Chapter 3

The Guild House

Janus woke up the next day with even greater excitement than the day before. He had met Dario Wall, and now he would learn from him.

He walked out of the front door, noting the absence of the flag his father put out the day before.

Looks like he didn’t want another citation after all.

Janus wished his dad would just accept that things are different now. He had learned about the tribes in school, it was no wonder they weren’t a fan of the American flag.

It was a small fine to display flags from the old world. The law was meant to strengthen solidarity between those who had to go below the ground. Janus wasn’t sure if the law had really succeeded in its purpose.

He set out down the path, watching as others left their homes. His walk took him past the station plaza: a large open area near the center of town sporting a rune-powered fountain. Some enchantment was causing the water to shift colors as it sprayed from the top and cascaded into a basin.

Many shops surrounded the plaza. A few shopkeepers were already outside, trying to peddle their wares. But Janus wasn’t interested in any of the shops. He was preoccupied by thoughts of Dario and the Delver’s Guild.

On his route, he checked his status, willing for the information to appear in his mind’s eye.

 

Improving my [Bravery] skill would help a lot with my mana. My wisdom has already gone up so many points. I should be able to get more intelligence by leveling [Mana Manipulation] and [Strength Enhancement].

Janus willed for his new skills and [Mana Manipulation] to appear in his minds eye.

[Mana Manipulation]
Cost: 1 Mana per second
Cooldown: None
Description: You can control your own mana and ambient mana around you.
Bonus Stats: 1 Int and 1 Wis per level

[Bravery]
Cost: None
Cooldown: Always Active
Description: You have stood against a fearsome creature with a much higher level than your own. You approach dangerous situations more calmly.
Bonus Stats: 5 Wis per level

[Strength Enhancement]
Cost: 20 Mana
Cooldown: 5 Seconds
Description: You have learned to use ambient mana to increase the power of physical attacks, either for yourself or for an ally. For the next 10 seconds, the first physical attack your target makes will deal [30%] increased physical damage.
Bonus Stats: 1 Int per level, 1 Str per level

Janus had left home more than an hour early. There was no way he could stay in bed for a moment longer. He just had to get moving.

The library was now up ahead. It was a large, but nondescript building. A small swinging sign hung above the door with a colorfully painted book on either side. It was one of Janus’ favorite places in the station. He could simply bury his face in a book and not have to deal with conversation.

Because he was so early, Janus decided he would use some of his extra time to stop by. He stepped inside, the sound of a small bell fixed to the door following him.

“Ah, Janus! It’s good to see you. We got the sequel to ‘The Runed Knight’ last week, I’m sure that’s what you’re here for.” said an elderly man sitting behind a small counter. Books had been stacked on nearly every available space.

Janus brushed his feet on a small welcoming mat and replied, “Hey, Feldson. Yeah, the first one was great, but I’m also interested in some other stuff. Are any runescribes free?”

“Of course, of course. The library doesn’t see much traffic these days, especially this early in the morning. Come talk to me if you need anything,” said Feldson.

Janus nodded at him and continued on into the library. Rows of neatly arranged shelves containing books covered most of the library floor. Janus headed to a small kiosk, grabbing a runescribe from a pile.

The runescribe was keyed into a database containing every book in the library. The books were arranged by genre, several runes on the runescribe corresponded to the various categories. Janus pressed lightly on the rune indicating the fantasy genre. He noted that “The Runed Knight: A second Tale” was at the top of the list as a new arrival to the library. The runescribe detailed which section he could find the book in.

Is this really something I should be doing? Wasting my time with this?

Janus made a new selection on the runescribe: system mechanics. The runescribe displayed dozens of works. It listed nothing at the top as a new arrival.

What am I going to learn here that I didn’t learn during class...

One book caught his eye, though. The title was, “Primer on Enhancement Magic”. Janus headed to the section described on the runescribe and located the book. He pulled it from the bookshelf and headed back to the exit.

“I think I’ll just take this one today. Maybe I’ll come back for the sequel to ‘Runed Knight’ another time,” said Janus as he approached the counter.

Feldson looked at him incredulously and said, “You’re not going to check it out? I’m surprised.”

Janus handed Feldson the book on enhancement magic and replied, “I’m going for something a bit more practical this time around.”

“Suit yourself,” said Feldson as he made a small mark in the book and another in the library records. “Take care, Janus.”

Janus waved back to Feldson as he left the library. He stuffed the new book in his pack and headed towards the plaza. Surely he had enough time for some light reading. If anything in this book could help him with his [Mana Manipulation] skill, then it was worth the effort.

Finding a comfortable enough bench, Janus sat and broke open the book. It was dry, but the author went in depth.

There are many different schools of enhancement, but the most common schools are physical and arcane enhancement. As their names imply, the first improves the efficacy of physical skills and the second improves the efficacy of arcane skills

Janus skimmed the introduction, but found very little that he didn’t already know. He skipped ahead to the section on physical enhancement and began reading about common skills.

Most practitioners break into the physical enhancement school with the [Strength Enhancement] skill. Sometimes the effect can vary from person to person, but in general this skill will increase the physical damage of the target's next attack. Common evolutions for this skill are the [Power Enhancement] skill, which improves both magical and physical damage, and the [Strength Boon] skill which can only be used to enhance the owner of the skill, but with a greater effect. As with any skills, these can have personalized effects based on the person casting them.

Janus continued and finished the section on physical enhancement. He spent a little more time thinking about what he had read.

I should go for [Power Enhancement]. I’m sure I could get into a delve group with that. Especially if I get an enhancement related class.

Janus had been reading for nearly half an hour. It was still a bit early, but he decided that he preferred being too early over being late.

While leaving the station plaza, Janus spotted a group of guys wearing leather jackets. Emblazoned on the back of their jackets was an image of a crows foot.

There are so many gangs in this station now. Station police will have to crack down on them before any of those gangsters gains enough levels to be an issue.

Janus walked past the group overhearing a conversation about developing custom skills.

“I’m telling yah Jimmy, if we get enough members we can form a guild,” one man was motioning wildly in the air with his arms. “If we get a guild, we can get unique skills. The others wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Janus had already moved too far to hear anyone reply.

-

Most of Crow Station was laid out in a neat grid. Buildings were arranged in square sections, with the small exception of some government offices and the station plaza. Over the years, however, the station had been expanded. Both officially and unofficially. These expanded sections featured more chaotic layouts, haphazardly constructed buildings, and a variety of architectural styles. Many establishments were simply carved into the rock wall of the vast cavern itself.

The inhabitants of crow station referred to the region as the Backwash. Floods occasionally broke out in the area as people dug too deep or an earthquake freed trapped water, which helped popularize the nickname.

Janus found himself standing before a building in the Backwash. It was larger than most of the structures within the station proper, sporting multiple floors. Each floor above the first was slightly smaller than the preceding floor, giving the structure a tiered pyramidal shape. The walls seamlessly emerged from the stone.

To the right of the building was a series of tunnels carved into the cavern wall. Most of the tunnels were sealed with rune-inscribed vault doors. The few tunnels that were open had small noticeboards nearby.

To the left was a large flattened area with various raised platforms. Each platform was only 30 or so centimeters off the ground. On some of the platforms Janus could see people sparring. Bright flashes of light accompanied by an occasional shout emerged from the region.

I wonder if anyone else has gotten here yet.

Janus stepped inside the guild. There was a good amount of activity, even this early in the morning. One group sat around a table, a man in a white robe emphatically pointing at some papers arrayed on that same table. Another group was helping one of their members put on a complicated-looking array of armored plates. Each plate had carefully designed runes on it.

Janus was like a fish out of water. He had never been inside the guild before.

What do I do?

Near the middle of the room was an island style counter, a few people sat behind it. One of the clerks was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes when Janus approached.

“Hello, I’m here to see Dario Wall.” Janus tried to catch the clerk’s attention.

“Yeah, and I’m the governor of Crow Station. Beat it, kid.” The clerk yawned and rested his head on his upturned hand.

“No, really. He said he would be here this morning, but I might be a bit early.”

“Sure, kid. It’s not like I’m gonna kick you out. Just don’t bother anyone.”

Janus decided either Dario wasn’t there yet, or the clerk just didn’t know that Dario was in Crow Station.

He made his way out of the exit towards the left side of the building. It opened up to the sparring fields that he had spotted before. Taking a seat on a small bench, he decided that there were worse ways to spend an hour than watching delvers spar.

Turning his attention to the nearest sparring platform, Janus identified a pair happily wailing on one another.

[Striker - Level 22]

[Shield-Bearer - Level 24]

The striker was a short woman with hair shaved close to her head. Her stature was deceptive, though. Each hit from her fists reverberated outward with power, forcing the shield-bearer back.

The shield-bearer did in fact bear a shield. In his other hand was a simple rounded mace, which he used to counterattack. The mace collided with the side of the striker, and she was knocked to the ground. With a flourish of limbs, the striker quickly maneuvered herself into a standing position. Her fist once again collided with her opponent’s shield. This time, however, much of the energy was reflected. The reflected energy returned to the striker, once more knocking her off balance.

Taking this chance, the shield-bearer brought his mace down again. This time, the striker laid motionless on the ground.

The shield-bearer shouted, “I need a healer here!”

Within moments, a bystander from the sidelines rushed in. He had a patch bearing a red cross on the shoulder guard of his sturdy looking leather armor. He quickly arrived on the sparring platform and a green mist emanated from his body. A few moments later, the striker was slowly moving to a sitting position.

“Get used to it, that’s gonna be you. Peeling yourself off the ground will become a regular occurrence.” Dario’s voice came from Janus’ left side, “You this early today to make up for yesterday?”

“I, uh, no sir. I just couldn’t sleep.” Janus replied.

“That eager, huh? We’re gonna have a chat about that sir thing. This isn’t the army.”

“Right.”

“Well, the other two haven’t arrived yet. Let’s see what you’re made of,” With that, Dario made his way towards one of the sparring platforms. He beckoned towards Janus, “Today, son, my time is valuable.”

Janus hurried after him, finding himself on the opposite end of a sparring platform.

“Now I want you to hit me. Pump everything you’ve got into it.” Dario said.

There is no universe where this ends well for me.

Janus clenched his fist and slowly pulled ambient mana towards it with [Mana Manipulation]. He also activated his [Str. Enhancement]. The pain was already becoming unbearable. At the last moment, before he struck, Janus identified Dario.

[Identity Obscured]

Of course, what did I expect?