Library

28. Cartography

It was time to heal up, so I relaxed and let my consciousness expand back into my magic sight again. Although we’d fought almost nonstop since then, it had only been a few hours since I’d discovered my healing cycle. It felt wonderful to meditate again and get in touch with the summer sunshine and refreshing rain.

I let myself sink into the soothing feeling that was the healing rune. I used magic to layer the rune over the worst bruises and let the healing rune that was part of my Spark of Creation do the rest.

I felt like I was at the spa and soon felt physically recovered. My soul damage was going to take longer, though. The healing cycle helped, so I switched from working on myself to working on Annabeth. Healing her wasn”t as easy, but it still didn”t take long, especially as she was using her healing charms as well.

All too soon it was time to move on. I did a few more healing cycles for both of us to make sure we were brimming with energy. Then I gave Annabeth a wake up squeeze.

“It”s time, isn”t it?” she said wistfully.

“Yep,” I replied. “We gotta go and get some more points.”

She sat up slowly at first, like she was expecting to still feel sore, but then seemed to realize things were better and bounced lightly to her feet.

“Someone is feeling good,” I laughed.

“Physically, I feel amazing,” she agreed. “This new healing thing you got going on is fantastic.” She paused for a moment, assessing her condition. “My soul still hurts, though.”

“Mine too,” I said sympathetically. “Let”s hope we don”t run into any more red-eyes like those last three.”

Bermuda hopped off my chest, and I got to my feet too. We stretched a bit to make sure we were ready for action, while Bermuda walked over to the ant warriors and started checking them out. They didn”t seem to know what to do with him, so they milled around a bit, obviously hoping he would go and sniff somewhere else.

“How many points do you think we have now?” Annabeth asked.

“We made about thirty-three hundred points here,” I said after a quick conversation with my Bank Crystal. “Which brings our total points so far for this round to thirty-seven hundred points.”

“Holy moly!” Annabeth exclaimed. “That’s a lot of points!”

“Apparently those big generals were five hundred points each,” I agreed. “Of course, this is all an estimate. There were a lot of red-eyes that we didn’t actually take out on our own. We just held their attention while the black warriors did the final damage.”

“I’m not sure that’s right,” Annabeth frowned. “I certainly appreciated the assistance, but we are the ones in the tournament, not them. I think we should get most, if not all, of the points for the red-eyes. We helped them win the battle, after all.”

“I agree! I agree!” I laughed and held up a hand to stop her. “You’re preaching to the choir here. I want the points as much as you do. The Bank Crystal was just being realistic and pointed out this is a gray area. It’s possible that the battle will be reviewed and the points rounded down.”

I shrugged and looked hopeful. “Or, it’s possible they might award the full points instead. Either way, we still made up a lot of ground on our negative score.”

Annabeth looked like she was still ready to give the review board a piece of her mind if they didn’t rule the way she wanted, so I quickly changed the subject.

“Before we head out, how is your magic level?”

“It’s not great,” she said. “I can’t recover my magic as fast as you can. I used almost all of it in the battle. I recovered a bit while I rested, but then spent what little I had to spare on healing. I’m back down to rock bottom again. I’ve got enough to summon my weapons, but that’s about it.”

“I figured as much,” I said sympathetically. Then I told her about the Grannies purifying the red magic from the generals and how Octa and her Tangle were now holding that magic for Annabeth so she could absorb it as quickly as possible.

“Well, at least those three a-holes were good for something,” she grumbled.

“Annabeth!” I gasped, clutching my imaginary pearls. “Language, gurl, language. My ears are burning!”

“Oh, hush,” she laughed. “You’ve said much worse than that before.”

“Not so!” I cried in full gay drama. “My hand to God, my lips are pure as virgin snow.”

“Is that what Tyler would say?” Annabeth asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Well, no,” I admitted, thinking about some of the delicious and naughty things I’d done to Tyler. “Sorry, God,” I said heavenward. “It seems I spoke too soon. My bad.”

I gave Annabeth a big grin, and she grinned back. Sometimes a bit of humor went a long way.

Fortunately, the Godmothers finished processing the red magic and the last of the purple octopuses floated down and landed on Annabeth. She might not be able to gain her magic back as fast as I could, but this would certainly help.

“Are you ready to head out?” I asked.

Annabeth nodded.

“I’m still without a shield at this point,” she said, “so do you mind if we continue to ride together?”

“Of course not,” I replied gallantly. “Your humble steed awaits.”

She laughed again as she hopped up onto my back. The magic rope did its backpack thing, and we were ready to go.

Well, almost. Bermuda decided that once again, he wanted to ride on my back too. So he jumped up on Annabeth and then snuggled his way in between us. It took him at least a minute of wriggling to get comfortable, but finally he had his head poking out over my shoulder the way he liked. He gave my ear a lick, as if to let me know he was ready.

“Giddy up!” Annabeth called, and I was all ready to make clippety-clop sounds and trot off in true Monty Python fashion before I realized I had no idea where we were headed.

“I think it would be a good idea to find our way towards the other teams,” Annabeth said when I asked her. “We need to collect more points, of course, but I’d feel better knowing where the main exit is located. There have been a lot more tunnels down here than I expected. It would be easy to get lost and lose the tournament just because we couldn’t find our way back to the exit portal.”

“Agreed,” I said. “And I’m hoping our little friend can help us with that.”

I turned to the worker that was still waiting patiently. I felt for our connection and sent an image of where we wanted to go. I didn’t know what the main entrance looked like and I certainly had no idea how the tunnels were laid out, so instead, I sent a general thought of teams entering the underground and spreading out to find red-eyes. I needed to find those other teams, and hopefully, they would guide me.

What I got back was way more than a general set of directions. Instead, I received an overwhelming sense of acknowledgement and accomplishment. It felt like every ant in the colony had joined our connection and had stepped forward to personally thank me for my contribution. I had saved lives, saved resources, and helped establish a renewed future for their clan.

I had no idea how the worker was communicating so much, but it was overwhelming—in a good way. The ants considered me and Annabeth to be one unit, especially since they couldn’t communicate with her in the same way. I quickly started messaging everything I was receiving to her. Needless to say, she started tearing up. And I did too.

I felt like we were at the Oscars and we’d just won the biggest award of the night. The crowd was on their feet, and they were all clapping and cheering for us. The whole thing was massively affirming, and I felt a tremendous sense of affection and belonging.

The worker seemed to take it all in stride, and I had to wonder, is this what being an ant was like? Was being part of the colony this good? It felt like we had come home.

In a very real way, it was the opposite of what the red-eyed generals had tried to do to us, and receiving all this positive emotion helped heal some of the damage they’d caused—Annabeth especially. I’d experienced their attack more like authoritative pressure. She’d felt it in a more raw and emotional way. For her, it had been a screaming beatdown with an underlying layer of pure meanness.

Their thanks warmed my soul. I knew it did for Annabeth too, as she’d started messaging me back. Their acceptance soaked into the cracks of my defenses and soothed me in ways I didn’t know I needed. I thought I was the healer, but in a very real way, they were healing me.

I would never have allowed this to affect me this much in a human interaction. I’d have gotten embarrassed and made jokes to deflect all the attention. Connected as the worker and I were, though, all that affirmation slipped past my defenses and landed right in my heart.

I had to fully acknowledge that I’d made a difference to this family, and now they had accepted Annabeth and I as one of their own. We would probably never see this colony again after this round of the tournament, but we would always have a home here.

I don’t think ants tear up, so they were slightly confused with our response. I quickly assured them that these were happy tears, and it was something our species did to show emotions. We were thankful we could have been of service to the colony, and we were grateful for their acceptance.

Satisfied that their message had been received, the remaining black warriors turned and raced away. The rest of the colony left our connection, and soon, it was just me and the worker ant again. The contrast was striking, and I felt like everyone had gotten up and left the Oscars. Someone had even turned off the lights, and now it was just me and my friend left on stage.

It didn’t seem to faze the worker at all. She imaged me that she would be our guide whenever we were ready. I was still backpacking Annabeth and Bermuda, so I imaged back to her that we were good to go.

Wasting no time, the worker turned and led us down a tunnel at the far end of the cavern. It wasn’t a big tunnel like we’d traveled so far, and Annabeth had to duck to keep from smacking her head against the ceiling. It still had moss and a bit of light, though, so I was fine.

The small tunnel wound around a lot. I got the impression the ants used it, but it wasn’t made by them. The worker seemed to feel that we were going slowly, but it felt pretty fast to me. I was carrying two others, and I didn’t know where I was going, so a steady jog was fine.

As I ran, I realized I still wasn’t fully recovered. My body was fine—I was running easily, and I had energy to spare—and emotionally I was good too. It was my soul that felt strained. It wasn’t debilitating. It just felt like I’d spent sixteen hours in a high stakes poker tournament, where every move could spell disaster.

I’d discovered in my past life, before the House, that mental and emotional fortitude were a big part of winning poker tournaments. It was easy to stay focused and sane for a few hours, but once it got beyond that, the pressure started to take its toll. Players began making silly calls. Not because they didn’t know better, but because they felt like they should be doing something more to get ahead. The pressure got to them, and they either did too much and went all in, or they did too little and faded away. Either way, they lost.

This felt a lot like that, and I made a mental note to double check any future decisions. There was still a lot of life left in this second round of the tournament. I didn’t want us to do too much and get knocked out. Or do too little and miss a big opportunity to catch up on points.

Our worker guide took a side tunnel, and soon after that, another one. We merged with a larger tunnel and then went through a small section that felt like a real cave. There were stalactites and stalagmites, and the footing was treacherous. The worker ran along the wall, which was mostly clear of obstructions. I wished I could run on the wall, but I wasn’t at that power level yet. Maybe someday.

I saw a few creatures, but they either ignored us or ran away. Most of them were ants, although they were clearly a different variety from what we’d worked with so far. They were mostly shades of black and brown, although I saw one that seemed to be yellow. Some had one big body segment in the middle, and others had two smaller ones.

Most of them were smaller than our worker, though, which I thought was surprising. I guess the colony we’d help defend was one of the larger and more powerful in the area. Maybe that was why the three generals had targeted them?

Or maybe I was just reading too much into it. Maybe they were just rabid crazy, and our colony had happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Either way, we didn’t run into any red-eyes until we took our fifth turn. Then we found a lone level one red-eye harassing three smaller workers.

Our guide quickly stopped and got behind us, and we were more than happy to go to work. Annabeth stunned it with a bash to its antennae, and I Spike-punched it in my special place in the head. After fighting multiple level three monsters, this felt like a walk in the park.

I Saber-Sawed through its neck, collected the points, and we were on our way. Easy peasy.

As we continued on, we encountered a few more of them. They were mostly single fighters, though, and they barely slowed us down. We did face off against a group of three at one point, but even that didn’t seem hard. Annabeth taunted them, I grounded myself in the earth, and then we punched their lights out.

I’d gotten used to the chitin from a level three red-eye, so these guys felt like they were covered in paper mache. I sliced them apart with ease.

“We need to make sure our guide stays safe,” Annabeth noted. She sounded concerned. She’d been paying attention to every junction we’d passed, and she’d been targeting her echolocation behind us so we’d know what the tunnel seemed like if we had to retrace our steps.

“We’ve come a long way, and I’m no longer sure I can get us back to where we started,” she continued. “I’ve been counting how long we travel down a tunnel and how many branches there are, but now I’ve lost track.”

“Thank you for trying,” I replied. “I”d lost all sense of direction long before this point.” I would have said more, but I felt my Bank Crystal tugging at my attention. “Hang on one sec.”

‘What’s up?’ I asked my Bank Crystal. I couldn’t actually send my awareness to go and see it, as I was still running. We could chat, though, although it wasn’t as nice.

‘I’m assuming the top of the tunnel,’ it replied, sounding confused. ‘Or if you want to go higher, the surface of the mountain. I’m unsure of why you asked the question. Are you suffering from vertigo again? It doesn’t feel that way.’

‘Oh, no,’ I laughed. ‘I’m fine. I wasn’t actually asking what was above me. ‘What’s up’ is just an expression which means ‘What are you up to?’ So what did you want to talk about?’

‘This is noted.’ The Bank Crystal sounded like it was actually making a note somewhere. ‘Your urban slang is a bit opaque sometimes.’

Urban slang? I guess colloquial expressions changed all the time, and this was a new one for my Stamp.

‘Regardless, I have a solution for your current directional ambiguity,’ it continued. ‘Or, rather, the Bank has a solution that I can provide. Perhaps it would be best if you stopped and gave this your full attention? It could involve parting with a significant number of pearls.’

A significant number? That sounded expensive. Given my thoughts earlier about making good choices, I really should give this my full attention.

“I need to stop for a sec and talk with my Bank Stamp,” I said. I didn’t go into more detail, as I didn’t know what it was proposing yet.

“Of course,” Annabeth said cheerfully and got down off my back. “Do what you need to do.”

Our guide, seeing we had paused, circled back and waited patiently. I thought Bermuda would hop down, but instead, he stayed where he was and decided to take a bath. His constant lick, lick, lick was distracting, but I tuned it out. I did a quick scan of the area to make sure we were alone, then zoomed in to the Bank Crystal’s hall to have a chat.

The hall reminded me of Hogwarts, with statues that moved, mysterious doors, and enticing passages that made me want to explore and discover hidden secrets. The place could have easily felt dark and foreboding, but instead, felt comfortable and safe. At the center of it all was my Bank Crystal, radiating a welcoming light. I walked up to the stone that was taller than me and gave it a warm hug.

It glowed even brighter and sent a welcoming feeling back. In many ways it was just a construct of the Bank, and I’m sure most mages treated their Stamps like tools. I treated mine like it was one of my Marks, with a life and personality of its own. In return, I had a hundred percent affinity with my Stamp, and it did its best to look out for me.

‘Greetings.’ It sent an image of two learned men bowing respectfully to each other. ‘I appreciate that you paused the tournament and honored my request to come here today. I know time is of the essence, so I will get right to it.’

‘Thank you,’ I replied. ‘It is great to see you too.’ I sent back images of the two learned men embracing. Then they started kissing passionately and stripping off their clothes as fast as possible. I grinned, as that caused the Bank Crystal to get a bit flustered. Sometimes, messing with a rock can be so much fun.

We were here for business, though, so I let the image fade and gave the Crystal my full attention. It still stuttered for a moment, then seemed to figure this was another thing that fleshy creatures did. Penny was fascinated by human behaviors—sex especially—and always wanted to learn more. My Bank Crystal, on the other hand, did its best to ignore my non-stone-like manners and preferred to focus on concrete transactions. That’s why it was so fun to tease it sometimes.

Truthfully, I was nervous about spending a lot of pearls, especially in my current mental condition. So a light bit of fun seemed like a good way to start our discussion.

‘I embrace you also and hope what I have to tell you fills you with tingles of joy,’ the Bank Crystal said formally. ‘Now, let us speak about the subject to which I’ve summoned you. Cartography.’

It paused as it pulled its presentation together.

‘Map making, as the mundanes know it, dates back to the ancient Babylonians. As mages, we’ve had the ability to chart our environment long before that. Of course the Bank has been at the forefront of gathering and displaying spatial intelligence, and that is what we are here to discuss today.

‘Let’s start with the basic ability, a simple map.’

The floor rippled, and suddenly, it displayed an old-fashioned map, like I’d seen on the walls in Indifies’ hidden basement. It looked like it was showing a continent and part of a sea, although I didn’t recognize the shape at all. It was beautiful, though, with scrollwork and drawings of fantasy creatures.

The map was lovely, and it would look great framed and hanging on a wall. I wasn’t sure how it would help me in this situation though.

‘This is the type of cartography assistance the tournament offers its premier teams and those who can pay along the way. It is good for an overall view of the terrain you are navigating; however, it doesn’t show where you are on the map, doesn’t give any idea of elevation, and sometimes, these maps are not drawn to scale. That can be very misleading. Looking at the map, you might think a journey would only take a couple days, when it could actually take a couple weeks.

‘The Bank offers these maps for various regions, and the cost is determined on a per map basis. Unfortunately for you, the maps of realms like this are locked because of the tournament, and I cannot access them. For that, I am truly sorry.’

It paused for a moment, and I nodded in understanding. The tournament favored the premier teams and those that could afford it. It surely wouldn’t allow the Bank to sell maps on the side.

‘The next level of cartography that I can offer is one you make yourself. All the tools and symbols needed to make a map are provided, and it is up to the mage to provide the scale and note any interesting landmarks.’

The floor changed again. This time it looked like a piece of blank parchment, bordered by tiles filled with symbols. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that I’d need to move the tiles around to fill in the map.

I’d seen something like this before in old-style Role Playing Game editors. Skilled users would use the tools to create maps of the world, which the software would then bring to life and users could play. I’d tried my hand at making a world a few times and discovered it was much harder than it looked. I was sure the same would apply to making a map based on real world locations. I’d made a simple map before, and it had taken hours of work. Cartography was not for the faint of heart, or those with little time.

‘This type of map making is available to the lowest level of affinity with the Bank and is also our least expensive. The cost for these tools as well as storage for your maps is one hundred pearls.’

I already knew this was not for me, and I quickly shook my head.

‘The next level of cartography available is a basic dynamic map. It’s dynamic because the map fills in as you move around. The scale of the map and major locations are provided by the cartography magic itself.’

Once again the floor changed, and this time the map looked like something from Heroes of Might and Magic or Baldur’s Gate. The majority of the map was black, and as the mage moved around, the world was uncovered in a small space around them. It looked very old school, though, and the detail was lacking.

‘As you can see, this provides an excellent frame of reference for where you have traveled. This level of map making is basic, however, as the mage cannot add their own reference notes as they travel. It also doesn’t take into account elevation, and all maps are only one level. Because it is dynamic, the affinity level of the mage needs to be much higher, at twenty percent. The cost for this type of cartography as well as storage for these maps is one thousand pearls.’

Wow. The cost for that sure went up quickly. I already knew this wouldn’t work for us either. This type of mapping was great for single level RPG games, but it wouldn’t work well for real life. Real life has elevation, different types of terrain, monsters that threaten your progress, and a lot of other things. If I was going to buy cartography magic from the Bank, it needed to be able to do a lot more than this.

‘Are you interested in basic dynamic cartography, or should I continue?’ the Bank Crystal asked.

‘I’m not interested in the basic level,’ I replied.

The Bank Crystal started to explain the next level, but I interrupted.

‘While this is a fascinating introduction to the world of mapmaking and I personally love the way you roll out the incremental enhancements to the Bank services, I’m afraid I need to speed this process up. Unlike when you were modeling the different types of mage suits, I have people waiting on me.

‘I’m sure you already have a level of cartography service that you feel would work well, so can we skip the build up and go straight to that product?’

The Bank Crystal gave a long mental sigh, and I clearly felt its disappointment. It really enjoyed being a Bank ambassador. More than that, it enjoyed providing the solution to a problem I was facing. That made it feel valuable and part of the team.

‘I’m so sorry to have to do this quickly,’ I said. ‘I personally have always been fascinated by maps, and I’d love nothing more than to savor every advancement in map making. We can still do that too, just not at the moment. How about after the tournament we set aside a couple hours and spend some time together going over the options? Does that sound good?’

‘That is agreeable,’ the Crystal said and gave a quick pulse of warm light. ‘However, I have a concern that without the proper context you will judge my selection too harshly. I have carefully weighed all the options available and believe it will serve you the best—both now and in the future. However, I think you will feel the cost is significant.’

‘Then let”s just get that out of the way,’ I said confidently. ‘How much is this cartography service you are recommending?’

I didn’t mind spending some pearls to get ahead—especially for such a useful tool as mapping. Having an overview map was essential in fantasy gaming. Even in real life, Google Maps made a world of difference. Pun intended.

My Bank Crystal was able to get me a huge discount on purchases. I think it was about seventy-five percent? Regardless, the magical suits had been about twenty-five thousand pearls each. Surely this couldn’t be much more than that.

‘The option I would recommend is valued at 1.2 million pearls,’ the Crystal said gravely. ‘With your current Bank status—Favored of a Cosmic Deity—the cost to you is three hundred thousand pearls.’

I just about swallowed my tongue.

Holy shit!

That was a LOT of pearls!

After everything it had said, I couldn’t freak out in front of my Crystal, so I pretended I had a tickle in my throat and I needed a moment to cough it out. I didn’t think it bought the cover story, but it gave me a much needed minute to come to terms with the price.

‘And what will I get for all that?’ I finally asked as blandly as possible. I was playing it cool because I didn’t want my Crystal to know just how right it was. As far as I was concerned, the maps better come with real gold filigree to be worth that kind of price.

‘It comes with everything but the battle features,’ the Bank Crystal said quickly. ‘It’s fully dynamic, fully 3D, and has the highest level of detail. Everything you see is recorded for future analysis. This includes both your natural sight as well as all your magical senses.

‘In addition, it comes with an assistant mode. If you tell me what you’re looking for, I can highlight it on your current map or any other map you have. This works whether you have consciously noted it or not. Just to give you an example, I could use the map to highlight all the extra points you have been missing so far.’

That caught my attention.

‘I’ve been passing up points?’ I interrupted.

‘Yes,’ the Crystal replied. ‘There have been a few plants you could have harvested as well as a small deposit of mana infused quartz. They weren’t a lot of points and you were busy fighting at the time, so I didn’t point them out. But with the new cartography skill, I wouldn’t have to. They would automatically glow for your senses as you moved along.’

‘Really?’ My mind started spinning with the possibilities. ‘So I could just tell you what I’m looking for, and I’d either see it on the map or it would highlight itself in real life?’

‘That is correct.’ The Crystal sounded excited that I wasn’t dismissing its costly solution out of hand.

‘So let”s take a recent example,’ I said. ‘I could have quickly scanned all of Indifies’ rooms and added them to a map. Then, whatever she asked for, I could have just referenced where the item was and went straight to it. Is that right?’

‘That is a perfect example of what is possible,’ my Crystal agreed. ‘Another example would be if you were looking for someone in a crowded space. As long as you knew their features or their magic signature, the cartography skill would highlight them for you.

‘This feature alone is worth a half million pearls. Or, with your discount, one hundred twenty-five thousand. It’s incredibly useful and very versatile. Once older mages discover what’s possible, they often spend years saving for the upgrade. Of course, it’s also limited by affinity level as well—requiring at least sixty percent in order to function well.’

While I agreed that this was a useful addition to any map, I wasn’t sure it was worth a half million pearls. That seemed like an excessive valuation. Although, who knows? Maybe I would find that I used it all the time.

‘That would be very useful,’ I agreed as neutrally as possible. I still wasn’t sold on buying it yet. ‘What else does this level of cartography skill do for me?’

‘It’s an illusion breaker,’ my Crystal continued. ‘Although it really works by highlighting what your own magic is already capable of seeing. Since your magic sight is top-notch, I would imagine it could see through almost any attempt at the enigmatical arts.’

Ohhh. That sounded exciting. Now we were getting into real Dungeons Dragons stuff.

‘While we are on the subject of your magic sight, I’d like to point out that this level of cartography records every sense you are able to pick up. So it not only captures the look of an object, it also captures the taste, smell, and feel as well. That requires a lot more storage than just basic sight and magical signature. This level of the skill accounts for all senses and provides unlimited storage for your first two hundred years.’

I nodded, as all that made sense. This was sort of like paying for extra gigs with my email.

‘Another feature is the cartography tracking system. You can tag an enemy with a special tracker, and it will show where the enemy is in relation to yourself. This works even if the enemy moves outside of the range of your current maps.

‘You can also use the feature with a friend if you feel they might be in danger. If you purchase this upgrade, I would suggest you put a tracker in Annabeth. That way you can always find her if you get separated.

‘And speaking of Annabeth, you will have the ability to share your maps and some of their features with up to five people. Any more than that and you start encroaching on battle magic, which can cost in the range of hundreds of millions of pearls—even with your discount.

‘Sharing your map with Annabeth, as limited with sight as she currently is, should be a comfort to her. Especially if you put a tracker on yourself as well. Knowing she can always find you again, should something happen, would provide a new level of reassurance.’

I had to admit this cartography skill was sounding better and better all the time.

‘The final reason I picked this level of skill is…’ The Bank Crystal paused dramatically, and a rainbow of lights flashed across its surface. ‘It has the ability to chronicle from more than one point of view!’

Huh? Why was that useful? Ohhh!

‘Do you mean that my soul creations can map for me?’ I asked, finally showing my Crystal the excitement it was expecting.

‘I do indeed!’ it exclaimed. ‘Anywhere your senses allow you to see can be mapped. Since you can see the world around all your creations, you can map it as well. And best of all, you can map around all your soul creations at the same time.’

Wow. This could be a game changer. Especially in my current environment.

‘I trust you can see the value in what the Bank has to offer you.’ The Crystal sensed this was the time to seal the deal. ‘I also trust that you believe in me, that I have only the best in mind for you. I know this cartography skill seems like it costs a lot, especially since you are at the beginning of your new life as a supernatural. However, I have weighed all the options, and I genuinely believe this is the best solution to your current situation as well as the future.

‘After all, you aren’t just sitting at home tinkering in a workshop. You’re out having adventures and risking your life for your new House and family. Being able to scout out new locations as well as being able to keep track of your Housemates will provide a huge advantage over and over again. Now, are you ready to acquire a new ability?’

‘Wow. You are really selling it hard,’ I said.

The Crystal started to reply, but I quickly raised my hand to stop it. ‘I’m just thinking out loud with you so you can understand me better. I’m also doing it so I can organize my thoughts. It took a lot out of me to fight off those three generals, and I feel mentally tired right now. When I feel like this, I like to take the time to discuss the situation and come to the best decision.’

I took a deep breath and made a conscious effort to let my anxiety go. It felt so good, I did it again.

‘Let me begin by saying I trust you completely,’ I told my Bank Crystal sincerely. ‘Your recommendation alone is enough for me to purchase this.’

I felt feelings of warmth and happiness radiate from my faceted friend.

‘I see all the advantages you’ve talked about, and I will probably discover even more ways to use this skill as we go along. If I had money to burn, I’d buy this in a heartbeat.’

I paused as I realized this was the crux of it all. This was the root of my hesitation.

‘What is holding me back is that I don’t know how I’m going to get more pearls in the future. If I had a steady source of income, I’d feel a lot better about making a big purchase. I know I’ve been very lucky so far. I made over six hundred thousand pearls betting on myself against someone who was a lot older and a lot more experienced. The betting odds on that fight were crazy good. I don’t expect to get odds that good again.

‘Then, this whacko shows up out of the blue and wants to bite off a finger!? He’s so sure he’ll come out on top that he bets four hundred thousand pearls, which is just nuts. It was wonderful to win the money and keep my finger, but I can’t expect things like this to continue to happen. I have over a million pearls in the Bank, which is a huge windfall, but I find I’m reluctant to part with it.

‘I’m used to playing poker, where my stash is my safety net. As long as I have the stakes for a tournament, I can always turn a bad streak around. That’s why I’m hesitant to make such a big purchase. It’s taking away almost a third of my safety net.’

The Bank Crystal flashed in acknowledgement and grew warm to the touch.

‘I understand where you are coming from,’ it said. ‘I’ve researched poker tournaments and what it takes to make a career on the circuit, and what you said makes perfect sense. It takes money to make money, and spending too much is a sign of bad money management. Poker players who don’t manage their stash quickly become ex-poker players.’

‘Exactly,’ I nodded.

‘I would like to suggest that what you are evaluating now is less like poker and more like buying a house,’ the Crystal continued. ‘When you’re buying a good or service, the rules change. Money, on its own, is no longer useful. It’s just a number in the Bank. It’s nothing but pure potential until you turn it into something else.

‘Money won’t keep you warm at night or provide a dry place when the rains come. Money, on its own, won’t give you a space to relax in. It’s not until you exchange your money for a house that you have a place that is warm and dry. Exchanging money for a bed gives you a cozy place to sleep. Spending pearls is when they actually become useful.

‘In this case, I’m suggesting you invest in a service that will help keep you alive, both now and far into the future. It will make a big difference in this tournament, which will also buy your freedom. Being alive and free is priceless, and that’s why I think you should spend such a large amount of pearls.’

‘I get it,’ I nodded. ‘And you”re right. Pearls are merely a number in the Bank at the moment. I just wish the cost wasn’t as much.’

‘That’s actually an advantage for you,’ the Crystal said. I was sure it felt my confusion as it quickly continued.

‘The base cost of this skill is 1.2 million pearls. That’s far outside of what younger mages have to spend. It”s also far outside of what most young schools have to spend. That means that in this tournament, it’s likely you will be the only one with this advantage. That is huge, and you need all the advantages you can get in order to win.

‘In fact,’ it paused thoughtfully, ‘what are the odds of you having a million pearls to begin with? Or having the affinity level with me that you could even get this skill in the first place? I’d say it would be at least one in a million. Maybe a lot more than that.’

It wasn’t until the Crystal said it, that I realized just how incredibly lucky I was. And when he talked about such long odds, that made me think of the All-Rune. He worked with probabilities, and this felt like his work.

As if I’d summoned him, I felt a brush of his power. It felt highly satisfied, like another one of his plans had blossomed into fruition.

Comments

0 Comments
Best Newest

Contents
Settings
  • T
  • T
  • T
  • T
Font

Welcome to FullEpub

Create or log into your account to access terrific novels and protect your data

Don’t Have an account?
Click above to create an account.

lf you continue, you are agreeing to the
Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy.