Dakkon didn’t check how much time had passed, he simply ordered more food, ate it in silence, and set to his training again. He continued his exercises unaware of his surroundings until he eventually felt a sharp jab in his side. So engrossed was he in his work, Dakkon might have even ignored the jab, were it not immediately followed by two more in quick succession and a loud voice.
“Oi, you!” said the voice. Dakkon realized it was the barkeeper. “You’re causing a scene. You think its funny ruining a man’s business? Now get the hell out of here or I’ll throw you out.”
Dakkon stopped his exercises and was immediately showered by particles of dust and dirt. He blinked in confusion as he took in his surroundings, all eyes were on him. He was unsure of what had caused the commotion but could read a room well enough to know it was time for him to leave. He quickly gathered himself and walked outside into the bright sun of late morning, then perched himself atop a nearby bench. “What happened?” he thought.
Dakkon put his hands together as he had inside the bar and used his heat and chill skills, this time with his eyes open and observant. He could feel the movement of air in between them, swirling. He knelt and clamped his fingers together in a small pile of dirt, then placed a small pinch of soil on the bench next to him. Dakkon found that, by swirling the air as he had in the bar, the resulting vortex lifted dirt into the air where it danced and spun between and directly above his hands. “I guess I could see how an hour of that from an unresponsive stranger in the back of a bar might cause a little commotion,” he thought.
The heating and cooling effect was immensely strengthened, as well. Though he doubted that he could light a fire, Dakkon was certain he could cool a drink down to a satisfying temperature on a hot day. He checked his thermomancy skills:
|Secondary Class: Thermomancer – 80% Power (from multiclassing)
|Class Leveclass="underline" 25
|EXP Until Next Leveclass="underline" [
|Skills:
|+Thermoregulate – 25— 75% [
|+Heat (Touch) – 18— 22% [
|+Chill (Touch) – 18— 22% [
|+Hotspot (Area) – 1— 0% [
|+Condense – 1— [
Dakkon was shocked. His Thermomancer level was already 25. He had progressed at a pace which far exceeded his expectations. Now, only five levels away from mastery, he was close to earning himself an extra class slot which he could use for combat, all while still having the safety net of a free, unallocated, slot for any particularly rare class he might chance across. What’s more, he had already unlocked two new skills:
|+Hotspot: This skill allows the caster to warm or cool a designated area. The degree to which an area’s temperature can be altered is dependent on the caster’s Heat and Chill skills. Higher ranks in this skill will increase the ease in maintenance of a heated or cooled area.
|+Condense: This skill allows the caster to focus their Heat or Chill skill on a small, fixed point creating a more intense burning or freezing temperature.
Dakkon took out his canteen and poured a small amount of water into his hand. He closed his palm and focused on a single point in the center of it. A frosty chill bit him and he opened his hand to reveal an irregularly shaped lump of ice. That was it. Dakkon now knew how Chillwane, the master who taught him thermomancy, was able to start files and heat an entire room to sweltering temperatures. It wasn’t simply an extremely high level of skill, but different skills which allowed for an increase in effect. Dakkon melted the ice, and for the first time felt some degree of satisfaction from his first choice in classes. It wouldn’t hold him down for much longer, and it might even prove rather nice to have some mastery over the elements.
“Dakkon?” a voice tugged at Dakkon’s mind. “It’s Roth. You’re finally back on, eh?”
Dakkon thought about Roth and felt the strange sensation of a nontangible string pulling taut from within his mind. “Hey, Roth,” communicated Dakkon. “How are you?”
“Great, thanks to that quest of ours last week. You ought to check your messages, the others got worried when you hadn’t logged back in after a day.”
That’s right. He had promised to meet back up with them. Dakkon winced. “Sorry about that, I died in a cave collapse and then got a little caught up with things.”
“We thought that might’ve been the case. Everything good on your end?” asked Roth.
“Yeah things are going pretty smoothly for me. What happened with the group?”
“We met back up then headed off towards Turlin to the northwest,” said Roth. “We did a few quests together, but then had to log out for one reason or another. Cline said he was going to press on and so we sort of split up.”
“So, the party is more or less dissolved for now, huh?” Dakkon asked.
“Well, Mina, Melee, and I are back together doing quests in the area. We’re already level 26, thanks in no small part to a windfall of gear we bought after the quest reward from driving out the goatmen was doubled.”
“Wow. I’m still level 14,” Dakkon replied.