Six hours later, a group of very tired Adventurers crawled out of the depths of Warmount. Twice more they had met groups of monster sappers, all attempting to subvert and ascend the very same chambers the team had used. If not for the labyrinthine structure of the caverns below, they would have arisen after tunneling their way in, but as it was, many were caught, wandering in circles.
The team had not only found and fought such monsters but also located a total of three new routes. One, Daniel’s mining experience allowed him to take down with a few strategic blows to supporting beams. The other two, the group just marked on their maps, knowing that specialized teams would be sent to deal with them later.
Their ascent and the ground the team covered was significantly faster than most others; Daniel’s Mapping (II) function offering the group unparalleled mapping abilities, even deep underground. The Healer had to admit, even if he was not the best up-front fighter, his utility as both a Healer and ex-Miner had significant advantages for the team. At least in a situation like this.
He doubted any of that would be that useful patrolling the walls for example.
“Very nice. I swear, you Karlak graduates are the best at these things. Must be all that crawling through tunnels, eh?” the grinning, bearded dwarf female said, looking at the map that she had pulled from Daniel’s own Skill-created one, reviewing all the information that had been provided. Next to her were the Mana stones that the team had acquired too, proof of the monsters that they had fought. “Alright, I’ve confirmed your story. Now, you can sell the Stones to us or to the Guild. We’ll give you a small bonus if you sell it to us, say an extra silver for the big ones?”
“Illegal,” Asin pointed out.
“Bah!” Jude said, leaning forwards and lowering her voice. “What they don’t know won’t hurt them, eh? And we got uses for it.”
Daniel frowned, glancing around the spartan office. While technically illegal, the sale of Mana stones within the Dungeon was a gray area. You had to sell Mana stones to the Adventurers Guild upon exit if you were not using them for your own personal reasons—an exception carved out for enchanters and sorcerers—but they had not exited the Dungeon. So, it was a gray area for sure. Still . . .
“Ooooh, you’re one of those goody-two-shoes parties, eh?” Jude said, wrinkling her bulbous nose. “I don’t really like those kinds.”
“I am uncertain about my feelings about you as well, Hero Jude,” Omrak rumbled, crossing his arms across his broad chest.
Daniel raised a hand, stilling his friend. He glanced over at Asin, the Catkin understanding his meaning as she began to pick up and store the Mana stones immediately. While she did that, Daniel caught Jude’s attention.
“I wouldn’t call us that, but we’ve got our reasons for playing things straight,” Daniel said, softly. Among other things, he had to admit, the lessons Lady Marshall had pounded into them about the entire team being under additional scrutiny was making itself known. “Now, our pay . . .”
“Just take this to our guild.” Jude thrust a small rolled up piece of paper at Daniel.
Annoyed, Daniel took a few extra seconds to unroll the paper and verify that everything was correct in it before he offered Jude another bright smile. “Thank you so much. Do call on us again. We Karlak graduates do like digging holes and delving into them.”
Daniel noted how her eyes narrowed as he finished speaking, but he did not wait for her to protest as he turned around and hurried off. Let her think about that. They had coin to collect and a long bath waiting for them.
***
Later that night, after they had bathed and cleaned the accumulated sweat, blood, and musk from their flesh and partaken of a significant dinner and split the coins, Daniel lay in his tiny room in the guild. It consisted of only a single bed, a table, storage chest, and armor rack, but it was more than enough. It was not as if he had a lot of goods to store, though.
“Eighty-seven platinum . . .” Daniel muttered to himself. He truly was beginning to accumulate quite a decent amount of funds. While he preferred working at the hospice and free clinics, those visits had decreased significantly. Between his duties to the guild, his training with Lady Marshall on etiquette and politics, lessons to learn new healing spells, regular Adventuring training, and delving, his free time had been squeezed significantly. Still, Lady Nyssa and Marshall still found ways to cram in a few visits by nobles and wealthy merchants that had ailments that needed his special Gift.
In most cases, he would have turned them down. However, many of these ailments could not be fixed by normal spells—or required the extremely limited time of the Grandmaster Healers. And rich and poor alike deserved relief from pain and ongoing suffering.
It did help that they provided a significant payment later, a portion of it that Daniel then dedicated to sponsoring new Healers, both from the slums and to take his place where he could not go. In some ways, the Adventurer had to admit, he was probably doing more as a net benefit just throwing money at the problem than going himself.
After all, a single healing often let him sponsor multiple individuals for months. Individuals who could then progress their own skills, growing stronger and, yes, eventually tackle even more complex diseases and injuries.
Now, if only he could get rid of his lingering sense of guilt at not being there himself.
Forcing his mind from long-worn thoughts, Daniel instead focused on his next step: his most recent Level Up.
Level Up!
Adventurer Level 29
You have gained 5 Attribute Points and 1 Skill Proficiency.
Slow as their progress was for Daniel’s own desire, they were leveling. It helped that he was not using his Gift as much as before, his more powerful spells and the Healing Aura helping to fix minor issues while the higher quality of their equipment meant that injuries were lower too. It meant that for once, he was not progressing slower than his team—well, not much—which was a welcome change.
With the new Level Up, Daniel had to consider how he wanted to balance his attributes and Skill Proficiencies once more. His Skill Proficiencies were, for the most part, simple enough. He had planned on advancing his Healing Aura for a while now, and with a stronger front-line team that required his presence less, the Aura improvement would allow him to provide aid to both front-line and back-line fighters at the same time. Even if, for example, someone broke away since the upgrade would extend his range as well.
It did, however, push Daniel further from his front-line role, but the Adventurer had to admit, a part of him was fine with that. He did not have Omrak’s bloodlust, nor desire for further glory. He enjoyed delving for the challenge, not the pain.
Furthermore, Healing Aura as an upgrade for his Skill Proficiency was an excellent choice since he would be receiving continual training from Healer Rotfield This would improve both his mundane Skills and his magic Skills, giving him new spells to wield. Even if his Gift allowed him to heal any major injuries, it was still preferred to use Mana first. A fact that even the king had agreed to which was why the lessons had been arranged to begin immediately.
Like most things, learning a new healing spell was still months away, but he could see the very real progress he was making. It would have helped if the Healer was able to see him more often and did not foist him off on apprentices, but considering Daniel was learning Healer secrets for free, he was not about to complain.
All that meant that when he came around to choosing his attribute allocation, the smart move was to pour points into Intelligence and Willpower, both of which would aid him in learning and regenerating Mana. The effects of both were, of course, subtle but marked. Everything from being able to understand concepts faster to being stronger willed and less prone to fear effects were well catalogued.
Of course, basic born abilities played a part too. These attributes both developed an individual and aided in shoring up weaknesses, but they could not, without hundreds of points in them, alter fundamental problems. A naturally feeble individual or one who had grown up malnourished would always be weaker and less healthy than a strapping farmer or a well-fed nobleman.
Attributes were Erlis’s way of rewarding those who sought to better themselves. Or, as his grandfather used to say, you could chip at a rock and make a beautiful jade sculpture—but if the rock was limestone to begin with, you best not leave it in the river.
Of course, on that note, Daniel had to admit, he had a decent base to begin with. Which meant adding a few points to Intelligence and Willpower did aid him, in both study and his Mana regeneration. Still, a little Luck never hurt.
Dumping two points into each of the first two and the remainder point into Luck, Daniel flicked up his Status after confirming his new Healing Aura upgrade.
Name: Daniel Chai (Advanced Rank Adventurer) |
Race: Human (Male) |
Class: Level 29 Adventurer (11.6%) |
Sub-classes: Level 6 (Miner) (0.3%) |
Life: 429 |
Stamina: 429 |
Mana: 324 |
|
Attributes |
|
Strength: 43 |
Agility: 37 |
Constitution: 48 |
Intelligence: 43 |
Willpower: 37 |
Luck: 23 |
Skills |
|
Unarmed Combat (Novice): Level 5 (197/100) |
Clubs (Skilled): Level 7 (38/100) |
Archery: Level 7 (47/100) |
Shield (Skilled): Level 4 (21/100) |
Dodge (Skilled): Level 1 (16/100) |
Combat Sense (Skilled): Level 9 (02/100) |
Perception (Skilled): Level 1 (03/100) |
Mining: Level 3 (09/100) |
Healing (Skilled): Level 8 (88/100) |
Herb Lore: Level 8 (67/100) |
Stealth: Level 3 (63/100) |
Cooking: Level 5 (18/100) |
Singing: Level 2 (01/100) |
Tactics (Novice): Level 5 (78/100) |
Heavy Armor (Novice): Level 2 (78/100) |
Politics: Level 8 (98/100) |
Sense Motive: Level 5 (72/100) |
Leadership: Level 9 (14/100) |
Skill Proficiencies |
|
Double Strike (III) |
Shield Bash |
Perin’s Blow |
Find Weakness (II) |
Mapping (II) |
Inventory (Adventurer Special) |
Personal Armor (I) |
Healing Aura (II) |
Flawless Dodge |
|
Spells |
|
Minor Healing (II) |
Healer’s Mark (II) |
Cleanse (Toxins) (I) |
Cleanse (Disease) (I) |
Healing: Medium Wounds (I) |
Treat: Minor Wounds |
Moderate Healing (I) |
|
Gifts |
|
Martyr’s Touch—The caster may heal oneself or others by touch and concentration, sacrificing a portion of his life to do so. Cost varies depending on the extent of the injuries healed. |
|
As for his new Healing Aura (II), the bump in regeneration and distance was nice, but it had not evolved to anything major. Not that he expected that, just yet. Still, it did mean that his presence in the guild hall continued to benefit one and all. Even when he was resting.
In fact, one of the most popular stories was a particular Healing Sage who had chosen to make his resting place on a remote island. So powerful was his Healing Aura that the nearby villages and the fish themselves had bloomed, creating a minor local boost in economy. Until, of course, decades later when he finally passed away.
Content with his choices, Daniel willed the status screen away and closed his eyes. Today had been a decent day. As his eyes drifted close, the ring of experience on his finger gleamed, playing memories of the day’s events through his sleeping mind, providing further reinforcement of the lessons he had learnt this day. And if his sleep was a little less than perfect, well, it was just another compromise he made to keep his Gift usable.