Srsli
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17: The Front Line
🕑 Added 2025-08-09 13:35:39 +0000 UTCThe journey was uneventful until we stopped for lunch. I climbed out of the wagon, glad to stretch my legs. Even though it was the third time Iâd seen Milo create a basic structure, the wonder never faded. I pulled out the stew, still warm from my storage, and placed it on the stone table Milo had formed.
âMilo,â I said as he shaped stone bowls for everyone, âafter we eat, I want to test a new ability I got yesterdayâArcane Foraging. I might need to go into the trees for it.â
âYeah, no problem,â Milo said, grabbing a bowl of stew. âI can keep an eye on you, but you might be better off going with Jen. Sheâs pretty good at foraging and hunting, so itâll probably work better. But either way, happy to help.â
Deciding to break the silence and get to know Jordan betterâthe only other guy my age on the tripâI slid over and sat next to him.
âWhat made you decide to travel to Boltron?â I asked.
He looked a little surprised at the sudden conversation, having been mostly quiet so far. The only person Iâd noticed speaking less than him was Saddieâs driverâand I still didnât even know his name.
Jordan shifted a little, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
âUh, well, I have to find work, hopefully,â he said timidly. âMy family couldnât keep feeding me, and they said I needed to make my own living. Now I have a class,â he mumbled, almost like it was an afterthought.
I wasnât surprisedâstories like his were more common than I thought. A few of my classmates at Borgons Academy had similar situations, families unable to support them anymore.
âCouldnât you find any work in Dunhearth?â I asked genuinely curious. I always assumed they were looking for new apprentices.
âNo, everywhere I went, they didnât have room for any more live-in apprentices,â he replied dejectedly. âIâd need my own place to live and food to eat.â He glanced down. âIâm hoping Boltron, being bigger, will be easier. My family made a deal with Saddie to take me along if I fixed her wagon.â
I nodded, understanding how tough it was out here for someone just starting out.
We continued eating our stew in silence for a while before Jordan asked, âI saw you had an Academy uniform earlier. Did you escape from it?â
I blinked, a little thrown off by the wording, but figured it was just me misunderstanding. âOh, yeah. I was part of the Academy for ten years. They adopted me as an orphan, but I got a cooking class, and here I am.â I laughed nervously.
âYouâre a lucky one,â Jordan said quietly.
âLucky? Iâm not sure Iâd say that. The cooking class has been pretty tough to figure out,â I replied thoughtfully.
âBetter than being dead, though,â he said bluntly.
His words caught me off guard. What did he mean by that?
I sat silently for a long moment, considering his words. What did he mean by âbetter than deadâ? I had to ask.
âWhat do you mean?â I said, confused.
He looked sombre. âMy dad said that nearly everyone who goes through that place is trained to die on the front lines of the demon invasion.â
I let out a small laugh, surprising Jordan. âI donât think thatâs true.â
I mean, sure, we were trained to be on the front lines, but we were trained to fight and survive, right?
There was an awkward silence between us for a moment before I couldnât help myself.
âWhy did he think that? I know plenty of people graduate as soldiers, warriors, and so on, but weâre trained to fight for years.â
Jordan shrugged. âWell, my family had the option to adopt me to the Academy because of our struggles, but my dad refused. He said heâs seen the front line â thousands of brand new recruits getting cut down by vicious beasts and demons. Itâs haunted him.â
I didnât know what to say. Surely that couldnât be true. George wouldnât fall so easily.
There wasnât much conversation after that. I just didnât know what to say, and my mind was racing. Before long, Jen came up to me, breaking me out of my thoughts. I had barely touched my food.
âMilo said you wanted to test a new foraging ability? Iâll come with youâIâd love to see it in action,â she asked.
I got up, shaking my head to clear the thoughts away. Iâd deal with that later. I needed to ask someone elseâthey couldnât all be sent to die, right? That wouldnât make sense.
Heading out of the shelter, I followed Jen out of the clearing and toward the more densely forested area.
âRight, so howâs this ability work?â Jen asked as we stood before the trees.
I laughed a little. âHonestly, I donât know. My skills are all so vague in description. I donât even know how much mana this will cost. It just says itâs a magical eye for the freshest ingredients.â
Figuring there was no harm in trying, I activated the ability.
Would you like to active Arcane Foraging for 5 mana? Yes/No
Five mana seemed really low. I selected yesâand immediately fell on my ass as my vision was flooded with glowing items. It was too much to take in at first.
âWoah,â I muttered, mostly to myself. âThis is intense. Nearly everything is glowing a little.â
Jen looked me over. âYour eyes are glowing a faint blue; thatâs cool. So, whatâs glowing and where? Iâll tell you what is what,â she said excitedly, reaching out a hand to help me up.
âWell, nearly everything is glowing a littleâexcept the dirt. But I think there are roots glowing beneath the soil. And over there,â I pointed toward a cluster of trees on my right, âthere are berries glowing super bright.â
I could clearly see small clusters of berries shining among softly glowing leaves.
As we walked toward the glowing berries, I glanced at my mana and noticed I was down 10 instead of just five. So, it seemed this ability cost mana continuously while active, not just on activation. Definitely something to keep in mind.
Jen sighed as I pointed at the berries.
âNah, you canât eat those. Theyâre poisonous,â she said, a bit dejected.
âWhat if I purified them?â I asked, then remembered Jen had gone to sleep when I chose my abilities last night. She probably didnât know about that.
âOh, I should probably explain. Last night I got two new abilitiesâthis one, Arcane Foraging, and another that lets me purify ingredients and gives immunity to poisons and toxins,â I told her.
âThat sounds super useful,â she laughed. âI just donât know who youâre going to convince to test it. Someoneâs bound to get really sick if it doesnât work.â
I thought about it for a moment, then reached up and grabbed one of the glowing berries, popping it into my mouth before Jen could stop me.
It was surprisingly sweetâthe seeds were soft and barely noticeable, and the berry was full of juicy sweetness.
âThey taste great,â I said, glancing over at Jen, who looked absolutely horrified.
Figuring it was a good time for a general test, I picked the whole bunch off the bush and held them in my hands, activating Culinary Transformation.
Would you like to purify Common Dilwater Berries for 10 mana? Yes/No
Selecting yes again, I checked my mana once moreâ265 out of 300. It looked like the foraging was draining about five mana per minute. Not bad at all, I thought.
The berries glowed brightly in my hand, intensifying the soft blue light they were already giving off. Deciding Iâd test them properly later before storing them, I said with a smile, âOkay, theyâre purified. Iâll see if I can convince someone to try them.â
Jen just shook her head. âNot gonna be me! Letâs keep searching.â
Looking around, I noticed most leaves and roots had a faint glow, but some, like the berries, shone with a bright blue light. I figured the brightness probably showed their quality as food, though honestly, I was making it up as I went along.
As we walked a bit further, I spotted a couple of curious things: an area with several grass-like plants glowing brightly a short distance away, and a fist-sized lump underground nearâor maybe underâa cluster of roots. It was glowing the brightest of all.
âI see two interesting things,â I said to Jen, pointing down to the ground. âThereâs a fist-sized blue blob glowing brightest under or near those roots, and over there,â I gestured toward the grass-like plants, âthereâs a bunch of those glowing blue too.â
Jen paused, thinking for a moment. âThe grass plantsâI think I know what those are. Itâs a common herb used in teas once dried. It has an almost citrus-like taste; really nice. But that blob youâre talking about? I have no idea. I donât usually go digging, but I know someone who does!â
Excited, she turned and ran back toward camp. âMILO!â she called out. âCome here! We need your abilities!â
âMilo will help us get it out. Letâs find out what it is.â She said.
A short moment later, Milo came over, looking rather confused, but Jen took charge.
âWe need you to dig right here,â she explained, standing on the spot. âBut donât destroy whatâs in the dirtâwe need a fist-sized blob of something down there,â she added with a shrug.
Milo got to work, raising the dirt carefully. After a short while, the soil lifted neatly and piled to the side, exposing the rootsâand there, sitting among them, was the blue blob. Even with my foraging ability active, I couldnât quite make out what it looked like.
As I pulled it out, Jen gasped and practically bounced over to my side. âI know what that is! Itâs a Mana Truffle! I didnât even know they grew here, where the mana isnât dense. These are very expensive,â she said, almost in awe.
âYou can eat this? Itâs not poisonous or anything?â I asked, eyeing the bright object in my hand.
âYou use just a tiny bit to add an earthiness to a meal, but Iâve never personally tried it. These are beyond even our budget,â Milo added. âVery rare indeed.â
I looked around to see if anything else stood out. âBesides the grass, nothing else is showing up,â I said. Jen nodded and headed toward the glowing grass.
âAfter that, we should probably head back to the wagon. Troyâll get angry if the trip gets delayedâunless you manage to get him a truffle or two. Heâd probably sell that for a gold or two if you could keep it fresh,â she said with a grin.
Following her advice, I placed the truffle in my storage and walked alongside her toward the grass.
As we approached, Jen confirmed it was indeed Lemon Tea Grass. I deactivated my foraging ability, noticing it had used a total of 105 mana. We gathered the grass, and Jen told me sheâd show me how to dry it properly tonight so it could be used for tea.
On the way back to the wagon, Jen joked I should get Milo to try one of the berries.
Okay, so Jen jokedâbut I didnât realise it was a joke. I walked straight up to Milo and pulled a berry out, offering it to him. âHere, try this. It was glowing blue, and I purified it. It tastes really nice.â
Before Jen even realised what Iâd done, and before she could say anything or stop him, Milo popped the berry into his mouth and started chewing.
âNO!â Jen yelled, running over. âThatâs a Dilwater Berry!â
âWhat?â Milo asked, confused, swallowing the last bite. Jen repeated herself, and Miloâs face went pale with horror.
âItâs okay, I purified it. It should be perfectly fine to eat. Plus, you said I should get Milo to try it?â I said between them, a bit puzzled by their reactions.
Jen let out a big sigh. âIf I have to waste an antidote potion on this, youâll owe me one of those truffles,â she said with a glare.
I was still pretty confused but went along with it anyway. I grabbed what was left of the stewâwhich wasnât muchâand stored it, while Milo went around dismantling all the structures he had put up.
Before long, we were back on the road. I was up front this time, sitting next to Cee. Milo seemed fine to me, but I really didnât know how the poison would react. At least he didnât look too concerned about it all.
