Chapter 40: Chapter: 40 Mages Guild

* Choose a new skill 

Minutes passed as I read and re-read the four choices that had appeared in my mind.

- Fuse Magic

Allows caster to combine two card effects, can be used once per combat. 

- Empower Spell

Doubles the strength of a Non-Summon Spell Card, can be used once per combat.

- Tamer

 Your summoned creatures gain power for each additional summon on the battlefield.

- Soulblade

Enchant a weapon to give it a chance to bind a slain magical beast.

There were two caster abilities, one for summoned creatures and one for weapon combat. They all sounded amazing and I could imagine powerful decks built around these abilities.

The one thing I’d learnt in Umbra was that cunning, with a bit of luck, won more battles than strength alone. And out of these four abilities the one that gave me the most flexibility had to be Fuse Magic. Combining spells to create new effects was a game changer. 

I didn't actually know what those effects would be but I could imagine combining things like fire and earth to create solid rock or fire and ice to create a shatter effect.

* Fuse Magic selected 

I  didn't get a chance to test out my new ability as the team had unanimously agreed that we’d all die if we kept up my monster farming, so we packed up camp and continued our journey.

We arrived in Hento an hour early so we had breakfast together beside the river and bought lunch for the five hour boat trip to Swindon and from there we would continue on foot to Alhaven.  

---

It was late afternoon when we found ourselves standing under the white shining arches of Alhaven. The City Watch, dressed in silver and gold plate armor, inspected each person and each wagon that entered the city and after waiting in a queue for over an hour we were finally inside the city.

Ahri squeezed my hand and I smiled as we walked beneath the giant arches that were clearly made to make new visitors feel tiny and powerless. The arches had the opposite effect on me. I felt like a conquering hero returning to my hometown. I hadn't defeated a great evil or saved the world but I had changed. My skin was tanned and lightly muscled, my hair was tied back in a ponytail and most importantly my penis was healed and ready for this brave new world. 

---

As we walked through the streets I recognized the spot in the marketplace where we’d fought the chimera baboons and the gate that Flint used to guard before he’d joined us. Even though I’d only spent a couple of days in Alhaven it somehow felt like home. 

We rounded a corner in a part of town I hadn't seen before and we entered a courtyard. In the center of the courtyard was an ancient tree with red ribbons tied to its branches. There were benches with couples sitting on them beneath the tree and a few food vendors who were dressed in red and white uniforms were serving the people.

“That the Great Tree,” said a vendor standing nearby. “Majestic isn't it.”

I nodded as I watched the red ribbons tossed by the wind, it looked like the tree was on fire.

“What do the ribbons mean?” I asked.

The vendor flipped a few skewers of roasted meats over hot coals and then looked up and said, “It's a tradition from the old days, nobody really knows what it means anymore.”

“This tree is over a thousand years old,” said Ahri and I looked at her and saw a dreamy look in her eyes. “It symbolizes the old being burnt away to make space for the new.”

“The old gods?” I asked.

Ahri said nothing, her attention had already shifted to the roasting meat. I followed her gaze and the smell reminded me of how long it had been since my last meal. 

“I'm sure there's time for a snack before we head to the Mages guild,” I said.

Before I had finished speaking Ahri raised two fingers and said, “Two of each.”

“What meat is this?” I asked.

The man fanned the roasting meats and said, “Speckled quail.” He said pointing at a pale meat. “Mountain goat and fresh crocodilia. Two coppers a skewer, served piping hot and with your choice of sauce.”

The meat was juicy and tender and lightly spiced with a smokiness that didn't overpower the meat’s natural flavor. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I’d finished my first skewer and had started on my second.  

Ahri, who usually never stopped speaking, didn't say a word until she'd licked the last skewer clean.

“No better compliment than silent eaters,” said the vendor.

Ahri wiped the grease off her face with the corner of my cloak and grinned in satisfaction.

I bit off the last piece of crocodilia meat and said, “We are looking for the Mages Guild.”

The vendor snorted and shook his head like I'd just said that I prefer small boobs and flat asses.

“You’re not a fan of cardmages?” I asked.

During my short travels around the Southern villagers I’d noticed an ever widening division between cardmages and steamtech users. For now it seemed like the two sides were happy to ignore each other but my own memories from my past life told me that wouldn't last forever. Sooner or later the two sides would clash.

“Cardmages have all that power,” said the vendor. “And not a drop of it is spent helping those in need and all the while the kingsmen tax us into obscurity.” He spat on the ground. “And those that resist, never heard from again.” 

He wasn't wrong. My time in Umbra had revealed extreme poverty, sickness and crime all of which could have easily been solved by magic. What made it worse was that often enough magic had been the cause of the problems.

Ahri tapped her foot impatiently and said,“Could you spare us the lecture and give us the directions.”

The vendor eyed her for a moment then gestured over his shoulder and said, “Left at Morain’s Crossing then over the bridge. You can't miss it. Big ugly building. Looks like a castle built by a five year old.”

As we turned to leave the man grabbed the edge of my cloak. 

He nodded his head for me to come closer.

As I leant in he said, “A word of warning boy. You don't want to be poking your nose into cardmage business. They might not use their powers to help us common folk but they sure as hell don’t mind using them to hurt us.”

---

I stared up at the foreboding Mages Guild with a mixture of confusion and awe. It was a bright sunny day but the weather was completely different over the guild. Instead of sunshine and blue skies there was a stormy sky, filled with flashing lightning and torrents of rain. 

Ahri placed a hand on my arm and said in a low voice, “Not very welcoming.”

I nodded as I examined the castle from the street. I noticed that there was a shimmering bubble surrounding the guild and that no light from the outside penetrated through that bubble. 

I turned to Ahri and said, “Is that to keep people out or to keep what's in there locked away?” 

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

I stretched out a hand and touched the bubble and my fingers passed through it effortlessly. When I drew my hand back it was still dry even though it looked like it was raining on the other side.

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I gripped Ahri’s hand and a cold wave of energy ran through my body as we stepped through the bubble and entered the Mages Guild. 

---

As we emerged through the bubble I realized that it had all been an illusion. It wasn't dark and stormy inside the guild and when I looked back out onto the street I saw that it was not raining out there. 

I didn't bother thinking about it anymore, there was too much else occupying my mind at that moment.

A great garden with every flower in every color imaginable stretched out before us in every direction. Trees taller than buildings housed birds, butterflies and magical creatures- some glittering in the sunlight as they moved lazily across the fields of green and other's glowing in the shadows and eying us warily. 

“Cute place,” said Ahri, sounding unimpressed. 

“It's this a god's realm?” I asked.

Ahri's face furrowed in a frown but she said nothing. Clearly something was bothering her.

A butterfinch hovered above her head and she held out a hand and the coin-sized bird landed in her palm. A crow cawed in a tree above us as it took off from a branch, as it flapped its wings it released a tiny wave of electricity. The butterfinch took off in fright, it dodged the crow’s electricity then hovered for a few seconds longer before darting behind a tree. 

Ahri looked lost in thought and I racked my brain thinking about what I might have said to upset her. Things were going so well and then she had just changed with no explanation.

We crossed a stone bridge in silence and headed towards the castle door and a man dressed in black, with polished shoes and perfectly combed hair waited in the doorway.

“Welcome,” said the man. He bowed slightly. “Guest, visitor, or applicant?” His voice rang out in a sing-song way that reminded me of Baskin Tommelkins.

“We’re here to see the guild leader,” I said.

“Name please.”

“Guts Cromley,” said Ahri.

“Not his name, yours.”

“Oh, I’m Ahri, this is Talasin.”

The man pressed his hand to the door and silver lines radiated out from the center creating a tapestry of lights. The pattern completed and the double doors swung open revealing a long hallway.

“This way,” said the man.

---

With long strides the man led us down a long passageway illuminated by oil lamps hanging from the ceiling. The walls were lined with paintings depicting scenes of a battle and odd statues or suits of armor were scattered in between giving the building an ancient and military feeling.

At the end of the passage stood a marble statue of a man holding a sword in one hand and an open book in the other. The man’s face was disfigured as if a giant hand had crushed it right off and beneath it was a faded inscription that I could not decipher.

The guide clicked his tongue when I slowed down to examine the statue and I followed on as he led us into a massive chamber. 

Towering pillars with intricate details lined the walls of the chamber and the ceiling was made up of a series of arches that looked like the skeleton of a whale I’d once seen in a museum. 

The arches led the eye to the front of the building, to massive stained glass windows that drew in the sunlight and threw patterns of reds and greens across the floor making the place feel like an abandoned church.

The only person in the room was a young woman and she was wearing chainmail and sitting behind a desk with a quill in her hand and a large parchment in front of her. She looked at Ahri then back at me and then she sighed. 

“What do you need?” She said the words slowly as if she were speaking to a child. 

“Is this where we sign up to join the Guild,” I asked. 

The woman shifted a pair of glasses on her nose and gave me a measured look.

“Do you have an endorsement from a noble family or a high level member of the guild?” she asked.

I shook my head and Ahri shrugged.

“I'm sorry but--” the woman was interrupted by the sound of laughing and footsteps coming down the passage towards us. 

A tall bald man with a handlebar mustache, a pair of orbed earrings and a sword on his hip entered the chamber. He was followed by a short graying man wearing a monk’s cowl.

The bald mustached man said, “And then she yelled, ‘Give it to me, I'm so wet.”

The monk’s eyes widened and he said, “What did you do?” 

“Well you know me, Holtan. I told the priestess she could scream all she wanted, but I was keeping the umbrella.”

The monk slapped his thick thigh as he laughed but then the woman behind the desk cleared her throat and the two men fell silent and looked at her.

“Really Master Guts,” she said. “And you wonder why your last assistant left you?”

“Evelyn,” said the bald man and his face split into a warm smile. “Looking as irresistible as ever. I swear each time I see you, I feel a tingling sensation in my heart.”

“You should get that checked out,” said the woman. “Sounds like the beginning of a stroke.”

The bald man who I’d just discovered was actually Master Guts smiled and said, “Charming as ever.” And then he turned and looked at me. 

The Master’s eyes narrowed for a second and images flickered through my mind uncontrollably. I saw my mother holding a birthday cake, then a mirror  reflection of me brushing my teeth, then a quilt jersey I’d received for Christmas. And then just as fast as the visions had come they disappeared. 

I stumbled forward as my mind was released from whatever had just happened. I blinked and realized everyone was staring at me. 

“What is going on here?” asked the Master as he looked from me to Evelyn.

The woman adjusted her glasses and said in a commanding tone, “These two are looking to join the guild but they have no endorsement so I was just about to send them away.”

“Just Talasin,” said Ahri. “I have no interest in being a cardmage.”

Master Guts eyed Ahri and surprisingly his eyes didn't linger on her breasts as most mens did. His eyes narrowed as he met her gaze. His smile dropped for a fraction of a second but then he slapped the monk on the back and said. “Let's get something to eat. I'm famished.”

The monk nodded approvingly and the two began heading towards the door.

Evelyn cleared her throat again.

“Oh,” said the Master and he winked at the woman. “Let the boy try out, I'll endorse his admission. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“He could die during the exam,” Evelyn said dryly.

---

[Level 10 - Progress towards next level: 11%]

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