Chương 67: Chapter 66

The hunt in the marshes went great, as in he managed to hunt down several Mossys and harvest their entire bodies. He planned to take it back and tell the company alchemist to make sure to pay attention to certain clumps of mosses, as he felt strange mana from them. From there, it wouldn't take long even for a journeyman alchemist to figure out their properties. While in the forest, he mainly concentrated on using his Shadow Burst ability to get out of the way of several monsters that lived in the bogs.

As most of them thought attacks should consist of flinging stagnant water mixed with mud, muck, and who knows what, he got to practice the skill a lot. Sadly, even with the amount of practice he got, Sam didn't manage to level up the skill. It was incredibly frustrating to be so close, yet so far away from the next level.

He once again entertained the thought of going on a trip to meet up with one of the teachers who could help him and wasn't a raging psychopath or cultist (or both) but the emergence of the dungeons was so close he knew that he would be missing out of a lot of cool and more importantly valuable things if he left now. True, while the most important dungeons, that is, those that provided the best and biggest payout, weren't anywhere close to Ironwood.

Because they would be hidden in faraway lands that were too high level for even those who were on top of the leaderboards. The dungeons that would appear around Ironwood had one thing going for them, familiarity. Sam knew their ins and outs like the back of his hand, thanks to his inherited memories. The other Sam spent a not insignificant time in the city, trying to catch up to the people who were pioneering the game.

Then he got trapped by that infernal contract, which allowed the guild to use him for all manner of tasks they didn't want to do themselves. Which meant continuously delving into low-level dungeons until they could do them in their dreams, all for the materials they could harvest from them. Ironwood, being a mining city, had a lot of dungeons that provided low-level, but high-quality ores and other materials necessary for crafting artifacts. There were several wars fought over the territory.

The ownership of several dungeons changed almost daily. After filling up his inventory with Mossy parts, marsh snake scales, and essences from the haunted trees that liked to pretend to be normal trees, then ambush unsuspecting adventurers, Sam decided to head back to the city. He got what he wanted. Everything else was just a bonus. On the way, he made sure to take a different route, just in case Silent Step sent someone to ambush him going back, presumably tired and wounded.

He kept to the area where the trees from the forests met with the roots of the mountains towering over the travelers as while the ground was littered with rocks and gravel, it was much easier to traverse than a dense forest. Plus, with his Wind Movement skill, his speed was not insignificant as he jumped from boulder to boulder, luxuriating in the freedom it provided him. By his estimation, he was halfway back to the city when he heard a curious noise.

It sounded like metal clashing with rocks while someone was yelling. Yet, the yell wasn't panicky. After he stopped and spent a second just listening, he realized that whoever was giving out the noise was laughing. Intrigued, Sam closed his eyes for a moment and cast his Mana Sense in the direction of the noise.

Instantly, he became aware of several large-sized monsters, though, from the shape of their mana, he would say they were some kinds of bears, while in the middle of them was one man, with a mana that felt weird to Sam. It was like someone crammed a furnace into a very small space. Even more curious, he opened his eyes, removed his sword from his sheath, and began heading in the direction of the fight he could hear.

It only took a few seconds to find the clearing, which from one side was filled with giant boulders, some of them smashed apart, while on the other side, Sam could see a sparse copse of trees. In the middle of the clearing was the source of the weird noise. The monsters were Rock Bears, which were simply, bears that spent so much time in earth mana rich environment, namely the mountains, that parts of their bodies began to transform into stone. This manifested in different ways in different bears.

These bears were around the size of regular bears, maybe a little bigger. However, their paws were all covered in craggy stone, and their claws were also made from rock that was several times bigger than the usual claws a bear sported. One of them had their hind legs also covered by rock, while the other two had their back, more specifically, their spines covered by stone, creating a sort of sharp protrusions on their backs. Sam could also see the remains of several other bears around.

Some of them smashed into pieces. And in the middle of the fight was the source of the laughter. The individual was a big man, though based on what he saw, Sam estimated he was rather young, as he could see the last remnants of baby fat on his face. His hair was brown and his hairstyle could be described, at most generous, as chaotic.

Despite his apparent youthfulness, the guy was simply shredded, which was perfectly displayed by his extremely tight leather armor covering his upper body, while his lower body was clad in some kind of cloth trousers with only some knee and shin guards providing proper protection to him. In his hands was a simple club. It was shaped like a club from any pictures showing cavemen raising weapons, though Sam could sense that there was a core of mana conducting metal inside it.

The most interesting thing about the club was that the top of it was alight with almost white-hot flames. The face of the target of his observation was set in a giant smile, while occasionally letting out booming laughter as he dodged around the swipes of the monster and then responded to them with great swipes of his flaming club. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Sam would have been content to watch the fight play out, but soon after he arrived, another roar shook the area and he could see a small cloud being kicked up as several new Rock Bears charged toward the guy. Debating for a second, then coming to a decision, he cracked his neck and jumped forward a few yards away from the giant man. His head instantly whipped around, staring at Sam. Sam just smirked at him.

"Want some help?" There was a moment of confusion on the giant's face (up closer Sam could see that the man was around six-five, maybe even taller) then he let out a great laugh.

"Of course, my friend! Let us destroy our enemies together!" With that, he raised his flaming club and let out a roar.

"RAAAAAARHG!" Sam could see that it was actually a skill that caused all the bears to flinch and slow their approach, while the bears in the clearing took a hesitant step back. He took in the situation and called out to the giant.

"Big flame, big guy!" His answer was another laugh and an exclamation.

"Sea of Flames!" Instantly, flames began to spew out of the top of the guy's club. Sam watched as the bears retreated even further, then raised his sword and began channeling wind mana through it. He didn't shape it, he just let it accumulate and then unleashed it in the direction of the literal sea of flames. The resulting inferno instantly killed the three bears with them in the clearing while also singeing the half a dozen new bears who seemed to be regretting their hasty charge.

The destruction just made his new acquaintance happier.

"What beautiful flames! Excellent!" and then the giant man, flaming club held high, launched himself at the wounded bears. Sam stayed back and supported him by firing Wind Blades and Wind Bullets. Not long after, the flames were put out (with a little help from Sam's water magic) and the bears were dead as a doornail. The guy swished his club around a few times until the fire on the top of it went out, then hung it on his belt and stepped up to Sam with a hand held out.

"Well met, my friend. And my thanks for the timely help!" Sam was a little surprised by the eloquent delivery, as the style of the man didn't suggest something like that. Then he shrugged, took his hand, and shook it.

"No problem." He took another look at the man and continued, "Mind if I ask a question?" The guy simply put his hands on his hips, pushed his chest out, and exclaimed.

"Not at all! I'm ready to answer any question that you may pose to me!"

"Alright… What's up with the flaming club?" The guy's eyes immediately lit up with excitement and began to explain.

"Because fire is life! And I want to use that fire to ascend among the greatest! But my deepest desire is to control that which is almost uncontrollable by a mortal body!"

"Which is?"

"PLASMA!" he yelled, causing Sam to take a step back in shock. He shook himself, and in a much calmer and more controlled manner, continued to speak.

"Sorry about that… I get into it a little hard when I'm playing." He gave Sam a small smile.

"Name's Dan. I'm studying to be a physicist."

"Let me guess, your specialty is plasma?"

"Yes, exactly. So I decided to also use plasma in this game. Unga-Bunga style! I want to be the smartest caveman! Ever!" Sam stared for a long moment at the proud-looking man, then took a deep breath.

"Your control sucks…"

"What?" came the surprised call from Dan.

"Your Mana Control. I mean, I don't know much about plasma physics, but I know enough that to create plasma you need high pressure. Right?"

"Yes, it's not that simple, but yeah…"

"Right, your fire is hot, I saw the color, but it's not contained. If you want proper plasma, you need better control over your magic. And maybe some wind magic so that you can create a bubble around it…" Dan scratched his handsome chin for a moment thoughtfully then nodded.

"The small space would allow higher pressure and less energy investment. Makes sense. You know how to do this?"

"Kinda?" Sam answered hesitantly. Dan nodded.

"Alright. Let's go!" Sam just stood there, perplexed.

"What?"

"What?" came from Dan.

"Where do you want to go?"

"After you?"

"Why?"

"So that I can learn how to create proper plasma?"

"From me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you said you know this stuff."

"Yes, but…"

"So you can be my teacher." Dan gave him an earnest smile, and Sam fought against the urge to massage his temples. He looked at the man as he stood there patiently, waiting for his response. Sam thought about it.

'A melee plasma wizard… I mean, I saw stupider… But he looks like the loyal type, and I do need people for the dungeons.' The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. He would need to get Dan to learn a few more things as there were monsters that actually ate plasma, but the basic idea was workable. Looking back at Dan's earnest (and incredibly handsome) face, he nodded.

"Sure, I can teach you. Though, how do you feel about joining a guild?"

"Your guild?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe after a few lessons, but sounds fun!" came the cheery response. Sam nodded in agreement.

"Fair enough! Come on, let's start the lessons right away…" Dan's face lit up with a smile and followed Sam as he went around the clearing harvesting the bears while starting to give a basic introductory course in mana control. Dan simply took out a giant notebook and quill and began to take notes.

They spent some time in the forest with Sam explaining the basics of mana control, then leisurely walked back to the city, discussing mana and different spells, with Sam sometimes demonstrating his ability to cast spells without yelling out their names. By the time they reached the city gates, Dan proclaimed that he could somewhat feel the mana inside him and direct it a little with a giant smile.

Before they approached the guards to prove their identities, Dan placed his enormous hand on Sam's shoulder and pulled him aside.

"Look, I thought I knew something about this stuff, but you blew me out of water."

"Er, well, thank you…" Sam answered a little bashfully. Dan smiled at him.

"Where do I sign up?" Sam just chuckled and motioned the smartest caveman he ever met to follow him. It seemed Lucy was going to deal with a little more paperwork. Sam set up Dan in Lucy's care to be issued rooms and proper equipment, as well as instructions to call him if he finished circulating his mana once. He left the HQ building with an apprehensive Lucy staring at the giant man who was giving her a blinding smile with purposeful steps.

He had a secondary tank who could maybe act as a primary, a pretty good damage dealer, and himself as a medium-ranged damage dealer. Now he only needed a healer. Which was a rather easy problem to solve. Seeing as the game didn't have the strict holy trinity roles set up (tank, healer, DPS) people would need to figure out how to create a build that could work as a healer. Which, in turn, required a great deal of practice. Thankfully, almost every city had a hospital where aspiring healers went to hone their craft.

The city got free healing, the people who went there got healed, and the players got training. His only task was to get there and find a good egg, who he could raise up to be a great healer...