Last Words chapter 38 (Patreon)

I went out on my own to look for the Erumpent for Esther. I debated taking someone along, but I realized that if the spice was located somewhere close enough to town for Esther to get it easily, there was a non zero chance that someone might be around to see me picking it. Speaking of which, Deke’s information had been incredibly specific. He’d not only told me exactly what the spice looked like, he’d given me descriptions of the kind of plants that grew nearby AND how to harvest it properly.

It was easily one of the most useful things he could have done, and it reaffirmed my decision to work with my cousin all over again, not that I needed it. Still, I took the long way around to reach the spot I was heading towards, following the clear trail we’d made out of the deeper forest where the door was situated and then skating along the edge of the treeline to reach the patches of Erumpent in question.

Taking extra care to harvest them as carefully as possible, I carefully plucked them out and tucked them into a bag I had prepared for them. I used Deke’s specifications, though they weren’t THAT specific, as he didn’t have any Erumpent on hand.

I had considered just buying some, but ultimately, for the same reasons I’d come alone I decided to stick with doing it the old fashioned way. It wouldn’t be unexpected for me to be watched so close to the village, especially given my interactions with one of the shadier factions in town.

Kneeling down, I carefully cupped the stem of an Erumpent plant, digging lightly at the dirt around it, before a twist and pull smoothly slid the plant from the dirt, root system and all. It had taken me quite a few tries to nail that technique, but it made the harvesting about three times faster and nearly effortless, so I considered it time well spent. I was so pleased with myself that I barely even noticed my foot catch on the root at the base of the blue leafed Delevane tree that had been supporting the Erumpent plant.

Cursing, I caught myself easily, preparing to pop back to my feet…before I noticed something shiny nearby.

Frowning, I stood up and approached the tree, kneeling to look into the strange hole at the base. It looked like the den of some kind of small animal, though I had no idea what kind. Peering into it, I realized that upon closer inspection, the barrow on the other side of the hole was MUCH bigger than I had thought. The entrance was about the size of a fist, but the chamber I was looking down into was closer to a ROOM than a hole.

Grimacing, I looked around, making sure I couldn’t see anyone, then dropped twenty dollars to buy a relatively sturdy hand shovel. Settling in, I started to dig, widening the hole as best I could while trying not to compromise the stability of the ground beneath me…and ultimately failing.

After ten minutes of digging, there was a low groan from below and a whoosh of displaced dirt as the earth collapsed, spilling me directly into the barrow. I landed with a grunt of impact, rolling onto my hands and knees with a huff, looking around to find, well, I wasn’t sure WHAT I was looking at. Having come back from earth, I had my walkie on me still, and it was easy enough to check in…so I did.

Flipping to the channel I needed, I pressed the button. “Hey, it’s Gus…” I paused, remembering Ron’s reminder when we’d been back on earth at his place. “Over.”

I had mostly forgotten my radio etiquette because we were the only ones who had them, so it seemed pointless, but Ron had explained the utility of keeping a stable communication protocol, both now and in future instances, so I deferred to the expert.

“Go ahead Gus, this is Ron, over,” came the quick response.

“So I was working on harvesting that spice for my boss and I stumbled on some kind of underground chamber. Thought the professor might like to take a look. It seems old, and I think it might be some kind of tomb. Can you ask her-” I was planning to have Ron pass on my question, but apparently she’d been listening in because I heard a genuine SQUEAL of delight from the other end of the walkie, and I had to jerk it away from my ear as the high pitched noise triggered feedback.

There was a long sigh, and then Ron responded. “She would be happy to look into it, over. Do you have a heading we can use?”

I grimaced at that. I DID, but not a good one. I wasn’t the best with directions. I wished we had a map, but having never seen one of this area my power wasn’t able to take me quite that far. So I did my best to approximate, retracing my steps verbally and having Deke weigh in with what he knew of the local plantlife the way he had with me.

Finally, Ron confirmed he had what he needed. “I’m going to send out the drone to scout, and once I confirm it’s clear I’ll escort the professor over personally. I assume you need to get back, over?”

I glanced longingly at the stone door I could see silhouetted in the dark, but eventually sighed. “Yeah, who knows what’s down there. Keep me posted on the progress, and be careful. Drones are replaceable, but you all aren’t.” I trusted Ron to know his limits better than I did, but I couldn’t help the pang of worry that went through me at the thought of them entering the barrow.

Of course, with that worry came excitement. This world had so many secrets, and I was sure a place like this would help us learn them. Maybe there were mana patterns down there, or special materials. I couldn’t wait to find out.

I resold the shovel and put the walkie away, preparing to climb out of the hole and head back to the tavern…but ran into the slight problem of not being ABLE to do that. Because I had dropped in via roof collapse, I was kind of screwed. I ended up hugging the tree and using the roots to pull myself up, and it took me an hour of slipping and sliding to get out. Fortunately, I was able to just sell off the dirt and stains to clean myself, one of my favorite uses of my powers, and then I turned to head back to town…and stopped.

My mana body was level nine. I was eligible for a perk at ten, and I was SO close. I could easily afford another mana fruit right now. All I would need to do would be grind out some workouts and I would finally push my body to level ten. I was almost salivating at the thought of what I might get for a mana body perk.

Ultimately, I decided to wait. As tempting as it was to bust out a fruit and do some pushups in the woods, someone might notice, and coming back having advanced would be relatively suspicious, moreso than doing it in the privacy of my room, not to mention far less safe. So, with a sigh, I headed back to town.

Arriving at The White Rabbit, I stopped to take the tavern in. It felt so familiar, even after such a short time. The crunch of the dirt under my boots, the scent of stew wafting out the doors, it was just…nice. Bennett sat outside, just as calm and friendly as ever, eyes still cold as arctic glaciers. I nodded as I approached, and he didn’t comment or try to stop me for conversation. Bennett didn’t bother with regulars.

Of course, that only went for as long as no one caused trouble. Like Esther had said when I arrived, Bennett believed strongly in law and order, and more importantly Bennett had a Beginner mana body and at least one pattern. I wasn’t sure WHAT pattern, and no one had ever confirmed it for me, but I could just kind of…tell. 

The guard were doing something shady around here, I was sure of it, and it was at the Baron’s behest. The Silent Pond, who had approached me before, were some kind of resistance, but I still had almost no idea of the details. They were taking their time vetting me, or else their organization was just paralyzed by bureaucracy. Either way, until someone chose to bring me in on what was happening, all I could do was keep my eyes peeled and try to help my friends if I saw something wrong. Speaking of which…

“Hail the conquering hero,” cheered Esther as I stepped inside. “Back already? I was just thinking of sending Bran to check on you. Everything go smooth? You didn’t run into any nasty animals or anything did you?” Her eyes scanned me carefully, clearly searching for any signs of injury.

I actually WAS injured, having gotten bruised up a bit in the fall, but with clean clothes and no bleeding, it wasn’t apparent from the outside. “Right as rain,” I said easily. “And I got a few good ones, I think. Did a bit of trial and error when I was gathering them, figured out a nice harvesting method. You can even replant some of these if you want.”

Setting my bag on the counter I pulled open the top, exposing the carefully sectioned off glass boxes I’d gotten from Deke. Plastic was obviously a no go, but glass was more than common here, given the vials we’d seen for potions. Esther picked up the first box, unlatching the wire frame holding it closed, and then opened it to check on the Erumpent inside. “This is VERY well preserved,” she beamed. “You were right, I probably COULD plant this.” The quality got worse as she got deeper, since the first ones I’d done had gone in first, but by the time she had them all out, she seemed very pleased. “This is lovely,” she gushed. “I wasn’t expecting this quality. I figured I’d just make up for it with quantity, but this is far better.”

She glanced down the bar in either direction. “Tell you what. Your room is covered for the month, but more than that. How about a shot of that Moonfire Mango nectar? On the house. You look pretty close to your beginner mana body, if I’m any judge, and I could use a Beginner around the tavern helping out. Consider it a bonus for being such a wonderful guest.”

Knowing exactly how much a bottle of that stuff cost, I was tempted to turn it down. I felt bad taking such a valuable drink from her when I could probably buy a shot for myself…but she was right. It WOULD put me up to Beginner, AND it would give a reason for the jump. I didn’t want people wondering where all my mana was coming from, and this could disguise some of that, so I smiled broadly and thanked her as she poured a bit of the glowing nectar into a shot glass and passed it to me in plain view.

Obviously I didn’t want to take this stuff upstairs, but once I drank it there would be no getting it back so I wouldn’t draw any greedy eyes. I took the shot fast and smooth, enjoying the taste as the power roared through me, and I thanked Esther again before I stood and headed upstairs.

When I arrived in my room I collapsed onto the bed, closing my eyes as I felt the power rage across my skin. I was about to hit a single point of mana, about to get my first mana body perk, and I had the sneaking suspicion nothing would ever be the same. I couldn’t wait.