Fantasy The Clueless Wizard (Completed)

[ArcticFox]

The King paused as he processed everything that has happened.

"You did good, Arden." The young king said finally. "Go to your tower and get some rest. In the morning, I need you to start helping Blackcliffe to prepare for war." Then he quickly looked over to her freshly bound bear that lingered a step behind her. "I'll have to tell my guards not to attack your pet, perhaps they will not be as nervous around it."

The guards in the throne room were eyeing the big bear suspiciously ever since Arden walked in. But the bear paid them no mind, disinterestedly plopping down on the floor and patiently waiting for Arden to finish.

- Go to the Tower.
- Go find Kogan.
- Go find someone else.

 

[Yokai]

》Go find Kogan.

Having Tobias' approval appeared to brighten her mood dramatically and Arden beamed back at him. Because he had said she did a good job! That was basically a love declaration coming from the normally surly man and she was more than here for it. Tobias would succumb to her charms in no time.

"Thanks! Teddy won't hurt anyone," Arden grinned, giving him a lazy salute as she turned to leave. She reached out to brush an affectionate hand across Teddy's head as she passed him by. "Well, unless I asked him to..." She shrugged, throwing a wink over her shoulder. "See you tomorrow, my King!"

Instead of returning to the tower as instructed Arden steered her path toward the main square where Kogan had said he'd be waiting. It was an action performed thoughtlessly, as if she was just acting through gravity.

 

[ArcticFox]

The King waved her away, with a disapproving shake of his head, but it was still clear that he was getting used to her demeanour. He had come to rely on Arden quite a lot during his short reign.

She found Kogan just where he said he would be, at the town square, sitting on one carved stone bench and watching the people pass by with a nostalgic look.

"I did not expect to miss this city, but it's good to be back." He said when Arden approached. "How about you, boss? Have you gotten used to calling Blackcliffe your home?"

Teddy moved in front of Arden, sitting next to the bench like a proper guard dog.

- Answer.

 

[Yokai]

》Answer.

Kogan's contemplative question earned him a quirked brow and a simple shrug. The wizard settled herself into the vacant seat beside him, close enough for their clothes to brush but far enough to offer some semblance of space. Watson was set between her knees, forehead pressed against the staff as she watched the meandering passerbys.

"I hadn't really thought of it as coming home, I was more excited about seeing everyone again." Arden replied honestly; it had taken her a while to collect her thoughts on the matter and even now she struggled to find the words. "For me, home has always been more about people than places, y'know?" She shrugged again and turned to level the orc with a lopsided smile. "But yeah, it's good to be back."

 

[ArcticFox]

"People, eh?" Kogan gave her a sideways look, placing his arm on the backrest of the bench behind Arden. "So you are going to seek out your elven priest, aren't you?" He asked, his voice a little strained.

- Answer.

 

[Yokai]

》Answer.

Arden choked on her next breath and coughed sharply, effectively dislodging her head from where it rested against Watson. Dark eyes watered dangerously as she flapped one hand dismissively in his direction. The reminder of the elf didn't make her heart clench, it just made her vaguely uncomfortable. Which was a nice change.

"Should I?" Arden asked honestly, rubbing at her pale blush and hoping it'd disappear beneath her hands. "What do you even say to somebody you used to date? 'Hey, sorry I broke up with you! Do you still want to be friends?' I don't want to give him the wrong idea," She sighed, unable to meet Kogan's gaze. "Mel was sweet but --" Oh my God, she was not having a boy talk with Kogan. "-- uh, nevermind! I just think it'd be best to give him some space right now and then have the awkward friend-zone talk later."

 

[ArcticFox]

Kogan's gaze was focused on her, not faltering. He listened to her words carefully and smirked when she finished.

"So, the elf is yesterday's news already. Well, if I didn't know you, boss, I'd think that that little tangle in the woods meant something more to you than you let on." He spoke, voice intentionally low and teasing as he moved closer on the bench.

- Answer.
- Escape.

 

[Yokai]

》Answer.

The momentary pride at having adequately expressed her feelings was drowned out by a quick and devastating surge of embarrassment. Arden tried to move backwards subtly, keeping some physical distance between them. It was difficult for her to discern what angle Kogan was working at here. Was he teasing her to break the tension? Or because he just wanted another romp in the woods -- hopefully not in the actual woods this time. And hopefully not at all because Arden's nonchalance was beginning to fall apart.

"That isn't funny, Kogan." Arden warned and for once their roles seemed to be reversed. Her expression was strangely serious whereas Kogan actually appeared good-natured. "You got what you wanted, right? It's cruel to play with my feelings like that." Then she winced, because yeah, that didn't come out as casually as she'd hoped it would.

 

[ArcticFox]

"What are you going to do about it?" The orc grinned, a mischievous glint in his eyes as his arm moved from the backrest to Arden's shoulders, keeping her from moving away. He leaned forward, close to her, still keeping eye contact and still being a tease. "Feed me to your bear? Burn me to a crisp? But there are people watching." He smiled. And there were, the passers by were now turning their heads to take a look at their wizard, all pushed to the end of the bench and crowded by an orc.

- Answer.
- Escape.
- Kiss him.

 

[Yokai]

》Kiss him.

It seemed to take a moment for his teasing to register as something non-malicious and Arden's face only flushed a brighter shade of pink. Though it wasn't out of embarrassment this time as her lips had quirked up at the corners. Arden forced a pout and sniffed haughtily instead, appearing to play along.

"You'd only get stuck in Teddy's teeth and it's so difficult to find good bodyguards these days," Arden sighed, her gaze momentarily slipped over to the people of Blackcliffe. Slender fingers twitched nervously around her death-grip on Watson. "I guess I'll just have to think of another punishment for you, hmm?" She continued, head turned to fully meet Kogan's gaze.

Let them stare.

"You know, I think I have just the thing." Arden grinned, and then she was closing the distance between them in -- what she would later deem to be -- an embarrassingly sweet kiss.

 

[ArcticFox]

Kogan smirked again when she kissed him, his arm lowering down her back now and pulling her toward him.

"Oh, you can do better than that." He said, leaning to give her a kiss of his own, that wouldn't really be called sweet. It was hungry and lecherous and his hands were everywhere. There were quite a few gasps from the old ladies that passed them by in a hurry. Kogan laughed and moved away, standing up, but taking Arden with him. He was holding her hand and it did not look like he was planning to let her go. "Come on, let's get that mean housekeeper of yours cook a proper meal for us, it's been too long."

- Go home with Kogan.
- Stay behind.
- Go somewhere else.

 

[Yokai]

》Go home with Kogan.

"Some of us are trying to avoid getting arrested for public indecency," Arden retorted, though it lacked bite and she honestly looked a little dazed. She was still in the right mind, however, to intertwine their fingers as she trailed after him. An accusatory glance was slanted in Teddy's direction; Arden had almost been devoured in public and he'd just sat there, letting it happen. She snorted.

"Miss Jacqueline is an adorable and lovely woman!" Arden corrected him with an easy laugh, clearly looking forward to seeing her again. "You just think she's mean because she scolds you~"

 

[ArcticFox]

It felt good to sleep in her own bed once again. She had been gone from Earth long enough for her room at the top of the Tower to feel like home. Even if Arden was eager to begin reading her books for clues on how to activate the Amulet of Planeswalking, she would not able to start her research that night.

After a reunion with Miss Jacquline that felt more like a general inspection, since the woman patted both of them down and disapprovingly shook her head saying that they have lost too much weight, the three of them had a hearty meal and Arden had enough rest to get some of her strength back before getting on with the preparations for the defence in the morning.

Kogan had followed her up to her room and kissed her again at the doors, still as needy as ever.

"We, uh, we can stop if you want." He suddenly moved away, but his hands were still on Arden's waist. "Otherwise, this might become a habit, boss."

- Let him sleep over.
- Tell him to go back to his room.

 

[Yokai]

》Let him sleep over.

Miss Jacqueline's disapproval only caused the brunette's smile to broaden, as if she'd said something particularly amusing or compassionate. It was refreshing to have somebody concerned for their safety, at least in a different way than trying to keep Arden out of physical harm. Which was, admittedly, a difficult task in itself. Still, after a good meal and a quick catch-up she was ready for bed.

Unfortunately, Kogan was just as confusing as ever. It seemed that for every two steps they took forward, he'd take one step back. Arden still couldn't quite figure out what he wanted from her and she was beginning to suspect she never would.

"I've had much worse habits, trust me." Arden said instead, one hand wrapped around his wrist as the other propped open the door. "Come inside already, you big dork."

 

[ArcticFox]

He followed her in without the intention to resists again and eventually they had both fallen asleep on Arden's bed which was thankfully big enough for the orc to fit in.

--

An older soldier with grey hair waited for Arden at the base of her Tower in the morning. He was wearing the uniform of the Blackcliffe military. He introduced himself General Aldo, ready to show her the city's defences.

"Did you get a chance to see the Yrantan army?" He asked, leading her to the first inspection point.

- "Yes."
- "Sort of."
- Warn about the Emperor being a warrior too.

 

[Yokai]

》"Yes."

"Ah, yes. Briefly," Arden replied, falling into step beside the General as he presumably led her straight. She was bathed and dressed in clean clothes again, which had put her in a productive mood for the day. "We investigated their troops as best that we could without getting too close and jeopardising ourselves." She explained, because there was bound to be things that she missed or questions that she couldn't answer.

 

[ArcticFox]

"Excellent." He said. "But now, I need you to help us apply your magic to the physical threat too."

Arden's tour begun with the outer wall, one of the main lines of defence for the city. The wall was three stories high and several feet thick. The enormous rocks were old, and there were many cracks. The engineers have been hard at work trying to repair the old structure.

"We have archers spread all across the wall." Aldo informed. "We have barrels of pitch and at every tower junction we have a manned catapult. It's the wall itself that I'm worried about. It's very old."

- Urge to get the wall fixed as soon as possible.
- Tell them not to exhaust themselves.
- Say to leave the wall as it is.

 

[Yokai]

》Urge to get the wall fixed as soon as possible.

"The city walls will be the first line of defense against the Yrantans," Arden agreed, lips pursed as she eyed the cracks with speculation. "It'd be best to get them fixed as soon as possible, we won't have long before enemy forces arrive." Which was true and why she needed to get studying magic as soon as possible. They all needed to be at their strongest for this -- even if that meant she'd have to read herself into a migraine every night.

 

[ArcticFox]

"We'll get our soldiers to help." The general agreed with a nod.

Many of the archers looked very young and untested. Blackcliffe has had to lower its standards in order to build a large army. Since the upcoming war involved everyone's lives, every person in the city was helping with the defences in some way.

"Our training regimen has been harsh, but the recruits are slowly improving." General Aldo said. "We're taking just about anyone who can hold a weapon: foot soldiers, archers, scouts, and cavalry. We might be pushing them too hard though. We're having some training accidents along the way."

- Tell him to keep pushing them.
- Tell him to train them harder.
- Tell him to let them rest.
- Offer to heal the troops if they get injured or tired.

 

[Yokai]

》Offer to heal the troops if they get injured or tired.

Impending war was an extremely motivating way to get the people of Blackcliffe involved, that was for sure. Though Arden did frown at the mention of pushing the new recruits too hard. It was understandable that they needed a bigger and better army; but there was a point where panic made people reckless and clumsy. Right now, mistakes or set backs could be costly.

Not for the first time she wished they had longer to prepare. Because she seen the Yrantan Empire's army and she was scared.

"I can heal those who get injured or sick," Arden offered with a nod. "Running them into the ground will only cause more problems."

 

[ArcticFox]

"That will be even better during the battle itself, but yes, it will greatly help our training if we can continue to push them hard and not lose time when they get hurt."

Arden's healing spell wasn't that great, but it would help with blisters, exchaustion, cuts and scrapes durign the training. And she would be able to feel deeper slashes or broken bones in real combat.

As Arden stood on the wall looking out at the farmlands to the north, she saw a man on horseback riding toward the city. The man went through the gate and up the steps, saluting the general, who saluted him back.

"Report." the General said.

"Nothing yet." The scout answered.

"Good job, lad." General Aldo said as he clapped the rider on the shoulder. "Go get something to eat."

The general turned to Arden then. "We know that the Yrantans are coming. We have scouts scouring the lands all around us so that we'll have some advanced warning before they arrive."

- Send your bear to prowl around and report to you.
- Tell him to double the scouts.
- Tell him to reduce the number of scouts.
- Tell him they are doing a good job.

 

[Yokai]

》Send your bear to prowl around and report to you.

"It sounds like you're doing a good job!" Arden affirmed with a smile. "I have an undead army protecting Pella's Wish right now too, if that would be of any help in the future?" She belatedly offered, head tilted to the side as she considered their options. Her gaze drifted down to Teddy and she visibly tensed. Because honestly? He'd be much more use out scouting and keeping an eye out for danger. It's just that Arden was very attached to him already.

"If you could tell your scouts not to hunt any bears... Teddy could help out with keeping an eye out?" Arden continued slowly. "He has the superior senses for it." Well, compared to humans at least.

 

[ArcticFox]

The general was stunned for a brief moment only.

"Pella's Wish is days away. If the enemy troops pass by it, then, uh... it would be useful if you undead could delay them." He nodded. "Your bear will be welcome among the scouts. Just, make sure to tie a ribbon around his neck or something and I'll notify the men."

Arden's familiar was able to communicate from a great distance too, so she'd know the moment he saw something.

--

The soldiers had a very high opinion of General Aldo. They saluted both of them as they walked through the city. They entered the palace itself and the general took Arden into the basement where the emergency food stores were being held.

"The farmers are doing as they please. Some of them have brought in their crops, others have burned them so that the enemy can't have them, and others haven't changed a thing."

General Aldo looked over the supplies and did the calculations in his head before continuing.

"If the outer wall and the city itself fall, we'll have to hole up here in the palace." He said. "If it comes to that, we'll be in very rough shape."

Arden was taken to one of the barracks next. She didn't see Jace or Alexei, but with so much training and guarding taking place, she couldn't be surprised. The soldiers all snapped to attention as she and the general entered.

"At ease." General Aldo said. "This isn't a formal inspection. I'm just showing the wizard around." The soldiers returned to what they were doing, but she could see that they were all working much harder with the general watching them.

General Aldo led her to the quartermaster's office where she saw rows of long swords and chain shirts. Many of them had spots of rust and dents in them.

"We dragged up a lot of this equipment from under the castle. It's not pretty, but our smiths are working hard to get them all battle ready."

- Approve of using everything available.
- Tell him the equipment doesn't look very sturdy.

 

[Yokai]

》Approve of using everything available.

She got to put a ribbon around Teddy's neck? Arden beamed. Maybe they had something in bright pink?

Following the General through the hallways and little rooms of the palace, she couldn't help but agree with him. Hopefully their defenses held and they weren't forced into hiding. Otherwise Arden would have to bring some magical texts over and pour herself into those; that'd be her backup plan. They'd have to be in pretty bad shape to retreat underground and a village filled with dead bodies seemed like a good place to start practicing necromancy. But that was only if things got really bad.

Friendly smiles were given to the soldiers as they passed, despite them being hard at work and probably not appreciating the disruption. General Aldo came to a halt in front of an assortment of weapons and armor. It didn't appear to be in good shape.

"Anything is better than nothing," Arden agreed after a long moment. "Hopefully the smith's can work their magic on them, so they don't break or shatter during the battle." She reached out to touch the small gathering of rust on one of the chain shirts. Because what else could she say? No, you can't use this equipment unless it's perfect! That would just result in fewer swords in hand. It was much better that they actually had something to hold onto.

 

[ArcticFox]

"True." The general said. "One of the king's ancestors had them all made. They might not be pretty, but they're better than nothing."

General Aldo scanned the arms and armour stacked before him as the quartermaster stood to the side waiting for any new orders. The general turned his gaze to Arden and nodded.

"Thank you for all your hard work, Wizard Arden." He said. "I'll report our progress to you on a daily basis. Good to have you with us!"

General Aldo saluted her and left. The sun had gone down and she was exhausted.

There was nothing else to do but return to the Tower for a good night's sleep. Well, a mediocre sleep, considering that Kogan invited himself up again.

--

Arden's reports were waiting for her the next morning, along with several Blackcliffe officers who worked under the general. Her morning breakfasts with the military officers become a regular occurrence over the next couple of days.

In addition to all her other work, she still had many hours to spend in her library. She found references to the Amulet of Planeswalking almost immediately. Unsurprisingly, they came from Thomas's own journal. He had researched the item in depth in hoped it could help him get home.

Navigating the planes and understanding their layout were extremely difficult tasks. It would take a lot of work to learn how to activate the Amulet so that it could take her back to Earth. She also learned that the amulet was only able to bring a single person across the planes… so she would have to go alone.

- Ready the journals to learn how ti the Amulet works.
- Read the spellbooks to learn about it.
- Leave the studies until after the war.
- Leave the Amulet and forget about it.