Nascent (The Stork Tower Book 1)

by Tony Corden

  She put all the new armour in her new bag and decided to equip them only when she left town. It would be weird to wander around dressed in armour, even leather armour.

  The next shop she entered belonged to a cartographer. It was filled with scrolls of all sizes. An older woman was sitting at a table carefully copying a map of the world. The edges were all hazy for Dunyanin was a world continually growing. Leah waited until the lady finished the section and looked up.”

  “Good morning dear, how might I help you?”

  “Two things, I was wondering if you had a mapping skill and equipment so I can keep a record of my journey, and second, do you had a detailed map that might help me get from here to a settlement in the Demir Dovuyor Mountains.”

  “Well, I can certainly help with those two things though you’ll need to decide on what you’re willing to pay. I can sell you a beginning map-making skill for one gold or I can sell you the fully developed skill for 500 gold. As for the map, I have a route map which will show the way from here to the Mountains, and you’ll have to ask around for the particular settlement when you get closer. I have a Ranger Map of the route with all the streams, settlements, roads, dungeons and unusual beasts already marked. Rangers have covered most of the area, and the map will update when they add more information. The Ranger map is priced at one gold for every square league you want. I can’t vary this; the price is set by the Ranger’s Guild. The guild refunds fifty Silver for every significant find that you make which they add to the map.”

  “Thank you. I’ll take the beginning skill and could you tell me how far the route would be from here to the settlement of Daglar Duman.”

  “Let’s see, Carson’s Loop to Daglar Duman is fifty-two leagues as the crow flies. The route itself is sixty-seven leagues. A Ranger map covering the whole route and half a league on either side comes to sixty-one square leagues. So that will be one gold for the skill and sixty-one gold for the Ranger Map. So altogether, sixty-two gold for both. Or if you’d rather the route map it’ll be one gold for the skill and three gold for the route, so four gold.”

  “Does the ranger map show places which are safe to stop?”

  “Yes, indeed! It shows the best areas to camp and will help in planning daily travel as well.”

  Leah paid the lady and received the skill, several sheets of beginner parchment, a quill and ink set, and the map.

  Leah’s next stop was an Alchemist shop on the other side of the square. The store had a wide variety of vials, positions and equipment for sale. A tall, thin man was standing behind the counter. He smiled as she approached and said, “Ah, a young traveller here to buy my potions to save their young lives. How can I help you, my dear?”

  “Kind sir, you are correct I did come to look at your potions. I also wanted to know if you could help me to start on the path to becoming an Alchemist. I’m afraid I won’t always be near a shop and would love being able to prepare my own potions.”

  “Well, let’s see. I can sell you the equipment; you have a choice of beginner, standard or advanced. I also have the scrolls necessary to give you beginning skills for alchemy. You’ll need Harvesting, Grinding, Distilling and Alchemy; each is two gold. You will need an Alchemist Primer to help you brew some beginning potions; this is thirty gold. If you don’t want to buy the Primer, you can always learn by trial and error. If that’s what you decide, then I suggest you also buy the Analyse skill so that you don’t poison yourself by accident.”

  “I already have the first three skills and would only need the Skills of Alchemy and Analyse. I have a collection of recipes already but think the Analyse skill probably worth having, so that is four gold. Do you recommend any particular potions for me at Level 11 and heading toward the Demir Dovuyor Mountains.”

  “So where did you get the skills if I might ask and might I have a glance at the recipes you have, I can tell you if they cover everything that the Primer would?”

  “Old Falsi at First Bridge was kind to help me out.”

  “Old Falsi! She rarely if ever has anything to do with travellers. You are indeed fortunate as her skills are certainly greater than mine. And the recipes?”

  “Again, they are from Old Falsi. She was kind enough to gift me a book of recipes.” Leah didn’t plan on showing the book to the Alchemist.

  “Well, you truly have been gifted well by her. Now, as for potions, I suggest you need several to restore or improve any or all of your characteristics and statistics. Even Luck can be useful as you prepare to loot a major boss or opponent. I have potions to restore 100, 200, 500 points for Health, Mana, Stamina or Ki. I also have complete restoration potions for Health, Mana, Stamina and Ki. I sell ‘plus-two’, ‘plus-five’, and ‘plus-ten’ potions which last from thirty seconds to ten minutes.”

  The prices ranged from one gold for the 100 point potion to ten gold for a complete restoration. A ‘plus-two’ potion lasting thirty seconds was one gold while a ‘plus-ten’ for ten minutes was one-hundred gold.

  Leah took a vial of Orumeck’s Worker Drone Venom as well as a vial of Orumeck’s Webspinner Drone Poison and said, “While I consider what I might need could you look at these and see if they might be useful for you?”

  She carefully touched her earring and listened in on the Alchemist’s thoughts. Although he didn’t think about costs, it was clear that he wanted both vials and was prepared to give a good price for them. Leah had checked, similar poisons at auction had been sold for upwards of 100 Gold.

  In the end, Leah chose two complete restore potions for Stamina and Ki and one each of Health and Mana. She also bought: two each of the 500 restore for each statistic; three potions of thirty-second duration with ‘plus-ten’ for each characteristic except Luck; for Luck, she bought ten potions. Altogether she calculated she was going to be charged 185 gold for the potions. She knew she needed the two skills so it would be 189 gold plus whatever it cost for some simple Alchemical tools to grind and distil. She also needed some empty vials. In the end, the Alchemist exchanged the potions, skills and tools for two vials of worker Drone Venom and one vial of Webspinner Drone Poison. He also added the skill of Apothecary as he thought some of Old Falsi’s recipes might need this.

  Finally, Leah walked to a stall that advertised the sale of various spells. After discussing each spell with Gèng, she decided on two spells. For twenty gold she bought ‘Circle of Sloth’ and ‘Disc of Death’. She knew they wouldn’t help immediately, but at the higher levels, they could be invaluable. Circle of Sloth was an air spell which surrounded the caster within a dome where everything except the Mage slowed down. Disc of Death was an earth spell where a circle of sharp spikes, highly resistant to damage and usually impassible, surrounded the caster except for a small section directly in front of them. If timed correctly the spikes could impale and kill enemies.

  Leah headed back to the Inn, just in time for lunch with Wisp.

  After lunch Wisp and Leah headed toward the docks and crossed the river by ferry. Leah equipped her Armour and applied some of her unused skill points to raise the level of her two new spells; she was pleased with the increase in HP.

  ATHERLEAH (Level 11) (10212/11000) (+4.5%)

  Characteristics - Points Total, (Assigned, Racial, Jewellery, Armour) 0 Undistributed

  Strength (S) - 26 (13, 0, 2, 11)

  Constitution (C) - 24 (13, 0, 2, 9)

  Agility (A) - 25 (19, 2, 0, 4)

  Wisdom (W) - 13 (11, 2)

  Intelligence (I) - 8 (8)

  Luck (L) - 4 (4)

  Statistics (Available, Capacity)

  Health - 100+(S+C)xPL - (650, 650)HP

  Stamina - 100+(C+A)xPL - (661, 661) SP

  Mana - 100+(W+I)xPL - (331, 331) MP

  Ki -100+(W+[S+A]/2)xPL - (534.5, 534.5) KP

  The land was undulating woodland with a visibility of about thirty metres. Ankle length grass covered the ground, and occasional bushes rose to knee and thigh height. They walked to the area where Wisp had been attacked by ants prev
iously. She described them as the size of a dog with sharp mandibles, and claws at the end of each leg. A hard shell their bodies and the only one she’d killed had happened when she managed to strike it in the gap between head and thorax.

  Leah invited Wisp to join her group. They agreed to share experience in proportion to their levels. With Wisp on Level 7 and Leah almost on Level 12, this meant Leah received approximately two-thirds of the experience points. Loot was to be shared equally with unique items going to who had the greatest need, otherwise turn and turn about with Leah going first. Leah suggested that she and Wisp stand about a meter and a half apart. When the ants rushed toward them, Leah would cast Disc of Death. They could then control the number of ants attacking at any one time.

  Wisp pointed out an ant heading in their direction, behind it were six more ants. When an ant got within twenty meters of the girls, it rushed forward. Leah waited until they were three metres from her and then turning side-on cast Disc of Death and a circle of spikes shot from the ground. They impaled the first ant which wriggled, stuck on top of a spike. The other ants milled around before moving around the circle looking for an entrance. Wisp moved to one side and began firing Blazing Bolts at the ants.

  With a poisoned spiked stick in one hand and a Warrior Drone’s Scythes in the other, Leah hurried toward the entrance. As the first ant scuttled through the gap she shoved the spike between the mandibles and deep into its mouth, she moved to the side and brought the scythe down between head and thorax, then giving a firm pull on the scythe, the head came free. She quickly shook the head off the spike just in time to spear the next ant which was crawling over the body of the headless one. Then it was: 'rinse and repeat'. After the fourth ant, the spikes disappeared, but Leah was able to finish the next ant. She then watched while Wisp used her sword to hack at the last ant. Leah didn’t need to step in even though Wisp did get bit.

  Forager Worker Ant (Level 5) 600HP 250EP

  She harvested the pile and received:

  You have harvested:

  7 Forager Worker Ant Claws*

  7 Vials of Forager Worker Ant Blood**

  * Note: A skilled Smith may be able to use these items.

  ** Note: A skilled Alchemist can use these to make potions which add strength.

  As each of the ants was Level 5, and the average of her group was over eight the experience received was reduced. She had looked it up and killing creatures of a higher level didn’t always increase experience points but killing those lower than you always reduced the experience gained. Over the next two hours, they came across six more groups of ants ranging in packs of between four and ten. Altogether they killed another forty-three ants, and both had levelled up. As they sat and regenerated their Mana Leah asked, “Where do they come from?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Where do the ants come from? We keep meeting them coming in this direction. Either they spawn out that way somewhere, or they have a nest.”

  Leah then sub-vocalised to Gèng, “Check the forums and see if there is any mention of an ant hive near Carson’s Loop. Then check for other areas with ants and see if they have hives.”

  Gèng replied, “No mention of a hive near Carson’s Loop but almost all other ant areas has a central hive or dungeon.”

  “Wisp, I think there might be a hive or dungeon out in this area. I suggest we keep moving instead of heading back as we planned. I’ve another two hours before I have to log out. When do you need a break?”

  “I was at the Inn about half an hour before you so about an hour and a half.”

  They agreed to keep moving for an hour and a half and then they would choose a place to log out until the following morning at nine local time. Over the next hour, they moved further and further into the woodland and travelled over a league from the river. During this period they met and killed four more groups of ants, the largest group had twelve ants. The groups were becoming more frequent and larger. Wisp had finally reached Level 8, and the experience gained per ant had dropped again.

  They discovered clear trails on the woodland floor which showed the passage of numerous ants. Topping a rise, they saw a break in the trees ahead. Moving carefully to the tree line they saw an open field fully two kilometres in diameter with an immense ant hill in the centre. It was shaped like a volcano with numerous ridges and folds across its surface. Entrance holes were scattered over the sides, but there was a defined path winding up toward the top of the cone which was 150 metres high. On the field around the anthill, there were groups of ants moving both to and from the mound. Wisp and Leah moved back into the trees after searching for a spot that didn’t look to have been visited by ants. From here they observed the ant’s behaviour. After Wisp logged out, Leah sat and stared at the field for thirty minutes before she also logged out.

  Leah found that even though she was in the pod all day she seemed to be eating more. Gèng explained that with her constant movement in Dunyanin her muscles were being exercised almost continually. Gèng offered to reduce the effect, but Leah declined, saying she needed to keep active and fit.

  After breakfast, she logged in and dressed for college. She had three and a half real-hours before she needed to meet Wisp. She planned to sample each of the classes for an hour Academia Time; leaving her an hour to rest and prepare for the ants.

  Gèng said, “How do you want to experience the classes? You can portal to the virtual campus and experience college life as you walk to class, or I can make a gateway directly to each class from here. Each class is structured to individualised learning. Students take the class whenever they want to, and none of your current classes require group work.”

  “I’ll portal direct to the rooms. Do I need to take anything?”

  “No! The school provides all texts and materials. Leah, would you mind if I made some more alterations to this world? I have a few ideas based on what I’ve seen online and what I’ve learned about you.”

  “Go ahead. If I don’t like the changes, you can always change them back.”

  Gèng created four doorway portals on a wall, and Leah walked toward the one marked Tai Chi and Meditation. On arrival, she found herself barefoot in a quiet garden. Her clothing had changed, and she now wore a white linen tunic and loose pants. A small Asian lady stood some five meters away dressed similarly except for colour. The lady was dressed all in black. Leah guessed her age to be around forty. The woman stood quietly watching Leah.

  Taking the initiative, Leah walked closer and stopped about two meters from the teacher. She bowed low with hands together in the way she would to her Asian grandmother and waited. After a small pause, she heard “Welcome Atherleah, please rise and look at me. You are welcome here. My name is Master Ning. Please sit, and we will begin.”

  Leah sat and tried to copy the same pose adopted by the Master.

  “Well done Atherleah, this is called the Burmese Position and is the simplest of poses. Before we start do you have any questions?”

  Leah waited for a few breaths then asked: “Yes Master Ning, how does my virtual body, or actions here, affect my real body in the pod?”

  “Excellent question. Within this world space, your body will only be able to move in ways your real body is capable of reproducing. Your pod has sensors which measure muscle tone, ligament flexibility as well as brain activity. It will stimulate your nervous system and musculature to ensure you get genuine real-world benefit from these exercises. It is helpful if at least three times each week you spend half an hour or more in the real world practising the various movements and meditations you learn. Any other questions?”

  “No Master Ning.”

  “Let us begin; we will start with learning to breathe. Now, place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. Breathe in through your nose, and you should feel the hand on your stomach rise …”

  Leah spent the next hour breathing while adopting various poses. After being dismissed, she bowed low and left via the doorway.

  She tur
ned and entered the portal into Chemistry. She found herself in a laboratory with numerous apparatus covering the benches. Test tubes, beakers and miles of glass tubing, all surrounded by various machines. As she walked through she glanced down and once again her clothing had been transformed: she was now wearing a lab coat and thick safety shoes. In the middle of the room, she saw a person in a lab coat carefully watching a clear liquid dripping from a glass retort. As Leah approached, the figure turned, and Leah saw a middle-aged woman with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and wearing safety glasses. Before Leah could say anything, the woman said, “Welcome Atherleah, my name is Professor Franklin, and I am your teacher for this Introductory Course on Chemistry. We will begin with the basics and move at whatever pace is suitable for you although I will warn you that your college has set specific goals that must be reached to pass this term. Do you have any questions or should we begin?”

  “Only one Professor, when you say my college does that mean you are not employed by the Australian Community Colleges?”

  “Not really, I am an off-the-shelf chemistry tutor. Many colleges find introductory courses most easily dealt with by purchasing tried and true AI. I am currently tutoring over 25,000 students throughout the world. You college pays a subscription for my services and sets basic parameters. In the end, this is most economical for your college and best for you. Are there any other questions?”

  “No Professor.”

  “Well, then, let us begin by checking how much you already understand. I’ve perused your file and have just a few questions which will help me place our starting point. Firstly, let’s review what you know about the atomic model …”

  As the professor talked, the various apparatus disappeared, and a model of the Atom appeared; the Professor began to ask questions. An hour later Atherleah was dismissed, and she walked back into her space. Over the following two hours she had two similar sessions, one covering Introduction to AI Development, and the other in Human Biology. She found the courses informative and interesting; she considered signing up for another two courses. She wondered why anyone would ever fail with such great personal attention. The teachers were patient and were always willing to stop and answer a question or explain something differently.