– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 215, Season of the Rising Sun, Day 95 –

“This one looks interesting,” said Miguel. He pulled out a pamphlet for a corrupted culling mission from the pre-approved list provided by the local Guardian advisors.

The three groups had agreed to team up and travel together in order to get some broader experience with various mission types. They had already entered Arcana’s C-zone, but as for mission variety…

“I would rather take this one,” said Alrik. He placed a different pamphlet on the table.

“Another courier mission?” exclaimed Miguel. He looked the information over. “It doesn’t even pay that well. What’s up with you?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” replied Alrik nonchalantly. “It looks like a good mission.”

“I would also prefer to do a corrupted hunt once in a while,” interjected Siling.

“How about starting with ‘once,’” grumbled Miguel. “This whole trip we have done nothing but courier and escort missions.”

“But this mission seems important,” retorted Florine. “The destination is a healer in Chaba. Furthermore, it is marked as urgent. Isn’t it our duty as Guardians to help out here?”

Jorg raised an eyebrow.

In contrast, Terry and Tiana nodded. They had had several such disagreements during the past few days. Often, it fell to Terry’s group to act as the tie-breaker. Having convinced both Tiana and Terry, the matter was practically settled.

Alrik smiled contentedly.

***

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” blurted Miguel. “Another courier mission? Seriously?!” He threw his hands up in the air and shook his head.

“I don’t know what you have against courier missions.” Alrik shrugged.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing. But that does not mean I want to be married to them,” retorted Miguel. “I thought we were aiming for variety. Is this supposed to classify as ‘variety’? Five courier missions and one escort mission?”

“Even you have to admit that the corrupted hunts available here are less than satisfactory.”

“Not the most interesting creatures, no,” remarked Siling.

“Heck, at this point, I am willing to settle,” grunted Miguel. “I’d shoot a chilly chicken just to get it out of my system.”

Siling snorted and guffawed.

“That’s fine for you, but others may want a challenge,” retorted Florine. “I don’t want to waste my time.”

Miguel scoffed. “How exactly does that fit with us going to…” He examined the pamphlet again. “Danang? A place that barely qualified for a tertiary gate? Yes, that sounds like a really worthwhile excursion. Next stop, Podunk Hollow?”

“Miguel’s got a point, Lori,” interjected Jorg.

“Bum Burrow back of beyond?” grumbled Miguel.

“Not sure if we can count on the missions there being any better.” Siling pointed out.

“Middle of the Backwater Belt?”

“Hmph,” grunted Alrik.

“Silent Settlement at the arse-end of nowhere?”

“Alright!” growled Florine. “We get it.”

“Shucks,” uttered Miguel with a deadpan expression. “I have not even reached Pissant Anytown yet.”

“Tse.” Alrik wore a sullen expression.

“Terry, what do you think?” asked Florine.

“The hunts here really aren’t all that interesting.”

Alrik’s lips curled upwards.

“However, I think Siling made a good point. I would not expect the missions to get better down there. So we are investing a two-way trip just for the courier mission. Tiana?”

“Mhmh. The bigger cities tend to aggregate the most challenging missions of the surrounding areas. There may be a few interesting missions exclusive to the smaller places, but then there are usually local Guardians settled there as well. If the mission has not been reported to the main cities, then they do not require additional hands. I would rather work where my support is actually wanted instead of snatching the work from others.”

“If we want a better mission pool to pick from, we should probably stick to the primary or at least secondary cities,” said Siling.

Alrik’s smile had vanished.

“Makes sense to me,” agreed Miguel. Jorg and Gellath nodded.

Florine made eye contact with Alrik. He clicked his tongue.

“How about we rest for the day,” suggested Alrik.

Jorg furrowed his brow. “It is only late afternoon.”

Alrik shrugged. “If we want to go back to the primary cities, then that would take a while. The fee at the inn here is probably lower. Furthermore, who knows when we will have the chance to come back here? We should at least experience the local specialties, no?”

Miguel rolled his eyes.

“And maybe tomorrow the missions will look different?” Alrik smirked.

Terry shrugged. “I would not mind having a look around and settling in for the night.”

“Great,” exclaimed Alrik. “Any objections?”

Miguel glared at him but did not raise his voice.

When they were about to separate, Alrik nodded at Florine.

“Jorg, do you have a minute?” asked Florine.

“Huh? Yeah, sure.”

While Alrik, Florine, and Jorg stayed back, the rest moved along.

“Hey Miguel, you know what a chicken and coldfire have in common?” prompted Gellath.

“Oh boy,” sighed Miguel. He pressed his hand against his forehead.

“Another one.” Tiana chortled.

Gellath watched them happily and waited for the cue.

“Alright,” muttered Miguel in resignation. “Please, enlighten me.”

Gellath grinned broadly. “They’re both blue except for the chicken.”

Miguel displayed an almost pained expression. He exhaled a strange noise – a mixture between laughing and sobbing.

Terry could not help but snort and chuckle.

“Of course,” declared Miguel, who had recovered a deadpan expression. “Why did I not think of that?” He shook his head.

“It’s so obvious once you hear it, right?” exclaimed Siling. “You learn something new every day.”

Tiana rolled her eyes.

In spite of herself, Elena had to smile. She tilted her head and examined the cheerful dwarf in front of her. “It’s almost like he feeds off of others’ cringing. Amazing.”

“Please don’t,” pleaded Miguel. “You are encouraging him.”

“Want to know why Goblins can’t clap their hands?” asked Gellath with anticipation.

“See? Now look at what you’ve done!”

“I’ll bite,” said Terry. “Why?”

Gellath changed his expression and spoke with a somber tone. “Because they’re extinct.”

Miguel groaned and looked to the heavens. “Make it stop.”

Siling giggled.

***

Late in the evening, Terry stood over his mattress in his room at the inn. He had spread out the blanket as preparation for his most recent training exercise. The blanket and mattress were supposed to cushion falling items so as to prevent any noise disturbances.

Terry summoned metal balls from his storage bracelets. Then, he started to juggle over the mattress. Terry juggled five balls – three octavum, one septimum, one tertium – and then began to incorporate his Immovable Object spell. He transfixed one ball in the air before summoning another from his storage bracelet to fill up the gap.

Some of the balls had been imprinted with the Immovable Object spell. For others, Terry first had to properly cast the spell. While he continued to juggle five balls at all times, the number of balls that were transfixed in the air increased steadily.

Terry had thought of the exercise together with Isille and Samuel.

The first goal was to try and have the balls become transfixed in a specific pattern, for example a straight line. Aside from training his hand-eye coordination, this also forced Terry to get the timing right for the activation of his spell or the spell imprints. It needed to be adjusted depending on the target position, the force used when throwing the ball, the ball’s material, and the difference between activating a spell imprint and casting a spell from scratch.

Isille, in particular, encouraged Terry to train with imprinted throwing weapons based on octavum.

Samuel was the one who insisted on including some non-imprinted balls so that Terry would also train his spell control, mana sense, mana reach, and casting concentration.

Soon after Terry had started, the second aspect of the exercise was revealed – the Immovable Object spell for the first ball wore off. The ball fell and Terry had to add it to his juggling without losing his rhythm.

This was not intended as an exercise in reflexes. Instead, it was an exercise in control. Terry was supposed to control how long the spell was active by controlling the amount of mana used during activation. If he messed up, then there may be multiple balls falling down at the same time – which would mess up his juggling completely. While it was possible to make up for control with speed and reflexes somewhat, it only worked up to a point.

Currently, Terry allowed himself to keep his mana sense active and watch the mana movement with mana sight in order to estimate the spell duration for the transfixed balls. However, the long-term goal was to solely rely on his mana control without resorting to reflexes or mana sense as a crutch.

Terry continued like this for an hour. Before going to bed, Terry still intended to do some ring training. However, the juggling was surprisingly exhausting. Even ignoring the mental fatigue, juggling for longer periods was exhausting in a purely physical manner.

Therefore, Terry decided on a short break. He retrieved his notebook and pen. Then, he sat down on the floor and looked over his notes.

Terry was trying to identify improvements for his armor parts that had been imprinted with the Immovable Object spell. He was satisfied with the mechanism in his boots for now. However, the bracers were a different topic.

Terry was hoping for better mobility in the air, but he discovered that his movement was very limited with a bracer plate transfixed in place. The bracers were useful for anchoring himself, for example when he wanted to do a two-legged kick. They could also come in handy when trying to stop or redirect his movement. However, Terry always had to be very careful when activating them or he would run the risk of breaking his own arms. After all, an elbow joint did not support free movement in all directions.

For the kind of melee mobility that Terry yearned for, he would need to come up with something better. His current scribbles and sketches focused on an idea he thought of when thinking back to his first experiments that led to Jorg’s bloody nose.

Instead of imprinting the bracer plate, the plate would have an imprinted spherical object embedded. The bracer plate – and with it Terry – could rotate freely around the transfixed spherical object.

Imprinting only the spherical object had the additional advantage that only the sphere would necessitate septimum for the low activation delay. The rest of the bracer plate could be made from a cheaper material with similar durability. On the other hand, an unimprinted plate would be susceptible to damage when blocking unless Terry cast the Immovable Object spell himself. Terry was not sure yet if the savings from the cheaper material would be worth it.

The problem with the idea was still how to incorporate the sphere into the armor. The sphere needed to be large enough for Terry to imprint it. Another challenge was the need to get used to the weird rotation axis. Transfixing a metal spear and then swinging around it at the location of your hands or hips felt different than rotating around a location at your forearm.

Furthermore, the additional mobility came at a price. With the imprinted plate, Terry could transfix himself in any position at any angle. All it required was enough body tension. In contrast, if only the sphere was imprinted, then gravity would act on him and rotate him accordingly.

I should probably keep both the plate and sphere imprinted…

Terry pondered. He subconsciously played with the pen and rotated it around his fingers.

***

“I’m in favor of doing the courier mission,” stated Jorgen.

Miguel, who had been leaning back on the chair until this point, straightened himself and blinked. He shook his head and snapped his fingers next to his ears.

“Beg your pardon?” Miguel scrunched up his face.

Terry’s group was just as surprised, but they remained silent.

Gellath shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t mind. If Jorg wants to do it, too, then why not?”

“Excellent,” exclaimed Alrik. “Then that makes at least five uf us.”

“We should inform the Guardians that we will accept the mission as soon as possible,” said Florine and stood up immediately.

“Good idea,” praised Alrik and stood up as well.

Before Miguel had any chance to object, the two were already on their way.

“W-what just happened?” asked Miguel. “What the what now?” He turned to Jorg and whined. “Whyyy?”

Jorgen looked around and considered his words. “I heard once that the smaller places occasionally have investigatory missions. You know, unverified suspicions or a time window before the missions get communicated to the bigger cities. That kind of mission could be a new experience. Since we’re already this close, we might as well try our luck. I have a good feeling. Call it a hunch.”

***

“Ugh, welcome to Woop Woop Nowheresville,” grumbled Miguel.

“Oh, cheer up Mister Grumpy Pants!” exclaimed Siling. “Look, it doesn’t seem so bad.”

“More than three houses, yay,” uttered Miguel in a flat voice.

“You’re exaggerating,” said Jorg. “Maybe a quarter of one of Arcana’s districts?”

“I always suspected you were bad at math,” retorted Miguel.

Jorg squinted at him. When he heard Lori giggle, he turned to her. “No comments from the cheap seats, please. Such information is classified as Family Secret.”

“The tower over there is the destination with the recipient,” said Alrik.

“I guess there are upsides to having only a single tall building around,” snarked Miguel.

“Give it a rest,” replied Jorgen. “If the missions are of no interest, we can take a trip to hunt some food.”

Miguel considered the idea. He looked expectantly at Siling.

Siling smiled and shook her head. “You can have free access to Grumpy.”

That seemed to cheer Miguel up. “Deal. No backsies.”

***

“So much for your hunch,” said Miguel.

“Guess, you’re not going the clairvoyant path any time soon,” added Gellath.

Jorgen was unperturbed. “Then, how about the hunting trip?”

“There is a good spot north of here,” stated Alrik.

“How do you know?” questioned Tiana.

“I’ve been here before not too long ago. My father manages caravans and I accompany one of them occasionally.”

“You don’t seem like a hunting enthusiast,” said Miguel with narrowed eyes.

“No, but there were others.”

***

“What exactly did your caravan escorts hunt?” Miguel surveyed the area. “Field mice? Because this does not look like a place for normal game.”

“I don’t even sense field mice,” said Siling with a furrowed brow.

“Wasps? Maybe? Puh-blblbl…” Miguel squeezed air through his closed lips. “Okay, I give up. What are we supposed to hunt here?”

“The hunting spot is further north,” replied Alrik.

“Then, why are we stopping here instead of there?”

Alrik smiled. “I have a better mission for us: dungeon work.”

That caught everyone’s attention.

“What are you talking about?” asked Tiana. “There was no such mission available at the Guardians.”

“That’s because the dungeon isn’t public yet. I discovered it the last time I was here.”

“And you did not report it?”

“Why would I? To lose the opportunity for the first dungeon dive? Perhaps miss the once in a lifetime chance to recover a dungeon core? What kind of fool do you take me for?”

Tiana chose not to answer that particular question.

“Hold up right there,” exclaimed Terry. “Dungeon work? A secret dungeon? A dungeon that has not been explored with a pioneer mission before? Are you out of your mind?!”

“I’ve made the necessary inquiries. I measured the mana concentration and mana suppression at the entrance. The measurements indicate a very weak dungeon – even weaker than the one in which we had our dungeon work examination. This makes me believe that the dungeon formed recently. Why else would I have hopes of getting my hands on a dungeon core?”

“Even if it is a weak dungeon, dungeon work still requires preparation,” retorted Tiana. “You can’t just spring this on us in the middle of nowhere. At the very least we should buy Mark-and-Recall scrolls.”

“All here.” Alrik summoned a bundle of scrolls. “One for everyone. My treat.” He handed three to Tiana, three to Jorgen, and one each to Florine and Elena.

Jorgen excitedly distributed the scrolls to Miguel and to Gellath.

“I even have some spares with me just in case,” said Alrik. “No one has to enter the dungeon without a Mark spell in place.”

“This— What— No!” Terry blurted out. “You can’t be serious!”

“We’ve already had a vote in our group,” said Alrik. “Lori and Elena are in. Jorg?”

“Of course, I want to. Gellath, Miguel, what do you think? This is a better mission, right?”

Gellath nodded enthusiastically.

Miguel contemplated longer. “Are you sure about the measurements?”

Alrik nodded. “Naturally, the mana concentration and mana suppression are no guarantees. However, if we notice trouble, we can always leave with the scrolls. So what’s the harm?”

Miguel shrugged. “Fair enough. Sounds interesting to me.”

Tiana turned to Terry and Siling. “I don’t know about this.”

Terry was getting frantic. He recalled Samuel, Bjorln, Isille… “No. You can’t do this!”

“Oh?” Alrik perked up and jeered. ”You don’t want to go? All this whaka stuff is just for show then?”

“Leave him alone, Alrik!” barked Jorg. “No one has to go if they don’t want to.”

“Alrik has a point,” interjected Florine. “I am going. And you are going, Jorg. Aren’t whaka supposed to stand together against danger?” Her disappointed eyes rested on Terry.

“This— I—” Terry searched for words. “That cuts both ways. I am pretty sure that you are not supposed to drag your whaka into unnecessary danger either. Normal dungeon work is one thing, but this— We should at least tell Ma and Pa about this.”

Florine and Jorgen grimaced and became wide-eyed.

Alrik scowled. “I discovered this dungeon. This was my secret.” He turned to Florine. “Didn’t you say they were alright? What the Wastes, Lori! I trusted you!”

“Th-they are. T-Terry did not mean that. Right?” Florine looked pleadingly at Terry. “You would not betray our trust and rat us out!”

“Terry look,” started Jorgen. “You do not have to go into the dungeon if you don’t want to. There is no need to involve Ma and Pa.”

“Then, will you stay away from it, too?” retorted Terry.

“I am going,” insisted Florine.

Jorgen shook his head as well. He did not meet Terry’s gaze.

“Then—”

“Wait a second,” interjected Tiana. “You expect us to keep this a secret? From everyone? I do not like the idea of entering an unknown dungeon without at least informing my brother. What about afterwards? Do you expect me to lie to my brother about this mission?”

“Afterwards, you can do what you want,” replied Alrik. “If there is any chance for us to get the dungeon core, it will be in the first run. Once we are done, you can inform your brother, the Guardians, or whomever you wish. Now, let’s hurry up. Everyone that wants to go, follow me.”

Terry’s expression became sullen. He turned to Tiana and Siling. “What do you think?”

“To be honest, I would like to go,” responded Siling. “Perhaps I can find a good match for my new soul spirit spot. However, I understand if you two don’t want to and I’ll stay with you.”

“I don’t know,” said Tiana. “Tempting, but I am getting a bad feeling. However, nevermind us. What about you, Terry? Are you going?”

Terry nodded with a pained look. “They’re my whaka… If they encounter danger, then I want to be there. However, I don’t want to drag anyone else into this. You—”

“Then that settles it.” Tiana cut him off. “We’re not letting you go in there alone, right?”

“Right,” agreed Siling.

***

“Are you sure that’s a dungeon entrance?” questioned Miguel. “Looks like a wall.”

“There is mana flowing,” stated Terry sullenly.

“Precisely! That’s how I first discovered it,” said Alrik. “I suspect the reason why no one has noticed it before is that the entrance and mana reservoir room on this side are not fully developed yet. It is easily dismissed as a wall if you do not pay attention with mana sight.”

“How do we fill the reservoir limit like this?” asked Jorgen.

“We’ll have your sister help out the dungeon construction a bit.”

“Raise Wall and Harden Rock should suffice to improvise a proper reservoir room,” elaborated Florine. “Once the room is in place, we accumulate our naturalized mana inside to open the passage door.”

***