Beginner's Luck: Growth 7

Suerta raised a hand and acted like she was going to brush some debris out of his hair, but at the last moment she stopped. Looking him over from head to toe.

"Take off your shirt." She said this while still looking down at his boots.

Fluke audibly gulped. "Wh.. What?" The goddess looked up, suppressed a smile, in such a way that dimples appeared as she looked into his eyes. The teasing face made his blood rush to his face, and he didn't understand why. She giggled and stepped back.

"Hehe... Put it into the bag I gave you. And when you pull it out, the grime and blood will be gone." Fluke did as he was told and sure enough the shirt came back out clean. As he moved to put it back on, she raised a hand to stop him.

"Take a look at it first." She raised her eyebrows indicating his mask. Fluke pulled the mask down and saw the description on the shirt.

Fluke's Lucky Shirt

It gave no further explanation or description. Which made him tilt his head, looking at her in confusion behind his mask. She winked at him and turned around walking away slowly, and as she stepped the stones beneath her feet changed color to a teal green color.

"You're a smart boy. I'm sure...You'll figure it out." And on the third step she disappeared, leaving behind three green stones. Fluke bent down and picked one up and examined it, then he picked each one up and put them in his bag.

Green Aventurine: Lucky stone of prosperity and wealth.

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After a few hours of work, breaking too many stone slabs and getting frustrated every time Mason laughed at him, he had finally managed to put ten slabs into the crate. Each time they disappeared with slight pop. Fluke wandered over and examined each crate and finally saw that they were labeled: Starting Village, Fisherman's village, and Hunter's village. The other two crates were supplies for the villages that were now empty of inhabitants. Fluke realized that the supplies would never disappear now, which filled him momentarily with sadness. But then he had an idea. He looked at the quest in his mask:

Quest In Progress

Collect 10 Slabs for Mason- 10/10

Fluke thought for a moment and then decided he would take a risk. Using all of his strength and resonance he carefully lifted one of the slabs from the other crates and waited for Mason to react. When the quest giver did nothing, Fluke walked the slab to the crate Starting village and placed it in. It disappeared with a pop, and his quest updated:

Quest In Progress

Collect 10 Slabs for Mason- 11/10

Fluke suddenly felt a rush of excitement and proceeded to place all the remaining slabs of stone from the other two crates into the first crate.

Quest In Progress

Collect 10 Slabs for Mason- 20/10

Taking a moment to rest after repeated heavy lifting, he kicked himself for not thinking of this sooner. But then after a moment of contemplation, realized the value of manipulating his resonance and maintaining it through exertion.

It was all training.

Standing he went to Mason and had one last thought occur to him. Taking the pickaxe from Mason, who didn't object, Fluke placed the divine blessings to match the brands he had placed on his own pickaxe. Then he gave the axe back and spoke up.

"Alright Mason. I did as you asked."

Mason suddenly perked up like he had been asleep standing up.

"Woah! Now someone is an over achiever! And what's this?! My pickaxe is now imbued with divine power!? My boy you are allowed to work here anytime you like! Here is your reward." Mason walked over to a small treasure chest tucked in the corner next to a bed and pulled out a leather pouch. Taking the pouch, Fluke looked inside and found several marble sized crystals of varying different colors. Examining them with Insight active he found out a little more information:

6 Cobalt Resonant shards: Unknown

6 Fuscia Resonant shards: Unknown

6 Radiant Resonant shards: Converts resonance to radiant light.

3 Emerald Resonant shards: Unknown

3 Amber Resonant shards: Unknown

The Cobalt shards were a deep blue, flat, tear-drop shape crystal, no bigger than a man's finger. The Fuscia shards were radiant pink, the same size and shape as railway spikes, but the edges were faceted. The Radiant shards were the same as the shards that had lit up the tunnel on his way down here: semitransparent, white and tetrahedral. The Emerald shards were deep green, hexagonal, and fit in the palm of Fluke's hand. The Amber shards were the same color as honey, spherical like marbles, and the same size as chicken eggs. Mason spoke again and broke his concentration.

"If you liked playing with the lights, give each one of these a test run. But be careful! They are tools- not toys. A smart young man like you can figure out their uses. Also, take these." Mason handed Fluke a tuning fork and small hammer, as well as a small hammer and chisel.

"If you find anymore shards imbedded in the stone, you'll need a gentle touch to extract them!... Oh! and please take this pickaxe as well. With any Luck, you'll find it easier to use than that rudimentary pick you were using. Come back another day, and I'll put you to work!"

And with that, Mason went back to the far wall and began marking out areas with chalk for future excavation. Fluke put the tools into his bag, including the large pickaxe and returned his attention to the shards in the bag. Picking up a Radiant shard, he pushed a small amount of energy into it and momentarily blinded himself. Blinking away the blue dots in his vision he pulled out a Cobalt shard and put the same amount of energy into it. The shard stood on end in his palm and then began to twirl slowly. Fluke decided to pour more energy the shard which caused the shard to hover just over his right shoulder. Manipulating his resonance, he could make it reposition itself to several different locations near his body. After a minute, the stone slowly returned itself to the pouch. Turning to his insight he found new information:

6 Cobalt Resonant shards: Manipulated with resonance this shard can become a deadly projectile.