Chương 12: Tea?

I got Edwin's address, but no map. Fuck it, I'll just wander around till I find a house dripping with chemicals. She headed back in the direction of where Edwin had split off from them earlier. As she wandered countless back alleyways, twisting corridors and barren roads, she realized something. Tap Tap Tap Tap. I am completely and utterly… lost.

"Can someone he…" she stopped, remembering what had happened the last time she had appeared before the townspeople.

"Talvik, could you do something useful for once?" She prodded.

"Non-avians" Talvik snorted "I am not here to solve every problem you run into, do your best, human." he turned away. I am so tempted to kick you off my shoulder. She glared at him. As she was wandering through the streets at random, the sound of footsteps never left her for long, Tap Tap Tap Tap. Glancing back several times revealed nothing but empty alleys. She shivered. Is someone following me? Nythera bolted into a narrow alley and took three turns in rapid succession. The footsteps followed.

Looking back, the alley was still empty. Where are they? Tap…. Tap…. Tap…. Nythera cocked her head up at a steep angle. A cloaked figure sat hunched on the roof, looking down at her. A gaunt face with a large beard and beady eyes stared back As soon as her eyes found him, he bolted across the roof. Nythera likewise sprinted down the alley and into the main road, going forward at random. I gotta lose him. Heaving and struggling to stand, she came across a strange looking building.

It had 3 cylindrical chimneys coming out of various points in the wall and a massive steel-bolted door. The windows were completely blocked out by thick paneling and metal bars. Is this a bank? A drug den? Nythera stared. The big steel door creaked open, she backed up, but kept watching. Edwin's face popped out from behind.

"Nythera, Glad you found me! I wasn't sure you'd make it, come in, it's getting dark. I have some tea ready." Edwin said. The inside was exactly what she expected and yet somehow not. There were vials of strange liquids on a dozen different shelves, mixed between ornate tea cups and ceramics. The center of the room was dominated by a huge workshop table with a stove that seemed to be just for heating tea. It smelled of sulfur and strange chemicals, even the flux was turbulent, weaving around in a chaotic fashion.

"This place is just, wonderful Edwin, very… quaint" Nythera struggled to find compliments for the chemical factory tea shop. If I hear footsteps following me again, I am pulling out my bombard. Should I ask Edwin about it? … No I don't want to be a bother.

"Thank you dear, I have a room on the second floor for you, you can find food in the cellar, but whatever you do" Edwin leaned in and lowered his voice "Do not go in the second cellar. Always stay in the first or above." She nodded. I need to get to the second cellar at some point.

"Edwin, do you know anything about a strange bearded man running around rooftops in a cloak?" Nythera piped up.

"No… you say they were running around? To where?" Edwin's voice had a barely concealed note of curiosity.

"I was chased through town by them, they went from rooftop to rooftop." she replied.

"How curious" he tapped his chin.

"I will put forth an inquiry regarding the matter, but if you have nothing beyond "strange bearded man" it could take awhile to find them."

"Thank you" That'll have to do I suppose.

"Edwin the fucking pipes are leaking again, I think I smell something burning on them!" A voice shouted from above.

"Shelly probably knocked the bathroom acid experiment over again, I'll be right back" Edwin said as he frantically scrambled up the stairs. A young girl with long brunette hair and freckled cheeks made her way down the stairs.

"Edwin never learned to keep his chemicals out of the bathroom, sorry for the mess, I'm Shellia, it's nice to meet you!" Shellia said vibrantly, holding out her hand.

"Wow you hair is so pretty, and your eyes, I've never seen anything like them" She said enthusiastically stroking Nythera's hair. Too close! She backed up a half step. Nythera took it, "Nice to meet you, I'm Nythera" she said, "it's not really all that great, people don't seem to like my hair or eye colors" she mumbled, cheeks turning rosy red.

"Well I think it's beautiful, people are stupid" Shelly said.

"I heard all about you and your crazy cannon, apparently you killed a massive guardian in the inner island? And found a new dungeon on the island? And the domain core? You're practically a local legend already!" Shellia went on and on.

"And what is that bird, I've never seen it before on the island, you literally just got here and you already have a cool pet, no fair" Shellia said pouting and pointing at Talvik. She's too much, what is she? Leo's sister?

"Can you come up and help me place your dungeon on the map, the statements I got from Lance haven't been very useful". Shelly led her up the stairs to a wide open room with a giant table in the center and rolled parchment everywhere. Shellia walked straight up to the map and pointed at a spot near mountains "It's right around here but I'm having trouble pinpointing it, can you help?" She asked.

The top of the map was titled "Myrraval" and half of it, the upper half was completely blank except for a loosely traced border. That must be the coast, this island is … fucking massive, is it all one domain? This would be bigger than even the Tide Duke's crown domains. Her mouth was open. The bottom portion of the map was decently filled out, with mountains, hills, forests, and towns. She could make out Rustreach, Halsbury, Grandport, and Amplewoods; all the towns except Halsbury were scattered around the coast.

Her eyes widened in shock. The interior of the island past the mountains… was nearly empty. Has no one bothered to chart this island? After decades here? Lazy fucks. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Shelly pointed to one small area on the interior following along a river. She could see a ruined bridge drawn on a huge river. Oh I think I know where it is. She pointed to a spot on the map right by the western cliffs.

"I think it's around here, there was a smaller river nearby" Nythera said.

"Thank you! I'll just put it there now" Shelly said, pulling out a green quill and a piece of parchment. She drew something and then pulled on the paper, the image of a small stone door floating off the paper, pinched between two fingers and fluttering in the air.

"Now you go right…. Here!" She exclaimed, pushing the drawing onto the bigger map, where it stuck. Wow that's… pretty cool. Nythera thought "Are you mapping the entire island?" She asked.

"Well… I'd like to, but piercing the interior is ridiculously dangerous, where you were is only barely navigable, go much further inland and the fluxspawn dramatically increase in power." Shelly sighed.

"The best we have managed is the coastal areas, not even the ruins we can clearly see from the Mirrorwake, and let alone the fact that there's at least 5 more islands we haven't even touched" Shelly said, a wistful note in her voice.

"Why haven't the islands been explored or at least the coastline scouted? You people have been here what, hundreds of years already?" Nythera asked, looking over the map at the big blobs and question marks representing five more islands.

"It's not that easy, I'm one of the only cartographers around and my level is too low for Ley-insights, plus most of the islands are considerably more hostile to life than this one. People are content here, the crop yields are abundant, there's a dungeon or two we can use and there's no war or lords…. Or there wasn't till you came around." Shelly explained. Nythera looked away in embarrassment Sorry, it wasn't like I was trying to cause problems, all I wanted to do was live.

"What's a ley-insight?" she asked, changing the subject.

"It's a rare ability for ascended cartographers, if I draw a new map and scout out an area myself, things I never even saw will appear on the map, ruins, resource deposits, rivers, and mountains. Very very useful, and very hard to get" Shelly said. That sounds… incredible, a map that maps itself for you? She salivated at the idea of finding more supply depots so easily.

"How hard is cartography to learn and level?" Nythera asked.

"Well it's pretty easy as a profession to pick up, but… leveling it is another problem entirely. You need parchment and quills and new lands to explore. If you're actively exploring new lands yourself and mapping them, it levels extraordinarily fast" Shelly said. This could actually be… very useful, if I want to uncover more about "Aurendor" I will need to go further in.

"Its got a lot of wisdom and some intelligence, not really a combat oriented profession, but some of the skills, Like Far-sight, are treasured by long range attackers" Shelly went on. Is this… perfect for me? Wisdom is a standard governing or leading stat and Far-sight plus my cannon sounds like a dream. Shelly was still droning on, "Teach me cartography" Nythera declared, interrupting her. Talvik turned to look directly at her. She ignored him.

"Wait, what, did you hear nothing I just said?" Shelly asked in shock.

"Cartography can only be leveled by going out and exploring new lands, we don't even have enough people to crack Myrraval's interior, let alone the other islands. Have you even seen the sea between Volthera and Volkion? It's full of overcharged magmatic flux storms."

"It's fine, I'll just get stronger, how can I be expected to lead when I don't even know my own domain" she replied.

"I suppose… that idea has merit, very well, I will teach you... Don't expect it to be easy" Shelly said. Three hours of horribly drawn sketches later, Nythera finally got the notification. New Profession Option Acquired! Cartographer Explore and map the world around you. +3 Fixed stats, 2 subskills.

"Thank Kronan, I finally got it!" Nythera sighed, setting down the quill.

"Which version did you get? There's some variance on the starting skills and stats." Shelly asked.

"Two subskills, three stats" She said, selecting the profession and confirming it. Cartographer Explore and map the world around you. +2 Wisdom, +1 Intelligence per level. Cartography (lvl 1) (0 tokens) Skill with drawing maps increases with level. Far-sight (lvl 1) (0 tokens) You can see great distances, clarity and distance scale with level"Far-sight and cartography." Nythera said.

"Oh that's pretty good! You got two useful ones right away. Still, unless you get mapping materials and start plotting new lands it won't level very well." Shelly said. Edwin came in for the 5th time with another helping of tea, putting it before Shelly and Nythera. Can you become addicted to tea?

"Finally unlocked your profession, I see. here, have some celebratory tea." he said. Shelly smirked, "You're lucky, I'll sell you map supplies at a reasonable price, but you need to take me with you on some of these trips." She said. Now I see why she was so enthusiastic about helping me. They drank tea and enjoyed a hearty dinner before Nythera crashed onto the bed, Talvik flew up and perched on a shelf. Fantastic, one step at a time I will claw my way up. She drifted off into a well earned rest. …

She woke up to the sun shining through window slits, went downstairs and ate breakfast in the chemical factory house with Edwin and Shelly.

"Alright, so I was thinking about Lance's assignment, I need to make some kind of proposal for Grandport or Halsbury. I have an idea based on something I saw on my travels, but I would like to run it by you two first" Nythera said.

"Alright Nythera, we are open to hearing your proposal" Edwin said, sipping tea. Shelly looked on attentively. Does he ever stop drinking tea?

"During my travels I passed through a country called Tarcadia, are you familiar with it?" She asked. Shelly and Edwin both shook their heads.

"It is by the Cinderscorch on the Brigadian mountains, they implement a special approach to dungeon management that they learned from Repperdom further south. Rather than giving the nobility complete control of dungeons, they allow commoners with the right classes to use them as well. To this end they established a Guild building at every dungeon entrance, in exchange for a percent of the dungeon loot, delvers get free healing, low-cost appraisals, access to training, and lodgings.

It was exceptionally effective at cultivating a large, varied powerful delver force, which they use even at the military level." Nythera explained.

"How peculiar, I've never heard of such a thing before" Edwin said, scratching his chin.

"What a weird country, you're telling me the nobles willingly give up dungeon slots and resources to commoners?" Shelly said, a look of shock painting her face.

"Yes, but the dungeon tax is pretty steep, it more than covers the cost of running the guild, I heard it even subsidizes the government" Nythera said.

"Ive also been meaning to discuss if we should set an island-wide tax rate, but I don't think they would like that right now, the towns all self-govern here after all." She continued.

"I think this idea… has merit, you should propose a "guild" of some sort to Lance, of course you'll need a more appropriate name, but right now the dungeons are only managed via a waitlist, you sign up, you enter, you're done, this system would allow people from distant villages to come and run dungeons and have somewhere to stay… and would reduce the casualty rates." Edwin said, beginning his alchemy work on the breakfast table. Something fizzled and sparks shot out.

"Leo said he would be around tomorrow to give you your dungeon running schedule, you should tell him you want to talk to Lance." Shelly said.

"Until then… I'll show you how cartography really works.".

"Have fun dears, don't make an ink mess up there, I've already had to pull enough of the stuff out of the floorboards" Edwin said, levitating several liquid chemicals in the air as he changed their containers, two were even mixing in mid-air, producing a horrible stench. She scrunched her nose. Nythera spent the day drawing crude maps and spilling ink all over the floorboards. Cartography (lvl 1 > lvl 3). But she smiled in the end, seeing the results of her labor.

I will find the other depots, and any other secrets hiding on this island. She crammed several bottles of ink, a quill, and a dozen sheets of parchment into Boxy. She had traded away 6 of the quartz golem hearts for it.

"Child, you must get back to finding depots, they offer much more than you can gain staying here. Picking cartography was a wise choice for exploring the island, but I fear it will do you little good in combat, you should have picked Arcanist or Rifle-maker." Talvik scolded her, his voice booming in her mind.

"It'll be fine, don't worry, my Aether Bombard is already strong, and the mapping will allow me to steadily explore not just this island, but all of them. I can eventually count on the maps to point out ruins for me, and anything I find of note can be fed back to the people of Myrraval." Nythera said, brushing him off once again. I need to go buy a muzzle for Talvik tomorrow, don't forget Nythera She drifted off to sleep. … Her door exploded open.

"Hey miss witch I heard you have some idea for Lance, lets go! No time like the present! Day is wasting away, are you awake?" Leo blasted in like a battering ram. Talvik smirked.