Legend of the Spellthief

Amalia and Logan continued to test the capabilities of the newcomer PC. Running through her tutorial with guidance from Logan, Amalia ended up putting her six free points into Strength, Agility, and Constitution, making them all 12.

The next step was introducing Amalia to the four summons that Logan had accrued. Celsius the fire elemental, Spark the lightning elemental, Fahrenheit the ice elemental, and Servoir the water elemental.

Amalia was slightly taken aback at the forms of the elements, but by seeing other magic at play alongside all the other fantastical things, she came to accept their existence quickly.

Absorbing spells and transferring them into MP, Logan gathered 24 MP, spending 4 to create the last two. After dismissing all but Servoir, Logan had the watery creation place a hand on him and placed his own on Amalia’s shoulder.

“Alright, I am going to be teleporting us toward the capital. You may feel a bit weird from it, but don’t worry”, Logan informed.

“Uh, ok”, Amalia responded shakily.

“And remember, don’t tell anyone about my powers or being a PC”, Logan mentioned as he looked into the sky through his monocular.

With the mental commands, Logan warped himself and his allies into their centres, warping the wind around them with an inward blast. Erupting in the sky far away, the trio exploded outwards with the wind they brought with them.

Amalia breathed in quickly in shock, her eyes darting around as she felt like she was skydiving. The feeling didn’t last long before Logan spied the bridge of Gauntlet, using another teleport to bring his party to the floor.

Pushing aside leaves and dirt, the group appeared in a frightening display of force. Several civilians jumped back as they saw the apparating adventurers. Their fear would have continued, if not for the hunter armband on Logan that denoted him as an ally.

Amalia had instinctively grabbed onto Logan’s arm through the teleportation, letting go as her feet returned to solid ground.

“We’ll walk the rest of the way”, Logan said as he looked at some guards returning from the forests.

“Yeah”, Amalia replied, “just give me a minute”, she continued through heavy breaths.

“That’s fine”, Logan said as he looked at the battlements of Gauntlet before turning to a nearby villager, “Hey, something happen?”

“Huh? Yeah, some orc issues I hear”, the man replied as he walked on.

“Orcs huh? Damn close to the capital…”

“‘Parently they were chasing down a Devout”, the village continued as they passed out of Logan’s ear, waving a farewell. Must have been a busy day for them.

Logan looked at Amalia who was still catching her breath. “No quest to kill her, and she hasn’t tried anything yet. I guess she is not a below PC”, Logan thought to himself.

“Ay, Logan”, another villager called out from behind.

Turning around, Logan recognised them as someone he had aided during another hunt. “Hello again, how’s the knee?”

“Good as new!” the man replied as he kicked to the side, “Just wanted to let you know that I sent those racks of ribs to your inn.”

Logan smiled, “Thanks for letting me know. We’ll make sure to feast on them well tonight.”

“My pleasure, the least I could do for you saving my hide”, the villager replied with his own smile, “anyways, best be off. Have a fair day.”

“And to you.”

The villager continued his walk into the city, a large sack on his back full of trading and gathering outside the walls’ confines.

“Quite the popular guy”, Amalia mentioned as she stood up a bit straighter.

Looking over his new follower, Logan was worried about how she would take to her new life, or at least the introduction of which. But then, he wasn’t teleporting at level 1. “A few people know me from when I helped them during my criminal hunts.”

“Right, right.”

“Let’s get to the inn, I can introduce you to Marcus and we can chat further.”

Walking through the portcullis gates of the city, Logan and Amalia passed by a few civilians that waved and nodded at Logan when he passed. With his growing reputation, alongside the culminating titles, Logan wasn’t an unknown entity in the capital. At least when it came to the entrance and the area around the Gerro Guardhouse.

Logan’s most recent title, Phasing Hunter, was how most people referred to him. Since it was a unique term for his style of combat as well as hunting down criminals, there weren’t many others who were associated with the name.

Amalia didn’t pay much mind to the attention paid to Logan, however. Her gaze drifted between the varying styles of buildings that were a far cry from Earth, to the different sight of people walking the streets. She especially fixated on the gashrieks she saw, and almost jumped at the sight of a single saeber walking by.

Learning the new world by being thrown into the deep end, Amalia would come to terms with affairs a bit quicker than Logan.

Reaching the Meek Moat Inn, Logan opened the door to the interior and held it open on the inside for Amalia to follow him. The first sight for the pair was that of Wriske, the gashriek hunter with piercing yellow eyes, brighter than those of Amalia.

“Picked up another ally?” Wriske asked as she approached the newcomer.

“Uh, hello”, Amalia replied as she stared at the ridges across the gashriek’s face.

“Ah, Wriske. Been a while since we saw one another, why are you always here when I promise food? This is Amalia. Amalia, this is Wriske. She’s a Devout and fellow hunter”, Logan replied as he waved between the two.

“Nice to be among another woman. Evén must have sparked a path of balance”, Wriske mentioned.

“Eh-venn?” Amalia asked with a confused look.

“Another hunter, Rogue. We helped her before and she moved over to this inn too”, Logan explained.

“Speaking of other hunters, Marcus was looking for you, Logan”, Wriske informed as she moved to the counter.

Following his ally, Logan brought Amalia to the counter and offered her a seat. “Guess it’ll be best I wait here for him then.”

As they took their seats, the door at the back opened to reveal Yetveka, the glowing violet-eyed gashriek who handled the inn. “Ooo, a new face. A pretty one too”, Yetveka spoke as she moved over to Amalia, “You a new hunter? Or friend?”

“Friend”, Amalia replied, a bit taken aback by the other species addressing her so comfortably.

“You’re welcome here, a friend of Logan’s is a friend of mine. Have you travelled far? You look a bit sweaty dear. Care for a drink?”

“Barwoman’s suggestion”, Amalia replied as she glanced over the bottles behind the counter.

“You got it”, Yetveka replied as she took an orange bottle from the wall and began to pour, “Oh, Logan. Those ribs came in. We eating that tonight?” she asked as she looked over at the Spellthief.

“Depends on what Marcus has got to tell me. The ribs won’t last long if we gotta set off somewhere”, Logan replied as he looked at his invisible status windows to see if he could tell where his friend was.

Yetveka set a tankard in front of Amalia, a big, toothy smile on display. “Thanks”, Amalia said as she picked up the tankard and sipped it.

Logan slid a few coins over towards Yetveka who caught them in her hand before they slid too far. “She alright to have another room? Take it from my pre-paid time here.”

“That is fine, we can set her up in another room. If we gave you a triple room it’d take less out of your balance, but you’ve worked up a lot so I wouldn’t worry about kicking you out on the streets any time soon”, Yetveka replied with a chuckle.

“We don’t know each other that well”, Amalia replied, colour returning to her face from the warm drink.

“Huh? Why would that matter?” Yetveka asked, bemused.

Amalia’s blunder was strange to the natives. As Logan had already experienced, it wasn’t uncommon for both sexes to sleep in the same room. He knew of the sardine-packed rooms at some inns, catering to more people at a time.

Dragging the conversation away from any further shaky topics, Logan asked, “So, when did Marcus ask for me? Was it urgent?”

“He seemed a bit… Nervous?” Wriske replied with a strained thinking expression.

“Maybe I should look for him then.”

“Do your phasing thing.”

Logan stood from his chair and looked over at Amalia, “You good to stay here for a few minutes?”

Amalia nodded, “Sure.”

Logan threw a few more coins on the counter, paying for any other drinks Amalia wanted, before walking out of the inn.

Looking at the tall towers of the guardhouse, Logan warped inwards and outwards as he slid down the stone exterior of his destination. Pushing aside dust and dirt with his landing on the floor, Logan opened the door and entered.

“Jirango, you in?” Logan called out.

A small murmur from the man at the desk was overwhelmed by a louder yell from Marcus, “Logan! Thank Pondress you’re back.”

Logan stood still as his friend jogged to him, “So, what’s the problem?”

“It’s… it’s Tinte. Do you mind if we go back?”

“Homesick? Or did something happen?”

“My teacher, and the head Devout of the church there, Marta, is injured. She requires high-level healing and possible resurrection.”

Logan was a bit shocked at the news, “That’ll be expensive.”

“How much do we have combined?” Marcus pressed.

“About 6 gold in coins.”

“I doubt they have 4 lying around. Do you mind if we have to sell off some of our stuff?” Marcus begged.

“Sell? Can’t we take a loan or leave collateral like last time?” Logan asked, puzzled.

“I went to talk with the churches here, a lot of their resources were used after the invasion, and with the upcoming possible Ice King revival they don’t want to do any loans until that’s over and done.”

“Hmm. That sounds… accurate. Could we not find the supplies needed?”

“Most of the revival reagent locales are already scouted and accounted for. The next best bet is gathering the items required to grant permanent regeneration”, Marcus explained a bit hastily.

Logan looked Marcus in the eyes as his head rose a bit, “Well, that’s one thing off my checklist”, he thought to himself. “Are we certain she needs such?”

“It is a high possibility. I have talked with another Devout and they are willing to go with us to Tinte to examine her. He should be able to give us a diagnosis in an hour.”

“Any fees?”

“A few silver, the Tinte church will put that up.”

“Alright. I suppose you want to head there as soon as possible?” Logan asked as he put a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“Yes, please.”

“We’ll let the Devout know to prepare, but I want to introduce you to someone first.”

Marcus looked at Logan with a confused glare, before the two moved to the door.

Teleporting to the church, and then back to the inn, the pair entered to see the women conversing still.

“So I locked her inside a pyramid of stone”, Wriske finished saying.

The three laughed as if Logan was just hearing the tail-end of a funny tale.

“I see you two are giving Amalia a warm welcome to Gauntlet”, Logan mentioned as he stood behind his new companion.

Amalia swivelled on her chair to look at Logan and the man beside him, while Yetveka responded to Logan, “Yeah, she’s getting regaled with higher-rank adventures by Wriske here.”

“Glad to hear it. Mind if we steal her away now though?”

“It’s about time I head out anyway”, Wriske replied as she stood, slinging a bag over her back.

“Good hunting”, Marcus spoke as the gashriek passed by.

Amalia stood and thanked Yetveka for the drinks before following the arm wave of Logan to the stairs.

Heading to the first floor, the trio made it to Logan and Marcus’s usual room and shut the door behind them, Servoir watching the outside of the door for any eavesdropping.

“Amalia, meet Marcus, Marcus, Amalia”, Logan quickly introduced as he waved his hand between the two.

“Good to meet you”, Marcus said as he nodded to the new face.

“Same, I guess.”

“Amalia, this is the man I told you about in the woods.”

“Ah, the healer, right. Ok, how do I word this?” Amalia began as she rubbed her head, “I am like Logan. An Oracle?”

Marcus was about to sit on his bed but stumbled into staying standing, “What?!”

“I was lucky enough to spot her last night”, Logan mentioned with a smirk.

“Wait… is she a new one?!”

“Newly arrived last night”, Logan answered.

“Still learning all of this myself”, Amalia added.

“Ones Above, grant me sturdiness. This is amazing. I’ve met two oracles, in the span of hardly a season.”

“Same for me. I thought it best to keep her close with the business about the below ones possibly sending monsters our way”, Logan informed as he sat on his bed.

“So Marcus is the only one I should tell for now?” Amalia asked as she sat on the foot of Logan’s bed.

“Yeah. He is the only one who knows about me.”

“Are you keeping your status a secret too, Amalia?”

“I am taking Logan’s advice for now. I want some time to think things over”, Amalia replied as she looked over the other man.

“This throws another stick into the bundle”, Marcus thought aloud as he crossed his arms.

“Aside from Amalia’s starting quest, if she joins us on this trip to Tinte she should absorb quite a bit of info”, Logan informed.

“The seven-day one?”

“Yeah.”

“I can stay here and look around on my own”, Amalia offered.

“I’d rather not do that. People could take advantage of your naivety, and I don’t want you rolled into a long quest or something like I was.”

“You could use different words to get that across, but fine.”

“Does that mean we’ll be gone long?” Marcus asked.

“Maybe. Your idea of getting the regenerative components enticed me. Tinte had issues with trolls before, we could find more.”

“I had the same idea.”

“Trolls?” Amalia asked as looked at Logan.

“Big humanoid monsters, they regenerate lost body parts unless you burn them. We can take their blood and grant those regeneration powers to people”, Logan explained.

“Wow. Really? Why doesn’t everyone have that power then?”

“It isn’t that simple. You have to take blood from a unique sac near the heart, it holds about one use worth of reagents. As well as that blood, you need other reagents, but you can buy most at the markets and shops”, Marcus explained.

“So, one troll per regeneration power?”

“That’s the general take”, Logan replied as he pulled a leg onto the bed to get into a comfortable position against the headrest with his back, “But trolls are uniquely hard to track. The ones that leave the others don’t return, so they are killed and Harvested for their blood. They cause a lot of trouble, so they don’t live long outside of their domiciles.”

“I looked into it while waiting for Logan to come back, only a handful of dens have been found in recent history. They are almost as elusive as diglaeta, considering their size”, Marcus added.

“I would have thought something like that would have been hunted into extinction”, Amalia thought aloud.

“Trolls only need water to survive. The ones that do leave their homes get a taste for meat and continually want more”, Logan informed.

“You said you wanted that power too, right, Logan? Do you think we can find more than one?” Marcus asked.

“I think I may be able to retrofit a quest of sorts from the church, or Marta specifically. If they ask me to do something in return for payment, Fol and the systems associated with him should alter it into a quest I can track.”

“Would be too much to give you a quest to go home, right?” Amalia asked jokingly.

Logan sighed, “I tried that during this past week. Asking people to request stuff from me. It needs to be an actual request, not some sort of bluff or lie. If Marta is needing regeneration, this request would be legitimate. Outside of that, you can try, but how are you going to reward me?”

Amalia thought for a while before turning to Logan, “Logan, send me back to Earth and I will give you everything I own in this world.”

The room went silent as they all waited for some sort of outcome.

The silence was only broken by Logan’s reply, “No dice. Either it isn’t something I can feasibly do, it isn’t considered legitimate, or PCs can’t issue them.”

“Logan, save Marta. I will give you all of my money to do so”, Marcus requested.

Silence prevailed in the room for another short while before Logan responded, “Same thing there. Might be because you’re my partnered NPC though.”

“Two failures right off the bat. That doesn’t instil a lot of confidence you can make this… Marta? Grant you a quest properly”, Amalia announced.

“I’ve had some success outside of these tests.”

“If Logan says he can do it, I trust him.”

“Fine. So what’s our next step?”

“We need to get you a crossbow, then we head off. Oh, put this on too”, Logan answered as he handed over an earring of gobtree to Amalia.

“The hell is that!?”

“It’s a trinket, they empower you. This one will give you more Constitution, so you’ll be sturdier. I got it from a recent hunt and haven’t sold it yet.”

Amalia hesitantly picked up the earring and put it through the existing hole in her ear, though it hid behind her hair. With it equipped, her HP went from 18 to 30.

“Why the crossbow?” she asked further.

“You need to engage in a fight in some form to gain experience. Marcus can just heal or buff us and he’ll gain XP. All you need to do is land a single hit against a troll and you’ll be counted in the XP distribution.”

“Won’t that over-level me? Didn’t you say that would be bad without skills to back it up?”

“Yes and no. This will give you a boost in the beginning, but lower experience gains from lower-level foes. You’ll be able to blitz lower-level quests faster with a higher level. If you want to do much more than the first ten quests, I can loan you my elementals to lower your experience gain.”

“Logan gets a lowered amount from absorbing their spells, so you’ll be fine to do that”, Marcus added.

“So… my first quest is to go hunting trolls?”

“You’ll be up in a tree. Baby steps”, Logan replied with a smile.

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