Ar'Kendrithyst

Erick tore into the prairie underneath his feet with [Stoneshape], riding the descending surge of stone and dirt into the ground like an escalator, quickly creating a space under the grassland surface for himself, Rats, Teressa, and Poi, to hide. Some dirt was simply pushed down and away, some was turned into solid stone, compacted and solidified into structural support. Erick didn’t go very deep; just far enough to not be seen on the surface and to have a roof overhead. When he got deep enough, he flashed the loose dirt outward, crushing it into solid stone, creating a solid five by five meter space under the surface with a dome roof and stone supports. He flashed a ring of wardlight into the dome overhead, colored to mimic the sun; illuminating the brown stone all around. One [Cleanse] into the space removed a pervasive, earthy smell, and also cleaned away the bad taste still inside Erick’s mouth.

Teressa followed down the stairs, saying, “Looks good.”

Poi followed right behind her, saying, “We got you, if you want to go back.”

Erick created four nice chairs with [Conjure Item] and promptly took one, Meditating for mana, as he asked Poi, “Is this normal warfare, Poi? I remember when Krakina tried to show me her [Nature’s Fury], but that got stopped before it really happened. I remember the green wind in the sky being very large, though. Super Large Size, actually.” Erick finally asked, “Where are the other archmages?”

Poi stepped next to one of the chairs, but did not sit, saying, “It all comes down to a matter of being able to either combine a spell correctly, or purchasing the Script version and having enough Stats to back up that spell. Most people don't bother.”

Rats came down the stairs, simplifying Erick’s problem by saying, “The other archmages are in hiding.”

“That is a factor, yes.” Poi added, “The world is large, and there are many places to hide from people who would use someone who could combine a useful high-tier spell; or create one, in your case.”

Teressa stood next to the largest chair Erick had made, saying, “The world is large and full of terrors. Sometimes those terrors are archmages who separate from civilization and lose their empathy in the wilderness. Sometimes those terrors are the monsters, and a friendly archmage will swoop in to save an adventuring party from an untimely end.” She said, “I hope you decide to stay in Spur, sir. You’re a good guy, and we need more people like you.”

Erick felt a beat of emotion pulse through his chest.

Rats added, “But damn, sir. You’re gonna get a lot of propositions after today.”

Poi sighed, saying, “Unfortunately true.”

Rats said, "And yeah. Who can make a good spell? Not me. I tried and gave up years ago. That [Pure Force Beam Bolt]? That shit's crazy."

"Oh?"

"Yeah!" Rats said, "Never seen anything like it."

Oh.

Erick realized the problem, and it was systemic. The most recent example Erick had seen of this problem was in his [Pure Force Beam Bolt] versus regular [Force Beam Bolt], and how the ‘pure’ version Erick had made was twice as good as the one in the Script. Another major example was that the [Scan] in the Script cost 5000 mana, as well as 6 points for the starter spells, more points for the intermediary spells, and then one more to purchase [Scan] itself. And [Scan], according to Zago, only [Scan]ned out to 10 kilometers.

And then there was all the trouble Jane had been having with making a good Handy Aura.

Erick’s Handy Aura looked like: