Modern Age Online

“All passengers please wait the train comes to a complete stop. Thank you.”

Kaleb swiped his wrist band over the automated turnstile and passed through onto the platform. He covered a yawn as he stepped onto the train. It had been a thankfully quiet morning, all things considered. The Magical council had contacted him to let him know the materials Derana had promised him were being prepared and would be delivered to him by the end of the day. Afterward Farrah gave him his electronic ticket and departure time.

Kaleb had wanted to take Daivor but the little gnome was already hard at work building something. He couldn’t tell what the Builder Gnome was up to and when asked the Gnome just brushed him off.

“It’s something that will be helpful when you finish that book.” Daivor said. Pushing the Enchantment book toward Kaleb.

Kaleb had picked up the book and said. “I’m not sure if I want enchanting to be my first Domain as a Wizard.”

Daivor glanced up at him. “I didn’t think you were a Wizard. You smell like something different. Besides Enchanting is a craft skill, remember.”

Kaleb smacked himself in the head remembering that Enchanting didn’t take a domain slot. It just needed Magic to work.

Daivor sighed at the look on Kaleb’s face before he went back to his work saying over his shoulder. “Also, you should remember that just because the humans define Magic into three schools doesn’t mean that there are ONLY three schools of Magic.”

Kaleb questioned the little gnome about those words until he had to leave for his train. But, the tiny gnome was tight-lipped about the different schools of magic. The system was obviously hinting at something or was he maybe reading too much into the hung-over gnome’s words. The Gnome was already a big surprise, but did Daivor have even more secrets? Great repositories of knowledge. Kaleb thought remembering Amos’ words about the gnome. He stared down at his bag near his feet that held his magical books and pondered his decision to be a wizard.

He hadn’t used the system to pick his magical archetype yet so all he had was one Domain. He could learn Shield Magic and Enchanting and still continue to be a Hedge Mage. But would choosing Shield Magic as his first choice cut off other avenues of magic? What were the rules for these secret Archetypes? Kaleb groaned internally as he continued to think about it. On one hand, he had the power and resources of the Wizards, on the other he had the words of a half-drunk gnome. He couldn’t really see a reason not to just pick Wizard and move on. But, his gamer sense was tingling.

He was mid-sigh again when Farrah spoke up. “Would you stop? What the hell are you sighing about so much.”

Beta Tester. Kaleb thought to himself. “Hey, Farrah, do you know about archetypes other than the three Magic archetypes players are given?”

“I’m pretty sure that falls under the NDA I signed.” Farrah replied.

“I signed an NDA.”

“Your NDA was about the Handler secret. I still can’t tell you about things that happened in the Beta.”

Kaleb nearly jumped out of his chair. “SO it happened in the Beta?!”

He heard Farrah sigh from his wrist. “It MAY or MAY NOT have happened. I can’t say anything else. Now shut up and read your books.”

Kaleb smiled to himself as Farrah went quiet. He figured her silence was tantamount to an admission, wasn’t it? He reached into his bag and grabbed his Enchanting book and got reading. Maybe there was another Magic archetype, Hedge Mage had been a surprise. As that thought crossed his mind he thought about Jar-lock and the others; How would they have known about picking a different class? If a game offers such a choice how could they have figured it out?

Could they pick one later? Or did they have to reject the three choices like he had? Kaleb wracked his brain as the train started up and began slowly gaining speed. Kaleb looked around at the nearby seats noticing for the first time that besides himself and five other people the rail-car he was in was almost empty. Thinking back to when he boarded he remembered thinking the train was a little small. He guessed if you could use a Teleporter who would choose mass transit?

Kaleb shook his head free of all thoughts and glanced back down at his book. He didn’t have to pick an archetype right this second, he could play Hedge Mage for a while and see what happens. Nodding to himself he started to read his book on Enchanting.

Introduction

Greetings beginner, I am Cornelius Bolvan, and I welcome you to the wonderful world of Enchanting. My wife Matilda and I wrote this book to help novice Enchanters understand the wonderful art of Enchanting and it is an ART. The first thing you should note is that while Enchanting can be easy, it can also be time-consuming. Enchantments, either by Rune or by Magical imprinting, take time to set. This can be a good many hours or several days depending on the methods used and how powerful the enchantments.

Runes are the ‘quick and dirty’ method. Need a flaming sword? Write the rune for fire on your sword, pour magic into it and you are off. How about a floating chair? The same principle applies, write the rune, pour the magic. But remember, while Runes are quicker, they do still take time to set, so writing them during a battle is a quick way to die.

Magical imprinting is a slower, more permanent option. Here, the exact words or shapes transcribed onto the sword, gun, armor or what have you, don’t matter so much as the intention of the Magic user doing the enchanting. If you cast the magic for a fire enchantment while thinking about ice, not only will the enchantment fail it will most likely explode. Therefore Enchanters decide on an image to imprint onto the metal, wood, leather or whatever material you are working with. The image serves as a placeholder for the Magics as you are enchanting.

There is debate about the effectiveness of imprinting the design versus just making a temporary drawing on the materials. Some Enchanters say etching the design into the materials helps it set quicker. While others say the magic will deteriorate the materials when the magic saturates too much of it. I have not found either case to be truer than the other. I recommend that novice Enchanters start with runes and then transition into what feels best for you and your art.

Now, within these pages we will go over the current Runic Library as set by the Magical Council, we will explain about Forbidden Runes: What they are, why they are forbidden, etc. We will also touch upon layering Runes while also going over the dangers of such. In the later chapters we will move away from the more restrictive Runes to the more creative art of Imprinting. We will go over the precautions one should take, finding your artistic style, and the temperament required for such work.

I remind beginners that this book is not a replacement for an actual class and that those interested in the art of Enchanting should join at least one class at a Wizard college. My wife, teaches holographic lessons online at very reasonable rates. Those interested can find her information at the back of this book. With all that being said, let us dive in.

Kaleb cracked his neck and yawned as he looked up from his book. The sound of an automated drink cart was audibly moving closer. Thanks to Daivor he had missed his morning coffee. As he waited for the now visible cart to glide next to him, Kaleb read through a new notification.

*Congratulations*

Your studies have granted you the Enchanting skill.

You have been awarded 5 SP

*Enchanting (SP: 0)*

The magical art of Enchanting; Fire swords, Poison daggers, Shielded codpieces. It truly is an art unto itself. Assign SP to raise bonuses.

Magical Channeling (SP: 0) Reduces Mana cost of enchanting. One SP until level 1.

Runic Comprehension (SP: 0) Unlocks Tier 1 runes. One SP until level 1.

Enchanting speed (SP: 0) Reduces time it takes for Enchantments to set. Two SP until level 1.

Artistry (SP: 0) How beautiful and artistic your designs look when Imprinting. One SP until level 1

Kaleb bought himself a coffee and snacks from the automated drink cart as he closed the notification window and opened his status screen. He looked over his new skill, noticing the differences to his Mundane skills. Enchanting didn’t have a level, instead he had to spend SP to raise the bonuses separately. He also didn’t think it was a coincidence he received the exact number of SP required to raise all of them to level one. He leveled everything instead of trying to min/max. At least for now, he couldn’t see a point to Artistry but maybe it helped with his enchanting somehow.

After he confirmed using all of his SP to level everything up he froze in his seat. Hundreds upon hundred of Runes were suddenly downloaded into his brain via the in-game system. As the moment quickly passed he tried to review the new information only to realize that while he had the Runes, he didn’t know what they all meant. The game must want players to learn them themselves. In a way it made sense that much information all at once had to be jarring to players.

Kaleb sipped at his coffee as he went back to his book. Luckily the very first chapter was about the Runic Library and almost immediately he was identifying Runes and associating them with their meaning. He tore through the first chapter fairly easily although he suspected that the authors left Runes out. But he couldn’t figure out why. He shook his head as he dove into the chapter about Forbidden Runes.

For such an ominous sounding chapter title the whole section was pretty tame. He detailed how a group of Enchanters had agreed to never use various Runes because to their barbarity or perverseness. Such as one Rune that would eat the clothes off of anyone using the item the Rune was Imprinted on. There was another Rune that would turn a person’s blood acidic. Kaleb shook his head as he turned the page and continued reading.

He found the whole book fascinating. Especially the parts about combining different Runes to get various results. But, as he continued reading he realized how much an art form it truly was. Once you moved away from the standard Runes and began Imprinting the entire process depended on the image you held in your mind. One had to be incredibly focused or one distraction could screw up hours of work. Kaleb agreed with the Authors assertion he would need an actual class if he wanted to at least get the basics of Imprinting.

Kaleb finished his coffee and rested his head against the window. Slowly digesting everything the book had gone over so far. Even with the systems help the amount of information reminded him of his real world college days. He watched the trees zoom past his window as he held the open book on his lap. He figured that after finishing his business in Galveston he would look at classes in Enchanting. Maybe convince Varlin to join him. School in a video game couldn’t be as bad as real life, could it?