Legend of the Spellthief

Logan agreed to two more quests in which his elementals would aid two separate teams again, it wasn’t too hard a bargain to make due to their low payment yet amazing contribution. There was little to argue about since this was a common thing outside of Logan approaching teams, as people could go to larger summon-service establishments to hire summons for short periods.

Summons required no upkeep outside of MP or slots from casters, and so their labour was cheap, leading to their usages being seen as also cheap. Some spellcasters even got to rank 8 just to sell off their summons or undead to make an easy-enough living while their created beings did work for them.

The Spellthief didn’t have any plans to set this up as a permanent occurrence, but it was a good enough plan while he wasn’t necessarily requiring the spell slots for anything else.

Leaving the hall, Logan decided he would spend some of the day investigating the last leads he had into past oracles. This endeavour didn’t give as good as results as his last attempts, however, as the further he went back into the history books the more he found empty lots or directions to gravesites.

Deciding to end his investigations for now, as he had exhausted almost all within Gauntlet, Logan decided to invest in his stock of potions after his trek through the coastal caverns. Finding a quant alchemy shop he entered it, a wave of pungent herb smells overpowered the sweet scent of nectar in the air. Cabinets were full of pots and vials, shelves lined with herbs, and tables showing several tools for a budding alchemist.

Moving to the counter Logan pressed on the bell that sat atop it, the wood of the counter showing several dark spots where liquids had been spilt previously. The nearby curtains that separated the storefront from the backrooms started to shift as an elderly gentleman came out. His thinning black hair showed his ample use of creams, though his wrinkles persisted against age-resistant tonics.

As dimmed amber eyes shone in the light, Logan saw two alerts pop up just to the edge of his vision.

“A PC is currently viewing you.”

“You are currently viewing a PC.”

Logan was still and silent, staring at the man in disbelief, the older gentleman doing the same. The beating of Logan’s heart was deafening in his ears as he felt a wave of anxiety hit him, a heat coating his skin as he looked at someone who he had been hounding for over a month.

The older man continued to stand there though he stood up straighter as he started to speak in an old yet strong tone of voice, “Above or Below?”

“Sorry?” Logan asked perplexed, his voice wavering slightly.

“Is your patron one from Above or Below?”

Logan contemplated his response, he didn’t even think that a PC could be chosen from one below, their descriptions always painted them as the “evil” deities. He gulped harshly, a ball of pain forming in his throat as he forced out the words, “I think they are one from above.”

The pair stood in silence for a few seconds, feeling like hours to Logan who wondered if it was the proper choice to make. If the old man was taken from one below would they have to fight it out right here?

Logan’s worries washed away as he saw the shoulders of the older man slouch, returning to a hunched position. A heavy sigh came from the man as he moved to his end of the counter, placing a hand onto it to steady himself.

“Thank god, another person from Earth”, the man spoke as if he had been waiting for this moment as well. His accent was almost identical to other Avanarians, though it had a tint of an accent that Logan could pick up on, Irish.

“Then you… I thought… So we are both from Earth!” Logan responded in haste as he was overjoyed, though remembered to keep his voice hushed.

“From the way you’re speaking, I take it you’re new? At what stage is your System?”

“Sorry, yes. I have just been looking for answers for so long you don’t know. My System? I think stage two? It has upgraded once if that is what you mean”, Logan continued in his hastened manner, a big smile across his face.

“Quite early then, for a spellcaster, your progress has been slow”, the man stated as he pulled over a stool to sit at.

“Does that mean you’re a spellcaster too? What is your class?”

“I am a Meridiancer, I control energies in vital points held within bodies”, the man announced as he held up his hand. He pointed two fingers upwards as if he were meditating, a flowing aura of blue surrounded his digits. Hitting his fingers into his chest the man stood up straight as he breathed in deep, his skin appearing to tighten across his face. Looking towards Logan he asked the same, “And yours?”

“I am a Spellthief, I absorb spells that are cast at me and I can redirect them at my choosing. I can’t really show it, I can’t absorb my own spells as far as I could tell”, Logan answered as he held his two arms apart and made claw motions with his hands.

“Hmm, neat”, the man responded as a smile came across his face too.

The pair chuckled at each other for a moment before Logan continued, “I have so many questions. Why are we here? Who took us? Do quests end? Can we go back?”

Holding up a hand the man paused Logan’s list, “Hold on a moment. I may be old but I am no sage. Let us start with the basics. I was taken in the year 1978. You?”

“So long ago? That’d make you around seventy then? I was taken in 2021, I am currently 26.”

“77 here. Though it hurts to hear I have gotten so old. Though it has been 43 years since my abduction, it seems the same time has passed by on Earth”, the man responded in kind.

“My System did say that time probably passed at the same rate. Oh, sorry, I am Logan by the way”, Logan announced as he held out a hand.

“Ahren, nice to meet you”, the man returned as he shook Logan’s hand.

“So, do you know who took us?”

“Deities. Mine was Levin, I was hit by a lightning strike and woke up in a crater here.”

“Same here. How do you know Levin was who took you?”

“I saw my beginning boon was granted by Levin, and my System confirmed as such as they progressed.”

“I was taken by Vokka then, I wasn’t 100% on if they were just helping me or if they had also abducted me.”

“Good, it would have ended rather badly if we had been from opposing ends”, Ahren said solemnly.

“What do you mean? Are the ones taken from deities below against us?”

“In a sense, they are our ‘rivals’, at least that is what my System alerted me to. Sadly, the only time I met one who had a patron from below, they saw me first, and tried to kill me.”

“Shit. But why?”

“From what I could gather, the above is in contest with the below. PCs are picked for something grander and if at all possible we must hinder the other.”

“If you’re still here, does that mean we can’t leave?”

“I tried a few times, even got my partner NPC killed along the way. As far as I could research, no other PC, or oracle, has been able to leave thus far.”

“Sorry to hear about that. Though, actually, you weren’t in the history books, have you stayed hidden?”

“That I have, though I had a few close calls. I don’t like attention much, and with my run-in with a below PC, I thought it best to hide away. However, as you saw when our eyes met, our Systems alert us to the presence of other PCs if we have been spotted”, Ahren lamented.

“So, is it impossible to leave?” Logan asked as he slouched his own shoulders in sadness.

“No. There are chances”, Ahren answered, to which Logan quickly shot up, “our quests sometimes give an option to leave, or create a portal to do so”, he continued, as Logan stopped himself from interrupting Ahren, “I believe I had two chances at leaving, the first I was far too weak and fled, the second my partner NPC died.”

Logan looked to the floor exclaiming, “Fuck”, under his breath. “Were those quests much harder than the others?”

“They progressively got harder, though sometimes they were easier. The quests that gave the option to leave, however, I was just not prepared for in the end.”

“So… have you given up on leaving?”

“In a fashion. Age caught up with me, requiring more MP to keep my body going via my Meridian powers. It became harder to hide my unique abilities from others, meaning I had to go solo for a while or find those I could trust. My quests eventually slowed down as I failed more and more, I only get one a year now.”

“So you can get more after failing? I was worried they stopped completely”, Logan replied relieved.

“You’re the third PC I have talked with, and none have said their quests had halted after failing.”

“What happened to them?”

“They both died, trying to succeed in the quests given to them. They did work together on their final quest, but it was too much.”

“Damn. That doesn’t fill me with too much confidence.”

“I can at least give you some advice, the quests seemed to follow your level. If you keep it relatively low or progress it slowly, you could try and make the quests easier on you.”

“So, focus on skills and gear?”

“And allies. Do you have normal spells? Can you summon creatures?”

“Yes. I have two elementals currently, I can absorb their spells too.”

“Then that is where I suggest you focus. Though take my advice with a grain of salt, this is only what I noticed. The NPCs are mostly good people, as far as I can tell they are real people in this real world, they are just not ‘players’ in this weird game the deities are playing with PCs as the pawns.”

“My quests have seemed hard, as if they kept up with my ability. It sounds correct to me, but I will be wary.”

“If you can summon creatures, there may be another way of leaving. Teleportation. What level are you now? At least 8 if you can summon.”

Logan jumped up a bit as he heard of an alternative for leaving, “Yes I can use Dimensional Jaunt so far. I am level 12. How would I teleport back to Earth though?”

“I was offered a portal. And I have seen some spellcasters create portals. You could investigate those types of spells and find one to allow you to return home, though I wager it would be quite high.”

“I saw some spellcasters use a ‘Teleport’ spell, where they didn’t need to look where they were going. That could be expanded to going home if they share the whole ‘portal’ aspect”, Logan’s attitude changed to a whole new level of happiness.

“Sadly my magic only extends to affecting bodies, no flashy things like explosions or portals, so that option isn’t open to me.”

“I’ll look into it. Maybe the MT could help with that if the bookshop has nothing. If I find a way home, do you want to come with?”

Ahren contemplated his answer for a few seconds, “Tempting, but here my magic works. As a Meridiancer, I could live to see 200. If going home means I lose that, I’ll probably die in a couple of dozen years.”

“That’s understandable. The world has changed a lot in 43 years, you might not like how it has.”

“Is there any stigma left for the Irish?”

“Huh? Not that I can think of, nothing more than common bar antics or more extreme views. Though I am from England, the particular city I lived in didn’t seem to have anything against Irish.”

“Then that’s all I need from Earth. I’d also be leaving my wife, kids, and grandkids behind, I’d like to say I saw great and great-great kids in my life.”

“Quite an accomplishment. I won’t force the issue. Did you have any other information about PCs and the deities I should know?”

“I gave you the main points. I have never spoken with Levin, so it is hard to say if I did good or bad in his eyes. Since you’re only at the second stage of your System, I will tell you that there is a reputation mechanic at play in the background. It doesn’t force NPCs as far as I could tell, but rather a culmination of all your deeds laid out neatly for you. It can lead to titles if you’re wanting more skill points.”

“My last quest gave me some rep points, I was curious where they went.”

“Then you might be close to a reward from reputation. Talking about skills, those also progress faster than NPCs, but get much slower the higher they become.”

“Now you bring it up, do you own this alchemy store? Would you be able to help me in my journey to return home?”

“If you bring me the herbs, in my spare time I can craft alchemical supplies for you, yes.”

“What is your current Herbalism tier, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Five, items below level 20 no longer grant me any mastery and many items don’t grant me any by virtue of making too many.”

The pair talked for what seemed like hours, Logan finding more and more about how the System functioned alongside the differences between PCs and NPCs. Nothing was concrete, but being able to bounce ideas off another person who was in his position felt like the whole weight was no longer on his shoulders alone.

Ahren spoke of his family on Avanar, all of them had turned out to be classed though with the chances being just over a coinflip it was slightly surprising. His offspring could have been an outlier, or PCs had a higher chance of creating classed beings. None showed any signs of having aberrant abilities, being granted the normal classes of the region.

The Meridiancer was able to hide his presence by masquerading as an enhancement expert, a mage who used magic to improve their capabilities within combat. It was a rarer form of caster since it put them in danger, but hardly anyone questioned his skills as it was a known type. The particular effects of his Meridian powers were only known to his wife at this point, both agreeing they would use his power to live a longer life together.

Such powers allowed him to target parts of the body as if there were vocal points of power, the heart would provide blood and mana flow through the body, the throat enhanced voice commands, and even one between the eyebrows to stimulate the mind. He could flush out impurities, weaken biological processes, and enhance almost all parts of a person.

Being able to heal and empower the body allowed him to theorize the increased lifespan and even experimented to the point he felt like his age did not affect him. They had long durations, but he didn’t feel the need to be constantly using them right now. Playing the part of an old man did well to hide his powers, and if he was seen to live beyond his years he could play it off as using powerful herbs.

The conversation allowed Logan two avenues to leave the world of Avanar. He could continue questing until he was given the option of returning home as a reward for victory, or he could research and level up enough to be able to cast a teleportation spell that could bring him between the different worlds and planes of existence.

With the former having an easier time if he kept his level low and the latter requiring a high level, Logan was on the fence about where he should go with his levelling. For now, he decided he wouldn’t fuss too much over it, the quests should always be completable from what he gathered in his discussion with Ahren, they would just feel hard at the time.

A wrench was thrown into the works though, as Ahren did let Logan in on another limitation that was enforced. Experience rewards for defeating foes would continue to decline, and if Logan was sixteen levels above a foe he would gain nothing from them.

Enemies also got much harder the higher the levels went, since Logan was a half-caster his defences were lower than the normal martial classes. He would need to rely on allies, if not just his elementals, to survive against foes that were worth fighting.

Ahren was not going to help in any fights, he had too much to lose at this point, whereas Logan still felt like he was taken against his will. Combined with the fact he wanted to return to his father, Logan was still not deterred from leaving.

With their discussion coming to a close, Logan informed Ahren he would come back from time to time to get further guidance alongside the Alchemy services. For now, he had a few choices to make. The MT became a larger part of his plans and this time it was for a beneficial part and not one full of disaster.

Neither would tell anyone else of their presence, it was lucky enough that both were hidden oracles. With the confirmation of several PCs being active at once Logan was sure to meet more on his travels, though now he would be guarded against PCs chosen by the ones below. Would he be forced into a confrontation, or would he be given the choice of a fight if he met another?

The idea of rival PCs also threw in another theory, his quests could be in opposition to another PC's actions. It was possible a higher-level PC was behind the goblin invasion, or even have been the one to help Dena on her way to unlocking tomes with the kaevock she got from a dungeon.

With so many things to think about and plan for, Logan decided it best to take things one at a time. He headed to the bookshop to investigate the possibilities that teleportation magics offered. If that place didn’t have what he needed, he knew of one place that certainly would.

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