Chapter 18: The Well

He set his inventory wand on his Book and left the Book to hover out of the way so he could grab hold of the hoist's handle and crank it. It didn't want to budge at first, but Hugh was determined. He threw his entire body into the process of pushing the handle upward, then pulling it back down.

"How's this for exercise?" he asked Dex after only three turns made his muscles tremble with exertion. "Is my Strength stat improving yet?"

Dex laughed and busied himself with parking the bikes and moving their new weapons over to the patio, obviously not interested in helping unless he was asked.

Wanting to achieve something on his own, Hugh kept working by himself. Turn by turn, he brought the bucket a little closer to the top of the well. When he felt he could go no further, he locked the mechanism in place and took short breaks to shake out his arms and roll his shoulders. Then he went back to it.

It got easier the closer the bucket came to the surface and the water pressure holding it down lessened. Soon, he was able to crank it five times in a row without stopping. Then he managed seven, twelve, and twenty. Knowing he had to be getting close, he attempted a whole fifty turns on his next attempt. He only managed forty, but he got excited when he glanced in the well and saw the bucket in sight—along with an oddly shaped object sticking out of it.

"Dex!" he called out. "Look!"

The Navigator joined him. His expression as he peered over the stone edge was indescribable. It flitted somewhere between annoyance and pride, before finally settling down to something resembling resignation.

"You were right," he reluctantly admitted. "There was a prize down there. Do you want help getting it out?"

"I'll crank the handle if you'll grab the bucket when it gets close. I don't want anything to fall out." Eager to see what he'd won, Hugh returned to the hoist's handle and carefully made the final turns needed to return the bucket into the light of day. Dex reached out and pulled the bucket over the edge of the well, safely placing it on the flagstone patio before detaching the rope. Hugh locked the hoist in place and knelt down next to him.

"You should do the honors," Dex said, pointing at the burlap sack sitting in the bucket. "You're the one who guessed there was something down there and you're the one who put in the work retrieving it. It wouldn't be fair if I took the best part by unwrapping it."

Happy to find his Navigator had a sense of decency, Hugh grinned and replied, "Thanks."

As soon as he grabbed the waterlogged sack, Hugh knew by feel it held a sword. He couldn't imagine the hard, flat surface being anything else. It took a few moments of wrestling to get the hilt out of the bucket, then unknot the ties holding the sack closed. When he finally got it open, the sack fell away, revealing twelve inches of shining steel with an envelope tied to it with red twine.

Freeing the envelope, Hugh opened it and pulled out the letter folded inside. Water beaded on the waxy surface, the ragged parchment protected as if it'd been skillfully laminated. Hugh read the contents aloud.

"Dear schmuck, If you pull this sword out of the well, I suggest you throw it back. Its blade is too sharp to be used by mortal men and the blasted thing is haunted. I lost three fingers and almost lost my head before I gave up and dropped it where I thought no one would ever find it. If you're determined to use it anyway, I've written down a spell to make the sword's ghost appear under the light of the moon. Good luck trying to talk to it. Maybe it'll be nicer to you than it was to me. Yours truly, Fred."

Flipping the letter over, he found an ornate drawing he guessed was meant to imitate magical sigils.

"Oh, hell," Dex gaped when Hugh showed him the image. "That's the spell for 'Apparate Apparition'. It's a Lich spell to let you interact with ghosts."

"Can I use it even though I'm still human?" Hugh asked.

"I don't see why not. Scan it and see what the magical cost is like. If it's a channeling spell, I suggest you forget you have it until you're a lot stronger."

Hugh scanned it and carefully read over the details when the holographic tool-tip appeared. "It does say Lich in the corner, but it's not red like I'd expect if it was limited to only that species. I'm guessing anyone can use it, but players who change species to Lich will have an easier time casting it? It has a requirement of moonlight to cast. Under cost, it says 'reactive' instead of a number."

"Reactive means its affect relies on how much magic you put into it," he explained. "You'll have to specify an amount when you use it or it'll drain you down to one magical stamina point."

"Does magic regenerate naturally over time like health?"

"As a human, you can recharge by sleeping, meditating, or visiting a place of worship."

"That settles it," Hugh said with a grin. "I'm definitely casting my first spell tonight. I want to meet this ghost."

Dex opened his mouth like he wanted to argue, but gave up without actually trying. Hugh took that as permission to equip the spell. He felt rather good seeing it lined up next to the other starter spells he'd been given—Summon Fire and Heal. Those two combined to form the combination Spell 'Fever'. He'd only need one more spell scroll to fill his Spell Tree's four root slots.

Not bad for a single morning's work.