In the Silver sparrow inn...in a room.
Nathaniel sat on the bed looking at the bracelet on his arm.
Recalling the attendant's words he felt a sense of unease. " He said the quintessence spell is information magic, soul information magic. What it does is it analyses 3 parts of physical self and 2 parts of the astral self. It computes based on the data that has been collected since the spell's creation. It essentially has eons' worth of information however the information has no owner rather no profile. So it's hard to distinguish which individual is the source so the spell is basically an information bank.
Any newly collected information is calibrated based on the existing collected information. What the vambrace bracelet does is it assigns a profile to the collected information. Impossible as it sounds, every living being on mergard has a unique magic wavelength that can be used to identify them. So now rather than a massive data bank the magic towers and the kingdoms have profiles along with that information. They can hunt you down no matter you are.
Though he didn't say it, I know it can beacon my location to anyone tracking me. " Nathaniel released a sigh however next came the more frightening and intrusive thoughts.
" The empire probably has the magical wavelengths of all enslaved soldiers. So any escapee can be found as long as they the equip the vambrace bracelet. So basically we are lambs to the slaughter." Nathaniel after voicing his thoughts turned to the window.
The distance between his pursuers and himself had just narrowed by a massive leap. The time to remain idle was no more.
In the 4th floor along with the setting sun the meeting continued as Duke Marcius voiced his last matter on the agenda.
" The response window to Emperor Edward's royal decree is approaching. Complications have arisen with the summoning magic, it will be invalid for a while. Which of course is no problem with our forces however the enemy has been more aggressive lately. Not counting the awoken monsters that are running rampant in the part of the domain. All vassal kingdoms are to ready their forces for a clash with the dark emperor." His words invoked silence save for one man.
"What?!"
" Impossible!" The nobles exclaimed in rancor.
"Thud!" Baron Wright slammed the massive marble table as he stood up in anger. He was already distraught by what had happened a few hours earlier when the other noble lords refused to back him up. His territory was next to the former kingdom of Ostriana, though duke Marcius' efforts would help his domain he had already sworn fealty to count von Stein. His earlier remarks were all in accordance with count von Stein's scheme to lower duke Marcius' standing.
The man had lost to the emperor and in his arrogance he had placed all the nobles of the Belford kingdom on the chopping block. The only reason they still drew breath was due to the church, keep in mind the church of Minthes was no valiant organization. They had depth, depth in the darkness that coursed in their beliefs.
Count Von Stein rather than rule desired to be absolute. He was a grandmaster knight like duke Marcius. Per tradition nobles could only be swordsmen and only magicians if their aptitude warranted such.
At 61 he had yet to reach the peak of grandmaster and his time was running out. The leadership of the coalition was more about the wealth of resources than who was in charge.
Baron Wright trembled in raging fury, so it was not enough that he had been forced to swear fealty to scum like count Von Stein but even when his territory faced jeopardy he was to send soldiers away rather than defend his territory.
For a moment he felt light headed, it was too much. Things were falling apart and he had felt semblance of control.
"Impossible!" " I can't! My domain will fall apart." He reasoned.
" It's the emperor's order. " Duke Marcius rested his head on his clasped hands. The other viscounts and marquis in the room paid no homage to the events. It was every man for himself in the path to nobility.
" Ultimately power is only supreme when it is wielded by one man and one man alone." He muttered and snickered at the truth of those words. Baron titles were rarely inherited, it was a meager title that can obtained with some effort. So most barons were men of military might. So was Baron Wright, he had fought for a decade against the legion of doom back when emperor Edward was still a prince.
His words though in self reproach jabbed further the knife of truth in all the nobles present. They all bore the false flag of power. Count von Stein clenched his fists, his face becoming stern.
"We will leave it here gentlemen. Enjoy the city sights." Duke Marcius stood up, he walked across the room towards the door, he exited and without pause," Baron Dalton, I have heard about the death of your sons. You have my condolences. It is truly tragic and don't forget.." He calmly placed his hand on baron Dalton's shoulder," ... you can always request my assistance in investigating the death of your sons."
The Daltons were weird in that their barony title had been inherited for several millennia. Those in the know knew the Marcius family suppressed the growth of the Daltons, their intelligence was that overwhelming. Even now they had no idea that the Dalton's had struck a deal with the dark emperor and the deaths was the results of them renegading on the deal.
" Thank you my liege." Baron Dalton bowed and followed after the duke.
The sun set drawing a curtain to the day's events.
....
As morning approached, intense light shone onto Nathaniel's sprawled figure. His hair resembled ash with its white and back combination.
"mmhmn-huuo" He inhaled sharply then exhaled as his eyes fluttered open. He stood up walking to a sack next to the bed, it was the new clothes he had bought.
A white color lace up long sleeved shirt, wide leg black pants and knee high black leather boots. His 2 new storage rings. A sword from the treasure hoard.
After freshening up he left straight for the guild.
Though it was morning the heat was muted compared to rosewood village. Fewer people walked about as he headed to the eastern part of the city. There were two entrances to the city. The south and west entrance, those two roads served as the market place. To the east was the guild and to the north was the residential areas split into nobility and commoner residences. Double story building were a common sight.
The height of the buildings felt invasive, he felt somewhat boxed in. A feeling nostalgic to planet Earth.
A bar took up the first floor with chandeliers lighting up the place. It was early with few adventurer's in between.
" You're quite the early bird." A woman's voice made him turn to her as she cleaned up the tables. She was a middle-aged woman with brown hair. It seemed most people either had brown or black hair.
" An early bird catches the worm." He replied, she chuckled as she took a closer look at him. " The notice board hasn't been updated yet." She said continuing her work.
" I didn't come for quests." He murmured as he walked upstairs. " How distant." She clicked her tongue. Loraine continued cleaning the tables. She wasn't bothered by Nathaniel's cold responses she had seen too many of his type. The lone wolf type.
On the second floor Nathaniel bought a map and information of the areas for hunting and the dungeons. He had finished notifying them of his arrival. Though not mandate the guild advised adventurers to notify at branches in other cities/villages of their presence so in any emergency a quick and efficient response would be possible.
Taking a carriage he left for the nearest dungeon, The Goblin Pit. It was an E rank dungeon with swarms of goblins. It had three layers descending further underground. Only dungeons that protruded the earth excessively had ascending layers.
The benefit only being an early gatherer was there was less competition but eyes latched on prying for weakness. He certainly felt gazes but he ignored them. This was the wildlands, there existed only 1 rule. The strongest is king.
Checking his gear, 5 healing potions, 3 wraith poison potions, 5 day's ration, 2 teleportation scrolls and an emergency beacon.
" Lets go." He said as his thin frame disappeared into the darkness on the tunnel leading underneath. Unlike Arneth's dungeon this time the corridor was short. It felt as if it was spatial displacement.
Nathaniel's POV
The first sensation I felt was sinking, sinking into soft earth. It was mud, ankle length mud. Raising my legs, the mud felt sticky. I quickly surveyed my surroundings. It was a swamp with high grass up to the abdomen. Sparse trees lay over in the horizon.
I frowned at the nauseating smell of rot. I stored my sword and readied my magic staff keeping in mind my goal to study my power and explore its limits.
'Mana sense!' Immediately a layout of mana signatures appeared in my mind. There currently 4 or 5 human signatures and a lot of goblins though mostly non rank however as soon as I deployed my mana sense within the goblin stronghold eyes flashed open, dark green iris gazed south in my direction.
" Gwardi blak." ( Go hunt) The hobgoblin said as the army of goblins rushed out from the stronghold.
Over in the distance a party of 5 also sensed the mana wave.
" Fuck, which idiot used their mana sense." A man with a bow uttered in dismay. " We are leaving." A female guardian knight in heavy armor said as she tore up a teleportation scroll and the party disappeared.
Teleportation scrolls were mainly used in dungeons ranked C and above, they had the guild marked as the teleportation point. Teleportation points could also be custom as well as long you paid the fee. Although few had affinity for spatial magic that did not dwarf mages understanding of spatial magic to an extent. With runes it was possible to replicate some aspects of spatial magic.
Looking at the buzzling grass I felt a rush, a rush I hadn't felt in a long time. A rush of war, the brush with death and living on the edge.
I swallowed expectantly gleaming with vigor.
'They are here.' Thoughts racing.
"Woo-woo-woosh" Arrows laced with poison zigzagged in air aimed at me. Flicking my staff I jumped back and a mana barrier instantly appeared then collapsed and then reappeared and collapsed once more. Afterwards a mana surge "Boom!" created a tidal wave of mana that blasted the arrows apart.
' When I had no talent in magic I devised this technique on mana superposition.'
I locked onto the grass.
Taking a shallow breath, ' Ice lance' A dozen ice lances within a second imbedded themselves in the swamp grass creating hollow holes in the bodies of the goblins. "Grrr." The goblins screeched rushing en masse at me.
Swamp water gave way and goblin assassins rushed with daggers surrounding him. "Clank!"
' Mana barrier.' I stepped back retreating waving my staff semi circularly .
They closed in, "Fuck off!" Wind blades instantly severed the heads of the assassins.
I rushed to inwards into the swamp water.
" Patah-Patah-Patah." Short legs ran in the water, the charging goblins rushing through the high grass. Slowly encircling me.
" Ice magic: Static domain!" A ton of ice 3 seconds later encased the the goblins freezing their life pulse. It rapidly expanded in a kilometer radius.
" Haa, lets move." I made my way out of the swamp. I had no need for the leather of no rank goblins. In Liberia, adventures sold magic cores of ranked monsters but the price was relative to the rank of the monster.
I trudged along the forest, thinking back to the fight. " I'm too slow. My casting is too slow. My barriers lack power. For ice lances they need be to instantaneous and the radius of static domain too small. I need to level it up a least a hundred ton of ice. Plus my spell list is lacking and I severely lack movement magic spells."
I had mostly basic spells handed out by the military with the exceptions being static domain, petals of life and parallel mind.
" Double spell casting has no use as my spells suck. Lets get this over with." My eyes landed on the goblin settlement. The dawning rays casted little light creating shadows that shrouded the forest. The settlement looked abandoned except for the massive army before me. At the forefront stood a hobgoblin. Hobgoblins an evolved goblin. They had taller bodies similar to humans, more substantial muscle mass and darker green skin.
In heavy iron armor, " Yrack gi! ( Come!)" The hobgoblin shouted charging at me. Behind it the goblins charged their numbers almost endless.
( AN: Apologies for the slow rate of chapter release. I will try to at least release a chapter per week on Saturday.)