The Dive: Birth of a Wordsmith

by Justin Miller

  Apparently annoyed that we were talking without him, the clan leader--I should call him Hathuel now I guess-- cleared his throat. “With that settled, I trust our business is concluded?”

  “Oh.. sorry, yes. I’ll head back with the hunters now to explain this to their village.” I put away my grimoire, and glanced to the other book I had been given. Taking into account my past experience, I decided not to use Speed Reading on it while we were in a forest full of hostile animals.

  Denise stood up next to me, nodding. “I hope that they haven’t done anything with Midnight while we were gone.”

  I shook my head. “They haven’t.” I had been keeping an eye on Midnight’s status. As a member of our group, I could see his health at the corner of my vision, and it hadn’t changed yet.

  Raising an eyebrow, Denise looked at me. “Foreigner stuff?”

  “Foreigner stuff.”

  Accepting that answer, we walked out of the hollowed out tree, and made our way to the hunter’s cages. It seemed that they had undergone a bit of a change as well, as there were no longer wooden bars locking them into the tree. “You guys ready to go home?”

  The head hunter, who was apparently appointed as such because I used him as the liaison last night, nodded. “Yes. It will be good to go back.”

  A few of the elves seemed reluctant to help the other humans get back to the ground safely, but with one look from Dariel they complied. Huh… I guess she has authority of her own here. Did I just get a great companion?

  Once on the ground, I looked to the human in charge of the hunters. “Are you able to return on your own from here? I must return to my journey.”

  That seemed to catch him by surprise, because he was momentarily stunned. “You do not wish to return for a reward?”

  “No, I have already been rewarded for my part in this matter. If you feel there is need for more, than ensure that the peace between the humans of Chioatl village and the elves of the Vinehaven clan is one that lasts.”

  “I.. understand. We will do our part to keep the peace. Thank you for your assistance, stranger.”

  I smiled to the hunter. “My name is Jin. Also, if you could ensure that they free my horse when you get back, that would help. He’ll find me soon enough.”

  “I will do so. Thank you, Jin.”

  Quest Completed!

  Chioatl Hunters

  Not only did you learn the fate of the hunters who had been captured by a hidden clan of elves, but you also established the beginnings of a peace treaty between the two people. The humans won’t forget the kindness of their savior who sought no thanks, but merely wished for the peace to continue.

  Reward: +500 Fame

  When the humans walked off back in the direction of their camp, I noticed that Dariel remained behind instead of returning with the other elves. “Please, allow me to escort you to the other side of the forest.” She smiled to Denise and I. “It was quite nice of you to not ask for a reward from them.”

  I shook my head. “Not at all. Like I said, I have already received ample reward for this. Asking for anything else would be greedy.”

  “And yet most would have done so, or even concealed the fact that the other party already provided a reward. I feel that I can trust you, Jin. I know that you will be able to accomplish your mission, no matter what it is.”

  “Thank you, Dariel. I will be sure to rely on you from time to time.”

  “You’d better!” She laughed, and then turned around to lead us out. “I’ve never been on the receiving end of a contract spell before. I’m actually quite interested to see how it turns out.”

  “Oh, speaking of which. You seem to know of summoning magic, so what do you know of the spell that fuses two summoned creatures together?”

  “Just that it is largely unpredictable. You could combine two powerful creatures and get a failure, whereas combining two weak creatures could get something powerful beyond belief. I’ve heard that with the right component creatures, you can make devils, dragons, and other magical beasts.”

  “I see. So, if I find the right combination, it could really be a terrifying spell.”

  “Exactly. But you’ve got to watch out. It’s possible to summon something that is beyond your ability to control.”

  I suddenly had a flashback to the eerily still wolfman that seemed ridiculously strong when I merged with it, and gulped a bit. “I’ll keep that in mind. My next goal is to learn the basics of item creation magic.”

  “That’s not an easy magic to master. Maybe you should work on transmutation and enchanting instead?”

  “Maybe.. I’ve still got a long way to go on my journey yet. I think, if what you and your brother told me about this book is true, then I finally found where to start.”

  Chapter 10

  After Dariel led us out of the forest, I summoned Midnight back to us and she returned to her people. It looked like it would be at least another two days before we found the next village, so we continued our journey along the rolling hills of the grasslands. Every now and then we’d stop to fight one of the giant eagles, and I even managed to successfully bind one. Given Dariel’s warning, I didn’t feel comfortable trying any more fusion combinations until I had my Summoning magic to at least level ten.

  When I awoke the next morning, I was lying alone at the edge of the lake. Slowly, I made my way to my feet, wary of the distorted noises coming from the surroundings. Naturally, I walked along the shore of the water, until a bridge rose up before me. On the far shore, I saw Denise and Midnight waiting for me, so I smiled and began making my way across the bridge.

  When I was halfway across the bridge, I looked back and noticed that there was nothing behind me. No bridge, no shore, just darkness. Turning around, I suddenly saw the same thing in front of me. I was standing on a floating piece of stone in the midst of a black world.

  “What’s happening..” I looked around, trying to find something I could do. I tried conjuring a light spell, but it wouldn’t come to me. I tried extending the bridge with a wall of clay, but that would not work either. I was truly, utterly alone.

  “Is that what you think, Jin?” I heard a voice resonating from above me, but when I looked I only saw more darkness. “Do you believe you are alone, even now?”

  “If… If I’m not alone, then where am I?”

  “You are where you were, where you have always been, and where you must remain. Your path is shared by all who cross it.” Suddenly, I saw Denise and Midnight again in the distance, just as they had been. “Simply because you do not see the path, does not mean it isn’t there.”

  “Who.. are you?”

  “You know who I am, and soon enough you will learn.”

  How can I know who you are if I haven’t learned yet?

  In answer to my thoughts, the voice spoke again. “Because you do not know the knowledge you already possess. Follow the chosen path, and we will meet again. Now, walk the path you cannot see.”

  Oh god, I hope he means that literally… And I also hope that voice really is a he, it was hard to tell. Closing my eyes, I took a leap of faith. Or, more accurately, I took a step of faith. Though I knew that there was nothing in front of me, my feet still landed on something solid. I kept walking, afraid that if I opened my eyes I’d realize there was nothing holding me up and suddenly fall into a never ending abyss.

  “Remember… Just because you can not see the path before you, does not mean you can not walk it.” The voice spoke one last time, and then there was something softer under my feet.

  Suddenly, I jerked forward, rising up into a sitting position and opening my eyes. I was sitting on top of a large hill, Denise and Midnight close by and still asleep. Looking around, I noticed that the lake I saw was nowhere to be found.

  Was that a dream? Isn’t that the first time I’ve had a dream while playing? Maybe it meant I was adapting more and more to this world? But… something about it stayed with me, even when the re
st of the details passed.

  Walking a path I can’t see? I shook my head, the words meaning nothing to me. And though I tried to lay back down and go back to sleep, the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon. So instead, I decided to work on Speed Reading the book on nature magic before Denise and Midnight awoke.

  Searching through my pack, it was easy to locate the book, and a pop up window told me it would take forty-five minutes to finish. I guess that makes it a bit more advanced than the other one?

  Laying back, I placed my hands and the book behind my head like a pillow and stared up at the sky. Well, I’ve upgraded Denise’s weapon, but I wonder if I’ll be able to get something for myself in the next town? Oh, speaking of… I wanted to see if I could make any new spells with my rune.

  Smiling at the thought, I sat up, wondering what kind of spell I should make. A rune to alter something’s nature. I know that it can make one spell into another, but.. maybe I can use it on items too?

  Dariel did suggest I work on transmutation magic first… though I doubt this is what she had in mind. Okay… I’ve got the rewrite rune, but what else do I need for this spell? I could use an item rune and be straightforward, but… I want to make sure it’ll work. Also, there was a different rune for ‘item’ depending on the type of item.

  Maybe I could use a property rune? No.. that rune refers to magical properties, not literal property. Same thing with possession. I don’t have to make a new rune just to mean all items in general do I? I opened up my talent window, and selected Magical Knowledge. If there was a rune I needed, I’d find it in here.

  Something that means ‘that which belongs to me’. No.. I don’t even need that! The inanimate rune, that should work! I wasn’t going to try rewriting living creatures anyways so it’s fine.

  I suspected that the reason my Spell Knowledge didn’t activate was because the spell I was creating was something that the system hadn’t encountered yet, so I had to figure it out on my own. Still, there was a glint in my eyes as I thought of a way to test this spell. Ohh.. if this works…

  Reaching into my bag, I wrapped my hand around a small object and set it on the ground in front of me, still keeping my spare hand on the nature magic book at all times. Okay, I’m not rewriting any magical properties this time, but I might use the spell like that in the future. So the runes I want are rewrite inanimate properties.

  Putting my hand over the object, I focused on each rune in turn. I was really hoping that this would work, because if it did that would be amazing. However… after pouring half of my mana into the spell, I didn’t get any results. Maybe the ordering is wrong?

  Like grammar in a sentence, the order that you place runes in for a spell is vital. So, maybe I had to designate the target of the rewrite before the rewrite rune? Trying that, I focused the inanimate rune on the object below my hand, then properties, and as I did I got a more detailed feel of the object. Finally, when I slipped in the rewrite rune, I heard the ding of multiple windows opening.

  Please choose a name for your spell.

  Silver Coin

  Material: Silver

  Decoration: 10 Gild Coin

  Seeing the second window, and the fields I could rewrite, I grinned. “Spell name, Customize.”

  Customize has been added to your Spell List.

  Then, I got to work on my 10 gild coin. When I altered the material, the spell consumed a bit of the ground beneath the coin to make up for the difference in mass. But what was left was a platinum 10x coin, or a 10,000 gild coin. “This… this spell is a cheat.”

  “Hmm? What spell?” Denise slowly sat up across from me at the other side of the camp, rubbing her eyes. “You make something?”

  “Yeah… and this time… we’re never telling anyone about it.”

  “Okay.. why?”

  “Come here.” I smiled to her, and she approached. When I removed my hand from the coin, which was worth 100 gold coins, her eyes grew wide as saucers.

  “Is… is that? Where did you get it..”

  “My new spell… It let me turn a 10 gild coin into that.”

  Denise slowly turned her head to look at me. “We are never speaking of this. We will use it, hell yes, but we are never speaking of it.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “Agreed. I guess that takes care of our need for funds for a while?”

  “Well, let me check something first…” She picked up the coin, and I suddenly felt my fortune slip away. She tested its weight, tried bending it, and then grinned up to me. “It’s real.. What else can you do with that spell?”

  “Well.. let’s find out? Got your old bow still? Oh, and an arrow too. I want to see what this can really do.”

  Neither weapon had magical properties, but when I cast the customize spell, I was presented with their item name, materials, their attack values, and their durability. But even with the damage on a slider, I couldn’t improve her old bow to the same level as her new one. “Looks like there is a limit. I can increase the quality of the wood and the drawstring, and thus increase its damage. But, since the design of the bow itself was inferior to the elven one, I can’t make this bow that strong.”

  Of course, I only admitted this after I made a dozen arrows into silver arrows, and decorated the bow with silver engravings. With the rapid usage of the spells, I didn’t even notice that the book was almost done. I was more preoccupied with other messages.

  Magical Talent has increased to 14

  Customize has risen to Intermediate. You may now customize quantity as well on certain items, when the chant is used. Otherwise, limited customization of magical effects is enabled.

  Magical Talent has risen to 15

  However, I didn’t even have time to appreciate that, because in the next instant the book in my hand was finished, which I had completely forgotten about. “Fuck..!” I quickly brought my hand up to my head as the information flowed in. Unlike the summoning book, which was a subject I had already studied, there was no immediate sense of familiarity. It felt like the information was carving out its space within my head, completely disregarding what parts of my brain it scooped out in the process. Just as I had before, I fell back to the ground, and my eyes closed.

  “Jin..? Jin!” I could hear Denise shouting for me, and for some reason my cheeks felt red… and swollen. How long had she been slapping me?!

  “I’m awake.” I blurted out, though honestly it hurt to talk thanks to the new condition of my face. However, I had the distinct impression it would hurt more not to. Opening my eyes, I indeed saw that Denise had raised her arm for another strike.

  “Oh thank god, you just passed out. Don’t tell me you used that reading skill again?” Her eyes were watery, she must have been pretty worried.

  “Sorry, I didn’t think you’d be up by now, and I completely forgot about the book when I was working on that spell..”

  “Ok… I don’t like it, though. Don’t be so reckless, okay?”

  “Says the woman who just turned my face fifty shades of ouch.” That got a laugh out of her, and I sat up, noticing for the first time windows that had appeared. Of course, these were not the kind of windows I liked. These were windows that made my eye go twitchy.

  New Talent unlocked!

  Nature Magic

  The magic of the elves, which influences nature. Be it tree or flower, water or stone, all of nature falls within their realm.