Battlefield Reclaimer, Ch 38: A Message Home (Patreon)

Jeric looked toward the scroll in his son’s hand and tears stung his eyes. It was a symbol of hope, a message that they were alive and better days were coming. He walked forward with shaking hands to take it as he thought about his wife and daughter.

“Just infuse your mana into it, speak what you want into the center formation, and then touch the activation point to send it,” Krana offered, as she watched from the side. There was a smile on her face as she saw how much the scroll was affecting Jeric. “I’ve added my own touch as a Seer too, which should help it arrive.”

Jeric nodded as he looked down at the scroll. A light silver glow surrounded the parchment as he activated it. It was different from the elemental scrolls Sam had made before. This time, the energy rippled around the pattern, waiting for the message, rather than instantly converting itself into the final spell.

The words he spoke into it were heartfelt, and a moment later, the scroll shimmered in his hands as it activated. The runic lines on it flared, surrounding the triangular pattern at the center. Then, the outer circle of runes began to rotate, slowly picking up speed. The edges of the scroll crumbled away, turning to dust that was absorbed by the spell pattern. After a moment, only the runic formation was left, shining in the air.

Sam had poured as much of the Earth’s mana as he could into the scroll, and because of that, it behaved a little differently than normal. The hum of Earth mana was still present in the formation, its soft chimes barely audible at the edge of hearing as the spell turned. It seemed to be picking up speed with each rotation, as another chime accompanied it.

Most scrolls would have simply disintegrated and sent the message to the target after they were activated. Instead of just fading out, this one hung there. The pattern shimmered as it twisted around and the outer circle of runes spun faster. The center triangle began to shine with a brilliant light, absorbing all of the energy that was pouring into it. It was so intense that it looked like molten silver.

The spell reflected the glow of the mana pool as it folded in on itself and disappeared with a soft pop.

---

Hundreds of miles away, in the small village of Cliff’s End, Aemilia was sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hands. Her daughter was beside her, pretending to write a letter on the wooden table. Altey was clean and her blond hair was in a tidy bun, but Aemilia’s own hair was a long, unruly river that had only seen a couple of swipes with a brush.

“Mom, when are dad and Sam coming back?” Altey asked, as she added another line to the imaginary letter in front of her.

“They’ll be back soon, love.” Aemilia reached out and tucked a lock of Altey’s hair back into the bun. Her eyes were red and her heart was aching as it slowly pulled itself apart.

More than two weeks had passed since Jeric and Sam went missing on their dungeon exploration. She understood her husband very well and had even taken part in some of his explorations in the past. They should have been back that first night, or at least by the next day. It meant that something had gone seriously wrong. All kinds of terrible possibilities filled her mind, including the one that she refused to think about.

After they disappeared, she traveled out to the ruins where they had gone, but there was nothing left. The entire area was only a streak of barely cooled lava. It matched the distant explosion that had rocked the village the day they disappeared, which had caused the elders to double the guard on the wall, preparing to ward off an attack. Only she knew that the real danger had already come and gone.

Since then, she hadn’t been able to sleep. She spent her nights trying to see through the distance, searching for them with her heart as she stared into the dark, but the only thing that came back was an echoing silence that stabbed at her.

There was a small box on the table in front of her that had two silvers and a handful of copper coins inside. It was all the savings they had left. She had been working as hard as she could to make a living for herself and Altey, but coins were hard to find in the village. They had to be carefully hoarded for taxes and difficult moments. Jeric had brought in a few extra silvers from his explorations, far more than from his work as a laborer, and that had been all that covered the gap every month.

Now, the rent on the house for this month would take up the last two silvers and there would be only the coppers left. If something didn’t change soon, she wasn’t sure what she would do, or if she even had the will to do it.  The future was bleak and made worse by the fear that dwelled at the edge of her thoughts.

Her thoughts spun in a circle as she asked herself why she hadn’t stopped them from going out that day. It was frequently interrupted by the hot flash of pain in her eyes. At first, she tried to hide her tears from Altey. Now, she had cried so much that she didn’t have any tears left.

She couldn’t allow anything to harm her daughter, so she had to figure something out and keep herself together, but the light in her eyes was dimming. Life here had never been easy. They had only scraped through together with luck and hard work. Jeric and Sam were more than half of her life, and with them gone...  No, she told herself, pushing the thought away.

There was a chance that her family would help, but she hadn’t even spoken to them in years, not since they’d disowned her. They’d had no desire to help her train a useless class. That was not something she would go back to if she had any other choice, but she wasn’t sure that she did.

At best, she would be a beggar there, cleaning the house for them just for a place to sleep.... No, she had to do it on her own, if she could.

Her General Level was 16, but her Historian class was still only Level 1. She’d never been able to train it, since it cost too much to buy the required paper and books. Even if she had trained it, there was no market for that type of class, and that made it pointless. Because it was so low, she’d also never taken a subclass. She was considering that again, debating if there were anything that would help, but the options were as bad as they had always been.

The only things available to her as subclasses were from farming and household professions, as well as Wizard, but Jeric had already taught her Mana Control and the basic Wizard abilities were only for that and Meditation, along with a couple of utility abilities.

If she’d had any spells to study, she might have considered it and then gone out to look for a few monsters on her own, since that at least would be a viable path despite the danger, but at the moment it was no better than sticking to what she had. She also couldn’t risk abandoning Altey like that.

With what she had here, the best she could do was another month or two. There wasn’t much in the house that could be easily converted to coins. She could sell some items from the house, keepsakes and the better decorations, which might get another few silvers. Their garden would supply vegetables and she could trade some extra work for flour.

Her thoughts tumbled over themselves as she did the same old accounting and tried to make it fit a new conclusion. Above all, she avoided the dark reality that was trying to pull her apart. She just had to figure this out for long enough that Jeric and Sam would find their way home.

At that moment, a soft silver light appeared in the air above the kitchen table, shining across the room. At first, she didn’t realize what was happening. Her thoughts were still far away.

“Mom! What’s that? It looks like magic.” Altey’s voice chimed in her ears, pulling Aemilia’s attention upward.  There was a gleaming spell circle hanging in the air above the table. Its outer edge was slowly rotating.

“It looks like a message scroll,” Aemilia murmured automatically when she looked upwards, her eyes widening. “But who..., Jeric?”

Hope surged in her heart as she reached up towards the pattern and touched it. She had never seen many message scrolls, but she knew how they worked. As soon as her hand touched the pattern, a very familiar voice resonated across the room, accompanied a moment later by Altey’s gleeful shout of “Dad!”

“Aemilia, my love.... Sam and I are fine and on the way home. We should be there in two weeks, I hope, or just a little longer. Please take care of Altey and take loans from the village if needed. We will be able to pay them back. Sam and I have unlocked our classes! We are coming home and if anyone has harmed you, they will answer for it. We send our love.”

The message was short, but it was enough. Aemilia’s eyes grew wider as the words echoed all around her, and then a new batch of tears began to run down her face, like a wellspring that had been renewed at the source.

The silver pattern of the message spun again for an instant as the excess mana in it tried to find somewhere to go. It was imbued with an enormous amount of Earth mana and this wasn’t even a fraction of the distance it could cover, but there was nothing else in the spell formation to tell it what to do.

Normally, a message scroll was supposed to expire when the mana in it ran out, which happened when the words were delivered, but this one had completed its mission and still had more than 80% of its energy remaining.

The low hum of Earth mana filled the room, resonating as it struck against the walls. The stability of the energy didn’t allow the spell to become unruly, so instead the pattern began to condense, following the path of least resistance as it spiraled around and turned into a small, silver sigil.

Since it had nowhere else to go, it flew toward the last thing that it had touched. In an instant, the rune settled onto the palm of Aemilia’s hand, inscribing itself into her skin.

As soon as it did, she felt a strange pulse of energy washing through her body. Part of it was familiar and she could feel Sam and Jeric there. The energy was mostly Sam’s, even though her husband’s voice had been the one that just spoke. At the same time, there was a new presence, someone who had helped to create the spell.

She could also feel a sense of vision in the aura, and she wondered if it had to be a Seer of some type. They were the class that was most involved in all forms of distant speech and visions.

She didn’t know why the spell had changed into this form, but as she stared down at the rune on her palm, a vast sense of relief broke through her heart, filling it with hope like water rushing into a dry riverbed. The cracks in it began to seal over, nourished by the words.

Altey reached out to touch the rune and then quickly pulled her fingers back. “It tingles! That was dad!”

Aemilia could only nod as she continued to look at the rune. A message scroll was supposed to fade away after it was delivered.... She had never used them herself, but she knew that. What had happened with this one? Was it some type of reusable enchantment?

She tried to pour her mana into the symbol, which lit up and began to glow, but it didn’t rotate again. It just flared with a bit of light and she could feel a gentle hum resonating through her body.

She tried a few more times, hoping that she could use it to send a message back, but eventually she shook her head. Whatever had just happened, it wasn’t going to be so simple. The spell hadn’t been designed for a two-way conversation.

Despite that, she was very glad that some part of it was still here. It was proof that what she had just heard was real. But why had it ended up on her hand? Was there another way to use it?

If there were, she wasn’t going to give up the opportunity so easily. It felt like there was a lot of energy there, including the part from the Seer, so maybe with enough strength of will, she could make it do what she wanted.

The hum of energy continued to resonate through her body as she stood up, turning in the direction of the ruins as she tried to see where her husband and son had gone. Questions poured through her mind as she reached out for them. Where were they now? What had happened to them? Why had they sent a message instead of just returning, and how had they afforded such a strange and powerful scroll? Her husband said they had unlocked their classes?!

Only she knew what that really meant. It was the beginning of an entirely new life. They might be able to change things for the better if the World Law was no longer suppressing them.

She glanced around the house, her eyes falling on the things she’d planned to sell. She no longer had any doubts about them. Those could definitely go. They just needed to get by long enough for all of them to be together again.

She looked back towards the ruins, trying to see through the distance as she poured her mana and will into the rune on her palm. She didn’t know what it was for, but she needed it to cooperate. If she could just tap into the energy inside it and follow it back, then she could see what they were doing and if they were alright!

The Earth energy cycled through her body as the spell pattern began to rotate on her palm. It was still partly in the original pattern: the mana and distance runes were there, but the activation point and the voice rune were gone, which meant that it couldn’t be used to send a message back.

As her will pushed into the pattern and the rune tried to carry out the task she was commanding it to perform, she encountered the trace of Krana’s aura that was still there. The Earth Seer had poured her energy and good will into the message to help it on its way.

Aemilia’s eyes were usually blue, but in that moment, they shaded slightly to silver as they connected with Krana’s aura. Earth mana poured through her body, augmenting her vision as the distance and mana runes activated. The world swept away as she tried to see.

And then it splintered apart as her vision shattered into a thousand sparkles of silver-white mana. The rune on her hand dimmed, nearly disappearing.

Aemilia staggered back, falling into the chair behind her as Altey rushed toward her. Her head ached with a pounding beat and it felt like burning icicles had stabbed into her eyes.

She hadn’t managed to see anything after all. Regret washed over her. She had been so close.... She had felt her vision traveling there, for just a moment, until she’d met some type of brilliant, hot energy that threw her back. Maybe if she tried again, something would happen.

A moment later, however, a notification appeared in her mind, chiming softly.

Congratulations, Historian. By channeling your mana to see across distances, you have met the requirement to unlock a new Subclass.

Do you wish to become a Seer?

Aemilia stared at the words, her eyes widening. Seer was a non-combat class, which meant that it leveled slowly, but it could gain experience from using its skills in battle, in crafting, or in day-to-day communications. The abilities from it were in high demand.

But that wasn’t the main thought on her mind. What she cared about the most was that with this subclass..., maybe she could see where her husband and son were and how they were doing. She accepted it without a second thought.

A whirlwind of the World Law’s energy gathered around her, pouring into her body as it altered her meridians and mana, establishing new abilities as it recreated part of her existence. Information on what they were flooded into her mind.

Congratulations, Historian.

You are now a Seer.

This Subclass grants you the following abilities: Analyze, Far Sight, Foresight, Spell Barrier, Illusory Paths.

All experience earned from the subclass will be directed to your Class or General experience, as appropriate.

You may select one Subclass Ability to advance at each Tier of your primary Class (Levels 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100).

Your Subclass cannot be altered until your First Evolution. At that time, it may be replaced with another.

Aemilia sank back into her chair as the information filled her mind. When she could move again, she reached out and grabbed Altey’s hand, gripping it tightly as hope blossomed in her heart.

The silver rune was still on the palm of her hand, the gentle hum of energy from it resonating. She could feel that her own mana had started to combine with it and...it felt like it wasn’t going anywhere. She didn’t know if Jeric had intended this when he sent the spell, but somehow it felt right, as if it fit there.

She stared down at it for a moment before she looked up, her eyes searching into the distance. She would have to meditate for a while to regain her mana, but tomorrow she could search for Jeric and Sam again. Her eyes lit with a new fire as she gripped Altey’s hand tightly.

“Everything is going to be fine,” she whispered into her hair, as she bent down to kiss her on the head.

Seeing her family was the most important thing, but the subclass was an opportunity that she had never expected to receive. Getting this class had been a dream of hers once as a young woman, but she had set it aside a long time ago, faced with the reality that she simply couldn’t afford it.

To get this subclass, you needed to use expensive items, like a farseeing stone, or sometimes to inscribe vision spell formations onto your body with a Seer and an Arcane Scribe to help, using them until you were able to get your mana to follow the correct paths. Even that was not a guarantee. Only the rich could afford such a thing.

She looked toward the village as her heart raced, thundering like a galloping chariot as she considered the other effects of Seer and why she had once wanted it so badly.... It was one of the few subclasses that combined well with Historian.

If she could see what was happening at a distance, she could write about it, recording her visions into a form that would give her class experience. There was even a chance that what she saw and told people about could work.

“Mom!” Altey called, as she tugged on her hand, pulling her attention away. The little girl was bouncing around now with the confirmation that her father and brother were on the way home. Her excitement was pouring out everywhere, along with her questions.

“What was that silver light all around you? It was in your eyes! Where did dad and Sam go? Why are they taking so long to get back?”

Aemilia laughed helplessly as she pulled Altey into her lap and began to explain, reaching for any excuse so she didn’t have to say what had really happened. There was no way she would tell her about the lava field that was all that remained of the ruins. She didn’t know how they had survived that. She was just glad that they had.

“They got stuck in a storm,” she said, trying to come up with a good reason that wouldn’t upset her daughter. “Then, they had to go to the city before they could come home. It is a long trip, but they had some good luck too. Did you hear about their classes being unlocked?”

“What do their classes do?” Altey asked instantly, wanting more details.

“Haha...,” Aemilia laughed again, hugging her. “Well, I don’t know exactly, but I can tell you all about a new Seer subclass that I just got. Do you want to hear about that?”

“Yes!” Altey nodded emphatically, as the new idea distracted her. She was old enough to know that a new subclass was extremely important, and she began to ask all about her mother’s new abilities, and why she had taken the class, and what she was going to do with it now, and....

Aemilia ruffled her hair as she slowly began to explain, thinking over the abilities to herself at the same time. “Well, first there’s Far Sight..., and then Analyze....”

Far Sight was the ability to see across distances, which was what she had been trying to do when she unlocked it. That was what had allowed her to get it.

Analyze was the ability that allowed Seers to see Race and Class, as well as other information as it became stronger. It could also be used to identify items.

Foresight was the premonition ability that Seers were most famous for, but it was notoriously unreliable. When it worked, it would allow her to see a few instants ahead in time, to avoid attacks and to warn people of danger.

As for the last two abilities, Seers might not be a combat class, but they weren’t defenseless. Spell Barrier was a shielding ability and Illusory Paths was a mental attack that could cause confusion or madness.

As she finished explaining the abilities to Altey, she pushed the thoughts of her new class abilities aside. They were a source of new hope, but they were not as important as the other thing the spell scroll had brought. Now, she knew that her husband and son were alive and on their way home.

“Everything is going to be alright,” she repeated. Tears ran down her cheeks as she ran her hands through Altey’s hair.