Untapped ~ Chapter Two!

Before Joe could react, an arrow pinged off the now-closed entrance, which latched just before the projectile reached it. Forcing himself not to focus on Heartpiercer’s impressive reaction speed, Joe sprinted toward the imposing gate, heart hammering as his initial panic shifted into rage.

His Ritual Orbs swirled out from where he had stored them in his ragged bandolier, swishing forward and bouncing off the metal door with a staccato beat. “Open up right now, or I'm going to level this entire tower! Give him back!”

Heartpiercer slid to a stop next to him, her eyes fiercely darting around as she looked for any weak point to exploit. “Joe, do you want to go over the wall? I can give you a hoist, and I'm pretty sure you can jump this.”

“Do it,” Joe agreed grimly, dashing into the street to get a running start then barreling forward and Omnivaulting once, landing with his feet outstretched in Heartpiercer’s cupped hands and throwing himself upward in time with her heave. In an instant, he was above the wall, over it, and looking down at his friend—who looked up and met his eyes with immense surprise.

Socar was facing a few people who seemed extremely excited to see him, and to Joe's confusion, it seemed they were having an amiable conversation. He shifted his position to land safely, only for fog to swirl out of nowhere and completely block his vision for a fraction of a second. He landed, stumbling slightly, and the misty visual impairment lifted. 

Heartpiercer flinched away in surprise. “I swear I saw you go over the wall?”

“I saw him. Some kind of magical effect threw me back out here, though.” A ritual tile appeared in Joe's hands, and he began swirling his fingers as he directed his mana into the activation sequence. “It doesn't look like he's hurt, but no one abducts someone like that and has good intentions. I’m gonna raze this wall; be ready.”

Heartpiercer nodded, pulling out three arrows and leaning them against her leg as she nocked one. Pulling his hand back, Joe prepared to slap the tile against the wall, only for a firm, concerned voice to cut through the air and echo off the cold wall in front of him.

“Hold on there, young man! If you directly attack the tower itself, you're going to be hunted across the entirety of Vanaheim… uh… forever.”

Joe froze in mid-motion, his desire to rescue his friend warring with the hard-earned knowledge of how much it sucked to be hunted across entire worlds at a time or barred from them entirely. “I don't know who's talking to me, but you’d better bring Socar back out here, or I'm going to have to take my chances.”

“Well, sorry to say, I don't have anything to do with that.” 

Joe shifted, trying to pinpoint the source of the words, only to spot a figure at the end of the block peeking around the corner and waving at him: an elderly man dressed in a strangely refined robe, with a matching shirt, pants, and boots showing below it. 

Thanks to Joe's enhanced Characteristics, it was easy for him to inspect the man even from a distance, and he took in a set of gray eyes sparkling with a blend of amusement and concern, a face lined with wrinkles both from worry and laughter. The Ritualist could even see how the man was staring at the glowing ritual tile in his hands with a conflicted gaze. “Who are you, and why shouldn't I try to save my friend?”

“Oh, he's not in any danger. I'll explain in a moment, but I figured I should start with that. The name is Mak, and I’m a humble merchant.” Mak motioned for them to come closer. “Come on, let me give you a little rundown of what sort of situation you got yourself into.”

Heartpiercer and Joe glanced at each other, then at the wall, each of them letting out a small noise of frustration before backing away and hurrying down the road. The Archer shrugged as Joe sent her another hard look. “Worst comes to worst, he's sent to respawn. If they've thrown him in some dark room or something, we can always come back and blast the tower until it falls over.”

“Fine.” Joe grumbled as he tried to contain his frustration at the situation. “One thing after another here. Either it's totally empty and nothing’s happening at all, or we find… what even was that? This world's version of a monster? I haven't seen any other creatures yet, so that would make sense.”

They turned the corner, and the duo stopped dead, staring at the ‘merchant’ with a deadpan stare. Behind him was an eye-catching, brightly painted wagon which practically oozed festive charm. Its sturdy frame was painted with vibrant shades of yellow, white, and rich cheddar-orange colors, perfectly complimenting the wheels and wedges of cheese stacked within. Decorative awnings striped with the same cheerful colors were draped gracefully from the roof and fluttered gently with the steady breeze.

As for Mak himself, the merchant was standing centrally to the wagon, arms spread wide to the side as though to give his newest customers a hug. “Welcome to Vanaheim! Even better, welcome to my rolling cheesewagon, Mak ‘n Cheese! I'm the proprietor, a true merchant Kraftsman.”

For his part, Joe simply didn't have words to respond with as he took in the absolutely flamboyant display, a direct affront to his senses after the stark black, white, and silver architecture which utterly dominated the miniature planet. 

Only after blinking a few times was he able to see more of the details of the wagon, such as how it was clearly designed for a single person to pull it along effortlessly. A yoke at the front was fitted with a comfortable looking harness, complete with leather straps, and polished brass fittings designed to look like wedges of cheddar cheese. Just as he finally managed to think of something to say, the smell hit him.

The air carried a mouth-watering aroma of aged cheese, but it quickly became overwhelming as competing scents—from creamy brie, to the nutty smell of aged parmesan—struck him like hammer blows directly to the nostril. Joe's lips twitched, and he leaned away to try and catch a breath of fresh air while he checked his active spells. “Abyssal Neutrality Aura deactivated itself on the bifrost, didn’t it?”

“What happened to Socar?” Heartpiercer managed to stay far more on task than Joe, immediately demanding the answers they had come there for. “Why’d you stop us from going after him after he was taken like that?”

“As I said, he's in no danger!” Mak cheerfully exclaimed, shaking his head and chuckling softly at their hard expressions. “First off, he wasn't, as you say, taken. He was invited and accepted. Frankly, congratulations are in order. I don't think there has been a new entrant to the Tower of Formations in nearly a millennia and a half. Only the children and the children's children of the original members and their spouses have gotten in. The bright side is that this tower has almost no active feuds with any faction. If I had to guess, I’d say the only downside is the fact that they’re a supporting tower and have little hope of ever producing even a simple Skill Sage.”

“Formations?” Joe looked back down the street, allowing one of his orbs to float up and gently rest against the back of his hand. Immediately, Essence Cycle activated, overlaying his vision with the flows of power in the world. Chaotic energy shifted in a turbulent manner around the spot Socar had vanished from, seeping out and away as though a heavily compressed bubble had been burst. “He solved the puzzle for the tower, didn't he?”

“Good to see you’ve been able to start making some deductions.” Mak put his hands on his hips and leaned to the side, flashing the duo a cheesy grin. “Vanaheim doesn't suffer fools easily! As you've mentioned, each tower has an entrance exam only Experts and above have the tools to solve. The one your friend just popped into is particularly tricky, as there's almost no way to practice formations on this world outside of that specific tower. No new buildings are allowed to be built, and nothing permanent can be placed outside of the walls surrounding each of the structures.”

Here he waved at his own shop. “As you can see, even successful merchants, such as myself, need to be able to stay on the move. Everything else… well, eventually it's swallowed by the world. Ach, don't give me that look! It's not as scary as it seems, things just kinda… vanish if they’re left in place for too long, like a good mozzarella melting onto a slice of toasted bread. People don't vanish, in case you were worried. It's safe to nap wherever you want to rest your head.”

“Wasn't on my mind, but still good to know.” Joe managed to murmur, though his mind was racing. His eyebrow quirked up, and he stared intently at the wall as he shifted his mana and activated the spell Message.

<Socar! Should I start blasting, or are you safe?>

Forty-five mana vanished into the air along with the casting of the spell, as his friend was out of line of sight, but it was such a tiny drop in the sea of power he had that Joe wouldn't even have noticed it missing, were he not watching to ensure that the spell activated in the first place. He let out a sigh of immense relief as a reply came almost instantly.

||Yes! Safe inside, and I still have Nimue. It was a convergence of earth and spirit, as I’d assumed! As the ground collapsed around us, we were both converted into pure energy and pulled along a tether. Not quite a Blink or Flash spell, but something similar I had never considered before. Joe, it was a completely novel expression of Formations I didn't know it was even possible!||

||Right now, I'm standing with a dozen Masters of Formations, and each of them is arguing and competing to see who can give me the most benefit for studying under their direct tutelage! It's the opposite of every college I've ever heard of in my life. Here the masters of the craft are fighting for the chance to teach—oh! Literally fighting! It’s like watching Plato in action, they just started throwing fists! I'm going to stay here for now; let me know if you need anything. Otherwise, this is a golden opportunity-||

Socar absolutely rambled for the next thirty seconds, his mental voice coming across the connection faster than he’d ever been able to speak in person. ||They're telling me right now that there are no more natural monsters on the planet, and the reason the road came up and collapsed around me was so the spiritual energy could condense and inundate my flesh, briefly converting it so I could spirit walk over to the door. Even the basic explanations they're giving me are making my head spin with possibilities-||

Joe could practically feel the instant his friend ran out of mana, and the spell cut itself off, as there was a small retort, and the headache he’d felt building from the absolute deluge of information vanished. Turning to Heartpiercer, Joe grinned and cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, Socar’s fine. He wants to stay there and look around for a while. Apparently there are a few Masters in there competing to be the one to teach him?”

“Makes sense. Hard for a Master to reach Grandmaster status if they don't have any students, isn't it?” Mak called out. To Joe's surprise, at some point, the merchant had gone into his wagon and was now looking out of the window, surrounded by cheese on all sides as he clearly prepared himself to make a sale. “So… you two look like you’re a bit low on cheddar. How about we make a deal, and I extend you a line of credit?”

“Nope.” Joe firmly backed away, lifting his hands as if to ward off evil. “There’s absolutely no chance of me going to a new world and finding myself in debt. That's a good way to end up picking up a new profession I have no interest in.”

“Eh?” Mak stuck his pinky finger into his ear and twisted back and forth as though something were blocking the passageway. “Tell you what, why don't I give you some basic information, so you know I'm a sharp fella, and you can check things out for yourselves? No reason for me to be at odds with someone who can conquer an entire world by themselves.”

Now it was Joe's turn to be confused, but before he could ask for clarification, Mak cheerfully explained, “The bifrost lit up, and suddenly your group appeared. Here's a little known fact for you: even if you got on it weeks after someone else did, since you were the first person here, you had to have been part of the group that opened it up in the first place. As the person who opened it, you'll move along the rainbow bridge faster than anyone else—the bifrost is not instant travel.”

“That's… concerning.” Heartpiercer grit her teeth and glanced at the scintillating light in the sky. “It feels very quick, at the least?”

“Oh, yes, it's fast. Just not instant. It's not a portal, right? You’re having to move along that physical distance.” Mak clapped his hands and beamed at Heartpiercer. “You look like the archetype of a powerful Archer; I bet you'd love to become the first Grandmaster Archer from Midgard, wouldn't you?”

“You know I'm from Midgard because…” she trailed off with a bit of heat in her voice.

“Why, where else would a human come from?” Mak paused for a moment, his left index finger in the air as he corrected himself. “Since you weren’t born here, that is. Even then, humans are quite the small sample size of our population. As I was saying, the Tower of Bowmen would love to have a new recruit. I'm not going to pretend here, every tower is desperate for new recruits. As I'm sure you know by now, you’re on the world of the Sage’s Ladders. You're not going to find monsters, easily accessible materials, or anything like that here. If you’re worried about it, just know that all fighting is done for honor, so a violent death doesn’t mean down-leveling and isn’t permanent for anyone.”

Surprisingly, Joe felt a wave of relief wash over him at that information—he was sick and tired of constantly worrying about his Dwarven friends and how his actions might force them to turn into Elves and lose their memories and personalities. “That's… really good to know, Mak. The last couple of worlds have been constant combat and scheming. I'm really looking forward to something different.”

“Then you came to the right place!” Mak held up his fingers in a ‘V’ for victory, “on Vanaheim—”

Joe realized at that moment that the ‘V’ may not actually signify victory, but the planet instead. Just another culture clash he needed to internally note.

“—There are only a few ways to get what you need. Everything physical is paid for in cheese. The more refined and well-aged, the more it’s worth. You can purchase cheese in exchange for knowledge or by working or completing tasks for others. It's basic currency; you can trade your time for plenty of cheddar. Each tower is also given an allotment based on the Honor they’ve managed to accrue for themselves, though that allotment is assigned by the leader of the tower itself. If you want to learn specialized skills or gain access to knowledge not a part of your class, you must trade. In this way, the cheese flows across the planet. A very gouda system, if I do say so myself.”

“There are some rules you must be aware of.” Mak’s voice turned stern, recapturing the duo's attention. “First, we have ways to tell if the cheese you are passing out has been magically altered or stored in a faulty storage device in an attempt to unnaturally age it. That's the same as passing around counterfeit currency and is actively dishonorable. Just remember, if you want to grow your wealth, invest in young cheeses and age them well. If you have a sharp eye, you'll eventually be able to trade it for parmesan to practice non-class skills.”

“You mispronounced ‘permission’,” Heartpiercer told the man with a straight face, acting intentionally obtuse. Joe could practically see the gears turning in the man's mind as he debated whether or not to explain his cheesy jokes to the young Archer, but eventually he set the issue aside. 

“How grate to have someone to help me out when I have shredded my words. Just in queso people get feta up with my quips,” the merchant replied with a stiff smile. “Now, the tower you’re looking for is… here, I'll draw you a map. But for you, my shiny-scalped young friend, I'm drawing a bit of a blank. You were using some form of embedded magic, so… I want to guess you are a scroll master?”

“Ritualist.” Joe replied easily, though he went still as Mak’s eyes went wide.

“Oh. Is that right?” The man winced sympathetically. “That’s… I’m sorry to hear you fell into that trap.”