by Lars M.
Lyle snorted. "I appreciate the vote of confidence. Are you going to play tonight, Arcangelo, or are we playing cards?"
This was how our days went by. I spent some time here and there working on the research on Sonic Push, but otherwise, my schedule was filled.
Gambling-wise, I still had bad days, and my results depended a lot on the competition –a female harpy butcher stopped by sometimes to fleece me and I could do nothing to stop her. Still, over all, I started winning more than I lost, which was an amazing turning point. As for the rest of my skills, Sonic Spells, Affect Emotions, and Humming Touch increased the most, along with Sonic Push. The rest of my spells, I only used from time to time. I finally hit level 6, too. I decided to go back to my initial strategy and divide the points 3/1/1 between Charisma, Perception and Luck. I liked being able to kill most opponents with two spells.
After 10 days in High Hold, I finally managed a breakthrough with my research on Sonic Push. To my surprise, the testing itself had been less than tedious, and I'd learned a lot about the versatility of the spell. To date, I'd only used the spell at maximum strength for combat purposes, but I'd neglected to dig into the possibilities allowed by fine tuning.
Now, however, I started right from the minimum power setting available and worked my way up. The props inside the Sonic Magic classroom were a huge help, allowing me to play around all I wanted. The limitations of Sonic Push were soon evident, but the possibilities kept appearing as I worked. The spell was never going to be efficient for true fine manipulation, but it still allowed for impressive control to a surprising degree. For instance, knocking something off a table or hitting it mid-air to make sure it didn't make too much noise was certainly possible, if difficult. Actually catching an item, however, was not.
At first, the additional range I had gained at the Apprentice level was only useful for combat purposes, hitting enemies earlier on. Now, however, I figured out further possibilities. For instance, I could throw an object with my hand and then use the push as a tiny nudge early on to correct the course. With that knowledge, my accuracy improved markedly, and my initial plan to use the spell for launching bombs became relevant once again. Playing around with the power also opened up the usefulness of using different degrees of power in combat. For instance, hitting a charging enemy with a single, weak push at range could cause a second, stronger push from the opposite direction to become even more effective because they weren't expecting it. Or following up a throw with a single, strong push right off the bat could increase the range of my throws. I wasn't sure how much of this would actually be useful, but decided to put all my thoughts into the report.
My experiences in combat all made the report as well. How the spell was most efficient against light-weight or airborne opponents. The necessity of using it wisely against larger opponents - catching them off-balance or mid-stride. I also noted my own experience level, or lack of it. Some of my ideas would probably be better carried out by somebody with a higher level of expertise or control. Like the double tap, for instance. The spell description made it clear that you would be able to chain additional waves later on, and I was looking forward to it.
For my closing concept, it took me a full fifty attempts before I realized that my control just wouldn't hack it. I had finally gained the skill necessary to hit a bomb every time, but I still wasn't able to get any sort of consistent accuracy. I did, however, stumble upon one final use for the skill, when a much-strained practice ball hit the wall with a thud and shattered to spill sand in all directions. Sand, of course, did nothing, but I did realize that bombs could be used for signalling purposes. Filling a thin clay shell with colored powder, for instance and causing the bomb to burst mid-air, would allow me to create a silent signal that could be seen from afar.
All in all, I was certain my time could have been spent better by grinding reputation with High Hold, but when I turned in my report to Tyler, I still had the feeling of a job well done. The half-orc teacher was stone-faced as he read through it, but soon gave me a friendly smile. "Not bad. Your hand-writing is horrible, and you jump every which way in your conclusions, but the thoughts are solid. I do believe you even have some ideas in here that I will implement in my classes. The idea of using the spell for course correction is solid."
When I hit the bulletin board, I noted with pleasure that the reward was a lot higher than usual. Of course, I'd also spent way longer on the quest, but the gains were nothing to scoff at.
Congratulations. You have completed the quest:
My Kind Of Push-Up
Your report on the intricacies of the spell Sonic Push has been well received by the Sonic magic teacher of the Academy of High Hold.
Reward:
You have received 300 experience points. Experience towards next level 495/6000
Your reputation with High Hold has increased by +120(+20%)=134. New reputation: 3116 (Honored)
What really made my day, however, was the additional pop-up appearing immediately afterwards. I’d finally hit level 6. It had been a long grind, but enjoyable enough that I didn’t really notice it. Not only that, but I hit Honored in reputation? Amazing. I was hoping that it would bring me some new development, but if not, I wasn't going to worry over it. I was enjoying myself a lot more than I'd initially thought I would, and I didn't feel the need to hurry anymore. If I had to stay a bit longer to wait for the caravan to come and go yet again, it wasn't going to bother me.
That afternoon, I had some unexpected guests at Meline's Perch. I'd arrived early and was treating myself to a glass of chilled honey mead - expensive, but excellent.
"Delivery service for a Mister Arcangelo. Has anybody seen a tiny, muscle-challenged half-elf? He's so small, you might mistake him for a halfling." Tirane's loud voice boomed through the tavern room.
I smiled at the owner of the tavern. "Oh. Meline. Don't worry about that; I believe the town drunk is at it again. I'll see if I can’t toss her out myself."
With a huge grin, the scarred harpy flopped down on a chair. "Hoy, bard. How's city life treating you?"
I took a long draught of my beer with an exaggerated sigh. "Good, thanks. In fact, High Hold isn't as horrible a place as my initial encounters led me to believe."
"Hah. Yeah, that's one first impression I'm not going to top. Still, haven't tried to kill you since, have I?"
"I guess that deserves praise." The stocky harpy filled the room, both physically and with her loud voice and large gestures. Still, it was good to see her again. "So, to what do we owe the pleasure? Have you been kicked out of your regular watering hole?"
"As if. They'd have to close shop if it wasn't for me and my crew. Oy! Meline! I need something good. Bard's paying!" Her shout carried to the bar.
Meline raised an eyebrow and I nodded in response. "Anything for my favorite violent troublemaker. Well, within reason"
"That's what I like to hear. I have something for you, too." She slapped a huge package onto the table with a loud squelching sound. The package was tightly wrapped in oil paper.
"Is that...?"
"Yup. Meat from a Dawnlight Devourer. It's not the largest animal, pretty wolf-like in aspect, but you'll love this. Whatever prey it eats, it devours part of the animal’s attunement - and retains a tiny part of their power."
"That sounds... pretty dangerous."
"Meh, not that much. They don't grow too large, but they can still be pretty damn unpredictable. We got this one at a distance. Here's the real kicker, though. The meat absorbs the attunement, too, and different parts of the Devourer can taste wildly different, based on that. Haven't tried it myself, but it should be something special."
"Ooh. That should do the trick. Tell me a little more about the animal..."
In the end, the cost turned out to less than I'd feared, and Tirane still left the inn smiling. I checked my resources - 4 gold and 2 silver left - and smiled. More than enough to spend the rest of the time here in style.
I decided to bring the meat di
rectly to Aron. Today, he wasn't lounging conveniently in the Chronicler room. The space was completely empty, except for sounds emitting from within some of the offices. Asking around, I soon found myself knocking on one of several identical doors inside the Academy dormitories. The dormitories themselves were dull as hell. Clearly built for one single purpose - to obtain as many rooms as possible using minimal materials, time, and energy - the place was pretty depressing. I was in luck, however. My knock was answered by a number of curses and a gritty voice. "Yeah?"
"Meal service."
The door flung open, and the tattoed dwarf grinned, "Meal what now?" When he saw the package, he quickly ushered me inside. One step, and I was suddenly left uncertain how to proceed. The place was packed - and utterly disgusting. Empty plates fought for supremacy with crates, weapons, and books everywhere. Aron waved a hand at me. "Sit down anywhere. Let me see what we've got."
I decided I was best off standing but handed him the package. Movement in the corners told me that, yes, Exogenics had decided to implement consequences for bad hygiene. Disgusting. At least I knew never to accept any food from Aron. Pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind, I smiled at the candidate for 'most likely villain of High Hold' and said, "let me tell you a little about this meat." I stuck to Tirane's description, elaborating only a bit on the pains they'd gone through to kill the beast. From the gleam in his eyes, I was selling it quite well.
"Well, don't draw it out, man. Hand it over!" He immediately unsealed the paper and started investigating the meat in detail.
I shook my head. What a character. "Will it do?"
"What? Yeah, of course. I've never had Devourer flesh, but I've heard it's quite an experience. I'll have to read up on the cooking process though."
"So... about my Chronicler test?"
He actually patted the meat before he turned his full attention to me. "No getting rid of you, is there? All right, I guess you've earned it. You should be grateful too - this will save you weeks, if not months. So, what you need is a topic, - something useful that hasn't been researched in full. You needn't worry that you have to find something entirely new. Filling holes in existing information will do. You copy?" I nodded and he moved on. I did my best to focus on him instead of the rat that was peeking from underneath his chair. "So, which kind of information could somebody like you have that the world in general could possibly use?" He grinned and thumped his nose. "Here's the key. In Aeion, the number of bards is pretty high. Your kind used to be rare. Back during the days following the Separation, people tended to choose more... useful classes."
"Hey!"
His raucous laughter filled the room. "Sorry. My old history teacher used those exact words. Anyway, while there are plenty of bards, those who use their magic in combat are quite low. Who can blame them, right? It's more comfortable staying inside and socializing, researching non-combat spells and the like. The few who do join the rank and file usually go one of two ways - either they stay in the background and let others handle the pressure for them while they join in from afar, or they arm themselves and fight in close range, with limited spell assistance." He waggled his eyebrows.
"I'm... not sure I follow."
"It's quite simple, really. While the Repositories have a wealth of information on non-combat bard spells, they're less informative on combat spells, especially defensive ones. So if you have anything on that subject and are able to wrap it up and present it nicely, that should be enough for the old Lore hunter. Even if you only have offensive spells, you might come up with something that satisfies his demands. Especially if the spells are a bit exotic."
"Oooh. Yeah - that makes sense. Not a lot of bards who go solo, I would imagine."
"Yep. Now git. Unless you have something important you need, I’ve got to find that cook book. Where was it?" He turned his back on me and started searching through the piles of stuff on his bed.
I left the toxic wastelands of Aron's room behind me and smiled to see the quest notification.
Congratulations. You have completed the quest:
Meat’s Back On The Menu
You have managed to find meat of a quality that is satisfactory to Aron Arngrimsson. Due to the quality, you have earned full disclosure.
Reward:
You have received 150 experience points. Experience towards next level 645/6000
That was great. I pondered the task before me as I walked. I'd be able to compose an overview of my bard spells that would fit the bill, explain their uses and limitations, and I'd finally be a fully-fledged Chronicler. I wondered what the benefits would be. Hmm - given how much of an annoying old fart that Mr. Jorantyr was, I'd better present everything as well as I could. I could get somebody with decent handwriting to write it for me and... hrm. "No time like right now, I guess." I mumbled to myself and walked towards the bard wing to get some help.
Tyler's classroom was empty, for once. Well, it was getting late. Arack was probably already eating, wondering at my absence. This meant that I'd either have to figure out where Tyler stayed or... well, my old friend, Slick seemed to always be around. Moments later, I stuck my head inside his open door, knocking on the door frame. "Heya, Benjamin. Have a moment to spare?"
His white teeth gleamed at me. "Of course! Arcangelo, right? How can I help you?"
"Well, I'll need to present a report to Mr. Jorantyr, but I wanted to make sure that I filled it in the way people usually do, when it involves bard spells." I gave him my best smile. "I figured you'd be the one to go to for details like that."
He sighed. "Usually, you would ask the resident Sonic Magic teacher... or merely study a handful of entries in the library for yourself. However, I guess I can help you." He started rummaging about in a stack behind him. "So, any specific requirements, or would any spell do?"
I had to open the quest to remember exactly how it was framed.
A Pool Of Knowledge
Gain access to one of the Chronicler Repositories in order to take advantage of the gathered lore and knowledge.
Required: Chronicler skill level 10
Updated: You will need to present a worthy piece of knowledge to Alexander Jorantyr in order to obtain access
"Mmh - no. No specific requirements. According to Mr. Jorantyr, I just have to find a piece of knowledge that balances the pain of having to teach me how to be a decent Chronicler. I chose bard spells only because that's what I do best."
Benjamin chuckled. "That does sound like him. All right, I have a couple of different reports here. You can keep those two, but this one I'll have to keep."
Absentmindedly, I murmured a thanks as I accepted the three pieces of paper. I rummaged around in my inventory and finally found what I was looking for. Staring down upon it for a while, I finally hit myself in the head. Hard.
"What was that about?" Benjamin looked at me, as though I'd just, out of nowhere, hit myself in the head.
"That was me realizing I might have been carrying around the piece of knowledge he wanted all along. Here, look." I handed him the map showing all the kobold sites and explained where I got it.
Benjamin frowned, then handed it back. "I don't know, Arcangelo. You might be wasting your time. We have quite an extensive collection of knowledge of the expansion of the War of the Ways."
"Aw, damn. I thought I'd just found a shortcut."
He laughed, "Sorry. Hey, don't listen to me. I mean, you're more than welcome to approach him and ask. We can hope he's in a decent mood."
Shaking my head. "Yeah. Maybe I'll just ask somebody else."
He rubbed his chin. "You know, I just thought of something. I'm supposed to present this week's research updates to Mr. Jorantyr. I could show it to him, see what he thinks? He's less hostile when we deal in official matters."
I glanced at him in surprise. That seemed out of character for Mister Slick, but… I was probably just being paranoid. "That... would be kind of you, Benjamin." Looked like I'd misjudged him a bit.
"No problem. Sho
uldn't take more than half an hour. You can check over those reports meanwhile, see how you should write your own report if this doesn't work." With a quirky smile, he braced a stack of papers, accepted my map and left for the main building.
True to his word, he returned about half an hour later. Meanwhile, I'd learned that they didn't use an entirely uniform way of presenting their findings when reporting spells. They did, however, use certain categories and wordings I was sure to copy.
Benjamin's grin when he entered was response enough, but I still had to ask. "Will it do?"
"Yes! Mr. Jorantyr wasn't in his room in the dormitories when I arrived, but I did locate Mr. Arngrimsson. Not only did he promise he'd deliver my reports for me, he also assured me the map would be more than sufficient for your presentation."
That was... weird. "Oh. So you didn't give it to him directly?"
"No. But Mr. Arngrimsson promised me he'd pass it on tomorrow. Something about a steak he needed to devour first? He said you would understand."
I laughed. "Oh, yeah. That sounds about right. Well, in that case, I appreciate your help, Benjamin."
Handing back the papers, I waltzed off to Meline's Perch and several rounds of ale.
Chapter 27 – Complications And Complexities
I should've known. Of course I should. Instead, I played the part of 'oblivious victim' to a T. I woke up late, complained over my dry throat and budding hangover, and spent a while commiserating with Lyle before we walked for the Academy. 40 minutes later, I was standing in the Chronicler Room, cursing like a sailor.
"You think this is funny? Now you either give me back that map, or so help me, I will walk in there and have Mr. Jorantyr put you in your place. And stop frigging eating already!"
Aron just stared placidly at me like a cow chewing cud - only his mouthful of 'grass' was dripping grease down onto his already filthy shirt. Through another bite, he spoke, "I'll stop the moment you make sense, man, or tell me what this is about. That Benjamin fellow came over yesterday with the reports for the old war-horse in there." He pointed at Mr. Jorantyr's door. "I don't know anything about any stupid maps. This meat of yours is brilliant, though. Except for these dark spots. My guess is it's where he's eaten something death-based. Hey, are you alright?"
