It was the early hours of the morning when I came to the surface. No sign of the others, or Pānihi. It was Pānihi I was concerned about. I thought she would spend the time with me.

  The others haven’t been here, but somebody has. They had poked through my camp gear and looked at the heated rock at the entrance to the mine. I picked up the scent, and it smelled like the old human fisherman. I hadn’t left anything valuable with the gear, and nothing seemed to be missing. He didn’t enter the mine.

  I packed up the camp and set out to track the old man. I wouldn’t be coming back, and we may have to start running again. I did remember to turn mostly human and put on some clothes.

  I followed the scent and occasional track past where I had scouted. He wasn’t trying to hide. I watched for traps.

  Ten minutes later, I came across a small clearing with a small log cabin, a garden out front and an outhouse. There were drying racks for pelts, but there were no pelts on them at the moment. Smoke rose from a chimney in the cabin, and Olfactory smelled cooking fish.

  I settled on the edge of the bush in camouflage and watched. About five minutes later, the old human came out carrying a plate of cooked fish with a delicious smell of herbs.

  “There is extra if you want to join me,” the human said without looking up.

  He wasn’t looking at me, and I am pretty sure I wasn’t spotted, as I had Light Filter assisting the camouflage, but he could only be talking to me.

  I dropped my skills and walked out into the clearing. “Afternoon,” I greeted, “You have some high-level skills.”

  He chuckled, “Not really, just an educated guess. Come and have it while it is hot,” He separated some fish and greens onto a separate plate.

  I walked forward, “You are not going to try and tell me you caught this from the stream by the mine, are you?”

  He smiled. “I’m a Master Fisher, you know. I can entice out the most hidden fish. But you are right, I just go to that stream to keep an eye on the toxicity levels.” He handed me a plate. “Eat up, this might be your last meal for a while. I am Chauncey.”

  “Ivan,” I said, trying the fish. It was as good as it smelled. “This is good, thanks. Last meal, because the stream's toxic?”

  “It’s diluted and filtered, so it won’t hurt anyone with reasonable physical attributes, but it keeps the fish away.”

  “From the mine, then, I am guessing. Are the mushrooms the toxic thing?”

  Chauncey nodded, “Duskmarrow Fungus. It is the reason they closed the mine. Is there a reason you opened the mine?”

  “I needed somewhere quiet to practice a skill,”

  “Quite the skill it is as well. I won’t ask any more questions; the fire and heat probably killed the spores on you, and they don’t like the sun. It can grow in your lungs, though. I recommend you seek a healer. We will have to close the mine up again to stop the local kids infecting themselves.”

  I used Extract Impurities on my lungs again, and I extracted something. I ran Purify Blood to check if it spread. I had been drinking the water from that stream. “I can go back and close the mine,” I said.

  “Appreciated,” Chauncey said.

  “If the water is toxic, then there is another opening somewhere,” I said.

  Chauncey nodded, “About a kilometre upstream from the mine, the creek merges with one coming from underground.”

  “Is it still toxic after a kilometre?” I asked as that meant it was potent. I hadn’t noted any dead vegetation on the stream bank.

  “Toxic might be too strong a word, but there is residue in the water, which is why it tastes funny. It has been getting worse in the last few years.”

  “So you would recommend that any sample mushrooms I might have brought out to identify be destroyed then?”

  “That would be wise, and the bag they are in,” Chauncey said. “Leaving the bag in the sunlight for a few hours should kill them, but better safe than sorry.”

  “What happens when someone gets affected?”

  “The spores feed off your Spiritual energy and body fluids to grow. Your lungs are the weakest part, as you will not be able to breathe. It is slow, so there is plenty of time to seek a healer. The treatments to purge it from your body are not cheap and are very unpleasant. A Skill like Regeneration will heal you, but not kill the spores. Hence, your Regeneration will be continually used until it comes to an equilibrium, and your spiritual energy will be constantly used until you kill the spores. How is your breathing?”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  I could understand why he didn’t enter the mine, and it wasn’t because of the hot rock. “I am breathing fine,” I said as I blasted my body with Solar Bloom. I was fairly certain that the Extract Impurites process removed them, or the heated air where I was practising in the mine killed the spores, but it's best to be sure. “It is called Duskmarrow Fungus, huh?”

  “Yeah,” Chauncey said, “If it gets in your blood and then your bone marrow, you will probably suffer for the rest of your life. You had best get checked out with a healer sooner rather than later.”

  “Do you mind if I use that patch of sunlight over there?” I asked, pointing to one of the few areas of sun in the clearing in the late afternoon.

  “Not at all,” Chauncey said, “as long as you don’t mind me watching from here.”

  I smiled and moved into the sunlight, and pulled out the Duskmarrow Fungus I had wrapped in a cloth to put in my pack. “I take it it is not flammable?” I asked.

  “No. It is water-based,” Chauncey said.

  That made sense from the moisture in the mine and the toxic stream.

  I unwrapped the mushrooms in the sunlight. Removing them from the water was also not good for them, as they were wilted. The afternoon sun was quite weak.

  “Do alchemists use these for anything?” I asked.

  “The fucking Sludgebrewers will use any damned thing, but when some kids got infected, the Countess outlawed these.”

  I turned on Light Sensing and the higher parts of light that showed stains. I expanded Solar Bloom and watched as it killed the stains. I went to the edge of the forest and got two sticks about my arm's length long and used them to pick up a Duskmarrow Fungi. I moved it away from the cloth and cast Solar Flame on it.

  I only lost half the stick. I am getting better with control. I repeated that for the other two fungi, which left the cloth. Solar Flame is now level 3.

  I went back to the cloth and watched with Light Sensing as Solar Bloom killed the fungi. I then cast Solar Bloom in a wide area to kill any spores and give his garden a boost at the same time.

  “What skill was that?” Chauncey asked.

  “My new fire skill,” I said, keeping it vague.

  “No, not that one, the area one you cast.”

  I raised my eyebrow. He sensed that? I guess he was within the radius of it. Older folk tend to have high-level skills. I need to watch that. “Solar Bloom. It is a farming skill, and it seems to kill the spores. It is good for your garden too.”

  “Well, ain't that the way of it. All the bloody airheads from the Lore Society can’t figure it out, and a farmer works out how to kill the spores the first time he encounters them. Not that you look like a farmer.” he looked me up and down, noting the throwing knives and war axe. Then there were the teeth and claws. I didn’t look like a farmer.

  “I have done all sorts in my time,” I said. “Mostly wandering and picking up skills here and there.”

  “The Countess will probably pay you to clean out the mine. It is just a matter of time before the spores spread, as shown by the increasing residue in the stream. Everybody knows it.”

  “I am not particularly interested in dealing with nobles,” I said.

  Chauncey nodded, “I am right with you there. They are a bunch of stuck-up pricks in general. This would be a great community service, though.”

  I thought about how much of the mine I sensed, and it went further. “It’s a big job. Weeks of work for one person. They could get some local farmers on it.”

  “I doubt if there is more than one or two farmers with that skill, seeing as I hadn’t heard of it. Farmers are unlikely to want to go into the mine, especially if they are unsure of catching the Duskmarrow. Nobody will admit to having the skill. I wouldn’t.”

  “I think I would rather close the mine back up and keep moving,” I said. Then I thought of something. “Have you notified anybody that the mine is open?”

  “Not yet, no. I was planning to go to town tomorrow, unless you close the mine again, as someone will have to. The better option is to clean it out. There would be good coin in it, and I could be the go-between if you didn’t want to deal with the nobles.”

  That told me how much Chauncey wanted the mine cleaned, seeing as he admitted hating to deal with nobles. I was starting to like the old man.

  “I guess it is killing off your favourite fishing stream. The trouble is, I have places to be and I can’t stop here for weeks. We have enough coin for our needs.” That was an understatement.

  Now that I was thinking about it, a well-placed Solar Flare will probably kill everything in one go. I was reminded of the mines in Jern that we used Solar Flare on. Neither Kiri nor Kevin was a miner.

  Another thought occurred to me, “You wouldn’t by any chance own the land around here, would you? Perhaps including the mine?”

  “Well, it was cheap, as nobody wanted it,” Chauncey said with a slight grin.

  “So if I were to take this job, I would be working for you, not the Countess.”

  He lost his smile, “I can’t pay you,” he said.

  “But you could offer to do the job and get paid by the Countess, and I don’t even have to be mentioned. Then you could pay me.”

  “She will ask me how I will do this task nobody has accomplished to date.”

  “A combination of your farmer friend with Solar Bloom and alchemical fire. You don’t mind if the mine takes some damage, do you? I can’t be here for weeks,” I said.

  “I am not a miner, but there is still ore down there. I would prefer access to it.”

  “No guarantees about that. I can probably extend my stay for a week, but that's it. You will need to make some payment upfront,” I said.

  “You said you didn’t need the coin. Why would you do this?” He asked.

  “Because it will stretch some skills I need to level.”

  He looked at me for a second, assessing. He was probably compiling the findings from his investigation at the mine as well. “Very well, Ivan the Farmer. I want the mine and stream cleaned up. I would prefer access to the mine, but that is secondary. What do you need?”

  “I need a map of the mine and more investigation.”

  “I have a map here, and a Surveyor prepared it, so it should sync with the Map skill if you have it.” I nodded, “You can stay here. I should head into town tonight and try to get some coin out of the Countess. You may have the easier task.”

  Patreon is 15 chapters ahead if you want to support the story. You don't need to support the story, as it will be free here.