New System, Who Dis?

Friday, April 26th, 2069

“What da hell is that?” Willa exclaimed, staring at a carved rock pedestal with two hollow rock tubes hung above it. I was staring at the same thing and if she didn’t ask I would have. In fact, a quick scan showed everyone studying the four foot high recessed-pedestal, and two hollow descending rock tubes.

My scan brought my eyes across the walls and the patterned holes that adorned it as well. I pointed them out and said, “And those holes?”

My father was already studying them. He ran a finger inside of one and examined it. “This is rust,” he said showing the brown residue that the action uncovered to everyone. I squinted my eyes, trying to picture what would have been ‘hanging’ from metal, or perhaps supported by stakes into a wall…

“It’s a smithy,” Smegma said simply, which created a shattering effect of many of my misleading thoughts and organized the room and its features into a neat understood layout. “The crucible would have gone there.” Smegma pointed out the tubes and even motioned to a foot pedal or some type of pumping lever I hadn’t noticed at first. “Then either finished ingots were placed on shelves—or this room also had an anvil and forge, and those were pegs for finished equipment.”

Smegma was already on his way out of this room, and moving to another, as if his answer completely solved the ‘mystery.’ As far as I was concerned it hadn’t but seeing what the other rooms held would probably paint a more complete picture, so I jumped to follow.

The next room was somewhat the same, but not. Smegma volunteered the function of this room as he pointed to the four-foot tall, stone boxes, which were filed with soil and weeds. The boxes rose from the floor and there was an overabundance of the ‘Crystal’’ lights in here. “A grow house for herbs. A place for the pill cauldron, stills and other apparatuses.” Smegma pointed out what could have been a kitchen island in a modern home, but made more sense as a long lab table, with his description.

We moved through room after room—some of which were identical to others we’d seen already, and then some we hadn’t. “A walk-in freezer—a tannery—probably a bakery or a specialized smithy—livestock pens,” Smegma said on one particularly worn down and overlarge room. Again, once he made the pronouncement the circular ‘pens carved into the floor made a great deal more sense. This room did seem to be on the lowest level, and only had one large archway leading off it. We had entered through the typical rectangular carved doorway, so an archway did give me pause.

As we tentatively moved through it, we didn’t get a warning from Smegma. So, we continued with a bit more confidence. In the next ‘room’ we found an un-carved cavern and a rocky shore of a lake. Not just a small cave lake like the pond near the White Goblin village—but a massive body of blue water that I couldn’t see the other side of, despite the multitude of Metallic Yellow Crystals sconces, and hanging lights. A splash sounded from somewhere out into the water, causing me and the other three humans to jump.

“Fishery,” Smegma said. “That and a fresh water source. I think it’s safe to conclude that this was a town or village of the people that once lived on this world.”

“What happened to them?” my dad asked.

Smegma stayed silent, and since he was the only one who had a hope of answering that question, the rest of us seemed to hold our breath. After a time Smegma looked away from the water and shook his head sadly, “They failed to Ascend—we can hope they found their way to another planet that succeeded, since there aren’t any bones or remains here.”

“Do you think we can fish here?” Dave asked, seeming to combat the oppressively heavy mood, with optimism.

I was about to chuckle and dismiss his question before I realized that the shop might actually have a rod and bait. Smegma sent me a window right away.

Miscellaneous Professions Gear

Fisherman’s Rod & Knife (1)

Low-F-Rank

Durability: Unlimited

Damage: 0-1

This fishing rod comes with the ability to create Mana Bait from the user’s pool. It also contains a self-repair that will strengthen it over time. It will also Funnel excess Mana from catches to Brodie Flaccarada’s Overdraft skill.

Cost: 10,000 mC

“There is a Fishing rod. Do you think we can convince Jarred to come back with this?” I asked, excitedly. Because of the order of my words, I got to see Willa and my father’s face grow excited and then fall at the reminder of Jarred’s religious stubbornness.

“In time, maybe,” my dad whispered. “Still, he’ll definitely eat some fish if we bring it to him.”

I nodded and immediately purchased the Fisherman’s rod. It wasn’t like I wasn’t going to get one in this situation anyway. I was just hoping we could have an additional set of hands for mining or fishing. Plus, we’d be much safer in one group, until help arrived.

As soon as I clicked the purchase button, blue light formed and congealed until it was roughly the shape and length of a long parcel tube—then the rod dropped out of it, and I caught it. A clatter on the ground told me I missed something. I followed the noise and found a filleting knife that had a decaying handle and rusted tang. The blade itself looked so dull it was practically square. I placed it in my Necklace before studying the rod.

To call the rod lackluster wouldn’t have been an understatement. Then again, it was similar to calling the original Miner’s Picks less than perfect. The blank was made out of a piece of wood that looked like driftwood that had petrified. The guides might have been metal at one point, but currently looked one step away from rusting through. The reel seat and reel were rattling from its short drop into my hand. On top of all that, the fishing line wound in it, was so frayed it could have passed for thin yarn.

I wasn’t sure how catching fish would give the thing mana to repair, but I hoped it wouldn’t fall apart before it did. “So, all you have to do is connect your mana pool to it and it should—”

The flinches from all three of my group made my eyes widen, even as I jerked back from them. I scanned the immediate area expecting a monster to be exiting the lake. When I found nothing, my mind made the obvious connection. They hadn’t ever used their Mana Pools willingly…

“Come on, you two have been bitten by Mana leeches,” I complained, pointing out both my father and Willa. “It’s the same damn thing.”

“You might be right,” my dad responded, even as his mouth twisted into a sour expression. His face paled right alongside it. “Still, I hate those things too—” my dad shivered noticeably, even as he began brushing imaginary insects off of his arms.

“If I must, I can try,” Willa said but she too wore a look that told how reluctant she was.

Dave stepped forward. “You’ll have to show me how,” he volunteered with clenched determined fists. After a moment of silence in which I smiled at him he looked back to the last room, and asked, “Should we move our camp down here?”

“Nope,” Smegma answered quickly. “No telling what’s in the water. We’ll need to do this in groups. Two miners and two people fishing for now. The problem is that I can’t reach the surface from here if Brodie is fishing, or I can’t come down here if he’s mining above…”

“What about scouting the rest of the cavern?” I asked, pointing out the fact that we hadn’t finished checking out the massive space.

“On hold, for now,” Smegma said. “We will hope that the Mirage Guild digs you out in a few days. In that time we shouldn’t have to venture to far from this ‘town’ or the lake.” Smegma tapped a talon on a tooth even as he stared through the cavern ceiling. My sense of direction were bad, but it felt like he was looking in the direction of the White Goblin village.

* * *

“Think about a straw,” I coached, as I studied my own fishing rod, which now had a ‘mana worm’ wriggling on the end.

“A straw from where?” Dave asked, sounding frustrated.

“From your mana pool to the fishing rod.”

“Great explanation,” Dave said sarcastically. I looked at him as a frown came over my face. This was very reminiscence of Smegma teaching me. Just this time I was the bad teacher.

“Can you try to picture a mental universe inside yourself?” I asked.

“Yeah, because I think I have a solar system that just sits in my thorax,” Dave responded.

Sighing I scratched at my neck. Dave’s sarcasm was infuriating, and I could admit that this was going to be harder than I thought it should be. Internally, I avoided thinking about apologizing to Smegma. “Still heard you,” Smegma crowed, even as he floated to Dave. “How about a garden? Or maybe a bank?”

“What in the hell are you on about Smeg?” Dave asked, just as scornfully. “You want me to picture a bank?”

“Yeah, do you also keep your money in something like that, dumb-dumb?” Smegma responded just as derisively.

“Sure,” Dave answered sounding unsure.

“Picture that bank, and it’s security for your money. Or maybe one of those cash dispensing machines. Can you see it?”

“No,” Dave answered stubbornly.

“Hmm, your friend is actually dumber than you,” Smegma said to me but stayed hovering in front of a now blushing Dave.

“Husk off! Give a better explanation!”

“Okay, you need to feel for your skill inside your soul. It should be sitting metaphysically atop your heart. Feel the steady rhythm of your heart. Are you thinking about each beat it makes? Is your subconscious mind controlling it? Is your soul? Dive into that question, let yourself relax. Think about your breathing—”

“What the hell?” Dave exclaimed, clearly not happy with this method either.

“As I said, Brodie. Kid’s a dud.”

“Wait, is my mental universe my soul?” I asked.

“A depiction of it, yes.”

“How come you never told me that.”

“How come you never asked?” Smegma retorted. “Anyway, Brodie you should get started if there’s any hope for you to catch a fish before bed. I’ll work with the slow-one.”

For the next hour, I cast my line, and Dave grew increasingly frustrated. There were many times I was happy to be facing away from my friend and also not his teacher. The facing away because I could hide my smile and chuckles in coughs—and the teacher because I doubted I’d be smiling if I was the one explaining things.

An hour later, I hadn’t gotten a single bite, though and was forced to interrupt Smegma. “Am I doing something wrong?”

“I don’t know. Do I look like a husking fisherman?” Smegma said angrily, clearly doling out some of his frustration with Dave to me.

My dad walked through the doorway and said, “Let’s get some sleep. You two can try again tomorrow if we’re still stuck down here.”

* * *

Saturday, April 27th, 2069

“You should have caught a damn fish,” Smegma complained as we descended through the levels of the underground city. I had spent forty thousand Mana Coins on two additional Mana Apples just moments ago. From there my father and Willa went up the staircase to the stalagmite, while Dave and I began walking to the stairways down.

“Ahh, but I didn’t have a fisherman to teach me how to use the rod,” I responded biting into my apple and heading down the stairs. “Too bad that. Maybe I could have kept saving for one of them fancy Skills you keep sending me.”

Smegma growled as he hovered in front of me, flapping his large wings in irritation. I would have kept poking fun if the taste of the Apple didn’t cause my entire body to freeze up. It was like I just bit into a sweet blueberry, with the crunchiness of an Asian pear. My mouth salivated and I was forced to swallow quickly or risk drooling on the carved stone steps.

Unfortunately, I did make a rather gross sucking noise unintentionally, and Smegma spun around on me with a wide vengeful grin. Right up until Dave made an even louder noise and exclaimed through flying spittle, "Holy shit! This thing is like a giant Sour Garden apple!”

“I’m literally with two Sloth Demons. Uncouth pieces of trash,” Smegma said while shaking his head.

“Usually we call them skid marks,” Dave answered. “At least on this planet. You know cause they leave un-wiped butt stains in their underwear.”

Smegma’s eyes widened, and he made a gagging sound that had to have been staged. How could he be ‘nauseous’ if he didn’t eat? We walked and bantered the whole way back to the lake. Dave took the brunt of the punishment since Smegma still seemed to vividly recall the attempt at teaching from last night.

That was highlighted further when the first thing Smegma said upon arriving on the rocky shore was, “Sit down and shut the husk up. You’re going to try figuring out your own way to touch on your Mana, since you seem to have an answer for everything—”

“How am I supposed—”

“I said sit,” Smegma growled. “Shut that damn mouth. Try thinking instead of husking talking. Internalize your bullshit for a while.”

Dave looked at me and I tried not to smirk but his face morphing to a mask of betrayal meant I failed. Smegma gave Dave a look until he eventually obeyed by sitting down. “Cross your legs or whatever will help you keep your bad gaseous attitude to yourself.”

The look on Disaster Dave’s face told me he wanted to retort but if there was one person who could probably beat my friend in a war of words it was Smegma. Not because he was more intelligent but because he cared less about hurting someone’s feelings. Dave either felt that as well or truly wanted to learn to control his Mana Pool.

Smegma moved to the edge of the lake and then pointed to me. “Dumb-dumb, show me how you’ve been fishing.”

I did so, first baiting the line and then casting it out as far into the water as I could. Smegma raised both hands once I was done as if to say, get going. That action made me blink. I slowly started reeling the fishing line in, adding an occasional jerk on the rod to simulate the way the ‘mana worm’ might move.

“Are you an imbecile?” Smegma asked after a moment.

“I’m starting to feel like one, yes,” I said pointedly. I tried to picture what I was doing and find the obvious flaw. There wasn’t one I could see.

My eyebrows drew down a moment after, what was I doing wrong? This is how you fished. Right? “Keep supplying the rod with mana, you moron.”

My narrowed eyes and angry eyebrows instantly morphed into shocked understanding. Of course! That made a ton of sense…

I did so and two things happened almost instantly. The fishing line ‘vanished,’ and ripples of a light blue light pulse in the distance, creating a steady consistent ‘beat.’ My hand inched toward the reel and Smegma’s hand instantly passed through it. Clearly the action had been intended to be a slap and it did startle me enough to freeze.

“Looks like bobber fishi—”

“I told you to sit quietly and reflect!” Smegma interrupted Dave. Still, my friend had said enough to make me realize why Smegma had slapped my hand away. Since the lake water was as still as a sheet of glass, I hadn’t seen it at first, but now, the pulsing light really did look like a bobber floating on a wavy lake.

Suddenly the light changed, and I felt a slight tug on the fishing pole through my hands. Thanks to the poor quality of the rod that tug made me think it would snap in half, but thankfully it held. Then the fish on the other end must have realized it was hooked, because the small tug became fierce.

Beyond fierce actually. I slid on my butt for a few inches before I dug my heels into a crevasse in the stone shore. Even then the fighting fish managed to lever me up to an almost stand before I flexed my legs and heaved back. The driftwood rod bent precariously but I could tell that the fish was also yanked back like a toddler whose father stopped him from walking into traffic.

I held my breath, praying that the line or rod would hold. To my surprise, as the fish pulled I could actually see the pulses of blue mana feeding back down the invisible line, into the reel and then into the rod. Before my eyes the wood gained an iota of color, morphing from white to off-white.

With increasing confidence, I began to spin the reel, pairing it with slackening my flexing legs and arms. I started to truly fight back against the fish as I reeled it in.

Between one flexing tug and the next, I felt the strain on my muscles increase. I was even forced to take a step forward to maintain my balance as the fish pulled hard enough to overbalance me. Using all my strength I heaved back on the rod, but found that the fish or creature on the other end of the line and I were at a minimum equal in strength.

To my shock the pulsing Mana on the rod continued but the repair seemed to have stopped. Cracks began to form up the rod, and I felt my hammering heart attempt to freeze in my chest. This thing cost ten thousand mC!

“Time your pulls with the pulses, idiot!” Smegma shouted.

I blinked but then managed to pull in time with the tail end of one of the pulses of Mana. The fish jerked in my direction, seeming to be pulled with ease. I hurriedly reeled in the slack of the invisible line, and waited. The next pulse I managed to react to faster, and again the fish was jerked toward shore. I pulled in the slack and continued.

After another five minutes of fighting I discovered I had already burned through half of my fifty points of Mana. I couldn’t continue for more than another five minutes or this could not only turn in the fishes favor, but also break my rod.

A splash of something exiting the water made my head jerk in a direction slightly to my left. There I found water in the shape of a fish—no not a fish—a shark, exiting the lake. Still, when the water fell away, I couldn’t find the body of a shark, fish or otherwise.

I thought I could make out some red, brown, and pink accents hanging in the air, before the water splashed again. This time in the pattern of something submerging. A pulse followed the splash and I heaved. That splash was only about fifteen feet away.

I was winning.

Another minute or so, and I could see those same accents struggling in the shallow water near shore. Instead of reeling the line in at this point, on the next pulse I backpedalled and heaved the massive creature out of the water and onto the wet rock. I stared at the space a shark-sized creature should have been. I frowned at it, not liking the look of what I was seeing.

I could see the internal organs of a creature but no creature. I toggled on my Heat Vision and did find a massive fish-like shape, at least the size of a car, flopping around on the rock. I blinked off my heat vision to find Smegma floating closer, seemingly excited. “Mirror fish! That’s really good eating! If you kill it on the line the rod should get more Mana.”

I blinked at the Demon, and then looked around myself, realizing I had nothing to use to kill it, let alone filet it. That’s when I remembered the dull, and rusting filet knife. With a thought I pulled it from my Necklace and stabbed the massive-fish through it’s very visible brain.

“Do you know how to filet it?” I asked Smegma, and he shook his head.

Dave growled from behind me, causing us both to turn and look at him. He stood up and snatched the knife from me. Smegma seemed like he was ready to protest again but I held up a hand as Dave studied the see through fish. After a moment he handed back the knife and moved to sit down, grumbling, “I know how to filet normal fish. What the shit is that thing?!”

I realized then that filleting a mostly invisible fish would make things very difficult, without a lot of practice. Smegma saw the problem too because he said, “It will become visible as its Mana drains.”

Five minutes later I was staring at a fish that easily was the size of a pickup truck. Dave stood beside me, transferring his gaze between it, the filleting knife and me. “First, how in the husk did you pull that out of the water?”

He didn’t wait for a response before he held up the somewhat repaired knife and continued, “And how the hell am I supposed to filet it with a six inch knife?”

Smegma thankfully answered the second question. “If you knew how to tie the knife to your mana, it would get longer to suit your needs.”

“And how can Brodie pull a two ton fish out of a lake?” Dave asked, ignoring the Demon’s chastisement.

“I guess I should probably tell you about my unlocked stat,” I said sheepishly.

Dave’s eyes grew wide and he pointed the semi-dull knife at me menacingly. “You probably should tell me, and anything else you might not have thought was important!”

I chuckled, which caused Dave to lower the knife and join me in a laugh. After a moment he motioned at the fish, “At least we probably only need one of these things a day!”

“Yeah, but how are we going to cook it?” I asked.

Dave hiked a finger over his shoulder. “There’s some forges back there, right? Now, about this unlocked stat! I’m guessing strength?”

I started into explaining how I unlocked it and even pulled up my stat screen. To my disappointment Strength was still at ten points.