Construction Mage Rough Draft - Chapter 3: First Rodeo

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After contemplating his dilemma for some time, Clay eventually concluded that he would go through with purchasing information from the broker. If money really became a problem, he could just tough it out and work for another week or two.

He took out his coin pouch and painfully parted with ten small silver coins.

“Thank you for your business,” the dark-haired woman replied in a monotone manner as she pulled out a wooden staff from under the table. She waved it around, and a gust blew by them before she turned her attention back to him. “Now then, where should I start?”

“The stats, if you would,” Clay answered, with what he was most eager to learn about. 

So far, all the talks about dungeons and magic were still surreal to him, but it was familiar enough, as he had once played a few online games during his school days. However, he had never encountered a weird tag next to where it listed out his stats before. The stats themselves seemed basic enough, but he suspected there was more to it if the menu bothered to show it.

“Right, stats. That’s basic enough. They should mostly be self-explanatory, except for the mage classes.”

Hearing this, Clay perked up his ears.

***

It barely took half an hour for the nice lady to give Clay a rundown on Delver 101.

Armed with the new information, Clay exited the Delver marketplace and returned to the greater part of the second ring. He had learned a lot, but most pressing of all, he discovered the marketplace only sold gear beyond his means. The basic equipment he was looking for was sold in the shops outside.

It didn’t take long for him to find the smitheries and leatherworker’s workshops, as they congregated in the same area. As a seasoned shopper, he took note of the prices from each store to compare, but that created a new dilemma for him.

I don’t have enough for both a weapon, armor, and the miscellaneous tools and supplies like a bag and rations. 

According to the info broker, the first layer isn’t that challenging as long as I don’t head too far in. I can technically get away with forgoing armor, but that will mean any error can cost me my life. However, if I get protection instead, I apparently will struggle to kill any monsters if I just rely on low-level spells.

Clay had signed up to become a Delver in order to make easy money and gain the wealth and power to build his own house. Serious risks to his life were never part of the equation, so he balked at the decision before him.

Do I really have to work for another month? Maybe I can get a loan—no, that’s a rabbit hole I don’t want to go down.

Just as he was struggling to come to a verdict, innocent laughter caught his attention. He turned to find a few kids play-fighting with some brooms. They were even making noise effects as they swung them around. 

Their fun time didn’t last long, though. A woman came rushing onto the scene with a wooden rolling pin. She didn’t hesitate to smack the kids with it as she confiscated the brooms.

“Brats, I said no playing with tools!”

“Aww, but that’s no fun.”

“It sure won’t be fun if you break something or worse, get hurt!”

“But it’s just a broom. It’s harmless!”

“It’s still a stick! No more arguing.”

The kids were ushered away as Clay looked thoughtfully at the scene.

Right, I don’t have to get a proper weapon to deal with low-level monsters.

With a new idea in mind, Clay purged all hesitation from his mind and headed into the leatherworker’s workshop.

***

After spending most of the morning running across Ravenhold, it was finally time for Clay’s dungeon debut.

He caught the eye of many Delvers on his way back to the white pagoda. He ignored them all and placed his hand on the altar once more. A prompt appeared at the center of his vision.

Enter? [Yes/No]

Locking his eyes on the ‘Yes’ option, Clay soon felt the world spin around him, but thankfully, it only lasted a split second. One moment, he was inside the white pagoda, and the next, he found himself standing in the middle of a barren woodland. The trees all around him appeared lifeless, without any hint of green in the vicinity. The earth itself was cracked, with some dry weeds and grasses holding it together.

Clay took a quick survey of his surroundings for threats before tilting his neck to look up at the hazy sky. Then at the towering tree in the distance.

“There isn’t a ceiling here, and that withered tree is really as big as a skyscraper, just like the broker said.” He exhaled in astonishment.

Once he had his fill of the new environment, Clay began to set off into the wilderness of the dungeon. His first goal was to find the so-called ‘main paths’, trails that were left behind by the frequent activity of other Delvers. These paths would either guide him toward the depths of the first layer or the exit altars.

On the first layer of the dungeon, this first objective of his wasn’t a difficult one. There were not only a plentiful number of trails, but the center of the layer had a clearly visible landmark, which was the colossal tree. The path to the next layer was apparently under it. He simply had to orbit the tree, looking for the trails that led there.

Walking around, Clay couldn’t help but occasionally step on a dried branch, splintering it in two. The sharp cracking sound made him nervous, afraid of alerting any nearby monsters. 

His fears soon came true in the form of a critter. The catch? It was the size of a golden retriever. 

It nimbly skirted from tree to tree.

It was still more than a hundred feet away, so Clay quickly took aim, pointing the palm of his hand toward the monster.

Words flooded into his mind as his mouth reflexively moved to speak them.

“Spirits, hear my call,

By Lestionora’s name, rise from your thrall.

Awaken from slumber, heed my plea,

Shape to my will, come forth as I decree—Earth Blast!”

As Clay chanted, the earth beneath him trembled as tiny pieces of dirt rose to his hand. The specks of dirt merged into a sphere and rapidly grew until reaching the size of an apple. When he finished chanting, the ball of hardened earth instantly launched forward.

Throughout the process, Clay felt like an observer as his body went into autopilot. If he hadn’t tested it before entering the dungeon, he likely would’ve panicked a lot more. 

He carefully watched as his magic launched toward the giant critter. It flew at a speed not much faster than his pitches during the few times he played baseball. 

Still, its trajectory was almost perfectly linear. It barely losing any elevation before it struck the rat—or so Clay hoped.

His earth magic barely missed, landing just a few inches away from the scuttling rodent. Its zig-zag movements from going tree to tree allowed it to escape unscathed. 

The entire process took an entire five seconds, so Clay judged he did not have the time to cast another spell. As a result, he hefted his trusty shovel before grasping it with both hands.

Perhaps because he had been comparing his Earth Blast to a baseball, he stuck to the same theme and prepared himself for his turn at bat.

The dark furry rat soon flashed its teeth in a threatening manner before leaping toward Clay’s ankles from the nearby tree.

He swung, and he connected. 

The weight of making contact didn’t deter him from following through with his swing. Clay made use of his hips, driving the blunt edge of the shovel as hard as he could into the rodent.

Blood sprayed through the air as the oversized rat was sent flying into the tree it leapt out from. It crashed into the trunk with a loud thud. It was a result befitting of a six foot two man, weighing almost one hundred and ninety pounds, and hit the gym regularly. 

“That was a lot harder than I thought,” Clay muttered to himself. “It doesn’t help that I’m not getting enough food these days.”

After wiping the bloodied shovel against the dry earth, Clay walked up to the monster to inspect its condition. It was twitching. A sign of life.

Clay shook his head, and he took a deep breath to muster the resolve to take a life. He told himself there was no need to think too hard about it. It was just killing a mosquito, or in this case, a man-eating rat.

[Ding—Level 2 Feral Kobold slain.]

[Ding—Level up requirements met.]

Containing his excitement about his first kill, he reluctantly approached the slain monster and threw it into a burlap sack.

Come on, Clay. Hauling around an oversized rat isn’t that disgusting. It’s way better than dealing with Karens all day, who can’t understand the concept of off-price retail stores, arguing endlessly about prices they saw at different branches.

Clay further distracted himself from thinking about how gross the rodent was by summoning his status screen. The broker had taught him quite a few tricks, including how to view his stats without having to verbalize.

Having heard the alert, he was eager to confirm the results with his eyes. 

Status:

Name: Clayton Stratton

Age: 30

Class: Earth Mage [Apprentice] - Level 1

Profession: [None]

Resources:

Health - 100%

Stamina - 98/106 [1.3/min]

Mana - 95/100 [2.0/min]

Stats [Mage]:

Stat Points: 5

Strength: 15

Endurance: 13

Agility: 10

Dexterity: 9

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 10

Skills:

Spell Manipulation(I): 1

Earth Blast(I): 1

I’m officially level 1!

Clay glanced happily at the screen for a few seconds before resuming his journey. Now that he had leveled up, he was even more eager to find the exit. That was because he knew he could only spend his stat points while he was in one of the white pagodas.

Now then, good thing I investigated how each stat worked before I leveled up, because it would’ve been a huge mistake if I dumped it all in intelligence like I would in those online games. But that brings the difficult question of how I should spend my points.

I can’t spend them immediately, but I should still start thinking about it. What would help me the most right now? Safety is my priority, so—

As Clay walked through the withered forest, he thought back to the explanation he received from the information broker.

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