Outside Quartz City
‘What should I do? No, what can I do?’ Amber thought while walking behind Martyn.
She was only briefly informed on the matter; what she understood was a hierarchy, and with how Derek responded, it meant trouble for the future.
“Don’t think much about it; his father’s a baron who owns a fishing port, and he can’t do anything while we’re in the city; He’s part of another guild, so we won’t run into him; we’ll just have to be careful training outside,” Martyn said as if reading her mind.
She nodded. “But still... I can’t help myself and worry more about you.”
Martyn’s firm demeanour melted at her words. When was the st time someone said they were worried about him? It had been too long.
Upon entering their city, they went past various shops and bustling people. Arriving at a purple building, smoke is blowing out its chimney—one of many magic shops.
Amber looked at Martyn quizzically.
“It’s a magic shop, like the bcksmith, except they offer herbs, potions, and magic trinkets,” he said, walking in, the doorbell ringing to mark his presence.
Everyone in the shop gnced only for a second, losing interest.
Martyn walked to the front desk, meeting a man younger than him in appearance, whom he assumed was an elf.
“Hiya there, what can I get you today?”
Amber stood nearby, gncing at the various potions and glowing vials. “I’d like a magic affinity crystal, please?”
Nodding, the elf gave a thumbs up before disappearing into the back and returning with a palm-sized crystal ball and a slip. It didn’t cost much—only a couple of bronzes.
Leaving, they still had the rest of the day, but Amber lifted her arms and said, “I need a shower. You too,” she said, sniffing the air around them.
“Do you want to call it a day? We can have dinner at the inn.”
“Yes! Let’s go, come on!” She hurriedly dragged him towards the inn.
‘Should I feel jealous over her love for food or excited for when she eats the meals I've got in store?’ He chuckled at the thought.
The diner wasn’t that busy, so they took a seat, gncing at the menu. Lisa came by, took their orders, and left; she didn’t have time to chat as she was busy tending to others.
“I thought you didn’t have any magic. Why buy the crystal?” Amber asked.
“Right, well, I’ve got a theory I want to check out.”
Amber wanted to ask more, but when their dinner arrived, smelling the steak and potatoes, they both realised how hungry they were and ordered seconds.
Afterwards, the two returned to their shared room. Amber went to the shower first. “No peeking.” She said as she was shaking her hips.
“Oh, I wouldn’t dare. I’m a gentleman, and besides, I’ve already seen all of you.”
Amber blushed as she walked into the shower. She didn’t need to, as her magic was an option, but she enjoyed not having to focus and use the mechanical tool. While she took her shower, Martyn pced the crystal down; the slip held a summary of its elemental reactions, and he centred the orb on a piece of cloth.
A pang of anxiety filled him, and with low expectations, he poured mana into the crystal ball. It hummed to life, blue light filling the room.
He observed as mana flickered in the crystal. His emerald eyes widened as the cloth folded, vanishing into the crystal.
‘!’ Martyn read the sheet, noting the reaction. He buzzed in pce, shaking in excitement. Every inch of him is twitching, his ears shaking, and more.
“Martyn, what happened?” Amber stepped out naked, her body dripping wet. She felt the sudden spike in thrill emanating from him and couldn’t hold her curiosity.
Martyn said nothing and stood up. He moved to Amber, embracing her in a sweet kiss before pushing her back into the shower.
“Clean yourself first.”
He heard mumbling from behind before she stepped back in, clean, only wearing his white shirt. “Alright then, what happened?”
“Well, I have an affinity now for space magic.” He said it with a chuckle.
“That’s... wait, as in spatial magic, teleportation magic? Magic storage all of that?” Amber asked.
Martyn nodded, looking at the crystal. As the light dimmed, the cloth reappeared, shooting out of it.
“How has no one taken you under their wing?”
“I didn’t have it before, but that doesn’t matter; what does is that I can use space magic. Its rarity cannot be ughed at. After I’m done taking my shower. We’ll find out how much it costs to join the mage towers.”
While Martyn took his shower, Amber went to the window, peering outside and watching the buzz of the city.
She knew of the concepts, but as a dungeon monster, she never once saw the real world outside nor the celestial bodies in the sky. Most monsters don’t dream of leaving the dungeon—well, not exactly, as they were in the best environment to grow and develop, so they didn’t see the need.
‘Martyn.’ His image surfaced in her mind. Her master, lover, and husband all those words felt so alien and yet brought warmth to her.
‘I never thought I’d be bonded to someone,’ she thought, looking at the shower door.
Before, she didn’t have another goal besides getting stronger, but now...
“I want to see what’s out there,” she said, with the wind brushing her face. ‘I want to explore. I want to support you, love you, and protect you.’
It was a simple, honest goal, one she knew he had for her as well. Martyn walked back, drying himself. Amber did nothing to hide her hungry gaze over his chisled body and the efforts of his muscuture.
The panther-kin in question feigned ignorance as he dressed up in front of her, but she felt a small amount of pride slip through their bond. She could also feel the slight anticipation of it.
‘Which makes sense; one night of constant sex can’t make up for three years,’ she hummed, remembering the night before.
“We should go on a date,” Amber said.
Martyn’s ears rose in surprise, and the end of his tail wagged slightly. 'Cute.' She felt the slight excitement coming from him.
“Maybe ter. First, let’s visit the towers, and then we can pn that for ter.” He said as he was buttoning his shirt.
Amber nodded, ready to leave, only for Martyn to stand at the door, arms crossed.
It took a moment for the Kobold to realise she was half naked, only wearing his shirt. Shyly, she put on a pair of pants before attaching the belt.
Together, they went out, heading to the water mage tower first. It was a tall pilr of a building, its walls coated in luminescent seashells, and despite its external appearance, it was rger on the inside, housing up to a thousand water mages of various ranks.
Joining a tower was akin to taking a specialised course, and like the guild membership demanded monthly payments, Martyn kept the cost in mind moving forward.
After getting the location of the space mage tower, they headed towards it.
“Twenty silvers a month is a lot,” Amber said.
"True, but with it, you’ll be taught by water magic experts and specialists, but we’ll have to hold back until we make at least fifty silvers a month if the spatial tower is anything simir.”
With that, they arrived at the building, and it wasn’t a tower. Nothing grand or special; it looked like a small mansion with three floors.
And the inside was the same as the outside—no extended interior or anything.
“I’d expect more space inside from a spatial mage residence,” Amber said.
“Me too.” Martyn nodded.
Walking forward, they arrived at the receptionist, a rather tired-looking dryad with light green skin with roots travelling across it. He was wearing a white cotton shirt. Dryads were against wearing animal products, and the man sat up, brushing his leaf-like strands of hair back.
It was rare to see a male dryad as the race was predominantly women.
“Welcome to the spatial mage tower, and you’re right because we spatial mages are so rare that building a tower for us isn’t necessary, so more of a spatial mage residence as there are only fifty or so of us on the continent, and there are only four members in this building, including me. Though they rarely come here, I stay because of the free lodging, so how may I help you?”
“I guess that’s a good thing. Yeah, I was wondering how much it is to join you then?” Martyn asked.
At that, the dryad’s eyes lit up. “You have spatial affinity!?”
Martyn nodded. The man calmed himself quickly and pulled out an orb. Having done the process, Martyn poured his mana in, and as before, the cloth that sat beneath the orb vanished within.
With a deep breath, the dryad’s voice boomed.
“Yes, finally, we’ve got a new member! Oh my god, it’s finally happening. Alright, let me tell you, since we’re so rare and coveted by the kingdom, there is no real fee to join. Hell, as I said, we get free lodging here and an allowance of a hundred silver per month. We have to do a few tasks, but nothing a beginner can’t handle.”
Martyn grew surprised, and so did Amber, the two sharing the same thoughts: ‘Free lodging? And money?’
“The lodging here is free? How so? And what are these tasks he’d have to do?” Amber asked.
“Well, there’s only one task: fill a container with your mana. Since you have a spatial affinity, your mana will have spatial attributes, meaning it can be used to create magic bags and artefacts.”
Martyn nodded his head, wondering, while the dryad kept on talking about the benefits of registering.
“And you also become an honorary baron, protected by the legal system if you get into any squabble; this doesn’t apply in every case, so keep that in mind.”
Amber nodded and shared another look with Martyn, both realising that they had little to worry about when it came to Damien.
“And that’s about it; the quota is to fill up at least three mana containers per month, which is at least five thousand mana.”
The amount was a lot for him, but not so much that he felt it would be too much for him.
“I’m not sure what they need that much mana for, but I’m not one to figure it out. There is also one benefit.”
“And what’s that?”
“You get a skill core; since spatial magic is so difficult, all members are given a skill core that helps them learn and understand it.”
Martyn froze. A skill core was too valuable. “What’s the catch?”
The Dryad nodded, expecting such a response.
“There are two options to join. The skill core, regardless of which option you choose, is free. But for the free lodging and silver you're given, you become part of a registered militia to the kingdom; the other you only get the skill book and pay roughly twenty-five silver coins per month. The title and rank equal to a Baron still included in either.”
“And what’s the skill?” Martyn asked, reaching his decision.
“It is a spatial awareness skill since it requires a spatial affinity; there isn’t a market for one, so the kingdom gives these as it’ll help learn spatial spells faster. I try to mention the military thing st since most are against it.” The Dryad said.
Martyn smiled. “Yeah, I’m not looking to be part of the military. Plus, I can’t pay for it right now, but thanks for letting me know.”
The Dryad smiled, pulling out the register.
“At least register your name; nothing will be valid until your first payment. That way, we can prepare the mana tanks in advance.”
Martyn agreed with that since he had nothing to lose; he registered dropping some blood on the contract.
[Title: Spatial Mage: You have been recognised as a mage with a rare affinity for space. [This title has no effect.]
The Dryad stretched his hand. "Well, I’ll see you soon. I’m Donald.”
“Martyn,” he said, shaking firmly. Thanking him, he and Amber turned to leave.
Outside, they both sported grins on their faces. More opportunities were now opened to them.
“I am curious, though. How valuable is a skill core?”
“Unbelievably so; it’s essentially a fragmented memory of one’s experience in a particur field; usually only those who retire would even consider having their mind messed with for a skill. And to think they’re giving one out for registering.”
“I can’t wait to see you teleport with your magic.” Amber jumped in pce.
“Me too, though I did hear it costs a lot of mana.”
On the way back to the inn, Martyn had bought various ingredients; he hadn’t forgotten the date he promised.
Amber quizzically gnced at the items he bought, curious about what he was pnning.
Entering the tavern, they greeted Lisa before walking up to their room. Entering, Martyn dragged the table to the centre. He brought two chairs and pulled out a candle.
“The sun’s going down; I think now is a great time for our date. I’ll take you to a real one at a restaurant in the future, but I think after dining in, you’ll never want anyone else’s cooking again.”
“Oh, confident are we? I’ll be the judge of that.”
She sat down and watched as Martyn, with his control over Mana, brought out the ingredients, mixing them all in mid-air. It was a live show that did its job of building anticipation, causing her stomach to growl.
The dough was made with his “magic hand” spell. It fttened and stretched in mid-air, and sauce flew over, yering itself on top. He threw a sausage, slicing it with a knife into equal lengths. He did the same with the cheese and added various meat toppings.
Amber was now curious about the outcome of this meal.
‘Is this a type of pie?’ Amber hummed.
With a snap of his fingers, Martyn lit a mana fme beneath the pizza; it covered the meal in a ball, cooking it evenly on all sides.
As it did so, he went to his chest, pulling out two mugs and saying, "Sorry, I don’t have any wine gsses. We’ll get some when we move out of this pce.”
He said, pcing them down and pulling out a wine bottle, “This was a gift from the nun at my orphanage; she said to open it when I make it big and not to forget them.”
“That’s sweet; we have to go there sometime.” Amber smiled.
“True, I’d like to after I reach a decent rank in the guild.”
Martyn gnced at the pizza, which was done cooking, and pulled out a pte, floating the dish down towards him.
Pcing it on the table, he cut it into equal slices. Amber took a whiff and gulped.
“What is this?”
"This, my dear, is an otherworldly dish called pizza.” He smirked, and while doing so, his cooking skill rose in level.
LesserCodex
[Martyn, Level 1 (1,734/1,800), Css: Monster Tamer, Points: 6, Titles: (E) Adventurer, Bookworm…(3)]? [Mana: 288/288] [Strength: 15] [Agility: 14] [Vitality: 15] [Arcana: 18] [Psyche: 20]
? [Skills: Mana core (6) Agility (6) Muscurity (3) Swordsmanship (4) Basic magic (5) Strong mind (5) Soulbond (2) Monsterous talent (2) Biology (3) Appraisal (2) Cooking (3) Fast healing (1)]
[Amber, Level 1 (70/1,800), Css: Knight, Points: 0, Titles: Leviathan Descent, Bonded, (E) Adventurer]? [Mana: 143/143] [Strength: 13] [Agility: 12] [Vitality: 11] [Arcana: 13] [Psyche: 12]
? [Skills: Mana Core (3) Tough Scales (4) Fast Healing (3) Spear and Shield mastery (3) Focused Mind (1) Water magic (2) Linguistic (3)]
[colpse]
