A Gamer Into Trails

As always, Giliath demands your power stones!

*****

"This...", Lechter tried to say, seeing this flurry of notifications strike against his mind. It wasn't just that, these messages materialized into blue screens, and for a reason. Looks like we have an Instance Dungeon to conquer!

This would be my second one to date. I haven't used those keys yet. The first one that came around several years ago, I did not personally partake in it. I just watched from the sidelines as members of Ouroboros tackled it. Harem Seeker did not trigger then, but it looks like the title had upgraded since, likely from having me max it out. It reached its max level over time as I received Blessings from those I've formed bonds with.

"Dungeon?", Tio tilted her head. Her expression remained deadpan but I could see doubt in her eyes. 

"Yeah. My ability just read how well your parameters are, and it formulated a dungeon. It can do this at times, and we must grasp the opportunity when it does. It provides the opportunity of both training ourselves, and being able to get something nice out of it.", I explained.

"So it's basically a monster-infested area, like what you'd typically find in mines and such. Interesting.", Lechter responded with gaining interest.

"And there is something to add to this. Once you see that structural change in the atmosphere spread out, it creates an invisible barrier, preventing others from going into this place. We don't need to worry about prying eyes.", I continued, saying that to Lechter.

"That is good. We won't have to worry about someone wandering into this 'Dungeon'. One less distraction.", Tio nodded in response. 

"Right? And it looks like the rewards this time are geared toward you, Tio. I'm sure Lechter, if I set you as the Party Leader, you probably would receive different benefits out of this. It does react a lot to our current surroundings. There are many factors that come into play about this. It created an Instance Dungeon for Tio, but it may not necessarily create one for you, Lechter. If I set you as the Party Leader, it could have assigned us a powerful monster to take down, on top of defeating those worms.", I further explained.

"That makes a lot of sense, actually. We really ought to see this as an opportunity for us to take.", Lechter acknowledged my explanation with a nod. 

"It's decided, we'll tackle this Instance Dungeon. We have a few hours to spare. There's just one more thing before we go inside Mainz Tunnel.", I said.

"There's more?", Tio wondered what I meant by that.

"Of course. This is a training exercise. You have your Orbal Staff. But first thing's first, you do have a Combat Orbment to utilize your staff, right, Tio?", I asked.

"I do. It's just one of the basic models of the current generation, though. The fourth generational Combat Orbment. I feel a bit ashamed, I admit. Only one of its slots is currently unlocked right now...", Tio answered, feeling a hint of embarrassment. Her eyes became downcast, despite remaining deadpan.

It was a weird expression to see, but still cute nonetheless.

Tio took this moment to reach into one of her pockets, and brought out her Combat Orbment. It was basically a very fancy pocket watch. It wasn't until the Enigma series came out that it switched to a more modern look. Those looked like flip-phones. I'm sure further generational devices could potentially lead into devices that had the appearance of smartphones. 

Up until Daybreak, it kept the flip-phone style. I might give a little input and suggest a change in how it looks. How cool would it be to have an interactive touch screen in the middle, with quartz lines going around it?

Just a thought, but it's good to see Tio has a Combat Orbment to use. Now I know why the Party Quest and the Instant Dungeon are giving out so many Generation IV Quartz. It's so Tio can start using them.

It was really simple to how the Generation IV Combat Orbments worked. You had six slots to work with. It synchronized to its user, and each one was unique. Tio had two Water Element slots, and I had Water and Fire slots on my Enigma II. On the Generation IV model, these slots only had two tiers. You could upgrade these tiers to three during the third sky game. That was pretty crazy.

Pressing the button to open the pocket watch-like device, we saw that it was completely unoccupied, and five of the six slots were still closed, tightly shut. One had an empty slot, to which we could feed a Quartz in.

And guess who had several Quartz lying around in their inventory?

A big arrow sign pointed my way. obviously me. I had amassed quite a few random Quartz that I still haven't used. They all ranged from Generation IV to the Arcus II Quartz, and some even had the UR rarity. Those were insanely rare and hard to come by.

Sure, we could head back into Central Square and visit the Orbal Shop to purchase some basic Quartz. That was definitely an option. But if we leave this changed atmosphere unattended, Tio's chance at going into this Instant Dungeon, which was inside the tunnel, may in fact disappear if we wander away from it too far.

It was because the three of us were presently here and that Tio was the Party Leader that it triggered, after all.

Lechter's eyes raised upward once he saw me use Inventory.

"Would you at least warn us when you place your hand into that little black hole, Young Master? It's pretty creepy.", Lechter said, scratching his cheek.

Well, my hand did vanish halfway through as if it was cutting it off. I'm sure it would look weird in their view.

"Sorry. It's already a natural feeling. I have a tiny pocket space where I can store most of my items.", I scratched my head in response to Lechter.

"You did say this is also a part of this 'ability' of yours. What does it all encompass, exactly?", Lechter decided to ask.

"Hahaha! If I take the time to explain every single bit of what I can do, we'd be at it all day. Tell you what. Go find that village, and I'll tell you about it in full.", I replied with a playful grin.

"Now that's just mean!", Lecher retorted back at me with a frown. "I swear to Aidios that place is impossible to find. I searched every nook and cranny of that forest. There's gotta be a barrier around it or something.", Lechter complained.

"Actually, there is.", I said, not playing any tricks on Lechter this time.

"Pardon?", Lechter asked. "You're saying that there really is an invisible barrier surrounding that gigantic forest?", Lechter said. Doubt was apparent in his eyes. 

"Yeah. It doesn't surround the entire forest. Courtesy of Master's doing. It wards off both monsters and aimless wanderers that may find themselves lost in Isthmia Great Forest. Unless you're capable of wielding magic power like me, or Mana for short, you can't break it. It is unfortunate to say, but your efforts thus far have been in vain.", I replied with a serious nod.

"Seriously...", Lechter uttered with a frown. "Then those times where that fox played around trying to chase me while I was looking around, that really was for fun?", Lechter wondered.

"Heh, looks like you've shared a few good times with Tama already, Lechter.", I replied with a smile. 

Using a moment, I dug around my Inventory. I saw many different types of Quartz belonging to different generations lying around. It wasn't an infinite amount, but it wouldn't be hard to forge most of these. Apart from the SR and UR Quartz, that is. Those were essentially non-existent this early on. These wouldn't show up until later games like the Crossbell Arc or the Cold Steel games. Especially Cold Steel. One could synthesize rarer Quartz through the Orbment Charging Stations.

I didn't really need to go into in-depth of what Orbment Charging Stations did. They were scattered across the Zemurian continent, typically found in monster-infested areas. You would see one at the entrance, and one further inside where more dangerous monsters lurked.

They allowed one to tinker with their Combat Orbment, recharging any lost EP, and also allowed your party to rest at the same time. In the later games, specialized Orbment Charging Stations became steadily available, depending on where you were at. They were the equivalent of a mobile Weapons and Orbal Store. You could forge weapons and create Quartz from them. Those had a different color from the normal charging station.

I'm sure we'll find one at the entrance of Mainz Tunnel. I might start using these more frequently. Presently my EP is tied to my mana pool. If I lose EP, I won't be able to cast as many spells. And well, if I recover using this, it will mean I don't need to solely rely on Meditation anymore. That requires time to recover my lost mana. The charging station would recover it at a much faster rate. The downside is, it's not readily available as Meditation is to me.

Both have their ups and downs. I'll use both here and there. In our current situation, it will be easier for me to recover my EP back to full using these stations. That is, if I do decide to exert myself in this training excursion. I did inform Lechter I will not be partaking in it, unless I really needed to.