Edgar watched as Klein and the others approached, laughing as coins exchanged hands. Nate and Jim looked a bit sour as Kly, Nat, and Priz divided up a number of coins.

“I knew you could do it, Mira.” Priz clapped a hand on Mirai’s shoulder.

Jim clapped Edgar. “You could’ve won. Don’t let it get to you.”

Edgar glanced over at the large Wilderman, raising an eyebrow. “I wasn’t going to… Oh, I see what’s going on. How many of you bet on me?”

Jim clapped his shoulder again, moving on. “Me and Nate. Personally, I always pick the underdog.”

Edgar slouched, dejected. He glanced at Nate, but they looked away.

“Underdog, huh?”

Jim shrugged. “Don’t take it personally. You’ll get the hang of managing mana.”

Raiden cleaned up the training grounds, throwing some supplies back into his inventory, and then they were on the road. As they climbed the stairs out of the arena and walked the trail back towards town, Raiden gave them more and more bits of advice.

“Don’t be afraid to forget a skill if you need to make room for an epiphany you know will be better and, like I said, if you learn a skill once, it’s a lot easier to learn it a second time.”

“Interesting…” Edgar thought back to his first few minutes in the gothic dungeon, when he had just whacked whatever was nearby with his tail.

He began thwacking it against trees they passed and was eventually rewarded with a notification.

New Skill Acquired!

[Tail Whip]

He welcomed the skill back into his core like an old friend returning home and its details were the same as before.

The group reached the gates of Clifton and continued through town, listening to Raiden’s advice and asking questions. Edgar kept having a strange compulsion that he was forgetting something, but everything he needed was in his [Inventory]. He scanned it for a moment, making sure, when he noticed a strange green thing among his other blocks labeled [Rotten Meat].

Nervous to remove it, he waited until they passed through the town and exited the gates once more. The two guards who had helped him get Mirai to Heather’s place when they first arrived were on duty and waved to him.

“Hey, is it possible for things to go bad in your inventory?” Edgar asked Mirai as discreetly as he could.

“Oh yeah. Absolutely, why? Do you have something nasty in there?” She paused and then flinched away, horrified. “Don’t tell me it’s spoiled zombie meat! I didn’t think anything could smell worse than fresh zombies… Can a zombie even be fresh?”

“No, no. It’s from breakfast at Raiden’s before we left for the Ancient Tomb. I’m just gonna throw it in the woods.”

He withdrew it and something green appeared in his hand and he threw it as fast as he could. The two of them watched it sail through the trees and land in the dirt.

“Nasty.” Mirai shivered.

“Let’s hope it’s good fertilizer, at least.”

Raiden led them through the forest along the road, eventually reaching the bottom of the mountain and a cave staffed by two vigilant adventurers. The guards wore matching leather armor with the image of a small sword emblazoned on their chest above their hearts. To one side of the cave, Edgar could see a semi-permanent camp established, and in the back, he could see another portal.

Portal: [Grasses of Yon]

* Rating: Level 11

* Conditions: [stable]

This portal was less chaotic than the others Edgar had seen. Its energy didn’t sparkle or crackle, although it still churned gently. Underneath and around the portal sat a simple construction of clean cut stone blocks, formed into a three meter square platform ringed pillars. Inscriptions on the stone pillars oozed magic as Edgar looked on.

“What’s that around the portal?” He asked Mirai.

“It’s called a foundation. They stabilize the rift, so that it can be portaled.”

“So, with a foundation in place, the rift won’t disappear after some amount of time?”

“That’s right. It also prevents the rift from disappearing when its cleared, and keeps monsters from spilling out.”

“Wow, pretty handy.”

“They are, but the Mason and Key guilds guard the techniques to make them closely. The Masons do the stonework and the Keys do the inscriptions.”

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Edgar gazed at the inscriptions for a moment, watching the magic ripple through them. It was a language he couldn’t read, but the symbols were like art.

Raiden was busy chatting with a guard, scribbling down notes on a piece of paper as they spoke. When he returned, Kly stepped forward to consult with him, but Raiden walked past him, oblivious, and handed the paper to Mirai.

Edgar couldn’t help but chuckle at Kly’s dejected look.

Raiden spoke to them all. “That is about as safe of a path as you’ll find through the network. It’s twelve hops to Central, like I thought. Don’t delay in any single place for too long. It sounds like there’s been a wave of strong rift breaks through the Outer Reaches, so try to get to the fourth or fifth world on your first day.”

He turned to Mirai again. “You have your timepiece?”

She lifted it out of her shirt and nodded.

“Rations? Water?”

Her eyebrow twitched. “Enough, we’re heading towards civilization, after all. We’ll be able to buy what we need.”

Raiden chuffed, doting on her. He dusted the shoulders of her traveler’s robe. “You only have level one pay. Make sure not to spend it all on your supplies.”

“Uncle!” She laughed, pulling him in a hug. “You are such a worrier! We’re twelve hops out, even the level one wages are pretty damn high!”

Raiden sighed, smiling reluctantly. “I know. I know. Just make sure to be safe and pay your uncle a visit again soon. Oh, and don’t forget about that letter. I sent one ahead so Emil will expect you in Central, but knowing him, he’ll be so deep in the Entertainment District you’ll find him before the letter does.”

Mirai groaned. “Really? You’re gonna make me go in that place?”

Raiden smiled, winking and clapping them both on the shoulders. “You’re both young. New experiences are good for you. Broaden your horizons.”

Raiden turned to Edgar for a moment. “You have rations, too? And water? You can’t look after Mirai if you can’t look after yourself.”

Edgar scratched his chin, looking away. “Ahh… No?”

Some preserved meats and a few water skins appeared in his arms. Edgar gratefully accepted, depositing it all into his inventory. Raiden smiled happily. “Good boy.”

Edgar felt his ears perk up. Mirai laughed and grabbed one of them, petting the soft fur inside.

The familiar melting sensation took hold of him. “Hey! I’m not some simple… ooooh… Hey! I demand dignity.”

Mirai laughed, releasing him.

Raiden turned to the other adventurers. “I hope I was able to teach you all a few things in our short time together. You’re all very skilled and I hope to hear from you as well. Stop by my inn whenever.”

Klein looked like he might melt or cry with joy, maybe both.

Raiden smiled. “And thanks for taking my Twos under your wing. Safe travels.”

With a wave, Raiden left. Edgar watched him step out of the cave and disappear into the pervasive light fog of Black Mountain.

The group turned to Klein, but his eyes were also turned towards the door, watching Raiden leave.

“Everybody ready?”

The group nodded.

“Then let’s go.”

The guards moved aside, letting them pass. “Safe travels. The other side of the portal has guards, but keep an eye out for monsters over there. They had a lot of rift breaks recently.”

Klien responded, “Will do, sir.”

They stepped up to the portal, Klein in front, then Priz, Nat, Nate, Mirai, Edgar, and Jim in the rear. The portal fizzled with black-purple energy as they walked through it. Soon, he could hear birds chirping.

There were sword guards stationed here as well, and they ushered them along the road, away from the portal. “Welcome, travelers.”

Edgar glanced back at the portal, seeing

Portal: [Black Mountain]

* Rating: Pending

* Conditions: [stable]

They stood on a small hill in the middle of endless grasslands. A sprinkling of wildflowers and lone trees cropped up out of the grass, but there was little to see. Flocks of birds flew overhead, and the bright sun was only just peeking out from behind a bank of fluffy clouds.

“Wow. This weather definitely beats Black Mountain.” Mirai said, untying her hood and shaking out her hair, letting the sun hit her face.

Edgar closed his eyes and took a deep breath, seeing what he could smell. Hints of lemon and mint from the grass, flowers, and the steel of the guard’s equipment.

Edgar opened his eyes to see Klein speaking with a guard, who pointed along the road, giving directions.

Once he had what he needed, Klein waved for them to follow and they all hit the road. “Let’s move. We don’t want to stay here too long. Weapons ready until we reach the town.”

They walked from one hill to the next, following the road, making good time. Klein’s eyes scanned the tall grasses, searching for hidden monsters, but Edgar’s nose told him there was nothing to worry about. After a while, he sheathed his claws and just enjoyed the scenery.

At the top of the next hill, he finally smelled something, and they found a herd of bison-like creatures trotting across the road below.

Monster: [Muncher]

* Type: [Beast]

* Level: 6

Edgar gaped. “Monsters?”

Mirai nodded. “If they aren’t a problem, the guilds often leave them alone.”

“Wow, what if they become a problem? Level six is pretty high, don’t you think?”

She shrugged. “They just don’t have enough people to take care of every little thing. It’s the classic problem of the guilds—everybody’s always understaffed. The Network grows faster than the population.”

“Gotcha…” Edgar watched the creatures eat. They had stubby horns that crackled with slight magic and big, dopey smiles. One of them looked up at Edgar for a moment, but another one further off called to it, and the Muncher trundled away.

He scratched his chin. “Do people eat them?”

Mirai cringed. “I’m sure they don’t. I mean, I’ve never tried to, but… yuk…”

Edgar shrugged. “I wonder how much of it is my skill, but they taste surprisingly good. Even the…”

Mirai held up a hand. “Whoa… I don’t know if I’m ready for that… I mean, you were about to say zombie, right?”

Edgar nodded. She shivered. “Tell me.”

“It was almost like a salad: kale, jerky, jackfruit, maybe some oranges… a lot of textures and flavors, but good.”

Mirai looked a little green. “Well, I’m just glad it healed you, I guess.”

At the crest of the next hill, the sound of loud voices carried up from the front gates of town below, where a group of adventurers were arguing with two guards. The crimson of the Sword guild hung from the guards’ shoulders.

~~~~~~~~~~

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