~ CHAPTER 4 ~

THE MAGIC OF UNDERSTANDING AND CHOICE, PART 2

The quest described her as ancient, but I was surprised. She looked at most middle aged, with a strong, vigorous appearance and hardly a wrinkle in sight. Her misty hair was a sort of olive green, cut short, and her eyes glowed a uniform deep brown. She was also covered as far as I could see from head to toe in strange squiggling black tattoos, and I somehow got the eerie feeling that they moved as I watched them… or they were watching me back.

“Well don’t just stand there, come in then!” The Keeper gave a warm smile and beckoned me forward. I obeyed, and she immediately enveloped me in a tight hug.

“To think after all this time there’d finally be someone to succeed me. I was half expecting you wouldn’t come, girl.” She drew back and eyed me once again.

“I’m here.” I reassured her. “I’m a little confused though. How did you know I was coming here in the first place?”

She chuckled. “Starting with the hard questions already I see. Don’t mind that now, all in good time. Why don’t you sit down? Would you like a cup of tea?”

Something about the way she ignored my question felt strange - deliberate. Like instead of reading from a script, the NPC had made a conscious choice. Even if it might have looked normal on the surface, I realised that this interaction was nothing like anything I’d ever experienced in a game before. Instead of simply giving me a quest and sending me on my way, she fully intended to spend some time getting to know me personally, as a player. Best not to share that thought with mom… like, ever.

It wasn’t a dialogue I could navigate by evaluating pre-written options and listening to the programmed responses, trying to predict the developer’s mindset. Instead, because of the Discovery System, the character would remember everything I said and could very well refer back to it in the future, and I got the distinct impression I would be seeing a lot more of this particular character.

In other words, the relationship I built now might continue impacting my gameplay for a very long time. I’d been thinking all these NPC interactions were just stalling for time before I got into the real game, but now it occurred to me I was already in the real game and just hadn’t realised it.

Of course, with full sensory VR technology, things like tea would taste just as good in the virtual world as they did in the real one, and the setting was certainly pleasant, so there was no loss there. It would be interesting to see what she had to say.

I settled into the chair she indicated and smiled at her. “Thanks, that would be great.”

“Perfect, I’ll be right back.” She beamed, then strode into the next room.

From my relaxed position, I took the moment to appreciate the scene. It was a very small and cozy room with no windows and only the door we’d come in through, which opened inward, but was currently closed. Behind the door, directly opposite me in the corner of the room, was a comfortable looking wooden rocking chair with a small circular side table to its right. Behind and to the right of that was a brick-lined fireplace that was burning merrily, providing the only light source I could see. The wall next to that was slanted slightly, with a wide opening in the middle leading into the other room into which my host had vanished.

Next was the corner where I sat. I craned my neck around to look at the wall behind me, and saw a large quilt hanging there that appeared to serve no purpose other than as decoration. Finally, turning my neck the other way to see the last corner, I saw a large wooden cabinet facing towards the door with various books and other assorted items stacked around it. In the middle sandwiched between my chair and the one the Keeper had presumably been sitting in was a large oval-shaped wicker mat. I wondered if there was any significance to these items, or if they were just the Keeper’s idea of homeliness. I didn’t see any sign of Portlan anywhere. Come to think of it, I couldn’t remember seeing him come in.

The Keeper returned a moment later carrying a tray in one hand, on which she’d stacked a large teapot in a green woolen cozy, two clay mugs, and a collection of sugary looking biscuits. She moved the round side table to beside my chair using her free hand and set the tray down on top of it, then she sat down facing me, leaving both mugs empty where they were. Seeing my puzzled frown, she offered “Let’s give it a minute to steep.”

“Right.” I nodded understanding.

“Now then.” She started. “You wanted to know how I knew about you?”

“Um, I guess, yeah.”

“How much do you know about the Runes?”

“Ehh, basically nothing.” I smiled apologetically.

“Well, we’ve all gotta start somewhere.” She chuckled. “Tell me sweetheart, which Rune were you chosen by?”

I frowned trying to remember. “Mmm… the Creator Flame?”

“Ahha.” The Keeper nodded. “That’s a good one for just starting out. Very versatile. You’ll be looking for some Flame-Seared Ink then, I suppose.”

“If possible.”

“Well, we’ll get to that. First though, lets talk about your Rune.”

I leaned forward and put my hands together on my knees. “Yes, please teach me.”

She snorted, looking at my eager posture, then started explaining. “I guess we’ll start at the very beginning.”

And like that, we settled down to conversation.

‘The very beginning’ apparently went all the way back to the setting’s creation myths. It was a lot to take in, but I was at least vaguely familiar with it all from having read the wiki.

Actually… maybe that wasn’t such a good thing. “… but wait, didn’t you just say the Mist came together to form the first people…”

“That’s right.”

“Wasn’t it the Freechildren’s ancestors who were here first, though?”

“Let me guess, you learned that from a Freechild?”

“…”

I’d read it on the wiki, but I wasn’t sure how she’d react to that. I decided to take the plunge and find out. “Ah, well actually, I read it on the wiki.”

She gave me a blank look, then a flash of inspiration hit. “You mean the Imperial library?”

So that was it. “Mmmm, close enough.”

She grinned. “So could it maaaaybe have been written by a Freechild you think?”

I hung my head. “… Probably.”

She cackled. “I told you!”

It seemed each race, and possibly even each profession, had their own slight variations… or slightly not so slight ones… scrap that. After five minutes of getting my brain tangled in knots, the Keeper was holding her stomach laughing, and I had no idea what was even real anymore.

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At some point she crossed over to fill the mugs with steaming tea, which turned out to be a delicious ginger and mint-like flavour. I continued trying to sort things in my head. “So then you’re saying the Mist came from the Earth God, and the rest of creation formed from that?”

“Now you’re telling me Eladrin mythology! I thought it was the Imperial story you liked! Get it together girl, which one is it?”

“Uhh… I don’t know.” I finally had to admit defeat. “Please tell me.”

She watched me for a moment, letting me get my thoughts back together. “In the beginning, there was only the soul…” she began again.

From the soul of all people, the many wills began to become separate, forming into the forces that now shape the universe. Each force had its own goals, and those goals came into conflict, until one day from the Mist that was nothing, the first people were born who could know each force, and choose. Those people were able to guide the natural forces so that the world could come into being, and from that day it was their duty to watch over the world and its inhabitants, and guide events according to the will of the universe. This was the Mistborn version of events. I had no idea how modern Mistborn fit into that, or even if they did, let alone why the other races apparently disagreed, but I was going to let that slide for now.

As I sipped the last of my tea, the Keeper’s tone started to shift to something a little more serious. “And that brings us to the topic of Runes. Runes are the symbolic incarnation of these universal forces, which we inscribe onto our bodies to guide them in this world. It is the duty and the privilege of the Runemaster to listen to the Runes and channel their power as the first people did.”

There were all sorts of different Runes, and the forces they guided each sounded thoroughly nonsensical, but I gathered that by putting their symbol on my body I would create a sort of signpost to direct the Rune’s power, which I could then activate in various ways using my own Mana. That explained what all the eerie black squiggles on her body were all about. It was basically an alternate or secondary resource system giving me access to a whole range of abilities that weren’t quite spells but were close enough it wouldn’t really matter.

She then went on to explain about the Rune that I had been chosen by, and how it had a somewhat erratic nature that cared deeply about the way in which its symbol was inscribed and used. She described a sort of link between the person and the Runes like the buildup of trust between people, and finally explained how, through that link, she had known about my existence the moment I was chosen.

The way she said it made it sound like she had been expecting me for quite a while, but I knew it couldn’t have been much more than about an hour at this point since I’d logged in and chosen [Magical Martial Artist] as my archetype. An hour in-game time that is, so about twenty minutes back in the real world.

“Now then,” she finally said, “I think that answers your question, now it’s my turn.”

I’d been right about her intentions, and I still got the feeling that this event was far less scripted than it by rights ought to be. By the time half an hour had passed, I wasn’t even convinced she was an NPC at all, despite her strict adherence to the setting. She was more like an in-game doting grandma, and before I knew it I was happily confiding in her about everything she wanted to know.

I already knew from the information I’d read from beta, and what Tate had told me, that the [Runemaster] character class must be exceedingly rare. In fact, I’d read up on the rarest classes in beta and this one had never even been mentioned. The scale of the game was obviously much greater now that it was live, so it was hardly surprising there were things that hadn’t been seen in the public beta, but in effect what it meant was that the Keeper was someone who I would have all to myself. This closeness felt real, like a secret treasure I needed to cherish. I was as hopelessly attached as a new puppy. She could totally tell.

I wanted to keep talking, pouring my heart out to this wonderful NPC, but soon enough the time came for my first quest.

The Keeper had a serious expression. “Listen, River. I’m telling you all this because there’s one lesson that you absolutely need to understand: the Runemaster doesn’t control the Runes, all they do is channel the Runes’ power, and the Runes are the ones who decide if they get to do that. You have to respect the Runes.” She stared me in the eyes to drive this point home. “… or they won’t lend you their power.”

Suddenly she smiled and her tone softened again. “And that is why I can’t just give you Flame-Seared Ink. Part of earning that respect is going out there and putting in the effort to make it yourself in the way that is liked by the Creator Flame. And, uh… believe me: it’ll be noticed if you do it with only half your heart.” She chuckled at that last part.

I nodded understanding, meeting her eyes to let her know her lesson had been received. That was always a challenge for me, but somehow I felt this was really important.

“So,” she started briskly, “The first thing you need is a suitable base. We’ll prepare and transmute it properly once we’ve got everything together, so don’t worry too much about the details. I’ll walk you through everything once you get back.”

“Ok.” I sat up straight, getting myself pumped to head out.

“Right, so. Nicely enough, there’s a resin that should work pretty well that you can find right outside the city. If you leave the main gate and turn to your left, and then walk for about twenty minutes, you’ll eventually come to a big marshy area called Evelyn’s Bog. If you leave the delta you’ve gone too far, but it’ll be pretty hard to miss.” She grinned.

“Once you’re at the bog, you should start finding some old charred logs sticking out here and there from some magical forest fire who knows how long ago. The logs have a fungus growing on them called Yvinauch’s Caress. Hmm, don’t mind the scary name, sweetie, they aren’t deadly.” She saw my skeptical look and reassured me. Yvinauch was some creature from ancient legend who was supposedly super duper evil, I was pretty sure anyway, so the name was already a bit off-putting.

The Keeper resumed her instructions. “Anyway, you’ll recognize them, they’re sort of yellowish purplish, with a wavy black rim, about the size of your hand or a bit bigger. You need to be careful not to disturb them too much, but if you ease them up gently, you can scrape the resin off from their base where they meet the log, and put it into the jar I’m about to give you.”

She made a quick hand gesture, and a message suddenly pinged into my vision.

New Quest!

[The Ancient Keeper of Runic Magic (Part 2)]

Gather a [Jar of Resin] from the fungi growing on the charred logs in [Evelyn’s Bog], and bring it back to the Keeper.

After staring at it for a second, I realised she hadn’t stopped talking. “… let me know, I’ll be right back.” Whatever it was, she didn’t wait for me to answer, as she darted into the other room. I stood up and stretched, and she returned a moment later carrying a pouch and something that looked suspiciously like a small mason jar.

She handed the pouch to me, then pointed at a yellowed line about two thirds of the way up the jar. “Fill it to about here should be plenty.”

I nodded and gave her a determined expression, “Alright! I’ve got this.”

She passed the jar to me and gave me a warm smile, then after I’d slotted the two items into my inventory, she pulled me in for another hug. “If you hurry, there might be some supper waiting for you when you get back.” She commented into my ear.

It was bribery. I loved it.

~ ~ 26/1/1/12:09 ~ ~

Status: [River]

Class: [Novice Mistborn Magical Martial Artist]

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

Health 38/38 ~ Mana 41/41 ~ Stamina 41/41

[Inspired] Equipped Skills (5/8):

[Force Infused Palm]

[Myriad Fists]

[Imbued Defence]

[Unarmed Discipline (Passive)]

[Body Conditioning (Passive)] Statistics:

Defence +8

Resistance +4

Constitution +4

Willpower +4

Endurance +4

Spirit (+2) Equipped Items (2/8):

[New Arrival’s Simple Dress]

[New Arrival’s Simple Shoes] Other Skills:

[Inscribe: Rune of the Creator Flame (0/1)] Other Items:

[Special Edition Founder’s Token]

[Novice Healing Potion]

[Novice Mana Potion]

[Small Glass Jar]

[Small Pouch (Contains Items)] Active Quests:

[Acquire Ancient Flame-Seared Ink]

[The Ancient Keeper of Runic Magic (Part 2)]