《Chronomonk》 Prologue A small fire flickered as the wind howled. The flame seemed to struggle to give off any heat, barely holding back the shadows outside the campsite. It was a dying fire. One that would eventually fade, a final flame gasping for life until it too was extinguished. Smouldering embers, nothing more than a faint memory of the blaze it had once been, until even those would dull from their fiery red. Eventually the wind would blow the ash away, and unless someone was looking for the remains of the fire, it would be like it never existed at all. The flames tapered down further, a desperate struggle against the bitter wind. The darkness around the campsite seemed to stretch to the ends of the world. Outside of the small range of the campfire, darkness seemed to swallow everything in sight. Even the light from the stars and the moons in the night sky seemed to not even reach the ground. It was the type of night that anyone around the campfire wouldn¡¯t dare warm their hands to the fire at the fear of leaving their backs exposed to the dangers of the dark. The edge of darkness seemed to be slowly tightening around the campsite. As the fire fought and flickered, the shadows would greedily take the space trying to get to the source of what opposed it. A laugh. No, not a laugh. A giggle, or maybe even a cackle broke through the sound of the wind. It seemed to reinvigorate the fire and burned a little brighter casting long shadows around the campsite. Caught in the illumination was a man, an old man. He didn¡¯t look like a man that time had forgotten about, he looked like a man everyone had forgotten about. He looked wretched. He was old. His face was covered by long dirty grey hair, unkempt and lifeless. He was clothed in robes that a casual observer may have said at first glance were brown, although they could have been originally any colour and stained through dirt. Another laugh, this one a closer to a bark that faded into a giggle as he jumped to his feet. He held in his hands a slate that glowed faintly in the firelight. With another cry he jumped to his feet, clutching the slate to his chest. He had done it. Finally, after all this time he had done it. There was still time. There was still ¨C ¡°It¡¯s too late Old Man¡±. A sorrowful voice broke through the night. The voice continued. ¡°It¡¯s too late, there is nothing more that can be done. You have tried, and you have fought valiantly, but it¡¯s finally time. The Old Man spun around, the joy that lit up his face moments ago turned to stone as he sought out the source of the voice. Eyes that possessed more life than you would think for a man his age scanned the darkness looking for the speaker. The Old Man tried to pierce the darkness, looking for who he knew was there. He gripped the slate closer to his chest. Not this. He wouldn¡¯t risk this being lost somewhere in the darkness. ¡°It¡¯s a very clever last attempt but it¡¯s not going to work. You know that. It¡¯s just delaying the inevitable. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s been tried before?¡±. That damned voice, it was closer. The Old Man spun around, and sitting on the log just behind him by the fire was a Young Woman. Of course it was always going to be her. Her blue eyes pierced him as she waited on an answer. Not that one was coming, but she left the silence there as she slowly unwrapped the woven scarf from around her neck and placing it beside her. A pair of unsettling green eyes stared out, framed by a pale porcelain complexion and a wave of red hair that seemed to almost make the fire flicker lower out of jealousy of its vibrancy. The silence hung a little longer. ¡°Are you not going to answer me?¡± she inquired. ¡°After everything, you will go silently? After everything we¡¯ve been through?¡± The only response she got was an exaggerated sniff from the Old Man as he shuffled around to the far side of the fire. A laugh, but this time from the Young Woman as she clapped her hands together. ¡°I forgot just how infuriating you can be at times. No wonder I stopped coming to visit.¡± The Old Man sat down opposite her, keeping the fire between them like a barrier. Another moment of silence hung in the air, both staring at each other. The wind seemed to pick up, threatening the fire a little more. The ring of shadows grabbed another inch. Pop. A fresh sound broke the silence. A cork being popped, pulled out of the bottle and held between some of the last remaining teeth of the Old Man. A derisive snort was the only response from the Young Woman, which was responded to by the clinking of two glasses being taken out. One was offered across the fire. A nod. The glugging of liquid into the glass, and it was passed over the fire.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The Young Woman sniffed the glass, and almost visibly recoiled. Even the smell alone almost made her light headed. This was a drink made for the effect, not for enjoyment. ¡°Really? At the end, and this is what you saved?¡± The only reply was a shrug. A sigh, followed by a theatrical holding of the nose, the Young Woman raised the glass to her lips and took a sip. The Old Man downed his and poured another. ¡°You know what? Maybe you were actually right about this. It is slightly an acquired taste, and I dare say that sip wasn¡¯t too bad.¡± demurred the Young Woman. ¡°It¡¯s just such a shame it¡¯s the first one, and the last one we¡¯ll be able to actually enjoy the together¡± she continued, her green eyes challenged teasingly over the fire looking for a response. The only response was the glugging as a third glass was filled for the Old Man. The Young Woman was in no rush. The outcome was inevitable so she would allow him a few more moments. She lounged a little further, watching the fire dwindle. It wouldn¡¯t be long now. The flames flickered. Every now and then the flames would flicker and illuminate the face of the Old Man. It was gaunt, and grey. Pallid and almost devoid of life. This wasn¡¯t the man she had once known, the one full of life, of fight. The only sign of that man was something she could see in his eyes - that spirit that would never be broken was still there. She had seen it when she heard him laugh, despite the flames about to turn into embers, he laughed. She sighed, turning her eyes back to the fire. The fire was almost dead. The last few arms of flames were flickering. It was any moment now. She stood up. ¡°Come on. You don¡¯t want to be here for it. Let me give you this at least. Come with me now and save yourself the pain of seeing it die. I¡¯m sure I might be even be able to get you another bottle of tha-¡° ¡°It hasn¡¯t been tried before.¡± A pause. ¡°At least, I haven¡¯t tried it before¡±. The voice was raspy, and hoarse. The voice of someone who has said their first words for a very long time. The Young Woman sat up, her eyes half lidded as she stared across at the Old Man. She knew the Old Man was clever, but predictable. The hand on her side slowly crept around to her back where it found the hilt of a dagger. It was inevitable, but she had to be be careful. ¡°Of course it¡¯s been tried before, I¡¯ve seen many slates like it. It only buys time; it doesn¡¯t change the inevitable.¡± she responded. His head drooped. She was right of course, the slates only bought time, and it felt like each one only bought a little less before the fire began to dwindle again. ¡°Please, we were friends once. Give up this folly and come with me. I know you don¡¯t trust me but I would never lie to you. Let it go, come with me and you can be at peace, I promise you that.¡± His head seemingly nodded. The Young Woman smiled, and began to stand. The Old Man began to sob. The Young Woman felt a spike of anger. Now? Now? Now the Old Man finally broke? After all these years, right before she had won anyway? Was he expecting pity? Was he really this pathetic all along? Was he not the enemy that she had built him up to be? ¡°This behaviour is really beneath someone like you. Stop crying, and finish your drink. Actually, don¡¯t. It¡¯s probably what¡¯s causing you to-¡° Another spike, except this one of uncertainty. A prickle ran up her neck. Some long forgotten instinct was screaming at her. Danger. An alarm bell was ringing in the background of her mind. The crying grew in pitch, and the Old Man threw his head back. Tears streaming down his face. ¡°I need you to stop right now, otherwise I¡¯ll have no choice but to do this the unpleasant way.¡° The uncertainty grew to dread. The Young Woman realised now. He wasn¡¯t crying, but laughing. Laughing maniacally, the sound being picked up by the wind, drowning out the crackling of the fire, drowning out even the wind itself. The Young Woman saw the Old Man she had once feared as he stood up. As frail as he appeared, he looked stronger. Prouder. Unbroken and unbowed by the challenges he faced and what he knew lay ahead. The Young Woman stood across from him, the dagger now drawn. A wicked black blade curved at the tip. ¡°We could have done this the easy way Old Man, yet you continue to mock the inevitable. We are done waiting. If you do not come with us now, you will be taken. Your. Slate. Won¡¯t. Save. You.¡± Each word punctuated as she spat them out. The laughter slowly ended, as the Old Man bent to put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He straightened, wiping a tear from his eye as he did so. They stood across from each other. The Young Woman with her dagger pointed, and the Old Man with a slate in one hand and a bottle in the other. ¡°I haven¡¯t had a good laugh like that in ages, Daiai.¡± he said as he winced feeling at his side. ¡°I think I actually pulled something from laughing¡± His eyes gleamed as he saw her wince when he used her name. ¡°If you think this is some way to delay the inev-¡° ¡°Yes yes, the ¡®inevitable¡¯ that you won¡¯t stop mentioning, I know I know.¡± he interrupted waving the slate at her. ¡°It¡¯s a really good slate though.¡± She narrowed her eyes even further. ¡°They don¡¯t work. I don¡¯t see why we go around in circles like this. You throw that slate of re-kindling on the fire, and you buy a few more cycles. You grow older, and weaker, and the next buys you less time.¡± Snapped Daiai, frustration rising as she felt the situation slipping away from her. The Old Man paused, head cocked and eyes closed. ¡°I agree..¡± he murmured ¡°¡­ but what if this slate was different?¡± Daiai almost didn¡¯t register the slate being tossed to her at first, and had to drop her dagger to barely manage to catch the slate. Void help her if it had accidentally fallen into the fire and started a new cycle. A moment of hesitation hit her. Why on earth had he thrown the slate to her? His one chance? She could just throw it into the darkness and it would be over. Had he truly gone mad? Was it a distraction? Daiai looked up at the Old Man, yet he still stood there exactly where he was, disheveled and frail, bottle hanging loosely in his hand and yet there was a spark in his eyes. Look at it is what his eyes said. She glanced down. A white slate, intricately carved with runes upon runes, charged. Her fingers brushed over each rune, feeling the care and intent carved into each one. It seemed to vibrate in her hands, actively seeking something. This wasn¡¯t the work of any journeyman, it wasn¡¯t even the work of a master. Any master enchanter who even held this would weep for they would know they would never compare. It felt like she was holding one of the Suns itself in her hands. Her breathe caught. ¡°This isn¡¯t a Slate of-¡° ¡°Re-Kindling? No. What a sad way for a fire to go, dying into embers and ash. This Daiai, is a slate of Combustion. Daiai looked back up, and time slowed. She saw it. She saw the mistake she made. She should have thrown the slate as soon as she had caught it. His arm was already on the down swing. The bottle still half full of alcohol flew towards the fire. ¡°A fire Daiai should burn bright enough for the whole world to see.¡± the Old Man laughed as the bottle smashed, arms of flames greedily expanding and roaring outwards following the accelerant it had been given A scream tore from her throat as she threw she slate into the darkness. It just needed to be beyond the fires reach and the game would be over. The slate curled threw the air as the shadows grasped hungrily towards it. It was nothing more than a race now as she felt the heat of the flames roll over her, singing her skin and clothes. Burning outwards pushing the darkness away from the edge of the campsite in one final moment of glory, in one final moment before it would be gone forever. The Old Man and Daiai¡¯s eyes tracked the slate. Both eyes tracked the expanding arms of fire as it hungrily took in everything around it. The Old Mans eyes closed as the smallest tendril of flame licked the slate. Runes clicked, aligned, and a charge containing the power of a Sun was unleashed. The world went white. Chapter 1 Patrick stifled a yawn. He had been driving home for about 45 minutes after a long day at the office. It ended up being a slightly longer day at work than planned, with him only having gotten out of the office at 6.30pm. Patrick had been there since about 7.30am that morning trying to finalise a report before the weekend, but it was done, and he was home free. It was one of those days where he was in the office before the sun fully rose, and it was dark by the time he left. When he had looked at the weather app earlier in the day, frost was forecast for overnight. He shivered, and while it was already a pleasant temperature, bumped the heating up another few degrees. [Incoming call from Mom] His car cheerfully told him as the music on the radio was cut off for the phone to ring. Patrick¡¯s finger hovered over the decline button. He loved his mum, he really did but after a long day at work the last thing he wanted was to be stuck on the phone with her for an hour while she told him everything that¡¯s happened in her day in excruciating detail. Inner turmoil raged, however the shame and guilt won out knowing it would make her evening if she could chat away to him on the phone. A swift hit of the accept button quickly followed. ¡°Heya mum¡± he mustered in the most cheerful manner he could. Patrick knew that if she even had the slightest thought that he wasn¡¯t well, she would never let it go and insist on bringing him dinner over the weekend. ¡°Hello Patty love. Delighted I got you this evening. I tried to give you a call earlier but it just went to voicemail.¡± He groaned internally at the childhood name she always called him. ¡°Sorry mum, busy day you know how it is. I¡¯m just driving home at the moment. Are you all good? What are you up to this evening?¡± ¡°Oh you wouldn¡¯t believe it. Ethel passed away. Do you remember Ethel? Passed away on Tuesday. Terrible stuff, she was only 86 but the doctor has said she was as fit as a fiddle¡­¡± Patrick zoned her out as his brow furrowed. Who was Ethel again? Was that his Mum¡¯s Aunt in law? Or her cousin? Oh actually, was Ethel actually just her older neighbour that Mum would often drop food into to make sure she was still eating. ¡°¡­ and then to make it even worse, the dog needs to be put down as well!¡± ¡°The dog?! What¡¯s wrong with Rocky? Did you take him to the vet?¡± interrupted Patrick as he was shocked from his thoughts at the idea of his family pet being put down. ¡°No, not Rocky, Ethels dog! Apparently it bit the person that came to check on Ethel when they found her, and the police say it needs to be put down. The family are devastated but I think her good for nothing brother is secretly happy considering they were afraid she was going to leave her estate to the dog¡­¡± Patrick groaned again. He needed to get off this topic quick otherwise he¡¯d find himself volunteered to help clean Ethel¡¯s home which was one of the last things he¡¯d like to do on the weekend. ¡°God that awful Mum. You said she was fit as a fiddle, what happened? It just shows how important it is to take care of your health, are you still attending your training classes?¡± ¡°Drowned in her bed apparently. Awful way to go. I saw on the social medias it¡¯s happening a lot more due to people replacing their lightbulbs with those smart LED lights¡­¡± Patrick raised a hand as if to try cut her off as she was speaking, but then the realisation of what was said sunk in. ¡°¡­ and now they are saying we should be stripping out all the LED lights and going back to the old filament bulbs that I always told your father we should keep..¡± ¡°Mum, mum, mum¡± Patrick said cutting her off ¡°Did you say she drowned, in her bed, due to LED lights?¡± ¡°Awful way to go, just shows you can be cut down in your prime no matter what shape you are in. Are you taking care of yourself Patty? I told you that you need to eat better, I think it¡¯d be great if you could fit into that old suit jacket for Christmas dinner, you always looked great in it, not that you don¡¯t look great now so don¡¯t take any offence¡­¡± Slight offence was taken. He looked down at himself and felt slightly hurt. It wasn¡¯t that he wasn¡¯t in good shape. Could he be in better shape? Probably. He wasn¡¯t a heavy guy, probably 25-30 pounds too heavy. He was always told he wore the weight pretty well, and even back in his sport days he held a stocky build. Currently he was broad shouldered, but with a bit of a gut ¡°¡­ and you know your dad got diabetes when he was only 40 so it¡¯s genetic and you have to keep an eye out. Have you gotten your yearly check at the Doctor?" Another inward groan. Ever since his dad passed away from a heart attack at only 60, he has been hassled to get a yearly check up. Before he had the chance to respond, she followed up ¡°Oh I need to go, Sarah is knocking on the door. Her daughter is recently single actually and you always crushed on her when you were young. I¡¯ll tell her you were asking for her, Gotta run love you bye bye bye bye..¡± The call ended without the opportunity for Patrick to respond. He drove another moment in stunned silence. Sarah¡¯s daughter, Aoife? He did have a crush on her when he was younger, when he was 6. Aoife and himself hadn¡¯t even seen each other in years, she probably wouldn¡¯t even remember him. God forbid when he goes over to his mums for dinner on Sunday what she will tell him in regard to what she told Sarah. A slight sweat broke as he considered the possibility and likelihood that his mum would invite both of them over for dinner on Sunday. Another groan, yet he gave himself the pleasure of making this one audible. A glance at the clock showed that he was running late. The plan for that Friday night was to meet a couple of his friends at the local pub at 7pm. It was already 7.20pm, and with another 20 minutes remaining on the journey, he would be at the mercy of his friends. It was meant to be a quiet night with a few drinks, which wouldn¡¯t turn out that way if he was on the receiving end of jabs from his friends. Keeping one eye on the road, he grabbed for his phone to send a quick text to let them know he was running late. Patrick pulled the phone out of his pocket, and went to flip it to allow him to unlock it via faceID, yet due to sweaty hands, or divine intervention, the phone slipped through his fingers to land on the floor of the passenger seat side. His fingers gripped the wheel tighter. It was just turning into one of those days. Patrick took a breath, trying to steady himself in a vain attempt to calm himself down. ¡°Siri, call Dom¡± he called out hoping his phone would pick up the sound. [Sure, calling Mom] replied the phone cheerfully over the sound system, as Patrick frantically began hitting the end call button on the wheel. Once he knew the call was ended, he tried again pronouncing each word as clearly as his Irish accent would allow. ¡°Siri, call DOM¡± [I¡¯ve set an alarm for one hour from now] Patrick¡¯s eyes bulged. That wasn¡¯t even close to what he said! It wasn¡¯t worth it, he would just wait another moment until he hit a red light and he would just grab his phone. His patience was rewarded only a few moments later as a light turned red as he rolled up to it. Reaching down, he cast his hand around trying to find his phone on the passenger side floor. He thought he felt it one moment, only to knock it slightly further under the seat. Letting out a slew of curses, he kept trying to grab it as a car somewhere behind him began beeping at him. Giving up on the phone, he sat back up raising his hand in apology to the car behind him and moved through the lights. It''s funny. Once you realise a mistake has been made it¡¯s like time almost slows down. Patrick moved through the lights but almost as soon as he had, he realised a few things. The car hadn¡¯t been beeping at him. He didn¡¯t have a green light to go. An SUV was about to collide with the driver side door. He probably wasn¡¯t going to make drinks this evening. The world went black.
Everything was black. Everything hurt. It felt like he had gotten hit by a car. Why couldn¡¯t he move? Patrick tried to move but found he was constrained on all sides. Why couldn¡¯t he move?This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The car! He had just been hit by a car. He was trapped in the wreckage. A quick look around didn¡¯t give him anything, it was all dark. He must be upside down, on the side of the road. Faint muffling and voices could be heard outside. It wasn¡¯t clear what they were saying but it sounded heightened, and they seemed to be moving toward him. Patrick tried to call out, but even that act caused a searing pain to run through his head which silenced him pretty quick. The loudest he could go was a whisper and even that was a challenge. Thoughts frantically ran through his mind. They needed to get him out quick. He might be injured. The car might explode, that¡¯s a real thing that happens with crashed cars he was pretty sure. The voices came closer, definitely coming towards him. Patrick tried again. A whisper. They needed to know where he was. A memory came to him. When trapped in rubble or wreckage, it was better to make rhythmic sounds by banging on something instead of trying to call out. Patrick began trying to kick his foot against the bottom of whatever he was trapped in. Bang. Bang. Bang. The sound was muffled and didn¡¯t seem to be travelling very far. It was better than the whisper. Bang. Bang. Bang. The voices went silent. No, no no, he thought. I¡¯m here. I¡¯m here! Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. The kicking got more frantic. He had to remain calm, but it was just so damn hard. What if he needed to preserve oxygen? Was he at risk of suffocation? He couldn¡¯t hear the voices anymore. Desperation began welling up. He needed to get out. He needed fresh air. He needed to get out. He needed fresh air. ¡°I¡¯M IN HERE¡± he managed to bellow. Sounds began again outside, not voices but the sounds of something being moved. Thank god, they knew he was here. Scraping noises filled the prison Patrick was in. The Jaws of Life! It must be the firefighters using it to get him out. ¡°THANK YOU PLEASE I¡¯M HERE¡± he called out again, the pain lancing through his head. The noises grew louder, he could feel the vibration of something grating against something else. Dust fell down on Patricks face as the top of whatever he was contained in began to shift. It was either laughing or crying, he wasn¡¯t sure which one he was closer to but he was ok. Patrick had forgotten about the Friday drinks, forgotten about being set up with Aoife, forgotten about the report he had spent the whole day slaving away over. Light. The ceiling above him shifted and moved away. Patrick had to raise his hand to cover his eyes as a bright light caused him to flinch. He could see figures moving, though they were blurred from being blinded by the light. He didn¡¯t even see the tip of the sword that had been tucked down under his chin, until he went to try sit up and felt something prick his neck. His eyes focused on the three figures he could see. The one holding the sword. A handsome looking man in his late twenties. A woman behind him pointing a bow at him with an arrow knocked. The largest man he had ever seen, that was¡­ green? He had just been hit by a car. He was definitely concussed. Patrick felt his vision begin to fade as he struggled to take this one in. ¡°Who are you, and what are you doing in our dungeon?¡± the man holding the sword asked. A dungeon? This was just a little too much Patrick thought as darkness swept him up again and everything faded.
Consciousness came slower this time, it seemed to slowly creep back rather than bolting awake previously. Patrick woke, and kept his eyes closed. He was listening out for the bizarre group of people he had just seen. A part of him was still convinced it was a dream, a result of a knock to the head from the car that hit him, but that notion was rapidly thrown out as he heard heated arguments coming from the far side of the room. ¡°I¡¯m telling you again Marius, we do not have the time or the capacity to take him. We have less than 20 minutes left in this dungeon, and we don¡¯t even know if we¡¯re close to the boss room. He¡¯ll slow us down, if he¡¯s even a real person, and not some weird mechanic of this dungeon to slow us down¡± spoke a woman. Patrick put the voice to the woman he had seen pointing the bow at him. His brow furrowed as he tried to recall her specifically. Was he remembering correctly, or had she had pointed ears? ¡°Svenja, we can¡¯t leave an innocent person behind in this dungeon. It¡¯s uncharted, and we have no idea how long it¡¯ll take for another group to find it, or any help to get back here. If he¡¯s real, we can¡¯t leave him to die, you know that.¡± That voice sounded like the man who had spoken to him, who had held the sword to him. Instinctively Patrick almost raised his hand to his neck where the sword had pricked him, but stopped at the last moment when he remembered he was pretending to still be unconscious. ¡°Then at least try explain how he¡¯s here. This is an uncharted dungeon Marius. We¡¯re the first ones here. We got the Quest for being the first to discover and complete it. He¡¯s obviously part of the dungeon. He¡¯s probably here to slow us down so we run out of time. Grunt, Ulman, you have to back me up here? A deep grunt reverberated through the room, followed by a second voice. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have put it as elegantly as Grunt, but he is correct. Our oaths to the Guild do require us to help the innocent ahead of personal gain. Allow me a proposal. Should this man be a part of the dungeon he shall either be mechanical or arcane in construction, which I should be able to divine within a moment.¡± Marius¡¯ voice came through again ¡°Alright Ulman, if you think it¡¯ll only take a moment. The undead are up against the door, and Grunt has gone from sitting against the door, to holding it closed.¡± Wait, what? Undead? Patrick heard soft footsteps approaching him, and the rustling of robes as someone crouched down beside him. ¡°It appears the man is still unconscious, which will make this more difficult. Svenja darling, hand me your knife, it will just be easier to remove a finger and examine it that way.¡± Patrick¡¯s eyes shot open as he sat up and began back peddling away from the man while raising his hands. It was his first look at this fourth individual, and for a moment was stunned by what he saw. The man looked unwell. His skin was grey, like the colour of ash. He was gaunt, with bloodshot red eyes, and more pointed ears? Something rang dimly in the back of Patrick¡¯s mind as a term struggled to come to the front. ¡°Look, look, look you don¡¯t need to do that, I¡¯m awake. Please you have to listen to me, I don¡¯t know where I am or what¡¯s going on, but I¡¯m not part of this ¡®dungeon¡¯, and I¡¯m not a mechanic, I can¡¯t even bleed a radiator let alone fix a car.¡± It was Patrick¡¯s first chance to have a look around the room he was in. It seemed to almost resemble a crypt, with the walls lined with sarcophaguses. Tall pillars lined the room, covered in musty and ragged tapestry. The room seemed to only have one door, that was casually being lent against by the gigantic green man, as dull thuds could be heard on the far side. It was also his first chance to have a look at the other members of the group. The man he know knew the name of was Marius was grinning looking at him. He was tall, probably just under 6 and a half feet tall. Messy brown hair, slightly crooked nose, and pearly white teeth that it felt like he was trying to show off. He was wearing polished armour, with different coloured looped ribbons intertwined with a band going across his chest. Svenja, on the other hand was not grinning but actively scowling towards Patrick. She was about Patricks height, but athletic and lithe in what looked like hunting leathers. She had striking features, and blue eyes that seemed to pierce right through Patrick, and after just a moment of eye contact, Patrick turned away blushing. Yep, she definitely had pointed ears. The man, if it was even a man leaning against the door was simply huge. This must be the person they called Grunt, and the only comparison that kept springing to mind for Patrick was ¡®The Hulk¡¯ from some of the comics he read when he was younger. His eyes finally turned back to the last member, who must have been Ulman, who raised his hands chuckling. ¡°Fear not my fine fellow. I knew you were awake, I just felt it was easier to go this route and get you up right away, rather than go through the whole rigmarole of you pretending to slowly wake up. We are on a bit of a schedule.¡± Ulman muttered something under his breath, and an eery light filled the room that didn¡¯t seem to cast shadows causing Patrick to flinch. ¡°Fret not, it¡¯s a simple detect magic cantrip. Now, I need you to tell me your mother¡¯s maiden name, what you first earned experience from, the Domain that endorsed your birth certificate, the current King of Tyril, and the magical symbol you can see on this piece of paper¡± continued Ulman as he raised a piece of paper with a symbol on it. Ulman waited patiently as Patricks mouth opened and closed a few times. ¡°I don¡¯t know what half those things are. Clarke was my mother¡¯s name. I don¡¯t know what you mean by the others. Experience? Like my first job growing up? I was a cashier at a petrol station. I don¡¯t know who signed off my birth certificate... It was the church, I think? We don¡¯t actually recognise the King in Irelan..¡± Ulman shushed him, and tapped his finger against the piece of paper. ¡°It looks like a horseshoe with two lines going through it, like a sideways U that someone has dashed twice¡± Ulman sighed. ¡°I regret to inform you, my dear party, this man is quite real but may be an idiot. Detect magic has provided nothing, so he is not arcane of creation, and he passed the automaton test by being able to see the symbol. I fear otherwise he babbles potentially due to a traumatic injury when you caused him to faint Marius.¡± A flash of anger shot through Patrick, and a response was on his lips before he was cut off by Marius. ¡°Appreciate it Ulman. Alright squad ¨C we¡¯re now on carry duty. Follow Encumbered Protocol to finish this dungeon. Pretend its Trapper who¡¯s down and cover accordingly.¡± Marius ordered, and the party began moving, with Svenja a split second behind as she spat on the ground as she looked at Patrick. ¡°Plan is easy. We do Blow Out, followed by Deep Strike and Bags Full, and we adjust accordingly once we get to the boss room. No detours for treasure. We have less than 20 minutes before we lose the time bonus for the Dungeon. Sorry fellow, what was your name again? ¡°Patrick..¡± slipped from his lips as he was trying to follow what was happening. ¡°Padrug, perfect. Welcome to the party Padrug. Accept this and stick close to Svenja at the back.¡± He didn¡¯t even notice the mispronunciation of his name as something popped up in the corner of his vision. [Party Invitation by Marius Kent. Do you want to accept? Yes/No] Patrick tried to touch the yes, but it seemed to be just out of his reach. It reminded him of those virtual reality headsets with augmented reality. He tried focusing on the yes answer, and he felt something click. [Party invitation accepted. Due to Level Disparity, reduced experience gains will be provided.] Before he even had a chance to understand what that meant, another pop up appeared on the other side of his sight that had names, and little symbols beside them. Party: Marius Kent (Level 36 Knight) (Leader) Svenja Whistleshot (Level 36 Ranger) Grunt (Level 39 Barbarian) Ulman Tennerus (Level 31 Possessed Evoker) Patrick Kavanagh (Level 0) Marius whistled. [Quest shared: Explore the dungeon (Level 30)] You are the first to find and explore this lost Dungeon. Navigate the perils within, and clear the Dungeon by defeating the unknown threat inside. Dungeon Modifiers: Horde Dungeon: The number of enemies inside is increased dramatically. Be careful of positioning lest you be overwhelmed Timed Dungeon: You have two hours to complete the first clear of this dungeon. Maps Disabled: Any mapping or navigation tools will be disabled inside this dungeon. Find your way or fail. ¡°Oooh leveless. Ok, that changes a lot and also raises a lot more questions. Let¡¯s get them answered in a bit. We need to gear swap. Svenja, give your Life Sap bracelet to him, and make sure both of you stay within 30 feet of Grunt. Sorry Grunt, you might be taking a few more meaty hits. Ulman, give Svenja your Amulet so she doesn¡¯t take as much pressure, and you just go on the offensive a little more.¡± Marius took out a few glass bottles and threw to Ulman. ¡°You can pay me back for those another time, you¡¯ll take some more heat so use what you need to do. Any questions? No? Great, let¡¯s get ready.¡± There wasn¡¯t even the opportunity to ask questions before people got moving. Svenja marched over to Patrick taking a bracelet off her wrist. It was a beautifully braided red and gold bracelet clasped together with some blue metal. She thrust it out to him. ¡°You are going to slow us down. Do not slow us down or even get in my way. I will shoot you if you get in my way, or anyone¡¯s way for that matter.¡± She told him coldly. Patrick meekly accepted the bracelet, not able to make eye contact with her. ¡°Put it on.¡± As he slid the bracelet around his wrist and closed it, another pop up appeared. [Item equipped. Life Sap Bracelet (Secondary). Rare. Unascended. No Aspects] The best thing always comes in pairs. A claim that Mezino¡¯s Emporium? will back up as much as they would about the durability of their products! This wonderful bracelet allows for a brave and daring comrade to take blows meant for the other! This will allow for 10 hits to be taken, anywhere from a slap to a cleave, and will recharge each week! Please remember that the Primary wearer will take the blows for the Secondary wearer, so identify closely. Mezino is not responsible for the death or injury of it¡¯s clients, and by accepting use of this item, you have waived all rights to any incident caused with its use. That¡¯s a Mezino Guarantee! Charges remaining: 7/10. Time until recharge: 6 days 22 hours and 17 minutes. ¡°Stick behind me. Do what I say. Let¡¯s go.¡± His brain wasn¡¯t working. What was happening? He turned back to the door to see Marius and Grunt on each side preparing to let it open. ¡°Hang on.. what are we doing?¡± No answer. ¡°Did.. did someone say undead?¡± Silence. ¡°I¡¯m meant to be at the pub soon with friends¡±. They weren¡¯t listening. Ulman had pulled out a staff, and the air itself to be forming a small cyclone localised at the top of it, as he closed his eyes concentrating. He turned back to Svenja who had pulled her bow and knocked an arrow aiming at the door. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. ¡°It¡¯s going to get very noisy, and we will move quick. Stick with me. CAPTAIN, READY. OPEN THE DOOR¡± she called out. Grunt removed his hand from the door, as it flew open, and a literal horde of Skeletons fell through the door as they were piling up on the far side. Chapter 2 The door burst open with a thunderous crash, and the room was instantly flooded with remains of the long dead. The Skeletons fell over each other, tumbling through the doorway in a tidal wave of bones, their ragged armor hanging off their decrepit frames. Each held rusted swords and axes. which scraped against the stone floor, creating an eerie symphony of metal meeting rock, almost drowning out the clattering of jaws as their heads began to turn seeking out those in the room. The empty sockets in the skulls seemed to contain an endless darkness, giving the impression there was something staring back out. There was a brief moment, as if everyone took a breath, before Marius shouted. ¡°Now!¡± Svenja released the arrow, and it left her bow with a mighty ¡®Phwoomp¡¯ as if moving far faster than it had any right to. The arrow flew, effortlessly piercing through the horde of Skeletons, blowing the horde back as they were buffeted by turbulent winds left in the arrows wake. As the Skeletons were off balance, Ulman followed up by pointing his staff at the door. The cyclone he had been building on top of his staff unleashed in a mighty burst towards the door, blowing the Skeletons to pieces and to the otherside of the door. In that second of reprieve, Marius and Grunt moved, each taking their weapons and taking the space that had been created on the far side. Grunt, swinging his great axe in wide arcs began decimating large groups of Skeletons at a time, causing bones to fly in every direction, as Skeletons began swarming him trying to drag him down. Marius, with a little more technique would swing his longsword in curved arcs, effortlessly cutting through three or four Skeletons at a time, seemingly focused on keeping the legs of Grunt free as he began to make space. Patrick felt a hand grab him by his neck as Svenja pulled him behind her, as she began to move towards the door, barely breaking the relentless stream of arrows she was unleashing towards the horde. Each arrow would neatly find itself piercing the skull of a Skeleton as their bodies would seemingly fail to hold themselves together as they collapsed into piles of bones on the ground. Each arrow she unleashed, Patrick would hear her mutter something under her breath. Ulman followed behind, having pulled out a book from his robes as he flicked through each page, pausing, then shaking his head and continuing on. He eventually paused at a page, and began speaking in a language Patrick didn¡¯t recognise. Wind once again picked up, this time instead forming above Ulman¡¯s ahead. Patrick watched amazing as a miniature storm cloud formed Ulmans head, and despite the fact it began raining on top of Ulman, it began crackling menacingly. As they entered the door into the hallway, Patrick saw just how many Skeletons were crammed into it. They seemed to fill the hallway, crammed endlessly up one way, with each head turned unerringly towards them, seemingly only held back by the endless bony sea in front of them. Grunt and Marius had cleared space on the other side of the door, and began slowly pushing up into the sea of bones. Each swing of the great axe and sword made a foot of room that was aggressively pushed into before more Skeletons could move up. They had seemed to enter a rhythm, Each swing of the great axe was met with a step forward by Marius, followed by a swing of the sword creating space that was taken by Grunt. Patrick could almost hearing the whistling of the weapons as they cut the air themselves they moved with such grace. Svenja and Ulman weren¡¯t sitting idle. Svenja continued to unleash arrows into the horde, with some arrows seemingly splitting into multiple arrows and taking down groups herself. Other arrows seemed to pierce the skull of Skeleton, before unnervingly changing its course to hit other Skeletons. When she wasn¡¯t firing in the horde, she would pick at Skeletons trying to climb up on Grunt, as they would fall beneath his feet and be Ulman¡¯s storm cloud finally formed, and with a thunderous clap that caused Patrick to flinch, a bolt was unleashed that decimated a group right in front of Grunt and Marius to garner them extra space which they would hungrily move into. When the cloud wasn¡¯t unleashing bolts, he was firing out small white projectiles that whenever colliding with a Skeleton, would remove whatever part of the body it had hit. Whilst his accuracy, and the pace he could send them out didn¡¯t match Svenjas, the lightning bolts more than made up for it. Patrick felt useless, both from his ability to not be able to contribute to the push up the corridor, but also from the fact he didn¡¯t know what was happening, where they were going, or what they were even doing. His only guide was Svenja who would drag him along if he fell behind, and would often bark at him to keep moving. The only thing he could do was as he passed one of the piles of bones, was reach down and take the rusted sword the Skeleton had been holding. [Item Equipped: Rusted Sword. Common, Fragile. Unascended. No Aspects.] He didn¡¯t know what any of that meant, but it was better than being bare handed. The sword was heavy, and a part of him wondered how Marius was able to swing it like it weighed nothing. It was another 20 or so metres before Grunt roared, lifting his Great Axe above his head. It seemed to glow with a faint light, and as he began to bring it down, he felt Svenja grab the cuff of his neck, and said; ¡°He¡¯s going to clear out a big path, keep running until I tell you to stop¡± With a roar, Grunt threw his axe that curved through the air as it tore through the Skeletons like a scythe through wheat. As it seemed to appeared to slow down, it began to curl back around and speed up tearing through the other half of the hallway before speeding back into Grunt¡¯s hand. The group moved quickly, taking the space before the reduced number of Skeletons could move into it. Patrick followed eagerly, trying to keep the tip of the sword pointed both away from himself, and members of the party. As he moved up behind Svenja, he felt something latch onto his leg. Looking down, he saw as bisected Skeleton grabbing his left, having been cut in half, but somehow still moving. Patrick yelled, and began smashing the flat of his sword down on the head of the Skeleton. It seemed unfazed, and pulled itself closer to Patrick until it had both arms wrapped around one leg. The Skeleton seemed to look at him, and Patrick could have sworn it was smiling, as it went and bit his leg. [Charge of Life Sap Bracelet used. 6/10 charges remaining] He could hear Grunt yell, but when Patrick looked at his leg, apart from a tear in his jeans, he couldn¡¯t see anything. Patrick kept hitting it with the sword, realising the angle was poor, swapping to hitting it with the hilt. It seemed to have no effect. The Skeleton bit again. [Charge of Life Sap Bracelet used. 5/10 charges remaining] [Charge of Life Sap Bracelet used. 4/10 charges remaining]The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°SVENJA¡± he called out, as he heard Grunt roar in anger. An arrow whistled through Patricks legs, and took the Skeleton in the eye socket, as it collapsed to the ground. Patrick stumbled, and caught up with Svenja who didn¡¯t even seem to bother turning around as her and Ulman pushed forward. Patrick kept close behind, now looking more around the sides for any other Skeletons who may decide they want a taste of him. Glancing back up, he realised they were nearing the end of the corridor with a giant wooden door up ahead. Only a fraction of the initial horde of Skeletons remained in front of them, and with a final wave of his hand, the storm cloud above Ulman unleashed a final torrent of lightning, obliterating the group and leaving the hallway in an eery silence compared to the noise that had filled it previously. The group paused, and caught their breath. Marius wiped his forehead, slicking his hair back as it had fallen onto his face from the sweat. Svenja and Ulman composed, while Grunt paced, scowling, and going out of his way to step on a number of skulls of the fallen Skeletos. ¡°Whooo that was some fun. That was a lot of Skeletons. What¡¯s everyones count if they kept it? Laughed Marius as he looked at the group. Grunt grunted. ¡°Fair enough point taken, it¡¯s not the time and dungeon isn¡¯t done. We¡¯ll check the logs later.¡± Marius responded with a sigh. He continued; ¡°How are we doing after that? Any hits, or potions we need to use?¡± Another grunt. Marius looked at Patrick. ¡°Ohh three bites on the leg? That¡¯s ok, use a minor on it and we¡¯ll be fine. Ulman, Svenja? How are you doing resources wise?¡± ¡°Fine.¡± curtly replied Svenja as she held out a hand, and intact fallen arrows whistled through the air to her. ¡°I had to use a slightly higher slot than preferred but otherwise it was just Arcane Bolts. A potion and a moment to replenish the slot will have me no worse off than before the corridor.¡± replied Ulman. ¡°Too easy, ok take a moment. I¡¯m getting big ¡®boss room¡¯ vibes off this door, so we go in prepared. Patrick, you¡¯re not even holding that sword correctly. Drop it before you hurt yourself, and just stick with Svenja.¡± Patrick had forgotten he even had it clutched to his chest. He felt a little self conscious, as he dropped it to the floor as it clanged loudly, causing him to flinch. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I, you know, have a weapon in case I need it?¡± he replied meekly ¡°He couldn¡¯t even put down half a Skeleton in the time it took for it to bite him three times¡± volunteered Svenja with a sneer Marius tutted, with his finger to his lips. ¡°Ok, ok, Patrick don¡¯t worry about the sword. I actually have something you can use.¡± Patrick¡¯s hopes raised slightly, maybe he wouldn¡¯t be so useless with something he could use. ¡°Here, take this whistle. Blow it if you¡¯re in immediate danger, but only if you¡¯re in immediate danger. Patrick¡¯s hopes fell immediately. A whistle? He was so useless that all they could give him was a whistle if he was in danger. Patrick took the whistle from Marius with his head bowed. A grunt reverberated through the hallway. Everyone¡¯s heads snapped around, and starting at the other end of the hallway the piles of bones began slowly reforming, as Skeletons began slowly getting back to their feet. It was like a breath began moving through the hallway towards them, as Skeletons began to reform. ¡°Aeron¡¯s ballsack¡± breathed Marius. ¡°It¡¯s not giving us time to prepare for the room. We can¡¯t be pushed up against the door. Right everyone, uncharted boss room. Burst protocol. We take the boss down before reinforcements. Through the door. Go.¡± Grunt kicked open the door as the party moved through, with Patrick being dragged through by the scruff of his neck.
They entered into a large throne room, dimly lit by braziers that hung from the pillars. The room was huge, easily the size of a football field. At the far end of the room, barely visible began a set of steps, that lead up to a large ornate stone throne. Sitting on the throne was a figure, slumped with no visible details that Patrick could discern. The door shut behind them, causing a gust that made the braziers flicker. [Quest Updated: Boss room reached.] You have navigated the labyrinth and have reached the evil lurking within the Dungeon. Defeat the boss in the remaining time, and prevent ancient evil from sweeping the land. Time remaining in Dungeon: 7 minutes and 44 seconds A new pop-up had appeared, and instead of fading like the previous ones, the timer remained on the corner of Patrick¡¯s vision ¡°Plenty of time!¡± exclaimed Marius, ¡°Svenja, what can you see from the fella on the throne?¡± ¡°Looks like another undead. It still has some flesh and hair. Plate armour. There¡¯s a Greatsword propped up against the throne as well. Probably a variant of Deathknight by the looks of it.¡± Patrick squinted his eyes, he could only make out the shape of the figure, obviously Svenja¡¯s eyesight was far superior to his. ¡°Fantastic, we love Deathknights¡± sarcastically replied Marius. ¡°It¡¯s not a problem though, I¡¯d imagine from the sword it is melee orientated rather than a caster. Let¡¯s start the encounter from back here, pepper it with some hits to start the encounter. Svenja and Ulman, don¡¯t waste your big shots from this distance unless you can guarantee the hit. Once it¡¯s in range, let loose whatever you have and then Grunt and I will engage and hopefully be able to finish it off quickly.¡± Everyone nodded except Patrick. ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s a good idea? He piped up. He didn¡¯t have a better idea, but they were just being so cavalier about everything. The quest had mentioned an ancient evil, this was serious! ¡°We¡¯ll be fine. You just keep the pillars between you and it, stay out of sight, and only blow the whistle if you¡¯re in danger¡± Marius said clasping his hand on his shoulder, and pushing him to the far side of one of the pillars. Svenja and Ulman didn¡¯t waste any more time, firing arrows and projectiles towards the figure on the throne, each one making a dull thud as it connected. The figure jerked, and slowly began to move, dust falling as limbs that were stationary for so long began to move, the armour creaking and echoing through the throne room as it began to stand. It stood, hand reaching down to grasp the hilt of the Greatsword propped against the throne, as the faint sound of speaking reached the group at the far end of the room. ¡°Wait wait, it¡¯s saying something!¡± Patrick exclaimed, hoping maybe they could resolve this without conflict. ¡°It¡¯s just the dialogue at the start of the encounter, probably something about us making a grave error, and this will be our grave before we rise and join it¡¯s army¡± calmy replied Marius. Svenja and Ulman kept firing, each impact making the figure jerk slightly. Thud. Thud. Thud. The heavy footsteps of the figure rang through the chamber as it began to descend down the steps. The Greatsword trailing behind it as the metal screeched on stone. It began to move slowly but relentlessly towards them. The sound of speaking began to grow louder as it approached. ¡°¡­ and where your bodies fall, I will raise you to serve me to allow darkness to once again sweep this land.¡± A rasped voice became audible. ¡°Told you.¡± Said Marius. ¡°Team, on your mark release whatever you got once you know it¡¯ll hit.¡± Svenja and Ulman increased the intensity. Svenja¡¯s arrows gathered light as they flew, each one impacting harder, and releasing a boom of energy as they hit. Ulman cupped his hands to his mouth and blew into them, as if trying to warm them. Before Patrick¡¯s eyes, he saw a bird made of flame form, as it floated up to the high ceiling of the throne room, circling lazily, before plummeting down colliding with the figure in a large explosion. From the depths of the explosion, a roar was heard, before the figure emerged wreathed in flame, and began charging towards them far faster than it had any right to be able to do. ¡°It¡¯s enraged and mobile. Slow it down¡± Marius barked Svenja and Ulman changed tact. Ulman placed his hands on the floor, as near the figure two giant stone hands erupted from the floor in an attempt to grasp it. The figure without breaking stride simply shoulder charged through one, and with a casual one handed swing of its sword cut the other in two. An arrow followed, which began rapidly growing in size as soon as it was unleashed, and within seconds was in size to a bolt released from a ballista. It whistled through the air with unerring accuracy towards the figure, but with a flick of the sword, deflected the ballista sized arrow into a pillar causing it to crumble and shake the room. The figure continued towards them moving into their half of the throne room. More arrows and spells were unleashed as they continued their attempts to slow down the charge of the creature. Arrows exploded into nets, and projectiles turned into webs as they hit the figure, each just cut through with lazy swings of the sword. Patrick could now begin to make out the specific details of the figure. It looked closer to a mummified corpse than a Skeleton, rotten strands of hair hung loosely down from the scalp. It¡¯s skin was dry and aged, pulled tautly across the bone giving leaving no imagination of what the skull looked like underneath. Also unlike the Skeletons, it had eyes that showed far more life than the body hinted at. Patrick could see a dark rage contained within them, with what could only be described as a merciless glee that matched the sadistic grin on the figures face. Grunt charged forward, dropping his shoulder. He collided with the figure that caused a small shockwave that pushed everyone back a step. This at least, had momentarily stalled the figure. The figure tried to raise its sword, but Grunt grabbed the wrist preventing it from moving. The two were momentarily held in a stalemate, as Patrick could see every tendon on Grunt straining to hold the figure stationary. A single moment was all that was needed, Marius followed up with a blistering speed, and sliced his sword along the back of the figures legs in an attempt to hamstring it. The creature roared, having felt the pain of the clean cut. Taking the opportunity, Grunt heaved and began taking control by pushing the arms of the figure down preventing it from being able to swing its sword. Patrick gawped from his vantage point behind the pillar. This was like something out of a book or a game he used to read. The abilities he was seeing from everyone just wasn¡¯t possible. Even the strength and speed they were showing was far above and beyond anything he thought was realistic. The pressure was kept up, Grunt slowly forcing the figure back. Marius moving around attacking vulnerable areas, while Svenja and Ulman continued to fire shots trying to hamper it. Patrick even saw Svenja deliberately turn to the side at one point as Grunts body blocked her visibility, as she fired an arrow that ricocheted off a pillar before sticking out of the leg of the figure. Sensing it was on the backfoot, the figure screamed, a sound that caused pain to shoot up Patrick¡¯s head as the noise rebounded against the room. ¡°You will not stop me. In Darkness you will fall, and in Darkness you shall rise¡± the figure screamed, as all the braziers were suddenly extinguished, plunging the room into darkness. Chapter 3 Darkness filled the room. The sounds of fighting stopped as everyone paused, before Ulman muttered an incantation as 5 bright orbs left his hand, and hovered in the air. The orbs illuminated the room, casting long shadows as they floated in the air. With a twitch of his fingers, he directed the orbs to different points in the room. They gave visibility but cast long deep shadows from the pillars. The scene was almost how they left it, with Patrick behind one pillar, Svenja and Ulman near the door, with Grunt and Marius further up in the room. The undead figure was gone, nowhere to be seen. Grunt had a confused look on his face as he stared at his empty hands, perplexed at how the figure at gotten away. Marius¡¯ head was on swivel as he scanned the room. Silence followed for another second, as everyone got their bearings. It was too silent compared to the noise that had filled the room just a moment ago. The only sound was heavy ragged breathing from Grunt, from the exertion of having held back the figure. Patrick really wanted to speak, to break the overwhelming silence. Had they won? Was it over? As if his thoughts themselves jinxed the situation, the figure emerged from a shadow of a pillar, seemingly coalescing out of thin air. It moved quickly, darting forward and slashing the back of Grunts legs in a manner similar to what Marius had done to it. Grunt spun with a roar, and tried to grab the figure, but it seemed to fade into nothing as it entered Grunts shadow. ¡°Shadow-walking.¡± Barked Marius. ¡°Light up the room. Limit where it can go.¡± Svenja took out more arrows, and began firing them into pillars around the room. Without even needing to communicate, Ulman fired small bolts of fire at each arrow creating makeshift torches. They burned on the wall, eating further into the shadows that covered the room. Patrick noticed that each arrow was deliberately placed creating a circle around the party, creating a boundary of light preventing the figure from being able to appear close. The figure appeared in the distance, just beyond the boundary of light. It stopped, as if inspecting the party. It moved behind a pillar, to just appear on the other side of the room as it began to circle the party. It moved differently now, before it moved like it was heavy. Fast, but heavy. Now it moved like a predator, agile and quick. It was moving from shadow to shadow seemingly teleporting from one area to another. Stopping, eyeing the makeshift torches in a manner that reminded Patrick of a cat calculating the distance to jump. ¡°Clever¡± the figure purred. It¡¯s voice seemingly echoing from all directions as it disappeared again. ¡°All torches burn out eventually¡± came a whisper from one side of the room. ¡°Everyone dies at some point¡± it continued from another. Each statement was swiftly followed by an arrow from Svenja towards the voice, only to hear each arrow clang and skitter along the ground having missed it¡¯s mark. The countdown in Patrick¡¯s vision continued to tick.. dropping just below 5 minutes. A sense of dread filled him. What happened when it hit zero? Would there be some sort of wipe mechanic? The party seemed less concerned, taking stock of the situation. Marius kept his head cocked, with an arm on Grunt¡¯s forearm as if to deter him from running into the shadows chasing the voice. ¡°Are you just going to skirt around in the shadows? I didn¡¯t take Deathknights to be cowards¡± he called out mockingly ¡°I am no Deathknight¡± responded the voice with a raspy chuckle. ¡°I am the Lord of Rot and Decay. I have seen the end, and it is I. Death will be my Domain and all shall relish in its embrace¡± The self proclaimed Lord of Rot and Decay blurred from the shadows, but not towards anyone in the party. It swept towards one of the pillars with its sword raised and sliced through it cleanly. It faded once again into shadow as an arrow from Svenja narrowly flew by it¡¯s head. A second of pause, before the sliced pillar began to slide, and fall towards Grunt and Marius. Patrick could see the thought flash across Grunt¡¯s eyes. He wanted to try catch the pillar before Marius pulled him back as the pillar slammed into the ground. The whole room reverberated with the crash, throwing a huge plume of dust up into the air. The Lord of Rot and Decay took it¡¯s opportunity, blurring out again from a shadow behind Svenja swinging it¡¯s sword at her neck. She instinctually pulled her head back with the blade narrowly missing, but was off balance as it was followed up by a kick that threw her back 10 feet slamming her into a pillar. It blurred again, this time coming out of a pillar behind Ulman, and with another slash, the pillar toppled towards Ulman. Ulman popped out of existence, to just reappear beside Svenja to help her to her feet, calling one of the floating orbs of light to hover above them granting them some extra space. The cost of moving the orb shifted the shadows, allowing the Lord of Rot and Decay to appear close to Marius with another swing that Marius parried with a flash of sparks, before once again it was gone. The Lord of Rot and Decay was on the offensive now. It began to flash in and out of the shadows seemingly pressuring the whole party at once. Patrick couldn¡¯t keep track, and was convinced there was multiple of them. It would harry Grunt and Marius, only to disappear and interrupt Svenja and Ulman whenever they tried to relieve the pressure by either taking swipes at them, or dropping another pillar and forcing them to move. For the moment, it hadn¡¯t even paid any attention to Patrick as if it wasn¡¯t even deeming him a threat. Another pillar dropped, this one interrupting Grunt and Marius, and preventing them from being able to fall back and regroup with the others. The shadows lengthened, as the make-shift torches on the pillars dwindled in numbers as they fell and were extinguished. A laugh came from the growing darkness, the Lord of Rot and Decay growing comfortable with the upper hand it had.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Patrick came to the realisation that the dust that was filling the air from fallen pillars was also dimming the light from the Orbs, and once the pillars containing the torches were gone, the dust would probably be too thick for the Orbs to be useful. The timer ticked below 4 minutes. Marius realising this too called out. ¡°Ulman, overcharge the orbs. It¡¯s now or never.¡± ¡°Marius, once they burn out I won¡¯t be able to cast it again and we¡¯ll be in darkness!¡± Ulman replied with a note of panic in his voice. ¡°Now or never. Trust me!¡± With what sounded like a curse, Ulman clenched his fist as if crushing something, and the Orbs flared blinding Patrick. The room was bathed in light, pushing back shadows to the far side of pillars. The light caught the Lord of Rot and Decay mid-way across the room, and it screeched as if in pain of being caught mid teleport. Grunt and Marius moved quickly, vaulting over a fallen pillar to engage the off guard Lord. A swing of Grunts axe was deflected by the Great sword, which was followed up by a piercing thrust from Marius that struck true. The Lord screeched, back peddling still trying to recover from the sudden burst of light. Grunt and Marius didn¡¯t give it a moment to recover, pushing in sync as Grunt¡¯s axe would force a deflection or a dodge from the Lord, for Marius to take opportune attacks to score a hit. Svenja still swaying from having been thrown into the pillar was trying to gather her wits and get her aim back, but was conscious of releasing a stray shot and hitting a member of her party. Ulman stood focused, hand still clenched as if trying to urge the Orbs to burn brighter and longer. Sweat beaded his brow as the first of the Orbs began to flicker. The Lord of Rot and Decay began angling backwards aiming for the shadows of one of the pillars, fending off the great cleaves from Grunt. It seemed to finally be showing signs of battle, with the armour dented and pierced in a number of areas, and leaving a black ichor trailing on the ground behind it. The battle awareness of Grunt and Marius showed, as they began trying to force it away from the pillar back towards the centres of the pool of light. The timer ticked below 3 minutes. Clang. Snick. Clang. Snick. The sounds became rhythmic as Grunt and Marius found their pattern. It was like they moved as one. Patrick felt a thought trying to form in his head. An understanding that simply wasn¡¯t coming to fruition. It was like when something is on the tip of your tongue, and you just can¡¯t get it out. It felt like a dam ready to burst, but he wasn¡¯t sure what he needed to know. Then a mistake was made. As Grunt and Marius¡¯ attack seemed to reach a crescendo, Marius slipped. A stray piece of gravel on the ground caused his foot to slip resulting in a slight stumble, with his swing glancing off the pauldron of the Lord instead of taking him in the shoulder. The moment was all the Lord needed as it responded with a vicious elbow to Marius¡¯ temple as he was off balance, and throwing him to the floor. The Lord then deflected another cleave from Grunt, to dash over to the shadow of a pillar and disappear again. It reappeared behind Svenja, kicking her again into a pillar where she slumped motionless. It reappeared behind Grunt slashing at his lower back and forcing him down to a knee with a bellow. It was beside Marius, with a lazy swipe across the chest that caused Marius to scream out as he collapsed. Patrick¡¯s breath was caught in his chest. They were losing. He hands gripped the stone pillar. There was nothing he could do. Nobody was moving. Marius and Svenja were still. Grunt was on his hands and knees trying to get back up but his legs wouldn¡¯t support his weight. Ulman remained stationary, hands still clenched as another Orb flickered and went out. The Lord of Rot and Decay appeared in front of Ulman. ¡°Little Magus, it is over. Extinguish the Orbs and Rise to serve me alongside your compatriots¡± it whispered as it moved closer. Another Orb flickered, down to only two Orbs that struggled to light the room. ¡°Feel how weak you are. Serve me willingly and you can keep a level of sentience. I have no qualms turning you into a thrall.¡± Seeing no response, the Lord sighed, and lifted his sword. Patrick couldn¡¯t breathe. He saw Svenja begin to stir but there wasn¡¯t time. He looked around and saw Grunt staring intently at him. Grunt held his gaze, and gave the slightest nod of his head, lifting his hand showing Patrick the bracelet. Patrick ran. Not away, but straight towards the Lord. Patrick saw the sword fall, and felt it collide with him and trying to cut him in two. [Charge of Life Sap Bracelet used. 3/10 charges remaining] Patrick flew through the air as he heard Grunt scream. Patrick collided with the pillar, knocking the breath out of his lungs. [Charge of Life Sap Bracelet used. 2/10 charges remaining] User of Life Sap Bracelet (Primary) is down. No further strikes will be transferred. The pop up appeared, and faded. Patrick struggled to rise to his feet, some of the remainder of the blow obviously hadn¡¯t been transferred to Grunt. He just about pushed himself back up to his feet when he felt a hand close around his neck and lifted him off the ground. He looked up, to find himself face to face with the Lord of Rot and Decay. All the features now clearly visible, as well as the smell. It definitely smelled like Rot and Decay with a sickly sweet smell filling Patricks nose almost causing him to gag. The timer ticked below 2 minutes. ¡°Brave but foolish for someone as weak as you are. Why do the weak so desperately cling to life¡± pondered the Lord inches away from Patricks face. Its bony hands turned Patrick¡¯s head as if examining him. ¡°No strength in you, some intelligence perhaps but ultimately worthless. At least your bones will serve me¡± it continued as it¡¯s grip tightened around his neck. Patrick struggled, punching where he could, clawing at the face, frantically trying to loosen the grip around his neck to no avail. He could see Ulman looking at him, resigned, looking paler than usual knowing that as soon as the Orbs went out it was over. Svenja was dazed, grasping around looking for her bow on the ground. Grunt wasn¡¯t moving, and Marius had only just begun to stir despite the pool of blood around him. Patricks hand was grasping for anything, until he remembered the whistle around his neck. Maybe it was because he was becoming oxygen deprived, but he almost laughed at the idea. They told him to blow it if he was in danger. His vision began to tighten as the hand squeezed further. His hand flailed trying to grab the whistle and bring it to his lips. Svenja managed to grab her bow and release an arrow, her aim slightly off but it lodged itself in the ribs of the Lord with a dull thud, distracting it slightly as it glanced dismissively at Svenja. Patrick brought the whistle to his lips and blew with the last of the air in his lungs. [Single Use Item: Whistle of Danger (Prototype). Epic. No Aspects. Unascended] When in danger, become the Danger! Menizo¡¯s Emporium? offer a wonderful prototype for when all hope is lost. A single use item that boosts your stats to give you one last fighting chance, and rally support around you. However be warned, this is a prototype item and prone to side effects and consequences. Menizo is not responsible for any harm, side effects, permanent damage, or loss of hair and body parts from use of this item. That¡¯s a Menizo Guarantee! Pop ups appeared rapidly in his sight, as the Lord of Rot and Decay flinched from the unexpected sound and began turning back to [Temporary Level Up Assigned: Level 30] [Class Boost: Unassigned] [Error. Reprocessing] [Class Boost: Unassigned] [Error. Reprocessing] [Temporary Class Assigned: Brawler] You hit hard, and can get hit even harder. You are willing to get hit to land a punch, confident that you will come out better in each trade. The more you get hit, the harder you can hit. Build up knockout power and look for that finishing blow. [Temporary Skills unlocked] Quick Flurry Second Wind Knockdown Motivation Demoralising Taunt Glancing Strikes (Passive) [Class Boost: Brawler] Primary Stats of Brawler class boosted. [Error resolved] Patrick felt new strength flow into him and felt the dam that had built up in his mind break. [Aspect unlocked: Flow of Battle] You have seen the flow of battle, and the rhythm of war beats within you. You can see the Flow of Battle and identify weak points and vulnerabilities within your foes. Patricks forehead connected with the bridge of the nose of the Lord as it turned back towards him, dropping Patrick and stumbling backwards. The timer ticked below one minute. Chapter 4 Patrick landed on the balls of his feet, feeling a new and unknown strength flow into him. He felt a tension in his limbs as if they were snakes coiled and ready to explode forward. With a glance up, he saw the Lord of Rot and Decay stumbling backwards, a snarl on its face as it tried to regain its balance. Time seemed to move slower as the pop-ups began to fade from his view. Class assigned? Temporary skills granted? He didn¡¯t know what this meant, but his mind told him he needed to move. Now. He threw himself to the side, his legs pushing him far harder than he thought possible, as the Lord recovered and swung his sword at where Patrick was standing. He collided with a pillar with a thump, knocking the wind out of his lungs again. He rolled to his feet, something screaming in the back of his head that he needed to keep moving, narrowly dodging another swing from the Lord. Patrick stood to face the Lord as information seemed to flow into his head, replaying what he had seen from the earlier battle. [Weakness Identified: The Lord of Rot and Decay has been weakened from battle. Due to it¡¯s wounds, it¡¯s Endurance has been reduced] [Weakness Identified: The Lord of Rot and Decay¡¯s wounds are weak points that can be targeted. Attacks on these areas increase damage taken] [Vulnerability Identified: The Lord of Rot and Decay places weight on its rear foot before it swings its Great Sword] [Vulnerability Identified: The Lord of Rot and Decay needs to concentrate before using Shadow-Walk] Patrick didn¡¯t know or understand where this information was coming from, but with less than a minute on the clock, he didn¡¯t have time to question it. He dashed forward, closing the gap to go on the offensive. The Lord began a swing of his sword, and Patrick¡¯s eyes were drawn to the backfoot, where he was shocked to see there was a perceptible shift in the weight. He lashed out with a quick kick to the side of the knee, causing the Lord to lose his balance. The kick was followed up swiftly with an uppercut connecting cleanly with the underside of its jaw. The Lord reeled back as Patrick struggled to comprehend how his strikes were suddenly far more effective now than when he was trying to escape its grasp a mere moment ago. The timer ticked to 50 seconds. That couldn¡¯t be correct, Patrick thought. It was surely more than 10 seconds since he blew the whistle. He had stopped questioning it, he barrelled forward before it had a chance to get its bearings or attempt to shadow-walk again. A jab forward caused its head to rock as he followed up with a cross to keep it off balance. Patrick felt his strikes begin to flow together. The more he threw in a combination, the quicker and harder they seemed to connect with satisfying impacts. An understanding came to Patrick as he saw how each strike impacted, he knew what he needed to follow up with for the most effect. The Lord of Rot and Decay began to back-peddle but wasn¡¯t given an inch of room. Black ichor began to drip from the nose and mouth of the Lord, which Patrick started to target aggressively, knowing it should be doing more damage. Another strike to the jaw caused Patrick to wince, knowing that one of the rotten teeth was now lodged in his hand. Slightly disturbed, Patrick kept up his relentless assault. The Lord snarled like a cornered animal, trying to dodge and deflect what it could with his sword. It continually tried to angle towards a large group of shadows, but Patrick, following some instinct, would circle and cut it off, driving it towards the centre of the pool of lights now flickering ominously. It was becoming a race against time, with either the timer running out or Ulman losing concentration on the Orbs of light. Svenja seemed to have found her tempo again as she began releasing more arrows to apply extra pressure. It wasn¡¯t clear to Patrick whether her aim was still slightly off or excellent as he would feel arrows whistle nervously close past his head to impact the Lord. Seeing an arrow lodge itself in the neck of the Lord, Patrick followed it up with a punch, forcing the arrow even deeper into the neck as the tip pushed out the far side. Marius had begun to move, woozily trying to get his feet under him as he used the tip of his sword to support his weight. Grunt still hadn¡¯t moved, having taken the worst hits meant for Patrick. This momentary glance distracted Patrick, and the instinctual feeling told him to move, but he was too slow as he felt a gauntleted hand connect with the side of his head. The world spun as Patrick was thrown off his feet onto the ground. A dull ringing noise filled his ears. Was his phone ringing? Was Mum calling him back? Get up, you fool. A clear voice rang through the noise. Get on your feet, you almost had him. Knock ¡®em the fuck out. He looked at Svenja, but she was on the far side of the room. It wasn¡¯t her giving out to him. Patrick forced himself to his feet just as he saw the Lord reach a pool of shadows and disappear. It¡¯s not over. It¡¯s going to go for Ulman to extinguish the lights. Get up. There is only 35 seconds left. You have to finish this. His limbs felt heavy. Now that he wasn¡¯t throwing punches, he felt exhaustion seep into him. He swayed on his feet in a desperate need to reach Ulman. [Second Wind Activated]Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. You give yourself a final push to finish strong. Your Endurance is boosted for the next minute Fresh energy flowed into Patrick¡¯s limbs as he propelled himself towards Ulman. He threw himself to the side, trusting the instinct that had helped him so far in this fight, knowing the Lord would materialise on that specific side to strike at Ulman. The instincts proved right again as the Lord emerged from the shadow thrusting at Ulman. Patrick¡¯s torso intercepted the sword as he felt it pierce him, and his mind blanked for a split second due to the pain. Patrick felt a roar leave his throat, but all sound was muted. He felt the sword slide through his ribs and the hot, sickly, sweet breath of the Lord on his face. Patrick pulled himself further along the sword, driven by a primal anger, until he felt the hilt meet his chest. The pain was worse than anything he had felt before, a notion that was quickly disabused as the Lord began trying to twist the sword. The Lord turned Patrick enough to use him as a shield against Svenja¡¯s arrows. The only option was to rain down blows on the head of the Lord. Crunching overhand blows was causing the head to jerk, forcing one of its hands to grab Patrick''s wrist. Taking a trick out of the Lord¡¯s book, Patrick grabbed the arrow in its neck with his other hand and began pulling it to the side, tearing the wound on its neck wider. The Lord was forced to release its grip on the sword to grab Patrick¡¯s other wrist in an iron-tight grip, preventing the arrow from being tugged further. For a second, they stood locked before the Lord¡¯s strength began to overpower Patrick¡¯s. He felt the bones of his wrists start to grind and crush before there was a pop, and Patrick felt his wrist break. He yelled again, as his arm slowly twisted before he felt his elbow reach an unnatural angle and snap at the joint. Patrick dropped to one knee as the Lord started forcing the other elbow back, and a second snapping noise was heard. The Lord laughed, but his once raspy laugh now sounded wet due to the arrow through his throat and ichor leaking out of his mouth. ¡°What a brave effort!¡± it gasped ¡°Maybe I shall let you serve me and let just enough sentience remain to see the suffering you shall wreak upon this world.¡± Movement behind the Lord caught Patrick¡¯s eye. The timer ticked below 20 seconds. Patrick closed his eyes. He could almost see it. He spat some blood. ¡°You know, I think I should say something witty right about now, but I think anything I do say would go right over your head, " he spat out. [Demoralising Taunt] Sometimes, the biggest damage can be emotional damage. Taunt your foe with an insult, and keep all their attention on you! Be warned, taunting at the wrong time, or with the wrong thing can lead to a loss of teeth, or even worse! The Lord¡¯s grin turned into a snarl. ¡°The very first thing I will do is remove your tongue and use it to-¡° The Lord¡¯s eyes bulged as it was interrupted by the sword that pierced its neck and quickly torn to the side, leaving the head hanging loosely. Another swing quickly followed, cleanly cutting the head off the shoulders as the body stood for a second before collapsing to the ground, revealing Marius panting, holding a hand to his stomach, trying to staunch the flow of blood. Marius gave a weak chuckle as he wrapped an arm under Patrick and helped him to his feet. ¡°11 seconds left, I told you there was plenty of time.¡± [Dungeon Complete] [All Objectives Met] [Rewards Calculated. Please leave Dungeon to receive your rewards] Patrick swayed on his feet, conscious of the sword still lodged in his chest. He noticed Marius looking down, examining it. ¡°I¡¯m going to count to three and remove that sword from your chest. I¡¯m going to do it on three. One.. two..¡± Marius yanked the sword cleanly out before the three count, causing Patrick to slump again to his knees. His arms ached and hung limply at his side, burning engulfed his chest as his lungs fought for breath and the sword wound continued to pump blood. He saw Svenja walk over to Marius and look down at him. His hearing had gone all funny again, and he could hear them talking but couldn¡¯t make out the words. ¡°Sorry, I knew you told me not to get in your way, and then I ended up doing it at the end there, didn¡¯t I?¡± he managed to slur out, holding his hand to the wound on his chest. Svenja rolled her eyes, and swiftly took out an arrow, and shot Patrick in the chest. Patrick looked down, mouth agape. She had actually shot him. He couldn¡¯t help but giggle as he slowly fell over, and darkness took him once more.
Patrick was getting really sick of waking up. Not the normal waking up, even when it was a Monday. The type of waking up after passing out after seemingly near-death experiences. After a second thought, he was actually just sick of passing out and near-death experiences. The ¡®waking up¡¯ was the only upside. He quickly realised that he was no longer lying on a cold dungeon floor or in darkness. In fact, he was on something soft and he was warm. Oh god, he had died this time, hadn¡¯t he? He struggled to open his eyes, some part of him wanted them to stay shut and enjoy the warmth before whatever realisation of hell he was actually in. He blinked, eyes squinting at the bright light all around him. He had heard of this, they told him to never go towards the light. He squeezed his eyes shut a little further trying to block out the light, hoping it would maybe send him back to his body. ¡°Good morning, sunshine¡±, a cheerful voice called out. He cracked open an eye to see he was in a brightly lit room in the middle of a large, soft bed covered by a pile of blankets. The room reminded him of forts he used to make as a child. Soft furnishings covered every aspect of the room, with a long draping canopy above the bed held between four posts. A large window above Patrick framed slow-moving clouds against a bright blue sky, with another window on the far side of the room letting in generous amounts of sunlight. He saw Marius lounging on a sofa with enough pillows to make an Ottoman King jealous. He was dressed casually in a loose white shirt and blue trousers, with a book on his lap. He looked remarkably fresh for someone who had been on death¡¯s door what seemed a mere moment ago. His hair once again neat and tidy, swept back, and a cheerful gleam in his eyes. He spryly hopped off the couch and moved over to Patrick. Patrick tried to sit up but found that his limbs were weak, and he flopped back down into the bed. ¡°You had us worried there for a few days!¡± he said as he pulled a chair over to sit beside Patrick. Patrick croaked, trying to get words out. ¡°Ah, water! Or wine? No, no, definitely water. Here.¡± Marius offered as he poured a pitcher of water into a cup and held it to Patrick¡¯s lips. He took a small sip and sputtered as it went down the wrong way, Marius took the cup away until the coughing stopped before offering it again. Patrick licked his lips. ¡°Svenja shot me¡±, he croaked hoarsely. ¡°Yeah, she did¡­¡± Marius replied with a frown, but then his face brightened. ¡°.. but she did apologise for it!¡± ¡°For shooting me?¡± ¡°Oh no, we¡¯re all very thankful she did. She apologised for not using her Healing Arrow sooner. She was going to use it earlier in the fight, but she got rocked and wasn¡¯t thinking straight!¡± ¡°Healing Arrow?¡± ¡°Bit of a weird Skill for a Ranger, I agree, but it comes in handy when she hits her targets. Patrick closed his eyes and let his head rest against the pillow. None of this was making sense. ¡°She heals people, by shooting them?¡± ¡°Yep, pretty neat! It''s not as handy as having a dedicated Cleric around, but it does the job since we don¡¯t have one!¡± ¡°That makes so little sense.¡± ¡°The Healing Arrow, or the not having a Cleric? It¡¯s not our fault that our last Cleric left us after the Ogre problem at Lower Haddingston.¡± Patrick waved his hand, he had stopped following at this point. ¡°You said a few days, how long was I out?¡± ¡°Ulman probably has the exact count, but about three days. We had to carry you to the Dungeon Portal and load you onto the Airship. You¡¯ve had a bit of a nasty fever from necrosis from the Sword the last few days, but we had enough potions on the Airship to break it, and we¡¯ll be at Tyril in the next day or so to get you properly looked over.¡± Three days? Patrick panicked and tried to sit up again but was gently pushed back down by Marius. ¡°Look, you need to rest. It¡¯s excellent you¡¯re awake, but between your wounds and potential side effects from the Whistle, you¡¯re going to be in poor shape for at least another few days. We can get you a good once-over in Tyril unless that¡¯s why you¡¯re panicked. Do you have trouble in Tyril? ¡°No, I don¡¯t know where that is. I was meant to have dinner with my Mom and she is going to be worried for me if I never showed up.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s not a problem. We¡¯ve already sent your name ahead to Tyril, so if she hasn¡¯t seen it in the papers yet, you¡¯re okay. We can send word to her easily. What city is she in?¡± ¡°Dublin.¡± ¡°Hmm, I haven¡¯t heard of it. What Kingdom is it in?¡± Patrick felt a dull throbbing headache begin to form. He wasn¡¯t following any of this. ¡°Not a Kingdom. It¡¯s the Republic of Ireland.¡± ¡°Ooooh, a Republic. I¡¯m only familiar with the Knights Republic, but we can find it on a map and figure it out from there! I¡¯m sorry, but I have to ask¡­¡± Marius said as he leaned in conspiratorially. ¡°What?¡± croaked Patrick. ¡°Did you get any sick Loot or Rewards from the Dungeon?¡± ¡°Loot or Rewards?¡± ¡°Yeah, have you not checked the Reward Log yet?¡± ¡°Reward Log?¡± Thought Patrick, as even the thought of it brought a new pop-up into this vision. ¡°Oh no, what on earth is all of this?¡± He thought as text began to fill his vision. Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Patrick sat in stunned silence as pop-up after pop-up appeared. With some mental focus, he managed to scroll to the top of the list just after his temporary class was assigned. [Single Use Item Whistle of Danger Expired] [Temporary Level Up Removed] [Side Effects Added: Fatigued Level 7] You have been fatigued by the extra power that has coursed through you. You take a penalty equivalent to the level of fatigue from your attribute points. Fatigue condition can be removed by rest and recovery or through certain high-level items and spells. [Temporary Class Removed: Brawler] [Temporary Skills Removed] Quick Flurry Second Wind Knockdown Motivation Demoralising Taunt Glancing Strikes (Passive) [Temporary Class Boost Removed] [Side Effect Added: Weakened Level 5] The effect of a Class Boost comes at a price. Your effective level takes a penalty to the level of Weakened. Weakened condition can be removed by rest and recovery, or through certain high level items and spells. [Aspect Removed: Flow of Battle. You no longer meet this Level Requirement] [Congratulations, you are the first to clear Labyrinth of Rot (Level 40] [Reward: Feat: World¡¯s First obtained] You are titled World¡¯s First for clearing this specific Dungeon. You have been granted +5 points to your Luck Attribute and an additional 10 Attribute points for assignment. [Dungeon Rewards] [Level Up. Level 10 reached. Class Specialisation must be chosen before further experience can be assigned. Outstanding Attribute Points to be assigned] Patrick lay in bed, staring at all the information. Had he levelled up? Had he received the items? ¡°I, uh, reached Level 10 apparently and got a Skull and some Boots and a feat?¡± he asked, incredibly confused. ¡°Wahey, Level 10 always calls for a celebration! What do the Skull and Boots do?¡± asked Marius, almost vibrating beside Patrick. ¡°The Skull lets me extinguish light around me, and the Boots let me shadow-walk a few times each day - ¡° He had barely finished the sentence before Marius clasped his hands laughing. ¡°Oh Svenja is going to be SO pissed you got shadow-walk boots, they¡¯re a Rangers dream. She got some heavy gauntlets she can¡¯t use. Let me go get her, she¡¯ll looove hearing this.¡± Patrick tried to reach out and grab Marius, but he had already bolted from the room. He let his head fall back against the pillow. Great.. he thought. Another reason Svenja would dislike him. Silence took over the room for a moment before his eyes drew back to the notification about outstanding Class Specialisation and Attribute points. He tried to focus on them, but nothing happened. Patrick thought back to all the games he played. Character Sheet Nothing. Level Up Nothing Inventory? Another screen appeared, containing only a few sparse items.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Common Clothing Unequipped
Skull of Darkness Unequipped (Unclaimed)
Boots of Shadow-walk Unequipped (Unclaimed)
Otherworld Device Unequipped
At this moment, Patrick also realised he was undressed underneath the pile of blankets. He let out a moan. Someone had undressed him. He focused on the clothing with another mental probe, hoping to equip it, but nothing happened. Another attempt was made on the ¡®Otherworldly Device¡¯, hoping it was his phone so he could call for help, but there was no response. There was a brief pause before he tried it on the Skull of Darkness. Patrick screeched as the decayed Skull of the Lord of Rot and Decay appeared and fell onto his lap. [Skull of Darkness claimed] Throwing himself onto the floor to escape the Skull, he tumbled and landed in an awkward pile. Sounds of rushing feet were heard beyond the door as Marius and Svenja appeared, each arming themselves with candle sticks as they entered. They stared at Patrick on the ground before noticing the head lying on the bed. Svenja snorted at the sight. Patrick tried to rise to his feet but found his arms and legs still couldn¡¯t support his weight, so he collapsed back into a pile underneath the blankets. Marius came over laughing and began helping Patrick to his feet. Feeling the blankets start to slide off him, Patrick threw himself back to the ground, blushed, and looked at Marius and Svenja. ¡°I¡¯m, uh, not wearing any clothes..¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s nothing we haven¡¯t seen before!¡± laughed Marius in response as he began trying to lift Patrick again. ¡°No, no, no, please, can you both maybe look away?¡± Patrick asked, pained. Svenja snorted again, crossed her arms and turned her back. ¡°Sure,¡± Marius replied, still chuckling. He theatrically turned his head and began helping Patrick to his feet. Patrick gripped the blankets with one arm, this time around his waist, as he stood uneasily on his feet. With the blankets firmly wrapped around him, Marius maneuvered him back onto the bed. ¡°That Skull is definitely a creepy sight. Do you mind if I put it over here?¡± Marius asked, lifting the Skull and placing it on a couch, covering it with a blanket. Exhausted from even getting into bed, Patrick waved his hand. Svenja suddenly said, ¡°I will give you 2,500 gold pieces now and another 2,500 for the Boots once we reach Tyril.¡± This caught Patrick and Marius off-guard. ¡°Svenja..¡± Marius said with a scolding tone. ¡°Leave him alone. He¡¯s only just awake, and you can¡¯t pressure him for his loot like that.¡± ¡°2,500 now, and 3,000 once we reach Tyril, but that¡¯s more than you would get for them, and you can¡¯t even use them,¡± she countered even though Patrick hadn¡¯t spoken. Patrick cut off Marius before he had a chance to follow up. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s fine. You can have them. It¡¯s the least I can do after you saved me.¡± ¡°3,500 once we- wait, really?¡± ¡°Of course. I don¡¯t even know what they are, and you could use them far better than I would.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the catch?¡± ¡°No catch, honestly. Here, have them.¡± He claimed them, narrowly moving his head as leather boots fell onto the bed. He gathered them up and held them out. [Boots of Shadow-walk claimed] Like a feral cat, Svenja inched closer until she was just in reach and snatched them from Patrick¡¯s hand. She stood there awkwardly for a moment before the ever so slight nod of her head, and she fled the room. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have given them to her. She lowballed you with that offer. You could¡¯ve gotten at least twice that amount selling them to the Guild in Tyril.¡± Marius said disapprovingly. Patrick leaned his head back against the pillow and sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t care, excuse my bluntness Marius. I want to get home. I¡¯m confused and honestly want to get back to normality.¡± ¡°The Republic you mentioned?¡± Marius said, rifling through books on a shelf nearby. ¡°Yeah, Republic of Ireland.¡± ¡°Ah, hah, here we go,¡± Marius said, pulling a book from the shelf. He perched himself on the bed beside Patrick and began to flick through the book. ¡°Republic of Ireland¡­ Ireland¡­ No, that¡¯s the Knights Republic.. Republic of Isatoa¡­ Republic of Alliance of Associated Garguantuan Heralds¡­ Hmm, I don¡¯t see it in the recognised list of Nations. Is it recognised?¡± ¡°Uhh, for about 100 years, yeah.¡± ¡°Hmm, this was published only 14 years ago¡­ Is it one of the Roaming Hundred Islands?¡± Patrick stared at Marius blankly. ¡°Right, not one of the Roaming Islands¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Patrick, but I don¡¯t think your country is legally recognised¡±. His mouth opened, closed, opened and closed, genuinely lost for words. Marius moved back to the shelf with a finger to his lips, once again rummaging through the books. He picked one up, flicked through it, and dropped it, to pick up another book, just to drop it. He repeated this several times before another exclamation as he brought another book over. ¡°Can you point out where the Republic of Ireland is on this map?¡± Patrick sighed, taking the book to point it out before he paused. ¡°What map is this?¡± ¡°Of Serra?¡± ¡°What¡¯s ¡®Serra¡¯?¡± It was Marius¡¯ turn to look blankly at Patrick. ¡°The uh.. world?¡± ¡°Terra, you mean Earth?¡± ¡°It¡¯s made of earth?¡± Patrick¡¯s head hit back again into the pillow and slammed it repeatedly against the soft, feathered pillow. ¡°Marius, please, I don¡¯t know what type of joke this is, but it¡¯s getting old. Ireland, in Europe. From planet Earth¡± emphasising the final word. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, I don¡¯t know what these ¡®notifications¡¯ are, I don¡¯t know what these levels are. I need you to tell me how I can get home¡±, a level of frustration entering his voice. Marius stared at him blankly for another moment before he winced. He went to speak before pausing as if choosing his words very carefully before he continued in a very level tone. ¡°Patrick, it¡¯s been a while since I went through the training for this, but I need you to listen to me very carefully. I had questions when we realised you were levelless in the Dungeon, and honestly, a part of me thought you were just a mechanic we¡¯d get extra points for rescuing, but you didn¡¯t despawn in the Dungeon, and Grunt was eventually recovered enough to carry you out. I think I know why your country isn¡¯t in any of the records or on any of the maps..¡± Patrick stared at him expectantly, waiting for an answer. ¡°Patrick, it¡¯s not on any maps because this isn¡¯t your world. You¡¯re a Wanderer.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a what?¡± ¡°A Wanderer, Patrick. You¡¯re from another world. It happens a few times every cycle, but never this late. We¡¯re already halfway through this cycle, and all the Wanderers have already been claimed.¡± Patrick laughed, not believing what he had been told. ¡°You¡¯re telling me I¡¯m from another world? I¡¯m an alien?¡± ¡°Not another world, Patrick. Another world. Something connected through the planar strings, not in this reality but a reality connecting our own. I¡¯m explaining this so poorly, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a book..¡± Marius tried to get up, but Patrick gripped his wrist as he tried to move. Patrick knew he didn¡¯t have the strength to hold him, the memory of the fight still fresh in his mind, but Marius paused anyway as Patrick took a breath. ¡°You¡¯re telling me I¡¯m in a different reality?¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m telling you, but I know I¡¯m doing a poor job, they¡¯ve written books on this. It¡¯s a pretty common thing.¡± Marius gently prised his wrist loose from Patrick¡¯s grasp as his head fell back again to the pillow, blood pounding in his ears as he struggled to take all this in. Thoughts were running rapidly through his head as he lay there. I¡¯m in a coma. This is a dream. I¡¯m still unconscious after the car crash. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the bed sink beside him. He opened his eyes to see Marius looking sombre and holding another book. ¡°Here. Take this. I know this is a lot, but I¡¯m telling you the truth. I think you¡¯re a Wanderer. You¡¯re not the first, by any stretch. This guide was written should any Adventuring Group stumble across one.¡± He held out a book tentatively, which Patrick took, and looked at the title. So, you¡¯ve found yourself in another world by Amelia Earhart. ¡°This book will give you a lot of basic information and a quick overview of Leveling to get familiar with the process. You mentioned you had hit level 10, so you''ll see the options available once you look at your Class screen. Please trust me on this, don¡¯t make any choices until you read the book, or ask any of us questions. You can make some wrong choices early on, and we can help guide you.¡± Patrick stared at the book, not sure what to say. ¡°Let me get the others, we can help you make your initial choices. Tyril is a large Kingdom, and we have other Wanderers. We can check the records and see if any are from your world. We¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re not alone, Patrick.¡± Marius stood and paused and then walked towards the door. ¡°I¡¯ll give you some time before I come in with the others, but we¡¯ll help you, Patrick, I promise,¡± he said as he left the room. Patrick continued staring blankly at the book in front of him. His thoughts raged, with one thought cutting through all of them. Was this what happened to Amelia Earhart? His curiosity got the better of him, and he opened the book. Chapter 6 So, you have found yourself in another world. It¡¯s a lot to take in, but it will all begin to make sense, even the stuff that doesn¡¯t, or shouldn¡¯t seem to make sense. My name is Amelia Earhart, and I was brought to this world thirty years ago. I was a pilot, a navigator, and now I am a Wanderer exploring a frontier I never thought was possible. I am writing this guide should it ever find its way back to my world, but also to help anyone finding themselves in the situation like I have. This world, ¡®Serra¡¯ is governed by an all present, and seemingly all-knowing system they cleverly refer to as ¡®The System¡¯. You¡¯ll find a multitude of literature that outlines various aspects of The System, and how it works. I shall not delve too deeply into it in this book as it¡¯s a well-established and researched anomaly. I fear to even call it an anomaly as they understand every aspect of it, and I would go even as far to call it a ¡®solved game¡¯. This world has everything from Classes, Levels and Feats, all the way to the possibility of understanding deeper levels of this reality at a fundamental level, which gives abilities called ¡®Aspects¡¯, which even allow individuals to warp reality to an extent. If you too are from another world, be warmed by the fact you are not alone. People from other worlds are common here. There exists a multiverse that they call the Nexus. An extraordinary web of realities that shift like planets around the sun, and at times align in a way that allow passage from one world to another. It is rumoured to be possible to get home, yet it requires achieving a level only known as Ascendance, which is the highest possible level one can achieve. Once this is reached, it is allegedly possible to navigate the Nexus itself and successfully return home. Be warned ¨C this is not easy. This world is dangerous in more ways than one. It is locked in a seemingly endless cycle dating back to the first annals of written history. Areas called Dungeons open every decade. These are fragmented dark times from history isolated in pocket dimensions that appear, only groups for to enter and face the challenges. This allows for individuals to level at a faster rate and achieve greater rewards than what can be found elsewhere in Serra. At first, I was perplexed to this, but it quickly became obvious this is to prepare the population for what is to come. The Dungeons are here for ten years, and just as randomly as they appear, they disappear. A new threat emerges just as suddenly, as portals to a Hellish plane of existence appear to allow an invasion force of ¡®Demons¡¯ to this world. They are cruel, and vicious. They do not negotiate and seem to exist solely to bring ruin and destruction. As well mapped as The System is, it is unclear whether the Demon invasion is a part of it, or something The System was designed to help the native populations of this world resist. Each cycle they have been pushed back, yet without fail they return each cycle to ravage the lands once more. Be careful. You must Level to survive. You must Level to return home if that is your wish. Seek out the Domain of Knowledge libraries in each city or seek assistance from the reputable Guilds in this world. They will help you as they helped me. I hope this helps, AE. The book was thick for what was meant to be a summarised guide to this world, and Patrick¡¯s head began to spin even just glossing through the book. It reminded him of one of the old video game manuals that came with physical copies of games. He found himself beginning to skim the book feeling overwhelmed at the amount of information contained in what Amelia Earhart referred to as a brief overview, before he went back to the start and began reviewing the Class and Levelling system. It began to make a little more sense considering some of the notifications and inventory screen he had already encountered. He was slightly disappointed to see he didn¡¯t have a permanent inventory like in video games where he could just pull items out of thin air, that only applied to when he claimed items like he had with the Skull and Boots. It was more a record of current items that he currently had on his possession. He did however figure out how to access his Class screen. It wasn¡¯t any of the options he had tried previously, but rather just a concentration on what the guide described as ¡®the individual¡¯s perception of self¡¯. Closing his eyes, he tried to visualise himself. Not his physical self in the sense of what he looked like, but the theoretical concept of himself, and feeling something click in his brain, he opened his eyes to see a new window in front of him. [Name: Patrick Kavanagh] [Race: Human (Wanderer)] [Level: 10] [Class: Unassigned] Class Specialisation Available [Feats] World¡¯s First [Aspects] N/A [Side Effects] Fatigued (7) Weakened (5) [Attributes] Strength: 10 (-7) Vitality: 10 (-7) Endurance: 10 (-7) Intelligence: 10 (-7) Dexterity: 10 (-7) Luck: 15 (-7) [Available Attributes for Distribution: 40] With a glance back at the book, everything seemed to make that little bit more sense. The book explained that everyone got an increase of one attribute point for each attribute, and then an additional four attribute points per level up that they could assign to their primary attributes, and that different classes would have different primary attributes. With a sigh, it dawned on him why he felt so weak. The Fatigue and Weakened conditions were subtracting from his attributes, and that is why he was struggling to even stand. Conscious that Marius told him not to make any decisions on his Class just yet, he couldn¡¯t resist the urge to at least open the Class Specialisation screen to see what was available to him. [Class Specialisations Available] Congratulations on achieving Level 10. Based on your performance to date, the following classes have been assigned as available to you. [Survivor] You have survived challenges that pose threats to those higher levelled than you. You have escaped by the skin of your teeth and use that experience to improve your chances in the future. Escape and survive dangerous situations and foes using your wits and sheer fortitude. Surviving one encounter can prepare the world for the next. [Brawler] You hit hard, and can get hit even harder. You are willing to get hit to land a punch, confident that you will come out better in each trade. The more you get hit, the harder you can hit. Build up knockout power and look for that finishing blow.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. [Voyeur] You like to watch from the shadows, and see what others are doing. This can be used for both causing and preventing wicked intentions. You may not be easily seen, although your actions may give you away. Stick to the shadows and out of sight, and only you may know what you are doing. [Artifact Equipped] Preparation is all that matters. Your items gained increase effectiveness with reduced drawbacks. You will have increased charges and effectiveness, with lower cool down times and reduced potential side effects. Have an item for any occasion, for they may never know what is in your back pocket. Patrick immediately ruled out [Voyeur], slightly mortified that The System even gave that one as an option. He shuddered thinking that if this was even a possible Class that can be assigned, what else may be out there. He mentally filed that information away in case he ran into anyone who may not have as good intentions as the group he had run into seemed. [Survivor] was ruled out quickly as well. He had seen how ineffective he had been, and whilst thankful he had survived, he definitely wanted to be a little more effective. [Brawler] was obvious for the reason it was assigned, as it was the temporary class he used against the Lord of Rot and Decay with some effect. [Artifact Equipped] was an interesting one considering his success was almost solely down to the two items he had been given by Marius and Svenja. Knowing that any items he used would be even more effective with less drawbacks, he kept it on the list of options especially if he could get his hands on more of those whistles. Patrick decided to hold off until he had a chance to speak with the group. He flicked through Amelia¡¯s guide again, but couldn¡¯t find references to any specific Classes, and he didn¡¯t want to risk putting his attributes points into the incorrect attributes. He lay his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes, feeling even the act of skimming the book and navigating the menus had taken a toll on him. A knock on the door woke him with a start. The light in the room had begun to fade to a soft golden yellow as the sun had begun to set. Patrick wasn¡¯t sure how long he had slept, as he wasn¡¯t even aware of what time it had been when he had first woken up. Another knock on the door, as Patrick called out to come in. Marius entered the room, pushing the door open with his hip as he carried a tray of food, the smell of it causing Patrick¡¯s stomach to rumble as he realised he hadn¡¯t eaten anything since¡­ well, he couldn¡¯t even remember the last thing he had eaten. Ulman entered the room after Marius, holding a stack of books as he manoeuvred to the base of the bed and placed them with care. The tray of food was placed in front of Patrick, and with some delight he noticed the food looked comparatively normal to what he would usually eat. It was a bowl of stew containing red meat, and vegetables, a side of what looked like sourdough bread, and a mug of what smelled of wine. ¡°Sorry, there wasn¡¯t much food left. Grunt is sort of sulking and ate most of it. He wasn¡¯t too happy about going down in the Dungeon and is blaming that on not reaching Level 40¡± casually said Marius as he perched on the edge of the bed. ¡°Is Grunt alright? I completely forgot to ask about him earlier¡± Patrick enquired between mouthfuls of food. ¡°He¡¯s just a bit grumpy but he¡¯ll be fine. How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Honestly, a bit better. A bit overwhelmed, and I didn¡¯t realise how hungry I was.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad! Centipede Stew is a great meal to get you back on your feet.¡± Patrick¡¯s stomach turned. ¡°Centipede?¡± ¡°Great source of nutritious meat once you get it out of the chitin!¡± Patrick shuddered, his appetite disappearing as quickly as it came. He pushed the bowl of stew to the side and decided to just focus on the bread and wine. Marius seeing Patrick had moved it to the side, indicated towards it, and picked it up and began finishing it. ¡°My dear fellow, Marius has informed me you have reached your first capstone for which you have my sincerest congratulations. It truly is a fine coming of age moment, and Marius has asked me to help you select your Class Specialisation¡± spoke Ulman has he began arranging the books. ¡°Yeah, I saw the four options¡­ but the book didn¡¯t really go into detail about them, so I haven¡¯t chosen anything yet.¡± ¡°A fine and sensible choice. There is plenty of literature on Classes, far too much for one book. It is a shame you have only received four, a limited selection I must say, but fear not the initial Class choice can still provide plenty of options. An incorrect choice can only set you back so far at the start. What did you get?¡± Patrick quickly checked the pop-up to confirm the names of the classes. ¡°I got [Brawler] which was the temporary Class from the Dungeon. The other three are [Artifact Equipped], [Survivor] and uh...¡± Patrick trailed off. ¡°And?¡± ¡°[Voyeur]¡± Patrick mumbled resulting in Marius snorting and choking on the stew. Ulman shot a look of disapproval at Marius. ¡°Believe it or not, [Voyeur] opens up some excellent opportunities through [Spy] related evolutions. Perhaps a negative reputation but each Class provides benefits, but yes, I believe we can rule that one out.¡± Ulman began scanning the books. ¡°[Artifact Equipped] is certainly an interesting one, and one generally only available through the [Artificer] evolution. Definitely a strong starting point should you wish to pursue a Class based around item usage.¡± ¡°I was thinking it would be useful if I could stock up on those Whistles¡± Marius laughed, placing the now empty bowl back onto the tray. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s realistic in the short term. It was a prototype Menizo asked us to try out if we got the chance. I¡¯m not even sure how many there are, but judging how well it worked, it would cost a fortune to stock up on them. Menizo will place a premium on those, the greedy bastard.¡± ¡°A fair point Marius my friend, a cost intensive Class for sure, although not forced into any primary attributes.¡± Ulman finished leafing through the book, and picked up another one. ¡°[Brawler] is a fine choice. Flexible options and evolution paths, although multiple Primary Attributes required¡­ requiring either Strength, Endurance, and Vitality, or Dexterity, Endurance, and Vitality...¡± he continued holding a finger to his lips. ¡°It did feel pretty good when I used it in the Dungeon. When will I regain the Aspect it said I unlocked?¡± Ulman¡¯s head snapped up. ¡°An Aspect? Surely not. What Aspect? You must tell me more¡± as he eagerly began leaning forward until Marius had to pull him back. ¡°It was called [Flow of Battle], and it was guiding me where I needed to hit next.¡± Ulman¡¯s eyes were bulging in excitement. ¡°You must tell me more. How did you get it? They are beyond rare for someone of your Level. Wait, let me grab some paper and quil- ¡° Marius dragged him back across the room as he tried to leave. ¡°Ulman, give the poor man some time to recover. We¡¯re still a few days from Tyril. You¡¯ll have plenty of time to interrogate him. Let¡¯s get him a Class assigned and recovered first.¡± Ulman sighed, picking up the final book. ¡°Fine, fine. I will say no to the [Survivor] class on your behalf Patrick. Poor evolutions available, and seems to be a class taken more of desperation than utility, although there are records of individuals becoming fabled heroes having started from that Class.¡± ¡°You keep mentioning evolutions? The book didn¡¯t really give details on it. What¡¯s an evolution?¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite straightforward old chap, you can apply certain evolution stones to your Class to change it to a more advanced class. A [Merchant] Class may evolve theirs to a [Guild Trader], or myself for example who evolved it from a mere [Evoker] to a [Possessed Evoker].¡± Patrick gulped. ¡°Are you actually possessed?¡± ¡°He is, and he¡¯s positively mad at times¡± quipped Marius. ¡°I am not mad.¡± retorted Ulman. ¡°I am quite sane, I can merely commune with the deceased to request they lend some mana to me to enhance my spells.¡± ¡°Are the dead people in the room with us right now Ulman?¡± queried Marius with a smile as he ducked dodging a book thrown at him. ¡°Quite sane, thank you all very much.¡± Patrick eyed the book in Ulman¡¯s hands, and doubted his own ability to dodge one if thrown. ¡°I believe you Ulman.¡± He said with a strained smile, but thankfully Ulman¡¯s head was down in the book. ¡°I believe [Brawler] is the wise choice considering you have some experience in the Class already, but it is, I believe, the best option available to you at this point in time.¡± Patrick nodded, and looked to Marius for final confirmation, who only responded with a double thumbs up. ¡°Do I choose it now?¡± ¡°No better time¡± shrugged Marius. Patrick navigated back to the screen, and with a mental push chose the [Brawler] Class. [Class Specialisation Assigned: Brawler] [Remaining Experience granted] [Level Up. Level 14 reached] [Skills Unlocked] Quick Flurry Glancing Strikes (Passive) Second Wind [Additional Attribute Points to be assigned] ¡°Should I focus on Strength or Dexterity for this class?¡± ¡°It is ultimately your choice whether you would like to hit harder or move a little quicker. Both styles are quite viable for this Class according to records. I would recommend, however, you do not let one lag too far behind the other should you determine the style does not fit, and wish to change further down the line.¡± Patrick checked the number of attribute points he had to assign, and read them out to Marius and Ulman. [Attributes] Strength: 14 (-7) Vitality: 14 (-7) Endurance: 14 (-7) Intelligence: 14 (-7) Dexterity: 14 (-7) Luck: 19 (-7) [Available Attributes for Distribution: 56] ¡°Actually, why is there no Charisma Attribute?¡± ¡°Charisma?¡± ¡°Yeah, like the ability to persuade someone or generally be charismatic.¡± Both Marius and Ulman laughed. ¡°My dear fellow, how bizarre to think someone could just assign points to their personality. Merchants would take us for a rort, or any diplomatic leader would be whoever dumped their other Attributes for ¡®Charisma¡¯.¡± ¡°But¡­ is it not the same for Intelligence? People would just be smarter than others?¡± Ulman laughed. ¡°My Class has Intelligence for its primary Attribute. I fear it doesn¡¯t make me more intelligent per se, however it increases my mana absorption rate and allows me to memorise more spells, and to cast them quicker.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°I would recommend an even distribution initially to either your Strength or Dexterity depending on your preference, and to your Endurance and Vitality. Perhaps go fifteen points in each of the three, and then perhaps seven to your Dexterity, and the remaining to either Intelligence or Luck based on your preference.¡± Patrick took a moment, before he assigned the points. [Attributes] Strength: 29 (-7) Vitality: 29 (-7) Endurance: 29 (-7) Intelligence: 14 (-7) Dexterity: 21 (-7) Luck : 23 (-7) [Confirm Distribution: Yes/No] With a final confirmation from Marius and Ulman, Patrick hit accept and felt new strength flow through his body. He gingerly leveraged himself out of the bed and found he was a lot steadier on his feet despite the lingering fatigue he still felt. Patrick pumped his arms in the air and turned around smiling to Marius and Ulman. ¡°Woohoo, this feels amazing. Is this how you feel?¡± Marius laughed. ¡°You¡¯re still a bit of a way off us, but fear not, you¡¯ll see it tomorrow once we start your training.¡± Patrick froze. ¡°My training?¡± Marius¡¯ perpetual grin turned mischievous. ¡°We gotta teach a [Brawler] how to brawl.¡± Chapter 7 The next morning when Patrick woke, his body ached in ways he didn¡¯t think were possible, but he felt better. More than better. He was able to get out of bed himself and was surprised at how light he felt on his feet. His joints ached as he stretched his arms and he repressed a shudder at the memory of them being snapped in the Dungeon. What was it Marius has said? They had used some potions on him? Could potions really fix shattered bones in a few days? He ran his hands through his hair. It felt way longer than he remembered. A similar test on his cheeks returned a similar surprising amount of hair. A quick scan around the room and he saw a full-length mirror against one of the wardrobes. For the first time in days, he had a good look at himself in the mirror. Patrick almost didn¡¯t recognise himself. Staring back at him, was well, him. The figure in the mirror was the same height he had been previously, just a little under six feet tall, but had a much longer mop of hair compared to the short length he expected to see. The figure also had stubble that went well beyond five o¡¯clock shadow and was arguably a short beard. Bruises that were in the late stages of healing covered his face and torso, and twisting around he was able to see the scar that had been left by the Lord of Rot and Decay¡¯s sword. It would definitely remain a scar, but somehow looked well healed like he had it for months. What really surprised him was that despite feeling so much stronger, his physique hadn¡¯t changed at all. There was a little disappointed that he didn¡¯t have the muscles that Grunt did, but he pushed that disappointment to the side as he momentarily flexed in front of the mirror in different poses to see if there was anything different. Nada. Noticing that he was also still very much naked, Patrick began a search for his clothes and personal items which had been kindly folded and placed on one of the chairs. The first thing he went for was his phone, and after realising it was dead, let out a curse. There goes that way of calling for help. If it even worked - considering what they said about it being a different world. His clothes were in no better position, closer to rags at this point. The shirt and slacks he had worn the other day were now covered in dirt and stains, and torn beyond belief. Another curse, and he moved back to the wardrobe to see if there was a spare pair of clothes for him. Finally having some success, he saw folded piles of simple shirts and pants, and after sorting through the piles found some light brown trousers and a white simple shirt that fit him decently well. Feeling as prepared as he would ever be, he steeled himself in front of the door ready for whatever horrors were on the other side. With a pull, Patrick found himself only faced with a hallway. His room was at the very end of it, and peering out to the right saw the only way to go was up a flight of steps. He began ascending the stairs barefoot as softly as he could listening out for any movement or action, with the only noise a distant thrum in the background. Reaching the top of the stairs, he poked his head around, to be greeted by a large living space, that seemed to connect to a few other rooms, and at the back of the room was another flight of stairs. The living area was decorated in a similar manner to the bedroom he woke up in. It was filled with soft plush couches, with wooden shelves and cabinets around the edges. The first one he investigated seemed to be filled with an assortment of alcohol, none of which he recognised apart from some that looked like wine. Patrick cracked open a bottle that seemed to only be half full and gagged at the smell. Placing it back softly, he began towards the stairs looking for any signs of life. He was halfway up the flight when voices started to become clearly audible. ¡°.. Svenja, I told you. Give him a fair price of the Boots. He was half out of it, and you took advantage.¡± ¡°No. He agreed.¡± A groan from Marius. ¡°Besides, he is on the other side of the door. He can tell you himself that he agreed.¡± Patrick winced, thinking he had been quiet. Opening this door greeted him with the sight of a kitchen area, with Marius sitting at a kitchen island and Svenja standing on the far side near a door with her arms crossed. ¡°I, uh, sorry, I wasn¡¯t sure if I was meant to stay in the room¡­¡± ¡°No, not at all! Sit down, have some breakfast!¡± Marius said making room at the island. Concerns around the Centipede Stew resurfaced, as Patrick examined what was on offer. It all looked normal. There was a selection of fruit alongside what looked like sausages and rashers. Patrick pointed at them. ¡°What specifically are these made out of?¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Griffon strips and Lizard tubes!¡± Patrick just grabbed what looked like a pear, and tentatively bit into it to find it tasted even sweeter than a pear. He raised an eyebrow in appreciation as he held it up to Marius. ¡°Spider fruit, great choice.¡± He closed his eyes and just ignored the name, hoping it was named like a dragon fruit from home. ¡°You agreed to the Boots, didn¡¯t you?¡± Svenja interrupted. ¡°Oh yeah, course. Honestly, it¡¯s fine. Whatever the deal you made is fine,¡± Patrick replied waving it away again as Marius threw his hands in the air. ¡°You¡¯re just encouraging her!¡± Svenja smirked and threw a large bag that landed on the counter with a heavy thud. ¡°2,500. Rest when we get to Tyril. I¡¯m getting changed. I¡¯ll see you on the deck for training.¡± as she abruptly left the room. Patrick eyed the bag before picking it up and hefting it in his hand. It was heavy. How did 2,500 coins fit in here? He opened it, and almost dropped the bag. ¡°Money bag, bigger on the inside for currency. You¡¯ll get used to it,¡± replied Marius coolly as he sipped on his drink. Patrick could only shake his head in response. ¡°Does Svenja not like me or something?¡± ¡°What do you mean?,¡± a frown forming on Marius¡¯ face. ¡°It just feels like she doesn¡¯t like me. She¡¯s dismissive and generally not friendly.¡± ¡°I thought she showed a lot of warmth towards you, more than she does others anyway. She probably hasn¡¯t even shortchanged you, but it¡¯s worth checking.¡± Before there could even be any response, Marius leapt to his feet and clapped his hands. ¡°Right! Training time. Eat up.¡±
Patrick dry heaved again as he clung to the rail on the side of the airship. He had been up on the top deck for all of thirty seconds before he realised how high up they were, and how low to the ground the barriers around the edge were. He didn¡¯t have a fear of heights, but he had a healthy respect for them, and they were far too high not to be safely secured to the ground. Marius had given up trying to drag him by the foot to the middle of the deck, and was standing sternly beside him with his arms crossed doing his best Svenja impression. ¡°You¡¯ll be fine Patrick. You¡¯re not going to fall off.¡± ¡°We¡¯re so high up.¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t had someone fall off in months. It¡¯s a totally regulation training deck for an airship of this model.¡± ¡°Months?!¡± ¡°Grunt hit them a little too hard, but come on, you¡¯ll be totally fine. We¡¯ll even put up the training net¡±. Seeing Patrick still wasn''t moving, Marius changed tact. ¡°At least don¡¯t hang near the edge. One of the swooping birds may try carry you off.¡± Patrick moaned, trying to clamber to his feet. ¡°I hate this world.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that bad. Here, let me help you.¡± Marius helped steady Patrick and supported him to the middle of the training deck where the land below wasn¡¯t visible. ¡°Why does the ship have to sway so much?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the shi - Excuse me, I spared no expense on the stabilisers for this airship. It is you that is swaying. Not the ship.¡± Now that Patrick couldn¡¯t see how high they were, he felt his legs begin to steady, and he saw the top deck in its glory for the first time. It was a giant oval, with a large sparring arena in the middle shaped like an Octagon. The far corner contained a weight section, with the other end displaying weapon racks and practice dummies. The dummies ranged in both size, and the amount of plate metal they had covering them. Marius, seeing him looking at them volunteered: ¡°Oh, combat dummies. You can either have them stationary for target practice or activate them to fight them directly. We¡¯ll start you on the little one,¡± pointing towards the smallest, unarmoured one. ¡°Oh, are you not going to be training me?¡± ¡°No, of course we will be, but we need something that you can practice with that won¡¯t wipe the floor with you each time.¡± That made sense, even though it stung his pride a little bit. He wandered over to one of the dummies for a closer look. It appeared no different to any other dummy he had seen in any video game or movier. The dummy looked closer to a scarecrow with some tighter stitches. He prodded it, and it felt like it was just full of hay and didn¡¯t react in anyway. Patrick pushed it harder expecting it to fall over, but as it reached its tipping point it swung back to its initial position and steadied itself. Patrick looked at the base of the dummy but couldn¡¯t see any sort of mechanism that would cause it to auto right itself. Huh, magic. Looking back at Marius who was just grinning at him, Patrick took it a step further. He hooked his leg in behind that of the dummy and shoved it with all his might hoping the extra leverage would cause it to hit the ground, only for the dummy to swing back up and collide with Patrick¡¯s nose causing him to reel back with blurry vision. ¡°Motherfuc - ,¡° as he just heard Marius laughing behind him. ¡°It¡¯s not even activated, and you wanted one of us to spar with you?¡± Patrick glared at him before turning his attention back to the dummy. He stalked around it a few times before settling directly behind it. He looked at Marius who only responded with a raised eyebrow, as Patrick wrapped his arms around the dummy and just began pulling it down towards the ground. It started easy, but he felt the resistance begin to build as it neared the ground. With a slight grunt, he readjusted and got it a few inches further, but it stubbornly remained about a foot from the floor. He quickly moved around until he was on top of the dummy putting all his weight onto it gaining another few inches, but with a sense of alarm began to feel a tension building within the dummy, and with a twang, the dummy shot back up throwing Patrick through the air towards Marius who had calmly stepped to the side. With the breath knocked out of him, Patrick just lay there for a moment staring up at the blue sky above him ¡°I loved the idea, but that would have only worked if your Strength or weight was a lot higher. You¡¯re a [Brawler], not a [Wrestler]. Watch this.¡± Marius moved over to the rack of training weapons available and picked out a blunted training sword. Hefting it in his hand, he moved over to the dummy that Patrick was now mentally referring to as ¡®the catapult dummy¡¯. He swung at it hitting it with the flat of the sword, and with a solid thump, it hit the ground and lay there before slowly rising to standing position. Marius had already moved onto the next dummy and knocked it down with one hit. He began to move along the line repeating the action until he reached the fourth dummy that required two hits until it hit the ground. Each progressive dummy required either harder hits, or more hits. He finally reached the eighth and final dummy which was covered in plate mail, and after a moment of pause unleashed a flurry of blows with his sword faster than the eye could follow. The blows stopped, and the dummy slowly fell over to the ground. He had gone through all the dummies before Patrick had even fully regained his footing. ¡°You either have to hit hard enough, or fast enough to knock them down. You are a [Brawler], and so you will need to learn to hit both hard, and fast enough. You will find yourself in fights that can be won quickly with enough power. Our group calls this Burst Protocol. Other fights will be a fight of attrition, which we call Bleed Protocol. Both are viable, one just sucks far more than the other.¡± He gestured Patrick over to the ¡®catapult dummy¡¯. ¡°Once you can knock this down in either one or two punches, or in ten seconds, we¡¯ll get it to start fighting back.¡± ¡°How, uh, does it fight back exactly?¡± Patrick realised his mistake as soon as he said it once he saw Marius¡¯ grin. ¡°It¡¯s best to show you. Novice dummy, your opponent is Patrick, selenda.¡± The dummy stiffened, before it bent it¡¯s knees in a fluid motion that was far too unnatural for Patrick¡¯s liking. ¡°Marius, I don¡¯t think this is a goo- ¡° Patrick shrieked and began to run as the dummy started chasing him across the deck of the airship. Chapter 8 The dummy was relentless. The soft cushioned impacts of its feet were all Patrick needed to hear to know it was right behind him. The damn thing was fast. Even with the new speed Patrick found he could move at, he just couldn¡¯t shake it. Sparing a glance over his shoulder, he saw it was only feet behind him. The way it moved was so unnatural; its stubby rounded legs took tiny steps, but it just took so many of them. Its body was rigid, with arms held up in a boxer¡¯s guard protecting its head as it continued to mercilessly pursue Patrick. It was around the fourth lap of the airship deck before it got close enough to throw out a jab and connect with the back of Patrick¡¯s head causing him to stumble. He turned to face the dummy, expecting it to continue the attack but it had stopped. It stood a few feet away from Patrick bouncing on its feet maintaining its guard before it snapped forward with another jab rocking Patrick''s head back before he had a chance to block it. As he stumbled back a step, the dummy casually moved forward to maintain the space. ¡°Come on Patrick, give it a punch!¡± Marius¡¯ voice called out across the deck. A glance across showed Marius was now joined by Svenja, Grunt, and Ulman who were all watching him intently. Svenja turned her head to Ulman and muttered something, before nodding his head. She then turned to Grunt, who also nodded. All three of them took out coin purses and placed a stack of coins on the table. ¡°Patrick my fine fellow. A bet has been made by Svenja and Grunt that the dummy shall prevail. I have allowed them to increase the odds on the provision I can provide moral and tactical coaching support.¡± Ulman yelled across the deck. The dummy jabbed forward again but Patrick managed to block. Even with his new Strength, he felt the impact shoot through his arms. ¡°You are a [Brawler] my fine fellow, nay a [Tank] or dare I say a [Masochist]. You best get on the offensive sooner rather than later lest I lose my 50 gold.¡± Patrick scowled as he dodged a third jab from the dummy. It had thrown the same punch three times and wasn¡¯t appearing to vary the attack at all. This is a bloody novice dummy. Screw Grunt and Svenja for not thinking I can take it, thought Patrick as he mirrored the dummy¡¯s stance. Dodging a fourth jab, Patrick tentatively threw out a soft jab of his own that connected cleanly with the face of the dummy as he tried to circle around it. The dummy tracked him smoothly, not missing a step. How was the dummy even tracking him since it didn¡¯t have eyes? Magic. Of course. Patrick shook his head knowing he needed to stop trying to make sense of stuff that just didn¡¯t make sense, or at least begin realising that things make sense in a nonsensical way. A fifth jab was easily dodged, but this time Patrick turned his hips and countered it as hard as he could with a left hook before the dummy could retract its arm. This punch had a much bigger effect than before, as the dummy stumbled ever so slightly before regaining its footing. Dodging a sixth jab, Patrick''s confidence began to grow. It was at that moment, he felt all the air leave his lungs as the dummy struck with a ripping punch to his body. He doubled over wincing in pain just narrowly managing to avoid another punch from the dummy. The dummy seemed to have exited whatever warm up protocol it was in. Was it maybe because Patrick had begun fighting back? ¡°Patrick, you need to chain your strikes together to activate your Quick Flurry Skill.¡± Ulman suggested. The dummy was still on the offensive, throwing jabs and hooks at what felt like every part of Patrick¡¯s body. Whenever he tried to cover his head, it would target his body, and vice versa. The blows were beginning to wear Patrick down as he struggled to find any opportunity to get back into the fight. Memories flashed through his head from the Dungeon remembering when it felt like his body was moving on pure instinct to capitalise on the weaknesses of the Dungeon Boss, but now he felt heavy and slow. The strikes from the dummy didn¡¯t feel particularly strong. They definitely hurt, but apart from the one to the stomach that had caught him off guard, the individual punches seemed like blows that he might be able to take if it meant getting to trade with some of his own. Patrick endured another few strikes trying to get the timing down, and deliberately moved his left hand up to cover his head trying to invite the dummy to hit him in the body. Taking the bait, the dummy unleashed a hook to Patrick¡¯s ribs, allowing Patrick the opportunity to get a clean elbow to the dummy¡¯s temple, throwing it off its rhythm. Following it up with a cross, he began to push forward continually throwing punches and elbows forcing the dummy back to the cheers of the group watching. The more strikes he consecutively landed, the lighter his arms felt, yet harder they seemed to hit. He took a leaf out of the dummy¡¯s book trying to target areas the dummy wasn¡¯t covering, and even though he was hitting something filled with straw, it felt satisfying hearing the thump of each hit. Even the strikes that were glancing off the raised arms of the dummy, or the ones that didn¡¯t connect cleanly seemed to be having more of an effect than expected. A particular punch that glanced off its chin caused it to stumble back, its head jerking to the side as if Patrick had connected cleanly. He could hear Ulman still yelling in the background, but the only thing that existed for Patrick at this point in time was the dummy, and he zoned Ulman out. The dummy was unsteady on its feet, and Patrick relented for a split second to re-balance his stance. As soon as he stopped throwing punches, he felt the fatigue creep into his arms. The realisation dawned on him that Quick Flurry would only work as long as he kept throwing punches, and like the way a hangover is borrowing happiness from the next day, he would burn himself out if he wasn¡¯t able to finish the fight quickly. Not wanting the dummy to go on the offensive again, Patrick leapt forward. Feeling the fatigue in his arms, he gambled on using Second Wind, and felt fresh energy flow into him, he felt as good as he did before the fight. The dummy threw a punch, but knowing he could take it, Patrick tucked his chin as it collided with the side of his head and used his momentum to turn it into a headbutt on the dummy. Patrick began tearing into the dummy¡¯s body, losing focus on what punches he was throwing, knowing he needed to seek the knock-out punch. Eventually, the pressure rewarded Patrick with an opening as the dummy bent over after a particular gruelling body shot. Patrick twisted his body and put everything he had into a vicious uppercut to his opponent¡¯s exposed head, lifting it off the ground and throwing it on its back. Knowing that he had to prove a point, he approached the dummy. Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. It might have been two stomps on the head too many, but the life deflated out of the dummy as it lay crumpled on the ground. Patrick turned with his hands raised to Marius and Ulman who were cheering. Grunt just gave him a thumbs up and Svenja stood there with arms crossed, clearly unhappy about being twenty-five gold down. ¡°Haha, I did it! Take that, you stupid catapult dummy. Nobody throws me through the air and gets away with it.¡± Grunt stepped forward cracking his knuckles. ¡°Except you Grunt, that¡¯s what I meant. No one throws me through the air and gets away with it, except Grunt.¡± ¡°An excellent showing, looks like we can skip the stationary dummies after all! Let¡¯s run it back. Novice dummy, your opponent is Patrick, selenda.¡± No no no.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°I also want in on the bet this time. Twenty-five gold on Patrick but no more coaching.
Several hours later, Patrick was lying on a deck chair on the top deck of the airship holding a bag of ice to his eye, watching the others begin their training. His arm was trembling from exhaustion from the day as Marius had, for several reasons, insisted he go a number of rounds with the dummy. Firstly, he claimed it was just to get Patrick used to sparring with the dummy. Secondly, he wanted to get an idea of Patrick¡¯s technique which he said was ¡®sloppy¡¯. Between each bout, he would offer advice and help him adjust his stance. Thirdly, he wanted an idea about the cool down of Patrick¡¯s Second Wind ability, which was available every ten minutes or so. The consensus amongst the group was that ten minutes was a fair time to say a fight was ¡®over¡¯ before the next fight could begin. Next, he told Patrick that it was training for real life experience. Marius remarked that both life and Dungeons are very rarely one and done encounters, but a constant struggle with encounter after encounter, and Patrick would need to be able to rise to the occasion of each one. Finally, Patrick just thought Marius got a bit of glee out of torturing him, and torturing Svenja about the gold he had won off her. Marius only called it a day once Patrick began truly struggling to finish the fights with the dummy from exhaustion, with even his Second Wind ability no longer able to remove the burning fatigue from his arms. Patrick gladly collapsed into the deck chair that was offered to him and groaned as he hurt all over. At least he got to watch the others train, and it was interesting to see the different approaches. Ulman sat off to the side, at a table surrounded by books and scrolls. He would frantically scribble into his personal notebook as he referred to the personal library around him before he fired a spell into the sky or at one of the dummies. The spells all looked the same to Patrick, and it was incomprehensible as to why Ulman would either sigh and shake his head, or excitedly hurry back to make notes in his book. Svenja stood off to the side, firing at flocks of birds. Growing bored of direct strikes from hundreds of metres away, she began firing trick shots, shooting almost straight up in the air, causing arrows to rain down hitting the birds directly from above. Grunt and Marius started their training separately. Grunt hit the weight section, pushing and pulling weights that Patrick just knew shattered any record on Earth. Grunt wasn¡¯t even breaking a sweat despite. Marius on the other hand, was cycling through forms with a different assortment of weapons. He would flow from stance to stance as if sparring with invisible opponents, and once he seemed satisfied with the stance, would pick up a different weapon and repeat it all over again. At an indiscernible cue, both of them stopped and met in the cage in the middle of the deck. Patrick couldn¡¯t hear what they were discussing, but they both nodded in agreement. Marius took a training sword from the rack, while Grunt went in empty handed. Patrick couldn¡¯t help when the cage rippled and expanded to three times its original size. I have to stop getting surprised by magic. Of course, the magic fighting ring changes in size. ¡°Ah, just in time for the show to start,¡± Ulman approached with a bottle and a tray of glasses. ¡°Are they going to fight?¡± ¡°Oh yes. It is Marius¡¯ obsession to beat Grunt. It will not be a true fight, but they will have agreed on rules along the lines that if Marius hits Grunt ten times, and doesn¡¯t get hit in return, Marius wins. I believe the record is 34-0 for Grunt.¡± ¡°Marius hasn¡¯t won once?¡± ¡°He has come close a few times, but alas I fear not. His ego may be unsustainable should he win.¡± Ulman uncorked the bottle. ¡°What¡¯s that in the bottle?¡± ¡°Ah, a fine vintage this is. This is an enchanted mead made from the hive of Star-bees.¡± ¡°Magic mead?¡± ¡°Enchanted mead. You will wake up feeling as fit as a fiddle in the morning. They say the more you drink, the less of a hangover you will have.¡± Patrick took the glass offered to him and tried a sip. Ulman laughed at Patrick¡¯s expression. ¡°An exceptional vintage. The complex layer of honey alongside what can only be described as the taste of sunshine. Exceptional indeed.¡± It was one of the best things Patrick has ever tasted. He had tried mead before, but this was simply on a different level. Each sip warmed him in places he did not even realise needed to be warmed. ¡°Now watch, it is beginning. Care for a wager? Twenty-five gold that Grunt wins.¡± Feeling left out from the gambling earlier, and a slight buzz from the mead, Patrick grinned. ¡°Deal.¡±
¡°I almost had him that time¡± bemoaned Marius. Patrick was not sure exactly how close Marius had been to beating Grunt. He had scored a few hits by darting in and out and using Grunt¡¯s size to his advantage, but eventually Grunt managed to grab his foot, and dangled him in the air until Marius conceded. Marius was lying on the couch dramatically with one arm over his head, while his other hung off holding a tumbler glass that held some ice cubes and an amber liquid. They had all moved downstairs to the living area of the airship. Each person claiming a couch to themselves. Ulman had broken out bottles of various drinks for individuals. Patrick and Ulman continued with the mead, while Grunt was holding a comically large bottle of wine. Even Svenja was lounging, drinking from a normal sized bottle of wine. It was the first time since he had arrived in this world that Patrick felt the knot of stress and tension in his chest and back begin to loosen. He was incredibly thankful that the first group of individuals he had run into were so generous and had taken him in. He knew that he had only known them for a couple of days, but there was something genuine about them that made him feel safe. Well, safe might be the wrong word after having a dummy let loose on him, but as safe as he could be in the situation. His thoughts drifted back to the book he was provided. He still couldn¡¯t believe it was written by Amelia Earhart. She had written that it would be possible to return home once he levelled up enough, but he did not know how long that would take. A heaviness opened in his chest as his thoughts drifted back to his mum. She was inconsolable after his father had died, and now she was going to be worried sick about him. Every Sunday he would go to hers for dinner, and every Sunday it was the same. Patrick would groan as she would fuss over him or make inappropriate comments. They would squabble over incredibly minor things, and she would nag him about items in his personal life. Every single time Patrick would feel the growing frustration, but by the end of the day when he would leave, it would all wash away as he hugged her goodbye, as she would confirm the plans for next Sunday. He felt tears threatening to well up in his eyes as he thought about it. He needed to get back, or at least let her know he was alright. You¡¯re also probably going to miss work on Monday. An errant thought broke through the grief that almost made him smile. His work was, well, work. It was an adequate job. He was well paid as a workplace investigator, but ninety percent of the job was just reviewing investigation reports. At work he was just ¡®reliable Patrick.¡¯ Never missed a day, but never stood out apart from his commendations for high accuracy with his reports. ¡°Hey, hey, Patrick, are you listening?¡± Marius¡¯ voice broke through his thoughts. ¡°Oh, sorry. I was thinking of something else.¡± His attention brought him back to seeing the group staring at him, and he casually wiped an eye to ensure no tears were visible. ¡°We asked what you were going to do with your share?¡± ¡°My share of what?¡± ¡°Oh, you really were not listening! Your share from the money we are going to get from providing the first guide to the new Dungeon!¡± Patrick had not been listening. He must have zoned out for slightly longer than he realised. The last thing he had heard was Marius still lamenting another loss to Grunt. ¡°What do you mean getting paid for a guide to the Dungeon?¡± For some reason, which got a laugh out of everyone, including Svenja who smirked. ¡°Oh, my sweet Wanderer child, I do keep forgetting you don¡¯t have rudimentary knowledge of this world. I apologise for the lackadaisical approach we sometimes take to filling you in,¡± said Ulman. ¡°This world is covered by Dungeons, hundreds if not thousands of them spread all over. It is an exceptionally rare occurrence that a new one is found and is quite the talk of everyone when they do. The team who gets ¡®World¡¯s First¡¯, as our newly acquired feats indicate, give us the privileged position of writing the first guide to the Dungeon, which we can provide to the Adventuring Guild for a hefty sum. Even better, is that each time a team buys the guide, we get a royalty from the purchase. Depending on the level of the Dungeon and its accessibility, it can quite literally set someone up for life.¡± ¡°Does that mean the Dungeons are the same every time you go into one? You can just learn how the Dungeon works?¡± ¡°To a point, but yes! The fundamental mechanics of the Dungeon will remain the same. Such as layout, foes inside, traps, and the Dungeon Boss. Higher level Dungeons may have a higher-level reactivity, as you would have seen from the previous Dungeon Boss adapting to Svenja¡¯s arrows lodged in the wall. Lower-level Dungeons are slightly more static.¡± ¡°But doesn¡¯t that mean someone can just run a Dungeon over and over again quickly?¡± ¡°Correct! It is the main source of levelling when they are open. A Dungeon you have never cleared before will grant higher experience and better loot the first time you run it. Teams will often plan their travel routes well in advance to clear as many different Dungeons as possible, for the best gains.¡± ¡°Except Speedrunners.¡± grumbled Marius. ¡°Ah, yes Speedrunners. They can be quite toxic depending on the groups you meet. They will instead focus on relevant Dungeons and aim to clear them in the quickest time, granting the ¡®World¡¯s Fastest¡¯ feat for that specific Dungeon.¡± ¡°Most of them are also world¡¯s fastest in a way that shouldn¡¯t get celebrated.¡± murmured Svenja, resulting in a laugh from everyone. Patrick was stunned, had Svenja just made a joke? ¡°Alas, our hilarious Half-Elf is correct. They focus so much on levelling in that respect they probably do not have the time for interpersonal relationships.¡± ¡°Is there actually a quickest way to level?¡± asked Patrick thinking back to his need to get home. Ulman sighed, pouring himself another drink. ¡°A topic of much debate. A fantastic argument was put forward by Zalur Grython that the fundamental aspect of levelling is the ability to-¡° ¡°No.¡± Svenja interrupted. ¡°What Ulman is going to say in a really roundabout way is that there isn¡¯t,¡± Marius said as he sat up on the couch. ¡°There are three main groups who use different techniques. The first are known as ¡®Purists¡¯, which we are. We tackle as many different Dungeons as possible and vary our skills as possible. This allows us to theoretically level quicker, and we are more adaptable outside of Dungeons. The second are ¡®Speedrunners¡¯. As mentioned, they tackle the same few Dungeons over and over. It means they can clear them more often, but at reduced gains, and it also means they have extremely specific sets of Skills. The final group are ¡®Passive Levellers¡¯. Non-combat classes. [Merchants], [Guild Leaders], [Blacksmiths] and so on. They level outside of combat but at consistent rates.¡± ¡°And when the Dungeons aren¡¯t open? The book I read yesterday said something about war, but it didn¡¯t go into detail.¡± Silence took over the room as the question was asked. The group all looked at each other waiting for someone else to speak. Marius and Ulman both went to speak simultaneously, before gesturing to the other to speak. ¡°A war against a terrible evil. An unending wave of death and terror. The day the Dungeons close, a tireless evil pours forth with the singular goal to wipe us from this world. In a little less than four years, we shall use whatever levels we have gained to fight for our very existence against them,¡± muttered Ulman. ¡°Demons,¡± spat Marius. Chapter 9 A tense silence followed that was begging to be broken by a follow up question. Patrick stared around the room trying to make eye contact with individuals as if seeking permission to ask it. Everybody was suddenly very interested in the upholstery, or the labels on their drinks. Patrick opened his mouth to try ask the question but thought better of it when he saw the sneer on Marius¡¯ usually happy face. The silence hung for a moment longer, before a heavy sigh from Grunt. ¡°Grunt is as eloquent as always. Let us not dwell on those topics on what should be a night of celebration and revelry.¡± The look Ulman gave Patrick was very clear. Not a topic for now. Patrick gave a slight nod to confirm he understood as he fumbled for a way to break the silence. ¡°I, uh, think I was going to tell you what I was going to do with my share of the money. I guess I sort of just need to buy new clothes, and get accommodation?¡± Ulman booed and threw some paper at Patrick trying to lighten the mood. ¡°Boring, boring. We¡¯ll make sure you get those. What are you going to get? Magical items? Exotic artwork? Perchance a script personally written by a playwright outlining your deeds of bravery to date?¡± Patrick let out a genuine laugh. ¡°I have literally no idea what I can even get. I don¡¯t even understand the currency system here. I think I¡¯ll just need to have a wander around the shops to see what there is.¡± Marius put on a smile that didn¡¯t reach his eyes, trying to hide the fact he was still plagued by whatever dark thoughts he was lost in. ¡°Did I hear that once we are back in Tyril, we need to go shopping?¡± ¡°No, Patrick needs to go shopping.¡± interjected Svenja. ¡°And let him swipe any good deals meant for us? No Svenja, I agree. We must take Patrick shopping once we¡¯re settled back in Tyril. I will insist on it.¡± ¡°I hate this.¡± ¡°No, everyone loves a shopping episode.¡± With the tension in the room somewhat broken, a level of merriment returned. Ulman made a point of refilling everyone¡¯s drink, as the topic of conversation turned to the best way to teach Patrick everything he needed to know. It initially began with people just shouting advice at him that made almost no sense without context. ¡°It¡¯s illegal to do at night or on weekends, but totally fine in the morning.¡± ¡°A slip-side up will get you punched dockside, but it¡¯s what you order in the Merchants district.¡± ¡°Fletchers is a debaucherous adult only venue in the slums while Fletcher is where you want to go for arrows.¡± ¡°The currency is straight forward. 1 gold is worth 10 silver, and 1 silver is worth 100 copper. Except when someone asks for three-fifty, don¡¯t trust them.¡± Patrick¡¯s head was spinning with all the information, and a part of him regretted drinking due to the fear of not remembering anything of this in the morning. It got even worse when Marius rolled out a blackboard trying to draw diagrams to help explain to Patrick in further detail. Ulman and Marius would fight over the chalk, as Svenja heckled their drawings, and Grunt correcting their spelling. The night continued to devolve. Patrick found himself standing on one of the couches which they had rearranged to allow them to play some sort of drinking game. Everyone stood on coaches that lined with the room, with pillows on the floor acting as stepping stones. The rules didn¡¯t make any sense at all. Patrick and Grunt were on one team wearing pots and pans on their head, while Svenja and Ulman were on the other wielding mops. Marius was playing a role called ¡®The Wisp¡¯, and acted as the officiator, despite one of the rules being they needed to catch him. Every time Patrick thought he was in touching distance, Marius would make a call that either his drink was too full, or it was too empty. Patrick was even penalised once for being smaller than Grunt, which made everyone cheer as everyone was sent back three couches. ¡°Ok, Patrick and Grunt. You have three spaces to move.¡± Grunt nimbly leapt across the couch, which was very clearly only one move, before turning to Patrick and gesturing for him to follow. Swaying on the couch, Patrick went to move before he was interrupted by Marius. ¡°Time penalty! Too slow!¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°That¡¯s bullshit! I was moving!¡± ¡°Arguing with the officiator. Penalty question. Incorrect answer means you move two couches back. Further talking back requires a shot of Golem Tears.¡± Patrick blanched at the threat. He had been made do a shot of the most foul-tasting drinks known to this world. The group has excitedly told him that it wasn¡¯t actually made of Golem tears but was just strong enough to make Golems cry. ¡°Question for our Wanderer. I ask you for 3 gold and 5 silver, what do you gi-¡° ¡°I DON¡¯T TRUST YOU¡± Patrick yelled back triumphantly Everyone raised their hands and cheered. ¡°We don¡¯t trust you lake monster!¡± The game continued to deteriorate the more they drank. It almost came to blows when Marius deemed Svenja was having too much fun despite being on the losing team, and ordered her back a couch. She began trying to threaten Marius, who began penalising Ulman for letting her have too much fun. Svenja and Ulman ultimately were forced to retreat, and giving up valuable couch space, once Marius began chasing them with the bottle of Golem Tears. Patrick stood on the edge of the couch watching the chaos, a big goofy grin plastered on his face. For the moment, he had stopped thinking about home. He had stopped thinking about how crazy this world was. The only thing he really cared about now was how much fun he was having as he watched Marius corner Svenja as she began begging for forgiveness. It was the first time in quite a while he felt happy. It definitely wasn¡¯t a result of the copious amount of drink he had consumed. He actually didn¡¯t have that much. Thinking about it, he could probably have another swig of something...
The pounding in his head grew worse. He groaned. Everything hurt. Why was it so bright? Patrick couldn¡¯t even open his eyes. They refused to open at the fear of the pain of what the world would bring. His mouth was so dry. Patrick didn¡¯t know where he was. The last thing he remembered was¡­ he couldn¡¯t remember. A rumble shook through wherever he was. Even the sound of it hurt his head. Another rumble. Oh god. It¡¯s the garbage truck. It must be bin day. He fumbled for his phone on the nightstand to see what time it was, but felt his hand collide with someone. Oh no. Who did I go home with last night? Where did I even go last night? Patrick¡¯s thoughts were a mess. He¡¯d had the weirdest dream. Dom probably talked his ear off about the new fantasy series he was reading, and incepted the dream of another world. Another rumble. Patrick forced his eyes open as he squinted at the bright light in the room. Oh god. It wasn¡¯t a dream. The lounge room of the airship was in a terrible absolute state. Pillows were strewn everywhere, with several of the couches upturned to make room in the centre of the room. The half-hearted attempt at a blanket fort was evident, as a pile of pillows and blankets surrounded the sleeping group of Patrick, Grunt, and Marius. Ulman was curled up on top of a desk by the window, and Svenja was nowhere to be seen. I need water so badly. Gingerly picking himself up to avoid waking Grunt and Marius, Patrick felt like a baby deer taking his first steps towards the stairs. His knees almost buckled at the daunting sight of the twelve steps flight of stairs. Second Wind sent a momentary surge of energy through him, although did nothing for his headache. He gritted his teeth and begun ascending the stairs. What felt like hours, days, or even months later he finally reached the top of his stairs and pressed his forehead against the cold wood of the door at the top. A sheen of sweat covered him from the exertion of the stairs alone, but he knew water was almost in reach. The door opened to reveal Svenja sitting at the island eating from a bowl. Patrick surprised to see her there, flinched. ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t expect to see you here. Good morning, I was just getting some water¡± he croaked. ¡°It is not a good morning.¡± ¡°No, it really isn¡¯t¡± agreed Patrick ruefully. ¡°Are you feeling as rough as I am?¡± Svenja looked at him. ¡°No. You look like you have been spat out by a Kraken.¡± ¡°Yeah, I feel rough. I¡¯m not even sure what the last thing I remember is.¡± Svenja grinned at him like a predator. ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t remember everything you told us last night?¡± A deep chasm opened in Patrick¡¯s stomach as the fear hit him. He groaned and put his head in his hands. ¡°No, and I¡¯m not sure I want to know. Was it bad?¡± ¡°I think we all the appreciated the ¡®I love you all so much¡¯ as your hair was held back as you got sick, especially when you began emphasizing what you loved the most about each of us.¡± Patrick wished the chasm in his stomach would just swallow him completely. He did have a vague memory of that. ¡°Here, drink this. If you tell anyone I have any, or that I gave it to you, I will shoot you with a proper arrow.¡± as Svenja slid a small dark bottle across the table. ¡°What is it?¡± enquired Patrick as he picked it up suspiciously. ¡°Hangover tonic.¡± He took a tentative sip despite the protest of his stomach and was pleasantly surprised at the taste. It had a light citrus taste that left a pleasant tingling sensation in his mouth. ¡°This is really good. What¡¯s in it?¡± ¡°I have seen the way you react to normal food here. If I tell you, you won¡¯t finish it.¡± Patrick eyed the bottle. This hangover was currently worse than death, he¡¯d take his chances as he downed the bottle.
The tonic was a miracle. Within only a few minutes of taking it, Patrick felt the hangover begin to recede and his stomach began to settle. After the ten-minute mark, Patrick felt like he hadn¡¯t even been drinking alcohol the night before and gotten a good night sleep on top of it. ¡°That tonic is amazing!¡± ¡°And expensive. You owe me 15 gold for it. I¡¯ll take it off the balance I owe you once we reach Tyril.¡± Patrick didn¡¯t even question it. He would have paid twice that amount to get rid of the hangover despite still not fully understanding the currency. A quick rummage around the cabinets landed him a few pieces of fruit he had tried the day before, and some cold cuts of meat that he decided he was too hungry to question the origin of. The next person to surface and come upstairs was Ulman, looking incredibly dishevelled. He barely acknowledged Patrick and Svenja as he did his best Grunt impression. He flicked his hand, as spectral hands materialised out of thin air, and began pulling items out of the cabinets. The symphony of hands pulled various fruits, vegetables, and elixirs together, and begun juicing them. Combining them all into a glass, Ulman waved his hand over it as it glowed slightly, before he grimaced and downed the concoction in one. With a sigh, he rubbed his temples. ¡°By the blood of the Ascendants, that was foul. A night I fear I shall not be repeating any time soon. I would have paid an extravagant amount for a Hangover Tonic, yet I believe a Vigor Tonic will do me just fine.¡± ¡°How much does a Hangover Tonic go for?¡± innocently asked Patrick as he watched Svenja. ¡°A good one would go for about 5 gold, but I¡¯d easily have paid double that.¡± Patrick shot a very pointed look at Svenja who just shrugged as if saying ¡®What are you going to do about it?¡¯ and returned to her food. Ulman, who was completely oblivious just continued. ¡°We are less than a day from Tyril, Patrick. I understand Marius¡¯ may be keen on continuing your training today, but if you so wish we can spend some time going over the so called ¡®rules of the city¡¯ should you be so inclined, and mentally capable following the night of extraordinary drinking.¡± Patrick nodded. He would definitely prefer getting a grip on the rules of society of this world and would break up a day of fighting his nemesis, the catapult dummy. ¡°That would be great Ulman. I remember a fair bit from last night but wouldn¡¯t mind going over some of the key points again. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you remember much at all. If my calculations served me correctly, you drank the most apart from Grunt. A fine constitution you have if you can deal with it this well. Be careful however, [Alcoholic] is not a desirable Class.¡± As if hearing his name, Grunt was the next up, and merely filled the sink with chunks of ice and water before dunking his head into it. Patrick smiled, before he realised a minute had passed, then two. He began getting slightly worried that Grunt had drowned himself in the sink, before the water began to rapidly decrease in level as Grunt drank it. Pulling his head out and shaking it like a dog, as everyone took cover to avoid getting drenched further. Grunt nodded at everyone, before taking a whole joint of cooked meat that easily could have fed a family from the cabinet and began eating it like a chicken wing. Finally, about an hour after Patrick had surfaced, Marius entered the room red eyed, and messy haired. Patrick tried to contain a giggle as he saw someone had drawn glasses on Marius¡¯ face, alongside a very prominent lightning scar on his forehead, while Svenja snorted into her bowl that she managed to turn into a somewhat convincing cough. Fleeting memories came back as he remembered Marius had been the first to pass out in the half built blanket fort, as Patrick convinced Ulman to lend him one of his pots of ink. Marius stared at them all suspiciously. ¡°Why are you all looking so fresh? What are you all smiling at?¡± Chapter 10 Marius took the joke as well as could be expected. Well, that¡¯s what Patrick initially thought as he laughed it off. It was only when Patrick was on his hands and knees feeling like he would throw up following intense back-to-back sparring rounds with the dummy that he realised Marius might be taking his revenge for it. ¡°Come on Patrick, a hangover is no excuse to give up in a fight.¡± It wasn¡¯t that Patrick had given up. Marius just hadn¡¯t been giving him anywhere enough time to recover between each fight with the dummy. The day previous he was getting enough time to catch his breath and recharge his second wind, but today Marius was giving him only a moment before reactivating the dummy. There was an ever so slight improvement to his stamina, which was backed up by a review of his attribute scores. [Attributes] Strength: 29 (-5) Vitality: 29 (-5) Endurance: 29 (-5) Intelligence: 14 (-5) Dexterity: 21 (-5) Luck : 23 (-5) His Fatigue and Weakened conditions had lessened by 2 levels, effectively granting him a +2 bonus to all his attributes and effective level. Patrick felt he was hitting a little harder, and able to keep going a little further, however there was only so much his new levels could do to help the fact he was just simply out of shape. Despite this, he was getting better at putting down the dummy. Some of the combinations he had been taught were brutally effective against the novice dummy, and when he had the energy to do so he was able to put it down quickly, but each time when it gone up, it became harder and harder until it became a war of attrition. A glance up showed that Marius was still looking at him, waiting for him to get back to his feet so he could activate the dummy again. He held up a hand pleadingly just wanting another minute to buy some time for his Second Wind to finish recharging. Perhaps it was the Hangover Tonic wearing off, the body shots he had taken from the dummy, or just the sheer amount of exercise but he really wanted to throw up. It was Grunt who saved the day. A deep reverberation echoed across the top deck drawing everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°They want to send us a homecoming escort into Tyril?¡± exclaimed Marius, with a look of surprise on face. A grunt from Grunt. ¡°With a parade being organised in our honour?¡± A grunt. ¡°And they are going to be here within the hour?¡± A grunt. ¡°Stop making Grunt repeat himself.¡± scolded Svenja as Grunt shot her a thankful look. Patrick just looked confused as he gathered himself to his feet. ¡°A parade? For clearing the Dungeon?¡± ¡°Not just clearing the Dungeon Patrick, Worlds First for clearing the Dungeon. It¡¯s the first time in at least a century that a team from Tyril has gotten a ¡®Worlds First¡¯, and we¡¯re bringing home a Wanderer on top of it!¡± danced Marius across the deck. He stopped suddenly with a look of dread on his face. ¡°The airship is a mess. They¡¯ll probably want an interview. We¡¯re all filthy. There¡¯s a bucket of sick in the lounge. Prestige Protocol everyone. GO¡± he barked. Despite a rolling from the eyes of everyone, people snapped into action. Ulman uttered an incantation as the myriad of spectral hands appeared again to begin tidying the deck, throwing rubbish off the airship and tidying the racks of weapons. Svenja grabbed Patrick by the arm and began dragging him down the stairs despite his questions. ¡°What¡¯s Prestige Protocol?¡± ¡°Emergency protocol for when we need to look good. It used to be called ¡®Hidy Not Tidy¡¯, but Marius is obsessed with succinct names. We shower, we look good, we hide the mess, and make ourselves look more composed than we actually are.¡± Ah, similar to rental inspections. Svenja dragged Patrick into the living area where Grunt was busy lifting couches back to where they initially were, or placing them strategically over stains on the ground. ¡°Take care of your sick bucket and the rubbish. They are here in less than an hour. Twenty minutes tidying, then shower and change and be back up on the deck before they get here." Patrick scrambled and began collecting rubbish before realising he didn¡¯t know where the bin was. There was a lot of rubbish, mostly just empty glass bottles from the night before and plates of leftover food. He scraped the leftover food into the bucket from the night before as he looked where to empty it. Noticing his quandary, Grunt just pointed at the window and mimed throwing it out. Without hesitation, he ran over and threw the bucket out the window as it sailed down into the clouds below. Turning around he saw Grunt looking at him in shock. ¡°What?¡± Before Grunt could reply, Ulman rushed down the stairs covered in sweat. ¡°Quick fine chaps, where is the Bucket of Cleaning? We need to wash the deck.¡± Silence followed as Patrick and Grunt looked at each other. ¡°Never mind, we don¡¯t have time. High level spell slots it is!¡±, as Ulman dashed back upstairs. Patrick looked back at Grunt who was staring at him with his mouth open. ¡°Was uh, that Bucket of Cleaning expensive?¡± A very slow nod from Grunt. He grimaced, but a fear of Svenja won out over trying to potentially bribe Grunt. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it. I¡¯ll hide the bottles, and just point me towards the shower.¡± Grunt gestured, and Patrick swept up all the bottles into one of the blankets on the ground, throwing it over his back like a bindle. He staggered back to his room with it and threw the makeshift bindle into the wardrobe before slamming it shut before the wave of bottles could fall back out. He leaned back against the wardrobe, before realising his mistake that he needed a towel and change of clothes from inside. Opening the door a crack, he explored his hand inside before eventually grabbing what was needed and rushing to the bathroom. Running back to the living area, he found the group finalising the touches with cushions on the couch. ¡°Great, you¡¯re here¡± panted Marius. ¡°We have about fifteen minutes before the escort arrives. I want us on the deck looking professional in case they take arcane images or have [Artists] onboard. Everyone shower and change. Patrick, Ulman hasn¡¯t had the chance to brief you on Tyril which is fine. Just act really confused and lean into your Wanderer status.¡± ¡°Arcane images¡­?¡± ¡°Incredible acting. You had me convinced there as well. GO EVERYONE.¡± People began moving again, as Patrick was bundled into the shower room and told to shower first. The door was slammed shut as he quickly stripped off eager for his first shower in what felt like forever, yet the familiar sense of confusion arose when he turned around to stare at plain tiles all around. There wasn¡¯t any indication of where the shower was and was more akin to a prison cell than a shower. There was no shower head, or even taps visible in the room. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. A brief exploration provided no further insight as he experimentally pushed at some of the tiles, and after a moment, Ulman burst into the room already in a state of undress. ¡°Patrick chap, we don¡¯t have time to catch our breath. We need to shower. Aquatus.¡± Jets of hot water seemed to strike at Patrick from all angles, and he felt like he was being washed with several fire hoses. The sheer volume of water was overwhelming as it pummelled him against the wall. Just before the force of the water threatened to take his skin off, it ceased suddenly as he gasped for air looking around bewildered for the next burst of water. Ulman only forced the towel into his hands. ¡°Ten minutes Patrick, move!¡± Drying and dressing himself, he stumbled back up the stairs to the top deck where Marius and Svenja were waiting. It appeared they weren¡¯t stressed at all, looking cleanly dressed and calm. That was until Marius looked at what Patrick was wearing. ¡°Why are you in pyjamas? No, get your dress clothes!¡± Patrick looked down at what he was wearing, and it was just another brown shirt and white trousers. He didn¡¯t even get a chance to respond before Marius continued. ¡°We don¡¯t have time. Svenja, get him dress clothes. I see the ships on the horizon.¡± Svenja bolted back downstairs, dodging Grunt and Ulman who were rushing up. ¡°Patrick, why are you still here? Go with Svenja and change!¡± He was only halfway down the stairs before he bumped into Svenja coming back. She threw a bundle of clothes at him before running past him up the stairs to the others. How is she so quick? A quick change in the kitchen area and toss of the old clothes out the window before Patrick rejoined the rest of the group on the deck. He squinted at the horizon and could now make out the shape of three distinct airships coming towards them at a rapid pace. It was his first time getting a good look at the outside of an airship and was somehow not surprised to see they had similar shapes normal ships from his world, just somehow floated and flew through the air. ¡°Smile and wave, just smile and wave.¡± Marius said as the ships began to get into range.
The three ships pulled up parallel and hovered just outside of range, before a bridge ascended from two of the three airships and connected with theirs. Several individuals in gold and brown trimmed armour crossed the planks before stopping and saluting with their arms across their chests. A guard member in a slightly more detailed outfit stepped forward. ¡°Lord Kent, congratulations to you and your party on a monumental achievement for both your group, and for Tyril. The King sends his finest regards and hopes you will accept his invitation for a celebration to be thrown in your honour.¡± Lord Kent? He needed to ask him about that later. Marius didn¡¯t let it phase him at all. ¡°Of course, we would be delighted to accept, and have a few tales I¡¯m sure you can imagine.¡± ¡°Excellent, Lord Kent.¡± The guard captain coughed slightly. ¡°There is one other matter for you to be aware of.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°The King has commissioned tales of your exploits to be written and performed across all the inns and taverns of Tyril, and has sent someone to take the preliminary stories so the work can be commenced immediately. They have sent the highest level [Bard] who was available in the city¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me it-¡° Before he could finish speaking, the bridge from the third airship dropped, and across the bridge began strolling the most striking, stylish woman that Patrick had ever seen. The woman was tall, with pointed ears like Svenja, with waves of curly blond hair spilling over her shoulders, upon which sat a braided flower tiara. She wore a tight leather vest over a red blouse. The most eye-catching thing about her were the bright violet eyes that lit up as she crossed the deck. ¡°Who is that?¡± Patrick whispered to Svenja. ¡°Marius¡¯ ex, Ava West. They hate each other. This is great.¡± She grinned back. Ava finished crossing the deck until she stood in front of all of them, with a show stopping smile across her face. ¡°Well, bless me by my fiddle and strings. I had no idea when I took this offer that it was you and your group darling. How long has it been? Six months since the tavern incident?¡± Marius for once, was looking flustered as he scrambled for words. ¡°Ava, I, uh hello.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe my little Marius Kent getting a World¡¯s First title. He always was someone who liked coming first¡­¡± as she strolled by Marius touching her hand to his shoulder, and letting it linger as Marius¡¯ mouth opened and closed looking for a response. ¡°Svenja, Ulman, Grunt, I can honestly say a genuine pleasure as always. Congratulations on the achievement. But who is this? A new member? And who might you be darling?¡± She came to a stop in front of Patrick, who swallowed realising she was a few inches taller than him. Her violet eyes staring intently at him as Patrick could have sworn he heard her purring. ¡°I¡¯m Patrick.¡± She grinned and held out her hand. ¡°A pleasure Patrick. Ava West. [Bard]. ¡°Patrick West, sorry, that¡¯s my name haha! Shit sorry, no that¡¯s your name. I¡¯m Patrick Kavanagh. [Brawler]¡± Ulman saved Patrick as it felt like Ava was going to begin coiling around him like a snake. ¡°Ava darling, Patrick is a Wanderer with all of about three days experience in our world under his belt, with a bit of a traumatic start to it.¡± Her eyes widened in surprise. ¡°Now that¡¯s interesting. The Dungeon cycle is already more than half over, and you got here three days ago? Now that¡¯s a story I can sell. How about once we finish up here, we can go downstairs, and you can tell-¡° A grunt from Grunt. ¡°Ugh, don¡¯t you quote the Adventurers Guild code of ethics to me. I¡¯m well aware I can¡¯t take advantage of a Wanderer until they complete training.¡± Ava sighed before clapping her hands. ¡°Right, you lot. I can feel the opportunity to level from this. I understand there may be some hard feelings but let¡¯s be professionals. I¡¯ll tell the best, most accurate, and engrossing story I can with the details you provide me. Any questions? No? Wonderful!¡± Marius only sighed as he directed everyone downstairs and lead the way down deep in conversation with the guard captain, as everyone else followed. Just before they went down however, Patrick felt a tug on his arm as he was pulled to the side by Svenja, Grunt, and Ulman. ¡°It would be a fine shame to let such a betting opportunity pass us by my dear group¡± Ulman whispered mischievously. ¡°Agreed. If we are stuck telling stories to that wretch of a woman we might as well have some fun.¡± agreed Svenja. Grunt grunted. ¡°Sure, what are we thinking?¡± queried Patrick. ¡°A small betting pool. Shall we say 50 gold pieces? I place a wager that by tomorrow morning, Marius¡¯ and Ava will have slept together, with one of them having tried to, or successfully stabbing the other.¡± Ulman put forward as he rubbed his chin. ¡°Deal. I bet they sleep together before we arrive with no violent incidents until Tyril, where we have another Tavern incident.¡± was Svenja¡¯s bet. Grunt put forward his suggestion that Ulman kindly translated. ¡°Grunt says one of them gets thrown out a window after they sleep together.¡± Patrick was flummoxed, each of the previous suggestions all seemed outrageous but he had stopped being surprised, yet still wasn¡¯t able to come up with a possible outcome as he didn¡¯t know them well enough. ¡°Can I just bet they¡¯re not going to sleep together?¡± Everyone booed, and Svenja slapped Patrick on the back of the head. ¡°Boring bet, but it¡¯s a bet. Winner collects.¡± The four of them began walking down the stairs towards whatever lay in wait below. --- It ultimately turned out to be way less exciting than Patrick could have imagined. He imagined that Ava would pull out instruments and begin composing songs then and there, but he was greatly disappointed. Ava sat everyone down in the living area, and rearranged the chairs and tables so she sat opposite everyone. She placed five sheets of paper on the table in front of her, and with a wave of her hand, quills rose from her bag and hovered over each piece of paper. She would go around the group getting them to recall the start of the day when they had discovered the Dungeon. As individuals spoke, the quills began recording what was said on the sheets of paper. After a few moments, one of the quills began glowing, and stopped writing. ¡°Our first inconsistency. Marius, you said you were all on the deck when the Mana Surge was sensed, however Ulman said you came up the stairs when you heard him yelling.¡± ¡°I was downstairs but came up immediately once I heard.¡± Marius said with a scowl. ¡°What were you doing downstairs?¡± ¡°Nothing that needs to be included.¡± ¡°Marius, you know how this process works. I need all the information. If it¡¯s truly not relevant, I won¡¯t include it in the drafts, or the final piece, but I need it to build the story.¡± ¡°He was on the toilet.¡± interjected Svenja, who was visibly growing bored on the couch. Ava laughed, as the quills resumed writing. The story was pieced together slowly from all perspectives, and it revealed a lot of the background to Patrick. The day they had discovered the Dungeon, they were on the way back to Tyril from another the very edge of the Kingdom. They had just cleared another Dungeon there called ¡®Depth of the Deathswamp¡¯, a level 30 Dungeon, the day before. As they were going around one of the mountain ranges, Ulman had sensed a giant Mana Surge somewhere in the range. The thought of a Dungeon hadn¡¯t even crossed their minds. They had thought it was the birth of an Earth Elemental, with Ulman insisting on the detour for research purposes. It was only as they got closer to the source did they realise it was something else. The Mana Surge increased in intensity as they got closer, and the realisation of what had caused it only dawned on them once they saw a section of the mountain had collapsed in on itself revealing a giant stone Dungeon door. The realisation it was a new Dungeon only came when they all received the Quest to clear it and achieve ¡®World¡¯s First¡¯. They were apparently divided on tackling it. Ulman and Svenja were cautious as they were under-resourced for an unfamiliar Dungeon, with the one they had just cleared using a lot of their resources and were of the opinion of finding a nearby Adventurer Guild to restock, and get a fifth member for a full party. Marius and Grunt felt it was an opportunity too good to pass up, as it was within their level range, and they did not have the time to resource at a nearby city and get back without another team potentially finding and clearing it. Confident in their ability, and the allure of a World''s First title being too great, they ultimately decided to take the risk. It had taken a few hours to even reach this point in the story, as Ava would continually back track to ask clarifying questions and get each member of the group to tell their recollection of events. The quill would light up every so often, and Ava would spend time working through the inconsistencies to get the accurate version of events. Ava paused them at the point they had agreed to enter the Dungeon. ¡°Before we go any further, I feel it is a good point to cover two topics. Both are around the details of the Dungeon itself. Firstly, this process requires you to provide me with specifics of the Dungeon, and the challenges within. I have here the standard Bard College Non-Disclosure Agreement. Anything you provide to me for the purpose of this interview will remain privileged information, and no specifics of the Dungeon encounters will be included that would infringe on standard ¡®Dungeon Guide¡¯ agreements.¡± A thick contract thudded onto the table as she said this. It looked to be easily 200 pages or so thick. Patrick felt what he could only describe as a presence emanating off the contract. He knew the answer, he really did, but he closed his eyes as he asked it anyway. ¡°I feel silly for asking this, but is that a magical contract?¡± ¡°Of course it is!¡± Ava laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t feel silly for asking a question like that, people often forget how overwhelming it must be for Wanderers to get their head around our world. This contract essentially requires someone to sign with their true name, and to sign with a genuine intent to follow the contract.¡± ¡°And if someone breaks the contract? Do they die?¡± Everyone laughed at that one. ¡°No Patrick, we¡¯re not barbarians. A breach of the contract would be dealt with by the Magistrates Court in Tyril.¡± That made sense. Patrick wasn''t sure what the others were on about. He found Ava quite pleasant to deal with. The way the others had spoken about her, he had expected something very different. ¡°The second point is that I have been authorised by the Bard College to make an initial offer for the selling of the ¡®Dungeon Guide¡¯. They have asked me to provide their best offer up front as a show of good faith, as they are eager to utilise performances during your celebration to market the guide.¡± A second, thicker contract thudded onto the table, easily twice the size of the previous one. ¡°Mostly standard provisions. The party who completed the Dungeon will receive 7.5% of anything earned from the Dungeon guide, including but not limited to physical copies of the guide, income earned from authorised [Bard] performances, as well as merchandise and licensing.¡± Marius scowled. ¡°And the non-standard provisions?¡± ¡°Your party participate in a tour for the launch of the guide at certain branches of the Bard College across Tyril. I know what you¡¯re about to say, and yes, we know you have a list of Dungeons to complete. The Bard College will work the schedule and locations around your route.¡± Marius closed his mouth after having Ava pre-empt his comment. Ulman cut in ¡°Darling, I do not see a problem with the Non-Disclosure Agreement, however the rights to the guide is one we will have to have a detailed conversation about.¡± as he flicked through the first contract. Ava waved her hand. ¡°Please, take all the time you need. I suggest we slow our arrival to Tyril. We could easily arrive by tonight, however morning would be a better time to arrive. You may also desire to take the evening to discuss the offer I have made. It would also be¡­ pleasant to share a social drink and catch up¡± she added as her eyes lingered on Marius. Marius blushed and turned a shade of red that Patrick didn¡¯t even a person could turn. He did also realise that he more than likely was going to lose the bet he had made with the group. ¡°How about we sign the first contract and get on with the story?¡± stammered Marius. ¡°I did not see anything offensive in this. It is safe to sign.¡± said Ulman as he finished leafing through the non-disclosure agreement. It was passed around alongside a quill as everyone signed it. Patrick was the last to sign it, as he struggled to use a quill for the first time. It was nothing like using a pen, and after a bit of struggle, managed to sign the page. His signature looked like it was done by a child and was even ashamed to see Grunt¡¯s signature was more eloquent than his own. Patrick did also note that Grunt¡¯s name was literally just Grunt. No surname, while the agreement required Patrick to include his own surname. Ava smiled and the quills resumed their places over the parchment ¡°Wonderful! Let¡¯s continue. Now, we left off just as you entered the Dungeon...¡± Chapter 11 The horde of Skeletons were relentless with their hallowed sockets lit by an evil force. The evil force reanimating them as soon as they sense the living appear atop the raised pedestal, surrounded by four unlit braziers. Marius Kent and Grunt worked valiantly to repel the unending forces of the Undead, as Ulman Tennerus and Svenja Whistleshot scanned the room. The sharp eyes of Svenja Whistleshot spotted a large door sealed by four arcane symbols on the far end of the room. The quick mind of Ulman Tennerus put it together in less than a moment, that they needed to light all four braziers to unlock the door. The party moved swiftly to the first brazier, the sound of weapons creating a symphony of violence sending the Undead to their final rest. As they approached, each Skeleton struck down released a burst of red light that swirled around the brazier. As each weapon struck, more light would build until the swirling vortex of power reached its crescendo, and the brazier would light with a crack of thunder that would cause the room to shake. Over at the door, the first of the arcane seals lit up before crumbling away, leaving only three remaining. Marius Kent struck a pose, pointing his longsword at the oncoming tide of Skeletons. ¡°Putting you to rest will grant us egress from this tomb.¡± he declared having not broken a swea- The quills all stopped writing before Marius had even finished the sentence, as he turned to be greeted with raised eyebrows from everyone. Ava put her head in her hands ¡°You didn¡¯t actually say that did you?¡± ¡°He did not. He was extremely sweaty, and he complained that we had to do three more braziers.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not fair Svenja, I said words to those effects and I did point the sword at them!¡± ¡°You point the sword at things when you stab them. It is not the same.¡± Ava interjected ¡°Please, please. As I said before, I need you to tell me exactly what happened. I¡¯m not a two-bit [Bard] hoping to level from half-truths. Give me the truth, and I guarantee I¡¯ll portray it as best I can.¡± Marius grumbled and crossed his arms. ¡°Now, let us continue¡­¡± Skeletons fell, the endless wave of Undead became a sea of decrepit bones as the party moved from brazier to brazier. The evil Undead as if infuriated by the progress increased the intensity of the attacks. This however became their undoing, as our heroic party used the enemy density to their advantage. The Skeletons became nothing more than chaffs of wheat in a field, unable to push forward, being felled by spell, blade, or bow. The forces of undeath had been introduced to our valiant heroes, and their final resting place was night. The fourth brazier lit, causing the room to shake. The wave of red energy swept over the room, scattering the remaining horde of Skeletons. The force knocking them off their feet, as it appeared to suck the necrotic energy from their bones causing them to collapse on the ground. The red energy swelled, scouring the room as if looking for something before it stilled, and with the accuracy of one of Svenja¡¯s arrows flew across the room into the final arcane seal. Silence took over the room¡­ ¡°What are the odds something big comes out of that door that we have to fight?¡± quipped Marius. Grunt wholeheartedly agreed, as he cracked his neck. The door shook. ¡°I fear you are correct, something big is trying to open it.¡± ¡°Svenja, let¡¯s try ¡®Regret The Entry¡¯.¡± Svenja took out arrows from her quiver and shot them into the walls creating an arch around the door. The door trembled again. Again. Again. Svenja furrowed her brows. Her unrivalled [Ranger] senses warning her. ¡°That¡¯s not something trying to open it. That¡¯s something walking towards it.¡± The door blew off its frame, as the Undead Giant who dwarfed even Grunt, roared its challenge across the room. Patrick was thoroughly engrossed in the story. It was the first time the group had discussed in detail with him what the early parts of the Dungeon were like. Apart from Marius trying to provide some memorable quotes, the information flowed naturally as Ava began creating the tale. Patrick leaned forward in anticipation, eager to hear how this fight turned out. He saw that even Ava was biting her lip. Not only was she getting the first full account of the Dungeon, but it was evident she was seeing the gold coins she would be able to pull in from a story like this. ¡°Go on¡­ please tell me how you took down an Undead Giant?¡± as even the quills quivered in anticipation. ¡°It was not very exciting. I detonated the 14 explosive arrows around the door as soon as it burst through, and the arch of the door conveniently collapsed on it pinning it to the door. Grunt took offense to being smaller than it, and chopped at its neck until he beheaded it.¡± Patrick and Ava both deflated at the matter-of-fact summary from Svenja, but Ava just waved her hand for them to continue. After the swift defeat of the Undead Giant, the party moved through the door with haste, entering the labyrinth itself. A hellscape of twists and turns, dead ends, and traps that would consume the very essence of an adventurer should they be triggered, yet they pushed on in the absence of their own [Rogue]. Svenja covered that role as a [Ranger], with her keen eyes and ears alerting the party to the traps that lay ahead. Svenja would use her broad expertise to identify, and disarm the deadly traps. Yet, the foul evil that lurked in the centre of this labyrinth was wise, and closer to the centre left Undead that would aim to trigger the traps themselves should they be alerted to intruders. What was once a stealthy navigation of this labyrinth turned into a dash for survival as the Skeletons themselves sought to bring the roof crumbling down. It was only for the experience of the party themselves that allowed them to continually move forward dodging Soul traps, jets of Necroflame, and pits seemingly to the Hells themselves. The Undead grew unnerved at the rapid pace of the party and increased their efforts to fulfil the evil whims of their Lord. Corpse after corpse threw themselves to their ends either by the hands of the party, or traps of the Dungeon, but it would appear nothing would delay them. Not only were they on track for Worlds First, but a high-end time clear of the Dungeon. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Yet, this Dungeon seemingly had a will of its own. As they turned a corner, they found themselves at where they started, passing the corpse of the Undead Giant, and entering the labyrinth once more. Knowing they must have taken a wrong turn, they pushed forward again, keeping a keen eye out for the wrong turn they had taken. The fodder of the Dungeon apparently replenished, once again facing the same twists and turns, with the traps in seemingly different locations. Cautious yet determined, they pushed on, the Undead seemingly growing even more unnerved at the progress being made. Whispers and moans began permeating the hallway as if to distract them, yet the iron wills of the party were not to be broken. Section, after section was cleared. As they turned a corner, they found themselves at where they started, passing the cor- ¡°How many loops did you have to do? I¡¯ll take the notes for completeness sake but let¡¯s not go through the same details unless there are differences that have to be noted.¡± Ulman pulled out a notebook and parsed through it. ¡°Six different loops. Different traps in different locations each time. Apart from the lamentations of the Undead starting in the second loop, nothing else noted.¡± ¡°Noted.¡± The party looked at each other, and then looked at Patrick, before Marius spoke up. ¡°That¡¯s when we found the new section. A wooden door in front, that we wanted to have a look in for possible treasure, and that¡¯s when we found Patrick.¡± For the first time since the story had started, Patrick felt Ava¡¯s gaze fully rest on him. He hadn¡¯t contributed a word to the story so far, but felt his mouth suddenly go dry. Slowly drinking from a glass of water to gather his thoughts, he went to volunteer his first contribution to the story. ¡°So there I was, stuck in a coffin, kicking and scream-¡° ¡°No, Patrick. Before we get to finish the story I need to know some more about you. I know these four extremely well, so I can describe their deeds. I don¡¯t know anything about you. Tell me who the soon to be famous Wanderer is.¡± Patrick gulped some more water. ¡°I¡¯m Patrick Kavanagh, I¡¯m not sure what else to say. I¡¯m a ¡®Wanderer¡¯ who was thrown so far out of my depth it¡¯s not even funny.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t meant to be a comedic story I¡¯m writing Patrick. Who are you? What are you? Were you a [Soldier]? [Merchant]?¡± ¡°No!¡± Patrick couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°I¡¯m none of those. I was a forensic auditor who would spend their week identifying discrepancies in reports.¡± ¡°Like an [Inquisitor]?¡± ¡°No, not like a- well maybe it could be like that. I don¡¯t know¡± as he flapped his hands. ¡°I worked at least 50 hours a week. Every week was the same. I would meet the same friends in the same pub every Friday night, and then go to my moms for dinner on the weekend. That was my life.¡± ¡°A wife? Kids?¡± ¡°No, nothing serious for a while.¡± ¡°Did you like your life, Patrick?¡± He was stunned by the question, but before he could bite back with a response, he paused. ¡°Of course I liked my life. It was fine.¡± ¡°Only fine?¡± as Ava¡¯s eyes bore into him. ¡°It was a good life. I had a steady job, good income, some good friends, and loving parents.¡± ¡°But it was only fine?¡± Patrick sat back on the couch and sighed. He knew full well what Ava was getting at, and it needled him that she was able to get to the point so quickly, considering it took Patrick years to come to the same realisation. A long silence followed, as Patrick realised everyone was staring at him waiting for him to answer. He leant forward and put his head in his hands, before releasing a big breath. ¡°It was fine, but I always felt like I was doing the minimum. I was always the ¡®reliable guy¡¯. I never stood out, but I did my job, and no one had complaints. I was never the popular guy but was good in a group setting. I would shy away from relationships because they might have been a distraction, but a distraction from what? The monotony of life?. I would ¡®work, eat, drink, sleep, and repeat¡¯, and it was fine.¡± At some point tears had begun to form in his eyes as he hastily wiped them away. ¡°But you wanted more?¡± ¡°I wanted the idea of more, but I didn¡¯t want to risk the only thing I had going which was being ¡®Mister Reliable, and two thoughts that had sprung to mind when I saw the car about to hit me was both relief, and regret. Relief that I wouldn¡¯t have to go to work on Monday, and regret that the eulogy at my funeral would be that he was an ¡®alright guy¡¯.¡± Ava sat back and put a finger to her lips before she asked her next question. ¡°But now here you are, with a Worlds First title within your first few hours in this world Patrick. How does that make you feel?¡± ¡°Like a fraud. I got dropped into a Dungeon just as the party found me. I was useless in there. I couldn¡¯t even swing a sword properly. I only survived due to the items the party provided me.¡± Grunt grunted. ¡°Grunt is correct, Patrick. You were the one that saved us from the Lord of Rot and Decay. We wouldn¡¯t be here if it wasn¡¯t for you.¡± murmured Marius ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the Whistle you mean? I got lucky. That¡¯s it.¡± ¡°I fear you are leaving out quite an important part, Patrick.¡± ¡°What Ulman?¡± ¡°You unlocked an Aspect in the Dungeon.¡± The shock to Ava was so great that she fell out of her chair, breaking concentration on whatever Skill was animating the quills as they all dropped to the table. She quickly tried to compose herself, but for the first time since Patrick had met her, she had appeared to lose whatever professional polish she had. ¡°An Aspect? Within hours of entering this world? At your level? Please you must tell me everything.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have it anymore. I can¡¯t access it since the Whistle expired.¡± ¡°That just means it has a level requirement, but if you have already satisfied the requirements of it, you¡¯ll be able to access it by level 30 at the latest. Incredible, please continue.¡± Patrick recapped what had happened in the Dungeon, how he had felt a pressure forming in his mind as he watched the party operate, and how he began to understand how they moved an operated. He explained how once he saw the Dungeon Boss moving in and out of shadows in a pattern, the pressure reached its climax, which was only released once he got the boost from the Whistle. ¡°Remarkable¡± Ava breathed out. ¡°I know exactly how to write you in this story. Patrick please, your tale may become one of its own. I do not recall an instance of a Wanderer having such success so early on in their time here. Your name will be coveted by many groups.¡± Finally having regained her full composure, she brought the group back to the task at hand, as they finished recapping the Dungeon, with Ava placing a heavy spotlight on Patrick as he tried to recall specifics of the fight with the Dungeon Boss. What felt like hours later, Ava drew them to a close, as the piles of paper rose and sorted themselves in the air and returned to her bag. ¡°I believe that is all I need for today. I will review these overnight, and I may have some final questions in the morning, but this should be enough to compose enough stories and ballads for the celebration. Now, shall we have some drinks and converse a little more casually?¡±
This night of drinking was a lot tamer than the previous one. They had moved up to the top deck of the airship, where a distant glow on the horizon was pointed out to Patrick. He stood on the deck of the airship with Svenja, Grunt, and Ulman, while Marius and Ava were in deep conversation on the other side. ¡°That¡¯s Tyril there. We¡¯re moored a few hours out, and should arrive there first thing in the morning.¡± Ulman advised. ¡°Is it a big city?¡± ¡°About four million citizens.¡± Patrick whistled impressed, almost the population of Ireland. He glanced over his shoulder at Marius and Ava, and lowered his voice. ¡°They seem to be getting on quite well. What happened with Ava? I thought she was quite nice earlier.¡± ¡°Wretched woman.¡± grumbled Svenja. ¡°She is quite, I believe the term is, ¡®bitch¡¯¡± agreed Ulman. A grunt from Grunt. Ulman gasped ¡°Grunt! That is quite a step too far even considering our dislike for the woman¡± as Grunt held up his hands apologetically. Patrick glanced back over, and only saw Marius and Ava laughing and smiling. He saw her hand resting on the knee of Marius as she threw her head back and laughed at something he had said. A moment later he saw her excuse herself and go downstairs. Marius took a moment to watch her walk away, before he came over and rejoined the group. ¡°What a wonderful evening. I fear I won¡¯t be able to sleep tomorrow due to the excitement of our arrival.¡± Svenja placed her arm on Marius¡¯ shoulder in a rare case of compassion. ¡°Marius, you must be careful. We don¡¯t want you hurt again.¡± Marius grimaced, before nodding. ¡°I have learned from the last time. I could sleep with her tonight, but I won¡¯t. I think she has changed, she is here only as a friend.¡± Everyone looked at each other, not believing a word of what Marius had said. Patrick stifled a yawn. ¡°Patrick my fine chap, it has been a long few days for you, and you still have both conditions. You did not get a fine night sleep last night, so I recommend we all call it early this evening so we are fresh for tomorrow. Everyone nodded in agreement with Ulman. ¡°I¡¯ll finish this last drink with Ava, and then I¡¯ll go to bed.¡± Marius promised. More uncertain looks but no one raised their thoughts on the matter. As the party descended down the stairs, the only thing spoken was Svenja grumbling ¡°I think my bet is on track. We¡¯re headed towards another tavern incident. Individuals went to their rooms, and as Patrick got into bed, he waited for sleep to overcome him, but his mind ran. He was tired, but every time he closed his eyes, he thought back to the questions Ava had been asking him, and the answers he had given. Did he truly want to be ¡®Mister Reliable¡¯ forever? Or did he want something more? His thoughts ran. Was he truly happy back at home? Or was he just content? His employer would be concerned at the fact he didn¡¯t turn up to work, but they would just consider he abandoned his employment. They would replace him after a number of weeks, and while there might be some concern at a personal level, they would just treat it as a personnel issue. Patrick could almost hear his mom chatting away to him as if he was sitting at the kitchen counter at her home. Grief overtook him for a moment at the thought of how scared she must be that he didn¡¯t turn up for dinner on the weekend, or the fact he might have disappeared completely. She would be beside herself. Sighing, he got out of bed to retrieve the copy of Amelia Earhart¡¯s book. The one sentence stood out to him from the introduction. It is rumoured to be possible to get home, yet it requires achieving a level only known as Ascendance, which is the highest possible level one can achieve. Once this is reached, it is allegedly possible to navigate the Nexus itself and successfully return home. He felt the resolve settle over him. He would get home. He would level until he reached the level known only as Ascendance. Feeling a sense of calm with the resolution, he went to go upstairs to get some water before getting back into bed before trying to sleep. Just before he reached the door at the top of the stairs to the living space, he overheard two voices talking. ¡°¡­ where you will need to tell him Marius. He is too low level to travel with you.¡± ¡°Ava, I know. It isn¡¯t the time to tell him. We need to get him acclimatised and settled first before having that conversation.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll watch out for him in Tyril for you, however you¡¯ll need to tell him soon. One of the first questions you¡¯ll be asked is when you will be departing to travel to your next Dungeon, and he needs to know he won¡¯t be going with you. Let him know that I¡¯ll take care of him¡± The voices dropped to murmurs that Patrick couldn¡¯t make out, but at that point he didn¡¯t care to listen anymore. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t have been going into Dungeons with them until he was a similar level to them, but it stung knowing they were planning on leaving him in Tyril in the immediate future. His desire for water forgotten, he crept back down the stairs to get into bed, where he lay looking at the ceiling until Ulman knocked on his door announcing that they were coming in to land at Tyril. Chapter 12 Tyril was far beyond what Patrick could even have begun to imagine. Even after trying to manage his expectations, he still found his mouth open as they approached the capital city. Initially from a distance, he thought the city was merely near the bottom of a mountain. It spread out and around the base of the mountain until it reached the shores of a giant lake, however as they approached closer it became evident that he was wrong. The disappointment he felt following the conversation he had overheard the night before was forgotten as he struggled to take in the view ahead of him. The sheer scale of Tyril was difficult for Patrick to comprehend. Tyril wasn¡¯t based around the mountain. It was the mountain. A large section of the face of the mountain was hollowed out, with a city constructed from polished white stone built up and into it. Beautiful, curved roads spiraled up through, and into it. Gigantic arches and pillars framed the different levels of the city. As they drew even closer, the top of the mountain was revealed to have been replaced by a pristine white building in the shape of a cone. The light from the sun caused the city to shine in the morning light, reflecting its image onto the lake at its base. Boats filled a harbour in the lake where activity even from this height was visible, as crowds of people were working to unload the ships. The airships that had been accompanying them broke off and headed towards a section halfway up the mountain that had a large platform jutting out for airships to land. He was broken out of his stupor by someone elbowing him in the side, as he turned to see Ava beside him grinning. ¡°What do you think?¡± Patrick didn¡¯t even know how to begin to respond as he struggled to find the words. ¡°It¡¯s... it¡¯s incredible. The city is built into a mountain. It¡¯s incredible.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to blow your mind any further, but this isn¡¯t even the whole city. The rest of it is inside and under the mountain.¡± She laughed at his reaction before continuing. ¡°It¡¯s an old Dwarven city. It fell to the Demons about 6000 years ago before it was reclaimed by a crusade by Raghan Tyril, who became its first [King]. The Dwarves of this land pledged allegiance to him, and they live in their original part of the city in the mountain.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a city IN the mountain?¡± ¡°And underneath, best keep up Patrick, you¡¯ll see many more things today that you would never have imagined.¡± Instead of following the other airships to the skydock, the airship circled over the lake, as the crowd at the dock underneath grew. Details of the crowd were difficult to make out, but there were thousands of people gathering at the dock. As the ship continued to circle, the crowd continued to swell, with streams of people continuing to move towards it. A sharp squawk made everyone flinch, before a huge purple feathered bird over the ship causing Patrick to duck to everyone¡¯s laughter. The bird was easily twice the size of Grunt, and Patrick had no doubts that it would have been able to carry him off in its talons if it so wished. The beats alone from its wings reverberated through the air like thunder, as the feathers on its wings crackled with lightning. Patrick saw as it rose up into the air, its feathers seemed to emit a burst of light, before it shot at a speed far greater than any plane Patrick had ever seen, leaving a faint smell of ozone in its wake. Ava placed her hand on his shoulder. ¡°Relax, Patrick. That¡¯s Vinti. It¡¯s one of the Guardians of Tyril.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a Herald Roc my fellow.¡± volunteered Ulman. ¡°It¡¯s the largest of its kind, and incredibly intelligent creatures. Vinti here, is the one of the four Guardians of Tyril, and answers only to the [King]. It is quite an honour for him to acknowledge us like that. ¡°I have so many questions I don¡¯t even know where to start. What are the other Guardians?¡± ¡°Who, not what, Patrick. The Guardians are all intelligent beings, some of whom take disrespect quite seriously. Vinti, who we have had the pleasure of greeting us is the Guardian of Air. Kraxus, is a Kraken who guards the waterways. You will often see or hear sailors talk about their tithes to him. Graaton is a Domitus Stalker who guards the land. I know that face. Please imagine a wolf five to six times of a normal wolf but can go invisible and shadow walk.¡± ¡°What about the fourth Guardian?¡± ¡°Bastion. Potentially one of the oldest Earth Elementals in existence. Simply put, Bastion is both a Guardian, but in a metaphorical sense is the mountain. Highly revered by the Dwarves, but extraordinarily rare to see or hear.¡± Before Patrick could ask any more questions, fireworks began below. ¡°Ah, I believe this is our queue to land.¡±
The airship touched down on the water to the thunderous cheers of the crowd, the rocking motion causing Patrick to grab a hold of the handrail to steady himself. Ava was fussing around everyone fixing their clothes and hair. ¡°Alright everyone. Present yourselves the best way you can. There¡¯ll be stories in the papers tomorrow about this, and I¡¯m sure plenty of arcane images will be taken. Don¡¯t disclose specifics of the Dungeon, don¡¯t let anyone unethical [Journalist] or [Bard] get you alone for questioning, and for the love of the [King], Patrick please close your mouth.¡± The crowds cheering reached a new crescendo. ¡°Is the [King] going to be here?¡± asked Patrick sweating slightly. Marius coughed. ¡°No, highly unlikely. It¡¯s a long story, but to be brief, while the [King] may physically be here, he is often elsewhere.¡± Patrick nodded. ¡°My grandfather was like that before he passed. I get it.¡± ¡°No, not like that Patrick. The [King] is not senile. He is one of the highest leveled individuals in the world. He is often in conference with others of his level sharing knowledge of the Nexus in preparation for Ascension, or preventing unsavory individuals claiming Domains. This will all be explained in your Wanderer 101 class in the Adventurers Guild over the coming weeks.¡± The memory of the conversation he had overheard last night came back, and he bit back a response before just nodding his head. The airship moved up beside the dock, as the crowd of people reached as far as Patrick could see. Tens of thousands now seemed to be gathered and cheering. A ramp was moved up to the side of the airship, as a small entourage waited on the dock to board. The leader of this entourage was an elderly woman, extremely short in stature, probably only three feet tall wearing finely made silver robes. She had grey hair that was braided and tied into a bun. Her face had soft delicate features, that were marred only by a scar across her lower jaw. Patrick ruled out Dwarf in his head, and guessed from his limited fantasy knowledge that she was either a Gnome or a Halfling. She moved up the ramp and paused at the top to turn to the crowd and wave to their applause. Ava leaned into Patrick as this was happening. ¡°Kanita Lat. [Royal Advisor]. She essentially runs the Kingdom when the [King] cannot. Universally loved by the people, and universally feared by those that actually know her.¡± Kanita boarded the ship and turned to face the group. She eyed them with a serious expression on her face, with her gaze lingering on Patrick for a pause longer than everyone else. Patrick felt something in her gaze as it felt like pressure washed over him. Her grey eyes seemed to pierce right through him, as the pressure heightened, before disappearing as suddenly as it appeared as she looked back to the group. The serious expression vanished and was replaced with a smile. ¡°The Kingdom of Tyril welcomes its heroes home. I wish I could say the Guardians bless you, but it appears Vinti has stolen my thunder.¡± Everyone bowed as she spoke, with Patrick a split second behind, having not expected it. ¡°Please, please. The heroes of Tyril need not bow. We shall spare no expense to celebrate your deeds, and ensure your names go down in the annals of history. Names of which I know the most of, yet one I do not. The initial reports indicated you are a Wanderer. The reports did mention your name, yet I wish to ask you personally.¡± Marius bowed again. ¡°Your kind words are graciously heard, Lady Lat. This is-¡° ¡°Unless he is mute, he may introduce himself Lord Kent.¡± Kanita spoke over Marius. Her voice never raised, however it seemed to cut across the deck. Marius chastised, only bowed his head in response. The grey eyes of Kanita turned back towards Patrick. The pressure he had felt previously did not return, however a shiver went up his spine at the predatorial look he saw in her eyes. He coughed to clear his throat as his mind ran at the options of how he would respond. ¡°Thank you Lady Lat.¡± he started after considering how Marius had responded to her. ¡°The reports are correct that I am a Wanderer, only a few days in this world. It is my understanding that there is a lot to unravel from that, but I am grateful that it was this group who found me and supported me since. The generosity of Tyril honours me, and I hope to be able to return it in time.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. He had hoped that the manner in which he would have spoken to a judge back on earth would suit here and was happy to see the flattery worked as the corner of her lips lifted in a brief smile. ¡°I have no doubt that you will be a boon to Tyril, and whilst we understand this is not your home, you are welcomed to it as if it were.¡± Kanita turned back to the group. ¡°Now then, there will be a procession through the lower city. There will be no detours, as you will head straight to the Adventurers Guild building just beyond the first gate.¡± Kanita paused for a moment before she looked at Ava. ¡°I believe you have notes that you should be delivering to the Bard Guild prior to tonight?¡± Patrick could have sworn he saw a bead of sweat run-down Ava¡¯s face as she bowed and hurried off the ship. The crowd¡¯s cheer rose, before falling as they realized she was not part of the adventuring party. ¡°Now then, from there you will pose for a moment for arcane images, and we have hand selected some junior adventurers and children to meet with you for the arcane images, following which one of the cable carriages will take you directly to the middle gate. You will proceed to the Adventurers Academy for further arcane images, before finally a second cable carriage will take you to the top gate. You are invited to a feast at the palace tonight, and you shall have the remaining time to freshen up prior to this. New clothes shall be waiting in your rooms. Any questions?¡± Patrick had many, many questions, however he took his queue from everyone else as they shook their heads. ¡°Excellent. Please proceed to the carriage below.¡± Kanita stood to the side and gestured for the party to disembark. Patrick fell in behind Svenja as they got ready to leave. They reached the top of the ramp and the roar of the crowd almost forced Patrick back a step. The collective cheering of tens of thousands of people almost deafened him, as his legs wobbled at the size of the crowd. The five of them stood atop the ramp in front of the excited crowd, before a guard at the bottom gestured towards a waiting carriage. Stepping into the carriage, Patrick was pleased to see that everyone apart from Marius was looking slightly awkward. Even Svenja didn¡¯t have her trademark scowl on her face, as Patrick saw her hands twitching as if wanting to reach for her bow for comfort. As they sat down in the carriage, Patrick had the opportunity to look at the races in the crowd. A number stood out as ones he recognized, and with a number he could make strong guesses as to what they were. He saw short stocky individuals with big beards that he imagined were dwarves, and muscular tall green figures with tusks that he imagined were Orcs. A number he did not recognize at all. There were individuals that looked human but had animal characteristics. He had to do a double take when he saw a girl with cat ears and a tail. There were others that looked like giant bipedal lizards of differing colours, and others that looked like human shaped birds. There were even humanoid shaped figures that merely seemed to be formed out of solid stone, although they were far and in between. The carriage started with a jolt, but as he looked around, Patrick couldn¡¯t see what was pulling the carriage. It seemed to be moving of its own volition, and nothing was pulling, or steering it. Resigned to the fact that it was simply magic and that he would get the answers another time, he tried to do his best to emulate what the others were doing and waving out to the crowd. They moved at a pace slightly faster than a job, with the crowd parting before them to let them by without letting up the cheering. The carriage followed the main road as it entered the city for the first time. The buildings on the outskirts of the city weren¡¯t made from stone like it appeared from the air, but from wood. This appeared to be the lower income area of the city, with the buildings slightly run down, yet still incredibly vibrant and lively. They passed by several businesses that were open and proudly displaying their wares, with individuals hawking their goods outside trying to take advantage of the crowds. There were a number of taverns open that were displaying signs for reduced drink prices, with [Innkeepers] cooking food outside trying to entice the crowd in. The smell of spiced and fried food wafted through the air causing Patrick¡¯s stomach to rumble as he remembered he didn¡¯t have breakfast that morning. Several blacksmiths lined the road, the heavy banging of hammer on metal heard faintly over the cheers of the crowd. [Bards] and [Minstrels] were placed throughout the crowd playing music in an attempt to earn some coins. ¡°This is Docktown.¡± yelled Ulman unsuccessfully over the roar of the crowd to Patrick. ¡°No, I can wait for food.¡± Patrick yelled back, as Ulman smiled and gave him a thumbs up. They continued without stopping. The crowd continued to line the streets, and even the windows of all the buildings seemed to be open as people hung out the windows to cheer and wave. Every now and then, someone would get too brave and try get closer to the carriage but were swiftly pushed back by the guards that were accompanying them. At some points, individuals even tried to charge towards the carriage either as a fan, or threat, but were brutally taken down by the guards and dragged off. As the road began to incline, Patrick realized they were making their way to what Kanita had called the first gate. A giant stone wall appeared in front of them wrapping its way around the mountain, with a large arch made of the same polished white stone that was visible from the air. It was shut by a giant portcullis that slowly began to rise as they approached. The sound of trumpets echoed as they approached and moved through, as the crowd that was following the carriage hung back. They were greeted by a second crowd, slightly smaller but still filling the streets. These buildings were slightly better kept than the ones in Docktown, with more being made of stone and brick than wood. The citizens seemed slightly better dressed as well, with some flaunting some brighter, vibrant colours. ¡°Lower District.¡± yelled Ulman. ¡°Yes, I only have the one pair.¡± Patrick yelled back again nodding.
The carriage finally began to slow once they reached a large, gated compound. Huge stone walls circled a four-story building made of white stone. The crowd parted to let them through the gates, where they entered a quiet compound. The courtyard was reminiscent of the top deck of the airship, as training dummies were dotted throughout, alongside weapon racks filled with different manners of training weapons. The sound of the crowd faded as the gates closed as the carriage came to a stop in the middle of the courtyard. Another group was waiting for them in the courtyard of about thirty individuals. They were comprised of older, seasoned looking individuals, young adults, alongside a group of parents holding young infants. Kanita was the first out of the carriage, as she hopped down to walk over to the group and cooed over the children. ¡°What beautiful children! It reminds me of my own back in the day, I could almost cry. Hello precious!¡± as she moved over to a pair of bipedal lizard parents. The child they held in Patrick¡¯s opinion was anything but precious, especially when its tongue flicked out to lick its own eye. Kanita had already mingled with everyone by the time the rest of them had disembarked, and they were greeted by an older Orc man at the carriage. He was tall, easily a foot taller than Patrick and far broader at the shoulder. The Orc had a face covered in scars, with two tusks emerging from his lower jaw, one of which was snapped at the tip. ¡°It is with great pleasure I welcome you back to the Adventurers Guild of Tyril.¡± his voice rumbled. ¡°Guild Master Gorruk, we are honoured to be back.¡± smoothly replied Marius as he bowed his head. Gorruk laughed. ¡°No need for further pleasantries Lord Kent. You have a tight schedule to keep as the missive from Lady Kanita provided. We shall not delay here, but you will visit when you have time, will you not?¡± ¡°We would be more than happy to spend time here over the coming days Guild Master.¡± Marius pulled Patrick up beside him. ¡°We will need to register our friend here, Patrick. He was part of the group, but it¡¯s complicated. He¡¯s a Wanderer that appeared in the Dungeon. He¡¯s unregistered, but I hope an exception can be made for this to go on his record despite the fact he¡¯s unregistered.¡± Gorruk frowned and looked Patrick, his tusks protruding further from his lips. ¡°That is some exception to be made, but one I¡¯m sure we can accommodate if he registers with us as soon as possible. Wanderer, are you planning on registering with us?¡± ¡°I mean, I guess so? I was sort of just tol-¡° ¡°He¡¯ll register Gorruk, it won¡¯t be a problem.¡± Marius cut in seeing Gorruk¡¯s frown deepen at the non-committal answer. ¡°Then it should be fine Lord Kent. Be here tomorrow for registration, and do not forget to register him at the Academy.¡± Resentment rose up again in Patrick hearing this. Why are they making all my decisions for me? Before his thoughts could go any further, Kanita had circled back. ¡°Guild Master Gorruk, I apologise but we have a schedule to keep.¡± ¡°Of course, Lady Lat, please know the Adventurers Guild is available to any needs you may have.¡± as he bowed and stepped back. Katina clicked her fingers, and two identical female half-elves stepped forward holding glowing bright orbs. They began stepping in and position the group, before looking at the angle of the suns in the sky, before repositioning them. They each held up the orbs which flashed brightly causing Patrick to blink, before they examined the orbs. ¡°He blinked. Again¡± they spoke in unison. The twins took more arcane images, before one began rotating in some of the families. Flash. Flash. Flash. Patrick found himself holding a child, but before he could protest there were more flashes as arcane images were taken. Finally, some of the young adventurers were brought in. Most of them seemed extremely nervous and abashed when briefly being introduced to the group, with a young female Orc staring up at Grunt with her mouth open as the twins fixed the position of everyone. Flash. Flash. Flash. A large human male was moved between Patrick and Marius. The man was tall but seemed quite young, potentially only late teens. He had short cropped brown hair with a bent nose, wearing polished plate mail with two axes slung across his back. He looked at Patrick and sneered, before looking at Marius and sniffing. ¡°Cousin.¡± ¡°Jax.¡± Flash. Flash. Flash. As soon as the photos were taken, Jax moved immediately back to the group of individuals he had been chatting with previously. ¡°What a prick.¡± Patrick heard Marius mutter. ¡°Your cousin?¡± ¡°Unfortunately.¡± Katina clapped her hands to get everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°That¡¯s all the time we have. Thank you to our young Adventurers, and gorgeous future Adventurers for making the time for us, but we shall be back soon! I believe Guild Master Gorruk has graciously organized the cable carriage.¡± Gorruk bowed and began moving to the side of the complex where a large, metallic carriage was on the ground connected to a rope line that went further up into the city. Why didn¡¯t I put it together that they were talking about cable cars? Katina ushered them in, before sliding the door closed. Marius coughed before speaking. ¡°I say this with all respect Lady Lat, but Jax? Of all people?¡± ¡°Your cousin is number one in the dueling circuit for both his age and level range, Marius. A lot has changed since you left to tour the Dungeons. Your family decided it would be beneficial for him to be here. I believe as of this morning, they have requested him to be accepted early into the Academy, commencing at the next intake.¡± Marius groaned, which was echoed by the cable carriage as it began moving. Patrick went to ask why, before considering it may not be wise with Katina in the cable carriage with them. ¡°Ask the question Patrick. Consider the fact I know what you¡¯re thinking, and it is best to just ask it.¡± Katina said with a smile. ¡°Alright, what¡¯s the problem with Jax being in the next intake?¡± Silence followed before Katina spoke. ¡°Marius, tell him considering I know what you want to say, and it¡¯s best you tell him.¡± With a sigh, Marius ran his hand through his hair. ¡°Jax is simply a begrudger. He has had everything given to him on a mithril platter, and despises those with achievements above his own. He¡¯s vain, a bully, and incapable of any form of empathy.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s the problem with him being in the intake for the Adventuring Academy?¡± ¡°It¡¯s something I¡¯ve been meaning to speak with you about, and I apologise for saying it in front of Gorruk, but you¡¯ll also need to register for the Academy. You have to trust me it¡¯ll be beneficial.¡± ¡°Ah, I think I knew that would happen. ¡°It also means he¡¯ll more than likely be in the same class as you.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°And it means more than likely he¡¯ll try make your life difficult.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°And intake starts in about a week, which is the same time we might need to head off to the next Dungeon, so we won¡¯t be around to support you directly. I promise we¡¯ll make sure there¡¯s someone keeping an eye out, but we only have a week to get you ready.¡± The cable carriage screeched to a halt outside the Adventuring Academy. Ah. Shit. Chapter 13 The cable carriage ground to a halt outside the Adventuring Academy. Kanita ushered everyone out with a wave of her hands as they gathered before the archway into the Academy. Patrick stared up at one of the most impressive buildings he had ever seen. He was nudged forward by Svenja as he realized the group had begun walking through the archway. Trying to push the information about Jax out of his head, he followed through, before almost falling over himself. Instead of walking through to find himself in a courtyard, he found himself at the apex of what seemed like a giant university from his home. Patrick backpedalled through the archway, and confirmed there was not the space for a whole university campus on the far side of the wall, before returning through the archway to confirm that there was in fact a giant university campus. He looked at Ulman in shock who just nodded. ¡°Dimensional Expansion magic.¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s... bigger on the inside!¡± ¡°A novel way to put it but inherently correct.¡± Before any further explanation could be provided, they were greeted by an awaiting assembly. The group was led by a tall, broad shouldered stern looking woman. She wore simple brown robes that would have seemed more in place at the docks than this high up the mountain. She was joined by a short bespectacled human man with hair that seemed to stand in all directions, and a heavily armoured male dwarf with a finely braided beard. They all bowed as the woman spoke. ¡°I welcome you all to the Academy, both returning and new. Our halls welcome back those it has raised.¡± ¡°Headmistress Shrath, we are honoured to return displaying the outcome of your tutelage.¡± Marius responded with a bow. Headmistress Shrath cast her eye over the group, and Patrick got the distinct impression that this woman was someone who when they said something, others would do it. He even saw out of the corner of his eye Grunt and Svenja straighten their backs as she looked at them. ¡°Allow me to introduce you to Harrigus Tick, our current department head for Wanderer Studies and Social Supports.¡± The short man jumped at the sound of his name as he twitched nervously as he nodded to the group. ¡°And Thod Stoneborne, current department head for Combat Training and Dungeon Mechanics.¡± The Dwarven man just grunted and nod. ¡°Excellent.¡± Kanita clapped her hands. ¡°We would like to introduce you to Patrick Kavanagh, a Wanderer who has only just arrived, and a claimant of the World¡¯s First title.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve read the reports.¡± A tense moment followed as something went unsaid between Kanita and Headmistress Shrath. ¡°.. and we shall welcome him to the Academy.¡± As that was said, an invisible breath seemed to leave everyone. Kanita smiled. ¡°Wonderful, now I am afraid we are on a tight schedule-¡° ¡°Lady Kanita, it would be the honour of the Adventuring Academy for our group of heroes to stay a moment and observe the final qualifying round for the upcoming tournament. The two competitors have both just reached their Level 30 milestone. We have asked the contestants to wait for your arrival.¡± The collective breath that had been let out seemed to suddenly be inhaled again. Patrick was getting the impression there was something more implied by exchange. Kanita¡¯s smile thinned. ¡°It would be an honour for us to observe the final qualifying round Headmistress Shrath.¡± Marius quickly interposed himself into the conversation. ¡°Please, lead the way.¡± Shrath bowed and gestured for the group to follow. Patrick fell in behind Ulman, and whispered ¡°What was that about? You could cut the tension with a knife.¡± ¡°Politics my fellow. Shrath runs an incredibly tight ship here and was not happy by all accounts of accepting you to the Academy without going through any of the trials.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s wrong with us staying and watching the fight?¡± ¡°The optics of it. I¡¯m sure one of the combatants is a favourite of Shrath¡¯s for the tournament. Having us watch the fight, and have arcane images taken of us watching, will raise the profile of the combatant significantly.¡± ¡°Ah. I see.¡± ¡°The issue is Shrath has now gotten one over on Kanita. Kanita won¡¯t act overtly against her considering Shrath¡¯s position and status, however there will be retaliation, and so Shrath must believe strongly in the candidate for some reason.¡± ¡°She mentioned the level 30 milestone. Is that a big one?¡± ¡°Very much so. Level 30 is generally the point where you become a true Adventurer, as a significant number of Dungeons open for you. At that point, most have chosen their specialisations in both their Skills, and potential role in a party. It should be an exciting bout.¡± As they reached the far end of the apex, the green fields turned to tiled stone containing a large arena. A crowd had already gathered, that parted before them. ¡°Good afternoon, everyone. We are honoured by the attendance of the Tyril team who are the first Tyril team to achieve a World¡¯s First in well over a century. They are here to watch the bout between Hexil Cydan, and Kalor Pruth.¡± The crowd cheered and began stamping their feet as they began chanting Hexil¡¯s name. ¡°I take it that¡¯s the favourite?¡± Patrick asked Ulman. ¡°Quite so. I do vaguely recall the name. A [Spellsword] of some renown, although the name of his opponent is one that escapes me. There, that is Hexil.¡± A figure emerged from the crowd, slight and wrapped in a dark robe. A discrete longsword hung at his side. ¡°That must be Kalor Pruth.¡± Ulman said nodding towards the other side of the arena where another figure emerged. The second figure shuffled out into the arena, before stumbling and falling to his knees. It explained the extremely dirty and ragged tunic he wore. From the looks of him, he hadn¡¯t bathed in a week. ¡°Is... is he alright?¡± queried Patrick. Marius strolled over as Patrick spoke. ¡°Oh, he¡¯s fine alright. Kalor was the year behind me when I was in the Academy. He is very¡­ irregular, and as a result is now an Irregular. The last I heard, he naturally evolved his Class into [Drunken Druid].¡± Patrick stared at Marius who just shrugged. ¡°Look, it is what it is. The guy is a savant when it comes to druidcraft and is of the belief that inebriating himself brings him closer to the source of his power. His ¡®beliefs¡¯ disqualified him from formally being assigned to a licensed Adventurers Group, which is why he is pursuing the Duelling circuit.¡± ¡°I¡¯m understanding maybe a third of that.¡± ¡°Which part?¡± ¡°He likes to drink. The rest¡­ Wanderer remember?¡± Marius laughed. ¡°Correct. Long story short, when you graduate from the Academy, you get licensed to be a part of a party, which earns you the ability to earn reputation with the Guild. You have an all-rounded skillset and can play well with others. Others, become Irregulars. They either don¡¯t play well with others, or spec into incredibly niche or situational skill sets which makes them a challenge to have in a party. The best way to earn money with those is doing the Duelling circuits, and when it¡¯s wartime, you might only be deployed into very situational operations.¡± ¡°I get [Drunken Druid] being niche, but Hexil being a [Spellsword] sounds like it would fit into a party pretty well?¡± ¡°Just watch. You¡¯ll see.¡± Headmistress Shrath took this moment to address the crowd, her voice booming, having been amplified by magic. ¡°Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the final bout to qualify for the Kings Tournament. The tournament that was requested to be hosted in celebration of our own achieving World¡¯s First and honour us by attending.¡± She paused, waiting for the applause to die down. ¡°The tournament is for us?¡± hissed Svenja. ¡°Marius, please don¡¯t tell me we need to attend the fights.¡± Marius could only shrug in response. ¡°I didn¡¯t know it was for us either!¡± Shrath continued. ¡°Two of our... stand out students shall be competing today, both on the cusp of their graduation, and just having achieved their Level 30 milestone.¡± She held up her hand to pause the applause. ¡°Hexil Cydan, Level 30 [Spellsword]. Currently ranked first in the Duelling rankings for his year. Holding a formal duelling record of 14 wins, and 0 losses.¡± Hexil walked to his starting point with only a nod to the crowd. ¡°Kalor Pruth, Level 30 [Drunken Druid]. Currently ranked third in the Duelling rankings for his year. Holding a formal duelling record of 26 wins, and 3 losses. He has thankfully showed up relatively sober this time.¡± Kalor stumbled forward as the crowd laughed. ¡°Duellists, it is until incapacitation or forfeit. No deliberate killings blows. Do not disappoint me.¡± Patrick looked at Marius. ¡°No deliberate killing blows?!¡± Before he could get a response, a whistle blew.
Kalor fell to his knees immediately as he stumbled to move forward. Hexil did not waste a moment, lunging forward holding his hand outstretched as a glowing blue sword materialised in his hand. Each step took him far further than it had any right to logically be able to. Hexil reached where Kalor was kneeling and swung at him with his sword. Patrick covered his eyes before he could see someone be killed in front of him, and an explosive force came from the impact that blew dust out to the crowd as people cheered. Patrick uncovered his eyes, to see Hexil standing over the bisected body of Kalor. He went to cover his eyes again before he heard the crowd gasping. Looking closer, the body seemed to be made from wood, with Kalor nowhere to be seen. "What did he just do?" Patrick exclaimed. "I think that''s a Skill called Return to the Earth, he''ll be underground somewhere!" Ulman replied giddily bouncing on his feet. The [Spellsword] paused for a moment, before leaping to the side as a giant root shot up from the ground trying to impale him. He landed nimbly on his feet, just for another root to shoot up to spear him from the side. Dozens of roots began rising from the ground trying to grasp Hexil as he barely managed to dance out of the way of each one. Swings of his sword caused explosions of force at each impact that would take chunk out of the roots, with the shockwaves even reaching the crowds, forcing them to flinch each time. Kalor was still nowhere to be seen.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Hexil changed tact, and after a moment his sword changed from a deep blue to an intense red, as each impact still emitted a shockwave of force, but also an intense burst of heat. Instead of taking out the chunks of root as he had before, he would cleave right through them as they burst into flames, as the heat in the arena grew. ¡°Do you see why he has to be an Irregular?¡± yelled Marius over the sound of the explosions. ¡°Why?¡± Patrick yelled back. ¡°Imagine trying to fight alongside the guy, only for you to be injured, or worse, by his explosions.¡± After severing several roots, the remaining roots screeched, and began emitting spores into the air. Hexil backflipped out of their range as he circled back near his starting position. The air began to fill rapidly with spores, before a current of wind began pushing them around the arena.¡± ¡°Cover your mouth and nose!¡± Ulman yelled. Some of the spores reached the crowd, and Patrick felt instantly lightheaded and nauseous before pulling his shirt up to his face. ¡°Fermented spores, disgusting.¡± groaned Marius. ¡°We had to deal with them in the Dryads Forest. I felt sick for a week.¡± Kalor finally appeared again, rising out of the ground, gesturing his hands as he controlled the wind. He didn¡¯t sway like he did previously. ¡°He must have put a lot of his inebriation into those spores. If this doesn¡¯t work, he¡¯ll be in trouble.¡± Hexil had reached the edge of the arena where the spores were at their weakest, trying to pre-emptively dodge the gusts of wind as they dragged the spores closer to him. Every now and then, he would stumble as they affected him more and more. Kalor upped the intensity of the wind as much as he seemingly could, before once again roots began shooting out of the ground towards Hexil. He couldn¡¯t dodge them as well as he did previously, as they began forcing him into a particularly dense cloud of spores. Patrick watched amazed at the sheer display in front of him, these hadn¡¯t even graduated from the Academy yet, and were able to display such incredible feats. As he watched Hexil avoid the roots, he saw the mistake that was going to happen. The roots had begun to corner him against the dense cloud, with only one gap to the side that was free. As Hexil moved towards the gap dodging a root, another shot from the gap as he leaped, catching him off guard. Hexil was thrown into the ai- Wait Patrick frowned as he swore he saw Hexil deliberately push his feet against the root as it shot from the ground, throwing him into the air. He was proven correct as Hexil flipped up into the air, well above the crowd, and seemed to hang there for a moment. He turned towards Kalor, before pointing his sword at him, and shot through the air like a meteorite towards him. The crowd gasped as the impact forced everyone back a step, with Patrick being caught by Marius. The dust hung in the air obscuring the arena as people crowded forward to see the result. Patrick heard people muttering. ¡°Cataclysmic Leap? When did he get that Skill?¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t Cataclysmic Leap, that must have been Meteoric Grace.¡± ¡°Was that a deliberate killing blow?¡± ¡°Shrath will have his head if it was.¡± The dust began to settle, as it revealed a giant crater in the middle of the arena near where Kalor had stood. Kalor lay fifteen feet away, as Hexil stood over him with his sword pointing down at him, before a whistle blew announcing an end to the duel. Hexil began limping away as Kalor continued to lie there as [Medics] ran over. Marius shook his head. ¡°Incredible finish. That was a Skill called Lambath¡¯s Impact. It probably would have killed him, but it looks like he deliberately impacted beside him, throwing him across the arena.¡± Ulman turned towards Patrick. ¡°What a display old chap. What a display. You have just witnessed your first duel! What do you think? ¡°I... It... I don¡¯t know what to say. It was incredible to watch. I thought Kalor had him there at the end and I barely caught Hexil deliberately using the root to launch himself into the air.¡± ¡°Remarkable observation, but take note, as these will be your peers in due course.¡± ¡°How am I meant to match that Ulman?¡± Patrick said as he pulled open his information. ¡°[Brawler] may seem pretty tame compared to what they can do. Am I going to be able to fall from the sky like that? Or shoot roots up from the ground?¡± ¡°Patrick, Patrick. Don¡¯t get Class envy. Admittedly yes, [Brawler] is a relatively basic Class, yet you have the option to evolve it in a multitude of different ways. You have not even been here a week, so you must take it a step at a time.¡± ¡°Yeah, I just don¡¯t know how I¡¯m going to be able to compete with people who have so much more experience, and potentially better Classes than me.¡± ¡°Shut up Patrick.¡± barked Svenja. Her aggressiveness shocked him out his self-pity as he looked at her. ¡°There are no ¡®better or best Classes¡¯. There are no shortcuts. There are just people who are more committed than others to their path.¡± ¡°Svenja I wasn¡¯t try-¡° ¡°You can pity yourself all you want, but that will just hold you back. You have a World¡¯s First. Live up to it¡± as she stormed off. Patrick turned to Ulman. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that, I just mea-¡° ¡°She is right Patrick. It is what you do with your Class and evolutions that define you, not what the Classes do for you. For example, Shrath is a fearsome woman, yet her Class is [Prizefighter], and she would beat almost everyone in her level range, and ten levels above.¡± Patrick sighed. ¡°You¡¯re right Ulman. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Kanita came over with Shrath in tow, both looking oddly pleased. ¡°Right, we are behind schedule so we must move on.¡± ¡°Lady Kanita, I beg only one more moment of your time. I merely wish to speak with Patrick here regarding his¡­ curriculum.¡± Shrath asked with a small bow. Kanita sighed and waved her hand. ¡°Patrick meet us back at the cable carriage. Everyone else, we¡¯re going.¡± as the group departed leaving Patrick alone with Shrath. He turned towards her, as she just stared at him. An uncomfortable silence followed before Patrick tried to break the tension. ¡°That was a fantas-¡° ¡°Be quiet.¡± Another silence followed. ¡°I thought you said you wanted-¡° ¡°Quiet.¡± She eyed him over, before she stalked in a circle around him. ¡°You are unfit. You are a Wanderer which means you have little to no knowledge of this world. The way you currently are, you will not survive.¡± ¡°I know, I didn¡¯t ask to come here.¡± ¡°I did not give you permission to speak. I have been asked to admit you to the Academy, when you have not proven yourself. You may have a World¡¯s First feat, yet I have not yet been given access to the reports to demonstrate your achievement of it. You are unproven, when many deserving applicants were turned down from the Academy.¡± Patrick gritted his teeth biting back a response, feeling the anger rise in him. ¡°You will more than likely fail the Academy, or even worse bring disappointment to it. I do not tolerate disappointment of the Academy.¡± Patrick went to speak before being silenced by a finger. ¡°You will be targeted by both your peers, and the staff. Your peers will do it to make a name for themselves. The staff will do it so you make a name for yourself. They are two different things. Do you understand?¡± Patrick nodded. ¡°Good. Intake is not for a week, but you are to present yourself here first thing in the morning. You will have early lessons with Harrigus Tick and Thod Stoneborne to get you up to speed. You are not to be hungover, or in any way impaired by any of the celebrations. Do you understand?¡± Patrick nodded again. ¡°Good. Finally, you are to acquire appropriate gear and equipment for your Class. I do not accept students buying Skill stones, or any form of magical shortcuts. You will earn your Skills and Classes. You are dismissed Patrick.¡± as she turned away. With his ears burning, Patrick followed the group to the cable carriage.
Ulman politely enquired as to what Shrath discussed with him, but relented as Patrick just deflected the question. The cable carriage screeched again as it began to rise towards the top of the mountain. Patrick didn¡¯t look out the window this time, but just stared at the floor deep in thought. Shrath¡¯s words echoed in his ears as they reflected what he had said to Ava the other day. What if he wasn¡¯t good enough? He had only been content because everything was okay. He hadn¡¯t had to try in a long time, and what if he failed? He pulled up his statistics screen again as they rose through the city. [Name: Patrick Kavanagh] [Race: Human (Wanderer)] [Level: 14] [Attributes] Strength: 32 (-3) Vitality: 32 (-3) Endurance: 32 (-3) Intelligence: 14 (-3) Dexterity: 22 (-3) Luck: 23 (-3) [Skills] Quick Flurry Glancing Strikes (Passive) Second Wind He went over each line multiple times, dwelling on the information provided. There was an improvement from the Fatigued and Weakened conditions reducing, but it still felt less compared to the display in the duel he had just witnessed. The rational part of his mind told him that the two competitors were 16 levels above him, so of course they would be stronger, but the other part told him he was completely out of his depth, and if he really wanted to survive in this world, he needed to be able to match that. A shiver ran through him at the thought of what people at higher levels could do, and he marked that as a topic of conversation with someone later. His spiralling was only broken by the cable carriage screeching to a halt at the top of the line, as they arrived at the entrance of the palace. It was visible from the airship but seeing it up close was still breathtaking. Giant pillars that would shame anything from his world lined the entrance to the shining palace. Kanita wasted no time ushering them out of the carriage, as they were greeted by [Servants], who hastily began taking any bags or luggage offered. They were ushered into the entrance, and through a large domed room. Races of all shapes and sizes were busy milling about the room, most dressed in bright and colourful clothing, and others dressed in either military, or guard garb. They didn¡¯t have time to dawdle, as they were lead directly through this room as heads turned to look at them, before they entered a well-lit passage. Kanita stopped and turned to the group. ¡°You all have rooms in the palace for the duration of the celebration. They are down the corridor just before the [Servant] quarters. You will not have access to the Throne room, or Hall of the [King] unless it is for the events. You have free time until sunset, at which point you will attend the Hall of the [King] for dinner. You will be representing Tyril as there are a number of foreign dignitaries present currently. You are all dismissed.¡± As she turned to leave, Marius called out. ¡°Lady Kanita, if I could have a brief moment of your time?¡± She nodded and gestured for everyone else to leave. Patrick went with the group, and a brief look back showed Marius leaning forward in an intense conversation as Kanita had a finger on her lips deep in thought, before Svenja pulled him on as he was falling behind. They were greeted by a [Servant] at the end of the hall, who bowed and directed them directly to their rooms. The room they were directed to was a giant semi-circle room that acted a communal living space, with lead to a giant balcony looking out of the mountain over the lake below. Airships could be seen in the distance drifting through the sky, with several cable carriages traveling in either direction. The sheer drop from the balcony made Patrick¡¯s knees weak, however as he got close to the edge, he noticed a shimmering barrier that was solid to touch preventing anything from going over, or coming into the balcony. There were six adjoining rooms to the main room that served as bedrooms, with Patrick taking one of the remaining options that weren¡¯t immediately claimed by Ulman, Svenja, or Grunt. Dumping his single small back on the bed, he sat there for a moment before heading back out to the communal living space. A brief moment later, Marius entered the room and waved to Patrick. ¡°Pretty nice space! Hey, look they have a drink cabinet¡­ and Golem Tears! That¡¯s dangerous.¡± laughed Marius as he began opening and closing all the cupboards. ¡°What a day, it feels like it should be way later than it already is, and we still have a dinner to go to. You best get a rest in because it¡¯ll be a long night I imagine!¡± ¡°Yeah, I think I¡¯ll be taking it pretty easy tonight.¡± ¡°I imagine the hangover will be worse than the oth-¡° he paused after hearing Patrick¡¯s response. ¡°Everything ok Patrick? I know it¡¯s a lot to take in but it¡¯s a celebration!¡± ¡°No, everything is fine. Shrath told me I needed to be at the Academy tomorrow and she expects me to be as able as possible.¡± ¡°Ah, Shrath can be rough at times.¡± ¡°I want to talk to you about the Academy¡± they both said at the same time, before pausing to let the other speak. Patrick gestured for Marius to speak. ¡°I know this is a lot to dump on you all in the one day, and I¡¯ve been meaning to chat with you about it but haven¡¯t found the chance. I don¡¯t want you to think you are being forced into any of this, but I wanted to make sure you had the best opportunities available to you once we got to Tyril. I didn¡¯t want to make the decisions for you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine Marius, honestly, it is. It¡¯s just..¡± ¡°Just what, Patrick?¡± ¡°I overheard you and Ava talking about it last night, and man, I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t expect to travel with you and the group forever, but between the fact the decisions were made behind my back, and I¡¯m going to be left alone in a city I don¡¯t know when you head off again, and continue to be out of my depth, it hurts. I would have appreciated the heads up a little sooner.¡± Marius cringed back as he said that. ¡°You overheard me and Ava? Patrick, I¡¯m sorry. I wouldn¡¯t have wanted you to find out like that. Honestly, I should have spoken to you about it first. It was only when Ava said it to me yesterday, I realised that you wouldn¡¯t have benefitted from following us around and just staying on the airship while we cleared Dungeons. You wouldn¡¯t level from it and get the experience you need. I sent an urgent message yesterday to call in a few favours, I thought I was doing the best thing for you. If I had thought about it sooner, I would have, and I forgot to tell you in the excitement of this morning.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine Marius, I get it¡¯s all about levelling, and I want to level after what I¡¯ve been told and saw today. It¡¯s just daunting. I¡¯m going to do it, and I want to do it, but it¡¯s just¡­ you know..¡± ¡°It is daunting, but I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re set up correctly. I¡¯ve already spoken with the group and you¡¯re getting your full share of the Dungeon guide royalties, and I¡¯ll speak with some people before we head off again to make sure you¡¯re looked after.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t consent to the full share, but I was overruled.¡± Svenja called out from her room. ¡°Damn Half-Elf ears.¡± groaned Marius. ¡°If you¡¯re listening you, might as well come out. That goes for everyone else.¡± Svenja and Grunt came out of their rooms. ¡°Now that everyone listening is here, as I said you¡¯ll be looked after, Patrick. You¡¯ll be a high profile enough name that will garner you from favour, your royalties from the Dungeon guide for steady income, and I¡¯ll extend you a line of credit from my family for anything additional.¡± A grunt. ¡°No Grunt, you don¡¯t need a line of credit considering you would just spend it on axes, and Svenja, you definitely don¡¯t get a line of credit considering how you lowballed Patrick¡± he cut in as Svenja threw her arms in the air. Svenja turned towards Marius. ¡°Actually, what was that about Ava telling you what to do in relation to Patrick? She¡¯s a bitch, and you know it Marius. She¡¯s playing you again.¡± ¡°Svenja, stop it. It was the right suggestion, and you know it. Patrick wouldn¡¯t benefit from travelling with us, and not being able to clear the Dungeons.¡± ¡°Yes, but we would benefit as we would have someone to mind the airship.¡± ¡°Svenja¡­¡± ¡°Someone to cook dinner so it¡¯s ready when we get back. Patrick raised his eyebrows in shock. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m right here, Svenja.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Marius cut in between them. ¡°Look, decision has been made, and it¡¯s done. He gets full shares, and we¡¯ll support him in the Academy in any way we can.¡± ¡°There actually is something I need help with now that you say it¡­¡± Marius turned back to Patrick. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Shrath said I needed gear and equipment fitting for my Class¡­ but I don¡¯t know what I need, or where to get it. I don¡¯t want to arrive tomorrow without it in case that¡¯s what she was expecting.¡± Svenja turned to Marius with a look of horror on her face. ¡°Marius, please don¡¯t.¡± He returned a toothy grin. ¡°We said anything Patrick needs. Sounds like he needs a shopping trip, and what better place than Mezino¡¯s Emporium. Get Ulman, we¡¯re out of here in ten.¡± Chapter 14 An argument broke out in the cable carriage back down. ¡°Marius, I am not negotiating with him again. You know I hate it. I hate him. He hates me.¡± Svenja sat there sullenly with her arms crossed. ¡°He doesn¡¯t hate you Svenja, he¡¯s scared of you. There¡¯s a big difference. Besides, he knows he can get higher prices out of me than you. He¡¯ll up-sell Ulman on Scrolls, and Grunt is still banned after the Axe-icdent.¡± ¡°If all it takes to not have to do this again is getting banned, I will shoot the dirty Dwarf if he looks at me funny again.¡± Marius just looked at her sternly, and Svenja let out an exasperated sigh and kicked the inside of the door. ¡°Fine. This is the last time, and I¡¯m going to buy all the new arrows he has in stock.¡± Patrick couldn¡¯t help but smile at the tantrum Svenja was throwing. She saw Patrick smile and scowled at him, as he tried to hide it by looking out the window of the cable carriage. He had been distracted on the ride up, so he had missed the complete view of the city. Just like on the balcony in the room, he could see out over the entire city, and more. Looking down, he could see the different levels of the city right beneath the cable carriage. It was easy to separate out the different types of districts underneath, with some evidentially trade districts with great courtyards that housed markets, while others were clearly residential districts with plainer buildings. The lower districts they had first travelled through in the carriage seemed livelier, with the upper districts quieter, yet holding a more obvious wealth. Patrick was nudged in the side by Ulman. ¡°Quick chap, look over there.¡± he said pointing out one side of the carriage. From the side of the mountain, a gigantic plume of smoke emerged, followed a second later by a great burst of flame that went high into the air. The gout of flame lasted for a few seconds before tapering off. ¡°The Dwarven forges underneath the city need to vent the heat numerous times a day.¡± Ulman said while he laughed at Patrick¡¯s reaction. ¡°This city is amazing!¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t even seen half of it yet my fine fellow, we¡¯ll get you in the original parts of the city soon once we get you all equipped at Menizo''s.¡± Patrick looked back to the group in the cable carriage. ¡°By the way, who is Menizo?¡± Svenja scowled at the mention of the name and turned her head to look out the window. ¡°Edmir Menizo is probably the world¡¯s greatest [Craftsman]. He has created literal wonders before and was the individual that crafted the sword of the [King]. Edmir is the respected authority on magical items.¡± provided Marius. ¡°So, what¡¯s the problem with him?¡± Patrick asked as he glanced at Svenja. ¡°It¡¯s not with Edmir. Edmir sequestered himself away a few years ago to work on his masterpiece. He reached a point he wasn¡¯t levelling, no matter how fine the item was. What he is working on is top secret, and no one bar the [King] is aware of what it is. The individual we¡¯ll be dealing with is Abdan, Edmir¡¯s grandson. He was the one who created the prototype Whistle you used in the Dungeon.¡± ¡°The dirty Dwarf Svenja mentioned?¡± ¡°He is not a dirty Dwarf. Svenja just has problems with him. Abdan took over the Emporium after Edmir left. An excellent [Craftsman] in his own right, but is focused more on the sale of an item rather than the item itself. Edmir would refuse to sell items no matter how much you offered if he felt it wasn¡¯t the item for you, while Abdan would sell his own leg if he could.¡± ¡°Believe it or not, I know the type.¡± ¡°Svenja is the only person I¡¯ve seen actually haggle him down on price, thus, she is our negotiator whenever we go there.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the last time Marius. All the arrows.¡± came a mutter from the sulking Half-Elf. Marius pointed out the window ignoring the remark. ¡°There, just down the street from the Academy. The Emporium is the big red domed building.¡± Patrick tilted his head looking at it. ¡°Is it meant to look like a circus tent?¡± ¡°It¡¯s doesn¡¯t look like a ci-¡° Marius started before tilting his head. ¡°Huh.¡± Everyone said simultaneously.
The group disembarked from the cable carriage outside the Academy before continuing up the street. Individuals passing by would wave at them in recognition, as Marius explained in the Adventurers quarter, there is an unwritten rule to give Adventurers their space. It was the first time Patrick was able to have a look in the shops as they passed them by, and he was able to stop to have a look at their wares. The first shop he saw on several cauldrons out the front that had magical spoons stirring themselves. Each cauldron was huge in size, containing vibrant liquids that would often belch coloured smoke into the air. Patrick stopped by the first cauldron that contained a rich pink liquid and was pulled back by Ulman just before he leant over to smell it. ¡°Not a wise choice, the owner will curse you if you ruin her products. Best potion maker in Tyril however.¡± ¡°C..Curse me?¡± ¡°Dezzie is a [Witch], and can react unpredictably. Look, but don¡¯t touch. On second thought, don¡¯t look too long in case she spots us loitering.¡± Patrick pointed to the liquid. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Unrefined Health Tonic. Looks of remarkable quality, definitely don¡¯t risk ruining it.¡± Marius called over from the next store. ¡°Patrick, come have a look at this. You¡¯ll love it.¡± As he wandered over, he saw Marius and Svenja at the back of a small crowd outside a large working yard containing statues of all shapes and sizes. Marius pointed to the side of the yard where there was a statue at least twelve feet tall. Three individuals surrounded the statue as one of them placed a small black box on the ground, before opening it and removing a bright glowing stone. Preempting Patrick¡¯s question, Ulman looked at him and said ¡°Golem Core. They are about to activate it.¡± One of the individuals lifted the Core up to the Golem, and it levitated out of his grasp and hung in the air in front of the Golem. Light streamed from the Core towards the Golem, before with a flash it embedded itself into the centre of its torso. The crowd held their breathe, before the sound of stone cracking filled the air and the Golem took an unsteady step forward. The crowd applauded as the three individuals began circling the Golem inspecting it before they directed it back into the workshop. The Golem paused just before the workshop and looked towards the crowd. There was an unsettling sentience in its gaze as it took in the crowd before it continued inside. ¡°One of the many Golem Workshops around the city. This one specifically creates them for the Academy for training purposes. You¡¯ll practice against them at higher levels.¡± The fear of having to fight a twelve-foot Golem filled Patrick, but Marius just laughed. ¡°It¡¯s okay, only at higher levels and you¡¯ll be taught how to beat them. Nothing to worry about!¡± Patrick didn¡¯t believe him, but he just gritted his teeth, and nodded still feeling the determination from earlier. He was pulled onward until they reached the giant red tent. Marius had to keep dropping back to pull Svenja forward as she kept trying to drop behind and disappear. They reached the entrance of the tent, and they gestured Patrick to enter first. He went to enter, but as he reached the threshold, he rebounded off a barrier and fell back holding his nose as his eyes watered. He was steadied immediately by Marius who was chuckling alongside Ulman. Svenja even let a small smile slip before resorting back to her scowl. ¡°Sorry Patrick, Adventurers rite of passage. Menizo¡¯s has a few security measures, and you need to be admitted before entering for the first time. Prevents unsavoury individuals, or banned customers from getting in.¡± Marius pointed towards a bell that had a rope hanging from it. ¡°Pull that rope.¡± Trying his best Svenja impression, Patrick scowled back at Marius. ¡°Let me guess, it dumps water on me, or opens a trapdoor underneath me?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ no¡­¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He held the scowl for a moment longer. ¡°Ugh, fine. You¡¯re no fun. No, don¡¯t pull the rope. Just place your hand on the barrier and hold it there for a few seconds.¡± Patrick tentatively placed his hand on the barrier preparing to pull it back in case anything happened, but the barrier dissolved after a few seconds allowing him entry. Looking back, he saw the group had taken a step back before giving him a thumbs up. ¡°Only precautionary fine fellow. Should you not have been given entry, you would have been thrown back.¡± Patrick gave a genuine scowl. ¡°Don¡¯t you think you should have told me that?¡± ¡°Well, you ruined the fun with the bell.¡± ¡°What does the bell do?¡± ¡°De-robes the person who pulls it.¡± Patrick spluttered in outrage, but the group swiftly moved past him into the tent, pulling him inside.
The outrage turned to shock as Marius had to manually close Patrick¡¯s mouth. The inside of the tent was impressive to say the least. Looking up, instead of seeing the roof the tent, Patrick only saw a starry sky that seemed to stretch on infinitely. Every so often, the constellations would glow and animate into shapes of beasts and bound across the sky before dissipating and reforming into stars. The ground of the Emporium was filled with row after row of items and equipment. One side was filled exclusively with every make and style of armour that could be imagined, while the other side contained rack after rack of weapons. A number of glass cases lined the walls containing items, and Patrick swore he saw one of the swords growl at him as they walked by. The back wall contained shelves of Scrolls and Stones. A Dwarf in vibrant purple clothing emerged from behind one of the racks. He was decked out in elegant purple robes, with multiple rings on his fingers, and a number of necklaces around his neck. His long beard was finely braided, each braid ending in glowing jewels. He raised his hands when he saw the group and smiled. ¡°My favourite customers! Welcome, welcome. A monumental return for the heroes of our age. Anything the Menizo family can do for you is a gift upon itself.¡± He walked up to Marius and kissed him on each cheek, before bowing to the rest of the group, pausing ever so slightly at Svenja. He turned to Patrick. ¡°Welcome my wonderful Wanderer, any friend of a Kent is a friend of mine. Welcome to the Menizo Emporium, wonders await and any problem you have, we have a solution to.¡± Marius clasped his hand on his shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re as welcoming as always Abdan. We have a lot to discuss, but we have some shopping to do for Patrick here, as well as restock on supplies before we take off in the next couple of days. He is starting in the Academy tomorrow, he will need Adventurers basics, and we¡¯ll pick out a few bespoke items for him.¡± ¡°Ah, of course. A Menizo guarantee that we will always make a good deal for a member of the Kent family to ensure their success. Please. let me show you some wonderous items I''m sure you''ll be delighted with!¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry Abdan. I¡¯ll browse the items with Patrick. Svenja can discuss the prices with you.¡± Abdan paled and gulped. ¡°Ah, but we have some fine items I am sure you would be inter-¡° ¡°They have items to browse, and I do not want to be here too long. Bring the standard supplies, a list of new inventory, and then show me your arrows.¡± interrupted Svenja stepping forward with her arms crossed. Marius pulled Patrick away towards the armour section as Svenja began complaining about the quality of the items they had received previously. They moved to one side of the Emporium, with Ulman going towards the back where the Scrolls were. Marius let out a chuckle once they were out of earshot. ¡°Abdan is a good fellow, but it¡¯s always great to see him sweat a little bit.¡± Marius pointed him towards a rack of leather armour. ¡°These are probably the best for you now. Leather armour is more mobile but will give better protection than cloth. You should try something like this out before going to something heavier¡± He began browsing the rack, looking at the tags on each one before tutting and moving on. Patrick followed him unsure of what he was meant to be looking at. A set of bright yellow leather armour caught his eye. As soon as he touched the tag, a pop-up appeared in his vision. [Acid Leaper Armour. Rare. No Aspects. Unascended] Leave danger, and then leave danger! The Acid Leaper Armour is a sure way to leave an impression. By using one of the charges of this armour, your leap is greatly enhanced, and you leave behind a pool of highly corrosive, Menizo branded acid ?. Your foes will be so distracted by the flamboyant flair and eye-catching leap, the acid will be the last thing they notice. Menizo is not responsible for any self-harm due to acid pool, or incidents relating to leaping in front of an airship, that¡¯s a Menizo guarantee! ¡°Acid pools, what the¡­¡± muttered Patrick, before he put the tag down and followed Marius. He shook his head before following Marius who had reached the end of the rack of leather armour. Marius had a frown on his face as he turned to Patrick. ¡°I don¡¯t see any options that are standing out to me. There was one option for an armour set called Feline Ferociousness that gives enhanced evasion, but a side effect that you¡¯ll meow every time you dodge.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the worst side effect, right?¡± ¡°It is when you become known as the ''mewling [Brawler]''.¡± ¡°Point taken. Hey Marius, I actually had a question¡­¡± ¡°Sure buddy.¡± ¡°Why do people keep calling you Lord Kent?¡± Marius paused, before his shoulders slumped a little bit. ¡°Ah, yes. It¡¯s not something I like to talk about unless required. My family is one of the founding families of Tyril. I come from money, but once people know, that it¡¯s all they see me for. People look at me, and just presume any success I have is due to my family. Jax, who you have met is the worst example of it. He leans on the Kent family name all the time.¡± Patrick laughed. ¡°I get it about Jax, he seemed like a bit of a jerk, but the family thing is not worst thing to admit, but I get it.¡± He got a smile in return, before Marius continued browsing the armour sets. They continued in browsing in silence which was broken every now and then with the sound of Abdan¡¯s protests. After a moment, Marius called out. ¡°Hey Patrick, what about this?¡± ¡°What is it, Lord Kent?¡± Marius¡¯ head shot up over the rack. ¡°Do not start that. It took me months to get Grunt to stop doing it.¡± Patrick could only laugh as he moved around the rack to where Marius was pointing at a cloth tunic. ¡°I thought you said cloth wouldn¡¯t be useful?¡± ¡°I may have been wrong, check it out.¡± Seeing Marius¡¯ excitement, he touched the tag as a pop-up appeared. [Tunic of Liquid Stone. Epic. No Aspects. Unascended] Move like liquid and feel like stone. The faster you move in this tunic, the harder the material comes. A rolling stone gathers no moss, or arrows for that matter. This enchanted material will grow tougher the more kinetic energy you put into it and will dissipate quickly once you stop. An Epic level item that provides benefits as you level, as the quicker you move, the stronger the enchantment. Menizo is not responsible for the slow movement of its wearer, or particularly strong blows that overpower the enchantment. That¡¯s a Menizo guarantee! ¡°This¡­ does sound pretty good actually. I put more of a focus into Strength than Dexterity though, will that be a problem?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so, you¡¯ll just have to adapt your fighting to move a little more which is never a bad thing. You will have less protection than leather than if you¡¯re just standing still or moving slowly.¡± Patrick nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go for it. How much is it?¡± Marius grimaced. ¡°It¡¯s an Epic level item, so won¡¯t be cheap. It¡¯ll probably use most of what Svenja gave for the Boots, and a little more. We¡¯ll cover it with the line of credit and royalties. It¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Are you sure? I don¡¯t wan-¡° ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, we¡¯ll recoup the costs quickly.¡± Marius held his finger down on the tag, which glowed red as he looked at Patrick. ¡°This marks it for purchase, saves us from lugging around heavy items. Abdan will organise it to be delivered to the palace. Come, lets have a look at the weapons.¡± They moved over to the weapons, catching sound of Svenja still negotiating with Abdan. ¡°Lady Svenja, please. The goods were of perfect-¡° ¡°Do not call me Lady. I did not come from money, so don¡¯t pretend like I am of money.¡± ¡°I did not mean to be offensive I prom-¡° ¡°Offensive like the fletching on the last batch of arrows you gave me? I could have sworn they were ¡®Arrows of being able to curve around the fucking corner¡¯ they drifted so much.¡± Even Marius grimaced at the exchange as he whispered to Patrick. ¡°She¡¯s not usually this rude, but she is a great negotiator. Usually, Abdan would ban someone for this type behaviour, but I¡¯m guessing he knows he can flaunt our name for a much bigger profit.¡± They reached the weapon racks, and spotted Ulman with an arm full of Scrolls, who panicked as he was spotted. ¡°Merely perusing, and anything excess shall come out of my own pocket, Marius.¡± before he backed off out of sight as Marius put his face in his hands and groaned before continuing. ¡°Here, ignore the martial weapons. They won¡¯t really compliment your Class, but you¡¯ll still be trained in them as part of the Improvisational Weapons course in the Academy, no point spending money on them though.¡± Marius said as he led Patrick to a rack of clubs and maces. ¡°You¡¯ll probably want to hit harder and more often than looking for an opening. These are probably the most suitable weapons, but you don¡¯t need to make a call on them now.¡± Patrick tore his eyes away from a gem encrusted sword that seemed to be made from water, before he moved over looking at the weapons. Bludgeoning weapons of all types were on the racks, but after hefting a few in his hands and checking the tags he disregarded them. He went over the rack a few times in case he missed anything, but eventually shook his head at Marius in disappointment. ¡°Nothing here that stands out to me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s understandable. Weapons are a little more intimate than armour. You need to find one that speaks to you either metaphorically, or literally.¡± ¡°Literally?¡± ¡°Yeah, you can get intelligent weapons, or literally bond with a weapon that it becomes sentient. It¡¯s what Grunt is working towards with his axe.¡± Patrick could only raise his eyebrows in response but chose not to question it further. He went further down the aisle to another rack before he called out to Marius. ¡°Hey, what do you think about this one? Marius came over and touched the tag before he laughed. ¡°Now that could definitely be a viable option.¡± Finished browsing the wares, they returned to the middle of the store.
Abdan and Svenja had finished negotiating, with Abdan sweating profusely. ¡°Blessed Domain be praised, Lord Kent, I hope you have found everything to your satisfaction?¡± Abdan said relieved as Marius and Patrick rejoined them. ¡°We¡¯ve marked a few items for purchase, and we would appreciate the standard additional enchantments for cleaning and repair to be placed on them. I trust everything else is to satisfaction?¡± Marius said with a smile as he looked at Svenja who nodded. ¡°I fear Menizo¡¯s Emporium will not be able to stay in business long should I continue to provide such excellent deals as I just said to La¡­ Svenja.¡± ¡°Your generosity is always appreciated Abdan. I trust the items we have chosen will also be given at a favourable rate?¡± Abdan¡¯s smile strained even further, but before he could respond, Marius continued. ¡°We also found some unique items in the Dungeon that we¡¯ll be looking to sell. We¡¯d be honoured for you to have first refusal on them. Colour returned to Abdan¡¯s face at the offer. ¡°Of course. We would be honoured to appraise and purchase the items. Is there anything additional I can do for my favourite member of the Kent family?¡± ¡°I think that will be all for today, Abdan. The only additional thing to make you aware of is that Patrick here is to be provided a line of credit from the Kent household. He will need to stock up on other basics as required over the coming weeks. I will have someone send over the paperwork tomorrow morning.¡± Abdan bowed, with a drop of sweat hitting the floor. ¡°As always, a pleasure. I will have everything delivered to your rooms this evening.¡± The group collected their receipt, and with a wave back to a defeated Abdan, headed back to the palace for the first night of festivities.