Chapter 7

Set Loose

Devon and Pella had finished sparring for the day, and Dario had told Janus that he was free to go. He decided to spend awhile resting on the bench.

Wish I had the mana to practice with my improved [Mana Manipulation]. I’ll probably have to wait until morning.

After spending another few minutes resting on the bench, Janus finally stood. He made his way back through the Backwash and into Crow Station.

“Hey kid!” someone shouted from behind Janus as he reached the station plaza.

Janus cracked his back and stretch, turning on his feet to look at the speaker. It was Fao, the gangster from the sub-train incident.

He was jogging towards Janus from across the plaza.

“Working hard, kid? You got some new levels.” Fao said as he approached.

“Yeah, something like that. I’ve been training with a new instructor since the rail line to Bear Station was taken out.” Janus said. He wasn’t sure if Dario would like him to spread his name around or not. So, Janus took the safe route.

“I’ve still got some work for you if you want it. What was your name again?” Fao asked.

“My name’s Janus.” Janus said. He couldn’t remember if he’d already told Fao on the sub-train or not. “You’re Fao, right?”

I guess I can’t blame him if he forgot. We were all focused on other things.

Fao beamed at him. His teeth were a blinding sheen of white. “You remembered. That’s good. I was waiting for your call, but you were busy, I guess.”

Janus had forgotten all about the phone number in his pack.

“Uh, yeah. I haven’t had a lot of time…” Janus said.

“Well, here,” Fao fished around in his pocket, presenting a card, “I got some real snazzy business cards made up for the Jacks. We’re trying to form a guild right now, but we’re missing something. I thought the business cards might help out.”

Janus grabbed the small, rectangular piece of paper. On the front was a printing of a playing card. The jack of spades. On the back was a number and some text. The text read, “Jacks Casino and Moving Services.”

“You guys run a casino?” Asked Janus.

“We do now.” Replied Fao. “Nobody is a hundred percent sure how to get the guild stuff to work. We’re throwing things at the wall and hopin’ something sticks.”

“I thought you guys were like, a gang.” Said Janus.

“Woah, now, we ain’t a gang. We’re a moving company. It says so right on the card.” Said Fao, his voice lowering after a moment. “We have to keep anything that’s under the table real quiet. The quacks running this station are cracking down hard.”

Janus stood there awkwardly. The thing he wanted most right now was a warm bed, and maybe some nice hot chocolate.

“Alright how about this, the next time we could use an enhancer I’ll send you a message. Just reply to us if you can make it. The pay is good.” Fao fished around in his pocket again and presented a second business card. A moment later, there was a pen in his other hand.

Janus reluctantly grabbed the pen and card, writing his number on it. He handed the card back to Fao who accepted it with a smile.

“Good shit, k-, Uh, Janus.” Fao winked before turning around. He whistles a small tune as he walked away.

-

It relieved Janus to finally be home. However, his dad was nowhere to be found. Janus discovered the reason in a small letter left on his nightstand.

Janus, I have some contract work to do, repairing the rail line to bear station. It’s like I keep saying, “Skills are not a replacement for good engineering.” I’ll be doing long hours for the next month or so. There are some leftovers in the fridge.

Janus was used to the absence. The stations had a lot of demand for a proper engineer. Skills tended to provide people with shortcuts and so they neglected the fundamentals. At least that’s what Janus’ dad always had to say.

-

Janus woke in a cold sweat. Visions of giant spiders had wrested him from his sleep. He had gone to bed early the day before, and it was still dark out.

He viewed his status and saw that his mana had regenerated over night while he slept. It was a vast improvement. It would have taken much longer before his wisdom stat had gotten so high.

Janus spent the next few hours creating bright and brighter flashes of light with [Mana Manipulation]. It was much easier than the day before when his level was lower.

I should give the kinetic thing a try. Dario told me to condense as much mana as I could and move it into something.

Janus took a piece of paper and folded it down the middle at a 90-degree angle. He set the paper down on his nightstand and formed a ball of mana near it. After about a minute of gathering mana, he pushed the ball to the paper. In response, the ball of mana slowly pushed the paper across his nightstand.

Now this could be useful. With more levels, I could even use this to attack from a distance. Devon can’t use his experience close up if he never gets close up.

The runes outside were just beginning to glow faintly when Janus had a real breakthrough creating a flash of light. It was the practice of compressing mana when moving the paper around that finally made something click.

It was almost like he was compressing mana into multiple points very close to one another. When he released the stored mana, the light exploded outward with an audible pop! The light was overpowering in the gloom, and Janus had to blink several times before he could see clearly again.

Janus was sure this new method could catch Devon off guard and spent the remainder of his morning perfecting it as much as he could.

He was blinking away the effects of another one of his flashes when his runescribe began to vibrate on the nightstand.

It was a message from Dario telling him to head over to the Delver’s Guild as soon as he could.

-

It was a lot earlier than the previous meetings Janus had with Dario, but the others were already there. They were standing near one of the sparring platforms.

As he approached, Dario waved a Delver’s Writ in the air.

“I got us a way better writ than last time. We’re gonna be cleaning out one of the newer tunnels. The digging usually attracts more nasties. That means more XP for you guys. I called you out early because the writ has a time limit.” Dario said enthusiastically.

“We’re all going this time?” Janus asked.

“Yeah, I want to see what you guys can do as a unit. If we encounter anything I deem safe for you to fight, I want to see you guys take it out on your own.” Dario said.

Devon’s face was expressionless, but Pella’s held a fierce grin.

“It’s about time.” She said. “I wanted to go along yesterday, anyway.”

Dario motioned for the trio to follow him and headed into the Delver’s Guild. He continued through and out a door on the other side. The cavern wall on this side of the Delver’s Guild had many more tunnels dug into it. The Guild had even carved staircases to an upper level where Janus could see even more sealed entrances.

It was up one of these staircases that Dario headed, and the others followed. This time, there was nobody standing outside of the entrance, and Dario simply pressed on a few of the runes etched into the entrance.

It slowly swung open. This tunnel was significantly different than the last. Metal braces had been placed every ten meters or so, and at the top of those braces were [Torchstones]. The entire tunnel appeared to be lit up.

“Don’t let this tunnel fool you. As monsters interfere with the construction, it can get a lot crazier up ahead.” Dario said.

-

The group had been walking for around 30 minutes and Janus was preparing for another hike like the day before. However, Dario suddenly stopped.

“We’ve got something nearby. I think I’ll be handling this one. If you’ve got a skill you can level safely, give it a try. Otherwise, stay back.” Dario whispered.

Suddenly the ground began to shake. Cracks began to form in the tunnel wall up ahead and the metal bracing bent forward.

Crashing through the tunnel was a giant mole with massive claws. Beady eyes turned towards the group and stared.

Janus identified the creature.

[Giant Mole - Level 56]

Nobody moved, including the mole, until a fiery ring appeared around Dario. Janus took this as his cue and began using his abilities. The mana was flowing more easily than it had before and Dario’s arm began to shed an intense blue light.

The mole squealed and began barreling towards Dario. Its body nearly covered the entire tunnel from floor to ceiling.

Flamed crawled up Dario’s arm, obscuring the blue glow from earlier. Dario burst into motion, the circle of flames traveling with him. As the flames touched the mole, it caught fire. It squeal turned into a screech as the flames burned at its fur.

The screech abruptly stopped as Dario closed with the creature, his fist striking the moles nose. An inferno erupted outward from Dario’s fist.

[Your party has defeated a dangerous enemy: Giant Mole]

[You have gained a level]

[Your Strength Enhancement skill has gained 1 level]

[Your Mana Manipulation skill has gained 1 level]

As the flames subsided, Janus could see the smoldering corpse of the giant mole.

“That’s gonna get in the way.” Dario said. He pushed the corpse forward and then shoved it again into the hole it had made. “That’ll do.”

Janus was used to seeing this after his adventure with Dario yesterday, but the others were staring straight ahead. Even Devon looked a bit shaken from the strength that Dario had just demonstrated. Janus hadn’t noticed earlier, but Pella was holding a small throwing knife.

I guess she was doing her best to level something, too. I wonder if Devon even got anything from this. It was less XP than I expected from a level 56. It must be because there are so many of us now.

Dario stood still for a moment, the flames dying out around him.

“We should be good to go again.” He said and continued forward past the corpse.

-

Dario defeated a few more monsters that made their way into the tunnel. Unfortunately, Janus had only gained a single level from all of them combined.

At one point, the tunnel opened into a small cavern. The group climbed down onto the cavern floor. The tunnel continued onward, but it was up ahead on the other side of the cavern.

A few steps into the open space, and Dario motioned for the group to stop moving.

“You guys might be up for this one. Battle plan should be simple enough. Let Devon fight up close. Janus, you can support him the same way you’ve been supporting me. Pella will step in close to take some pressure off of Devon if needed.” Dario said. “I’m not a healer, but I do have some items that can get you back on your feet.”

Dario turned around and walked past the others. The trio were now facing the unexplored end of the tunnel.

Janus heard a skittering noise. It was familiar after facing the [Giant Web Spinners] from the day before. From the tunnel opening on the other side of the cavern, burst a massive spider.

Devon was already in the front, his sword out. The spider landed on him, pushing him back. Janus immediately began compressing mana into Devon’s sword and cast [Str. Enhancement] on him.

He spotted Pella off to the side. She was no longer using a wooden training sword, instead brandishing a wicked looking short sword. In her other hand was a throwing knife.

Devon had managed to push the spider off of himself and remain standing on his feet. The spider crouched back on its legs, looking for an opening.

Janus took the chance to identify it.

[Giant Web Spinner - Level 31]

Janus knew they should be fine as long as Dario was there, but this was going to be a challenge.

Devon broke the stalemate by moving first.