The Carpenter arrived shortly after the Painter left. He was a lithe man dressed in grey overalls whose bushy brows fidgeted every time the Witchdoctor spoke.
“I would like to partition the shop floor into two around here, with a door that opens inward.” Exill gestured with his hands, bisecting the shop floor.
“Can do, can make it removable so that landlord have no problems with it when you move out. I hear from Iris you don’t want sound leakin’ through?”
Exill narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling his coin pouch grow lighter, “That would be best, how much extra would it cost?”
The Carpenter pulled out a measuring rod and started writing down the dimensions on his clay tablet, “Not much more, just pack her with hay and all. I reckon… it should come out around 500 D’s if you don’t mind the wall bein’ woven, and door salvaged.”
It was a lot cheaper than he expected and Exill readily accepted, paying half the deposit up front. The Carpenter sniffed as he peeked inside the forge, “I heard you were opening a clinic… *sniff* peculiar layout this. Wall should be finished in two days, and I can begin tomorrow.”
“Thank you, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Exill closed the door on the Carpenter and breathed a sigh of relief. It was all coming together… slowly but surely. The Painter had asked for 200 D’s to repaint the sign and store front from green to a pale blue, the colour most commonly used by healers.
Iris had earlier helped him design a logo for the Clinic; a ‘glowing hand’ with the ‘Eld Tree’ emblazoned on the palm. The latter signified the spirit of the Will and represented the fact he had been blessed by the World.
Checking the contents of his coin purse one more time, he raised an eyebrow to Envy patiently sitting on the stairs. They had arranged to enter the Labyrinth today to test out their new weapons.
“You ready to go?”
She nodded, reaching for the rucksack and buckler on the counter. Exill picked up his own spear and backpack then they set off for the Labyrinth. It had been over a month since they last entered the shade of the Tower, and an involuntary shiver went down his spine as he remembered the Behemoth.
Summoning the Card, he checked his active jobs one last time. For the time being he would be raising the five combat skills as well as the freshly obtained [Wizard] and [Chronomancer] jobs. [Wizard]’s mana efficiency buff would greatly benefit both healing and time magic, while [Chronomancer] was his trump card. He could maintain the magic for one second in real-time before both mana and vitality were exhausted, and every extra millisecond would provide a decisive advantage.
“I want to try mixing magic into our combat. Please tell me how that Wizard would tackle each scenario.”
Envy grunted in response. She had faced nearly every type of monster in the upper Labyrinth with Vameki and Sir Eumol. Remembering their strategy was easy. The two shook hands to form the party and entered the inky black portal.
Exill and Envy entered the first chamber with weapons drawn, half expecting the cavern floor to collapse again and reveal a skulking Behemoth. After a few moments, Exill gave her an understanding look and took the lead to scout ahead.
His footsteps sank into the mud as the passageway opened up and a pervasive buzzing sound could be heard. Peeking around the corner he saw five mud flies with their signature proboscis buzzing around the swampy area. He returned to Envy.
“Five mud flies… how would your Party deal with this?”
“The Wizard would hold the passageway if it was wide enough or lure them to the previous chamber. He would cast wind so insects would need to fly at top speed to remain in place.”
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“Let’s do that.”
Exill summoned a small flame and flung it near the swamp, shouting at the top of his lungs. The flame exploded on contact with the ground into a shower of sparks and the sound of buzzing gradually increased. The two retreated to the previous cavern the moment the first mud fly rounded the corner.
“Wind magic now!” Envy shouted; her shield raised at the ready.
Exill remembered Vameki’s pose and pointed one arm down the passageway, channelling a steady release of mana through his fingertips.
“Wind!”
A strong gale blew down the corridor, overwhelming the flies. He lowered the amount of mana being released until the flies began inching forward again. Trying to maintain a steady stream, he prepared the mithril spear with the other arm and activated [Steady Hand].
The spear unerringly pierced the head of the first fly that approached, the barbed tip dragging its corpse before it released. Exill would have never believed hunting could be so easy if he hadn’t witnessed the teamwork of Vameki and Sir Eumol first hand.
Summoning the Card after battle, he found that maintaining the wind for a minute had cost him a fifth of his mana reserves. Exhilarated by their easy victory, they harvested the corpse of the flies and stacked their bodies near the entryway portal.
‘I guess dual casting doesn’t work, and I can only cast one spell at a time.’
Just before Envy finished the last mud fly, he had raised his other hand to fire a finger sized shard of ice at the buzzing insect. Despite having practiced this multiple times, the projectile failed to materialize, and instead destabilised the gust of wind he had been channelling.
Exill scouted the next cavern and saw two Screamers skulking around. They were humanoid and walked on all four of their elongated limbs, the folds of their pallid white flesh moist and wrinkled. Bat like ears protruded from the side of their featureless face and razor teeth adorned their gaping mouth.
‘Ah. True nightmare fuel.’
Exill quietly returned to Envy and reported their numbers.
“We put our earplugs in as normal. The Wizard summoned a barrier of air that cut out most of the noise.” She withdrew a gelatinous sponge and pushed it into both ears, shivering slightly at the cold sensation.
The Screamers were commonly avoided by delvers because they weren’t pleasant enemies to face, even with ear protection. They put out bursts of high-pitched sound that disoriented and nauseated victims. They weren’t especially fast or agile, but their bite force was rumoured to be among the highest in this level of the Labyrinth. Last but not least, removing the slimy residue left by the gelatinous earplugs was an unpleasant task.
“Let me practice first.” Exill channelled mana evenly into his surroundings.
“Air barrier.”
A hazy barrier immediately formed around him. He motioned Envy to speak but her voice sounded muffled beyond the swirling vortex. The barrier grew larger to envelope both of them as he increased the rate of expended mana. Satisfied with its performance, he equipped the earplugs and advanced on the Screamers.
“Air barrier.”
Exill and Envy stood still at the widening exit as the mute Screamers approached with mouths agape. He pierced the first one in the mouth while Envy cut the arms of the other and delivered a downward stroke on the head… and just like that it was over.
‘I could get used to this…’ he admired the ease with which these fearsome monsters were dispatched.
Referring to his field guide, Exill made a careful incision down the neck to extract the vocal cord. It was used as an enchanting material to imbue low-level wind magic to items and was quite valuable.
The duo went on to hunt two more groups of monsters before returning to the surface. Exill checked his Card before adjusting the stack of mud flies slung over one shoulder. He was pleased to find [Wizard] and [Chronomancer] were progressing nicely. Happy with their haul, they went to turn it in at the Guild.
Job Level Warrior 37 Hunter 35 Spearman 26 Ranger 24 Monk 20 Wizard 3 Chronomancer 4