Inventory

Gold Coins (Xaverion Minted) - 5192

Gold Coins (Standard Mint) - 15,668

Storm Arrows

Assorted Earth foods

Guidance Stone Of Breaching

Alternating Armament (Epic)

Various Furniture

Alchemical Supplies

I perused the new section of my inventory, simply named alchemical supplies, while Naea experimented with her new skill. I wondered why nothing in the Dungeon had been giving me alchemy ingredients, and the only answer my immense Mental attribute could come up with was that the System is weird. It was possible that something about the “real world” made the creatures more valuable or something. Two hundred and forty five gold coins, too, which was… something.

My values were likely skewed a little.

“Watch out!” Naea shouted, and I did manage to dodge the globule which shot past my head. I gave her a glare while she threw her hands up in apology. The projectile moved fast through the air before exploding on a tree. Naea had managed to add a new gross sound to her repertoire. There was a splorshing noise as the webs extended out to the nearby area, an intricate web-system forming in seconds.

Skill - Fae Web Shot (Fairy Dragon)

Confusion, panic, struggle and finally, death. The fate of those who fall into the clutch of the webspinner.

I hadn’t quite begged Naea not to use the Guidance Stone, but I was getting over my aversion to the technique. At least, as long as Naea didn’t aim it at me. “I’m sorry,” she whined, extending O of sorry for far too long. “It’s a weird new skill, but I like it. Do you like it?”

“Of course I like it, Nae. I don’t like spiders, but you’re okay sometimes, so I’ll get over it, I promise.” We grinned at each other. I knew she was excited to have a new way to use her magic, and I hoped it would give her a better general understanding as well. Maybe having a guide on how to shoot projectiles would let her unlock skills like Mana Bolt, like I did.

Then again, maybe I’m just that good.

I didn’t mind either way, and encouraged Naea to continue. “Try mixing your Dao into its use, slowly.” A part of me couldn’t help treat her like I would my younger siblings, an instinct which sent a dagger through my heart each time I recognised it. While I was here practising magic with my fairy friend, anything could be happening to them. I had to remind myself I genuinely had no idea how or even where they were right now.

Strength, then I can do anything.

My path continued to be confirmed as barriers of different kinds appeared. First, I needed strength to beat the dungeon. Now, I needed power so I could wrest control of the world around me, make it safe for others and then find my family and bring them here. That was the plan. As long as I didn’t lose sight of that and kept pushing forward, I had confidence things would be okay.

I ducked under another errant web-ball and sighed.

I stared the fairy down for a second before rolling my eyes, rolling my shoulders and starting to walk. “Let’s get moving. How does it feel? Learn anything cool?” While the System blasted the mind with information when unlocking a new skill, using a guidance stone or Aspect, only by actually using the skill could one figure out its tricks. Once you added the Dao within to the technique, you made the skill unique and your own.

“If I use my Fairy Dragon Dao, the webs are harder to see. I’m still getting used to the Dao of the River, but you’re making it easier. I think the webs go further or something, but I can’t quite feel why or how.” I nodded as she explained. While magic felt different to everyone, as far as I could tell, my power and Naea’s were linked. She was able to give gestures and make sounds that should have been unintelligible, but which made sense to me. “If I make it go swoosh, then I can’t quite get the snap I need to make it go bing.”

“If you push the mana in time with the pulsing of your Dao, does it make it better or worse?”

“Worse.”

“Gotta try fizzling it, then. Later, though.” With my sage advice on mana control given and her practice done, we continued moving along the perimeter of my quest area. With a radius of around seven or eight miles, it wasn’t a simple space. Isn’t that like one hundred and sixty miles? That’s nuts.

A couple of months ago, I would have baulked at the idea that such a large swath of land could be “mine”, but with the desires of a dragon subtly weaving through my soul, the thought fell into place quite nicely. I was already consciously picturing where certain operations could be established, forward bases and mineral outposts. It seems that I likely would end up doing some city management, after all.

The rest of our journey around the circumference was uneventful, until we started to head back.

“There you are.”

Three words cut through every sound, thought and perception I was experiencing. The whole world became those words and I felt the weight of a gaze upon me that rattled my bones. I had faced the Storm Dragon’s avatar and it was nothing compared to this. I grabbed Naea and covered her mouth for a moment. She was about to scream.

I turned and my eyes landed on a humanoid form. Their features were clearly not human, more typical of a fantasy elf. Its features were masculine, but more graceful than any man I had ever seen. A full robe of brown wrapped its body, and even the garments made my heart stop at their intricate beauty. It had skin the colour of a pale orange sunset, and a smile that could slice steel. Almost feline, the figure approached slowly, like I was a mouse they were scared to spook. At least, that’s how I felt.

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

The whole world seemed to shake with their footsteps and the trees around us bent in its direction. The breeze which hadn’t been there before kicked up and wind howled. Green leaves browned on the branch and fell, so that each footfall landed on dead, crunchy ground. It was as though a new season descended upon the world, like Halloween mixed with the death of Winter.

Survival was all that mattered here. “To what do we owe the pleasure, Sir…?” My every word came through gritted teeth, and if it wasn’t for the very specific set of achievements, Dao and character that let me stand against the aforementioned dragon, I would be crumpled to my knees. Except, this wasn’t the lair of some tricky spider. If anything, it was my lair. Power flared and I contained Naea and myself within a bubble of Dao. The pressure was too much to bear without it.

“Two Dao, one an avatar and a familiar, how impressive in only two revolutions!” The voice, male, seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. It held a gothic, nasal tone that would have put me on edge even without the overwhelming power bearing down. “It’s an interesting Dao to have on such a newly connected planet, though… Reminds me of someone I knew. That’s who I thought you were.”

Damn.

I knew this already, didn’t I? There were others on the planet from the greater universe. Running around, thinking I was the strongest there is? Wasn’t the base of my power from a damned dragon that had forced me to throttle it? I managed to keep my cool outwardly, but inside I was kicking myself for not being more careful. “You seem to know a lot more than I do,” I said cagily. Standing around twenty feet from me was an uncomfortably ordinary looking person.

I tried to scan the man in front of me, but it was as though the mana to do so didn’t want to touch him. He tilted his head slightly, his average length brown hair flopping just a little as a faint smile appeared on his face. I felt the veil move, and my analysis worked this time. At least, partially.

Name - ??? Level - ????

Not helpful. Terrifying, if anything. Was this person’s level in the thousands? I gulped, trying to get some saliva into my mouth so I could speak. Naea had been mostly frozen on my shoulder after I protected her with my Dao, but she managed to beat me to it. “You’re one of the nomads, aren’t you?”

Part of me flinched, not wanting to imply, question or do anything which might upset the being across from us. Another part thrummed with pride as she didn’t let the pressure get to her. I rolled my shoulders and did the same. If this being wanted us dead, we’d be dead.

“Ah! A dungeon fairy? What a delight!” Like the man’s unassuming appearance, his voice began to match, losing its overbearing aura. “A nomad! Yes, yes I suppose I am one of those, now. Tell me, how much do you know about us? Other than we can be killed?” My throat tightened but I simply reminded myself that there was not a lot I could do in this situation.

“You’re not human,” I answered. Nothing in my senses said ‘dragon’, but I could feel something other, at least. Something ancient and potent lay beneath the mundane skin which my eyes could perceive. I could see the difference in how mana moved through their body. The man’s core was in a different area, just under the left clavicle. I also knew this was only what was being shown to me, not the fullness of the man.

“Neither are you,” They replied with a wide smile. My instincts were no longer being shaken with every movement, allowing me to see something other than just power. “She couldn’t have known what you would become when she put you on this path.”

“Is there something special about being a Stormborn? Beside the natural tattooing?” Now that I didn’t think I was going to die, I could see this for the opportunity that it was. My body had undergone changes far deeper than most after the System arrived.

“That would be a spoiler,” the man answered with a chuckle, looking upwards. He sighed, and that immemorial weariness I sensed returned in full. The man visibly aged, his brown hair becoming grey and his skin sagging into slight wrinkles. “An interesting woman, Naeboroseax.”

“I bet. I’m sorry?” I didn’t know what else to say. It felt far too small an apology, from someone far too unimportant to mean anything.

“It’s not your fault. There’s no way it could be. I had hoped to meet her before she chose the ending to her story, but alas. I apologise that I cannot give you any information about yourself, there are rules in place. May I have your name?” I almost answered, opening my mouth as Naea gave me a sharp jab. I was confused until she spoke.

“No, you may not have our names, though you can call us Grant and Naea.” Her tone and her gaze were as serious as I had ever seen them. Turning back to the man, my skin became tight with goosebumps. His smile had gone from wide to uncomfortable, a cheshire grin revealing far too many teeth. A pretence had dropped.

“As I said,” the man’s words now dripped with a previously hidden venom, “Dungeon fairies are a delight.”

My muscles were stiff all over, and I had to fight my jaw to ask, “What now?”

A theatrical bow from the man, his hair falling over his eyes as he extended his right arm out, left hand on his breast. “Now our paths diverge. May fate bless your steps, young Stormborn. I wonder if we shall meet again?” The world flickered. Not my sight, but the world itself, like there was an editing mistake. A wave of intense vertigo caused me to sway, closing my eyes and holding my head. I opened them after a blink, of course, but the man was already gone along with his pressure.

“What the fuck was that?” I asked after falling to my hands and knees, heaving.

“That,” Naea said, with a seriousness that matched her previous words, “was weird.” I tried to stop the exasperated noise that escaped me, but failed, causing Naea to cackle. “I don’t know any more than you about whoever that was, Grant. I just know something bad would have happened if you had given it your name.”

“It, huh?” That made sense. I was still learning, and if the last two days had shown me anything, it was that I needed to sharpen up. Things weren’t even almost what they seemed in this new world, and the situation could change in an instant if I wasn’t careful. Except, it seemed impossible to be careful enough. It was frustrating.

But somehow… It was also nice. If not quite nice, maybe, perhaps necessary. I felt a weight fall off my shoulders. I’d subconsciously been putting myself on a pedestal due to how much stronger I was than others, how much more I seemed to know even than Naea. Knowing there were untouchable monsters I needed to manoeuvre around should have been horrifying but instead, I was weirdly comforted.

———————————————

I returned to the guildhall of The Ascent alone after a quick stop at Home Base first to clean up and relax for a few hours. It had been four days, entering the fourth night, when we made it back. The return journey was much faster than it might have been if we hadn’t met the man in the woods. Naea said she was going to boil herself and went into one of the bathrooms. I decided she could find me if she didn’t drown, or cook in the hot water.

Not a lot had changed in my time away, but I could see that wasn’t going to be the case for long. There were signs of preparation, rooms of the guild hall starting to see some use. The most overt difference was the new face who I nearly physically bumped into as I turned a corner from the main staircase towards my office.

“Oh,” I said cheerily, “you’re new?” The statement was a question and I saw confusion turn into shock and then something like fear mixed with excitement, every emotion on her face as plain as a playing card.

“Oh,” she mirrored, her voice bubbly and high-pitched. “I’m from Newtown. I’m Stephanie, sort of like a liaison?” Tom appeared from behind her, arms full of papers. “Tom was just showing me some of your library and stuff? You’re so advanced?” Both of her statements had an inflection on the end, like she was looking for permission. From the way Tom was looking at her, he was hoping she would liaison his face.

“Have fun, you two, I’m just going to check some things out. Tom, come find me when you’re done.” I gave him a wink, which brought redness to his cheeks. He raised the stack of papers to hide it, and I laughed as I bounded down the hallway. Good for you, Tom, hope it works out. She’s pretty. Apparently romance had blossomed in my time away. That was sweet, but I had my mind on other things entirely.

I found the room I was looking for and immediately got to work. I bet there was a skill to make this easier but, with a Mental attribute bordering on the insane for my grade, remembering where I had been wasn’t too much of a challenge. In the map room of The Ascent’s guildhall, I began to work. I lay each landmark I had found on the large parchment, every potential portion of valuable land and even notes on what might best work in what area. Logging camps, a quarry, potential mines and more.

I couldn’t help getting excited as more and more plans were laid down. I could see not just my own path, but a potential avenue for others to follow me using resources I could allocate. I worked frantically through the night, caught in a fervour to place every piece of my memory onto paper, lest I forget the tiniest fragment of information. Anything could be important, going forward. However, once I finished I still had to concede with the voice that had nagged at me towards the finish line.

I had some bosses to kill, first.