The Trapped Mind Project (Emerilia Book 1)

by Michael Chatfield

  “Now find me some ore, boy!” Kol finally said, coming to a stop.

  Dave spread his senses out, looking for the richness he felt in the rocks Kol had grilled him with. He found a thin vein of iron at the edge of his reach. “Iron, over there.”

  “Good. I hope you have a shovel—it’s under a lot of dirt.” Kol walked in the direction of the vein.

  Dave checked his inventory and followed Kol.

  “Close your eyes, and only use your Touch to walk.”

  Dave did so, tripping as he moved.

  “What’s this?” Kol asked.

  “Gold,” Dave said.

  Kol put the rock in his pocket and grabbed another.

  “Ebony,” Dave said.

  Kol continued to pull out stones and put them back. Dave was learning them quick.

  They stopped at a small rock. Dave could sense the depths of the rock and the vein of iron hidden in it. He pulled out his pick and shovel. Kol took the shovel and ordered Dave to start cutting into the rock.

  “There has to be an easier way than this. Don’t you have any grinders?” Dave asked.

  “Grinders?”

  “Like machines to make this a faster process?” Dave asked.

  “A pick has worked for a century and it’ll work for another century.”

  Dave had been Austin Zane at one point, the man who had mined Sol system. A pickaxe was not the fastest way to mine the ore out.

  “What would you say if I knew of a faster way to get the ore out with a tenth of the Dwarves?” Dave said.

  “I would say you’ve started to go senile, or used your head to break rocks too many times,” Kol said, his tone biting as he sat on a nearby log.

  Dave didn’t say anything. Some people might listen to his plans, others wouldn’t. Dave worked in silence, digging around the rock he wanted to break down.

  “How would you go about mining?” Kol asked after some time.

  “There are a few ways. One is having big machinery with multiple spinning heads. They grind up whatever is in front of them and push it back to big smelters to be sorted and refined. The other is cutting out blocks of materials with high powered and focused light. Have you seen light through a focusing glass?”

  “Yes,” Kol said.

  “You amplify that power many times and it can cut through anything. Seeing as it’s a planetary body and not an asteroid, though, might also need explosive,” Dave said.

  “Those are dangerous,” Kol countered.

  “Yes, but practice makes perfect. If done the right way, a team with lasers and some explosives could cut out a crude tunnel in less than half the time of others. Even less if they have more people or powered help to move the materials to smelters.”

  “Those kinds of creations would be feeble and unstable. Yet you want to put them into miners’ hands where they might be working just feet from someone’s house and let them try it out?” Kol said.

  Dave didn’t try to come back with anything. He’d said his piece. He wanted to know how to blacksmith, not have an argument about how he was going to extract ore.

  “How come you know so much about getting ore?” Kol asked.

  “In a single month, I mined more material than the Mithsia Mountains has in it. Every four months, I’d drop the weight of Mithsia in refined ingots down on my planet,” Dave said.

  “Impossible,” Kol said.

  “Nothing is impossible,” Dave said. “It’s something I’m learning every day,” he muttered under his breath, focusing on his digging.

  Kol didn’t say anything for a time. Dave had got out his pick and was hammering away at the rock to get to the ore vein inside it when Kol finally spoke up.

  “Us Dwarves, we have a secret. We don’t really go into the mines with our pickaxes. We use our magics to pull up the majority of our resources. The rest are doing other things like gathering food or working the smithies. The few who do use their pickaxes are the warbands we send to scout out new tunnels. We don’t know what’s down there, so we send them in to get a sample of the area and see if there are any creatures hiding there.” Kol moved from his seat to the top of the stone outcropping that Dave had excavated.

  “I was thinking of showing you this tomorrow, but now will work.”

  Dave felt power reach from Kol down through the earth, covering the iron ore that was there. Slowly he pulled at the ore through the path his magic had traced through.

  The iron vein started to rise, inch by inch; the material it was displacing moved into the area it had left behind.

  It rose about four feet before Kol released his Mana.

  “It’s not easy, but it will get you the ore you need a lot faster.” Kol wiped his sweaty brow.

  “How do I do it?” Dave asked, seeing why the Dwarves could use picks and their magic only. With that kind of control over the earth, they could literally pull ore from the ground.

  “Cover the ore in your Mana and ease the earth around the ore. Don’t pull on it or you’ll just be fighting the earth above it. Move the earth rather than the ore.

  “The trick is to get all of the ore, not just most of it.”

  Dave tried to imitate what Kol had done. He channeled his Mana through the ground; it only felt like a part of his Mana. He couldn’t exert it all on the ground. He grabbed the iron and tried pushing against the earth around it to send it upward. The earth barely moved.

  “Guide it around the iron,” Kol said.

  Dave took a breath. He felt as though he had run with a truck on his back. “This shit sucks.”

  “Means it’s good training. Once you’re at half Mana, try again,” Kol said.

  Dave rubbed his head as he sat down. So it went until the sun was getting low.

  “That’s a good first day. Let’s head back.” Kol stood from his seat and headed for the outpost.

  “Silver,” Dave said, the old dwarf holding the piece of metal in his hands.

  “There might be hope for you yet.”

  Chapter 19: Who You Gonna Call? Trollbusters!

  Dave wiped at his face. The rag that was soaking up his sweat had let some past as he heated metal. He turned it to get an even heat. Dave brought it back out of the forge, taking it to his anvil.

  In his time with Kol, he had started to study the metal in depth with his Touch. He had seen the signs there but it was like looking at a piece of art: you could see what it was made from, even though you didn’t know how the artist did it. Dave now recognized the various compounds that were in the metal. He saw the way they reacted to pickaxes, to heat and cold.

  He brought his hammer down in measured strikes, forming the simple nail. He still hadn’t graduated to making weapons.

  Kol might sound as if he were talking a bunch of crap and be annoying as Dave learned to finally pull ore from the earth, but Kol insisted he do it another seven times before he was even allowed into the smithy. His smithy.

  Yet now he didn’t just form metal—he shaped it.

  A notification came down the side of his view.

  New Active Skill: Smithing

  You can hammer out some items on an anvil. No big deal or great boon. What the hell do you need to know this for in order to deal with a portal?

  Level: Apprentice 8

  Effect: 39% improved quality of smithing creation.

  Kol didn’t bug Dave; he just gave him various tasks. Kol would work on his own pieces—no one tried to stop the blind man. More than one Dwarven smith looked at Kol’s creations with reverence. They were not only functional but beautiful.

  Kol rarely made something that was less that AAA Quality. Dave could tell that the man could reach S, the highest known quality, but Kol smithied for fun. He had nothing to prove.

  When the villagers needed nails, the ores that Dave had dug up were turned into nails. People would have paid a fortune for his blades and armor, yet here he was, making nails for free.

  Dave put the nail into the quench bucket. He put down his tools and grabbed his
pliers, taking out another piece of metal he’d had heating up. He went back to his anvil as Kol also grabbed a new piece of cherry-hot metal.

  Dave’s hammer moved again, turning the piece of metal into a nail, identical to the others. He could feel his connection to the metal. His mind only focused on the metal, getting rid of the impurities and turning it into a final product. He knew where to hit, when he needed to turn. It was relaxing. The rest of the world fell away as he worked.

  He put the nail down; steam rose as he moved to the next piece of heated metal. Again, he felt a connection with the metal, as if it spoke to him. He could see the carbon, the formation of the metal. He could understand what he needed to do to make the nail stronger and harder. There was no need for instructions; it was a conversation between him and the simple piece of metal at his mercy.

  Dave did nail after nail, turning from man into machine. All that took up his mind was the metal and making it into the best item possible. He didn’t see the Dwarven grins as they saw his work. He’d given himself over to the smithy. His hammer and his body worked to create.

  Dave stopped as Kol placed a hand on his back. Dave put the finished nail in the water-filled bucket.

  “Well done.” Kol used tongs to pull the nail from the bucket.

  Iron Nail

  Quality: B

  Durability: 2/2

  Dave looked at the nail’s information. He’d been making C and D quality work for the most part. Getting to B meant he’d finally moved into the Journeyman category of skills.

  “Next we’ll work with steel,” Kol promised, looking pleased.

  Kol had been an ornery old bastard when he’d started teaching Dave. He’d been doing his grandson a favor. With time and Dave showing that he actually wanted to learn, not just be taught, Kol had come to show Dave more and give him some begrudging respect.

  Dave felt zonked. Creating something from the iron had been like a drug in itself. The sense of accomplishment filled him with pride.

  “Now we’ve got another seventy nails to go! We only need level C quality and you’re two times slower than any true Dwarven smith!” Kol’s scowl returned.

  Dave grinned and moved back to the forge, where there were new ore slivers waiting to be formed into nails. He took a look at his notifications before he pulled it out.

  Active Skill: Smithing

  Level: Journeyman Level 1

  Effect: 45% improved quality of smithing creation.

  Reward: 2000XP

  Passive Skill: Perception

  You take time to look at your surroundings and analyze them. You notice details that others do not. At higher levels, people will think you can smell gold.

  Level: Apprentice 6

  Effect: 35% chance to find hidden details.

  Reward: 2500 XP

  Stat Increase

  +2 Intelligence

  +1 Strength

  +1Willpower

  Level 16

  You have reached level 16; you have 65 stat points to use.

  ***

  Dave walked out of the smithy and to his house. He poured water over his face, pulling the rag on his brow off.

  He stood there and looked around. It had been morning when he went into the smithy; now it was almost night.

  “Dave, come on. We’ve got a meeting to go to.” Max walked up.

  “Huh? What about?” Dave focused his Mana on his muscles, relaxing them and healing them from their stresses over the day.

  “The damn troll. Come on.” Max turned and Dave followed.

  Looking up the hill, a wall was slowly forming. On the North, East and West, the cliffs offered natural defenses. The wall would stretch from the Eastern to the Western Cliff, enclosing the village.

  It was no simple wall either; Dwarven Mages were working together with Elven Mages as they rose stone and metal walls, creating fronts as smooth as polished marble. Anyone that attacked wouldn’t find any easy hand holds to climb over the wall.

  Just to the right and close to the wall was Dave’s home, smithy, and kiln. A path weaved up toward the outpost that was growing at the top of the hill.

  Buildings were going up everywhere. One of the buildings that had been finished was the warband’s hall. It was four times the size of Dave’s home and in the center of the outpost.

  A square was in the middle of the homes. A new tree had been planted there. A rare Elvenwood, a white tree with leaves that seemed to dance in the light and change colors with the wind and temperature stood proudly there.

  Two roads were forming from the outpost’s center through the walls. One ran close to Dave’s home, with only a copse of trees behind his kiln separating him from it.

  The one to the right went to Omal; the one to the left ran to Mithsia and Kufo’tel.

  Teams had chopped down a good number of trees. Dwarves and Elves worked to remove the tree stumps by having the earth push them free.

  Tents were still a common sight but new buildings were being finished every day.

  Dwarven teams were moving down the road, clearing it of debris and then pulling rocks from below to create a natural roadway. It was slow, but their work would last lifetimes.

  Dave stepped onto the road as they headed up to the warband’s hall.

  Wis’Zel waved to Dave as he left before turning and working on his latest artistic creation before him.

  Dave smiled and waved back to the Elf.

  He’d made a contract with an Elf called Wis’Zel. He was a youngster by Elven standards, just thirty years old. He was an artist and a good man. He’d offered his services to man the kiln, taking twenty percent of the profits. As he waited to turn over the clay creations, he spent his time painting. He was no simple airhead and his art was like a picture, but with Wis’Zel’s flair.

  Dave had agreed. He didn’t know how much the kiln with its bricks and tiles were making until he got a bag of gold a few weeks ago. He was earning roughly three gold a week. Not an inconsiderable amount. Wis’Zel also had ideas to bring the new inventions to Omal.

  Dave left the man to it and focused on his training.

  He waved to people here and there. As he was the one who had come up with the design of the houses, they were constantly offering him items in thanks. He would smile and wave them away. The only thing he didn’t deny were books and food, maybe an occasional beer here and there.

  These people were building their homes; they had sold everything to come to the outpost and start their own industries. There were farmers cultivating the plains near the stream that ran below the cliff next to Dave’s house. Others were starting to build wells, or go off and look for various herbs.

  Dave was happy to be part of the little community but he still enjoyed his separation. Here he had friends and people to talk to. They didn’t shun him as he had been shunned being Zane.

  Here he was a valued member of the outpost. He’d gone on patrols, helped them build their homes, and even saved two of the outpost’s residents from a venomous snake.

  Dave saw Esa, Mikal, and Jules moving for the warband hall.

  He didn’t know how to feel about them yet. As time had gone on, they had spent more time working with the people in the outpost and actually making friends and connections. They were acting more like the People of the outpost than Players every day.

  They were all training their various skills and growing in leaps and bounds. They asked how he had remained at level 3 instead of ever advancing; he’d shrug his shoulders and change the subject. He was keeping those points in case he ever really needed them. He had quickly gone from his skills taking weeks to develop to months.

  He wanted to go out and fight mobs to increase his stats some more. He also knew how powerful those mobs and sentients could be. Plan, prepare and do it again a few more dozen times before you ever act, Kol had said. He had been talking about smithing, but Dave had taken the lesson to heart. The engineer in him agreed. He wasn’t ready yet to go on his own adventures, but soon he would be.r />
  He walked into the hall. There were two floors with an eating area on the first floor and a large chimney reaching into the ceiling. On the second floor, there were beds for the Dwarves to sleep and dressers to store their gear.

  “What’s he doing here?” one of the warband leaders by the name of Astaur barked.

  “He fights with my warband. If he’s coming with us, then he’s going to know what we’re facing,” Lox said, his voice like hammered steel.

  “He’s some halfling spawn. What use do we have of him?” Astaur shot back.

  “I’ll show you what use I have,” Dave muttered under his scruff of a beard.

  Astaur shot him a look and began to speak.

  Wender tapped his hammer on the stones that made up the Dwarven floor. “What are ya, warband of bickering wives? We’ve got a troll to kill, unless you want to stay back here cleaning out your damned underwear!” Wender growled. His beard and hair were pulled back with metal ringlets that showed the various battles and challenges he had won. His scarred face and the massive hammer in his hand would give anyone pause.

  Wender Olfson

  Dwarf

  Level 78

  Astaur shook her head but drank from her cup.

  Dave slumped onto a seat. The warband made noises of greeting as Max sat on the other side of the table that rested along the hall’s walls.

  “We’ve got a damned troll to deal with, so let’s get to the business at hand. I’ve dispatched word back to Mithsia and Kufo’tel. They are sending reinforcements to help with the clearing out of this area. We all know how trolls are. They can move from place to place at a moment’s notice. They’re annoying to track and worse if we find them out in the forests instead of at their cramped homes. Durl, you have command of the city watch. Lox, Astaur, and my own warband will hunt this troll down and check out whatever is in the dungeon behind it. We will split loot once we are back at the outpost,” Wender said.