A little time to look over the scroll...

4th Litordae, 25th day of the month of Semens (Sem), the 3672nd year of Salvation's Landing

Reglin could not help but feel a bit giddy with how things just unfolded with the very cute laundress Asha. He would be hard-pressed to not bear some semblance of smile for some time. He managed to maintain that sense of confidence that he carried with his interactions with Tabitha, something that he always had issues with. He was as confident as anyone given any task, truly, unless it meant to present himself in a manner that wasn't embarrassing. But maybe, just maybe, he had turned a corner. And perhaps it had something to do with what he carried on him at this moment.

As he continued the circuit of the palace perimeter, his hand went under his tabard and into his belt where the ornate scroll-case was. He took hold, removed it and opened the case. Turning over the case, the two batons that the ancient scroll was bound around fell into his left hand. He quickly switched his hands up and was able to put the lid of the case back on and back into his belt before unfurled the scroll proper.

Glancing up every now and again, Reglin really wasn't doing his best patrolling, but he had to see what the artifact might say. Once again, when his eyes read over certain scripts new text would appear. He looked at the Palace Staff script and saw:

~Lina~ A : 24 (+4) 28
~Asha~ A: 8 (+14) 22 E: (+1) 1 L: (+1) 1

Very interesting, and very exciting. In just their short half-hour of interaction, he had managed to inspire the smallest inkling of love and lust in the very cute brunette. He wouldn't be very honest with himself if he did not think his own emotional scorecard did not mirror Asha's a bit. The curiosity was definitely there. And he would have an opportunity to perhaps see what could be done further tomorrow evening. As he looked at the words written, they disappeared and changed to:

~Lina~ A : 28 (+1) 29
~Asha~ A: 22 (+3) 25 E: 1 (+1) 2 L: 1 (+1) 2

Reglin's eyes bulged at seeing that, 'Wow! What happened? Were the two ladies still talking about me?'. With that being the only conclusion that he could come to, his smile became a full-blown 'cat ate the canary' grin for more than a few moments. But rather than revel in the girls talking about him fondly, Reglin had more things he needed to explore with this scroll.

Looking at the broad picture of it all once more, Reglin saw that he had a mana count of 353, and saw that the Palace Guard group had helped amass more mana for him to use. It was nice to know that his rapport with his fellow guards was not some small thing. After all, Reglin's work meant a great deal to him. He took a great amount of pride in it. And this just furthered his motivation to cultivate these relationships. But then he moved down to read the section of Mana Channels. Underneath the words many new possible channels appeared. Many of these required alot more mana than Reglin had at his disposal, but it was quite illuminating to see some of things that he may be able to harness for himself. Quite a few of them seemed to revolve around his ability to please a partner. As much as he would love to have a use for those, he currently did not in his eyes, given Tabitha's insistence on their relationship maintaining one of student and mentor. Some of these channels were truly supernatural. He could even make it so he would be recognized as a noble! That would be interesting to see, but it was also unrealistically expensive. So he continued to peruse the list until he came to:

Corpu Vigorii (Vigorous Body): Your Strength, Agility, and Fortitude will become truly noteworthy. Only one in fifty-thousand men may be able to boast of matching your physique and physical acumen. Your body will process food more efficiently and your body rests more efficiently, so that you will require less of both. Your body heals at a rate surpassing all natural healing. 100 mana for initial tier.

This particular one jumped out at Reglin. He could become one of the best guards around. With this particular channel, he might even become someone that could be called upon for special duties, given that he would surely be ready for any task! The myriad of fantastic ideas took hold in his imagination. Being called upon to be a champion of sorts for the King himself! The grandiosity of it all quickly overcame Reglin and he had to give himself a shake to bring himself back to reality. But all of that did confirm his desire. Without anymore hesitation he read aloud, "Corpu Vigorii" and saw the Mana Channel appear active on The Affection Multiplier scroll.

Muscles flexed and tightened involuntarily, almost as if Reglin was having a full-body cramp, but with no pain of note. He took in a massive breath at the same time, his lungs expanding and expanding well beyond his previous capacity. After a few moments, his body relaxed and he continued his walking, but now every step felt as sure as he had ever felt, even when he was reading while doing so. Reglin's feet could feel the ground, even in heavy boots, and his ankles flexed with ease to compensate for any irregularities in his footing. It was as if Reglin had the best night of sleep and then had the best, most energizing meal he had ever eaten. But beyond comparison.

Even though he was amazed at his current euphoric physical stat, Reglin's returned to the Mana Channels section once more looking for something else that had caught his eye. And there it was. Another Mana Channel that appealed to his needing to prove himself. Thinking more on it, this hang-up of his might prove detrimental to his overall usage of this artifact, but for the time, it still consumed him. And so he read the entry:

Uirtau Proelium (Martial Prowess): Your martial abilities grow at an astounding rate. You are able to see the happenings of the battlefield with great clarity, rarely making the same mistake twice. Tendencies of your opponent start to stand out to you very quickly. This makes itself evident in large-scale combat, all the way down to one-on-one. In the world of trained armsmen, there would be roughly one in ten-thousand that could match wits and weapons with you. 100 mana for initial tier.

"Uirtau Proelium..." Reglin quickly uttered after reading the entry. He knew he had to have it. In addition to his physical prowess increase, his pride jumped at the opportunity to become a guard of great renown. One that others may speak of with a sense of awe. A big part of Reglin was still thinking this was all too surreal and that he would wake and find this all to have been manufactured in his night's imagination. But if that was the case, he would enjoy this dream for the time that it remained.

Under the Mana Channels section, Reglin saw the Martial Prowess channel activate. However, unlike the Vigorous Body Channel, he did not feel anything manifest itself immediately. Underwhelmed, Reglin had to question a dream that would do such a thing. Surely he should have felt the need to brandish his flamberge and execute the most refined and marvelous of exercises to inspire awe in those that witnesses... But no. None of that happened.

With a small shrug Reglin returned to reading the section in the scroll and noticed that both Vigorous Body and Martial Prowess were available for purchase again, but this time at the intermediate tier. And both of them well beyond his price tag since his available mana was now down to 153. But looking at Vigorous Body, it expanded his physical capabilities even further to where there were only 1 in 200,000 people that might be able to match him. And that was excluding the supernatural healing and maintenance that came with his. Martial Prowess followed suit, but with the number being lower since it was relegated to a specific group of people. With it, on average only 1 in 100,000 armsmen would be able to match swords or what have you with Reglin. These were definite buys in Reglin's mind, but obviously at a later, perhaps much later time.

With his curiosity sated and his power fantasy having took a couple more steps forward, Reglin put away The Affection Multiplier artifact and carried on with a smile as he came around the fenceline, closer to the area of the estate where more people would frequent.

~This is knowledge for the Reader~

The Affection Multiplier

~Mana: 203~

~Mana Channels: ~Labiae Passionii (Lips of Passion) free, ~ Corpu Vigorii (Vigorous Body) 100, ~ Uirtau Proelium (Martial Prowess) 100

~Tabitha~ Affectionae: 78 Erosii: 12 Libidae: 10
~Lim~ A: 25
~Boll~ A: 13
~Grahm~ A:26
~Lina~ A : 28 (+1) 29
~Asha~ A: 22 (+3) 25 E: 1 (+1) 2 L: 1 (+1) 2

Achieved: Open the Channel - You have opened your first mana channel, strengthening yourself... for real this time... (+50 mana)