Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Erick met his new bodyguard in the morning on the front porch. His third story front porch. Aside from that awkward start, Poi was a very proper bluescale dragonkin, who was thereafter always, at most, 15 feet away from Erick at all times. With a straight back and no-nonsense attitude, Erick immediately tried to get Poi to smile, or joke, or talk, or anything, except stand at the side like a monolith carved out of sapphire, dressed up like a city guard.

Aside from that, his first day after calling it quits as a teacher was very boring. He mostly stayed inside the apartment and read Ulrick Ulrick’s book on Ancient Script for the Beginner Enchanter. There was some aura practice on the roof, but he didn’t want to wear himself out, so he kept it to one iteration.

He definitely did not miss his date with the farms. He showed up for that appointment an hour ahead of schedule. They were more or less ready for him by then, so Valok told him to let loose, and he did. He cast [Call Lightning] three times in a row. By the third casting, the rain was coming down slightly stronger than before. Maybe twice as hard? The rain was still pretty gentle, but now it came down like a proper Summer shower. Valok had planned on 4 or 5 castings, but the revelation of harder rain by cast 3 meant that Erick was done for the day.

On the way back to the Sewerhouse, Erick stopped at the market to buy some produce from several farmers, but when he went to pay, many of them dropped their prices in half. One nice older greyscale even gave him a bag of not-zucchini for free. Erick paid for the bag, though. The bag was nice, tough canvas. He made a point to overpay on that, and the man just smiled.

Taking mental stock of all the items Erick had ever bought in Spur that included canvas bags, maybe he needed to start carrying around two or three in his shoulderbag at all times.

And then he was home! He cooked dinner for himself and Al one night, and then Al cooked dinner the next. And then the process repeated. Personal [Ward] in the morning, study the Ancient Script book, a bit of aura practice, and then a stop at the farm for some afternoon rains. Cap it all off with dinner with Al, who had been doing his own things all day, too. He was still remaking the sewers and setting the Human District to rights.

The Sewerhouse settling pools were still settling, so that job was still at least 15 days away, and probably more like 20. As it was, Erick was involved in a whole lot of nothing except raising his various skills; mostly numerically, in the form of experience.

Jane would have laughed at him and called it a ‘training montage’ if she was here. She was still in the Crystal Desert, though, still hunting crystal mimics and the occasional rock elemental with Savral and his team, constantly on the lookout for crystal slimes. But thanks to Al having [Telepathy], Erick was able to check in with Jane at night and hear all about her days, while Al checked in with Savral. Erick put [Telepathy] on the short list of spells to get, but [Telepathy] was one of the restricted-by-law skills, because it affected the mind. He could buy it, sure, it was right there in the Script for 1 point, but he probably shouldn’t, not right now.

Jane had a bit of a big revelation though. Jane and Erick had apparently encountered a crystal slime on the trek to Spur, all those tendays ago. Erick remembered now; it was that jelly-like thing that had been nestled at the base of a crystal agave. All crystal slimes were over level 50, but they could sense danger for miles around, so finding one before it left the area was the only hard part. If only they had killed it, which was supposed to be really easy, they would have gotten almost 1.8 billion experience split between the two of them.

That’s when the jokes started. Jane and Erick encountering a crystal slime and not knowing the crystal slime for what it was, was a pretty common occurrence. No one hunted for a crystal slime and then actually got one, but everyone knew a precocious neighbor child who told stories of playing with a crystal slime. Or some rookie adventurer, running from a crystal mimic only to fall on a crystal slime, killing it, then immediately buying up to Scion of Strength. Or someone dying of thirst in the Crystal Forest, only to be led to water by a crystal slime.

Erick started a little argument about killing something that was obviously a good monster, but Al and Savral shut that down pretty hard. ‘There are no good monsters, don’t fool yourself.’ Slimes are as neutral of an existence as possible in the monster kingdom, but they’re mindless, and if one of them found you wounded and unable to move off the ground, there was an even chance of it accidentally smothering you as leaving you alone.

Aside from hearing about Jane’s adventures, Erick didn’t experience much of life outside of his apartment and the Farmer’s Market over the next few days. Al had suggested he lay low for a while, but that was already Erick’s plan. Poi seemed to be fine with guarding Erick in Erick’s apartment, but Erick didn’t really know how Poi felt about anything. The man was unnaturally silent.

So, for three days, Erick stayed away from the Mage’s Guild, generally in the apartment, save for trips to the farms. [Call Lightning] gained 1500 experience a day, since Valok wanted him to cast it three times in a row each time. [Ward] leveled, too, since he was putting on a 510 mana personal [Ward] every day, but the experience gained was counted without Clarity, which had leveled to 10. So every 510 point [Ward] gained him 1020 [Ward] experience. [Ward]’s blue box was getting bigger with every level, but it was only level 9.

Meditation leveled to X in all that casting. That skill read much cleaner, now.

Today was the fourth day since he had given his last lecture and then hidden away from most of Mage society. This afternoon he would return to the Mage Guild, but not before he finished up a few other tasks. One of the tasks he had finished yesterday was reading the Ancient Script book from Ulrick Ulrick, and learning the language. He could now comfortably read and write in Ancient Script. With a little bit of conversing with Al, he could even speak the language. Ancient Script sounded very beep-boopy crick-cracky when Erick spoke it. He didn’t like how it sounded, but it flowed so easily into itself that rhyming was rather simple.

Erick thought that maybe that ability to rhyme was why Ancient Script was widespread in enchanting. Al did not believe that for one second, but it was hard to argue with Erick’s creation of a new spell in Ecks.

When Erick tried to read another one of Al’s language books, it might as well have been Mandarin. [Language Acquisition] had run its course. He’d have to learn new languages the hard way, from now on. Or, he could pay Irogh 1000G and get the buff reapplied.

As for his own magic, Erick wasn’t anywhere near rank 10 with anything and thus able to actually make a real aura skill, but he was plodding forward, making progress. Right now, he was up on the roof of the Sewerhouse, preparing to put in more steps toward that goal.

The sun shone down upon Erick and the rest of Spur. Erick sat on a small jut of stone atop the center of the Sewerhouse. There were no obstacles around him; Al had [Stoneshape]d the roof mostly flat, ridding the space of any evidence there was ever a party up here. Poi waited to the side, as usual, well out of Erick’s area of effect.

Erick centered himself, activating Meditation and preparing a chain of mana connecting three of his skills, to twist what was to come into something else.

Aurify.

Altering: Bludgeoning.

[Force Shrapnel].

Orbs of hardened white mana erupted from Erick, like a hundred billiard balls, all going every direction, spaking and cracking against the stone and each other as they swirled around Erick in a mockery of orbital physics. They crashed in and out, but not against him; this was his aura after all. Erick held his mana open wide, feeding the aura. He could not sustain it for long, only 4 minutes without Meditation, and an extra 30 seconds with Meditation. And that was fine, because 4:30 was already near his limit of personal focus; it was hard to maintain all these spell effects at once.

If his Force Shrapnel was level 10, he could create an actual [Force Shrapnel Aura: Bludgeoning], and not have the spell demand his total concentration. But [Force Shrapnel] wasn’t 10. None of his spells were level 10. [Call Lightning] was close, but it was not there. Not yet.

Erick’s mana gave out. The billiard ball aura vanished like so much spent mana.

He relaxed into the sun, leaning backward, breathing. Just, breathing.

And there’s another 1350ish exp for a few more spells...

Status.

As he stared at his status screen, part of him held a deep regret for not recognizing and killing that crystal slime. His experience had grown, for sure, but it hadn’t noticeably grown since the battle with the shadowcats. Erick was going to be 19 for a very, very long time.

Erick Flatt

Human, age 48

Level 19, Class: None

Exp: 265281/676500

Class: -/-

Points: 7

HP

90/90

150 per day

MP

600/600

1050 per day

Strength

9

+0

[9]

Vitality

15

+0

[15]

Willpower

20

+0

[20]

Focus

35

+0

[35]

Favored Spell waiting!

Favored Spell waiting!

Favored Spell waiting!

Spoiler

Concentration X

Multiply your base MP regen by 3

Requirements: 20 Focus

Discipline X

Multiply your base MP by 3

Requirements: 20 Willpower

Clarity X

Reduces spell costs by 50%

Requirements: 10 Focus

Meditation X

Always Resting

Requirements: 10 Willpower

Mana Shaping 5

Alter spell AOE in better, subtle ways, 10 MP + spellcost

Alter spell AOE in better, moderate ways, 30 MP + spellcost

Aurify Unlocked

Requirements: 10 Willpower

Exp: 140/800

Aurify 1

Transform an AOE spell into a semi-permanent effect surrounding yourself, based upon the parameters of the Aurified spell. Increase an instantaneous spell to a 1 second duration in order to create an aura.

Able to support 1 aura at a time.

Exp: 5400/10000

Mana Altering 8

Bludgeoning, Slashing, or Piercing Damage

Force to Light, Blind, Variable Cost

Invisible Force, hard to see, Variable Cost

Force to Thunder, disorient, Variable Cost

Force to Fire, Burn, Variable Cost

Force to Ice, Slow, Variable Cost

Force to Lightning, Paralyze, Variable Cost

Force to Decay, organic damage, Variable Cost x 1.5

Exp: 100/3400

Cleanse 6, instant, short range, 10 MP.

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

Exp: 150/1300

Mend 7, instant, touch, 10 MP

Touch a non-magical uncomplicated large object and restore it to its prime.

Exp: 1510/2100

Ward 9, instant, short range, 24 hours,

Create a Small Ward that can have Minor Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 10 MP + Z

Create a Small Ward that can have Small Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 15 MP + Z

Create a Special Ward. Variable Cost

Create a Medium Ward that can have Small Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 20 MP + Z

Create a Medium Ward that can have Medium Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 25 MP + Z

Personal Ward: Any Ward of any type can be made Personal, to move with you. Original Cost x2

Create a Large Ward that can have Medium Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 30 MP + Z

Create a Large Ward that can have Large Effects, or prevent Z damage from attackers. 35 MP + Z

Create a Ward with another Spell attached to the interior. Spell activation based on Z invested into Ward. 100 MP + Z

Minor Effects: Bug Ward, Temperature Ward, Alarm Ward

Small Effects: Visual Disruption, Audio Disruption, Weather Ward

Medium Effects: Area Hostile Visual Disruption, Area Hostile Audio Disruption

Large Effects: Drain Hostile HP/MP, Gravity Ward

Special Ward: Eschew all other effects in order to shape, color, and illuminate a ward however you wish. Skill level at Mana Manipulation determines final outcome. Variable Cost

Exp: 375/5500

Force Beam 2, instant, medium range, 25 MP

A piercing, slicing beam of hardened mana that deals 25 + 1⁄2 WIL damage for 2 seconds

Exp: 175/200

Force Shrapnel 8, instant, short cone, 5 MP

Sharpened forward blast of mana that deals 20 + WIL damage in a cone

Exp: 205/3400

Blink 3, instant, 25 MP

Instantly move from your location to another within , max range 10m per level of Blink

Exp: 150/300

Call Lightning 8, 1 minute per level, super long range, 500 MP ~{Favored Spell}~

Prepare the sky to strike an area or object of your choice for . If used in an active lightning storm, Call Lightning’s duration is as long as the natural storm. Every lighting bolt called reduces the duration of Call Lightning by 1 minute, or a natural storm by .

Exp: 3200/3400

Stoneshape 1, 1 minute per level, medium range, 10 MP

Slowly move minor amounts of stone and sand around you for 1 minute per level of Stoneshape.

Exp: 0/100

Grow 1, instant, touch or close range, 5 MP

Cultivate a single plant, or induce plant growth in a sphere of diameter equal to spell level in meters.

Exp: 0/100

At least Meditation leveling to X made Resting as easy as flipping a switch in his mind. Now that he knew what to look for in the ambient mana, he popped scrying eyes whenever he saw them, too. The roiling shadows weren’t that scary anymore now that all the eyes were gone.

The shadows were still there, though. Erick had pointed them out to Al one night. Al told him he needed a higher focus, or to not meditate so often.

Erick looked over the new Mana Altering 8.

“Farms are booming. Production is up. Krakina is pissed. But she’ll buy [Call Lightning] as soon as she can, and then you’re out of a job because she has much deeper roots here. The Kali family will have a lean farming season, but that’s about it. The whole farming community here is pretty transient, anyway. They come in with the highwater and go back to the eastern mountains for the rest of the year.” She smiled. “Though, if you can make it rain all year long, we might have a whole new Spur on our hands. Everyone is very excited. And just so you know, if anyone is talking about killing you, they aren’t saying it near any of my information sources.”

Erick chose to not focus on people wanting to murder him. “The Kali family, as in Ikawa Kali? The one in Savral’s team?”

“Yup! That’s Krakina’s granddaughter. She’s set to inherit Krakina’s title of WeatherWitch when she comes of age and can drag a storm across the desert to Spur, all by herself.”

Poi stepped closer to Erick. “Sir, you are about to reach your limit of questions based on the money you brought with you to this encounter.”

Erick turned to look at the man. Then he turned back to Anhelia.

“Oh, Poi. Don’t worry about the full price. Whatever he has on him is fine.” Anhelia said, smiling, “I’ve got another ten minutes to kill. Ask anything you’d like, Erick. And I meant what I said earlier; you won’t offend me unless you stiff me on the bill, so don’t leave any questions off the table. I want you to be satisfied when you leave.”

“Sir, I must warn you that Anhelia sells to anyone. Don’t speak what you don’t want known.”

For the second time since he sat down to talk with Anhelia, he realized the gravity of his situation.

Anhelia sighed at Poi.

Erick said, “Thank you, Poi. I do have some questions I’d like answered, since I’m paying for it anyway.”

Anhelia smiled wide, waiting.

“What do the incani think of Jane and I since all this has happened, from Bulgan, to the shadowcats, to particle magic, to getting those three humans moved into Spur?”

Anhelia nodded. “Broadly, you’re fine. Like I said, no one is plotting murder or anything else against you. You’re too valuable. If anything, people are plotting against each other to allow you to ‘live a quiet life and have your daughter safe’, and then they’re going to race to use what other bombs you drop on magical society. The incani, Zago in particular, are rather repentant for what they tried to do. Except for a few discontents you’re mostly considered ‘not human’, and thus not a target of the Quiet War.

“Bulgan is a Shade in the Ar’Kendrithyst. That was confirmed yesterday. He will try to get to you and Jane, but no one knows what will happen there. Will he leave the walls of Ar’Kendrithyst? Maybe. But when Shades move, you notice. When they move to attack, they can’t hide, even at night. Spur can fight back one or two, and since Bulgan is a new Shade, he likely doesn’t have the clout to force all the Shades against you. You might even have some unexpected allies inside Ar'Kendrithyst, but fair warning: Dealing with shadows will get you on everyone's shitlist, no matter what good you can do.

“Only the most paranoid people think we’re in danger of a Great Purge.

“The humans you invited to Spur are being watched. There have been a few altercations, but nothing major. They’re staying on their side of the line you drew and none of the incani are willing to cross that line either. Now that Bulgan is a confirmed Shade, his transgression has put a heavy damper on local incani patriotism.

“And particle magic is proceeding about as good as I said. That Ice Mage has made two new basic spells so far. There’s the tiny cold AOE he showed everyone and a freezing beam spell he invented yesterday. With the addition of another spell that looks similar to another one of the Force spells, a lot of people are experimenting to find the corollaries to the other Force spells.

“You have time for one more question.”

Erick nodded. It took him a second to think. He asked, “Are dragonkin... Al said that Savral is his son. I don’t want to ask if he’s adopted... But... ”

Anhelia laughed. Poi might have frowned, but he was too professional to keep the frown for too long.

“This is your last question?” Anhelia said, “Well—”

“No. Sorry, that would be rude to Al and Savral both. Instead, what are wrought? Are you [Metalshaping] your body from a central core? Or...?”

She smiled. She said, “There’s a book in the guild library called ‘Sex and the Humanoid’. You should look that up.” She finished the final bite of her iron bar, and said, “And that’s our time.”

At her final bite the waiter came over and placed a face down slip of paper on the table, then took away the cleared plates. Erick went to pick it up—

Anhelia said, “Don’t worry about what it says on the paper. Whatever you have on you is fine.”

... Erick looked at the paper.

That was more gold than he was carrying, alright.

He emptied his pockets and his shoulderbag, placing all 55 of his gold on top of the slip of paper. Anhelia smiled gently at the small pile, then put her hand over the gold. All but two pieces slipped into her iron arm; the remaining two left for the waiter.

Erick said, “Thank you very much.”

“Anytime, Mage Flatt.”

Erick left the bakery cafe first. Poi followed.

The plan was to go back to the guild, but now he went to the bank and withdrew another 20 gold.

Then he went to the guild and picked up one of the [Grow] quests from the Esoteric board; they were all the same, so he only needed one. His job and pay would be determined by the Council members on site.

Anhelia waved at him both on the way in, and on the way out. He waved back both times, saying hello, and feeling like he really didn’t know much about anything about Spur. Not yet, anyway.

- - - -

Valok took a look at Erick, with his mage guild badge hanging out around his neck and the paper for a [Grow] job in his hand, and said, “You’re rather dedicated, aren’t you.”

Erick said, “The plan right now is [Call Lightning] and [Grow] combined as a tier two spell, possibly using Aurify for double to triple the range on [Call Lightning]. I’m hesitant to use Aurify on [Call Lightning] though. I’m not sure how the magic would react. [Force Shrapnel] as an Aura was already rather unexpected.”

Valok listened to Erick. Then he thought for a minute.

Valok said, “It won’t work with our current system, which you will be experiencing today. We’ve had to change everything. When you make this spell, we can test it out on the north side of Spur, where the water does not come close to the surface. Other than that, we’d need to... We’d need to do a lot. And you can’t cast this over the city. You want trees and roots and such destroying everything in a mad press to make space for itself?”

Poi said nothing, but he did look a bit closer at Erick.

Erick said, “Uh. I did not think about that.”

Valok nodded. “Plain rain is fine. No need to get fancy. The only thing stopping farm production is water usage. Your experiment has merit, but not for us, not right now.” Valok said, “I’ll take you to Apogough.”

- - - -

Apogough stood by as Erick stood in the middle of an empty plot of land.

Erick held an apple in his hand. He took a bite. It was sweet, well grown with a nice crisp texture and a bright red, thin skin. In his other hand, he had a seed from the same kind of apple tree.

“[Grow] for cultivation is just as important as [Grow] for generalized growth.” Apogough said, “Now that you’ve tasted the apple, think crisp. Think juicy. Think that size of apple. Keep that taste in your mind as you plant the seed and activate [Grow] at the same time, whenever you’re ready.”

Erick took another bite, then held the seed, and thought—

[Grow].

— as he thrust the seed into the fertile soil. He withdrew his hand. The magic had happened. What was supposed to happen next?

Three seconds later, a tiny green shoot poked out from the brown ground. It uncurled into the sunlight, bright green, sprouting more leaves and tiny branches as it reached up, slowly. Slower. It stopped growing.

Apogough said, “Now use [Grow] in a small area for generalized growth.”

“Can I Aurify it?”

“Hmm. Not— Eh. Sure. Go ahead.”

Meditation. Aurify. [Grow].

The sapling began to grow. The apple in Erick’s hand exploded into several tiny plants, falling out of Erick’s hand to then hit the ground, and take root. Startled, his aura—

Apogough said, “Don’t cut off your aura now.”

Erick maintained his aura. Experience in [Grow] and Aurify steadily ticked up.

[Grow] has leveled!

Level 2!

Grow 2, instant, touch or close range, 5 MP

Cultivate a single plant, or induce plant growth in a sphere of diameter equal to spell level in meters.

Exp: 5/200

Erick’s aura doubled in size. The ground around him sprouted grasses and weeds, but the saplings rose above the non-food plants. And still they grew. The saplings from the apple were twining together, strangling each other for growth, until one rose above the rest and several thin brown saplings rotted in the presence of their older sibling. The one Erick had cultivated was three feet from the strangler apple, quickly rising tall in Erick’s aura.

They made noise as they grew. The sound was like a creaky door slowly opening and someone pushing a broom across the floor.

Now the trees were both waist high. Shoulder high. 6 feet tall, and growing, branching all the way. Erick backed up as the branches threatened to cage him between the trees. And still they grew.

[Grow] has leveled!

Level 3!

Grow 3, instant, touch or close range, 5 MP

Cultivate a single plant, or induce plant growth in a sphere of diameter equal to spell level in meters.

Exp: 5/300

Erick’s aura pulsed larger, and so did the trees. Apples appeared on the tree born from the apple like bright red orbs, but on the tree Erick cultivated, the apples were pink. And still, the apple trees grew taller. Higher, twisting upon each other. Apogough said nothing as he watched the growth. Erick just stepped back a bit further as the trees got even taller.

“Stop!”

Erick stopped. The apple trees relaxed.

A gentle breeze rustled the two-tree orchard as Apogough reached up to a pink apple and plucked it from the branch. He took a knife to the fruit, cutting it into pieces like a scientist dissecting a frog. He pulled off the skin, he rooted through the seed-filled core, he sniffed the white flesh, and then he put a small piece on his tongue.

He tasted. He chewed.

He didn’t die! So that was good news. Erick plucked a pink apple for himself, then looked to Apogough. The orcol nodded, and Erick tasted his apple. It was a pink lady, but much more actually pink. Pink ladies were Erick’s favorite apple, so maybe his mind wandered while he cultivated?

Apogough said, “Your mind wandered while you cultivated, but the outcome is decent. What do you want to call them?”

“Pink ladies.”

Apogough smiled. “A good name.” He pointed down a row of freshly picked apple trees; not a single tree in the whole orchard held a single apple. “Go aurify [Grow] that orchard. Cast until you see an apple fall, then move on; that’s how I judged when these two trees were done. If an apple falls to the ground and you’re not quick about it, that apple will start growing more trees, and that’s just disorganization. We don’t like that. I’ll check in on you in twenty minutes.”

Erick did what he was told. He had used some mana on those first two trees, so he had to pause halfway through the orchard. But quickly enough, he was done. He had used a little over 600 mana.

[Grow] has leveled!

Level 4!

[Grow] has leveled!

Level 5!

Grow 5, instant, touch or close range, 5 MP

Cultivate a single plant, or induce plant growth in a sphere of diameter equal to spell level in meters.

Exp: 545/800

But he had gone through all of the orchard! Since everything was organized, and he had used a little over 600 mana to [Grow] a single orchard, it was highly possible that the orchard was designed with a 600 mana limit in mind. Everyone used the same Script, after all, so organizing along Script-defined stats seemed like a natural thing to do.

But Erick didn’t have [Grow] 10 yet, so when Apogough returned, Erick was still putting the final [Grow]s on the last remaining trees.

Apogough said, “Good job! Now I sign off on that paper once, Krakina comes in and does the water while the pickers come and do their thing, and then you can [Grow] it all again. We do this until you can’t go anymore.”

Erick smiled. “I can do this four more times. That was only 670 mana.”

Apogough asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, are you going for Scion of Focus, or Willpower?”

“Focus. I can’t handle Mana Exhaustion.”

“A good choice if you expect to use a lot of mana every da—“

Krakina announced herself by saying, loudly, “You!”

Erick agreed, “Me!”

Krakina bustled right up to him. “Now you’re [Grow]ing, too? Are you not rich enough!”

“I’m technically homeless right now. So yes. I am not rich enough. By the way, I heard good things about your granddaughter out there in the Crystal Desert, killing monsters alongside my daughter.”

Krakina’s sand-colored feathers fluffed a tiny bit, but at mention of her granddaughter, a smile came over her face. “I hear good things about your daughter, too! Very good with a sword. Good with all weapons. Spear, sword, daggers, shields! What do they teach you all where you’re from, to fight with so many different weapons? She is like a whirlwind of variety!”

Erick laughed. “That’s just Jane. She’s been training for this sort of life her whole life. She knew what she wanted to be at a very young age.”

As pickers came into the grove, very few of them actually picked apples by hand. They walked past the trees, and apples floated into crates they towed behind themselves, like kids with little red wagons. Erick watched, trying to figure out how they were—

Apogough said, “It’s [Telekinesis].”

“He knows—” Krakina turned to Erick, eyeing him. “You didn’t know what they were doing?”

Erick smiled. “They were using [Telekinesis], of course!”

Apogough chuckled.

Krakina smirked as she walked away, to the side of the orchard.

With one quick stomp on the ground, in what was probably one specific spot, water burst up from the ground and caught in the air above Krakina. She held it there above her, somehow, the water bubble quickly reaching the size of an elephant.

Apogough said, “She’s using [Watershape].”

“I am not!” Krakina said, “I am using something much better!” She sealed the hole in the ground using some unseen method and walked through the orchard, dipping the water across the ground, letting it soak into the soil. The elephant-size water orb was gone by the time she reached the other side of the orchard. “Done!”

She moved on to the next location.

Apogough said, “Let me see your paper.”

Erick handed it to him. He signed off once, in perfect print, right across the top, leaving lots of room for more signatures later. He handed it back to him, then pointed to a waist high squat pillar near the road, maybe ten feet away.

“When you’re done, sit there. I only knew you were done because I was looking for it, but all the [Grow] mages sit on one of those by the road, so that we know it’s time to come clear their field. See you later.”

Erick stayed where he was until his mana reached full.

Then he went and Aurify’d [Grow], all over his orchard.

This process repeated three more times.

5 signatures was worth 15 silver. It wasn’t a good paying job, but it was necessary.

And hey! He also got a whole bushel of Pink Ladies, a lot of not-potatoes, some not-onions, two bags of not-rice, and even some not-tomatoes, all for free! It wasn’t a good paying job, but there were benefits.

Like [Grow] leveling up to 8.

Grow 8, instant, touch or close range, 5 MP

Cultivate a single plant, or induce plant growth in a sphere of diameter equal to spell level in meters.

Exp: 1705/3400

Damn he was tired, and carrying all these vegetables wasn’t exactly easy. But he had help.

He turned to Poi. “How much are you paid every day to follow me around?”

Poi carried three bags of groceries. “Not the 10 gold you’re paid per day, whether you make it rain or not.”

“Oh right. I do get that, don’t I?”

Poi frowned at him.

- - - -

Al made dinner using much of the produce Erick supplied.

Al said, “You should get some meat next time.”

“When rain is capable of making cows grow from thin air, I will be sure to get you one.”

“I accept this as a promise.”

“... I’m not sure you understand how rain works.”

“It makes the grass which feeds the cows which I then eat!”

“That’s not thin air.”

“I should hope not! I want a very fat cow.”