Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.
Reading advice:
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Writing
System
Prologue Act
Establishing Renown
The silence of the forest at night was a terrifying thing, especially if you weren't someone who grew up in a rural area or camped outside regularly. For a group of misfits and bandits who recently learned that the town they hit had decided to hire a guild mage to take care of them, there was a sense of doom permeating amongst them, a knowledge that something bad was going to happen very soon, and there was nowhere to hide.
The bandit group, who dubbed themselves 'The Silver Hand', not hands they would like you to know, decided it was better to create the most amount of distance possible between them and the crime scene, rather than loiter around waiting for some uppity mage to find them, moving from their original hideout near the town they were bothering and going on an impromptu camping trip as far as possible from their usual hangout spot.
As Kreeden, the member currently on watch, started to doze off by the fire, a growing sense of unease began creeping down his spine. He was, sadly, too slow to call for his fellow bandits, to warn them that something wasn't right, before he dropped to the ground, out like a light.
The sleeping bandits were roused by the noisy thump their friend's body made as it hit the ground, and as they got up from their sleeping bags, their eyes swept over to find one of their own on the floor, a teenager, of all things, standing above him.
"Well don't you guys just have the best timing."
The kid was tall for his age, standing at about six-foot-two. He had wild brown hair that reached his neck, purple eyes that shined due to the campfire, fair skin, and was dressed in all black. No really, he was wearing black trousers, a black hoody with words in red and yellow written on it, and black and white sneakers. No doubt his choice of clothing for a night mission.
Before the shouts for 'Mage!' and 'We're being attacked' were uttered, Zandul, the leader of this little group of misfits, watched the kid disappear from his sight, and heard a shout from his left. Turning his head, he was greeted by the sight of the same teenager holding one of his boys in a headlock with one arm, firing magic from his fingers at the rest of them.
He quickly got up, reached for the knife he always keeps on his belt, and started approaching the kid as his fellow bandit went limp and was then tossed to the side.
"You know, it's probably not smart to say this, but I really hope you can do better than your friends here, cause let me tell ya, they didn't put up much of a fight."
Enraged, and a little sleep deprived, Zandul rushed the kid, every swipe and slash of his blade dodged by the slightest of margins. Going for a Hail Mary, he speared at the kid, hoping to grab the kid and knock him to the ground, only for the kid to put his hand on his head and use him as a damn springboard.
Turning around quickly, he found a finger being pointed at him, and the last thing he could do was try his hardest not to piss himself in fear.
He didn't succeed.
Edward's POV:
'Finally. Now to call the Rune Knights and get this over with.'
Firing a blue flare, something one of the Rune Knights posted at the governmental building where I was told the details of the quest handed me, I began the herculean task of tying these guys up. Sure, I could grab them quickly if one of them woke up and decided to make a run for it, but better not to take chances. A good thing too, as one of the bandit bastards got up and started squirming like a tied-up pig.
Thankfully, the Rune Knights got here quickly enough, possibly because they had been waiting for my signal, and began carting the poor fuckers off.
"Hello, my name is Private Lahar of the custody enforcement unit. On behalf of the Rune Knights and the Magic Council, I would like to extend my thanks for handling this matter so quickly."
"Sure, no problem." You know, I've got to admit, having a government official thanking me for doing his job for him was really irritating.
Rune Knights, the joke of law enforcement. They were established as a sector of The Magic Council of Ishgar, and operated under the direct command and order of the Council, the continent's governmental body residing over magical affairs, and much like the Magic Council, they were impartial in all matters concerning any nation, and only interfered to help deal with mages. Nothing else. The problem this created was, so long as no mage was involved, the Rune Knights were not going to be involved either, effectively making them a task force dedicated to bothering a guild mage doing the work that needed to be done, or cowards who ran away from dark mages because the Rune Knights had the collective power of a dry sponge.
Makarov really went on about them every chance he could.
"By the way," I began my question, "I know you guys aren't supposed to interfere with non-magical affairs, but couldn't you have dealt with this group yourself?"
Lahar had a look on his face that more or less said 'You're preaching to the choir, bestie.'
"You have to remember, Mages make up no more than ten percent of the population of the world, maybe even less than that, and if we, as mages, went around dealing with everything, we'd have every country complaining that we're interfering in their affairs. It's the sad reality that, regardless of whether or not we're able, we can't. Even though there were witness accounts of these guys using magic, without any actual evidence, or at least a testimony from one of our own officers, we can't really do anything. And the kicker, if you weren't involved we wouldn't be here."
The look of confusion on my face spurred him on.
"Criminals these bandits may be, they are still citizens of Fiore, and like every citizen they have the right to a fair trial, if you weren't involved, and we captured them, they could say that we were working outside our jurisdiction and be let go. It's a rare thing to happen, but that's mostly due to us following protocol more than anything else. If you, a mage, weren't hired to take care of them, we, as Rune Knights, wouldn't be able to interfere. We're basically using the excuse of handling the paperwork on your behalf so that we could legally arrest them."
There were a few seconds of silence before I bothered to speak. "Guess you can't escape bureaucracy can you?"
Sharing a laugh and a few more words, Lahar and the rest of his unit rounded up the last of the bandits and were on their way with me in tow. They had a car, and I was going to, in the words of the greatest hero the world never knew, Catch-a-riiiiiiiide!
On the night train back to Magnolia, I finally got the notification I was waiting for.
[Defeated 7 Bandits! 1,000*7=7,000XP!]
[7,000*0.017=119XP Prowess Bonus!]
[Quest [Eliminate The Bandits] Complete! 15,000XP!]
[15,000*0.017=255XP Prowess Bonus!]
Only 3000 and some change left till level 10 baby!
Arriving back at Magnolia at the break of dawn, I was able to get to the guild just as it began to open its doors and head to the board.
"Edward! My boy! Just the person I was looking for."
And that was Makarov's que.
"Guild master. And…Laxus, right?"
"Right you are, my boy! This here is my grandson Laxus, and due to some circumstances that we're not gonna get into, he needs some help with a job, one I believe you have the right mentality and skills for. If you're up for it, I'd like you to accompany him." My ring didn't need to vibrate for me to know Makarov wasn't telling me the truth.
"I can handle it on my own." The kid, who I was sure couldn't be older than twelve or so, interrupted. My ring didn't vibrate.
"I believe you." The kid was looking at me like I was the second coming of Altair, "But it's obvious your grandpa doesn't. How about you tell us about the job, how you're gonna handle it, and maybe I'll convince the old man to let you go at it by yourself."
Have to give the kid credit, he actually knew what he was going to do.
He sat us down at one of the tables, told us how the job asked for someone to help deal with a group of rampaging Tlalulfs, magical wolf creatures that can generate electricity, and how since he could use lighting magic, he wasn't just equipped to handle the job, he was probably the only person in the entire guild who had the means to effectively combat these things. He had a spell that allowed him to move around like a lightning bolt, and he had the ability to absorb lightning without taking any damage. Honestly speaking, I didn't know how I would personally deal with the situation better than him, so I thought asking him more about his plan would help assuage Makarov's worries.
"You sound like you actually have it all figured out." 'There's money in the bank and the women all about~'
"Thank you. I'm glad someone actually trust me to handle things by myself." Yeah, you could tell something was going on between the two of them, and I wasn't going to get anywhere near that.
"Just one quick question before we let you go," I took hold of the conversation quickly, "how are you going to stop them? If they use lightning like you do, they probably have a resistance to it like you do."
He raised his finger to answer, and stayed silent. If the issue of how he could handle that part of the job brought him up short, then maybe he really had no idea what to do.
"Then it's settled, you'll go along with him."
"Not really." My words struck Makarov this time, was there something about Dreyar DNA that made them respond to any simple statement with surprise? "The kid is better equipped to handle these things than I am, and I don't think having someone who'd effectively be dead weight if they get hit once is going to be the thing he needs. So long as he has a way to deal with these things on his own, he should do the mission by himself. There's going to be a bunch of one-man jobs in the career of any wizard, and if they need someone to hold their hand every time a problem shows up, they'll never grow. Just make sure he has a plan to handle the situation, a few more in case the first one doesn't work, which it usually won't, and send him on his way."
Both Dreyar men, well man and boy, gave me annoyed looks, mostly because one couldn't deny my words about growth, and the other didn't want to admit that he needed help.
"What if… you look into why these creatures are running amok?"
"What do you mean?" Asked the young man.
"Okay. Let's break this whole thing down. What do you know about these Tlalulfs?"
"Well," Laxus began. "they're territorial, pack animals; they settle down in a place, usually a cave near a mountain range, and only hunt near their dens, mostly to keep their area safe. They don't really go anywhere near villages or towns, like most magical creatures, out of fear that they'll be hunted down. They usually hunt in packs, and their prey is almost always an earth-based creature, like Mud-Wyverns or Stalasauri. The few times they're seen or observed, they keep their distance from humans."
"Alright. Why are they rampaging near a town?"
"I…don't actually know, the job description only mentioned that they were rampaging outside some towns near the coast, which doesn't make any sense now that I think about it."
"I see. Hey, guild master, do we have any maps of Fiore?"
After a confirmation from Makarov that we did have some maps, the old man bid us wait while he got up to get one from his office while took the opportunity to talk Laxus one-on-one.
"Listen Laxus. I know you probably could handle this on your own, and I honestly would rather not have to tag along with someone, but if you do need help with this thing, I'd be willing to help you out a bit. Not saying I'm gonna come with, but I'd be down to talk plans and strategies with you." Laxus didn't seem too happy with my words, guessing he wasn't a fan of being talked down to, but he did give me a nod, so, yay for small victories I guess.
We spent the few minutes waiting for Makarov to come back discussing reasons as to why the things might be going around bothering towns and rampaging so far away from their natural habitat, and once Makarov came back, I was glad to say that I was actually enjoying the conversation.
Turns out Laxus was eleven years old, not twelve like I first thought, but he's been trained by his father and grandfather on how to handle the mage life, and while it made me uncomfortable to think of an eleven-year-old kid as being competent, there really was no denying that he was. The one time I wasn't too unhappy that someone in this world received child-soldier training.
Once we had the map in front of us, and started looking for the town of Sakuramori, which was close enough to the Phoenix Mountains in the west of Fiore to warrant having any Tlalulfs near it, we started thinking about the reason they were there.
"What if they were displaced?" Laxus's question actually made sense; a territorial creature wouldn't leave its place of residence without being provoked.
"If that were the case, then they would have to be displaced either due to something else moving into their territory, which they wouldn't leave without a fight, leaving them dead if they lost, or a natural disaster that changed the landscape, and I haven't heard of anything as such happening near the area." Makarov replied.
"They could be looking for something; pack animals protect each other, I think, and would go around looking for one of their own, like a pup or something, if it was separated from the group. If there are any rumours of hunters going near the area or there's been an attempt at auctioning one of the creatures near the area it'd make sense for the rest of the pack to go looking for it." This kid was on a roll.
"That seems more likely, but until someone gets there and investigates the reason for their behaviour, we can't tell for sure." Makarov again found fault within Laxus's line of thinking.
"Moving on from this little point," I began. "let's go back to the topic of dealing with them. I personally wouldn't know how to put these things down if I came across one of them, let alone a whole pack. Laxus would have a better time dealing with them, but he still needs to figure out a way to fight these things at an advantage."
"I could fight them near a body of water." We both turned to the kid, waiting for him to elaborate. "Tlalulfs are notorious for not going anywhere near a body of water because it messes with their ability to produce electricity, severely weaking them. I don't have that problem. If their near the coast, I could probably lure them out to an area where there's a large enough body of water for me to fight them in, even too much humidity is enough to weaken them. I can just take 'em down physically after that."
I didn't have anything to refute him, and neither did Makarov.
"Since neither of us actually have any better ideas, I think you're good to go kid." Makarov didn't look too happy with my words, but after failing to come up with something on his own, he finally conceded that Laxus was most likely capable of handling this by himself.
As Laxus got up to go on his way, I stopped him to give him one last piece of advice.
"Hey kid!" Turning to look in my direction, Laxus kept silent and listened to what I had to say.
"There's a magic item shop near the station. I did a job there a while go to identify some items and there were a bunch of stuff that let you manipulate water. I know a lot of mages, probably all of us, don't like relying on magic items or think that our magic is the end all be all of handling any issue we come across, but it wouldn't hurt to have something on hand in case of emergency. Just tell Ms. Barker I sent you and she should give you a good discount. At least I hope she would."
Laxus didn't seem too happy with the implication that his magic wasn't good enough to deal with the problem, I swear this kid either hates conversations or has a resting bitch face, but he said that he'd have a look at the place, and that was honestly the best I could hope for.
Going back to the board to pick out a job, I was interrupted by Makarov asking me to meet him in his office.
Taking the stairs, I was treated to the second floor of Fairy Tail, a place I was notified upon joining was off limits to anyone who wasn't an S-Class mage, someone that proved they were capable of handling the most dangerous missions. As far as I was aware, there were only three S-Class mage in Fairy Tail, if you didn't count the master, and they were almost always off doing high class missions.
Moving to the back of the floor, I walked into Makarov's office, which looked far too simple and quaint for someone who was supposed to be running a magic guild.
'Why the hell would his office be in a place where only certain members of the guild would be able to access? Is it intentional?' My train of thought was cut off as Makarov began speaking.
"I would like to start this conversation by apologizing to you, Edward."
"Because you were lying about why you wanted me to go with Laxus on the mission?" I asked.
"H-How… did you know?"
"I have my ways. You were saying?"
"Well, yes, I did lie, but I need you to know a few things." And Makarov began with the tale of the Dreyar family.
"A while ago, before you joined the guild, my son and Laxus's father, Ivan, was excommunicated from Fairy Tail due to breaking some of our rules. What he did wasn't exactly illegal, but it skirted the lines of legality enough to be an issue with the magic council, and was morally reprehensible enough for me, his father, to kick him out. I…don't know, maybe I could have done things differently, but I made my decision and, for better or worse, I will stick to it."
"I'm guessing Laxus wasn't too happy being kept in the dark on why his dad was kicked out?"
"No." He chuckled. "He most certainly was not. Worse yet, I chose not to explain myself to him, which has left him feeling angry with me for both decisions. I fear he's losing sight of what it means to be a member of Fairy Tail."
"The whole family thing you talked about?" I asked.
"Yes. Fairy Tail's strength is not its powerful mages, nor its history. Fairy Tail, above all else, was a guild founded on the ideals of love and camaraderie. Friendship and a family, that is what everyone is supposed to find in our guild, yet Laxus's behaviour these past few months has been growing increasingly hostile to these beliefs. I fea-"
"Let me cut you off there chief. The decision of kicking your kid out, did you make that decision as a father or a guild master?"
"I suppose since I was acting with my authority as guild master, I would say the latter."
"And the decision not to tell Laxus?"
"I…" Makarov had nothing to say, which I suppose was answer enough.
"I don't have kids or grandkids, so I don't know what you're supposed to do, but if I was in Laxus's shoes, I would like some closure, so maybe tell the kid? That being said, what you need to do, what you have to do, is choose how you want to treat Laxus; he's either your grandson or one of your subordinates, but he can't be both. You made your choices with your son, and if not knowing things is negatively impacting Laxus, then maybe he would benefit from the truth."
Makarov got quiet and began staring out the window of his office, probably seeing some of his demons. You don't get to that age without having some regrets.
"Perhaps you are right, my boy. When he returns, I will take Laxus aside and have this conversation with him. On an unrelated note, this arrived with your name on it." Makarov handed me an envelope which, when I opened it, contained a job request that was sent specifically to me.
Mr. Wilhelm
Greetings and salutations. My name is Egbert Van Nistelrooy the II, I am an archaeologist in the employ of the Fioren crown, and I have need of your skills for an undertaking of great import.
We recently uncovered some ruins that we believe may be related to the First Trade War, an ancient conflict that affected the way of the world for centuries thereafter, and was one of the catalysts for the creation of the magic council. We believe that, with your ability to identify magical items, we could somehow uncover much of the history that we lost to time.
You may be confused as to how I came to learn of your abilities; I am distantly related to one Ms. Jean Barker, the curator and seller of magical items in the town of Magnolia. I had enquired from her about someone who would be fitting for the job of helping my expedition, and your name came up more than once in our correspondences. It is safe to say that you have impressed my cousin with your prowess, and I am excited to meet the man who 'Treated the job like a walk in the park.', as she put it.
Kindly find in this envelope a map of the expedition's meeting location, a pinging lacrima, and some recommendations for books that detail what is known of the history surrounding the war period. It is my belief that, with your assistance, we could possibly come to know more about, not only the world we live in, but some lost and ancient magics as well.
Needless to say, you will be very well compensated for your time; we are willing to offer 5,000 JL a day, as well as a bonus of 25,000 to 50,000 JL for any items you find and help identify. We would also be willing to grant you some copies of any tomes we find, granted that we be given the time to create the copies first.
Please use the pinging Lacrima in the envelope to notify us of your acceptance of the job. If a period of two weeks is to pass without us receiving any confirmation, we will consider it a refusal of the job and attempt to find another mage with the same set of skills.
Kind regards,
Egbert Van Nistelrooy the II
Head researcher of ancient histories and civilizations of the Royal Archaeology Fund.
Well, well, well. It seems I am gaining a bit of a reputation.
I decided to have a conversation with Makarov about the job, as I wasn't exactly the dungeon delving, lasso swinging, adrenaline junky Indiana jones was, but the money was really good, and I was guessing there would be a good amount of XP coming with the job.
"I can't say that I know much about them either, son. From what little understanding I have of the subject, and what little I've heard about them from other mages who partook in such expeditions, they tend to be standard guard jobs, lasting anywhere from months to a few years. People, collectors in particular, try their best to get their hands on any relic relating to ancient history, if not for the money selling these items would bring them then for the simple joy of having one. Most governments prefer to keep such items within close proximity in order to utilize them for the sake of politics; many a leader has used such relics as crowns of bygone kings or original copies of historically important decrees as a way to better their standing with the general populace. It is only on the rare occasion that such items are held in museums instead of national vaults. I have never personally met a mage who was requested to partake in the mission as a researcher, though. I would personally recommend you take this job, as it would be a good chance for you to both expand your understanding of such subjects, as well as a way for you to learn how to perform similar tasks in the future. My only desire is for you to buy a communications lacrima."
"No clue what that is, sir." I replied.
"Lacrimas are devices which store magic and have special engravings carved into them in order to utilize the stored magic for a multitude of purposes. Communications larimas allow you to communicate with others over long distances so long as you know the person you are trying to contact, and they have a communications lacrima of their own. I have no idea how this job is going to treat you, and would like you to have the ability to contact me should something go wrong."
After discussing a few more things about the job, a long spiel about properly representing the guild in the best image possible, and some inquiries about the master of any book shops nearby, I decided to go ahead and take the job.
[Hidden Quest {Ancient History} Accepted!]
[Congratulations! You have come across a hidden quest.]
[Hidden Quests are missions which are not readily accessible, and can only be encountered as you progress through the world. Completing missions, as well as gaining renown throughout the world, may have you stumbling along hidden quests, or even have you be requested to partake in them.]
[Though difficult to find, these missions offer great rewards and are recommended for you to take. These missions will usually have multiple objectives for you to complete, some of which may not be revealed to you, and may even end in horrible failure.]
Well, that's not ominous at all, but in for a penny, in for a pound, I guess.
Properly motivated to not screw this up, I got myself over to Ms. Barker's shop to have a quick look over some items that could help me with my mission, and after some browsing, I walked out of the shop 70,000 JL poorer but with a lot of things that I reckon were worth it.
All-Seeing Glasses:
These magical glasses allow you to comprehend any language you attempt to read and grant you the ability to see in the dark.
#Note#: These glasses can only translate any language installed within their database, and may not be able to translate lost or unknown languages.
Communications Lacrima:
This magical card-like device allows you to contact anyone who holds an item with a similar purpose, so long as you know their name and they pick up your call.
Enchanted Sword:
A steel sword enchanted to never rust or break.
#Note#: The enchantments/sword may not hold if enough magic and/or damage is applied to the sword.
Feather-step Dress Shoes:
These magical dress shoes make your steps light as a feather, noticeably reducing noise and increasing your stealth capabilities. They have the added benefit of stopping you from triggering weighted traps whenever you step over them. They are also very snazzy and make you look dapper.
#Note#: The dress shoes will have little effect on your appearance if you are ugly or have terrible taste in fashion.
With my new and nifty magical items acquired, I headed to a bookshop to buy some history books, and was on my way.
Though many nations, countries, empires, and organizations can trace their founding to the end of the First Trade War, not many records exist detailing the war itself. What little was uncovered about the war was due to a small number of surviving records and some odd tidbits here and there speaking about its events.
Sometime during the end of the fourth century of the third millennia in recorded history, a war broke out between a number of feudal lords and many people from various locations across the continent. It is believed, though not completely confirmed, that a number of rebellions erupted in some countries, and while other fiefdoms and kingdoms did not experience the same events, many sought to take advantage of the chaos and attempt to gain more power, freedom, land, and or wealth.
Years of fighting and hundreds of thousands of casualties and deaths later, many ruling bodies came together to sign the Ishgar Peace Accords, a collection of laws, rules, and regulations surrounding all matters related to war and warfare between the nations of Ishgar. The inclusion of laws addressing mages and the use of magic in combat implies that mages were involved in the war, though it is unknown to what degree.
Many countries were established during this time, the kingdom of Fiore being one of them, and though a second war broke out almost two centuries following the first, many still claim that the idea of a war on a continental scale breaking out is something unlikely to occur, the fact that two wars were held in the entirety of the continent's recorded history of the third era being a point in favour of this argument.
Sadly, due to the lack of information we have, we as historians and academics are unable to study the reason behind the wars occurring, and those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.
The book, a History Of The Trade Wars: Fioren Perspective, was a surprisingly interesting read, if a little hypothetical. Much of the book wasn't much different from the page I just got done reading, a bunch of speculative guesses and theories based on old records and correspondences, but it did help paint a picture of what it was I was getting myself involved with.
Though the real kicker was the hidden gem I found reading through the book.
[Magic requirements achieved]
[Mind requirements achieved]
[Prowess requirements achieved]
[Class requirements achieved]
[Level requirements achieved]
[Spell learnt!]
Mending: Active:
You can fix damaged items using magic. The damage can be anything from wear and tear to a complete break. Your ability to fix the item and the cost of the spell are dependent on the damage, the item you are attempting to mend, your Mind, Magic, and Prowess.
#Note#: Magical items that lost their enchantments and or magic do not regain them when fixed.
Apparently, I had the ability to learn magics from reading about them, which makes me wonder how many things I didn't learn when I read the other books. I remember a bestiary mentioned a hunter that used some type of tracking spell, but I didn't learn it even with the lengthy description. Considering it mentioned Magic, Mind, Prowess, Class, and Level, that probably means that either one of my stats wasn't high enough for me to learn the spell, or I didn't have the right Class to learn it. Hell, Body probably affects that as well, since some spells affect physical aspects of the mage using them.
Hearing the voice of the conductor through the speakers notify the train that we were about to reach Crocus, the capital of Fiore, I got my stuff together and got a move on.
The instructions I received were pretty simple; get to Crocus and meet with the expedition team at the Holiday Hotel.
I could probably go on and on about the city, but the only real difference I could see between it and Magnolia was that Crocus was slightly larger and had more commercial stores rather than family run and owned shops. Ah~ the beauty of capitalism.
Arriving at the hotel, I walked towards the receptionist's desk and, informing them of who I was, was directed to a small, off-to-the-side meeting room.
Walking in, I spotted what had to have been ten or so people, one of whom was an older blonde man with green eyes dressed in what I imagine a rich man would consider proper archaeology attire to be.
"And how may I help you, young man?"
"Hey, I'm Edward. I'm here about the expedition."
"You are Edward Wilhelm?" The man's reaction to my face reveal was the stuff of a YouTuber's wet dream, "Do forgive me for my reaction, young man, but I was not expecting you to be a teenager." that made sense since his letter specified the word 'Man' and I looked like some dumb teenager, and while the latter assumption may be correct, because I was a teenager, my Mind stat clearly showed the former was not.
"Yeah, I'm Edward. Guessing you wanna see my ability to identify stuff in action before we get to the paperwork?"
With some hesitation, he finally got around to getting some stuff for me, which were whatever he had laying around. Eventually, I had a magic ring, an old, weathered book, and a broken staff.
"The ring is magical and lets you emit a light much like a lantern would, with the added benefit of giving you the ability to change the color of the light. The book is an ancient text that talks about trade deals between… Panul and Zenadovia. The staff is a weapon that lets you fire magical missiles over very long distances, around 1,500 to 2,500 feet. Also, I don't know how important this might be, but I can use telekinesis; I can use magic to levitate and move objects. I can also use magic to fix broken items, but anything more than a stick that's broken in half or the equivalent to that is probably beyond my current skill."
There was a pause in the conversation after my little speech, and I'm pretty sure he must have either had an orgasm or a mental break down.
"Well…I must admit, you are as impressive as Jane said. I'm gladdened to know that my trust in her judgment was not a mistake. Also, apologies for not introducing myself earlier, I am Egbert, head of this ragtag group of ours, and these are my men, they are fellow experts and historians who will be accompanying us." The men gave their hellos before going back to their books and notes and maps, no doubt planning the expedition.
"Excuse me my question be it unwelcomed, how exactly does your spell work? I understand most mages aren't comfortable discussing their magic in depth with strangers, but you are not making any hand movements or gestures, and I see no magic circles. Do you have some sort of item that allows you to identify objects?"
"It's…rather difficult to explain really." 'Mostly because I don't know either.'
After a few seconds gathering my thoughts, I was able to remember something.
"Are you familiar with the term 'Psychometry'?"
And with a shake of his head telling me that, no, he wasn't familiar with a random, fake, hocus pocus magician's trick, I played it up.
"Like I said, it's not easy to explain, mostly because it's less of a spell and more a… type of perception that involves gaining knowledge about an object by making physical contact with it, or at least being within a certain distance of it. As for how I came about acquiring it, can't really say I have any idea; my magic mostly involves me using my energy as it is, rather than converting it into an element or channelling it to use a spell. The whole identification thing was just something I innately knew how to do."
My explanation was a modified version of a concept I remembered from my old life, and it was good enough for the man who nodded his head in understanding and thanked me for my willingness to share my secrets so readily.
[Magic requirements achieved]
[Mind requirements achieved]
[Prowess requirements achieved]
[Class requirements achieved]
[The spell [Psychometry] has been successfully created!]
…what?
Quickly going through my Skills menu, I found the spell I just came up with.
Psychometry: Active: (Level 1)
This ability grants you information about any item you touch. The amount of information revealed depends on the spell's level, Magic, and Mind.
I can create spells. That really changes everything. I mean, what are the limits here; Mending had a Class requirement, but this spell didn't, and it didn't even require me to read a description, or be told what it does, just enough information on my end and some help from my Stats and I had a brand-new spell that would prove to be very useful on the expedition. Going back to the hunting spell I read once before, I started thinking about how nothing came up informing me that I failed any checks to learn it, meaning that whatever factors were taken into account when learning a spell were not something I had to be aware of, just something I had to be able to achieve.
'What are the limits? I can use telekinesis, surely that means that, with enough points in the right Stats, I would be able to levitate and move my own body. Should probably test it out sometime. What's the limit on what I can control? Can I move things other than objects, like, for example, atoms? There's most likely a skill curve on what I can do, which would be fixed with points in Prowess, maybe Magic and Mind as well, but who's to say Body isn't just as important for being able to deal with the physical pressure using magic in these ways would have on my brain? Is my brain affected? This is magic, not psionics, so it probably not, but I can't say for sure until I learn more about all the different types of magic in the world. I should look into the system itself a bit more as well, and should probably get around to buying some Perks, I had four points saved up so I can probably get something good.'
My little introspective rant about the future was cut short as Egbert, now a little less worried about having a teenager around for, no doubt, his big breakthrough, came back from…somewhere with a contract.
"As you can see here, here, and here, the contract details what will be expected of you, including, but not limited to, identifying any object you are able to, assisting the team with the carrying and moving of anything we might need your help with, protection against any creatures that might be near the site, and some clauses about secrecy and privacy to ensure you don't sell the information we come across or discover to someone until at least ten years following the expedition's start, reduced to one year after its end, and removed entirely in the case that you are requested to share information about the details of the expedition and the discoveries made throughout it by the Royal Archaeology Fund, or any bodies of government in Fiore." How he was able to say all of that with one breath was the most magical thing I had ever laid eyes upon.
"Furthermore," He continued, somehow. "these parts of the contract detail the items you'll be expected to come across and or identify, as well as how much any of them will net you in terms of monetary gain, as well as the cost and process we might go through in order to provide copies of any magical books, tomes, codices, or grimoires we come across in the case you are interested in them. I should also mention that there are insurance policies and caveats that are detailed in the contract. I know it may seem a tad frightful, to sign up for a job when you don't know how it's going to go or how long it'll last, but I urge you to joins us, if not for the rewards then at least for the joy of discovering unknown histories and uncovering the truth."
His choice of words was a little off putting if I was completely honest with myself, but considering all the rewards I was being offered, it was hard to turn it down. After taking my sweet time reading through the whole contract multiple times, and asking him directly some questions about the job while checking with my ring to see if he was lying, I was almost a hundred percent sure that he wasn't trying to abduct me and sell my organs. Signing the contract, I was officially part of the expedition.
[Mission Objective {Join the expedition} Complete! +5,000XP!]
[5,000*0.017 = 85 XP Prowess Bonus!]
[Level UP!]
'Woohoo! Now, time to have a look at my Stats.'
Name: Edward Wilhelm
Age: 15
Title: N/A
Current Class: Arcane Wizard (Level 10/100)
Level: 10 (1,934/50,000) [Notice: Level cap changed to a static 50,000]
HP: 900/900
EP: 1,000/1,000
Body: 9
Mind: 10
Magic:10
Prowess: 18
Luck: 25
Points: 5
Perk points: 5
With my new discoveries in the ways of the system, I decided to hold off on the usual point distribution, Luck being at 25 was solid enough for me at the moment, especially considering I haven't felt its effectiveness so far. Prowess would be getting 2 points now, and an extra point would be going into both Mind and Magic each.
Name: Edward Wilhelm
Age: 15
Title: N/A
Current Class: Arcane Wizard (Level 10/100)
Level: 10 (1,934/50,000) [Notice: Level cap changed to a static 50,000]
HP: 1,000/1,000
EP: 1,000/1,000
Body: 10
Mind: 11
Magic:11
Prowess: 20
Luck: 25
Points: 0
Perk points: 5
After admiring my Stats for a few seconds, and being unreasonably happy with the fact that I now had a static Level Cap to deal with instead of the constant doubling in XP, I moved on to the Perks menu to see what I could buy, which…wasn't much. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of Perks, many of them very useful, and many more of them I wanted even though they didn't have that many benefits in the long run, but my points being at 5 now meant I could only buy one or two of the ones I really wanted. There was a Perk that increased leveling speed by doubling the XP boost I got from Prowess, but it cost such an unreasonable amount of points, and honestly, by the time I reached a high enough level to get it, I would probably have enough points in Prowess to make it redundant.
What I wanted, what I needed, were passive bonuses that made me stronger, or increased how quickly I got stronger, and out of everything I had in front of me, I narrowed down to seven choices.
MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO: (Cost: Three (3) Points)
A sound mind needs a healthy body, and vice versa. Gain one (1) point in Body for each point you spend to increase Mind, and gain one (1) point in Mind for each point you spend to increase Body.
THE SECRETS OF MANA ARE MINE: (Cost: Three (3) Points)
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, and in the land of mages, he who understands the magic rules. Gain one (1) point in Magic every time you level up.
MASTER OF ALL TRADES, JACK OF NONE: (Cost: Three (3) Points)
A jack of all trades is often better than a master of one, though a master of all is unmatched. Gain one (1) point in Prowess every time you level up.
THE MOUNTAIN THAT BREATHES: (Cost: Two (2) Points)
They will put you down eventually, but it won't be easy. Double the HP multiplier from a times ten (10) to a times twenty (20) for every point you have in Body.
DEPTHLESS OCEAN: (Cost: Two (2) Points)
The ocean will run dry before your magic does. Double the EP multiplier from a times ten (10) to a times twenty (20) for every point you have in Magic.
KNOW THY ENEMY: (Cost: One (1) Point): Prerequisite: Have the ability [Observe]:
Knowing is half the battle, and what better way to know your enemies than to know what they can do. Casting [Observe] on a target reveals their abilities and weaknesses.
ARCANE ARTIST: (Cost: One (1) Point): Prerequisite: Have the Class [Arcane Wizard]:
To a student of the arcane arts, the words 'Be All That You Can Be' hold a lot of weight. All Spells associated with the [Arcane Wizard] Class have their cost and learning requirements reduced by half.
Two things that I hated about making these choices, one; I was afraid that I would regret one of my choices, and two; the whole 'Prerequisites' thing.
Most of other Perks didn't show anything similar, and the few that did, like having a certain Class or having enough points in a Stat were things I already met the criteria for having, meaning, much like the spells, I wasn't made of aware of what I needed to do to unlock them. There were probably hundreds of Perks that would be of great benefit to me and I didn't have the slightest clue about their existence. It just didn't make sense.
\"Perhaps I can help with that"/
The voice in my head was one I heard before, almost five months ago, and it wasn't one I had the fondest experience with.
\"Now that is simply hurtful, and not something I can blame you for"/
\"That being said, allow to shed some light on the matter at hand"/
\"Let us say that you were made aware of the things I made sure the system won't reveal to you, what would you do? You would, undoubtedly, keep making choices with the objective of going down a certain path in mind, and while I can't fault you your desire to do what you want, I have brought you here because I wanted you to have fun, not to spend all your time suffering from tunnel-vision as you follow a single path."/
'You're under the impression that I won't have fun doing that.' I said, in my mind, addressing God.
\"Hyper fixating on something is not fun for anyone, especially when you take how unhappy they become when they fail into account. This whole new life was gifted because I watched you squander away any attempt to socialize or spend your time with a hobby because all you could do, all you could think about, was what step you had to take and what obstacle you had to overcome in order to reach your goals, and for what? A decent job? A better future? A good Yu-Gi-Oh pull? You have no idea what the future entails, what I have in store for your kind, mortal."/
'So why reveal Perks that I can't buy?"
\"To excite, to intrigue, and to remind you that though some things are hidden, what you know now is enough. You have no need for a billion choices when only a thousand are viable and only a hundred matter. You know you will grow older, but not what you will have done by that point. The mystery of the unknown is only enticing to a degree, after which it becomes annoying. I wish for you to grow and prosper, to learn and educate yourself, to have fun, and while I will make sure to give you knowledge of the paths you've chosen and where they may lead, I will not bother you with what you left behind at every corner."/
\"It may irk you, but I know that years from now, when you are older and wiser and your time comes, you will be happy having made the choices and done the things you wanted to do, not the things you should have done. And before you even finish conceiving the idea of how I would know, I am a God, mortal. I am the one who knows."/
And with that, the miniscule pressure in the back of mind was gone, and I was back to my choices.
Got to say, talking to God was most definitely not something I ever wanted to do again, mostly because it felt very demeaning, but it did shed some light on my situation, and it was something I needed to hear. I think. Maybe seeing a therapist would be better, but I'll take what I can get.
Eventually, I was able to psych myself up into actually picking something, and I went with the one that boosted my EP, and the one that increased my Prowess gain per level. Out of everything, they were the ones that would make a noticeable difference.
New powers, acquired. Points, spent. Contract, signed.
Me? Ready.
"Run!"
"Three more! Left!
"They're coming from the ceiling!"
I was not ready.
For a bit of context, the expedition was meant to work on a dig site north of mount Hakobe, putting us out of reach of any contact with civilization. What was assumed to be a burial site turned out to be an underground sunken castle. A castle, built underground, which then sunk even deeper underground.
The first two weeks of the trip were boring to say the least; we, that is to say, the mages of the group, hung around while the archaeologists were digging up relics. The most entertainment we got was everyone betting on what items I was going to identify.
It was during the second week that I was called deeper into one of the quarters to identify an item that was lodged so deeply into the ground that the team wanted to know if it was worth their time, when Godrick and Miria, security mages hired for the protection of the group, were suddenly knocked unconscious. A rune lit up, and observe helpfully informed me that it was a magical trap that drained magic from the richest sources available, which just so happened to be our two strongest people standing right on top of it, in order to summon guardians to protect the place.
Apparently, the castle belonged to a mage. The castle belonged to a powerful king mage. The castle belonged to an ancient, powerful, king who practiced necromancy.
With Godrick and Miria being carried by my telekinesis, me and Sonny, the third security mage, lead the rest of the team out and booked it to the exit, a short thirty-minute walk up three different sets of stairs.
"Dear God! One of you do something."
Thankfully, the undead were mostly low-level abominations that were taken out with one or two hits of my Bullets spell, but the sheer amount of them was staggering and unless we found a magical exit we were good as dead.
"Over there! The war-room! We can lock the doors and hold our ground."
I followed Sonny's words without thought and threw the unconscious bodies of my comrades into the room before I turned around and started blasting anything that wasn't alive for the last year.
With the last person passing the door, I got myself into the room.
The war-room was a massive chamber, it held a round table in the centre large enough to seat at least fifty people. It would have been a sight to behold were it not for our current situation.
For some reason, once we locked the doors of the chamber the creatures stopped their onslaught, and no one cared enough to ask why due to the sheer relief we were all feeling.
"Edward, how are you looking on magic?"
EP: 342/2,000
"Bad. Around a tenth of the tank left in me. You?"
"Same. We need to wake the others, we can't get out of here with just the two of us holding those things off, and the civilians won't do shit."
As I moved over to check on the others, a quick Observe told me they were out of magic.
"They're magical reserves are drained, we can't do anything until they wake up. As long as those things don't come in here we should be ok. Let's just take a moment to breathe, we'll try to move again once we we're rested enough to push through."
Sonny didn't have a better idea, so we just settled down on a couple of the empty chairs around the table and sat in waiting. My regeneration rate for EP was a tenth of my reserves an hour, so the longer we waited the better.
From there, everyone just got quiet; the archaeologists were all either muttering to themselves or crying in one of the corners of the room, and it hit me just now that this was not something they were prepared for.
"Sad isn't it? These people made so many sacrifices to be here, spent years of their life studying and working to be picked as one of the 'lucky' few who would end up joining this mission, and some of them are most likely going to die down here."
Sonny's words weren't wrong, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. Or ears, rather. I was hired for the protection of these people, me and the other mages, and when things turned to shit we ran. I knew there was nothing to be done, sometimes life just likes to hit you with a problem you can't handle, and the fact we got everyone up to this point was nothing short of a miracle, but it felt wrong to be so weak, so unprepared.
"Nothing we can do about it now but wait and see what happens. Godrick and Miria will wake up, eventually, and we'll have enough magic in us to go out there again." My words reached the ears of Maynard, one of the archaeologists, who turned towards me and started shouting at me.
"We are not going anywhere! This is the only safe place in this god forsaken dungeon, and we are staying put until someone comes for us!"
"Brother," Sonny addressed him. "the four of us are the ones meant to come get you if something happens. Sure, we weren't expecting something like this, but considering you're all alive, and will get out of this place, I suggest you don't antagonize the people who'll make sure you see the light of day again by shouting at them."
Maynard was taken aback by the sheer strength in Sonny's voice, and so was I to be honest, but he knew better than to say or do something stupid, so he just settled for glaring.
"A little harsh don't you think? He's just afraid."
"So am I Edward. No one walks away from a horde of undead unshaken."
Things got quiet after that, and for two hours I just sat around waiting for the other shoe to drop, because I killed a lot of those things and I received no notification for XP gain, meaning the fight wasn't over.
"Good morning everyone." Godrick's voice was a godsend to my ears, and turning around I could see that Miria was starting to wake up as well.
"Godrick! Miria! You two have no idea the hell me and the kid had to drag you through."
As the two of them started being aware of their surroundings, me and Sonny regaled them with the story of how we got up to this point.
"That doesn't sound too good." Said Godrick.
Godrick was a muscle bound, mountain of a man. Tall enough to have to bend at an absurd angle to walk through most doors, and bald enough that one could be blinded by the reflection of the sun off his scalp. He was an enhancer; a mage who could enhance and strengthen different aspects of his physique, making him a tank.
"I got through worse."
Miria, in comparison to Godrick, was tiny. She was maybe five foot one, on a good day, and had shoulder length purple hair and brown eyes. A fire mage who had none of the usual aggression and enthusiasm commonly found in practitioners of the art. She was calm and collected at all times, and her fire magic would be the most useful weapon in our arsenal against the undead.
"So did I sister, but that is no excuse to not take this matter seriously, you've both been knocked unconscious once, we can't afford for either of you to go out again, especially since we have no idea what's waiting for us on the other side of that door."
Sonny was a short guy, and contrary to his name, he was the oldest person around, fifty something years old, at least. He looked so similar to Danny DeVito that I had to look over his name more than once to make sure it wasn't him. He used conjuration magic that let him summon weapons to use in combat.
"So what's the plan?" I asked, hoping one of the older members of the group would say something.
"There isn't one." came Godrick's reply. "We're out of magic, have no idea how many enemies we're going up against, and are very tired. We wait for our magic to regenerate and then go for another push. The closest thing we have to a plan is to ask one the nerds over there about other rooms like this one where we can seal off the entrance and go through this all over again."
Exchanging ideas and planning a route through ruins back to the entrance, I shared my findings with the team.
"After you two went down, I quickly looked over the rune that was activated. As far as I can tell, the spell was meant to drain enough magic to summon the undead, but the numbers we met weren't enough to compensate for the amount of magic the two of you lost."
"You're saying there's even more of those things?" Miria asked.
"Not exactly; one of you could have summoned even more of those things, the two of you combined? There should've been thousands of the fuckers, and a lot stronger ones at that. I'm guessing there was a main target, a phylactery or storage unit to store or supply the magic necessary for the spell to function, something that holds most of the magical power that you guys lost. If we find whatever that is and destroy it, we should be able to stop whatever the hell is going on. If the grave robbers over here know the layout of the place, they could probably direct at us to a room or hall that looks like a place for something big to be."
The others looked doubtful of my words, and even though it was mostly me spouting random bullshit, it was the closest thing we had to a working hypothesis on how to solve this problem.
"So me, Godrick, and Miria go looking for this storage while the kid stays behind to keep an eye on the team."
"Are you fucking stupid or something?" The sheer incredulity in my voice caused all three of them to turn to me, "We have been tasked with the safety of the expedition, they-" I pointed to the archaeologists. "-are the priority, their safety comes first and foremost, and we don't consider anything other than getting them out of here. Yes, we do have a responsibility as mages, with varying degrees of experience, to handle the issue of an undead uprising, but the civilians don't. We catch our breath, get them to the surface, make sure they leave safely, somehow contact the Rune Knights to surround the area and ensure a parameter is set up. We can and should stay behind after the civilians leave to make sure nothing dangerous leaves the ruins, but only when the civilians are safe."
The three of them started giving each other looks, ones that said -'I'm not happy with running away and not picking a fight with the first thing I see, but he's right.'- and a few minutes later cooler heads prevailed, and we walked back to the others to coordinate our escape.
Which was actually laughably easy. Turns out, when you have someone leading you directly to the exit, and a fire mage like Miria awake, aware, and above all else, angry, walking through undead infested ruins becomes less of a hassle and more of a leisurely stroll.
Thirty gruelling minutes of walking later, we found ourselves kissed by the sun's rays as we finally got out of the damned place. The moment we reached the surface, we began the actually very difficult task of convincing the Civilians to leave the area…Sonny did that, Miria and Godrick just watched the entrance to the ruins while I contacted the local Rune Knights branch and informed them of an undead uprising right in their backyard, which they took very seriously and replied that they'll send a team to our location ASAP. And, finally, the system decided to take some pity on me.
['Ancient History' Job Complete! 250,000XP!]
[250,000*0.02= 5,000XP Prowess Bonus!]
[Bonus!]
[Congratulations!]
[For clearing 10 levels, you will be granted a new class specific ability!]
[You have received the spell 'Energy Shield'!]
Energy Shield: Active: (Level 1)
You can manifest and control a shield of arcane energy in whichever direction you wish. Shield durability depends on level, Magic, and Prowess.
That's…a lot of stuff.
'Stats.'
Name: Edward Wilhelm
Age: 15
Title: N/A
Current Class: Arcane Wizard (Level 15/100)
Level: 15 (6,934/50,000)
HP: 1,000/1,000
EP: 3,200/3,200
Body: 10
Mind: 16
Magic:16
Prowess: 30
Luck: 25
Points: 10
Perk Points: 5 [Notice: Perk Point counter added!]
I decided to use my time waiting for the Rune Knights to arrive spending my newly acquired Perk Points and Stat Points, grabbing the MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO Perk to gain even more points and THE MOUNTAIN THAT BREATHES so I would keep an even greater distance between me and death. I then put four points into Mind and Magic each, and threw the last two Luck's way.
Name: Edward Wilhelm
Age: 15
Title: N/A
Current Class: Arcane Wizard (Level 15/100)
Level: 15 (6,934/50,000)
HP: 2,800/2,800
EP: 4,000/4,000
Body: 14
Mind: 20
Magic: 20
Prowess: 30
Luck: 27
Points: 0
Perk Points: 0
'Pretty nice, pretty nii-oh. Ooohh. I fucked up.' The realization of my mistake hit me like a freight train; I wasn't putting points in Prowess. Don't get me wrong, the other Stats are valuable, but I just realized that 250,000XP only got me five Levels. Five. If the XP cap actually stays static through the whole thing to Level 100, then I'll need something like…a lot of jobs, and without the Prowess XP Bonus I get at the end of a job going up to a respectable level, I'm going to need anywhere between three to four years to get to Level 100 and gain access to a different Class. And that's if the cap remains as it is.
With my inner existential boredom crisis handled and a decision to start power levelling and grind like hell made, I sat by the other members of my team while we waited for the Rune Knights to show up, and boy did they show up. I think they don't really know what the word 'team' means considering they sent at least a hundred or so soldiers armed to the fucking teeth.
"Greetings, mages. My name is Lieutenant Colonel Takamura Buchi, leader of the Containing Undead Threats Team, or C.U.T.T for short. What's the situation?"
"Well, sir," I began. "we don't really know. We stumbled on some kinda rune matrix, seal thingy that siphoned the magic from two of the four of us to the point of complete unconsciousness, and the magic was used to animate an amount of undead between three to four hundred, and that's all we saw. I'm working off the theory that the magic has, A; not dried up, and B; was not meant to be used in that way."
"Elaborate."
"So, these ruins?" I pointed at the entrance. "We don't actually know what they are. We have no idea if it was a castle or a fort or anything in between, and there's a lot of stuff that could fit in between. There's also the fact that it is old, old enough that more than likely, most of the undead we had to rush past weren't from the same time period; it wouldn't make sense to have that many people in the place, regardless of it's original, intended purpose. I studied the trap very quickly and gathered that it was meant to summon guardians to protect the place. Random run of the mill undead don't really strike me as being the cutting edge of home security, and that there is, or at least was, something much bigger and stronger that we were supposed to come across."
"…I really hope you're wrong on this one, kid." Supplied the ever dower and nasty-looking Godrick, who is also a poopy head.
The lieutenant seemed to be contemplating my words, and after a few minutes of silence, he began explaining that I was more than likely correct, but it didn't matter.
"My team and I have handled a few such threats before, and most of the time, the problem is that some ruler wanted to use the bodies of dead soldiers and ancestors to protect their keep. The only time that wasn't the case was when we encountered one of these threats in ruins such as these, and it had been a latent magic mishap, most likely the same one that caused the downfall of this building and everyone in it. The fact that you survived your magic being stripped from you more than likely implies that the whole plan was as simple as 'Create a trap for intruders using my own magic.', thought up by whatever idiot owned this place. The 'guardians' you're imagining the spell were meant to summon are most likely the corpses of warriors who walked these halls before, and if you didn't encounter any powerful undead, it most likely means whatever bodies there were in here have been entombed for so long that they decayed beyond the point of being reanimated."
"Now, while I'd like to simply thank you for making sure no one died and send you on your way, I'm afraid I have to ask that at least one of you, preferably the fire mage, to assist us in our endeavour to eradicate this problem; we would like as much help as we can get. We'd also like someone to guide us through the ruins to the location of the rune circle you described. You are under no obligation to acquiesce to my request, and if you choose to assist us, you will be both financially rewarded for your assistance as well as provided letters of recommendation in the likelihood that you choose to join the Rune Knights. What say you?"
Miria did not hesitate to accept the request, which didn't surprise any of us since she was raring to go around burning those things, but the rest of us were hesitating, each for our own reasons.
Mine was very simple; lack of XP.
The job was officially completed, I received my XP for completing the Hidden Quest, and yet I didn't receive any for killing the undead fodder, which never happened when I killed anything or anyone. Regardless of it being a job hunting a magical creature or apprehending mages, or even beating Cana in training, the System always rewarded me killing things, always, without a single issue.
It didn't happen today.
I received the XP for the job, and even then it didn't mention defeating the undead once, implying that the undead are, or wer- 'what's the correct form of grammar when discussing the deceased? Or are they undeceased, since they're undead? Were undead? Are they dead now?'- either way, they're unimportant enough that the System wouldn't consider them something worthy of rewarding me with XP for, or something else was afoot, and a part of me was screaming at me that something else was more than definitely afoot, possibly even aleg.
"Lieutenant, what is the typical undead like? Magically speaking."
The Lieutenant focused all of his attention on me, and seemed to ponder my question with silent intensity.
"It is…rather difficult to put into words. Are you familiar with the concept of the magical container?" He asked.
"You referring to the organ found in mages which absorbs Ethernano, the natural magical force particles in the world, from the air, stores it in the body, and allows mages to do magic?"
"Yes, though it isn't found only in mages. You see, from what our research department gathered studying undead threats, how the undead come to be is typically through a ritual which shoves the dead container with magic, forcing dead bodies to, I guess you could say, 'reawaken' from their death, creating lifeless golems that act based on the desires of the ritual caster. In the case that a ritual caster does not posses the ability to control the undead, they tend to behave less like living organisms and more like a virus, simply attacking and killing every living thing they come across, though they tend to target humans. The running theory is that the magic itself, within the undead container, attempts to locate other containers of a similar build, and through killing humans can the corrupted magic within the undead 'infect' the living, or the no longer living. That is the most amount of information I can provide to anyone who is not a researcher or a high-ranking member of C.U.T.T, as everything else pertaining to the subject is classified information, made so for the sake of public safety."
Still didn't help me understand why I wasn't receiving XP.
"Is it possible for undead to control undead?" I asked.
"…Yes, though it has only been reported of in very rare cases, the closest, chronologically speaking, occurring hundreds of years ago. Why do you ask?"
"It's just, something's off about this whole thing. How do you kill them?"
"Typically one would have to destroy the magical container, doing so releases the stored-up magic animating the body. Destroying a large chunk of the body works as well."
Everything about the undead was very similar to zombies, discounting the whole magic container thing, and I still wasn't sure why I wasn't being rewarded for killing them. Regardless of my hang-up, they were offering us money, and the System would provide XP for the job, at the very least.
Looking over to my team and seeing that they held a similar look to my own, I accepted the job.
Walking back through the ruins was proving to be an easier task than leaving, as the undead apparently stopped spawning.
We were walking in a basic formation with Miria and some RKs with fire weapons leading the pack, while the rest of us were ganged up together following behind them. Almost fifteen people ventured down while the rest stayed up to hold parameter over the entrance to make sure nothing came out. The plan was to stick to the hallways until we reached the original room, holding the place and killing all the undead while the lieutenant dismantles the trap and we all get to go home.
'This is going to be a long day.'
Author's note:
Thank you for reading my work and I hope you enjoyed it.
I ask that you please leave a review telling me what I can improve or should focus more on as this whole thing was started as a writing exercise. I kept rewriting this chapter over the course of almost three months and I'm still not very happy with the way some parts of it are, and hope you can tell me what it is that I'm doing wrong.
That being said, I wish all of you a good day.