"What do you mean, there's no work today?"
"Exactly that; are you stupid or something?" Tucker says while looking at me like he just saw a particularly dumb piece of garbage.
"Well, when is the next temp thing?"
"Tomorrow. We are offering temp work every other day until the Forest opens again so just take a day off or something." He pushes me away from the counter and begins helping the next person in line.
"Damn."
'Now what?'
"We'll just go workout like normal, that way we'll be able to carry even more stones tomorrow."
"Okay." Josh replies, looking pumped. Apparently he's pleased by making some extra cash as well.
We focus mostly on legs today which is nice because my hands are still covered in blisters. I've found the seal system dramatically increases recovery speed but it's not by any means instant. Our stats have been steadily growing so I don't feel an urgent need to adjust our methods but I keep the thought in the back of my mind that we'll eventually need to find something else.
During one of our sets, I notice a little girl peaking at us over the wall. I probably wouldn't have noticed her if it wasn't for her bright pink hair.
"Eep!" she shrieks and hides below the wall when we make eye contact.
"Hey, Josh. You know anyone with pink hair?"
"Sakura. She's my neighbor."
"Interesting. Come with me for a second."
We walk around the wall and find the girl crouched down with her hands over her head.
"Yo."
"Hi, Sakura."
"Josh!" she says excitedly. While on the ground, she goes back and forth between smiling at Josh and glaring at me. The transition is so fast and stark I have to turn away and cough to avoid laughing. Josh turns back to the entrance of the courtyard but I grab his arm to stop him from leaving.
"Why don't you help your neighbor off the ground?"
"Okay." He lends her a hand to help her up and I swear I can almost see hearts popping out of her eyes.
"Aww, thanks Josh. You're so nice and thoughtful." Sakura says while ignoring the fact that it was my idea to have him help her up. She squeezes his arm while he stands there looking confused.
"Well, nice to meet up but we should really be getting back to our workout." Josh nods at my words and assumes his overly serious expression.
"Wait! I want to come too!" Sakura cries.
"Only members are allowed on guild property." I explain with an image of Jezabel's piercing eyes still seared to the back of my skull.
"Then I'll join!"
"I don't know if-"
"Don't tell me what I can and can't do!" She shouts while getting up in my face. I lean back to avoid her and throw my hands up in surrender.
"Okay, let's just go in through the front door."
Her admission is so fast that we're back in the courtyard in less than five minutes. I assume she has some connections or something because Catherine seemed to know who she was.
"Anyway," I say to Josh and the little girl now dangling from his neck, "We were working on legs today so we can carry more stones tomorrow and make more money."
"Yes." Josh replies zealously. Sakura sees the serious expression on his face and adopts one of her own. I spend most of the day showing Sakura the proper form for the exercises while trying to get some in myself.
'Plap'
After a particularly strenuous set of squats, Sakura passes out and face plants into the mud. Josh and I help her up and hand her a towel Ashley left us.
"Maybe we should call it here for today?" I suggest. Josh looks slightly depressed at the prospect and Sakura immediately panics when she sees his expression.
"No, I'm fine. I can keep going." She leaps up to try and prove her words but her legs buckle and she crumples to the ground like a puppet whose strings have been cut.
Helping her up a second time, I eventually convince her to call it a day by saying that we'd both be back at the guild tomorrow and she was welcome to join us. Josh wraps one of her arms around his neck to help her limp home. Despite how exhausted her legs are, she still manages to talk the whole way back. She talks about flowers she'd seen and people she'd met and food she ate and everything else you could imagine all while Josh silently nods along.
"This is my house." She says after what felt like hours of walking. She knocks on the door and a thin man in a vest appears in the doorway. His expression takes several turns as he sees the condition of his daughter and two boys standing by her.
"What the hell did you do to my daughter?!" He bellows.
"We didn't do anything." I explain. "We were just helping her exercise after she joined the Adventurer's Guild."
"She did WHAT?!"
"Yeah, I should have kept that to myself." I mumble.
"How dare you force my precious little girl into your disgusting guild!"
"Oh, you think I could force her to do anything? It took us ten minutes to convince her to go home." I reply, exasperated.
Sakura's father looks down at his daughter to find her staring daggers at him. If I didn't know any better I'd say her eyes were even glowing slightly red.
"Father." With that one word he flips like a switch. Suddenly he's thanks us for bringing his daughter home, quickly drags her inside and slams the door in our faces.
I glance at Josh who looks completely drained by the experience. Maybe we should have just left her hiding on the other side of that wall.
The next couple weeks go by quickly with our little team alternating between working out in the courtyard and doing temp work. It's fascinating to watch the pair of mages move the stones into place on the wall and then setting them in place without the use of mortar. I try asking them what type of magic they're using but they just shoo me away.
I'm walking to the guild one particularly sunny day while looking at my stats.
Niccolo Drake lv 1
Patron: God of Wisdom
Job: Commoner lv 1
Possible jobs:
Skills:
Titles:
Unassigned points: 0
Health: 54/54 (+7)
Stamina: 101/101 (+22)
Vitality: 9 (+7)
Strength: 23 (+18)
Agility: 10 (+7)
Endurance: 31 (+22)
Resilience: 5 (+4)
Perception: 1 (+1)
Mana Capacity: 0
Mana Bandwidth: 0
Processing power: 0
To put it optimistically, my endurance had increased by about one third of an adult man. Pessimistically, I was still weaker than most non-adventurers and gaining stats was getting harder everyday. It was clear why people didn't usually invest in this game of diminishing returns when killing even a weak monster could instantly bring you up several levels. There was also diminishing returns with leveling but the initial boost it provided was undeniable. Still, I was determined to stay the course and get as strong as I could before even considering going into the forest.
"Listen up." Jezebel's stern voice gathers everyone's attention as i walk into the guild hall. "Ironhead has confirmed that the Manka war has ended and the treeline now open."
Cheers go up all around me which abruptly end when the Guild Master clears her throat.
"Ahem, additionally this means that the temp work is done for the foreseeable future."
My heart dropped at the news. While it was getting more difficult to gain stats, we had an undeniable momentum going which felt like it was just shattered.
"That being said, the Manka colony that lives in the forest has been almost wiped out from the conflict and are unlikely to approach us for the foreseeable future. Due to this, we have an unprecedented opportunity to explore the lower level of the woods without their interference. Ironhead is offering to guide and protect any parties that are interested into the fungal layer to harvest some of the rare flora that can be found there."
Another wave of cheers goes up.
"Ahem! While the Mankas are currently not a threat, they keep down the population of other monster species in the forest so this expedition is still dangerous. That being said, it's the best opportunity any of you will have to explore this part of the forest with some protection.
"What do you say about going into the forest?" I ask nick under my breath.
'I thought you just said-'
"We must adapt to new information and this is a grand opportunity for us." I passionately exclaim while clenching my fist in the air which causes the people around me to me to move away awkwardly.
'Okay, just stop shouting. You're embarrassing me.'
"Perfect."
I explain the circumstances to the kids. Josh is pumped at the idea so Sakura follows suit.
We all meet up at the treeline around mid day. A group of about thirty adventurers are crowded around the leader of Ironhead who's smiling confidently with his fists on his hips.
"Alright! Let's get started!" He says while the rest of his team looks noticeably less enthusiastic. "I'm Travis and we're going to be guiding you through the fungal layer of the forest. While the glowing fungus provides some light, it's still pretty dark so stay close. Before we start, let's get a head count. Who's going with me?"
A handful of people raise their hands, including my team, but the rest look skeptical.
"Only twelve this time. That's fine. I'm sure more of you will be interested when we come back with a bunch of rare plants and fungi. Move out team!"
I follow along as his enthusiasm makes me chuckle. Compared to the dreary miasma around most adventurers I see, Travis is like a breath of fresh air. We all step into the woods and the light fades quickly until I can barely see my hands in front of my face.
"Keep moving, it's just a little further ahead. Follow my voice." He says.
I look ahead and just barely make out a dim blue light. A few more steps and the path lights up before me. Glowing fungi create a patchwork of light on the bark of the massive tree trunks. The polychromatic organisms create what can only be described as a phantasmagorical landscape. Both Sakura and Josh are equally enraptured by the panorama.
"Oh my god! It's amazing! I've never seen anything so beautiful!"
"I like the colors."
Gasps and excited chatter fill the air as our group filters into the fungal layer. Travis watches over everyone with a smile and allows us to adjust to the alien environment.
"Pretty amazing right? There's a reason people don't talk much about the fungal layer, how would you even describe it? Unfortunately, most of the fungi you see are worthless so don't bother taking any, it will lose its glow as soon as you take it off the tree anyway. Let's start with the trees, they're called Mammoth Trees and they are the foundation of this environment in the forest, everything here relies on them for survival."
The fungi are so spectacular they almost make you forget about the trees which must have a diameter of at least fifty or sixty feet. The combination of the two organisms make what look like corridors or passages through the woods.
"Keep your eyes peeled for Suffigo, which is a black fungus near the leaf line and Musculus Mushrooms, which radiate yellow fronds from their center and are usually found at the base of the trees." Travis says.
I look up and see the under sides of the mammoth leaves which are each about twice my size. The leaves only glow faintly from what little light makes it through the canopy above. It seems no other tree can survive in the Mammoth forest as they block out all the sun. I also spot some red glowing fungus that connects the Mammoth Trees together which Travis explains allows the trees to share nutrients.
"Merrowrowroow!"
I turn just in time to see a massive black panther-looking beast dive right for me. A maw of Death. I freeze from the overwhelming terror. Its jaws fill my vision. Every fiber of my being screams to run away but I can't move.