EX-Grade Grass

Chapter 9

Ren checked the map one more time before he left the safe zone. The cave Kael marked sat deeper on Floor 1 than he had ever gone. The path led past the normal rabbit fields and into rocky ground where goblins liked to hide.

He kept his cloak hood up and walked fast. The new badge Kael gave him stayed hidden under his shirt. He did not know what the mark on it meant, and he did not want other adventurers asking questions.

The first hour was quiet. He avoided groups and used the grass only when no one could see. A few low-level goblins tried to jump him near a dry stream. He wrapped their legs and finished them quickly. He did not bother harvesting. He needed to save time and mana.

By the time the rocky hills came into view, the light in the dungeon had started to fade. Night came early this deep. Ren slowed down and watched the shadows.

The cave mouth was exactly where the map showed. It was low and narrow, half hidden by thick bushes. Faint blue light glowed from inside.

Ren stopped and listened. No voices. No footsteps. He grew a thin line of grass along the ground and sent it ahead like a quiet snake. Nothing moved. He stepped inside.

The cave was small. Water dripped somewhere in the dark. In the center grew a single plant with wide leaves that shone soft blue, like moonlight on water. The light pulsed slowly.

Ren counted the leaves. There were seven. Kael had said three. Only three.

He reached out carefully and picked the first leaf. It felt cool and smooth. The blue glow stayed even after it left the plant. He picked two more and put all three into a clean cloth, then into his pouch.

The moment the third leaf came free, the whole plant dimmed a little.

Ren turned to leave.

A voice spoke from the cave mouth.

“I knew you would come somewhere quiet.”

Drake Kane stood there, blocking the only way out. He was alone this time, but he held a better sword than before. The blade already had a thin red glow along the edge.

Ren’s hand moved toward his seeds. “The warning was given. Your family accepted it.”

Drake laughed once. “My uncle accepted it. I did not. You made me look weak in front of the academy and then in front of my own men. That does not just go away.”

He stepped into the cave. The blue light made his face look pale and angry.

“Hand over whatever you took from that plant,” Drake said. “Then we finish what we started.”

Ren shook his head. “I can’t do that.”

Drake moved fast. The glowing sword came down in a hard arc. Ren grew a thick wall of grass between them. The sword cut deep into it, farther than last time. The red glow on the blade burned the grass where it touched.

Ren jumped to the side and sent vines at Drake’s legs. Drake burned them with a quick burst of fire from his free hand. He had practiced since their last fight.

The cave was too small. There was nowhere to run.

Drake pressed forward, cutting and burning every wall Ren made. Each swing came closer. Ren’s side still remembered the earlier bruises. He could not keep this up forever.

He changed tactics. Instead of walls, he grew thin, sharp blades of grass and shot them from every direction at once. One cut Drake’s cheek. Another sliced his sleeve. Drake hissed and swung wildly, burning a wide circle around himself.

In that short moment Ren dropped low, rolled past him, and ran for the cave mouth.

He almost made it.

A wall of fire erupted in front of the exit. Ren skidded to a stop. Heat washed over his face. Drake had cut off the way out.

“You’re not leaving with those leaves,” Drake said. Blood ran down his cheek. “I don’t even know what they are, but if that strange man wants them, then I want them more.”

Ren backed up until he felt the cool plant behind him. The remaining blue leaves brushed his cloak. He had only a little mana left. The three leaves in his pouch suddenly felt very heavy.

Drake raised the glowing sword again. “Last chance. Throw the pouch here and I let you crawl out.”

Ren looked at the fire, at the sword, at Drake’s eyes. There was no teacher here. No Avelin. No Kael waiting to step in. Just the two of them and a plant that glowed in the dark.

He made a choice.

Instead of attacking Drake, Ren poured the last of his power into the ground under the burning wall. Grass exploded upward through the fire. For a second the flames roared higher. Then the thick green stalks pushed the fire apart long enough for a narrow gap to open.

Ren ran.

Heat scorched his cloak. Something sharp grazed his arm. He did not stop. He burst out of the cave into the night air and kept running down the rocky path without looking back.

Behind him Drake shouted in pure anger. Footsteps pounded after him, but Ren had a small head start and the grass still listened to him. He made roots trip the path behind him and thin blades fly back to slow anyone who followed.

He ran until his lungs burned and the cave light was far behind. Only then did he slow down and check the pouch. The three blue leaves were still there, still glowing softly through the cloth.

His left arm stung. A shallow cut, nothing deep. His cloak was singed at the edges. But he was alive and the leaves were safe.

Ren forced himself to keep walking toward the safe zone. Midnight was not far. Kael would be waiting at the hill.

He reached the meeting place with time to spare. Kael was already there, as if he had never left.

Ren took out the cloth and opened it. Three blue leaves shone in the dark.

Kael looked at them, then at the cut on Ren’s arm and the burned cloak. “You had trouble.”

“Drake followed me,” Ren said. “He wanted the leaves.”

Kael’s face stayed calm, but his eyes turned colder. “I will handle that. The Kane family was warned. If the boy acts alone again, he becomes a different kind of problem.”

He took the leaves and put them away in a small case. Then he tossed a small bag to Ren. Coins clinked inside.

“Payment for a clean job. You brought exactly three and you did not die. That is enough for now.”

Ren caught the bag. “Is the task finished?”

“This one is,” Kael said. “Go home. Rest. In five days I will find you again. The next job will not be this simple.”

He started to turn away, then stopped.

“One last thing. Those leaves are used to track something that should stay hidden. By taking them, you stepped into a larger game than the Kane family. Be careful who sees that badge I gave you. Some people would kill for the mark on it.”

Kael walked into the dark and vanished.

Ren stood alone on the hill with a bag of coins and a cut on his arm. The badge under his shirt suddenly felt colder than before.

He had completed the task.

But Kael’s last words made the night feel a lot heavier.

Something that should stay hidden.

And a mark that people would kill for.

Ren touched the badge through his shirt and started the long walk back to the safe zone.

He had a feeling the next five days would not stay quiet.