The Legion office was more of a tavern than a formal building. A dozen men in legionnaire armor ate at the tables. Another dozen men and women in civilian clothing were eating food and drinking. I could tell most were legion by their well-muscled bodies in the more comfortable clothing. This city was much larger than any city I had been to date, so the two dozen legionaries inside should not have been a surprise.
I followed my mates to the bar, and Firth ordered four ales and paid for them. He handed us each one and took two for himself as we went and sat at a table. We got a few looks, but no one talked to us. I asked Firth, “So what do we do now?”
“After we finish these,” he held up his two mugs, “I will go shower, hit the local brothel, and then I will check for messages from Castille.”
He sipped on his ale, and I was a bit speechless. It seemed like we should have checked for messages first. I asked, “Can I head out and check out the city?”
Wylie said, “No problem. Be back here in four hours. You might want to shower first. You do not realize how much you reek. You smell like shit, horses, and sweat.” He pointed down a hallway, “Showers are that way. They will wash your clothes and treat your leather armor.”
Firth said seriously, “Don’t run off, Eryk. It will not take long for the Legion Hounds to track you down. The punishment is always a public death.” With that wonderful news, Firth was off to the showers. I followed slowly and stripped in front of a boy who put all my things in a box with the number forty-four on it.
He bowed, “Your items will be ready in two hours, legionnaire. You didn’t take your coin pouch,” he pointed at it. It was empty, but I unclipped it anyway and carried it with me. I guessed he did not want anyone questioning missing coins. There was a cold shower to scrub the dirt off to start, then a hot soaking pool, and then you finished with a scented oil rub. I didn’t spend much time in the hot soak even though it felt good because I was anxious to get into the city. I also found it odd to sit in a pool with half a dozen other naked men. They were all familiar with each other and in a deep conversation about methods to fight a hill giant.
After the soak, I dried, and there were three scented oils to choose from—lavender, honeysuckle, and coconut. I went with the honeysuckle. I had not seen Firth, so he must have raced through to baths to get to the brothel. My clothes were not ready, and I only had access to a linen robe while I waited.
I went into a closet, pulled out my simple clothes from my space, filled my coin pouch with my gold and silver, and went out the back door. I walked to the streets, and after two questions, I was headed toward the trade district. My pouch bulged under my pants, and I always kept my hand near it, mindful of thieves.
The city reminded me of something akin to an open market with rows of tents selling everything under the sun. What I really wanted was an essence collector or a stat assessment tablet. I asked and was directed to a small elaborate fountain in a cul de sac. The cul de sac didn’t have tents but actual shops, magic shops. The security was higher, and maybe a dozen city guards milled around the fountain. I had only seen sporadic pairs of city guards in the general market, so the fourteen here showed how important the cul de sac was.
I entered the bookstore first. A few patrons were browsing the shelves, and a middle-aged woman with a distracting mole on her chin asked me, “Can I help you?”
It was hard not to focus on the hairy mole, but I met her dull-brown eyes and asked, “I am looking for a book to teach my niece to read. She just started and needs something intermediate.” She beamed at me, thinking I was helping a young girl.
“I have a few things, although you might want to try one of the general stands in the market as well,” she said as she motioned me to follow.
She pulled out three books she thought were reasonably straightforward to teach a person to read. I negotiated the price to ten silver from thirteen as all the books were old and worn. One book was the history of the Telhian Empire for kids. The second was children’s stories of brave men and women of the Adventurer’s Guild fighting the orc hordes. The third book was an actual dictionary. I just needed to practice my reading of Latin. I thanked the woman and moved back to the fountain. I would have purchased a book on magic, but that would have cost too much gold.
I tried asking one of the guards if anyone sold essence collectors. He curtly responded, “You can only buy them from the Empire shops. Their sale is highly regulated.” I apologized as I backed away, not realizing a collector was that difficult to obtain. I suppose if you could use one on a live person to collect essence, then the restrictions made sense.
I considered getting my dungeon amulet appraised, but I might draw attention to myself if it was exceptionally valuable. Instead, I was able to find a tablet reader to rent in private. I could go into a room, activate the tablet myself, and see how much I had developed. I was more interested in getting my magic affinities assessed.
Tablet readers were apparently expensive to purchase and even to just rent. I paid an entire gold to access a stat and magic affinity tablet. I did both so as to not be too suspicious. My physical, mental, and magical stat reading went incredibly well.
Physical
Mental
Magical
Strength (+2/+0)
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48/79
Intellect (+3/+0)
31/54
Aether Pool (+2/+0)
14/22
Power (+2/+0)
45/82
Reasoning (+4/+0)
46/59
Channeling (+4/+0)
14/55
Quickness (+3/+0)
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Perception (+2/+0)
54/60
Aether Shaping (+2/+0)
8/8
Dexterity (+5/+3)
35/59
Insight (+3/+0)
34/49
Aether Tolerance (+1/+0)
22/50
Endurance (+10/+8)
66/95
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Resilience (+1/+0)
46/71
Aether Resistance (+1/+0)
5/19
Constitution (+4/+0)
41/65
Empathy (+1/+0)
11/21
Prime Aether Affinity
Space
Coordination (+2/+0)
40/61
Fortitude (+4/+0)
50/89
Minor Aether Affinity
Time
I remembered my last reading over six weeks ago. Since then, I have consumed a major essence for Dexterity and three apex essences for Endurance. Although my magical values had improved, my aether went from 12 to 14, and channeling went from 11 to 14. My aether shaping had maxed out. This was why I would never be able to cast spells, according to Damian. In order to write spell forms with my aether, I would need at least 30 in my aether shaping statistic. I could tell how poor my ability to control my aether was now that it had been some time. I just did not have the potential to be a true mage.
On a more positive note, my physical stats greatly improved. Strength (+2), Power (+2), Quickness (+3), Dexterity (+5), Endurance (+10), Constitution (+4), Coordination (+2). I think my potential for endurance also increased from 87 to 95. That confirmed in my mind that my spell form for the convergence affinity was locked into maximizing what benefits I received from consuming an essence. It should have taken dozens of apex essences to raise my endurance potential by just one point. It still felt like my gains were maybe too much since I was not training twelve hours a day as I had been at legionarie training. Was I missing something?
Did my time in the dungeon play a role? I was told the closer my ratings got to my potential, the harder it would be to increase them. I had been pushing my body harder but for much shorter amounts of time.
A knock at the door said my time was almost up. I set up the magic affinity tablet for the rare magics first and channeled my aether. The tablet displayed everything I had expected.
Rare Magics
Space
98
Time
90
Displacement
61
Materialism
9
Worlds
88
Void
22
Convergence
74
There was no change to any of my affinities that I remembered. I quickly burned the numbers into my memory.
I reset and switched the tablet to elemental affinities and channeled my aether into the tablet.
Elemental Magics (Common)
Fire
0
Air
0
Water
0
Earth
0
Lightning (Energy)
8
Spirit (Healing)
19
Nature (Plant)
0
My heart dropped a little. My healing affinity was just 19. I should be able to learn a spell form to help with my healing, but it would not be exceptional. Still, any healing spell form would be greatly welcomed. The knock at the door came again, and I rushed to the last reading, the uncommon magics.
Unaffiliated Magics (Uncommon)
Charm (Mind)
5
Illusion
0
Clairvoyance
0
Protection (Guardian)
30
Necromancy
0
Celestial
0
Abyssal
0
I reset the tablet and stood. Nothing earth-shattering, but I still had my massive affinities in the rare magics. I wished I had a book to figure out what possible spell forms I could get for my protection affinity. I also knew there were apex essences out there that could increase my magic affinities. Renna had said High Mage Dacian was questing for the apex earth affinity essence. I wondered if my convergence ability to maximize essence also extended to magic affinities. It had to. Could my convergence spell form maximizing gains from essence force my potentials past 100? From what Damian had told me, 100 was the limit for humans.
The door opened, and the proctor motioned me out of the room. Another person had paid and was waiting. I thanked him and walked out into the street. I spent a silver coin at various food carts as I walked the magical market in the cul de sac. I still had twenty gold from the dungeon chest, but I was not sure if I should spend it. My knowledge was just too lacking. I would probably overpay or get something I did not need.
It was also close to four hours, so I decided to return to the Legion Hall. I figured I would have more time tomorrow to browse the markets. When I entered the hall, it was evening, the number of Legionaries had tripled, and the tables were full. Wylie waved me over to a table with Firth and someone I did not recognize—a blonde man in leather armor.
Firth spoke, “We were just about to scour the city for you, Eryk. This is Prefect Bacchus. He runs the message dispatch. He just gave us our orders.”
Wylie interrupted with an angry spat, “We are being sent to the Western Front. The City of Macha. Fucking Justin Cicero must have pulled some strings to fuck over Castille.” Prefect Bacchus eyebrows went up in surprise. The Captain looked like he had a rod shoved up his ass.
I asked, “What does this mean? The western front is the Kingdom of Bartiradia, right?” I had looked at some maps but was no expert.
Prefect Bacchus turned the sheet in his hands, “It is fifteen hundred miles from here. The borders are constantly shifting. Mage Castille has been asked to reinforce the city, not fight on the battlefront.”
Firth leaned back in his chair, annoyed, “We heard that before. Pegasus Campaign, Defense of Amatalhos, Emperorer’s Diplomacy Mission to the Heptarchy. They always say this mission is a chance to relax, just like taking eggs from a hen. Then that fucking hen has five-inch claws and a five-foot tongue that can strangle you.”
“True story,” Wylie interrupted but then laughed to himself and took a long pull of his ale.
Prefect Bacchus stood and nodded to the three of us, obviously uncomfortable with the informality. He said, “The portal will be open to Macha just after the mid-day bell. Do not miss the opening.”
After he left, Firth swore, “Fucking rich sons of the favored,” referring to Bacchus. “That ass has never seen and will never see battle in his entire enlistment and will make ten times the coin what we do.”
After spouting off some more obscenities, Firth calmed down, but I had a weird feeling it was more of an act than being truly angry with Prefect Bacchus. Personally, I did not see the difference between risking our lives against monsters or another Kingdom. I wisely kept my mouth closed. Firth looked at me and said, “No horses on the front. We are not calvary. Before you get to the bunks tonight, get our gear from the horses, Eryk. Wylie, complete three packs of provisions for us before you lay down.”
Firth took a long pull, “I am going to kick the rumor mill tonight and see if anything useful falls out. He looked around the room, stood, and made his way to join a table of intoxicated legionaries still in armor.”
I went to get a meal and at it at the counter. I was still a bit famished. The barkeep slid me another ale, and he asked, “You are with Castille’s company?”
I nodded while stripping a chicken leg with my teeth. He seemed to consider, “Is Linus still with them?” I nodded again as Linus was our medic. He smiled, “He saved my life. Give him this when you see him. Tell him Nolan is still alive and kicking.” He produced a bottle of amber liquid from under the bar. I took the bottle and nodded in understanding.
After the meal, I went to the bath and found bin forty-four. My clothes and gear were clean. I carried it to the stables and found our packs neatly arranged on shelves. I pulled an apple I had brought with me and walked to Ginger, my horse. “Sorry, lady, this is the end of the line for us. We had some really good times. You are a good horse.” I rubbed her down one last time.
I spent the next two hours going through the bags and packing our gear into three backpacks. When no one was around, I moved the books, luxury tent, and bedroll into my dimensional space. Each of the three backpacks weighed about sixty pounds when I finished. I lugged them inside to the common room, and a drunk and conversing Firth told me to bring them to bunk room seven.
The bunk room was empty and had four beds, all floor-level. I dropped a pack on each bed and took the fourth open one for myself. The mattress was canvas stuffed with some type of soft straw and smelled like sweat from the last user. I almost preferred sleeping on the ground.
I still fell asleep in short order. Wylie woke me when he entered and tossed three heavy packages on the ground, rolling a pack to the floor and then quickly falling asleep. Firth didn’t show up till much later in the evening, clearly drunk. He slept next to the backpack I had prepared rather than tossing it on the floor. I rolled over and tried to get back to sleep.
