Frodi patted me on the shoulder like an old friend and said:
“Let’s go quick! Otherwise they’ll eat it all without us!”
My new acquaintance lived in a small but new and warm barrack with fresh floorboards. There were another seven men living there as well. All higher than level ten. They were strong and well equipped. Truthfully, none of their faces were as kind as Frodi’s. Everywhere I looked, I saw the faces of cutthroats.
Noticing my perplexity at the entrance to the barrack, Frodi laughed:
“Come in, don’t be afraid. Everyone here is a friend. Isn’t that right, boys?”
He was answered by a discordant chorus of hoarse and smoky voices. And by the way, none of them paid me any mind.
“Frodi, you little jerk! Close the door!” Someone shouted angrily from a distance. “You’ll let all the heat out!”
The boy gave my back a gentle push and quickly slammed the door.
“Let’s go,” he nodded toward a small stove.
I walked on cottony legs past some pretty beat up plank beds which was what these men used for sleeping, sitting or just lying around. Up close they seemed even stranger and more dangerous.
It was very warm in the barrack, even hot. So they were all stripped to the waist. Based on all the tattoos on the men’s bodies, I realized what kind of place Frodi had brought me to. This was a barrack for convict laborers.
“Sit here next to the stove,” he said, pointing me to a stool. “I’ll get us some food.”
I sat timidly on the edge of the stool, ready to run for the exit at any time. For the record, they’re all still ignoring me as if I’m not here at all.
A few moments later, Frodi came with two deep bowls in his hands. I could smell the stupendous mushroom aroma from a distance.
“Here,” he extended me a bowl of steaming porridge. “Shovel it down while it’s still warm.”
There was a rye rusk in the bowl along with the porridge, which I used for a spoon.
As expected, I wolfed down the porridge very quickly. The food and warmth quickly made me sleepy. As I put down the last “spoonfuls,” I was already dozing off. I only had the strength to slowly crawl off the stool and curl up in a ball on the floor in a corner a step away from the stove.
A few seconds before I passed out, I heard a fragment of a conversation.
“How’d it all go?” one of them asked in a raspy powerful voice.
“Fine,” Frodi answered.
“One-ear?”
“He doesn’t mind.”
“Good,” I heard satisfaction in the hoarse voice. “Take him to the mine tomorrow.”
Chapter 5
THAT NIGHT I had a wonderful dream. Both my mom and dad were there. They were speaking, smiling... I wasn’t allowed to finish the dream. Someone was shaking my shoulder demandingly.
“That’s enough sleep for you today, kid,” Frodi said happily.
Is he ever serious, I wonder?
“Morning already?” I ask, looking around sleepily.
“Sun’s coming up soon,” the boy nodded. “We’ve gotta go.”
“Are we in a hurry?” I rub my eyes.
All the barrack residents are still snoring peacefully on their plank beds.
“Of course!” Frodi exclaims and, after following my gaze, says:
“Don’t you look at them. They have their own tasks. Here you go — to keep your strength up.”
He extended me three thick slices of fresh bread, ten or so small prunes and a mug of water.
“Eat up and let’s move out.”
It never takes long to talk me into eating. Quickly taking down the basic meal, I looked eagerly to my older pal. Truth be told, I stashed one big slice of bread and five prunes for later.
How I would repay all this generosity was something I didn’t want to consider. I decided for the time being to stick to the principle: “take what’s offered.” There’s no other way. My life is on the line. If I get hungry, my Energy supply will run out. And as soon as that happens, it will start taking from my Life supply to fill itself... And I have just ten points there...
Despite the early morning hour, everyone in the village was already awake. A few well-armed people were driving a small herd of goats somewhere. And those five there, based on the miner’s outfits, must have been on their way to gather ore. Frodi and I, leaving the gates, spent some time walking in their tracks. But then we turned down a very overgrown path that split off from the main road.
“This is an old road to some abandoned tunnels no one mines anymore.”
“So, w-why are we g-going there?” I asked, alarmed.
He stopped and, smiling, looked at me.
“Kid what’s with you? Scared?”
The same open and ingratiating facial expression.
“N-no,” I try put on a brave face. “But still...”
“Come on, don’t have a cow,” Frodi dismissed it. “As I said, there’s something I want to show you. I hope it can help you earn some coin for food and a bed. Up at the level me and the guys are at, everything in this place is worthless. But it could be just the thing for a zero like you.”
A bit later, when the sun was really beaming, we reached a fairly wide opening in the cliffside.
“Here!” Frodi said triumphantly. “This is the spot! Let’s go...”
“You sure there’s nothing nasty in there? I only have ten life points. One bite is enough to kill me.”
“No, there’s nobody there, nothing,” Frodi reassured me. “Don’t worry. Just wait a second, I’m gonna light a torch.”
He ducked into the darkness of the cave and a bit later a fire shone from its womb.
“Come over here, kid!” he shouted. “It’s safe!”
After a bit of hesitation, I decided to follow this to the end. This person wants to help me, and I’m acting like some cowardly stray dog.
In the cave it was damp and gloomy, but Frodi’s careless demeanor gave me a certain confidence. Beyond that, my father was a miner and wasn’t afraid to go into scarier shafts than this, even as a child. I was constantly pounding that fact into my head like a magic spell. If he could do it, so can I. Bizarrely, that helped push my fears into the background for a bit.
The wide tunnel wound a bit and led us into a wide cave.
“This is a crossing,” my guide explained. “A few big sections get their start here.”
I glanced at the dark tunnel entrances and shuddered involuntarily. Was it just me or could I hear a muted howling from the farthest one?
“That’s just the wind,” Frodi explained and nodded at the nearest passage:
“We’re headed that way.”
The nearly straight tunnel (I counted forty-six steps), led to a cave with an underground lake. Here it was unexpectedly bright due to the many holes in the stone ceiling. The water, glassy calm, reflected the rays of the sun, casting glints of light onto the walls.
I opened my mouth, astounded.
“Pretty, right?!” Frodi commented.
“Very.”
“And not that scary.”
That’s right! Distracted by the gorgeous view, I had totally forgotten about my fears!
“But we aren’t here to look at pretty stuff,” Frodi brought me down to earth. “Look.”
He pointed at a stone wall with a thick coating of gray moss. I walked up closer and stopped one step from where he pointed.
“What do you see?” the boy asked.
“A wall and some moss.”
“Can you cut a bit off?”
I looked.
“Yes, I can. It’s level zero.”
“Alright, give it a try. Let’s see what the Great System gives you.”
“Hmm, other than the moss itself — nothing,” I warned. “I’ve tried to gather level zero resources many times, but I never got anything.”
“Well try again,” Frodi winked conspiratorially. “Maybe this time will be different.”
“Well okay, but
only because you asked,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders, taking out the knife.
I really had tried gathering level-zero resources the whole way to the Crooked Mountains. I cut grasses, popped out little rocks, and cut bark off trees, but I never got any tablets or essences for my trouble.
I spotted a small piece of moss and, with a few fairly awkward motions, cut it down off the wall and instantly froze, my mouth open, dumbfounded...
- You have acquired Gray Moss.
- Congratulations! You receive:
- Experience essence (5).
- Clay tablet “Herbalism.”
- Clay tablet of Agility.
- Clay tablet “Knife Proficiency.”
I looked at the system notification and couldn’t believe my eyes. I reread it a few times, then took a glance at my sack. Was that really it?! Did it really work?! I wanted to shout and jump for joy! How long I’d waited for this! Fourteen whole years! And am I gonna get level one now, too?! Can I level like everyone else?! That would make my parents so happy!
My hands shaking, I again open my knapsack and start taking out my riches. The more times I reread the characteristics of my first real loot, the more the stupid happy smile crawled off my face, gradually changing into a grimace of confusion, then anger.
“What’s the matter?” Frodi’s voice sounded out right over my head.
I was distantly surprised at how quickly and, more importantly, silently he walked up behind me. Though it’s easy to understand my mood...
With a loud exhale, I fell down on the stone floor feeling defeated and covered my face with my hands. I wanted to bawl in anger.
“Hey, what’s the matter?” My older pal raised his voice again. “Activate the essences and jump up to level one.”
Was it just me, or was there a little club in his hand all of a sudden? I looked again... No... It was just me... Just a shadow on his hand...
“I can’t,” I exhaled in rage.
“Why might that be?”
Why was he so tense? And where’d his careless smile go?
“The essences and tablets have a restriction. Level one,” I answer shortly.
“Why would they have that?!” Frodi is surprised. “I don’t see the logic. Both you and the resources are zero. That means the loot should all be zero, too.”
“A wise medicine woman once said the Malevolent Bug made me as a joke. It looks like she was right and I will always be a freak.”
“Cuh-rap,” the boy drew out thoughtfully. “Tough luck... and what am I gonna tell him now?”
“Who?” I asked in surprise.
“Ah don’t you worry about it, kid,” he waved it off. “And chin up. In fact, you can be happy you got some loot.”
“Five essences and three tablets. I just don’t understand why...”
“Well that’s actually quite simple. Read the characteristics of the moss.”
I followed his advice, intrigued.
- Gray Moss.
- Weight: 1.75 ounces.
- Value: Extremely low.
- Quality: Fresh (will change in 12 hours).
“Okay. And what?”
“You slow or something? You don’t see anything?”
I reread it a few times and my gaze stopped on the “value” line.
“Looking at your face, I can see that you figured it out,” Frodi smiled.
Seemingly, his usual positivity is coming back.
“There are a couple patterns the Great System always follows. For example, as you were saying, if a resource has a value of ‘worthless,’ you won’t get any essences or tablets.”
“Hm, then what’s the point of worthless resources even existing?” I asked angrily.
“The Great System knows best how to order our world,” Frodi shrugged his shoulders.
I think I know someone who might dispute that assertion. Dalia once mentioned in conversation with my father that there were ancient books that said the Great System isn’t so great after all, just a system. And it was created by those we call the Ancients or the Departed. Nonsense and heresy, of course. Father by the way said as much the day he learned it. But right now, there was so much anger pent up in my heart that I wanted to believe Dalia was right.
“Alright, Eric,” Frodi said thoughtfully. “Then you stay here and keep working. I’ll run off to the village and send someone to hang with you. Just in case...”
“Alright,” I agreed without much consideration. “And does anyone want this moss for anything?”
The fact I cannot use the bonus loot for its express purpose is of course a problem but not a reason to wallow in self-pity. At the end of the day, I would now have a stable source of income. After all, tablets and essences could be sold.
“As far as I know, this moss is useless trash, even though the Great System thinks otherwise. Feel free to just throw it away.”
“Gotcha,” I mumbled, disappointed.
When my pal was already at the exit, I shouted after him:
“Frodi! Uh... Thank you! I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me!”
The boy turned. For a moment, I thought I saw a strangely acrid grimace cross his face. I blinked. No, it was just me... His face was just as happy and careless as ever. What’s with all these glitches today? I’m seeing all kinds of things. Here a club in his hand, there a predatory grin. And all of it from the strange lighting in this cave. Yeah, and let’s face it, I’m very anxious.
Frodi gave a friendly wink and waved it off:
“Don’t worry about it, friend! Buy me a round when you get rich! Haha!”
A moment later, he disappeared into the tunnel and I was left alone. First of all, I come close to the lake, get down on a knee at the water and wash my very warm face.
Nice! The chill made my scorching forehead and cheeks tingle. And the water was ice cold. After dousing my neck a couple of times, I finally cheered up. Nothing to worry about! We’ll get through it!
After washing up, I crouched on a stone. I needed to look over my trophies more carefully. First, I took out the essences. Little droplets of crystal the size of a thumbnail. In the sun, they shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow. Pretty!
- Experience essence.
- Level: 1.
- Effect: +1 to current level progress.
- Weight: None. Takes no space.
And I had five of them. Now onto the tablets. The thin sheets of clay were the size of my hand. Covered in runic etching. Very lightweight.
- Clay Tablet of Agility.
- Level: 1.
- Category: Characteristics.
- Effect: + 0.1 to current Agility progress.
- Weight: None. Takes no space.
- Clay Tablet “Herbalism.”
- Level: 1.
- Category: Professions.
- Effects:
- First use activates the Herbalism profession.
- + 0.1 to current profession progress.
- Weight: None. Takes no space.
- Clay Tablet “Knife Proficiency.”
- Level: 1.
- Category: Skills.
- Effect: + 0.1 to current progress in Knife Proficiency skill.
- Weight: None. Takes no space.
I’d have to find out how much tablets and essences sold for in the village. When I realized I’d have to sell everything, a lump rose up my throat. Fourteen years of anticipation and torment! And now the long awaited level one was slipping through my fingers yet again...
I rubbed my temples and forehead furiously then shot up from the ground. Enough sulking! Time to get to business!
I walked over to the wall and took out Dragonfly. My second piece of moss came a bit easier.
- You have acquired Gray Moss.
- Congratulations! You receive:
- Experience essence (5).
- Clay tablet “Herbalism.”
- Clay tablet of Agility.
- Clay tablet “Knife Proficiency.”
Dungeons of the Crooked Mountains Page 6