u003cNew quest had been generated.u003e

u003cQuest: Escape from goblin settlement in 7 days.

Time remaining: 7 days

Reward: +1 luck

Failure: A fate worse than death

I shuddered as I looked at the consequences for failure. I could already imagine the results. A s.h.i.+ver ran down my spine at the mere thought of it.

As I looked around the room I was born in. the room I had dubbed the "nursery" I noticed that several of my brood mates had already awakened and were wandering around the room. Most of them had a look of dull intelligence in their eyes, but I noticed a few that had a more cunning look.

It did not take long for a group of adult goblins to enter the room. They were dressed in various primitive attires, if they wore anything at all. A rather tall goblin like creature observed us. before directing us in front of an adult. The goblins eyes rested on me for a long time before I was finally a.s.signed to a goblin with a pointed hat and a staff.

The point that goblin had an other worldly aura around him as I approached, and I noticed that I was the only member of the brood that had been a.s.signed to him. The goblin had a sad look in his eyes as he looked at me, he obviously did not have much hope for my situation.

The point head goblin did not speak as he led me from the room. We traveled through a series of dark earthen tunnels that were dimly lit by scattered torches. I quickly lost track of the series of turns we made, but it did not help that the point that goblin had stopped to scratch his head on several occasions, and even made us back track three different times.

Eventually the pointy hat goblin led me to a room lined with book shelves. The books on them ranged from ancient looking books, to books that seemed rather new. But regardless of their age the thick dust that had acc.u.mulated on them showed that they had not seen use in a long time.

Towards the from of the room was a crude looking g desk with a large cus.h.i.+oned chair. Pointy hat goblin soon sat down on the chair as he popped his feet onto the desk. His hat fell over his eyes and almost instantly snowing could be heard filling the room.

I stood there observing the sleeping pointy hat goblin for a few minutes before I turned my attention the library the goblins had acquired. As I looked at them it became readily apparent that the goblins did not use the library, and even more apparent that the goblins did not know how to read. I cam to this conclusion because the books appeared in no particular order, each shelf was simply inserted with whatever book they could find.

They books had no particular order or any time of system. On one shelf I found a total of 5 of the same book. It was t.i.tled [The basics of magic]. It was a large blue book with five circles in different colors on the cover. The circles were blue, red, green, brown, and yellow.

Looking towards the pointy hat goblin to confirm he was still asleep I took the book to a corner and began to read. The book was rather lengthy, and reminded me of a mixture of a science book and an algebra book. From it I was able to gleam several bits of important information.

The first was that in this world magic existed! the second was that learning magic was an incredibly long and difficult process, and that only those with sufficient talent could master it. Those people are called wizards.

I also learned that magic came in several different categories, but the basics were split I to 5 simple elements. These elements are fire, air, earth, wood, and water. There are other elements, but these five are the most basic, and is what is taught in the book.

It went further to tell me that magic was something that was both innate and something that must be learned. Spells are designed through learning, and there are several spell formations out there to learn from. Apprentice wizard must use one of these spell formations to cast magic. Once they have learned a spell formation it becomes a permanent part of them, something they can cast at will.

When an apprentice magician masters 3 different spell formations and gains 3 different spells they are upgraded to a novice wizard. A novice wizard can master a total of 6 more premade spell formations, but to advance to a wizard they must design their own spell formation to have a total of 10 spells. This spell is the most important aspect of a wizard as it sets the foundation for his advancement.

Their were levels after wizard, but it was not something that was covered in the book. Instead what was covered was a meditation technique that was designed to awaken the latent potential in an aspiring wizard apprentice.

I quickly placed the book back in it's appropriate spot and began to meditate as the book explained. Finally a glimmer of hope had appeared in this new world! The prospect of magic.