Leo rode Wolten beside Felix the Earth architect, who was mounted on Hugh.

The sun blazed overhead, and they hurried across wilted plants. A breeze blew around them, heading west across the river, which brought at least a little relief. Just a smidge of comfort on an uncomfortable trip.

            They headed toward a hundred-foot escarpment, a massive plateau that had little justification existing in normal geological terms. But Lily had expertly informed Leo—at great length—that this plateau was a cluster of three powerful Earth nodes, and was called the Rock Plateau.

There was little vegetation on the top of the plateau, due to a lack of soil. But the moisture that dropped before reaching the Blue Lands to the north of the plateau had formed three rivers. They cut narrow canyons before leaving the plateau and covering the last five miles to the Inner Sea, heading from north to south across the plateau a mere forty or so miles apart from each other.

            That canyon river was the focus of one of the projects that Leo—well, really Felix, with guidance from Leo—had been working on. A great dam.

            “I can’t wait till you see it, Leo,” Felix said excitedly. “I am fascinated by what you showed me, the charts of water pressures and levels that you were able to calculate. And I did everything you asked, four feet thick, magically hardened stone, a hundred feet tall. With what I’ve learned from you, I’ll be the best architect for dam creation. It’s amazing.”

Leo smiled, caught up in Felix’s enthusiasm. “I always love listening to a genuine enthusiast on almost any topic, but when it’s engineering… Well, just know that the Lord of Star Port will always enjoy your company, should you stop by again.”

“And the dragon of Star Port will avoid nerds like the plague,” Hugh said.

“Philistine,” Leo said.

“That didn’t translate.” Hugh frowned. “Also, seriously, can we talk about interesting things? I mean, I’m already acting like a damn horse for nerdboy here, just out of misplaced affection for your boring bigwig butt. Do you have to punish me with your talk as well?”

“Mirafol petitioned me to spend her resources on a tavern and inn again,” Leo said.

“Mirafol? That elf with illusion powers? I can’t wait, seriously.” Hugh snorted. “That stupid inn at Wheat Town is dumb, and I have to travel, like, four miles to get to it, which is just ridiculous. Why do you keep denying her?”

“She doesn’t want to open it on Elgin Isle, or in Apple, like the Silverleaf family did. She wants to open it at the docks in Star Port proper—old Calasti. We’ve got no one really guarding that place yet. She’ll get eaten by diseased wolves for sure.”

Hugh managed to half-shrug as they walked, nearly dislodging Felix. It wasn’t a gesture natural to dragons, but he’d copied it from Leo.

“She knows the risks, and she married that army elf guy, right? Who’s second level and had some fighting skills?”

“One second-level guy isn’t defeating three diseased wolves, which is what came for us.”

“We’re here!” Felix said excitedly, pointing ahead at a small river, maybe thirty feet across and person-deep in the middle. As they walked closer, Leo watched for the giant canyon the stream had come from.

The hundred-foot escarpment quickly showed the forty-foot-wide, hundred-foot-tall gap that the river came out of. About five hundred feet behind the escarpment, down the canyon, was the dam. It rose about ninety feet up, smooth stone. The last ten feet or so was a collection of holes, with walkways around the side, which the water spilled through.

Leo had hopes, perhaps unrealistic, that those might someday hold turbines for a hydroelectric dam.

On each side, an odd switchback earthen stair, without railings, climbed to the top of the dam.

“Damn, that’s impressive,” Hugh muttered as he stared at it. “I’d be nervous about falling, for sure.”

“Don’t dragons—” Felix began.

Leo cut him off with a laugh. “The Damn Dam. That’s a great name, Hugh. I like it. We’re going with it.”

Hugh gave the dam a raised eyebrow. “Why this boondoggle, though? I mean, Wheat Town is closer to the Blue River, which has unlimited fresh water. You could irrigate everything way cheaper, I assume.”

“Well, this dam did cost me a couple hundred gold, mostly in essence potions to keep Felix here working day and night, but it does something we can’t yet do with the river. It gives me the ability to make water towers.”

“What the heck are water towers and what bird logic led to them?” Hugh asked, tilting his head.

“You and birds, friend, you and birds. Water towers are just huge towers, probably fifty or sixty feet high in this case, that will create water pressure for us. So that I can put a real plumbing system in for Wheat Town, and a slightly more modern irrigation system. You’ll be able to turn a handle, and water will pour out into sinks, baths, everything. It’ll be amazing.”

“And you’ll have more wheat.”

“And that,” Leo said, chuckling. “Which is a big deal. But wait till you’ve had your first warm shower—although exactly how I’ll manage that, I’m not sure. I can’t believe, after everything, that I got to build a dam. My first love is engineering.”

Hugh lifted one paw and did a credible ‘jazz hand’ with it. “Hooray. Every nerd-boy’s wet dream.”

“Want to take a tour?” Felix asked. “I mean, there isn’t much more to it than you can see, but at the bottom, I haven’t caused the stone to flow across the entrance and start filling. We could do that and see the beginning of your lake created.”

“No,” Hugh said at the same time Leo said, “I’d love to.”

“You guys are seriously killing me,” Hugh groused.

            “We’ll stop at the Dragon’s Fall tavern in Wheat Town on the way back, okay?”

            “Fine.” Hugh groaned. “But there’s no way I’m going up there. Me and heights don’t mix. I’ve had too many problems.”

            “Alright. Wait for us down here, where it’s just as safe as it is up there, and then we’ll go to the Dragon’s Fall. I’ll spring for magic booze, although nothing as potent as Troll Spit.”

            “Yay!” Hugh danced in a circle as Felix held on desperately, and Wolten backed away with a muted woof.

            After Hugh had calmed down, Felix sighed.

“Hmm?” Hugh asked.

“I still can’t believe you got a tavern named after your drunken antics,” Felix replied.

***

            Leo looked over at Hugh, who was singing—with a fine, if deep voice—drunken snatches of song.

            The proprietor, the beautiful bronze-haired elf Janelle Silverleaf, dropped a plate with bread and fish on it in front of Leo. “Here you go, Lord Evans, compliments of my husband.” Rather than leaving, she stared at Hugh. “He’s so good-natured, it’s hard to get upset when he goes on his benders, isn’t it?”

            Leo chuckled. “Indeed. Although I’ve seen it fifteen or so times now. It’s lost its charm.”

            “Well, he also pays about two days’ worth of the entire inn’s gross every time he gets here, and these days, what with his largesse, he draws a crowd. So I guess I’m not complaining.”

            When Leo didn’t respond, the proprietor of the Dragon’s Fall Inn excused herself and left.

Leo didn’t mean to be rude, but he’d made Level Nine that morning, adventuring in the ruins of old Calasti. He’d made a short trip there, with Lily and Hugh, most days for a few months now, a couple of hours in each time. He’d also taken Zir along for most of the excursions, which still left him feeling like he was engaging in child abuse—although even Zir’s mother had praised him for his kindness in helping her son level, so Leo assumed this world was just different. When three dead monsters were worth more to her son’s financial security than four years of college, he supposed he could see why she would support such dangerous activity.

If adventuring was a veritable ocean of experience, however, it was rapidly becoming a desert of loot. They’d only found a very few valuable items, although it still added up to a couple extra farms, and he and Hugh had even started hauling intact silverware and art pieces out. But according to Lily, their pay rate—compared to most of those at Level Eight and Nine—was quite low for dangerous work.

            A few other ‘adventurers’ had set up as well, and negotiations with the adventurer’s guild for the Inner Sea and Ten Lakes were underway currently to formalize admittance procedures, charge a small entrance fee, and give Leo a few extra coins. Most importantly, however, the guild would help train new adventurers.

Leo had about twenty Level Two, eight or so Level Three, and two Level Four adventurers in his ex-slave elf population. But he also had three fresh graves. He’d been assured, over and over, that it was a good tradeoff, but still—losing people really weighed on him. He hadn’t fully adjusted to the ‘fantasy-medieval’ perspective of life.

            Still vaguely watching Hugh, as well as three drunk buddies, in their singing medley, Leo brought up his character sheet.

 

Skills	Level	Effect
Administration	4	-2% to realm administration costs, -8% to business costs
Athletics	15	+45% to run speed, +15 to check to climb or avoid obstacles Level 10 Special Skill: Burst Fighter: For up to 6 minutes, all stamina expenditures are halved.
Business	4	+12% to expected income, and -4% to expected costs, for operating any business
Dodge	11	+33% to dodge incoming attacks. Level 10 Special Skill: Slip from the Crowd: First additional person attacking you after the first imposes no additional penalties.
Instruction	5	+2.5% increase in learning rate of someone learning from you per point of difference in your skills
Imbuing	2	Formal knowledge of imbuing, may create tier-1 least rituals.
Leadership	3	People consider you to have 6% more status than you do, and if they are followers, are willing to accept conditions 3% worse than baseline without complaint
Light Armor	3	+6% defense added from light armor, -9% penalty to accuracy and dodge from light armor.
Melee Weapons	1	+1% to hit and damage with any hand-held weapon
Mixed Arts Fighting	10	+20% to hit and damage with fists, +10% to dodge, +5 to trip, pin, or incapacitate and avoid the same. Level 10 Special Skill: All the Weapons: In any ‘clinch’ may deliver an unarmed blow as an additional attack at no penalty.
Natural Sciences	19	Extremely detailed understanding of the non-magical components of the world and how they work.
Occult	8	You can sense magic that is not concealed that is connected to you, whose area of effect you are in, or that is within 8 feet of you. Your magic powers have 16% greater effect. You can sense the purpose of simple magic and vaguely discern more complicated magic.
Research	8	+16% base rate to discover information in archives, +16% to daily chance to discover something new while researching, modifying Intelligence rate
Seduction	1	People find your attempts to seduce them 2% more favorable than baseline, compared to what they are looking for
Shield	3	+9% block with shield, +3% accuracy and damage to shield bash
Survival	4	+12% hunting and foraging
Small Blades	2	+8% to hit and parry, +4% to damage, and +4% critical chance with small blades
Sword	8	+24% to hit and parry, +24% damage with swords

 

 

            I wish I were Level Ten. That level is going to be absolutely amazing. Four abilities, even better than for Level Two. Can’t wait, legit. But for now…

Leo switched to his available abilities chart.

Leveling Options, Level Nine [Pick Two]
Body
Improved Strength, Rank I	+4 Strength
Improved Agility, Rank I	+4 Agility
Improved Dexterity, Rank I	+4 Dexterity
Bestial Endurance, Rank I	+4 Endurance
Bestial Toughness, Rank I	+4 Toughness
Bestial Senses, Rank I	+4 Perception
Improved Appearance, Rank I	+4 Appearance
Improved Health, Rank I	+8 base Health
Improved Stamina, Rank I	+8 base Stamina
Play Dead	Spend 1 essence and life functions will drop to the point that they are not detectable to the naked eye for up to 10 minutes.
Heal	Spend 1 essence and heal 4 Health to self or others by touch.
Brutal Reaction	Spend 2 essence. Gain brief speed, doubling physical movement rates, including attack, for 6 seconds.
Regeneration, Rank II	Spend 3 essence. Target gains 2 health until max per 6 seconds for 1 minute.
Regenerating Aura	Spend 3 essence. You and all allies gain 1 health until max per 6 seconds for 1 minute.
Second Wind	Spend 1 essence. Gain 8 stamina.
Subtle Shift	Spend 2 essence and maintain for 1 essence per minute. Features subtly shift to look like a different person—only cosmetic features (skin tone, wrinkles, etc.)
Sleepless, rank I	Require only 2 hours of sleep per night.
Body Affinity, Rank I	+1 Body affinity.
*Kinesthetic Learner	Gain 1 additional Body ability at Level 10, and every 10 levels thereafter. May only be taken at Level 2, 11, 21, 31, or 41, and it only applies to the 10th level thereafter. Rare ability—result of Natural talent and at least 1 perk that adds to Strength, Agility, Dexterity, Toughness, or Endurance. +25% to occult skill gain rate.
Mind
Improved Intelligence, Rank I	+2 additional Intelligence
Illusionist, Rank I	Spend 1 essence. May hold for 1 drawdown (1 less maximum mana so long as power is utilized). Create a cat-sized image with only visual components.
Audible Illusions	All illusions may have audible components as well.
Conceal Self	May radically change your own appearance and clothing at will. This also provides +2 appearance. This is a mind-affecting ability and may be resisted by anyone with bonuses against mind-affecting abilities.
Mind Blast, Rank I	Spend 1 essence and do 2 (modified by all magic and mind-altering effects) psi damage to any visible target that has a mind within 100 feet per point of occult.
Telekinesis, Rank III	Spend 3 essence and move a single object up to 10 feet away per occult at speeds up to 90 miles per hour, modified by damage. If attacking, does 6 base damage. Damage, speed, and weight modified by magical and telekinesis altering abilities. (Locked, Level 10 required)
Inertial Armor, Rank I*	Based on high intelligence, Telekinesis ability, and Cognitive Learner, this unusual power pushes physical attacks away. Only working on kinetic damage, this adds 1 armor, modified by magic score.
Inertial Weapon, Rank I*	Based on high intelligence, Telekinesis ability, and Cognitive Learner, this unusual power modifies kinetic force. This adds 10% damage to kinetic attacks, modified to higher percentage damage by magic score.
Telepathy, Rank I	Spend 1 essence, and 1 essence per 10 minutes, to use telepathy with any 1 person within 10 feet per point of occult.
Tongues	Spend 1 essence, and 1 essence per 10 minutes, to speak any natural language. This is a mind-affecting power and will not work if the target can’t receive telepathy.
Mind Affinity, Rank II	Gain +1 additional Mind affinity
Soul
Soul of Magic, Rank I	+2 Magic
Natural Leader, Rank I	+2 Charisma
Improved Connection, Rank I	+4 connection
Improved Capacity, Rank I	+4 capacity
Shield, Rank I	May spend 1 essence and gain a 4-hit-point shield that lasts for 6 seconds.
Barrier, Rank I	May spend 1 essence and gain a 2-hit-point shield that lasts for 1 minute.
Talk Down	The wielder may spend 2 essence and make a contested Charisma check against the target’s highest Intelligence, Magic, or Charisma score, with the defender getting any bonuses against mind-affecting powers. Success will calm the target so that they won’t initiate or continue aggression, unless harmed or witnessing others they care for being harmed.
Soul Affinity, Rank I	+1 Soul affinity
Wyld
Bestial Strength, Rank I	+4 Strength
Bestial Agility, Rank I	+4 Agility
Bestial Endurance, Rank I	+4 Endurance
Bestial Toughness, Rank I	+4 Toughness
Bestial Senses, Rank I	+4 Perception
Were Form, Rank I	May spend 1 essence, and 1 essence per every 6 seconds, to assume a partial were form. Gain +4 to Strength, Agility, Endurance, and Toughness for the duration of the ability.
Resilient, Rank I	Gain back 1 Health per ten minutes at no cost.
True Grit	Wound penalties to accuracy, dodge, and Stamina recovery are halved
Wyld Affinity, Rank I	+1 Wyld affinity
Animal Companion, Rank II	Gain 2 animal companions. Each animal gains +2 to all physical stats. “Animals” includes any magical beast less than Level 6 for this power.
Powerful Companions	Every animal companion gains an additional +2 to all physical stats. Base animal may be two levels higher.
Metal
Armored Skin, Rank I	+2 armor score for natural skin. Your skin has a slight metallic sheen.
Light, Rank I	Spend 1 essence, and do 4 (modified by all magic, Metal, and Light altering effects) light damage to any target hit with a ranged accuracy roll at +60% accuracy.
Coordinator’s Boost	Spend 1 essence. Target ally within 10 feet per occult gains +60% accuracy and +20% Critical Chance against any target hit by an ally for the next 12 seconds.
Natural Merchant, Rank I	Gain +20% more from selling goods than normal based on Charisma and business score.
Natural Organizer, Rank I	Gain +20% more productivity from any business with fewer than 100 (+10% per Business and Leadership skill level) people.
Skilled fighter, Rank I	+20% bonuses from all weapon, armor, and shield skills
Item Mastery, Rank I	Gain 1 additional non-artifact item use maximum
Body/Wyld
Resilient Companions	All animal companions gain 1 health every minute unless slain
Mind/Wyld
Intelligent Companions	All animal companions gain 2 Intelligence and may learn language, and speak it if their mouths are capable.
Soul/Wyld
Familiar, Rank I	May bond with a single familiar. This familiar has half the level of its master and is considered a sapient magical beast.

 

            The problem, of course, was that Leo couldn’t do everything he wanted.

He wanted to expand his animal companion skills. He wanted to increase telekinesis, take inertial weapons, increase his magic, increase his healing… He wanted everything, really. But what he was most torn between was increasing his Charisma, to lead better; increasing his magic, since it affected all his powers potentially; and sleepless, which gave him more time. The extra two to three hours a day was about the same amount of time it took him to maintain his physical regime.

            And I think I’ll need a certain number of stats and abilities in all three of the being magics—Body, Mind, and Soul—for arcane when I’m Level Thirty. If ever. I have to spread these abilities somehow…

            Leo was currently quite weak on Soul magic abilities, but he’d focused the hardest on a long-term build, increasing his skill gain rate and potential maximums. At the end of the day, he felt sleepless was best.

            He selected the ability and felt a burst of energy and a second wind take him—like he had a Red Bull from his old life coursing through his veins again. That’s the good stuff.

            Leo watched as Hugh entered his thirteenth, and least coherent, rendition of the “The Lady and the Root,” which was apparently what passed for a lusty tavern song to elves. Frankly, it was so subtle and poetic that anything lusty, besides the clear innuendo in the title itself, was lost on Leo.

            And if I didn’t know Middle Averian, I think the song itself would sound like a lament for friends lost, the way this language sounds.

Hugh tried to make his way over to Leo and walked into a support beam for the tavern headfirst, without stopping his singing. Perhaps with my new ‘Red Bull’ power, I can put up with the drunk dragon more easily, Leo thought to himself with a brief chuckle. Then he stood to guide the inebriated lizard to bed.