Have you ever had a day so grueling and so exhausting that when you finally get to lay your head on your pillow you can’t sleep because your brain is still catching up with all the things you got done?

  Well today wasn’t one of those days.

  But it also wasn’t the opposite.

  I did get a lot done, and I was exhausted. Except at the end of the night, my pillow cradled me into the longest and deepest sleep I’ve ever had. It all started after we got back from Elmstier’s little riddle adventure.

  They weren’t exactly the hardest of riddles, and that was good. Because the next several hours took more brain power than a single moment up in that big, cordial, sentient tree.

  Trelain came back from… somewhere… through his magical cabinet. One minute the space next to the bookshelf was empty, the next the cabinet was there with the old man crawling out of it.

  He brushed his clothes off, took one look around at all of us who had been waiting around for his return, and nodded.

  “So, you didn’t get repurposed then? Good,” he said.

  “Honestly it didn’t seem like that was ever a real danger. Those riddles were easy,” Benji said.

  “Maybe for you,” Dane said.

  “You got one too!” Maleena countered.

  “Did he now? Well good for you, Danforth. Your father would be proud, I’m quite sure of it,” Trelain said.

  “You know my— never mind.” Dane said, and then stopped.

  I stood and walked over to Trelain, slapping Dane’s back as I passed by him. I’m not entirely sure why. Show of camaraderie? Sometimes I just did things because… why not?

  “Ingredients are all here, Tre. Now how do I bind these all together? My quest log says a workbench, but do I need any special skills or spells or…” I asked.

  Trelain pushed past us sitting around the table and made his way into the kitchen, rustling around with some jugs.

  He turned around, mid pour of something sweet smelling, and called “Well, there’s a few ways you can do it. But you’ll have to make a choice. Nothing too drastic, just a little life altering.”

  “How is something life altering not drastic?” Benji whispered to Maleena.

  She just shrugged.

  “At least if you go one direction. The other… is more costly up front. Though I’m sure whichever you choose will be the right choice, as the right choice is always the first one. So tell me, what do you want to do?” Trelain asked, ending his little monologue.

  “Uh… I don’t know. You haven’t told me the choices,” I said.

  “Oh! Why yes, yes of course,” Trelain said, taking a deep swig of his newly acquired flagon of apple cider.

  “And?” Dane prompted.

  “I’m getting to that! Patience Danforth!” Trelain finished his flagon in one long pull and sighed. “That’s better. Now, your choices. Considering your marvelous Metallurgy Domain, you can go the spell route with a power suite addition. Blacksmith’s Bundle is a fine choice, if you want to subclass into crafting. There are probably a few more options, though not being Metallurgy myself and what with magic always making little tweaks, I cannot be sure of what you might get with this,” Trelain said, producing a black and red glinting text from thin air and setting it down on the table.

  “You just have one of those floating around?” Dane said, eyes wide and mouth agape, “How rich are you?!”

  “Well, he was kind of a Duke…” Benji offered.

  “Kind of?” Dane asked.

  Maleena gave a slight nod.

  Trelain just chuckled and said, “I’ve been at this for a few centuries now, you know… Pedantic royalty or not, the four of you… should you choose to walk the same path, could very well eclipse my stores once day.”

  Maleena raised an eyebrow but said nothing. The other two just sat there, heads tilted in a daydream. I let them have their moment. I knew nothing about wealth, in this world or otherwise.

  But I had always been comfortable. My only concept of these books being so valuable was from what the others had said and the potential power they contained. I had also played far too many videogames where special powers and spells were a dime-a-dozen if you grinded hard enough.

  Regardless, it was an interesting and alluring idea. Trelain lived in comfort, not luxury. But I had begun to wonder just how deep his pockets went, and even more so… if he was this well off, what he wanted with the four of us.

  I cleared my throat.

  “The other possibilities?” Benji asked for me.

  “Well, you could take a little trip to Schaldry and find yourself a master craftsman. Get them to make you the key. That’d cost you, though. A personalized, magic, unique rush job is a costly affair. Another vastly more expensive option is finding a magic ring or other utility piece of jewelry and hoping it had the appropriate crafting spell in it. Again, this is not just a simple blacksmithing skill issue. This is weaving magic with smithing with intention, and that is no small thing,” Trelain said.

  “Can’t you do it?” Dane asked.

  “If I could do it, it would have already been done. Materials collected, key made, wards up! But alas, I am a Shaper… not a maker.”

  I took a deep breath and pondered my options. I definitely wanted to go to the big city. But I’d played too many games not to recognize Trelain’s forest for what it was… at least metaphorically.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  It was the tutorial and probably the first act.

  I’d get to Schaldry, but it’d probably be wise to have a full or nearly full power suite. Besides, if I could make my own gear wouldn’t that be a boon?

  I grabbed the book and looked around at my companions. Only a few days had come and gone, but I considered all in the room friends. Almost dying a few times together will really bring people together.

  “Speak now or forever hold your peace,” I said, glancing at all four of them.

  “Go for it, Greg,” Benji encouraged.

  “Not my vote, but not my problem,” Dane said.

  “I think it’d be lovely to have a craft or two. And I know we’re not beholden to each other or anything, but the three of us don’t have Domains that could support something like that,” Maleena reasoned.

  Trelain just smiled at me, eyes twinkling.

  I looked down at the book.

  Would you like to read ‘It’s Forge Weld, Not Rocket Science’?

  Master Smith: [Passive] [Domain: Metallurgy] With the proper ingredients you can magically imbue and craft items, weapons, and armor at your current power level. Advance to Acolyte to unlock more perks (Mana cost: none)

  Yes/no?

  Yes.

  Power flooded into me.

  It was warm, tingly, and I felt sparks on my skin as if I was near a billet getting hammered into shape. My hands felt stronger and more capable, like I had been imbued with the fine motor skills that had kept me from playing guitar growing up.

  I was looking down at my meaty paws, noticing their nimbleness when I realized the book was gone. I still felt the impression in my fingertips and truly felt the absence of the magical artifact unlike the other four times I had increased my power suite.

  Congratulations! You have chosen Master Smith!

  Because you are also a Mirror Domain Initiate, you are able to craft magical tools, weapons, and utility items that contain that power.

  Because you are also a Fauna Domain Initiate, you are able to craft magical tools, weapons, armor, and utility items that contain that power.

  Congratulations! You have acquired all the necessary ingredients to craft Key of Stabilization. Would you like to do so, now?

  Yes/no

  “Wait, I don’t even need a workbench? You should have led with that…” I said, grinning and turning to Trelain.

  “Well, I wasn’t sure. It is different for every craft, and it may not be the same for things with a little more bulk like armor. That should take some time. Though, you’re the first from your world to have taken on such a power. So, I cannot be sure,” he said.

  I mentally selected yes, and within a minute, there was a glowing key in my hand.

  It was bronze, delicately shaped like an old skeleton key, and had multiple runes etched into the handle. I turned it over in my hand, inspecting the craftmanship… my craftmanship.

  Honestly, I wished there was a work bench component to this. It’d be great to earn a little finesse through practiced movements. Maybe I could have a real crafting session later.

  But I supposed this was faster.

  “Who wants to repair some wards?”

  Benji’s hand shot straight up like he was in a classroom. Dane just nodded, all stoic like. Still wasn’t sure if the humor just came and went with him, or if he just picked his moments. Maleena smiled and sat up from the table.

  “Shall we?” She asked, gesturing at the hatch.

  “We shall,” I said.

  “Be back in a bit, Trelain,” Dane said, slapping the old man on the back with an amiable thud.

  -

  The first two wards weren’t much of a problem. All seven of them had popped up on the team mini map, showing a rough circle outline of the forest, we inhabited. There were a few spots on the map we hadn’t been to, but most were already discovered.

  What we had not seen yet, had a foggy looking overlay to it, but still showed the little white circles where the wards should be.

  The first one was just past the well, not too far away from where I dropped into the world. When we got there, it took a minute to find it. Eventually we used the map to zero in on the location and discovered that the wards were no more than massive standing stones.

  It was covered in vines, making us feel a little better about not seeing it right away. The stone was black with a sort of quartz-like texture to it. I would have said it was obsidian but my inherent identify skill informed me it was Ward Stone and nothing else.

  There was a little hole just below a huge carved rune on the interior side (facing the treehouse). With some encouragement from Benji, I took the key out and stuck it in the hole.

  When nothing happened, I cranked the key clockwise once and the whole rock lit up. The black glossy boulder glowed from within, pulsing a peculiar rhythm before stabilizing and then sustaining a low-level light emitting solely from the rune carved within.

  The rune was a simple one. It was just a single obtuse triangle with a diagonal line, from left to right, breaking the top of the point and umlauts to the left of the bottom point.

  The second ward was nearly the same. This one was a quarter mile to the Northwest of the first, but was far less hard to find. It stood in a small clearing, not covered by flora of any sort. The rune was similar, but the line broke the triangle at a different angle and the pair of dots lay at other end.

  When I twisted the key, the same pulsating glow happened. Only this time, there was a shockwave that emitted from the boulder that sent us flying. Maleena was fast, and caught us in a Wind Sheer gale— directed behind us, and providing enough force in the opposite direction for us to not go very far.

  When we came to a stop, semi-translucent text appeared in my HUD informing me of something I had yet to see: a debuff.

  You have been affected by the debuff: Time Crunch, negatively affecting your stamina. Complete the repair of the five remaining wards before the sun goes down or receive a permanent debuff of Time Crunch. Abandon your attempts to reset the wards now, and this contingent will not remain active once you exit the zone. Succeed and receive a surprise permanent buff.

  “Uhh… guys? Should we keep going?” Benji called over, having just read the same text.

  “Yes. Definitely,” Dane said.

  “But we’ve only got one key,” Maleena said.

  “One key, and” I looked at the time in my HUD, just up and to the right of ‘Repair Wards 2/7 complete’ and said, “One hour ‘til dark.”

  “I don’t think we can do this, not right now,” Benji said, woefully.

  “Well…” I started laughing, grinned, and then said, “I’ve got a plan and you’re just going to have to trust me.”

  “If this is another middling riddle, I’m not sure I do…” Dane said.

  “Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad. I thought I’d get point for making it up. Plus how was I supposed to know he’d heard of sailing?”

  “Focus, gentlemen. Now is not the time,” Benji chided.

  “What’s your plan, Greg?” Maleena asked.

  I held up one finger in the universal wait sign and chuckled a bit. Then I bent over to retrieve something from my feet.

  -

  The next thirty minutes had us careening through the forest, knocking out wards. Maleena was wearing my moccasins, which were currently imbued with my Gazelle Spirit Avatar’s speed boost.

  She cast Heroic Stature on herself and carried Benji, much like a Dagoba Yoda variant, on her back as she ran. I went in Gazelle form with a very uncomfortable and self-conscious Dane riding on my back. His hands were gripped on my rear sloping horns, which felt kind of wrong. But he made a point not to crack any horn jokes, just yet.

  So, I rode on.

  At each ward, Benji jumped down from Maleena’s shoulders and used the key to jumpstart the boulder. The same lights flashed with each activation, but no more debuffs came. I kept an eye on the clock as we rushed through the forest, pinging from one circled spot on the map to the next.

  We moved counterclockwise. Starting in the west, our path took us from Northwest to true North, to Northeast, to East.

  With just two more to go, we had twenty minutes before sundown.

  “I think we’re going to make it!” Benji shouted as Maleena rushed by.

  Maleena was a solid 7’ amazonian looking woman with a grown man on her shoulders. Considering we were in the forest, Benji’s face kept slapping lower branches. So, his words were punctuated by pine needles whacking him in the face.

  But I had to hand it to the guy: he was smiling.

  5/7 Wards Repaired.