B2 - CHAPTER 26

“We should keep in touch, Apprentice Cal,” Ken said as he watched Cal tie the oxen to a recently purchased cart. “The Masters here seem to like you. I think I can convince them to make you a preferred vendor for your territory.”

That got Cal’s attention. He finished with the cart and handed the reins to Bran before turning to Ken. “You seem confident about winning that deed.”

“Of course,” Ken boasted. “Julie and I have most of the tickets in the draw. It would be terrible luck to lose.”

That was a severe overexaggeration. While it was true the couple had a majority of the tickets from the sheer number of items won, it was barely over half. In hindsight, their willingness to spend over five hundred guildmarks on a mere fifty percent chance to win a deed was terrifying. He had thought owning a Rare-ranked equipment was a draw for danger, but the couple spent over three times the value. They didn’t seem worried about their safety, so he wondered what their backing was.

“I don’t plan to visit Harvest’s End in the near future, but if you get the deed, Bran could be our point of contact. Right, Bran?” Cal said, figuring it would hurt to keep a little of communication open.

“Yes, Apprentice Cal!” Bran confirmed with a firm nod. “I’ll return in a few days. If you have the deed, I’m sure we can work out some agreement.”

Cal had no desire to become a merchant, but he wouldn’t mind passing the task to a willing hire. And Bran looked very willing. In fact, the eagerness was a little over the top, even more so compared to when he was at the farm. Cal wouldn’t mind having a hire that was happy to deal with merchants and make him easy coin.

“That works with me,” Ken said before looking at Cal. “I look forward to working with you.”

Cal stared at the offered hand for a second before shaking it. He was more convinced than ever that Ken and Julie were some rich heirs out to experience life. He would prefer that to be the case, since their intentions would be transparent.

“You mean we look forward to it,” Julie said, jabbing Ken with her elbow.

Cal chuckled when they focused more on bickering with each other and forgot he was there. He looked around—with both his eyes and mana tendrils—hoping to find Arhan, but the Master was nowhere to be found. He wanted to say his thanks again before leaving, but it wasn’t to be.

***

Bran had struggled to control the oxen at the start, but by the time they crossed into the Celestial Order’s territory, he was a fine cart driver.

Cal spent the time observing the oxen, and found that while they might be beasts, they had little intelligence to show for that status. He would wager the dimmest of the wolf pack and newly arrived cats would run circles around these oxen. But that wasn’t a bad thing. As Bran mentioned well before the auction, the oxen would gain an attachment to the farm as they grew in intelligence as they benefited from the pond.

There was nothing felt to discover of the oxen, and they were about to pass Purple Vale. He would make a quick detour to visit Oleg, but it wasn’t necessary for Bran to stop with him. “I have some business in the town. I’ll meet you at the farm—”

Cal’s eyes snapped to the right, detecting a tiny figure rocketing toward them from below. Nibbles??

Bran yelped in shock when Nibbles shot out of the ground and landed on the cart. She didn’t waste time and squeaked in panic. Cal’s eyes widened when he got the gist of what she said. “Tavia hasn’t returned, and she’s in trouble?”

Nibbles nodded frantically, making Cal curse loudly. He scooped Nibbled into his palm and said, “Bran, I might be gone for a few days to deal with an issue. Seris is in charge of the farm, so take her words as mine.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Cal vaguely heard Bran acknowledge his words before the world blurred. He didn’t spare any energy as he rushed back to his farm. Tavia was no damsel in distress, nor would she wait patiently for anyone to ‘save’ her.

That put the guild as the primary suspect in Cal’s mind. As long as she didn’t leave the guild’s territory, there would be nothing else that could cause Tavia actual trouble. However, that left Cal with few options on how to deal with the problem. The most reliable, unfortunately, depended on the guild’s administration.

Cal burst past the tree line that acted as the border to his farm and saw multiple things that alarmed him: Seris with swollen, red eyes, clear that she had cried; two of Tavia’s friends, Vivi and Amara, one’s he recognized were closest to her; and an unknown man that looked out of place as he stood near the house.

He stopped by Seris and Tavia’s friends first. “What happened?” He cut right to the chase.

“Tavia is in the sinkhole and can’t get out. The Masters guarding the place wouldn’t tell us more. They insisted you were the only one allowed to investigate,” Vivi said in an exhausted tone.

Cal’s mind jumped to the guild arranging for this to happen, but that made no sense. They didn’t force Tavia to investigate the sinkhole out of concern for him.

“Will Tavia be alright?” Seris asked with a wobbly voice.

Cal gave her a quick smile. “Tavia isn’t weak, and I’m sure you’re aware of that, Seris. I bet she won’t even need my help, but with the two of us against whatever is in the sinkhole, we’ll get out even faster.” Seris looked half convinced. “You have a new job while I’m gone. You’re in charge of the Initiates I hired recently. I want to see how you’ll deal with this, so try your best.”

Seris stared at him with shock, but it did the job. Her mind would be on something else.

“Apprentice Cal, Tavia told us to gather the rumors in town about the sinkhole. It may be of help,” Amara interjected.

“Take Nibbles and go do something fun, Seris,” Cal pushed Seris away before turning to Amara. “Tell me.”

He listened to a variety of rumors—some plausible and most nonsensical.

- Lethal mana bursts that occur at random.

- Explosive rocks that are extremely unstable.

- Rapid degradation of all metals brought into the sinkhole.

- Corrosive air that degrades health the longer you spend in the sinkhole.

- Monstrous creatures that eat anything that lives.

- The stronger you are, the longer the sinkhole traps you.

Cal found it hard to believe all of that was true. If it was, the sinkhole was a deathtrap even to him. The guild had no desire to see him die… at least, he thought so.

“This might get this out of a tight spot. Thank you, Amara, Vivi,” Cal said. “If you want, you can wait here until Tavia and I return.”

Vivi smiled weakly. “I like how confident you are, but then again, you never had a lack of it. We’ll take you up on the offer.”

Cal nodded and left them to speak with the unknown man, an Apprentice by what he sensed. “Did Overseer Marek send you?”

“I was told to deliver this.”

He accepted a palm-sized black cube made of voidiron. He couldn’t see anything about it that screamed ‘artifact.’ “Did the Overseer have any instructions?”

“No, that’s it. Uh, good luck to whatever you’re about to do,” the man left without a look back.

Cal turned the cube over in his palm a few times before putting it in his storage pouch and pulling up the interface.

Basic Storage Pouch

Inventory: 16/20

5 Unknown Gems

137 Copper, 7 Silver, 5 Gold, 14 Guildmarks

1 Rake (Rare)

1 Map (Trade Routes of the Celestial Order)

2 Healing Potion (Minor)

2 Mana Restoration Potion (Minor)

2 Calming Potion

2 Rage Potion

4 Daggers (Common)

1 War Hammer (Uncommon)

1 Voidiron Shovel (Advanced)

1 Voidiron Cube (Rare Artifact)

Cal clenched his teeth as he stared at the words ‘Rare Artifact.’ The cube might as well be a legendary item for the Celestial Order, and they handed it to him like it was some common rock. If he hadn’t been wary of the sinkhole before, he definitely was now. He strongly suspected it played a part in the guild’s destruction in his past life.

I can’t blindly follow the Overseer’s wishes. I’ll make a judgement call after I see what’s in this damned sinkhole.

He glanced at the pack leader sitting near the pond. The lazy wolf would usually be asleep, but that wasn’t the case at the moment. “Keep the farm in order.”

The pack leader huffed in reply as Cal left the farm.