Chapter Twenty Nine

John woke up eager to get the day started. Today was the day that he was going to have a lesson with trainer Lou. He went through his normal morning routine and then rushed over to the guild. When he got there he saw that Lou was meeting with another adventurer, so he waited outside for a few minutes until their conversation ended. Then he walked in and started talking with Lou

“Thanks for taking the time to meet with me. I know you're busy with training all those rookies everyday.”

Lou shook his hand

“No problem. I’ll always make time for someone who looks like they might actually have potential. Do you want to dive right into it?”

John nodded

“What do you need to know?”

Lou immediately started asking questions.

“What elements are you proficient in?”

John gestured to the runes on his belt

“I can use earth, fire, and water. Earth is the one I am most experienced in and water is a very new development for me.”

Lou nodded

“How much more proficient in using the earth rune are we talking here? It makes a difference for how we proceed.”

John thought for a second

“Recently I have been using the earth rune the majority of the time but back on the main continent I actually used my fire rune the most. What I’m trying to get at is earth is definitely my best, but fire isn’t too far behind.”

Lou nodded again

‘In that case you probably won’t want to go the elemental route. What do you know about condensing your mana?”

John shrugged

“Honestly I don’t know much about it. I know that dungeons condense mana for their creatures to form cores but I don’t know anything about how people do it.”

“That's actually a relatively good base” Lou responded “ the process for dungeon creatures to get their cores and people solidifying their mana is actually very similar. At its simplest it is just forcing mana into a body until a core is formed. If you want to be more precise there are a couple requirements you have to meet. The first is base physical strength. If your body is not strong enough then shoving enough mana into it to form a core will make you explode. The second is mana density. This is easy for dungeons since they have unparalleled ability to control mana, but for people we have to create special rooms that artificially raise mana density to form a core. Those are the two main factors. Some people have had great physiques and the best facilities money can buy but still failed so we know there's more to it. The downside is that whatever factors remain are things we are unable to recognize. This means that everyone has to take a risk when forming a core.”

John frowned

“How am I supposed to form a core here if I need a special room? I haven’t been going around town much but I think I would notice if somebody built one of those. Also, how much risk are we talking here?”

“You just need a little patience and there will be one” Lou said as he patted him on the shoulder. “The next supply ship is supposed to bring everything we need to add one to the guild. Until then you should practice controlling mana and make sure your body is at peak condition so you have the best chance at success. As for the risk breaking into tier two isn’t that dangerous. In the worst case scenario you retain your strength but can never try to advance again.”

“Do you have any other advice for me? Based on what you said at the big lecture it's not going to be cheap so I want to make it count.”

“There’s no last minute training that will help enough to be worth it. Like I said just make sure your body is in tip top shape and that will give you the best odds of success.”

John sighed

“I’ll take your word for it. It just sucks that there’s not much I can do to prepare for something so expensive.”

“Stop harping on about the cost” Lou said “Forming a solid core is actually the cheapest option. You just have to hunt down a lot of beasts with cores to power the formation and your fine. Going up a tier through element attunement is where it really gets expensive. Some of the reagents people use are damn near extinct. Others are guarded by a mythical beast. Once you're trying to do that you can complain.”

John grinned “Alright, alright. Instead of complaining I’ll just go massacre the dungeon’s rabbit population and then I’ll be tier two in no time. Is there anything else I should know about tier two adventurers before we call it a day?”

After that Lou told John more information than he could remember. He told him about how to recognize a tier two adventurer, the most common elemental affinities, how much strength most people gain, and more. He kept giving information until John had to end their meeting and head off to patrol.

Olivia

Olivia was behind her desk wondering what to do with the six adventurers sitting in front of her.

“So you're telling me that after I was told there might not be any tier two adventurers available they suddenly turned up six of you that could come all the way across the ocean?”

The spokesperson for the group was a ridiculously large man whose name was Bjorn.

“I don’t know what to tell you. The orders from the boss told us to get on the ship and come over here. I don’t know why they thought they wouldn’t be able to free us up. We were just doing normal tasks in the guild.”

Olivia rubbed her temple as she spoke

“So how are we going to work you guys in? The six of you are probably enough to raid the dungeon full time, but if we do that all the other adventurers your boss sent over here are probably going to revolt.”

Bjorn nodded

“That shouldn’t be an issue. The boss told us to raid the dungeon a few times to get all the big resource stashes and make a complete map for you guys. After that we are supposed to head somewhere else and raid a dungeon there. If you just push everyone in line back one week that should be enough time for us.”

After hearing that there wasn’t going to be a long term problem Olivia let out a sigh of relief

“If it's only that long then I should be able to manage no problem. I can just say I want extra guards while the settlement’s expansion is being built and no one should complain too much. When do you guys want to start?”

Bjorn looked backwards at a man who looked a bit green in the face and said

“Gunther is still feeling a bit seasick. The healers said he should be back to normal after two more days so ideally we will start then.”

“I’ll go ahead and start telling everyone about the new schedule then. The dungeon should be all yours once Gunther over there is feeling better.” Olivia said as she gestured to the green faced man. “Is there anything else you need my help with before the raid?”

Bjorn shook his head and they all stood up. “That should be plenty. Thank you for your help Ms. Olivia.” After that they all left the room and Olivia started the rescheduling of all the adventurers. If she was already going to be making them mad by moving all their plans around she might as well get some use from it. She spent a few hours figuring out something useful all the free adventurers could be doing, and then she called it a day.

Chase

Chase grumbled to whoever would listen while drinking at the bar

“That trainer guy has been here over a month and he hasn’t had time to meet with me yet. He gave that ridiculous big speech about how we can get so much stronger than he spent all his time on newbies without even telling me the details.”

The person who had been sitting to his left walked away so he turned to the other side

“When I asked about it I was told he was meeting the people who had the most potential first. Can you believe the nerve? That would have been me if Olivia hadn’t greedily kept all the potions to herself. If my hand was fully healed I would be two or three times as strong as I am now.”

That person walked away as well so Chase started grumbling to himself.

“No one will even listen to me here. Everyone in this town is worthless.”

He drained his drink and got up to leave. He walked out the doors and started to head back to his cabin when a stranger approached him

“So you aren’t happy with how the settlement is being run huh?”

“Of course not” Chase exclaimed. “Did you hear anything I was saying in the bar? We’d be better off if we threw everyone here into the ocean.”

“Those are my feelings as well,” the stranger said with a thin smile. “I even have some friends that agree with me coming to the settlement in a few days. If you help us out then I’m sure we could work out a reward that is favorable for you.”

Chase narrowed his eyes as he said

“Who are you anyways? I haven’t seen you around camp. And what do you mean by a reward favorable for me?”

“I'm just a settler that got into town on the supply ship yesterday. And as for the reward” He looked down and gestured towards Chase’s missing fingers “If everything goes how we want it then it wouldn’t be far fetched to get you a healer good enough to fix that”

“And what would you need from me for” Chase raised his hands and made the best air quotes “Everything to go how you want it?”

The stranger smiled

‘We just need two simple things from you and then both of us can be very happy men. The next time you are on night patrol you just need to overlook a few of my friends slipping into town. After that We’ll need you to lead us to the dungeon so we can gather some valuable resources for ourselves before we go live it up back on the main continent. Does that sound like a plan to you?”

Chase grinned

“That’s all you want and I’ll get healing good enough to fix my hand in exchange? Hell, I probably would have done it for free.”