Infinitium

(Day 2/13:01 p.m.)

Adam woke up, looked around then rolled out of bed.

“Morning Abi, what have you been up to while I’ve been out?” he asked.

“Not too much. This Universe feels somewhat normal to me, so I was actually able to rest and relax in your mind here for the last 22 hours.”

“22 hours! I slept for 22 hours?” he asked hurriedly.

“Sure did, you were out. I believe the changes and shocks to your system have had an effect. I’m sure your nanites mitigated a lot of it but it still took a toll on you. Also, while you were out, I had the distinct feeling that something was nearby outside. It didn’t come near the building, but I could hear movement through your ears and some sniffing every once in a while. Either something took up residence close by or there was another guardian for this Place of Power. If the former, you’ll have to deal with it at some point. If the latter, then when you go outside, your Mark as the Master of this Place of Power should allow you to command it. No need to worry about that though until you’ve learned every possible nugget of knowledge you can from the library here right?

“Sounds good to me Abi, let’s get started.

During the next 8 days, Abi helped Adam scour the library. Adam also made sure to be in the library where he had first stepped into Apolyn’s abode for one hour prior to and one hour after the 24-hour timer that he'd set on his interface. Not once did a portal open from Thor. Whatever was going on, something was out of sync between this Universe and his home Universe.

So, Adam focused on the tomes he was reading and started to pick up the academic fundamentals of the material he was reading.

Congratulations, you have learned “The Fundamentals of Spell Casting.” Spells are defined by power sphere, category, and level in addition to casting time, mana cost, range, area of effect, and components.

There are eight basic spheres of Magic. Air, Earth, Fire Water, Light, Dark, Life, and Death. Some spells could fall within the scope of multiple spheres. For instance, shadow spells, or shadow magic, would at least contain a combination of Light, Dark, and Earth spheres of power. Some spells could include additional spheres of power as well.

Within these spheres of magic and their combinations, there are various categories of Magic: Abjuration, Alteration, Conjuration, Summoning, Enchantment, Divination, Illusion, Invocation, Evocation, and Necromancy. Not every sphere of Magic has a spell for each school of magic. An example would be that Necromancy is anathema to the Sphere of Life magic so there are no Necromancy spells that utilize the sphere of Life magic.

Spell level refers to the raw potential of the spell and acts as both a prerequisite and an indication of potential. Each Sphere of magic has its own Casting skill. For instance, to cast light-based spells the caster must have the Cast Light Magic skill. Additionally to cast a spell the skill for that Sphere of Magic must be equal to or higher than the spell level of the spell being cast. If the spell is comprised of multiple spheres of power then the caster must have skill cast magic for that specific sphere at least equal to the level of the spell being cast. If the caster wished to cast a level 1 shadow spell Dancing Shadows they would need to have at least skill level 1 in Cast Light Magic, Cast Dark Magic, and Cast Earth Magic. Spell levels normally range from levels 1 – 100 but higher levels could exist as there is theoretically no limit to the level a casting skill can attain.

All other characteristics of a spell are self-explanatory.

To cast a spell the caster must either have the spell permanently added to their permanent spell pool or they must possess the Fixed Ability Read Magic and memorize the spell. Once cast any memory of the spell vanishes from their mind and the spell must be memorized again. In both cases, the caster must pay the mana cost to cast the spell.

Congratulations, you have learned “The Theory of Spell Casting”. Spells are learned at a certain level, usually between 1 – 100 though higher-level spells may exist. A strong rule of thumb is that more powerful spells are higher level and take more time to cast while lower-level spells are easier to cast and cost less mana. The level of the spell correlates directly to various stats of the spell. For spells from multiple spheres of magic, each sphere of magic must have the casting skill to the level of the spell. There are two fundamental ways to cast spells either through study and memorization or through permanent learning

Memorization: Mages, Wizards, and a few other classes may study and memorize any number of spells equal to their total spell slots. They may cast the memorized spell one time. Once cast the spell slots are freed up and can be used to re-memorize the same spell or a different spell if the caster likes after they are fully rested, usually eight hours. The same spell can be memorized multiple times, however, each memorization takes up the required spell slots. Prerequisite spells must be in the library of the caster but do not have to be memorized. The only requirement is that the caster has the required casting skills at the level of the spell and has the mana to cast the spell.

Permanent: Sorcerers, Warlocks, and a few other classes permanently learn spells. These casters permanently add a spell to their spell slots and may cast that spell at will so long as they have the mana to do so. If a spell has a prerequisite that spell must also be one of the caster's permanent spells. Spells cannot be learned unless the caster has all casting skills required to cast the spell at the required skill level.

Congratulations, you have learned the “Basics of Mana Regeneration.” You have learned how to recover mana more quickly. For every skill point in his skill, your mana regeneration is increased by 1% per minute.

Congratulations, you have learned the “Basics of Mana Manipulation.” Mana Manipulation allows the caster to store more mana within themselves. Maximum mana is increased by 1% per skill level.

Congratulations, you have learned the skill “Cast Light Magic.” Cast Light Magic allows the caster to cast Light-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Light spell is increased by 1% per skill level.

Congratulations, you have learned the skill “Cast Fire Magic.” Cast Fire Magic allows the caster to cast Fire-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Fire spell is increased by 1% per skill level.

Congratulations, you have learned the skill “Cast Earth Magic.” Cast Earth Magic allows the caster to cast Earth-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Earth spell is increased by 1% per skill level.

Congratulations, you have learned the skill “Cast Air Magic.” Cast Air Magic allows the caster to cast Air-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Air spell is increased by 1% per skill level.

Congratulations, you have learned the skill “Cast Dark Magic.” Cast Dark Magic allows the caster to cast Dark based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Dark spell is increased by 1% per skill level.

Congratulations, you have learned the skill “Cast Water Magic.” Cast Water Magic allows the caster to cast Water-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Water spell is increased by 1% per skill level.

Congratulations, you have learned the skill “Cast Life Magic.” Cast Life Magic allows the caster to cast Life-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Life spell is increased by 1% per skill level.

Congratulations, you have learned the skill “Cast Death Magic.” Cast Death Magic allows the caster to cast Death-based spells. The chance to hit, effect, and damage of any Death spell is increased by 1% per skill level.

The last nine skills he learned also had a spell engraved on the last page. He hadn’t been able to read the writing but when he’d looked at a prompt asking if he wanted to learn the level 1 bolt spell for that school had appeared in his vision. He’d chosen “Yes” for each. The spell had disappeared from the book each time. Each spell had taken up 1 spell slot. Each Bolt had a range of 30 feet and did 1d4 points of damage. The cost had been 50 mana per use which was reduced by 90% for Fire, Earth, Air, and Light. That had reduced his mana cost per use to 5. Though there was a one-minute cooldown between castings. Once he leveled each skill to 100 that range increased to 130 feet. Each did 1d4 points of damage Mana Manipulation had provided him with the “Mana Bolt” spell as well, but it was different.

Mana Bolt.

Range 30 feet + (1 foot per skill level in Basics of Mana Manipulation.)

Damage: 1 x Mana manipulation skill level.

Mana: 10

Cooldown: None.

The real find had been the Basics of Mana Regeneration skill. Though his Mana Regeneration was already high, at level 100 his Mana Regeneration increased by more than 1 per second. Another thing he’d learned was that the number of spells he could learn was directly tied to his Intelligence score. Each level of a spell took up 1 slot and he had a number of slots equal to his intelligence. So, a level 1 spell would take up 1 slot and a level 10 spell would take up 10 more slots. Hypothetically there were level 100, and possibly higher-level spells in existence that would take up 100 or more spell slots each. From what he’d read, Mages could change how their spell slots were allocated. Sorcerers could not and whatever his Character Level seemed to be, towards spells at least it was acting like the Sorcerer’s class as 8 of his spell slots were permanently allocated.

He currently had a total of 1,818 spell slots and had used up 8, one each for his eight level-one spells. The mana bolt didn’t take up a slot for some reason. He’d have to be picky and choose which spells to permanently add. Perhaps he could add a magic-using class to increase his spell slots? He’d have to find a Mage or Sorcerer and find out.

He went back to studying and learning and learning new skills from the library.

Congratulations, you have learned the “Basic History of Primore.” You have learned the basic history of Primore. The rise and fall of empires from the long past now occupy your mind.

Congratulations, you have learned “The Basic History of Dungeons.” You have learned the basic history of Dungeons. The theory behind their existence and how each attaches to the Labyrinth. Be warned this tome contained but 1% of 1% the possible knowledge concerning the dungeon or the Labyrinth. Look for additional tomes and knowledge if you’d like to truly learn about this topic.

Abi pipped in as they were going over the History of Dungeons very emphatically. “If Apolyn believed what you just read, that’s why he died,” Abi stated with conviction. “I’d take the knowledge from that tome with a grain of salt.”

Congratulations, you have learned “The Fundamentals of Recognizing Common Creatures.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Common Creatures and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.

Congratulations, you have learned “The Fundamentals of Recognizing Common Plants.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Common Plants and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.

Congratulations, you have learned “The Fundamentals of Recognizing Uncommon Creatures.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Uncommon Creatures and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.

Congratulations, you have learned “The Fundamentals of Recognizing Uncommon Plants.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Uncommon Plants and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.

Congratulations, you have learned “The Fundamentals of Recognizing Common Minerals.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Common Minerals.

Congratulations, you have learned “The Fundamentals of Recognizing Uncommon Minerals.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Uncommon Minerals.

One of the finds that Adam had been truly excited to study was a tome on Rare Creatures. It seemed that a lot of creatures described in Mythology back on Earth actually existed or could exist here. Centaurs, Wyverns, and even Dragons had been reported to have been seen here, though the descriptions were a little different but recognizable from his gaming days pouring over the various Monster Manuals for various RPGs back on Earth. Getting back to the books he learned even more skills.

Congratulations, you have learned “The Fundamentals of Recognizing Rare Creatures.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Rare Creatures and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.

Congratulations, you have learned “The Fundamentals of Recognizing Common Monsters.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Common Monsters and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.

Congratulations, you have learned “The fundamentals of recognizing Uncommon Monsters.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Uncommon Monsters and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.

Congratulations, you have learned “The fundamentals of recognizing Rare Monsters.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Rare Monsters and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.

Congratulations you have learned “The Fundamentals of Recognizing Mythical Creatures.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Mythical Creatures and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.

Congratulations, you have learned “The fundamentals of recognizing Mythical Monsters.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Mythical Monsters and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.

Congratulations, you have learned “The Fundamentals of Recognizing Legendary Creatures.” You have a 1% chance per skill level of recognizing Legendary Creatures and remembering their attack types and weaknesses.

The texts he was studying on Creatures and Monsters slowed him down quite a bit though. After he’d studied them enough for his Jack of all Trades ability to grant him level 1. He studied during the day, took a nice long hot bath at night, then slept for about 8 hours and repeated each day. After 10 days he was rewarded with a total of 27 new skills. He spent 136,323,000 XP, earned 777,600,000, and still had 364,715,777,000 XP in reserve.

After 10 days of studying Adam was getting restless. “Abi, I think I’m done studying for a little while. What do you think about looking around?” he asked.

“Sounds like a good idea to me. I am also learning a lot but looking at books all day does get tedious.” She answered.

“Well, we’ve been sticking to the easy access area, and we haven’t really gone searching through the library. Also, as anal as this magus seems to have been, I guarantee there’s a secret area somewhere, but we’ve been so focused on learning the basics that we're reading the available material.” Adam said.

“Truthfully, I wasn’t too concerned. Besides, you need to remember. I am a construct. When I was created, I did not have a lot of the knowledge we are finding here so all of this is new to me too and while I do get some benefits to my mentality while residing in your mind, I am not, nor will I ever be at your level. It’s just not within the realm of possibility for me.”

“Almost sounds like you want more?” he asked.

“Growing, learning, expanding, sure. I’m doing that here and back in your home Universe. Eventually, Thor might even make me a body so I can interact with the physical world. But as you heard what Michael said. Such a construct currently can’t exist here so here I’m part of you and truly, I like where I am. Besides, you really have no idea how much stuff is in this nogging of yours. With your Perfect Memory, I can call up and review, watch, listen, feel, touch taste, anything that you have ever come across. If I want to watch cartoons from your childhood, I just access those memories of yours. Of course, now I can also sleep, so I find myself doing that once in a while too, even if I don’t need to. Though I should let you know, your mind doesn’t ever truly rest anymore. Even while you're ‘sleeping’ your subconscious is still working to incorporate, sort, and learn from anything that you know. It is truly amazing how much knowledge is in your head and how quickly new ideas keep popping in there.”

“Good to know, I guess. Should we maybe check outside and see what’s going on out there? It would be good to know if we have a visitor that could be a threat or a guardian of some sort?” he asked.

“Sounds like a plan!” Abi said enthusiastically.

First things first, Adam decided he needed a weapon. He went through the library, his room and even the Kitchen then thought to himself, no it couldn’t be that easy and voiced “Armory.” He heard something move in the general vicinity of the library and walked in to find a panel in the floor opening with a stairway that led down into a lower chamber. Neat.

He walked down the stairs and found himself in a short hallway with three doors. One in front of him with another to his right and the third to his left. The door to the right clicked open and he found himself in a room that was about 20 by 30 feet with a few small racks of weapons and even what looked like empty mannequin stands that didn’t have any armor on them.

Adam looked over the weapons on the racks and found, what looked like a Longbow, a quiver of 20 metal-tipped arrows, a longsword, a short sword, and 2 daggers There was also a sword belt harness that would allow him to place the longsword over his back for a right-handed draw. The short sword was on his belt for a left-handed draw. Two sheaths for daggers at the base of his back. Otherwise, the racks. were empty. Against the wall was a peg with a light brown cloak hanging on it. Clean, as was everything here, but otherwise unremarkable. He put the Harness on, added the weapons, and then put the cloak on over the harness. The cloak actually had a hole for harness which allowed him to attach the sheath in the middle of his back. It all fit together quite nicely. Amazingly everything fit together comfortably. Apolyn must have been about the same size as him, or the person these weapons were for was.

Adam exited the small Armory and moved to the door across from it. He noticed that there was a treasure chest on the door. He willed for the door to open and stepped into a small Vault. He found himself in a room identical in size to the Armory with shelves and small chests laid throughout the room. There were two big chests against the far wall, and he noted that nothing in the room was locked. Moving through the room he opened the small chests on the shelves and found various types of coins and a small opal. Some copper, silver, gold, and even platinum coins as well as what he would consider a cheap gemstone back home, though what their value here could be here, he had no idea. There were a couple of small money pouches on one of the shelves but none of them seemed to be magical in nature. Quickly he counted his treasure. There were 50 platinum, 25 gold, 90 silver, and 200 copper. He grabbed 10 copper, 10 silver 2 gold, and 1 platinum as well as the small opal. He placed them in a pouch and added the pouch to a location on the belt he now wore that seemed to have been made specifically to hold one of these money pouches in a fashion that would make it hard to be pickpocketed or stolen.

All told there wasn’t that much money here. Then he had a thought. Bringing one of the gold coins to his hand he directed his nanites into the coin, double-checked its chemical makeup then took a copper coin and had the nanites convert the atomic structure of the coin before he willed the nanites back out of the coin. He now had two identical gold coins.

“Might want to rethink that strategy Adam” Abi said. “Coins cannot be counterfeit or at least that is the claim. There is probably some sort of magical signature added to each coin which I am absolutely sure your nanites can’t replicate. Maybe duplicate some of the gems?”

“Sounds like an idea.” He said as he pulled out the small opal gem and then converted the gold coin he’d created into a copy of the small opal. If he’d destroyed the magical identifier anyway, there was no reason to take chances. So now he had his original gold coin, nine coppers, and two opal gems. He’d have to learn about economics for this world but that probably wouldn’t happen until he reached the city. He looked around and stepped back into the hallway and willed both the Armory and the Treasury to close and lock, which they did.

He turned to the last door, noticed a book on the door, and realized that this might be a repository of special knowledge, which meant that it was probably behind another level of security. He need not have worried. As the Master of this Place of Power, with a thought, the door opened. He looked through the door and noticed that the room he was looking into was much bigger than it had any right to be. In fact, he was sure that the area was much larger than the room above. He moved forward feeling no resistance though four warning prompts went off in his vision.

Warning a level 100 Fire Shield has attempted to bar your way. Your passive ability has allowed you to step through the shield unhindered.

Warning a level 100 Earth Shield has attempted to bar your way. Your passive ability has allowed you to step through the shield unhindered.

Warning a level 100 Air Shield has attempted to bar your way. Your passive ability has allowed you to step through the shield unhindered.

Warning a level 100 Light Shield has attempted to bar your way. Your passive ability has allowed you to step through the shield unhindered.

“Abi, how bad could that have been for me?” he asked.

“Level 100 spells?” she asked “As no damage was done, there really is no way to tell but I would say each of those shields would have tried to inflict at least 100d10 damage to you. That was reduced due to your resistances but 100 to 1,000 points of damage per shield. Seriously, if you didn’t have that rank 4 perk in each element and didn’t know about those shields as you stepped through that door if it counted each as a critical strike, total damage would have been close to 8,000. Normal damage somewhere between 1,000 and 4,000 which you could have survived. Just about anyone or anything would be hard-pressed to step through that door and survive. There are magic spells and abilities that might let someone bypass the protection. Someone who was unaware of the danger though? If you have guests over, best to always leave that door closed. There won’t even be ash left with the automatic cleaning functions of this Place of Power.”

“Good to know,” he said as he continued to step forward towards the exact center of the room where a well-lighted desk sat. As he stepped up to the desk the silhouette of a young man solidified in front of him.

“Good morning Master. How may I serve” the young man asked.

“Good morning to you” Adam responded. “First, do you have a name? Second, what is your purpose here?” he asked.

“The previous Master referred to me as ‘boy’. As for my purpose here. I am the keeper of secrets within this secret sanctum. It is my purpose to retrieve requested materials for the Master of this Place of Power to this desk and to return them to their storage location when no longer in use.

“Boy?” Adam asked “The descriptor of boy will not do. Have you ever had a name or nickname that others called you that you liked?”

“The Master before the last one referred to me as ‘Eric’. I did like that name.

“Eric it is then. Hello Eric. My name is Adamantadine though you can refer to me as Adam. And I will refer to you as Eric.”

“Very good Master, I mean Adam. Query, may I also refer to you as Master?”

“If that is what you wish, I have no issues with being referred to as Master by you” he answered.

“Very good Master. How may I be of assistance on this day?”

“By answering a few questions. First, can you leave this room, or do the protections in this room prevent that? Second, can items be taken from this room without being destroyed, and third when not helping the Master of this Place of Power, where do you go.”

Eric looked directly at Adam then answered. “The last instruction from the previous Master was that I could not leave this room through the barriers that protect this room do not affect me as I am a manifestation within this Place of Power. Any item that is passed through the barriers while the shields are active will be destroyed unless they are carried by the Master of this Place of Power, so no, I cannot remove anything from this room, and finally, when task less I go into a state of slumber. I had been asleep for just under 13 years when you entered this room.”

“Which brings me to my next question. Do you know the date? Month, day, and year?”

“Why yes, it is the second day in the month of November in the Eleventh Year of Dragon” Eric responded.

“Eleventh Year of the Dragon? Could you explain the yearly numbering system please?” he asked.

“Certainly. There are currently 10 Animals that are used to denote the passage of time Each Age of 1000 years is divided into 100 years of each Animal. For instance, the last 1,000 years has been known as the Age of Enlightenment while the age before was considered the Age of Darkness due to some calamity that lasted well over 500 years. So, the first 100 years were referred to as the years of the rabbit. The next hundred years are the dog, then cat, ox, snake, horse, monkey, tiger, rooster, and dragon. As for our Year and Month system. Well, there are exactly 360 days in a year with 30 days in each month. Each month has three weeks of ten days. Each week is divided into 10 days: primidi (first day), duodi (second day), tridi (third day), quartidi (fourth day), quintidi (fifth day), sextidi (sixth day), septidi (seventh day), octidi (eighth day), nonidi (ninth day) and décadi (tenth day). Normally they are just counted as their number.”

Adam nodded and then asked. “Elegant in the extreme and some of those terms you’ve used sound a lot like words from my homeland, so it seems as if there has been some cross-over at some point in the past. So, we are on the 2nd day of November's first week in the 11th year of the Dragon in the Age of Enlightenment. The new year will start in 58 days and then we’ll be in the 12th year of the Dragon. What are the Months named here?

“The first month is Ianuarius, the second month is Februarius, then Martius, Arilis, Maius, Iunius, Iulius, Augustus, September, October, November, and December,” Erik said.

Adam nodded. It looked like this planet utilized a system very similar to a system that was discarded back on Earth. With only 360 days per year, it made the 12-month calendar very easy to maintain at an even 30 days per month, though 10-day work weeks would be a bit long. Of course, what was he complaining about? He'd just spent 10 days studying in a row. However, it would probably be a good idea to start remembering the dates and working within their frame of reference. Adam turned to Eric. “Thank you, Eric. Please feel free to enter or leave this room as you desire. When not called on you are free to relax, study any documents you wish in the upper library, and grow if you can. I will be back tomorrow and will begin going through this library.

“Thank you, Master. I will see you tomorrow.” With that Eric turned and started walking towards the door to the room. Adam watched him go through the door and walk up the stairs.

“Abi, anything to add?” he asked.

“Nope, Erik seemed to cover everything well enough. There are a lot of tomes in here and honestly, you’ll be lucky to go through one per day. From what I can see, there are definitely some very complicated works in here. I would suggest that when we start tomorrow you ask Eric if there are any primers on advanced magical techniques, magical lore, and such. Looking over and learning that material first will make everything go a lot easier.

“Sounds good Abi. Now I want to go look outside. Been in here for 10 days, it’s time to see exactly where we are and what’s been moving around out there.” He turned toward the door and walked through the barriers with no ill effect. As he left the room, he willed the door to shut, and then made his way upstairs.

As he had suspected Eric had picked up one of the books of history and was sitting in a chair in the library while Adam came up the stairs and headed for the Entryway. Eric was so engrossed in the book that he didn’t even look up as Adam sealed the entrance to the lower area and then made his way out of the library to the front entryway. The light was shining through the glass around the door. Checking the clock on his personal interface he realized it was 15:00 (3 p.m.) local. He didn’t know when the sunset was, but it looked like it wasn’t far off. He Willed the door open and stepped outside into the cold brisk air of a high mountain retreat. The air was of course breathable and his nanites and the cloak kept him quite warm. He looked behind himself and noticed that he’d stepped out of what seemed to be a smooth rock face which had the obvious shape of a door in it. The glass panes he knew were there when viewed from the inside were not visible from this side. He followed the smooth rock face up for about 100 feet until he noticed a set of green eyes on a very huge, black draconian head that looked down at him. The mouth moved into an evil smile as the dragon started to take in a very deep breath.

Begin Combat Log

Combat Round 1

Initiative rolled; Initiative falls to Adam.

Action 1: Adam draws a short sword. Stamina Cost 10.

Action 2: Adam jumps straight up to deliver piercing strike through the dragon’s mouth into the brain.

Strike succeeds but fails. Short sword cannot overcome magical damage resistance inherent to an Ancient Black Dragon. Stamina Cost 25 to Jump, 25 to attack.

Short sword takes 100 points of durability damage.

Shortsword disintegrates.

The momentum of the attack propels Adam’s left hand into the jaw of Dragon causing an unintended secondary attack. Unarmed Combat of 100 has no effect on Dragon. Damage Resistance reduces damage to 0.

Dragon Breath’s Acid Breath directly onto Adam for 32,876 points of damage.

Earth Magic resistance reduces damage to 0

Combat Round 2

Initiative falls to Adam.

Adam moves into Apolyn’s Abode and commands the door to close.

End Combat Log

Adam reviewed the combat log and realized he’d been incredibly lucky he had Earth Resistance. He quickly reviewed his personal interface and immediately spent 1,152,582,000 experience to level his Unarmed Combat Skill to level 501. He also Leveled his Unarmed Defense to Skill Level 501. He reviewed the last prompt for each skill and deleted the rest.

Congratulations you reached skill level 501 in Unarmed Combat. Chance to hit increased by 1% per skill level.

Damage is increased by a factor of 1. Hand attacks strike for 5-20 damage. Kicks strike for 5-30 damage. Reach skill level 601 to increase damage by another factor.

Unarmed attacks count as +5 weapons. The bonus is not added to attacks or damage. It is simply used as a comparison to determine what level of Damage resistance can be bypassed.

Congratulations you reached skill level 501 in Unarmed Defense. Base Unarmed Defense is increased by 1 per level of Unarmed Defense

Adam looked at his prompts, reviewed his possible damage, and realized he might be able to hurt this dragon now. Adam willed the door to open and stepped through and behind the dragon even as it prepared for another breath attack. The dragon hesitated and tried to turn its head to follow where Adam had darted to as it looked for him.

Adam waited for the dragon’s head to be swung all the way around and to the right before he darted forward under the jaw and jumped.

Begin Combat Log

Adam bursts forward and jumps up with a called shot to the underside of the jaw, called shot to knock out.

Target is caught flat-footed, surprised.

Attack succeeds against the target.

Damage check. Adam strikes for 2,727 damage (base 15 x 18.18 x 5 for skill level x 2 for critical strike.)

Total damage 2,727.

Reduced by 500 for Armor

Direct Bludgeoning damage to the brain through the roof of the mouth incurs a 1% chance per point of damage of the target being knocked unconscious.

Willpower resistance check by Ancient Black Dragon against a 2,227% chance to be knocked unconscious.

Black Dragon is knocked unconscious.

Adam catches Dragon’s Head lowers it to the ground, head still turned away from his place of power.

End Combat Log.

Adam checked his combat log, realized that he’d been quite lucky, and stepped back from the black dragon. He looked at the dragon, pretty sure that he hadn’t actually hurt it too badly. He wasn’t sure how many hit points it had but 2,227 damage probably didn’t put so much as a dent in the total hit points of something that was considered Ancient. He wondered what level it was.

“Any ideas Abi?”

“Are you fucking crazy Adam, that’s an ancient black dragon. In most places, the automatic answer is to fucking kill that evil creature, yet here you are calmly waiting for it to wake up. No, absolutely no ideas, and oh yeah, good luck.” She said as she cut the link.

Adam looked around to make sure nothing else was sneaking up to attack him. He also willed the door to Apolyn’s Abode closed as he waited for the dragon to wake up. He didn’t have to wait long. About five minutes later the dragon looked around groggily and then focused its eyes on Adam

In Basic Draconic, one of the languages he'd found inside, Adam asked “Parlay?”

Moving slowly the dragon lifted its head, turned off to the side, and spit out the dust of the Shortsword that was still in its mouth. “Sure,” the Dragon responded in common.

Adam eyed the dragon and made sure it didn’t look like it was going to attack him, though truthfully he didn’t know what that would look like then said. “My name is Adam; I am the new Master of this Place of Power. Dragons taking a deep breath, at least from where I’m from, indicate that you were about to try to use a Breath Weapon on me. Was I mistaken in taking action to try to attack you first?”

The dragon looked at Adam, squinted, looked at him again, and frowned. Squinted again then responded, “What are you?”

“If you answer my question, I’ll answer yours. If you’d also be so kind as to offer a form of address I can use for you that would also be appreciated.” He said.

“Fair enough,” the dragon muttered. “First, you may call me Adaline, and to answer your question, yes, I was about to utilize my acid-breath on you, and did so.” She said resignedly as if she was preparing to be attacked. When that didn’t happen, she looked with questioning eyes at Adam.

“Thank you for your honesty and I am a man of my word. I am a traveler, new to this world and universe. Where I am from, I am considered an Ascendant Human. As was explained to me by an Adjudicator which means that I am something outside your normal rules of classification for here. Does that make sense?” he asked.

“Quite. I can’t even analyze you. You show up as nothing, though I know you thoroughly knocked me on my ass with that attack.” she said.

“Well, I did try to skewer your brain with an obviously inferior shortsword, which you just spit out just a few seconds ago and you retaliated by breathing acid on me.” He answered with a smile.

The dragon smiled back; “Yes, you did, and I will thank you for not killing me instantly during my weakness, though I do not believe you spared me because of some ultimate good cause or some other such nonsense, is this correct?”

Adam nodded as he said “Correct, where I’m from, individuals are not normally good or evil though truthfully, I do tend to lean towards doing the right thing, not always considered the good thing. Destroying any helpless creature, especially once considered an ancient of their kind, or elder where I’m from, would have been an act that would be bad in my culture. Which is not to say that if you attack me again, I will take every possible action I can to end any threat you might pose, just that killing something while it’s down after I got a lucky sucker punch” He shrugged and then continued. “Hopefully if something like that ever happens to me, the creature lucky enough to pull that off will give me the same respect I’m giving you. I of course don’t expect such treatment in an uncaring and unfair Universe, or Universes, but hedging one’s bets where they can, is never a waste of time. Also, we call that Karma where I’m from.

The Dragon looked at him quizzically as he said the word “Karma”.

“The idea that what you do comes back to you,” he said.

The Dragon nodded. “The concept is known here as well, though we don’t use that word for it.” Pausing for a moment she continued. “Well then, let me offer you this vow. For sparing my life while I was knocked unconscious, I give you my vow that I will not try to harm or attack you in any way for at least one year so long as you offer the exact same. I do so swear, I do so swear, I do so swear.”

Adam looked at the Dragon in astonishment then responded, “I agree, I do so swear, I do so swear, I do so swear.” Adam said.

You have entered into a Vow with the Ancient Black Dragon Adaline. You both agree not to attack either for a duration of 1 year. You have both sworn to this vow which has been thrice heard and witnessed by this Place of Power, an adjudicator, and the gods themselves. Should either of you break this vow there will be dire detrimental consequences.

Both Adaline and Adam looked into each other’s eyes and then muttered, “Well, shit” simultaneously. They both paused for a second as they realized that the other had said the same phrase and then they both laughed.

Adam spoke first. “I do not have much in the way of hospitality to offer, food or refreshment wise but if you can change your form, I do have a dining hall where we could retire to be more comfortable and speak at length. “

Adaline’s form turned to black mist and a beautiful raven-haired Dark Elf stepped from the smoke. “I would be delighted to accept your hospitality. I’ve noticed that once you started activating this Place of Power the walls were radiating heat and I was taking advantage of that. If you’re going to invite me in, I will not say no.”

Adam turned towards his door and willed it to open. He ushered Adaline inside with a gesture guiding her toward the dining room table. He offered her a chair and sat opposite, at which point the table magically populated a meal for two. The astonishment on his face brought a smile from Adaline.

“I take it you have never sat at your dinner table before?” Adaline asked.

“Seriously? No, I haven’t. I do not require normal sustenance. I haven’t actually sat down to eat since I arrived.” He responded truthfully.

“Well Adam, I am a dragon and I do require substance. May I partake of your hospitality and enjoy this meal with you?” she asked with a smile.

“Absolutely” he responded earnestly. “While I might not require sustenance, I do like food, and it has been a week since I’ve eaten anything.

They both tucked in and ate their meals with gusto. Adam set his nanites to make sure to break down the meal as he ate it so he could keep up with Adaline as she went through course after course. She must have been very hungry. Finally, she started to slow down, and Adam took the opportunity to start up the conversation again.

“Adaline, as I stated I’m relatively new to this Universe and World. The food we just ate, was it a magical construct or something else?”

Adaline thought for a minute then answered “The food we ate was real, else it would not have sated my hunger, though it was magically prepared. I would guess that somewhere nearby there is a holding area with stocks of food. How much is left and how you replenish it, I do not know but that was real food, and it was well prepared through one of the better chef spells I’ve ever encountered. If I might ask, who was the Master of this Place of Power before you?” she asked.

“No secret there,” he responded. “It was a Magus by the name of Apolyn. He died in my timeline over 50 years ago, though here it seems as if just under 13 years have passed.”

“Apolyn? Sounds familiar, though I never met the man. Of course, 13 years ago I was much farther north and having some fun with a band of dark elves that were, well I’ll just say I was having fun.”

“Fair enough Adaline, and I do not begrudge you your needs and desires. As I said, where I’m from, I try to do good, but I too have a dark side, which can go very dark, when it needs to. It’s just not my normal way of doing things. Whether I remain mostly neutral, become good or evil by some categorization process here, remains to be seen.

Pausing for a moment, Adam thought “Guest Bedroom” and heard a slight rumbling from the stairway which caused Adaline to look up. “Not to worry Adaline, I’m still learning what this Place of Power has. I just sent a mental command to see if there was a guest bedroom and it sounds like there is. Would you care to inspect it with me?

Adaline stood and followed him to the stairway. At the base of the stairs, a new door had formed in the wall and opened at Adam’s command. Stepping in he found himself in a room just slightly smaller than the room he had upstairs with a full toilet, bath, and bed. He Checked the interface and gave permission to Adaline for one year to enter and exit the Abode and utilize the kitchen and this spare room as she desired. He also set the door's privacy command to her so she could secure it and ensure her privacy though he was sure that she could understand that he could override that feature. Playing with the interface he set up an alarm that would automatically notify anyone in the room that someone was attempting to enter that only she could remove.

“As part of our vow and my hospitality, you may come and go into this room and the kitchen as you desire. All other areas will still be off-limits and please trust me when I say that there is one specific area that even you will not want to go to. I believe it would vaporize you if you tried to cross those barriers. I’m going to be doing a lot of studying over the next couple of months. During the evenings I will be available to talk if you're around but would not in any way wish for you to think that I require your presence. If you’re here we can dine together, if not I hope you’re having what fun you may. Eventually, I will have to make my way down the mountain to the nearest city but again, it’ll be a little while before I go. Do you have any questions before I retire for the night?” he asked.

Adaline looked at Adam calculatingly. “Why are you being nice to me?”

“Fair Question” he responded. “First, you are the first Dragon I have ever met. While we may have gotten off to a rocky start, you have acted with grace and eloquence during our short time together. Second, when you mentioned the warmth of this Place of Power. Well, a warm place to sleep and a nice bath, even in my Universe, that’s a surefire way to keep a woman happy. Third, you are the first intelligent ‘ancient’ creature I have met here. As I mentioned I am new to this Universe, and I need to learn a lot. Fourth, because you didn’t continue to attack me right away, means to me anyway, that Ancient and intelligent are two words that describe your ability to analyze, adjust, and flow to changes you could not have expected. I have no illusion as to where our relationship might go. I do know though for one year we both took a vow not to harm each other and if over that year we come to another accommodation that extends that vow, so be it. If not, in a year, we'll go our separate ways hopefully with mutual respect towards each other.”

Adaline nodded “You make very good points all around. I accept your offer of hospitality and look forward to days when we can sit and have a pleasant conversation. As part of this hospitality, do I have your permission to hunt in your area?

Johnathan thought for a moment. “I’m not exactly sure how far out my area of influence is. I would ask that if not attacked by sentient humanoid creatures you leave them alone once they're within a half-mile of this location. Otherwise, if they attack you, do as you will. Anyone stupid enough to attack a Dragon in the mountains…. We call that Darwinism where I’m from. Darwin believed in the survival of the fittest. Please understand that if you decide to go toe to toe against other dragons, I should not be expected to help, nor would I expect you to help me if something else comes against me. Though once you are inside this abode, I will do my utmost to protect you as hospitality dictates. Yes, you have my permission to hunt on my lands.”

“Splendid, and I agree to your conditions,” she responded as she eyed the bath.

Taking the hint, Adam said “I will leave you to your rest then” he said as he turned to head out of the room. As he stepped out of the room Adaline willed the guest bedroom door to close and lock. He started towards the Kitchen area and then mentally contacted Abi.

“So?” he asked.

“Well, that went a lot better than I expected. I believe that your charisma and luck attributes are working overtime. Of course, gaining another possible avenue of knowledge that is also an Ancient Dragon, of any color. That was a good idea.”

“I do have a question; do you gain reputation with specific people here? I didn’t receive any prompts while I was interacting with the Dragon, nor have I received any while interacting with you?” he asked.

There was a pause then Abi answered. I have some knowledge on the subject but remember I am not a repository of knowledge for this Universe. My memories tell me there was a point when reputation between individuals was measured and scored. The powers that be didn’t like that system very much because it hampered the choices that could be made by an individual. The argument was made that anyone should be able to at any time change their mind about someone and act accordingly without penalty. So that system was mothballed. Fame and Infamy are now used for an overall modifier of all interactions that reputation would have been used for. Though people must know who you are for you to earn fame and there are various categories of fame. For instance, The Divines would have Universal Fame. While a city official might only have local fame. Not something you need to worry about right now.” She answered.

“Fair enough, which brings me to my next question, how do I check the food stocks for this place?” he asked.

“I would think that you can access that information through your personal interface,” she said.

“Sure enough, as soon as he opened his interface, and accessed his Place of Power a window opened to the storage location for his larder. It seemed that his Place of Power had a couple of rooms of holding. There were also contracts assigned to restock the larder utilizing funds from his treasury as the food there was used and needed to be replenished. The restocking was done magically by “Rustoph’s Supplies”. Reviewing how much Adaline and he had eaten that night, he realized they’d each eaten about eight meals worth of food which did not put a dent in his stocks at all. It looked like he could easily provide for eight people a night for at least one month. As the Larder was restocked, he’d have to check costs and treasury levels, but it looked like he had enough funds to hold out for at least the next 92 days. Even so, when Adaline wasn’t present, he’d stick to his tried and true, living off the nanites which should reduce some of the cost.

Another thing he tried to do was call up a map function for his Place of Power. A map did pop up but only of the interior of the Place of Power. He then requested the location of Eric, Adaline, and himself. The map showed all three of them and their location. He decided he’d done enough for the day and walked upstairs, secured his bedroom door, and took his own bath before heading off to bed.