Wild Era 2, Ch 30: Gifts

When they reached Highmist, Kelin led the way to the guild shops.

He had the heads of the Wind Hunters stored in a spare spatial bag, but he needed a few things to make his plan effective.

The team dumped out all of their gains on the counter, which made the clerk grumble at the work, but before long they sold off everything unnecessary.

There was a lot of loot from the dungeon and the Wind Hunters had added all of their artifacts and gear to it, as well as their storage items.

The haul was impressive.

There were over 200 undead cores at the early First Evolution from the dungeon, as well as several Elite cores, some small piles of mana crystals, elemental crystals, and necrotic gems, random weapons and gear they’d picked up, and some crafting materials.

Then there were the special items, like the dagger, robe, and grimoire from the librarian Elite.

No one had any need for the equipment, so they reduced it all to coinage and divided it. The True Remnant had been generous and the Rare items alone were worth about 14,000 gold. 

On top of that, the Wind Hunter lieutenants’ gear was worth about two thousand gold each, while Jaster’s was worth over ten thousand. Then the artifacts they carried added another eight thousand on top.

Everyone ended up with just over 10,250 gold and change. 

It was a major windfall for the team, and even Kelin nodded in approval. 

That was enough for them to equip themselves in top of the line First Evolution gear, and for him to work on his crafting for quite a while.

“We should give this back to you,” Maro said as he pushed a pile of gold coins toward Kelin. “You loaned it to us before.”

“It wasn’t a loan,” Kelin said, shaking his head. “Keep it.”

“We can’t have that,” Galin disagreed, grumbling. “It wouldn’t be fair. You take that back or we’ll have issues now. It’s thanks to you that we can even do this in the first place, so at least clear that account, and this doesn’t even cover the rarer items you gave us, like that grimoire and potion.”
“You also paid for all of the crafting materials and more that you used with those talismans,” Serai said, nodding in agreement as she helped to push the coins toward Kelin. “This isn’t much, but it helps to balance things.”

After a moment, Kelin shrugged and stored the gold away. It was a thousand from each of them, which was close enough that he didn’t bother keeping track.

It put his wealth at about 15,600 gold.

“I’ll take care of that thing we discussed,” he said, speaking obliquely since the clerk could hear. 

The fellow would probably approve, but there was no reason to risk it. 

“It might be best to stay in the guild for a few days,” he added. “There’s no need to draw too much attention.”
It would be difficult for Verasun to assassinate them now that they were at the First Evolution, but not impossible, so it was best to err on the side of caution.

As for him, he had other plans.

“We’re going to be in the tavern for a bit,” Maro said. “You’re sure you won’t join us?”

“I might later, once I get this out of the way,” Kelin replied. “Go ahead and I’ll try to meet you there in a few hours.”

With a round of reluctant farewells, the team headed off, leaving him on his own.

Immediately, he turned to the clerk and began to purchase a few things, starting with two dozen cheap memory crystals and some enchanting materials.

They didn’t cost much, just a few gold each.

Then he restocked the potions he’d used and more. He took his supply of major mana potions from five up to twenty, major healing potions from three to ten, and greater healing potions from seven to twenty five.

The potions alone wiped out about half of his money and left him with just over 8,000 gold, but it was enough for a while.

He preferred to overstock on potions in case he needed them. If he hadn’t had a major one when fighting the lich, things would have gone much worse.

After that, he bought a new supply of crafting materials, including some at the Second Evolution.

Then he headed back to the front desk, where he rented a crafting hall and got to work.

The privacy wards here meant it was the best place to do it.

One by one, he copied the recording from the Seal of Silver Stars into the memory crystals, showing how the Wind Hunters had attacked them, been marked as bandits, and then how the questions about Verasun led to Jaster’s death.

A flicker of Kelin’s will made the soul curse appear in the crystal as black lines crawled across Jaster’s body. It didn’t prove it was Verasun’s curse that killed him, but it was still damning evidence.

Verasun would try to argue that it was all fake, and that Jaster had been poisoned or killed as a way to frame him, but the shimmering proof of the Seal of Silver Stars was on the recordings too, showing that nothing hidden had taken place.

Each question had made the lines surge, while they paused in between.

After that, he spent a little while enchanting the recording crystals so they would play on a repeating loop, displaying the images in the air, and so that no one could pick them up unless they could break the spells he’d added.

Then he added some preservation spells on the Wind Hunters’ heads.

He shoved a crystal into each of their mouths.

It was gruesome, disgusting, and designed to get attention.

When he was done, he activated the once-a-day Shadow Walk ability on his cloak, which turned him into a nearly invisible ghost as he headed out of the guild.

He was as fast as the night wind and nearly invisible as he scattered the crystals randomly in taverns and at busy street corners, where people instantly saw them. 

They rolled to a stop and locked themselves into place, while the images began to play above them, alerting everyone around.

Then he left a head and the crystal it held on the doorstep of three locations he knew for Verasun, from his main mansion to some of his businesses.

Then he returned to the guild as quickly as he’d left, where he let the shadows fade from around him. He pushed the hood of his cloak back as he walked calmly through the hall.

The entire trip had taken him under twenty minutes.

On the way back, he’d paused here and there to see how people were reacting to the recording, and it looked like rumors were already spreading about Verasun supporting the Wind Hunters, starting dungeons, and instigating bandit attacks on adventurers.

That should keep the man busy for a day or two.

Meanwhile, Kelin needed to talk to Sandren and see what had happened with the guild guards, but it was more important to him to visit the kids first.

It was starting to get late into the evening, but for this, he would wake them up.

A moment later, he was outside their door, where he knocked and waited for them to open it.

Yao and Naomi stood there, half awake, blinking at him like two young owls. It made him laugh.

“Sorry for waking you up,” he said with a chuckle. “But some things are best if you don’t wait.”

Two shimmering orbs appeared in his hand, each of them glowing with a unique and powerful elemental signature. 

“These are a gift so great you cannot imagine their value,” he said simply. “They come from the Sovereign of Silver Chaos. One day, you will understand all of that and more, but for now, ask no questions. Simply take one each and go sit down. I will help you absorb it.”

He pointed at the living room behind them.

Their eyes were as wide as the owls they were acting like and they started to ask questions with one voice tumbling over the other, but he held up his hand and ignored them all.

“Trust me and do not tell anyone where these came from.”

A minute later, the two of them were sitting down and he placed one orb in Yao and the other in Naomi’s hand. 

As soon as they held them, the orbs already knew what to do. They began to dissolve into streams of shining mist that swept around the kids’ bodies, tracing their meridians, mana flow, bones, and more.

The outline of their skeletons and their developing meridians swiftly began to appear with thousands upon thousands of connections all shining in silver light. It was a level of depth that comprehended their existence and wrote for it for everyone to see.

Even the energy of their thoughts was visible, flowing like strands of power throughout their minds. It didn’t allow anyone to read what was there, but the pattern was full of life.

Streams of elemental energy followed, showing where elements were infused into their bodies and meridians, where they were missing, and what their strongest affinities were.

Kelin analyzed it with a careful eye, studying every part.

Most of their meridians were developed already and by his guess, they would complete the structure sometime within the next four months for Yao and about eight months for Naomi.

That wasn’t bad. They were almost ready to unlock their classes on their own.

Now that they had the orbs, however, things weren’t going to take so long.

From the balance of elements, Yao’s highest affinities were in Earth and Water, while Naomi’s were in Fire and Wood. They also had some rarer affinities, with Lightning for Yao and Space for Naomi.

What made him the most delighted, however, was that each of them had a small affinity for Soul magic. It wasn’t a lot, but it was more than most had. 

Perhaps his efforts to strengthen their souls had paid off after all.

It was a promising combination of affinities that covered many different needs, especially if they stuck together, like he hoped they would.

Both of them had fallen into meditation and were barely aware of the world around them, but that was for the best.

Once their physical and magical signatures were completely outlined, the power from the orbs began to pour into their bodies, flowing through every part of the structure.

Tiny threads of silver light wove through everything, the visible force of the Sovereign’s command, and their signatures began to change.

Their meridians were swiftly built up under the force, with all of the half-completed parts connected together into a solid network. Then the density of the channels improved, ensuring that they wouldn’t need to worry about over-channeling mana for a long time.

The colors of their elemental affinities grew deeper and brighter, shining until they reached the High level. Then they melted and fused into the whole structure, disappearing almost completely except for a thin aura of elemental energy that was in every strand.

It was a sign they had surpassed the High tier of affinity. 

In the future, it would be marked as Special and be a natural physique that grew with them, similar to how an elemental grew over time.

Moment by moment, their auras grew deeper and more profound, and then the last bits of energy fused into them and disappeared.

Only the outline of their signatures remained in the air, but it swiftly faded away as they opened their eyes.

They started to ask a question and then they froze, both of them, as they stared at the notifications that were flooding their minds for the first time.

“Congratulations,” Kelin said with a laugh. “You just got your classes.”
He analyzed them as he spoke, keeping his touch light so as not to spook them. They should be able to feel it now.

He smiled as he saw the classes that the Path had assigned them.

They were both a basic Elemental Mage, like he had been before he specialized. They would be able to choose a specialty at Level 10. 

They didn’t have a subclass yet, but they could wait before choosing one as long as they did it before Level 20, when the first free tier bonus would appear. 

Technically, they could wait longer, but it was a waste.

He looked a little deeper, studying their abilities and skills, and he saw that both of them had gained Minor Elemental Manipulation as an Innate Ability, like all humans, and Analyze, Mana Control, and Meditation as Skills.

Their practice had paid off. 

They had Elemental Affinity (Special) marked as an Innate Trait, which was the result of their affinities transcending the usual realm, but they still had their primary affinities listed as well, all at the High tier except for Soul, which was at Low.

“The Sovereign’s gift is a blessing that will grow over time,” he told them. “Don’t speak about it. Just tell people that you have a High affinity if needed.”

His words drew their attention back from the deluge of notifications they had just experienced.

“But...how?” Yao muttered as he looked off into space and then back at Kelin.

“How did you get these gifts from the Sovereign?” Naomi asked, somewhat more intelligibly. “How did you even meet him?”

“Your teacher isn’t so bad after all, right?” Kelin asked with a grin. “Don’t worry about the how or why. Just know that it was something special and it won’t happen again. Also, don’t lord it over other people and don’t let me down. The value of those two gifts could buy this planet, or more.”

The two of them froze into place, trading uncertain looks of nervousness, but they didn’t really have the background to understand exactly what the elemental orbs were or what it meant to meet the Sovereign.

Kelin didn’t plan to tell them for a while. It wouldn’t help them much to know that the person who created those orbs could shatter reality with a touch. It was enough that they knew the origin. 

The truth could develop over time.

Eventually Yao spoke up.

“Can we call you teacher now, or Master Kelin?” he asked, looking hopeful as he brought the conversation back to something he was more familiar with.

Kelin thought about it for a moment, tilting his hand back and forth in the area. He still didn’t think he qualified to be their master at this level, since in his mind that meant someone who could shield his apprentices from everything, but repeatedly denying their request wouldn’t be good for their image either.

He had gained back some rank with the Path, so that would have to do. It wasn’t terrible to have a Knight of the Path as a master.

“You are my apprentices,” he agreed. “I’ve done the basics for you and given you the best start I can. There’s a long future ahead of practice and leveling, so don’t get overconfident. Your master can’t save you from everything.”

He pulled out the Knight-ranked badge from his shirt and held it in his hand, showing them the gold base and designs.

“Don’t let anyone bully you,” he said as he explained the details to them. “I’ll take care of the higher problems. You focus on your growth and on being good people.”

When he was done, he tucked the badge away again and stood up.

“Now, go back to sleep, if you can,” he said with a laugh. “Think hard about what type of mage you want to be with the affinities you have. As long as you pick one with a High affinity, you can’t really go wrong at the Basic Evolution. It’s just a question of what type of spells you want to use for a while and how you’ll build on them later.

“We’ll spend some time over the next few days discussing class combinations, elemental fusion paths, and other things that are important to your decision, as well as future Evolutions. 

“And you need to make sure to tell your trainers here at the guild that you’ve unlocked your classes. They’ll notice, but telling them will speed it up. They’ll stick you in the class that’s designed to cover the next steps and give you the best advice they have.

“Other than that, it’s time for you to start thinking about getting experience, but don’t do anything crazy to start.”

With that, he tousled their hair and bid them good night. 

It had been a long time since he’d had apprentices with a new class, but he was looking forward to the choices they made. 

There were many things he hadn’t told them about the Sovereign’s gifts, including the exact nature of their Elemental Affinity at the Special rank, partly because he wasn’t sure if he even knew all the possibilities of what could happen.

The gifts had changed the order of their existence, and they would have to discover what that meant on their own.

Only one thing was certain.

Their future was bright.

They sat in stunned silence as he walked to the door, but as he closed it, he heard their conversation starting again with words that tumbled over one another.