My excitement is palpable as I walk into the main room. “Morning Ilmarinen!” His eyes narrow at me before returning to hammering something on the anvil behind him. Not a morning person I guess.

Colt walks in, yawning, but not saying a word. Mechanically, he moves to the kitchen, preparing breakfast. There’s some kind of eggs in Ilmarinen’s larder as well as various meats and vegetables. Recognizing the glyphs on wood, I point it out to Colt.

“Hey! Those are the same glyphs as we saw on the preservation paper!”

Colt looks quickly, returning to his cooking a second later. “That’s neat.” Ilmarinen must be rubbing off on him. Within minutes, several plates of steaming omelets are sitting on the table. The smell is divine.

Something about Porcine Nose seems to have made me a smell snob now, I pick out each individual ingredient in the meal. Two of Ilmarinen’s arms extend out behind him, grabbing his plate of food without even looking.

He eats with two arms while working on whatever it is in front of him at the same time. Having eight arms is certainly beneficial. He grumbles out thanks to Colt, barely heard over the clang of metal.

Breakfast passes silently and Colt seems to perk up after he has some food in his stomach. Unfortunately for me, this means he has the energy to glare at me again. “I can’t believe you just volunteered me for this. I barely got any sleep last night worrying.”

My stomach dropping, I look at him with puppy dog eyes. “Come on! It’s going to be fun! Besides, think of how much you’ll level up with some more fights!” Colt considers this for a moment before conceding.

“I guess you’re right, leveling up more will be nice.”

Practically vibrating in my chair, I stand up excitedly and pace around the room. “Oh god, what should we do about potions? I only have one healing potion left, I never used any of my mana potions though. The stamina potions are good too. How about you?”

Colt checks his bag quickly. “Two healing potions, no mana potions, and both stamina potions.”

Handing him my mana potions, he tries to decline. “You need them way more than I do, Colt! You should keep them, you can just pass me one if I really need it.” Considering for a moment, he accepts and slips the potions into his pack.

“Ye may use my kitchen to brew potions if ye need. There’s a field south of here that ye may find the herbs yer lookin’ for in.” Surprised by the sudden outburst of words, I almost think Ilmarinen is starting to like our company.

He spoke a lot last night, but it was mostly about his passions.This is different, it’s just him being helpful. In about 10 minutes, we’re ready to go to the field. As I’m about to step out the door, Ilmarinen calls out. “Forgetting something, lad?” Turning around, I see him holding my anchor, there’s a large metal plate holding the broken side back together, but it looks like it will hold well.

“I’d lend you my anchor, but she might be a bit big for your britches.” He nods to the wall, an enormous anchor is hanging there.

“I thought that was decorative! THAT’S your weapon?!” My eyes must be bugging out of my head in shock.

“Aye, lad, levels make wielding something such as that a simple effort.”

When he doesn’t offer just what his levels are, I assume it’s rude to ask. “...Why are you here anyway, Ilmarinen? This is a dungeon, isn’t it?” He nods to me.

“Was an adventurer in the past, but I found the need to settle down in life. Picked a low-level dungeon where I wouldn’t be bothered so much. Anyone in need of my skills with a hammer knows how to contact me.”

Wondering what he means by this, I scratch my head and grab my anchor. “Thank you again Ilmarinen, for everything. You’ve been such a big help.” It’s subtle against his red skin, but he may be blushing? A slight blue color shows under his skin in certain places around his head.

He mutters a reply sheepishly before shooing me out the door, telling me to not return until I have some potion ingredients.

Colt is standing outside, tapping his foot impatiently. “Took you long enough.” He notices my anchor. “He already fixed it? But how? That was so quick!”

“No idea! He kind of implied he’s really high level though.” Colt looks at me in shock.

“You really think so? He’s a little intimidating but he doesn’t seem that powerful.” Nodding, I agree.

“Yeah, he doesn’t seem it totally, but that’s probably just because he’s so antisocial, he doesn’t give off that air.”

We continue on our walk, chatting about everything and nothing, keeping our eyes out for more bellowclaw lobsters. Ilmarinen assured us that they’re asleep this early in the morning, but we’re being careful anyway.

Following the instructions that Ilmarinen gave us to walk to the field, we make it there in about 15 minutes at a brisk pace. It’s a large expanse of different plants, most of which is just wild growth. After searching for a minute, my Porcine Nose locks onto the smell of vitaleaves. We narrow down the area and find a large patch of them.

Collecting some in our bag, we track down magetongue next. Locating the slightly minty odor, we take some of those as well. A familiar sound is a blessing as I look to the hill and see some sweetkiss chimes.

With our potion ingredients collected, we return to Ilmarinen’s house. The walk back is uneventful, but Colt and I fill it with chatter about our upcoming adventure. He’s really come around to the idea now that he’s let himself get excited about it.

Ilmarinen even begrudgingly accepts to make Colt something during breakfast, as long as he brings back materials for it. It seems food is the way to even Ilmarinen’s hearts. He’s an octopus man, he has three.

Once we’re back in Ilmarinen’s kitchen, we begin chopping up ingredients and heating water. Ilmarinen glances over at us, raising one brow. “Why are ye two using pans of iron for yer brew? Don’t ye know copper is best?”

We stare at him. “No…?” He sighs. “Noobs.”

Standing up, he comes over and shows us how potion brewing is truly done. His arms are a blur of motion, chopping ingredients, brewing, and boiling water (in copper pans). He hands us the reigns once everything is set up, and watches with interest as Colt cuts his finger with a knife and drops the blood in.

“Catalytic Blood eh? Nice perk ye got there.” He takes a sniff. “And is that Witch’s Heart I detect as well?” Colt’s eyes widen.

“How could you tell by smell alone, come to think of it how CAN you smell?” He glares at Colt’s second comment and ignores it.

“I can smell the wild magic in yer blood, lad. This one has Porcine Nose does he not? He should be able to smell it too.”

I take a sniff, realizing that if I really focus hard I can identify a strange, wild smell to his blood. Noting my surprise, Ilmarinen nods. “Wait how did you know I have Porcine Nose?”

He stares at me like he’s never met someone of lower intelligence. “Who else can walk to a field, find exactly what they need and return just as quickly but someone with Porcine Nose?”

Realizing how obvious it was, I open my mouth, then close it, deciding against commenting. “What kinds of perks are there then?”

“If I told you that, it would be me adventuring again and not you, aye lad?” Not completely understanding, I drop the topic.

With our first potions finished, we go to pour them into the mason jars we brought. Ilmarinen stops us. “Ye would store your brew in such shoddy craftsmanship? ‘Tis an insult to the potions!”

He fumbles around in a cupboard, producing a number of glass flasks. They’re all very ornate, but I also notice glowing glyphs across the glass as well. His opinion of quality is clearly extremely high. He hands us the flasks. “These will be returned to me when ye are done.” We look them over.

“These still look like glass, won’t they break just the same as our mason jars if anything happens?”

With that comment, his anger seems to peak. He takes a hammer off the wall and hands it to me. “Hit the bottle with all yer might. Even use your Devastating Impact if ye want. I’d love to see ye break my craftsmanship.”

His honor is on the line now, clearly. Not one to back down from a challenge, I add several Knots to my arm, Ballast some weight, and activate Devastating Impact. The hammer rebounds off of the flask and the force travels back up my arm.

Shaking the pain out of my arm, Ilmarinen laughs. “Twas a good try there! Hopefully ye understand now.” Nodding in shame, I hand the hammer back to him.

We finish all of our potions, taking a larger stock than usual. Colt opted for 3 health potions, 5 mana potions, and 2 stamina potions. I now have 5 health potions, 3 mana potions, and my initial 2 stamina potions, all rebottled in Ilmarinen’s special potion flasks.

With his guidance, we both gained 2 more levels in Fledgling Alchemist, making our potions that much stronger as a result. We pack some dried food that Ilmarinen states he doesn’t want, saying it would be helpful for us to take it off his hands. Personally, I think he’s starting to dote on us, he clearly doesn’t have company often.

My aquifer ring will supply us the water we need, especially in a harbor where there will be plentiful groundwater. With our bags packed, my weapon repaired, and light spirits, we walk out the front door, ready to take on the world. Until we realize one important fact 10 steps from Ilmarinen’s house and have to turn back.

“So uh. Where do we get the ore?” I ask. He smiles.

“Was wonderin’ when ye would ask that question. Can’t be holdin’ yer hand forever, can I?” He hands me a rolled up piece of parchment. Unfurling it, I gasp.

It’s a map, but not just any map. The landscapes are gorgeously illustrated, and the picture is moving! He hands both Colt and I a small stone. The second the stones enter our possession, small markers appear on the map, indicating where we are.

“Oh my god, magic map! Colt! It’s like Harry Potter and the marauder’s map!” Colt begins to pore over the map with me, both of us gesturing excitedly.

Ilmarinen looks at me, clearly confused. “Harry what now? Nevermind, the map will be returned to me, undamaged, won’t it lad?”

Gulping, I nod. “Yes, sir.”

Back out the door, we’re on our adventure once again, spirits even higher with the map to guide us. Ilmarinen had shown us exactly where we needed to go, and we committed the location on the map to memory.

While walking through the city, we get odd stares from many different humanoids. Some were crustacean-people of some kind, with a chitinous shell for skin and eye stalks. Others had scaled skin but looked more vaguely human.

This entire town in a dungeon seems to be filled with sea creature people. One very prickly individual appeared to be a humanoid sea urchin. That one gave me a strange sniff as I walked by, could it be because of my Echinodermal Flesh? Both of us felt too awkward to stop and talk to any of these fish people, so we simply continued on our journey.

Coming up the crest of a hill, our breath is taken away. The Grand Harbor. The namesake of this dungeon is now visible in the distance. Grand does not even begin to describe it. The docks of the harbor are all made of rich, dark woods, shining with a metallic trim that just might be gold.

Houses line the area, all of which are ornate, made of marble, granite, and even in one case a house that appeared to be entirely made of quartz. Each house has a small yard with a fence around it. There is no sense of theme however, each house has its own distinct style. The quartz house looks more like a castle but has a seashell motif.

One of the granite houses has a sea serpent statue that appears to wrap around the entire home, going through several windows. While it might be a bit of an eyesore, each house is clearly a piece of art just as much as it is a home.

In the water, boats of all types float along the water. Viking longboats, Native American canoes, and even colonial age sailboats float along in the water. We notice that none of the boats appear to have a motor, yet the sails billow in a wind that should not exist within the sealed dungeon.

Further interesting, there is no direction that the wind seems to be blowing, as each boat with a sail is moving in its own independent direction.

While the sight is amazing, Colt and I are on a mission. We continue along the hill, following our map, looping around the Grand Harbor. The area around here is devoid of any monsters.

Guards lined to the teeth with weapons patrol the area in distinct patterns. In the distance, we spot a group of guards tear a bellowclaw crab to pieces in seconds. They collect the loot into bags that look far too small to hold it all and move along.

Eventually, we reach a forest off to the side of the Grand Harbor. This dungeon is absolutely massive. Even while atop such a high hill, we were unable to see the end. The map itself indicates that we aren’t even a quarter of the way to the edge. The Grand Harbor is dead center in the map.

Walking into the forest, we stay alert for any kind of ambush. Ilmarinen warned us that this area is teeming with monsters. We continue on for a while, not encountering a single monster. The most we saw were some vaguely threatening bugs whose shells were on fire.

After about an hour of walking, we’re quite deep in the forest, but still only about 1/4th of the way to our destination. Suddenly, the bushes behind us rustle. A large, starry-shaped nose protrudes from them, with a pair of gigantic teeth following behind.

The bushes explode outward as a giant mole reveals itself. The strange part about this mole, however, is that all of its hair is completely clear and shimmering. From its paws protrude several crystalline scythes, each with a wicked edge. Inspecting, The Construct gives us the rundown.

Star reaper mole

Traits: Crystalline Growth

Description: This mole uses its star-shaped nose to sniff out potential prey. Its hide is incredibly hard to pierce due to its ability to process ingested carbon into crystalline structures. It uses its scythe-like claws to quickly cut its prey down.

The mole charges us at incredible speed, far faster than something its size should be able to manage; it’s as large as an SUV! Both Colt and I jump out of the way just in time. The mole’s claws cut through the trees behind us, toppling them instantly.

Colt springs to action, using Gaia’s Grasp to wrap vines and branches around the mole’s legs, holding it in place momentarily. Plotting my Course, I speed along the side of the mole, slamming my anchor into its side with a Devastating Impact empowered by several Knots and Ballasted weight.

It screeches in response, quickly tearing through Colt’s entanglement, reaching for me. Plotting a Course behind myself, I just barely managed to jump away in time. The slice through the air is audible as the mole swings.

Several spires of earth stab up, aiming for the mole’s eyes, forcing it to back off and protect itself for the moment. Using Crashing Wake as soon as the mole begins to back off, I arrive and crash my anchor into its nose, using another Devastating Impact.

The mole reels back in pain and screeches, a strange chittering noise. Jumping out of the way as it takes another swing, I’m too late. Its claw scythes through my leg in the middle of my thigh.

As I fall to the ground, I hear Colt call out, his voice is one of complete fear and panic. A moment later, Colt leaps into the air, his voice full of anger as he shouts, accompanied by a bright flash of green light. “FIST OF GAIA!” An incredibly large stone fist has encompassed his entire arm with thorny vines spread around it.

Vines burst from the ground, ensnaring the mole once more. Colt lands with an earth-shattering crack, causing a crater to form in the ground around the mole. A sickening crack alongside a shattering sound is the last that I hear before my consciousness fades.

Sometime later, I wake up to Colt’s pained face, violently shaking me, screaming “WAKE UP!” Coming to, Colt notices my open eyes and pulls me close, hugging me, crying. “I thought I lost you.” His now-quiet voice has a rasp to it, how long was I out for?

Looking down as best as I can, I’m acutely reminded of the stump that used to be my right leg. Colt notices me looking and frowns, but a small glimmer of hope shines in his eyes. “We fixed my hand before, we can fix this too!” There are two empty potion bottles on the ground already, Colt must have given them to me while I was unconscious.

Turning to him, I reassure him. “Colt, I have that perk I just got, remember? Echinodermal flesh. I can fix this.”

Closing my eyes, I focus all of my attention onto my leg, suddenly, my HP and MP plummet as both energies focus into the area. Colt gasps, my leg slowly regrows from the stump of where it was.

Taking a dose of a healing potion and a mana potion, I continue focusing on the area. Within the span of about 15 more minutes, my leg is regrown. Colt is looking at me in awe. “We used way less than we had to with my hand! That perk is incredible!”

He pulls me tight to him once more. “Colt you’re crushing me.” My vision is starting to fade black again.

“Sorry!” He blushes, letting go of me.

“Do you think you could uh, grab my shoe…?”

“Your shoe? What do you mea- Oh.”

His face turns somewhat green as he looks at my severed leg on the ground. He gingerly removes the shoe and sock while muttering to himself over and over “This is so wrong.”

Handing me my shoe and sock, Colt goes to vomit out of sight while I put them back on. Once he returns, I take a few tentative steps on my newly-grown leg. It works perfectly, but every sensation on the skin is far more intense than I remember.

“Sooo uh, Lucas?” Looking over to Colt, I see that he’s clearly in pain of his own.

“Yeah?”

“Remind me about ‘Mana Burnt’?”