“I really am sorry.” I said for the third time. “I really don’t know what came over me.”

Burin continued to ignore me as he followed Richard through the mazer hole. Miko had taken the lead with Yui then Richard behind her. Burin did not even glance behind at my words.

Letting out a sigh, I followed behind.

Mac was no longer with us, as he was unable to follow our escape through the mazer hole. Apparently, the invisible barrier around the challenge also blocked sound from entering, but only until Yui hit the stone orb to complete the challenge after the tenth wave. Once ended, noise from the spectator stands washed over us.

The elves were so loud that we were unable to communicate with each other. After some frantic gesturing, we looted everything off the ground and travelled straight through the mazer hole Miko found in the tunnel to the portcullis. We had yet to go through the loot and instead were more focused on traversing the winding stone cave tunnel.

The only sound inside the tunnel was the footfalls of boots against the rocky stone floor. After a while Burin broke his silence and mumbled something.

“What?” I asked.

Without turning he said. “Me Da’ was a farmer.”

Oh, no wonder he had been giving me the silent treatment.

“Was? He passed away?”

“No!” He turned to glare at me. “Don’t even think such a thing.” After a moment he added, “He stopped being a farmer and now works as a farming consultant.”

“Oh...” Was all I could think to say.

“So why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do ye hate farmers so much?”

“I never said I hated farmers.”

“Could have fooled me.” He growled back.

“No, really. I believe farmers do valuable work.”

“Then why do ye keep dropping anything farming related like it burns?”

I bent down to get past a low overhang. “Burin, farming… it’s just…”

“Just what?”

The others has also become interested in my response as they had slowed down and snuck occasional backwards glances towards me.

Letting out a sigh I answered him. “It’s boring! I am a fighter, a destroyer. What do I know about growing something? I love exploring, seeing new things, collecting magic, casting magic, seeing magical places.”

Teek’s hideout flashed through my mind. An isolated location, all alone, apart from the random passing adventurer. “The thought of being chained down and having to work the same piece of land is nightmarish.”

Richard let out a laugh in front and was soon joined by Miko’s giggling.

“Fool Reigner.” Burin muttered as he stepped over a loose rock.

Richard glanced back over Burin’s head, which was an easy task, to meet my eyes. “Reigner, you do realise farming has its own magical discipline, right?”

I remained quiet. They don’t understand. The very idea of watching grass grow put me to sleep.

“Farmers are revered in the dwarven settlements.” Burin commented.

“Easy to see why.” Agreed Richard. “Farmers have skills and abilities to allow crops to grow without needing direct access to the sun. A skilled farmer can feed an entire town of people.”

Again I thought back to Teek’s farm, located deep in the rock wall of the canyon.

Miko chirped up from the front of the line. “Aren’t some of the most wanted spells in farming?”

“The most desired spell is.” Richard clarified. “Spatial field. One of the few only spells in existence that allows someone to grow and access their own personal world.”

That piqued my interest. “What do you mean, their own world?”

“Exactly that. Someone with spatial field can access a small interdimensional space. Apparently, it’s very inhospitable to life at the beginning and takes a famer of considerable skill months or even years to form it into a workable field.”

“It’s basically an unlimited storage pouch that you can walk into, only it can also hold living things and is much greener.” Added Yui.

“Why does it sound like you have visited one? Miko asked.

Yui shrugged. “My uncle has one.”

“Of course.” Miko replied. “Must be good to be related to the hero.”

“That’s true.” Agreed Richard. “Growing up with access to the largest library in the city with records of almost every known spell and skill would be incredibly useful.”

Miko stopped in front. “Ah, here is the exit.” Turning to Richard she added. “And that’s not what I meant.” Before he could respond she stepped through the exit.

Yui glanced back towards me before silently walking through the exit herself.

“It would be.” Said Richard, under his breath, as he followed behind.

Burin turned around to glare upwards at me. He looked pissed.

“What?” I asked nervously.

“Pizza… And those potato stick things.” He said flatly.

I felt relieved. Summoning food I could handle. Being victim to a long winded dwarven rant on the virtues of farming was something I couldn’t. “Fine.” I agreed, doing my best to supress a smile.

“And rootbeer.” He added.

“Okay.”

“And one of those milk drinks afterwards!”

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. “Okay, okay. Whatever you want.”

Flashing me a satisfied grin, he turned around and exited the tunnel.

Remembering that Miko would likely have some demands of her own, I let out a sigh before stepping through myself.

A hot sun and warm dry winds greeted me as my boot sank into sandy ground. We were in the middle of a desert. Large dunes of sand that looked like massive waves stretched out in front of us. Fortunately for me that the borrowed robe I was wearing seemed to resist enough of the heat that I still felt comfortable. The same could not be said for the others and I could see sweat starting to bead up on Burin’s forehead.

The mazerhole left us on the side of a large dune. Looking around behind me, I could not find a trace of the maze hole.

“Over here!” Miko yelled out. She was currently standing at the top of the dune and was looking over the other side. “I can see an oasis not far from us.”

Yui started walking up the sandy incline. “Let’s go. We can make camp there and go through the loot.”

Both Burin and Richard appeared to have trouble keeping traction on the sand and constantly tripped over or slid back down the slope. I had no such trouble myself. Reaching out, I grabbed both by the back of their belts and dragged them up with me.

“Thank you.” Richard said as we made it to the top.

Going down was much easier. Especially when I gave Richard and Burin a helpful pat on the back. The friendly gesture was enough to knock them forwards slightly and lose traction on the sand. They slid down on their backside. Unfortunately, they lost their posture around the half way mark and ended up rolling uncontrollably for the rest.

Wincing as they tumbled to a stop at the bottom, I jumped and slid down after them. Yui decided to take her time coming down. Miko did not have much of a choice as Burin’s tumble forcefully recruited her into his roll, luckily that only included the last handful of metres until the bottom of the slope.

By the time I reached the bottom, all three of them were kicking sand at each other while yelling. That soon changed to all three of them kicking sand towards me as I neared.

Laughing at their antics, I joined in and kicked a pile of sand back towards them. Their yells soon went up in volume as they were launched into the air before landing a few meters away. Their screams turned in to splutters as sand continued to rain down on them.

Laughing I walked up to them and helped pull them to their feet. “That was fun. Where was that oasis, Miko?”

Instead of replying she shook her body, sending sand everywhere.

Burin was practically vibrating with his hands curled into fists. I couldn’t tell if he was angry again or was trying to mimic Miko. After a moment he started laughing out loud and kicked more sand towards me.

“Ye be a great bastard, Reigner! But by the depths, it’s never boring around you.”

I reached down and brushed off some sand from his shoulders. “You did pretty well until you lost your balance.”

He pushed his hand towards me, his palm open like he expected something.

“What?” I asked.

“What’a ye mean what? Give me some water damnit. You think I enjoy eating sand?”

Conjuring a glass of water, I asked. “Can’t you create your own water now?”

He rinsed out his mouth before spitting to the side. “Only if we want be walking in the rain for an hour.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.” Richard said as he looked up into the sky. “Maybe it will cool us down a bit.”

Yui rejoined us and Miko led the way to the oasis. The oasis was bigger than we thought and continued to grow larger the more we trekked through the sand towards it. There was so much vegetation around the lake that it looked like a small jungle.

It was also inhabited. Green slimes with cactus like spikes were attached to the side of what looked to be palm trees, and small bipedal lizards ran around finding and eating fruit on the many different kinds of bushes growing everywhere.

There was also a large plant that Richard said to stay away from. His point was made clear later, as one of the little lizards got snatched up by several vines that were hidden in the sandy ground.

We scouted the area and decided to set up camp by the edge of the lake. Seeing the opportunity, I wanted to try my shelter spell again. Before casting the spell, I drew lines in the sand. It was my hope that having a visual aid would help me conjure something better than a stone box. I also did not want to embarrass myself in front of the others.

Focusing on the layout I stretched out my arms and cast summon shelter. Disappointment filled me as grey stone started appearing in front of me. However, the stone did not take the all too familiar box shape. Instead, it had more or less formed to the plan I had mapped out in my mind and in the sand. It was a simple design, a large open room suitable for a group of five, complete with windows on each wall and two doors. I still needed to work on the material, but I was proud of my creation. It felt like progress.

+1 to Summon Shelter rank.

My spell seemed to think so too.

The inside looked better than the outside, with smooth walls and floor that felt comfortable to rest against. It was basic, but at least it provided a refuge from the sand. Wondering if I could make changes to the structure after it was summoned, I placed my hand against the doorframe and thought about changing the texture of the floor. Nothing happened until I closed my eyes to get a better image of what I wanted and pushed mana into the building. Unlike activating an item, the building pulled on my mana like it was a sponge. I felt almost completely drained afterwards. Looking at my stats showed me that I had used almost all my mana. To think just a while ago I was happy with my mana levels.

I slumped down to the now wooden floor and looked around my creation. Not bad, I thought to myself. One thing was for sure. If I wanted to have anything fancy, I would need a lot more mana.

“Incredible...” Richard walked in through the door opposite me and walked around, touching walls and inspecting surfaces. Soon the others joined in and admired my handywork. Or was it spellwork? Castwork perhaps? Anyway, they seemed impressed, which filled me with pride.

“You created this with just mana?” Yui asked as she ran her hand over a windowsill.

“Yeah. I gained the spell recently. It takes a lot of mana though. More than I expected.”

Burin slapped my shoulder as he walked by. “Sure beats that tiny tent you have.”

I focused on the centre of the room and conjured a campstone to assist my mana recovery.

“Oh, that feels nice.” Said Yui as she turned around from looking outside. “I noticed you placed one of these down during the challenge.”

Richard moved up to look closely at the campstone. “This must be your fireball turned campfire spell.” With an excited look on his face, he asked. “What rank is it now? How much health and mana does it regenerate?”

Checking over the spell I answered him. “Mmm, it’s at rank thirteen and provides around forty five mana every minute.”

“This helps mana regeneration?” Yui asked. “No wonder I did not feel completely exhausted after the challenge. This is incredible.”

“Health and Stamina too.” Said Miko as she walked into the shelter. She took a seat around the campstone and flashed me a smile. “This is cool, Reigner.” Turning to the others she asked, “Lunch or loot first?”

“Lunch” Burin, Richard, and Yui all said together. My call for loot was downed out and ignored.

Four grinning faces all turned to stare at me. Feeling a little freaked out at their intensity I pushed myself up against the wall behind me. “What?”

“Well.” Yui started. “Miko has not stopped talking about your ability to summon Earth food.”

Richard nodded along to her words with an eager look in his eyes.

“Uh, give me some time. I used most of my mana creating this place.”

“Oh!” Richard hurriedly moved over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “I got you, chef.” Mana poured into me until I reached my cap. Flashing me a smile, Richard moved to sit around the campstone with Miko. Yui and Burin soon joined them. All of them stared at me with happy expressions.

Sighing to myself I reasoned that they did deserve to celebrate overcoming the arena. It also gave me another reason to use the spell… and honestly it felt good to be able to provide food to my friends… Only being called chef irked me for some reason.

Conjuring almost every dish and drink I could, we spent the next few hours eating drinking and sharing stories.

“Aye! The back of his hand sent the bastard flying off the stage, even breaking the sparring enchantments!” Burin fell on his back laughing to the smiles or looks of disbelief on the others faces.

“Okay enough of that.” I interrupted. “Can we get to the important bit now?”

“The loot!” Miko exclaimed.

Since we were in a rush, everyone picked up what they could before high tailing it to the mazerhole. I dismissed the campstone to make more room and ended up plunging us into darkness. Looking outside I noticed for the first time that it was now night, we had spent more time eating and drinking than I thought.

Richard summoned a few orbs of light that lit up and hovered around the room. We then all pulled out the loot from the challenge, making a small pile between us all.

Three daggers, a great sword, bow, two chest pieces, two pairs of gloves, one pair of boots, two amulets, a bunch of coins, a few bags of random seeds, and best of all… three spell books.

Miko slapped my hand as I involuntarily reached out for the books. “Let’s identify everything before we start with the grabby hands, okay?”

“What? I can identify things now.” I said defensively.

With a chuckle, Richard picked up one of the books nearest to him. “I’m sure you can, but please… Leave this to me. I can determine if any of these items are cursed.”

“You think cursed items would appear on the fifth floor?” Yui asked.

“Any magical item has a chance to be cursed.” Richard said as he caressed the side of the book.

Burin cried out. “Ahhh! Ye just want to be the first one to look at the loot!”

Richard placed a hand to his chest with a shocked expression on his face. Instead of replying, he looked down to the book and smiled.

Burin pointed his finger accusingly towards the man “Look! He isn’t even denying it!”

Watching Richard closely I could have sworn he was almost going to drool as he looked over the items.

We all watched him as he picked up and looked over each item before placing them back down. He seemed to take more time to look over the spell books than everything else. Even going as far as picking one of them up twice.

“Okay, looks like nothing is cursed.” He declared with a satisfied expression. He pushed the gear towards us, pulled out a notepad and started scribbling.

Miko started picking up items and after looking them over, passed them around.

[Dagger of the Grove]

Quality: Uncommon

Weight: 300g

Value: 10s – 1g

Effect: Subsequent attacks cause slightly more damage.

[Greatsword of the Grove]

Quality: Fine (Magical)

Weight: 1300g

Value: 20s - 1g

Effect: Slight chance to cause a secondary attack at one tenth the force.

[Bow of the Grove]

Quality: Fine (Magical)

Weight: 450g

Value: 80s – 2g

Effect: Channel mana into the bow to form a magical arrow. Can form up to two arrows at a time.

[Chest amour of the Grove]

Quality: Rare (Magical)

Weight: 800g

Value: 50s – 2g

Effect: Provides added protection against physical and elemental attacks. Slightly increases mana regeneration.

[Gloves of the Grove]

Quality: Rare (Magical)

Weight: 300g

Value: 50s - 2g

Effect: Provides added protection against physical and elemental attacks. Slightly reduces cast time of spells.

[Boots of the Grove]

Quality: Rare (Magical)

Weight: 1200g

Value: 80s – 3g

Effect: Provides added protection against physical and elemental attacks. Leave no trackable trace, magical or otherwise.

[Amulet of the Grove]

Quality: Rare (Magical)

Weight: 20g

Value: 50s – 2g

Effect: Increased resistance to mental attacks and slightly reduces the cost of spells.

[Fire bolt]

Quality: Fine (Magical)

Weight: 1kg

Value: 50s – 2g

Effect: Learn the spell Firebolt. Launch a small bolt of fire that burns on impact.

[Flowing Wellspring]

Quality: Fine (Magical)

Weight: 1kg

Value: 50s – 2g

Effect: Learn the spell Wellspring. Create a fountain of water at targeted location.

[Quicken]

Quality: Exceptional (Magical)

Weight: 1kg

Value: 1g – 5g

Effect: Learn the spell Quicken. Enhance a target individual’s movement and attack speed for a limited time.

Firebolt! The world must have taken pity on me to give me another chance at a firespell. I didn’t care too much about the rest of the loot, I just wanted to get my hands on that spell. I needed it!

Placing down the last of the items, Yui spoke. “Nothing is an upgrade for me. The only thing I am interested in is the firebolt spell. I don’t have a ranged spell, and this would be a perfect remedy to that.”

“Now hold on.” Miko cut in. “You’re not the only one that could do with a ranged spell.”

“Why would you need it? You use your crossbows.”

“Yeah, only because I don’t have a ranged spell. You have any idea how hard it is to load a crossbow while also holding a shield?”

Richard was suspiciously quiet while holding onto the spell book in question. He was looking back and forth between the two girls. I had a bad feeling as he looked down at the book and closed his eyes.

Moving in desperation I reached out and snatched the book from his fingers. Before he could take the spell for himself and before anyone else could stop me. I Closed my eyes and pushed my mana into the book.

Cries of “No!” and “Wait!” were directed to me but it was already too late. The book crumbled to dust in my hands, and I received a new notification.

Spell Gained.

Sleep or meditation required.

“What have you done!” Miko yelled out angrily.

“Wait” Yui interrupted. “It’s okay, it was not firebolt!”

“It wasn’t?” Miko and I asked together.

We all turned to Richard who stared, wide eyed, towards me. “That… That was the Quicken spell.”

“It was?” I looked down at the dust covering my lap. “I just saw Richard about to activate the spell book. I thought it was the firebolt and acted before I could think.”

Richard let out a sigh. “I didn’t think anyone else would be interested in the spell. Before you joined it was normal for me to receive all the support spells.”

“What are you talking about?” Miko asked. “We only looted one spell before Reigner joined us, and we all agreed you should that one spell. Not every spell we find.”

Yui pulled the pile of loot towards her to the looks and glared of the group. “As the team leader I will manage the looted items from this point forward.” Picking up the firebolt spell book she continued. “Since this is the main topic. Let’s start with this. Burin, Richard, do you have any interest in this spell?”

Both of them shook their heads.

I raised my hand. “Um, I do.”

“Reigner, do you really think you have a chance of receiving a second spell tonight? Spells don’t just grow on trees.”

Richards’ chuckling interrupted her. Earning him a glare from the teamleader. “Sorry. Its just… known spells can be crafted by a scribe on paper... which… you know.”

“Okay, I got it. Not the point I was making.” Turning back to me Yui continued. “Spells are very rare this low in the tower. Spreading them around the team will allow us to get more use out of them. Sorry Reigner, there is no way I am letting you have majority of dropped spells. Especially as we now have three casters in the group.

Feeling ashamed of my rash action, I looked down at my dusty lap. The loot was split up and in the end, I had received an amulet and pair of gloves. Yui won the firebolt spell after a quick game of rock paper scissors. Burin got the wellspring spell along with a dagger and chest armour. Richard received the rest of the armour as he did not receive a spell. Miko was not interested in the armour and instead received the rest of the weapons.

Yui kept hold of the seeds as no one wanted them, and the coin was split evenly. I ended up with a gold piece that I added to my growing wealth.

After donning the new gear, Richard let out an excited breath. “Wow. Check this out. This grove set increased my mana regeneration and casting speed by 50 percent when standing still! With this I won’t need to worry about choosing to deal damage or save mana for healing.”

With an excited cheer he ran outside and started shooting beams of light at random trees.

“Well.” Burin yawned. “I should get some sleep so I can learn this new spell.”

“Me too.” I said as I started pulling out my bedroll.

“Hold on.” Yui stated. “We need to organise a watch schedule.”

Closing my eyes I felt my mana, health, and stamina cut in half.

Rising from my shadow a copy of myself stepped forwards. “No need. I’ll handle the night watch.”