—— ? ——

  Simon sat sipping a cup of the blue tea that seemed to be a specialty of Kaelalin.

  Surrounding him was the chaos of the inner workings of the lab. Various smells and sounds permeated the air. Observing the magical equipment's motions was almost a calming experience. The gadgets, devices, and other items moved in rhythmic patterns.

  “I still think yer' should put down a good layer o’ stone, Brian,” the strongly accented voice echoed down a hallway, growing louder. “Maybe a couple layers fer safety,” Kurda muttered as he stomped into the room. Brian and Kaelalin followed close behind.

  His eyes swept the space before landing on Simon.

  “Glad yer still breathin’, ya stubborn sod. Still not willin’ ter' join der' tunnel crew? We ain’t found hide nor hair o’ them fel-damned beasts that chased ya t’other night.”

  Simon smiled at him.

  “Hello, I may have to take you up on that offer. You know, you never actually told me what I’d be doing there.”

  Kurda grunted and scratched his chin.

  “Well, yer good at anythin’ besides runnin’ like a scared squirrel? How d’ya feel 'bout haulin’ stone?” He sighed, the sound like boulders grinding together. “We got more’n ‘nough cutters an’ fancy artersans to slice it clean from the mountain. What we need is folk strong enough ter' lug it out of der' tunnel without whinin’ ‘bout der' backs or der' li’l ‘artersan hands.’”

  He huffed. “Half the folk these days wanna argue ‘bout leverage angles an’ tool balance ‘stead o’ just pickin’ the damned thing up an’ movin’ it. Yer ask me, folk of the town are too soft.”

  Kaelalin gave a pointed cough.

  Kurda glanced at her, then raised both palms in mock surrender.

  “Present company excluded, o’ course. Don’t think yer' or Brian have stopped workin’ since we showed up here.” He gave them a conspiratorial wink. “Even if half the work ends with more explodin’ than creatin’.”

  Brian raised a finger in mock offense, then dropped it with a grin.

  “It’s the price o’ progress sometimes,” he said cheerfully, briefly mimicking Kurda’s gravelly tone. “Thanks for getting over here so quickly to help us seal that breach. Hard to keep working when most of the valley winds seem intent on invading our lab.”

  Then his eyes flicked to Simon, and the humor drained from his face.

  “You should consider it, Simon. Honestly... I wouldn’t blame you if that last trip into the valley was your last for a long time.”

  Simon took a slow sip of his tea, then exhaled through his nose. He looked at Kurda for a long moment, then back at Brian. The man deflated, but there was a sense of understanding and acceptance.

  “Let me think about it,” Simon said quietly, then looked back at the big man and raised his voice. “Kurda, I’m pretty sure I can find you if I change my mind.”

  Kurda grunted approval, then cracked a grin.

  “Aye. Jus’ follow the sound o’ swearing and stone crackin’. Or better yet—look fer the big ol’ hole in da mountain and walk straight der. We’ll be down der, haulin’ rock an’ regrettin’ life choices.”

  His chest echoed with a chuckle as he turned and started down the hallway. He called back over his shoulder before he stepped through the open blast door.

  “Brian. Kaelalin. Always a pleasure.”

  There was a pause, the sound of his boots clunking in the hallway. Then, from the outer door, his voice rang out again.

  “Quit blowin’ holes in yer damned lab!”

  “Unlikely,” Kaelalin replied softly, just loud enough for those who remained to hear.

  “Very.” Brian agreed. “There’s a reason we keep pushing them to build us a secure underground section. Maybe Dravlen can convince them this time.” He sighed, then plopped down in a chair and poured himself a cup of the blue tea.

  Kaelin also sat, joining Simon and Brian with her own cup.

  “Maybe,” she sighed and took a long sip. “We can hope.”

  There was a long silence as they all just sat there, mired in their own thoughts.

  Simon looked over at Brian, who was flipping through a dog-eared notepad filled with scribbles and small diagrams.

  He cleared his throat. “So,” Simon said, setting down his tea. “I have questions. Starting with the obvious one,” he looked between the two magical researchers. “Did I almost die for something good?”

  Brian looked up at him, then set the notepad aside with a sigh. Kaelalin glanced at Brian, then slowly turned her gaze toward Simon.

  Brian leaned back.

  “Honestly?” he said, voice flat. “Not really.”

  Kaelalin gave a small, solemn nod.

  “Disappointing, really. We had hoped there would be more in this forsaken valley of ours.”

  Brian shrugged.

  “Some mild fluctuations, but they moved between the outward pulse and its return. Most likely creatures with cores. The terrain is a bit interesting… but eh..”

  Kaelalin sighed and set down her cup.

  “It's just... barren out there. Cold and Empty. Reminds me of some of the places from my home.”

  Simon stared between them, expression tightening.

  “You’re kidding. All of that… and the most notable thing is that hellish creature that chased me?!”

  Brian didn’t blink.

  “To be fair,” he said slowly, “that creature is an abnormality in the highest degree.”

  He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, expression solemn. Simon’s spirit fell, and frustration grew as his mind protested at the injustice of everything.

  But out of the corner of his eye, he caught the faintest twinkle in Kaelalin’s eyes.

  Brian continued, tone even and serious.

  “So yes… technically, you did find the most interesting thing in the valley.”

  A long pause.

  Brian’s eyes snapped wide as his stony expression shattered, revealing a manic grin.

  “IS WHAT WE WOULD BE SAYING IF YOU HADN’T DISCOVERED SOMETHING AMAZING, SIMON!!!”

  Kaelalin burst into laughter, her composed exterior breaking as well.

  “Frost Spirits, the look on your face,” she managed between snorts. “Absolutely worth it.”

  Brian had jumped to his feet and had raced to a wall and retrieved the map. He spread it out on the table in front of them and started pointing.

  “Alright, alright, so, technically, there isn’t anything in the valley.” he took a breath, “But there are so, so, so many things UNDER the valley. Thank you, Simon, for taking all the scans that you did.”

  He pointed to a spot where Simon had scanned for the first time.

  “See here? This is near where our own scans ended.” Brian said, pointing to blank terrain that had almost no features. “The scan there discovered nothing… Well, almost nothing. There is a slight glimmer of something here.” He pointed at the forest line right on the edge of the scan's range.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Kaelalin chimed in. “Which we have seen before. It's a very brief flutter of mana, but between scans, it doesn’t stick, so we always assumed they were creatures.”

  Brian nodded enthusiastically.

  “Exactly. It looks like a brief flicker. Something we had initially dismissed.” He looked back at Simon. “But, your next scan is over here,” He pointed at the next scan. “Which means you crossed over the spot where it flickered. We assume you would have fought anything along the way, and then you scanned again.”

  “And that is where it gets interesting,” Kaelalin continued. “Because the flicker was still there. It was a different strength, but it wasn’t gone.” She grinned at Simon and asked. “Do you know what that means?”

  Simon narrowed his eyes, staring at the section of the map they were indicating.

  He tried to visualize it from his trek through the valley.

  A rise... a hill... trees to the left, frozen wind howling across the snow.

  But… he hadn’t fought any of those damned aurora hoppers there.

  The other two in the room just sat there with big grins on their faces, waiting for his response.

  “There wasn’t anything there…” He muttered. “No creatures anyway, nothing moving.”

  His brow furrowed deeper.

  There had been something about the area that stood out. The lack of creatures… and a silence. He hadn’t really focused on it, just been aware of an eerie feeling passing over him. A tingling sensation. After he had felt that, he hurried away and moved towards the trees.

  “It was actually really quiet there… and there was a feeling.”

  Kaelalin leaned in, her grin growing wider.

  “Go on.”

  Simon blinked.

  “There was a decently sized hill,” he continued slowly, “but I’ve seen that type of terrain multiple times out there. Nothing unusual about it at a glance.”

  Brian glanced sharply at Kaelalin, and they both grinned even wider.

  Simon continued, “So… it wasn’t a creature that made that flicker… whatever it was, didn't move.” Realization struck him, but he asked anyway. “Could it be that hill was the source of the flicker?”

  Brian nodded with vigor. “EXACTLY!” He rapidly tapped the spot on the map. “Whatever is there is slowly pulsing energy. It's faint, but it's there. We have found nothing in our limited searches, and it seemed barren out there.”

  Kaelalin finished for him. “Because it is. It's barren on the surface… But underground?”

  “Multiple signatures.” Brian followed her sentence, eyes wide with excitement. “Multiple, Simon! Now tell me–how many of those ‘hills’ under snow did you see out there?”

  Simon stared at the map, his fingers tightening around his teacup.

  “Hills?” he echoed, thinking back to the day. “Several… I would guess…” his brow creasing as he tried to visualize the terrain. “Maybe around nine of them?” Simon finished.

  Brian smirked. “We counted ten flickers from your scans.” He excitedly looked over at Simon. “Honestly, the first and second scans were the most important ones for this. If you hadn’t walked directly over it, we may have just dismissed it. The direction you picked was perfect!”

  His face turned thoughtful, and he paused. “Why did you decide to go that direction?”

  Simon rubbed the back of his neck and gave him a sheepish look.

  “Because I pulled a blue potion out of the bag.”

  Brian stared at him.

  “I’m sorry–what?”

  Kaelalin raised an eyebrow.

  Simon shrugged, deadpan.

  “I assigned directions to potion colors. Then I shuffled them and picked one.”

  Silence.

  Brian opened his mouth, closed it again, then slowly leaned over the map and stared at the flicker location.

  Kaelalin gave a snort. “Well, I am glad we packed blue ones for you.”

  Simon held up his hands. “I did get a couple of points of luck that night. About time the universe started paying me back.”

  Brian chuckled and just shook his head.

  “If you had gone any other direction, we wouldn’t be so sure.” He looked at Simon, the humor fading from his face as his voice settled into something steadier. “But we are. There’s something buried under the snow out there.”

  Kaelalin leaned forward, her fingers tracing the faint pulse lines across the map.

  “And whatever it is, there is more than one.”

  Simon stared at the marks on the map.

  Ten flickers.

  Ten hills.

  Ten buried unknowns.

  He let out a slow breath.

  “Any ideas on what it is?”

  “... It's magical in nature, and it's buried,” Brian stated.

  “Wow, how insightful,” Simon replied. “That’s it?”

  Brian sighed. “Look, I just don’t want to make any promises. It’s energy-rich, and it pulses. I will say that each seems to have different pulses or are distinct. We just don’t know enough at this point.”

  Kaelalin tapped the edge of the map again, her tone cautious.

  “It could be anything. With your experience with that… creature, that could be where it’s coming from.” She paused. “Or… it could be ruins, or some magical treasure. But the information we have so far suggests that whatever’s giving off the energy is further below the surface.”

  Simon stared at the glowing marks, fingers drumming lightly on his cup.

  “So... I stepped on it. And it didn’t react. Yet.”

  Brian echoed Simon's actions, also tapping his cup.

  “Assuming that’s what happened, yes. And that’s the worrying part. You walked across something that is potentially ancient, powerful, or dangerous.” He leaned back in his chair and added in a low voice. “It also could have been what woke up that creature.”

  A silence settled over the table again. The map glowed faintly, the ten points beckoning.

  “We wouldn’t be offended if you went to work with Kurda…” Kaelalin said quietly.

  Simon let out a small breath, almost a laugh.

  “Tempting. Lugging rocks and swearing at boulders sounds downright peaceful compared to waking up ancient abominations from under frozen hills.”

  Brian smiled faintly.

  “Oh… don’t say that. With your luck, you will find the next abomination hidden in the tunnel mountain.”

  Simon raised an eyebrow.

  “You should tell Jorik and Rellin to guard the gatehouse on the other side of town,” he grinned. “They will want the extra pay when I come running from the tunnel.”

  Kaelalin snorted.

  “They hate guarding that side. They say the view in the south is at least mildly interesting.”

  Simon raised his cup in mock salute.

  “Guess I’ll give them something to look at, then.”

  There was a long pause as they all looked at the map.

  Brian spoke up. “So, what do you want to do?”

  Simon stared at the ten faintly pulsing marks. His fingers tightened around his cup.

  Frozen hills and flickering power or lugging stone from the depths of a mountain?

  He let out a breath.

  “I could go haul rocks for Kurda. It should be safe and great exercise…”

  He looked at Brian, then Kaelalin.

  “Or…” He nodded toward the map. “Poke around under the snow and see what's hiding out there.”

  Simon flashed a smile at Brian.

  “Devil you know versus the devil you don’t, right?”

  “I wouldn’t call hauling stone devilish,” Brian said. “Well, at least for everything besides your back.”

  Simon nodded. “True. But I’m behind here. Everyone else is a month ahead of me.” He looked up at the ceiling and thought through his words. “I feel like if I just move stone, I’m going to just continue to fall further behind. The entire world seems to be moving at a breakneck speed, and I’m dragging down the road with my emergency brakes on.”

  He looked back at the two.

  “I’m not an artisan, and I have already worked my body enough. I need something to give myself an edge. Right?”

  Kaelalin’s expression softened.

  “Then this is as good a place to start as any,” she said gently. “We don’t know what’s under those hills, but you wouldn’t be going there alone.”

  “Oh?” Simon replied.

  Kaelalin glanced at Brian, who nodded, then she looked back at Simon.

  “From what we know, those hills are magical in nature.” She gestured towards the points on the map. “And it would be stupid to send a non-magical person there alone.” She gave him a grin. “That’s why, as soon as you are ready, I'll be coming with you.”

  Simon blinked.

  “You’re serious?”

  “Always.” Brian gave a half-smile. “She’s been looking for an excuse to get out of the lab and go into the valley.” He tapped the map. “And this just gave her the best one yet.”

  Kaelalin shrugged, unapologetic.

  “I enjoy being more hands-on anyway. Between the two of us, I’m much more suited to be stomping around in the snow.”

  “Yeah, that’s true.” Brian said with a scoff, “I hate the cold.”

  Simon raised a finger. “Awesome. One problem, though, I’m still technically in recovery. Have a fractured state or something from that potion.”

  Kaelalin grinned.

  “Which is why we aren’t leaving tomorrow. But soon. I’ll be preparing, and you just tell me when you are ready. "

  Brian raised his cup.

  “Just try not to bury each other. Would hate to have to find a lab partner replacement.”

  Kaelalin scoffed. “As if you could find a replacement for me.”

  “True,” Brian admitted with a shrug.

  Simon looked at the two of them, then exhaled slowly. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

  “Alright then,” he said, pushing his chair back. His body still ached. “I’m going to go eat and sleep...”

  He paused, then looked at Brian. “Actually, a question about that. I heard you made a tab at the inn. Do I get paid for exploring? Or… are near-death experiences their own reward?”

  “Oh–right! I almost forgot about that.” Brian patted his robe and then pulled a small leather pouch from an inner pocket, tossing it across the room.

  Simon caught it reflexively. It had a decent weight to it.

  Brian leaned back in his chair.

  “Aurora Hoppers have their own cores,” he explained. “We bought those off you, sold the meat and fur to the townsfolk. Meat is preferable to the high-density ration bars from the hub.”

  Simon cracked the pouch open and peeked inside. The gleam of aethra crystals shimmered back at him.

  “Not bad,” he muttered. “Didn’t realize getting mauled came with a payout.”

  He looked back at Brian. “I still have more questions. But I could really use more sleep.”

  Brian nodded. “I’ll be here. Just come by later or tomorrow.”

  “Works for me.” Simon looked over at Kaelalin. “When I’m healed, we can head out.”

  “Just let me know.” She nodded to him.

  Simon glanced once more at the map, at the ten faintly pulsing marks scattered across the valley.

  “After that…” he said, a grin spreading across his face, “let’s go see what the hell I stepped on.”

  —— ? ——

  — AUTHOR NOTICE —

  I'm going to LitRPG con this weekend. Super excited to sit in on workshops at that.

  It's in Denver, Colorado, and some huge names are going there. I honestly wish I could bring a pitchfork through the airline so I can get it signed by the author of "Oh Great, I Was Reincarnated as a Farmer."

  ~TheBusyBard

  ——————————