– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 214, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 12 –

“Are there any medicinal plants growing in the Thundervalley?” asked Terry.

“Not strictly medicine,” replied Bjorln. “In the eastern section, there are some that are beneficial for mana cultivation, especially for emphasizing the air aspect. I would not recommend starting a plant collection in the southern section though. While there are some valuable herbs, many are extremely toxic and difficult to identify.”

The two were walking at the back with Jorgen and Florine in the front. The group of four had left Arcana City in the morning and had travelled north from one dimensional gate to the next. They had just passed the city of Barca and were closing in on the last hop on their route. Thundervalley was the main habitat of the cloud badger they were supposed to hunt.

“Have Ma and you ever done missions in the area?”

Before Bjorln could give a proper answer, Jorgen interrupted.

“Here we are.” They had arrived in front of the gate. Jorgen had a solemn look on his face. It was rare for him to stay that serious during missions.

Lori, too, talked less than usual. There seemed to be a mutual understanding that Jorgen would take charge in this mission.

“Let’s get going.” Jorgen stepped through the gate.

The others followed and everyone arrived in the southern section of Thundervalley.

“Good day, Bjorln.” “Greetings.”

Two Guardians from the gate’s protective outpost walked up to the group.

“Greetings, Leah. Greetings, Ben.”

Bjorln had to stop himself from asking any of his usual questions because that would interfere with the kids’ mission. The ebbing conversation was noticed by his two acquaintances.

“I take it this is not an introductory class?” asked Leah.

“No, I am only a silent observer for their first mana corrupted hunt.”

“Aww, are these your kids then?” exclaimed Leah happily. “My, it has been ages since I last saw you. Little Florine was barely reaching up to my knee the last time I met her.”

Florine cringed. Feeling the gazes of other hunters passing by, she was mortified. Florine had no problem doing her weirdo routine with Jorgen, but being doted on in public as if she was a baby made Florine’s blood rush to her face.

“Cloud badgers?” whispered Ben to Bjorln.

“Mhmh.”

“Heh, good choice.”

Ben turned to the others and recognized the growing impatience on the twins’ faces.

“Good luck on your mission! We don’t want to take up too much of your time. Healthy hunting!”

“Thanks.” “Thank you.” “See ya.”

***

Once they had left the outpost, Bjorln kept his distance from the three. After they had walked for another half hour, they reached the savanna reported as the cloud badger’s habitat.

Among their group, Terry was the person with the best mana sense and it naturally fell to him to look for the cloud badger’s mana track. It did not take long for them to discover a track to follow.

“Rutting season has not started yet,” said Jorg. “The badgers should still be solitary and we should only have to deal with a single one.” He nodded as if to reassure himself.

In the distance, they recognized a cloud badger strutting along the grasslands. All cloud badgers had albino appearances. In contrast to their non-magic counterparts, they were a bit smaller and had a thick felted pelt providing them with an additional layer of protection.

“I got the war hammer for smashing its head,” stated Jorg.

All three of them had rented some additional equipment from the Guardians. They had hunted non-magic honey badgers in the past and vividly remembered the annoying experience. The creature’s skin was very thick, which made them resistant against piercing or slashing attacks. To make it worse, the skin was very loose. Aside from making piercing even less effective, this looseness made it difficult to get a good grip on the creature.

“Everyone got their scent masks?”

They all took out the enchanted cloth to be wrapped across their mouth and nose.

“The thing is not supposed to be shy. It should not mind us getting close. We want to block its escape routes, but, if possible, we want to avoid making it feel completely trapped before we finish it off. Lets get over the plan. First, we get close enough for Lori’s casting range.”

“Then, I will prepare a Raise Wall spell on the other side of the cloud badger,” said Lori.

“I will get close and emit a Blinding Flash from my glove to its eyes,” continued Terry. “Then, I will activate the Barrier from the shield spear orthogonally to the earthen wall to block off one more route of escape.”

“I will dash forward to crush its head with the war hammer,” said Jorg.

“I will continue to prepare further Raise Wall spells and close off escape routes,” said Lori.

“Once the ground routes have been covered, I will keep an eye on the upwards route and be ready to use the spear’s Barrier there,” stated Terry.

Jorg nodded. “Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?”

***

The plan went well – for about five seconds.

Lori raised the earthen wall. Terry inflicted the cloud badger with flash blindness and activated the barrier of his spear. Jorg moved in as fast as he could and then things went sideways.

A moment before the war hammer made contact, the badger’s eyes started to emit a glow and its whole body became wrapped up in a sort of moving wind. This was the air coating ability on which the cloud badger relied for moving faster through the tall grass and bushes. Air coating did not offer much protection when hit, but it allowed the badger to slip out of the hammer’s way by a hair’s breadth.

In the next second, the creature secreted a vile liquid from its anal gland that produced a suffocating stench. The three could handle the smell thanks to their scent masks, but unexpectedly, the air even started to irritate Jorg’s eyes – he stood closest to the creature.

Lori finished her second Raise Wall activation. This left the badger surrounded by two earthen walls and one mana barrier. The only open path on the ground was through Jorg in the front.

The cloud badger was still disoriented. Instinctively, it showed its fangs and moved backwards with its tail raised up.

Their chance at making it quick had already vanished, but at least they succeeded in trapping the creature. Jorg prepared his war hammer for a second attempt.

Jorg moved closer. Just when the hindlegs of the cloud badger hit the first earthen wall, Jorg jumped forward. He was met with a loud hiss. A second later, Jorg was unable to keep his eyes open because they stung and burned terribly.

“What the—?”

Jorg was forced to retreat and jumped back. His eyes teared up and his vision grew blurry. “Waste-damned crapweasel!”

The cloud badger was still positioned against the earthen wall.

What was that? It should not have a medium or long range ability.

“Terry, move!” shouted Lori.

Terry jumped up on the first earthen wall.

Lori raised the third earthen wall where Terry had been before.

Their switch came not a moment too soon, because the badger crawled up the earthen wall using its claws and drawing assistance from the air coating. Terry blocked its path using the tower shield barrier provided by his mana-crafted short spear.

As soon as the cloud badger encountered another dead end, it dropped down onto the ground and used its short legs to run into Jorg’s direction.

“Jorg!” shouted Terry. He walked on top of the third earthen wall.

Lori grabbed her own short spear tightly and moved closer as well. In addition, she started to cast a Liquify Earth spell with her free hand.

Jorg’s eyesight had not completely recovered. Fortunately, his mana sense was still working. After being warned by Terry, he struck out with his war hammer to keep the badger at a distance and trapped between the earthen walls. If Jorg were to dodge, then the creature might escape.

The cloud badger with its air coating evaded the hammer head and snapped its teeth shut around the handle. It tried to yank the weapon from Jorg’s grip. However, Jorg was holding on tight.

A crackling sound could be heard and a lightning charge travelled from the cloud badger’s felted pelt to its teeth and then along the war hammer. It was not strong enough to cause significant damage, but it did cause Jorg’s hands to go numb.

Lori finished her Liquify Earth spell and the liquified ground beneath the badger gave way. The creature managed to avoid sinking into the ground thanks to its air coating, but it lost its grip and was therefore unable to use much force in their tug of war.

The cloud badger let go and retreated. Its eyes were fixed on Jorg who changed his grip on the war hammer and held it closer to the hammer’s head again.

“You okay?” asked Lori.

Terry was pricking up his ears for the answer and kept a close watch on the cloud badger.

“My eyes burn like hell and I can’t see very well, but aside from that, yeah.”

Lori nodded. Then, her gaze fell on Jorg’s hand and arm. Lori gasped and pointed.

Jorg was perplexed until he realized the state of his hand. His whole hand was covered in blisters as if he had held it into a fire. Jorg gulped when he realized that the numbing from the lightning discharge would not last forever.

“Was the lightning discharge that intense?” asked Lori.

“I thought not.”

“You should get that healed. I can cover for you.” Lori held out her hand for the war hammer.

“Makes sense.” Jorg passed her the hammer. As soon as Lori closed her fingers around the handle, she screamed and pulled her hand back.

Jorg was stupefied.

“Throw that thing away!” exclaimed Lori. Her hand was red and started to blister as well.

“What happened?” shouted Terry with worry. Lori’s scream came entirely unexpected.

“Some kind of acid or something on the war hammer.”

Acid? Cloud badgers should not be able to spit acid…

Terry felt something was off, but could not point his finger on it. Scratching noises woke him up from his thoughts.

“Waste it! The badger is trying to dig through the first wall!”

Jorg had started to cast the Cure Wounds spell on his hands and looked up.

“Don’t worry, we’ll handle it,” stated Lori. ”You get your hands sorted out first.” She shaped another Liquify Earth spell structure.

“What about your own hand?”

“Not even remotely as mangled as yours. Still usable.” Lori activated her spell and this slowed down the badgers digging.

“Is the war hammer damaged?” shouted Terry.

“Only some bitemarks, but still out of commission,” responded Lori.

“So much for the side mission,” muttered Jorg with a wry smile. “Should have known better than to bet against Ma.”

Jorg had finished his spell. However, barely a second after the wounds had closed, the hands started to blister again.

“Maybe it’s some kind of poison?” suggested Terry.

“Since when are cloud badgers venomous?” questioned Jorg.

“They’re not, but still.”

“Can’t hurt to try, can it?” remarked Lori. “If it does not work, we have lost half a minute, but if it does work, it may spare us multiple Cure Wounds spellworks.”

Jorg nodded and then shouted for Terry. “Did you bring the tertium slabs?”

“Yes, I have four of them in my storage.”

Lori looked at Jorg. “Earth press plan?”

“Can’t hurt to try, can it?”

Lori grinned. “Terry, let’s test the earth press.”

Lori looked at the badger and the damaged earthen wall. “We should replace the wall first though. Can you get that thing to step back for a bit?” Lori started to cast another Raise Earth spell.

Terry switched his short spear to the left hand and called a normal long spear intended for humans out of his storage. Then, he started thrusting it at the cloud badger below. It did not manage to pierce the badger’s pelt or thick skin, but it caught its attention. The cloud badger backed off from the wall and snapped at the spear.

“Move to one of the other walls!” commanded Lori.

Terry stepped to the second wall and continued to use his long spear to distract the badger while using the short spear to keep his balance on the wall. While the effects of the Liquify Earth spell had mostly vanished, the earth was still a bit slippery and this made it a lot easier to shove the cloud badger around.

“3…2…1… NOW!”

Lori finished her casting. It took longer than usual, because she had to avoid toppling or damaging the other two walls. A new wall was raised in front of the first wall that had been damaged by the creature’s digging.

“Your turn Terry!” yelled Lori.

“Hey, it worked!” exclaimed Jorg. “It really was some kind of poison!”

Terry put the long spear back in his storage and summoned a slab of tertium. Tertium was a common metal in Arcana and used for a lot of appliances. Aside from being light, the dull light-grey metal did not have any remarkable properties. Therefore, it was also very cheap. The slab was less than half an inch thick, but wide and long enough to be placed on the three earthen walls. Terry had purchased them with Lori’s usual wall length in mind.

“Tell me when you’re ready!” shouted Lori. She started to cast Raise Wall.

Terry started to cast Immovable Object while the cloud badger went back to its digging. Luckily, it went again for the first wall despite it being thicker than the others now. Apparently, it had a preference for the wall in the opposite direction of the two dwarves.

Jorg stepped in front of Lori with his own short spear that had been imprinted with the Barrier spell. This allowed Lori to free up her second hand, which she then used to prime and prepare an additional Raise Wall spell.

Terry activated Immovable Object on the tertium slab. “Ready!”

Lori took a moment to focus. She wanted to get the timing right so that there would be no gap for the creature to escape. Furthermore, she used the time to empower her spells with roughly a third more mana than usual.

After a deep breath, Lori ignited the first spell. Behind the creature, the earth started to rise. Half a breath later, Lori ignited the second spell. This time, the earth right underneath the creature rose up.

Two loud bangs followed after each other. Mixed in between were the pained squeals of the cloud badger.

Then, it was quiet.

Terry stepped onto the tertium slab and tapped it a few times with his foot where he thought the badger should be. There was no reaction.

“I believe that did it.”

“Leave the slab for now! Try and test the earth with your spear!” said Jorg before turning to Lori. “Let me fix up your hand.”

While Jorg was casting, Lori raised some shorter earthen walls so that Terry could use the long spear to probe the earth from the sides.

Terry probed the earth right beneath the slab in several places until he encountered some resistance – the cloud badger’s thick skin, presumably. While there was resistance, there was absolutely no movement.

“Seems dead.”

“Is dead,” came the voice from Bjorln. He had approached without being noticed by any of the three.

“Good job.”

“Hmph,” grunted Jorg. “I failed, though.”

“You only failed a side mission that you should have never accepted in the first place.”

“Ma knew I would fail.”

“Your ma knew that you could succeed in the main mission, but that it would present a challenge. Otherwise, she would not have picked it. You were cocky and being cocky frequently leads to being dead. We would prefer to avoid that. Better to learn that lesson early.

“Nevertheless, all of you are still in one piece. As far as first mana corrupted hunts go, your overall performance was above average. For the most part, you came out unscathed and despite your first failed attempt, you managed to finish it off comparatively quickly. Cloud badgers have a lot of stamina and hunting them can be exhausting without a proper finisher.

“In addition to the reward for the kill, you can earn some coins for the remains. The way you finished it, you may be lucky. At least, the skin should be in good condition. Cheer up, put the body in the dimensional body bag, and let us return home.”

“How come this cloud badger was venomous?” asked Jorg. He glanced at Terry.

“The cloud badger itself is not venomous,” replied Bjorln.

“The toxic plants?” guessed Terry.

Bjorln gave him a smile and nodded. “Next time you go on a mission, don’t just read up on the general information. Get a look at the recent after mission reports from other Guardians, too. Most missions are repeated tasks and it is very important to have recent information. It may cost extra points, but you break even if you write your own report afterwards.

“If you had looked into the most recent after mission reports, then you would have learned that the cloud badgers in the southern region have become increasingly poison resistant. In the past, that only extended to the snake venoms of their natural enemies. However, recently they have started to add the little apple of death to their diet as well. The sap of the local death apple flowering plant is extremely toxic to most folk. So much so, that standing beneath the tree during rain is enough to cause blistering of the skin. The breath and spit of a creature snacking on that plant is— Well, you have experienced it for yourselves.

“While we are at suggestions for improvement, you may want to consider investing into some sticky traps. They could have saved you a lot of trouble. Now come on, let's patch you up and get you home. You’re my children and I love you, but you lot really need a bath.”

***

“So? How was your first corrupted hunt?” asked Samuel.

Samuel and Brynn had joined the family for dinner again.

“Between the three of us, we earned about four hundred coins for the corrupted culling and an additional hundred for the remains. We rented equipment for seventy and had to pay an additional five coins for damaging a rental,” replied Jorg.

“Oh and I now owe Ma three hundred coins. So all in all? It would have been better for me to stay in bed.” Jorg displayed a wry smile before grabbing the rice bowl.

“Meal is still free, though,” remarked Terry.

“There is that, yes,” agreed Jorg. “I’ll have to eat my losses.”

Jorg leaned over to his mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Nama. Oh and thanks for the food!”

“How did our Jorg manage to get himself into debt?” questioned Brynn.

“Unfortunate circumstances,” began Jorg. “Unforeseeable events.”

“And bad judgement,” offered Lori.

“And that, yes,” concurred Jorg. “Some. A bit. A temporary and minor lapse in judgement.”

“Uh-huh, and?” prompted Brynn.

“Never bet against Ma,” grumbled Jorg.

“Our Whaka Jorgen was unsatisfied with the challenge presented by the cloud badger,” elaborated Isille. “He got a bit cheeky and we agreed on a side mission according to Guild rules.”

“Ahh, yes,” muttered Brynn.

“Heh,” uttered Samuel. “So what was the rate?”

“Six hundred reward for succeeding, three hundred penalty for failing.”

Samuel looked at Jorg. “You ma was generous. For non-open missions, there are usually hard deadlines involved. If you fail, that means that the client may not be able to meet their own deadlines, either. The penalty in these cases can go up to multiples of the reward. In the Guild, these missions are referred to as rookie traps. There are even some shady clients that hope for you to fail. Even worse are the ones that go so far as to set you up.”

“Hah…” Jorg sighed and nodded.

“Nevertheless, they did alright,” said Bjorln. “Quick and only a few minor hiccups. They underestimated the evasive effect of the air coating and the death apple caught them off guard.”

“Southern section Thundervalley?” asked Samuel.

“Mhmh. Ah right, greetings from Leah and Ben.”

“Did you travel via the gate in Barca?” inquired Brynn.

Bjorln nodded in response.

“They have some amazing shops for rune inscription tools there,” said Brynn. She looked at Lori. “If you decide to pick up golem crafting as a specialization, we have to go there for a shopping spree.”

“Sounds great,” replied Lori. “But I will have to earn some more coins first. Also, I wanted to invest into a dimensional bag. Can’t always rely on Terry as the mule.”

“Meh. It does not weigh anything in the storage anyway,” uttered Terry. “I don’t mind.”

Terry grinned at his former Academy instructors. “We finished the cloud badger off with the earthen press idea.”

“Next time, that may become plan A,” said Jorg. He noticed the raised eyebrow of his father. “Or plan B, you know, after sticky traps. Obviously.” The last word was emphasized in an exaggerated manner.

They guffawed and continued their meal. Isille caught Brynn’s eye and Brynn nodded.

“About the dimensional bag,” started Isille.

Lori, Jorg, and Terry froze mid-bite.

“We actually have a suggestion regarding that.”

“An offer more or less,” added Brynn.

Jorg squinted his eyes. “No more bets.”

Isille snorted and started to laugh. “Good, you have learned, but no we are not talking about a bet.”

“More like a condition and an advance,” said Brynn. “If you accept, then each one of you three will receive a storage item comparable to the one Terry already has.”

“What do we need to do?” asked Lori.

“First of all, finish the intermediate core curriculum of the Guardians and reach the recommended mission limit for advancement,” answered Isille.

“That does not seem like much of a condition,” remarked Terry. “We are about two-thirds done with the curriculum and are looking to advance anyway.”

“Shh…” “Don’t question it.”

Isille nodded at Terry. “Good, always be suspicious of rewards without effort. The second condition is that you will participate in two advanced level introduction classes and that includes passing the optional examinations. One of those classes can be chosen by you. The second class will be chosen by us.”

Still not much of a condition.

“The last condition is that you are to split up your group for the remaining classes and missions.”

“What?” “Why?” “But…”

“Because life requires more than your current whaka to lean on,” stated Bjorln.

Samuel nodded with a solemn look.

“Sometimes, the paths of you and your whaka diverge,” elaborated Isille. “A commitment to stand together against danger does not equate to a commitment to share a life. Maybe one of you will start a family and switch to crafting or mining work. Maybe one of you will start travelling. You don’t know yet where your individual paths may lead.”

“Life requires friends,” said Bjorln. “Life requires helpful acquaintances. Above all, life requires that you acquire the ability to distinguish one from the other. Confusing true affiliation and support for mere socializing can be devastating.”

Samuel, Brynn, and Isille were all nodding at this statement. After a pause, Isille continued.

“Private life aside, some missions require more than three people to begin with. You will need to work with others and you won’t be able to rely on everyone as you would on your whaka. In life and particularly in mission work, everyone must practice to judge the character and ability of others. With you three, we as the elder generation have taken some part in shaping both. However, that is not a universal solution. It does not suffice.”

“Unless you would be willing to wait a few more decades for another whaka,” interjected Brynn jokingly before winking at Samuel.

“Ohh? Are there plans then?” asked Bjorln excitedly. Then, he slapped Samuel on the shoulder. “I can’t wait to be an uncle! The little chipmunks grow up way too fast.”

Samuel and Brynn looked warmly at each other and smiled.

“Plans yes, but still long-term. More things to do until then.”

“Well, I take what I can get. Thank mana, we have long lives. Otherwise, I would have to be all impatient. A few more years and the house will feel all empty though.”

“I’ll still be here, my life. I am sure we can find something to occupy our time.” Isille leaned over to her husband and rubbed the tip of her nose against his. Then, she gave him a soft kiss on the mouth.

“Awwwww,” exclaimed Lori.

“Ewwww,” exclaimed Jorg.

Isille and Bjorln threw their son a peeved glance.

Jorg cleared his throat. “Sorry. A reflex. Old habits and such.”

“Anyway, that is the gist of it. Most of the advanced classes are set up for multiple groups, which means that you may join up there. However, for the intermediate classes and missions, you will need to form your own groups separately.”

Lori, Jorg, and Terry exchanged looks. A few shrugs and nods later, they agreed. Although, Terry did so with a queasy feeling.

Terry pondered for a moment. “Instead of getting another comparable storage bag, could I instead choose some lower quality storage items?”

“Oh? You don’t like your bag?” asked Brynn.

“No nonono. I love it! Thanks again! However, instead of another like the one I already have, I think some lower quality storage items would help me more. I probably don’t need another item with the closed setting or even another one with that much space.”

“Mhmh, what did you have in mind then?”

“Something like the rings or bracelets you talked about before. With the bag, I always have to move my hand close enough in order to summon or enter an item. It would be faster to have an item at hand level or one that could be activated without hand interaction. I would still place my valuable equipment in my current bag, but with items like the tertium slabs or my non-magic long spear, a cheap-ish storage bracelet seems… More practical?”

“Sure, makes sense. If any of you have custom requests, just out with it. Better yet, why don’t you join me when picking them up?”

***