Wild Era, Ch 14: Inheritance

When Kelin woke up, it was barely dawn and Yao and Naomi were still asleep.

He renewed the Soulfire Sigil again, as he had awoken to do each time it dissipated throughout the night, and then he began to plan.

The basics for the future were straightforward, including how he planned to start teaching Yao and Naomi now that they’d agreed to be his apprentices. 

They could follow the same standard model he’d used for all of his students in the past. He would just have to adjust the details to match his current capabilities. 

As long as he stayed ahead of them in levels, it shouldn’t be much of a problem. They still needed to unlock their classes before they could gain experience anyway.

Training before that would be good for them. It was slow and manual, but if you managed it, it could help you to get better options when it came time to specialize. 

He would help them as much as possible.

Initial classes were given based on your aptitudes, and maybe a little bit your wishes, if the Path could make it work for you. 

Since they wanted to be mages, that meant they should start learning the basics of mana circulation, which was the best thing to prepare them for the class, as well as the core theories of magic, close combat magical tactics, and more.

After that was a long list of topics that included mana manipulation and evocation, shielding theory, the nature of the elements and their interactions, basic runes, scaffolding spell structures, a comprehensive look at class abilities and specialization differences, and everything else that you would expect to find in a decent academy.

Hopefully the guild had some of the standard books he remembered, or he would be occupied for a while recreating them from memory. 

They probably did. A few hundred years of being dead wasn’t that much. 

He quickly arranged a plan for their first few weeks, including what they could practice while he wasn’t around and what they could probably learn from trainers at the guild. 

It would be best for them to spend a few weeks, and perhaps even more, inside the guild’s courtyards while he dealt with other matters. With all that the guild had to offer, from amenities to the training halls and the greater history of the galaxy, the kids should be able to keep themselves busy.

He wanted to keep them out of sight of the Wind Hunters as much as possible. It was idealistic to think the gang would forget about their existence, but it would help to reduce conflict in the short term either way.

He didn’t have any paper, so he condensed the instructions into a rune form and then imbued it into a palm-sized stone that Gaius brought him. 

When he was done, the surface of the stone changed to an opalescent hue and a rune for Memory was prominent on the surface. 

Now they could access the instructions by touching the rune, and they would hear his voice explaining it to them. A list would also appear in their mind.

It took more mana than writing on paper, but it was more durable and it resulted in a tiny experience gain from his crafting class.

After that, he focused his attention on putting together the information he’d gained at the guild the day before, both from Jesra and from the guild boards. 

The details swiftly turned into a comprehensive list of nearby dungeons, known monsters, crafting materials, and other opportunities that he was interested in. 

His memory was perfect, but there was something about looking at a list that helped him to organize his thoughts. He’d always liked them.

When it was complete, he created a small space for the notes in his soul and inscribed it there as a series of golden lines. Rocks were fine, but this was much more secure.

He could enchant the memory stone so only Yao and Naomi could use it, but he wanted them to be able to share it with librarians and such at the guild in case they needed help finding something. 

Plus, it was all just basic information on what to read and train.

Eventually, Yao and Naomi woke up and stumbled around the room, looking like a pair of half-awake kittens. 

Kelin hid a smile as he erected a privacy barrier for them and let them wash up.

When they came back to the table, he looked over their wounds to see how the healing had gone. He was glad to see their bruises had disappeared and they looked healthy again.

Only Yao’s arm was still a problem, but it was less of one than before. The bones were properly aligned and mostly fused together, with just hairline fractures still visible to Kelin’s mana senses.

Another few hours of the sigil would finish it off, or it would do it on its own over the next few days. He left the sigil burning as he made them breakfast. 

It was leftover braggan meat, which was filling enough, but he was looking forward to showing them the finer points of breakfast foods once they were at the guild, like coffee and griddle cakes.

“Alright,” he said after they’d eaten. “I’ll be back in an hour or two. Stay here and send me a message if anything goes wrong. The room is heavily warded, so don’t leave. It’ll hold up against almost anything under Level 80 for a while, and for a couple of hits from something bigger, but that shouldn't be a problem.”

“This is a memory stone,” he said as he showed them the rock he’d made. “It has training plans for you. You can take a look at it while I’m gone, and we’ll go over it in more depth once we’re set up at the guild.”

He set a couple of other rocks down on the table next to it, each of them inscribed with a simple spell that he’d taken the time to engrave while they were getting ready.

“And these two are message stones,” he said, showing them how to use one. “Touch this rune here, speak what you want to say out loud, and then tell it to find me. It will turn into a rune in the air and the stone will crumble. 

“Usually these are on a scroll or just done on the fly if you know the spell structure. It’s a common type of message spell you’ll see more of in the future.”

He would have to make them a more permanent version once he got better materials on hand, like a communication amulet or ring, but until then, he would make do with random rocks. 

They worked just as well as scroll parchment for things as basic as this, and Gaius could get him an endless number of them.

After that, he gave the two a few other reminders and then headed out.

The inn wasn’t particularly impressive, a rough construction with two stories and bare stone floors, which was at least good for Gaius. 

The elemental could travel with him anywhere due to the soul chamber, but he needed to have a connection to the earth in order to use his strongest abilities. 

Otherwise, he was limited to his mana regeneration and the amount of stone he could summon with it.

As Kelin left, he passed by two guards at the entrance. 

They were Level 38 and 42, which was on the lower side of the average for the Blade and Shields, and one of them turned his head.

“I thought you were dead, boy?” The guard’s voice was rough, thick with the accent of the docks, and he laughed at his own words. “You able to pay the rent now or did you spend it all on the fancy clothes?

“Gonna kick your two whelps out of here soon, and then see how those Wind Hunters treat them.”

“I’ll be back shortly with an escort from the adventurers’ guild,” Kelin said as he glanced at him, ignoring the words. 

This guard hadn’t been on duty the night before, but Kelin’s younger self had seen him a time or two. He didn’t have a favorable impression. 

He pulled out his high bronze guild badge from where it was hidden inside his shirt and let it hang on his neck. 

“Make sure that nothing happens to either of them.” His words were an order as he continued walking.

“Who do you think you are, gutter trash?” the guard snarled as he reached for the hilt of the sword at his waist. “I’ll teach you to talk to me like that.”

“Knock it off.” The other guard’s hand shot out and rapped the first one on the side of the head. “He could wipe the floor with you.” 

“That little brat?” The guard snarled as he turned his attention to the other one. “How?”

“Look at his badge, idiot. That’s high bronze. See how shiny it is, almost like gold? It’s not dull like low bronze. It doesn’t matter if you think you know him. You’re an idiot and he will kill you. Plus, messing with him will annoy the adventurers’ guild, and the boss won’t like that.”

“High bronze?” The first guard froze with his hand on his hilt as he struggled to process the idea. “That’s what..Level 75? How? He’s only Level 33!”

“75 or higher,” the other guard replied with a shrug, “but the guild doesn’t hand them out randomly. You can tell it’s real because it’s shiny. If he’d stolen it, it’d be black.”

“He can kill something forty levels above him?” The first guard stared at his partner. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“No idea,” replied the other one as he turned his head and spit to the side. “But I’d leave well enough alone unless you want to find out.”

With that, the guards went back to minding their own business, although with some doubtful looks.

Kelin ignored them as he kept walking, but the first guard would find out shortly that his boots were sunk half an inch deep into the stone. He debated having Gaius undo it, but he decided not to bother.

His badge had saved him some effort, which was why he’d gotten it.

The Stars Alliance was very well known. 

Besides being a reserve for the army, they doubled as guard forces and protectors in the regions around their guild halls. They had around a thousand members in the city, although not all of them were active, and not all were combat classes. 

There probably would have been more, but their standards were high. 

If he’d done badly on the combat assessment, he would have had to demonstrate value in another way, like crafting or theory, anything that could contribute to the army’s goals.

About half of the guild was made up of crafters and support classes, like administration.

That half was essential to supporting its operations, including supplying gear for the guild shops, enchantments on the badges, and more. They were the main reason why the guild was known for its efficiency in everything from information gathering to magical construction.

Even someone with a Farmer class could join if they proved that they had something to offer.

Kelin glanced around as he stepped onto the street. He quickly sensed the presence of three different watchers from the Wind Hunters that Gaius had marked.

The elemental had been keeping an eye out all night. Although he didn’t know much about human faces, he had no trouble identifying people who stood still while watching the inn.

Kelin summoned up three invisible soul arrows and tagged each of them with an imperceptible tracker as he walked by. The spell would fade in a month or so if he didn’t renew it, but until then it would alert him if they were near and let him find them if he needed to.

He would deal with them soon enough.

It took him an hour to cut through the city to the guild, and when he arrived, it was much busier than it had been the day before. 

Apparently, some news about the war had shifted trading schedules and three different caravans were hiring guards at once.

It wasn’t his concern, so he waded through the crowd until he got to Jesra and explained what he wanted.

“Any part of the administration could work as escorts for that,” she said, “and it would help to make those Wind Hunters leave the kids alone, but I think Captain Sandren is free, and she would be the most intimidating. Do you want me to ask her?”

“A sergeant would be enough,” Kelin said, since he wasn’t inclined to bother Sandren. “Or a lieutenant at most.” 

“Nonsense,” Captain Sandren said as she appeared behind Jesra in a blur. She grinned as she looked at him. “I’m looking for an excuse to get away from all that noise anyway. So, what does my new recruit that’s making everyone talk need now?”

She hadn’t overheard anything except his last words, but it didn’t take long for her to catch up to speed.

“Sure, let’s go get them,” she said instantly. “The guild has a long-standing tradition of accepting young recruits. They turn into some of our best people. If they’re responsible, the guild will have a place for them.”

She was going beyond what she needed to, but Kelin knew that the guild’s help in situations like that came with a commitment. 

Perhaps in other circumstances, he would have encouraged it, but he knew the limits that came with the life Sandren was offering them, which would be as new recruits for the army.

They would have good instruction, but it wouldn’t be individual or tailored to their exact talents in the way that he could do. 

If he wanted to wash his hands of the kids, it was an option, and he was sure that was why the captain was suggesting it. She was trying to give him an out, so he wouldn’t have as many responsibilities that could slow down his leveling.

He had other plans.

“I know the program you’re talking about,” he said, “but I’ll pay for their room and board instead, and for access to general training for them, as well as the library. I have a different route in mind for them that I think will work better.”

He didn’t say they were going to be his apprentices, since it would sound ridiculous.

“Alright,” Sandren said easily, apparently not bothered by it. “We always have general classes for the locals. If they’re staying here, they can join any of them for free. The rooms are a bit expensive though, for this area. I think three silvers a night?” 

She glanced over at Jesra as she spoke.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jesra replied quickly. “The standard rooms are three silvers, the larger ones are four, and the team rooms are ten, but those are the best deal if there’s a full group staying. For two teenagers, one of the larger rooms would be best. They have two beds.”

“That will work,” Kelin said. “Could you arrange it for when we come back? I’ll pay for one for two weeks. I won’t need a room myself yet, but I’ll check back if I do.”

“56 silver is 53 silver and 4 copper after your 5% discount as a corporal,” Jesra said easily. 

Kelin just nodded as he withdrew the coins from his spatial pocket and set them down on the counter. It was the majority of the silver he had, leaving him with just 24, but he still had half of the cores from the mine.

“Officially, they are now guests of the Stars Alliance and under our guarantee of protection,” Jesra said as she made the coins disappear. Her words were joking. “So this is an extraction.” 

She grinned as two simple silver medallions engraved with a star appeared in her hand. She touched them to a runestone behind the desk and then held them out to Kelin.

“If they wear these openly, it will show off that they are our guests. And then the captain can do what she wants to whoever bothers them.”

Sandren looked amused at the clerk’s teasing, but she didn’t disagree.

“The medallions also function as keys for their room door,” Jesra added. “Your badge will work for yours, if you stay here later. Their room is on the third floor. I’ll show you the way when you’re back.”

“Thanks again,” Kelin said as he hooked the medallions onto his belt, leaving them openly on display.

“Alright, off we go,” Captain Sandren said as she came up beside him. “Let’s go get them before someone gets any foolish ideas.”

With that, they headed toward the doors. 

The crowd cleared out of the way as they saw the captain, which made it faster, and within a minute they were walking down the street. The captain could have outpaced him easily with her attributes, but she let him lead the way

“You’re a strange one, you know,” Sandren said calmly as they walked along. “Your skills are unique enough, but I had our specialists look into you, and it wasn’t until then that I realized just how strange. I’ve been waiting for you to show back up so I could ask you a few more questions.”

“Go ahead.” Kelin said as he nodded at her to continue. He’d expected something of the sort, since she’d shown up rather quickly when he was at the desk.

“All of our evidence points to you being from this city and one of the local orphanages, but that doesn’t match at all with what you showed during your assessment. The skills you have are not from Highmist.”

“Didn’t you think I was the member of some hidden family?” Kelin asked with a chuckle. 

“I did, but the orphanage suggests otherwise,” Sandren said, still looking relaxed. “Unless you learned all of your skills in secret there, or from your familiar before you were what...and forgive me for asking...but six? That was when you entered the orphanage, I think.”

“Yes,” Kelin agreed as memories of his younger life passed through his mind. “Six is right. My parents were a weaver and a stone mason. You won’t find anything too special there.”

“So how are you able to kill a Level 75 elite monster?” Sandren frowned as she looked at him. “Every prodigy has some explanation. I just don’t know what yours is yet, and I can’t pass your record on for higher review until I do.”

“An inheritance,” Kelin said, “and I’ll swear that on the Seal of Silver Stars to prove it, but that’s your answer. I’ve had it for a long time, but it suddenly awoke when I was in that mine I told the guild about, the one that might be turning into a chaos remnant.”

It was true, except that he’d inherited it from himself.

“Interesting.” Sandren let out a thoughtful hum, but she suddenly seemed more at ease than before, as if he’d said the right thing. “I was betting on the secret training, personally.”

“Is that the option that would require some secret Soulfire Assassin class sneaking into the orphanage to painstakingly train me for years?” Kelin asked drily. “Probably slowly improving my attributes with secret tinctures and poisons, and fostering a unique elemental affinity that only one in a hundred million can develop?”

“That’s where I was going,” Sandren agreed, grinning at him.

“You can relax then,” Kelin said, laughing now. “The inheritance was from a distant ancestor of mine. It was passed down in my bloodline. Or soul, really, which is part of the whole Soulfire thing.

“I wasn’t even aware of it, but once it awoke, I suddenly inherited a good chunk of memories and tactics, including what you saw at the guild. It changed my perspective on things, but I need time to practice. That’s why the next thing I’ll be doing is taking some quests.”

“Would you be comfortable registering the inheritance with the guild?” the captain asked. Her words were slightly cautious, since she knew it was a bit rude.

Fully registering an inheritance meant mapping out the skills and future paths for it, which most people did not want to do, especially if some of their skills were secret.

Kelin understood her concerns, however. He was a very strange existence for this city.

“To an extent,” he said. “I’ve already explained some of the core skills, and I’m happy to register a few more, but I would prefer that only the Path know the full extent of the inheritance. It can verify it on my behalf. That should be enough, I think?”

The Path oversaw everything, so if it verified the class was an inheritance, that would be the end of it, whether or not he told the guild all the details. 

At his old position, he might have been able to see a closed record like that, but even he couldn’t have done it for no reason.

“That will be enough,” Sandren agreed. Her usual smile was back. “Thanks for working with it. You can just name it Soulfire Warden as an inheritance or such, if you want to avoid another name.”

She was clearly thinking that one of his ancestors had been a big deal and that he wanted to avoid the association, which was true enough, but she didn’t know just how right she was.

“That’ll work,” he agreed. “We can do it when we get back.”

Then she could send his recruitment record up for full review, which would get some attention if anyone was interested in a promising young soul mage.

That could go either way, with benefits and patronage or special attention from those who were worried about soul magic, but he’d deal with it later.

A few minutes later, they rounded the corner to the inn where he’d left Yao and Naomi. Everything looked quiet and the same two guards were still standing at the entrance, but as they crossed the street toward the doors, a pulse of magic suddenly flared up from the wards he’d left on the room.

“Kelin! Help!” A golden sigil appeared in the air in front of him at the same time, burning in the familiar color of soulfire. “Someone’s trying to get into the room!”

It was one of the message spells he’d left for the kids.

“They’re in trouble!” he snapped to Sandren as a mana shield surrounded him. The two new medallions hanging on his belt hammered into his leg as he sprinted forward.

He didn’t pay attention to the guards at the door as he headed straight for the entrance.  Beside him, Sandren was a blue blur as mana poured off of her.

The wards flared again under a sustained assault as someone hammered on them.

From the impact, it had to be someone at least Level 60.