Latest / Dad’s Bedtime Stories / The Mage, the Dragon, and the Level Up - A Magic Library Lit RPG Adventure - Stories for Kids

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The Mage, the Dragon, and the Level Up - A Magic Library Lit RPG Adventure - Stories for Kids · Dad’s Bedtime Stories

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hello, friends from across the nation and around the world.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: I'm Martin and you are listening to Dad's Bedtime Stories.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Tonight we're going to be jumping back into the Magic
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Library series because I got a listener idea that we're
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: going to listen to right now.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Hi, Dad's Potent Stories. It's me and JD again. I
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: want to suggest something for the Magic Library series. It's
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: like you are you are like a wizard, and do
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: you go on a quest to save a village and stuff.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: It's kind of like RPG adventure type story thing, and
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: you like fight a dragon or whatever, like some classic stuff.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: I love your podcast.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Well, JD, that is a great and shout out to
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Zeke as well, who I know left me some ideas
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: with you, don't. I don't know if I'm going to
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: get to the dragon fighting part or the village saving part,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: because I kind of got carried away in the beginning
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: of this story, but it started based on this idea,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: and frankly, we may just have to do a part too.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: So yeah, let me know your ideas and what you
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: think of this part. JD, and well anyone else who's
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: listening to I love to hear your thoughts and what
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: you think should happen next. Maybe we'll do a part
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: two next week, what do you think about that. Before
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: we get started with a story, I do want to
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: give a couple big shoutouts. First of all, thank you
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: to a lease from Colorado for sponsoring me on Patreon.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: That really means a lot and goes a long way
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: to keeping the lights on here at the Dad's Bedtime Studios,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: which is my basement. If you want to support the podcast,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: there's lots of ways to do it. First of all,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: of course, you can sign up for Patreon. You get
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: to add free episodes of all of these stories as
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: well as Dad's Anytime Stories, my other new podcast, plus
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: some more direct access to me to chat with me
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: and that sort of thing. But otherwise you can also
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: leave me a rating or review. Five star ratings on
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: iTunes or Apple podcasts make a really big difference to
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: other people finding the show. Same thing on Spotify and
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: probably a bunch of other platforms that had ratings on them.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: I don't know, I'm on everything, but now I should
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: probably get on with the story. Close your eyes, get
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: as comfy as you can in that bed, and imagine
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: yourself doing what the kid in the story does, because
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: after all, you are the main character here. Imagine yourself
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: sitting around in your room once again. It's not exactly
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: a bad day, nothing terrible's happened or anything like that,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: but it's another one of those days where things are
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: feeling a little bit boring. You look at some toys, eh,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: you look at some books maybe, and then you see
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: something else. The key, the old, ancient looking key to
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: the magic library, and suddenly you're sure the day is
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: about to improve. Because if there's one thing that can
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: fix a boring day, it's a secret magical library hidden
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: behind a door that can appear in the well, any wall,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: any wall, anywhere in the world. You hop off your bed,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: walk across the room, pick up the key, and carry
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: it over to a blank part of the wall. Just
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: before the key touches the wall, a key hole appears.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: You slide the key into the keyhole and turn it.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: There's a click, and then a glowing outline of a
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: door appears in the wall. You pull it open and
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: step through. On the other side are the familiar stone
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: steps leading downward, followed by a long hallway lit by
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: magical blue torches. The flames flicker without any smoke at all.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Somehow you make your way down the steps, through the corridor,
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: and eventually you reach the great wooden door at the
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: far end. You grab the handle, pull it open, and
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: step inside the Magic Library. As always, it's enormous. The
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Magic Library is a place where every adventure ever written,
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: every story ever told, and every adventure ever imagined appears
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: in the form of a book, which means there are
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: copies of cards of power in there too. Somewhere. Some
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: books contain fairy tales, some pirate quests, some space battles,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: dragon kingdoms, magical mysteries, and, as I said, books where
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: magical cards rule the universe. But the books here don't
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: just sit on the shelves waiting to be read. They
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: come to life, as you know, They pull you right
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: into them. They let you become a part of the adventure.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Shelves stretch upward further than you can see. Balconies circle
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: around upper levels, Winding staircases connect one floor to another.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Cozy reading nooks are tucked between the stacks with pillows
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: and blankets and chairs that look almost too comfortable. And
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: everywhere books drift through the air, flapping their covers like
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: little wings. Welcome back, says a familiar voice the librarian. Hey,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: you say, well, what kind of book do you have
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: for me today?
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: Hum?
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: Well, I thought you might enjoy something a little different,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: says the librarian. Ah, a wizarding world. Perhaps you perk
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: up immediately. Magic, lots of magic, says the librarian. But
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: this is not an ordinary wizard story. This particular book
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: is what some readers call a literary RPG, or lit
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: RPG for short. Uh Ah, what you respond? A literary RPG,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: says the librarian. It's getting rather popular lately. It means
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: a world of the story works a little bit like
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: a game, not necessarily a game itself, but where game
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: like characters often have levels, classes, skills, health, stammina magica,
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: inventories that are somewhat magical, quests and rewards, that sort
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: of thing. Oh, you say, slowly, So like a video game,
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: buck Ah in a way, Yes, except when you enter
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: it you don't simply read about the choices. You make
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: them yourself. Well, that definitely sounds interesting. So I get
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: to choose powers yes, and uh and skills yeah, and
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: maybe a dragon. The librarian pauses. I thought you might ask,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: that from somewhere high above, a book flaps down through
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: the air. It glides in a circle around a staircase,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: swoops over the reading area, and lands in your hands.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: The cover shows a glowing blue portal in the middle
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: of a forest. On one side is an ordinary boy
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: wearing normal earth clothes, and on the other is a
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: village surrounded by mountains, towers, monsters, and a small dragon
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: flying beside him. The title reads World System the Mage
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: of Emberfall. Oh eh, that does look pretty cool, you say,
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: I thought you would approve, says the librarian. You head
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: down to the reading area and settle into one of
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: the big couches. You pull a big blanket over your
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: legs and open the book. Instead of normal pages, a
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: swirling blue portal glows inside the cover. You lean toward it.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: The familiar pulling feeling grabs hold of you, and suddenly
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: you're sucked forward through the light, through wind, through something
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: that feels a little bit like falling and a little
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: bit like being sucked through a straw at the same time.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: When you open your eyes, you're standing in darkness, not
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: like scary darkness or anything like that, more like waiting
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: room darkness. A glowing message appears in front of you.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Welcome JD of Earth. Oh, you say, I guess I'm JD.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: In this story. The librarian's voice begins to narrate a round.
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: J D had been an ordinary kid from Earth. He'd
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: gone to sleep in his own bed, in his own room,
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: in his very own, very normal world. But when he
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: opened his eyes, he found himself somewhere else, entirely, a
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: place between worlds, a place where choices mattered. Another message appears.
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: Select your class. Suddenly, glowing symbols flowed all around you. Warrior, Ranger, Engineer,
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: Beast Tamer, Shadow, Sneak, Star, Night Alchemist, Inventor, battle chef.
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: The battle chef, you say. A little description appears beneath
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: it uses enchanted cooking tools to defeat enemies and prepare
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: powerful meals. Huh think I'm gonna choose that one. The
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: symbols continue to rotate Time Adept, Crystal, Monk, mech Pilot,
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: Dragon Rider, Mage, You stop, Mage. Something feels right about
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: that one. You touch the glowing symbol.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: Are you sure you wish to select Mage? Yes, you say,
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: I've always wanted magical powers. Class selected Mage Starting attribute
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: points available fifteen three glowing bars appear in front of you.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Health red bar, stamina a green bar, and magic a
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: blue bar. The librarian begins to narrate again. J D
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: knew that health would help him survive, and stamina would
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: help him run crime and dull. But magic was well magic,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: and j D did not come all away to another
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: universe just to be sensible, as he often did when
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: playing video games. J D stacked his points in the
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: magic category. That sounds fair, You say, you put two
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: points into health, because I mean you need a little
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: bit of health, three points into stamina, and ten points
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: into magic. The magic bar glows brightly. Interesting choice, says
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: a new voice. You spin around floating in the air
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: beside you as a tiny dragonling. He's about the size
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: of a cat, with red scales, golden eyes, and small
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: wings that flap quickly to keep him in place. Who
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: who are you you ask? Ah? The name's Zeke, says
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: the dragonling, proudly, your familiar guide advisor, you know, the
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: voice of reason. Do BY pick you? Or did I
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: pick you? Ah? Well you kind of already did, sort
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: of Your heart picked me anyways before your brain could
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: even look at the other options. Interesting, you say, familiar
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: selected dragonling, starting spells, unlocked flames, frost, lightning, healing and
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: energy sap. The darkness disappears. Suddenly you're standing on a
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: dirt road at the edge of a small village. Wooden
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: houses line the road. Smoke rises from chimneys. A blacksmith
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: hammer's metal so somewhere nearby, chickens wander around like well,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: chickens do. Beyond the village are green fields, dark forests,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: and mountains rising in the distance. A glowing message appears,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Emberfall, Starter Village, Beginner Region, Starter Village. You
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: say that seems safe, Zeke snorts a tiny puff of smoke.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: That's what Starter Villages wants you to think. Oh great,
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: come on, he says, before you do anything, aroic are
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: extremely foolish, and we should probably practice. Most people grow
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: up understanding the system and their powers. But people like you,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: who well suddenly transport here from well other universes eh
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: often a bit at lost. Zeke leads you to a
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: fenced training area behind the village. Wooden targets are set
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: up in a row, along with a few straw dummies.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: Magic is about affinity, focus and release. Just think of
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: the type of magic. You want feel it inside you
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: move it towards your hands, man, push it forward. Honestly,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: it's more about what it feels like. Once you do
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: it once, it'll be easy, I promise. Man. If you
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: have any trouble, just say the spell name out loud
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: at first. That should help you lift one hand up
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: toward the target. Flames, you say. As you try to
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: focus on the idea of fire, Warmth gathers in your chest,
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: moves down your arm, and bursts from your palm. A
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: plume of fire shoots forward and scorches the target. Destruction
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: magic increased. Oh wow, you say, yeah, says Zeke. Now
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: try frost. You focus on cold this time. The feeling's different,
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: sort of sharper, like winter air in your lungs. You
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: push it forward through your arm, through your hand, and
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: a blast of icy mist hits the next dummy, freezing
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: it in place and coating it in a thin layer
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: of ice. All right, Try the lightning, Zeke says. As
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: you focus inward on the idea of lightning, Well, it
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: starts to feel a little jumpy and wild. Energy crackles
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: through your fingers. You aim carefully and release it a
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: bolt of lightning flashes from your hand and strikes the target,
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: blasting it backwards and leaving a twitching on the ground.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Did I destroy it? It's a target, says Zeke. It'll
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: recover emotionally. Don't worry about it. You try healing. Next,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: a soft golden light glows around your hand and settles
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: into your arm, making you feel warm and steady. Little
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: pains that you'd actually stopped noticing over the years suddenly disappear,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: and you feel better than ever. Well, the last power
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: is called energy sap, Zeke explains, But that one's designed
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: to pull energy out of enemies, and I'll form it
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: into a crystal. You need those for enchanting and that
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: sort of thing. But I'm definitely not gonna let you
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: use it on me, and it won't work on a target.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: I'll just have to wait until you find something. Well living,
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: got it? You reply, honestly, it's a pretty good way
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: to make money. Well, I have no money, so that
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: could be useful. What do we do next, Well, it's
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: probably time to do a mission. Zeke flaps toward the
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: main road. Where are we going? The general store? He says.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Shopkeepers always know where the beginner problems are. Trust me.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: You follow them to a wooden building with a painted
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: sign that reads Marlowe's General Goods. Inside shelves are packed
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: with ropes, lanterns, bread boots, potions, and you know, all
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: sorts of glowing crystals and things like that. Behind the
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: counter stands a round faced man with a must stash
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: a newer around here. He asks, is it then obvious?
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: You reply, eh, you still look excited. That usually goes away.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: After the first goblin cave Zeke lands on the counter.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: He's a mage, Zeke says, show him mapp something useful.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: The shopkeeper brightens aw magic customer, very good. I've got
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: spell books, a fire bolt's eye, spike, explosive lightning, very
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: popular with people like making loud bangs and that sort
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: of thing. He places the three books on the counter.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: You stare at them. Then he pulls out folded robes,
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: deep blue with silver stitching around the sleeves. And these,
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: he says, are robes of magica, protective enchantment that will
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: well protect you from damages, increases available magic, reduces spell cost.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: Very nice for a young age. You stare at the
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: robes and immediately you know you want them. How much
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: are they you ask forty gold. You check your pockets
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: and well, nothing, Nah, we don't really keep gold in
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: your pockets here anyways. Most people absorb it into their inventory.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: But don't worry about that. You don't have any You
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: look back at the shopkeeper. Sorry, I don't have anything yet.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: Any idea how I could make some money? The shopkeeper size,
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: and then points reluctantly towards a door behind the counter. Well,
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: my basement has been overrun by elemental rats, fire rats,
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: frost rats, lightning rats. Started with two, and now there
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: are well a lot more than two. I can't even
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: go down there anymore. If you clear them out, I'll
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: give you the robes, plus you might find other useful things.
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: You look at Zeke, who just shrugs, Eh, it's a
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: good beginner mission. Fine, you say, I'll do it, even
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: though you've always hated beginner missions. You just want to
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: go fight a dragon or something like that, but well,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: elemental rats will have to do for now. The shop
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: keep or unlocks the basement door. You step inside and
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: begin making your way down the wooden stairs. The smell
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: hits you first dust, old boxes, burnt wood, frozen apples,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: and something that's probably rat. You reach the bottom and
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: there are rats everywhere. Some have little flames flickering along
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: their backs. Some are pale blue and breathing frost out
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: onto the flower. Others crackle with electricity. Oh, you say,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: that is a lot of rats. I can see why
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: he's offering the forty gold. One fire rat turns toward
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: you and hisses its cheeks, puff up zeke. You ask, uh, yeah,
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: what should I do them before they blast you? Obviously?
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: The rat spits a tiny fireball. You dodge it sideways, right,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: good advice. You gather fire in your hand and unleash flames.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: A plume of fire sweeps forward, knocking several rats across
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: the room. They squeak and tumble into a stack of crates.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: But so that really did was make the others notice you.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: A frost rad blast your arm with icy magic. A
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: lightning rad shocks your side. A fire rat spits another
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: little fireball at your chest. Light armor increased. A voice says,
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: light armor. You showed I'm just wearing normal clothes in
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: this world. Getting hits sometimes teaches your body how to
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: get hit better, and well, normal clothes are the light
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: is of armor, after all. That is both helpful and
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: very concerning. You fire lightning at a cluster of rats
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: in the corner of your eye. You see your magic
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: bar decrease a little bit. Electricity jumps between the rats
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: and they collapse stunned. Destruction magic increased. A voice says,
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: you turn and shoot frost at another group, freezing them
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: in place. Then flames again, knocking two fire rats backward.
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: But your magic bar is drop, and quickly a glowing
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: warning appears. Magic low. Oh no, you say. As more
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: rats rush toward you, you swing your foot and punt
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: one of them away. Another jumps at your arm and
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: you bat it off with a crate lid. Light armor increase.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: As soon as your magic increases enough to unleash another spell,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: you reach inside yourself and blast the rats with lightning destruction.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: Magic increase to level two. That sounds good, you say,
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: but I'm still surrounded, and then another voice says you
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: have reached level two mage. A strange shimmer appears around
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: your body. Level two? What does that mean? Zeke flaps
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: wildly above you. It means you should level up quickly,
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: he says, How just think about leveling up? You do instantly.
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: The world well it pauses. You have a pause button
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: built into your head. Interesting. The rats free in mid leap,
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: Sparks hang in the air. A fireball stops a few
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: inches away from your face, which is both amazing and
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: not something you're looking forward to. When you stop the pause,
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: a glowing menu appears in front of you. Level two Mage.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: Choose attribute to increase health, stamina or magic. Ah, I'd
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: pick magic, says Zeke's voice. Wait, you can still talk
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: to me in pause mode. I'm your guide. It would
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: be incredibly inconvenient if I couldn't. You select magic. Your
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: magic bar grows longer and refills part way. Then another
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: menu opens, Select perk. Most of the categories are dark.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Oh what's this you ask? Ah? Well, perk are kind
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: of special privileges you can select. You get one with
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: each level increase, although you have to have a certain
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: level in each skill to pick one. If that makes sense,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: That's why only a couple of years are lit up.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: As he said, most of the categories are dark, but
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: two or glowing light Armor and Destruction Magic. You focus
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: first on the light armor and see a number of
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: possible boosts, only one of which is currently available to you.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Novice Light armor is twenty five percent more effective. Okay,
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: you shrink that view and focus on the destruction magic instead.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: You open up the categories, and again, one perk is
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: currently available to you, Novice destruction magic. Novice spells cost
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: half as much magic to cast well offense or defense.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: You think, and I know which one I'm gonna choose.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: You select Novice destruction magic. Power rushes through your body.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: The world unpauses, and the fireball continues, flying towards your face,
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: singing your hair a little bit. How you duck and
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: blast flames. This time, the spell well feels easier, cheaper, smoother,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: and your magic bar doesn't go down near as much.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: A wave of fire sends the closest rats tumbling back.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: You spin and unleash frost, freezing three lightning rats before
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: they can strike. Then you aim both hands in unleash lightning,
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: shocking the final cluster until they call lapse in a
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: twitching pile. The basement goes quiet. You breathe hard, he
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: I did it. The rats begin to shimmer. One by one,
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: they start to transform into small balls of glowing energy. Zeke, Now, yeah,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: this isn't normal in your world. Pre defeated enemies often
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: convert into energy and well whatever they tend to be holding.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: Your job is to absorb it. How you ask, well,
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: use your energy SAP. Instead of focusing on pushing outwards,
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: imagine the energy coming in towards you. The energy will
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: form itself into crystals, crystals that can be used for
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: enchantments or to sell, or well that sort of thing. Man.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: As a plus, anything in their inventory will be absorbed
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: into yours. You'll probably get a lot of garbage in
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: this case, but you may as well try it. So
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: you do just that, your hands begin to glow, and
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: sure enough, the glowing balls of energy and little floating
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: other things shoot towards you and vanish into your body.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: A menu appears in your field of vision. Inventory updated
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: gold coins twelve, spellbook, firebolt, rat meat twenty three, Petty
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: energy crystals fourteen. You stare, I do not want rat meat.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: You say, man, I would just sell it. It's not
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: worth much, but probably right at not wanting to try
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: it yourself to who mah, you'd be surprised the people
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: here by just about anything. You focus first on the
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: spell book and suddenly it appears in your hand. It
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: has a red cover and a symbol of a fireball
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: on the front. You open it up, the pages start
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: to flip rapidly on their own. Knowledge floods your mind.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: You suddenly understand how to gather fire into a well
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: a tight little sphere, hold it steady and launched forwards,
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: so it explodes on contact. Spell learned firebolt. The book
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: turns to dust in your hands. Oh, you say that
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: seems wasteful. Man, it's normal, says Zeke. Bucks are just
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: the universes way of transferring knowledge around here. You and
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: Zeke head back upstairs. You're covered in dust, your clothes
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: are burnt and well I have holes through them, but
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: you're feeling pretty proud. The shopkeeper looks up. Well, uh,
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: the basement's cleared, you say, and only mildly burned, says Zeke.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: The shopkeeper hurries downstairs, looks around, and comes back smiling. Oh,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: very good. I honestly didn't think you'd come back from that. Eh.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: Deal's a deal. He hands you the robes of magica.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: You absorb them into your inventory, then focus on equipping them. Instantly,
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: the robes appear on your body. They fit perfectly. Your
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: magic bar grows slightly longer, and the spells inside you
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: suddenly feel easier to reach. Plus, you feel a sort
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: of protective aura around your entire body. You can see
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: it faintly shimmering, like a well, like a high tech
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: shield or melon magic shield. In this case, these are excellent.
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: The shopkeeper nods, I also have a room available one
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: gold for the week. If you need a place to sleep.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: You check your inventory. You have twelve gold. I'll take it.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: You pay one gold coin and he leads you upstairs
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: to a small but comfortable looking room with a bed
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: made of straw, a wooden chair, and a window overlooking
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: the village. You sit down on the bed. Zeke curls
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: up on the window sill. Well, I became a mage,
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: got a dragon familiar, defeated elemental rats, learned a fire bolt,
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: and got magic robes. Yeah, a decent first day, says Zeke. Decent,
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: well for a beginner.
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: Uh.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: Probably time for a break, though, you say, realizing that, well,
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: you're still inside a lit RPG book. Where done, young adventurer?
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: The voice of the librarian says, it seems j D's
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: journey and Empophal has only just begun. A glowing portal
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: appears beside the bed, You sit up and look over
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: at Zeke. He doesn't seem to notice the portal. Ah
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: see as soon, you say, as you stemp through the thing.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: After the normal sensations of being sucked through straw disappear,
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: you find yourself in the library once again. That made
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: me pretty tired. You close the book beside you. Chapter
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: two will have to wait. You lay back on the
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: comfortable cushion of the reading nook. A blanket flies over
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: and falls down on your body, as if the library
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: knows exactly what you need. You close your eyes as
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: the lights dim and slowly you begin to relax your arms,
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: let go of any tension, and sink down into the cushion.
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: Your legs soften, your shoulders relax, and even the muscles
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: in your face let go. With each breath, you sink
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: down a little bit deeper, and your mind begins to
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: wander off to thoughts of new dreams, new adventures, and
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: new magical powers to come. Good night, everyone.
• 38:33
  Speaker 3: In New York, n no no thing, no more mo
• 45:23
  Speaker 3: union in one one man never w