B3 C42: Mining and Mithridatism

AN: Reminder that I'm on admin week as of now (August 3rd) so I can handle my oncall at work! No chaps for Monday and Thursday, and then we're back right after that.

~~~~~~~

Eight days, in my opinion, was not much to prepare for a friend’s birthday. Unfortunately, I had no leg to stand on in this case seeing as I’d given my friends a zero-day warning for mine. I could at least be thankful that Alara wasn’t following suit.

Actually, it would have been nice to know a full month in advance. As it stood, it looked like I’d be a little late to my meeting with the king of Ftheran -- my settlement’s Diplomatic Visit was set to recharge the day after her birthday. I thanked my past self for telling the guard that I’d be visiting in a “month-ish” rather than a perfect month. I’d celebrate Alara’s birthday, run the dungeon, and then visit the king over the following weekend.

Meetings with royalty aside, Alara’s birthday still left me with two new action items: First, cooking. Just as had been true for my own birthday, it was customary for each guest to bring something to improve the party. In this, my task was rather easy -- Alara had pulled me aside and informed me that I was to re-make one of the dishes I’d cooked for my dinner party.

I had to admit, it gave me a sort of warm fuzzy feeling that she’d enjoyed it so much to ask for it again.

Second, gift giving. In Sylum, birthdays were not traditionally a gift-giving holiday, but traditions be damned, it just felt wrong not to get something for her.

Except, what could I possibly give Alara that she doesn’t already have? Given that she was already spoiled by one of the ten most important figures in the city, I figured there was little I could buy for her that she wouldn’t already have if she’d truly wanted it.

Something more personal, then? I could try making something for her. Unless she was looking for a poorly built house or an acceptable-looking chair, though, I was pretty limited when it came to making things. All I had was my Woodcarving and Jewelry Making.

The latter, I crossed out immediately. Not once had I ever seen Alara wearing any jewelry. More than that, if I understood her class correctly, any wearable item would need to be mundane. If I used the mana-enriched wood or made something that gave her stats, her body’s resistance to magic would slowly break down the enchantments.

So, carving it is? That actually felt right, I thought. I was hardly some grandmaster carver, but between my dabbling, my recent experience in my wood class, and the bonuses I got from Gloves of the Arcanist, I was certain I could make something gift-worthy.

Except, what do I carve? An animal figurine? Felt a bit impersonal, but it was an option. Maybe a carving of Alara herself? Or would that be weird? I tried to think what Alara would actually be excited to receive, and then just like that, it all clicked into place.

Nice. I think I know what to make.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whereas some weeks passed with little to speak of, some weeks were packed with months’ worth of experience. The following week was one of the latter.

Not by random chance, either: Classes were starting to peter down, with all of them getting to the point where I was getting to see the fruits of my labor. In between nights full of carving and cooking, my skills, at last, advanced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clank. Clank. Clank. Just as it had a thousand times before and just as it would a thousand times more, the head of my pickaxe slammed into the wall before me, rock cracking and crumbling as it fell to the earth. The sound of my own efforts joined the chorus of the other steady clanks as dozens of my classmates worked alongside me.

Presently, I wasn’t even at an ore vein, instead just mindlessly hacking forth to excavate a tunnel. Given how routine the action was, it was a pleasant surprise when the notification I’d been waiting for finally came.

Mining has reached level 10!

It was a long time coming, the distance between level nine and ten always feeling so much larger than any of the levels before it. And of course, that wasn’t where the notification ended.

Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate rank in Mining.

Based on your actions, you have been granted an augment for your skill.

Augment of the Ambitious

Reduces all penalties you receive for mining ore above your skill level.

It was one of the nicer augments I’d received by my estimation, and unlike a lot of my recent augments, I hadn’t expected it. There had been too many entries for possible augments in the library’s skill compendium, and I hadn’t been sure how “mined the body of a defeated dungeon boss” would factor in.

Accidentally, I’d stopped mining for a second while reading my notifications. It wasn’t a punishable offense or anything -- breaks were more than allowed -- but the action didn’t go unnoticed either.

“Gem girl!” Merve shouted out, using her most recent moniker for me. I’d thankfully gotten a few upgrades over the semester, much preferring “gem girl” to “fancy,” “rich girl,” and “commons kid.” As the names changed, so had my relationship with Merve, the instructor coming off as less and less abrasive each time we talked.

Of course, I still couldn’t figure out if that was due to my strong work ethic and tireless mining or if she just appreciated the gems my Miner’s Mitts occasionally dug up, but such was life.

“You find something, or what’s the hold up? Don’t tell me you got tired, did you? You have more Endurance than half these kids put together.”

An exaggeration, but it did often feel that way. Nothing highlighted the power of Endurance more than long bouts of hard labor next to those who lacked it.

I shrugged. “Finally ranked up. Just reading the notifications.”

My words were met with a good deal of envious looks which I failed to anticipate. Still, it was only to be expected. I’d started the class with five levels under my belt already, and that wasn’t even counting the skill leveling speed bonuses I had from my gloves. The others had a while to go before they’d hit the Initiate rank.

“Huh, would have thought it would take you longer. Guess you really had used that pickaxe before. Get anything good? Something related to those gems you mine up, maybe?”

I couldn’t tell if the lilt to her voice was that of normal curiosity or hopefulness. If the latter, I’d sadly have to dash her hopes. “Nah, got something that reduces penalties for mining ores above my level.”

Merve whistled, long and low. “Hells kid, you want to share where you were working before this? And do they need any new miners? You must have been mining some seriously good stuff to get an augment like that.”

I was about to reflexively deflect as I tended to do whenever things related to my settlement.

But then I stopped myself.

Did I need any new miners?

While I couldn’t use any settlement points unless I was back in Emer’Thalis, I could still view my settlement interface. I did so now, reviewing the most recent dungeon perk options we’d unlocked.

Resource Run I

For a single run, empties the dungeon of traps, enemies, and most secrets. All dungeon-related resources will appear more frequently during this run.

Designated Gatherer I

Allows a party to designate one member as the designated gatherer. This party member is not considered a combatant and will not count against the party’s number when determining experience or rewards. The designated gatherer has all of their skills locked save for their professional skills and is unable to aid in combat in any way. Additionally, the designated gatherer is protected from most forms of harm.

I hadn’t thought much about them all the way back then, but now that we had a trading post in play…

A team of miners would actually be perfect, wouldn’t it? Right now the only ore anyone’s collected is from amateur miners, and there probably isn’t a lot of it. If we actually wanted it to be one of our main exports…

I wasn’t entirely sure how hiring miners from Sylum would work or how many we’d need. Luckily, though, I knew someone who would.

“Actually, if you’re serious about that, I could probably have Thompson reach out to you.” I was confident he’d know exactly what to do in a situation like this.

“Eh? Thompson?”

“Yeah, Chamberlain Thompson. He’d be the one to talk to for something like that.”

Merve proceeded to practically hack up a lung before I could even finish my sentence. “That Thompson? Girl, for the love of all the gods, please do not have that man reach out to me directly. You think I’m built to talk to the city’s head chamberlain? I’ll probably say something crass and get my ass chopped off.”

Head chamberlain? As important as I’d guessed he was, I hadn’t realized the guy was known by name like that. A little frightening, actually, but what I’m getting out of this is that I really need to figure out a good way to say thank you to Verin. I’d make it a priority after Alara’s birthday.

Still, regardless of Merve’s reaction, I was sure Thompson could figure it all out. I made a mental note to call him later in the day, and hopefully we could get some sort of Emer’Thalis mining operation off the ground.

~~~~~~

Seated cross-legged on a comfy pillow, I warily eyed the tiny vial in my hands. At times like these, I was extra glad that I had access to an identification skill. Had I not, then the liquid inside would have seemed no different from standard water. With it, however…

Basilisk’s Brew

When consumed, deals 20 damage per second for 30 seconds.

Petrifies imbiber for 10 seconds

Then again, it wasn’t like my identification skill was going to save me from the poison’s effects. That was, after all, the opposite of the point.

“All right. Down the hatch.” I uncorked the small vial and knocked it back, the basilisk’s brew quickly coating the back of my throat. One swallow, and it was done.

You are poisoned!

You are petrified!

My body stiffened until I was completely rigid, feeling like a statue trapped in a meditative pose. At the very least, I’d swallowed the poison in a comfortable position, though that didn’t make the experience comfortable per se. Still, ten seconds was only ten seconds.

With Warram still mysteriously absent, I’d leaned much more heavily into my Poison Resistance. I still trained the others to a lesser extent, but Poison Resistance was the only skill where I had an incentive to train it up by myself. Which, speaking of-

Your quest status has been updated.

Mithridatism I

Dose yourself with at least 3 different types of poison of Rare or greater rarity: Complete!

Dose yourself with at least 3 different types of poison that confer non-damaging status effects: Complete!

Those two had been particularly annoying to finish given that everything had to go through Lenda. Apparently you could not just go shopping for Rare poisons whenever you wanted to. More than that, Lenda sat in the front of the room, double checking that I was swallowing the entirety of whatever she gave me. A 600-health poison was no laughing matter for most people.

For me, though, it was exactly what I was after. The poison struck at my body, shaving away at my health.

Your quest status has been updated.

Mithridatism I

Take 10,000 accumulated damage from self-inflicted poison: 9711/10000

Take 10,000 accumulated damage from self-inflicted poison: 9739/10000

Take 10,000 accumulated damage from self-inflicted poison: 9757/10000

…

Steadily, the number ticked upwards, not doing quite as much damage as advertised thanks to my existing resistance. I made a note to thank Lenda for her poison choice, as despite the high damage, the pain wasn’t too bad.

Of course, that didn’t mean I was enjoying myself. Despite my best attempt to think happy thoughts, I could feel it as another dark cloud formed in my mindscape. Being petrified while your health plummeted downwards was, sadly, a little bit traumatic no matter how you spun it.

The cloud sank into the door to my Dungeon of Tragedies, this time not even bothering to wait for the door to open. It surged through the glowing purple cracks, and if only fractionally, I could sense as they widened in response.

Yeah… I guess I’m lucky this class is almost over. Definitely grabbing a therapist once the semester is done. Hell, maybe I’ll even take a semester off if Suds lets me. I still had some time left before I really had to worry, I thought, but for once, this seemed like the kind of issue that I shouldn’t just ignore until it went away.

But that was for later! For now, I had something much more enjoyable to think about.

…9919/10000

…9937/10000

By now, the petrification had already worn off, and I stretched some feeling back into my limbs as I healed myself a few times in rapid succession. Lenda had healers and healing tools on hand, but given my health pool, I was fine handling 600 damage on my own.

Unexpectedly, said healing spells netted me another skill level before I could complete my quest.

Life Magic has reached level 17!

Nice. A little on the low side given that I’d hit 20 in Dark Magic a full month ago by now, but life magic was one of my lesser used spell schools. In comparison, fire was already at 19, and both light and dark were close behind it courtesy of how often I used their Initiate spells.

I’d have to find some time to grind out the last few levels soon, but once again, that was an issue for later.

…9955/10000

…9973/10000

…9991/10000

And then, with one last tick-

Quest Completed: Mithridatism I

+750xp

+10% reduction to the duration and severity of all secondary poison effects

+5 levels to Poison Resistance

It was a blissful notification to receive, partly due to the rewards, but more so from the fact that I could stop poisoning myself now. Of course, I could keep poisoning myself if I wanted to -- despite not receiving a notification for it, I assumed that if there was a Mithridatism I quest, then there was a Mithridatism II quest as well -- but this felt like a good place to stop for now.

While the second quest wasn’t offered to me, that didn’t mean I was done with my notifications. Two more awaited me.

Poison Resistance has reached level 14!

And with the five level jump, the augment immediately followed.

Congratulations! You have reached the Initiate rank in Poison Resistance.

Based on your skill usage, you have been granted an augment.

Augment of Mithridatism

Greatly reduces the effects of all poisons which you have personally dosed yourself with. Exact effects scale with poison rarity and how often you’ve poisoned yourself with the poison in question.

Despite already knowing what augment I’d get from the skill compendium, I eyed it with a frown.

I’ll make sure to use that one… later. It seemed that the system was hellbent on me continuing to poison myself.

Well, there was nothing for it. At least not all of the skills I’d been training up this semester were so masochistic. Some of them, in fact, were rather pleasant.

~~~~~~~~~

“Hah! Almost done!” Bedecked in dozens of wooden trinkets, my portly professor pronounced the impending end of our project. It had all taken a shockingly small amount of time, but then again, we weren’t building a spatial trading post or even a Rare bath house. Basic buildings were just that: basic.

Gathering all of his students into one giant huddle, he activated some sort of class skill, the building before us seeming to become more in some undefinable way. “Aaaand… there!”

Congratulations! You have completed building a Basic Orphanage!

It wasn’t the thrill of fighting down a giant dungeon boss or the rush from finishing a hellish class trial, but this too was nice.