Frostbitten Wayfarer

Grakthur sat on his throne deep below the Springs of Gir, tapping his clawed fingers on the skulls in his armrest. He was the leader of the Springs, and he took a great pride in his job.

Klihur slammed the door open and stumbled into the throne room. Light from the mines seeping in and disrupting the beautiful darkness Grakthur preferred. “Sir… Sir!” The goblin shouted.

“Yes?” Grakthur raised an eyebrow and looked to the still open doors and the light that seared into his eyes.

“OH, sorry sir. Sorry.” Klihur turned and shut the doors and the room fell once more to absolute darkness. “We have a new customer, sir.”

The peons thought it was important to inform Grakthur every time there was a new person visiting the Springs — and they were right, too. Tailoring the experience to the customer to extract as much as they can from the poor soul was an important job of every creature saddled with the responsibility of managing a Theme Dungeon.

However; to Grakthur’s dismay, his ‘employees’ were hardly capable of identifying the humans who inhabited this planet. Most of the new customers they ran in shouting about were just Anna in different clothes, or maybe with a new hair style.

“Is it Anna, again? Did you check?" Grakthur asked.

“Ah! No, sir. I will check!” Klihur opened the doors and ran off into the mines, leaving that disgusting light to seep into the room and burn into Grakthur’s flesh.

He shook his head and sighed, then with a flick of his fingers magic flooded the room and tendrils of darkness stretched up to slam the doors shut. It didn’t matter how often he told them to keep the doors closed, how often he told them to check if it was just Anna again.

The peons just weren’t capable of complex thoughts like that. They couldn’t try and solve problems on their own — some of the supervisors Grakthur had promoted could. That’s why they were promoted, but they were far too busy managing their own sections of the dungeon to proactively stop this ridiculous game.

And even if Grakthur urged the peons to harass his supervisors first, they’d forget the order the very next day. It was a good job though, even with the annoyances. He ran the Springs of Gir! Not many could say they were trusted with a Theme Dungeon, and Grakthur was a part of that exclusive group. As frustrating as dealing with the masses was, he’d give it up for nothing.

Klihur returned after a brief wait, slamming the doors open once more and stumbling into Grakthur’s throne room.

“Close. The. Doors.” Grakthur growled.

“Right. Sorry, sir. Yes sir.” Klihur slammed the doors shut, leaving the two of them in absolute darkness. “Sir, it’s not Anna, sir. She calls herself Zoe, sir.”

“Zoe?” Grakthur questioned.

“Yes, sir. That’s what she said, sir.” Klihur answered.

“No more information, Klihur?” Grakthur pressed.

“Oh! Yes sir. She’s a mage. Four classes. Lots of mana, very interested in talking to goblins.” Klihur said.

“Very well. You may leave. Send Peter in.” Grakthur said.

“Sir, thank you sir. Yes sir.” Klihur left and slammed the doors shut behind him. A few minutes later, the doors opened and Peter walked in.

Peter was responsible for all things mana in the Springs of Gir, a well of power that rivalled even Grakthur — at least in terms of mana capacity. “Yes, sir?" He asked as he shut the doors behind him.

“Good, you prove yourself time and time again, Peter.” Grakthur said. “I’m told we have a new customer who’s interested in talking to goblins.”

“Yes, sir. She calls herself Zoe. What would you like me to do?" Peter asked.

“Offer her a tour, and learn as much as you can about her capabilities. Bring Klihur with you and send him to me when you learn something valuable. Try to extract as much mana as you can, I’m told she possesses much of it.” Grakthur instructed.

“Yes, sir. If I may suggest something, sir?” Peter asked.

Grakthur gestured with one of his hands for Peter to continue.

“If mana is what you want, I may be of assistance.” Peter bowed his head.

“Your mana is needed to run the springs, Peter.” Grakthur said. “You are not left with enough to be of assistance.”

“Sir, if I stopped feeding the springs though—” Peter stopped as Grakthur slammed his fist into his throne, sending shards of bone clattering on the cold stone floor.

“These are the Springs of Gir, Peter.” Grakthur shouted as he stood from the throne, towering over the puny goblin. “You will continue feeding the springs until I say you can stop. Which. Will. Not. Happen.” Grakthur spat out.

“Sir, yes sir. I’m sorry, sir. I will give this girl a tour, sir. I’m sorry, sir.” Peter bowed several times as he left, closing the door behind him.

Grakthur sat back down on his damaged throne. This was the difference between the peons and Grakthur. They just couldn’t understand the importance of what was being done. Couldn’t wrap their feeble minds around the job that needed to be done.

—————

Zoe walked through the entrance of the Springs of Gir as they were called, staring at the swarms of little green goblins that ran around the dungeon. Buckets of water being transported from one spring to another, crates of soaps and towels wheeled from building to building.

There were goblins! And they were friendly, too. Klihur was such a precious little thing, staring up at her with glowing eyes and asking if she was Anna. Who was Anna, anyway? They were all so kind, so adorable. So personable.

She had a picture of goblins as these misshapen, evil creatures that prowled the forests and raided people’s farms. But here they were, working in a hot spring. Soft, bright green skin with big blue eyes and tussles of orange hair on their heads right between their round ears. They were adorable, Zoe thought. Like little green teddy bears doing their best to keep a massive hot spring running.

And it seemed they did a good job, too. There were so many more people than Zoe thought there would be. Hundreds? Maybe even a thousand? It was hard to count as they were so spread out, relaxing in the wide open hot springs or lounging outside them. Some people cleaning themselves in the open air showers, others sitting in restaurants eating food that looked and smelled delicious and even some laughing and chatting in a building nearby as they seemed to play a game of sorts.

Zoe noticed a goblin that was waving at her in the corner of her vision, with Klihur standing at their side. They smiled when she looked at them and waved her over, so Zoe walked over.

“Hello. You’re Zoe, right?" The goblin asked.

“Yes, why? Is everything okay?” Zoe asked.

“Of course, of course. Everything is wonderful. I’m told this is your first time here and you’re rather excited." The goblin asked.

“Uh, yeah. I guess.” Zoe said, feeling a little confused.

“Wonderful. I’m Peter, I was told to give you a tour if you’re interested.” Peter explained.

“Sure, I guess. Does that cost extra?” Zoe asked.

Peter laughed. “No, no. We’re here to serve. Was there anything you were interested in to start?” He radiated intrigue to Zoe’s Empathy. With just a hint of anxiety and fear.

“No, not really. I kinda just thought it was a hot spring here so I’m a little surprised to see just how much more it is, honestly. Wherever you think is best is fine by me.” Zoe said.

“Wonderful, that’s wonderful. I’ll take you to my favourite spring then.” Peter smiled and started walking down the gravel path that wound through the dungeon. “What brings you to the Springs of Gir, today?"

“I was going to get to building my house, but I was sitting there thinking about it this morning and I dunno. Just got inspired to go explore somewhere new all of a sudden. Heard of this place twenty years ago and thought I’d come check it out finally.” Zoe laughed. “Took me long enough though. How long have you been working here as a tour guide?"

“Tour guide?” Peter scribbled some notes on a piece of paper. "Ah, right. My apologies, I’m not really a tour guide. I work on some of the spring maintenance but thought it could be fun to meet some new people from time to time. Where do you come from then?“

“Out in Foizo at the moment. What’s that like? Spring maintenance?” Zoe asked.

Peter scribbled on the paper some more, then handed it to Klihur. “Here, take this, please.”

Klihur took the paper and ran off back down the gravel path towards the entrance.

“What’s that about?" Zoe asked.

“Hmm? Oh, just some maintenance stuff. This is about what it’s like, really. I wander around and if I notice something wrong I tell whoever needs to know. That spring back there,” Peter pointed to one they passed a few minutes prior. “It needed some adjustments. Just getting too hot. Foizo, huh? I think I’ve heard of that, it’s near Flester right?”

Zoe nodded her head. “Flester’s gone now, unfortunately but yeah around there. You must hear a lot working in this kind of place, huh?”

Peter nodded his head. "Oh yes. Lots of things get talked about here.“

Klihur returned a few minutes later with another sheet of paper, handing it to Peter.

“More spring maintenance stuff?” Zoe asked.

“Yes, yes. They’re getting somebody to fix the problem right now so the spring should be good to go again in a few minutes. I’m told you were quite impressive when you made your visitor pass?” Peter asked.

“What’s with them taking so much mana, by the way? I’ve never seen something like that.” Zoe asked.

“It depends on how much mana you have, really. You must have quite a lot for it to be that much! You know, I have quite a bit too. Maybe we can have a competition later.” Peter laughed.

Zoe nodded slowly. “I have a bit, I guess.”

Peter stopped at the edge of one of the springs. “Ah, here we are. This is my favourite spring. It’s just the right temperature in my opinion, with just the right amount of—” Peter took a deep breath through his nose. “Ahh, just the right amount of sulphur to it. Beautiful, isn’t it?"

Zoe nodded her head and looked out at the spring. Many of the springs had small showers set up next to them to bathe yourself, but this one had nothing of the sort. It was a little out of the way, and there was only one other person sitting in it at the moment.

“You’re welcome to get in and relax if you would like to?” Peter suggested.

Zoe shrugged. What was the point of coming to a hot spring if you didn’t even get in? She tested the water with her toes and when she found it was manageable, hopped in. She stored her clothes in her bracelet after, submerging herself into the somewhat murky water.

The water was hot — far hotter than any bath she’d had before. But paired with her resistances and knowing that she wouldn’t be scarred for life, it was rather comfortable. Not so hot that she couldn’t handle it, but not so cold that it wasn’t a constant reminder of where she was.

“Perfect, isn’t it?" Peter hopped in next to her. ”I’ll let you in on a little secret if you want?“

Zoe looked over at the goblin to her left. “Sure, what’s the secret?”

Peter leaned in to whisper. “This one’s perfect for me because I pull some strings to make it just right.” He leaned back and laughed. “Don’t tell anybody, alright?"

Zoe sunk into the water, and as she did at the very edges of her sphere of perception saw the top of a tunnel below the spring. She thought of asking Peter about them, but decided to keep the fact that she could see them to herself.

“You know, I’m rather a competitive person myself.” Peter said.

“Oh?" Zoe questioned.

Peter nodded. “We have this game back near the entrance that I’d love to play with you.”

“What’s the game?” Zoe asked.

“Well there’s a bunch, really. I’d love to play any of them with you. But my favourite is Mana Rush, I think.” Peter said.

“Okay. What’s Mana Rush?" Zoe asked.

“We both put as much mana as we can into this big canister, and whoever pops the lid off first wins. So few people who come are capable of competing with me so when I heard you were so impressive I thought it would be fun to have a real competition again. Only if you’re interested of course.” Peter said.

Zoe thought about it. Did it matter if anybody knew how much mana she had? As soon as she got another class, that number would be completely different anyway.

“Sure, I’m down.” Zoe smirked. If there was one thing Zoe was confident in, it was that she could beat most people in a competition of mana.

“Oh that’s great, I’m so excited now. I can’t wait!” Peter laughed, filled with pride and excitement to Zoe’s Empathy. “Whenever you’re ready, I’ll show you to the game.”

Zoe relaxed for a while longer in the hot spring and then when she got out, pulled a frilly pink sleeveless dress to wear from one of her bracelets, along with some brown sandals. Peter led her through the springs again to one of the buildings near the entrance of the dungeon.

Inside looked much like an arcade from Zoe’s hometown, but without quite so many flashing lights and obnoxious noises. Games with balls and different goals, whack-a-mole but with odd green snakes for moles. And near the back was the centerpiece, two massive glass canisters almost twice as tall as Zoe with black spheres floating in front of them.

“That’s Mana Rush,” Peter said, pointing at the canisters near the back. “Wanna place bets? I don’t think you’ll beat me.” He smirked and Zoe’s Empathy flooded her with a confidence she wasn’t expecting from him.

“Sure. What are we betting?" Zoe asked.

“A silver coin?” Peter suggested.

Zoe summoned a silver coin and placed it on the ground between the two black spheres. “Fine by me, but you’re gonna be down a silver coin you know?"

Peter laughed and grabbed a coin from his pocket, placing it on top of Zoe’s.