Chapter 49 – A Warm Invitation

In the evening, Jace had just climbed up and dressed after his bath when he saw Grid looking this way from a long way off.

“Going for a drink?”

“Go.”

Jace responded as he tried to dig into his pockets to find out how much money he had, when he got to Grid he said instead, “Tonight we’ll go to the gold encrusted rose and eat expensive food, my treat.”

“How expensive?”

“How about lion meat? Is a mountain lion from the Hillsbred Hills expensive enough?”

“Go! Grilled lion chops!”

The two men wind up running all the way to the gold-encrusted rose, and sitting down at the table Grider asks, “How’s your leg?”

Jace looked up at him and said, “You’re buying me a barbecue and asking me how my legs are doing, you don’t have some new job to hitch me to, do you? I’m going to take a few days off …… now that the money can be made, but my body can barely keep up.”

“No.” Grid said, “I just got promoted to sergeant, so I’m going to celebrate.”

“Sergeant, pretty good.” Jace feigned a compliment, as he couldn’t really fathom any specific use for a rank within this inexplicable guild organization.

Watching the wine waiter bring up a plate of bone-in lion chops, Grid licked his lips and said, “As for asking about your leg, well, it’s certainly not purely a matter of concern, I’m trying to get back to our teaching quickly.”

“I’ve ordered a sword.” Jace said, “It’s made to fit that sword of yours, I’m hiring a blacksmith from the dwarven district, so pick it up for me when you’re free.”

“You’re pretty motivated, I thought you learned something ……” He glanced at the customer next to him lowering his voice, “After that whatever magic, you didn’t want to learn sword at all.”

“I think you’re right.” Nodding his head one at a time, Jace said, “I’m going to cut down on some of my contact with those things, Grid, and get strong with you and learn the art of swordsmanship.”

“Even mages need to exercise.” Grid laughed as he picked up a grilled steak and nibbled on it, grumbling loudly, “Where’s the wine? Is it hard to believe that you guys are brewing it fresh? This is too slow, how can I drink it later when this meat is cold!”

Jace looked at Grid, who was eating his meat in one painful bite, and took a sip from a glass of sour grape juice he had ordered.

As it stood, only Shadow Magic was open to him, and that was the only way to go.

Whether it was the resources given by the Sorcerer’s Sanctuary or the relics of warlocks stumbled upon in the Twilight Forest, it was a convenience far from granted by other possible paths.

Holy light rejected him, arcane magic rejected him, necromancy …… he is even more unlikely to think about it, was to avoid the natural disaster to come to Storm City, is it finally going to get into the natural disaster is actually my own?

As for the Path of Nature, the Path of the Elements, is it too late to find someone to learn it, should we go to the trolls in the Valley of Thorns for inspiration?

Either not relying on any guidance or help, and having a solo epiphany in a city completely devoid of any natural way of being present, there is no possibility of success.

Most importantly, how long will it take?

The sky was dark, hollow, dim, and faintly visible with a little starlight, but not obvious.

Jace hadn’t been home this late in a long time, and as he walked, he absentmindedly watched passersby.

There were also some old men fishing along the canal, a young couple sitting on the far edge of the river exchanging pleasantries, and a group of dwarves were throwing bottles into the river, competing to see who threw them farther, and at the moment they were arguing about who actually threw the farther bottles, and even dwarves couldn’t look at glass bottles in the clear water in the darkness of the night.

At that moment, he suddenly felt a sharp object against his waist behind him.

“Keep quiet, I don’t want to hurt you, come with me.”

He had heard this voice somewhere before, but the other party had deliberately lowered his voice, making it difficult to distinguish.

Jace nodded and followed the cue of the man who had hijacked him, walking into an alley next to the liquor store when the man behind him finally said in a normal voice, “Remember me?”

It was Gagin’s voice.

Jace knew that this guy would definitely find a way to get back at himself, and after being carefully on guard for days, he was caught by the other side after relaxing a little bit over dinner with Griddle this evening.

“Remember, Gagin, we met in Old Town.”

“It’s good that you remember, say, why doesn’t my fear spell work on you, and where did you learn it?”

“You’re not reciting the spell clearly.” Jace said.

“Impossible.” Gakin said, “I learned it from the Black Iron Dwarves, and since you’re also a warlock, you should know that there’s no one in this world who knows more about shadow magic than the Black Iron Clan. Come clean, you must have used something ……”

Jace suddenly slammed his elbow into Gagin’s face, turning back while he was in pain and grabbing him directly by the right hand that held the dagger.

Gakin’s strength couldn’t keep up, and after being clutched hard in Jace’s hand he let go with a hard wrench, dropping the dagger to the ground with a clang.

With the dagger out of his hand, Jace had no more qualms about landing a swinging punch to Garkin’s cheek, who stumbled and fell a few steps against the wall, looking over and licking his teeth and touching his nose, which was already a little bloody.

He took a look at the dagger and Jace stepped on it and asked, “Now what are you going to do, recite a spell?”

“I know that there is absolutely no way I can successfully cast any magic from this distance.” Gagin said.

“Good to know.” Jace smiled and said, “I you and Sulunna Keldon still owe me two silver coins for the last time, but considering the outcome well, I won’t bother with you.”

“I don’t really care about the two silver coins, young man.” Gakin said, “I’m just curious as to why my fear spells have no effect on you.”

“It has an effect.” Jace said, “But not everyone is afraid, Gagin. Some people, even when struck with a fear spell more powerful than your magic, can still stand their ground and keep their sanity instead of immediately fleeing in panic.”

It certainly wasn’t talking about himself, after all, he had carried it through with the Shadow Protection Potion.

He was talking about Grid, who had eaten his fear spell as hard as those wolves had, and was still empowered by that strange staff, and surprisingly hadn’t taken long to recover on his own.

But Gakin’s words also cleared up one of Jace’s doubts as to why a reproduction of a spell he’d heard from the mouth of such a third-rate warlock was immediately effective.

Turns out he didn’t get the three-handed spell from hearsay, but from a real spell from a dwarf who had actually studied dark magic.

The head warlock still had a little something of his own, and perhaps this whole group wasn’t as simple as he had first thought.

“I see.” Gagin thought for a moment before saying, “The dwarves have told me that fear spells aren’t fully effective on everyone, but I’ve tried it on beasts before with good results, and I used it on a beggar before with good results, but I didn’t expect it to be carried by a young man.”

“Well, then, this dagger will be taken as reparation for your threatening me, and to make up for those two silver coins owed, by the way.” Jace tucked the small, rather pretty looking knife into his belt and said, “Next time you dare to sneak up on me, I won’t be so polite.”

Saying that, but Jace’s heart was still pounding, after all, there weren’t many willing to fight him these days that were as weak as this warlock-like, and when he’d gotten into a confrontation on a construction site before, he’d only been getting thrashed, and hadn’t won a few fights.

Perhaps it was also the experience of following Griddle around this month that had made him grow up a lot.

Now he understood more and more the need for Grid to have him practice with his sword; until the spells they mastered became qualitatively more helpful, these spellcasters lacked the ability to protect themselves.

At this stage, melee skills, physical fitness are immensely important for actual combat, and spells can only be used as a supplement.

Just as he was about to leave, Gagin suddenly asked, “By the way, your name is Jace, am I remembering correctly.”

“What are you trying to do, get the church to report me?” Jace sidled up to me and said, “I know all about your group, report each other and see who dies.”

“Of course not, no one wants to get into a fish-out-of-water situation.” Gakin patted the dust off his body, stood up, and said, “But you have a point, we’re in the same boat now.”

Jess knew what he meant.

“You want me to join you?”

Gagin nodded, “Not only that, but right now we …… lack some fighters like you. We only have one Erland Dudmore, but although he is in our group, he has little patience for delving into magic. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Stoneworkers and came to the Slaughtered Lamb by accident, and I’m sure he didn’t come here to practice magic either. All he knows here is to be a bully and threaten me and threaten the other members on his own. I want someone who can check him, and there are so few people willing to pursue the dark arts these days, and even fewer young men here with the guts and strength to do so, that I don’t want to let you go as a talented potential member.”

Erland Dudmore, the strapping young man who had cheated on him with Surenna when he was just entering the slaughtered lamb.

At that point Jace hadn’t figured out the situation, and was too afraid of being killed by a slip of Shadow magic, and Erlend was too fierce as a bear to do much to resist.

But no matter how strong …… he is, he is only a mortal man, and Jace should not be afraid of this man now that he has gone down this road; instead, Gagin s knowledge is more important to him.

Jace asked, “So, you don’t hold it against me for using the fear spell on you the other night?”

“There are greater sacrifices and setbacks than this in the pursuit of the dark arts.” Gagin said, “But sacrifices are never worthless, and I think the payoff this time was meeting you.”

Jess thought for a moment and said, “I have conditions too.”

“Of course.” Gagin said, “We’re not rich, but we have some small fortune, if you’d like to join us ……”

“Money is necessary, but it’s also secondary.” Jace said, “After you join, hand me a valuable spell first.”

“It’s that kind of spirit that’s wanted, and that muscle-filled fool Erland could never have asked for that in his life. And that’s what we built this organization for in the first place, Jace.” Gakin said excitedly, “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you an absolutely valuable spell on the first day you join, and you’ll be satisfied.”

“Besides, I’m not your student.” Jace added.

“Of course, we’re partners, associates, and friends.” Gagin smiled.