Orphan at the Edge of the World 75 Crystal Cage 13

Orison smiled widely as he looked across the lightly forested slopes. "I actually chose it for that reason."

Almost looking angry, Gan said, " I hope you didn't have me spend almost three hours looking through zone information just as busy work."

The young mage shook his head. "No, there was more to it than that. I wanted to make sure the place I picked wasn't close to any of the top choices. There's a handful of places I was looking at and this one is the second least used and furthest from from the top listed spot from its area. Plus, you're the map guy, our scout. In the future, when we need to know where to go, everyone's going to turn to you."

Gan looked surprised and then thoughtful. "In all the excitement I kind of forgot. I don't know when it happened but I stopped thinking of myself as a scout."

Orison nodded and said, "I'll take some of the blame for that. For one reason or another I kept you glued to my side instead of letting you do what you're best at... Gan, once our group is together and we start adventuring properly, I'll still have a hard time asking you to scout ahead."

An awkward silence lingered between them as they looked for the entrance to one of the giant ant hills that held the prey they sought.

Right before they went underground, Gan said, "I think I get it. I appreciate that you understand how dangerous scout work is and if I was in your position, I can't say I'd have an easy time with it either. When you're in charge of a group, sometimes what's good for the group means more danger for just one of them. Sometimes it means one has to die so that everyone else can make it. I don't think it should ever be an easy thing to do but it's the burden of being the one in charge."

Gan seemed to be satisfied at the thoughtful look on Orison's face, not realizing that the young mage was just made aware of another small darkness that escaped notice before. Orison realized if it came down to it, Gan would be the last one he'd choose to ever abandon or sacrifice for any reason. It wasn't that he didn't care about Rithus or Duran but that he considered Gan more important. It was a twisted and guilt inducing feeling but the young mage came to understand that some deeper part of himself didn't just register Gan as someone between a best friend and a subordinate but also as something that belonged to him, a possession.

Orison knew such feelings were nothing more than that, a thing he couldn't help. He swore to himself that even though such a childish and messed up sentiment existed within him, he'd not let it affect how he treated Gan. He made a silent promise to the scout that he'd never stand in the way of Gan's future happiness, even if that happiness took the scout away from Orison's side. No matter how much the young mage valued Gan, there were just some things Orison wasn't willing to do or say because they wouldn't just be lies but also betrayals.

As they combed deeper into the dark and long abandoned tunnels, Orison ruminated the practical side of their group. Rithus was only a year or so from coming into his own. That would likely spell the 'beginning of the end' of his entanglement with Orison. Once the ex-Marshalander shook off his past, both memory and no longer existing disabilities, Orsion had the intuition that the shadow that guided Rithus would lead the scaly man elsewhere. Their 'climbing' paths weren't that compatible, though Orison had no idea why.

Duran was a bit of a hot mess but he would become a strong and reliable person with a little support. Orison felt that the boy had a good chance of sticking around with him for a good while on their 'climb' but there would inevitably come a day when the greater good that Duran subconsciously served conflicted with Orison's personal goals. It was a simple understanding that buried underneath the trauma Duran had experienced was the heart of a hero. It's what let Duran survive what had happened to him and it's what would drive him to greater heights in the future, if it didn't get him killed.

Gan was Gan. He was a relatively simple and straight-forward person. Under the surface, the scout was a person with deeply hidden noble sentiments and even deeper insecurities that combined to make him a loyal and trustworthy person to those that could get past the invisible fortress the scout had built around himself. A simple offering of human kindness and a place to belong may have won Gan for a lifetime but there was one thing that could take the scout away. Despite his current contentment, there would always be an emptiness that only one kind of person could fill. When that person came along, they'd be the whole world to Gan.

Orison contemplated himself. He tried to be a good person but he could only truthfully claim to be neutral at best. The combination of Al and the original Orison may have canceled out the worst traits in each other and made for an individual with a lot of potential but the resulting person was still deeply flawed.

Gan's whispering voice knocked Orison out of his thoughts. "Three red dots. They're about fifty feet past the bend in front of us."

There were several reasons why the beginner zone they were in wasn't popular. The biggest one was that the creatures that called the abandoned ant tunnels home were hard to catch. As soon as a group came near, they'd flee into the ground.

There were two different creatures in the tunnels that looked exactly the same and one dropped nothing except a little mole skin. The earth elementals that disguised themselves as moles had a chance to drop precious stones or even magic gems but if even one mole was killed, they'd hide for days before emerging again. That meant that the average beginner, alone or in a group, stood little chance of making a decent gain versus time spent when compared to the more commonly used areas.

Orison scanned with spirit sight, identifying that one out of the three cowardly hostiles had a much stronger spiritual signature. Getting as close as they dared, Orison sent Titania to speed strike and hopefully paralyze the mole disguised elemental. Close to the maximum distance that his summons could travel, Titania readied her wand and struck out with a tiny bolt of lightning.

The two pet moles immediately fled. The remaining elemental was finished off by Oberon. Orison was hit by a rush of spirit essence nearly as thick as a third of the wasp grudge but despite pulling for all his space's power was capable, only grabbed a single opal worth about ten gold.

The young mage frowned. "Well, Gan, I snagged a ten gold pebble. Not the windfall I was expecting but they are hella rich in spirit. If the trend stays this bad, we'll try somewhere else after I've filled up a bit to replace what I lost in the insanity inside the Nunos family cave system or whatever they call it."

Gan said, "I don't get it. Why would there be a zone like this at all? Old ant hills taken over by moles and earth spirits that are almost worthless doesn't fit with the rest. Every single area of the world I've learned about serves one purpose or another."

Orison nodded thoughtfully. "Just being near when I got that one netted you about ten times the personal spirit gain that smashing a wasp in Daub would have given you. If it was just a little easier to hunt them then it'd be the perfect place for summoners, healers or even druids to get their first advancement requirements. Something tells me that somewhere along the way, this place fell out of favor due to other areas being more suitable for advancement.There's probably some hidden reward for certain accomplishments here but if it was good, it wouldn't fallen out of favor.

"At first, I thought of Osomo as a spirit essence farm that trapped souls here. I'm starting to get a different vibe though. I think it might have served a different purpose a long time ago but like a lot of things about this world, it's been lost to time. Left to their own devices, the people of Osomo have become addicted to pursuing the easiest and most efficient gains."

Gan said, "If this place had a set of people to fill in the gaps of understanding that the trainers don't or maybe just can't cover, this whole reality would turn into a giant training camp to pump out soldiers. They wouldn't be as good as someone who earned it the old-fashioned way but the slightest advantage in numbers can make a big difference in a war."

Orison's eyes brightened, "That's it! One of the things that Lily left in my head was a bit of knowledge on what kind of realities to avoid and how to spot them. The warning came a little late to do us any good this time but she warned me that essence rich places that weren't new might belong to a faction or a powerful family. This reality might have been a training facility but somewhere along the way, lost it's owners for some reason."

With dull eyes, Gan said, "Neat. Not useful though."

Orison smiled wryly. "Don't be so sure. It could be useless information or it could turn into a priceless piece of knowledge."

Turning back to the task at hand, Orison and Gan successfully hunted two more before an ominous feeling rose to warn them not to hunt anymore least they raise a grudge. The second reason why this place was so unpopular reared it's ugly head. Even if a group had a way to hunt the elementals in a timely manner, it didn't take many kills to risk raising a grudge.

The results were the same as the first, good essence gain but bad loot-to-effort ratio. Gan questioned why Orison wouldn't call it a day and find a better place but the young mage wanted to hit the other two mounds. It might not be that lucrative to stay but the best part of morning was gone and other areas would be farmed fairly thoroughly for the day. It took all their special cheats but they stood to average out to most first years farming in beginner zones with competition.

As they slipped into the third and final ant hill, having made quick work of the second, Gan said, "It might be a little more leg work but this isn't too bad. I heard fights are fairly common in some of the more popular places when too many are clearing the same areas. The man who ran the zone board told me the top three places have grudge related deaths pop up fairly regular."

Orison chuckled. "Are you saying this because one of the elementals from hill two dropped a magic stone? I know the average one can go for around 200 gold but the one we have is only useful to beginner druids and mid range summoners. We'll be lucky to get around fifty for it and that's only due to minimum price protection."

Gan weak optimism collapsed instantly.

Scowling, the scout said, "Even the special drops are crappy here. What a waste of a day."

"You do realize that we are still pulling the average. With our 'climber' advantages we could get more elsewhere but we'd also draw attention. Besides, in the first two hills we could only kill three elementals. How much you want to bet that it'll be three in this one too? Three hills with three kills apiece sounds like a hidden special condition to me," Orison said lazily.

Gan only nodded numbly, unwilling to raise his expectations again. Orison only said it to boost Gan's flagging interest but the young mage didn't hold much hopes towards such a weak hidden condition either. Usually easy to trigger conditions only gave awful titles and a piece of trash equipment or a small amount of gold the next time a person went through a transporter. Whatever the case, the only difference between this hill and the other two was that all three drops were low grade earth attuned magic stones.

As they made their way back to the surface, Orison said, "There's nothing to really complain about. In little less than nine hours we earned about two days worth of resources if we converted it all into gold. It's actually well worth it if you think about how the earth stones can upgrade each of yours, Rithus' and Duran's main equipment pieces to have some extra durability and physical protection."

Stepping out, the sight that greeted them made their scalps tingle. A wave of giant ants were swarming in from every side, slowly closing in on their location. Orison would have teleported them out but there was a crude pyramid structure made of packed dirt in the center of the three mounds. Gan and Orison looked at each other and saw the curiosity and desire to explore mirrored back at them. Silent agreement established, they both ran at full speed to the rough stone doors barely cracked wide enough for them to enter.

Once inside the large space behind the stone double doors and seeing it was safe, they turned and put all they had into closing them only to notice that the doors wouldn't budge. As the young mage started preparing to cast a beacon teleport, the wave of ants parted around the structure. To their amazement, the giant ants ignored the pyramid completely to reclaim their tunnels that probably hadn't seen anything other than moles and elementals for generations.

Once Orison and Gan used their own unique ways to check for traps and hidden areas, they approached the only thing of note in the large room lit with spectral torches. A bus sized stone slab rested in the center. To the far fall were a set of pictographs meant to serve as instructions. The people who entered the room needed to drop a little blood on the slab and guard the entrance to keep others from doing the same thing.

Making a small cut, Orison dripped a few drops of blood onto the stone slab, lighting up a complex pattern he tried to burn into his memory to study later. Gan hurried to do the same. A sense of building anticipation was almost burned out in the ensuing silence until a gravelly voice boomed in the chamber.

"You have successfully opened and activated the temple of greed. Bold and reckless, you know the taste of being an invader. Now know the trials and sorrows of those who only desire to defend what they have acquired. Guard the alter from other invaders and be richly rewarded. Fail and behold all that you have accomplished flow away to others." The deep and reverberating voice said.

Within Orison and Gan, a pleasant but relatively mechanical feminine voice issued from their Osomo crystals. "Chosen hopefuls Ganga Fyrstr and Orison Cantrip have opened the beginner's instance 'Temple of Greed'. Join them to defend a share of the prize or join others to defeat them and claim it as your own. Transport is locked and only those third degree and lower may enter 'Dire Ant Mounds'."

As anxious as the voice had made Orison, he sighed in a bit of relief hearing that only third degree and lower would be allowed in. First through third degree was considered beginner or low range while fourth through sixth was mid range. Each degree stood for a trip to the trainer for a class or profession. There were nine total degrees but only six in any given field. A first degree specialist was considered to be a fourth degree by the system and registered as mid ranged as soon as someone stepped on to their learning path in it. Becoming a specialist was also the only way to break into the seventh degree using the trainer. Few ever reached the qualifications for high range whether they became specialists or purists who looked for a legacy.

A transparent screen appeared in Orison's space with a ninety minute timer. The young mage determined that the way Gan focused on and swiped at the open air, that the scout must be seeing something similar. For nearly twenty minutes nothing happened but then random names from people Gan and Orison had never heard of started appearing on their screens requesting an invitation to 'party'.

Having some otherworldly experiences navigating user interfaces, Orison quickly figured out that the Osomo crystal had an abundance of features that weren't taught by trainers. There were probably quite a few people who had no idea how to use them. The delay before the party requests was likely due to this fact as affluent people who knew a few of the Osomo Crystal's secrets rushed to find family or friends to share that knowledge in the hopes of taking advantage.

Calmly, the young mage experimented with key phrases and gestures until he figured out some of the basic functions of the transparent screen. By the time Orison had figured out how to send requests of his own, Gan started spotting figures walking into the ant mound area, past a transparent barrier that hadn't been visible til the newcomers had made it ripple. Looking at the pictograph on the wall, the young mage noticed that there were nine figures standing in front of the slab in the pictograph but the crowd making their way to the temple easily reached over a dozen and there was more than half of the timer left.

Orison came to a decision. Once he sent party requests to Gan, Duran and Rithus, he also sent one to the only Nunos family member that appeared eligible from his search. The young Nunos man appeared almost instantly but there was a slight delay before Orison's other two teammates arrived. The dark green haired man immediately started barking orders but soon noticed that no one was paying any heed.

Turning towards Orison, since he was the one actually being listened to, the man said "There's four more slots open and there's only a little time before the first people will get here. I have a list of names for you to accept."

Orison looked at the young man in annoyance and said, "Cool it. You're here as courtesy to Vivian and Ivan only. The first group that makes it through that out there will get those four spots. If you don't like that, feel free to leave."

The young mage no longer possessed a fey blood empowered glamour or intent at the moment but his soul was strong enough to release a weak pressure none the less. The young man blanched under the implied threat behind the sudden spiritual 'love tap'. The Nunos guardian stammered out an apology and agreed to follow orders with a watery smile.

Chapter end