After nearly an hour of attempting to use her mana again, SJ gave up with a frustrated scream. Fran chuckled, “Don’t be so disheartened. Even focusing on their skill, an apprentice mage can take days, if not weeks, to learn to manipulate mana as needed.”
“I know. According to what I had been told, it could take up to a year. I just want to progress in my profession, which is preventing me from doing so,” SJ replied.
“You're still attempting to force it to happen. Every time I watch you, your face scrunches up. It must flow naturally. Here, watch my demonstration again,” Fran sat perfectly still and then slowly moved her hands in front of her. “Now, as I am channelling mana, I can still hold a conversation. I am not pushing it. I allow it to manipulate what I am doing as though it is a part of me.”
SJ watched as the small ball of water formed in her hand as she spoke.
“I know you can’t see what I am doing exactly, but I am not forcing anything. I am just thinking about what I want to create, and it is doing it by itself. It is a strange sensation. I suppose there must be things you do without thinking about them, allowing your subconscious to control your actions. Like walking downstairs. Do you look at every step? Or do you know what to expect because you have walked down them previously? So do it naturally, without thought.”
SJ tilted her head as she listened to Fran’s recital. It was an interesting way to consider it. Instead of fixating on pushing the mana, she needed to solely concentrate on the result and let her body react naturally.
“One last attempt,” SJ said, taking a deep, calming breath as she centred herself again. Closing her eyes, she controlled her breathing and reopened them once she felt her body relax. Looking at Fran, she held the cloth in her hands and talked to her.
“I know you are an enchanter and wondered what enchantments you can provide?” she asked.
“Oh. There are several that I have available to me. I had been learning the Lightening Protection one after we discovered it helped against the orc mage, but since he is no more, I had switched to a mend enchantment.”
“I have that on my dress already. It is amazing.”
“Your dress is fabulous. I would love to know what the enchantment is that it has.”
“I think it is called self-repair.”
“Ah. That is like mend but in an improved form. Mend repairs tears in clothing, whereas self-repair replaces burned or damaged items as if they were new again. I could not afford the spell for that.”
“Do you have any that are combat-focused?”
“I do have several that could be considered combat-focused but not offensive. I have only ever really focused on defensive spells. That is one of the reasons we had been training so much to fight the hobs.”
“That makes sense. I would…”
Fran cut SJ off, “There we go,” she said, smiling.
“What?” SJ said.
“Your mana.”
SJ suddenly realised that her mana pool was slowly dropping, so she shouted excitedly, immediately stopping it. “Yes. It worked,” SJ said. SJ had not even thought about the process while talking to Fran, meaning the enhancement process had begun naturally. The only thing she now needed to try and do was complete it at will and focus on the speed at which she pushed her mana. Having no idea what the basis was that was needed was annoying.
“Your mana was flowing, yes. Now you have done it once, you should be able to trigger it again. I told you that you were trying to force it.”
Her pool had dropped by seven. She had no idea how long it had been reduced because she had not paid it any attention. “I need to control the speed, though, as it feeds into the material from what I was told.”
“Yes. You can’t just push the mana in, or it breaks the materials capability, it is the same for all professions, smithing etc.”
“I also was told that the quality matters?”
“Yes. Higher quality items are more susceptible to receive enchantment slots.”
“If an item has an enchantment slot, I assume it can be enchanted with anything?”
“No. Unfortunately not. The enchantments themselves are also dependent upon the material quality. The prime example is what we just discussed between the version of mend and self-repair. Self-repair must have a higher quality material for it to take.”
“I see. So, once an enchantment is placed on an item, it is permanent, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Until replaced.”
“You can replace them. That is good to know.”
“Replacing enchantments is a costly process, though, as there is always a possibility that it may damage the original item by removing the enchantment slot that it was placed in.”
“Can they be replaced again?”
“They can, again, though unless you are of the profession, there is a premium you pay for the facility. You have seen yourself how difficult it can be to even add one enhancement slot. A high-level item with four slots, if it lost one, would require a high-level professional to replace the slot.”
“It is profitable then, once you become a higher level?”
“It can be. In larger cities, several focus only on that part of their profession rather than producing items. As I say, they charge a premium, though.”
“I will just have to level myself then, so I don’t need to pay for it,” SJ smiled.
“Definitely the best way to be.”
“I have another question before I leave today.”
“What did you need to know?” Fran asked.
“Can you make soul stones?”
Fran raised her eyebrows in response, staring at SJ for a moment before responding.
“You can create a portal, can’t you, which means you are now at level 10. If so, why have you not yet jumped in a wagon to Asterfal?”
“I will be staying for a while. I am not sure what you have heard about the changes, but I don’t need to leave straight away to continue growing.”
Although SJ trusted Fran, she really didn’t want to be talking about her level openly.
“I have not made a soul stone for many years. Amathereans do not get the ability to locate portals. Not without being part of a high council with specialist mages who can construct them. However, they are controlled by the capital and have very restricted access to them. Usually between specific locations only. The closest portal to here I am aware of is a city called Lisofill. It is a Dryad city in the east, over the far side of the mountains. There is no direct route from here without heading towards Asterfal first. Unless you wish to try and use the cave system, which isn’t advisable.”
“Could you make one then?”
“I could try and cast it. As I say, it has been years since I last performed the spell. Do you have everything you need for it?”
“Everything I need?” SJ asked, frowning.
“Yes. There are components to casting a soul stone. It is not just casting a spell. You need specific items. Firstly, and most importantly, you need a deed to a property.”
“I have that.”
Fran raised her eyebrows again. “Secondly, you require a trusted location to place the soul stone.”
“I haven’t confirmed yet, but I do not see that being a problem.”
“Finally, you require to allow me to split your soul.”
SJ gasped. “Sorry?”
“That is what a soul stone is. You take part of the person’s soul to use as the essence gate for the portal. You can leave your portal where it is, but if you are after a soul stone spell, then you wish to return through it, and the only way is by tying part of your soul to it.”
“Does it harm me in any way?”
“Not harm, no, but it does utilise your health.”
“My hit points are affected?”
“Yes. It will cost 5% of your total hit points for every portal you place. That is not recalculated at 5% each time. It is 5% of your starting amount. If you have 100 hit points, you will have 95 available. Creating a second soul stone would remove another 5%, leaving you with 90.”
“How do city ones work then?”
“Direct city links are permanent portals that cities charge for their use, depending upon where they are linked to. If an individual wishes to create a soul stone to one, which they may do, they require authorisation from the portal’s owner or controller, and they have to have been confirmed through bonding prior. The politics start to get a little complex.”
“It is possible for Amathereans to have soul stone links to various portals then?”
“It is, but it is very expensive, and they are rare. The only ones I ever created previously were for the High Council members in the fae capital.”
“Well, I have everything needed to allow one to be created. One final question. When you use a portal, is there a cooldown before you can reuse one?”
“Yes. After using any portal, you must wait at least eight hours. The strain it puts on your body is severe, and if you tried prior, you would likely never arrive at the other end and would just join the mana clouds in the sky,” Fran smiled.
“Thanks for all the information. It has been helpful. If it is okay with you, I will think about it and get back to you.
“Of course, just come and see me when you decide.”
“I should really go now. I have taken too much of your time up already today.”
“It is fine. I enjoyed our conversations, and as I mentioned, please consider the mayor’s offer to join the council. It would still require votes, but I believe you would have the backing with your recent accomplishments. Also, the kobold needs to go,” Fran stated.
“I will think about it,” SJ frowned. She hadn’t accepted the quest offer yet but was still considering what to do. To assassinate the kobold would need careful planning if she were going to do it, and she wanted to investigate things before considering accepting it. Fran had seemed quite nonchalant in relation to the task, but it was her future and the impact the action may have that concerned her. The next meeting isn’t for three days, so I have time,” SJ replied, standing. SJ suddenly glanced around the room. “Where is Harrietta?”
“She is still at the Wandering Ogre. She spends every day there and calls back in the evenings to update me on what she has discovered. I have been told some good old tales about clients who visit,” Fran grinned.
“Ha. I bet you have. Anything you would like to share?” SJ smirked.
“I will keep things anonymous for now, but when I see certain members of the town next, I may have to drop a subtle hint that I know something.”
SJ laughed at the thought of the potential poor husbands who may not wish to know what Fran was now privy to.
“I better had go, thanks again,” SJ said as she left Fran’s office.
As SJ returned to town, she began to muse over what to do.
“Dave?”
“Yep.”
“I have been thinking about the offers.”
“That’s dangerous.”
“What is?” SJ frowned.
“Thinking,” Dave chuckled.
Rolling her eyes, SJ continued, “I have been trying to consider a way that I could interact with the wandering ogre without drawing unnecessary attention.”
“Go on.”
“Well, if the town expands its borders, Niweq will need to have a conversation about the potential of the Wandering Ogre coming within its borders.”
“Or not. He could just reject the offer, of course.”
“I know, and I understand that, but what I am thinking is that it is an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. No pun intended.”
“But I like puns.”
Sighing, SJ continued, “If I were a member of the town council, and I mean if, and if I then suggested that I speak to Niweq on behalf of the town. I could potentially be able to visit without drawing any attention to myself in doing so.”
“That is a very good idea. But to what aim? You can’t just walk in there and kill a kobold that works for him.”
“No. Although I may at least meet them and start a conversation with them, ideally, I would want them away from the Wandering Ogre if I was going to do anything anyway. It would be too suspicious to kill them on the site.”
“You could always consider a more sinister plan.”
“More sinister than planning to kill someone?”
“Ok. Maybe not more sinister but more…,” he paused. “What’s the word to describe it? Creative plan.”
“What’s that then?”
“Disposing of the kobold does not necessarily have to be by your hand, does it? The quest doesn’t mention anything about the actual method of death. It doesn’t state you must assassinate the threat. It just states to remove the threat.”
“And how would you expect me to do that?”
“Your secondary class is subterfuge, and I know you don’t have the skills open yet for various elements of it, but you could always try to persuade Niweq of the kobold’s reputation and have him removed. Anyone getting removed from the Wandering Ogre is never going to be accepted in Killic, and news travels fast.”
“That would prevent having to kill someone when theoretically they may not be the right person. I know Harrietta has observed them, but assassinating someone with no due consideration or confirming the facts myself feels a little off.”
“It’s not Earth remember. Assassins are always hired to remove targets or threats for many reasons. Jealousy, trade, etc., there is no one specific.”
“I will never kill targets without purpose, though. I have said that since the start.”
“I know, but if needs must, you may need to widen your narrow-minded thought process.”
“Narrow-minded?” SJ said, startled at his comment.
“Yes. You are restricting your development by only pursuing one specific angle in relation to your chosen method of career progression.”
“I wouldn’t say that it is narrow-minded. It is moralistic, yes, but not narrow-minded.”
“However you view it, you have placed a restriction on yourself that no other assassin that I have ever heard of has—or in their right mind,” he coughed.
“Hey,” SJ bit.
“Would ever do,” Dave concluded.
“I won’t just kill people for the sake of it unless they have done something wrong that deserves it. You know my feelings on this.”
“I know, and I appreciate them. I really do. I am just stating a fact.”
SJ fumed over Dave’s comment and didn’t speak again until they had returned to her room.
“So, what are your thoughts outside of my narrow-minded, messed-up considerations,” she huffed.
“Like I say, I think the idea has potential. You would need to first speak to the mayor and then consider some schmoozing.”
“Schmoozing who?”
“The town councillors. You said you don’t know them, and if it is going to be a vote, you want to make sure there is enough support on your side.”
SJ sat, considering his comments. “That does make sense, although I am not sure how I can just walk up to many of these people and start talking to them without having something in common.”
“There you go then. There is your next mission. Find out about the members.”
“I suppose I can, not that two days is a great deal of time to get to know people.”
“No, but it’s a start, at least.”
“I agree. Okay, it’s time to go and find out where they work when they’re not in the meetings, and I think I know the best person to ask.” SJ said, standing up with conviction.
“Let’s go,” Dave said enthusiastically.
As the evening set in, SJ was returning to the Inn.
“Well, that wasn’t too bad a day, after all? You have started to make some good inroads with several of them,” Dave said.
“I still have many more to find and speak to tomorrow, and I also need to speak to the mayor.”
“The Ent made me laugh when you visited him,” Dave chuckled.
When SJ left her room, she went downstairs to speak to Kerys, the fountain of local knowledge. Kerys had been more than happy to share details about the various council members, even giving her some pre-warning over some of their foibles. She had learned that there were 25 town council members, which was more than she had realised, never seeing them all present at once in the chamber.
SJ had discovered that the Ent was a butcher when he wasn’t representing his kind within the town, and she had visited him in his shop. As soon as she walked in, he approached her and busied himself around her, asking how she was and what he could do for her. His name was Earleqious, and he had been the Ent’s council member for over a century. Long before the mayor even came to the town. He had started telling her about the stories of Killic’s growth and troubles he had witnessed, being a fountain of knowledge. He stopped talking only when a customer walked in, and he continued as soon as they left.
The strangest thing was seeing him work, having four arms he was a dab hand at butchering able to work wonders with his knives, using two at once. SJ stared in amazement as he had chopped and stripped the carcasses of several hoglings while she had been there. She was also privy to a delivery of fresh hoglings from one of the hunting parties and watched the interactions. There were apparently two butchers in the town, and he had a rivalry with the other and would pay extra to ensure he got the best carcasses.
It wasn’t just hoglings that he butchered, although they seemed to be a staple diet of most townsfolk, there were all different cuts of meat from various creatures, many SJ didn’t recognise, and several fowl strung up by their feet hanging from the bars which lined the shop. He had even tried to get her to have a go and butcher one of the hoglings, which she had kindly refused.
“I don’t think you will have a problem getting his vote.”
“He was nice, but he just doesn’t stop talking.”
She had also visited one of the gnomes and elven representatives and was starting to build up a picture of their relationships. Over the next two days she planned on visiting the human, dryad, dwarven, gnoll, kobold, ratkin, draconian, orc and bugbear council members. She wanted to try to speak to at least one of each party since each race appeared to have two members. The only races she knew of that didn’t have permanent representatives were the trolls, lycanthropes, halflings, quarterlings, and undead.
Apparently, as the presiding mayor was a Lycanthrope, they only held one vote. That meant there was always an odd number of votes, and they could never be deadlocked. SJ had originally thought that Alice was one of the Dryad council members but had come to learn that she was just the deputy mayor and held no voting power, although she did have mayoral authority. The complexity of the politics just in a town this size was substantial, To consider what it may be like within a large city was mind numbing.
Her work would be cut out getting around them all, especially if any of them talked as much as Earleqious had. She took out her notebook and pencil and made notes about each she met. The elven representative she had spoken to had been the most off with her, not wishing to talk outside of just passing initial pleasantries. She had felt quite uncomfortable and ended up leaving after a short period of time. The gnome had been much friendlier and spoken openly but had been too busy to chat.
“If they added me to the council, I wonder what position I should take?”
“What do you mean position?”
“All the members, from what Kerys stated earlier, are not just racial representatives but also hold specific roles within the council. It Is not as if I can just join and say ‘Hey, I am an assassin, I can kill whoever you wish’ is it.”
“Well, you could do that, but you are not really skilled enough yet to sell your profession.”
“I was being sarcastic,” SJ replied, shaking her head.
“Really!” Dave replied, his own voice dripping in sarcasm.
“Ok. It’s time for food and an early night. I have a lot of people to see,” SJ said.
