Legend of the Spellthief

Marcus darted off towards the Gerro Guardhouse and adjoining barracks with training grounds, his mission was to fight as many as he could to progress his level in a short period with little danger. On the other end was Logan, who began another crafting spree to bring in the money required to fund his spell usage.

The Spellthief had plenty of goblin parts, but still held onto some bastarn eyes and naegren components. While he wouldn’t gain Trinket Craft mastery for two of the goblin trinkets, combined with only gaining half mastery for trinkets of level 10 and below, Logan could still finagle his way into getting a benefit.

Spending the rest of the day and the next three crafting, Logan was able to get through the remaining items in his inventory. After buying up components to complete enough trinkets to use all the parts in his possession, Logan brought in 11 gold from crafting.

When it came to his villager quests, the homeless were able to complete two more requests which added two more notches to Logan’s signet. Celsius aided them in both endeavours as he granted the best protection. The spellthief had also sent Fahrenheit out with adventurers to help their quests, bringing in another 7 silver.

Marcus was able to spar with plenty of guards, the swap from training in technique to testing current prowess was a slightly jarring shift, though he got used to it in time. With his gear and higher level at times, Marcus was able to win out against the majority of guards he fought against, though there were still a few he could not handle.

The pair’s nights were taken up with several hunts, though a fair shake less than their regular outings.

Taking down groups of thieves, thugs, and traitors, and finding lost goods or people granted the two a look into all the seedy parts of the capital. None scarred them physically, though looking into the abyss showed how much light Logan could bring to this world if he dared stay within it.

It was all dotted with yellow numbers signifying the strength of his opponents, though all it showed was what little effort was required to take down each one. The sheer number of hunts did reveal to Logan how ordinary guard rotations and patrols couldn’t deal with them all, if there wasn’t as much of a prejudice placed on casters they could have been hired as seers or some such.

4 days later.

“Enhance Agility”, Marcus chanted, placing a hand on Logan’s back.

The Spellthief gave off a sly smirk as he darted forwards, his speed heightened by the new spells available to his Devout ally. Ducking under a wide swing from a traitorous Fighter, Logan spun around to land two deadly Backstabs in the man’s spine before kicking off to his next target.

Leafy canopies cast a shadowy scene over the ambush, the pair dealing with yet another traitor adventurer band. Logan lept over a mage and placed his hand on the back of their head, igniting their body in flames before it fell to the floor in a smoky lump.

“Chain Guard, Shot Sustained”, Marcus chanted, his clawed hand aimed at a Rogue at the back with their bow.

Golden interlocked chains shot from the Devout’s fingers, wrapping around the foe and attaching to the grassy floor beneath the Rogue’s feet, locking him in place.

Logan teleported behind a Knight charging at his ally, placing another hand on their back and shocking their body to show signs of a skeleton before it too fell to the floor.

The final foe collapsed on the forested floor, Logan standing tall as he oversaw the signs of victory. Turning his head to the trapped Rogue he muttered, “Someone hasn’t given up yet.”

Moving towards the Rogue whose arms were being seared in holy light as he fought against the chains, Logan kicked the man’s weapons away. “Woon, I take it? We’ve got questions for you.”

“You won’t get anything from me, you traitor scum. The hunters will get you!” the man screamed.

Logan titled to the side as he pointed to the armband he wore, “We’re already here”, he spoke as he pulled out the contract noting the Rogue’s party, “and we’ve found you.”

The Rogue’s eyes went wide with fear, though Logan knew that those the Rogue had killed gave him the same look. “Where’s the kid?” Logan asked forcefully.

“Take me in! Let me live and I’ll let you know!” the man pleaded.

Logan sighed as he looked at Marcus and then back at the man, “Fine.”

“A shed, bout an hour walk north of here. He’s unharmed.”

“Thanks”, Logan spoke as he wrung back his arm and planted a solid blow into the man’s face as he fell out of his chains to the floor, unconscious.

Coming in from the treeline was Fahrenheit dragging two more bodies over, the man and woman both garbed in robes.

“We’ll be heading to the shed after you absorb these, right?” Marcus asked as he looked around.

“Yeah, we only have to bring the Rogue alive as he was the ransomer. Doubt he knew that, or that he is getting the chopping block”, Logan replied as he began to walk toward the unconscious bodies.

“Essence Absorb”, he commanded in his head, four times in total.

Each of the bodies had the familiar sights of the black and dark-green lines crawling across them, reaching the heads and crashing through the glass of their psyche before being vortexed into Logan’s palm.

“Absorption of foes complete. Calculating reward…”

“250, 274, 278, 284 absorbed experience, Aqua, Flame, Frost, Gaia, and Wind have been learnt. Aqua has progressed to tier 8, Flame has progressed to tier 9, Frost has progressed to tier 6, Gaia has progressed to tier 6, Wind has progressed to tier 5.”

“It’s strange that this is what you’ve been doing out of my sight”, Marcus mentioned as Logan moved between the bodies.

During their time hunting and preparing for the ice caves Logan had been explaining more about his skills to his ally, the absorption being another strange ability for the Devout to grasp. Along with that was plenty of tome reading and Marcus coming to grips with his new second-level spells he got from level 8.

“Think the yetis will get trapped by Chain Guard?” Logan replied as he finished off the last foe.

“It is hard to say, it certainly won’t be a given.”

“At a tenth of your total spellforce, it might be too much of a gamble.”

“I could certainly use it to halt an attack or skill usage if they do break through it”, Marcus put forward.

Logan’s slightly hastier movements continued onwards, Marcus’s Enhance spell lasting at least 3 minutes and 48 seconds if he didn’t Sustain it for 19 minutes. The Extended Enhance tome he had read during their training helped by adding 10 seconds to his CCL calculation.

Logan was able to converse with other Devouts, as well as his other hunter allies, to get some more specifics on the particular spell, hence he was able to expand its information in his system. Getting to see some of the limitations also clued him into his previous theories on his own spells, though nothing he could really get around aside from his Backstab combination.

Both parties had also splurged on the Sustained Alteration Manual, Logan saw its use in the goblin invasion and with Marcus being able to empower his allies it was a worthwhile purchase.

Throwing the gear of the traitors into his inventory, Logan gave a sharp whistle to call Carmen and Marcus’s horse over. Loading up his map had the pinpointed location of the kidnapped child appear.

Placing his hand on Marcus, who was linked with the bandit and his own horse, as well as Fahrenheit grabbing onto one of his coattails, Logan spoke as he looked towards the sky in the distance, “Dimensional Jaunt.”

Disappearing with a wind blast and appearing with a similar one in the sky, Logan darted his head downwards as he looked at a patch of grass beside the shed, mentally commanding his ring and teleporting his party to the floor without issue.

The horses gave some quick neighs, but were quickly soothed as they were getting used to their masters’ teleportation adventures.

Opening up the door, Logan saw the interior of the shed to be quite dark as the windows had been boarded up. A lone chair sitting against the far wall with a boy, around 14 years of age, tied up on it.

“Castore, your father sent us to rescue you”, Logan called out as he summoned his Light Ally to brighten up the room.

The kid hadn’t been touched, thankfully the kidnappers and traitors kept to their word.

Removing the rope gag and cutting the ropes around the kid had him leap from his chair and hugged Logan tightly. “Thank the coin you’ve arrived! These scoundrels have had me here for a torturous fortnight.”

“You’re fine? No wounds?” Marcus asked over Logan’s shoulder.

“Aside from needing a bathe and a feast, I am fine”, the child responded formally, if a bit rich for Logan’s tastes.

“The kidnappers are dealt with, are you ready to return home?” the Spellthief asked.

“Yes, sire.”

Taking the kid out of the shed, the group got together for another teleporting spree.

Making their return to the Gerro Guardhouse had Jirango stand from his desk as he saw the returned child. “Master Castore, it is good to see you well.”

“Let us go teleporting again-”, the child was beaming towards his saviour before coughing and turning to the guard captain, “Yes, your hunters here saw to my safety in a prudent manner.”

“I had informed your father that I was sending my best scouting magi, a day from taking your contract and they have you back. I hope you’ll let your family know that Gerro-” Jirango began before being cut off by the young lad.

“Your guardhouse employs the better hunters, I shall let my family know of course. Do you have a carriage for me, or will Sire Logan be taking me home?”

Jirango shouted at the back of the room to call for a carriage from his guards in the other rooms. “Logan and Marcus have a debrief with me, so we will have a carriage for you at the side of the guardhouse. If you go through that door someone will accompany you.”

Castore gave a low bow, “I thank you”, before turning to do the same to Logan and Marcus, “and you two too. I hope our next meeting isn’t as dastardly as this.”

“Good day to you, Castore”, Logan spoke as he waved off the kid.

“Until next time, master”, Marcus added a bit more formally.

Castore then left the room, leaving it to the trio and Fahrenheit.

Jirango gave a short sigh, “Dealing with the royals is always a pain. Good work.”

“This should meet up with my previous bonus, right?” Logan asked as he pointed at the unconscious Rogue he had brought back.

“That it does, though this was a high-pay mission due to the client, so you could say it has a bonus anyways”, Jirango mentioned as he began to update Logan and Marcus’s signets, giving them back with two gold coins and five silver.

Logan passed one gold and the five silver to Marcus who accepted it without much question to the 50-50 split. The extra five silver for replacing lost bolts and potions.

“Ah, well done, that'll be your fiftieth hunter quest, Logan”, Jirango continued as he pulled out another pouch.

“That snuck up on me”, Logan chuckled.

“Give me your armband, I’ll update it.”

Logan slid the armband up his arm to unlock it and then slid it off into Jirango’s hand. The guard captain then sprinkled gold dust over the piece of cloth, having the silver colour shift to a dim gold. He then passed it back to Logan, as the Spellthief took it he had a new window pop up.

“You have gained the ‘Sheepdog Hunter’ title.”

“Sheepdog Hunter: The second distinguished form of hunters, as a sheepdog your ability to track down and force your marks behind bars is almost unmatched. Lawbreakers have started to place your name on their watchlists in the criminal networks, whereas on the other side law-abiding citizens know that having you near is a sure bet at safety.

You are awarded 10% extra money (minimum 2 copper) from successful hunting contracts and can easily intimidate others. You have gained 1 skill point to distribute.”

“I made sure to ask for a dimmer colour, you two like your sneaky hunts”, Jirango announced with a smile.

“Thanks, the glint of silver was a bit annoying at times”, Logan replied.

“Any word on Lightbeam?” Marcus asked.

“Couple hours out of town, might not be long enough for you to take on something else.”

“Thanks, we’ll probably be away for a while, so that fifty may stay the same for a bit”, Logan spoke as he looked over his inventory.

“That’s fine, Good travels to you.”

“Hope the paperwork all goes well”, Marcus replied.

The pair stepped out of the guardhouse and made their way to the markets, selling off the additional gear from their latest hunt. After the split and combining all his funds from the past few days, Logan was sitting pretty at over 15 gold. This sizable coffer was going to be necessary for funding his final attempt at the Frost Monarch’s Cavern.

As Logan and Marcus made their way to the adventurer district, Logan scrolled through his list of bookmarked skills. Selecting one to aid even further with his spellcasting, Logan was sure it would also aid in stopping foes from using their own spells. He wanted to spend a skill point on a skill he couldn’t get from a tome anyways.

Logan wouldn’t gain mastery for his spells this way, but it would be a good preventative measure against spells he couldn’t normally absorb, as well as save him time on transferring charges into MP.

On the pair’s trip through Classed-End, Logan wasn’t surprised when they were approached by a scar-heavy-faced man wanting to get something extra from a caster. His metallic armour clinking about didn’t exactly hide his stride towards Logan.

“You’re the hunter, Logan, right?” the man asked directly.

Looking to the golden armband near his shoulder Logan turned to face the man, “That’ll be me. Do you need my services?” Logan replied with forced sincerity.

“You beat up my buddy, Bistc, a week ago. Mind if I ask why?” the man continued with a bit more fire in his words.

“He was accosting a fellow adventurer, theft and battery landed him a prison sentence.”

“Thing is, he owes me money, and since he can’t pay me back I reckon since you’re the reason why he can’t reimburse me you should instead”, the man continued as he showed a toothy grin.

“Identify”, Logan commanded in his head. The man was a level 9 Knight, nothing outstanding but he had Chatter like Kreya had. “How about a match instead?” Logan put forward, knowing this would lead to a duel either way.

“What? You want to try your arm against mine?”

“If you win, I’ll pay the debt, if I win, you hand over items valuing double the debt.”

“Double eh? You think I got 5 gold worth of stuff on me?” the man replied as he stroked his chin.

“You’ve got a few rings, I’ll see if there is when you’re unconscious.”

“Well ain’t you confident, fine.”

“Guard”, Logan called out to a passing guard who jogged over.

“Yes, sir-” the guard started before seeing Logan’s gold armband, “Sheepdog, what do you require?”

“Sheepdog?” the offensive man asked.

“Me and this man here”, Logan began as he looked at the offender.

“June.”

“June and I are about to engage in a match, two and a half gold if he wins, five in coin and items if I win. Would you oversee this?”

The guard looked between the two before giving a slight bow to Logan, which worried June a bit further, “Yes, Sheepdog, I can do that for you.”

Logan handed over 5 silver to the guard before they started to prepare the street.

“Any personal rules, June?” Logan asked.

“No”, June replied with gritted teeth, hinting at his anger at the situation worsening.

Giving a good 20-foot distance between them, the guard announced the start of the duel. June aimed to slam his shortsword against his large shield, but the shockwave instead hit thin air and dodging civilians as Logan had already used a ring to Dimensional Jaunt to a nearby rooftop.

Arms raised at his foe from behind and above, Logan let loose Force after Force mick at the Knight. Five blasts hit before the man could raise his shield and buckle down to block the rest, each one sending a shockwave into the Knight’s arm, but not enough to have him falter.

June drew his shortsword back whilst keeping his shield high, his blade glowing slightly grey as he was prepared to throw it at his attacker, but he wasn’t able to finish it before Logan’s next action.

Another wind blast had Logan appear behind June, a firmly planted hand igniting the man in fires and then a following blast of electricity as Logan used two more rings to immediately toast the man for 168 fire and 124 lightning Backstab damage.

The man’s ears and nostrils let out billowing smoke as his unconscious body hit the floor, a stark difference from Logan’s previous encounters with a duelling Knight. The viewing populace gave a hearty round of applause as coins exchanged hands from bets, the guard confirming Logan’s victory.

Logan crouched over June’s body as he began to pilfer the man’s coin pouches and trinkets. June had enough to cover the debt on him already, sadly none of his trinkets interested Logan to keep so he would sell them off later. Another saddening thing was his experience reductions for having absorbed MP from his summons, reducing his normal 675 to 472.

Marcus used Healer’s Caress to bring June back to consciousness, though the pair were already leaving by the time the man’s eyes started to open.

--- *** ---

“Alterations: Grasp, Shot, Skystrike, Sustained, Wall.

1st: Aqua*⁸, Flame*⁹, Frost*⁶, Gaia*⁶, Infuse*⁴, Lightning*⁵, Necromantic*⁵, Wind*⁵.

2nd: Dimensional Jaunt*⁵, Earthen Eruption, Flame Cloak, Haste, Lightning Cascade, Skin of Ice, Sleep, Summon _ Elemental, Zombify.

3rd: Air Blast, Aqua 2, Flame 2, Frost 2, Gaia 2, Lightning 2, Necromantic 2, Wind 2.

4th: Teleport*³.”

“Alterations: Grasp, Shot, Skystrike, Sustained, Wall.

1st: Aqua, Gaia, Growth, Heal*³, Identify Condition, Infuse, Rain, Sew.

2nd: Chain Guard, Enhance (All)*², Restore Condition.

3rd: Aqua 2, Gaia 2.”