’Who is this Portal?’ Pi’ve asked. ’Does he work here?’

  ’Oh. My friend— of old. He did work here. We founded this place together. Sadly, he is gone— long time ago now. Plenty of condolences has been received, so there is no need for another.’ Barna said. ’He was the one, actually, who invented portals, hence the name. He did this together with Horner, who was a close friend with Dandrian, in fact. He disappeared too. Well, after the loss, we learned to grieve together, me and Dandrian, and we have become close friends.’ Barna said.

  ’Disappeared, as in, you do not think that they are dead?’ Pi’ve questioned. They had already grieved, but he did not say they were dead… And portals?

  ’I believe they are dead. Dandrian does not. But out of respect, I say disappeared, because that is true whether they are dead or not.’ Barna said, and Pi’ve nodded. ’Dandrian, believes that they have somewhere along their journey setting up these portals, miss-linked them— something or other. Portals need to be linked to each other, you see, but he says that if they have entered an un-linked portal, somehow, they could have gone through, but not exited. I find it doubtful. He is still hunting for that portal almost 2500 years later… No luck yet, but I won’t discourage him more than I already have.’ He said, shrugging.

  Pi’ve coughed and choked. ’2500 years? He cannot be that old?’

  ’We are older than that, son. Some of us grow old— Old.’

  ’How old are you, then?’ Pi’ve asked, and Barna let out a chuckle and shook his head, as if trying to remember.

  ’Well, Dandrian is older than me by some 600 years, or so. And he is estimated— it gets hard to follow when you reach these high— to be about 3800 years old. Didn’t you see the man? More bent than a badly hit nail, that loaf.’ Barna said and bared a laugh.

  ’But you seem fine…’ Pi’ve said, perplexed.

  ’I am fine. We don’t know exactly why we are able grow so old, and some can not, but it is theorised by Palomy that it is linked with “power”, as he calls it. Some innate power that keeps you from deteriorating, he says.’

  ’But it isn’t the norm? Growing so old, I mean?’

  ’No. A couple hundred years is the norm. Two, three, or four hundred years I think is normal. Enough to get bored with all the new kings the common folks produce.’ Barna winked, a prod at Pi’ve’s previous antic.

  Pi’ve let the information linger for a while. He tried imagining himself reaching such an absurd age, but all it did was mess with his head.

  ’But you said something about portals?’ Pi’ve said. ’I don’t know about them.’

  ’Oh? I thought you would. Well, they are like doors, in a way. You enter one, exit another, like going from one room to another. There are eleven portals scattered around Soilar, all linked with each other. They are not placed logically by today's map, as human settlement has changed across the ages, but they are quite handy. Well, the Thergiam one is placed rather good, but the rest… Saves a lot of time for us wizards, not needing to horse-and-carriage our way around Soilar like the rest.’

  ’But… So Dandrian thinks there is one more portal somewhere, that is not linked to these 11, or is one of them—,’

  ’Yes, something like that. Well, he believes there are several portals not yet linked to each other. When they are linked, they are quite easy to find if you know the approximate location, as they have this—’ Barna said, clenching his fist trying to describe the feeling, ’energy, that you feel.’ He could not remember hearing anyone talk about them, but if they are essential to wizards, then maybe they want to keep humans away from them.

  ’Does humans use them? The portals?’ Pi’ve asked.

  ’Well, we are human, are we not? No, I understand what you mean. Yes they can, but we do not disclose their location, and even if some stumble upon them, they would not know how they work. It’s not like you can just waltz through them, and come out another portal… Well, actually it is. But you need to know how.’

  Barna took an extended pause, seeming to recollect some memory, or something. ’Apparently, they used the Jin language to make them work,’ Pi’ve froze at hearing this, and swallowed tensely, ’which is the rune language used by the Jin elves long ago. You know about the Jin elves?’

  He had indeed heard about the Jin elves. The entity had explained it very loosely to him upon entering the tutorial. Was it normal to know about them?

  ’No, I don’t think I have.’ Pi’ve lied.

  ’Alright. I will tell it briefly— might be some flaws to the story, but here we go: the Jin elves is said to be the first sentient beings upon Soilar. They lived here in another era. So long ago that even the elves doesn’t know when their time ended, and definitely not when it started, but we know how it ended.’ Barna said. ’It is also the reason why elves are now separated into Eastern- and Western-High elves— Do you wish me to continue?’

  ’Please.’ Pi’ve said, gesturing him to continue.

  ’So, the Jin elves arrives from over the mountains from lands far away and beyond time, ordained, they say, by the Creator of all. Animals are here already— trees too, and mountains stand tall and the oceans are filled. They say that the Jin has been sent here to watch over the forest, or Soilar, as they called it. We still call this world we live in Soilar, but it has taken on a wider meaning. With them to aid them, is their language: their spoken language and the Jin-runes. That language worked as potent as a hammer on hot steel upon the world; they spoke, and nature bent. The written language, though not as potent as the spoken, still more potent than any spell on Soilar today.

  ’The Jin elves lived in harmony and as shepherds of the land for many years. Tens and tens of thousands if not longer— there are no well established estimates, but we know it wasn’t a short span, that’s for sure— until, the High elves come. What is so special about the High elves, you ask? Well, they can procreate.

  ’And as such, the High elves multiply, whilst the Jin elves does not. It is widely agreed that the Jin elves holds the position of power at that time, as they are the oldest, the wisest and the strongest— but over time…

  ’The High elves became plentiful. What happens when the plentiful are ruled, apparently unjustly, by the minority? Well, there is disagreements at first. It turns to quarrelling, to riots and then all out war. One of the reasons why wizards should not be in charge in Soilar, by the way.

  ’With stronger, purer magic, the Jin was sure they would win, but as the number of High elves were too great, and their magic was powerful too, although not on par, the High elves could lose ten of their own killing one Jin elf, and still win. The Jin elves concocted a plan to make a secret weapon, which they— no, we will not indulge on that.

  ’Anyways, it did not work out for the Jin, you see; the Jin were all killed in the end. Their history as good as wiped from Soilar. Some pieces of the Jin language remain, and those were used to make the portals, and other stuff around the land. Visit the dwarves in the Three Pike Mountains if you want to see some of the runes. Well, apparently, there is a way to understand the language, to know how to write words we do not know, or haven’t seen, because there is a natural pattern to it. Complicated, although not impossible, but that all went away when Horner and Portal disappeared.’ Barna told, and went into silence for a minute.

  ’I never knew.’ Pi’ve said.

  ’Most do not. You should read this parchment now, I think. I have to go soon, and I think you would appreciate the jo—’

  ’What about the Eastern and Western High elves then.’ Pi’ve said, too invested in the story to read right now.

  ’Oh yes, quite. Well, even amongst themselves they could not hold peace forever. From this point on, we know much, but if you’d like the details, you may visit the old capital of the High elves up North. They have records of much of their history, and it starts about that time, a little prior, maybe.

  ’The High elves live, and care as much about nature as the Jin did, but they have no command over nature as the Jin had, and so, Soilar grows wild. Beasts spawn from dark holes we know not whence. Dragons comes flying in from over the ocean, and after a while, dwarves emerges from the mountains like ants on an anthill, and then humans too appear. The world gets split into kingdoms of races, and within races kings rules, and the beasts ravage, and there are wars; beasts and trolls and vampires run rampage and dragons wants treasure and their own land.

  ’Humans, elves and dwarves cannot live together— it has been proven— so they decided to split, managing to do so rather peacefully, written accounts tell, at least. As the elves go north, there is a disagreement amongst themselves. Who is the king under the new elven rule? Where is the capital to be— well, the first point the heaviest: who is the king? Two are appointed in contention, and they cannot choose. Instead of splitting peacefully into two kingdoms, as they had proven that they could, a war breaks out in a place which is now called The Ever-Running Glade.

  ’Well, it seems you cannot choose between one or the other before a war has been fought, but eventually, they decide that the elves are to split up by this glade, and they are to call themselves Eastern- and Western-High elves, because labels are important. You would not know which is which if they did not tell you, but they do, so…’

  ’That’s really interesting.’ Pi’ve said. Pi’ve hoped that Barna did not tell this because he somehow knew that Pi’ve had a connection to the Jin. But then again, they had entered the topic rather organically, so he dismissed the possibility. ’When did wizards come about in all this?’

  ’One thing which has always been true, is that after you find something to be possible, you are already halfway to making it a reality. We estimate that around a thousand years after the first humans came, the first wizard was trained. He is called Ghollon of Vermond, and you may find some portrait of him around. The city of Vermond is now the city Or, further south than Vesen city, but still in Vesen county.’ Barna said, as he checked the clock hanging on the wall and then rose from his seat, ’Shoot, look at the time. Uh— I am out on an errand for the next hour or so, so you can read that parchment in peace. Read it thoroughly.’ Barna said, wagging his finger, and walked out the door.

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  Pi’ve sat there for a moment thinking about what he had just heard. There was a lot of lore bound to Soilar that he was wholly ignorant of. He never knew that the Jin elves were the first to arrive here, or that they spoke the language which Pi’ve now somehow was connected with. He wondered if all Jin was integrated into the Jin too— the system— or if they lived without it. The name had to be what it was for a reason, he thought. He wondered what the real timespan was from the first wizard to present was. Was it ten thousand years— it must be long ago, since Horner and Portal disappeared over 2500 years ago, and Barna and Dandrian were friends with them back then— or was it a hundred thousand years? He could not even fathom how long that was.

  Pi’ve eventually looked down at the parchment on the desk. There were only two pages. He quickly scanned the pages without reading much, and from what he gathered, this was a place where wizards came to have things checked, or something. On the bottom on the last page were some dotted lines. He pushed the parchment away.

  He decided that it was time to check out his rewards before he did anything else. He had to go through the items fast, so that he had time to read the parchment, as it had information about the secret society Barna wanted him to join. Bringing up his inventory, he saw he had received five new items, including two books. The first book he brought out proved to be a diary instead.

  [Diary of the Laden Mind (Rare)] - Write down your day’s experiences and happenings, and it will never be forgotten, but it will be put to rest. Those who are burdened with a rushing mind and endless memories are slower to act.

  Pi’ve did not quite understand what it did, but it was of rare rarity, so it must be of some use. He would try it someday. He shifted his focus over to the next book, and inspected it.

  [Magic of the Elements (Uncommon)] - A book on the different uses of magical strains regarding the four major elemental categories. Are you a fire-mage or water-mage? Maybe you tend towards the earth element, or perhaps wind is your ally.

  ’I need to show Gaudol this book.’ Pi’ve told himself. He knew that Gaudol was inclined towards water-magic, because he had made that water disappear, and perhaps because he was a merman. Maybe there was some instructions inside this book that could help Pi’ve learn it on his own. Before he placed both the diary and the other book back in his inventory, he opened Magic of the Elements, and saw that it was not a book on learning new arts, but developing what you already know. Increasing the latent power that a skill holds.

  He put the books back in his inventory and brought out the next item. He was surprised when it was much bigger than the item had appeared in his inventory.

  [Bottle of Blood of the Black Upir (Epic)] - Less prevalent in recent times in favour of the modern vampire. This ancient beast once terrorised the land with its frightening visage and deadly claws. Its blood is still sought after for its uses in alchemy, and the scarcity makes it extremely valuable.

  Pi’ve had thought that the bottle was some kind of potion, fooled by the size it portrayed in the inventory. As he took it out, he saw that the bottle was extremely big. He had seen bottles this big, and bigger, but they usually contained other prised liquids, like fine rum, exquisite wine or oils from the Bradag region. Any bigger and this bottle could be classified as a small barrel.

  It said that the blood was extremely valuable, which was fortunate, as Pi’ve had yet to decide if he wanted to become an alchemist or not. He had never been attracted to the thought of being an alchemist. He understood the appeal, but he would rather be outside than in a basement concocting a brew for three weeks straight. Therefore, he would not be hard put to sell it— well, after he knew what it could be used for that is. He stored the Upir blood, and pulled out the next item.

  [Boots of Soft Stride (Uncommon)] - Masks the footsteps of the wearer. Only the most attentive can hear when you tread.

  Weird. Not bad, but when would he need to be sneaking around? Either way, he put them on. His feet slid into them as if they were tailored specifically for him. They were a bit rigid, as all new shoes are.

  The next item gave Pi’ve a head-scratch, although it was a beautiful piece of woodwork.

  [Pipe of Clarity (Rare)] - An exemplary piece of craftsmanship, this smoking-pipe gives the smoker a boost in cognitive stats. Sit down, take a toke, and have a moment to think, and let the answers reveal themselves.

  ’Why?’ Pi’ve said out loud. ’I guess I am a smoker now…’. He had never tried smoking before, and it had never occurred to him to do so either. This obviously gave him an incentive to do so. He had to buy some tobac…

  After looking into the items he had received, he honestly did not know how to assess if these were good items or not. The diary was a curious item, and he did not know what it did. The book Magic of the Elements he thought was great, and he and Gaudol could use that to further Pi’ve’s magical ability, whenever he learned some water-magic that is.

  If the blood of the Upir was expensive, then Pi’ve was already wealthy by having it, so that was a good thing. He could sell some of it and buy tobac. He did not want to be constrained to a job now that he was a wizard, so having assets really helped out in that department.

  He had already replaced his old boots with the new ones. They were a bit stiff, but as they were new, he supposed that they would be more malleable in the future, being that they were made of leather. Walking around in Barna’s office, he could not hear any clear difference between the new and the old pair of boots, but maybe the difference would be more apparent once he stepped on dry leaf and gravel. He shook his head, finding it ridiculous.

  Dry leaf… And the pipe— it was indeed a beautiful pipe. It had engraved patterns of smoke and fire on it, and was made of an exquisite piece of pink wood. The mouthpiece was made of another type of brighter wood. It fit perfectly inside his hand. He felt a slight urge to have a toke, just to try it, but he managed to compose himself— until he saw the jar on Barna’s desk with some tobac.

  Slightly nervous, he pinched a small amount of tobac between his fingers and placed it inside the pipe. He found some matches inside the drawer in the desk, and set the pipe alight. He drew in the smoke, expecting to cough up a lung as he had seen so many do, but to his surprise, he did not cough at all. He felt like he was inhaling the most silky smooth, milk-infused cloud, and his mind settled like in a soft cushion.

  With his mind right, he remembered he had gained a title, and so, he brought up his status menu to see what it was.

  Status

  Name: Pi’ve

  Age: 20

  Race: [Human - lvl 9]

  Class: [Wizard - Initiate Mage]

  Profession: N/A

  —

  Health - (82/98)

  Mana - (134/380)

  Stamina - (99/120)

  —

  Stats

  Strength - 22

  Toughness - 10

  Intelligence - 30 (+3 (33) - Pipe of clarity buff while smoking.)

  Wisdom - 38 (+4 (42) - Pipe of clarity buff while smoking.)

  Willpower - 22

  Perception - 24

  Endurance - 12

  Free points - 4

  —

  Race skills

  [Inspect (Unique)]

  [Manifest the Obscured (Superior)] (Use(s) 1/1)

  Class skills

  [Conjure Light (Common)]

  [Corporeal Manipulation (Uncommon)]

  Profession skills

  N/A

  Titles

  [One and only (Unique)]

  [King Bringer (Rare)]

  The Manifest the Obscured skill was there; he had seen that after the quest was complete. After the rank-up, other than the new title, he had received some new stat-points, free-points and another maximum health-point, and he could see that the Pipe of Clarity gave a buff while smoking. He remembered that he was just one level away from ranking up too, which was great.

  But, the new title was still a mystery. It was called King Bringer, and he understood why, but he was unsure what it did exactly. The last title had given extra points in each stat. He brought it up.

  [King Bringer (Rare)] - Given as a reward for the completion of the quest The Forgotten King, and the completion of the tutorial. Gives an additional +2 Strength, +1 endurance, +1 free point per level.

  Suddenly, Barna burst through the door. Pi’ve started, and was thrust out of the inspect-skill. Barna looked rather flustered. Pi’ve had yet to read the parchment he was meant to have read.

  ’So… Secret society…’ Pi’ve begun when Barna had sat down, ’How secret is it?’ Pi’ve said, and felt foolish. Barna let the side of his mouth curl a little.

  ’It’s just a childish name for our little… operation, if you may. It is not secret, but what we do is. That is the appeal of our office. We do things for people that other people have requested we do, and we do it secretly.’ Barna said. ’It can range from everything in between and including service-testing in the wizarding stores, inns and restaurants, to uncovering secret agendas of rogue, evil wizards.’ Barna said, waving his hands as if scared.

  ’So… its a service?’

  ’Well, we do get paid, if that is what you mean. We haven’t uncovered any secret agendas by super-villain wizards in many, many years. They do not appear that often, you see. But, if there is a wizard who owns a restaurant, who wants to get his service or food tested, then he can come to the front desk, and set it up. We will come whenever we feel they are most unlikely to expect us, but within the time-frame they have requested.’

  ’It sounds rather… trivial.’ Pi’ve said, cringing slightly, wanting not to offend, but still being honest. It was curious to Pi’ve that Barna was talking about his secret society to him. He had just explained to him ancient lore of the Jin- and High elves, but now he was talking about his job.

  ’Trivial is far from the reality of our work.’ Barna said enthusiastically. ’A year ago, and what you will find out is that a year in a wizards life is rather short— anyways— we had a wizard come in to ask us to watch the wizards in the WCC, or wizard court council, to see if they break as many of the rules that they see us break. Because some wizards think it unfair that they get fines, or is suspended from work, because they break rules that is almost impossible to uphold. And so, one of these wizards asked us to see if the wizards that make these rules follow them. Rules for thee, not for me, kind of deal.’

  ’I see. And what was the verdict?’ Pi’ve said, slightly interested.

  ’WCC-wizards break as many rules as the rest us, obviously.’ Barna said seriously. ’We knew this, of course, but it was the principle of it that the wizard was after. He was not breaking any major rules, he said, but he wanted to have official proof that they only punished others when they should be punishing themselves as often.’

  ’What came of it?’

  ’Disagreements. General unfriendliness. And after the fact, he got us to see if he was being unfairly targeted, because he was being caught doing more rule breaking. We found no proof of such, and he decided to move. We found proof that he was intentionally breaking more rules though, and he told us that that was not what we were supposed to look for, but, well— I think that was his breaking point.’ Barna said. ’It is interesting work, I tell you. We don’t know what we get. We only collect our findings, write an official report, give it to the person who requested it, and he can do what he wants with the information. We are honest, and tell only facts. We are quite respected.

  ’Wizards have lost licences, lost their jobs, even been put in the cellar— prison, if you like— for what we find, but also been promoted. We have uncovered new ways of concocting medicines, and even found the reason for why the wheat in Thergiam died all of a sudden, fifty years ago. A decease.’

  ’Interesting… You are investigators, more or less.’ Pi’ve said nodding awkwardly. He did not know where this was going, but there did not seem to be any malicious intent by Barna. Although, why would he be revealing all this information about them?

  ’In a way.’

  ’Wait… Are you interrogating me?’ Pi’ve said, now rather confused.

  ’No, I am not interrogating you, Pi’ve’ Barna said and chuckled. ’But I see my suspicion is confirmed. I did smell the tobac in the room, by the way.’ Barna said, smiling. ’You did not read that last parchment, did you?’

  ’I did not. Although I did skim through it!’ Pi’ve said a bit embarrassed. He then looked at the parchment, flipped to the other page, and saw at the bottom of the page the dotted line. This parchment that he had in front of him, he realised, was a job offer. That had totally flown over his head. ’Are you offering me a job? But why? Why are you giving me a job?’

  ’Didn’t Dandrian tell you I have a knack for spotting talent? If you are to be of some use in the world, you need experience, and I think this job is a fine place to start.’

  Pi’ve had considered himself lucky that he had gotten away with his shenanigans with Oarios III. He had obviously, he knew now, broken a few rules doing so, and should not be awarded for it. Being so lucky as he had, he then decided to continue his luck by writing his name on the paper, officially acquiring his first job. Who would not do so?

  ’Great.’ Barna said. ’You start tomorrow. Desk in the chamber outside, 7 o’clock.’