"Alright, get on with it." Silent Night said to Lucan.
"When I draw mana to cast spells it originates in my abdomen. That is where I will be aiming. Your goal is to somehow condense the shadow mana into a core. It may be painful; I really don't know." Lucan pointed his wand at her stomach. "Ready?"
"Ready." She said with taught nerves.
Shadow magic began to flow from his wand in a thin stream. The shadows bounced off and rolled to the side of her. Lucan slowly pressed his wand into her stomach forcing the shadow magic into her. Silent Night was grimacing in pain.
"Do you want me to stop?"
She shook her head no.
Lucan continued until his shadow mana bar was empty. Silent Night collapsed into a chair while shaking slightly. After a few minutes she relaxed and started to quickly recover.
"Darn, doesn't look like it worked." Lucan remarked.
Silent Night smiled. "I received an update to my quest. My mana core is 2% complete, I need a few days to acclimate then we can try again. This is so great! I can see the light. It can be done."
"Damn it." Lucan cursed as he saw the pact required him assist her to completion. "I should have said each try was 12,000."
"Don't be sour. I will recommend you to the Assassins Guild and you can get some real armor."
"That's right I can get armor and it is the ideal group of people to spread my influence."
"Since you want to go, you can tell me how we leave this place."
"There is another player who is the Tax Collector for Raze. He can teleport. We should be able to make a deal with him. But he won't be coming for another 10 days."
"Damn, is there nothing else we can do?"
"Nope, not unless you want to go back to zero, if you give me that experience I can buy a spell to summon a shadow teleportation gate."
"Yeah, no thanks."
"Then we wait." Lucan said pulling out a new piece of wood, making another wand.
***
"Why is the sky purple. You would think, blue sun, blue sky, but no, it's purple."
"The name Silent Night does not fit you at all. Just so you know, its perfectly fine to work without talking."
"Yeah, that's not how I work." Silent Night said while clearing the section of field next to Lucan.
"Whatever, are you able to try the mana transfer again tonight?"
"Yeah, I should be able, if things go well, I will hit 10% completion."
'Only 10%, how is it that little.' Lucan cursed to himself about how slow the process was.
"You know, it's going surprisingly fast, it reminds me of when I thought it would take forever to raise my bow proficiency but once I started, it began accumulating faster than I expected. Now I am just as deadly with a bow as I am with a blade."
"Wow, that's great."
"Yeah, I spent a whole month training in the mist valley of the grass people to learn how to stalk my prey, staying hidden till the moment I strike. They said I was the first one to learn their ancient techniques with such ease, they wanted me to join their race, but I am devoted to becoming a shadow elf. I think its what's best for my class. My research shows that it will give me the best stealth benefits and an assassin who can't be seen can't be killed."
"Makes sense."
"That's why I am so happy with the acolyte sub class. I now have access to all these spells and abilities that a martial class would never have access to. I can become ten times better with this. If I spend my points properly and only skim on big drops, I can easily grow my power without sacrifice. I already have 84 powers in my wish list, but only 12 of those make it into my top picks, but if I am being serious, I would probably only buy 2 of them, and that's a maybe."
"Neat."
Lucan had lost the simple joy he used to take from working in the fields. Thankfully Bruno would be coming tomorrow, and Lucan could return to the material plane (main world) and get some real armor. Lucan barely paid attention to the chatterbox, Silent Night, as he stored away his tools.
"I still won't be able to take another mana infusion for a couple hours." Silent Night said as Lucan walked up to his patio.
"That's fine, I have things I need to do." Lucan centered himself in the covered patio and began to cast his new spell 'Tunnel of Shadows'. The spell wasn't excessively complex, he would create a node here. The next time he cast the spell it would create a tunnel from here to wherever he was. Lucan's plan was to set up the next node in the material plane, then he would be able to travel freely between here and there.
Lucan began to gather shadow mana at the end of his wand. The formulas for the spell were simple. The hard part was the chanting. The spell took 10 minutes to cast and a single mispronounced word or syllable would cause it fail.
Lucan set a mana potion on the table next to him. He would have to go through all his shadow mana, convert his pure mana and rely on a mana potion to convert even more pure mana to shadow mana. With a beginner mana potion costing 10 silver, Lucan only had enough supplies to fail once.
Wisps of shadows began to pour from his wand, one by one. They floated through the air and slowly moved together while starting to form an archway. Lucan gave all his attention to the words he was chanting. Thankfully Silent Night had become interested and stopped talking.
"Success." Lucan muttered to himself while admiring the shadow arch that now had black shadow bars blocking the front. He stopped emitting shadow mana from his wand causing the arch to fade away and disappear. The arch would only be visible once the tunnel was connected and it was properly stimulated, otherwise it would remain hidden and unseen.
"Wow, what's that?" Silent Night asked.
"The first part of a spell, it is how I plan on getting back here."
"Great, and I can use it too right?"
"If necessary."
"What's that mean? Are you planning on ditching me in the material plane and coming back on your own? You agreed to help me complete my quest. Don't even think about procrastinating."
"I said I will do it, so I will, damn, leave me alone."
"But there is no one else here, its lonely."
"What are you talking about, there are thousands of people around."
"That's not the same. They aren't players."
Lucan shook his head and took out his woodworking kit. That night they were able to progress Silent Night's mana core to 11% completion. When the sun rose on the next day, he kept busy. Lucan offered to make Alasan one of his followers. The half elf excitedly agreed. He didn't expect the NPC to spend a lot of experience and help Lucan, but he wanted to be able to communicate with Alasan while he was away. Now he could leave without worry. It is not like it would make a big difference though, Lucan was still the weakest person in the village.
"Lord Quilldrake, it is good to see you again." Bruno the Tax Collector said after appearing.
Lucan slid the tax chest to him. "What would it take for you to transport me and Silent to the material plane?" Lucan asked while Silent Night eagerly waited for a response.
Bruno scowled. "I have no intention of becoming a taxi. I can do it this once, but it will cost you. 30 gold… each."
"What, that's crazy, do you think we have gold just falling into our lap?" Silent Night whined.
"Ha, ha, you may not, but it is a different story for a Hand of Raze. Besides, you need to be properly incentivized to not rely on my power."
"Fine." Lucan grumbled. He had taken his tax this time in coins. His 20% was 100 gold but now it looked like he had to pay for him and Silent Night if he wanted to go to the Assassins Guild.
"Okay. I will be back in a couple of hours after I make the rest of my deliveries. I will be going from here to Avalon. I don't want to make any detours. Will that work for you?"
"Yes, that will work." Silent Night said quickly.
"Alright, I will see you later." Bruno disappeared in a flash of purple magic.
"You better pay me back or work off your debt." Lucan said while walking back up to his patio.
"What kind of person do you think I am? Of course, I will." Silent Night said while taking a seat next to Lucan. "Avalon is a good destination for us. We can reach the Assassin's Guild with only a small transfer fee."
"Where is Avalon?" Lucan asked.
"It's the capitol of Baramore, the Northern Kingdom. It's a huge city with a population of over 50 million. It is where I have my saved graveyard."
The hours passed quickly, and Bruno returned.
Lucan gave half the money to Bruno. "You get the rest when we get there."
"Fair enough, I don't doubt you." Bruno reached out and put a hand on the shoulder of Lucan and Silent Night. With a flash of purple, they appeared in a small cave. Bruno led them up the path and within a minute they exited the cave.
A half mile away stood a majestic city that seemed entirely carved from white marble. In the center, towers and spires threated to pierce the clouds while thick sturdy walls surround the entire city.
Lucan passed the rest of the gold to Bruno. "Great, lets head into town." Bruno said with heavy pockets.
"You can go on ahead, and I expect that gold to have also bought your silence."
"Of course, I enjoy my job and have no desire to be replaced. I will give you two your… alone time." Bruno said before rushing off.
"What a bastard." Silent muttered.
"Guard the entrance and make sure I am not disturbed." Lucan said heading back into the cave. This was the perfect place to connect his Tunnel of Shadows. Avalon was ideal location to be connected to. Lucan took out his wand and a mana potion and began to cast the spell.
[You have completed a Tunnel of Shadows.]
[Estimated time of travel to other end is 6 hours and 44 minutes.]
It would be a long walk back, but every time Lucan used the tunnel, he had the option to enhance it, shortening the distance by 5%. Over time the tunnel would become shorter and shorter.