Chapter 7 – Candidate’s Residence

  “It’s a room,” Jack said, closing the prompt and checking the others. “Like an apartment, I think. System called it a residence. I think they all are, but I’m not sure what that large one at the end of the hallway is.”

  “What does that mean?” Zajowle asked. He had stayed near the entrance where Savgar and Victor were guarding, but at Jack’s words, he came over. “How is that different from the other rooms we checked before?”

  “I’m not sure,” Jack said. “Sounds like it might be like a bedroom though.”

  “Do you think it has a bed?” Elaine asked. “Like a real bed with cushions?”

  “I don’t know,” Jack said again.

  “Well, check!” Elaine said impatiently.

  Placing his hand back on the door, the prompt returned. This time Jack sent a mental confirmation assigning the residence to himself.

  “Let’s take a look,” Jack said as the door slid open. It opened to a small studio-style room that was comparable to a small apartment. Jack glanced at the other rooms. Each doorway indicated that the size of the room should not be able to fit in the given space.

  “I’m starting to think that space-warping is just standard for buildings in this world,” Jack said, shaking his head.

  “I don’t know about standard,” Zajowle said. “But it is ideal. So long as you have the resources and knowledge to do so, but there aren’t that many in this realm that have knowledge like this. Whatever this Order was about, they certainly didn’t spare the expense.”

  Elaine and Elizabeth rushed into the room as the others were busy discussing and began inspecting the interior. Inside, there were several things that stood out. The room had a single bed that was just big enough to fit a large person, several empty bookshelves built into the wall, a space that looked to be for cooking or perhaps preparing materials and two sectioned off rooms.

  Elaine was already lying across the bed, which Jack had to admit did look comfy, and Daniel was busy inspecting the bookshelves. Jack wasn’t sure what Daniel’s interest was in the shelving. Afterall, an empty bookshelf was ultimately just an empty shelf, but he left the others to their musing. Instead, he went to check out the two extra rooms.

  The first of the two rooms appeared to be a bathroom of sorts. At least that is what it seemed to him. There was no indication of plumbing, but several gauges in the room brought water in, changed the temperature, or else removed the accumulated water from the room. He could see it serving as a bath or shower.

  The last room was mostly empty, only having a small desk and counter inside. To Jack, the room felt like a generic office space, but the size of the room felt larger than needed. Why would they need a separate room and all this space for the relatively small desk that was in it?

  Daniel joined Jack as he was looking over the room. He was tracing his hand along the wall, stopping every few feet and muttering softly to himself. Upon seeing Jack, Daniel stopped.

  “This room is a treasure truly,” Daniel said.

  “It’s nice,” Jack said. “After months of leaves and rocks for shelter I’d take about anything, so this is a nice surprise.”

  Daniel shook his head. “Yes, it is nice to have something more than the ground to sleep on for the time, but that’s not what I meant. Can’t you feel it? I thought you had a natural sense for detecting Mana.”

  “I’m not sure about that,” Jack said. “I can only sense Mana as it is moving or being used.”

  “Mana is always moving,” Daniel said. “Technically, fluctuating, but try to sense it now. Your Mana Manipulation skill should help you.”

  “How are you sensing it?” Jack asked. “I can sense it sometimes, but I thought you said most couldn’t until you were further along in your Mana Cultivation.”

  “I got a spell that gives me magical sight for a short time,” Daniel said. “It was the reward I got from the goblin camp. I can’t sense the Mana, but I can see traces of it when it is strong enough. Should help with enchanting as well. But the theory should be the same. If I can see the traces, then there should be something for you to sense.”

  Jack nodded. He had done this once before but had mostly neglected the ability in favor of his Mana Manipulation skill. Jack could sense when Mana was being used, but he had only used it actively a few times before. Back when he didn’t even know what he was doing. Even now, when he did use the sense, it only gave a brief understanding that something was happening. But Daniel was clearly seeing something Jack couldn’t, and much like when Jack found and improved his Danger Sense, it could prove to be another invaluable tool.

  Jack closed his eyes and placed his hand on the wall as Daniel had. Focusing, he let the sounds of those around him fade away until all his attention was on the sensation of the wall against his palm. The feedback was instantaneous. He thought it would be difficult to sense what Daniel was talking about, but he could immediately sense energy moving through the walls. It moved throughout the whole residence, condensing in different areas.

  Jack moved his hand along the flow until it was resting on top of one of many areas where the Mana was more condensed. With a thought, Jack focused his own Mana into the spot, trying to get a better sense of what it was doing but instead of learning anything, there was the sound of grinding stone and a shelf appeared where Jack had been focusing.

  Daniel clapped his hands together. “It’s as I thought,” he said. “The whole place is adjustable. It can be adjusted to the needs of the occupant. This is truly amazing. We need to study these rooms. The Mana signature and design are one-of-a-kind. There is so much to learn like, are there limits? What kind of power is needed? The Mana must be coming from somewhere, is it the Foundation Crystal supplying it or another source?”

  “Slow down,” Jack said. “I’m sure we will get answers in time, but for right now I am more curious about one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Place your hand here,” Jack said, pointing to another spot where the Mana was condensing. “And try to direct your Mana into the spot, just a little.”

  Daniel did as he was instructed, and Jack sensed the Mana flow from him into the spot on the wall but nothing else happened. Daniel, however, was looking at something in front of him.

  “I got a System Prompt,” Daniel said. “It basically says that the residence isn’t assigned to me, and I am unable to make any changes as a result. Did you know that would happen?”

  “I had a theory,” Jack said. “Why would it have you assign a specific person to a residence if anyone could just come in and do what they wanted.”

  Daniel scratched his chin. “Sounds reasonable. Then can you assign one of the other rooms to me? I wish to study this in more depth.”

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  “Sure,” Jack said. “Might as well assign one to everyone. There is plenty of them right now, and I’m sure we will be here for a while if everyone is attempting the challenge.”

  “I’m not sure if everyone will,” Daniel said. “But it wouldn’t hurt. Perhaps later you can show me that Legacy Hall you found.”

  *~*

  Jack went around assigning a different room to everyone including Teresa. He was certain she would appreciate having a room waiting for her when she finished. After traveling with each other for so long, everyone was thankful for the little bit of privacy the rooms gave. Daniel disappeared into his and Jack was certain he wouldn’t be seeing the Wizard for a while.

  Elaine took some coaxing to get her to leave the bed. It was only when Jack mentioned that he had assigned a room to her with her own bed that she finally agreed to leave. Jack also left the cooking pot they had taken from the Wenduags’ camp during their escape with her. Elaine was the only person to use it as it could be used for both her cooking and alchemy professions. She hadn’t been able to do much alchemy, but perhaps that might change soon.

  Once everyone had a room, Jack went to check on the room at the end of the hallway. Unlike the others, it wasn’t a residence. Instead, it was a large open space with plenty of seats placed in a circular fashion, all pointing towards the center of the room. He wasn’t sure what it was used for originally, but as a group they decided to use it as a community room for now.

  Jack left the others to their business, returning to the first room they had been in, the one he assigned to himself. Once inside, Jack plopped down on the now vacant bed. It was just as comfy as it looked, and Jack almost let himself be dragged into its soft embrace, but he had to stop himself. There would be plenty of time for that later. Right now, he wanted to look through the different items he had accumulated over the past few weeks.

  Testing the room’s special features, it turned out to be a more intuitive system than how Jack was first attempting to use them. So long as it was the person who was assigned to the room, they could place their hand on any of the surfaces in the room and supply some of their Mana. The room would then read their intent and make changes to best match what the person wanted. Some things proved to be impossible. Jack tried to make a bathtub but the best that he was able to create was basically a human-size pot.

  Jack played around with the features of the room for a little while, but while it was interesting to watch the room shift to match Jack’s request, ultimately, he didn’t need much, just an open space to spread his stuff around. The bed was just a bonus.

  Most of the items that Jack had in his Storage were weapons looted from the Goblin camp. He left these there; they had already inspected the quality of the goblins’ equipment and determined that they were little better than scrap or training weapons. He also had a headdress and a claw weapon, Grievance, they had gotten from looting the goblin Shaman and King. Those two items were of a higher quality than the other items they had gotten from the goblins, but so far, no one wanted to use them. He also had a head in his inventory, but he was trying hard not to think about that. Instead, Jack pulled out the few other special items he had gained since coming to this world. There weren’t that many.

  Not including the armor he was wearing, the rest of the items barely took up a tenth of the floor space. He placed each out in front of him to take a closer look at them. Some of the items he had had for a while now but hadn’t had the time to really investigate them more. He needed to stop pushing these things off though. Jack had thirteen professions he had to level if he wanted to reach the next realm or make it back to Earth one day. He needed to start taking steps to improve those classes.

  *Item: Venomous Spear of Shadows (Rare – Growth) (Soul bound)*

  Made from Ebony Steel, this spear was infused with alchemical poison and Aspects of Darkness upon creation. The blade retains all poison that it has ever been treated with. The wielder who is soul bound to the spear can choose the poison to inflict through its blade when wielding the Spear

  -Growth weapon: This weapon has the capability to become stronger if provided with the right materials.

  *Item: Tome of Alchemy practices and methods*

  This tome contains information on basic alchemy practices and methods of processing and refining materials for use in the creation of potions/powders/pills/poisons/oils.

  *Item: Tome of basic Blueprints - 10*

  Tome contains basic blueprints for ten common buildings: House, Hall, Outhouse, Walls, Blacksmith, Tannery, Workshop, Well, Kitchen, Warehouse

  *Item: Crystal Core*

  A newly formed crystal core. Capable of developing into one of several crystal core types such as Dungeon, Foundation, or Monster Core variants. Ingredient used in crafting.

  *Item: Chualtala Fang*

  The broken off piece of a Chualtala fang.

  *Item: Vial of Fire Aspects (uncommon)*

  *Item: Vial of Water Aspects (uncommon)*

  *Item: Vial of Earth Aspects (uncommon)*

  *Item: Vial of Primal Aspects (uncommon)*

  *Item: Vial of Light Aspects (uncommon)*

  *Item: Vial of Darkness Aspects (uncommon)*

  *Item: Cauldron of Tainted Aspects (Common)*

  This cauldron will retain Aspects of the potions created within it to the benefits or detriment of future potions. Cleansing the build-up of Aspects requires the use of a cleansing spell or ritual.

  *Item: Mana Cultivation Technique manual of the Mana Adapt*

  *Akashic Amalgamated Foundation Crystal (Level 1) (Unattuned) (Mythical)(Soul bound)*

  Created by the Akashic order. Foundation Crystals are the bedrock of any burgeoning civilization. Cousins to Dungeon Cores, Foundation Crystals are another means that help to cleanse the area of Corruption, provide benefits to those associated with the selected domains and allow the formation of cities. They are also capable of connecting with and accessing System information and resources.

  -This Crystal has undergone a transformation. As a result, the number of domains this crystal can handle has been increased to seven.

  The last item he had taken from the city recently. He was the only person in their group capable of using the item and to remove it he had to soul bond it to himself. He placed that one back in his Storage. It was too valuable to leave around, and not immediately helpful for his current situation.

  Glancing from one item to the next, Jack wasn’t sure where to start. Nothing seemed immediately useful. He had the cauldron, but he was lacking materials so trying to work on his Alchemy wouldn’t go far. Jack had more vials of unrefined Aethyr in his Storage but left them as he only knew how to refine them, and he didn’t have any extra vials to use for the refined product right now. The same went for every other Profession he had. He could spend the time studying the books and blueprints, but over the past few weeks, Jack had studied those regularly and didn’t see much that could allow him to improve anything right now.

  Of all the items he had available, the cultivation technique was the only one that he was able to work on currently. He had already reached the first stage of Mana Cultivation, Opened Pathways, but the cultivation technique was supposed to help him open his first Node. That was the next step he needed to progress his Mana Cultivation and was likely to give him the biggest benefit right now. He was close to opening it, but it would still take some time, and opening a Node might even improve his Mana control in everything else he did.

  Jack pulled up his Status window. It had been a while since he last looked at it and the changes that had taken place.

  Name: Jack Masters Level: 8 Experience: 23%

  Class: Akashic Champion (Level 4)/Akashic Craftsman – 12 (level 1)/Seeker (level 2/20) Path:

  Health: 2580 Stamina: 3300 Mana: 2852

  Strength(Str): 25

  Dexterity(Dex): 31

  Constitution(Con): 26

  Intelligence(Int): 28

  Wisdom(Wis): 24

  Charisma(Char): 10

  Perception(Perc): 32

  Luck: 9

  Unallocated points: 10

  The only thing left to do was figure out what to use his unallocated points for. Of all his stats, Luck and Charisma were the lowest with Luck just being a single point from the first threshold. He was still unsure what that stat really did, but it couldn’t hurt to improve it. He tried placing one point in Luck, but it wouldn’t go. Instead, a System Message came up.

  *Warning: Luck is a System Stat and cannot be increased naturally. Only through special situations, items, or titles can this stat be increased.

  Jack sighed. That only left him with one option. With a thought, Jack assigned all ten unallocated points to Charisma. The stat wasn’t the most useful to him right now, but with all his other stats in the mid twenty to early thirty range, having Charisma at ten just felt disproportionate. He didn’t have a lot of ways to increase the stat either. But with that change, there was little else to do but start working on his Mana Node again.

  Jack settled in for another night of meditating. Who knows? Maybe tonight will be the night he managed to do it, but he was distracted at a knock at his door.