Class Festival 3
After learning the huge pile of dung he was now in, he had the help of the Duke and Guild Master on how to navigate through his new life. Once the Duke was done talking to him Yulanda and Mude had pulled him aside.
"Now that you are under the Guild and the Duke's protection" Mude spoke with a happy smile on his face. "We will be giving you some gifts to help protect you." Mude turned his back to the two and started to search through some of the boxes scattered around his library. After a handful of minutes Mude turned back around with a small leather bag, a diamond like gem on a golden necklace and a small black metal ring.
Mude quickly handed each item to Ellias as he explained what each of them were. "The first item is a Bottomless Bag. You are able to store over 1,000 pounds worth of items in here. All you have to do it place the item inside and the Bottomless Bag will hold it for you. Just remember the items in question must be able to fit through the opening. If you want to hold larger stuff you'll need either a Dimensional Ring or a larger Bottomless Bag."
The Bottomless Bag was made of high quality. Ellias could tell the leather used to craft this magical item was most likely from a high level monster, level 40 or higher. It must have been a Void Element beast he guessed.
"This is a portable version of our communication crystal called PCC for short" Mude spoke as he held of the small diamond like gem. Now that Ellias could see it more clearly he was awestruck. The gem was a light blue color, but inside of it looked as magical air swirled inside. "These are more reliable then those sending stones on the market. They are even able to communicate with people while they are inside a dungeon!"
Ellias was even more impressed with the PCC. Sending stones could only communicate with people that are on the same plane of existence, both in a dungeon or both out of a dungeon. Never inside one and out. Mude then reached inside the chest part of his clothes and pulled out a very similar looking PCC that he wore around his neck. The only difference was the one Mude had was covered in golden runes and was a green color.
"Now you have to pass your energy into this PCC. It will be bound to you so no one else would be able to use this."
Once the PCC was in his hands Ellias channeled his Mana into the gem. He watched as the swirling magical wind inside changed from a light blue color to a dark purple color. He could feel that the PCC matched the color of his Mana. Once it was locked to him he slide the golden necklace around his neck and admired the gem.
"Now for the final part. This is my communication rune." Mude grabbed his PCC and knocked it against Ellias's. Once they two touched a small golden rune appeared on both of the PCC's. "If you ever need to get a hold of me you just need to hold the PCC in any hand and think who you would like to call and you will be able to contact them."
"You'll need mine too" Yulanda added. She quickly pulled her gem out that had more then twice the amount of the runes as Mude had and was a similar mint green color. The two touched with a new rune appearing on both. "We doubt you will run into any trouble, but if anyone tries to recruit you you are to call either one of us. Once the Guild Master arrives you'll have to get each others runes as well."
Ellias smiled. He felt much more relived about the troubled situation he was in. He wanted no part of this fight for the throne and wanted a simple life and have a family. Was that too much to ask for?!
"Now this is something truly special" Mude spoke while holding the simple black metal ring. Now that Ellias had a better look at it he noticed it wasn't as simple as he thought. He could vaguely see small runes carved into the ring. The entire ring was filled with them!
"This is a special ring only members of the Guild are allowed to have. You are a special case" Mude's tone grew much more serious. "You must never let anyone else have this. This will bind to you like the PCC. This is a Sage Ring. These are given to members of the Guild that pay a very large sum o gold and Guild Merits to acquire."
Ah GM's, Ellias thought to himself. A special currency that the guilds uses and distributes to those who help the Guild in certain quests or those that perform a great deed for the guild. Extremely hard to get. This is another way for the Adventurers Guild to stay in power.
"To hid your identity to the guild you will not receive special treatment from us nor have any connection to use outside the normal Guild and Adventurer contact. That being said you will still need training. The Sage Ring will help. Once it's bond to you it will scan your potential and help guide you on the most optimized way to train you. You must never lose this ring as it is not only extremely valuable, but there are limited amount made."
Ellias was taken aback by the ring and how truly serious Mude was. His smile was gone and had the look of a father entrusting their daughter to another man. Ellias felt knots in his stomach just holding the ring in his hand.
"Ah ah ah" Yulanda said stopping Ellias before he slid the ring on his finger. "You must put the ring on once you are alone and won't be disturbed for a while. The ring is...an intense form of training." Yulanda looked as though she feared the ring as she looked at it in Ellias's hands. He looked over at her and noticed a similar ring on her hand. The only difference was hers was a lighter grey color.
Mude nodded agreeing with Yulanda. "Now that you have received your it's time for you to leave. You are early enough that no one besides us in this room, the Guild Master and the Duke are the only ones that know our class and blessing. You must train all you can to grow strong to have a life you want, not one thrusted upon you."
Ellias solemnly nodded and stared at the ground. He felt many emotions. His life was turning upside down, right side up over and over. Before he realized what was going on he felt a warm embrace and looked up. Mude hugged him and had a warm smile.
"Everything will be alright Ellias." Mude's voice was calm and affectionate. "You will be fine and life will work out. You will go through some hardships, but that is life."
"Thank you Mude" Ellias spoke quietly.
Yulanda tapped him on the shoulder and turned him around. "Okay Ellias it's time for you to leave. We don't want anyone knowing and there still isn't anyone else here. Perfect time for you to sneak out." Ellias nodded and followed Yulanda.
They quickly left the Mude alone in the room again. The Guild Hall was mostly empty. There was no other person looking to get their class, but there were more Guild Staff members. Many of them were going by their day and doing their own work. Some seemed to be going through paper work while a handful of others were setting up banners for the Class Festival. Ellias smiled wearily seeing the festival being set up. He always dreamt of getting a class and celebrating and now he it's more like a nightmare. One he could never share either.
Yulanda walked Ellias out to a side entrance for Guild Members only. It was a large ornate wooden door with metal decorating the sides. She easily opened the door for Ellias and stopped and looked him in the eyes.
"The Sage Ring is a powerful tool. When you activate it be mindful of the ring. It has a will of it's own and isn't afraid to use harsher means to train and teach. Once you reach level 5 come back here with a party. There's a special Dungeon the guild uses for training. Just ask for Zel and tell him Yulanda sent you. He will know what to do."
Yulanda gave him one last hug and then pushed him out the door before he could say anything. He fell hard to the stone ground and quickly picked himself up and looked to the door. The door had slammed shut just as he turned his gaze at it and watched it meld back into the wall as though it never existed.
"Are they always this rude and cryptic" he said as he picked himself up and wiped the dust off his bottom. He looked around the early morning of the town. The sun had risen, but not enough to warm the air up. It still held a slight bite as we walked back home. He took the ring out of his pocket and held it in the palm of his hand. "I wonder what this could do? They made it sound like you'd be some crazed magical item or something."
He flipped the ring over and examined it. He noticed nothing unusual besides the runes carved into it. He then thought about channeling his Mana into the ring, but quickly stopped himself. He figured if the PCC needed Mana to activate then the ring would need it too. Seeing as his only way for answers was to bind the ring to him. He quickened his pace to get home faster.
After almost a half hour of running he made it back home. He quickly pulled out out his keys and almost dropped them while trying to open the door. Once he was inside he locked the door behind him and made his way to the spot where he sits behind the counter. He moved the old wooden chair. He crouched down and knocked on the floor and listened for a hollow sound.
Once he found it he pushed down as a small section of the floor caved in and made a click sound once it was pushed an inch into the ground. Next to him a small section of the floor moved revealing a secret staircase. He pulled an unlit torch off the wall and quickly lit it as he descended down the stairs. The hidden room was only 600 square feet and filled with the gear of his parents.
He placed the torch on a mount on the wall as the secret door closed behind him. He looked around and blew the dust off his parents adventuring gear. In the back of the room stood two mannequins that had his parents armor and weapons. He glanced over to either side of the room to make sure all their maps and journals and other books they got from adventures were still there.
Even with the room covered in dust and the air stale, it was just as he last saw it when his parents were alive. He never told anyone about this room and vowed to never come here till he had his own class. Now that he had it he felt a sense of longing for this room. The memories he had as a kid down here with his parents. Listening to their stories and plans when in dungeon's. He smiled as a single tear rolled down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away and sat in the center of the room in the lotus position with his eyes closed.
He held his hands in the center of his lap with the ring in the palm of his hands. "Now the real fun will start." He channeled his Mana into the ring. The ring eagerly absorbed his Mana and almost drank him dry! Thankfully he just had to wait some time to regenerate his pool of Mana. The ring started to glow hot and spin on its axis in his hand. He quickly opened his eyes as he felt the air in the room swirl with the spin of the ring.
The ring began to float out of his hand and in the air in front of him. He quickly stood up and watched as the ring spun faster and faster. It created a small tornado coming from out the ring. Bolts of electricity began to shoot out the ring and into the tornado. He watched as this tiny magical storm grew more violent with each passing second.
BOOM
A bright bolt of lighting struck through the tornado and created a powerful boom of thunder. Ellias had to turn away closing his eyes and covering his ears. A loud sound in an enclosed environment wasn't what he needed. Unless he wanted to lose his hearing. He turned back around and saw the tornado hadn't died down, but the storm was gone. In it's place was an image of a 4 armed Demi. It was an Insectoid. It was a green skinned creature with 4 limbs, a human looking face with a pair of mandibles that would open when it breathed. The creature had human eyes, but with a cross slit iris.
The creature before him work majestic grey robes with seven silver swords embroidered on its back. The creature stood still only barely looking around the room.
"What a dreary place I've been summoned too" the creature spoke with it's mandibles clicking after every other word. His voice was old, but still filled with life. He then directed his gaze to Ellias. "I see you are my summoner. Do you need teaching in the ways of the Object Dominance Void magic?"