The Way Ahead

While a few people had naturally taken note of Edwin rattling up to the entry of the town, none paid him much attention. It made a certain amount of sense, they probably had loads of travelers and merchants coming in and out of the town on a regular basis.

In fact, he could even tell where the inn for the town was thanks to the row of wagons that had pulled up beside it, a few individuals milling around them. A few individuals caught his eye- one Skyguard and two Hired Guards already had Almanac tags on them from when he’d last traveled with a merchant caravan. He was vaguely hopeful he’d spot more familiar faces out and about, but it seemed that the trio had simply been hired by a different set of merchants. Even the wagons weren’t the ones that he had seen before, and Edwin couldn’t imagine they had an excessive number of those lying around.

As they pulled up to the inn, Edwin allowed Bill to loiter as he hopped down and drifted inside. The tireless pony lowered his head and started nibbling at a few tufts of hardy grass that had survived on a hard-packed dirt road.

While Edwin’s eyes didn’t need to adjust too much as he entered the building, the massive leafy boughs of the tree Panastalis was built around already casting the entire city into shadow, his ears certainly did. Inside, a couple dozen individuals with a mix of travel-related classes and more typical Identify results sat around, eating, drinking, and enjoying a Melodic Wanderer’s song as he sat, playing a stringed instrument that Edwin recognized from the road.

The innkeeper- a Canny High Merchant- looked at Edwin with a skeptical eye as he approached, “We don’t serve your type here.”

Edwin looked down at himself, “Look, I know most people don’t like adventurers,” he started, confused, “But I assure you, I have dispensation for-”

“No, not adventurers, you daft fool. Alchemists.”

“Hold on, what?” of all the things he was expecting to potentially run into trouble for, being an alchemist in the alchemist town was not one of them.

“You’re not Guilded. I serve you, I’m inviting all kinds of trouble onto myself.”

“Well, okay, but-”

“Out! Don’t want your trouble.”

“I was sent by the emperor?” it was perhaps a bit of a stretch, but not that much of one. He would argue that the emperor telling him to go and learn stuff on his own merit did include visiting Panastalis and learning about alchemy. He might not have specifically said to do so, but

That caught his attention, “You’re lying.”

“Nope! Talked to him just a month ago.”

“You’re either brazen or stupid.”

Edwin gave a slight shrug and a smirk.

“Five ager a night.”

Edwin scoffed, “That’s robbery! Back in the city I got half a month for that price.”

“This isn’t the city.” He shot back, and Edwin noticed a Skill interlacing the words, “It’s a lot more expensive out here. Four.”

“That’s not how money works at all. Things are always pricier in a city because more people want the stuff.”

“Yeah, well look around. I’m not exactly hurting for business, and they won’t get the place burned down by just existing. Non-guild alchemists are not welcome here, and I’m not taking that on my head.”

“I’ll look to join the guild? Actually, how do you know I’m not already part of it?”

“Well if you were, you wouldn’t be staying here.”

“Any idea how I join the guild?”

“Nothin’ specific.”

“Anything general?”

“Well, I don’t know where you come from, but it’s usually considered bad business to give something away for free.”

“Where I come from, helping out potential customers is a great way to get on their good side and make them want to choose your place.”

“Ha! Where else would you go?”

“Well, apparently where- ah. I see.” Edwin sighed and grabbed a few ves from an internal pocket, “Will this do?” he slid the coins over.

“It’s a start.” The avior swept a wing over the counter, making the coins vanish with the hint of a Skill, “You can find the guildhouse on Stalis.”

“The tree?” Edwin guessed.

The avior gave a quick nod, “You can’t miss it.”

“Sounds like I didn’t get my money’s worth,” Edwin grumbled, “So a room?”

“If you join with the guild, then you won’t need one.”

“I have a traveling companion. Would she be really welcome in whatever guild-approved housing they have?”

“Two of you?”

“I would have asked for two rooms, but not at those prices. We’ll settle for one.”

“Hmmm,” The innkeeper tucked his head into his shoulder and preened some of the feathers there in thought, “I suppose there’d be no harm in renting to a passer-by. She’s not an alchemist, right?”

Edwin shook his head.

“Two ager a night for the two of you, you get the largest room I don’t already have claimed.”

“Please, I’m not a fool. I can sleep in my cart if nothing else- I did it on the road. One. Though I do have a pony that needs stabling, I could go up a bit for that.”

“Three per two days, and we feed and stable your horse.”

“Deal.”

It didn’t take long for him to get Bill and Inion properly situated in their respective places- though the latter immediately fled the inn, claiming she wanted to play in the river. Honestly, he felt like a parent at times, despite Inion being at least a hundred times older than him.

He didn’t waste any time once he was free, and quickly made his way to Stalis. In some ways, Edwin felt that his sense of grandeur had perhaps shifted slightly since he had arrived in Joriah, in large part thanks to Vinstead’s garrison and living in a literal fairy-tale home for a year. It was perhaps the primary reason the massive guild hall-complex built into a tree larger than a football field didn’t amaze him, with its grand, sweeping roof and skylights spilling golden shafts of light across the floor.

The latter feature caught Edwin off-guard, though it took him a moment to put his finger on why. Then it hit him. There wasn’t any direct sunlight underneath Stalis- the apparent sunlight spilling into the room was artificial, mimicking the lighting away from the massive tree that was the town’s namesake. That was… Well, Edwin didn’t even know how to begin doing something like that.

Okay. That’s not entirely true. The first step would be figuring out if they have some sort of light-storing or light-transmitting material that they could use to bring sunlight in. It might even use sunstalk. Perhaps by making some sort of transmission method or alchemical preparation to keep it active? Though that would just diffuse, not stick in cohesive sunbeams. Unless they had some kind of focusing effect. Maybe an alchemical crystal of some kind? Though that’s basically just saying ‘magic.’ Just saying ‘A Wizard did it’ is not a real answer, darn it! How did the wizard do it, and how-

“Can I help you, sir?” a mildly annoyed voice cut in, and Edwin sheepishly looked back at the receptionist. He looked human, but had oddly purplish-gray skin and a dour expression. A quick Identify let him see the man was a Fastidious Alchemist, and Edwin nodded in apology.

“Sorry. Just admiring the architecture,” he apologized, “I’d like to try and join the guild? What sort of thing does that require, what does it entail, that sort of thing.”

“Yes, well. You need the Alchemy skill-”

“I have that, yes.” Edwin interrupted, then glanced away in apology when the man glared at him, “Sorry.”

“The Alchemy skill and Alchemist’s Insight at level thirty, then you’ll need to undergo a series of quality and knowledge tests before you can become a full member.”

“Knowledge test? How does that work?”

“I was getting there,” he replied, annoyed. Edwin avoided eye contact as the receptionist continued, “If you need additional tutelage in alchemy for the examination, the Guild offers classes for aspiring alchemists for a mere seven ager per week.”

“Mere?” Edwin was shocked, “That’s half a grai per month! Why is everything so expensive in this tiny town?”

“If you cannot afford the prices, the guild offers loans for perfectly reasonable interest rates and may be paid off once a full member via commission work or general labor.”

Edwin just glared at the receptionist.

I swear, it’s student loans all over again.

“How long do most students take to learn everything?”

“Oh, usually a year or two if being trained from the Six. I don’t know how long you would require, but likely a few months.”

Edwin stewed for a few moments, “What about just taking the test? Can I prove that I’m a competent enough alchemist without having to take the classes for the specific terminology you all learn? I’m sure I can pick it up quickly enough anyway.”

I hope.

“Hmm,” he sneered, “Well, I’m not sure what we can do about that, but I suppose I can pass the message along to my superiors and see what they say.”

“Thank you.” Edwin nodded, though he internally wondered what the guy’s problem was, not that he was really surprised that he was already annoyed with him.

He shuffled between his feet awkwardly, “So… what now?”

The receptionist looked up at Edwin, “Where can we find you?”

“I heard you guys had housing or something?” he checked. He doubted that it’d be open for him, but he didn’t want to bring trouble on to the innkeeper if he could help it.

“Guild members only. If you’re applying… see about getting a room at the inn. Tell the innkeeper you’re a Prospective if he gives you any trouble.”

Edwin nodded, “Thanks. You’ll... find me there, I guess.”

From there, it was rather simple to retreat, only slightly marveling at the massive displays of Skills that were omnipresent in the guildhall and faintly permeated the air. Inion was still gone when he got back to the inn, and so Edwin shut himself in his room and kept playing with his Skills.

Apparatus was as interesting as ever; as the Skill hit level 40, Edwin managed to create a fine chain reminiscent of a necklace string. In fact, he decided that was what he’d use it for, and looped it around his neck, the crystal glittering in the light of his glowing potion bottles next to where Inion’s Muse Token hung.

It was easy, if tedious, to layer instances of the Skill, and Edwin got his marble box about half restocked with recursive marbles- spheres stacked within one another- before giving up. He had made one marble of about twenty layers of Apparatus before deciding it was way too much work, and his future creations only had three nested spheres. Hopefully it would be enough, because he was already so very bored just making marble after marble.

He’d finish them up at a later point, and make his caltrop-marbles at some point in the future as well. But for now…

Edwin swiped through his Status. He’d done well and he couldn’t help but feel a bit proud. He’d gotten a lot in just the last few months. Sure, his pace was nowhere close to what he’d had in his dedicated year of training, but it was also so much less stressful- and he’d gotten so many new Paths too!

Name

Edwin Maxlin

Age

1 year

Race

Extraplanar Human

Class

Alchemist-Errant

Attributes

Health 22

Impact 7

Mana 33

Perception 19

Stamina 30

Skills

Alchemical

Alchemy 83, Alchemical Analysis 15, Refine 1, Alchemical Dismantling 6, Sapper’s Apparatus 40

(Purify: 75)

Magical

Basic Thermokinesis 16, Fey’s Caress 36, Ritual Intuition 20, Mana Infusion 85

Flight 9, (Basic Mana Sense: 82), (Basic Mana Manipulation: 9)

Physical

Overcharge 8, Longstrider 29, Fresh Air 14

(Athletics: 81), (Breathing: 76), (Flexibility: 74), (Nutrition: 73), (Packing: 92), (Seeing: 72), (Sleeping: 73), (Survival: 76), (Walking: 74)

Mental

Numeracy 14, Prototyping 16, Anatomy 28, Polyglot: 60, Memory 60

(Language: 36), (Mathematics: 74), (Research: 50), (Visualization: 80)

Combat

Bomb Throwing 49, Adaptive Defense 26

(Throwing Weapons: 48)

Utility

Outsider's Almanac 130, Watchful Rest 18, Skillful Assessment 32, Arcadian Elixir 16, Improbable Arsenal 23

(Firestarting: 94), (Improvisation: 14), (Status: 22), (Identify: 80), (First Aid: 82), (Harvesting: 76), (Construction: 77)

Paths

Skill Points: 576

Combat

Assassin 0/60, Bomber 0/60, Giant Slayer 0/60, Heedless Hunter 0/60, Hunter 0/30, Killer 0/30, Titan Slayer 0/90, Warrior 0/60, Way of the Empty Hand 0/60, Trapper 0/60,

Alchemy

Alchemical Medic 0/60, Demolitionist 0/60, Makeshift Alchemist 0/60, Potioneer 0/60,

Science

Chemist 0/60, Experimenter 0/60, Researcher 0/60, Purifier 0/30, Scientific Revolutionary 0/90, Scientist 0/60, Engineer 0/60, Physicist 0/60, Mathematician 0/60, Material Scientist 0/60

Magic

Aerialist 0/60, Fey Friend 0/60, Feybound 0/60, Feycaller 0/60, Mage 0/60, Magical Gardener 0/60, Micro-Biomancer 0/90, Primal Constructor 0/90, Primal Ritualist 0/90, Realm Traveler 0/120, Skilled Arcanist 0/60, Fey Supplicant 0/60, Feykind 0/90

Mental

Dedicated Student 0/60, Lecturer 0/30, Scholar 0/60, Unbowed 0/90, Canny 0/60, Steady Mind 0/60, Mentalist 0/60,

System

Almanac Administrator 0/60, Forerunner 0/60, Outsider’s Almanac Specialist 0/90, Pioneer 0/60, Skill Researcher 0/60, System Scholar 0/60,

Trophy

Blackstone Conqueror 0/60, Deepwoods Panther-Hunter 0/60, Stonehide Vanquisher 0/60,

Career

Brickmaker 0/30, Butcher 0/30, Diver 0/30, Gardener 0/30, Lumberjack 0/60, Merchant 0/30, Potter 0/30, Scribe 0/30, Woodsman 0/30,

Physical

Ascetic 0/60, Daredevil 0/60, Physical Alchemist 0/90, Survivor 0/60, Physical Laborer 0/30,

Traveling

Escapee 0/30, Exile 0/30, Traveler 0/30, World Traveler 0/60

Medical

Field Medic 0/60, Medic 0/30, Steadfast Medic 0/60,

Misc

Arsonist 0/60, Autopyromaniac 0/60, Burglar 0/60, Child 0/12, Expert 0/60, Imperial Ally 0/60, Novice 0/12, Pyromaniac 0/30, Razer of the Ruined Tower 0/60, Rebel 0/30, Slave 0/12, Trainee 0/60, Traitor 0/60, Brushed by Power 0/60, Lirasian Citizen 0/30, Royal Advisor 0/60, Favored by Power 0/90

Completed Paths

CharLimitCanttalkmuchNocluewhathappenedDidmybesttohelpyouli, Mage, Skilled Arcanist, Physical Alchemist, Bomber, Linguist, Beginner, Warrior, Path Less Traveled, Athlete, Scout, Unkillable, Superior Alchemist, Adventurer, Explorer, Outsider, Skill Researcher, Wanderer,Alchemical Warrior, Novice Pyromancer, Novice Ritualist, Alchemist, Physicist, Engineer, Physical Arcanist, Biologist, Practical Alchemist, Fey Scion, Feytouched

He idly toyed with the message, musing about what he wanted to evolve Flight with. Aerialist was the boring option, no doubt. If he were to hazard a guess… it might improve his maneuverability in-air? Meh. What he really wanted was telekinesis, because that was perhaps the single most awesome and broken superpower ever.

Plus, it would be great for sealed experiments and making volatile stuff without risking his own life and limb.

But mainly it was just obscenely broken. Be able to flatly violate the 3rd law of motion? Yes please. He’d tried picking up a Tactile Telekinesis skill by messing around with Packing and Mana Infusion again, but to no avail. He just couldn’t get it to ‘click’ quite right. Maybe one day, unless there was some sort of strange one-new-skill-per-combination rule to the System, which he didn’t think was the case but he couldn’t totally rule out either.

He didn’t really know what he should try to use to get Telekinesis from Flight. None of his Paths particularly seemed to lean in that direction. Hmm…

Ah well, it wasn’t like he was in any kind of rush. He didn’t want to evolve Flight until it was at least level 60, and he had a pretty solid spread of abilities already. Tier 3 would bring with it a whole suite of awesome new powers, sure, but why rush it? Leveling all of his current Skills to super-high levels would help a lot too.

Satisfied, he dismissed the notification and rose from his bed, looking outside. Hm. It was starting to get dark. Inion had yet to return, but that was hardly a surprise. She’d be out playing in the water for a week if she could. They’d spent relatively little time traveling by rivers, so this was the first time in quite a while where she’d had extensive time submerged.

Well, maybe he’d hear from the guild tomorrow.

Bedtime for now.