Master Of None

Gil finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that he had not been torturing the spirit within the bow for this entire time. "I feel bad that the spirit had been trapped there for who knows hope long. It was being used by a skeleton…" 

"That sounds gross. I hope I never deal with any undead. I prefer my cozy shop." Bree shivered a little not wanting to ever smelly the rotting flesh of any undead. 

"Well, it wasn't as bad as you might think. But we got so immersed in it that we got used to any smells." Remey was past the emotional talks of the spirits and was ready to get on the way to the herb harvesting. 

Su caught on to this while playing the little game of tag with the dark elemental spirit and decided to p[ush t6hings along. "I believe it is a timer to deal with the mole problem miss Bree." Bree was happy to forget the undead in her thoughts and grabbed her based from the counter.

"I will be back soon. I will leave you in charge again." 

"I will do my best grandma!" Gil and Remey had already understood that elves aged differently than humans but were still surprised to hear the little elf girl call Bree grandma. This was a temporary hang up as they quickly left the shop with Bree in the lead. 

The spirits insisted on gaining the attention of every single one of them as they walked down the same steps as the previous time. Gil and Remey had not expected to have to walk down so many stairs and were less than enthused. Luckily Midnight and Onyx were content with the walk as long as Walker shared some elemental mana crystals with them here and there.

The familiar sight of the crystal craftsman floor was soon expanded before them. This new sight to Gil and Remey brought some more excitement to their face as they immediately went toward the crafting area. Many young craftsmen were out and about today working on many things. 

Gil was soon watching one make some arrows and Remey had found an audience watching one create some crystal armor. Both were caught up in the activities before they even got to where they were supposed to be. "You two realized that Bree is taking us to the crystal farm that her bother owns right? We aren't here to sight see." Walker teased the two who tried to wave him off. However, with the help of Midnight, they were dragged away after Bree who was heading toward a gated area. 

There were two enforcers standing guard at the large metal gates. "We are going to clean up the glowing mole problem within my length of cave. Please allow me to guide them to the area." Bree spoke and the enforcers readily opened the gate. They both appeared to recognize her and didn't even need to ask her for any form of proof. 

The metal; gate creaked as the doors swung open to reveal a dimly lit cave. There were a few elves around making it appear almost unnecessary for the gates to be closed. "Why are the gates closed when there are elves on the other side?" Remey asked this question while the earth elemental spirit tried to latch on to her foot.

"These are the crystal growing areas we use, but there are many connections to natural caves. We would be fools to believe that we have complete control of the entire area. If we were to deal with a monster horde then they could rise to the very center of your city. That is why we have many gates such as this spread through the entire cave system we use. I have heard that we could travel all the way to the dwarven kingdom and emerge out of the mountains if we traveled enough." 

"That sounds a little risky." Gil was a bit less enthused hearing that the caves could be so large. 

"They are natural caves. They were made by the flow of water and nature over time. They are a maze that no one has ever mapped out. I don't believe it would be a wise idea to try and travel that far. Bree agreed with him and pointed at the wall. "The area the elves roam is clearly marked out. My brother and I have a dead end portion of the cave, or at least it used to be a dead end portion of the cave." 

The elves around the entrance to the caves were chatting and trading crystals with each other. Many of them were speaking like they were old friends and sharing techniques. This was a normal meeting place for them before they headed off to their own shops or to make deliveries. 

"It looks like this area is relatively safe." Walker made the basic observation. 

"Yes, the enforcers will do patrols of this area since it is so close to the craftsman. The farther away we get the more dangerous it is. There are also some areas that are abandoned due to money, crystal growth, and just plain old negligence. Those are where some of the monsters and animals will make their homes." Bree gave this warning just in case the party decided to go exploring. She had no idea where the glowing mole had dug and what caves it had connected. 

"I do wonder where the mole came from and where it is now. If it is moving around in the area it may be invading others' crystal growing areas. If it is in a natural cave we should be prepared for the worst. One of these glowing moles sounds like they have some tough defenses. I don't know how multiple will be." Walker was trying to prepare himself for the toughest possible situation. He couldn't imagine a glowing mole coming from a farmed cave.

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