Chapter 274 - Natural Treasures (Patreon)

Zeke asked, “So, what’s with the humming?”

“Oh,” said Jasper, who’d finally recovered enough to hold a proper conversation. The pair were sitting at the kitchen table, having just finished a meal comprised mostly of monster meat Zeke had added to a stew. “That. A terribly story, my friend.”

“Lay it on me,” Zeke responded. “I’m sure I’ve heard worse.”

Jasper sighed dramatically, then pushed his white hair behind a pointed ear. Then, he began, “As I have told you before, I was intended to follow in my parents’ footsteps and become a jeweler.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t want that, right?” Zeke remembered. “You wanted to be an adventurer like your uncle.”

“A swashbuckler of prodigious repute,” Jasper supplied. “But I was incapable of following his path as well. Instead, I am ashamed to say that the Great Framework, in its infinite wisdom, bestowed upon me the path of the humble bard. A {Troubador}, in fact.”

“Huh?”

“Indeed – that was my reaction as well,” Jasper responded, his nod carrying with it a sense of fatigue and utter disdain. “As closely as I can understand it, the class was the result of my musical training as well as my martial proclivities, though if my parents were to ever discover my shame, they would disown me. Of course, I’ve not been back to Tesh in years.”

Zeke looked down at his empty bowl, then asked, “Why would they be ashamed of your class?”

Jasper shook his head. “Bards do not have the best reputation,” the dark elf state. “At best, we are considered entertainers of the peasantry. At worst, scoundrels, miscreants, and troublemakers. Either way, I have never enjoyed performing. Even when my parents insisted I learn various instruments in my youth, I eschewed the path of the performer.”

“Wait, so why didn’t you just choose a different class?” was Zeke’s next question. It seemed an appropriate one. After all, he’d received five class choices upon his ascension. Surely, Jasper could have chosen something more appropriate for his ambitions.

Jasper narrowed his eyes, then said, “I had but two options. {Jeweler} and {Troubador}. There are tales of exceptional warriors who have received more choices, but I was never exceptional. Not before I chose my class, at least.”

That was news to Zeke, but he wasn’t in any position to refute the statement. He had no idea how the world worked for people who’d been born in the Eternal Realm. However, he did know the class choices on offer were a result of a person’s achievements – and probably, to a lesser extent, their inborn talents – so he expected that there were few people whose accomplishments could even begin to rival what he’d done in the Radiant Isles. Still, Zeke wouldn’t discount the natives; after all, who knew what kind of advantages were available to the progeny of the elite? Besides, there was plenty of danger in the Eternal Realm, so it wouldn’t be that difficult for the indigenous people to find opportunities to prove themselves. Of course, surviving those opportunities was something else altogether.

“So, you’re a bard who doesn’t perform,” Zeke said. “Right?”

“Correct, my friend,” Jasper said. “Instead of singing, I hum. Instead of playing an instrument, I keep a beat by tapping my fingers. Before I was captured, I had a tiny drum that attached to my waist, but I suspect it is lost to me now, just like the rest of my equipment.”

“And how did you get caught in the first place?” was the next inevitable question.

Jasper just shook his head, saying, “Many mistakes. All seeming to build upon one another until there was no way to avoid disaster.”

Zeke wanted to ask more, but it was clear that the dark elf wanted to keep his secrets. However, he didn’t think the reasons were nefarious. Rather, he got the sense that Jasper felt a mixture of shame, regret, and sorrow. And he didn’t want to pry into that, not least because he wasn’t sure if Jasper would ever progress from temporary ally to becoming a friend. He wanted to see the dark elf as a potential friend, but the reality was that they didn’t know enough about one another to make that call. As it stood, they were just two people who’d been shoved into similar situations. Perhaps a friendship would bloom from that, but there was an equal chance that, the moment their goals drifted apart, so would they.

And after what had happened with Abby, Zeke had vowed to approach friendships with a little more caution. With the boon of distance, he’d begun to see that their relationship was never going to work. Whether it was due to Abby’s insecurities or because of something Zeke had done, he didn’t know, but their coupling had never been genuine. It was a relationship built on circumstance, proximity, and mutual attraction. He’d liked Abby, but in hindsight, Zeke knew that it had never been love.

Then, she had betrayed him, bringing everything crashing down. He knew why she’d done it, and he understood her reasoning well enough. But that didn’t mean he accepted that it was necessary. It also didn’t remove the teeth from the betrayal. So, as much as it had hurt – and it had – he’d resolved to completely cut ties with her.

Even so, the scars were still there, and Zeke wondered if he’d ever regain the ability to completely trust someone.

After a few seconds, Zeke said, “Fair enough. We all make mistakes, right? All we can do is try to learn from them.”

“That is true.”

For the next few minutes, the pair of them ate in silence. The interior of the tower still wasn’t fully furnished, and even more than that, Zeke had gotten used to always having people around. Whether it was Talia, Abby, Tucker, Carlos, or just Pudge, he was almost never completely alone. And while Jasper was there, Zeke regarded him as a guest. The others – they were family. Or they had been before mistakes or circumstances pushed them down different paths.

One day, though, Zeke would find his companions. Perhaps he’d given up on Abby, but [Mark of Companionship] was still active on Pudge and Talia. When Zeke finished his current quest – or at least exhausted the mines of possibilities – he would set out to reunite with his. The connection of [Mark of Companionship] was comforting, though. With it, he could at least verify that his friends were alive and well.

But what about Tucker? The man had survived a trip across the demon realm, so Zeke expected that he was just fine. But Zeke would have been more comfortable if he’d remembered to apply [Mark of Companionship] before they’d ascended. Just one more oversight to add to an exceedingly long list, he supposed.

After a while, Zeke pushed away from the table and said, “It’s time to go.”

Indeed, they’d gotten as close to the edge of the Rainbow Forest as they dared; any further, and they’d risk being seen by anyone who stumbled down the tunnels. It wasn’t likely, but it was possible. So, for the rest of their journey back, they’d be forced to eschew the comforts it provided.

More than once, Zeke had considered simply picking a different tunnel to descend further into the mountain. However, the encounter with the wraith as well as the lack of demonic atmosphere told him that was a mistake. In addition, Jasper had insisted that the expeditions were the right way to go if he wanted to gather netherite and black adamantine. And though he didn’t completely trust the dark elf, Jasper was his only real source of information.

Besides, any time he thought of heading further into the mountain, he remembered the touch of that red mist. Being so thoroughly oppressed and having the strength drained out of him was one of the more unpleasant experiences of his life. So, Zeke was less than enthusiastic about encountering any of the true monsters of the deep earth. That left going back as their only real option. Fortunately, they had enough high-quality blood mithril ore to satisfy the terms of Zeke’s quest a hundred times over. Turning in even a fraction of that haul would hopefully get them access to some of the mine’s other opportunities.

“Very well,” Jasper said, rising as well.

With that, the pair headed out of the kitchen, down the stairs, and through the tower’s lobby. Before long, Zeke was leading Jasper through the last leg of their journey through the Rainbow Forest. The trip back was far more peaceful than the original trek through the multi-hued, underground forest, largely because they’d killed so many of its inhabitants.

Once they reached the edge of the forest, they quickly changed back into their old clothes, making sure to rub dirt all over, before Zeke summoned the cart and loaded it down with enough ore to see them swimming in contribution points upon their return. Then, they set off through the ascending tunnels, and as they drew closer to the cave that served as a distribution center for that branch of the mining operation, they saw a few other miners. Some asked where they’d been, but Jasper easily deflected their questions.

Eventually, they made their way to the distribution center, where they deposited their haul. The dwarf in charge studied the ore, then, with a glare, asked, “Where’d ye get all this, then?”

“The mines, my friend!” Jasper said, his tone good natured. “We simply kept going until we found something interesting.”

The dwarf grunted, saying, “Lucky you ain’t dead, then.”

“Indeed, my friend!”

After that, the stone dwarf infused some mana into a chip Jasper held out. Then, he handed Zeke an identical disc of wood. Upon it was a number meant to denote his contribution points.

“Is a thousand a lot?” Zeke asked as they made their way toward the lift that would take them back to the top of the mines. They’d earned enough for a break, it seemed. Once the dwarf who operated the lift deducted some points from their chips, they stepped aboard and were hauled into the air.

Once they were out of earshot, the dark elf answered, “Yes. I have been here for months, and this is more than I have earned in that entire time.”

“Interesting,” Zeke said. “And do you think it’ll be enough to earn us a trip into other parts of the mine?”

He hadn’t forgotten that he’d started at the bottom of the ladder, and there were many steps required before he would be allowed to travel to the source of the demonic atmosphere he’d sensed on his way in. With their windfall, they may be able to skip a step or two, but Zeke didn’t think they’d get that lucky.

Once they reached the top, they headed back to the portion of the dwarven city reserved for the slaves. Zeke knew that it was kept almost completely separate, and for good reason. Not only did that put them closer to the mines, but it also kept them out of sight. It was one thing to condone slavery, but it was something else entirely to have the results directly under your nose.

Or maybe these stone dwarves didn’t care at all. They certainly hadn’t seemed like the empathetic type. In any case, Zeke and Jasper headed toward their barracks, where they settled down. Meanwhile, Zeke made a plan for what he would do if the stone dwarves didn’t give him the opportunities he needed to satisfy the terms of his quest. It wasn’t complicated, and it would involve quite a lot of death, but Zeke wasn’t the sort to let someone stand in the way of his goals. If someone became an obstruction, they would be moved, as simple as that.

Like that, Zeke and Jasper enjoyed their day off, during which Zeke visited the contribution store. He felt flush with his recent influx of contribution points, so he expected that he could go on a spending spree.

And in a way, he was right. For mundane items like food, new clothes, or better mining picks, he had enough points to outfit an entire squad of miners. However, for anything rarer, his collection of points was woefully inadequate.

He looked at the most expensive item on the list and asked, “What is a Confluence Crystal, and why does it cost fifty thousand points?”

Jasper, as well as the dwarf who manned the contribution store, looked at him like he was crazy. Then, the dark elf explained, “It is a D-Grade natural treasure. I would have to see it with my own eyes to understand its aspects, but it would be a powerful boon, regardless of whether or not you resonate with it.”

“Aspect of fire,” said the dwarf.

Jasper winced. “That is a powerful aspect, but I think…yes, useless for either of us.”

The dwarf snorted. “As if ye have the points for that,” she spat.

Jasper shook his head, then asked Zeke, “Do you see anything you need? If not, we should save our points for some of the more powerful treasures.”

Zeke shrugged. He had some concept of natural treasures; after all, he suspected that the items he’d gathered for his quest to evolve his race to the F-Grade were categorized as such. Certainly, the Fruit of Nascent Zeal Abby had used to evolve her own race in Beacon had been one such item. But he didn’t expect that he could benefit from something like that anytime soon.

So, after buying some higher quality food vouchers, Zeke and Jasper returned to their barracks, where he asked the elf about natural treasures.

Jasper answered, “They are used to progress your path. Some are meant to be consumed. Others offer benefits just from close proximity. There are many categories of natural treasures – too many to count, my friend – but they will all help you progress in some way. The only thing they do not do is advance your levels.”

Zeke nodded again, then said, “And I’m assuming that some treasures are better for some paths. For instance, that crystal would probably do a lot more for a fire mage than for someone like me.”

“Indeed, my friend.”

“Well, that changes some things,” Zeke said. He’d seen a few lesser treasures that might help him in some way. However, for now, they were all well out of reach. “I guess we need to earn some more contribution points, then.”

He still had plenty of blood mithril in his storage space, but the exchange rate between the ore and contribution points wasn’t nearly as good as he’d expected. That meant that unless he wanted to give up the entire stash – which he didn’t – he would need to find some other means of earning the valuable points.

Just as he had started to make plans, the barracks went silent as a dwarf walked through the door. His shoulders were wide enough that he had to turn sideways to get through the door, and he was clad in elaborate brown armor. As soon as he locked eyes on Zeke and Jasper, he made his way to them.

Looming over their seated forms, he said, “You two. Come with me.”

Then, he turned around and started walking away. Zeke exchanged a glance with Jasper, who nodded. Zeke was inclined to agree with the elf; after all, they were still slaves. They didn’t really have a choice. Sure, Zeke could reveal that he was uncontained by the collar and shackles, but then he’d have the entire dwarven population to deal with.

And he wasn’t ready for that.

So, with a sigh, Zeke pushed himself to his feet and followed the armored form of the dwarf.