Just before she planted her legs onto the platform of solidified light, Janet took a look behind her. The trees seemed to wave a gentle goodbye in the morning breeze as the redblooms wafted their soothing perfume into the air, almost as though to console her.
Once more, she was hit by a soul-deep ache. She already missed the place, despite being completely certain that she would be back. She took a deep breath and let the scent of the place percolate into every cell in her respiratory system.
Unfortunately, she eventually had to exhale.
‘Is this what they call homesickness?’ she wondered as a lone tear rolled off her cheek.
Shaking her head to hide a sniffle, she stepped onto her place on the platform next to Aurelia. Her friend offered her a hug. She obliged.
This would be her first time leaving a place where she felt welcomed, loved, and cherished. The formation she’d set up there would keep developing and flourishing, and as her soul grew so too would the reaches of her home.
Despite the bitterness of her departure, her frown turned into a smile as the platform took to air. Her home would forever be there, silently growing and waiting to still her mind and settle her spirit. After all, only death could ever erase a soul imprint as deep and perfect as had been carved into the land there. And she did not plan on dying any time soon.
Someone had once claimed that the only reason to seek power was to enrich one’s homeland and elevate its peoples.
Janet had her reasons – so many of them – to grow stronger and less easy to snuff out, and her home had a grand total of four inhabitants. Yet, as the platform climbed higher into the air and the peace of mind instilled by the formation was replaced by a honed wariness directed at the myriad dangers of the wilderness beyond, she swore under her breath to see the place develop to its full potential.
Above the canopies, the majesty of the sunrise was revealed. Toward the east, swathes of the sky were painted in shades of red and orange, setting the horizon aflame. The stray rays that made it past the sparse clouds hit the jungle’s roof, illuminating shadowy green in autumnal hues.
The sight was so mesmerizing, Janet almost forgot herself. When in flight, it was very easy to pick out fruit trees amongst the unending canopies. Since those tended to be major income earners, she wanted to catalog their positions in [Novice Cartographer’s] map for easier retrieval later.
Money was a form of power. She would never scoff at an opportunity to make more.
Her homesickness all but smothered under avarice at the promise of Guild Credits, she began peering past the morning fog into the trees below. Darius was flying them at a blistering pace, but her empowered eyes could pick out the glints of yellows and reds that denoted ripe fruits.
That’s what she loved about the jungle. No matter the season or time of year, there was always something within that was ready to eat.
Industrious as ever, she called up her mental map. Every time she saw any sign of a promising tree, she marked her current position with a stylized fruit.
It would not be accurate. They were travelling at a fast clip after all, and the jungle was still poorly lit. However, a map with hints as to the positions of hidden treasure was far more valuable than a plain old map.
As the journey went on, the chilly morning air was parted by a transparent barrier that Darius had put up. Cold still snuck though so Janet buttoned up her jacket together and pulled the hood over her head. Her long hair got in the way, but rather than get annoyed, she smiled.
A few short months ago her scalp was patchy and filled with bald spots, but now she had a full cover of light-absorbing strands. How wildly things had changed!
The memory brought up another upwelling of homesickness, so she scrolled past the marked hills and streams on her map to the bright red dot that represented home.
‘Wait… what is this?’
The dot was bigger, somehow. She knew it would develop as time went by, but it was a bit too soon for that. Additionally, there seemed to be root hairs originating from the dot and stretching into the jungle beyond.
‘There’s another fruit.’ She marked her current position with a tiny fruit, then resumed her inspection of the map.
She’d seen a similar structure before. Whenever a feature in her map extended into the ground, they were always marked by thin, almost-illusory lines that hinted at its unseen scale. The problem with hers was that the lines seemed way too thin. In fact, she didn’t think she’d ever have spotted the change if she didn’t obsess so much over that singular position on her map.
The development stumped her. As far as she knew, the only recent development on her plot of land was the formation, and she did not see any reason why the map would record that.
[Novice Cartographer] (Common)
The most basic Skill for any that seek to tread the uncharted path as Wayfarers. It confers a map that grows in scale and detail as the Cartographer interacts with new geographies, transforming with every encounter with new and foreign magics.
The Skill develops differently for every Wayfarer, growing in tandem with their magic and morphing to suit their desires and goals.
As usual, [Identify] provided a deep yet still infuriatingly shallow understanding of what the Skill could and couldn’t do. She already knew that the Skill would grow as she did, and that her experiences would influence the path that that development followed.
One would never expect the Cartographic Skill of a Sphere-traversing, dimension-jumping Wayfarer to develop in the same way as another’s that specialized in exploring dungeons and ancient ruins.
She had not encountered any new magic bar that of the nethergill, so her map should have been unchanged. She had also made sure that no part of the stupid mushroom had followed her home, so…
The only possible explanation was if the Skill nearing an advancement. The description did say that the Skill would be altered by every new magic. She didn’t know how to feel about the fact that after all her encounters with exotic mana, it was the killer mushroom that had prompted the change.
Still, nothing was confirmed. She’d keep an eye on the situation before coming to any conclusions. If she found another site in her map inundated with the root hairs, then she’d begin to worry.
As the four flew over a tiny lake fed by one stream, she spotted a short tree laden with countless yellow fruits. There were no plants growing in its vicinity, not even grass. Janet noted its position with a slightly different symbol.
With the map’s note-taking feature, she added a note that the tree was bordered by a tiny patch of dead land, which warranted investigation. It just wouldn’t do for her to fall victim to another species of flora.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The morning carried on and the sun rose higher. Its heat dispersed the blanket of fog, making visibility easier and opening up the horizon. That high, the jungle rolled together into a hypnotizing, unbroken plane of green shades.
The majesty of the jungle’s sheer vastness was a humbling reminder of the forces beyond Janet’s ken. Darius was flying fast. While the green tapestry below did not seem to change much, Janet’s map painted a completely different picture.
In the couple of hours they’d been flying, the distance from the dot that marked her home had stretched so far, Janet had never bothered to read any of the names given to the varied terrains whizzing by beneath their feet. This section of the jungle was thus utterly foreign to her.
“If I may ask, where are we going? I need to keep track on my map.”
Darius kept looking ahead. There seemed to be a lot on his mind seeing as there was no book in his hands. He’d not spoken a word since departure.
As for the other adult on the platform, Sylthis was constantly fussing over Aurelia. The redhead had not completely recovered from the previous day’s encounter with the nethergill. She adjusted Aurelia’s fleece jacket, cast multiple diagnostic spells to take stock of her health, and even on one occasion, offered her a steaming bowl of soup.
“We’ll be hunting for a suitable Phase Spider,” Sylthis intoned, her piercing gaze never leaving Aurelia. It was almost as though she had no desire to survey the beauty unfolding beneath them. Perhaps to her, what Janet considered magnificent and immaculate was just another nondescript thicket of shrubs.
“I know,” Janet replied. “But my map says there’s three places they can be found.”
Sylthis looked up, her brow furrowed. “Really? Three?”
“Yeah. It says they can be found in Nebra’s Deep, the Adamine Creek, and Rainbow Ridge.”
Sylthis nodded at the reply, but her eye began to comb through the horizon in search of something. In her silence, Aurelia spoke up.
“Nebra’s Deep and Adamine both were cleared out ages ago.” Her voice was slightly hoarse, but other than that there was no other sign of infirmity. “I think the Deep is now a crystal mine.”
“Thought so,” Sylthis concurred. “Exactly how old was your map, again?”
Janet did not know how to reply to that. Had Amurag given her a non-recent version? What reasoning had been behind that?
“Does that mean our destination is Rainbow Ridge?”
Sylthis nodded, but she was still deep in thought.
Consulting the ever-useful Skill, Janet’s heart dropped. She now understood why rather than don his mentor’s cape and lecture her and Aurelia about the sights they came upon, Darius had chosen to concentrate on flying at top speed. The distance they had covered was less than a third of their total journey.
Midmorning was fast approaching. At the current speed, Janet calculated that they would get to their destination in the afternoon. Simply cataloging fruit trees would quickly get monotonous, and pointless. Even her avaricious heart could understand that there was no way in hell she’d ever harvest that many fruits, let alone find a way to make a profit off of them.
She thought for a second about what to catalog next, but the jungle was simply too rich in resources and danger. Every square kilometer of the place had something worth harvesting, along with the danger to match.
Very uncharacteristic of her, the greed in her eyes waned. It would be helpful to focus on something more productive. The jungle and its riches weren’t going anywhere, after all.
On the matter of what to do, Janet ruled out meditation and mana practice. While Darius’ piloting was smooth and free of turbulence, it utilized copious amounts of mana. Activating [Mana Sight] for a split-second almost burnt whatever center of her brain converted perceived information into sensory input due to the immensity of mana on display.
Trying to meditate while surrounded by mana that thick would be detrimental. Very likely, Darius’ comprehension of his own magic would corrupt her own due to how solid and perfect it seemed.
Practicing magic or martial arts was also out of the question. The platform was quite narrow.
The only thing left was doing some soul magic practice. The issue was that the hunt to come would require that facet of her power to be at full power. If her assumptions came to be proven right, Darius would pick a being even more powerful than the Lava Spewer.
She needed to preserve her stamina on that front.
Janet couldn’t help but feel annoyed at her lack of planning. She should have asked Darius to assign some rune theory work. The scenery as well as the silence on their flight would have been perfect for such a relaxed yet stimulating pursuit.
Out of options, she decided to peruse through her status page. The hunt’s purpose was to further solidify her foundation. She wanted an in-depth look at how deep she’d set it so far and where her priorities needed to be in the near future.
Status
Name: Janet
Race: [unknown] LV 18
Talents: Shadow Affinity (Arcane), Soul Affinity (True), Fire Affinity (…)
Blessings: Gaia and Ionus: [Dance of Dual Elements – Life, Death] (upgradeable)
Class: [Binder of Shadow]
Subclasses: N/A
Resources
Mana (MP): 290/300
Health (HP): 300/300
Stamina: 300/300
Stats
Vitality: 30
Strength: 30
Agility: 30
Endurance: 30
Wisdom: 30
Intelligence: 30
Senses: 30
Willpower: 30
Free Points: 133
SP: 5
Titles
Blessed, Avid Learner, Classed, Head Start (I) Peer of Norim (I), Locust Slayer
Skills:
General
[Throw] (Basic), [Sprint] (Common), [Cooking] (Common), [Butchering] (Common), [Novice Cartographer] (Common), [Refined Palate] (Uncommon)
Magic
[Meditation] (Common), [Mana Sight] (Rare), [Empowered Shadow Bolt] (Rare), [Construct Field – Shadow] (Rare), [Mana Manipulation] (Common), [Weapon Cladding – Mana] (Uncommon), [Cutting Edge] (Uncommon) [Empowered Firebolt] (Rare)
Class Skills
[Shadow Bind] (2/10)
[Shadow Authority] (2/10)
Subclass Skills
N/A
Spell Book:
(Empty)
Killing the demon what seemed like an eternity ago had given her two levels, then her escapades with Aurelia had earned her another two. The question as to why the levels had only come when both she and Aurelia were pushed to near the edge of death bore asking, but she did not want to waste any more time on that.
Another question regarded her fire-affinity [Talent]. To that moment, it was yet to stabilize. At first, she’d thought that it was a result of all the released souls after the explosion at the Lothrian Gorge. Now, that entire fiasco had died down completely. The fire-hungry redblooms had really helped on that front.
Combined with her seeming inability to level up, she had to wonder whether the two were connected. Did she need all four primal [Talents] before her leveling could get back to normal?
Dilemmas about [Talents], Blessings and Classes yet to be earned aside, her chest swelled in pride at the sheer glut of free points displayed there.
She remembered when a mere 10 Stats had been a source of pride. Now, despite her competing on near-equal footing to Aurelia who was on the tail end of Second Circle, her Status was informing her that she had already accumulated 133 free points.
A quick calculation told her that if she waited until she had all four primal elements as part of her soul before gaining the last two levels, that tally would grow to 239.
30 points to each Stat made a total of 240. Essentially, 239 would imply an instant doubling of her stats when the curtain finally lifted on the Second Circle.
And that was discounting her already-full Vitality, as well as six points to every stat on each level since she’d have six [Talents] to her name…
“Why are you smiling such a creepy smile?” Sylthis’ voice broke through her thoughts.
Before she could formulate an answer, her eyes landed on the landscape. From the sheer magnificence and beauty on display, it looked like they’d arrived in Rainbow Ridge.
“I was reviewing my Status,” she intoned before sharing the page in case Sylthis needed to point something out.
The name given to the place suited it like a glove. All the way to the horizon – and that was pretty far while flying above the canopy that at points grazed the clouds – was a riot of color. The trees, shrubs, grass, and the ground itself boasted every color imaginable. There were even some that could only be truly perceived through [Mana Sense].
And that was discounting the multicolored layered hills dotted all over the place that seemed to be bare of all vegetation. Their surface was so pretty, flora on their surface would have marred the sight.
“… Janet!” Sylthis’ voice again pierced like an arrow through her transfixed mind.
“Hmm?”
“I was asking, how come you only have one martial Skill?”
“You mean [Throw]? Since my primary weapon is a dagger, shouldn't that be enough?” She completely failed to see her Senior Sister’s jaw shake in anger as she turned her eyes away to take in the beauty of the landscape.
“A Basic Skill?” a shrill voice tore through the expansive terrain. “You have self-evolved Rare Skills yet only martial Skill is Basic!?”