Chapter 8

Growing Glory

Jay flew through the black screen separating Wraith from the outside world. As he passed through it, his hand burned with an instant of intense heat and pain. Once outside, he rolled head over heels and smacked hard into the ground, his back and feet took most of the brunt force, but his whole body felt jarred. He looked at the sky for a moment, the clear blue and wispy white clouds showing that it would be a beautiful day. He smiled, feeling relaxed and clearheaded, feeling he had taken the first steps toward truly awesome power.

A few moments later, he turned his body, pushing himself up to one knee, only to stop because a rake was almost shoved into his face. “Back,” a thick and short Mole-squirrel in a dark brown robe said to him, holding the rake menacing. “Back. Fertilizer.” The rake pushed into Jay's stomach and he flew back through the air towards the black sphere.

To his surprise, Jay didn't fly back through the black surface of the sphere, but hit it hard, sliding down to sit with it at his back as support. His body ached. Those creatures were too strong. He felt slightly helpless when thinking how they could push him around as if he weighed nothing. “Wait,” he said, raising his hand, pleading for the now ten Mole-squirrels that stood in a circle around him to not hurt him. “I was thrown out. And now I can't go back. Please don't hurt me any more.”

Jay didn't think what he said would help, but he had to give it a try. And to his astonishment, the creatures looked at him in shock, their beady black eyes opened as much as was physically possible. “MASTER!” They yelled in complete unison, all of them trembling, seeming to want to move, but unable to do so. The first Mole-squirrel that had shoved Jay looked extremely scared, but it spoke hesitantly. “No kill. No, please no kill.”

“I won't kill you,” Jay felt he was probably as surprised as the Mole-squirrels were frightened, because he had no idea why they would have this reaction.

But before Jay could think some more, the first Mole-squirrel sniffed the air and grew bold, walking up to Jay. Reaching out its hand, stretching a thick brown finger, it touched Jay's palm hesitantly. “Not Master,” it said, growing bolder. “Who you?”

Jay didn't know what to say or what to do, but he didn't feel as scared as he was a few seconds earlier. “I'm Jay. Who you?” He tried using a more basic form of communication because these creatures seemed barely sentient and might be confused if he didn't speak to them in their own way.

“Gark,” the Mole-squirrel pointed to its chest. “You? Why feel like Master?” it once again pushed at Jay's palm and seemed to felt a slight jolt of pain as it retracted its hand quickly. “Little Master?” it asked, sounding very confused.

Jay could relate, the confusion seemed to be spreading, all the Mole-squirrels in a circle around him also looked at each other as if asking what was going on. “First of all, let me get up from the ground. What is this all about?”

Seeing Jay slowly stand, brushing off imaginary dust from his pants, all the Mole-squirrels took a step back as if wanting to run away, but seeming unable to even control their bodies. They all looked like they were standing in front of an extremely dangerous predator, hoping they wouldn't become its next meal, using the rest of their cohorts as potential scapegoats.

“No kill,” Gark said. “Please?” it was trembling again, its brown robe rustling as if blown by the wind.

“Wait a moment,” Jay said, stretching out his right hand again, showing them his palm. The very instant his palm was pointed at the Mole-squirrels they all fell back, laying down on their backs, opening up their robes to show him their yellowish brown-furred bellies. Closing their eyes, they all stretched out their arms too, as if entirely giving up any resistance to whatever Jay wanted to do. “What are you doing?” Jay asked, hoping to get some more information about what was going on. “Get up. Why are you lying there on the ground?”

None of the Mole-squirrels moved even a bit, they all just opened their eyes, looking at Jay with what he could only interpret as silent pleading and despair. “Stand up. I won't harm you.”

“Little Master? Good Master?” Gark asked. It seemed this Mole-squirrel had a little bit more courage than the rest of them.

“Yes, yes,” Jay said, impatient to have these creatures tell him what was going on. They didn't seem to be hostile, and their abrupt fear of him was not bad either. It might be possible that Jay had found a place to stay for a while, but he had to know what these creatures were and why they treated him like they did. He looked down on his right palm, for the first time seeing what that burning sensation had been. In the middle of his palm he saw a a tiny outline of a red square with a green circle inside it. The symbol seemed to be like a tattoo. This must have come from the silver token Wraith gave me, but what did it do to me?

You're back! Claudine's voice rang out in his skull, almost echoing in with its loud volume. Finally. I thought I was dead. I mean... I thought you were dead!

Ehm? Jay was slightly puzzled, but remembered that he hadn't been able to talk to Claudine inside Wraith's sealed space. it's very kind of you to care so much... I guess? What happened?

How would I know? When you went through that black barrier all input from your senses just went blank for me and I could do nothing about it. You've been gone a bit more than two days. I should be the one asking what happened... Claudine sounded very petulant, but also happy, as if she had actually been worried for him, but couldn't make herself say so.

Jay felt slightly touched, but also very strange. You said two days? It felt like just a couple of hours. How can that be?

How would I know? Claudine asked again, this time sounding annoyed. What happened?

When I went through this black barrier I found myself inside a barren place with an old man that looked like a stone statue, but was actually alive. He gave me a Skill with a Profession attached to it. It was quite rewarding now that I know I'm safe from his clutches. Jay felt happy, looking around, only to notice that he could see almost no glowing colors of Mana at all wherever he looked. Strange, he thought, why are there only some tiny specks of Mana inside the plants and things out here?

What? Claudine asked. I don't know what you're talking about. But now you're safe, so that's good. I can't have you dying on me before I get my own body, you hear me? I need to collect all the information, and if you disappear I have to do it by myself. I've already accumulated quite a bit in such a short time. Having collected 0.0007% of what my instincts tell me I knew before can be considered a good amount in this short time, but there is much left to collect. So don't go dying on me just yet.

Okay... Jay said, not knowing if he should pity Claudine, or laud her conviction. 0.0007% can't really be a lot, however you look at it, but she seemed happy, so he wouldn't ruin her good mood. And Jay had other things on his mind; firstly, what kinds of Spells should he create to get those 5 million Experience-points as quickly as possible, and secondly, why could he only see tiny specks of Mana?;

“Little Master?” Gark asked, and Jay now noticed that the Mole-squirrels had all stood back up, but none had left and everyone except Gark was looking down on the ground, their hoods covering their faces. “Have orders?” Gark asked.

“Just do what you were doing,” Jay said, hesitating before continuing. “Except you Gark, I need to ask a few questions, okay?”

The encircling Mole-squirrels all bowed low to Jay, saying “Good Little Master,” in unison, then hurriedly walking away with their different farming tools, and soon they were all tending to one large plant or another, watering them, sprinkling some powder on them or doing other things to tend the plants. Jay finally figured out what these creatures' purpose must be; they were gardeners for Wraith.

“Little Master?” Gark asked again, seeming to want to join his brethren in their tasks. “What do now?”

“Ah, Gark,” Jay said, smiling at the creature. Jay walked forward, patting it on its broad shoulder. Gark seemed to wilt and grow uncertain. “I only want to know some things. Follow me.” Jay walked away from the black sphere and the strange spiraling Life Tree. He didn't want to be too close to either things if he could avoid it. He walked until he came to the slightly raised dais where he had lain earlier and jumped up, turning in the air to land sitting on the stone outcropping, his feet almost touching the ground. It was a good seat, from here Jay could see all the Mole-squirrels and what they were doing. But he didn't feel completely safe just yet. “Gark, what is this place?”

“Master's garden,” Gark answered.

“I figured that out,” Jay said, looking down on Gark's cloaked figure. “What I mean is... What are you? And where is this?”

“We Saruk, Master's gardeners. Here, Sarukim, town of last Saruk,” Gark said, slowly raising his head to look up at Jay. “Little Master not know this? Why?”

“You ask me why?” Jay felt strange, thinking: hadn't these creatures taken him here to make into some kind of fertilizer out of his flesh and bones? “You brought me here, I didn't come here by myself. How would I know where this is? Or who you are?”

“Ah!” Gark took a step back. “Where fertilizer?” it asked Jay as if just having the thought.

How would I know? Jay almost asked, but keeping the thought inside his head; he couldn't bring himself to confuse the Mole-squirrel anymore than necessary. “No fertilizer this time,” Jay said, hoping it would settle this matter. “Now tell me, where is this?”

“Sarukim,” Gark said.

“I won't get a better answer, will I?” Jay asked, “No, don't answer. It doesn't matter. I just want to know this. Why call me Little Master?”

“You? No!” Gark said, “Little Master is hand.”

“You mean I'm not this Little Master?” Jay was confused. Did this creature not understand even basic language? “You're saying my hand is your Little Master?”

“Yes!” Gark exclaimed, but hesitated. “No?” it then asked, frustrating Jay to no end.

“Then who am I?” Jay asked, not knowing what else to ask. He had to know if these creatures would listen to him, because if they only feared his hand, or the symbol on it, then Jay wouldn't feel safe here. He didn't know what the symbol was, and when he looked at it with his Eye of the Magi, he could only see the tiniest sparks of green and red Mana flowing together in an intricate pattern, creating a whirlpool in the middle of his palm.

“You? Little Master,” Gark said.

“So, I'm Little Master?” Jay asked patiently, but secretly wanting to scream it at this creature; he held back, however. It wouldn't be good if he somehow insulted these creatures that he couldn't even see the information about with his Observe Skill. Their bodies glowed with a pulsing brown and red Mana-light, however, making Jay believe they were very powerful. “What is Little Master to you?”

Gark looked up, confusion plainly covering its rat-like face, its small beady eyes squinting up at Jay as if trying to see him better. “Master all-powerful. Little Master little powerful?”

“No,” Jay said, hurriedly trying to intimidate the creature. “Little Master all-powerful too.”

“No kill. Please?” Gark whined, lowering its head again, covering its face in its brown hood. “Little Master everything. All obey.”

This sentence made Jay giddy. From what he understood it seemed these creatures instinctively were afraid of the mark on his palm. If he could use this to his advantage, it would be great. “So, you will do what I say?”

“Yes,” Gark said, trembling slightly.

“No need to be afraid,” Jay said, trying to comfort the creature. If he could gain these Mole-squirrels as his followers or tools, he would at the very least feel safe being in this place until he had created the eight Spells for his Quest. “If you obey me, everything will be good.”

“Good?” Gark asked. “How good?”

“Ehm,” Jay didn't really know what to say. He paused for a little while, remembering the conversation he had had with this creature. “If you obey. I no kill. Good?”

“Yes,” Gark said. “That good.”

“Alright, then it's settled,” Jay said. “You can go do whatever you want now. I will not disturb you unless I have to. Don't disturb me either.”

Gark stood still, then quickly looked up again only to lower its face in an instant. “Good,” Gark said a little while later. “I go plant,” then Gark walked away, minding its own business.

Seeing Gark walk to the black sphere and picking up its rake, Jay felt relieved. It seemed this place was actually a blessing in disguise. Now he just had to think about what to do next. And creating new Spells was his priority.

Pulling up his legs to the dais, he sat down comfortably, crossing his legs, relaxing his arms in his lap, closing his eyes, Meditating to replenish the massive amount of Mana he could now have. He knew he now had the capacity to hold more than 40000 Mana and when he had filled his Mana-pool completely he could experiment for a long while before running out again. He felt relaxed and focused, it was great.

Letting his mind drift, he began thinking about what kinds of Spells he could create, and if he should try and make as them as simplistic as possible, or as useful as possible. After a couple of minutes he came to the conclusion that he would try and blend the two concepts. He wanted to quickly create the eight different Spells, but also didn't want to create something completely useless. So, what kind of Spells did he need?

He had a great Attack Spell in his Fling Shot, even though it hadn't shown up in his Spell-list, it was still a great Spell, he just needed to stabilize it; that wasn't something difficult as long as he had the time to use it consecutively with the same amount of Mana every time. It would be easy, especially now that his control over Mana and his ability to see Mana and understand its uses had greatly increased too. For now, he ignored the Force Mana Spell, and thought about the other seven.

First, Fire Mana, by its very nature, should be useful as an attack, but Jay didn't really need an Attack Spell. So, he thought for a while and remembered back to his misadventure below the Magician's Guild, and he quickly came to the conclusion that Fire Mana could also be used to illuminate. He really didn't want to carry around torches when exploring caves or dungeons, and it didn't seem difficult to create a small ball of flame that he could have burning perpetually instead of a torch. As long as he could create a small flame that would not use more than 10% of his Mana Regeneration it could be called a success.

Looking at the bar representing his Mana-pool and seeing it was barely filled to a third, he realized that it would take a really long time before he would fill it up completely, so he didn't try creating the Fire Spell just yet. He needed to think of some more concepts before actually beginning experimentation.

Next, he thought about Wind and how he had seen a Spell called Air Shield—or something like that—in the Magician's Guild Beginner's Spellbook. He didn't know how that Spell looked, or how it worked, but he figured the concept was a sound one. If he could create a whirlwind around himself using Wind Mana to fuel its rotation, it would be really useful against ranged attacks. And since Jay had long since come to the conclusion that he would try and attack from a long distance as much as possible, this really felt like the right thing to create, and it didn't seem like it would that difficult.

Going through each type of Mana one by one, Jay thought as hard as he could, but after a long time he only had a good idea about what to do with Water Mana. He really didn't like having to carry around water, so if he could condense the moisture in the air and drink it, he wouldn't need to use his precious few kilograms of possible carry-weight; this would make his Inventory more spacious.

An bit more than an hour passed and Jay still hadn't filled his Mana-pool completely; he had hoped he could use his thoughts only and completely figure out the eight Spells he would create before actually having to create them, but right now it seemed like his imagination could only do so much. He needed to experiment with the different types of Mana and figure out what could be done and not before he thought some more about what Spells to create. But before that, he would try to create the three he had already thought of.

Opening his eyes completely, Jay looked around, only now remembering that his Eye of the Magi seemed to not be as useful outside that strange black sphere as it was inside. He couldn't figure out why until he looked at the stone beneath him; inside the stone were tiny specks of brown and silver Mana, but even being this close, the specks barely glowed. Their dim glow made Jay realize he only used 10% of 'Eye of the Magi'. Set Eye of the Magi to 100%, he thought and the world seemed to be set ablaze for a moment, then his mind calmed down and the world seemed more ephemeral with the now clearly visible wisps of Mana floating through the air and the glowing tiny stars showing concentrations of Mana inside the stones, plants and Mole-squirrels all around Jay.

Reaching out his hand, Jay concentrated, using his Mana Manipulation to send out a pale yellow strand of Mana. For some reason, this was the default, but he didn't want to use Force Mana right now, so Jay concentrated, picturing the strand of Mana connecting to his finger turning orange. The pale yellow in the Mana Jay had sent out dissipated, turning almost invisible, but was then replaced almost instantly by a fiery orange color. It looked like something invisible had converted the Mana from Force Mana to Fire Mana, but that it hadn't been Jay's doing, but some external force acting according to Jay's thoughts. It felt strange, as if there was an invisibly lurking presence watching over what he did with his Mana, but it didn't bother him much. As long as Jay could control what happened to his Mana, that was good enough.

The fiery orange Mana-tendril coming out of Jay's finger behaved differently than the pale yellow; it was constantly vibrating slightly, almost as if it was trying to go against Jay's will. But it didn't, so Jay didn't mind. He only took note of the fact that it seemed the different kinds of Mana might be differently difficult to control. Not thinking more about it, Jay forced the fiery orange Mana into a ball and thought of a burning flame. In an instant the ball of Mana burst into flame, and a small yellow orange ball of fire was burning in the air two decimeters above Jay's hand. He cut off the tendril of Mana to the ball of flame and it burned for barely a second before disappearing. This seems easy enough, he thought to himself.

How did you do that? Claudine asked. You shouldn't be able to just create fire like that. It takes Magicians years to be able to control their Mana like that. And you're not even gifted in the Fire Attributed Spells. How did you do that?

Claudine seemed puzzled and excited both. And Jay couldn't help but feel slightly smug. This is all because of the Skill I learned inside that black sphere.

How? Claudine said, but not actually seeming to ask Jay.

It doesn't matter, Jay thought. Can't you see how easy it is for me to use all types of Mana now?

What do you mean types of Mana? Claudine asked.

You can't see the different colors? Jay was now a bit flustered. Didn't Claudine see everything he saw, and as such, shouldn't she see what he did now that he used the 'Eye of the Magi'?

What colors? Your Mana is as always a pale whitish blue, Claudine answered.

Oh? Jay hadn't thought that she wouldn't see the different colors. Does that mean you can't see the Freeflowing Mana either?

What's that? A hungry note tinged Claudine's voice, it seemed she really liked knowing new things. I can only see your Mana and mine, except if the Mana concentration is so large that it takes on solid physical form.

Ehm, Jay said, not knowing if it was a good idea to try and explain this to Claudine, especially since she didn't seem to be able to see what he saw through the 'Eye of the Magi'. No matter, I can't explain it right now Claudine.

Meh! Claudine exclaimed, sounding extremely indignant. Suit yourself. She then grew quiet.

Oh, don't be like that, Jay thought. Come on, I'll explain later, when I understand it better. Okay?

He didn't get an answer though, so Jay just went back to what he was doing. He once more sent out a tendril of Mana, and this time visualized it as a fiery orange right away. To his delight, Fire Mana came out of his finger, and this time it didn't vibrate as much. This time he didn't make a ball of the Mana though, he tried to get a feel for an exact amount, making the tendril of Mana uniform before forcing it to bulge out, making its end look like an egg the size of Jay's fist; then he thought of it burning, and it did, creating a flickering fire about half the size of his fist. The fiery yellow flame with an orange core blazed above his hand, and Jay slowly fed it Mana through a flowing tendril that didn't change size at all, calibrating it to burn exactly one MP every three seconds. If it wasn't for him actually feeling the Mana drain from him, he wouldn't have known that he actually fed the flame with Mana from just looking at it. The ball of fire floated in mid air, pushed up by the constant ignition of Fire Mana from its bottom. He kept the little ball of fire burning for a minute, five, ten... an hour passed and he still burned his Mana through a constant flow, having the exact amount of Mana drained every minute. Because his Mana Regeneration was much higher than his consumption he had now almost filled his Mana-pool, but he only focused on keeping the flame burning at a constant rate. Another hour passed, and Jay felt himself growing tired by this monotonous exercise. But he persevered, and it soon paid off. Ping!

Because of your constant use of Fire Mana in a specific way, you have created a Spell. What would you like to name your Spell? You have earned 9000 Experience

Flame Torch, Jay thought to the prompt. And there came another Ping! confirming the name. Jay had not felt this contented for a long time. He had actually succeeded. And it barely took a couple of hours. If he could create the other Spells this quickly he would soon get a large boost in Experience.

But before Jay could revel in his newfound happiness, a message telling him that Bluth was trying to contact him rang out in his head.

“Yes?” Jay asked Bluth.

“Oh, you're there now, good... haven't seen you away from the game for such a long time since I added you as a Friend,” Bluth said. “So, what did you do?”

“What do you mean?” Jay asked, knowing what the answer would be.

“You've got a bounty of a hundred gold on your head, didn't you know?”

“I knew,” Jay answered. “So what's it to you? Want to claim my bounty?”

“No, never! I wouldn't make you lose so much Experience for a few gold coins. Though I think it might be best for you to actually turn yourself in. You know, to get that nasty alignment corrected; it isn't easy to get rid of what, -10000 alignment? I read you killed a very large amount of people in the Magician's Guild somehow. It really gave me a good laugh.”

Ignoring what Bluth said last, Jay answered reluctantly. “I can't turn myself in.” He didn't really want to explain himself, but Bluth had been good to him, though he had also taken advantage of Jay, so Jay had to be wary. But thinking for a while he figured he might as well throw caution to the wind and see what happened, so he answered with some honesty. “I have this thing that if I die, I can't play anymore.”

“Oh?” Bluth sounded amused. “That's not good for you. What, you're playing on a hardcore account, so if you die it gets deleted?”

“Yes,” Jay lied. “This is a hardcore account, and if I die, it gets deleted.”

“Hmmmm,” Bluth said, humming to himself for a little while. “No matter. I just had to ask though, did you get any good loot from all those you killed?”

“I don't know,” Jay said.

“What?” Bluth asked. “Don't tell me you didn't pick up the void pearls... Sure, they seldom contain anything, but you killed a lot of people, and if you can't at least gain something from that, what was the point?”

“Oh, right,” Jay said to Bluth, but mostly to himself. He had forgotten completely about those pearls he picked up. “I forgot about those. Can you tell me a bit more about them?” He figured he could always learn a bit more, and Bluth seemed like man who tried to know as much as possible, so there might be answers to be found here.

“Sure,” Bluth said. “You'll need to show me all the loot anyway, so I might as well explain. The void pearls contain one slot of the Inventory of whoever you killed, and sometimes it will also contain a piece of the person's equipment. So, how many did you pick up, and what was inside?” Bluth sounded almost giddy at the prospect of having more things to buy and sell.

“I'll have to get back to you on that,” Jay said. “I haven't really checked. Though I picked up some of those pearls, I didn't have time to count them, and I didn't take all of them. And even more so, I haven't had the time to look at their contents. So, you'll have to wait.”

“Why?” Bluth sounded reluctant. “Can't you do it now?”

“I'm doing something for a very important Quest right now, so I can't care about other things. And the pearls need to be flooded with Mana before they open, so I really don't have time for it.”

“Fine,” Bluth said. “Well, I'll look forward to the info-dump then.”

“Sure,” Jay said. “If you didn't want something else from me, I need to get back to what I was doing.”

“Okay, bye,” Bluth said. “Watch out for yourself. I can't have you die. You're the person that's online most among the people I have contracted to me. So keep safe and you can always ask me for help if you need it. I won't charge you much.”

Jay didn't comment on what Bluth said about Jay having to pay for help, but he didn't really think it was a bad way to conduct their relationship either, so he didn't feel bad about the comment. “Talk to you later,” Jay said and severed the connection.

Now back to what I was doing, he thought to himself. He had already created one Spell, but that Spell was easy because he only had to burn his Fire Mana to make a ball of fire. Now, he had to use his Water Mana to collect the moisture in the air, and he didn't know exactly how he should go about trying that.