Chương 3: Chapter 2.1 - Walden Burb

They arrived in Walden Burb. Due to its proximity to numerous wildlands, it was not like Serin's burb at all. High fences, a robust guard, and an adventurer's guild were all the trappings of a constantly encroaching wilds that threatened to swallow the burb. Although it took the normal week to travel this far, almost half of that time was spent watching over Serin while he recovered. And although they were tired, they wanted to get their offerings done at the guild as soon as possible, then catch some sleep. So Jericho went to the local hostel to secure their equipment and cart, and Serin and his group went to sign up at the Adventurers' Guild Outpost. When they arrived, They were greeted by a woman standing behind a counter. She looked maybe in her mid-thirties but her eyes spoke of eons of knowledge. Her words carried a calm yet powerful tone. She was not to be trifled with, "Welcome to the Walden Burb Adventurer's guild! We assist those seeking to post official requests as well as those who seek to fulfill quests set by others. So how may I assist you today?"

It was apparent. This was not a human.

Serin spoke. "We wish to gain membership with the Adventurer's guild and access the request board."

The woman smiled. "To ensure the highest level of service to those who posted quests, I need to confirm that you can indeed handle yourself. Please provide proof of certainty that your merit matches the minimum to gain admittance tot he Adventurer's Guild."

Rachel started "I have the pelt of a Dire-Elk. It proves I am capable of hunting down prey much more powerful than myself, in their own territory." And she passed one of the two pelts she had to the guild attendant. The attendant reviewed the offering and smiled, then as she grabbed it, it turned to dust. Allister came up next. "I have a breeding pair of poppyfrogs. The rarity of these animals and the care required to ensure accidental overdose speaks to my merit for field work." Again the attendant retrieved the item, and they turned to dust. Finally it was Serin's turn. He looked to the attendant and set the large bag of deadhearts on the counter. "I can offer dead hearts. It shows I am good at killing. How many do you require?" The attendant looked at Serin, looked at his bag, and then smiled. "I only wish to prove your capability, not rob you of your spoils young one. Five of the ones you carry shall be enough." Serin blinked and set down 5.

'What the hell am I supposed to do with the other two hundred and forty?' Serin asked himself That would have to come later. For now, they each felt a slight burn over their attribute plate. Serin viewed his plate and saw under affiliation it now listed "Adventurer's guild, Iron Member".

He would ask Jericho what this all meant later. For now, they all desperately needed sleep.

***

At roughly 2pm Serin woke. He looked at his status, and saw all of his energies were full. Opening up his attribute plate, he saw that there was a new block at the bottom.

Conditions:

- Well Rested. For the next 16 hours, the user will gain a small boost to XP. This can be gained by sleeping in a safe and warm place for at least 6 hours.

Their accommodations were pretty simple. The hostel was built with 4 small bunkbeds and a storage area for the cart. Each 4 bed room had the a rollup door that led to the cart. The hostel was definitely meant for travelers and traders, and offered no other amenities.

Jericho had already awoken. When he saw Serin was waking up he started putting his leg back on. It was the first time Serin had seen him take it off since they had set off.

Jericho noticed him looking, "In the dry warmth of a place like this room, my leg swells a bit. If I don't take the auto-leg off it is kind of hard to sleep."

Serin looked at him, "I only needed 5 dead hearts to join the guild." Jericho laughed. "Back in my day it was 20. I guess standards are dropping everywhere." He then saw Serin's look. "Its ok, we will sell the rest. Walden Burb has a very good market. So first we will have your deadhearts exchanged for credits, then we can go shopping."

"What about the other two?" Serin asked. Jericho then nodded and started scribbling a note. "Good point. Best to leave them about 160 dead hearts to share. They will need to get supplies as well."

Without question, Serin started counting out dead hearts, and Jericho breathed out a sign of relief. "I am glad you think ahead and didn't drop your intelligence Serin, having to explain that the three of you must share equally would have been a pain for most."

It didn't seem complex to Serin. Although he had shot most of the dead hearts, he knew Allister had built torches and Rachel had made deadbait. Plus, there was the clearing that was made that he was sure took Allister, Rachel, and Jericho an entire day to build. Sharing equally among his team not only seemed fair, it seemed like the right thing to do.

***

Jericho and Serin walked through the market. It was fairly crowded. Jericho had explained that this burb was closer towards the center of the nation, and the closer to the center of the nation, the more crowded the markets. "All roads lead the the Grand General's Castle" Jericho had said, referring to the large military city at the center of the Northern Kingdoms.

Their first stop was the currency exchange. Jericho explained. "The currency exchange is run by the divines here, as well as every other place one pops up. You can always find them in a place that is large enough to have an adventurers guild. And unlike the coinage of old, you can rest assured that across all the lands I have ever visited, all of the currency exchanges have been well run. Robbing one of those ladies is more foolhardy than facing a dragon." Located adjacent to the Adventurer's Guild and before the market row, Serin looked and saw a small building with a woman behind the counter. He had never seen her before, but he had seen those eyes. The same eyes of the attendants at the Adventurer's Guild. They shown with a fierce power that nearly put him on his knees. A soft voice started. "Welcome to the exchange. Is this your first time?" Serin nodded.

The attendant smiled "The universally understood currency is known as a Credit. This currency is used to buy and sell goods at the shops, as well as the specialty markets. Additionally Credits can be exchanged for skill or spell books, but I reccomend you look locally, as our prices are fixed. The current exchange rates are shown to my right. A fee of 1% will be applied towards all exchanges"

Next to her was an illusion of a board with constantly changing items and numbers. Serin saw all sorts of magical and material items that could be exchanged for credits, and vice versa. Each with a different buy/sell rate.

Jericho's eyes widened and he smiled. "I see deadhearts have increased."

The woman answered. "Yes, there has been a continuous upward trend the value of dead hearts for the last 487 weeks. We have had less and less enter circulation, so their value has increased to match the constant demand."

Serin didn't understand any of this. But he saw the rate of deadhearts was 1 deadheart to 8.983 credits.

Serin "How do you give partial credits?" The woman smiled, "When you perform an interaction with us, we create an account in your name, and you gain access to the bank in your system. This can be used as a bank so you do not have to carry credits, as you always have access to it. Additionally it can be used for the purchase of real property in this Burb, or any outlying Burbs or lands you have rights to purchase in. You may also buy licenses, check status of investments, create…" She continued, but Serin had already gotten lost in all of it. The woman smiled. "Would you be interested in creating an account with us?" Serin smiled "Yes, and I would like to exchange my deadhearts for credits." Serin smiled. He wondered what credits looked like. Then he felt his right wrist burn.

A circle was drawn there. "Your account has now been setup with us. It works similar to your plate. Take time on your own to peruse our features and services. Now how much are you depositing today?" Serin figured it out. Credits were not a physical currency. Their value was magical in nature. A tray slid out in front of Serin, as the woman promptly smiled. "Please place all applicable goods for exchange here on the tray, and funds will be deposited into your account." Serin dumped his bag of deadhearts into the bin, which promptly closed. The woman began speaking, but her gaze had never left Serin. "Thank you Serin of Waterford Burb. Your account has been credited 729.24 credits, rounded to the nearest hundredth. We look forward to helping you with your banking needs in the future."

As they walked away from the exchange towards the market stalls, Serin Focused on the new mark on his right wrist, and he saw a large screen pop up. Most of the tabs had level or credit restrictions attached to them, and he didn't understand what they meant. For now he focused on his banking screen. It showed his account, with 729.24 credits, as well as all past incomes and expenditures, which only listed the recent deposit. He saw that there was a small box that was greyed out, it showed a golden box and cost 2000 credits. Serin asked Jericho. "Jericho, what is this box on the page?" Jericho smiled. "It's a spell. It summons a box that you can deposit all spoils into your account from anywhere in the world. The magic is instant, and pretty intuitive. It is also secure. It puts things into a magic space, and you can retrieve them once. after the box is dismissed a second time, it is gone." Serin then noticed he had the ability to transfer funds to other accounts, although only one account was shown, which was Jericho's account. He also saw the next tab which showed lots of grey boxes. There was only one unlocked, and it showed a dead heart, with the number '82' underneath. This must be all goods that can be exchanged for credits.

Jericho piped in "Monster slaying is lucrative work, but if the value of dead hearts is that high there must be a shortage of hunters in the world." Serin looked at Jericho. "Jericho, I need to replace my ammunition expended." Jericho smiled. "Alright. But this is when you can learn some more skills that are not within your skillset. Today we will work on the [Mercantilism] skill. The novice level increases your probability of a successful barter. Mostly by giving you a general sense of whether someone is trying to scam you. Remember, even if you don't get the best deal, simply trying to barter will raise your level." Jericho then looked at Serin. "Bartering is very rules based. As it stands, everyone is trying to increase their skill. When either party makes an offer the other party is willing to accept, extending your right hand to finish the deal will start the transaction.

It is bad if a merchant backs out of a deal, so you will have the upper hand. However, once you agree to a listed price, you cannot make it go any lower. So don't agree to pay something until it is the price you want."

Serin and Jericho walked to a crafter's workshop, but Jericho looked like he was just browsing. The crafter greeted Serin. He knew a good shop when he saw one, and everything here was clean and tidy.

And although the tools were well worn, they were also cared for. It also smelled right. "I was interested in procuring some ammunition for my rifle. Do you make ammo in this shop?" Jericho had pretended to not be involved in the conversation. The crafter motioned for Serin to hand him the rifle. "Ah, a bolt action 7.62mm. Very common ammo. Not too expensive. How much did you need?"

Serin thought about it. "That depends on the price." Serin didn't know the price of anything. But he knew the value of most of the tools in the shop. He saw Jericho had picked up a used spanner set marked at 10 credits. Jericho was helping him figure out how much things cost. So he did some quick math, and determined that normal rounds should cost about half a credit each, and fire rounds would cost about 1.5 credits per round.

He needed to at least replace his expended rounds, as well as get about 10%. The salesman then smiled. "I can do 3 rounds per 2 credits, but I would need a minimum purchase of 20 rounds." Serin then thought. "So if I purchase less rounds, the cost goes up?" The salesman agreed, "exactly. The cost would increase to a round a credit.". Serin then asked "what about the cost of fire rounds?" The salesman perked up "hunting the undead are we? Well those cost about 2 credits per round, but I would need you to purchase at least twenty for that cost." Serin then asked, "I am guessing the cost increases if I purchase less." The craftsman agreed, "Exactly. They would increase to 2.5 credits per round."

Serin then smiled "By your logic then, if I purchased more, the price would fall." The salesman grinned back. "Sure, kid. You make a big purchase and I can drop the price." Serin was dressed in simple field clothes, no armor, and only carried a rifle. The salesman had judged him. "Serin asked, What would it take to drop the regular round price to half a credit, and the fire round to 1.5 credits?" The salesman chuckled. "You know what kid, you fork out 400 credits and I will get you 200 of each." Serin extended his right hand for a handshake, "You have a deal sir."

Then, above Serin's hand was a small image.

[Serin agrees to pay Kincade Workshop 400 credits for the following goods, 200 7.62mm rounds, 200 7.62mm incendiary rounds." The salesman just stared. He was unable to back out now. He smiled, and "I like you kid. Deal. Goods will be available for pickup tomorrow at first light" and shook Serin's hand. Serin saw that he received a receipt, detailing his goods, as well as the date they will be available for pickup. He also felt a burn in both his plate and scroll. Guess I learned a new skill.

Jericho was impressed. "You handled that quite well. You were able to determine how much something was worth. And although you had to make a large purchase, you were certainly able to get a fair price. Now, I would recommend you get yourself some spells. But whatever you do, do not state they are for personal use." Serin was confused, "why not?" Jericho then explained. "All spells sold get recorded who bought them and for what purpose. it is done to track who can do what magic, in case the grand general needs to draft specific spellcasters into service. It is however a common practice for hunters to trade in magic scrolls." Jericho explained. "Other than that, you can always purchase off the black market, but you should focus on legal spells at the moment. That gets kind of expensive"

They arrived at a mage's shop. Jericho explained. "Anyone can learn any magic, however it takes time, effort, and energy. Also as a user grows a magic skill from one level to another, he only gains one new spell." Jericho explained. "There are several spells for each level of a spell type. For instance, for life magic, both Recover and Heal are novice level spells. And although they can grow in power, it takes quite a bit of effort to learn both naturally." Jericho continued, "A mage skilled in enchanting and crafting can create a magic tome that can instantly teach the user a spell. The downside is that these tomes are relatively expensive. But luckily for you, you only need the novice spell. Others might want to purchase the advanced or master spell, and those cost thousands, if not millions, of credits."

Serin then stood confused. "Why would someone not just learn the spells by practicing the skill?" Jericho smiled. "remember how I said if Allister focused only on running he would reach master lvl 1 by 40? Now think of the same thing for casting magic, except including brainburn. And remember naturally increasing a skill only garners you one new spell each level. So if you never branched out and only forced cast spells until your level hit master, you would only have 4 spells after spending a lifetime of effort." Now Serin understood.

Tomes were shortcuts to those not apt to magic, as well as ways to trade magic with other casters. Serin then looked at Jericho. "Was that book you handed Rachel a magic tome?" Jericho laughed. "No, actual charisma enhancers are the most expensive things I know of. That was the old method of learning how to be a decent person and work with others. I have had that book for many years." And with that, they stepped inside.

The magic shop was small. There was a small bookshelf of tomes, as well as some wands, staffs, and other various magical items Serin could not identify. The store was manned by an old gentleman, with a kind and approachable smile. "Good afternoon gentlemen and welcome to my shop. My name is Tomas. Is there something I can help you with?" Serin piped up. "I am looking for Tomes of pyromancy and tomes of terramancy. I am looking for Novice level spells." Serin knew that fire was good against the undead, and if he could learn terramancy, he could begin creating rounds himself. The shopkeep looked at the two of them. "You know gentleman, since you only need novice scrolls I am sure we can work out a deal." Then the shopkeeper let out a call, "Simon! Get down here! Bring your binder!". The shopkeeper continued. "I have the tomes you are looking for, but my son is wanting to get into my business. You may not be aware, but when selling goods, you get much more experience in Mercantilism if you sell goods you made yourself. My son doesn't have a very high mercantilism skill yet, as he was always more focused on the magic. He thought it would be more useful in learning additional magic than learning mercantilism, now he is behind and far from ready to open a shop."

Simon came down the stairs behind the counter, tripping and spilling his tomes onto the floor. Serin didn't understand, but Jericho did. "I see. You need us to conduct a private sale, right?" The shopkeeper smiled, "Yes. I would like you to negotiate with my son." At this point Simon perked up, "I promise you my tomes contain the same magical qualities as a normal tome." Serin looked at the tomes.

The pages were uneven. The colors were off. They did not look the part of a normal tome. Serin then looked at this boy, who must have also recently plated. He was handsome, and had a sharp eye, but he was pretty scrawny, and tripping as an introduction spoke volumes of his agility. Serin then spoke. "How much are you selling novice tomes for?"

Simon smiled, "right now, if you buy two, I can give you one for free!" Serin smirked, he already knew Serin only was asking for 2. "Yes, but what is the cost of these two?" Simon piped up, "300 credits, and not a fraction less!" The shopkeeper looked defeated, and Jericho chuckled before responding "Come Serin, we will find a different shop." Serin knew what was going on. This kid pushed a hard deal, and it was risky. Serin knew that the better the deal, the better chance to increase the [merchantalism] skill.

Serin looked him in the eyes, "I know this is a bad deal. And if I take it, I am setting myself for more bad deals in the future." Now Serin looked at Tomas, "but I am sure your shop will know that if I take this deal, it can either pave the way to a bright future, or this will be the last trade we make." Tomas smiled. "Simon, I accept your proposal." And with that, Serin stuck out his hand. Jericho was speechless. "Serin watched as the boy stuck out his hand. Serin had spent 300 credits, but he had potentially gained a great future shopkeeper that would make him a deal.

Jericho just shook his head. "it seems there is a lot you must still be taught about mercantilism and the art of trade." Simon ran to his father, "Father look! I have gained the Mercantilism skill!" Thomas beamed with pride, then he turned a grateful gaze towards Serin. "Many shopkeepers are only in it for the money. And although we are also in it for the money, we see this as a start to a long term arrangement. One I am sure will remain profitable for both of us."

Tomas walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a strange object that sort of looked like a replacement bolt for Serin's Rifle. "As a thank you for activating my son's [Mercantile] skill, I want you to have this. Let it mark the start of a new relationship and a promise of good trade." And with that Tomas handed Serin a strange looking item. Jericho stopped shaking his head at that moment. Serin thanked Tomas for his strange looking item. "Serin, your friend will teach you how to use that. But for now, you have some spells to pick."

Serin looked at the books available. He immediately grabbed the Terramancy spell "extract" and the pyromancy spell "firebolt". But for his third there were a few to choose from. There were a few good choices between the novice spells. He saw novice spells for most of the schools. Then he saw one that drew his eye. It was the spell "shield" from the abjuration school. He remembered Jericho mentioning that he needed to learn to use that spell, so it became his third choice. Serin thanked Simon and headed out of the market, Jericho chuckled at him "We better leave before you run out of money. Lets head back to the room."

Serin and Jericho arrived back at the Hostel to see that Rachel and Allister were gone. As were the deadhearts. The note had been flipped over and either Rachel or Allister had drawn a smiley face and a note that said 'dinner on me, see you then'. Serin was hungry, but it could wait. He wanted to learn from his new tomes. Jericho had explained how to use the tomes to Serin, "When we get back to the room, open the book to the first page, use a knife, prick your finger, and put a bit on the line you see at the bottom. Doing this will instantly use the tome." Serin pulled out his terramancy tome and did this, and as he did three other things happened, his scroll began to burn, a wave of information on the spell, how it worked, and how to use it entered his mind, and the tome turned to dust in his arms. When he did this, Jericho laughed, "I forgot to mention, do the next two books outside. It can get messy otherwise."

Serin followed Jericho's advice and signed the other two in just outside their room. Then he went inside to read up on his new skills. Jericho leaned in, "when you are done checking your new spells, let me know and I will show you how to use the gift from the shopkeeper."

Serin nodded, then went to his skills.

Novice Mercantilism – lvl1

- The Skill associated with buying, selling, and trading of goods or services

o Novice: The user can generally determine if a price set for an item is good or bad.

o Intermediate: Locked

o Advanced: Locked

o Master: Locked

o Grandmaster: Locked

- The user has the ability to retain bank information with shops he has visited with in the past, as well as receipts of sale.

Novice Terramancy – lvl 1

- This skill governs the use of Terra, or earth Magic, as well as understanding the various minerals around him.

o Novice: Spell Unlocked: Extract – Upon command, user can attempt to pull a specific mineral he has identified from a surrounding area. At higher levels, spell can grow stronger

o Intermediate: Locked

o Advanced: Locked

o Master: Locked

o Grandmaster: Locked

- Reduced magic cost from specialization: 0%

o Spell specialization – Extract – 0%

Novice Pyromancy – lvl1

- This skill governs the use of pyro, or fire magic, as well as understanding the flammability of various objects in the world around him.

o Novice: Spell Unlocked: Firebolt – upon command, user casts a long range spell that deals fire damage. At higher levels, spell can grow stronger.

o Intermediate: Locked

o Advanced: Locked

o Master: Locked

o Grandmaster: Locked

- Reduced magic cost from specialization: 0%

o Spell specialization – Firebolt – 0%

Novice Abjuration – lvl1

- This skill governs the use of abjuration magic, the ability to apply and dissolve magic in its raw form upon the world.

o Novice: Spell Unlocked: Shield – When activated, the user is enveloped in a shield that will deflect physical attacks. Will remain active until the shield is disabled by the user or the user runs out of magic energy, which will dispel the shield violently.

o Intermediate: Locked

o Advanced: Locked

o Master: Locked

o Grandmaster: Locked

- Spell Specialization – Shield – 0%

Unlike having to receive an explanation for everything when he learned [Link], by absorbing the Spell Tome, Serin just knew what everything in the skill meant. He knew that as he used a spell its specialization would increase. He knew if he leveled certain magics together they might synthesize, growing together into stronger magics. And he figured if he used the [shield] spell he should never let it hit zero, because then he would suffer severe brainburn and if it was a dire situation, taking a bit of damage was preferable to going unconscious.

Jericho had been fiddling with Serin's rifle the whole time Serin was reviewing his skills. Serin looked over to see that his rifle was now being reassembled, a small rod integrally mounted to the front/side of his weapon. "You see Serin, about 2 decades ago, before everyone began specializing in one area or another, we had many hunters that learned as much as they could from every field. Someone then discovered that with a device like this, you could use your rifle as a spell focus." Jericho shouldered the rifle, grabbing the newly installed front grip, and instead of pressing the trigger, he passed energy through a secondary pad and out of the end of the rifle, on an undermount rod, he fired a spell.

Serin freaked out at the entire thing, not knowing which spell he fired, but then calmed to notice it was a small [light] spell. Jericho continued his explanation "Like you would cast any spell, in lieu of using a wand or your hands, this allows you to use your rifle to cast spells as if it was a wizard's staff. Unlike a wizards staff though, the accuracy and damage of your spells is augmented not by your [spell focus - staff] skill, but instead by your [marksman] skill."

"Jericho, how much do these cost?" Jericho then laughed, "Well I had originally thought you had gotten ripped off hard, since the spell scrolls you wanted were extremely common. Even Tomas had them advertised for roughly 30 credits." Jericho then held up the rifle, "But Serin, he must have really appreciated what you did, because these are hard to find and expensive to have made. I would say this alone would cost roughly 1500 credits. I was going to recommend it once you had built your credit reserve a bit higher." Jericho then smiled. "Its almost a good thing that dinner is covered tonight because Serin, you are broke." Jericho laughed. "This room costs roughly 15 credits a night and a cheap meal is about 10."

Serin realized they would need to take some jobs soon.

****

An hour prior to sunset, Rachel and Allister arrived. Serin saw they had marks for their banking accounts, but additionally, they had picked up some new equipment. Rachel had found a used auto-fletcher. It was a lot smaller than the auto-fletcher in his father's shop. I guess it only made one arrow shaft at a time. Rachel looked at Serin, "In our downtime, I need your help using this device." Serin was at first taken back by the terse demand, then remembered Rachel had dumped her charisma stat, so he had to assume this was her being polite.

Allister on the other hand had purchased a book and what looked like a simple wooden club. Serin was confused, "Allister, are you going to learn to fight with a club?" Allister smiled, "Technically. Although the damage I would do would be minimal even against weak opponents, it won't be when I use my new enchantment magic [imbue] on it."

Jericho smiled. "You may be able to increase your weapons damage, but learning to wield it will still take time. There is a difference between power and expertise. And I have a feeling I will say these word again, most likely when you have forgotten them."

Allister, was unphased. "I thought of that, so I bought one for Serin and Rachel as well." That was when he produced 2 more from inside his bag. "No reason we can't all learn a new skill.

Jericho smiled. "Its not a dumb plan as long as you only fight simple opponents like dire rats or maybe a dark coyote. But for now its time to get a good meal, and check the Request board. We need to look into getting you three more work. Work equals money, which paves the way to survival."

***

"Whoever decided to open an open air tavern behind the Adventurer's guild, and make sure it had quick access to the request board, they should receive a metal." Allister was a little more relaxed with his words. Serin saw he had consumed maybe a single pint of beer. 'I guess endurance has effects not related to combat.' Serin mused

Allister continued. "Here we can eat and drink, while discussing as a team what great quests to undertake!" Serin smiled at Allister. Jericho piped in, "Yes, but you will only be able to take iron quests and below. So don't even try to apply to hunt a dragon, or slay a manticore. And please, no bugs. Allister's Endurance would get him killed."

"How do we gain access to these harder quests?" Serin asked.

Jericho responded, "There are two requirements that must both be met. The first is you must have completed quests at the lower level to garner enough experience for the administrators of the guild to deem you worthy. And you must also show that you are a high enough level to accomplish these tasks. I believe the next level, copper, you must meet a minimum level of 10. Its been many decades, but I was a copper once before. Everything was different then." Jericho smiled as he watched Allister start to stand to, do whatever it is the drunk youth do, then prompts fell back into his seat.

Jericho continued. "When you are on a quest for the guild, I cannot help you directly. If I fight, I will negate most of the experience you would gain on the adventure. So like when Serin fought the dead hearts, I am limited to a mentoring role only. Now, Allister, you sit tight, we are going to see what quests are available to Iron members of the guild."

Serin, Rachel, and Jericho walked up to the Request board. Serin saw requests for killing rats in the forgotten sewers under the Burb, and for escorting a merchant to a far off Burb. But Jericho picked one. "Looks like luck favors you three, there is an extermination quest on the board open to all members."

[Extermination: Open to all Members

The Adventurer's Guild has placed an open bounty on all undead located in the Walden Cemetery. This land is a planned expansion site for the Burb, however the surrounding lands, as well as the necropolis, must be cleansed of undead prior to consecration of the ground and expansion for the town. Rewards based on number and value of Undead killed.

Percentage complete 0 %]

Serin was confused. "Jericho, you said extermination quests were always a good choice for reward. Why would there be no adventurers trying to complete this quest?"

Jericho nodded in agreement, "You are right Serin, normally only a fool would pass up an extermination quest. But there is one reason why you would choose to do so." And with that he tapped another posted bounty. "And that is because there is a more lucrative extermination quest. Like this one, for Goblinoids encroaching on farmland. It is open to Copper plates and above and is only 46% complete, so we must be the only brand-new adventurers in this burb. This is a lucky find indeed."

Serin wondered if his luck was a factor. Either way, this would work in his favor. Serin looked over at Allister. "Jericho, wouldn't Allister's aura eventually effect this town?"

Jericho answered, "It would Serin. In the wilds, with no other auras around, he would start to attract the dead after staying in one place for about 3 days. Which is why we attracted them the night after you recovered from brainburn. But here in Walden burn, we have probably a month until his aura begins to overtake the other auras here."

Jericho looked and smiled. "In that time, we will be able to complete quite a bit of that quest." And with that, Jericho stood up. " Serin, accept the quest on behalf of the team. We are going to be resetting everyone's internal clock tonight, because at dawn we pick up supplies and then head for the Walden Cemetery." Jericho pointed towards the other side of town. They could see open fields and hills in the distance. The size of this Cemetery was immense.

***

Sleep came easy for the four of them, as they had been pushing quite hard for a week. At Dawn they headed out. On the way towards the cemetery, Serin picked up his order from a Tired, yet smiling, Kincade.

"This was a pre-Shift Cemetery. Judging by the size and design, there are thousands of undead behind the cemetery gates." Serin interrupted Jericho, "Whats to keep the undead from pouring out?" Jericho answered. "Good question. The gates of the cemetery form a sort of divine barrier. It keeps the dead in. expansion into a cemetery is a difficult endeavor, especially if a necropolis has formed. That will house extremely powerful undead. So that is why this is an all ranks mission. You three as lower ranked iron members will destroy most of the fodder the upper ranked adventurers would not want to spend their time on." Jericho then explained, "Since you have signed up for the extermination quest, if the quest alters to later not admit iron members, you will be grandfathered in because of your previous participation. It's a bit of a finicky system, but once you get the hang of it, its not too complicated."

Serin had setup bandoleers for his ammunition. 400 rounds was not as heavy as wearing a bag. And with his [encumbered movement] skill, he felt no different. He had practiced a few times shooting his [Message] spell.

Jericho stopped them at the gates. "Before you head in, what's your plan? Undead tend to mob up." Serin unslung his rifle. "I plan on using firebolt and fire rounds" Jericho looked "Good! Make sure to use firebolt sparingly. At these lower levels it uses a lot of ME. What about you Allister?" Allister confidently raised a rod. "I will take out targets that get within range with the [Deny the Undead]." Jericho lifted an eyebrow. Serin had never heard of this spell. Jericho looked at Serin and Rachel. "Undead are naturally drawn to Necromancers. Necromancers specialize in magic to control life and death. The spell [Deny the Undead] is a Necromancer using his might to cast the undead from the mortal coil. The spells power is determined by the level. Technically a Necromancer can attempt to Deny an Arch-Lich, but at his level Allister would immediately fall into brain burn. So no one should overdo it. Now what about you Rachel?" Rachel was carrying a cloth quiver that looked like it was wet on the inside. "Arrows coated in kerosene. The tips are spark-rock. When that runs out, Allister was kind enough to [imbue] my club to be a focus for the [heal] spell. Quite effective on the dead." Jericho nodded. "Yes it is girl, just don't go using all of it on the undead. You may need it to keep a teammate from going down. Now when you head in, stick to the open fields. Let them come to you. As soon as you start dispatching them, they will start coming at you more and more."

Jericho got serious, "Extermination is a marathon, not a sprint. Do not go far towards the center. Let the undead come to you. And when all your magical reserves are empty, come back behind the gate, turn in your spoils, rest, and head back out. And although this won't apply for your first few runs at this, do not stay out after the sun sets." He looked at Serin "I know based on his scores how long it takes Serin to refill his magical reserve, but keep your teammates together. Pick up crystals as you go. I will be here, behind the gate."

And with that, they were off. Within a few minutes of walking through the gate, Serin could already see undead, but they didn't seem to approach them. Serin pointed to a worn statue of a man on horseback. It was at the top of a small crest. "Want to start on that high point?" Rachel nodded. Allister looked around. "If you can pull them from there, great. I think that's about the limit of my stamina if I have to run back." Serin chuckled. At a quick jog, the gate was maybe 5 minutes away.

"Alright. Let me know when you two are ready and I will fire the first shot."

***

Their first run lasted roughly 2 hours. Serin learned two valuable lessons. The first was that spells at low level take up a lot of magic energy. Firebolt fired from his rifle killed a low level zombie in one hit, however it took 10 ME to cast. After 10 casts, he would be out. He therefore only cast when he was completely full on ME. The second thing he learned is they had to find a more effective way to pick up the deadhearts dropped by the undead. Some were too far away to pickup so very often Rachel would have to stop firing arrows to run and pick them up, switching to melee for any zombies that were in her way.

Rachel was not happy that she was placed on cleanup duty.

Jericho was waiting for them at a small food stand that had popped up near the entry to the Walden Cemetery. He saw the relatively clean look of their clothing, and the disappointed looks on their faces.

"Let me guess, lots of spoils left on the battlefield". The three nodded in disappointment. "It ok, you needed to learn that lesson as well. There are many tasks that go into successfully hunting. How many deadhearts did you collect?" "Together we collected 142" Jericho smiled. "it is not as bad as it seems. Go ahead, turn in your deadhearts, and I will teach you about effectively hunting monsters." Serin saw that his circle mark was blinking. He asked everyone to pause as he reviewed the data. It was the quest information. "Percentage complete: .04%" Serin was dumbfounded. There were not thousands, but tens of thousands of undead in that necropolis.

After turning in their deadhearts, they each walked away with about 435 credits. the numbers had fluctuated a bit since yesterday's turn in. Jericho explained that it was based on demand. "If you showed up and turned in 20,000 dead hearts you would get the stated exchange rate, however the next poor fool to come forward would have his rate cut, since the supply had vastly increased."

Serin reviewed his numbers. His ME had fully refilled, As had Allister's although his stamina was a bit low from the jog back. Rachel was at 80% at all of her numbers. It was then that Serin saw he had gotten scraped on her arm. "Rachel, your arm!" Rachel saw it, and was a bit stunned. She must not have noticed. Jericho walked over, and cast a spell and mended her arm. Not even a scar remained. Jericho then looked to Rachel "your magic reserves are more important than you casting [heal] for experience, so I handled it."

Jericho then looked at the three of them. "You all need a familiar. For now, something to collect your deadhearts you pull. But down the road, something to make your party stronger." Jericho looked at Rachel. "Rachel, Rangers are relatively good at Tamer Magic. Nothing fancy. An Owl or a squirrel would be enough for what you need, it doesn't expend you ME and it doesn't need much care. Allister, you probably already know this but you might want to create a [shadowpuppet]." Allister looked to the side. Jericho was shaking his head "Allister, your magics are impressive, but you are at a serious detriment with your lack of physical attributes. You should be learning to control several shadowpuppets, not just one. They are the path to full shadow control." Jericho looked at Serin. "Serin, this is going to be difficult for you, but your best bet is an elemental. The downside is until you have a higher level, maintaining their summon is a permanent drain on ME and since you are not a caster, its going to be a lot.

With that, they entered the magic shop. Tomas was there, as well as Simon. They both smiled as Serin walked in. Rachel and Allister began perusing the aisles of the shop as Serin went to Simon. "Good afternoon Simon, do you have any elemental familiar spells?" Simon looked up "I do! Novice Wind or Fire, your choice. Same deal as before? Buy 2 get one free!" Jericho just shook his head. Serin was already thinking ahead, "Simon, I only need one elemental, but I can see what other magic you have." Simon was quick to try to keep a bigger sale. "Well if you are interested, I have many novice spells." Serin looked through his options. He also thought whether it would be more important to get a fire or wind elemental." Serin looked at Simon, "what do elementals look like?" Serin asked. Simon smiled. "It really depends on how well the caster has developed the skill's level. Mine are no longer novice, but when I was younger, my fire elemental was that of a desert gecko. My wind elemental took the shape of a songbird." Serin was confused. "how did you know they were elementals?" Simon smiled. "Well the fire elemental can spit a small fire. Nothing dangerous, just enough to set tinder aflame." Serin then smiled. "What about the Songbird?" Simon laughed, "besides being pretty loud, the bird can gust enough to rustle papers of maybe blow out a candle."

Jericho leaned in "When fighting monsters, neither of these would attract their attention, so for your purposes either will do."

Serin thought about it. "Alright Simon, what other spells can I pick from?"

***

Rachel and Allister each stuck to the purchase of one spell, Rachel a Tamer Spell of [Summon Squirrel]. Allister also found what he was looking for in the form of a [Shadowpuppet - Raven]. Jericho admired them for the fact that they each paid less than 80 credits for their spells.

Serin walked out with a much more expensive purchase. 3 spells for 300 credits. Besides the Fire familiar he chose, Serin also found chose two additional spells, [Cloak] and [Identify].

He hurriedly learned the spells, as did Allister and Rachel. Everyone was eager to get back to the Walden Cemetery. Jericho stopped them before entering. Jericho then pulled out a deadheart from his pocket. "Its best to summon and issue your commands to your familiars now, that way you do not have to worry about them completing their tasks. They are still quite simple, so keep the commands simple as well.

Serin took the stone from Jericho and concentrated. Since it was his first time summoning this familiar, it might be worth it to ensure there were no issues. Serin felt his mana supply drop, and felt he was on the verge of a headache.

***

It is warm. I lay in my hot egg. I know outside is the dune sea, the sun never sets on my home. I have slept for so long. I then hear it. A boy calls for me. The magic of his voice cracks my egg. I must go to him. He will carry me to my next form.

***

Serin watched as an egg appeared before him and cracked into pieces. Springing from this egg was a red and black gecko, its eyes a dark orange. Serin also saw his ME drained by 50 points. He knew that until he increased his connection to his familiar, or increased his ME pool, this would be a serious drawback. Serin looked at Jericho. "How do I increase my summoning level?" Jericho laughed. "Easy. Have your familiar complete tasks. Spend time with it summoned in this world. Teach it about this world. it will passively grow by simply being."

Serin then heard a voice in his head.

[Task?]

He was a bit confused. Jericho explained. "Their ability to communicate is both more primitive and more advanced than ours. Keep your commands simple. It will learn your desires over time."

Serin placed the gecko on his shoulder, and showed him the deadheart. "When I command, you will go and collect these from the ground. and pile them next to me." The Gecko's eyes flashed Understood.

After watching Serin, Rachel commanded her squirrel to do the same. Allister had already summoned his shadow raven. It took the shape of a slightly transparent black raven, but when against the backdrop of Allister's shadow, all but its blue eyes disappeared.

Serin reviewed his setup. He knew it was best he did not use magic while he had his familiar summoned as he would risk brainburn. Then Serin thought about it. Before he had to manually set fire to Zombies he had immobilized. And regular rounds were much cheaper than expensive rounds. He looked again at his gecko. "Also, if the dead cannot move, set them on fire." The gecko stared at Serin, licked his eyeball, and then responded.

[Understood.]

***

The remainder of the day went quite smoothly. After spending the day dispatching the zombies, they retreated to the gate and called it a day as the sun began to set. Serin was happy too. He was almost completely out of normal ammunition.

Jericho had warned them against staying in the Cemetery after dark. "Its an extermination, and everything gets more dangerous after dark." So, the group met up with Jericho and turned in their deadhearts. It was quite the haul. Even Jericho was impressed. After their deposit, he pointed to the exchange rate for deadhearts, and showed that it had dropped. "You know you are doing well in a task when you change the exchange rate for a trading good. Now I assume you all want to review if you leveled up any skills. Also you will need to restock for tomorrow."

And with that they split up. Serin first headed back to the hostel. He wanted to read his new skills and see if he had made any increases to his attributes. He also saw the blinking so he knew he had received at least one level up.

Serin Level: 14 Class: Boundless

Affiliations: Adventurer's Guild – Iron Member

Strength: 23(+)

Agility: 22(+)

Endurance: 19(+)

Intelligence: 20(+)

Willpower: 21(+)

Charisma: 19(+)

Luck: 43(+)

Points to assign: 15

Serin blinked at this. He had received several little increases from increasing novice skills. More than he was expecting. He then looked at his scroll. He then saw where he received his increases from. He also saw where the [Cloak] and [Identify] spells he purchased found were classed under.

Skills:

Boundless – MAX

Advanced Marksman – Lvl19

Advanced Crafting – Lvl1

Novice Encumbered Movement – Lvl 44

Novice Link – Lvl 18

Novice Mercantile – Lvl1

Novice Terramancy – lvl1

Novice Pyromancy – Lvl4

Novice Abjuration – lvl1

Novice Pyro-Tamer – lvl8

Novice Illusion – lvl1

Novice Divination – lvl1

Perks

- Animosity – Undead

Powers

- None

Serin was excited. He was confident in the level of his other stats, and was about to bring an Attribute up past 50 and receive one of the more serious Perks. In addition, he had no idea what it could be! He decided he would wait until after he was done shopping. Then he could meet everyone for dinner.

***

Serin's first stop was Kincade workshop. He was not prepared for the next day on rounds to fight undead. Kincade was curious. "Back already Mr. Serin? Was there a problem with your order?" Serin smiled, "Not at all, in fact I am interested in ordering more"

Serin explained that he was doing the cemetery extermination quest and he would be using a lot of ammunition. "So if you keep a decent deal I can start coming here exclusively for my ammunition needs."

Kincade smiled. "Alright, as long as you order over 300 rounds, we will keep the same pricing as before."

Serin placed his order, and as promised Kincade would have the rounds ready first thing in the morning.

Serin then realized that since late breakfast, he hadn't eaten, and it was about time to meet the others for dinner.

***

Jericho, Rachel, and Allister sat in discussion at the table. In hushed tones they were discussion how they were doing. Allister looked impressed with himself. "After my increases today I believe I will be the first to bring an attribute above 50." Rachel looked over at him, "No I will as well, I just hadn't assigned points yet." Jericho rebuked both of them. "I get that you can trust me and each other, but try to keep your voices down. No need to announce to the world how powerful you are."

Serin sat down and Jericho looked at him, "Alright Serin, will you also be bringing an attribute above 50 today?" Allister and Rachel didn't know that he had never adjusted his stats. So Jericho knows I am leveling faster than my peers. Serin nodded, "I will be. And I promised Jericho I would tell him the moment I did." Rachel and Allister then had confused looks. Jericho raised his eyebrows. "So you did heed my advice. I know Allister and Rachel would like to be first, but if you would do me the honor and let me know what the perk is for above 50 luck." Serin smiled. Then he willed his attribute screen up and dumped 7 points into luck."

Jericho, Allister, and Rachel all watched as Serin concentrated on something they couldn't see. Then his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped.

Jericho was more excited then he had been in 40 years. "What does It say boy? What did it give you?"

Serin started to speak. "The perk I received is called [Doubled]. It says 'whenever you receive a perk or power, you immediately gain another."

Jericho was floored. No one had focused on Luck. And if they had, they didn't reach 50 until later in their career. Taking this so early in his adventures meant he would truly become powerful. Jericho could see Serin was still stunned. "There is something else, isn't there?" Serin looked at Jericho, his eyes blazing with immediate excitement. He responded, "It took effect immediately." Jericho furled his brow in confusion. Then his eyes widened. Serin had received two perks, not one.

Serin started to speak. "The other perk is called [Jack of all Trades], and it simply says, "You will receive a relevant attribute point each time you learn a new spell, skill, power, or upgrade an existing skill to its next form."

Jericho understood. There were hundreds of skills and spells he was aware of, most likely thousands he was not. This perk was not meant to be unlocked so early. Jericho understood that most adventurers would have accomplished a lot, and become novices in many skills prior to unlocking this attribute, so it would not be as powerful. It would also be limited because it only guaranteed an attribute upgrade when learning or upgrading a skill. The first would have been done for most common tasks and the second became deceptively harder to accomplish the higher level a person.

But not for the boy, Jericho mused. As a boundless, Serin had no advantage, or drawbacks, to learning skills at different levels. Novice skills were quick to train, but once a person got to intermediate, it if a skill was outside a class, it could take up to a year of grinding to get it to advanced, then a decade or more to get it to master.

Jericho then looked at Allister and Rachel. They were also silent at the discovery. Allister smiled. "I don't think I will be hitting 50 in a skill tonight." Rachel nodded in agreement. And Serin was sure they both dumped their skills into luck.

Jericho looked at Serin.

"What do you plan on doing?" Serin looked at him, "I plan on purchasing a lot of spells." Jericho then rubbed his eyes. "Buying spells in bulk will surely bring attention to yourself." Serin then grinned. "Not if I know a private seller with an established trade agreement with.

Jericho smiled, he understood.

***

Dispatch Undead, Rinse, Repeat. There were hundreds, thousands even. But true to his word, Serin had stopped receiving as much experience from the kills. Instead, he had asked Allister to imbue his club with fire magic, and had begun using it. It dispatched zombies much slower, but it did eventually give him what he wanted, the one handed skill, and an appropriate attribute bump. That day he had also asked to borrow Rachel's bow for an hour. It took much longer, as he remembered how to use it but wasn't any good. After many wasted arrows, and a bit of rolled eyes from Rachel, he finally felt the matching burns. He had learned the novice Archery skill.

They were met at the gates by Jericho, who was genuinely interested in their progress. "so, who stopped receiving experience from kills?" the three of them all raised their hands.

Jericho smiled. "This is normal during extermination. However two of you are in a unique situation. Allister and Rachel, how many more attribute points do you need to get your luck to 50?"

Rachel spoke up "8 more. I had been saving them"

Allister also spoke "9 more. Same"

Jericho then said "Then you have the same goal. 2 levels worth of experience. thankfully you are in the lower levels. And with a little guidance, this is very doable." Jericho then used a type of illusion magic to display the quest to the three of them. I can teach you about cashing out."

Serin already knew how to bring up the quest from the circle tattoo. He still followed along as Jericho explained the navigation to the active quest screen. Jericho then showed them the blinking text that said "Cash out rewards"

They moved to that screen. Serin then understood. Depending on how many undead they vanquished of what type, their score would go up. "You see, the more of the target creature you vanquish before you cash out, the higher the reward. When you cash out, you immediately gain all the rewards but your value resets to zero." Serin then saw his count.

486 points scored. He saw a set at the bottom. Zombies were only worth 1 point. The smallest reward was for 50 points and it was a 1000xp gain, but at the 250 point marker it was 10,000xp.

At his current level 10,000xp would level him up. Especially since he would receive the 1000 and 10,000xp if he cashed out. He then saw that 500points, 1000points, 2500 points, 5000points, 10,000points, and 25,000points were all greyed out. Jericho saw his confusion. "not sure why they grey that out to you low levels. Maybe to keep you from getting greedy. No worries though, if you earn the points, you will get the reward when you cash out. You will also learn what it is the moment you pass the threshold."

Allister pipped up. "At 500 points, you get a common magical item. I don't know anything past that." Rachel also nodded. Serin realized they must have killed near the same amount. And his lower number was him messing around with learning Novice One Handed and Novice Archery.

Serin's desert gecko crawled up onto his shoulder. Jericho looked at it. "No point in dismissing it as it can slowly grow in strength by simply being, even while you sleep."

Jericho then looked at the setting sun. "Lets meet for dinner in an hour. I am sure you all need some time."

***

Serin had already exchanged his deadhearts. Their value was steadily dropping, but not by significant figures yet. He decided it was better to wait to cash out. Although he could do it after getting just over 500 points, he would rather wait and see what the 1000point value was.

Serin returned to the magic shop, and as he walked in he saw an argument between Simon and Tomas.

"I think it is worthwhile to invest my money into learning additional magics, father! They may be an expensive investment, but if I cut my sale value, I could bring in a lot more customers!"

Tomas was flustered. "You cannot do that, even if you recouped your costs you would need to travel to sell to new customers, and constant travel is dangerous!"

Simon rebutted, "Why? I could travel quickly and only carry some scrolls."

Serin knew what his father wanted to say, but Simon wouldn't believe it coming from him. But coming from Serin, maybe.

"Simon, the reason it is dangerous is because to a lot of people, you are worth more dead than alive."

Simon and Tomas looked at Serin, Simon was shocked, Tomas was relieved.

Serin continued, "Simon, lets say you took a few scroll copies with you for sale in a different Burb, or even a foreign land. If I killed you, I would get every spell you were carrying, off the record." Serin continued, "Additionally, I would get an XP boost from killing you. there are even rumors of using your body and power to fuel powerful magics."

Simon was flabbergasted.

"So Simon, if you were to travel you would have to hire an adventuring party to protect you from one location to another. Those services are not cheap."

Simon was starting to work the gears in his head. Serin understood that look. Simon was going to force it to work.

Tomas piped in, "Also Simon, you could never openly advertise the prices you are considering for higher level spells. You would be undercutting every dealer in the world. And if you weren't my own son, I would kill you to make sure to cut out the competition."

Simon was mortified. His father said this with a certainty of someone who has known this to happen in the past. Tomas did smile. "There is something else to do. Our family shop has only so many spells available. Traveling and learning new spells to bring back to the shop, this is a worthy endeavor. And since you are not a registered member of my shop, the other dealers would most likely deal with you, if at least for a few spells. Also bartering spells would allow you to increase our selection. This is how you could grow your business into our business."

Simon had a lot to think on. Tomas then looked at Serin, "thank you for your perspective, but I am sure you came in for something other than getting into family affairs."

Thankfully the shop was empty when Serin made his next statement, because it would have thrown many red flags. "Simon, exactly how many spells do you have for sale?" Simon perked up, but his father, knowing full how private sale of magic was frowned upon in their country, stood up, and walked to the front, and immediately locked the door. Tomas looked at Simon and said "I don't want to know, and its best if I don't. I will be doing inventory."

***

Serin had asked to learn the spells prior to leaving, that way he was not spotted leaving with a stack of tomes taller than he could carry. So as he left, Simon was gleefully sweeping up dust from the floor.

Serin had stayed at the same rate, and convinced Simon to just drop the purchase price for Novice spells to 100 credits when he purchased such a large amount. The amount of spells he had learned was immense. But the amount of spells was not the impressive part. With his perk Jack of all Trades, He had received an attribute increase with each one. He would go over his spells later, for now he wanted to see how it affected him. He hadn't paid attention to it as he went, he instead just reviewed his attribute panel at the end.

Serin Level: 14 Class: Boundless

Affiliations: Adventurer's Guild – Iron Member

Strength: 23(+)

Agility: 22(+)

Endurance: 19(+)

Intelligence: 48(+)

Willpower: 24(+)

Charisma: 22(+)

Luck: 50(+)

Points to assign: 8

I guess every increase was not applied to intelligence. He looked at his recovery rates. His Magical Energy (ME) pool was now at 200/240. He looked at his Fire Familiar. The familiar licked its eyeball, and looked back. He felt mentally calmer and more acute to the world around him. He then looked and saw under his at Willpower.

Magical Energy Regeneration: 2.4/minute

There were no other noticeable bonuses that could be derived into a numeric understanding, but passing by a curio shop he saw a mirror. It was his first time seeing his reflection in a week. He looked a bit taller, a bit stronger. His expression, a bit more confident. His eyes shown with intelligence. He remembered Jericho mentioning that depending on his stat increases he would slowly change. He saw now what he meant. A few months of progress in a little less than 2 weeks.

***

Serin was the first person back. He met with Jericho at the small tavern behind the guild. He looked around. Most of the adventurers were there, they were covered in dirt and grime and blood, but they had smiles on their faces. Most of them looked like they had pretty high physical attributes.

Jericho started talking. "Most people here are many levels above you. most have at least 2 traits at level 50. Goblins are much stronger than zombies, but the thing that makes them dangerous is their numbers. If you do not adventure in a larger group, they can overwhelm and kill you, no matter how strong you are. Zombies and weak Undead are slow enough you can usually run away alive. But goblins will surround, and then attack en masse. Many great heroes have lost their lives to the efforts of large amounts of weaker creatures. I would rather fight a single young dragon than a goblin horde."

Serin took in this information and understood. He would have to make sure to learn and master crowd control magics prior to engaging with fast and intelligent creatures. Jericho then brought his voice to a lower volume. "So many spells did you buy from Simon?"

Serin smiled. It looks like he couldn't fool Jericho. "Forty Six"

Jericho, who had started to sip his pint almost spit. "Please tell me you performed a private sale." Serin smiled. "I did, one large transaction. So the most obvious answer to someone reviewing transactions would be it was a magical device or a single Intermediate scroll. Not almost his entire collection of novice spells."

Jericho couldn't help but laugh. "And how close are you to getting you intelligence to 50?"

Serin thought about it. He knew he had two points to spend, but he also knew luck was only upgradeable through those points. Would it be worth it to spend the two points on intelligence and speed along its growth? Or should he instead focus on keeping it for luck. He looked at Jericho.

"I have the 8 points available to spend to get it there right now, but I would rather save them for Luck, since that is the only way to increase that attribute."

Jericho smiled. "Good on you boy. I should note that there is only one other way I know of to increase luck, and that is sometimes it can be a reward for completing quests." Jericho laughed. "46 new spells huh? All novice? I think you might know more novice spells than me." Jericho then thought. "Of course, they are all Novice Rank level 1. It will take quite a bit of casting to increase the spell's level, and until you do, it will be expensive to cast every time." Jericho then looked at Serin, "How many more novice spells does your contact have?" Serin laughed. "not many. He said he would talk to his father and use the money I paid him to buy as much variety of spells as he could afford, but even his father is running out of supplies. Past this there are only higher level spells, and while I can learn them for the attribute points, I could not cast them until I had raised the skill high enough as the magical cost would be too high."

Jericho was impressed. Serin must have learned about the gating effect of magical skills. "Serin if you can increase the governing skill associated with spells, you will decrease the spells costs. However if you focus specifically on one spell from a group and grow an affinity for it, you can eventually cast it at a near zero cost."

Jericho then saw as Rachel and Allister came in, "How do you think Allister slings spells all day long?"

Allister and Rachel both had smiles on their faces. Rachel was carrying an ornate bow, laden with runic markings. Allister carried a club. It seemed to glow with an intense energy.

Jericho raised an eyebrow. "So I guess you cashed out?"

***

The three just sat there. Jericho smiled. "Why don't each of you explained what you got today."

Rachel was the first. "This is an [Archon's bow]. It is a Common Magical item. It allows me to produce and shoot arrows made of M.E. instead of physical rounds."

Allister then pulled out his club. "A Dimwits club. While wielding it, my ME is cut in half, but my strength, Agility, and Endurance Increase by 10." Jericho was smiling. "That will quickly help you increase your physical skills both in and out of combat."

Jericho looked at the two. "I assume you two also got your luck perks as Serin did?" They both sort of smiled.

Serin looked at Jericho. "Jericho, I know if you constantly cast magical spells, you can get brainburn. But what if you just have many active effect spells like my Fire Elemental Familiar?"

Jericho was sure he knew where this was going. "You can keep many active effects running, and as long as they are, you will increase the relevant skills. If multiple effects fall under the same category, they will compound the speed in which the skill increases. Just make sure that your active effects aren't draining your ME pool to below half. Once you go below half, your chances of brainburn are much higher."

Allister and Rachel were confused. Then they remembered their perks they just unlocked. Serin answered the question they were both wanting to ask.

"I purchased 46 novice spells today."

They both looked incredulous. Serin continued. "I purchased and immediately used 46 spells. It was a single private sale."

They were taken aback. In one hour they thought they had done something spectacular by unlocking the level 50 luck perks. Serin continued.

"Tomorrow I will exclusively use my rifle to perform disabling shots on undead. The entire time I will have as much active magic as possible to raise my level." Rachel then smiled. "I like your plan. I want to follow suit, but I will be waiting to purchase spells. Instead I will be using my bow to cast heal on the undead, which should quickly dispatch them." They both looked at Allister, who had previously always appeared sickly. With club in hand, he didn't cough. He smiled. "I will focus on hitting things."

Jericho smiled, "Solid plan all around. Normally it could take months to take on targets more aggressively, but you could possibly be ready for an excursion before Allister's Aura affected him."

Serin looked, "What's an excursion?" Jericho explained what Allister and Rachel already knew. "An excursion is when you go into the fence and don't come out until you cannot go any farther, or until you complete the extermination. Additionally, Allister being inside the gates for more than a week would easily remove the aura he is slowly building up here."

***

Serin sat in his bunk and looked over his skills and his ME pool. His gecko was always present. If he was to look at this objectively, he had to increase his damage output, reduce the drain of [firebolt] to almost nothing, find a way to keep everyone safe and healthy during downtime, and have an emergency escape plan. The fire gecko currently had a constant drain of 40 ME, which meant with his current ME pool of 240, he had another 80 ME to work with before he hit the 50% threshold. He looked through the spells he had learned. [Resist Heat] was a pyromancy spell, that when actively reduced incoming fire damage based on the spell's level, with a minimum of 10%. Because he was only Novice Pyromancy – lvl4, it reduced incoming fire damage by the minimum 10%. Using the calculation he had learned in the spell if there was no minimum it would be less than 1%. Additionally he knew if he raised his [pyromancy] skill level he would reduce the ME cost of all associated spells. Right now it would take 20 ME to keep active. So Serin activated it immediately. He felt a slight vibration in the air around him. He then looked at his spells. He had learned a lot of quality of life spells, such as [Knock] to open simple locks on doors and [Hygiene] to clean himself and his gear. But the [Transmutation] Skill controlled many skills and could be used to assist with surviving in an extermination field. He saw [Acute vision] increased his accuracy with all ranged weapons skills by a minimum of 10%, so he activated this skill.

Each novice level skill cost 20 ME to keep activated, and with 40 ME above the 50% threshold, he had two more skills he could keep activated. Under Novice Illusion there was the skill [Cloak]. If there was a higher level form of this spell, it might do the trick to keeping a safe place, so Serin Activated [Cloak.] Instantly his clothes seemed to slowly match the pattern of whatever was in his background, while his shoulders showed the color of the ground. It must obscure based on what would be on the other side of me.

The last spell he would keep activated was [detect magic]. Because it was a novice level skill and weak spell, it only showed a slight glow if the object was within 5 feet of him but did not work if the object was heavily obscured.

As Serin curled in his bunk, preparing for the next day, he realized he would need to order many, many rounds of ammunition for an expedition.

Serin knew it was 10 hours until Sunrise when he would wake. He asked himself 'how much his passive skills would increase while I slept?'. He would find out how much per day. He then remembered that he gained an xp boost if he slept in a warm safe place for 6 hours. So he called it a night and went to sleep.

***

Quite a bit.

This was the answer to the question he had asked himself the night before. Not only had he raised several levels in all of the relevant skills, his affinity for those spells increased. Not only that, but his real surprise came when he looked and saw that his intelligence had increased an additional 2 points. Although he was still waking up, he was awake enough to see the notification that his Intelligence had passed beyond 50.

The first thing he noticed was that his M.E. was now doubled, as it was now his intelligence X 10, instead of the normal Intelligence X5.

Then he saw the other thing granted to him.

[Magical Secret: The User gains a spell, power, or Perk that is unique to their class]

Perk (Rare – Boundless) – Hard Lessons

- The User is able to teach Skills or spells to willing targets with a high success rate, regardless of class. Forcing this upon someone results in minor brainburn for 4 hours. While Brainburned, a person cannot receive a skill.

- When the friendly target learns a skill this way, the User can choose to increase the speed of their lesson advancement. However when this is in effect, the User cannot attack or cast active magic.

- Depending on the Luck of the User, the user can learn a skill, spell, power, or perk, if he is the target of its effect.

Serin stood, "Hey everyone, wake up!"

***

Jericho was stunned at Serin's revelation. He immediately started to speak. "Serin, do not tell anyone else of this. You are one of the few people that would be worth more left in a cage and tortured, because you can be used to quickly turn any person into a Boundless. We will need to get you a [Closed Eye Circuit]."

Jericho looked up and saw three sets of confused eyes. "It is a magic Necklace that makes it impossible to divine the user while he wears it. No identify, no scrying, no location magic. The only downside is the price. Its not a rare item, but it still costs roughly 25000 credits."

Rachel piped up. "We can pitch in. I have five thousand credits I can hand over immediately." Allister commented as well, "I can also give 5000 credits."

Serin understood. As his teammates, he would want to get them as powerful as he could. And they would work with him to help him as well.

Jericho shook his head. "Although I trust Allister and Rachel, there may be a day that you want to learn to make new friends and share this gift. There is a way to ensure someone cannot purposely do ill, and that is the Guild Contract. For now, Serin you will need to each reach level 20 so we can have you registered as the Guildmaster. Also guilds are expensive, so you will need to continue raising funds. I can go check the current rate for guild creation."

Rachel and Allister were confused. "How would that ensure his safety?"

Jericho smiled, "The guild contract can be written where it is magically impossible to reveal the secrets of other guild members, or the identity of the guildmaster. Guild magic is contract magic backed by the divines, and is as powerful as the same magic that backs Nation States."

Serin had a lot to think about. But he had a plan. "I will need to save some deadhearts for rifle rounds, as my magic is not powerful enough to cast on command without quickly draining my ME. I will also need to spend money on spells. In return I can keep this power active every time we sleep." Rachel and Allister both smiled.

Serin also grinned. "I will ask that for the spells you know, as long as it wont kill me, please use them on me in our downtime. The passive can allow me to learn them this way."

Allister immediately tried casting [Deny the Undead]. Serin watched his ME dip slightly, but it did not work. Serin smiled. "Lets get breakfast. We have a lot of time."

Serin dropped his 8 attribute points he had been waiting to assign into Luck. And with that they went off for breakfast. They took their weapons and supplies, and headed out for the day.

***

Allister had changed his approach. He was going to use the [Deny the undead] spell. 'no need to learn the club when I can learn it faster if you teach me.' was the look he gave Serin. And Serin understood.

The limitations of the Perk [Hard Lessons] meant that If Serin was using it he could not use active magic.

That did not mean Serin could not use magic that had constant active effects running. He would have to experiment how that worked the following day. For today however, he would need to find a new spell prior to heading out.

Allister and Rachel each forked over a hundred credits so Serin could grab up a basic spell. They followed Serin as he stopped by Tomas's shop. Tomas was a little bleary eyed. "Good Morning Serin, Simon isn't awake yet. Is there something I can help you with?"

Serin looked at Tomas, "I need an abjuration spell that is a constant effect. Shield wont work because it only increases ability when I take a hit. I need something that I can have active and not have to concentrate on as a spell." Tomas nodded his head. "there is a spell. Its usually taken by adventurers that have very little magic, its called [resist]. It reduces the force of incoming attacks. At low levels it can soften the hit of a punch or protect someone from a small rock knocking them out. but it does scale in usefulness. As you know the [shield] spell stops all damage, but it has a trade off of trading Magical energy instead. This can be extremely detrimental if a horde of lower level creatures came at you. a higher level [resist] spell would halt the incoming damage of hordes of creatures."

Serin looked, "how much is this spell?"

Tomas looked, "Well it's an intermediate level spell, so it would be about 16000 credits."

Serin looked at Rachel and Allister. "If you help me buy this tonight I wont fight tomorrow."

Rachel and Allister looked at each other, smiled, and replied "Deal"

The three of them walked through the gate. Serin activated 120 ME of spells with his doubled mana. 'Now I will have [Fire Familiar], [Detect Magic], [Cloak], [Acute Vision], [Resist Heat], [Detect Life], and this new guy. Serin watched as he activated the skill a small bird appeared on his shoulder, across from his Gecko.

***