Chapter 7 Kristatanti

The bridge looks strong enough to hold your weight and you need to get across the Simsosa river. You step onto it and, halfway through, a short person jumps out of nowhere and blocks your way. He stands in front of you and is blocks every attempt at advancing you make. You look at the weird, short, elderly man and ask "Why are you blocking my way, elder?"

The weird man looks at you with a confident expression and says "This bridge belongs to me! If you want to cross, you have to pay a toll of 2 gold coins!" The weird looking man wasn't making much sense and outright demanding money for the bridge.

You frown at the old man's statement. The Simsosa river has been around for hundreds of years and you remember your master telling you about a huge flood, which destroyed the previous bridges. After which Analand took it upon itself to restore the bridges and reconstructed the four bridges of Simsosa.

The old man claiming the bridge as his own doesn't sit well with you. You think to yourself "This old and weird man actually dares to claim Analand's hard work and make money off of it! I'll teach him the consequences of scamming people!" You walk up to the old man. He is around 163cm tall and his beard reaches from his chin all the way to his belly button. He looks frail and you walking up to him seems to have intimidated him quite a bit

The weird old man stumbles back and says, after he fall down onto his behind "W-what are you going to do?!" You look at him and say "This bridge was constructed by Analand's builders! You have no right to tax people crossing it, so I won't pay you anything and will walk across without paying you anything, as any other person should be allowed to. If you get in my way, I will not care if you fall into the river!"

The old man looks scared, but resolutely continues standing in your path. You originally only meant what you said as a threat, but it look like the old man took your threat seriously and is ready to die with one leg already in a grave.

He looks at you and says "So what if Analand constructed it? I have been taking care of it and managing it for the past 17 years! If not for me, it would have crumbled like all the others! I deserve some credit for taking care of it! Is it that bad to ask for some coins? I am a poor man without any money or a job. I have nothing! I basically live on and off of this bridge!"

You look at the old man and genuinely feel sorry for him. He looks like he has been starving for days and you are confident he is telling the truth. The bridge you are standing in is in a lot better condition than the other ones you have seen.

You sigh and reach into you bag. You have enough gold for the night and you can find some work or sell something to make money. The poor old man looks so skinny and frail, that he probably hasn't eaten in weeks. You open your bag and take out your last provision. You unwrap it and give the old man the fish you cooked and 2 gold coins.

The old man is stunned. He looks at you and has a confused expression on his face, almost like he was actually waiting for you to throw him off the bridge and kill him. You look at him with a gentler expression and say "As a representative of Analand, I wish to thank you for your service hard work and for keeping maintenance on this bridge. Keep doing a good job and manage this bridge. I have paid my toll, may I cross?"

The old man's confused expression changes to one of embarrassment and then happiness. He quickly takes out a note from his pocket and gives it to you. You examine the note and see it is a coupon for an alchemist. You look at the weird old man with a confused look and he explains "My brother lives in Kristatanti. His name is Aaron and he is an alchemist. He isn't the best alchemist, but he is a good one. He can make some useful potions, but his services are expensive. Give this to him and tell him Daron gave it to you. We are twins, so we look very similar to each other."

You look at the old man and say "Thank you, elder." You cross the bridge and hear the elder tearing up in the distance and crying while eating the fish and bread you have him. You have lost 1 provision.

You suddenly feel your strength drain away from you. Your body's maximum power has decreased by 1. You have 13 maximum power now. You look up at the stars and notice your guardian constellation has change to the gentle rabbit. You feel that the gentle rabbit will help you in any dire situation you might face.

It is getting late and you need to hurry up and get to Kristatanti. You run as fast as you can, but you can't make it. You notice a thick forest to your left, near the pathway and consider sleeping there rather than wasting your energy getting to Kristatanti. from what you know of Shamutanti hills geography, you should be in middle Shamutanti.

The Shamutanti Hills are divided into 3 parts: Shamutanti southwest also known as Analand, Middle Shamutanti and Khare. The markers separating these three parts are the Simsosa and Jabasi rivers. Simsosa cuts off Analand from middle Shamutanti and Jabasi cuts off Khare from middle Shamutanti.

Khare is a massive city-port. It is almost as big as Analand itself. It is considered a kingdom by itself, but its ruling system is still that of a powerful city and not a kingdom, so it is still considered a city.

Khare was built a couple of hundred year ago by travelers coming from the west with the help of the merchants of the old world and Analand. It is located directly on the Jabasi river, that is why it is know as a city-port. Khare is referred to by two names: Khare and city-port of thieves.

It has the reputation of being an unforgiving city of thieves. The most commonly used saying about Khare by the peasants and other folk is "It is impossible to come out of Khare with the same amount of gold as when you entered it."

It is considered an unrealistic thought to enter Khare and come out without meeting a single thief. Anyone who has tried, was killed or robbed clean. "The people of Shamutanti tend to exaggerate things as the rumors spread, so I don't think Khare is that radical of a city. Its situation and management shouldn't be so bad its situation evolved to such a degree."

After your small revision, you remember where you are currently. You are near the dreadful Medikki Forest. Medikki forest is quite a distance away from Kristatanti, the closest intersection point between the road to Kristatanti and Medikki Forest is a 2 hour walk away from Kristatanti.

It is already way past 8 pm. Even if you run at your fastest pace, you have already missed the opportunity to check into an inn. You will only tire yourself out and arrive at Kristatanti at around 10 pm with 2/13 stamina. You can either rest for the night here, or continue on your way to Kristatanti.

You look over your options and decide to keep going. Medikki Forest is quite unforgiving. It has hundreds of werehogs, werewolves, wolfbeasts, rhinoceros hogs and, most frighteningly, undead zombies and ghouls. You feel like going through it, or staying near it with your current stamina would be asking for trouble. What's 2 stamina compared to your life?

You start running and don't stop until you reach a really big village. Instead of a village, it should be called a town. This town is Kristatanti. You have finally arrived and can see the inns are still open and the town's people are celebrating something. You are extremely tired out from all the running you did.

You walk into the closest inn and observe the situation around you. You see a lone man sitting there, an young lad with his friends discussing something and a crowd of 10 gathered around a single table, watching something.

You walk up to the innkeeper. He is a tall male with a mustache and a relatively buff build. His strength might not be a match for yours, but it is quite impressive for someone who lives in these toxic lands.

"Good evening, sir. I was wondering if there are any rooms available for stay?" You ask the innkeeper.

The innkeeper looks towards you and says "The house is full. Sorry, lad, but there is nothing I can do. You can still stay and boy some food or beer, but we don't have any rooms for logging."

You sigh and think "At least I don't have to stay out in the forest and can stay in a town." You look over your tired body and realize 2 meals won't be enough to cover all the time energy you lost. You ask the innkeeper "How much for 1 mug of beer and I bowl of soup?" The innkeeper looks over your shoulder and you follow his line of sight.

You see a poster near the entrance. On it are images 🍺=🏵🏵, 🍺🍺=🏵🏵🏵 and 🍵=🏵🏵🏵🏵. You ask the innkeeper "Do two beers cost 3 gold?" The innkeeper nods at you. You hear the sound of something heavy hitting a table and then the sound of people cheering. You turn around and try to find out what all the commotion is about.

The table with over ten people around it is bustling and making a lot of noise. You can either buy your food now and ignore them, or check out what all the commotion is about and then sit down to eat.

You are too curious about what is going on and decide to check it out. You walk up to the table and ask one of the men there "Excuse me, friend, what is all the fuss about?" The man turns towards you and answers kindly "The innkeeper is holding a special sale, 2 beers for 3 coins. This is a table for winnings. Two people bet a coin and arm wrestle. The winner pays one coin while the looser pays two. This is a normal friendly match and we can bet with each other who wins. The administrator is that guy over there. If you wanna make a bet or partake, you gotta talk with him."

You look towards where the guy pointed at and see a man in a hunters outfit sitting down with a pouch full of gold coins and a piece of paper with names and numbers written down on them. The two arm wrestlers are going at each other.

Number 1 is a strong man, who is only a bit shorter than you. He is currently winning. Number 2 is a similarly strong man, but he is a tad bit weaker than number 1, so he is currently loosing. You decide to place a bet and see what happens. You walk up to the administrator and ask "What's the current bet:gain?"

The administrator says "Number one is 1:2 in bet and gain. Number 2 is 1:3 in bet and gain. You can choose whoever you want to bet on, but the bet limit is 2 gold coins. The match is quite intense and the outcome is obvious, so I am not accepting and bets now, there is still another match, so you can bet then."

You consider your options and decide to stay and wait for the next round. The battle was going well for number 1, but, suddenly, number 2 gets an unexpected second wind and pushes forward. He goes arm deep and pushes his wrist onto number 1s. The battle continues and the arm of number 1 hits the ground. Number 2 is the winner.

3 people out of the 14 rejoiced while the rest felt nothing but sorrow. They had all thought the winner was going to be number 1, who would have bet on the weaker looking number 2. They all sigh at their bad luck and the two men go to buy the mugs of beer.

Next person to fight is a middle aged orc, he looks bigger than you and is quite buff. He sits down and says "Who wants to take the beer challenge with me?" The entire inn went silent and no one dared to respond to the Orc's challenge. Orcs are known for having a lot of stamina and strength, but tend to be clumsy and have very awkward motions.

They are one of the best when it comes to brute force, but one of the worst in when considering technique. This battle of brute force is the perfect advantage for the orc. No one would dare to battle him. You look up into the stars and notice the constellation DOZ. You smile and sit down next to the orc. You drop 2 gold coins next to the administrator and say "Two gold on me, chief."

Everyone looks at you with eyes of surprise and mockery. No human can defeat an Orc in a battle of pure strength. Only half-humans can do such things. You might not be a half-human, but the power boost provided by DOZ and your own Strength is enough to defeat the orc.

The orc sneers and puts his arm on the table. You secretly cast DOZ onto yourself and put the arm down on the table. You have lost 1 stamina. You have 1/13 stamina left.

Both of your wrists are against each other and your fists are clenched and ready. The administrator says "The bet gain this time is 1:2 for the orc and 1:3for the human. Maximum bet is, as always, two gold coins. Would mister orc be willing to bet on himself?"

The orc chuckled and said "Hah! What kind of man would I be if I cowered in front of this shrimp? 2 gold on me, lad!" The orc tossed two gold coins towards the administrator and laughed with confidence.

13 of the now 15 people around the table bet 1 or 2 gold on the orc, while the others bet 1 gold each on you. The administrator soon began the countdown "Get ready you two. 3... 2... 1... BEGIN!"

You push with all of your force and surprise the orc with your strength and tries to push you down, but the power amplification of DOZ is too much for him. His has already lost the initiative and is closing in on the table. You push with all of your force and so does the orc.

The impressive battle of strength between the orc and you continue. The table begins to crack at the two holding point of your wrist and the Orc's wrist. You two keep pushing with all of your might, you are slowly overwhelming the orc. Both you and the orc begging breathing heavily from the strain of this battle. You push with all your might and the orc's arm slams into the table with a loud bang, as it gives out and goes limp.

The two people that bet on you cheer and so do some of the not-betting observers. You quickly cancel the effects of DOZ. both you and the orc are panting from the intense battle. Both of you have been wrestling each other for close to 3 minutes and are dog tired. You have become extremely tired from the continuous strain. You have lost 1 stamina. You have 0/13 stamina left.

Be careful. You have no stamina left and even the smallest injury can kill you. You take your 6 gold from the administrator and put them in your pocket. +4 gold. The orc gets up and you two walk towards the innkeeper behind the bar. "You are quite strong for a human. May I have the honor of hearing your name?" You smile at the Orc and wipe away your sweat.

"People refer to me as the Analander. May I know your name as well?" The Orc smiles and says "They call me Karchwi. I am quite famous in Shamutanti for slaying an entire goblin army of 20 by my self! Quit strong, don't you agree?"

You nod to the Orc's boasting and say "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir Karchwi. May we meet again if fate permits it!" You pay the innkeeper 5 coins and Karchwi pays 2. The innkeeper hands you one bowl of soup and 1 mug of beer and hands Karchwi 1 mug of beer as well.

You quickly gulp down the beer. The beer helps your tired body quench its thirst and regain some energy. You have gained 1 stamina. You have 1/13 stamina now. You part ways with the orc and head towards the young man sitting with his friends to eat your food.

You walk up to the young man and ask "May I join you?" The young man chuckles and says "Snattacat goblins. Huhu." You are confused and ask "Could you repeat that?" The young man chuckles once again and says "Invisible wolves. Hehe." You are getting quite angry at the rude behavior of the young man and decide to sit with the lone old man instead.

It is better to sit with a lone man than with a group of annoying childish brats. You come next to the old man and ask "May I sit with you?" The old man sips his beer and says "Sure. I have nothing against some company."

You sit down and eat your soup with a wooden spoon. The old man sips his beer and asks "So, I couldn't help but notice you used some kind of weird method to defeat the Orc. What would someone of your talents be doing out here?"

You are surprised by the old man's knowledge and ability to detect magic. You weren't expecting for someone to notice you used sorcery. You swallow the contents of your mouth before you spit it all out from shock and answer "How did you notice it?"

The old man smiles and says "I have met a sorcerer once. He cast a spell on himself to ask for directions. I believe it was called RAP? Have you heard of such a spell?"

You look at the old man confused and say "No, I have never heard of such a spell. Did he use some kind of item to cast the spell or did he use pure stellar energy?" The old man thinks and says "Oh ya! I remember he put on a green wig when he casted that spell, which I am 90% sure was also called RAP. I remember asking him why he needed the wig and he answered "A green wig is a necessity when casting linguistic spells." It was weird to see a sorcerer acting so silly, but I was amused and helped him find his way."

You suddenly remember something and open your spellbook. You page through it and arrive at the spell YAP. You read through its description and check the constellations on the sky. After a couple seconds of pondering and tests, a sudden realization hits you and your spellbook becomes a bit bigger. You page through it and arrive at the 24th and 25th pages.

You look over the spell DUD. The spell page reads "DUD, the spell of illusion. Requires 1 stamina to cast". "Even though I have managed to cast it, I still don't understand what it does. I need to study it better, but I don't have enough time to study it." You sigh at the lack of information, but continue onto the next page, as you aren't here to look at and study DUD.

After checking over DUD, you read over the 25th spell and see the constellation of RAP on the spell page. You look over the spell's casting method and then read the description "RAP, the spell of communication. Requires a green wig to cast. Allows you to transmit your words in the form of images and receive words in the form of images. Any language can be transmitted between linguistic animals."

"This is quite amazing! It can translate words into direct images. With this I can understand any language and communicate perfectly!Quite the useful spell. Way more useful than the YAP spell."

The old man looks at you and is confused by your actions. He asks with interest "What's so interesting about those weird word and letter on that book?" You remember you are currently in an inn and you realize you spaced out while studying the new spell. You look at the old man and say "Elder, this is a spellbook. The words you are talking about are known as the stellar language. It is the language the stars talk in and the language they use to bestow spells upon sorcerers. Anyone can learn to read it, but only sorcerers have the means of documenting it, as no normal human can write these words. That is what differentiates normal humans from sorcerers. I am looking over some spells and checking the RAP spell you told me about."

The old man nods and ask again "You still haven't told me anything about why you're here?" You suddenly remember the elders question and answer honestly "I am on a mission. The king of Analand sent me to defeat the Archmage of Mampang and retrieve the Staff of Kings!"

The old man's eyes widen and he says "The rumors are true?! Analand has truly lost the Staff of Kings?! I can't believe that is possible."

You sigh and say "We don't know how it happened either. The Archmage broke in and took the Staff of Kings before we could respond. I am on a journey to travel through Khare and the Backlands to take back the Staff of Kings and defeat the Archmage before he marches here with his army."

You old man looks at you with some pride and then says "Eeeeeh. I can't believe that foolish king sent an young lad like you on such a dangerous mission. Well, I wish you the best of luck. How about a beer on me? Helping the future savior of the world is quite a good deed, don't you think?" You smile and say "Thank you"

You drink the beer slowly and finish your soup. You have gained 4 stamina. You have 5/13 stamina now. The old man decided to let you stay at his place tonight. He gave you his son's old room and you quickly fell asleep.

You dream of the mad Archmage and your future battle. You will encounter a lot of dangers on your journey.

After a goodnights rest, you gained 3 stamina. Your body has gotten more used to the polluted air of the Shamutanti Hills. Your maximum stamina has gone up by 1 and your body's strength has been restored. You have 8/14 stamina and 14 maximum power now.

You get up from the bed and walk down. The elder that helped you is coming out of his orchard. The old man walks up to you and hands you a purple fruit that has small spike like bumps on it. "It's called bomba. It is quite good for your body and digestive system. Keep it, never know when you might need an energy boost."

You thank the old man once again and put the Bomba fruit into your backpack. +1 bomba fruit. "Thank you for all the help you provided, elder, but I can't accept the fruit like this. I have coin, allow me to buy the fruit off of you."

The old man shakes his head and says "I am not selling you this thing. I am giving it to you as a gift. You are the only person who can stop the mad Archmage. Knowing you will keep Shamutanti safe is enough payment for me."

You are quite touched by the generosity of this old man. You wish to give him something, but you don't have anything besides gold and some random sorcery equipment. You look up into the stars and notice the spell LIV can be casted.

You think to yourself "LIV's effects are giving items the ability to damage undead. That is done by infusing stellar energy of life into the item for a temporary time. Will the stellar energy of life help this old man regain some physical strength if I cast it on him?"

Even if you haven't earned the title of Archmage, you still know enough about sorcery to use spells outside of their general purpose. You weave the stellar energy into the LIV spell and cast it on the old man. You lost 1 stamina. You have 7/14 left.

The energy you expanded and the stellar energy mix together. The new energy is full of life and is extraordinarily active. The energy quickly gathers into the silver ring before it disappears and it stays there for a couple of seconds, slowly dissipating. Before the energy completely disappears, you touch the old man's shoulder and transfer all the energy in the silver ring into the old man.

The old man barely felt it and turned around to look at you, wondering why you were holding his shoulder. You could have sworn his face looked a bit younger, but it could just be your imagination. You shrug off all the extra thoughts and head out to find Aaron.

Potions are quite useful, maybe Aaron will have some firewater or a magical seed? Looking for a magical seed without the CHK spell is practically impossible. The only way to discover a magical seed is by casting it. That is the reason the fields near Analand are right under the CHK spell.

You ask around town and soon find a shop. The shop has a billboard above its entrance that reads "Aaron's potion brewery." You open the door and walk in.

What you see when you walk in startle you. The old beggar you took pity on near the Simsosa river is standing before you. He looks a bit more healthy and has trimmed his beard, but all other features are exactly the same. You walk up to him and say "Hello, how are you doing, mister Daron?"

The old man looks at you and says "So, you've met my brother Daron? Me and Daron are twins. We look alike, but I am not him. My name is Aaron." You remember the old man telling you his brother Aaron was an identical twin. You nod your head and say "Ah, right. I apologize for my forgetfulness. Daron gave me this ticket and I wanted to ask what kinds of potions you have."

Aaron took the ticket and sighed with a gentle expression. He says "My brother is a good man. He is a good bridge builder, but there aren't many bridges to be built here and he became poor. His proud self refused to take any help from me and continued living like a poor beggar. Thank you for helping him. If there is anything I can do for you in return, please ask."

You look over his shop and notice he has no magical supplies. Magical supplies are very important and practically the only thing you need right now. You decide to show him something. You take out the small bag of blue berries you picked and show it to the man. You ask "Could you tell me what these berries are?"

Aaron is startled and takes a lot at the berry bag. He thinks for a bit, checks over some books and says "Yes, I am confident this is blimberry." You are startled as well. You have heard from your master of a spell that requires a blimberry potion to cast. It is quite a powerful spell as well, capable of healing most wounds and curing almost any disease.

You look at Aaron and say "Can you brew a blimberry potion for me?" He looks over the amount and weights it on the scale next to him. He thinks for a bit and says "If I add a bit more, I can make around 3 blimberry potions. Blimberries are quite rare and hard to process. They are in nature completely poisonous, so they don't mix well with other substances. I'll try to make them, but don't hold it against me if I can't make 3."

You suddenly remember, that blimberries are indeed poisonous. Blimberry potion might be good for your health, as it instantly restores 2 stamina, but eating blimberries raw is extremely bad. You start worrying. If the Archmage manages to destroy Analand, because you made yourself sick from eating random plants, you wouldn't be able to live down the humiliation.

You wait around for a couple more minutes and Aaron comes out with 3 bottles full of blue liquid. He comes up to you and says "Sorry, but I could only make 1 blimberry potions. These two are called blimberry juice. They are practically the same, but blimberry juice has no magical properties and it takes a lot longer to take effect. With the ticket you brought me, the total cost will be 2 gold coins."

You nod at Aaron and hand him the 2 gold coins. You put the blimberry potion and juice into your backpack. +1 blimberry potion, +2 blimberry juice.

You bid farewell to the alchemist and leave. Kristatanti has nothing else left for you to explore. It is time to set off and go to either the Lia-Ki and the Giant's mountain, or go through the dreadful Meddiki Forest.

A.T. I think the 4K+ grind is a bit too hard and will tone it down a bit. Don't want to burn my self out before I even finish the first volume.