I pour myself another cup of tea and steady myself, not quite prepared to process everything the ghost has told me today.

"Do you know a way to speak with a past life without reliving their memories that's accessible at Basic rank?" I ask after a moment. "I don't care to jumble up my memories even further and it would be simpler if we could talk to ourselves as though we were different people."

"[Fractal Consciousness] and [Telepathy] should be able to do that," Estelle says. "But if you wish to speak verbally outside your mind, you will need an intermediary."

"Of what sort?" I ask.

"A person or object that can speak with the spirit's voice. You will need to either have someone to be a medium, or connect the ghost to something like a ring or talisman with illusion projection enchantments."

"I'm too small to be a medium," Juniper says with a pout.

"I can set up a link," Estelle says. "But the medium would not remember anything. They'd just be asleep for a bit while a ghost makes use of their body."

"Hmm," I muse. "We could have someone be a medium and ask one of my past lives whether they'd be willing to be connected to an object?"

"Of course they would," Estelle says. "They're yourselves, after all. But if you wish."

"Can I speak for the ghosts?" Juniper asks.

"Are you sure about this, sweetie?" Anise asks.

"It sounds like fun," Juniper says.

"This spell is weak and easily broken," Estelle says. "You will need to actively focus on maintaining the connection. You are a [Tranquil Child], so you should have the Discipline for that."

"I appreciate using a gentle spell on my daughter," Anise says.

"I cannot cast more powerful spells than this," Estelle says. "If I were capable of controlling people against their will, I would not still be stuck here. Here I am only facilitating a link between two individuals who cannot form one on their own."

Anise isn't sure about all this but trusts that I know what I'm doing. I do not, but I can also tell everything Estelle isn't saying aloud. She knows I'm her best shot in a long time of escaping her current situation. And if she's even capable of harming us, she would receive swift retribution if she did.

I don't believe she ever intended harm to me. I don't fully share her paradigm of reality, but then, I don't think I fully share anyone's so that doesn't mean much. I can adapt, though.

Juniper's eyes shine with unnatural light as the connection takes hold.

"Hello?" I ask. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes," Juniper's voice says in a tentative whisper. "What's going on?"

"The little girl is being a temporary medium for you," I say. "I'm your next reincarnation, Drake. What is your name?"

The ghost is quiet for a long moment before finally saying slowly, "The name given to me at my former body's naming day was Songara Lotus Liu Xing. That body lived to the age of seventeen years, unaware that he would wind up hosting an ancient soul after an accident knocked his own out of his body."

"I think I preferred reincarnation as a baby."

Juniper's body chuckles. "Yes, becoming Liu Xing was a bit stressful. Did you call me up to learn how to beat arrogant Young Masters?"

"No, I seem to have wound up in fantasy Britain and not fantasy China," I say. "I wanted to connect a ghost to a ring or talisman to give my little sister for guidance and protection. The one whose body you're in at the moment."

The shining eyes blink. "So you don't even want my power and wisdom for yourself?"

"No, I'm good," I say. "I just want to help my sister. She likes ghosts but she's not a reincarnator. And she's been kind of lonely lately."

"I see. So you seek to summon up a Divine rank spirit to be your little sister's invisible best friend?"

"Well… yeah, basically," I say.

"You are a very soft version of me. I'm glad to see that you have a family you care about enough to do that for. Very well. I accept."

Juniper's eyes stop glowing and she blinks a few times as she regains control of her body.

"That was fun," she says. "I got lots of levels too."

"Do you remember anything of what he said?" I ask.

Juniper shakes her head. "No. But he was big and strong and nice. Like you. But… harder. Sharper. Like a sword and not a pillow."

"I'd kind of rather be a pillow than a sword."

Materials are a major consideration for crafting, and not just for their mundane properties. I could make a talisman from whatever, but something that could symbolize connections and spirits would be ideal. Estelle suggests that I do my own research on this rather than her merely handing me answers that can be read in a common book.

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Before leaving the Spooky Grove, we meet up with Basalt and kill the Elite spider boss together. The chest does not conveniently drop an object that would make for a useful talisman, and I don't get many skill levels for helping fight it, either. We've killed this boss too much lately.

Skill increased: Athletics (Dodging)

"Looks like a set of pliers?" Basalt says, holding up the glossy black tool that was in the chest. "But what's it made of? That's not metal."

"Chitin," I say upon identifying it. "I don't know how good of a tool chitin pliers are, but I guess pedipalps are kind of the same thing?"

Once back at Corwen, we head to the workshop. Lark and Bucky Harrow are there working at the moment, and we exchange greetings and small talk for a moment. At least, I exchange small talk with Lark. Bucky only responds with facial expressions and body movements, and not even much of those, but I can read his mood and disposition in his aura well enough.

"Can you show me how to make jewelry?" I ask.

"You sure?" Lark asks. "It's delicate work."

"I'm trying to learn all the Crafting skills I can," I say.

"Ah! I see. Well, I can't make you an expert, but I'm sure we can get that skill unlocked for you if you bring me the materials. I owe your Hearth that much for letting us take refuge here."

An item would work best if I put as much of my own essence as I can into it. Having her make it for me would be the easy way out. I'd just wind up with Persuasion skills instead of what I actually wanted to do with my life. Milo can keep his businessman skills. I want to craft things.

Meadow, heavily pregnant, is sitting in an armchair in the hearth and working on some sketches. "Hey, Drake. How's the adventuring going?"

"Good," I say. "I'm looking to learn to make jewelry. Do you happen to know what dungeons drop those sorts of materials?"

"Oh, hmm, let me think," Meadow says. "I'm pretty sure the only dungeons Topside that drop gemstones are too high a level for you. But you may be able to find gemstones and metal in the caves rather than the surface. You could go ask the goblins? Ugh, I want to go with you so badly."

"Good idea. I'll pay a visit to Milo."

Skill increased: Discipline (Long-Term Planning)

I explain to Aunt Rosemary what I want to do, figuring she might have some advice at least. She'd decided that some knee pain was worth getting Griffin to stop whining about wanting to delve dungeons and slay monsters, but I don't expect her to follow along on every trip I want to make.

"Can I come?" Juniper asks. "We don't have to bring the twins…"

"You, at least, can be trusted to listen and not run off into danger," Aunt Rosemary says. "I would not have brought them to the Forgotten Tower if it weren't a well-known dungeon. Your Uncle Falcon and his party have been wanting to check out Hebron. We can have them make sure any dungeon we run across is safe enough to bring a Basic-rank child into."

Willow and Griffin pout at not getting to come along, and are promised souvenirs in compensation for this terrible slight. After my unexpected adventure in the second layer, I'm not even going to complain too hard about only going in second after the Heroics.

The sky turns orange on the day we set out for the caves. A month and a half is plenty of time to poke our heads into a couple of caves and head home, with or without any shinies to show for it, provided the ground doesn't decide we need another unplanned detour. I accept that that's entirely likely and overprepare. At least we have a Heroic party with us this time.

When we reach Grubwick, we're informed that Milo is currently out negotiating business agreements. And also that there's no dungeons near Grubwick that drop gems or metals, so we move on.

Once we get to Splott, we learn that they're working on building a bridge over the River Lear to get to the Wisteria Garden and the Hearths on the other side more easily. They'd love if we were to attend the completion ceremony and hope to get it done before swarm season.

"You look for shiny rocks?" says one of the Splott goblins. "There's a dungeon with shiny rocks right under your nose. You just have to swim to get there! The way in is ten meters underwater on the side of the lake. Don't worry, there's air once you get inside."

"How do we get there?" I wonder. "I can swim, but I don't think I'm good enough at it to manage that. I don't swim like a Splott. I haven't really spent a lot of time grinding the skill."

"There's mushrooms you can use to make water breathing potions," another goblin puts in. "If you bring some, I'll show you how."

We take a quick trip out into the Underswamps to collect the mushrooms in question, a goblin gatherer going with us to make sure we can properly collect all the useful reagents they're looking for. They're not about to pass up the opportunity to be escorted by a Heroic party without any fear of swamp monsters.

The swamps are quiet today, however, and we're able to collect plenty of alchemy reagents without incident. Plenty to learn the basics of goblin alchemy.

Uncle Falcon and his party make drink their own potions, and swim into the cave first. The cave is known to the Splotts, so I'd assume they'd be giving us a lot more warning than just declaring the dungeon to be annoying if there were anything more dangerous than a group of Heroics can handle.

While waiting for the Heroic party to return, I finish up my own batch of potions. I'm not sure how much I trust them, so I decide to drink one and do a quick test in the shallow water by the shore.

Skills increased: Survival (Caving), Enhanced Feet (Fast Travel), Search (Herbalism), Crafting (Brewing)

Ugh, these mushrooms are disgusting. I gag a little as I get my first taste of my self-made potion and barely manage to keep it down. Uncle Falcon didn't have this problem. Maybe they're more used to weird tastes, or maybe their alchemist is just better at potions than me. Or both, most likely.

The potion doesn't give me gills or anything, but I can tell it did something. Before the effect wears off, I dip my head underwater to see what happens. I have to force myself to take a breath of water against my biological instincts. Thankfully, I don't wind up sputtering and drowning. I breathe in the water as easily as if it were air. And it smells weird, too.

The buff lasts several minutes, and as it starts to wear off, I start feeling like my sinuses are clogged on the most pollinated spring day of the year. I emerge from the water and gasp for air before the potion effect completely fades.

"You okay there, Drake?" Anise asks.

"Yeah," I say in between coughing. "It should last long enough to get us there. We'll need to use a second dose to swim back up. Provided Uncle Falcon says it's okay."

"They're coming back up," Juniper says, pointing off to the lake.

The Heroic party swims back over to the shore and starts to dry off. (Aside from the robed Wizard, who has emerged completely dry.)

"You're good to go," Uncle Falcon says. "First floor is nothing but Basics and a couple of Elite bosses. Second floor is just stronger Basics and stronger Elite bosses. We didn't kill any of them. We cleared out the third floor and down, but they probably won't respawn while you're down there. Feel free to look around and see if you can spot any secrets we missed."

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