Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Three – Tyranny of Rep Counts II

It took Hazé twenty days to solve the puzzle of Weirding the Silent Spell Meta. Able to use Valence II's to cast now, she could do eighty Casts a day with I+I's. Thirteen days after that, Still Spell was done. Eschew Components was inbuilt as a Sorcerer, she happily didn't have to pay for it.

In thirteen more days, she Weirded the base Shards spell by using Brutal, a +I, just in case. Weirded Shards, -1 to total cost of Metamagic applied to it. So with Brutal, it was +0. Brutal added +2 damage to each target of a spell, per Valence of the spell. Not a lot, but it all added up, and once Weirded, was 'free'.

Shards could now reduce the cost of adding a Meta by 1, fitting more of it within the structure of the Valence. Still and Silent Spell had been harmonized to her Valence I, and could now be cast for +0 when stacked onto any spells from that Valence, effectively freeing up her entire Valence I spell list.

Naturally, Weirded effects didn't contribute towards Rep Counts. So, no making Purified, a +1 effect, +0 with Weird Shards and getting in cheaper Rep Counts to Weird down its cost at the same time. Likewise, couldn't reduce Shards down to Cantrip level.

But with Still and Silent spell out of the way, Hazé could now use Valence I spells easily. That meant she had defense, offense, and utility spells, even if they were only apprentice level.

That was fine. She could do a LOT with basic level spells. She just had to be careful not to burn out her Wand...

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Energized Shards followed. This was a +II Meta that increased the damage of the spell by 50%. It gave her more damage punch, while staying within the limit of her Wand. It was still low, but enough to deal with a minor threat.

A thousand castings, twenty days, and it was time to do a Valence II Still and Silent, slow and careful and without her Wand. Two thousand Castings per Meta, forty per day to start. Fifty days for Still, forty days for Silent once it was done and the cost reduced. Three months to run through both of them, but when she was done, she could cast all of her Valence II spells without using higher Slots.

She moved right to Valence III's. She had to get this out of the way, get access to as many spells as possible in case something came up.

Four thousand reps, at only thirty per day, to get Still reduced, over four months. Another hundred days at forty per day, to get Silent.

She was almost a year old now, and could finally cast her III's from base Valence. It felt very liberating.

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Mama's house was also changing. Unlike her instructor and adopted daughter, she had no problems with the spellcasting now that she had a teacher, especially one who could link with her telepathically and show her what to do.

They discussed matters before taking the first step, which was about which Class she wanted to pick as Primary. As an Herbalist, and seeing the benefits of Star Wizardry, she went with pure Wizardess, which would affect all her training. Secondary Class wizards couldn't learn Star Wizardry... and for a Hedge Wizard, which she definitely was, and not the most gifted of students, a variety of spells to solve problems was much more important then being able to cast a lot of them.

Wizardry it was.

There were two major paths of Wizardry, which were Warcasters and Tome Wizards.

Hazé was a Warcaster, whose primary feature was doing more damage with spells through Warcaster's Edge, and learning how to cast them smoothly and efficiently in combat. Their limit on maximum spells known was ten per Valence, + Int bonus, with penalties for researching new spells.

Tome Wizards were the researchers and theorists of wizards, discovering and designing most of the spells, focusing on the principles and mysteries behind magic, getting into the nuts and bolts of how they worked. Their limit on Spells Known per Valence was their Intellect score, + any spells they researched themselves, which they did without penalty.

It could be said that Warcasters were the jocks of the Wizard world, and Tome Wizards were the geeks. One discovered and understood them, and the other used them better.

The non-violent mindset was definitely better for Mama, who had no desire to run off to a battlefield and get herself killed. She already had a fairly deep understanding of life and its cycles through her herblore and minor Alchemical studies, being a Tome Wizard just let her spread her wings across a greater area.

Her first Valence I was Enrune, the ability to put one's own personal Rune down on something, as a marker, indicator of ownership, something to be tracked, or even a tattoo or something, very similar to a magic signature.

The design was a runic form done in a dozen different leaves from floral stems, laid end-to-end, the pattern forming the signature, not the shape of the stems.

And then she placed it all over her house, and the objects within it. With Detect Magic, a Cantrip, she could then see all the Marks clearly, what they outlined, or use them as points of reference.

Suddenly, she could navigate her house seamlessly and without needing to be wary of bumping into something. Even if something was moved, as long as it had her Rune on it, she could see it and avoid it.

Soon enough, she was Enruning stones, posts, trees, fence lines, the collars and livery to her pony and goats, her small wagon, flowerpots, even her silverware and china, making them all visible to her and easy to find.

Her next spell was Prestidigitation, the great utility and convenience spell of Valence I. Wave your hand, the dishes were done. Again, your clothes were clean. Again, the room was dusted. Again, the herbs were sorted. Again, all the books were put away and the cushions were in place. Again, and the porch was swept clean. Again, and the teapot was boiling and ready to serve.

The amount of time that one spell could save over the minute/level it was around easily measured in the hours, especially when sorting and cleaning herbs.

Third spell, Servant Spirit. Summoned a weak spirit for a long period of time that, while not strong, could easily perform drudgework tasks with only mild supervision. Clean the barn, turn the compost, pick up rocks and dung, fetch water, reorganize all the jars, trim the bushes, paint the siding, fold and put away the clothes, get the firewood...

A perfectly obedient man around the house. Not too bright, did whatever it was told, leaving much more time to work on other things.

For this reason, Extended, to double the duration of a spell, was the next Meta she worked on.

The Mending Cantrip meant Mama could now fix simple broken items. Being a Cantrip, it could be cast endlessly, even if it was a Ritual and took ten minutes. It meant that she could now start marketing her repair services to the people of the town, and making some money on the side.

The Ice Ray Cantrip gave her a warning shot of self-defense... and could also cool down water, milk, or other perishables, creating blocks of ice she could also sell... and her Spirit Servant could lug around. Ice alone soon became a major business, and learning Energy Fan so she could freeze a large volume of water all at once went on the list.

Additionally, finally being taught some alternate recipes for alchemy meant she could start peddling things like matchsticks, childbirth prevention recipes, and much to her delight, skin care creams and perfumes, in addition to more effective herbal remedies, scents, poultices, and the like.

Being able to use Ghost Hand and the Servant to pluck fruits meant the rather wild apple and plum trees on her property could now be properly harvested and treated, and they even began to harvest the wild grapes for their own special wines. Given the huge vineyards spanning much of the valley and everyone making their own wines as a hobby, this was not unusual... although the quality of them was.

With the additional time and income, expanding the herb garden was much easier, and very soon the traffic coming up to her door was increasing.

The townsfolk were very curious to learn that she had adopted a baby girl found on her doorstep, moreso that a blind woman could take care of her. However, Hazé was so cute and obviously well-taken care of that the questions soon stopped, and it was secondary to the fact that now Mama Greta could actually use magic, and was happy to do so cheaply for her neighbors.

Those friends also wanted to buy Haze's baby clothes as she outgrew them, or at least imitate the patterns. Her "Hazé (heart) Mama" shirts were quickly known all over the small town, as was her smile while wearing them.

With greater proficiency in alchemy and quietly selling spells came greater income. Soon enough, the vineyard owners were coming with special requests, and when they found she was really quite as good as their workers were saying, different and more lucrative requests were coming to her. Birth control tea was especially popular for the women, and the skin creams took right off.

Earning gold and gaining influence through magic slowly and surely garnered Karma. Soon enough Mama was freezing a large divider full of water and had a brawny young lad delivering ice for her, and the wealthier townsfolk paying for a regular supply.

Mama Greta advanced to Wizard/2, just another spell, longer durations, more area covered, then took her Sorcerer/1, activating the mutt Arcane Bloodline most humans had, and gained more spells/day castable, helping support her business.

One of the guards of the noble family that ran the vineyard first broached the subject of true magical Potions, not merely Energized Alchemy. Mama Greta was happy to tell them that it was completely possible, if they could but acquire the ingredients. She was not a Three yet, but Valence II Potions would certainly be available at that time.

A list was provided, contacts were tapped, and the components were delivered to her.

That was the beginning of real money, as a short period of work resulted in real gold earned. The two of them began to expand their facilities, as the skin cream was beginning to gain some fame, and when the townsfolk made the mistake of reselling the cream she was making for them for a great deal more money, she stopped supplying them so cheaply and collected the middleman fee for herself.

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She took Alchemist/1, and kept that her limit of Secondary Class expansion, taking Wizard/3 next.

The first time Mama Greta cast See the Invisible, she took Hazé's little hand, and they want out to watch the first sunset and moonrise Mama had seen in over twenty years together.

"Bless the Silver Queen for sending you to me, Hazé," Mama murmured, as they watched the moon rise with her trail of stars, giving the little girl on her lap a loving squeeze. For all the power she had, Hazé never acted as anything other than Mama's little girl when she was not instructing magic.

If the townsfolk knew that a Ten Archmaga was living in their little town, they would all have fallen over in shock. The Duke's advisor was naught but an Eight; to find a Ten required you going to the Mage's Guild or perhaps the Silver Queen's own temple. It was rumored that one of the Archbishops of the Kingdom was an Eleven, a Saint of the Church, but that was unconfirmed. Hazé was probably the most powerful spellcaster in the Kingdom, and unsatisfied at being so, at that.

"Good people deserve good things, Mama," Hazé replied calmly, watching that silver moon. The Goddess of Silver Magic, the Moon, Stars, and Navigation ascended slowly, and they watched until Mama's spell went away.

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Soon after, Hazé helped her make her Glasses. The aviator-style glasses of obsidian hid her lifeless eyes, gave her normal human sight, and could be powered by Cantrip-level energy to let her see magic, and the invisible.