In most situations your brain will be the best weapon at your disposal.

Billy Stevens - Equipment Specialist Climber Academy

I was fucked.

The ritual to remove the false mana signature was relatively easy and only required three things: alchemic chalk, purifying ingredients, and the magical ability to complete the ritual. I had none of them.

Both the alchemic chalk and purifying ingredients, according to my new knowledge, were readily available from most quality alchemists. Unfortunately the wizard appeared to have used all of the chalk in completing the last ritual and he did not appear to have any purifying ingredients. Despite the large size of the keep it was clear that the wizard lived alone. I would not be finding an alchemist anywhere in the keep. Even if the wizard had both ingredients, or if I had an alchemist readying to give me any ingredient I needed, I had no magical talent. Without the magical skills there was no way to pull off the ritual.

To make matters worse the siege had started. While I was confident the keep would not be forced open anytime soon, that did not stop the forces from using a battering ram constantly. Each hit of the ram against the door elicited thud that rang throughout the keep. One hit every 30 seconds or so. The constant noise echoing throughout the keep prevented me from sleeping last night.

For all I knew this could be the plan of the sieging force. Why fight an enemy when you could drive them insane? In desperation I had used the wax of the candles to plug my ears in the middle of the night. The vibrations of each hit were strong enough that I felt a small thump on my chest with each hit. Then five minutes later my body “healed” my clogged ears and I was back to fully hearing each beat.

But things were not all bad. I had food, water, and access to a bath.

There was enough food to easily last me a year. Better yet, there were numerous fruits and vegetables that were magically preserved in addition to cheese and meats. And water. Clear fresh liquid water. The water was clean and refreshing and a million times better than the snow that had been my only source of hydration for nearly three months.

The bath was beyond anything I could have ever expected. The tub was not connected to any plumbing and instead used a magic crystal to create water of whatever temperature I desired. Once finished bathing another crystal would drain the water and any filth it carried. My new found magical knowledge let me know that it was likely using a modified version of the cleanse spell the wizard had used on me.

I hesitantly put on a spare robe the wizard had left after my bath. The robe did not provide any additional protection over the furs I had from the orc, but the cut was at least designed for a human.

The food, water, and ready supply to a bath would make for a nice break from the disgust of the first two floors, if not for the constant noise. The timing of each strike seemed to be planned to not allow me to get used to the noise and to stop me from being able to focus. Initially I tried to teach myself magic but with not being able to focus for more than a couple strikes I could not make any headway.

Giving up on trying to learn anything new, I walked through the keep rechecking all the rooms for anything I had missed the first time. I walked from the kitchen to a large dining hall that was empty save for the table and chairs. I then moved up to a study with an attached library next to the ritual room where the mana signature ritual was performed. There was another ritual room, where I had arrived, was just a short way from there. Then the master bedroom paired with a second study and bathroom from there. Finally was a grand library that seemed to hold a thousand books.

Having found the last two hidden rewards, I was certain that I would find the reward in this final library. Why? Probably because it was the only room outside of the kitchen and bedroom that was not completely gutted. I tried reading some of the titles but quickly realized that the wizard had only transferred the knowledge of how to speak the language, not read it. I started to take down all the books, touching each one to see if a prompt informed me of finding the hidden reward. After taking down all the books, I tried moving the book shelves. The fifth shelf moved and behind it I found a small recess and a sack.

Congratulations you have found the hidden treasure: Storage Bag.

I quickly my skill ‘scan’ on the bag.

Item: Storage Bag.

On the surface this bag is an ordinary bag. When you look a little closer you will find that it is still just a bag, but a bag that can hold more than it appears.

Storage space: 1000 cubic feet

Now that is a good piece of equipment. I quickly started putting each book in the bag, hoping that they would contain magic information that would help me later if I could learn to read the language. After emptying the library, I move through the keep looking for more things to store. The tub was too large to fit in the bag, but I easily removed both of the magical crystals and stored them in the bag. The kitchen was a little more complicated, as I didn’t know if the bag would prevent food from spoiling. Throwing caution to the wind, I emptied the entire food storage into my bag along with the cookware I found.

Going to the basement of the keep, I inspected each wall until I found the hidden exit. It was hidden behind a storage rack. It may have been more difficult to find if the wizard had attempted to put the storage rack back in place as he left the keep.

While I was tempted to go straight through the hidden exit, I knew I would easily be tracked by whatever magic users the besieging forces had. Instead, I headed to the highest level of the keep that overlooked the attackers.

There was only one apparent entrance to the keep and over a thousand soldiers were camped on the open hilly terrain. In front of the main body of the soldiers was the group using the large battering ram. I couldn’t see any that appeared to be leaders and most of the soldiers had a vacant, bored expression on their faces.

“Hey, I need to talk to your leader,” I shouted down.

After some confused looks I repeated myself a couple more times before someone stepped forward and yelled back to me.

“What for?” asked the soldier.

“This is all a misunderstanding,” I said. “The wizard isn’t here.”

The soldier looked at me for a minute before walking back to the rest of the soldiers. They talked amongst each other for a minute before someone walked off towards the rear of the forces. The rest of the soldiers once more picked up the battering ram and resumed hitting the door of the keep. After about half an hour a group of men in bright shining armor arrived.

“Are you ready to surrender Herbert?” asked the knight that appeared to be the leader.

“I am not Herbert,” I said, assuming that was the name of the wizard. “I was summoned here and he has escaped through a secret exit.”

“You may have much knowledge wizard, but do not assume we are idiots,” said the knight.

“I am not trying to trick you.”

“Do you think I can not recognize your mana signature? You can change your appearance all you want but we know who and where you are. Sit in your keep for as long as you like. Eventually you will grow tired of the noise and gratefully surrender to us.”

The knights quickly turned and once more moved to the rear of their forces. I tried calling down to the soldiers once more but was ignored.

Fine, I tried to be nice. I would just use the secret exit and attack anyone who came after me.

I quickly made my way to the basement and through the secret tunnel. Inside the entrance I found a torch and lit it using some flint along with a tinderbox I had stored in my bag from the kitchen. After jogging down the dark tunnel for 10 minutes I exited through a trapdoor up to the surface of an open field.

Before I could take in my surroundings a voice spoke out to me.

“As I said before, you will not be able to deceive us wizard,” said the lead knight from a few feet away.