Cleaning the storehouse was hard work. Layers of dust were wiped away, many a cozy vermin evicted, and they even replaced some shelves. The task at hand was enormous, considering the state of disrepair. But the protectors diligently organized the mess of items into separate crates, sacks, and barrels.
They were thorough. Anything beyond repair was burned. Broken items with usable parts were dismantled. However, it was difficult to determine what was useful since Atn and Ezall's inhabitants had differing opinions on the matter. Therefore, they had to wait for a villager to go through the burn pile and decide what could be used and what had to be discarded. While that was being dealt with by villagers Talbot assigned to the task, Atn and Zsig focused on the final stretch of clean-up.
Amidst a cluster of mildewed cloth, an old chest covered in grime caught Atn's eye. He cleared off the items piled on top and inspected the unassuming container. There was no lock or alarm that Atn could see; the villagers likely trusted the storehouse's outer protections to keep anything unwanted out. If something got through the magically warded front door, a lock on the chest wouldn’t make that much difference, he supposed.
The lid stuck like it was sealed shut. He should have let it go; there was no real reason to look inside, but Atn was curious.
“Zsig, can you help me for a minute?”
“What’s up?”
By now, they could see each other throughout the room without having to navigate around broken shelving and stacks of crates.
“I can’t get the lid on this chest open.”
Zsig came over and examined the chest.
“You’re sure it’s not some type of voltage barrier keeping it shut?”
“I don’t feel any charge coming from it.”
“You can feel charge?”
“Yeah, like back in the mountains. It sort of feels like the object is humming.”
Zsig gave him a funny look but didn’t question Atn further. Instead, he found a durable piece of metal. The head of a small hand axe, worn and rusted. He wedged the edge into the sliver between the trunk and lid and pried it open. It didn’t take long. A little bit of pressure around the chest, a pop, and the lid opened right up.
They looked inside and were greeted by a gleaming assortment of precious stones, gold, and silver. Some pieces were expertly cut and polished, while others remained raw and unrefined, hinting at their potential.
“Oh my.”
“Whoa.”
They had never seen riches like this before. Artisans, such as goldsmiths and jewel crafters, recycled materials to make and sell luxury items in Last Stand. New, nonrenewable resources weren't exactly plentiful. Before the Corruption Wars, the city of Striport, now Last Stand, imported many goods. It was an agrarian-focused region that exported much of its yields to the other areas of Triahkel. The nutrient-dense soil and optimal growing seasons made it the primary food supplier.
Striport’s ample food stores served them well, carrying the city through the Corruptions Wars while others fell from starvation alone. With the collapse of civilization and most trade between regions cut off, they could no longer import goods found outside Striport. But once economies began to stabilize after the Corruption Wars stalemated and the introduction of the Chronocoin, the price of valuable objects skyrocketed because their availability became finite.
The chest was a spectacular display for someone not used to it. In actuality, it wasn't that much. The silver coins were heavily tarnished. Uncut gems were worth less than cut. And there were only a few gold pieces. A stash tucked away, forgotten about unless disaster occurred—remnants of the gifts from the gnomes. But it was still a new sight to them, so they stared, momentarily awestruck by more riches than they had ever seen.
“I doubt our chrono is transferable here...”
Zsig's voice trailed off. Leaving the suggestion unspoken. And Atn would be lying if he said he didn’t consider it—only a moment. But the temptation was great. Then Mr. Talbot's words came back: steal anything, I’ll know.
“Probably not. Maybe we can pick up a few side jobs in Iskle if we can’t find a way home right away.”
“Yeah, right.”
Atn watched as Zsig gave the contents a long look, then walked away from the chest. A tiny fragment of Atn’s mind wondered how straight Zsig’s moral compass was. He wouldn’t have thought the protector would hint at stealing from people who helped them. That led Atn to consider what he knew about Zsig outside of work. He wasn’t exactly a chatterbox, and when they did talk, it was rarely personal details. In complete contrast to his partner, Atn could keep up quite the dialogue should the mood strike him, which it often did.
Atn left the chest where it was. They weren't going to organize or steal it, so there was no reason to lug it around. He moved on to book and parchment-related items. If it had a writable surface, he was searching through it.
By now, Atn and Zsig had sorted most of the junk. They had saved the books and scrolls for last because most were ruined. Mould, pests, moisture, and time wreaked havoc on the vellum. They were oh so delicate—possibly the most fragile thing in this place. Plus, the books were heavy dictionary-sized tomes. Zsig, overseeing junk destruction, burned many books that day.
The villagers did not mourn the loss of the books. Many were illiterate except for people like Callette, who had apprenticed outside of Ezall before making her way back. Reading wasn’t a skill many people needed in a place like this, or at least they felt they didn’t need it, so they didn’t learn it.
Scroll after scroll, Atn unrolled each with painstaking care, taking extra time not to crack or rip any.
He came across one with a symbol on it that began to glow as it unfurled, and then a trembling set in. At a certain point, while trying to open the delicate scroll, the edge of the paper crumbled and took part of the symbol with it. The whole thing immediately went dark, inactive. That was the only glowing text he encountered.
There were only a small handful of scrolls to look through, but the process was slow and tedious. Some could have been maps, but Atn would never know. Many were too faded to see what the page once held.
As the pile of unexamined scrolls dwindled, Atn got nervous. Did they just do all that work for nothing? But despair had set in too soon. The last scroll revealed a map as he delicately rolled it out. This was it!
“Zsig, I found…oh.”
Atn’s voice dropped off at the end. It was a map. But an old one. The ink had faded, so only parts of the cartographer's labour remained—sea surrounding an L-shaped land. Someone had circled Ezall on the legible side of the map.
“I'll let Talbot know we found it. Do you want to finish up here while I track him down?”
Zsig grouched but agreed. He had been avoiding Talbot after running off on him.
It didn't take long to find the Headman. He had a knack for being wherever he was needed. Atn wondered if it might be a Skill. Either way, he quickly found Talbot, who then gifted the map to Atn as a thank you for cleaning the storehouse. Not the best gift, to be honest, considering it was partially ruined. But it was more than they currently had.
Zsig had finished by the time Atn returned, less than 10 minutes later.
“We need to find out more about hunting that badger. I’m going to visit Griff.”
“I’ll stay in the loft.”
“He has knowledge we need. You’re going to have to suck it up and apologize. I don't think he’ll help us otherwise.”
Just because their partnership was imbalanced didn't mean Zsig was the leader. They received orders from their superiors and carried them out. The keeper was just responsible for taking Atn out should he become corrupted. Besides that, his partner, Zsig, was just a regular old protector. Some keepers took advantage of the general disdain for Biomech’s and treated them as inferior, but not all. The point was that Zsig was not good at taking charge. He was excellent at carrying out orders, not giving them. Atn was the same, which is why they were just your standard protectors and not working in High Command or somewhere with even more responsibility.
Griff, the [Hunter], was sitting outside his cabin when Atn and Zsig approached. Atn raised a hand in greeting.
“Hello. Are you Griff? My name’s Atncore. We were hoping to speak with you.”
“I don’t have nothin’ to say to you two.”
The man's face was hard. Atn eyed the bow and quiver propped up next to him.
“I am deeply sorry for my partner's behaviour. Could we offer you our services to help make amends?”
The stony-faced man crossed his arms.
“Or perhaps…”
Atn looked around, thinking on his feet.
“Zsig, don't you carry two voltage orbs? Give him one.”
“No way!”
That caught the hunter's attention.
“What's a voltage orb?”
Griff pronounced the word carefully as if it were foreign to him.
Atn pulled out his bound orb and activated it. Charge in the form of a light orb came to life. Bound orbs, the dimmer sibling to the fixed ones, could be unbound and converted to stationary. The light would then adjust to that of a regular voltage orb since keeping it bound to the magnet wasn’t leeching extra charge.
When Atn illuminated it, it was bright. Not that of an ordinary orb, but significantly brighter. All the shade provided by the forest surrounding the hunter's cabin disappeared. It was the middle of the day, clear skies, the sun high in the sky, and still, the bound orb may have shone brighter. He chose to keep that fact to himself, though Zsig’s briefly surprised expression told Atn he had also noticed.
“That some sort of an artifact?”
Griff was noticeably intrigued.
“It’s like a compact lantern, but it doesn’t take fire or fuel to run it.”
Atn tossed the ball at Griff, who snagged it from the air. Not catch it. But actually reached out and grabbed it mid-trajectory, impressive in itself. Even more so because it was so bright you couldn’t look at the orb directly—Atn realized he should have deactivated it before tossing, but it was durable. A drop to the ground wouldn’t be enough to break it.
“Looks kinda like a magelight. What’s it run on?”
“Charge.”
The man’s face screwed up in confusion.
“Uh. Like very advanced electricity...I think. Zsig do you know more about it?”
“Nope.”
Zsig stood there with his arms folded. He was awful at this making amends thing. And he was plainly against giving Griff the orb, but Atn had already gotten the ball rolling in his attempt to pacify the situation, and it was too late to go back.
“What’s electricity?”
“Lightning?”
Atn hedged. Even he felt they were giving too much information away at this point. How different was Olera? They didn’t know about electricity, or was it just the remoteness of Ezall that left the village ignorant? Triahkel had moved away from using electricity as a means of energy long ago—well before the Corruption.
“An artifact made by an [Electromancer]? Kids, always comin’ up with strange words for things.”
Electromancer? Atn had so many questions. But it wasn't the time.
“Mhm, yeah. Anyways, will you tell us about the badger?”
Atn took the easy out, not wanting to reveal even more.
“How long until it needs rechargin’? Not sure we have anyone ‘round here that could do it.”
Griff was still skeptical of the gift, weighing if it was a worthy trade for his forgiveness and wisdom. Atn thought the [Hunter] was overdoing it a bit, but he played along.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“You shouldn’t need to recharge it.”
“That’s one powerful artifact, even if it’s just a light.”
Maybe Atn shouldn’t have offered it so readily. To him, it was a simple item, easy to replace. But as more differences between home and Olera became apparent, he considered that he may have to alter his mindset. Zsig clearly had already come to this realization.
“Will you accept the offer?”
Greed melted Griff’s icy attitude.
“Well, I’m the [Hunter] round these parts, as I told your friend before he gave me a solid wallop. ‘Spose I could give you some advice if it means you’ll get rid of the badger.”
Atncore didn’t mention that the introduction was unnecessary. He had noticed that though it may be rude to ask someone what their class is outright, people telling you someone else’s class didn’t seem to go against anyone’s sensibilities, possibly due to the size of this community. He’d have to keep it in mind when they got to Iskle.
“Thank you, Griff. Anything you can tell us would be helpful, I’m sure.”
“Bait it with Blotten Carp. Wilks can get you some scraps to use. You’ll find him west, towards the lake.”
“And after we bait it?”
“Stab it up between the fur. It sits in clumps sorta like scales. There should be gaps you can fit your weapon between. My arrows ain't strong enough to get through but I’m a [Hunter] not an [Adventurer].”
Griff shared a few more bits of information with them. Mostly about the honey badger's disposition, but they had gotten a glimpse of that from their first go around. After talking to the [Hunter], they tracked down Wilks for whatever Blotten Carp bait was.
“You went all red the first time we tried to fight the badger. If you do that again, but when it's vulnerable to a sneak attack we might get it.”
They had underestimated their target the first time. That mistake would not be repeated.
———
Theo had been working in Callette’s garden during Atn and Zsig’s visit. Thus, she overheard most of the conversation when Zsig asked for a calming tonic because the [Herbalist] didn’t close the window shutters. Yes, shutters. Not a single window in Ezall had panes. In fact, there seemed to be very little glass at all. Callette had one or two glass measuring tools, but most of her equipment was wood or cheap metals.
Shortly after the protectors left, Callette found her in the garden. She gave Theo a list of plants and a book, Plant Taxonomy and Identification for the Budding Herbalist, written and illustrated by Petunia Gardens.
“That wasn’t really her name, right?”
“Let’s hope not.”
Callette chuckled as she shuffled back inside, leaving Theo to puzzle through the necessary ingredients.
Twice, Theo tried to double-check that she had selected the correct plant. Twice, the [Herbalist] wielded her cane like a weapon and shooed Theo off.
“Figure it out.”
That was Callette’s answer both times, accompanied by a challenging smile. She wasn’t the type of teacher to hold your hand through the lesson.
Many of the unfamiliar flowers in the garden were similar. In front of her was a tall plant with long, spindly leaves. It was a pale matte green with perfectly round, vibrant orange berries bunched close to the stem. The plant growing directly next to it was identical. Except the berries were brown.
To Theo’s great dismay, Plant Taxonomy, hand-scribed and illustrated with ink on vellum, was faded. It was not like getting a 180 year old book from the Archivist with faded type and pieces of ink that had transferred to the page in front of it. This was sapped of most pigment, especially the colours that blended into the yellowing folios. Black, purple, red, blue, and some darker greens could still be made out, but yellow, orange, and brown were long worn away by time.
According to the book, Lady’s Bane, terribly bitter to the palate, causes unbearable hives that develop into pustules and end in an excruciatingly painful death. The other plant, Galis Berry, was excellent for enhancing the effects of complimentary ingredients. The illustration was the same for both. Without colour, there was no way to tell them apart. Gambling, she picked the brown one because the orange was nearly neon, which didn’t sit well with her for some reason.
Once Theo finished collecting the plants on the list, she brought them to Callette. She soon found herself assisting in concocting a medicine. It didn’t freak her out too much. Like Zsig, she understood it was the connotations behind the word rather than the actual medicine itself.
The herbalist didn’t use as many tools as alchemists, and true to its name, most of the stuff that went into it was plant-based. Alchemists used metals, crystals, animal parts, fluids, you name it. But Callette had pulled out plants and binding agents, little else.
She handed Theo a knife, wide enough to crush things with the flat of the blade, and razor-sharp—hacked up stems were not ideal for powering the ingredients; Callette was adamant about that.
“Press down on the petal gently. Don't break it apart, but flatten it as much as possible. I said gently!”
Callette smacked Theo on the back of the head. She spoke strictly, like an old schoolmarm.
“I won't be wastin’ my whole supply on your mistakes. You said you were a master alchemist?”
Callette snorted and eyed her handiwork critically.
Theo pushed aside the torn petal and grabbed another of the thick white flowers. Gently, she pressed two petals, determined to make it her last squandered ingredient. She could hear the gentle breakdown of the petal's internal structure. A slightly wet, crushing sound, but quiet like a whisper.
“‘Bout time. Now hold out a hand, palm up, and place the petal on top.”
She couldn't tell where this was going. Herbalism seemed to have a lot less rules and procedures than alchemy. Or maybe Callette’s class, or was it a subclass, [Medicinal Herbalist], made her craft easier.
“Cup the other hand over it and send mana into the petal.”
“I don't have mana, Callette.”
Theo's face contorted into a frown as he looked at the older woman, feeling a tinge of frustration.
“Get over it. Do as I say.”
She waved her cane threateningly, and Theo had to admit, she had been wallowing a bit. Anika would not be impressed—she missed Anika, the only person she really interacted with in Last Stand. Callette’s voice cracked like a whip, snapping Theo out of her thoughts.
“Imagine your will travelling through your veins into the petal’s. Magic or not, do it. The medicine will work either way. Mana just makes it stronger.”
Are mana and magic the same thing? They sounded synonymous. Theo was curious but did as she was told. Nothing spectacular happened, but the cane didn't move either. Minor victories.
“Alright now, lay the petal over the warming tray and place the lid. We’ll let it dry a spell before grinding. My Skill, [Accelerated Dehydration], will speed things along.”
“You can do that?”
Callette chuckled at that.
“Of course! Skills help your class and subclass. Herbalists use many dried ingredients. [Accelerated Dehydration] is common among us. Gotta be careful what you use it on, mind you.”
The alarming thought was quickly overshadowed by excitement. Theo's face shone with anticipation.
“What are you waiting for, dear?”
“For you to use your Skill.”
“It's already working. Only the inexperienced have to speak their Skills—helps with manifestation.”
“Shoot.”
But Callette just waved away her disappointment, continuing the hands-on lesson.
“We are also using a passive Skill, [Detect Poison].”
“How does a passive Skill work?”
“It’s a Skill that just is. The dehydration one is an active Skill. You have to take a break between using it. Times vary based on the power of the Skill—levels.”
“And a passive Skill doesn't have limits, it just exists constantly in the background?”
“Precisely! Passive Skills can be extremely useful. Now, strip the Galis Berry and grind the leaves. Good, good. At least you can do that right.”
Theo side-eyed the woman.
“Mix it with the milled wheat. Now [Detect Poison] is an interesting Skill, you see. For some, like healers, foragers and herbalists, it's a passive Skill because it is necessary to their Class. Royalty, assassins, folks like that, if they get it it's an active Skill. I’m impressed you picked the Galis Berry from the Lady’s Bane.”
She mixed the items as she was told and really hoped her magic field guide was writing down everything Callette said. The [Herbalist] was teaching her a lot, including how to make the medicine in case they couldn't find someone to help Zsig before the supply ran out.
Theo combined the ingredients and wondered what sorts of Skills an alchemist would get. Could formulae that would usually take days, sometimes even months to brew, be completed in hours with Skills? She started to ask when Callette cut her off, seemingly reading her thoughts.
“Fold in the pigs lard to bond the herbs. Don’t bother askin’ me. There used to be a Master Alchemist by the name of Lashvir in Iskle, he can teach you more. This was many years ago, mind you. Better to look for whoever his apprentice was instead.”
And just like that, Theo’s journal started gently shaking. She ignored it, for now. The vibration would abate quickly. But she knew the signs of a new quest entry.
Adding small bits at a time, she folded the plant and wheat mixture into the fat until it was a thick paste.
“Excellent. Hand it here.”
Callette took the mixture and started rolling pebble-sized balls of it.
“Don’t make it too large, but ya need enough of the medicine to work for someone his size. Dosage is key. Too little, and it won’t do a thing. Too much, and it may have the opposite effect we’re hoping for. Form the pill as so.”
Theo copied her. The mixture made ten pills. Once they were all placed on a metal plate, Callette brought a mortar and pestle and the dehydrated petals to the work table. The pressed petals were crispy and translucent. Theo watched as she ground them up until it was almost impossible to see them at all. Then she took what looked like wooden tweezers and carefully added just a few granules to each pill, taking care to add the same amount to each. Once she finished, the tray was transferred to a little stone oven to bake. The pills would bake for 10 minutes, then air dry overnight.
“Come back tomorrow morning and collect them.”
Callette herded Theo out for the evening, tired from a full day's work.
———
The bait was nasty and almost as smelly as the noxious bomb the badger had dealt. A ground-up mess. Atn gagged from the smell. They hadn't known Blotten Carp was a type of fish. Fishing wasn't popular in Last Stand. But they carried the bait out with them all the same.
Zsig laid the lure and waited. Atn’s job was to watch his back and use [Smokescreen Shot] to cover Zsig’s retreat if things got messy. Zsig’s task was to use his excess mana to kill the badger. The issue was that Zsig wasn't sure how to manifest his mana. They had tried to figure it out on the way, but they were being told to sprint without learning to walk, which was bound to cause problems, to be sure.
That’s why they, mostly Zsig, decided on the ‘fly by the seat of your pants,’ approach. Atn would buy him time to flee if necessary. Zsig would…figure it out as he went. Which brought them here.
Atn found a minor vantage point from a nearby hill—though a mound of earth may be more accurate—and watched as Zsig placed the bait, then hurried to a thicket he could lay in wait.
Two minutes passed. Four. As anticipation faded, the minutes slowed to a crawl. What seemed like hours—but was seven minutes—passed before movement came from the burrow.
The black and white scruffian first popped its head out and surveyed the area. The animal zeroed in on the food, checked again, then scurried out of its shelter.
Preoccupied with the food it never noticed as Zsig crept up behind it and—
Atn winced. He nearly felt bad for the animal. It wasn't a fair fight. Zsig had ditched the blade staff in favour of a small boulder. Apparently, a good bashing was the plan, rather than trying to hit the much smaller target between chunks of fur.
Red pulsed through Zsig while Atn monitored, ready to release his Skill if needed.
Mana engulfed the rock as Zsig lifted it high over his head, hands firmly gripping the sides. And brought it down on the unsuspecting honey badger.
The animal’s enraged shriek shattered the calm of the forest. It survived the first hit. And the second. But the fight quickly left it as the stone, encased in red—and now splattered red—broke through bone and delivered damage beyond what the badger could sustain.
The fight didn't last long. Zsig dropped the stone and looked from the honey badger to Atn. Blood decorated his front.
Atn could only think to give Zsig a thumbs up. He may be a protector, but he wasn't a particularly violent individual. The diplomatic route was his preferred method. His mother would terminate him and apply for another child if he acted in anger—she hadn't been pleased with him when he decided to become a protector.
His Skill-enhanced bolt faded into a regular one, and Atn collected his wits before joining Zsig at the carnage.
“Did you burn off enough mana?”
Zsig looked back at the mess but shrugged and dismissed it.
“Think so, not really sure what I did though. Let’s get this back to Griff.”
He picked up the body and began carrying it towards Ezall. He seemed strangely unbothered by the blood speckling his face and uniform and by the mutilated animal he was carrying.
Griff's reaction was just as shocked as Atn’s when he first saw the carcass.
“You boys didn't take it easy on the damn thing.”
“No sir, but we got it done.”
“That you did. Gotta keep that in mind if another comes pokin’ around.”
Griff appeared thoughtfully disturbed as he looked over the dead honey badger. Assessing the condition of the meat and hide for usability.
“Any extra food we can preserve and store before the winter is always helpful.”
“Glad to be of service.”
“Thanks fellas.”
Griff gave them a nod, grabbed the carcass, and stalked off behind his cabin.
“Let’s go find Theo.”
Atn and Zsig returned to their temporary quarters to find Theo sorting through her bag. The map in her field guide lay open next to the map from the storehouse. Atn had left it with her the previous day.
“Hey, you made it! How was the hunt?”
She looked up from the maps.
“Much better after getting Griff's advice.”
“That’s awesome. Any new Skills?”
She looked between the two. Atn shook his head.
“Yeah, that [Hunter] guy told us to bait the overgrown rodent. It was easy after that. Got a Skill when I levelled.”
“Woah, nice! What does it do?”
“Something to do with baiting, I think. It's called [Lure: Basic Attraction].”
“Hmm. It will be interesting to see how it works…”
She trailed off, getting wrapped up in thought.
“I think I burned off some mana. Don’t feel great but also not as bad as I was.”
Atn agreed. Zsig sounded better. Less intense, at least.
“That’s good news. The medicine from Callette will be ready in the morning. She taught me how to make it in case you need more while we search for a way home. Her instructions were to take it once every other day and to burn some mana immediately after, if possible.”
Zsig nodded at that.
“We earned our stay and got the only map we’ll find in this place. The medicine is almost ready. It's time to leave.”
Atn and Theo felt the same. Ezall was just a brief stop in their journey home.
“When?”
“There are no loose ends to tie up, so I say we stop at Callette’s on our way out in the morning.”
Theo looked down at the two maps.
“Ezall and Iskle are still visible on the map. I spoke with Talbot, and he said it would be four days if we follow the main road and move at a healthy pace, a week if we're slow.”
“Alright. Get some rest. We have a long road ahead of us.”
So saying, Atn retired to his straw bed. It would be their last night in the hayloft. At first light, they were leaving for Iskle.