The First Era Read online

  Alalngar walked over and said in a commanding manner, “Good, you came; as you are older and not as fit, I need you to just exercise for now.”

  He looked around the wall at different wooden weapons and picked up a wooden ax. Passing it to Ahava he said, “You need to hold this all the time you're exercising to get used to holding a weapon all the time.”

  After that short introduction, the torture started. The exercise regime was hard and unrelenting. Ahava worked by himself, away from the younger people, and he seemed to be Alalngar’s special project. The only two things that kept him going were his determination to survive in this world and his ability to heal himself. Through the day, with the unrelenting demands on his body, he found that if he kept a constant low level of healing through the body, it made the exercise just about feasible. He did not exercise well, as Alalngar reminded him, with bouts of shouting and being hit by the stick. But he was able to do what was required, just. When the sun was setting in the sky he was released for the day. He walked back to the hotel with Shulgi showing the way, had a quick bath, something to eat and a sleep in bed in short order.

  This punishing routine continued for every day for weeks. With such a demanding exercise schedule he did not have time to do anything else. He felt his life was only exercise, eating and sleeping.

  An important watershed moment during the weeks of exercise for Ahava was a discovery with his healing power. One day, as usual, he had been using the earth, water, air and fire to heal himself while exercising. Wishing he was young, as this would help him work harder, he suddenly felt a surge of ether elemental power, which gave him a massive boost in energy and almost made the exercise easy. Over time he found that if he used the elemental powers in this combination, he was feeling fitter and younger. For days he continued to use this combination of the elemental powers. He started to notice changes in his body as time went on: his skin started to be less full of old marks and wrinkles; excess weight was starting be removed, and new hair growth was darker than his gray hair. To understand what was happening, he thought of an experiment. He started to project this combination of elemental powers onto Shulgi. After a few days, his hair roots started to darken and he seemed to have more energy. He walked around with a bit of quizzical look at Ahava at times but said nothing.

  Finally, Alalngar was pleased with his progress and now started to split up the days between exercise and weapons practice. The weapons practice included maneuvers similar to what he had been taught by Olga. All the movements were both elegant and powerful. Ahava enjoyed the feeling of power and flexibility it gave to his body. In addition, he practiced attacking dummies with wooden weapons; sometimes the dummies won.

  Eventually, Alalngar moved him on to practicing combat with the other students. The first fight was with a man about the same size as Ahava. They started off with a bow and the other student waited for Ahava to attack. Ahava tried a different combination of movements with the stick he had as a weapon. All of his attacks were blocked quickly by the student. Every now and then the student would attack but pull back his final strike. This went on for a long time, with Ahava not able to penetrate his defenses. After the fight, while still panting from the one-sided fight, he walked up the student.

  “Hello, my name is Ahava. Can I ask you some questions, please?” said Ahava.

  “Of course. I am Etum. What is it you want to know?” said Etum with a smile.

  “Thanks,” said Ahava. “I was wondering why you did not just beat me up in the fight, as you easily could? You definitely have the level of skill to do that.”

  Etum looked at Ahava with a look of earnestness and said, “I know that I could easily win in a few moves. But we are here to learn, are we not! If I just beat you then you will not learn. This way, you can get better and eventually, it will be a good fight.”

  Ahava thanked him and carried on with training. Over the days, when it was time for combat Ahava noticed that Alalngar mostly teamed him up with Etum. Over time Ahava slowly improved in his fighting ability. According to Etum he was getting better. Ahava even managed to break through his defenses a few times, which got a smile from Etum.

  One night as he was soaking in the bath, he checked his stats and saw the following:

  Gender: Male

  Biological Age: 35

  Intelligence: 14, Stamina: 11, Strength: 10, Constitution: 10, Dexterity 11, Charisma: 11

  Points: 1725

  Element -Flux rate per second

  Earth-1,802; Water-1,001; Air-1,500; Fire-1,811; Ether-80,0134

  Aristotle's Rhetoric Emotions

  Emotions-Flux rate per second

  Anger-100; Calmness-200; Friendship-80, Fear-120; Courage-150; Shame-50, Confidence-100; Kindness-50; Cruelty-20; Pity-80; Envy-50; Love-10

  Yes, Ahava thought. I have completed the task of getting all my stats for health above ten. Also, the fact that my biological age has gone down is confirmation that I am getting younger. Have I gained the power to be immortal with this ability? Shulgi is also looking both heartier and stronger as well.

  The idea of immortally was both pleasing and disconcerting at the same time. He wondered what his life would be like if he lived for a long time in this world. Pushing this to the back of his mind, it was time to start working on the other items from his list. He considered what to do. He needed to start making equipment for himself, as it could be a strong advantage in this world that was in the bronze age. To start this he needed to go and gather some resources, like iron, that were not available in the city. Earlier in the week, Nasha had eventually left a note at the hotel that Ahava could find him at an Inn called the Mercenary Rest around sunset of each day. Ahava thought, Maybe I could use the adventures to help me with the resource collection? He decided to go over to the inn the next day after training.

  The next day when he had finished training and changed his clothes into a longer robe and wraparound skirt to his ankles, he made his way to the inn. Shulgi led the way, as he was familiar with the place. As they walked down the street, he heard noise coming out of a large three-floor building with light shining from the door. They walked up to the entrance and through the opening into a large inner central area. This area had chairs and tables full of people around the floor area. The two higher stories also had people sitting at tables looking down onto a stage. At the moment the stage had some type of musicians playing melodies with instruments that Ahava did not recognize. The crowd was noisy, energetic, and cheerful. Most of them were not paying attention to the music but were talking, drinking and eating.

  One of the serving women walked past and Ahava politely asked, “Do you know where I can find a large man called Nasha?”

  The woman replied, already moving on and turning her head back, “He is upstairs on the second floor with the others in his party.”

  Making his way upstairs Ahava saw Nasha and his party in one of the corners near the stage. As he walked toward the group, he saw Nasha spot him and wave him over. The group made room for both Ahava and Shulgi.

  Nasha started talking excitedly, “That knife you gave me is the best. I have not been able to break it yet.”

  The woman Istar now looked at Nasha with a look of contempt. “Trust you to try and break something of such value. It would just serve you right if it did break.”

  Nasha did not bother to reply and, still looking at Ahava, said, “I would like to get another weapon made by you. Maybe a large spear or a large dagger. Could I get you to make it for me? How much you want for it?”

  Ahava said to the large man, “Yes, I can certainly make you both, but I need raw material for the work. I have been hoping to make a trip out of the city to a mine or rocky area to find the material. If you and your group of adventurers could help, I will make weapons for everyone.”

  All the group except Etel-Pisha, the young magic user, looked excited about the prospect. Seeing the look on Etel-Pisha’s face, Ahava quickly responded, “I will pay as well!”

  With tha
t Etel-Pisha looked happier. Nasha quickly said in a sharp manner to Ahava, “You will have to go through the guild, as I prefer to make things official. “

  Ahava agreed and said, “I have the tokens to pay for that.”

  The group then discussed the details of the exploration trip. They would be leaving in a few days; Ahava would be, of course, be supplying the tokens for the trip; Nasha would organize the job with the guild and the party logistics.

  After finishing the discussion with the group. Ahava called over a serving woman and asked, “How much to supply the group here with food and drink for the rest of the night?”

  The woman looked a bit shocked and said, looking at the group, “With the amount that this lot eat and drink, I think it should be below twenty tokens of barley.”

  Handing over the twenty tokens from his bag, Ahava said, “Here it is, and if there is anything left keep the change.”

  She smiled at him, and then she started to take orders for different food and drink from the group. The food and drink kept coming through the night, much to Nasha’s happiness. At some point during the night, Ahava went and sat next to Etel-Pisha to ask some questions about magic.

  Ahava started talking to the younger magic user, who was eating some type of soup slowly while reading a clay tablet. “I would like to ask you about the exam for magic users for entry into the guild. I have the information from the guild but I want to go through it with you. Is that OK with you?”

  Etel-Pisha put down the clay tablet and responded with a look of enthusiasm, “Yes, yes, I have just completed my test earlier this year. Are you another magic user then?”

  Ahava said, “I am trying to become one.”

  “Good, good,” Etel-Pisha said, smiling. “It is never too late in life to start on the path of magic. For the guild’s entrance exam, you must master five first-level spells in the following categories: defense, attack or communication. It does not matter the number in each category; it only has to be five total. I myself mastered a fireball spell and force push spell for attack, and a shield, speed and strengthening spell for defenses.”

  “Could you please show me a spell?” interrupted Ahava with interest.

  “Of course, of course, it would be my pleasure,” said Etel-Pisha, standing up and moving to an empty space away from the group. Nasha looked at Etel-Pisha and rolled his eyes.

  Before Etel-Pisha started the spell, Ahava used his elemental ether and air powers to scan the area around Etel-Pisha, to find out how the spell was done. Etel-Pisha started to chant in a sing-song voice, moving his hand in complicated patterns. The spell formation took about five seconds to cast. In front of Etel-Pisha was a transparent shield touching floor and reaching up two meters in the air. Etel-Pisha held the shield up for about thirty seconds and then released the spell. Ahava was shocked, as he did not feel the flow of the elemental power during the spell.

  He blurted out before thinking, “How did you do that?”

  Etel-Pisha said like it was a textbook answer, “How all spells are completed, with ritual and words, calling on the local city gods.”

  Ahava nodded in reply, wondering what he was doing, as he was certainly not calling on any of the local gods. His power came from himself. He was starting to have more questions, and the answers might be in the information from the tomb. Thanking Etel-Pisha for the demonstration, he went back to his meal. The group eventually finished and went their separate ways.

  Chapter Nine: Trolls and other Monsters

  In preparing for the trip, Ahava collected some items he would need. He also, with his new points, bought a bag upgrade of an additional ten square meters for five hundred points, as he was hoping to have to carry a significant amount of material. Feeling that he could rely on Shulgi, he asked if he would come on the trip. Shulgi suggested that as long as he paid the inn, he would be able to come. Ahava made arrangements to enable Shulgi to come and for this suite to be kept for him. He gave Shulgi some clothing and a weapon for the trip. Shulgi looked at the stolen spear with great interest but said it would be better if he only used the weapon when they were away from the city. He also organized for an agent to look into finding a property for him to purchase when he returned.

  On the final full day before leaving, Ahava was taking to Alalngar about his plans. Etum was close by listening in at a discreet distance.

  When Ahava had finished making the arrangements Etum came over and said with a bit of excitement in his eyes, “You're off on a trip with some adventures then. Is it dangerous?”

  “I really do not know,” said Ahava, “but it could be; that is the reason why I am taking the adventurers.”

  “Sorry to be so blunt but I’ll just come out and ask—would you please let me come? It has been too long since I’ve done anything other than study at the college. I need to try myself, and this seems like a good opportunity,” said Etum in an excited voice.

  As over the period of training Ahava had come to like Etum and he was certainly good in a fight, he said, “If you want to, I'm ok with you coming, but how will you get permission from the college?”

  Etum said, clapping him on the back, “Don’t worry about that; my family has a bit of influence around here. I will be able to get permission.”

  Finally the group of adventurers left from the Mercenary Rest early in the morning.

  Of course, Ahava had no idea where to search for iron ore. Thinking that their best bet to find ore would be in the cave system, he asked Namzu if there were any caves nearby. Namzu asked the guild. The guild had information from some other adventurers that there was a promising area in some nearby hills that had a natural cave system beyond a waterfall. It was only a few days’ travel to the west of the city. It took the group about two days to travel out of the surrounding farm area around the city and start to move through forest and more wilderness areas with no road or tracks.

  Once they were in the forest Namzu and Istar started to scout ahead for any, as they called them, opportunities for gaining more wealth. What they really meant, thought Ahava, was opportunities to get killed. The rest of them stayed together, with Nasha being the rear guard.

  While they were traveling Ahava had asked Etel-Pisha about the different types of animals and monsters in the area. He talked about them being the normal wild animals, mostly lions and bears of different types, and the usual types of monsters likes Elementals, Familiars, Faeries, Jinns, Goblins, Tolls‎, and Nymphs‎. In this area there was known to be a primordial giant whose epithet, "Panoptes", "all-seeing", can be described with multiple, often one hundred, eyes. In addition, according to Etel-Pisha seven evil deities known as shedu, storm-demons, represented in ox-like form, could inflict diseases and ailments. There also existed a demon of blindness, Shabriri, who rested on uncovered water at night and blinded those who drank from it. Other demons supposedly entered the body and caused the disease while overwhelming or "seizing" the victim. To cure such diseases, it was necessary to draw out the evil demons by certain incantations and talismanic performances, at which Etel-Pisha excelled.

  The forest started to get rockier. The outcrops of rocks were covered in moss, with ferns surrounding the rocks. The forest floor was covered in a mixture of ferns and flowers, with the large twisting trees reaching to the sky and blocking out the direct sunlight.

  Ahava saw a pile of rock that had twisted rocks with intertwined vines. Wanting to use his earth and ether elemental powers to scan the rocks, he walked up the rock pile and put his hand on it. As he reached out, suddenly the rocks started to move with a loud grinding noise. Moving back, Ahava was able to see a rock monster stand up on two legs. It had a body of smaller rocks that were intertwined with vines that seemed to move around the rocks animating the monster. The monster was about Ahava’s height, with small eyes of blue stones.

  Nasha shouted from behind Ahava, “It's a Vine Rock Troll! Surround it, everybody. Etel-Pisha, start blasting it with a fireball. “

  As the others were surrounding the
rock troll, Ahava attacked it with his ax. He hit a vine and split the vine apart. This had the effect of allowing some of the rocks from the body of the monster to fall to the ground. After the blow, Ahava had to dodge back to avoid an arm of rocks moving at speed toward his face. As he moved backward a fireball hit the rocky monster in the chest. This started to burn the vines. Ahava hit the vines that were burning to dislodge more rocks. Parts of the rock monster started to fall apart and it started to stumble around. By this time Nasha, Shulgi and Etum were attacking with their weapons. Each of them was hitting the vines as quickly as they could. Soon, with their combined efforts, a significant number of vines had been cut apart. When the vines fell apart, all the rocks tumbled to the ground. The group stood there looking at the pile of rocks as Namzu and Istar ran up to them.

  Istar said, “You had a bit of fun without us then!”

  Ahava nodded and said to the group, “Do you mind if I check out the rock from the troll for ore?”

  Everybody nodded, and Namzu said, “This is your trip so anything we find is rightly yours.”

  Ahava thanked Namzu and moved to the pile of rocks. He put his hands on the rocks; he checked using the elemental power for any minerals. He found an abundance of minerals, ether and earth elemental power inside the rock. In the vines, he felt the earth, water, and air elemental power. All of this material would be useful he hoped. He started to load the rocks and vines into his bag. As he was finishing the job of collecting the materials, Etel-Pisha came over and looked at his bag with interest and said with a look of excitement, “I've read about the bag with that power but never seen one. Can I study it?”

  Before Ahava could reply Namzu said in an exasperated voice, “Leave him alone, Etel-Pisha. Ahava, if you encourage him, he will not stop bothering you about anything magical.”

  Etel-Pisha stomped off with his head down but said nothing in reply. Nasha laughed at his behavior.