“Well, so long for now Alexander, and goodbye Flick. It was a pleasure. I hope this helps!” The recording of Gruffel played on Ben’s computer as he and Alexander watched.

  “Now, here is the issue: you were recording in sixty frames per second, which can play at half speed just fine, but he is talking faster than that. It was a fortunate situation, however, as audio is not recorded at all in faster frames.” Ben explained. “So, I had to guess at what he said based on this…”

  As they listened, a slur of words doubled over themselves, making the audio unpleasant to listen to.

  “Did you catch any words?” Ben asked.

  Flick appeared next to Ben and squeaked at the screen.

  “No Flick, he didn’t advise us to feed you prime rib for dinner.” He looked back up from Flick to Ben. “What do you think you have discovered?”

  “Well, at first, I was distracted like you, but then I definitely caught the word ‘Wizard’ at the beginning and ‘prepare’ and ‘leader’. Listen again.”

  As they listened again, Alexander caught the words Ben pointed out.

  “I think you’re right, or this could be confirmation bias…”

  “True, but nothing we can do about it.”

  “You could have asked me what I heard, then played it, and seen where we matched guesses.”

  “Shut up, you are ruining the thrill of magic for me…” Ben glared at Alexander. “Now that was slowed down by four hundred percent. Watch this…” Ben moved it down to three hundred and fifty percent and played it again.

  Alexander caught the ‘world’ and ‘fight’ early, then he wasn’t confident, but he thought he heard ‘peaceful race’ followed by ‘not trust’ at the end.

  “I went back and forth testing different playback speeds, and this is what I put together as a theoretical. The Wizard class… fight for control… world. Unless… peaceful race… recommend… prepare. Support allies… create… for them and yourself… better for you… leader nearby. Do not trust badminton players…” Ben read off his notes. “That last part is obviously me mishearing.” Ben said, looking up at Alexander.

  “Why? I don’t find badminton players to be particularly trustworthy.”

  “Let’s just try and think of or listen for something that rhymes with badminton players.”

  “So what can we confidently extract from this?” Alexander asked.

  “From this and the context of the conversation you had with Gruffel, plus the odd reactions from other races you speak with. The Wizard class is going to be rare and have some special abilities. Likely they lead to battles between the Wizards and factions behind them… ‘Unless we are a peaceful race?’”

  “Which we definitely are not.” Alexander added.

  “I have to agree there. That goes with the part about allies. Supporting them makes sense for your personality and well-being.”

  “Wizards are best holed up, experimenting, stocking up, and defending our territory. That’s the impression Gruffel left on me.”

  “It sounds like the wisest choice.” Ben nodded. “What about a leader nearby?”

  “Maybe create or support a leader since it shouldn’t be me?”

  “Don’t sell yourself short! But maybe you need someone politically minded nearby. A spokesperson? Your PR team?”

  “Maybe… I think starting with how I can defend myself and support the others might be best.”

  “Agreed.” Ben nodded his head.

  “Agreed.” Alexander echoed.

  “Done? Now let’s do the thing!” Ben said with excitement dancing in his eyes.

  Alexander smiled before he walked over to the table and lifted up the Wind Crystalized essence and placed it on the pedestal.

  It took some work, but he had convinced Linda to give him her crystallized essence and to choose one he had still lacked. She had given him the water crystallized essence after he had agreed to become a distributor of Naturoleum, her essential oil pyramid scheme. He had done the math and he still came out better than what Ridley had charged him. She had given him ice, and he now had a wind, so he now had all of the different resource types to complete his quest.

  When the option appeared, he had the pedestal absorb all of the resources, and the pedestal began to glow.

  ^

  Use resources to repair the functionality of the pedestal?

  After reading the prompt to Ben, he confirmed his choice. They had decided it was best for Ben’s ability to understand the system to keep him in the loop on how it communicated.

  The pedestal began to glow, and one of the corners of the rook shape retook its rightful form.

  “Less of a light show than usual, but still nice to see.” Alexander said, nodding.

  ^

  Quest Complete!

  Repair the Pedestal:

  Your new pedestal has been damaged by a clumsy novice wizard.

  Objective: Find one of every elemental resource and deposit it into your pedestal.

  Quest rewards:

  -Restored Pedestal of Dominion

  -A clean conscience

  “It actually offered you a quest reward of a clean conscience? Kind of a mouthy system, isn't it?” Ben asked.

  “It does seem to take on a quirky sense of humor, but according to Ridley’s friend, it is influenced by the world administrator. It seems their personality affects how it communicates.” Alexander said as he moved his hand back to his pedestal to see what effect it might have. This time, when he saw his list of choices, there were two options that were initially scrambled and unavailable.

  ^

  Search:

  Magical Objects

  Dungeon Portals

  Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

  Quests

  Craft:

  Enchant

  Anatomize

  Manage:

  Assets

  Tower Defense

  “Tower defense! That sounds fun!” Ben exclaimed.

  Alexander looked over his options and found himself overwhelmed. Splitting his time between Congo and getting the Orcs organized. Helping Brian defend the populace from monsters as he got his team trained and recruiting. He had tested dungeon portals before, but like the shop option, it showed no results yet. He knew searching for magical objects was his best move for profitability going forward. He knew there were dangers and just a severe lack of time these few weeks.

  Still, new functionality excited him, and he clicked on tower defense.

  ^

  Use your pedestal and all imported abilities to defend your territory.

  Add defensive measures and use resources to empower your defenses.

  Alexander pulled up the map of defenses. He saw his breakfast room and himself and Ben from a helicopter view.

  “I see us from above.” He said, waving his hand. “As if there is a camera right there, he said, pointing in the air.”

  “Classic top-down strategy game! What else can you do?”

  Alexander pressed on one map where it showed the floor next to him. A list of options showed that he could place a variety of glyphs. He used his intent to guide the process, and the option appeared.

  ^

  Place defensive glyph gusting wind here?

  Cost: 1 unattributed resource

  Recharge: 1 unattributed resource

  “This is convenient...” Alexander said, looking at Ben, “…but expensive.”

  “How expensive?”

  Alexander explained the install and recharge cost.

  “Do you think your other endeavor could help you here?” Ben asked.

  “I will have to talk it over with Susan.” Alexander sighed, thinking his options over as he subconsciously flicked through the screen.

  As he moved his point of view around his apartment, he noticed black clouds outside the border of his walls in all directions except for his neighbors, Emily and Janelle’s apartment. As he looked, he saw Janelle doing homework while watching tv on her couch. Without even thinking, he moved about the apartment looking for Emily. When he found her, he screamed in surprise and jumped backwards, away from his pedestal.

  “What!?” Ben asked.

  “NOTHING! Nothing.” Alexander said immediately, calming himself. “I just need to be careful of people’s privacy, is all.”

  Alexander had been given permission to protect Emily’s home when she asked if he would be able to protect them. She didn’t realize fully what that meant, and neither apparently did Alexander. It seemed her apartment now fell under his domain. Over the past two weeks, he had placed some conditional glyphs on both of their doors. It had been difficult thinking of a trigger that wouldn’t accidentally harm someone with innocent intentions. Breaking a metal door seemed to Alexander like a line crossed.

  “I think I’ve looked at tower defense enough for now.”

  Ben just smirked, recognizing Alexander’s flustered disposition.

  “You used to make that face when you were around a girl you thought was cute, you know. Your ears turned red as well.”

  “Your mockery is noted and shall be dealt with in kind.”

  Ben placed his hand on his chest and made a mock scandalized face.

  “How is that neighbor girl friend of yours anyway? Any developments?”

  “Anatomize.” Alexander said, glaring at Ben.

  ^

  Break down a magical item in an attempt to learn and understand its magical composition.

  Information learned is not stored in the pedestal, but downloaded into the mind of its owner. Caution is advised for those of low intelligence and wisdom.

  “That is broken.” Ben said in awe of the new ability.

  “…but we just fixed it. So this seems to be a powerful ability that would function properly?” Alexander said, confused.

  “Broken is gamer slang referring to an ability that unbalances a game. Basically, it’s not fair to everyone that doesn’t have the ability.”

  “Oh. Well, yes, I like that expression then, as in this case, it greatly favors me.” Alexander said with a smug smile as he pulled out a scroll.

  “Oh, ho. That would be some test item as it is already rare.” Ben pointed out.

  “Flick should not become my familiar as he would never accept being a subservient underling.”

  Squeak! Squeak! Came from a sleepy dragon, curled up on a shelf across the room.

  Alexander nodded, “He said ‘Hear hear!’ Or some dragon equivalent. Besides, I don’t need a random familiar to deal with. What if it ends up being one of those weird fantasy creatures you described? Like this ugly imp creature.” Alexander complained, lifting up an image from his notes.

  “Well, don’t be hasty, you could sell it or give it to a friendly ability user.”

  Alexander shrugged, “The scroll has important information. It is, in essence, a magical contract. What if I learned to make one?”

  Ben hesitated as they both knew a magical contract could prove useful in many ways.

  “Ugh, why do you have to start with a rare item?” Ben groaned.

  “For science!” Alexander grinned, placing the scroll on the pedestal.

  ^

  Item Identified: Scroll of Find Familiar

  Rarity: Rare

  Anatomize cost: 3 unattributed resources

  “Of course there’s a cost, everyone wants my precious resources.” Alexander moaned.

  He approved the cost.

  ^

  Begin Anatomizing?

  Alexander adjusted his hat, feeling reassured with it ‘equipped’ as Ben called it.

  “Begin.”

  The scroll began to glow softly. They watched as the glow intensified and the scroll began to vibrate. To Alexander’s glasses of discerning magic, it appeared as if energy was being shoved into the scroll beyond its ability to contain. Small magical cracks began to appear and emit light around the scroll. As the vibrating intensified, it fractured and exploded into tiny pieces that glowed like tiny fireflies in the air.

  Alexander was not at all ready for what happened next. The lights started shooting into his head, one by one. Each one containing a small concept that hit his mind abruptly. The rate of the lights flying into his head slowly began to accelerate until it was like a machine gun, showering bullets into him. The pain of the information dump was not unlike being stabbed by tiny needles.

  He had trouble concentrating as he tried to process what was being placed in his mind. The thought of the warning for those with low intelligence and wisdom came back to mind. He suffered the torrent as long as he could before falling backwards, fainting.

  He awoke with a cold towel on his head and Flick on his chest with a look of concern.

  “Are you okay?” Ben asked.

  “Pen and paper.”

  “What?”

  “Get me pen and paper! Quickly!”

  Alexander struggled to stand up. Grabbing fresh paper, Ben grabbed a pen and tossed it to him. Alexander began scribbling quickly as he muttered to himself.

  “Uhuh, that seems immoral… not lying would be fine… hmmm. Useful… definitely what I need!”

  Ben looked at Alexander with concern but then checked over Alexander’s shoulder to see a mix of English, glyphs, and illustrations that he recognized to be stick figures. This continued for nearly twenty minutes before Alexander stopped and reviewed his work.

  “Intent!” Alexander pointed and explained. “The word and stick figures are placeholders for the glyphs I couldn’t perfectly recall.”

  “Like a missing code in a chain…”

  “It should be enough to place my intent as I infuse this with magic to activate it as an item.”

  “Hmmm, I get a distinct impression that this scenario is familiar…”

  “What’s that?”

  “It just feels rushed and dangerous is all. I know I’ve been telling you to relax and enjoy your powers more, but…”

  “Well, actually, in some ways, I improved it?” Alexander said hesitantly.

  “REALLY? How?”

  “It is not a loyalty contract anymore; the contract just makes it to where you can’t lie to me.”

  “Well, it does seem like less of a slave contract at least.” Ben said, relaxing a bit.

  “And it’s not a summon; that part was too complicated.”

  “OK… I mean, I guess it would be fine to activate it; nobody actually said you have to use it.”

  “Of course.” Alexander nodded, “For science… well, here goes.” Alexander said, as he started to fill the piece of paper with his magic.

  ^

  Warning: Making an item outside of the system established principles may cause unusual and unexpected results.

  “Umm, that doesn’t sound good.” Ben said nervously.

  “Well, last time it resulted in my magic coffee potions, so it could be a good thing, right?”

  “I suppose.”

  Alexander continued until he could sense the paper feel filled and on the edge of spilling magic.

  ^

  Scroll of Contract Familiar

  A being can accept a contract to become your familiar and gain the following:

  -The difference between your highest stat and the equivalent stat of the contract holder will be added to the contracted familiar.

  -You will be able to see what the contracted familiar sees if you are within one mile.

  -The contracted familiar cannot lie to you.

  -The contracted familiar may be given limited permissions on items you own.

  -Unknown effect.

  “Unknown? I get a chaos theory vibe off of this whole thing.” Ben said.

  “That seems a bit dramatic for a contract.”

  “Wait, you’ve seen Jurassic Park?” Ben asked, surprised.

  “No, what does that have to do with anything?”

  “You know what chaos theory is.”

  “Yes, I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

  “I guess I didn’t bother to think if Chaos Theory was a real theory… still, watch Jurassic Park. I think you would like it.”

  “OK. Well, I see this as a resounding success! With one minor setback.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Who would accept this contract?”