The “Sage’s bracelet”, also known as The Band of Masters, is an ancient artifact said to grant its wearer complete mastery over magicka; that is, only if the wearer is a magician. In truth, the artifact helps its wearer perform magicka with ease and, depending on the input of mana, can even perform even the highest tiered magicka spell.

It was thought to be lost during the failed subjugation of the Demon king a few hundreds of years ago but through the memories of the veteran spellcaster, the investigator mage was able to determine its whereabouts; at the hands of an evil warlock, hidden deep into the western mountain region.

It has been two days since the farmer and the young cleric left the city to hike towards the mountain region, in search of the black tower the investigator mage saw. Though the young cleric was a bit frustrated that they were not able to convince the investigator mage to come with them to their quest, she willingly accepted his reasoning; one could say that after witnessing the loved ones of the deceased adventurers they found mourning helped.

“But, can you even use magicka?” The young cleric asked.

“Well, he did tell me how magicka works…” The farmer replied.

Magicka is like a shortcut at performing a task. For example, when creating a fire, you’ll need to rub two stones together to create a spark right? Or rubbing two sticks until it creates a singe that can start a fire. Magicka is pretty much like that but using your mana instead of sticks or stones.

“That’s how he explained it.” The farmer, referring to the investigator mage, said.

“Okay, so where does the Sage’s bracelet fit in there?” The young cleric inquired.

“Well, apparently, there are three variables in performing a magicka spell. First is the knowledge of the law of the universe, which is the task he mentioned. You know? Rubbing two sticks to create a fire…”

“Then, imagination of the magicka you want to use. For example the light and heat of a fire…”

“And then there’s the fuel to recreate those which is the input of mana.” The farmer narrated.

“Yes, I think I heard those from my late mage friend…” The young cleric said.

“Based on what he said, the Sage’s bracelet removes the first variable… Rather, the Sage’s bracelet will perform the task, making it easier for the master to use magicka provided they have the necessary mana and proper imaging.” The farmer explained.

“And apparently, the Sacred Cudgel acts the same way so if I’m able to use the cudgel then I’ll be able to use the Sage’s bracelet as well.” He added.

Even with the farmer explaining everything about the Sage’s bracelet, the young cleric still felt skeptical about it. Of course she would, it was the first time she had heard of such an artifact, not even the oracle who knew about the Sacred cudgel told them about it.

“Okay so, let’s say that the Sage’s bracelet is real… how are we going to find it? Did he give you a landmark on where to find that black tower?” The young cleric asked.

“Rule of thumb in the wilderness, get to the high ground. It’s easier to spot something when you have visual of your surroundings, right?” The farmer explained.

“I see…” The young cleric uttered. Since she knows that the farmer is far more experienced than her when it comes to the wild, she just continued to follow his lead until they’re close to the summit where the farmer stopped.

“Do you hear that?” The farmer asked.

She could not hear what the farmer was talking about at first, as her heart was beating so loud from all the hiking they did, but as soon she started to calm down, she could hear a faint sound echoing through the mountains.

“What is that?” She uttered. The farmer walks towards the edge of the cliffs slowly, with his head down, as if he already has an idea of what they’re hearing.

“Mystery solved.” The farmer uttered. The young cleric’s eyes widened as soon as she got a good look at what the farmer was staring at.

Below the ravine was the black tower they were looking for, and at the base of it is a horde of undead and demons, shrieking as the master appears at the top of the tower.

“That’s probably the dark magician he’s talking about.” The farmer took something from his bag and used it to get a good look at their target. It was a boney dark man clad in dark robes with a goat’s skull on his face and a huge staff on one hand and a black orb on the other.

“What’s that?” The young cleric asked, referring to the thing the farmer is holding.

“This? It’s a magical tool he gave to me, The Oculus of truth viewing. Looking through it let’s me see what I need to see.” The farmer holds up a monocle for the young cleric to see.

“Oh… Wait, wait! Shouldn’t we report this back to the military?! I mean, a horde that big can easily invade the city!” The young cleric said in a panicked voice but the farmer remained calm, just looking at the area.

“Don’t worry about that, I’m sure by now, the city’s soldiers have already been mobilized to come to this area. They’re probably on the way right now as we speak.” The farmer stood up before walking away from the ravine.

“Good! So, are we going to camp here and wait for them to show up?” The young cleric felt relieved, but it was short-lived.

“Huh? Why would we do that? We’re killing the boss, take what we need, then leave before the army could even arrive.” The farmer declared while holding the sacred cudgel near his eye-level.

“Wait! What?! Why?” The young cleric looked confused.

“Well, they’ll most likely confiscate everything that looks valuable in there after the subjugation, meaning we won’t be able to get the Sage’s bracelet.” The farmer said.

“I’m sure they’ll let us take the bracelet if we plead our case. I mean, this is for the sake of defeating the Demon king.” The young cleric reasoned.

“It’d be good if that were the case, but reality isn’t all sunshines and rainbows. They will take whatever they can as long as it expands their wealth and power, afterall, human greed knows no bounds.” The farmer exclaimed.

“How can you be so cynical?”

“How can I not be? You’ve seen how the tax collector treated me just because I’m a farmer.”

The young cleric fell silent, it dawned on her after the farmer brought it up that she lived a sheltered life in the temple, seeing only the goodness in people because that was the temple’s teachings and that was what the people around her wanted her to see.

“Humans will prioritize themselves first before others, that’s human nature. Heck, even I am not doing all this fighting out of the goodness of my heart.” The farmer added.

“So… what’s your plan? How do you plan to sneak past those hordes of undead and demon to get to the main boss?” The young cleric asked. The farmer kneeled, lowering himself and facing his back towards the young cleric.

“Climb up to me and I’ll show you.” He said. The young cleric looked confused but climbed on his back.

“Grab on tight.” The farmer said. The young cleric grabbed on to the farmer, trying so hard as to not get in his way with the staff she’s holding. The farmer raised the lower end of his staff to the sky before starting to sprint.

“No way! Don’t tell me you’re planning to–” Before the young cleric could even finish her sentence, the farmer was already dashing towards the cliff, then pole vaults, controlling the cudgel to propel them farther to reach the black tower.

“Eeekkk!” The young cleric let out a shriek.

“Prepare a barrier but wait for my signal to cast it.” The farmer directed. The young cleric started chanting as she saw them heading towards the dark magician, who then noticed and pointed the staff he’s holding at them.

A black lightning bolt started charging at the tip of the dark magician’s staff, giving a very menacing vibe to the young cleric.

“Now?” The young cleric nervously asked, but the farmer remained unfazed.

“Wait…” The farmer said, focusing on the dark magician’s staff.

The dark lightning bolt grew larger, the scratching noise it produced became louder, the power became more intense. The young cleric could tell that if they’re to be hit directly with it, even behind her barrier, they’d be obliterated; and they’re mid air so dodging would be impossible, their only hope is to dispel it with the cudgel.

“Now?” With a terrified voice, she continued to ask. Her vision starts to fade, the dark lightning is starting to rob her of her eyesight. But she never got her answer, instead the dark magician released the dark lightning bolt at them.

As they fell directly towards the dark lightning, the farmer pointed the tip of the cudgel towards the middle of it, dispelling it. Had he missed the core of the dark lightning, it would’ve grazed them.

“Now!” The farmer shouted.

“Barrier!” The young cleric casted. Though her hearing was almost nullified by the ear-piercing magicka, her focus helped her hear the farmer’s voice. Her eyesight is still recovering from the blinding dark light when she was thrown forward from the farmer’s back.

“Waaaahhh!” She shouted but the barrier she casted protected her from colliding with the black tower. Slowly, her eyesight starts to restore and she can see the farmer kneeling to the floor, with what’s left of the dark magician.

“What happened?” Confused, she asked.

“Well, he’s dead.” The farmer said as he stood up. What the young cleric didn’t see was, as soon as the farmer dispelled the dark lightning, the farmer drove the tip of the Sacred cudgel to the dark magician’s head, killing it and destroying its body, and as soon as the farmer landed to the black tower’s floor, the young cleric was thrown off him.

“See? Easy right?” The farmer bragged before picking up the Sage’s bracelet that was on the floor.

“What do you mean easy?! That almost gave me a heart attack! I thought we’d be goners!” The young cleric shouted.

“We’ve done two out of three, so what’s the problem?” The farmer calmly responded before wearing the Sage’s bracelet.

“...” The young cleric wanted to let out her frustrations but felt that continuing to nag at the farmer would be pointless… further adding to her frustrations.

“So how are we gonna leave?” The young cleric, as soon as she calmed down, asked.

The farmer starts to look around for a door that would lead them down but there wasn’t any, he then went to the edge of the tower, finding that the demons are now trying to climb the tower wall.

“Huh?” The farmer uttered. He noticed that there are now only demons at the base of the tower, with the horde of undeads now missing.

“I see, this dark magician seems to be a Necromancer.” The farmer wondered to himself. By staring at the demons, an idea pops into his head.

“Maybe I should test this thing?” The farmer tries to recall the “crash course” on magicka the investigator mage gave him before they parted ways. He then extends his arms downwards, aiming at the demons the same way the dark magician was aiming at them with the staff, before creating an image of fire in his mind. He tries to picture it, recreating the sensation of an intense heat coming from a fire, then he shouts.

“Fire!” A sea of flame emits from his palm incinerating the demons at the base of the tower.

“Wow.” He was surprised. It was, afterall, his first time casting a magicka.

Out of the corner of his eye, in the forest a few meters away from the black tower, something caught his attention. It was a knight riding a horse, with a few foot soldiers following him.

“That was fast!” He thought to himself. Though he was already expecting it, he didn’t expect the kingdom’s army to arrive this early. He took a few steps back before hitting something on the ground.

“What’s this?” With the hand wearing the Sage’s bracelet, he picked up what seemed to be an orb. It then starts to glow, and all of a sudden, a huge portal opens beside the black tower.

“Is that a Gateway?” The young cleric looked surprised.

“What?” The farmer asked.

“I’m not really familiar with it but from what I know, it’s a portal that connects one place to another.” The young cleric tried to explain but the farmer looked like he was having a hard time understanding it.

“Wait! What did you do?” She asked.

“Nothing, I just picked this thing up and that thing appeared out of nowhere.” The farmer replied.

The farmer takes a good look at it before asking the young cleric.

“Do you think we should enter it?”

“What? But, we don’t even know where it would lead us! For all we know, it’s connected to the Demon king’s castle!” The young cleric looked worried but the farmer just smiled.

“Aren’t we heading to the Demon king’s castle? Then all the more reason why we should enter it!”

“Wait! We’re not yet ready!”

“Huh? We already have the Sacred Cudgel and the Sage’s bracelet, what else do we need?” 

“Uhhmm—”

The young cleric felt anxious. It was, afterall, charging thoughtlessly that got her previous party members killed.

“Look, I get why you’re worried but, you don’t know what’s on the other side so you can’t prepare…”

“But isn’t fighting the Demon king your mission? Things like this are bound to happen, and you can’t let your fears keep you from moving forward.” The farmer explained. 

“How are you not scared? An army of demons may be waiting for us on the other side!”

“Because my desire to get this quest done outweighs the fear I feel.” Though it is probably not what the farmer meant, the young cleric understood that if she remained scared then she would not be able to continue.

With her newfound resolve, the young cleric mustered her courage and fought off the anxiety growing inside her before holding the farmer’s hand. She then looks at him with eyes filled with determination as the two enter the portal.