Chương 492: B7—Chapter 68: High Mana, High Confusion

My upgraded toboggan was a success, but they all complained that I'd made only one. With a long sigh, I went back to work and started upgrading the rest of the sleds. There was no arguing with them. One working prototype wasn't enough when everyone had already tasted how good it was. While I worked, they kept playing on the hills and mountains. Laughter, shouts, and barks drifted in through the open window as they took turns using my sled as a substitute for whoever didn't have one, since I was busy working on it.

If anything, it seemed to encourage even more creativity. Sometimes they raced down the slopes. Other times, they held impromptu sled contests on the flatter stretches, arguing loudly over rules that kept changing every few minutes. On my fourth day of engraving, while working on sled number three, I finally looked up from the board and stared out the window with a low growl. They were still out there, having the time of their lives. Meanwhile, I was stuck inside, hunched over wood and runes, working my butt off.

And the worst part was that I didn't even get an offer for the new profession. I understood it would take a while. I'd need to sell some enchanted items for money, not just provide a service to the group. That part made sense. Still, I'd expected something. At least a paid offer. Some kind of acknowledgment that this was more than casual tinkering. There was nothing. Zilch. With another sigh, I bent back over the sled and went back to work, muttering under my breath about the unfairness of it all.

It took me two more days to finish, and finally, I could have some fun too. The moment I stepped outside with the last sled, Mahya clapped her hands once and pointed at the open flat beyond the house.

"Perfect timing. We were getting bored." They had already turned the flat stretch into a makeshift course. Branches lying on the snow marked a starting point. Rods stuck in the snow served as turn markers. Someone had even trampled a wide loop into the ground.

"Rules?" I asked. Mahya shrugged.

"Loose." Al added, "They will change." Rue barked and shot forward without waiting. We lined up and pushed off together. I'd expected them to be gentle with the mana feed, but all of them shot out of the starting point at top speed. Yeah, it made sense. Everyone already knew how far they could push it. The sleds flew fast, pressure differentials humming beneath the boards as we shot across the flat. Rue immediately tried to cut inside, clipped a marker, and sent a rod spinning through the air.

"That one doesn't count," Mahya shouted. Rue barked and kept going. Al glided past both of us, posture relaxed, but somehow still faster. He leaned just enough to curve around the far marker and pulled ahead with infuriating ease. Mahya growled and dumped more mana in, her sled surging forward. She overshot the turn, skidded wide, corrected, and nearly clipped me on the way back in.

"Watch it," I called. She laughed her head off. We did three laps before anyone bothered to stop. Then someone suggested doing it backward. That lasted exactly one second before Rue spun in place, flew off the sled, and rolled in the snow. Next came one sled only. Everyone else had to run to keep up. That turned into shouting and laughing, and Rue cheating by taking out his sled halfway through and storing it again near the finish line as if it were perfectly reasonable.

"Disqualified," Mahya said firmly. Rue wagged his tail and did it again. At some point, the rules dissolved entirely. It became about cutting closer to the markers, sliding sideways as long as possible without losing speed, and seeing who could stop closest to the house from top speed without crashing into it. That one needed some healing spells, and I was soooooo glad my house was core powered and extra tough.

I leaned into my sled and let it glide, not racing, just enjoying the feel of it moving exactly the way I'd imagined. By the time we finally slowed down, the flat was a mess of tracks, scuffed snow, and fallen markers. Everyone was flushed and grinning. Rue flopped down in the snow as his legs had finally given out. I stood there for a moment, sled under my boots, watching them argue about who'd won what, and felt the last of the frustration drain away.

Yeah, the extra work had been worth it, and the offer for the profession would come eventually. We played for another three days, but I figured it was time to move on and look for a gnome city to sell the strange loot. Just to get an idea of how much stuff I actually had to sell, I took out everything I'd gotten from the dungeon except the metal golems, then just stood there staring at it all. I rubbed my neck and fidgeted, feeling highly uncomfortable.

Mahya and Al chased the items that interested them and handed me everything else since, according to them, "I didn't get anything out of that dungeon."

As a result, I ended up with 4 flight harnesses, 4 Jump skill scrolls, 3 shifting hammers, 3 nail cubes, 2 metal eggs, 2 ice stones, 2 fire stones, 1 malable stone, the Make It So spell from Rue I traded with him for a beer refill, and from the final run the hammer that corrects strikes and the inspection glasses from Rue I traded for a mountain of smoked crab into his Storage. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Basically, they got one of almost everything, and I got a ridiculous amount of loot from the dungeon because I "didn't get anything" from it. Yeah. Highly uncomfortable. After some thought, I put aside one of each except the Jump skill, and everything else went into the sell pile. I stacked it neatly, then paused, staring at it for a moment before adding in the original harness Mahya suggest I keep. I even had a pretty good idea where to sell it all.

Over dinner, once everyone got dessert and coffee, I brought up the subject.

"Ready to leave?"

"Why?" Mahya asked, spoon halfway to her mouth. That caught me off guard. I frowned at her.

"Because we're done here?" Mahya glanced at Al. Al met her look, then turned to me, straightening slightly in his chair. Apparently, he was elected spokesperson.

"I do wish to leave this world," he said calmly, folding his hands on the table.

"However, it is currently winter, with frequent snowstorms. I believe it would be wiser to wait out the season before departing. It would be considerably safer than risking a snowstorm while traveling by balloon." I thought about it and nodded. He had a point.

"Besides," Mahya added.

"If the weather gets too terrible, we can always go back to the lake with the gym sharks." I rubbed my chin, thinking it over, and had to admit it made sense.

"Yeah, okay. But if we run the dungeon with the sharks again, you get all the loot." Al stared at me like I'd grown horns. Mahya inhaled at exactly the wrong moment, sucked some coffee down the wrong pipe, and immediately broke into a coughing fit. When she could breath again, Mahya leaned forward, concern still written all over her face, and asked, still half choking, "Why? You didn't get anything from that dungeon." That had me fidgeting again, this time sinking back into my chair.

I rubbed my hands on my thighs, avoided their eyes, and finally sighed.

"All right," I said.

"Fine." I broke down and told them exactly how much stuff I'd actually gotten from the dungeon. Item by item. By the time I finished, the table was quiet again. They stared at me. I stared back. It was getting annoying.

"Huh," Mahya finally said. We played for another week, with a small, one day snowstorm in the middle, and I even decided to give the skis another try. This time, I started working on a rune and script puzzle to glue the shoes directly to the skis, so we wouldn't need the metal clasps. It took some fiddling, a lot of parchment, and more than one annoyed mutter, but it felt promising. At least Mahya had an idea for how to make the ski poles. After that week, a bigger storm rolled in.

We spent two full days stuck at home, doing little more than pacing, reading, and staring out the windows at the total whiteout outside. The world beyond the glass had vanished entirely, swallowed by swirling snow and wind. Even the usual landmarks were gone, erased into a single flat sheet of white. On the morning of the third day, with visibility still less than ten centimeters from the door, Mahya slapped the counter hard enough to rattle the cups.

"That's it. Let's go swimming." With my cloak and Mana Shield up, the storm was bearable, but still unpleasant. Even with my ice and wind affinities, pushing the snow away from our route only helped so much. I cleared some of the ground beneath our feet and stripped a bit of the falling snow from the air, but there was simply too much of it. The area I had to affect was so wide that the results were mediocre at best.

We still sank up to our waists with every step, and the visibility improved by maybe another ten centimeters, if that. Still, it beat sinking up to our ears with even less visibility. It took us a while to actually find the dungeon. Even with the enhanced sense of direction from our stats, when the entire world is white and you only know the general direction you're supposed to go, it's far from easy. Every step looked the same as the last.

Distance was impossible to judge, and the wind kept trying to nudge us off course. Eventually, though, the familiar shape of the portal emerged from the storm. We made it to the portal of doom, and that was what counted. The gang ran inside like all the denizens of hell were chasing them, but I lingered outside.

Yes, it was cold and unpleasant, but now that I no longer needed to clear snow from the ground, I wanted to see if I could improve my control over the falling snow, or at least determine whether it was even possible. The results were slightly better, but not by much. My wind affinity helped me influence some of the snow's movement, and my ice affinity made it easier to push the flakes around, but I still had to affect each snowflake individually.

With thousands of them falling at once, that was basically impossible. After about ten minutes of pushing as hard as I could, I finally gave up and went inside. The metal room was empty. I moved on to the first arena. Still empty. Just in case, I crossed it in the air without touching the ground and reached the next metal room. Empty again. The next arena was the same. I kept going like that, room to arena, arena to room, all the way to the waterfall, but it was empty too. That got me worried.

I could accept them not clearing the arenas before the waterfall if the intention really was only swimming, despite Mahya's love for loot. But if the intention was swimming, then where were they? I sensed Rue very faintly. He felt close, but I couldn't figure out the direction. The bracelet didn't help. I couldn't sense Mahya or Al at all. My heart started pounding like crazy. I flew back through the arenas, faster this time, scanning everything as I went, looking for any sign of them. Still nothing.

I burst out of the dungeon entrance and flew smack dab into Al's back, sending both of us tumbling into the snow.

"Where the hell were you?" Mahya shouted at me. I jumped to my feet, boots slipping a little in the snow as I caught my balance.

"Me? Where the hell were you?" I shot back. I threw an arm out toward the dungeon entrance.

"I made it all the way to the waterfall and didn't find you anywhere."

"We waited for you in the first safe zone."

"No, you didn't." I shook my head hard.

"Even if you were invisible, I would've sensed you. You weren't there." Our voices kept climbing, and I was almost shouting at her. Most of it came from worry and raw nerves, but there was anger there too, sparked by what felt like a stupid practical joke at exactly the wrong time. Al grabbed both my arm and Mahya's and hauled us inside.

"Argue inside, out of the storm." The metal room swallowed the noise of the wind the moment we crossed the portal. I turned toward Mahya, already drawing breath to keep shouting, and she looked just as ready to unload on me. Before either of us could say a word, Al stepped between us and planted a hand against each of our chests, pushing us gently but firmly apart.

"I believe I know what the problem is," he said, his tone tight.

"And I am ashamed that we did not consider it earlier."

"What?" Mahya and I barked at him in unison. Al looked between us.

"What is the mana level of this world?" I stared at him like he'd completely lost his mind. Mahya froze, then slapped her forehead hard.

"We're idiots."

"Whah?" I asked. She dragged a hand down her face and shook her head.

"Spirits, I'm sooo embarrassed right now."

"Please enlighten me," I said, spreading my hands.

"Because right now I'm totally lost." She turned to me.

"Remember the dungeons in Tatob?" I nodded slowly.

"We didn't have to wait weeks for them to regenerate," she said.

"Only a short while for the instance to cycle after a group went in. We're in fifty-one mana. This dungeon has instances." I facepalmed. Yeah. That was the only viable reaction.