Watcher's Test

by Sean Oswald

  Quest Update: Class Determination- you have previously found and met the qualifications to receive a class. (1. Surviving a concentration check in combat. 2. Shaping magic outside of its intended spell form.) Now you have met a new requirement for a certain magic-using class. (3. Cancel a spell by reabsorbing the mana contained into yourself.) In Eloria, classes are not easily earned, all have significant benefits and equally weighty requirements. Each class has seven ranks known as tiers.

  Class offered: Metamage (Rare)- Tier 1

  Class Benefits: +30% Intelligence. Mana cost of all spells reduced by 10%. Innate ability to sense magic.

  Class Restrictions: May never learn Stamina/Bravery/Fury/Faith/Teamwork skills. No melee/rogue skill may exceed 75% of lowest magic school level.

  Class Purpose: Control and manipulation of mana and spell forms whatever their source.

  Unmet Restrictions: 2 unmet restrictions- unknown.

  Upon hearing about that notification, Dave laughed a bitter laugh and said, “Apparently, you are destined to get a class. Maybe only women can get classes.”

  As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he winced as he knew how bad it sounded. Emily slapped her hand against his shoulder. “Dave, I can’t believe you said that. This isn’t a game, no matter how Eloria works. You should be praising your daughter, not being jealous.”

  “I am proud of her, and I feel guilty for being jealous, but if I’m being honest, I can’t help it.” Then turning toward Mira, “I’m sorry, honey. You are actually giving me all kinds of ideas. I’m very proud of how creative you are being. You aren’t just taking what Eloria gives you, you are making more of it.”

  The hurt look, which Mira had tried to hide, faded instantly. Every girl wants to be praised by her father, even if it isn’t cool to admit that need. “Thanks, Dad. I just try what comes naturally.”

  Dave’s hand ran through his hair and he seemed lost in thought. “I have some ideas about what the other requirements might be for you to gain Metamage as a class, but I’m hesitant to say anything as you seem to be doing so well on your own. I don’t want to interfere with what is making it come naturally to you.”

  After a bit more discussion it was decided that he would keep his ideas to himself at least for now but that if she stalled, they would bring it up for discussion later on. After finishing that discussion, Dave tried to bring up the discussion about what he should do with his points now that he crossed into tier 2, but again Emily urged them to follow after the men since that must mean that there was some sort of settlement nearby. He tried to point out that they were short a horse, but Mira undercut him by saying that thanks to wearing Mom’s mana regeneration ring, she already had the 100 mana to conjure another horse. Dave just shook his head because he knew he had no chance when his wife and daughter ganged up on him. In fact, a part of him was happy that they seemed to be in sync even if it was at his expense. Ever since Mira had turned twelve, it had seemed like anything her mother said was automatically wrong, so if he could bring them together, all the better. Especially now that unity in the family wasn’t just a matter of domestic tranquility but could actually be a matter of life and death.

  After mounting up, they guided their horses at a slow trot until they cleared the area where the tree stumps were so thick and then began to push the horses faster. Within less than a minute of riding fast, they saw the three men hobbling down a trail that ran along the riverbank, but more importantly up ahead they saw what looked like a bridge across the river. This spurred them to push the horses even faster.

  Just as they were coming up on the three men, the man in the middle turned around, spreading his legs and swinging his ax in front of himself. The two men to the sides both stumbled without his arm for support but continued to hobble forward at an even slower pace. Seeing the obvious hostility, Dave ordered the family to come to a stop while he got down from his horse. He used his Assess Enemy spell and learned that all three of the men were level 0. This gave him an obvious level of confidence, but he didn’t want to take anything for granted. An ax to the head would hurt even if it was swung by a level 0, and he still hadn’t put his armor back on.

  “Hold it right there. Don’t come any closer.” Malcolm’s voice trembled as much as the ax in his hands. The only thing that gave him the courage to speak was that it was a human approaching him, and the elves were staying behind on their horses.

  Dave immediately noticed that the man spoke the language he understood to be Common from the initial language skills he had acquired, but it had a bit of an accent that he wasn’t used to hearing when spoken by Emily or the kids. In fact, he realized that he didn’t know if becoming a moon elf or half-elf respectively had changed his family’s accent or speech patterns. It was just one of those things that he hadn’t had time to worry about, but which now crossed his mind as a random thought. He pushed it away so he could focus on the man in front of him.

  “Whoa, could you put the ax down? I’m Dave, and I don’t mean you any harm. What’s your name?” Dave included both a request to peace as well as some personal information before then trying to bring the man into a personal conversation. He didn’t really have any experience with it but had to imagine it would be harder to swing an ax at someone once you were trading names and hopefully other information.

  Caught off guard, because simply put, he was a countryman with no real experience beyond logging, unless of course you counted the three months as a footman. “Well… um, I’m Malcolm.” As he spoke, the ax drooped even further. “But what do you want here? And who are they?” he said as he pointed back toward the family where they sat on their horses fifty feet away.

  “That’s my wife and kids.”

  “Umm, but they are elves.” Dave’s response seemed to even further confuse Malcolm.

  Dave suddenly understood. The humans and elves must not live close together, and so this clearly simple countryman must not be accustomed to seeing elves. Dave silently cursed as he realized how little he knew about Eloria. For all he knew, humans and elves were at war, or who knows. “Well, actually, my wife is a moon elf and my children are half-elves. Is that a problem?”

  The silence stretched on as the two men stared at each other. Dave was content to let it go. Just let this man say something about his family. Dave had hated his summer job selling books while he was out of the military, but he had learned one thing. Once you made your pitch, you always stopped talking because whoever spoke next lost.

  Finally, Malcolm said, “It’s just that I’ve never seen an elf before.” Then speaking more quietly, “All the stories say that elves are dangerous killers.”

  Dave decided not to let that accusation go. “Are you saying that my wife and children are killers?” He tried not to grin as he thought about all the hounds his wife and kids had just finished killing. To push the point further, “Maybe you are scared of my eight-year-old daughter.” Then he called for Emily to send Sara up toward him. She was clearly reluctant but finally let her youngest run up to Dave.

  Seeing the little girl standing next to her father, it was hard for Malcolm to maintain his fear. He eventually lowered the ax head to the ground and leaned upon the handle more like a cane. Even with her obviously different features, ears and eyes and her dusky skin with her strange leather outfit, she was still a little girl, and Malcolm wasn’t a hard-hearted man.

  “Malcolm, my wife is a healer. If you let her, she can heal your friends and you if you have any injuries.”

  Again, he was reluctant, but he knew that Tristan and Wilbur were badly hurt, and he was very afraid that they wouldn’t make it the rest of the way back to town. It had to be a couple of miles still, and they were barely able to limp along. “You promise you aren’t here to hurt us?”

  Dave had to work again to hold back the chuckle. What kind of naive question was that? He was actually proud that he was able to hold back both the smirking laugh and the sarcastic comment that wanted so badly to let loose. “Yes, Malcolm
, we only want to help you. Well, and we are looking for a town where we can get supplies and such. We actually don’t know where we are.”

  Before Malcolm could process what Dave had just said, Dave signaled for Emily to dismount and walk up to where they were. He had to admit that seeing how the logger was dressed and then comparing the exotic look which his wife personified he could understand Malcolm’s nervousness. As Emily walked up, the nervous villager asked her where her healing herbs were. When she got a confused look on her face, Dave jumped in and said, “She isn’t an herbalist, she is a priestess to Shanelle. She can heal you with magic.”

  “A Daughter of Shanelle, I didn’t know that elves worshiped the true gods.” Malcolm’s face and voice both conveyed his surprise.

  Emily dropped all of his doubts by simply holding out her hand, extending her mana into her simple healing spell. As he felt the power of the spell hit his body, every ache, pain, and little cut or bruise was completely relieved. In that instant, Malcolm became a believer and all his previous hostility drained out as he fell to his knees. “Thank you, I’ve heard about magic but never dreamed I would feel something so amazing.”

  Years of mission and charity work had taught Emily that once you have given something to someone and they express their gratitude, you need to make them feel valuable and worthy otherwise it can cause them to become bitter. She placed her hand on his shoulder and helped him stand up while saying, “I am glad to help you in any way I can, but give your thanks to Shanelle.” The most surprising thing to Emily was how instead of saying give your thanks to God as she would have back on Earth, she automatically said the name Shanelle. It had felt so natural.

  Malcolm’s face beamed as she helped him up and then immediately realized his friends needed this help even more. “Can you heal my friends?”

  “Of course, and more than that, we can let you ride our horses back to town if you will have us.”

  So excited, the logger dropped his ax and turned to run toward where the other two were limping along. Dave and Emily exchanged glances and knew immediately that they were both thinking they needed to play this slowly so as not to scare these simple men. If there had been any doubts before, the style of dress that Malcolm sported in both its simplicity and crudeness confirmed that Eloria was almost certainly a world at the level of medieval technology. Dave sent Sara back to Mira and Jackson while he and Emily slowly followed after Malcolm.

  Malcolm’s exuberance made it easy for Tristan and Wilbur to accept Emily, and she did a quick nursing assessment of both the men before choosing to heal Tristan first. A single healing spell was enough to heal him completely, and he too was singing Emily’s praises and trying to hug her even past Dave’s frown. Once both were completely healed, it didn’t take long for them to welcome the rest of the family to come to where they were. A simple conversation ensued, and it was clear the loggers didn’t understand how the family could not know where they were but were willing to trust them after the healing they received. So it was that after a short wait for Mira to summon another horse for the men to ride, they all mounted up and headed towards the bridge.

  Max was already tired, and they had been flying for less than a single day. The thing was that once Hastert summoned these flying horse mounts, they couldn’t stop. As soon as they touched the ground, the mounts disappeared and all the mana was wasted, not to mention the expensive ingredients. Hastert had to focus to maintain the mounts and heaven forbid what would happen if he fell asleep. Max had to drink a mana regeneration potion every hour to keep up his Forced March ability. The only good news was that they had completed their western loop and were now turning to the northeast and what he had been told was a small logging village known as Eris’ Rise. It would likely be one of the most boring missions he had ever been on, but he was committed to doing a good job at whatever task he put his hand to, so go they would and when they got there, they would try to get to the bottom of the lack of lumber production.

  Chapter Twenty

  “A common heritage is certainly helpful, but what binds the hearts and minds of men together more than anything else is shared experience.” —A portion of a speech given by Bishop Elliott Clifford at an annual retreat he hosts for the clerics of Karbanot

  The town square such as it was in Eris’ Rise was full both with bodies lying on the ground in various states of injury and with the moaning of the more severely wounded or those more inclined to melodramatics. In Eloria, injuries are not thought of the same way as they might be on Earth. It isn’t that children aren’t taught to be careful, they are. Parents being what they are in any dimension. What is different is the expectation about what happens when an injury occurs. Even broken bones usually heal within days rather than weeks and the natural healing the people of Eloria enjoy trivializes many types of injuries. Rather, children are taught to be careful of certain types of injuries. First among those, of course, is the type that will kill instantly, but since an average human male in the kingdom of Albia has around 100 health, that type of injury becomes more and more scarce. Broken bones are only a problem if they have to be set first, or if too much healing takes place before they are properly set because that can lead to the need to rebreak the bones. Poisons that prevent healing are obviously feared, along with amputations, since a lost limb won’t grow back naturally and any type of wound in general which prevents healing.

  Because of this, the people of Eris’ Rise were poorly prepared to deal with over twenty wounded who had injuries that were not healing on their own. The wounds caused by the larger of the flame lynxes were automatically cauterized by the heat of their claws and were not healing naturally. Then there were the wounds caused by the little tree men. Talvenicus had informed the village that they were called treants and that they were responsible for the care and upkeep of forests. Whatever they were, the wounds they caused defied all the efforts of the injured men’s family and friends to cure them. The wood left within men seemed to actually be growing and spreading throughout their bodies. Those were the men who seemed to be in the worst shape because the wood spreading through their bodies seemed to be excruciatingly painful.

  The village herbalist had some minor tinctures that could aid in the regeneration of health or purge poisons from the body, but they were unable to regenerate cauterized flesh or to do anything at all to slow the spread of the treant spikes, that being the name the village had taken to calling those wooden bits left inside of the men attacked by the treants. Most of the women of the village were either busy keeping the children away from the town square in order to keep the younger ones from having to see the gruesome sights there or with carrying water to ease the suffering of the afflicted.

  Within an hour of getting everyone situated in the town square, Talvenicus had called for a council meeting. Gertrude, of course, told them that she had to be with her patients, but the other four council members met with a much subdued Aloysia. She was rebuked and called to task for her part in this fiasco by her father more than any other and only Jarvis offered any sort of excuse for her, and that was largely motivated by the fact that he also had been persuaded by her to cross the river. Yet, after all the yelling and even crying by Aloysia, what had the council bound up was the question of what to do about the three men left behind. They all agreed that it was unlikely that Malcolm or any of the others were still living, but it wasn’t really in their nature to abandon friends. The people of Eris’ Rise might have been mostly former serfs allowed to become free men in exchange for settling in a frontier logging village, but they were also honest, hardworking, and faithful to a fault.

  After over an hour of debate, it was finally settled that a small group had the best chance of succeeding. Most of the debate was over who would comprise that small group. Despite her fault in the matter, Aloysia had the best skill set for sneaking and everyone believed she would have gone whether she was officially allowed or not. Jarvis, perhaps out of a sense of guilt, also volunteered to go and given his status
of level 5, if anyone was going to survive, it would likely be him. The real sticking point was that Talvenicus insisted on going. The other council members argued that the community needed its mayor present and visible in this time of tragedy, but Talvenicus wasn’t arguing as a mayor but as a father. Since the death of his wife in childbirth, Aloysia had been his whole world, and there was no way he was going to let her go out into the wild again without him. Ultimately, neither Jarvis nor Conrad had the heart to try to keep him from going, so they both relented. It was decided that if they didn’t return that Conrad would take over as mayor and the survivors would have to decide on the best course of action, whether that be to stay in Eris’ Rise or to abandon it in favor of a return to serfdom.

  Upon reaching the bridge to the west, a variety of thoughts went through the heads of the Nelson family. Dave was nervous about encountering a town and a part of him still was reluctant to leave the area where he could level. Emily was feeling a level of relief she had not expected, and the kids were vacillating back and forth between their down-in-the-mouth father and their upbeat mother. Discussion with the loggers had let them know that the men were from a village named Eris’ Rise, which was located about two miles past the bridge on the other side. Malcolm had seemed surprised when asked by Emily what kinds of monsters were located around Eris’ Rise, but he had finally convinced her that it was what he called a safe zone. As best they could determine, the area around a town was protected from monsters of any kind entering it. Apparently, the range of the protection was entirely dependent upon the size of the community and for Eris’ Rise that meant that it only extended about one mile out from the town square. That was far enough to include all of the building, even the mill. The only thing that was outside of the safe zone was some of the fields, but according to Tristan, whose parents were farmers, there were no dangerous animals that had ever been sighted around the farms either.