Chương 433: (426) 6.40. Welcome News

Vin spent one more night within the Burrow, enjoying the freedom of not having to worry about Terra and all of its seemingly endless problems for just a little while longer. He knew it was a tad irresponsible of him, but after all the time he'd spent cooped up working on artifacts, followed by the drama and stress of the surprise trials, he felt as though he'd earned some time to himself.

In fact, he was tempted to try sticking around for another day or two just to see if he couldn't needle down the Whisperer and get her to reveal a few more secrets, but there was one big reason why he needed to get back to town. Lumel had officially passed the two-week mark for her dream journey. Most likely, she'd be waking up and returning to town any day now, if she hadn't already.

This was the longest the two of them had been apart from one another ever since they'd started dating, and Vin was eager to see her again after all this time. Technically, his own dream journey had been similar in length, but for him, the whole ordeal had only felt like it lasted a few days. Having now been on the other end and experienced what Lumel had gone through while waiting for him to wake up, he felt a bit bad, and he wanted to make it up to her as soon as possible.

With that in mind, he woke up early the next morning, bid farewell to Hearshal and the Tamers, and set out across the fragment. New dungeon discovered! 5, 000 exp gained. The dungeon was a tunnel type, similar to the one that existed in the Crater, and Vin jogged down the long, straight line as he searched for the entrance to the Underside.

He was set upon by a few more giant centipedes and even a giant, rolling insect that threatened to crush him, but a few well-placed Stone Shots and a mana-empowered punch from his golem arm for the rolling insect were enough to see him through the dungeon. In fact, they were more than enough, and Vin smiled as he received one last welcome notification for his journey to this fragment. Dungeoneering lvl 16! 1, 600 exp gained. Four more to go, he thought as he jogged through the stone frame leading to the Underside.

Part of him expected to find the pulmon waiting for him on the other side, but he knew that was ridiculous. If anything, she'd be in her usual spot, happily reading in one of her comfy chairs she'd stolen from her father's palace before she'd been banished. Yet when Vin jogged into the Underside fragment connected to Terra, he frowned as he spotted the empty chair, all of the loose books and materials scattered around it in the exact places they were when he'd last been here. Strange…

I really thought she'd be back by now. As he approached the corridor leading back to Terra, Vin ran through the last few weeks in his head. He normally didn't keep such a careful track of the days, but with how eager he'd been for Lumel to return, he'd done a more thorough job this time around than usual. Shia and I went into that sea of slime… We met up with the Tamers and brought Shuvo back… I did all that artifact work, that ate up a lot of time.

There was the whole ordeal with Curash and the surprise trial, followed of course by the Burrow and the Whisperer… Vin paused halfway between Terra's Dungeon and the Underside, standing in that long corridor that connected the two as he realized just how much had happened in the last two weeks. Today was officially sixteen days since Lumel had begun her dream journey. Sure, that didn't seem all that long when Fred had explained that some people took entire months.

But he'd completed his in only thirteen, and in his opinion, Lumel was just as talented as he was when it came to magic, if not more so.

"She's got an actual affinity to her mana," Vin muttered, nodding to himself as he continued on toward the forest dungeon.

"The last half of the whole journey is learning how to harness one's mana within a dream and mastering two different dream spells. It makes sense that it would take her longer." Deciding he'd hold off on the panicking for a little while longer, Vin stepped out into the forest dungeon, raising an eyebrow as a big bad bear roared and began racing toward him.

The eight-foot-tall, muscle-packed beast with multiple heads looked just as menacing as it had the first time he'd seen it, but Vin merely sighed as he watched it lumber toward him, slobbering all the while.

"Seriously? Man, I can't believe you used to be the most horrifying thing around. But now I just sort of feel bad for you." Without even trying, Vin was picking up on that same sensation of unending hunger and a desire to consume from the monster as it rushed toward him. Hoping to free the mana trapped within this beast, he fired off a quick Fireball, blowing the monster to pieces as he turned his back on it and began jogging toward Terra.

Vin noted the familiar slow trickle of people heading in and out of Terra as per usual, though he did feel like he was getting even more attention today than he normally got. He frowned as a small handful of people he passed inclined their heads in his direction, nearly going down far enough to be called a bow. But before he could think too much about that, one of the guards at the gate called out to him.

"Roamer! I have a message from your companion Shia, if you have a moment." A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Shia? Sure, what's up?" he asked, jogging up to them.

"She requested that if you returned while she was gone, we pass along her message for you. Erik wants to speak with you."

"Oh, alright. Been a while since I last spoke with him. Did she mention what about?"

"No," the guard said, her helm rattling slightly as she shook her head. During the time between monster waves, only Terra's guards were permitted to utilize the assorted pieces of armor that they had received from the dwarves of the Crater. Vin was far from an expert, but he was pretty certain this particular guard needed to get a smaller helmet.

"She just said it was official Sacred Forest business."

"Thanks for delivering the message," Vin said, glancing up at the sky. Seeing as he'd gone through the Underside to get back to Terra, barely any time had passed since he'd left the Burrow. It was still morning, which meant he had plenty of time.

"Guess I'll head over there then. No word that the council needs me here or anything?"

"Not that we've been told," the guard shrugged, hesitating for only a moment before leaning in closer.

"…Is it true that you've spoken to God?"

"Well, two of them, at the very least," Vin admitted, wondering if he should have kept that to himself as the guard's eyes lit up in awe.

"Seriously, it's not that big of a deal. Hell, I know a certain rat who has spoken to one as well. Anyway, I should get going. Keep up the good work!" Waving at the guards, Vin turned and headed off toward the Sacred forest. He didn't see much point in running back down into the Underside again, seeing as he was only going one fragment over, and it had been some time since he'd last jogged across the Earther's fragment.

Vin looked out across the meadows and through the woods as he ran across the fragment, watching the scattered teams of Earthers as they went about their days. There were all sorts of different tasks being completed, and he spent his time trying to guess the different classes he spotted as he ran. The trio chopping down trees and lugging wood back to town might be Gatherers, or perhaps some of James' supply guys.

The party with their faces close to the ground as they tracked an animal were probably Hunters, or something adjacent. Warriors were easy enough to pick out, as they were often spotted fighting against monsters or carrying monster corpses over their shoulders to show off their spoils. Vin knew of course that just because someone was doing a particular action, that didn't make it their whole class, but it was just a fun game to pass the time.

Any Baker could decide to head over to the lake and spend the day fishing, or an Alchemist might also enjoy hunting on the side. People were allowed to have hobbies or various interests, after all. Makes you wonder what class people would think I had if they knew nothing about me and just saw me running around like a chicken with its head cut off half the time, Vin thought, chuckling to himself as he reached the border between their fragment and the Sacred Forest.

It seemed that sometime since he'd last been here someone had set up some warning signs, informing people in no uncertain language that some elves were not very friendly toward humans. There were also signs that provided details on fangers and Trunkbacks, the two types of monsters that were found within the forest. Vin thought the signs were an excellent idea, and he made a mental note to see if they were doing the same with all their adjacent fragments.

Heading into the Sacred Forest, Vin ran with a smile, knowing Erik would already be well aware of his presence. Some people would probably be rather wigged out at the knowledge that the dryads could see everything that took place within their forest, but Vin found it almost reassuring in a way. If there was one person on all of Edregon that he felt would be responsible with that sort of power, it was the soft-spoken, elderly dryad who the elves revered as their Ancient One.

He ran into two hunting parties on his way to the village, but the moment they realized who he was, they merely smiled and continued on their way. Vin did have to deal with one small group of fangers that tried to take advantage of him running about on his own, but a few carefully timed Stone Shots were more than enough to take them down.

He was long past the point where a few monkeys with large teeth were anything near to a threat to him, and he exited the treeline no worse for wear, smiling as he basked in the sight of the Tree of Ancients. Even after all this time, the colossal tree stretching overhead was a true marvel to behold, and Vin took a moment to take it in.

"Vin!" Shia called out, grinning at him as Blossom ran up to him with her on its back.

"Glad you got my message. Thanks for coming so quickly."

"Of course! If Erik needs me, I'm there," Vin admitted, following her as she hopped off Blossom and morphed the cat back into staff form.

"What's up? Some sort of emergency?"

"Not of the kind you're used to," Shia snorted, motioning for her to follow him.

"Come on, you'll want to hear this from the tree himself." The two of them headed over to the Tree of Ancients, where a familiar, wooden door manifested itself right in the side of the trunk. Shia held it open for him, and Vin stepped inside, taking in the cozy little room he'd first sat down and had a conversation with Erik within all those months ago. The wooden furniture growing out of the floor and walls looked just like it had all the way back then, and he realized he was beaming from ear-to-ear at the memory.

He'd spoken with Erik since then, of course, but that initial meeting would always have a special place in his heart.

"Vin," Erik said, the dryad getting to his feet and walking over. Taking Vin's hand in his own, he gave it a firm shake. The bark-like texture of the dryad's hands felt somehow rough and soft at the same time, and Erik smiled as he motioned for them all to take a seat.

"Thank you for coming. Shia and I were just discussing how we wanted to handle this, but your input would be most welcome."

"I'm always happy to help," Vin said, sitting down and glancing between the two of them.

"However, I still don't know what we're talking about. I just got a few solid days of an old woman being all vague and mysterious, do you think you guys could just come out with it?"

"My apologies," Erik chuckled, his laughter sounding like leaves dancing in the wind outside the very tree they sat within.

"In that case, I will not hold you in suspense any longer. With the help of your Logistician friend who came by the other day, he, Shia, and I were able to confirm something. Something we've been waiting for for a long time."

"No," Vin gasped, his heart racing as he took in Shia's massive grin and Erik's warm smile.

"Did we do it?"

"Indeed you did," Erik confirmed. The dryad let out a sigh of relief that sounded like it carried with it the weight of thousands of years of stress, his wooden shoulders actually creaking slightly as he relaxed for quite possibly the first time in months.

"The rest of the Ancient Ones will not perish due to a lack of mana. My people have been saved."