The First Archmage

“Nies?” I say on my way back to the surface.

Yo.

“Do you know what just happened?”

Never question O. You’ll only get a headache. He knows far more than I ever could.

“What’s his deal with fish?”

That includes that. It’s easier to just ignore him and his actions. Yes, he does stuff, but you might never know why he did stuff. It could be the smallest thing in relation to you, but have a massive impact elsewhere, and you’d never know you were the cause of it. For example: you having such a powerful Lie Detection means you’d see right through Acting if someone lied with a mastered Acting Skill. If that person was a merchant who was telling you about an item, and you didn’t know he was lying, but weren’t interested, you’d react differently. The end result for you is the same: you don’t buy the items. The end result for him could be vastly different. If you called him out on his lie, he’d possibly stew on it, and make a decision in his next deal that could cost him his life – or someone else theirs. And you’d be none the wiser. So it’s easier to just take it as it happens, eat food, and nap. Speaking of naps, I’m going back to mine. Bye.

“Thanks,” I say, looking at my arm.

It only took me a few moments to adjust to Reij being there, and I can’t detect him at all, or see him with Magic Sight. I know he’s there, though. On the surface, my brothers are waiting, and looking a little bit exhausted. I can’t sense any loot on them, so either they exchanged it for money already, or they couldn’t carry it back with them.

Maybe it was the latter? Not everyone has spatial rings like me, and they don’t have packs. Now that I think about it – how do Warren and Michael get their loot back up here? They only have small pouches for when they go down.

I walk to the counter and trade in my loot, then walk over to my brothers.

“Your Mana doesn’t feel any lower than it was before,” Dylan says.

“I used martial arts and my knife all day,” I respond. “Can I see your stats and skills?”

Name: Dylan

Age: 18 years

Title: None

Species: Human Level 1

Primary Class: Rift Adept 1

INT: 9, AGI: 6, CHA: 8, STR: 8, CON: 10, PER: 12, LIF: 11

LFA: 2, MNA: 123, AEA: 47

HLT: 3

Health: 15/15

Mana: 68/123

Aether: 47/47

Tier I Skills: Magic Sense 5/10, Magic Bolt 4/10, Magic Missile 3/10, Magic Sight 2/10, Magic Shield 3/10, Mana Sense 2/10

Tier VII Skills: Rift Sense 4/10

“How do you have Mana Sense if Magic Sense isn’t mastered?”

“Is that unusual?”

“It’s unlocked through Level 10 of Magic Sense,” I nod.

“Dad did something when we were younger,” he shrugs. “After that, we were all able to sense Mana.”

Probably some illegal magic, or something. Well, illegal, except within the Ancient Order and other darker organizations.

“Did you gain any Experience?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “I didn’t think I would, though. Species is difficult to gain Experience, and with something like Rift Adept, I’m sure just killing won’t do.”

“Dedication to a goal can increase Experience gains,” I inform him. “You can gain Experience from anything if you’re doing it to further a goal. The more dedicated to your goal you are, the more you’ll gain. That’s before any regular boosts – like my Bloodline gives – are factored in. Of course, what you’re fighting also determines the amount, but the point still stands. Work towards a goal, and you’re more likely to gain Experience. Did you two have loot?”

“A little,” he nods. “We could fit it in our pockets. Not sure what the currency means, though.”

I pull some out of my ring and show them the different coins, explaining what each one is. There are looks from people all around, and I can tell from their expressions that they think my brothers will be easy targets.

I spread out Mana Presence as I continue to explain the currency to my brothers.

“Do you understand, now?” I ask as they both stare at me with eyes widened in shock and a little bit of fear.

“Yeah,” Dylan nods, swallowing. “What… what are you doing?”

“Dealing with a problem,” I smile at him as I send the krat back into my ring, then switch to Karus. “Now that my brothers know how the currency works, I’d like to know – has anyone seen my teammates come up yet?”

I fix my gaze on a tall, burly Adventurer who gives me a nasty feeling, and the moment my eyes meet his, he flinches.

“The fairy left an hour ago,” he answers.

“And Michael?” I ask, and he shrugs.

I scan the room.

“No one’s seen the beastborn in awhile,” an adventurer tells me.

So he hasn’t returned yet. I sigh, then release Mana Presence and look at my brothers.

“Let’s return to the inn,” I say. “I need to rest.”

We make our way back to my rooms, and I take a nap while they talk about… whatever it is they’re talking about. I don’t really understand it. When I wake up, the sun’s already set, and Dylan is sitting at the desk, Eli on the couch.

“You seem pretty exhausted,” Dylan tells me. “But I’ve got more spells written up for you. We can wait longer if you’re not ready for it now.”

“I can do it,” I yawn and stretch. “I’m rested, now.”

As much as I can be, with this fogginess in my mind. I probably shouldn’t be doing this until it’s cleared up a bit more, but I’ll manage.

I read through the spells, committing them to memory, then send them into my ring. Then, I perform the granting of access on Eli. When he finishes, there’s immediately a request to join my party.

“Why are you guys requesting to join my party immediately?” I ask.

“Don’t we need to, to enter the Dungeon?” Eli asks.

“Not this one,” I shake my head. “Tower Dungeons work differently. Did you see any other Adventurers while you were in there?” They nod. “They’re not in our team. Tower Dungeons are an open Dungeon – you don’t need to be in a party to be in it with people you’re working with.”

“Oh,” he responds. “Can I still join your party?”

Sighing, I accept his request, then ask him for his stats.

Name: Elijah

Age: 14 years

Title: None

Species: Human Level 1

Primary Class: None

INT: 10, AGI: 5, CHA: 9, STR: 7, CON: 9, PER: 10, LIF: 10

LFA: 1, MNA: 125

HLT: 1

Health: 11/11

Mana: 89/125

Lower than Dylan’s, which kind of makes sense, since he’s still more of a kid than Dylan is, and Dylan’s probably done more intensive training.

“What Classes do you have available?” I ask.

“Novice, Martial Artists, and Squire,” he answers. “I’m taking on Novice.”

“Alright,” I say. “Know that you’ll probably get better Classes eventually, too. Our Bloodline is one where twins are guaranteed to have it, so you have a plus four hundred percent to Experience in Dungeons, as well as from all non non-System Quests. You also have a boost to learning and Leveling all Skills, all magics, and all languages. Two hundred, then four hundred and four hundred. They stack, and percents seem to work from Level 1. Do not, as I said before, attempt to unlock your Bloodline – you do not want to Level it unless you can do so slowly.”

He nods, and I look between my two brothers.

“I’m going to be sleeping most of the next few days,” I tell them. “Eli’s got a couple of Levels to Karus Human Language, so-”

“How did you know?” Eli asks.

“Did you not hear what I said your Bloodline is?” I ask. “It isn’t hard for us to pick up languages with a six hundred percent bonus to learning and Leveling them, and I’m sure you already know you learn languages fast. You can probably hold a conversation with people.”

He nods.

“I can understand a little bit of it,” he nods. “Enough that if I tried speaking it, I could probably hold conversations decently. More complicated stuff will probably be beyond me. What’s your Level for it?”

“Four,” I answer. “It went up earlier today. I don’t focus on conversations or really pay attention to them, and three or four seems to be the limit of common conversations. Anyway, don’t expect me to do much or talk much. My head’s getting too foggy, and that pushed it a fair bit.”

I lie back down on the bed, and quickly fall back to sleep. I sleep off and on over the next few days, my brothers leaving to train, while Warren sticks around, making sure I eat. I feel so tired and exhausted, and the fogginess is heavy, much heavier than it was before.

That really pushed it for me. I should have waited a few weeks to do that again.

Almost a week passes before I feel well enough to continue. Not doing anything but eating and sleeping helped me a lot with that.

Warren’s sleeping on the other side of my bed, facing me. He refuses to let me out of his sight, because he thinks I’m going to do something stupid. I once got up in the middle of the night to go for a walk, and he blocked my way out of the room, telling me that he wasn’t going to give me the chance to train.

I felt bad about him sleeping on the floor, and decided that since the bed’s big enough to fit a few people between us, he could sleep on the other side of it. He’s getting used to sleeping on beds, now, and while this is more comfortable than the ones he’s comfortable sleeping on, he took me up on the offer.

His excuse was that it would allow him to keep a better eye on me, since he’ll be on my level and not under me, able to just slip away on the other side of the bed.

Yeah, right.

He sleeps so heavily that I could probably jump around on the bed and not wake him. I know the real reason he wants to sleep in the bed with me, even if on the other side. It worries me, and I can’t say I’m comfortable with it.

Despite that, I carefully get off the bed, tuck him in, then start to leave the room. I’m about to open the door when Warren grabs my tunic from behind.

Damn fairy.

“Just where do you think you’re going?” He asks me.

“To train,” I turn and look at him, seeing his determination to keep me in here in his eyes. “I spent a week letting the fog in my mind clear up, and that’s a week I could have been training, so-”

“No,” he says firmly. “Two weeks. You are resting for two weeks, not one. You are not starting just because you feel well enough to continue training. You will clear up that fogginess more than just well enough to continue getting stronger.”

“Warren-”

“No,” he says firmly. “You called a Divine Being an idiot. Your mind is too clouded right now. You need to rest, recover, and let yourself think clearly.”

“I didn’t call him an idiot because of the fogginess,” I say. “I did it because he was offering me stuff I already had.”

“Only an idiot calls a Divine Being an idiot.”

“That, or someone who doesn’t care about the punishment,” I say. “He was offering me stuff I already had, and-”

“A True Ward?” Warren says. “Gavin – if you lost the amulet, what would you do? What if you forgot it? Or it was stolen?”

“I’d track it down.”

“What if that wasn’t possible?” He asks. “This is why you shouldn’t be allowed to discuss plans with people! Why you shouldn’t be allowed to act in diplomacy for a long time! You don’t look at the broader picture, or at other possibilities! What if something isn’t possible? You can’t just say ‘Oh, I’ll do it’, you know!”

“I will,” I tell him. “If it isn’t possible, I’ll simply make it possible.”

“And what of Jozan’s reputation?” He asks.

“What of it?”

“You dismiss a king,” he says. “Like you did the Divine Being, you call him an idiot the way you did to Ekre, and you’ll lose reputation for Jozan – and its king – just for that.”

Warren takes a deep breath, then lets out it slowly, closing his eyes as he does. Then, he looks at me, his glamour fading. His hair is white with blue tinges to it, almost like frost, and his eyes are an icy blue.

“I am issuing an ultimatum,” he says. “You must win over my father and earn permission to see the Grimoire of Tristan Lightblade in his possession before you can attempt to restore Jozan. If my father will not allow you to even see the Grimoire itself, you must sever all ties to Jozan and request of Nies the revocation of your Blood Oath.”

“Is that even possible?” I ask.

“Yes,” he answers. “At great sacrifice. For you, it would probably be a hit to your LIF. He will probably turn it back to a normal amount, and prevent it from growing, such is the difficulty of your Blood Quest.”

Everything comes back to taking away my LIF, doesn’t it?

“What if I refuse to accept your ultimatum?” I ask. “What will you do?”

“Leave,” he answers, and I can see the pain in his eyes when he speaks. “I will leave you and your party, and never return. I will not be party to you ruining your kingdom’s reputation because you lack diplomacy. I have stuck by you because you rescued me,” and because you like me. “But that will only go so far.”

There’s more to it than that, his eyes speak that loud and clear. He is willing to put himself through the pain of leaving me because of this.

I close my eyes take a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

“Very well,” I look Warren in the eyes. “I will win over your father, then return to Jozan.”

+1 INT!

I return to my bed, and notice Warren sighing in relief. He didn’t want that to happen.

Another week passes with Warren watching me just as closely as he did before, if not more so, and I get the feeling that he’s not sure of what I will do next.

To be honest… I don’t, either. I go where I feel like it, do what I feel like doing. I react instantly. I have the same problem in combat… when I focus on something, I lose sight of the bigger picture.

That could prove fatal for my allies, if we were to go somewhere stronger than they can handle, except in moderate amounts, and I don’t notice they’re in danger.

At the end of the second week, Warren says he feels I’m ready to return to training, since twice the time I felt was necessary has passed. The fogginess is still there, but extremely faint. Something tells me I recovered faster than I should have.

As I’m about to open the door to my room, there’s a knock. Warren and I look at each other. The brothers have their own room, now, so it could be them, but the knock was from my level, not Dylan’s, and he’s the one who usually knocks.

Plus, they usually call through the door, which I find weird.

Opening the door, I take in the appearance of Michael, who’s a little bit buffer than he was before, and has on light metal armor made of a dark grey metal glowing with enchantments.

Michael, Beastborn (Wolf) 10, Squire 25, Novice 1

“You gained the last few Levels fast,” I say. “So you finally learned Dekami Runic Language?”

“Yeah,” he nods, his tail swishing behind him. “And Magic Bolt Level 1.”

“How did you gain Levels so fast?”

“Power Leveling.”

“And how did you manage that?”

“The Grind Arena,” he answers. “It’s these special Dungeons on other continents. It’s sort of like the Coliseum. You go in, and fight monsters. They come in waves, starting off easy and getting harder as you go. You earn Experience after each wave based on your performance. You’re guaranteed at least one point per kill to Classes. It doesn’t affect Species at all. The first ten waves are goblins, starting with one, then two, then three, then four, then five, and so on. I stop after that, but that’s 45 Experience per run. Then, I just wait out the time needed and return.”

“Why don’t you go past the tenth wave?” I ask, and a look of fear flashes in his eyes, the same look he had when he talked about the place he thinks has a Grimoire – drooped ears and tail included. “What?”

He looks around, then steps into the room and closes the door, leaning in close.

“Spiders,” he says, his voice filled with terror. “Wave 11 has spiders! They’re so scary!”

Michael shivers, and I wonder what happened to him to make him scared of spiders. I know he has issue with fire as well. Thankfully, the ones in the Dungeon don’t have fire. At least, not any I’ve seen do.

“Michael,” I realize something. “The place you think a Grimoire is, on the continent with the dark knights?”

“Yeah?” He looks at me, his fear growing even deeper.

“Does it have spiders with fire magics?”

“Yeah!” He whimpers. “They’re so scary, Gavin! I hate spiders! Hate ‘em! Hate ‘em! Hate ‘em! And then they have fire! No! I dun wanna go there!”

More like fear them, but okay.

“So how long do you have to wait to return?” I ask. “To the Grind Arena, after leaving it, I mean.”

“For only going through the first ten waves,” he responds. “You have to wait twelve hours. If you stop in the next ten waves, it’s ten hours. The next ten, it’s eight. The next ten, it’s six, then four, then two, then none. The farther in you go, the less time you have to wait to return. You have to actually beat the waves, though, which is why I don’t just do Wave 11 and then leave.”

He shivers at the thought of fighting the spiders.

I’m trying to figure out the math on his Experience, though. It’s been a few weeks, yeah, but something else had to have boosted his Squire Level as well. That would’ve been enough for one Level, at the end, not five. Two Levels, maybe, if he did two runs in a day.

“And then,” he says. “With my knowledge of Dungeon Mapping, I was able to hit two or three of them a day. The first ten waves are always the same, but they vary from area to area after that. But I still wouldn’t go past them, because what if it decided it wanted to give me spiders instead of whatever was supposed to be there?”

That explains his sudden, rapid growth.

“Well,” I say. “Welcome back, Michael. And sorry about scaring you, before. I’m having a hard time trusting people, and wanted to make sure your father’s intents toward Jozan were pure.”

“I know,” he smiles at me. “Papa doesn’t blame you for it, and I don’t, either. We have four months left of individual training, right?”

“Unless you two want to rejoin,” I look from him to Warren. “Especially with you now having Novice, and probably needing to use magic to increase it, since you’re not me and don’t just gain Experience because of your Bloodline and wait – does the guaranteed Experience ignore if you’re killing them with things relating to your Class or not?”

“You still gain Experience,” he says. “And you have multiple Classes all gaining Experience through the same source. As long as one of them is relating to your Class, and you gain General Class Experience – such as from kills – you’ll gain it for all Classes. Or in our case, whatever Classes you’ve set Experience to. So it’s not a full point for humans for each Class per kill, but you get a full Class Experience per kill, guaranteed. More on higher Levels.”

Sounds like a good place to grind.

“But it doesn’t affect Species Experience?” I ask after remembering that his Species is the same.

“No,” he shakes his head. “You’ll still gain that at the normal rate. Oh, but every tenth Wave has a boss monster as well. Beating those Waves also yields you extra Experience, regardless. 5 Class Experience per multiple of 10, and 1 Species Experience, static.”

“Alright,” I look at the two of them. “We have some decisions to make.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for your brothers?” Warren asks, and Michael looks a little confused.

“We can ask them when they leave,” I nod. “Though I think they’d prefer to stay here, instead of having to learn a new environment again. Let’s go to the restaurant they’ll head to for lunch.”

I’ll explain to Michael what he missed on the way there.