by Jez Cajiao
The room I’d been living in for weeks was full of tiny details I’d missed: gold leaf on the walls and ceiling, worn and obviously not as thick or well-maintained as the rest of the citadel, and every surface bore signs of consistent heavy use by people that didn’t matter. Scuffs on the side table, cracks in the wood; things I’d seen, but never understood, suddenly became glaringly obvious. This wasn’t a bedroom. It was a gilded cell.
As my body slowly unlocked from its state of pain-induced rigor mortis, I struggled to my feet and looked around. Finding little dots in strategic places, I leaned in to inspect one, and sure enough, cameras. “So, the old prick is a voyeur as well, eh?” I muttered to myself before taking the time to give the camera the finger. It took only a few minutes’ work to shift things until all the cameras I could find were covered, blocked, or‒in one case‒broken. I knew I wouldn’t have caught them all, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to piss off the Baron in a way that was too minor to cause a repercussion. Or so I hoped.
I sat back down in my chair, a faint smile on my face as I brought up my character sheet and looked over the changes.
Name Jax
lass: Spellsword
Renown: Unknown
Level: 1
Progress: 0/300
Patron:
Points to Distribute: 0
Meridian Points to Invest: 0
Stat
Current points
Description
Effect
Progress to next level
Agility
8
Governs dodge and movement.
Average speed -20%
0/100
Charisma
9
Governs likely success to charm, seduce, or threaten
Success chance -10%
0/100
Constitution
13
Governs Health and Health regeneration
HP+30, Regen 4pts per 600s
0/100
Dexterity
9
Governs ability with weapons and crafting
-10%
0/100
Endurance
12
Governs Stamina and Stamina regeneration
STM +20, Regen 3pts per 30s
0/100
Intelligence
14
Governs base Mana and number of Spells able to be learned
+40 Mana, Spell capacity: 7 spells
0/100
Luck
8
Governs overall chance of bonuses
-20%
0/100
Perception
12
Governs ranged damage and chance to spot traps/hidden items
+20% Ranged damage, +2% chance to spot traps/hidden items
0/100
Strength
17
Governs damage with melee weapons and carrying capacity
+7 Damage with melee weapons, +70% carrying capacity
0/100
Wisdom
8
Governs Mana regeneration and memory
-20% Mana recovery 0.8pm, 20% more likely to forget things
0/100
The first thing I saw was that my name had changed, no doubt in reaction to my feelings about the Baron. The ‘Sanguis’ surname had been dropped, and my given name of Jack had been replaced with Jax, my preferred gamer handle.
I noticed the change to my Strength and Intelligence next. I could now hit harder, carry more, and, I guessed perhaps I could figure things out better than ever before?
I’d also gained fifty points of mana to play with that was currently ticking up slowly toward a new limit of one hundred and forty points. Most importantly of all, I could now learn seven spells, instead of the original four.
I dressed quickly, black pants and a grey top, and pulled the bell-pull next to my table. Jenny darted into the room a second later, and I grinned at the surprise in her eyes as she looked over my body. She apparently liked what she saw, if her grin was any indication. I grinned myself, but I had more pressing things to attend to.
“Ah! No, sorry, Jenny. I do need you, but not like that; not right now anyway. I need you to go to Madame Xiao. When you find her, I want you to tell her this, and make sure she understands it was my command to use these exact words, okay? I want you to tell her to get her wrinkled arse to the study in the training hall with whatever she needs to teach me the spells I’ve chosen to learn, and if she’s not there waiting for me when I arrive, I’ll kick her down the corridors to my…father…to explain her lack of understanding of her place. Also, find West, and ask him to come along too, when he’s got the time.”
Jenny gulped at having to say such things to the wizened old witch, but she bobbed a curtsey and disappeared with a regretful last wink at me. I shook my head as I finished lacing up my shoes and set off out of my room and down the hall. Whether I liked it or not, the Baron had acknowledged me as his offspring, and it was high time I used that to my advantage. I still hated the monstrous prick, though.
I walked past marble busts and walls that practically dripped gold leaf and onyx inlays. All around me, the building was practically collapsing under the trappings of obvious wealth, and it annoyed me. All this opulence was rubbish. It made a person desensitized to the actual value of the pieces that stood in every crevice, I realized. If there had been a quarter of the lavishness, it’d still probably make any palace I’d ever seen in the movies look like a cheap secondhand shop, but with this amount, it was just overwhelming and boring. I’d spent my entire life scrabbling for cash. I could literally reach out at random and touch something that was more valuable than every penny I’d ever earned put together, and it was just wasted. The Baron could have had legions of devoted men and women if he’d put a fraction of this wealth into helping them. Instead, it was here, making another corridor extra shiny. Wanker.
I crossed the training hall and opened the door to Xiao’s study without knocking, striding past her as she spun around. Her face was flushed with anger at being summoned to the room by me, and she’d clearly been pacing the room when I entered. I purposefully sat in the large, comfortable chair behind the desk, leaving the small stool she’d had placed before it as the only seat for her.
“How dare you…” she began, practically apoplectic with rage, when I cut her off with a raised hand. She stopped, more in shock than anything else, but she focused on my hand and gritted her teeth.
“That’s enough, thank you, Xiao. I’ve spent most of the night in contemplation, and I realized a few things. First and foremost, I’m acknowledged as the son of the Baron…your Baron. And as such, our relationship has gotten off on the wrong foot.” I fixed her with a steely gaze and saw doubt in her eyes for the first time.
“You see ‘Madame’ Xiao, either I die in the arena soon, in which case I have nothing to lose by deliberately sabotaging your career, or I win, in which case, I end up going through to the UnderVerse, and I’m your best chance of ever getting there yourself. If I get there, survive, and open the portal, you get to go through. Provided, of course, the Baron doesn’t hear that you’re sabotaging my chances, and decides to make an example of you.” I smiled at her, showing my teeth in something closer to a Bond villain’s sneer than anything else. I might be laying it on a bit thick, I reflected, but it needed to be clear.
“I’m listening…” she said, looking at me with narrowed eyes.
“From today, we will be working together regularly. You’ll teach me the spells I’ve chosen, and you’ll teach me how to increase my magical skills, Intelligence, and Wisdom. What will change is the attitude. We will work together, as equals. Sound good?” I asked, sitting back and watching her face. I could see the fury in her eyes and in the way that she could barely get out her words as she replied to me. I tried to look bored and unconcerned, but this bluff could cost me the little help she currently was giving me. On the other side of it, though, actually having her wholehearted h
elp could save me a LOT of time and effort. Thing was, it really was a bluff, as I had no idea what the Baron would do. He might support me, or punish me, or have her hung. The seconds ticked away as we watched each other, but eventually, she replied.
“Equals…” she snarled.
“I don’t think that’s how two equals speak to each other, now is it?” I growled back, letting my anger rise enough to color my voice.
“I…I’m sorry, Jack…. I would like to work as equals…” she ground out through clenched teeth.
“Good.” I said, smiling coldly at her and relaxing. “You’ll be glad to know I’ve chosen a few spells, so the first step is to learn them. How do I do this?”
“The spells are written in the Codex, a collection of spells the Baron has allowed for those of us with skill to study. Each time a spell is read, the parchment it is written on disintegrates as the magic binding it together is infused into the reader.”
“And who replaces the spells?” I asked curiously.
“The librarian. He knows the spells and spends his time replacing spells or skill books as they are learned.”
“Skill books?”
“Books that teach you the basics of certain skills, obv…Jack,” she said, cutting herself off from the sarcastic answer. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and carried on. “Skill books teach you the barest basics, usually the simplest recipes and plans, but they take months to create and mere minutes to read.”
“That translates as ‘expensive,’ then. I take it I don’t have any of these books put aside for me?”
“Not that I am aware of; just the spells, but these are boon enough! Can I ask which you have chosen? And the class you chose?”
“The class is ‘Spellsword,’ with five points to my Intelligence and five points to my Strength,” I said, shifting on the chair. My new size was taking some getting used to.
“The boost to your Intelligence is obvious.” Xiao said, this time with a hint of cautious respect in her voice. “Explain to me, if you would, why you chose it?”
“I needed to increase my mana pool, but I also needed to still be able to fight. It seemed the obvious choice, although now I wonder if a boost to my Wisdom for the mana regeneration might not have been more beneficial than the one to my Intelligence. Never mind. Besides, I haven’t changed that much, have I?” I said, shifting again and flexing my chest and upper arms and feeling my clothes strain to contain me.
“The less obvious change is the greater. Well chosen,” she said, and I caught the implied insult to my previous Intelligence. I looked at her sharply before deciding it wasn’t worth it, and moved onto the spells.
“I’ve chosen ‘Summon Water,’ ‘Firebolt,’ ‘Cleansing Fire,’ ‘Weak Healing,’ ‘Weak Lightning,’ ‘Identify,’ and ‘Raise Weak Skeletal Minion.’ Do you have any comments?” I asked, seeing her pensive expression, but after a minute she replied surprisingly positively.
“Water so you can survive, regardless of location, Firebolt and Lightning to fight with, Cleansing Fire to remove infections and diseases, Healing to heal yourself, and Identify to aid you, while ‘Raise Minion’ can give you help. I am impressed, despite myself.” She gave me a small nod of respect.
There was a knock at the door and West slowly opened it, clearly hesitant to enter in case of spells flying. When he found that we were seated, and that I was sitting in the ‘good’ chair, he grinned and entered.
“So, lad, seems you’ve made your choice, then?” he asked.
“Aye, West; I’ve chosen Spellsword, with boosts to Intelligence and Strength. I’ll need my training to reflect that from now on.” I said, giving him a small smile in return. “Xiao is going to be teaching me the spells I need in a moment, and then I’ll be ready to start training… when, Xiao?”
“Tomorrow,” she stated flatly. “You intend on learning all seven spells today?” I nodded in response, and she went on. “The pain of absorbing seven spells at once will be…memorable. You will be incapable of any rational thought afterwards. The stress of absorbing seven spells will be significant as well, and that kind of additional load added to your mind will have certain side effects.”
“Go on,” I said, a bad feeling rising in my gut.
“The human mind can only absorb so much. Although a single spell might not seem like much, there are hundreds of hours of arcane knowledge included, as well as imprinting the various words, gestures, and limits that you will need to know to properly cast the spell. Doing this with seven spells in such a short period could cause damage to your mind. The Baron has never allowed any of his servants to absorb more than one spell in an entire year, but your brother Tommy selected four, and others in your…situation…have taken more. Your brother was in excruciating pain afterwards…. You don’t have the luxury of time, but you must be aware of this. You are unlikely to be able to use any other spell or skill books for a considerable amount of time.”
“How long?”
“How long is a piece of string?” she replied with a wry smile. “It depends on you, Jack; on your mind, and on your personal growth. I would say that even a failed absorption of a spell could be useful, however, provided you survive it.”
“Well, just come out with it, Xiao. Don’t blow sunshine up my arse!” I muttered, imagining my mind being snuffed out by a failed spell.
“If you partially absorb a spell, you will learn part of the knowledge by definition, yes?” I nodded and gestured for her to go on. “Well, a spell can be altered by one with the prerequisite knowledge. I altered my Flame spell to cover my hand, if you remember. Any knowledge could help you to unlock other spells. The seven you intend to learn will be the basis of hundreds of spells that you will have the capacity for, once you progress your skill sufficiently. However, and this is important, Jack, I want your word that you won’t attempt to alter any of your spells anywhere near me! The side effects can be spectacular.” She glanced between West and me, seeing the lack of understanding, and sighed before going on.
“Firebolt is one of the simplest spells, requiring only a few simple words and gestures, but behind those words and gestures are limits that you are placing on the spell both overtly and subconsciously. For example, you are allowing the spell a set amount of mana, ordering the growth of the Firebolt to cease at a certain size, directing it to fly at the target your mind specifies, and then to detonate, mentioning just a few of the variables. Any one of these, if not formed correctly, could end badly for you. No limit on the mana? The spell drains your mana entirely, which would result either in releasing the entirety of your energy in an uncontrolled explosion in your hand, or firing your entire capacity in one go. No limit on the size, perhaps it grows past the size of your hand and causes you injury? Maybe it seeks a friendly target or detonates in your hand, killing you. All these are possible and even likely results of incorrect or altered details in a spell. However! If you understand what you are doing, you can alter the spell positively. Imagine if you were to combine Firebolt with your water spell? You could summon a plume of boiling water at any location you desire; under a heavily armored opponent, perhaps? Boil them inside their own armor?”
West and I exchanged glances, and I grinned at him. “Oh no, you fuckin’ don’t, laddie! No experimenting in the training hall!” he cried out, leveling a finger at me in warning. I turned to Xiao and found her shaking her head as well, one hand raised threateningly.
“Not anywhere near me, either! I have one life, and I will not lose it because a Gaijin like you makes a mistake! Wait until you reach the other side and experiment there, where your mana will replenish in minutes, not days! I want your word, Jack, or I’ll take my chances with the Baron for refusing to teach you anymore!”
I grimaced, thinking of the opportunities lost, but agreed to wait until I got to the other side, on the condition that Xiao would teach me all she could of the theory on manipulating spells.
“I will teach you, Jack, as agreed,” she said, starting to lean back
in the stool without thinking, and fell off it. West burst into laughter, and she shot to her feet, glaring at him and running off a stream of Mandarin that made him give her the finger in response. “Cào nǐ zǔzōng shíbā dài!” She took a deep breath and then held up her hands in surrender. “Can I please have a proper chair now?”
West left the room and returned in short order with a second chair, smaller than the one I now sat in, but undoubtedly more comfortable than the stool. Xiao directed him to put it to the side of her desk, and then waited for him to settle before walking around me to the back wall of the room.
I got up and followed her over, watching as she shifted aside a large tapestry showing the human body in intricate detail. A large modern walk-in safe was revealed, recessed into the wall. She covered the pad as she input a series of digits, then placed her hand on a palm scanner, and finally spoke a phrase in Mandarin that was so rapid, it sounded like a random collection of syllables, before the door unlocked.
