, and then she gave a big nod. “Aah! You’re already so close with the Rune! This is good.”

That wasn’t quite right… or was it?

“The answer will take a bit. Are you sure you don’t want to sit down?”

“Yes. I want to… I want to walk the path of the Runemaster!”

I could see her trying to hold in a grin. “That ship sailed a while ago, dear. But, alright. If you’re so eager to keep going. Here.”

I felt the air in front of me distort, then a strange glowing, crackling symbol seemed to shove space itself aside to hang in midair. For a second it seemed like it was somehow extending itself out from the Keeper, then it separated and shifted into a sort of fiery soap bubble with me inside. It was less that it had moved so much as it had always been there, and everything else had moved to accommodate it. “That is a Sign.”

My jaw might have just gotten dislocated. “I can learn to do that?!?”

The Keeper failed in her quest to keep herself from grinning like a crazy person. “Oh yes. In fact I chose that one specifically because it’s one you can learn right now, if you want. The Sign of Inverse Devouring. It comes quite easily to the Creator Flame.”

I called up my status display and checked what she had cast.

[Runic Sign: Inverse Devouring]

Grade 1 Runic Sign. Prevents all incoming damage up to a maximum of 19. Caster unknown. Estimated duration remaining: 17 seconds.

That was ridiculous. Nineteen damage?! I wondered if I’d gotten some kind of cheat class that was never supposed to have been released to the public. Oh, but seventeen seconds. Something you need to be paying attention to use properly. Essy would probably be green with jealousy regardless. Greener.

I felt something distort again, but now instead of seeing the Rune Sign, I felt it. Warmth flooded through my body and gave me a feeling like I could do anything. The unrestrained raw power of having just drunk six energy drinks, and desperately needing to do nonstop jumping jacks before either my bladder or my liver gave out. Or… well it wasn’t like I could say from experience.

The feeling subsided down to ‘it’s the track meet and you’re totally ready for it’ levels after what was probably only a second, and I glanced at the status effect.

[Runic Sign: Blazing Spirit]

Grade 1 Runic Sign. Increases natural Stamina regeneration by 50%. Caster unknown. Estimated duration remaining: 56 seconds.

It didn’t seem as broken as the first one right away, or as awe inspiring, but after thinking about it for a second I realised that with half again their normal Stamina regeneration, most people would be able to use their Skills practically non-stop for the duration, or they could receive big heals without any of the backlash. It sure would have been really nice to have earlier!

The Keeper didn’t wait for me to contemplate. The third spell hit like vines made out of fire crawling through my veins. It should have hurt, but instead it was more like taking a long hot bath after coming in from the snow, or drinking hot soup when you’re sick.

[Runic Sign: Consuming Regrowth]

Regenerates 1 Health per 3 seconds, but drains 50% additional Stamina to do so. Caster unknown. Estimated duration remaining: 47 seconds.

Big effects, but big drawbacks. That seemed to be the way these worked. That worked out to, what? Fifteen health over just under a minute? A bit more? So half again as good as a potion, at least, and usable as many times as I wanted, but I’d have to be basically out of combat for the duration. Maybe not quite that bad.

As pure healing spells went, it was pretty decent, but not amazing. The advantage would be that it might have a really low cost if it just meant activating a Rune. Possibly almost free. Could you have both Consuming Regrowth and Blazing Spirit on at the same time? It seemed the Keeper’s spells had overwritten each other, so probably not.

I wanted them all. Now.

I turned my eyes up at the Keeper and gave her my best pleading expression. “Can I have them all now? Please? What can I do?”

She peered down at me with a raised eyebrow in response. “You can have one. Now. If you’re ready to work hard learning it.”

Oh. That was… only one? How was I supposed to make that choice?

One the one hand, there was the insane shield with the only drawback being I had to know an attack was coming. Then there was the Stamina boost invincibility mode. Then there was the unlimited healing spell. It was too much! I needed them all!

On the other hand…

If I was going to get into a fight, the healing spell would be great, but it would only help me after the fact. If I won. The Stamina boost would let me use my Skills non-stop… but only until I ran out of Mana, and presumably the Rune would cost Mana to regenerate as well. In the long run, I’d still only be able to use my Skills the same number of times, so I might as well go for the one effect that actually was irreplaceable.

Right.

I gave a big, satisfied nod. “I want to learn the Sign of Inverse Devouring.”

“Alright, lets get started then.”

The Keeper folded her arms and gave me a fierce look.

My story was only just beginning, but it was my story, and I was exactly where I belonged.

…

Um.

But there was something that didn’t belong. Back in my quest log. Oh, there it was: [Acquire and Deliver Preserved Amber Vitae Epicantunia]. What? Yeah, I knew what it was. No, it hadn’t given me any notifications back then. Essy was a player.

Oh look. There was the optional condition I’d (not) completed for the Keeper’s third quest. What had that been again?

[The Ancient Keeper of Runic Magic (Part 3)]

Objective: Follow the Keeper’s guidance to become a new [Runemaster]. - Complete

Optional: Purchase [Mistroot Kebab]s from Melthor’s kebab stand. - Complete

Estimated Difficulty: [Normal]

Reward: Flow +8(+1)

Quest Giver: [The Keeper]

Acquired: 26/1/1/15:07

Completed: 26/1/1/18:26

…

Seriously?

~ END OF PART 1 ~

~ ~ 26/1/1/18:32 ~ ~

Status: [River]

Class: [Novice Mistborn Runemaster]

Location: [Cowl’s Landing - The Keeper’s Sanctuary]

Health 39/39 ~ Mana 40/40 ~ Stamina 41/41 ~ Runes 1/1 Equipped Skills (7/8):

[Force Infused Palm]

[Myriad Fists]

[Imbued Defence]

[Unarmed Discipline (Passive)]

[Body Conditioning (Passive)]

[Elementary Ingredient Preparation (Passive)]

[Inscribe: Rune of the Creator Flame (1/1)]

Statistics:

Defence +8

Resistance +4

Constitution +4

Willpower +4

Endurance +4

Spirit +1

Perception +1

Equipped Items (3/8):

[New Arrival’s Simple Dress]

[New Arrival’s Simple Shoes]

[Valesilver Pin] Other Skills:

Other Items:

[Special Edition Founder’s Token]

[Novice Healing Potion]

[Novice Mana Potion]

[Small Pouch]

[Small Iron Key]

[Sugary Biscuit]x2

Active Quests:

[Path of the Runemaster (Part 2)]

[Cryptic Flows of the Mist (Part 1)]