Chương 26: First Steps

Ch. 26 - First Steps Dungeons that are monopolised by a city are big business — people forget that. It is a resource that is as coveted and controlled as any gold mine. Anyone that tries to cheat this system, this arrangement, tends to go 'missing' in the dungeon. - from the writings of Steadholder Eckhart The portal to the dungeon was busy when they arrived. It was only mid-morning and the ancient stone structure was surrounded by people, all looking rather official.

Wyatt nudged Lera, the Protean having come along to see them off.

"What's that about? There was only a few people outside when I came through." Lera looked confused for a second, then hit her forehead with the palm of her hand.

"Oh, I forgot that you wouldn't have known. It slipped my mind because it was your report that caused it."

"Caused what?" Lera pointed at the people manning the entrance. They appeared to be setting up a more stringent checkpoint.

"That. More Goblins appearing in the lower levels was bad enough, but Orcs as well? They have to do something." Wyatt frowned at the checkpoint.

"They aren't restricting people from entering, are they?" Lera gave Wyatt a lopsided grin.

"That's, ah, not in their best interests, Wyatt. The guild makes its money off of Adventurers bringing back loot or treasure. The only exception to that is when they themselves issue a bounty. Likewise, those guards are from the city. They also get a cut. It's how this city thrives after all."

"What are they doing then?" Lera shrugged.

"Making lists. Keeping track of who is going in, and who is coming out. It makes it look like they are doing something. Not that they'd lift a finger to search for someone that didn't come back when expected of course." Wyatt noted that Lera had sounded bitter at the last part.

"So I take it regular people can't just go in? People who aren't an Adventurer I mean." Lera shook herself briskly, dispelling whatever dark thought was getting her down. She smiled faintly at him.

"No, it's Adventurers only for the dungeon. It's a resource, a source of wealth. They won't risk a random civilian making off with treasure, however unlikely that is." Wyatt considered that. It explained the lax attitude of the guards when he exited the dungeon — the only people who would be inside were members of the Adventurers Guild. They had seen no reason to check. While Wyatt and Lera talked, the last group of Adventurers between them and the entrance had finished having their details taken down.

The party strode up the the opening in the stone edifice. A guard waved his hands over the archway, causing a number of runes to light up. Wyatt couldn't be sure, but it seemed like a different number and order from what he'd seen, the colours different as well. With a brief flash, the group vanished. Lera nodded to herself.

"Third floor. I didn't recognise that team, but some of them seemed strong. Alright, you're up Wyatt! Remember to be careful, and I will see you in five days by the ruin I pointed out. Okay?" Wyatt smiled at Lera, touched that she seemed genuinely concerned about him.

"I will, Lera, don't worry." Lera surprised Wyatt with another brief hug, her arms strong as she embraced him. She then looked down at Kit.

"Look after him, will you?" Kit yipped in agreement. Then it was Wyatt's turn. He gave his name, rank, and intended destination to the official who noted it down in a ledger. Wyatt then showed his Guild Tag to prove his identity, and that was the extent of it. A guard activated the portal, and then Wyatt stepped forward. Feeling ready for whatever he'd face. Wyatt was prepared for it this time as he passed through the portal.

He caught himself from stumbling, and stepped out into the bright sunshine of the first floor of the dungeon. Wyatt took a deep breath, savouring the crisp and clean air. He hadn't realised it at first, but there was such a stark contrast between being outside in the city, and in the dungeon. It wasn't that the city was polluted — particularly by Earth standards, but it was noticeable nonetheless.

The guards that were stationed on this side of the dungeon portal were the same ones that Wyatt had seen the day before. They gave Wyatt a somewhat apprehensive look, clearly remembering their last interaction. Wyatt just grinned at them.

"Lovely day in here, isn't it. Coming Kit?" Kit gave him an amused look, flicking her tail. Then she followed Wyatt as he walked along the path, leading up the hill into the dungeon proper. Wyatt felt full of energy as he strode up the incline, not being able to keep the smile from his face. The sun was shining, the breeze was just strong enough to be pleasantly cooling, and the possibilities that extended before him seemed endless. Kit trotted easily at his heels, looking up at him.

'You're certainly in a good mood.' Wyatt laughed.

"I am. Aren't you?"

'I suppose so.' Despite her words, Kit seemed to be infected by the same surge of restless energy as Wyatt. She began ranging further and further afield, darting about in front of Wyatt, criss-crossing the path to investigate any interesting scents she caught.

"I still can't believe this is all inside of the dungeon. Although didn't you say that it might have been part of the outside world at one point, Kit?" Kit paused, one paw in the air in a very appealing fashion, and looked back over her shoulder at Wyatt.' It may have been. It would certainly explain the ruins and some of the dilapidated buildings, as I said. But first, Wyatt, I think we are forgetting something.'

"We are?" The silver fox turned and trotted back to Wyatt's side, looking up at him.' You were going to use your skill, remember? [Mask Presence].' Wyatt nodded easily, looking around and admiring the view. They were far enough away from the dungeon portal that it really resembled an idyllic pastoral landscape. Wyatt could almost pretend that some of the collapsed buildings that dotted the countryside were houses, and that the rolling green hills were pastures.

But then he would blink, and be struck by the overwhelming sense that he was the only person around for miles. That, apart from Kit, he was alone. Wyatt loved it.

"Actually, Kit, it might not be the best idea to use that skill. I know I said I would while travelling, but there is a downside."' What downside? I thought you said it didn't have a time limit.'

"No, it doesn't. But remember, it affected you as well." Kit's ears pinned back, as she paused in her steps for a moment. Then she shook herself, sighing inaudibly.' I … forgot that. That would be inconvenient.'

"Yeah. And even if you wanted to travel in my shadow the entire time, I prefer being able to see you as we talk." The fox shook her head.' It would tire me out too much to do that.'

"It's okay, Kit. We'll just keep an eye out. Let me know if you smell or hear something, alright? I'll use the skill when I have to." Kit eyed Wyatt speculatively.' You are very relaxed, Wyatt.' Wyatt stretched, still enjoying the feeling of not carrying anything with him as he walked. All his gear and weaponry were contained in the two small bags of holding on his belt, all easily called to hand whenever he needed something. With that in mind, Wyatt opened up one of them and removed one of the packets of jerky.

"I feel it. Do you want some, Kit? We had a big breakfast, so I'm okay with just pushing through lunchtime if you are."' If that's all you have …' Kit took an offering of jerky, but she made a face as she ate it.' This isn't very tasty.' Wyatt chewed on some thoughtfully.

"You have a point. We'll make up for it tonight, I promise. I thought we could aim for one of the bigger rivers for our first camp. It's hard to tell going by the map, but I think we should reach it by late afternoon. Once we are close enough I'll use [A Safe Place to Rest] — hopefully it'll lead us to a place near the water. Feel like fish for dinner?" This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Kit licked her lips in anticipation.

Despite her complaint, she had already finished the dried meat.' That sounds good.'

"It's a plan then." They continued travelling for a while, the landscape changing as they crested every hill. Wyatt regularly pulled out the map of the dungeon, comparing landmarks he could see in the distance with what was depicted. Occasionally there would be a fork in the path as well, and Wyatt was reassured to see that the branching route was also shown. He hadn't spotted the river yet, but he was fairly confident he was leading them in the right direction.

Wyatt was idly running his hands through the tops of the taller patches of grass that ran alongside the path, when he noticed something. He slowed down, then stopped entirely, leaning over and examining the grass more closely. Kit hadn't noticed Wyatt stopping at first, but she now came trotting back.

'What are you looking at?' Wyatt was handling some of the stalks of long grass, running his thumb over the head and examining the kernels. He'd missed it at first because the entire plant was mostly green, but some of them were starting to yellow.

"Kit. Does this look like wheat to you?" The silver fox trotted up and sniffed at the grass.

'Maybe? It just looks like grass to me.'

"Well, wheat is a type of grass. Originally. But look — this is all over the place, mixed in with regular grass. This must be wild wheat, or whatever the native equivalent is. Or …"

'What?'

"Maybe it's a crop that's gone to seed. That's been spread naturally." The more Wyatt looked, the more he could see various stalks poking up through the otherwise normal looking grass. It had been hard to notice because all the grass on the hills and valleys were so overgrown, coming up to at least Wyatt's knees. Kit examined the suspected wheat again, then shrugged.' You might be right. Does that matter though?'

"I think it does, Kit. It's been niggling away at me ever since I saw the map. Here, take a look." Wyatt crouched down on the path, pulling out the map he'd purchased. He unrolled the scroll on the ground, using some stones to hold it open. Then he traced his finger along the map.

"See here, Kit? The paths? See the way they crisscross and spread out across the dungeon?"

'Yes?'

"Well, don't they kind of look like they are skirting property lines? I mean, you have to imagine it and fill in some of the blanks, but it fits. All these decayed structures, the way the copses of trees are so small and don't link together … I think this all used to be farmland." Kit's tail started to swish about as her interest was piqued. She bent her head, peering at the map as Wyatt traced invisible lines, demarking property lines as he envisioned them.

'Actually, you might be onto something, Wyatt. It certainly supports the theory that this realm is a folded space.' Wyatt laughed." Your theory, you mean. I don't know a thing about it. But I think it fits."

'I suppose that, while interesting, it doesn't really mean much in the end.' Wyatt was eyeing the stalks of wild wheat speculatively. He grinned at Kit.

"Mmhmm. That's true, but, Kit — want to try out my new skills?" The fox perked up in interest as Wyatt pulled out his new sickle, being careful of the blade. It was a lot sharper than he had expected, and he'd cut himself when testing the edge. He'd had to use a few drops of healing potion. After putting away the map, he was ready. Kit eyed Wyatt, her amusement clear, as he swished the hand sickle through the air a few times, getting a feel for it.

'You don't think that's a bit much for a bit of grass? I assume it is the 'wheat' that you are intending to test?' Wyatt grinned, gripping a bundle of the stalks just below the heads. They weren't exactly 'ripe', still being a bit green in places on the kernels, but he still wanted to try it.

"Hey, don't be a spoilsport, Kit. I'm having fun here." Wyatt carefully ran the blade across the stalks, leaving him holding a sheaf of wheat. He instantly felt the effects of his passive skills take place. The sheaf he was holding increased slightly as [Nature's Bounty] activated. Additionally, the heads of the wheat altered as [I Procure Only the Very Best] did its work. The kernels that had been green had lightened further, coming closer to the golden colour that you'd expect.

Any blemishes had vanished as well, becoming a perfect version of itself. If that wasn't enough, [Not Just the Root, But the Seed] caused a number of perfectly ripened and dried kernels to appear, independent of the sheafs he was holding. They spilled out of Wyatt's fist falling to the ground. Wyatt and Kit stared. The silver fox edged closer, sniffing gingerly at the sheafs of wheat he was holding, and then at the kernels on the ground.

'… you have strange skills, Wyatt. You basically got more of the same item, twice.' Wyatt couldn't help but grin.

"Yeah, it seems like an oversight, doesn't it? I'm foraging the wheat — where the useful part is the 'seed'. And then also getting more 'seeds'!" Kit's tail flicked in amusement.' At least you're happy.' They began walking again, with Wyatt bouncing some of the seeds in his hand before letting them blow away on the breeze.

"You know what I thought? When I first got a class and skills?"

'What?' Wyatt smiled, remembering.

"I thought about what kind of skills a [Farmer] could get. I mean, what I can already do with skills is amazing, but the thought of it … I wish my Grandparents could have seen this world. I'm sure they would have got some stupidly powerful farming skill … like something that would cut a crops growing time in half!"' Hmm … that's actually not that crazy, Wyatt.'

"It isn't?" The silver fox shook her head.' Some high level [Farmers] can harvest a crop only a few days after planting.'

"You're joking."' Not even slightly. When you consider the population of each city on this continent, there aren't actually that many [Farmers]. Once they hit a high enough level, one [Farmer] can produce a truly incredible amount of food.' Wyatt thought about that, being barely able to imagine it. But then he looked at the sheaf of wheat he was carrying.

"There has to be a cost for that though." Kit nodded approvingly at him.' Ah yes, there is indeed. Some of it comes from the ambient magic of course, but forcing that much growth in such a short time puts an incredible strain on both the ground and the plant. A few cycles of forcing growth with skills means that all the life force in the ground is used up. Even the plants themselves start to become broken and twisted things. If the seeds are planted, they grow stunted and deformed.'

Wyatt was silent as he thought about what Kit had said. To him that sounded like the nutrients in the soil being used up faster than they could be replenished. The same problem happened in commercial farming on Earth, albeit at a slower pace. And as for deformed plants … could that be the genetic makeup of the plant becoming damaged?

"I suppose there's a price for everything, isn't there?"' There always is. Most [Farmers] focus on quality and bountiful harvests. There is some increase to growth rate, but smart ones don't push it too far.' Wyatt and Kit reached the river by the late afternoon. It wasn't a broad stretch of water, but it ran deep and fast, with the drop-off from the bank being quite steep.

It ran relatively straight, with only a few bends that Wyatt could see, and it seemed like the flow rate was too fast for more than the occasional clump of reeds to grow by the water. They couldn't spot any of the withered shrubs that grew the fruit, much to Kit's displeasure, and Wyatt figured they only grew along the smaller creeks and streams. Having reached their destination, Wyatt used [A Safe Place to Rest].

The skill directed him to a place not far away at all, and in under half an hour they arrived at a smaller tributary that fed into the main river. The site of their camp was on a small rocky beach on a curve in the tributary, with hills on either side of the stream. It was quieter here, away from the noise of the river, and Wyatt wasted no time in setting up camp. There was still some firewood left that he'd kept, but Wyatt went to collect more once he'd built a fire on the beach.

Once he'd returned, he took his new spear out of the bag of holding and set about getting dinner for the two of them. There were fish in the waterway, but not the huge trout that he'd caught a few nights before. The stream was shallower here, and the fish were smaller — perhaps the juveniles of a species that Wyatt didn't recognise. He managed to catch five of them in quick succession, judging them enough to feed both him and Kit.

Wyatt lit the fire as the sun began to set, and Kit stretched out happily besides the flames, watching as Wyatt erected the new tipi tent. When he'd finished and added the bedding, he couldn't help but stand back a few paces to admire the cozy setup. Dinner was more than pleasant, with the fish being perfectly grilled on Wyatt's new cooking set. It was quiet with just the two of them, and after dinner he found himself wandering along the bank of the stream, exploring.

There were a handful of the fruit shrubs here away from the main river, and Wyatt collected enough to provide a treat for Kit for a few days. On his way back to the fire, Wyatt spotted a few more of the wild wheat plants. He absently picked the head off the stalk, smiling as the kernels changed and improved in his hand. Wyatt placed them in his pocket, and went back to camp. It was quiet, relaxing.

Kit seemed content to loll about by the fire, happily ensconced in a thick blanket that Wyatt had bought especially for her. The fox hadn't exactly thanked him with words, but she'd been noticeably more affectionate. Wyatt sat down inside the entrance to his tent, and pulled out a small candle, lighting it. It created less light than he was used to, but it was enough to see by as he pulled out the spell tome he'd bought. Kit sleepily turned to look at Wyatt as he read the book.

'Ambitions to be a mage?' Wyatt turned a page, answering her absently.

"No, not exactly. But making something grow with magic sounds pretty cool."

'Mmm, you know that the magic in that book is for attack spells, don't you? Like that [Strangling Vine] spell Marie used.' That made Wyatt lift his head from the spell tome. He frowned in consternation.

"It is? I thought it was just green spells. Like making plants grow. It's not that?" Kit shook her head, turning back to the fire as she closed her eyes, yawning.

'No, that's just the general classification.' Wyatt grunted, feeling disappointed. He kept reading the book anyway though, as the concepts were interesting. There were a lot of spells within, with instructions of how to cast them. Without Marie's lesson about magic, Wyatt would have been completely lost. Even so, he only understood enough to sort of get his head around it. Wyatt found Marie's [Strangling Vines] spell, and read the entire entry, remembering the [Hedge Mage] as he did.

It was far more complex than he realised, and he quickly became appreciative of the skill she'd displayed in casting it so many times. To perform the spell, you had to control the flow of mana precisely, using it to build upon the plant life that was around your target — reconstructing it and forming it how you wished, forcing the plant life to grow unnaturally. If Wyatt was honest, it made him faintly uneasy. Speaking a spell and having vines appear was one thing, but reading about how exactly it was formed …

it sounded so damaging to the ground. Even though the tome didn't exactly say, Wyatt was fairly sure that any plant that was used as a base for such a transformation didn't survive the process. Even so, he couldn't understand how Marie had managed it in the midst of battle, keeping track of so much information in her head. Wyatt flicked back a few pages, and read the entry from the beginning, paying more attention this time.

He'd been skipping parts as he flicked through the book, and he soon found an explanation for Marie's fast casting. It seemed that if you managed to fully understand the spell, if you could envision and hold in your mind every single step, then it became possible for you to acquire it as a bound spell on your next level up. Wyatt vaguely remembered Marie saying something to that effect. This meant that as long as you had enough mana, you could cast it as many times as you wanted.

Wyatt regretfully closed the spell tome. He didn't think he had the patience or inclination to study to that extent. Perhaps that was what Marie had meant when she'd told him that potential didn't mean he'd be able to cast magic. Wyatt put his hands in his pockets, sighing. He started at feeling something, but then remembered he'd pocketed some of the wheat kernels. Wyatt pulled them out, hefting them in his hand, thinking. The test that Marie had had him do hadn't seemed that difficult at the time.

He'd been able to follow what she'd said, sense the mana in the air and himself, following it down into the ground. Wyatt remembered feeling the connection between everything, then telling the grass under his hand to grow … and it had.

"But that wasn't a spell? It was only a … test?" Wyatt muttered to himself, wondering what the difference was. He eyed the wheat in his hand for a moment, and then smiled. Wyatt dug a small hole in the earth by the entrance to the tent, only about an inch deep. He placed a wheat kernel inside, and covered it back up with earth. Then he placed his hand over the mound, and closed his eyes. It was harder without Marie to guide him. Harder to feel the mana connecting everything around him. But he managed it.

Wyatt pushed his awareness down into the ground, feeling the tenuous connection of the wheat seed to the world around it. He reached for the mana in the air, visualising it flowing down his arm, into his hand, then into the earth. He guided it, directed it, aiding the tiny seed as it — A wave of exhaustion suddenly hit Wyatt, and he felt dizzy for a moment. His hand trembled as he lifted it up from the earth, but he was rewarded by the sight of the tiniest green shoot, the leaves just poking out of the soil.

"Huh. How about that." Wyatt patted the earth next to the green shoot, smiling down at it. Then he turned around and crawled into the tent, laying down on his comfy bed roll. Wyatt hadn't closed the opening of the tipi so he could see the night sky above him as he lay back. After a few minutes, Kit padded into the tent and curled up on his legs. Wyatt sighed contentedly, letting his eyes drift closed. He slept. [Grower Level 1!] [Skill - Swift Germination]