Seeds of Discordia

“Are you serious?” Ariyana, Avery, Gimmel, and Mercer questioned with wide eyes as Artem, Roman, and Blair raised a brow.

“Quite,” Uncle Naro stated. “While the creature is a boss monster in the dungeon and is stronger than its normal mob version, it is a good creature to test your limits out after using them during the fights before it. I am also limiting your use of magical abilities well. You are to use only the weapons I have had you practicing with these past couple of days and can use only Crafting skills and abilities.”

“Can he really take on a boss like that at his level using only what you are limiting him to?” Gimmel asked swiftly, concerned for Liam’s safety.

Uncle Naro nodded his head as he looked at the youngest member of the group. “If he is serious about learning my Crafter’s Fighting style then he will need to get used to what he has. This world is not fair and there are times when you will be separate from others and will have to face foes you are not properly equipped to fight against.”

Uncle Naro looked back at Liam and said with a serious look and tone, “A Crafter is adaptable and versatile while crafting. It is also true in a fight if one starts to learn to focus not just on the task at hand, but also their surroundings.” Uncle Naro smiled. “I want you to learn and understand this early on before you start to develop bad habits. My only advise for you is to learn that you are a Crafter, and the world is a material waiting to be used.”

“I am a Crafter, and the world is a material waiting to be used,” Liam quietly muttered as he thought about those words.

The others stared at Liam as he thought about it. He nodded his head a few times before looking back at the bear of a man and said, “Alright. I will give it a shot.”

Not really liking it, Mercer stepped in and asked, “Are we allowed to step in if he is about to lose?”

“Of course,” Uncle Naro replied. “I may be giving him this as a challenge, but I am not callous enough to deny him any help from dying.”

Mercer nodded his head in response. “Alright, then we will not step in when he fights the Wave Rider Crab. Is there anything else we will need to do?”

Uncle Naro shook his head. “Not this time round. For today I want you all to spend some time reworking on your teamwork. The first dungeon will be Liam and the original group members. After that you will be splitting into smaller groups so Little Gimmel can rotate and get better synchrony with you guys. Restrictions will be placed on each of you so you can work on the things needed to further grow the foundation of your path. How does that sound?”

Everyone looked at each other. Each of them didn’t have any issue with the proposal. While they didn’t like the fact they would have restrictions placed on them they saw the reasoning behind it. They also felt they could let Liam be the only one to have restrictions placed on him to help him grow. If he had to do why shouldn’t they?

When no one had any issues to say about the proposal, Uncle Naro turned and started out the building. “Then let’s head out. Time is wasting away, and you have a lot to do today. We’ll have a lunch break after your second dungeon run today.”

It didn’t take long for Liam and the others to reach the Dungeon Tower. Unlike the one in Cashat Port, this Dungeon Tower was only two stories tall. After they entered the building they saw the number of dungeons within were less as well. Not all of the colors were present, but there was something different about the dungeons here. They were two toned meaning they were Multi-Colored Dungeons. From what they could see each dungeon had a blue color mixed with them, meaning the dungeons had a water element to either the terrain or the creatures.

The dungeons they saw were light blue and light green, light blue and light brown, and light blue and light yellow. Uncle Naro led them to the dungeon that was light blue and light brown. Like the Dungeon Tower in Cashat Port, there was a picture behind the Portal and a sign beside it. The picture was a sea with rocky ground. Three different Crab creatures were scattered on the mural mixed with the terrain. Crabs that resembled a Hermit crab lined up a rocky ground. Small weird looking crabs ran across the beach, and lastly a giant crab rested in the water as waves formed around it.

“Now before you all enter I wanted to give a little caution,” Uncle Naro started. Everyone turned to look at him and waited for him to continue. “Even though the colors of these dungeons are light do not mistaken them as easy. Multi-colored dungeons have been known to increase in danger depending on what the dungeon is. Places like this won’t allow low leveled adventurers in. Only after taking on a couple of dungeons and succeeding does the Association allow people to take these ones on. Okay?”

Everyone nodded.

“I wish you all luck then,” Uncle Naro smiled. “Not that you’ll need it. If you come back without succeeding I will have to question all of you and reevaluate your training. If that happens they just know you will wish I hadn’t.”

“Words of encouragement huh?” Roman smirked as he took the warning as a challenge.

“That is both half correct and half wrong,” Uncle Naro stated as his smile turned a little less playful. “I meant it when I said if you cannot succeed taking this dungeon on with a group of your size then you will need even harder training if you wish to take on any other dungeon.”

Roman’s smirk faded as he understood what he was getting at. Instead, he gave the man a nod before looking at the others and asking, “Well, what are we waiting for?”

Liam shook his head before focusing on the sign. Mercer, Avery, and Blair did the same to get a better look at what they were taking on. It read, “Stoney Crab Beach. Dungeon Type – Wave. Restrictions – Party Amount allowed – 7. Rules – Survive and defeat the monsters of each wave. Defeat the Wave Boss Monster in order to move on to the next Wave location. Defeat the Final Wave Boss Monster in order to beat the dungeon.”

“A Wave Type Dungeon huh,” Liam muttered as he looked at Artem, Blair, and Roman. They each smirked knowing what he was thinking. They had gotten some experience taking on a Wave Type Dungeon when they entered the Decaying Land Entrance of the Toxo Catacombs. They had to take on waves of Toxo Spiders in order to make it to the end where Vice worshiping Demon-kins were waiting.

“Let’s go in shall we?” Mercer asked as he placed a hand on the Portal.

A notification popped up in front of Liam, taking his attention away from everything else as Mercer did this.

 [Do you wish to enter Stoney Crab Beach with Party Members: Mercer, Artem, Avery, Ariyana, Blair, and Roman? Yes No?]

A small bit of excitement and happiness swelled up inside Liam as he read the notification. He didn’t realize he had stared at it longer than he should have and almost missed the fact that everyone had already entered the dungeon. He quickly accepted mentally and stepped through the portal.

As Liam stepped through and reappeared on the other side he felt that familiar lurch in his stomach swirl and threaten to come up. He breathed out a few times to try and fight the feeling. He was successful as he felt the feeling recede and slowly looked at the others. Artem and Avery were hunched over, liquid escaping their mouths. Mercer and Blair stood up right breathing in and out slowly a few times as they pulled out a bottle of water each. Ariyana hand a hand against a rich dark rocky wall looking queasy but not showing any signs of liquid wanting to escape. Roman on the other hand was laying down on his back, arms and legs sprawled out on the ground.

Before he questioned Roman’s…interesting choices, he grinned and looked at the two who were starting to come around and said with some excitement, “Upchuck…”

That was when Avery swiftly pulled out her rapier and pointed it at Liam and said with a threatening voice, “Don’t you…”

However, Liam didn’t let her finish as he quickly said, “Strikes again.”

Avery scowled and tried to reach forward to cut him but missed as Liam used Shadow Step to appear behind her, out of harms reach. Avery went to spin around and tried again, but as she spun her balance made her falter as she felt off due to the uneven terrain.

Liam swift moved forward and out of the way of the blade as it pointed down at a forty-five degree angle and almost got him on the hip. Not wanting to stick around, he hopped over to Roman, looked down at him and asked, “What are you doing?”

Roman opened his eyes and Liam noticed they were slowly spinning around before he squinted and replied, “I had a sudden wave of dizziness after coming out so I figured I’d lay on the ground and see if I can feel any creatures around us as we got our barring back.”

“That’s a smart idea,” Liam stated. “Did you pick up anything?”

Roman pointed down the rocky path they were on as he responded, “Nothing super close, but I feel a faint rumbling in that direction.”

Liam lifted his head up to look in the direction of where Roman was pointing and got a better look at their surroundings. They were currently standing on a rocky, uneven path with walls of rock and stone on both sides. The path was wide enough for them to be able to spread out without any issue if they needed to fight.

Above them on the top of the rocky walls was nothing but clear blue skies and a hot sun beating down on them. A light breeze blew through the opening and over them bringing the smell of salt. Liam focused on his heightened hearing and could hear light waves crashing down out in the distance. He couldn’t hear any other noise but that.

“Hm,” Liam muttered as he stared down the path to see if he could spot anything. Even with his heightened sight he could see anything out of place or out of the ordinary.

“Do you see anything?” Mercer asked.

“Nope,” Liam responded as he shook his head. “Nothing. I don’t hear anything either.”

“Hm, okay,” Mercer responded before looking at Ariyana.

Before he could ask his question, Ariyana had her response ready, “I don’t feel any plant life around that I can use.”

Curious and confused, “Liam asked, “Plant life you can use?”

Ariyana looked at him and gave him a look that told him that she had forgotten about something. “That’s right, you weren’t there. When I became an Apostle of Eris, I received an ability in my Plant Focus Point that allows me to feel for any Plant Life and use them to scout as either eyes or ears…well the equivalent to a plant eye or ear that is. It’s called Plant Force.”

Liam’s eyes widened at that. “That’s pretty cool.” He then looked at the others and asked, “What all did you guys get?”

“I received an ability called…,” Artem started to say until Roman interrupted him by informing as he stood up, “Now might not be the best time for this. I feel the rumbles in the ground starting to grow and make their way to us.”

Liam felt a bit annoyed, but he understood. He quickly pulled up the Dressing Room function and chose the armor he was going to wear for now. Besides some items he needed to eventually switch out, he had on the cloak he had gotten from the Ooze he had fought, the Toxo necklace, his potion leg halter, and a Crafter’s Tool Belt Uncle Naro had gifted him.

The Crafter’s Tool Belt was bland with its single color of tan. The quality was crude, but that was to be expected since he was still a beginner. He would need to master the tools he could use at his disposal and learn more after that. For now he was only focusing on three.

The Meat Cleaver, the Hammer, and the Axe. Each item hung on the loops that were on his side. However, each item was much smaller than their normal size. That is thanks to the Enchantments and Runes Uncle Naro placed on them.

Liam didn’t know what type of Enchantments or Runes were used or how they were used. When he asked Uncle Naro about it, he only stated that he would have to learn what they were, and how to recreate them. He did explain that thanks to their combination they were able to make any tool, placed in the loop, smaller than their normal size and would make it easier for the user to carry as many as the loops could hold.

This was something he really liked after understanding it and really wanted to know how to make. He wanted to know if there were improvements, issues, flaws, and more. After asking Uncle Naro these questions, he was once more rebuffed by saying he would have to learn about them once he was ready. This had made Liam a bit disappointed, until Uncle Naro said that he should pay attention when he used it for himself. To watch how it feels when switching from tool to tool or when placing them back in. Even though the man did not say it out loud, he was basically telling him to figure out issues that he came across so he would be able to know what to correct when he was ready to make one himself.

Liam’s focus was now straight forward. He didn’t pull out any weapons like the others since he had his instructions to use the tool weapons he was getting used to. Since he didn’t know the type of monster they were about to come across he didn’t pull any out. He did, however, activate his Perception of the Control Tower and was surprised to see everyone’s stats.

Compared to his, everyone’s health and mana was higher by a lot. Just a reminder of the difference in Personal Levels. Not letting that sway his focus, he just smiled and focused on the real thing at hand. They were growing in a different way than he was. And that was good too.

Those thoughts disappeared as he felt a rumble start to happen under his feet and on the sides of the walls. Trying to make sure his balance wasn’t lost; Liam pushed his legs down and tried to keep his feet flat on the ground. After a few seconds had passed, the rumbling stopped making the pathway and the walls quiet once more.

The group didn’t move as they looked around, trying to spot any signs of movement. They didn’t see anything. Liam, Blair, and Roman focused their hearing, but just like everyone’s sight, there was nothing. Mercer slightly turned his head to Roman and asked, “Picking up anything?”

With a confused face, Roman said, “No. Everything is suddenly silen…” Before he could finish that sentence, an explosion of rock and soil shot out from a few spots on the ground and two to three areas on the walls, revealing crabs that stood slightly taller than Artem and carried a massive dome shaped rock over their backs.