By the time they saw the flattened fields of Tanis Carbuncle Farm in the distance, the fuel gauge was dangerously low.
It had been chirping at Aiden every few miles, warning him that they were running out.
At that point, Aiden was starting to take it personally.
The Oxhouse farm they had visited before had also been a carbuncle farm, but the fields here were full of sheep and goats instead of gem-covered cattle.
As they pulled in, they saw a woman sitting outside. She seemed to be a halfblood dolphin. She had a fin and several aquatic features, but also feet, hands, and enough human traits that she could comfortably sit in a chair and knit.
Which was exactly what she was doing.
In her hands was some kind of white wool, likely from the sheep in the fields. A small spool slowly unwound as she worked.
She looked up as the vehicle pulled in.
When everyone stepped out, she walked over to greet them.
"Welcome to Tanis Carbuncle Farm," she said. "Are you here for the refuel, or are you here in response to the quest?"
Everyone turned to look at each other.
Jax spoke first.
"Uh, well, we were here for a refuel, but if you have a Porcelain quest, we can take a look."
The woman nodded and led them up to her house.
It was a simple two-story home. The second floor seemed to hold the bedrooms, while the first had a living room with a fireplace, a bathroom, and a large kitchen.
She led them into the kitchen.
To Aiden's surprise, a door that should have led into a pantry had been chained shut.
Even more surprising was the System message that appeared the moment they approached it.
You have arrived at the entrance of the dungeon.
Vault of the Mad Mage
Dungeon Stats:
Item Rank: E
Item Quantity: 4
Dungeon Danger: Medium
Total Previous Attempts: 0
Attempt Log:
None
Would you like to enter?
YES / NO
Everyone turned to the owner.
She nodded toward the chained door.
"It happens every now and then. I need the dungeon fully cleared so I can get to my pantry again."
"Who would have thought the second dungeon we found would also be at a carbuncle farm?" Liora asked, placing her hands on her hips.
"It's not that surprising," the woman said. "Carbuncle farms are made in locations with a lot of ambient Aether. That is what makes the gems grow faster, so dungeons form around these places pretty frequently in comparison."
Everyone exchanged understanding glances.
Selene raised a hand.
"W-what is the reward and penalty for the quest?"
"Three hundred gold plus whatever you keep from the dungeon," the woman said. "The penalty is three hundred gold if you fail, because I need my seasonings and foodstuffs."
Everyone nodded.
That was understandable.
They turned away to discuss.
"The reward is low," Jax said. "But considering we keep whatever we get inside, and the penalty is also low, I think it's not a bad deal."
"While I agree," Aiden said, "let's not rush in. I want to make a few potions before we attempt it so we don't run into another poison arrow situation."
He turned to Liora.
"I don't know about you all," Liora said, grinning slightly, "but a dungeon all about mages probably means mage items. I'm pumped."
"I agree with Aiden," Kaelen said. "Let's do the quest, but wait until tomorrow morning. We still have plenty of time for travel, and this would be another quest down."
He turned to Selene and Thalia.
"I-I think it would be nice to complete a dungeon fully," Selene said with a nod.
"Plus, even if we fail, the XP would likely be worth it," Thalia added, crossing her arms.
With that, they agreed to take the quest.
The rest of the day was uneventful compared to what tomorrow was likely to bring.
They paid two hundred ninety gold for a full refuel, which was horrifying, but at least the vehicle had fuel again. Aiden tried not to think about how light his coin pouch was becoming.
After that, Jax and the others focused on getting their sleeping area set up. Ms. Tanis agreed to let them sleep on the living room floor, so while everyone handled that, Aiden went outside with Thalia to prepare potions.
They made a fire, laid out herbs, and flipped through Aiden's recipe book.
Aiden looked over his supplies.
He had ten vials of Liquid Crystal ready.
With his seventy-three mana, he could make seven more, which gave him a total of seventeen potion bases to work with.
After some discussion, he and Thalia agreed on three different potions.
The first was a Potion of Vigilance, a potion that made the consumer alert and nearly impossible to sneak up on unless the enemy had proper stealth skills or items.
They would make one for each party member.
The second was basic antidotes, also one for each of them, just in case.
The final five vials of Liquid Crystal would be used for healing potions.
Since Thalia had been practicing healing potions all week, Aiden gave her the job of making those five, as well as the basic antidotes due to their simpler recipe.
While she worked, Aiden prepared for the Potion of Vigilance by setting aside six cloves of Fiveleaves and six stalks of Study Leaves.
Unfortunately, he could not do much while Thalia had the mortar and pestle.
So he waited.
As he did, Aiden stared at the six vials of Liquid Crystal sitting beside him and opened his System.
Only three MP remained.
His mana would slowly recover, but for now, he felt hollowed out.
The sky was starting to darken around them. Behind him, Thalia continued grinding herbs, taking her time to check the consistency over and over again. Through the windows, Aiden could see the others setting up inside.
As Thalia began adding her components to the cauldron, Aiden found himself lying back on the grass and staring up at the sky.
Hey, Will. You there?
"Huh?" Will asked, sounding surprised that Aiden had reached out first. "Yeah. What's up?"
Do you remember Ymer? When he said I was dangerous? What do you think he meant by that?
Will seemed to think for a moment.
"Maybe it's because we got Grandpa's beard genetics. If you didn't shave for a few days, you would have a beard luscious enough to make dwarves ask for hair care tips. Ymer didn't seem like the body hair type."
Aiden chuckled.
Thalia looked over from where she was simmering the potion, then turned back to her work.
Yeah, right, Aiden thought. But seriously. What do you think he meant?
"I only know what you know," Will said. "So I guess the only way to find out is if we discover another Fateless."
Aiden did not like that answer.
Mostly because it was probably true.
Far above them, on a nearby cliff, there was a sound.
Not loud enough for Aiden or Thalia to hear.
A muffled, choked noise.
A human man kicked and clawed, trying to break free from the iron grip of a woman holding him by the neck.
Her other hand had transformed into a massive greatsword blade.
Behind her, the corpses of two D-rank monsters lay in pieces.
"Y-you bitch," the man choked out, desperately searching through his skills for some way to escape. "I have a min-max build with everything specced toward beast buffing and even an A-rank soul skill. How did you just tear them apart? What's your ID? We were told PC infighting wa—"
The woman said nothing.
Her fist closed.
The man's neck crushed.
His head fell to the ground beside his body.
A second woman ran up behind her.
She was slightly shorter, with brown hair down to her shoulders and a pair of large glasses. If someone saw only her face, they might have had to guess her gender.
She looked more annoyed than alarmed.
"Damn it," the woman with glasses said. "You ruined the pelt on the mammoth. I could have used that for my golems."
As if summoned by her words, a twelve-foot-tall metal humanoid with a single red eye leaned down beside them. It dragged the corpse of a massive wooly mammoth behind it.
The woman with glasses rolled her eyes and held out a hand.
The ground suddenly rose and formed into a building resembling the kind of supply tent an army might use. The golem tossed the mammoth inside. Somehow, the massive body shrank and fit as it crossed the threshold.
The woman with the greatsword hand flicked her wrist, sending blood from the blade.
The weapon shrank back into a human hand.
She was tall and muscular, her body covered in scars. Purple hair flowed down to her upper back, and her cruel yellow eyes looked toward the camp below.
The two women walked to the edge of the cliff, hidden well enough to watch Aiden and Thalia without being seen.
"To think the Fateless even sent a half-assed beast tamer assassin after them," the woman with glasses said, shaking her head.
Behind her, footsteps approached.
Twenty-one golems worked silently, breaking down and transporting the two D-rank monster corpses. Around them, small drones wandered. Some had gun barrels swiveling through the woods, checking for enemies. Others acted like backpacks, guarding the two women from surprise attacks.
The woman with glasses walked toward a nearby portal, then turned back to the scarred woman.
"You coming? I'm not waiting around for a Fateless with a higher level. The golems already cleaned the scene."
The scarred woman remained at the cliff's edge for a moment longer, staring down at Aiden and Thalia below.
"I hope we can meet again sometime in the future, alchemist," she said softly. "May fortune find you."
Then she turned and walked through the portal.
The pair vanished.
The clifftop fell silent and pristine, as if nothing had happened at all.