Chapter 135: Recruitment

Cilia brought the Night Jewel softly onto the water on the large lake. I landed the Maelstrom on the shore on the outskirts of the town. The town was on Leda’s map for being a friendly human kingdom. This small town had a small dungeon and an Adventurer’s Guild Hall. Four men in shiny breastplates with long swords on their hips came out to greet us.

The soldiers were on guard and looking a little nervously at the Wolfsguard on the deck of the Night Jewel. They used the common tongue, “Welcome travelers. Are you here to trade?”

“We captured that pirate ship over there and are just settling down for a day to restore our aether crystals. Do you get many skyships here?” I asked conversationally.

“Infrequently. Maybe two or three a month. Our Adventurer’s Hall is small, but I am sure they would want to hear about your success against a pirate,” the middle-aged guard said.

“I will stop in and report. I was curious about the local dungeon as well,” I responded.

“It is a young dungeon, and its most valuable resources are aether-infused potion ingredients, shrooms, flowers, and other plants,” the guard replied helpfully. “The alchemist in town is actually pretty good and has a number of potions.”

“I will check it out. My crew will most likely patronize your local tavern. If they get out of hand, come and find me,” I smiled at the guards and moved into town with Bleiz on my heels. The Wolfsguard would remain on the Night Jewel, and Talia would keep at least three delvers on board the Maelstrom.

The town was fairly large and had paved roads. For being in the middle of the wilderness, I thought this was a fairly impressive town. The buildings were a mixture of simple, well-built stone and wood. The citizens were mostly human, but I noted a few elves and the occasional beastman. The majority of people were speaking the common tongue. We got a few looks from the locals but not much staring.

Bleiz noted, “This kingdom appears friendly to all races.”

“Unlike Skyholme?” I countered.

“Most citizens fear the Wolfsguard. We were a symbol of the Triumverite’s control. The fierce and loyal guards of the families. Loriel might have freed us, but that is how we are still viewed.” Bleiz said conversationally.

“In time, that might change. I can already see signs of the Wolfsguard at the Black Spire relaxing their stiff demeanor,” I said while pausing at the sign for the herbalist and potion maker.

I entered the shop and was assaulted by numerous scents, from sweet and pleasant to foul and rotting. Drying herbs hung everywhere, and the alchemist had his apparatus on the back table, running the length of his shop. He had small flames every few feet, heating a spinning beaker and glass tubes weaving in a maze of iron hooks suspended from the ceiling. His process was similar to my alchemist, Lachlan, but this man had a dozen more things going simultaneously. Lachlan was always just working one process at a time.

The balding middle-aged man looked up from pipetting some liquid into a potion vial, “Just a moment! I do not want this product to remain exposed to the air too long.” We watched as he measured out six portions, sealed all the vials, and wrote the potion, date, and efficacy guarantee date on each.

When he finished, I asked, “What miracle cure did you just create?”

The man laughed, “A hair restorative for myself.” He rubbed his balding head. “I just got the ingredients, and this is my first run. It should be ready once it cools down some. Your friend definitely does not need it.” He said with a smile. “What can I help you adventurers with?”

“How did you know we were adventurers?” I asked, returning his good-natured vibe.

“Only merchants and adventurers visit this sleepy town. I have some low-tier healing and aether restoratives. Both crafted from the local dungeon recipes.” He offered.

“How much aether will the aether potions restore? I heard they were extremely complex to brew.” I asked, extremely interested.

“About 12 relative points.” He said proudly. “And their half-life is forty-forty four days,” he spun to indicate the long apparatus behind him. “That is them being brewed now. Takes about two days, and I can get nine or ten vials.” He rushed forward and concernedly tapped a suspended beaker, which began spinning again.

Twelve aether points were nothing for me. I naturally regained about five aether a minute. It would be significant for Bleiz of the other mages in my employ. “How much for you aether potions? I am Storme, and this is Bleiz,” I introduced ourselves.

“I am Otto Caess.” He bowed slightly on the introduction. “Two gold or fifty silver if you bring me the ingredients from the dungeon. I have a number of contracts with adventurers, but a few more will not slow me down.” He smiled happily.

“How effective are the low-tier healing potions?” Bleiz asked.

“Quite good. Powerful enough to do minor organ healing, stop bleeding, and close wounds. The recipe is also fairly simple, but the ingredients are only found in this local dungeon.” He smiled, “Seventy silver if you are interested.”

“What is the efficacy window?” Bleiz asked a follow-up question.

Otto frowned slightly but admitted, “Ten days. A fairly short term, and they lose all potency after twenty-four days. I have been playing with the recipe and have already extended the time from seven to ten days. In another few months, I might be able to double it to twenty days!”

Bleiz said, “I will take ten of each.” The alchemist happily went to get the potions. I was tempted to pay but knew Bleiz was drawing a salary of five gold a week. I also did not want Beliz to become like Gareth and always lean on me for coin.

After completing Beliz’s transaction, I asked, “How many potions do you have of the aether and healing?”

“Sixty-two aether and one hundred and eight healing four days old or less,” Otto said happily. “I also have hair growth, lightning resistance, cold resistance, cure poison, and a terrible invisibility potion. Still working the recipe out on that one.”

“I will take sixty aether and sixty healing. The most recent brews for the healing, if you will.” The happy alchemist sorted the vials for me, and I paid him with two platinum. He quickly got my change in gold coins, a symbol of a large serpent on one side and a satyr on the other side.

He noticed my inspection of the coins, “Dungeon coins from our local dungeon. It has only one level and is one massive forest. The challenge monster is a giant constrictor snake. The monsters roaming are satyrs, giant weasels, giant skunks, and giant owls.” I nodded and turned to Bleiz.

“Bleiz, can you distribute these potions to the delvers and Wolfsguard? I am just going to talk with the Adventurer’s Guild Hall manager. You can find me there.” Bleiz looked reluctant to leave me but gathered up the potions and returned to the skyships.

The Adventurer’s Hall was a square stone building in the center of the town. It was two stories, and as I entered, it was one large common room with a dozen plus men and women drinking at tables. No one had food, so I assumed they did sell it here. Probably a non-compete with the local restaurants. The barkeep was a half-elf woman, and I was slightly pained remembering Aelyn. The menu had four beverage options: red wine, dark ale, and pale ale. No further description. The cost was fifty copper for the wine and ten copper for either ale.

“A dark ale,” I said, sitting at the bar by myself. “And drinks for everyone till this runs out,” I placed a large silver on the table. The elf gave me a half smile, took the coin, and poured me the dark ale. I sipped the bitter and terrible brew. It was not even a close match for Mera’s. Mera’s brews were smooth.

“Free drinks at the bar till the new face’s coin runs out!” The half-elf caused a stir as almost everyone came and got a refill in the tavern hall. I had to wait until the group got their refills before talking to the woman. Her black hair was in a tight ponytail, and she smiled, waiting on me.

“Is the person who runs this guild available to talk?” I asked amicably.

“You are looking at her, Milley,” she offered her hand to shake. “A small Hall like this usually just has one person assigned to it. Job postings are upstairs, and the dungeon postings are on the wall over there,” she pointed. The wall had maybe a dozen pieces of paper. It looked like people trying to form groups to head into the dungeon.

“I wanted to ask about this bounty,” I placed the sheet for the Night Jewel on the table.

Millie looked it over, “We don’t get many pirate hunters in here. That would be the monstrosity floating in our lake; good catch, adventurer. You will need to return the ship for the bounty, though. I also lack any means to verify individual bounties if you brought heads with you.”

“Name is Storme. Well, that is good to know. I have a day before I have to lift off. What can you tell me about your local dungeon?” I inquired.

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She nodded and started cleaning some mugs. I hit the area with my cleanliness spell. It took her a moment to realize it, “Well, that just saved me an hour’s work, Storme. Our dungeon is an open dungeon. One large forest. About six hundred square miles of dense woodland. It is always twilight, though, and under the trees, it can be dark, so you should have some night vision spell or goggles. They sell the goggles in a shop in town for fifty gold.”

She paused to pour me another drink from a bottle under the bar and winked, pushing it to me. I sipped it, and it was a good lager, albeit warm. I created an ice ball and added it to my drink. Millie poured herself a glass and pushed it forward. I created an ice ball for her, and she toasted me as she sipped with a huge smile.

“Now, the dungeon does not have a lot of value in it besides fungi and flora. There are some good drops from the giant boa constrictor snake challenge monster. Alchemy potion recipes, usually five of six gold and an assortment of snakeskin armor pieces. Still not enough to draw the more powerful adventuring guilds,” she paused to drink her cold beer and savored it. I guessed a small town like this did not have a lot of enchanted amenities.

“How do I gain entry to the dungeon?” I sipped my own cold ale.

“Just follow the path south through the forest. It is easy to find, and it is about a mile walk. The town is here because of the lake, and the small fishing community before the dungeon was discovered about a decade ago,” Millie revealed.

“Can you suggest any delvers in this group that can help with ingredient harvesting?” I indicated the room.

“The brother and sister team at that table,” she pointed, “Orla and Oskar. Good scouts and have been running the dungeon for the last year. They have a good relationship with the three alchemists in town.”

“Is Otto the best alchemist?” I queried.

“Definitely. The other two are attached to adventers guilds. They are mostly out here practicing since the ingredients are cheap. They ship most of their potions back to their parent guild,” she poured herself some more ale as my compressed ice ball had barely melted.

“Any dangers I should be on the lookout for?” I asked, getting ready to leave.

“Not really. There were some migrating goblin tribes last year, but that has been the only excitement. Of course, with an open dungeon level, you need to be wary of other teams. No problems have been brought to my attention. And only one entire dungeon team has failed to return in the last five years. About forty deaths or so every year in the dungeon.”

“Thank you for your time, Millie,” I slid her a gold coin, which quickly disappeared in her apron.

I walked to the table with Orla and Oskar. “I am looking to hire both of you. I have the two skyships nearby and want to make a dungeon run. Pay is five gold each.”

The two young-looking pale elves looked at each other and nodded slowly. I was overpaying for their services, but I wanted to get as much out of our short run as possible. “When are you heading in?” The elf woman asked.

“Now, if that is acceptable?” I replied.

“Five gold up front and five on exit. No more than twenty-four hours inside.” The male elf, Oskar, added.

“Agreed. Let us go pick up the rest of my group.” I left and headed back to the Maelstrom. Bleiz was out on the Night Jewel, anchored in the lake. I could see the Wolfsguard had some of the prisoners on deck. They were negotiating with them to sail the ship back to Skyholme.

A few of my delve team were in the cargo hold as I boarded with the two elves, “Is Talia around?”

Lana pointed up, “She is on the bridge. Leda went to explore the town with Namira.”

I found Talia and Delphia on the bridge, serving as the guards. “I have two local guides for the dungeon. I am taking Bleiz and would like two from the delve team. Who do you suggest?”

Delphia was ready to volunteer, but Talia cut her off, “Myself and Zinnia as a backup healer. Who should watch the bridge while we are gone?” I took out my communication stone and told Leda to be back in twenty minutes. That was how long it should take to get Bleiz back from the Night Jewel.

An hour later, we were walking on a wide, well-trodden path through the woods toward the dungeon. Our two guides were discussing the creatures inside, and we were asking questions. The challenge monster spawned every four hours, coming out of a massive cave under the largest tree in the expansive woods. The boa was the only dangerous monster as it could swallow a person whole, and they would suffocate quickly.

“Our goal is to gather more potion ingredients than anyone has ever done on this delve. I want to try and recruit Otto, and we need to impress him.” Orla and Oskar looked ready to object, but I added, “Shiny Platinum Delving is always looking for good scouts. We can talk if you two are good enough and interested after this delve. Talia is in charge of all delving operations for me. Direct all questions to her.”

Talia was immediately interested in the two elves. They were more than guides and potential members of her delve teams. They started talking, and we soon arrived at the entrance to the dungeon. A massive rock cave. On the outer surface were the typical dungeon runes chiseled in around the entrance. I scanned the runes and noted there were twenty-two delvers already inside. Probably four different delve teams.

We emerged in a clearing with a rock mirroring the one we had just entered behind us. The sky was twilight, and dark woods surrounded us. The eyes had natural low-light vision, so they were prepared. Talia created an intense light for us as we entered the dark woods. The giant animals were actually fun to combat with the exception of the giant skunks. My cleanliness spell made their skunk attacks moot. None of the giant animals had any aether crystals to harvest, though. It was a pretty poor dungeon.

Our two guides started pointing out the common mushrooms for harvesting, and Bleiz was enjoying scouting in the dark trees and fighting the animals alone. The satyrs had two spells, ensnaring roots, and stone projectile. Since the satyrs only appeared in pairs, they were quickly overrun. We moved deeper and deeper into the woods.

Orla and Oskar expanded from mushrooms to night flowers and berries. Everyone in the party was helping harvest, and I was piling everything in my dimensional closet. I think the two scouts were impressed with our skill and speed as we moved. Talia was serving as our light beacon, and Zinnia was largely inactive, walking next to her as we did not need healing. I practiced my lightning spear and arcane web spells.

Our guides showed us growth markers on the trees, indicating the challenge monster’s direction. I did not see a need to kill the giant snake. We circled around it. When we had been inside for six hours and had not seen any other delve teams, I asked, “Is it not common to run into other teams in here?”

Orla answered, “There are actually four different entrances at the corners of the forest. The dungeon rotates which one you appear at. As you get closer to the center of the woods, you will run into other teams, especially if you are both planning to hunt the large snake. Usually, there are some arguments about who gets to go first.”

We spent nine hours in the woods, according to my absolute time spell. I had a large amount of harvest in my dimensional closet. I asked Talia, “So, how are the two elves? Good enough for our delve team?”

Talia looked over at the two, leading us out to a portal to leave, “I do not think either of them has a strong ability. If they even have one. From what I observed, the woman has some minor magic, just a direction sense spell. They really only fought the weasels, as you and Bleiz killed everything else too quickly. They are average fighters at best. Above average scouts based on Skyholme standards.”

“So, is that a yes or no?” I asked earnestly.

“We already have two decent scouts. We could add maybe one more, but two?” Talia hedged.

I was a little disappointed because hiring people always made me feel good. Showing I valued them by offering pay beyond their expectations. “Well, they might not even want to relocate to Skyhome. I doubt they will want to be separated.” Offer them both a position. If they accept, that would bring the delve team to fifteen?”

“Yes, fifteen. We really need more mages and another strong healer. Zinnia is getting better, but a second healer is needed for the Progenitor Dungeon rotations.” Talia explained.

“Maybe the alchemist, Otto, can improve our healing potions, and we won’t need another healer,” I offered hopefully.

We reached the dungeon exit and left the dungeon. Another team was getting ready to enter and tensed at our appearance, but we just nodded and started walking toward town. When we reached the town, I told Orla and Oskar that Talia had an offer for them. I was off to talk with Otto.

Otto was engrossed in his apparatus when I entered his shop. It was early morning, and it looked like he had been up all night. “Otto?” He turned at me, announcing my presence.

“Back for more potions already!” He sounded happy but distracted as well.

“I actually would like to offer you a job. We are headed back to Skyholme, the floating islands, and I wanted you to serve as my delve team’s personal alchemist. Just name your price,” I offered the man, who now sported long dark brown hair. His potion had worked.

“Skyholme? I have heard of the place. How many dungeons do you have?” He asked, turning away from his apparatus.

“Nine across all the islands. My delve teams frequent two of them. I also have a compiled book of all the dungeon potion recipes and a neophyte alchemist in my employ already,” I tried selling the job.

“More recipes?” He chewed on his tongue, thinking. “Larger variety of ingredients as well. Four gold a week pay and six gold for materials. In addition, your delve teams fulfill my requests for materials as well.”

“So, ten gold a week, and you can post jobs for the delve teams? Is that all?” I asked, thinking this was on the low end.

“Well, I currently make about seven gold a week in profit, so it is a raise for me. If I am only supplying potions for one delve team, then I have more time to experiment,” he explained his view.

“Agreed, and I will also supply your housing and meals. That can be explained when we arrive, but I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised,” I moved forward, and we shook hands.

“It should only take me three days to pack everything up and load it onto your skyship,” he said energetically.

“We do not have that kind of time. You have half a day, and I will send Cesar and Hadrian to help you. If they break anything, I will replace it,” I said, dismissing any arguments. The Maelstrom’s aether core should be charged in just a few hours, and I hated delaying any more than necessary. Skyholme needed to know the pirates, and Bricios planned to attack.

Twelve hours later, the Night Jewel was taking off with nine sailors working the sails and rigging. The ten Wolfsguard remained on board with Cilia and Leda as the pilot and captain. I would pilot the Maelstrom. It had enough charge to rush back to Skyholme, but I did not want to abandon the people on the Night Jewel. It was just a very slow ship, and any number of things could attack it. If the sailors were good, we could make it back in seven days.

Things did not go well, as six hours later, a skyship was coming up on our stern. Leda came over to the communication stone. “Storme, that is a pirate ship. That ship is the Sky Wraith, and it should not be this far east. It belongs to the pirate consortium. I think it is coming for the Night Jewel. They must have tracked it with magic.”

Bleiz was next to me, “We should have made sure Maggie the Siren was dead. She probably called friends.”

I was torn about loading everyone onto the Maelstrom and leaving the Night Jewel behind. If I did, then this whole expedition would have been for nothing. I held up my communication stone, “Cilia, get on deck. I am going to exchange places with you. We are going to fight.”

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