Some people were auctioning off digital equipment, or other items for Magic Unbound, but he refused to join the circus. The event was not sponsored or supported by the game company and he didn’t need to be a genius to know how many ways it could go wrong. His inherited memories were full of unsanctioned and unsupported auctions, real-world shops that deal with in-game equipment. It usually ended up in tears when the seller sent the “wrong” item, or simply didn’t send anything.
Now, these were a higher class of people, but Sam knew they were probably having the same thoughts that those scammers and snake oil salesmen had.
But he wasn’t the one organizing it, so he kept silent on the issue. He would warn Katie, her brother, and Lara, but otherwise, Sam just looked forward to the fireworks.
‘Seriously, I just have to stand around and these numbskulls humiliate themselves…’ he mused good-naturedly as he finished another document. Granted, most of the smart people, the ones who actually ran those giant companies, conglomerates, and whatnot would no doubt see the issue, but the second-generation heirs and vapid sidepieces would eat it up.
RING RING RING
He put down his pen – for some reason he had to fill out the documentation on paper too – and picked up his phone.
“Yello?”
“Sam, it’s Lara.”
“Hey! What’s up?” he asked as he lodged the phone between his shoulder and ear while continuing with the torture of his wrist.
“I’m calling about the charity event,” she responded.
“Are you going to have to call it off?”
Sam could hear her head shake. “No. I’m still your ‘date’,” she replied with a chuckle. “But grandfather wants to meet you.”
“Alright…”
“Listen, if you don’t want to, I can convin…what?”
“I’m up for a meeting. When and where?”
“Seriously?” Lara asked surprised.
“Yeah. He sounds like a funny guy,” he replied with a chuckle as he went through a checklist and selected the appropriate boxes.
‘Why do they need to know if the item has been inappropriately touched?’
Lara took some deep breaths before continuing. “That’s… That is good. Thank you. How about tomorrow, at our place?”
“Yours and Dan’s or your family’s place?”
Lara chuckled a little. “That’s why I like you. You always catch on fast. At our company’s place. Expect some cousins and whatnot.”
“So, it’s a test.”
“I suppose…”
“Though the question is: is this a test for me, you, or your cousins?”
“Knowing grandfather, all of the above…”
Sam hummed a little as he affixed his signature at the bottom, then took hold of the next document from the stack.
Declaration of Material Composition
‘Seriously guys… these are all on the digital documents…’ he grumbled to himself.
“Dress code?” he asked absentmindedly.
“Casual work? I don’t know. It’s a company building, so suit?” Lara replied with a little confusion. “I don’t really spend time there…”
“Great, I have one of those!” Thankfully, he had one made by a reputable tailor - all handmade and quality materials. Probably not up to the level that Lara or even Katie’s family were used to, but nobody could accuse him of wearing off-the-rack clothing. “Anybody to watch out for?”
It was Lara’s turn to hum a little. “I mean, most of my cousins are assholes if you don’t have as much money as they have…”
“They don’t have money. Their family has money…”
“I know that. You know that. And they don’t want to think about it.”
“Pity, it would make their life expectancy much higher…”
And while he was preparing in real life for future meetings of all kinds, he was also running around in the game to prepare for an excursion to the south.
He took a quick trip to the capital to check where his team’s and friends’ application to Nowhere was, but they just told him to be patient (somebody even winked at him), so he agreed to wait and went to look around the library for a few books about the southern reaches. Mostly about things he knew to expect and some hints for secrets so that he could have a reason for knowing about them.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
At this point, his information about the future of the game was mostly useless. He had changed so many things that it invalidated most of the events the other Sam had witnessed. Thankfully, the technical knowledge and the information about people’s personalities, past, and other obscure things were still in play.
For example, this entire ‘invasion’ in the northern direction was completely new to him. It made sense as no doubt the Blood Brothers saw that the Emerald Kingdom was building up and if left alone, the people there would be able to stop them.
Now it was up to him to see what the actual plan was. Were they simply planning to cast the kingdoms into chaos, or was there something specific?
While in the capital, he also took a short trip to the Heavenly Forest that they had built there. He spent a few hours just going through the building, observing the guests and the servants serving them. Some of the maids sent him some queer looks, but otherwise, nobody commented on his presence after he proved who he was.
As he expected, most of the guests in the luxury establishment were NPCs. More specifically, rich second or even third-generation heirs who had more money than sense. It mattered little; they paid with gold and that was enough for him.
And with Nowhere’s implicit and silent backing, most of the noble families followed the rules established by the Heavenly Forest. Though, he suspected this was because most of the servants were spying for somebody. He didn’t mind. After all, that is why he created the entire thing.
After the trip to the capital, it was back to Ironwood for a quick restocking, as well as checking in with Lucy and Liz. Lucy was busy working on consolidating their grip on the city, which consisted mostly of talks with the mayor about road improvement projects and the expected harvest amounts.
He didn’t really get it, but Lucy seemed to be in her element…
Liz, as always, when not out streaming her gameplay, was in her workshop, building and creating. As he entered the workshop, after knocking of course (no need to bait Murphy), Sam saw that she was working on some kind of lamp system.
“Are those the growth lamps?”
“Huh?” Liz looked up, covered in some kind of mix of a welder’s mask and scuba gear. It took a few seconds, but after the question was understood by her hyper-focused brain, she nodded. “Yeah, Lara wants to start with growing food, and this was the last thing we needed. The water filtration was already solved by some existing enchantments that we found in aquariums made for nobles.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Go figure…”
“Yeah, so we cribbed that, put it on our stuff. However, the growth lamp is a new concept for this world, so I needed to create it on my own.”
“And did you?” Sam asked as he walked closer to the table to look at the device. To his untrained eye, it looked like just any growth lamp he had ever seen.
Liz placed her hands on her hips and thrust her chest out proudly. “I did indeed! Even got some nice level-ups from it!” she declared proudly as the ever-present cute drones flew behind her and danced around, letting out cute sounds.
“Wuuuu! Weeee! Wuuuu!” they cried as they did some pretty impressive maneuvers.
Sam gave a polite golf clap before he started asking a few more questions, and Liz began to pull out several tools that would make some of the Q green with envy.
He couldn’t wait to use some of them…
‘Hehe, I wonder what kind of faces they’re going to make…’ he wondered while Liz was exalting the properties of the devices she had created. ‘Also need to make sure she doesn’t build any death rays…’
As Sam watched Liz coo over some mass murder designed into tiny packages, he was pretty sure she already had at least one plan for a death ray…
Sam checked his suit in the mirror, making sure there were no problems with it, tried once more to do something productive with his hair, then after a few seconds gave up as he realized he didn’t really care about it.
Somebody was bound to pick on him, no matter how he looked. Plus, hair products made him super conscious of his hair and annoyed the shit out of him.
Giving the mirror a last glance, he let out a small sigh and headed for the door. His hired car would be arriving soon. After all, showing up in a taxi – no matter how futuristic – would make him look like a rube.
The trip was short and sweet, the car proving it was worth the money he shelled out for it. Honestly, he spent most of the drive trying to figure out if there was a real driver or if it was a self-driven car.
He got out at an underground entrance, kept up for less important guests, and walked into the building.
The guards ignored him, but he spotted several people in suits immediately clocking that he was an outsider and watching his every move, wondering what he was doing there. Sam, once again, thanked the heavens that there was something like Magic Unbound where he could make his fortune and he didn’t have to join the hamster wheel of this almost cyberpunk corporate world. It wasn’t a real cyberpunk world as cyberware wasn’t allowed for civilians and even in the military, it was for special occasions. And of course, because some countries still give a crap about nature and the environment.
He walked toward the receptionist behind the irrationally big desk and counter combo and smiled at the prim woman.
“Hello, I have a meeting on the eighty-fourth floor.”
The woman returned a perfect customer service smile as her eyes flitted over his countenance, then she moved on to the computer in front of her.
“Welcome, sir, to the Astran Tower. Hope you enjoy your time. Eighty-fourth? Can I see some identification?”
Sam nodded and handed over his ID card. The woman took it carefully and scanned it into a device under the counter. There was no sound, but Sam knew it went through properly when the woman looked up and smiled at him. Still a perfect customer service smile, but a touch warmer.
“Thank you, Mr. Lawrence. Everything seems to be in order,” she told him as she handed back the ID. Then she took a slightly thicker but same-sized polymer card and handed that over too. “Please take this. This will be your ID while you spend time in our building. You don’t have to display it, but always keep it on your person.”
“Of course,” he replied, taking the card and slipping it into his breast pocket. He tapped it a few times and then looked at the woman. “Anything else I need to know?”
The woman nodded. “Yes. You can take this elevator only up to the fifteenth floor,” she indicated the one behind her station with a small motion. “There will be a more thorough security check there as that is where the tower’s public-facing space ends.”
“Simple enough, thank you,” he told the woman and, with a small bow of his head, headed for the elevator.
“Have a nice day, here at the Astran Tower!” she called after him.
The fifteenth floor was much more bustling than the one where he had entered. There were maybe one or two dozen people walking or milling around, including the guards and some of the maintenance staff.
When the door to his elevator opened, he was met with a wall of noise made by almost a hundred people. Everything from interns running around to people yelling into different devices could be seen everywhere. To Sam, it looked like a standard corporate environment.
Even though there were at least a hundred people or even more, one could immediately spot the ‘important’ personnel. They were always surrounded by a small cloud of personal assistants and bodyguards and as they moved through the crowd, it parted before them and the people around them fell silent, watching them with either awe or barely disguised disgust and hatred.
Letting out another sigh, he stepped out of the elevator. the door closing behind him, and headed for the clearly labeled security check, which was unsurprisingly avoided by most of the crowd. Probably because of the stone-faced guards that looked like they ate screws without milk.
Happily, there wasn’t a line as he headed for the entrance to the area.
He was almost there when a voice spoke up, cutting through the nearby chatter.
“Hey! Where do you think you are going?”
Faceslappicus Immagonnacallmyfatherus? Happy reading!
Owed bonus chapters: Three (3)
Titles:
[Apprentice: You are an apprentice learning under a master. Increased experience point gain in the key skill of the apprenticeship.]
Magical Items:
[Ring of Minor Health Regeneration: A small ring, made from subpar materials, with a low-quality magical gem. As long as the gem holds mana, it aids with health regeneration. Can hold 100 Mana Points, and regenerates 10 Health Points for every point of mana consumed. Current Mana: 100/100.]
[High-quality Troll Leather Armor: Created by a journeyman crafter employed by your own company. They worked extra hard to make sure to return your goodwill. Excellent quality, given the materials and the crafter. Enchanted to decrease the sound it makes during movement, as well as has increased durability. Thanks to the substance it was impregnated with the troll leather it lacks its customary weakness to fire.]
*Not actually bottomless.]
[Ring of the Shadow Fang: Made from shadow metal and accented with white moon-silver, this ring allows the wearer to summon a dagger made from shadow. The strength of the dagger depends on the wearer’s shadow mana control. The distance the dagger can move from the wearer depends on the mana control of the individual.]
Quests:
Active quests:
[Just walk in there!]
[Prove yourself!]
[Peaceful land, peaceful mind]
Finished quests:
[Monster Parade!]
[Topping the tree!]
[Reap what you sow!]
[Seaside opportunity]
[Another seaside opportunity]
[The booty of mystery!]
[Demonic demonstration!]
[The Test of the Survivor!]
[To the city you go!]
[Eternal Vigilance!]
[Returning Champion]
[Volatile Valley]
[Ride forward to be not killed in nasty ways!]
[Location, location, location!]
Skills:
Mana Skills:
[Mana Body: Level 7/100 (21%) (Passive) Your mana permeates your body, enhancing and improving it. The better your control of your mana is, and the more mana you have, the bigger the effect is. For every 100 Mana Points, it grants you 1 Base Health gain. For every skill level, it increases the Health Regeneration by 0,1.]
[Mana Shield: Level 99 (99%) Using mana, you can form a simple shell around yourself, which decreases the damage you take. Damage decrease depends on the amount of mana invested. For every unit of Mana invested in the spell, the shield will protect you from 9,9 (physical) damage.]
[A/N: Currently: WIS: 55 / MAG: 50 = 1,1 --> +2,1 Mana Regeneration per skill level]
[A/N: Currently: WIS: 55 / MAG: 50 = 1,1 --> +3,1 Mana Regeneration per skill level]
Neutral Mage skills:
[Mana Unraveling: Level 14/25 (19%) (Active) You can spot even the smallest imperfection in the weave of the mana. If your control is better than the one who wove the spell, then you can attack those imperfections and unravel the spell or magic in front of you.]
[Spell Matrix: Level 40/100 (4%) (Passive) You mastered layering spells as very few have before. You can layer ( or connect any other way) together as many spells as you can. The cost of this action is increased by 5% (cumulative) for every two layers or spells.]
[Solid Spell Foundation: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Your foundation is solid and unshakeable. The stability of layered spells is increased.]
[Mana Construct: Level 84/100 (22%) (Active/Passive) You can create mana constructs over your weapons. These constructs cannot be separated from your weapon. You have total control over their shape and size. For every level in the skill, the mana cost is decreased by 1% and the damage inflicted by the skill is increased by 1%]
[Simplicity: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) The simpler your creations, the less mana it costs.]
[Infusion: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Infusing different mana types into your mana constructs becomes easier.]
[Complexity: Level 1/5 (11%) (Passive) The complexity of your creations doesn’t detract from it. Usually, mana cost would rise when the complexity of your creation increases. For every level of this skill this increase in mana cost becomes less and less.]
Elemental Mage Skills:
Wind Mage skills:
[Wind Blade III: Level 9/10 (99%) (Active) A spell that allows you to launch a blade of wind. The cutting power and speed of the blade are increased. You have greater control over its movement after creation. Allows you to slightly control its path after launching the wind blade.]
[Wind Blade Storm: Level 6/10 (7%) (Active) A spell that unleashes a storm of wind blades around you. The damage of the released Wind Blades depends on the Wind Blade spell and your mastery over it.]
[Wind Bullet III: Level 9/10 (99%) A spell that allows you to launch a bullet made of concentrated wind. You have excellent control over the projectile’s speed, size, and path.]
[Wind Explosion: Level 3/10 (21%) A spell that allows you to create a singular bullet of wind mana, and then fire it, which will, upon impact, detonate. The strength of the detonation depends on the amount of wind mana channeled into the bullet and your mastery over the Wind Bullet spell!]
[Wind Movement: 39/100 (19%) (Active) You can use your mastery over wind to move in any direction you wish. Your movement speed is increased significantly. This speed boost is increased by 1% for each skill level.]
[Wind Edge III: Level 9/10 (99%) (Passive) A spell that allows you to enhance the edge of any bladed weapon you wield with the wind. Thanks to the spell, the speed of your strikes will greatly increase. The power and reach of the blade will be greatly increased further.]
[Wind Affinity: Level 61/100 (17%) (Passive) You have a good affinity for the wind. Beings born of the wind will be more favorable to you. The cost of the Wind-type spells and skills is reduced and their power is increased by 0,5% for each skill level.]
- Wind Flurry
- Wind Bullet Barrage
- Healing Wind
- Wind Jump
- Wind Drill
- Wind Blade I-III
- Wind Blade Storm
- Wind Bullet I-III
- Wind Explosion
- Wind Movement
- Wind Edge I-III!
Utility skills:
Companion skills:
Shadow skills:
(Shadow Cloak triggers this benefit.)]
[Shadow Affinity: Level 30/100 (14%) (Passive) You have a good affinity with the shadows. Beings born of the shadows will be more favorable to you. The cost of the Shadow-type spells and skills is reduced and their power is increased by 0,5% for each skill level.]
Physical skills:
[Basic Armor Mastery: Level 91/100 (6%) (Passive) You learned the basics of wearing armor. Decreases the Stamina consumption slightly while wearing any kind of armor.]
[Clean Armor: Level MAX (MAX%) (Passive) Your mana got used to a certain spell, so the waste mana radiating from you will, over time, permeate and clean your armor.]
[Resistant Armor: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Thanks to your practice, you can fully utilize everything that your armor provides, granting you increased resistance against the environment. Grants 2% increased environmental resistance per skill level. Environmental resistance protects against environmental effects only.]
[Durable Armor: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) You learned how to roll with the punches. This includes knowing when your armor can take a hit and when it can’t. Increased durability for any armor you wear from incoming damage from non-environmental sources.]
[Epic Breathing Technique: Level 9/10 (99%) (Passive) You breathe, and the world breathes with you. You move along your own rhythm. Decreases stamina consumption even more during any activity and further increases stamina regeneration when not in a fight. Gain +2 Stamina Regeneration for every skill level.]
[Tranquil Heart: Level 11/100 (54%) (Passive) Your heart beats to the same rhythm as your body. It’s efficient and harmonious. You have an even easier time resisting mind-altering effects and a portion of of those effects are reflected back to the source. The portion is 1% per skill level. You also radiate an aura of tranquility that confers the resistance portion of the skill to your allies near you.]
[Flow: Level 77/100 (9%) (Passive) Thanks to being a natural sensor, you can read the flow of the mana. Increases your stability and the bonuses any movement or martial art skill provides by 1% per level in the skill.]
[Focused Flow: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) When focusing on any enemy beyond what is normal, your ability to read their flow becomes clearer and more precise.]
[Controlled Flow: Level 5/5 (MAX%) (Passive) Your read of the flow is more controlled, allowing you to see the flow much better. Increases the flow visibility by 20% for every skill level.]
[Immersed Flow: Level 0/5 (0%) (Passive) When you start reading the flow a counter starts. After every ten seconds, the effect of the Flow skill increases by 1% for each skill level. Maximum 600 seconds.]
Parry: Level 24/100 (13%) (Passive) Decreases the stamina consumption of defensive weapon movements. It allows you to more efficiently and accurately parry incoming attacks. Decreases the damage of the blocked attack by 0,5% for each skill level at the moment of blocking.]
[Cleansed Body: Level MAX (MAX%) (Passive) Your body has been cleansed of impurities, giving you a more charming aura. NPCs and players will treat you slightly differently depending on their tastes. Gives a flat increase of +3 to STR, AGI, END. You can upgrade this skill by further cleansing your body.]
Resistance skills:
General skills:
[Dwarven Language: Level 5/10 (1%) (Passive) You managed to learn the basics of the Dwarven language.]
[Elven Language: Level 7/10 (8%) (Passive) You managed to learn the basics of the Elven language.]
[Dark Elven Language: Level 5/10 (1%) (Passive) You managed to learn the basics of the Dark Elven language.]
[Sarkan Language: Level 3/10 (42%) (Passive) You managed to learn the basics of the Sarkan language.]
Crafting skills:
Pet skills:
[Strong Jaw: Level Max (Passive) The jaw of the wolf is strengthened.]
[Lucky Aura: Level Max (Passive) Those who are in the same party as the wolf receive a buff to their luck. It depends on their luck how big the increase is.]
[Animalistic Mana Control: Level Max (Passive) The wolf controls the mana inside him based on animalistic instinct.]
[Animalistic Shadow Control: Level Max (Passive) The wolf controls the shadows around him just as easily as it breathes.]
[Shadow Spirit Body: Level Max (Passive) The body of the wolf is part shadows and part spirit, which makes it much more malleable.]
[Shadow Strike: Level Max (Active/Passive) All attacks started from the shadows receive bonus damage, and the wolf can clad itself in shadows, making its entire body into a weapon, while striking at an enemy increasing its range of attack.]
[Shadow Jump: Level 20/20 (MAX%) (Active) The wolf gains the capability to dive into your shadow and emerge from a different shadow. Range: 200 meters. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]
[Shadow Dash: Level 20/20 (MAX%) (Active/Passive) Wherever the wolf steps, he can leave small pools of shadows that the wolf can use to jump into. When diving into the shadows, the wolf can travel at an even greater distance with his speed increased by 2% for each skill level.]
[Shadow Claws: Level 20/20 (MAX%) (Active/Passive) Your companion’s claws are infused with the shadows. There is a low chance to leave behind shadow mana with each attack of their claws. Alternatively, they can actively increase this infusion of shadow mana and strike at their enemies with giant shadow claws.]
[Shadow Bite: Level 20/20 (MAX%) (Active) Your companion enhances their bite with shadow mana, increasing the area and strength of the bite.]
[Shadow Steed: Level 21/50 (3%) (Passive) Your companion has learned how to run while being ridden. Stamina consumption is decreased when being ridden and can carry bigger loads.]
[Shadow Bleed: Level 41/50 (8%) (Passive) Your companion’s claw has been enhanced by a chaotic shadow field which rends the area where the claws strike, causing extra bleeding.]
[Weakening Strike: Level 15/50 (21%) (Passive) Every strike of your companion's claw weakens the enemy's armor. The maximum stack of the effects is 3+1 per 5 skill level.]
[Shadow Heal: Level 21/50 (37%) (Active) Your companion can absorb the shadows hiding them to heal itself.]
[Runic Weapon: Level Max (Passive) The wolf’s claws and teeth are clad in runes that grant him a certain amount of ability to pierce through the impenetrable. Grants a 13% chance to do True Damage with the claws and teeth.]
[Runic Strike: Level 20/20 (Active) Lucky gains the ability to channel mana into the runes of his claws and teeth to enhance the damage theydo. The damage type depends on the type of mana he channels into it. Current natures are available to use: no attribute, shadow, or spirit.]