Muddy Boots Inn
“Mn,” Martyn let out a blissful moan, waking up from his sleep. Pleasure rippled from his waist as he looked down at the figure on his sheets, and Jade happily snoring by his side. He smiled seeing Amber’s horns stick up under the sheet.
“Morning?” He said with a grunt thrusting his waist upwards, a strong suction wrapped his dick, and soon an audible gulp filled the room.
Soon enough, Amber sat up. “Good morning.” She sang, moving up and kissing Martyn on the cheek.
The panther-kin looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“What? I can’t be affectionate." Amber poked his chest with a smile.
“I’m not compining.” Martyn shrugged.
“We still have time before the day starts; I didn’t mean to wake you up early,” Amber said quietly, gncing at the sleeping Jade.
She id back, curling into Martyn, who happily wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in.
“Did you have to get a second wind?” Martyn said softly, scratching his chest, where light cw marks littered his body.
Amber giggled, nuzzling into him, soaking in his warmth. Martyn sighed, enjoying the quiet morning. Jade began to snore lightly in bed. Last night, after they finished fucking, Martyn quickly pulled out the scroll to check and saw Donald get him and the girls a chance to explore the isnd after the guild as a reward for helping him.
Once he finished telling the girls, not even a second ter Amber jumped on him for another round of sex, and Jade also joined in; thankfully they had fast healing, so fatigue was barely an issue.
But Amber had gotten a bit more wild with their sex, resulting in the scratches and bite marks.
‘Is it bad that I kind of liked her cwing me?’ Martyn silently hummed in thought.
Pushing that thought to the back he focused on the pn for this week.
‘Today I have to see how I can help Donald and Kallie to help the isnd, tomorrow the monster tide will come. I don’t know how long it’ll take to tether the isnd, but hopefully, we’ll have enough time to join the defence against the monster tide.' Martyn pondered.
“Tethering an isnd,” Martyn muttered, his panther ears danced as his mind pyed with the idea of dragging an isnd down with his magic.
Soon enough, morning came; Martyn was already awake. He went ahead and took his bath. Jade woke up ter, followed by Amber. They went down to enjoy their breakfast together.
“Wow, you guys had a fun time, huh?" Lisa walked by with a smirk, eyeing Jade and Martyn. Martyn rolled his eyes but couldn’t hide the flushing of his cheeks.
“Shouldn’t you be at a table or something? What kind of waitress are you?” Martyn said, pointing a fork at the waitress.
“Hey, I’ll let you know I’m a great waitress and already went to everyone else before you guys.”
“Saving the best for st, huh,” Jade said, and both girls smirked in understanding.
“And I’ve also got a serious warning for you,” Lisa said, her voice lowering.
Amber, enjoying her meal and letting them chat, stopped and focused on Lisa’s next words, as did Martyn and Jade.
“Last night someone came in asking for you; he didn’t look like any of the regurs or people renting out rooms; he was just asking though; there was nothing sketchy about him, but that’s the problem; he seemed too nice. I don’t know how to expin it, like he was acting, but not really. And congrats on being a space mage! When were you going to tell me?” Lisa ended with a pout.
“Pretty sure you would’ve told everyone,” Jade answered, earning a fake gast from Lisa.
“Thank you for telling us about this,” Amber said to Lisa, who nodded.
While Lisa and Jade continued their chat, Martyn activated his skills. His station awareness expanded to its limits outside the building, and beyond the invisible bubble of space that covered the entire block, he saw everything within, and on top of that, he appraised everything within his view.
The information flooded him; it pained his mind. Appraising people, objects, and animals in tandem with his spatial awareness, but he bore with it.
[Your psyche has increased by one point!]
The small increase in psyche made it easier to process the information, but it still weighed on him. Even after two minutes of searching, he found nothing.
‘It’s impossible to hide from spatial awareness without being a space mage yourself or having an artefact with spatial abilities; outside of that, there are no types of illusions, shadow magic, or skills capable of evading as you still occupy the space. Maybe they know the range of my awareness? Maybe it is something else. Wild thoughts ran through Martyn’s mind.
A minute ter and put those thoughts away, thanking Lisa.
“No problem. Just stay safe,” Lisa smiled, walking away.
“I wonder sometimes how many adventurers Lisa’s seen pass away,” Amber mumbled.
Jade nodded. "Yeah, it must be tough, but more reason to be careful, right?” Jade said brightly.
“Yeah, I’ve wondered that too; come on, let’s get going,” Martyn said, finishing his pte.
Space Mage Building
The trio walked past the building and into the backyard, spotting the massive tree. There was no snow to be found as the magic barrier above shielded the building from the winter. Walking further, they saw Donald in a dark shirt and white robe and Kallie the elf mage in a green robe.
“Martyn! Thanks for coming,” Donald said brightly before motioning to Kallie.
“This is Kallie, the other space mage involved with tethering the isnd, and she’ll be the one to teach you what you need to do. I’ll hop in when I’m needed.”
“Pleasure to finally meet you; I’m amazed by the recent discoveries a space mage with your css has given us.” Kallie smiled, shaking Martyn’s hand.
"Likewise, and thank you,” Martyn answered and introduced Amber and Jade. Once everyone grew acquainted, Donald, Jade, and Amber went to the side, sitting on a picnic table filled with snacks.
“Do we have to be here?” Jade asked Amber, “We’re not the ones training.
"No, not really,” Donald shrugged, plucking a leaf out of his hair. “If you're busy, I don’t want to hold you.” He said, reaching for a snack.
“We don’t have anywhere to be, and maybe we can learn something from watching,” Amber said, reaching for a cookie.
At a suitable distance away, Martyn faced his two teachers.
“So how are we starting this?” Martyn asked his tail, lightly switching back and forth.
Kallie giggled. ‘He’s excited. Ah, to be young and eager to learn,’ the elf composed herself. “First, what have you learnt from the academy on enchantment and magic scribing?”
Martyn’s ears perked up, and he smiled at being able to bring academic experience into real life.
Magic scribing was simple; it was a very watered-down version of runes. Though not as powerful, it was still an effective art, used for magic scrolls, tools, and items. It’s the nguage of magic called sigils.
“And enchantment is a bit more abstract, closer to rune weaving; it’s magic-driven by the mind, not a written nguage. It’s like knowing how to swim without ever learning.”
"Congratutions; you must’ve been studious,” Kallie said with a happy chirp. “This is going to be so much easier then,” she said, snapping her fingers.
Between them, a thick chain materialised, nding with a heavy thud.
“Woah,” Jade awed from the side. “Those are a lot of carvings,” Jade said, eyeing the sigils on the chain.
“Yep, and it’s going to be a pain tomorrow to fill them up,” Donald said, stuffing his face with a biscuit.
“He’s not wrong,” Katie said to Martyn. “First, our goal is to lift the chains to the isnd and attach them, for you will need to fill your mana into the scripts written on the chains. With our space-attributed mana, they will float, and with control, we’ll connect them to the isnd since the chains are so long it will be a challenge.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Martyn said with a head tilt.
“That’s the easy part,” Kallie smirked.
“The hard part is dragging the isnd down, and we can’t do it with a simple spell. We need to weigh the anchors down enough to pull the isnd to an acceptable level.”
“Gravity magic, I’ve been trying to learn a spell to increase the weight of objects, but... an isnd?” Martyn said tiredly as if he were already feeling the pressure from the task.
“It’s much more difficult because the isnds exude the spatial mana of a titan; it’s much more difficult to enchant as the isnd’s mana will actively fight back. Thats why our goal is to enchant the ends of the chain that will hook onto the isnd, to drag it down.”
“I see.” Martyn nodded.
“Now first, let’s see you fill this chain’s sigils up.” She said, pointing a finger to the ground, Mana left her finger attaching itself to the ground, and a huge lump of earth rose, reaching the same height as the tree.
“You’ll practice with this: fill the chain up, lift it to the tree, attach it, and drag it down. Do you know the spell to increase the weight on the hooks?” Kallie asked.
“Not quite,” Martyn answered.
“Well, then I’ll teach you that first. I’m sure what you found in the library helped, but you’ll learn it in no time.”
Martyn nodded and followed Kallie’s teaching as he practised and learnt how to increase the weight of gravity on objects with Jade, Amber, and Donald watching from the side with the girls encouraging Martyn.
As Jade finished another snack, she confusedly gnced at Donald. The male Dryad tilted his head. “Something wrong?” He asked.
"Yeah, you’re a guy, right?” Jade asked.
Donald chuckled, ‘Oh right, I forgot.’ He thought, rexing on the table, “Before you ask, I know when you think, Dryan, I’m not what you picture, and that’s fair; male dryads never existed before the war; I’m one of five in the world.” Donald said.
“But then why? And how?” Jade asked.
“Mn, I think I know a little about this when I was reading about the Heart continent, the home for many faes, and the location of the world tree; I think it was because of extension," Amber said she enjoyed the snacks on offer.
"True, the Titans while fighting the dragons went for us. Dryads, considering us pests, dryads were capable, but Titans more so; they nearly brought our and many fae species to the brink of extinction. So fearing the worst, the will of the world tree birthed male counterparts.” Donald sighed.
The girls took the time to digest his words. Time flew naturally, and with Kallie’s perspective, Martyn learnt the spell needed to make objects heavier. Now he moved on to practicing lifting the chain. Mana flowed from his body and onto the chains; the signs carved on the surface hummed in blue light, and slowly one end rose, floating into the air.
“Now control it towards the end of the earth I levitated,” Kallie said softly.
“Mn,” Martyn nodded and focused beads of sweat dripping down his face. As he was filling the scripture on the chains, he had to spread his mana accurately; if he did so too evenly, then the entire chain would float.
‘An arc is needed so people can move onto the isnd.’ Martyn rationalised his thoughts as he continued with the task.
The anchor end of the chain reached the lump of earth, and with a mental command, it stabbed into the piece of earth.
“Now the hard part is the end; you must weigh the connection down. While keeping the chain the way it is.” Kallie added.
Martyn nodded; the mental strain now was sending his mana through the chain, not interfering with the sigils to cast his spell to weigh it down. Some might think it would be easy to send mana another way to the end, but that would double the flow of mana he was controlling.
Once he felt it reach the connection, he conjured his spell. With a raised hand, a spell circle the size of a ball formed, glowing sigils and shapes twirled, and the floating lump of earth descended slowly. He needed to cast a magic circle.
‘With more practice and second nature active, I can cast this without a spell circle.’ Martyn thought while focusing on the task.
[Your skill “Strong mind” (5) has levelled up! (6)]
With the appearance of the prompt, his task became lighter, but it still demanded his focus; with time, he grew used to activating the sigils and the spell.
Kiera had him practice again, and by the fifth round Martyn ran out of mana; he fell on his back, drenched in sweat, and with what little mana he could muster, he magically cleaned himself.
“Now’s a good time for a break; we’ll be back at it when your mana replenishes,” Kallie said, walking to the others and sitting beside Donald.
“Wait, why don’t I drink a mana potion and we can get back on it?” Martyn asked, standing up and walking over. He sat next to the girls, Amber pecked him on the cheek, and Jade patted his back supportively.
“The day’s just begun, so we have time and more. I want to avoid you getting mana sickness since it’s tomorrow, and we’ll be burning through mana potions then.” Kallie answered, grabbing a cookie, “Mn~ I love these; where did you get them?" She asked Donald.
“Somepce in the archipego; I’ll show you sometime.” The dryad smiled.
“Wait, how come you’ll be burning through mana potions?” Amber asked.
“I got this one,” Donald said, letting Kallie enjoy her snacks.
“Titanic mana, like draconic mana, is somewhat sentient and will repel other mana it doesn’t recognise, making it hard enough for anyone to use magic. But more so for space mages, since it’s space-attributed. We can’t teleport anywhere near its vicinity. Its radius is the length of the city, if not greater.” Donald answered, and then he chuckled.
“The funny thing is we can explore it; we’d just have to teleport outside the range of the mana and nd on the isnd, protecting ourselves in a bubble, but once we were on, we couldn’t leave without jumping off the isnd; we can’t teleport in or out. Any spatial items would be useless.” Donald said, sipping a drink.
“Wait a minute,” Martyn’s ears began to move as his mind pondered, “that means even after doing all of this, the isnd will repel the mana, and the magic weighing it down will disappear.”
Amber processed his words and agreed, “So why is he doing this?” Amber asked.
“Oh right, once we’ve anchored them, I’ll activate an artificial domain pushing away the titanic mana so that won’t happen,” Donald said nonchantly.
“Oh, nevermind then.” Martyn said, leaning into Amber to catch a breather.
The Kobold girl smiles, wrapping her tail around him. Martyn smiles in response before he feels Jade poke at his side. He smirks and wraps his tail around her.
The moment was peaceful; the gentle cold winds of winter filtered through the barrier as they enjoyed the snacks provided. Martyn flushed, offering to feed Jade and Amber himself.
Amber grew enthusiastic, taking a rge bite of the cookie he offered, sucking on his fingers with a smirk. Martyn kept his composure, only squeezing her thigh beneath the table in revenge.
“Say Ah~,” Martyn turned to Jade, offering her some chocote.
The goblin girl blushed with a pout before accepting the chocote, “It’s good.” She muttered, flushing further; her eyes flickered to Donald and Kallie across from them.
Kallie awed, and Donald simply smiled, ‘damn it.’ Jade thought, feeling her face blush even further.
‘She’s weak for a public show of love?’ Martyn pondered, and a smile grew on his face. A pn for a ter day.
“I have an idea; why don’t we just give you our mana?” Amber said, “Because of the bond, we can give each other our mana without issue.”
"I... why didn’t I think of this?” Martyn said.
“It’s okay, dear,” Amber smiled, pecking his lips. In their proximity, she slowly transferred all her mana.
“I guess we’re back to training. And that’ll be an effective strategy for tomorrow, relying on them for mana instead of potions.” Kallie shrugged getting up.
Time continued to flow, and before they knew it, the day was over. Martyn had learnt what he had to do, and with Amber and Jade by his side offering their mana, the burden became a little lighter.
[Your skill “Space magic” (2) has levelled up! (3)]
LesserCodex
[colpse]Martyn, Jade & Amber's status
Spoiler[Martyn, Level 2 (2,201/2,700), Css: Monster Tamer, Points: 0, Titles: (D) Adventurer, Bookworm…(3)]
? [Mana: 720/720] [Strength: 27] [Agility: 27] [Vitality: 28] [Arcana: 30] [Psyche: 29]
? [Skills: Mana Veins (4) Agility (6) Muscurity (4) Swordsmanship (4) Basic Magic (5) Strong Mind (6) Soulbond (3) Monsterous Talent (3) Biology (3) Appraisal (3) Cooking (4) Fast Healing (2) Spatial Awareness (3) Inventory (3) Extrasensory (2) Space magic (3) Iron gut (1)]
[Amber, Level 2 (2,104/2,700), Css: Knight, Points: 0, Titles: Leviathan Descent, Bonded, (D) Adventurer... (1)]
? [Mana: 720/720] [Strength: 28] [Agility: 25] [Vitality: 25] [Arcana: 30] [Psyche: 26]
? [Skills: Mana Veins (4) Tough Scales (5) Fast Healing (4) Spear and Shield Mastery (4) Focused Mind (3) Water Magic (4) Linguistic (4) Physicality (2) Extrasensory (2)]
[Jade, Level 2 (2,008/2,700), Css: Bcksmith, Points: 0, Title: Artisan, Bonded, (D) Adventurer...(1)]
? [Mana: 825/825] [Strength: 24] [Agility: 22] [Vitality: 24] [Arcana: 33] [Psyche: 24]
? [Skills: Mana Veins (5) Tough Body (3) Iron Gut (5) Tinkering (2) Archery (2) Enchantment (2) Fire Magic (2)]
[colpse]
