It quickly became apparent to both of them that Mathew digging with his bare hands was not going to work, so the kobold went to his belt and offered him a small spade. With it, he tried to imitate what the kobold merely did with its claws. After near five minutes of work, the turnip was finally clear of the ground. With it free, he cleaned it up a little bit and began looking at it. He saw no holes in it so he put it in the basket. The kobold grabs his shoulder as he starts to move on the next. With a grabbing gesture then pointing at the basket he got the context clues. One by one Mathew started squeezing each turnip. On the last one, the one he just dug out it felt soft instead of firm. Expecting it to hold up, Mathew squeezed it so hard that the skin broke and mush and large white maggots broke through the cracks. The kobold quickly acted and took all the magots that escaped Mathew’s grip and put them in a leather bag before opening it up for it to have the turnip remains dropped in there as well. With a dejected look, the kobold made sure no magots escaped before throwing the bag and all into the same rubbage pile as before.
| (Blue) You have been mentored the skill ‘scan (lesser)’ |
| You can not scan individuals of a mind stat greater than your scan ability quality + level without permission. |
| Owned items can not be scanned without permission. A+L＞M/2 + grade resistance bonus. |
| Scan level increases resistance to scan of others. A+L＜M+A+L |
| Property scan resistance as follows. A+L＜M/2+A+L |
| Scan- the manifested skill of observation |
| (Lesser)- you can only accurately appraise grade F or lower items. Increase this skill’s rank by reaching a high enough level in it to evolve it. |
| Skill takes five mana to use, cooldown 1 minute(decreases as skill level increases) |
Mathew could not help but look at the kobold in a new light. It was already putting the [mentor] class it learned the night before to use. That is when he realized that the kobolds were not being completely selfless. But was that such a bad thing.
It took well over a week since Mathew started working in the garden. During the work, he had found his perception, dexterity, and strength all increasing. With practice as well, he gained proficiency with his new scan skill. In fact, many times he had found by simple observation he can pick out the bad crops from the good. He still had to make the long trips to the heap when he collected a fair number of them or at the end of each day. He did not have the arm strength of the kobold. Within three weeks he found the farmer kobold leaving most of his choices alone till the end of the day. At the passing of a month, he found a different kobold waiting for him in the morning.
| (Blue) Quest: Those that do not work do not eat (II) |
| The kobolds have come to the decision that your time with the ‘farmer’ should end. He is leaving you to do too much of his work. So the kobold ‘miner’ shall take over your duties. As the mine is part of the dungeon labyrinth you will be susceptible to the dangers of the dungeon. Try not to wander into traps. |
| Task: work ten hours on the mine with a satisfaction rating of at least 60% |
| Reward: dinner, extra |
At this point, Mathew knew the routine. He followed the kobold into the mines and observed how he found veins and nodes of ore. After that, he took him to where the large female kobold was working to get a forge up to temperature one again. All around laid kobold sized items. In one area was stone racks of weapons and armor. Enough to fix each kobold three times over. Then there were cooking pots with wooden handles, farming tools, nails and hooks, and any other thing that might be needed in daily life. All made out of copper. What made him stare however was the statues of copper. Ignoring the observing kobolds, Mathew moved over to them to find simple plagues.
| (copper) Loyee, the goddess of dungeons |
| (copper) Diana, the goddess of magical life |
Not only were there those two, but there were other gods as well. Including Krypt, the god of death; Balar, the god of battle; Zalazar, the god of magic; Nevel, the goddess of the harvest, and more.
“You are a gawking young human.”
The sudden words caused Mathew to jump. To his utter shock, a dragon whelp was sitting behind him. Reflexively he backed away.
“Calm yourself, young human. I will not harm you.”
“You’re a dragon.”
The dragon began to look at himself amused.
“Very astute of you to notice. I am the boss of this cavern. Which grants me the power to talk to you.”
Mathew quickly moved over to the dragon with sparkly eyes.
“ And no I will not be tamed by you.”
That curbed some of the excitement Mathew was experiencing, but he was feeling rather lonely with the kobolds unable to talk to him. He quickly sobered up and began to think of several questions.
“ Why did you save me?”
“ Why not?”
This counter caught Mathew off guard.
“ We have never had a mortal visitor before, young human. So we thought it is nice to have company. Get to know the outside world a little bit.”
Mathew nods his head slightly understanding.
“ So why take so long for us two to meet?”
The dragon could not resist chuckling.
“ Do you think you were strong enough? Even now my presence makes your body shudder in fear.”
Mathew did not even realize that he was on his knees. The mix of excitement and fear was like a double kidney punch. After situating themselves and Mathew calming down the dragon continued.
“ It is a natural aura that dungeons use to keep those too weak from drawing near them. As you grow stronger, the effects will weaken. Now, continue with your questions. Because I doubt my list is shorter than yours.”
Mathew opens his mouth to speak, but catches himself. He did have lots of questions. Most notably is why he is still alive. Yet he ponders and finds a more prudent one.
“ What will become of me now?”
The dragon considers it a moment and looks toward the kobold working at a primitive forge.
“ I truly do not know, that is for you to decide. But I know for certain that you will not survive the trip back to your people. For one I do not know in what direction you came from, ‘hunter’ found you by the river with your arm caught on a fallen tree’s limb. Between the cold of the water, your cuts and your fervor, two weeks had passed since we found you.”
The dragon paused and chuckled to itself.
“Here I am rambling. If you want to stay here and train with the kobolds you are free to do so.”
The dragon gives a long look at Mathew and shakes his head.
“ It seems your body can no longer take my presence, young human.”
“ Mathew, my name I mean. Mathew the…”
“Young Mathew, I care not for titles nor names. But your name I will remember. Now back to the mine with you. Come back tomorrow after you regained your vigor.”
Mathew uneasily stood once again, again not realizing when he fell to the ground. His entire body felt like he had been working out all day. As soon as he was away from the makeshift boss room feeling and strength returned to his body. Now Mathew knew he was welcome here he began to plan for his future. He knew his return to the world would require him to grow stronger, and stronger he was getting with the kobolds, but now he knew with certainty he had to obtain at least a B rank of strength if he ever wanted to see another person.
