Tamsin slid down the muddy flank of the dead Behemoth. He held the object with both hands as if it were a volatile explosive.
It was a sphere the size of a human head. It pulsed with a sickly, rhythmic light that shifted between moss green and bruised purple. The air around it seemed to warp and ripple as heavy waves of mana rolled off its surface.
"I found it lodged behind the ribs," Tamsin said. He looked uncharacteristically nervous. "It is not a normal core. It feels . . . hungry."
Elara adjusted her glasses. They were cracked from the mud, but she leaned in close.
"Do not drop that," she whispered. "That is a Heart of the Mire. It is a unique variant core. It only drops from a Behemoth that has consumed enough necrotic mana to evolve."
Grimmand whistled low. "Price check?"
"Priceless," Elara breathed. "Alchemists use them to brew Panaceas. High-tier smiths use them to forge living armor that regenerates in battle. If we take this to the capital, we could buy a small estate."
"Or," Jacob said from behind them, holding open his Distortion Bag. "We could put it in the sack before the necrotic mana makes Tamsin sick."
"Good idea," Tamsin said quickly. He dropped the heavy, pulsing heart into the bag. The fabric swallowed it whole, and the sickly green light vanished. Tamsin wiped his hands on his pants, looking relieved to be rid of the weight.
"That pays for the trip," Carlos said. He sounded satisfied. "Even split four ways, that is more gold than we made in the last year combined. We go home, we sell the heart, and we take a month off."
"Speaking of going home," Grimmand pointed a thick finger at the air. "The System has something to say."
The blue text boxes did not appear individually this time. A massive, golden window materialized in the center of the group. It hummed with a different frequency than the usual dungeon notifications.
Dungeon Clear Confirmed
Anomaly Status: Intact
Calculating Performance...
Performance Rating: S (Impossible Clear)
Quest Updated
Objective: Escort Anomaly to Origin Point (Home).
Time Limit: 24 Hours
Status: Active
Reward (Pending Completion):
Carlos: Skill Evolution Token (C-Rank)
Grimmand: Ancestral Weapon Fragment
Elara: Mana Core Purification
Tamsin: Shadow Step Skill Book
Failure Penalty: All current rewards forfeit. Reputation set to Hostile with Anomaly Faction.
Silence descended on the swamp. The only sound was the dripping of slime off the skeletal trees.
Carlos read the list twice. Then he read it a third time.
"Skill Evolution," Carlos whispered. "That is not a level up. That changes the tier of a skill entirely. That makes Shield Bash into Titan's Impact."
"Ancestral Fragment," Grimmand choked out. He looked like he might cry. "Do you know how many dwarfs die searching the deep mines for those? It upgrades my family weapon. It restores the runes of my clan."
"Core Purification," Elara murmured, touching her chest. "It removes the impurities from potion sickness. It would double my regeneration rate permanently."
Tamsin just stared at the words Shadow Step. "That is a teleport. A rogue with a teleport. I would be untouchable. This alone will help me rank up at my next exam . . ."
They slowly turned to look at Jacob.
Jacob shrank back slightly under the weight of their collective gaze. They did not look at him like a child anymore. They looked at him like he was the Holy Grail made of flesh and bone.
"Okay," Carlos said. His voice was very quiet and very serious. "New plan. We are not walking back. We are moving in a diamond formation. Tamsin, you scout fifty meters ahead. If a leaf falls from a tree and I don't like the way it looks, you stab it. Grimmand, you are the rear guard. Nothing touches his back. Elara, you hold his hand. Literally hold his hand. If he trips, you catch him."
"I can walk," Jacob protested. "I have good boots."
"I don't care," Carlos said. He stepped close to Jacob and placed a heavy hand on the boy's shoulder. "Kid, you are currently worth more than my life, his life, and her life combined. If you stub your toe, I will personally burn this forest down. We are getting you home. Safe. Sound. Pristine."
"Understood," Grimmand said, hefting his axe. "If a mosquito lands on him, I will sunder the earth."
"I will clear the path," Tamsin said, vanishing into the shadows with zero hesitation.
"Let's move," Carlos ordered. "We have twenty-four hours to get the golden goose back to the farm."
Jacob spoke up, "Guys, this portal should take us to the front of the dungeon . . . that is barely 2 hours from home when I am taking my sweet time through town . . ."
Carlos spoke up, a bit of force in his words, "It matters not! We are headed to the farm!"
He then pointed toward the portal in an extravagant way, obviously swept up in the moment. His party followed along, ushering Jacob to the portal.
Jacob nearly had an aneurysm.
"WAIT!"
He took a deep breath as the adventurers looked at him, a bit shocked.
"Did you guys forget why we came here?"
They looked at him with some confusion.
Jacob then just wordlessly walked over to some salty-looking grass that was untouched during the fighting, as it was situated towards the far corner of the floor.
Carlos face-palmed as he watched the child pluck the bulb of the grass out of the ground and sack it in burlap, before continuing on to get the entire group.
"Change of plans, team. We sack all the salt-grass we can find, then we make our way to the farm!"
"Roger!"
In the end, Jacob ended up with several dozen bulbs of the grass.
'That should be enough to last the winter before I can cultivate it and produce more . . .'