Project: TheirWorld - Chapter 028 - Part 2

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Last of the Lessons

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TheirWorld

“Just kidding!” he smiled at her. “Well - almost. Your lessons here at the school of Good Books is complete. When you are ready to graduate and move onto the main game, all you must do is initiate a graduation ceremony where you will be gifted the rewards you earned before meeting with the Second of the Fates. You have done well, little Guin. For now, I suggest that you spend your tutorial tokens on trainer and finish any quests that you may have. Be careful, though - the choices that you make here will affect you the rest of your time in TheirWorld.”

His voice was stern, but Guin thought nothing of it. After she thanked him, she pulled up her notification window to clear it and see the state of things. She knew she had quite a few tokens to spend, and she might as well do it while she could.

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< Body - 25 >

< Endurance - 20 >

< Resilience - 22 >

< Reflexes - 23 >

< Intellect - 24 >

< Spirit - 28 >

< Presence - 3 >

< Resolve - 8 >

< Perception - 7 >

< Fate - 24 >

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Guin’s jaw dropped at what she saw in her screens. Those corrupted creatures had dropped two tokens each! As far as she was concerned, for the tutorial, she was rich!

Seeing that, she turned back to Grimhar and asked, “Teacher,, are there things that I can purchase from from you with my tokens?”

“Indeed,” he said thoughtfully. He took out a paper on which was written the things that she could purchase with her tokens.

There were several books, like the Cryptozoology book from before - but one thing she was surprised to see was that he taught the ability [Magic Circle], one of the standard set of caster-class abilities one needed before advancing on.

Another thing she noticed was that the nice stuff wasn’t cheap.

Well shit, Guin thought to herself. She had a lot of tokens because of her choice to fight monsters rather than do chores. What did other people do?

Frowning, she looked over the list. She had over 600 tokens - she supposed she needn’t be too thrifty, but she could spend them anywhere - and who knows what other people had to offer.

Though she eyed the books, she decided, “Teacher, could you teach me [Magic Circle]?” The ability was arguably the most valuable thing he sold, and even if she didn’t end up as a caster, the spell would be handy to have at her disposal.

“Certainly, if you have the tokens to trade for it,” Grimhai nodded. Counting out thirty tokens, she handed them over.

With a nod, the teacher proceeded to take out a paper and began drew a ‘simple’ magic circle. Made of of geometric shapes and a kind of script of some writing she had never seen before, it actually looked quite complicated - though after having seen some others, she was happy enough to receive it. The paper also listed a handful of directions and ingredients.

“This is the base ritual [Magic Circle],” Grimhai told her. No magic circle is easy to create, but they are very powerful. Magic circles are the root of complex spells of protection, transformation, and enchantment. Should you desire to become a mage in the future, the [Magic Circle] ability is invaluable.”

“What are the requirements to activate it?” she asked.

“[Magic Circle], though perhaps more difficult a skill to master than others, is simple and highly malleable according to your needs. No matter the state, you should only require a means of imprinting the circle on the surface that you desire - such as chalk or paint - and a simple catalyst. For now, that catalyst should only be your meditation within the circle. As you become more powerful and gain access to more resources, you can change, add, and mix catalysts and enhancers to increase the effect on the circle. This is true of many circles, though it cannot be said of them all. In my time, I have seen magic users use only will power to create and activate circles - though, as with anything, this comes with much risk.” Guin nodded, and the teacher went on. “As for this particular circle, it is also called the ‘Meditation Circle’. Meditating on this circle allows you to gain and recover mana at high speeds, and can also help improve your abilities to control and manipulate magical energies. Other than that, though,” he went with a shrug, “It’s basically useless. Why do you try it? First memorise the circle - or use your ability button to place a guide - and take this chalk,” he handed her a piece of chalk from his drawer, “...and draw the circle on the floor next to you, large enough that you can sit in the innermost circle.”

Guin took the sheet, and after reading it over, it was committed to her database, flickering into nothing as a screen popped up:

> <<[Magic Circle]>> > > > > > > > > >

Excited, she placed a guide down of the wooden floorboards of the school and began to draw. It took her about five minutes to do it properly - way too long to be used in combat if she where to hand draw it. Even with practice it would take her at least 30 seconds to a minute to do it properly.

“Good!” he said again. “Now, sit in the triangle and meditate. This meditation doesn’t have to be specific; focus on gathering up the energies to the world around you. It might take some time and practice, but it shall be well worth the effort.”

Guin stepped into the circle and began, vaguely aware that Grimhai was giving her further instruction, but she was mostly ignoring it. It was strange, feeling a very real rush of energy go through her body - but as it did, with her mind's eye, she caught hold of it, and spun it around like she was making a ball of yarn, attempting to purify it and make it her own. Over time, it formed a ball, constantly spinning and growing bigger with each layer she laid into it. Eventually, however, the flow became slower, and he energy became more difficult for her to manipulate. Her mind and body fel a great pressure, and she was forced to stop. Opening her her status window, she saw that her mana had hit its cap, and she sighed.

“Well, that was rather fast,” Grimhai said.

Not terribly happy with the results, but knowing that the more she used the ability the more mana she world gain, Guin shrugged. “It’s not my first time,” she told him, the bowed. “Thank you, Teacher - for everything!”

He gave her a smile. “You were a good little student,” he told her, patting her on the head. “I will look forward to your future accomplishments. Should you need anything else, you know where I’ll be. Oh,” he then added just as Guin was about to leave again. “Should you have the time, there are a few people in town who are looking for some assistance…”

This quest is optional. It can be skipped.>

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This quest is optional. It can be skipped.>

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This quest is optional. It can be skipped.>

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Grimhai detailed three very chore-like quests for people around the town and where she could find them. Though she had little opinion about doing them, she gratefully accepted them and added them to her roster for the day. If nothing else, they could be a way of gather information. Her reputation being so low in the town certainly wouldn’t help any of them gather information about the people behind the corruption in the forest - and t might be better to have her own information to offer before heading outback out to the hunter’s guild. Plus, there was also the potential that these quests could give her other benefits, like faction bonuses, skill acquisitions, and quest and class connections. Since it was the Schoolmaster who was giving the quests, there was a very good chance that they weren’t totally dead end quests.

With a wave, they bid each other farewell. With renewed determination and new abilities at her disposal, Guin headed off in the direction of the first of her new quests.