Cat With a Raygun

“Yes, I'm here, I'm okay,” Joe called up to Lester who was kneeling at the hole Joe had broken open the day before. “A benefit of being a felinoid, falls aren't as bad as they should be.”

“That's a relief! We thought you were busy in the forge last night, but today Teril told us you hadn't traded for any ingots yesterday, so we came here to find you. What's that blue glow down there? Did you cast a spell or something?”

“No, it's something naturally occurring. I'd be happy to explain it, but I'd like to have a way out of here first.”

Lester thought for a moment then said, “Can you hold tight for a bit? I think the merchant might have some rope long enough to reach down there, plus I have to make sure Sally and Jack know you're okay and call off the search.”

“Yeah, that's fine. I have food still and found some water, so I'll be okay for now.”

It was another hour and a half before Lester and the others returned with the rope long enough for Joe to get out. The high strength that naturally came from improving their mining skill easily allowed them to lift him out without trouble.

“Is the merchant still at The Rusty Cup?” Joe asked Lester.

“Yeah, he is. Ferric was just starting to look through his extra wares when I got the rope.”

“Good, I need to stop at the forge for a few minutes, make sure he's still there before I'm done.”

Sally, Jack, and Lester exchanged confused looks, but assured Joe that the merchant would wait for him.

Joe stopped by his own cabin first and after a quick pit stop stashed the pack full of mana crystals under his bed. He took two crystals out and took them with him to the forge. There Joe put the pair of crystals on the anvil then took the forging hammer and rather than the long swing he usually used for banging hot metals into shape, he brought the hammer head right above the crystals and used two hands to grind down on them. Before long he had ground the crystals to a fine powder. Joe carefully scooped the powder into one of the many leather pouches he'd harvested over the past few weeks and ran off to the tavern.

By the time Joe entered he heard Ferric arguing loudly with Lester, “I don't care if he said he wanted to do something first, you should have brought him back here so we could determine if there was anything wrong he didn't notice himself or was hiding. He's practically a citizen of this town and I won't take his safety lightly.”

“Ferric, it's okay, I'm here, I'm fine. Better than fine, actually,” Joe assured him.

Joe pulled out the pouch of powdered crystals and tossed it to the merchant.

“How many hundreds of gold would you give me for that?”

The merchant casually pulled the strings on the pouch to open it. “Is this some kind of joke? This little entire town isn't even worth two hu-” the merchant trailed off as he apparently Inspected the pouch of powder. He seemed to weigh the pouch in his hand and examined the contents to see if there was anything added to the powder to weigh it down, taking extra care to be sure he didn't spill any powder from the pouch.

“Where did you get this?”

“Yesterday I uncovered a cavern covered in glowing mushrooms. They didn't have any value that my abilities could detect, but growing out of one of the walls were two crystals. I broke them off of their base and turned them into this powder. From the description is seems as though they'll regrow over time. I looked all around, but it appears those were the only crystals like that in the whole cavern.”

The merchant rubbed his chin in thought. “It's a shame there aren't more of these at this time. You're right, they are quite valuable. I will buy this pouch of mana powder for 1000 gold.”

Ferric's jaw dropped. Lester looked ecstatic. Jack and Sally were just confused.

“Deal,” Joe said.

The merchant had to open a special lockbox to get the funds, as he wasn't expecting to spend that much in Rust's Edge. He counted out the coins and handed them over to Joe who immediately passed them on to Ferric. Ferric began to protest, but Joe merely whispered, “We'll talk tomorrow.”

Joe excused himself saying that his ordeal in the mines left him tired and he went back to his cabin. He took the throwing knives he made earlier in the week and started to practice with them at a simple wooden target against the far side of his cabin from his bed. Before the end of the day he unlocked a new skill.

Throwing (Level 1). This skill applies to throwing small to medium-sized weapons or similar objects such as rocks, knives, darts, or even spears. Higher levels of this skill allow you to aim more accurately at further targets. Train this skill by throwing things at a target.

Key Attribute: Agility.

He kept practicing until exhaustion overtook him and he fell asleep. The next morning he woke to a knock at the door of his cabin. As expected, it was Ferric. Joe welcomed him in and had him sit at the simple table that was one of the cabin's only furnishings.

“I'm sure you know why I'm here,” Ferric said as he brought out a sack that jingled like it contained all the money Joe gave him yesterday.

“Is that merchant still in town?”

“No, he left an hour ago, just before dawn. Now, can you tell me exactly what this is all about? What did you sell him, and why did you give it up so easily if it was that valuable?”

“Do you know what a mana crystal is?” Joe asked.

“Yes, it's a crystal that grows in the presence of highly concentrated manachlorian energy. Monster lairs sometimes grow them, as powerful monsters can increase the manachlorian flow in a location.” Ferric suddenly looked very worried. “Oh, no! Did you face a monster down there? Were you hurt? Is it a threat to our town?”

“No, there was no monster down there. There was something else entirely. Have you ever heard of a mana diamond?”

Ferric thought for a moment. “No, I can't say I have. What is it?”

“It's intense manachlorian energy condensed into a physical form. From what my Inspect ability said it's a near limitless source of power. I lied to the merchant about what I found. There weren't only the two crystals.” Joe grabbed his backpack from under his bed and opened it for Ferric to see. “There were probably thousands of these things down there. And thanks to the mana diamond, they will regrow, so long as we leave the base of each crystal intact.”

Ferric's eyes went wide in shock at this news. He had long dreamed of being able to restore Rust's Edge to its former glory. Now that dream was dead. Rust's Edge would be better than ever before. He'd never heard of anyone being able to generate mana crystals in the volume Joe described. Rust's Edge would become a major financial and magical power with such resources at their disposal.

The smile of pure joy that plastered Ferric's face as he thought of that quickly changed to a frown of worry. Their newfound resource would make them a target. Wars would be fought over those crystals alone. If anyone knew about that mana diamond they would march into town and murder everyone to take it for themselves. His worry was replaced by relief when he thought about what Joe had said to the merchant the day before.

“Joe, thank you. Truly. You have not only found the means to bring our town to new heights of glory, but you've also managed to ensure we grow at a pace we can handle.” Ferric thought for a moment. “We'll need to tell the others, as well as develop a means to safely traverse down to that cavern and back. If the crystals are indeed as abundant as you said, then I propose not only that pack you have, but another like it full of crystals as payment for your discovery. As a mage, especially one without a chosen profession yet, you will have far more use for those crystals than any of us.”

Joe was going to object, but he could think of all kinds of uses for not only the crystals themselves, but also for the magisteel that could be made from them.

As Ferric was getting up to leave he noticed the wooden plank Joe had been using the night before for throwing practice, complete with a couple of throwing knives still embedded in it.

“Throwing, Joe, really? What profession are you going for that uses throwing when you have magic?”

“Oh, it's not for a profession, it's something I wanted to do for fighting as my only offensive spell is limited to touch.”

“Okay, but you only have 2 skill slots left, you have to be really careful or you may never get a profession you like.”

Joe rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, “Uh, yeah, about that. I have another secret, this one about me.”

Joe opened his Skills window and allowed Ferric to view it.

Ferric chided Joe as he began to read the window, “Joe, you never told us you already had skills like Reading and Climbing. Unless you want to be a blacksmith this will ruin your choi-” Ferric stopped when he got to the bottom of the list. “Fourteen! Fourteen skills out of INFINITY!!!”

Ferric stopped yelling. He closed his eyes, fell to his knees, and started weeping.

“I was going to ask you to stay on with us. To be part of our growth. To help us with your magic, defend us from what's coming. But how can I do that now? Your potential is limitless. I don't understand how, but it is. What could we offer someone like you?”

Joe put his hand on Ferric's shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. Ferric opened his eyes, still full of tears and looked into Joe's eyes.

“You know, I recently heard about a town with a mana diamond underneath it. That's a power source as limitless as my potential. I'm thinking that might be a good place to set up on a permanent basis.”