Zig broke his club on the first swing. He should have known. Up till now, he'd been hitting soft things like heads and ribcages. The rock fixed to the end of the stick went through these materials without a hitch. Standing in the little cavern Hepp was digging out, Zig thought he might help break up the rock.

  It worked, sort of. The rock wall definitely cracked and pieces showered down at Zig's feet. But the club was equally splintered and crushed.

  "I'm gonna need a lot of clubs."

  Zig set Knob on the task, showing him how he made the first one, and asking for a steady stream of mining clubs to be made. There was no shortage of resources. Gretta had dragged tree trunks to form the walls of their hill fort, with the spaces between pack in with mud. All the branches of the trees had been stripped and lay in huge piles. As for rocks, well, it was a mine. The only scarce resource was goop that helped fix the rock to the end of the stick. Since they were going to be single-use clubs, Knob came up with a clever idea to use a Y shaped branch and wedge the rock into the fork, tying it down with thin branches. It lasted enough for a swing. Knob had already leveled his goblin crafting to Adept, and he whistled a tune as he made club after club.

  The Red Mine, as they were coining it, now had carts. No fancy rail tracks yet, just carts with wheels that stuck and dragged in the mud. They were no problem for Teeth and Gretta's strength. Hepp kept widening the dirt parts of the mine, while Zig smashed into the rock walls. Gretta brought a pick axe and she attacked the walls too, when she wasn't hauling carts.

  Gutters had a fine steel axe, and even though he didn't have a skill, he happily attacked nearby trees, treating them as if they were training dummies. It wasn't the most efficient, the way he leaped and flipped around, dodging imaginary blows, but he was having a lot of fun doing it. Each time a tree finally came down with a crash, the half-troglodyte bowed to his fallen foe, before looking in search of his next opponent.

  Teeth was there for heavy lifting, but also the guardian of the fort. One day there was a howl nearby, similar to the one Hepp and Gretta had heard before. It was loud and piercing, going right to the heart of the crew working on the mine. Everybody tensed in trepidation, until Teeth tossed her head and responded with a loud neigh that echoed out across the forest. The Red Daggers didn't hear any howling until the following day, where it was much, much farther away.

  Zig broke his last club on the wall of the mine, causing grey, black, and gold chunks to rain down. He wiped his brow, and looked at Gretta marching up to the wall next to him, hefting a very dented pickaxe.

  "Phew. Ok, I think you can take over the mining, Gretta. Gutters is getting faster and faster with the trees. Knob's doing a great job building the fort. Can you show him how to reinforce the mine tunnels? I think I need to get back to the docks. Jints has set up two more sales. I don't know how he does it. Oh! And one more thing."

  Zig came up from the mine and called Gutters and Knob to him. He looked at the boys, who were enjoying the work but exhausted at the same time. Zig nodded to himself.

  "There is a tradition in the Red Daggers."

  "I thought you guys were like a month old?"

  "Two months, Knob. And what better time to start traditions? Let me tell you a story of a poop bucket, a dungeon, and Legendary Endurance."

  Zig told them how he'd come to have Endurance. How he'd suggested a similar practice to the other Red Daggers, and how they'd each come to have the skill themselves. He put his hand on Knob's shoulder.

  "This won't be pleasant. Not at all. But I'm told people learn faster at the Basic class, so maybe you have an advantage here? Remember, the way to learn skills is adversity, passion, grit, and uh, other things. Knob? Two thousand pushups. Gutters? Cut down a hundred trees. Let's see you boys soar."

  They were already tired from a good day's work, but they went back to it with enthusiasm. Gutters flew at a large oak tree, hacking away with his axe. Zig brought the other three axes they had to be near the blue-skinned boy, so Gutters could swap them out instead of sharpening and sneaking some rest into the process.

  Knob had no problem ignoring Zig's orders. Instead of pushups, he picked up a large bucket and started filling it with dirt. As soon as it was full he lifted the heavy thing, raced over to the budding walls of the fort, and dumped it on top, adding to the structure. He raced back to another dirt pile and started repeating the process. Zig watched with approval. Those buckets looked heavy, and carrying them all day would definitely push the half-goblin to his limits.

  Zig made his way back to Liston, thought about having a bath, but went to see Jints instead. He was going to miss baths, but there was too much to do. Jints wrinkled his nose and cleansed Zig before he was even asked for it.

  "Thanks Jints, sorry about the smell. It works up a sweat, breaking rocks."

  "Indeed, mister Zig."

  "Ok, who are we meeting today?"

  "A captain Heresh, sir. His ship comes up from the swamplands of Melir, so I expect some valuable plants indeed."

  "Melir? Never heard of it."

  "It's the southern tip of the Westland continent, sir."

  "Right, right. And, and what continent are we on, Jints?"

  "You never cease to amaze me, mister Zig."

  They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Three loud bangs.

  "Oi," a muffled voice came from outside, "I don't remember the secret knock, and I don't care. It's me, Heresh."

  Zig quickly jumped into his black cloak, put on his black gloves, patted his belt and swore.

  "Jints," he hissed, "I don't have my club!"

  Jints paused, almost at the door. There was another loud knock.

  "Oi! You want this deal? I'm not waiting out here like some boy holding flowers for his sweetheart!"

  Jints and Zig looked at each other. Jints raised his palms up in a "what do we do?". Zig shrugged a "I don't know." Jints pointed at Zig and gave a thumbs up and a shrug to ask "will you be ok?" Zig wiggled his hips in a sort of "maybe? I think so." Jints nodded and opened the door.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Outside was a short angry man holding flowers. He shoved past Jints and came into the room, squinting in the candlelight. He looked at Zig up and down.

  "You the Alchemelchy?" Heresh snorted. "Not so scary. You got some of the lads telling me you can slip into their dreams and hex them in their sleep."

  "I have my defenses." Zig tried to say mysteriously. He was still panting from the rapid clothing change and the panic of realizing he had no weapon. Saying ominous things didn't quite seem to work when you're breathing heavily. Heresh frowned and cocked one eyebrow.

  "Well I gotta say I'll sleep like a baby tonight. Now, I've been told the older guy has an eye for value. Care to name a price for everglade blooms?"

  Heresh waved his pot of flowers in Jints' direction. The steward looked at the flowers and rubbed his chin.

  "Everglades, you say? Grown in moonlight? They look mature."

  "Yes, yes, all the right procedures. Now I could sell these for 8 gold coins each at the market. Only a little birdie tells me I can sell them more to a lad in a black cloak. Saves me from finding individual buyers, too. What a deal, I said to the little birdie. Only the little birdie didn't reply, being a bit occupied with the knife in its heart. I'm not here to waste time. You want the deal? You got the coin?"

  Zig couldn't believe a flower was worth 8 gold. It simply didn't make sense. But Jints was looking very serious about the whole thing. He caught Zig's eye and nodded slightly.

  "We've got the coin. Let's do 9 gold per flower."

  "Hmm, I have fifteen flowers here, that math is a bit tricky for me, how about 10? Then it's a clean 150 gold. Have you got that much on hand?"

  Zig thought about it. It was a heavy investment of their remaining funds, but with Legendary Harvest, this would give them a huge profit.

  "We do, I—"

  "That's what I wanted to hear," Heresh said with a smile. He drew a knife and smoothly planted it in Zig's stomach. Zig was too shocked to do anything but stand there. Heresh drew the blade back, lifted his boot and kicked Zig, toppling him over. He turned to Jints, knife in hand.

  "Where's the gold, then?"

  Jints put a trembling hand into a pocket, and slowly drew it out.

  "If you would permit me, sir, I've always wanted to do this."

  Jints threw the small rock in his hand, and it struck Zig in the head. Heresh roared with laughter.

  "Now that's a treat to watch! No such thing as loyalty among thieves! For that I'll let you live. Now, the gold."

  Jints reached into another pocket and withdrew a fat money pouch. He handed it over with a sigh, and Heresh snatched it with a smile.

  "Thank you nicely. So long, Alchemist."

  Heresh was at the entrance, opening the door, when a rock took off half his head.

  Zig had a hole in his stomach. He shouldn't have a hole there, but he did.

  "Not again."

  Zig hated being stabbed. It really was the worst. None of the other Red Daggers got stabbed. It simply wasn't fair. Perhaps there could be some kind of schedule, a roster? He bumped and jostled on Jints' back as the steward carried him at a run through the town. Every bump was a sharp reminder that, yes, there was a hole in his stomach. Blood was dripping onto the street, drawing a trail from the docks to the water district. Every so often Jints muttered "cleanse", just in case people were following them. Eventually they reached the healers, finding one that offered genuine service, no blood contracts necessary.

  An old woman peered down at Zig lying on an operating table. He flinched reflexively, but tried to remind himself that this wasn't Beefcake Jones. The woman tsked as she inspected the wounds. Jints spoke up from the side of the room.

  "How bad is it?"

  "Pff. He's fine."

  "I'm not fine, I have a hole in my stomach."

  "Shush you. Got some kind of Endurance skill have you? Something to cling to life? Hmph. I can barely raise the price in these conditions. 'Your money or your life' doesn't quite work when you've still got a week of bleeding out to get quotes from all the other healers in Liston."

  "All healers are thieves and brigands, aren't you?"

  "Took you twenty years to figure that one out?"

  "I'm eighteen. I think."

  "Good for you. Alright, four gold and let's be done with it."

  Jints placed four coins down on the desk at the side of the room. The healer nodded and flapped her hand dismissively toward Zig's mortal wound. It closed up in a flash of white, and Zig finally stopped clenching in pain.

  "Phew. Thanks doc."

  "Sure. Come back when you're closer to death next time. I'll make it real showy, saving you just in time, and you can shower me in gold and thankful praises."

  Zig's first action was to make another club, and to put a couple of emergency stones in his pockets. The next was to march back to the docks. Heresh, the valuable plants, and the Red Daggers' money pouch were all missing. Zig wanted to hit something. Hard.

  "Oh, hi Zig! Back so soon?"

  "Yep, got a rock wall I can smash?"

  Gretta jabbed a thumb towards the mine entrance.

  "Knock yourself out."

  Knob was crawling on the ground, dragging a bucket behind him as he continued to push past his limits and build the walls of the fort. Zig carefully stepped around him, not wanting to interrupt the boy's progress. He found a cart, loaded it with sticks, and a barrel of goop, and headed into the mine.

  The tunnel leading down wasn't too long. After half a minute of walking, the narrow tunnel suddenly widened into a cavernous room.

  "Woah."

  Hepp looked up from where he was attacking a wall of dirt. He was flushed, sweating, and grinning from ear to ear.

  "Like it? Puts the old Hepp's Hollow to shame. Endurance and Dig, man, it's a combo."

  Hepp turned back to the wall and kept hacking off huge chunks with his shovel. When enough formed a giant pile at his feet, he scooped it up and put it in a nearby cart. Several carts lay nearby, all filled with dirt.

  "So, what's got you looking like you wanna kill someone?"

  Zig picked up a rock on the ground, dipped it in paste, and stuck it to a stick.

  "What makes you say that?"

  Zig got tired of waiting for the glue to dry, ripped the rock off the stick and just threw it at the wall with all his strength.

  "Oh, nothing, nothing. Just seems you're a little angrier today."

  Boom.

  Another rock flew at the wall, and bits of dust rained down as cracks spread over the surface.

  "I keep—"

  Boom.

  "Getting—"

  Boom.

  "Stabbed."

  Boom.

  "And I hate it."

  Boom.

  Hepp nodded sympathetically.

  "That's rough buddy. Who did the stabbing?"

  "Hershy or some stupid name like that."

  The neat thing about throwing rocks at the rock wall, was that as ammunition disappeared from around Zig, more rolled in from the wall.

  "Woohoo!"

  Zig could hear celebration cries from up on the surface, and he knew it would be Knob or Gutters getting Endurance. That just made him angrier.

  Boom.

  "How do I get more skills, Hepp? I should be a power house. What's wrong with me?"

  Hepp looked at the solid rock that was being obliterated by Zig throwing stones. He chose his words carefully.

  "You are a power house, Zig. You just have a fatal weakness. All great heroes have them."

  "Oh yea? What's my fatal weakness?"

  "...knives?"

  Zig snorted, finally showing an emotion other than anger.

  "I guess that's true. Thanks Hepp."

  Zig threw his last rock, watching it shatter against the wall. Clubs were more effective at breaking the stone, but throwing had been good to get the frustration out of his system. He eyed the giant pile of rubble on the cave floor. Someone will probably clean that up.

  "Let's go congratulate the boys."

  Knob was dancing around on the surface, scooping dirt up with a bucket and flinging it high, high, to land on the top of the already sizable walls. Zig tried to frown and raise his eyebrows at the same time, resulting in a twitch that left them in the normal place.

  "That's a strong throw, Knob, you got that through Endurance?"

  The goblin boy definitely had Endurance. He'd been crawling through the muck earlier, but now he was leaping about and whooping. He turned to Zig with a grin.

  "Ho, Zig! I got Endurance, yes, but this is Strength! Watch this."

  Knob ran over to a heavy looking tree trunk, bent down, and heaved. It didn't budge. Knob straightened up and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

  "Ok it's just Basic, but how about this!"

  He went back to his bucket, packed it with dirt, then lifted it with one hand high above his head with ease.

  "That's great, Knob!" Zig tried to sound enthusiastic as another Red Dagger got Strength. "Real cool."

  Zig and Hepp watched as clouds of dirt flew into the air and Knob tossed it from his bucket, somehow all landing neatly on the top of the wall. The first time was fascinating, the second time was impressive. The third time the dirt flew haphazardly but still landed neatly on the top was downright suspicious.

  "I also got a construction skill." Knob added happily.