The next morning Gaia awoke with her bonds sprawled all over her. Thankfully, Malachite was in his small form as he was tangled in her hair. Shadow was splayed out on top of her, covering her almost completely. Liv had been working on making a shirt from what Gaia guessed as it was covering her face and Antonio was still, almost as if he’d been frozen in place, just by her shoulder. She could hear a giggle coming from nearby as Stephanie had woken up early and seen her try to move but fail, due to the mass of other creatures on top of and surrounding her.
“Is it really that funny?” Gaia asked quietly.
“Definitely. The only parts of you that can be seen are your feet, one hand, and your hair. Otherwise, it’s just a mass of animals.” Stephanie said between bursts of laughter.
Gaia just laid there as Stephanie continued laughing. She didn’t want to move and wake her bonds up since today was their free day. She’d planned on sleeping in a bit herself but getting up around dawn had become a habit. Stephanie woke up earlier than everyone else and worked in her forge for an hour or two before it was time to get ready for requests. As for Griff and Fergus they usually woke up around when Gaia did and went out to spar for a bit. Since today was a day off they were free to do what they wanted and so everyone could sleep in.
Gaia eventually realized the laughing had stopped after a few minutes and heard the whooshing sound of Stephanie’s Portable Forge opening up. Then the sound of tinkering could be heard. Gaia just continued to lay there for a bit longer before deciding to try working on her mana field and mana shaping. These were two things she could practice without needing to move as they were both controlled mentally. Some physical movements made mana shaping easier, like if she wanted to make the mana field become a line, she could point in the direction and make the mana flow down her arm to help guide the skill.
The downside to only using her mind to control them was that it was taxing. If she spent too long practicing this way it would at best cause a headache and some body aches. She’d figured this out before by doing so and decided not to try past that limit. She didn’t know why the physical movements caused the drain on her mind to decrease but had discovered something interesting. Each time she used a skill it also took a little bit of energy and if overused caused a similar problem.
This meant skills couldn’t be used indefinitely without a drawback. It also meant that the spirit was tied to someone’s mind or consciousness. She guessed that if someone else did something similar they’d just get a headache, whereas since her spirit and body were partially melded, it also caused some physical pains. The more she learned about how skills and magic worked, the more worried she became about her odd situation. Someone at her rank shouldn’t have their body and spirit melded as hers was. One thing she’d learned was that as someone ranked up their body slowly changed to become closer to their ideal form, or as she’d come to understand their soul’s form. This meant their body would slowly become fused with their soul. It also caused their defensive barrier to meld into their body.
This was why someone at Bronze rank wouldn’t have a barrier. Instead, the defensive barrier they had at normal and stone rank was infused into their skin. The belief behind why this is, is that at bronze rank the body and soul have started to truly meld together. Gaia guessed the reason her own defensive barrier was so close to her body instead of a small bubble around her like she’d been told was due to her Broken Spirit title. It caused her spirit to be merged with her body more than it should at her current rank. She also guessed it was merged in a way that it shouldn’t be from the fact the title was broken spirit.
Either way there wasn’t anything she could do about how her situation and just continued practicing mentally until her bonds woke up. This didn’t happen for another two hours and almost caused them to miss breakfast. After breakfast the party split up to do their own things. Gaia made her way to the garden area she’d found the day before. It took her a little bit as she had the general idea but ended up a little lost. Thankfully, someone was willing to guide her and her bonds to the area.
When they arrived, she was guided to talk to the person in charge. The person in charge of the garden was named Yort. From what she could sense, he seemed to be a large humanoid elephant. She’d never heard anything about his race before but wasn’t surprised there would be one she hadn’t heard about.
“Hello, I’m Gaia. I was hoping to be allowed to use a small section of the garden area to grow some plants, if that’s alright.” She stated.
“Ah. Nice to meet you little one. My name is Yort. If you’re looking to grow some crops I’m all for it, but we don’t have much room to grow things, so it’s limited to edible plants. If you’re fine with that and giving the crops for food, I can find a small section for you now.” He stated with a deep but nasally voice.
“I’m perfectly fine with that. I just like to plant and grow my own plants. Its very relaxing for me.”
“Very well. Will your animals be helping?” Yort asked.
“Yes, and if you don’t mind finding me a place close to the front, I’d be very grateful. I can’t see so I might end up stepping on someone else’s plots or even their crops by accident if I need to go very far in.”
“I’ll see what we have and try to accommodate you.” Yort replied respectfully as he stepped away to check what areas they had.
Gaia waited for a few minutes before Yort returned. “We have one plot that is close to an entrance that no one is using. I can take you there and make a designation so you can tell where it is whenever you come back.” Yort stated as he led her to another section of the garden area.
It only took a couple minutes for them to arrive at another side of the garden plots and Yort opened the gate for her. She entered and was led to a section immediately to the left as she entered. It was an area about ten foot by ten foot and was separated by a small wall. The wall was only about six inches tall and made of hardened dirt that almost felt like stone. It was enough that she could feel where the plot ended but not enough that it could interfere with movement much or the plants growth.
Feeling the are Gaia could tell the dirt was already tilled and prepared for planting. All she needed to do was decide what seeds she wanted to plant and place them in the ground before watering them. She wouldn’t use any growth magic immediately as it was best used after the seeds had sprouted. She thanked Yort before he left to allow her time to decide what to plant. It didn’t matter what she planted as long as it was edible since they needed food and could make do with whatever it was.
She eventually decided to plant a few of each of the seeds she had. This meant some Sweet Sprouts, Greenberries, Blissfruit, and Sugarweed. These were the same plants she’d grown back at the inn in Boundary. She already knew how to care for them thanks to the stall owner’s advice and instructions. Planting the seeds didn’t take overly long, as she had Shadow’s help during planting as she used her claws to make the small holes for the seeds and used her snout to guide her hands where they were. Then Malachite would create a water shot and cancel it to water the seeds.
She felt a few gazes while she did all of this and guessed they were interested in the new gardener with the creatures helping her. After the planting and watering was done Gaia relaxed in the garden for a bit enjoying the smells of the gardens. Then, she let Yort know what she’d planted and made her way towards the training grounds since there wasn’t much she could do now in the garden.
When she arrived in the are a she stopped by and talked to the supervisor. She allowed her to use the Sam training area she had the night before but to stay to the front area. Fergus and Griff arrived when she did and they all went to the same area. The guys agreed to make sure she didn’t accidentally enter and mess with someone else’s training. They got to the area and the guys started sparring at the edge of the area they were allotted and they acted as the edge for Gaia.
Gaia played with her bonds for a few hours which mainly included fetch with Shadow and Malachite. Shadow would play for a bit before laying down and wanting pets from Gaia. Malachite enjoyed it as he could run as fast and as much as he wanted to. Liv continued to practice creating items while Antonio practiced his skills and dug a little bit. He seemed to enjoy digging but couldn’t dig very quickly. Gaia spent most of the time sitting against the edge of the training area throwing a ball of webs Liv had made for them to play with. She would also practice her own web manipulation ability and her skills.
She also walked around a bit trying to understand how her Earth Glide skill worked but couldn’t figure it out. She seemed to move a bit quicker while not having her armor covering her feet so she decided to not cover them. The skill was weird since she didn’t have it before ranking up and didn’t really seem to give much of a boost. If she had to guess, from what Fergus told her later, she was about five percent faster than when she had her armor cover her feet completely. It wasn’t much but she was still a bit faster.
After her bonds had tired themselves out they went back to the inn. When she got to her room she could hear Stephanie tinkering away in her forge and checked to make sure she’d stopped to eat. She hadn’t, so Gaia pulled out a bit of bread from the enchanted bag, which she’d decided to call a space bag, since everyone just called them enchanted bags. Then she sat down and attempted to relax when her unwanted “friend” decided to speak to her.
“You have a day where you can do what you want and you decide to garden and practice a useless skill?” The Amalgamation asked incredulously.
“Yes. I like gardening and the skill might not do much but it helped me know what it actually does. Also no skill is useless from what I’ve discovered at least. What do you want anyway?” She asked annoyed that her rest had been interrupted.
“I’m getting bored watching you do the same thing over and over each day and you don’t even have the grace to talk to me. So, I’ll make things interesting for myself. You plan on going into the ruins tomorrow with your little band of misfits, right?”
“We’re not misfits, but yes. Why?” She asked uneasily.
“Sure you aren’t. Well, I’ll give you a little test. If you’re able to get to the second floor tomorrow I’ll grant you something that you’ll find useful.” The Amalgamation stated.
“What if we fail?” Gaia asked hesitantly.
“Something you won’t like, so don’t fail.” It finished before going silent again.
“What do you mean!” She yelled as a screen appeared.
Quest: Reach the second floor of the Ruins of Xerios within the time limit.
Time remaining: 35 hours, 45 minutes and 26 Seconds.
Reward: Class item
Failure: Unknown
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
She didn’t get a response from her outburst and panicked after reading the screen. A moment later she heard some scrambling and a few curses before Stephanie spoke. “What in the hell Gaia! Why did you suddenly yell?”
“Sorry, but can you get Griff and Fergus for me?” She asked.
It took Stephanie a moment before she went and grabbed the guys. It was around ten minutes later that they arrived, since the guys had continued sparring at the training area.
“What’s wrong?” Griff asked as they came into the room.
“Well, I was just given a quest by the Amalgamation to reach the second floor of the ruins by midnight tomorrow. If we fail, it just said it’s do something I wouldn’t like.” Gaia explained.
“Wonderful. Now we have to get to the second floor tomorrow. I don’t know if the explorers have even reached that far yet!” Griff exploded.
“It’s not like I wanted this happen!” Gaia replied.
“First, let’s calm down. We can talk everything out after that happens.” Fergus said.
It took a few minutes for the pair to calm down enough to have a proper conversation.
“Ok, I’m good now.” Griff said.
“Alright, so we have to reach the second floor of the ruins by midnight tomorrow, right?” Stephanie asked.
“From what I understand, yes. If we succeed it seems like I’ll get an item for my class, but if we fail something bad will happen probably.” Gaia said.
“Ok. What do we know about the ruins?” Fergus asked.
“We know the Journeyman’s Guild had to request reinforcements from the Hunter’s League because of insufficient manpower.” Griff said.
“As far as I know they haven’t reached the second floor of the ruins yet either.” Fergus added.
“I don’t even think they know what the ruins are called or what civilization they’re from.” Stephanie said.
“I know they’re called the Ruins of Xerios. That’s what the quest called them at least.” Gaia stated.
“Do you guys know that name?” Fergus asked.
“No. I’ve never heard of it before.” Griff said.
“We should probably ask the Guild Master. Her guild has been exploring ruins and the areas around Boundary for a long time.” Fergus said.
“Sounds good to me but we’re gonna have an early morning tomorrow. Let’s see if we can talk to her tonight.” Stephanie suggested.
The party made their way to the tavern hoping to find someone that knew where the Guild Master was. It only took a couple minutes to arrive at the tavern since it was next to the inn. They went in to raucous laughter and conversation. It was extremely loud and smelled of alcohol. It was almost too much for Gaia but she was able deal with it while they asked around.
They spent an hour asking around the tavern before someone told them that the Guild Master had her quarters in a building just inside the wall. It was by the southern gate which led to the ruins. The party thanked the woman who told them and bought her a drink before leaving. They made their way to the southern gate and Stephanie saw the building. They arrived and knocked on the door hoping the Guild Master was in, and thankfully she was.
“What’s wrong?” The Guild Master Delilah asked.
“Well, we have some thing we need to talk to you about.” Griff replied.
“Alright. Come in.” Delilah said wearily.
“What is this about? You haven’t been harassed by anyone else right?”
“No we haven’t. This is about the ruins.” Stephanie stated.
“Oh? What about them?” Delilah asked.
“Do you know the name of them or that theres a second floor?” Griff asked.
“No we don’t know the name but we believe there will be at least a second floor and possibly more. Why?”
“Well, I was given a quest to reach the second floor by midnight tomorrow. I was also given the name of the ruins with the quest.” Gaia explained.
“You were given a quest? What does that mean? Wait. The League’s not here to give requests so it’s not that.” Delilah asked before mumbling everything else.
“I don’t entirely know, honestly. I’ve been given a few before but nothing like this one. Either way, it called the ruins the ‘Ruins of Xerios’ and gave me a time limit to reach the second floor.” Gaia said.
When Gaia said Xerios the Guild Master stopped mumbling immediately. “You’re positive it was the Ruins of Xerios?” She asked.
“Yes. Why? Do you know what the name means?” Gaia asked.
“Xerios is a city from mythology. Specifically, the capital of the Demons or at least that’s how it’s commonly known. It was the center of a country controlled by intelligent
monsters. These ‘demons’ as these intelligent monsters were called, were nine creatures that ruled the country and held immeasurable power. Each demon was a progenitor of its race.” Delilah explained.
“Right. There were eight of them and their king. The eight demons were the Gargantuan Destroyer, Draugr, Oni, Basilisk, Sinew Horror, Spectre, Wendigo, and Verdant Colossus. These eight were all under a single being known as the Eternal Lord. He was killed by a coalition of many races as he attempted to ascend though. At least that’s how the Myth goes.” Griff explained.
“Wait. Then that means this country from the myth actually existed?” Gaia asked.
“If what you told me is true then it’s possible. It also means this ruin is much more dangerous and important than we initially thought. It means there will likely be many more floors than we believed too. We’ll have to be extremely careful when exploring.” Delilah started before remembering the party was there.
“Well, that makes this quest that much harder.” Gaia said with trepidation.
“Yep. We’ll have to be extremely vigilant tomorrow when we explore.” Stephanie said.
“I’ll send you lot in with the best explorer we have. I hope you’re able to complete the quest but be careful. Your lives are the most important thing.” Delilah said as the party started to leave.
“Will attempt.” Gaia replied.
“What do you mean will attempt?” Fergus asked.
“We don’t know what we’ll have to do or deal with in the ruins. Especially now that we know they have to deal with a mythological capital for intelligent monsters. So, we don’t know what will happen and, therefore, we’ll attempt to survive.” Gaia explained.
There was silence the entire way back to the inn after this. Her party members couldn’t argue with her explanation, so they stayed quiet. They arrived and split up into their respective rooms. Gaia laid down and tried to relax, which didn’t happen until her bonds cuddled up with her. She spent a few hours cuddled up but decided to go for a walk to clear her head. She couldn’t fully relax knowing that there was time limit and that the consequence of failing was unknown.
She walked with her bonds around the central square area a few times but still couldn’t get her mind off the issue. She went back to her garden plot and sat down hoping that being in her plot would help. It did a bit as she felt the soil and noticed that there were a few sprouts. The plants didn’t grow this quickly normally so she guessed the soil had some kind of magic fertilizer or something similar added to speed up growth. She noticed the soil was a bit dry and had Malachite water them again.
Being able to feel the sprouts had helped clear her mind slightly since gardening was relaxing for her. It could be hard work to get the ground ready, but most of it had been done before she got the plot. She enjoyed just being in the garden as much as growing her plants. Something about the aromas and environment helped put her mind at ease. The smell of freshly water plants and soil with the sun’s warmth helped her relax, and with her bonds right by her, it made the area extremely comfortable. She was able to relax for a bit and forget the looming danger. She laid there for a while until she ended up falling asleep. She’d forgotten that none of her companions knew she’d left or where she went.
It wasn’t until an hour later that her companions noticed she’d left and they started a frantic search for her. Stephanie was the first to notice when she came out of her forge to get something to drink. Stephanie immediately ran to the guys and relayed that Gaia was gone from the room. The guys didn’t panic at first until they realized no one knew where she’d gone. This caused them to scatter and start searching the camp for her.
They were all worried something had happened like the time the murderer had kidnapped her and Stephanie. They also worried since there hadn’t been any kind of retaliation from the group that had been hostile to her because of her bonds. Their minds created all kinds of different scenarios, each worse than the one before. Stephanie ran to check the training areas, Griff checked the stalls and shops, and Fergus checked the main paths thinking she may have just gone for a walk.
Stephanie checked the entire area and the mess hall but couldn’t find her. She went back to the central square and found Griff. He’d not found anything either so they started to check the main paths themselves. They searched for around an hour or two before they ran into someone who had seen her walking with her bonds. He pointed them in the direction and the quickly made their way in that direction.
Fergus was the first to see where she was. He called the others over as he’d seen Shadow who after noticing him hopped over the fencing for the garden area and ran to him. Fergus let her a few times as Griff and Stephanie made their way over to him. They all moved towards the garden and immediately saw her. Gaia was curled up on the ground napping with her bonds guarding her.
They all breathed a sigh of relief and slumped down for a bit since they’d been running around frantically searching. Seeing that she was fine allowed them to relax and laugh. They all knew she liked gardening so they should have checked here earlier. She’d even said she was going to garden during her day off earlier that day. They’d been led by their imagination to believe something bad happened so they didn’t even think about it until now.
“She really knows how make us worried, doesn’t she?” Fergus asked.
“Sure does. I’m just glad something bad didn’t happen. Normally, if she’s off by herself something ridiculous would happen. Last time it was a portal. Now, just a nap.” Griff stated.
“Let’s just be glad nothing actually happened. We also probably shouldn’t worry about her so much. As long as her bonds are with her, I don’t think anyone here outside of the bronze rankers or Guild Master could hurt her.” Stephanie said.
“You’re probably right, now that I think about it.” Fergus replied.
“Don’t forget you were the one to panic first Steph.” Griff prodded.
“Oh shut it. Ever since I met y’all it’s been one thing after another.” She replied.
“Fair enough.” Griff ended.
The three all laughed and talked for a few minutes before Gaia stirred due to the noise. At first she was worried, since she wasn’t sure where she was. She started to remember, as she fully woke up, that she’d been in her garden relaxing and must have fallen asleep. She slowly got up and checked her sprouts, since she was worried that she may have accidentally broken them. Luckily, she hadn’t so she started to leave when she heard her companions laughing.
“Oh? Why are you guys here?” She said with a yawn.
“Someone didn’t let anybody know they were going out so, Stephanie came out of her forge to see you were gone. Then no one knew where you were and we assumed the worst. Especially since last time you were alone a portal appeared.” Griff said.
“Then we ran around looking for you. We didn’t find you till a couple minutes ago.” Fergus finished.
“Sorry! I went out for a walk to clear my head and ended up coming here and must have fallen asleep.” Gaia rambled embarrassed.
“It’s fine. Everything’s good now. Just let someone know before you wander off, so we don’t think you just disappeared.” Fergus said as he pulled her in for a hug.
“Alright.” She promised.
The group all started to make their way back to the inn and Gaia put her Mana Field back up now that she’d started moving. They’d walked for a few minutes when her stomach growled and she realized that she’d missed lunch. Thankfully, there was still some bread in her space bag, so she snacked while they walked. Just as they were about to enter the central square Griff ran off to a stall and Gaia noticed something that piqued her interest. She walked over to the item and touched it.
“What do ye think yer doin?” A gruff male voice asked.
“Sorry. This piqued my interest. What is it?” She asked.
“It’s a seed, can’t you see?”
“No.” She said then a moment later asked “What kind of seed?”
“Sorry lass. It’s a seed from the ruins. I don’t know exactly what kind of seed it is but no one from the guild wanted it. They decided to let me sell it.” He said after a puase and sigh.
“What do you want for it?” She asked.
“Honestly, I’ll take five cores. It would be less but it was down a hall of traps so any less and it wouldn’t be worth it.” He said wearily.
“I’ll take it.” She said as she pulled five cores out of her space bag.
“Alright. Here you go lass. Thank you and sorry for earlier. I’m Trevor by the way.” The man said.
“It’s alright and thanks. I’m Gaia if you have anything else like this can you hold onto it for me. As long as no one else wants it, of course.”
“I’ll see what I can do. I’m just the item dealer so I’m always here just after lunch and until dinner.” Trevor replied as Gaia started walking off.
“What’d you get?” Stephanie asked.
“A seed. I sensed it in my mana field. It seems odd. Let me try and analyze it.” She said as she pushed her mana into the small oblong seed.
Name – Seed of
“My skill can’t even tell me what it is. I was curious since it has mana unlike most of the other seeds I’ve come across.” Gaia said.
“That’s weird. I bet it’ll be something ridiculous, knowing you. I bought us some party trackers.” Griff said.
The trackers were bracelets with a small stone that would allow them to keep track of each other. They would glow with a dim light that would brighten or dim depending on how close another tracker was. For Gaia’s he’d been able to get them to change it to warm up and cool down instead. It did mean hers wouldn’t be ready until around sundown though.
The party relaxed until bedtime after finishing their preparations for the ruin delve the next day. They all had their trackers and planned to go to sleep early to maximize their time for the quest. They talked to Flora during this time and told them about the quest and everything they knew. Flora was about to go and say they were going to join Fauna during their ruin exploration, but Fergus was able to talk Titania down. After this exchange, they went to their rooms and went to sleep.
