Might as Well

Absent of any better idea, Sam sat down and looked up SummerRose on the Shadowland website, hoping that as a journalist and gamer she would have an account there, and lo-and-behold, he was right.

Doing a little digital stalking, he looked through her posting history, at least what wasn’t private, but found nothing interesting. Just the usual question about old games, and such.

But there was a new post about Magic Unbound.

She was asking for any secrets that someone would sell her, or willing to show off on her stream.

Sam looked at the post for a moment, then smiled evilly.

SummerRose started somewhere far away from him, according to her posts (though with the amount of money he had he could have quickly traveled there if he wanted), but she started somewhere where Sam knew one of the enemies of the other Sam started. Said enemy was propelled to stardom after finding a particular secret in the area.

Which he then bragged about, uncaring of the consequences…

The guild war that resulted from that particular genius action almost destroyed the fool and his guild, but sadly, he had connections…

And now Sam had an opportunity.

For a moment he wondered if he should do it, but then Sam looked at his plans on the whiteboard (encrypted, of course, he wasn’t a fool) in his office, making sure it wouldn’t interfere with any of his plans, then a wicked smile appeared on his face and began typing.

Hello,

I have some information for you if you are willing to deal!

A fan

He would have to be careful and make sure that everything he said was supported by information on the internet, as the game company would come after him if he seemed to be in possession of information that he shouldn’t have been.

But thankfully, after a quick search, he found enough data about the place the quest played out, with several streamers showing off key NPCs or items, unknown of their significance. It would be a reach, but it could be explained that he put the pieces together from those…

He left the website open, turned the sound up to make sure he heard the notifications, then left to make lunch.

Sam was in the middle of putting the dirty dishes into the dishwasher when he heard the notification sound go off on his computer.

He smiled in satisfaction, then continued to put away the dishes.

A minute later, he was sitting in front of his computer again with a chat window open.

[SummerRose]: Hi, what do you have and how much?

[LazyPhoenix]: Yo, you in Balar?

[SummerRose]: Yes

[SummerRose]: why?

[LazyPhoenix]: I found a quest I can sell to you

[SummerRose]: Whats the damage?

[LazyPhoenix]: 3 favors

The reply didn’t come immediately. Sam didn’t care. What he asked from a relatively unknown streamer was unusual, so he expected the other person to think it over. But he knew streamers always needed something to grab attention, so SummerRose would probably accept it.

And he wasn’t disappointed, as a few minutes later, he received a reply.

[SummerRose]: one

[LazyPhoenix]: Five

There was another pause, Sam watching the screen intensely.

[SummerRose]: three it is

[SummerRose]: so?

[LazyPhoenix]: So, you need to find the east gate of the city of…

Sam spent the next half an hour describing the beginning of the quest, making sure to watch his words, not saying anything that would hint at him knowing more than possible, but still starting the streamer on a journey that would cause trouble to a future possible enemy.

An hour after they began chatting, they said their goodbyes, and Sam leaned back in his chair and contemplated the screen and the discussion for a moment, before saving it, and then clearing it from his account.

Then turned the browser off and headed for his gaming helmet.

He had a tutorial to finish.

She stared at the discussion, showing that the other person went offline, and contemplated the information she had received.

It was very vague, but the other person, somebody very well known and trustworthy on the forum, managed to support his explanation with several links to information on the net.

It painted a rather complete picture of a quest that would grant something awesome.

And she needed something awesome.

She bet everything on the game, and she was nowhere near becoming famous.

Mostly she attributed that to the game not being popular enough, but part of it was that she couldn’t show off anything unique. The game was rather hard, and surprisingly it didn’t shower the players with hidden and unique quests at the drop of the hat.

Sighing quietly, she turned off the old computer, then hopped on her bed, and put on her helmet, turning it on and starting the process to log into the game.

After all, fortune favors the bold…

Sam logged back into the game and immediately began his quest to finish the tutorial. Granted, with his knowledge and powerful skills, he could have left the town of Greenwood already, but he wanted to accomplish one more thing.

And that thing was Lucky.

He needed to start upgrading him before he left.

Technically, he could have done that after leaving the town but being a magical world, there were rules to rituals.

And one of them was that doing rituals in places that are thematically connected to the subject of the ritual or the ritual itself would enhance the ritual.

And seeing as the forest next to Greenwood was the place where Lucky was born, grew up, and learned to hunt, what better place to take the first steps to evolve beyond his limits…

He spent a few hours just simply walking around the town, making sure he didn’t miss anything, buying more supplies; a tent, some more cutlery, a bundle of firewood, and other odds and ends that could come in handy.

He also said his goodbyes to Master Simon, the old mage once again lamenting at his refusal to become his apprentice.

In the end, though, the old man surprised him.

“Young man, I still cannot believe how much you’ve surprised me with your dedication to our art,” the old man said, sitting with Sam in one of the rooms of the mage tower, sipping tea. Sam sat across from him, also drinking the surprisingly delicious tea.

“I just did what felt natural to me…” he replied, acting bashfully.

“Natural? Natural, you say!” the older man exclaimed, his eyes fixed on him. “What you’ve accomplished is beyond natural! Control such as yours is in the domain of geniuses!”

Sam averted his eye, acting embarrassed.

“You exaggerate, master.”

Master Simon just snorted.

“I don’t exaggerate, young man. I won't lie. There is a reason I’m here and not in any of the big cities,” he said with a scowl on his face. “I don’t care for politics or those fancy talks where people twist the truth of the world into fanciful tales of impossibility, just to feel better about themselves.”

“Oh…”

“Indeed, young man.”

The old man looked back at him, took another sip of his tea, then continued to speak.

“I’ll ask one last time, young Sam. Will you become my apprentice?”

Sam looked back directly into the old mage’s aging face and exited eyes, and gave a firm shake of his head.

“I’m really sorry, master, but I have my plans.”

There was a terse silence, as the two men stared at each other, but then it was broken by the older man deflating, letting out a long-suffering sigh, almost collapsing into himself.

“What a waste…” he whispered, but then he straightened up, though this time the excitement was missing from his eyes.

Sam was once again struck by how life-like these NPCs were.

“Alright, I understand. I tried, but it seems life and fate have different plans for each of us.”

Simon stood up and reached out with a hand, offering a handshake.

“Go with my blessing, young Sam. And make sure to show the world your talent!”

Same took the hand and shook it.

“Thank you, Master Simon. I won’t forget your help!”

“I hope so…”

Then the older man sat back and took up the teacup, and looked out of the window forlornly. Sam, recognizing the dismissal and not wanting to further upset the other man, slowly left the room, closing the door behind himself softly.

Ordinarily, he would have accepted the offer, as becoming an apprentice to somebody that was called a master by the Mage Association was almost impossible later in the bigger cities, but he had grander plans. And becoming an apprentice would make some of those plans impossible.

He swiftly left the mage tower, waving goodbye to the receptionist who was reading another romance novel, and stepped back onto the street.

However, before he could take another step, a notification popped up in front of him.

[Congratulations! You were recognized for your talent by a Master of the Mage Association.]

[You were granted the title of Magical Genius!]

[Magical Genius: You are recognized as having incredible talent in manipulating mana by a respected professional. Decreases mana consumption by 5%!]

[Due to not having any other title, Magical Genius was automatically equipped!]

Sam read it, then smiled. What a nice surprise…

After leaving the town, he took Lucky and headed towards the forest. Both he and Lucky needed a little more experience.

Which was acquired rather fast.

Deeper in the forest, there were bigger hogs, and bigger wolves while also they found bears, rabid squirrels hunting in packs, and a few cunning foxes.

But to them, with his superior skills and Lucky’s strength, nothing in the tutorial area could pose a risk.

They spent almost a real-world day in the forest, only stopping for Sam to take bathroom breaks and have a quick nap.

Sam stopped the hunt when he saw on the status screen that Lucky almost reached level 15. Upon reaching that, he would evolve one last time, and would be unable to improve further.

So, before that, Sam wanted to try something.

This time, the plan was fully his own. There was nothing in his inherited memories that hinted that somebody, or the other Sam, had tried it.

He called out to Lucky and looked around. Lucky, hearing him, stood up from the corpse of the latest fox that tried to strike them from behind, and trotted back to him, the fox carried in his jaw.

“Good boy!” he praised the wolf, patting his head with one hand and taking the corpse with the other. And while Lucky barked happily, he quickly dressed the corpse.

And when he was done with that, he turned to the wolf and spoke up.

“Okay, Lucky! Let’s go and do something potentially stupid!”

The wolf just howled in excitement.

They hiked even deeper into the forest, avoiding what fights they could avoid, and if they had to fight, Sam made sure not to kill anything. He didn’t want to accidentally level up Lucky.

After almost half an hour’s hike, they reached the part of the forest where the elevation began to rise, and the trees were exchanged for rocks and stone.

After a few minutes of searching, they found a small path that lead them to a clearing, surrounded by rocks.

Sam looked around and nodded. It would be perfect.

Then he began to set up a tent, as Sam expected to be exhausted after being finished, and he doubted he would be able to return to the town. Then he pulled out a big metal tub, big enough for Lucky, and slowly filled it with the Condense Water skill.

The wolf watched him curiously for a minute, then began to wander around the rocky clearing, sniffing things, even marking a few select rocks.

When finished with filling the cheap tub he bought back in town, he called Lucky over, and to the consternation of the wolf, washed him thoroughly.

The wolf whined, but Sam didn’t care. He wanted this to go perfectly.

After getting the wolf clean, he dried him with the application of several towels and then simply directed the wolf to sit on a towel to avoid him becoming dirty from the dust on the ground again.

The wolf was confused but still did as he was told.

Sam put away the tub, then joined the wolf and spent a few minutes just simply patting and playing with the wolf, scratching behind the ears and making sure he was happy. Then, when he was satisfied with the dose of fluffy he gained, he put his hands on the back of the wolf and closed his eyes.

Lucky, seemingly sensing the seriousness surrounding Sam, instantly turned still, though his tail wagged a little.

Sam, eyes still closed, reached for his mana, slowly circulated once, and before the second cycle could begin, he directed the rapidly moving mana towards his hand, and through his hand into the body of the wolf.

There was resistance. Ninety percent of the mana he pushed into Lucky’s body was lost immediately, the body unused to it. But Sam pushed through and continued to channel mana until he could feel a small amount remain in the furball’s body. He smiled, then grabbed the small amount of mana, and similarly to how the old man back in the mage tower did to him, began to move it around.

It was slow, and based on the whine coming from Lucky, it was uncomfortable, but it didn’t hurt the wolf.

After an unknown amount of time, drenched in sweat, shaking from the exertion, but feeling his grasp on controlling magic growing, he managed to complete a cycle of mana within Lucky. Which was made much harder as the wolf couldn’t help him.

But he did it.

And after waiting for a second, he sensed the mana in Lucky slowly transform, taking on a feral, but still fluffy attribute.

He grinned, and removed his hands from the wolf, sat back, panting, and opened his eyes.

Lucky was still sitting in front of him, but there was a small, almost imperceptible shine to his fur, and he seemed to be even more energized than usual.

Sam just spoke up softly.

“Lucky, go and hunt a little!”

The wolf turned his head, looked at him, let out a short bark, and, within two blinks, he was gone, leaving only dust in his wake as he ran into the forest.

Sam grinned, then while waiting, he checked out the notification screens.

[Congratulations! You managed to awaken the mana inside your companion!]

[You successfully broke through with a skill!]

[Intermediate Mana Control reached level 15 and upgraded into Advanced Mana Control!]

[Advanced Mana Control: Level 0/20 (0%) (Passive) You reached beyond the basics of mana control. You shape and bend mana to your will. The skill further increases the amount of mana regenerated at a time and decreases the cost of mana skills by 15%. The bonuses from the Basic and Intermediate Mana Control remain. +6,5 Mana Regeneration per Second;]

[Thanks to your care for your companion despite their limitations, the skill Companion Sense increased to level 20!]

[You gained the Deep Connection sub-skill!]

[Deep Connection: Level MAX (Passive) Your companion has a bigger chance to learn skills related to or complementary to your skills upon leveling up.]

Sam couldn’t have been happier.

The first step to making Lucky the biggest and most badass wolf was done.

Then he simply sat back and waited.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait too long, as a few minutes later, he heard an eardrum-shattering howl from the forest and another window popped up in front of him.

[Your companion Lucky has reached level 15!]

[Lucky, the Gray Forest Wolf has evolved into Adult Gray Mana Wolf!]

[Animalistic Mana Control: Level MAX (Passive) The wolf controls the mana inside him based on animalistic instinct.]

[Would you like to see the status screen?]

Sam just shook his head, dismissing the screen, then sat up and prepared himself. It was lucky he did, because not a moment later, Lucky came bounding out of the forest, jaw bloody, but his entire body radiating happiness, straight at Sam.

As the wolf approached, Sam took a good look at him.

The body size was the same. The fur looked a little fluffier maybe, but the one thing that stood out to him was how the eyes of the wolf seemed to shine with an inner light.

Then the wolf collided with him, and for the foreseeable future, he was content to play with his excitable friend.