Wild Era 2, Ch 9: Foundation

The guild’s training halls were split between the back part of the first level and the lower levels, and mixed between combat and crafting. 

The farther away they were from the entrance, the higher the level they could handle, but Kelin didn’t need anything elaborate. All he wanted was a standard crafting hall with testing capabilities.

He stopped by the desk and booked one that was free.

The crafting area was peaceful and empty when he arrived, with all of its enchantments and equipment waiting to be activated as needed. 

There were crafting rooms that were caves below ground and carefully protected by wards and stone, but this one was pleasant and sunny, its ceiling made of translucent crystal and glass that showed the sky.

It had a ring of high windows along the walls that combined with the roof to let in a diffuse and pleasant light, and it had enough protective wards to ensure privacy. 

It would be a pleasant place to meditate and work.

A number of benches and alcoves ringed the walls, leaving the center of the room clear so the crafter could move from station to station easily, and even sleep on the floor if needed.

A stone fire plate was in the center of the room for cooking.

There were areas for engraving, enchanting, testing, and artifact assembly, as well as enchantments that could help to sustain and test spell formations, support runic structures, and more. 

There were specialized rooms that were designed for curing hides and refining large quantities of materials, but that could be done here too. There just wasn’t as much space dedicated to it.

He spent his time going through the room and studying each piece of equipment and area until  he felt comfortable with it. 

It was a standard arrangement that hadn’t changed much since his last life, and not much more since his youth thousands of years before, but it was important to know what you were working with.

He was going to start by repairing his cloak, since it was a simple task of infusing it with mana to help its innate self-repair enchantment restore it. 

He sat down at a worktable and placed the cloak in front of him. The repair was simple, mostly feeding the self-repair enchantment on it. 

It was made of Rare-grade dark material that felt like silk, but it was far more durable. Unfortunately, it was full of rips from where Kolburn’s wind blades had torn it apart.

He’d been diverting his spare mana to it since it was damaged, but it would take a couple more days before it was done. He could feed it with mana crystals instead, but it was a waste of resources. 

The repairs would be slightly faster in this training hall, since it had an enchantment to provide a high mana density and to bolster his regeneration. 

He set up a passive drain to feed into the cloak, but after that his time was free to work on other things.

He organized everything from the dungeons and that he’d bought, sorting it all into a comprehensive plan for advancement.

It was difficult being at the Basic Evolution again, mostly because he knew how fragile life was at this stage, but there were a few advantages.

This evolution was the beginning of all things, and a proper foundation had to be built from the ground up. With the knowledge of his first life, the foundation he built now would be better than the one he had originally.

What he would have done for an apprentice with all of his power, he could do for himself, at least barring some of the materials and things that cost too much.

There were many resources he didn’t have.

Fortunately, those opportunities were mostly shortcuts, things that would speed up an advancement and make it more likely, but not things that were absolutely required.

Hard work and seizing the right moment was the most important thing.

He already had what he needed the most.

The Compendium of Soulfire Runes and the related soulfire enchantments appeared in front of him, floating in the air. 

They were glowing scrolls that were illuminated from within and they looked half translucent as they hovered there. The fluctuations of the Law of Soulfire resonated from them.

They had come from the Path as rewards and were soulbound so only he could access them.

He glanced at the descriptions.

Compendium of Soulfire Runes (Elite).

This scroll contains knowledge of runes related to Soulfire that may be employed by your class. It has a total of ten runes in an ascending order of difficulty, each with an attunement to one facet of the higher Law of Soulfire. A complete study of this compendium will help to set you onto a steady path in your element.

Foundational Soulfire Enchantments (Rare, Elite).

This scroll holds a description of five foundational enchantments that rely on the Law of Soulfire. They can be used for crafting equipment, enhancing artifacts, as temporary and permanent wards, and as independent spell structures.

A comprehensive study of these patterns will help you to incorporate the soulfire runes you’ve learned into more complex patterns.

These five patterns are organized into core functions: healing, defense, offense, augmentation, and obscuration.

The Compendium had ten runes, but at the Basic Evolution he could only access two. It looked like it would be two runes per Evolution, so it would take him until the peak of the Fourth Evolution to master them all.

The ten runes formed the complete path of Soulfire, offering a foundation that was capable of guiding all the way up to the formation of a domain at Level 500.

As for the Foundational Soulfire Enchantments, they were designed to be used with the runes so that he could make the most of them, but they weren’t limited to just those.

As long as he incorporated one of the soulfire runes into the structure of the enchantment, like Ignite and Blaze, he could use other runes to create thousands of variations that covered most purposes.

He spent the next several hours studying the possibilities and creating enchantment patterns.

His knowledge of enchanting was vast, spanning thousands of years and many of the endless worlds that filled the galaxy. He connected one theory after another to the foundational forms in front of him, extrapolated more advanced versions, and placed them all into a greater framework.

Then he reduced the theory back to the basic foundation of Soulfire and rebuilt it, this time designing a series of increasingly complex and graduated enchantments that started at the Basic tier and went to Epic, as well as from the Basic Evolution to the Fourth.

He couldn’t use them all yet, but he knew enough to create them.

If anyone saw all of the patterns, they would probably assume that an academy of masters had worked to develop a complete school of Soulfire Enchantment.

In reality, some had.

Many enchantment styles had developed on Irian in his youth and become famous there.

His people had prided themselves on a style of simplicity, where a single rune served the purpose of ten. It made their enchantments compact and elegant.

His style as an archmage had been similar.

The enchantments he’d created were a suitable school for this life, with each enchantment marked by elegant lines and truth in simplicity that repeated itself until it became something more, with the runes reflecting the underlying law of nature.

Even if someone knew of Irian’s enchanting, which was unlikely, there were enough differences that it would be difficult to pinpoint the origin.

Once he had all of the patterns in mind, he memorized them and then he took out a crystal recording sphere. 

One by one, he inscribed the patterns inside, until it held all the core enchantments and an index of thousands of possible variations. 

When he was done, he activated a binding enchantment on the sphere, so that if someone tried to force it, it would shatter.

He didn’t really need the sphere, but it was capable of projecting patterns into the air, which was useful. 

Sometimes it was easier to see things on a page or in the air, since it let him consider it from a different angle. It also meant he could flip through the designs while working and redraw parts of them on the fly, using the sphere to keep notes. 

It would be easy to make adjustments.

With the design of his school of enchantments done, he shifted his attention to talismans.

He had no intention of spending weeks carving one enchantment after another. It was too slow for what he wanted.

He would do some enchantments once his skills were maxed out, but until then he was going to focus on talismans as the more efficient and lucrative route.

Enchantments and talismans were two sides of the same coin.

Talismans were basically streamlined, single-use enchantments. They didn’t have the complex structures that made the enchantments long-lasting and self-repairing, and they required fewer materials and less effort to create.

That meant they were a good way to test the concept of an enchantment without having to carve the entire thing, and with the low investment cost, it was possible to make a decent living from them, so many enchanters followed that path.

He estimated he would need to make at least 3,000 talismans to get all of his crafting abilities to Elite and to the edge of Epic.

It would take a little while, but the extra talismans could be saved or sold, depending on his mood.

He was going to start with his lowest crafting ability and move up from there, which meant Arcane Refinement, followed by Runic Engraving. Respectively, they were at the Advanced and Expert tiers.

Arcane Refinement was about improving the quality and mana flow of a material, so the best way to train it was to refine an endless pile of materials.

Difficult materials were the best, but every ten or so pieces, he planned to work on an easier one to get a good feel for the difference.

He pulled out a stack of Sandfire Eel scales from his storage ring, tossed them on the workbench, and got to work.

His attention was distracted three times throughout the day as the anti-scrying bracelet on his arm heated up. He gave it a long glance, but he wasn’t surprised.

Verasun was probably looking for him.

It was possible that someone else was as well, but the bracelet wasn’t advanced enough to distinguish between mana patterns.

He had several potential enemies in the city, from Verasun to the remains of the Wind Hunters, and perhaps others that were unknown.

It was a reminder to be cautious, but besides that he didn’t let it disturb his work.

Instead, he shifted his thoughts to what he’d learned about the baron’s empire as he considered the best way to take it apart.

Verasun’s interests were widespread, so the best way was simply to get rid of him, which would end the problem quickly. Since he was somewhere around Level 240-250, however, that would be difficult in the short term. 

Otherwise, Kelin would have dealt with the issue already.

Short of that, since Celadon nobles placed so much emphasis on their income from dungeons, disrupting his businesses might make him feel some pain.

While his talismans might be able to disrupt the local economy to some extent, he didn’t plan to turn into a merchant crafter, so that wasn’t on the table.

Another option was to avoid Verasun until he was strong enough, and then to deal with him. That would take a while, but it was an option.

A better solution was to harness the force of the guild, combine it with the penalties Sandren was already trying to apply to Verasun, and find a weak point that would truly hurt him.

If he couldn’t take that and lashed out, the guild was strong enough to block it.

He would have to talk to Sandren about that.

A move like that would also encourage Verasun’s enemies to work against him. Given his influence in Highmist, there was no way he didn’t have quite a few.

Negotiating with them could come later, once Kelin had enough power that they would listen to him.

His own strength was still the primary factor, so despite his intention to take Verasun apart, he wasn’t going to let it distract him from that.

The rest of the day was spent refining materials until evening rolled around. He reinforced the passive mana link to his cloak, swung it around his shoulders, and headed out.

Since Sandren was still busy, he had arranged to meet Maro, Galin, and Serai tonight. 

They were the closest friends he had made in this life and they had suffered at the hands of Verasun’s people. He wanted to see how they were recovering and to discuss their plans for the future, including whether or not they would go back to Cerith.

They’d arranged to meet in one of the private rooms at the guild tavern.

When he arrived, the three of them were already present and some guild staff were laying out assorted steaming dishes.

“Kelin!” Galin said with a cheerful shout as he raised a large mug of ale. He and Maro both had one, while Serai had a glass of wine. 

“Let summer rise! Have a drink!”

Their moods looked much improved from the last time he’d seen them in the dungeon.

“It’s good to see you,” Kelin said with a chuckle as he took a glass of wine. “Let summer rise for you as well.”

It was one of the sayings of this world, and part of their celebration of the first day of summer. 

With their elemental foundations, humans could clearly sense the shift in seasons, and the transition toward Fire in summer was particularly notable.

It was a traditional day for new beginnings and new ventures.

“To new beginnings,” Serai said as she raised her glass. “It is traditional, and I can’t think of a better saying for a day like this. “

Her mood was calmer than Maro and Galin’s, and it didn’t completely hide the worry in her eyes.

“There’s a whole week of city festivals to celebrate summer, but we’re stuck in here,” Galin announced as he drained his mug and poured another, “so the least we can do is make the most of it!” 

“We can talk about that in a minute,” Maro said, looking irritated. A flicker of red flames looped around his shoulders, but then he forced himself to calm down and they disappeared.

“Yes, we need to catch up,” Kelin agreed as he took a seat.

He ordered a few things to add to the feast, and then he sent the server off with a sizable tip. 

He chatted with the team about a few random things, but when the dishes were delivered and they were alone again, he raised his glass.

“To overcoming death and a new beginning,” he offered, his expression turning serious.

“Hear, hear,” Maro agreed. His smile was slightly forced, but he put good will behind the words.

After that, they got down to more serious matters, including the discussion of the dungeon and Verasun.

“So you managed to do it,” Galin said, his voice rumbling. “And alone. That is impressive!”

“You’re Level 94?” Serai shook her head as she analyzed Kelin. It was a light brush of her aura, the type used in polite society that only skimmed the very surface.

“That’s hard to believe. You leveled so quickly. You were lower than us when we first met, and it’s only been a couple of weeks.”

“I’ve been in one dungeon after another,” Kelin agreed. “I’ll be heading back to them soon too,  and looking at the First Evolution. I’m only here to do some ability training first.”

“What’s your view of this Baron Verasun?” Galin asked in a rumble. “He’s even more angry with you than us, apparently. That scum...if I were stronger, I would chuck him off a cliff without a levitation spell.”

“He’s a problem,” Kelin agreed. “I’ll talk about some options with Captain Sandren when she’s back. The guild should be able to shelter you in name, since you’re guild adventurers, but the guild’s forces are scattered.

“If there were a Gold or Diamond-Ranked adventurer here,” he added, “someone at the Third or Fourth Evolution, the nobles would stay in line better. Without that, the nobles have forgotten the true strength of the guild. They wouldn’t be playing games with fake control of the dungeons.”

“The guild hasn’t had a Knight or Commander in Celadon for at least a hundred years,” Maro said with a nod. “I hear there’s one or two in other countries, but those are the top rankers in all of Lareth. They’re probably busy with dungeon breakouts that are closer to their level.”

He shook his head.

“We’ve considered finding a backer who’s opposed to Verasun,” he added, “one of the other nobles, but there’s the issue of what they would want. We’ve seen the terms they offer, and they’re not good.”

“We don’t want to end up as a noble’s dungeon team and nothing else,” Galin grumbled. “There’s no freedom in that. Those fellows are just workers running the same boring dungeons over and over and giving away all their earnings to their boss.”

“Galin’s right,” Serai said with a sigh, “but without that, it might be difficult to leave here. Verasun is known for holding a grudge, and more than one adventurer who has opposed him has disappeared. His mercenaries already tried to kill us once.

“We’re stuck here for now, unless we can find a way to get out of Celadon, or at least far enough that Verasun can’t cause trouble. But I don’t know where we’d go, and we still have some connections in Cerith that we don’t want to leave behind.”

“We have some funds,” Galin said, “enough to stay here for a few months easily, perhaps even longer. We can focus on ability training, but there’s not much progress in it. We need to get back out there to new dungeons, get experience like you, and then Verasun won’t be able to cause us as much trouble.”

“That’s our best plan so far,” Serai agreed. “Even if we have to risk it, we’re thinking of making a run toward the First Evolution, even if it’s in some of the riskier dungeons. If we can reach that, it’ll put us on a decent level and we can protect ourselves, I think.”

“As long as we can get out of the city and into a dungeon without him noticing,” Maro said, “it could be worth it. We’re not going to live our lives in fear of some noble. That’s giving him too much credit.”

Maro glanced at the other two, and then he looked back at Kelin.

“Do you want to come with us?” he asked. His gaze was clear and determined. “You’re a higher level now, but we’ll catch up.”

The three of them fell silent as they waited for Kelin’s answer. Their words had tumbled over one another, but their worry and desire to improve shone through. 

“When were you planning to leave?” Kelin asked thoughtfully.

“We thought we might give this a week or two to die down,” Serai said, “and then we’ll sneak out as quietly as possible.”

Kelin tapped his fingers on the table as he considered the plan. 

If they timed it right, he might be able to finish most of his crafting by then, or at least not too much longer than that, but he was planning on taking on much stronger dungeons than they were.

With the way the Path was treating his Effective Level, even if he went into a lower one with them, the challenges would be higher.

If they came with him, he would have to carry them through a few dungeons until they were able to help, but despite that, the level gap between them wasn’t excessive, so it was something he was willing to consider. 

It was hard to find good allies in the world and when you did, it was worth investing in them.

A little bit of time now could lead to greater things.

“Do you have any anti-scrying artifacts?” he asked as he looked around. “Verasun or someone else has been trying to check in on me repeatedly today.”

“No, they’re too expensive,” Galin shook his head. “We’d like to get some, but even if that fine on Verasun does come through, I’m not sure we’d be able to afford any. We were just going to try to move faster than anyone else, the old fashioned way.

“If you want to make the most of the First Evolution,” Kelin suggested, “you’ll need to maximize your abilities first. You’ll need most of them at Elite, and ideally some at Epic, if you want to get high-tier classes.”

Silence fell on the room as the three of them stared at Kelin.

“We...hadn’t planned on that,” Serai said finally. “Rare classes would be good enough, don’t you think? There’s not many people who try for Epic classes, at least not seriously. The requirements are deadly.”

“This is the best time to do it,” Kelin said. “If you don’t aim high now, the later Evolutions will be more limited. You might not see it yet, but the advantages will accumulate over time. It’s worth it.”

“Your teachers must have been something else,” Galin said with a chuckle. “That’s advice I’ve only heard from some truly ancient dwarves, but I can’t say you’re wrong. I’d be willing to try it, but how? I don’t think we have the opportunities here, even if we did get all of our abilities up.

“As far as I know, abilities aren’t always enough. The best chance of getting an Epic class is to complete a really over-leveled dungeon...something like 40 or 50 levels higher.”

“I think we can manage that,” Kelin offered seriously. “I’m planning to run a Level 110 dungeon next, or perhaps even Level 115, for a similar reason. I doubt Verasun has the people to throw away on one of them, and given the situation we can probably ask for a couple of guild guards to watch the entrance. Once we get inside, it should be safe enough until we’re done.”

Maro, Galin, and Serai were Level 64, 62, and 61 respectively. 

If he took them into a dungeon at his Effective Level, the Path shouldn’t cause any issues and the experience would be incredible for them.

He’d been planning to do a dungeon like that after he finished his current crafting spree, since it was the best chance of getting Epic-tier ability rewards, and he was willing to take them along.

The three of them were staring at him again, but eventually Maro spoke up.

“Now I see why your level flew up so quickly,” he said with a chuckle. “You’re crazy.”

Despite his words, he was smiling and there was a flame blazing around his hands as he spoke, showing his eagerness. 

“But somehow you’re not dead yet,” Galin added with a laugh. “You’ve made this dwarf feel more optimistic at least. I thought our plan was dangerous, but you’ve gone and topped it.”

The dwarf looked at the other two and then he shrugged.

“It’s not as crazy as it sounds. You saw what he could do against that poison drake and against Verasun’s people. Orest and Kolburn were Level 121 and 192. It’s a gamble, but I’ll take it. Life’s meant to be lived, not lived in fear. What about you?”

“If it works, that might be enough for us all to reach the First Evolution,” Serai said quietly. “And facing monsters at that level would definitely push our current abilities higher. It’s risky, and we’d be placing our lives in Kelin’s hands...but my ancestors always told me that the brightest winter follows the darkest fall.”

She looked down at her hands, which were an alabaster white like fresh snow. She was a Winter Sylph, and that element was at the core of her people’s world view. 

To her, a bright and cold Winter was the best type.

“I’m in,” she agreed. “I have no doubt that if Kelin is offering this, he believes it is possible. I see no need to second guess him. We will simply owe him a great favor, and if we die, we cannot blame him. We know the risks.”

“You already know I’m in,” Maro said with a grin. “I’ve never liked holding back, so why start now. We missed out on the last high-level dungeon, so we may as well seize this one.”

He turned to Kelin as his grin got bigger. 

“I was feeling trapped here, but now I’m looking forward to tomorrow. When do we leave?” 

“Three to four weeks,” Kelin said. “I need some time to finish my current training plan. Then I’ll be ready.”

“Alright,” Maro said with a nod. “I wasn’t looking forward to staying here, but if we’re really doing this, that gives us enough time to prepare too. We should be able to get a few more levels and some ability improvements out of the training halls.”

“Not just that,” Kelin said as he reached into his storage space and brought out some items that he set in front of them. “Take these and use them to train, and to reequip yourselves.”

The team’s eyes grew wide as they stared at everything in front of them.

There were about thirty Level 80 monster cores, a handful of Level 105 and higher cores, and a dozen mid-grade mana crystals, as well as a pile of 1,000 gold coins.

He also set out the Coral Sea Fire Pearl, which could improve a Fire physique, and the Burning Sea Grimoire and Burning Sea Elixir, which were useful for a combined Water and Fire physique.

“The pearl can be yours, Maro, if it fits you,” he said. “If not, you can trade it into the guild for something that does. As for Galin and Serai, I don’t have anything specific for Earth and Winter affinities, so you can trade that grimoire and elixir in for something else.”

He still had the elemental orbs for the kids, so he didn’t need these items any longer. He’d been considering trading them into the guild for Rare-grade materials or better clothes, but it could wait. 

It should be enough for the team to advance a bit, whether it was with their abilities or their gear. 

The cores and the mana crystals could be used for the training halls, to get them used to facing higher-level monsters, and the rest could be directed toward gear or improving their elemental abilities.

In total, everything he’d set out was probably worth about five to seven thousand gold, or perhaps more depending on how much the rare items went for, but keeping these three alive was worth a little sacrifice.

Money was meant to be spent, and if they used it well, it might be enough to change them from regular adventurers into something special.

“Kelin, we can’t take this.” Maro’s words were stunned as he stared at the items in front of him. “How do you even have this much?”

“Dungeons give and dungeons take,” Kelin said calmly. “Let’s make sure they don’t take your lives. Don’t refuse. If I’m dragging you into a First Evolution dungeon, you’ll need it to survive.”

His words were true, and they knew it, so they didn’t push the items back.

“Don’t spend the gold on anti-scrying items yet,” he said, “unless there’s nothing else you need. I have another plan for that.”

One of the soulfire enchantments he had was for obscuration, and he needed the practice anyway.

He was already planning to make several thousand talismans. 

One or two wouldn’t be enough to block a Second Evolution seer’s ability, but he was confident that a few dozen would.

Quantity was a quality all its own.

At Kelin’s insistence, the three of them stored all of the items away, and then the rest of the evening was spent in planning.

Time was short and there was a lot to do.