The next few hours were tiring, but enjoyable. With Mao’s guidance, Leo quickly fell into the swing of things, smashing down the rich clay stalagmites one after another and gathering the chunks into crates. Once a crate was filled up, it was carefully sealed, and then loaded up onto a wagon. Despite having seen plenty of traders come in and out of his own home plane over the years, towing wagons loaded with goods behind them, Leo still thought it was interesting how one could drag an entire wagon through a rift without issue. From what he understood, there was in fact a limit to how much could be dragged through a rift by any one person at a time, but he’d never really focused on that before. Cartographers tended to travel light, so it hadn’t been all that relevant.

  As they mined, Leo gradually learned more and more about the small group he’d stumbled upon. Jess had formed the band a few years back after retiring from her brief stint as a magical beast hunter: one of the more common professions for gem holders who were confident in their combat ability. Max and Chance had been brought on for added hands, as Jess wasn’t able to collect enough materials to make these trips worth it on her own. They’d managed to pay off the Grade 1 beast gems she’d given them rather quickly and were quite happy with how much they made bringing in these much-needed supplies to the different planes. Mao was in a similar boat, however, she’d only joined the group a few months back. After Mao had run away from her family, Jess had found her and all but taken her in. Leo got the sense that Mao looked up to the powerful woman like an older sister, and she was quick to do whatever it took to please her.

  Shockingly, Leo also quickly discovered that the group didn’t mind talking about their soul ranks and the beast gems held within. Leo had grown up hearing from both his parents that information like that was considered incredibly private for Cartographers, but the four of them didn’t seem to mind chatting about it in the slightest.

  Almost more astonishing was the revelation that Leo actually had a higher soul rank than anyone else in the group, other than Jess.

  “You guys have been gem holders for almost three years now… And your souls are still only at rank 5?” Leo couldn’t help but ask as he took a quick water break. He knew it was rude of him, but he just couldn’t wrap his head around someone not actively trying to strengthen themselves in any way they could.

  “Yep! Neither of us are all that big fans of fighting, which means if we want to strengthen our souls, our only option is to either bug Jess to help, or to purchase beast gems from others,” Chance explained, grinning at their leader. “Jess is strong enough on her own to take care of us if we run into anything truly nasty, but we make a point of avoiding planes with dangerous magical beasts in the first place. Raiders are the only real threat, and the Planar Lords’ agents deal with those quickly enough.”

  “Not everyone is a fan of risking their life to grow stronger,” Max nodded, leaning back on his pickaxe yet again. It hadn’t taken Leo long to learn that Max was the laziest member of the group, and it wasn’t surprising to see small chunks of clay getting hurled his way every now and again by the others when he got caught slacking off. “And I for one prefer to spend my money on the finer things in life than magical beast gems. Not to mention actually cultivating all that power is a real pain. Can’t be bothered.”

  “I thought you just spent all your money on gambling and alcohol?” Mao asked, with perhaps just a touch too much innocence as Chance snickered.

  “That’s what I said, right? The finer things in life!” Max laughed, clearly not ashamed in the slightest. “You guys just wait. I’m going to hit it big one of these days, and then you’ll be asking me for money!”

  “Right now I’m asking you to do some actual work,” Jess grunted, wiping the clay dust off her pants as she got to her feet. She’d been examining the wagon after loading the latest crate into it, and she was frowning as she let out a heavy sigh. “We’ve got a problem. One of the wheels is cracked. Probably happened when we ran from that blade bug on our way here.”

  “Seriously? I didn’t feel anything strange dragging it into the cavern,” Chance said, immediately turning serious. Leo had already learned that Chance had a Grade 5 Steadfast skill in his core, which significantly enhanced his endurance. “What’s the plan? We can’t drag all this back to town with a broken wagon. Should we leave it all and come back?”

  “A cracked wheel isn’t that big a deal when the wagon is empty, but with all the clay packed on board? The whole thing will snap the moment we try to move it. That said, I’d rather not waste a whole trip if we can help it,” Jess said, a sly smile creeping onto her face as her eyes landed on Max. “If only we had someone good at slinking around. Someone capable of avoiding magical beasts and running back to town all on their own to get a replacement part.”

  All eyes fell on Max, who held both a Grade 1 Silence skill and his own Grade 4 Dash skill, just like Leo’s. Max immediately picked up what Jess was getting at, and his jaw dropped open as he pointed to himself. “Me? Are you crazy? I’m not running back to town on my own!”

  “It’s that or you don’t get paid for another few days,” Jess pointed out, crossing her arms and looking pointedly at him. “And last I heard, you had a gambling debt or two you were excited about finally paying off from this latest haul. Maybe you should have paid those off earlier instead of continuing to waste your money on more booze.”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “But it tastes so good,” Max muttered, letting out a defeated sigh.

  “Come here. I’ll tell you exactly what you need to do,” Jess said, taking pity on him as she all but dragged him off to the side of the cavern.

  “Poor, Max… I know I wouldn’t want to be running around between planes all on my own,” Mao said, before realizing what she’d just said and giving Leo a sheepish look. “Sorry… I guess that’s exactly what you do, huh?”

  “Don’t worry, I know it’s not for everyone. I already know few people decide to become gem holders, and fewer still become Cartographers on top of that. It’s a dangerous way to live, there’s no question there.”

  “What’s it like?” Mao asked, her eyes shining as she gazed at him. “The life of a Cartographer, I mean. It’s not all danger, right? Seeing new sights? Discovering brand-new planes? It sounds magical.”

  “Mao, this guy’s probably only been a Cartographer for a few months. A year at most,” Chance snorted, going back to mining before Jess returned and spotted them slacking off. “I highly doubt he’s discovered any brand-new planes just yet. Don’t you go running off with the first attractive stranger that wanders into our camp promising a better life for the two of you.”

  A few months… Try a week. Leo didn’t voice his thoughts of course, choosing instead to follow Chance’s lead and get back to mining. He wasn’t bothered by Chance’s teasing in the slightest, but Mao was another story.

  “Chance!” Mao frowned, her face heating up as Chance laughed at her. “I was just curious! How many Cartographers have you actually met, huh? I’ve only ever read about them!”

  “I’ve seen a handful pass through town over the years, but I’ll admit, Leo’s the first one I’ve actually talked to. Cartographers are a crazy bunch. They don’t really like spending time in actual society from what I understand.”

  “That’s because they’re busy finding new planes for people to settle in and furthering what we know about the planarverse!” Mao argued. “They’re important!”

  “I never said they weren’t, I just said they’re crazy,” Chance laughed, winking toward Leo. “Nothing wrong with a little crazy, in my opinion.”

  “Though there is something wrong with people who expect to get paid without putting in the work,” Jess said, the larger woman having snuck up behind them somehow without any of them noticing, causing them all to jump. “Max is on his way back to town. He’s a coward, but he’s fast. Should be back sometime during the night with what we need.”

  “Still can’t believe you actually managed to convince him to make the trip across planes all on his own,” Chance said, shaking his head as he went back to mining. “The guy refuses to even take a piss on his own once it gets dark out. I can’t tell you the number of times he’s woken me up.”

  “Max knows what’s best for the group,” was all Jess said, before hefting her own pickaxe and getting to work herself.

  After another hour or two of exhausting labor, Jess finally called it quits for the day. Unfortunately, the gem holders didn’t keep any sort of clock on them, which meant Leo’s goal of setting his own core to track Nexus time would have to wait until he reached town. Technically, it was possible to reach out and peer into another’s soul as long as two people were touching and allowed the other to do so, but it was considered a fairly intimate act, and not something he was comfortable asking a bunch of strangers to let him do.

  Though with how frequently he caught Mao throwing glances at him while they were mining, he had a feeling she might actually agree to his request if asked.

  “Chance, help me cut off some of the vines to fuel the fire,” Jess ordered, tossing her pickaxe into the heap of supplies. “You two, make sure the crates are nice and secure on the wagon. The last thing we need is losing them after all the trouble Max is going through to get a new wheel.”

  “Got it!” Mao said, quickly following orders in her eagerness to please the older woman. While Jess and Chance went and started on the vines, Leo worked with Mao to secure the crates to the wagon, tying them down with cord that wrapped around the wagon’s entire frame. While ducking down to secure it, Leo spotted the busted wheel, noting how the wood had cracked nearly clean through. While he didn’t know much about wagons, he did have a pretty solid understanding of basic physics. It was astonishing that Chance hadn’t felt anything off with the wagon on their way over here.

  “Hey, Leo,” Mao said, her lowered voice startling him out of his thoughts. “I was thinking… I have a lot more I’d love to learn about Cartographers, and we don’t exactly have any spare tents… Do you think-”

  “Mao, I need your help!” Jess called out from over by the vines, interrupting the young woman from whatever she was about to say. “Chance hurt his ankle and needs to sit down. Come help me out!”

  “Coming!” Mao said, hopping up with a frown. “Poor, Chance. I hope he’s okay!”

  Leo watched as Mao rushed off to help Jess, shaking his head as she left. Part of him was glad, as the interruption saved him from having to find a way to delicately turn down what he was pretty sure was going to be an invitation to share a tent during the night. It wasn’t that he didn’t find her attractive, because he certainly did. But after Francy…

  Leo didn’t even notice Chance plopping down beside him at first, but the sudden appearance of the gem holder snapped him from his thoughts. Chance’s brow was furrowed, and he looked to be in deep thought as he stared at nothing in particular.

  “How's the ankle?”

  “Hmm?” Chance asked, blinking as if he only just realized where he was. “What’s that?”

  “Your ankle?” Leo asked, raising an eyebrow. “You sprained it?”

  “Ah, yeah. Yeah, it hurts,” Chance muttered, sighing as he leaned back against the wagon and glanced over at Jess and Mao, who looked to be in the middle of a rather animated discussion. “...It hurts a lot.”

  Patreon

  Discord