Elwen the Conquered

“And that's everything you need to know about overcasting.” Cladion finished. “Any questions?”

Cladion had spent most of their time today explaining a type of casting that Elwen was not aware of, overcasting. As he described it, it is a method of increasing the power of spells. Typically, spells had a certain range of outputs, there was a minimum power that the spell could be cast and a maximum. Normally, spells could not be cast outside of these limits. Overcasting allowed a mage to increase the maximum limit, even going so far as to make it as powerful as a higher tier spell, but there were also drawbacks.

“What happens if the spell fails?” He told her that the main disadvantage of overcasting was that the spell became more unstable.

“Depends on the spell.” Cladion shrugged, “Usually, it blows up in your face, but different spells have different behavior. It all depends on how the circle discharges. For a fire spell, this is usually a fireball or an actual explosion. For a water spell, it could be anything from making a little rain cloud to a boiling hot ball of steam. Definitely not something you want to be caught up in. Generally, the more mana is in the circle the worse the effects are. It's why you've got to be careful when overcasting your spells.”

“And this addition to the spell circles... It's the same for every spell?” The component that let a mage overcast was an extra ring around the outside of the circle with runes inscribed in it. What confused her was that every spell circle was different, so how did the ring interact properly with every spell?

“Yes, this one works with every spell I know of. And it should work with every spell, in theory.” Cladion explained, “There are many different versions of the overcast ring, each with their own advantages and disadvantages, but this one is the most versatile one, and the easiest to use.”

“There are different versions?” As far as she knew, there was only one spell circle for each spell, but if these rings had different versions, did that mean that there were different circles, too?

“Yes, many have been developed over the centuries, but only a few dozen are actually still in common use.” Cladion picked up a pointer and gestured at the drawing of the ring on the wall. “This particular one acts as a battery, storing mana and then releasing it all through the circle once the spell is cast. More mana, stronger spell.”

“Wait, if it's just more mana, then why can't you simply put more mana in the circle to begin with?”

“The ring also functions to delimit the spell, allowing more mana to pass through.” Cladion pointed at four spiky protuberances along the ring that pierced into the circle. “This is also where most of the instability comes from, modifying the flow of mana through a circle is very tricky.”

“What if you were to put multiple rings? Could you get even more power out of the spell?” Elwen wasn't a power maniac, but being able to cast stronger magic was obviously a good thing.

“No, definitely not.” Cladion denied, “The rings would conflict with each other and cause the spell to fail. If you wanted more power, you would have to look for a ring that is capable of that, or just a stronger base spell. Now, I'd like for you to memorize this. We don't have much time left, so I'm not sure if we have time to practice much, but I'd like you to at least get to the point where you know what to do so you can keep working on it in the future.”

And just like that, they spent the rest of the time split between memorizing the ring and trying to integrate it into her casting. They did this without transmuting the mana, as Cladion didn't want to make thing too complicated. Elwen was glad that the ring was relatively simple, as it made it easy to memorize. The runes were also in a simple language that Cladion had taught her the meanings of, which also made it easier. If she had to learn the entire thing without being able to put meaning behind the parts, she was sure that she never would have been able to commit it to memory so quickly.

Varian stepped off the gangway, followed closely by Reia. The trip had been mostly uneventful; They had ran into a small pirate ship, but the captain opted to drop a few barrels of cargo overboard for the pirates to collect rather than face them. In was, in a way, anticlimactic, as the sailors had raised every alarm they had upon sighting them, but the situation resolved in such a calm and peaceful manner. Varian, after a few days of being cooped up on the ship, was itching for some exercise, so he was actually looking forward to a fight, but it seemed like the captain didn't want to risk it.

“Where do you want to go first?” Reia asked before he could.

“... Well I suppose we should find an inn.” Varian stated. “We'll be staying here for a while, and I'd rather not spend it camping in the nearby woods.”

“Maybe we should look for the Adventurer's Guild first.” Reia responded. “It was common for the Guild in the kingdom to have cheap lodging available there, but I'm not sure about here. You did have to be an active adventurer though, so we would probably need to do some quests.”

“Good idea. That would be convenient.” Varian didn't even know that the Guild had that. If he did, he probably could have saved some money. It would have helped when he first started, but it probably wouldn't make much of a difference now. Although, if the inns became more expensive because they were in a higher level area, then he might have to, if only to appease the thrifty part of him.

“Do you want to try one of the squares?” Reia asked, “Usually the Guild buildings are around there.”

“I've got a better idea.” The city was just too big to go looking for one building. Varian turned back to the ship, catching one of the sailors carrying a small crate off the ship. “Do you know where the Adventurer's Guild is?”

“No, sorry.” The young sailor responded. “This is my first time to this city.”

Varian quickly found a different sailor, an older one, who he knew had been with the captain for a while. He figured he had just asked one of the newer guys, but if the ship was running a consistent set of trade routes, it was likely that someone who had been on the ship for longer would know something about the city.

“Henry!” While he didn't know all of the sailors, the older one in front of him was familiar, as they had spend a couple nights drinking together.

The sailor looked up, pausing his work. “Varian! I thought you'd be out in the city by now! I know where a good tavern in town, if you want to have some drinks!” He said, laughing as he proposed abandoning his work.

“Maybe later.” Varian shook his head. “I wanted to ask if you know where the Adventurer's Guild is. We were looking for a place to stay and we'll also need to take up some jobs soon.”

The sailor frowned, dramatically letting down his shoulders “Ah! Later then. The booze is real good there, too.” He took out a flask and took a sip. “Gah! That's good stuff!”

“Henry, the Guild?” Varian felt like the sailor completely ignored his question after being denied his excuse for skipping out on work.

“Ah, right!” Henry responded, “Last I heard, it's on the eastern side of the city, near the gate. I think it was next to the Merchant's Association. But that was at least three years ago, they could have moved since then.” The sailor shrugged. “I don't really have any reasons to go there, so I didn't really keep up to date on that stuff.”

“That's good enough. It'll probably save us a few hours of searching.” Varian replied, “Anyways, where's this tavern? How about we meet there once your done here. Say, at seven o'clock?” The city had a series of bell towers to tell time. They had just heard the call for three o'clock as they were docking, so that would give them four hours to find the Guild.

“Sounds good to me!” Henry smiled, “It's pretty close, on the edge of the dock's district. It's on Fisherman's street, by the big statue. Shelly Shoals' the name. See ya there!”

They said their goodbyes and Varian made sure to thank the captain before they left. They got lost a few times on their way to the Guild, which Varian blamed solely on the bad directions the locals were giving him, but they arrived long before the fifth bell chimed.

“Do you have lodging available?” He asked one of the receptionists at the desk.

She looked up at him, putting on a clearly fake smile, annoyed that he had interrupted her reading. “Yes! We have rooms on the second floor for adventurers. Five silvers a night. Meals aren't included.”

Five silver coins... That was about the same as the combined entry tax for them. It was rather cheap, about the same as the cost of a meal. “Are two available? Preferably next to each other.”

“Hmm...” The receptionist opened a ledger, browsing through a list of the rooms and their occupants. “We do have a set next to each other, but they're at the end of the hall. Is that alright?”

“That'd be perfect.” Varian responded, placing the needed coins on the desk.

The receptionist took their names and reached into a drawer, pulling out the keys to the room and handing them to them. “The rooms are yours for the night. They are up the stairs and to the left, at the end of the hall. You will need to come back tomorrow and pay for the next night, unless you'd like to pay early.”

They thanked her and went upstairs to check out the rooms. The rooms were small, which was to be expected for what they paid. They could, if they tried, squeeze into the bed, but it would be cramped. The lockable chest was nice, although it didn't come with a lock and they didn't have one. They didn't really need one, though, because Varian's magic bag was bound to him.

“Alright. Let's see if we can find a buyer for the last couple artifacts.” Reia helped him find merchants who were willing to buy the artifacts in Marsburg. They were usually of the seedier sort, although there were some collectors as well. The normal merchants generally weren't interested, with the exception of some that had overseas connections, as they couldn't easily turn them around for a profit.

“Ok,” Reia answered, “I'll start looking for buyers.” She calmly jumped out of the window, landing on the roof of the next building before running off.

“You could just use the door...” Varian commented. But he didn't want to complain, as he knew that she was better at gathering information that him. She simply had a lot more abilities that were useful for it.

He decided that he would try to find an auction house and the local bank. They would likely need both eventually. The auction house would be useful in case Reia couldn't find a buyer. They might also want to use it in the future if they get any valuable loot.

He let out a sigh and went down the stairs himself. He hoped it wouldn't take too long to find the two as he still had to meet Henry later...