Chương 21: Chapter Twenty-One

"Dungeons aren't mythical things, Lyra." Dad said as he continued to set up. The crowd had mostly gone, though a good number of people lingered to see what we would be selling.

"All a dungeon is, is a pocket of higher density mana in an area. Over time, it erodes the ground similar to running water creating caves."

"That's why it's called a dungeon? Because it's underground?" I asked as I reclined on a chair someone brought out for Mom when she returned.

"Yes. Underground. Dark. Dank. And dangerous." Dad agreed pausing to look at me.

"Animals will congregate there, eventually mutating or evolving. Generally, they grow more powerful." I frowned at the description.

"They don't sound like a good thing." I commented as Boyan grabbed at a pill bug that had wandered too close. Dad waffled his hand at me.

"The magic, over time, also imbues itself into the materials of the dungeon. Altering it to any number of magical resources. That's what makes dungeons worth putting up with. Yes, pill bugs out of your worst nightmares. But also, magical metals, gems, and in some cases other things that you can't find elsewhere."

"Then it sounds like a good thing for a city. And a bad thing for the pill bug fighters." I commented as I watched the Boyan's pill bug make a break for freedom.

"It is. But it's a lot of work." He looked around and stage whispered to me.

"A lot of work the older generation might not want to deal with." Ahh! That explains Mr. Scrunchy-face! Having put the pieces together I gave Boyan my full attention, but dad wasn't done.

"But in truth, if it's higher than a tier three dungeon, this town isn't going to be able to manage it themselves. They will need to ask for help from the kingdom, which will create a camp at the mouth of the dungeon. That camp will grow into a town and not stop there with the profits from a dungeon. Eventually this town will disappear. Unless it's close enough not to matter. But if it was, everyone would know about it." I looked back at Dad.

"So if a dungeon did develop, this town…"

"Will soon be a ghost town." Dad nodded.

"The smart ones will realize this early and move getting good locations for their new land. But most won't. Town loyalty and all that." I frowned at the explanation. I couldn't even begin to grasp the idea of being loyal to a town.

"Why can't both towns exist?" I asked curious why what he was explaining was a death sentence to the town.

"They will for a while. But, workers and craftsmen will be drawn to the dungeon town. As will the merchants. The people in this town proper will follow the coin." He paused waffling.

"Most of them. Then this town will become just a collection of farmers, and they will likely not have enough people to weather the beast tides." Dad shook his head almost sadly.

"Like I said, the smart ones will move early." My mind immediately starting filling in what Dad wasn't saying, and jerked it back to the dungeon.

"How dangerous are dungeons?" Dad crinkled his nose at Boyan, who returned the gesture.

"If they are managed, they aren't. Dungeons don't make monsters. The concentrated mana can mutate animals. But those animals have to have lived there for an extended period of time or have been born there. Keep the animals out, and you might have to deal with a big bug invasion and maybe a mutated mole every now and then. But they are generally safe."

"If they aren't managed." Dad nodded.

"Then you have a problem. It depends on what animals, or at worst monsters, have been drawn to it and what tier it is. It's generally not the mutation itself that's the danger, but the soul shard that it develops. This can give a creature special… characteristics."

"So, a wolf that can throw a fireball." I stated, and dad laughed.

"Generally, not." He chuckled.

"But along that line. A wolf whose bites freeze or burn you. Fur that's on fire and burns everything around it." He shrugged.

"It's a wide variety, but generally those characteristics follow the animals' natural tendencies."

"So, Mom's not dodging wolf-fire-balls. Why is tier three such a bad thing?"

"Because the effects will be more pronounced. You shouldn't see a fireball wielding wolf at tier three. But tier four and five? It's possible." He hesitated a moment, as though deciding if he should tell me more.

"And it will attract more things to it."

"Oh, so it's less about quality as much as quantity?" Dad was nodding as her resumed his work.

"Quantity has a quality all its own, Lyra." He commented as he reached for more goods to put on display.

"How do you know what tier a dungeon is? By examining what creatures come out of it?" So many questions flit through my head, that I simply grabbed the next one to voice.

"With how dense the ambient mana is at its deepest part. There're devices to take measurements, but for this, they'll go off of feel to just get an idea. You felt the difference between the elven lands and human's lands, right?" This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. I nodded vigorously remembering the smothering feeling that persisted for a few minutes after entering the elven forest. But generally, I didn't 'feel' mana. I only saw it.

Maybe I would if I advanced Mana Sense enough?

"Like that. It's not official, but it will give the humans an idea of what to expect until they can measure it officially."

"Got ya. This isn't our job, so we're just helping out as best we can." Evan laughed.

"Yes. Exactly. We have to balance the scales. And they seem to be heavily tipped one way. Helping out when and where we can will help that." I tilted my head, but left Dad to his work scooping Boyan up, who decided the dirt over there was better than the dirt he was sitting on and made a break for it. I hadn't heard Dad talk about the balance before, unlike Neera who brought it up frequently enough. I suppose he would rather live it, than talk about it. Mom didn't come back, and I didn't sleep well because of it.

Well, that and Boyan. With Mom gone, I was feeding him a combination of water and some powder Dad provided. And changing him. And burping him. And… you know. Babies are kind of a pain in the butt. It's a good thing they're so cute, otherwise it might not be worth it. Dad wasn't worried. He said he knew Mom was safe and wouldn't tell me how. When I bugged him about it, he just said magic, which was infuriating! Since it was probably accurate and completely missing the point of an answer! But they day went on.

Dad traded. Stella and Beth kept me company and helped watch my brother who was terrorizing another bug while he ate a handful of dirt. And I intermittently tried to cast clean while Beth and Stella watched. Tried being the operative word. The connecting bits haven't spontaneously started making sense just because it's a new day. Stupid things. It was only after lunch, and my twentieth diaper change for the day, when a commotion at the other end of the square caught my attention.

People were gathering and making a fuss, but I couldn't see much else. My breath caught when I thought I saw a tail in the gaps. And the silhouette of a horn.

"Mom?" My voice was soft enough I don't think Stella or Beth heard it even standing next to me. But their attention was drawn to the crowd as well. It must have been their height giving them the advantage, because I saw them smile a long moment before I saw Mom and Neera in the crowd. My shoulders relaxed as a tension I didn't realize I was carrying left me. I rubbed my shoulder as Stella bent down and picked up Boyan so he had a view of Mom.

His dirty hands shot up, his fingers making grasping motions as my face hurt because of how wide I was smiling. Mom smiled when she saw us. But it was Dad, the sneak, who walked away from his makeshift stall, that reached her first. Neera clapped Dad on the shoulder in passing, and headed to me.

"Hey kiddo. Catch." I caught the small shard she tossed at me. It was glowing with an inner light; significantly brighter than the ones they'd given me in Tenoth.

"It's tier five. Your mom has one for you to, though it's only tier four. That should significantly boost your level. Feel lucky, normally we only get our kids to level five before we make them to it themselves. You should be around sixteen." My eyes went wide.

"But you said that was exp…" She didn't let me finish.

"That was if you bought them. We didn't. We went to a dungeon and killed a gross or two of critters to collect nine soul shards. See? Cheap. But someone had to be left in the lurch and only get one." Neera shrugged. I couldn't speak for a moment, my ears standing at attention. This was worth at least eight of my healing potions. But that would fluctuate wildly based on the bidding Mom said.

"Thank you." I finally managed.

"We're family." She grasped my shoulder, then deciding that wasn't enough bent down to hug me, her tail wrapping around my waist for a moment in what I recognized as a sign of trust.

"No thanks are needed. Only a bedroll." She yawned out as she stood up.

"I'll talk to you latter. And don't wait with that shard…" She trailed off as she turned to walk away and I popped the soul shard into my mouth swallowing it as I made a disgusted face.

"just wash it first." Tier 5 Soul Shard has been consumed! Level Increased: 4 → 5 WILL stat increases by 1. 1 Unused stat gained: 1.... Tier 1 Soul Shard has been consumed! Level Increased: 11 → 12 WILL stat increases by 1. 1 Unused stat gained: 8. It was not the worse thing I've ever eaten. It wasn't even close. But that is like saying I've had my arm cut off before, loosing a finger doesn't compare. It does. It's nasty. And I tried to spit it out, only for Beth to offer me her water.

I caught the mirth on Stella and Beths face but Mom arrived in a flourish, scooping Boyan up with a tug of mana as she cleaned him moments before his hands found her robes.

"Did me miss me Boyan?" She asked planting a kiss on the top of his head before looking at me.

"And you? Dad said you were worried about me." I harumphed.

"Of course I was worried. You went into a dungeon." Her smile softened, lighting her eyes despite the tiredness her body was portraying.

"I'm back Lyra." She said, moving up and giving me a hug, her tail squeezing as hard as her arm was. Boyan complained, but I didn't listen for a moment and just let myself be embraced. Mom eventually pulled back, and held out her hand to me.

"Here." I looked at the shard in my hand and looked up to tell her Neera already gave me one and if she was sure. But she had already closed my hand over it.

"Go ahead and take it now. I'm saving another one for Boyan." I smiled and looked at the shard. Then rubbed it vigorously on a hankie I pulled out of my robes pocket. Mom looked at me incredulously.

"I cleaned it." She deadpanned at me.

"Oh." I commented glancing at Neera's retreating form only for Mom to catch the motion and look at Neera with dangerously squinted eyes. I popped the shard into my mouth. Tier 4 Soul Shard has been consumed! Level Increased: 12 → 13 WILL stat increases by 1. 1 Unused stat gained: 9.... Tier 1 Soul Shard has been consumed! Level Increased: 15 → 16 WILL stat increases by 1. 1 Unused stat gained: 12.

Stella and Beth both offered me congratulations on my levels and stepped away so I could be with mom after only a brief promise to see me later. Mom, for her part, just looked tired, but Boyan didn't seam to care.

"You should lay down. Take Boyan with you, I'll come get him from you in a bit if he doesn't nurse himself into a coma." I offered. She accepted readily enough and disappeared into the wagon with Boyan. Dad nodded at me as if to say 'I told you so', but I didn't care. Mom was back. The details could wait.