Triple Strength

83. Caving: Wiremu

Three days later, Ruku and I were standing outside a coastal cave. We both had small packs, and I had some prospecting equipment. The low tide meant the water was knee-deep going into the cave with only gentle waves today. Ruku jumped down into the surf, and I followed. It was sandy at this point, and we ducked as we entered the cave.

Ruku spoke up, “There is something I have been wondering about, Sten. With a rock affinity, why did you choose to become a Miner?”

“That’s not a simple question to answer. What do most rock affinity users do?” I answered.

“Miners are generally looking for metals as well as gems. Rock affinities are useful in the mines, especially if you get Rock Manipulation, which I understand takes a lot of attributes. Not like water. Water manipulation was one of the first skills I got. I understand it is easier to go for the Stone Classes. Most skip Quarry Worker and learn the Stone Shaper class. If you want to get into construction, you would train to be a Stone Mason. All those are Basic classes and require training, but it is easier to become a Stone Mason if you have Stone Shaper etc.” Ruku explained.

“I don’t know much about those classes.” I said.

“There is a quarry just north of Obalno. You should visit and have a chat with the Quarry Master.” He suggested.

“Maybe. I have had a bad experience in a quarry. It has taken me some time to get over it. Maybe it is time.”

By this time we were moving out of the water. The cave floor was still sand, but it was tall enough for us to stand up now. We were both wearing helmets because that was a normal precaution in areas with low headspace. I started exploring with my Granite Sense and Sense Treasure. Nothing yet.

“Tell me more about Sense Spiritual.” I asked.

“Well, the sensitivity increases as it rises through the levels. At Novice, you won’t get much beyond sensing when someone is using a Skill. As you move through the Apprentice Levels, you will be more sensitive to the movement of the Spiritual around you. Spiritual material tends to affect the Spiritual flow around you. For example, I have it at Journeyman Level, and I could tell Skygge had a powerful Spiritual item strapped on her lower back. I don’t know what it is, but it was definitely drawing in the Spiritual energy.” Ruku replied.

“My Sense Spiritual is only in the lower Apprentice Levels,” I said.

“Most people don’t realise the benefits of raising it as it greatly synergises with a number of other sensing skills, like my Ocean Sense and skills like Detect Spiritual Traps, Find Hidden and Sense Treasure. I would assume that if you have a Rock Sensing Skill, you will also find that enhanced.” Ruku said.

“How would I increase the level?” I asked.

“The same way you increase any skill. By using it in different ways. If we pause here and you try sensing the Spiritual atmosphere here. You won’t be able to tell, but there is quite a dense Spiritual atmosphere in this cave, and there is a gentle flow further into the cave.” Ruku squatted on the sandy floor and indicated I should do the same.

I reached out with my Sense Spiritual Skill. I had never tried to sense the Spiritual in the atmosphere before. I had only ever used it on people and traps. It seemed strange not to focus the Skill on something. Trying to sense what was around me was hard.

“Try just opening your mind and not overthinking,” Ruku suggested, “kind of like meditation.”

Meditation has never been a strong area for me. I liked doing stuff, not sitting contemplating my navel. However, I tried to open my mind to the area around me and especially through the Skill. There wasn’t a particular breakthrough, but I think I might have sensed something in the atmosphere after about twenty minutes of this.

“OK, I think I might be getting the hang of it, but it will take a lot of practice. We should move on.” I said after I decided that was enough for now. I checked my Status, and my Sense Spiritual had gone up a level which confirmed I was on the right track and becoming more Spiritually sensitive. Because I had Granite Sense on simultaneously, I noticed a small increase in the detail I could sense. That was good. I remember Tabitha talking about Skill Synergy, and I guess this was another one like that.

We passed where Ruku had been before, and the cave was quite smooth and easy to walk. Only a couple of times did we have to crawl for sections. The floor was a gentle rise from the entrance. We explored a couple of side tunnels that were dead ends.

After an hour and a half, Ruku spoke up, “Do you find it strange we are still walking on sand?”

Yes, that was strange. We should have left the sand behind a while ago. I bent down and scooped up a handful to examine. It looked like ordinary sand. Granite Sense was telling me it was made from various rock types, not particularly the rock around us. There also seemed to be some metal flecks and crystals in the sand, also not consistent with the rock around us.

“What do you Sense?” Ruku asked.

“It is like normal sand, but there are aspects that are not consistent with the rock around us. It is like some of it has been transported here, not made here.” I answered.

“It has a Spiritual presence,” Ruku commented from his inspection. “It might be why the Spiritual is denser in this place than others.”

“Let's move further in and test some more,” I said.

We moved further in and tested three other places. I scooped some sand into a clay jar I bought to take back for further testing.

“You would expect the sand to be getting thinner the further away from the ocean we get, but it is not. If anything, it is getting thicker.” Granite Sense was telling me this. “It is also getting more resistant to my Granite Sense.”

“You have a Granite Affinity? That's interesting.” Ruku said. Maybe Tabitha was right about him. However, that should all be covered under the confidentiality clauses. The only difference really was that Granite was one of the harder rocks and that my skills were easier to use in Granite.

“I am getting close to being able to get Granite Manipulation,” I said. I was a bit envious of him, Tabitha and Kelda with their manipulations coming so easy.

“I imagine it is one of the higher Attribute requirements as it is one of the harder rocks.” Ruku mused out loud.

“Shall we continue and investigate the source of this sand?” I asked.

“We should. We need to know if it is harmless or a danger. We also might find it is a resource that can be mined, especially with its high Spiritual content.” Ruku said.

We kept moving forward. Granite Sense was not picking up much in the surrounding rock. Sense Treasure was ambiguous, so I thought that there wasn't a great treasure up ahead. I kept at Sense Spiritual as well, mostly just to keep it levelling.

After another half hour, we slowed and started moving carefully. Both our senses were picking up something ahead. We came to a large open cavern. The roof was very low, not enough to stand straight. It was roughly circular. My mapping ability and Map Making skills were working together to say it was about 70m in diameter. Granite Sense said it was over 10m deep of sand, but it couldn’t sense the bottom.

“My Sense Spiritual is saying this is a highly Spiritual area. Much more concentrated than the sand we were walking on. I don’t recommend using the Identify Skill, or similar in case it is a Monster.” Ruku said.

I shared my senses data with him and then squatted down and put my hand out onto the sand to see if it was solid. The last thing we wanted to do was get sucked into a sinking sand trap. I created a pillar from the solid rock and tied a rope to it just in case. There didn’t seem to be any life on the sand. No plants, no insects, no fungi. Just sand. Spiritual sand.

I tasted some. It tasted like sand. I tied the rope around my waist and crawled carefully out onto the sand a short way. Tāoke stayed with Ruku, who kept one hand on the rope. Only after about three metres did my Granite Sense start reacting as it had never before. I concentrated on it and tried different things. It was sort of like changing frequencies in my Hearing Aid. My Granite Affinity was also starting to react. What the hell was this?

Then my Granite Sense settled on a ‘frequency’, and I could sense something alive below me. Something massive and ancient. I backed up carefully to the edge. The whole sandpit resonated with my affinity. The whole sand pit was alive.

“What do you think it is?” Ruku asked.

“It is like the whole sandpit resonates with my affinity. I think it is a Sand Elemental. It is huge and ancient.” I replied. “Have you ever come across one before?”

“No. I have only read about them in theory in a Monster Lore book that focussed on the Elemental Monsters.” Ruku said.

“It is definitely a type of Rock Elemental.” I said.

“Do you think it is hostile?” Ruku asked.

“I think it is so massive and so old we are irrelevant to it. I don’t think it has conscious thought. It is happy to just sit and mine the rock. I wouldn’t recommend disturbing it, though.” I said.

“Let me go out and see what I can sense,” Ruku said.

We swapped the rope over, and he crawled out a short way, then stopped. It was almost five minutes before he crawled back. Before he did, he scooped a handful of sand to bring back. We put the sand into a container.

“My Sense Spiritual couldn’t find a core. It seems to be spread throughout the main body of sand. My Ocean Sense got a sense of peace and contentment. That didn’t change when I scooped the sand.” Ruku reported. He then put a finger into the container of sand and tasted it. After a moment, he said, “My Tasty Skill doesn’t quite know what to make of it. It tastes old and of many different things.”

“My Prospecting Class just levelled.” I said, “Wait up, this gives me enough attributes to get Granite Manipulation finally.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what are the requirements?” Ruku asked.

I saw no reason not to tell him, so I said, “35 in both Spiritual Strength and Agility and 30 in Spiritual Perception.”

He winced at those requirements. Granite Manipulation was restricted to granite in the Novice Levels and only opened to other rocks from the Apprentice Level. I had been planning to find a granite outcrop and practice and was expecting to hit Apprentice quite quickly. This sand wasn’t granite, but it did contain a lot of quartz which was also the main ingredient in granite. I saw no harm in trying.

I reached out as far as I could and got two handfuls of sand and then sat and tried to manipulate it. The Skill seemed to have trouble latching onto the sand. I pushed it more and tried to combine the different ‘frequencies’ from Granite Sense. I did feel the sand shift a little in my hand, but that was all. Granite Manipulation levelled to 2. It is a start.

Just then, Tāoke crawled out onto the sand. I questioned him through our bond and he wanted to sense the creature for himself. I had been sharing my experience through the bond, so he knew what I had done. He paused about where we had crawled to. Then he burrowed into the sand. I could tell he wasn’t far under the surface, but he was getting a full-body experience.

“Is he alright?” Ruku asked.

I nodded, but all my attention was on the sensations coming through the bond. The Sand surrounding his body was magnifying the Granite Sense, and he could tell there were a number of key grains of sand acting like Beast Cores. Like ground-up cores but still functioning as a core.

I think if we happened to scoop up one of these Core Grains, then we might have upset the Elemental. I told Ruku about this. I asked Tāoke if there was an area close with no core grains, and he identified one. I grabbed a larger sack and started to fill it from that area. Tāoke then came back to join us, and we made our way back down to the coast.

“This will only get us a reporting fee from the Mercenary Guild,” I told Ruku.

“I am not a member of the Guild,” he said. He smiled, “The military doesn’t have a very high opinion of the Guild. Do you think I should become a member?”

“Up to you. Being a member means you occasionally get interesting contracts and discounts from traders. Now that you are under contract with the Elemental Traders, you can get everything you need through them at staff rates.” I replied.

“What would the mercenary Guild do with a report like this?” Ruku asked.

“A large stationary non-hostile monster would get reported to the local authorities. I imagine a team will come to investigate, but even non-hostile can turn hostile if treated wrong. I imagine they will block the entrance and post warning signs once they have learned all they can. Then only the young and stupid will die when they ignore the sign.” I said.

“It is similar to when we encounter a monster at sea that can’t be moved. We update the charts with the navigational hazard and keep an eye on it.” Ruku said. “What are you going to do with the sand?”

“I am going to experiment with it. Both Tāoke and I have a high feeling of connection to it. So we will see what we can do with it. I will probably start with consulting our enchanter as she has a lot of knowledge about Spiritual Material.” I answered.

The trip back to Obalno was uneventful, and I split the finder's fee with Ruku.