Aster held the pickaxe carefully, trying to follow Slava’s instructions exactly, as he repeated the motion the dwarf had demonstrated and swung the pick in a wide arc behind him and up over his shoulder to come down hard on the vein of iron ore in an attempt to dislodge a chunk of it.

Congratulations!

Skill Acquired: Mining (Beginner 1, 1%)

Like so many before you, the desire to collect shiny things from the ground beckons.

Your Strength increased by 1.

You gained 120 experience.

Crimson Destiny gained 60 experience.

Aster grinned, he loved gaining new skills. It was the sign of tangible progress for his whole life here and it helped reassure him that his efforts were never in vain. He picked up the chuck of rock mixed with metal to see what information, if any, he could glean from it.

You acquired: Iron Ore

Yet another shiny thing unfettered from the depths of the earth. The Crafter would be proud, especially if you melted this into something more useful.

Quality: [ Great ]

Availability: [ Uncommon ]

Type: Material - Ore

Aster chuckled at the description, he wondered, not for the first time, who had come up with them. Was the Hypnos system’s AI just fast at work, or did this world’s deities of the lore actually take part in some way and was there even a difference between the two? Perhaps it was yet another thing he could add to his mental list of things to research when they made it to the Grand Library.

Aster went over and put the chunk of metal into the large basket Slava had put out for him to fill. Slava had instructed all of them on how to mine and then put them in different areas to get to work on after Aster had used his new Sense Metal spell to find a great location for them. He could see Donoma a few meters away from him but Saelak was around a bend in the path and out of sight, though he could hear the strike of his pick against the wall.

Aster gave Donoma a nod of encouragement as she noticed him and sent him a smile before he returned to his own section, soon getting into a decent rhythm and not able to stop himself from getting a certain mining song stuck in his head as he muttered to himself, “We dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, in our mine the whole day through…”

After about 30 minutes, he tossed his shirt into his spacial bag which was tied on his belt at the small of his back. Sweat began pouring down him as he continued the grueling work realizing that this was going to be a long day.

Slava came by once in a while to make sure they were all okay and keeping hydrated. No ore would be gathered if you collapsed, so it was better to go at a manageable pace and take care of your body. Donoma was doing the worst of the three, with her slightly lower constitution and strength, but Saelak wasn’t much better off than her with his lacking stamina. They both kept working admirably, however.

Slava took this into account and had Donoma take over getting them food and drink since her improved dexterity would make her faster and more efficient at it. Aster was way ahead of both his companions when it came to strength and constitution, plus he was more familiar with the hard labor than they were and was able to last much longer, easily falling into the trance of the repetitive actions. He thought swinging a pick wasn’t really that much different than swinging a hammer.

After they took a decent break for lunch they all went back to it. Aster had been successfully ignoring any attempts at talking that his Soul Bonds made occasionally, still avoiding what felt like an inevitable conversion at this point, when he was surprised by Donoma approaching him and bringing up the topic first.

“So… Aster, can I mayhaps steal a moment ta chat with ya?” She asked cautiously, a bit more subdued than her usual exuberant self.

Aster took a deep breath, wiping the sweat off his brow with the back of his arm before nodding and setting his pickaxe down. She offered him a waterskin which he gratefully took before sitting on the ground, crossing his legs to balance himself.

He motioned for her to talk and she hesitated a moment more before sitting next to him and plowing ahead, “So why did ya say ya didn’ remember anythin’? What happened last night after I embarrassed meself?”

He gave a sigh and shook his head, “Nothing to worry about. I wasn’t lying when I said the drink was strong. Saelak just did something drunk and unexpected. I’d rather not embarrass him further which is why I said I didn’t remember. That’s all.”

She watched his face for a moment longer, it felt like her pretty eyes were trying to stare into his soul. “So why ‘ave ya been so… walled off today?” She asked, her voice reflecting the concern she felt for him.

“I’ve just… had a lot on my mind. I…” he paused, wondering and measuring how much he should say. “I’ve just been trying to sort out and understand some of my emotions. I don’t want to do or say something I might regret or not truly mean.”

She watched him for a moment longer, then said with a light laugh, “What’s yer Wisdom score again?”

He laughed for the first time that day, slightly hollow, but he still found the humor in her words, and a bit of the tension inside him lessened. He glanced at his profile for the first time in a while.

Name: Aster

Surname: Seppen

Title: Artifact of the Age

Age: 18

Gender: Man

Race: Half Winter Elf Half Airelian Human

Level: 20 (110,137 / 118,000)

Class: Soul Tamer [ Artifact ] [ Unique ]

Attributes

Strength: 53

(+13 from Soul Bonds)

Dexterity: 46

[+16 from Equipment]

(+15 from Soul Bonds)

Constitution: 54

[+5 from Equipment]

(+13 from Soul Bonds)

Intelligence: 53

(+7 from Soul Bonds)

Wisdom: 53

(+5 from Soul Bonds)

Charisma: 45

(+4 from Soul Bonds)

Luck: 14

(+13 from Soul Bonds)

Willpower: 15

(+4 from Soul Bonds)

Karma: 17

Resources

Health: 720/540

[+50] (+130)

Regen: 5.3/minute

(+1.3)

Stamina: 770/460

[+160] (+150)

Regen: 5.4/minute

[+0.5] (+1.3)

Mana: 600/530

(+70)

Regen: 5.3/minute

(+0.5)

Qi: 396/530

(+50)

Inspiration: 150/530

(+130)

Favor: 75/450

(+40)

Affinities

Air: 10%

Earth: 0%

Fire: 20%

Water: 0%

Ice: 0%

Lightning: 0%

Metal: 10%

Wood: 0%

Dark: 0%

Death: 0%

Life: 0%

Light: 0%

Blood: 0%

Illusion: 0%

Song: 0%

Covenant: 0%

Gravity: 0%

Spacial: 0%

Spirit: 100%

Time: Unknown

“58, but it still doesn’t feel like enough sometimes.” he responded a little regretfully.

Her eyes went comically wide and she almost spluttered, “5- 58?!? Aster, that’s insane, how can ya ‘ave such higher Wisdom and Strength and Constitution dan us?”

He gave a low chuckle, “It seems, while a dangerous endeavor, that bonding with a level 39 Dirlagraun isn’t without benefits. Rosa gave me a nice attribute bump. Plus a couple points from ranking up skills, obviously.”

She laughed, “O’ course ya would focus skills instead o’ levels ta get attribute points.Ya never do da conventional thing.”

He gave a shrug, “It’s all I was able to do for so long and it looks like it’s definitely paying off now.”

She nodded, still smiling at him, “I guess yer not wrong ‘bout that.” A moment of companionable silence passed between them before she nudged her shoulder into his, “Ya know, a while ago I met this half-elf, who told me that they were a pretty fair listener if I ever needed ta talk about me fam.”

Aster chuckled and gave her a raised eyebrow, “Oh? Did you ever take them up on the offer?”

She gave a dramatic sigh, “No, it not be somethin’ I like ta think ‘bout let alone talk ta a complete stranger on.”

He gave a nod, “Sometimes getting an outsider’s perspective on things helps though. You don’t have to worry about any bias they might have towards the people in question, nor do you have to worry about upsetting them or embarrassing yourself cause they’re a stranger with no relationship to tie you to them that you might want to preserve.” he explained this like he had so many times back on Earth to people he thought could benefit from talking with a therapist.

“That seems like a decent arrangement but the down-side is that you’re still talkin’ about the thing,” the woman replied, shaking her head. Her braids made a pleasant tinkling sound as the metal decorations collided with each other.

Aster gave a nod, “In my experience, the things we avoid talking about are likely the things we need to talk about the most.”

Donoma nodded, “Wise words,” then she gave him an extremely pointed look before prodding, “So are we gonna talk ‘bout ‘em?”

His eyes went wide in surprise realizing that she had just turned his own advice around on him and gave a futile laugh, “Heh, I’m not so sure your Wisdom score is that far behind mine.”

She gave a chuckle, “Oh it is, but me Intellect is high enough ta make certain obvious connections.”

He nodded, conceding the point. “I know we’ve talked a lot on this trip but it’s rare we’re alone like this,” he observed. After a brief pause, he suggested, “If you’re up for a bit deeper dive into each other’s psyche, why don’t we play the question game?”

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow, “Da question game?”

He nodded and elaborated, “It’s fairly simple, we take turns asking each other a personal question that we must answer truthfully. If it makes you more comfortable, you can go first.”

She nodded, “Where did ya learn this game?”

Aster smiled softly, “It’s a variation of a game called “Truth or Dare” that old friends of mine used to play but I adapted for getting to know a potential love interest on a first date.”

More confusion seemed to color her features, “What is ‘Truth or Dare’?”

His smile grew a bit wider as he made a slight negative sound, “ah ah, you already asked your question, it’s my turn now.”

She looked surprised then laughed, replying in mock outrage, “That’s not fair! I didn’t know we were already playin’!”

He laughed along with her and placated, “Alright, alright, that first one can be a freebie. Truth or Dare is a game where one person asks another ‘truth or dare?’ and the person gets to pick whether they answer a question truthfully or follow through on a dare the person asking makes.”

Donoma’s mock indignation furthered, “Hey, that wasn’t gonna be me question either!”

He shrugged playfully, “I’ll start with an easier one then, have you been practicing your Song Magic?”

She scrunched her nose, “Not as much as I probably should be. It can be hard to find time but me thinks, mostly, I feel embarrassed ta do it in front o’ others, even you and Saelak.” Aster gave an understanding nod and she took her turn, a bit cautiously, “So… how do ya feel ‘bout Saelak?”

He gave a feigned look of hurt and clutched at his chest dramatically, “Straight for the heart! No mercy this mighty archer has!” she giggled at his melodrama but nudged him again to answer. He sighed, “That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out, honestly. I’m not completely blind. I know how he looks at me, probably for years now, and last night left little room for doubt.”

Donoma interrupted with another question, “Oh? Did he confess or somethin’?”

“Not your turn yet,” He responded playfully and she gave a little pout, crossing her arms in a huff, as he continued, having a bit of mercy on her, “He kissed me.” Aster ignored the little gasp she took, “I froze, Don. I didn’t know how to respond, if I should respond. I care for him but I’m not sure I’m good for him. I have so many worries and so many questions floating around my mind that I can’t answer yet.” He gave her a knowing look, “I’m also not blind enough to miss the fact that my decision on this matter might impact another one of our party members.”

She blushed under his gaze and she looked away before saying quietly, “Looks like we both need ta sort out how we feel.”

He gave a nod then gave a sly grin, “So how do you feel about Saelak?”

Her eyes went a little wide, “Why ya bloody lil trickster-” she accused as she playfully moved to punch him.

He caught the arm easily but they both lost their balance as the cavern suddenly shook around them and Donoma fell into his arms. As he tried to protect her head from some of the falling debris. They tumbled onto his back with her on top of him trying to make their form smaller so as not to get injured.

After the tremor subsided Aster asked her a bit breathlessly, “Are you alright?”

She pushed herself up slightly so she could look down into his face, which was now closer than it had ever been, as she responded a little shaken, but with forced mirth, “Hey, that’s two questions.”

“Are you two ok-” Saelak's voice came to an abrupt halt as he came around the bend and saw Donoma straddling a half-naked Aster on the ground and their faces inches from each other. “Wha- what are… I- I can’t…” He stuttered half coherently as a torrent of different emotions passed across his face. Shock, hurt, anger. He finished with a glare at Donoma then turned abruptly on his heels and walked back the way he had come.

Donoma’s face matched Saelak’s surprise for a moment before she realized how they must look and quickly pushed herself off of Aster, almost knocking the wind out of him, and pursued the noble. “Saelak, wait!” she called after him.

Aster made to pull out his discarded shirt before following after his party members.

The Dexterity-based archer quickly caught up to the knight as she spoke quickly to him, “Saelak that wasn’t what it looked like!”

Saelak gave a sneer as he said, “It looked like you were taking advantage of the situation and were getting closer to Aster while you had him alone.”

She paused thinking it over before answering honestly, “Well yes, but we were only talkin’!”

He scoffed, making it clear he didn’t believe her, “Is that what you call it? I didn’t realize talking was so physical with the Summer Elves. Did it involve you shoving your tongue down his throat to make sure he could understand what you were talking about?”

Aster thought he had almost caught up to the others, though he couldn’t see them with the curved walkway, he could easily make out their words as he debated on whether to interfere or not. He slowed down a bit, thinking it might be better if Saelak and Donoma talked things out without him making things more awkward.

Donoma started getting a bit angry now at the unfounded accusations, “That’s not what happened, Saelak! I wouldn’t do that! I don’t feel that way towards Aster.”

The young elf gave a shrug, “I don’t care if you did. It makes sense that everyone wants to get closer to him. Like you said earlier, he’s a ‘young, healthy, and handsome man that anyone would appreciate’.” His voice lost a bit of the derision as he said seriously, “I’m not angry that you fell for him, Donoma. I can understand how easy that is to happen, without even realizing before it’s too late.”

Donoma grabbed his arm as she almost yelled, “If you think I like him and would be okay with that, then why are you so upset?!”

Saelak turned back to Donoma, knocking her hand away from him. Tears threatened to spill down his cheeks as he glared and almost cried in anguish at her, “Because I want him to be mine!”