The Runic Artist

Nate froze like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Evindal watched him placidly, the elf’s amber eyes seemingly unconcerned as he waited for Nate to respond. Nate on the other hand was anything but placid. What did Evindal want with him? Was the Platinum ranked Adventurer going to annihilate him for painting his wife naked? Or perhaps the elf just planned to remove him to release his wife from the contract that hung over her head. Twenty levels was a lot to risk at those lofty heights.

“You seem a little stressed,” said Evindal, interrupting Nate’s thoughts.

“How best to put you at ease?” continued the elf, tilting his head to the side as he tapped his lips. “Oh, thank you very much for that painting of my wife. The pose was inspired, if I do say so myself. She tells me it was your idea. The sex after her big reveal was even better than usual, though that may have just been from the time we’ve been forced to remain apart. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder and while that might be true, I would say it definitely makes the physical needs more…frantic.”

Nate was blushing from his neck to the top of his head by the time the elf was finished. Evindal looked at him and laughed.

“I am teasing you Nate. Aisling said you were a little odd about nudity and sex. But now that I have had my fun, perhaps we should get down to the things I really wanted to discuss?” suggested Evindal.

“And what was it you wanted to discuss?” asked Nate carefully.

“It might be better if we spoke about it in your room. I doubt you’d like others knowing,” replied Evindal, looking at him calmly.

Could Aisling have told Evindal was his first thought. But no, he hadn’t gained a tonne of levels. The contract was still on his Status. It couldn’t be that. But if not that, then what? He supposed there were other things Aisling could’ve told her husband. The Dungeons was one. The System Challenge as well. All of that came later. He supposed Luc teaching him was a possibility as well. Just those were likely enough to garner the Platinum ranked elfs interest. But was it interest? Or did Aisling’s husband want him gone? She’d warned him not to trust people after all. Of course, she likely hadn’t meant her own husband, but then again Nate had no idea what the elf wanted. Wisely, or possibly unwisely, he decided that putting himself in a room alone with the unknown Platinum ranker probably wasn’t a great idea.

“Here is fine, whatever it is,” Nate heard himself say.

Evindal spent a moment placidly looking at Nate, then through his Awareness of the Runic Artist he felt a flash of mana. Everything froze. Around them in a bubble, nothing moved. Worse, he could feel his sphere of awareness range cut off at just beyond their table. Looking around he tried to figure out what was going on.

Evindal however seemed content to smile at him and wait patiently for his nerves to settle.

Finally, he asked the obvious question, “What did you do?”

“Normally I wouldn’t use one of my Skills but you seemed very inclined towards not trusting me, and though I admittedly care less about whether your secrets get out, this secret is also my wifes, I would prefer it kept. Or better, broken,” Evindal replied, growing a little more intense. “What do I need to do to get you to release my wife from whatever contract you have her under?”

Nate heard what Evindal was asking, but he was still focused on what the skill the Elven Mage had applied was doing. It was like everyone else was in stasis and they were in a bubble where time flowed normally.

“What’s the skill?” he blurted out. He had a pretty good idea, but he wanted confirmation that Evindal was somehow manipulating time. How would that even work? Did he freeze time for everyone else? That seemed less likely than taking the two of them out of the flow of time, or maybe rapidly speeding up time for them?

“If I tell you, will you release my wife from whatever contract you have her under?” countered Evindal.

That gave Nate pause. He’d considered releasing the contract, of course. Sure, if Aisling failed to uphold the contract he’d get enough levels to be most of the way towards level sixty. With that he’d still have plenty of time to develop his Skills in whatever direction he wanted before his next Class evolution. Especially now that he could make processed mana exclusion runes. But getting those levels would be at the cost of Aisling’s levels, and given all the help she’d provided, he wasn’t keen to do that. Even after her talk of not trusting people, he did trust her a bit. Not as much as he trusted Kiri, but definitely more than a little.

“I’d strongly consider it,” he countered.

Evindal gave him a long searching look before leaning back in his chair with a smile, “You tried to identify me before. I happen to be sensitive to those kinds of skills. Yours was a very light touch. Can it push against resistances and obfuscation skills?”

He considered how much would be revealed by answering the question. The main concern was that it might reveal how powerful his Skill was. On the other hand, he’d get to see what Evindal’s Classes were. Was it worth the trade? It might be. He was Platinum ranked after all. That meant the elf likely had at minimum an Epic Class. But wasn’t it worse if Evindal had a higher tier than that? It would beg the question of how he managed to pierce whatever obfuscations the elf had. His mind went back and forth between the risks and benefits, but in the end his curiosity won. He had to know what the elfs classes were, and more importantly, what this Skill was.

Focusing on his Awareness of the Runic Artist he started to push through Evindal’s body towards his Class Core. The resistance initially was minimal, nothing more than the mana that permeated the elf's body. However as he got closer to the Class Core the resistance started to mount. Unwilling to back down now that he had committed he pushed through, feeding more mana into his skill until finally he felt the resistance fade as he passed through something that felt very similar to a barrier. The notification showed before his eyes and he felt his jaw drop.

Evindal

Flourishing Lord of Life (L) (54) / Flourishing Time Mage (E) (37) / Flourishing Plant Weaver (R) (13)

“You have a Legendary Class,” he blurted out.

“Interesting. So not just the name, but the tier. What about levels?” Evindal asked, leaning forward as he spoke.

Nate just nodded dumbly.

“Impressive skill you have there. Yes, I have a Legendary Class. I was one of the more fortunate members of my tribe. Lucky enough to gather the achievements necessary to start with a Rare Class when I was blessed with my Core. And I have successfully tiered up at each Class evolution,” Evindal replied, looking at Nate with clear interest in his amber eyes. “Which begs the question, how did you pierce my Life’s Veil. Admittedly, I didn’t put as much mana into it as I could have, but still, it’s both impressive and highly unlikely. Can your veil stand up to the same?”

Instantly Nate felt pressure against his soul as whatever identification method Evindal was using tried to bypass his soul engraved Class Core Concealment rune. He quickly felt his mana draining, far faster than when he had pierced Evindal’s own veil. Worse, as the pressure mounted he could actually feel pain in his soul. Random memories flashed through his mind completely unbidden. Memories of Earth, of Galle, of his parents, of his graffiti. The moment stretched out as more memories rose and were discarded until finally the pressure eased.

Glancing over at Evindal he felt his face flush with anger until he saw the drawn and tired look on the elf's face.

“Sorry Nate. Truly. I…” Evindal started, pausing tiredly before he sighed. “I suppose I got a little competitive. It’s not every day a level forty pierces your veil. I didn’t want to then fail to pierce your own. It seems I have strained us both. Though, I begin to see why my wife was willing to enter a contract with you. You are…frighteningly impressive for your level.”

Nate considered keeping his mouth shut. He could just not ‘humble-brag’. Keeping his cards close to his chest so to speak. Perhaps it was childish, no, he knew for a fact it was childish, but after hearing the compliment he wanted Evindal to know that he was perhaps even more ‘frighteningly impressive’ he was.

“I’m actually not level forty,” replied Nate.

Evindal looked confused for a moment, “My wife is trying to slip a higher level into the Tournament? Why? I mean, your veil is certainly powerful enough to prevent even the Prefects from piercing it. But unless you have a method for creating a fake result, they won’t allow you into the Royal Academy, even if you win. Is this the contract? To help you slip into the Royal Academy?”

As Evindal continued Nate couldn’t help himself and by the end of it he was laughing quietly.

“Sorry Evindal. I didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression. I meant my level is lower than forty,” he said, taking a deep breath afterwards so he didn’t laugh any more.

“...you’re under level forty?” said Evindal, both hands tense on the table with eyes wide. Nate felt another flash of mana, this one passing through him without any sort of impact on his soul. “Young too…you must be around eighteen or so based on your lifeforce. So, if you’re not a plant, and you’re not Unseen, which Aisling would surely have checked for, then what are you…some kind of genius then? Which would mean my wife made a contract with you to bring you into the Guild, because she expects you to be an asset. That is very…her.”

“What makes you think it’s me she has the contract with?” he asked.

“Oh that? She answered a few questions about your friend Kiri. Nothing revealing but it was casual. Easy. When I asked about you she always paused to consider her answers. At first I thought perhaps she was just being thoughtful, but well, everything comes in patterns and the pattern of care around her answers led me to the idea. Which you confirmed for me, so thank you for that.”

Nate sighed. Of course he had. Just like he had revealed the range of his old Sphere of Awareness in the Dungeon when fighting the demon. He really needed to learn to control his facial expressions and reactions better.

“Alright,” he said.

“Alright what?” asked Evindal.

“Alright, I will release your wife from the contract,” he replied with a smile.

“Really?” Evindal asked, his pale face brightening.

“Yep. I would like a few things from you for doing so though” he said, leaning back in his chair. He liked Aisling, even trusted her a bit. That said, Evindal hadn’t exactly been friendly so far and he felt justified in taking a pound of flesh.

“What do you want?” asked the Elf.

“Access to the Guild library for as long as I am in the Capital. The best access you can provide. I want to see what they have on Enchanting. The more advanced the better,” Nate finished with a grin. “Also, just to satisfy my curiosity, the name of the Skill you used.”

Evindal looked at him for a moment before sighing and nodding, “Fine. That is a bit expensive but possibly a fair trade. Even if it isn’t, I don’t like Aisling being under contract, so I guess it’s a trade I am happy to make. For the library, I can get you access to the Advanced section. Even with me paying for your access, they wouldn’t allow you into the Restricted section until you achieved Gold rank. Even then they would want proof of your value to the Guild. As for the Skill, it is called A Time to Flourish.”

“So you did freeze time,” Nate mused. The lack of access to the Restricted section was annoying, but he’d get there in time on his own merits.

Evindal frowned at him a moment before he spoke, “That’s not quite how it works and that’s all you’re getting from me.”

“Fair enough. Can you tell me why all your Classes have ‘Flourishing’ in the name?” he asked, pushing his luck a little.

Evindal’s frown deepened. “Just how many of my secrets are you going to plumb? Well, since you already know that much it’s not like I can make it any worse. They’ll tell you at the Royal University anyway, and at this point I am going to be surprised if you don’t get in. It’s my Embodiment.”

“Embodiment?” Nate asked, pressing for even more information.

“I’m not your teacher. Ask Aisling if you want. See if she answers. Now, you wanted access to the Guild library? And we’re agreed you will release my wife from the contract you have with her?” Evindal asked.

Nate nodded eagerly, “As soon as you get me access I will release the contract.”

Evindal smiled and this time Nate felt it with his Awareness of the Runic Artist as the mana flashed around them. He even thought he got a hint of the Concept of time as the bubble around them simply vanished and everything was moving again. Evindal stood with a small smirk and motioned for Nate to follow. Marching over to the Guildhouse, they veered to the left and up some wide stairs to the third floor before entering what felt like another admissions area with a desk and a woman sitting behind it. The woman was matronly, with greying hair and bright blue eyes and she smiled kindly when she saw Evindal, giving him a slightly raised eyebrow as she glanced at Nate.

“What brings you to the Repository today, Lord Evindal?” she asked in a clear voice.

“I need to get access to Standard and Advanced sections for this Guildmember, Nathaniel Weber. You can put the cost against my account, Jocelyn,” Evindal stated in a clear voice.

Jocelyn turned her bright blue eyes on Nate and smiled at him, “You must be one of the up and comers. Well, the library rules are simple. You’ve paid for entry for the Standard and Advanced sections, courtesy of Lord Evindal. You can stay as long as you want until we close late this evening. You cannot take books, tomes or anything else out of their designated sections. That includes furniture. Just because you like a chair does not mean you can carry it out of the Advanced section. My assistant and I can help you find anything you need. Please be careful with the books and tomes. Though we have Skills to maintain our collection, enough mana will still damage them. If you damage them, we’ll damage you. Are we clear?”

Nate instantly liked the woman. No nonsense while still coming across as friendly. His kind of person.

“Abundantly clear, Jocelyn,” he said with a wide smile.

She snorted in response. “Save your charm, Nathaniel. I’m old enough to be your great grandmother. Now, was there anything else, Lord Evindal?”

“No, that’s everything,” Evindal replied before turning to Nate. “Keep to our deal. Also, Aisling wants to gather everyone for dinner tonight. So you can’t stay till they close. Don’t be late.”

With those parting words the elf spun on his heel and was out the door a moment later. Jocelyn took a moment to jot some things down in a book before ushering him into the library. Books abounded, unlike the library at Helmfirth and he realised that there were stairs at the back, blocked by a door. Even from here he could read the word ‘Advanced’ on the door.

“So, what are we looking for?” asked Jocelyn.

“Whatever you have on Enchanting. Let's start with the more advanced tomes please,” he replied quickly, his excitement building. It was finally time for some new Sigils! Holding up his end of the bargain, he focused on the Contract.

You are about to void the contract with Aisling Teigland and Deverell Courbet.

Are you sure?

Yes/No

With a thought the contract vanished from his Status as he followed Jocelyn into the library.