Legend of the Spellthief

The Spellthief and Devout duo slept like logs, their bodies completely exhausted from the harrowing fights of the day prior. While still on edge, as there were always dangers in the dark and snakes in the grass, it turned out they did not need to worry about sleeping in the forests.

Regardless, sleeping in the woods wasn’t as comfortable as the beds back at the guild house. With all the new spell slots from Logan’s new coat, he had some reorganising of his prepared spells for each day to do.

1st (5+4): 1 Aqua, 1 Flame, 1 Frost, 1 Gaia, 1 Infuse, 1 Lightning, 2 Necromantic, 1 Wind.

2nd (4+4): 1+9/9* Dimensional Jaunt, 1 Earthen Eruption, 1 Haste, 1 Lightning Cascade, 1 Skin of Ice, 1 Sleep, 2(+4 full) summons.

3rd (3+4): 1 Air Blast, 1 Aqua 2nd, 1 Barrier, 1 Flame 2nd, 1 Gaia 2nd, 1 Invisibility, 1 Necromantic 2nd.

Along with his new slots, Logan’s summons now granted him 58 MP via Charge Transfer, minus the 4 he spent summoning the ones his bangle didn’t pay for. Servoir and Umbra were close to level 17, the current max level for his summons, so it wasn’t long till he reached the limit of the 2nd-level summon spell.

Making doubly sure he’d never run out of Dimensional Jaunt, Logan assigned at least one spell slot to it, allowing him to use proper potions to restore a single use at a time as potions couldn’t grant him MP.

With everything prepared for whatever the day had in store, Logan teleported back to Gauntlet with Marcus in tow.

Almost dragging their feet back to the guild house, Logan plopped himself on the sofa with his arms spread over the backrest. Marcus moved to the counter to get drinks for both himself and his friend.

“The overmorrow will be the 30th”, Marcus started.

“Yeah, counting today we got three days till the new year”, Logan replied slowly.

“At least the newest development means you’ll have all the time you need for the tournament, right?”

“Unless an emergency emerges, yeah.”

“Any plans?”

“Laying here and reading”, Logan laughed.

The first day of rest was taken up first by a two-hour nap, preparing the two copied hearts within a cauldron, and then a good ten hours of reading after Logan bought up some new tomes to study. Outside of normal reading fatigue, Logan’s eyes became tired quickly, the same as his body.

Having Bloodcasted so much against Tille, Logan was running on around half health, and it was easily felt through even the minor things in life.

The second day was another eight hours of reading for Logan to finish all of his tomes. With his Regeneration at play, he was regaining thirty health a day as opposed to the normal ten. He’d be back in shape by the time of the tournament.

Logan progressed Haste from tier 8 to 10, Skin of Ice from 8 to 10, and Sleep from 4 to 10. For his third-level spells, he focused on his new Barrier spell, getting it to tier 10 to protect him in times when teleportation or dodging was not an option. At maximum mastery, Barrier would now block twenty times his level in damage per casting, a sizeable 420.

Even at the speed he was reading, Logan was strapped for time. Moving into the last day of the year, Logan wanted to spend it more leisurely than grinding on books for mastery.

The first step towards this was the finishing touches of an item crafted from the hearts of Tille. It became a double-sided heart, its compiled beating made quite an otherworldly sight. Tearing at the flesh, Logan devoured it like so many other meals, blood dripping down his chin as he imbibed its powers.

“You have reached Demon Stage 4. Your attributes have all increased by 1. You have unlocked the skill Planar Spellforce.”

Unlike the previous times his demonhood stage advanced, Logan didn’t have bile in his stomach nor veins pop to the edge of his skin. His body had become accustomed to growing towards being a full-blooded demon.

Checking the advancements brought a grin to his face as he saw the power at his fingertips. Spellforce Blast in particular was a harrowing attack he had come under when aiding Tinte in some issues it had with local demons while gathering up troll blood. One issue would be the time it took to charge, and faster opponents just avoiding the draining area. It could be a nice sneak attack if he were far enough away though.

When it came to Planar Spellforce, Logan compared it to Signature Spell in that it gave increasing quantities at lower levels. There weren’t many other spells to assign, his first-levels having several slots per spell at this point. It’d be easier to hide his lower slots with this.

1st (5+7): 1 Aqua, 1 Flame, 1 Frost, 1 Gaia, 1 Infuse, 1 Lightning, 5 Necromantic, 1 Wind.

2nd (4+6): 2+9/9* Dimensional Jaunt, 1 Earthen Eruption, 1 Flame Cloak, 1 Haste, 1 Lightning Cascade, 1 Skin of Ice, 1 Sleep, 2(+4 full) summons.

3rd (3+5): 1 Air Blast, 1 Aqua 2nd, 1 Barrier, 1 Flame 2nd, 1 Frost 2nd, 1 Gaia 2nd, 1 Invisibility, 1 Necromantic 2nd.

When it came to casting so many spells, Logan’s Otherworldly Stamina had increased to tier 4 along with his demonhood, so he had little worry about fatiguing himself.

Thinking on his stage, Logan had passed fledgling vampires who started at 3. Older vampires would probably more quickly assume he was one if not for missing aesthetic changes. It took almost a hundred and sixty days to reach this point, a staggering speed for those who saw vampiric surrender as the best way to ascend to this height.

Logan ruffled his hair as his brain was much more calculating than it was back on Earth. Then, he only had to worry about his boss taking advantage of him or budgeting for the month. On Avanar, he had a daily resource recount, figured out daily and weekly quest plans, organised a whole guild, and prepared for any surprise system quests. Not to mention everything going on with his class and skills.

Thankfully, he didn’t forget a date he had planned with Amalia for the day. With barely any Bloodcasted health to recover, he was mostly refreshed for it. Putting on some nicer, non-combat attire, he met with his partner as the pair headed into town.

One of the more enjoyable parts of a fantasy world with magic was that of the intricate and entertaining establishments on offer. The particular one Logan had picked for this night was hopefully one suited to Amalia who had a fondness for magic.

A large eating establishment, Morphic Delights, took on some ideas from Leroy’s restaurant and added a wondrous flair to it. The interior was a compilation of brown and dark-red wood walls, some places seemed like a maze of corridors, with no other patrons in sight, just empty tables here and there. One of the members of staff approached the two to take Logan’s reservation.

As Logan and Amalia were seated, the floor shook a bit before lines appeared all over it. Rectangle segments of the floor then slowly rose to the ceiling, meeting with it neatly and sealing the two in a private chamber that fit their needs. The business prided itself on privacy and personally styled “rooms” for the patrons.

Rugs and drapes folded out of the wood, depicting the elements and dazzling combat scenarios. The table had its centre open up to reveal a dancing globe with a fire pit beneath it, opening up, the globe revealed a platter of meat and two pairs of metallic tongs, allowing for the customers to barbeque their own meals.

The familiar sight of two floating rocks also floated from holes in the floor that closed thereafter. One was covered in icy-blue veins while the other had hot-red veins. These common devices regulated the temperature and light levels of an interior, even providing air to breathe and circulation.

Amalia let out a gleeful breath, “This looks amazing”, she said just as gleefully.

“Glad you enjoy it”, Logan replied as he slid out a part of the table to reveal more utensils and cutlery.

“You remembered me moaning about wanting a good barbeque, huh?” Amalia teased as she went straight for the tongs.

“Maybe. I did hear about this place some time ago, so it was already on my radar.”

“Uh-huh”, Amalia said in a drawn-out sarcastic playful tone.

“You can put these sticks into this hole to request other items”, Logan explained as he slid another portion of the table open, revealing several sticks with writing on them and a square hole next to them.

Amalia looked over them before releasing a few requests for mushrooms and cheese. A few moments later another segment of the floor opened up and rose to the side of the table, revealing a tray of various fungi and fromage.

The pair cooked and dined for a while, laughing every so often through cheerful discussion and reminiscence. When they had moments of rest for their left hands, the pair held each other’s. A warm environment that almost didn’t need the magical rock to do that for them.

“How’d the dagger serve you?” Amalia asked.

Logan let out a short laugh, “It was great. Had to rely on it for some deflections against this snallygaster monster, I was setting up for—”

Amalia interrupted Logan as she swallowed her mouthful, “A what?”

“Snallygaster.”

“That’s a folklore monster… I heard about it as a kid, isn’t it meant to be German… or maybe American?” Amalia thought aloud towards the end, looking to the ceiling.

“Really?” Logan asked, bemused. “I’ve also fought oni and the like… those are Japanese I think”, he trailed off.

“Aren’t all these monsters a bit too… Earthly?”

Logan shrugged, “Oh, yeah. I already thought the same a while back.”

Amalia reclined in her chair, “Just how many people moved between our worlds. If we share the same ideas of monsters…” she spoke as she went into deep thought.

Logan replied after sipping his drink, “I kinda dropped that thought process. It doesn’t really add up to anything right now. I just accept it as reality.”

“Just makes me wonder.”

“Totally understandable. It is all interesting to ponder. At least you won’t have to worry about retelling your journey as a work of fiction back home”, Logan said with a smile.

Amalia slowly shook her head, “No way I am going back. The magic here is so… what’s the word… convenient.”

“Oh”, Logan jumped up slightly, “Talking of magic”, he continued as he pulled out a palm-sized box from his coat, “Here’s your Year’s End gift.”

Amalia placed her utensils down and picked up the box. Opening it with a satisfying click, the interior had a bed of velvet that held a singular ring. A mix of red and yellows to match Amalia’s hair and eyes respectively, the ring was crafted to look like a German firedrake, its front claws grasping a small carving of the letter A.

Slipping the ring on her right index finger, Amalia’s smile wanted to run off her face as the metal glinted in her eyes. Clicking her fingers, the ring shone slightly as she cleaned her face of food.

“That ring should let you cast almost any mick, a total of ten times a day”, Logan explained with a smaller smile.

Amalia stuttered her words slightly as she replied through watery eyes, “This… this is amazing, Logan.”

Scooching her chair to the side, Amalia wrapped her arms around Logan, almost bear-hugging the man.

Clicking her fingers again, Amalia formed a light sprite, the ball of white and yellow floating in the air above her open palm. The brightness of the summon only lit Amalia’s beautiful face evermore for Logan’s eyes.

“I’m glad you like it. I can’t lie, had butterflies in my stomach thinking about giving it to you.”

Amalia shook her head, “You didn’t need to worry at all, stupid. This is more than I was expecting.”

“Well, you did give me quite a good dagger”, Logan teased.

“Yeah, but I make weapons almost every day. You went out of your way to make this. How long did it even take?”

Logan shrugged, “A day or three.”

“C’mon”, Amalia asked again, with an elongated tone.

“Maybe a week?” Logan continued to tease.

Amalia then jabbed her elbow into Logan’s arm, “Fine. However long it took, it’s amazing. As are you.”

The two embraced again before pulling away to finish their time at Morphic Delights.

Leaving the establishments, the couple walked the snowy streets back to the guild. Flakes fluttered to the floor as temperatures were still below freezing. It still felt like it was close to 16°C for Logan with his Ice King Traits, but for most other people it was -4°C in the night air.

Amalia clung close to her personal heater, Logan, though she now had access to the mick Temper-rate, so she could also make her clothing hotter than usual.

There were scarce other people on the streets, mostly guards doing their patrols in spurts before heading inside to take hot breaks. Thankfully, it was within their budget to have heat gravel and other cheaper options for keeping warm in winter times. It wasn’t long before the streets would be completely devoid as it neared midnight.

Reaching the guild house, the pair’s eyes were treated to the sight of familiar and familial faces who gleamed back at them. Hoppy and hot drinks were prepped for all on arrival, hearty celebrations starting with the final two returning to the guild.

“Let us all have another grand year!”

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