Chương 18

"So-""You are out of spells, and I don't think you have any treasure I want. The Guild refuses your request."

"Aww cmon, I'm good for it!" Liennar had become my most annoying customer in the history of the guild.

"Good for nothing more like." I grumbled at him, and he gasped as if I had stabbed him. Then grinned.

"Okay so you don't want this super awesome spell I got huh?"

"Listen Lie-Nnar."

"Oof!"

"You are out of spells. I know this, because you've been bugging me for days to clean up after you."

"I! Got another spell. Straight from a friend of mine, but if you don't want it~" He teased and I just scoffed.

"I'll be the one that determines if it's worth anything. Let's hear it."

"It's called Strength Surge, great for archers, gives you a surge of extra strength while you draw the bow back. I've actually been trying to get this one for a while, and figured, I know a kid that loves spells like this." I narrowed my eyes.

"Strength Surge? Never heard of it."

"Well it's mostly an archer spell. It's a bit finicky, only lasts a few seconds, and has a charge time, but hey. Useful spell~" He teased. My eyes narrowed, and then I sighed.

"Fine. One more cleaning."

"Four. This is a rare spell."

"Two. Final offer."

"Two then." He agreed, and I grumbled as I started writing the quest again. Stupid cleaning, at least I had a few spells that made it easier, but eugh. The things I do for magic. —-- [Spell Learned: Strength Surge] Well Liennar wasn't wrong. The spell was rare, and it was definitely tough. A surge of Mana through your body that lets you push a bit more past your limit. I winced as I rubbed my arms where I had used it. It also hurt.

No wonder archers would only use it for a short time on a draw cause any longer and you'd tear muscles. It was designed to only be active for a second, just enough time to draw and fire, but the spell was still flexible. I could extend it if I wanted. I sighed, I would definitely have to extend it to master the spell. Honestly considering the purpose of the spell, there was a perfect way to train it. I headed back inside, after a quick low level Holy Light to heal the muscle and grabbed my bow.

Heading out in the back I set up one of the targets that Mama had, and nocked an arrow. With a sigh I cast the spell, and then once it was over drew the bow back aimed and fired. The few moments it took to aim was almost too much and I almost had the spell end up half way through. Ugh, what an annoying spell. Making it last longer would hurt more, but give you more time to aim. I looked at where the arrow had landed. It was off, as usual, but it had punched nearly through the straw target.

I considered healing already, my arms already hurt, but I should use it a few more times until I'm nearly out of mana, use Holy Light, then go rest while not in pain. Decision made, I cast the spell, drew back and fired. Again the target was hit, but not anywhere near the center.

"Ow." I hissed but cast the spell again. No pain no gain. —--"My Light!" Mama called, and I had just a moment to look away as she picked me up in her strong arms and spun me around.

"Mama!" I gasped then laughed as she spun me around again and again, before finally putting me down.

"Oh good shooting! Look at that grouping, you've improved! Want some advice, how about you show Mama what you've learned?" She said chipper, and then I realized why she was so happy.

"Ah… I was… Well, I training my shots, and working on a new spell at the same time."

"Huh a new spell? Which one?" She asked, but thankfully she was still happy. Ugh, I was gonna have to take out my bow more often or else Mama would be sad.

"It's called Strength Surge, it gives me a-""Strength Surge!? Who taught you that!? No wait… Liennnar." She growled, looking up like she was going to hunt someone down.

"Mama?"

"You shouldn't be using that, you're too young Dorah! I don't want you getting hurt!"

"Wait, you know it too?"

"I made it. Of course I know it." Mama offered and I looked at her, then gasped.

"You made a spell!? Why didn-Liennar!" I growled at the realization.

"He cheated me!" Mama sighed.

"He did. He asked to learn my spell, even though he never had any interest in it before… Now I know why."

"What a jerk!"

"Right? I'm going to- Well do something next time I see him."

"Kick his ass!"

"Yes, but Dorah, you shouldn't use that word." Mama demanded and I nodded, but this was absolutely the time to curse! I'd cleaned his house! Twice! He'd gotten a spell from my own mother to pay me with! What an asshole!

"Ugh. That man." Mama groaned, and then bent down and hugged me again and I hugged her back for a moment.

"Listen Dorah, that spell can hurt you, so I don't want you to use it."

"Well… I just heal Mama." I said, and then shrugged and lit up with Holy Light and dropped it on her just to prove my point.

"Oh… huh that ache is gone. I keep forgetting you can do that."

"Yep! Holy Light is awesome. Great spell. Definitely one of my favorites, so I've been practicing using the spell and healing after."

"It could still hurt you really bad. It took me years to use it correctly." Mama said, looking at me firmly.

"Well… Why don't you teach me while I practice, and you can see that I'm okay? I didn't even know you made your own spell. That's so cool."

"Heh. Your Mama might not be the strongest Ranger, but she's pretty awesome you know?"

"Yeah I know. Mama is the most awesome." I agreed instantly, and she lit up happily.

"Then the most awesome Mama has got to teach her favorite in the whole world how to properly use this spell, huh?"

"Yeah!" We grinned at each other, soon we were both shooting bows side by side. I understood a bit more now. Mama used the spell almost naturally every time she fired her bow, it made her shots just a little less accurate, but it's how she was punching her arrows practically through the targets. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. It was a spell designed for an elf meant to kill Trolls, not to show off in competitions. In other words, it was super cool.

—--- I drew the bow and held it, my arms protesting. One second. Two seconds. Three. The strain was intense, but it also didn't hurt as much as it would have before. [Strength Surge Lv 9 89/90] Because I had spent weeks running through the spell. Mostly to please Mama, but also because it was actually good strength training. I'd gained two points of strength from all the effort, and a Stamina point. I wasn't even using my own little bow, but Mama's great bow.

The fact I was even able to budge the string said a lot about just how powerful Mama's little strength spell was. Well, was and wasn't. The effect on my character sheet at this point was fairly simple. Temporary 15 point strength buff. Seemed like a lot, but a buff that only lasted a few seconds max wasn't exactly blowing anyone's socks off. But like all spells, it didn't need to be perfect, just something to grind, to slowly improve myself over time. I brought the string back down, and took a breath.

My body was burning, but… I cast the spell, and pulled arms straining as I pulled. And then it happened. [Strength Surge LV 10 Spell Mastered] [Mastery Benefit +5 Strength] I slowly released the bow, and then just breathed for a minute. I'd done it. Hit the maximum the spell could do, and now? Now I had gotten a buff I hadn't expected. +5 strength? I could get that just from spells? I guess it made sense, all my spells until now had been more caster types, this was the first spell that really impacted my body.

But I shook all that off cause Uuuu! My shoulders hurt. Carefully walking back to the porch I put Mama's bow away and then cast holy light on myself, relaxing in relief as the magic washed away the pain. Strength Surge. What an interesting spell. Mana flowing across your muscles forcing them to contract harder than you could really do yourself naturally… It was strong in what it could do, but it needed…

It was too intensive for a sustained buff, there were spells like Arcane Intellect out there, which I would have to learn, but there really wasn't a strength buff similar to it. Stamina had one, Intellect, and Spirit, but Strength? Nothing. I needed to learn one of the spells, to understand how the buff spells worked. I slumped sliding across the bench out on the porch. I had no idea where I would even get one of those spells.

Earning some cantrips that the people around the village used was one thing, but Arcane Intellect wasn't something anyone around here used. That was the sort of spell I would need to go to the Capital if I wanted to learn. Or get some more spellbooks. That… Wasn't entirely impossible. I had more money than I thought with my enchanting reagents. I could sell some of it to Mel'tenar and maybe use that gold to hire him to buy me some spell books? I hesitated on that.

While I didn't mind, I didn't really want to cause trouble for my parents, and even though most of the people in the village accepted my eccentricities, that didn't mean rumors didn't spread. I should talk to Mama and Papa. Nodding at my decision I sat up and headed inside, noticing Mama wasn't in the house and so I went searching for Papa. Finding him in his workshop which he thankfully did answer after I knocked.

"Papa doing anything?"

"Finishing up this enchantment."

"Oh I'll watch then!" I walked over and scrambled into a second chair that he had set up next to his work desk, and just settled in to quietly watch him work. He looked at me for a bit before smiling and accepting my actions and so I watched him layer a complex enchantment onto a brooch. It was moments like this that reminded me Papa was often working even if his customers tended to be more long distance than anything else.

It made me curious how much he made per enchantment, but then there was the whole exile thing… I kinda didn't want to know. It might not be nearly enough for what his skill represented.

"And wrap the linear mana flow back into itself completing the circuit. And done." He said and I grinned as I loved listening to him talk about what he was doing.

"Dorah?"

"Papa, I want to buy some spellbooks, I have money from my enchantment stuff, but I want to learn more spells."

"Hmm? Weren't you just learning your mothers spell? And you worked on the grip spell I use." He offered, making a little grip motion. I grinned and then sat up proudly.

"I mastered both of those! I actually finished the full spell formula for your spell Papa if you want to see. Mage Hand, is what it's called."

"You… Did?"

"Mhmm! It was already mostly done, I just had to… Just like with enchantments, you were sort of throwing reagents onto an item, and it caused an effect but wasn't really an enchantment, so I just followed the same steps, and turned the effect into a spell structure."

"That's… Really impressive Dorah. I don't even know how to do that." He explained and I grinned happily.

"Yeah but Papa's like a super master Grand Enchanter. I just like spells! I learned a lot from my Guild after all."

"Ah… You like spells?"

"Yep! They're fun! And enchanting too! I like it all! Magic is so fun!"

"Ah, I see… I see, yes that does make sense doesn't it." He muttered, and I felt my head tilt to the side.

"What makes sense?"

"Well you are my daughter." He said and I couldn't help but grin brightly at his statement. I don't think he was right about whatever he was thinking but it was cute anyways so I'll take it!

"I'll write some letters for some spellbooks. We should have enough for a few."

"If they are expensive I can pay!" I argued and he looked at me.

"That won't be necessary, Dorah." He reached out and patted my head.

"You can trust in me."

"I do. Papa is the best. Even Zo'Talana ended up being a really good idea, eventually." He smiled at that, his smile shifting into a tricky little grin.

"Don't tell your mother, she still says it was a bad idea."

"I won't." I promised and fake keyed my mouth shut. He just grinned.

"Do you want to see the next enchantment I need to do?"

"Yes!" —-- I practiced what other spells I had in the meantime. Create Tiny Fire had been sort of banned by Mama, but I still practiced it in secret, making sure I had some conjured water nearby just to be safe as well, but it was slow going since I could only grind it when no one was watching me. The only other spell was Liennar's stupid Slow Poison spell, which I needed to be poisoned in some way to get it to work. Thankfully what constituted a poison was fairly broad.

Some very spicy food, and I could sort of get it to work, but it wasn't a comfortable grind that's for sure. Either way. The grind was slowing for spells, so I had no choice but to work on it as I focused on something else. The grind must never stop! But sometimes you just have to change focus. Enchanting needed sticks, so I spent a lot of my time running around the forests around home claiming sticks. Despite having Mage Hand, I didn't reach up to tear branches from trees, that was no good.

Instead focusing on already dropped branches which meant long journeys which is why I was more than an hour's walk from home and I stopped in a clearing bundle of sticks sticking out of my backpack and I stopped because… I'd heard something. Adjusting my bow into my hand and nocking an arrow I did what I could to sneak up to a tree to hide myself and tried to listen. If it was a bunny or something that would be lunch and the start for a new cape. I still hadn't remade the Bunny Cape to a +2 Agility Cape after all.

Needed more bunnies. I waited for a moment waiting in the shade of the tree until my ears twitched. More movement. Then the motion picked up, and I went utterly still. The sniffling noise wasn't a Boar. The quiet languid stride wasn't a deer, as it moved quietly among the trees keeping an eye out as it kept close to the ground. It wasn't hunting like a Rabbit although it did have a sort of slight jumping motion as it walked. No, this was a Troll. Not an elf, not a rabbit or deer, or a boar. A Troll.

I quieted my breathing to almost nothing. Opening my mouth to breathe in and out as quietly as I could. My bow was knocked. I could Strength Surge and go for it. But. I wasn't stupid. If I failed to kill this Troll, I would die. Death was the end. So I waited. Sticking to the tree and hoping my lack of movement would be enough for it's vision to miss me. He… She? I couldn't tell, walked quietly forward, obviously it was creeping along. Searching. Weapons in its large hands, an Axe, a Tomahawk to be more accurate.

A throwing axe. Stay quiet Dorah. The little blip in my head of my Stealth going up was reassuring. But I didn't dare move. I watched it walk, following along one of the streams that cut through the forest, and then waited until long after I couldn't hear the quiet footsteps. Only when I was sure, did I turn and start creeping straight back home. This wasn't time to play anymore. Once I made some distance I broke out into a sprint, and even dropped my bag of sticks to lighten my load.

Full sprint was the only option left. I was feeling it by the time I got home. Running full out for nearly thirty minutes will do that. Panting and exhausted I burst straight through to home. Slamming the door open.

"Mama!" I shouted as loud as I could, and I heard both of my parents startle in the house. Crap I had probably just messed up Papa's enchanting work.

"Dorah!?" Mama came rushing around wearing her casual clothes, and I had to get her moving.

"TROLL! In the forest!" I yelled, and then bent over to breathe.

"Anar'Alah." She cursed and then rushed forward.

"Are you hurt are-""It didn't see me! I thought-I thought it was a bunny or something at first. I was-I was hiding. Troll. Just one-I only saw one."

"Where."

"I… Along the stream to the east, I was collecting-Collecting sticks. Left my bag to run faster-close to where I saw it!"

"Okay, Stay here."

"Dorah?" Papa called coming out of his workshop.

"Aran, stay with her! Lock down the house." Mama called, already rushing to grab her bow and a few other pieces of gear as she raced out towards Liennar's place.

"Dorah, what happened."

"Troll… Troll in the woods-It didn't, -It didn't see me. Ran-Ran home." I gasped and Papa was there suddenly pulling me into a hug. I leaned into him, uncaring that I was covered in sweat. Right this minute all I wanted was my Papa to comfort me. —--"We found it, and tracked it back to its search party. You have nothing to worry about." Mama said that night coming back into the house like a storm, she checked on me instantly, and even dropped my bag of sticks on the floor.

She had nearly instantly pulled me into a hug and told me everything would be alright.

"You found them?"

"Yes. They thought the river would hide their tracks, but we knew they were around, so there was no losing us. Liennar and I found them. They won't be able to hurt us… No more going towards the east Forest Dorah. Liennar and I are going to tell the whole village."

"They were close to the village."

"I know." Mama whispered then patted me on the head.

"But they wouldn't have gotten any closer. Don't worry. We have some defenses that would have told us they were here."

"That's… Good." I just had a feeling that wasn't going to be enough if things got any worse. Trolls within a few miles of the village? That was really bad. Thankfully other than being told to avoid the east, the only other real change had been Mama urging me outside the next day for more archery training. I had gone along without complaint. Sometimes you just need to do something to reassure your parents as much as yourself. She did like that I was able to punch an arrow into the target just like she could.