Looking at my character sheet, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be pleased or disappointed. Over the last few months, almost five of them, we had spent in and around Jademoon Tower; I had made some progress with levels and skills but far less than I would have liked. The lack of danger undoubtedly made itself felt, leaving me with a level of hundred and fourteen, almost entirely thanks to the nearby dungeon and the EXP gained from teaching. But even that dungeon had only given me any real EXP the first time we ventured through it, and the subsequent runs had given a fairly limited amount.
When it came to skills, the biggest stand-outs were in the realm of Blood Magic. The skill itself had gained a good dozen levels or so, reaching level sixty-four, while the Rune Mastery had also gained ten or so skill points, getting to level fifty-nine and giving me access to the Imbue-Rune. The rune was quite interesting, especially in its enchanting utility, but it came with its limitations, as everything did. Still, it was nice to have and played a significant role in developing the enchantment used on the training statues. Also, I could have used it a lot for the empowering enchantment if only I had received it beforehand, but this might just be a chicken-vs-egg problem. Did I learn the rune because I had used something essentially represented by the rune, or did the rune represent something I had worked a lot with?
Other skills with significant gains were Death Magic, Mind Magic, Astral Meditation, both types of Earth Magic, Crystal Magic and Enchanting, all of which had gained some points, though none had accomplished any significant milestones. Still, it was nice to see some of my more obscure skills grow, especially as their generally lower numerical values meant I received more growth for the same effort. Well, outside of Mind Magic, but given the amount of work I had put into the enchantments on the statues and my general research on the Mind, I could expect some decent pay-out, so getting four points and jumping from seventy-eight to eighty-two wasn’t too bad. At least when comparing those to the paltry point or two I had gained in my other primary magic. Granted, I had barely used Ice or Darkness Magic to make anything during the last few months, nor had there been any fights forcing me to push those skills to their limits and beyond, but still, a single point? Maybe two? It was just a little disappointing.
Still, overall, I couldn’t complain all that much; these last few months had been interesting and peaceful, not necessarily the desperate and brutal environment needed to foster significant skill growth. Even with the system, the old saying about necessity being the mother of innovation held true, so comfort could be considered the killer of innovation and growth.
On the morning before our planned departure, I made the various students assemble, though quite a few of those we had been teaching couldn’t make it; some didn’t even know about the assembly. While I had taken two days before, or rather two nights, to fly around with my draconic wings to spread the word, a few of our students had been out and about, preventing me from finding them and spreading the word. Regardless, it was a fairly impressive number of people waiting for me to speak. Hopefully, I wouldn’t disappoint them all that much.
“Good Afternoon,” I greeted the various students who had come to Jademoon Tower to train their bodies now that the gym was ready or learn more magic, something easily possible thanks to the ever-growing library. Luna even managed to create an enchanted stone that let people add to the library, courtesy of Lady Hecate. Now, the only thing left was to bestow the title of tower master on Lia, hopefully giving her the respect she needed to continue my work here, especially those parts that might eventually add to the emerging divinity Luna and I held.
“As you undoubtedly have heard, my group is planning to continue our journey on the morrow. We have collected what we needed and made sure everything will continue to work here, even after we left,” I began and immediately noticed a brief flash of glee on Jack’s face, as if this was confirmation Lia wouldn’t be around much longer.
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“However, given the effort we have put into the tower and the area, my daughter Carnelia and her companion Alex have decided to stick around and protect the tower, just in case somebody wants to destroy what we have created here. She obviously has my full trust and while she is a little lacking when it comes to arcane knowledge, she is a formidable alchemist and will continue to teach that here, just like the library and gym will allow everyone to improve their martial and magical arts,” I finished my explanation and noticed quite a few mixed expressions on different faces. Some of the locals didn’t want me to leave; others might want us all to leave, and, again, others might only want Lia to leave while Luna and I remained behind. It was an interesting exercise to try and read just what everyone had in mind, but without Mind Magic, it sadly was one I had no chance to succeed in. Not that I truly wanted to; I had no doubt that the human, or rather sapient, mind was a cesspool of filth and deviancy, not something any sane being would want to dive into.
“Either way, the library and gym will continue to grow, especially if various people add their own experiences to them. Additionally, I’m planning to drop in from time to time, though the frequency and duration of such visits are obviously tied to my own travels, as you likely can imagine,” I paused before giving a light bow to the assembled audience.
“To all of you students, I hope that you all can tread proudly on the Path you have chosen, and I bid you farewell,” I ended my small speech by literally fading into the shadows and disappearing, a small smile playing on my face. The assembled crowd was briefly confused, but Lia appeared from the shadows, just as I had discussed with her, driving home the image of her replacing me we had been playing with.
As Lia continued the speech, only now with her own drift, I appeared with Luna, who was joined by Daniel and Maggy; both looked quite amused at our antics.
“Quite the speech there, Jade,” Maggy complimented me, a wry grin on her face, “I’d give it seven out of ten, thanks to an extra point or two for the special effects. Otherwise, it was, eh, mediocre, don’t give up your day job to become a speech-writer,” she advised, her mirth only growing as she spoke.
“Everyone’s a critic,” I chuffed, simultaneously amused by her words but also just a little bit insulted. Sure, I knew I wasn’t the best when it came to words, but that didn’t mean I wanted to have that pointed out.
“I don’t think it was that bad. She managed to convey her message quite clearly, and everyone knows she’s still around, even if Lia has the day-to-day reins,” Daniel pointed out, to which Maggy nodded.
“Well, yeah, that’s why she’d get a five, maybe even six, for the words and delivery, but that’s just about the bare minimum. What’s next? Do you want her to get points for her ability to speak clearly and with proper elocution?” Daniel looked a little bit embarrassed by that, though by now, I started to chuckle at their antics. It was obvious that Maggy had some slightly elevated standards, so maybe getting a five out of ten for my words alone was better than nothing; the only way to find out would be to ask her for comparisons. But that would be far too much effort for something I had limited interest in the first place, so I only shook my head and changed the topic.
“What do you think Jack will make of this?” I asked Daniel, ending the slight bickering between Maggy and him.
“Good question; he might be a little bit annoyed, especially after he didn’t take you up on that offer you gave him,” Daniel admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Hopefully, he’ll be able to find his own path. I do like him, at least a little. It would be a shame if his pride, or whatever foolishness is driving him, managed to get him killed before he could even take the first step, let alone make significant progress on his path,” I admitted, briefly shaking my head.
“Eh, he’s got all the tools to succeed; if he doesn’t, it’s all on him, nothing anybody can do about it,” Maggy reminded me, getting a nod of acceptance in return. The only one responsible for one’s success was oneself, at least now, after the world had Change’d
