Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Erick woke up in a startled second.

He was alone. Drool stuck him to the pillow clutched in his hands. Yellow-white lightorbs cast steady light from the upper corners and center ceiling of this pillow/resting room. The sound of rushing water was far away, but audible. His MP and HP were full. Did that wake him?

Erick stood up and cast a [Cleanse] where he had laid, standing himself in the burst of thick air as it went to work. Eleven more of those and he’d reach spell level 3. He brushed his clothes down. He had already [Mend]ed everything of his and of Jane’s, but maybe, if the pay here was good, he could buy some local clothes soon. He was wearing a traveling outfit when they fell to Veird, and he was still wearing that traveling outfit. Jeans, t-shirt, shoes and socks meant for car rides more than hiking through the desert. Jane was in the same boat.

“I wonder what’s happening with her.”

A giant appeared in the doorway.

“AHHh! Oh.” Erick tried to not look like an idiot. “Sorry.”

Al smiled, saying, “Back to work! You have more mana, yes?” Al beckoned Erick to follow.

“Yes.” Erick followed. “Full on mana.” Then he remembered the one [Cleanse] when he woke. “Uh. Mostly full.”

“Concentration?”

“And Mana Shaping.”

“Mana Shaping we can work on later. [Meditation]?”

“No [Meditation]. Not yet.”

Al nodded. “We get you to level five today. Buy the necessary skills. [Meditation] very important. You work on that on your own until you can meditate without afflictions.”

Erick tried to work out what he was saying. Working on [Meditation] on his own? That sounded about right. Makes sense. But Erick didn’t want to Meditate in the sewerhouse until he thought he was safe to do so.

- - - -

Down the staircase they went, past the terrifying underground river, back through small metal door #2. The trip wasn’t as terrifying the second time. That darkness past the metal bars of the cesspool room, though... That was still terrifying.

Erick dumped 12 [Cleanse 2]s and three [Cleanse 3]s into that cesspool, chunking two and three meter holes into the settling sludge, but the pool itself was something like ten meters across and several meters deep. The water was almost as nasty after his cleanings as it was before. Al didn’t seem to mind that Erick couldn’t clean the whole thing. He just made Erick go back to the pillow room and lay back down. This time, Al left Erick with some bread, cheese, and water, then went across the hallway to his well appointed office and shut the door.

The cheese was strong and so good. Erick would have eaten more, but being at 6 mana was exhausting beyond belief. He laid down.

- - - -

He woke up, startled. His HP and MP were full.

Jane snored on the couch next to him. The little food that he had left on the one plate was completely gone, but there were two plates on the table in the center of the room. Did Al give Jane some food, too? That was really nice of him.

Maybe working here was a good idea. It’s not like it was a full time job, since the pools got cleaned and processed every four days. Maybe that’s how long they took to fill up?

Status: Cleanse.

Cleanse 3, instant, short range, 10 mana.

Purge an area equal to the level of the spell in meters of all Toxins, Disease, Filth, and Corruption.

Exp: 50/300

Erick did some quick calculations based on what he knew. Skills only go up to level 10, according to Irogh. So the pool itself was probably exactly ten meter across... Or probably less to account for water depth. That meant a max level [Cleanse] was necessary for this job. He wasn’t sure about how long it would take to get to level 10. Jane would know. He’d ask her later.

Status.

Erick Flatt

Human, age 48

Level 3, Class: None

Exp: 250/300

Class: -/-

Points: 2

HP

80/80

150 per day

MP

160/160

422 per day

Strength

8

+0

[8]

Vitality

15

+0

[15]

Willpower

16

+0

[16]

Focus

20

+0

[20]

422 per day? The heck? Oh. Right.

Concentration 2

Multiply your base MP regen by 2.11

Requirements: 20 Focus

Exp: 56/200

I guess it levels based on what actually regenerates? Every MP past my cap must have been lost.

Hmm. And it didn’t give base experience, either. Maybe skills like this get their own exp based on what they do, but my exp doesn’t go up unless I am spending resources? Yet another thing to ask Jane.

Erick looked at Jane. She was sleeping soundly on her couch, her blanket wrapped around her body. The few trinkets left from the car crash were tucked just under her couch.

A blackscaled monster loomed in the doorway.

“HOLY FU—!”

Jane launched to her feet. She immediately calmed, then glared at Erick.

“Calm down! Stupid humans!” said Blackscale, shaking his head. He was out of his armor, wearing a simple dark tunic and dark pants. “I came to invite you to dinner, not get screamed at. Dad wants to talk to you more.”

“Of course.” Jane composed herself. “We would love to have dinner with you all.”

Blackscale spoke to Erick, “And you should spend some mana on [Cleanse]. We’re done for the day.”

Blackscale waited. Jane turned to Erick, and waited.

Erick shot out 15 [Cleanse]s across the room. There was a level up notification in there somewhere, but he ignored it. The room was clean before, and it was still clean now. When he was done, he turned to Jane. “What’s your training regimen like?” He paused. That wasn’t all English, was it?

And then Jane responded in non-english, but every word was understandable, “I got this here—” She pulled a black stone from her pocket. “It’s a piece of hard stone that I can [Strike] with my finger.” She demonstrated by holding the stone in her hand and tapping it with that same thumb. The air cracked at she ‘struck’ the stone. Then she glowed with the power of a [Rejuvenation]. “Then I heal myself, and [Strike] the stone again. There's a global cooldown of a second between each activation of each ability, but that's fine.” Which she did. “It’s all pretty zen, once you get into it.”

Blackscale smirked. “I remember that stage of growth. A friend cast the healing spells on me for me. I’ve focused on other things.”

Jane walked forward. “But why would you not want the option of healing yourself?”

Blackscale laughed, then started walking toward the stairs leading up. Jane followed.

Erick hurried to catch up. He listened to their discussion from his position in the rear, taking in all the new words. Jane must have talked to a lot of people today. Many more than Erick had.

- - - -

Blackscale opened the door and walked in, saying, “They’re here, Dad.”

“Welcome! Welcome, Erick and Jane!” Al appeared in the doorway, waving them inside. “Come in! Come inside to my home!”

“Thank you for your hospitality.”

Erick and Jane walked in and Al nodded.

Now this place was more Erick’s style, but it was all giant sized. Stone flooring and lots of carpets. Warm wood furniture with canvas cushions. Big picture windows. Half of the upper room was open, containing the kitchen and the living room. The other half was a wall with three doors, one of them open and leading to a bathroom.

“Dinner is later, but for now, we have wine! How long will it be, Savral?”

Blackscale, Savral, Al’s son, said, “An hour. Everything is prepared already.”

“You have a nice home,” Jane said.

Erick said, “A really nice home.”

“I enjoy it here. Thank you.” Al pulled the cap off of a black bottle then poured wine into giant-sized goblets. He handed one each to Jane and Erick, then took his own, leaving Savral to pick up his own glass, which he did. “To your health.”

150 per day

MP

160/160

466 per day

Strength

8

+0

[8]

Vitality

15

+0

[15]

Willpower

16

+0

[16]

Focus

20

+0

[20]

Cleanse 4, instant, short range, 10 mana.

Purge an area equal to the level of the spell in meters of all Toxins, Disease, Filth, and Corruption.

Exp: 220/500

Concentration 4

Multiply your base MP regen by 2.33

Requirements: 20 Focus

Exp: 36/500

I should have bought Concentration when I was at 0% MP or 100% MP. That non-round number is going to bother me, I can already see it happening.

“Very nice. Do you have [Meditation] and Mana Shaping yet?”

“Uh.”

Meditation 1

You are at Rest while Meditating.

Afflicted ailments: Immobile, blind, deaf, ten minutes to begin.

Requirements: 10 Willpower

Purchase [Meditation] for 1 point? Yes/No

Yes.

“Yes.”

Keeping a point or two in reserve was already the plan, in case he needed to buy some sort of defense, like [Force Shrapnel].

Force Shrapnel 1, instant, forward cone, 5 mana

Sharpened forward blast of mana that deals 5 + 1⁄2 WIL physical damage.

Purchase [Force Shrapnel] for 1 point? Yes/No

No. Not yet.

Those numbers were pretty low, but as an AOE spell it was eligible for Aurify.

Which would unlock at Mana Shaping 5.

... Which might take a while depending on how the Mana Shaping gains experience.

Mana Shaping 1

Alter spell AOE in subtle ways, 10 MP + spellcost

Requirements: 10 Willpower

Exp: 0/100

It looks rather expensive.

“We will walk and talk, then.” Al led the way, having already opened the river door earlier. As they descended, Al explained some of the finer points of magic. “Proper Mana Shaping —not just with the skill’s effects— is the start of being a real mage. Everything else you’ve taken, all the spells you have cast, they mean nothing in the shape of true mana mastery.” Al paused, then said, “Ah. Sorry. I forget you are not a youngling.”

“I’m rather new at this, so it’s fine.”

Al nodded, continuing downward. The sounds of the river echoed in the twisting staircase, but Al’s voice stayed above the noise, “The mana costs the Script gives you are approximate costs. [Cleanse] is usually 10 mana, but if you control where the magic happens, it could be more or less expensive. It takes skill, and years of practice to achieve this, so for now, you should be aware of this possibility. Do not try to alter what the skills are enabling you to achieve. Not yet. Just pay the costs and get to a higher level.”

The river room was as loud as ever as they crossed the threshold of the staircase. Below the balcony the torrent of water held the same power as it had yesterday, rushing like a dark frothing snake, traveling faster from left to right than Erick thought he could run.

When they stepped into the left hallway leading to the settling pools, which was a much better name than cesspool, Al resumed talking, “I expect you to spend most of the gold you earn buying some equipment to boost your base stats. Leveling will be easier once you have a Circlet of Willpower, and you have an extra hundred mana to spend.” Al opened up door #1, the leftmost door. He looked inside, then stepped into the room, saying, “They run about ten gold for the cheapest version. Now try using Mana Shaping to [Cleanse] this pool and keep the [Cleanse] focused on the bottom.”

Erick stood near the edge of the dirty, motionless water. He knew how deep the pool was, so he focused on a point out of sight, then thought [Cleanse]. A huge hole of pure water opened up in a perfect sphere, only to be swallowed by muck sliding into the freed space.

“You need to link your Mana Shaping skill with the [Cleanse].”

Right. He did not do that. Whoops.

Mana Shaping.

Hold that thought, focus on a different part of the pool.

Down and out [Cleanse]!

Below the surface of muck, there was a vacancy. The entire underwater surface layer of brown seemed to fall, clouding the water as it went.

Oh god. This is such a nasty job.

“Vomit into the pool if you have to, ha ha!” Al laughed, saying, “This is why I cannot find good help! It is a nasty job, but someone has to do it.”

Seven Shaped [Cleanse]s later, the pool was emptied of muck, but more yet poured into the settling pool from the inflow. One final unshaped [Cleanse] wiped Erick out.

“Now we go back up and you can rest then work on that [Meditation].”

Erick was all too happy to comply.

- - - -

Sitting in the pillow room, Erick wanted to sleep, but Al would not let him.

They both sat on their own couches.

“[Meditation] is one of the most disorienting skills to work on in the beginning. The blindness and deafness are absolute. Some enjoy the experience. I did not. You may start whenever you wish. For now, I will remain here while you meditate.”

Erick frowned. This was not going to be a pleasant experience.

“Focus on the skill. You should feel something click—”

Everything was darkness. Erick screamed into the swallowing abyss but there was no sound.

Al’s hands gripped his shoulders, shaking him awake. He stopped screaming.

Al sat back down, saying, “That was an uncommonly bad reaction.”

“... Fuck.” He said, “I’m going to try again.”

Al nodded.

Erick focused on [Meditation]—

He slipped into darkness. He held his scream inside, like holding the lid on an overflowing pot. He breathed, but he could not hear himself breathe. He waited there in the center of the abyss, either holding himself still or forced to not move, he couldn’t tell.

The darkness shifted.

Erick started humming to himself, and mumbling the same song he sang to the Darkness before.

He felt another shift in the abyss. Something moved. An eye appeared, then looked away. A feeling of amusement flowed across Erick. And then he felt at Rest. Mana started to flow; his mind started to focus again as exhaustion began to ebb away.

When Erick opened his eyes, Al was still there. Laid back on his own couch, one arm behind him, Al’s giant body pulled the fabric of his outfit tight in all the right ways. He smiled.

“Welcome back. You only sang about half the words of your song, but it was still pleasant.”

“Ah. Sorry. Kinda lost it in the darkness. That wasn’t my song; just a song from my world.”

He sat up, asking, “Did you level in anything?”

“... There’s progress.”