Wild Era, Ch 16: First Dungeon

Kelin spent a little longer getting the dungeon information from Sandren, and then he did as he had promised and let her register the basics of his inheritance, which really just meant entering it as information on his guild record.

He only included his current classes, as well as the basic abilities that he'd used during the combat assessment, but he didn't include anything about Soul Arrow, Soul Star, or Wildfire, nor any of his more complex abilities that relied on pure mana manipulation and rune structures.

Instead, he briefly outlined the development of Soulfire Warden with its description from the Path, its focus on defense, healing, and combat, as well as its beneficial soul aspects and signature ability.

That was enough to show anyone looking a more defensive and healing path than he'd followed in his last life, and one that was more acceptable than the pure destruction he'd been known for, so it was a bit of misdirection.

He summoned the Seal of Silver Stars and made an oath that he had inherited the Soulfire abilities from his bloodline, which the Path approved with a bright silver flash.

Sandren smiled at that and then she used the guild's authority to request that the Path register his class as an inheritance with a sealed record, for the sake of his privacy and protection.

The guild had a deeper connection to the Path than he did currently, which was what allowed them to manage their members and register missions. As a captain, Sandren shared some of that authority while carrying out her duties.

He accepted the notification from the Path, and then the matter was done as a note appeared on his guild record.

Kelin of Highmist.

Class: Soulfire Warden-Arcane Artisan.

Level 33.

Alliance Rank: High Bronze.

Army Rank: Corporal.

Inheritance: Soul Affinity.

He inherited a Soul Affinity from his bloodline that led to the Soulfire Warden class, which focuses on defensive and healing aspects of the soul.

Signature Ability: Soulfire Sigil. A healing and recovery-based rune form that can be inscribed in the local area.

Other Known Abilities: Earth Elemental Soul Bond that allows for Earth Affinity, Earth Manipulation, Stoneskin.

Sealed Record: Evolutionary Paths, Core Abilities, Class Developments.

All of it was true, but it didn't reveal anything more than the assessment had.

It would work well enough.

Inheritances were rare, but not so rare as to draw excessive attention. There were all sorts of them, usually created by people at the Sixth Evolution who infused their Truth into their bloodlines.

It was something that was close to the Seventh Evolution, made with the intent to endure forever.

A Soul affinity that was passed down with an inheritance about soul magic was natural enough.

When everything was complete, he bid Sandren farewell.

She would send his record up the chain, which would allow him to eventually ascend to greater heights in the guild and in the Path's authority, so it would work out well enough.

Then he went to check on Yao and Naomi.

Their new room had a pleasant atmosphere with polished wooden floors and stone walls, a central room, and two attached bedrooms. Double arched windows overlooked the interior courtyards and let in a good amount of light, giving the room a cheery feel.

It was leagues different from the dingy inn where they’d been before.

The main room had a polished wooden table near a set of chairs and a couch, as well as a small area for cooking with an enchanted stone plate set into the base of the fireplace, one that had no need for wood. There were also mana lights embedded around the ceiling for lights, which could be turned on with a touch. 

The fireplace’s enchantment ran on the user’s mana and was capable of both heating the room and cooking. There weren’t any pots or other cooking tools, but they could request them from Jesra if they wanted to give it a try. 

He was sure she would help them out.

The two bedrooms were simpler, with just a feather bed and a side table, but they had their own lights and heating plates in a more basic arrangement.

“You’ll be safe here,” he told them after he was satisfied with the room. “Keep your heads down and stay inside the guild for a few weeks. I’ll let you know when things cool off.”

He pulled out twenty silvers and set them on the table in a neat stack, which left him with just four on hand.

“Use this for any expenses here,” he said as he pointed at it. “Extra meals, materials, anything not covered by the rent. You can deposit it with the guild as a bank so you don’t have to carry it around. 

“I should be back within two weeks, but if I’m not, ask Jesra to charge the room to my account. They should let you. I’ll cover it when I get back.”

“Where are you heading?” Jao asked hesitantly. “I was hoping you would start teaching us magic.”

“The instructions I left in the stone are the same as I would tell you in person,” Kelin said reassuringly. “It’s a simple process to start and daily practice is the main thing. I’ve already explained the breathing and visualization exercises you need to start moving your mana, so for now you don’t need me to personally oversee it. Just make sure to follow what I wrote. The trainers here will be able to assist you if there’s anything I didn’t clarify well enough.” 

Perhaps it was a little rough to leave them like this, but he was giving them everything they needed to thrive. 

Hopefully, having to train on their own and make smaller life decisions for themselves would be good for them, building up their confidence and character.

The trainers here would help to show them what was out there and the more people they met, the better they would understand the powers of the world. They would also get more of a perspective on life.

The last thing he wanted was to have them grow up following him around and never think for themselves. None of them would like that.

“I’ll be in one or more of the local dungeons, working on my strength,” he said. “The most important reason is power. If I were Level 150, like the Wind Hunter boss, or even better as high as Captain Sandren in the 200s, do you think that gang would have dared to try anything while I was protecting you?”

He looked between the two of them, his tone turning serious.

“Not a chance. They would have hidden with their tails between their legs, afraid of what would happen if they tried. That’s why we’re in the guild now, because the guild has that sort of power, even more than you know. This is only one of the smaller guild branches on this world.

“That is the truth of things. If you want to be safe, have power. It won’t work for everything, but at least the basic problems get easier to handle. That’s why I expect you to train hard while I’m gone. You have to be able to handle yourselves and not get pushed around by every back-alley thug in Highmist.”

“We’ll train hard,” Naomi said adamantly. “I’m not going to get beaten up again or killed if I can stop it.”

“We won’t slack off,” Yao said, echoing her words as he curled his fists, both of which were working again. “I just hope we get our classes soon and can train with you for real, killing monsters and being a part of the guild. This place looks amazing.”

“It’s enormous,” Naomi agreed. “There’s so much power here, and that captain is so impressive.”

“You can be as strong as her,” Kelin told her, smiling slightly, “or even stronger one day if you work hard. So follow my plan for you and learn from the people here. The guild’s resources are the best in the city, especially when it comes to a broad perspective.”

He spent a little longer reassuring them and explaining some of the guild’s best training features for those who didn’t have classes yet, walking them through what to do.

“Mana circulation training is key if you want to be mages,” he said. “Focus 70% of your time on that, and 30% on everything else. I’ll let you know when to change.”

Ideally, he would have stayed to walk them through the process more, but mana cycling was extremely simple. 

As long as they were trying to make it work, it would work.

It was the process of repeating that cycling constantly hour by hour, and day by day, until it became a natural part of life that created the foundation for controlled magic. Your meridians needed to be accustomed to the flow of energy, since they were the rivers and streams that directed it.

They could practice the exact same thing for the next year and it would still be helpful, as well as for decades after that. Mana cycling was the basis for Meditation, and with this training, they should unlock the skill as soon as they got a class. 

“Yes...sir?” Yao said, his tone turning into a question on the word. “If we’re going to be your apprentices, should we call you teacher, or master, or something else?”

He looked confused and hopeful at the same time.

“Just Kelin for now,” he said seriously. “Wait until I have a couple Evolutions on you before you start doing something like that. When it comes naturally, you can say it, and not before. If you still have doubts, then it’s not time yet.”

With that, he gave them a few last admonishments.

“Now, I need to head out, so make sure to listen to the captain and Jesra while I’m gone. They’ll steer you in the right direction. If you need something, don’t hesitate to ask for it. Finally, remember that you’re my wards here, so what you do will reflect on me.”

With that, he gave them both a pat on the shoulders and left them to adjust to their new surroundings.

Then he headed for the guild shops.

He’d already updated his notes with the new information and he had a dungeon in mind, but he needed a few supplies before he headed off to it, like food that wasn't leftover braggan meat.

Maybe some salt and a few flasks of water and wine. And rope. 

Can’t forget the rope. 

The thought made him chuckle, since it was an old adventurer joke that you could never have too much rope, even when you knew levitation spells.

Fortunately, basic traveling food and a better backpack were fairly cheap, as were a new oiled cloak, some pouches to store monster cores, and other small things. 

He ended up having to trade in a handful of his remaining monster cores to cover it, which he would have preferred to save for crafting, but he expected to get more soon. 

He could always trade a higher level core from his dungeon dives for a handful of lower ones, if those worked better for his crafting level.

After he was stocked up, he looked through the enchanted gear in the guild shops, but there was nothing he could afford with his current funds.

It wasn’t that important. 

Even if he did buy some things, he would probably outlevel them quickly and it would be a waste, but it was interesting to see what was available. 

The styles were a little different, but the quality was similar to the basic guild items in his past life, which suggested not too much had changed.

The most useful items would be for spatial storage, but they were even more out of his price range. 

A spatial bag with three cubic feet of storage, like his spatial pocket, was 50 gold, while one with ten cubic feet of storage was around 400 gold. The larger one was a better deal for the space, but even the smaller one was vastly out of his budget range.

He checked on spatial crystals too, but they were in high demand by enchanters and dimensional mages. Even the cheapest was over 100 gold. 

Since neither of those avenues was going to pan out right now, he rented a dimensional storage chest instead and left almost all of the materials from his spatial pocket inside.

It was a common thing for the adventurers to store their stuff at the guild, and the storage chest was only a silver a week to rent. 

Once he had more money, he’d either get some spatial crystals to expand his personal storage or he’d buy a decent spatial item. 

Maybe both, so the bag acted as a distraction.

The chest ended up filled with braggan hides and all but three of his remaining cores, which he kept as spending money.

He put all of the mana crystals from the mine in there as well, since they would be safe enough. He still hadn’t figured out the best place to sell those, but they should be worth some gold once he did. 

If he didn’t come back, the guild could cash them in for the kids.

He filled the empty space in his storage with the new supplies, as well as the backpack for now, and then he stopped by the front desk to tell Jesra where he was heading.

“The Shieldrun Forest dungeon?” she asked, looking surprised. 

“That’s one of the hardest at Level 40. It has the highest monster count and mana density of any in that range. Usually, only the best parties try it, and they often go in over level so they don’t get overwhelmed by the swarms. That’s one of the reasons we don’t tell the public about it. Usually, we have to post a mission for a team to clear it and keep it under control.”

“Do you have one of those missions now?” he asked. “If so, I’ll take it.”

“You are High Bronze ranked, so I can make you one,” Jesra replied slowly. “It’s been a few months since anyone went there, so it’s about time, but are you sure about this?”

“It will work well for my type of magic,” he replied calmly. “If I’m not back in two weeks, please look after the kids for me if you can and let them charge my account for their rent. There are some materials in my storage chest that you can take as payment until it runs out, and I’ll cover anything else. You’ll know if I’m still alive and good for it.”

He tapped his badge, which was still visible on his chest. It was how a lot of adventurers wore it, either as a mark of pride or for the status it brought.

“Of course,” she said. “We can also extend you a limited line of credit attached to your badge, but it will max at five gold as a corporal. There’s no interest as long as you are actively working for the guild and taking missions.”

“That’s fine,” he agreed, feeling relieved. That would help in case his trip took longer than he thought, without anyone digging into the storage chest. Jesra arranged everything for him and then got to work creating the mission. When it was ready, she tapped his badge against the runestone and passed it back to him.

“All set,” she said.

Kelin put the badge back on and checked it. The Path helped to oversee all the missions issued from the guild, as well as the badges, so as soon as he touched it, a notification jumped into his mind.

You have accepted a Mission from the Stars Alliance.

Mission: Clear the Shieldrun Forest Chaos Remnant. 

Level Range: 40-50.

Notes: This is a natural Chaos Remnant formed from local mana flows and dense elemental essence. Due to the high monster density, a team is recommended.

Requirement: Kill 90% or more of the monsters inside.

Additional Bonus: 100% completion and kill the final boss.

Possible Rewards: Experience, Wealth, Common to Uncommon-grade Items, Alliance Credit.

It was a simple mission with everything he needed to know contained in it, including a map to the dungeon. The mission wasn’t really in his badge, but in the Path. The badge was just  a marker that let the guild transfer it to him easily.

He’d heard once that before the Wild Era, the Path hadn’t done this type of thing for people and bounty guilds had needed to give people actual slips of paper. 

It sounded inefficient.

He confirmed the mission was what he expected and then he thanked Jesra before he headed out of the guild.

Then he cut through the city and headed out of the south gate. 

The Shieldrun River was about thirty miles south of the city, and the forest was on the other side. He’d have to take one of the ferries to get there, but before that, he had a bit of a walk ahead of him.

As he left the city, it was barely mid-morning. All the activity at the inn and moving to the guild had only taken a few hours. 

He felt a sense of lightness as he walked. He was finally free to focus on his leveling again, something that he had always loved.

Since there was a lot of distance to travel, he quickened his pace and settled into a steady jog. His body was still malnourished, but his better diet over the past few days was beginning to restore it. It would take some months, but he would fix that. Pushing himself was the best way to accelerate it.

About three hours later, he reached the river and the ferry dock. It was a wide river and about half a mile across here, which was why the ferry was important. 

It was slightly after noon, but he was in luck that the ferry had just come in, so he paid half a silver and waited for it to depart again. There were some other adventurers and merchants on the boat, mostly under Level 100, but he only glanced at them and then looked out at the river.

The Shieldrun was a gorgeous stretch of tumbling water that shone blue and silver in the sun. In a certain light, usually around dawn, it looked like a long path of shining metal, which was where it had got its name. 

Historians were divided over whether humans or dwarves had named it, but Kelin figured it had been the dwarves. They had a habit of that sort of name. 

The dwarves had always gotten along with humans and there were some clans scattered throughout the Celadon States, including in Highmist, although he had only seen them around the markets and crafting districts.

Once he was on the other side, he aligned himself with the dungeon entrance and set off at a jog again. The meadows near the river swiftly turned into forest as he moved along the road. He could follow it for a good way before cutting into the forest directly.

Jesra had been worried about him facing the monsters in the mine, but with his soul magic and Gaius, he wasn’t too concerned. 

The highest monster there should be in the mid 50s, maybe 60 for the final boss.

A twenty-level difference for a human was about 180 attribute points. If they were in Strength, someone would hit harder and be more durable, which gave them a great advantage, and more of one the higher it went.

That difference was difficult to overcome unless you had higher tier abilities than your enemy.

Monsters were a bit stronger than humans at the same level and they had powerful innate elemental abilities. Higher level ones were troublesome to kill, like the hydra had been, but he didn’t expect that level of difficulty from this dungeon.

It should be a good training ground. 

He needed to work on his abilities in everything from regular Fire spells to Soulfire, elemental wards, mana shields, and more. He’d have to have Gaius help him corral some of the monsters to create the best scenarios for that.

If it got dangerous, he’d fall back on Wildfire or Soul Star. Those two spells should take care of the problem unless his enemy was over Level 80. 

A higher level generally meant a sturdier soul that was harder to ignite.

He followed the road for a good hour until it was early afternoon. There were a few merchants and other people moving along it, but they minded their own business, the same as he did. 

A few were riding horses or other beasts and outpaced him, and there were even some magical carriages that levitated above the road. Those moved at a quick rate, almost twice his own jogging speed. 

The nature of spatial storage and monsters that could attack parties meant there were few large caravans in the Celadon States. 

Most merchants had a few high-level guards and traveled quickly, moving from secure camp to secure camp, with all of their goods safely tucked away on their person. It enabled them to quickly take advantage of price differences between cities and to move as much as they could carry.

Caravans were for merchants who dealt in bulk goods, especially things that didn’t go well into spatial storage or that weren’t worth it, including grain shipments, firewood, common ores, and more.

With the varied speeds of the groups and the sparsity of travelers, it was easy to find an open space that suited his purposes. When he came onto a location near where he needed to turn, he ducked off the road and into the forest.

The dungeon wasn’t strictly secret, but at the same time he didn’t feel like leading anyone curious there. It would be best if he had the entire thing to himself.

The forest was mostly towering blue oaks and silver maples. They drew on the ambient mana to grow taller and sturdier than more common trees, reaching heights of two hundred feet and more, which made it feel like he was running through a vast palace of greenery.

It took him another hour of cutting through the trees, but then he found it.

A massive and gnarled blue oak grew out of the ground at the center of a glade, surrounded by monoliths of broken stone that made a circle around it. Its roots made a rippled hill around it, with some of them rising up from the earth like waves.

The tree’s trunk was forty feet wide and its roots were three times that as they dominated the center of the clearing. Its branches twisted outward like a crown, forming a gnarled canopy that stretched even farther and blocked light to any other plant that dared to enter its domain.

At the base of the tree, a gleam of silver light between the roots and stones marked the entrance to the dungeon. 

It would have been hard to spot unless he knew it was there, just a flash of starlight from the base of the tree.

There wasn’t anything in this area that would lure people to this one tree in the wilderness, except that it looked a bit interesting and the mana density was higher than usual, but if the dungeon wasn’t cleared from time to time, monsters might begin to appear from it and spread out into the surrounding area.

Those dungeon breaks could cause trouble in the area, but most dungeons were in remote locations, where wild mana and elemental essence gathered together for a long time. If things got out of hand, the Path would begin assigning missions to deal with the problem, sometimes including a dungeon’s complete destruction. 

That was equivalent to losing a great treasure, so it was in the locals’ interest to keep a dungeon under control and to manage it well.

As Kelin focused on the flash of light among the roots, the Path’s announcement appeared in his mind.

You have discovered the Shieldrun Forest Chaos Remnant.

Average Level: 48.

Elemental Affinities: Wood and Stone.

Mana Density: High.

Relative Danger: High.

Rewards: Variable (High).

The information was easy to sort through. The High description on the rewards meant the dungeon hadn’t been cleared in a while and the value of its contents had built up. Mana had soaked more deeply into the monsters and materials inside.

Any ores or mana crystals found here would be of a higher quality, the monsters would be stronger, and the rewards granted directly by the Path would be greater.

The relative danger was based on his level compared to the average in the dungeon. It was only natural that a Level 33 would be warned away from a dungeon at Level 48.

Still, the gap wasn’t as extreme as what he’d faced in the mine.

Kelin grinned as he stopped in front of the entrance. The silver light here was a screen of spatial energy, a mix of silver and black that looked like the starry sky.

It was about ten feet tall and six feet wide, a size that would continue to increase as the mana density built up. Nothing was visible on the other side. It was like looking into the depths of eternity.

It was such a familiar sight that a pang went through Kelin’s heart, making him long for the endless expanses of the stars. After a moment, he pushed it away, focusing on the present.

Excitement bubbled up as he stepped into the barrier. 

Starlight flowed around him like water as the world turned dark and bright at the same time.