Chapter 9 – I Dig it.

The conversation Lee had with the sword master lingered in his mind. Recently, it seemed like one major event after another was taking place. But the downstream effects had yet to hit. Lee was waiting for the shoe to drop.

Lee had been reaping the rewards left and right, and now he had a new sword and master to show for it.

Lee’s eyes followed the sand tracks before him, his head slightly lower than usual. “Everything seems way too easy these days…” He thought.

A voice entered his mind suddenly, one that Lee recognized. “Young one, it seems you have not learned to accept good when it comes to you.” The sword master spoke in the tone you’d expect from an old martial arts teacher.

Lee stopped following his tracks. His eyes widened, panicking just a little. “Not cool man. Thoughts are supposed to be private!” He said in his mind.

The sword master chuckled. “One is only as strong as his mind. Consider this a type of training as well.”

Lee instantly thought about all the things he shouldn’t, yes, even the ones he wouldn’t want others to know he was thinking about. It was borderline involuntary. He was getting a bit self-conscious but came to accept it.

The sword master spoke in his mind once more. “Worry not my apprentice, when the blade is more than 10 feet away from you, the telepathic link will be broken. Simply focus on the task ahead.”

Lee took his master’s advice and continued walking. Shortly after this mental conversation, he saw a figure on a faraway dune. He could only make out his figure, but from the signature white shirt, he predicted it would be Gordan.

**

Before Lee exited the graveyard nearly 30 minutes ago, Gordan was getting fed up and frustrated. At this point, the construction of the well was going poorly. Gordan understood it would be slow work. However, he made quite a few mistakes in the process. Boards fell, dumping sand into the hole he’d dug multiple times. This is when Gordan figured out he only knew how to run a store and not how to fight or do menial labor.

Gordan let out a sigh while standing in the hole. A system message made a ding, drawing his attention from working. Gordan was annoyed at first. Nothing from the system had been good news the past few times.

[Physique has reached lvl 2]

[You will now recover from fatigue slightly faster]

“Oh, that’s good. At least something has come of this.” He muttered.

One thing bothered him about this desert: The sun never seemed to move from the center of the sky. The heat was constantly bearing down on him, amplifying any task's exhaustion.

Gordan had planned to wait at least an hour before heading after Lee, but the torture of digging a well with no other purpose than to appease the system was just too much for him. He turned his trusty shovel back into a machete and headed after Lee.

He had quite some time to think while Lee was off doing his own thing. Since then, Gordan has fleshed out some critical details of his plan. In his mind, the plan was called ‘The great scheme’ for one. Next, he planned to help his father skill up to the point that he could produce all the goods for the shop faster.

After that phase of the plan, he would seek a replacement for himself. Someone needed to man the shop for this plan to work. He also planned to explore the labyrinth with Lee as soon as possible. He could do something no one else had ever done if he was right. He would open shops in the labyrinth.

Of course, this entire plan only had one goal. For Gordan to make himself and his closest companions filthy rich, he pondered the details until he came over a large dune hill spotting Lee.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Gordan’s expression turned devious. “hehe.” He turned his trusty machete into a trusty baseball bat and started running toward Lee aggressively.

From Lee’s perspective, Gordan seemed excited to see him. He started to get a little overwhelmed by Gordan’s display of brotherly love and started to tear up. Lee then started sprinting toward Gordan with tears in his eyes, holding his arms out for the coming embrace.

“Gordan!” Lee shouted affectionately.

“LEE!” Gordan responded in an accusatory tone.

“Gordan?” Lee shouted questioningly.

“LEE YOU BASTARD COME HERE!” He shouted while holding his trusty baseball bat above his head.

At this point, Lee was primarily confused. But he did know one thing. Gordan was chasing him down with a baseball bat. He quickly turned around and started sprinting back toward the sword graveyard.

Lee’s physique was much more developed than Gordan’s, so Lee quickly outran him. A chase ensued. After some time, Gordan couldn’t keep up and slowed, coming to a halt. Panting aggressively, he put his hands on his knees and fell back into the sand behind him.

“Is it safe!” Lee shouted.

Gordan snapped his head to shout at Lee. “I don’t have the energy to kick your ass!”

Lee approached tentatively. “Are you done now? That really surprised me.” He chuckled.

“We’ll see, but when we get back, you’re doing the digging.”

Lee closed his eyes and chucked. “That’s what this is about? Fine, sounds good. I’ve been feeling like too many good things were happening anyhow.”

The pair slowly walked back to the original site. When they arrived, Lee was surprised to see so little work had been done. At that moment, half the boards on the side of the circular hole collapsed; the hole was only about 3 feet deep, and the supplies were a mess.

Lee knew Gordan wouldn’t be quick at this sort of thing, which made him look incapable. “Here. You take a break Gordan.” Lee picked up one of the shovels the system had supplied them with and got to work.

Gordan sat on the side of the hole, talking to Lee while he dug. Lee also took the time to sort out the boards. He reconstructed almost the whole thing. The pair slowly constructed the well over hours, perhaps even a day. One fateful shovel full of clay and sand yielded an unexpected result. Water came rising through the clay. The pair were over 30 feet down, and at some point, they lost the measurement count. They both looked at each other and started jumping up and down in excitement. This meant the quest completion was almost here.

After all, the process had been long and exhausting. If this is what easy mode was like for skill up, Gordan will try never to choose it again. More excavation was done, and finally, a system message appeared.

[Quest completion detected]

[Quest: Dig a well - Completed]

[Reward: Rotten Rations X 5]

The rewards from the system could be found in the user's inventory. Gordan opened up his inventory to find the item. In the system, it appeared as a picture of a box. He chose to take a look at the description to see if they were genuinely rotten.

[Rotten Rations X 5]

[Description: 5 meals ready-made. Will not deteriorate, for they have already done so.]

[Safe to consume]

Gordan confusedly narrowed his eyes. “Okay, system, you’ve got me curious.”

He took one out to see what was inside. A box the size of a take-out container materialized in Gordan’s hands. But, before he could open it, the pair was blinded by a white light. Soon, they regained their vision and were back in Gordan’s room.

[Accounting has reached lvl 16]

Although he was happy about the level-up, he was more interested in the box in his hands. Gordan carefully opened the box. Once he had done so, an extremely foul-smelling odor filled the room.

Lee covered his mouth and bent over. “Oh god. I’m gonna puke.” He gagged. “Why is this a reward?!”

In front of Lee’s eyes was a pile of mush, colored brown and green. Also inside was a small bottle of water. It was the basic of the basic.

Gordan plugged his nose and held the container away from his face. “I’m just going to put this way I think.” He put it back into his inventory as quickly as he could.

Lee opened the windows hurriedly and stuck his head out. “AH, FRESH AIR. It’s so cool on my skin!” A small tear dropped from one eye. “I never thought I would appreciate cold air so much.”

Lee said this in such an authentic tone Gordan felt like there was nothing he could add. Instead, he plopped into a starfish position on his bed. “Lee, I’m never choosing easy again.” Gordan closed his eyes and covered his face, slowly sliding down his fingers to meet his chin. “You know what. I think you should go home. I don’t want to do anymore tonight.”

Lee, still sticking his head out the window, enjoying the cool night breeze. “Ah, alright.” Without any further conversation, Lee left. As he passed the living room, he expected Gordan’s parents to have already gone to bed. But, surprisingly, the two were still in the same spots from when they left earlier.

“Oh! Lee, did you need something?” Gordan’s mother asked.

Lee squinted and replied slowly. “No...” His speech came to a pause. He wanted to ask how much time had passed, but he would find that out as soon as he got home. So, there was no need to ask Gordan’s parents.

“Anyway, we just got done. So, I’m heading home. I hope you both have a good night.” Lee said these words while thinking. They seemed hollow and void of expression. Gordan’s parents shared a look as Lee made a quick exit.

“What a strange boy.” Gordan’s father muttered before returning to reading.