Prologue - How I got here: Part 2

There are some things that I have started doing these past few years without even realising it. And from a normal delver perspective, these might seem useless. There are some things that I have started doing these past few year without even realising it.

The first of these few habits I have probably been doing for at least 4 years at this point. And that thing is wearing gloves, which might seem odd at first but it is pretty good for someone like me. It hides the scars I did get on my hands over these past few years. But they are also good for collecting plants. I don't always look if they have thorns which then prick me. And the gloves do provide some layer of protection.

The next thing is something specific to delvers who collect things. Which I am definitely one of. And that thing is actually multiple which are having more than a few bags with you. Not necessarily these huge grocery store bags but just some plastic bags. But if I were to ask someone like Lake who usually fights rather than collect. I would've been laughed at so much that I probably wouldn't want to be in the same room as him for a while. And I can actually say that is a fact since I have done this before.

The final thing I started doing for a while too. But it is probably the easiest thing to do out of everything. And that is just taking a deep breath before I walk inside a portal. Even if you think you are going to encounter a woodland area behind it, it can still feel like you haven't had a proper breath for days. This is because readings that are done beforehand can go terribly wrong. Once they said we were going to an abandoned village while in actuality it was a cave. A cave that had this rotten smell trapped inside. Just thinking about how reading can go wrong fills me with anxiety. It is the perfect fuel for my mind.

Taking a deep breath also means I hold it for a bit. At least till I am through this portal. Since I sometimes feel like I can actually taste the smell of these portals. It isn't even because they smell that bad. In actuality, the smell is pretty neutral, to say the least. But my body has started associating these smells with the pain I tend to experience inside.

Walking through the portal, however, is quite a strange feeling when you are not used to it. You can even describe it as painful which is why normal civilians are told to stay away from them. Since it already feels like my body is being torn apart while mine should be able to pass through them. So I can't imagine how normal humans would feel. I did hear that how higher in rank you are the less pain you supposedly feel. But the first time going through one of these will always be strange. But to ignore this pain I try to turn my brain off. I just walk in a straight line through these without thinking too much about it.

As I finally manage to walk through the portal I see a message pop up. This is something still being researched since there is no explanation for it popping up. It seems like something straight out of a video game. But now that I think about it. The pop-up messages are older than the video game ones. So I guess the video game ones are based on these. But if I am honest, I don't tend to look at these a lot most of the time. Or at least I don't pay them much mind.

Quest

Kill: Araium head off the eastern zombie village

The quest that had popped up sounds easy enough though. This doesn't mean I can finish it but I know the rest can do it. It would probably mean that this won't be a long portal delve this time, which I don't mind. Since now that I think about it and look around properly I see at least three people who would defeat the boss on their own. And by that, I mean the boss alone not all the other zombies at the same time. Those people are:

Drake: Drake is a typical fighter-type but that doesn't mean he isn't strong. Actually, he is quite strong, he is probably the strongest fighter I personally know. But it does make me realise, I don't actually know what rank Drake is.

Alex: He might just be one the best D+ ranked fire mages around. I don't know a lot of fire mages but I do know that he is quite strong for a D+ ranked fire mage, at least that's what I hear from other people. He might want to be retested though since he does seem stronger than the average D+ rank.

Kiara: She might be new to delving but she does seem strong. Well, I have to be honest I think she just might be the highest-ranking person here. Anyone who is at a low-ranking portal with that rank usually has been delving quite a bit. Yet she is here having a pretty decent rank as a newbie. The problem is we don't well she would do in a fight.

However, they all can still grow their power. Not forever but the opportunity is still there. For someone like me, it is impossible. Anyone who is an F rank is doomed to stay weak and basically useless in any fight. It isn't known if this is because we are just too weak to actually get more powerful. But it might just be because we are unable to defeat monsters on our own to grow stronger. It isn't known if we can grow, because people like me are unable to see our stats. I guess that our power level is just so low that it can't pop up.

"Okay, everyone the enemies we will have to fight seem to be zombies this time around. I assume everyone knows what that means?" Drake asks everyone as some people like Kiara seem to look a tad bit confused. Probably because zombies are not always portrayed well in media. Every iteration seems just a bit different from one another. Some come close, but I am not sure how close since I don't actually watch zombie movies.

"What he basically means is that we will only have to deal with zombies. So no enemies during the day if you stay out of the cave. So an easy in and out so collectors I wouldn't stray too far away since it will be done soon." Alex shouts out quicker then I could even think. I don't know where he get's his energy from. Well, as a fire mage I can understand why he is exited, zombies apparently burn very easily.

Honestly, if I look at Alex my mind doesn't say that he is in his early thirties. If I were to like guess I would say maybe mid to late twenties. Yet here he is already 31 years old. His hairstyle doesn't make him look any older either since he has a black undercut. It makes him look significantly younger for reason. There might be some other reasons but I honestly don't even want to ask him since he can start going off talking your ear off for an hour and a half. It doesn't help that he like looks down on everyone. In a literal sense, he is the second tallest person here, the tallest being Drake.

But of course, the enemies are zombies. I honestly don't like zombies a whole lot. The one good thing they have is that they only start appearing at night. Which is great for someone like me who just collects things. But that only lasts till the sun starts to set of course. Because then zombies appear everywhere, I am not sure where they appear from but they do appear. And they love to use pack tactics. This is quite the hassle since some zombies are slower than snails which are easy to avoid. But others are really good runners which are hard to avoid. This sometimes proves that I am not the greatest runner around even though I try to run every day I am able to.

"Accept quest" I mutter quietly so that my vision isn't obscured anymore. The quest might not apply to a collector like me but that doesn't mean I don't get the quest too. And honestly for collecting you do need your vision too. You wouldn't want to be confused by what you are grabbing. I also like to see when it gets darker outside since you would need your vision to avoid the zombies. I do have to say though, the area where the portal brought us is quite strange, to say the least. There is a forest in front of us like the association said it would be. There is however one problem here, that being that is also a cave entrance here. Which you would think is normal but there shouldn't be two environments inside one low-ranking portal. But it does make sense for the zombie part since they usually don't appear in forest terrains.

From what I can see, I see the others making plans on how to take on everything. Honestly, it isn't something I even need to pay attention to since I won't be in that group anyway. I couldn't keep up with how much you need to fight inside there and would only slow everyone down and annoy the only healer there. And honestly, they have a lot of strong people with them too. This probably won't take too long in terms of fighting. Yet it might take a lot in terms of navigating. "Oh, there you are Azure. Are you okay with me joining to collect things? Since I rather not fight zombies on my first delve." Kiara asks me as she walks up to me. I am honestly surprised that she still wants to do so. Also, I didn't even notice she was there till she said something. I knew I was bad at sensing when someone is around me. But only noticing it when she says something makes it laughable.

"You sure about that? I am sure just observing the fighting is more interesting than collecting items would be. You could ask just about anyone and they would agree with the fact that collecting is boring." I explain to her laughing a bit since I called the one thing I am good at boring. However, I can't help but notice that my voice is trembling slightly still. I can't help but hope that they quickly take care of the zombies.

"Well, for someone who only focuses on collecting you sure like to bring it down a whole lot. But haven't they found some good stuff because of collecting? Like I heard some medicine was able to be made thanks to things from inside places like these." She says while laughing a bit clearly not feeling the same pressure I did. She is right though, a lot of plants have been used for medicine and such. But others are mostly used as decorations. Something I can't help but wonder is what are these portals. Like are we inside the portals or are we behind them and they are a gateway.

"Yeah, they indeed have found some cures with it. But that still doesn't really explain why you would want to learn it or even just observe it. I have heard from a lot of people that they find it tedious and boring even if they are just observing." I respond as I take off my backpack so I can grab my notebook. That way I could check out what I actually found, but I could also note down if I found something new. But it seems that it has gotten under all my mall plastic bags which makes it a real hassle to get out.

"What are you searching for?" Kiara asks as I have to get some of the smaller plastic bags out of my bag. All in search of my notebook. It must be a weird sight to see me having so many bags with me. I just don't know what to expect inside these portals. Sometimes you find only one type of flower inside which makes the multitude of bags a hassle. But sometimes everything seems useful. And you need at least ten bags so you can keep everything you found in their correct place not mixing. Since the people at the science centre don't like when that happens.

"I am just searching for my notebook. It has all the information I need for collecting. Because certain things might seem the same but vary slightly which makes having my notes on it very helpful." I respond as my notebook finally falls out of my bag. I am glad it doesn't seem to have rained here since I wouldn't want to lose years of work by being a bit distracted for once.

But as I reach out to pick it back up, I see that Kiara was quicker as she already starts looking through it. She looks through it a bit seeming intrigued by it. I honestly don't get why since they are just drawings of flowers and mostly text that I wrote. It might be detailed but that doesn't mean it is all that legible. "How long have you been doing this? Because these notes seem quite detailed. Yet you seem pretty nervous about entering and being inside a portal. Which is strange considering the fact that Drake said that you have been doing this for a while now." Kiara replies as she continues to look through it. I am not surprised by the fact that Drake told her I had been doing this for quite a while now. Since it is the leader's responsibility to inform the strong people who they need to look out for to make sure they are safe. But also know who can help in terms of experience. She should know since she is the only C- ranked delver here. And thus also the strongest person here if you talk about raw power.

I might not know all that much about guilds but I am sure that she could join one without issue. They supposedly always want to recruit people when they are around C+ rank, even more so if they just got their powers activated like that. The only thing she would lack is experience which she could gain a lot more of if she joined a guild. Or even just joining the attack part of the group she seems not to do. Because collecting would definitely not bring on the experience she would actually want for this job

"So why did you decide on delving? Do you just want to try it out to see what it is? Or do you already know this is what you want to do?" I ask her to get away from me having to answer her questions. Since I honestly don't want to explain to someone who can grow stronger that I can't get stronger no matter how much time I spend improving. Considering how old she looks though, she might have seen this job being advertised both at school and university. I honestly dislike that it is this promoted at schools as a good career choice. I am pretty sure it still is being advertised like it was when I graduated high school. But I am just assuming since I am not sure whether or not it still is. I really hope that my coming back home wounded or having to stay in the hospital is enough of an insentive for them to study and get a good job. But honestly, if they did I would question what would actually have stopped them.

"I am in the figuring it out stage. College is quite expensive and I am not even sure what I want to do for the rest of my life. Too expensive to not know what I can do. And since I already had my powers activated it is completely harmless for me to just try and see." Kiara explains as I can't help but sigh at this statement. I honestly find it ridiculous. "Hey, don't you dare laugh. I am quite serious here. Not everyone just knows what they want to do right out of the gate." She explains to me quite proudly. I can't help but be irritated by what she said. This all seems to be some sort of joke to her or some sort of fun adventure. People get hurt inside these, and probably killed too but unreported. I am one of those who have been seriously injured before. And unlike her, it wasn't like I had some form of choice. My powers got activated if you can even call them that. And poof all my choices were gone. Yet she who is figuring things out will do better in it. Does thinking like this make me a bad person?

"But what about you? Mister, I like to judge why people do this. Why did you decide to do this job?" She asks me as I put away the last few bags since I only need to grab those when needed. Honestly, this whole conversation stirs something up in me. I can't say I don't know why but honestly I am not ready to unpack all of this. Just for a brief moment, I remember screaming. "Drake said you have been doing this for quite a while now but also mentioned that you aren't that powerful. You are even slightly infamous by how much you get hurt and that you leave early." She goes further before I can even attempt to think about what to answer. I don't need pity for why I do it.

"I do it to support my siblings. Nothing too complicated I would say." I say as monotonously as I can, hoping to keep all emotion off my face. If I could do another job I would since this probably isn't healthy for them either.

They have seen me getting hurt since when I was 18 years old. I was just out of high school when they saw me getting hurt so much. But I had to do so to make sure they were okay. Most people who get their powers activated on my level decide to do other jobs. But most of those people already got a degree or something. Or at least have enough of a stable financial situation to do so. All things I didn't have when I started doing this. I really hope they decide to go to college right after high school though. I want them to do a job they would actually enjoy doing.

"Okay, everyone we have a plan on how to deal with the zombies. Considering this is only a D+ ranked portal with zombies as the targets. We don't need everyone inside the cave." Drake announces to everyone which makes me realise. Zombies usually appear in less difficult portals, not in D+ ranked ones. I already zone off when he announces who is going with him inside the cave. I know that I don't really have to listen to this though since I am with the collection group. But one thing I do notice is that Lake doesn't seem to be all too happy. Which means I will have to deal with him constantly for a bit. But just for a second, I feel like someone is staring at me, yet as soon as I notice it, the feeling disappears again.

I can't help but chuckle a bit as I see the other go down but Lake has to stay up here. But of course, he has noticed this. 'Why are laughing Azure? You are the weakest one here." Lake shouts at me clearly annoyed by my laughing and not being allowed to go inside the cave with the others. It isn't that he is wrong here like I am the weakest person here. But he isn't the strongest person here either. Which is what is making me chuckle a bit at least. You would think he would have some self-awareness about his own rank.

"You do know that it isn't shameful that you have to stay up here. Barely anyone can be confident about the fact that they are the strongest person inside any room therein. So don't worry about it too much. I know that strength gets respect which seems fun to have but there is more to life than that." I explain as I quickly grab one of my bags since I do start to smell something rather sweet. "But I am going to collect something now. Since I do smell a particular flower that is currently in high demand. It is apparently used for the cream that people are given after they are burned by fire slimes."

"Are you just going to walk off like that dude? Why would you as the weakest person in the group separate yourself from the group? Are you an idiot or something?" Brad shouts out while he complains about me slightly. I don't really know anything about him, I just know that he is a friend of Lake's. I, however, don't pay him too much mind as I wander in the forest where I quickly spot the bright yellow flower.

"Well, I don't know about you all. But he isn't going alone, since I want to actually know what these collecting things are all about." Kiara says as she runs behind me and quickly catches up to us. "So, how do you know the flower just from the smell." Kiara asks as I see Lake joining us to his friend Brad seems to be staying at the cave entrance though. I guess Lake doesn't trust a weak me and an inexperienced Kiara wandering off alone. With my track record of wandering off and not knowing what Kiara would do it is probably a smart idea.

"Well, the flower I am looking at has this very sweet smell, you compare the smell to artificial candy. It isn't pleasant but very recognisable. But I can also see them already which makes it clear in my mind that it is this flower. I now just need to check and see if the flower itself is around three fingertips big. Any smaller or bigger and they might actually be toxic." Start to explain to them as it actually might come off as a bit ranty. But honestly, for someone who doesn't even know their names of them, I would say I know a lot about it. "Also just a rule of thumb I like to use. Don't pick everything, it seems harmful to the area. Which is strange considering we would never come here again but it just seems nicer."

"I honestly don't get why people even want to collect these things. Like you got specifically good at this, why?" Lake starts to question as I go to sit down at the side of the flowers. Lake however went to stand on some perfectly fine flowers. "Also don't they have like actual names?"

"Well, I don't know the names. They never actually told me what they are called at the science centre. There are probably names for them, I just don't know them." I respond to him as I try to think if the name was said before. I quickly start measuring the flowers as I put the ones which are useful away. But I quickly start to get slightly overwhelmed by it. It just is not a good type of sweet smell. There is definitely something called too much of a good thing.

After about twenty minutes or longer I see that I have collected enough of it. "I am going to check around further since there might be something else around here that might be useful. Since certain things actually bring up quite a decent amount of money. I can teach you about it if you are still curious?" I say jokingly a bit not even thinking that they would follow me. I do see that Kiara immediately starts to follow me, and Lake does too. Probably making sure that neither of us gets lost.

We are walking away quite a bit. And like usual I am not keeping track of the time. But it has at least been 30 minutes at least. I can't help but feel like we have to turn around but no turning around yet, I guess. We are probably wandering off too much but honestly for some reason it is easier to wander off in a line. But I shake this feeling off as we encounter it. I quickly take a look at what the other two are thinking. But from what I can see Kiara just seems to think it is curious. Lake however seems to be thinking what I am thinking.

"Azure, you have been doing this longer than I have. Have you ever seen a ruin like this in a portal that doesn't indicate any structures? And on top of that being so big and honestly cool looking?" Lake asks me as he and Kiara approach it. it seems that they are planning to investigate it already. I am however glued to the ground. I am pretty terrified by what this could mean. Yet at the same time, I can't help but be intrigued.

"Yeah, buildings like this one shouldn't be inside a forest. Nor should something that looks this well preserved be in a D+ ranked portal. First zombies who are arguably too easy of a monster to appear here. Now a structure that looks too well preserved and on top of that too intricate too. This should only start appearing in C ranked portals or higher." I start to explain as it probably sounds like incoherent mumbling to them. But this is quite a bad discovery.

"I don't know about you though. But I don't feel any bad vibes coming off it. So at least something positive about it." Lake proclaims as he touches the wall of the building. I might not be fond of him. But he is stronger than me and probably better at sensing mana too. So him saying that actually does make me calm down a bit.

There is one problem though. I do feel something coming off the place. It isn't a bad aura but rather a pull to go in. Yet every thought in my mind is screaming to not enter in there. And honestly, I am not planning to listen to this pull. It probably isn't a monster at least but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be wary of it.

End Prologue - How I got here: Part 2

Completed.

You got a character card

Name: Kiara White

Ability: Water ability

Class: Mage

Date of birth: 03/20/2004

Age: 19 years old

Nationality: American

Hair style: Long braids

Eye colour: Brown

Likes: Dancing, Meeting new people, Trying new food

Dislikes: Predictability, Being late, Sci-fi