Book 2: Chapter 3: Pep-talk

  The morning came to Alex with the smell of roasting meat mixed with the earthy scent of moss and kobold urine. Well, at least it was sort-of morning. Sleeping inside the darkened cave tunnels made it hard to track time precisely, but Alex had developed an internal clock by now. He guessed it was probably around 0900 as he waited topside of the kobold tunnels.

  Alex was a bit surprised to learn the scale of the kobold settlement that was above ground, outside the tunnels. Just from his scouting underground, Alex assumed there were roughly a hundred kobolds. Looking at the scale of the village above ground, the many buildings and tents, Alex had to adjust his estimate to upwards of even maybe three hundred kobolds instead. Alex and his team never really had a chance in an actual fight.

  He sat cross-legged on flat rock near the center of the kobold camp, in the lizard species’ training field. He worked on soaking up warmth, and copious amounts of patience, as he spent the hours watching the others gather up one by one. Some with groggy steps and puffy eyes. Others, mainly Devon, with full-blown bedhead. And then there was, Garret still with only one boot on.

  “Okay, everyone here?” Alex asked, glancing around.

  Tom-Tom was the last to arrive. He looked surprisingly chipper despite the state Alex had left him the night before. The little Kobold was dragging a half-eaten mushroom skewer in the dirt behind him and showed a smug expression like he’d just conquered breakfast itself.

  “Am here,” he said. “And in good graces of breakfast gods.”

  Alex exhaled through his nose, not quite a laugh. But close. “All right,” he said, pulling a small leather pouch from his belt. “Time to talk business.”

  He untied the pouch’s drawstrings and upturned it, pouring out several jagged, faintly glowing shards into his palm. The essence fragments shimmered in the low morning sun like chunks of broken glass cut from shafts of many-colored moon-stuff. Every head tilted forward as one, each jostling and trying to press in an attempt to get a look at what Alex had.

  “What are those?” Holly asked.

  “Essence fragments,” Alex said. “From the Dark Den. They can be dropped by elite enemies, or bought. They’re… potent. Raw, compressed aether energy and elemental power. Feeding one into your core will speed up your cultivation like jet fuel on a campfire.”

  Lance let out a low whistle. “And you’re just handing those out?”

  “Well, I bought them,” Alex said. “From the Dungeon Shop.”

  “Wait, the what now?” Garret asked. “There’s a shop? Inside the dungeon?”

  “Yeah,” he muttered. “Its the worlds weirdest pharmacy-mart honestly. You spend points from kills for loot. It’s like a built-in cultivation vending machine.”

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  Tom-Tom’s eyes went wide. “The dungeon sells loot? Gods above, Tom-Tom been fighting slimes for mushrooms”

  Alex chuckled, a bit surprised that the kobold didn’t know how the dungeon worked. Then again, if everyone who went into it never came out… well how would they have known? He shook his head and started passing out the fragments one by one.

  “I have enough for all of you. Think of it as an investment. If we’re going to survive what’s coming, we need to get stronger. All of us.” Each person took their shard with reverence. Even Kate, who was usually the first to roll her eyes, turned it over in her fingers like it was a sacred relic.

  “It’s warm,” Henry said, speaking for the first time that morning. “Like it’s… alive.”

  “It kind of is. Beasts absorb ambient essence until it solidifies, creating Arcane Beast Cores. What you’re holding is like that, but its System made. They’re remnants of essence, emotion, and memory made into a physical thing. They are solidified will, in a way. Feed it to your core slowly, let it sink in. It’ll be a rough experience, but it will be worth it.”

  Garret stared down at his fragment like it was a tiny glass heart. “Thanks, man,” he said. “For real. This is huge.”

  “Don’t thank me yet,” Alex said, tone light. “You’ll be puking essence fumes for the next three days.”

  That got a collective groan. Devon muttered something about wanting a user manual. The group sat down around him, forming a loose circle. Conversation drifted naturally into speculation and theory-crafting. Stat distribution, and fighting styles.

  “What’s your plan?” Allie asked, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “What kind of build are you going for?”

  Alex exhaled and leaned back on his hands. That was certainly a good question, one he hadn’t thought about for awhile, at least not consciously.

  “I don’t know if I’m going for a ‘build,’ per se. The System… it’s more open than we thought. My body’s reacting to aether energy in a weird way. I’m starting to see things differently, concentrated and ambient aether, elemental nuances. I think losing my mage core helped as much as it hurt me”

  “The aether what now?” Garret asked.

  Devon looked at Alex sharply. “You’re talking about the ambient energy you described before? You can see it, right?”

  Alex nodded. “It’s like I can feel the flow now. Not just in me, but around me. It’s not just about power, or fuel, it’s a connection. I’m starting to feel like a Jedi Master understand the Force.” The group fell quiet for a moment, letting that sink in. Alex had learned that the others couldn’t see the aether the same way that he could. Even the sixth sense he used when meditating wasn’t the same for them. For everyone else it was muted, stale in a way that Alex didn’t understand. He saw in color while everyone else was stuck on greyscale.

  “Sounds lonely,” Holly said finally. “Going that far ahead of the rest of us.”

  Alex glanced at her, surprised by the softness in her voice. “Maybe,” he admitted. “But that’s why I’m sharing these. So you can all catch up. I can’t hold your hands in the next stage. Once you break through in your core attunement, we will be on separate paths to power. We can help each other, but not guide each other. And getting you powerful as possible, as soon as possible, will be what you need to survive.”

  Lance straightened slightly. “You mean the dungeon.”

  Alex nodded. “The Dark Den is still open. You all can enter. I can’t. Once someone clears it, they’re locked out.”

  “So we’re going in without you?” Kate said flatly.

  “Yep. And you’ll be fine. You’ve got each other, better gear, more knowledge, and more essence now.”

  Tom-Tom raised his hand like a student in a classroom. “Question. Will we keep the loot? Or the mushroom council require tax?”

  “Tom,” Allie sighed. “Shut up.”

  Tom-Tom grinned and bit into his skewer.

  Alex stood and dusted his palms off on his pants. “I’ll help you prep,” he said. “Gear checks, skill lessons, combat sparring, everything. But once you’re inside, it’s your trial. I won’t be able to help you.” No one spoke for a second. Then Eric crossed his arms and gave a short nod.

  “We’ve got this,” he said.

  Alex looked around the group. They all had tired eyes, bandaged limbs and battle-scarred armor. But also, he saw that they had resolve.

  “Yeah,” he said with determination. “You do.”