Chapter 28: Lumina |
Cal stretched as he admired the new feature of the landscape. He had created it last night, finishing when it was near midnight.
“Is this your new resting place?” Cal asked with amusement. The little beast was at the top of the small hill of rocks, lying on its back and enjoying the early morning shine.
He wasn’t even irritated by the lazy way it nodded its head to reply to his question. He had begun to shift the little beast’s status from a ‘suspicious burden he needed to watch’ to a ‘possibly useful part of the future farm.’
Cal intended to discover what kind of beast it was when he had the time. Still, the initiative it showed him yesterday helped raise its worth considerably in his eyes.
The little beast might have hoped for powdered crystals as a reward for helping. I still see that as a positive. Better for it to earn than try to steal.
He let the little beast sunbathe and turned to walk to his field. The day’s work would depend on what Seris would tell him about his request to the Initiates in town.
If either Vaela or Liora could help him acquire a water spell without going to the city, he could likely start applying the fertilizer to his field today. If not, he would need to set out immediately and try to return before too much time was wasted.
Cal picked up the plow and plopped it into the dirt. He would only do the five hundred square feet for which he had the fertilizer and leave the rest untouched.
I want to see how the surface layer grows back.
Your equipment [Common Plow] has been upgraded to [Uncommon Plow].
Cal dismissed the interface and finished the rest of the dirt patch in a few minutes. The last tine of turned-over dirt was used as a boundary between what he would fertilize and the rest that he would use to observe the process of the surface layer regrowth.
He picked the plow out of the dirt and placed it beside his wheelbarrow. Seeing his only wheeled tool made him realize that he hadn’t checked the progress he had made on the tasks from last night.
[Uncommon Wheelbarrow: Excellent Quality] Upgrade: 521/900 Tasks
[Advanced Shovel: Good Quality] Upgrade: 2038/4500 Tasks
Cal shivered when he saw he was almost halfway done with the shovel’s tasks. He would have a Rare-ranked tool soon enough. It raised some interesting questions in his mind.
The most prominent issue is whether he would get to keep it for himself. He could see the higher-ups in the guild be uncaring towards Advanced-rank equipment—there were some that members possessed them—but the Rare rank was another matter altogether.
The guildmaster was the only one who owned something of the Rare rank—a sword.
He had to be mentally prepared to lose the shovel. He didn’t have the strength to fight against it, nor would he try to. However, he would fight for compensation.
This is why I’m getting Orrin to make duplicates.
Cal snapped his head to the dirt path with a frown. He could hear the sound of oxen pulling a cart. Just one cart, not a convoy.
He wasn’t expecting Tavia back this early. Which meant—
“Boss!” Seris waved excitedly when her cart came into view. “I come with gifts! Many, many gifts!”
Cal stared with an open mouth at the pile of metal he could see behind her on the cart. He had intended to tell Seris that he wanted more from Orrin, but he didn’t expect her to lug a small store’s worth of tools here today.
He only asked for one more of each tool. Not how much ever Seris brought.
Cal watched Seris get closer. She jumped off the cart and displayed the cart full of tools with both hands and a wide smile. “Bet you didn’t expect this, boss!”
He shook his head. “I can’t say that I did.” He narrowed his eyes at the plentiful pickaxes in the cart. “What made you tell Orrin to make all of this?”
“I didn’t have to say anything. Orrin was apparently practicing day and night. When I told him you needed more tools, he told me to give you all of this!”
“Give?” Cal repeated as he tallied up everything he could see. Seven pickaxes, two sledgehammers, four shovels, one plow, and one wheelbarrow.
“Well, not give. You should still pay him, boss. Just because he’s dumb and won’t take money because he’s thankful doesn’t mean you should do that,” Seris’s face scrunched up in disgust the longer she spoke.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Once again, I wonder who you’re working for, Seris.”
She stiffened as she searched his face for any displeasure. When she couldn’t find anything telling, she reluctantly backtracked. “Well, Orrin did want to give these for free. I guess he’s not expecting anything. It would be nice if you could, but I get it, boss. Money is money.”
Cal saw her fingers itching for the small coin pouch that hung on her waist.
She wants to pay out of her own pocket.
“Here. I assume all of these are of the Common rank?”
Seris stared at the eight silver offered to her. She blinked at it slowly before looking at his face. “Uh, yes. Orrin said he melted all the ones that were at the Basic rank to get the materials back.”
“Then this is the correct amount,” Cal smirked when she warily took the silver. “Did you think I wouldn’t pay?”
“… You did say I wasn’t on your side.”
“And you weren’t,” Cal didn’t coat his words, making her wince. “But I understand this is Orrin, so I don’t expect you to be. However, it would be nice if you didn’t immediately think I would take all this for free.”
“That’s unfair, boss,” Seris growled. “I never thought that. I was just mad that Orrin wanted to give away everything for free when he needed the money.”
He paused, replaying what she said in his mind.
… It seems like she’s right. I assumed the worst of her. I thought I had broken that habit in this life.
“You’re right,” Cal awkwardly accepted the blame. “I owe you an apology, Seris.”
“… Don’t worry about it, boss,” Seris was just as awkward in brushing it away. “Oh, the tools you told Orrin to make will be ready by tonight.”
Cal gladly accepted the obvious attempt to move on. “That’s great! I’ll head to town after sunset and pick them up. Did you speak to the Initiates yet?”
“Er, I did, but I couldn’t really understand what Initiate Vaela told me,” she fidgeted like she did something wrong, “and I was too nervous to ask them what she meant.”
“That’s fine. As long as you remember the wording, I’ll understand.”
I expected something like this. I should find another reason to get her to speak to them again. She’ll get used to it quicker.
Seris frowned as she recalled the memory. “Uh, there are a lot of water spells to choose from, but simulacra are only available in Lumina.”
Cal sighed in disappointment. He had never seen an entry-level spell sold without a simulacrum, but that might have been his privilege of being a core member. The trip to the city couldn’t be avoided anymore.
He made some quick mental calculations and figured the fastest he could get to the city would be an hour. Maybe less if he had underestimated what the [Tier] rank upgrade had done to his body.
Cal knew of the best place to buy the spell, so that would take less than an hour. After that, the return trip would take just as long as the trip to the city.
If everything went to plan, he would have his spell and would be working on learning it around noon at the field.
“Seris, head back to town. I’ll be heading to Lumina for some business.”
“Can I come?” Seris asked eagerly.
Cal was tempted to say yes, and he would have in any other situation, but speed was the key this time. “Not today. You won’t be able to really see the city since I plan to get the simulacra quickly before returning. I’ll take you the next time I go.”
Seris didn’t look happy about it, but she nodded in understanding. “I’ll hold you to that, boss. Do you have any instructions for me before I head back?”
“Go have some fun for the day and relax,” Cal waved her off with a smile.
“Yes, boss!” Seris gave him a sloppy salute before turning back to her cart and freezing. “Uh, I’ll unload the tools here, then leave.” She was quick with the work and was soon on the dirt path back to town in less than ten minutes.
Cal saw the little beast reappear to stare curiously at the metal pile on the ground. “I’ll be leaving for a few hours. Make sure to watch over the storage room when I’m gone.”
The little beast nodded eagerly and tapped its chest as if to say, 'trust me.’
This is almost a test of the trustworthiness of the little beast. I might be making a thirty-silver mistake, but I have no choice.
He quickly placed all the tools in the storage room—his precious upgraded tools and the ones that Seris dumped unceremoniously on the ground. There was no chance he would take any of them to Lumina.
The lower-ranked tools would make him a laughingstock and be a detriment to the goal of a quick trip, and the higher-ranked tools would attract too many eyes, causing the same issue for a different reason.
Cal left the storage room and nodded at the little beast standing to attention by the door. He left the Northern Wastes for the first time in days.
***
The soft crunch of the dirt under his boots had disappeared long ago. The dirt path he was familiar with had been replaced with paved stone. It could no longer even be called a path since it had widened to support two carriages traveling beside each other while leaving ample space for foot traffic.
The stark difference made Cal resolve that he would build the same if the opportunity ever arose.
“Greetings. Ah, I see you’re in a hurry!”
He gave the passing stranger a slight nod as he continued his journey. Compared to the mortals he now frequently encountered, he was practically sprinting. It was necessary to reach Lumina in the time that was planned.
I’m close.
The road he was on could be considered well-traveled by now, but only when Cal saw the makeshift stalls by the side of the road did he think he was genuinely close to the city.
He only visited Lumina a few times in his past life. The curiosity of mortals surrounding dinky little stalls stood out to him as a core memory of this place—even though it was apparently outside the city gates.
It was all the same for me back then.
Cal had been able to see the great walls that surrounded the city for some time, but he was now about to make out the shapes of the roofs of the tallest structures in the city. The only one he cared about was further back.
The Great Market of Lumina. A fifty-story building that would grab the interest of anyone from a mortal to an Apprentice.
He rapidly approached the walls to finally see the massive gates that led into the city. At the very top—acting as a keystone—was the guild’s insignia. A shining golden compass with a burning white sun.
“An Initiate?” A guard picked out Cal from the crowd the moment he stepped into the gate’s vicinity.
Cal nodded in reply.
“You may enter. Head to the Registry Office and sign your name and station.”
“Understood,” he nodded again before walking through the gate.