The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

Taking the rightwards path, the group soon came to a large, soily clearing with an NPC in it.

The NPC, an old woman named [Margaret], greeted the group warmly. "Hello! This area gets visits from the rare [Gem-Fur Mink]. They are shy creatures, that aren't seen often because they hide in dens. But though they visit here in the late afternoon, they find it difficult to dig their dens here. Would you mind sparing some time to build dens for them?"

"How long would it take to dig a den?" DicingDevil asked, slightly uncertain.

"About half an hour for a shabby den, if you are strong," Margaret said. "You'll get more EXP for spacious dens! But it will be faster if you have Geomancers. Maybe you can find out some way to deal with the collapsing soil, as well."

"Alright, we accept the quest."

"Thank you, kind strangers," Margaret said, as she began to walk away. "I will go to check on my village, just North-East of here, call me when you're done."

DicingDevil turned to the group.

"This quest hasn't been done yet, but the EXP rewards are good. I can see a couple of abortive attempts from other groups. Let's give it a shot, this area hasn't been explored fully so we should take the free quests."

"You called us here just to dig holes?" complained a DeathGang member named [DereeMan], who had just joined the party.

The group had been joined by a couple of DeathGang members who were in the area, to make up for the four casualties of the bear fight. They had gone in with the maximum party size of 16, now they had 14. Groups were allowed to call for up to three back-ups at a cost of 10,000 gold per player, if they lost members while still in the first quarter of the Hunting area.

Frowning slightly, DicingDevil replied, "Ugh, fine. This quest might take some time, so some of you can scout ahead and see what's out there. But it looks like digging here might be difficult, because the deeper, soft soil tends to cave in, so come back soon."

"No, wait," Crucis said. "This quest sounds quite profitable, but the holes could be difficult to dig and we should keep all hands on deck."

"What's useful about digging holes?" DereeMan ejaculated.

Crucis ignored him, and continued speaking directly to DicingDevil. "Getting to build a den is a good opportunity. Remember what Stevo said about trapping animals near the den? We could try something similar by making the den itself a trap, build a den but use it to trap some rare mink. Then we can kill them, or take them alive."

"Um, actually I don't think they'd allow you to use a trap item in a den, the game would probably sense it."

"No need. We can just use a non-trap large box for the den. After all, that will help to hold the soil in place. But if the box has a door on top, then we can block the tunnel and open the door from above, so that the mink can't escape but we can kill or capture them."

"We can't just wait till late afternoon and hunt them if they come here?"

"They are B-class creatures, our hunting level is too low," Starfighter said. "They'd flee at the first sign of us. If we trap them, then we'd be able to kill them."

"Yes, it's a fine plan," DicingDevil said. "The fur should be a good asset."

"Yes, or we could get a pet mink," Starfighter joked. "By the way, did you know that sometimes creatures transform into other species? While capturing and selling the mink would be valuable, you should be careful about how you keep them. Stuff too many of them into a small space and they'll fight each other, in the process the winners will transform into a larger [Decorated Faux Badger] and any who lost but still survive will become feral [Noble Tarnished Mink]. Their fur isn't nearly as valuable."

"What do those look like?"

"I haven't seen them, but the villages have a few books explaining some local animal transformations. Most of them don't involve fights like this, but the mink fights are mentioned as a caution. Their fur's gem-like, flat sections are torn to cope with the strain of constant fighting, so it loses value fast. The faux badgers look like small, brown-purple badgers and have much higher Strength but slightly lower Dexterity. I'm not sure about the tarnished ones, the books only mentioned that they're highly aggressive and competitive."

"That's good to know," Crucis said. "So animals can transform in certain conditions? Quite Lamarckian, elegant. Do most transformations entail a change in stats?"

"I think so, yeah. Some creatures can even transform back and forth. The villagers used this transformation to source more valuable non-local animals by transforming local ones, which was a small industry back in the day and still continues slightly. Some of the best practitioners were known as 'animal attendants,' because of how much care they put into preparing appropriate living conditions for the animals and their instinctive knowledge of the animals."

"Interesting. Anyway, we should keep most of the captured ones separately, and see how much they're worth on the Kaxil black market."

"Yes, certainly," DicingDevil said. "Alright, so we have a plan. Akshel, have you tested the ground yet?"

"Yeah, I did that with Modrea," Akshel responded. "His spells were quite effective at making the ground weaken, so me and Dion dug through quick. But if you go low enough to build a den, the soil starts to fall back into place quickly."

"Alright, can we dig a tunnel that's shallow, though? The den can be after that."

"That should be just about possible. The quest specifies the den should be 'large,' but we could probably get away with slightly smaller tunnels."

"Yeah, tunneling here shouldn't be difficult," the Geomancer Modrea added. He had been sent by Darys to be a 16th member for the team, but was slightly unfamiliar with the rest of the team and tended to be quiet.

"We could always dig a hole from above and plant the box in to prevent soil from spilling in," Crucis said. "Then build a tunnel to its open side."

"Sure. We have some large boxes with doors. Akshel has some crafting skills, so I'd like him to use a saw and cut a round hole in one side of the box, to let the mink in. Make sure that when we put it into the ground, the door will be facing upwards, and the hole will be sideways. Everyone else, get digging. One Geomancer to dig the den, one for the tunnel."

DicingDevil began handing out shovels.

"Aye-aye," said the level 44 [Danemy], the other player who had joined after the bear attack. "By the way, I heard you guys had a team of 16. I think that 15 is max, plus 1 as a reward for Guilds, I guess because most of us are from one Guild. What happened, did players leave?"

"You didn't hear in my local Guild announcement?" DicingDevil laughed. "We wrestled a bear once, wasn't fun. We lost four members."

"Ah, so a bear made space for me. Nice chap. I was PMed about it by Gastlem, some Fountain members had nearly jumped me, so I was too nervy and wasn't watching Guild chat. We still have a large team, it should be fine."

"Teams of 15 or 16 wouldn't be allowed in the crowded areas, maybe 5-10, perhaps 11 for Guilds. No risk of crowding in Area E, I guess, plus there's predators in here, so they allowed for 16. Honestly, moving in such a large group isn't always great for hunting, but it's good for digging holes. We'll see if we can get some of you guys killed by bears and snakes on the way forwards, no?"

"Yes, captain. I will die to a bear, and it will be an honour." Danemy gave a mock-salute, then took a shovel and joined the rest of the group in digging.

The group split into two segments. Crucis joined Dionarcy, Modrea, DicingDevil, Starfighter and Grisier in digging a large hole and clearing away the soil from it. Vladimir and Konstantin circled around, carrying soil away as it was dug up in order to prevent it from falling away. After five minutes, Akshel came up to them carrying a large, firm wooden box with a hole cut in one side, and the group lowered that into the hole and continued digging.

Modrea was using a useful Geomancy power, [Minor Earth Divide], to help dig by easily parting rougher patches of soil. He also used the familiar [Lesser Whirlpool-Earth] to soften the ground so that the rest of the party could dig more easily. This made progress faster, but it was still difficult. Akshel joining it made the digging slightly faster.

After 23 minutes, the box had been lowered firmly into the ground, and Vladimir and Konstantin had formed five elegant makeshift sandcastles from the excess soil.

"We'll need some of that soil back, to cover the box," DicingDevil said, when he looked bemusedly at the slightly Gothic architecture of the soily sandcastles. Due to the freshly-dug, wet soil, the castles looked slightly like a cross of a Dali-esque clock and a Transylvanian castle.

"Yeah, sure." Vladimir kicked down one of the castles. "Take this one, is bad, I was in a rush."

"Those castles are fancy. Do you work for Dracula?" Danemy said light-heartedly.

"No, am not from Romania! I am a Russian," Vladimir said. "I do not know who will work for Dracula, maybe a gypsy. But if any bat comes near, I will kill it just to be sure!"

"Good to hear. Can never trust bats, pesky critters."

"'Critters'? Like 'creatures'?"

"Yes, I guess? Like saying 'kid' instead of 'child.'"

"Ah, OK. Less serious tone?"

"Basically, less formal."

"Thanks for explaining."

Modrea cast [Minor Earth Divide] at the entrance to the box, to create a hole into it from the tunnel. He then used [Mana Push] to shove excess soil out of the way, leaving a clear entrance to the den.

After checking that the door from above could be opened and latched from the outside, DicingDevil instructed the group to layer soil and some grass over the box in order to hide it slightly. The soil filled the gap easily, and after a few minutes it was difficult to distinguish from the rest of the dense, soily area. Modrea cleared out any soil which had dripped into the way of the tunnel, and soon one den was completed.

The group began work on a few more dens, in similar fashion. By now, since they were more used to the process, it only took just under 20 minutes to prepare the next den.

After an hour and a half of digging, then group had five dens prepared. The afternoon had grown darker as they dug, and the minks would probably be coming soon. As such, DicingDevil decided to stop and call back Margaret. The group rested exhaustedly on the ground for a couple of minutes, before DereeMan ambitiously stood up.

"Finally, that's done!" DereeMan exclaimed. "Can we explore a bit now? I'm getting sick of this place."

"Let the others rest!" DicingDevil replied. "Me and Akshel will go North-East to find the village."

"Let these guys scout out the mansion up North," Crucis said, "or whatever that building is."

DicingDevil nodded. "Alright, AnderScorpio is also looking restless, you two can scout out the white building over there." He pointed North-West, at the distant building which Crucis had glimpsed on his way here. It looked like a simple mansion or chateau, and birds perched around it. "The rest of you, wait here, we'll bring Margaret back to check the dens. I've done a quest like this before, generally the NPC just glances at the dens and all participants get EXP."

AnderScorpio was the group's weaker DeathGang Geomancer, and wore deep green robes. He had helped with building the tunnels, but wasn't as familiar with the sub-class' skills as Modrea.

Crucis sat down, and watched as the four players left Northwards. The mansion-like house to the North-West was empty and didn't seem to have anyone moving around it. There was a village nearby, but none of them seemed to venture near the building. Crucis figured that the building might be unsafe, so he tried to get DereeMan to go just in case anything bad happened. If the scouts died, then the rest of the group would be forewarned to use caution.

However, the group was interrupted when DereeMan suddenly climbed back through the leaves, returning to the group and calling DicingDevil back.

"There's some high-level players to the West, in Area D," DereeMan said, trying to keep his excited voice low. "Do you think we should fight them?"

"Are we allowed to cross Area boundaries?" Akshel asked.

"You can, but if any Rangers see you then they will attack, and you will be fined," DicingDevil said.

"They have a carpet spread out, it has enchanted crafting tools. Rare opportunity," DereeMan said.

"Alright, let's take a look," Grisier said, rising to his feet.

Crucis joined DicingDevil, Akshel, Grisier, and Starfighter as they followed DereeMan towards the Western boundary of Area E, and hid behind a clump of bushes to look at Area D. The rest of their party stayed resting near the dens.

In Area D, there were two level 64 players from a top Guild named [Dauphin], along with a gathering of six level 30-40 players from the same Guild who appeared to have highly-developed crafting skills.

The group was setting out a large trap, perhaps for a quest to trap some rare creature nearby. The level 64 players had laid some rare crafting tools on a purple carpet, like high-level enchanted hammers and [Expert Craftsman's Gloves], which increased the wielder's crafting skill level and efficacy. A few spears and a [Spyglass], which functioned like a small telescope or binoculars, were laid next to this. The other players were sharing most of these, and crafting a large box trap which doubled as a deadfall with bait placed inside under a large stone which would fall when triggered. They were placing small stilts underneath it, to prevent smaller animals from creeping in.

Crucis guessed that the level 64 players were there to guard the group and bring their own rare crafting tools, while the Guild had accompanied them with a set of crafters who could work safely to build traps. Area D had a reputation for large, valuable creatures, even including small elephants, so it wasn't surprising to see them make this trap.

"If we took that equipment, even some of our weak craftsmen could forge high-level stuff," DereeMan said. "And there's also some useful hunting stuff there, like spears. They've just laid it there, like a picnic."

"There's a couple of others, hidden behind the trees," DicingDevil said. "Maybe they'll have back-up, could also be a Ranger there. But yeah, some nice stuff there."

"It's a nice stash," Akshel said.

One of the level 64 players used [Torchlight], a Pyromancy spell which summoned a small flame in the user's hand. It was brighter than [Conjure Light], but also costlier in MP terms. He stretched his hand cautiously towards the trap, to light the way for a crafter who was tentatively placing stones over the deadfall.

"It's up to you guys, but I don't think it's worth attacking," Crucis said. "The party limit for a Guild in Area D would be around 11, they might have more support. They have some level 64s, and we don't know how strong they are or what abilities they have. One is a Mage, and might have some strong AoE, plus the game is early and this Guild may have paywall stuff or new builds that we aren't familiar with. Their party leader could also summon some rangers to help them, since we'd be crossing over Area boundaries, and they could probably hold us off until help arrived. I think we'll just have to leave them."

"If we killed them, we might be able to rob some of the equipment," Akshel said. "If your opponent leaves items out in the open, not in use, then if you kill them you can choose 25% of the items to keep. In fact, leaving them out is a bit clumsy."

"It's used as a status symbol among some bigger players with expensive items. I think most players do avoid it, so they get used to doing it because it makes them stand out and feels reassuring," Starfighter said. "All the same, if these level 64s aren't even dedicated crafters, but still have these rare items, then what do they have in combat? We have no good way to prepare."

"Yes, precisely. No point taking such risks," Crucis said.

DereeMan huffed quietly. "We can't just attack weak enemies and dig holes. Where's the skill? We should test our mettle."

"Skill? This isn't a talent show. Running in, starting a big fight, then dying would be dashing, but it wouldn't be reasonable when we know little about our target."

"You aren't from DeathGang. Shut up!"

In agitation, DereeMan's voice had risen slightly, and this made the Area D group nervous. The level 64 players began picking up the items on the carpet for safekeeping. Crucis had guessed that a tense DereeMan would cause such a ruckus.

"Don't worry, he's like this to us as well," DicingDevil said to Crucis, before addressing the rest of the group. "Anyway, let's ignore that group and leave them to craft their box, we'll do as we planned before. Please don't disturb me again, Der, trust the plan. If you find anything impressive up North, you can lead us there."

DereeMan nodded glumly, but he had a newfound look of determination in his eyes at the thought of leading the party around.

As Crucis walked back towards the soily clearing, to join the rest of the group, DicingDevil and Akshel went to find the village, while DereeMan led AnderScorpio towards the distant white building.