Progression Tracker [0.6.0]
marker_1: afterfight [20th Fallow]
marker_2: predelve [21st Fallow]
span: 22.3 hours
Synchronization
Strength: 4.4 -> 5.3 ( 0.9)
Focus: 10.1 -> 12.2 ( 2.1)
Clarity: 200 -> 203 ( 3)
Slots
Accolade
Bonus
4 [2x2]
The Ice Cavern
40 Strength
4 [1x4]
The Halls of Corruption
40 Focus
3
The Lair of Embers
1,000 Heat Resistance
3
We Can’t Just Call It ‘The Lair’
200 Force Resistance
2 [1x2]
The Solar Temple
400 Stamina
2
Southshore Rat Warren
1,000 Health
1
Everdeep Fortress
10 Perception
Known Skill Trees
Tier 0: 144
Tier 1: 144
Tier 2: 144
Tier 3: 135
Tier 4: 0
Richmond Rain Stroudwater
CLASS
LVL
CAP
Dynamo
18
18
EXP
NEXT
TOTAL
22,749
22,750
1,644,832
Vitals
CUR
MAX
RGN
Health
2,780
2,800
400/d
Stamina
999
1,000
500/d
Mana
11,700
11,700
3.0/s
Attributes
200/180
EFF
TOTAL
BASE
ACCLD
MISC
SYN
STR
9.54
90
10
40
40/40
10.6%
RCV
19.6
40
10
30/30
49.0%
END
12
30
10
20/20
40.0%
VGR
29
50
10
40/40
58.0%
FCS
29.3
120
10
40
70/193
24.4%
CLR
200
200
200
0/179
100.0%
PER
8.4
20
10
10
0/0
42.0%
SPD
9.4
10
10
0/1
94.0%
Resistances
1940/?
FLAT
PERCENT
HEAT
1543.0
0%
COLD
543.0
0%
LIGHT
3.0
0%
DARK
3.0
0%
FORCE
633.0
0%
ARCANE
43.0
0%
CHEMICAL
493.0
0%
NTAL
3.0
0%
The second chasm was a fully enclosed fissure in the stone, smaller than the crack above. The mineshaft that led down from the surface continued on the other side for only a few dozen ters before being blocked by fallen debris. The fissure itself was passable, though with an uneven floor and walls tight enough in places to make swinging a sword difficult. It was rank eleven for the most part—not that much worse than the lowest point of the first chasm. That said, it was considerably more dangerous because of the cramped conditions and the constant darkness.
Near the far end of the second chasm was another mineshaft—perhaps the sa one having looped around, perhaps not. That passage sloped down for a few hundred ters until it ca out high on the wall of the third and final chasm, which plumted down deep. Tallheart had gone down there weeks ago, finding a natural cave system at the bottom that asured rank thirteen with Rain’s depth gauge. The cervidian was convinced that those caves extended deeper still, though he hadn’t explored far. He’d said he could ‘sll the depths down there,’ whatever that ant.
The term ‘depths’ was a catchall that described anything below the surface. When most people used it, however, they usually ant natural caves like those Tallheart had found. The entire planet was supposedly word through with tunnels, becoming increasingly complex and interconnected as you went deeper, complete with their own diverse monstrous ecosystems. There was no clear line that defined where the depths began, unlike lairs with their magical boundaries, so people generally specified things using the Guild’s terminology.
Rank thirteen was the transition point between shallow and deep bronze. Shallow silver started at twenty-five, transitioning to deep silver, then to shallow gold, and so forth. That continued all the way to rank one hundred—or so it was said. Outside of legends, nobody had ever made it that far.
Rain, Aliah, and Tallheart were presently gathered at the mouth of the mineshaft that led to the third chasm, surrounded by the mbers of Ascension who’d co to see them off. They had already cleared all the monsters from the area, including those that had co up from the tunnel. Fresh evertorches burned along the walls. Now that the Fire Eater had been defeated, Ascension would be keeping this area lit to take so of the pressure off of their defenses above.
All three delvers had heavy packs, though the word ‘pack’ was ill-suited to encompass their disparate burdens. Tallheart had what he called his ‘mobile forge’, being a u-shaped tal fra over his shoulders holding his anvil and various tools in the front, and a miniature slter-forge hybrid in the back. Rain could feel his own spine compacting just from looking at it. The antlered smith also had what looked like a pair of tal toolboxes, one in either hand. These, Rain knew, were filled with ingots of various tals. It was a wonder that Tallheart wasn’t leaving footprints in the solid stone.
Aliah’s pack was normal by comparison. It contained food, spare clothing, equipnt, potions, water, and so forth—the kind of things you’d expect an adventurer to have. As for Aliah herself, she was wearing her everyday travel clothing, sans cloak. She’d asked Rain to cut her hair, and he was proud to say that he hadn’t made too much of a ss of it. It hung to her shoulders loosely, short enough to not get in the way without needing to be tied back, which was how she liked it. The only enchanted item she had was her utility knife, which she didn’t use for combat. Her hands were bare, as she was currently specialized as a Fire Mage. The bonuses that she could have gotten from Cryst-level rings were piddly from a silverplate’s perspective anyway.
As for Rain, like Tallheart, he was loaded both front and back. In his case, however, it wasn’t the weight of his packs that was exceptional; it was their bulk. His backpack from yesterday’s combat test had been too small, so he’d gotten a bigger one, and then another just like it to balance himself out. With the bulging packs strapped over his already bulky armor, he felt like so bizarre amalgam of a pack mule and the Michelin man.
The packs were rigged with a single ripcord that he could pull with his non-shield hand at a mont’s notice. As before, that would free him of his burdens, should combat be required. The engineering effort required to get the release to work with two packs instead of one had warranted a na, Rain had decided, so he’d dubbed the completed contraption ‘The Double Gamgee.’
“Oi, Rain, yer sure ye’ve got all ye need?” Kettel asked, grinning. “I think I’ve got a spare pair’a boots I could give ye. Oh! Or so silver candlesticks! Wouldn’t want ta be without those down there. Ye gots ta be ready fer anything! Like a wild travelin’ dinner party!”
Rain laughed. “Thanks, Kettel, I don’t think there’s much chance of that.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure,” Jamus said, smiling. “The depths are vast. Who is to say what you might find?”
“Mmm,” Tallheart rumbled in agreent.
Rain sighed. “Oh, co on. Not you too.”
“You look like that lizard we fought in the Fells,” Samson said, his arms crossed. “The Corpulent Gill Monitor.”
“He do, don’t he?!” Kettel slapped his thigh, then held out a hand toward Rain like a herald. “Behold! Our brave leader! Rain the Corpulent!” He snorted. “S’got a nice ring to it! Almost as good as the Night Cleaner!”
“I can hurt you,” Rain said flatly.
A sudden explosive laugh from Carten made Rain turn his head. Aliah had been having a separate conversation with him, Vanna, and Val, and from her smug expression, she’d been the source of Carten’s amusent. Val and Carten glanced at each other as Rain looked over, then at Aliah. Monts later, both of them broke down completely, giggling like children. Vanna, in contrast, was rolling her eyes so hard that they seed to be at risk of tumbling free from her skull.
“What did I miss?” Rain asked.
Carten managed to regain control of himself. He fixed Rain with a bearded grin, then jabbed a finger at Aliah. “She said tha’ she liked tha size’o yer sack!”
Rain did his best to imitate Vanna’s eye-rolling as Carten once more lost his composure. Aliah can be just as bad as Carten sotis. I can’t in good conscience encourage this kind of low humor. A bawdy pun? For sha. He shook his head, blushing slightly, but he was smiling when he replied. “Can everyone stop talking about my sack, please?”
This, of course, didn’t help in the slightest. More laughter followed, and Rain patiently waited for it to die down while glaring at Aliah with a look that said, ‘See what you did?’
Eventually, the laughter did stop, and Jamus reached out to lay a hand on Rain’s shoulder. “You be safe down there, you hear ? And look after Tallheart. You know how he needs minding.”
“I do not require minding,” Tallheart said, triggering another round of chuckles.
“We’ll look out for each other,” Aliah said. “Don’t worry about us.”
“Mmm,” Tallheart rumbled.
“Still,” Jamus said, turning to Tallheart. “Don’t do anything reckless, my friend. I do not want to lose you.”
Val laughed, gesturing at Kettel. “Just ask yourself what the kid would do, and then don’t do that.”
“Oi!” Kettel yelled.
“You’re not one to talk, Val,” Rain said, raising a hand to show that he was kidding. Mostly. He bit his lip, then glanced over his shoulder at the mineshaft. After taking a breath, he nodded, then returned his attention to the others. “I suppose this is it, then. No goodbyes. We’ll be back within a month. Vanna, until then, you have the bridge.”
“Thank you,” Vanna said. “My first task as acting captain will be to get us a ship so your nautical sayings make sense.”
“Probably wise,” Rain said, nodding sagely before adopting a more serious expression. “We’ll send you a ssage if we get in trouble or find sothing worth reporting.”
“Until we get out of range,” Aliah added.
Rain inclined his head to her. “Right.”
Like almost all system skills, ssage was limited to one league—about five kiloters—no matter how much tamagic you had. It didn’t do so well penetrating rock, though, which would bring the range down considerably. Rain had devised a different communication thod that wasn’t subject to the system’s limits, but not everyone here knew about that. Operational security and so forth, as it required accolades. Likewise, he didn’t ntion what Vanna was to do if they didn’t return within the expected ti fra. She already knew.
Rain tightened his fists, thinking of the various other contingency plans he’d put in place. Ascension. Will. Not. Fall.
For all that he’d said no goodbyes, it took them another few minutes to disengage. The three of them walked silently down the mineshaft in the pool of Aliah’s Lunar Orb, listening to the fading sounds of those they’d left behind.
“Do you think they’ll be okay?” Rain asked, looking at Aliah.
“They’ll be fine,” Aliah said, the warmth fading from her tone as if it had been stolen by the pale light.
“But what if—“
“They’ll be fine,” Aliah repeated more firmly. “They’re as safe as we can make them. If anything, our leaving will help them get stronger.”
“Mmm,” Tallheart said. “A chick only learns to peck when the mother hen leaves the nest.”
“I—what?” Aliah asked, looking at him. “Is that a cervidian saying?”
“No,” Tallheart said. “My people have no use for chickens. We do not keep them.”
“Huh,” Aliah said. “I guess I’ve never heard that one.”
Rain smiled, fussing with the clasp of one of the Double Gamgee’s nurous pouches. The talk of chicken was making him hungry all of a sudden. He pulled out a strip of Sakeren Jerky, then gestured with it. “Anyone want anything to eat? I brought snacks.”
“I’m fine,” Aliah said.
“Mmm,” Tallheart said. “No, thank you.”
“You’re sure?” Rain asked. “I’ve got so of those fried crunchy fern things you like.”
“Later,” Tallheart said.
“Suit yourself,” Rain said through a mouthful of jerky. He pointed down the dark tunnel. “Aliah, there’s a monster about thirty ters ahead, around the bend.”
“What kind?” Aliah asked.
“No idea,” Rain said with an unconcerned shrug.
Aliah frowned, glancing at Rain’s shield.
“It’s not that,” Rain said, shaking his head. “I’ve mostly got a handle on the interference now as long as I rember to focus. It’s just that whatever kind of monster that is, it’s not one I’ve encountered before. It isn’t moving.”
“Okay, stay back,” Aliah said, sending her light to hover around Rain’s head. She slipped out of her pack, setting it on the ground. “I’ll go deal with it.”
“Hold on, you don’t need to—“ Rain started, but she was already gone. Flas sprung up around her as she dashed forward, filling the tunnel with orange light. The fire almost seed to be propelling her down the tunnel, though Rain knew Shrouded by Fla did nothing of the sort. She was just that fast. The orange light faded as she rounded the curve in the tunnel, but soon it returned with a vengeance, accompanied by a whump of detonation and a blast of hot air.
Your party has defeated [Lesser Rockshell], Level 9
Your Contribution: 1%
0 Experience Earned
Not long after that, Aliah appeared back from around the bend, still blazing as she jogged toward them. “There. Problem solved,” she said. “Anything else around?”
Rain shook his head. “What was it?”
Aliah raised an eyebrow, her fiery cloak going out. “I only got ninety-nine percent. I assud you got the rest. Didn’t you see a ssage?”
Rain nodded. “I did, but I have no idea what a Rockshell is.” He stuck the remaining piece of jerky between his teeth, then bent to pick up Aliah’s pack and offered it to her.
Aliah shrugged, accepting the pack. “It was so sort of crab thing. I didn’t stop to paint a picture of it.”
“Rockshells are a common creature of the depths,” Tallheart said. “There are many kinds, most with an aspect. What was the exact na?”
“Lesser Rockshell,” Rain said, still chewing.
“Hmm,” Tallheart said. “No aspect. We are fortunate. It seems we will begin in a neutral bio.”
“Whatever,” Aliah said, turning back to Rain. “Will you be able to sense them now?”
Rain wiggled his hand as the three of them resud their progress down the tunnel. “Lesser Rockshells specifically, yes. Rockshells as a category, I’m not sure. You didn’t have to run ahead, Aliah. We could have fought it together. It was only level nine.”
“Yes, and we didn’t know that,” Aliah said, sounding annoyed. “I’m not taking chances.”
“Fair enough,” Rain said, digging in his pack for another piece of jerky. He wasn’t particularly worried about himself yet, but their supplies were another matter. He might be monster-proof, but the Double Gamgee wasn’t.
He stuffed the piece of at into his mouth, chewing with enthusiasm as he activated Essence Well to send Aliah a little mana. Damn, this stuff is good. I hope we find so nice plant monsters for Tallheart down here.
Rain shook his head as they passed the remains of the Rockshell. If it had been a crab, there was no way to tell, now. Other than a few charred bits of shell, there was nothing left but a blackened pile of ash, still smoking slightly. She is NOT kidding around. Was that Fireball, or sothing else?
He reached for his pouch of jerky again, then forced himself to stop. Gotta save the good stuff. Who knows what we’ll be eating a few days from now. To distract himself, he voiced his question aloud. “So, Aliah, was that Fireball that you used?”
“No,” Aliah said. “Just an Overcharged Firebolt. I didn’t want to damage the tunnel.”
“That’s…terrifying,” Rain said honestly. “I think I need to check my math.”
Aliah shrugged. “There’s a reason Fire Mages are so common. It might not be a fancy build, but it has plenty of power. The only issue is how narrow it is.”
“Yeah,” Rain said, nodding. Aliah had picked the class partly because of how resistant Rain was to Heat. An equally resistant monster could present a problem.
Rain scratched at his beard, then closed his visor to put another barrier between himself and the jerky. “That reminds . What happens if we find a Heat bio? Will you change your build?”
Aliah shook her head. “It depends how deep we are. It takes a lot of ti to switch.”
“You really haven’t found a way to speed that up?” he asked.
“No,” Aliah said with a sigh. “It takes one hour per skill. Always. The only thing that’s gotten better with practice is how much I need to concentrate on it. I can usually keep it going now while I do other things, but if sothing distracts too much…boom. Start over.”
Rain frowned. “Damn, that’s annoying. Maybe it will get better at gold.”
“I’m sure it would,” Aliah said. “If I ever got there.”
“You will,” Rain said. “We all will. One day.”
“Hmph,” Tallheart snorted. “Even below the earth, your head remains in the clouds. You remind of .”
Rain smiled. “Anyway, we’re almost at the third chasm. I can sense the gap now. No more monsters yet.”
“Okay, stay back from the edge while I check,” Aliah said, walking out in front. She stopped, then held up a hand. “Actually, just stay right there. Get a torch going so I can bring my light with .”
Sothing in her tone made him stifle his argunt against wasting a torch. What’s eating her?
“Hurry up,” Aliah said.
Rain did his best, fumbling an evertorch free from his pack, then lighting it with a spark lighter. Aliah’s expression had hardened even more as she watched him go through the gymnastics required to do this, burdened as he was by his packs and the shield on his left arm.
“There,” Rain finally said, straightening and holding the torch aloft.
“And you’re sure you don’t want to leave so of that stuff behind?” Aliah asked, giving him a look.
“Absolutely sure,” Rain said. “Once we’re deeper, we’ll camp, clear, and then move, just like Tallheart says. I won’t bring all this with when we’re clearing. For now, it’s safe enough.”
“Fine,” Aliah said, crossing her arms. “But you two will be staying with the supplies once it cos to that. I’ll be doing the clearing, not you.”
“No,” Tallheart said, shaking his head slowly. “We must all work together. I will not allow you to protect Rain by taking the danger upon yourself.”
Rain nodded. They’d had this argunt before. He opened his mouth to continue it, but Aliah cut him off.
“Just stop,” she snapped. “We’ll talk about this later. Right now, I’m checking the chasm. End of discussion.”
“I…sorry,” Rain said.
“Don’t move,” Aliah said, walking away. She took her Lunar Orb with her, leaving him and Tallheart alone in the pool of torchlight.
“Hmm,” Tallheart rumbled.
Rain nodded in agreent, keeping his mouth shut. This place… That has to be what’s bothering her. It must remind her of Brightside. The third chasm is similar enough to what she described, though it isn’t full of poison mist. I wonder how long it’s been since she ca down this far?
He shook his head, then glanced at Tallheart. “How are you doing?”
Tallheart raised an eyebrow.
Rain gestured awkwardly. “You know…with being in the depths again.”
“I am fine,” Tallheart said, his face unreadable. He looked away. “Do not lower your guard. Sothing could have spawned behind us by now.”
Rain nodded. I owe them both so much.
The wait for Aliah to return quickly grew to be intolerable. Rain tracked her for as long as he could with Detection, and then by the echoing sounds of explosions once she’d gone past the edge of his range.
It was almost twenty minutes before she finally re-appeared, the last ten having been nail-bitingly silent. Rain practically collapsed in relief as Detection picked her up, though rationally he knew that linksight would have told him if anything had happened to her. She was still in the party; the system just wasn’t giving him notifications for her kills. This wasn’t a lair, and he’d had nothing to do with them.
A few monts later, Aliah appeared at a run, slowing only as her orb’s light rged with that of their torch. “Clear,” she said. “Any problems here?”
“No,” Tallheart said. “What took you so long? Rain was becoming distressed.”
“I was not,” Rain said.
“I was scouting around,” Aliah said. “Now co on, before sothing spawns. I left a few burning corpses, but they won’t stay lit forever.”
“How often should we be expecting spawns, anyway?” Rain asked as the three of them continued.
“Constantly,” Tallheart said.
“Yes, but like how fast?” Rain asked, pausing as the edge ca into view. Unbidden mories of a certain Umbral Charger had popped into his mind.
“It is the sa as above,” Tallheart said.
Rain frowned, speaking as he extricated himself from his packs for the descent. “Right. So, for a given area, only so many monsters can spawn in a day. The rate depends on the essence level, the new monsters’ levels, and what other monsters are nearby. Since Aliah just cleared out a bunch of them, the chance of a spawn is higher, right?”
“Yes,” Tallheart said.
Rain nodded to himself. Just like when I was trapped outside the Fells, then.
“How are we getting down?” Aliah asked.
Tallheart walked right up to the edge and looked down. He grunted, then tossed the two tal cases he’d been carrying over the side. Six seconds later—Rain counted—there was an almighty clang of impact, followed by a monstrous screech and a clatter of tumbling tal ingots.
“Mmm,” Tallheart said. “It appears that sothing has spawned. I believe I hit it.”
Holy shit, and it didn’t die? That had to have been at least a hundred kilos of tal at…who the hell knows how fast. I’ll do the math in a second.
Rain glanced at Aliah to gauge her reaction, but Tallheart distracted him by jumping over the edge. Rain gasped as the cervidian spun in mid-air, rock cracking from his grip as he caught himself on the lip of the chasm. Cracking booms echoed from the walls as he began his descent. From the sound of it, he was making his own handholds by literally kicking holes into the solid cliff face.
“Well,” Rain said. “I suppose that works. It’s not particularly subtle, though.”
“Not particularly, no,” Aliah said over the continuing racket. “At least it will make a good distraction for us. Do you feel like climbing too, or would you rather jump?”
“I’ll climb,” Rain said, thinking of the fragile supplies he’d brought. He’d have said ‘fly,’ but he knew Aliah didn’t have the spell anymore. That was another argunt he didn’t want to have. Redirection was better for combat, true, but it just wasn’t the sa. In a chasm like this, proper flight would have co in extrely handy.
He pinged with Detection again, still not finding the bottom of the chasm, even this close to the edge. He frowned, setting down the torch and kneeling to extract a coil of rope from his pack. One hundred ters should be enough, right? I wish they had nylon. This stuff is too thick. I could have brought way more.Actually, wait, I could ask Tallheart to make so tal cables or sothing. He shook his head. Later.
He searched his mory, then muttered a curse to himself under his breath. Damn. I can’t rember the freefall formula. This isn’t the ti to be mucking around with Winter, though, so I guess I’ll just derive it. Speed should be acceleration tis ti, and I can integrate that for distance, so…d=1/2at2. He smiled. Yeah, that’s right. Now I rember. Even with overmana, I guess I can still have brain farts. Okay, I’ll assu g is still 9.8m/s2 on this planet, which I can round to 10 to make my life easy. Six seconds of falling ans…180 ters. Damn. I’m going to need to tie two coils together. Hell, three to be safe.
“Rain?” Aliah asked. “Why are you staring into space? Did you sense sothing?”
“Sorry, sorry,” Rain said, fishing out another rope. “I was just calculating how far down it was.”
“Calculating?” Aliah asked. She sighed. “I’m going to regret this, but…how would you even do that?”
“Calculus,” Rain said, tying knots as he spoke. “I counted how long it took for Tallheart’s cases to hit the bottom. Stuff falls with a constant acceleration, ignoring air resistance, and you can use that fact to derive the formula for the distance. I could explain how, but this isn’t the ti. For now…hmm. Damn, it doesn’t really work in common. Anyway, just rember five tis ti tis ti. That will get you close enough. Oh, that’s in ters, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Aliah said, watching Rain as he began lowering his pack over the edge. “You’re still checking for monsters, right?”
“Yes,” Rain said, beginning to let the rope slide quickly through his hands. The sound of breaking stone stopped after a mont, then there was a brief silence before a faintly-heard crunch.
“Sounds like Tallheart’s reached the bottom,” Aliah said.
“Samwise, too,” Rain said, feeling the rope go slack. He tossed the end over the edge to join the pack below.
“I still can’t believe you nad your pack,” Aliah said, shaking her head.
“And I can’t believe we never thought to na the forgewagon,” Rain said. He concentrated, nudging one of his Focus-boosting accolades out of its slot and replacing it with the one that enhanced his grip strength. As he approached the edge, his stomach clenched up, but he pushed through the vertigo, refusing to let his fear show. He swung his legs over the edge, then lowered himself down to hang near where Tallheart had started. His current effective Strength made it easy, but he panicked anyway, scrambling until his foot found the first of the smith’s improvised handholds.
Aliah watched, frowning slightly. She walked right up to the edge, moving her light to help him see what he was doing.
Rain was imnsely grateful to her for that, and for not comnting on his struggles. This wasn’t sothing he’d exactly done before, and his heart was beating fast as irrational terror tried to make him freeze. He’d thought he’d conquered his fear of heights, and perhaps he had, but clearly, his fear of subterranean chasms was still there in force.
Sothing we have in common, I guess. I refuse to let it stop . I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.
Rain grit his teeth, then removed his hand from the edge, grasping for a lower handhold. The fall wasn’t dangerous. Not with all of his Force Resistance and Force Ward on top of it. Even his base health was probably more than enough at this point. That didn’t an it felt safe.
Step by careful step, Rain crawled his way down the wall. He nearly fell twice, but the accolade proved its worth, making him feel like Spider-Man the way it helped his hands stick to the stone. Aliah followed after him, though she could have easily jumped, keeping the Lunar Orb positioned so Rain could see. She made it look easy, literally only using one hand, as she’d brought the torch in the other.
Finally, they reached the bottom. Rain looked around, not seeing Tallheart, though the smith was clearly nearby. The sound of his hamr was ringing through the deserted chasm, the echos making it hard to determine the direction. From where he was standing, Rain could see two dark passages leading off the fissure itself, which was strewn with tal bars and still-smoldering monster corpses. He had to resist the urge to imdiately use Purify to wipe them away. He wanted to have a look at them before he did that so he could get an idea of what was waiting for them and if any of it was edible. Besides that, corpses were also useful for keeping monsters occupied, Tallheart had said. Anything that spawned would be distracted by the free al before it went searching for them.
“Here,” Aliah said, hefting Rain’s pack, then handing it to him.
“Thanks,” Rain said, slipping it back on, then starting to reel in the rope. He pinged with Detection, then gestured. “Tallheart’s that way.”
Aliah nodded to him, following. They found Tallheart squirreled away in a narrow crack in the stone, blocked with the shattered remains of a few crabby things that must have been Rockshells. He’d set up his anvil and was busy pounding his ingot cases back into shape. His enchanted spectacles were perched on his nose, which Rain knew would allow him to see in complete darkness.
“Mmm,” Tallheart rumbled in greeting. “I will require a few minutes. I would like to test the rocks here for tals before we continue.”
“No worries, Tallheart,” Rain said, setting his pack down beside the broken monsters Tallheart was using as a door. “I wanted to take a little break, anyway. I’ll go collect all the ingots and check for Crysts and stuff. Aliah, can you make sure nothing eats while I do that, please?” His stomach rumbled. “And after that, maybe we can hide in there with Tallheart and have breakfast? The monsters will leave us alone if we stay quiet, right?”
Aliah snorted, seemingly having relaxed a little bit, though she was still watching the darkness warily. “Didn’t we have breakfast before we left?”
Rain smiled. “We had one, yes. But what about second breakfast?” He chuckled to himself at the long-suffering look this got him.
“That’s a reference to sothing, isn’t it?” Aliah asked.
Rain nodded. Ah, screw it. So what if I’m not done recovering the books yet? It’s going to take ages to read it out loud anyway. I’ll be able to keep up, and it will help her get her mind off things.
He smiled. “While we eat, I think it’s finally ti for to start telling you about hobbits.”
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