Chương 477: B7—Chapter 53: Flamethrower

In the morning, I looked for Tigi, the gnome who was selling the dungeon location, but he wasn't in the common room downstairs. The purple-bearded innkeeper Pinga wasn't around either, so I couldn't ask him about Tigi. With no one to question, I looked for a different source of information. In this world, they didn't refer to those phenomena as dungeons or mana portals or anything close to that. They called them blight. Dungeons were black blight, and portals were rainbow blight.

From what I heard, the color gradation was the same as in other worlds—white, yellow, red, ending with black as the worst of the lot. The rainbows had the same colors as everywhere else, but they still called them rainbow blight and treated that as completely logical. Gnomes. One word was enough to explain everything. Quite a lot of the portals had metal ores, and those they called rainbow blessings. Again, gnome logic. Bad resources meant blight, good resources meant blessing.

The fact that it was the same phenomenon didn't matter to them in the slightest. Stretchlings mainly were the ones clearing dungeons and portals. Besides this world's motto, "tall people have tall wallets," they had another: "tall people fight tall monsters." That was why stretchings were richer than most and usually higher-level. It was also why some cities didn't let them in. People saw them as violent troublemakers who brought disaster wherever they went.

Some of the stretchlings we met in the inn were indeed relatively violent and constantly looking for a fight, but our purple-bearded innkeeper used to be an adventurer and was a Breaker, level 41. They never had a chance to cause trouble around him. I once asked him where his class name came from. He wiped a mug with a rag, looked up with a wide, mischievous grin, and said, "I break anything and anyone." Yeah. No wonder nobody messed with him.

Even the rowdiest stretchlings turned into well-behaved little gnomes when he was around, drunk or not. A group of gnomes I'd seen the previous evening was camped out in the far corner of the common room, cups already in hand, so I made my way over.

"Do you know Tigi?" I asked. They perked up immediately, banging their cups on the table so hard ale splashed over the rim.

"The singer! Sing us a song!" I snorted under my breath.

"Only in the evenings. Right now, I'm just asking questions. So—Tigi?" They all nodded.

"Any idea where I can find him?"

"They left yesterday," one of them said, wiping foam from his arm. That caught me off guard.

"He sold the blight's location?" They burst into laughter loud enough to rattle the plates. Of course. No self-respecting gnome would pay that kind of money for dungeon locations. They loved gold more than their own mothers.

"Know anybody else selling blight locations?" I asked. They all froze with their ears plastered back. The gnome equivalent of raised eyebrows and dropped jaw. Finally, one of them shook his head hard, like he was flinging off water.

"Why? You want to sing to monsters?" I laughed.

"No. Our group wants to try clearing one, but we don't know how to find them." They immediately huddled together and whispered, clearly thinking I couldn't hear them. I could." He sings good. Maybe we tell him," one muttered, tapping his cup against his chin." No, no, bad idea. If he dies, no more songs," another whispered back, horrified." But he deserves it. Good singers deserve good things," a third insisted." Good things? You want him eaten? Then no more evening songs. Think, Gakik.

Think with your brain," someone hissed." But we buy him drinks," the first one whispered." Exactly! And dead singers don't drink," the second countered, triumphant. A pause settled over the group. Then a collective, conflicted groan rolled through. Finally, they turned back toward me.

"Yes?" I asked. One of them tapped the table firmly.

"Too dangerous. If you die, no more songs." I sighed. There was no point in arguing with them. There were the dungeons the wind pointed out when we flew above the endless forest, but I didn't like the look of that place or the sounds coming from it. Between the roars, the growls, and the lightning birds that attacked us, skipping that location felt smarter. Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

From what I'd learned over the past half a year, the gnomes built their cities far away from any spot that could spawn a dungeon or a portal. They could sense mana vents and stayed as far from them as possible. I sat at the bar and opened the Travelers' Map. Large empty areas spread across it, all of them far from any city. That was our best lead. Preferably one without endless forests full of hidden beasts. Once we reached one of those places, I could always ask the wind.

If we could find dungeons in a low mana world, finding them in a high mana world should be a breeze. Decision made, I went looking for Mahya in her workshop. The noise reached me from a street away. Metal banging, something cracking, a long metal screech that made my teeth ache, and a string of curses. I broke into a run. Inside, the place looked like a battlefield. Broken pieces of the old ship skeleton were strewn around, and Mahya was in the middle of it, tearing into it like a crazed animal.

Earlier, she'd only broken the welding points. Now she wasn't bothering with anything that civilized. She grabbed beams with both hands and ripped them apart with raw, furious strength, metal groaning in protest before snapping. Her movements were wild; her face twisted with anger. She hissed, and a rapid stream of curses came out of her mouth nonstop. She looked like she wanted to punish the entire structure for existing. Her condition scared me. Something was clearly wrong.

I stepped toward her with my hands raised, trying not to spook her, but she spun around and shoved me so hard I nearly fell.

"Leave me alone," she screamed at me. I steadied myself and took a few careful steps back to give her space.

"Mahya. It's me. Talk to me. Please." She didn't even glance in my direction. She grabbed another metal beam and ripped it loose. The skeleton of the old ship shrieked under her grip. Her chest heaved, and her shoulders trembled.

"You're scaring me," I said quietly.

"Just tell me what's wrong before you hurt yourself." She turned toward me again. Her eyes weren't blue anymore. They glowed bright orange. For a split second, I thought she'd throw the chunk of metal at my head. Instead, fire burst out of her hand. A stream of flame shot across the workshop. I threw myself sideways, boots scraping hard against the floor as heat rolled past my back. Mahya froze and squeaked.

The fire sputtered out, leaving only a charred streak on the floor and the sharp smell of burned oil hanging in the air. She stared at her palm as if it belonged to someone else. The fury drained out of her in an instant, leaving her pale, shaky, and unsteady on her feet.

"I… I don't know what happened." Her voice cracked.

"It felt like something inside me was trying to claw its way out. Like a storm pushing and tearing at me." Her hands shot up to her face. Her fingers dug into her skin as tears spilled down her cheeks.

"I'm scared." I approached slowly, letting her see every step. She didn't pull away when I reached her. Her breath stuttered as I wrapped my arms around her, and she collapsed against me, trembling.

"It's fine," I whispered.

"You're fine. I'm fine. We'll figure this out together." I cast a healing spell over her, just in case. Some of the tightness eased from her muscles.

"This might be from stopping the potion," I said softly.

"It probably kept this bottled up." She nodded against my chest, her breathing evening out. I gave her a moment, then asked quietly, "How are you feeling now?" She straightened a little and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. A thoughtful expression crossed her face. Then a wide smile broke through.

"Good. Really good." I raised an eyebrow. That was unexpected. She stepped back, planted her feet, and pointed her hand at the floor. Another stream of fire burst from her palm. It lasted two full seconds before cutting off. Mahya winced, rubbed her temples, and swayed where she stood. I stepped forward quickly and caught her elbow.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I burned through all my mana, but besides that, I'm fine." She took a slow breath.

"Better, actually." Her eyes were back to blue, so it was a good sign.

"Physically or mentally?" I asked.

"Both. I feel normal and in control." She smiled widely.

"I missed this feeling. Like nothing is wrong."

"I'm glad. Welcome back." She laughed.

"How did you do the fire thing?" I asked.

"The first time, it just burst out of me. No intention." She tapped her chest lightly.

"The second time I wanted the fire out, and it listened." I tried to copy the method. Sadly, nothing happened. The fire sat somewhere inside me like a lazy cat refusing to budge. Still, I made a mental note to practice. If Mahya could throw fire from her hand, I should probably learn to do it too. I was the wizard, after all. We stayed in the workshop for a few hours and worked together to take apart the old skeleton. Mahya looked completely fine. No crying, shouting, or cursing, and no wild attacks on the frame.

She laughed, joked, and worked with a smile. At one point, I used my earth affinity to yank a pole out from under her hand. She froze for half a second, then burst out laughing. She shot me a wink and pantomimed choking me, hands raised dramatically like she was about to wring my neck. I cracked up, and she grinned. She wasn't even disappointed when I told her I couldn't find Tigi to find out the dungeon locations. She waved her hand dismissively and smiled.

"Saved us the gold. Besides, we're good at finding dungeons." Basically, Mahya looked like her old self again. Still, just in case, I kept my fingers crossed it would hold. When we got back to the inn, Al was waiting in the common room, tapping his fingers on the table in a quick, nervous rhythm. The moment he saw us, he pushed his chair back and strode toward us.

"When are we leaving?" Mahya and I exchanged glances.

"Tomorrow?" she asked. I shrugged.

"I'm good with whatever you decide."

"Tomorrow," Al said, his tone firm and absolute. Mahya nodded and turned toward the exit.

"Where are you going?" I called after her.

"To collect my things." Once she returned, the four of us had dinner and went upstairs to my house. Inside, Al channeled mana into the Map, making it visible.

"Did you inquire about the dungeon locations?" he asked me.

"No. The group left, but it's not a problem." I pointed at a vast empty stretch on the Map. It had patches of green but was mostly brown.

"This area looks promising. It's big, and there are no cities for miles."

"How do you intend to find dungeons?" he asked.

"Like always, I'll ask the wind." He shot me an annoyed glance.

"I am aware of that part, but this area is very large. You always said the wind directs you only within a limited radius."

"We can fly above in the balloon," Mahya said.

"John keeps asking the wind, and once he has a location, we land." Al seemed satisfied with that. Rue's tail went into overdrive, thumping against the floor.

"You're excited?" I asked him.

"Yes. Rue like monster hunting. Rue also love getting levels."

"Don't we all," Mahya said in a soft, wistful tone. It was settled. Tomorrow we were going dungeon hunting.