"Frames?" Remian blinked.

"Barricades that use these metal stakes instead of sharpened sticks." Tim explained. "Actually, can we ask them to make completely metal barricades, with sharp stakes pointing outwards? I think the Iron Legion would actually pay for those."

It was a good idea. The Legion was experienced in fending off human bandits, so wooden stakes were good enough, but when it came to Tier 3 Wilds, they were going to need stronger, heavier fortifications.

"Can you talk to Markus about it?" Remian asked.

"Yeah. Last I checked, he was trying to buy out all the bear traps in town." Tim remembered. "The hunters were complaining that there weren't any left for them."

"Surely the forges can make more." Remian commented.

"They did. Markus bought those up too."

Remian laughed softly. "At this rate, we're going to have a shortage of iron ore. No wonder the airs.h.i.+p came back so fast. They definitely have business here."

It was fair to a.s.sume that the Burning Steel had received a s.h.i.+pment of iron with the airs.h.i.+p's arrival. That was why they were able to forge these steel 'spears'. Frontier Town didn't have a source of iron of its own.

At least at the moment. Maybe Charlie could find some other prospector's map and point out where they could get some… for ten percent of the profits.

Speaking of Markus, there he was, coming right over. "Remian! I'd like to offer the Adventurers Guild a job!"

"What's the job?" Remian asked.

"Finish phase 1 of our Guard Tower for us." Markus said with a straight face.

Remian burst out laughing. But Markus didn''t laugh. "Wait… you're serious?"

"Yes. It is clearly a lot easier for you to do it with the help of those big Wilds you have." Markus said. "In the meantime, we will focus on the new quarry. As payment, we will give you the stone you need for phase 2 of your Guard Tower."

Remian lit up. The lack of stone was exactly why the Adventurers Guild wasn't trying to build Phase 2 of their tower now, even though they had time. There were missions on the board for it, but even at double the average reward for Tier 2 missions, the children couldn't manage the heavy lifting, and the hunters didn't want to. Short of Max doing all the work or the children wasting a lot of Tier 2 scrolls on every single block of stone, Remian couldn't imagine how they might manage…

But for the Legion, cutting stone and hauling weights was just another way of strength training.

"Gladly." Remian answered at once. "We'll even keep the Wilds off your back so your men can focus on stonework."

"Very good." Markus smiled, and left with a lighter step.

***

The next day, Remian, Carrie and Buff followed Markus, Brutus and thirty trainees to the new quarry. Just being there, Carrie and Buff scared away every Wild they came across, and they reached the place without incident.

At that point, the three 'escorts' of the stoneworkers simply lounged about in plain sight. None of the Wilds dared come near with Carrie and Buff snoozing around in the sun.

Remian meanwhile, read through Basic Earth Magic. Several basic spells in there were going to be very useful for George; loosening soil, compacting soil, soil enrichment, earth magnetization, earth repulsion… and the crown of Tier 1 basic Earth magic; Stone Throw! That last was supposedly done with a projectile formed from compacted earth and a shot powered by a focused Earth Repulsion, but most modern pract.i.tioners preferred to pick up a stone (sometimes from afar with earth magnetization) and throw it (with earth repulsion boosting the throw).

This was different from what he read in the other book. Basic Combat Magic said that Stone Throw was simply adding strong Earth Magnetization to Magic Bolt, which would thus gather soil particles into itself, turning a mana projectile into a solid projectile. Depending on the power of that magnetization, that gathered soil or sand could very well become as hard as stone.

Remian felt that the Basic Earth Magic version would be more powerful. Shooting out a stone with Earth Repulsion, if properly focused, could be far more damaging than simply tagging compacted soil to a mana bolt. The power of the former came from the force of kinetic impact, which the hardness of the rock would enhance. The latter's power came from the mana bolt, whereby the soil was simply a modifier.

Even so… there was something to be said about the mana bolt method. Remian couldn't put his finger on it right now, but he felt there was a powerful lesson to be learned there, somewhere. It's just… not for Stone Throw.

To be honest, the Mana Bolt without any modification was probably the best spell he could learn from Basic Combat Magic. By itself, it was a purely magical attack that could be fired off quickly. Without any tangible matter, it would be unaffected by wind, or gravity, and was directed by the mind, not with hands, so accuracy was a cinch. A single Mana Burn from such a bolt might not kill a Tier 3 or even a Tier 2 Wild outright, but it should be good for hunting critters like Tier 1 Blood Rabbits. So long as there were no elemental add-ons, casting speed should be near-instant, and mana costs were just 4 MP…

Remian wasn't entirely sure what MP was. According to the books, it was someone's internal mana power, their personal magical energy supply. Remian himself wasn't sure how much he had, or how it was calculated or any such thing, but he hadn't had any problems with mana so far. So far, he had only cast Tier 1 or 2 spells, except for the accidental super-powered one on occasion. What did a shortage feel like? Would he even know, or would his spells just sputter out without enough power all of a sudden?

Basic Combat Magic provided hints where Basic Earth Magic and Basic Fire Magic failed to explain. Apparently a standard low quality Yellow Mana Crystal the size of a finger contained 10 MP. That much mana could empower a simple runic flashlight for 10 hours. A medium quality Green Mana Crystal should have 100 MP. A high quality Blue Mana Crystal should have 1000. Those rare Purple Mana Crystals were rumored to contain 10,000 but only aristocrats and high level military officers could say for sure. As for the legendary Red Mana Crystal in the scepter of the Dragon Emperor… the legends said it contained 100,000 MP to start with.

Oddly enough, Basic Combat Magic seemed to think someone's maximum MP determined a Mage's Tier. Apparently, it grew with a Mage's mental and spiritual strength. Anyone below 10 MP couldn't even be called a Mage. Someone with at least 10 MP was a Tier 1 Mage until 100 MP. A Tier 2 Mage would have 100-1000 MP, a Tier 3 above 1000.

That was it. There was no Tier 4. The highest maximum MP count on record for a single person was 6320 MP. That was why higher level spells required the a.s.sistance of crystals, tools, formations, enhancers, and other magicians. Generally speaking, any spell above Tier 4 would require a group of Magi using crystals and other aids. Even Tier 3 spells were often cast with aids. One such popular aid was the wand… like a Fire Ball wand. Modern Mages preferred the rechargeable type, the kind powered by crystals so that when it ran out of power, you could just change the crystal.

Remian grimaced. The Fire Ball wand they had wasn't a 'modern' one. That thing was almost out of power, and he still hadn't figured out how to recharge the rune manually.

Until today, the most powerful spell on record ever cast was the Tier 9 Lightening Spell. This was done by over 100,000 people together with a city-wide magic circle with 1000 nodes, 10,000 mana crystals and various other aids trying to save the ill-fated Sinking Island of Atlant.

Unfortunately, not even a Lightening spell could save the island from sinking. It turned out, the entire island had simply been the back of a giant turtle and while it appreciated the lighter back, it was hungry and so dove beneath the waves looking for a bite…

That was also the first time the human race 'discovered' a Tier 10 Wild. The last anyone saw of it, the big fellow was chomping on a blue whale.

Remian spied Death watching him, hovering at his back as always. Turning a little, he asked Death directly, "So, how much MP do you have?"

"MP? Why would I need something like that?" Death asked, snorting.

"You have something better?" Remian guessed. "Say… why don't you teach me magic? You must be bored out of your skull following me around everywhere."

Death gave him a flat look. "You want me to teach you? All right. For the first lesson; everything in that book, and all the magic books you've ever read, is rubbish. Second lesson; don't bother learning magic. Cla.s.s dismissed."

"Magic isn't worth learning?" Remian raised an eyebrow. "Then what is worth learning?"

Death considered, then answered. "Learn about Mandy. Learn about Mindy, and Tim, and George. Learn about Carrie, and Buff, and Vigil. Learn about people."

"Easy for you to say. You don't have to worry about a lack of power. You don't need to worry about hunger, or cold, or a lack of money." Remian shook his head. "I happen to be human, with human concerns."

"I've taught you my lessons. It's up to you whether or not you want to learn." Death shrugged.