Jack looked over at Colin, who just shrugged.
“I suppose he’s right,” Colin said. “If I hadn’t lost a couple toes, I’d probably be out there with you, and who knows how much research we would’ve been doing.”
“As if you wouldn’t have been bugging me every step of the way saying ‘we should go to the library, that’s where all your questions can be solved,’” Jack said in his best Colin impersonation.
Colin grinned. “It is true, you know.”
“Maybe,” Jack conceded. He then turned to Chadwick Deeter. “Thanks again for your help.”
“My duty and pleasure,” Chadwick said with a formal nod.
“Come on,” Jack said. “Let’s go find the Flaming Fingers of Death and see if we can’t make a deal.”
…
Jack and Colin didn’t find Mal or any of the other members of the Flaming Fingers of Death when they returned to the questers wing.
“Who you looking for?” Chef Ramsey said as he spotted Jack and Colin scanning the lounge and dining area.
“The Flaming Fingers of Death,” Colin said.
“Ah, I believe they are all in classes today. I expect them back for dinner, though. You want me to let them know you’re looking for them?” Chef Ramsey said.
“That would be great,” Jack said.
“Not a problem, are you Misfits going to be here for dinner as well?”
Jack chuckled. He hadn’t heard anyone outside their group call them the Misfits before. It didn’t sound bad. Their name wasn’t as cool as the Flaming Fingers of Death, but it felt appropriate. “Yes, I believe so. I’ll let you know if anyone is going to miss it.”
Chef Ramsey said goodbye and headed back to the kitchen.
“Let’s go back to the apartment and see if the others are there,” Colin said.
“What, no trip to the library planned?” Jack teased.
“Oh, several trips along with the map room, but that can wait. Stann and Talia were going shopping today. I want to see what they got. I think that girl has a shopping problem.”
Jack shrugged. “As long as she’s buying stuff that helps us, I don’t see a problem. Besides, she’s pretty close to being able to cast portal magic. That is worth a shopping trip.”
Colin opened the apartment door. “That’s true. I’m excited to see it in action. How far off are you from doing portal magic?”
“Pretty close. I have 95 mana right now with all my gear.”
“Not bad. Portal magic requires a 110. An upgrade of equipment with some more experience points and you’ll be there soon enough. Having two members who can do portals is valuable. If one of you gets hurt, the other can cast the spell.”
Colin had a point. Jack hadn’t thought of that before. There were going to be spells where having two casters mattered.
“Who’s getting hurt?” Lana said as she popped her head out of her bedroom door.
“No one,” Colin said. “I was just saying that having two casters that can do portal magic would be really good in case something goes wrong.”
“I see,” Lana said. “I’d rather not have anything go wrong, but I see your point. How’d things go with Chadwick?”
Jack grinned. “Over 5000 gold, and we kept the two magic robes to trade. Chadwick thinks the Flaming Fingers of Death will want them.”
“Nice,” Lana said. “We’re actually making progress.”
“Yes, but we’ve been lucky so far,” Colin said. “I’m worried you’ll be finding more areas like that last village from now on.”
Jack slapped his friend on the back. “That’s what we have you for. To point us in the right direction.”
“To lead us to glory and riches,” Lana added.
“All through the power of the library,” Jack said.
“Don’t forget maps,” Lana said with a wink.
“Ha, ha. You two are funny. You should become court jesters. Take your act on the road,” Colin said.
Lana smiled. “We just enjoy teasing you.”
“I have some reading to do. Let me know when the others are back,” Colin said as he went into his room.
Lana frowned. “You think he’s mad?”
Jack shook his head. “Nah, Colin doesn’t mind the teasing. Makes him feel like he’s still part of the group despite the fact he’s stuck here. But I think he has moments where he wishes he could be out there with us. He’ll be fine. The next time he finds something good in the library, he’ll be sure to remind us how important books are.”
Lana chuckled. “He’s not wrong.”
“Yes, Chadwick was laughing at us earlier, telling us how lucky we were to realize the value of having a dedicated researcher.”
“I’d hardly call losing toes lucky,” Lana said.
“Considering how close Colin came to having his head chewed off, I’d argue that point.”
“I suppose,” Lana said. “What are you working on now?”
“I was going to look at my mother’s spell book. I’ve only looked at a few spells so far. I want to see what else I can do now that I’ve added more mana.”
“That is the one thing I get jealous about when it comes to mages and sorcerers. You upgrade your spells so quickly when you get new gear. Physical weapons-class warriors have to do so much more practice to upgrade.”
“Ya, but you don’t have to rely on mana to use your skills. Besides, you have mana-based options as well.”
“True. However, I don’t have enough mana for the cool stuff yet,” Lana said.
“We’ll just have to get you some,” Jack said with a grin. “Wait, how much mana do you need?”
“I… I’m not sure. I guess I should look into it.”
“You should. I’ll bet you’re closer than you think. The amulet and cloak both add to your mana stats. Once we find you an upgrade for your armor, you’ll have plenty.”
“That is a good point. Master Horton had a few more armor upgrades that weren’t terribly expensive, but they offered less health and more mana. I didn’t think that was a good tradeoff for me.”
“You’re probably right. We’ll have to keep an eye out for armor,” Jack said.
“Yup, now show me your spell book. Was it really your mother’s?”
Jack nodded. “Yes, Librarian Carr suggested she write it. It has her spells, and notes about them. There is some other writing as well, I just haven’t had time to go through the entire book.”
Lana jumped on one of the living room couches. “Why don’t you grab it and let’s take a look.”
Jack went to his room and grabbed the spell book. Lord Scratches wasn’t in the room, but that didn’t surprise Jack. The little dragon was likely at the dragon castle with the mother dragons, watching over eggs. It was Lord’s favorite place to go when Jack was busy.
Returning to the living room, Jack sat down beside Lana and opened the book.
“Let me,” Lana said as she stole the book from him. “You’ve already seen some of it.”
Lana scanned the first few pages. “It is arranged by mana usage, that’ll be handy.”
Jack hadn’t noticed that before, he’d assumed it had just been based on ease of use, but now that he was starting to understand magic better, that made sense. Most spells were easy if you had the necessary mana and the ability to cast them. Some spells had trigger words, but in general it was just a matter of visualizing what you wanted to do.
“Here is a cool spell that I don’t think you’ve used yet,” Lana said, pointing to a spell. She then read out the description, “Unique item identification spell. Have a new weapon or item with unidentified magical properties? Use this spell to see what magic it contains. Can be cast individually or as a group spell. 75 mana required to cast. Casting trigger word: Item identify.”
Jack nodded. That was a good spell. It wasn’t a combat spell or anything like that, but if they kept finding holy items and other unique magical weapons it would tell them which they’d want to keep for themselves without
having to wait to see Chadwick Deeter. “Good eye, Lana. That spell will be useful for identifying items.”
“Try it now as a group spell.”
Jack concentrated on his own magical energy. “Item identify.” In the corner of his eye where he could see his health stats, Jack saw a new section of writing appear. Each of his magical items appeared along with a mana stat and any additional magic that it gave, and the required mana. There were two that he found the most interesting. First was his sword, which not only had fire and ice, that he already was able to use, but it also had something called storm, which required 120 mana. The other was his necklace of Chante. It had three magical spells: sun aura, a healing spell, and solar burst, an attack spell, both of which required 80 mana. The third, solar flare, was another attack spell, but it required 130 mana, more than he currently had. Jack made a mental note to find a book on the goddess Chante so he could learn more about those spells. He then looked over at Lana and could see that her necklace of Krysha increased her dexterity and health recovery to go along with the mana and health stats. It was obvious that her amulet was much more useful to her than his would be.
“Ooh, I like that fire damage,” Lana said as she noted the stats for her fire goddess cloak. “I’ll have to work on my fire magic skills. I think I have enough mana to use that one now.”
Jack looked and she was right. Her cloak had a plus 10 to fire skills. “That’s a nice bonus.”
“Yes, Instructor Brazee says the best attacks use a combination of physical damage and magical. I’ll be working on that tomorrow.”
Stann and Talia walked into the room.
“Hey, guys, what you doing?” Stann asked.
“Looking through Jack’s spell book, how was the shopping trip?”
Stann raised his head like he was in physical pain.
Talia ignored him. She smiled and placed one foot forward, raising her robes slightly to expose her new boots.
Jack recast his new spell to include Stann and Talia. “Item identify.” Her knee-high boots increased her health rating, her mana rating and her resistance to poison. He could see she was also wearing a new ring that increased her health and mana. She now had 107 total mana points. She was so close to reaching the number needed for casting portal spells.
While Jack was assessing the magical value of her purchases, Lana and Talia were having a different conversation.
“You got the pirate hooker boots!” Lana said.
Talia smiled. “Aren’t they great?”
Lana nodded. “I actually like them. They really go with your fire goddess robes. You look like a goddess.”
“A really trollopy goddess,” Talia said with a grin. “But it has its purpose. Did you know men have a far slower reaction time when they encounter a sexy woman?”
“You think I’d wear these skintight leathers if I didn’t know that?” Lana replied. “I can tell your outfit is working by the amount of drool coming out of Stann’s mouth.”
Stann wiped his mouth. “I wasn’t drooling.”
Talia rolled her eyes. “Not now, you should’ve seen him when I first modeled the boots for him. He was speechless.”
Stann’s face went red.
Jack chuckled. It was strange to see an orc with a pale green skin tone turning red, but it was certainly happening.
Talia turned and rubbed Stann’s arm. “Don’t worry, big guy, I like it when you look at me like that. Just don’t let me catch you looking like that at other women.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. Was Talia marking her territory?
“How could I?” Stann said. “You’re like a rose growing in a rock garden.”
Lana glared at Stann. “Did you just call me a rock?”
Stann looked at Lana nervously. “I… no. I just mean… well, I only have eyes for Talia. Sorry, Lana, no disrespect.”
“Don’t be jealous, rock girl, get your own man. I’m claiming this hunk of muscle for myself. Did you hear what he just said about me? Who knew an orc could be so romantic when he’s not being bashful and shy?”
Jack laughed. Well, he wasn’t wrong about Talia claiming Stann. It wasn’t a total surprise; they’d been flirty for a while.
Lana smiled at Stann. “I suppose I can forgive you. Just don’t let it happen again.”
“Thank you, Lana,” Stann said before turning to Jack, eager to change the conversation. “We ran into Nicole Grotepas from the Flaming Fingers of Death and she said they would join us for dinner. Apparently, Chef Ramsey reserved the private dining room for us. I didn’t even know there was a private dining room.”
“Neither did I,” Jack admitted. “But Colin and I asked to meet with them, so that is perfect.”
“Why are we meeting with them?” Talia said.
“Because they collect fire and sun goddess items. Chadwick Deeter thinks they will trade us for our two remaining magical robes.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Stann asked. “I thought trusting other questing teams wasn’t recommended.”
Jack shrugged. “There’s a difference between trusting them out in the Ancient Lands and trading with them here. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to be friendly with other questers. They might have knowledge we can really use. They’ve been questing a lot longer than us.”
Stann frowned. “I just don’t trust mages and sorcerers.”
Talia turned and gave Stann a death stare.
“You know, I’ve changed my mind. I think we should meet with them, maybe they know where to look for orc gear,” Stann said as he purposely avoided looking at Talia.
When they entered the private dining room, Jack was intrigued. It had a large dining table that could easily seat a couple dozen people if not more, and it also had large display shelves on one of the walls.
Jack went over to the display shelves.
“They’re for showing your items,” a voice said from behind them. Jack turned and saw a smiling blonde person.
“You must be Jack. I’m Mal.”
“How’d you know I was Jack?”
Mal smiled. “Half-dwarven people don’t exactly grow on trees around here. They’re as rare as us fae. And to be honest, easier to notice.”
Jack laughed sheepishly. He should’ve known that. “Fair enough.”
Mae turned to the others. “Colin, I’ve met before.”
Lana stepped forward and shook Mal’s hand. “Lana Liahorn.”
“Stannerios Morwerk.”
“Talia Payra.”
Once they’d all given their names, Mal’s companions stepped forward.
“Nicole Grotepas.”
“Brandon Ellis.”
“Christine Gasbjerg.”
“Nikko Marie.”
Jack smiled and shook each of their hands. Christine and Nicole were both elven, while Brandon and Nikko were human. It was as diverse a group as their own.
“How’s your first few weeks as questers been?” Nicole asked.
“Surviving,” Jack said.
Brandon looked at them and shook his head. “I’d say you’ve been doing more than surviving if your gear is any indication. For first-year students, you have some pretty decent stats.”
“We found a few good stashes,” Colin said.
“A holy temple from the looks of it,” Nikko Marie said, pointing at Talia. “I’m jealous of your robe, and love the boots.”
Talia grinned.
“We have a few more robes, but they are Chante robes, not Chaunte,” Colin said.
Jack nodded at Stann, who took the robes out of his satchel.
Mal noticed Stann’s satchel. “Portal?”
“Yes,” Stann said.
“From our first trip out into the Ancient Lands. We found two portal satchels and a bunch of ancient tools at a farm. I almost died that trip, but we did OK.”
“Two portal satchels. That is more than OK,” Mal said. “They are incredibly handy. We have one, and Christine has a portal purse. It doesn’t carry large items like the sa
tchels do, but it carries unlimited potions.”
“Made it myself,” Christine said with pride.
“Impressive,” Talia said. “I bet that took a lot of mana.”
Christine nodded. “I borrowed the best equipment of everyone in the group. Took 250 mana just to make it. It takes 400 mana to make a satchel. You have to be a crazy-high-level magic user and have great gear for that. Someday.” She then started examining one of the Chante robes. She then handed it to Mal and started examining the second one. “Good robes. What are you looking for in exchange?”
Jack shrugged. “We need lots of things. We’d mostly like to improve our gear.”
Christine pointed at Talia. “We have a few things that she’d like.”
“And one thing that Stannerios might be interested in,” Mal said. “Brandon, grab that Eye of Borgyn amulet, and the Skull of Fire staff.”
Nikko raised an eyebrow. “That’s an awful generous offer for a couple of robes.”
Mal smiled. “Perhaps, but we’re the more experienced team, we can afford to be a little generous. Besides, you don’t need the staff anymore. Your new one is better.”
Nikko sighed. “I suppose.”
Brandon handed Jack the amulet. He examined the stats. 6 health and 6 mana wasn’t bad at all, but it was the magical spell that was most intriguing. Stone-body: turns wearer’s body to stone. Increases resistance to physical damage 500%.
Jack handed the necklace to Stann.
Stann smiled. “Borgyn is the orc goddess of mountains. Stone-body is a powerful spell.”
“I thought you’d like it,” Mal said.
Brandon then pulled a staff with a skull on the top of it. The skull almost looked like it had been shrunken. It was barely bigger than Jack’s fist. He went to hand it to Jack, but Talia grabbed it out of Brandon’s hands before Jack could accept it.
“Dibs,” Talia said.
Mal laughed. “I told you she’d like it. Having multiple items blessed by the same god or goddess increases the value. Having one Chaunte-blessed item is good, two is better.”
Menacing Misfits: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (Darkthorn Academy Book 1) Page 31
