Tec Mage Chapter Seventeen: Deals, Upgrades And 2 Vs 1

The whole clan of gnolls were helping with the fresh meat that was coming in, the little children gnolls were washing the organs the young and strong gnolls were putting out cut meat to be smoked while the wiser older gnolls striped and cut the meat, every one was involved, each fish man was the same size as a gnoll, so one fish man could easily feed a family of 4 for three days, the biggest problem was the amount of fish men there was, over 200 fish men had been killed but there was only 200 gnolls, if they had nothing to eat but fish it would still take 12 days to use all the ingredients up

Atlas had brought barrels with him, tools such as pickaxes were kept in them on the way to the mines and now they stood empty with no purpose, Atlas had gone off line for a while as he looked up on his computer what the best ways to preserve fish were, there was smoked but that only made the fish last for a couple of days, 4 at the most in hot weather, but the fish men had been killed in a cold cave, striped in a cold cave and now going to be smoked in a cold cave, if done right the flesh would last for 3 to 4 weeks

When all the wooden huts that Atlas had made were full to the brim with fish Atlas taught them about brining, "brining is preserving fish in a salty liquid. It is also a flavouring step similar to a marinading, using salt to draw out the fish's own moisture to create brine, first, put a layer of salt covering the bottom of the barrel, and then place a layer of fish on top of it. Next, place another layer of salt, then fish again. Continue until you are out of fish or your barrel is getting full. Put in a layer of salt on top and cover with a wooden plate that fits inside the container. Place a weight on top of the plate to hold the fish down.

Enchanted square rock

a faint cold aura is coming from the rock

Atlas enchanted lots of the rocks with the same ice mana in till he had enough to make a huge cold room, the cold room was simple but it was just as good as the little hole fridge he had made, no it was better because the ice around the gla.s.s jar would melt but the cold room was constantly cold because of the enchanted stones

"Ding"

A useful piece: you have completed Fridge

Designing and creating with two crafting skills at level intermediate

The invention [Fridge] is a useful piece, food will be kept longer with out going bad, this invention can change the eating habits of all, no added power sources is needed due to the enchantments working together and being the sources of power

Knowledge value: 150

Effects: decrease the speed of decay of all types of food

+2 vitality

+1 strength

Now that Atlas knew that nothing would go to waste due to food going bad he felt at ease, Atlas had arranged a new home for the gnolls, made them stronger and more secured with mining and the steel door and finally got them to produce there own food with the breeding of rabbits and chickens, in fact with the new fish meat coming in they had a surplus of meat and potentially a infinite supply, that is if the fish men resp.a.w.ned

There was only a couple of things that Atlas could think of to help the gnolls but before that he needed to go back to the city, after unpacking all his things from his enchanted bags he made a note of every thing

There was his tool bag that had all his crafting skill tools like saws, hammer and chisel, then there was the left over stuff the old gnolls had foraged from the forest, herbs and poisonous mushrooms were the only other things left over and finial there was the bag that he kept his odds and ends, wood, metal ingots and some thing he had completely forgotten about, the ghostly necklace Beast had given him after killing the gnoll leader, Atlas checked the necklace again, when he had identified it before there was no information, but this time Atlas had some thing he didn't have before, Magical Aura Of The Eye gave the user the ability to see mana in its raw form, Atlas had been using it consistently, his mana regeneration was great and it didn't even lower mana, so Atlas hadn't turned it off after fighting the fish men

Necklace Of The Fallen

Durability: 100/100

A summoning item crafted by the talented but dying priest Nelious, after fighting the undead with his companions they fell to a necromancer, with his dying breath Nelious crafted this necklace with his remanding mana and his very soul, his purpose in crating this necklace was to stop the necromancer from resurrecting them as the undead

Summon Nelious and ???. Enchantment: 'Calling the fallen '

+20 Intellect.
+10 Wisdom.

Atlas couldn't see any negative effects so he put the necklace on, looking around the home of the gnoll Atlas went out side, even though he couldn't see any bad effects on the necklace he didn't know all the effects, Atlas walked into the forest, he was now over level 50 so the creatures left him alone and unknown to Atlas word had gotten around to leave this human alone, the creatures of the forest would attack no matter the level because they didn't know better and after they had attacked the stronger players they never told there follow creatures about what had happened because they were dead, but Atlas had only restrained them and left them alone, the animals learnt quickly that this human wasn't food or a enemy

Atlas got to a clearing and summoned Nelious

"Calling the fallen" said Atlas

Atlas mana drained to 5/6, there was a flash of light and a corporal energy started to swirl in to being, it started out as a blob of sprite and mana but quickly turned in to a floating man, Atlas a.s.sumed that he was Nelious

"My Name is Atlas" said Atlas

The sprite came closer, his mouth was opening and closing but no sound was leaving it, Atlas tried again

"I can't hear you, can you hear me" asked Atlas

The floating sprite came closer but his opening and closing of his mouth didn't produce any noise, Atlas understood that he couldn't hear what was being said and not sure what he said could be heard, using his staff he started to write on the ground

MY NAME IS ATLAS, Atlas wrote in bold letters

The sprite looked down and started to read, the sprites hand reached out for the spear but his hand went straight though it

"Great!, this whole thing is stupidly hard, first we can't understand each other and now that i've found a way to interact with him, he can't use the same method" Atlas thought

Nelious reached out again with his sprite hand but this time he paused just as he was going to touch a stick that was laying on the floor, part of his hand started to fade and the stick came to life, the stick was being possessed with the energy of Nelious, the stick started to move and Atlas noticed that it took a lot of effort to move or even possessed the stick, Nelious face had beads of mana sweat rolling down his face and when the sweat came off his body it would evaporate in to a blueish smoke

Nelious ended up writing a lot, he explained what had happened why he did the things he did, like making the necklace and finally his name, which Atlas already knew because it was written in the description of the item

Atlas carefully got to know Nelious, Atlas wanted to test some thing out, he deactivated his Magical Aura Of The Eye, Nelious disappeared but the stick he was writing with remand floating upright, with out some kind of sprite or mana detection technique Nelious was invisible, Atlas reactivated his Magical Aura Of The Eye

Atlas was at a lose on what to do with Nelious, in the end Nelious was content just to follow Atlas about, Atlas felt weirded out by a floating ghost that he was unable to hear, Atlas was going to de summon him and when he explained it to Nelious he seemed to get up set, the stick Nelious was using to communicate was whizzing along the floor trying to write as fast as he could

"Don't do it, i want to exist in the living world" explained Nelious

This felt like a defeated monster on his knees asking to live, Atlas couldn't refuse, his conscience wouldn't allow it, instead of writing anything Atlas just shaked his head and gesture with his hand for Nelious to follow him, Nelious looked relived and happy

Back in the cave with the gnolls, Atlas finished packing his cart, on the cart was all the barrels he had taken with him to the cave but now they were all cut into containers to carry fish, each of the containers was enchanted with the same freezing effect the fridge had, this would help keep the fish for longer, he explained to Beast that he was going to get supply from town and will be back in a day maybe two, Atlas brought his apprentices together and left for town, Loki decide to stay behind and do more mining

It didn't take long to get back to the city, all the monsters ignored them and the cart was lighter than before now the mining tools had been left at the cave, so the horse was pulling the cart faster than before, as they entered the city grounds Atlas could see a pile of dirt where he had used clay hand on the warrior that challenged him

When Atlas and his apprentices got in side of the city, Atlas told his apprentices what he wanted them to do

"Hey, guys, i think it's time for you to get your self a cla.s.s that you want" said Atlas

The two apprentices went there own way, each one knew what they had to do, Mary had been talking to Dracken about it for a couple of days, the choices they had were to go to people with the cla.s.ses you need or go to the information bureau and show your stats off hoping you get a cla.s.s you want, Mary was hoping for a pure blacksmith cla.s.s, some thing unique and useful or even better special, on the other hand Dracken was easy going, he already started to make money from his info network but he reasoned that a special cla.s.s was better than a normal one

Now that Atlas was alone he needed supply's but also needed to get ride of the fish in his containers, Atlas left his cart and horse in the stables, he paid the man 30 silver for the day's parking and 30 silver for the horse's feed, Atlas placed two of the containers in to his bag, he decided to sell the fish, to get the best price he could for the fish he went to restaurants and tavans, he didn't go to the grocery shops to sell but wanted to cut the middle man out, the first restaurant he went to was the most flashy one in all the city but he was turned away before he could even say a word, money and fame talks in the city and Atlas appeared to have none, with his attire of beginners equipment the only thing that would suggest he had money would be his belt that held potions but that wasn't enough for the restaurant, Atlas sighed, to judge someone on there appearance isn't completely wrong but not to even give them a chance could mean you lose out on some thing good or even great, Atlas brought down his standers and went to a less known restaurant, when he entered he was greeted with a cheer from the workers, he was lead to a seat and gave a menu, the list of food on the menu was long and reasonably priced, Atlas was thinking that perhaps this wasn't the best place for selling his fish at the best price, that was in till he came to the fish dishes, all together there was four dishes of fish and there price was high, Atlas beckoned the waitress over

"What can i get sir" she asked

"Why is your fish dishes so expensive compared to the other dishes" asked Atlas

"I'm sorry sir but i'm just a waitress, i don't buy the ingredients" while she was saying this Atlas noticed that even though she had a small annoyed look she kept a polite and respectful tone

"I want to talk to the owner" asked Atlas

The women looked shocked "sir if it's anything i've said, i serenely apologize"

At this point Atlas felt bad "no, no, you've not done anything wrong, i'm the one who should apologize, i didn't make my self clear, i just want to talk business with your boss"

The girl looked relieved "I will be back shortly"

Within minutes the young girl came back out and lead what Atlas could only say was a matriarch looking women, this women was huge she was almost as wide as she was tall but she also looked strong enough to throw a man across the room, she wore a dress that flowed but her breast was as big as a small man's torso, she sat across to Atlas, she was all smiles and gave a small wink to Atlas

"al right my deary, wot you got for me then" the matriarch women said

The way she was talking didn't completely throw off Atlas but this restaurant was a good one not a cafe were that kind of talk is the standard

While Atlas was thinking this the matriarch women gave another wink "How about you buy this old girl a drink, i've been on my feet all day" she waved a hand at the girl that had talked to Atlas, immediately the waitress brought over a big bottle of gin with two big gla.s.ses

"My name is Atlas and before we start are business i would like to ask some questions" said Atlas, he watched the matriarch lady pour a big gla.s.s of gin for her self and reached out to pour a gla.s.s for Atlas, quickly Atlas put his hand over the gla.s.s "i'm not a big drinker"

"Come on sugar, i can't do business with some one who doesn't drink, can't trust them" said the matriarch lady

"It's not that i can't drink, it's my choice, besides gin is too strong for me and i feel like i may need my wits with you" in the corner of his eye he saw Nelious floating over a cup, he was looking at it longingly

"mmm... ok honey, ows about some thing lighter" said the matriarch as she down the full gla.s.s of gin in one

Again almost instantly the waitress brought over a bottle of wine, Atlas didn't like wine but poured a small gla.s.s for him self to show good will

"That's good sugar, my name is Betty and i run and own this place" as soon as Betty finished saying her name she brought up her hand that she had kept at her side since the beginning and placed a giant mace on the table

Atlas briefly looked at the mace then at the women, her eyes were sparkling and she had the same smile on her face that she had when first meeting with Atlas

"Don't worry honey, that's for my protection" said Betty

"I find it hard to believe that you need protecting from anything" said Atlas

Betty's eyes flashed with light and the smile she had on her face grew some more

"d.a.m.n right, but you know you get some silly b.u.g.g.e.rs trying to get protection money from me, enough of that, what ave you got for me" asked Betty

"My question is why is your fish dishes so expensive compared to your other dishes" asked Atlas

Betty looked at Atlas then poured her self another gla.s.s of gin " can't b.l.o.o.d.y get a good supply can i"

Atlas didn't say anything he waited to hear more from Betty

"You see sugar, Ledern Kingdom is land locked which means there's no place to fish and it takes time, money and effort to get fish with no certainty that it will even reach me in time before it spoils" said Betty

Now Atlas knew, he could make the best deal possible, he opened his bag and placed the two containers on the table

"What's this sugar" Betty reached out and opened the container, in the container was white fish meat cut and placed in to a circle patten and covered with herbs and salt, the look on Betty's face didn't change, instead she pulled it towards her and started to take deep breaths of the fish and examining it, after looking at the fish she started to examine the box it came in

"This is a sample and i have many more containers full of fish like these for sell" said Atlas

"Where did you get the containers" asked Betty

"I made them" said Atlas

"mmmm, i will buy all the containers you have" Betty was interested in the fish but having a container that kept food fresh for longer periods of time was a G.o.d send for a cook, you could hire a mage to freeze the goods but it was expensive and if the over did it they would destroy the food with freezer burn

"No, no, it's just the fish that are for sell, not the containers"

Atlas could of sold the containers for a good price but if he kept on selling his containers then it would make it easier for others to transport food from further away and bring down the price of his fish, but reading the situation Atlas conceded

"But if you order from me often then you can use the containers freely as you see fit, when the time comes to bring your new orders, i will swap the empty containers with fish filled containers" said Atlas

Betty was still looking at the containers, she placed it on the table and started to rub her hands together to get ride of the cold, in her mind she would be a fool not to agree to this, a source of fresh fish and the free use of the contains in till the next order, she could cut her loses by placing food in the containers to stop rot

The rest of the conversation was about pricing and delivering and how much, Atlas was satisfied with the price and delivered the rest of the fish to the back door of the restaurant, Betty handed over a big bag of gold coins, there was roughly 200 gold for the 12 containers of fish, as Atlas was moving away from the deal, Betty said out load

"Next time just salt the fish, don't add any flavourers to it, that's my cooks job" she winked at Atlas and closed the door behind her

Atlas went shopping with the gnolls 200 gold, he bought a whole barrel of salt and lots of spices from the grocery's, after that he went to the tailors and ordered mats about 2 inchs think stuffed with sponge, and a pair of new leather gloves to match his level 50 self, when Atlas was shopping he noticed that more players were selling there own loot on the street, they were trying to get a better deal than selling it to the shops, Atlas looked over many things, some were just simple stuff but every now and again there was items that even his intermediate identify skill couldn't identify, there was three herbs and a bottle, each piece was going cheap, Atlas bought the bottle and all the herbs even the one he could identify

Who could he ask about these items, there was shops that identified things for money but the people that identified the items were mostly mages and Atlas had to stay away from mages and enchanters because of what happened in the past, Atlas decided to ask the only person he could think of that had expertise in a wide field

When Atlas entered the tutors guild he walked straight up to the old lady receptionist

"Good day, master" said Atlas

Atlas master was a women named Alison and her t.i.tle mas magi, she had mastered many types of magic from other magi but the rule for magi was to never teach other magi magic to there apprentice with out permission, she her self had taught Atlas a magic called Soul Sorcery and that was one reason Atlas now came to her

"Master i have some questions i need answers to" said Atlas

"Is it to do with this guy" said Alison while pointing at the floating Nelious

"Yes, i can't understand him but i can communicate with him , it just takes along time" said Atlas

Alison rubbed her chin while nodding her head "that's because you haven't learnt to communicate with sprites yet"

Nelious was floating over a book case touching books with his possession skill

"Don't touch that" shouted Alison

Nelious jumped on the spot and rushed towards Alison, Atlas could see Nelious mouth moving but no sound was coming out but Alison was talking to him normally

"Yes, yes i understand.. just.. yes, Just shut up for a minute" said Alison

"I wasn't going to teach this to you in till you had reached intermediate in Soul Drain but this guy just talks to much" Alison reached over to Atlas and pulled his head down so her lips were right beside Atlas ear, Alison stroked the back of the ears and started to chant words that were unfamiliar to Atlas, Alison did the same with Atlas throat

"Ding"

New skill: Communicate with spirits

Communicate with spirits beginner level 1

The spirit world is a world of intangible existence and communication is no different with out this skill ghosts sound like moaning, and pure spirits can't understand you and you can't hear them

When this skill increases in level the user can communicate further from the spirit even when said spirit is in the underworld

Mana cost: none, a pa.s.sive skill

Atlas could hear a high pitched noise like ringing but it was fading with time

"is he ok"

"he will be fine"

Atlas was rubbing his ear lobs

"Hey, boy can you hear me"

"His name is Atlas"

Atlas waved his hand to push Nelious away, he was too close to him and Atlas didn't need a spirit shouting in his ear, but as soon as his hand touched the spirit it pa.s.sed through Nelious and gave a small disturbing sensation to his mana, Atlas looked at his hand, it felt fine but he had a feeling that something big had happened to his mana, like a test Atlas casted his Ball Of Fog skill and held it in his hand, he reached out and pa.s.sed his hand that held Ball Of Fog though Nelious, immediately the ball of fog started to lose it's shape and decaste it self

"Good work, it seems you understand that when two mana or spirits from different sources come in to contact they interfere with each other and cancels skills that uses mana but it only works if the two mana clash in side of some ones body" explained Alison

Atlas was glad that she explained it so clearly, Atlas would of got to the same conclusion but more experiments would of been needed and time as well

"Well that's that, i would be thankful if you leave and take that guy with you" Alison pointed at Nelious "he just talks to much"

"Of course but before that i needed some help identifying these items" Atlas pulled out the three herbs and bottle

Alison held the herbs briefly in her hand but she quickly went to the bottle, a minute later she explained

"I'm not sure what this bottle is but i can feel some kind of energy coming from it" said Alison

"mmm what about the herbs" asked Atlas

"Yellow stamina herbs, very rare, thought to have been extinct due to over use" explained Alison "and this isn't a herb but a weed that when mixed with the right chemicals produce a very nasty acid, the 3rd one is a flower that has no real potion properties but when it blooms it attracts bees wasps and humming birds from miles around"

Atlas thanked Alison and started to move on with his ch.o.r.es when he suddenly got a message

"Ding"

Atlas checked the message

Avatar Of Fire has reached level 9 but to increase it further a catalyst is needed

Moonstone, a rock which lights up when physical hit, found in ore form mostly in caves

Atlas had to ask Alison about moonstone

"It's not really rare but very sort after, most of the time it bought by the royal family or church's for decorations for palaces and cathedrals" said Alison "why do you ask"

"My skill needs a catalyst to continue to improve" replied Atlas

"mmmm that's new, i've never heard about that before" said Alison "i'm going to have to research that, come back in a week, i may have something by then" Alison started to wave Atlas and Nelious out of the guild

Atlas brushed his cloths and straightened his hat

"What now partner" shouted Nelious

"You don't have to shout, talk a little quieter" said Atlas

"What now chief" asked Nelious

"I need to shop some more but you can do what you like, just stay out of trouble" replied Atlas

"How will i find you" asked Nelious

"Don't worry i'll resummon you when i need you" said Atlas

"You know...., i won't do your bidden for free" said Nelious

"What could you possibly need being a spirit" asked Atlas

Nelious just shrugged his shoulders "not sure what i need, but i'm not a slave and i won't do some thing for free"

Atlas agreed with what he was saying, a days work for a days pay was Atlas motto he thought to him self in the real world, Atlas didn't know Nelious well but he did briefly see the spirits longing for drink and maybe food

"Here is my deal, being dead you have no need for money or items but i'm guessing you would still enjoy the taste of drink and food" said Atlas

"What of it, chief" asked Nelious

"I will allow you to possess me for a short time to have a drink and eat some food" said Atlas

"Is that it?" said Nelious

"If your not happy about it then i can desummon you right now and return you back to were you came from" said Atlas

"No, no, it's fine, i guess, i agree, it's just that i have difficulty with possessing a stick how am i going to possess you" asked Nelious

"Practice, practice and more practice" said Atlas, in truth Atlas had a plan for Nelious "if you want we can start straight away"

"mmm why not, i'm not doing anything at the mo, i'm not afraid of hard work" said Nelious

Atlas finished his shopping and went back home to the dojo with Nelious, the place was the same as he had left it, Atlas quickly visited the training hall instructor and greeted him, after that he started to make a new project, smelting iron in to cogs and levers, cutting wood into long thin poles and tying straw together, in the end Atlas had made a training scarecrow

Atlas had all ready made training scarecrow that boasted weapon training and some times. .h.i.t back, but this one looked the same, the reason was it wasn't finished

Atlas turned to Nelious "there, now it's your turn, i've made the scarecrow so that the arms are lighter and can move freely like a normal arm and the waist can swivel so you can turn, plus it's light now but can gain weight later"

Nelious went behind the scarecrow and blended in to the doll, the scarecrow wobbled in to life and the arms started to raise with a sword in it's hand, Atlas positioned Nelious next to a different scarecrow and watched Nelious. .h.i.t the scarecrow, Atlas checked to make sure everything worked fine, after he checked all the joints Atlas started to work on his gear, Atlas gear was all home made or beginner level, it was time for a upgrade

As a magic user, Atlas needed a staff to get the full power of a magic cla.s.s, but Atlas wasn't just a magic user and a new type of weapon had to be made, the first thing Atlas made was a wooden staff thinner than most staffs but just slightly thicker then he wanted, after that Atlas made a steel cylinder that was as long as the wooden staff, Atlas had limitations on what he could do but there was plenty of NPC and players who could cover what he couldn't do, he put the steel cylinder and wooden staff to one side, for the top of the staff Atlas made a steel crescent moon at a angle, in the centre of the crescent moon he was going to place a gem but he didn't have one, instead he placed a small rock and enchanted the rock, Atlas plan was to enchant the stone with wind magic and hope that it would float but instead the stone emitted a small breeze, Atlas removed the stone, he would have to attach the gem later, the final piece of the staff was the base, Atlas had thought about this for some time and the conclusion he came up with was he needed the help of a sculptor, Atlas made a cross using steel and wrapped two more steel around the base leading up the cross, at the top of the cross more steel was added in the shape of wings, at the base the three points of steel combined to one point

Atlas had to pick up his level 50 leather gloves and when he was there he dropped all the piece to his staff at the sculptor guild with instructions that only people with intermediate and higher skill to sculpt his pieces and pictures of what he wanted

Back home Atlas started on the gloves, Atlas attached steel plates overlapping on top of his right glove, this gave him protection on top of his hand and arm, while he still could use magic with out it being disturbed by metal, on his left glove the same plates of steel was attached but 4 holes had been drilled in to the steel and glove, the holes were threaded, special enchanted test tubes made out of steel and reinforced gla.s.s where made, the test tube was completely cast in steel except the bottom were gla.s.s was, the cork was made from steel and threaded to match the holes drilled in to the glove, a sharp short needle with a one way system was attached to the centre of the metal cork, when the needle was pushed down it would pierce the skin and open the one way system and what ever was in side would pour in to him, it would cause a small amount of damage at first but then heal like drinking a potion, Atlas ended up with a left handed glove with four enchanted metal test tubes with different potions in them, health, mana, a poison antidote and the best stat boast potion Atlas had, the reason the test tubes had gla.s.s bottom's was so Atlas could see what kind of potion there was, when he had finished making the gauntlet he enchanted the whole thing

"Ding"

Please name your invention

This was the first time Atlas was asked to name a invention "uhmm, Enchanted Gauntlet's Of Alchemy" Atlas used the names of the craft skills he used to name the new item

A useful piece has been created

Enchanted Gauntlet's Of Alchemy: Durability 30/30. Defense: 25

Requires: Level 50, strength 50, the skill Alchemy (any level)

+20 Agility, +5 Wisdom,+5 intelligence
Knowledge value: 400

Number of useful Pieces Created so far: 6

Level up Blacksmithing

Increased in Alchemy

Increase in Enchanting

Increase in Handicraft

Fame rises by 50 point

Knowledge rises by 15 point

Endurance rises by 5 point

Atlas was completely satisfied with this work and modified his boots to a lesser state, Atlas just placed more steel on them and made small spikes on the tip, it was now time to test it out

Atlas decide to use Nelious and the scarecrow he was possessing to test the gauntlets, each hit the wooden sword did small amount of damage but Atlas was having difficulty piling up the damage, his health regenerate was keeping up, after 10 minutes of waiting Atlas had enough of waiting and decided to use the left gauntlet even though only 120 health went down, he pushed down on the red tube that was in the gauntlet and got a message

You have taken 5 hp damage from a needle

You have healed 125 points of hp

Atlas released the test tube and it sprang back up almost completely full, the whole thing worked really well, in a fight a quick attack or even a powerful one could stop someone from drinking a potion but this method solved that problem, Atlas used his right hand and the Aikido he had learnt in real life to parry, deflect and blend the blows, he even learnt that if he was skilful or lucky enough the sword would get stuck between the steel plates and he could twist it out of a persons hand, with everything going so well, Atlas decided to log off so he could do some ch.o.r.es at home and get some sleep for real

---------Next Day----------

Atlas had picked up all the pieces of his staff and they had done a wonderful job, he put them all together to create his weapon, the crescent moon top had a wolf with its mouth opened carved into the metal and the curve of the moon was the fangs of the wolf, the metal cylinder and wooden staff had swirls and circles carved into it, Atlas rubbed bee's wax on the wood and pushed the wood in to the metal cylinder, this would give good magical conduction because of the wood but good protection because of the metal cylinder, the final piece was possibly the most important part of his weapon, the base, the sculptors with instructions and a picture that Atlas left them had carved the symbol of healing that existed in the real world, two snakes intertwining up a stick that had wings at the top, it was called Caduceus, Atlas put an edge on the out side of the snakes body and wings, he sharpened it and now he had a spear's head attached to the bottom of the staff, on one side he could cast spells faster and stronger but with a twist of the wrist he had a spear

"Ding"

Please name your invention

Atlas looked at the top of the crescent moon, a silver looking wolf shone in the light, Atlas only knew of one wolf name

"Healing Spear/Staff Of Fenrir" said Atlas

A useful piece has been created

Healing Spear/Staff Of Fenrir: Durability 60/60. Attack 50-65

A magic weapon imbued with enchanted ice in the wolf part and a bonus healing power in the spear part

Equip: Grants a bonus ice magical damage of 10-15, also grants 50% increase in healing magic or potions

Amazing, Atlas was truly stunned, it was a great piece of work and the best bits was that each piece of the staff could be changed for better things, Atlas was finished with upgrading his gear and moved to pick up all of his stuff he had ordered from the shops

Atlas cart was packed to the brim with things he ordered, Mary and Dracken was sitting on the cart, Mary had obtain the blacksmith cla.s.s but Dracken hadn't found any cla.s.s that spoke to him so he had kept the mage cla.s.s, Atlas said it was fine, new skills could still be learnt and skills could still be mastered up to intermediate

Atlas was a little worried when leaving the city, bad things happened to him when he set out last time, Atlas looked both ways to see if there was any dangers out there, there was... nothing no people or animals but what was the most suspicious was no noise, no bird songs or rustling in the bushes some thing was off, Atlas had to carry on but he was on his toes

10 minutes in to the trip back to the gnoll's home, Atlas kept on hearing what sounded like fighting, with his skill Careful listener he could hear things from far away, 2 minutes after that Atlas saw a wolf limp towards them from were they all ready been, the animals of the forest didn't see Atlas as a friend, foe or food and this was why the wolf didn't attack, Atlas was looking at the wolf but more importantly he was looking at the gashes on the wolfs leg and back

Atlas used clay hand to pick up the wolf and pin it in the air, the wolf didn't even struggle, it knew it wasn't in danger with Atlas and just looked at him, Atlas checked the cuts on the wolf, each cut had been done by a sword or dagger, each touch Atlas made on the cuts made the wolf wince, Atlas finished with his inspection and gave a quick draft of healing potion to the wolf healing it up completely, after letting the wolf go and watching it run in to the woods Atlas ordered Mary and Dracken to the gnoll's home with out him, he was sure that with there added stats from blacksmithing and training on the scarecrow and there basic magic they could handle anything in the forest, plus everything in the forest left them alone, even with all that Atlas asked the spirit Nelious to look after them, Atlas placed a special spear weapon that was just for Nelious on the back of the cart, made of wood the spear was light enough for Nelious to possess and the tip was made from a thin layer of steel, Atlas also asked Forge to look after the others as well

Watching them leave while Atlas was using sneak in the edge of the forest, something was coming, the birds had stopped singing again and Atlas could hear foot steps and voices coming his way

"These d.a.m.n monsters are getting in the way, if we don't hurry we will lose them"

"Don't worry, as long as there tracks are an hour fresh i can find which way they went"

The sound of the first person was familiar and it hit Atlas suddenly, out of one of the clearings stepped out two people, one looked to be some kind of hunter or a.s.sa.s.sin but the other was the man in iron that Atlas had pined out side the city

Atlas let them pa.s.s before he stepped out to confront them

"What can i do for you gentleman" said Atlas

The two men turned around quickly while drawing there weapons, this was not a good sign for Atlas, it showed that they were here to fight and nothing more

"That's the guy, that's the guy who humiliated me" shouted the man in iron

"Ok, i hear ya brother, calm down" said the a.s.sa.s.sin

The a.s.sa.s.sin disappeared by using stealth and the man in iron started to glow with buffs, two against one would be a big disadvantage for a normal player but for a mage it could be instant death, Atlas started to move back while using the skill ice walk, freezing the ground with every step Atlas took, intermediate ice walk not only froze the ground under Atlas feet but spread out covering big distance, the man in iron walked forwards slowly so he wouldn't fall over, Atlas fired off Precise Magic Missile to destabilize the man in iron, now Atlas had a staff he could fire Precise Magic Missile like a gun, Atlas wasn't worried about the man in iron because he could keep him at bay but the a.s.sa.s.sin couldn't be seen and thus Atlas couldn't counter attack, Atlas was still backing up looking for the a.s.sa.s.sin while firing missiles when a small dagger just missed him hitting the floor beside Atlas, this shocked Atlas he needed to protect him self from falling daggers, Atlas started to ease up with firing missiles and casted gust around him self as well

"Come on brother, i need help, his missiles. .h.i.t like a car"

"I can't get my daggers to him"

"Just hit him then"

Atlas was thinking that these two people were idiots, they were basically telling Atlas what they were going to do instead of whispering it to each other, the a.s.sa.s.sin disappeared again and Atlas knew that he was coming for him, Atlas had good footing because his Avatar of Fire skill melted the ice under his feet, even though he couldn't see the a.s.sa.s.sin, his magical aura eye could see mana but it's level was still low, but he could hear him, every step the a.s.sa.s.sin made was noiseless but stepping on the ice made small crunching noises, the a.s.sa.s.sin was coming from behind and Atlas allowed for him to get closer, when the crunching of the ice was right behind Atlas, with great speed Atlas stepped forwards, twisted around and did a big horizontal slash at waist height, blood started to spill and the stealth skill the a.s.sa.s.sin used was cancelled, Atlas kicked the now crouched over a.s.sa.s.sin in the face with the same momentum he used to swing his spear, the power of the kick and the spiked boots made the a.s.sa.s.sin fly and land in a flop, the a.s.sa.s.sin laid on the floor stunned, Atlas quickly pinned the a.s.sa.s.sin, one clay hand for each of the limbs and a big clay hand for the torso

"GET OFF MY BROTHER" shouted the man in iron

now that the man in iron wasn't being pinned down by missiles he had closed the gap between him and Atlas, he attacked with his two handed sword and hit Atlas in the side of the ribs, the sword did a great deal of damage and caused bleed status not only that it had cause Atlas to be thrown in to a tree, if it wasn't for the fact that Atlas had a lot of hp and Endurance from mining he would be finished

"I'm coming to free you"

"NO, FINISH HIM OFF, HIS NOT DEAD YET"

"WHAT"

The man in iron couldn't believe a mage had survived a attack from him, but the a.s.sa.s.sin was smarter, the man in iron had no murder mark and that meant Atlas was still alive, the man in iron moved to the slumped body of Atlas and raised his sword, but as he was going to bring it down on Atlas head a glowing circle appeared under him and started to catch fire

"What the fu...."

The man in iron was blown off his feet and landed about ten feet away from the a.s.sa.s.sin while his sword got stuck in a tree, Atlas had used Fire Trap spell right in front of him self, knowing that was where the man in iron would go to hit him, Atlas pressed down on his health potion part of his gauntlet, healing him up completely, Atlas got up quickly and casted a double clay hand on the man in iron hands, feet and torso

Atlas had won, sort of, he walked over to the sword in the tree and pulled it out, the slash in the tree was deep, Atlas looked at it and poured a little health potion on the tree's cut, without this Atlas was sure the tree would die, walking over to the two siblings he casted a single clay hand up in the form of a chair, sitting down Atlas could feel a breeze were the sword had cut a hole in his robe

"DON'T TOUCH MY SWORD" said the man in iron

"Shut up" said the a.s.sa.s.sin

Atlas looked over the sword and recognized that it was one he had helped to make, but it was chipped and dull, the man in iron hadn't looked after it and thanks to that it hadn't done as much damage as it could of, Atlas stuck it in to the ground blade first

"So, why are you following me" asked Atlas

"I'M NOT TELLING YOU SHI" started the man in iron

"SHUT UP PAUL" shouted the a.s.sa.s.sin, he had used the man in irons real name "DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION WERE IN"

The forest started to have more noise than before and many eyes started to appear

Atlas asked again "why are you following me"

The a.s.sa.s.sin spoke first before his brother could say anything "revenge, my brother here says you caused him to be embarra.s.sed"

This was because Atlas had pinned him out side of the city limits using clay hand

"Would you have liked it better if i killed you and taken your stuff, plus a force log off for a day" asked Atlas

"IT WOULD OF BEEN BETTER THAN BEING ON TV AS A LAUGHING STOCK" shouted the man in iron

"Yes, i saw that but do you look like your real life form and if not then no one will no it's you, it seems to me you are being a bit to prideful" said Atlas

No reaction came from the man in iron, which made Atlas feel like he was right

"Now, how did you find me" asked Atlas

"Chance, my brother saw you waiting at the city gates with your cart and called me over" said the a.s.sa.s.sin

There wasn't much more Atlas needed to know and so he decide to end this little talk

"Mmmmm, ok i understand but you have to understand i can't allow you to live after this" explained Atlas "if you freed your self then you might be able to catch up with us before we can trade in the next town and ambush us"

Atlas wasn't going to the next town but to the gnolls home, a little misinformation could help a lot

"Your going to ki.. kill us" said the man in iron, by the reactions of the man in iron he hadn't died yet

"I'm not but didn't you say you wanted this instead of being trapped" atlas explained "i'm not all bad so i will offer you this"

Atlas pulled out a small gla.s.s vial with light green liquid in it

"is that poison" asked the a.s.sa.s.sin

"No, it's a sort of pain relief potion, like aspirin but much more powerful" said Atlas

"Why would we need that" asked the a.s.sa.s.sin

"i don't want a murder's mark and so they will be the ones to kill you" said Atlas while pointing at the woods

The two brothers raised there heads so they could see, out of the forest came a whole pack of wolves with there teeth showing, the a.s.sa.s.sin understood quickly

"Yes, i will take some of that" said the a.s.sa.s.sin

Atlas poured some in to his mouth

"How about you" said Atlas

"I DON'T NEED ANYTHING FROM YOU" shouted the man in iron

Atlas corked the bottle and picked up the sword that was stuck in the floor "good luck" said Atlas as he walked away

When Atlas pa.s.sed the wolves that was getting closer to the brothers he could hear the a.s.sa.s.sin say "why are you so slow"

Atlas carried on his way to the gnolls and in seconds he could hear the loud screams of a man being torn apart and a shout from a different man's annoyed voice shouting "SHUT UP, PAUL"

End Of Chapter Seventeen