《The Outlands》 Chapter 1: Beginnings Like he did every morning, Thomas laid in bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for Ellie to come and get him. He could have just gotten up, but he relished those few minutes of hazy half-sleep, and this little interaction had long since become a morning ritual for the both of them. Right on cue, Ellie poked her head into the room. ¡°C¡¯mon, get up! Grandpa says he¡¯s taking us on a trip after breakfast!¡± She closed the door, followed by the sound of footsteps down the stairs. Thomas yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He sleepily threw on some clothes, then stumbled out of his room and made his way down the stairs, emerging into the kitchen. ¡°Morning Gramps, morning Ellie.¡± Gramps was a man in his sixties and wasn¡¯t actually Thomas¡¯ grandfather. He was Ellie¡¯s grandfather, and had taken it upon himself to raise Thomas and Ellie after their respective sets of parents had died in a plane crash. He was short but fit, with bright silver hair and an endlessly positive personality, with energy to match. As for Ellie, she had just turned 18 and was only a few weeks older than Thomas. She had red hair that went down to her upper back and was about a head taller than her grandfather. When it came to appearance, the only real commonality she had with her grandfather was the striking purple eyes they shared. They were dark, enough so that at a distance they might be mistaken for a dull brown or an especially dark blue, but on closer inspection there was no denying that they were purple. Thomas himself was of average height, but that still felt tall when compared to the two short people he lived with. He had short blond hair and hazel eyes, and¡­that was about it. There really wasn¡¯t much more to him, at least in his eyes. He was sure that, were someone else to describe him, they¡¯d point out something that he hadn¡¯t listed, but he couldn¡¯t really think of what. As he got more visibility on the kitchen, Thomas found that Gramps had gone all out for breakfast that morning, a buffet of bacon, eggs, sausages, pancakes, hash browns, and other breakfast items were laid out on the counter, and Gramps was still making more. ¡°Morning, Thomas!¡± Gramps said with far too much energy for this time of day, ¡°Eat up, we¡¯ve got a big day ahead of us!¡± Thomas began to load a plate up with food. ¡°Ellie said we¡¯re going on a trip? Where to?¡± Gramps flipped a pancake, eyes sparkling. ¡°Now that Ellie¡¯s eighteen and you¡¯re about to follow, it¡¯s about time I show you youngsters where I work.¡± Thomas nearly dropped his plate in shock, and Ellie looked similarly surprised. ¡°I thought that was classified information!¡± He exclaimed. ¡°It is!¡± Gramps laughed. ¡°But since I¡¯m the one taking you, you¡¯re cleared to know.¡± ¡°Alright, I get that this is a big deal,¡± Ellie said between bites of food, ¡°But there¡¯s no way we¡¯re going to be able to eat all this. I think you¡¯ve gone a little overboard.¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± Gramps said, waving his spatula dismissively, ¡°We¡¯ll just take the leftovers to my coworkers. I don¡¯t want you running out of anything you might want to eat.¡± Ellie shrugged and went back to eating. The rest of the breakfast was relatively quiet as everyone was too preoccupied with eating or making the food to say much more. Once the two had finished eating, Gramps turned off the griddle, and had the kids pack the remaining food into bags so they could take it with them. ¡°Alright, everyone ready?¡± Gramps asked once the last bit of food was packed up, ¡°This way!¡± He headed off down the hall, Ellie and Thomas following curiously behind him. ¡°Uh, Grandpa, we just passed the garage.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯re not taking the car! You¡¯ll see!¡± He gave them a wink and stopped in front of a featureless part of the wall. He touched it, drew a complex shape with his finger, and then¡­a door appeared. Not like some sort of false wall falling away or something; it wasn¡¯t there one moment, and the next it was sitting there like it had always been there. ¡°Woah!¡± Ellie said, ¡°How¡¯d you do that?¡± Thomas stood there in stunned silence. He had never so much as caught a glimpse of a door here, and even if there was, it would have just opened into the middle of another room. It was¡­baffling. Gramps winked again and opened the door, pulling the two inside. They were most definitely not in the house anymore. They were in a large, spacious office, and the windows on the walls showed a lush forest outside of a city, a far cry from the rural town in a wide open plain they lived in. ¡°Welcome to the Outlands!¡± Gramps said jovially. ¡°Mael¡¯s best kept secret. It¡¯s a bit of a complicated story but think of it like this; there are a lot of other dimensions out there, and this serves as the hub for the lot of them. Of these dimensions, which we call planes, the one in which Mael is located is a rather new one and is a bit different compared to most of the established planes. It lacks the magical density other planes have, making it a rather safer place, at the expense of magic just¡­not really working there, outside of small things.¡± He guided the stunned teenagers over to a couch and sat them down, then sat down on the couch opposite. ¡°The League of Planes, which consists of the leaders of the various countries located across the various planes, have decided to not attempt first contact with Mael just yet, but they still want to have a presence there, so there are one or two of us that they let cross over. Me, Ellie¡¯s parents, and a couple of other families were chosen for the job, so we moved out to various small places on Mael and lay low, keeping an eye on things. We kept Ellie out of the loop when she was growing up because¡­well, kids don¡¯t have much of a filter, but that time¡¯s over, so we get to finally bring you here!¡± Thomas frowned. ¡°What about me? My parents weren¡¯t involved in this, were they?¡± Gramps shook his head. ¡°No, but I¡¯m raising you, so no one has a case to argue against you. Besides, I¡¯m expecting you¡¯ll actually be my grandkid soon enough, eh?¡± Thomas and Ellie both rolled their eyes but didn¡¯t say anything. Gramps often teased them, saying they should ¡°finally start dating¡± or ¡°just get together already¡± or things like that, and they had found it was best to just ignore him when he did. ¡°Anyway, this here is the Freelancer¡¯s Guild main branch, of which I¡¯m the guildmaster! The Outlands are by far the plane with the densest magic, which comes with all sorts of dangers and riches, so the Freelancer¡¯s Guild is¡­well, honestly, it¡¯s basically identical to an adventurer¡¯s guild. People submit jobs, freelancers take care of them. As the Outlands aren¡¯t controlled by any one government, this was the League of Planes¡¯ solution to the problem of a protective force. Instead of having a force comprised of people working directly for any government, they¡¯ve left it up to the many intrepid fortune-seekers that come to the Outlands, and so far, it¡¯s worked like a charm.¡± He stood up and started walking towards the door, motioning for them to follow. ¡°I believe you both have the makings of fine freelancers, so I¡¯d love for you to give it a go. You¡¯re not forced to by any means, but I can guarantee it¡¯ll be a much more exciting life than just living on Mael will be.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! He led them through various hallways, eventually bringing them to what was obviously the main room. It was a bustling, noisy place, full of people of species that Thomas had never seen in real life. Beastkin, elves, dwarves, angels, demons, and more were going about their business, paying little mind to Thomas¡¯ group. Gramps grabbed their hands and tugged them through the crowd, towing them over to what appeared to be a receptionist¡¯s desk. What appeared to be a minotaur was working the counter, his massive frame dexterously handling the comparatively small writing utensils like it was nothing. ¡°Graham, I¡¯m going to be cutting in line. I brought the grandkids I¡¯m always talking about and need to get them registered as freelancers before I can return to work.¡± The minotaur started, looking at the three of them. ¡°G-guildmaster Los!¡± He said, putting his hand over his heart, ¡°Don¡¯t sneak up on me like that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!¡± Gramps laughed, patting the burly minotaur on his arm. ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t resist. Could you hand me the forms? I can take care of filing them myself, I just need the actual papers.¡± ¡°Sure thing, guildmaster.¡± Graham said, ¡°Ess will be your scanner today, room 201¡­¡± He trailed off, then looked away, apparently embarrassed. ¡°Sorry, force of habit. I know you know what¡¯s going on.¡± He mumbled. Gramps laughed again. ¡°I get it, I get it.¡± He took the sacks of food he was carrying and handed them to Graham. ¡°Put these in the break room, will you? It¡¯s leftovers from breakfast today, anyone can have what they want.¡± ¡°Will do. Best of luck, kids!¡± And with that, Gramps dragged the two unresisting kids back towards the way they came. Once they were inside the strangely empty hallway, he turned on them. ¡°So, what¡¯d you think?¡± ¡°Um, it was¡­overwhelming.¡± Thomas said, Ellie nodding in agreement, ¡°Is it normally this busy?¡± ¡°In the mornings. During the day people are generally out on jobs, so it slows down. This office is our busiest as well, and it also handles general paperwork and all the other overhead that comes with an organization like this, so you can expect any other offices to be much less crowded.¡± He began to lead them through the halls once more. ¡°These are the employee-only halls. Makes getting around much easier, let me tell you. No need to push through a million and one different people just to get to where you want to go. Feel free to use these whenever you want, you¡¯ll have to walk through them anyway to get back home, so you might as well use them for general navigation.¡± They climbed some stairs, and he stopped in front of a door, knocking. It opened to reveal a sleepy looking elf woman, her long black hair draping down over her body in an unkempt mess. ¡°Oh¡­guildmaster? Come on in, we¡¯ll get your grandkids taken care of.¡± Gramps led them into the room. It had a door on the other end, but the main feature was a table surrounded by chairs with a large ball of some glass-like material sitting on a stand in the center. ¡°Go ahead and sit down. We¡¯ll do this one at a time, starting with Ellie.¡± Ess told them, sitting down on the opposite side. ¡°How do you know my name?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Guildmaster is constantly talking about you two. I¡¯m pretty sure everyone on the staff knows your names by now. Once they see you with the guildmaster they¡¯ll connect the dots.¡± The two sat down, and Ellie obediently placed her hands on the ball. Ess was silent for a moment, but then her eyes (or what they could see of them beneath the hair), opened wide. ¡°My apologies, but I think this scanner might be broken.¡± Gramps frowned. ¡°I had them all recalibrated yesterday. Try Thomas.¡± Ellie retracted her hands and Thomas placed his on. Ess frowned even more, then turned to Gramps. ¡°I think it might be hypersensitive. Their readings are way too polarized. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.¡± ¡°Try it with me, then. We know what my readings are.¡± Gramps said, walking forward and putting his hands on the ball after Thomas removed his. Ess raised an eyebrow. ¡°They¡¯re exactly correct. Um¡­I guess you just managed to get a couple of really¡­special kids there.¡± Gramps took his hands off, smiling wryly. ¡°Carry on as normal, then. I¡¯ll grab the sheets for you.¡± Gramps scurried out of the room, and Ess had the two go through the whole ¡°hands on the ball¡± thing again. A couple of minutes later, Gramps returned with a couple of pages, handing one to each of them. ¡°These are your Statuses.¡± He told them. ¡°The little numbers next to your main Attributes are your growth parameters. You¡¯ve got an even chance of your Attribute increasing by any of the numbers next to it every time you level up. These are the real barebones mass-produced sheets we give to everyone, but I¡¯ll give you some magic tools that let you track your Status whenever you want, and far better than what we have here.¡± ¡°Is ten a good growth?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°The best, aside from your Resources, where the growth values are ten times higher than the others.¡± Ess replied. ¡°You hit the jackpot, girl.¡± Ellie pumped her fist. ¡°Nice!¡± Thomas¡¯ sheet was¡­far more underwhelming than whatever he imaged Ellie had.
Thomas Los Level: 1 (0/100 EXP) HP: 100 10/10/10/10/20 MP: 100 10/10/10/10/20 Stamina: 100 10/10/10/10/20 Power: 10 1/1/1/1/2 Defense: 10 1/1/1/1/2 Magic: 10 1/1/1/1/2 Magic Defense: 10 1/1/1/1/2 Agility: 10 1/1/1/1/2 Luck: 0 0/0/0/0/0 Classes: None Skills: None Titles: #$^@
Thomas looked down at his sheet, disheartened. ¡°How important are stats?¡± He asked. ¡°They¡¯re¡­kind of really important. Sorry, kid.¡± Ess said. ¡°I¡¯ve got to say, I¡¯m¡­not sure how you¡¯re even alive right now. I¡¯ve never, ever, seen someone with Luck as low as yours, nor have I seen a 0 growth. I can only assume that whatever that title is is what¡¯s stopping you from being hit by every possible piece of bad luck you can get.¡± Ellie peeked over at his sheet, then winced. ¡°Oh.¡± She said, deflating. ¡°Uh, sorry.¡± ¡°How¡¯s yours?¡± He asked. ¡°Well¡­I¡¯ve got all 10s for each of my growths, and all my stats are starting at 15 or 150. I¡­don¡¯t have any Titles, though, so you¡¯ve got that on me.¡± She said, laying a hand on his. ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll figure something out, though. For all we know that Title¡¯s super awesome, right?¡± Gramps nodded. ¡°Titles the scanner can¡¯t display are generally better than average. Come with me, I¡¯ll get you the bands I¡¯ve prepared, they¡¯re top of the line, so they should be able to see it.¡± He thanked Ess and led the kids back to the office. He rummaged around in the desk for a moment, before handing each of them a small ball of some smooth, peach-colored material. ¡°Grab it and think about wearing it, it¡¯ll sink into your hands and then you can conjure up your Status at will. If you ever want to take it off for some reason, which you shouldn¡¯t need to, just thinking about doing that and it¡¯ll pop out.¡± Thomas grabbed the ball and thought about wearing it. There was a brief, comforting warmth, and then nothing. The ball was gone. ¡°How do we show the Status?¡± He asked. ¡°Just think about it. It¡¯ll pop up in the corner of your vision.¡± He did, found the window, and looked at the Titles.
Titles: #$^@
¡°It¡¯s still not displaying.¡± Gramps raised an eyebrow. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not something you see every day. To be honest, you shouldn¡¯t have a Title to begin with, let alone one strong enough to foil top of the line hardware.¡± All of a sudden, the display fuzzed. The Status went away, leaving an empty window, save for the Title. The lettering suddenly rearranged, becoming legible, and a message began to write itself below.
Fortune¡¯s Favored: The goddess of Fortune has blessed you. Hey there, kid. You really caught my attention with what just happened. You not only got the worst possible set of growths, your friend got the best. I¡¯ll be honest, I had been watching the two of you anyway, given how closely tied you are to the relationship of Mael and the other planes, and I¡¯ve found I like the cut of your jib, so I¡¯ve gone ahead and given you my strongest blessing. To make a long story short, your luck isn¡¯t 0. Or, well, it is, but that¡¯s only because that stat¡¯s completely irrelevant to you now. You¡¯re getting the best outcome possible whenever something luck based comes up. Impress me, and I¡¯ll give you some more blessings. Now that I¡¯ve interfered the other gods will be watching the two of you as well, so they might give you something too if they feel like it. Anyway, this one¡¯s got no strings attached. You just get to keep it even if you don¡¯t impress me. Call it my repayment for the crappy hand the universe dealt you. And no, those growths weren¡¯t my doing. By the way, feel free to tell those other two about this, but otherwise keep it on the downlow, alright? -Fortune
¡°Something happen?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°That¡¯s quite the face you¡¯re making.¡± Thomas relayed the contents of the message to them both, prompting a whistle from Gramps. ¡°That¡¯s fantastic.¡± He said. ¡°Blessings from the gods aren¡¯t particularly common in the first place, and their strongest ones are incredibly rare. It might just make up for your awful stats. Anyway, let me show you to my personal warehouse. We¡¯re going to get you kitted up and then tackle your first dungeon!¡± Chapter 2: Dungeon Diving Gramps¡¯ personal warehouse was a large, crowded building a short walk from the guild. It wasn¡¯t cluttered, just¡­full. There was stuff everywhere, arranged into neat rows of shelves, boxes, stands, and other containers. Gramps led them through the stuff, walking with purpose towards what appeared to be a row of armor stands in the back. Once he got there, he led them down the row until he reached two stands with a bin next to each. One set of stand and bin was labeled as ¡°Thomas¡±, and the other as ¡°Ellie.¡± ¡°Go ahead and grab your stuff.¡± Gramps told them, ¡°This is the best you can equip without any prerequisites, at least for leather armor and quarterstaffs. I picked those because they were the easiest to use with the minimal training you have. The gloves and boots will boost the power of the martial arts I taught you, but use those as a last resort, at least until you¡¯ve had more real practice. Just use the staffs to hit things at a distance, and if they get close, then you can use your fists.¡± As they suited up, Gramps began to tell them the particulars of the gear. ¡°The gloves and boots are each a 10% boost to your unarmed attacks, the armor gives 10 extra Defense and Magic Defense, as well as 10% resistance to elemental damage. The quarterstaffs just add 10 to your Power. That all should keep you pretty safe from basically anything we¡¯re going to encounter in the first dungeon, but I¡¯ve got antidote potions and healing potions in that little satchel in each of your bins. It¡¯s extradimensional, so just reach in and think of what you want, and you¡¯ll be able to take it out. ¡°Once you hit level 5, you¡¯ll be able to use the addon to your bands that will let you identify items, so let me know once you get there and I¡¯ll give that to you.¡± He looked over the two, then nodded. ¡°It looks like you¡¯re all suited up, so let¡¯s get this show on the road!¡± Gramps led them out of the warehouse and down what Thomas assumed was the main street. People would, on occasion, stop to say hello to Gramps, and he would usually respond by returning the greeting and having a short, friendly conversation before excusing himself and the kids. Eventually, Gramps stopped in front of what was, in essence, a stereotypical wizard¡¯s tower. It was tall and crooked, with small offshoots at seemingly random intervals. And, strangest of all, it had a mailbox out front. No¡­not a mailbox, whatever those locker things were that apartment complexes had. Thomas didn¡¯t know the name, as he had never lived anywhere that even had an apartment complex and hadn¡¯t bothered to learn such a small detail. ¡°Um,¡± Ellie said, ¡°Is this the dungeon? Why is there a mailbox?¡± Gramps smirked. ¡°Sure is. Each floor of a dungeon has a safe area to start with, and for whatever reason safe areas usually have some form of housing built in, complete with bedrooms, running water, electricity, and even internet access. They never used to have any of those last things, not until they started to become common, but now they do, and it baffles absolutely everyone. So, the guild rents those safe spaces out. It¡¯s pretty handy to live next to a potential source of income, so rooms in dungeons are pretty popular, especially in a city like this.¡± There was a line in front of the entrance, but Gramps just walked right to the front. There were two guards there, one of which was handling the line, and Gramps called out to the other. ¡°Elias, can I have a moment of your time?¡± The guard bolted upright and scurried over. He was, if Thomas was any judge, a dwarf, but Thomas didn¡¯t know what shorter races there were, so he didn¡¯t want to definitively pin down the species in his mind. ¡°Ah, Guildmaster, what¡¯re you here for? Inspection¡¯s not for another week¡­right?¡± Elias asked, peering curiously at Thomas and Ellie. ¡°And who are those two?¡± Gramps smiled. ¡°You¡¯re right, inspection¡¯s not for another week. These two are my cute little grandkids, and I¡¯m here to bring them on their first dungeon dive. I don¡¯t have the time to spend all day waiting in lines, so I figured I¡¯d just pop on in through the resident¡¯s line. Oh, and I¡¯m still working on getting their paperwork filled, but I can personally vouch for their trustworthiness, so do you think you could let us in?¡± Elias rolled his eyes. ¡°You know you don¡¯t have to ask, Guildmaster. Have fun, kids!¡± Before either Thomas or Ellie could reply, Gramps towed them through the large door that was propped open. All of a sudden, the atmosphere changed completely; the slight mugginess that had pervaded the air outside had vanished, and the temperature went from warm to perfect, like the place was air conditioned. The sound dimmed noticeably as well, and when Thomas looked back, there was nothing but a featureless wall behind them. The room they were in was bigger than the tower had appeared to be from the outside and had significantly less people to boot. There was a hall to the side that was labelled ¡°residents¡±, a large, ornate crystal in the middle of the room, and a couple of wooden stalls where merchants were hawking wares. Directly opposite the resident¡¯s hall, there was a door labelled ¡°Floor one¡±, and aside from that, the space was empty. Gramps hopped down from the raised circle they were on and led them towards the crystal. ¡°Each floor has a teleport pad on it. Stand on it and think about the floor you want to go to, and it¡¯ll take you there. You can¡¯t actually enter the dungeon on floors if you haven¡¯t cleared the previous floor, but you can go to the lobby if you want. The pads let you exit the dungeon too, so get used to using them. Don¡¯t worry if someone else is on the pad, it¡¯ll just teleport you, so don¡¯t think you have to stand in line or anything.¡± He reached the crystal and put his hands on it. ¡°Except if you use this. This here is a Party Crystal, which you can use to form a Party. Go ahead and put your hands on it, you¡¯ll understand how to use it.¡± Once Thomas did, he found he was vaguely aware of everyone else currently touching the crystal, and he knew that he could invite them to form a Party. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure what a Party entailed, but before he could think about it much, Gramps invited him, and he accepted. Gramps took his hands off the crystal. ¡°Parties can use the teleporter together, but they can¡¯t teleport further than the person who¡¯s gone the least in the dungeon. There¡¯s also experience and drop sharing, but the most important feature of a Party is that it lets you use the same instance of a dungeon as other people in your party. Every Party has their copy of the floor, which resets once all party members have left the floor. If someone dies on the floor, their corpse is ejected when everyone¡¯s left, and then they can be taken back to the local revival station to get resurrected. It¡¯s not cheap, nor is it pleasant, so try not to die, alright?¡± When he noticed their unsure expressions, he gave them each a pat on the arm. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it too much. I¡¯m going to be signing you two up for the guild¡¯s premium insurance, so don¡¯t even think about the payment, I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± And with that, he towed them through the door to the first floor. It opened into a circular room, the edges of which were recessed and filled with water. There was a walkway to a large circular area in the middle, upon which rested a round green blob that could only be a slime. ¡°Ah, pattern D.¡± Gramps mused. ¡°Dungeons have a few variations for each floor, the number of which is dependent upon the dungeon itself. In the early ones like this there are only a few variations, but big ones have a lot. Still there are some commonalities between patterns, so the guild gives out info pamphlets to help people out. Since I know this dungeon like the back of my hand, that wasn¡¯t necessary today, but I¡¯ll show you where to get that info when we get back. Anyway, that slime isn¡¯t going to attack until one of us sets foot on that center pillar, so one of you two go fight it. With the gear you have it isn¡¯t even worth being called a threat, so for practice you two should take turns with the slimes we see.¡± ¡°Dibs!¡± Ellie called, running forward to the pillar. She took out her quarterstaff and brought it down hard on the slime, which instantly burst apart. A moment later, the remnants of the slime turned into this sort of oily rainbow vapor and vanished, leaving behind what appeared to be a small pile of coins and an orb of some sort. ¡°Good job.¡± Gramps said, ¡°Pick up your loot and put it in the other satchel I gave you, we can sell it once we get back to the guild.¡± Ellie reached down, her hand passing directly through the orb as she grabbed something. She pulled her hand up to reveal a small coin of the type that the pile was made of, which she put into the satchel. ¡°That all?¡± She asked, looking over the room. ¡°That¡¯s kind of underwhelming.¡± ¡°Slimes don¡¯t drop anything good.¡± Gramps said, shrugging. ¡°What¡¯d you get, Thomas?¡± Thomas walked forward to the pile, bending down and counting the coins. ¡°Looks like 10 of those coins and a little orb thing.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Ellie yelled, ¡°You didn¡¯t even do anything! Not fair!¡± Gramps nodded sagely. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if your blessing would affect drops, but it appears that it does. Usually, people get way less or don¡¯t even get drops if they don¡¯t contribute much to a monster kill, maybe a couple of coins if they have high Luck, but what you got is about as valuable as drops from regular slimes get. That little orb is a core, which is used in magic, and those tend to sell nicely. Slimes also drop a couple of pieces of equipment, but they¡¯re bad and only have really niche uses in alchemy, so they¡¯re much cheaper than the core. Given that this variant of slime is known to only ever drop one thing at a time, coins excluded, that really is the best outcome for you. Next kill, try and aim for a piece of equipment, see if you can change what you get at will.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Thomas nodded. ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Oh, that makes sense.¡± Ellie said, calmer now, ¡°Looks like you can just be my good luck charm, eh? I can run around and do the killing and you make us a killing!¡± She elbowed him gently, then walked over to Gramps, who had moved to the other end of the room. ¡°Wait, I still have to put everything away!¡± Thomas said, grabbing all the stuff. ¡°Is there a faster way to do this?¡± ¡°Not until level 15.¡± Gramps said, ¡°Then you can use the autocollect feature of the bags. It¡­usually isn¡¯t a problem, but I suppose you in particular will have some more trouble. Come here when you¡¯re done, the slime in the next room is all yours.¡± Once the drops were collected, Thomas ran over, and they went through the door at the far end of the room. The next room was a simple square room, with no distinguishing features save for the slime in the middle. Thomas gripped his quarterstaff and strode forward, heart pounding slightly. He was only 5 Strength lower than Ellie when she had fought her slime, and she took it out in a single blow, so it shouldn¡¯t be too hard¡­right? He struck out with all his power, squarely hitting the slime.
You have hit slime for 15 damage! You have killed slime! 13 experience gained!
Unlike with Ellie, it didn¡¯t blow apart, but all the same it melted in place and turned into that same rainbow haze that Ellie¡¯s had burst into. This time, however, it left behind a pile of coins and¡­a shirt that was dripping with green slime. ¡°Is a green slimy shirt one of those pieces of equipment you were talking about?¡± Gramps nodded. ¡°The most valuable one of the lot. It¡¯s generally sold for about 5 copper, so honestly, it¡¯s probably not even worth handling for you. You¡¯ll just make your hands sticky and that¡¯s quickly going to become chump change for you, so I wouldn¡¯t bother. How much experience did you get?¡± ¡°13. Is that good?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the most those slimes give. These ones have been documented as giving 4 to 13, so it looks like your blessing probably works for experience too. I should note that, unlike drops, you are completely unable to earn experience if you don¡¯t somehow assist in the kill, but that¡¯s pretty easily dealt with if you know what you¡¯re doing.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask,¡± Thomas said while picking up the coins, ¡°how does experience scale?¡± ¡°Complicated.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°There are no diminishing returns when killing things lower leveled than you, and no greater returns when killing a higher leveled opponent, but when you level up your experience is reset, and you need more to get to the next level.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound too complicated.¡± Ellie said. ¡°That¡¯s not. The complicated part is how much more you¡¯re going to need. It¡¯s not a percentage increase or anything, it just goes up to a certain amount. Getting to level three takes one hundred and ten, four takes another one hundred and ten, five takes one hundred twenty-five¡­you get the point. There¡¯s a table back at the guild of how much it takes to get to a certain level, up to one hundred and thirty-seven. That¡¯s the highest we have the value for, but we¡¯re pretty sure there¡¯s no hard cap to level. If you ask me, don¡¯t bother looking at the table unless you¡¯re curious or you need to hit a level by a deadline or something and you need to plan. Alright, Ellie, you¡¯re up next.¡± The rest of the floor went pretty much the same way. Walk into the room, hit the slime once, grab the loot (which Thomas was keeping to cores), move on. They went through two more rooms like that, before suddenly finding themselves in another safe area, which looked nearly identical to the first. ¡°Not bad you two.¡± Gramps said. ¡°This dungeon has 5 floors, with the fifth being just a boss. In this dungeon, each floor is nearly identical and will just give you one more slime than the last floor in each encounter, so you¡¯ll be able to share from here on out. You two should be able to handle that no sweat, so I¡¯m going to meet you on the next floor.¡± He teleported away, and Thomas looked to Ellie. ¡°I suppose we should get started then.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll take no time!¡± She said exuberantly, ¡°Heck, we¡¯ll probably take more time picking up your loot than we will killing slimes. Let¡¯s go!¡± True to Gramps¡¯ words, the second floor was just about the same as the first but with one more slime, and they sped through it without issue. The most notable thing they discovered was that, apparently, distracting a creature¡¯s ally counted as ¡°helping¡± defeat it, as Thomas was able to gain EXP from the slimes Ellie defeated, and Ellie got normal drops and EXP from the ones Thomas defeated. And, it was in the last room that Thomas heard a ¡®ding¡¯ when he killed a slime. Once the room was clear, he checked his Status and then turned to Ellie. ¡°Looks like that ding happens when we level up. I didn¡¯t get any Skills or a Class or anything, but all my abilities went up by the maximum, so I guess that¡¯s something.¡± ¡°Lucky.¡± Ellie grumbled. ¡°I¡¯m still thirty-three away from a level.¡± Once they reached the safe area of the third floor, Thomas relayed his finding to Gramps. ¡°I expected as much.¡± Gramps said, ¡°You won¡¯t get any Skills or Classes from levelling up, those come from other places. I¡¯ll tell you more about them when we finish the dungeon. I¡¯ll meet you on the next floor!¡± The third floor was similarly uninteresting. Ellie leveled up, and Thomas went up to level 3, but other than that nothing really happened. Gramps checked in on them and went up to the fifth floor, and they trudged through the fourth. Ellie and Thomas both leveled again, and soon were in the safe area of the fifth floor, which was much more crowded than the previous areas. ¡°Ah, there you are!¡± Gramps said jovially. ¡°Ready to do this? I¡¯ll be going in with you to make sure nothing happens, but I¡¯d probably one shot the boss even without any equipment, so I¡¯m going to try and refrain from interfering unless it goes wrong. It shouldn¡¯t, though, it¡¯s a really easy boss.¡± ¡°Why is it so crowded?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°The boss drops better stuff, so if people are farming for money, then they¡¯ll generally farm the boss, at least in this dungeon. It varies on a dungeon-to-dungeon basis, but the general theme of boss floors being more crowded tends to hold. Now let¡¯s go, time¡¯s a wasting!¡± As they reached the door, Gramps stopped them before they went in. ¡°Just so you¡¯re aware, you can¡¯t proceed through the exit door in the boss room until the boss is dead. You can retreat, but some bosses will try and cut off your exit route. This boss isn¡¯t one of them, so you don¡¯t need to worry about that, but in the future remember that it¡¯s always better to leave and survive than it is to die.¡± With those words, he opened the door and walked in. Thomas and Ellie followed Gramps through the door and found themselves in a large circular room. It was featureless, save for the shimmering door on the other side, so their attention was immediately drawn to the enormous slime sitting in the middle of the room. Where the other slimes had reached perhaps half of the way to their knees at the largest, this slime was as tall as a person. ¡°This one¡¯s named Big Bertha. She¡¯s just a big slime, nothing special about her aside from that. She¡¯ll take more hits and deal more damage than a normal slime, but she¡¯s not terribly dangerous, so have at it!¡± Gramps said cheerfully. Ellie rushed in and gave Big Bertha a whack, the quarterstaff sinking into Big Bertha but not bursting her. In retaliation, Big Bertha rammed herself into Ellie while she was off-balance, causing her to stumble backwards. Thomas rushed in and took his own whack, not putting his full strength into it so he didn¡¯t end up like Ellie.
You have hit Big Bertha for 11 damage!
The staff sank into Bertha slightly, but he just wrenched it out and jumped back as Bertha made another lunge. At this point, Ellie tugged her quarterstaff free and hit Big Bertha one more time, killing Big Bertha.
Big Bertha has been killed! You gain 100 EXP!
Thomas heard the ding of a level up but paid it no heed as he looked at the drops. Big Bertha dropped a single silver-looking coin and a core a fair bit larger than the other slimes, so he put the core in his satchel and showed the coin to Gramps. ¡°I¡¯m guessing this is a silver? How many coppers to a silver, and what¡¯s higher than a silver?¡± ¡°One-hundred coppers to a silver, one-hundred silvers to a gold, one-hundred golds to a platinum.¡± Gramps replied, moving to the far door. ¡°Think of a copper like a cent, so a silver would be a dollar, a gold would be one-hundred dollars, and a platinum would be ten-thousand dollars.¡± ¡°How does the economy not crash with all this money coming in?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°It flows out at a pretty similar rate. Some magic, most notably resurrections, use money as part of their components, some Skills use money, some equipment¡¯s powered by money. It all balances out in the end. That¡¯s enough talk though, let¡¯s go get your real reward!¡± Before either of them could say anything, he opened the door and walked in, disappearing from sight. The two teens shared a shrug, then followed. The room they found themselves in was small, a large crystal not dissimilar to the Party Crystals in each of the safe areas taking up most of the space. ¡°The first time you clear each dungeon, you get an opportunity to use its Rewards Crystal. Touch it, and you¡¯ll get either a Class or a Skill. You can get another opportunity to use the Rewards Crystal if you clear the dungeon from start to finish a certain number of times, the exact number of which varies from dungeon to dungeon. This one you can get four more attempts at 10 clears each, so when you have some free time, I¡¯d recommend working your way towards getting those four attempts. Now, go ahead and try! The Rewards Crystal will give you a pop-up when you use it telling you what you got, so you don¡¯t even need to use your bands!¡± Thomas, filled with anticipation, placed a hand on the crystal.
You have gained the Skill Underdog (Legendary)! Underdog (Legendary): Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: When facing an opponent that has a stat that is higher than your equivalent stat, increase that equivalent stat by 10%. For each stat beyond the first that is higher than yours, increase all your stat bonuses from Underdog (Legendary) by 10%. You can always find somewhere soft to bite. #$^@ #$^@ #$^@ The goddess of Fortune has given you a blessing! Metal Detector: Automatically places coins received from monster drops in a selected container that is on your person. May be toggled off. Uhhhh, hey kid, it¡¯s Fortune again. I hadn¡¯t given that blessing to someone so low level before, so I kiiind of forgot about the coin issue. I swear I wasn¡¯t trying to make things monotonous for you, my b. This should tide you over until you get that autocollect thing your Gramps was talking about. P.S: I¡¯d appreciate it if you didn¡¯t tell the others about this if they don¡¯t ask. Kind of ruins my image, don¡¯t you think? P.P.S: No, you knowing doesn¡¯t count as ruining my image. You got the blessing, so we¡¯re in this together, got it? -Fortune
Right, so the goddess of Fortune was kind of scatterbrained. Good to know. ¡°What¡¯d you get?¡± He asked, turning to Ellie. ¡°Swordswoman Class!¡± She said. ¡°You?¡± ¡°The Legendary variety of the Underdog Skill.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s perfect for you.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Not that I¡¯m surprised at this point. As for you, Ellie, a Class is great. Swordsman is pretty average, but it¡¯s a Class. Let¡¯s head back to the guild and I¡¯ll tell you more about Classes, OK? Just leave the room the way you came in and you¡¯ll be back in the safe area.¡± So, having performed Thomas and Ellie¡¯s first successful dungeon crawl, the party made their way back to the guild. Chapter 3: The Rumors When they got back to the guild, it was much emptier. Gramps had them line up in Graham¡¯s queue, which was only a couple of people long. A few minutes later, they were at the front, and Thomas and Ellie looked towards Gramps, who shooed them onwards. ¡°Um, we¡¯re¡­selling monster materials?¡± Ellie hazarded, looking at Graham. Graham caught Gramps¡¯ eye, seemed to reach some sort of understanding, then began to speak. ¡°Sure thing. Are they in a magic bag or do you have them on your person?¡± ¡°Bag.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Would you like to sell everything in the bag or just some of it?¡± Ellie looked back at Gramps, who shrugged. ¡°Everything, I guess.¡± ¡°Excellent.¡± Graham replied, taking out a scale-like instrument from below the counter. ¡°If you would go ahead and place the bag on here, I can confirm the contents.¡± Ellie and then Thomas placed their bags on the scale, while Graham typed something up in a computer on the side of the counter. ¡°Looks like the missus¡¯s bag¡¯s worth is about¡­1.21 silver, not including the coins already present. The young man¡¯s is¡­¡± He paused, then had Thomas put his bag back on the scale. ¡°Wow, I¡¯ve never seen someone come back that fast with that many cores. That¡¯s an even 50 silver for you.¡± He typed in a few more things, then turned back to the two. ¡°With the size of the contents in your bags, we could just empty them here and transfer the worth of the contents to your bank if you would like.¡± ¡°Bank?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°The guild acts as a bank for freelancers, it helps keep them from needing to carry large amounts of currency everywhere. It¡¯s totally safe, you even get a nifty magic-based credit card.¡± Gramps said, ¡°It¡¯s your choice, though.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take the bank option.¡± Thomas said. ¡°Then I will too!¡± Ellie added. ¡°Go ahead and empty the bags, but don¡¯t bother trying to transfer anything.¡± Gramps instructed. ¡°I haven¡¯t officially set up their licenses yet, so you won¡¯t be able to. I¡¯ll just transfer the money to them once I finish.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Graham said. ¡°Your bags, then?¡± The two obediently handed their bags over, and Graham walked over to the back of the counter area, where he unloaded the bags into a large trolley. He then walked back and handed the bags back to them. ¡°Thanks, Graham.¡± Thomas said. ¡°Just doing my job.¡± He replied. ¡°Now, is there anything else I can do for you?¡± ¡°That¡¯ll be all.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Excellent work as always, Graham.¡± With that, Gramps grabbed the teenagers and once again dragged them off, heading back towards his office. Once they were inside, Gramps had them sit again, and began to talk. ¡°So, Classes.¡± He began, ¡°Are a little different. You can have as many Classes as you can get, but only one can be active at a time. They level up just like you do, but instead of boosting your stats, they help your Skills. At certain levels they¡¯ll give you a new Skill, and they also boost the growth of Skills that have levels. A Skill has to fall within the general umbrella of a Class to benefit from this, and the bonus is a percentage increase equal to the level of the Class. ¡°In addition, some Classes will give side bonuses, or are prerequisites for using certain Skills or equipment, so make sure you look over each Class you get. If you want to change your Class, you can do so at any Party Crystal or use a Class Crystal. Class Crystals are basically just Party Crystals that only change your Class, but they can be brought outside of dungeons, so they¡¯re pretty handy. Most guild branches will have one lying around, and they shouldn¡¯t charge you to use it if you¡¯re a member. Usually Classes will auto-equip if you don¡¯t have one already, so Ellie shouldn¡¯t need to use a crystal right now. Your Class did equip itself, right?¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Yup!¡± ¡°Perfect!¡± He said, standing up and walking over to Thomas and Ellie. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ve got a party that¡¯s agreed to teach you two some real fighting, so let¡¯s go say hi and get you started on your first lesson!¡± He once again grabbed them and began to lead them elsewhere. Thomas was beginning to remember why outings with Gramps were always hectic; the man never seemed to run out of energy, and he was always pulling the group along at his own pace, never quite giving them time to breathe. As they walked, Gramps pulled out his phone and made a call. There was some short discussion, and then Gramps hung up and turned to the two. ¡°They¡¯re going to meet us at the dungeon we were just at. I¡¯ll bring you to them and then I have to make my way back and finalize your registration. They¡¯re nice people, so I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get along great!¡± They took another short walk to the dungeon, and Gramps once again had them skip the line. When they were inside Gramps scanned the assembled people before spotting the group he was looking for. ¡°Hey, over here!¡± He said, waving and beginning walking over. The group spotted him as well and the two assembled parties met up. ¡°Let me introduce you all.¡± Gramps said, stepping out of the way so everyone could see each other better. ¡°These fine people are the rank 9 party known as The Rumors.¡± ¡°Is ranking better if it¡¯s high or if it¡¯s low?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°High.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°You start at 1 and work your way up. 10 is generally considered the best rank possible.¡± ¡°Cool!¡± Ellie said, ¡°Is there a story behind that name?¡± ¡°If you haven¡¯t noticed, we tend to stand out. Rumors tend to spread when we¡¯re out in more rural areas, thus the name.¡± The girl on the left of the lineup said, smirking. ¡°Name¡¯s Alice, I¡¯m the tank-slash-melee person.¡± Alice was a short, skinny girl that would have looked like a normal human, were it not for her short green hair and strangely patterned dark brown skin, ridges and swirls running across it that Thomas found not unlike those on wood. ¡°The big guy is Ker.¡± Alice continued, motioning at the man in the middle of the group, a hulk of a man that must have been nearly nine feet tall. He had black hair that went down to his shoulders, and a friendly smile that was only slightly ruined by his piercing red eyes. ¡°That¡¯s me. I¡¯m technically the healer, but that tends to translate to general handyman. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m Jin, the party leader.¡± Said the last person in the line-up, a man clearly belonging to one of the smaller races. He had messy brown hair and eyes, and a mischievous smile that was somehow assuring, like he had everything under control. ¡°I¡¯m the mage ¡®round these parts. We¡¯ve got it from here Mr. Los, go on back to your business.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave them in your capable hands.¡± Gramps said with a wave. He then extracted himself from the group, leaving Thomas and Ellie with The Rumors. ¡°If¡­you don¡¯t mind me asking, what species are all of you?¡± Thomas asked, ¡°Before this morning the two of us weren¡¯t really even aware that people other than humans existed, so you¡¯ll have to forgive our ignorance.¡± ¡° ¡®S all good.¡± Alice replied, ¡°I¡¯m a dryad, Ker¡¯s a goliath, and Jin¡¯s a halfling. You¡¯re Thomas, and the girl¡¯s Ellie, right?¡± ¡°Yup!¡± Ellie said. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Cool, cool. What¡¯s the plan, Jin?¡± ¡°So,¡± Jin said, moving towards the center of their small group of people, ¡°We¡¯re going to party up, and then our first order of business is to blitz you two through this dungeon until you have your four extra shots at the Rewards Crystal. This is a really short and easy dungeon, so let¡¯s give it, say, four hours. Sound good?¡±
It was a disheartening four hours for Thomas. His mentors swiftly dealt with everything in the first four floors and left him and Ellie to deal with Big Bertha, saying that she was the only thing in the place that gave any worthwhile drops, experience, and practice. Thomas didn¡¯t even get to pick up his loot on the main floors; they just rushed on through. His attempts at the Rewards Crystal were similarly disheartening. Where Ellie got cool things like the Light Magic (Basic) Skill, he only got Skills that increased his resistance to status effects, namely Poison, Paralysis, Freeze, and Petrification. And what was worse, he was rapidly eclipsed in his performance against Bertha. Ellie just¡­did everything better. She dealt more damage, dodged Bertha¡¯s blows easier, took less if she did get hit, and all-around made him look useless. So, he was in a rather somber mood as he and Ellie accompanied The Rumors back to the guild. In sharp contrast, Ellie was in high spirits, playing with a dancing globe of light on her palm. ¡°Did you see that last fight, Thomas?!¡± She said, grinning, ¡°Just wham, and Bertha was dead! Didn¡¯t even break a sweat!¡± ¡°That¡¯s cool and all,¡± Alice said, ¡°But it¡¯s generally considered bad manners to one-shot the boss like that. It denies the rest of the party loot and EXP. You¡¯re lucky you made that mistake while in training, because a stunt like that can harm your reputation and make it harder to get into parties.¡± ¡°Oh. Sorry.¡± ¡°I get it, it¡¯s exciting to get that strong, we were all like that at some point. I¡¯m just letting you know.¡± Jin cleared his throat. ¡°Right, right. Now that that¡¯s out of the way, we can start tailoring your training to your abilities. We¡¯ll show you the guild¡¯s training area, and we¡¯ll lend Ellie a practice sword now that she¡¯s got some sword Skills.¡± Ker opted not to say anything, instead just looking at Thomas thoughtfully. The walk was only about a minute more, and once there The Rumors lead the group through the main hallways. Unlike the employee hallways, they regularly passed people or had to squeeze through traffic jams to get to where they were going. Eventually, they emerged into a large courtyard, filled with training dummies and various people hitting the dummies, sparring with each other, and otherwise¡­training. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go find you a sword.¡± Jin said, motioning for Ellie to follow. ¡°Alice, you know the most about this stuff, come help. Ker, you can get started with Thomas.¡± ¡°Got it!¡± Ellie said, following Jin off to the side of the room. ¡°Hey, kid, you doin¡¯ alright?¡± Ker asked, squatting down so he was at eye level with Thomas, ¡°I noticed you weren¡¯t exactly¡­full of life. Don¡¯t try and compare yourself to Ellie, she¡¯s a prodigy and a half.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Thomas hesitated, not sure what to say. ¡°Did you get the rundown on our stats?¡± Ker shook his head. ¡°No. I can tell Ellie¡¯s got really good Power, Defense, and Agility, but that¡¯s about it. What¡¯s your point?¡± ¡°I have all ones and one two for each of my growths.¡± Thomas replied bitterly. ¡°It¡¯s not about comparing myself to her, it¡¯s about comparing myself to anyone. It¡¯s like¡­I¡¯m starting to wonder if I should even bother at this point. My new Skills are underwhelming, and I don¡¯t even have a Class, so I can¡¯t get more Skills without going through another dungeon, which I¡¯m sure are all going to be more difficult than that one, and if this trend continues then I¡¯m not going to be able to do anything but slow Ellie down.¡± Ker sighed. ¡°Yikes, that¡¯s rough. Well, you don¡¯t have to work at her pace. You can make a living just fine in some intermediate level dungeons. I won¡¯t sugarcoat things, you¡¯re probably not going to be able to go any further unless you get some crazy Skill or something, but, given some training, you can do just fine for yourself like that.¡± ¡°Then¡­what¡¯s the point? If I¡¯m not able to get to the really lucrative stuff, why shouldn¡¯t I just go make a safe living on Mael?¡± Ker shrugged. ¡°Personally, I¡¯d say do it, because it¡¯s more exciting and you get to do some real good helping people, but that¡¯s your choice to make, not mine.¡± He said, then put a hand on Thomas¡¯ shoulder, ¡°I think it¡¯d be counterproductive for you to do anything more today. Go ahead and head back to your house and take a rest, think it through. I¡¯m not going to judge you, whatever you decide. It¡¯s a personal choice.¡± ¡°Thanks, Ker.¡± Thomas said, then walked off, heading back towards Gramps¡¯ office. It had been a bit of a fun day, but even with the goddess of Fortune¡¯s blessing, things just weren¡¯t shaking out. The best he could really do on a team was just leech off their kills and provide them with increased income. So, he wandered, lost in thought. Eventually, he found the door to Gramps¡¯ office, and knocked. ¡°Come in!¡± Thomas entered the room, and Gramps frowned. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You hurt somewhere?¡± ¡°No, I¡­I just realized that I¡¯m not cut out for this. The new Skills I got were all status resistance Skills, so if those were the best possible Skills for me, then that can only mean I¡¯m meant to sit on the sidelines and provide better drops for people. I don¡¯t see the point in that when I can just go back to Mael, win the lottery, and live comfortably for the rest of my life.¡± Gramps furled his brow. ¡°What resistances?¡± ¡°Does it matter?¡± ¡°Yes. Which ones?¡± ¡°Poison, Paralysis, Freeze, and Petrification. 10% increased resistance to each.¡± Gramps¡¯ frown deepened. He stood up, and the atmosphere¡­changed. He began to chant a magic incantation, and a tense, charged feeling filled the air. Then, a moment later, there was a snap, and a light tingling assaulted Thomas. ¡°What was that for?!¡± Thomas yelled. ¡°I don¡¯t think you quite get how status effects work.¡± Gramps said, dusting himself off and walking over to Thomas, ¡°Each attack that inflicts a status effect is a chance to activate. That chance almost never goes above 100 percent, and your resistance decreases that by however much resistance you have. I just hit you with a recursive 100% paralysis spell, which would keep casting until the mana I used ran out, and I put in enough for 15 casts. Seeing as how you¡¯re totally fine, I¡¯d say that your blessing works just fine on status effects. Combined with your blessing, those ¡°resistances¡± are closer to flat out immunity than they are a typical resistance.¡± Thomas frowned. ¡°My point still stands. I don¡¯t see the benefit of having near complete immunity to statuses if I can¡¯t deal with the thing inflicting them.¡± Gramps grabbed Thomas¡¯ hand gently. ¡°That¡¯s because you don¡¯t have all the information right now. The important thing is that those resistances weren¡¯t random. Not in the sense that they¡¯re the most useful resistances, because they¡¯re not, but because there¡¯s a specific use for that specific set of four resistances. You can go home if you want, but first you have to come with me for one last outing.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Gramps waved at the wall. ¡°No buts. You don¡¯t even know how to make the door appear, so there¡¯s no getting out of this.¡± Thomas sighed, but let himself be towed away once more.
Thomas looked around the circular chamber that the first room he¡¯d ever seen in the dungeon. ¡°Why are we here, Gramps? I¡¯ve already used all my attempts at the Rewards Crystal, and it¡¯d be more efficient to farm Big Bertha if we wanted money.¡± Gramps shook his head. ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. Sometimes, when you¡¯re exploring a dungeon, you¡¯ll find a secret room that¡¯s not always there. These secret rooms have what we call a Challenge, a, well, challenge that¡¯s more difficult that what you would normally find in the dungeon. If you succeed, you get a shot at a Rewards Crystal that offers different rewards than the dungeon¡¯s other Reward Crystals. You get to use each Challenge¡¯s Rewards Crystal once, and it just so happens that this room has the possibility to contain the entrance to a Challenge.¡± Gramps reached into a satchel and grabbed a stone, which he threw at the wall. It hit a brick that looked slightly¡­off. The brick indented, and the wall fell forward, creating a path across the water, ending at a door set slightly into the wall. ¡°I didn¡¯t show you this before for two reasons. The first is that the Challenge would have been more than the two of you were ready to handle. It¡¯s a group of slimes that, while not physically tougher than regular slimes, have high chances to Poison, Paralyze, Freeze, or Petrify you, and that effect applies if you hit them with anything. The second is that it¡¯s basically pointless. There hasn¡¯t been a single recorded case of someone getting anything from it. But, if it¡¯s you¡­¡± He let the sentence hang, and Thomas nodded. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡± Gramps said, ¡°This should be a piece of cake for you. They¡¯ll basically just be regular slimes.¡± And so, they entered the room, which contained four oddly-colored slimes. A marbled green and purple one, a yellow one, a blue one, and a grey one. And, true to Gramps¡¯ word, Thomas didn¡¯t have any trouble killing them. The uncreatively named ¡°Poison Slime¡±, ¡°Paralysis Slime¡±, ¡°Freeze Slime¡±, and ¡°Petrification Slime¡± each gave 50 EXP to Thomas (which was not quite enough to level at this point), and they were soon in the next room. It looked identical to the other Rewards Crystal room, so Thomas went ahead and planted his hand on the crystal.
You have gained the Class Monster Breeder! Monster Breeder will cause permanent physical alterations (to allow you to use Class Skills) if you equip it. Would you like to equip it? Yes/No
¡°Well?¡± Gramps asked. ¡°I got the Monster Breeder Class. It¡­isn¡¯t equipping itself. It says that it will cause permanent physical alterations if I equip it, and it¡¯s asking me if I want to. Should I?¡± Gramps frowned. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­never heard of Monster Breeder. There are a few Classes that are known to cause physical alterations, and it¡¯s never been something that affects someone¡¯s daily life outside of social ramifications and adjusting to them, but they can be rather noticeable. As a tradeoff, those Classes are, generally, more powerful than other Classes. But, with a completely unknown Class like this, it¡¯s going to be up to you if you want to take it.¡± Thomas thought about that for a minute. ¡°How much stronger?¡± ¡°Quite a bit stronger. And, with a Class that you have this low of a chance to obtain, my money is on it being one of the better ones out there.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do it, then.¡± ¡°Not here, thou¨C¡± Gramps warning came too late; Thomas had already hit yes and, moments later, Thomas lost consciousness. Chapter 4: Consequences Thomas groaned, stirring. He looked around curiously and found himself lying in a bed in an unfamiliar room. What was the last thing that had happened¡­? Right, he had just picked up the Monster Breeder Class, and Gramps had been saying something about not picking it right away. Whoops. ¡°Wazzat?!¡± Ellie blurted out, lurching forward. She had, apparently, been sleeping in a chair beside Thomas¡¯ bed, and was blearily rubbing her eyes. ¡°Thomas?¡± She began hopefully, then froze, staring at Thomas. ¡°Who¡­are you?¡± Thomas rolled onto his side, so he was facing her, and glared. ¡°Really? I can¡¯t exactly see myself, but surely my makeover wasn¡¯t extreme enough for you to not recognize¡­me.¡± He frowned. That¡­was not his voice. Not how he remembered it, anyway. It was higher and airier, and he would almost describe it as musical. ¡°Ellie, what do I look like?¡± ¡°But, you¡­¡± She blinked, then realization dawned. ¡°You¡¯re¡­Thomas?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Thomas!¡± He hissed. ¡°Who else would I be?!¡± ¡°Um, uh, I don¡¯t, um,¡± Ellie was blushing furiously, refusing to meet Thomas¡¯ eyes. ¡°Let me get Grandpa, he¡¯ll know what to do.¡± She stood up, dashing out of the room and leaving Thomas alone. He was afraid to look himself over. Aside from a weight on his chest and the sensation of all his clothes being loose he felt normal, but he was sure that was the transformation¡¯s doing. He¡­had some suspicions, but he really didn¡¯t want to check to be sure. Fortunately, he was saved by Gramps walking through the open door and coming into the room, tailed by Ellie, who was hiding behind Gramps and peeking out at Thomas. Gramps took one look at Thomas then sighed, reaching into his bag and somehow pulling out a full-length mirror, which he set on the floor. Thomas rolled to face the other direction before he could see anything, closing his eyes. ¡°Is it bad? Tell me it¡¯s not awful.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not bad, just¡­surprising.¡± Gramps said, walking over to Thomas. He laid a hand on Thomas¡¯ shoulder and then, instead of moving to further comfort him, grabbed him and planted him square in front of the mirror. ¡°Open your eyes, there¡¯s no use hiding from it.¡± Gramps said kindly. ¡°You¡¯re stuck like this, so you better face the facts.¡± He slowly opened his eyes and recoiled. Standing in the mirror in front of him was an unreasonably beautiful girl just barely taller than Gramps. Her long, blond hair cascaded down her shoulders and down to her back, looking as if it had been carefully straightened, and her body showed no marks whatsoever. And, as much as he hated to say it, her figure was good, too. It was hard to accurately gauge anything due to the extremely oversized shirt she was wearing (anything below the waist having fallen into a pile around her feet), but it looked as if she wasn¡¯t exactly lacking in the curves department. And, unfortunately, Thomas was forced to admit that it was him in the mirror. ¡°Um¡­¡± She began, ¡°There¡¯s¡­not an undo option, is there?¡± Gramps shook his head. ¡°Not an easy one, I¡¯m afraid. Did the Class give you any Skills?¡± Thomas quickly checked her Status. ¡°Four.¡± Gramps winced. ¡°That¡¯s going to make things very difficult, if you want back to your old self. You¡¯ve got to first find something that will get rid of your Class, and then find four Skill removers, and all of those are on the level of national treasures, especially the Skill removers.¡± Thomas wilted, dropping down to the floor. ¡°I¡¯m¡­never going to be able to go back to Mael.¡± She said, tears springing to her eyes, ¡°No one would ever believe I had a spontaneous sex change; I don¡¯t have any paperwork¡­it¡¯s over. I won¡¯t be able to see my friends again; I¡¯ll be stuck here as someone who can¡¯t even measure up to basic standards.¡± Gramps scratched his cheek awkwardly. ¡°Well¡­you kind of signed up for that when you allowed yourself to change. Don¡¯t worry, though, I can take care of that. Mael doesn¡¯t know about magic, so some quick memory and record alteration will be a snap. I already got someone on standby while we were waiting for you to wake up, so don¡¯t sweat it.¡± Ellie nervously walked over, crouching down so she was at eye level with Thomas. ¡°Well, um, are any of those Skills good?¡± Thomas once again brought up her Status and took a full look at the Skills she had received.
Encode Ability: Rarity: Phantasmal Type: Passive Description: You can absorb a monster¡¯s core into yourself. For every Skill or outstanding physical ability the monster originally possessed, you have a chance to gain a degraded version. This chance decreases for higher rarity Skills. Skills gained this way are permanent and are not removed if the core is removed. You can have a maximum number of cores absorbed equal to your Monster Breeder level. Absorbing a core while at maximum capacity will prompt you to eject a core. Ejected cores are returned to the surrounding mana, and cores may be ejected at any time. Slots used: 0/1 You are what you eat. Core Surgery: Rarity: Phantasmal Type: Passive Description: You may take a physical attribute or a Skill from a core you have absorbed and put it into a ¡°database¡± of Attributes. You may take on any of these Attributes or use the original version of the Skill while the attribute or Skill is in your database. Taking on an Attribute in this manner can be reversed at any time and will automatically reversed if you apply the Attribute to a core. Attributes or Skills you have stored may be applied to any core currently in your core bank and disappear once used. When applying Attributes or Skills to a core, the Attributes or Skills applied may not cause the strength of the core to increase greatly beyond the core¡¯s original strength. Every Monster Breeder level will allow you to increase the power of the core further beyond the original strength. The size of your database is equal to your Monster Breeder level. Additionally, provides an interface for all applicable Monster Breeder Skills. Slots used: 0/1 They¡¯ve activated your trap Skill. Create Monster: Rarity: Phantasmal Type: Passive Description: You may use up a core in your possession, turning it into an unswervingly loyal servant. When this is done, the core is physically ejected and used to create a monster. Monsters created this way can be turned back into their core at any time and retain memory if the core is absorbed and remade into a monster. Every 10th level of Monster Breeder allows you to have one additional monster created this way. Slots used: 0/1 They¡¯re not undead. I promise. Unless you use a core that has the undead Attribute. Then they¡¯re undead. Target of Affection: Rarity: Phantasmal Type: Passive Description: Monsters are more docile towards you and less likely to target you. Most monsters will completely ignore you if you do not interact with them, and if you are damaging them while other people are damaging them, they will always target the others first. Unusually aggressive monsters may target you without provocation, and intelligent monsters may be able to resist the effect. Additionally, your body strives to maintain what you see as ¡°peak¡± beauty, your skin is always pleasant to the touch, feeling cold to those that want to cool down, and warm to those that want to warm up. Furthermore, you are coated in an aroma that, to others, will register as their favorite smell, and your voice has been made to sound as pleasing as possible. Rule 1: Be attractive. Rule 2: Don¡¯t be unattractive.
¡°Umm¡­what are all the Rarities, Gramps?¡± Thomas asked cautiously. ¡°In ascending order of rarity, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythical.¡± Thomas gave him a confused look. ¡°What¡¯s Phantasmal, then?¡± Gramps froze. ¡°You got a Phantasmal Skill?¡± ¡°They¡¯re¡­all Phantasmal.¡± Gramps sat down on the bed, holding his head. ¡°Good heavens.¡± He whispered, ¡°A single Phantasmal Skill is a find so rare that often whole generations will go by without one cropping up. It¡¯s no wonder no one ever got anything from that Rewards Crystal if this is what it¡¯s offering.¡± ¡°Does that mean they¡¯re good?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t always measure the power of a Skill by how rare it is, but a good rule of thumb is the rarer, the better. Phantasmal Skills are a league above any other in terms of rarity, and a further league above in terms of power. You aren¡¯t to tell anyone you have one Phantasmal Skill, let alone four. You¡¯ll immediately become one of the world¡¯s most sought-after people, regardless of your actual ability.¡± He looked away, then began muttering softly, like he always did when he was thinking something through. For her part, Ellie gave Thomas a huge smile. ¡°Now we¡¯re even, right? I got the stupid good growths, you got the stupid good Skills. We can be equal partners, right? So, please, don¡¯t leave. I don¡¯t want to do this if you¡¯re not there.¡± Thomas shakily smiled back. ¡°Sure, Ellie. As long as you don¡¯t mind me, you know¡­looking like this.¡± ¡°Of course I don¡¯t mind.¡± Ellie replied, giving Thomas a hug, ¡°You know I never cared about looks, I won¡¯t get jealous.¡± Thomas blinked. ¡°I¡­wasn¡¯t talking about jealousy. I meant now that I¡¯m not¡­me.¡± Ellie snorted. ¡°Thomas, the inside¡¯s the same, and that¡¯s what counts. It was really, really shocking at first, but I feel the same about you as I did before.¡± She tapped her chin thoughtfully, ¡°We can¡¯t go around calling you Thomas, though. Not when you¡¯re a bombshell like that. People will ask questions you probably don¡¯t want to answer.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Does that even matter?¡± Thomas asked, ¡°It¡¯s just a name.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Ellie replied, suddenly fired up, ¡°There¡¯s no way a girl as cute as you should be a ¡®Thomas¡¯. How does Tess sound?¡± ¡°Fine, I guess.¡± Tess grumbled, ¡°If it makes you happy.¡± Oddly enough, she¡­didn¡¯t really care. Another aspect of the transformation, perhaps? ¡°That settles it.¡± Gramps interjected. ¡°We¡¯ll have to have The Rumors swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath. I can¡¯t think of anyone else I would trust to train you, and I¡¯m too busy to do it myself. I¡¯ll go get our resident Fatebinder.¡± He stood up and strode towards the door, then paused. ¡°By the way, did you mention something about a new name? What is it?¡± ¡°Tess, apparently.¡± Tess replied. Gramps nodded. ¡°A good choice. Alright, you two sit tight, I¡¯ll be back in a jiffy.¡± He left the room, closing the door behind him. ¡°Sooooo,¡± Ellie said slowly, ¡°What do your Skills do?¡± Tess read the Skill descriptions out to her. Ellie frowned. ¡°Let me try something.¡± She said, lunging towards Tess. Tess, already being far slower than Ellie, was powerless to stop Ellie as she mercilessly messed with Tess¡¯s hair, doing her best to tangle it and otherwise ruin the look it had going for it. When she was done, she stepped back and groaned. ¡°Alright, now that isn¡¯t fair.¡± She replied, motioning at Tess. ¡°I know I just said I wouldn¡¯t get jealous, but that¡¯s something else entirely.¡± Tess once again looked herself over in the mirror. Her hair was messy, yes, but it looked purposefully messy, like someone had meticulously arranged it to give the appearance of being messy, while still making it look good. Tess moved to comb it out with her fingers, and the hair just sprung instantly back into its previous, more orderly, state. ¡°You don¡¯t even know how much of a pain doing hair is.¡± Ellie whined, ¡°And you just get to not? What¡¯s up with that?!¡± ¡°I¡­think it¡¯s part of Target of Affection?¡± Tess replied, ¡°I doubt it¡¯s something the change itself did to me. Speaking of, what did the change¡­look like? I was passed out.¡± Ellie made a face. ¡°When Grandpa brought you back, you were in a giant cocoon-looking thing. Or maybe like an egg? It was weird, let me tell you that. No one else seemed too surprised, though, which I think is even weirder. That means this sort of thing must be normal, right?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Gramps did say that some Classes will physically alter you so that you can use their Skills, so it must just look that way any time it happens.¡± Ellie thought that over for a moment. ¡°Why did this one change you, then? I can¡¯t think of¡­¡± She paled suddenly, gasping. ¡°Oh no. That¡¯s¡­not great for you.¡± ¡°What do you mean?! What¡¯d you figure out?!¡± Ellie¡¯s eyes flicked from side to side as she stumbled over her words. ¡°U-um, Th- Tess, what¡­what¡¯s the biggest thing women can do that men can¡¯t?¡± ¡°Have a¡­¡± And then, as the thought struck her, Tess paled as well. ¡°Baby.¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Then¡­I, um, think it¡¯s pretty likely that Create Monster, at least, will, um, make use of that.¡± Tess groaned, hiding her face in her hands. ¡°This can¡¯t be happening. No way I can use Skills that do that to me.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be that bad, I can assure you.¡± Gramps said, walking into the room again. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear the exact details, but I¡¯ve heard enough to get the gist. The modifications made to you will most likely make the use of your Skills easier. I can¡¯t guarantee that it will easy, but it shouldn¡¯t be painful. I¡¯d give it a go before writing it off completely. But, that aside, I would like to hear the details of your Skills.¡± Tess and Ellie filled him in, though Ellie did most of the work when it came to Create Monster or any talk of ¡°ejecting cores¡±. Gramps frowned. ¡°I¡­see the hang-up. Well, cores generally don¡¯t get larger than fist-size unless they¡¯re from something really impressive, so it honestly shouldn¡¯t be a big deal with your modifications. Just¡­think of it like going to the bathroom. That¡¯s going to be a little different too, so¡­go ahead and get used to both at the same time.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Assuming that was modified, anyway. I doubt any of us have any desire to do the kind of testing that would be required to check, but it¡¯s a safe assumption. Go ahead and try it with some slime cores, you should be able to find a pretty small one.¡± Tess blushed. ¡°No! Not while both of you are here! Not happening!¡± Gramps sighed. ¡°We¡¯ll go outside then. But you have to do this, Tess. If you want to be able to use your Skills to their full potential, then you¡¯re going to have to confront this some time, and it¡¯s best to just rip the bandage off now. Don¡¯t make a pet or anything, just eject a core. Encode Ability is already one of the most stupidly powerful Skills I¡¯ve ever seen, and all you need for it to work at full capacity is to be able to absorb new cores, even if it means ejecting old ones.¡± Feeling like her face was on fire, Tess shooed the two away. ¡°Fine, fine! One time!¡± Once the others were out of the room, Tess rummaged through her bag. She had managed to pick up a few cores while working with The Rumors (having claimed that she got one as a drop about as much as she figured Ellie did), as cores were just about the only thing The Rumors did let them pick up during their raid. She quickly found the smallest one, which was roughly the size of a bouncy ball. She put the rest back in her bag and rolled her chosen core around on her palm, steeling her nerve. After a few moments of that she took a deep breath, and then went to absorb the core. She was about to just eat it when it disappeared in a puff of smoke which, instead of spiraling upwards, raced into Tess through the pores of her skin. Suddenly, a small window popped up in front of her.
You have absorbed a Slime Core! Slots filled: 1/1 You have gained 10 EXP in Monster Breeder! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ No new Skills or abilities detected! Displaying core information: Slime Core: Level 1 Estimated Power: 1 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 2 Current Skills: None Current Attributes: Amorphous (Slimy) (Fundamental) New Attribute discovered! Amorphous (Slimy): The body of something using Amorphous (Slimy) is made out of slime, and therefore can be squeezed to fit into very small spaces. If you use Amorphous (Slimy) via the effects of Core Surgery, the effects apply to your equipment as well. New concept discovered! Fundamental Attributes: Fundamental Attributes are those that are so central to the makeup of a monster that to remove them would fundamentally alter the monster itself. What this alteration entails varies from monster to monster and from Attribute to Attribute. Monsters may have more than one Fundamental Attribute. Fundamental Attributes taken from a monster and stored in your database are not considered Fundamental to you. Fundamental Attributes applied to monsters from which they were not originally obtained may or may not remain Fundamental. Applying an Attribute of another type to a monster may make the Attribute Fundamental and transform the monster.
That piqued Tess¡¯s interest. If she took it and used it for herself, what were the limits? Could she do just part of the body? Could she freely shape herself if she was made of slime? Besides, she already had the core, so it wasn¡¯t like it would cause any distress to just take that Attribute, right? The hard part would be ejecting the core. So, she tried to move Amorphous (Slimy) into her database.
Warning: If you remove the Fundamental Attribute Amorphous (Slimy) from Slime Core, the core will be rendered useless and automatically ejected. Proceed?
Of course it wasn¡¯t that easy. Still, she was going to eject the core anyway, so she might as well take this Attribute in the process. It took her a further minute to work up the courage to do it, but she eventually managed to take away the Attribute and braced herself for the ejection. There was the sensation of something dropping into her bowels, and then the need to push. She listened to her instincts and gave that push, feeling something slide along inside her before eventually exiting from her front. She was briefly able to see a wet core as it fell towards the ground but, before it could hit, it vanished into the same rainbow mist that monsters vanished into. Once she was sure it was over, she carefully inspected the area around her. There was a small patch of wetness on the floor directly below her, and her¡­exit was slightly moist as well, but other than that the process had been remarkably clean and relatively comfortable. But that core had been tiny. She could already tell that larger cores would be more work, but she had no way of knowing what the limit was before it would get uncomfortable. She took a deep breath, then poked her head out the door. Gramps and Ellie both gave her inquisitive looks, so she ushered them in. ¡°It¡­wasn¡¯t too bad.¡± She mumbled, looking down. ¡°But it was tiny, so there wasn¡¯t much to get get rid of, you know?¡± She blushed, still keeping her face down, ¡°I¡­might want to save it for the bathroom, though. I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be clean with larger cores.¡± Ellie laughed, slinging an arm around Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°See? You¡¯ll be fine. Get anything good from it?¡± ¡°Um¡­I can turn myself into slime now.¡± Gramps raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really? Care to show us?¡± Tess extricated herself from Ellie, then went to activate the Attribute, trying to turn only her arm into slime. It was an almost unconscious process, much like moving or breathing; she just did it, and it happened. She swayed on her feet as her whole body turned into green slime. It was harder to keep her balance like this, but she could still stand, albeit rather awkwardly. The sensation was¡­odd, like she was underwater, but¡­not. Moving was slower, and her senses were slightly muted, but not to the same extent they would be if she was underwater. She certainly couldn¡¯t swim through the air or anything. She tried to mold her hand into¡­something, anything other than a hand, but failed. She opened her mouth to try and say something, but all that came out was incomprehensible burbling. Right, everything that let her speak was probably slime right now. So, she deactivated the Attribute and returned to a more corporeal form, brushing her completely dry clothes off. ¡°Well, that was an experience.¡± She told her audience. ¡°Probably not something that would be useful unless I need to squeeze into somewhere, but it wasn¡¯t too big a pain to use.¡± ¡°That was¡­awesome!¡± Ellie squealed, pulling Tess into another hug. ¡°You¡¯re going to be like some sort of cool blue mage or druid!¡± ¡°Remind me what those are?¡± Tess said, shifting so she was slightly more comfortable in Ellie¡¯s suffocating embrace, ¡°I¡¯ve heard the names, but I can¡¯t really remember.¡± ¡°Told ya to play more video games,¡± Ellie replied smugly. ¡°A blue mage can use monster¡¯s attacks and a druid can turn into animals and stuff. They¡¯re really fun to play.¡± Gramps cleared his throat. ¡°While that is pretty cool, we do have to get on with things. Tho-err, Tess, can you ask Fortune if you can tell The Rumors about your blessing if they¡¯re put under a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath?¡± ¡°And that is?¡± Ellie prompted. ¡°An oath that magically forces whoever swears it to abide by certain terms. It requires a little ceremony and can only be done by people with the right Skill, but if someone willingly swears one then the only ways to remove the oath are to satisfy conditions laid out in the oath or have whoever they swore it to release them from it while a Fatebinder performs another ceremony.¡± ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Umm¡­Fortune, any input?¡± A window popped up in front of her.
Sorry, the number you tried to call is out of service. Please try again. ¡­ ¡­ Just messing with you. No, it¡¯s totally fine to tell The Rumors about my blessing if they can¡¯t¡­spread any rumors. The God of Heroes says they¡¯re pretty cool, and he¡¯s generally right, so I¡¯ll trust them. P.S: I probably won¡¯t be as timely about answering you (if I answer at all) in the future. I¡¯m keeping a pretty close eye on you right now for what I should hope are obvious reasons, but there¡¯s no guarantee I won¡¯t be busy later. But, if you continue to be entertaining, then maybe I¡¯ll consider making you my Appointed or something and then we can have a more personal relationship. Right now you¡¯re just someone I find interesting, so work hard on raising that affection level, alright?
¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Tess told them, ¡°But Fortune says she won¡¯t be as snappy about answers in the future, so don¡¯t think of me as a hotline or anything.¡± Gramps nodded. ¡°I figured as much. Alright, let¡¯s get this taken care of and hopefully, by the time we¡¯re done, we¡¯ll be set to go back to Mael for the night. I¡¯m sure you two are in desperate need of some R&R right about now.¡± ¡°You got that right.¡± Tess muttered. ¡°I¡¯m still half hoping this is all going to turn out to be a dream.¡± Chapter 5: New Scenario Ellie kept her head straight, trying desperately not to look back at Tess¡¯s lovely new form. She would be lying if she said this wasn¡¯t a situation she had often fantasized about; somehow, Thomas would get transformed into a girl, and would have to go on the run to avoid intensive government probing. As a matter of course, Ellie would flee with the newly transformed Thomas, and the two would, over time, grow closer and closer together until at last they would break their unspoken agreement and become lovers. That was scenario A, anyway. The content and how fantastical each scenario was did vary, but they always contained the part about growing closer and becoming lovers. And¡­here she was, in the middle of one. And, to make things crazier, Tess had turned out so much better than she ever had even in Ellie¡¯s most wild fantasies. Then, her train of thought ground to a halt as she realized something. There was the potential that, if Tess absorbed the core of an animal-like monster, she could get the ears and tails of that animal. Right, that would be priority number one on her little list of ¡°things to get Tess to do¡±. Scenario D might not be a pipe dream after all. Well, all her scenarios had been pipe dreams until this morning, but that one had been a bit more distant than the others. She spent the rest of their walk practically salivating over the possibilities. She would have to play it cool, though; she was still in the closet, and now probably wasn¡¯t the best time to come out. So, she was hoping that the theoretical awkwardness of being around a newly transformed person would cover for her strange behavior. Her musings were cut short as her grandpa ushered them into a small room. Inside were The Rumors and, surprisingly, Ess. Gramps shut the door behind them, locking it and muttering a spell. ¡°I have already received your permission, but let me ask again,¡± He said, ¡°do all of you, save Ellie and Tess, consent to this Fatebinder¡¯s Oath?¡± There was a chorus of assent, so Gramps nodded at Tess. ¡°Go stand over near them. Ess will need you there for the ceremony.¡± The Rumors were giving Tess some curious looks, but she walked up to in front of them anyway. Once she had, Ess stepped forward, and began to speak in a slow, careful voice, an almost palpable tension filling the air. ¡°Ker, Jin, and Alice, I ask you in the name of the God of Fate if you will swear to tell no one about Tess¡¯s special capabilities or this Oath until the day she dies or releases you from the Oath.¡± ¡°By the God of Fate, we swear it.¡± They intoned. Ess reached out, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand in one of hers, and reached out her other towards The Rumors, who each grabbed part of it. ¡°Then, as witness, I declare the Oath made, binding yourselves and myself to secrecy.¡± She dropped the hands and then yawned hugely, breaking any atmosphere that she had going on. ¡°I¡¯m going to go nap.¡± She said, ¡°Oaths always take it out of me. Fill me in on the details later, guildmaster.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Gramps replied, ¡°thank you very much.¡± Ess exited the room with another yawn, leaving everyone else just sort of¡­standing there. But, not for long. Once the door had been shut, Alice began to speak. ¡°Right,¡± she said flatly, ¡°I think it¡¯s time you explain yourself. I take my eyes off of you for two hours and suddenly you¡¯ve got yourself turned into¡­this, and we have to swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath, of all things. Spill it.¡± Tess looked to Gramps, who shook his head. ¡°I think it¡¯s best you explain it. It¡¯s your status, after all.¡± ¡°Um¡­ok.¡± Tess replied nervously. ¡°So, after Ker had me go back home, I went to Gramps¡¯ office so I could¡­go home. And Gramps was grilling me about why I was so discouraged, and so I told him about the Skills I got, and then he had me go beat the dungeon¡¯s Challenge and try the Rewards Crystal and¨C¡± Alice raised a hand. ¡°Hold up there.¡± She said, pinching the bridge of her nose. ¡°Why would the guildmaster have you even attempt that? Everyone knows it¡¯s the most worthless one of the lot so the danger isn¡¯t even remotely worth it.¡± Tess tapped the tips of her pointer fingers together nervously. ¡°Uh, well, I might have been holding back on some of my capabilities. I was supposed to keep quiet but now that you¡¯ve sworn the Oath I¡¯ve been told it¡¯s OK so¡­¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°The Goddess of Fortune has been keeping an eye on me and Ellie because of how closely tied we were to the situation with Mael, and then when I got the worst growths possible and Ellie got the best, she took pity on me and gave me her strongest blessing.¡± Ker raised an eyebrow. ¡°And, what does it do?¡± ¡°Well, if you, uh, look at my sheet, you¡¯ll notice that my Luck is 0 and has 0 in all its growths. She said that¡¯s because the blessing bypasses my Luck stat entirely and just gives me the best result in any situation it would be used.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Alice yelled, suddenly angry. ¡°You have that, and you wanted to quit?! Do you have any idea how amazing that is!?¡± Jin placed a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Alice, calm down. It¡¯s a natural reaction to the day he had.¡± He turned back to Tess, then continued. ¡°Uh, come to think of it, he or she?¡± ¡°She is fine, I guess,¡± Tess said sulkily, ¡°I apparently don¡¯t much care, though I¡¯m willing to bet it¡¯s the transformation¡¯s fault for that. And if you didn¡¯t catch it before, everyone¡¯s calling me Tess now, so you might as well do that too.¡± Jin nodded. ¡°Right, well, Luck is a vitally important stat for freelancers. It controls how often your effects go off, how often you get hit with things, certain Skills require it to work, and it even affects how much experience you get and how often monsters drop things. It¡¯s not flashy, but it¡¯s effective. Ask Alice, she¡¯s got low Luck, so she knows better than most how important it is.¡± ¡°Oh yeah!¡± Alice said, ¡°how many cores did you leave on the ground back there?! Surely you got more than the rest of us.¡± ¡°Um¡­Every monster dropped a core. So, if I didn¡¯t say anything then it was just left on the ground.¡± Alice started to go over that in her head. ¡°You killed probably 100 slimes, that many cores would add up to¡­¡± ¡°No,¡± Tess said in a small voice, ¡°every slime. Including the ones you guys killed.¡± Alice stopped, staring Tess dead in the eyes. ¡°You¡­that¡¯s hundreds of cores you just left there!¡± She sputtered, ¡°You probably could have made a few gold from that!¡± ¡°Actually, that¡¯s something I should talk about,¡± Gramps interrupted, ¡°Tess, I¡¯m going to have to ask that you don¡¯t sell all the cores you get, at least not to other guild branches; there¡¯s a real risk of crashing the market. It probably won¡¯t be an issue with smaller cores like regular slime¡¯s cores, but for things like Bertha¡¯s core it¡¯ll become a problem fast. If you¡¯re around, come to me and I¡¯ll buy them from you in bulk, and we can have the guild hold onto them in case of emergency. If you need cash fast and aren¡¯t here, go ahead and sell a couple to other branches, but be careful about it. The same goes for other drops.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can do that,¡± Tess replied, ¡°that¡¯s a good point.¡± ¡°We¡¯re getting off-track,¡± Ker said, ¡°and while this is obviously an important secret to keep, I don¡¯t think the guildmaster had us swear an Oath just for that. You were talking about the Challenge, right? Please continue.¡± ¡°Oh, um, right,¡± Tess said, ¡°so, I got a resistance Skill for all the elements the slimes in that Challenge use, and Gramps tested it, as long as there¡¯s a possibility for me to resist a negative status effect, I will, so it was perfectly safe for me to try.¡± Alice groaned. ¡°That¡¯s not fair. You don¡¯t even know how good you have it.¡± ¡°Just ignore her,¡± Jin instructed. ¡°R-right. Um, I used the Rewards Crystal, and it gave me this Class called Monster Breeder, which did¡­this,¡± Tess gestured at her body. ¡°And gave me four Skills.¡± An expression of understanding flashed across Jin¡¯s face. ¡°Let me guess, one of them¡¯s Phantasmal?¡± Tess shrunk back into her oversized shirt. ¡°Um¡­they kind of¡­all are.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. There was a long pause as The Rumors processed this, which was then broken by uproarious laughter from Ker. ¡°I think that this counts as ¡®some crazy Skill or something¡¯,¡± he said, walking over and clapping Tess on the back. ¡°That blessing alone probably would have let you get by in some higher-level dungeons, but four Phantasmal Skills on top of it? You¡¯ll be totally capable of making your way to the very top, stats or no. Let¡¯s hear about them, shall we?¡± As Tess explained, Ellie got to thinking. Apparently, the Goddess of Fortune had been keeping an eye on them, and she was at least somewhat involved with Tess¡¯s change, so¡­was it possible that the Goddess of Fortune knew about Ellie¡¯s sapphic scenarios and had tweaked things? It wasn¡¯t¡­right? Ellie jumped as a screen popped up in front of her, unbidden.
;)
Ellie made a mental note to convert to whatever religion followed the Goddess of Fortune later. Well, provided Fortune really was trying to be a wingwoman and not just messing with her and Tess. Further rumination was cut off as Tess finished her explanation, and Alice once again burst into speech. ¡°You¡¯re not quitting,¡± she said defiantly, ¡°that¡¯s the most stupid set of Skills I¡¯ve ever heard of. Yeah, your stats are hot garbage, but who even cares at this point?! Like¡­it doesn¡¯t even matter! You could literally just buy your way to power, and you have the best money-making potential of anyone.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do that, though,¡± Jin warned, ¡°I feel it would be more advantageous for you to slowly acclimate to the Skills you receive instead of just getting a bunch right off the bat and not knowing how to use them.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to have to absorb many cores.¡± ¡°And why not?!¡± Alice protested. ¡°There¡¯s like¡­zero downsides!¡± Tess blushed, squirming in place. ¡°Um¡­ejecting cores is¡­¡± She motioned to her privates. ¡°Not exactly pleasant.¡± Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°Just suck it up. You¡¯re going to be doing something like that once a month anyway, so hurry up and get used to it.¡± ¡°Alice,¡± Ker said disapprovingly, ¡°I seem to recall you complaining about that very topic not two weeks ago. And, unlike you, she hasn¡¯t had a lifetime to grow used to it.¡± ¡°But, just listen to her!¡± Alice replied. ¡°She¡¯s practically being fed with a silver spoon and she¡¯s still down in the dumps!¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough, Alice.¡± Ker said firmly, ¡°she doesn¡¯t have the experience to know just how nice what she has is. Furthermore, her body¡¯s been changed around a bunch; it¡¯s a totally reasonable response.¡± ¡°She knew what she was getting into when she picked the Class!¡± Alice argued. ¡°It¡¯s¨C¡± ¡°Both of you, stop,¡± Jin said, ¡°argue if you want, but do it later, when we¡¯re not in front of who you¡¯re arguing about.¡± For her part, Tess was seemingly trying to vanish into the shirt without actually physically putting all of herself inside of it. She could probably do that, too, if she huddled up inside and stretched out the fabric. Gramps walked over and placed a comforting hand on Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Tensions are running high.¡± He said, ¡°so, let¡¯s all take a break and we¡¯ll talk about this when next we meet. You three can figure out the best way to go about things, I¡¯ll handle making sure Tess gets adjusted. Sound good?¡± ¡°Yes, Guildmaster,¡± Jin replied, ¡°that¡¯s an excellent idea. You lot, we¡¯ve got work to do, let¡¯s go.¡± And with that, Jin walked out of the room, followed closely by Alice. Ker waited for a bit, though, giving Tess another clap on the back. ¡°Don¡¯t let Alice get to you,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯s just upset because she sees a lot of potential in you and doesn¡¯t want it wasted. Take care, alright?¡± And then he too left, leaving Ellie and Tess alone with Gramps. ¡°Let¡¯s get you home, shall we?¡± Gramps said cheerily, ¡°it¡¯s getting late and you have school in the morning.¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t exist on Mael, Gramps,¡± Tess said shyly, ¡°I don¡¯t think I can go to school.¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± He replied. ¡°I was expecting to have to pull a lot more strings to get you to be able to be out and about, so my people are almost finished. All you¡¯ll need is a uniform, and until we can get one that fits better you can borrow one of Ellie¡¯s.¡± Ellie chose to let the clear display of political power slide; she had more important things on her mind. Namely, the fact that Tess would be wearing a skirt the next day. One of her skirts. Not that the male uniform on a woman didn¡¯t have its own charms, but a skirt was a whole different animal. Another thought hit Ellie. ¡°Um, Grandpa, now that you mention it, Tess is going to need underwear.¡± He titled his head. ¡°Can¡¯t she just borrow yours?¡± ¡°I doubt it. Panties, maybe, but the bra? It¡¯s hard to tell in the baggy clothes, but I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯s, um, quite a bit bigger than me. She¡¯s going to be really uncomfortable without one and having one that¡¯s way too small would probably be even worse.¡± Tess hung her head. ¡°Can¡¯t I just wear my old uniform for a bit? I can think up an excuse.¡± Ellie shook her head vehemently. ¡°No can do,¡± She said, ¡°one, your old stuff will be way too big for you, two, you¡¯re a girl now, and you¡¯ll get a lot of weird looks. It¡¯ll attract too much attention.¡± ¡°So? Gramps said he has people working on the memories. It shouldn¡¯t be a big deal.¡± ¡°Ellie¡¯s right,¡± Gramps said, ¡°the memory alteration isn¡¯t perfect, people will be able to start noticing something¡¯s wrong if something too incongruous happens. Where would you have gotten a male uniform from? There¡¯s no reason for one to be lying around the house.¡± ¡°And that still doesn¡¯t solve your little underwear crisis,¡± Ellie said, ¡°even if you could wear your old stuff, you¡¯d be going braless and, trust me, you do not want that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s settled, then,¡± Gramps said, ¡°I¡¯ll show you two to a nice clothing shop close to here and we can get Tess some underwear and regular clothes, then we¡¯ll go home.¡± ¡°Can I just¡­stay here while you do that?¡± Tess asked hopefully, ¡°I¡¯m not exactly fully dressed at the moment.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll need to take your measurements,¡± Ellie said, ¡°we can go grab your pants and put some pins in them for the walk over, but you have to go.¡± Tess sighed. ¡°Fine, whatever.¡± A short pitstop and quick pants modification later, the group set out and had another short walk down to the clothes shop. ¡°Hey, Grandpa,¡± Ellie asked, ¡°why¡¯s everything so close to the guild? It feels like we¡¯ve barely had to do any walking.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a matter of convenience,¡± He replied, shrugging, ¡°we built it close to the dungeon, and then people naturally built facilities freelancers would want close to the guild. It¡¯s just economics.¡± They walked a bit past the dungeon, and Gramps pulled them into a store. ¡°Hey, Rachel, got some customers for you!¡± He yelled. ¡°Coming!¡± Someone, presumably Rachel, replied, ¡°give me a minute!¡± While she was waiting, Ellie took the opportunity to look around the shop. There were a lot of clothes in all sorts of different styles hanging around on mannequins, handmade if Ellie was any judge. Suddenly, there was a myriad of clacking sounds, and an arachne emerged from the back of the shop, walking up behind the counter. Were you to ignore the arachnid lower body, she would be the perfect picture of a saleswoman; she had a bright friendly smile, was sharply dressed, and kept her black hair tied neatly up. Not that Ellie minded the spider body; she rather liked the exoticness of it. The other strange thing about her was the glasses she had. The woman had a set of human eyes as well as three sets of spider eyes set around them. The glasses had been modified to cover all those eyes, almost reminding Ellie of the tools that optometrists would use to test eyesight. ¡°Mr. Los, it¡¯s been a while!¡± She said warmly, ¡°What can I do for you?¡± ¡°Well, Rachel, I recently introduced my grandkids to the freelancer lifestyle, and, well¡­¡± He pulled Tess out from her hiding spot behind him, placing her squarely in Rachel¡¯s view. Rachel¡¯s gaze flicked from Gramps, to Ellie, and then to Tess. ¡°Transformee?¡± She asked. ¡°Transformee.¡± Gramps confirmed. ¡°This is Tess, she used to be Thomas. Her wardrobe is kind of unusable right now, so I was hoping you could help with that.¡± Rachel nodded sagely, scuttling out from behind the counter and putting a gentle hand on Tess¡¯s arm and another behind her back. ¡°That¡¯s rough, dear. Come with me, you¡¯ll feel better once you¡¯re in clothes that actually fit.¡± Without waiting for a response, she led a protesting Tess off to the backroom. ¡°Just a bra and panties for now!¡± Gramps called out, ¡°Save her measurements, I¡¯ll order a bunch more clothes later, but we need to leave here having covered her up!¡± ¡°Will¡­she be OK?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, Rachel¡¯s a sweetheart.¡± He responded, ¡°best seamstress in town too, if you ask me. Even uses her own silk for a lot of what she does. It costs an arm and a leg, but it¡¯s worth it.¡± ¡°Why a seamstress, though? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to get something more mass-produced, at least for today?¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t many mass-produced clothes sold in the Outlands. Too many people of too many different races congregate here, so mass-produced clothes wouldn¡¯t fit enough people to really be worth the effort when they could be sold places where the demographic is more certain. That¡¯s not to say there aren¡¯t any mass-produced clothes, just that they¡¯re expensive and it can take a while to find what you¡¯re looking for. It¡¯d probably be faster than going to a tailor, sure, but Rachel works incredibly fast, so just the underwear will only be a few minutes, and if we¡¯re getting clothes, we might as well get good ones.¡± They waited for about 10 minutes before Rachel led a very red Tess back into the front. ¡°All done!¡± She said happily, ¡°we¡¯ll call that one gold even!¡± Without even batting an eye, Gramps dropped a platinum on the counter. ¡°We¡¯ll call this advanced payment for the order I¡¯m making. I¡¯ll send over the exact list in an hour or two, but she needs a whole new wardrobe, so it¡¯ll be a big one. I¡¯ll pick up the change when I pick up the order, alright?¡± ¡°Can do, Mr. Los.¡± Rachel replied, saluting and pocketing the platinum, ¡°best of luck, little lady!¡± As they left the store, Tess spoke. ¡°Um, Gramps, is it¡­OK to spend that much on me so suddenly? You said that a platinum was ten thousand dollars, so that seems like overkill.¡± Gramps shrugged. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s not a big deal. I didn¡¯t get to be in charge of the guild off of administrative talent alone, I was the leader of a rank ten party back in the day. I made a killing then, and managing the guild pays well too, so I¡¯m one of the richest people in the Outlands. Rachel is one of the best in the business, her prices reflect that, and I¡¯m planning on ordering around ten sets of clothes, so dealing in platinum is to be expected. Honestly, though, I¡¯m only expecting to spend about forty gold, which really isn¡¯t that bad.¡± He gave Tess a smirk. ¡°Trust me, give it a year or two and you two will be totally capable of making that much in a day, at least in raw materials. Besides, most of the clothes I bought for you when you were growing up have been from Rachel anyway, so it¡¯s a little late to start getting cold feet about them.¡± Huh. He never had told them where he got the clothes he gave them, and they had always been super nice, so Ellie had just figured they were a perk of whatever top-secret work he did. Her whole life she¡¯d been wearing clothes straight out of a fantasy world and had never known. It really gave her a new respect for her wardrobe. ¡°Now, let¡¯s go home for real.¡± Gramps said, ¡°I¡¯m starving!¡± Chapter 6: Adjustment Tess collapsed onto her bed, curling up into a ball underneath the covers. Everything had gone so wrong that day, and it was all catching up to her now. The one bright spot in it all was that her stats were low enough that transitioning back to Mael was easy; it seemed that levelling up automatically adjusted your body to the stat increases, and due to Mael¡¯s low magic density one¡¯s full strength couldn¡¯t be brought out. Therefore, coming back resulted in a sort of odd lethargy, which apparently only got worse as your stats increased. Ellie was already having a rough time of it, although Gramps had told them that they would get used to it and barely even notice after going back and forth enough. Speaking of Ellie, her uniform was laid out on Tess¡¯s floor, and Tess had no intentions of touching it until she had to tomorrow morning. She really didn¡¯t want to accept her new reality, but it looked like her new reality had already accepted her; her driver¡¯s license had already changed to reflect her new name and appearance, the photos in the house all showed Gramps with two girls, and she could only assume her other documentation had been changed as well. But¡­how would her friends treat her? She was mostly friends with guys, so would they be weird about her? Probably not, but the dynamic would have to change somewhat, right? There now existed the possibility of one of her friends becoming romantically interested in her, and she didn¡¯t really like that possibility. Fortunately, it seemed like her sexuality was unchanged, at the least. She made sure to check by looking at some pictures, and she didn¡¯t feel any differently than she had that morning. That meant that her dating pool had narrowed significantly, and, as far as she knew, would unfortunately exclude her current and most of her previous crushes Well, and Ellie, but Tess had written her off as a lost cause a long time ago. While she did really like Ellie as a person, and had liked her romantically for quite a while, Ellie had never shown even a shred of interest in Tess, so she had decided to move on and be content with their platonic relationship. There was a soft knock on her door, snapping her out of her fugue. ¡°Come in.¡± She mumbled, not bothering to emerge from the covers. The door opened and then shut, and soon there was a weight on her bed. ¡°Um¡­do you need to talk?¡± Ellie asked hesitantly. ¡°Today seems like it¡¯s been pretty crappy for you.¡± ¡°Just trying to accept that my life¡¯s taken a bad turn and there¡¯s nothing I can do about it.¡± Ellie laid a gentle hand on the blankets above Tess. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not that bad. If you ignore the whole sex change thing then you got just as much out of today as I did. The Rumors are saying you have top tier talent, so it¡¯ll just be a matter of getting there. And if you don¡¯t want to, then you¡¯re more than capable of living an easy life here on Mael.¡± ¡°The sex change thing is kind of a big deal.¡± Tess responded, ¡°My whole social life has just changed, and I¡¯ve got no idea what to do about it.¡± ¡°Your friends are good people.¡± Ellie said reassuringly, ¡°I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t treat you any different if you don¡¯t treat them any different.¡± She paused for a moment, then proceeded. ¡°Do you still like girls or¡­?¡± ¡°Thankfully, yes.¡± Ellie sighed in what Tess was nearly tempted to say was relief. ¡°That¡¯s good. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard a transition, then. And being a girl really isn¡¯t that bad, half the population has no trouble with it whatsoever. You¡¯ll just need some time to get used to it, that¡¯s all.¡± Tess snorted. ¡°Easier said than done.¡± ¡°Well¡­your transformation updated your body so this all feels normal, right? So¡­it¡¯s just the other stuff you have to get used to. Not that there isn¡¯t a lot, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be as hard as you¡¯re thinking. And I¡¯ll be with you every step of the way, so you can always count on me.¡± Tess sighed. ¡°Thanks. Right now, though, I think I just need some alone time. We¡¯ll talk about it in the morning, OK?¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± She gave the area close to Tess¡¯s head a couple of pats. ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± The weight on the bed vanished as Ellie stood up. ¡°Night.¡± Tess muttered. ¡°Night.¡± Ellie responded, leaving the room and once again leaving Tess alone with her thoughts.
Like she did every morning, Tess laid in bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for Ellie to come and get her. She could have just gotten up, but she really didn¡¯t want to leave the safety of her bed. Doing so would mean she would have to face the day ahead, and she wasn¡¯t ready for that. Not yet. Time lagged for a while. Ellie¡­didn¡¯t show up. Not like she usually did. So, Tess stared and waited. Distantly, she heard the sound of the garage door opening, a car being started, and then the garage door closing. She waited more. Eventually, there was a quiet knock on her door. ¡°Tess, can we talk?¡± Gramps asked softly. Tess didn¡¯t reply, choosing instead to roll over in bed. ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine.¡± Gramps said gently, ¡°I¡¯ve excused your absence from school for the foreseeable future, as I realized last night that you probably need more time to adapt. Um, I¡­forgot that not everyone is as open to change as I am. Go back to sleep if you want, I¡¯ll get you later when I drop off some day clothes for you, and then we¡¯ll talk about things, alright?¡± Gramps left, and a relieved Tess let herself drift to sleep.
¡°Hey, kid, you should wake up now.¡± Tess jolted awake as a massive hand gently shook her. ¡°It¡¯s not good for your mental state to just lie in bed like this.¡± Tess groggily opened her eyes. ¡°Ker? What¡­why are you on Mael?¡± ¡°The Guildmaster was busy, so he gave me special permission to come talk to you, so long as I stayed inside the house. I thought you might need a little pep talk.¡± He tossed her a shirt and pants. ¡°Put these on, I¡¯ll wait outside until you¡¯re ready.¡± Ker carefully made his way out of the room, crouching to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. Tess grabbed the clothes and looked them over. They were¡­nearly identical to her old favorites, just tailored to fit a woman. Curious, she opened her drawer and grabbed those clothes, giving the two a side-by-side comparison. And, aside from the different sizes, she wasn¡¯t able to find any notable differences. That¡­actually made sense now that she was thinking about it; she had gotten the old set from Gramps, and he said that most of her old clothes had been from Rachel, and she had worn that particular set more than any of her others, so Gramps must have had Rachel make a replica. They felt nice and fit perfectly. That wasn¡¯t too much of a surprise, considering the rather extensive measurements that had been taken the previous day. She pointedly tried to ignore the memory as she finished putting everything on, then opened the door. Ker was sitting with his back against the wall, watching the door. Once Tess stepped through, he got up into a sort of crouch that just barely let him not hit the ceiling and motioned down the stairs. ¡°Let¡¯s talk over some food.¡± He said, ¡°I find it always helps to face life on a full stomach.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. They made their way to the kitchen, where Ker sat Tess down at the table. ¡°You sit there, I¡¯ll make the food. You wouldn¡¯t guess it from looking at me, but I¡¯m a pretty good cook, if I do say so myself. Good food makes freelancer work much more tolerable, so I made a point of learning how to make things that didn¡¯t taste like garbage.¡± Tess fidgeted for a moment before asking about what was on her mind. ¡°Um¡­why are you going so far out of your way for me? We barely even know each other.¡± Ker laughed. ¡°Doesn¡¯t feel that way to me, but that¡¯s probably because the Guildmaster won¡¯t shut up about you and Ellie. I¡¯ll bet you anything he¡¯s already bragging about how his grandchildren have some of the most raw potential he¡¯s ever seen. But, even aside from that, I can¡¯t just ignore someone who¡¯s clearly suffering like you are. Not all of us are fortunate enough to be able to pick our lot in life, and sometimes life chooses to put you through the wringer.¡± A timer rang and he opened the oven, using his bare hands to pull out a tray of orange rolls that must have been baking since before Ker woke Tess. As he started glazing them, he continued. ¡°And I¡¯m going to be honest, life threw you a couple of lemons yesterday. But you were also given a blender, so I want to make sure you make lemonade, if that makes sense.¡± Tess scratched the back of her neck. ¡°I think so? I¡¯m¡­um, not so sure I want to use my abilities, though.¡± She said, frowning. ¡°It¡¯s¡­not an experience I particularly enjoyed. The end result is nice, yeah, but the process is so disconcerting that it seems to balance out.¡± Ker popped some bread in the toaster, took a skillet out from the satchel at his waist, and put it on the stove. ¡°Forgive the slight tangent, but let¡¯s say you had everything going for you that first day, that you and Ellie had switched places, would you want to be a freelancer?¡± Tess blinked. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d want to try it, at least. It sounds way more exciting than just sitting around here doing nothing. Who wouldn¡¯t want to try out magic and explore a whole new world?¡± Ker cracked an egg and began to scramble it. ¡°So, you do want to do freelancer work.¡± ¡°I suppose, yeah.¡± ¡°I guess what I¡¯m getting at is that it comes down to what¡¯s stronger in you; that desire for adventure you were talking about, or your fear of your new body. And I hate to break this to you, but that body isn¡¯t going away any time soon. Not even your grandpa has the money that would be required to purchase the necessary items, and you¡¯re not getting any of those items yourself without utilizing your abilities.¡± Ker got out some butter and a knife, preparing to butter the toast once it was done. ¡°You mentioned that your alternative would be coming back here and winning the lottery, and yeah, you could totally do that. Thanks to the blessing Fortune gave you you¡¯ll never have to work a day if you don¡¯t want to. But, let me tell you a secret; that gets empty fast. People aren¡¯t built to just sit around and do nothing. Go ask Alice; she comes from old money, and she could live just off of the interest her money generates, let alone all the businesses she owns. She tried the whole ¡®do nothing¡¯ thing, and it did awful things to her. So, she went out and became a freelancer, and she¡¯s been much happier since.¡± He snatched the toast as it popped up, deftly buttering it and putting more bread in the toaster. ¡°I think she sees herself in you, and she really doesn¡¯t want you to make the same mistakes she did. And I think that, to a certain extent, she has a point when she says to just get used to your body. If you do really want to be a freelancer, then you have to accept that discomfort is part of the job. You don¡¯t have to like it, but just know that it¡¯s not all going to be sunshine and rainbows.¡± He finished the eggs and put some food onto two plates, sliding one to Tess and taking the other for himself, sitting down across from her at the table. ¡°As someone who¡¯s been around for a couple hundred years, let me make a recommendation. Give it a shot. Use your abilities to their fullest, but only on the small stuff. Gradually work your way up, find out what your tolerance is. After you¡¯ve done that and tried freelancer work for a couple of months, if you really hate it, then go back to Mael, win the lottery, and find something to do with your life. Maybe start paving the way for Mael to get into contact with the rest of the League of Planes, maybe something else. But, in the end, that¡¯s just my recommendation; it¡¯s your life, so it¡¯s your choice.¡± Tess ate her food in silence for a while, digesting what Ker had told her. ¡°Alright.¡± She said eventually, ¡°I¡¯ll try it out for a while. If I do, will you help keep Alice off of my back when I don¡¯t try and absorb something like Bertha¡¯s core right away?¡± Ker smiled gently. ¡°Of course, kid.¡± After the two finished their meal, Tess helped Ker save the leftovers. ¡°Um,¡± she said, putting the remaining orange rolls in a sealable bag, ¡°You mentioned that you¡¯ve lived for a couple hundred years. Is that a goliath thing or¡­?¡± Ker smiled. ¡°Perk of the job, actually. Anyone who gets to a high enough level stops aging. If you get to a really high level like your grandpa, then your aging even starts to reverse until you get back into your prime.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°But Gramps is still old, and he certainly hasn¡¯t gotten any younger since I¡¯ve known him.¡± ¡°Has he gotten any older?¡± Tess froze. Gramps¡­hadn¡¯t. She hadn¡¯t really thought about it, just assuming that he was at that point where people would look the same for quite a while, but Gramps hadn¡¯t even shown the miniscule changes that most people would. It was hard to notice, as being around him so much made looking for differences day-to-day hard, but she was pretty sure if she looked closely at each of the photos they had, then there would be no difference in his appearance, save for injuries or changes of clothing. Ker chuckled. ¡°The anti-aging doesn¡¯t work as well in places that have low ambient mana like Mael, so he still ages while he¡¯s here, but he spends enough time in the Outlands that it just cancels out. He was guildmaster when I joined about a hundred years ago, and I see no sign of him quitting any time soon.¡± ¡°So, theoretically¡­¡± ¡°You could become ageless, yeah. It¡¯s not based on stats, it¡¯s raw level. We¡¯ve found that your aging slows at level fifty, you stop aging at seventy-five, and aging begins to reverse at one-hundred. Those are all approximations, of course, since it¡¯s hard to quantify something so slow as aging, but it¡¯s a completely achievable milestone. It¡¯ll take you ten or twenty years¡­¡± He paused, looking Tess over, ¡°Scratch that, you and Ellie you could probably make it a lot faster than that, but most people take ten or twenty years getting to seventy-five, and another thirtyish to get to one-hundred. Getting beyond that is an absolute nightmare, though. The required experience jumps up drastically, so it¡¯s slow going. The only reason anyone¡¯s made any real progress is because of a few super high-level dungeons found way out in the wilds of the Outlands.¡± As they put the last of the food away, Ker gently shepherded Tess to the door to the Outlands. ¡°Now that we¡¯ve finished, the Guildmaster would like to talk with you.¡± He said, ¡°I¡¯ll wait outside the office for you, but I think this is probably a discussion best had with just the two of you.¡± He knocked on the door, and, moments later, it opened. ¡°Come on in!¡± Gramps said, ushering the two inside. Ker came out of his crouch, stretching a little. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the two of you to it. See you in a few, Tess.¡± Without waiting for a response, he made his way out of the room. Gramps had Tess sit down on one of the couches and sat on the one across from her. ¡°I mentioned it this morning,¡± he began, ¡°But I¡¯ve pulled some strings and got you excused for a while. The pretense is that you¡¯ve got some awful sickness that might take a couple of months to fully get itself out of your system. Ellie will be bringing you your homework every day, which you can turn in when you go back to school.¡± He sighed. ¡°I think we should set some ground rules on how you¡¯re going to go about life in this little adjustment period. I¡¯ll give you a week to just loaf around, get physically used to your new body, and come to grips with your situation, but after that you¡¯re going to have to do a bit more.¡± ¡°First,¡± he said, holding up a finger, ¡°You have to do your homework every day. Second,¡± he held up another finger, ¡°You must come to the Outlands every day. I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re doing freelancer work with The Rumors or if you find something else to occupy your time, but you have to be in a situation where you can interact with other people. And if you do freelancer work you do have to work with The Rumors, just to keep you talking to people. Finally, I want to hear your thoughts about the day every evening. And that¡¯s all. Does that sound doable?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, I suppose. Ker convinced me to give freelancing another shot, so I was going to do that anyway.¡± Gramps smiled. ¡°Good. Now, what would you like to do for the rest of the day? It¡¯s up to you.¡± ¡°I was going to go talk with Ker, and I¡¯ll figure something out. Maybe do some training or something? I don¡¯t know.¡± Gramps stood up, walked over to Tess, and gave her a hug. ¡°That sounds good. Just let me know what you decide, alright?¡± ¡°OK, Gramps.¡± Tess replied, returning the hug. ¡°Atta girl.¡± He said, letting go of the hug. ¡°Now hop to it, you¡¯ll feel better once you¡¯re doing something.¡± Tess nodded and left the room. Ker was just outside the door, waiting. ¡°All finished?¡± He asked. ¡°Yeah. What¡¯d you want to talk about?¡± ¡°I was just wondering if you wanted to do some dungeon diving, just the two of us. We can invite the rest of The Rumors if you want, but I figured that you might want to give Alice some time to cool her head, and if we excluded just her it would probably make her attitude worse, so¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, that sounds good.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Let me tell Gramps, then we can go.¡± Chapter 7: Cubs Den Tess emerged from Gramps¡¯ office with her new ¡°paperwork¡±, which was actually in the form of some addition to her band. ¡°So, are we going to the slime dungeon again or somewhere else?¡± Tess asked. Ker scratched his chin thoughtfully. ¡°There are a couple of other low-difficulty dungeons around here, let¡¯s visit one of them. You want to do the easier or the harder one first? We¡¯ll be going through both of them anyway to get your rewards, but the order is up to you.¡± ¡°Easier.¡± Tess said firmly. ¡°Slimes don¡¯t exactly fight back much, so I¡¯d like to get a feel for how tough I actually am.¡± Ker nodded. ¡°A wise plan. Alright, let¡¯s go pick up a couple of jobs and then get going.¡± He stood up and walked down the hall, Tess following closely behind. ¡°Why the jobs?¡± Tess asked, ¡°We didn¡¯t get any for the other dungeon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because there aren¡¯t any for that dungeon. It¡¯s one of the most popular already, so it doesn¡¯t need incentive for people to clear it, unlike these other two.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°Why would the guild provide incentive to clear a dungeon? Do they need materials that badly?¡± Ker shook his head. ¡°While materials are part of the reason, the main reason has to do with how dungeons work. If someone doesn¡¯t go in and clear them every once in a while, they go ¡°wild¡± and start growing, but the more they¡¯re cleared the longer it¡¯ll take them to go wild. When they do go wild, the living quarters vanish, the dungeon starts to become more difficult, and if you let it go for a really long time then monsters start to leave the dungeon. So, for most dungeons there¡¯s a standing reward for a clear. If you take the job, then your guild identification will track clears for that dungeon. Or at least kills of the boss monster, but there are only like¡­three sets of dungeons that have the same boss, so it¡¯s basically the same thing.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you just farm the boss over and over without taking the time to fully clear the dungeon? That seems like an oversight.¡± ¡°Unlike getting Rewards Crystals, only clearing the boss is required to prevent a dungeon from going wild. Scholars have been trying to figure out why for a long time, but no one¡¯s been able to find a satisfactory answer.¡± They exited the staff hallways into the main room, which was significantly less crowded than it had been the last time Tess had been there. ¡°Anyway, most modern identification will track the last ten or twenty monsters you¡¯ve killed, so you can still get the reward if you don¡¯t take the job, but that limits how long you can stay there and it¡¯s just not efficient when you could take the job and stay for a while.¡± Ker continued, steering her over to the line for one of the counters. Ker looked like he was going to keep talking, but there was a commotion from behind the counters and a voice from the far counter called out to them. ¡°Ker, Tess, over here!¡± They walked over to the new, line-free counter and were greeted by Graham, the minotaur from the previous day. ¡°Hey there!¡± He said cheerfully, ¡°I¡¯ve been assigned to be a personal receptionist for you, Ellie, and The Rumors.¡± Ker raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oh? Why¡¯s that?¡± Graham smiled. ¡°Well, Guildmaster Los said that his grandkids had run into some¡­unique circumstances and it would be safer if I just did everything for them. I¡¯ve been told that Tess in particular won¡¯t be selling me her materials most of the time, but I don¡¯t know any of the details other than that it¡¯s confidential. I can make a guess or two from that, but I won¡¯t ask, don¡¯t worry. As for The Rumors, he called it a perk of working with the kids.¡± ¡°Is having a personal receptionist a big deal?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Usually it¡¯s reserved for people who¡¯ve helped the guild a great deal or have special circumstances.¡± Graham explained, ¡°It means you get to skip the long lines and always get the same receptionist in your home branch, or one of the better receptionists in other branches. Most people will probably assume it¡¯s the Guildmaster doting on you, but that¡¯s fine, he¡¯s an eccentric guy and he does his job well enough that no one will really care. Well, no one except for jealous freelancers, but they won¡¯t give you any trouble. If they do, then¡­¡± He trailed off, smiling darkly. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that no one is going to make waves over it. Especially in this branch, where everyone can guess who you are. No one wants to be on Guildmaster Los¡¯ bad side.¡± ¡°He may not seem it, but he¡¯s kind of a really big deal.¡± Ker told Tess, ¡°He manages the guild, and the guild is the closest thing the Outlands have to an independent governing body. And, given that the Outlands are the most important planes, he¡¯s as high up on the food chain as it gets; emperors would think twice before making him an enemy.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just yanking my chain.¡± Tess said in disbelief, ¡°Him? He put relighting candles on my birthday cake when I was thirteen and then tried to pin it on Ellie. You¡¯ll have to forgive me if I¡¯m a little skeptical.¡± Graham smirked. ¡°Just because he¡¯s a goofball doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s unimportant. There¡¯s a reason they picked him to prep Mael to be introduced to wider society. He¡¯s great at making friends.¡± ¡°And he¡¯s got a lot of friends. Important friends.¡± Ker added. ¡°But we¡¯re getting off-topic, we were going to grab the job for our dungeon delve.¡± ¡°Right, which one would that be?¡± Graham asked, turning to the side to use the computer. ¡°Cub¡¯s Den.¡± Ker replied. ¡°Good choice.¡± He typed a few things into the computer before turning back to them. ¡°Alright, you¡¯re all set.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to update our identification?¡± Ker asked. ¡°Not necessary.¡± Graham said, ¡°As your personal receptionist, I can pull your files up without any hassle, and because you both have the new wireless stuff, changes I make reflect automatically. Good luck out there!¡± ¡°Thanks, Graham.¡± Ker replied, ¡°I look forward to working with you.¡± ¡°Um, me too.¡± Tess said. ¡°Likewise!¡± Graham said, waving as Ker and Tess left. The two exited the guild onto the main street, and Ker took Tess down a different way than the one that they had gone the previous day. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind my asking, you used planes when you were talking about the Outlands.¡± Tess began, ¡°I thought it was just one plane?¡± ¡°Yes and no.¡± Ker replied, ¡°Officially speaking, it¡¯s all one big plane. In reality, it¡¯s a collection of a bunch of planes. Every time we discover an uninhabited plane, it¡¯s treated as part of the Outlands until we decide what to do with it. If it¡¯s deemed safe for general habitation, people move in. If not, we establish a town much like this one and let freelancers work there if they so choose. It¡¯s risky work, going out and exploring the unknown, but a lot of people find the pay worth it; information about what¡¯s out there is worth a lot to the right people, especially if you manage to find a dungeon or some other potentially lucrative thing.¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Tess nodded, and let the conversation die. They walked for a few more minutes before Ker led her to what appeared to be a rock cave rising up out of the otherwise flat ground. It was like someone had taken a ¡°dungeon¡± icon from a game overworld and just plopped it down into the real world. He steered her towards a couple of bored-looking watchmen, who let the two pass after checking their identification. The inside was much the same as the slime dungeon; featureless grey brick walls, a teleporter pad, an entrance to the dungeon proper, an entrance to the living areas, and a giant crystal in the center of the room. Unlike the slime dungeon, which had two or three stalls on the bottom floor, this only had one, staffed by another bored-looking individual. And, instead of going straight for the Party Crystal, Ker brought Tess to this stall. ¡°We need the dungeon¡¯s information packet, if you would.¡± The man in the stall nodded, rummaging around before handing a piece of paper to Ker. ¡°Do you want the maps as well?¡± ¡°No thanks.¡± Ker replied, and retreated from the Stall, Tess following closely behind. ¡°The information packet is given free of charge by the guild, any shop that sets up in a dungeon is required to carry them and give them to people. You can get a copy at any guild branch too, but if there¡¯s a shop in the dungeon it¡¯s usually best to grab it there if you plan to go to the dungeon regardless of what¡¯s on the sheet; the process of getting the right packet won¡¯t take as much time. That being said, the guild doesn¡¯t do maps for most dungeons, so they generally cost money and are only sold at shops. ¡°If you ask me, they¡¯re not usually worth it, either, so don¡¯t bother with them unless you really need to know what you could find. They¡¯re better for the small dungeons that only have four or five layouts, but for the big ones? They¡¯re practically useless. Yeah, you could find patterns in the floor generation, but any important ones will be on the info sheet, so most freelancers have learned not to rely on them.¡± They took a moment to use the Party Crystal, then Ker led Tess to the door. ¡°Um, aren¡¯t we going to look at the packet?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Later.¡± Ker replied, opening the door and shepherding Tess through. As opposed to the grey brick of the previous dungeon, the inside of this one was cave-like; rugged stone walls, stalactites dripping water onto a small carpet of stalagmites, and a vague humidity in the air. It was darker in here, but still bright enough to be visible. The change in lighting and shift from an environment that suggested it was built by people to a natural one was enough to draw Tess¡¯s attention to the fact that there was no visible source of light. Actually, now that she was thinking about it, the previous dungeon didn¡¯t have one either. ¡°Ker, where does the light in dungeons come from?¡± ¡°Not sure.¡± He replied, shrugging. ¡°Every dungeon¡¯s lighting is different, sometimes they¡¯ll have actual lights like torches or lightbulbs, sometimes it¡¯ll be an omnipresent, constant light like in this one, sometimes it won¡¯t have light, and sometimes it¡¯s a combination of any or all of those. Best not to worry about it, just check the information sheet to find out and have some mounted lights on hand for if you need them.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Tess said, glancing around again. There were no monsters, and further sight into the dungeon was blocked by a twist in the path. Unlike the previous dungeon, it seemed that this wasn¡¯t just a series of rooms connected by doors. Well, unless there was a door beyond the bend, but Tess had a feeling there wouldn¡¯t be. ¡°So, when are we going to read that packet?¡± She asked, keeping a wary eye on the bend in case any monsters came around. ¡°I wanted to wait until we were in the dungeon to talk about it, as we won¡¯t have to worry about keeping quiet about your abilities. This is a dungeon where monsters don¡¯t respawn while we¡¯re inside so once we clear out the floor, we¡¯ll have a nice, private place to talk in. As the dungeon¡¯s name implies, we¡¯re mostly dealing with baby monsters, so this shouldn¡¯t be a problem even with your stats.¡± Ker set off down the cave, Tess once against trailing behind. Their work was short. There were, in total, 8 monsters on the floor. They were, as promised, all babies of some form or another ¨C bear cubs, fawns, a lion cub¡­well, that was about it for that floor, but Tess had to admit that their cuteness was offset only by their aggressive murderous tendencies. Ker got most of them before Tess even had a chance to give them a whack, so she wasn¡¯t able to get a really good handle on how tough they were compared to her but for the time being they were just clearing the area, not trying to train, so it was fine. The layout of the floor ended up revolving around a central intersection, with four branching paths including the one they entered from. Down one of the paths was the exit, and the rest held only monsters. ¡°This dungeon is too weak to hold any treasure or traps.¡± Ker explained. ¡°The three small ones in this city were placed here directly by the God of Dungeons to serve as a training ground for those with low levels, and we make sure to keep them cleared so they never have a chance to grow further. ¡°He sat down on the rough ground near the exit and took out the information packet, motioning for Tess to sit next to him. Once she was sitting, he passed the sheet to her. ¡°Give it a once-over while I talk.¡± He said. ¡°You¡¯ll notice that the packet is divided into sections. The front page is dedicated to the really important information; number of floors, what floors have bosses, and anything that¡¯s vitally important to keep in mind while traversing the dungeon such as particularly deadly monsters or traps.¡± Like he said, the front page contained just that. Under the name of the dungeon, it was listed as having 7 floors, with the only boss on floor seven, and no further vital information. ¡°If nothing else, always, always read the first page carefully. It could very well save your life multiple times. Even with insurance you want to avoid dying as much as possible; it¡¯s an awful experience and resurrection isn¡¯t exactly cheap. And if your whole party is wiped and you¡¯re in a dungeon far away from civilization then there¡¯s a real chance you don¡¯t make it back before it¡¯s too late.¡± ¡°How late is that?¡± ¡°Usually a week. If you¡¯ve signed up for the really nice, expensive packages, then it¡¯s a year. I believe your grandfather put you on that one, but it¡¯s best to pretend you don¡¯t have any insurance at all. ¡°Anyway, the next page details some common patterns in the floor layouts, and the pages after that have a list of monsters and traps known to be in the dungeon and brief descriptions. Never take those as complete lists, though. In larger dungeons, it¡¯s relatively common for there to be monsters and traps not on this list simply because there¡¯s a lot of monsters and traps. If you do encounter a monster or trap not on the list, make sure to report it to the guild, and they¡¯ll look into verifying it. Usually a report needs to come from a trusted source or be reported more than once to be put on the list, so it¡¯s rare for there to be misinformation.¡± A quick glance showed that the dungeon didn¡¯t have any traps, and the monsters, as expected, were all babies of some form or another. The writeups weren¡¯t terribly detailed (no in-depth stats or anything) but gave a quick overview of behavior and notable characteristics for each monster. ¡°After that is a more detailed write-up on bosses. Make sure you read up on the bosses before you fight one, just to make things as smooth as possible.¡± Tess nodded, and took a look. The boss for this dungeon was named ¡°Mama Bear¡±, and it seemed simple enough; it had a bunch of minions, which were just regular monsters from the dungeon, and whenever a minion was hurt Mama Bear got stronger in proportion to the damage dealt and started attacking whoever hurt the minion. ¡°A list of known Challenges and how to reach them follows. Don¡¯t worry about that for now, I¡¯ll take you to the only one in the dungeon on our way through. It¡¯s a pretty simple one, you just make your way through the Challenge room without killing any of the monsters. The last section is what you in particular want to pay really close attention to, though. It¡¯s got a list of all known rewards from the Rewards Crystal, as well as at what clears you get a shot at the Crystal. Now, this is never a complete list, because there are ultra-rare rewards that just don¡¯t come up often enough for us to have been able to record them. Look through them and let me know what interests you. You can basically choose what you want to get, so if there¡¯s something you think would be really nice then you can grab it. ¡°Still, I think it would also be wise to not try and actively pick anything for at least a few of the results if you want to get strong as fast as possible. Your blessing should guarantee you the most optimal results, and there¡¯s always the chance of there being something really nice that you don¡¯t even expect.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Tess said, flipping to the last few pages of the packet, ¡°Do you have a pencil or something? I want to take notes.¡± Ker reached into his satchel, pulled one out, and tossed it to her. ¡°Knock yourself out.¡± Tess tucked it into her ear and began to read. This dungeon had¡­seven shots at the Rewards Crystal, so she could pick at most seven things she wanted, but she was planning on taking Ker¡¯s advice, so she dropped that down to five. That wasn¡¯t a lot, considering the list was over 100 entries long if she was any judge, so she had her work cut out for her. Still, of all the problems she could be having, this was certainly one of the most welcome. So, she smiled and got to work. Chapter 8: Upward Progress ¡°What¡¯s Status Tennis?¡± Tess asked, frowning. ¡°I can¡¯t figure it out by the name.¡± ¡°Oh, that.¡± Ker said, tapping his finger on his chin thoughtfully, ¡°Usually it¡¯s considered a pretty trash Skill, but it might have merit for you. Basically, if you resist a status effect, you have the opportunity to reflect it back at your opponent, lowering their resistance against the status. If they succeed, it reflects back to you, giving you the same penalty, if you succeed again it goes back to them at a larger penalty and so on. Higher rarities allow you to turn it off and on at will, and I believe at max rarity you can apply it to statuses you attempt to give enemies, meaning if they resist there¡¯s a shot at getting them anyway. ¡°This issue with it is simply a matter of numbers. Yes, it is more likely to hurt your enemy than it is to hurt you, but in the long run those times it backfires become debilitating. Certain status effects can decide a fight by themselves, and sure, getting a few extra kills with it is good, but that doesn¡¯t matter much when it could kill you just as easily. Fortunately, it is a togglable Skill, so most people just keep it off if they get it. However, that drawback isn¡¯t that much of an issue for you, seeing as how your enemies will always get the status if it¡¯s possible for them to get that status, and you will never get it if it¡¯s possible for you to not get it. I¡¯d consider it if I were you, it¡¯s got real potential.¡± Tess nodded, putting a check next to the entry for Status Tennis on the packet. It was listed as coming in Uncommon, Rare, and Epic, so Tess figured she might as well just grab the highest rarity version of it. Unless Ker advised against it, anyway. ¡°Is there ever a case where I shouldn¡¯t go for the highest rarity version of something?¡± ¡°No.¡± Ker replied. ¡°Higher rarity versions of Skills or Classes are strictly upgrades, as far as we¡¯re able to tell. If they add extra features to something the new features will be toggleable, so you can just turn off any aspects you don¡¯t like, provided there¡¯s a lower rarity version that lacks those aspects. Oh, but do be sure to specify ¡°highest rarity¡± and not a specific rarity ¨C it¡¯s often the case that rarer Skills have Legendary or Mythical versions that we don¡¯t know about.¡± ¡°Good to know. In your opinion, what¡¯s the best magic Class out of the ones offered here?¡± She asked, proffering the packet. Ker waved it away. ¡°Yours. As Alice pointed out, it¡¯s the most powerful Class that any of us have ever even heard of. You¡¯d be stalling your progression in it while you work with another, and that¡¯s a bad idea until you get to higher levels. As I understand it, you only have a problem with ejecting cores, and levelling up Monster Breeder will give you more capacity, so you won¡¯t have to eject cores as often, and you get more slots to use Attributes or the original versions of Skills you get. Once we get past the beginner dungeons, you¡¯ll start seeing monsters that can use magic, so you can just get magic Skills from monsters if you want them. But, if I¡¯m wrong about only ejecting cores being uncomfortable, then I¡¯ll give you my recommendation.¡± Tess sighed. ¡°No, you¡¯re right. And I did say I would try a bit more with Monster Breeder, so I can wait, I guess.¡± She looked over the list a little more. ¡°Is there any reason I wouldn¡¯t take the Magic (All Normal Types) series of Skills over individual attributes?¡± ¡°For you, not really.¡± Ker replied, ¡°The main drawback of it is that it starts a step below the other magic Skills in terms of what you can learn. With any type of magic, if you want to get access to the more advanced Skills then you need to have the previous Skills in that tree. The All Magic Skills start a step below, with ¡°Cantrip¡± level magic, while everything else starts at ¡°Basic¡±. It¡¯s also a lot rarer than typed magic, so even the most advanced magic users have at most the Intermediate version. The most use high level people tend to get out of it is that it counts as a prerequisite for higher versions of other magics and removes the lower or equivalent versions from their pool of possible rewards, as the spells it allows them to use are generally obsolete at that point. But, again, you don¡¯t care about the rarity, so you could just take that all the way to the top.¡± ¡°Speaking of, how are there any cohesive magic users, with how luck-based getting the ability to cast any of those spells is?¡± ¡°Classes. Having high Luck helps too, but for the most part it¡¯s Classes. As far as everyone¡¯s been able to tell, when you get a Skill that lets you use more of an attribute of magic, it just gives you the next level, so even if a Class only gives one or two of those Skills, that could put you well along the path to using the good spells from that attribute, and unless you¡¯ve already got all the spells, it¡¯s equally as useful no matter when you get it.¡± ¡°How many ranks of magic Skills are there?¡± ¡°Five normally, six if it¡¯s All Magic. We¡­think six for All Magic, anyway, no one¡¯s recorded getting anything over Advanced. There¡¯s a chance there¡¯s no Master or Complete, but we don¡¯t see why there wouldn¡¯t be.¡± Tess put a check near Magic (All Normal Types) as well. ¡°So, theoretically I could just get all six All Magic Skills and have the ability to use all magic?¡± ¡°Yes and no.¡± Ker replied, ¡°There are combination types that you need Skills for too, and All Magic Types doesn¡¯t grant those. People have theorized that there¡¯s a Magic (All Combination Types) series as well, but there have been no substantiated reports of it. Anyway, with your stats you¡¯re only going to be able to handle maybe one Advanced spell with your mana pool and won¡¯t even be able to use the later tiers. If you really want it get at most Intermediate, but really, I¡¯d recommend picking up a magic Skill only once per dungeon and focus on other things instead. It¡¯ll be more beneficial in the short term, and by the time you have all that magic available to you you¡¯ll actually be able to use most of it.¡± ¡°Right, so, I¡¯m getting All Magic and Status Tennis, should I be interested in some sort of weapon Skill?¡± ¡°My gut says no.¡± Ker said, ¡°At least not for the time being. You¡¯d be better off taking something that you can use with anything. I¡¯m not exactly sure how your whole Attribute thing works, but there¡¯s a real possibility you¡¯ll be able to take natural weapons from monsters and use them, and weapon-only Skills won¡¯t apply there. Although¡­Skills that buff your unarmed combat might. Maybe pick up something like Stunning Blow that only works with unarmed combat just to test it out. Make sure it¡¯s a Skill that causes a status effect, so that way it¡¯ll help you out even if it doesn¡¯t work with natural weapons.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure being up close and personal is something I¡¯m really suited for with my stat spread.¡± Tess retorted. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure. You¡¯ll likely be at a disadvantage in terms of stats with whatever you meet, yes, but there are ways around that, especially with your Underdog Skill and buffing magic. And most monsters will always go for your teammates first due to Target of Affection, so as long as you¡¯re careful with what you hurt you can choose how many enemies you¡¯re fighting at once. You¡¯ll almost never have to worry about that if you have someone like Ellie with you, so I think it¡¯s a good idea.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°I can try it, I guess. Worst case scenario it¡¯ll be useful in self-defense against other people.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. I¡­¡± He trailed off. ¡°Come to think of it, how specific can your choosing of what you get be? Can you make conditions for what you get?¡± ¡°Not sure. Haven¡¯t had much of a chance to rigorously test it.¡± ¡°Next time we fight monsters, let¡¯s do an experiment, then. Try and get cores from male monsters, and materials from female monsters. You won¡¯t be able to tell what they are in the heat of battle, so I think it¡¯s a workable way to check. If you can specify conditions, then try and grab Stunning Blow only if it works with natural weapons.¡± ¡°Sounds good. Anything else you¡¯d recommend before I make my final choices?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re getting Status Tennis, work on rounding out your list of resistances. Bleeding is a common status, as is Stun and Dazed, since most pure physical Skills have a chance to inflict one of those. Honestly, though, I would just leave it up to your Luck. If I¡¯m right about how it works, and that is an if, since, due to its nature, Luck hasn¡¯t been able to be seriously tested, then until you decide what kind of role you want to fulfill it¡¯ll just give you the best general-use Skills, and those are not to be sneezed at. Yeah, it¡¯s boring, but it¡¯s also highly practical. Once you do figure out what you want to be doing, I would honestly just leave everything up to luck unless you really want something. It¡¯s more exciting and will fill out your toolkit as best as possible.¡± ¡°Best how? Who decides?¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°We don¡¯t know who decides or what criteria they use. You¡¯d have to ask Fortune. We really don¡¯t know much about Luck other than what we can observe, and our best observation of people with high Luck is that they have more synergistic toolsets. I mean, so far what you¡¯ve got works really nicely with what you already had, so expect something similar in the future.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Fortune, any input?¡± They waited for a moment, but nothing happened. ¡°Great. Now I just feel silly.¡± ¡°Eh, it was worth a shot.¡± Ker replied, ¡°You ready to go?¡± ¡°I still have to look over the Challenge rewards.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Ker said, ¡°The best Skills all come from Challenges, but they¡¯re also the rarest. Our databases for what Challenges give won¡¯t have the really rare stuff in it, so you¡¯ll probably miss out on really nice things if you try and pick.¡± Tess sighed, standing up. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right. In that case, I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°Not quite.¡± Ker told her. ¡°You¡¯ve got a free slot for a core, right? Let¡¯s find the smallest one and absorb it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t have any reason not to, yeah.¡± She took the cores out from her bag. The largest cores were from the bear cubs, with the lion cub¡¯s being slightly smaller, and the fawn cores being the smallest. They were generally only barely smaller than a slime¡¯s core, so she felt pretty confident about absorbing it. ¡°If you, um¡­let me use the bathroom after this, I think I would feel comfortable ejecting it and trying another. Something of this size isn¡¯t much worse than pooping.¡± Ker smiled. ¡°Good. I¡¯m proud of you.¡± Tess blushed and absorbed the core.
You have absorbed a Dire Deer (Young) Core! Slots filled: 1/1 You have gained 15 EXP in Monster Breeder! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ No new Skills or abilities detected! Displaying core information: Dire Deer (Young) Core: Level 2 Estimated Power: 3 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 4 Current Skills: None Current Attributes: Antlers Fur (Fundamental) Hooves Kemonomimi (Deer) (Fundamental) Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental) New Attributes discovered! Antlers: Gives the creature antlers, increasing the effectiveness of abilities that use the skull, such as headbutts. Fur: Covers the creature in a thin layer of fur. This layer of fur may be augmented or changed with further Attributes. Hooves: Hardens the creature¡¯s feet into hooves. Kemonomimi (Deer): Replaces the creature¡¯s regular ears and tail with those of a deer, as well as providing ears or a tail to creatures without. Quadrupedal Adaptation: Allows the creature to easily walk on four limbs. Quadrupedal locomotion is faster than bipedal locomotion but more tiring with less granular speed, leaving only walking speed or running speed while using four limbs. Requires at least four limbs.
¡°Anything good?¡± Ker asked. ¡°Not¡­really. The best I could get would be some antlers or the ability to walk on all fours, but I feel like being able to turn into slime would be more useful.¡± ¡°Agreed. Are you going to try the lion¡¯s core next?¡± ¡°Yeah. Um¡­do dungeons have bathrooms? Like, on the safe floors?¡± ¡°In the residential area, yeah. They have some that are separate from any private apartments or anything, I¡¯ll show you where.¡± They left the floor and Ker brought Tess to the bathrooms. She entered one and locked the door, then sat on the toilet and prepared to eject the core. As the core wasn¡¯t that much bigger than a slime¡¯s, the process was nearly identical to ejecting the slime core, with the added bonus of being in a position where she could easily clean up the mess. Once she was done, she tidied herself up and absorbed the lion cub¡¯s core.
You have absorbed a Monstrous Lion (Young) Core! Slots filled: 1/1 You have gained 25 EXP in Monster Breeder! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ No new Skills or abilities detected! Displaying core information: Monstrous Lion (Young) Core: Level 4 Estimated Power: 8 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 12 Current Skills: None Current Attributes: Fur (Fundamental) Kemonomimi (Lion) (Fundamental) Night Vision (Inferior) Retractable Claws Sharp Claws Sharp Fangs Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental) New Attributes discovered! Kemonomimi (Lion): Kemonomimi (Lion) replaces a creature¡¯s regular ears and tail with those of a lion, as well as providing ears or a tail to creatures without. Night Vision (Inferior): Provides some extra vision in low-light condition. Extra vision is of worse quality than regular vision and does not have color. Retractable Claws: Retractable Claws allows the creature to retract their claws at will. Requires claws. Sharp Claws: Greatly hardens and sharpens the nails of the creature¡¯s hands and feet, turning them into claws. Increases slashing damage dealt with claws. Requires hands or feet. Sharp Fangs: Greatly sharpens the creature¡¯s teeth, giving them fangs. Increases piercing damage dealt by the teeth. Requires teeth.
This, on the other hand, had things she could use. She tried to swap Amorphous (Slimy) with Sharp Claws, and there was an odd sort of¡­shifting feeling that lasted for about half a minute, at which point she checked found that the lion cub¡¯s core now had Amorphous (Slimy), and she had Sharp Claws. She tried it out and was met with a fluttering sound from around her feet. Looking down, she found that her socks and shoes had¡­vanished. She was barefoot, and her nails (both hand and foot) were certainly looking the part of claws, having thickened up dramatically and elongated to the length of around an inch and a half, sharpened to a nasty-looking point. She reverted it and her footwear came back, much to her relief. That done, she exited the bathroom and met back up with Ker. ¡°All done, let¡¯s go.¡± Ker nodded, and the pair entered the next floor of the dungeon. ¡°So,¡± Ker asked as soon as they were inside, ¡°What¡¯d you get?¡± Tess showed him. ¡°Natural weapons, just like you guessed. No telling how effective they are until I use them, though.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to take the backseat here, so it¡¯s a perfect place to test. This floor¡¯s all you.¡± Tess took a step forward, and one problem became immediately obvious; her feet were not suited to walking on the cave floor without shoes. ¡°Well¡­now what?¡± She asked, gingerly placing her foot into a less painful spot, ¡°I can¡¯t go through the whole cave like this.¡± Ker rubbed his chin. ¡°We¡¯ll have to see if we can get you footwear that you can put on solely for when your feet are transformed. If we¡¯re lucky anything you¡¯re wearing will just disappear when you stop using the Attribute, like your shoes do when you start using it. Then you can switch back and forth without worrying about this.¡± She stopped using Sharp Claws and let her shoes come back. ¡°We can worry about it after we¡¯ve cleared the dungeon once.¡± She said, ¡°For now I¡¯ll just use the staff.¡± ¡°Right. I¡¯ll play the role of tank, you just practice going in for the kill. Try and attack the most vulnerable point you can while their attention isn¡¯t on you, to get as much out of their lack of aggro as possible.¡± He adopted a thoughtful expression. ¡°Man, do you know what most assassins would pay for an ability like Target of Affection? It doesn¡¯t work on people but drawing practically no aggro would be so good for them. Might be worth picking up some crit enhancing Skills so you can make full use of that.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen any crits, so they¡¯re not Luck-based, right?¡± ¡°Oh, right, forgot you wouldn¡¯t have seen any. You get them when you attack a weak point. Usually, it¡¯s something like the heart, brain, or neck, but it depends on the monster. The basic slimes you fought don¡¯t really have a weak point, so you can¡¯t crit them outside of specially made gear or certain abilities.¡± ¡°So¡­just hit the vitals as much as possible?¡± Ker shrugged. ¡°Basically. Normally that¡¯s much easier said than done, but most monsters should just let you waltz right up and take them out. Most. I wouldn¡¯t get in the habit of doing that to monsters you don¡¯t know, though. There¡¯s no telling what¡¯s going to be immune and ready to bite your face off. Best wait until an ally has their attention. That¡¯s enough talk, though. The monsters didn¡¯t seem to aim for you when we were clearing out the last floor, so as long as you¡¯re cautious it should be fine.¡± ¡°Right. Let¡¯s do this.¡± Tess carefully walked forward, paying close attention to the area in front of her, watching for any monsters. Their first enemy came after only a couple of bends in the corridor, one of the deer monsters. It froze for a long moment when it saw them, and then charged towards Ker, paying the much closer Tess no mind. She took aim and, after a second swung her staff with all her might, hitting the deer¡¯s face with a satisfying crack.
You have crushed Dire Deer (Young)¡¯s skull for a critical 54 damage! You have killed Dire Deer (Young)! You gain 23 EXP! Monster Breeder has gained 12 EXP!
The deer exploded into a pile of coins and a core, which Tess picked up. ¡°That felt¡­pretty good.¡± Ker smiled. ¡°Killing a monster like that always does. How much damage did you do?¡± ¡°Fifty-four with a critical hit. Do they just double damage or¡­?¡± ¡°Yeah, baseline crits double damage and pierce some defense. But¡­only 27 after the grinding we did and with a hit like that? Swinging that hard and with the monster running forward as fast as possible? Yikes. What level are you?¡± ¡°Eleven.¡± Ker hissed. ¡°That¡¯s real nasty. Well, at least that staff isn¡¯t anything special, and you don¡¯t have any bonuses or anything. You¡¯re at your most vulnerable right now, give yourself some time to accumulate Skills and things will get better.¡± ¡°How long before monsters start using Skills? I haven¡¯t gotten a single one.¡± Tess replied, frowning ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re probably not going to get any from the three beginner dungeons. Well¡­not from the regular monsters, anyway. The bosses will give you some for sure, and you might get some from the monsters in the Challenges, but those cores are going to be bigger. Whether or not you want to absorb one you¡¯re not comfortable ejecting is up to you, but I¡¯d at least consider it once you have more slots to work with. You don¡¯t have to eject it right away or even eject it at all, but it would greatly help you out.¡± Tess paused. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­think about it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about it, there¡¯s no pressure right now. Let¡¯s just finish clearing this floor, eh? I¡¯ll tank, you just get used to getting good shots to the vitals.¡± Tess nodded, hefting her staff. ¡°I had some aggression to work out anyway. They won¡¯t know what hit them.¡± Chapter 9: Unarmed and Dangerous ¡°Hey, before we forget, what dropped from the monster? Was it a core or materials?¡± Ker asked. ¡°Oh, right.¡± Tess replied, checking over the drops. ¡°Materials.¡± Ker grinned. ¡°Nice, you should have a pretty good ability to set limitations on what you get, then. You can go back to getting cores now if you want, just wanted to check.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll do that. I don¡¯t need the materials for anything.¡± With that, the two cleared the rest of the floor. The fights went pretty similar to how the one with the dire deer had, the monsters just charging at Ker and letting Tess wallop them for massive damage. While the monsters didn¡¯t give her enough experience to level up herself, Monster Breeder was a different story. Once they had finished with the floor, she stopped Ker before exiting. ¡°Hey, Monster Breeder leveled up.¡± She said, ¡°I think I¡¯m going to absorb one of Big Bertha¡¯s cores, so let me do that before we go further.¡± Ker raised an eyebrow. ¡°That was fast, usually Classes level a lot slower than that¡­¡± He trailed off. ¡°Right, your blessing. Forgot. Go ahead, but don¡¯t bother looking through them for size differences; whenever a boss drops a core, it¡¯s identical to any other core they drop.¡± Tess nodded and took out one of the cores from her bag. She was still holding onto them, as The Rumors didn¡¯t take her and Ellie to sell their drops from their session at the other dungeon, and she hadn¡¯t had a good opportunity to give Gramps her drops anyway. The core was about twice as large as the slime¡¯s core she had absorbed the day before and was glowing a pale blue in the dim light. She took a moment to steel herself, then absorbed it. The process took a bit longer, the amount of smoke coming from the core being understandably larger than the amount that came from the other cores she had absorbed.
You have absorbed a Big Bertha Core! Slots filled: 2/2 You have gained 50 EXP in Monster Breeder! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ New Skill detected! Attempting to degrade and obtain Physical Nullification (Inferior)¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Physical Nullification (Miniscule)! Physical Nullification (Miniscule): Rarity: Rare Type: Passive Description: Nullifies 1% of physical damage received. Sticks and stones can¡¯t break your bones. Well, sticks can¡¯t, the jury¡¯s out on stones. Displaying core information: Big Bertha Core: Level 8 Estimated Power: 25 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 50 Current Skills: Physical Nullification (Inferior) Current Attributes: Amorphous (Slimy) New Skill discovered! Physical Nullification (Inferior): Rarity: Rare Type: Passive Description: Nullifies 5% of physical damage received. You¡¯re rubber, they¡¯re¡­no, you¡¯re just rubber. That¡¯s it.
Tess was tempted to take Physical Nullification (Inferior) right away, but she decided to hold off on it for a bit. ¡°Well, I did get a Skill.¡± She said. ¡°Pretty good one too¡­I think.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Physical Nullification (Miniscule). Bertha had the Minor version of it.¡± Ker nodded. ¡°Darn right that¡¯s good. Every little bit of damage reduction helps, especially for someone as fragile as you. Are you stacking both versions right now?¡± ¡°No, I want to try something.¡± Tess took off one of her shoes, then activated Sharp Claws, letting her shoes and socks fade away as the claws came out. She then took Retractable Claws from the Monstrous Lion (Young) Core and retracted the claws, placing the shoe back on her foot. At that point she deactivated Sharp Claws and watched as her other shoe came back into being¡­and nothing happened to the one she was wearing. ¡°There goes the ability to have a set of footwear specifically for when my claws were out.¡± She said, beginning to take off both her shoes and socks. ¡°I guess that wouldn¡¯t really work if I took off the Attribute anyway. Actually¡­¡± She paused halfway through the process, reactivating Sharp Claws with only one foot wearing a shoe. She took one of Bertha¡¯s cores from her bag and held it with her toes on the foot that was wearing the shoe, then tried to deactivate Sharp Claws. There was an odd sensation, but nothing happened. ¡°Well, that¡¯s good to know. Can¡¯t deactivate an Attribute if clothing it would put back on me wouldn¡¯t fit.¡± She frowned, then tried again. ¡°Actually, I feel like I might be able to if I force it. Don¡¯t want to ruin my shoe, though, so I won¡¯t.¡± She put the core back in her bag, deactivated Sharp Claws, finished taking the shoe and sock off, then reactivated Sharp Claws. She then retracted only the claws on her feet and put the footwear back on. ¡°Handy, that. Guess we don¡¯t need to stop by the shoe store.¡± ¡°Guess not. I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to try those out next floor, though.¡± Tess tilted her head, putting the claws away. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Challenge. If you want access, you have to go through the entire third floor without hurting anything, and then go through another gauntlet of more tightly-packed monsters without hurting any of them. It¡¯s pretty rough for beginners and they tend to come back to it once they¡¯re better geared, but it should be laughably easy for you. We¡¯ll just waltz on through the floor, I can tank any number of these small fry, so don¡¯t worry about me.¡± And, true to his word, he could. By the time they had finished the floor, there were five or six monsters all trying to do some meaningful damage to him (even though they were only barely taller than his ankles), but he was just standing there as if they were puppies play-biting. ¡°Just go through the door.¡± He said, ¡°It¡¯ll take us to the Challenge.¡± The room beyond was a single large hallway, made of a dark grey brick and lit by torches. There were arches down the length of it, and Tess could barely make out silhouettes in shadowy alcoves underneath them. They weren¡¯t lacking in presence, however; the hall was filled with a cacophony of growls, snarls, and barks, all clearly hostile. Tess gave Ker a worried look. ¡°You really think they¡¯ll just leave me be? I think they count as ¡®unusually aggressive¡¯.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be right behind you.¡± Ker said reassuringly. ¡°They¡¯ll go for me first. Even if they don¡¯t, I can outheal any damage they dish out provided you don¡¯t die immediately, and that shouldn¡¯t be an issue. They¡¯re pretty low level, there¡¯s just a lot of them.¡± ¡°If you say so¡­¡± Tess took a hesitant step forward, then another. And then she nearly had a heart attack as a window popped up in front of her.
This Challenge has special conditions! Reach the exit without harming the monsters in the room! Failure to comply will result with immediate ejection from the Challenge.
She exhaled loudly, then resumed her march. Right before she reached the first archway, there was a much louder growl, and then a pair of wolf cubs jumped down from their perches and barreled forward, sparing no time in their quest to injure their target. Which, as it turned out, was Ker. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± He laughed, seeing the worried look on Tess¡¯s face, ¡°Keep going.¡± The rest of the walk was tense, and Ker had picked up an entourage of twenty-odd beasts by the time they were done, but they made it without incident. The sight of the floating Rewards Crystal¡¯s room was gradually becoming familiar to Tess, the rooms containing them having yet to show any deviation whatsoever. She couldn¡¯t help but be filled with a sort of anticipation as she went to get her reward. The last one had completely changed her life in an irreversible way, and while she wasn¡¯t expecting something of that magnitude again, the possibility was there. But she wasn¡¯t going to delay because of that, so she put her hand to the crystal.
You have gained the Skill Parasitizer! Parasitizer: Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: All your unarmed attacks have a 10% chance to plant a parasite on the target, which deals 10% of that attack¡¯s damage (rounded down, minimum 1) to the target and restores that much HP to you every second until it is removed. Removing a parasite haphazardly will deal 50% of the damage of the attack that planted it on top of damage incurred by the removal method, but careful removal will not deal damage aside from damage incurred by the removal method. A maximum of 10 parasites may be on any target. Planted parasites may be killed off at any time, causing no damage to the host. Planted parasites lose the ability to heal you if you are not within 100 meters of the host, but still do damage. This Skill may be turned off and on at will. Turns out they were right. Leeches are good for your health.
¡°Is Parasitizer on the list of Skills you can get from this Rewards Crystal?¡± Tess asked. Ker looked the list over. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like it. What Rarity is it?¡± ¡°Legendary.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯d do it. It¡¯s not a Skill I¡¯m familiar with, mind filling me in?¡± Ker listened as Tess explained the Skill to him. ¡°That¡¯s¡­really solid. Really solid. That¡¯s some pretty strong motivation to go unarmed, even if natural weapons don¡¯t count, and now I¡¯m almost completely confident they will. We¡¯ll try it out on the next floor.¡± Tess nodded, and the two left the room and immediately entered the fourth floor, where Tess once again extended the claws on her hand and began to watch for enemies. Her wait was, fortunately, not long, as a pair of wolf cubs were waiting just a short way into the floor. Like all the monsters she had encountered, they went straight for Ker without paying her so much as a passing glance. She waited for a moment and then slashed out at one of them, her claws tearing through the hide without much resistance.
You have gouged Monstrous Wolf (Young)¡¯s flank for 19 damage! You have planted a parasite on Monstrous Wolf (Young)! It will deal 1 damage and heal you 1 HP every second until removed.
Tess didn¡¯t feel anything aside from the blood splashing onto her, but she was able to spot a writhing grey leech-like thing protruding from the wound as the wolf wheeled around on her, snarling and preparing itself to strike. Ker threw a pebble at it and it instantly turned its attention back to him, resuming its previous trajectory. A second later there was a pleasant tingling sensation, the wolf winced, and another second later it keeled over, body rapidly withering before it burst into rainbow haze.
Your parasites have inflicted 1 damage on Monstrous Wolf (Young) and healed you for 1 HP! You have killed Monstrous Wolf (Young)! You have gained 26 EXP! Monster Breeder has gained 13 EXP!
¡°Nice!¡± Ker said, casually dancing around the other wolf, ¡°Remind me never to get into a fistfight with you!¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Tess snorted. ¡°Please, you¡¯d destroy me before I even got in a hit.¡± ¡°For now. Give yourself some time to pick up some more Skills and all you¡¯ll need is one hit to cripple me. Unarmed fighting is inherently weaker than using weapons, so, as a tradeoff for not getting the bonuses a good weapon gives, the gods made unarmed Skills far, far more potent than weapon Skills.¡± He pinned the wolf down with a foot. ¡°Just take care of this one, cut its throat or something.¡± Tess stalked up to the struggling wolf and swiped down with her claws, opening a large gash on its neck and wincing as she was once again spattered with blood.
You have cut Monstrous Wolf (Young)¡¯s throat for a critical 50 damage! Due to an attack on a vital point, you have inflicted Heavy Bleeding on Monstrous Wolf (Young)! You have planted a parasite on Monstrous Wolf (Young)! It will deal 5 damage and heal you 5 HP every second until removed. You have killed Monstrous Wolf (Young)! You have gained 26 EXP! Monster Breeder has gained 13 EXP!
Fortunately, the blood evaporated with the rest of the monster when it disappeared, so she didn¡¯t stay dirty for long. She picked up the cores of the monsters, hesitating slightly as she gauged the size of them. They were about the same size as the cores of the lions, so she put them on her tentative list of cores she was willing to eject. Provided the lion core ejection wasn¡¯t that bad, anyway. It wasn¡¯t that big so she wasn¡¯t anticipating any trouble, but she couldn¡¯t help but be anxious about it anyway. The rest of the dungeon went by in much the same fashion. The floors were all, in essence, one crossroads and however many paths it had. The monsters all just rushed Ker and let Tess take them out with a couple of quick hits. Monster Breeder levelled up twice more, and Tess levelled up once, but she chose not to absorb any more cores until she had gone through all of the dungeon, save for the boss. Things were going well enough that she wanted to see all of her options before choosing to absorb anything, so she didn¡¯t have to do any unnecessary ejections. As it turned out, she didn¡¯t have to. She had seen all of the monsters the dungeon had to offer already, which meant the only cores she hadn¡¯t absorbed were the wolf cores and bear cores. She hesitated to absorb them both at once, wanting to leave a free slot for Mama Bear¡¯s core, but eventually decided to take them and just eject one later. So, at the end of the last floor before the boss, she had them stop before going into the safe area to let her absorb the cores and make adjustments to what Attributes she was using.
You have absorbed a Monstrous Wolf (Young) Core! You have absorbed a Monstrous Bear (Young) Core! Slots filled: 4/4 You have gained 50 EXP in Monster Breeder! Monster Breeder has leveled up! New cores absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ No new Skills or abilities detected! Displaying core information: Monstrous Bear (Young) Core: Level 5 Estimated Power: 10 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 16 Current Skills: None Current Attributes: Bipedal Adaption (Minor) Fur (Fundamental) Keen Nose (Inferior) Kemonomimi (Bear) (Fundamental) Sharp Claws Sharp Fangs Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental) Monstrous Wolf (Young) Core: Level 4 Estimated Power: 8 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 12 Current Skills: None Current Attributes: Fur (Fundamental) Keen Nose (Inferior) Kemonomimi (Wolf) (Fundamental) Part of the Pack (Inferior) Sharp Claws Sharp Fangs Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental) New Attributes discovered! Bipedal Adaption (Minor): Allows the user to walk on two legs for a short period of time at a decreased speed. Keen Nose (Inferior): Slightly strengthens the user¡¯s sense of smell. Kemonomimi (Bear): Kemonomimi (Bear) replaces a creature¡¯s regular ears and tail with those of a bear, as well as providing ears or a tail to creatures without. Kemonomimi (Wolf): Kemonomimi (Wolf) replaces a creature¡¯s regular ears and tail with those of a wolf, as well as providing ears or a tail to creatures without. Part of the Pack (Inferior): Increases the user¡¯s stats (Except for HP, Mana, and Stamina) by 1% (Rounded down, minimum 1) for each ally within 100m.
That level-up meant she also had three empty slots to put Attributes or Skills in, instead of the two she was expecting. Her first order of business was to put on Physical Nullification (Inferior), and when she did, she was immediately met with a window.
The degraded version of Physical Nullification (Inferior), Physical Nullification (Miniscule), will be disabled while Physical Nullification (Inferior) is active.
That was disheartening, but it made sense. In any case, what did she want? An upgrade to her claws would be nice, but she didn¡¯t know if she could even have multiple instances of Sharp Claws in her storage or if they would stack with each other. She was guessing that, at the least, she would be able to carry multiple copies, but she wouldn¡¯t be able to use more than one at once, if they worked similarly to Skills and degraded Skills. So, she took Sharp Claws from the bear core and put it into her storage.
Possible combination detected! Would you like to try and combine Sharp Claws and Sharp Claws? If you refuse, you may attempt to combine them later at any time. New concept discovered! Combining Attributes: Some Attributes can be combined with themselves or with other Attributes. Combining Attributes is not always guaranteed to succeed, but higher levels of Monster Breeder will increase the chance of success. A success will result in a new Attribute, and a failure will result in nothing. Regardless of the outcome, the original attributes will be used up in the attempt and will no longer be available.
Right¡­well, she had an extra Sharp Claws on hand if the combination Skill was completely unusable, and it wasn¡¯t like she was going to fail, so there wasn¡¯t really a reason not to try it out.
Sharp Claws and Sharp Claws have been successfully combined into Sharp Claws (Moderate)! New Attribute discovered! Sharp Claws (Moderate): Greatly hardens and sharpens the nails of the creature¡¯s hands and feet, turning them into claws. Further increases slashing damage dealt with claws. Requires hands or feet.
That left two slots for her to work with. Sharp Fangs¡­there was probably a Sharp Fangs (Moderate) too, but that was out. Doing the killing with her hands was already gross enough, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to even try biting her foes. Nothing else really caught her interest. Part of the Pack was decent, but she didn¡¯t have the raw stats or number of allies needed to make it truly good. It was possible she could combine it with itself, but that wasn¡¯t a guarantee and she didn¡¯t want to use the slot she was saving for Mama Bear¡¯s core or eject another core, so she wasn¡¯t going to test that. She would, however, test Keen Nose. Taking the Attribute from both the bear and wolf cores, she was pleased to find that they were capable of being combined, which she wasted no time in doing.
Keen Nose (Inferior) and Keen Nose (Inferior) have been successfully combined into Keen Nose (Minor)! New Attribute discovered! Keen Nose (Minor): Somewhat strengthens the user¡¯s sense of smell.
She tried it out, and just as quickly turned it off. The cave around her didn¡¯t really smell that good in the first place and being able to smell better wasn¡¯t helping. Perhaps in the future, when she had more slots, she would keep Attributes to buff all her senses, but for now she decided to just put Keen Nose away. She opted to put it onto Big Bertha¡¯s core, as she wasn¡¯t planning on ejecting that any time soon and it had the most ¡°room¡± for things. There was that odd shifting feeling again, which she was able to ignore as she contemplated her other choices. Night Vision was probably a good choice. Being able to see better would come in handy in a lot of situations, and when she didn¡¯t need it, she could just keep it off to avoid any extra sensitivity to bright light it would give. Well, if it gave any in the first place. She¡¯d have to test that out. She took that and turned it off. She deliberated for a moment about Quadrupedal Adaptation, but eventually decided it wasn¡¯t worth it and took Part of the Pack instead. ¡°Alright, finished.¡± She told Ker, taking a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± ¡°You got this, kid.¡± Ker replied, giving her a thumbs-up, ¡°It¡¯s going to be a walk in the park. Just ignore the small fry and focus on dealing damage to Mama Bear. If it looks like she¡¯s going to start targeting you I¡¯ll make sure to pull her attention somehow. Even if she ignores your Skill, all I have to do is deal more damage to her or the minions and she¡¯ll get right back to attacking me.¡± Tess nodded, and the two left the floor, just to immediately go through the door to the boss. The room awaiting them was one large, cavernous area, strewn with various grasses, fabrics, and other soft things piled up into makeshift beds. From the largest bed an enormous figure rose, a bear who, when she stood on her hind legs, easily breached 12 feet tall. She gave the two intruders a cold look and then roared, the room shaking from the deafening sound. Something about that sound shook Tess, like it was driving home that the opponent in front of her was something with which she could not compete. Even having dropped down to all fours, Mama Bear was taller than Tess, and her body seemed to be all powerful muscle or sharp claws and fangs, leaving Tess with no doubt that Mama Bear wouldn¡¯t even work up a sweat killing her. Even the crisis training Gramps had given her wasn¡¯t of much help. She had practiced these kinds of scenarios, but that was all it had been ¨C practice. There was something different about knowing that this could well be the moment she died. And then it hit her, a wave of energy washing over her body and leaving everything it touched feeling much stronger than before. More importantly, it also washed away some of the terror, making her realize that the rules had changed. On Mael she would have been in a horrible position, but here? Here she had the tools to fight back. She gave a silent thanks to what could only have been Underdog for snapping her out of it and extended her claws, which she noticed were a further inch longer and somehow even sharper looking than before. There was a flash of light from beside her, and Tess was barely able to make out a ray travelling through the air to strike Mama Bear right in the side, causing her to roar and charge at Ker. ¡°It¡¯s all you.¡± He said calmly, ¡°Her bark¡¯s worse than her bite, just whittle her down and she¡¯ll be dead in no time.¡± That was all the time they had before Mama Bear reached Ker and swiped a massive paw at him, only to be blocked by a shield of light. Tess gulped and ran forward, plunging her claws into Mama Bear¡¯s side and pulling downwards, opening a larger gash than expected in the boss¡¯s side.
You have gouged Mama Bear¡¯s flank for 21 damage! You have planted a parasite on Mama Bear! It will deal 2 damage and heal you 2 HP every second until removed.
Mama Bear reeled backwards, whirling to face Tess before Ker slammed into her, once again bringing her attention to him. There was movement from the back of the room, monsters of all the dungeon¡¯s species rising from the nests and throwing themselves into the fray, rushing at Ker. None of them ever so much as touched the experienced adventure, though, as more barriers of light rebuffed their attacks. The longer the battle went on, the more confident Tess became. Ker wasn¡¯t taking so much as a hit, and every time she hit Mama Bear, she could feel the parasites dealing more and more damage. Not even a couple of minutes later, Mama Bear fell. She didn¡¯t ever even try to remove the parasites planted upon her, and the damage quickly spiraled out of her control.
Your parasites have inflicted 17 damage on Mama Bear and healed you for 17 HP! You have killed Mama Bear! You have gained 150 EXP! Monster Breeder has gained 75 EXP!
As she fell, so too did all her minions, the room filling with the rainbow haze of defeated monsters. And, while the minions didn¡¯t drop anything, Mama Bear dropped her core, which Tess moved over to inspect. It was the biggest Tess had seen so far, clocking in at roughly the size of a small orange. She debated absorbing it then and there but decided to put that on hold in favor of the Rewards Crystal. As such, she pocketed the core and went to the door, waiting for Ker to follow before going in. ¡°What are you aiming for?¡± He asked curiously, looking at the crystal with a smirk. ¡°The best unarmed Skill I can get.¡± She said, taking a breath and placing her hand on the crystal.
You have gained the Skill Return to Sender (Mythical)! Return to Sender (Mythical): Rarity: Mythical Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: The Mythical version of the Skill Return to Sender. By activating the Skill before an attack hits, you may begin to redirect the attack to another target. The movement made to redirect the attack and the original strength of the attack will affect the cost to activate this Skill, with more efficient movements costing less. Reflecting physical attacks will cost Stamina, reflecting magical or energy-based attacks will cost Mana, and reflecting attacks that have components of both will cost both Stamina and Mana. Reflected attacks deal 50% more damage than they originally would have. If a movement is made such that the cost would be greater than the amount of Mana or Stamina currently possessed, the Skill will fail, consuming all Mana or Stamina. No you.
¡°And?¡± Ker prompted. ¡°Mythical version of Return to Sender.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Seems pretty good.¡± Ker chuckled. ¡°You better believe it is. What do you want to do now?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to absorb this core and then I want to go through the dungeon enough times to get the next Rewards Crystal. We can just run through all the floors without fighting, so it shouldn¡¯t take too long¡­right?¡± Ker nodded. ¡°Sounds good to me. Let¡¯s do it.¡± Chapter 10: Special Treatment Before they left the room, Tess absorbed Mama Bear¡¯s core.
You have absorbed a Mama Bear Core! Slots filled: 5/5 You have gained 75 EXP in Monster Breeder! Monster Breeder has leveled up! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ New Skill detected! Attempting to degrade and obtain Mother¡¯s Might¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Sibling¡¯s Strength! Sibling¡¯s Strength: Rarity: Rare Type: Passive Description: Increases the damage of your attacks by 1% each time your allies receive damage in this battle, to a maximum of 100%. This effect ends if 10 seconds pass without you or an ally taking or dealing damage. You¡¯re the older sibling kids call to beat up the bullies. Displaying core information: Mama Bear Core: Level: 10 Estimated Power: 30 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 60 Current Skills: Mother¡¯s Might Current Attributes: Bipedal Adaption (Minor) Fur (Fundamental) Keen Nose (Minor) Kemonomimi (Bear) (Fundamental) Sharp Claws (Moderate) Sharp Fangs (Moderate) Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental) New Attributes discovered! Sharp Fangs (Moderate): Greatly sharpens the creature¡¯s teeth, giving them fangs. Further increases piercing damage dealt by the teeth. Requires teeth. New Skill discovered! Mother¡¯s Might: Rarity: Epic Type: Passive Description: Increases the damage of your attacks by 5% each time your allies receive damage in this battle, to a maximum of 500%. This effect ends if 30 seconds pass without you or an ally taking or dealing damage. Well, my mom can beat up your mom.
¡°Oh, nice!¡± Tess exclaimed, looking at her haul, ¡°I¡¯ll take that. Give me another couple of minutes to shuffle around the Attributes, I got some upgrades.¡± Ker smiled at her exuberance, leaning back on the wall. ¡°Take your time, kid. We¡¯re here for you, not me.¡± A short series of combinations later, she had a few new Attributes to work with. Most notably, when she created Bipedal Adaption from the Bipedal Adaption (Minor) of the bear cores she had, she was able to combine it with Quadrupedal Adaption to make another new Attribute.
Bipedal Adaption: Allows the user to walk on two legs. Facultative Biped (Greater): Allows the user to switch between two and four legs with no detriment to either mode. Keen Nose: Strengthens the user¡¯s sense of smell. Sharp Claws (Greater): Greatly hardens and sharpens the nails of the creature¡¯s hands and feet, turning them into claws. Greatly increases slashing damage dealt with claws. Requires hands or feet. Sharp Fangs (Greater): Greatly sharpens the creature¡¯s teeth, giving them fangs. Greatly increases piercing damage dealt by the teeth. Requires teeth.
She put Facultative Biped, Keen Nose, and Sharp Fangs onto Mama Bear to store them, keeping Sharp Claws on herself and transferring Mother¡¯s Might to fill her latest empty slot. ¡°All done.¡± She said, ¡°You ready?¡± Ker pushed himself back onto his feet. ¡°Absolutely. It shouldn¡¯t take us more than a couple of hours, so we should be done in time to greet Ellie when she gets done with school.¡± And he was right. Being able to just run straight through the floors with Ker ignoring all the monsters outright and Tess being ignored by the monsters meant that it only took around ten minutes to clear the dungeon, including the Mama Bear fight. So, nine runs and a level for both Tess and Monster Breeder later, they were back at the Reward Crystal room, Tess already placing her hand on the crystal and claiming her prize.
You have gained the Skill Status Tennis (Epic)! Status Tennis (Epic): Rarity: Epic Type: Passive Description: When you successfully resist a status affliction, it will bounce back at your opponent with an additional 10% affliction rate. If your opponent succeeds, it is bounced back to you with the additional 10% affliction rate. If you succeed again, it is bounced back to your opponent with a 20% increased infliction rate and so on, gaining 10% increased affliction rate each time your opponent has to attempt to resist. You may choose to apply the effects of Status Tennis to afflictions you use, starting a volley if your opponent resists. You may choose to turn off Status Tennis at any time. Someone¡¯s going to be the dead man at the end of this volley. Probably.
Tess let out a sigh, stretching. ¡°Well, that was¡­something.¡± She said, ¡°Better than the slime dungeon, that¡¯s for sure.¡± ¡°Might well be a speed record.¡± Ker said, smiling. ¡°Well, maybe not quite, there are a few people who compete for the fastest times on dungeons, but it¡¯s almost certainly one for your level. Discounting the Mama Bear fight, anyway, you¡¯d be disqualified for having me help, even if it is just tanking.¡± ¡°Eh, whatever.¡± She replied, retracting her claws and exiting the room with Ker. ¡°Not really that important to me. Let¡¯s just turn in our request and go say hi to everyone.¡± The turn in process was basically the same as picking the request up. Graham just did some typing on his keyboard, handed them some money, and then sent them on their way. ¡°Man, personal receptionists are nice.¡± Ker said, ¡°It usually takes at least twice as long as that, and that¡¯s not even counting the time we would have spent waiting in line. I could get used to this.¡± ¡°It is nice.¡± Tess agreed, ¡°But we still have like¡­twenty minutes before Ellie gets home, so what do we do until then?¡± ¡°I figured we could chat with your grandpa, and maybe the rest of The Rumors if they¡¯re hanging about. We were going to meet up here around the time Ellie was supposed to get off, so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they¡¯re here already.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go talk with Gramps, then.¡± Tess said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to walk around looking for people right now.¡± So, the two made their way to Gramps¡¯ office, where Ker knocked politely. ¡°Guildmaster, do you have time?¡± ¡°Come on in, not doing much of import!¡± Gramps replied, and the two let themselves in. ¡°Ah, Tess, done with the dungeon for now?¡± He asked, setting aside some papers, ¡°Ellie said she skipped out a little early to come check on you, so she should be here any second now. Anyway, how was the dungeon? Get anything good?¡± Tess collapsed into one of the couches. ¡°Yeah, I got a Skill called Parasitizer from the Challenge, and from the regular Rewards Crystal I got the Mythical version of Return to Sender and the Epic version of Status Tennis. Also got a bunch of cool stuff from monster cores.¡± Gramps typed something into the computer he was at. ¡°Good. I¡¯ve made a note of that, I¡¯ll go back and update the dungeon¡¯s info sheet later.¡± ¡°I thought you needed more than one person¡¯s testimony to update those?¡± Tess asked, frowning. ¡°Usually, yes. It¡¯s that or a trustworthy source, and you count as one of those. I¡¯ve gone through the trouble of linking your status bands to mine so I can see if there¡¯s ever a problem, and through that I can check and see what new Skills or Classes you get. All it requires is for you to tell me where stuff came from, and if I trust you, which I do, I¡¯ll update everything. And, since I¡¯m the Guildmaster, I¡¯m free to update listings as needed, no need for verification. Well, beyond a couple of trusted assistants asking me why changes are made, but they¡¯ll understand me making sure the lists are accurate to what my grandkids got.¡± ¡°Um, sure, I guess.¡± Tess replied, ¡°I¡¯ve got a bunch of cores, do you want those now or¡­?¡± Gramps reached down, came back up with a bag, and tossed it to Tess. ¡°Unload them all in here. I¡¯ll count them up later and transfer the funds to your account.¡± As Tess began moving everything over, he continued. ¡°So, you decided to go for unarmed, eh? Care to explain the reasoning behind that?¡± ¡°I got this.¡± Ker said, ¡°I realized that she would likely be picking up quite a few natural weapons from cores, so I hypothesized that she would be able to use unarmed Skills with natural weapons. We did some further testing and found that she could specify criteria on her luck to get information she normally wouldn¡¯t be able to get, such as the sex of a monster or whether or not unarmed Skills would work with¡­¡± He trailed off, eyes widening. ¡°Oh goodness, I just realized the kind of information we could get with that. You could lay bare the world¡¯s secrets by asking yes or no questions with monster drops. That¡¯s¡­¡± Everyone paused suddenly. A window had appeared in front of Tess, and from everyone¡¯s gazes it seemed they had been given windows as well.
Oh crap he¡¯s right. Um¡­.Well, I¡¯m just going to put a stop to that now. If you try and game the system too hard, I¡¯m just going to give you random drops. I¡¯ll allow small things like the bit you pulled with checking unarmed Skills and natural weapons, but anything that would be too disruptive is out. Sorry about that. You¡¯re the first one with this so I¡¯m still working out all the kinks. ¡­I think I¡¯ll have to be paying much closer attention than I thought. Consider my affection level raised, you get the rights to contact me once a day. Provided it¡¯s either important, or completely inconsequential. Do be sure to tell me if you find anything interesting like this again, though. If it¡¯s not potentially world-shatteringly broken like this information thing, I¡¯ll give you a sub-blessing that emulates the effect if I end up patching it out. Call it a bonus for finding the exploit in the first place. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Come to think of it, I¡¯ll patch this thing out in a couple of minutes and give you that sub-blessing for it. I won¡¯t bother interrupting you with a window, it¡¯ll just show up on your Status later, so don¡¯t freak out. P.S.: No one else got a window this personal. They got the standard high and mighty god speak so don¡¯t tell them I¡¯m so personable, kay? P.P.S.: Please do chat with me about inconsequential stuff. It¡¯s nice to just talk with people other than the same ten or twenty I¡¯ve been talking to ever since I was born. Don¡¯t be a stranger ;)
¡°That¡¯s a disappointment, but I suppose it¡¯s to be expected.¡± Gramps said, ¡°Still, it was a good thought.¡± He opened his mouth to say more, but cut off, looking to the side. ¡°Oh, looks like Ellie¡¯s here.¡± Sure enough, a door had appeared on the wall, which opened to reveal Ellie, still in her school uniform. ¡°Hey, grandpa, where¡¯s Te¨C¡± She stopped, seeing Tess. She flew through the doorway, slamming the door shut behind her and hurtling towards Tess. ¡°Teeeeessssssss!¡± She cried, catching the other girl in a big hug. ¡°I was worried about you! How are you doing? Can I help with anything?¡± Tess wriggled around but was unable to escape Ellie¡¯s iron grip. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ve just been dungeon diving with Ker.¡± ¡°What new Attributes did you get?! Any cool Skills?¡± Ellie asked excitedly. ¡°Um, I¡¯m going to need you to let go if you want to see.¡± ¡°Ehehe, right.¡± Ellie giggled nervously, finally letting Tess free from her embrace. ¡°It¡¯s mostly stuff you can¡¯t see, but watch this.¡± Tess, said, extending her claws. They were up to a full three inches of length and were of a size that clearly couldn¡¯t be hiding in Tess¡¯s hands, so Tess was assuming that it was some sort of extradimensional shenanigans instead of her claws truly retracting and extending. For her part, Ellie¡¯s eyes were practically glowing. ¡°Did you kill some animal monster?! Please tell me you can get its ears and tail!¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°I can, but I don¡¯t see the point. It¡¯d maybe help my hearing, but I don¡¯t need the tail getting in the way of things.¡± Ellie grabbed Tess¡¯s shoulders, looking directly into Tess¡¯s eyes. ¡°It¡¯s about the principle of the thing! You can¡¯t not try it out, you have to do it at least once!¡± Tess, taken aback by Ellie¡¯s sudden intensity tried desperately to find something to say but couldn¡¯t get anything but ¡°uhs¡± and ¡°ums¡± out. ¡°Fine, fine. Tell you what, we¡¯ll have a sparring match, if I win, you have to try it out, and if I lose, I have to do any one thing you want.¡± ¡°I-I don¡¯t know about that, Ellie. Now that we have stats and stuff, we¡¯re not really on a level playing field, and if I try and use Skills to close the gap¡­I don¡¯t really have a¡­nonlethal setting.¡± ¡°The guild keeps a Gauntlet of Challenge on hand for times like this.¡± Ker supplied, ¡°People using it will enter a fight that, if it¡¯s not interrupted by an outsider, will restore the participants to the state they were in before the fight after it¡¯s over. If anyone would die during the fight, they just get immediately restored and taken out of the fight.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll lend it to you if you want, but not now.¡± Gramps said, ¡°The rest of The Rumors are going to be waiting.¡± Ellie pointed dramatically at Tess. ¡°Just you wait, I will make you try the animal ears, even if I have to fail a thousand times in the process. My heart will never waver!¡± Tess scratched the back of her neck, embarrassed. ¡°Yikes. If it means that much to you, I¡¯ll try it for you when we get home.¡± Ellie caught Tess up in another firm hug. ¡°Yay! You¡¯re the best!¡± She squealed, pulling her friend even closer. ¡°Um, are you¡­OK? You¡¯re a lot more¡­touchy feely than usual.¡± Tess asked, gently pushing Ellie off. Ellie let go, leaping backwards. ¡°Um, oh, uh, sorry. I wasn¡¯t thinking and was just treating you how I would treat other girls.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°Are you sure? I¡¯ve never seen you this intimate with your friends.¡± Ellie paused for half a second. ¡°Have you ever seen me try to console them?¡± ¡°Well, no, but ¨C¡± ¡°There you go. Let¡¯s go meet up with The Rumors, they¡¯re waiting.¡± Elli replied hurriedly, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and pulling her up. Ker and Gramps shared a look that Tess couldn¡¯t quite place the meaning of, and then Ker nodded. ¡°She¡¯s right, let¡¯s go figure out what¡¯s on the itinerary. I¡¯m sure Alice and Jin are around here somewhere, no point in wasting time. Freelancers choose their own hours, but Ellie has school in the morning, so we¡¯ve only got so much time.¡± ¡°Only for like¡­half a year.¡± Ellie said, ¡°Then I think I¡¯m going to work on freelancing full time. Uh, as long as Tess is, that is. It¡¯s no fun if she¡¯s not going too.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t decided yet.¡± Tess said, ¡°It¡¯s¡­not so bad right now. Better than I was expecting, but I haven¡¯t tried anything big yet, and I haven¡¯t even thought about making a pet. We¡¯ll see how it is after I try those.¡± Ellie squeezed Tess¡¯s hand, which she was still holding. ¡°Whatever you decide, I¡¯ll support you, all the way.¡± Tess blushed, looking away.
Cute.
Unsure if Fortune could even hear her thoughts, Tess cast them towards her anyway. Don¡¯t call me cute, it feels¡­weird. Besides, don¡¯t you have god things to be doing? Something other than being my peanut gallery?
I can hear you loud and clear. After Ker¡¯s little epiphany I was able to get the boss to let me swap priorities. So, being your peanut gallery is the god things I¡¯m doing right now. Also, wasn¡¯t necessarily calling you cute ;). Just letting you know that I¡¯m rooting for you.
Tess was only paying half attention to her surroundings as she was led into the hallway, focusing more on her conversation with Fortune. Sorry to disappoint, but I¡¯m pretty sure my chances with her are at an all-time low. And what do you mean ¡°the boss¡±? Aren¡¯t gods as high up as they get? Is there a head god or something?
Yeah, something like that. We like to keep the fact that we have a hierarchy secret, so mortals don¡¯t get any weird ideas. So, uh¡­please don¡¯t tell anyone I mentioned having a boss. Just imagine the chaos if that got out! Anyway, you never know about romance until you try, right? I say go for it, you two would be adorable together! Yuri is the purest form of love!
Tess sighed and gave up on the subject. She was shocked back into reality, however, as Ellie once again squeezed her hand. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± She soothed, ¡°If you ever have any questions about being a girl or anything then my door¡¯s always open. Come wake me up at 4 A.M. for all I care, you¡¯re important to me.¡± Tess turned to say something but stopped when she noticed how red Ellie¡¯s face was. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re OK? You¡¯re all red now. Do you have a fever or something?¡± Ellie let go of Tess¡¯s hand, turning so Tess couldn¡¯t see her face. ¡°I-I¡¯m fine!¡± She stammered, ¡°Just getting used to the temperature again. It¡¯s throwing me going from winter in Mael to what feels like summer here. Nothing to worry about.¡± ¡°You two, stop flirting.¡± Ker said, ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡± Ellie jumped. ¡°I-it¡¯s just girl talk! N-nothing flirty about it!¡± Ker rolled his eyes. ¡°Alright then.¡± He opened a door, leading them into a small room much like the one The Rumors took their Fatebinder¡¯s Oath in. Now that she was slightly more focused, she was able to see that the walls were lined with a sort of couch or cushioned seating not dissimilar to the ones they had in restaurants, all around a table with a bunch of gear piled on it. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re early.¡± Jin said, standing up. ¡°How¡¯re things?¡± ¡°Going smoothly.¡± Ker confirmed. ¡°I went through the first two Rewards Crystals and the Challenge of Cub¡¯s Den with Tess. How are things on your end?¡± ¡°Alice and I have mostly been theorycrafting what would be good for Tess to get. Uh, I¡¯m afraid we haven¡¯t been putting as much work in for you, Ellie, but that¡¯s because we can¡¯t really pick and choose what you get. For you it¡¯s mostly going to be just teaching you how to fight monsters and other freelancer stuff. Oh, Ker, mind giving me the details on what Tess got while you two were out? I need to know so we can re-adjust the plan.¡± While the two of them talked, Alice walked awkwardly over to Tess and Ellie. ¡°Hey. I¡­said some things I shouldn¡¯t have yesterday. I was jealous and lashed out, I wasn¡¯t considering how you would have been feeling. Sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­fine. It wasn¡¯t the worst thing to happen yesterday, so it wasn¡¯t really sticking in my mind.¡± Alice frowned. ¡°Just because it wasn¡¯t the worst doesn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t bad. How can I make it up to you?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°I dunno. Again, it wasn¡¯t really important to me, so I haven¡¯t thought about it at all. If you¡¯re really set on it, maybe just take me dungeon diving on your day off or something?¡± ¡°Yeah, I can do that. Come back on Friday and I¡¯ll take you on a trip to some more out of the way places to get some quick Rewards Crystals, just the two of us.¡± ¡°Um, can I come too?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Sorry, but no can do. The guildmaster¡¯s already told us in no uncertain terms to not let you come with us on school days. We¡¯ll both be in hot water if you do. Besides, if I¡¯m doing this to make it up to Tess, then she deserves my undivided attention.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Ellie pouted, ¡°But let the record show that I would prefer to be going. I don¡¯t want Tess to get way stronger than me and leave me behind.¡± Alice raised an eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s not happening for a long time. If she wants any shot at getting stronger than you then she¡¯s going to have to absorb a lot of really strong cores. She¡¯ll only ever beat you out with the number of her abilities and the strength and synergy of them. Without that, she¡¯s got no shot at beating you. Well, provided you don¡¯t stall at the level you are now, but seeing as how you¡¯ll be gaining a few levels I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to be a problem.¡± ¡°My stats aren¡¯t going to be better than yours.¡± Tess said. ¡°Ever. You¡¯ve already got like¡­twice my stats. I¡¯d have to gain like ten more levels before we¡¯re even. Every level you get is five I have to get, if it¡¯s just raw stats we¡¯re talking about.¡± Ellie winced. ¡°I¡­forgot. Sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯ll never get the Rewards Crystals I¡¯m taking her to get,¡± Alice added, ¡°Just think of it as a way to keep you two relatively even while we¡¯re training you. Even Fortune¡¯s blessing isn¡¯t enough to completely narrow the difference in raw firepower between you two. It doesn¡¯t matter what she does if she can¡¯t hurt you at all.¡±
That¡¯s real cute. She doesn¡¯t even know what I¡¯ve got lined up for you. Trust me, by the time I¡¯m done with you there won¡¯t be a single person who¡¯ll be able to stand in your way >:)
So, it¡¯s you deciding what¡¯s best when I leave it to my luck to get me the ¡°best¡± possible outcome? Tess asked, Ker and I were wondering about that earlier, but you didn¡¯t answer.
Ah. Whoops. Um, don¡¯t tell anyone else, kay? Secrets of the universe and all that. The real answer is that there¡¯s an automated system that handles most of it. I only get involved in the important stuff. And, to tell you the truth, I didn¡¯t do most of the work. War and Heroes really like the mental challenge of optimizing people¡¯s toolsets, so they¡¯ve been having a field day with you. I just follow their suggestions when you let me spin the wheel. For what it¡¯s worth, unarmed is the way we were planning to nudge you, so you¡¯re on the right track. If you really want the most out of it, I¡¯d recommend you only pick two Skills for every dungeon. We¡¯ve made room in the plan for that, but any more will throw things off. I¡¯ll let you know if something you pick is something we already have planned, so if that happens, I recommend picking something else. They¡¯ve put everything in order of what would be most helpful to at that stage in your progression, so really, just leave it to them unless you really want it at that time. So, uh, go and break the news to The Rumors. Let them know it¡¯s Heroes and War making the plan, at least for Skills. They¡¯ve got a bunch of Attributes they would use too, but I¡¯m not supposed to be telling you what those are yet. Not until I officially make you my Appointed. But that¡¯s almost a guarantee now, it¡¯s just a matter of time. I¡¯m having too much fun talking with you to not. Unfortunately, the boss won¡¯t let me do it now. She needs you to get stronger first. ¡­Uh, no pressure to keep freelancing or anything, though. You can still back down if you want. Not that it¡¯ll keep me from pestering you like I am now. I¡¯m going to keep doing that. Anyway, I¡¯m rambling, go tell everyone now.
¡°Um, guys?¡± Tess said hesitantly, causing everyone to stop and look at her. ¡°So¡­sorta bad news, I guess. Fortune just contacted me, she said she already has this whole plan for what she is going to be giving me. Apparently, Heroes and War, who I¡¯m assuming are other gods, have mapped it all out, so you guys don¡¯t need to. They¡¯ve left me two picks every dungeon, but they want me to just get what I feel like with those, so I think we should probably leave it to them.¡± Jin raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m not going to say I know better than them, so I think you¡¯re right.¡± Alice groaned. ¡°Well, there go a few hours of planning. Whatever, let¡¯s just get back to dungeon crawling. You were doing Cub¡¯s Den, right? Might as well go work on finishing that off.¡± And so Jin and Alice picked up the gear that was on the table, Ellie put her gear on, and the group left for Cub¡¯s Den. Chapter 11: Even Outside of School, Grades are Inevitable Ellie had to keep herself from skipping as the group made their way to Cub¡¯s Den. Scenario D was a go and she could hardly believe it. It felt like her wildest dreams were coming true one after the other, the universe going out of its way to make her happy. ¡°So, when are you going to make a move?¡± Ker asked in a hushed tone, giving her a smirk. Ellie blushed. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± She lied. Ker rolled his eyes. ¡°Please. From an outsider¡¯s perspective it¡¯s painfully obvious that you¡¯re head over heels for her. Do you want me to help you out? Give Tess some hints?¡± Ellie glanced forward at Tess, who was talking with Jin and Alice, then sighed. ¡°I appreciate the sentiment, but not now. First off, it¡¯d be really insensitive to start hitting on her so soon after she changed. It sorta boils down to ¡®Hey your life¡¯s been upturned but now that it has wanna go out¡¯ and that¡¯s kinda scummy thing to do if you ask me. I mean, I know I haven¡¯t been the best at not hitting on her, but by the time I realize what I¡¯m doing I¡¯m like halfway through the action and I figure it would be better to commit instead of being weird and stopping halfway through. ¡°Second¡­Tess and Grandpa don¡¯t know I¡¯m a lesbian yet. Once Tess has adjusted, I¡¯m going to come out, but that¡¯s not a bombshell I want to drop on her right now. When the time comes, I definitely want to make some passes at her, just¡­not now.¡± Ker nodded. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s understandable. If you need someone to talk to, though, don¡¯t hesitate to come to me. Just because it¡¯s directly affecting Tess doesn¡¯t mean there won¡¯t be some hard times for you, too. No one¡¯s got a monopoly on suffering.¡± Ellie hesitated for a second, then shook her head to clear it. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± Her mood was only slightly dampened the rest of the walk to the dungeon and was bolstered again when she heard how they would be going about beating this dungeon. ¡°It¡¯s just going to be the two of us?!¡± She asked excitedly, ¡°Aren¡¯t you guys going to bulldoze through it like the other one?¡± ¡°Not quite.¡± Alice chuckled. ¡°We¡¯re still going to be watching you¡­in a way.¡± Jin handed some bandlike object to Tess. ¡°Here, a peripheral for your Status Band. It basically lets you stream your activities in the dungeon to people you choose. We have one for Ellie too, but she¡¯s too low-level to use it. Unlike the last dungeon, this one is actually useful as a place to learn. Slimes don¡¯t put up enough of a fight to really work as anything more than fodder. We want to see how you two will act in a fight without us as fallbacks.¡± ¡°Besides,¡± Ker added, ¡°You¡¯re in no danger whatsoever. Tess could go through this dungeon in her sleep.¡± ¡°Um,¡± Tess said bashfully, accepting the peripheral, putting it on, and watching it sink into her band, ¡°I¡¯m¡­not so sure. That¡¯s only because I was confident that Ker could handle anything that came his way if I had to take my time picking an enemy off.¡± ¡°I can handle a few small fries no sweat. If they couldn¡¯t take you down, then there¡¯s no chance they¡¯ll be able to do enough damage to take me down.¡± ¡°They¡­never attacked me.¡± Tess said, ¡°I have no clue how strong their attacks are.¡± Ellie raised an eyebrow. ¡°How- oh, right. I forgot about Target of Affection.¡± That was a lie, at least partially. She couldn¡¯t forget about it, not with its handiwork on full display in front of her. She had just forgotten about the other effect. ¡°Well, I just need to tank, right? I have a bit of healing from my light magic, and the stats to handle a couple of hits. The monsters can¡¯t be that tough, right?¡± ¡°Going to stop you right there.¡± Alice said sharply. ¡°That¡¯s an attitude that¡¯s going to get you killed. You know basically nothing about this dungeon, and just assuming you can handle the worst it can throw at you by just bulldozing through it isn¡¯t going to work long-term. It¡¯ll work for this dungeon, and maybe some dungeons in the future, but you have to get out of that mindset. It¡¯s going to be hard when you steamroll these beginner dungeons, but you have to remember that they¡¯re beginner dungeons.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± Jin added, ¡°And even if death isn¡¯t exactly¡­permanent for freelancers with enough money, that¡¯s only if you can get someone to bring you back to a healer in time. In out of the way areas that¡¯s not a guarantee.¡± ¡°That being said, you shouldn¡¯t have too much trouble with this dungeon. If it came down to it you could just have Tess go and clear the floor on her own, she can handle it.¡± Ker said, turning to Tess, ¡°So long as you¡¯re careful and make sure to always one-shot the opponents it shouldn¡¯t be much harder than going through it with me. Even if a few don¡¯t immediately die I¡¯m confident you can handle them without an issue.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Tess mumbled. ¡°I do.¡± Ker replied firmly. ¡°Even if I was tanking, you took down Mama Bear with almost entirely your own damage. You can handle a couple of mooks.¡± Tess¡¯s attention was drawn away by something. That had been happening fairly often in the ten or so minutes they¡¯d been together today, and that wasn¡¯t like her at all. Ellie made a note to ask her about it in private later, in case it was something she could help with. ¡°Time¡¯s a-wastin¡¯, we¡¯re talking too much.¡± Alice said impatiently, ¡°Jin, you teach Tess how to use that broadcaster while Ker and I teach Ellie about the information sheet.¡± And, without waiting for a response, Alice grabbed Ellie and towed her over to the shop, then showed her how the information sheets worked. Roughly five minutes later, Ellie and Tess had finished their respective lessons, everyone was in a party, and they were ready to begin their delve. ¡°We got this!¡± Ellie said confidently, looping an arm around Tess¡¯s shoulders. ¡°We¡¯ll see you on floor two in no time!¡± Jin nodded. ¡°See you then.¡± And with that, Ellie steered Tess into the dungeon. ¡°Alright, so, I¡¯ll go ahead and tank, you just come in and snipe the monsters when you have a moment, alright?¡± ¡°Um¡­sure.¡± Tess replied nervously. ¡°Let¡¯s do that.¡± ¡°Right!¡± Ellie replied brightly, striding off further into the floor. It was time for her to implement Operation Keep Tess Safe, which was as simple as the name would suggest ¨C she just would kill anything before it got close to Tess. Her first opponent was a baby deer, and as cute as it was, she wasn¡¯t going to show it any mercy. She stepped to the side, flicked out her sword in a dismissive motion, and watched with satisfaction as its head tumbled from its body. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
You have decapitated Dire Deer (Young) for a critical 131 damage! You have killed Dire Deer (Young)! You gain 9 EXP! Swordswoman has gained 6 EXP!
A few coins fell to the floor as the deer¡¯s body dissipated, and Ellie picked those up while Tess made her way over. ¡°Oh, you¡­already got one. You should¡­probably wait until I get there, though. They can¡¯t see what you¡¯re doing if I can¡¯t.¡± Ellie laughed, rubbing her neck. ¡°My bad. I¡¯ll pay more attention next time.¡± She waited for Tess to pick up the core, then went ahead, this time at a distance where she would be visible around bends. Operation Keep Tess Safe turned out to be a piece of cake. The monsters were always alone, and she just killed them in one hit, even if she didn¡¯t always get a clean decapitation like she did with the deer. They finished the floor in about five minutes. It wasn¡¯t large, the monsters weren¡¯t tough, and they only ran into a few more before they found the exit. Once they did, Ellie waited for Tess to catch up, then proudly made her way through the door. ¡°Minus five points.¡± Alice said flatly. ¡°W-what?!¡± Ellie protested. ¡°We cleared that like it was nothing!¡± ¡°You cleared it like it was nothing.¡± Jin said. ¡°You didn¡¯t even give Tess a chance to learn or work on your teamwork, she was basically just your camerawoman.¡± Ellie looked to the side. ¡°I could beat them in one hit, there was no need to put anyone in unnecessary danger.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t buy that.¡± Alice replied, ¡°You made it clear earlier that you could tank, and we all know that Tess isn¡¯t ever going to be targeted, so you¡¯re just stealing EXP from her. And Tess, you have to be more assertive. Freelancer parties, the good ones, anyway, are made up of equals. There may be a ¡°leader¡±, but at high levels leaders are in name only.¡± ¡°In the field, that is.¡± Ker added, ¡°We all have different skillsets and usually at those high levels leaders are the best at making decisions out of direct combat, or the best at making snap decisions in the heat of the moment. Our party is made of equals, but, unlike Alice, I think that a leader-subordinate relationship can work if the leader is good. That being said, Alice is right. Tess, if you have something to say, then make sure you say it.¡± Tess blushed, looking down. ¡°Um¡­I want to help, Ellie. I don¡¯t feel comfortable just following behind you. It works for now, but it won¡¯t in the future. We can¡¯t get into bad habits while we¡¯re learning¡­right?¡± Jin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. I know it¡¯s hard, but you have to treat this like it¡¯s something that could challenge you. So, this next floor, leave it to Tess a little more, kay?¡± ¡°Uh, I think I should be in front.¡± Tess said. ¡°The monsters won¡¯t bother with me, and while they¡¯re rushing to attack you, I can get a free hit in. Then, if they¡¯re still alive, you can clean them up.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Ellie pouted, ¡°But if it looks like you¡¯re in trouble I¡¯m going to help.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll be pretty easy. Just throw a rock at them and they¡¯ll stop attacking her.¡± Ker said, ¡°Simple as that. It¡¯s really something, seeing her inflict a mortal wound on a monster and then you breathe on it, and it decides you¡¯re a better target.¡± Alice raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really? I have to see that.¡± ¡°I can show you this floor.¡± Tess volunteered. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure I don¡¯t one-shot stuff and Ellie can do the whole rock thing.¡± Ellie fidgeted slightly but nodded. ¡°I can handle that, I guess.¡± ¡°Alright, enough jabbering.¡± Jin said, ¡°Just get in there and do it.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Tess said, moving towards the door. ¡°Ready when you are, Ellie.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m ready.¡± Ellie replied, moving so she was next to Tess. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The two entered the dungeon once again, and this time Ellie let Tess take the lead. It was a little nerve-wracking, watching the much more fragile girl go in front, but Ker was proven right soon enough. When Tess rounded a bend in the path, Ellie was a bit behind, having stopped to pick up a rock, so she was a little startled when she heard Tess yell. ¡°There¡¯s a monster here!¡± Tess called calmly, ¡°Get ready!¡± Ellie braced herself, tightening her grip on her sword, and went round the bend. The monster was just sort of¡­sitting there, acting as if Tess didn¡¯t even exist. That changed the moment it saw Ellie, the monster suddenly breaking into a mad dash towards her, like monsters usually did when they saw a person. Tess waited for the monster to pass her, then struck with her claws, scoring a huge gash down the creature¡¯s flank from which some sort of disgusting leech-thing sprouted. The beast whirled, and Ellie threw the rock, hitting it solidly in the side. It immediately whirled back to face Ellie, began running, suddenly faltered, and then exploded into rainbow gas, a single coin falling to the floor as it did. ¡°What was that weird wriggly thing?!¡± Ellie exclaimed, looking around warily, ¡°Was that from you?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°One of my new Skills. Plants a parasite that damages monsters and heals me. It¡¯s pretty handy, even if it is kinda gross.¡± ¡°Oh. Is that why it died all of a sudden?¡± ¡°Yup. It deals a tenth of the damage I inflicted with the attack every second, and I can have ten parasites on one target, and if they¡¯re not careful about taking it out they take even more damage.¡± Ellie stared. ¡°That¡¯s¡­intense.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s supposed to be balanced around unarmed not receiving the benefits of nice weapons, but¡­¡± She waved her hands around, still sporting those long, gleaming claws. ¡°These don¡¯t count as weapons, apparently.¡± Ellie walked over to Tess, throwing an arm around her shoulders. ¡°That¡¯s awesome! My little blue mage is already showing her stuff.¡± Tess ducked out of the arm, blushing slightly. ¡°We can talk more about this later.¡± She said, ¡°We¡¯re still in the middle of a dungeon. Let¡¯s finish off this floor before something catches us by surprise.¡± That had, perhaps, been a little too forward, but Ellie didn¡¯t regret it. ¡°Sure, sounds good.¡± The rest of the floor was, predictably, easy. Tess was clearly capable of clearing the entire thing herself, and the presence of Ellie made it a slaughter. So, after a few minutes of work, they were at the next floor with The Rumors. ¡°That was much better, good job.¡± Alice said, a satisfied look on her face. Then, she turned to Tess, an eyebrow raised. ¡°But, Ker really wasn¡¯t kidding about the aggro thing. Are you aware of just how nuts that is?¡± Tess looked away, clearly embarrassed. ¡°I can tell it¡¯s not normal. It feels a little cheap, having all the monsters just ignore me like that. A-anyway, are we going to do the Challenge now?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the plan, yes.¡± Jin replied. ¡°Parties without mentors come back to this one when they¡¯re a higher level, but it¡¯s just a tank test, so it¡¯s not detrimental to your growth for us to carry you through it. So, the three of us will keep Ellie safe while we go through it. You just walk next to us.¡± ¡°Um, remind me what the Challenge is again?¡± Ellie asked. Alice frowned. ¡°We went over this when we talked about the info sheet. Just don¡¯t hurt anything through this floor, and you¡¯ll get to the Challenge, which is also just not hurting anything. You have to pay better attention than that.¡± Ellie blushed. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, just be mindful in the future.¡± Ker said, ¡°Tess, you just let us know if by some miracle something targets you, OK?¡± ¡°Yeah, got it.¡± With that, they went into the floor. Immediately, The Rumors grouped up in front of Ellie, Ker and Jin directly in front of her while Alice moved farther ahead. The run through the floor was fast, and the Challenge was faster. Alice used some sort of ability that drew all the monster¡¯s attention to her, and the monsters never seemed to be able to penetrate her armor. So, they were at the Rewards Crystal in pretty short order, and Ellie wasted no time getting her reward.
You have gained the Class Lightning Mage!
¡°Well?¡± Alice asked. ¡°Lightning Mage Class.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Should I put it on next chance we get or¡­?¡± ¡°Up to you, really.¡± Jin said, shrugging. ¡°With your stats, you can¡¯t go too wrong when levelling your Classes. Levelling one Class won¡¯t count against you when levelling another, so just do whatever you feel like first.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep Swordsman, then. Tess is gonna need a tank.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. When you feel progress is slowing down in a Class too much, just switch to one of your others. That probably won¡¯t be until you¡¯ve been out of the beginner dungeons for a good while, though.¡± ¡°Right, well, don¡¯t got all day, let¡¯s keep at this.¡± Alice said impatiently. ¡°I want to get to at least the second Rewards Crystal for clearing the dungeon by the end of the day, so let¡¯s hop to it.¡± Chapter 12: Divine Message Tess struggled with her pants, trying to put them on in a way that both wouldn¡¯t cover the yellow-blond wolf tail she currently had and would cover the rest of her sufficiently. It¡­wasn¡¯t going well, and she was glad she had anticipated something like this happening and made Ellie leave her room. Eventually, she took one of her old pairs of pants and put it on backwards, unzipping the zipper just enough to let her tail out. Then, she got one of her belts and fastened it as tight as it would go, preventing the pants from falling off so long as she didn¡¯t move too much and was cautious when she did. Finally, she opened the door and let Ellie in. ¡°No. Way.¡± Ellie whispered, ¡°It¡¯s even more adorable than I ever would have thought.¡± Tess fidgeted uncomfortably. ¡°Really? It seems like the kind of thing that wouldn¡¯t be as nice in reality as it is in pictures.¡± Ellie hesitated for a long moment before replying. ¡°Well, it probably a personal thing, then, because I disagree.¡± She looked to the side embarrassedly, ¡°Um, can I¡­touch them?¡± ¡°Um¡­sure, I guess. Just be gentle.¡± Tess flinched as Ellie began to gently stroke her tail. ¡°Are you OK? Does it feel bad?¡± Ellie asked, withdrawing her hand. ¡°No, it was just¡­unexpected. It felt different than anything I¡¯ve felt before, I can¡¯t really describe it aside from that. Not bad, though.¡± Ellie hesitantly returned to stroking the tail.
Sooooo, we got a bit of time, how are we going to break the news to Ellie and your Gramps?
¡°What?¡± Tess said, taken aback enough by the sudden question window that she spoke aloud. ¡°Huh?¡± Ellie asked, stopping. ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask. You¡¯ve been getting all spaced out suddenly all day. Is there something going on?¡±
Alright, guess now¡¯s a good time. Just tell her, we¡¯ll tell Gramps later. We can deal with The Rumors when it becomes a problem.
Tess wasn¡¯t sure that was the best policy when it came to potentially world-shakingly important topics, but she wasn¡¯t going to question it too much now. ¡°So, um, one thing sort of led to another and now Fortune¡¯s job is kind of to just watch me all day? I was probably reading a message from her if I was spaced out.¡±
Please tell her I say hi and also that I¡¯m rooting for her!
¡°Uh, she says hi. And that she¡¯s rooting for you, whatever that means. She told me that earlier too, so¡­take that as you will?¡± Tess turned her head to get a better look at Ellie but was only fast enough to catch a hint of red on Ellie¡¯s face as she turned away, resuming her petting. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Tell her I say hi too, I guess?¡±
Tell her I can hear her just fine
¡°Can¡¯t you just tell her yourself?¡± Tess asked, exasperated, ¡°You¡¯re a god, you don¡¯t need me to pass your notes for you.¡±
You¡¯ve heard of prophets, right? There¡¯s a reason for that. We can¡¯t just willy-nilly talk to anyone whenever we want, think of it like¡­I dunno, an international calling fee or something. I¡¯ve gone ahead and paid a bunch up front so I can talk to you as much as I want but I have to pay each time I talk to Ellie
¡°Paid what, to who?! How does that even work?¡±
It¡¯s called Worship, and it¡¯s kind of like Mana or Stamina but for gods. But I really shouldn¡¯t be telling you more yet, so don¡¯t ask. Just tell Ellie I can hear her
Tess rolled her eyes. ¡°Fortune says that she can hear you fine, but apparently her god-phone plan doesn¡¯t cover talking to you so she¡¯s passing messages through me like I¡¯m some kind of prophet or something.¡±
¡­You are. That¡¯s what a prophet is
¡°That¡¯s what a prophet is, doofus.¡± Ellie replied.
Tell her I said jinx and that she owes me a soda
Tess groaned, but didn¡¯t pass on the message. ¡°What?¡± Ellie asked curiously, ¡°What did she say?¡± ¡°Something dumb.¡±
That¡¯s rude :(. I want to participate in this conversation too! Do you have any idea what it¡¯s like only ever being able to interact with the same 20 people for your entire life? I¡¯m lonely, OK?
Didn¡¯t you want to keep your sociability a secret? Tess asked privately.
Ellie doesn¡¯t count, she¡¯s gonna be with you enough to find out one way or the other. Please just say the thing, I¡¯m begging you. I will literally write out dog noises if you make me
Tess groaned again. ¡°Fine. Ellie, Fortune says jinx and that you owe her a soda.¡± Ellie stopped again, before bursting out laughing. ¡°I really am going to have to convert. Where do I sign up?¡±
It¡¯s fine if you just believe in me however you want, it comes back to me just the same
¡°She says to just do whatever, it¡¯ll make its way to her.¡± ¡°Well, she¡¯s got herself a follower in me.¡± Ellie chuckled, stopping her ministrations on the tail and moving to Tess¡¯s fluffy ears, ¡°I would love to be put on that god-phone plan, though.¡±
Sorry, I can¡¯t shell out that much right now. Not on someone I haven¡¯t invested anything into
¡°She says she¡¯s too broke to do that right now, sorry.¡±
I¡­guess that works. Um, fair warning, Gramps is on his-
The door opened, and Gramps poked his head in. ¡°Is everything alright in here? I¡¯ve caught bits and pieces of the conversation and I was getting a little concerned that someone else was in the house or something.¡± Ellie froze mid-pet, and a knowing grin spread across Gramps¡¯s face. ¡°Should I just leave you two to it then?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s fine!¡± Tess said hurriedly, ¡°Um, might as well tell you now, if that¡¯s fine.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Gramps raised an eyebrow, walking into the room and shutting the door behind him. ¡°Sure, that¡¯s fine.¡±
Yeah that works, try to make me sound as good as possible though, don¡¯t mention it¡¯s a result of me messing up. I don¡¯t want the boss yelling at me about PR stuff again
¡°Well, um, after what happened this morning, Fortune¡¯s decided to keep a closer eye on me. She can only really contact me freely because of the blessing and stuff, so we were talking to her through me. So, uh, yeah.¡± Tess explained lamely. ¡°It¡¯s kind of a secret, though. Only the three of us are supposed to know.¡± Gramps sighed. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s just another one for the list. Anything else?¡±
Huh, I was kind of expecting more of a reaction, to be honest. Oh well, guess he¡¯s been around the block enough times and you¡¯re enough of an exception that he¡¯s stopped being surprised or something.
¡°Um, no.¡± Tess said, ¡°That¡¯s all.¡± Gramps¡¯s knowing grin returned, and he gave them a wink. ¡°Alright, you two have fun, then.¡± And, before either of them could recover from their embarrassment to say anything, he slipped out of the door, leaving the two beet-red teenagers alone. ¡°Ummmm¡­¡± Ellie began uncertainly. ¡°Now that I think about it, this is kind of¡­¡± ¡°Weird?¡± Tess finished for her. ¡°Yeah, but, honestly, when it comes to things you do, I stopped worrying about what was weird a long time ago. So¡­just get it out of your system, it¡¯s not like things can get more embarrassing.¡± Ellie shot Tess a grateful look. ¡°Thanks for putting up with me.¡± And with that, she resumed her ministrations.
Jin watched his party carefully as they prepared for their meeting. He had called it due to the rather tumultuous couple of days they had had and the building friction he was sensing between Ker and Alice, and he could already tell it wasn¡¯t going to be a comfortable meeting for any of them. Alice was pacing back and forth restlessly, a conflicted expression on her face. In contrast, Ker was sitting on his favorite chair, studiously going through a couple of documents on his phone. After another couple of minutes, he finally looked up. ¡°I¡¯m ready now, sorry.¡± ¡°Finally!¡± Alice burst out, ¡°Jin, why call us here for this? I thought we had the situation handled!¡± Jin sighed, crossing his legs, and leaning forward. ¡°Yes and no.¡± He replied, ¡°What we¡¯re doing is working, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s working well.¡± Alice frowned, but Ker nodded. ¡°I agree. After watching them today, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s good to leave the two of them alone like that. In fact, I think we should split them up temporarily.¡± ¡°Elaborate.¡± Jin requested, arching his brow. Ker was usually on-point when it came to interpersonal judgement, but Jin liked to hear the reasoning behind his assessments. ¡°The first big problem is that Ellie is too protective of Tess. As I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed, Ellie¡¯s crushing hard on Tess, and with the stat difference I believe she¡¯s operating under the assumption that Tess is, comparatively, incapable. As a result, she¡¯s trying to protect Tess more than is necessary. ¡°I think if we let their party dynamic develop naturally, it¡¯s going to become bad extremely quickly. The issue with Ellie¡¯s assumption is that, for the time being, she¡¯s right. Tess is, way, way overleveled for this dungeon, and she¡¯s still not consistently oneshotting some of the tougher stuff.¡± Ker sighed. ¡°But that¡¯s only for now. She¡¯s got the potential to snowball in power really fast, and with Heroes and War personally overseeing her growth, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s an overstatement to say that she could end up as one of the most dangerous people alive in a few years. If she isn¡¯t by then, then she certainly will be in a few decades. ¡°Which leads us to problem number two. Tess seems to have some sort of complex, and I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s something preexisting that was exacerbated by the whole stat thing, or is new, but she¡¯s got no self-confidence. Watching Ellie breeze through things she struggles with is only going to make that worse. So, while we train them, I think they should mostly be separated, even put on different regimens so that it¡¯s hard to compare their progress.¡± Jin nodded. ¡°Alice?¡± Alice gnawed on one of her knuckles, thinking that over. ¡°He¡¯s right. I¡­should have noticed.¡± She said regretfully. ¡°I just¡­see so much potential in her, and it frustrates me that she doesn¡¯t see it herself.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Jin soothed. ¡°But that brings me to the other topic of this meeting. I couldn¡¯t help but notice you two were disagreeing over how we should treat Tess, and I wanted to clear the air before things got more heated. So, let¡¯s just let everything out now. Alice, you seemed to be taking exception the most, what¡¯s your opinion?¡± ¡°I just thought we were being too soft on her. That we shouldn¡¯t just let her wallow in self-pity while she¡¯s getting all these amazing things. I dunno¡­I just thought if she would step back and look at things objectively, she¡¯d realize there wasn¡¯t actually that many things to be down about. I was¡­jealous, I guess. I know it¡¯s immature when I have so much, but¡­¡± Ker nodded. ¡°We¡¯re all people here. As annoying as it can be, emotions often aren¡¯t logical. I think that, in this situation, that applies to both you and Tess. Logically, she¡¯s got a lot going for her, but I think it¡¯s not easy for her to realize that. With her transformation and that complex I mentioned, I doubt she¡¯s in the best place right now. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been going about things as I have. I think it¡¯s important that we put her in an environment where her strengths can shine and boost her confidence that way. I¡¯ve also been considering having her absorb a strong core to help her feel stronger and more in control, but I¡¯m on the fence about it. It¡¯s entirely possible that she¡¯ll feel like she¡¯s just using a crutch and that it¡¯s not really her strength or something she earned. But, if we do decide to give her a strong core, we have to be really careful about it.¡± The three of them started as an ethereal voice filled the room. With it came a hallmark of an official, capital M Message from the Gods ¨C an instinctual, undeniable knowledge of who was speaking. Not every god went about things the same way, some liked telepathy, some liked message windows, but a physical voice was common for public statements. Do it. The God of Fate told them. It will be for the better. With those succinct words, the presence faded. There was a long silence as The Rumors processed what had just happened, and once again realized just what they had got themselves into. ¡°I¡¯ve been doing some thinking and some research.¡± Ker said slowly, tapping his phone, ¡°It¡¯s got to be something with mostly passive Skills, so she doesn¡¯t get anything that would be too big a crutch for her. I¡¯m thinking something like one of the tougher feline or canine monsters, which¡¯ll give her enhancements to her claws and other things. Still, I¡¯m not sure how we¡¯d go about giving one to her in a natural way. Can¡¯t just¡­walk up and say ¡°here, we want you to feel tougher, use this¡±, that¡¯ll defeat the point.¡± ¡°Actually, I got this.¡± Alice said, working her way back into her normal exuberance, ¡°I¡¯m taking her out dungeon diving on Friday as an apology for being rude, I¡¯ll give it to her as a sort of¡­additional apology. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll take it without thinking too much about ulterior motives. I was thinking of doing something similar anyway, so it works out.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get back to you tomorrow with ideas for what we can use, and once we decide we can go shopping.¡± Ker looked at Jin. ¡°How should we pay for it, though? Do we want to take it out of our equipment fund, or¡­?¡± He trailed off, waiting for Jin¡¯s reply. While Jin was thinking about it, Alice spoke up. ¡°I¡¯ll just buy it myself. I¡¯m not doing much with my extra money anyway, and this isn¡¯t something we should budget ourselves for. So, don¡¯t hold back on any ideas because they¡¯re expensive, provided they¡¯re not so expensive they¡¯re going to bankrupt me. So, just¡­no Calamity level cores, although I doubt you were thinking about using them anyway.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± Jin said. ¡°Heading back to splitting the two of them up, how do we want to divide our attention? Specifically, curriculum and who will be with them when. Ker, you¡¯ve spent the most time with Tess of any of us, what are your thoughts on her?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got a lot more time with her than we do with Ellie, so we¡¯ve got room to work with taking her to more exotic dungeons once she¡¯s out of the beginner ones. That being said, while she¡¯s in a dungeon and not just sparring or something, I think she should only be with one of us at once. And we should let her do most of the work herself unless we need to teach her something, just to show her she can do it.¡± Ker replied. ¡°I don¡¯t know where we¡¯re going to find someone who can teach her to use claws properly, though.¡± He continued thoughtfully, ¡°We¡¯ll need to ask the guildmaster about finding some trustworthy beastkin martial artist or something.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do that, since you two are taking care of the core thing.¡± Jin offered. ¡°I¡¯m sure the guildmaster will be more than happy to find someone who¡¯ll fit the bill.¡± ¡°That sounds good. If they come on as a permanent tutor, we¡¯ll have them accompany Tess along with whichever one of us is her guide for the day. And, of us, I would recommend it¡¯s either me or Alice. I think we should put her in a similar situation to what her situation with Ellie will be, so we need someone capable of being a tank. We can teach her about protecting others later, right now I just want to get her used to her role.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m guessing the other two will be with Ellie?¡± Alice asked, ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± ¡°Fine with me as well.¡± Jin added. ¡°Ker, you be in charge of Tess¡¯s curriculum, and if Alice is fine with it, I¡¯ll be in charge of Ellie¡¯s.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not good with that stuff anyway.¡± Alice said, ¡°Just let me know what you need me to do.¡± Jin nodded. ¡°Alright, if no one else has anything to say, then I think we can call the meeting here.¡± The other two agreed, so everyone split, ready to prepare for the next day¡¯s activities. Chapter 13: Aunt Eyfura The next day, Gramps was in his office, tying off a few loose ends before he left for a bit. Jin had come to him and requested him to find someone to tutor Tess in combat with claws. Gramps had been happy to oblige; he couldn¡¯t expect The Rumors to have expertise in such a niche fighting style, not when none of them even had claws to begin with. Fortunately, he knew just who to ask. One of his old party members, Eyfura, fit the bill perfectly. She was an old wolfkin who had long since managed the elusive evolution to garmrkin, and she had been a particularly ferocious unarmed combatant before the party had retired. He had made a point of asking Fortune if it was OK to let her in on the secret, and Fortune had given the OK to let Eyfura in, but anyone else coming with her would need to swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath. Plus, she owed him a couple of favors and was completely trustworthy, so she was the perfect pick. So, he finished off his work, let the staff know he was leaving, and began his walk to the residential district. As usual, people called out to him fairly often, and he stopped to say hi when he could. Eventually, he made it to her house, where he gave their party¡¯s knock. It was something that they had thought up as youngsters, and, silly as it was, they stuck with it as a sort of nostalgic in-joke. A few moments later, a young wolfkin opened the door. ¡°Uncle Evan!¡± She burst out happily, catching him in a hug, ¡°Why are you here?!¡± He smiled, tousling the girl¡¯s hair. ¡°Nice to see you, Ilmir. I¡¯m here to talk with your grandma about some business, will you fetch her for me?¡± ¡°Sure thing!¡± Ilmir chirped, ¡°Go ahead and take a seat, it¡¯ll be a second!¡± Ilmir detached herself from Gramps, bounding off further into the house with her tail wagging. Gramps ducked into the sitting room next to them and sat down on one of the many couches, enjoying the somewhat nostalgic scent of Eyfura¡¯s house. Soon enough, Ilmir was back, trailed by Eyfura. ¡°Evan, to what do I owe the pleasure?¡± She asked, sitting across from him. ¡°Ah, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s confidential.¡± He said, shooting a glance at Ilmir. ¡°Sorry, Ilmir, I¡¯m going to need you to step out for a bit.¡± Ilmir pouted, but gave a nod, left, and shut the door behind her. Gramps applied a silencing spell to the room while Eyfura watched curiously. ¡°What¡¯s this about, then?¡± She asked once he had finished with the spell. Gramps gave a sigh. ¡°I¡¯ve talked with you about my grandchildren, right?¡± Eyfura rolled her eyes. ¡°At length. Can¡¯t say I don¡¯t understand the sentiment, though.¡± ¡°Well, I finally introduced them to the Outlands a few days ago.¡± ¡°Congratulations. What went wrong?¡± Gramps raised an eyebrow. ¡°I never said anything about things going wrong.¡± Eyfura waved a hand. ¡°Please. You wouldn¡¯t be here on confidential business if everything is going according to plan.¡± ¡°I suppose you could say something went wrong.¡± Gramps admitted. ¡°Thomas got the lowest possible growths and Ellie got the highest. As a result, Fortune took notice and gave Thomas her strongest blessing.¡± Eyfura gave a low whistle, but Gramps wasn¡¯t done yet. ¡°So, I took Thomas to the Challenge in Slime Tower, and wouldn¡¯t you know it, he got something from it.¡± Eyfura¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Really?! What was it?¡± ¡°A class called Monster Breeder. A transformation class, too. It turned him into a girl, but, more importantly, she got four Phantasmal Skills.¡± Eyfura was staring in disbelief, so Gramps decided to deliver the final blow. ¡°And, according to Fortune, Heroes and War are personally optimizing her Skills.¡± ¡°You¡¯re pulling my leg.¡± Eyfura whispered. Gramps shook his head. ¡°Deadly serious, I¡¯m afraid. I won¡¯t get into the any details of her kit right now; the important part is she¡¯s an unarmed combatant that has started using claws as her main weapon. I¡¯ve got The Rumors teaching her and Ellie, but they want someone who actually knows how to use claws to show Tess the ropes.¡± ¡°I¡¯m assuming Tess is Thomas¡¯s new name?¡± Eyfura asked. After Gramps nodded, she continued. ¡°Honestly, I would normally say yes, but I¡¯m busy training Ilmir right now, and I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s not allowed into this mess?¡± Ah, so that was why Fortune had made the provision about multiple people. ¡°On the contrary, I¡¯d be happy to have her join so long as she swears a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath to keep everything secret, and Fortune herself gave the OK. Oh, you don¡¯t have to make one or anything, we trust you.¡± Eyfura mulled that over, then grinned. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s about time I teach Ilmir about how to be in a party anyway. Would you care to do the honors of performing the oath?¡± Gramps shrugged. ¡°Might as well.¡± He walked over to the door, opened it, and called for Ilmir. There was the sound of footsteps from upstairs, then she appeared on the landing, jumped the entire set of stairs, and rushed to them. ¡°Can I come in now?!¡± She asked excitedly. ¡°Yes.¡± Eyfura said, ¡°Come in.¡± Ilmir dashed into the room, and Gramps shut the door and reapplied the spell. ¡°So,¡± he began, ¡°We¡¯re willing to let you in on the confidential stuff, as it involves you. But, in return, you have to swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath to not reveal any of it. Is that acceptable?¡± Ilmir nodded vigorously. ¡°Sure thing!¡± Gramps took Ilmir¡¯s hand gently. ¡°Ilmir, as one blessed by the God of Fate, I ask if you will swear to tell no one about Tess¡¯s special capabilities or this Oath until the day she dies or releases you from the oath.¡± ¡°Um, yeah.¡± She said, apparently taken aback. ¡°Who¡¯s Tess?¡± Gramps let the hand drop and explained the situation. ¡°Don¡¯t tell them I did the Oath, though. That¡¯s on the down-low and I¡¯m waiting for the right time to tell them.¡± Ilmir nodded, tail wagging furiously. ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that I get to be in a party with Tess and Ellie, and that they¡¯re going to be suuuuper strong? That sounds awesome!¡± Eyfura, grinned again and clapped Ilmir on the back. ¡°By the time we¡¯re done with you, the three of you are going to be stronger than my party was, no sweat.¡± She stopped for a moment, then shot Gramps a sly look. ¡°You think Ava and Atum would be up to have a couple of their grandkids join in? It would be like the second generation of The Titans.¡± Gramps chuckled. ¡°Let¡¯s take it one step at a time. We¡¯ll have to see if Ilmir meshes with them properly.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine!¡± Ilmir said happily, ¡°When do I get to meet them?¡± ¡°Tomorrow.¡± Gramps assured her, ¡°What level are you right now?¡± ¡°Thirty-nine!¡± Ilmir said proudly, ¡°I¡¯ve been doing some grinding.¡± Gramps nodded sagely. ¡°So, you¡¯re higher level than them, but that¡¯s fine. It doesn¡¯t really¡­matter with those two. Ellie¡¯s probably going to be just as tough as you at half the level, and Tess is the opposite. We shouldn¡¯t need to alter things too much, then.¡± Eyfura shot Ilmir a glance. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to need to talk with Tess¡¯s current trainers about things, so you go through your exercises, alright?¡± ¡°Yes, Grandma!¡± Eyfura stood up, walking over to Gramps and grabbing his elbow. ¡°Let¡¯s be off then, shall we?¡±
Tess spent most of the time before Ellie got done with school grinding out Cub¡¯s Den with Ker. They mostly just dashed through the floors while ignoring the monsters, killed the boss, and did it all over again until they reached the Rewards Crystal. Given the short nature of the dungeon, they were able to fully clear it in just about six hours, giving Tess an hour or two to relax before Ellie got there. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. She had, unsurprisingly, made out pretty well from the dungeon. Her two picks had been magic based, the first All Magic Skill, and a Mana saving Skill. Both of those were things Fortune had assured her she would get later, but Tess didn¡¯t really want anything else at the moment, so she opted to get them early.
All Magic (Cantrip): Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: Grants the ability to use all types of magic at a cantrip level. Jack of all magics, master of none Mana Minder (Mythical): Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Adds a 10% chance to refund 50% of the Mana spent on anything that costs Mana. Mind your Mannaners
The other Skills were to do with her unarmed attacks, unsurprisingly.
Bloodletter¡¯s Strike (Mythical): Rarity: Mythical Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 50 Stamina to strengthen your next unarmed attack, causing it to deal 50% more damage and inflict Heavy Bleeding at the rate of 100%. The bleeding lasts for ten seconds and deals 20% of the damage of the main attack every second. Additionally, adds a 1% chance for your regular unarmed strikes to inflict Heavy Bleeding at the rate of 100%. This bleeding lasts for five seconds and deals 10% of the damage of the main attack every second. You may choose to turn off the bleed chance for your regular attacks. They¡¯re going to need more than a bandage for that one. Stunning Blow (Legendary): Rarity: Legendary Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 50 Stamina to strengthen your next unarmed attack, causing it to deal 100% more damage and inflict Stun at the rate of 100%. The stun time is proportionate to the damage dealt divided by 15 in deciseconds, but is never less than one second. Stun -> grapple -> repeat -> win Unarmed Efficiency (Mythical): Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Adds a 10% chance to refund 90% of the Stamina spent on any unarmed ability that costs Stamina. Turns out not using a big heavy weapon is less tiring.
She hadn¡¯t done much of anything with cores during the time either. Monster Breeder had leveled up twice and she had leveled up five times, but aside from equipping Facultative Biped (Greater) and Keen Nose, nothing much changed. After she finished reviewing the day¡¯s work, there was nothing much left to do but wait until Ellie got there. Or so she thought. Instead, Jin and Alice entered the room Tess and Ker were waiting in earlier than Tess had been expecting them. ¡°Hey,¡± Alice said, looking at Tess, ¡°How¡¯ve you been?¡± ¡°Fine, I guess. How about you?¡± Tess replied. ¡°Well, I did a bunch of thinking, and I realized I just wasn¡¯t comfortable only taking you out dungeon diving when that¡¯s what we do anyway, so I got you a present.¡± She reached into her bag and pulled out a core about the size of a baseball, which she tossed to Tess. Tess fumbled a bit but managed to catch it. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± She asked, looking at it curiously. Alice smiled. ¡°Saberclaw Lion core. I know it¡¯s a bit outside of your comfort zone but go ahead and absorb it anyway. You don¡¯t have to eject it any time soon, and it¡¯ll be a pretty nice addition to your toolset.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°I thought the idea was to not absorb strong cores right away.¡± Alice waved a hand. ¡°Yes, but this one¡¯s an exception. It¡¯s got mostly passive stuff that¡¯s going to build on what you already have. It¡¯s not going to make you overly dependent on any one thing, so please use it. Uh, later. We have a bit to talk about first.¡± Alice fidgeted nervously. ¡°We had to get you an additional teacher because we can¡¯t teach you how to properly use your claws. So, we went to ask the guildmaster to find one, and he¡­did.¡± Ker frowned. ¡°Who¡¯d he get? Why that hesitation?¡± ¡°He got Eyfura the Ripper.¡± Jin said. Ker sighed. ¡°Of course he did. It makes sense, but I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be able to drag her out of retirement for this.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Tess asked. ¡°She¡¯s a former member of the guildmaster¡¯s party, The Titans.¡± Jin explained. ¡°And a legend among anyone who uses melee.¡± Alice interjected. ¡°Like, a legend. Every single person in their party is a legend in their respective roles. So, be respectful, alright?¡± Alice looked like she was going to say more, but the door opened, and a tall woman stepped in. Despite her youthful appearance, she had dark gray hair, matching the color of her eyes. She had wolf ears and a tail of the same color, and overall looked somewhat¡­unkempt. Her hair and fur were rather messy, and she was wearing sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt. ¡°You must be Tess!¡± She said warmly. ¡°Call me Aunt Eyfura, or just Auntie, whichever you feel more comfortable with. Evan¡¯s told me so much about you, and I¡¯ve been dying to meet you!¡± She scooped Tess up into a hug. ¡°You¡¯re a real cutie, you know that?¡± Tess ignored Alice¡¯s jealous look and awkwardly returned the hug. ¡°Um, thanks, I guess. They were saying that you¡¯re going to teach me how to use my claws?¡± Eyfura released the hug and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Your grandpa taught you martial arts, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, he taught me and Ellie some stuff.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. What he taught you is what I taught him, which is just a modified version of what I use. You should be able to pivot to the proper version without too much trouble.¡± Jin cleared his throat. ¡°Before we get into that, we need to discuss the changes we¡¯re making to your curriculum.¡± ¡°Ah, right.¡± Eyfura said, taking a seat next to Tess. ¡°I forgot. Please, go ahead.¡± Jin nodded. ¡°We¡¯ve decided that, the matter with Eyfura aside, you and Ellie are shaping up differently enough that we can¡¯t just keep you doing the same thing all the time and expect to see optimal results, in no small part due to the difference in time we have with the two of you. So, we¡¯re splitting you up. Tess will always be with Eyfura and one of me, Alice, or Ker, and the rest of us will be with Ellie. We may have you do joint trainings from time to time, but that won¡¯t be the norm.¡± ¡°My granddaughter will occasionally join us.¡± Eyfura added, ¡°Only if we¡¯re training outside a dungeon before Ellie gets here or during joint trainings, though. Otherwise we¡¯re sticking her with Ellie. I¡¯m training her as well, and we¡¯re hoping that the three of you can get along well, but if it not, we¡¯ll figure something out.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Jin confirmed. ¡°Today it¡¯s going to be Alice, and she and Eyfura are going to go take you to Rogue¡¯s Hideaway. It¡¯s the last beginner dungeon, and you can think of it like an intro to traps and other dungeon features.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Alice said, pumping a fist, ¡°And once we¡¯re done with this, we can finally start getting into the fun stuff.¡± Eyfura stood up, stretching. ¡°Anything else or can we take it from here?¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± Jin said, ¡°Ker and I will break the news to Ellie.¡± Eyfura and Alice were leaving, so Tess chose to make her exit as well. ¡°How do we want to go about this, ma¡¯am?¡± Alice asked, falling into line behind Eyfura. ¡°Eyfura.¡± Eyfura corrected. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to work if you¡¯re so formal.¡± ¡°Uh, right.¡± Alice said, ¡°So, do you want to be the main trainer or me or¡­?¡± Eyfura shrugged. ¡°Eh, we¡¯ll play it by ear. Doesn¡¯t really need to be a ¡®main¡¯ trainer if you ask me. Before we decide anything, though, I gotta see how she handles herself out there.¡± Alice fell into a thoughtful silence at that, but Eyfura either didn¡¯t notice or didn¡¯t care, keeping up a light conversation with Tess as they walked towards the dungeon. Like with the other dungeons their walk was short, and at this time of day the lines were even shorter. The people checking the paperwork all seemed to recognize Eyfura, though they didn¡¯t try and strike up any sort of unnecessary conversation with her like what had happened with Gramps. In fact, now that she was thinking about it, Tess realized that no one had tried to talk to Eyfura; people kept a respectful distance from her, even if that meant going out of their way to do so. Well, for the most part people did. Some people didn¡¯t seem to mind, treating her like any other pedestrian and not interrupting their movement just to give her extra space. Still, it was a marked difference from the friendliness people showed Gramps. ¡°Right, right, so,¡± Eyfura said once they got into the dungeon¡¯s lobby, ¡°Let¡¯s get to it. Go grab the info sheet and scan through it, then we¡¯re going to use the first floor to give me a feel for how you fight right now. Alice and I will take care of the traps and tanking, you just kill the monsters. After that we can teach you how to handle traps, alright?¡± Eyfura and Alice left to take a seat on some chairs near the wall while Tess went to fetch the sheet. A minute or so later when she was done, Tess went and joined them. They were having a hushed conversation about something that she wasn¡¯t quite able to hear, so she decided to leave them alone and look through the pamphlet. The monsters seemed to be of the humanoid variety this time around. They were all different types of goblins or kobolds, and apparently came in groups. Individually, they seemed weaker than anything from Cub¡¯s Den, but their teamwork was apparently passable and there were some armed with ranged weapons, so they weren¡¯t to be taken lightly. The traps¡­well, trap was a strong word. ¡°Painful prank¡± may have been a better way to phrase it. As far as Tess could tell, none of the traps would be fatal by themselves; instead they were all along the lines of being hit with a small rock or having a board spring up and smack anyone who tripped the trap in the face. They were almost comedic, like they were straight out of a slapstick cartoon. There was even the classic ¡°bucket on top of the doorframe¡± gag. The Challenge was just a pure trap gauntlet, with a chance to find the entrance after successfully disarming a trap. A doorway would spring up wherever the trap was, and upon finishing the Challenge, they would be transported back to wherever they entered. To finish her short reading off, she looked at the boss. It was, fittingly enough, a goblin chieftain. It would send waves of weak goblins and kobolds at the challengers, who would have to fight through them to reach the chieftain¡¯s throne, all while having to dodge the numerous traps littered throughout the arena. Once they finally reached the chieftain, the battle was pretty much over. It wasn¡¯t much tougher than a regular goblin, and once it went down, all the other enemies did too. She shut the little pamphlet and turned to her mentors. ¡°Finished.¡± She told them. Eyfura nodded. ¡°Good. Let¡¯s go.¡± Chapter 14: More Than Was Promised The first floor went much the same as Cub¡¯s Den had gone, except Tess was behind Alice and Eyfura while the older women sprung the traps ahead. There were only goblins at this point, but they were disgusting enough to make her wish that there were kobolds as well. Well, provided the kobolds were cleaner. Regardless, the goblins were short and stunted, with proportions that were just¡­off. They weren¡¯t even consistently off, either. Sometimes one of their arms was much shorter than the other, their necks were of dramatically differing lengths, ears weren¡¯t always quite aligned, and they often had large dents and bumps on their body. Their clothes weren¡¯t much better; they were ragged and dirty, covered in stains and only patchily covering their bodies. The bodies themselves were green and, like the clothes, covered with dirt and grime. And they stank, too. Tess was glad that she had opted to turn off Keen Nose when not actively using it, because even without it she could clearly smell them from yards away. Fortunately, as the info sheet had said, they weren¡¯t anything to write home about when it came to actual combat ability. They generally had a front line/back line thing going on, but since none of the front liners were able to notice Tess, she was able to slip in and take out the back liners with a single strike each. Mopping up the front liners was a little more difficult since they were moving more, but a few well-aimed blows would finish them off too. The only real thing of note that happened on the first floor was when they reached the exit. They were about to go through, but Alice stopped them. ¡°Tess, have you absorbed that core yet?¡± Tess started. ¡°Oh, right, I forgot. Sorry.¡± She took the core out of her bag, ¡°Let me do that real quick.¡± The core was far and away the largest she had ever absorbed, but she wasn¡¯t hurting for empty slots, so she wasn¡¯t worried about potentially needing to eject it later. There was still a slight moment of hesitation, but she powered through it and absorbed the core, watching as the core burst into a huge haze, swirled around her, then rushed in. And, unlike the other cores she had absorbed, there was an instant rush of energy and power from it. It was clearly quite a few steps above even the boss cores she had absorbed, and the long list in front of her reflected that.
You have absorbed an Emperor Lion Core! Slots filled: 6/8 You have gained 5,700 EXP in Monster Breeder! Monster Breeder has leveled up! Monster Breeder has leveled up! For reaching level 10 in Monster Breeder, you have gained a new Skill! Form of the Beast: Rarity: Phantasmal Type: Passive Description: You gain an additional slot for Attributes. This slot functions like the ones from Core Surgery, but any Attribute put in this slot is marked as Fundamental, greatly increasing its effects and potentially providing new ones. Every 10th level of Monster Breeder beyond level 10 grants an additional Fundamental slot. 0/1 Slots used. Absorb, Adapt, Become Monster Breeder has leveled up! Monster Breeder has leveled up! Monster Breeder has leveled up! Monster Breeder has leveled up! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ New Skills detected! Attempting to degrade and obtain Command of the Emperor¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Heir¡¯s Will! Attempting to degrade and obtain Emperor¡¯s Armaments¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Opulent Ordinance! Attempting to degrade and obtain Pollice Verso¡­ Congratulations, you have obtained Writ of Execution! Attempting to degrade and obtain Impenetrable Pelt¡­ Congratulations, you have obtained Unyielding Hide! Attempting to degrade and obtain Blood Sport¡­ Congratulations, you have obtained Bloodwork! Heir¡¯s Will: Rarity: Epic Type: Active Description: Spend 50 Stamina to let loose a roar. Any enemy that can hear this roar has a 25% chance to be Terrified for 20 seconds, causing them to stop what they were doing and run away from you. Beast enemies instead have a 75% chance to be Terrified for 1 minute and have a further 25% chance to become Charmed for 1 minute, nullifying the effects of Terrified and causing them to treat you as an ally and their allies as enemies until they are no longer Charmed. This ability may only be used once every two minutes. Claim the respect you are due. Opulent Ordinance: Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: Your natural weapons deal 1.5x damage, and effects inflicted with them are 1.5x more effective (1.5x duration, 1.5x damage, 1.5x more likely to be inflicted, etc). Only the best. Writ of Execution: Rarity: Legendary Type: Active Description: Spend 50 Mana and Stamina to mark an enemy with a Writ, causing them to take double damage from your allies for 10 seconds. So let it be written, so let it be done. Unyielding Hide: Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: Incoming physical damage is reduced by 25% while you are above 50% HP Contrary to popular belief, the best defense is a good defense. Bloodwork: Rarity: Epic Type: Passive Description: Any slashing or piercing damage you inflict with natural weapons has a 10% chance to cause the enemy to bleed for 10 seconds, dealing 25% of the original damage every second. By imposing a blood tax, you have shown that death and taxes are not so different. Displaying core information: Emperor Lion Core: Level: 102 Estimated Power: 3,000 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 6,000 Current Skills: Command of the Emperor Emperor¡¯s Armaments Pollice Verso Impenetrable Pelt Blood Sport Current Attributes: Darkvision (Perfect) Enhanced Hearing (Perfect) Extendable Claws (Major) Iron Fur (Fundamental) Keen Nose Kemonomimi (Lion) (Fundamental) Saber Claws (Perfect) Saber Fangs (Perfect) Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental) New Attributes discovered! Darkvision (Perfect): Allows for perfect sight in nonmagical darkness, even in the complete absence of light. Furthermore, makes the eyes adjust immediately and prevents being stunned, temporarily blinded, or otherwise injured by bright flashes of nonmagical light. Enhanced Hearing (Perfect): Intensely enhances the user¡¯s hearing without making them any more sensitive to loud sounds. Provides the ability to filter sounds by focusing on certain sounds, allowing the user to pick and choose what they wish to hear. Extendable Claws (Major): Allows retraction and extension of the claws. Claws can be extended up to half the length of the limb with the hand or foot containing the claw and retracted to nothingness. Iron Fur: Covers the creature in a thick layer of hard fur, decreasing physical damage by 5% and cold damage by 25%. Saber Claws (Perfect): Immensely hardens and sharpens the nails of the creature¡¯s hands and feet, turning them into claws. Doubles the damage of attacks made using the claws and increases the efficacy of bleed effects inflicted with them by 1.25x. Claw size may be adjusted prior to placing this Attribute on a core, with a maximum size of no larger than thrice the normal size and no smaller than half the normal size. Saber fangs (Perfect): Immensely hardens and sharpens the creature¡¯s teeth, giving them fangs. Doubles the damage of attacks made using the fangs and increases the efficacy of bleed effects inflicted with them by 1.25x. Tooth size may be adjusted prior to placing this Attribute on a core, with a maximum size of no larger than five times the normal size and no smaller than the normal size. New Skills discovered! Command of the Emperor: Rarity: Legendary Type: Active Description: Spend 50 Stamina to let loose a roar. Any enemy that can hear this roar has a 50% chance to be Terrified for 30 seconds, causing them to stop what they were doing and run away from you. Beast enemies instead have a 100% chance to be Terrified for 1.5 minutes and have a further 50% chance to become Charmed for 1.5 minutes, nullifying the effects of Terrified and causing them to treat you as an ally and their allies as enemies until they are no longer Charmed. This ability may only be used once every two minutes. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.OBEY. Emperor¡¯s Armaments: Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Your natural weapons deal double damage, and status effects inflicted with them are twice as effective (double duration, double damage, twice as likely to be inflicted, etc). The emperor¡¯s blades are sharper than any other. Pollice Verso: Rarity: Mythical Type: Active Description: Spend 50 Mana and Stamina to mark an enemy for death, causing them to take triple damage from your allies and double damage from you for 30 seconds. Thumbs down. Impenetrable Pelt: Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Incoming physical damage is reduced by 50% while you are above 25% HP Despite taking a hundred blows, the emperor remained unharmed Blood Sport: Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: Bleed effects that you inflict last twice as long. Any slashing or piercing damage you inflict with natural weapons has a 20% chance to cause the enemy to bleed for 15 seconds, dealing 25% of the original damage every second. A favorite of the masses.
¡°You there?¡± Eyfura was waving her hand in front of Tess¡¯s face, a worried look on her face. Tess blinked. ¡°What?¡± Eyfura smiled. ¡°You were super out of it for a second.¡± She shot Alice a look. ¡°What did you give her? I¡¯ve seen Saberclaw Lion cores before, and that was not one of them. That was at least twice the size.¡± Alice looked away, tapping her pointer fingers together. ¡°Well, I figured that if I was in for a penny I was in for a pound, and I keep a fair number of valuable cores around just in case, so¡­I might have picked an Emperor Lion core? It wasn¡¯t like it was more of a sacrifice or anything.¡± Eyfura grinned. ¡°I like it.¡± She turned back to Tess. ¡°Don¡¯t tell everyone else yet, they think you got a Saberclaw Lion core. Anything you would have gotten from that core you got from the one you just absorbed, so as long as you don¡¯t use the active abilities, they should have a hard time noticing anything wrong. We¡¯ll tell them about later, but until then it¡¯ll be our secret, OK?¡± Tess nodded hesitantly. ¡°Um, OK.¡± Alice breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Alright, go switch around your Attributes, Ker said that can take a few minutes. We¡¯ll wait.¡± As she tinkered, she quickly found that most of the Attributes were considered upgrades of ones she had, and as such, did not stack. The lion¡¯s Keen Nose was the same as the one she was currently using, so that merged into Keen Nose (Greater). Enhanced Hearing (Perfect) was an obvious choice, so she took that, and swapped out her Night Vision for Darkvision (Perfect). Likewise, Extendable Claws replaced Retractable Claws, and Saber Claws would replace Sharp Claws. Instead of putting it in a regular slot, however, she decided to try and put it in her Fundamental slot. A new window popped up the moment she did.
New User Fundamental Attribute discovered! Saber Claws (Perfect) (User Fundamental): Immensely hardens and sharpens the nails of the creature¡¯s hands and feet, turning them into claws. Triples the damage of attacks made using the claws and multiplies the efficacy of bleed effects inflicted with them by 1.5. Claw size may be adjusted when putting this in a Fundamental slot with a maximum size of no larger than five times the normal size and no smaller than half the normal size. New concept discovered! Attributes put in one of the user¡¯s Fundamental slots gain additional effects not present when an Attribute is considered Fundamental for a monster, and any Attribute may be marked as User Fundamental if put in a Fundamental slot.
She decided to keep her claws the same length before, as she was fairly happy with how they were, and she could make them much longer with Extendable Claws if need be. At that point she had used eight of her fourteen normal slots and her Fundamental slot, so she took all five of the Emperor Lion¡¯s Skills. That left her with one slot remaining, and after some deliberation she decided to equip Saber Fangs (Perfect) and make them only slightly longer than her normal canines. Fortunately, it seemed that only her canines were affected, and she could easily wave away the difference if anyone actually noticed. As she finished, she realized that she was sitting down. That¡­was not something she really wanted to be doing, considering the state of the dungeon; it was like an old, moldy cellar, covered in all sorts of grime and grease. The wooden walls were rotting, and she could occasionally see dirt or stone beyond them. And the floor was nasty too. It was made of uneven cobbles, small stretches of wood, or just altogether missing. Even when the floor was there, it was covered in plants, rubble, grime, and generally looked like it hadn¡¯t been maintained in years. Tess quickly stood up, went to brush herself off, and then decided that it wasn¡¯t worth dirtying her hands any more than they already were, not when the clothes were bound to get dirty again anyway. ¡°Done.¡± She said. ¡°When you have multiple Skills that increase damage or efficiency of things, do they stack? And if so, is it multiplicative or additive?¡± ¡°Yes, and generally speaking, they stack additively between other bonuses from the same category, and multiplicative from other categories.¡± Eyfura said, ¡°So, all effects from passive Skills or passive effects from active Skills add up to one multiplier, which is multiplied by active effects, which is multiplied by Titles, which is multiplied by buffs, and so on. The biggest exception to this is damage reduction, which is always multiplicative, regardless of the source.¡± Eyfura stopped for a moment. ¡°No clue where your Attributes lie on that, though I¡¯m guessing they¡¯ll be considered their own category.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯d you get?¡± Alice asked excitedly. ¡°Um, a lot.¡± Tess replied. She gave a quick summary of what she got, and there was a long silence as both Eyfura and Alice stared at her. Eventually, Eyfura pulled out her phone and started tapping on it while Alice watched interestedly. Tess squirmed around for a bit. ¡°What?¡± She asked. Eyfura slowly shook her head, putting away the phone. ¡°I was doing the math on your bonuses. They¡¯re absolutely busted. Six times damage on claw attacks, which will inflict a bleed for one hundred and twenty seconds, which deals one hundred and five percent of the damage of the original attack every second. And on top of that, you plant a parasite that deals another ten percent of every second and heals you that amount.¡± She sighed. ¡°I think that actually bumps your overall damage output to above average for your level. Which, by all rights, shouldn¡¯t be happening given your abysmal statline. Seriously, just imagine if you had Ellie¡¯s stats. You¡¯d be the strongest person to ever live.¡± ¡°Um, right.¡± Tess replied awkwardly. ¡°Sorry.¡± Eyfura frowned. ¡°What¡¯s there to be sorry about?¡± ¡°Never mind. It¡¯s not important.¡± Alice and Eyfura shared a look. ¡°No, it is.¡± Alice stressed. ¡°That was a hypothetical that would never actually come to pass. Fortune said she chose you because of your low stats. She could have chosen Ellie just as easily, but she didn¡¯t. She very clearly believes in your potential, so you shouldn¡¯t be down about it.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡± Tess mumbled., looking away. There was a silence then, but Fortune chose to fill it with a message.
She¡¯s right, you know. Honestly, even if I wanted to give Ellie my blessing, and I didn¡¯t, I couldn¡¯t. It would upset the balance of power way too much. Think of it like this: I believe that, way down the line, you¡¯ll be stronger than Ellie. Not for a long while, yes, but eventually you probably will. And if someone with literally the worst possible base can make it to be in contention for the world¡¯s strongest with my blessing, then someone with a good base would break everything. The boss just doesn¡¯t allow it. But, that¡¯s completely irrelevant. I wouldn¡¯t have picked someone else. I haven¡¯t picked anyone else. Honestly, I don¡¯t see myself picking anyone ever again. Not in the way I¡¯ve picked you. I¡¯ve realized that my influence is more¡­influential than many of the other gods¡¯ and I don¡¯t think I can trust other mortals as much. I mentioned I¡¯d been watching you for a while. By that I mean I¡¯ve been watching ever since you and Ellie first met when you were like¡­two. Parts of your dynamic really caught my interest, and I ended up watching you two waaaay more than I should have. I almost feel like a parent, in a strange way. The point of this is that you¡¯re not a waste of potential. I would much rather have you get this blessing then someone who has the theoretical maximum stats I could get away with giving my blessing to, which isn¡¯t even much higher. In a way, I think it¡¯s for the best that you got those stats, which, by the way, isn¡¯t my doing. That¡¯s completely random, and not even I can touch it. Anyway, those low stats just mean I get to talk with you like this.
¡°Right, um¡­sorry.¡± Eyfura said, snapping Tess back to the situation at hand. ¡°I probably shouldn¡¯t have said something like that. I¡¯m not trying to say you¡¯re not good enough, you¡¯re plenty good, I was just making wondering what if. ¡°People think about the theoretical strongest set of Skills all the time, and that theoretical strongest is often paired with the strongest stats as a matter of course since they¡¯re talking theory anyway. I was just thinking aloud, and I still haven¡¯t fully come to terms with the fact that this hypothetical is playing out right in front of me.¡± ¡°I¡­alright. Don¡¯t worry about it, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m just a little stressed right now, sorry. I don¡¯t mean to drag everyone down with my own issues.¡± There was an awkward pause, and then Alice spoke up. ¡°Alright, um, Eyfura, what¡¯d you think of Tess¡¯s form?¡± ¡°Right.¡± Eyfura began slowly, ¡°So, couple of pointers, first, when you go in for a big blow, you hesitate, finding the most exact time and place to strike. That has its time, but if your teammates are under fire, you have to be faster.¡± Eyfura activated¡­something, and a pair of gleaming claws materialized on her hands. ¡°Now, the best way to go about it is just aim for the general vicinity of the vitals. Let me show you a couple of ways to maximize your chance of getting a solid hit in¡­¡± Chapter 15: Unexpected Discord The next couple of floors went by without incident. It was mostly just Eyfura giving advice and Tess clumsily trying to disarm traps. She failed as often as she succeeded, especially towards the beginning, but even when she did fail there was still a little bit of time to get out of the way of whatever the trap did. Not that that stopped her from getting whacked a few times when she misjudged where the trap was coming from, missed a trap completely and tripped it on accident, or simply reacted too slowly to dodge in time. Fortunately, her parasites were able to heal the damage from these missteps relatively quickly, so the damage wasn¡¯t an issue. Kobolds showed up on the third floor, and they were, mercifully, much less nasty than the goblins. They were short reptilian humanoids, and though their clothing was as tattered as the goblins¡¯ clothing, it was generally much cleaner, as was their scaly skin. They were a bit tougher than goblins as well, but they still fell Finally, the floor before the boss, Tess¡¯s instructors told her it was time to do the Challenge. They had chosen to hold off until now to give Tess more time to get used to disarming traps, but they wanted her to get the reward before she fought the boss. The Challenge was pretty much exactly how she had expected it to be; a long hallway filled with traps that she had to slowly work through. It was slow and tedious work, but eventually they were able to make it to the end with no more than a few bruises on Tess¡¯s end. She didn¡¯t waste any time claiming her reward, giving it a quick look-over and letting the others know what it was before moving on.
Blood Magic: Rarity: Mythical Type: Active (Magic) Description: Dispel an active bleed effect that you inflicted to create a temporary buffer of Mana equal to the remaining damage the effect would deal. This Mana is reduced by an amount per second equal to the damage per second the original bleed effect dealt. You may only have one temporary buffer at a time, and using the Skill again replaces the temporary buffer with a new one. Blood is power.
All that was left was the boss. Unlike the other beginner dungeons, however, this boss was at the end of a dungeon floor, not on its own separate floor. That didn¡¯t really change how they were going to approach it, not when the dungeon was this easy, but Tess was assured that in the future, bosses were much more likely to be at the end of floors like this. The boss itself was located in a large, open room, with a throne of sorts at the far end. It was crudely constructed, and a tall, skinny goblin was sitting on top of it. When the goblin saw the intruders, it screeched something, and a wave of minions jumped down from above, landing in front of the party. When Tess looked up, she saw rafters of a sort, and upon them were many goblins and kobolds, looking down at the fight below. ¡°Just take out the chieftain.¡± Eyfura said, stifling a yawn. ¡°No sense in fighting through all these mooks when we don¡¯t have to.¡± Tess nodded, and ran towards the chieftain. Upon seeing her advance, the chieftain yowled and screeched, pointing at her, but none of the other goblins or kobolds seemed to take any notice. A couple jumped down but looked around in a confused fashion before rushing to fight Eyfura and Alice. The chieftain stood up, snarled, and drew his rusty sword when Tess drew near. In response she slowed down, extending her claws as far as they could go. When she did, she was easily able to see why they were called ¡°saber¡± claws; they were huge, both in length and girth, each foot-and-a-half-long claw as thick around as the finger it sprouted from. Fortunately, they didn¡¯t seem any heavier than her hand normally was, something she assumed was the Attribute making it easier to use the claws. They were a bit clunky to work with, tending to hit each other from even small movements of her fingers, so she just kept all her fingers close together and moved them all at once. ¡°Nice!¡± Eyfura yelled from behind her, ¡°Show him who¡¯s boss!¡± She lunged at the chieftain, slashing downwards with a clawed hand. In response, the chieftain raised his sword to block stopping the strike. There was a clang as metal met keratin, and Tess was surprised to find that not only did her claws hold up to the sword, there wasn¡¯t even a mark on them. On the other hand, the already battered sword had several large gashes where the claws had sliced through it. Her claws were stuck in the sword now, but she had another hand, which she speared out at the goblin. He raised his arm to block, and there was a sickening squelch as her claws cleanly punctured through the arm and into the chest it was blocking.
You have impaled Goblin Chieftain for 66 damage! You have planted a parasite on Goblin Chieftain! It will deal 12 damage and heal you 12 HP every second until removed. You have inflicted Heavy Bleeding on Goblin Chieftain! It will bleed for 69 damage every second for 120 seconds.
She pulled her claw out of the chieftain, and a veritable fountain of blood erupted from his chest. A second later, the chieftain just sort of¡­ melted into rainbow haze, a core appearing where he was standing.
You have killed Goblin Chieftain! You have gained 100 EXP! Monster Breeder has gained 50 EXP! You have leveled up! Monster Breeder has leveled up!
There was an eruption of laughter from Eyfura, and Tess turned around to find her heartily clapping Alice on the back. ¡°The Emperor Lion was so the right call!¡± She wheezed, ¡°That was awesome!¡± Alice smiled. ¡°What level are you now?¡± She asked. ¡°Twenty-one.¡± Tess responded. Eyfura raised an eyebrow. ¡°Awfully high for the beginner dungeons.¡± She commented. ¡°She gets the maximum EXP possible whenever she gets a kill.¡± Alice explained. ¡°Part of the whole blessing thing.¡± Eyfura nodded. ¡°Nice. What say you we get your reward?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Tess said. The process took little time at this point. Just enough for her to walk in, get her Skill, read it and relay the info to her companions, then leave.
Envenom (Mythical): Rarity: Mythical Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 50 Stamina to strengthen your next unarmed attack, causing it to deal 100% more damage and inflict poison at the rate of 100%. This poison lasts for five minutes and deals 30% of the main attack¡¯s damage every five seconds. Additionally, adds a 1% chance for your regular unarmed strikes to inflict Poison at the rate of 100%. This poison lasts for 2.5 minutes and deals 15% of the damage of the main attack every five seconds. You may choose to turn off the poison chance for your regular attacks. For when you want to deliver a long, painful death.
¡°Alright, not bad, not bad.¡± Eyfura said, ¡°Time to do it again. This time, I want your claws all the way out the whole time except in the rest areas. I want you getting used to how they handle.¡±
The rest of the day and the beginning of the next passed without any major incident; she wasn¡¯t able to finish grinding the dungeon in that time because they weren¡¯t speeding through it like the others, they were taking time and having Tess disarm every trap they came across. Still, she got another four shots at the Rewards Crystal, giving her resistance to bleed, sleep, and charm, as well as another unarmed status inflictor.
Slowing Strike (Mythical): Rarity: Mythical Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 75 Stamina to strengthen your next unarmed attack, causing it to deal 100% more damage and inflict slow at the rate of 100%. This slow lasts for 10 seconds and slows the target by 25%. Additionally, adds a 1% chance for your regular unarmed strikes to inflict slow at the rate of 100%. This slow lasts for 5 seconds and slows the target by 12.5%. You may choose to turn off the slow chance for your regular attacks. Not so fast!
Ellie had been really clingy that night, too. She had apparently not liked being split up from Tess, claiming that being apart from her took a lot of the fun away. Still, she had acknowledged that it would let them get stronger much more efficiently. So, the time came that Ellie and Tess were slated to meet Eyfura¡¯s granddaughter. Tess, Ellie, and The Rumors were all in another of the guild¡¯s private rooms while Eyfura had gone to fetch the girl, who was apparently named Ilmir. The door opened without a knock, and Eyfura walked in. ¡°Hey guys, this is Ilmir!¡± She said, ushering in a wolfkin girl. She looked like she was in her early 20s, with bright blue eyes, short black hair, and a tail and wolf ears of the same color. She was rather heavily muscled and was wearing what looked to be workout clothes. ¡°Hi everyone!¡± She said cheerily, ¡°I¡¯m Ilmir, and I¡¯m gonna be working with you for a while!¡± Her tail started to wag. ¡°I heard Ellie and Tess were super strong, can I get a mock battle with them?¡± The Rumors shared a complicated look that Tess couldn¡¯t quite figure out the reason for. ¡°That¡­may not be the best idea.¡± Jin said slowly. ¡°What level are you?¡± ¡°39!¡± ¡°Right. Um, Ellie¡¯s in the low teens, and Tess in the low twenties. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be a fair fight.¡± Jin said. ¡°Uncle Evan said it didn¡¯t matter with these two, though?¡± Ilmir replied, cocking her head. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not wrong, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a great idea, especially in such a public place.¡± Jin began. ¡°Look, Tess¡¯s abilities are strictly confidential, so a public spar isn¡¯t a great idea, and you have to give them a little more time to grow. They¡¯ve only been really at this for a couple of days.¡± Eyfura interrupted, ¡°You¡¯ll have plenty of time to gauge their strength while you¡¯re diving dungeons with them.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Ilmir pouted. ¡°Are we going to a dungeon today, then?¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re going to do a group outing before we split up.¡± Ker said, ¡°Tess is in the middle of Rogue¡¯s Den, and Ellie hasn¡¯t started it, so we thought we¡¯d run through it once to get you all used to each other. You¡¯ve done it already, but there¡¯s probably nothing they could handle you haven¡¯t already done.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°She¡¯s here to polish her skills and get another perspective on how she operates, not add to the mess by getting more new stuff.¡± She gave Ilmir a look that indicated there was no room for argument. ¡°We can let them into it alone, Tess can clear the dungeon in her sleep, and it¡¯ll be a good way to make them work together.¡± There was a short break while Ellie and Ilmir got themselves geared up, and then they began their walk to the dungeon. ¡°Soooo, how are we going to do things?¡± Ilmir asked. ¡°I lean towards a physically aggressive role like grandma, what about you two?¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°I can do whatever.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I¡¯ve got a pretty good spread of Skills and stuff.¡± ¡°Um¡­I guess I¡¯m physically aggressive.¡± Tess said. ¡°At least, for now. I¡¯ve been getting mostly offense-oriented Skills, I don¡¯t know if that¡¯ll change in the future.¡±
Right now, we just want to make sure you can handle yourself in a fight. In the future we¡¯re going to round you out, once giving you more unarmed Skills starts giving diminishing returns. Eventually you should be passable in any role, even if you¡¯ll specialize in unarmed combat.
¡°Yeah, for now.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°Later it¡¯ll be different.¡± ¡°Cool, cool.¡± Ilmir replied, ¡°I¡¯ll take point, Ellie can be a caster, and Tess can make sure no one gets past me.¡± ¡°No.¡± Eyfura said, looking back. ¡°Switch you and Tess. You¡¯re way too strong for this place. They¡¯re not getting past you, and Tess isn¡¯t an effective blocker anyway since she¡¯s nigh-incapable of drawing aggro. You need practice guarding a rear line away, so it works out.¡± ¡°That sounds good to me.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how effective my magic will be again these enemies, since I haven¡¯t used it too much, but it was one-shotting monsters in Cub¡¯s Den, so it should be fine, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°The individual monsters here are weaker but there are more of them. You should be able to handle it without issue.¡± They made small talk the rest of the walk, and soon found themselves within the dungeon. The veterans gave Ellie a quick rundown of what the dungeon was like, and then sent them in. The run itself was actually not that different from when Tess went in with Eyfura and Alice, save for the fact that the others helped take out the monsters. Tess would be able to take out one or two of the monsters in a group before the rest made it past her, Ellie would take out usually around three in that time, and Ilmir would mop up whatever was left. Tess and Ilmir would take care of any traps ahead, and in general it was far quicker than when her partners were just tanking and purposefully not killing monsters to feed Tess experience. They ignored the Challenge this time around so they could let Ellie do it once she learned more about traps, so they soon made it to the boss. The boss went much the same way it had before. Tess had Ellie give it a hit so that Ellie also got experience, and then ran up and killed it. And¡­that was it. The dungeon just wasn¡¯t hard enough to give them any more than that taste of how things might work in the future. They held off on seriously discussing anything until they got back to the guild, where they could find a soundproofed room to give feedback without worrying about people overhearing. ¡°You know, I think I¡¯ve been in the back halls here more in the past week than I have in the past five years. It feels¡­weird, like I¡¯m some important freelancer now.¡± Alice said, plopping down onto one of the couches. Eyfura laughed. ¡°You kind of are. Mark my words, these kids are going to be the future, and being their teacher makes you important. You¡¯ll get used to coming back here, it¡¯s not a big deal.¡± ¡°Says you, Grandma. The king of Ima dropping by for lunch isn¡¯t a big deal to you.¡± Ilmir ribbed. ¡°It¡¯s not!¡± She protested, ¡°He¡¯s an old friend, I knew him before he was king! It¡¯s not a big deal to have lunch with friends from time to time! Most people would call meeting with Evan a big deal but you don¡¯t freak out about it!¡± Jin cleared his throat. ¡°Let¡¯s not get distracted. For what it¡¯s worth, I think things went pretty well. It¡¯s hard to get a good perspective when they¡¯re so much stronger than the dungeon they¡¯re raiding, but that¡¯s just the way things are in the low levels.¡± ¡°Tess, what level did you say you were?¡± Ilmir asked. ¡°Twenty-one.¡± Tess responded. Ilmir frowned. ¡°And you were having that much trouble? I¡¯m pretty sure you should have been able to take down way more than you did, and you missed kills once or twice. That¡¯s¡­kinda sad.¡± ¡°That¡¯s uncalled for!¡± Ellie protested. ¡°She¡¯s been at this for a few days, chill!¡± ¡°Look, all I¡¯m saying is strong people like us don¡¯t need to be held back by someone like her. You¡¯re half her level and were doing twice the work. It¡¯s just common sense.¡± Ilmir said, rolling her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t get why you¡¯re trying to defend that. You¡¯ve only been at it for a few days and you didn¡¯t have any issues. If someone¡¯s struggling now, that generally means it¡¯s only going to get worse in the future. I¡¯d advise reconsidering partying with her, one with just the two of us would be way better.¡± ¡°Um¡­sorry, I¨C¡± Tess began. ¡°Let me handle this, dear.¡± Eyfura said, placing a hand on Tess¡¯s shoulder. Tess turned her head to find Eyfura wearing a warm smile that was incongruous with how hard her voice had become. Ilmir froze, a panicked look on her face. ¡°Look, Grandma, it¡¯s just common knowledge. She¡¯s just going to hold Ellie back if things keep going like this. I get that they¡¯re close, but it¡¯s best to rip off the bandage now.¡± She hurriedly replied. ¡°Have you listened to a single thing we told you?¡± Eyfura asked, her expression not budging an inch, ¡°I believe we let you know in no uncertain terms that Tess is going to be a late bloomer. Furthermore, trying to break up her party in front of her face is completely unacceptable. I understand that you¡¯re disappointed that she¡¯s not currently as strong as you expected, but that¡¯s no reason to get nasty.¡±
Preach. I can¡¯t wait for the day when you get to show her up, because that is going to be a sweet, sweet feeling.
Eyfura turned back to Tess. ¡°Sorry about this, it¡¯s clear I need to have a talk with my granddaughter.¡± She said, then turned back to Ilmir, walked over, grabbed the girl¡¯s hand, and towed her forcefully out of the room. Ellie blinked. ¡°What was that all about?¡± She asked. Ker sighed. ¡°Beastkin thing, I¡¯m afraid. They tend to view strength as the most attractive attribute a person could have, so I imagine her situation would be like expecting to party with a couple of supermodels and finding that one of them was only average-looking. Add that to general beastkin hotheadedness and her relatively young age and you get¡­that.¡± Ellie gave Tess a hug. ¡°Don¡¯t let it bother you. You¡¯re already waaay better than you were a couple of days ago. If you keep it up, then you¡¯ll be nearly as strong as me in no time.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re not going to be a liability.¡± Jin confirmed. ¡°But we don¡¯t need to dwell on that now. Once Eyfura gets back Ker and I will take Ilmir and Ellie out, and Eyfura, Alice, and Tess will get back to what they were doing before.¡± Ellie frowned, releasing her hug. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure I want to go with her after what she just said.¡± ¡°I know, I know. Just give her a chance for now, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll mellow out a bit, especially if Eyfura is giving her a scolding. Her tagging along is a condition to Eyfura tutoring Tess, so I hope you can bear with it, at least for a little. If she ends up not working well with the two of you, then you won¡¯t need to party with her after your training finishes.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Ellie grumbled. ¡°But if she starts insulting Tess again, I¡¯m going to lose my mind.¡± Tess blushed. ¡°Um, thanks, but I think that¡¯s something I should handle. It¡¯s between me and her, you don¡¯t need to ruin a potential friendship over me.¡± ¡°If she can¡¯t see past a superficial thing like this when she knows full well it¡¯s temporary, then she¡¯s not worth that friendship anyway. I don¡¯t want to be around someone who¡¯s just going to nag me about stupid things all the time. Even if you were holding me back, I wouldn¡¯t want to leave a party with you. Why bother doing work like this if I¡¯m not doing it with people I like?¡± Alice cracked a smile. ¡°Wealth and fame?¡± Ellie waved a hand. ¡°Overrated. I¡¯d rather be poor and enjoy my day to day work than rich and hate it. But I don¡¯t really want to talk about this right now.¡± She turned her attention back to Tess, ¡°Did you get anything good from the cores in this dungeon?¡± ¡°Oh, right. I didn¡¯t check because we didn¡¯t foresee there being anything of value to me in them, and we didn¡¯t want to get out of the flow of things just to see. Might as well do that now.¡± She pulled the dungeon¡¯s cores out of her bag. There were five varieties in total, including the boss core, so she just absorbed one of each, the five cores she was holding all burst into that mist and flying into her.
You have absorbed a Goblin Chanter Core! You have absorbed a Goblin Chieftain Core! You have absorbed a Goblin Foot Soldier Core! You have absorbed a Kobold Chanter Core! You have absorbed a Kobold Foot Soldier Core! Slots filled: 11/15 You have gained 90 EXP in Monster Breeder! New cores absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ New Skills detected! Attempting to degrade and obtain Goblin Chant¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Goblin Verse! Attempting to degrade and obtain Kobold Chant¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Kobold Verse! Attempting to degrade and obtain Rallying Cry¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Inspiring Word! Goblin Verse: Rarity: Common Type: Active (Magic) Description: Spend 10 Mana to begin a 5-second chant. When the chant completes, one of the spells from Goblin Chant will be activated at random. Debatably not a placebo effect. Kobold Verse: Rarity: Common Type: Active (Magic) Description: Spend 10 Mana to begin a 5-second chant. When the chant completes, one of the spells from Kobold Chant will be activated at random. Probably better than just shouting at your enemies. Inspiring Word: Rarity: Common Type: Active Description: Spend 25 Stamina to give a word of inspiration to an ally within 30m, boosting their stats for 10% for the next minute. Using this on an already-inspired ally refreshes the effect. ¡°Courage!¡± Displaying core information: Goblin Chanter Core: Level: 3 Estimated Power: 8 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 10 Current Skills: Goblin Chant Current Attributes: Goblinoid Language Proficiency Humanoid (Fundamental) Light Armor User (Clumsy) Goblin Chieftain Core: Level: 7 Estimated Power: 20 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 40 Current Skills: Rallying Cry Current Attributes: Goblinoid Language Proficiency Humanoid (Fundamental) Light Armor User (Novice) Pack Leader (Minor) Sword User (Novice) Goblin Foot Soldier Core: Level: 2 Estimated Power: 6 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 8 Current Skills: None Current Attributes: Goblinoid Language Proficiency Humanoid (Fundamental) Light Armor User (Clumsy) Sword User (Clumsy) Kobold Chanter Core: Level: 3 Estimated Power: 8 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 10 Current Skills: Kobold Chant Current Attributes: Goblinoid Language Proficiency Humanoid (Fundamental) Scaly Hide (Minor) Kobold Foot Soldier Core: Level: 2 Estimated Power: 6 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 8 Current Skills: None Current Attributes: Goblinoid Language Proficiency Humanoid (Fundamental) Scaly Hide (Minor) Sword User (Clumsy) New Attributes discovered! Goblinoid Language Proficiency: Allows the creature to speak and understand the various goblinoid tongues. Humanoid: Gives the creature a humanoid shape and any physical properties that would be expected of a humanoid (such as opposable thumbs or the ability to speak). Increased Intelligence (Minor): Increases the creature¡¯s intelligence by a small amount. Light Armor User (Clumsy): Allows the creature to benefit from light armor with requirements at or below the level of 10. Light Armor User (Novice): Allows the creature to benefit from light armor with requirements at or below the level of 25. Pack Leader (Minor): Grants all allies working below this creature a 5% bonus to their stats. Scaly Hide (Minor): Coats the creature¡¯s skin with scales, providing a small amount of natural defense. Sword User (Clumsy): Allows the creature to benefit from swords with requirements at or below the level of 10. Additionally, grants the bare minimum required knowledge needed to use the weapon, but any further potential learning is limited by the creature¡¯s intelligence. Sword User (Novice): Allows the creature to benefit from swords with requirements at or below the level of 25. Additionally, grants the bare minimum required knowledge needed to use the weapon, but any further potential learning is limited by the creature¡¯s intelligence. New Skills discovered! Goblin Chant: Rarity: Common Type: Active (Magic) Description: Spend 10 Mana to begin a 5-second chant, at the end of which you can activate one of the following three effects: Patch-up ¨C Touch a target and heal it a miniscule amount. Powerup ¨C Touch a target to increase its Power by 5 for one minute. Scorch ¨C Launch an ember at a foe, dealing minor fire damage. ¡°Gob gob gob gob¡± ¨C A goblin, probably Kobold Chant: Rarity: Common Type: Active (Magic) Description: Spend 10 Mana to begin a 5-second chant, at the end of which you can activate one of the following three effects: Patch-up ¨C Touch a target and heal it a miniscule amount. Protector ¨C Touch a target to increase its Defense by 5 for one minute. Stone ¨C Launch a stone at a foe, dealing minor earth damage. The words probably translate to something rude about your mother. Rallying Cry: Rarity: Uncommon Type: Active Description: Spend 75 Stamina to let loose a cry, rallying all allies within 40m and boosting their stats for 15% for the next 90 seconds. Using this on an already-inspired ally refreshes the effect. CHARGE! New concept discovered! Monster intelligence: The intelligence of a monster is usually tied to their estimated power. While this does not always hold true in wild monsters, those made with Create Monster adhere to this unless intelligence modifying Attributes are applied. Intelligence modifying Attributes do not have any effect upon the user when held in slots from Skills such as Core Surgery or Form of the Beast.
As she had expected, there wasn¡¯t anything really worth her time at the moment. She just took Rallying Cry and left the rest alone. The bit about monster intelligence was interesting, but she wasn¡¯t planning on using Create Monster any time soon, so it wasn¡¯t something she was really worried about. ¡°Yeah, nothing much.¡± Tess confirmed, ¡°Um¡­now what?¡± ¡°Now we wait.¡± Jin said, settling down in one of the chairs, ¡°I don¡¯t know how long Eyfura¡¯s lecture is going to take, but if the stories about her are true, then it could be a bit.¡± Chapter 16: The Upper Crust It took half an hour for Eyfura to come back. ¡°Alice, Tess, we¡¯re leaving.¡± She growled. ¡°Ilmir is outside, the rest of you can do with her what you will.¡± She stalked out of the room, not waiting for a reply. ¡°Yikes.¡± Alice said, ¡°I don¡¯t think we want to keep her waiting. Come on, Tess.¡± She left as well, leaving Tess to say a quick goodbye and follow suit. She passed a rather unhappy-looking Ilmir on her way out, but chose not to engage in conversation, instead following Alice and Eyfura out of the building. ¡°Right. We¡¯re changing the plan.¡± Eyfura said, ¡°Once we¡¯re confident Tess knows how to handle a dungeon, we¡¯re just going to steamroll through it as fast as possible. We¡¯ll give her a couple hits on bosses or big groups of enemies for EXP, but other than that we¡¯re just going to kill everything ourselves.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Alice asked, ¡°I feel like that¡¯s not going to be good in the long term.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve made a bet.¡± Eyfura replied, not slowing down. ¡°I bet Ilmir that, in a month, Tess would be able to give her a real run for her money in a fight, despite Ilmir¡¯s head start. So, if we play our cards right, we can get Tess enough Skills to make her able to punch up to Ilmir¡¯s level.¡± Alice opened her mouth as if to object, but apparently decided against it, choosing instead to remain silent. They spent the rest of their day finishing off Rogue¡¯s Den. The last two Rewards Crystals were Tess¡¯s picks, which she put into magic stuff again. That meant another set of All Magic (bringing her up to Basic) and a Skill that provided a scaling increase to her base Mana regeneration, making it always at least 1/900th of her total Mana per second, or enough to completely make it completely refill in 15 minutes.
Regenerated Regen (Mythical): Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Increases base Mana Regeneration to 1/900th of your Mana pool per second. There. It¡¯s not as slow now. Happy?
And that was the end of their night. It was getting late and there weren¡¯t any dungeons in town that were within Tess¡¯s ability to clear. Alice set up a meeting time for their one-on-one outing the next day, and then Tess went back home and was alone for a couple of hours before Ellie made it back. ¡°Ugh, you would not believe how happy I am to be back.¡± Ellie said, flopping down onto the living room couch. ¡°That was the worst. Ilmir just was not talking, and it was way awkward. How were things on your end?¡± ¡°Better, I think. At this point they¡¯ve just started rushing me through dungeons as fast as possible. Apparently Eyfura and Ilmir made some sort of bet about me catching up to her in a month or something? Did she mention that to you?¡± Ellie shook her head. ¡°No, she was basically sulking the entire time.¡± ¡°Go figure. Did Gramps say when he was gonna be home?¡± ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s just finishing up a couple of things and then he¡¯s going to be back.¡± Ellie grabbed the TV remote, turned it on, and picked up a controller for her favorite game console. ¡°I need to detox, wanna play together?¡± ¡°Sure, I guess.¡± Tess said, picking up one of the other controllers.
Early the next morning, Tess met Alice in one of the guild¡¯s private rooms. ¡°So¡­what¡¯s the plan?¡± She asked, taking her gear out of the bag and putting it on. ¡°There are a bunch of mini-dungeons outside the city, and I¡¯m going to take you out in my hoverer and get most of them.¡± Alice replied, getting out from the chair she was in and stretching a little. ¡°Mini-dungeon? Hoverer?¡± ¡°Ah, right. Mini-dungeons are exactly what they sound like. They¡¯re kind of like a dungeon floor or two just sort of planted out in the middle of nowhere. They¡¯re a lot more common than ¡°real¡± dungeons, but for the most part their rewards aren¡¯t anywhere near as good, and you only get one shot at the Rewards Crystal. In addition, sometimes they won¡¯t have bosses, never have Challenges or rest floors, and can¡¯t grow like real dungeons. ¡°Hoverers¡­they¡¯re like rich people cars. They use magic to propel themselves a bit above the ground, making them nice for avoiding traffic or off-roading. As a nice bonus, the nicer ones are built to be able to compact themselves into a form that¡¯s easy to store in a magic bag, so you don¡¯t have to worry about parking or anything. They run off of cores and repairs are pretty complicated, so they¡¯re pricy to own, but I find them worth it.¡± Tess finished getting into her armor, and she and Alice began their walk out of the guild and to the edge of the city. ¡°Why not just take the hoverer?¡± Tess asked once they got outside. ¡°Unfortunately, they tend to dump a bunch of magic into the surroundings and that can mess up delicate pieces of magic, so most cities will have restrictions on where they can be used. Given the nature of this city¡­well, there are a lot of those delicate pieces of magic, so in most of the city you can¡¯t use one. It¡¯s nice out and we¡¯re relatively close to the city¡¯s edge, so we might as well just walk.¡± It took them about half an hour to get to the outside of the city, passing through a gate in a large wall that encircled the city¡¯s boundaries. From there, Alice took them a bit off of the main road they were on and took the hoverer out of her bag. It looked like a cardboard box made of metal, at least until Alice pressed a button on the side. A long, glowing, rectangle appeared on the ground around it, which Alice stepped calmly out of. The area began to pulse, and there were some beeping sounds, and after five seconds the box began to expand, eventually resolving into what looked like a limo without wheels. Alice opened the back door, doing a little bow and waving Tess in. ¡°After you, milady.¡± She said, smirking. Tess climbed inside, and found the interior to be¡­luxurious, to say the least. There were a few small refrigerators, TVs, and a bunch of incredibly plush-looking seats around the walls. There was even what appeared to be a bathroom on the far end. Alice stepped inside after Tess, shutting the door and walking towards the front of the hoverer, looking at Tess¡¯s face with a rather amused expression. There was a small terminal at the front, which she used for about a minute, at which point the hoverer ascended a little and the trees outside began to blur as the hoverer smoothly accelerated. Alice came back and sitting down across from Tess. ¡°So, what do you think?¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t think I¡¯ve been in anything this fancy before, not gonna lie.¡± Alice laughed. ¡°Get used to it. Now that most of the dungeons we¡¯re going to are outside the city, you¡¯re going to be in here a lot.¡± ¡°Does that mean it¡¯s always going to be you and Eyfura with me, then?¡± Alice shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t know, that¡¯s up to Jin and Eyfura. I¡¯m fine with it, but we¡¯ll see if they want you to get experience with different group compositions.¡± Alice opened up one of the fridges next to her, pulling out a bottle of water. ¡°If you want anything just take it out of the fridge next to you. We¡¯ll be at our first stop in like ten minutes, so we¡¯ve got a little time.¡± Tess rummaged around before finding some apple juice, which she began to drink. ¡°So¡­does this have autopilot or¡­?¡± She asked between sips. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s only useable when you¡¯re going to places that are already in the system, but that¡¯s not something you really have to worry about unless you¡¯re heading to a really new dungeon or something. It¡¯s nice, too; manually driving this thing through all these trees would be awful, but the autopilot is advanced enough that we don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± They chatted more on their way to the dungeon, and Tess got to learn more about Alice, and dryads in general. Alice didn¡¯t have much in the way of family, as dryads didn¡¯t really reproduce in the same way other humanoids do. As dryads were an all-female race, they had to find a male of another race in order to reproduce, and any children would always be ¡°mostly¡± a dryad. The girl would inherit any secondary characteristics (such as beastkin features like animal ears or a tail) of their father¡¯s race but would be unable to pass them on herself. In fact, Alice said her mother was actually part centaur, and because she had married a human, Alice looked like a ¡°standard¡± dryad. Her parents were living a quiet, retired life in one of the other planes, having chosen to pass their businesses on to Alice and live off of their saved wealth for the foreseeable future. She went back and visited them about once a year and had stayed on rather good terms with them. Speaking of, Tess found out that Alice didn¡¯t actually run most of the businesses she owned. She left the business decisions to people who were better at them than her, instead acting as a financial backer and face for the business, and occasionally a tiebreaker in decisions or other such things. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. That was all they had time to talk about before the hoverer gently slowed to a stop. Tess and Alice got out, and Alice pressed a button on the side of the hoverer, causing it to pack up into that box form, at which point she put it into her bag. ¡°Alright, this should be pretty simple.¡± She said, ¡°This one is just one floor without a boss. Apparently, the enemies are just a mix of stuff from the beginner dungeons. No traps, either. So¡­I think I¡¯m just going to go ahead and kill anything we come across. Feel free to pick off any stragglers, but I doubt there¡¯s anything here worth our time.¡± And she was right. There was nothing new in the mini-dungeon, but the Rewards Crystal at least held something worthwhile.
Pressure Puncher: Rarity: Rare Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 15 Stamina to perform an unarmed strike at a target you can see within 5m, dealing 100% of the damage of a regular unarmed attack. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Reach ¡Ù range
Fortunately, the Rewards Crystal room¡¯s exit still sent them back to the beginning of the dungeon. At the point, it was back into the hoverer for another, this time shorter, ride to their next destination. They rinsed and repeated this process for another five or so mini-dungeons, until they had a longer, about half-hour drive to the next one. ¡°Hey, um¡­how have you been feeling? With regards to your body, that is.¡± Alice asked awkwardly. Tess frowned. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to ignore it, for the most part. I¡¯ve been leveling up fast enough that I¡¯m not running out of slots for cores, and I haven¡¯t expelled anything big, so it¡¯s been¡­fine, I guess. And I haven¡¯t talked to anyone I knew from before except for Gramps and Ellie, so¡­I dunno, I just kind of forget?¡± ¡°That¡¯s good, I guess. Um¡­do you need to talk with anyone? Like, do you have any questions or anything about being a girl? I don¡¯t think the guildmaster has too much experience with that, and I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve talked much with Ellie, but I¡¯m totally open to questions and I¡¯m not gonna be judgmental about it like I was before.¡± Tess blushed. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m worried about¡­that time of the month, you know? I¡¯ve heard horror stories, and I just¡­don¡¯t want to deal with it, but I¡¯m going to have to, right?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, yes. I doubt your transformation would have removed that particular functionality of the body, given the way you process cores. I can help show you how to take care of that when we get back, if you would like.¡± Tess nodded shyly. ¡°Yeah. I¡­feel weird talking about it with Ellie and Gramps. I think it¡¯d be better if it was with an older woman like you instead, well, someone my age or an older guy.¡± ¡°You calling me old?¡± Alice huffed, crossing her arms and pouting. ¡°No, I just, I mean¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m just messing with you, I know what you mean.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Um¡­are you sure that this isn¡¯t a bit much for just apologizing for a minor offense? That core can¡¯t have been cheap, and you said that using a hoverer is expensive, too.¡± Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°Look, I like you. You seem like a really nice kid, and I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s the handiwork of Target of Affection or just you being you, but I want to protect you and help you grow as much as possible. The more I get to know you, the more I regret the things I said, and even if this is a bit of a disproportionate reaction, it¡¯s something I want to do. ¡°Besides, I have way too much money to worry about stuff like this. I could buy that core a thousand times and operate this hoverer constantly for a year and still not be anywhere near spending enough money to notice a difference in my bank account. It¡¯d practically be a rounding error, it¡¯s not a big deal. ¡°And, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, that¡¯s just something you¡¯re going to have to get used to, and not just with me. I mean, you¡¯re wearing clothing made as a rush order by Rachel. She¡¯s like¡­the foremost tailor here in the Outlands, and her prices reflect that. The guildmaster¡¯s filthy rich, and most parties above rank eight are pretty well off. Give it ten or twenty years and you and Ellie will easily be rank eight. Heck, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you¡¯re rank nine by then. And given the nature of your blessing, you¡¯ll be even richer than most people are. Like it or not, you¡¯re part of the upper crust now, Tess.¡± The conversation just sort of awkwardly stopped there, and it didn¡¯t resume for another few minutes. After that they were able to hit up another two mini-dungeons before lunch, and another four after, neatly tying up all of the ones that Tess could clear within close proximity to the city. Her rewards were all fairly similar to the first, something that would modify the properties of her unarmed attacks at the cost of a little Stamina. They were mostly just modifiers to her punches like Pressure Puncher, things that changed the damage type, a few that amplified things like knockback or gave a minor increase in damage. ¡°Alright,¡± Alice said, ¡°Before we end this off, I¡¯m going to cheat a little, and I¡¯m going to take you to a mini-dungeon that¡¯s a fair bit out of your level bracket. We¡¯ll grab you the Rewards Crystal, but let¡¯s not absorb any cores you get, just to keep from overloading you too much with new stuff. Then we¡¯ll head back and look at getting you some new gear. You¡¯re still in the starter stuff the guildmaster gave you, and though that¡¯s really nice stuff, I think you¡¯re long overdue for an upgrade.¡± ¡°You¡­really don¡¯t have to get me new equipment.¡± Tess said, ¡°You¡¯ve already done so much.¡± Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°We¡¯ve been over this, Tess. It¡¯s not a big deal. Operating the hoverer for half an hour will almost certainly be more expensive than whatever we end up getting you. Low-level gear is cheap, because there¡¯s just so much more of it than nice stuff. If it was mid-level or high-level stuff, you¡¯d have more of a point, but you¡¯re seriously underestimating how much money I have. ¡°You know that thing about it not being worth billionaires¡¯ time to pick up thousand-dollar bills or whatever? It¡¯s that. I¡¯ll make enough money while browsing the wares to pay for whatever I buy twenty times over. Plus, the outfit you¡¯re wearing, not including the armor, is probably more expensive than what we¡¯re going to get. Seriously, don¡¯t sweat it.¡± ¡°I suppose if it¡¯s that cheap you have a point.¡± Tess conceded. ¡°I figured armor was more expensive, but¡­¡± ¡°I mean, better stuff can get pricy. There¡¯s just so much of this stuff from people farming bosses or practicing armor making or whatever that it¡¯s barely worth consideration. If it makes you feel better, you can just give me the cores you get from this mini-dungeon. Depending on how many we get, it¡¯ll cover transportation and the armor no problem.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Cool. It¡¯ll be like¡­five minutes, and then we¡¯ll be there. When we¡¯re in there, let me go first so I can sweep for traps, you use that long-range attack to tag monsters that I¡¯ve distracted so you get EXP from the kills, and I¡¯ll make sure everything stays on me and kill everything. It¡¯ll be a piece of cake.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been a bit curious, so if you don¡¯t mind me asking, what level are you guys?¡± Alice smirked. ¡°I¡¯m level eighty-one. Ker and Jin are around the same, and Eyfura¡­I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s somewhere around one-hundred and thirty. The guildmaster¡­most people think he¡¯s that level one hundred and thirty-six we know exists somewhere, but he hasn¡¯t confirmed or denied that.¡± ¡°He¡¯s that strong?¡± Tess asked incredulously. ¡°He¡¯s that strong. Their party is widely considered to be the best there¡¯s ever been, and he was the leader.¡± The rest of the short trip was Tess asking Alice more about Gramps¡¯s party. There were only a couple of stories short enough to tell during that time, but Tess was able to get the picture. There was a lot of respect out there for Gramps¡¯s party, and they had done a lot of stuff in their day. But she wasn¡¯t able to hear more. They had arrived, and Alice had become quite a bit more serious than she had been the rest of the day. ¡°Alright. This is going to require more focus. Just listen to what I tell you and we¡¯ll be just fine. Ready?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s go.¡±
In the following collapsible is the full list of Skills Tess got in this chapter that were not explicitly mentioned:
Air Fist: Rarity: Rare Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 10 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal air damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time. Now with 100% more air! Dark Fist: Rarity: Epic Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 25 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal dark damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time. Now with 100% more darkness! Decisive Strike: Rarity: Epic Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 15 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal 10% more damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time. This one¡¯s going to hurt. Earth Fist: Rarity: Rare Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 10 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal earth damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time. Now with 100% more earth! Electric Fist: Rarity: Rare Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 10 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal electric damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time. Now with 100% more electricity! Fire Fist: Rarity: Rare Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 10 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal fire damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time. Now with 100% more fire! Force Amplification: Rarity: Rare Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 15 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to knock the target back 3m. The force of this push is dependent on your Power and can be resisted (based on the target¡¯s Power). This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Stay back! Ice Fist: Rarity: Rare Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 10 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal ice damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time. Now with 100% more ice! Light Fist: Rarity: Epic Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 25 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal light damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time. Now with 100% more light! Psychic Fist: Rarity: Epic Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 25 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal psychic damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time. Now with 100% more psychic! Water Fist: Rarity: Rare Type: Active (Unarmed) Description: Spend 10 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal water damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time. Now with 100% more water!
Chapter 17: An Unlikely Coincidence From just the first monster, Tess could tell that this dungeon was a few cuts above what she had been going through. It was a sort of¡­bipedal animal that vaguely resembled a fox, were the fur to be replaced with a thick, glossy green carapace and the muzzle with something more akin to a lamprey¡¯s maw. Alice wrinkled her nose. ¡°I hate it when mini-dungeons get creative. It¡¯s almost never fun to look at.¡± She hefted her shield, planting herself firmly between Tess and the monster. Unlike the other times she had been dungeon diving with Tess, Alice had kitted herself out in a full suit of armor, and Tess was beginning to wonder why she hadn¡¯t been wearing it before; she moved like she wasn¡¯t even wearing the armor, and it somehow wasn¡¯t making any sound. ¡°Alright, give the thing a hit and I¡¯ll take it from there.¡± Tess activated Pressure Puncher and lashed out with her claws. There was a strange sense of resistance as she tore through the empty air, and a small gash appeared on the creature¡¯s carapace, a wriggling parasite barely visible over the oozing brown blood.
You have scratched Vulpine Petromyzon¡¯s carapace for 5 damage, 5 of which was absorbed by its carapace!
The monster screeched and charged towards Tess, but Alice threw her sword at it, stopping it in its tracks. It struggled for a moment, and then the sword flew back to Alice, leaving an enormous crack where it used to be. ¡°Did you do any damage that wasn¡¯t absorbed?¡± Alice asked, hefting her sword again. ¡°No.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Hit it in the gash I made then. I¡¯m not sure you¡¯ll get EXP if you don¡¯t do any non-absorbed damage.¡± Tess made another attack, and this time was met with a small stream of blood spraying out from the monster, through which a wriggling parasite could barely be made out.
You have gouged Vulpine Petromyzon for a critical 14 damage! You have planted a parasite on Vulpine Petromyzon! It will deal 2 damage and heal you 2 HP every second until removed. You have Poisoned Vulpine Petromyzon! It will take 2 damage every 5 seconds for 2.5 minutes You have inflicted Heavy Bleeding on Vulpine Petromyzon! It will bleed for 14 damage every second for 120 seconds.
Alice nodded and threw her sword again, landing a hit on the broken spot and causing the monster to disappear into nothingness, leaving behind only a core.
Vulpine Petromyzon has been killed! You gain 135 EXP! Monster Breeder has gained 67 EXP!
Alice grimaced, shaking her sword as if to flick off some nonexistent grime. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with. I don¡¯t want to spend any more time around these things than I have to.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°I agree.¡± The rest of the mini-dungeon was mostly the same. There were a couple of traps, but mostly it was just fighting those fox-lamprey things until they reached the Rewards Crystal. Fortunately, the reward was worth the discomfort traversing the dungeon put them through.
Elemental Fists: Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: Gives a 5% chance to imbue your unarmed attacks with a damage type you have the appropriate Skill for. The chance is repeated for each damage type Skill you have, and if multiple would be selected the most advantageous is chosen. Individual damage types may be turned on and off independently of each other. Current available damage types: Air, dark, earth, electric, fire, ice, light, psychic, water Used to scale off of your Magic. This has since been fixed and it now properly scales off of your Power.
They didn¡¯t waste any time getting back into the hoverer, where both women took off their armor. ¡°I must have blocked that one out of my mind.¡± Alice groaned, ¡°Because I didn¡¯t remember it before, and I really wish I don¡¯t remember it now.¡± ¡°Is there¡­a lot of this kind of thing in dungeons?¡± Tess asked cautiously. ¡°Thankfully not. Mini-dungeons tend to have all the weird-looking stuff, and half the time it¡¯s not even properly functional stuff, either.¡± She opened the fridge near her and grabbed a water, which she unscrewed and, instead of drinking, poured all over herself. There was remarkably little splash, too ¨C most of the water was absorbed the moment it came into contact with her skin. Alice let out a contented sigh. ¡°It¡¯s really nice to get out of that armor. It¡¯s just so¡­stuffy. Speaking of armor, what kind are you in the market for? You¡¯re in leather so I¡¯m guessing light armor, but I want to be sure.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s for the best.¡± Tess agreed. ¡°I¡¯m not really confident in moving well in anything bulkier than what I¡¯ve been wearing.¡± ¡°Eh, we can teach you if need be. But my guess is that light armor will be best for you anyway, from what I¡¯ve heard there are a bunch of unarmed Skills that incentivize wearing lighter stuff.¡±
Yeah, that. I¡¯m pretty sure we have a few of those lined up for you down the road a bit.
¡°So, um¡­what should I look for in armor?¡± Tess asked, ¡°Is there anything in particular or will we just be grabbing whatever looks like the best set?¡± Alice shrugged. ¡°That really depends on what you want to be doing. In general, though, I think we want to be looking at the effects the armor provides more than the raw defensive bonuses. If all goes well you generally shouldn¡¯t be targeted except by area attacks, so defense isn¡¯t as big a selling point as it is in a lot of other cases. We¡¯ll have to see what¡¯s on offer, because there¡¯s a lot of variety at this level, so honestly we¡¯ll just be grabbing what looks best, yeah.¡± The rest of their ride was spent idly chatting until they pulled up to the city walls. ¡°Hey, I uh, just realized, I don¡¯t know the name of this city.¡± Tess said, ¡°That¡¯s weird, right? I mean, I¡¯ve been hanging around here for almost a week, I should know.¡± Alice laughed. ¡°The city doesn¡¯t have a name, not really. It¡¯s technically got a lot, but only people from other planes use them. This is the only city city in The Outlands, so we just call it the city. Easier to know what everyone¡¯s talking about when you don¡¯t have to remember a dozen different names.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°Why this? Why not just decide on one?¡± Alice shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s a compromise. Everyone from different planes wanted the city to be officially named their idea, and before the guild came into power the name was stuck in bureaucracy. Right now the guildmaster isn¡¯t allowing one name to be officially stamped onto the city, he¡¯s waiting for a name to come into popular use naturally, and more and more it¡¯s seeming like it¡¯s just going to be ¡®the city¡¯.¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. They walked through the gates, and Alice began to lead Tess to a district of town she hadn¡¯t been in before. It was filled with all sorts of shops ¨C street stalls, traditional shops, even what appeared to be a couple of mall-type buildings. The place was bustling with people of all sorts, even ones that really didn¡¯t look like freelancers. Alice took her into one of the mall-like buildings. ¡°This is the go-to place for armor for low to mid-level people.¡± She explained. ¡°You¡¯ll probably be coming here until you¡¯re around level sixty to seventy, so it¡¯s good to get familiar with it now.¡± She took Tess to a signpost that had a map of the building, which she began to look through. ¡°We want an Io¡¯s, if they still have one here. They¡¯re a pretty good series of stores, and though they¡¯re mostly known for their high-level gear they have a couple of outlets where they dump what their apprentices make.¡± Tess looked over the map with her, and eventually Tess was able to locate an Io¡¯s. ¡°Right here.¡± She said, pointing it out to Alice. ¡°Perfect.¡± Alice said, ¡°That¡¯s not even that far away from here.¡± She and Tess left the sign and made their way to the store, which was up on the second floor. But they didn¡¯t make it far inside before they were stopped. ¡°Hey, Alice, is that you?!¡± A cheery man called, ¡°It¡¯s been a while, how¡¯s the armor treating you?¡± Alice was already walking over to the source of the voice, motioning for Tess to follow, and Tess turned to see a tall elf with short hair behind the counter, with what appeared to be a dwarf boy next to him, though Tess was just guessing that based on the general build. There wasn¡¯t any of the beard or hair or general heavy clothing or weaponry that Tess expected of a dwarf. ¡°Ah, Ten, good to see you!¡± Alice replied, ¡°The armor¡¯s been fantastic, it was worth every penny! Who¡¯s this you have with you?¡± Ten smiled. ¡°I could ask you the same question. This is Dmitri, my apprentice.¡± He nudged Dmitri, ¡°Say hi.¡± ¡°Um, hi.¡± Dmitri said shyly. ¡°This is Alice, member of The Rumors, a rank 9 party, and owner of the Reshi conglomerate.¡± Alice watched Dmitri¡¯s expression, smirking. ¡°This is Tess, granddaughter of Guildmaster Los, and she¡¯s gonna be a bigshot one day, mark my words.¡± Dmitri had become visibly paler and waved a hand mechanically. Ten rolled his eyes. ¡°Dmitri, they¡¯re just people, you don¡¯t need to be so worried about it. You¡¯ll be dealing with lots of important people in the future, so it¡¯s good to get used to it now.¡± Alice grinned. ¡°Seems like we¡¯ve been having some similar issues. Tess has been having a hard time acclimatizing to her status too.¡± Dmitri frowned. ¡°What¡¯s there to acclimatize to? That kind of thing is something you¡¯re born with.¡± Alice waved a hand dismissively. ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but the gist is that she was adopted. It¡¯s not really important right now. What is important is that we¡¯re looking for light armor for her, preferably some that¡¯s less focused on defense and more on effects. Unarmed bonuses, if possible.¡± Ten raised an eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s quite the coincidence, Dmitri is here dropping off some armor that fits that description to a T.¡± ¡°You¡¯re yanking my chain.¡± Alice replied incredulously. ¡°Not at all.¡± Ten said, stepping out from behind the counter, ¡°Follow me, I¡¯ll take you to where we put them. Dmitri, you too.¡± ¡°Y-yes, sir.¡± Dmitri replied meekly, following his mentor out from behind the counter. The two led Tess and Alice to a back part of the store, where a few robes were sitting on mannequins. Next to each was a small plaque listing their effects, and Dmitri watched nervously as Tess and Alice looked over them. ¡°I like this one.¡± Tess said, pointing at what appeared to be a Gi of some sort. According to the plaque, it required a level of 20, offered a bonus of 10 to Defense and Magic Defense, like the leather she was currently using, but gave +10 to Power while unarmed, 50% increase to unarmed damage and a 30% decrease to the Stamina cost of unarmed abilities. Alice walked over to it and studied it. ¡°Yeah, that one¡¯s pretty decent. It¡¯s half a gold, right?¡± ¡°Yes, but we¡¯ll slash the price to half that for the two of you. Call it a bonus for being a first-time customer.¡± Alice smiled, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a gold piece, which she gave to Ten. ¡°Let the kid keep the change, call it a bonus for providing exactly what we¡¯re looking for. And, hey, maybe we¡¯ll ask for him in the future. There¡¯s enough of these that I¡¯m assuming it wasn¡¯t an accident, right?¡± Dmitri nodded shyly. ¡°Y-yes. I have a friend who got a bunch of unarmed abilities, so I thought I¡¯d give it a go. These are the ones that didn¡¯t really fit what he was looking for, he wanted stuff that was more defensively oriented.¡± Ten took the armor off of the stand, then handed it to Tess. ¡°There you are, young lady, use it well. If it needs any maintenance make sure you come to one of our stores, don¡¯t try it yourself. We ensure that all armor comes with at least minor self-repair enchantments, so if there are holes or anything, that means it¡¯s probably something more than an amateur should attempt. Chances are you¡¯ll just end up doing more harm than good if you try.¡± ¡°What he said.¡± Alice agreed, ¡°Their maintenance fees aren¡¯t expensive, and they usually work pretty quickly, so don¡¯t hesitate to bring your stuff in.¡± Alice started, apparently realizing something. ¡°Oh, uh, Ten, mind if we talk privately for a minute? I have a couple of requests, and don¡¯t particularly want details getting out.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Ten replied, smoothing out his clothes. ¡°I believe this store has an audience room, would you care to follow me there?¡± Alice shook her head. ¡°Sure. Tess, come with me.¡± ¡°Do you mind if Dmitri joins us as well, then?¡± Ten asked, ¡°I want to give him some experience in the request process.¡± Alice frowned. ¡°Best not. While I¡¯m sure he¡¯s a trustworthy boy, it¡¯s something that I would rather as few people know about as possible. Tess already knows, so she¡¯s fine, but¡­¡± She trailed off, and Ten nodded understandingly. ¡°Of course.¡± He replied. ¡°Dmitri, wait in the staff room, I¡¯ll come pick you up when we¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°Alright, just follow me, then.¡± Ten said, walking off towards the back of the store, Tess and Alice following closely behind. He led them through a few short hallways before showing them into a room behind a nondescript door. ¡°These rooms are completely soundproofed, so don¡¯t feel like you need to quiet yourself.¡± Ten told Tess, ¡°No one outside will be able to hear, and we don¡¯t record anything inside the room itself unless our client expressly approves of it.¡± He gave Alice a nod. ¡°I assume you don¡¯t want this recorded?¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t. The guildmaster would have my head if I let any more of this leak than what I¡¯m about to tell you.¡± Ten raised an eyebrow. ¡°Intriguing. Do go on.¡± ¡°I need to commission gloves and shoes for her.¡± Alice said, waving at Tess. ¡°Something that can adapt with transformation, the fingers and toes will need to be able to open, though I¡¯ll still need something on the bottom of the toes so they¡¯re not on bare ground. Kind of like sandals, but sturdier. If at all possible, no defensive bonuses either, just offensive stuff for unarmed attacks.¡± Ten wrote that down in a small book he was carrying. ¡°Understood. Anything to add, young lady?¡± ¡°Ummm¡­¡± Tess began, a little taken aback by the suddenness of Alice¡¯s order. ¡°That¡¯s fine, I guess. I didn¡¯t know we were going to be ordering anything custom made so¡­¡± ¡°We weren¡¯t.¡± Alice said, ¡°Ten was here and we were looking at stuff and I remembered we¡¯d probably need custom stuff for your hands and feet so it just sort of happened.¡± ¡°And what level range would you like this to be?¡± Ten asked. ¡°Something usable well into the thirties would be ideal. It¡¯s fine if the minimum ends up being twenty-five, but higher than that is a no-go.¡± ¡°Come back a week from today and I¡¯ll have the gloves ready for you. Will there be anything else?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯ll be all. Thanks, Ten.¡± ¡°You¡¯re most welcome. As for the price, would five gold be considered fair?¡± Ten asked. ¡°More than fair.¡± Alice agreed. ¡°Excellent.¡± Ten said, standing up. ¡°Follow me and I¡¯ll show you the way out.¡± He led them back through the hallways, stopping for a moment to grab Dmitri from the staff room. They parted ways at the counter, Dmitri and Ten going back into the back of the store while Tess and Alice left, though Tess was able to catch the beginning of the conversation Dmitri and Ten had thanks to Enhanced Hearing (Perfect). ¡°Dmitri, what did you learn from this?¡± ¡°Um, well, when dealing with important people¡­¡± Tess stopped paying attention after that, the walls between them making straining to listen to the conversation more trouble than it was worth. ¡°So¡­um, anything else you want to do?¡± Alice asked. ¡°Uh, I guess not.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Cool, cool. I¡¯ll just drop you off then, and¡­we¡¯ll be back to normal business tomorrow, I guess?¡± ¡°Yeah, that sounds good, I guess.¡± And, with that awkward conversation, they set off for the guild, their day finally coming to a close. Chapter 18: Sudden Realization When Tess got home, she was met by a rather enthusiastic Ellie. ¡°Hey, how was it?!¡± She asked excitedly. ¡°Anything cool?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Eh, not really? More stuff that¡¯s just¡­passively nice, I guess. I did see a couple of things I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m going to be seeing in my nightmares, and I got some new armor, though, so that¡¯s cool.¡± ¡°Uh, you want to talk about that or¡­?¡± Ellie said hesitantly ¡°Just nasty-looking monsters. Apparently mini-dungeons can get uh¡­.creative. You¡¯ll see what I mean eventually, I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯ll take you there too, so have fun with that.¡± Tess sat down on the couch in the living room, laying down so she took up as much of the couch as possible. ¡°Well, that¡¯s just wonderful. Can I see the new armor? Is it more leather or something different?¡± Ellie asked, sitting on the couch across from her. Tess reached into her bag and took out the armor. ¡°Some sort of¡­I think it¡¯s called a gi?¡± ¡°Yeah, a Gi.¡± Alice confirmed. ¡°Could you put it on for me? Please? I wanna see it!¡± ¡°Yeah, sure, why not.¡± Tess replied, lifting herself off the couch. ¡°Stay here, it¡¯ll be a sec.¡± Tess made her way to her room, where she began to change. She struggled a bit to get the armor on, but eventually was able to. Her first thought was that, while the armor was far more comfortable than the leather she had been using, it was still much less comfortable than the clothes made by Rachel. That was to be expected, though. Rachel was supposedly one of the best seamstresses out there, and Tess had always thought school uniforms or other clothes were horribly uncomfortable. That made sense now that she was thinking about their quality compared to her day-to-day wear. But it wasn¡¯t the worst thing she¡¯d ever worn, not by far. If forced to rank how comfortable her clothes were, she¡¯d probably put it relatively high if she was to ignore the clothes Rachel made. She put that thought aside and went back to the living room, where Ellie was waiting patiently. Ellie stared unabashedly at Tess, and Tess could swear Ellie was almost drooling. Tess fidgeted under the gaze for a moment before speaking up. ¡°Does it¡­look weird?¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°No, it looks good. Really good. Like¡­dang, I wish I could look half that nice.¡±
I wish I looked that nice too, not gonna lie
Tess blushed furiously. ¡°It¡¯s not me, it¡¯s the Skill.¡± She said, looking down. ¡°If that was like¡­suppressed for a bit or something then you wouldn¡¯t be saying that.
Well, yes but actually no. It¡¯d stop automatically correcting your hair or making adjustments to the way your clothes look on you or that kind of stuff but the base of it is here to stay. You¡¯d still look real nice unless you really let yourself go. Don¡¯t see that happening any time soon, though. Phantasmal stuff is preeeetty hard to mess with. Usually only other Phantasmal stuff or blessings from the gods and stuff can do that
¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about that.¡± Ellie said, oblivious to Fortune¡¯s message. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯d immediately become ugly or anything, that seems like it would be a little¡­weird.¡± Tess relayed the contents of Fortune¡¯s message to Ellie. ¡°Well, there you have it.¡± Ellies replied happily. ¡°I know it¡¯s gotta feel a little weird to you, what with¡­ you know, but you are rocking that. Seriously.¡± Tess scratched the back of her neck, thoroughly embarrassed. ¡°Thanks? Uh, all that aside, how was your day?¡± ¡°Boring.¡± Ellie replied, sprawling out in her seat, ¡°I picked up your homework for the week, Grandpa wants you to work on it over the weekend.¡± She motioned to her backpack, which was slumped against the coffee table. ¡°It¡¯s in the black binder, just take it out when you¡¯re ready. I think the teachers put where to read in the books, too? I only glanced at the papers so I¡¯m not sure. ¡°Oh, and Grandpa said he¡¯s gonna talk with The Rumors and Eyfura and make sure we get weekends off, though I think he also said we can go there if we want? You¡¯ll have to talk to him when he gets back, I¡¯m going to go, I think. The faster we finish our training, the better. I want to get to just going out and having adventures with you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to think about whether or not I want to go on the weekends.¡± Tess said, getting back onto the couch, ¡°I¡¯m thinking I¡¯ll end up going only one of Saturday or Sunday, since I need time to study and do homework and that¡¯ll probably take a whole day.¡± ¡°Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe, if I¡¯m lucky, on the days you¡¯re gone I won¡¯t have to deal with Ilmir, since Eyfura will be free. I¡¯m really not looking forward to spending more time with her, so that¡¯d be nice.¡± Ellie said, grimacing. ¡°I guess so. I still think we should try and be friends, though. It¡¯s not worth spending our whole training with someone who we don¡¯t like and who doesn¡¯t like us.¡± Ellie sighed. ¡°You¡¯re probably right. I just¡­really don¡¯t like how she was acting. It doesn¡¯t bode well for the future. Whatever, though, let¡¯s just play some games.¡± She booted up the TV and held up a game controller. ¡°You down?¡± ¡°Yeah, why not.¡±
The next day, Tess was studying in her room when she heard a knock at the door. Not¡­her door, the front door. Thanks to Enhanced Hearing (Perfect), it still sounded almost as clear as a knock on her door would have been. It was disconcerting, in a way. She felt like she shouldn¡¯t be able to hear nearly this well, not with just her regular ears. Perhaps she should consider keeping one of the Kemonomimi Attributes on while she was out and about, most likely wolf. It would serve both as a way to feel less¡­dissonance about having such good hearing, as well a disguise to make it seem less odd if someone saw her claws. She¡¯d have to run it by Eyfura and Alice next time they met up. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. She heard two sets of footsteps move to the door, it open, and then Gramps begin to speak. The conversation was somewhat muffled, but she could still clearly make out the words with a little effort. ¡°Ah, Jacob, how are you doing?¡± Tess frowned. Jacob was one of her best friends, but¡­she hadn¡¯t been planning on seeing any of her friends so soon. That being said, she had to wonder why he was here, at least without messaging her first. A quick check of her phone confirmed that he hadn¡¯t sent her any texts, so the behavior was a little baffling to her. ¡°Good, Mr. Los.¡± Jacob said, ¡°Um, I was hoping I could check in on Tess and see how she¡¯s doing. I brought over some cookies, too.¡± Why¡­oh, right, her cover was that she had some long-term illness that was preventing her from being at school. That would probably explain not contacting her beforehand, at least to a certain extent. ¡°Let me go check with her.¡± Gramps replied, ¡°Ellie, go grab him a glass of water, Jacob, go ahead and sit down in the living room, I¡¯ll be back down in a bit.¡± She waited as Gramps made his way up the stairs and then knocked on her door. After instructing him to come in, he opened the door, stepped in, and then closed it behind him. ¡°So¡­Jacob¡¯s here?¡± She asked. Gramps nodded. ¡°Are you alright with seeing him? You don¡¯t have to if you don¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡± Tess sighed, ¡°I¡­might as well just get it all over with.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. Just remember that you¡¯re supposed to be ill, so don¡¯t move around too much or be too energetic, OK?¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Gramps smiled. ¡°Good. I¡¯m proud of you for being brave and facing this so soon.¡± He left the room, leaving Tess to think while he fetched Jacob. Had it really been less than a week? It felt like it had been longer, perhaps because of the¡­ density of her experiences over in the Outlands. The constant activity had helped her forget her worries about her body, but they were rapidly returning as she anxiously waited for Jacob to come up. The minute or so it took felt like much longer, but eventually there was another knock at her door. ¡°Um¡­come in.¡± Tess said. The door opened and Jacob gingerly stepped in. He stopped once he caught sight of Tess, staring for a moment. ¡°Is¡­everything alright?¡± Tess asked hoarsely. Jacob shook his head as if to clear it, then smiled weakly. ¡°Sorry, was just trying to see if you were looking any different, but you still look fine, I think. How are you feeling?¡± ¡°It comes and goes. Sometimes I feel fine, but other times it¡¯s just¡­ bad.¡± It wasn¡¯t a complete lie, nights had been rather rough for her. She had needed to figure out a new way to sleep to account for her new anatomy, as sleeping on her stomach the way she had been wasn¡¯t quite as comfortable as it used to be. And then during that time she would worry about what her social life was going to be like now that she had changed so drastically. What if someone remembered that she used to be a guy? What if someone had messed up and her documentation wasn¡¯t completely changed? ¡°Well, um¡­I hope that you¡¯ll get better soon.¡± Jacob said, blushing and looking aside. ¡°I brought some cookies for you, hopefully it¡¯ll give you some comfort when you¡¯re feeling bad. I gave them to Ellie, she¡¯ll come up and give them to you later.¡± He kicked the ground shyly, ¡°Um, well, I know I¡¯m not supposed to visit for too long while you¡¯re sick like this, so¡­just wanted to let you know that you¡¯re in our prayers and that if you need any help with homework just text me and I¡¯ll be more than happy to help out.¡± ¡°Uh, thanks.¡± Tess replied awkwardly. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­see you around, I guess.¡± ¡°Yeah, um, see you around. It was nice talking with you.¡± Jacob said, gingerly leaving the room. She was able to hear him breathe a sigh of relief after he shut the door behind him, as well as a muttered ¡°I swear she wasn¡¯t that hot before.¡± Tess also let out a sigh of relief; that¡­wasn¡¯t as bad as she had been worrying it might have been. It wasn¡¯t as good as it might have been, but it seemed like things wouldn¡¯t be too awkward going forward, not once he get used to her new appearance. Not that he completely knew what he was getting used to. But, at the very least he didn¡¯t seem to suspect anything. That being said, she didn¡¯t like how it had felt when he had called her hot. It was one thing when people like Ellie or Fortune probably weren¡¯t attracted to her told her she was attractive, but it was another thing entirely when it was someone who did. Well, when she didn¡¯t reciprocate the feeling, anyway. It was flattering, but¡­she wasn¡¯t into guys. If it had been, say¡­a lesbian or something, maybe it would be a different case, she didn¡¯t know. Still, she didn¡¯t hold it against him at all. That was something that, by all rights, a normal human wouldn¡¯t have been able to hear.
Are you suuuure?
¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I wouldn¡¯t have been able to hear that a week ago, yeah.¡± Tess whispered.
No, not that, the thing before that. When you were thinking about being told you¡¯re hot by people who aren¡¯t attracted to you
¡°Yes, it feels better in that situation, I¡¯m sure.¡±
You¡¯re so close, yet so far
Tess frowned. ¡°Are you talking about you and Ellie not being attracted to me?¡±
That was your last hint, figure the rest out yourself. You have everything you need to figure out what I meant.
Tess puzzled that one over. The clear implication was that one of Ellie or Fortune was at least bi and was also attracted to her, but she wasn¡¯t sure who exactly it was. It¡­wasn¡¯t Ellie, right? Yes, she had been really touchy-feely lately, and yes, Tess had lately been catching Ellie staring at her quite often¡­ Oh. That¡­wasn¡¯t exactly subtle, now that she was thinking about it in this context. ¡°Tess!¡± Ellie burst into the room, then scooped Tess into a hug. ¡°How are you doing? Was it uncomfortable? Do you want to talk about it?¡± ¡°Um, uh¡­¡± Tess sputtered, ¡°It was fine? He was cool about it. I think he got distracted for a second by my appearance, I caught him mumbling about not remembering me being this hot when he thought I couldn¡¯t hear. Well, I shouldn¡¯t have been able to hear, but, you know, Attributes.¡± ¡°Well, he was right. You¡¯re a perfect ten, I¡¯m telling you.¡± Ellie let go of the hug, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and pulling her out of the room. ¡°Let¡¯s get you a cookie and then go play some games, take your mind off of things, kay?¡± ¡°Um, yeah, sure.¡± She was blushing, but fortunately Ellie wasn¡¯t looking. If¡­if Ellie was a lesbian, that explained a lot. And, maybe¡­maybe Tess¡¯s own feelings weren¡¯t completely hopeless. She had been suppressing them for a long time, after she had decided it was a lost cause, but now that she had a glimmer of hope again, they were starting to force their way back into her awareness. She was in the kitchen now, and Ellie was opening a box. It was full of homemade chocolate chip cookies, which were Tess¡¯s favorite. ¡°How many do you want?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Just give me one.¡± Tess replied distractedly. Ellie took a cookie out of the box and shut it, then led Tess to the living room, where she began to boot up her favorite console. Tess, however, was still thinking about what she had just come to realize. If she was to pursue things with Ellie again, she would need to be stronger, no questions about it. She wasn¡¯t going to hold Ellie back, that wouldn¡¯t be fair to her. That settled it. She was unsure about the bet Eyfura and Ilmir had made before, but she had decided now. She was going to play along, and she was going to win. Chapter 19: Trip Planning Later that day, Tess was sitting across from Gramps in the office in their home, looking down nervously at the desk. ¡°So, why all the formality?¡± Gramps asked, leaning onto the desk. ¡°Why not just ask me whatever it is you¡¯re going to ask over dinner?¡± Tess fidgeted in place. ¡°I¡­I want permission to stay in the Outlands full time for the next month. If you say yes, I¡¯m going to ask one of The Rumors, probably Alice, and Eyfura to go out on an expedition so we can get at some more out-of-the-way dungeons.¡± Gramps raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oh? What¡¯s this all of a sudden? Before I give an answer, I¡¯d like to know why you want this.¡± ¡°Um, I¡¯m sure you heard about this, but Eyfura and Ilmir made a bet that, in a month, I would be able to give her a good fight. I want to go further, I want to win, just to prove to myself that I can.¡± Gramps frowned. ¡°While I appreciate the drive, I don¡¯t know if I would get my hopes up.¡± He said cautiously, ¡°Ilmir is good, and levels slow down dramatically after the first twenty or so. One month of intensive training isn¡¯t going to be enough to catch up to years of her practicing with her kit¡­¡± He trailed off, staring into the space just in front of Tess. He stayed silent for a moment, frown deepening. Then he shook his head, sighing. ¡°I¡¯ll talk with them, set something up. Do you know what you¡¯re going to do about homework? I¡¯m not giving you a free pass to ignore your studies just because you¡¯re not here for a bit.¡± Tess nodded, baffled by the sudden change in attitude. ¡°I was hoping Ellie could scan whatever she would bring home and email them to me, and I¡¯d take care of it while I was out, bring a laptop or something. If I end up going with Alice in the hoverer, I¡¯d probably do it while we were in transit, as well as in the evenings.¡± Gramps sighed again. ¡°I suppose that works. I¡¯ll let you know what the plan is later tonight. You go back to whatever you were doing.¡± Dismissed, Tess gladly took her leave, glad to be done with the somewhat stressful conversation. ¡°Well?¡± Ellie asked. She was in the kitchen near the office and looked like she had been pacing for a bit. She had clearly been waiting anxiously for Tess to finish her talk with Gramps and was wearing something of a worried look on her face. ¡°For the next month I¡¯m going to be staying in the Outlands. Gramps is talking to people right now, but I¡¯m hoping Eyfura and Alice will sort of chaperone me and we can go around and visit a bunch of dungeons outside of town. Like a sort of¡­boot camp. I want to get strong enough to beat Ilmir.¡± Ellie frowned. ¡°Why? What do you have to prove? Who even cares if you can¡¯t beat her, she¡¯s got a huge head start on you, so it doesn¡¯t mean anything if you lose.¡± Tess shrugged, looking away. ¡°I dunno. Just something I want to do for me. If I can do this, then to me it means I really will be able to keep up with everyone.¡± Ellie pouted, crossing her arms petulantly. ¡°But you don¡¯t have to leave for a whole month, that¡¯s a long time!¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one who said that the faster we finish our training the better?¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± She trailed off, then sighed. ¡°Fine. But you better call me every night, well, if you have service, anyway.¡± ¡°If I¡¯m near a dungeon it shouldn¡¯t be an issue, I believe they act as cell towers.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s right. Dungeons are weird.¡± Ellie shook her head. ¡°When are you leaving?¡± ¡°I dunno. Gramps is talking with people, he¡¯s going to tell me what the plan is once there is one.¡± ¡°Really? I¡¯m surprised he just¡­let you go like that. You weren¡¯t in there for that long.¡± Tess nodded, sitting down at the table. ¡°Me too. He just got this far-off look for a second and then changed his tune immediately. Oh, um, I hope you don¡¯t mind, but I kind of volunteered you to scan my homework and send it to me so I could do it.¡± Ellie sat down next to Tess. ¡°I¡¯ll do it, but only if you promise to call me every night you can.¡± Tess blushed and looked down. ¡°Promise.¡± Ellie gave her a side-hug. ¡°I¡¯m going to hold you to that. Now, let me go help you pack. It¡¯s short notice and you need all the help you can get.¡± They stood up and made their way upstairs to Tess¡¯s room, where Tess took out her magic bag and began to put her clothes in. Ellie, on the other hand, began finding other essentials such as toiletries, phone chargers, and the like. A few minutes passed before Ellie lifted her head. ¡°Uh, Tess, do you have anything to deal with your period?¡± Tess started. ¡°Oh, crap. Alice and I were going to pick some up while we were shopping, and I guess we just sort of¡­forgot.¡± ¡°Alright, let me go grab some of my stuff for you. If it¡¯s gonna be a month, then¡­¡± Tess grimaced. ¡°Yeah, I know. I¡¯m not particularly looking forward to it.¡± Ellie patted her on the shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s not pleasant, but you¡¯ll get used to it eventually.¡± Ellie left, and Tess resumed her packing. She was about three-quarters of the way through her clothes when who Tess could only assume was Gramps knocked on the door. ¡°Come in!¡± Tess said, not bothering to look away from her work. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Well, it looks like someone decided to get serious.¡± Eyfura said, putting on a wry smile and leaning against the open doorframe. ¡°Mind telling me the reason?¡± Tess¡¯s eyes involuntarily flicked over to the direction of Ellie¡¯s room. She opened her mouth to speak, but Eyfura cut her off before she could, her smile growing even wider. ¡°I see what¡¯s going on here. Frankly, I¡¯m surprised it took you this long to notice.¡± Tess blushed. ¡°I, um¡­¡± Fortunately, she was saved by Ellie herself. ¡°Oh, um¡­hi¡­Eyfura, right?¡± Eyfura scowled, straightening up. ¡°That¡¯s Aunt Eyfura or Auntie to you. I will not stand for such unfamiliarity from the grandkid of my dear friend.¡± She chuckled a little, grabbing Ellie and pulling her into a surprise hug. ¡°I don¡¯t think I really introduced myself when I brought Ilmir over. I was kind of distracted by her¡­less than stellar attitude. I do hope the two of you won¡¯t hold it against her too much, we beastkin don¡¯t really start to mellow out until we¡¯re in our thirties. It¡¯s not an excuse for her behavior, but until she grows up a little, she¡¯s going to listen to emotion over logic. But, if you manage to win her over, she¡¯ll be your staunchest ally, I can guarantee it.¡± Ellie returned the hug but frowned anyway. ¡°She just¡­comes off like she¡¯s not thinking at all. I mean¡­you said you told her Tess was going to be a late bloomer, right?¡± Eyfura released the hug and scratched her cheek embarrassedly. ¡°I might have overstated how clear I had been. Evan and I only gave her a brief overview of Tess¡¯s stuff, and I don¡¯t think she had all the context I thought she did.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a bit better, but it was still really rude. I¡¯m glad you talked to her about it, though.¡± Ellie paused briefly before continuing. ¡°Does she understand now or¡­?¡± Eyfura sighed. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure she does but she¡¯s too stubborn to admit it. I¡¯m hoping we can beat it into her this next month. I¡¯ll be honest, I don¡¯t expect you to win, Tess, but I think you¡¯ll be able to give a good showing.¡± ¡°So¡­why are you here now?¡± Tess asked, changing the subject, ¡°What if someone sees you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna take you back to meet up with Alice, we¡¯re leaving tonight. And if someone sees me¡­Eh, we¡¯re out in the sticks, and no one is going to believe they saw a real wolf-person when it could just be a cosplayer or whatever they¡¯re called.¡± ¡°I guess so¡­¡± Ellie said, ¡°But can¡¯t this wait until morning? It seems a little fast to me, it¡¯s been like¡­ten minutes.¡± ¡°I had actually been talking with Alice about where we would take Tess next when Evan came to talk to us, and we want to get on the road ASAP. Overnight we¡¯re going to be in the hoverer on the way to some dungeons that are farther away, and we want to be able to get to our first dungeon around ten in the morning.¡± ¡°I suppose that¡¯s fine, then.¡± Ellie grumbled. ¡°But we gotta finish packing.¡± Eyfura pushed herself off of the doorframe and went into the room, where she began to grab Tess¡¯s clothes by the handful and shove them into the bag. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about folding or anything.¡± She said, ¡°This looks like one of Kane¡¯s best, it should have an automatic cleaning and ironing function, and you¡¯re not going to run into any space issues unless you¡¯re stuffing refrigerators or something in there; it should have about the capacity of this room.¡± Ellie walked into the room and handed Tess two boxes. ¡°These are pads and tampons.¡± She instructed. ¡°I¡¯m sure Eyfura or Alice can give instructions for you when the time comes, so just ask them, alright?¡± Eyfura nodded. ¡°No worries, I¡¯ll make sure to show her the ropes.¡± Tess grimaced, but stowed away the boxes. ¡°Thanks.¡± Eyfura laughed. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it in time. You just have to learn how to deal with it.¡± The rest of the packing didn¡¯t take much longer, and soon Tess was saying her goodbyes. ¡°Um¡­I¡¯ll see you in a month, I guess.¡± She told Ellie. ¡°I¡¯ll call every night I can, just like I promised.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Ellie said, giving Tess a hug. ¡°I¡¯m going be waiting every night, so make sure you let me know if you don¡¯t think you¡¯re gonna make it for a bit. I¡¯ll be sad if I¡¯m waiting and you don¡¯t call!¡± Behind Ellie, Eyfura gave Tess a huge wink. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll make sure she doesn¡¯t forget. Now let¡¯s get going, time¡¯s a-wasting!¡± ¡°What about Gramps?¡± Tess asked, extracting herself from Ellie¡¯s embrace. ¡°He¡¯s with Alice, he¡¯ll say bye when we meet up with her.¡± Eyfura answered, opening the door to the Outlands and stepping through. ¡°Alright.¡± Tess replied, following after. Eyfura lead her through the back halls of the guild to another of those private rooms, where Gramps and Alice were waiting. ¡°Got her!¡± Eyfura announced. ¡°Ah, Tess.¡± Alice said. ¡°You really surprised me with this, you know? I had just been telling Eyfura that I was wishing we had more time with you so we could go a little farther out and get some other stuff and¡­well, here we are.¡± Eyfura smirked. ¡°Just call it fate.¡± Gramps rolled his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t get dramatic. Tess, do you have everything you need?¡± Tess patted her bag and nodded. ¡°Yup. It¡¯s all in here.¡± Gramps smiled. ¡°Good. Have a good time out there, call back every once in a while, and make sure you do your homework, alright?¡± ¡°Yes, Gramps.¡± He ruffled her hair. ¡°Love you, kiddo.¡± ¡°You too, Gramps.¡± He cast a glance at Eyfura and Alice, gaze hardening. ¡°Take good care of her, got it? If I hear she goes through unnecessary hardship, then we¡¯ll have to have a¡­talk.¡± Alice gulped and gave a shaky nod, but Eyfura was unfazed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about a thing, I¡¯ll make sure nothing bad happens.¡± ¡°Good.¡± And with that unusually threatening talk, he left the room, leaving the three women alone. Alice breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°That was scary. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen the guildmaster get like that.¡± Eyfura shrugged. ¡°He¡¯s really protective of his family. Don¡¯t worry about it too much, I can take responsibility if anything happens.¡± She looked at Tess¡¯s face, then hurriedly added ¡°Which it won¡¯t. But I know how to handle Evan, so don¡¯t worry about that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. Thanks, Eyfura.¡± Alice said, visible relief flooding her face. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be that bad, right?¡± Tess asked. Alice looked away. ¡°The guildmaster can be a scary guy. You really don¡¯t want to see what happens when he gets angry.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°Last time he was angry at me he just grounded me. The lecture was stern, yeah, but¡­¡± She trailed off as Eyfura started laughing. ¡°He¡¯s got three kinds of angry. There¡¯s angry at people he really cares about, there¡¯s just angry, and then there¡¯s angry because someone he cares about got hurt. The consequences for the third¡­let¡¯s just say that you really don¡¯t want to see what happens then.¡± Eyfura explained. ¡°You fall squarely into that first category, so you don¡¯t ever really catch the brunt of his wrath.¡± ¡°Oh. I¡­didn¡¯t know that.¡± ¡°There are a lot of stories about times he¡¯s been angry and the consequences.¡± Alice added. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much of it is true, but I don¡¯t want to risk it.¡± ¡°Most of it is exaggeration.¡± Eyfura confirmed. ¡°But you still don¡¯t want to see it.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Alice said, ¡°But, uh, that aside, why the sudden desire to go all in on training?¡± Eyfura grinned. ¡°She finally realized that Ellie¡¯s been hitting on her this whole time. I think she wants to impress her by getting strong fast.¡± Tess blushed. ¡°Well, I mean, I¡­¡± Alice grinned too. ¡°We get it, we get it. I won¡¯t rib you any more about it, then. We¡¯ll just make sure you¡¯re strong enough to knock her socks off.¡± She stood up, stretching a little. ¡°Are you all ready to go?¡± ¡°Um, yeah.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Good. We¡¯re going a few hundred miles outside of the city, there¡¯s a dungeon that¡¯s a step up from the beginner dungeons there, so it¡¯s the logical next step. It should take quite a bit longer to complete that if we want you to do it by yourself.¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking we¡¯ll just carry her through it after ten or so runs of doing it herself.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°No use wasting time when we¡¯re on a deadline and we know she¡¯s got the point.¡± The three chatted a bit more on their way out of the city, and soon they climbed into the hoverer, and Tess¡¯s sudden month away had begun. Chapter 20: Conflicting Feelings Ellie downed Mama Bear with a spell, watching in satisfaction as the charred corpse burst into rainbow haze. ¡°That was awesome, Ellie!¡± Ilmir cheered. ¡°Keep it up!¡± Ellie frowned. Ilmir had been laying it on thick with the compliments, and it just¡­didn¡¯t feel good. Not with how she had treated Tess. If it had been, say, Ker or Jin, who obviously weren¡¯t playing favorites, or even Eyfura who was clearly trying to help Tess, but given the vast difference in how Ilmir treated people¡­ ¡°We could have taken care of this faster and profited more if Tess was here.¡± Ellie said sulkily. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure. I mean, the monsters here are stronger than the ones in the other dungeon we were at, and she took a while in the boss there, so in fights like this we¡¯d have to divide our attention trying to keep her safe. You really don¡¯t need her, she¡¯s just dragging you down.¡± ¡°Actually, she was being considerate.¡± Jin corrected. ¡°From what Alice told me, she was able to take that boss out in one hit when she was on her own, she was just making sure Ellie was able to get a share of the EXP.¡± The group had moved back into the lobby at this point, but Ilmir didn¡¯t give the argument up. ¡°So? It¡¯s still a goblin and she¡¯s in the twenties. It doesn¡¯t mean anything. When she¡¯s able to do the same to something tanky like Mama Bear or something from a harder dungeon, then we¡¯ll talk. She¡¯s being carried by being way overleveled and that¡¯s not going to last.¡± ¡°Yeah, but by then she¡¯ll have way better Skills.¡± Ellie argued. ¡°If we¡¯re saying that, then I¡¯m being carried by having way higher stats.¡± ¡°Her Skills can only take her so far.¡± Ilmir countered. ¡°She¡¯s got a lot of status stuff, but that doesn¡¯t mean anything if she can¡¯t do any damage. Alright, let¡¯s say she paralyzes something. What then? If she can¡¯t hurt it, she can¡¯t apply her bleed.¡± ¡°At that point I come in and give a coup de grace. She¡¯s not working in a vacuum.¡± ¡°Not if you¡¯re busy trying to keep three other monsters from taking her out.¡± ¡°Theoretically speaking, that¡¯s probably not even necessary.¡± Ker pointed out. ¡°Only bosses or other smart things are going to target her, and if she gets over her fear of using her abilities to their full extent, she¡¯ll have a couple of minions able to take heat for her.¡± ¡°Yeah, but from what I¡¯ve seen she¡¯s not going to get over it.¡± Ilmir said flatly. ¡°She¡¯s spineless.¡± ¡°She is not!¡± Ellie protested. ¡°She¡¯s just going through a lot of changes right now, and she cares about what other people feel, unlike you.¡± Ilmir shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m saving you both hardship in the future. It may hurt now, but, in a few years when you and I are in the harder dungeons, you¡¯ll thank me.¡± Ellie grit her teeth. ¡°Grandpa and Aunt Eyfura believe in her, so why can¡¯t you? I¡¯m pretty sure they know better than you.¡± Ilmir opened her mouth to reply, but Jin cut her off. ¡°That¡¯s enough. Ilmir, you¡¯re entitled to your opinion, but if you don¡¯t refrain from voicing it, then I¡¯ll have no choice but to call your grandmother. She told me to do that if you started causing problems, and I won¡¯t hesitate. Understand?¡± Ilmir gulped. ¡°Y-yes, sir.¡± She replied, immediately cowed. ¡°Furthermore, you¡¯re being an awful teammate. Causing dissent in the party like this is liable to get someone killed, and, in my opinion, is more harmful than even having a completely useless person on the team. Ker and I have escorted a couple of people who thought they could handle themselves in a fight and trying to protect them while they go up against something out of their league is much easier than dealing with internal strife.¡± Jin lectured. ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°But nothing. At the end of the day, you¡¯re placing too much focus on raw combat ability and not thinking about other aspects of a team. Even if Tess couldn¡¯t directly contribute to a fight by dealing damage, there are a myriad of other ways she can help out a team, both in and out of combat. By tomorrow, I¡¯ll be expecting you to come back with at least five of those. Otherwise you¡¯ll be given a punishment.¡± Ilmir frowned. ¡°You can¡¯t¨C¡± ¡°I can and I will.¡± Jin replied calmly. ¡°Eyfura gave me full permission to train you as I see fit. And, the way I see it, you¡¯re too focused on fighting. Now, we¡¯re going to go back in there and we¡¯re going to finish this grind off, and I don¡¯t want to hear another word about it. Understood?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Ilmir pouted. Ellie smiled inwardly. She couldn¡¯t wait for Tess to come back so she could prove Ilmir wrong, but she would be lying if she said there wasn¡¯t a seed of doubt being planted. What if Ilmir was right? Everything she knew and had been told said that Tess would be strong eventually, but she couldn¡¯t get rid of that nasty ¡°what if¡± in the back of her mind. She shook her head, clearing the thoughts away for the moment. All she could do now was believe in Tess and train herself so that when Tess came back, she could properly support her. Ellie hefted her sword, putting on a determined face. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s do this.¡±
Ellie kicked her feet back and forth on the bed excitedly, holding her phone in front of her. She had just finished her first call with Tess and there was something¡­different about it. It was nice to be able to talk to the target of her affections every day but talking over the phone at night was¡­she couldn¡¯t articulate it. It made her feel like she was really pursuing a relationship. Still, she had to wonder why the sudden change in Tess¡¯s behavior. She wasn¡¯t the type to do something so bold without provocation, but Ellie couldn¡¯t figure out what could have done it. She didn¡¯t fully buy the whole ¡°prove to myself¡± thing that Tess had been going on about. That might have been part of it, but it couldn¡¯t be the whole reason; she wouldn¡¯t be so sudden about it. It had to have been something to do with the visit from Jacob, but that didn¡¯t make sense to Ellie either. Tess didn¡¯t seem like she had been bothered that much by the visit, and even if she had, then all she had to do was say she didn¡¯t want to have any visitors. Furthermore, there was a determination in Tess that hadn¡¯t been there before. That had not been the bearing of someone who was running away from her problems. So, Ellie was left baffled.
That¡¯s kiiiiinda my b. There¡¯s a possibility I was getting frustrated with how oblivious she was being to your affections and I was a little too obvious with my hints. I had been trying to be subtle, but I messed up and was wasn¡¯t subtle enough and she kinda figured out you like her Sorry
Oh. That meant that this, in some way, came back to Ellie. Fortunately, Tess hadn¡¯t seemed off-put, if Ellie was any judge. Theoretically, if Tess returned Ellie¡¯s feelings¡­could she be trying to prove that she was good enough to be on a party with Ellie? If so, that was adorable, but Ellie couldn¡¯t get too hopeful just yet. Yes, she had obviously had feelings for Ellie in the past, but that had been years ago. Still, she couldn¡¯t help but grab a pillow and squeeze it tightly, letting out a little squeal. Tess was just too much of a cutie for her to handle. She¡¯d once again have to thank her lucky stars that things had turned out this way, because she couldn¡¯t have asked for anything better. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
You¡¯re welcome ;).
Ellie bolted upright. Did that mean Fortune was more responsible for Tess becoming a girl than Ellie had thought? She knew Fortune had been somewhat involved, but really wasn¡¯t sure how she felt about her being a more direct cause. On the one hand, it was everything Ellie had ever wanted. But, on the other¡­well, it was really shaking up Tess¡¯s life, and it was causing her a lot of stress. Actually¡­was it right that Ellie was so happy about this? Now that she was thinking about it, it kind of felt like profiting from someone¡¯s misfortune. It was everything Ellie had ever wanted, sure, but Tess hadn¡¯t wanted this, and it¡¯s not like Tess seemed any happier for it or anything.
It¡¯s¡­more complicated than that. I can¡¯t say more now, and I¡¯m sort of out of my ¡®contact Ellie¡¯ budget for a bit so I won¡¯t be able to explain much more, just know that it¡¯s not because of anything you¡¯re thinking. It¡¯s entirely¡­well, it¡¯s mostly incidental. I didn¡¯t do this to force a relationship between you two or because I wanted Tess to suffer or anything, she¡¯s like a daughter to me. You¡¯ll understand everything in time, just¡­don¡¯t think too badly of me until then, please.
Ellie frowned. That didn¡¯t completely alleviate her worries with regards to Fortune, but it was better than nothing. Still, she had to pursue this new line of thought about her own feelings. She hadn¡¯t really taken the time to think about how potentially wrong it was. It¡­kind of made her feel like a piece of trash. She hadn¡¯t really thought about it in this light before, and certainly hadn¡¯t in any of her scenarios. She squeezed her pillow tighter, her joyous feet kicking having completely stopped. This really wasn¡¯t a good feeling; she wouldn¡¯t be pleased if someone else was happy about something bad that happened to her, so she couldn¡¯t imagine Tess would be any different. And that hurt, knowing that the way she felt could potentially hurt the one she loved. She groaned, rolling around on the bed. It wasn¡¯t like she could just stop being this happy, not when this had been a long-time hidden dream of hers. No, she¡¯d have no choice but to make it up to Tess however she could. Once Tess was back and this whole bet nonsense was over with, she¡¯d come clean and beg for forgiveness, and hope Tess wouldn¡¯t be too off-put by it. It still didn¡¯t make her feel any better, though. She probably wouldn¡¯t until everything was out in the open. Her phone buzzed and she jumped, shocked out of her reverie by the device. She turned the screen on to find a message from Tess. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to do your homework too!¡± It read, ¡°I know things are crazy, but Gramps is gonna be really mad if you fail!¡± Ellie couldn¡¯t help but giggle and shoot a text back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, I won¡¯t :)¡± The two ended up conversing a little while longer, even though they had just finished speaking over the phone, and Ellie had to admit that it lifted her spirits to an extent. She still kind of felt bad about the fact that just talking to Tess helped, but she supposed she could allow herself that. If she didn¡¯t¡­well, the next month was going to be incredibly hard.
Earlier that day, Tess was woken by Eyfura gently shaking her. ¡°Hey, sleeping beauty, wake up.¡± Eyfura said, smiling faintly. Tess groaned, stirring. After the previous night she really shouldn¡¯t have been surprised that the hoverer came with really nice pull-out beds, but she had been regardless. It turned out that the hoverer was actually something akin to an RV with a really nice coat of paint on it; a few hours after they had set out, Alice moved to the front and started messing about with the console. A smooth yet distinctly artificial voice rang out, instructing people to stay away from the front end of the craft while a rearrangement was in progress, and the front four rows of seats began to glow. After a few seconds, the hoverer glided to a stop and the walls the glowing chairs were attached to began to scoot outwards, eventually stopping once the area was around twice as wide as the other parts of the hoverer. At that point the glowing seats folded back into the wall, and after a moment of stillness a fully-functional kitchen slid out of the walls in their place. Alice grinned as she looked at Tess¡¯s slack-jawed expression, and reached into one of the cabinets, pulling out a pot. ¡°Let¡¯s have some soup, shall we?¡± After their dinner Alice once again messed with the terminal, and this time the entirety of the sitting area was folded back out to make room for the beds, where the three women slept for the night. And that led to where Tess was now, gradually clawing her way back into full wakefulness. Eyfura placed a tray of food on a small table in front of Tess. ¡°Eat up, it¡¯s going to be a long day and you need your breakfast.¡± ¡°Thanks, Eyfura.¡± Tess mumbled. Eyfura slid the table away from Tess. ¡°Nuh-uh-uh.¡± She wagged a finger, still smiling that faint smile. ¡°I¡¯ve changed my mind about things. You call me Auntie from now on. You and Ellie keep forgetting to call me Aunt Eyfura, so I¡¯m putting my foot down.¡± Tess hesitated. ¡°Thanks, Auntie.¡± Eyfura beamed, pushing the table back to Tess. ¡°Better.¡± ¡°Um, we haven¡¯t really even known each other for that long, though.¡± Tess began. ¡°Are you sure about being this intimate?¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t known me for that long.¡± Eyfura corrected. ¡°I¡¯ve known you for a lot longer.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°But when we met a few days ago you said¡­¡± ¡°That I was dying to meet you? Yes, but that¡¯s only partially accurate. I was dying to meet you as Tess, but Thomas is a different story. We met back at Ellie¡¯s parent¡¯s funeral.¡± Tess¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°But¡­¡± Eyfura reached into her bag, taking out a ring. When she put it on her beastkin features vanished, and she looked just like a human. ¡°You¡¯d be surprised how many non-humans were there.¡± She said, smirking. ¡°I¡¯d be surprised if you remember our encounter, it was pretty brief.¡± She took off the ring, putting it back in the bag. ¡°But, even more than that, your grandfather won¡¯t shut up about you and Ellie. I mean, I get feeling proud about your grandkids and all, but sometimes I feel like I know more about you than I do Ilmir.¡± Eyfura shrugged. ¡°Just think of me as that one aunt you barely know at the family reunion, if that helps. It¡¯s honestly not too far off from the truth.¡± ¡°I¡­yeah, that actually does help.¡± Tess replied, beginning to eat her food. ¡°Good to hear.¡± Alice said, coming out from the bathroom. ¡°We¡¯ve got half an hour to be ready, then we¡¯re going in, OK?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°What¡¯s the dungeon like?¡± ¡°Like the other dungeons you¡¯ve been to, but combined. Tougher monsters, tougher traps, bigger floors, more floors.¡± Alice listed, ¡°But the rewards are also better.¡± ¡°Not that much better for Tess, actually.¡± Eyfura corrected. ¡°The beginner dungeons¡¯ Rewards Crystal rewards are too good for the difficulty, with the best stuff being as good as the best stuff this place has to offer, just rarer. So, while for most people the Rewards Crystals from dungeons like these are better, that¡¯s not really the case for Tess. ¡°Anyway, what this dungeon has that the beginner dungeons don¡¯t is treasure chests. Get used to those, you¡¯re going to see them a lot. The appearance rate and contents are based on the party¡¯s Luck, and¡­well, we know how that¡¯s going to turn out.¡± Tess nodded, swallowing a bite of bacon. ¡°Sounds cool.¡± Alice shook her head. ¡°I really envy you sometimes,¡± She said, shaking her head. ¡°Still, if we want to make the most of this month, we gotta hurry. While you eat, I¡¯m going to give you the rundown on this dungeon, alright? That way we¡¯re not wasting time.¡± ¡°Good idea,¡± Eyfura said, standing up and making her way towards the kitchen, ¡°I¡¯m going to finish cooking the rest of the food, let me know if either of you want seconds, alright?¡± ¡°Yes, Ey¨C¡± Tess stopped, correcting herself, ¡°Yes, Auntie.¡± She started, realizing she had forgotten something. ¡°Um, I had been thinking¡­¡± She began nervously. ¡°Go on.¡± Eyfura prodded. ¡°I was thinking about how weird it felt having so much better hearing now, and how that wasn¡¯t really¡­humanly possible, and I was thinking that, maybe, it might be a good idea to put on like¡­a wolf ear and tail Attribute when I¡¯m in the Outlands, to help give more of an excuse for better senses and the claws and stuff.¡± She babbled, it all just sort of spilling out when she mentioned it, despite the embarrassment she was feeling. Eyfura thought about that for a second. ¡°I think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± She eventually said, ¡°I hadn¡¯t even thought of that. Well, I didn¡¯t know that was a thing you could do, but I don¡¯t know if I would have thought of it if you had.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t particularly see a need for it, but if you¡¯re not using those slots for something else then go for it if it makes you feel better.¡± Alice added. Tess nodded, taking the Attribute from the Monstrous Wolf (Young) core she had yet to eject and putting it into one of her slots. She had a few she had yet to put anything in, having been content with her current loadout and not really seeing anything worth taking from the cores she had. The only really tempting one was Iron Fur from the Emperor Lion, but she wasn¡¯t particularly interested in growing a layer of fur over her body. Especially when she found out how clothes felt over the fur. It was not comfortable. So, she had just left well enough alone; if she really needed anything it didn¡¯t take any time to take it out of the core, only putting an Attribute in did, as far as she could tell. Eyfura smiled as the blond ears and tail sprouted, then laughed as she saw Tess¡¯s expression. ¡°Yeah, if you don¡¯t make room for the tail, pants are tricky. The key is to wear them a little lower than you¡¯re used to, the tail will hide anything you¡¯re worried will show. I mean, there¡¯s a little more skin, yeah, but it¡¯s barely even noticeable. And you got your armor from Io¡¯s, right?¡± She continued, seeing Alice¡¯s nod. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the armor, then. It¡¯ll adapt itself to fit.¡± She winked and left to cook, while Alice sat down across from Tess and began her explanation. Soon afterwards, everyone was geared up and ready to go. It was time for Tess¡¯s first real dungeon dive. Chapter 21: Talking it Out The lobby of the dungeon was set up¡­differently than the ones in the city. Walls had been erected, turning what was usually a wide-open space into something much more enclosed. The Party Crystal was still in the open area, and the path to the doors that would lead into the ¡°proper¡± dungeon floor was still open, but the rest of the area was behind a door with a keypad, save for what looked strikingly like a receptionist¡¯s desk. ¡°Hi there!¡± An elvish man said, walking out from the back and positioning himself behind the counter. ¡°Welcome to the Reshi Suites, are you just here to challenge the dungeon or will you be staying with us?¡± Alice gave the somewhat bewildered Tess a huge wink, then walked up to the desk. ¡°Hi, my name¡¯s Alice Reshi, and me and my friends Eyfura Almes and Tess Los,¡± She motioned to Eyfura and Tess, ¡°Are looking for somewhere to stay for a few nights while we clear this dungeon. I trust you have some rooms available?¡± Blood drained from the man¡¯s face as he looked between Eyfura and Alice. ¡°U-uh, let me get my manager.¡± He squeaked, scuttling back into the back area of what Tess was beginning to realize was a hotel. She heard a brief argument that, even with her enhanced hearing she could only barely make out bits and pieces of, muffled through what sounded like multiple walls. Something about procedure and some sort of test. Eventually, a grumpy looking¡­orc, by the looks of it, made his way to the front area. He pulled out a small stone plate, which he laid out on the counter. He gave Alice an unimpressed look and began to speak. ¡°Here at the Reshi Suites we don¡¯t take kindly to impersonators. If you are who you say you are, then I expect you know what to do.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Alice said smoothly, picking up the plate and unceremoniously breaking it with a gauntleted hand. ¡°If you would bring out the real one, please.¡± The orc¡¯s expression changed somewhat, becoming a bit more cautious. He bent down and picked up a much smaller plate, which he placed in front of Alice. She placed a finger on it and the plate began to glow softly. The orc bent down squinting at something behind the counter that Tess couldn¡¯t see. Then, as if a switched was flipped, he stood to attention. ¡°S-sorry, ma¡¯am.¡± He said hurriedly. ¡°You know how it is. Have to check for imposters.¡± Alice laughed. ¡°Nothing to apologize for. I was the one who ordered this system be put into place, so I can¡¯t exactly get angry about it, can I? We¡¯ll have the penthouse suite, so long as it¡¯s available.¡± ¡°Of course, let me check¡­¡± The orc tapped away at a computer for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s open. How long will you be staying? Alice shrugged. ¡°Three days, give or take a day. Depends on how long we take to fully clear this place.¡± The man looked at Eyfura, back to Alice, and then at Tess. ¡°For the little lady, I assume?¡± Alice nodded. ¡°This is Tess, she¡¯s the guildmaster¡¯s granddaughter. He¡¯s tasked Eyfura and my party with training her, so we¡¯re on something of an excursion.¡± ¡°I¡­see.¡± He was looking at Tess quite a bit more respectfully now, then he shook his head, bending down and grabbing three cards from below the desk. ¡°You know when breakfast is, but if you¡¯re hungry don¡¯t feel afraid to ask for room service, we won¡¯t charge you anything.¡± He said, handing the cards to Alice. Alice flashed him a smile, reaching into her bag and pulling out a couple of gold coins. ¡°Much appreciated.¡± She said, handing them to the man. ¡°Here¡¯s your tip, you may go. Please call the other receptionist out here, though, I¡¯d like to speak with him.¡± The orc bowed and retreated, and soon the elf was back, looking incredibly nervous. ¡°Y-you wanted to speak with me, ma¡¯am?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Alice said, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°J-James.¡± He stammered. ¡°Well, James, you¡¯re doing a fine job.¡± She pulled five gold coins out of her bag and handed them to him, then smiled and patted his shoulder. ¡°There¡¯s your tip, a little payment for having to deal with my teasing. Now, we¡¯re going to be off, let your boss know the room doesn¡¯t need to be ready until eight, we¡¯ll be in the dungeon until then.¡± ¡°Y-yes, ma¡¯am.¡± He replied, saluting. Alice turned around, handing a card to both Eyfura and Tess. ¡°Sorry about the delay, let¡¯s get going, shall we?¡± ¡°Wait, you¡¯re not just going to brush that off without explaining¡± Tess said, ¡°Why is there a hotel here?¡± Alice smirked. ¡°This was my brainchild, actually. I realized that a lot of dungeon¡¯s living spaces were going unused because they were just too far from anything, and it wasn¡¯t convenient to live there full-time. But freelancers often go to out of the way dungeons like this, so I decided to negotiate with the guild and open up hotels in dungeons like this. ¡°So, we house employees here, drop them supplies when needed, and we make a killing. It really beats the camping out people had to do before.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t they just use the empty rooms?¡± Tess asked. Alice shrugged. ¡°Dungeons can somehow tell the intent of people trying to use the rooms. If they¡¯re not there to permanently maintain them, then the dungeon won¡¯t give out the keys. We¡¯ve basically got a couple of caretakers with all the keys who maintain the rooms.¡± She frowned. ¡°It¡¯s not perfect, though. Some dungeons just won¡¯t let it happen. Usually the ones in cities. Dungeons out in the middle of nowhere are much more likely to let us use them. Anyway, we can talk about this later. I¡¯m itching to get started.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Eyfura said, ¡°Let¡¯s use the Party Crystal and get going.¡± The three women formed a party, and soon were in the dungeon itself. The interior was akin to that of the first dungeon she had been in; discrete brick rooms separated by doors, archways, or halls. ¡°You¡¯re up front.¡± Eyfura said, nudging Tess forward. ¡°You¡¯re gonna make for an extraordinary scout, so get used to looking for traps. Remember what we taught you in Rogue¡¯s Den, look for suspicious points and especially check areas like places between rooms and chests and stuff.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Tess crept forward carefully, looking for anything¡­wrong. Once she gave the go-ahead, Alice and Eyfura followed behind her, and they made their way through the floor. The monsters were slightly tougher looking goblins, as well as some wolves that the goblins seemed to have¡­controlled, for lack of a better word. They had leash-like chains, and weren¡¯t directly attacking the goblins, but they didn¡¯t seem to be trying to directly help them, either. The goblins basically just let the chains go and let the wolves attack the party, which didn¡¯t always work out for them; sometimes the wolves and goblins would trip each other up, letting Tess finish them off much easier. They proceeded through the dungeon for a while, going through a couple of floors before the first big change of pace from the previous dungeons; a treasure chest. ¡°Check it for traps before opening.¡± Alice cautioned. Tess dutifully checked the chest and found it to be safe, so she opened it up. Inside was a set of bottles in a small container, filled with liquids of all sorts of colors. Tess gingerly took the box of potions out, showing it to Alice and Eyfura. ¡°Do you know what kind of potions these are?¡± She asked. Alice shook her head. ¡°Not off the top of my head, no. Hotel staff should be able to identify them for us. If you¡¯re not with me that¡¯ll cost extra, but¡­well, you know how it is.¡± She smirked, ¡°Just put those in your bag. We¡¯ll deal with them later.¡± As they went through the dungeon, the teamwork between the goblins and the wolves became better and better, eventually reaching the point where the goblins were riding the wolves. Tess was also clearly able to see the difference in length between this dungeon and the beginner dungeons; even accounting for the fact that this dungeon apparently lacked a Challenge, it had been five hours and 15 floors, and they were only just getting to the boss. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The boss was a pair boss, consisting of a goblin knight and a big wolf she was riding. It was like Big Bertha in that there weren¡¯t any special mechanics, just a straight fight against a tough enemy. It went pretty smoothly. Eyfura kept the wolf distracted while Alice did the same for the knight, and Tess just kept attacking until it died. Tess picked up the cores, and then went to the Rewards Crystal, claiming her prize, and then they went back to the start so they could do it all again. After their second run, which was about an hour or so faster now that Tess was getting a feel for the dungeon¡¯s trap placement, they identified the potions and other loot Tess had received. They then retired to the penthouse suite, which was just as fancy as the name implied. From there, Tess had her nightly call with Ellie, absorbed the cores she had gotten that day, shuffled around her Attributes, and then got to work on the homework she still had to do. After all that was done it was around eleven o¡¯clock, and she went to sleep, feeling fulfilled; she had a goal now, and working towards that felt far better than just doing the dungeons because she wanted to be stronger.
¡°Ker, can we talk? Like¡­alone?¡± Ellie asked, somewhat hesitantly. They had just finished the day¡¯s training and were in the guild taking off their armor and just generally getting ready to finish the day off. And, well¡­Ellie was just feeling a bit lost, and Ker had made the offer to help her before, so she figured it was worth a shot. Ker gave a nod to Jin, and the goliath gently took Ellie to the side. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± He asked, concerned. ¡°Um, I had just been thinking last night and I realized that¡­I¡¯m really happy that Tess became a girl.¡± Ellie admitted, looking down. ¡°It¡¯s something I had fantasized about for years and just¡­I realized that it¡¯s something that¡¯s causing her a lot of stress. And it¡¯s like...like I¡¯m happy about her suffering. I don¡¯t know, I just¡­feel really bad about it.¡± Ker sighed, placing a comforting hand on Ellie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s rough.¡± He said. ¡°I can¡¯t say you shouldn¡¯t feel bad at all, but¡­I think the fact that you¡¯re feeling bad is a good sign. To me that says you care about how Tess feels. But that¡¯s a hard thing to reconcile. If I were you, I¡¯d give her a call and talk it out.¡± ¡°But...I want to let her broach the subject.¡± Ellie said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to force this on her when she¡¯s feeling so confused. I might feel bad, but she¡¯s got a lot on her plate. Her wrestling with her new sex has to be just as difficult as wrestling with my sexuality was, and I wouldn¡¯t have wanted complications like this coming up when I was coming to terms with things.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, then, but what are you going to do if she doesn¡¯t bring it up? Just feel awful for however long it takes for her to accept things? That doesn¡¯t seem healthy to me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just going to be a month.¡± Ellie said confidently. ¡°Then she¡¯s going to come to talk to me about it. Um, if she wins, that is.¡± ¡°Ah, so you know she knows, then.¡± Ker replied. ¡°Honestly that makes it easier. You¡¯re not springing things on her, in that case. Just talk it out, I can guarantee you¡¯ll both feel better for it.¡± ¡°But¡­she¡¯s not talking, so she¡¯s not ready, right?¡± Ker raised an eyebrow. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure. I¡¯ve lived a long time, and in my experience a lot of awkward misunderstandings and bad feelings can be cleared up with a simple conversation. Try it, I think you¡¯ll be pleasantly surprised. If Tess was here right now asking you what to do about your feelings, regardless of whether or not she reciprocates I¡¯d tell her to talk it out with you.¡± ¡°But what if I hurt her? Like¡­now that she¡¯s a woman I¡¯m gunning for her and saying something just reminds her of what¡¯s causing her problems?¡± Ker hesitated. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to be the case, I don¡¯t think it would be nearly her bad as, say, her period will be. But if we¡¯re all right and she¡¯s trying to prove to herself that she¡¯s worth you, then I think it¡¯ll be good for her to hear.¡± ¡°She doesn¡¯t have to prove that.¡± Ellie protested. ¡°She¡¯s out of my league. I mean, have you seen her? She¡¯s super sweet, really enjoyable to just¡­relax with, has a huge amount of potential, and she¡¯s unbelievably hot.¡± ¡°Have you told her that?¡± ¡°¡­No.¡± Ellie admitted. ¡°Then tell her.¡± Ker pressed. ¡°She¡¯ll feel better for the compliment, at least.¡± Ellie was silent for a long moment, thinking on that. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell her tonight.¡± Ker smiled, patting her on the back. ¡°Let me know how it goes, okay? I¡¯m rooting for you.¡± Ellie gave a weak smile in return. ¡°Thanks.¡± The two rejoined the main group, and Ilmir gave Ellie a curious look. ¡°You doing okay? You look like you¡¯re about to head into battle or something.¡± Ellie looked away. ¡°Something like that.¡± ¡°Well, if it¡¯s anything I can help with, let me know, I¡¯m always here for you.¡± Ilmir replied. Ellie bit back a retort. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind, but I¡¯ve got to get going.¡± Ilmir smiled at her. ¡°Well, you have a good night, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow, kay?¡± Ellie frowned internally but gave a polite ¡°See you tomorrow¡± in response. Soon, she was back in Gramps¡¯s office and was creating the door between there and their house in Mael. It was as simple as just pouring some of her Mana into the right area of the wall, though, from what Gramps had told her, that would only work for people he had allowed. She went back to her room, and began to do her homework, checking her phone every few minutes to see if she had any messages from Tess. Finally, after a couple hours, her phone began to ring. She jumped in surprise, then hurriedly grabbed the phone, answering the call. ¡°Tess, how are you doing? Is the dungeon raid still going well?¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing pretty good, and the dungeon was pretty much the same as yesterday. I¡¯ve gotten a bunch faster, though, so tomorrow Alice and Auntie are going to start clearing enemies and traps and we¡¯re going to try and finish off the rest of this dungeon tomorrow or early the next day. How are things on your end?¡± ¡°Um, things are about the same.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Just going through dungeons and trying to tune out Ilmir.¡± ¡°Let me know if you can¡¯t handle it anymore. I¡¯ll talk to Eyfura and we can stop the whole training thing. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s worth it if it¡¯s making you that upset.¡± Ellie couldn¡¯t help but clutch her heart. Tess was too sweet. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Jin and Ker are keeping her under control. She didn¡¯t say anything too bad about you today, it¡¯s more that she¡¯s constantly complimenting me and kissing up to me and it just¡­feels bad when I think about how badly she¡¯s been treating you.¡± Tess was silent for a bit. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to prove her wrong, whatever it takes. Then we won¡¯t have to worry about this.¡± Right, well, that was sort of a tie-in to what she really wanted to talk about right now. ¡°Um, can we¡­talk? Like, about something a bit more serious? You might want to be somewhere Alice and Aunt Eyfura can¡¯t hear you.¡± ¡°Oh. Uh, yeah, give me a sec.¡± There was some shuffling and the sound of a door opening and then closing, and then Tess began to talk again. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m in a private place now. What¡¯s up?¡± Ellie took a deep breath. ¡°Well, um, it¡¯s come to my attention that you, uh, figured out that I am¡­kind of in love with you.¡± There was a long, long silence. ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said eventually. ¡°I did. Um¡­¡± She trailed off, obviously unsure of what to say. ¡°I¡­just wanted to clear the air.¡± Ellie said, ¡°To be honest, I was really, really, really happy when you turned into a girl. It¡¯s something I¡¯ve had fantasies about for years and years. I always thought you would be just my type, but¡­I¡¯m not into men at all. And so, when it finally happened, I was over the moon. ¡°I¡­just guess I want you to know that I¡¯m sorry. I know that¡¯s a really awful thing to feel happy about when it¡¯s stressing you out so much, I just¡­can¡¯t help myself. You¡¯re really sweet, I love to just¡­hang out and chill with you, you¡¯ve got so, so much potential as a freelancer, and you¡¯re honestly the most beautiful woman I¡¯ve ever seen in my entire life. I¡­I don¡¯t know. I know you¡¯re way out of my league, but I was hoping we could maybe go on a few dates when you get back and see how things go from there?¡± Ellie stopped to catch her breath, waiting tensely for Tess¡¯s reply. ¡°What?¡± A flustered Tess said, ¡°I¡¯m out of your league? I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s the other way around! You¡¯re like...the most sought-after girl in school, I swear! Do you know how many of my friends have had crushes on you at one point or another? I had a crush on you for a really long time too, but¡­nothing ever came of it, so I just sort of let it go and had to be content with being your friend.¡± ¡°I¡­I know. I noticed, I just really, really didn¡¯t want to hurt your feelings, so I pretended I didn¡¯t. Looking back on it, it probably wasn¡¯t the best to give you hope for as long as you had it, I should have come out a long time ago, I was¡­just scared.¡± Ellie admitted. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s fine. That stuff is hard.¡± There was another long silence, broken when Ellie spoke up. ¡°You¡­don¡¯t hate me, right? As soon as you realized you left on this trip and I¡­I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve been really clingy and overbearing lately.¡± ¡°What? No, absolutely not!¡± Tess said immediately. ¡°I was happy too. I¡­might not be as over you as I thought I was. Um, I¡­might have left to prove that I was worthy of being in a party with you. I don¡¯t want to drag you down like Ilmir is claiming I will.¡± Ellie laughed, though there was an edge of shame to it. ¡°See? Stuff like this is why you¡¯re too good for me. I¡¯ve been having all these really, really selfish, hurtful feelings and you¡¯re always thinking of others first.¡± ¡°No, you¡¯re totally fine.¡± Tess said soothingly, ¡°I would have been just as happy if you suddenly had swapped orientations and were interested in me and were all panicking about it. This sort of thing doesn¡¯t bother me, especially when I feel the same about you.¡± There was yet another long silence, neither sure what to say. ¡°So¡­what now?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I¡­still want to finish this outing.¡± Tess said determinedly, ¡°It¡¯s something I feel I have to do if I want to be serious about this. But¡­um, after I get back, if I manage to do this, then¡­maybe we can just go straight to dating? It sounds like we both are interested, so¡­why bother with seeing where things go? We know each other well enough at this point.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Ellie squealed. ¡°I¡¯d love to! I¡¯m going to come out to everyone too, so we can ¡°officially¡± be an item. Um, so long as you¡¯re fine with coming out too. I don¡¯t know how you feel about that.¡± ¡°Yeah, that was always my plan.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°I want as few men coming onto me as possible. I¡¯m not attracted to them, so I just¡­don¡¯t want to deal with any of that awkwardness.¡± Ellie laughed, this time with pure, relieved happiness. ¡°I totally know how you feel. I¡¯ve had to turn more than one guy down, it¡¯s not fun.¡± They talked for the next hour, and when it was over Ellie was grinning from ear to ear. Ker had been totally right ¨C talking it out had made things better for both of them. Well, she couldn¡¯t be completely sure Tess was feeling better, but it sounded like she was. It was like a wall neither of them knew had been erected had been torn down, and Ellie couldn¡¯t be any happier. Chapter 22: Boosters The next morning, Tess was woken by banging from outside of the hotel room. She yawned, stretching and looking back to see that Eyfura and Alice were still asleep. A glance at the clock told her it was three in the morning, but it didn¡¯t seem like whoever it was was going to go away. So, she shuffled over to the door and looked through the peephole. On the other side she found a rather indignant-looking demon staring at the door, preparing to knock again. She was fairly tall, with long black hair, a glossy set of horns, bat wings, and a spade shaped tail. Her skin was perfectly tanned and her clothes, though they were sleepwear and clearly made for comfort, were ornate and obviously expensive. Tess opened the door a crack, not taking off the chain so that the demon couldn¡¯t try to force the door open any more. ¡°Hello?¡± She asked sleepily, ¡°Do you need something? We¡¯re trying to sleep.¡± The demon¡¯s face reddened. ¡°Yes, I need something.¡± She hissed. ¡°I put word out among high society that I would be visiting this dungeon sometime this week, and when I got here, I found that some knucklehead had booked the penthouse for some indeterminate amount of time. Do you have any idea how incensed that makes me?¡± Tess blinked. ¡°Did you make a reservation?¡± ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have to. There¡¯s no use spending that extra cash on booking some really expensive room after I made it clear I would be here this week. Just who do you think you are?!¡± ¡°Um, I¡¯m Tess. Who are you?¡± The demon hissed. ¡°What do you mean ¡°who are you¡±!? How can you not know who I am?!¡± Tess shrugged, too tired to care about any of this. ¡°I¡¯m still new to the business, haven¡¯t met many people. It¡¯s not my fault your memo didn¡¯t make it to us.¡± The girl growled. ¡°What¡¯s your last name?¡± ¡°Los. Why?¡± The demon smirked triumphantly. ¡°I¡¯ll be pulling some strings and you¡¯ll soon find it hard to find anyone willing to work with you. You should really learn to watch your tongue around important people.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cool and all, but I think you should do your research first.¡± Eyfura said calmly, unhooking the chain and opening the door all the way. ¡°The irony of this situation is astounding.¡± The girl opened her mouth to retort, but froze as she took Eyfura in. Trembling, she turned to a short elf man who Tess had been unable to see until the door had been opened all the way. ¡°Are there¡­¡± The man shook his head. ¡°No illusions, my lady. She¡¯s the real deal.¡± Eyfura was smirking. ¡°You see, the funny thing about this little lady right here is that she¡¯s important enough to not really find people like you important at all. So, let me ask you: how can you not know who she is?¡± Eyfura patted Tess¡¯s head, tussling her hair a little. ¡°I-I¡¯ve never seen her at any important functions, L-Lady Almes.¡± The demon stuttered. ¡°S-so I assumed¡­¡± Eyfura yawned theatrically. ¡°That¡¯s because she hasn¡¯t been to any. However, if you had been paying any modicum of attention to the rumor mill as of late, you would know that Evan¡¯s grandkids have recently begun training as freelancers.¡± ¡°Evan¡­¡± She thought on that name for a beat, then understanding dawned on her face and she paled considerably. ¡°You mean Lord Los?¡± ¡°He prefers Guildmaster Los, but yes.¡± Eyfura replied lazily, giving Tess another pat. ¡°And, between my presence, the things I¡¯ve told you, this cutie¡¯s name, and the look on your face, you seem to have realized what I¡¯m getting at.¡± The demon nodded furiously. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, Lady Los. I didn¡¯t realize, please forgive me.¡± ¡°Sure? I guess?¡± Tess replied, bewildered. ¡°That was super rude, but I can understand how coming to a hotel and finding the room you expected to stay in was full would be frustrating.¡± ¡°Hey, what are you all making such a racket about this early in the morning?¡± Alice asked grumpily, stalking into the hall. She stopped once she saw the people in the hallway, narrowing her eyes. ¡°These people were quite angry that the suite was filled and were giving Tess an earful.¡± Eyfura said innocently, turning to Alice. ¡°Did she have a reservation?¡± Alice asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°She said no, but that she had spread word among important people that she¡¯d be coming here sometime this week.¡± Tess said. Alice raised the eyebrow even further. ¡°First I¡¯m hearing of this.¡± The girl, who had finished having another hurried conversation with the elf, turned back to the others. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, Lady Reshi. I didn¡¯t think to include you because I knew you were too high level to visit such a place normally. I didn¡¯t know you were training a prot¨¦g¨¦.¡± Alice shrugged. ¡°The guildmaster wanted us to keep it on the down-low. Tess, has she introduced herself?¡± The demon shook her head, then dropped into a curtsey. ¡°M-my deepest apologies. I am Maven Sarlienne, crown princess of the Paumen Kingdom.¡± Tess scratched her neck. ¡°I¡¯m Tess Los, uh¡­granddaughter of the guildmaster, I guess? Is there a title for that?¡± Eyfura laughed, patting Tess¡¯s head once again. ¡°No, but there doesn¡¯t really need to be, everyone knows not to mess with his family.¡± ¡°If you would forgive my rudeness, may I ask why you don¡¯t bear any of Los bloodline¡¯s distinguishing features?¡± Maven asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°She means their eye color and their hair color.¡± Eyfura explained. ¡°They¡¯ve all got those purple eyes and that bright red hair, it¡¯s become something of a way to recognize the family.¡± ¡°Oh. In that case, I¡¯m adopted.¡± Tess replied. ¡°My parents died in the same plane crash as Ellie¡¯s, so Gramps took us both in.¡± The elf snorted in amusement, then quickly schooled his features back to professional blandness. ¡°My apologies.¡± He said, ¡°I had never heard Guildmaster Los referred to in such a way, so it caught me off guard.¡± ¡°Tess, you go back to sleep, we¡¯ll take care of this, okay?¡± Eyfura said, giving Tess one last pat. ¡°Yes, Auntie.¡± Tess turned to go back to bed, but not before watching Eyfura make eye contact with the elf and give him a wink while the elf struggled to maintain a straight face. ¡°Wait!¡± Maven cried out, then blushed as Tess turned around. ¡°Um¡­¡± She floundered, apparently looking for something to say. ¡°I¡­really do apologize. I have been told that, when tired or frustrated, I tend to slip into bad habits. I have been trying to fix that as of late, but¡­I¡¯ve been up for almost twenty hours at this point, so I was in a very foul mood. I hope we can work together in the future, and that this unfortunate incident didn¡¯t sully our relationship too much.¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Um¡­yeah, sure, I guess. We all have our issues. I¡¯ll¡­see you around?¡± Tess replied, somewhat puzzled by the whole interaction. ¡°Yes, I hope we will see each other in the future.¡± Maven said, giving another curtesy. Tess awkwardly withdrew, Eyfura turning around and giving her a wink on her way back to her room. She was able to hear a bit more of the conversation on her way back, but it wasn¡¯t particularly interesting, so she tuned it out, choosing instead to fall back asleep.
¡°I¡¯m what?¡± Tess asked, taken aback. ¡°You¡¯re going to be doing a couple of runs with Maven.¡± Eyfura sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not going to be as fast as we wanted when we were just going through to get extra shots at the Rewards Crystal, but we decided it¡¯s worth it to start networking you, seeing as how the opportunity¡¯s fallen in our lap. That and it¡¯ll give you some experience in situations where you don¡¯t have as reliable party members.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Alice said, grimacing. ¡°Unfortunately, you¡¯re going to have to do most of the heavy lifting, she¡¯s just boosting.¡± ¡°Boosting?¡± ¡°It¡¯s when someone who doesn¡¯t intend to be a freelancer pays other people to take them through dungeons and level them up.¡± Eyfura explained. ¡°Typically, it¡¯s to get the benefits being a high level has on aging, so they have little practical combat experience. Lots of wealthy people do it, so high society is filled with level fifty-something people who don¡¯t know their way around a weapon as well as their level suggests.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°Alright. So, I¡¯m going through the dungeon with her a couple of times for¡­networking? She¡¯s¡­sorry, it¡¯s a little blurry, but she¡¯s someone important, right?¡± ¡°Crown princess of the Paumen Kingdom.¡± Alice said. ¡°It¡¯s a decently large kingdom in one of the older planes, named Ores. You two aren¡¯t exactly in the same social circles, but if you hang around the guildmaster long enough you¡¯re going to meet people like her, so it¡¯ll be good to know someone who will eventually be in power. ¡°It won¡¯t be anything like this morning, though, so don¡¯t worry. Now that she knows who you are, she¡¯ll be far, far more polite. Yeah, it¡¯s disingenuous, but unfortunately that¡¯s just how things are sometimes. Don¡¯t worry about that too much and just focus on clearing the dungeon and¡­being pleasant, I guess.¡± Tess sighed. ¡°Alright, I suppose I can handle that. I¡¯m going to go get breakfast, I¡¯ll be back in like¡­twenty minutes.¡± ¡°Alright, take care.¡± Eyfura responded, giving a small wave. Still in her pajamas, she left, making her way to the pad and then back to the first floor of the dungeon. She used her card to enter the walled off area of the floor, which housed a dining area much like the hotels she was used to. ¡°Ah, Lady Los, good morning. How was your sleep?¡± Maven asked, looking up from her food. ¡°I must apologize again for our misunderstanding. Go get some food and come sit near me, I have much I wish to talk about with you.¡± Tess groaned internally. She had been hoping just to be able to have a little time on her own, maybe browse her phone or something, but¡­well, she didn¡¯t have a reason to say ¡®no¡¯ to Maven, so she nodded, dished herself up and sat down next to the girl. ¡°Did Lady Reshi and Lady Almes inform you about our upcoming cooperation?¡± Maven asked, ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing your capabilities.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, they told me. Mind if I ask what your preferred style of fighting is? It¡¯ll be good to know so we can figure out how we¡¯re going to go about things.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a sorceress, though I know my way around a bow as well.¡± Maven replied, ¡°Are you capable of maintaining the enemy¡¯s attention?¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°I have a few Skills that keep me from being noticed by monsters, and I can¡¯t turn them off.¡± ¡°No matter, I have an item that will summon a guardian golem for us.¡± Maven replied, then leaned forward excitedly. ¡°That aside, I am rather curious about your daily life. You live in Mael, correct? What is it like? I have heard that only humans live there, so how does a wolfkin such as yourself go unnoticed?¡± ¡°Nothing exciting, really. I go to high school, and I was going to look at going into accounting in college, but¡­I¡¯m looking more into freelancer stuff now. As for the wolfkin thing, I was transformed after taking a Class, and Gramps pulled some strings and had people do some magic, so no one notices.¡± Maven frowned. ¡°But magic doesn¡¯t work right on Mael, yes?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know. Some of it works, for example magic bags work fine and magic armor resizes correctly, but I can¡¯t seem to pull up my status or anything. I didn¡¯t really ask Gramps about it, but I¡¯ve seen the results of the magic, so I can confirm it¡¯s working.¡± ¡°I see. On that note, how do you live without magic? It seems like such¡­such an unnecessarily hard way to live. I don¡¯t get why the gods allowed such a thing to happen.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re missing until you have it. Honestly, though, it kind of just seems like magic makes stuff we already have on Mael nicer, so it¡¯s really not as bad as you might be thinking.¡± ¡°Fascinating.¡± Maven continued to make small talk with Tess for the remainder of Tess¡¯s meal, and when Tess finished, they agreed to meet back at the first floor in half an hour to begin their run of the dungeon. Tess went back to her room and got ready, and soon she was standing in the first floor with Alice and Eyfura, waiting for Maven to show up. ¡°Don¡¯t extend your claws all the way.¡± Eyfura instructed. ¡°Just keep them relatively small, around the length of mine. And don¡¯t be too blatant with your abilities either. She knows not to ask any questions, but she¡¯ll be trying to figure things out anyway. Other than that, go wild.¡± Tess nodded, and a few minutes later Maven was there. ¡°Lady Los, are you ready?¡± She asked. ¡°Please just call me Tess.¡± Tess said, ¡°I¡¯m not used to being ¡®important¡¯, so the whole ¡°Lady¡± bit feels weird.¡± ¡°Understood. In that case, just call me Maven.¡± Maven replied. ¡°Cool. Anyway, yeah, I¡¯m ready.¡± With Tess¡¯s acknowledgement, the two made a party, and began to go through the dungeon. It was definitely¡­different than Tess¡¯s other experiences. Maven wasn¡¯t amazing, but she was better than nothing; when using magic, she missed more than Ellie had, but she did hit enough to pull at least some amount of weight. The biggest difference, though, was the golem. It was a giant, blocky humanoid made out of brick-like stones, and it would just sort of¡­sit there and take hits in a fight. It seemed that any of Maven¡¯s aggro was redirected to it, making things rather easy on Tess, as she didn¡¯t have to babysit Maven too much. Furthermore, when moving forward, Maven would have the golem go first and spring any traps, which let progress be much faster than Tess was expecting. Not as fast as when Eyfura and Alice were doing most of the work, of course, but still fast. The boss was actually not a big deal ¨C the golem was more than capable of taking whatever the boss dished out, so it was just a matter of making sure attention always stayed on it instead of Tess. That wasn¡¯t hard either, Maven just had to hit every once in a while, and she was capable of that, at the least. So, they let Maven get her reward, and were soon back in the lobby. ¡°Well, what¡¯d you think?¡± Maven asked proudly, puffing out her chest a little. ¡°Mmm, you¡¯re not the worst booster I¡¯ve ever seen. You were clearly trying, and that¡¯s more than I can say for a lot of people.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°If you want to do this as any more than a way to level up, though, get a proper teacher. Right now, you¡¯re just brute forcing things and that¡¯s not going to work long-term.¡± Maven looked taken aback, opened her mouth to speak, took a look at Eyfura, then closed her mouth again. She struggled to turn her expression from one of indignation to one of polite civility, and eventually gave a response. ¡°U-understood, Lady Almes.¡± She said shakily. ¡°Don¡¯t take it too hard, kid.¡± Eyfura said, unfazed. ¡°It¡¯s your first time being told you weren¡¯t amazing, right?¡± Maven nodded, so Eyfura continued. ¡°A word of advice: find some people who are willing to tell you when your work isn¡¯t so great. It¡¯ll hurt until you get used to it, but trust me, the quality of whatever you¡¯re doing will increase for it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll¡­take that into advisement.¡± Eyfura locked eyes with the elf. ¡°Tell her parents what I said. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ve had any input on how people teach their daughter, but this is unacceptable. If they have a problem with it, give me a call and I¡¯ll talk with them myself.¡± The elf gave her a relieved look. ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°And Tess, you¡¯re doing pretty well. You could stand to be more accurate, though. I know I told you to be fast, but it¡¯s time to start tightening up your strikes.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°Alright, you two go one more time and then we¡¯re going to need to take Tess back and finish this off.¡± Alice said, ¡°We¡¯re on a bit of a schedule, so we can¡¯t spend too long here. Tess, come meet us back in the room when you¡¯re done.¡± ¡°That will be more than enough time.¡± Maven said, having regained her composure, ¡°I appreciate you giving me any to begin with, Lady Reshi.¡± They were able to finish up their run in forty-five minutes and met back near Tess¡¯s room. ¡°It was a pleasure working with you, Tess.¡± Maven told her, giving a curtsey, ¡°I do hope you¡¯ll give me a call some time in the future, I would be happy to get to know you more.¡± ¡°Uh, yeah.¡± Tess replied awkwardly. ¡°It was nice, and¡­same, I guess? I dunno, I¡¯m not too good with all this stuff.¡± Maven laughed. ¡°It will come in time. I¡¯ll be picking up the rest of my group now, you know where to find me if you need me.¡± She gave a wave and made her way back to the pad, teleporting out. Tess went back into the penthouse suite, where Alice and Eyfura were relaxing. ¡°Alright, we¡¯re finally done.¡± She said, ¡°How many more runs do we have to finish up here?¡± ¡°Seven by my count.¡± Eyfura replied, leaping to her feet. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Chapter 23: Reunion Tess gazed down at the core in front of her, took a deep breath, and absorbed it. She waved away the message, as she had already absorbed a core for this monster. A week or two prior, she had realized that, at the rate she was progressing, she was going to lose to Ilmir. And¡­she really didn¡¯t want that; she didn¡¯t want to let herself or Ellie down. Fortunately, there was a whole part of her abilities she had been purposefully neglecting until now. It was uncomfortable, but¡­it was time for her to get over herself. So, to that end, she had been training herself by ejecting cores, slowly working her way up to her goal. She grimaced as she ejected the core she had just absorbed and felt it slide out and disappear into nothingness. She took a moment to catch her breath, then got off the toilet and steeled her resolve; it was time.
Ellie¡¯s days fell into a pattern. Go to school, train, do homework, and then wait for her nightly conversation with Tess. Her disposition towards Ilmir gradually improved, going from fairly hostile to just a disliking, and she soon found herself just a couple of days away from Tess¡¯s return. She had realized, with some surprise, that the day Tess was coming back and having her fight with Ilmir was also Tess¡¯s eighteenth birthday, so she had spent those days getting a suitable present for her. It had eaten up more of her savings than she¡¯d like to admit, but she had made a fair bit from her training, so she was able to get something that she was confident would be useful to Tess. And, finally, the day had come. Ellie was waiting nervously in one of the guild¡¯s private rooms, pacing back and forth. ¡°Just chill.¡± Ilmir said, ¡°You¡¯re acting like she¡¯ll have completely forgotten you or something.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that.¡± Ellie said dismissively. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t really understand.¡± ¡°You¡¯d be surprised.¡± Ilmir retorted. ¡°Try me.¡± Ellie didn¡¯t have any intention of letting Ilmir know about her and Tess just yet, but fortunately she didn¡¯t have to. The door opened and in walked Tess, who, for some blessed reason, had those wolf ears and tail out. Ellie rushed over and gave the girl a hug, and Tess reciprocated much more readily than she had before their time apart. ¡°I really missed you.¡± Ellie said, resting her head on Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°So you¡¯ve told me.¡± Tess replied. She hesitated, then continued. ¡°But, uh¡­I missed you too.¡± Ellie lifted her head off of Tess¡¯s shoulder so she could see the blush spreading across Tess¡¯s face. ¡°Alright you two, get a room.¡± Eyfura walked in, smirking. Tess blushed even further and extracted herself from the hug, turning away embarrassedly. ¡°Right.¡± Ilmir said, seemingly unimpressed. ¡°How are we doing this?¡± Eyfura held up a glove-looking thing. ¡°The guild¡¯s Gauntlet of Challenge, of course. Evan¡¯s clearing out the exercise yard now, so you two can go at it no holds barred without worrying about leaking anything about your abilities.¡± Ilmir grinned, pushing herself up from the chair she was sitting on. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way.¡± She said. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡±
It was stormy out, but the charge in the air that Ellie was feeling couldn¡¯t only be from the weather. She was standing on the sidelines of an arena next to Gramps, Eyfura, and The Rumors. In front of them was Ilmir and Tess, who were staring each other down cautiously. Ilmir was kitted out like Ellie had never seen her before; usually Ilmir would just use a single sword, but here she was holding one in each hand, and had two more sheathed at her waist. Furthermore, she looked more serious than Ellie had seen her before. Her easygoing attitude was gone, replaced with a sharp wariness as she stared down Tess. Tess, on the other hand, looked similarly wary, but her gear was about the same as it had been before she left, save for some new footwear. Still, there was an edge to her that Ellie hadn¡¯t seen before, a determination that said she was going to see this through no matter what. ¡°I¡¯ll give you one last chance to back down.¡± Ilmir said, ¡°I¡¯m not going to go easy on you, and this is going to hurt.¡± ¡°Funny, that. I was going to give you a similar warning. You have no clue what you¡¯ve gotten yourself into.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky.¡± Ilmir snarled. ¡°You haven¡¯t had a chance to see what something really out of your league is like.¡± ¡°Alright, you two.¡± Gramps said, ¡°Place your hand on the gauntlet. Once you both have done so with the intent to challenge the other, it will glow, and your duel will begin. Once one of you would hit zero HP, the duel will end and any damage to your bodies sustained during the duel will reverse. Eyfura and I will make sure that there¡¯s no collateral damage, so go wild. Do you both understand?¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Tess said, placing a hand on the Gauntlet. ¡°Naturally.¡± Ilmir said, also placing her hand on the Gauntlet. As she did, the Gauntlet began to glow, rising up into the air over the heads of the two. Suddenly, Ilmir and Tess were on opposite ends of the field. Tess looked disoriented, but Ilmir had seemingly been ready, as she was already running towards Tess. Tess recovered quickly, a set of huge, gleaming claws sliding out from her fingertips. Ellie had recently obtained a Skill that let her see when an ability was in the process of being used, so she watched as the claws grew brighter and brighter to her, Tess stacking Skill on top of Skill on them. Then, Tess threw her head back, letting out a roar. There was something¡­primal about it, and even though Ellie wasn¡¯t the target, it still rattled her, her instincts telling her that the source of this roar was something she wanted to be as far away from as possible. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Ilmir, on the other hand, was stopped in her tracks. She even had begun to turn to flee before her body glowed with the activation of a Skill and she regained her resolve, resuming her mad dash towards Tess. As she approached, she raised her swords, quickly activating two Skills. One sword was suddenly wreathed in flame and the other in crackles and sparks of electricity. And, a second later, she was upon Tess, swinging down the flaming sword. Tess calmly raised a claw, still glowing brightly from the number of Skills she had activated. Ilmir¡¯s sword hit Tess¡¯s claw, and, contrary to Ellie¡¯s expectations, the sword was bounced back and Tess¡¯s claws didn¡¯t even have a dent. Ilmir seemed caught off-guard as well, but recovered quickly, lunging forward with the crackling sword to stab at¡­empty air. Tess had activated another Skill, and she was suddenly behind Ilmir, whole body glowing as she turned around and raked a massive set of claws down Ilmir¡¯s back, the glow in them fading as the Skills activated, the glow in her body fading a moment later. Oddly enough, there was no visible sign of anything happening, and Ilmir was able to quickly turn around, scoring a deep gash in Tess¡¯s side as she whipped her sword around. Tess crumpled, clutching her side in agony as Ilmir stood triumphantly over her. A lot of things happened very quickly. The first was Ilmir¡¯s scream, a raw, throaty sound that spoke of sudden, intense, and unexpected pain. The next was the bright flash of light as Ilmir¡¯s entire body burst into flame, a fountain of blood erupting from her back. It was at this point that Ellie cast a casting-time reduced Haste on herself, expending a decent amount of Mana so she could see in more detail what exactly was happening. Tess activated another Skill, and a flurry of ten strikes from Tess¡¯s free hand rained down on Ilmir, and then Tess was gone, having activated yet another Skill and backing up, wounds closing rapidly as the parasites she had planted did their work. Almost in a panic, Ilmir activated a series of Skills, causing the fire to go out and the bleeding on her back to slow immensely. She shakily stood up straight, now looking at Tess far more cautiously than she had in the past. ¡°I¡¯ll admit, that was good, but you¡¯re going to have to do better than that if you want to beat me. I won¡¯t fall for that once tw¨C¡± She cut off, giving out a yelp and slapping her neck. Focusing a bit more, Ellie was able to barely make out as a spider leapt off of Ilmir, scuttling away into the cobbles below. Tess was back on Ilmir in a flash, but Ilmir was ready. As Tess moved Ilmir raised a booted foot and kicked out, halting the smaller girl¡¯s momentum and sending her sprawling back.¡­And back¡­And Tess just kept going, gliding along the ground as if gravity didn¡¯t apply to her. She hit the wall on the other side, but there was no sound of impact, nor any real sense of anything painful happening as Tess stood up, dusting herself off. Distance created, Ilmir began to yank out the parasites Tess had planted one by one, keeping a wary eye on Tess as she did. For her part, Tess activated another Skill and the bleeding on Ilmir¡¯s back stopped altogether, followed immediately by Tess beginning to chant a spell. Ilmir slashed a sword into the empty air in front of her, and the coating of lightning leapt off of it, coalescing into a disc that hurtled toward Tess, forcing her to stop her incantation and jump to the side, right into the path of the fire from Ilmir¡¯s other sword. The blow knocked Tess into the wall, and this time she didn¡¯t seem as prepared, slamming hard into it and falling to the ground in a heap. Ilmir advanced on the prone girl, activating a Skill and causing an audible hiss as her wounds began to knit together, closing as she walked. When she reached Tess she placed a foot on her side, pushing down hard. There was a crack as Tess¡¯s bone snapped, and Ilmir gave her a cruel smile. ¡°No more Stamina left, eh?¡± She mocked, pointing her sword at Tess¡¯s head, ¡°I told them you wouldn¡¯t be able to do much. Honestly, I don¡¯t get what all the fuss is about. I barely broke a sweat cutting you down to size. Really, Fortune should stop putting effort into you and give it to someone who deserves it, like Ellie.¡±
¡°Really, Fortune should stop putting effort into you and give it to someone who deserves it, like Ellie.¡± Time stopped. The intense sensation of pain Tess was feeling vanished, replaced by¡­nothing. No, not nothing. There was a presence in the air, the sensation that Tess was near something far, far out of her league. There were some muffled footsteps, and Tess opened her eyes, the world a dull grey. A figure, the only thing in full color, squatted down so she was at eye level with Tess. ¡°You did a good job.¡± Fortune said gently, stroking Tess¡¯s head. She was a short woman with bright blond hair that reached just above her shoulders and golden, almost white glowing eyes. She was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans and was smiling softly. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you.¡± ¡°But I¡­I lost.¡± Tess croaked. Fortune tussled Tess¡¯s hair. ¡°Yes, but it wasn¡¯t exactly a fair fight. Ilmir has some of War¡¯s blessings, and they so happen to counter the tools you have. But¡­the fight¡¯s not over.¡± ¡°But¡­even if I have Isabella break Ilmir¡¯s pin, I don¡¯t have any ways of dealing enough damage to her to win, not when I¡¯m out of Stamina and Ilmir¡¯s healed back up.¡± Fortune¡¯s smile turned somewhat shaky. ¡°If you would like, I can guarantee your victory. I¡¯ve finally received permission to make you my Appointed, and if you choose to accept, then I¡¯ll be able to help you even more.¡± She sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not a choice you should make just because you want to win this, though. Choosing to accept means you¡¯re committed to this way of life, and you¡¯re willing to get into more serious matters when the time comes that I need your aid. It won¡¯t be easy, but at the least I will do my best to make you and Ellie happy. I mentioned it before, but I just about consider the two of you my own children. I really, really want to help.¡± Tess mulled that over for a moment. Fortune seemed completely serious about what she said, and¡­well, Tess had been planning on this anyway. ¡°Alright, I accept.¡± Fortune took Tess¡¯s hand, squeezing. ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s turn this thing around, you and me.¡± Tess nodded as best she could. ¡°What do I have to do?¡± Fortune smiled, squeezing Tess¡¯s hand again. ¡°Repeat after me: I, Tess, accept the position of Fortune¡¯s Appointed¡­¡± She stopped, clearly waiting for Tess to speak. ¡°I, Tess, accept the position of Fortune¡¯s Appointed,¡± Tess repeated. ¡°To further her cause as I see fit¡­¡± Tess once again repeated the words. ¡°And to keep secret things mortals should not know.¡± Tess finished, looking in Fortune¡¯s eyes. Fortune drew herself upright and began to speak an oath of her own. ¡°I, Fortune, accept Tess as my Appointed, to treat her fairly and respect her as if she were another god, and to be responsible with the power I hold over her. Should I fail to do so, I accept whatever punishment is seen fit.¡± There was a moment of silence and then a peal of thunder, and Fortune smiled deeply. ¡°The boss has accepted, so it¡¯s official now. What say we knock ¡®em dead, eh?¡±
Ellie gritted her teeth as Ilmir mocked Tess, and she had to restrain herself from rushing out there and beating some sense into Ilmir herself. Ilmir swung her sword down¡­ And then something changed. While it was hard to see with the position Tess was in, her air had changed completely. There was none of the desperate struggle she had had before, it was instead replaced with a calm confidence as she raked a claw across the ground, throwing up a spray of pebbles as she shredded the stone. Somehow, the pebbles all struck Ilmir directly in her sword hand, and Ilmir yelped in surprise, dropping her sword. Another claw had raked across the ground, and this time the spray of pebbles impacted the sword, sending it spinning upwards. A spirit shot out of Tess, letting loose a horrid screech as it flew into Ilmir. Tess surged upward, upending a paralyzed Ilmir and throwing her backwards as the spirit moved back into Tess. Tess held out a hand, not even looking as she closed it, the falling sword landing perfectly within. She looked down at Ilmir, who was scrambling to her feet, and spoke. There was an odd sensation of two people talking, and something about the voice dug deep into Ellie¡¯s subconscious, letting her know exactly who that other person was. ¡°Oh, hun.¡± Fortune drawled, flicking Tess¡¯s blood off of the sword and smiling wickedly at Ilmir as she pointed it at her. ¡°You did not just tell me what to do.¡± Chapter 24: I Am Thou, Thou Art I Ilmir scrambled backwards, cursing her own poor luck. Ever since the first time she had seen one, she had known she had never wanted to fight someone who is in the middle of a Descent. She had known Tess and Fortune were at least somewhat more involved than, say, her and War, but she hadn¡¯t known they were this close. But now wasn¡¯t the time to think about that. Right now, she had to remember what Grandma and Uncle Even had told her about Descents. Checking her Stamina reserves, she had enough leeway to briefly use Godspeed so long as she only sped up her perception. So, she activated it and let the world slow down around her while she thought. Right. The first piece of advice she had been given about Descents was to run ¨C fighting a god¡¯s avatar was not a battle most were capable of winning. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t really an option at this juncture, so she had to move on to the other methods of dealing with it. What was most important was that Descents had a time limit, one that couldn¡¯t be worked around without gravely injuring the avatar. How long varied depending on how long the avatar had been an Appointed, how accustomed they are to Descents, and their level, so Tess wouldn¡¯t have very long, a minute at most. And what made this winnable was that, to a certain extent, the god Descending was at least somewhat limited by their avatar¡¯s capabilities. They couldn¡¯t use most of their god powers unless their avatar had something similar, and they couldn¡¯t use more Mana or Stamina than the avatar had available, nor would their stats be buffed unless that was part of that god¡¯s Descent abilities. Which led her to the biggest unknown. She had no clue what Fortune¡¯s Descent did. She hadn¡¯t had an Appointed before, so this was new territory for everyone. So, she concluded her best bet right now was to use her superior mobility to keep away from Tess/Fortune during the minute the Descent lasted. She let Godspeed drop, backing up as it suddenly began to pour down rain. And then she was thrown to the side, her body moving without her consent as a moment later a bolt of lightning struck where she had just been standing, causing her ears to ring.
Last Resolve has prevented a fatal blow! Last Resolve has used all remaining uses of Resolve. Cooldown: 24:00:00
¡°My, how unlucky.¡± Fortune taunted, leisurely walking closer to Ilmir, ¡°Well, look on the bright side; it¡¯s incredibly unlikely for lightning to strike the same place twice. Now that that nasty little blessing of yours is out of the way, why don¡¯t we have some real fun?¡± Ilmir¡¯s stomach dropped. This fight was already over, and she knew it. If Fortune was able to provoke Last Resolve like that within the five seconds she¡¯d actively been attacking Ilmir, then she was able to end this fight any time she wanted; anything more was just toying with Ilmir. Back on her feet now, Ilmir reached into her bag and pulled out a lightning resistance potion, hastily drinking it as Tess/Fortune¡­Fortune¡¯s avatar watched disinterestedly. Once she finished, Fortune¡¯s avatar threw Ilmir¡¯s own sword back at her, forcing Ilmir to jump to the side and¨C There was another earsplitting boom as lightning struck the flying sword and it exploded. Ignoring all reason, each individual shard of the sword was blown in such a way that they hit right where Ilmir had dodged, knocking her back and then skewering her to the ground, a large piece of sword lodged in each of her limbs. Each time she tried to struggle free something messed her up ¨C a stray piece of rock, launched into the air by one of the lightning strikes, landed on her and neatly stopped one attempt. In another, the way she moved loosened up the sword¡­only for a large piece of hail to land directly on it, lodging it even deeper. Fortune¡¯s avatar smiled, walking over as Ilmir spent the last of her Stamina to activate Flesh Mender, keeping her from bleeding out then and there. If she could just hold on thirty more seconds, the Descent would be over, and she would be able to struggle free and make something happen. Fortune¡¯s avatar was standing over her, still smiling that infuriating smile. ¡°Well, you know what they say.¡± She said, ¡°There¡¯s no kill quite like overkill.¡± She reached forward with a claw and scored a deep gash in Ilmir¡¯s neck.
You have been dealt a critical 594 damage by Tess Los! Tess Los has inflicted Heavy Bleeding! You will take 1,002 damage every second for 150 seconds or until the bleeding is stopped!
That was almost as bad as the nasty hit she had taken at the beginning of the fight, and without any more uses of Resolve she had no way of getting rid of it.
Heavy Bleeding has been removed!
Fortune¡¯s avatar did something and the bleeding ceased, leaving Ilmir to watch in puzzlement, and then, mounting horror, as Fortune¡¯s avatar stepped back, blew Ellie a kiss, and began to chant a spell. By all rights, she shouldn¡¯t have the Mana necessary to cast a spell like this. Ilmir didn¡¯t know exactly what Fortune¡¯s avatar was casting but judging from the several enormous magic circles expanding out around her, it was an incredibly high-level combination spell. The wind was picking up speed around her, the temperature plummeting and the rain beginning to fall even harder as thunder roared above. Ilmir struggled against the metal pinning her to the ground, but she was once again met with improbable events preventing her from making any headway. It had been over a minute and a half since the Descent had begun, so why was it still going?! It should have ended quite a while ago, but Fortune¡¯s avatar didn¡¯t show even a hint of the damage she was supposed to have. The clouds above rumbled ominously, Ilmir¡¯s hair standing up as she felt the lightning approach once again. Fortune¡¯s avatar reached the last stanza of the chant too, but Ilmir¡¯s attention was torn away by a massive cracking sound. The Gauntlet of Challenge, which had been floating patiently above, waiting for a killing blow to be struck, shattered. Fortune¡¯s avatar¡¯s expression went from one of smug satisfaction to horror ¨C she couldn¡¯t stop a spell like this, not without backlash. And given the power of the spell and Tess¡¯s frailty, that backlash would likely kill her outright. So, she kept going. ¡°Fimbulvet¨C¡± And then, Uncle Evan was there, magic circles running up and down the air around him as he worked a spell. ¡°No.¡± Fate boomed, pointing Uncle Evan¡¯s finger downward. The magic circles immediately disappeared, the energy within dissipating harmlessly as Fate¡¯s avatar dispelled the spell with no apparent effort. That left the lightning. It likely wouldn¡¯t strike Ilmir directly, but it would still hit the area, and a bolt imbued with divine energy would do some damage, even through the wards on the guild¡¯s headquarters. But her grandma had calmly moved into the center of the area, raising a clawed hand. The lightning struck it, but instead of damaging her grandma like it should, it danced about her palm, at least until she closed her fist, crushing the light. ¡°Got it.¡± Dominion puffed. ¡°We should be in the clear now.¡± At this point The Rumors had moved over to Ilmir and were extracting the metal from her body, Ker healing her up as the gods conversed. ¡°Fortune, stop your Descent now.¡± Fate instructed, ¡°You¡¯re going to hurt Tess.¡± ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t!¡± Fortune said, panic in her voice, ¡°Every time I try, I get sucked back into her!¡± Fate¡¯s avatar nodded at Dominion¡¯s. ¡°Dominion, can you do anything about this?¡± This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Dominion¡¯s avatar stepped up to Fortune¡¯s avatar and placed a hand on her forehead. There was a pulse of divine energy and then¡­ ¡°Still here!¡± Fortune replied, ¡°I¡­I think it¡¯s the Class!¡± She said. Dominion¡¯s avatar nodded. ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± She agreed, giving Fate¡¯s avatar a meaningful look. ¡°The divine energy in the Class is too strong, and it¡¯s keeping me from doing anything. Thankfully, it also seems to be preventing any of the normal side-effects to a Descent, so Tess should be fine. We¡¯ll have to take her to the Class¡¯s creator, though, get her to deal with this.¡± Fate¡¯s avatar grimaced. ¡°Alright.¡± He waved a hand, and then him, Dominion¡¯s avatar, Fortune¡¯s avatar, and, oddly enough, Ellie, were gone.
Tess blinked, accustoming herself to her new surroundings. They were in a sterile-looking area, all sleek white walls and tile. This is the god¡¯s workplace. Fortune told her. They were still in Descent, of course. It was an odd sensation, where they both had control over the body, their intents and thoughts merged in such a way that their every action seemed like it was a mutual decision made with no conscious deliberation. It looked like Gramps and Eyfura¡¯s Descents had both, ended, though. Instead, a figure was standing next to each of them, ones who Tess instinctively knew were Fate and Dominion. Fate was a tall orc wearing a rather sharp suit, his bald head sparkling. He gave the group a nod, then pulled a phone out of his pocket . ¡°I¡¯ll get the boss.¡± He said, opening a door near him and stepping out of the room, already putting his phone to his ear. Dominion was a halfling, and she was small even by their standards. She was dressed casually and had brown hair and eyes, overall just looking¡­ average. Tess wouldn¡¯t have given her a second glance if she passed her in the street. ¡°Hey, why¡¯d the Gauntlet break?¡± Fortune asked, ¡°I thought you had made sure those things could handle high-tier spells.¡± ¡°I did.¡± Dominion sighed, ¡°But I didn¡¯t test what a Descent would do to them. I didn¡¯t think anyone would Descend in a fight with such low stakes.¡± There was silence for a moment, and then Ellie spoke up. ¡°Um¡­can¡­someone explain what¡¯s going on? Where are we? Why can¡¯t Fortune stop the Descent? Who¡¯s this ¡°boss¡± of yours?¡± Dominion sighed again. ¡°Right, sorry about all of this.¡± She said. ¡°This is all stuff that normally only Appointed get to know about, but I suppose Fate¡¯s decided you¡¯re fine to know. No, I don¡¯t know why, no one really knows what he¡¯s thinking.¡± She frowned. ¡°You haven¡¯t sworn an Oath, to keep anything secret, which is less than ideal. If you mention so much as a hint of this to anyone not in the know, then you¡¯re going to have a few grumpy gods on your case, and I don¡¯t think you want that, right?¡± Ellie nodded furiously. ¡°Yeah. Um, might want to have me swear an Oath, though, don¡¯t want to let anything out accidentally.¡± ¡°Already laid the groundwork for it, and you just accepted by saying that.¡± Fate said, stepping back into the room, ¡°You were going to find out sooner or later, so this is just moving things up for you, really. Anyway, the boss is on her way.¡± ¡°Correction, already here.¡± A woman¡¯s voice said. Tess and Fortune turned around, and, to Tess¡¯s surprise, the boss was a slime person. She was tall and made entirely of green slime, a small smile on her face as she looked at Tess and Ellie¡¯s surprised expressions. ¡°Hey there, my name¡¯s Amy.¡± She said, giving a small wave. ¡°I¡¯m in the Administrator in these parts. You can think of Administrators as kind of the creator god, the ones who make everything. No, as far as I can tell, there isn¡¯t anything above that, but Administrators came from somewhere, so I can¡¯t say for sure. Yes, there are others, but I¡¯m the Administrator for this universe, and you probably won¡¯t have to deal with ones from outside this universe so don¡¯t worry about them. ¡°Anyway, Fortune, I¡¯ve heard you¡¯re a little¡­stuck.¡± Tess and Fortune nodded. ¡°Yeah, every time I try to leave, Monster Breeder just pulls me right back in.¡± Fortune said. Amy stroked her chin thoughtfully. ¡°Well, that¡¯s¡­actually, yeah, I wasn¡¯t thinking about that when I made Monster Breeder. Give me a few minutes to look over this to see what I can do.¡± She said, walking over and placing a slimy hand on Tess¡¯s forehead, ¡°Fortune, if people have questions, answer them for me, will you? Dominion and Fate, you can go back to what you were doing.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± Fate said, giving a small bow and leaving with Dominion. ¡°So, how does a Class trap a god?¡± Eyfura asked. ¡°Um, I¡¯m not exactly sure.¡± Fortune replied. ¡°Here¡¯s what I understand, Amy, correct me if I¡¯m wrong.¡± Amy nodded distractedly, and Fortune continued. ¡°So, um, Monster Breeder was a test by us gods. In order to give out Phantasmal Skills, we have to spend something called Worship and then pick someone to give it to. Me and a couple of the other gods were thinking of ways to get around that, and we came up with the idea to put them into a Class. ¡°So, we asked Amy and it turns out that doing something like that was possible, but we weren¡¯t sure how it would work with Rewards Crystals. Amy made the Class because none of us were good enough at that sort of thing to do what we were thinking of, and we put it in a Rewards Crystal with nothing else inside to see what would happen. ¡°As it turns out, it just makes the chance of getting the Class so abysmally low that even with the bonus from being the only possible reward, it¡¯s effectively impossible to get. We put the crystal in a beginner dungeon in hopes that, eventually, someone would get the Class and we could see how it worked, but once people found out the crystal didn¡¯t give anything people stopped coming. ¡°So, eventually we decided that, when I eventually decided on someone I wanted to give my blessing and make my Appointed, I would lead them to that crystal and see if they got the Class. Obviously, Tess did, but we weren¡¯t thinking about how the Worship would conflict when I Descended. ¡°And I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s something to do with how Amy made the Class, but it doesn¡¯t seem to want to let any being that goes inside the user¡¯s soul out, and normally that would be Cores, but¡­ apparently it works for Descents too. And since I don¡¯t show up as a Core or anything, Tess can¡¯t exactly eject me like she would a Core.¡± ¡°Yeah, it looks like when I made this, I co-opted the Descent mechanism into something for absorbing and holding cores.¡± Amy confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s not a good way to go about things, but I was a lot more inexperienced then and it was probably the easiest way.¡± She straightened up. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve got a workaround for the moment.¡± Amy put her hand out and a core dropped into it. She handed the core to Tess. ¡°Absorb this then eject it.¡± She instructed. ¡°It¡¯s an empty core I¡¯ve made some quick modifications to, it¡¯s going to see Fortune just sort of floating around in your soul and latch onto her. When you eject it Fortune will pop out with it, which should solve the issue until I get my other workaround up and running. Don¡¯t worry about making room for her or anything, when the core dissolves that smoke will head back to her real body and she¡¯ll ¡°wake up¡± there.¡± Tess took the core, giving it a small glance before absorbing it. It was around the same size as the largest core she had ejected, which was the core for the spirit she was currently using as a pet, Isabella. The process had been uncomfortable and somewhat painful, yes, but it was something she could deal with, so she went ahead and absorbed the core.
You have absorbed a $z5y^ core! $5#k4 *9D%#
¡°Ignore that.¡± Amy said. ¡°It¡¯s just the system freaking out because that was a very non-standard core you absorbed. Just go ahead and eject it, it¡¯ll be fine.¡± Tess nodded, blushing a little. ¡°Um, do you mind if we use the bathroom for this? It¡¯s a little messy.¡± Amy laughed. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Fortune helped guide Tess to the nearest bathroom, where she began the ejection process. It took much longer than other cores she had ejected, totaling a few minutes of rather uncomfortable pushing but, eventually, the core was out, and Tess was once again alone in her mind. She took a moment to catch her breath, looking around the bathroom as she did. It was¡­normal, like it had been lifted straight from a school or business or something, albeit a fair bit cleaner than most public bathrooms she¡¯d seen. Once she was done catching her breath, she cleaned up the other mess that inevitably came with pushing as hard as she had been and left the bathroom. She was immediately accosted by Fortune, who caught her in a hug. ¡°Sorry, if I had known what would happen, I would have talked to Amy before all of this. I didn¡¯t mean to cause any trouble for you.¡± Tess returned the hug. ¡°I know, it¡¯s fine.¡± And she did know, she had felt Fortune¡¯s panic during the Descent. And, furthermore, she felt like she knew Fortune well enough to know that Fortune didn¡¯t mean for any of this. After a few moments, Fortune pulled away. ¡°Right, we should get back. The others are probably worried.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± The two made their way back into the room, where it looked like Amy was trying to have a conversation with¡­only partial success. Eyfura and Gramps were talking just fine, but Ellie was just standing there looking awkward, like she wasn¡¯t quite sure she belonged. ¡°Oh, Tess, how are you feeling?¡± Ellie asked, rushing over and giving Tess a hug, ¡°I was starting to get really worried.¡± ¡°Um, fine now, I guess. How have things been going here?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve mostly just been talking about what happened to you. Um¡­¡± She glanced at Fortune, ¡°Do you mind if I ask what exactly your Descent does? I¡¯m really curious after seeing you two like that.¡± Fortune gave her a smile. ¡°Normally I¡¯d say no, but because it¡¯s you I¡¯ll let you in on it, so long as you don¡¯t tell anyone else. Deal?¡± Ellie nodded, so Fortune continued. ¡°It¡¯s honestly really simple. My Descent makes Tess¡¯s Luck stat apply to everything, instead of just chance based things. It even extends to her enemies; they have to make checks against her Luck in order to do anything to her.¡± Ellie stared. ¡°So¡­she¡¯s basically invincible.¡± Fortune smirked. ¡°Something like that. If her opponent has some blessings, Phantasmal Skills, or something else from a god, that¡¯s somewhat exempt from it, but other than that she just gets to do what she wants, and no one can stop her.¡± ¡°That¡¯s par for the course with Descents, though.¡± Gramps said, walking up to the group. ¡°But I must admit that, from what I saw, Fortune¡¯s was stronger than most. Anyway, Fortune, Amy needs you to go work with her so she can get your Descent working properly, and I need to take everyone back.¡± ¡°Got it. And, uh, thanks, Evan. You and Fate really saved my bacon there.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Just keep taking care of Tess for me.¡± Fortune smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t even have to ask.¡± Gramps nodded. ¡°Right. It¡¯s been a long day, let¡¯s let the two of you get some rest, eh?¡± Chapter 25: Home Again Ellie shook her head, getting used to her surroundings as Gramps teleported them away from¡­wherever they had been. They were¡­in Gramps¡¯s office in the guild, it seemed, and The Rumors and Ilmir were already there, waiting. Ilmir rushed over to Gramps, giving him a hug. ¡°Thanks, Uncle Evan. You saved my life, again.¡± Gramps smiled, returning the hug and stroking her hair gently. ¡°No problem. Anyone else would have done the same in my situation.¡± ¡°Look, this is touching and all, but couldn¡¯t she just be revived?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Like, yeah it probably wouldn¡¯t have been fun, but no permanent harm would have been done, right?¡± Gramps shook his head. ¡°If someone is killed by a god, be it from a smiting, or while the god is in Descent, they can¡¯t be revived. The gods like people they kill to stay dead.¡± Ilmir let go of the hug and marched over to Tess, staring her dead in the eyes. ¡°For the record, I¡¯m still calling this my victory.¡± Ilmir said stubbornly. ¡°You only won because Fortune Descended. If she hadn¡¯t, you wouldn¡¯t have had a chance.¡± Ellie groaned internally. This was not something that she wanted to deal with right now, and she was sure Tess didn¡¯t either. She opened her mouth to speak, but Tess spoke first, and, a little bit to Ellie¡¯s surprise, was staring right back at Ilmir. ¡°Fortune says she wouldn¡¯t have Descended if you hadn¡¯t called her decisions into question. She says it¡¯s entirely your fault, and, as such, should be counted as my win.¡± Tess replied, then looked away. ¡°Um, for what it¡¯s worth, though, you did beat me before that. You would have won if you didn¡¯t open your mouth.¡± ¡°But she did.¡± Ellie argued. ¡°She wanted to prove that she was so much better than someone she both had a massive head start on and outleveled, and then crush that person¡¯s spirit when she won. It was karmic retribution, pure and simple. Her hotheadedness caused this, so she has to deal with the consequences.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know she was an Appointed!¡± Ilmir protested, ¡°I just knew she had Fortune¡¯s best blessing and that she wasn¡¯t an Appointed before!¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Not until the middle of the fight.¡± Eyfura placed a hand on Ilmir¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Give it up Ilmir, you lost. Were this a real battlefield, that would have got you killed. It almost got you killed and the only reason you weren¡¯t was because Evan and I stepped in to save your hide.¡± She said, ¡°This sort of thing is exactly why I tell you to think things through more. You know what you have to do.¡± ¡°But¡­!¡± ¡°No buts.¡± Eyfura said firmly. ¡°You. Lost. Call it unfair if you will, but I will also remind you that our bet wasn¡¯t even on if she could beat you, it was if she could give you a good fight or not. And, by my estimation, you would have lost if not for your own blessings and had a decent shot of losing anyway if Tess had chosen to drag it out more.¡± She shot Tess a look. ¡°We¡¯re going to review this battle, by the way. There are things I want to talk about with you.¡± She looked back to Ilmir. ¡°So, my point stands. Even if you want to claim you didn¡¯t lose the fight, I think we all agree that you lost the bet.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t have that much trouble before the Descent!¡± Ilmir said indignantly, ¡°She got one solid hit on me, that was it! Ellie would have pushed me way farther!¡± ¡°One hit is all it takes. That hit forced you to burn through multiple blessings, or you would have been killed. Blessings which, now that I¡¯m thinking about it, Tess probably didn¡¯t know you had until now. That means she was at an information disadvantage too, and probably would have changed how she fought you had she known. And, by my estimation, you were running low on Stamina yourself after all that, don¡¯t give me the ¡°It didn¡¯t give me that much trouble¡± excuse. So, I¡¯m going to repeat myself one last time. Hold up your end of the bargain, or I¡¯ll be forced to give you a much more severe punishment.¡± Eyfura threatened. Ilmir grit her teeth. ¡°Fine.¡± She spat. She turned to Tess, gritting her teeth. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She said unconvincingly, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have doubted you.¡± Eyfura cleared her throat, giving Ilmir a meaningful look. ¡°I mean¡­sorry, really.¡± She said, much more sincerely this time, ¡°I was out of line. Um¡­¡± She hesitated, looking back to Eyfura. Eyfura didn¡¯t seem to hold any sympathy, though, giving Ilmir a hard look. Ilmir sighed. ¡°Because I lost the bet, I have to separate from Ellie and act your purely as support for a month. I¡¯ll do whatever you say while we¡¯re out, no questions asked.¡± She looked to Ellie, ¡°Is that fine with you?¡± Ellie frowned, but nodded. ¡°If I hear so much as a whisper of you being mean to her, though, I¡¯m going to lay the hurt on you myself. Honestly, though, I don¡¯t see why the two of us need to be separated like this. We should start training our teamwork, if you ask me.¡± ¡°In due time.¡± Ker replied smoothly. ¡°We really can¡¯t train the two of you at the same time in the same place due to your stat differences. Honestly, having Ilmir is pushing it, but I can let that slide for now because she¡¯s training herself in things not directly related to fighting monsters.¡± ¡°Eh, she can just be a tank and scout.¡± Eyfura said, ¡°She needs practice in those roles anyway.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll discuss this later.¡± Gramps said, causing Ellie to focus back in on the conversation, ¡°Tomorrow I¡¯m going to spend the day with Tess teaching her more about being an Appointed. For now, I need to get these two back to Mael to rest.¡± He paused, letting his gaze linger over The Rumors. ¡°I trust you three can keep the fact that Eyfura and I are Appointed secret? It¡¯s not the biggest secret in the world so it¡¯s nothing worth swearing an Oath over, but I¡¯ll be less than pleased if you let this slip.¡± Ker nodded smoothly. ¡°Of course. That goes without saying, Guildmaster.¡± Gramps smiled. ¡°Good. I¡¯ll see the lot of your around, then. Take care!¡± He gently grabbed Ellie and Tess¡¯s shoulders and steered them back towards his office. While he walked, he gave them some instruction. ¡°I have more work to do here,¡± he said, ¡°So I¡¯ll be at least another couple of hours. Ellie, you keep an eye on Tess and make sure she doesn¡¯t show any signs of injury or fatigue or anything. She shouldn¡¯t, but Amy said there¡¯s a slim possibility, so don¡¯t take any chances. ¡°If anything alarming happens, give me a call and I¡¯ll make my way back immediately. Tess, I need you to not act tough. If you feel anything out of the ordinary, you need to let us know immediately. Fortune, if you¡¯re listening right now, would you to hold her to that?¡± There was silence for a moment, then Tess shook her head. ¡°No response.¡± ¡°Must be too busy with Amy, then. That¡¯s fine, Fate will pass the message along for me. You two go catch up and rest.¡± He said, opening the door to their house. Ellie had already gone through and Tess was in the doorway when Gramps spoke up again. ¡°Tess?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget to put the animal parts away.¡± He said, smirking. ¡°It¡¯s fine for short periods of time or if you¡¯re somewhere without windows or something, but we don¡¯t want anyone asking difficult questions.¡± Tess blushed, and her ears and tail vanished, much to Ellie¡¯s disappointment. ¡°Sorry, I forgot. I¡¯ve been keeping them on to help make my claws seem more natural, and to make my enhanced hearing feel less jarring to me.¡± Ah, that was why. It made¡­some sort of sense, but Ellie wasn¡¯t really worried about whether or not it was logical. She was more excited that she¡¯d get to see wolf-Tess on a regular basis. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°We¡¯ll stop by Rachel¡¯s tomorrow, then.¡± Gramps said, ¡°We can have her make some modifications to your clothes, so they swap between accommodating for a tail and looking like normal human clothes.¡± ¡°Oh, um, thanks. How does that¡­work?¡± Gramps waved his hand. ¡°Not sure exactly how it works, but Rachel¡¯s the best in the business and she¡¯s got magic for stuff like this. Transforming clothes is a fairly common request of high-end clothes shops, so don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Alright. See you¡­when you finish, then.¡± She said, stepping all the way through the door. ¡°Be back soon!¡± Gramps replied, shutting the door. Ellie tentatively reached out for Tess¡¯s hand. ¡°Um, you¡­won the bet.¡± Tess slipped her hand into Ellie¡¯s, giving a gentle squeeze. ¡°Honestly, it really doesn¡¯t feel like it to me, but I suppose I did.¡± ¡°So¡­are we gonna go official or¡­?¡± Ellie asked shyly. Tess nodded slowly. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s.¡± ¡°Then, may I¡­¡± She didn¡¯t complete the sentence, but she was looking Tess in the eyes, and Tess seemed to get it, as she nodded. As Ellie leaned in, she was somewhat relieved to note that Tess was as red as Ellie felt she herself was, but that was only a fleeting thought, eclipsed by the sensation of their lips touching. It was more awkward than Ellie had expected; she had never kissed anyone before, and she really wasn¡¯t sure what to do. Tess had somewhat more experience and that helped things, but Ellie soon disengaged. ¡°Sorry.¡± She said, looking away. ¡°I don¡¯t really know how to do any of this.¡± Tess let out an embarrassed laugh. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I¡¯m not that much better. I¡¯ve only had a few others myself. We¡¯ll have time to figure it out, use the internet if we have to.¡± Ellie gave an embarrassed laugh of her own, and there was a silence for a few moments, broken when Tess spoke up. ¡°So¡­do we want to tell Gramps today? I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯ll be cool about it, but it¡¯s up to you.¡± Ellie froze. She had forgotten about that. It would be hard to keep from someone as observant as Gramps when they would all be living in the same house. She had been just letting it all be for years now, for fear of things changing forever, but¡­Tess was being brave about her own situation, so Ellie felt like she didn¡¯t really have a choice but to step up her game. ¡°Yeah. We might as well. I want to tell everyone at school when you come back, too, make sure everyone knows to keep their hands off.¡± She scratched her cheek awkwardly. ¡°I tried to do a bit of discrete digging, and it was getting me weird looks, so eventually I just asked grandpa, but, um, everyone knows you¡¯re a lesbian. Seems like they¡¯ve been given a memory of you coming out a few years ago.¡± Tess raised an eyebrow. ¡°Interesting. Wonder how he knew I would still be into girls; I hadn¡¯t even made sure myself by the time he sent people out.¡± ¡°Probably asked Fate or Fortune or some other god.¡± Ellie mused. ¡°But, um, speaking of gods¡­wow. I really wasn¡¯t prepared for a bomb like that. You seem to have taken it well, though. Did you know something beforehand?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Fortune let a couple things slip about having a boss, so I wasn¡¯t too surprised. That and I was kind of merged with Fortune at the time and that made it all feel more¡­normal? It was like¡­¡± She paused for a moment, then shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t really describe it, not properly. You have to experience it to really get it.¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Well, um¡­what do you want to do while we wait for Grandpa?¡± ¡°I have to unpack my stuff, for one.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Then I have a bit of homework I want to finish up.¡± She hesitated, appeared to rally, then continued. ¡°Um. I¡¯m¡­coming back to school in a couple of days, I think. I¡¯m going to talk about it with Gramps tomorrow, we¡¯ll see how it shakes out.¡± Ellie¡¯s eyes widened, and then she rushed in for a huge hug with Tess. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m super excited!¡± She exclaimed, ¡°You have no idea how much I¡¯ve wanted to go with you since you changed. If you ever have any issues or start feeling overwhelmed while we¡¯re there, come talk to me, okay? I¡¯ll be there for you.¡± Tess tightened her hug. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll do that.¡± Ellie let the hug linger, then froze as she caught sight of something dark on Tess¡¯s Gi. She squinted a bit, then spoke slowly. ¡°Tess, don¡¯t freak out, but there¡¯s a huge spider on your leg. Like¡­really big.¡± Tess laughed, extracting herself from the hug. ¡°That¡¯s just Silky.¡± She bent down and picked up the spider, bringing it up in an open palm. Now that Ellie could get a closer look, she saw that it was indeed much larger than most of the spiders she had seen, save for the tarantulas at the zoo. If she had to guess, she would say it was a few inches across, around the same diameter as a baseball. It had a sleek, glossy black carapace with a giant red hourglass on the abdomen. ¡°I wanted to surprise you, so I¡­did some practicing and pushed myself, and I¡­made a couple of pets.¡± Tess said, ¡°It was painful, and they didn¡¯t get much of a chance to do anything in the fight with Ilmir, but they¡¯ve been a great help in dungeons.¡± ¡°This here is Silky.¡± Tess said, and the spider raised a foreleg in what was clearly a salute. ¡°She¡¯s the boss of a dungeon full of giant spiders, a Blacker Widow. I took away the ¡®giant¡¯ part and now she¡¯s the size of a regular spider, but she keeps all the same stats. She¡¯s...more prone to crushing damage from big things now, but I¡¯m using her as a scout and sneak attacker, she¡¯s been doing a great job of it.¡± Ellie eyed Silky warily. She wasn¡¯t fond of spiders at the best of times, but there was something disarming about the way this spider acted. It didn¡¯t hold any of the¡­tenseness she saw in other spiders. Most spiders she saw she felt like would run away, hide, bite, or have some other fight-or-flight if approached, but Silky was perfectly relaxed. She didn¡¯t seem like she would even consider attacking Ellie, and that salute from before was another point in her favor. But that didn¡¯t mean Ellie was fully comfortable with her. She backed away, sitting down on the couch. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m going to need some time to get used to her.¡± She said, shaking her head. ¡°You know I don¡¯t like spiders.¡± Silky drooped somewhat, somehow managing to look¡­sad. ¡°Can she¡­understand us?¡± Ellie asked, curious despite herself. Tess nodded. ¡°I gave her an Attribute that gives her proficiency in the ¡°Common Language¡±, which, as it turns out, is English.¡± ¡°English is what?¡± Ellie replied, taken aback. ¡°Yeah, I ended up asking Fortune about it, and she said that they purposefully make it so that English becomes the dominant language on planes before introducing them to other planes. Said it makes things much less of a headache.¡± ¡°I¡­huh. I didn¡¯t even think about that before, since we have a portal here in the house and stepping into the Outlands is so easy, but it was kinda strange that everyone in a different dimension spoke English.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Glad they did, though. Would have been a huge pain to have to learn some other language just to communicate. Anyway, Silky here is going to stay around the house when we¡¯re not in the Outlands, I¡¯m planning to just leave her free to wander. She¡¯ll keep the pests down for us, and if she gets too hungry, she can just use the old cat flap and find something outside.¡± Ellie raised an eyebrow. ¡°She¡¯s not gonna get eaten by a bird, right?¡± Tess smirked. ¡°She may look like a slightly bigger than average spider but remember that she¡¯s a dungeon boss. She can take out relatively big things like goblins no problem. She¡¯s obviously not as strong here because of the mana density or whatever, but Fortune says she should be more than capable of dealing with whatever wildlife around here that would be interested in her.¡± Silky swelled with obvious pride, then turned around so she was facing Tess. ¡°Let¡¯s wait a minute.¡± Tess said, ¡°I need to show you what room is mine and what room is Ellie¡¯s. You¡¯re not allowed in Ellie¡¯s room while she¡¯s here. No webs in there, either.¡± Silky gave another salute. ¡°How do you know what she¡¯s asking?¡± Ellie said curiously, ¡°Do you have some sort of mental link with her or something?¡± Tess placed Silky back on her leg, and Silky scuttled to Tess¡¯s back, outside of Ellie¡¯s sight. ¡°Nothing quite like that, I just get a feeling.¡± Tess replied. ¡°It¡¯s a weird sort of¡­gut understanding of what she¡¯s asking. Not terribly specific or anything, just enough to get the gist of what it is. Supposedly the more intelligent the creature is and the longer they¡¯ve been my pet the stronger and more specific that feeling is, but I haven¡¯t done much testing yet.¡± ¡°Right, um, anyway, I... think I would prefer if Silky stays out of my room altogether, though. It just¡­I don¡¯t know, feels weird knowing that such a huge spider is just chilling there while I¡¯m away.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°That¡¯s fine, I just thought it would help keep your room clean of bugs. She won¡¯t go in if you don¡¯t want her to.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Ellie replied, relieved. ¡°Alright, uh, might as well introduce you to Isabella too, while we¡¯re doing this.¡± ¡°Isabella? Is she that ghost thing that came out of you right after Fortune Descended?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Isabella, it¡¯s fine to come out now.¡± Far from the vengeful spirit she had seen in the fight, a transparent child in a fancy-looking black dress stepped out from inside of Tess, giving a curtsey. ¡°Hello.¡± She intoned, ¡°I am Isabella. Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°She¡¯s the boss of another dungeon I went to, Lady Isabella. Fair warning, she can talk, but she¡¯s not much smarter than a little kid right now. Well, actually, Silky is about that smart too, but it seems different because Silky is way smarter than your normal spider so¡­yeah. Once I¡¯m stronger and have made these two more powerful, they¡¯ll get as smart as full-grown adults.¡± Isabella nodded slowly. ¡°That is correct.¡± She said flatly. ¡°She¡¯s support for me.¡± Tess continued, ¡°She mostly just sort of haunts me and uses her abilities from inside me, though she does occasionally come out when she has to touch an enemy for her abilities.¡± Isabella gave another curtsey and stepped back into Tess, vanishing completely from view. ¡°Right, so, those are my pets¡­¡± She paused, frowning. ¡°No, let¡¯s call them¡­minions for now, I guess. Probably isn¡¯t the most accurate term and would get weird when they got smarter later on. Though, I guess pets can be plenty smart? Whatever, it¡¯s not important, I¡¯m gonna show Silky which room is yours so she¡¯ll know to stay out of it, and then I¡¯m going to go unpack.¡± Tess did a small stretch, then started up the stairs. ¡°I¡¯ll wait in your room to help you out.¡± Ellie volunteered. ¡°Do you want to pass me the bag or would you rather keep that on you¡± Tess reached for the bag, undoing the strap that kept it on her waist, then tossed it to Ellie. ¡°Go ahead, just start with the clothes for now, since those are all coming back here.¡± Tess paused. ¡°Well, I might keep a couple of sets in there, I¡¯ll decide later. Just take it all out for now.¡± ¡°Got it!¡± Ellie replied, taking it up to Tess¡¯s room and beginning to take out the clothes. It had been a crazy day and it was only barely past four in the afternoon, but she was content. Tess was back, they were going out, and that was all she could really ask for right now. Chapter 26: Coming Out Tess flopped onto her bed after she finished unpacking, letting out a sigh of contentment. ¡°The hoverer and the hotels were nice and all, but it really just feels good to be back home.¡± She noted idly, looking over at Ellie. ¡°Thanks for helping me unpack, I appreciate it.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Ellie replied. She opened her mouth to continue, then started. ¡°Wait right there, I¡¯ll be back in a second.¡± She said, dashing out of the room. A couple of minutes later she returned, hands held suspiciously behind her back. ¡°So, um, today¡¯s been kind of nuts, and I don¡¯t know if you remembered or not, but¡­it¡¯s your birthday.¡± Tess blinked. She had forgotten, at least partially. There had been just too much going on to really sit down and process it, but she was 18 now, and that was a bit of a strange feeling for her. It was like a milestone in her life had passed and she had just sort of¡­missed it, at least partially. While she was thinking about that, Ellie continued what she was saying. ¡°I¡­um, I got you a present.¡± She said shyly, bringing out a small, wrapped box from behind her. She handed it to Tess, blushing. Tess tore off the wrapping paper, opening the box to find¡­a core. A decently big one, too. ¡°It¡¯s from a monster called the Blightbringer.¡± Ellie continued, growing ever redder. ¡°I did some searching and found a core I thought would suit what you had going for you given what you told me about what Skills you got. It¡¯s a boss of a decently high level dungeon and I think it¡¯ll help you out.¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t even know what to say.¡± Tess replied, ¡°That¡¯s¡­really thoughtful of you.¡± She grabbed the core in a fist, absorbing it.
You have absorbed a Blightbringer Core! Slots filled: 9/25 You have gained 1,380 EXP in Monster Breeder! Monster Breeder has leveled up! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ New Skill detected! Attempting to degrade and obtain Blighted Air¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Miasma! Attempting to degrade and obtain Blightbringer¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Blight¡¯s Harbinger! Attempting to degrade and obtain Contamination Factory¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Mass-Produced Contamination! Miasma: Rarity: Epic Type: Passive Description: You emit a foul air in an area 25 meters in radius centered on you. Every second, all other breathing creatures within this area have a 5% chance to be inflicted with Poison, dealing 5% of the user¡¯s max HP as damage every thirty seconds for five minutes. This poison¡¯s expiration timer does not start until after the target leaves the miasma. Herbs in a mask won¡¯t help. Blight¡¯s Harbinger: Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: Any Poison effects you inflict have a 50% chance to become Blight instead. Blight effects deal double the damage of the original Poison effect and deal the damage twice as often, but last half as long. Blight is treated as Poison with two exceptions: a target may have both Poison and Blight at the same time, and when Blight is cured by any means except the expiration of the effect, it is instead downgraded to Poison. A taste of the suffering to come. Mass-Produced Contamination: Rarity: Epic Type: Passive Description: Any Poison effects you inflict have a 25% chance to recur after expiring. This recurrent Poison lasts for half the length of the original and deals half the damage. A Poison inflicted by this recurrence may recur again, cutting length and damage in half again. Further recursion is possible and has no effect on the damage or duration of the Poison. If you act now, we¡¯ll make this Poison an inflict-one-get-one-free deal! Displaying core information: Blightbringer Core: Level 62 Estimated Power: 773 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 1,500 Current Skills: Blighted Air Blightbringer Contamination Factory Current Attributes: Blighted Body Firmly Rooted Living Structure Immobile Metal Shell Structural (Fundamental) New Attributes Discovered! Blighted Body: The creature¡¯s body becomes a host for Blight, granting immunity to all Poison effects and causing any who attack it from within 2 meters to have a 10% chance to receive a Blight, dealing 25% of the damage inflicted by the original wound every two and a half seconds for two and a half minutes. Firmly Rooted: The creature becomes firmly rooted when placed on ground, causing it to be unable to move from that spot without spending 25 Stamina, but granting immunity to any effects that cause knockback and significantly increasing the strength needed to pick up and move the creature. Living Structure: If the creature is a structure, it does not receive any immunities to conditions normally granted by being a structure. Outwardly the structure¡¯s makeup appears unchanged, but damage will reveal layers of flesh, blood, and bone beneath the exterior. This Attribute does nothing to creatures that are not structures. If placed on a creature that is a structure, this Attribute removes power instead of adding it for the purpose of power limitations on a core. Immobile: The creature becomes unable to move under its own power. This Attribute removes power instead of adding it for the purpose of power limitations on a core. Metal Shell: The creature becomes coated in a thick layer of metal, cutting its Agility in half but increasing its Defense and Magic Defense by 50%. Structural: The creature becomes a structure, decreasing its Agility by 90%, removing all biological needs, and granting immunity to conditions such as Heavy Bleeding or Poisoned that only affect living targets. New Skills discovered! Blighted Air: Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: You emit a foul air in an area 50 meters in radius centered on you. Every second, all other breathing creatures within this area have a 10% chance to be inflicted with Poison, dealing 10% of the user¡¯s max HP as damage every thirty seconds for five minutes. This poison¡¯s expiration timer does not start until after the target leaves the miasma. You¡¯re a walking plague. Blightbringer: Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Any Poison effects you inflict have a 100% chance to become Blight instead. Blight effects deal double the damage of the original Poison effect and deal the damage twice as often, but last half as long. Blight is treated as Poison with two exceptions: a target may have both Poison and Blight at the same time, and when Blight is cured by any means except the expiration of the effect, it is instead downgraded to Poison. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.The first seal has been broken, and Pestilence unleashed. Contamination Factory: Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: Any Poison effects you inflict have a 50% chance to recur after expiring. This recurrent Poison lasts for three-quarters the length of the original and deals three-quarters the damage. A Poison inflicted by this recurrence may recur again, cutting length and damage by three-quarters again. Further recursion is possible and has no effect on the damage or duration of the Poison. It¡¯s never truly over.
Tess quickly got to work rearranging her Attributes. Blightbringer wasn¡¯t important when Blight¡¯s Harbinger was just as good for her purposes, so she made a mental note to put it on Silky whenever she next upgraded her. The other Skills were excellent, and none of the Attributes but Blighted Body interested her in the slightest, she just had to make room for three more in her slots. She had an unused one from leveling up, so that just left two. She wasn¡¯t using Facultative Biped, and Haunt wasn¡¯t really important when Isabella also had it and was generally inside of Tess at any given time, so that wasn¡¯t really a priority. Actually, while she was thinking about things she had gotten from ghosts, she had Greater Levitation in a User Fundamental slot, and she didn¡¯t really need the extra benefits that gave, so Blighted Body would probably be a better pick. So, she started the process of moving those around and began to speak with Ellie while she waited. ¡°They¡¯re perfect¡± Tess said, ¡°Really, thanks a bunch!¡± Ellie smiled. ¡°You¡¯re welcome! Um¡­do you smell something?¡± ¡°No, what are¡­oh, that¡¯s probably me. One of my new Skills makes me give off this miasma stuff. Let me turn it off¡­¡± She did so, and Ellie breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Thanks. It honestly wasn¡¯t that bad, but over time I think it would have gotten on my nerves, you know?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, I know what you mean. We¡¯ll have to ask Gramps if there¡¯s some sort of smell filter device we can get for the people around me for while we¡¯re in dungeons, since I think this will be super helpful in dungeons and stuff.¡± ¡°So¡­what exactly does it do? And what else did you get?¡± Tess explained, pausing only briefly to move the Attributes and Skills into place once she had put the old ones away.
Blighted Body (User Fundamental): The creature¡¯s body becomes a host for Blight, granting immunity to all Poison effects and causing any who attack it from within 4 meters to have a 20% chance to receive a Blight, dealing 50% of the damage inflicted by the original wound every two and a half seconds for two and a half minutes.
¡°Well, I¡¯m relieved.¡± Ellie said after Tess had finished, ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if the Skills that the info listed for this thing would be the same as what you got, but it looks like they were.¡± Tess blushed. ¡°Again, thanks. I really wasn¡¯t expecting something like this, it must have been expensive.¡± Ellie threw an arm around Tess. ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. I got it at a discount from the guild, Grandpa says our party will more than make up for that money with just a small amount of work once we¡¯re higher level. Said he plans to give us discounts whenever we want to buy cores, so long as we don¡¯t buy too much.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll need to if it¡¯s something we¡¯re able to fight.¡± Tess said, laying her head on Ellie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ve already got way more cores than I could possibly use.¡± Ellie stiffened, causing Tess to remove her head. ¡°Was that too soon?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°No!¡± Ellie said hurriedly. ¡°No. I just wasn¡¯t expecting it, I was happy, really.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Tess replied, once again resting her head on Ellie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Well, um¡­just let me know if you get uncomfortable, okay?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie said, pulling Tess in closer, ¡°Will do.¡±
¡°So, you wanted to talk to me?¡± Gramps asked, giving Ellie and Tess a look. Ellie took a deep breath, then paused, apparently having seconds thoughts. Tess gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and she seemed to take heart in that, continuing on. ¡°Um, Grandpa, I¡­I¡¯m a lesbian.¡± Gramps smiled. ¡°I¡¯m very proud of you for coming out.¡± He said, glancing at Ellie and Tess¡¯s connected hands, ¡°Anything else?¡± Ellie blinked. ¡°Is¡­that it?¡± She asked, clearly taken aback. Gramps scratched his neck, embarrassed. ¡°I might have already known. Or, at the least very strongly suspected. I had an inkling of it before Tess transformed, but after that I was almost completely assured. Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t think any less of you for it or anything. It¡¯s a natural thing you don¡¯t have any choice over and I don¡¯t see a reason why it should affect what I think of you at all.¡± ¡°O-oh.¡± Ellie said, ¡°I feel a little silly now. Um¡­Tess and I are going out, now, so that was the other thing we were going to talk about.¡± Tess nodded in agreement, carefully observing Gramps¡¯s reaction. He had been teasing them about this for a while now, so she was curious to see how he would respond. Gramps just gave a simple nod in response. ¡°I see. Well, I wish you two the best of luck, then. I think you two go great together, and you¡¯re both adults so I¡¯m not going to set any curfews or rules or anything, just try not to get wild somewhere I can hear, alright?¡± He said, smirking. ¡°Grandpa!¡± Ellie replied, blushing furiously. Tess could feel her cheeks warming too, but Gramps just laughed. ¡°I¡¯m just messing with you two. Now, what say you we go have some dinner? I think it¡¯s time we properly celebrated Tess¡¯s birthday, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Is it alright if we go out somewhere?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I¡­I think I¡¯m ready to go back to school, so maybe eating out a restaurant would be okay?¡± Gramps smiled. ¡°Of course. If that¡¯s what you want, I can have you back in by the start of next week, does that sound good?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, that works.¡± ¡°Good. We shouldn¡¯t have an issue going out in that case, where¡¯d you like to go?¡± Tess thought about that for a second. ¡°How about a diner?¡± She said, ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve been to one.¡± ¡°Sure thing!¡± Gramps replied jovially. ¡°Go change out of your armor, we¡¯ll head out as soon as everyone¡¯s ready.¡± Tess looked down, realizing that she was still wearing her gi. ¡°Oh, right. Forgot.¡± She left, heading back to her room to change into some other clothes. After that she went back downstairs, and they all loaded up into the car, where they began the ten or so minute drive into town. ¡°So,¡± Gramps asked, ¡°What made you decide to go back to school so soon? I was ready to wait another month or so before starting to ask you about it.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°I just sorta realized while I was out that there wasn¡¯t a point delaying it any further. I¡¯m fine talking to people I don¡¯t know, so talking to people I do shouldn¡¯t be a big issue.¡± Gramps nodded. ¡°Well, I think you¡¯re going to do just fine.¡± He said, ¡°No one should really see anything odd about you, so there shouldn¡¯t be any issues whatsoever.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said, and the conversation shifted away from the subject. Gramps asked about what the trip was like, and Tess told them some stories to pass the time. ¡°So, how was¡­you know, your period?¡± Ellie asked, ¡°You didn¡¯t mention it at all, but I figured you just didn¡¯t want to talk about it. Was it as bad as you were worrying it would be?¡± Tess frowned. ¡°It never came, actually. Perhaps I¡¯m not once a month like most girls?¡± ¡°If you didn¡¯t have one when you were out, it¡¯s more likely you don¡¯t have one at all.¡± Gramps said. ¡°There are a couple of humanoid races that don¡¯t menstruate, and most that aren¡¯t humanoid don¡¯t either, so it would be a bit of an odd thing to make the Class do. You¡¯ll have to ask Fortune about it when she finishes what she¡¯s doing with Amy, she apparently designed the physical changes so she would know.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll do that.¡± Tess agreed. ¡°It¡¯ll be nice to be a little surer about it, at least.¡± ¡°I kind of want to grill her myself.¡± Ellie said, ¡°I have a few questions on why some things are the way they are, and we didn¡¯t really have time to talk earlier.¡± ¡°Alright, you can be there too.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know when she becomes available.¡± They conversed for a little while longer before pulling up into the restaurant. It was a Wednesday night, so it wasn¡¯t all too crowded, and they were seated pretty quickly. They weren¡¯t allowed to talk about things having to do with the Outlands while they were out like this, so the conversation ended up being pretty mundane. After they ate, they drove back to the house, and Gramps came out with cake and presents. The presents were much of the same stuff Tess used to get ¨C books, games, that sort of thing. Cake was, thankfully, free of relighting candles this year, and before Tess even knew it it was time for bed. Tomorrow she would go and learn more about her duties as an Appointed, but today¡­today she was content to just go to sleep relaxed, happy to once again be at home. Chapter 27: Safe House The next morning, Tess was woken up early by Gramps. ¡°Breakfast is on the table.¡± He said, ¡°We¡¯ve got a long day ahead of us, so make sure to eat your fill.¡± Tess yawned, opening her eyes and checking her clock. It was five in the morning, much earlier than she had been expecting. ¡°Why are we up so early?¡± She asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. ¡°We have preparation to do.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Go ahead and get changed. Don¡¯t worry about your armor right now, just get into casual clothes and keep the armor in your bag. I¡¯m hoping to be out of the house in twenty minutes, so don¡¯t take too long.¡± He left the room, shutting the door behind him. Tess blearily got out of bed, changing into some day clothes and stumbling her way downstairs to the kitchen. There was indeed breakfast waiting there, which she ate while slowly waking up. And, in another ten or so minutes, she was heading through the door to the Outlands with Gramps. But, contrary to her expectations, when they entered Gramps¡¯s office, they didn¡¯t go to leave through the exit to the guild. Instead, Gramps rummaged through his drawers, eventually pulling out a bag that was near identical to the one Tess carried, save for looking like it had been used quite a bit more. From in there he pulled out a chalk-like substance, then moved to a larger open area to the size of the room, where he began to draw what could only be a magic circle. The runes contained therein were dizzyingly complex to Tess, rivaling even those that had appeared when herself and Fortune had been casting Fimbulvetr in their duel with Ilmir. And then he began to pour magic into the circle and even more symbols appeared in the air, a certain tenseness building up as the magic reached its peak¡­and then coalesced into a visible portal, through which she could see¡­a lodge, of sorts. The walls seemed to be made of sturdy wood logs decorated with various heads of which Tess could only identify a few. There were furs lining the floor, and several chairs centered around a fireplace, and what she could see of the room gave off a generally rustic feeling. ¡°Hop on in.¡± Gramps said, motioning through the portal, ¡°I¡¯ll explain in a bit.¡± Tess made her way through the portal, which was¡­honestly about as smooth as going through the door between Gramps¡¯s office and their house. No sense of disorientation or anything, she was just suddenly in another place. What was different, though, was the temperature and feeling of the air. It was cold, a biting cold that immediately made her wish she was wearing something warmer. The cause was clear enough; outside the window she could see a howling blizzard, blowing furiously enough that she couldn¡¯t even make out the surrounding area, or even the ground right below the window. ¡°Sorry about that.¡± Gramps said, stepping through the portal and rushing over to the fireplace. ¡°We made this in about as inhospitable a place as we could find.¡± He said, kneeling down and placing his hand in front of the fireplace. A roaring flame sprung into life within, dispelling the cold she had been feeling and bringing the room up to room temperature within an instant. ¡°We can¡¯t keep this going all the time because it¡¯s a waste of resources, so it gets really cold in here before it¡¯s lit.¡± He explained. He stood up, dusting himself off and walking back over to where the portal was still sitting. ¡°Give me another minute to rework the spell and then I¡¯ll explain, alright? Just take a seat for now.¡± He took out the chalk-like stuff and made a few modifications to the circle that Tess was now noticing was around this side of the portal as well. The portal blinked out of existence and the circle around where it used to be began to glow. Gramps walked back to the area around the fireplace and sat down in a chair next to Tess¡¯s. ¡°So, I might have not been telling the whole truth yesterday.¡± He began, ¡°You are here to learn more about being an Appointed, yes, but it¡¯s not going to be just you and me or anything.¡± As if on cue, the portal flared into life once more and Eyfura stepped through, the portal closing once she had. ¡°Hello!¡± She said cheerfully, walking over and sitting down in another once of the chairs. ¡°Did I miss anything important?¡± Gramps shook his head. ¡°Nope. I was just about to tell her about the meeting.¡± ¡°Ah. Carry on, then.¡± ¡°Right, so, today we¡¯re going to be having a meeting of sorts. A fair portion of us Appointed keep in contact and when something important happens, like¡­there being a new Appointed, we like to call everyone together and make sure everyone¡¯s up to speed. When it¡¯s something like a war or huge conflict, we decide on a course of action.¡± Gramps explained. ¡°Today I¡¯ve called the meeting to introduce you to everyone.¡± Eyfura nodded. ¡°Here¡¯s something the public doesn¡¯t know,¡± She said, ¡°All of the members of your Gramps and I¡¯s party are Appointed. It¡¯s how we met each other in the first place. We had been working together on other business for the gods and chose to team up permanently, start being more proactive in making things go the proper way. ¡°That way being keeping the Outlands neutral, of course.¡± She continued, ¡°It¡¯s important as the only easy way of accessing any given plane, so it wouldn¡¯t do to have any one plane achieve a monopoly. We made sure that wouldn¡¯t happen. There were a few bloody fights when the other planes started to realize what we were doing, but we had gathered a group of the strongest freelancers and between them and the rest of the Appointed, it was enough to make them all get the picture.¡± Tess gave Gramps a careful look. ¡°Does¡­that mean you¡¯ve killed other people?¡± She asked. She knew it must be true, but it seemed so at odds with everything about Gramps that she couldn¡¯t help but ask. He sighed sadly, face somber. ¡°Hundreds, unfortunately. I did my best to resurrect people when I could, but I was in the middle of Descent for much of the conflict and¡­well, let¡¯s just say that siege mages can do a lot of damage, especially when augmented by a god.¡± He gave her a sad look. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that chances are good you¡¯ll have to kill other people yourself. Being an Appointed isn¡¯t always a peaceful job, even if there isn¡¯t a war going on. Sometimes the gods need you to deal with people, and those people often don¡¯t come quietly.¡± There was a silence as Tess sat there, digesting that. She was about to speak when the portal opened again, two people stepping through it. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. One was a tall¡­she couldn¡¯t really tell, honestly. He was huge, most of his body covered in rusty-green scales that looked tougher than armor plating. He wore only a pair of shorts, allowing her to see that the scales started to become thinner as they went towards his bottom, though they seemed to thicken back up again at the legs. His neck was also covered in the scales, which led up the head and around most of it save for the face, giving him the appearance of wearing a helmet. He was smiling, showing a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, though it, oddly enough, didn¡¯t seem threatening at all. The figure beside him was much less imposing. She was human and Tess guessed she was of average height. She had very short black hair and was dressed in a simple white tunic. The only thing about her that really stood out about her were her eyes. There was a certain¡­sharpness to them that Tess couldn¡¯t quite place, a feeling that they were able to see right through Tess and that their owner already knew everything there was to know about Tess. ¡°Ah, perfect timing.¡± Gramps said, standing up and grabbing Tess¡¯s hand, having her stand up as well. ¡°Tess, these fine people are Ava and Atum, the other two members of my party. Ava, Atum, this is Tess, my granddaughter.¡± Ava looked Tess over. ¡°Transformee?¡± She asked, smiling slightly. Gramps nodded. ¡°Yup. She was Thomas before, but she got a Class from that Challenge Crystal in Slime Tower, and this is what she ended up like.¡± Ava arched a brow. ¡°I see. Well, nice to see you again, though from the looks of it, it seems you don¡¯t recognize me.¡± She patted Atum¡¯s arm softly, ¡°And I highly doubt you¡¯d recognize Atum here.¡± Atum nodded. ¡°The scales kind of dominate all my other features, don¡¯t you think?¡± He said. She had half expected him to have a gravelly voice, but it was smooth, almost comforting. ¡°We met once before at the funeral for Evan¡¯s kids, though I seem to recall you being a bit¡­different then.¡± He gave her a wink, walking forward and proffering a hand. Tess reached out and shook. While the handshake was firm, it was clear that he was paying careful attention to how much strength he was using so as not to injure her. Once the handshake was over, he gave her a couple pats on the back. ¡°Before you ask, I¡¯m sarcosuchuskin, an evolved form of crocodilekin. No, shirts don¡¯t really work out, even the tough ones tend to get shredded to pieces by the back scales. Yes, it gets cold, I have a magic item that keeps me warm.¡± He laughed, giving her another wink. ¡°Nice to finally get to really meet you. Ava and I have been dying to see how you and Ellie have turned out, mind spilling the beans? Evan¡¯s been a bit stingy about information on your kits aside from the basics.¡± Ava walked over, gently pulling Atum away. ¡°Dear, I think you should wait until at least after the meeting before prying into her abilities.¡± She turned back to Tess, placing a hand on Tess¡¯s arm. ¡°Sorry about him, he gets excited about stuff like this. Though,¡± she said, cracking a smile, ¡°I must admit I do as well. I¡¯m just less forward with it. That being said, given your presence here and what Heroes has been telling me, I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re Fortune¡¯s Appointed?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°As of yesterday, yeah.¡± Ava gave her another smile. ¡°Seems Fortune¡¯s been aiming for that for a while, though.¡± She said. ¡°Heroes has been talking my ear off about you for the past month.¡± ¡°War too.¡± Atum added. ¡°She got real excited about something to do with monsters and optimized Skills? I¡¯m a bit fuzzy on the details of the monster thing, but she¡¯s been talking theoretical best combinations of Skills with me for a while.¡± ¡°Right, well, thanks for coming early you three,¡± Gramps said, ¡°We can discuss this after the meeting, but for now we need to get everything set up.¡± Eyfura stood up, stretching. ¡°Yeah, you have a point. Atum, want to help me grab the table?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Atum responded. ¡°Do the rest of you want to get the chairs?¡± ¡°Sounds reasonable to me.¡± Ava said, ¡°Follow me, Tess, I¡¯ll show you where everything is.¡± Gramps nodded, giving her a gentle push towards Ava. ¡°I have other things to get ready, just follow Ava¡¯s directions for now.¡± Ava led Tess to another room, where she opened up a closet. Inside were a bunch of wooden folding chairs, and Ava grabbed a couple, handed them to Tess, then grabbed two under each arm for herself. ¡°So, um¡­how have you been holding up?¡± She asked, moving towards another room that Tess hadn¡¯t yet been in. ¡°I¡¯m guessing things have been kinda turbulent for you this past month.¡± ¡°Fine, I guess.¡± Tess replied, ¡°I¡¯m mostly used to everything by now. If you don¡¯t mind my asking, what roles do you and Atum fulfil in your party? I¡¯ve heard a lot of people saying you guys were the best that¡¯s ever been but not a lot of concrete details.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a generalist. That usually ended up meaning I was our scout or, if Evan was busy, a backup healer or mage. Atum was our dedicated tank, and a good one at that; the rest of us hardly ever took any heat from monsters. But that was a long time ago, as far as the public¡¯s concerned we¡¯re retired now. We¡¯re just living in the city, enjoying a quiet family life with our kids and grandkids.¡± They were in the other room now, a long, thin one. There was a fireplace and the walls were filled with mysterious heads of what Tess could only assume were monsters, but other than that the room was empty. Ava placed the chairs down and unfolded them, motioning for Tess to do the same. ¡°But really we¡¯re not all that retired. The public also knows that if anyone wants to poke the bear that is the city, they¡¯re going to have to tangle with some of the most powerful people out there. No one has in a while, but it can¡¯t hurt to stay vigilant.¡± She gave Tess a wink. ¡°Of course, besides our role as deterrent, we¡¯re doing Appointed things on the side, as well as making sure our family knows how to defend themselves. It¡¯s a fulfilling life, all things considered.¡± Having finished opening those chairs, the two returned to the closet in the other room to grab the rest. By the time they were back in the room they were putting the chairs, Gramps was placing what looked to be wood in the fireplace and Eyfura and Atum were busy opening what looked to be a fairly large wooden table. ¡°Why not just keep the table set up?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Seems like a lot of hassle to go through this every time you have a meeting.¡± ¡°This room is used for other things too.¡± Atum grunted. ¡°We can¡¯t have the table getting in the way of other things if someone else needs to use this place. We only have a meeting once or twice a year, though, so it¡¯s not generally a problem.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°What exactly is this place? I¡¯ve gathered that you all built this, but if it¡¯s not just for private meetings, what is it?¡± There was a whoosh as the wood in the fireplace was lit and Gramps stood up. ¡°General-purpose Appointed safehouse.¡± He said. ¡°If you¡¯re in trouble and have the time to make the proper circle you can pop in here and wait things out. We also use it to temporarily store stuff we might not want the public to see, or even to keep prisoners while the gods decide what to do with them, should it come to that. ¡°I¡¯ll show you how to get here and how to run the place after we finish with the meeting.¡± He continued, ¡°The warping process requires a tiny amount of Worship as a sort of validation, so generally only Appointed can get in here, though theoretically anyone that knows how to draw the circle and has a god put Worship in it could get here that way. And we¡¯re deep in the ¡®unexplored¡¯ regions of the Outlands, up a high mountain cloaked in an eternal blizzard that¡¯s also swarming with tough monsters. It¡¯s about as safe as a location can be, provided you don¡¯t go too far away.¡± Eyfura and Atum finished putting the table up and everyone began to arrange the chairs around it. Soon everything was set up, and Gramps motioned for them to follow him back into the room they had first warped into. ¡°Looks like we have a little extra time before people start showing up.¡± He said, ¡°Thanks for helping out, the work would have gone much slower with just the two of us.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even mention it.¡± Atum said, waving a hand dismissively. ¡°But, if we¡¯ve got the extra time, I really would like to hear more from Tess and how she¡¯s shaping up.¡± He shot Ava a glance. ¡°Surely you can allow me that, right?¡± He asked pleadingly. Ava sighed. ¡°I suppose so, but only if Tess is fine with it.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, let me sit down first, though.¡± She took a seat in a chair by the fireplace. ¡°So, um, it started a few days after Ellie¡¯s birthday¡­¡± Chapter 28: Appointeds Meeting The door to the cabin flew open, interrupting Tess¡¯s story and letting in a howling burst of wind and snow. A huge four-armed figure shook off the snow that was coating him, then slammed the door shut behind him. While he wasn¡¯t as tall as a goliath like Ker, he more than made up for it in sheer¡­thickness. He was incredibly muscled, with shaggy brown hair that blended into the heavy furs he was wearing. And then there was the bow. It was massive, a fair bit taller than the man was, made of some sort of imposing-looking bone. She¡­honestly didn¡¯t see how it was supposed to work. From her admittedly minimal knowledge of bow making, she was sure the bone should snap, or not bend enough, or even that it would require such an unreasonable amount of strength to pull the string back that it would be unfeasible to use¡­not that strength seemed to be a concern for the mammoth of a man in front of her. ¡°What¡¯s the big idea, Evan?!¡± He growled, ¡°The yearly meeting¡¯s not scheduled for another two months and I was in the middle of hunting a particularly nasty Phosphorescent Mangler. If there¡¯s not a very good reason for this, I¡¯m not going to be happy.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Valin, I didn¡¯t call this just to call it.¡± Gramps soothed, patting the back of Tess¡¯s chair. ¡°We¡¯ve got a new member.¡± Valin arched a brow, staring Tess down with a look that suggested he was looking at more than just her appearance. ¡°Really?¡± He said skeptically, ¡°She looks rather underwhelming to me.¡± Gramps smirked. ¡°Looks can be deceiving.¡± He said, waving a hand and causing some sort of¡­motionless body to appear in the room. ¡°Please give the dummy a good hit, Tess.¡± He instructed, ¡°Full power, no need to hold back for fear of leaking secrets.¡± Tess nodded, unsheathing her claws and stalking towards the dummy. She activated all her Skills and, slashed downwards, then hurriedly jumped back so she was out of the way of the status explosion that would hit after You Are Already Dead¡¯s time was up.
You have hit Training Dummy for 830 damage! (Effects hidden)
Curious as to the exact numbers, Tess expanded the window. Due to the ever-increasing length of the windows she was getting with each hit, Fortune had given her a Blessing that let her collapse them, so they weren¡¯t so obnoxious.
You have hit Training Dummy for 830 damage! You have planted a parasite on Training Dummy! It will deal 186 damage and heal you 186 HP every second until removed. You have inflicted Blight on Training Dummy! It will take 933 damage every 1.25 seconds for 112 seconds! You have Shocked Training Dummy for .5 seconds! You have set Training Dummy on fire! It will take 1,037 damage every second for 3.75 seconds! Fire has spread to another part of Training Dummy¡¯s body, duplicating the effect! Fire has spread to another part of Training Dummy¡¯s body, duplicating the effect! Fire has spread to another part of Training Dummy¡¯s body, duplicating the effect! Fire has spread to another part of Training Dummy¡¯s body, duplicating the effect! Due to having more than 3 body parts on fire, all burning effects on the target have their damage increased by 50% and have their durations decrease half as fast! You have Slowed Training Dummy! It will move 25% slower for 5 seconds! You have inflicted Heavy Bleeding on Training Dummy! It will bleed for 1,369 damage every second for 150 seconds. Due to applying a bleed effect to a burning target, the damage of the burn effects are increased by 50%! Due to applying a bleed effect to a Poisoned target, the poison deals damage twice as often!
¡°Blessing?¡± Valin grunted. ¡°Yup. Any check that is influenced by her Luck automatically gives her the most favorable result.¡± Gramps replied. Valin stared off into space for a second, then nodded. ¡°I see how it is. Who are we still waiting on? I¡¯d like to get back to the hunt as soon as I can.¡± ¡°Aside from the five of us you¡¯re the first one here.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°We still have about twenty minutes before the meeting¡¯s slated to start.¡± Valin gave a noncommittal grunt and moved to walked out through a door to a room Tess hadn¡¯t been in before, but stopped, squinting at Tess. ¡°You seem to have a ghost haunting you.¡± He said, ¡°Shall I take care of it?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s fine, she¡¯s mine.¡± Valin nodded curtly and left. ¡°I¡­thought people teleported here?¡± Tess asked once he was gone. ¡°Valin prefers to use his own means of transport when possible. He¡¯s got a few quirks but he¡¯s generally a pretty decent guy once you get to know him.¡± Ava said, ¡°Anyway, you were talking about that bet you had, do continue.¡±
Tess finished her story in around ten minutes, during which another couple of people filtered in through the portal. As they came through, they gave Tess a curious look, looked back at the other, and then left the room without comment. Once Tess had finished, Atum gave her a smile and patted her on the back. ¡°Don¡¯t feel too beat up about not being able to beat Ilmir without a Descent.¡± He said, ¡°She¡¯s quite a big stronger than average and she¡¯s got those blessings to boot. Still, she treated you awfully, I promise she¡¯s not usually like that. Have you sat down and talked with her about why she acts the way she does?¡± Tess frowned. ¡°She thinks I¡¯m weak, and that I¡¯m holding Ellie back. Pretty sure she also has the hots for Ellie and doesn¡¯t want me in the way of things, though,¡± and Tess couldn¡¯t help but smirk a little while saying this, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯s already lost to me on that front.¡± Ava nodded. ¡°I think you¡¯re partially right and partially wrong. It¡¯s not our place to say more, though, so for now I recommend you force her to sit down and have a talk with you as soon as possible. You¡¯re her acting party leader so she¡¯s going to have to listen to you about stuff like this, and I¡¯m sure Eyfura will make sure she doesn¡¯t try to weasel out of it.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll do that.¡± Eyfura replied, standing up and stretching. ¡°I¡¯m going to grab some food from the pantry before we start, does anyone want anything?¡± ¡°I just ate.¡± Tess said. ¡°The two of us did too.¡± Atum added. ¡°I as well.¡± Gramps finished. ¡°Ah well.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°Tess, you might as well come with me anyway, it¡¯s good to know where everything is.¡± Gramps nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll meet you two in the meeting room, then. Remember, we start in ten minutes.¡± ¡°Yeah, got it.¡± Eyfura said, moving away and motioning for Tess to follow. She led her through a couple of rooms until they were in a cozy-looking kitchen. ¡°Stick with me here until the meeting starts.¡± She said, beginning to rummage through the pantry, ¡°I want to talk real quick and it¡¯s probably best you¡¯re with one of us until everyone knows who you are.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Tess said, sitting down at a table, ¡°What about?¡± ¡°Ilmir.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°I¡¯m not going to tell you everything now because that¡¯s really her story to tell, but I want to give you some context that I don¡¯t think she even consciously realizes.¡± She paused for a moment, scanning the shelves, picking up a can of something, looking at it for a moment, then putting it back and resuming her search. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you remind her of what she thinks of as her own failures.¡± Eyfura sighed. ¡°She got super pumped when her stats came in and she was way above average, and even more so when her Skills started to work together really well. She was getting convinced that she was different, better than everyone else. She started bugging me to let her tag along on one of the outings I do occasionally. Nothing big, of course, but something that could give her a good challenge.¡± Eyfura came back out of the pantry with some sort of bread-like substance, sitting down across from Tess. ¡°I was like that at her age too, and so I thought it would be wise to give her a reality check of sorts and decided to grant her wish.¡± She sighed again, shaking her head. ¡°I really should have talked with Evan or someone about it, scouted more, just¡­made the entire thing more of a controlled situation. I¡¯m not going to go into details here because that really is her story to tell, but things ended up going poorly, and she blames herself, no matter how much we try to convince her it¡¯s not her fault. ¡°Since that day she¡¯s convinced herself that there are some gaps in raw power that are just too large to bridge. It¡¯s achieved the goal of making her more wary, but she¡¯s built her worldview around it. I¡¯ve tried to break her of that, but¡­well, trauma does weird things to people, and I¡¯m nowhere near qualified to tackle something like that. ¡°But you¡­you fly in the face of everything she believes. You¡¯re near constantly at similar deficits to the one she was facing, and she can¡¯t bring herself to believe that they can be tackled without outside intervention. If she faces the fact that you can make things work¡­she has to consider that maybe she could have made things work then, too.¡± She stared down at her bread, which had laid untouched as she talked. ¡°She couldn¡¯t have done it on her own, of course, and she actually did far better than I ever would have expected her to do, but I¡¯m not sure she realizes just how special a case you are. She thought she was special too, and that brought her nothing but problems, so she thinks the situations are the same. In her own misguided way, she really is just trying to be kind¡­though I can¡¯t deny her ¡®having the hots for Ellie and wanting you out of the way¡¯. It¡¯s just¡­less of a motivator than you might think.¡± Eyfura gave Tess a weak smile. ¡°So¡­please try to not be too harsh on her. My own poor choices are partially at fault here. I can¡¯t expect you to forgive and forget immediately, just¡­ give her some time to come to grips with things.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Is¡­that so?¡± Ava asked softly. She had gotten right behind Tess without Tess even noticing, something that hadn¡¯t happened to Tess since she had first gotten Enhanced Hearing (Perfect). Ava sat down in a chair between Eyfura and Tess. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware she was still hung up about that.¡± She said. ¡°Would you like me to have a talk with her?¡± Eyfura opened her mouth to speak, but Ava cut her off. ¡°Just because it¡¯s something you did doesn¡¯t mean you have to be the only one to try and fix it.¡± Ava said, patting Eyfura¡¯s hand. Eyfura paused, looked into Ava¡¯s eyes, blushed, then looked away. ¡°I¡­was hoping she¡¯d mellow out more with age.¡± She admitted. ¡°I thought that something like this wouldn¡¯t come up until she had. And¡­I¡¯m not able to handle this on my own. If¡­ if you could talk with her sometime soon, I would appreciate it. I¡¯ll let you know when a good time is.¡± Ava smiled, nodding. ¡°Of course. Just give me the word and I¡¯ll be there.¡± She turned to Tess, ¡°Sorry you got caught up in all of this.¡± She said. ¡°Normally we try not to let people see our failures like this, but¡­you¡¯re one of us now.¡± She grabbed Tess¡¯s hand between hers, giving Tess a gentle smile. ¡°It can be really hard, having to put up a tough front like this, but even if you think we¡¯re busy, any of the four of us will be more than willing to listen to your troubles and give advice, even directly help you if we think it necessary. We¡¯re your seniors here, so don¡¯t feel shy about it.¡± ¡°R-right.¡± Tess said. ¡°Right.¡± Ava repeated. ¡°Let me give you our phone number, Atum and I will make sure to get back to you as soon as we see your call or text or however you choose to go about this.¡± Tess fumbled around in her pocket for a moment before eventually pulling out her phone and putting in the information that Ava gave her. ¡°You can reach either of us through this number, this is our house phone.¡± Ava explained. ¡°Well, we say house phone but it¡¯s actually just Atum¡¯s cell phone that we put for most things that want a ¡°house phone¡± or ¡°main phone¡± or whatever.¡± ¡°Right, I¡­get it, I think. Um, if you don¡¯t mind my asking¡­what¡¯s your relationship with Atum? I don¡¯t know anything about you two, really, and thought I might as well ask.¡± Tess said hesitantly. Ava laughed. ¡°We¡¯re married.¡± She explained. ¡°Going strong for over two-hundred years at this point, and we¡¯ve no intention of quitting now. When you have some free time we¡¯ll have to introduce you to the rest of our family, it¡¯ll be nice for them to finally meet one of the grandchildren Evan¡¯s so proud of.¡± ¡°Not going to be for a while.¡± Eyfura said, seemingly having regained her composure. ¡°There¡¯s a lot that¡¯s going into her training at the moment and every minute counts. I¡¯m really hoping we can get her to the point where she¡¯s able to take on dungeons a fair bit above her level soon, and, seeing as how she¡¯s going back to school soon, we need all the time we can get. After she¡¯s ready, though, we can set something up. Ellie too, for that matter.¡± They conversed for a few more minutes while Eyfura finished her bread, and then Ava led them back to the conference room, which had filled up considerably. There were, including Gramps¡¯s party members and herself, 11 people around the table. Gramps sat at the end of the table, and he motioned for Tess to sit down in an empty chair just around the corner from his own. Tess did, and Ava and Eyfura made their way to a couple of empty seats near them. ¡°Good, we¡¯re all here. Well, except for Rachel, but she¡¯s always late.¡± Gramps said, ¡°We might as well begin.¡± ¡°Right.¡± An oddly familiar looking demon with her feet up on the table said. ¡°Can we assume the girl has something to do with this?¡± Gramps nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll get to that in time, Amara. Before we do, though, are there any matters that need to be brought up?¡± ¡°I¡¯m starting to get overworked with the new dungeons.¡± Valin grumbled. ¡°I¡¯ve done what I can in some of the publicly unknown dungeons, but I just don¡¯t have enough time to deal with what¡¯s overflowing from the new dungeons and keep the old dungeons in check. If you could find some way to surreptitiously release the locations of three or so mid-level dungeons that would really help.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll organize an expedition that should finish around the end of the year. Will you be able to hold on by yourself for that long, or will you need help?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll probably be fine so long as the new dungeons don¡¯t begin to grow faster than expected. I¡¯ll let one of you know if I need help. It¡¯ll just be cleanup of level fiftyish stuff, so shouldn¡¯t be a problem for anyone.¡± ¡°Right. I¡¯ll begin making the preparations, then. Anyone else?¡± There was a silence, so Gramps continued. ¡°Alright. In that case, I suppose we should get to the main topic of the meeting.¡± He motioned at Tess with a hand as he spoke, ¡°This is Tess, my granddaughter. As of yesterday, she is Fortune¡¯s Appointed and the newest member of the group. As always, I¡¯ve called the meeting so everyone can get to know each other. Tess, if you would?¡± He gently prompted Tess to stand up, so she did. ¡°Um¡­hi, I guess.¡± She said, suddenly nervous. ¡°I¡¯m Tess, and I¡¯m still new to freelancing and this sort of stuff in general, but I¡¯m Fortune¡¯s Appointed. Um¡­¡± She looked to Gramps, unsure of what to say next. Hi everyone, sorry, I know it¡¯s polite to Descend during the first introduction, but that¡¯s not really in the cards right now. Fortune interjected, an audible voice filling the room, Tess has an experimental Class that we had Amy help make and, long story short, it¡¯s messing with Descents. We¡¯re working on a solution, but for now I¡¯ll just have to talk like this. I look forward to working with you all! ¡°Thank you, Fortune.¡± Gramps said, indicating to Tess that she could sit, ¡°For the six of you who haven¡¯t introduced yourselves, it would be great if you would do so now.¡± ¡°Valin.¡± Valin grunted, ¡°Hunt¡¯s Appointed.¡± The demon smiled, taking her feet off of the table and standing up. ¡°Don¡¯t be such a grump, Valin.¡± She teased, ¡°It¡¯s not the girl¡¯s fault that your hunt was interrupted, she probably didn¡¯t even know about you until today.¡± She turned to Tess, giving her a smile. ¡°I¡¯m Amara Sarlienne, Subterfuge¡¯s Appointed and former Queen of Paumen. I believe you¡¯ve already met my great-granddaughter, she told me all about your little run in at the dungeon.¡± Ah, that was why she had looked familiar. Now that Tess was looking more closely, she could see the resemblance; she had the same long black hair, glossy horns and wings, spade tail, and perfectly tanned skin as Maven. Amara gave Tess a wink before sitting back down in her chair, putting her feet back up on the table. ¡°Name¡¯s Alberich.¡± A rugged-looking dwarf said kindly. He was on the tall side for dwarves, but otherwise he looked like a stereotypical dwarf; brown hair, huge beard, and dressed in practical heavy clothes. ¡°I¡¯m Magic¡¯s Appointed. I mostly handle experimentation with magic and don¡¯t do much field work, so I don¡¯t get the honor being called best mage in the world like your grandfather, but I know just about anything about Magic there is to know. Ask me if you have any questions, I¡¯ll be happy to answer them.¡± ¡°Guess we¡¯ll go, then.¡± An¡­elf said, standing up and motioning to a similar looking elf at his side. They were different from normal elves, to the point where Tess wasn¡¯t sure if they even counted as elves anymore. They had the general build and the ears, sure, but they also had pale turquoise skin and blue hair and gills on the side of their necks. ¡°I¡¯m Carel Suennon, and this is my brother, Meison, Appointed of Sea and Storms respectively.¡± He took Tess¡¯s gaze in, then smiled. ¡°Aquatic elves. We¡¯re not too common on the surface because the water¡¯s just more comfortable for us. Anyway, the two of us mostly deal with marine problems, so if you need any help in the water, we¡¯re your guys. Anything else to say, Meison?¡± Meison shook his head, causing Carel to pat him on the back. ¡°Don¡¯t mind him, he¡¯s just shy around new people. Nothing you did or anything.¡± He sat back down, looking to the last person at the table. ¡°That¡¯s me.¡± A human said, standing up. He was short and had messy black hair, but by far the most attention grabbing part of him was the long coat he was wearing. It had a ton of pockets sown onto it, and each of them appeared to be full of¡­something that Tess couldn¡¯t quite make out. ¡°I¡¯m Kane Io, Artifice¡¯s Appointed. If you need special gear to accommodate your blessings or Descent abilities, let me know and I¡¯ll get it made for you, no charge. I might need your help gathering materials or something, but for Appointed business it¡¯s free. ¡°As for other stuff, I¡¯ll give you a hefty discount, but I think even with that I might be well out of your price range, given how new to freelancing you are. How¡¯s the bag treating you, by the way?¡± ¡°What?¡± Tess asked, confused. ¡°Your magic bag. Your grandfather had me make the ones you and Ellie are using.¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± She did vaguely remember Eyfura mentioning something along the lines of the bag being one of Kane¡¯s best. ¡°No problems so far. Been better than I could ask for, honestly.¡± Kane smiled. ¡°Glad to hear it.¡± ¡°Sorry I¡¯m late!¡± The door opened, and in scuttled¡­Rachel, the seamstress that Gramps had taken Tess to her very first day in the Outlands. ¡°I had lost track of time putting the final touches on the cookies I made for everyone last night.¡± She motioned to a box of cookies that was sitting on her abdomen. ¡°What¡¯d I miss?¡± She looked around, saw Tess, and then blinked all eight of her eyes in surprise. ¡°Tess, what are you doing here?¡± Gramps smirked. ¡°She¡¯s our newest member. Fortune made her, her Appointed yesterday.¡± Understanding dawned on Rachel¡¯s face and she made her way over to the table, taking the box of cookies from her abdomen and placing it on top of the table. ¡°I made extras, so there should be plenty.¡± She said, ¡°Have we already done introductions?¡± ¡°We were just finishing.¡± Gramps said, ¡°You¡¯re the only one left.¡± ¡°Ah, perfect. Well, you already know me, but on top of my day job I¡¯m Hearth¡¯s Appointed.¡± She moved to an area of the table that, now that Tess was looking, was conspicuously lacking in a chair, sort of¡­settling herself down in a position that sort of approximated sitting. ¡°It¡¯s my job to help keep the peace and make people feel welcome in the Outlands, as well as keeping kids safe from those that might harm them.¡± She smirked somewhat, ¡°Oh, and making sure none of us Appointed start having any fights. Dealing with the fallout of those is not something the gods want to have to do. Everyone here is fine, of course, some of the others are just¡­a little wild.¡± ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s all for our little group, I guess.¡± She continued, nodding at Gramps, ¡°Anything else in this meeting?¡± Gramps shrugged. ¡°Not really. I figured I¡¯d let you all get to know her a little bit.¡± He paused briefly, then continued. ¡°We¡¯ll probably have another one of these soon, though. I¡¯ve been told that a few gods have their eyes on my other granddaughter, and she already knows about Amy, so I think she¡¯ll be here sooner rather than later.¡± Kane raised an eyebrow. ¡°We haven¡¯t had any new members in what¡­a couple hundred years, and here we are getting two in such a short period of time. Should we be preparing for something big to happen?¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re trying to make Mael¡¯s eventual introduction to wider society as smooth as possible, and we thought that having some big hitters on their side is hopefully going to make them seem like less of a target. That and those two just happened to be perfect candidates for Appointed in their own ways.¡± Gramps explained. ¡°That being said, you all know the drill.¡± He stood up, walking over and grabbing a couple of cookies from the box. ¡°Try not to overwhelm her with too many questions right off the bat, but feel free to ask her whatever. Just know that information on her Class is classified due to its nature, so no one outside this room can know without direct approval from me or one of the gods.¡± He sat back down in his chair, handing a cookie to Tess. ¡°Try one, Rachel¡¯s cookies are amazing.¡± He told her. She took the cookie and gave it a try. Just as Gramps had said, it was the best she¡¯d had in quite a while. ¡°So, my great-granddaughter was quite curious as to what exactly you could do.¡± Amara began, ¡°I won¡¯t tell her, of course, but she did pique my curiosity somewhat. She mentioned that you seemed to inflict ailments much more often than should reasonably be expected, I¡¯m assuming that has something to do with Fortune?¡± ¡°Yeah, anything involving my Luck automatically gives me the most favorable result. I actually held back when she was around, generally I always inflict those statuses.¡± Tess confirmed. Amara nodded. ¡°Makes sense. So¡­how would you feel about working with her again? She¡¯s trying to get better, but her parents aren¡¯t having it. They never really approved of the whole freelancing thing, so they¡¯re being purposefully lazy with getting her ¡°teachers¡±. She¡¯s got talent, but¡­it¡¯s being squandered, and her parents won¡¯t listen to me when I tell them to get her some actual teachers.¡± She sighed. ¡°I know you¡¯re not in a position to teach anyone yourself, but I was hoping you could at least teach her some of the stuff you¡¯ve been learning from Eyfura and The Rumors. It¡¯ll be better than whatever booster is in charge of her now, that¡¯s for sure.¡± Eyfura scratched her chin thoughtfully. ¡°Let¡¯s wait until Tess finishes school on Mael before we think about grouping them up, but I¡¯m not wholly opposed to the idea. Their team certainly could benefit from another member or two, and it¡¯s not like money¡¯s going to be an issue for them.¡± ¡°You two can talk about that later.¡± Alberich said, ¡°I¡¯m quite curious about that Class of hers. Fortune said it was experimental, right? What does that mean?¡± And so, for the second time that day, Tess settled down and began to tell a group of the world¡¯s strongest about her abilities. Chapter 29: Divine Duty Tess settled back in her chair, basking in the warmth of the fire and letting out a sigh of relief. Some of the other Appointed had left, leaving just Gramps¡¯s party, Rachel, Amara, and herself. Amara was in a different room talking with Eyfura about Maven, so that left only Rachel and the rest of Gramps¡¯s party. ¡°So, what¡¯d you think?¡± Gramps asked. ¡°Well¡­¡± Tess began, thinking that over, ¡°Honestly, were it not for all the important-sounding things everyone was talking about, it kind of seemed more like a bunch of old friends meeting up rather than a bunch of emissaries of the gods having an important gathering.¡± Rachel laughed. ¡°That¡¯s sort of the idea. When I proposed this I was hoping to do away with the barrier between us that was being wary of everyone all the time, even if that wariness ended up just being diplomatic politeness. And it worked, too, cooperation between Appointed is higher than it¡¯s ever been before; you would have never seen things like your Grandpa¡¯s party.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°So¡­um, what do we do? I didn¡¯t really get all that dungeon talk during the meeting.¡± Rachel motioned at Gramps. ¡°He¡¯s in charge of that. Well, in charge of most things, actually. We¡¯re not technically in any sort of hierarchy, but he¡¯s got the aptitude for leading and the stuff he has from Fate is really useful in planning, so he¡¯s our de-facto leader.¡± Gramps smirked. ¡°It¡¯s not as glamorous as all that.¡± He said, ¡°Really it just means more work for no extra benefits.¡± He glanced at Tess¡¯s face, continuing on. ¡°No, I can¡¯t tell people to do things, not without good reason. They¡¯re not going to blindly listen to orders just because I¡¯m the planner. The only amount of power I have is the ability to call meetings like this, but any one of them can do it too, so that¡¯s a moot point. ¡°Anyway, our job is making sure society progresses and everyone gets stronger. We want to make sure everyone has room to grow and flourish, and that duty broadly falls into two categories.¡± He raised a finger. ¡°First is domestic. We make sure no empires crop up that completely dominate all planes, keep intelligent races from being wiped out, stop people from taking slaves, keep religious ideologies from getting too radical or exclusionary, and the like. We can¡¯t and don¡¯t stop all of this stuff, nor should we, but we keep the really bad stuff down. ¡°The dungeons fall into the domestic category,¡± He continued, ¡°We oversee the growth of new dungeons, allowing them to grow to sizes that are beneficial to people without letting them get strong enough to wipe out all of civilization. Right now, Valin takes care of most of that, as he doesn¡¯t have any other pressing business to attend to and that was something he did as Hunt¡¯s Appointed before we formed our little group. Only real difference is now he calls us up if he starts to struggle. ¡°Each individual god has unique duties they give to their Appointed as well, and I had Fate get Fortune to make a list of hers during one of her breaks from working with Amy, but we¡¯ll get to those in a second. Our other duty is a bit more¡­complex.¡± He frowned as he got into this next part, ¡°Every few decades we¡¯ll get called out to do battle away from our universe, something we call a Conflict. I¡¯m not totally privy to the details of how it all works, but planes sort of just¡­pop into existence, and all the Administrators have to figure out who gets them. Of course, not every Administrator gets along, so eventually it devolved into fights over new planes.¡± He waved a hand, ¡°We¡¯ll get more into detail on this when it becomes relevant, but the long of the short of it is that Appointed help serve as soldiers in this fight, usually directly alongside the gods. Don¡¯t worry about it too much, there¡¯s this whole code of conduct that generally keeps anything permanent from happening to the participants. We¡¯re actually due for one in a couple of years, but I highly doubt you¡¯ll be directly involved. Usually new Appointed are spectators for their first couple of Conflicts to let them get a feel for how everything works. ¡° He reached into his pocket, bringing out his phone. ¡°Enough of that for now, though. Let¡¯s look over this list¡­¡± He hummed as he tapped away, eventually letting out a small ¡°a-ha!¡± as he presumably found what he was looking for. ¡°So, your list for domestic tasks is pretty short for now.¡± He said, looking up from the phone, ¡°And Fortune¡¯s said that she¡¯s not going to expect you to do too much until you¡¯re out of training, though if something becomes enough of a problem, she might have you deal with it. ¡°Your first duty is to punish those who are misusing her name. That one¡¯s pretty standard, you basically just deal with people falsely claiming they¡¯re acting under her instruction or saying she said things she didn¡¯t, stuff like that. Any questions so far?¡± Tess shook her head, so he continued. ¡°The next thing is¡­¡± He looked down at the phone, ¡°Ah. Once you¡¯re out of training, you¡¯re going to reveal yourself to the leadership of the Church of Fortune. You¡¯re to be the intermediary between her and them. Basically, any big announcements or changes will be run by you first. If you determine the change to be something worth running by Fortune, you do. Otherwise, you use your own judgement to answer.¡± ¡°Wait, doesn¡¯t that basically¡­put me in charge?¡± Rachel snickered. ¡°Yes. You¡¯re the most direct link to Fortune out there, so it makes sense to put you in charge of her church. Or, at the least, you¡¯re her mouthpiece to the church. The public¡¯s not going to know anything about you other than that you exist, you¡¯re basically additional confirmation to people that the church is the real deal. Their structure or mode of operation doesn¡¯t really change much¡­¡± She trailed, off, looking at Gramps. Gramps nodded. ¡°That was next on the list. Her church needs an audit. She hasn¡¯t had a good way to go through it and root out all the unscrupulous people, not without getting much more hands-on than is really prudent for a god. She left it to me the last couple of times it became really necessary, but now that you¡¯re here she wants you to handle it. Hopefully your existence alone will make that task far easier than it might be otherwise.¡± Tess sighed. ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll have to study the church, then. I¡¯ll ask Alice or Eyfura about it some time.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Gramps gave her an encouraging smile. ¡°Lastly, you¡¯re going to have to do some reforms with gambling society. That¡¯s a big ask, but it¡¯s not supposed to be immediate. She wants you to help make gambling a little less¡­unsavory than it is now, start standardizing practices and making sure at least the biggest parlors and casinos don¡¯t cheat their patrons. ¡°She doesn¡¯t expect you to root out every predatory establishment out or anything, she just wants you to help make sure there are trustworthy places available for people to use. Hopefully, that should drive some of the really bad places out of business.¡± He put his phone back into his pocket. ¡°That¡¯s it for now, you might get more later, or some of these duties might be removed. It all depends on how things shake out, this is a first for Fortune so she¡¯s not quite sure what she wants or needs. Any last questions before we continue?¡± Tess blinked. ¡°Is the gambling culture as¡­shady as it is on Mael?¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Gramps shook his head. ¡°Worse. The Luck stat leads to a lot of sketchy odds and scams. Unfortunately, a lot of the worst offenders are high level as well, but that shouldn¡¯t be an issue by the time you¡¯re actually dealing with this.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll show you around a casino sometime.¡± Ava added. ¡°I¡¯ve got some ways of looking nondescript, so people won¡¯t be able to recognize us or anything.¡± Tess grimaced. ¡°Great. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s going to be a blast.¡± ¡°Welcome to being an Appointed,¡± Atum snorted. ¡°It¡¯s dirty work, but important. You¡¯ll be making a lot of people¡¯s lives better, so just keep that in mind, I find it helps with some of the harder stuff.¡± ¡°Alright, I will.¡± Tess replied, looking back to Gramps. ¡°There¡¯s more? You said you were going to continue.¡± ¡°Not duties or anything, just things you should know.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°Now that you¡¯re an Appointed, you don¡¯t follow the same set of rules that everything else does. Your body and soul have a much higher concentration of Worship going through them than that of normal people, and because of that, there are a few things you have to be careful with. ¡°The first is revival after death. Normal revival methods just aren¡¯t strong enough to bring an Appointed back, there has to be Worship involved somehow. If you want revival on the spot, it needs to be through a Blessing or Phantasmal Skill. Otherwise, Fortune¡¯s responsible for bringing you back. And, since she¡¯s not one of the gods that normally deals with revivals, that¡¯s going to mean those revivals will be inconvenient. ¡°From what I understand, she doesn¡¯t really know how to do repairs, so she¡¯s going to do the equivalent of copy-pasting your body from a backup. If her bond is anything like Fate¡¯s, that backup is made roughly once a week, though she can do it manually. Unfortunately, that backup takes a few days to make, and she can only really put it in places with strong ties to her such as her church, or even some of the bigger casinos. ¡°But that backup doesn¡¯t include any of your stuff, including clothes. Fortunately, anything to do with Monster Breeder should be fine, since the cores you¡¯ve absorbed are in your soul, not your body. So¡­don¡¯t die, it¡¯s really not good for anyone involved.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re near the city, have one of your companions bring your body to me.¡± Rachel said, ¡°I¡¯ve got a revive that works on Appointed. Only works within twenty-four hours from when you originally died, though, so after that it¡¯s up to Fortune.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Gramps said, ¡°And that higher concentration of Worship that keeps you from being revived is something that, if you¡¯re not careful, can be identified. People have figured out ways to detect Worship, well¡­they call it divine power or divine energy, but it¡¯s Worship. Anyway, some advanced magic detectors can figure out if you¡¯re an Appointed. ¡°If you aren¡¯t careful, that is. Your body has safeguards in place to prevent people detecting the Worship in it, so you really only need to worry about it when you¡¯re using Stamina or Mana. So, for the rest of the day, I¡¯m going to be teaching you how to control yourself so that you don¡¯t leak Worship when you use this stuff. And you won¡¯t be able to slack on it, either, Eyfura will stay on your case about it while you¡¯re training. It needs to become second nature to do these things, or you could find yourself targeted by some¡­less than savory people.¡± Tess gulped, giving a nod. ¡°So¡­what do I need to do?¡± Gramps frowned. ¡°That¡¯s the hard part. There¡¯s no easy way to describe that, it¡¯s like moving a limb. So, I¡¯m going to have to do it for you. Usually this is the job of the Appointed¡¯s god, but since you¡¯re in a bit of a unique situation and can¡¯t go into Descent, we can¡¯t really do that. So, as long as you¡¯re fine with it, I¡¯m going to essentially mind-control you with a spell, activate a Skill for you while doing the broad strokes of this¡­holding back thing, and we¡¯ll repeat that until you can start doing it by yourself.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine,¡± Tess agreed. ¡°Let me know when you want to start, I guess.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll need to get the table in the meeting hall taken down.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°That room¡¯s the only one big enough for this kind of stuff. Do you mind fetching Eyfura so she and Atum can get that taken care of?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Tess replied, standing up and stretching a little. ¡°Thanks a bunch. The rest of us will take down the chairs while you do.¡± Tess made her way over to the room where Eyfura and Amara were talking. ¡°And school on Mael ends when?¡± Amara asked. ¡°A few months from now, sometime around the beginning of summer, I think.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°I¡¯m not completely sure myself, but that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been told. Can you have her parents convinced by then?¡± Amara smirked. ¡°It¡¯s just a matter of framing it right. It¡¯ll take a couple of months of working at this, tops. Worst comes to worst I just play the card that is ¡°the Appointed of Fate thinks it¡¯s a good idea¡± and they¡¯ll fall in line. Hopefully it won¡¯t come to that, because there¡¯ll be no end to their grumbling, but I doubt they¡¯ll be that stubborn.¡± She glanced over at the door, smiling at Tess. ¡°We were just finalizing plans to have Maven join your party. Do you need something?¡± ¡°Um, yeah,¡± Tess said, ¡°Gramps wanted Eyfura to help Atum take down the table, he¡¯s going to teach me how to prevent the Worship in me leaking and needs the space.¡± Eyfura nodded, standing up. ¡°Sure thing. We¡¯ll finish talking about this after I do that, is that OK, Amara?¡± ¡°Sure, I was getting a little hungry anyway.¡± Amara hopped off of the bed she was on, making her way over to a door. ¡°I¡¯m going to grab a snack, I¡¯ll meet you guys in the hall once I¡¯m done eating.¡± Tess followed Eyfura into the hall, where most of the chairs surrounding the table were already in the process of being dealt with. A few were moved to the side, but most were being folded up and taken away. Getting the hall clear only took a few minutes, most of which was just waiting as Eyfura and Atum disassembled and then carried the table back to where it had been stored before. Soon most everyone had taken a seat, leaving Gramps and Tess standing in the center of the room. ¡°So, uh¡­is everyone just going to watch me or¡­?¡± Tess asked, glancing at the assembled Appointed. Rachel laughed. ¡°For a little bit. I want to get a taste of what you can do, I¡¯m rather curious.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have her demonstrate once Amara gets here,¡± Gramps said. ¡°But until then, we¡¯re just going to do a bit of practice. Now, Tess, this is going to feel weird, but I need you to bear with me while we do this. Just say the word and I¡¯ll start, alright?¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± As soon as she said it, Gramps raised his hand, a magic circle appearing around him as he cast a spell. There was an odd, slippery sort of sensation, and her body stopped listening to her, becoming rigid as foreign control as influenced. Her hand raised itself, and then faltered, control of her body returning. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Gramps said, scratching the back of his neck embarrassedly, ¡°Could you extend your claws for me? I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know how to do that. I tried, but it didn¡¯t feel like using other Skills so I¡¯m not sure where to start.¡± Tess nodded, extending her claws. ¡°Does it matter?¡± ¡°Probably not, but Phantasmal Skills have been known to have some odd interactions with this technique. I want you to get used to doing this with them out because you¡¯ll generally have them out when you¡¯re using this anyway. We¡¯ll try it without the claws later just to make sure it¡¯s the same. Mind if I resume the control?¡± With a nod from Tess, Gramps recast the spell, and Tess once again lost control of herself. There was a slight pause, and then a Skill activated, one of her cheaper ones, from what she could tell. There was a strange sense of¡­hesitance about it, almost like she hadn¡¯t fully committed to using the Skill, but it had activated anyway. Well, not really like that, but she couldn¡¯t describe it better. A training dummy similar to the one Gramps had made to have her show off to Valin appeared in front of her, and Gramps slashed Tess¡¯s claws out, letting the Skill do its work on the dummy. He repeated the process of using the Skill a few times, then dropped the spell. ¡°Alright, you give it a go now.¡± Tess activated the Skill, trying to emulate that odd hesitance that had been there when Gramps was doing it. It took her a few tries, but eventually she hit on¡­something. It wasn¡¯t quite as¡­complete as what Gramps had done, but she could tell if she played around with it a little, she would eventually get there. ¡°Good.¡± Gramps said, ¡°Keep trying there. You¡¯ll get there soon.¡± And so, she spent the morning and most of the early afternoon in practice. Once Amara had finished with her snack she came in and Tess gave her and Rachel a similar demonstration to the one she had given Valin, and after that the rest of the Appointed filtered out over the course of a couple of hours. In the end, just her, Gramps, and Eyfura remained the whole time. Finally, Tess reached a point where she was able to hold back the Worship without failing even once over the course of thirty Skills. ¡°We¡¯ll call that good for now.¡± Gramps said. ¡°I have a couple more things to teach you, like the magic needed to teleport here, and then I think I¡¯ll send you home for the day. Sound good?¡± Tess yawned. ¡°Sounds perfect. I need a nap.¡± She said her goodbyes to Eyfura and headed home with Gramps. She changed into some pajamas and collapsed into bed, the exhaustion of getting up early finally catching up to her. Chapter 30: Taken to Task Tess woke up with a yawn, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. Through the light filtering in from her window she could tell it was early evening, meaning she had been out for a good couple of hours.
Alright, got a break from working with Amy for a bit. She¡¯s been teaching me how to do this kind of stuff in case I need to in the future, so things have been slower than I¡¯d like. Uh, so, Fate was telling me that you had some questions for me? And Ellie does too, apparently?
Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve only really got one, but Ellie said she wanted to talk, and I don¡¯t know what she wanted to ask.¡±
Well, I suppose I don¡¯t have much to keep from her at this point. Go ahead and call her in, she got home while you were asleep, should be in her room right now.
Tess got off of the bed, leaving her room and knocking on Ellie¡¯s door. ¡°Who is it?¡± Ellie called out. ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± Tess said. ¡°Fortune says she has time to answer your questions now, if you want.¡± The door opened and Ellie came out. ¡°Finally.¡± She said, ¡°I¡¯ve been itching to get at this. Where are we doing this?¡± Tess motioned to her room, leading Ellie inside and shutting the door behind them.
Before we begin, I figured I should let the two of you know that we¡¯re officially retiring the Challenge Crystal that gives Monster Breeder. It¡¯s served its purpose, so we¡¯re replacing it with one that¡¯ll actually give stuff to people. As a consequence, we¡¯re also retiring Monster Breeder, meaning Tess is going to be the only one to ever exist. That was a Class designed very early on in things, and um¡­we kinda forgot about it when designing other stuff. People are not meant to get some of the stuff it can potentially give you access to. Not to mention the weird interactions with Descents and some other similar abilities like possession. It¡¯s a mess we don¡¯t want more than one of running around. Anyway, go ahead and ask your questions, I¡¯ll do my best to answer.
Tess relayed the information to Ellie, paused briefly, then proceeded. ¡°Um¡­do I¡­get periods? I haven¡¯t yet and I¡¯m beginning to wonder.
Oh, that. Yeah, you don¡¯t get periods. You¡¯re technically not even human any more, you¡¯re more¡­¡±generic sapient being¡±. Menstruation isn¡¯t even the norm for sapient species so there was really no reason to put it in the redesigned reproductive tract the class gives. Consider it a perk, I guess.
¡°Right, uhhh¡­¡±
It¡¯s basically normal otherwise, don¡¯t worry. We basically had to make it so ejecting cores wouldn¡¯t completely shred your insides. Still perfectly functional for all other purposes ;)
Ellie gave Tess an expectant look, and Tess sighed before repeating everything back to her. ¡°That¡¯s all I wanted to ask. What about you, Ellie?¡± Ellie straightened. ¡°Right. Basically, I need some answers to things that have been bugging me for a bit. Fortune, you mentioned that, while you approve of our relationship and were actively seeking for us to get together, it wasn¡¯t the main reason you pushed this onto Tess. Then, you mentioned that it was basically a requirement for your Appointed to try for this, meaning when you gave that Blessing to Tess you knew you were, for all intents and purposes, turning her into a girl with it.¡± She took a deep breath before continuing. ¡°And, while I want to talk about that a bit, the real thing that¡¯s on my mind is why the Class turns the user into a girl in the first place. You mentioned it being a part of the design process, so why? Surely there would be other ways to eject cores. And when I was wondering about this earlier you told me you couldn¡¯t tell me everything yet, but I think we¡¯re past that point now. So, what¡¯s going on?¡± There was a long pause before another window popped up in front of Tess with a strange reluctance to it that Tess couldn¡¯t quite place.
That was¡­entirely my fault. This isn¡¯t really an excuse, because what I did was wrong and this doesn¡¯t change that, but I was young at the time. I knew I wanted my future Appointed to have this Class, but I wasn¡¯t comfortable with the possibility of the Appointed being a man knowing that I would have to Descend into a man¡¯s body and that¡¯s just not something I wanted. I was selfish and figured it wouldn¡¯t be that big a deal to change someone¡¯s sex, and it would like¡­double my options compared to just looking at women to be my Appointed. So, I campaigned for that particular change under the guise of it being easiest and got it into the Class. I¡¯m over that hang-up now, but we couldn¡¯t exactly change the Class without spending a bunch of Worship, so I had to live with that mistake. I¡¯m sorry, really, really sorry.
Tess let that sink in for a minute. She¡­didn¡¯t know how to feel about that, not really. On the one hand, it really hadn¡¯t been a big deal in the end, but it still felt¡­not cool, knowing that Fortune purposefully led her down this path. But, on the other, Fortune seemed remorseful enough, and Tess knew there, at least, wasn¡¯t any malice in the decision. ¡°Well?¡± Ellie asked, ¡°did she respond?¡± Tess absentmindedly read off the message while she thought of how to respond, but, before she could, Ellie spoke up again. ¡°So, why Tess? Why not pick some other person with low stats? You say it¡¯s because you¡¯re close to us, but why were you even watching us? Didn¡¯t you have better things to be doing?¡±
Well¡­Evan was going through a lot of turmoil around when his kids died, and he had just adopted you two. I honestly didn¡¯t have too much else to be doing and was bored, so I gave him a watch because it was different from everything else I had ever really paid attention to. That¡¯s actually kind of the norm for Appointed, the people around them just tend to get more attention from the gods. But, in my watching, I¡­well, I got attached to you two. And then Fate caught me peeking and encouraged me to keep doing so, so I¡­did. And after that we got¡­here, I guess. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. And no, I honestly really didn¡¯t have much better to be doing. My influence among mortals was pretty limited because I hadn¡¯t really given any sufficiently strong Blessings or otherwise invested enough in a person to be in a place to give mortals orders, and most of the other things I have to do boil down to making sure automated systems are working properly. Leaves me with a lot of free time, you know?
Ellie waited for Tess to read the latest message to her, then continued her questioning. ¡°Alright, fine, but still, why do this to Tess if you knew how much stress it would cause? Why pick her when you could pick a woman or, even better, a trans woman?¡±
When Tess got those stats, I knew she would be hurting. And no one else was going to use Worship on someone with such low stats, regardless of how close they are to Evan. It was the only thing I could really do to help. The two of you fit the ideal qualities I want in an Appointed, so I had resolved to make one of you my Appointed if you met my stat requirements. Tess happened to meet those requirements, so I¡­went with it. Honestly, I wasn¡¯t even in the market for an Appointed or anything, it just¡­happened. I thought it¡¯d be fine since I was confident that she¡¯d be happier in the end, but¡­I was being selfish. I¡¯m sorry, really, really sorry. And while I can¡¯t really argue with the bit about choosing a woman, being trans actually doesn¡¯t factor into this. There¡¯s widely available magic to change someone¡¯s sex, so trans people can generally rectify things whenever they want. No, it won¡¯t work on you, Tess, sorry. You¡¯ll need to get rid of Monster Breeder and all the associated Skills and I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s even possible. The removal items are usually made by the god of Magic, and the problem is that, unfortunately, Monster Breeder is made by Amy, and none of anything made with our Worship can mess with things made of her Worship. I could ask her about removal, though, if you¡¯d like. No promises she¡¯ll do anything, but I¡¯ll do my best to help.
Tess sighed. ¡°Look, I¡¯m going to level with you. It really wasn¡¯t cool to push me to Monster Breeder without giving me all the information first, especially about what it would do to me. If we¡¯re going to be cooperating like this, you can¡¯t keep things from me like this. If it¡¯s something like this that involves me, I deserve to know about it, and I want you to tell me.¡±
Yeah, I¡¯ll do that, promise. Well, I mean, unless Amy tells me not to tell you or something. If that happens there¡¯s really not much I can do, but you¡¯re treated as a god when it comes to things like information, so I highly doubt that¡¯ll ever happen.
Tess nodded. ¡°Good. Now, are you keeping anything else like this from me?¡±
Well, not me as such? I¡¯m like¡­99.99% sure Fate¡¯s been messing with events surrounding the two of you? But, uh, he won¡¯t give me a straight answer so I can¡¯t totally confirm it. I think it¡¯s preeeetty definitive, though, especially given how he guided me to keep watching you guys.
¡°In that case, I forgive you. Just¡­remember our promise and don¡¯t do stuff like this again. And¡­as for asking Amy¡­don¡¯t for now. As things stand, I¡¯m content with my lot in life, so¡­maybe in the future I might take you up on that, but for now it¡¯s fine.¡±
You have no idea how relieved that makes me. I really am sorry, I¡­um, yeah. I don¡¯t really have much else to say other than that. Ellie seems to be getting kind of antsy, though, might want to clue her in.
She was right; Ellie was shifting from foot to foot, looking anxiously at Tess in clear curiosity. ¡°Oh. Right, sorry.¡± Tess said, ¡°Let me get you caught up.¡± After a quick explanation, Ellie sighed. ¡°Well, I suppose I can¡¯t be too mad if she¡¯s fine with things. That¡¯s all I had to ask, though¡­¡± She gave Tess a hesitant look. ¡°but, you¡¯re¡­content? Are you sure? You seemed pretty¡­well, stressed about it before.¡± ¡°I got used to it while I was out. At least out in the Outlands, no one really treats me differently, well, no, that¡¯s a lie, guys tend to stare, but I can¡¯t really blame them, I¡¯d probably stare too. I mean, I think going to school and talking to people who I used to interact with as a guy before will probably be harder, but we¡¯ll see.¡± A sly smile crept across Tess¡¯s face as she got an idea. ¡°Plus, it allows me to be with you.¡± Ellie froze, expression rapidly flickering between emotions but steadily growing more red. Finally, she was able to splutter out some words, ¡°I¡­you¡­that¡¯s not fair, ambushing me like that.¡± Tess debated going for the kill and giving Ellie a quick kiss on the cheek but decided against it. As much as she wanted to see Ellie even more flustered, that was a little too forward and embarrassing for Tess. Instead, she just kept smirking. ¡°You liked it, though, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Duh,¡± Ellie responded immediately, ¡°it was just surprising. I leave you for one month and you come back all flirty. Not that it¡¯s a bad thing or anything, just surprising.¡±
Well, I¡¯m running out of time, so I¡¯m going to leave you two alone for a while. Have fun ;)
¡°Ah. Fortune said she has to get back to work, so it¡¯s just the two of us now. Um, if you¡­don¡¯t mind my asking, how did you know Fortune was so¡­involved with my changes? You said she talked to you about it before? When?¡± ¡°I was really stressing about how happy I was that you were a girl now, and how it was like¡­years of my fantasizing coming true, and I realized that she had made some comments that suggested to me she was pretty¡­involved with your change. And she sent me some messages saying yes, she was, but it was more complicated than that and she couldn¡¯t tell me more yet.¡± ¡°I¡­see. We talked about this before, but are you still feeling bad?¡± Ellie paused. ¡°A bit. Not nearly as much, but even if you tell me it¡¯s fine it still feels a little scummy, you know?¡± Tess grabbed Ellie¡¯s hand, giving it a little squeeze. ¡°Something Alice and Auntie taught me is that it¡¯s okay to be selfish sometimes. You¡¯re not hurting anyone right now, so just let it be. You¡¯re fine.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°But nothing.¡± Tess said firmly. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about this. It¡¯s fine.¡± Ellie sighed. ¡°You¡¯re right, you¡¯re right.¡± She sat down on Tess¡¯s bed, and, to Tess¡¯s surprise, pulled Tess onto her lap, smiling slightly. ¡°Might as well start now, eh?¡± ¡°I¡­uh¡­yeah, that¡¯s fine.¡± Ellie hugged Tess tightly. ¡°You smell really good.¡± She said. ¡°I know it sounds kind of creepy, but it¡¯s true.¡± Tess leaned back into Ellie, letting herself relax. ¡°That¡¯s Target of Affection for you.¡± ¡°Well, can¡¯t say I don¡¯t appreciate it. Anyway, while we¡¯re talking about serious stuff, what are you going to do about Ilmir? It sounds like you¡¯re stuck with her for the next month, which really doesn¡¯t sound pleasant.¡± Tess grimaced. ¡°Apparently there¡¯s some trauma in her past that we need to clear the air about. I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s going to help, but Auntie and some of her and Gramps¡¯s party members gave me advice on dealing with her. They said I have to be firm and never give ground on anything, at least while I¡¯m in charge of her. It sounds counterproductive to me, but they¡¯ve assured me that, in this specific situation where she has no power over me, it¡¯ll make her respect me more.¡± Ellie gave Tess a reassuring squeeze. ¡°Well, if worst comes to worst we can just ditch her early. Aunt Eyfura is here to teach you how to use your claws, but surely you¡¯re getting the gist of things and won¡¯t necessarily need her anymore if things get bad, right?¡± ¡°I¡­guess. I¡¯d kind of feel bad, Auntie really seems to be enjoying this, but¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay to be selfish sometimes.¡± Ellie said smugly. ¡°It¡¯s not worth keeping people like Ilmir in your life. Not when she¡¯s so nasty for no good reason.¡± Tess smiled, embarrassed. ¡°Well, I guess you got me there.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure Aunt Eyfura will understand.¡± Ellie soothed. ¡°She hasn¡¯t seemed the happiest with Ilmir either.¡± ¡°I guess. She seems to be thinking it¡¯s mostly her fault, though, so she wants me to be a little more lenient with Ilmir for her sake. We¡¯ll see how things turn out tomorrow, I guess.¡± ¡°Well, until then would you like to just relax with me?¡± Tess smiled, turning around and leaning up so she could give Ellie a kiss. ¡°I¡¯d love to.¡± Chapter 31: Angry Outbursts Tess took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself as she opened the door to one of the guild¡¯s private rooms. She stopped for a moment as she surveyed the room. Ker, Ilmir, and Eyfura were all there, but, surprisingly, so was Ava. ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± Ilmir said flatly. ¡°Are we going or what?¡± Tess cleared her throat a little. ¡°No. We need to talk, Ilmir.¡± Ilmir looked around at the gathered people. ¡°Oh. That¡¯s why Ker and Ava are here. Spit it out, what do you want?¡± ¡°We have to talk about your attitude.¡± Tess took a seat across from Ilmir. ¡°I want to know why you¡¯re so hung up on stats. That isn¡¯t normal, even I can tell that much.¡± ¡°None of your business,¡± Ilmir grumped. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter much to you, does it?¡± ¡°It does,¡± Tess said firmly. ¡°If we¡¯re going to be working in a team, I need to know why you don¡¯t like me. I didn¡¯t do a thing to you and you¡¯ve been nothing but rude and condescending to me.¡± Ilmir growled, a sound that was more akin to that of a beast than that of a person. ¡°I said it¡¯s none of your business.¡± Tess looked Ilmir directly in the eyes. ¡°Then stop acting like a child. If you don¡¯t want to talk about it, then start treating me like a person and not a walking set of stats. If you¡¯re not capable of doing that, then we need to talk.¡± Uncertainty flickered across Ilmir¡¯s face, but she held Tess¡¯s gaze. ¡°You haven¡¯t been through the ringer.¡± She replied. ¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve gotten yourself into. You¡¯re only going to get yourself and the people around you hurt. You think you¡¯ve got something going for you, but once you come across a real opponent you won¡¯t have a leg to stand on.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a little unfair, dear?¡± Ava asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think her abilities have had a chance to settle. She¡¯s rather lopsidedly built at the moment but that¡¯s not going to stay the case.¡± Ilmir paused, not taking her eyes off of Tess. ¡°How do you know? That¡¯s all just theory, and I learned the hard way that reality doesn¡¯t always conform to theory, no matter how much you want it to.¡± ¡°I know because I helped put her abilities together.¡± Ava said calmly. ¡°And, in this case, we can guarantee that reality will conform. What makes you think otherwise?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s good for you to talk about it.¡± Ava continued. ¡°You¡¯ve been thinking about this alone for a while, right?¡± Ilmir briefly broke Tess¡¯s gaze, eyes flickering over to Ava and then right back to Tess. ¡°But¡­I thought¡­¡± ¡°That it¡¯s confidential? It is, but nothing¡¯s really confidential between Appointed. For the purpose of confidential information, we¡¯re treated the same as our god. Tess already knows a little about it, and we¡¯ve gotten permission for The Rumors to know, due to it being pertinent information for training you.¡± ¡°You told Tess?!¡± Ilmir exclaimed, horror briefly flashing across her expression ¡°Yesterday when we talked you said you wouldn¡¯t tell anyone!¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t, I did.¡± Eyfura interjected. ¡°And I didn¡¯t give her any real details, I only let her know about my side of the story, my mistakes. She doesn¡¯t know anything other than I misjudged things and you suffered for it, and that your opponent was of far higher stats than you.¡± ¡°So,¡± Tess said, ¡°we can either talk about it, or you can continue to be a child and try and bully me for something that¡¯s not my fault.¡± ¡°You¡¯re younger than me. Stop calling me a child.¡± Ilmir pouted. ¡°Well, you don¡¯t act like you¡¯re older than me. I shouldn¡¯t have to lecture you about basic courtesy. So, since you obviously don¡¯t want to talk, can you stop treating me like dirt?¡± Ilmir hesitated. ¡°And if I refuse to do either?¡± ¡°Then you get kicked out.¡± Tess said flatly. ¡°I¡¯m not going to tolerate you acting like this.¡± ¡°Grandma goes with me if you do. We¡¯re a package deal,¡± Ilmir said, a hint of smugness to her tone. ¡°She¡¯s not going to prioritize you over her own kin.¡± ¡°Wrong,¡± Eyfura said. ¡°At the very least I won¡¯t be helping you for the month you would have to be with Tess. And if you¡¯re being this stubborn, I¡¯m going to have to consider dropping you entirely, at least until Tess has been trained more. She¡¯s basically family too and getting an Appointed into fighting shape is more important than training a spoiled brat. Talk it out or stop being so mean.¡± Ava laid a hand on Ilmir¡¯s thigh. ¡°It¡¯s alright to talk about it, sweetie. No one here is going to make fun of you. Remember what we talked about yesterday.¡± Ilmir fully broke Tess¡¯s gaze, turning to Ava and whispering something that she presumably thought Tess couldn¡¯t hear. ¡°How do I back down while retaining my pride?¡± Ilmir asked. ¡°And I can¡¯t just¡­go against what I just said a minute ago.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s fine to just go back on it,¡± Ava whispered back, winking at Tess. ¡°We won¡¯t think less of you. It¡¯s a traumatic thing, we understand.¡± ¡°If you understand, why are you making me talk about it with people I barely know?¡± Ilmir hissed. ¡°Because it¡¯s affecting how you treat them, and because I think they¡¯ll be able to help make you feel better. Give it a go, you don¡¯t have to carry this burden yourself.¡± Ilmir let out a heavy sigh. ¡°Look, none of you are allowed to make fun of me, alright? You all wouldn¡¯t have done much better.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Of course. I wouldn¡¯t do something like that.¡± Ilmir gave Ava another hesitant glance, and, after getting a nod from Ava, slowly began to talk. ¡°It was a couple of years ago. I had just hit level thirty, and my kit was starting to click into place. I had gotten pretty lucky with Skills and Classes, and, out of everyone close to my level, I was far and away the strongest I knew of. I got cocky and started pestering Grandma to let me go on one of her Appointed trips. Not one of the ones that required real high-level stuff, I wasn¡¯t that dumb, but I thought one of her easier ones would be well within my capabilities.¡± She began to talk faster now, as if she had gotten over her hesitance. ¡°I was wrong, of course. We went to prevent a potential despot from gaining too much power, and things got¡­ugly. I wanted to take the despot out myself and impress Grandma, and the guards around the despot¡¯s house I was able to take out with no problem, so even though Grandma had told me the despot was too strong for me, I figured it would be pretty safe if I went on ahead. How tough could the despot be if her guards were that weak? They¡¯re theoretically supposed to be stronger than her so they can guard her, right? So, I slipped away from Grandma while she was fighting five or six of the guards, and I made my way to where the despot¡¯s room was. ¡°The despot was¡­a lot stronger than I thought. She had good stats and was at least twenty or thirty levels higher than me with really good gear. She overpowered me with barely any effort, and it turns out she had some Skill that let her possess people. I was a prisoner in my own body as she had some guards ¡®tie me up¡¯ and leave me somewhere Grandma would find me. They had given me a small dagger with the venom of some really, really nasty monster on it and were going to use me to stab Grandma when her guard was down.¡± ¡°Grandma found me, of course, and dispatched the guards ¡®guarding¡¯ me with barely a thought. Then, as she was untying me, the despot made me get a good hit in on the hand that was undoing my bindings. She had to take a moment to get rid of that venom, and the despot wriggled away, using my own body to take me hostage. She said if her original body was killed while she was possessing someone she would just remain in the body forever, so she told Grandma to leave if she ever wanted to see me again. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Grandma didn¡¯t want to take any chances and went into Descent, and the despot slit my throat then and there. She wanted to make Grandma waste time with me while she ran away, and¡­well, Grandma didn¡¯t want to leave me and didn¡¯t have healing that would get me back on my feet quick enough to let her still catch the despot through whatever exit plan the despot had set up. ¡°So, she threw me over her shoulder and there was apparently some discourse with the gods, because War gave me my Blessings then and there. I was able to use them to heal back up, but Grandma didn¡¯t let me go. Grandma, still in Descent, waded through a ton of guards with even less trouble than she had before, despite only having one free hand. She chased after the despot, but while the despot had been possessing me, she had someone take her body away, and they teleported somewhere.¡± Ilmir balled her fists and glared at Tess. ¡°We followed them through one or two teleports, but Grandma ran out of time for her Descent and didn¡¯t have the Skills or Mana to follow any further. We failed and it was because of me, get it? I thought that unusually synergistic Skills and really good stats would carry me through level difference and let me do more than I should be able to at my level, but I didn¡¯t even get the opportunity to try anything. I was crushed with raw stats before I could. That defeat made me stop even trying for a long time, and you¡¯re going to have to deal with this stuff every day! ¡°So¡­if I couldn¡¯t, what makes you different?!¡± She was almost yelling now, her voice rising in intensity as she spoke. ¡°Why does everyone tell you that you can get by with Skill synergies when I know that¡¯s not always going to be the case! What are you going to do against people so much stronger than you that you might as well be level one?! What does it matter that your ailments always hit if you can only ever do chip damage?! I¡¯m not even a tank and a surprise attack with a million different bonuses only did a third of my health!¡± She stood up, glaring down at Tess. ¡°I don¡¯t get it, why would Fortune pick someone like you?! Why would she purposefully pick someone with such low potential when someone with such high potential was right next to you?! You¡¯re not even Uncle Evan¡¯s real granddaughter! Why do you get such special treatment and I don¡¯t?!¡± She stood there, panting as she finished her rant. That last bit, about not being Gramps¡¯s real granddaughter was the last straw, Tess wasn¡¯t going to take this anymore. She stood up, taking a deep breath. ¡°Anything else?¡± She asked icily. ¡°Because I think it¡¯s my turn to talk.¡± Not waiting for a response, she continued. ¡°You have no right to determine whether or not I¡¯m Gramps¡¯s ¡®real¡¯ granddaughter.¡± She said in a low, cold voice. ¡°And what do you know about the wringer?! Do you even know what life¡¯s put me through? My entire biological family is dead! No siblings, parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, anything! I don¡¯t know anyone in your family other than Auntie, or if they¡¯re alive or what the deal with that is, but even if they¡¯re not alive, at least you had someone else! I would have been put in an orphanage if it wasn¡¯t for Gramps!¡± Tess glared defiantly at Ilmir. ¡°Do you know what that feels like? Waking up one day and suddenly being all alone? Realizing that you¡¯re about to be thrown into a notoriously cold-hearted, even abusive system? How many times have you cried yourself to sleep because you knew you weren¡¯t going to see the people you loved most again? Have you ever pondered suicide because you felt there wasn¡¯t anything else left for you and thought even the chance of seeing your family again was worth it? I was ten when I was thinking that. ¡°But those long nights crying myself to sleep? Gramps always came in and sat with me until I was finally asleep, no matter how long it took. He was the one to remind me that there were people who cared, that there was still worth in living life. He never treated me any different from Ellie, and while I never knew my biological grandparents, if that¡¯s not being a ¡®real¡¯ grandparent then I don¡¯t know what is. So, shut up. You know nothing about my relationship with Gramps.¡± Ilmir recoiled, visibly taken aback. ¡°I¡­didn¡¯t think, I¡­¡± ¡°Of course you didn¡¯t think.¡± Tess snapped. ¡°You haven¡¯t spent a second thinking about how I feel this entire time.¡± Tess took a moment to collect herself. She wanted to rub the fact that she and Ellie were dating in Ilmir¡¯s face, but¡­that¡¯d be stooping down to Ilmir¡¯s level. It might make her feel better in the short term, but that wouldn¡¯t do anyone any good in the long run. Ilmir sat down, face a bright red. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She whispered. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize.¡± Tess was feeling a bit calmer now, though she could tell her face was also bright red. ¡°Right. I¡­got a bit carried away there. And, well, there are reasons for why Fortune picked me. I don¡¯t know if I can tell you them¡­¡±
You can tell her about the stat thing, that¡¯s not too classified or anything. Not any more than your Blessing or Class, anyway. And yes, I¡¯m here right now. I took a break in case I needed to help.
¡°Right. Well, Fortune¡¯s saying it¡¯s OK to tell you all, but she wasn¡¯t allowed to give her Blessing to someone with even average potential. It¡¯s just too strong, so she can only give it to really weak people like me. The gods were afraid that it would become too much of a problem otherwise. That¡¯s why she didn¡¯t pick Ellie. And my Skill synergy is entirely different than your Skill synergy. I get the best possible set of Skills, not just good ones that happen to work together, as well as access to abilities that people shouldn¡¯t have thanks to my Class.¡± Tess sat herself back down, looking embarrassedly at the other three in the room. ¡°Sorry for my outburst.¡± She said. ¡°I got a bit carried away there.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, dear.¡± Ava said soothingly. ¡°Everyone needs to let their feelings out sometime. Do the two of you understand each other better, now?¡± ¡°A little.¡± Tess said. ¡°I still don¡¯t think that what she¡¯s been through justifies treating me like she has been, though.¡± ¡°You are correct, but I have my own observations to make, if I may.¡± Ker said. He waited for Tess¡¯s approval before continuing. ¡°It seems to me that, while Ilmir¡¯s behavior has been reprehensible, much of the blame here lies with Eyfura. I think she could have prevented quite a bit of this if she was more explicit when telling Ilmir about Tess¡¯s abilities, was more discerning when choosing to bring Ilmir along with her on that mission, or more proactive when trying to deal with the trauma. ¡°That¡¯s not to absolve Ilmir or anything, but I don¡¯t think we should entirely pin the blame on her. She hasn¡¯t yet fully gotten out of the rash stage of beastkin youth and won¡¯t for another few years. We should look at the adults in the situation first.¡± Contrary to what Tess was expecting, Eyfura just nodded glumly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re right. There were a lot of things I could have done to prevent this and was too prideful to. Ilmir, I think I¡¯ve told you this, but I took you on that mission with the intent to have you fail and be humbled. But¡­I misjudged things and didn¡¯t watch you close enough so it ended up being a lot worse than I was hoping. I was trying to humble you and ended up scarring you instead. I should have asked for someone¡¯s help in talking to you about it and didn¡¯t, I should have been more thorough in explaining how Tess¡¯s abilities worked, I shouldn¡¯t have gotten agitated and made the bet with you.¡± She gave Tess an apologetic look. ¡°I¡­probably should have asked for your permission for this punishment too, since it affects you. I wasn¡¯t taking your feelings into account either.¡± Ava nodded. ¡°Ilmir, what do you have to say for yourself?¡± Ilmir hung her head sadly. ¡°I¡­took things too far too. I didn¡¯t want to admit I was wrong after I had already been so harsh. So, I dug in my heels and refused to give an inch. I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ll try and be better in the future.¡± She looked up. ¡°I¡¯m not giving up on Ellie, though. I know you have eyes for her, but my feelings for her have nothing to do with you. We¡¯ll be love rivals going forward.¡± Tess scratched the back of her neck. ¡°About that¡­You¡¯ve kind of already lost. Ellie and I are in a relationship as of a couple days ago. It¡¯s not because of our fight or anything, she really doesn¡¯t care how strong someone is, it¡¯s more about how their personality is. And, um, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve noticed, but she really doesn¡¯t like you. She thinks you¡¯re shallow and mean-spirited.¡± Ilmir wilted. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Is it¡­because of how I treated you?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m¡­pretty sure you¡¯ve already ruined whatever chances you had with her. She¡¯s not the type to let stuff like this go easily.¡± Ilmir gave a sigh. ¡°I¡­need to go think. Grandma, is it alright if I stay home for the next¡­while? We can start the whole month of her being party leader later. I¡­need some alone time.¡± ¡°Yeah. Just¡­let me know when you¡¯re ready, alright? We¡¯ll talk about this more then.¡± Ilmir stood up, giving Tess a rather conflicted look as she left the room. ¡°So¡­now what?¡± Tess asked.
We got that Rewards Crystal replaced. The four of you should go get something from it. Especially you, Tess. I put something nice in there for you.
¡°Oh. Right. The Rewards Crystal in Slime Tower got replaced now that the gods are done with it. Fortune says the four of us can go get a new thing from it now.¡± Eyfura stood up, stretching. ¡°Yeah, sounds good to me. I need to move around a bit after all this.¡± ¡°We might as well grab Evan too.¡± Ava said, standing up as well. ¡°He¡¯ll get us through the papers check faster and we¡¯ll need him to confirm that the Rewards Crystal has changed, too.¡± So, the four of them left, soon to head back to where this had all started for Tess. Chapter 32: Where it All Began ¡°Sure, I¡¯d love to go with you.¡± Gramps said, standing up from his seat at his desk, ¡°Monthly inspection¡¯s soon so this works out anyway.¡± He walked around the desk to meet up with the group, giving Ker a faux-apologetic smile. ¡°Sorry for making you accompany the three of us old timers on our day trip. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll only get in your way.¡± Ker rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not buying it, Guildmaster. I¡¯ve seen Eyfura fight, and I¡¯ve seen your spellcasting. Assuming Ava¡¯s kept up as well as you two have, I¡¯m pretty sure any one of you ¡®old timers¡¯ could take out my entire party without even breaking a sweat.¡± ¡°Got that right.¡± Atum said, closing the door behind him. ¡°I¡¯ve scrapped with plenty of parties like yours. Sorry to say it, but you three have a ways to go before you¡¯re ready to break into the real top-tier of freelancing.¡± He turned to Tess, laughing as he saw her surprise. ¡°What, you think I¡¯m missing this? Not a chance. War let me know you all were going to go out together and there¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to be the only one left out.¡± Gramps smiled. ¡°Sounds great. Ava, Atum, do the two of you have any other plans for the day?¡± Atum shook his head. ¡°Not really. Ava was planning to spend most of the day helping smooth things out between Tess and Ilmir, and things are relatively peaceful right now, so I don¡¯t have much work.¡± ¡°Perfect. In that case, we¡¯ll just stay out until Ellie gets done with school, after which we¡¯ll come back and then disperse, I have some business with my grandkids. Ker, why don¡¯t you get the rest of your party, and we¡¯ll all go out together. I¡¯m sure Alice, at the least, would never let me hear the end of it if I didn¡¯t let her come with.¡± Ker blinked, momentarily taken aback at the sudden turn of events. ¡°Uh, yeah. Give me a sec, they should still be hanging about here.¡± He left the room, leaving Tess with just the other Appointed. ¡°So¡­what¡¯s the plan?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I figured we¡¯d go get the stuff from the Rewards Crystal and then we could do some training with The Rumors.¡± Gramps said. ¡°We haven¡¯t had the opportunity to spar as a party lately, so I thought we could do some mock battles, you and The Rumors against us. We¡¯d be going easy, of course, wouldn¡¯t really be fair otherwise. More to teach you about fighting people and help give The Rumors a little training too for their help in training you and Ellie.¡± Atum grinned, punching his palm with a fist. ¡°Sounds good to me. I haven¡¯t had the opportunity to spar with anyone halfway decent in a while. It¡¯ll be nice to see what rank nine looks like these days.¡± ¡°They¡¯re middle of the line as far as rank goes.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°Competition¡¯s a bit stiffer these days, though. Back in our heyday they could have probably passed for low rank ten.¡± Atum grunted. ¡°It¡¯ll at least be a bit of a challenge, then. Mind letting me at them one-on-one? I don¡¯t want to have it end too fast.¡± ¡°Only so long as I get to go first.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°I have some things of my own I want to drill into them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all fine.¡± Gramps said. ¡°We¡¯ve got plenty of time.¡± ¡°Um¡­I think I might want to just watch.¡± Tess said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m anywhere near capable of doing anything in any sort of serious fight between you all and The Rumors.¡± Ava grabbed Tess¡¯s hand, smiling warmly. ¡°That may be so, but there¡¯s still plenty you can learn from fighting an expert. You don¡¯t have to participate in fighting our whole party if you don¡¯t want to, but I hope you¡¯ll at least consider sparring with one of us while Atum or Eyfura is taking The Rumors on by themself.¡± There was a polite knock at the door, prompting Gramps to call for whoever it was to come in. ¡°So, what¡¯s going on, Guildmast¡­¡± Alice trailed off as she saw the rest of the group. ¡°Woah.¡± ¡°Ah, perfect timing.¡± Gramps said. ¡°I¡¯ll explain once the door¡¯s properly shut.¡± Alice seemingly snapped out of a stupor, moving out of the doorway and letting Jin and Ker into the room. Jin closed the door behind him, nodding smoothly at Gramps. ¡°Quite the gathering we have here. To what do we owe the pleasure?¡± ¡°Well, the Challenge Crystal in Slime Tower is being replaced.¡± Gramps explained. ¡°It¡¯s served its purpose, so the gods are getting a new one installed, one that¡¯ll actually benefit people. We all needed to go pick it up, so I thought we¡¯d take you all for a sort of day trip, at least until Ellie gets off school. Then I have business with her and Tess, so I¡¯ll have to duck out. What happens then will be up to the rest of you.¡± Alice raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m not complaining or anything, but surely beating the Challenge and getting the reward won¡¯t take more than half an hour. We¡¯ve got like¡­five before Ellie gets here, what¡¯s the plan then?¡± ¡°We¡¯re gonna fight.¡± Atum said. ¡°Some friendly sparring, us against you. We¡¯ll give you a little teaching as thanks for all the help you¡¯ve given Evan.¡± Alice¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Um, uh¡­thanks. At least for one round, though, will you go all out against us? I¡¯ve always wondered what it would feel like to fight against you guys.¡± Atum chuckled. ¡°Sorry, but all out is a no-go. Descending just for sparring is too dangerous. But I think we can manage using everything but that for a round or two.¡± ¡°Ah. So, is it safe to assume that you and Ava are Appointed as well?¡± Jin asked. ¡°I was wondering about it after Eyfura and the Guildmaster revealed themselves.¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re all Appointed.¡± Ava confirmed. ¡°I see.¡± Jin replied. ¡°That certainly does explain a thing or two. Shall we be going, then?¡± ¡°I think we should.¡± Gramps said. ¡°We¡¯ve only got so much time, after all.¡± And, with that, the group made their way out of the guild and towards Slime Tower. They garnered quite a few looks as they walked down the street, to the point where a few people even stopped entirely, staring at Gramps and the rest of his party. ¡°Do you guys not go out together much?¡± Tess asked. ¡°This is even worse than it normally is.¡± Ava laughed. ¡°Yeah, usually we prefer to meet up in private or in disguise to avoid all this attention, but every once in a while, we like to make a public appearance. Helps remind people that we¡¯re still around here, that they have to deal with us if they get ideas about taking over the Outlands.¡± The rest of their short trip was filled with idle chatter between Gramps and the rest of The Titans, as well as the occasional question directed at Tess. The Rumors were mostly silent, though Alice would occasionally chip in with something, usually talking to Eyfura when she did. And, eventually, they were at the line to Slime Tower. It was still by far the longest line Tess had seen, though, now that she had seen the freelancers in other dungeons, she could tell that the ones waiting for Slime Tower were¡­subpar. It was always something. Perhaps their gear was ill-maintained, perhaps their attitude showed that they were treating this as just a day job, something they did to survive, no real risk, no real satisfaction. Or maybe they were just new. Which wasn¡¯t really anything against them, but it was just evident that, in general, the people that were here were either very inexperienced or completely over-prepared for the dungeon. ¡°Elias, how¡¯re you holding up over there?!¡± Gramps said, walking up to the guard for the resident line. Elias peered up at the assembled people, then back at Gramps. ¡°Uh¡­fine?¡± He said nervously. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Inspection!¡± Gramps replied, beaming. ¡°Everyone here was going to go on a day trip with me, and we figured we¡¯d stop by real quick since this was on the way.¡± ¡°Oh, um, right. Let me grab the paperwork¡­¡± He bent down below the little stall he was sitting behind and rummaged around for a moment before bringing up some papers. ¡°Sorry, I would have had these in a more easily accessible place had I known you were going to come today.¡± Gramps grabbed the papers, waving his free hand dismissively. ¡°Don¡¯t even worry about it, there¡¯s really no way you could have known.¡± Elias smiled weakly. ¡°In you go, then. Um¡­have a good time, I guess?¡± Soon the eight of them were at the Party Crystal, putting themselves in one big party together, and then they were off to the first floor. ¡°You go in first, Tess.¡± Gramps said, ¡°That should guarantee we get a floor with a Challenge on it.¡± Tess nodded, opening the door and stepping into the dungeon proper. It was¡­exactly the same as it was when she had last been here, down to the slime sitting on the floor of the raised area directly in front of her. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Gramps nudged her forward. ¡°Take care of it while I look for the Challenge room, alright?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Tess walked forward, unsheathing her claws as the slime sat there, patiently waiting for someone it could actually target to enter its radius. She paused for a moment, then positioned a claw over the slime, bringing it down with no more force than she would use when popping a balloon.
You have punctured slime for 34 damage! You have killed slime! You gain 13 EXP! Monster Breeder has gained 6 EXP!
And, much like a balloon, the slime burst, flying apart into rainbow mist. ¡°A bit of a far cry from the first slime you killed, don¡¯t you think? You barely even instakilled that first one, and you dispatched this with no effort.¡± Gramps said, smirking somewhat. He turned his attention back to the wall, pulling out a small stone from his bag, looking around, and then nailing the loose brick. As it had before, the wall fell forward, leaving a path to the Challenge in front of them. ¡°Now that I¡¯m thinking about it¡­I don¡¯t think I ever absorbed the cores of the monsters in here. Those would¡­probably be pretty helpful.¡± ¡°Quite.¡± Atum said. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t before.¡± ¡°I forgot about the cores in everything that was going on and they ended up getting sold pretty soon after I got Monster Breeder. And then I just¡­forgot to get more.¡± Tess said sheepishly. ¡°Us too.¡± Alice said. ¡°But, in our defense, no one ever really thinks about this Challenge. There¡¯s never really been a reason to.¡± ¡°I suppose it¡¯s not really important right now.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°She can absorb those now, no big deal.¡± As they entered the Challenge room, Gramps fired a spell, instantly killing the four slimes. Tess walked over, picked up the cores, and absorbed them all at once.
You have absorbed a Poison Slime Core! Slots filled: 10/26 You have gained 25 EXP in Monster Breeder! You have absorbed a Paralysis Slime Core! Slots filled: 11/26 You have gained 25 EXP in Monster Breeder! You have absorbed a Freeze Slime Core! Slots filled: 12/26 You have gained 25 EXP in Monster Breeder! You have absorbed a Petrification Slime Core! Slots filled: 13/26 You have gained 25 EXP in Monster Breeder! New cores absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ New Skills detected! Attempting to degrade and obtain Poisoned Blows¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Poisoned Strikes! Attempting to degrade and obtain Paralyzing Blows¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Stuttering Strikes! Attempting to degrade and obtain Freezing Blows¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Chilling Strikes! Attempting to degrade and obtain Petrifying Blows¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Stony Strikes! Poisoned Strikes: Rarity: Uncommon Type: Passive Description: Your unarmed attacks have a 5% chance to inflict Poison at the rate of 50%. This Poison lasts for 1 minute and deals 5% of the damage of the main attack every five seconds. I¡¯m pretty sure this is technically venom. Stuttering Strikes: Rarity: Uncommon Type: Passive Description: Your unarmed attacks have a 5% chance to inflict Paralysis to the affected area at the rate of 25%. This Paralysis lasts for five seconds. Red light. Chilling Strikes: Rarity: Uncommon Type: Passive Description: Your unarmed attacks have a 5% chance to inflict Freeze to the affected area at the rate of 25%. This Freeze lasts for five seconds. Like, chill out, man. Stony Strikes: Rarity: Uncommon Type: Passive Description: Your unarmed attacks have a 5% chance to inflict Petrification to the affected area at the rate of 25%. This Petrification lasts for five seconds. You¡¯re¡­making one stone with one strike? I guess? That translates to two birds though so you¡¯re coming out with a net increase in stuff. Displaying core information: Poison Slime Core: Level 5 Estimated Power: 15 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 20 Current Skills: Poisoned Blows Current Attributes: Amorphous (Slimy) (Fundamental) Paralysis Slime Core: Level 5 Estimated Power: 15 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 20 Current Skills: Paralyzing Blows Current Attributes: Amorphous (Slimy) (Fundamental) Freeze Slime Core: Level 5 Estimated Power: 15 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 20 Current Skills: Freezing Blows Current Attributes: Amorphous (Slimy) (Fundamental) Petrification Slime Core: Level 5 Estimated Power: 15 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 20 Current Skills: Petrifying Blows Current Attributes: Amorphous (Slimy) (Fundamental) New Skills discovered! Poisoned Blows: Rarity: Rare Type: Passive Description: Your attacks have a 10% chance to inflict Poison at the rate of 100%. This Poison lasts for 2 minutes and deals 10% of the damage of the main attack every five seconds. No, it¡¯s still venom. Most ¡°poison¡± in Skills is, come to think of it. Huh. Paralyzing Blows: Rarity: Rare Type: Passive Description: Your attacks have a 15% chance to inflict Paralysis to the affected area at the rate of 75%. This Paralysis lasts for five seconds. Red light, but like¡­then you turn back to green light for one second and then you¡¯re right back to red light and it¡¯s getting annoying for everyone else playing Freezing Blows: Rarity: Rare Type: Passive Description: Your attacks have a 10% chance to inflict Freeze to the affected area at the rate of 50%. This Freeze lasts for ten seconds. Cool as ice. Petrifying Blows: Rarity: Rare Type: Passive Description: Your attacks have a 5% chance to inflict Petrification to the affected area at the rate of 25%. This Petrification lasts for fifteen seconds. Unfortunately it¡¯s still just one stone with one strike. The bird market is safe¡­for now.
Tess nodded in satisfaction. She didn¡¯t really want to trade out any of her current Attributes for a slight increase in efficacy to any of these ailments when it was¡­mostly just increasing the time they were afflicted for and she could just reapply the effects to keep things going. Well, actually, Poisoned Blows had a decent benefit to having the original Skill and she really wasn¡¯t using Call of the Shallows. She¡¯d make sure to replace that with Poisoned Blows later when she had some more time, but right now she needed to head into the Rewards Crystal room with everyone else. ¡°You go first, Tess.¡± Ava prompted. ¡°You¡¯ll probably have the most to digest with whatever you get. We¡¯ll all get ours while you read over your stuff.¡± Tess placed her hand on the crystal, then read the window she got.
You have gained the Class Artisan of Affliction! For gaining the Class Artisan of Affliction, you have gained the Skills Artisanal Afflictions, Potent Punishment, Symphony of Suffering, and Lasting Impression! Artisanal Afflictions Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Every time you apply a status effect with a more severe version (such as with Poison and Blight), you have a chance to upgrade that status effect to its more severe version. This chance is equal to your level in Artisan of Affliction as a percentage (currently 1%). The best artisans know how to get the most out of their tools. Potent Punishment: Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: When applying a status effect, ignore an amount of the target¡¯s resistance equal to your level in Artisan of Affliction (currently 1%). Something of lesser craftsmanship wouldn¡¯t work, but your craftsmanship isn¡¯t lesser. Symphony of Suffering: Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: Status effects you inflict deal more damage based on your Artisan of Affliction level as a percentage (currently 1%). This effect applies multiplicatively after all other effects. Each new instrument makes the whole that much louder and that much more painful. Lasting Impression: Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: Status effects you inflict last longer based on your Artisan of Affliction level as a percentage (currently 1%). This effect applies multiplicatively after all other effects. The works of the great leave people thinking on them for longer than the works of the masses.
The moment Tess waved the window away, another one popped up in its place.
Hey, so, uh, here¡¯s that thing I was talking about, I helped get this Class made just for you. Well, I mean, it¡¯s not just for you like Monster Breeder ended up being. It¡¯s being added to a bunch of Rewards Crystals in some of the newer dungeons we¡¯re rolling out, so eventually other people are going to get it. It¡¯s pretty rare, though. Anyway, I made this with your toolkit in mind. Artisanal Afflictions is obviously far more useful to you at level 1 than it is to other people, and that 1% from Potent Punishment can make all the difference when determining whether or not you can apply an effect (though Status Tennis has you covered there too? I mean¡­can¡¯t hurt to have redundancy, you know? That and it was thematically fitting), but I still think this as a whole will greatly increase your usefulness. It¡¯s basically double everything at max level so¡­yeah Anyway, as you¡¯ve noticed, leveling slows down quite a bit after level 25, so I don¡¯t think it would hurt for you to equip Artisan of Affliction until you get it to level 25, and just re-equip Monster Breeder when you want to absorb a big core so you actually get the EXP. Hm. Actually, I¡¯ll have to check with Amy on how EXP from absorbing cores works. Because there¡¯s honestly a real chance that we forgot to make that action only give experience to Monster Breeder and it just gives you generic ¡°Class¡± experience instead, like killing things does. Uh¡­can you do me a favor and absorb the core from the slime you killed earlier? Well, when you change Classes, I mean. I want to check and be sure what the interaction there is. But, yeah, that¡¯s it. I gotta get back to work, I¡¯ll see you soon!
Tess waved the window away, making a mental note to absorb the slime core later. Everyone else seemed to be done and were clearly waiting for Tess to finish reading her stuff. ¡°New Class.¡± Tess said in response to their unasked question. ¡°As in, like¡­they just made it and started putting it into Rewards Crystals new, apparently. Basically, it just makes my status effects more deadly, I¡¯ll write down the details for Gramps later.¡± ¡°That¡¯d be appreciated, thank you.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°Shall we get on with the inspection?¡± ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Tess said. ¡°But¡­what exactly are we inspecting?¡± ¡°We can get into more detail later if you want, but I¡¯m basically just checking the dungeon for signs that it needs to be cleared to stop it from growing and check for other anomalies. It¡¯s almost never an issue for the beginner dungeons, but complacency can lead to disaster, so I make sure we don¡¯t skip their inspections. We¡¯ll just have to go through the dungeon once, and then I¡¯ll do some paperwork based on what I see. It shouldn¡¯t take long, so don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡± ¡°Oh, that makes sense.¡± Jin waited to be sure there was no more conversation forthcoming, then spoke. ¡°The three of us are ready.¡± ¡°As are the rest of us.¡± Ava replied. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s be off, then!¡± Gramps said jovially, making a speedy exit from the room. The rest followed him, ready to get through the dungeon and to the real main event of the day. Chapter 33: Take Them to Church Tess, Gramps, Atum, and Ava were sitting down on the grass, watching as Eyfura stared down The Rumors. They had taken a short trip outside of town to a clearing in the forest where they were less likely to draw the attention of other people. Gramps hadn¡¯t wanted to monopolize the guild¡¯s training yard for a whole morning, and nothing they would be doing was too secret. Well, Tess¡¯s abilities were still technically secret for the time being, but she wasn¡¯t planning on doing too much active training this morning and could always stop if someone detected other people around. ¡°I¡¯ll let you all make the first move.¡± Eyfura said lazily. Despite the casualness with which she said that, she looked anything but ¨C for the first time Tess had seen, she was wearing armor, a set made of what Tess could only assume was dragon scales and hide. Her claws were fully extended, reaching a length just shorter than Tess¡¯s own, and she just¡­looked imposing. The Rumors seemed to think so as well; they were in a tight formation, Alice firmly planting her tower shield so as to shield her party members from Eyfura as they began casting spells. Eyfura patiently waited for the casts to complete, watching as Alice glowed with a sort of light as the spells took effect. ¡°Alright, seems like I¡¯m good to start, then.¡± Eyfura said, tensing. Alice was fast, already throwing her sword as Eyfura was talking. Eyfura, however, was faster, catching the speeding blade between two claws, and throwing it back, even faster than it had been before. Alice hurriedly moved her shield to intercept and the blade embedded itself within the metal, the force of the impact pushing Alice back slightly. Eyfura herself was only a second behind, speeding forward at a rate Tess could barely even follow. Jin let out some sort of¡­force wave spell, a wall of purple force heading out to meet Eyfura, followed closely by arrows of light from Ker. Eyfura just raked down with a hand, claws tearing open a hole in the magic which she ran through. As the arrows homed in on her she crouched and made a leap, propelling herself even faster as she jumped over the arrows, landing a short distance in front of Alice. Alice, having pried her sword out from her shield, thrust outwards towards Eyfura, a strike which Eyfura casually dodged. Eyfura dashed forward, running headlong into towards the tower shield and then suddenly jumped ever so slightly, landing with both feet on the shield and kicking off, a shimmering magical bubble-shaped barrier appearing over The Rumors as she did. The arrows, which were still tracking Eyfura, arced upwards but didn¡¯t turn fast enough, their momentum carrying them right into Alice¡¯s shield. Ker and Jin didn¡¯t let up the assault, a series of magic hitting the point where Eyfura landed. Eyfura was momentarily obscured from view by the projectiles, but that obstruction soon passed, revealing a slightly singed but relatively uninjured Eyfura, who was somehow holding one of Jin¡¯s spells, a nasty-looking fiery lance. She rushed forward and jumped, throwing the spell down and over the shield, hitting Alice and sending her stumbling backwards. This was swiftly followed by a strike from her claws, hitting the place where Alice¡¯s shield had been and shattering the barrier. From there Eyfura kicked out at the tower shield, the force of her blow actually knocking Alice off of her feet and down onto the ground. And then she lashed out, stopping her claws just before they punctured Ker and Jin¡¯s necks. ¡°And I think we¡¯ll call it there.¡± She said, standing up straight and dusting herself off. ¡°That was curtains for you two and I don¡¯t think Alice wants to try her luck one on one.¡± ¡°That was¡­something else.¡± Alice wheezed, propping herself up on her elbows. ¡°I haven¡¯t felt that thoroughly outclassed for years.¡± Eyfura shrugged. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve had a long time to deal with people who employ similar strategies. Honestly, it does work pretty well on most single enemies who use melee, but I¡¯m afraid it tends to fall apart against people who have ways to close in on you. The pushback spell is good, especially if you¡¯re confident that your enemy doesn¡¯t have any dispel, but after that¡­¡± She trailed off, looking at each member of the party in turn. ¡°Did anyone catch the flaw?¡± Jin nodded. ¡°It¡¯s because we keyed the barrier to let our attacks through and then anchored it on Alice¡¯s shield, right?¡± ¡°Exactly. A tough physical anchor like Alice is a great way to shore up a barrier, but if that anchor is moved, then the barrier becomes much weaker than it otherwise should be. And the keying is a good way to get around the problem that is having an offensive presence while inside a barrier, but you have to think about your attacks being turned against you. Most things can¡¯t dodge homing spells like me, and the vast majority of things can¡¯t physically interact with magic like me, but some things can. ¡°And, once that barrier is broken, your tank is probably off-balance, and your mages are exposed. So, this is a strategy you can only really employ if you¡¯re confident you know all of your opponent¡¯s abilities beforehand. It works amazingly well if they don¡¯t have any answers to any one of the threats it poses, but you can¡¯t rely on it. Now, are you ready for round two? I want you to try one of your other strategies on me.¡± Ava stood up, nudging Tess slightly. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come with me?¡± She asked. ¡°We can do some one-on-one training away from distractions. Effie¡¯s going to be a bit, and there probably won¡¯t be anything that¡¯s really interesting or relevant to you that you haven¡¯t already seen.¡± Gramps nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll call you when it¡¯s time for all four of us to spar with The Rumors, so don¡¯t worry about that. Have a good time out there!¡± Tess followed Ava for a while before Ava eventually stopped at another clearing nearby. ¡°So, before anything, I have to ask¡­do you plan on continuing to train with Ilmir after this month?¡± Tess paused, frowning at the sudden question. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Probably not, all depending on how things go. If I¡¯m going to be training with Ellie again, then Ilmir is probably out for sure. If not, then¡­I don¡¯t know. I guess it depends on how she is over the month. I might try and stop training with her earlier, might not, I just¡­yeah.¡± ¡°I see. Do you mind if I ask why you¡¯re hesitating so much?¡± ¡°Well¡­if I do, then I stop training with Auntie, and¡­well, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll see her often after that. And I don¡¯t want to essentially cut ties with her.¡± Ava gave her a reassuring smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that¡¯s out of the question. The four of us have basically chosen to take on the role of making sure you don¡¯t lack for training in areas that The Rumors might not be able to teach you. Effie will still stop by every so often to make sure everything¡¯s going well. ¡°But, that sort of ties into why I was asking. I wanted to let you know that, if you all can¡¯t work together with Ilmir and Effie stops helping you so she can train her, then I¡¯m going to step in and take her place. One of the four of us will be with you all the time until you¡¯re done training, as an Appointed you¡¯re too important to let your early training be anything less than the best we can give.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. She shrugged. ¡°I guess I just wanted to let you know that you shouldn¡¯t worry about making a decision because of stuff like this, we¡¯ll take care of things. Make your choice based on what you feel. Your early training really shouldn¡¯t feel miserable because of your teammates.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll¡­keep that in mind.¡± Tess said. ¡°So¡­what now?¡± ¡°Ah, right. I wanted to help you learn how best to use Return to Sender, or at least let you know what to practice. I want to demonstrate, so come at me with a punch, and I¡¯ll show you how to reflect it, and then we¡¯ll do that slower and slower until you get it and can start trying it yourself, alright?¡±
The rest of the morning went by fairly fast. It took Tess a fair bit of time to get to the point where she could redirect attacks with any kind of speed, but by the time Gramps called the two back she could redirect a normal punch the ¡°right¡± way almost every time. She skipped out on sparring against Gramps¡¯s party, since she didn¡¯t really feel taking a beating. True to Atum¡¯s word, the first couple of rounds Gramps¡¯s party didn¡¯t hold anything back, and The Rumors were, predictably, swiftly dispatched. Any time they tried any spell Gramps immediately countered it, and there wasn¡¯t even time for Eyfura and Atum to get into melee range as Gramps and Ava would both cast spells that completely immobilized or otherwise incapacitated The Rumors. ¡°I must admit that was rather humbling.¡± Ker said on the ride back to town. ¡°I haven¡¯t felt like this since we were rank six. After that point it always felt like we could do something in a fight, but we were just¡­completely helpless.¡± He smiled bitterly. ¡°Rank ten is just seeming further and further away.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get dispirited.¡± Gramps said. ¡°The top of rank ten is essentially a rank all to itself, and we¡¯re a step above that. You¡¯ll make rank ten in no time.¡± Ava smiled. ¡°What¡¯s he¡¯s not telling you is the praise Eyfura was giving you earlier. She was saying that back in the ¡®golden age¡¯ of freelancing, back when we were still establishing things, you all would have probably been rank ten already. A lot of people like to romanticize that ¡®era¡¯, but, frankly, freelancers in general are more powerful now than they¡¯ve ever been. People just remember the strongest ones, and a lot of those are Appointed.¡± Eyfura blushed. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t tell them that, you¡¯re embarrassing me!¡± She coughed, looking away. ¡°Uh, that being said, don¡¯t put so much stock in rank ten. Honestly, the whole rank thing is in need of an overhaul anyway, since rank ten is starting to get a little¡­crowded. In terms of power, there¡¯s no telling what you can expect from people in it.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been telling you this for a long time, Evan.¡± Atum ribbed. ¡°Hopefully today¡¯s outing has shown you that maybe we shouldn¡¯t have such a gap between the top of rank ten and the middle of rank nine, even if there really aren¡¯t many people who are in those top ranks.¡± ¡°Fine, fine. I¡¯ll get around to in the next few weeks.¡± Gramps said, raising his hands. Alice blinked. ¡°Just like that? It seems like¡­kind of a big deal to decide so fast.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been in the works for a while.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°It¡¯s just moving up the timeframe. We¡¯ll have to make some tests for parties currently at rank ten, but we¡¯ll figure it out when the time comes.¡± The rest of the hoverer ride back was mostly The Rumors chatting with Gramps¡¯s party about how best to improve. Tess was mostly content to just sit and listen, as she felt she didn¡¯t really have much to add. And so, she and Gramps bid their goodbyes to the rest, returning to Gramps¡¯s office, where Gramps opened up the door to their house and ushered Tess through. ¡°So, what¡¯s this about?¡± She asked, stepping through the door. ¡°Are we just waiting here until Ellie gets back or¡­?¡± Gramps smiled. ¡°Our business is here on Mael, actually. I have some people I need to take you and Ellie to meet.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that about me?¡± Ellie asked, stepping through the garage door. ¡°Perfect timing.¡± Gramps said, clapping his hands together. ¡°We¡¯re all going to church.¡± Ellie stared at him. ¡°What? It¡¯s the middle of the week and it¡¯s not a holiday or anything, so why?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± Gramps replied, a mischievous glint in his eyes. ¡°Go change out of your uniform and then I¡¯ll drive you both down. Tess, you might want to grab something to eat while we¡¯re here.¡± Tess nodded, and headed over to the kitchen, making herself a quick sandwich while she waited for Ellie. After that they all piled into the car and began the ten or so minute drive to the nearest church. The drive was filled with Ellie¡¯s usual questions about Tess¡¯s day, and she was more than happy to sit and listen to all the things Tess told her about the training they had and the things she saw The Rumors and Gramps¡¯s party do. And soon enough they found themselves in front of the church. It was one of the more ostentatious buildings in town, built in that imposing way that all churches were. Lots of spires and huge windows, polished stone floors, the works. It was supposedly to help build the proper atmosphere for the church faithful while they were praying or something, Tess had never paid too much attention to religion, though, now that she was thinking about it, the knowledge she had gained about the nature of the world put this all into a new light. She had barely even thought to ask Fortune if Life and Death were¡­well, real gods. Ellie seemed to be having similar thoughts, if her face was anything to go by. Gramps gently pulled the two along and into the church, where he confidently walked up to the chamber where the on-duty priest was doing work, giving a solid knock. A man with untidy brown hair opened the door, giving the group a curious glance. ¡°What can I do for all of you?¡± He asked. ¡°Ah, right, you must be the new priest. I¡¯m Evan Los, and my grandchildren and I need to go to the Holy Room.¡± The man shook his head, a confused look on his face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir, but I¡¯m afraid only clergy can enter the Holy Room. May I ask what business you have there?¡± Gramps gave him a smile. ¡°I think you¡¯ll find that you¡¯re somewhat mistaken. Go grab Pastor Faust, she¡¯ll clear things up for you.¡± The man sighed. ¡°Sir, I don¡¯t know how they usually do things out in the country, but the pastor is unable to give permission to enter the Holy Room. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re expecting.¡± ¡°Brother Avery, what seems to be the matter? I was passing by and heard you talking about me, so I thought I¡¯d check up on things.¡± Pastor Faust asked, walking into the room Jared was in through a door on the other end. She was a short woman with greying hair and a near constant friendly smile. She had been the one who had sheltered Tess for the couple of days between her parents¡¯ death and Gramps taking her in, and Tess had found her to be as kind and gentle as her demeanor and appearance suggested. Pastor Faust stopped when she caught sight of Gramps. ¡°Ah. I was wondering when we were going to run into this issue. Come on in, Mr. Los. You kids wait in the chapel, alright?¡± Gramps shook his head. ¡°They¡¯re coming too today.¡± ¡°I see. Well, you all come inside, then, I¡¯ll send Brother Johnson to clear the Holy Room.¡± She poked her head through the door she came in through, briefly conferring with someone while Gramps guided Ellie and Tess into the room. ¡°I don¡¯t think this is allowed, Pastor.¡± Brother Avery protested. ¡°The higher-ups will be very displeased if they find out about this.¡± Pastor Faust smiled. ¡°They know, this is all above board. Mr. Los here is an emissary of the gods, and, as such, has priority access to the Holy Room.¡± Brother Avery started, staring at Gramps in disbelief. ¡°I¡¯m¡­having a hard time believing this.¡± He finally said. ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Pastor Faust replied. ¡°Send a letter to one of the cardinals, they¡¯ll confirm this. For now, just know that Mr. Los is able to bring whoever he likes into the Holy Room whenever he likes.¡± ¡°The Holy Room is clear, Pastor.¡± A man, presumably Brother Johnson, said, peeking his head into the room. ¡°Thank you, Brother Johnson. Mr. Los, you know the way, I¡¯ll stay here and explain a bit more to Brother Avery.¡± Gramps nodded, guiding Tess and Ellie out of the room and through the halls before they reached a large door, which Gramps opened. Beyond was a windowless room which contained two statues, one of Life, and one of Death. She didn¡¯t have much time to process it, though. The moment the three of them were inside and the doors were closed there was a flash of light and they found themselves in the god¡¯s workplace, where three figures were waiting for them. The first was Fortune, who gave the group a friendly wave. The other two were¡­Life and Death, Tess assumed. She hadn¡¯t really paid attention to the statues, but it certainly looked like them. ¡°I¡¯m the god of Life.¡± The one on the right said. He was a tall human, wearing a simple black shirt and pants and holding a large scythe. He was¡­boring, in a weird way. His tone was subdued, and despite the height his posture and bearing just sort of¡­made him fade into the background. ¡°And I¡¯m Death!¡± The one next to him chirped. She was human as well, a short girl wearing a vibrant blue shirt and a matching skirt. ¡°And we wanted to talk to you, Ellie. Let¡¯s have a chat, shall we?¡± Chapter 34: Words of Gods Ellie twiddled her thumbs nervously, glancing over at Tess and then at Fortune, who gave her a thumbs-up. ¡°Um¡­what do you want with me, um¡­¡± She began, not quite sure how to address the two. Death waved a hand dismissively. ¡°Life and Death is fine. No need to stand on ceremony, really. You already know the broad strokes of what¡¯s going on behind the scenes, so formalities are just going to get in the way.¡± Life loudly cleared his throat, drawing attention back off of Death ¡°Forgive our rudeness,¡± he said, motioning for Ellie to turn around, ¡°please take a seat. As Death said, formalities really aren¡¯t needed right now.¡± Ellie turned around to find a set of comfortable-looking armchairs, so she nervously sat down in the one closest to her. ¡°Um, thanks.¡± Tess and Gramps sat down on either side of her, and Life and Death sat down in chairs of their own that Ellie had been too distracted to properly take note of. For her part, Fortune sat down a decent distance to the side, halfway between the two groups. ¡°So, how familiar are you with the circumstances of Mael?¡± Death asked, ¡°Like, I know it¡¯s only been a month or two since you were formally introduced to the other planes, but I think it¡¯s good to get a feel for how much you know before we actually start talking here.¡± ¡°Umm¡­it¡¯s like¡­Mael is still in the process of being introduced to the other planes, right? And¡­Grandpa¡¯s in charge of that or something?¡± ¡°More or less.¡± Death said. ¡°But there are a couple of complications. The first is that magic is next to non-existent on Mael. The Mana there is way less dense, so a bunch of the systems we have in place don¡¯t really¡­work. That¡¯s on purpose, Amy has a prot¨¦g¨¦ who unwittingly found herself in a similar situation, so she wanted to work through it herself so she could help give advice.¡± Fortune shot a glance at Tess. ¡°She actually used to live here, by the way. You¡¯ve met her relatives, the Sarlienne family. She¡¯s Amara¡¯s like¡­50 greats great aunt or something. It was a long time ago, she was working as a sub administrator when I was born if that gives you any idea. Her name¡¯s Kali, I¡¯ll have to introduce you next time she stops by, she likes to keep tabs on how her family¡¯s doing.¡± Life coughed, and Fortune jumped, blushing slightly. ¡°Right, right, sorry. Got distracted. Carry on.¡± ¡°Anyway, that leaves kind of a huge power gap between Mael and¡­everyone else.¡± Death continued, ¡°Especially since their tech advantage is minor at best. So, um, I¡¯m pretty sure you see where this is going ¨C history has been pretty clear about what happens when people discover a much weaker civilization with vast amounts of natural resources. Trust me, I would know better than most.¡± Life nodded. ¡°As you have probably gathered, Death and I are the resident gods of Mael. Amy likes to introduce one or two new ones with every plane, and that¡¯s us. Of course, as said gods, it in large part falls to us to make sure that this transition goes smoothly.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not leaving them out to dry or anything.¡± Fortune blurted out. ¡°Like, we still help out and everything, it¡¯s just an explicit part of their ¡®godly duties¡¯ until the introduction period ends. It¡¯s sort of a rite of passage. And, now that I¡¯ve chosen someone from Mael as my Appointed, it¡¯s partially my responsibility too. Not as much, but, you know, it still is.¡± Life gave another cough and Fortune stopped once again, face even redder. ¡°Sorry, sorry. Can¡¯t help it. I¡¯ll try to be quiet.¡± Death laughed. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Fortune. You¡¯re just as much a part of this discussion as us. You know how Life gets, don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡± ¡°As I was saying,¡± Life said, ¡°that leaves us in something of a bind. Right now, the main thing keeping some of the more¡­ambitious planes from invading now is the presence of your grandfather and the rest of the Appointed who are keeping the Outlands from being used as a staging ground for a war. That and the fact that many of their war tactics simply wouldn¡¯t¡­work right in the absence of magic, but that¡¯s something they can work around if they have a secure bulkhead from which to launch an assault.¡± ¡°Like, eventually Mael¡¯s going to get its background Mana levels up to par with everywhere else, but we can¡¯t really¡­wait for that.¡± Death added, ¡°It¡¯ll take way too long, like, it¡¯ll probably be another couple millennia before people start being able to cast basic spells. And given how Amy¡¯s using Mael as a mirror to Kali¡¯s situation and Kali¡¯s probably going to be reintroducing her planes to each other in the next few decades, Amy would like to get a move on with introducing Mael to everywhere else.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got twenty more years to prepare, tops.¡± Life said. ¡°And we have quite a few things we have to take care of in that time. Fortunately, we have the tools necessary to bring Mael up to par in that time.¡± He gave Ellie a careful look. ¡°Do you get where we¡¯re going with this?¡± Ellie gave Tess a nervous glance, and in response Tess reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently. And, suddenly, she didn¡¯t feel quite so nervous. ¡°You want us to help, right?¡± ¡°Broadly speaking, yes, but a bit more than that.¡± Death replied. ¡°Think of this as a sort of¡­scouting meeting. We¡¯re interested in having you as our Appointed, and we want to talk with you about things first. We¡¯re doing things¡­differently. Life and I are pretty close as far as gods go, and our Appointed candidates are, um¡­really limited right now. So, we were hoping to do something new and make you the Appointed of both of us. ¡°We went ahead and checked with Amy, and it¡¯s safe so long as we¡¯re careful about it. Your¡­body¡­soul¡­uh, it¡¯s not really either so¡­vessel, I guess? Whatever we want to call it, you¡¯re able to hold a fair bit more Worship than most people, probably in no small part due to your stats and the fact that your grandfather is an Appointed, so you¡¯ll be able to take the strain of it under a few conditions.¡± ¡°Essentially, if you choose to accept our offer, you¡¯ll get both our strongest Blessings, but only have access to one set of our abilities at once, except under extreme conditions.¡± Life explained. ¡°In addition, only one of us will be able to Descend at any given time. That being said, you should be able to pull out both of our Blessings at once if it becomes truly necessary, though that runs many of the same risks Descents do. Anyway, what are your thoughts so far? If you¡¯re opposed to the idea, we¡¯ll stop with this talk here and look at other potential ways to go about this.¡± Ellie frowned. ¡°I¡¯m honestly not really sure how I feel right now, I want to know more about what being an Appointed means. Like, I know that it involves helping out the gods, but I don¡¯t know what I¡¯d be doing.¡± To her surprise, Life turned to Gramps. ¡°Do you mind doing the explaining, Evan?¡± He asked. ¡°You¡¯ve got the most experience of anyone here.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Gramps said, standing up and facing Ellie. ¡°It changes from god to god, but generally speaking Appointed are in charge of being the link between their god and the church of that god, as well as one or two duties unique to the god. Furthermore, there are a couple of general management things all Appointed share responsibility for that help keep the world growing, and some¡­rather intense fighting that the exact nature of is confidential until you¡¯re actually an Appointed, but that¡¯s only once every few decades at the most frequent. Life and Death will have to tell you what their particular duties are, though.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°I got this.¡± Death said. ¡°So, basically, you would have to deal with people who are really messing with the cycle of life and death or are going to. So, like¡­people who are going do really damaging terrorist attacks, or necromancers who make undead like ghosts or things that trap the soul after death. Nothing too out there but it¡¯s an important job to help keep people feeling safe in their homes and in their afterlife.¡± ¡°That¡­doesn¡¯t seem too bad.¡± Ellie said hesitantly. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I can accept just yet. I have to get to know you two better, like¡­I dunno, could we do something kind of like what Fortune did with Tess, where we chatted and stuff for a few months beforehand? I don¡¯t want to tie the rest of my life to people I¡¯m only just meeting now, you know?¡± ¡°That¡¯s perfectly understandable.¡± Life said smoothly. ¡°We were expecting something like this anyway. We¡¯ll keep in touch with you, and we¡¯ll talk more about where you want to go with things around the time you get out of school. Sound good?¡± ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± Death agreed. ¡°This is a two way street. So, we¡¯ll go ahead with that, but¡­do you want to chat for a bit now? We freed up a bunch of time just in case, and it would be a shame not to have some more in-person time.¡± Ellie blinked. ¡°Sure, I guess. Well, as long as Grandpa and Tess are OK with it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine by me.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Take your time.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯m not in a rush to be anywhere.¡± ¡°Right, that settles it.¡± Death said, clapping her hands. ¡°Come over here, it¡¯ll be easier to talk informally.¡± Ellie glanced over to find Gramps and Tess already walking over to Fortune, so she stood up and moved over to where Life and Death were, a third chair popping up next to them as Ellie moved. She tentatively sat down in it, giving the two gods a somewhat nervous look. Fortune had been one thing ¨C Ellie had never heard of her before learning about the Outlands, and she was a goofball, so interacting with her had never seemed too hard, but Life and Death were another. She had grown up going to the Church of Life and Death, well, going on special occasions, anyway, and while she had never personally had any strong feelings about their existence one way or the other, she knew quite a lot of people who did. So, it was kind of surreal and a little scary to be sitting in front of them and talking with them. ¡°Right, um¡­I guess, before we begin¡­¡± She began, not quite sure where to start. ¡°Uh¡­sorry for immediately converting to Fortune¡¯s religion as soon as I found out about her, I guess?¡± There was a half second of silence and then Death burst out laughing. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. That sort of thing really isn¡¯t important to us, and we didn¡¯t expect anyone in your family to really go all-in on worshipping us. And, for the record, if you do choose to become an Appointed, that generally means stopping worship of any god, outside of that needed to maintain your identity as an Appointed a secret.¡± Ellie blinked. ¡°What? Even you two? Why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s for ease of¡­well, everything. Being an Appointed means that, in general, you are treated as another god, at least among the gods. It¡¯s to prevent us gods from even thinking about abusing our Appointed, and there are dire consequences if we do anyway. So, it¡¯s kind of weird to be worshipping people who are in a very real way your equals. They don¡¯t even get anything out of it like they would from normal worship. Appointed are just too closely tied to the gods for that.¡± ¡°Oh. Right, that makes sense, I guess.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°So¡­what do you want to talk about?¡± Death shrugged. ¡°Dunno, just things, I guess? Like¡­getting to know you kind of questions? Not sure, I¡¯m sorta winging it.¡± ¡°I¡­see. Then, if you don¡¯t mind my asking¡­isn¡¯t the scythe kinda your thing? Why does Life have it?¡± Life frowned. ¡°She borrowed it from me for one appearance, and it just so happened to be a high-profile one, and now everyone associates it with her. It¡¯s supposed to represent farming and bountiful harvests and now everyone thinks it¡¯s for harvesting souls.¡± ¡°Hey, I thought it looked cool and it did!¡± Death protested. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault everyone thinks it¡¯s mine now. You hold it every time we talk to someone and they still haven¡¯t gotten the message, so I don¡¯t know to tell you.¡± Life coughed. ¡°I suppose, but we can talk about this later, when we don¡¯t have company.¡± He turned to Ellie, the faintest hint of a blush on his face. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind my asking, though, what are your opinions on us? From before meeting us, that is. I¡¯d like to know where we¡¯re starting from, so to speak.¡± Ellie scratched the back of her neck. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s strange to talk about it with the people in question, but I guess it¡¯s just¡­standard religious stuff for Mael? Like, I never really thought about it too much or anything. I went to church when it was an important day and I didn¡¯t really¡­believe or disbelieve, I guess? ¡°As for my impressions of you¡­it¡¯s really just what the church taught. Omnipotent, omniscient beings who created the world and everything in it, though¡­from what I understand that isn¡¯t really the case, right?¡± Death made a face. ¡°Yes and no, I guess. To an extent it¡¯s right? Like, we helped Amy do some of the fine-tuning of the plane, but that¡¯s about the limit of ¡®creating the world¡¯. And yeah, we¡¯re nowhere near omnipotent or omniscient. Amy¡¯s not omnipotent or omniscient, nor are any of her sub-administrators, so there¡¯s no way we are.¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Yeah, I thought so. Um¡­otherwise, I dunno, I hadn¡¯t really thought of you as people before, if that makes sense. It was more like you were forces of nature than anything. There¡¯s scripture and all, but I always felt it was more about¡­people than it was about you two.¡± Life grimaced. ¡°Thank you for reminding me. Much of that scripture is incorrect after all this time. Sometimes it was poor copying, sometimes it was intentional manipulation, but if you do become our Appointed then you¡¯ll have to help fix that.¡± ¡°How much of it¡­actually happened?¡± Ellie asked hesitantly. ¡°I¡¯m kind of afraid to ask, to tell you the truth, given how many people I know who treat it all as perfect truth.¡± ¡°A lot of it.¡± Life replied. ¡°Most of the creation story is false, but that¡¯s on purpose. As far as the general public is concerned, the gods did make the planes they¡¯re in charge of, or at least arrived with those planes. Amy wishes to keep her existence secret, so we tell those lies to everyone who¡¯s not an Appointed or so closely tied to them that it¡¯s harder not to.¡± ¡°You¡¯re that second one, by the way.¡± Death added. ¡°Not including us you have two or three gods who would love to make someone like you their Appointed. At the very least chances are you¡¯ll come out with someone¡¯s strongest Blessing, and if not that then, well, you¡¯ll be working with Tess and the two of you are close enough that it¡¯d be rough on her and Fortune to keep things secret. So, really, no pressure to accept our offer because you know secrets or anything.¡± ¡°As I was saying,¡± Life continued, ¡°much of the scripture has roots in truth. Most stories have been changed in some way from what originally happened, and many have been removed entirely, but generally speaking, our scriptures are based on events that happened.¡± ¡°I get it, I think. So¡­what¡¯s your opinion on the church, then?¡± ¡°They try their hardest, and they¡¯re a lot better than they were.¡± Death said, shrugging. ¡°It¡¯s helped a lot to have Evan as someone we can pretty easily get ahold of to give announcements, though I think our current prophet is a little confused as to why we tend to go through Evan more than him. We¡¯ll sit down and have ¡®the talk¡¯ with him once we introduce Mael to other planes, or perhaps a bit earlier if you end up accepting the position.¡± They ended up conversing a bit more on the subject of religion before the topic shifted to more personal things, such as more about Ellie¡¯s life, as well Life and Death¡¯s lives. Life and Death were both highly accomplished souls that Amy chose to reincarnate as gods. That apparently wasn¡¯t always the case with the gods, as some, like Fortune, were directly made as gods and had never been mortal. After around half an hour or so the conversation petered out, and Death stood up. ¡°Well, we still have time¡­do you want to play some video games? We have a few consoles in our living area.¡± Ellie blinked, standing up as well. ¡°Um, yeah, sure. Do you want to do just the three of us or¡­¡± She trailed off, letting the sentence hang. ¡°Life probably won¡¯t play, he never really liked games.¡± Death said, prompting a nod from Life. ¡°But go ahead and invite Tess and Fortune, then we¡¯ll have four.¡± Ellie glanced over only to find that Gramps was gone, Tess had her wolf parts out, and Fortune happily rubbing them. She began walking over, causing Fortune to look up, turn bright red, and cease her ministrations. For her part, Tess gave Ellie a rather embarrassed look as well. ¡°So¡­we going home?¡± She asked. ¡°No, Death invited me to play some video games and wanted to know if you two wanted to play.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Oh, yeah, um¡­sure, I¡¯m game.¡± Tess said. ¡°Uh, me too.¡± Fortune mumbled. Life bade goodbye to the rest of them, and soon Ellie found herself in a rather cozy area that featured some pretty high-end electronics. Death walked over to an end table near one of the couches and motioning for the others to sit down. As they did, Death booted up the TV and a console, tossing each of the other three a controller, then settling back in while she loaded a game. Fortune took one of the ends of the couch and Tess sat next to her, so Ellie sat down next to Tess and Death ended on the other end next to Ellie. There was some small talk as the game finished loading, and then it was go time, and Ellie settled in for what was likely to be the strangest gaming session of her life. Chapter 35: Appointed Anxiety Tess was getting ready to go home and had just finished playing games with Ellie and Death. Fortune had been called away by Amy, and they had reunited with Gramps who had come from¡­she didn¡¯t know where he had disappeared to, but around the time they were finishing up he found his way to the room they were in. ¡°Before you go, let me give you three a little something.¡± Death said, walking over to Ellie, placing a hand on her shoulder and waiting for a moment, then repeating the process with Gramps and Tess. There was a slight tingling of sorts that faded as soon as Death took her hand off of Tess, and then Death stepped back, surveying the three of them and then nodding her head in satisfaction. ¡°I¡¯ve put some of my Worship on you.¡± She explained. ¡°Just enough to be noticeable if you¡¯re used to looking for it. Should help deal with that nosy guy, and it¡¯ll be gone by the time you get home. You all have a safe trip, and Ellie, I¡¯ll talk to you later, alright?¡± ¡°Thanks, Death.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Don¡¯t hesitate to ask if you need anything.¡± ¡°We will.¡± Life replied, stepping into the room. ¡°Thank you, we don¡¯t know what we¡¯d do without you.¡± Gramps smiled. ¡°You¡¯d manage. Even if no one else was around, you two are resourceful, you¡¯d figure something out.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re glad we don¡¯t have to.¡± Death said. ¡°I¡¯ll be sending you back now, is that alright?¡± ¡°If you two are ready, yeah.¡± Gramps replied, looking at Ellie and Tess. ¡°Don¡¯t forget the ears.¡± Tess started, putting away the ears and tail. She had entirely forgotten she had them out while they were playing. ¡°Uh, right. Ready.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Ellie agreed. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll¡­uh, talk to you later, then?¡± ¡°Yup!¡± Death replied, waving. ¡°Later! Oh, and don¡¯t be too harsh on the guy, he¡¯s just doing what he thinks is right.¡± They were teleported out in a flash of light, and when Tess¡¯s eyes cleared, she found that they were back in the Holy Room. They weren¡¯t alone, either. She could hear someone frantically scrabbling around behind her and she spun to find Brother Avery on his behind, staring wide-eyed at the group and backing up. ¡°W-what¡¯s going on?!¡± He whimpered once Tess caught his eye. ¡°T-this shouldn¡¯t be possible!¡± Tess glanced at Gramps who shrugged. ¡°We were having a conversation with Life and Death. I believe Pastor Faust explained it to you, right?¡± ¡°But¡­I thought¡­¡± ¡°That it was all some conspiracy? You wouldn¡¯t be the first. Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.¡± Gramps looked around the room for a moment, then back to Brother Avery. ¡°Looking for a secret passage of some sort? Don¡¯t bother, as far as I can tell there aren¡¯t any here. I mean, I¡¯m not going to stop you from looking, but you¡¯re wasting your time.¡± He pointed to a small box that was built into the floor between the statues of Life and Death, right next to where Avery was laying. ¡°The Diviner is in there. You can use it to verify that we really were talking with Life and Death.¡± Brother Avery looked at the box as if seeing it for the first time. ¡°R-right.¡± He stuttered, shakily moving towards it and fumbling around for a moment before finally getting it open. He took out a short black rod of sorts and his face screwed up in concentration as he pointed the rod first at Tess, and then at her companions. After a long minute of silence, he gingerly put the Diviner back in the box, sealing it up with an audible click and then turning around to face everyone, noticeably paler. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He said hoarsely. ¡°I was just¡­¡± ¡°Doing what you thought was right?¡± Gramps finished. ¡°Death told us. Don¡¯t worry about it too much, it¡¯s a natural reaction to this. We won¡¯t tell the pastor. Just¡­try to have a little more faith in her. She¡¯s a great person, being out in the sticks doesn¡¯t make her any less trustworthy.¡± ¡°U-understood, thank you.¡± ¡°Oh, and before we go, don¡¯t tell anyone outside of the clergy about this. The town as a whole is still in the dark.¡± Brother Avery nodded, and Gramps smiled. ¡°Good.¡± He said, gently placing a hand on Tess and Ellie¡¯s backs. ¡°We¡¯ll see you around.¡± And with that, he herded the two out of the room. They took a short detour for Gramps to let Pastor Faust know they were done with the Holy Room, and then they left for home.
Later that night Tess¡¯s homework was interrupted by a knock on her door. ¡°Hey Tess, it¡¯s me.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Do you have some time to talk?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Tess replied, putting her pencil down. ¡°The door¡¯s unlocked, come on in.¡± The door opened and Ellie walked in, gingerly closing it behind her. ¡°So¡­um¡­can we talk about being Appointed and stuff? I¡¯m kind of going in mental circles thinking about it and wanted to hear what you think.¡± Tess sat down on the bed and motioned for Ellie to sit next to her. ¡°What exactly are you struggling with?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how much help I¡¯ll be but I¡¯ll do what I can.¡± Ellie sat down, leaning her head on Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I dunno. Like¡­what made you decide to be Fortune¡¯s Appointed?¡± Tess blushed. ¡°Um, it was kind of spur of the moment, but Fortune had been dropping hints and I had always just sorta assumed I would do it? And then during the fight I had with Ilmir she gave me the option and I decided I might as well. She¡¯d been pretty good to me and¡­well, it sounded like an opportunity to do some good in the world and I wanted to continue freelancing anyway, so I thought it was worth it.¡± ¡°I¡­see. And how have you felt afterwards?¡± Tess frowned. ¡°It¡¯s really intimidating, I¡¯m not going to lie. I have a bunch of big tasks in front of me, but I¡¯ve got you, Gramps, and everyone else to help me out, so that¡¯s been helping a lot.¡± She paused for a moment, then continued, somewhat nervously. ¡°Um, as long as you don¡¯t mind helping out with Appointed stuff. I won¡¯t make you if you don¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°Of course I will.¡± Ellie said instantly. ¡°You don¡¯t even have to ask.¡± Tess let out a sigh of relief. ¡°That¡¯s really good to hear. Uh¡­does that mean it¡¯s not the actual work as an Appointed that¡¯s making you wary?¡± Ellie stopped for a moment. ¡°I¡­guess it¡¯s not. I didn¡¯t even realize that until you brought it up. I guess¡­I dunno, I feel like I don¡¯t deserve it, you know? I haven¡¯t actually done anything aside from having really good stats and being related to Grandpa, and neither of those were things that I actually did. It just feels¡­well, like nepotism. What makes me more qualified than someone like Jin who¡¯s actually done some really amazing stuff?¡± She stopped again, taking her head off of Tess¡¯s shoulder and staring off into the space in front of her. ¡°Did Life or Death contact you?¡± Tess asked. She wasn¡¯t sure how she looked when reading Fortune¡¯s windows, but she imagined it was something like that. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie said distractedly. She was silent for a few moments before once again resting her head on Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Death says that a large part of it is nepotism, yes, but that even without that I would still be on the radar of the gods. The nepotism just means that they know more about me in advance and have an easier time getting information on me. ¡°She also says that the connections I have as Grandpa¡¯s granddaughter and the fact that I¡¯ve lived on Mael my entire life just makes things perfect for them. There are apparently only two or three other families from other planes on Mael, so their options are really limited if they want someone they know will be strong and I¡¯m far and away the best.¡± She stopped again, looking forward as she presumably got another window. ¡°Life says I would apparently be the best even if their options weren¡¯t limited. And he says not to feel bad about the nepotism thing because most Appointed are, in some way, closely tied to other Appointed or people who the gods are watching closely. It just makes things easier for both the gods and their Appointed.¡± Ellie sighed. ¡°That¡­does make me feel better, though, to be honest, I feel bad. Like¡­you were just starting to come into your own and get strong compared to me, and now I¡¯m sort of¡­taking away your thing. And you¡­you deserve better, life in general has just been hard on you and I feel like I¡¯ve just been handed everything on a silver plate.¡± Tess gently extracted herself from Ellie, then turned so she was facing her, placing her hands on Ellie¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Ellie, don¡¯t think like that.¡± She said firmly. ¡°I¡¯ve been through some hardships, yeah, but it¡¯s because of those that I met Fortune, and that I¡¯m going out with you now. Good things have come of them too. And it¡¯s not about who the stronger of us is. We¡¯re working together, so in a way that just indirectly makes me stronger.¡± She blushed a little as she continued. ¡°And if you do decide to be an Appointed, I fully intend to help you out with your duties too. So, really, stop worrying about it.¡±
Trust me, she¡¯s not going to overshadow you. Well, not in the long term. You¡¯re already proving to be stronger than we thought you would be on paper. Turns out the combination of my Blessing and Monster Breeder is much more powerful than expected. But between your stats and also being an Appointed Amy has decided you¡¯re allowed to get the broken stuff. Uh¡­as long as you don¡¯t like¡­go mad with power, that is. So long as you have people in place to keep you from doing anything too upsetting to the balance of power in the world without permission, you¡¯ll be fine. I doubt we¡¯ll ever get remotely close to that happening but I thought you should be aware, you know? Oh, and we¡¯re still working on the whole Descent thing. We¡¯ve got a working solution but it¡¯s really not ideal, so we¡¯re going to poke at it some more and see if we can get something better. Worst comes to worst we can use what we have now, though. Anyway¡­uh, sorry, I talked a bit too much. You should probably get back to your talk with Ellie.
Tess looked back to find Ellie, who was also bright red, waiting patiently. ¡°Sorry, Fortune was talking to me. She says not to worry about overshadowing me, at least not in the long term. Apparently, they didn¡¯t expect Fortune¡¯s Blessing and Monster Breeder to be so strong when put together.¡± Ellie smiled. ¡°That¡¯s honestly really good to hear.¡± She appeared to struggle with something for a moment, then made up her mind. She leaned in, giving Tess a kiss. They held that for a few moments then separated, Ellie smiling from ear to ear. ¡°I really love you, you know that?¡± Tess, also smiling, nodded. ¡°I love you too.¡±
Maven gleefully threw off the dress she was wearing, slipping into the much more comfortable shirt and pants she usually wore. She hated the dresses she had to wear for formal occasions, and she hated going to said formal occasions. They always took time away from things she actually wanted to be doing, like going to dungeons. Really, it should be her brother inheriting the throne. But noooo, it was ¡°tradition¡± and ¡°Paumen has been ruled by a woman for millennia and stopping now would be a bad move for us.¡± Her parents always gave her the same spiel about how it would destabilize their rule and it would mean they wouldn¡¯t be able to drum up support from some of the more traditional nobility when it came to really important matters like bridging the gaps between Paumen and some of their historical enemies. They said that, since the general population had already had all of those laws abolished, it didn¡¯t really affect the people¡¯s day-to-day life and that the people would be more appreciative if they were able to open up trade routes with other countries and make others see Paumen in a better light, and that changing that rule was something they¡¯d do shortly before Maven inherited, taking the heat for her so she didn¡¯t have to deal with as much of it. For what seemed like the millionth time, Maven decided her first act as queen would be to demolish that rule if her parents hadn¡¯t already, then she was going to give her brother the throne and then be free. People always said they wanted to be in charge, but they never really knew how much responsibility it was. Yeah, there were perks, but it was so stressful. Fortunately, her brother was completely on board with the idea, so she¡¯d just have to smile and pretend she wasn¡¯t bothered until she could actually do something about it. There was a polite knock at the door, and then one of her butlers entered. ¡°Lady Amara wishes to see you, your highness.¡± He said, giving a vaguely disapproving glance at the dress on the ground. ¡°Shall I show her in?¡± Maven perked up. ¡°Yes, please do!¡± She said excitedly. She loved whenever her great-grandmother came to visit her ¨C she always had such interesting stories, and she seemed to get it more than her parents or even her grandparents. She was basically the coolest person Maven knew. The butler gave a bow and left, and soon Maven¡¯s grandmother was walking into the room, shutting and locking the door behind her. ¡°Maven,¡± she said warmly, ¡°how¡¯s my favorite princess doing?¡± ¡°Fine, Grandma. I hate having to come listen to these stupid marriage proposals, but my day is looking better now that you¡¯re here.¡± Amara chuckled, giving Maven a hug. ¡°Just bear with it for now.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m working on getting your parents to come around, but you know how they are. Anyway, I got that letter you sent me, and I came to ask you about it in-person.¡± It took Maven a moment to remember what her grandmother was talking about. ¡°Oh, the one about meeting Guildmaster Los¡¯s granddaughter?¡± Amara smiled. ¡°Yes, that one. You seemed pretty excited, so I wanted to hear a little more, so long as you still want to talk about it.¡± Maven beamed. No one else ever wanted to hear about her adventures, so it was nice that someone listened. ¡°Yeah, it was crazy! I was going to a dungeon to train, and when we got there, we found the penthouse suite was booked, even though put word out that we were going to be there. And when I knocked this girl came to the door and¡­well, um, I might have snapped at her?¡± Maven blushed a little as she spoke. ¡°I know I¡¯m not supposed to, but it was really late, and I was tired and I didn¡¯t recognize her so I thought it would be fine? I made some pretty awful threats and¡­well I didn¡¯t intend to follow through but then Lady Almes and Lady Reshi showed up and scolded me and then we got to talking and I got to go on a couple of runs with Lady Los, it was crazy.¡± Amara let go of the hug and sat down on the desk, still smiling fondly. ¡°What¡¯d you think of her?¡± She asked. ¡°It was kind of humbling, to be honest.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°She¡¯s like¡­the most beautiful person I¡¯ve ever met. Like, maybe even more beautiful than you, it really kinda seemed unfair, since she was still super good-looking right after waking up. And she was half my level, but she was stronger than me, and I don¡¯t even think she was going all-out. I mean, I guess it makes sense when you think about who her teachers are compared to who my teachers are, but it was still crazy to me.¡± ¡°And did you like her as a person?¡± ¡°I only got to talk with her a little, but she seemed a lot more genuine than most people I meet, especially considering her rank. I liked her.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I was coming to ask because I actually met her myself the other day and had a bit of a talk with her.¡± Maven gaped. ¡°How did that happen?¡± Amara winked. ¡°I was at a meeting with some old acquaintances, and The Titans were there and happened to bring Tess along. Want to hear about it?¡± Maven nodded eagerly, so Amara continued. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t tell you all the details, but the important part is that Lady Almes and I got to talking, and I think I have some good news for you.¡± She paused, glancing mischievously at Maven. ¡°So, in a few months, after Tess and Ellie get out of school, Lady Almes agreed to let you work with them, provided you were OK with it. If you want, you¡¯ll be able to be a part of Tess and Ellie¡¯s party, and The Rumors and Lady Almes will help train you too. Does that sound like something you¡¯d be interested in?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Maven squealed in delight. ¡°I¡¯d love to! Anything to actually get some excitement!¡± Amara laughed. ¡°I thought you¡¯d be happy. Now, don¡¯t tell your parents yet, I still have to bring them around, but I can guarantee you I can get it done. You¡¯ve got a lot of potential and I don¡¯t want to see it go to waste.¡± She hopped off of the desk and Maven rushed over to give her a hug. ¡°Thanks so much!¡± She said. ¡°I can¡¯t wait!¡± Amara laughed again, reciprocating the hug. ¡°Now, I think we should go out and let you have some fun, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s been a draining morning. What do you think?¡± ¡°Absolutely!¡± Maven replied enthusiastically. ¡°Let me go get some shoes!¡± Chapter 36: Back to School Like she used to every morning, Tess laid in bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for Ellie to come and get her. It was not quite the calming ritual it used to be, though. The prospect of the day to come had her all sorts of nervous, and she was acutely aware of the pounding of her heart. She wasn¡¯t the only one to notice, either. Silky was scuttling worriedly between Tess¡¯s heart and the nightstand, where she could get a better look at Tess¡¯s face. Isabella, too, seemed nervous ¨C she was faux-sitting on the chair for Tess¡¯s desk, watching over her with¡­well, her face hadn¡¯t changed from her constant neutral expression, but Tess got a distinct feeling of worry from her. It was cute, how her pets were so worried for her, even though they didn¡¯t really seem to understand the situation at hand. Come to think of it, was pet really the right word for them? Minion felt too¡­cold and evil overlord-y, and children was too personal. Something along the line of servant was good but still was that little bit too detached. But the line of thought was good. She thought for a while longer before eventually deciding on attendants. Something about it just¡­fit. It wasn¡¯t too personal but also relayed that sense of being closer than a regular servant. Further rumination was stopped as Ellie opened the door, already letting out an enthusiastic ¡°good morning¡± as she walked in. She paused once she had time to take in the room, however, looking from Isabella to Silky and then to Tess. ¡°Everything alright?¡± She asked. Tess sighed, gently picking Silky up and placing her on the nightstand before sitting up. ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re just picking up on how nervous I am.¡± Ellie smiled, walking over and giving Tess a kiss on the cheek. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it so much.¡± She said. ¡°No one¡¯s going to remember how you were before. It¡¯s just going to be business as usually for everyone, so it¡¯s nothing to freak out about.¡± She sat down on the bed next to Tess and grabbed her hand comfortingly. ¡°If it would make things easier, we don¡¯t have to come out as being in a relationship today. You¡¯ve got enough to stress you out.¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°No, that¡¯s fine. I think that¡¯ll help, actually, making sure people know I¡¯m taken and not to hit on me. It¡¯s just¡­you know, a little scary.¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°I know how you feel, I¡¯m feeling a nervous myself.¡° She squeezed Tess¡¯s hand. ¡°We¡¯ll get through it together.¡± Tess threw the blankets off with her free hand then stood up, pulling Ellie up with her. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± She said. ¡°I suppose we might as well get this over with, it¡¯ll all get easier from here¡­right?¡± Ellie chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s my understanding of things. Grandpa¡¯s cooking breakfast for us, though, why don¡¯t we go eat?¡± ¡°Yeah, sounds good to me.¡± Isabella took this as a sign to float back into Tess and resume her standard pseudo-possession state, but Silky remained on the nightstand, giving a little wave as Ellie and Tess left the room. ¡°Morning, Tess!¡± Gramps said. ¡°Your new uniforms are in the living room, don¡¯t forget to wear one of them instead of one of your old uniforms.¡± Tess flinched, having entirely forgotten about the whole uniform thing. She was¡­not looking forward to that. She hadn¡¯t yet worn and skirts or dresses, and wasn¡¯t sure if there was anything in particular she had to do to keep herself from¡­well, exposing herself. She assumed it couldn¡¯t be that hard, since kids did it, but she was more worried about old habits causing problems than she was about the actual things she¡¯d have to do. Ellie must have picked up on what Tess was thinking about, because she smiled reassuringly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, it¡¯s not that bad. Just keep your legs together and you¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see why skirts are required for the uniform anyway.¡± Tess grumbled. ¡°We¡¯re way past the point in society where we should be mandating that.¡± Gramps shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s a small town and they tend to be more old-fashioned. Unfortunate consequence of where I picked to settle down, really. I didn¡¯t want the information risk that came with being around more people, so being out here was much safer.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Tess sighed. ¡°I just would prefer not having to do this.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only for a couple months.¡± Ellie soothed. ¡°Then you don¡¯t ever have to wear one again. Well, probably won¡¯t have to outside of super formal situations, but shouldn¡¯t come up often.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a freelancer, so you can get away with not wearing dresses.¡± Gramps confirmed. ¡°A nice suit should work just fine in most situations.¡± Ellie¡¯s eyes lit up at that. ¡°Ooh, I really want to see you in a suit. We should get one ordered.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°It¡¯s already being taken care of.¡± ¡°Really? Why¡¯s that?¡± Tess asked. ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± Gramps said, smiling mischievously. ¡°It won¡¯t be done for a while yet, though, so you¡¯ll have to wait to find out.¡± The conversation died down after that, and Tess finished eating her breakfast. After that, she headed into the living room, where she found five uniforms lying on the couch, waiting for her. She scooped them up and took them up to her room, where she opened up her dresser and put all but one in. She stared at the outfit in her hands for a moment before sighing and changing into it. It felt¡­different. Well, not that different, but she still felt almost¡­uncovered, not wearing pants. The last time she had worn anything remotely similar was when she was a kid and had used her dad¡¯s oversized shirt as pajamas, so it just felt¡­odd. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. She was snapped out of her reverie by the tapping of a small leg on her hand. She looked down to find that Silky had climbed up her leg and onto her arm. Once Silky saw that she had Tess¡¯s attention, she pointed to Tess¡¯s nightstand with a leg, Curious, Tess walked over to find that her attendant had been busy. Laid out on the stand before her was the phrase ¡°You can do it!¡± in shaky letters, written with spider silk. Surrounding that was a crude picture of a spider next to a sheet-with-eyeholes type ghost, as well as a few hearts. Silky looked up at Tess, an obvious air of encouragement about her. Tess reached over with her other hand, giving Silky a couple of pats with two fingers. ¡°That¡¯s really sweet.¡± She said. ¡°Thank you, that really does help.¡± And it did. It was a really sweet gesture, and one that did make her feel a little better about all of this. She left the room and went to knock on Ellie¡¯s door. ¡°Hey, Ellie, you in there?¡± ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s up? Need help with something?¡± Ellie asked, opening the door. She froze for a few seconds as she took Tess¡¯s clothing in, only coming back to reality when Tess waved a hand in front of her face. ¡°Oh. Uh, sorry, you just¡­well, you look really nice in that.¡° She stuttered, already bright red. ¡°I wasn¡¯t as ready for the skirt as I thought I was, I think. Uh, what did you need?¡± ¡°I wanted to show you something.¡± Tess replied. She led Ellie into her room, over to the dresser, where she motioned at the drawing Silky had made. ¡°Look at this. Isn¡¯t it adorable?¡± ¡°Yeah, this is¡­really cute.¡± Ellie admitted. ¡°Did Silky make it?¡± Silky scuttled about, climbing up Tess so she was in sight of Ellie, and then gave a salute. ¡°Well, it¡¯s great.¡± Ellie told her. ¡°Perhaps I was a bit too harsh on you earlier.¡± Silky raised two legs as if she was shrugging. Tess laughed, giving Silky another set of pats before scooping her up and placing her on the nightstand. ¡°Alright, I have to go to school now. You can¡¯t come with me, sorry, people are going to notice you if you¡¯re in my clothes and if you¡¯re in my bag it wouldn¡¯t be exciting anyway. So, you just keep getting set up around the house, OK?¡± Silky drooped a little but gave another salute. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, Isabella and Ellie will be with me basically the whole time.¡± Tess told her worried attendant. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Silky paused, then gave one last salute before hopping off of the nightstand and scurrying out of sight, presumably to go create more webs or hunt some prey. ¡°I really need to get her some sort of telepathy.¡± Tess mused. ¡°It¡¯ll make her life a lot easier. Anyway, are you about ready to go to school?¡± Ellie shook her head. ¡°I need a couple more minutes to finish putting my makeup on. Unlike some people, I have to put effort into maintaining my appearance.¡± Tess scratched the back of her neck embarrassedly. ¡°Right, sorry. You¡¯re just normally done by now so I just kind of assumed.¡± Ellie smiled, leaning over and giving Tess a quick kiss on the cheek. ¡°I usually am, but I¡¯m putting extra attention into it today, seeing as how we¡¯re going public. I don¡¯t want to look too plain in comparison to you, futile though that may be.¡± Tess blushed. ¡°You¡¯re exaggerating, you look great.¡± Ellie laughed, moving over to the door. ¡°And you¡¯re selling yourself way short. I really do need to go finish, though, don¡¯t want to be late on your first day back.¡± She shut the door as she left, and then there was the sound of Ellie¡¯s door opening and closing as she went back into her room. A few short minutes later they were in the car, and Ellie was driving them to school. The ride was mostly uneventful and filled with nervous small-talk, and shortly after Tess found herself walking through the doors to her school for the first time in months. It was a little surreal, seeing how everything was¡­exactly the same, really. Her entire world had been flipped upside-down, and the school was just¡­business as usual. The office was still there at the entrance, students were walking around the halls like they always had, and it all just seemed normal. She got a few curious looks as she and Ellie went to their lockers and began to get the stuff they needed for their first couple of classes. And, after that, it was off to homeroom. Or, it would have been, but she was intercepted on her way to the classroom by her homeroom teacher, Mr. Wallace. ¡°Tess, do you mind if we have a little talk before homeroom?¡± He asked. ¡°I just want to ask you a couple of questions and make sure we don¡¯t tax you too much with anything, as well as talk a bit about how we¡¯re going to go about things.¡± ¡°Yeah, um, sure.¡± She replied. ¡°What do you want to know?¡± ¡°Come with me to the teacher¡¯s lounge, we can talk more privately there.¡± She gave Ellie a nod and then followed Mr. Wallace down the hall to the teacher¡¯s lounge. Once they both were inside, Mr. Wallace shut the door and motioned for her to sit down in one of the chairs. ¡°So, before anything, I guess I should ask how you¡¯re feeling. I know you¡¯ve been keeping up with your homework, which I think is a good sign, but I want to make sure you¡¯re not forcing yourself too much.¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°No, nothing like that. I¡¯m feeling better than I have for quite a while, and I¡¯m basically back to full capacity.¡± Mr. Wallace sat back, letting out a sigh of relief. ¡°That¡¯s honestly really good to hear. You had me worried there for a while.¡± ¡°Sorry. I just¡­wasn¡¯t up to being around people. I was able to move around a bit, but school would have been too much for me.¡± Tess replied a little guiltily. It wasn¡¯t entirely a lie, and she knew she wasn¡¯t allowed to tell him everything, but it still felt bad not giving the whole truth to Mr. Wallace. He had always been a really understanding teacher, one that had been always ready to step up to bat for his students. ¡°Nothing to apologize for. It was out of your control, don¡¯t worry about it too much. But¡­you said you¡¯re ¡®basically¡¯ back up to full capacity. Is there anything we need to know? And, if so, what can we do to help?¡± ¡°Um¡­I guess I tend to get tired faster than I used to when talking to people, so maybe let everyone know?¡± ¡°Of course, that¡¯s no problem at all.¡± Mr. Wallace said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ll tell everyone when I tell them you¡¯re back. With that out of the way, let¡¯s talk about how the next few months are going to look. We don¡¯t want you to have any health problems as a result of coming back, so for the next couple of weeks we¡¯re going to make you exempt from gym. If you¡¯re still looking to be in good health then, we¡¯re going to start giving you some light exercise. Does that sound OK to you?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine.¡± Tess said. ¡°I should be fine for gym, though, everyone is saying I¡¯m in the clear now.¡± Mr. Wallace shrugged. ¡°We know, we just want to be extra sure you don¡¯t have any more complications during these last few months. Life¡¯s been hard enough for you this past month or so, there¡¯s no shame in taking it easy now.¡± ¡°I¡­suppose. So¡­what am I going to be doing during gym, then?¡± ¡°You can either study in the library or wait on the sidelines in the gym, whichever you prefer.¡± ¡°Oh. Alright, um¡­anything else or¡­?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s it. Go finish your preparations for class, and I¡¯ll see you when homeroom starts.¡± He walked over to the door, opening it and motioning for her to leave. ¡°Alright, thanks, Mr. Wallace.¡± Tess said, standing up and leaving the room. Ellie must have been waiting for Tess outside the room, because the moment Tess was out, Ellie was there. ¡°How was it?¡± She asked. ¡°Anything bad?¡± ¡°No, not really. Just Mr. Wallace checking up on me and making sure everything¡¯s OK.¡± Tess replied. ¡°And letting me know that I¡¯m excused from gym for a couple of weeks. They want to be really sure it¡¯s safe for me to do gym before making me or something. It¡¯s not a big deal, though. I¡¯m just going to sit in the library during gym time and do homework.¡± Ellie smirked a little. ¡°Shame, I was looking forward to seeing you after you¡¯d worked up a sweat in gym clothes. Suppose that¡¯ll have to wait for a bit, eh?¡± Tess blushed. ¡°You¡¯re really flirting a lot more than usual today, you know that?¡± Ellie laughed. ¡°You¡¯ve got me all excited, of course I¡¯m going to flirt more than usual.¡± She reached down, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand in one of her own. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get to class. We¡¯ve got an announcement to make.¡± Chapter 37: Class Reunion Tess sat down in her seat nervously, glancing around at the rest of her class. She was garnering her fair share of curious looks, but it seemed that they had been given some sort of a talk, because no one, not even Jacob, was coming up to talk to her. Instead they all just sort of awkwardly pretended not to stare while stealing glances at her whilst talking amongst themselves. And, thanks to her Attributes, she could make out their conversations much clearer than she was really comfortable with. ¡°Does she look different to you?¡± ¡°A little more¡­fragile, I guess? Must still be recovering from her sickness.¡± ¡°She looks about the same as she did when I visited her a few weeks ago.¡± That last one was Jacob, and it was at that point Tess decided it was time to stop listening in. It was eavesdropping, and beyond the privacy issues, she really didn¡¯t want to listen to everyone talking about her. So, she turned off the Attribute and looked over to Ellie for reassurance. Ellie smiled, reaching over and giving Tess¡¯s hand a squeeze. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± She whispered. ¡°No one¡¯s going to be mean or anything, so relax. It¡¯ll be like how it was before.¡± Tess looked around at the other students apprehensively. ¡°You sure?¡± She asked. Ellie nodded firmly. ¡°Positive. Trust me, there hasn¡¯t even been one incident. It¡¯s gonna be fine.¡± She chatted with Ellie for the remaining time before class started so as to help keep her mind off of things, but she was soon snapped out of the pleasant conversation and back into her anxieties as the bell rang. ¡°Alright, everyone settle down.¡± Mr. Wallace said. ¡°Before I start free time, we need to discuss the elephant in the room. Tess, if you would?¡± Tess stood up, giving the room one last nervous look before taking a breath and beginning to speak. ¡°Um¡­hi. I¡¯m¡­um, finally better. The doctors say they aren¡¯t expecting any complications, so I should be fine for the rest of the year.¡± Mr. Wallace smiled encouragingly. ¡°Thank you, you can sit.¡± Tess sat down gratefully, and Mr. Wallace continued. ¡°Even though the doctors aren¡¯t expecting anything, we¡¯ve decided to err on the side of caution. For the next couple of weeks, Tess won¡¯t be joining you in P.E. so don¡¯t be alarmed if she doesn¡¯t show up. Furthermore, we¡¯ve also been told that she tires more easily than she used to, so please don¡¯t bombard her with questions right away. Give her a bit to settle back into things before that, OK?¡± He gave the class a nod then sat down behind his desk. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s free time, you all know the drill.¡± There was a somewhat subdued buzz of conversation as Tess¡¯s classmates got to talking amongst their friend groups. It was at this point that Jacob finally walked over to Tess and Ellie¡¯s desks, sitting backwards at the desk in front of them so he was facing them. ¡°So¡­How¡¯re you feeling?¡± He asked, somewhat hesitantly. ¡°I mean, you¡¯re¡­looking fine, I guess, but I can¡¯t help but worry, you know?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, I guess.¡± Tess sighed. ¡°It feels a little weird coming back to school, but¡­it is what it is.¡± Jacob gave her a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, give it a couple of days for people to realize you¡¯re not going to die if they don¡¯t treat you with care and it¡¯ll be fine.¡± He looked her up and down, frowning slightly. ¡°Speaking of which, is it just me or are you looking more muscular than before?¡± Tess froze, looking down to see that she was indeed more¡­toned than she used to. Nothing really noticeable unless you were looking for it, but there was a difference. She supposed it must have come from all the freelancing she¡¯d done ¨C it was basically exercising all day, so it probably wasn¡¯t that surprising that she was putting some muscle on. ¡°It¡¯s just that I was pretty weak when you came to visit.¡± Tess lied. ¡°I¡¯ve been out and about more so of course I¡¯m looking more muscular.¡± Jacob¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°Are you sure? You didn¡¯t look that weak before, so you¡¯ll have to forgive me if I¡¯m a little confused.¡± ¡°She had to do these sort of rehab exercises.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Even if she looked fine before she didn¡¯t really feel fine, so they had to help her get used to things again. Don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡± ¡°Alright, if you say so.¡± Jacob said, obviously unconvinced. ¡°Speaking of appearances, you¡¯re looked more¡­dressed up than usual, Ellie. You have something important later or¡­?¡± Ellie looked over to Tess, who nodded. ¡°Well¡­um, to tell you the truth, kind of, yeah.¡± Ellie said nervously. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Jacob prompted, giving an encouraging smile. ¡°Um¡­the thing is¡­I¡¯m sort of a lesbian and kinda going out with Tess right now, and I decided now was the best time to come out.¡± Ellie blurted out. Jacob laughed, giving Ellie a slap on the back. ¡°Thought you might be. Uh, might be a lesbian, that is. Wasn¡¯t prepared to hear about you two going out, though, that was a surprise.¡± Ellie blushed. ¡°You too? How?¡± ¡°Too? I¡¯m assuming someone else figured it out as well?¡± ¡°Yeah, Grandpa did too. But, seriously, how did you know?¡± ¡°Please. I¡¯ve seen how you look at girls. I¡¯ve seen how you look at Tess. Though, I must say, I¡¯m surprised you two finally got together. I figured Ellie would have gone for it long before now if it was going to happen but shows what I know.¡± Ellie shrugged, looking to the side. ¡°I was still in the closet, so¡­too afraid, you know? But so far it¡¯s been fine, so¡­maybe I don¡¯t need to be?¡± ¡°Who¡¯ve you told so far?¡± ¡°Basically just you and Grandpa. I¡¯ve decided that today is the day I¡¯m coming out, I don¡¯t want to have to resist being all intimate with Tess in public.¡± ¡°I suppose I wouldn¡¯t want to resist either.¡± Jacob admitted. ¡°So, um¡­congratulations? I¡¯m sure you two will be happy together.¡± Ellie beamed. ¡°Thanks, I¡¯m sure we will too.¡± ¡°But, uh, back to what I was saying earlier, you said you¡¯re feeling fine, but what does that¡­mean? Like, do you feel as good as normal, is it just better than it has been, what¡¯s going on? I won¡¯t lie, I¡¯ve been pretty worried about you.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Physically, almost completely back to normal. It¡¯s taken a bit of an emotional toll, though, I feel¡­awkward, just coming back after all this time. Like I can¡¯t just¡­jump back into things like that, you know?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be a problem, everyone understands.¡± Jacob assured. ¡°When you feel you¡¯re up to hanging out, though, let me know. The guys and I have been itching to do some laser tag and it just isn¡¯t the same without you.¡± Ellie started suddenly, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and giving it a sudden squeeze. ¡°Um, everything alright?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°You¡¯re looking a little¡­strange.¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Um, sorry, it just sort of hit me exactly what I¡¯ve done in coming out. Sorry for alarming you.¡± She squeezed Tess¡¯s hand sharply a couple of times, clearly trying to communicate something, though Tess couldn¡¯t tell what. ¡°No, I get it.¡± Jacob said. ¡°I¡¯m sure this sort of thing is really hard, just know that I¡¯m behind you all the way.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But¡­you were saying something about laser tag?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. I was just saying that the guys and I have been wanting to do laser tag and it just isn¡¯t the same without Tess. You too, Ellie. Whenever you guys are feeling up to it, we¡¯d love to have another round with you.¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll do that, though it¡¯ll probably be a couple of weeks. I don¡¯t think people will be too happy if I start pushing myself so soon.¡± It wasn¡¯t a complete lie, she couldn¡¯t just¡­take a day off without letting her tutors know, but she also wasn¡¯t sure her cover would allow her to do such a physically intensive activity so soon. ¡°We figured as much, so don¡¯t feel rushed or anything. We¡¯d rather you¡¯re safe than you push yourself just to hang out with us.¡± Jacob said. ¡°But, um, some other people wanted to talk to you, are you feeling up to that?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Might as well. For now, I think I¡¯d just like to¡­get it over with, you know?¡± Jacob nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll let them know.¡± With that he retreated back to the other side of the room, where he entered into a hushed conversation with some of their classmates, and a couple of them walked over shortly after. It was a pair of girls, Jenna and Carly. Tess hadn¡¯t really known them particularly well, but they were friendly enough, so it wasn¡¯t too out of character for them to come greet her like this. ¡°Hey, are you holding up OK?¡± Jenna asked. ¡°It musta been pretty rough, catching something that bad.¡± ¡°It could have been a lot worse.¡± Tess said. ¡°Gramps and Ellie were there, and I wasn¡¯t too starved for things to do. I was still able to move around the house and all, so¡­yeah. Wouldn¡¯t want to go through it again, but I¡¯m thankful it¡¯s been just about worked through.¡± Jenna nodded, but Carly seemed a little distracted, staring down at Tess and Ellie. Finally, she spoke up. ¡°Um, are you two¡­holding hands?¡± ¡°Yeah, um¡­I¡¯m a lesbian too, and now the two of us are going out.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°I didn¡¯t think it would be fair to Tess to date her while still in the closet and to put that pressure on her, so I guess I¡¯m officially coming out, you know?¡± Jenna and Carly shared a look. ¡°I guess?¡± Carly said. ¡°Might want to be careful who you¡¯re intimate around, though. Neither of us care, but a few of our friends are pretty hardcore Life devotees and you know how they can get about homosexual people.¡± Ellie made a face. ¡°All too well. But they don¡¯t scare me, we¡¯ve been through much worse than a few bigots.¡± Jenna shrugged. ¡°If you say so. Well, I¡¯m glad to hear that you¡¯re doing OK, Tess. We¡¯ll talk to you later.¡± The two retreated, and a couple more classmates took their place. That pattern repeated itself for the next few minutes, and then, finally, Tess and Ellie were left alone. Ellie leaned in close to Tess and began to whisper in her ear. ¡°Death says that, later down the line, she wants us to start introducing more people to the Outlands, and he¡¯s probably first on the list, seeing as how he¡¯s so close to us.¡± Tess stared at Ellie. ¡°Seriously?¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Yeah, I was surprised too.¡± ¡°When?¡± Ellie paused, looking ahead. ¡°A few months to a year. After graduation at the earliest, she was hoping around when you start performing your Appointed duties in earnest.¡± ¡°How are we gonna do that? We¡¯re gonna be way ahead of him in training and like¡­we¡¯re gonna be busy, you know?¡± ¡°Apparently we¡¯re not supposed to be in charge of training him, and we¡¯re not going to force him to try and be a freelancer, though we both know he will anyway.¡± ¡°And how¡¯s he going to get there? He can¡¯t just come through our house every time, right?¡± ¡°They¡¯re going to figure something out.¡± ¡°Hey, what are you lovebirds talking about?¡± Jacob asked, sitting down in front of them again. ¡°Some private stuff.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Sorry, can¡¯t say more.¡± Jacob shrugged. ¡°Suppose I shouldn¡¯t pry, then. So¡­um, what have you two been doing lately? I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re staying cooped up in the house and keeping each other company, since Ellie¡¯s always been busy, but¡­what¡¯ve you been doing?¡± ¡°Games, mostly.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Games and helping Tess with homework.¡± There was some small talk, and then their thirty minutes of homeroom was up, and it was time for their first class of the day. Ellie and Tess had matching schedules, so fortunately they were able to stay together for the rest of the day. Most of their classes went about the same as homeroom had, albeit with less chatting with their classmates. There weren¡¯t any real problems until lunch, when Tess and Ellie were approached by a girl. She was short and unassuming-looking, but her eyes said that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation. ¡°Tess and Ellie, right?¡± She said, lip curled in distaste. ¡°That¡¯s us.¡± Tess replied, pretending she didn¡¯t sense the open hostility the girl was given them. ¡°What can we do for you?¡± ¡°First, I suppose I should congratulate you for your good fortune in being enough in Life¡¯s good graces that you made such a swift recovery.¡± Tess and Ellie shared a look and then Tess patted Ellie¡¯s hand to forestall her inevitable angry remarks, turning back to the girl. ¡°Yes, I have been very Blessed lately. The gods perhaps have given me more attention than I deserve.¡± ¡°Quite.¡± The girl sneered. ¡°So then, may I ask why you have the gall to spit in His face as you have?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure what you mean.¡± Tess said in faux innocence. ¡°To the best of my knowledge I have done nothing that would anger him. In fact, the last I checked, I was in his good graces.¡± ¡°You know what you¡¯ve done.¡± She growled, motioning at Ellie. ¡°It is an abomination for you to enter into a relation with someone of the same sex. I¡¯ve tolerated you because you have been content to not act on your urges, but now that you have, I must warn you of your sins.¡± A month ago, she might have been more nervous, arguing against someone who clearly had no intention of listening to her and hated her for something that was really outside of her control, but the past while had been a great boost to her confidence. This was far tamer than confronting Ilmir had been, and the fact that it was on a religious matter just made it easier. Well, at least religious matters insofar as they related to Life, Death, and Fortune. Tess had talked to Life, and never once had he shown a hint of disdain for Tess and Ellie¡¯s relationship. So, she tilted her head in mock confusion and continued to address the girl. ¡°But¡­nowhere in the scriptures does it mention this being wrong. And I never heard Pastor Faust have any issue with it either, so I don¡¯t know where you¡¯re getting this idea.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to.¡± The girl hissed. ¡°It goes against everything Life stands for to be capable of bearing a child and then willingly entering into a relationship where you have no hope of ever doing so.¡± ¡°But it would be fine if it was with an impotent man?¡± ¡°Science and miracles can help with that. There is at least a chance. With this there is none, so don¡¯t try and weasel your way around it.¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± Ellie interrupted. ¡°You have no idea what the gods would actually want. You¡¯re just projecting your own biases onto them and using it as an opportunity to be a bigot. Go actually study religion if you want to argue from that perspective, you¡¯ll find there¡¯s no grounds.¡± ¡°Oh, and you¡¯re so knowledgeable about the whims of the gods? Offer proof that what I¡¯m saying is untrue, I guarantee I¡¯m more experienced than you in these matters and can refute it.¡± Ellie smiled. ¡°You haven¡¯t offered any, so why should I? But, if you must insist, I believe the Archpriest has officially said that the belief that homosexuality is wrong is a myth? Trust me, I looked into this subject a lot, as it kinda affects me a lot more than it affects you.¡± Ellie grabbed Tess, leaning over and giving her a quick kiss. ¡°Now, leave my girlfriend and I alone, or I¡¯m going to go get one of the aides and tell them you¡¯re being disruptive and won¡¯t let us eat our lunch. I don¡¯t want to have this pointless argument any longer.¡± The girl, face red with anger, opened her mouth a couple of times as if she wanted to speak, decided against it, then stormed off. ¡°For the record, Life says he¡¯s totally cool with us.¡± Ellie said once the other girl was out of earshot. ¡°He says that they weren¡¯t able to weed out that fringe belief. Lots of people think it was a change made to accommodate changes in society, but it was never canon in the first place so¡­yeah.¡± ¡°Well, if you do choose to become their Appointed, if you publicly announce that while in Descent you might well be able to destroy that belief entirely with one move. Not sure if the whole ¡®people instinctively know when it¡¯s a god speaking¡¯ thing works over TV, but worth a shot, right?¡± Ellie paused, looking off in front of her, presumably reading a window. ¡°Yeah. Death says it does. She also says the announcement thing is a good idea, and that she wouldn¡¯t be against making it publicly known that the Appointed of Life and Death and the Appointed of Fortune are dating. Says we¡¯ll probably ¡®debut¡¯ together anyway so might as well get the word out there and see if it helps integrate the planes smoother.¡± ¡°Worth a shot, I think.¡± Tess replied, smiling. ¡°By the way, I think it¡¯s worth mentioning that your innocent act there was hot. Even hotter because you¡¯re standing up for me.¡± Tess blushed. ¡°Well, I mean, she was kinda insulting me too.¡± ¡°My point stands.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But, uh, how are you doing after that? I mean, it¡¯s kinda one of the things you were worried about, right?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Honestly¡­it was a lot easier than I thought it¡¯d be. I know for a fact that she¡¯s just spouting nonsense, and dealing with Ilmir was way more stressful, so I think I¡¯m good.¡± Ellie gave her a relieved smile. ¡°Good to hear. I was a little worried.¡± Tess smiled back. ¡°Well, I think I¡¯m past the point of being anxious about it, so I think we¡¯re in the clear. Now, let¡¯s get back to eating, shall we? I¡¯d like to finish before lunch is over.¡± Chapter 38: Hotfix Tess sat in the library, idly looking over her homework. While she would have preferred to be in P.E. where she could move about, it was fine to have some time to do her homework. She was always pretty tired after dungeon runs, and that wasn¡¯t really a great state to be in for homework. Tess was snapped out of focus by someone slamming a hand down on her table and talking to her in a low, angry voice. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the big idea?¡± Tess looked up to see who it was. It took her a second to realize that the person talking to her was Aaron, one of her classmates that she had never really gotten along with. They had never seen eye to eye on¡­well, anything. He had always been disrespectful, condescending, and generally acted as if he was entitled everything. She vaguely recalled that he was the heir to some¡­real estate empire or something, but that didn¡¯t really matter to her. He was rude, and that was enough. ¡°What do you need, Aaron?¡± She said, holding back an exasperated sigh. ¡°You know good and well what I need.¡± He growled, giving her a glare. ¡°You¡¯ve been leading me on for months, you¡¯re not allowed to suddenly get a girlfriend and pretend you weren¡¯t.¡± She blinked in shock, nearly dropping her pencil as she stared at him. ¡°What?¡± She asked, the word coming out of her mouth unbidden. ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb.¡± Aaron continued. ¡°You and I know full well you¡¯ve been making eyes at me when nobody else is looking.¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°No, I haven¡¯t. I have no clue what you think I¡¯ve been doing, but it certainly wasn¡¯t ¡®making eyes¡¯ or whatever. If you haven¡¯t noticed, I¡¯m kind of a full-blown lesbian. Frankly, even the thought of trying to get together with you kind of makes my stomach turn.¡± Aaron didn¡¯t take that well, lips curling back into a snarl as he looked at her. ¡°Please. You¡¯re just saying that to keep away people who aren¡¯t persistent enough. What does someone like her have that I don¡¯t?¡± Tess arched a brow, cupping her chest. ¡°I¡¯ll give you two guesses. Like, seriously, have you seen girls? I¡¯ve openly come out as a lesbian and am currently dating a girl. What makes you think I have even a remote romantic interest in you or any other guy?¡± Aaron sputtered a little, face growing red with anger. ¡°Please, you don¡¯t have to be romantically interested to make passes at me. You just want my money and status and were using your looks to get me to treat you nice, then threw me away when you were done. It¡¯s disgusting, and you should be ashamed of yourself. Take responsibility like an adult, at the least make a public apology, or you¡¯ll find your school life substantially harder.¡± Tess felt Isabella stirring inside her, a clear sense of resentment and indignation growing inside of the spirit as Aaron continued to talk. She shook her head, sending Isabella ¡°it¡¯s fine¡± vibes as best she could, though she wasn¡¯t sure how much of that got through. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I will. I¡¯m not afraid of what you could do to my ¡®school life¡¯.¡± Tess replied, glaring defiantly back at Aaron. ¡°And I don¡¯t think you want to be on my bad side, so lay off it or I¡¯m going to be forced to take¡­drastic measures.¡± ¡°Oh no, I¡¯m shaking in my boots.¡± Aaron sneered. ¡°Little miss pretty here is going to take drastic measures. What are you going to do? Whine to your ¡®girlfriend¡¯, and, when that fails, seduce some boys into beating me up? Please, I¡¯ve been given the best martial arts training in this podunk town, I¡¯d beat the crap out of whoever fights me.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯ll deal with you myself.¡± Tess was completely out of patience. Aaron had been annoying her for years, and she wasn¡¯t going to sit around and take it now that she could actually do something about it. ¡°I¡¯ll give you one chance to leave me alone. If you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll make you regret it.¡± He snorted derisively. ¡°Not happening. I¡¯ll give you to the end of the week to make your apology, and then I¡¯m going to get to work.¡± He straightened up, turning around and walking away with a triumphant smirk on his face. ¡°Alright, I warned him.¡± Tess mumbled. ¡°Isabella, while we¡¯re at school, I need you to follow him around and make his life hard. Push his stuff off of his desk, hide things when he¡¯s looking away, that sort of thing. Don¡¯t do enough that other people would notice, but make it hard for him to work, got it? After school ends come meet us at Ellie¡¯s car, we¡¯ll wait for you before leaving.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Isabella whispered, a sense of glee coming from her as she floated out of Tess and then into Aaron. For his part, Aaron shivered slightly, but didn¡¯t seem to notice anything terribly wrong, leaving the library with only one or two glances back at Tess. Fortunately for Tess, the rest of the day passed without incident. She met back up with Ellie, and, the couple made their way to Ellie¡¯s car, where Tess stopped her. ¡°Wait a minute, we have to¡­¡± She was interrupted by Isabella floating up from the ground beneath the car and back into her usual place within Tess. ¡°Right, we¡¯re good to leave now. Isabella¡¯s back.¡± Ellie gave Tess a curious look. ¡°Back? Where¡¯d she go?¡± Tess smirked. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you once we¡¯re driving.¡± Ellie shrugged, turning the car on and pulling out of the parking lot. ¡°So, what¡¯s up with Isabella?¡± ¡°So, I was minding my own business, studying in the library, right? All of a sudden, Aaron walks up and slams his hand down on the table. Any guesses as to what he wanted?¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing it wasn¡¯t to wish your recovery well.¡± ¡°Nope. See, apparently, he was taking issue with our relationship because he thought I had been ¡®leading him on¡¯ for the past few months. Went on this whole rant about how I should take responsibility like an adult, and either go out with him or make a public apology by Friday, or else he¡¯d make my school life intolerable¡± Ellie winced. ¡°Yeah, that sounds about right.¡± She sighed. ¡°So, what does that have to do with Isabella?¡± Tess chuckled. ¡°I told him that wasn¡¯t going to happen and that he should be afraid of me. When he didn¡¯t back off, I told Isabella to make his life miserable by haunting him and basically being a spiteful poltergeist.¡± ¡°Serves him right. What are you gonna do if he hasn¡¯t given up by Friday, though?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m going to tell him I¡¯ll make the hauntings worse. And then I will. And they¡¯ll keep getting worse until he apologizes.¡± Ellie chuckled. ¡°It¡¯ll be nice to see him put in his place. Anything else exciting happen?¡± ¡°No, just that. Everyone else seems pretty¡­well, unaware of things or cool with them, so that¡¯s nice.¡± Ellie gave Tess a smile. ¡°See? I told you it¡¯d be fine. No one¡¯s even so much as considered that you weren¡¯t always who you are now.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Um, how were things for you, though? I know you were stressing a bit too, so¡­¡± ¡°You were there for most of it. I got a couple of dirty looks in the locker room, but other than that girl from lunch no one directly confronted me about it, so it went about as smoothly as I could have hoped.¡± ¡°How are you feeling now?¡± Tess asked, somewhat worried. ¡°I know it¡¯s a little late to say it now, but¡­do you wish you had waited until after graduation when you wouldn¡¯t have had to deal with these people again?¡± Ellie snorted. ¡°You kidding? Being able to flirt with you in public is way better than not having to deal with a couple of bigots. I¡¯d do it again in a heartbeat, even if it was as bad as I had worried it might be.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I¡¯d hate to think I was making things hard for you.¡± ¡°As if. Don¡¯t even think that for a second, I¡¯m literally living out my wildest dreams right now, so, if anything, it should be me apologizing for making things harder on you.¡± The conversation died down after that, and the two ended up spending the rest of their trip just listening to music and enjoying themselves. They were soon back home, and the moment Tess was through the door she was surprised by a weight gently falling onto her head, followed immediately by the sensation of a couple of small, smooth legs rubbing the top of her head as if they were trying to console her by stroking her hair. Tess laughed, reaching up and scooping Silky off of her head. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± She told the obviously worried spider. ¡°Everything was fine. There were a couple of mishaps, but I took care of them.¡± Silky gave her master a conflicted look before scuttling onto Tess¡¯s shoulder, firmly planting herself down and making it clear that she wasn¡¯t going to leave Tess¡¯s side for the rest of the day. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Tess smiled, walking over to her room, where she changed into her casual clothes and grabbed her magic bag. By the time she was out, Ellie was waiting in the hall, door to the Outlands already summoned. ¡°That was fast.¡± Tess said. ¡°You¡¯re going out to train with your makeup on? I can¡¯t imagine you had time to remove it.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°I¡¯m going to remove it while I¡¯m waiting for The Rumors to get ready. There¡¯s usually a few minutes of waiting between getting there and The Rumors showing up, so there¡¯s time.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Tess said. ¡°Should we knock or what? I usually went through with Gramps in the mornings, so I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s gonna happen if he¡¯s in a meeting or something.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. He has a way to redirect the exit point of this door if he¡¯s going to be busy and we can¡¯t go through the office.¡± Ellie yanked the door open, stepping through. Tess followed, and found herself in Gramps¡¯s office. Gramps himself was sitting at his desk behind a stack of paperwork, and looked up as Ellie and Tess came in. ¡°Ah, you two.¡± Gramps said, looking up. ¡°Ellie, you go on ahead, Ker and Jin are going to be ready for you in a minute. Tess, you stay here, we have to go talk to Fortune and Amy. They¡¯ve finished their hotfix for Monster Breeder, but there are some¡­complications, so we¡¯re going to have to talk with them in person about it.¡± Ellie gave them a worried look. ¡°Should I be concerned about this?¡± Gramps shook his head. ¡°No, not really. We just have to lay out some ground rules with how this is going to work for the time being. It¡¯s nothing that¡¯s going to hurt Tess or anything.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Ellie replied. She leaned over to Tess, giving her a kiss on the cheek. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later, alright? If you need someone to talk to about all this, just let me know, I¡¯m willing to listen to whatever you have to say.¡± Tess smiled, reaching over and giving her girlfriend¡¯s hand a squeeze. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know how it goes.¡± Ellie gave a somewhat weaker smile in return, squeezing Tess¡¯s hand back before letting go and heading out of the room. ¡°Alright, ready?¡± Gramps asked. Once Tess nodded, he made a motion with his hand, and she was suddenly back in the increasingly familiar clean white area that was the gods¡¯ workspace. Fortune and Amy were seated on a couple of chairs behind a coffee table, upon which was resting a large diamond-shaped crystal. ¡°Ah, good, you¡¯re here.¡± Amy said, motioning to a couple of empty chairs across from them. ¡°Sit down, we have to talk.¡± Tess nervously sat down, rubbing her hands together on her lap. ¡°So, Gramps said you guys had finished your fix but there was a problem?¡± Amy shrugged. ¡°You could say that, yeah. Look, I¡¯m just going to level with you. This isn¡¯t something I think is ideal, and I would rather continue looking for a better solution, but Fortune has convinced me that you can handle this responsibility. I¡¯m not omniscient, and she knows you much better than I do, so I¡¯m going to defer to her judgement, but you do not want to make me regret this, am I clear?¡± Tess gulped, nodding nervously. ¡°U-understood. I¡¯ll do my best, ma¡¯am. Um¡­what am I doing?¡± ¡°So, we needed a way to let Fortune get out of Descent without going through that whole ejection process we had to last time. And part of the issue is that my Worship was keeping her trapped inside you, since it anchors other souls to your own. ¡°So¡­she proposed we don¡¯t separate her soul and yours. At least, not the clean separation that is normally done when a Descent ends. Instead, she¡¯s going to make a sort of¡­permanent residence, within you. In this case, she¡¯s going to take up one of your pet slots, and one of your User Fundamental Attribute slots is going to be used to house an ability that lets her essentially sever her connection with you temporarily. ¡°This has one extremely important side effect, though. While she is in Descent, she is, for all intents and purposes, one of your pets. And that makes her subject to a mind-altering affect that makes her unswervingly loyal to you. Normally, gods are immune to mind-altering affects, but this one is originating directly from my Worship, so it bypasses that immunity. ¡°Fortunately, she¡¯s still got some resistance to it, since it¡¯s a passive effect, not something I¡¯m actively pushing with. We¡¯re estimating that she has roughly five minutes a week that she can safely be in Descent without being affected, though in really important situations we can stretch that time limit out a bit so long as she spends a longer time recovering. ¡°So. Absorb this crystal, it¡¯s going to cement Fortune and that ability into their slots. Those slots aren¡¯t even going to show up on your interface, since those things wouldn¡¯t display properly anyway, so don¡¯t be confused when they don¡¯t. ¡°I¡¯m trusting you and Fortune both to not push that five minutes a week limit, but if I find that you two are, I¡¯m going to have to cut you off and we¡¯re going back to the drawing board. Seriously, don¡¯t test me on this. In the meantime, Fortune¡¯s going to be working both on a more permanent solution and a way to optimize the one we currently have so we have more breathing room. Got it?¡± Fortune nodded. ¡°We won¡¯t, I promise.¡± Tess nodded fervently. ¡°Really, I don¡¯t even want to use Descent unless it¡¯s a super big emergency. I won¡¯t push it, promise. Uh¡­is there a¡­timer or something we can use to know how much safe time we have?¡± Amy nodded. ¡°Fortune and I built that into the ability you¡¯re getting that lets her escape. Fortune, if you start feeling weird and that time limit isn¡¯t up yet, I expect you to disengage at the earliest possible time that won¡¯t directly endanger Tess. Tess, if she¡¯s staying in and she really shouldn¡¯t be, you should be able to use that ability to forcefully push her out, and I expect you to do so. Understood?¡± After both Tess and Fortune signaled their agreement, Amy continued. ¡°Do you have both a free User Fundamental slot and a pet slot?¡± ¡°I have two pet slots and I¡­¡± She paused, briefly checking her slots. ¡°Oh, I got another User Fundamental slot at level thirty, I forgot. Yeah, they¡¯re free.¡± Amy motioned at the crystal, and Tess went ahead and absorbed it, prompting another one of those glitchy windows similar to the one she got when absorbing the ¡®empty¡¯ core.
You have absorbed a F$h9 core! GF@44 A3g90u
Amy stood up, walking over to Tess and inspecting her. ¡°Everything looks good so far.¡± She said after a moment. ¡°Descend, I need to see what it looks like.¡± Fortune nodded at Tess, and after a moment there was the odd sensation of Fortune¡¯s mind sliding into place beside her own, and she could see Fortune¡¯s body go limp in the chair it was sitting in. Sorry about the trouble. Fortune told her. I wanted to get this fix out sooner rather than later, and I know I can trust you with this solution until we get something real working.
You have gained the Title God Tamer! You have gained the Title Two Souls, One Heart! You have gained the Title Omnilingual! You have gained the Title Mortal Divinity! You have ~297 seconds of safe Descent remaining!
Amy groaned. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me.¡± She said, grabbing some of her slimy hair and squeezing it in frustration. ¡°Alright, separate.¡± There was a slight wrenching sensation, and then Fortune was back in her own body.
You have lost the Title Omnilingual! You have lost the Title Mortal Divinity!
Amy raised a brow. ¡°Seriously? Well, whatever, I¡¯m not going to worry about it, we haven¡¯t used proper avatars in millennia, so it doesn¡¯t really matter. Descend again, I need to check the automatic warning functions.¡± And then Fortune was right back inside Tess, the two of them once again sharing the headspace. The window about gaining Omnilingual and Mortal Divinity popped up, but Fortune just dismissed it. ¡°So¡­what¡¯s this about avatars?¡± Tess asked. Amy waved a hand. ¡°Gods have this system where they can have a mortal body that works autonomously when they¡¯re not in it. We used it when we didn¡¯t have as much leeway to make Appointed and work with the mortal world that way, and those Titles were part of it. They gave the ability to understand all human language and gave the physical body immunity to mind-altering affects while the god wasn¡¯t in it. You have that anyway during Descent, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Sure. Are those other Titles fine?¡± Fortune asked. Amy paused, giving them a discerning look. ¡°Yeah, should be fine, let me just¡­¡±
The Title God Tamer has become Tamer of Myth!
¡°It¡¯s a name change and some slight effect downgrades, but it shouldn¡¯t impact her at all, since I don¡¯t think you¡¯re planning on giving her any taming abilities.¡± Amy said. ¡°Don¡¯t want people getting weird ideas if they look at her Titles. Go ahead and look over their effects while we wait, we¡¯re just killing time for fifty seconds here.¡± Tess pulled up her Titles, giving the two a look.
Tamer of Myth: You have successfully tamed a being that has power far exceeding your own. Taming creatures of lower power than the being you tamed is twice as easy. Two Souls, One Heart: You have successfully housed one of your tamed creature¡¯s spirits inside of you and achieved a perfect synchronicity. Allows telepathic communication with all of your tamed creatures on the same plane as you. This communication is subtle and cannot be prevented by any means other than divine intervention, though it may still be listened to by other parties if it is discovered.
Tess took a moment to look that over before trying something out. Silky? She asked, mentally sending out a message. Mistress?! Can you hear me!? Silky¡¯s ¡°voice¡± was, unexpectedly, deep and smooth, much like the stereotypical ¡°older sister¡±, though it didn¡¯t sound quite old enough to be called motherly. Yeah, I can hear you. Silky began to scuttle about excitedly on Tess¡¯s shoulder, occasionally stopping and waving about two of her front legs before resuming her scuttle. I¡¯m so happy! I wanted to talk too! Tess smiled. Well, now you can. Uh, what are you doing? Dancing! Too happy, can¡¯t be still!
You have ~250 seconds of safe Descent remaining!
¡°Perfect.¡± Amy said. ¡°Alright, you two can stop Descent now, this should work. And, remember, I¡¯m watching you. Don¡¯t even think about staying out past that time limit unless it¡¯s something serious.¡± Tess blinked as Fortune once again withdrew from her and she was suddenly alone in her head.
You have lost the Title Omnilingual! You have lost the Title Mortal Divinity!
¡°Right, that should do it.¡± Amy said. ¡°You two can go now. Thanks for bringing her here, Evan. Hopefully she¡¯ll be able to do it herself soon as we won¡¯t have to rely on you all the time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°I¡¯m more than happy to help my granddaughters out while they¡¯re unable to do it themselves. I¡¯ll let you know if I see them doing anything reckless.¡± ¡°Much appreciated.¡± Gramps nodded. ¡°Fortune, anything to say before we go?¡± ¡°No, um¡­thanks.¡± Fortune said. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to you soon, Tess.¡± ¡°Uh¡­later, I guess.¡± Tess replied. And with that, Gramps waved his hands and the two were back in his office. ¡°Well, that went pretty well, I¡¯d say.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Just don¡¯t push that time limit and you¡¯ll be fine. Anyway, Alice is waiting for you in your usual meeting spot, so you go have fun, alright?¡± ¡°OK. I¡¯ll see you later, Gramps!¡± Tess took a moment to reactivate her ears and tail before opening the door and heading out to meet with Alice, ready to work out some stress and get some training done. Chapter 39: Stuck in a Rut Tess opened the door to the private room that had been her usual meetup with Alice and Eyfura, already reaching for her bag to take out her gi. ¡°Ah, there you are.¡± Alice said, standing up from her chair. ¡°Don¡¯t bother with the armor, we¡¯re not training today.¡± Tess tilted her head, withdrawing her hand. ¡°Why not?¡± Alice frowned, shaking her head. ¡°Eyfura needed some more time to think things through. She let me know she and Ilmir wouldn¡¯t be coming today, so I figured I could¡­well, show you around a bit. I mean, you¡¯re an Appointed now, so that means you¡¯ve got to know a bit more about the world outside of this city and Mael, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, that makes sense, I think. Where are we going?¡± Alice blushed a little, looking away. ¡°Well, I figured we could¡­I dunno, go to the plane I grew up on? To my parent¡¯s place, to be exact. They¡¯ve been nagging me to visit them for a while and I thought it might be good for you to meet them, you know?¡± Tess blinked, surprised. ¡°I mean, sure, I guess. Do I need to like¡­dress fancy or anything? They were like¡­big CEOs, right?¡± Alice shook her head vigorously. ¡°No, they¡¯d rather you didn- I mean, it¡¯s just a social visit. You¡¯re coming as my pupil, so there¡¯s really no need for that.¡± Tess raised an eyebrow. ¡°They¡¯d rather I didn¡¯t?¡± Alice sighed, once again looking away. ¡°They might have also been nagging me to let them meet you.¡± ¡°You told them about me?¡± ¡°Not everything!¡± Alice said quickly. ¡°Not that you¡¯re an Appointed or you got those Skills or anything. I mean, I can¡¯t tell them that stuff, but I wouldn¡¯t!¡± ¡°No, not that, I was just surprised that you thought this was something worth telling your parents about, apparently to the point where they keep asking to meet me.¡± This time, Alice raised her eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re joking, right? This past like¡­month and a half has been the craziest of my life. It¡¯s not every day you start tutoring the grandchildren of the world¡¯s most influential man and start working with your childhood hero. I mean, I¡¯ve gotten at least two messages directly from the gods, and I watched you become an Appointed.¡± She paused, giving Tess a look. ¡°Well, I guess you get messages directly from the gods enough that two doesn¡¯t seem significant, but it is. Most people don¡¯t even get one in their entire life. So, yeah, I¡¯ve talked to my parents about things. I¡¯ve gotta tell someone about it.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I, um, didn¡¯t think about that, I guess? Everything¡¯s all new enough to me that I don¡¯t know what¡¯s ¡®normal¡¯ so¡­guess, yeah, I just didn¡¯t consciously think it would be anything out of the ordinary for someone strong and politically important like you.¡± ¡°I dunno about that whole politically important bit, but this is definitely unusual for strong people. No one I know has had a similar experience.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°Come to think of it, why are you tutoring me? Gramps and Eyfura were implying that you¡¯re pretty close to rank ten, so surely you all could be working on that, right?¡± Alice gave another sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you while we¡¯re traveling. Uh, not necessarily to my parents¡¯, if you don¡¯t want to go, but we¡¯d at least go somewhere so¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine meeting your parents. How are we getting there?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a sort of portal nexus that connects the planes. We¡¯ll hop through one of the portals there and then we¡¯ll take the hoverer to my parents¡¯ estate.¡± ¡°Sounds good. Should we get going, then?¡± Alice nodded and Tess stepped back so she could follow her out of the room. Alice began to lead her out of the guild and through the city, hesitantly beginning to talk as she did. The sentences were slow and deliberate, and she often paused for long periods of time, apparently thinking through her next words carefully. ¡°So, we¡¯re¡­not exactly in a good place right now.¡± She began. ¡°Like, we just hit this sort of wall, you know? We¡¯re able to pretty easily raid dungeons around our level, but it feels like the moment we try anything harder we just¡­crumble. And, you know, the answer could be just ¡®more grinding¡¯, but that doesn¡¯t seem¡­right. ¡°It¡¯s not party composition either, we think. I mean, the Titans only have four people, and most rank ten parties don¡¯t have more than six, some even just have one or two. And, as it stands, we¡¯re pretty balanced and all our needs are met, so we think adding another person this late into it will just complicate things, and even if we did want to add someone there aren¡¯t exactly a lot of rank nine people in need of a party.¡± They reached a large plaza of sorts, filled with archways that had shimmering glows about them. People were walking into them and vanishing, and others were walking out from thin air, so Tess assumed these must be the portals Alice had been talking about. Alice steered her through one somewhat absentmindedly. The sensation was not unlike that of going through one of Gramps¡¯s portals, and after a moment Tess found herself on the other side of a similar arch. They were in a courtyard of sorts, high walls surrounding them and giving the whole area a sort of cramped feel despite it being open to the sky. That walls were something of an afterthought, though. The whole area was dominated by a large, ostentatious building in front of them, from which people streamed in and out. ¡°Sorry, hold on a second, I have to get you through customs and stuff.¡± Alice said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, once they read your status band and see who you are, they¡¯ll let you through in a heartbeat. Guild registrations generally act as passports anyway, and they¡¯re certainly not going to stop the Guildmaster¡¯s granddaughter if she wants to go through.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°That¡­seems pretty lax.¡± Tess said. ¡°On Mael they¡¯re a lot stricter about this kind of stuff.¡± Alice shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not like there¡¯s a way to put up a nation-sized teleport blocker, and it would hurt the economy and people¡¯s quality of life if they did, so customs are more of a formality than anything. It¡¯s more there so people don¡¯t smuggle in stuff that can¡¯t be teleported. Well, at least don¡¯t smuggle it in easily.¡± Alice walked confidently into the building, and Tess followed. The entry hall was huge, with smooth marble floors and decorated many imposing statues. Alice didn¡¯t pay it much mind, leading Tess through the huge area to a series of checkpoints, each consisting of a booth and a bar, much like a toll gate. From there, she found an empty one, and then ushered Tess through the area a line would be. Behind it was a bored-looking human woman who glanced up briefly before returning her attention to her computer. ¡°Can I see your ID?¡± She asked. Alice reached into her bag and retrieved a card of some sort, which she passed to the woman. The woman took the card, quickly swiping it across a small card reader she had, then handed it back. ¡°I need the kid¡¯s ID too, miss¡­¡± The woman froze in mid-sentence, looking intently at the computer screen. There was silence for a long moment before the woman gulped and began to speak again. ¡°Sorry for the rudeness, Lady Reshi. Um¡­I¡­still need her ID, though.¡± She said, motioning to Tess. Alice smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, it¡¯s a draining job. This is Tess, she¡¯s got guild ID.¡± The woman nodded, reaching down and pulling out a rectangular machine with a large hole in it, much like an electronic pencil sharpener, but larger. ¡°If you would just put your band in here, miss¡­¡± She trailed off, looking at Tess expectantly. ¡°Los.¡± Tess replied, before looking to Alice. ¡°Um, how do I take it off again?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t need to.¡± Alice said. ¡°You¡¯ve got one of the new bands, so you can just stick your arm in there and it¡¯ll scan. If you want to, though, just think about it, the band will come out from your arm.¡± ¡°Oh, I see.¡± She turned back to the woman, who was looking at Tess noticeably more cautiously. Ignoring her, Tess stuck her hand into the slot. There was a brief whirring, and then the woman spoke again. ¡°You can take your hand out, um¡­Lady Los.¡± Tess did, and the woman continued. ¡°Everything checks out. Um, we still have to do a search, though, sorry. It¡¯s just protocol, I can¡¯t change it.¡± Alice nodded, grabbing her bag and putting it on the counter. ¡°Just put your bag on the counter, Tess. She¡¯ll scan it from there.¡± Tess unhooked her bag from her pants, placing it next to Alice¡¯s. The woman took out something that looked remarkably similar to a barcode scanner, moved it up and down over the bags, and then over Alice and Tess. She breathed a sigh of relief, putting the scanner back. ¡°You¡¯re clear. Enjoy your stay in Loma!¡± The bar lifted, and Alice and Tess were soon through and into the other side of the room. Alice wasted no time in walking over to one of the many arches on the far end, explaining to her that it was the portal that would take them to the city closest to Alice¡¯s parents¡¯ estate. After going through the portal, they found themselves in a much smaller building, which they left. Once outside, Alice set up the hoverer and ushered Tess inside, taking a moment to input some directions before coming back to sit next to Tess. ¡°So, where was I¡­right, party members. ¡°So, we don¡¯t think it¡¯s the number of people or our party makeup. We¡¯re sure we¡¯re just missing¡­something, but we don¡¯t know what. So, we¡¯ve been metaphorically bashing our heads against this metaphorical wall, and we were in the city when the Guildmaster approached us. He said that, perhaps, what we needed was a change of pace. ¡°He proposed we teach you and Ellie, that maybe revisiting the basics would help illuminate what was keeping us from progressing. If we were still having trouble after that, he even offered to give us some coaching himself. And, of course, he would pay our living costs during the time we were teaching you, since we¡¯re not exactly earning as much as we otherwise would. And we figured he probably knew what he was talking about, and that it couldn¡¯t hurt to take a few months off and sort of refresh ourselves.¡± Alice scratched the back of her neck. ¡°And that¡¯s pretty much it, to be honest. Hope that doesn¡¯t disillusion you about us or anything.¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°No, I get it. Uh¡­how¡¯s this been working out for you?¡± ¡°Honestly? There are a couple of things about the way we fight that we think we might be able to change and start progressing again. The mock battles against the Titans helped a ton in pointing out the weaknesses in our formations.¡± She stared off into the distance, a slight smile on her face. ¡°They really are the real deal. You hear all these stories about them, and they all seem too crazy to be true, but now that I¡¯ve actually seen them in action I believe those stories a whole lot more. It¡¯s nice to know that the people you¡¯d always looked up to live up to the hype, you know?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°I think I know the feeling, but I can¡¯t help but feel a little strange about that. I mean¡­he¡¯s my grandpa. It¡¯s weird to learn that he¡¯s some sort of crazy-powerful hero and that a lot of people really look up to him for it.¡± Alice raised an eyebrow. ¡°You don¡¯t?¡± ¡°Of course I do, just¡­not for that reason. All that power stuff aside, he¡¯s one of the best people I know, and I want to be like that.¡± ¡°I suppose that makes sense.¡± Alice admitted. ¡°But, you know, you¡¯re going to have to deal with being looked up to yourself someday. It¡¯s something that tends to come with hitting rank ten, and there¡¯s no way you and Ellie aren¡¯t going to end up there relatively fast. You two just have too much explosive growth to not hit rank ten.¡± Tess blushed. ¡°That¡¯s a long time from now, though. Levels are slowing down, so it¡¯s going to take us a long time to get on that level.¡± Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°Please. The only thing you really care about with regards to level is gear, and, according to Ker and Jin, Ellie¡¯s already ready to take on things way above her level. It¡¯s going to come sooner than you think.¡± They kept up the conversation for a few minutes before the hoverer slowed to a stop. Alice stood up, opened the door, hopped out, and held it open like she was some sort of chauffer, even going so far as to give a little bow. ¡°Please, after you.¡± She said, smirking slightly. Tess hopped out of the hoverer, and Alice began to put it away while Tess stared at the buildings in front of her. It was a large gated compound, set on the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. There were all sorts of things inside, from a greenhouse to a large pool to what looked to be a stable, but what drew the eye the most was the enormous mansion these were all gathered around. Alice finished putting away the hoverer and placed a hand on Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s excessive, I know. But, in my parents¡¯ defense, they¡¯re doing their best to give back to the community. We, uh, just have more money than we can really spend on any of that. It sorta happens when your company gets as big as ours does.¡± ¡°How¡­much did this cost?¡± ¡°Honestly? I have no idea. Dad grew up around here, so he wanted to use local workers for everything. There were some troubles in getting everything this nice because of it, but it made dad happy and the payment was going mostly to people he grew up with, so mom didn¡¯t really mind. Um, all that being said, no idea what the finally tally ended up being, but probably a few million gold? No idea what that translates to in Mael¡¯s currency, but it was certainly pricy even for us.¡± Alice walked up to the gate, placing a hand on it. After a moment the gate swung open, granting entry. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡± Alice said, tensing slightly and turning back to Tess. ¡°Ready?¡± Tess nodded, and the two set off down the long path to the house, ready to face whatever was lying in wait for them there. Chapter 40: Social Visit ¡°So, do I just ring the doorbell or¡­?¡± Tess asked, glancing at Alice. She was crouching down, messing with some of the greenery on the path a little ways behind them ¡°Yeah, just use the doorbell.¡± Alice confirmed. ¡°One of the servants will get it.¡± Tess nodded, turning back to the door and ringing the doorbell. There was a long pause, and then the door opened, revealing a sleepy-looking elf in a butler¡¯s outfit who gave Tess a curious look. ¡°How did you get in here? I don¡¯t believe we¡¯re expecting visitors today¡­¡± He trailed off, looking further down the path to where Alice was, then turned back to Tess. ¡°I see. My apologies, Alice was rather fond of those plants when she was younger, so she tends to loiter there for a while when visiting.¡± He told Tess, then looked back to Alice. ¡°It isn¡¯t proper to make guests get the door for you, Alice.¡± He called. Alice turned to him, blinking in surprise. ¡°What guest?¡± She frowned, looking between Tess and the butler. ¡°Are you talking about Tess? She¡¯s not¡­¡± Alice blushed furiously, looking back to the plants. ¡°Ah, right. Sorry, Tess, I wasn¡¯t thinking about that. Take her in, Tamas, I¡¯ll come in in a bit.¡± ¡°Wait, what do you mean by that?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I¡¯m not a guest?¡± ¡°Nothing, just a slip of the tongue.¡± Alice said hurriedly. ¡°Go with Tamas, he¡¯s really nice.¡± Tamas, brow raised, ushered Tess into the house. ¡°May I ask what your relationship with Alice is?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Her party¡¯s tutoring me. She¡¯s been the main one working with me, and we were basically living together for about a month when she took me on this sort of dungeon-clearing road trip.¡± Understanding filled Tamas¡¯s face. ¡°I see, you must be the Guildmaster¡¯s granddaughter, then. This way, I¡¯ll take you to the sitting room.¡± He began to lead Tess down the hall, stopping briefly to tell another servant to ¡°Go fetch the masters.¡± Eventually they reached a rather comfortable-looking room which several large couches and plush chairs arranged around a coffee table, as well as a piano sitting in the corner of the room. ¡°Take a seat, we¡¯ll have some refreshments in momentarily, and the masters will be with you in a few minutes.¡± He bowed and left the room, leaving Tess to think as she sat down in one of the chairs. It was a bit scary, suddenly finding that she was expected to meet Alice¡¯s parents by herself while Alice¡­did whatever she was doing with those plants. It seemed¡­out of character for her to do so, she had gotten pretty aware of how things like this might make Tess feel during their trip together. Her train of thought was interrupted by another servant bringing over a plate of cookies and some sort of drink pitcher and cups. ¡°I have some apple juice here; would you prefer something else?¡± The servant asked, placing the plate down on the table. Tess shook her head. ¡°Uh, no, I like apple juice.¡± The servant nodded, pouring the juice into a cup and leaving the pitcher on the table before making a curtsy and retreating. Tess took the cup and had a sip of the juice. It was¡­regular apple juice. She wasn¡¯t really sure what she had been expecting, but she was sort of surprised that they even had apples in places other than Mael. She had figured there would be¡­different fruits they would make juice from. The cookies were good too. They were chocolate chip, her favorite kind, and tasted like they were fresh out of the oven. Magic had to be involved there, right? They hadn¡¯t known guests were coming and it seemed like a huge coincidence that a fresh batch of cookies had been finished as soon as there were guests, so magic seemed more plausible. After a couple minutes Tess heard the sound of approaching footsteps, as well as soft conversation. ¡°Are you ready, honey? You¡¯re not going to let your guard down, right?¡± A man¡¯s voice asked. ¡°Of course not. I¡¯ve been preparing for this for a while, I¡¯ll restrain myself until I know it¡¯s fine.¡± A woman replied. That was¡­probably Alice¡¯s parents? She wasn¡¯t sure what that talk about restraining was, though. Were they worried Tess might be an assassin or a spy of some sort? That made sense, in a way, she couldn¡¯t exactly expect people in their position to trust someone they were meeting for the first time. After another minute or so, a pair of people walked into the room. The one she noticed first was a tall human man with black hair dressed in a nice suit. He struck an imposing figure, not at all helped by his rather serious expression. The other was a humanoid woman with wooden skin and a fancy dress. She was the spitting image of Alice, something that struck Tess as odd, as she had been given to understand that Alice¡¯s mom was a centaur. Was there some sort of transformation in play, or was she just misremembering? The two people, oblivious to Tess¡¯s musings, sat down on one of the couches across from her. ¡°Forgive our daughter¡¯s rudeness,¡± The woman said, ¡°we¡¯ll make sure to have a talk with her about this. I¡¯m Avery, and this is my husband, Jared.¡± Jared nodded. ¡°Pleasure to meet you. As you know, we¡¯re Alice¡¯s parents and the former heads of the Reshi conglomerate. What can we do for you?¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± Tess paused, unsure what to say. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know? Alice said she wanted to visit you and you wanted to meet me, so¡­yeah.¡± Avery was getting strangely tense, clenching a hand on her couch¡¯s armrest. Jared placed a placating hand on her knee, looking at Tess as he responded. ¡°Ah, just a social visit, then. That¡¯s good to hear, we get precious few of those these days. Could you tell us a little about yourself?¡± ¡°Um¡­well, I¡¯m the Guildmaster¡¯s granddaughter, I guess. That¡¯s apparently a big deal around here? I don¡¯t know much about that; I was raised on Mael and he¡¯s just your average person there so it¡¯s all a little strange to me.¡± ¡°I can see how that would be confusing for you.¡± Avery said weakly. ¡°Please, continue.¡± ¡°So, I¡¯m in school, but I¡¯m planning on becoming a freelancer when I get out. Alice has been tutoring me, and she¡¯s been a big help. She¡¯s a little¡­overbearing at times, but, I dunno¡­she kinda makes me more comfortable being out and about, like she¡¯s got my back, you know? She was scary at first but after I got to know her more when we were on our trip together, I just realized she was thinking about me in her own way.¡± ¡°Alright I can¡¯t take this anymore.¡± Alice stepped into the room, face red with embarrassment. ¡°Sorry guys, I know you wanted a little more alone time with her, but I can¡¯t listen to this anymore, it¡¯s too embarrassing.¡± She pulled one of the chairs over so it was next to Tess¡¯s and took a seat. ¡°Sorry about that. I didn¡¯t want to leave you alone, but they really wanted some alone time with you.¡± ¡°We just wanted to see what you were like without Alice around, sorry.¡± Jared said. ¡°But I think we got what we wanted to from it, wouldn¡¯t you say, dear?¡± Avery nodded distantly. ¡°Yeah, we did.¡± ¡°Right, so, she already introduced herself, but mom, dad, this is my prot¨¦g¨¦, Tess. Tess, these are my parents.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you. Um¡­¡± Tess said, trailing off as she looked at Avery. Alice followed Tess¡¯s gaze, then seemed to understand what Tess was wondering. ¡°Oh, right, should have told you. Mom has a ring that gives her a human form, and she usually uses that around the house. It¡¯s a lot more convenient than being a centaur indoors.¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Avery idly thumbed a ring on her right hand. ¡°I can you show you if you want.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s fine for now, no need to go out of your way.¡± Tess said. There was a pause, and then Avery leaned over to her husband, whispering something she thought Tess couldn¡¯t hear. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much longer I can hold on. She¡¯s too much!¡± Jared sighed. ¡°Tess, would you mind indulging my wife for a bit? She¡¯s a bit¡­touchy at times.¡± Tess looked to Alice who gave a sigh not unlike her father¡¯s. ¡°It¡¯ll probably be fine.¡± She said. ¡°Mom has a hard time containing herself around things she finds cute. It¡¯s probably best to just let her get it out of her system.¡± Tess, taken aback, nodded. ¡°Um, I suppose that¡¯s fine, I guess?¡± Avery¡¯s demeanor changed instantly. She straightened up and, with sudden speed, was right next to Tess, grabbing her hand excitedly. ¡°You are just the cutest thing! Seriously, how is it even possible to be this cute?! Your ears look so¡­soft, can I touch them?!¡± Tess blinked, slightly overwhelmed. ¡°I don¡¯t mind, just¡­be gentle.¡± Avery nodded eagerly, reaching up and softly rubbing Tess¡¯s wolf ears. ¡°What do you use to wash these? Some product from Mael?¡± ¡°Um¡­I have a Skill that does it for me, actually. I just use whatever¡¯s in the shower, it doesn¡¯t make a difference in the end.¡± ¡°Do you even need to shower?¡± Alice asked curiously. ¡°Most of that is taken care of by Target of Affection, right?¡± ¡°Yes and no? I don¡¯t have to do it to take care of my hair or skin, but I still have to wash off if I get dirty. That and it just feels¡­wrong to not shower, so I do it anyway.¡± ¡°Lucky girl.¡± Avery mumbled. ¡°Still, can¡¯t say the results aren¡¯t nice.¡± She stopped rubbing Tess¡¯s ears, and stood up straight. ¡°Alright, thanks a bunch, I should be good for the time being. Do you want to take a tour around the place? We can talk while we do.¡± Tess looked to Alice again, who just shrugged. ¡°Sure, why not?¡± Tess replied. ¡°I suppose we might as well.¡± Avery smiled. ¡°Excellent. Do you want to start with the inside or the outside? I¡¯ve got something I¡¯m saving for the end that I think you and Alice will like, but other than that we can go wherever you want.¡± ¡°Inside, since we¡¯re already here.¡± Tess replied, standing up. Alice and Jared stood up as well, and the four began to make their way through the luxurious mansion. There were all sorts of amenities such as a couple of movie theater type rooms, bowling galleries, a sort of concert hall, and more. She wasn¡¯t given much time to look at any of those, however, as there was apparently enough that if they lingered too long on anything they wouldn¡¯t have time to get to any of the really ¡°cool¡± stuff. And during that time, Tess got to learn more about the Reshi family and what Alice¡¯s life had been like when she was young. Apparently, the company had been passed down through her mother¡¯s side of the family, and her dad had been entirely unrelated to it until he was in his thirties. Well, not entirely unrelated. He had had a couple of part time jobs in one of the stores owned by the Reshi conglomerate, but he definitely wasn¡¯t close to any management or anything. He met Avery by complete accident, she was in the area for business and had gone out to a local band¡¯s show incognito, and the two really hit it off. One thing led to another and the two ended up dating. He hadn¡¯t even known she was head of the company until a few months into their relationship. Another few years after that they were married and thinking about having a kid, so they began work on the estate, and, once it was finished, started trying for kids. After Alice was born, she ended up going to the same school as her dad, though she also had some private lessons on the side to help teach her what would be required to run the family business. ¡°We can show you her old room, if you would like.¡± Avery offered. ¡°We keep it untouched since she comes to visit from time to time.¡± ¡°No, absolutely not!¡± Alice protested, blushing. ¡°That¡¯s way too embarrassing.¡± Jared smiled. ¡°I figured as much. Don¡¯t worry about it, we won¡¯t show her if you don¡¯t want her to see. We should probably show Tess her room, though.¡± ¡°My room?¡± Tess asked, taken aback. ¡°Mom and dad like to have dedicated guest rooms for people close to the family.¡± Alice said quickly. ¡°Ker and Jin have one too, and Ellie might get one depending on how much we end up working together later on down the line.¡± Avery and Jared shared a look that Tess couldn¡¯t quite place but didn¡¯t say anything. The room in question was¡­nice. It was much the same as the rooms in the dungeon suites that Tess had stayed at, packed with all sorts of amenities and just generally¡­comfortable looking. ¡°We¡¯ll key you into the security system later.¡± Avery said. ¡°But for now, let¡¯s show you around outside, there¡¯s nothing else of interest in here.¡± Alice shot her mother a shocked look, but quickly schooled her expression when she saw Tess was looking. They left the mansion and, once they were outside, Avery twisted her ring and she was suddenly a centaur. Her dress had shifted so that it was covering her horse parts as well, much like a horse blanket. ¡°Tess, would you like to ride me?¡± She asked. ¡°The grounds are large, and it wouldn¡¯t do to get you all tired out so soon.¡± Tess hesitated. She was sure she could handle a little walking, but it would be rude to refuse an offer, right? ¡°Um¡­yeah, sure, but¡­I¡¯ve never even ridden anything like a horse before, so I¡¯m not sure I¡¯d be¡­able to ride you if I tried.¡± Avery laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m pretty good with newbies. Just hold my waist and you¡¯ll be fine.¡± She knelt down so that Tess could mount her more easily, and Tess climbed up gingerly, wrapping her arms around Avery¡¯s waist. ¡°Perfect, just like that.¡± Avery said, standing up straight again. ¡°We¡¯ll show you around and then we¡¯ll end on our little surprise, alright?¡± The ride around the grounds was a little bumpy and slightly uncomfortable, but all in all was much easier than Tess had expected. The grounds themselves had facilities for quite a few different activities. There was the greenhouse she had seen earlier, which contained all sorts of exotic plants, and a large garden complete with hedge maze that contained plants that were suited to grow in the climate. The stables only held a couple of horses, but they also a very nice grooming area, apparently for when Avery wanted to clean her centaur parts. There was a swimming pool, an area for playing outdoor sports, and a path down the cliff to the beach, where Tess could make out a boathouse and a dock. And, finally, it was time for the ¡°surprise¡±. There was a domed building on the grounds that hadn¡¯t been explained during their tour, and Alice didn¡¯t seem to know what it was either, so Tess was burning with curiosity by the time they reached it. Once they were in front, Avery knelt down and instructed Tess to get off, using her ring to shift back into a humanoid form once Tess had safely dismounted. ¡°Alright guys, what is this?¡± Alice asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been hyping it up for a bit now and I need to know.¡± Avery grinned, taking a key out from a pocket in her dress and unlocking the door to the building. She opened it and motioned for everyone to step inside. Tess stepped inside to find herself in a large circular room. There were a few large TVs lining the walls, plush couches on the edges of the room, and a console of sorts near the couches. More interestingly, though, most of the room¡¯s floor was made up of some sort of glass, letting her peer down into a vast empty chamber below them, going down what appeared to be several stories in height. ¡°So, while you were off training your prot¨¦g¨¦,¡± Avery said, ¡°we thought it would be as good a time as any to invest into an Arena. We¡¯re both rather out of practice, so we thought it¡¯d be a good way to get ourselves back into shape as we start thinking about pushing to level one-hundred. Plus, we thought it might be interesting to watch you go through some of the simulations and see how you¡¯re able to handle yourself.¡± Alice¡¯s eyes were sparkling. ¡°Really?! I¡¯ve been wanting to try one of these for ages but never had the time! Can we have a go?!¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± Jared said, smiling. ¡°As long as Tess is OK with it, that is.¡± ¡°Um, this¡­may be a stupid question,¡± Tess began, ¡°but what¡¯s an Arena?¡± ¡°The latest in combat simulation technology!¡± Alice said excitedly. ¡°It essentially creates virtual opponents for you to spar against, can simulate a ton of different environments, lets you customize your opponent¡¯s abilities, even make it so enemies are stronger for one participant but not for another¡­they¡¯re awesome!¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Sounds cool, um¡­¡±
You¡¯re fine going all-out with these two watching. They¡¯re not really going to understand your abilities just by looking at them, and even if they did, they¡¯ll probably keep quiet. As far as I¡¯m able to tell they¡¯re pretty good people, so it shouldn¡¯t be an issue.
¡°You OK there?¡± Avery asked, concerned. ¡°Are you tired? You can sit out if you¡¯d like.¡± Tess gave Alice a look that she hoped conveyed the worries she had had. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. I was just thinking. Yeah, I¡¯m totally down to give it a go. How do we start?¡± Alice grinned. ¡°There should be some sort of magic necklace we wear. Mom, where do you keep them?¡± Avery opened a small box near the couches, rummaged inside for a moment, then handed a necklace to both Tess and Alice. ¡°Here you go.¡± She said. ¡°Go use the console and select the type of simulation you want, then hit start and everyone wearing a necklace will be teleported down. The necklace will simulate the damage you take and deal and your resource expenditure, but you won¡¯t actually be hurt by anything or use anything up. You can turn off pain and wound simulation in the options too, if you want, it¡¯s under ¡®advanced¡¯. Either way, once your necklace has received enough simulated damage that you would be at zero HP, you¡¯re teleported back up here.¡± ¡°And is there a dressing room we can use to change into armor?¡± Alice asked. ¡°Just to the left of the main sitting area there¡¯s a door that leads to bathrooms and locker rooms. You can get changed there.¡± Jared told them. ¡°Perfect. Come on, Tess, let¡¯s get changed!¡± Alice said, bounding off towards the door. ¡°I¡¯m kind of excited to see what it¡¯s like to be on relatively even footing with you, so let¡¯s go!¡± Tess followed, and soon found herself in what looked an awful lot like the locker rooms she was used to on Mael. Alice ducked into a stall, and Tess heard her begin to put on her armor, so she slipped into a nearby stall and began to prepare herself as well. Chapter 41: The Arena Tess waited outside of the dressing room for Alice to finish getting her armor on. Tess had finished putting on her gi first, as slipping into it took much less time than it took Alice to put on her full set of armor. Didn¡¯t knights back on Mael usually have squires to help with that sort of thing? Plate mail wasn¡¯t easy to get into by any stretch, but did Alice¡¯s armor even work like that? Tess hadn¡¯t taken a close look at it and even if she did, she wouldn¡¯t know what to look for, so it probably wasn¡¯t worth thinking about for the time being. Alice was out a few minutes later, and the two made their way over to the settings console. Alice¡¯s parents had already taken a seat and were conversing amongst themselves. Tess had turned off Enhanced Hearing (Perfect) earlier so as to better respect their privacy, so she couldn¡¯t quite make out what they were saying, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves. ¡°So, I was thinking we should try out the urban environment.¡± Alice said, entering that into the console. ¡°We haven¡¯t had any good opportunities to get you versed in urban combat. You haven¡¯t experienced any real monster surges yet, and even if you had the guild¡¯s defenses protect the City super well, so it wouldn¡¯t have spilled into the streets anyway, but you need to know how to deal with this sorta thing. You¡¯ll get called out to deal with it in more remote areas from time to time as you get to a higher rank.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Sounds reasonable. Can we turn off the pain and wound simulation, though? I kinda want it to be a bit more¡­leisurely than regular training, you know?¡± Alice shrugged. ¡°I mean, you¡¯re not going to take much damage anyway, but sure.¡± She started thumbing through the other options, muttering to herself as she did. ¡°Enemy scaling on, enemy AI normal, end condition kill all enemies, starting pack¡­we¡¯ll say two of each kind of restoration potion¡­I think that¡¯s about everything interesting. Any changes you want made?¡± Tess looked over the options menu for a moment. ¡°Any way we can force an end time if it ends up going super long?¡± ¡°Just take off the necklace.¡± Alice said. ¡°You¡¯ll be teleported back up here immediately. If it gets too late, we¡¯ll just stop prematurely.¡± ¡°Then I think that¡¯s all.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Awesome.¡± Alice hit the ¡°create environment¡± button, and a loading bar reading ¡°constructing environment¡­¡± appeared on the console. When Tess looked down through the glass and into the chamber below, she was able to see a city-like area being constructed in front of her eyes, buildings slowly rising out from the floor. ¡°It¡¯s not actually real.¡± Alice informed Tess. ¡°Or, it is, but it¡¯s not something that we could use for actual cities. The materials don¡¯t last too long outside the environment of the chamber below, which apparently insulates Mana really well or something, I don¡¯t know how it works exactly. Still, it¡¯s a little crazy to watch, isn¡¯t it?¡± Tess nodded, mesmerized by the city below her. It only took a couple of minutes for it to finish constructing itself entirely, and soon there was a full-fledged city block below them, the walls growing hazy before an illusion of a city beyond settled into place. ¡°We can¡¯t get too far away from each other, but if we both move in the same direction it¡¯ll generate more city for us to traverse while keeping us in the same relative position. You won¡¯t even notice a thing; it¡¯ll just feel like you¡¯re moving normally. We¡¯re going to have to do that if we want to find all our enemies, since not all of them are going to be loaded at the start. You just let me take the aggro, and you dish out damage, alright?¡± ¡°Yeah, sounds¡­wait, what about Isabella and Silky? Will they be able to help?¡± Alice started. ¡°Oh, right. They won¡¯t be able to interact with the monsters, but they should come down with us as long as Isabella¡¯s inside of you and Silky¡¯s in one of your pockets or something. They should be able to help scout, but they should remain pretty close to us at all times. I¡¯m not sure if the Arena will notice them and stop scrolling things, but best not to risk it.¡± ¡°Alright, then I¡¯m set.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m starting us.¡± Alice hit start, and a glowing 5 appeared on the floor, counted down to 0, and then Tess and Alice were teleported into a building in the cityscape below. Silky immediately hopped out of Tess¡¯s gi, giving a salute. Ready to roll, mistress! Just point me in the direction you want scouted! Tess looked to Alice. ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan here?¡± ¡°We¡¯re doing a search and destroy type thing here, so we need to find the monsters. Silky, you should be able to look at the streets without being noticed, so go ahead and look around, just remember not to get too far away. Silky gave another salute. On it! ¡°¡­And me?¡± Isabella asked. ¡°The same.¡± Tess said. ¡°But you be in charge of looking through the buildings, since you can get past the walls easier.¡± ¡°¡­Got it.¡± Isabella said, drifting out of Tess and up through the ceiling. ¡°While we wait for them to give their preliminary reports, the important thing to remember is collateral damage. Unless absolutely necessary, try to avoid using big area of effect abilities or things that could damage structures. The goal is to not destroy the town you¡¯re trying to protect, you know? ¡°If it¡¯s life or death, though, go wild. There¡¯s no guarantee people will be able to resurrect you if you¡¯re in the stomach of a monster. Buildings aren¡¯t more important than your life.¡± Two dog things in the street, mistress! Silky informed. ¡°Silky says there are a couple of monsters in the street.¡± Tess said, prompting a quizzical look from Alice. ¡°How long have you been able to talk to Silky like that?¡± She asked. ¡°Got it recently.¡± Tess replied. ¡°So, we going or¡­?¡± Alice nodded. ¡°Yeah. Let me take point, and we should be able to deal with these no sweat.¡± And they did. Between the two of them, the ¡°dog things¡± were taken out pretty quickly. And so they began to move their way through the city, methodically taking care of the monsters as they did. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. It was almost disappointing, how easy it was. Things Tess hit just sort of¡­.melted, evaporating the moment she so much as grazed them. ¡°Are you sure the difficulty scaling is set right?¡± Tess eventually asked. ¡°Normal monsters aren¡¯t anywhere near this weak.¡± ¡°It seems alright to me.¡± Alice said, frowning. ¡°And it takes a hit or two for me to kill things, so I¡¯m not sure¡­¡± She trailed off, then seemed to have an epiphany of sorts. ¡°Oh, the default scaling is based off of your stats, not your level. Yeah, it¡¯s no wonder you¡¯re having such an easy time of it, monsters haven¡¯t been this close to you in stats since like¡­Slime Tower. Next time we run through this I¡¯ll make sure to make it scale off of level, so you¡¯ll be challenged.¡± ¡°I thought we were only going to do the one run today?¡± Alice froze. ¡°Yeah, we are, I was just¡­I dunno, I was sort of figuring we could come back again, you know? If we¡¯ve got another free day, I think it would be nice to unwind here, there¡¯s a lot we can do here, and I don¡¯t think my parents mind at all.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Sure, as long as they¡¯re OK with it then I suppose I don¡¯t have an issue with it.¡± Alice gave her a relieved smile. ¡°Thanks.¡± Nothing else of interest happened during their trip. Alice kept teaching her things about clearing monsters in a city, and after another hour or so they had cleared the Arena and were teleported back up above. When they did, Avery took Alice to the side, talking to her in a hushed tone. And, as Tess had forgotten to turn off Enhanced Hearing (Perfect) again after the Arena was done, she was able to catch the beginnings of it. ¡°Have you not told her yet?¡± Avery asked. Tess shut off the Attribute there. Even if Alice wasn¡¯t telling her something, she would rather hear it directly from Alice, not find it out through eavesdropping. She trusted that it wasn¡¯t anything terribly important or dangerous, so whatever it was could wait a bit. Emphasis on ¡®a bit¡¯. She was going to make a point of asking Alice about it when they were on their way home. Alice had been acting¡­weird that day, and she was guessing that whatever Alice wasn¡¯t telling her had something to do with it. Alice glanced over at Tess, so Tess reached up and folded her ears down to indicate that she had turned off the Attribute. Alice gave her a nod in response, then turned back to her mother and resumed talking. Jared, on the other hand, walked over to Tess. ¡°While they¡¯re talking, let¡¯s go get you keyed into the security system.¡± Jared said, smiling. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t take more than a few minutes, I took the liberty of getting the stuff ready while you two were in the Arena.¡± He motioned to the side of the room near where he had been sitting before, an area which now held a table upon which a few instruments were resting. ¡°Uh, yeah, sure.¡± Tess replied, walking over to the table with Jared following close behind. ¡°Are you¡­sure about this, though? I mean, we only met today, it seems a little¡­fast, you know?¡± Jared laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much about it. If we regret it, we can remove you whenever we want, but we¡¯re confident in our assessment of your character. We¡¯ve done our homework, and everyone generally has pretty good things to say about you. More importantly, though, Alice and her teammates think really highly of you.¡± Tess wrinkled her brow. She wouldn¡¯t exactly call that grounds for essentially being given a key to the house, but it wasn¡¯t her house, so she didn¡¯t really feel like it was her place to make that call. Once they were at the table, Jared picked up a small plate connected via cord to some sort of tablet, then handed the plate to Tess. ¡°Go ahead and circulate some of your Mana through here like you¡¯re activating a magic item, we need to get a read on what your magic signature is like.¡± Tess placed a hand on the plate, willing some of her Mana through it. There was a beep from the tablet, and she could see words of some sort scrolling through it. After a moment, Jared nodded. ¡°Perfect. We¡¯ll need to take a couple more readings to make sure there weren¡¯t any issues, but there shouldn¡¯t be.¡± And, after another minute or two of taking readings, they were confident that they had everything accurate. ¡°I¡¯ll get these hooked up into the gate key now, and when you leave, I¡¯ll update it.¡± Jared said, unhooking the tablet from the plate and hooking it into another device. ¡°When you want to come in to the compound, just place your hand on the plate on the gate and put magic through it. It¡¯ll open right on up for you.¡± ¡°And don¡¯t feel shy about visiting!¡± Avery said, walking up to the table. ¡°You¡¯re free to bring your friends or your girlfriend here whenever, so long as you can be sure they won¡¯t mess anything up and come say hi whenever you visit.¡± Alice, blushing furiously, nodded. ¡°Um, yeah. Uh¡­we should probably get going, though. We need to get you home before it gets too late.¡± Avery pouted a little. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to stay for dinner? We don¡¯t mind, really!¡± Alice shook her head. ¡°Sorry. The Guildmaster won¡¯t be happy if I keep her out much later than this on such short notice. It¡¯ll have to wait for some other time.¡± ¡°I suppose I can allow that. Love you, sweetie.¡± Avery said, giving Alice a hug and then, to Tess¡¯s surprise, gave her one as well. ¡°I hope to see you two soon, OK?¡± Jared nodded and pulled Alice into a hug, ruffling her hair, and giving her a kiss on the forehead. ¡°Love you, Alice. Just let us know if you need anything, alright?¡± He let the hug go, giving Tess a wink. ¡°That goes for you too. And thanks for treating Alice nicely, she has precious few people she can call her friends.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough you guys, you¡¯re embarrassing me!¡± Alice said, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and gently beginning to lead her to the changing rooms. ¡°Though, uh, I¡­love you too.¡± Her parents just smiled, waving as Alice and Tess went to go change. They were gone by the time Alice and Tess had finished, and there was a long silence as they walked out of the compound and Alice set up the hoverer. Finally, once they were inside and on their way back to the Outlands, Alice spoke up. ¡°So¡­how much of that conversation with my mom did you hear?¡± She asked, still blushing slightly. ¡°Just that she was surprised you hadn¡¯t told me something.¡± ¡°I¡­see.¡± She said, a difficult expression on her face. ¡°Um¡­are you OK?¡± Tess asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been acting kind of weird all day.¡± Alice sighed, blush growing slightly. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Just¡­embarrassed. I suppose I might as well tell you, though. I didn¡¯t expect they were going to be so¡­open about things.¡± She spoke somewhat haltingly, stopping and starting as if she was struggling to get the words out. ¡°I just¡­I don¡¯t know, this is going to sound kind of weird and clingy, but¡­you mean a lot to me. ¡°Like, I know we¡¯ve only known each other for a couple of months and all, but it feels like it¡¯s been a lot longer than that. Aside from my parents, you¡¯re up there with Ker and Jin when talking about the people I¡¯m closest to. It¡¯s¡­almost like you¡¯re the little sister I never had. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s Target of Affection or if it¡¯s something else, but¡­I dunno, you just mean a lot to me.¡± She looked down, blushing even harder than she had been while talking to her parents. ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose contact with you when we stop training you. The thought scares me, and I know it¡¯s weird because, again, we¡¯ve only known each other for a couple of months, but¡­¡± She trailed off, and Tess waited for a few moments to see if she had anything else to say. When she didn¡¯t continue, Tess spoke up. ¡°Um, I¡­get it, I think. I feel the same way about you and Auntie. Like¡­I guess that for a long time I haven¡¯t really had any family figures in my life except for Gramps and kinda Ellie, and after our month out I guess I just sorta¡­latched onto you two?¡± Tess was blushing now as well. ¡°I do really hope we can keep working together after I¡¯m done training.¡± Alice looked up, cracking an unsteady smile. ¡°Hey, maybe when you and Ellie are higher level you can join our party.¡± ¡°I¡­wouldn¡¯t be opposed to that, but I think Ellie might be. I get the feeling she would prefer it to be just people our age for now. Though¡­I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be strong enough to be considered for your party for quite a while, so she might change her opinion by then. Either way, I want to keep hanging out with you.¡± Alice, still blushing hugely, glanced to the side. ¡°I get where she¡¯s coming from. At that age I didn¡¯t want to party with people older than me either.¡± Their conversation died out, and it took a while before they were able to start having normal conversation again. The rest of the way back to the Outlands was slightly awkward, but still a pleasant trip, and they soon found themselves back in one of the guild¡¯s private rooms. ¡°So¡­um, this is sorta a forward request,¡± Alice said, ¡°but¡­can I hug you before you go?¡± Tess walked over to Alice, giving her a hug. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± They held the hug for a moment before Alice broke it, giving Tess a smile. ¡°See you then.¡± Chapter 42: Change of Pace Tess¡¯s next day of school went relatively smoothly. No one came and yelled at her, so that was a plus, but that didn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t receive some dirty glances when she and Ellie flirted during lunch. Aaron didn¡¯t do anything except for once, when he stared at her expectantly from across the room when no one was looking. In response, she held his gaze, and Isabella undid his belt buckle and the button on his pants. She was in the process of unzipping his fly when Aaron noticed, prompting Tess to wink and turn away as he began to fumble with his pants as surreptitiously as possible, hopping no one had seen. So, she was soon back in The Outlands, heading to her usual meeting place with Alice and Eyfura. But, unlike normal, Alice and Eyfura weren¡¯t there waiting for her. No one was, actually. Tess shrugged it off, assuming that perhaps Alice and Eyfura were in the middle of something that was causing them to be a little late. While she waited, Tess prepared for the day ahead, putting on her gi and activating her wolf parts. Alice and Eyfura still hadn¡¯t shown up, so she took out her phone and began to mess around on it, just whiling away the time until they showed up. It took around ten minutes for Alice and Eyfura to show up. And when they did, they looked¡­somber. Eyfura walked over and took a seat next to Tess, while Alice sat down to the side. ¡°Um¡­is everything OK?¡± Tess asked. ¡°You guys look kind of grim.¡± Eyfura sighed, turning so she was facing Tess. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m resigning as one of your instructors.¡± She said sadly. ¡°It¡¯s not because of anything you did or anything, I¡¯ve had a great time training you, I just¡­¡± She paused, struggling for a moment. ¡°I¡¯ve come to realize that I¡¯m a poor teacher. I know that if I was better you could have beaten Ilmir. I know that, but I don¡¯t know what to do better. ¡°It¡¯s fine if I¡¯m just training someone like Ilmir, I can get the basics into someone, it¡¯s¡­well, you need better. You need fine technique, and that¡¯s something that¡¯s instinctual to me. And I feel like I¡¯m stifling The Rumors¡¯ teaching with my presence. Add that to the fact that you¡¯re an Appointed and that we can¡¯t afford to let your training be stunted, I can¡¯t justify teaching you any longer.¡± She reached in, giving Tess a hug. ¡°I still want to drop in from time to time, but it¡¯s not going to be more than once every couple of weeks. And Ilmir won¡¯t be coming anymore either. I¡¯m effectively changing the consequence of the bet to making her cool her head for a month¡­um, unless you would rather she train as a member of your party underneath you as originally planned.¡± Tess returned the hug. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s going to be sad not seeing you, though, I¡¯m going to miss you.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Eyfura replied, giving Tess a little squeeze. ¡°Next time you have some free time, let me know and I¡¯ll introduce you to the rest of my family, OK?¡± ¡°Sure thing. So, um¡­what now?¡± Eyfura broke the hug, ruffling Tess¡¯s hair. ¡°Now I go catch up on some of the duties I¡¯ve been slacking on.¡± She stood up, heading over to the door. She stopped before she left, turning back to Tess. ¡°And if you need anything, I¡¯m just a call away, alright?¡± And with that she left, leaving Tess and Alice alone. Tess looked to Alice. ¡°So, it¡¯s just us, then?¡± Alice shook her head. ¡°Ava wants to join us, but she¡¯s going to be another few minutes.¡± ¡°Ava¡¯s coming?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Yeah. When she heard Eyfura was going to quit she volunteered to take her place. Something about not wanting to leave you without one of The Titans overseeing your growth at this critical stage.¡± ¡°Yeah, that.¡± Ava said, announcing her presence by closing the door. ¡°To tell you the truth, I¡¯m probably best suited to be the one teaching you for now. You¡¯re going to end up fulfilling a role remarkably similar to my own, so I can teach you the ins and outs of it.¡± She turned to Alice. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind, but I have a curriculum thought up. I figured we could go over it, but I also don¡¯t want to step on your toes, so you don¡¯t have to use any of it if you don¡¯t want to.¡± Alice blinked. ¡°I, uh, um¡­I¡¯m honestly sort of winging it and teaching her things as they come up in dungeons, since we¡¯re still getting her Skills rounded out. So, if you have some further structure then I¡¯m open to it.¡± Ava smiled, walking over and sitting down in a chair across from Alice and Tess. ¡°Perfect. So, my first thought is that we¡¯re going to dramatically cut down on dungeon time. We¡¯ll still do some runs, but they¡¯re mostly going to be to get Skills or levels, not to teach her things. ¡°Instead of just dungeons there are three main things I want to focus on. The first is getting her to learn about the wider world. She¡¯s an Appointed now, it¡¯s necessary for her to have at least a basic knowledge of the other planes and their cultures. The second is training and teaching her combat theory. I¡¯ll be teaching her things in low stress situations, and she¡¯ll practice what she¡¯s learned on the two of us so we can be sure she¡¯s got it exactly right. ¡°And the last is practical combat, which is going into dungeons with the express purpose of letting her use what she¡¯s learned there or for levels and Skills. We¡¯ll set up certain situations and she¡¯ll have to adapt to them on the fly. We won¡¯t be able to recreate every situation she¡¯ll end up in, but we can at least pretend she¡¯s in parties of differing compositions.¡± ¡°Actually,¡± Alice said, ¡°my parents have given us permission for her to visit their manor whenever, and they recently got an Arena. I can talk to them and ask if we could use it for training.¡± Ava¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Really? I¡¯d love to try that out! I¡¯ve always wanted to really see what they could do. In that case, I¡¯ll have to rebalance the time investment I was thinking of so she gets levels and Skills at roughly the same pace as I was planning¡­¡± She trailed off, thinking that over. ¡°Well, I can look that over later, today I was hoping to get her familiar with the culture here. Specifically gambling culture, since that¡¯s the most immediately relevant to her.¡± Alice frowned. ¡°Are we¡­sure we should be throwing her into that right away? It can get pretty seedy and she¡¯s not fully able to defend herself if someone gets frisky. I know we¡¯ll be there but if she somehow gets separated from us¡­¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Ava waved a hand. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, I¡¯ll keep a close eye on her. Still, you have a valid point, so I have a bit of¡­insurance.¡± She reached into her bag, pulling out a couple of rings and then tossing them to Tess and Alice. ¡°Just funnel some Mana into that bad boy and everyone else wearing a matching ring will know exactly where you are. If you get in trouble just put in some Mana then Alice and I will come running.¡± Alice nodded. ¡°That does make me feel a bit better, but¡­¡± Ava sighed. ¡°I know. Still, she has to jump into this sometime. She¡¯s been tasked with reforming the system and she can¡¯t do that if she doesn¡¯t know anything about the system. I¡¯d like for her to be able to think about her plans during training and see if she can¡¯t figure something out.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with it as long as you two are with me.¡± Tess said. ¡°I trust you to keep me safe. Besides, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to be immediately targeted just for going into a casino, right?¡± ¡°I suppose you two are right.¡± Alice admitted. ¡°But we¡¯re going to need disguises, right? I can¡¯t imagine we¡¯d get a good feel for the culture if we¡¯re recognized and get immediately taken to the higher-stakes areas.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Ava said, rummaging around in her bag. ¡°I have just the thing, though.¡± She took out a core and a few coats, walking over and giving the core and a coat to Tess and one of the other coats to Alice. ¡°Go ahead and absorb that core, it¡¯s from a fox monster. Just swap out your ears and tail and that¡¯ll make it that much harder for people to recognize you. The coats have recognition inhibitors too, but they¡¯re not foolproof and I figured it was so easy for Tess to add another layer of anonymity that we might as well.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Before I absorb this, there¡¯s some¡­Class Crystal or something that can let me change my Class here in the guild, right? Fortune wants me to do that before I absorb this.¡± ¡°I brought one with me.¡± Ava said, taking a small but shiny crystal out of her bag. ¡°Go ahead and change your Class, let us know when you¡¯re done.¡± She gave Tess the crystal, and Tess mentally willed it to change her Class to Artisan of Affliction.
You have changed your Class to Artisan of Affliction!
Once she confirmed that her Class had changed, she absorbed the core she had been given.
You have absorbed a Monstrous Fox (Young) Core! Slots filled: 10/26 You have gained 25 EXP in Monster Breeder! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ No new Skills or abilities detected! Displaying core information: Monstrous Fox (Young) Core: Level 3 Estimated Power: 7 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 11 Current Skills: None Current Attributes: Fur (Fundamental) Kemonomimi (Fox) (Fundamental) Night Vision (Inferior) Sharp Claws Sharp Fangs Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental) New Attributes discovered! Kemonomimi (Fox): Kemonomimi (Fox) replaces a creature¡¯s regular ears and tail with those of a fox, as well as providing ears or a tail to creatures without.
She swapped Kemonomimi (Wolf) for the fox version, and another window popped up in front of her.
Well, that was¡­not what I expected to happen. You¡¯re not really supposed to be able to gain experience on Classes that aren¡¯t active, you should have just not gained experience at all or gained experience in Artisan of Affliction. Uh¡­guess we just hardcoded the act of absorbing cores to give experience to Monster Breeder? I mean on the one hand it¡¯s a lot better than not getting experience at all, but on the other it means we can¡¯t absorb a bunch of cores to swiftly level up new Classes. Ah well, it is what it is. Thanks for testing that out for me.
She nodded, waved away the window, handed the crystal back to Ava, and put on the coat. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m ready.¡± She said. Ava put the crystal away and put on her coat as well. ¡°I think we¡¯ll be heading to the city¡¯s largest casino, the Vermillion Arc. Does that sound alright to you, Alice?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Alice replied, relief in her voice. ¡°As far as I know they¡¯re about as up and up as these things get, so I don¡¯t have too much of a problem with them.¡± Ava smiled. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t throw her right into the seedy side of things immediately, she doesn¡¯t even know how gambling works with the presence of stats, let alone how to spot a scam.¡± She turned to Tess. ¡°With that in mind, don¡¯t win every single game. We¡¯re going to have you play a few and I know you have the capability to always win, but you can¡¯t. If you do, we¡¯re going to get caught cheating and kicked out, and needless to say we don¡¯t want that. Just win barely over half, alright? People won¡¯t get suspicious then.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°I can handle that. So, we¡¯re actually going to be gambling then?¡± ¡°Yeah. Not much of a better way to get a feel for gambling culture than to actually gamble. Things can get kind of complicated, so just listening to me tell you about it won¡¯t be as good as actually experiencing it for yourself. We¡¯re going to give you a pretty small sum to work with, just a gold coin, but it should be enough to do just about everything.¡± And with that the group left the guild and began their walk through the city. Their trip took them to a part of the city that Tess had never been in before, where the buildings began to get bigger and flashier, and the people began to look seedier. It wasn¡¯t that they looked directly harmful looking, just that there were a lot of drunkards, people hawking sketchy goods, and even a couple of people advertising places that Tess suspected were brothels of some sort. Alice pulled Tess a little closer. ¡°Just¡­stick close, alright? People aren¡¯t going to try and mug you or pickpocket you on this street, but you could get scammed. Don¡¯t make eye contact with anyone and don¡¯t respond if they call to you.¡± She instructed. ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t. But¡­is it really OK to have this sort of sketchy place in the city?¡± ¡°There kind of has to be one.¡± Ava said. ¡°This is the city of freelancers, and, as the name implies, they tend not take kindly to people telling them what they can and can¡¯t enjoy. If we tried to ban them outright, we¡¯d lose a lot of support from people in the guild, and that would greatly destabilize things in the region. So, we figured we¡¯d impose restrictions and then try and keep all the more¡­potentially scummy businesses in one area and police it heavier. For the most part it¡¯s kept things from spilling over too much, but we haven¡¯t had the means to do much more.¡± They kept walking for a few more minutes before they stopped in front of a particularly elaborate building. It was big and colored red, with a large flashing sign that read ¡°Vermillion Arc¡± adorning the front. They went into the building, and the inside was¡­about what Tess had expected. Plush carpets, ornately designed counters and walls, flashing lights all over, and some sort of music going in the background. Ava led them over to a counter, where a lady greeted them with a smile. ¡°Welcome to the Vermillion Arc!¡± She said. ¡°How many tokens can I get for you?¡± Ava placed three gold coins onto the counter. ¡°Exchange these, please.¡± The lady smoothly took the coins, reached down, deposited the coins, then dropped three stacks of small discs onto the counter. ¡°There you are. Remember, tokens cannot be taken out of the establishment and can be exchanged for currency again at any time. Anything else I can do for you?¡± ¡°That¡¯ll be all, thank you.¡± Ava said. She gave a stack of the tokens to Tess and one to Alice, taking the last for herself. She led the group away from the counter and into one of the more open areas. ¡°We¡¯ll start with some of the easiest stuff to grasp, and gradually work our way into the more complicated stuff, alright?¡± Tess nodded. She felt a little wary about this all, but she reminded herself that, unless the machines were totally rigged, there was no risk for her, and she could focus on learning how everything worked. ¡°Let¡¯s go, I guess.¡± Chapter 43: Vermillion Arc Tess was standing in front of a slot machine, Ava and Alice to her side. ¡°Go ahead and put a little of your mana into the panel on the side.¡± She instructed. ¡°The machine has to scan your Luck to know what odds to give you.¡± Tess did as she was told, and soon a glowing ¡°50¡± appeared on the panel. A moment after that, two boxes appeared to either side, one reading ¡°adjusted¡± and one reading ¡°standard¡±. ¡°What are these?¡± Tess asked, looking curiously at them. ¡°It¡¯s a way of changing the chance that each symbol comes up.¡± Alice explained. ¡°It¡¯s a way for people with high or low Luck to be able to have a fair chance at things. By selecting adjusted, the machine changes its odds so that, with your Luck, you¡¯ll get things at the ¡®normal¡¯ rate with normal payouts. Standard has the machine not account for Luck at all, so the chances of you getting what you want might increase or decrease, but the payout will increase or decrease accordingly.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°And what if there¡¯s someone with super high Luck? Wouldn¡¯t they just win every time and always make money?¡± ¡°A good observation.¡± Ava replied. ¡°Most machines have a cap on the positive odds, not letting people go past about sixty percent in their favor. And if you do have odds higher than standard, many places also implement an additional fee for playing at those odds. You¡¯ll still make money if you win, but places have done the math; over the long run, the house always wins. Go ahead and put in some tokens and take it for a few spins on both settings.¡± Tess inserted a token into a slot and pressed the ¡°adjusted¡± button. The reels of the machine started to spin, so she pulled the lever and watched as they came to a stop. She won part of what she had put in back, but not the whole thing. A few spins later and she had a sum that was slightly more than what she had started with, so she pressed the button that read ¡°end¡± and gathered the dispensed tokens, inserting them again to try the ¡°standard¡± setting. The part of the screen that showed what each combination of things was worth changed, the numbers going up to reflect a relatively lower Luck. She won things a lot less often that time, eventually stopping once she was at around half of the amount she originally had. ¡°Alright, I think I¡¯m done.¡± She said. ¡°Now what?¡± Ava smiled. ¡°What do you think about this system? Is it a good and fair one?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°On paper, I guess. But¡­what assurance do I have that the adjusted probabilities are what they say they are? Couldn¡¯t they tip things in their favor slightly so I¡¯m not really getting normal odds?¡± Ava nodded. ¡°Good. There isn¡¯t really a regulating body for this sort of thing, so this sort of scam is all too common. High profile places like this are generally clean, but there¡¯s really not a good way of telling, so people have to get by on reputation. What else?¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know what Luck the machine is calibrated around, so I can¡¯t confirm I¡¯m getting fair odds that way, either? Also, there should probably be a cap on low Luck like there is high Luck, or at least a cap on number of successive tries with low Luck, since it seems to me like people will go on huge losing streaks there with no realistic chance of payout.¡± ¡°Excellent observations. Though, when it actually comes time to start cleaning things up, you might want to hold off on that last suggestion until things are somewhat under control. You¡¯re going to get a lot of pushback on it, and it¡¯s debatably less predatory, since people at least think they know what they¡¯re getting into. Best to save that until you¡¯ve established yourself more and can afford to throw that sort of suggestion around. Anything to add, Alice?¡± Alice shook her head. ¡°No, I¡­can¡¯t think of anything off the top of my head. Do we want to move on to the next thing?¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s.¡± Ava said, leading the group down past the slots and to another set of machines. They went through several different types of gambling machines like this, Ava pointing out how they could be rigged. They all had in common the ¡°adjusted/standard¡± system, but aside from that they differed wildly in how they played. Eventually, they had exhausted all the ¡°simple¡± games, and it came time to get into the more complex ones. ¡°So, things get messy when you have multiplayer games, since everybody¡¯s Luck is going to affect things in different ways.¡± Ava explained. ¡°And that has a lot of potential for abuse. Right now, the only truly safe way to bet when multiple people are involved is in something that doesn¡¯t have anything to do with Luck, like races. There are just too many factors otherwise.¡± They stopped at what appeared to be a roulette table with a few people gathered around it. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t stop people.¡± Ava whispered. ¡°They have all these formulas for how the odds change when people place their bets, but the system has a lot of problems. See if you can find them when we have a play, alright?¡± ¡°Ah, newcomers.¡± The man behind the roulette said. ¡°Please take your seat at the table, we¡¯ll begin in three minutes.¡± Alice, Tess, and Ava sat down at a seat that was as far away from the other participants as possible. Like with the other machines, there was a plate to verify her Luck, so Tess went ahead and did so. After she did, a display on the table lit up, showing all the different things she could bet on and the odds for each of them. Unlike with the single player games, there was no option to adjust for her Luck, so she punched in something that gave a decent return, putting about a fourth of her tokens as the bet. As she did, the odds updated to account for her bet, and the screen displayed a message that read ¡°One bet change used. Bets may be changed another two times before the round begins.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a way for people to change their bets if the odds change to something they don¡¯t like after the round starts.¡± Alice explained. After three minutes, the display dimmed, and the man behind the roulette pressed a button, releasing a ball onto the wheel. It went around the edge a few times before eventually landing in the slot that Tess had bet on. A few people groaned and slid their tokens over to the man, who redistributed them to the winners, along with a couple of extra tokens he had to the side. They played a couple more rounds before leaving. Once they were out of earshot, Ava asked the question she had asked Tess after every game they had played. ¡°How could this be manipulated?¡± ¡°Um¡­I¡¯m not sure how the odds account for that dealer guy. He would affect them, right?¡± Alice nodded. ¡°Yup. People just have to live with that fact and assume what the casinos are showing is accurate. That¡¯s one way shady places get you.¡± ¡°And I can¡¯t be sure whatever formula they use is accurate, right? I don¡¯t have any idea how Luck affects things, so¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s another one.¡± Ava agreed. ¡°What else?¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Tess frowned. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know, I can¡¯t think of any other obvious ones at the moment.¡± ¡°Sometimes casinos will hire people with high Luck to skew odds.¡± Ava explained. ¡°They give their winnings back to the casino, which further puts the odds in favor of the casino. That one¡¯s always a risk with multiplayer things, but there¡¯s no way to be sure it¡¯s not happening, so again we just have to rely on reputation.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°That¡¯s not going to be fun to deal with. Seems a bit harder to police than everything else.¡± ¡°Just keep thinking about it.¡± Ava encouraged. ¡°After we leave, I¡¯d like to hear your preliminary thoughts and we¡¯ll hash things out together. For now, though, let¡¯s just keep going.¡± Tess nodded, and the group moved on to their next activity. After about an hour or so, they had seen every type of gambling this casino had offered, and they retreated back to an exchange counter. ¡°Thank you for visiting the Vermillion Arc!¡± The cashier said. ¡°How many tokens would you like to exchange?¡± Tess placed their winnings, which amounted to just slightly more than they came in with, onto the counter, and the cashier took them, counted them up, and then gave some coins back. ¡°There you are, come visit us again!¡± They took the money and left. Once they were out of the casino, Ava turned to Tess. ¡°So, what do you think of it, in general? I have a silencing spell up right now, so don¡¯t worry about being overheard.¡± ¡°I dunno, it seems¡­complicated. It was a lot simpler on Mael where we didn¡¯t have Luck to deal with.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t be for long.¡± Ava replied, smirking. ¡°But, do you think you can handle this?¡± ¡°I¡­maybe.¡± Tess said. ¡°I was sort of thinking that the first thing I could get started with was introducing a standardized form of machine for stuff like slots. If I could somehow get in charge of the producers, then we could have machines that have my stamp of approval, which are guaranteed to be safe. Problem is, I don¡¯t know how to manufacture those and don¡¯t have the means to do that anyway.¡± ¡°I could help with that.¡± Alice volunteered. ¡°I have the resources and it sounds like something that would make a lot of money, so don¡¯t feel like you¡¯re putting me out or anything.¡± ¡°Would you? That¡¯d help out a bunch!¡± Tess replied enthusiastically. As silly as it sounded, she really hadn¡¯t thought of having Alice help before. She had only been thinking in terms of what she, Fortune, and maybe Ellie could do, so the thought hadn¡¯t even crossed her mind. Ava nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Good, that¡¯s a start. Who¡¯s going to do the math when it comes to Luck? You¡¯re going to need to get those equations somehow.¡± Tess blinked. ¡°I was figuring I could just ask Fortune, she should know, right?¡±
Yeah, I can get those to you. Let me know when you need them, and I¡¯ll just send them to you like this so you can write them down.
¡°Fortune says she can do that.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°So that¡¯s that problem.¡± Ava gave her a smile. ¡°I¡¯m glad you were already thinking of that.¡± She said. ¡°This is just as much Fortune¡¯s responsibility as it is yours, so don¡¯t feel shy in asking her for help. A lot of new Appointed tend to feel like they¡¯re putting their god out, so remember that you¡¯re equal partners. You¡¯re already doing a lot of work for her, so it¡¯s the least she can do to help you with things like this.¡± ¡°Right, so that¡­should take care of the single player things.¡± Tess continued. ¡°I mean, I¡¯d have to do inspections or something to make sure everything¡¯s as intended, but¡­¡± She trailed off. ¡°Wait, I can just do that with random monster drops. That¡¯s should work, right, Fortune?¡±
Oh yeah, that bit of pseudo-divination you did way back when. I forgot about that since you haven¡¯t used it at all. Yeah, go ahead, that¡¯s just a time saver for your duties, not really abusing anything too much. Plus, it¡¯ll keep people on their toes, since they won¡¯t have any idea how you¡¯re getting that information. I like it.
¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine, so there¡¯s that taken care of too. I¡¯ll just do that every once in a while, and that should be that.¡± Ava gave Tess a curious look. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to know too.¡± Alice agreed. ¡°It¡¯s the first I¡¯m hearing of it.¡± ¡°Oh, right, Ker probably didn¡¯t tell you. There was an oversight in Fortune¡¯s Blessing that lets me use it as a way to essentially ask the universe yes or no questions, and ask for certain drops on a yes and certain drops on a no. Then depending on what I get, I know the answer. She¡¯s since fixed the issue and given me another Blessing that lets me do that so long as I don¡¯t abuse it.¡± Alice raised an eyebrow. ¡°So, you¡¯re telling me you have a completely accurate way of getting an answer to whatever question you have?¡± ¡°Yes? I don¡¯t want to use it for just anything, though. Again, it¡¯ll get taken away if I just start using it willy-nilly, so I only want to use it for important stuff.¡± Alice just shook her head. ¡°I suppose I shouldn¡¯t be too surprised at stuff like this at this point. I can¡¯t hold you to the same standards I hold everyone else.¡± ¡°To be fair,¡± Ava said, ¡°that can pretty easily be emulated by just¡­asking Fortune what you need to know. This is just a more automated way of going about that. Anyway, that¡¯s the single player stuff taken care of, have you given thought to multiplayer games?¡± ¡°Yeah, a bit.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯d want there to be ways for it to be more transparent, like the dealer has to have a ¡°default¡± outcome they want and their Luck needs to be made visible to the players, so they know what they¡¯re getting into, so there might need to be some sort of standard machine or something that can be used to display that. Shouldn¡¯t be too hard, since there are already Luck scanners. ¡°I¡¯m more concerned about those hired people you guys mentioned earlier, though. I can¡¯t think of a way to really prevent that aside from¡­well, opening my own casino? I don¡¯t know how good of an idea that is, though, since the goal here is to reform the culture around it as a whole and opening just one guaranteed-safe place seems like a patch job.¡± ¡°You could just make it forbidden and use that same divination thing you mentioned earlier to determine if places are doing it.¡± Alice suggested. ¡°Should be simple enough.¡± ¡°Right, duh.¡± Tess said, slapping a hand to her forehead. ¡°I literally just talked about doing that with checking machines, I shoulda thought of that.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s what we¡¯re here for.¡± Alice said. ¡°To help you think of ideas.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what else I can think of. Maybe some sort of certification for dealers that shows they¡¯re not scamming? Though I would want a way to check them for evidence of wrongdoing that doesn¡¯t involve me manually confirming each one. It¡¯s one thing to do that for ten or so big establishments or chains, but for hundreds or thousands of dealers? That¡¯s just far too much work.¡± ¡°You could call in the dealers for questioning with one of Truth¡¯s lie detectors and revoke the certificate if people break the rules.¡± Ava suggested. ¡°Make a small organization here in the city and have people renew their certifications here every few months. Then all you have to do is check if anyone in your agency has broken the rules.¡± Tess tapped her chin thoughtfully. ¡°I suppose I could make it with like¡­ten people that handle things like allegations of cheating, and then I could check everyone in a batch and only look deeper if any of them have done something shady. Though¡­I can¡¯t help but wonder if there¡¯s a better way to disincentivize breaking the rules than just removing a license. Are there like¡­curses that the gods can give?¡± Ava nodded. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s not something they like to do willy-nilly, though, so it would have to be for big-time rule breakers. For smaller ones I think just a ban from getting certified again would be enough. Still something worth considering if Fortune¡¯s up to it, though.¡±
Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have enough Worship to just throw around Curses for every infraction, but I can handle it for big deals. Hopefully I shouldn¡¯t need to, the threat is usually enough to get people to fall in line, though.
¡°She says she can do big rule breakers.¡± Tess relayed. ¡°So, that¡¯s that, I suppose. And that¡¯s really all I was thinking about, aside from game specific things, don¡¯t know if you want to hear those.¡± ¡°Lay it on us.¡± Alice said. ¡°We¡¯re not doing anything right now anyway.¡± And so, the rest of their walk was filled with discussion, and by the time they had gotten back to the guild Tess was feeling a lot better about her upcoming task. It was a big task, sure, but she had a clear way to go about things now. ¡°Thanks for your help.¡± She told Ava and Alice. ¡°I really do appreciate it, I was lowkey stressing about this all.¡± ¡°It¡¯s what we¡¯re here for.¡± Ava said, waving a hand dismissively. ¡°Now, for the rest of the day I was thinking we would do some training in the training yard, does that sound good to you two?¡± There were no objections, so they made their way to the training yard, where the rest of their day was spent teaching Tess how to more effectively use the Skills she had. And, a few hours later, they were done, Tess said her goodbyes, and then was off for home, where dinner, relaxation, and, eventually, sleep would be waiting. Chapter 44: Shes a Witch Tess didn¡¯t flinch as Aaron¡¯s palm collided with the wood of the library desk she was sitting at. ¡°Take back what you¡¯ve done, you¡­you witch!¡± He hissed, face red with anger. Tess held up a finger, finishing the process of writing out the equation she was working on before placing her pencil down and giving Aaron a smile. ¡°And what would that be?¡± ¡°You¡­you know!¡± He blustered. ¡°You put some kind of curse on me or something! Hurry up and remove it!¡± ¡°Curse?¡± Tess asked, faking innocence. ¡°Magic¡¯s not real, so I don¡¯t see how I could do something like that.¡± Aaron grit his teeth. ¡°You¡¯re the only one who¡¯s seen the stuff that¡¯s been happening to me! You even winked at me once!¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t the foggiest idea what you¡¯re talking about. Are you sure I wasn¡¯t¡­what was the phrase you used¡­ah, that¡¯s right ¡®making eyes at you¡¯? ¡°I¡¯ll ruin you.¡± Aaron replied. ¡°I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re a witch or whatever, you won¡¯t find any peace in this town, no, in this country.¡± Tess gave him her best winning smile. ¡°Let¡¯s say, for the sake of argument, I am ¡®a witch or whatever¡¯. Wouldn¡¯t I be able to do a lot more than just¡­minor pranks? Perhaps whatever you think you¡¯re experiencing might only be a warning.¡± Aaron paled slightly but glared at her indignantly regardless. ¡°Not necessarily. You¡¯re just trying to scare me off. If you could do worse, you would.¡± Tess maintained her smile as best she could. ¡°Aaron, not everyone goes straight for the throat like you.¡± ¡°A witch would.¡± Tess looked carefully around and, once she was sure no one was watching, stood up. She took a moment to activate Induce Hopelessness, the degraded version of one of the Skills she had received from Isabella¡¯s core, then placed a hand over the one Aaron still had on the desk. The Skill was weaker on Mael than it normally was, but it was still enough to briefly freeze Aaron in place as she stood up on her tiptoes to speak into his ear. ¡°Trust me, I can be a lot nastier if I want.¡± She whispered, extending a claw on the finger of her free hand. Aaron watched in horror as she sliced the claw through the edge of the desk, cutting through it like it was made of butter. Tess took her hand off of his, giving him a smile. Aaron fell onto the floor, looking up at Tess in terror. ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re a monster!¡± He exclaimed. ¡°I-I¡¯m going to the church! They¡¯re going to come and hunt you down!¡± Tess held the finger to her lips, claw already retracted. ¡°Quiet. We¡¯re in the library. And, for the record, I¡¯m on very good terms with the church, so go ahead and try to tell them about, I guarantee you¡¯ll find no success. Now leave, I need to finish my homework.¡± She sat down as if nothing had happened, picking up her pencil and resuming work on the problem. ¡°Y¡­you¡¯re going to regret this!¡± Aaron said, scrambling back to his feet and slowly beginning to walk backwards. Tess sighed, putting the pencil back down and turning back to face the trembling Aaron. ¡°Really? Do you really want to play this game again? I won¡¯t be so nice this time around, so, by all means, antagonize me more. I just want to live a quiet life here, but I¡¯m getting real sick of people pushing me around because they think they can get away with it. ¡°Your parents may be some bigshots, but that doesn¡¯t give you the right to walk all over people like they¡¯re lesser because they weren¡¯t born into money. Trust me when I say that, sometime in the future, you¡¯re going to realize just how insignificant you are. When that time comes, come find me. Perhaps I¡¯ll be willing to give you some advice.¡± Her gaze hardened, and she made a shooing motion. ¡°Now, get out of my sight. I need all the time I can get for this homework, and I don¡¯t want to waste it arguing with someone too self-obsessed to realize that other humans are people too.¡± Aaron turned around, going from slow back-walk to a run as he fled from Tess. In his place, Isabella remained, giving Tess a questioning look. ¡°Did I do¡­good? Should I continue?¡± She asked. Tess smiled. ¡°You did perfect. You can come back into me now, you don¡¯t need to worry about him anymore.¡± Isabella smiled, and floated back into Tess. Tess placed a hand on the gouge in the desk and muttered a mending spell, putting all the Mana she could muster into it. It wasn¡¯t enough to fully heal the desk, not on Mael, but it was enough to make it appear as if it had just been nicked by something minor like a set of scissors. A few moments later, one of the librarians rounded the corner. ¡°Is everything OK, Tess?¡± He asked, giving her a worried look. ¡°I heard a commotion.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Mr. Evans.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Aaron was coming in to give me a hard time, but we worked it out. The desk got nicked, though, sorry.¡± ¡°That¡¯s alright.¡± Mr. Evans said. ¡°He didn¡¯t hurt you, did he? He¡¯s been acting¡­erratic lately and a few of us have been getting worried he might do something reckless.¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯m perfectly fine. He tried to threaten me and distracted me from my homework, but that¡¯s all.¡± Mr. Evans sighed. ¡°I¡¯m going to need to write up an incident report, then. Let¡¯s go back to my office, I need to know what he tried to do.¡± Tess followed Mr. Evans back to his office, where he had her sit down at his desk. ¡°Would you like some candy?¡± He asked, opening his drawer and holding up a piece of chocolate. ¡°Sure.¡± Tess replied, grabbing the chocolate and unwrapping it. Mr. Evans sat down at his desk. ¡°So, what exactly happened?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Do you want me to start from last time he tried this or now?¡± Mr. Evans pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°He tried to threaten you before? Alright, start from there.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°So, a few days ago I was in the library studying, and he came to me when we were alone. He claimed I had been ¡®making eyes at him¡¯ and ¡®leading him on¡¯ for months and said that I wasn¡¯t allowed to just suddenly get a girlfriend and pretend I wasn¡¯t. ¡°I told him I wasn¡¯t and had no romantic interest in him, and he said I didn¡¯t have to have romantic interest, I just wanted his money and used my looks to get him to treat me well. He told me to ¡®take responsibility¡¯ and, at the least, make a public apology or he¡¯d make my school life miserable. ¡°I said no and told him not to mess with me or I¡¯d have to try and deal with things. He said he wasn¡¯t scared and that I had one week, and that was that.¡± Mr. Evans groaned. ¡°You know, you really shouldn¡¯t have threatened him back. Not just because, as a faculty member, I¡¯m obligated to tell you that, but because it¡¯ll make things a lot harder if we try and get him in trouble. He¡¯ll have at least some excuse for his behavior, flimsy as it is.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°I know, I just¡­was done with dealing with him, you know? Anyway, today he barged in again and claimed told me to ¡®take back what I¡¯ve done¡¯ and called me a witch. He said that I put some sort of curse on him and to fix it. I, of course, told him magic wasn¡¯t real. We argued for a bit more, then he freaked out, told me he was gonna call the church on me and get them to hunt me down, like people still burn witches at the stake, and then ran away.¡± Mr. Evans frowned. ¡°And that¡¯s all that happened?¡± ¡°Just about. How am I supposed to convince him I¡¯m not some sort of witch? That¡¯s an inherently unprovable statement.¡± ¡°Did anything else happen that you¡¯re not telling me about?¡± ¡°Not¡­really?¡± Tess lied. ¡°I mean, I could tell you about the paranormal things he claimed I did, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s really important. It¡¯s just gibberish.¡± Mr. Evans gave another sigh. ¡°Alright, you can go, then, I need to write this up. Let me know immediately if anything else happens, okay?¡± Tess nodded, and left the office. The rest of the school day was uneventful, and she soon found herself in the car with Ellie. ¡°No need to wait for Isabella anymore.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯ve dealt with Aaron, so she¡¯ll be with me again.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Ellie responded. ¡°What happened?¡± Tess relayed everything that happened while Ellie began driving. After hearing the story, Ellie gave her a worried look. ¡°Are you sure you weren¡¯t too reckless, showing him your claws like that? Rumors are going to start going around.¡± ¡°Let them.¡± Tess replied. ¡°No one¡¯s really going to believe that sort of stuff, and the desk definitely doesn¡¯t have a gouge in it like he¡¯s going to say. Besides, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to be around here much later on in life, so I don¡¯t really see it coming back to bite me in the butt. Yes, I might have been reckless, but I think it was worth it. I¡¯m done putting up with his crap and I don¡¯t want to just sit there and take it anymore. Especially because he¡¯s clearly attracted to me and I really don¡¯t want to deal with that.¡± ¡°But¡­school¡¯s going to get harder, Tess. You¡¯re going to be ostracized, even if it¡¯s just because of the rumor, not because he tells them to.¡± Tess rolled her eyes. ¡°Oh no, people I don¡¯t really care about are going to avoid me for like three months, whatever am I going to do?¡± She said sarcastically. ¡°Our friends aren¡¯t going to care, and it doesn¡¯t affect my relationship with you or anyone in the Outlands, so it doesn¡¯t really bother me. Besides, we¡¯re supposed to start introducing people to the Outlands and stuff anyway, so it works, right? ¡°Tess, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s how they wanted us to do it.¡± Ellie paused. ¡°Alright, Death sent me a message, but I¡¯m not reading it until we get home. I¡¯m not taking my eyes off of the road. We¡¯ll talk about that then, alright?¡± So that particular conversated was halted until they got home, when Ellie took a moment whatever Death had sent her. ¡°Fine, apparently your intimidation was technically within the realms of what we¡¯re supposed to do, but it is a bit premature. Death says it¡¯s fine if we do a couple of things here and there, but she wants us to hold off from spreading supernatural events in earnest until school¡¯s over.¡± ¡°How much are we going to do that, by the way? I mean, I know we¡¯re introducing Jacob to the Outlands and probably a few other people, but exactly how much are we going to let the town know?¡± Ellie stared off into space, clearly reading a message. ¡°Life says they want this place to be a paranormal hotspot. Like, world-famous level hotspot, they want this to be the place people go to if they¡¯re investigating the supernatural. They say that you¡¯re kind of integral to that plan, since you bring a lot of manpower to the table with Monster Breeder. You can make all sorts of different things happen.¡± ¡°What happens when the government inevitably gets involved?¡± Tess asked. ¡°They can¡¯t ignore something like that forever.¡± Ellie read another message. ¡°We¡¯re apparently going to meet with the Prime Minister and explain everything ourselves. Well, us and Gramps, as envoys of the gods. So, um, that¡¯s going to be a fun adventure, I guess?¡± Tess laughed nervously. ¡°That¡¯s going to be kind of weird. It¡¯s one thing to meet with all these other important people I¡¯d never heard of before, but like¡­I dunno, the Prime Minister just feels more¡­real, you know?¡± ¡°I felt the same way about Life and Death.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­weird. We¡¯re important now, Tess.¡±
Always have been.
¡°Have not.¡± Tess countered. ¡°I was basically a nobody until I moved in with Ellie and Gramps.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Ellie asked, confused. Tess blushed. ¡°Uh, Fortune sent a message saying ¡®always have been¡¯ when you said we were important now. And, you know, you were because you¡¯re related to Gramps, but like¡­until Gramps adopted me, I was just some random kid.¡±
At least one god literally knew of you, personally, since you were born. I¡¯m pretty sure that counts as you being important. You were probably gonna be one of the first couple of people on Mael to know about the Outlands.
¡°But that¡¯s just because my family was friends with Ellie¡¯s. If we hadn¡¯t been, I¡¯d just be some orphan.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not totally sure of the context, but don¡¯t say that.¡± Ellie said firmly. ¡°There¡¯s no use talking about what ifs. In the end, a lot of important people are important because of an accident of birth. If I wasn¡¯t related to Grandpa, I would just be some orphan too, so we¡¯re in the same boat.¡± Tess frowned. Even though they were in the middle of a conversation, something more important had occurred to her. ¡°Ellie, I just realized. There¡¯s magic that brings people back from the dead, right? Why¡­why didn¡¯t Gramps bring your parents back?¡± Ellie opened her mouth to speak, then shut it, staring off into space as she read a message. Tess wasn¡¯t left out either, though, as Fortune gave her a message too.
Ah, um, that. It¡¯s...well, I suppose you deserve to know. He tried, he really, really tried. He was even going to bring your parents back too and let all of you in on the secret at once, since he knew that reviving Ellie¡¯s parents would mean she would probably move back to the Outlands with them and couldn¡¯t bear the thought of you just¡­being left completely alone. But¡­well, it was too late. Their plane was at the bottom of the ocean by the time he heard, and as strong a magician as he is, even he couldn¡¯t pull off getting them out with Mael being so restrictive to magic, and when he tried to get Fate to Descend, Amy stopped it. She¡­well, she said that these things happen, and that there would be some serious ramifications if we allowed what would inevitably end up being a high-visibility use of magic here before everything was ready. Please don¡¯t blame him, he really did everything he could. He still hasn¡¯t fully forgiven himself and it would probably break his heart if you and Ellie blamed him as well.
Tess made eye contact with Ellie, who had presumably received a similar window. There was a brief moment while the two processed, and then Tess leaned in and gave Ellie a big hug. ¡°Sorry for bringing it up.¡± Tess mumbled. ¡°I know it¡¯s painful.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just as painful for you.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°And it was a question that was worth asking, so don¡¯t feel bad about it. But, again, what¡¯s done is done. We¡¯re here now, and all we can do is keep moving forward.¡± After a minute or so, they separated, though they were still holding hands. ¡°And for now, continuing forward means finishing our training.¡± Ellie said, pulling Tess towards the door to the Outlands. ¡°So, let¡¯s get this done. I want to be able to be in a party with you full-time as soon as possible, alright?¡± Chapter 45: Twos Company Ellie sliced the boss clean in two, dusting herself off as the remains fell behind her.
You have bisected Blacker Widow for a critical 1,213 damage! You have killed Blacker Widow! 386 experience gained! Swordswoman has gained 82 experience!
It was a couple of months after Tess had returned to school, just a week or two before their graduation. She had both Friday and Monday off school for a holiday, so Ker and Jin had insisted she come visit some dungeons that were further away from the city. And, loathe as she had been to be away from Tess for that long when things were finally starting to get good between them, she knew that this would greatly speed up the process of finishing her training, which in turn meant she would be in a full-time party with Tess that much faster. Still, fighting the Blacker Widow in this dungeon felt¡­wrong. It, well, it was the monster Silky was based on, and even though it was far bigger than Silky, she couldn¡¯t help but feel bad striking it down. She had warmed up significantly to the spider since she had first met her, and every time she fought this boss it kind of felt like fighting Silky, and she hated that. ¡°Excellent work.¡± Jin said. ¡°Let¡¯s get your reward and then we¡¯ll be on our way back.¡± He opened the door to the Rewards Crystal room, giving Ellie a nod and motioning for her to walk through. Ellie strode through the door and up to the Rewards Crystal, placing a hand on it. There was a long moment, longer than usual for getting her reward, and then, finally, a window popped up.
You have gained the Class Aegis! For gaining the Class Aegis, you have gained the Skills Living Shield, Bulwark, and An Ounce of Prevention! Living Shield Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: While you are over 25% HP, 50% of any damage done to party members within 100 meters is instead dealt to you. This redirection is done before any damage calculation occurs but applies the defensive benefits of both you and the original target. Any other effects of the attack are halved but apply to the original target. This Skill may be turned off or on at will. Two defenses are better than one. Bulwark Rarity: Mythical Type: Active Description: You may spend Stamina to reduce the damage of incoming attacks by an amount equal to (Aegis level)% of the Stamina spent for (Aegis level) seconds. This reduction applies after all other damage reduction. While you are under the effects of Bulwark, Living Shield absorbs (Aegis level)% more of the damage dealt to allies. Just say no to damage. An Ounce of Prevention Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Gain (Aegis Level/2)% resistance to all status ailments and (Aegis Level/5)% resistance to all damage. ¡­Is worth a pound of cure.
Ellie waved the window away only to be greeted with another one.
Hey, it¡¯s me, Fortune! So¡­long time no talk, right? I¡¯m sure you¡¯re wondering why I¡¯m talking to you now, and that might be because I may or may not have just tampered with probability to give you that Class. Uh, call it a graduation present, I guess? Anyway, you don¡¯t have to use it if you don¡¯t want to, but I remembered your ¡°Operation Keep Tess Safe¡± and I thought this would make your life a lot easier if you still wanted to do that.
Ellie smiled, giving Fortune her thanks mentally. Operation Keep Tess Safe had been put on the backburner for a while, but she hadn¡¯t given up on it. Tess could fend for herself, yes, but that didn¡¯t mean that Ellie wouldn¡¯t have opportunities to help her out. Hopefully Fortune was listening in on those thoughts, but if she wasn¡¯t, Ellie could just ask Tess to relay a message. She stopped, thinking about that a bit more. Tess and her would get interrupted by messages from the gods in their conversations with each other on a pretty regular basis, and then they¡¯d have to tell each other what had been said, and it wasn¡¯t really an ideal situation. She¡¯d have to ask Life or Death and see if there was a way that they could have like¡­a group message or something. It would certainly make things a lot easier. ¡°Alright.¡± Ellie said, turning to Ker and Jin. ¡°New Class.¡± Ker raised a brow. ¡°Which one?¡± ¡°Aegis.¡± Ellie replied, smirking. ¡°Seriously? Alice is gonna be burning with envy, she¡¯s been wanting that for ages.¡± ¡°Can we take a moment for me to switch Classes before we leave? I want to start getting this as leveled up ASAP.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say I blame you.¡± Jin replied. ¡°But be fast about it. You have an appointment with the Guildmaster you can¡¯t afford to be late for, right?¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will.¡± She left the room, striding over to the Party Crystal and changing her class, before moving over to the dungeon¡¯s exit. She did have an appointment with her grandfather, an important one at that. Fortunately, this dungeon was only a few hours outside of the city by hoverer, so she would be able to make it in time. That didn¡¯t make it any less nerve-wracking, though. She was finally going to give her answer to Life and Death, and she wanted to do it in person, so she needed her grandfather to teleport her. The only other way she knew to get there was through the Holy Room in the church in Mael, but that seemed like a lot of trouble when her grandfather could just take her himself. Plus, he said he had some business that could be done while he was waiting for her, so it worked out. The trip seemed to both take forever and be over in an instant, and she was soon outside of her grandfather¡¯s office, knocking on the door. ¡°Come in!¡± He said cheerfully. Ellie opened the door and stepped into the room, gingerly closing the door behind her. ¡°I¡¯m ready, Grandpa.¡± He gave her a reassuring smile. ¡°Whatever you decide, no one¡¯s going to think differently about you. It¡¯s a very personal choice and it¡¯s okay to say no if you so choose.¡± He walked over to a cleared area in the center of the room, leaning down and giving the floor a tap. A complex magical formation burst into existence, and he motioned for her to step inside. ¡°Head on in and we¡¯ll be off.¡± Ellie took a cautious step in, and then, suddenly, she was in that clean, professional-looking area that was the domain of the gods. Life and Death were waiting for her, sitting in a set of chairs off to the side. ¡°Hey, Ellie!¡± Death chirped, patting a chair next to her. ¡°Come take a seat!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave you three to it.¡± Gramps said, turning to leave the room as Ellie went to sit down. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Thank you, Evan.¡± Life said. ¡°I¡¯ve said it before, but I¡¯ll say it again. I really don¡¯t know what we¡¯d do without you.¡± Gramps chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. I¡¯m just doing my job.¡± With that he exited, leaving the three of them alone. ¡°So, Ellie,¡± Life began, ¡°I understand you have decided on whether or not you¡¯d like to be our Appointed?¡± Ellie nodded, gulping. ¡°Yeah, I have.¡± She said. ¡°And the answer is yes.¡± ¡°Sweet!¡± Death said, pumping a fist. ¡°Mind telling me what made you decide that?¡± Ellie blushed, scratching her cheek. ¡°I¡¯m not going to lie, part of it was just so that I had it in common with Tess, but I thought about it and realized that¡­well, I dunno, it¡¯d allow me to put my skillset to work doing something that really helps people out. I think that if I didn¡¯t accept this offer, some part of me would always regret it, and I don¡¯t want to live like that.¡± Death smiled. ¡°Awesome. Give us a minute to give our Blessings to you, and then we¡¯ll officially make you our Appointed, sound good?¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Um, before we start, I have an idea I want to pitch.¡± Life raised an eyebrow. ¡°We¡¯re listening. Remember, we¡¯re equal partners in this relationship, so we¡¯re not going to dismiss anything out of hand.¡± ¡°Right¡­well, I was thinking, and¡­when Tess and I are talking, we end up having to repeat what you guys or Fortune say a lot, so I was wondering¡­is it at all possible for us to like¡­have some sort of group message? Something that would let us all communicate with each other at the same time, maybe even let Tess and I send messages to you guys the same way?¡± Life stroked his chin thoughtfully. ¡°A valid point. I¡¯m not sure something like this has ever been tried, but I see no reason it wouldn¡¯t work. I¡¯ll check in with Amy by the end of the day and see if it¡¯s possible. If it is, then I¡¯ll let you know, and you¡¯ll just need to convince Tess, and we¡¯ll convince Fortune.¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be fine with it.¡± Death replied. ¡°They¡¯re pretty chill. I think it¡¯s a great idea, I kinda wish I had thought of it myself.¡± Ellie smiled. ¡°I¡¯m glad you agree with me. Um¡­I guess that¡¯s all, though, I¡¯m ready now.¡± She braced herself for the process, causing Death to laugh. ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much.¡± She said. ¡°You won¡¯t feel a thing.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lie.¡± Life said. ¡°You¡¯ll probably feel some sort of a surge of power, but it won¡¯t be unpleasant, I can promise you that much.¡± ¡°Right. Let¡¯s do this!¡± Death raised her hand, and Life raised his as well. ¡°On the count of three, one¡­two¡­three!¡± There was an odd sensation as Ellie felt something alien enter her body. It was¡­not really comparable to anything she had felt before, but Life was right; it felt good. It was like the scope of her senses had been increased, everything feeling sharper, more real. It lasted for a few moments before ebbing away, though if she focused, she could still feel faint echoes of it.
Life and Death have granted you their Blessings, as well as Context Switch! Breath of Life: You may spend 250 Mana to fully recover any allies within 100 meters, restoring all of their HP and Stamina, as well as removing any status ailments. Has a cooldown of five minutes. Additionally, you may bring a dead person back to life. The Mana cost of this scales based on how long the person has been dead, starting at 1,000 Mana and capping at 10,000 Mana. This effect cannot be used past seven days from the time of death. Appointed may also be brought back to life for twice the normal cost. This effect cannot be used past three days from the time of death. Blades of Death: Manifest four flying ethereal blades that move according to your will. You may interact with these blades as if they were solid, but they are otherwise completely incorporeal except to your target. You may recall any blade at any time, bringing it to you instantly. You may choose to make the blades visible or invisible at will, and may change the form each blade appears in, though no individual blade may be longer than one meter, wider than ten centimeters, or thicker than one centimeter. The Blades of Death are anathema to undead. If a Blade of Death touches an undead, the undead is instantly destroyed if it is less than level 100. Undead over level 100 instead take a percentage of their max HP equal to 200 minus their level as damage (minimum 25%). Undead killed with the Blades of Death do not grant experience. Additionally, each Blade has a unique property, listed below: The Blade of Lasting Death: Beings killed by the Blade of Lasting Death are unable to be revived by any means short of divine intervention. The Blade of Slow Death: Wounds inflicted by the Blade of Slow Death cannot be healed by magic and do not heal naturally for seven years. You may choose to end this effect early, allowing the wounds to heal normally. The Blade of Swift Death: Attacks made by the Blade of Swift Death will always deal critical damage. The Blade of Sudden Death: Attacks made with the the Blade of Sudden Death instantly kill targets under 25% HP. Context Switch: Only one of Breath of Life or Blades of Death may be active at once. You may focus on this ability for one minute to switch between them, or you can spend Stamina and Mana to switch instantly. The Stamina and Mana cost for an instant switch starts at 1,000, increases by 1,000 every time this ability is used, and decreases by 1,000 for every hour this ability is unused. If Life or Death Descends while you are using the other¡¯s Blessing, you automatically switch to using their Blessing for free. Currently using Breath of Life.
¡°How you feeling?¡± Death asked. ¡°Up for going straight into being an Appointed?¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°I think so. Are we Descending right away like Tess?¡± Death laughed. ¡°Not right away, though we will have to test it out before you leave, just to make sure it¡¯s working as intended. Is that okay?¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine to try it whenever, I was just wondering.¡± ¡°Perfect, I suppose we might as well do this then.¡± Death stood up, her whole air changing, becoming more¡­dignified as she looked at Ellie. Life stood up as well, grabbing Death¡¯s hand. ¡°Ellie, repeat after me: I, Ellie, accept the position of Life and Death¡¯s Appointed, to further their cause as I see fit, and to keep secret things mortals should not know.¡± Ellie stood as well, looking into their eyes. ¡°I, Ellie, accept the position of Life and Death¡¯s Appointed, to further their cause as I see fit, and to keep secret things mortals should not know.¡± ¡°We, Life and Death, accept Ellie as our Appointed, to treat her fairly and respect her as if she were another god, and to be responsible with the power we hold over her.¡± Death said, smiling. ¡°Should we fail to do so, we accept whatever punishment is seen fit.¡± There was a tense moment and then there was a distant rumbling, like thunder. That nice feeling she had received when she got the Blessings flared up, briefly intensifying before it simmered back down and she felt normal again. ¡°And that¡¯s that!¡± Death said, letting go of Life¡¯s hand, her demeanor returning to her usual casualness. ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°It felt¡­nice. So¡­what now?¡± Death shrugged. ¡°Dunno. At some point here we gotta test Descents, but other than that I was thinking we¡¯d just sorta¡­chill until Evan¡¯s done with whatever he¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°Do you mind if we test it now?¡± Life asked. ¡°I have a few things I want to take care of myself.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Ready when you are.¡± Life sat back down. ¡°Alright, doing it now.¡± His body went limp and a sort of shock ran through Ellie as she felt Life sort of¡­slide into her. It was an odd sensation, being able to feel his thoughts, having shared control of the body, sort of¡­feeling the same. That in and of itself wasn¡¯t wholly unpleasant, but it also came with a feeling like her body was fuller than it could handle and was bursting apart at the seams, and that wasn¡¯t pleasant in the slightest. Yet, at the same time, she also felt¡­invincible, like she could do anything if she just tried. It was an odd dichotomy that she wasn¡¯t quite sure how she felt about. Sorry about that. Life told her. I¡¯m afraid that Descents are gonna feel like this for a while. Once you¡¯re more used to this and can stay in Descent longer it won¡¯t feel anywhere near this bad. This is what it feels like when you¡¯ve been in Descent long enough that it¡¯ll be dangerous soon. ¡°Alright Life, let¡¯s try switching.¡± Death said, sitting down in a chair of her own. There was a wrenching sensation and Death¡¯s body went limp as Life regained control of his own. And that painful bursting feeling multiplied in intensity, causing Ellie to drop to her knees. Oh crap I¡¯m so sorry I didn¡¯t realize it¡¯d be this intensive to do a mid-Descent switch. Almost immediately Death retreated from Ellie¡¯s body, leaving her feeling sore. ¡°Why did it suddenly get so much worse?¡± She croaked. ¡°We figured out a way to switch places during descent, but it would shorten the time we could be in Descent. We just¡­didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be that much. Sorry, let me go get you a drink, what¡¯d you like? We have literally everything you could ask for.¡± ¡°Orange juice¡­would be nice.¡± Ellie replied, getting back into the chair she had been sitting in. ¡°Be back in a couple of minutes, you¡¯ll start feeling better within like half an hour, just try and push through it, alright?¡± Ellie nodded, and Death left. A few moments later, Life stood up. ¡°I¡¯m going to go talk to Amy about that group chat thing.¡± He moved to leave the room but lingered in the doorway. ¡°And, um, thanks. It helps us out a ton to have you as our Appointed, more than you probably realize. Just let us know if you need anything, and we¡¯ll help you out as much as we can.¡± He left the room, leaving Ellie on her own. So, she sat and waited for Death to get back, the gravity of the decision she had just made finally starting to sink in. Chapter 46: IRC ¡°So, what¡¯s this big news?¡± Tess asked, shoveling a bite of food into her mouth. It was one of the rare days in which her, Ellie, and Gramps ate dinner together, something which had become increasingly rare after Tess and Ellie were introduced to the Outlands. Gramps had apparently grown busier as of late, and between that and Tess and Ellie getting home from training at different times, it had become harder to find the time to sit down with everyone and eat. Ellie laid down her silverware, smiling nervously. ¡°I decided about the Appointed thing. I went and talked with Life and Death, and¡­well, I said I¡¯d do it. So, we sat down and got it all taken care of, and it¡¯s official now.¡± Tess gulped down her food and gave Ellie a smile. ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± She said enthusiastically. ¡°It¡¯s cool that we get to share something like this!¡± She turned to Gramps, who was finishing chewing his own food. ¡°Are we going to have another meeting?¡± Gramps nodded. ¡°Two days from now.¡± He said. ¡°Our yearly meeting¡¯s scheduled for then, so it works out pretty well.¡± ¡°Meeting?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Once a year or when important things happen, a bunch of us Appointed get together and have a meeting to keep in touch.¡± Gramps explained. ¡°We had one to introduce Tess, and we would have an impromptu one to introduce you if the yearly meeting wasn¡¯t now. You¡¯ll get to meet everyone else, and¡­well, let¡¯s just say I¡¯ve got a bit of a surprise for you, something you¡¯ve been wanting for a couple of months now.¡± Ellie frowned. ¡°Something I¡¯ve been wanting for a couple of months now? Nothing really springs to mind, can I have a hint?¡± Gramps smiled mischievously. ¡°It¡¯s not exactly for you per-se, but trust me, you¡¯re going to like it a lot, you mentioned wanting this right after Tess became an Appointed. That¡¯s all the hints I¡¯m giving, though, if you can¡¯t figure it out from that it¡¯ll just have to be a surprise.¡± Ellie thought about that for a moment, glanced at Tess, then quickly glanced away. ¡°I¡­think I know what it is.¡± She said, a hint of excitement creeping into her voice. ¡°And if it is what I think it is, then you¡¯re right, I am going to like it a lot.¡± Gramps laughed. ¡°Oh, believe me, you don¡¯t know the half of it.¡± The rest of dinner was relatively uneventful, consisting mostly of small talk as the three of them caught each other up with what had been happening at school, training, or, in Gramps¡¯s case, work. It was a calm, pleasant event, and Tess found herself wishing that they were able to do it more often. She knew that was just wishful thinking, though. With school ending soon it was nearly time for her and Ellie to make their debut as Appointed, and to start freelancing full-time. Their days were about to become busier than ever, and she doubted they would have time to get together like this on any sort of regular basis. After doing the dishes, Tess went to her room and began to do what was left of her homework. It felt¡­decidedly mundane, but it was something she recognized as important. She may not plan to use most of what she learned in the near future, but she had been told that it was almost guaranteed that she would live for a very, very long time, and there was no telling when this stuff would come in handy.
Life: Is this thing working?
Tess nearly jumped out of her seat as the window popped up in front of her. Fortune had said something about a group message of sorts and Tess had said it sounded nice, but she wasn¡¯t expecting something so¡­quickly.
Fortune: New god-phone who dis Death: We¡¯re not interested in anything you¡¯re selling
And, somehow Tess knew that, unlike the standard windows she received from Fortune, she could respond to these ones. She was beaten to the punch, however, by the others.
Life: It literally says who I am right there next to my message. And I¡¯m not selling anything. What would I even sell to you? Ellie: They know, they¡¯re just messing with you Tess: Is this how you guys normally make all these windows? Thinking all this out and watching it pop up without more input feels kinda¡­weird Fortune: Yeah it takes some getting used to. You¡¯ve basically got full god-phone privileges now, you can even send messages to us without us opening the chat first. And you can send private messages between any one of us or combination of us in here, and view message history. There¡¯s a mute function too, though it doesn¡¯t work if someone marks stuff as ¡°priority¡±. It defaults to muting for an hour, but you can customize the length if you want Death: This whole thing¡¯s pretty sweet, I wish we had tried something like this earlier Life: It probably wouldn¡¯t have worked earlier. The fact that both Ellie and Tess are Appointed now effectively let us use a little Worship to trick the system into thinking you¡¯re both gods. If Ellie wasn¡¯t an Appointed yet I don¡¯t think we could have pulled this off. Ellie: This is way cooler than what I had in mind when I said ¡°group chat¡±, I just meant a one-way sorta thing for the gods to send messages to both me and Tess Fortune: It works out pretty well for us, since we want to keep in pretty close contact with you, even more than other gods and their Appointed, especially with this whole introducing Mael to other planes thing. Makes it so we don¡¯t have to always keep one metaphorical ear open in case you want to talk with us Tess: Well, uh, cool. Um, I gotta get this homework done, so I¡¯m gonna try that mute thing Fortune mentioned. Anyone need me for anything else before I do? Death: Life and I are fine Fortune: Go ahead! Ellie: I¡¯ll just knock if it¡¯s important lol
Tess turned her attention away from the window, mentally willing it to ¡°mute¡±. The window vanished, and Tess was free to focus back in on her homework.
Ellie shivered, the cold of the cabin biting down to her bones. This was not what she had been expecting when she had heard about the Appointed¡¯s meeting, she thought it would be more¡­glamorous. That they would be in some hi-tech secret bunker or a boardroom or something, not a cabin half-buried in snow. Warmth rushed into the room as Gramps lit a fire. ¡°I¡¯m going to go finish altering all the spellwork.¡± He said, moving over to the area where they had teleported into the cabin. ¡±Tess, will you explain to Ellie what this place is while I do?¡± ¡°Sure, Gramps.¡± Tess said, turning to Ellie. ¡°So, this place is a sort of¡­safe house for Appointed. Apparently, this is in one of the most inhospitable places they could find, the blizzard outside never stops, though, now that I¡¯m thinking about it, I¡¯m not sure how the snow doesn¡¯t just endlessly pile up, I mean, it¡¯s about the same depth as it was when I was here last¡­¡±
Fortune: It¡¯s part of the magic of the blizzard. Any snow that piles up over like¡­six feetish immediately melts. It accumulates up to that depth quicker than normal, too. Pretty cool, right? This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
¡°Right. Uh, anyway, my understanding is this place is like¡­general use for Appointed? If we need a place to store something that¡¯s classified or if we need to lock up a person for a bit or something, we can use this place. And if we¡¯re in a bunch of trouble and need to hide out this is where we go. And then I think we¡¯re also allowed to just sorta come here whenever? Is that right, Gramps?¡± ¡°Yes, but if someone else is keeping stuff here or doing stuff here don¡¯t mess with it unless you have good reason.¡± Gramps replied, standing up from the magic circle on the floor. ¡°I¡¯ll show Ellie how to make the circle after the meeting, would you show her around the place? We might not have a good opportunity after, and some of the others should be here soon to help set up, so don¡¯t worry about that.¡± Tess nodded, grabbing Ellie¡¯s hand and towing her away. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I¡¯m not incredibly familiar with this house.¡± She said. ¡°But I guess I¡¯m better than no tour guide so¡­yeah. Um, it¡¯s¡­honestly not anything crazy, aside from the fact that it¡¯s¡­you know, where it is.¡± She led Ellie into a room to the side. ¡°This is the kitchen, there¡¯s a pantry that¡¯s¡­well, I dunno how it¡¯s done, but it seems to be constantly stocked? It¡¯s convenient, though.¡±
Life: From what I¡¯m told it¡¯s thanks to Hearth. Most of the conveniences in this place, like the heat, electricity, and plumbing are, actually. He spent a fair bit of Worship here. He wanted to make sure this place was ready in case we ever really needed it.
Ellie paused for a moment to take that in before replying.
Ellie: Have you? Fortune: More often than you would think. Being an Appointed isn¡¯t exactly the safest job and having a place you can head to and lick your wounds where no one can follow is a huge benefit. Especially when you¡¯re far away from civilization
¡°Huh. I¡­hadn¡¯t thought about the plumbing before.¡± Tess said. ¡°I guess I had just taken it for granted, there¡¯s no way there would be any companies that service stuff out here.¡±
Death: Utilities of the Gods?, ¡°We serve your location or 50% off your first month!¡± Fortune: But if you don¡¯t serve their location, they won¡¯t be able to get that 50% off Death: Exactly! It¡¯s a flawless business strategy Fortune: I want as many shares as you can give me Life: Sorry to put a damper on things, but neither of you can do anything like that. You¡¯d have to rope Hearth or someone into it. Death: I can at least provide funerary services? Fortune: Pretty sure that¡¯s not under the umbrella of utilities? Death: Yeah but we¡¯re the gods we get to decide these things Tess: You¡¯d probably still have to check with Hearth, I think he¡¯s the one that gets to decide what ¡°utilities¡± means Death: Killjoys >:( Fortune: Killing is your area of expertise tho Life: Tess is supposed to be giving Ellie a tour. We should let her do that. Death: Oh, right, my b. Carry on
Ellie chuckled. She was glad that, at the least, the gods were enjoyable to be around. She wasn¡¯t sure she¡¯d be able to handle being an Appointed if they all were constantly formal and stuffy. Though¡­it might cause a bit of religious hubbub if people knew that conversing with them was sometimes like talking in an internet chatroom.
Death: OK but have you considered that internet chatrooms are like¡­the pinnacle of communication tech? You¡¯re literally having nigh-instant communication with people that are sometimes whole planes away from you. Seriously, a millennium or so ago most people didn¡¯t even know how to read and¡­here we are now and it¡¯s almost a given. We¡¯re just keeping with the times. Plus, it¡¯s fun, we didn¡¯t used to be able to talk to people like this Tess: What? Death: Sorry was reading Ellie¡¯s mind, force of habit. I¡¯ll try to scale that back in the future, I¡¯m not used to like¡­communicating with people outside of the plane of the gods normally. I always had to read their minds to get ideas of what I wanted. Please call me out if I do it again, I really don¡¯t want to be rude Ellie: ¡®s fine, not like it was anything important. Just keep it in mind in the future, try not to do it unless I¡¯m in the middle of something and can¡¯t talk or it¡¯s really important Death: Got it, will do my best
The rest of the safehouse wasn¡¯t anything too crazy. There was a multipurpose room, a couple of bedrooms and bathrooms, as well a rather large basement that was used for storage, but that was about it. She would never have guessed that this was a hideaway for some of the world¡¯s most important people if she was shown this place without knowing beforehand. ¡°Well, if it isn¡¯t little Ellie! Finally one us?¡± Their tour was interrupted by a man¡¯s voice coming from behind them. Ellie whirled around to find a large, shirtless crocodile-person in the doorway of the room. ¡°Um¡­yeah? Do I¡­know you?¡± The man laughed. ¡°Yes and no. My name¡¯s Atum, I¡¯m one of your grandpa¡¯s party members. We met briefly at your parent¡¯s funeral, but I was looking a little more human then.¡± ¡°Oh. Uh¡­hi, I guess?¡± Atum gave another laugh, walking over and clapping Ellie on the back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t expect you to remember, Tess didn¡¯t either.¡± ¡°How have you been, Atum?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you in a while.¡± Atum smiled. ¡°Bit lonely, to tell you the truth. I feel like everyone else has had a lot of opportunity to hang around you two, and I¡¯ve just been doing my normal stuff all this time. That¡¯s gonna change soon, though. Ellie, you were planning to work on being a tank, right?¡± Ellie blinked. ¡°Yeah. Why?¡± Atum grinned, pointing a finger at his chest. ¡°Well, I¡¯m the best in the business. I figured I could give you some pointers.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m definitely not going to say no.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°What were you thinking?¡± ¡°Your grandpa¡¯s been busy organizing an expedition. They¡¯re like¡­big events for the guild that have to do with exploring the Outlands. If you¡¯re up for it, we wanted to have you two go, and Ava, Eyfura, and I would tag along and teach you some things along the way.¡± Ellie grimaced. ¡°Would that mean Ilmir¡¯s coming? I¡¯d rather not deal with her if I can avoid it.¡± Atum¡¯s smile fell. ¡°Probably. I know you three aren¡¯t exactly¡­on the best terms, but I think that it¡¯s not something that can¡¯t be salvaged. Ava¡¯s been helping her work through a lot of her problems, and she¡¯s getting better.¡± Ellie opened her mouth to speak, but Tess put a hand on her shoulder. There was a moment of silence, and then Tess spoke up. ¡°I want a rematch.¡± She said firmly. ¡°No Descents, nothing, just her versus me. And then, I¡¯m going to impose my own terms for when I wipe the floor with her. I don¡¯t know if she¡¯s been training, but I have. I¡¯m going to win.¡± Ellie gave Tess a surprised look. ¡°Are you¡­sure about that? I thought she was like¡­a hard counter to you.¡± Tess smiled. ¡°When we first fought, I treated her like she was just some random monster. I fought stupid, but I know better now. She¡¯s not going to know what hit her.¡± Atum raised an eyebrow. ¡°A bold statement. I¡¯m sure we can set something up, though, I¡¯m positive she also wants a rematch.¡± ¡°Good. Let¡¯s try for before whenever this expedition is.¡± She paused, turning to Ellie. ¡°You think we should bring Jacob? I want to show off a bit.¡± Ellie blinked. ¡°I¡­huh. Um, I guess there¡¯s not much of a reason not to, unless we¡¯re not allowed to tell him we¡¯re Appointed.¡±
Death: That¡¯s cool I figured you would anyway. Just make sure to have him swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath and all that jazz. Evan can probably take care of that for you
Tess frowned. ¡°Actually, while we¡¯re on that subject¡­weren¡¯t we supposed to be getting Maven as an addition to our party? Do we need to keep that a secret from her?
Fortune: Goodness, no, that would be super frustrating for everyone involved. Nah, she¡¯s good, she¡¯s trained in keeping state secrets so she¡¯s not going to leak things like this. Amara¡¯s gonna sit her down and explain everything, she won¡¯t dream of telling anyone, but we¡¯ll have her swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath too just in case
¡°Are you sure we want to try having another party member? I¡¯m a little skeptical after how Ilmir turned out.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Nah, she¡¯ll be fine.¡± Tess replied. ¡°She had a bit of an ego at times, but I think she¡¯s got her heart in the right place.¡±
Fortune: She was super impressed with you, too, so the whole stats thing won¡¯t be an issue. Plus, I don¡¯t think that ego¡¯s ever really gonna clash with you two. She already thinks you¡¯re at least her equals in social standing, and she doesn¡¯t even know you¡¯re Appointed
¡°There you have it. I say we give it a go, and if it¡¯s awful we can just break it off.¡± Tess said. ¡°Alright, if you say so.¡± Ellie replied. Atum cleared his throat. ¡°Sorry to interrupt, but I actually came here for a reason. Evan wanted me to get¡­well, he said Tess, but I¡¯m assuming he means both of you and wanted it to be a surprise. Anyway, he wants you guys to meet him back in the living room, says he has something to give Tess.¡± Ellie¡¯s thoughts were forcibly torn away from the subject of parties. If this was what she thought it was, it was far more important than such trifles. ¡°Will do, thanks Atum!¡± She said, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and practically dragging her back to the living room. She couldn¡¯t wait for a second longer. Chapter 47: New Uniform When Tess and Ellie got back to the main room, Gramps was waiting with a human man in a large coat that was absolutely brimming with pockets. ¡°Ah, good, you¡¯re here.¡± Gramps said. ¡°I need to go back to helping set up, I¡¯m trusting you can take it from here, Kane?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± The man, Kane, replied. As Gramps left the room, Kane turned to Ellie. ¡°Nice to meet you, Ellie. I¡¯m Kane Io, Artifice¡¯s Appointed.¡± He said, sticking his hand out. Ellie shook the offered hand. ¡°Um, guess I¡¯m Ellie, Life and Death¡¯s Appointed. I¡¯ve¡­heard the name Io before, could you remind me?¡± Kane smiled. ¡°I own something of a chain of workshops, and the bag you¡¯re using was made by me. You¡¯ve probably either seen the shops or someone mentioned my name in regard to your bag.¡± Right, that was where she had heard the name. ¡°Yeah, I got my armor and weapon from one of your stores.¡± She confirmed. ¡°So¡­Grandpa says you have something for us?¡± Kane nodded. ¡°That I do. Unfortunately, I only have something for Tess right now, but if you want, I can help get something together for you, we can talk about it later if you would like.¡± Ellie waved a hand dismissively. ¡°I¡¯m not particularly fussed about that, can we see it?¡± She said excitedly. ¡°You seem to be getting¡­weirdly excited about this.¡± Tess said. ¡°Does this have to do with the surprise Gramps was talking about yesterday?¡± Ellie nodded eagerly. ¡°Yup! I¡¯ve been waiting for this for a while!¡± Kane raised an eyebrow. ¡°Seems like you have an idea of what¡¯s coming.¡± He said. ¡°Humor me for a moment while I explain what this is for, alright?¡± Ellie nodded, and Kane continued. ¡°So, Fortune wanted you to have¡­¡± He paused, clearly searching for the right word. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll call it a uniform, for lack of a better term. There¡¯s a lot of money in gambling, and over time it¡¯s become expected for people involved with it to be dressed sharply. As such, having Fortune¡¯s Appointed running around in just¡­random armor would end up subtracting from her influence. ¡°With that in mind, she and Evan asked me for help in making something that you could use for this purpose, something we wouldn¡¯t have to replace as you grew stronger. He took care of the materials for me, and so, I made you this.¡± he said, reaching into one of his coat¡¯s many pockets and pulling out a sharply-tailored dark black suit, complete with socks, shoes, gloves, a tie, and what appeared to be a simple black masquerade mask. ¡°Rachel did all the sewing, since she still has your measurements, but I put together all the effects.¡± He handed the suit to Tess, smiling as he passed it off. ¡°This is an item that grows with your abilities, unlocking additional features as you get experience while wearing it. The defense bonuses from it are minimal at best, but between that and the fact that most of its abilities rely on a Luck trigger to activate, I was able to pack a bunch of other stuff in there too.¡± He pulled out a list from a different pocket, which he began to read off. ¡°Let¡¯s see here¡­to begin with, all these clothes can transform to allow for any changes to your body Monster Breeder might make and still keep themselves fitting properly. And if you pour a bit of Mana into it, you can turn this into a more¡­casual set of clothing, in case you don¡¯t want to be dressed up like this all the time. ¡°It cleans itself automatically, and the pockets all double as openings to a shared space that works just like the bag you¡¯re using now, with a slightly higher maximum capacity. Furthermore, once you put it on, it¡¯s going to key itself to you, and if anyone else tries to put it on, its abilities won¡¯t activate. You¡¯ll also be able to call it to you if you draw out a magic circle that Evan will teach you later, so you shouldn¡¯t need to worry about it getting lost. ¡°And, finally, if you put on that mask, it serves as a powerful recognition scrambler. While it¡¯s on people won¡¯t recognize you unless you want them to. Additionally, you can choose to make them recognize you as Fortune¡¯s Appointed if you want, so think of it as a way to keep your identity private while you¡¯re working out in public. ¡°That¡¯s all it does at the moment, but once you start unlocking its other abilities you can start getting into the good stuff. The first few should come pretty quickly, but after that it¡¯s going to start taking longer and longer. And all these abilities I¡¯m going to talk about now would have a one percent chance of activating normally, but seeing as how your Blessing effectively makes that a guarantee, I¡¯m going to be talking like they are guaranteed. ¡°So, in the order you¡¯re going to unlock these abilities, it¡¯s going to double the physical damage you deal, double the effectiveness of ailments you inflict, double the magic damage you deal, reduce the Mana and Stamina cost of abilities by fifty percent, halve the effectiveness of incoming ailments and halve their chance of being inflicted, and, finally, halve the damage of incoming attacks.¡± ¡°And sometime between the doubled magic and reduced ability cost, it gets another non-combat effect that will essentially provide you with a space suit, which will keep you at a comfortable temperature in almost all situations, provided you¡¯re not like¡­stepping in lava or something, and will provide air for you to breathe if there isn¡¯t any and regulate the pressure of the surrounding area so you don¡¯t get crushed.¡± He scratched his cheek awkwardly. ¡°I tried to work that into the effects that you don¡¯t have to unlock, but even with Artifice¡¯s help I was pushing it almost as far as it could go, so I had to make it something gated behind an unlock, sorry.¡± Tess blinked, looking down at the clothing. ¡°No, that¡¯s¡­honestly way more than I expected. I mean, I wasn¡¯t expecting anything, but certainly not something like this. This sounds¡­super amazing, thank you!¡± Kane shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s my job. Just make sure to keep a bit of a lid on the full extent of its effects to people who don¡¯t know you¡¯re Appointed, alright? I had to Descend to get this finished, so it¡¯s far beyond the quality that the majority of people have access to.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­going to go put it on.¡± Tess said. ¡°Excuse me for a minute.¡± She slipped away towards the bathroom, leaving Ellie alone with Kane. Kane watched Tess go, a faint smile on his face as he did. Then, once she was out of sight, he turned to Ellie. ¡°So, just so you¡¯re aware, I do help out when it comes to gear for Appointed. If it¡¯s something that needs to be made to accommodate for your Blessings or your Descent abilities, I make it for free, though I might ask for help in gathering materials. ¡°For anything else I¡¯ll give you a pretty hefty discount, but I think that might be out of your price range for a while, I¡¯m guessing you and Tess aren¡¯t exactly raking in enough money to afford that yet. Give it some time for your level to go up, and you¡¯ll get there, though. So, just¡­come see me when you have something you¡¯re interested in and need custom-made.¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Ellie nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to do that. Um¡­probably won¡¯t be for a while, though. Like you said, we don¡¯t make enough to afford even some of the nicer stuff in your shops, and I¡¯m guessing those aren¡¯t anywhere near the quality you put out yourself.¡± Kane laughed. ¡°Yeah, most of the good stuff is custom made by myself or some of the other people who I have on staff. If you don¡¯t mind my asking, though, what would be your dream set of equipment? I like to think about how I would go about making equipment, so it would be nice to know what you¡¯re looking for right now.¡± Ellie shrugged. ¡°Um, armor that¡¯s defensive would be nice. I want to be a tank for Tess, so I need to be able to soak hits. The weapon isn¡¯t too important, since I have a bunch of nice ones thanks to Death¡¯s Blessing, but I can only have those out part of the time, so it needs to be¡­well, useable, I guess? ¡°Beyond that the only thing I really want is increased regeneration for Mana and Stamina. Switching between Life and Death¡¯s Blessings costs a bunch if I want to do it fast, so being able to actually afford to do that seems like it would be important.¡± Kane nodded. ¡°I see. Thank you, I¡¯ll be thinking about that for when you decide you¡¯re ready to order from me.¡± There was a short silence, and then Ellie heard the click of a door opening and shutting from the hallway. Tess walked into the room, and anything else Ellie had been thinking about was immediately put on hold as she took in the vision in front of her. She had known Tess would look good in a suit, but this good? She hadn¡¯t been prepared for that. The suit fit Tess perfectly, and its simple yet elegant design lent a sort of¡­powerful air to her, like she was the CEO of a company and she knew she was the most important person in the room. She gave off an almost untouchable feel, like no matter how much Ellie tried, she could never even approach the level Tess was on. And then, Tess gave a sort of worried smile, that untouchable air vanishing as she looked to Ellie. ¡°How do I look?¡± She asked. ¡°It feels nice, and I thought it looked OK in the mirror, but¡­¡± Ellie let out a breath she didn¡¯t know she had been holding. Her eyes are up there. She mentally chided herself, tearing her eyes away from the feast in front of her to focus on Tess¡¯s face. ¡°Um¡­like¡­good. Uh¡­r-really good. Um¡­really really good.¡± Ellie felt her face grow red as the words fell out of her mouth. ¡°Like¡­like¡­¡± Kane chuckled, and Ellie silently thanked him for stopping her from making more of a fool of herself. ¡°You look great. If you ever find that it needs to be refit, go find Rachel, she knows how to deal with this sort of stuff without breaking it.¡± ¡°Um¡­I thought it magically refits itself?¡± Tess said. ¡°It does, but that enchantment works better if the clothes fit well in the first place. Just the enchantment is enough to make things passable for most people, but Fortune wanted you to look sharp, and so we need the clothes to fit you well without the enchantment.¡± Tess twisted from side to side, examining the suit more closely. ¡°What¡¯s this made out of?¡± She asked. ¡°It¡¯s way easier to move around in than most formal clothes I¡¯ve worn, and is just¡­I dunno, more comfortable too?¡± Kane shrugged. ¡°Materials from a few very high level monsters, as well as Rachel¡¯s silk. You¡¯d have to ask her for the exact details, as she was the one who actually made all of that into the clothes, but I believe one of the bigger names on that list is the wool of a Tectonic Ram.¡± ¡°Well, um¡­thanks. Like¡­a lot.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯m honestly kind of at a loss for words, this is insanely generous.¡± Kane waved a hand dismissively. ¡°If you want to thank anyone, thank your grandfather and Rachel. They did all the heavy lifting of getting the materials and making the clothes, I just put on the enchantments. And that¡¯s well within my duties as Artifice¡¯s Appointed, so it¡¯s really not that big a deal.¡± He gave Ellie a look, smiled slightly, then turned back to Tess. ¡°That¡¯s all, though, I gotta go help get things ready now. Nice talking with you, Ellie.¡± He gave Ellie a nod and a wink, then left.
Fortune: Looking good, Tess! Sorry for keeping this from you, I just¡­well, I thought it would be a pleasant surprise this time, so I figured it was okay. It¡­is okay, right? Tess: Yeah, you¡¯re good, I wasn¡¯t talking about this sorta thing when I said not to hide stuff from me. Um¡­thanks, though, I really wasn¡¯t expecting something like this. Fortune: Nonsense, I could hardly be called responsible if I let you go without equipment that¡¯s actually suited for you Death: But you can hardly be called responsible regardless of this Fortune: I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯m very responsible Death: Responsible for leaking classified information to Tess, yeah Fortune: That doesn¡¯t count, aside from that I haven¡¯t had any issues Life: I believe it does indeed count. She was not an Appointed when you made those statements. Fortune: Ellie wasn¡¯t either and Fate leaked stuff to her, those two are exceptions and you know it Death: ¡­Oh. I forgot about that¡­uh¡­but what about¡­Life, help me out here, I need something else to tease her with Life: I cannot think of any other incidents. Fortune: See, even Life thinks I¡¯m responsible enough. If that doesn¡¯t prove it, I don¡¯t know what will Life: I never said that. I just said that I cannot think of any other infractions you may have made.
¡°Ellie, Tess, what do you think?¡± Gramps said, walking into the room. Ellie tore her attention away from the gods¡¯ conversation to look at her grandfather. ¡°It um¡­I like it. It looks¡­uh, nice¡­um, yeah.¡± She babbled. Apparently, she wasn¡¯t quite as mentally recovered as she thought she had been. ¡°It feels really nice, and I wasn¡¯t expecting something this¡­strong.¡± Tess said. ¡°Thanks a lot, I heard that you did a lot of the work in getting materials.¡± Gramps laughed. ¡°Not a big deal, the guild had most of it just lying around collecting dust. I just had to swing a few favors and pay a small amount of money to get it, didn¡¯t take long at all.¡± ¡°How¡­much did it cost?¡± Tess asked tentatively. ¡°Less than you¡¯ll make the guild in return.¡± Gramps said firmly. ¡°Seriously, don¡¯t worry about it, it really wasn¡¯t a big deal.¡± There was a flash of light and the portal they had come in through sprung up. After a moment, Rachel walked through, and the portal closed behind her. ¡°Ah, Tess, you¡¯re wearing the suit!¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°Looks great on you! How does it feel?¡± ¡°Feels great, thanks, Rachel.¡± ¡°My pleasure!¡± She replied. ¡°It¡¯s always fun to work with the really nice stuff, so it was a fun exercise. And seeing the end result, it really makes me happy to see that it works so well!¡± She turned to look over at Gramps, saw Ellie, then paused. ¡°Ellie? I assume this means you accepted Life and Death¡¯s offer?¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Um¡­yeah. You¡¯re¡­an Appointed too?¡± Rachel smiled. ¡°Yup! Hearth¡¯s Appointed, to be exact.¡± She looked back to Gramps. ¡°I¡¯m guessing this means I¡¯m not late this time?¡± ¡°Nope. We still have a couple minutes before we¡¯re ready to start.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°Awesome, I¡¯ll go set this stuff down, then!¡± Rachel said, motioning to a box on her abdomen and scuttling out of the room. Tess walked over to Ellie, grabbing her hand gently. ¡°Are you alright?¡± She asked. ¡°You seem a little¡­overwhelmed right now.¡± ¡°Fine!¡± Ellie said quickly. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°Just¡­?¡± Tess prompted. ¡°Um¡­you look so good in that you kind of short-circuited my brain.¡± Ellie said, blushing. ¡°I wasn¡¯t ready for it.¡± Tess froze, facing growing red as she processed what Ellie said. Gramps laughed. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll leave you two to it, then. I¡¯ll come get you when it¡¯s time for the meeting, alright?¡± ¡°Um¡­yeah, thanks, Gramps.¡± Tess said. Gramps gave them a nod and exited the room, leaving the two very red girls alone. ¡°Uh¡­maybe we should head somewhere else, so our conversation isn¡¯t interrupted by people coming in?¡± Tess suggested. ¡°Yeah, I¡­uh, yeah.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Let¡¯s do that.¡± And so, the two left for a more private room, where they whiled away the time before the meeting just enjoying each other¡¯s company. And soon, Gramps was knocking on the door, telling them it was almost time for the meeting to start. Ellie stood up, holding Tess¡¯s hand. She had, thankfully, mostly recovered and was able to speak properly now, but she couldn¡¯t help but be a little nervous. These people were important, and it didn¡¯t quite feel like she deserved to be on the same level as them. Tess gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, they¡¯re nice people.¡± She said. ¡°You¡¯ll do great.¡± Ellie smiled, feeling more than a bit better. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡± Chapter 48: Another Introduction Ellie sat at one end of a long table, next to Tess and her grandfather. The rest of the table was filled with diverse group of impressive-looking people, and she couldn¡¯t help but be a little intimidated by them. ¡°I suppose we might as well start now that everyone¡¯s here.¡± Gramps said. ¡°First off, I would like to introduce our new newest member.¡± He smiled slightly, motioning at Ellie with a hand. ¡°Like I mentioned last time, this is Ellie, my other granddaughter. She became Life and Death¡¯s Appointed a couple of days ago, so I figured we would just introduce her now instead of calling a separate meeting. Ellie, would you please introduce yourself?¡± Ellie nodded, standing up nervously. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m Ellie.¡± She said. ¡°Like Grandpa said, I¡¯m Life and Death¡¯s Appointed, um¡­¡± She¡­wasn¡¯t totally sure what she was supposed to do now. Tess had told her that generally the gods Descended during their first introduction, but there were two for Ellie and¡­she couldn¡¯t exactly switch between them during Descent yet. Then Death Descended, that odd sensation of invincibility paired with her body tearing itself apart filling her as Death did. I got this. Death told Ellie ¡°Hi folks!¡± Death said, giving a little wave. ¡°Life and I are both sorta¡­sharing Ellie, it¡¯s a bit of a unique situation and unfortunately we¡¯re not all used to each other yet to get Life to Descend as well, so¡­yeah. If you need something from either of us, don¡¯t hesitate to ask even if the other is currently working with Ellie. Anyway, I gotta jet now, don¡¯t wanna tax Ellie¡¯s body too much, we look forward to working with you!¡± And, like that, Death was gone, leaving Ellie standing there awkwardly. ¡°You can sit now.¡± Gramps said, smiling. ¡°Thank you.¡± Ellie gratefully sat, and Gramps turned his attention back to the others. ¡°Would the rest of you like to introduce yourselves now?¡± One by one, the other people at the table stood and gave their introductions, and eventually Gramps began to speak once again. ¡°With that out of the way, unless anyone has anything pressing, I would like to go over some updates on what we talked about last meeting.¡± Gramps waited a moment for someone to speak up, and, when no one did, continued. ¡°I¡¯ve finished all the preparations for an expedition, I¡¯ll be making the official announcement tomorrow, and it¡¯ll depart a month from then. I¡¯m going to send it out East, and that should catch at least three or four of the old dungeons we¡¯ve yet to disclose the location of.¡± He nodded at the enormous four-armed man. ¡°I¡¯ll share the route with you after we¡¯re done here, Valin.¡± Valin grunted. ¡°Much appreciated.¡± ¡°With that out of the way, since last meeting it¡¯s been made clear to me that the old guild ranking system is falling apart a little faster than I expected. So, I¡¯ve moved up its expansion, and will be announcing the changes with the expedition. I¡¯m currently working on bettering the system when it comes to classifying very large groups working as a team, and I¡¯m hoping to officially launch this by this time next year. ¡°So, I believe it¡¯s about time we start getting to work on preparing for the introduction of savage dungeons. I¡¯ve spoken with Dungeons on the subject and she said that, provided a few of us are able to help out, she can begin placing them by next month. Does anyone have enough free time to be able to work on a few of those?¡± ¡°Depends.¡± Valin said, leaning forward, excitement visible in his expression. ¡°How far out are these going to be?¡± ¡°Pretty far out, but since this is something of a long-term commitment, Dungeons is willing to give a minor Blessing that will teleport you to and from a dungeon she¡¯ll key to you.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°One moment, Evan.¡± Amara said. ¡°Tess, you look like you¡¯re a little confused? Please, don¡¯t feel shy about asking questions, we don¡¯t expect you to know everything right away, and you and Ellie are just as important as the rest of us here.¡± Tess gave a slow nod. ¡°Um, I mean, I don¡¯t know what this whole savage dungeon thing is about, but I figured I¡¯d ask Gramps about that later, so¡­uh, yeah.¡± ¡°A new type of dungeon that we¡¯ve been meaning to make for a while.¡± Valin explained. ¡°They¡¯re going to be a lot bigger than normal dungeons, but they won¡¯t be instanced, so everyone inside the dungeon is in the same space. The monsters are gonna be tougher and the important ones, like bosses, will hopefully retain a fair amount of memory from their past lives. There won¡¯t be living quarters, either; we¡¯re hoping to make the experience a lot more challenging than normal dungeons, so we can give greater rewards and push people to become stronger.¡± Ellie¡¯s mind began to race with what this could potentially mean, not really for her, but for Tess. The increase in monster strength directly correlated to an increase in Tess¡¯s strength, and she was all for making her girlfriend as strong as possible. Still, one thing bothered her. ¡°Why are we pushing people to get stronger?¡± She asked. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that just indirectly make our jobs harder?¡± ¡°Ah, good question.¡± Alberich said. ¡°It has to do with the lifecycle of planes. You see, planes just sort of¡­pop up out of nowhere, and all the Administrators have to decide who gets to have them. This wouldn¡¯t be a problem if all the Administrators agreed with each other or if there were more than enough planes to go around, but neither is the case, so they have to fight for them. ¡°A long time ago they quantified a set of rules, so there¡¯s something like an¡­exhibition match over each of the new planes, with the Administrators using a few people from their planes as combatants. So, it¡¯s to their benefit to have the inhabitants of their planes as strong as possible so they can win those matches.¡± Alberich stroked his beard, eyes twinkling as he spoke. ¡°But that poses its own share of problems. I won¡¯t get into Administrator politics now, that¡¯s far too complicated for this meeting, but the long of the short of it is that Administrators need planes to prevent overcrowding and resource depletion, as well as to generate more Worship so they can help better their people¡¯s lives. ¡°But¡­well, ambient Mana behaves oddly. The collection of an Administrator¡¯s planes, what we call a universe, has its own level of ambient Mana that¡¯s determined by the number of planes it has. And that ambient Mana is sorta¡­added to the base ambient Mana of the planes within. There are ways around this, or else Mael wouldn¡¯t be the way that it is, but those are costly and not something that¡¯s feasible to put on every single plane or even keep on one plane for too long. ¡°And the higher ambient Mana is, the more powerful the monsters that appear will be, which necessitates the inhabitants of the planes be more powerful to compensate. We¡¯ve done several of these little power boosts, the first of which was ¨C¡± ¡°They get the point.¡± Valin interrupted. ¡°I can hear you getting your ¡®teacher voice¡¯ on, and we don¡¯t need an hour long lecture right now. The point is, people need to get stronger so they can live peacefully. We try to provide ways for them to get stronger that aren¡¯t so easy they make people complacent and aren¡¯t so hard they wipe out the population of entire planes. So, savage dungeons are just another one of the programs we¡¯ve cooked up to make that happen.¡± ¡°My apologies.¡± Alberich said, a blush faintly visible behind his beard. ¡°I get excited when talking about this topic.¡± He turned to Ellie and Tess, smiling. ¡°If you¡¯d like to hear more, come talk to me after the meeting, or if you don¡¯t have time then, I¡¯m available at the city¡¯s university. Come ask for me and if I¡¯m not teaching a class, I¡¯ll be more than happy to answer whatever questions you have on any topic.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Just know you won¡¯t get away without a full understanding of the topic.¡± Amara teased. ¡°Alberich¡¯s an educator at heart.¡± ¡°Guilty as charged.¡± Alberich chuckled. ¡°Right, so, if we can get a teleport like that, I¡¯d be able to take some time to work on the new stuff.¡± Valin said. ¡°Especially since I can stop worrying about a few of those other dungeons now.¡± Gramps nodded. ¡°Good to hear, anyone else?¡± ¡°I think it would be good if Tess and Ellie shared responsibility for one.¡± Ava offered. ¡°It would be a good idea to have a lower-level dungeon, and it would help ease them into some of their miscellaneous duties as Appointed.¡± ¡°As long as it¡¯s alright with both Dungeons and them, I think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Ellie, Tess, what are your thoughts?¡± Ellie shared a look with Tess. ¡°I¡¯m fine with it if you are.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I suppose I¡¯m alright with it too, then. Though, I would like it if one of you all helped us out for the first time or two, just so we know what we¡¯re actually supposed to be doing.¡± ¡°I can take care of that.¡± Valin grunted. ¡°That¡¯s usually my job anyway, so I¡¯m probably best qualified.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Gramps said. ¡°I¡¯ll bring up the idea with Dungeons soon, then.¡± No need. A voice filled the room, one that Ellie instinctually knew was Dungeons¡¯. Apologies for eavesdropping, Fate informed me that you were discussing the savage dungeons and I had to listen in. I have no issues with letting Tess and Ellie be in charge of a lower-level dungeon. ¡°There we have it, then.¡± Gramps said. ¡°But we¡¯d still prefer if there were two or three more people available to help.¡± ¡°I can handle a couple.¡± Rachel volunteered. ¡°I as well.¡± Kane said. ¡°Perfect, that should be all we need. That¡¯s all I had for business, is there anything else that needs to be brought up here?¡± ¡°Tene is getting all aggressive again.¡± Amara said, looking down at her fingernails. ¡°It looks like just their usual bluster, though, so I¡¯m guessing it¡¯ll die down in a couple of years. Still, I¡¯m going to keep an eye on them, and I¡¯ll let you all know if it looks like they¡¯re actually going to declare war on someone this time.¡± ¡°Good to know. What else?¡± ¡°Meison and I have noticed that sea monsters on Achy have been getting bolder lately. We¡¯re worried about the possibility of a monster surge.¡± Carel, one of the aquatic elves, said. ¡°I¡¯ll send some people out to investigate.¡± Gramps told them. ¡°Anything more?¡± There was a long silence, and then Gramps smiled. ¡°Alright, good. If that¡¯s all, then let¡¯s call the meeting here, and we¡¯ll meet up again at the usual time next year, sound good?¡± There was a chorus of assent, and the people around the table began to stand up, most breaking up into small groups and chattering amongst themselves. ¡°That¡¯s¡­it?¡± Ellie asked, looking at Gramps. ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± He confirmed. ¡°These meetings are pretty routine, just check-ups to make sure nothing¡¯s going too wrong. Afterwards we tend to socialize and talk about things we can¡¯t really talk to normal people about, but that¡¯s optional.¡± He nodded at Valin, who was already leaving the room. ¡°Valin, for instance, prefers to get back to work right away.¡± ¡°Yo!¡± Amara said, walking over to the side of the table where Ellie, Tess, and Gramps were. ¡°I wanted to catch you all before you left today, I wanted to talk about Maven and your party and all that.¡± ¡°We were planning to get her in our party once our school ends in a couple of weeks, right?¡± Tess asked. Amara nodded. ¡°Yup, I just wanted to make sure you two were still fine with that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with it.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I¡¯m willing to give it a go.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But if it turns out she¡¯s not compatible with us, I don¡¯t want to keep going with her in the party. I¡¯ve learned that lesson already.¡± Amara gave them a smile. ¡°She won¡¯t be anywhere near as troublesome as you¡¯re worried about.¡± She said reassuringly. ¡°I have a feeling you¡¯ll get along just fine.¡± ¡°So¡­when exactly are you thinking we begin meeting up?¡± Tess asked. ¡°She¡¯s going to be coming starting two and a half weeks from today, on Monday. I¡¯ve got her renting out a place in the city a little ways from the guild, and she¡¯ll meet you in the guild every morning.¡± ¡°She¡¯s a princess, right?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Doesn¡¯t she have important functions to go to or something? Will we have to work around that?¡± Amara smirked. ¡°Not usually. Maybe once or twice a year she¡¯ll have something, but I¡¯ve convinced her parents that networking with you two is worth missing a few events here or there. They¡¯re not going to bug you too much for a few years.¡± Ellie gave her a doubtful look. ¡°How¡¯d you pull that off? I get that we¡¯re technically important, seeing as how Grandpa¡¯s some bigshot, but it¡¯s not like we actually are going to inherit something or anything like that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s less about that and more about how connected you are to Evan.¡± Amara explained. ¡°You are the two people he cares about most, and being able to have connections to people that close to someone like Evan is more important to having connections to some random noble kids. Plus, in the long run, you¡¯re going to end up far more competent than any of those aforementioned kids, so from a political standpoint it¡¯s a pretty big gain.¡± She shrugged. ¡°It sounds cold saying it that way, but that¡¯s sorta how you have to talk with people like Maven¡¯s parents. Their first concern is what is best for the country, and they¡¯re only going to allow for more leisurely things like Maven¡¯s training when it doesn¡¯t negatively affect her ability to run the country. ¡°Still, it¡¯s a pretty well-known fact among the rulers of Paumen that if I push for something, they¡¯re supposed to listen. I¡¯ve been around a lot longer than they have, and I haven¡¯t been wrong on something like this in centuries.¡± She paused for a moment before continuing. ¡°By the way, let me know if you ever find yourself needing a place to stay in Paumen or Ores, I can set something up for you. Most of the other Appointed are the same for their home plane, don¡¯t feel shy about asking. We all help each other out when we can.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Um¡­I don¡¯t think Tess or I will be able to do the same for Mael, though. We kinda live out in the sticks and don¡¯t know anyone important.¡± Amara laughed. ¡°Not yet, anyway. Give it some time and you¡¯ll be able to ask the church of Life and Death, if no one else. I don¡¯t know much about them, but I highly doubt they¡¯d refuse a request from their Appointed.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°Come to think of it, where is the headquarters for Fortune¡¯s church? I should probably know that, but I hadn¡¯t thought to ask before.¡± ¡°The main branch is located in the Outlands, but the church itself is pretty decentralized. Unlike most, Fortune has decently large followings in all the planes save for Mael, so if you look hard enough you can always find¡­something.¡±
Fortune: Yeah, originally it wasn¡¯t supposed to be like this but somewhere along the way I kinda turned into the god people turn to when they¡¯ve got absolutely nothing else, when they get really desperate. And I was introduced with the Outlands, so I wasn¡¯t really tied to any one plane in the minds of the people and¡­here we are I guess.
¡°Interesting.¡± Tess said. ¡°That makes my job a bit harder, I suppose.¡± Amara made a face. ¡°I really don¡¯t envy you the task of wrangling her church, it¡¯s quite a bit bigger than most and there¡¯s only so much we could do to keep it in check while Fortune didn¡¯t have an Appointed. The biggest parts should all immediately fall in line, though, so hopefully it won¡¯t be¡­too bad, but you never know with these things.¡± ¡°Give us a call when it comes time for you to deal with Sais or Aldous.¡± Ava said, placing a gentle hand on Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s where Atum and I are from, so we can help you get started if you need.¡± Tess jumped slightly. ¡°You startled me!¡± She said, placing a hand over her heart. ¡°I can never get used to how quiet you are!¡± ¡°Sorry, force of habit.¡± Ava said. ¡°The family gets on me about it all the time too.¡± Atum snorted. ¡°You can stop whenever you want, you just like messing with them.¡± ¡°Maybe if they didn¡¯t get so jumpy all the time I would stop!¡± Ava said, smiling faintly. ¡°I believe that¡¯s called victim blaming.¡± Gramps interjected. ¡°It¡¯s kind of hard for someone to just passively pick up when someone as stealthy as you is trying to sneak up on them.¡± ¡°How do you do that?¡± Tess asked curiously. ¡°I can usually pick up when someone¡¯s walking a couple of rooms away, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard you.¡± ¡°Couple of Skills, and a lifetime of learning how not to be noticed by things that have hearing as good as yours. Just keep practicing what I¡¯ve taught you and, in a few decades, you¡¯ll be good enough you forget you¡¯re doing it.¡± ¡°She could probably get better than that faster.¡± Eyfura said thoughtfully. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how exactly how it would play into things, but I¡¯m sure she could pick up some abilities from monsters that greatly increase how stealthy she is.¡± From there, the group fell into a comfortable conversation, lazily talking away the rest of the morning until, eventually, it was time for Ellie, Tess, and Gramps to be on their way. They might have taken the morning off for the meeting, but Gramps still wanted them back at school in time for their afternoon classes. So, Ellie soon found herself walking into school with Tess, still deep in thought about that morning¡¯s events. Chapter 49: Witch Hunting Tess had a hard time focusing on anything, her mind drifting to topics like her future and freelancing in general whenever she tried. It was¡­weird, going from talking about potentially world-shatteringly important events in the morning to listening to a teacher talk about math in the evening. It was almost like a dream, where one sequence of events led into another in a way that made little sense. ¡°Alright everybody, pack up.¡± Her teacher said, snapping Tess back to attention. ¡°It¡¯s time to do yearbook signing. Get your stuff and then go out to the back of the school, we¡¯ll be doing it outside until school would normally be over.¡± Tess had entirely forgotten that was supposed to be today. She began to hurriedly put away her things, then turned to Ellie. ¡°I totally forgot about this, how about you?¡± ¡°Same.¡± Ellie laughed. ¡°Suppose we just¡­had other things on our minds, eh?¡± The two chatted a bit more as they packed up, before heading to their lockers to grab the rest of their stuff and then finally out back, where a large line was beginning to form around a few folding tables that had been set up. Near each line a teacher held a sign that contained a range of letters, indicating which line should be used by people with a last name starting with one of the contained letters. Tess and Ellie obediently lined up in the line for L, and in a few minutes, they were receiving a yearbook from the person manning that station. And, following that, they mingled with the other students, giving signatures and obtaining some in return. And that was all well and good until one of the walls of the school was lit up by a powerful projector, and the music that had been playing over the football stadium¡¯s speakers suddenly stopped. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, do I have an announcement for you!¡± A voice said jovially, crackling to life over the speakers that had just moments before been playing the music. Tess looked up to the broadcaster¡¯s room and saw, much to her displeasure, Aaron sitting in the windowsill with a microphone in hand, looking down at Tess with an infuriatingly smug smile. When he saw that Tess was looking at him, he gave her a little wave, smile growing deeper before he turned to face the equipment he had set up in the room. ¡°You see,¡± he began, pressing a button and causing a countdown to appear on the side of the building, ¡°I had a little¡­beef with one of the students here. I¡¯m sure many of you know her, a girl by the name of Tess Los, graduating here in a couple of weeks. ¡°I confronted her about leading me on, using my goodwill for her own gain before discarding me, and do you know what she did? Not only did she laugh in my face, she had the gall to threaten me. Me, of all people! She said that I would keep quiet about all of this if I knew what was good for me. I, of course, am not one to take such threats lying down.¡± The countdown edged its way closer to zero, but Tess¡¯s attention was torn away by a window that appeared in front of her.
Death: Well, I¡­suppose this¡­kinda works out. Look, he¡¯s probably gonna try to out you as a ¡°witch¡±. I just did a quick check, he had a camera somewhere on his clothes when he confronted you that second time and he¡¯s got video. We have two options here, one, you deny everything and continue as normal these next two weeks. Well, not as normal, you¡¯re probably gonna be shunned by a bunch of people but not much we can do about that. Two, you admit it. We mentioned we wanted to make this town a paranormal hotspot, right? Make a big show of something here, you¡¯ll be really shunned these next two weeks and people will probably shun you after too, but¡­well, they¡¯re not that big a deal. Hopefully your close friends would be cool with it. Um¡­your call, though, we can always just start our plan in a couple of weeks like we had intended. Tess: No. I¡¯m game to do this now, I¡¯m done playing by his rules. Fortune: Yeah, stick it to the man! Death: We¡¯re ¡°the man¡±, Fortune. As far as the world knows, we¡¯re as high on the totem pole as it gets Fortune: You know what I mean Life: You two, enough, she needs to focus. Fortune, would you be able to feed her some Worship? Death and I did some testing, she should be able to use it to fuel her abilities in place of Mana and Stamina, so they can function normally. Fortune: Can do! Knock ¡®em dead, Tess!
Tess looked over to Ellie, giving her a nod and beginning to shoulder her way through the crowd. Up on the side of the building, Aaron and Tess¡¯s latest confrontation was playing out, people watching in shock as, in it, Tess sliced through the hardwood desk like it wasn¡¯t there. The stairs leading up to the broadcasting room were barred by two huge men who were giving Tess hostile stares. ¡°No one gets through until he¡¯s done with his speech. Especially you.¡± One said. ¡°So, there you all have it!¡± Aaron said gleefully, either unaware or uncaring of Tess below. ¡°She¡¯s a monster and needs to be punished. So, I¡¯m going to make a call for action now. None of you should associate with her or the Los family, as you¡¯ll only be inviting evil into your lives. Make sure your families know too, it¡¯s just not safe.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to give you the chance to move aside now.¡± Tess said, calmly looking up at the men that were towering over her. ¡°You saw the video. You don¡¯t want to fight me.¡± The man who had spoken before snorted and hefted a baton. ¡°Special effects.¡± He said. ¡°You don¡¯t scare me.¡± ¡°Wrong answer.¡± Tess said, smiling. She tensed as a charged feeling entered her body, pure energy crackling within. She threw her head back, channeling the Worship into Command of the Emperor and letting out a roar. It was an enormous, inhuman sound that easily drowned out the crowd¡¯s chatter and the noise of Aaron over the speakers, and when she finished not a sound was to be heard.
You have applied Terror to 859 people! Artisanal Afflictions has upgraded Terror to Frozen With Fear! The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
She pushed her way past the now unresisting bodyguards and ascended the stairs until she reached the door to the broadcasting room. She tried to open it, but it was locked, so she unsheathed her claws and brought them down on the door, cutting through the old metal with only a moderate effort. She reached in through the hole she had made and unlocked the door, opening it to reveal a panicking Aaron. She walked over and wrested the microphone from his hands, flashing him a smile as she tapped it. ¡°I believe it¡¯s only fair that I get to say my side of the story.¡± She said, watching as Command of the Emperor¡¯s effect expired and people began to move again. For his part, Aaron bolted out of the room and headed down the stairs, leaving Tess alone to talk. ¡°My apologies for scaring you all like that.¡± She said. ¡°I had to get past the bodyguards and that was the easiest non-violent way I had.¡± It wasn¡¯t, she could have teleported past them with Flashstep, but the people she was talking to didn¡¯t need to know that. Besides, if she had done that, there was a chance they would have tried to catch up to her on the stairs, and she really didn¡¯t want to hurt them. ¡°Look, I¡¯m not¡­well, I guess you could call me a witch, but it¡¯s a rather poor term to describe what I am. I¡¯m not much good at magic, though I can do a little. But, that aside, Aaron was lying to you. I threatened him, yes, but he threatened me first. I never laughed at him either, and certainly never led him on or even gave him the remotest sign that I had any interest in him. ¡°And, as you all just saw, I could have done much worse to him if I had chosen to. I just set a minor poltergeist on him, so he¡¯d get the message, and he didn¡¯t. I really don¡¯t want to hurt anyone, and I¡¯m definitely not evil. In fact, I¡¯m a rather firm follower of Life and Death, make a point of praying to them daily, and letting them know what I do.¡± That was¡­kind of true, if you could call their chatting prayer. And if you left out the fact that she was, technically, their equal, so being a ¡°follower¡± was something of a stretch. ¡°I make a point of closely adhering to the wishes of the gods, and I bear no ill will against anyone here. I¡¯ll understand if you can¡¯t trust me after this, and I won¡¯t blame you if you choose to stop associating with me. I just want to say that not everything different or unknown is scary, and that perhaps you should take a moment and decide for yourself who¡¯s really in the right here.¡± She paused, eyeing the fearful crowd. ¡°Anyway, I guess that¡¯s all I wanted to say, I¡¯m going to get out of your hair now. I¡¯d still love to be friends with anyone who still wants to talk to me.¡± She put the microphone down and left the room, taking a moment to cast a mending spell on the door and fully repair it. Then, she jumped off of the stairway, using Greater Levitation to slow her descent until she landed, unharmed, on the ground below.
Tess: Ellie, let¡¯s go to the car, I don¡¯t think we should stick around. Ellie: Way ahead of you, I¡¯m already on my way.
She took off at a run, dashing through a crowd that parted before her. A short time before she fully cleared the crowd, she caught sight of Jacob behind her, sprinting to try and catch up but steadily losing ground. She slowed, allowing him to catch up to her just as she stepped onto the parking lot¡¯s pavement. ¡°What¡­what was that!?¡± He huffed. ¡°What¡¯s going on, Tess!?¡±
Death: Now¡¯s a good time to let him in on it, too. Probably want to do it away from the school, though.
¡°Meet Ellie and I at our house.¡± Tess told him. ¡°We¡¯ll explain there, but right now we gotta leave before things get more complicated.¡± ¡°Ellie¡¯s in on this too? Look, I¡­¡± He trailed off as he stared at her face, then shook his head. ¡°Alright. But you better be ready to tell me everything.¡± Tess smirked. ¡°I¡¯m ready, but I don¡¯t think you are.¡± She said. ¡°See you in a few minutes.¡± And with that she took off for Ellie¡¯s car, quickly opening the passenger seat¡¯s door and hopping in. ¡°Jacob¡¯s gonna meet us at our place.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯re explaining everything to him then. Hit it!¡± Ellie grinned, quickly accelerating and leaving the parking lot behind them. ¡°Did you see the look on Aaron¡¯s face as he left? He looked like he was about to die of fright!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t get a good look, no.¡± Tess said. ¡°Wish I had, though, I¡¯m sure it was great.¡± ¡°Not as great as you.¡± Ellie said. ¡°That was¡­super hot. Especially the bit in the video, that was¡­something else. Have I ever told you how lucky I am that you¡¯re my girlfriend?¡± Tess smiled. ¡°Once or twice.¡± ¡°Not enough, then. I¡¯d give you a kiss, but I don¡¯t want to crash this car. You better believe you¡¯re getting one the moment we get home, though.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡± Tess replied, smiling slightly. And so, the two drove home, Jacob following behind them.
Jacob got out of his car, locking the door behind him as he rushed to the front door. He was still in shock over what had just happened. His best friend had¡­what did he even call what she had done? It was¡­it was like she had temporarily turned into some sort of beast, an avatar of destruction. He involuntarily shuddered as he recalled that roar. While it hadn¡¯t frozen him like it had most of the students, that was not a human sound. It was primal, bestial, something that had reached deep down into the most instinctual part of his brain and set it screaming about how there was something so incredibly dangerous nearby that the only way to survive was to run. And those claws, the way she had shredded the door like it was made of tissues¡­well, those only served to reinforce that notion. The sensation had, blessedly, faded soon after Tess had begun to speak, but it was something Jacob knew he would never forget. Had¡­she been able to do that the whole time he¡¯d known her? Before he could even knock, the door opened, and Tess pulled him inside. ¡°Right, explanation time.¡± She said, tugging him over to her living room and sitting him down on one of the chairs. ¡°Go ahead and ask your questions, I¡¯ll answer whatever you want.¡± Jacob stared at her. ¡°Um¡­I¡­where do I start? I guess¡­well, what were those claws?¡± Tess nodded, sitting down next to Ellie on a loveseat across from Jacob. She raised her hands, flexed slightly, and a gleaming claw sprouted from each finger. They were about two feet in length, and looked sharper than any blade Jacob had ever seen, making them seem somehow more dangerous now that he was looking at them up close. ¡°This¡­sorta ties into everything that¡¯s been happening.¡± She said. ¡°I got these from¡­¡± She paused, clearly trying to figure out how to word her next phrase. ¡°Alright, no, it really doesn¡¯t make sense unless I explain everything else first.¡± Jacob frowned. ¡°Alright then, I¡¯m listening.¡± Tess nodded, then paused for a moment, looking slightly away from him, almost as if she was reading something. After a couple of seconds, she turned back to him. ¡°Sorry about that.¡± She said. ¡°This¡­is probably not going to be a pleasant experience for you, but it needs to be done.¡± The claws vanished and she placed her hands in her lap, looking at him intently. ¡°Do you remember in middle school, when we were getting ready for gym in the locker room and I realized I had left my uniform at home, and I had to borrow an extra from you, and I ended up falling into a bunch of mud? And then I brought that uniform home to wash it and forgot them both the next day?¡± Jacob thought back for a moment. ¡°Yeah, what about it?¡± ¡°Think hard.¡± Tess told him. ¡°Does that make sense?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see why n¡­¡± He trailed off, wincing as he felt a sudden pain in his head. That¡­didn¡¯t make sense, now that he was thinking about it. ¡°I seem to recall us picking lockers that were close together, but¡­¡± ¡°But?¡± Tess prompted. He closed his eyes, putting a hand to his head. It was really starting to hurt, but something told him he needed to keep going. ¡°But you¡¯re a girl.¡± He said. ¡°There¡¯s no way we could have lockers next to each other in the locker rooms. But¡­no, we definitely did. How¡­¡± The pain rose to a crescendo, and then something snapped. As suddenly as it had arrived, the pain had vanished¡­and as it left, he found he could remember. He opened his eyes, looking at Tess cautiously. ¡°Thomas?¡± He whispered, scarcely believing what he was seeing. Tess gave him a nervous smile. ¡°Yup. Um, I¡¯m Tess for good now, though. I¡­guess I should start at the beginning, it¡¯s a long story.¡± Chapter 50: More Introductions ¡°And¡­well, that¡¯s where we are now.¡± Tess said, folding her hands in her lap nervously. ¡°It¡¯s¡­a lot to take in, I¡¯m sure.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­one way of putting it.¡± Jacob said, giving her a disbelieving stare. ¡°I¡­I, well, to be frank, I can¡¯t believe it. I don¡¯t really want to call you a liar, but¡­well, it¡¯s too much. Obviously, yes, you somehow turned into a girl, and you clearly got those claws somehow, but¡­you two being direct servants of the gods? A whole other set of dimensions? You¡¯re¡­just yanking my chain, right?¡±
Fortune: Hold my Ambrosia
Tess braced herself, and sure enough she soon felt a sort of¡­tingle that she knew on some instinctual level meant that Fortune wanted to Descend. So, she let Fortune in, and the tingle strengthened to that electric, powerful feeling that Tess had come to associate with Descent. ¡°Hello, Jacob.¡± Fortune said. Jacob straightened immediately, a sort of awestruck look filling his eyes as he looked at Tess and Fortune. ¡°Um¡­hi?¡± ¡°I would ask that you not doubt Tess and Ellie any further, everything is as they say. Still, I know you are not familiar with me, so if you wish we could have Life or Death speak to you as well. I just elected to do so because Ellie is less¡­used to being an Appointed and it takes a much greater toll on her than it does Tess.¡± Jacob shook his head vigorously. ¡°N-no, ma¡¯am.¡± He said meekly. ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary.¡± Fortune laughed. ¡°Very well then. I shall take my leave now. Tess, Ellie, I think it would be wise to take him to Evan and have him swear an Oath. I know you trust him, but we cannot afford the risk at this crucial point in time.¡± And with that Fortune left, and Tess gave Jacob a nod. ¡°It¡¯s just me again.¡± She said. Jacob breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°That scared the living daylights out of me.¡± He said. ¡°I¡­I¡¯ve never felt anything like that, is talking with the gods¡­always like that?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie. ¡°It¡¯s to make sure that people don¡¯t try and impersonate them. When they talk, they want you to know it¡¯s them talking. You get used to it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­not so sure.¡± Jacob said nervously. ¡°It¡¯s¡­super nerve wracking, you know? I didn¡¯t know any of this existed until today. The gods were just¡­something that were there in the background, so I just¡­I¡¯m overwhelmed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s a big thing to just drop on someone. If you would like, as soon as we get Gramps to have you swear an Oath, we can send you back home and we can come back to this whenever you¡¯re ready.¡± Jacob shook his head. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine, I just¡­give me a minute or two more before we go on, I¡¯m still kinda processing the whole Thomas thing. It¡­I just didn¡¯t even think anything was off, not in the slightest.¡± ¡°Sorry again about the rough handling.¡± Tess said. ¡°There wasn¡¯t really any pleasant way to do that, not until we¡¯re ready to take that away from everyone, and we thought you deserve to know the truth.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m definitely glad you did.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°How¡­did you guys do that, though?¡± ¡°Ah, Fortune did that.¡± Tess said. She hadn¡¯t known that herself until just earlier. ¡°She just worked a bit of magic that would prevent people from remembering anything was wrong.¡± Magic was probably the wrong term to use, since Worship¡­technically wasn¡¯t magic, but Jacob wasn¡¯t allowed to know about that, so it was the best alternative. ¡°I suppose that figures. There¡¯s no way things could have been this smooth otherwise.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°It was just so¡­fast. I never, in a million years, would have guessed that something like this was the real reason you were out of school for a while. Though, I must say that after I visited, I thought you looked remarkably good for someone who was, supposedly, out with some sort of serious illness.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m actually in the best shape of my life right now.¡± Tess said. ¡°But it¡¯s not like we could give the real reason, I¡¯m sure you understand.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get it, I don¡¯t think I would want to come to school for a bit either.¡± Jacob said. There was a long, awkward pause where no one was quite sure what to say, and then Jacob spoke up again. ¡°So¡­what now?¡± He asked. ¡°Well,¡± Tess began, ¡°I was planning to wait until you had collected yourself, and then we need to go get Gramps to have you swear an Oath.¡± ¡°What is this Oath thing anyway? Can¡¯t I just swear one with you two?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s more complex than that.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It¡¯s done officially using someone connected to the god of Fate, and physically prevents you from breaking it. Well¡­not physically? Magically? Point is, once you swear an Oath, you can¡¯t leak anything, even if you wanted to. And, well¡­like Fortune said, as much as we trust you, this is too important to have even the potential for a leak. Most of the people we work with are under similar Oaths, so it¡¯s not just you or anything.¡± ¡°Yikes.¡± Jacob replied, scratching the back of his neck. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say I don¡¯t see why. Um¡­where is Mr. Los, though?¡± ¡°Probably in his office.¡± Tess replied. ¡°He tends to have good timing about these sorts of things. We should be able to just pop in and see him, then we can show you about the place if you¡¯d like. Just¡­try not to stare too much, alright? We don¡¯t want people thinking you¡¯re a weirdo.¡± ¡°We¡¯re¡­going to another dimension? Now?¡± Jacob replied, somewhat incredulous. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Not as big a deal as you¡¯re thinking, actually.¡± Ellie finished. ¡°It¡¯s more like¡­well, there¡¯s not really a good analogue here, but it¡¯s more like just heading to another city. It¡¯s a pretty normal thing for a lot of people.¡± ¡°Yeah, but not here it¡¯s not.¡± Jacob countered. ¡°This sort of thing would rock society if it was made public.¡± ¡°We¡¯re working on it.¡± Tess replied. ¡°We¡¯re going to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible, so we don¡¯t end up with a total collapse of order. It¡¯s gonna be a little harder here since there¡¯s not really any magic, but most of the other planes have gone through something similar at one point or another. It¡¯ll all work out, don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Jacob replied dubiously. ¡°How are we going to do this? Are you going to open a portal or¡­?¡± ¡°We have a hidden door in the house. You just pour a bit of Mana in, and it pops up and you can go between The Outlands and Mael at will. Easy as that.¡± ¡°Easy as that? You¡¯re having way too much fun with this.¡± Jacob said, shaking his head slightly. Still, he was wearing a small smile, so it seemed they hadn¡¯t pushed him too far. ¡°Just let us know when you¡¯re ready.¡± Ellie said, reclining slightly. ¡°Well, I think I¡¯m as ready as I¡¯m ever going to be today.¡± Jacob said, standing up. ¡°Where¡¯s this door?¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Tess stood, and she and Ellie brought him to the hall where the door was. She poured a bit of Mana into the wall, and the door bled its way into existence, much to the shock of Jacob. Tess opened the door and stepped through, finding herself in Gramps¡¯s office. ¡°Ah, Tess, is it safe to assume you¡¯re coming with Jacob?¡± Gramps asked, looking up from his desk. ¡°Yeah. We just had an¡­incident at school, and we let him in on everything. We need him to swear an Oath so he¡¯s secure, so we were hoping you could do that.¡± ¡°Well, you can tell me about it later.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Go on and bring him in, we¡¯ll get this taken care of.¡± Tess nodded, turning to the still-open doorway. ¡°Come in,¡± she called, ¡°Gramps is here, he¡¯ll have you swear that Oath now.¡± Jacob stepped into the room, stopping as he saw the windows and the forest beyond. ¡°Woah.¡± He said in an awe-filled tone. ¡°That¡¯s¡­woah.¡± ¡°Come on.¡± Ellie said, gently nudging him forward so she could get through. ¡°You¡¯ll have plenty of time to look later, Grandpa¡¯s a busy guy so we don¡¯t want to take up too much of his time.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Gramps said, smiling. ¡°I thought something like this might happen, so I blocked out an hour or two.¡±
Death: It¡¯d be real nice if Fate shared some of his insights with us too, not just Evan. We were in the dark about all of this until it happened Life: It¡¯s a learning experience. We should have realized that that boy was planning something and kept an eye on him. If Fate told us everything all the time, then we wouldn¡¯t be able to grow as gods, and we would be doing our Appointed a disservice. Fortune: Well, my guess is Fate wasn¡¯t sure this was gonna happen either. He thought it might, but he¡¯s been wrong in the past, especially if it¡¯s a matter he¡¯s not paying much attention to. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he had Evan waiting during all the assemblies or other such times in case Aaron tried it then. Life: My point still stands. This was not his responsibility in the first place, so he has no obligation to tell us anything. We need to take care of ourselves.
¡°How did you know, Mr. Los?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°It all seemed pretty sudden to me.¡± ¡°I have my ways.¡± Gramps said, smiling mischievously. ¡°So, any questions before we begin?¡± Jacob blinked. ¡°Now? Won¡¯t there need to be some sort of¡­ceremony or something, since this is magical and all?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Gramps replied, standing up and walking over. ¡°Just grab my hand.¡± He said, holding out a hand. Jacob tentatively reached out and took the proffered hand, and the atmosphere around Gramps changed, becoming much more serious as he cleared his throat and began to talk. ¡°Jacob, I ask you in the name of the god of Fate if you will swear to tell not reveal the existence of these other planes to people who are unaware of them until the day they become public knowledge on Mael.¡± Jacob paused, then nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Furthermore, will you swear to tell no one about Tess and Ellie¡¯s positions as Appointed or any associated abilities unless you have been given express permission by Tess, Ellie, or one of the gods?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Gramps nodded, letting go of his hand. ¡°Then it¡¯s done.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Gramps confirmed. ¡°Anything else you need from me? I can talk a bit if you would like.¡± ¡°Um¡­I was kind of hoping that I could get a look at my stats or whatever.¡± Jacob said. ¡°How do I do that?¡± ¡°If you want, you can sign up for registration at the guild here. It¡¯ll provide a form of ID for you and you¡¯ll get your status scanned as part of it. You won¡¯t be under any obligation to actually do anything if you don¡¯t want, so I¡¯d highly recommend you sign up if you¡¯re planning to visit here again. Mael IDs aren¡¯t accepted anywhere yet, so it¡¯ll be hard if you end up needing one.¡± Jacob nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do that. Um¡­how¡­¡± ¡°We can show you.¡± Tess said. ¡°Give me a second¡­¡± She took a brief moment to turn on Kemonomimi (Fox). She had been using that in place of the wolf version ever since Ava had given it to her before going to the Vermillion Arc, and it would feel strange if she went out without it. Oddly enough, no one had commented on the difference. Not that she had really had close interaction with anyone other than Graham, her receptionist, but he seemed to have noticed and then chosen not to say anything. ¡°Tess?!¡± Jacob exclaimed, eyes going wide. ¡°What are those?¡± ¡°Did¡­we not tell you?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°She masquerades as beastkin to help make her claws seem more¡­normal. Also, because I like it a lot, but that¡¯s neither here nor there.¡± ¡°Sorry, it just slipped my mind.¡± Tess said sheepishly. ¡°It¡¯s sort of second nature to put them on at this point, I forget they¡¯re even there. Also feels a lot more natural to use my enhanced hearing like this, since¡­well, dunno, it just feels like human ears shouldn¡¯t hear that well. It always kinda catches me by surprise when I hear something I really shouldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Jacob frowned, then began to blush slightly. ¡°If you have enhanced hearing, mm¡­back when I visited did you, did you¡­¡± ¡°Hear you talking after you left the room? Yeah, sorry. I can hear most of everything that happens in the house.¡± Jacob groaned, putting his head in his hands. ¡°Sorry about that. I was kind of flabbergasted seeing you for the first time. Didn¡¯t know that then, but¡­well, that makes a lot more sense now. Was sorta a shock for reasons I couldn¡¯t quite place.¡± ¡°What¡¯d you say?¡± Ellie asked curiously. Tess could make out a faint blush through Jacob¡¯s hands. ¡°I said something like ¡®I swear she wasn¡¯t that hot before¡¯, which¡­well¡­yeah, makes sense now.¡± Ellie laughed, placing a hand on Jacob¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I had the same reaction, can¡¯t blame you at all.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, I understood.¡± Tess said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Um, anyway, Gramps, is registration something we can go to a personal receptionist for or should we use the general-use lines?¡± Gramps frowned, tapping his chin. ¡°Better use the personal receptionist line.¡± He said after a moment of deliberation. ¡°Normally you shouldn¡¯t, but circumstances are a bit¡­extenuating, so it¡¯s probably for the best if you do. Just tell Graham that Jacob¡¯s a friend from school and he¡¯ll get the gist of things.¡± ¡°Alright, thanks Gramps.¡± Tess said. ¡°We should probably be on our way, then.¡± ¡°Very well, let me know if you all need anything!¡± Gramps said, giving them a wave. Tess and Ellie led Jacob out of the room and began working their way through the halls of the guild. ¡°Remember, try not to stare.¡± Ellie whispered. ¡°There are a lot of non-humans about, so you¡¯re going to draw attention if you act like that¡¯s unusual.¡± ¡°Is it bad like in books, where someone will challenge me to a fight or something?¡± Jacob whispered back. ¡°I don¡¯t think I could handle that.¡± ¡°No, nothing like that.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°This branch of the guild is much too orderly for something like that to happen. You just might¡­get a reputation, you know?¡± ¡°Hey, Tess, Ellie! You¡¯re here early, shouldn¡¯t you still have school?¡± Tess whirled to find Alice walking down the hallways towards them, smiling brightly. ¡°Who¡¯s this with you?¡± She asked, coming to a stop next to the group. ¡°Oh, Alice.¡± Tess replied, giving the older girl a quick hug as she approached. ¡°This is Jacob, he¡¯s one of my friends from school.¡± Alice raised an eyebrow. ¡°From school? But wouldn¡¯t that make him from Mael?¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± Jacob replied politely. ¡°Um¡­I just sort of found out about all of this now.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you two waiting to do anything until after you graduated?¡± Alice asked. ¡°You still have a week or two left, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, there was sort of an¡­incident at school, and we decided it would be a good opportunity to kick things off. So, we decided we¡¯d let Jacob in on it too, since we figured there was no point in waiting until after school was over to give him answers.¡± ¡°An incident?¡± Alice asked, a worried expression on her face. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± ¡°Do you remember that Aaron guy I told you about? He apparently had some sort of video of the last time he confronted me, and played it in front of the whole school to try and out me. So¡­I did him one better and used my abilities to get to him and give my side of the story, then I left. The next little bit is going to be¡­interesting, but I can handle some random people thinking I¡¯m a witch or whatever.¡± Alice nodded hesitantly. ¡°If you¡­say so. Just remember I¡¯m open to talk about it if you need to, okay?¡± ¡°Of course. If things start getting bad, I¡¯ll let you know.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Alice replied, ruffling Tess¡¯s hair before turning to Jacob. ¡°My name¡¯s Alice, I¡¯m one of Tess and Ellie¡¯s teachers.¡± She said, sticking out a hand. ¡°Dryad, if you were wondering.¡± ¡°Oh. Um, nice to meet you, I guess.¡± Jacob replied, shaking the hand. ¡°Like Tess said, my name¡¯s Jacob, I¡¯m just a friend from school.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you as well.¡± Alice said, turning back to Tess. ¡°So, can I take this to mean that regular training is going to be on hold for the day?¡± ¡°Yeah, I was kinda thinking we would spend a while showing him around, maybe even run him through Slime Tower once or twice if he¡¯s feeling up to it.¡± Tess replied. ¡°At the very least, right now we¡¯re going to get him registered so he has ID and we can see his stats.¡± Alice nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll let the others know. If you¡¯d like, I could tag along once you¡¯re done registering, we could sort of hang out and then I could take you all to dinner or something.¡± ¡°As long as Jacob and Ellie are fine with it, I am.¡± Tess aid. ¡°I¡¯m down.¡± Ellie said, giving Jacob a glance. ¡°No pressure on you, though. We¡¯ll totally understand if you don¡¯t want to spend the rest of the day with someone you just met.¡± Jacob shook his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I like meeting new people, and the offer of food is tempting, so I don¡¯t see why not.¡± Alice smiled. ¡°Perfect. I¡¯ll wait in the usual room, so come find me when you¡¯re done, alright?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Gramps is having us go through Graham, so it shouldn¡¯t take too long.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯ll see you in a bit!¡± With that, Alice left, and the remaining three left for the main room, ready to get Jacob registered. Chapter 51: Registration Tess gently tugged Jacob further into the guild¡¯s main hall, trying to get her stunned friend moving again. ¡°Remember, don¡¯t stare.¡± She hissed. ¡°I know it¡¯s hard.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t stare when you first saw this too!¡± Jacob whispered back. ¡°People already knew we were from Mael, and it was way more crowded than this, so we were less conspicuous.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°We¡¯re trying to keep the fact that you¡¯re from Mael on the down-low, since people are going to treat you differently if they know. Someone might try and take advantage of you.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t tell me you¡¯re any different!¡± Jacob protested. ¡°Unfortunately, we are.¡± Tess responded, steering the group towards the line for people with personal receptionists. ¡°People aren¡¯t going to try and take advantage of us because we¡¯re related to Gramps, and they¡¯re way too scared of him to do anything.¡± ¡°Him?¡± Jacob said incredulously. ¡°He¡¯s the least threatening guy I know! He put relighting candles on your birthday cake that one time and nearly died laughing when you couldn¡¯t blow them out! He can¡¯t be that scary.¡± ¡°Well, this is a familiar conversation.¡± Graham said, taking his place behind the desk. ¡°As I told Tess, him being goofy doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s any less scary. Trust me, if you had seen him in action, you wouldn¡¯t think the same way.¡± He paused, giving Jacob a careful look. ¡°You¡¯re a new face around here, are you a friend of these two?¡± ¡°Yeah, from school.¡± Tess replied. ¡°We¡¯re here to get him registered, and Gramps told us to use this line.¡± Understanding dawned on Graham¡¯s face. ¡°I see how it is. Alright, give me a moment and I¡¯ll pull out the papers¡­¡± He reached down, groped around for a moment, and then looked up, giving them an embarrassed smile. ¡°I forgot, we don¡¯t keep registration papers at this desk. Let me go grab some.¡± He stood up and walked over to one of the other counters, where he began talking to the receptionist manning it. ¡°Is he a minotaur?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°Looks like one, but I don¡¯t want to assume, you know?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie confirmed. ¡°Really nice guy, too. Puts up with the weirdness that Tess and I occasionally put him through without any complaint.¡± Graham returned to the counter, sitting down and sliding a small stack of papers and a pen to Jacob. ¡°So, this is going to work a little differently than normal.¡± He said, pulling something up on the desk¡¯s computer. ¡°Ignore any fields that have to do with where you live, other identification, and things that would immediately give you away as being from Mael. The Guildmaster will figure out something to put there that won¡¯t be too conspicuous. If you have questions about if something would give you away or any other questions, feel free to ask, alright?¡± Jacob nodded, and began filling out the sheet in front of him. There was a minute or so of him writing away before he looked up at Graham questioningly. ¡°So¡­couple of questions.¡± he began. ¡°First, this ¡®Special Skills¡¯ field, does that refer to general things I know how to do or is it like¡­the abilities you get from dungeons or whatever?¡± ¡°Proper Skills you get from dungeons.¡± Graham confirmed. ¡°Most newcomers don¡¯t have any, so we don¡¯t bother checking for them, but occasionally they do, so we have that field. There¡¯s a rare item or two that will grant Skills that our scanners won¡¯t pick up very well, so we just like to make sure.¡± Jacob nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll just put ¡®none¡¯, then. So, for my other question, it wants to know about prior experience and capabilities, is that like¡­work experience in general or just dungeon-y type stuff or¡­?¡± ¡°Work experience in general.¡± Graham confirmed. ¡°Freelancers don¡¯t just raid dungeons, they do all sorts of odd jobs, so it¡¯s important to know beforehand what they¡¯re able to do. For you specifically, you probably shouldn¡¯t name any specifics, since that¡¯ll¡­probably give things away, but go ahead and list anything you can do.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Jacob replied, getting back to work on the application. It took him a few more minutes to finish, but once he had, he slid the papers back over to Graham. ¡°Alright, now what?¡± ¡°Now, we go get you scanned.¡± Graham replied. ¡°Ess is going to be your scanner today, room 210. Tess and Ellie should be able to lead you there.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yup. Thanks, Graham!¡± Graham gave them a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. You all have fun, alright?¡± ¡°Will do!¡± Ellie replied, and the group left the counter and began trekking back through the halls of the guild until they reached room 210. Tess knocked, and there was some shuffling from within the room. ¡°Come in.¡± A sleepy voice said. The group entered the room, and Ess, the elf woman who had first scanned Tess and Ellie, was waiting for them inside. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you two again.¡± She said. ¡°Here for your friend?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We were hoping to get him scanned, you can take care of that, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s my job. Sit there, if you would.¡± She said, motioning to a chair at a table with a large glass ball similar to the one that was first used to scan Tess and Ellie. Jacob obediently sat, and Ess sat down across from him. ¡°Place your hands on the ball and we¡¯ll have this done soon.¡± Jacob did so, and Ess stared into the ball for a few moments before nodding and standing up. ¡°Give me a moment to grab the sheet and then we¡¯ll be done.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Ess confirmed. ¡°Give me a moment.¡± She exited the room, leaving the three alone. ¡°So¡­what are your stats, and what¡¯s normal?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°Um¡­well, I¡¯ve got the worst, and Ellie has the best.¡± Tess said. ¡°I guess average is¡­five for each of the normal stats and fifty for HP and stuff? I don¡¯t really have a good frame of reference for what¡¯s normal, though, so take that with a grain of salt.¡± ¡°So¡­they¡¯re not that important then, right? I¡¯m assuming the gods only pick people who are really good, so¡­¡± Ellie shook her head. ¡°No, Tess is just an exception, stats are super important. Fortune is working off of different rules than the others.¡± ¡°I¡­see. So, do I just¡­hope that I don¡¯t get trash, then?¡± Jacob said, somewhat apprehensively. ¡°Pretty much.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°It¡¯s almost completely random, to my knowledge. I mean, apparently genetics have some limited role in things, but not that much. And it¡¯s basically going to be entirely random if your parents would have had good stats or not, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡± The door opened and Ess came back in. ¡°Here you are.¡± She said, handing Jacob a paper. Jacob read over it for a moment, then shrugged. ¡°Seems¡­average. High magic defense, but nothing else really noteworthy, I think.¡± ¡°It¡¯s definitely serviceable.¡± Ess said lazily. ¡°You can make a living with those stats, no problem. Anyway, you¡¯re all done, your ID will be ready in a couple of hours, so come pick it up then. If you don¡¯t, we¡¯ll send it to your address within the week. Now, hurry on out, we need to keep this room open for other registrants, and I¡¯m sure you have other plans.¡± ¡°We do, thank you Ess.¡± Tess said, opening the door and stepping out. She was followed Ellie and Jacob, whom she took to the room that she usually met up with Alice in. ¡°Yo, all done?¡± Alice said as they walked in. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Yup.¡± Tess replied. ¡°They¡¯re making his ID now.¡± ¡°Good. What¡¯s the plan?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Dunno, I think we should leave it up to Jacob. What would you like to do first?¡± She asked, turning to Jacob. ¡°We can see the sights of the city, run through the beginner dungeon once or twice¡­basically whatever, really.¡± ¡°Um, I mean, going through a dungeon sounds like a neat experience, but I don¡¯t think any of us are exactly equipped to do that right now.¡± Alice snorted. ¡°Tess is always equipped to do something, and Ellie and I could run through Slime Tower with our bare hands if we wanted to. It¡¯s really not a threatening dungeon at all.¡± ¡°I have some hand-me-down armor and a weapon that you can use, though.¡± Tess replied, reaching into her bag and pulling out the quarterstaff and leather armor she had been given on her first day in the Outlands. ¡°I don¡¯t really use weapons and have way better armor so¡­¡± ¡°He has a point, though, we should probably change out of our uniforms, at least.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Oh, yeah, wouldn¡¯t those have kind given us away as being from the same school?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°I thought we were trying to avoid that.¡± ¡°Nah, you¡¯re good.¡± Alice replied. ¡°No one¡¯s ever really seen those two in their uniforms before, they¡¯re more likely to think that you¡¯re some friend they met at some noble¡¯s fancy party or something.¡± ¡°Yeah, but why would they be at some noble¡¯s fancy party?¡± Jacob responded. ¡°It¡¯s not like they could just waltz into one, and I don¡¯t think they¡¯re exactly important enough to get an invite, no offense.¡± Alice smirked. ¡°Wrong there. I¡¯ve turned down at least three requests to introduce Tess to some pretty important people, and I¡¯m not even her guardian, just a teacher. I¡¯m sure the Guildmaster¡¯s gotten way more. Plus, they¡¯ve got a literal crown princess joining their party in a couple of weeks.¡± ¡°You¡¯re messing with me, right?¡± Jacob asked, laughing nervously. ¡°There¡¯s no way that¡¯s true.¡± ¡°Their grandfather is the de-facto ruler of the most important plane, the strongest mage alive, and, in a way, the most influential person in existence right now.¡± Alice said. ¡°In many respects, they¡¯re far more important than the crown princess of some random kingdom. As far as most people know, they may not have any direct impact on how laws change, but they¡¯re the people the Guildmaster cherishes most, and knowing them could mean having some degree of influence with him.¡± ¡°So¡­what makes this other princess any different, then? Why does she get to meet them when everyone else doesn¡¯t?¡± ¡°She¡¯s the descendant of an old colleague of Gramps¡¯s.¡± Tess said. ¡°We met her by happenstance, and one thing led to another and¡­well, she has promise, so we¡¯re going to try things out with her for a bit, see how it goes.¡± ¡°I¡­see.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°I suppose that¡­makes sense. Well, let¡¯s give this thing a go, and who knows, maybe I¡¯ll like it and I can look into joining your party too?¡± Tess and Ellie shared a look. ¡°Um¡­we¡¯ll have to wait and see what stuff you get from running the dungeon.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Our party is¡­well, for the time being it¡¯s only open to people who are really above the average. We¡¯ll have to see if you¡¯re capable of keeping up before we can make a decision.¡± ¡°Sorry, I know it¡¯s kind of disappointing.¡± Tess said. ¡°But, well, right now we can¡¯t afford to take on people we aren¡¯t sure will be able to keep up. We¡¯re going to be doing some dangerous stuff while working for the gods, and we don¡¯t want you to get hurt. Even if you can¡¯t, though, we¡¯re still totally down to run a few dungeons with you from time to time.¡± ¡°Tell you what,¡± Alice said, ¡°if the day comes that you can handily beat one of Tess¡¯s attendants in single combat, then that¡¯ll probably be indication that you¡¯re equipped to keep up with her. Call it a goal of sorts.¡± Jacob frowned. ¡°Attendants? What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°Oh, right, forgot to mention.¡± Tess said. ¡°I have a couple of¡­well, think of them like tamed and customized monsters. Um¡­here, Silky, Isabella, come introduce yourselves.¡± Understood! Silky said enthusiastically, scuttling out from within Tess¡¯s shirt and onto her shoulder. She gave a little salute and then an approximation of a bow while Jacob stared on. ¡°This is Silky.¡± Tess said, giving the spider a couple of fond pats. ¡°She¡¯s super smart and loyal, a real ball of sunshine to be around.¡± Tess could feel Silky beaming with pride, so she continued. ¡°She¡¯s even able to read and write a little, so don¡¯t go underestimating her.¡± ¡°¡­I suppose it is my turn.¡± Isabella droned, floating out of Tess and giving a small curtsey. ¡°I am Isabella.¡± She said, then retreated back to her usual hiding place. ¡°She¡¯s a little shy, but she¡¯s every bit as much a valuable member of our little crew as Silky.¡± Tess explained. Jacob gave Silky a calculating look. ¡°I¡­just have to beat one of them, right?¡± He asked. ¡°I could¡­probably take Silky.¡± In response, Silky raised her front legs and swiped them in front of her as if she was a boxer warming up for a match. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡± Ellie warned. ¡°Not yet. Silky may look like just a slightly bigger than normal spider, but she could kill you in a heartbeat. She¡¯s made from the boss of a level thirtyish dungeon, just without the whole giant-size thing that normally comes with, trying to squash her with a shoe wouldn¡¯t cut it. You¡¯re not anywhere near strong enough to think about fighting her.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Jacob replied, deflating a little. ¡°I suppose we should¡­get ready, then.¡± ¡°Yeah. Sorry.¡± Tess said, handing him the quarterstaff and armor. ¡°This stuff is magic, it¡¯ll automatically resize itself. You can go ahead and put it on over your clothes, I need to go to a changing room since my armor is more like¡­well, regular clothes, honestly.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m just going to change into regular clothes.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be more than a couple of minutes.¡± Jacob nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll just¡­wait here, I guess.¡± ¡°Let me know if you¡¯re having issues.¡± Alice volunteered. ¡°I wear heavy armor, so I know a thing or two about getting stuff on.¡± Tess and Ellie left the room and began heading towards the changing room further down the hallway. ¡°Do you think we were¡­too harsh? About the party thing, that is.¡± Tess asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Ellie replied, frowning. ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell with this sort of thing. I don¡¯t know if there was a gentler way to say that, but I think we were pretty close to as gentle as we could get without being patronizing. Who knows, maybe he will get something crazy and we can add him to our party, but¡­¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t really like his odds, though. It would be nice, but¡­yeah.¡± They reached the changing rooms and the two girls parted momentarily, slipping into separate stalls as they changed their clothing. A minute or so later, Tess left the changing room. She had chosen to keep her armor in suit mode for the time being, since Alice had yet to see it, but she imagined that she¡¯d usually keep it as casual clothing; wearing a suit all the time seemed like it¡¯d draw attention and she didn¡¯t want that. Ellie appeared to still be changing, so Tess waited outside the door for her to finish. It probably wasn¡¯t necessary, but Tess didn¡¯t want Ellie to somehow end up waiting for her when she had already finished, so she did it just in case. Plus, Jacob was still probably getting his armor on, so it wasn¡¯t really a waste of time, either. After another couple of minutes, the door to Ellie¡¯s stall opened. ¡°Thanks for waiting, Tess, I¡­¡± Ellie trailed off as she stared at Tess, mouth still slightly open as her eyes roamed up and down Tess¡¯s body. ¡°What?¡± Tess asked, blushing. ¡°You saw me in this earlier, didn¡¯t you get this all out of your system then?¡± ¡°I¡­thought so, but I guess not.¡± Ellie replied sheepishly. ¡°Um¡­we should get back to the room, Jacob¡¯s probably done changing.¡± The two walked back to the room, where Jacob was indeed done changing. ¡°Woah.¡± Alice said, blinking in surprise. ¡°Where¡¯d you get that? What is that?¡± Tess blushed, looking away. ¡°Um, Fortune had Gramps custom-order it as something to specifically go with my Blessing. She wanted me to have a uniform of sorts so I wouldn¡¯t look scruffy while dealing with gambling places. But, um, if I do this,¡± she said, pouring a bit of Mana into it and watching as it changed to a simple shirt and pants, ¡°it changes to something better for day to day wear.¡± Alice raised an eyebrow, walking over and looking intently at the clothing. ¡°This is some seriously good stuff.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m no expert, but this is definitely not your ordinary set of armor, right? Mind if I ask who made it?¡± ¡°Um¡­¡±
Fortune: It¡¯s probably fine to tell her who, it¡¯s not like we¡¯d directly be outing Kane as an Appointed, and it¡¯s fine if she harbors some suspicion, she¡¯s already under an Oath anyway. Plus, those who know would probably recognize his handiwork anyway.
¡°I believe his name was¡­Kane Io, I think.¡± Tess said, pretending she was trying to remember his name. Hopefully that would help give the idea that Kane was just someone Gramps had commissioned, not another Appointed. Alice gave a low whistle. ¡°Kane himself, eh? That musta cost the Guildmaster an arm and a leg, he doesn¡¯t do things cheap.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, it didn¡¯t¡­seem like it was costing Gramps a bunch of money.¡± Tess said. ¡°That¡¯s not the impression I got, anyway. Maybe Kane owed him a favor or something?¡± Alice nodded. ¡°That makes sense. Mind if I ask what exactly it does?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine. As long as Jacob is fine with hearing it and wouldn¡¯t rather just get to things straight away.¡± ¡°What? Um, no, that¡¯s, uh, fine.¡± Jacob said awkwardly, looking away. ¡°Are you sure? It can wait until later.¡± Alice offered. ¡°No, really, um, just getting used to the armor.¡± Jacob replied. Ellie slung an arm around his shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re just flustered because she looked good in that suit, aren¡¯t you?¡± She teased. ¡°No!¡± Jacob said quickly. Ellie raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really now?¡± Jacob sighed. ¡°Fine. Maybe a little. It¡¯s just¡­still a little weird for me, like, she was a guy before and then she just suddenly wasn¡¯t and I didn¡¯t remember and then¡­I don¡¯t know, I just had to reconcile that again.¡± ¡°What she¡¯s not telling you is that she was way more flustered when she first saw the suit than you are.¡± Tess said, smiling slightly. ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t have to tell him that!¡± Ellie protested, face turning red. ¡°Just don¡¯t worry about it, I get it.¡± Tess said. ¡°It was weird for all of us at first. Alice, I¡¯ll tell you about the armor later, I think it would be for the best if we got him actually doing things for a bit.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± Alice said. ¡°So, Slime Tower, then?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Chapter 52: Changed Lives ¡°We¡¯ll be right behind you if you run into trouble, but you really shouldn¡¯t.¡± Tess said. ¡°Slimes are like¡­trivial. You could just kick it to death and there wouldn¡¯t be any issues.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Jacob replied, gripping the quarterstaff nervously. ¡°It¡¯s still nerve wracking to know that I could potentially die here.¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Alice replied. ¡°You¡¯re in no danger whatsoever as long as we¡¯re here, not from anything in this dungeon. If you go to other dungeons, though, that might be a possibility, but for now you really don¡¯t need to worry about it. You¡¯ll see once you actually fight a slime.¡± ¡°We can offer proof if you would like.¡± Ellie offered. ¡°We could take out the slimes from a distance without breaking a sweat.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°I can do this.¡± And, as if to stave off any further discussion, he opened the door to the first floor of the dungeon and strode in, leaving the others to follow him. Inside the first room there was, of course, a slime waiting. Jacob stopped for a moment while he stared at the slime, before walking forward and swinging the staff. It wasn¡¯t exactly a skilled swing, more raw power than any sort of finesse, and something more mobile probably would have dodged it easily, but the slime wasn¡¯t that mobile, and Jacob landed the hit. The slime burst into rainbow haze, and Jacob breathed a sigh of relief, slouching a bit as he turned back to the others. ¡°Is¡­that it?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said, smiling. ¡°Told you it¡¯d be nothing to worry about. The only thing in this dungeon that can actually be a threat is the boss.¡± She paused, thinking for a second. ¡°And the Challenge, but that¡¯s not something you should be thinking about until later on, those can be¡­well, challenging.¡± ¡°Will¡­you guys be helping me with the boss?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°If you run into trouble.¡± Tess replied. ¡°We¡¯d probably have a hard time not one-shotting it, so it would be better if we could let you try it yourself first. We have healing magic, so don¡¯t worry if you get a few bumps and bruises from it, you¡¯ll be good as new by the time we get you home.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll¡­well, I¡¯ll take your word for it.¡± Jacob replied. So, they made their way through Slime Tower. Jacob was able to take care of all of the slimes fairly easily, though once they started appearing in groups of more than two, he began to occasionally take a couple of hits from them. And, after another ten or twenty minutes, they had made it to the top floor. It was about as crowded as Tess had remembered it, mostly people who were looking to make relatively easy money farming the boss for its drops. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of people here.¡± Jacob whispered. ¡°Do we need to wait until whoever¡¯s in there is done, or¡­?¡± ¡°No, this is just the easiest boss in the city, and you can make kind of okay money with very little skill here, so a lot of newer freelancers tend to earn some starting cash by just fighting the boss a bunch for a while. And, occasionally, civilians who have need for extra money will come here in their free time.¡± Alice explained. ¡°So, this place is generally pretty crowded.¡± ¡°I¡­see. I guess I hadn¡¯t really¡­though about it that way.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°So, do we just go in, then?¡± ¡°Pretty much.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Just go ahead, we¡¯ll be right behind you, ready for if things turn sour, so just go for it.¡± Jacob nodded, and the group entered the boss room. The fight went smoothly, Jacob took a few hits, but after a few minutes he managed to kill it. ¡°That wasn¡¯t that bad, I guess.¡± He said, panting and sitting down on the floor. ¡°It hurt a little, but I can handle that.¡± ¡°You get used to it after a while.¡± Alice said. ¡°Want to grab your reward? We can take a breather in the lobby; it¡¯ll be more comfortable.¡± ¡°Yeah, that sounds good.¡± Jacob replied, standing back up. ¡°Is it that other door?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the one.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Lead the way.¡± Jacob made his way to the door, with everyone else following, and they were soon in the room with the Rewards Crystal. Jacob walked up and touched it, then waited for a moment before turning back to Tess and Ellie. ¡°Did it work?¡± ¡°It¡­should have.¡± Tess said, frowning. ¡°Did you not get a window explaining what you got to you?¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t have one of the nice bands.¡± Alice said. ¡°He¡¯ll have to get scanned when he gets back to the guild.¡± ¡°Oh. That¡¯s¡­a little disappointing, I guess.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°I don¡¯t really feel different, I¡¯m¡­not sure what I expected.¡± ¡°Yeah, you usually don¡¯t.¡± Alice confirmed. ¡°And portable Skill scanners aren¡¯t that expensive, you could probably get one by the time you fully clear Slime Tower if you make sure to pick up all your drops.¡± ¡°I guess I¡¯ll save up, then.¡± He said. ¡°Nah, I can get you one.¡± Tess told him. ¡°I make a fair bit of money and have nothing to spend it on. My gear¡¯s about as good as I can get, and I don¡¯t need weapon upgrades, so¡­yeah.¡± ¡°You sure about that? I¡¯m not sure of the value of this money, but it¡¯s gotta be worth a fair amount, right?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°I probably made at least a fourth of the cost just taking you through here.¡± Tess said. ¡°I get the maximum amount of money dropped even if I don¡¯t participate in the kill, I just have to be in the party and present at the kill.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Jacob said. ¡°I¡­didn¡¯t realize.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a little nuts.¡± Tess replied. ¡°But we can discuss that later. What do you want to do now? Do you want to go again, or would you rather grab some food?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s eat.¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯m hungry and more than a little curious as to what kind of food people eat here.¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Sounds good.¡± Alice said. ¡°I know just the place.¡± And with that, the group left the dungeon, off to eat and see what else the day might have in store for them.
¡°You don¡¯t have to do this, Maven.¡± Maven¡¯s mother said, giving her a pleading look. Maven wasn¡¯t falling for that act. She could see in her mother¡¯s eyes that she had already accepted that Maven wasn¡¯t going to be dissuaded. ¡°I do, Mother.¡± She replied curtly. ¡°You and I both know that I have potential, and I¡¯m not going to squander it by just boosting my way up to a high level.¡± ¡°Boosting is not squandering potential.¡± Her father said indignantly. ¡°It¡¯s a time-honored way of getting your strength up, much like any other form of training. If anything, it gets you to the point where you can actually begin doing the interesting things faster.¡± ¡°Yeah, and have no basic competencies that you should have at that level.¡± Maven countered. ¡°I¡¯ve met people half your level who would be able to beat you with one hand.¡± ¡°That is no way to talk to your father.¡± Her mother said sternly. ¡°And I very much doubt that you¡¯ve met anyone meeting that description.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to be in a party with her.¡± Maven replied defiantly. ¡°You may not believe me, but you didn¡¯t see what I saw. She was easily able to clear that dungeon, and I know she was holding back, I could feel it.¡± ¡°You may feel that way,¡± her mother replied, ¡°but you don¡¯t have the proper experience to know what someone is capable of. I think you were just overestimating her because she¡¯s related to the Guildmaster.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough, Abarrane.¡± Amara said, stepping out of the hoverer that was waiting behind them. ¡°We¡¯ve already had this discussion multiple times. Dragging it out further would be¡­less than productive.¡± She said, giving Maven¡¯s mother a meaningful look. ¡°It would be best if we didn¡¯t delay things further.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Maven¡¯s mother, Abarrane, trailed off as she looked into Amara¡¯s eyes. ¡°Yes, Grandmother.¡± She said, looking away. Amara looked back to Maven¡¯s father. ¡°I trust you have no other objections, Saburo?¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t queen anymore, Amara.¡± Saburo said. ¡°Do not talk to my wife that way.¡± Amara¡¯s gaze hardened, a sort of threatening aura surrounding her as she looked at Maven¡¯s father. ¡°I may not be queen, but I¡¯m still her ancestor, and as such the duty of making sure she behaves falls, in part, to me. I¡¯ve done it for every queen before her, and I will continue to do so until the day this family no longer holds the throne. If you have an issue with that, might I remind you of the several revolts I¡¯ve prevented by doing this exact thing?¡± ¡°Preventing tyranny and interfering with parents raising their children is entirely different!¡± Saburo protested, though his tone was notably shakier than it had been moments ago. ¡°You¡¯re overstepping your bounds.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough, dear.¡± Abarrane said, placing a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Grandmother is right, we need to let them go.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see why!¡± Saburo retorted. ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s going to matter if they¡¯re a few minutes late!¡± ¡°I said we need to let them go.¡± Abarrane said firmly. ¡°Do not push this subject further. I can explain more after they are gone.¡± Saburo stared at Amara and Maven for a moment longer before giving a sigh. ¡°Fine. Be safe out there, Maven.¡± ¡°Yes, Father.¡± Maven replied obediently. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to write, either.¡± Abarrane added. ¡°And if it becomes too much at any time, remember that we will always welcome you back here.¡± ¡°I will keep that in mind.¡± Maven said, stepping into the hoverer. A moment later, Amara stepped in after her and closed the door, before walking up to the control console and setting the hoverer on its way. When she was finished, she came and sat next to Maven. ¡°Before we can truly begin this journey, it is time that you learn our family¡¯s secret.¡± She said, gently grabbing Amara¡¯s hand. ¡°This is something that every queen learns at some point, and now is the time for you. Are you ready?¡± Maven gulped, staring intently at her grandmother, ¡°Y-yes, I think.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Amara said. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you may have been wondering why I, of all people, have remained so close to the throne for all this time, were you not?¡± Maven nodded. ¡°Kind of, yeah. All of the other queens have sort of¡­stayed retired, so I always thought it was a bit odd that you didn¡¯t, but I figured there was some sort of reason for it.¡± ¡°There is. I¡¯m not just your everyday former queen.¡± Amara said, smiling. ¡°My main job is as Subterfuge¡¯s Appointed.¡± There was a silence as Maven processed that information. ¡°So¡­¡± she finally began, ¡°you¡¯ve been pulling the strings of all of us in the background this whole time?¡± Amara laughed. ¡°Goodness, no. The whole ¡®ruling a country¡¯ thing is way too much trouble when it¡¯s in addition to my duties as Appointed. Plus, if I did want that sort of power, I would have much easier ways of getting it. No, I¡¯m content just making sure my family doesn¡¯t get themselves killed by angry mobs of citizens.¡± ¡°So¡­why tell me this now?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Surely this would be better saved until I actually take the throne, right?¡± ¡°Normally, yes. But circumstances are¡­unique here. What I am about to tell you cannot be told to another soul. As such, when we get to the city, we will be having you swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath to prevent you from leaking it. Is this acceptable?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Maven paused, considering that. A Fatebinder¡¯s Oath was a big responsibility, and she didn¡¯t like the idea of having restrictions on what she could and couldn¡¯t do. ¡°Is there any way to¡­back out once I hear the information if I decide it¡¯s too much?¡± Amara nodded. ¡°I can wipe your memory of this whole conversation, and we can take you back to the castle like nothing happened.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Maven said. ¡°Then let me hear it.¡± ¡°As you may have surmised, it pertains to Tess and Ellie. And, as you¡¯re about to be joining their party, having you out of the loop would be frustrating for everyone involved. To get to the point, Tess is Fortune¡¯s Appointed, and Ellie is the Appointed of Life and Death. They¡¯re still in training, but they¡¯re already starting to take on some of their duties. ¡°You won¡¯t have to participate in those duties if you don¡¯t wish to, but you will be expected to keep any secrets related to their status as Appointed and the abilities they have as a result of it.¡± She paused, giving Maven a careful look. ¡°What are your thoughts right now?¡± ¡°I¡­well, I wasn¡¯t expecting that.¡± Maven said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. I¡­I mouthed off to Tess when I first met her, that¡¯s¡­scary in retrospect. Scarier than it already was.¡± Amara laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it too much, they¡¯re really nice kids. As long as you treat them well, they¡¯re not going to hold it against you. And don¡¯t stand on ceremony around them either, they were raised as entirely ordinary, unimportant people, so you can just¡­be yourself.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­actually really good to hear.¡± Maven replied. ¡°I wasn¡¯t quite sure how to address Tess when I met her.¡± ¡°Yeah, just don¡¯t overthink it and you¡¯ll be fine. So, do you think you can handle keeping the secret?¡± Maven hesitated, then nodded. ¡°Yeah. It shouldn¡¯t be¡­too big a deal.¡± ¡°Perfect. Now, we need to discuss your lodgings and how your days are going to look. I managed to convince your parents to let you go without an escort, so you¡¯ll be living on your own.¡± Maven perked up. ¡°Really? How¡¯d you do that?¡± ¡°I made sure your mother knew that the Guildmaster probably wouldn¡¯t be happy if his grandkid¡¯s secrets got leaked to some random bodyguard.¡± Amara replied, smirking. ¡°And I had to assure her that you¡¯d be well taken care of, that your new teachers would be far more competent at actually protecting you in a dangerous situation than whatever random person they¡¯d hired.¡± ¡°Got that right.¡± Maven huffed. ¡°Most of the time it was just one of the higher-leveled servants. They tried their best, but only a couple of them seemed like they actually earned the levels themselves and didn¡¯t boost.¡± Amara smiled faintly as she continued. ¡°I¡¯ll show you some good shops in the area, and how best to get your necessities. Do you know how to cook?¡± ¡°I know enough. I got curious and made some of the kitchen staff show me when I was a kid, and I¡¯ve done it from time to time. I should be able to make enough to eat.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll show you a few dishes anyway, just in case. I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ll take lunch with Tess and Ellie most days, so you should really only need breakfast and dinner.¡± And so, the rest of their trip was spent conversing on this and similar subjects, and soon, Maven found herself stepping out of the hoverer and into her new life, one that would hopefully last for as long as possible. Chapter 53: A Chance Meeting Tess smiled as the waiter brought their food. She had come to find that, though many of the ingredients differed from what she was used to, most of the time restaurant food was remarkably similar to what was on Mael. There were a few common plants, and farm animals, but there were also a bunch of other new things to try as well. But the menus still tended to end up with various assortments of salads, sandwiches, soups, and¡­well, if you could find it back on Mael, you could probably find an analogue somewhere in the Outlands. So it was that she had ordered a sandwich with a few things she hadn¡¯t tried yet on it. The waiter placed their food and retreated, and Tess began to eat. ¡°Is that¡­Tess?!¡± Tess turned to find that Maven and Amara were passing by, presumably being led to a table by the waitress that was standing next to them. ¡°Maven? When¡¯d you come to the city? I mean, I just¡­didn¡¯t realize you were here already, I guess. I sorta thought you¡¯d come here when we officially started working together.¡± Amara smiled. ¡°I was bringing her here to get her settled into living on her own for a bit before she really got into things.¡± Alice gave the waitress who was waiting near the two an understanding look. ¡°Why don¡¯t we have those two sit with us?¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯ll cover their meal, so don¡¯t worry about that.¡± The waitress gave her a relieved look and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll fetch a couple of menus.¡± She said, and scurried off towards the back of the restaurant. Maven grabbed one of the empty chairs at the table and sat down across from Tess. ¡°Thank you, Lady Reshi. That¡¯s very generous of you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Alice said, waving a hand. ¡°Have you two met Ellie before?¡± ¡°I met Ellie earlier today, actually.¡± Amara replied. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve had the pleasure of meeting this young man before.¡± She gave Jacob a nod. ¡°I¡¯m Amara Sarlienne, what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Um¡­Jacob Ernest.¡± Jacob said. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m Maven Sarlienne, her lots-of-greats granddaughter.¡± Maven said, standing up and giving a small curtsey. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet both of you.¡± ¡°Right, I¡¯m Ellie Los, though I¡¯m guessing you knew that already.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Nice to meet you as well.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°If you would forgive my asking, what are you all doing here? I thought you still had school for a couple of weeks?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, there was a bit of an¡­incident, and today we ended up leaving early. Jacob¡¯s a friend from school, and we began to introduce him to¡­well, everything after.¡± An understanding look filled Maven¡¯s face. ¡°I see.¡± She said, turning to Jacob. ¡°How are you holding up, then? This must be quite overwhelming for you.¡± ¡°Um, fine, I guess?¡± Jacob replied. ¡°I¡¯m probably gonna need more time to really¡­process everything later, but for now everything¡¯s good. But¡­um, ¡®Lady¡¯ Reshi? Is Alice some sort of noble or something?¡± Alice chuckled. ¡°Nothing of the sort. I just happen to own a decently large business, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°Decently large is¡­one way of putting it.¡± Amara said, smirking. ¡°But, yes, the whole ¡®lady¡¯ thing is just a way of being respectful, nothing more.¡± ¡°And, speaking of that, please just call me Alice.¡± Alice said. ¡°Same with the rest of my party. We¡¯re going to be working together in the future, so it¡¯s going to get frustrating if we¡¯re all standing on ceremony all the time. So, really, just don¡¯t worry about it, we¡¯re not going to care.¡± ¡°I see. I¡¯ll do that, then.¡± Maven said. ¡°Might I ask what your plan for the rest of the day is?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°We¡¯re playing it by ear. We were just showing Jacob around the Outlands, and we came to get food after dungeon raiding. We don¡¯t really have a plan for what¡¯s next at the moment. All depends on how Jacob¡¯s feeling, I guess.¡± ¡°Um¡­I think I¡¯m ready to go home.¡± Jacob said. ¡°I¡¯m going to need to shower, and I still have some homework to do, so I can¡¯t be out all night. Plus, my parents are probably gonna get worried if I¡¯m gone for too long, since I only said I was gonna be hanging out with you guys for a little bit.¡± ¡°Understandable.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°We¡¯ll take you home after we finish eating, then. If you want to come back here, just let us know and we¡¯ll bring you back.¡±
Death: Let him know we¡¯re working on a way for other people to go to and from the Outlands without having to go through you, but it¡¯ll probably have to wait until after school¡¯s over
¡°Oh.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Death¡¯s saying they¡¯re working on a way to let other people go here without having to come to us each time, but that it¡¯s not going to be ready until after we finish school.¡±
Death: Thanks. We¡¯re still hashing out the details with Evan, since he¡¯s gonna be the one physically setting it up. We¡¯ll let you know when it¡¯s done.
Jacob blinked. ¡°You¡­just talked with Death? Like¡­right now?¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Yeah, Life, Death, and Fortune are generally paying at least a little attention to Tess and I, so it¡¯s not uncommon for them to chime in when they feel it¡¯s important. Especially with things like this that pertain to relations between Mael and the rest of the planes.¡± ¡°I¡­suppose that makes sense.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°It just feels¡­I dunno, like a bit of a monumental thing to just¡­drop in casual conversation. Revelations from the gods are kinda a big deal, you know?¡± Alice chuckled. ¡°Yeah, it really shocked me, too.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯ve sorta become numb to it at this point, but even so, it still catches me a little off-guard every time they say something like that.¡± ¡°Me as well.¡± Maven said. ¡°I can assure you that this is not a normal thing here, either.¡± ¡°Actually, come to think of it, aren¡¯t Life and Death already supposed to have a mouthpiece in the Archpriest?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°Does that mean¡­¡± ¡°No.¡± Ellie said quickly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make him any less legitimate. Think of it like¡­he¡¯s in charge of all the religious aspects like spreading the teachings and all the bureaucracy stuff that comes with running a church. Appointed are like¡­well, we¡¯re like the direct¡­tools of the gods. And their direct mouthpieces too, that function was just relegated to the Archpriest since Life and Death didn¡¯t have an Appointed yet. ¡°The idea is that, when it comes to things that the gods want communicated to everyone, they give the message to their Appointed, who passes it on to the leader of their religion, so they can focus on that work. When it¡¯s something that needs to be done in secret, or if it¡¯s something that the regular people just don¡¯t need to be involved in, or even just small things that don¡¯t merit a big fuss, we Appointed take care of it.¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°We¡¯re also sort of¡­inquisitors, I guess is the right word.¡± Tess added. ¡°We make sure that nobody tries to use the religion maliciously. Just to give the people an additional guarantee that nothing that¡¯s being taught has been corrupted in any way, you know?¡± ¡°I guess that makes sense.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°It¡¯s still just¡­odd that it¡¯s you two. Doesn¡¯t feel¡­real.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°I know how you feel.¡± She said. ¡°The identities of Appointed aren¡¯t really public knowledge, and so they all kinda felt¡­way above everyone else. You always hear these crazy stories about what they can do and¡­well, now you find out they¡¯re just sort of¡­people too.¡± Ellie smiled. ¡°To tell you the truth, it kinda feels the same to me, like the other Appointed are all these really important, strong, larger than life people, and we¡¯re just¡­two people who have barely finished figuring out what we¡¯re doing.¡± ¡°Honestly, that¡¯s reassuring.¡± Jacob said. ¡°It¡¯s good to know that I¡¯m not the only one that feels a little¡­out of my depth, you know?¡± ¡°Right?!¡± Maven said. ¡°I was starting to feel a little out of place myself, so I guess it¡¯s nice to know that they can be nervous about stuff too.¡± And from there the conversation turned to other things. Jacob and Maven seemed to get along surprisingly well once Jacob got past the whole ¡®princess¡¯ thing, and they spent an enjoyable hour or so just talking. When they were done, Tess, Ellie, and Jacob said their goodbyes and made their way back to the guild, where Tess and Jacob changed back into their normal clothes. They took a moment to look at what Jacob had received from the dungeon, and found it was nothing particularly special, so Tess and Ellie took Jacob back through the door that led back to Mael and walked with him to his car. ¡°Well, um, thanks.¡± Jacob said awkwardly. ¡°I¡­well, I dunno. I wasn¡¯t expecting something like this when I woke up this morning, but I¡¯m glad you¡¯re willing to trust me with your secret. I¡¯ll, um¡­talk to you on Monday, I guess.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°We¡¯ll talk to you then. If you have any questions or anything though, feel free to give us a call, we¡¯ll be more than happy to talk.¡± Jacob nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll do that.¡± He said. ¡°Though I might just hold off until Monday when we can talk in-person. I want some time to just¡­think about things, you know?¡± ¡°Yeah, we get it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°No rush or anything, just do things at your own pace. We¡¯ll be ready when you¡¯re ready, so just take your time.¡± ¡°I will, thanks.¡± Jacob replied, getting into his car. After a moment, the car started, and he pulled out of the driveway, leaving Tess and Ellie alone. ¡°He took that¡­pretty well, I¡¯d say.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Think he¡¯ll warm up to the idea of coming to the Outlands more or¡­?¡± ¡°I think he will.¡± Tess said. ¡°Just give him some time to warm up to things and I¡¯m sure he¡¯s going to be itching to come back.¡± ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡± Ellie said. There was silence for a moment, then Ellie spoke up. ¡°Wanna go play some games? I¡¯ve finished all my homework, so I¡¯m free for the rest of the night.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I¡¯ve finished mine too.¡± ¡°Perfect.¡± Ellie said, leaning in and giving Tess a quick kiss. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±
School the following Monday was¡­awkward, to say the least. Most everyone, even the teachers, gave Tess a wide berth. Classes were sort of stilted, with the teachers and students often stealing glances at Tess and losing their train of thought before trying to pretend they hadn¡¯t looked and going back to whatever they were doing. And, when she did interact with people, it felt like they were walking on eggshells, trying their best not to make her upset. Even at lunch, where there was normally a lot of competition for places to sit, Tess and Ellie didn¡¯t have any trouble finding one. In fact, there was a circle of empty tables around them, where no one seemed to be willing to sit. Jacob didn¡¯t have lunch at this time either, so it ended up being just Tess and Ellie eating alone. ¡°Probably shoulda seen this coming.¡± Tess muttered. ¡°Still feels weird that everyone¡¯s¡­well, afraid of me. Even the teachers, like¡­I dunno, I know I made a big show of things but still, surely some people weren¡¯t there, and rumor can¡¯t have spread this fast, right? Were we in the news or something?¡± ¡°I checked, but no.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It seems like the news outlets didn¡¯t believe it or something. Though, given how flashy you were, I¡¯m surprised they didn¡¯t report something. I mean, the door you to the broadcast room is kinda verifiably shredded.¡±
Life: That¡¯s thanks to Evan. He¡¯s been making sure people aren¡¯t reporting on it until you finish school. We¡¯re going to give it some time to stew in people¡¯s minds, and then, once you¡¯ll be available more, we¡¯re going to let people speculate as much as they want. We want you to be able to be responsive when the time comes. Death: For what it¡¯s worth, though, it¡¯s basically all anyone here has been talking about when you¡¯re not around. I¡¯d be more surprised if there was someone here who didn¡¯t know. It¡¯s less rumor now and more¡­uh, accepted fact? Dunno if there¡¯s a word for something between fact and rumor but you get the gist Ellie: Oh, well that explains that, good to know, thanks Tess: Actually, should I be worried about getting in trouble for defacing the school? I wasn¡¯t thinking about that when I broke the door Fortune: Nah, you¡¯re good. You completely repaired it, so it¡¯s not like anyone can verify anything. School might try and get you for it, but I doubt it. And that video of your claws? We blurred it, so it¡¯s gonna look like it¡¯s been taken with a thirty year old video camera, no one¡¯s gonna believe it thanks to the quality of it Ellie: Wait, does that mean that some of those paranormal videos are actually real and you¡¯ve just messed with the quality? Death: Some of them, yeah. Ghost hunters and whatever have learned to accept it by now, but the general populace hasn¡¯t, and that¡¯s what matters Life: Not all of them are real, though. And we don¡¯t degrade the quality of all videos taken, just a bunch of them. We try and mix it up, so people don¡¯t catch on. Fortune: I am so ready for videos of you two to be in clickbait videos titled things like ¡°Top Seven Unexplained Videos That STILL Haven¡¯t Been Explained¡±, it¡¯s gonna be hilarious. Death: Number three WILL shock you!!!
Tess chuckled, turning her attention away from the conversation and beginning to eat her lunch. She couldn¡¯t help but wonder what the people around her would think if they knew about the conversation she was having. Especially people like that one girl who had accused her of going against Life¡¯s teachings. Not that their opinions really mattered. At the end of the day, she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was doing the right thing, so the opinions of people who didn¡¯t know the full story didn¡¯t carry any weight to her. Or so she told herself. It still was a little sad to be shunned by her classmates, but it was something she could deal with. It was only going to be for two more weeks, and she had more than enough friends in the Outlands, so she just reminded herself that something like this wasn¡¯t going to seriously impact her life. The rest of the day passed in much the same manner, and soon Tess and Ellie were heading back to the Outlands. When they arrived, they found that the door led them outside of Gramps¡¯s office, something that usually meant he was in a meeting. Furthermore, everything was¡­livelier than normal. More people were moving about in the hallways, and the quiet buzz of conversation that was always audible in the guild was much louder than usual. ¡°Do you think something¡¯s going on?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Probably.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find out before we start¡­doing whatever we¡¯re doing today.¡± The two hurried to their usual meeting place, where Ava and The Rumors were waiting. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Everyone seems¡­worked up by something.¡± ¡°Evan¡¯s announced an expedition.¡± Ava explained. ¡°They¡¯re basically big events organized by the guild where people go and explore the Outlands. And between that and the rank system changes, people are getting all excited.¡± ¡°Oh, right, that.¡± Tess said. ¡°When does it start?¡± ¡°A month and a half.¡± Alice replied. ¡°So¡­do you two want to go?¡± ¡°How long do they last?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Usually a few months.¡± Ava said. ¡°Though you two will have ways to go back and forth to deal with Appointed business, so you don¡¯t need to feel like you¡¯re being tied down or anything.¡± ¡°Sound fun, then.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I¡¯m fine with it if Tess is.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m down.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Though we¡¯ll probably have to double check with Maven.¡± ¡°She¡¯s fine with it.¡± Ava said. ¡°I checked with Amara, since I thought you two would be wondering.¡± ¡°Perfect. How do we sign on, then?¡± Ellie asked. Jin stood up. ¡°We go to the receptionists and do some paperwork.¡± He said. ¡°We¡¯ve yet to do ours, since we were waiting on you two deciding things, so why don¡¯t we go do that now?¡± Tess nodded, and the group left for the main room. It was extremely crowded, even the line for personal receptionists having five or so groups waiting. So, they got in line, and began to wait. Chapter 54: Market Street Tess handed in her paperwork, giving Graham a small nod as she did. ¡°Thanks!¡± He said, smiling in return. ¡°I¡¯ll get this all filed away for you.¡± ¡°Sorry for eating up some of your time.¡± Tess said. ¡°I know you¡¯re probably pretty busy today.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all good.¡± Graham said, giving a wink. ¡°It just means I don¡¯t have to deal with the general lines for a little bit and no one can complain about it. Definitely worth it.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Tess said. ¡°See you around!¡± ¡°¡®Till next time!¡± He replied, waving as the group left. ¡°So¡­now what?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Now we just wait.¡± Jin replied. ¡°And we show up on the day of the expedition. We¡¯re expected to pack at least some provisions for ourselves, but if you¡¯re with the main column of the guild you¡¯ll at least be given basic food and shelter. Depending on how things go, however, it¡¯s not uncommon to have smaller groups break from the main one to check out interesting landmarks.¡± ¡°What kind of things should we pack, then?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I¡¯m assuming food and water, do we need a tent or¡­?¡± ¡°I was assuming you¡¯d bunk with us in the hoverer. It¡¯s safer and more comfortable than your standard tent.¡± Alice said. ¡°But it can¡¯t hurt to have stuff for camping in your bags, you never know what¡¯s going to happen out there.¡± ¡°Oh no.¡± Ellie said, making a face. ¡°Not her again.¡± Tess frowned, looking to where Ellie was looking. Sure enough, Ilmir was walking over to the group, Eyfura trailing her at a distance. There was an odd air of apprehension around the two of them as they approached, as if they were gearing up for some sort of confrontation. A few tense moments later, she had arrived. ¡°What do you want, Ilmir?¡± Ellie growled. ¡°I thought I was abundantly clear about how I felt the last time we talked.¡± ¡°I-I know.¡± Ilmir squeaked, looking down. ¡°I¡¯m not going to ask to be let back in or anything. I burned that bridge, I understand. I just¡­I need to apologize.¡± She said, stealing a glance at Tess. ¡°I¡¯m¡­well, I did a lot of horrible things, I¡¯m starting to realize that. I don¡¯t really think I¡¯m¡­ready to be in a party, not for a long time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make this about you.¡± Ellie snapped. ¡°This was never about your readiness or not, this is entirely about the way you treated Tess, and the way you tried to pull us apart. If you¡¯re going to apologize, do it properly, look Tess in the eyes, be specific, and don¡¯t try to turn this around to trying to make us feel bad for you. Even if you¡¯re not ready to be in a party, that doesn¡¯t excuse treating Tess like dirt.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t trying to do that!¡± Ilmir replied, shrinking away. ¡°I was getting to the specifics, I swear.¡± She fidgeted for a moment before looking up at Tess, locking eyes with her. ¡°I¡­I shouldn¡¯t have said you don¡¯t deserve what you have, and I shouldn¡¯t have tried to break up your party. I really shouldn¡¯t have said what I did about you and your grandfather, and I just¡­sorry.¡± Tess thought for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not going to just say it¡¯s fine.¡± She said finally. ¡°You caused both Ellie and I a lot of stress, and I don¡¯t know if I can just¡­accept an apology like that. I mean, I can, but¡­¡± She trailed off, struggling to find the right words. ¡°But it also doesn¡¯t feel¡­right. I can¡¯t just say we¡¯re at a clean slate right now, not when everything is so fresh. This is a start, but it¡¯s just¡­not enough.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Ilmir said. ¡°I get it. I wouldn¡¯t accept it either. If you want, I¡¯m willing to do whatever it takes to make up for it, but I¡¯m guessing that you probably would rather just not deal with me, so I¡¯m going to leave you alone. If you ever need anything, though, I¡¯m ready to help.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right, I would rather just not deal with you, but before that happens, I want one thing, unrelated to this whole apology business.¡± Ilmir nodded slowly. ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can. What can I help with?¡± ¡°I want a rematch.¡± Tess said. ¡°No Descent, none of anything like that. Now that I know what you¡¯re capable of, I want to fight again after I graduate from school.¡± Ilmir blinked in surprise. ¡°I¡­that¡¯s fine.¡± She said. ¡°Just let Grandma know when and I can be there. Um¡­I¡¯m going to let her talk to you now, and I¡¯m going to go. Goodbye.¡± She hurriedly ducked away, leaving Eyfura to step up and take her place. ¡°I¡¯m¡­well, I¡¯m sorry too.¡± She said. ¡°I let things get way out of hand. I was really just¡­hoping things would work out, but I¡­didn¡¯t put in the effort to make that happen. Um¡­I¡¯ve started taking her to a counselor, and, um,¡± she blushed as she continued, ¡°I¡¯m taking teaching lessons myself. I realized just how bad of a job I did and¡­yeah.¡± Ava smiled, patting Eyfura¡¯s arm gently. ¡°Not everyone¡¯s good at everything the first try, there¡¯s no shame in admitting to your mistakes and trying to improve.¡± ¡°I¡­yeah.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning to come and talk to you all for a bit, but Ilmir insisted on apologizing and I figured that was fine for now.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I won¡¯t drag things out any more than this, though. I¡¯ll just¡­see you all around, I guess.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see you around, Auntie.¡± Tess said, giving her a quick hug. Eyfura smiled weakly. ¡°Now that you¡¯re in the habit, Aunt Eyfura works fine.¡± She said. ¡°Perhaps when we¡¯re seeing each other more again we can go back to it, but for now, it¡¯s¡­it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Tess asked, a note of concern entering her voice. ¡°I really don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡­I think so.¡± Eyfura replied., ruffling Tess¡¯s hair. ¡°I really do need to get going, though. Sorry for taking time out of your day.¡± She extracted herself from the hug and made a hasty exit, leaving the group alone once again. There was a short silence before Tess spoke up. ¡°Ellie, did you have a conversation with Ilmir where you talked to her about how you felt?¡± She asked. ¡°She left pretty shortly after everything went down, so I¡¯m just¡­wondering when that happened.¡± ¡°She bumped into me right after you all had your¡­talk.¡± Ellie explained, a sour look on her face. ¡°She wanted to know if what you said was true and I didn¡¯t like her. I said that, if I was being completely honest, I would greatly prefer it if she just wasn¡¯t around. I told her the only reason I tolerated her was because Eyfura was helping you learn how to use your claws, and if it wasn¡¯t for that I would have asked if we could go back to it just being the two of us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­guessing she didn¡¯t take that well?¡± Tess asked. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think she did.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I mean, she didn¡¯t really stick around, but I can tell that it really bothered her. I felt a little bad, but¡­well, she¡¯s said a lot worse to us. I¡¯d had enough of being tactful.¡± ¡°Yeah, I get that.¡± Tess replied. ¡°But¡­that¡¯s enough about that for now. I was kinda hoping that we could all go shopping, maybe learn about what sorts of things we wanna buy for extended trips out like this.¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Seems like a good idea.¡± Alice said. ¡°What do you think, Jin?¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Jin replied. ¡°It can¡¯t hurt to start teaching them how to prepare for wilderness excursions.¡± ¡°Shall we go to the market, then?¡± Ava said. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s going to be crowded, but we can use the waiting time to explain things a bit more, so it shouldn¡¯t be that big a deal.¡± The Rumors shared a glance. ¡°Actually, for basic supplies, if we¡¯re not in a hurry we usually just buy from Alice¡¯s company.¡± Ker said. ¡°We basically just put in a list of things we want and then submit it as an order. Full price, of course, we try not to abuse things like that, it¡¯s just a way of avoiding haggling and lines.¡± ¡°Can we go to the market anyway?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Like, not to get normal stuff, I was wanting to get a couple more¡­exotic cores. Nothing high level or anything, still just stuff around my level, I¡¯m thinking about tweaking Silky and Isabella¡¯s abilities, maybe fill out a couple of gaps in mine.¡± Ava nodded. ¡°Can¡¯t hurt. We can discuss what you all need to get on the way.¡± With that the group gathered up and began to move through the crowd. Soon, they were out of the building and into the streets, which, while less crowded than the guild itself, were still rather clogged. ¡°So, food and water are obvious.¡± Ava said. ¡°The bags you two have will help preserve food, but it¡¯s not perfect, so things that don¡¯t perish easily are preferable. And you want huge drums of water if possible, bulk storage. There are some spells to purify water, Tess should know them, so unless you¡¯re going to the desert or something then you should be more worried about storage than anything.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll show you two some good ones.¡± Alice said. ¡°You want sturdiness, since you¡¯re going to use them a lot, and it¡¯ll generally be in harsh environments.¡± ¡°How are we gonna refill big drums like that?¡± Tess asked. ¡°It seems a little¡­unwieldy.¡± ¡°Just take it out of your bag while you¡¯re on the shore of a river or other body of water.¡± Jin said. ¡°The nicer ones have tops that can be removed relatively easily, so all you have to do is place it down and remove the top. Then you just seal it up, put it back in your bag, move it somewhere safe, and purify it.¡± ¡°What happens to the water on the outside of the barrel when you put it in?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Does it end up going in the bag too?¡± ¡°No.¡± Alice replied. ¡°The openings of the bags naturally repel liquid. If it¡¯s in a sealed container, then the repulsion isn¡¯t strong enough to cause it to break the container, so it goes in, but otherwise it just slides off.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re saying I could use the bags as a quick way to dry clothes, right?¡± Ellie said. ¡°That seems handy.¡± Ker chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s a little more effective than wringing out the clothes yourself, but it¡¯s not worth it, I¡¯m afraid. Believe me, I¡¯ve tried it before. Any spare drops of water that do get in the bag have to be emptied by like¡­turning the bag upside-down and trying to reach in for water and it¡¯s just a mess.¡± ¡°So¡­for food, I¡¯m just guessing canned food and stuff, right?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Pretty much.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Canned food, dry pasta, honey, rice, basically anything with a long shelf life will do you good. If you¡¯re only planning on being out for a short period of time, like a month, you can take things like non-canned vegetables and even things you¡¯d have to refrigerate normally, those should last you that long. But you should always have long-term food in your bags just in case.¡± ¡°Makes sense. So, aside from that, what else?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a bunch of stuff.¡± Alice said. ¡°Rope is a good one, you can¡¯t go wrong with having a few coils of rope around, you never know when that¡¯s going to come in handy. We also like to use this sort of¡­magical rope launcher things for stuff like rappelling, basically just shoots out a beam of force that attaches onto a surface so you can climb easy.¡± ¡°Always have something that will let you make fire.¡± Jin added. ¡°Matches are good, lighters can also be good, and you want to keep at least one everlasting torch around.¡± ¡°Everlasting torch?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Is that like¡­an always burning torch?¡± ¡°Pretty much.¡± Jin said. ¡°You light it up, and then as long as it¡¯s within about five feet of you, it¡¯ll keep burning. It takes a bit of Mana as substitute for fuel every five or so minutes, but it¡¯s a pretty trivial amount, even for Tess. As long as you¡¯re not actively using Mana, natural regen should more than make up for it.¡± ¡°But bring a good flashlight too.¡± Ker said. ¡°The torch is more useful for warding off weaker monsters, providing light in a wide area, and for cases where you might want fire around, but a flashlight is more convenient if you need something fast.¡± ¡°Even you, Tess.¡± Alice said. ¡°I know you have that crazy good night vision, but sometimes you¡¯re going to need to show other people something, and flashlights are just¡­handy. Especially the really bright ones, you can use those to blind something if you¡¯re really in a pinch, though¡­to be honest you in particular are probably better off just getting an ability that lets you blind things, so scratch that last point.¡± ¡°I have the money.¡± Tess said, shrugging. ¡°Not like I have much else to spend it on, aside from cores. Can¡¯t hurt to be prepared.¡± The group turned onto what was clearly a market street; there were all sorts of stall lining the sides, and the buildings all had displays showing various wares. ¡°Keep your eye out for any magic supply stores, or any stalls selling miscellaneous things.¡± Ava informed. ¡°Magic supply stores will always have a decent selection of cores, and stalls selling miscellaneous stuff are generally temporary things where freelancers sell spoils if they don¡¯t want to sell it to the guild or companies.¡± ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t they do that?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Seems like less work.¡± ¡°They can get a higher price by selling it themselves.¡± Ava explained. ¡°And if you¡¯re buying here, it¡¯ll probably be cheaper than what companies sell too, so it¡¯s a win all around. The only problem is that there¡¯s no consistent selection of anything, so unless it¡¯s a super common item you¡¯re not guaranteed to find it.¡± ¡°This is where I got that core I gave you as a present, actually.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Picked it up off of some people who had just come back from some sort of dungeon run. I had a few cores I thought would be good, so I stopped by here from time to time to see if anyone had any. I found there¡¯s also a bunch of gear from dungeons here, but I don¡¯t really know how that¡­stacks up to custom-made stuff.¡± ¡°Usually worse, but a lot cheaper.¡± Ker said. ¡°It¡¯s not bad, but if you want something truly nice, you have to order it. Still, especially around these levels, this sort of gear is more than enough to get you through.¡± There was a tap on Tess¡¯s shoulder, and she whirled to find Amara standing there, smiling. ¡°Fancy meeting you all here.¡± She said. ¡°Gearing up for the expedition?¡± ¡°Grandma, don¡¯t leave me like that!¡± Maven said, pushing her way through the crowd and up to Amara. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you guys. Are you here to prepare for the expedition?¡± ¡°Sort of.¡± Tess replied. ¡°We¡¯re just here to pick up some cores for my Class. We¡¯re going to be doing the rest of our shopping through Alice¡¯s company.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome to join us when that time comes, by the way.¡± Alice said. ¡°You¡¯re going to be as much a part of this party as they are, so it¡¯d be helpful if everyone was on the same page. Plus, you don¡¯t have to wait in lines if you don¡¯t want to.¡± Maven¡¯s eyes lit up, and she turned to Amara. ¡°Do you think that¡¯s a good idea, Grandma?¡± ¡°Sounds like a great one.¡± Amara said. ¡°We¡¯ve already picked up a few things, but we¡¯re not finished yet, so might as well do it that way. As you said, things are hectic around here right now.¡± ¡°By the way, Maven, have you met the rest of the team?¡± Alice asked. ¡°I have met Lady Vogel a few times, but I do not believe I have met the other two, no.¡± Maven replied. Ava laughed. ¡°Please, just call me Ava if we¡¯re not at a formal function.¡± She said. ¡°The whole ¡®Lady Vogel¡¯ thing is far too stuffy for my tastes.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°Understood.¡± She turned to Ker and Jin, giving a small curtsey. ¡°My name is Maven Sarlienne, pleased to meet you.¡± Ker smiled. ¡°I¡¯m Ker Riis, nice meeting you too.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m Jin Yu.¡± Jin said. ¡°Pleasure to meet you, as well.¡± ¡°Um¡­if you¡¯re not gonna continue shopping for regular stuff, do you want to come look at cores with us?¡± Tess asked. ¡°We were talking about what stuff you usually need for extended stays, so it might be worth hearing.¡± Maven smiled. ¡°Of course. Might I ask why you need cores, though? Surely you don¡¯t use enough strong magic to need to stockpile before leaving¡­¡± She trailed off, giving Tess and Ellie an appraising look. ¡°Well, you might, I understand you and Ellie are¡­exceptions.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, I don¡¯t.¡± Tess said. ¡°I mean¡­I can use magic that requires cores, but I don¡¯t have the Mana pool to do it much. No, I have a¡­unique use for them, I¡¯ll tell you more about it when we¡¯re in private.¡± Maven arched a brow. ¡°You have my curiosity. I¡¯m looking forward to your explanation.¡± ¡°Actually, I got this.¡± Ava said. ¡°I can give us a sort of¡­perception filter that¡¯ll keep people from taking notice, then we can talk while we look.¡± ¡°Perfect.¡± Tess said. ¡°I suppose we can all sort of talk about our party dynamic too, while we¡¯re at it.¡± ¡°Good. Give me a moment, then.¡± Ava said, then began to mutter a spell. Once she finished, Tess began to explain in detail her abilities to an increasingly stunned Maven. It was in the middle of that explanation that they stumbled across a stall that could only have been manned by freelancers. ¡°Sorry to interrupt,¡± Ava said, ¡°but I¡¯m going to have to drop the spell if we want to take a look at the wares. Would you prefer to wait until after your explanation is done, or should we go now?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind either way.¡± Tess said. ¡°Up to Maven, really.¡± ¡°I can wait.¡± She said. ¡°It would be best to get in line now.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Ava said. There was a moment¡¯s pause, then she continued. ¡°Spell¡¯s down. Shall we take a look, then?¡± Chapter 55: Big Spender Tess sighed, stepping back from the stall. Unfortunately, it did not seem this stall in particular had anything that she was particularly looking for. There were a bunch of cores, yes, but none of them were anything¡­special. There was only a single boss core among them, and it didn¡¯t really suit the needs of her or her attendants. ¡°I-is there anything else we can do for you?¡± The woman running the shop asked, shooting a glance at Ava that wasn¡¯t nearly as inconspicuous as she hoped it was. ¡°No, thank you for your time.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Best of luck, though!¡± With that, the group withdrew, and Ava once again cast the perception filter spell. ¡°So¡­you were talking about the monsters you could make?¡± Maven prompted, eyes alight with curiosity. ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°Basically, I can design monsters who will work with me, I call them my attendants.¡± She held out a hand and Silky obediently crawled out, giving a small salute once she had stopped moving. ¡°This is Silky, a Blacker Widow.¡± Tess explained. ¡°She¡¯s primarily a scout right now, but I¡¯m planning to build her into something of an assassin.¡± ¡°A¡­Blacker Widow.¡± Maven said. ¡°As in¡­the boss monster.¡± ¡°Yup. I took away the stuff that made her giant and some of her other stuff and instead put a bunch of mobility on her. She keeps the same raw stats, but¡­well, she was always built around abilities, so they¡¯re not the most impressive around. Then, for the other member of our little team, there¡¯s Isabella.¡± She waited for a moment, and Isabella drifted out and gave a brief curtsy. ¡°I am Isabella.¡± She droned, and then faded back into Tess. ¡°She¡¯s support. Telekinesis, some area-of-effect status and attacks, as well as intangibility and limited flight mean she¡¯s good at doing just about anything. Not the greatest at killing anything, but a force multiplier all the same.¡± ¡°There¡¯s another freelancer¡¯s stall over there.¡± Ellie interrupted, pointing further down the street. ¡°Shall we get in line?¡± ¡°Umm¡­I don¡¯t want to just stop in the middle of explaining again, but unless Maven has any questions on the specifics of Silky and Isabella, I think everything else we can just talk about normally, right? Like, for the party dynamics type stuff.¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t think I have any right now.¡± Maven said slowly. ¡°I¡¯m curious as to what exactly you¡¯ve got in you right now, but that¡¯s something that can wait until we¡¯re in a better place to talk about this.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll drop the spell and we can get in line, then.¡± Ava said. ¡°Party dynamic stuff should be fine to talk about.¡± A few moments later, they were lined up, and they returned to discussing their party. ¡°So¡­what¡¯s your¡­thing?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Like, what role do you fill?¡± ¡°I¡¯m primarily a sorceress.¡± Maven explained. ¡°Though if I¡¯m out of Mana, I use a bow. What do you do?¡± ¡°Bit of everything.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Right now, I¡¯m leaning towards playing the tank, though. I got the Aegis Class pretty recently, and I plan to make use of it.¡± ¡°You what?!¡± Alice said. ¡°Do you have any idea how long I¡¯ve wanted that?!¡± ¡°If it makes you feel better, it was a gift from the gods.¡± Ellie said, scratching her cheek sheepishly. ¡°To help me better complement Tess.¡± Alice sighed. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s a little better than just random chance giving it to you, but¡­still. That one¡¯s really nice, so make sure you appreciate it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I want to go all in on the defensive role, so that means using that Class a lot.¡± She turned back to Maven. ¡°But my stats are perfectly even otherwise, all at max. I¡¯ve got a variety of other Classes, so I can do basically anything in a pinch, but I would prefer tanking.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°Good. It¡¯s good to have another person drawing attention. I have a golem that should greatly benefit us in that regard, too.¡± ¡°A word on that, if I may.¡± Ker said. ¡°I had a brief discussion with Alice about this, and I believe it would be for the best if, for now, you didn¡¯t use the golem.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Maven asked, frowning. ¡°Encourages bad habits.¡± Alice replied. ¡°There¡¯s no real analogue at higher levels, not unless you¡¯re someone who specializes in manufacturing golems. Using it to clear traps and draw all the aggro is going to make you lazy, and that really doesn¡¯t work beyond level¡­forty or fifty, when most golems on the market will start collapsing in a couple of hits. If you want to be serious about this, you¡¯re going to have to learn to do things the normal way.¡± ¡°I¡­understand.¡± Maven said. ¡°I will defer to your wisdom on this, then.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Amara said. ¡°Make sure you listen to them when they give you advice, they know what they¡¯re talking about. If it conflicts with something your parents or your tutors taught you, forget whatever you used to know. These people are much better equipped to teach you how things work nowadays.¡± Jin shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s still merit to some of what they¡¯ve taught you, just¡­take it with a grain of salt. A lot of what is taught to people who are boosting is only relevant if you¡¯re trying to level up quickly in a safe environment. Not quite as useful in the ¡®real world¡¯, so to speak.¡± ¡°If you¡¯ve ever got a question, just ask.¡± Alice added. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can tell you why we aren¡¯t doing things the way you¡¯re used to.¡± Their conversation was cut short as they reached the front of the line. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± A smiling man asked. ¡°We¡¯ve been going through some level fifty or sixty dungeons on Ilen and have some good loot for sale!¡± Tess nodded. ¡°I¡¯m looking for cores, especially from bosses.¡± She said. ¡°Do you have any that match that description?¡± The man stroked his chin thoughtfully. ¡°A couple.¡± He said. ¡°They might be kind of out of your price range, though. You¡­are new to this, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. How¡¯d you know?¡± ¡°A guess.¡± He replied, waving a hand. ¡°You looked a little young to be level fifty or sixty, and if you were high enough level to have reversed aging, you wouldn¡¯t need to be buying from me.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Tess said. ¡°Well, don¡¯t worry about that, I¡¯ve been saving up for a while and have more than enough.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± The man replied dubiously. ¡°Let me fetch what we have, we do have a couple of cores that might be what you¡¯re looking for.¡± He stepped back for a moment, rummaging through a couple of boxes before taking out two cores and placing them on the counter. ¡°This one,¡± he said, tapping the one on the left, ¡°is from a Spitfire Phoenix. Particularly nasty dungeon boss, but the core is great for fire magic and recovery magic.¡± If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. He tapped the other core. ¡°This one¡¯s from a Mountainous Mole. Annoying to deal with, but not too bad. Only really useful for earth magic, though. We¡¯ll say¡­seventy five gold for the Spitfire Phoenix core, fifty for the Mountainous Mole core.¡± Tess flinched. ¡°If I¡­bought them both together, would you be willing to accept a platinum?¡± The man thought about that for a moment. ¡°I suppose so.¡± He said. ¡°Alright, I got this.¡± Alice replied, stepping up and reaching into her bag. ¡°No!¡± Tess said hurriedly. ¡°I mean, I appreciate the gesture, but¡­well, I want it to feel like something I earned for myself, you know?¡± Alice paused. ¡°Are you sure? I really don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure.¡± Tess said firmly. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m using it elsewhere.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Alice said. ¡°Just keep that in mind for the future.¡± Tess turned back to the bewildered man, pulling a platinum out of her pocket. She had, as usual, taken the time to change into her armor once she got home, and she had already transferred most of her bag¡¯s contents to her armor, leaving only a couple of things in there in case, for some reason, she had access to the bag but not the armor. The man accepted the platinum and handed the cores over. ¡°Anything else?¡± He asked. Tess shook her head. ¡°No, thank you. That was most of my savings anyway, so I don¡¯t think I could afford more.¡± She stepped back, pocketing the cores. ¡°Anyone else want anything?¡± No one did, so the group retreated back to the main street. ¡°How did you get that much money?¡± Maven asked. ¡°People our level don¡¯t usually make enough to afford that much, so I¡¯m curious. Did Guildmaster Los give you some allowance, or¡­?¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s all from me.¡± She said. ¡°When you¡¯ve got Luck like mine, all those drops add up pretty quick.¡± That wasn¡¯t to say that it wasn¡¯t a sizeable amount to her; she had only ten or fifteen gold left after that, and knowing that she had bought those cores for what would amount to the price of a pretty decent used car was a little scary. But she couldn¡¯t transfer that money to Mael in any reasonable manner, and she was content with her current lodgings, so the money was, essentially, just sitting there gathering dust. ¡°Well...I got everything I want that I can afford, does anyone else want anything?¡± Ellie shrugged. ¡°Nothing that can¡¯t wait until we order stuff later.¡± ¡°Likewise.¡± Maven agreed. ¡°In that case, let¡¯s get going.¡± Jin said. ¡°I was planning to do a couple of dungeon raids today, but¡­well, plans changed. I think that, if Maven has time, now would be a good time to really hammer out how things are going to work from now on.¡± ¡°We have time.¡± Maven said. ¡°We were planning to spend quite a bit longer shopping. That¡­is okay, right Grandma?¡± Amara nodded. ¡°I see no issue with it. Seems like a good use of your time.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Jin replied. ¡°We¡¯ll make our way to one of the private rooms in the guild, and we can talk more in detail there. For now, continue hashing out the broad strokes of things.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s just me who hasn¡¯t said my place, right?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I¡¯m like Ellie, capable of doing anything in a pinch, though¡­that¡¯s for the future. Right now, I¡¯m more suited to close-quarters fighting. If it comes down to it, I can use almost any sort of magic, but if it¡¯s more advanced than intermediate level, I¡¯ll probably need to cause some bleeds to give me secondary source of Mana if I even want to be able to cast it.¡± ¡°Ah, may I take that to mean you have the Skill that grants all magic types?¡± Maven said curiously. ¡°And presumably at a rather high rank at that. If that¡¯s the case, might I ask why you aren¡¯t focusing on becoming a mage?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­a little complicated. We¡¯ll get into it more at the guild. Short answer is I don¡¯t have the Mana to make it worthwhile. Not yet, anyway. I¡¯m rather¡­unique in that regard. But, for now, just know that I¡¯m going to end up being a generalist like Ava, and I¡¯m going to be the one checking for traps, doing most of the scouting, and other odd jobs.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°That seems like rather a lot to handle. I¡¯m sure I can take over at least some of it.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Scouting and trap checking come as sort of a package deal, and everything else is just super minor. It¡¯s not as bad as it may sound.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Just know that I¡¯m willing to pick up any slack you want any time you want. I¡¯m as well suited to generalizing as you are.¡± ¡°In the short run, yes.¡± Ava said. ¡°In the long run, no. Tess will have much better Skills for it, so I¡¯m trying to get her used to doing it now.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Is there some method to let you pick Skills that I¡¯m not aware of?¡± Ava laughed. ¡°No. Tess is¡­the only exception to that rule. Think about it this way: Luck influences what you get from a Rewards Crystal, right? Higher Luck means better stuff?¡± Maven paused. ¡°I seem to recall that, yes.¡± ¡°So, for the sake of argument, if your Luck was, let¡¯s say infinite¡­¡± Maven paused again, and after a moment comprehension dawned. ¡°I see. But, still¡­how do you know what she¡¯s going to get?¡± Ava smiled faintly, looking to Amara. ¡°Amara, may I take that to assume she doesn¡¯t know?¡± Amara shook her head. ¡°I was leaving it up to you guys if you wanted to tell her.¡± Ava nodded. ¡°Well, in that case, since she¡¯s going to be around so much, dancing around the topic will be¡­frustrating.¡± She turned back to Maven. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that me and my party are in the same line of work as Tess, and I¡¯m helping her bosses plan for her.¡± Maven blinked. ¡°Oh. I¡­¡± She trailed off, looking to Amara, then to Ava, and then to Tess and Ellie before shaking her head as if to clear it. ¡°Sorry,¡± she said, ¡°it just took me a moment to process that. I understand. That makes sense now, thank you.¡± The conversation continued like that until they got to the guild, where they began to go over the specifics of what they could do. For Tess, that was roughly the same as it had been before her training with Ava, though she had a few new abilities she had obtained over the course of the aforementioned training:
Accident Proof Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Decreases the damage from attacks that don¡¯t directly target the user by 50%. Focus on me when you¡¯re trying to kill me, will you? Reverse Engineer Rarity: Legendary Type: Active Description: When trying to disarm a dungeon¡¯s trap, you may spend 50 Stamina to obtain a better understanding of the trap. If you have not disarmed a trap of the same type before, you become aware of where the key parts of the trap are. If you have previously successfully disarmed a trap of the same type, you instead gain some understanding of how the trap works. After analyzing 5 different traps of this type, you gain knowledge on how to set up the trap, and after analyzing 10 traps, you gain knowledge of how exactly it works. Not a substitute for a trapmaking degree. Sneak Attack (Mythical) Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Attacks on enemies unaware of your presence deal triple damage. +1d6 damage for every two levels in rogue Brutal Critical (Mythical) Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Doubles the damage of your critical strikes. Makes things that hurt bad hurt worse Active Camouflage Rarity: Mythical Type: Active Description: You may spend 50 Stamina to turn on Active Camouflage. While Active Camouflage is active, your body and your equipment appear to change colors to other beings, appearing to blend almost perfectly into the background. When moving, there is a very slight delay before the color fully changes, allowing very observant creatures to see you. While stationary, Active Camouflage drains 5 Stamina per second, increasing to 10 Stamina per second while moving. Unleash your inner octopus.
That was all she had for the moment. She had had less time to devote to freelancing since restarting school, and combining that and the fact that the she wasn¡¯t rushing through the dungeons, the fact that dungeons were actually reasonably long at this level, and that she wasn¡¯t even always in a dungeon when training, she hadn¡¯t even fully finished clearing the one she had been working on. And, while she couldn¡¯t speak for exactly how much Maven had changed since their encounter, Ellie seemed to have begun to solidify her abilities. She had received a smattering of magical Skills, enough to make her competent, but, for the most part, she seemed to have mostly gained things that pushed her towards physical combat. Their talking lasted for another couple of hours before Maven had to leave, at which point they said their goodbyes and Tess and Ellie went back to Mael. ¡°I¡¯m going to go absorb these cores and upgrade Silky and Isabella.¡± Tess said. ¡°So, I¡¯m going to be in my room for a while. I¡¯ll let you know when I¡¯m done, okay?¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Sure thing. I¡¯ll see you in a bit, love you!¡± Tess blushed. ¡°Y-yeah. See you in a bit, I love you too.¡± And so, she set off for her room, steeling herself for what she was about to do. She had yet to modify Silky and Isabella since she had made them, as doing so would require ejecting their cores again and that was not an experience she wished to replicate. But it wasn¡¯t something she couldn¡¯t bear. She knew that, if she wanted to be stronger, it was something she had to do. So, it was that she sat on her bed, absorbed the cores, and got to reading and working out what exactly she wanted on her attendants. Chapter 56: Attendant Upgrades Tess surveyed the window she had received from absorbing the cores, thoughtfully considering what things would go best where.
You have absorbed a Spitfire Phoenix Core! Slots filled: 12/27 You have gained 1,590 EXP in Monster Breeder! Monster Breeder has leveled up! You have absorbed a Mountainous Mole Core! Slots filled: 13/28 You have gained 1,035 EXP in Monster Breeder! New cores absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ New Skills detected! Attempting to degrade and obtain Phoenix Fire¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Wreathed in Flames! Attempting to degrade and obtain Reborn from the Ashes¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Fragile Rebirth! Attempting to degrade and obtain Purifying Flames¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Soothing Flames! Attempting to degrade and obtain Fire Magic (High)¡­ User already has Fire Magic (Moderate). No Skill obtained. Attempting to degrade and obtain Mountain out of a Molehill¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Soil Sanctuary! Attempting to degrade and obtain Earth¡¯s Embrace¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Ground Grip! Attempting to degrade and obtain Regenerative Retreat¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Healing Hideaway! Attempting to degrade and obtain Earth Magic (High)¡­ User already has Earth Magic (Moderate). No Skill obtained. Wreathed in Flames Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: You are coated in a layer of deadly flames. These flames do not affect you or your possessions in any way, but creatures have a 20% chance to be set on fire every second they are within five feet of you. This fire lasts for 10 seconds and deals 10% of your health as damage per second. These flames can be turned on and off, and their temperature can be adjusted at will. Without adjustment, the temperature defaults to 1,100¡ãC, can go as low as 30¡ãC and as high as 1,350¡ãC. 25 Mana per second can be spent to further increase the temperature, allowing it to go as high as 1,700¡ãC. Creatures take damage from the extreme temperature as normal, though the temperature drops off ten feet away from you. Any effect from an outside source that would set the user on fire instead strengthens these flames, doubling their volume and range for the duration. Is it hot in here¡­never mind, it¡¯s just you. Fragile Rebirth Rarity: Epic Type: Passive Description: When you reach zero HP, an egg forms around you. If the egg remains intact for three minutes, you return to life with half HP, Mana, and Stamina, otherwise you die as normal. The egg has health equal to twenty-five percent of your maximum health, and its defensive stats are equal to double yours. Your passive Skills continue to apply while you are in the egg. Better than dying, but if you¡¯re in a situation where you died in the first place it¡¯s probably not going to help that much. Soothing Flames Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: Your flames are both weapon and panacea. Your allies do not take direct damage from your fire attacks, and any time they would take damage from your flames have a 10% chance to be healed of any one status affliction. Your allies suffer the effects of the heat of the flames as normal. Your fire would be a great tool for medicine if it didn¡¯t have the unfortunate habit of cooking anything not properly shielded. Amazing if you¡¯re trying to heal a fire elemental, though. Soil Sanctuary Rarity: Rare Type: Active Description: If you are touching dirt, sand, or other loose material, you may spend 500 Stamina to bring much of it to the surface, creating an enormous wall of the material encasing a small clear area with you as the center. This small hill is as packed and durable as it would be if that amount of material had been moved to the surface manually and left to settle. This Skill may be used while underneath loose material to open a path to the surface for only 100 Stamina. While it may not be more sturdy than normal dirt, there¡¯s a lot of it. Ground Grip Rarity: Rare Type: Active Description: You may spend 100 Stamina to have the ground itself reach up and grab a target, encasing it in up to 10 feet of whatever material the target is standing on, but not more than 1 foot taller than the target. If there is not enough material to fully encase the target, points of mobility are targeted first. Is conveniently bio-degradable. Usually. Healing Hideaway Rarity: Legendary Type: Active Description: You may spend 1,000 Stamina and Mana to designate an enclosed space with no more than one opening to the outside as a healing zone. You and your allies regenerate 1% of your maximum HP and Stamina every five seconds while inside this area. You may only have one space designated as a healing zone at a time, and if more than one opening is ever created, the zone is rendered inactive until there is only one opening. Just camp your opponents out. They have to come to you now. Displaying core information: Spitfire Phoenix Core: Level 68 Estimated Power: 1,200 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 2,400 Stats: HP: 4,400 MP: 13,100 Stamina: 5,000 Power: 325 Defense: 290 Magic: 660 Magic Defense: 630 Agility: 690 Luck: 540 Current Skills: Fire Magic (High) Phoenix Fire Purifying Flames Reborn from the Ashes Current Attributes: Exceptional Flier Feathers (Fundamental) Fire Immunity Fire Affinity Sharp Beak (Major) Sharp Talons (Major) Wings (Fundamental) Mountainous Mole Core: Level 55 Estimated Power: 900 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 1,700 Stats: HP: 10,000 MP: 4,200 Stamina: 10,000 Power: 750 Defense: 510 Magic: 110 Magic Defense: 240 Agility: 275 Luck: 300 Current Skills: Earth¡¯s Embrace Earth Magic (High) Mountain out of a Molehill Regenerative Retreat Current Attributes: Earth Affinity Earth Swimmer Fur (Fundamental) Sharp Claws (Major) Stereo Smell (Greater) Tremorsense (Perfect) New Attributes Discovered! Earth Affinity: Strengthens the effect of Earth Magic cast by the creature by 50% Earth Swimmer: Allow for effortless travel through any loose soil, sand, or similar material, and limited burrowing through most types of rock. Exceptional Flier: Allows the creature to fly in ways that should barely be possible, enabling it to perform various acrobatic maneuvers and even giving the ability to hover in place, regardless of the creature¡¯s biology. Fire Immunity: Gives the creature immunity to fire damage from most sources and grants the creature complete resistance to temperatures warmer than 30¡ãC that are colder than 2,250¡ãC, as well as partial resistance up to 2,500¡ãC. Fire Affinity: Strengthens the effect of Fire Magic cast by the creature by 50% Stereo Smell (Greater): Greatly heightens the creature¡¯s sense of smell, to the point where it can be easily used as a replacement for sight or other, similar senses. Tremorsense (Perfect): Enormously heightens the creature¡¯s sense of touch, allowing it to ¡®see¡¯ through solids it is touching, with a range of up to 300 feet. This heightening of sense is not subject to any sort of sensory overload from heavy vibrations. New Skills Discovered! Earth¡¯s Embrace Rarity: Epic Type: Active Description: You may spend 50 Stamina to have the ground itself reach up and grab a target, encasing it in up to 20 feet of whatever material the target is standing on, but not more than 1 foot taller than the target. If there is not enough material to fully encase the target, additional material will be created to allow fully encasing the target. This extra material disappears after 10 minutes. Does it count as being bio-degradable if it disappears into nothing? Mountain out of a Molehill Rarity: Legendary Type: Active Description: If you are touching dirt, sand, or other loose material, you may spend 500 Stamina to bring a huge amount of it to the surface, creating a titanic wall of the material encasing a small clear area with you as the center. A smaller amount of rock and other harder material is brought with the loose material, strengthening it immensely. This miniature mountain is as packed and durable as it would be if that amount of material had been moved to the surface manually and left to settle, and is additionally reinforced magically, making it roughly three times harder than the material would otherwise be. This Skill may be used while underneath loose material to open a path to the surface for only 100 Stamina. This is why we didn¡¯t want you to make a mountain out of a molehill. It¡¯s a pain to clean up. Phoenix Fire Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: You are coated in a layer of deadly flames. These flames do not affect you or your possessions in any way, but creatures have a 20% chance to be set on fire every second they are within ten feet of you. This fire lasts for 15 seconds and deals 20% of your health as damage per second. These flames can be turned on and off, and their temperature can be adjusted at will. Without adjustment, the temperature defaults to 1,300¡ãC, can go as low as 30¡ãC and as high as 1,500¡ãC. 25 Mana per second can be spent to further increase the temperature, allowing it to go as high as 1,900¡ãC. Creatures take damage from the extreme temperature as normal, though the temperature drops off twenty feet away from you. The user can spend 50 Mana per second to concentrate these flames into a lash of fire that can reach up to 60 feet away from the user. This lash can be controlled at will, and may be shaped in any way the user desires. Any effect from an outside source that would set the user on fire instead strengthens these flames, doubling their volume and range for the duration. Ok seriously turn down the heat, this is getting excessive Purifying Flames Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Your flames are both weapon and panacea. Your allies do not take direct damage from your fire attacks, are immune to any negative effects of the heat of the flames, and any time they would take damage from your flames have a 20% chance to be healed of any one status affliction. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.Forget leeches, just burn it instead. It¡¯ll work, I promise. Reborn from the Ashes Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: When you reach zero HP, you are revived with full HP, Mana, and Stamina after one minute. Each time this ability is used in a day, the amount of health regained is reduced by an amount equal to the damage dealt to you by the hit that brought you to zero HP. If you would regain less than one third of your maximum health, instead an egg forms around you. If the egg remains intact for three minutes, you return to life with full HP, Mana, and Stamina, otherwise you die as normal. The egg has health equal to twenty-five percent of your maximum health, and its defensive stats are equal to double yours. Your passive Skills continue to apply while you are in the egg. ¡­We really should have nerfed this before you got it. Oh well, if it¡¯s a problem, we¡¯ll nerf it later, no big deal. Regenerative Retreat Rarity: Mythical Type: Active Description: You may spend 1,000 Stamina and Mana to designate an enclosed space with no more than two openings to the outside as a healing zone. You and your allies regenerate 2% of your maximum HP and Stamina every five seconds while inside this area. You may only have one space designated as a healing zone at a time, and if more than two openings are ever present, the zone is rendered inactive until there are only two openings. Yeah, running and hiding is kinda lame but it¡¯s also optimal so don¡¯t let anyone give you flak for it
Well, that hadn¡¯t been what she was planning on getting, but she was absolutely going to use quite a few of those for herself. First off, she had an extra slot available for an Attribute now, so she moved Blighted Body from a User Fundamental slot to it. She really wasn¡¯t gaining that much more benefit from it than if she kept it in a regular slot, so she was going to put something else in the newly-freed slot. And her gut said that something else would have to be Tremorsense (Perfect). Being able to basically see through the floor, around corners, through walls¡­it was too good to pass up, and even if putting it in a User Fundamental slot only increased the range, it would be well worth it. So, she did¡­and then immediately let out a yelp as she was bombarded with all sorts of unfamiliar new sensations. She didn¡¯t even really register the window that popped up informing her of what it did in a User Fundamental slot until a moment later, as she just¡­processed all the new information.
New User Fundamental Attribute discovered! Tremorsense (Perfect) (User Fundamental): Enormously heightens the creature¡¯s sense of touch, allowing it to ¡®see¡¯ through solids it is touching, with a range of up to 450 feet. This effect works at drastically reduced capacity through liquids and gases; every foot of liquid is equivalent to 15 feet of a solid, and every foot of gas is equivalent to 30 feet of a solid. This heightening of sense is not subject to any sort of sensory overload from heavy vibrations.
She could feel as Ellie ran from her room, practically sprinting as she sprang up from her bed and burst into the hallway before throwing the door to Tess¡¯s room open. ¡°Tess, are you okay?!¡± She asked, looking around wildly. ¡°Did something go wrong?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s fine.¡± Tess said, waving a hand. ¡°I¡¯m just¡­still getting used to this new Attribute. I just got an entirely new sense from it, so I was shocked at first.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡­um¡­I¡¯ll leave you alone to get used to it, then, this probably isn¡¯t helping. Let me know when you¡¯re ready to talk, I want to hear about it.¡± Ellie said awkwardly, shutting the door as softly as she could and walking back to her room. Tess could feel Silky skittering about worriedly on the bed behind her, as well as the mice in the walls and the insects and¡­she took a deep breath, calming herself. It honestly wasn¡¯t as bad as she might have thought. It wasn¡¯t actually giving her a headache or anything, it worked perfectly fine, it was just a little overwhelming to basically be able to ¡®see¡¯ the entire house and some of the outside all at the same time. She¡¯d have to force herself to get used to it later, and she was guessing she¡¯d keep it off when it wasn¡¯t necessary, since she didn¡¯t really want to be privy to everything like this, but it was definitely an addition that would help her out greatly. She turned it off, and got to deciding where to put everything else. The magic Skills would be going on Isabella, since she had a much higher Magic stat than either Tess or Silky. Regenerative Retreat would go on¡­either Silky or Isabella, since Tess didn¡¯t even have enough Mana or Stamina to use it, but those two did. She¡¯d be taking Phoenix Fire, Purifying Flames, and Reborn from the Ashes, while Earth¡¯s Embrace would be for Silky, and Mountain out of a Molehill would go to Isabella, which took care of all of the Skills. Which just left the Attributes. The Affinity Attributes would go to Isabella, and that took care of pretty much everything she wanted for her, making Isabella much more of an offensive presence than she was before. She¡¯d take Fire Immunity for herself, and that was everything she wanted. To make room for that, she removed Part of the Pack (inferior), since that was really just a placeholder, got rid of Keen Nose (Greater) since she barely ever used it and she was planning on giving Stereo Smell (Greater) to Silky anyway, and finally, Rallying Cry she¡¯d give to Silky, leaving her with room for everything. And that just left what she wanted for Silky. Earth Swimmer was probably not very useful without Tremorsense (Perfect), but if she could fit it in, that would be something to give to her, just in case. Next would be Stereo Smell (Greater), to give Silky yet another tool for scouting and make it so Tess didn¡¯t need to worry about smell-enhancing Attributes. And, finally Wings, and Exceptional Flier. She had originally decided that wings weren¡¯t worth it on Silky since the jump in ¡®current power¡¯ was quite large and Silky would be able to scale walls and other things anyway, but it turned out that there were still situations in which flying would be beneficial for her, so she had decided it was worth it. She really wished she was able to sort of¡­migrate her attendant¡¯s form to other cores, giving them the stats of the new core with the body type of the old, or just otherwise increase their stats of their original core, but that was apparently something that came later on in the Class, so for right now she had to work around their current limitations. Fortunately, she had left a fair bit of room in their ¡®current power¡¯ as opposed to their maximum, so she probably had enough breathing room to put in everything she wanted, as well whatever else she had lying around, so she could maximize that ¡®power¡¯ and make them as strong as possible. ¡°Alright you guys.¡± She told them. ¡°Do you know of a way to just return to your cores or do I have to¡­¡± She trailed off, not wanting to say what she was thinking. She really didn¡¯t want to kill these two if she could avoid it, it would just¡­leave a bad taste in her mouth. Don¡¯t worry! Silky said, scuttling around so she was in Tess¡¯s line of sight. We can do it, so long as we have permission! Do you want us to do it now? ¡°Yes, please.¡± Tess replied, relieved. ¡°Though Isabella may want to come out of me first.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Isabella droned, floating out of Tess. She gave a small curtsey, then just sort of¡­faded out of existence, a core falling to the floor when she was done. For her part, Silky gave a salute, and then began fading much as Isabella had, until there were only two cores on the floor. Tess picked them up and absorbed them, prompting a window to show up, informing her that she had absorbed her attendant¡¯s cores and that the slots had been freed up. She was somewhat surprised to note that their cores had leveled up somewhat in the time they were out, allowing her a little more breathing room with their modifications. Furthermore, there was a special Attribute for their memories, meaning that, in a pinch, she could just transplant them to a different core entirely if she didn¡¯t mind making them look completely different. She was satisfied with how they were now, though, and she didn¡¯t want to move them to a much stronger core for fear of instilling bad habits in them and in her from them being so overleveled. Now that she had Precision Surgery, she could adjust their stats too, so she did that as well. Silky wasn¡¯t really built for damage, so she took as much as she could out of Power and Magic and placed it into Agility and called it good. Isabella, on the other hand, had a lot of stats she wasn¡¯t using, since she spent most of her time undetected inside of Tess. HP, Power, Defense, Magic Defense, and Agility were all put as low as they could go, and the extra points put into Magic and Mana. With that, all that was left to do was transfer Skills and Attributes she wanted over to them and a couple extras to fill get their power as close to maximum as possible. After she was finished, she took one last look at them before preparing to bring them back into existence.
Blacker Widow Core: Level 25 Estimated Power: 498 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 500 Stats: HP: 2,040 Mana: 2,100 Stamina: 2,030 Power: 103 (144 - 28%) Defense: 113 Magic: 102 (142 - 28%) Magic Defense: 111 Agility: 334 (253 + 81) Luck: 125 Current Skills: Decaying Touch Earth¡¯s Embrace Induce Despair Rallying Cry Current Attributes: Amphibious Arachnid (Fundamental) Common Language Proficiency Exceptional Flier Increased Intelligence (Moderate) Night Vision (Greater) Sharp Claws (Major) Sharp Fangs (Greater) Silky¡¯s Memories Spiderclimb Stereo Smell (Greater) Sticky Web (Major) Wings Lady Isabella Core: Level 31 Estimated Power: 605 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 610 Stats: HP: 1,470 (2,050 - 28%) Mana: 5,100 (4,100 + 1,000) Stamina: 1,640 Power: 93 (130 - 28%) Defense: 93 (129 - 28%) Magic: 457 (310 + 147) Magic Defense: 223 (310 - 28%) Agility: 73 (102 - 28%) Luck: 155 Current Skills: Dark Magic (Basic) Decaying Touch Earth Magic (High) Fire Magic (High) Haunt Haunting Wail Induce Despair Mountain out of a Molehill Paralyzing Blows Piercing Wail Regenerative Retreat Summon Undead Current Attributes: Common Language Proficiency Earth Affinity Fire Affinity Increased Intelligence (Moderate) Intangible (Fundamental) Isabella¡¯s Memories Greater Levitation Humanoid Night Vision (Greater)
She nodded her head in satisfaction, took a deep breath, then sent a message to Ellie.
Tess: I¡¯m going to be ejecting Silky and Isabella¡¯s cores. I¡¯m probably going to make some noise since this is¡­not a particularly pleasant process. Don¡¯t freak out, OK? Ellie: How long does this normally take? When should I start being worried? Tess: Like¡­five minutes for the both of them. It¡¯s not long, but¡­yeah. Um, I¡¯ll let you know when I¡¯m done Ellie: Got it. Talk to you then
Tess sighed, made her preparations, and got to work.
A few minutes later she had both Silky and Isabella back, had finished using the towel she had laid out to clean up any remaining mess, and had dressed herself again.
Tess: I¡¯m done Ellie: Oh thank goodness. Are you feeling OK? Anything still hurting? That¡­did not sound fun. Tess: Aside from a slight soreness, I¡¯m fine. If it¡¯s like last time, I¡¯ll be feeling completely fine in like ten minutes Ellie: That¡¯s good to hear. Um¡­after that, what do you want to do? Tess: Dunno, I¡¯m good for whatever, I guess Ellie: Well¡­Grandpa says he¡¯s not going to be home until really late tonight. Maybe we should make some dinner and then have some¡­fun? Tess: Sounds great. We can get started on dinner now, if you¡¯d like Ellie: No, you stay there. I¡¯ll start on dinner, you come once you¡¯re feeling better. I don¡¯t want to see you for at least ten minutes, alright? Tess: Got it. Um, thanks Ellie: Don¡¯t mention it. I¡¯ll see you in a few minutes, love you! Tess: Love you too!
Tess smiled slightly, sitting on her bed. ¡°How are you two feeling?¡± She asked. Better than ever! Silky said happily. I¡¯m feeling¡­stronger, smarter, everything is better! ¡°I agree.¡± Isabella said. ¡°It feels¡­good. Thank you, mistress.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Let me know if anything starts feeling off, we¡¯ll get it fixed.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Isabella replied, taking her usual position inside of Tess. Got it! I¡¯m gonna go eat, let me know if you need me! Silky said, scuttling out under the door and into the rest of the house. Tess took out her phone, made note of the time, and began to mess around. Now that the thing she was most worried about was out of the way, it was looking like the night was going to be a good one, and she couldn¡¯t wait. Chapter 57: Hunter and Hunted Tess stood in the line nervously, trying to ignore the barely concealed stares from those around her. It was graduation day, and it was finally time for the thing to actually start. It had been a long morning, the school had made them do a rehearsal for graduation, and, much like in school itself, no one was quite sure how to act around her. It was a lot like how she imagined people would treat a potentially live explosive; lots of staring and maintaining distance, very little actual contact. She had grown used to it in these past two weeks, but it still hurt. She had grown up with most of these people, known them for over half of her life, and here they were treating her like she would snap at any moment. But she couldn¡¯t blame them for that. They didn¡¯t know the whole picture, and she probably would have reacted the same way if she was in their shoes. Still, it had made for quite the awkward morning, and she was glad that it was finally reaching its end. The principal began to read off the names of the students, and the line began its agonizing march towards the podium. And¡­nothing happened. She got through the line, there was a slightly strained handshake with the principal, and then she was given her diploma and was directed to sit down while the ceremony concluded. Unfortunately, that conclusion took another half hour, and only then it was time for people to go meet with their families and mingle with their peers. Not that Tess expected to hang around very long. Gramps was her only family here, and she doubted anyone would be looking to stay and chat with her. And then she found herself caught in a friendly headlock, a familiar voice sounding from behind her. ¡°Surprise!¡± ¡°Alice?¡± Tess asked, blinking. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Alice let go of her headlock, and Tess turned to face her. She looked¡­different. Her skin was still that same dark brown, but it had lost its wooden texture, and her hair had gone from a leafy green to a subdued black. Alice grinned, holding up her hand so Tess could see a ring on one of her fingers. ¡°I got special permission from the Guildmaster to be here for you. Figured it was a big enough day for the two of you that I should come.¡± Tess smiled and gave the older girl a hug. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad you did. It was getting a little¡­lonely, I¡¯m not going to lie.¡± ¡°I thought it might.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Let¡¯s go say hi to everyone else, shall we?¡± ¡°Everyone else?¡± ¡°Ker and Jin are here, and so is the rest of the Guildmaster¡¯s party.¡± Alice informed. ¡°Oh, um¡­yeah, let¡¯s go say hi!¡± Tess said. She hadn¡¯t been expecting such a¡­large group to turn up, but she was happy they had. It made this whole thing seem just that much more tolerable. It appeared that Ellie was already talking with Jin and Ker, who were¡­much shorter and much taller, respectively, though their appearances were otherwise the same. Standing next to them were Gramps, Ava, Atum, and Eyfura. It was odd, seeing Eyfura and Atum looking like humans when she was so used to them being¡­well, not human. ¡°Hey, everyone.¡± She said. ¡°Um¡­thanks for coming, you really didn¡¯t have to.¡± ¡°Nonsense!¡± Ava replied, waving a hand. ¡°We couldn¡¯t just let you two have just Evan for company today, you deserve more than that.¡± Eyfura clapped her on the back. ¡°Congratulations.¡± She said, smiling widely. ¡°You¡¯re all done with your education, how does it feel?¡± ¡°Weird.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I was always assuming I was going to go to college after this, learn how to be an accountant, but¡­well, I¡¯m kind of glad I¡¯m not going to. It just seems like it¡¯d be¡­boring.¡± Eyfura snorted. ¡°You¡¯re telling me. I couldn¡¯t imagine sitting at a desk all day doing math. I would probably die of boredom after a week. Why would you want to go into something like that, anyway?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Seemed like good money, and I don¡¯t mind math, so¡­I thought it would be kind of cool.¡± ¡°Well, if it¡¯s money you¡¯re after, you¡¯d be insane to do anything other than what you¡¯re doing now.¡± Alice said wryly. ¡°Might not transfer to here the best, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve already noticed how unusually high your income is.¡± Tess scratched the back of her neck embarrassedly. ¡°Yeah, I was kind of made aware of that when I got those cores the other week. Feels almost unfair, to tell you the truth.¡±
Fortune: It is, that¡¯s kind of the point Death: Speaking of unfair drops, could I borrow Tess for a bit? Life: What could you possibly want that she could get for you? Death: I¡¯ve been grinding for a drop in one of the MMOs I play and I¡¯ve gone like¡­four times the drop rate without getting one and I¡¯m getting sick of it Life: You cannot be seriously suggesting using a Blessing to cheat at a video game. Death: It¡¯s not my fault they don¡¯t have a way of accounting for Luck, so it¡¯s not cheating, it¡¯s just¡­abusing a loophole Ellie: This game is from Mael, isn¡¯t it Death: ¡­Maybe. What¡¯s your point? Ellie: Then, technically, it is your fault that they don¡¯t know about stats and stuff Death: Nonono you can¡¯t pin that on me that decision goes all the way up to Amy, and we¡¯re in the process of fixing that right now Fortune: Is account sharing even allowed according to the game¡¯s rules? Death: Well, yes, but actually no. Years ago, when the game started, it was, but nowadays everyone does it and no one bats an eye. The devs know and everything, they just haven¡¯t gotten around to messing with the rules¡­I think. I haven¡¯t checked for a few years Tess: How would you even account for high Luck, anyway? Shouldn¡¯t it theoretically go through whatever measures they put in place? Fortune: We¡¯ve introduced a sort of formula that can be used to calculate someone¡¯s Luck, all they have to do is consent to the formula being used and it just spits out their Luck. TBH, the formula doesn¡¯t actually work, it¡¯s more a¡­shortcut that just tells the system to spit out that person¡¯s Luck, but since it relies on random number generation no one can actually do the math to verify it by hand. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Death: Anyway, they just use the Luck they ¡°calculate¡± to adjust the drop rates so everyone has a relatively equal chance to get things¡­not that it would affect you. Anyway, you in or not? Life: I do not believe this is a productive use of her time. She and Ellie still need to be preparing for their debut as Appointed. Death: ¡­Fine. Tess: Tell you what, you keep grinding and if you still haven¡¯t got it by the time we¡¯ve debuted, then I¡¯ll help you get it Death: Score! Tess: Keep track of those numbers, though. Have Life take a look at them, and I¡¯ll compare what he has now to what you have then, just to make sure you¡¯ve been doing it Death: Yeah, I can work with that.
Tess drew her attention away from the window and to the rest of the group, who were looking at her with an amused expression. ¡°Uh¡­sorry.¡± She said, blushing. ¡°Fortune kind of stole my attention away for a bit and then Death started talking and¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure she was.¡± A voice drawled. ¡°Do you have any last words?¡± ¡°What?¡± Tess replied, flabbergasted. She turned to find a girl approaching her. She was¡­vaguely familiar, and it took Tess a moment to realize that it was that same girl who had confronted her and Ellie about their relationship when Tess had returned to school. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡­don¡¯t understand.¡± Tess said. ¡°Last words before I never see you again? Uh¡­leave me alone?¡± The girl smiled a mirthless smile. ¡°No, last words before I set the Hunter on you. We¡¯re going to give you one chance to leave and never return, so make your choice.¡± Tess blinked. ¡°A Hunter? The church hasn¡¯t used Hunters in hundreds of years. What are you on about?¡±
Death: Nah they¡¯re still around. You see, weak monsters do actually pop up from time to time. People have this innate potential for magic, and when that¡¯s blocked like it is here¡­well, let¡¯s just say it¡¯s handy to have some people who know how to deal with them discretely. Don¡¯t worry too much, you¡¯re like¡­way stronger than any Hunter has ever been, they¡¯re like¡­novice freelancers in terms of stats and have no actual Skills. Now that this idiot has warned you one¡¯s coming, you¡¯re in basically no danger. Shouldn¡¯t even need Worship to deal with her
The girl grinned. ¡°As you well know, monsters are quite real, and so the Hunters remained. You can still find them, if you know where to look for them, and a few people in the community know where to look. Choose. Now¡± There was a barely concealed snicker from Eyfura, causing the girl to look over at the others for the first time. ¡°I don¡¯t know who you people are, but I would suggest clearing out. I¡¯m guessing things are about to get ugly, and I would rather no more innocents get hurt because of this¡­thing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± Eyfura said lazily, still smiling slightly. Ava and Atum were much the same way, and Gramps was scanning the surrounding area carefully, muttering what Tess could only assume to be a spell. Alice, on the other hand, was fuming. She looked like she was about to storm over and deck the girl there and then, but Jin laid a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Ellie says she¡¯ll be fine.¡± He said quietly, giving Alice a meaningful look. ¡°Best not stir up any more trouble.¡± Alice harumphed. ¡°Fine. I¡¯m gonna keep watch, though, just in case.¡± Tess just shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not going to leave. I haven¡¯t done anything wrong.¡± The girl gave a shrug. ¡°Very well. Farewell, monster, you should have left when you had the chance.¡± She whirled around and stormed off, leaving the group alone. Tess didn¡¯t waste any time, activating Tremorsense (Perfect) and Enhanced Hearing (Perfect). She had been training with Tremorsense over the past few weeks, and she had more or less become able to use it without getting too distracted by all the new information. It wasn¡¯t at the level where she was totally comfortable keeping it on in a combat scenario, but this was, apparently, not going to be much of a threat. And, there she was. About a hundred feet away, mixed in with the crowd, there was a short woman who had a lot of concealed weaponry beneath her clothes, and she was making her way towards Tess. Tess waited, and, once the Hunter was within thirty or so feet, Tess turned and stared directly at her. The Hunter froze, locking eyes with Tess. There was a tense moment as the two stared, and then the Hunter began to carefully approach the group. When she was about ten feet away, she stopped. ¡°My apologies.¡± She said. ¡°I am afraid this is my duty as a Hunter. I hold no personal grudge, but order must be maintained.¡± She reached into a pocket, and Tess could feel her taking out some sort of¡­gun loaded with a dart. ¡°Enough.¡± Tess turned to see Pastor Faust striding towards the Hunter. ¡°The girl has done nothing that warrants this treatment.¡± She said. ¡°And she¡¯s a devout follower of Life and Death. I¡¯ve known her since she was a child, surely you can leave her be?¡± The Hunter wavered for a moment, then whipped out the dart gun and shot. Tess threw herself to the side, but the Hunter was fast, and managed to land a shot into Tess¡¯s thigh. Tess braced herself, waiting for whatever poison was coating the dart to take effect¡­but it never did. The Hunter sighed to herself, putting the gun away and taking out a small but vicious-looking knife. ¡°She must be a changeling.¡± The Hunter said, not looking at Pastor Faust. ¡°Normal people don¡¯t sprout claws and tear through metal doors.¡± Pastor Faust floundered. ¡°That can¡¯t be, I¡­as the head of the church in this region, I¡¯ve had her thoroughly inspected. She was deemed to be safe to let stay in society. I don¡¯t know what fringe group told you about her, but they¡¯ve greatly exaggerated things.¡± The Hunter looked up at Pastor Faust for the first time. ¡°Pastor, with all due respect, I can¡¯t exactly take the word of a branch this small. You may believe it¡¯s safe, but I¡¯ve met my share of monsters that could fool a pastor. The girl you knew is long dead, this is just something wearing her face.¡± ¡°No,¡± Pastor Faust said firmly, putting herself between the Hunter and Tess, ¡°she¡¯s not. I would stake my life on that. She may be¡­less than ordinary, but the girl I know is still very much there, and I would go so far as to say that she¡¯s better for our community than whomever alerted you to her.¡± The Hunter gave Pastor Faust a pitying look. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it has you under its spell. This may hurt a little, but when you wake up, you¡¯ll be all better.¡± She stepped forward, pulling a syringe out of her coat, before bringing it down on Pastor Faust. Or, she would have, had Tess not intercepted the syringe with a claw, neatly slicing it in two. ¡°At the very least,¡± Tess said, ¡°can we leave the innocents out of this? I would really rather not fight, but if we have to, then you and I should be the only ones involved.¡±
Death: Wait actually I got this let me try something
There was the sudden sensation of something washing over Tess, and the Hunter¡­stopped, looking up at Tess with wonder. ¡°I feel¡­my¡­goddess?¡± She whispered. ¡°But¡­that can¡¯t¡­you¡¯re a¡­¡±
Death: Sick, it worked. Do me a favor and ask her to be at the church at 11 PM sharp. I think I might want to give a little¡­divine revelation. It would be handy to have a Hunter about, so we don¡¯t get a bunch of them trying to put a stop to things. I¡¯ll feed her something that won¡¯t totally blow our cover
Tess nodded, straightening a little and looking the Hunter dead in the eyes. ¡°Be at the church at eleven PM tonight.¡± She said. ¡°You might find some answers then.¡± With that, she turned around and walked towards her group. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She said. ¡°I don¡¯t think it would be wise to stay much longer.¡± ¡°Evan put up a barrier that prevented people from noticing what was going on here, but I think you¡¯re right.¡± Ava said. ¡°Alice looks like she¡¯s about to tear someone¡¯s head off.¡± Tess looked at Alice, who was silently fuming, then back at Ava. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯d rather not spend any more time here than I need to, anyway.¡± Gramps gave them a nod. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get going, then, before traffic gets too bad.¡± And so, they did, packing into a couple of cars and heading back to Tess¡¯s house. When they got back, Tess was surprised to find that streamers had been hung in the kitchen, and there were a few celebratory balloons floating about. Furthermore, there was a cake on the counter, and Gramps seemed to be fetching party favors out of the fridge. ¡°I thought we¡¯d have a little party to celebrate your graduation.¡± He said. ¡°Things might not have gone great at the ceremony itself, but I don¡¯t see any reason why we can¡¯t have a little fun of our own. What do you say?¡± ¡°I think that sounds¡­good.¡± Tess said. ¡°Just so long as I¡¯m not being attacked, it¡¯s fine by me.¡± Ellie giggled. ¡°Oh, I might attack you later, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s what you meant.¡± Tess blushed. ¡°N-not in front of everyone!¡± She said. ¡°That¡¯s embarrassing.¡± Ellie laughed, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and giving it a little squeeze. ¡°Couldn¡¯t resist, sorry.¡± Gramps gave them a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s kick this thing into gear, then!¡± Chapter 58: Planning for a Debut ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s not dead!¡± The man in front of Marie shouted, banging his fist on the table. Marie, the Hunter, sighed, pushing his fist away. ¡°I mean I won¡¯t be killing her.¡± She said. It was something of a relief, if she was being honest. Human-looking monsters were always emotionally taxing to kill, but even more than that¡­she felt like she couldn¡¯t kill the girl. The girl just had this air about her, and even when Marie had been about to shoot her, there was an odd sort of¡­confidence about her, like she wasn¡¯t afraid of whatever Marie could do. Most monsters, even the tougher ones Marie had fought, showed at least some fear, but not this girl. And then, when those claws came out¡­ Marie shuddered a little as she recalled it. The girl had gone from unusual to terrifying in an instant. Marie had seen her share of nasty claws over her career, but those were something else; they made the claws of even a dire bear look like toothpicks. And the look in her eyes¡­Marie could tell the girl had more than one easy way to kill or disable her, and she was just trying to figure out what would draw the least attention. ¡°Why not!¡± The man cried, gesturing at the shell-shocked teenager to his side, the one who had confronted the girl back at the graduation. ¡°It¡¯s traumatized my girl, and the whole community lives in fear of it! This is your job, so do it!¡± Marie shook her head. ¡°No. My job is to deliver death to things that would break the order of the world, things that should not be. Whatever she is, that girl is not one of them.¡± Or, if she was, then she was breaking order that the gods wanted broken. Marie had never in her life felt the presence of Death as strong as she had on that girl, and the pastor had seemed to agree. The man growled. ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll deal with it ourselves.¡± He stood up, but Marie laid a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from storming off. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t, if I were you.¡± She said, giving him an even stare. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with her, and I¡¯m the best in the business. Attempting to do so is just going to end with you getting hurt.¡± The man grit his teeth. ¡°What do we do, then? Just let it continue to terrorize the town?¡± Marie shrugged. ¡°To be honest, from what I¡¯ve gathered, there¡¯s no concrete evidence of her doing anything strange without being provoked, so my advice is to just not poke the bear. If she wanted to actually hurt people, she would have done so by now.¡± ¡°But, my congregation¨C¡± ¡°Is not under my purview.¡± Marie said, cutting him off. ¡°The only reason I came is because I sensed a potential threat to the good people of this town, and I have decided that there is no threat. I did not come because the leader of some fundamentalist fringe movement wanted me to. My loyalties are to the gods and their church, and if you¡¯re going to stir up fear in your congregation, that¡¯s none of my business. ¡°The official stance of the church here is that there is nothing to be worried about, and I intend to follow their direction.¡± She turned to leave, paused, then turned back to the teenager. ¡°You.¡± She said. ¡°Y-yes?¡± The girl squeaked. ¡°A word of warning, stop poking your head into other people¡¯s business.¡± She said. ¡°Life teaches that everyone has the right to choose what they believe and how to put that into practice. Death will judge them when She comes for them, there is no need to do so in this life. You¡¯re only going to get yourself into trouble if you continue down this path.¡± She paused, then continued. ¡°I would also strongly recommend a careful examination of your beliefs. Are they something you believe, or something you believe because your father tells you to believe in them?¡± The girl gave her a meek nod, but her father had other ideas. ¡°Don¡¯t speak to my daughter that way!¡± He exclaimed, outraged. ¡°Why, I oughta¡­¡± Marie gave him a glare. ¡°I am merely repeating the words of the gods, if you have issue with that, then I would suggest reading the scriptures more closely. Furthermore, if your daughter chooses not to believe in your teachings after careful thought, that says more about your teachings than it does anything else.¡± She turned and strode out of the building, ignoring the protests of the man. She got in her car and drove to the church. She was a few hours early, yes, but she wanted some time to meditate and prepare herself for the words of the goddess.
Marie¡¯s meditation was interrupted by a knock on her door. ¡°Um, Marie?¡± A voice said. ¡°It¡¯s almost eleven.¡± Marie opened the door to the private room she was in to find Pastor Faust outside, looking nervous. ¡°Apologies for my rough treatment earlier.¡± Marie said. ¡°I was truly under the belief that the girl was dangerous, I hope you can forgive me for questioning your judgement.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Pastor Faust replied. ¡°I understand. I have cleared the Holy Room, would you like me to lead you there?¡± Marie nodded. ¡°That would be much appreciated.¡± The two walked in silence as they made their way to the Holy Room. Eventually, they reached the door, which Pastor Faust opened for Marie. ¡°I will wait outside.¡± She said. No. Marie jumped as Death¡¯s voice rang out in her head, rooting deep into her subconscious and making it abundantly clear that it was Death speaking. It would be best if you hear this too. ¡°Yes, my goddess.¡± Pastor Faust replied, stepping into the Holy Room. Marie followed, and Pastor Faust shut the door behind them. Thank you for coming here. Death said. You had an encounter with one of my servants today, and, as a result, I have decided to give you new instructions. Marie dropped to her knees. ¡°I am at your command, my goddess.¡± Great changes will be coming to this world, and this town is soon to become the focal point for them. Numerous strange events will occur, and, as some of my chosen servants, that girl and her family will be at the heart of most. I need you to let these events happen, and to keep the rest of the Hunters satisfied that all is well here. I will contact the leadership, of course, but should a Hunter choose to come here anyway, I will need you to deal with them. Do not engage in conflict with the girl or her family. They wield power far beyond what is normal for this world, and to fight them would only result in your ruin. Furthermore, they are to be considered as my instruments at all times. Should they ask you to do something, I expect you to do it without question. And that is all. But, before I go, as thanks for your service, I will allow you one question. Ask, and I will answer should it be something mortals are allowed to know. Marie pondered that for a moment. ¡°Why choose me? Surely there are better Hunters for this job. I¡¯m¡­not the best with people.¡± There was a short pause. But you are strong. Though you may not be the best with people, you are someone they can look to for security in times of danger. That is why you were chosen. ¡°I¡­understand. Thank you, my goddess.¡± And with that, the holy presence that had filled the room withdrew, leaving only Marie and Pastor Faust. Marie slowly looked up at Pastor Faust. ¡°Might I ask for a room? I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m suddenly in need of semi-permanent lodgings here.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Tess was getting ready for bed when she received a message from Death.
Death: Alright I¡¯ve dealt with the situation. The Hunter, Marie, is going to be hanging about here for a while. I¡¯ve told her not to bug you guys and to try and keep the other Hunters off your back, so that should deal with that issue. Oh, and she¡¯s supposed to listen to whatever you guys say, so if you need her for something feel free to ask her. Tess: Thanks, I appreciate it Death: Don¡¯t mention it, just doing my job Fortune: Speaking of, we need to get you and Ellie ready for your debuts. Think you can stop by tomorrow and we¡¯ll talk? Tess: Yeah, I don¡¯t think we have anything in particular going on. How long do you think it¡¯s gonna take? I just wanna let Alice and Ava know so they know when to show up for training Fortune: Dunno, an hour or two? Tess: Got it. I¡¯ll let them know to meet me at noon, then, and then I can stop by your place at like¡­ten, provided Ellie¡¯s fine with that. Ellie: Sounds good to me. Weren¡¯t we supposed to start training together with Maven tomorrow, though? Tess: Oh, yeah. Um¡­I think I have her phone number somewhere, I¡¯ll let her know. Ellie: Cool. Should we just have Grandpa teleport us in or¡­? Life: Come to the church¡¯s Holy Room, Death and I will teleport you in from there. Tess: Alright, talk to you then, I guess. Death: Yeah, ¡®till then. I¡¯m gonna go work on getting that drop, later!
Tess nodded to herself, set her alarm, texted Alice and Maven, then climbed into bed. The next morning, she and Ellie made their way to the church, where they knocked on the on-duty priest¡¯s door. To Tess¡¯s surprise, Marie opened the door. ¡°How may I help¡­¡± She trailed off, staring at Tess and Ellie. ¡°Oh. Um¡­my apologies for yesterday, miss Los. I was unaware of your circumstances and was out of line.¡± Tess blinked. ¡°No, it¡¯s cool, you were just doing your job. Um, Ellie and I need to get into the Holy Room, we have¡­business there. Can you let Pastor Faust know?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Marie said. ¡°Please step inside while I fetch her.¡± She motioned towards the inside of the room, where a couple of chairs were set out. Tess and Ellie walked in and took a seat, closing the door behind them. Marie left the room, and returned a few minutes later with Pastor Faust in tow. ¡°I¡¯ve cleared the Holy Room for you girls.¡± Pastor Faust said, giving them a smile. ¡°How long do you need it for?¡± ¡°Up to a couple of hours.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°We¡¯re not exactly sure yet. We¡¯ll let you know when we¡¯re finished, though.¡± ¡°Take as much time as you need.¡± Pastor Faust replied. ¡°We have no pressing need to use it, so we can wait for however long it takes.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Ellie said, standing up. ¡°Also, uh, sorry, I know this is pretty sudden, but¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Your business is far more important than our prayer, everyone here understands. Besides, we can occasionally feel the presence of the gods linger after you or your grandfather leave, it is an honor to have you use our facilities.¡± ¡°Ah, really?¡± Ellie said. ¡°That¡¯s good, then. Uh, could you lead us to the Holy Room? I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s been a bit and I don¡¯t remember the exact path.¡± ¡°Of course. This way, please.¡± Marie stayed behind as Pastor Faust took them to the Holy Room. Pastor Faust dropped them off in front of the room, and the two walked inside. The moment the door was shut, they were enveloped in a flash of light, and then they were in the realm of the gods. ¡°Yo!¡± Death said. ¡°Good to see you. Come take a seat and we can get started.¡± Life, Death, and Fortune were all in chairs across from a small loveseat, waiting expectantly. Once Tess and Ellie were seated, Fortune began to speak. ¡°So, honestly, there aren¡¯t any hard and fast rules for debuts, but the general idea is to make some sort of big public appearance so that everyone knows you¡¯re a thing.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°So, what did you have in mind?¡± ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m not entirely sure.¡± Fortune replied. ¡°It¡¯s not like there are any super visible gambling scams that you could bust in and stop, and I was sorta hoping to have you debut together with Ellie, so that wouldn¡¯t really work either.¡± ¡°Crime is at an all-time low in the Outlands, so there isn¡¯t some murderer you two can bust there, though I believe I could find a high profile one in one of the other planes if you want.¡± Death said. ¡°Though I¡¯d honestly prefer if it was something to do with the Outlands, since that¡¯s much more of a¡­neutral area and word will get out to everywhere faster.¡± Tess thought about that, stroking her chin contemplatively. ¡°Could we like¡­appear right before the expedition leaves, offer our goodwill or something?¡± ¡°I think you might be on to something.¡± Life said. ¡°There will be a lot of reporters there, people tend to turn out to watch expeditions go. Plus, it will raise the expedition¡¯s morale. I think it¡¯s a good idea.¡± ¡°Right, so, if we¡¯re doing that, what do we need to do?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Like, during the debut itself.¡± ¡°For you in particular, not much.¡± Death said. ¡°Mostly just be there to let people know you¡¯re around. People in planes other than Mael don¡¯t really have many dealings with Life and I, so we just want it known that you¡¯ll be in their way if they get any ideas about Mael.¡± ¡°And Tess, you¡¯ve got a bit more to do, but really not that much.¡± Fortune added. ¡°Basically, you¡¯ll just need to say that you¡¯re going to be auditing my church and then work on reforming gambling. Shouldn¡¯t be more than like, two minutes.¡± ¡°The both of you will be wearing recognition-scrambling items like the one Tess¡¯s uniform has.¡± Life said. ¡°And Tess will, of course, be in full uniform for this.¡± ¡°Oh, and I was actually kinda hoping you could pretend to be a rabbitkin.¡± Fortune said. ¡°I¡¯ll get you a core with the Trait later, but I feel the rabbit parts just¡­complete the aesthetic, you know? You don¡¯t have to if you don¡¯t want to, though.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with that.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Doesn¡¯t really make much of a difference to me.¡± ¡°Awesome.¡± Fortune replied. ¡°Um¡­will I need a uniform or anything?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I was thinking that like¡­black robes would work fine for now.¡± Death said. ¡°We can get you some fancy plate armor or something later.¡± ¡°Actually, let¡¯s get her some decorative plate armor now. That way people won¡¯t wonder what the robe was later on.¡± Life interjected. ¡°I¡¯m sure Kane can whip something up in time if it doesn¡¯t have any effects.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Death replied. ¡°Does that sound good to you, Ellie?¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Sounds great.¡± ¡°Good. Oh, and, just so you know, you¡¯re probably gonna have to do a separate debut on Mael. That¡¯s going to come later, though, so don¡¯t worry about it too much right now.¡± ¡°I figured as much.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°We¡¯ll cross that bridge when we get to it.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Fortune said. ¡°So, shall we get to discussing specifics or¡­? ¡°Sure.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Might as well, since we¡¯re all here.¡± And so, they spent the next hour or so fine-tuning how exactly Tess and Ellie would debut, after which the two were returned to the Holy Room. They left, only to find Marie waiting for them outside. ¡°May I speak with the two of you?¡± She asked politely. ¡°After you let the pastor know you¡¯ve finished, of course.¡± Tess hesitated, then nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± She said. ¡°Just so long as you don¡¯t attack me again.¡± ¡°I will never attack you again unless you wish it.¡± Marie said firmly. ¡°It would not only go against the wishes of my goddess, it would be tantamount to suicide. I¡¯m not that foolish a person.¡± Tess raised an eyebrow. ¡°Very well, then. I¡¯m assuming you¡¯d like to talk in private?¡± ¡°Yes. I will show you to the pastor, then I thought we could talk in my chambers.¡± ¡°Lead the way.¡± Ellie said. Marie took them through the church to Pastor Faust¡¯s room, where Ellie let her know they had finished with the Holy Room, then they went to a small room at the back of the building, presumably where Marie was sleeping. ¡°First, let me introduce myself.¡± Marie said. ¡°I am Marie, senior Hunter. I¡­was hoping I could ask you a couple of questions. I understand if you¡¯re not at liberty to discuss everything, but as someone who is going to be working with you, I would like as much information as you¡¯re willing to give me.¡± Tess paused. ¡°There are many things we cannot say, but I suppose I have no reason to hold back anything we can tell you. Ask away.¡± ¡°What¡­are you?¡± Marie asked. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything quite like those claws, and I heard rumors claiming that you cut through a metal door with no apparent effort. Is that true?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°I did cut through a metal door, yeah. As for what I am¡­well, there isn¡¯t really a word for it, but human is the closest there is, believe it or not. At the very least, I used to be completely human. Then¡­well, things happened.¡± Marie frowned. ¡°I¡­see. Second, can you teach me anything about fighting? I¡¯m positive those claws aren¡¯t the only trick up your sleeve, and I¡¯m always looking to better myself in whatever ways are possible.¡± ¡°Actually, you¡¯re probably better than me.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°In terms of skill, anyway. I¡¯m still relatively new to everything, I just have¡­circumstances. My way of fighting really isn¡¯t compatible with normal people anyway, so I wouldn¡¯t be of much help to you even if I were more skilled.¡± ¡°I suppose that makes sense.¡± Marie admitted. ¡°Last, would you be willing to let me know in advance when supernatural events are about to occur? I would like to be on top of things in case I¡¯m needed.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can do that.¡± Tess said. ¡°Do you have a cellphone?¡± ¡°I do.¡± Marie replied, taking out a phone. ¡°Would you like my number?¡± ¡°Please. Ellie or I will text you when things are about to go down.¡± Tess stopped, realizing she hadn¡¯t introduced herself. ¡°Oh, right, I¡¯m Tess, and this is Ellie. We¡¯re both working for the gods, so¡­yeah.¡± ¡°A pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡± Marie said. ¡°I¡­suppose it is.¡± Ellie said. ¡°What¡¯s that number?¡± Marie gave them the phone number, and Tess and Ellie both sent her a message, so she had theirs. ¡°Alright, anything else, or can we get going?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°No, that is all. Thank you for your time.¡± ¡°Well¡­goodbye, then.¡± Tess said, and she and Ellie retreated from the room and back to Ellie¡¯s car, then headed back to their house. It was, finally, time to start their careers in earnest. Chapter 59: Together Again ¡°Sorry for the wait.¡± Tess said, opening the door to the private room where everyone was meeting. ¡°We were just working things out, you know how it is.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I do.¡± Alice said, a faintly amused expression on her face. ¡°I don¡¯t think¡­how¡¯d you put it in your text¡­¡®stopping by Fortune¡¯s place for an hour or two to talk with her¡¯ is normal.¡± ¡°Ah. Um, well¡­you understand, though, right?¡± Tess asked. Alice chuckled. ¡°Yes, I understand. I¡¯m just teasing.¡± ¡°Oh. Good.¡± Tess replied. ¡°So¡­what¡¯s the plan, then?¡± Jin stepped forward. ¡°Well, we¡¯re going to be training the three of you as a group.¡± He said. ¡°And we think you¡¯re about at the point where you can handle Jagged Cliffs, one of the city¡¯s two mid-level dungeons.¡± Maven blinked in surprise. ¡°That¡¯s¡­for people level thirty five-ish, right?¡± She said warily. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be trying something¡­closer to our level if we¡¯re not boosting?¡± Ker shook his head. ¡°No. You all are roughly level thirty, and given what I know about your abilities, you should be able to handle this. It¡¯ll be a challenge, yes, but it¡¯s one that you three can take.¡± ¡°Of course, we¡¯ll be there to keep an eye on you.¡± Ava said reassuringly. ¡°If it ever looks like you¡¯re going to die, we¡¯ll step in and save you. Hopefully it shouldn¡¯t come to that, but it¡¯s possible, so we¡¯ll be vigilant.¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Alright. So, should we get going now, or...is there anything we need to do first?¡± ¡°This dungeon is a little different.¡± Jin said. ¡°We¡¯re going to need to prepare for it a bit more than the others. We¡¯re going to want to head down, get an information pamphlet, and then we¡¯re going to have the three of you decide what you¡¯ll need. We already have everything we need on hand, so you won¡¯t need to worry about actually getting it, but we want you to get used to preparing.¡± ¡°Sounds sensible.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Let¡¯s get going, then.¡± With that, the group went out to the guild¡¯s main hall, which, while busy, was much less busy than it normally was earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon. That meant that the personal receptionist line was empty, so they walked up to the counter and waited for Graham. About half a minute later, Graham made his way to the desk, giving them all a smile. ¡°Big group today. What can I do for you all?¡± ¡°We want the information packet for Jagged Cliffs, as well as to officially accept the standing request for clearing it.¡± Jin explained. Graham raised an eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re having them take that on already? Impressive. Give me a moment to go grab that for you.¡± He stood up from the chair he had sat in, bending down so he could access the drawers below. He rummaged around for a few moments before coming back up with a pamphlet, which he handed to Jin. ¡°Looks like that request¡¯s reward is five gold right now, I¡¯ve gone ahead and updated your bands with that. Anything else I can do for you?¡± Jin shook his head. ¡°No, thank you very much.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Graham said, waving a hand dismissively. ¡°Best of luck out there!¡± ¡°Thank you, Graham.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯ll see you around, I suppose.¡± ¡°See you later!¡± The group retreated from the desk, and made their way back to the private room. Jin handed Ellie the packet, and she opened it and began to read. ¡°So¡­it looks like, as the name suggests, the dungeon is a bunch of cliffs. Unlike the dungeons we¡¯ve been going to, there are some levels in it that are like¡­vertical, and we need to mountaineer up.¡± ¡°I can work with that pretty easily.¡± Tess said. ¡°I can just walk straight up. But we¡¯ll probably need climbing gear for you two, ropes¡­uh I don¡¯t know what else you need for climbing, but climbing stuff.¡± ¡°Hold on for a second.¡± Maven said. ¡°You can just walk up?¡± ¡°Yeah, when I was clearing the dungeon that I got Silky from, all the spiders had this Trait called Spiderclimb that lets me just climb up walls. I¡¯ve kept it on just in case.¡± To prove her point, Tess got out of her seat and moved over to the edge of the room, where she placed her feet on the wall and walked up. It was a bit of an odd sensation. She felt like gravity should be pushing against her body at every step, but it just¡­didn¡¯t. In fact, it felt like gravity was pushing her against the wall, not the floor. She had asked Fortune about it once, and Fortune had told her that gravity actually was pushing her against the wall. ¡°Gravity doesn¡¯t actually use the formula you¡¯ve been taught.¡± Fortune explained. ¡°Well, it does, but that whole ¡®gravitational constant¡¯ isn¡¯t a constant. It¡¯s a value that¡¯s dependent on a bunch of other things, the biggest of which are Mana and a value that we set for every plane, so the main planets all have roughly the same gravity as the main planets of other planes. ¡°And¡­well, you¡¯re kinda really really similar to a monster in a lot of ways? Basically, that Trait works by stimulating its user¡¯s background Mana, so it changes gravity to pull them towards the wall. Not your active Mana pool, the stuff you can¡¯t normally use, the stuff that¡¯s always flowing through you to make you¡­work. And most people don¡¯t have enough of that, but you have about as much as a monster now, so¡­it just works.¡± Tess walked up onto the ceiling, then sat down. ¡°It¡¯s not perfect, though. If all my body parts lose contact with the wall, then I just fall off completely.¡± Maven stared up at her curiously. ¡°How long can you keep that up for?¡± ¡°Forever?¡± Tess said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t use Mana or Stamina, no more than regular walking does.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Maven began, ¡°stuff like this usually costs Stamina, right?¡± Tess thought that over for a second. ¡°To make a long story short, I qualify as a monster for things like this. I¡¯m using the monster version of the ability, not the person version.¡± ¡°Surprised me at first too, but I¡¯ve come to find that it¡¯s pretty safe to assume she¡¯s using monster stuff if the ability is¡­unusual.¡± Alice said. ¡°And they generally don¡¯t have the costs that people versions have. Like everything else with that Class of hers, it¡¯s kind of super unfair.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll say.¡± Maven replied, watching as Tess got up and walked down the wall and back to her seat. ¡°Seems useful, though.¡± ¡°Yeah, it is.¡± Tess said. ¡°I figure I can act as like¡­an anchor for us. Like, I¡¯ll be the one in the lead, and then we¡¯ll all be tied together by rope, and then if one of us falls I can help keep us on the wall.¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Are you strong enough for that?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I¡¯m going to start wearing plate armor, and that¡¯s kinda super heavy. I don¡¯t want to pull anyone off because I got swatted off by a monster.¡± Tess hesitated. ¡°Um¡­worst case scenario I cast some flight magic or something. It¡¯d take most of my Mana, but I can probably carry you until you can get back to safety.¡± Ellie pondered that for a moment, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. ¡°Actually, let me try something real quick.¡± Four translucent, wickedly sharp blades popped into existence, orbiting gently around Ellie. They didn¡¯t stay blades for long, however, as they stretched and widened to an appearance that looked more like a long, rectangular beam. The four ¡°blades¡± fit themselves neatly together, forming a sort of floating platform, which Ellie stepped onto. ¡°Sick.¡± She said. ¡°Can this take me up, too?¡± A moment later the platform began to rise, though its ascent was much slower than its formation. ¡°Alright, not very fast, but it can.¡± Then the platform moved to the side, unceremoniously dropping Ellie to the floor. She managed to land on her feet, but teetered a bit, nearly falling over. ¡°Okay, maybe I tried to get a little too fancy a little too fast.¡± She said, a chagrined expression on her face. The platform separated and the components turned back into blades, which began to orbit Ellie once more before they vanished completely. ¡°I did not have nearly as much traction as I thought I did.¡± She explained. ¡°So¡­for now it looks like it¡¯s only a up and down thing, but I can probably catch myself with it if things get too dicey. Which¡­just leaves Maven, I guess.¡± Maven flapped her wings. ¡°I can fly.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s tiring, but no more than climbing would be. A fair bit easier, too. Tess, you have those¡­attendants you¡¯re calling them, yes? Will they be fine?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Isabella mostly stays inside of me, and Silky can climb walls like me. Even if she couldn¡¯t, I recently gave her wings, so she¡¯s totally fine.¡± She reached into a pocket and took Silky out. ¡°Wanna show them?¡± Silky saluted. Yes, ma¡¯am! She replied, and part of her back that had been covered in glossy carapace split open to reveal two beetle wings, which Silky used to fly around for a bit before returning to Tess¡¯s hand. Apparently not wanting to be left out, Isabella drifted outside of Tess. ¡°I¡­can fly too.¡± She said, rising a few feet in the air. ¡°And I can catch mistress if she falls.¡± And, having said her piece, she floated back into Tess, leaving the room silent for a moment. ¡°So¡­I suppose that¡¯s the climbing taken care of.¡± Tess said. ¡°Are we missing anything?¡± ¡°I want some gear just in case.¡± Ellie said. ¡°For if we need to move sideways. I¡¯m not confident I can get the hang of doing that in the next¡­twenty minutes or however long it¡¯s going to be before we go to the dungeon.¡± ¡°A wise decision.¡± Ker said. ¡°Fortunately, climbing isn¡¯t as hard as it is on Mael. We have magic items that let you cling to walls much easier, so you shouldn¡¯t need anything too crazy. Just some good rope and something to make handholds, but those swords or Tess¡¯s claws should more than suffice for that.¡± ¡°What else does the packet say?¡± Tess asked. Ellie opened the packet back up. ¡°It¡¯s apparently cold. Like¡­well, like climbing a mountain. And a bunch of the levels have snow or fog or other environmental effects on them. It seems¡­nasty.¡± Maven frowned. ¡°I¡¯ll say. What are the monsters like?¡± Ellie flipped through the packet for a bit. ¡°Not bad, actually. There apparently aren¡¯t as many as there are in most dungeons, and while they¡¯re at the dungeon¡¯s level, they don¡¯t seem to have any crazy abilities or anything. Honestly, it kind of seems like the environment itself is the biggest challenge here.¡± ¡°It is.¡± Jin confirmed. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean you can ignore the monsters. They¡¯re weak on paper, but they¡¯re not affected by the environment whatsoever. They¡¯re a lot harder to deal with when you can¡¯t see more than ten feet in front of you and you¡¯re in the middle of scaling a mountain.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°So¡­we¡¯ll want really warm clothing, probably some goggles or something, and¡­snow boots, maybe? I¡¯m not sure how that¡¯s going to work with armor.¡± ¡°Not well.¡± Alice replied, grimacing. ¡°I have a hand-me-down set I can give to Ellie, it has some enchantments that help you walk in snow and sand and stuff. Temperature control, too, so that should settle her.¡± ¡°My armor has temperature control too.¡± Maven said. ¡°So, that will be no issue. I would like an extra set of climbing gear, however. I don¡¯t want to risk flying if the storm gets bad.¡± ¡°We can arrange it.¡± Jin replied. ¡°How about you, Tess?¡± ¡°My armor will get some temperature control effects later, but it doesn¡¯t have them yet.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯ve only unlocked the first effect, so I¡¯ve still got quite a ways to go before I get it, too.¡± ¡°Less of a ways than you think, actually.¡± Ava corrected. ¡°The armor¡¯s designed to hit full effectiveness when you hit level forty, so my guess is you¡¯ll get that effect sometime around level thirty-five or so. Until then, you can probably get away with just wearing heavy winter clothing, since you don¡¯t need to worry about monsters targeting you.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t there a magic item that will keep me warm?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I think Atum mentioned he had one.¡± ¡°They¡¯re usually built into clothing.¡± Alice explained. ¡°I got a hoodie for you that¡¯ll provide that effect for your whole body without being too bulky.¡± Maven shot her a surprised look. ¡°That¡¯s pretty expensive, isn¡¯t it?¡± Tess frowned. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say your armor has temperature control?¡± ¡°Yes, but that¡¯s different. My armor has gloves, shoes, a helmet, basically a piece for every part of my body. It¡¯s relatively easy to apply temperature control in bits and pieces spread over a set of equipment, but it¡¯s pretty hard to put it all on one piece and have it cover the entire body. And that difficulty makes it much, much more expensive.¡± ¡°Consider it a graduation present if you want.¡± Alice said, waving a hand dismissively. ¡°It¡¯s really not that expensive, so it¡¯s no big deal. I picked it up more as a whim than anything else, don¡¯t sweat it.¡± She reached into her magic bag and pulled out a red hoodie, which she tossed to Tess. ¡°The hood will morph to fit your ears, too. That¡¯s pretty standard for hoodies, though.¡± Tess caught the hoodie, then put it on. The room was already at a pretty comfortable temperature, but the moment the hoodie was on it just felt¡­better. Like the air conditioning had somehow reached that temperature that was just right, not even the slightest bit hot or cold. She reached up to her neck and felt at the hood, which did indeed have two flaps for her fox ears now. ¡°This feels¡­really good, actually. Thank you!¡± She said. Alice gave her a satisfied smile. ¡°Don¡¯t even mention it.¡± She replied. ¡°It¡¯s no big deal.¡± ¡°It looks good on you.¡± Ellie said appreciatively. ¡°It feels like you say that every time I wear new clothes.¡± Tess said, smirking. ¡°You¡¯re going to wear that compliment out.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± Ellie protested. ¡°You look great in like¡­everything! You¡¯d make me jealous if we weren¡¯t dating!¡± ¡°Get a room, you two.¡± Ker teased. ¡°If you¡¯re going to keep flirting, then we¡¯ll just take Maven to the dungeon on her own and leave you behind.¡± Ellie blushed, looking away. ¡°Sorry.¡± She said. ¡°Couldn¡¯t help it.¡± Ker laughed. ¡°I¡¯m just messing with you. That should be just about everything you need, though, so I think it¡¯s about time we got moving.¡± ¡°Give me a minute to go change into my armor.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be ready.¡± ¡°I will need to change as well.¡± Maven added. ¡°We¡¯ll wait for the two of you here.¡± Jin said. ¡°We¡¯re hoping to clear the dungeon at least once before the day¡¯s over, though, so try to hurry a little.¡± A few minutes later, Ellie and Maven returned, and then the group set off for the dungeon. As far as dungeons went, it wasn¡¯t anywhere near as popular as any of the beginner dungeons had been, which Tess supposed was to be expected; there were less people capable of clearing it, and it was a much riskier thing to clear than the beginner dungeons. But even beyond that, it just seemed¡­emptier than a dungeon in a city like this should have been. ¡°Do people not use this dungeon?¡± Tess asked. ¡°No one¡¯s here, and the standing request reward was pretty high too. At least, high compared to what I¡¯ve been getting, more than just the level difference would suggest.¡± Ava nodded. ¡°Even for dungeon standards, this one is not fun to go through. There aren¡¯t many monsters, so you don¡¯t earn much from their drops, the weather effects and climbing sections are pretty miserable, and it takes a long time to boot. The only people who really come here are people who are getting the Skills from it and the people who live here.¡± ¡°Makes sense.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Now that I¡¯m thinking about it, though, I realized that I never checked for a Challenge in the packet, Ker stopped me before I got there. Does this dungeon have one?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jin said. ¡°It¡¯s a particularly rough climb in especially harsh weather, but there are no monsters. You have to make one of the climbs after floor fifteen in under ten minutes to be offered it, we¡¯ll help keep monsters off your back once we reach a climbing floor so you can attempt it.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Maven said. ¡°Shall we use the Party Crystal and be off, then?¡± Chapter 60: Jagged Cliffs Tess flinched as she stepped through the door into the dungeon proper and was immediately hit with a rush of cold air. It was an odd sensation; she felt like the wind should be making her colder, and she could somehow tell that the wind was cold, but the hoodie Alice had given her kept her perfectly warm. She took a moment to survey her surroundings as everyone else entered the floor. Unlike most of the dungeons she had been to, this one recreated an outdoor space; there was a sky overhead, and the area to her sides and behind her was flat and wide open, stretching out as far as the eye could see. The only exception was the door they had come through, which was standing in stark contrast to the completely natural-looking area near it. More immediately attention-grabbing, though, was the mountain in front of her. It was¡­well, big. Bigger than anything she had seen in or outside of a dungeon; it seemed to stretch up and up with no end in sight. It was¡­awe-inspiring, something that made Tess feel very, very small. The only mountain she had ever been on or near was the one where the Appointed safehouse was located, and she couldn¡¯t really¡­see anything while in there, so this felt like her first time really seeing a mountain. ¡°Jaws off of the floor, you two.¡± Alice said. ¡°Don¡¯t forget this is still a dungeon.¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°Sorry, I forgot. I¡¯ve just¡­never really seen a mountain before, you know? We didn¡¯t really travel much on Mael, so I just saw foothills. This is¡­something else.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll say.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I feel¡­tiny.¡± ¡°You get used to it.¡± Ker said. ¡°You stop even noticing they¡¯re there after a bit.¡± He smiled wistfully as he looked at the mountain. ¡°Kind of a shame, really. They can be so pretty, but you just start to take them for granted when you¡¯re around them for long enough.¡± Tess shook her head once again, forcibly clearing out the wonder, then began to activate the Attributes and Skills she kept off in public. Maven jumped as Tess burst into flame, a thin layer of fire spreading out and covering her body and clothes. ¡°Sorry.¡± Tess said. ¡°Probably should have warned you. I¡¯m¡­still not quite used to this ability, so I¡¯m not great at controlling the appearance.¡± She focused for a bit, mentally willing the fire to become as thin and cold as it could go. Eventually, it settled into just giving Tess a faint glowing outline. ¡°There we go. Uh, give me a moment here¡­¡± She reached into her pocket and pulled out a thin, circular badge of sorts, which she affixed to the hoodie. ¡°This neutralizes the smell of my Blighted Air, that way you don¡¯t have to smell that.¡± She activated Blighted Air, then turned on Tremorsense (Perfect). She took a moment to process the new information, then nodded. She still wasn¡¯t fully used to it, but she had been practicing leaving it on when she wasn¡¯t focusing on anything, so she wasn¡¯t completely overwhelmed whenever she tried to use it in more¡­stimulating situations. She had yet to use it in a real fight, but she was confident that she would be fine, at least while she was scouting. ¡°So, I¡¯m guessing the floor¡¯s exit is going to be up the mountain?¡± She said. ¡°I can¡¯t see anywhere else important to go, and it would be weird for it to be elsewhere, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Apparently once we get high enough, a door will appear next to us and we can leave that way.¡± ¡°What happens if we keep going up?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Surely there¡¯s some sort of size limit or something¡­right?¡± ¡°For this dungeon, yes.¡± Jin said. ¡°If you start getting too high, you¡¯ll be surreptitiously teleported lower down the mountain, so you¡¯ll just keep climbing forever. Same thing happens if you try to go too far in any of the other directions, you just get teleported back and it feels like the plain keeps going forever. You won¡¯t even notice if you¡¯re not paying very careful attention.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Interesting. Well, I¡¯m going to start scouting ahead. I¡¯ll let you know if there are any traps or monsters hiding in the undergrowth or anything.¡± Ellie looked like she wanted to protest, paused, had a brief moment of internal debate, and then nodded. ¡°Stay within eyesight.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t plan to be farther than a hundred yards or so.¡± Tess said. ¡°If I raise my hand, stop moving. That means there¡¯s a monster or a trap and we¡¯re going to need to deal with it. If it¡¯s a monster, I¡¯ll come back and tell you about it. If it¡¯s a trap, I¡¯ll try and disarm it, and I¡¯ll raise both arms if I succeed.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Maven said. ¡°I will keep my eyes on our rear. If any monsters come, I¡¯ll give you a shout.¡± ¡°I guess I¡¯ll watch the sides, then.¡± Ellie said. ¡°And I¡¯ll keep an eye on you too, of course.¡± Tess gave another nod, then made her way out in front of the party and began to lead them towards the foot of the mountain. It was an unusual experience for her; not because she was leading Ellie and Maven now, but because there just¡­wasn¡¯t anything. Usually, when going through a dungeon, there was always something to keep track of, be it monsters ahead or a trap or even just carefully walking over very rough terrain, but here there was¡­nothing. She didn¡¯t encounter any signs of trouble for a solid five minutes, at which point something finally came up. There, in front of her, expertly concealed in the underbrush, was a rectangular pitfall, about five meters deep, ten meters across, and five meters wide. It wasn¡¯t just¡­leaves on top of a hole, either; there was a thin layer of soil over the hole, with grass on top. She might not even have noticed it were it not for her tremorsense, the only real giveaway was the lack of any large vegetation on top of the trap. She held up a hand, waiting to confirm that the group behind her had stopped before continuing her investigation. The trap would probably be simple to disarm, she just needed to put enough force on top of the trap to collapse it, but she activated Reverse Engineer anyway. The Skill told her that the soil on top was held together by a thin layer of magic, there was another layer of magic on the bottom, and that the layers of magic were the ¡°key¡± components of the trap. Tess frowned. Usually, she would just collapse the trap and be done with it, but she was wary of that other layer of magic on the bottom of the trap, so she took a moment to cast an analysis spell on it. Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t get much out of the spell. The layer of magic keeping the dirt together was muddying the results, and Tess wasn¡¯t great at deciphering this sort of thing in the first place. Ava had been teaching her how to, but it was still rough trying to figure out what was important and what was superfluous, and that was without another layer of magic on top making things worse. Tess sighed, and made her way back to Ellie and Maven. ¡°It¡¯s a pitfall.¡± She said. ¡°There¡¯s a really loose layer of soil held together by magic on top of it, and if you fall in it¡¯s about five meters deep, but there¡¯s also another layer of magic that will probably trigger when the trap collapses. I tried to figure out what it did, but with the other magic in the way I just couldn¡¯t, sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So, are we just going to go around it, then?¡± ¡°I believe the information packet should have something on the trap.¡± Maven said. ¡°Perhaps we should check that first?¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Good idea.¡± Ellie said, reaching into her bag and taking out the packet. ¡°Let¡¯s see here¡­ah, apparently, if you trigger the trap, it summons a couple of monsters to attack you while you¡¯re trapped in there.¡± ¡°Probably best we go around it, then.¡± Tess said. ¡°We don¡¯t want to tire ourselves out before we even get to climbing.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°That good with you, Maven?¡± ¡°I will defer to your wisdom on this.¡± She said. ¡°When I was boosting, we went out of our way to fight every monster we could, but I imagine that doesn¡¯t really translate to actual dungeon delving.¡± ¡°Correct.¡± Ker said approvingly. ¡°It¡¯s vital to know how to pace yourself. Otherwise you¡¯re going to end up slowing down your progress, since you won¡¯t be able to do as much in a single day. If you can avoid confrontation, it¡¯s often best to do so.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°I understand.¡± She said. ¡°Very well.¡± ¡°Stay close to me, I¡¯ll lead you around it.¡± Tess said. ¡°You¡¯ll be able to see where the trap is if you look for a rectangular area with nothing but grass on top of it, but it¡¯s best if you just don¡¯t stray too far from me anyway.¡± Tess carefully guided the group around the trap, and they resumed their march towards the mountain. After another uninteresting few minutes, the ground began to slope upwards more, and another few minutes after that, Tess¡¯s tremorsense picked up their first monster. It was a snake, hiding in one of the bushes. Tess signaled for everyone to stop, and cautiously made her way towards the snake, inspecting it carefully. Like most monsters, it showed no reaction to her presence, and she was able to get a good look at it. It wasn¡¯t particularly big, but it was colored such that it blended in with its surroundings near perfectly, and Tess could only assume it was venomous. She regrouped with the others, letting them know what she had found. ¡°How do we want to deal with this?¡± She asked. ¡°I could just take it out on my own, but we want to share experience, right? It doesn¡¯t look particularly durable, so¡­¡± ¡°I can set the bush on fire, and Ellie can kill it when it comes out.¡± Maven suggested. ¡°That should get us all experience, right?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But I¡¯m kind of worried about starting a wildfire.¡± ¡°We can just put it out with magic.¡± Maven said confidently. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be a big deal.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Tess, can you lead me to the snake? Maven, when I raise my arm, you set the bush on fire.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Maven replied. Tess nodded, and brought Ellie forward until she was about twenty meters away from the snake. ¡°It¡¯s in that bush.¡± Tess said, pointing at the snake. ¡°Get ready.¡± Ellie maneuvered the Swords of Death so they were just above the bush, then raised an arm. Maven began to chant, and a moment later the bush burst into flame. The snake shot out like an arrow, heading straight for Ellie, but Ellie swung down with the swords, cutting the snake into neat slices. The snake burst into rainbow particles, and Tess waved away the message detailing the experience she gained as she walked over to the core the snake dropped and absorbed it.
You have absorbed a Highland Rattle-less Snake Core! Slots filled: 14/28 You have gained 330 EXP in Monster Breeder! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ No new Skills detected! Highland Rattle-less Snake Core: Level 32 Estimated Power: 250 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 500 Stats: HP: 900 MP: 900 Stamina: 900 Power: 167 Defense: 118 Magic: 60 Magic Defense: 74 Agility: 140 Luck: 102 Current Skills: Venomous Bite Current Attributes: Coiling Strike Potent Venom (Moderate) Scales (Fundamental) Scrubland Camouflage Stereo Smell (Miniscule) Tremorsense (Miniscule) New Attributes Discovered! Coiling Strike: The creature builds up each of their attacks, allowing them to lunge forward with each attack and deal additional damage at the cost of not being able to attack as rapidly. Scrubland Camouflage: Causes the creature to change colors to a mottled green, yellow, and brown that allows it excellent camouflage in scrublands.
¡°Anything good?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Not particularly.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Though there is a weaker version of the tremorsense I¡¯m using. I¡¯ll have to start building those up so I can get some good tremorsense for Silky. Oh, and I can make her venom better, too.¡± Thank you very much, mistress, but I would rather you get your own upgraded first! Silky said. I have plenty of other ways to sense things right now! ¡°That¡¯s¡­going to be a lot of ejecting cores.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Well, these cores aren¡¯t anywhere near as big as Silky or Isabella¡¯s cores, and I¡¯ve more or less grown used to things this small. I can¡­probably handle it.¡± ¡°What are you two talking about?¡± Maven asked, walking up to them. ¡°Oh, I was just saying that the snakes don¡¯t really have anything good, just some Attributes that¡¯ll make venom more powerful and some weak tremorsense.¡± Tess explained. ¡°I¡¯m going to be combining those up so I can upgrade Silky later.¡± ¡°But¡­what was that about ejecting cores?¡± ¡°Oh. Uh¡­it¡¯s not a particularly¡­pleasant process, so Ellie was just making sure I¡¯d be okay with that. And I am.¡± ¡°I see. In that case, shall we continue?¡± The three continued to make their way up the foothills. There were a couple more pitfalls and a few more encounters with snakes, but nothing really seemed that bad yet. The floor was just¡­bigger than all the other floors Tess had been on before. In terms of sheer distance traveled, it felt like it was at least twice as large as the next largest floor she had seen, and this was just the first in this dungeon. Eventually, as Tess was walking, a door just appeared out of nowhere in front of her. She stopped, turning back to the rest of the group, and waited for them to catch up. ¡°So¡­looks like this is the end of the first floor.¡± She said. ¡°Everyone ready to leave?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± Ellie said. ¡°That wasn¡¯t so bad. It probably gets a lot worse later on, sure, but I think we can handle this.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky.¡± Jin warned. ¡°This was a warm-up, I¡¯d be concerned if you didn¡¯t find it really easy. The real test comes later.¡± He opened the door and stepped through, and everyone else followed. ¡°The next floor has intense snow, so here are some goggles.¡± Alice said, reaching into her bag and pulling out three pairs of goggles, which she handed to Tess, Ellie, and Maven. ¡°We¡¯re going to stay behind you, but you can barely see, so it¡¯s really easy to get lost. I¡¯d advise you stick together as much as possible.¡± Ellie nodded, reaching into her bag and taking out two coils of rope. ¡°Let¡¯s tie ourselves together.¡± She said, handing a coil to Tess and Maven. ¡°Tie one end around your waist and then the other to me. Sound good?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± Tess said. ¡°I can probably mitigate at least some of the danger with tremorsense, and help us keep our sense of direction, too. We want to just keep going up, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Alice confirmed. ¡°Much like the last floor, a door will appear once you¡¯ve gone up far enough.¡± ¡°This good with you, Maven?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Maven said, handing Ellie one end of her rope, the other already tied securely around her waist. ¡°This is sensible, I think.¡± Ellie took the other end of the rope, then reached into her bag and pulled out yet another coil, which she tied around her own waist before tying one end to Maven¡¯s rope. ¡°Good.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯re probably going to be mostly relying on Tess for things, but keep your eyes on the sky. I¡¯m guessing her tremorsense won¡¯t be able to see through the falling snow very well.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t see why it wouldn¡¯t.¡± Tess said idly, tying her coil of rope around herself and handing the other end to Ellie. ¡°There¡¯ll be a lot of interference in the air, but if I just look for one huge blob of something then I should be able to find airborne monsters. That being said, tremorsense doesn¡¯t have a lot of aerial range, so¡­yeah, might as well keep your eyes peeled, I guess.¡± Ellie finished tying the ropes together, put on her pair of goggles, and began walking to the door. Tess and Maven followed, and the moment they were through, the atmosphere changed drastically. The biting wind from the last floor was now pushing countless flakes of snow, all but erasing visibility after only five or so feet. Snow was slamming against her, only to melt against the thin layer of fire coating her, and then evaporate into steam, causing a loud hiss as it did. Tess turned off Phoenix Fire, and the snow immediately began to pile up on her hoodie. She ignored it, instead focusing her attention on her tremorsense. The air around her felt like¡­like looking at static on a TV, but she was able to make out the ground and things attached to it just fine. She motioned for the team to follow her and began to lead them up the mountain. It was a difficult trek, but the traps and monsters were the same as they were on the floor below, pitfalls and snakes. Admittedly, both would have been much harder to spot and deal with were it not for Tess¡¯s tremorsense, and they still had to be a bit more cautious when it came to fighting the snakes, but they still made it to the exit without much issue. Ellie breathed a sigh of relief as they left the floor. ¡°I did not like that.¡± She said. ¡°But I¡¯m glad you were here, Tess. I really don¡¯t know what we would have done without your tremorsense.¡± ¡°Move a lot slower, probably.¡± Ava said, smiling faintly. ¡°Much of the threat of that particular floor is in the surprise factor of the enemies and traps, forcing you to take it slower so you don¡¯t get caught off-guard.¡± ¡°Is the next floor still going to be snowing?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be, no.¡± Alice replied. ¡°You should be good to take the goggles off, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re wondering. It¡¯s going to be foggy, though, so might want to consider keeping that rope on.¡± Tess nodded, taking off the goggles and putting them into her pockets. ¡°Right. Shall we get going, then?¡± Chapter 61: A Climb The fog turned out to be no great hinderance to Tess. She was worried it might mess with her tremorsense like the snow, but it actually enhanced it, at least compared to air. Since fog was mostly just¡­a lot of water droplets in the air, her tremorsense was able to see a bit further through it. Not as much as regular water, of course, but enough to be noticeable. It seemed Ellie and Maven preferred the fog to the snow as well. Normal visibility was higher, and there was no snow to build up on their clothing. Furthermore, there was no wind pushing against them and making their climb harder. That being said, the floor wasn¡¯t all good news. It wasn¡¯t actively snowing, but there was about a foot of snow on the ground, making movement much more difficult. And then, when you added that to the fact that the slope was only getting steeper, moving forward was about as hard as it had been before. Or it would have been, were it not for Phoenix Fire. By turning its heat up, Tess was able to effectively melt any snow within ten feet of her and burn away some of the fog. She was fortunate that, by using Purifying Flames and Phoenix Fire together, she was able to effectively negate the heat of the flames for her allies and their possessions ¨C otherwise the rope would have burnt away long ago. Perhaps the others¡¯ equipment would have too, but Tess doubted it. Their equipment was enchanted to resist extreme temperature, after all. But that was irrelevant to the situation. What was important was that they had an easy, dry hike up the slope. The melting and subsequent evaporation of the snow was still making a lot of noise and there was some steam that hindered vision, but the three of them had collectively decided it was worth it to potentially reveal themselves to monsters to make their trek faster and easier. The monsters supposedly weren¡¯t anything special without environmental factors making them dangerous, and Tess would be able to spot any monsters well before they would be an immediate threat to the trio. And the steam, while annoying, really was just an extension of the fog, so the visibility detriment wasn¡¯t that bad either. ¡°This is really something.¡± Maven said, watching the snow melt in fascination. ¡°I can tell how hot it is by how fast the snow is melting, but I can¡¯t feel a thing, even through my clothes¡¯ temperature monitor function. Not the cold, not heat, it¡¯s just¡­nice.¡± ¡°Is that why I can tell it was supposed to be cold?¡± Ellie asked curiously. ¡°I was wondering what that was.¡± ¡°Yeah, most stuff that grants resistance to extreme temperatures comes with some sort of a gauge that will let you know what it¡¯s supposed to be like outside. Usually, if you¡¯re outside, you can guess, but with places like dungeons, it can be really hard to tell, so it¡¯s a handy feature.¡± Alice explained. ¡°That being said, I have to agree with Maven here. I¡¯m pretty sure temperature isn¡¯t supposed to work like that.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me.¡± She said. ¡°The Skill just says the heat of my flames doesn¡¯t affect allies or our belongings. I don¡¯t decide what¡¯s what.¡±
Fortune: You do, actually. It¡¯s entirely based off of what your perception of an object or creature is. Tess: Oh. Why am I not¡­totally scorching the ground or burning bushes or anything, then? I¡¯m pretty sure those aren¡¯t ¡°mine¡±. Fortune: I put a limiter in place once I realized just how badly things could go if you used that in a populated area. It shouldn¡¯t affect ¡°the environment¡± unless you want it to, like with the snow. Things like vegetation, the ground, and buildings should be totally fine unless you want them to not be. Uh¡­if your heat does catch like¡­a monster on fire or something, then that fire spreads normally, so just be careful? Try not to set people on fire in flammable buildings unless it¡¯s necessary I guess Death: Yessss my child, embrace your inner pyromaniac, destroy everything, reap every soul and bring me your dark harvest Life: We¡¯re supposed to prevent strong people from wiping out whole towns for no good reason, not actively encourage them. Besides, reaping is my thing, and you don¡¯t get any souls, so that makes no sense. Death: You can¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t realize that was a joke Life: I thought I should clarify things on the off-chance Tess misinterprets your humor. It is better safe than sorry. Ellie: Well, I realized it was a joke Fortune: Thought it was pretty obvious myself Tess: Sorry, I¡¯m with them on this one Life: Someone has to be the responsible one here. If there is the slightest chance of it going catastrophically wrong and I can prevent that outcome by just saying so, then I will.
¡°What are they doing?¡± Maven whispered, having fallen back as much as the rope would let her, so she could better talk with the instructors. ¡°They¡¯re just staring into space.¡± ¡°They¡¯re talking with the gods.¡± Ker whispered back. ¡°They apparently have some sort of¡­godly group chat that they use to keep in touch, and it works via status windows. The gods will offer commentary from time to time, especially when it comes to Tess¡¯s abilities.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t like that at the lunch we were at.¡± Maven argued. ¡°They just¡­said it happened, they didn¡¯t¡­zone out entirely.¡± ¡°That must have been a short message, then.¡± Ava replied quietly. ¡°They¡¯re probably replying to the gods right now, which takes a bit more effort.¡± ¡°Is that safe? I mean, again, we¡¯re in a dungeon.¡± ¡°If it wasn¡¯t, the gods wouldn¡¯t have contacted them like this.¡± Ava said. ¡°Tess still is keeping track of everything. Aren¡¯t you, Tess?¡± ¡°Hm?¡± Tess stopped, turning her attention away from the window and back to the others. She had only been paying a bit of attention to their conversation, so it took her a moment to process the question. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m paying attention.¡± She said. ¡°There¡¯s nothing around for a while, we¡¯re still in the clear.¡± Maven blinked, though she kept walking with the others, catching up to Tess. ¡°How did you¡­¡± ¡°Enhanced hearing, remember?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I was like fifty feet behind you and we were whispering! There¡¯s supposed to be a limit to how enhanced something can be!¡± ¡°I got this hearing from an emperor lion.¡± Tess replied. ¡°It¡¯s really, really good. At times it feels like it¡¯s only a step below like¡­echolocation. You¡¯d probably need to be twice as far away before I really would struggle to hear you.¡± Maven shook her head in wonder. ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. I¡¯ll¡­keep that in mind, I suppose.¡± ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I try to keep it off in town.¡± Tess said. ¡°For privacy¡¯s sake. It¡¯s only on when necessary and¡­well, I guess sometimes it¡¯s on for a little bit after I¡¯m done using it, when I forget to turn it off. I try and turn it off the moment I notice it¡¯s on, though.¡± ¡°Oh. That¡­is actually reassuring, thank you.¡± The conversation faded away, after that, and the floor traversal went smoothly. The traps had increased in variety from just pitfalls to pitfalls, trees that dropped large pockets of snow that contained monsters, and traps that would cave you in under large pockets of snow, forcing you to find a way out or slowly die. The snakes had gone away and were replaced with white fox monsters that focused on stealth and harrying attacks, meant to strike once and then disappear back into the snow only to come back later and continue whittling down anyone raiding the dungeon. That, of course, didn¡¯t work as well when there was no snow whatsoever in a wide area near their targets. Any foxes that showed up were quickly taken care of by Ellie and Maven, and their cores didn¡¯t hold that much of interest, either.
You have absorbed a Whiteout Fox Core! Slots filled: 19/28 You have gained 350 EXP in Monster Breeder! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ No new Skills detected! Whiteout Fox Core: Level 33 Estimated Power: 260 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 520 Stats: HP: 1300 MP: 500 Stamina: 1300 Power: 122 Defense: 73 Magic: 80 Magic Defense: 98 Agility: 183 Luck: 107 Current Skills: None Current Attributes: Fur (Fundamental) Keen Nose (Moderate) Kemonomimi (Fox) (Fundamental) Quadrupedal Adaptation (Fundamental) Sharp Claws Sharp fangs Snow Camouflage Snow Walker New Attributes Discovered! Snow Camouflage: Causes the creature to change colors to a white that allows it excellent camouflage in snowy areas. Snow Walker: Allows the creature to effortlessly walk on top of snow without making a sound, leaving footprints, or otherwise leaving any trace of its passing. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Snow Walker looked like it could be handy, but she didn¡¯t need any snow mobility right now thanks to Phoenix Fire, so she decided to just keep that one in the back of her mind as she continued through the dungeon. The next five or so floors were much the same, though each was ever so slightly more difficult than the last. The difficulty increase mostly came in the form of monsters and traps coming more often and the monsters becoming tougher, but that was something Tess¡¯s party was more than equipped to deal with. And then, Tess opened the dungeon door and stepped through to find that the ground in front of her rose sharply upwards. There was no snow or fog, and no snow on the ground, but there was only one narrow, treacherous-looking path upwards. ¡°Ah, the first climb floor.¡± Alice said. ¡°At least it¡¯s one of the ones with a path, not one where it¡¯s just a cliff. Don¡¯t get complacent, though, these ones have nastier traps and enemies to make up for the less physically demanding travel.¡± Tess nodded, then turned to Ellie and Maven. ¡°Should we untie ourselves from the rope?¡± She asked. ¡°I think it might get in our way, especially now that I can scout ahead more.¡± Ellie hesitated, then nodded. ¡°I think it might be best. If one of us falls, we won¡¯t bring the others with us that way.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Maven said. ¡°It is unnecessary in this situation. We all have methods to catch ourselves, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I can move the swords fast enough to do that.¡± Tess untied her rope, handing it to Ellie once she was done. Once Ellie and Maven had also finished, Tess began her climb up the trail. It was¡­odd, a lot easier than she had expected. Spiderclimb made the path feel much flatter than it was, with only large deviations in the path¡¯s slope feeling like actual hills. So, she scouted forward until she reached the first bend in the path, a small cave cut into the side of the mountain. She paused, then made her way back to Ellie and Maven. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Something come up?¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°No. The path is just going to take me out of sight of you two. Usually, at times like this, I leave Silky with the rest of the party and just have her tap someone when I want them to stop. So¡­who wants her?¡± Ellie frowned. ¡°Can¡¯t you just message me via the chat?¡± Tess blinked. ¡°Oh. Right, I¡­kinda forgot about that. I¡¯ll just¡­do that, then. Does that sound OK to you, Maven?¡± ¡°I have no objections.¡± Maven replied. ¡°Right. Then I¡¯ll just¡­keep going, then.¡± Tess said, and made her way back to the cave. Within it was a rather simple trap, a pressure plate that would open a chute underneath whoever stepped on it, which in turn would funnel them out of the cave and drop them on the unforgiving slope below. Alice was right, that was nasty. If someone fell through and didn¡¯t have a way of recovering from that fall, it was almost certain death. Luckily, the trap was simple to disarm, there weren¡¯t any magical components according to Reverse Engineer. All she had to do was remove the pressure plate, and the trap was as good as disarmed. She sent a quick message to Ellie warning her not to come into the cave until Tess had cleared away the trap, and got to work removing the pressure plate. It was a relatively simple task, all she needed to do was cut into the surrounding rock with her claws, then pop the pressure plate off like she would a lid. Still, it took a minute or so to do it carefully, and by the time she had finished, the rest of the group had arrived at the mouth of the cave. ¡°It¡¯s all good now.¡± Tess said, holding up the pressure plate. ¡°Be super careful, though, these traps will just dump you off of the mountain wholesale, it¡¯s kind of brutal.¡± ¡°Sounds like it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Have you seen any monsters yet?¡± ¡°No, have you?¡± ¡°There were a couple of birds circling above us.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡¯m willing to bet those are monsters.¡± ¡°Seems likely.¡± Tess said. ¡°How high above you were they?¡± ¡°Hard to tell, they were just dots in the sky.¡± Maven replied. ¡°That being said, I¡¯m not sure why they didn¡¯t attack immediately, they were clearly following us.¡± ¡°Well, you two keep an eye out, then. Let me know if they look like they¡¯re getting closer and I¡¯ll come back to help.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°You ready to keep going?¡± ¡°Yeah, let me just get rid of this.¡± Tess said, tossing the pressure plate to the side. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know if something comes up.¡± It didn¡¯t, not for a bit. There were a couple more traps, all of which seemed to attempt to push their victims off of the mountain in some way or another, but Tess didn¡¯t encounter a single monster. But the birds in the sky continued to grow in number. Tess would glance up every once in a while, only to find that they had gone from two to four, then to five, and so on. When the number of birds hit ten, Tess stopped and returned to the main group. ¡°We need to do something about the birds.¡± She said. ¡°I don¡¯t like how many of them there are.¡± ¡°I could try and attack them with the Blades of Death.¡± Ellie volunteered. ¡°My control isn¡¯t very fine at that range, but I might be able to take out one or two.¡± ¡°They go that far?¡± Tess asked. ¡°As far as I can tell, their range is effectively infinite.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°As long as I can see where I¡¯m putting them, I can move them there. Again, I don¡¯t have fine control at that range, but I do have control.¡± ¡°I can fly up.¡± Maven volunteered. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can take all of them out, but I might be able to lure them back here.¡± ¡°I will help too.¡± Isabella said, floating out of Tess. ¡°May I ride in you, Maven?¡± Maven blinked. ¡°Uh¡­yeah, I guess.¡± ¡°Thank you. I will provide covering fire for you.¡± Isabella replied, then floated into Maven. I wanna help too! Silky said. I can just fly, though! ¡°Silky says she¡¯s going to help too.¡± Tess relayed. ¡°Perhaps I should invest in some wings for myself.¡± She mused. ¡°I thought Spiderclimb would be mostly sufficient, but that¡¯s clearly not the case. Maybe I¡¯ll just pick them up from these birds, they might come in handy. Hopefully they¡¯ll have an Attribute that improves flying, too, so I don¡¯t have to learn everything on the fly.¡± Maven shook her head in wonder. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m ever going to get used to you saying things like that.¡± ¡°You will.¡± Alice said helpfully. ¡°Takes a little bit, but you learn to stop questioning it.¡± ¡°So, is our plan good?¡± Maven asked. ¡°What would you recommend?¡± Jin hesitated for a moment, then looked to Ava, who shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m going to refrain from commenting.¡± She said. ¡°We can talk about it after you¡¯ve cleared the floor.¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Alright, shall we do this, then? Just take off when you¡¯re ready, I¡¯ll send my swords after you. I¡¯m going to keep them invisible so the birds can¡¯t see them, but they¡¯ll be there, don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Maven said. She flapped her wings for a few moments, and then began rising into the sky, ascending rapidly towards the flock of birds above. Silky followed, and after half a minute or so of climbing, Maven made contact with the birds. She stayed a fair distance below them, and began to cast some spell. Tess couldn¡¯t really tell what Isabella and Silky were doing, but the birds swooped down towards Maven, and she responded by turning around and beginning to descend. She finished casting her magic and a sort of barrier appeared between her and the birds, halting several of their attacks. The others were hit with a sort of large fireball, and several died then and there, their corpses dissolving into nothingness and their cores falling down where they had died. At around that time, another one died for seemingly no reason, so Ellie had presumably gotten it with the swords. And then, after just ten to fifteen seconds, Maven was making a landing, the remaining few birds screeching and cawing as they tried to attack both Maven and Ellie. Tess spent a bit of her Mana, using Phoenix Fire as a weapon to nail one of the distracted birds in its side as it tried to get at Ellie through her armor.
You have scorched Bird of a Feather for 431 damage! (Effects hidden) You have killed Bird of a Feather! You gain 290 EXP! Artisan of Affliction has gained 145 EXP!
The damage was¡­lower than she was used to. As powerful as the Phoenix Fire was, it didn¡¯t have most of the multipliers her damage usually had. She didn¡¯t have the bonus from using claws, it didn¡¯t trigger any unarmed effects, and she hadn¡¯t hit it in a spot that would cause the damage to be critical, so she only had the bonus from Sneak Attack to work with. Still, it was usable enough, so she helped mop up the remaining birds before absorbing one of their cores.
You have absorbed a Bird of a Feather Core! Slots filled: 27/28 You have gained 295 EXP in Monster Breeder! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ No new Skills detected! Bird of a Feather Core: Level 31 Estimated Power: 200 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 400 Stats: HP: 700 MP: 700 Stamina: 700 Power: 151 Defense: 73 Magic: 80 Magic Defense: 40 Agility: 150 Luck: 92 Current Skills: None Current Attributes: Feathers (Fundamental) Good Flier Part of the Pack (Moderate) Sharp Beak (Minor) Sharp Talons (Minor) Wings (Fundamental) New Attribute Discovered! Good Flier: Increases the creature¡¯s flying capabilities, allowing it to perform various acrobatic maneuvers with ease.
Right, well, she didn¡¯t need Greater Levitation or Physical Nullification (Inferior), so she could just swap those out for Wings and Good Flier. ¡°Give me a moment to make the swap here.¡± Tess said. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t take more than a couple of minutes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll cover you.¡± Ellie said, moving up so she was next to Tess. ¡°Let me know when you¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± And, after waiting a couple of minutes for the Attributes that she had inside her to come out and be put in a core, she was able to swap in the new ones. As soon as she did, a pair of brown, feathery wings sprouted from her back, her hoodie melting into her as her armor split open holes to allow the wings out. Now that the hoodie wasn¡¯t ¡°actually¡± being worn, she should have been able to feel the cold, but Phoenix Fire was keeping the area near her nice and warm, so she wasn¡¯t really bothered. ¡°I forgot that the hoodie would melt into me like that.¡± Tess said, flexing her new wings experimentally. ¡°I¡¯m really glad for the fire.¡± ¡°Can I touch them?¡± Ellie asked, eyes gleaming. ¡°They look super soft and I want to see if they¡¯re actually that soft!¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°As long as you make it quick. I don¡¯t want to give the birds any more time to build up again.¡± Ellie nodded, then reached out, and her hands passed harmlessly through the fire coating the wings, allowing her to gently grab one of Tess¡¯s wings. She rubbed it for a moment, which was a rather odd sensation, then withdrew. ¡°Yup.¡± She said. ¡°Soft.¡± ¡°I¡­have never seen someone grow wings before.¡± Maven said. ¡°Curious. The wings look similar to the ones the birds had, but Silky¡¯s seemed to match her body. Do you know why that is?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Tess said. ¡°They¡¯re both the exact same Attribute. I¡¯m guessing that, if the monster has a specific type of wings that would look good on them, then they get those wings, otherwise it just¡­I dunno, gives the wings that I think they should get? Hard to say, I haven¡¯t played around with it much.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how magic that temporarily gives wings works.¡± Jin confirmed. ¡°The same probably holds true here.¡± Tess nodded, then put away the wings. ¡°I¡¯ll only take them out when I need them, I think.¡± She said. ¡°Otherwise, I feel like I¡¯ll bump them into things if I¡¯m not careful. But we¡¯ve been waiting for too long, I¡¯m going to get back to scouting.¡± The rest of the floor went about the same. They had to cull the birds once more, and Tess had indeed been able to fly well enough to go up and help herself, but other than that, nothing of interest really happened. ¡°So,¡± Ava began once they were in the lobby for the next floor, ¡°your plan worked, but it had a few flaws. First, you waited until there were too many birds. You should have done something about them sooner, you would have had a much easier time of it that way. Second, you couldn¡¯t be sure the birds wouldn¡¯t be able to outpace Maven and attack her until you saw them in action. That was risky, and Maven¡¯s barrier worked, but it was unnecessarily dangerous.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Maven said, a hint of disappointment in her tone. ¡°I will be more careful in the future.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t take it too harshly.¡± Ker said comfortingly. ¡°You can¡¯t be expected to do everything perfectly right away, especially now that you don¡¯t have someone constantly holding your hand. It worked, so as long as you learn from it, there¡¯s no harm done. Making mistakes is a part of learning, it¡¯s entirely normal.¡± Maven hesitated, then nodded. ¡°Sorry.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m not used to receiving criticism for things like this. I¡¯m trying my best, but it¡¯s still a new experience for me.¡± ¡°We get it.¡± Ker said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Yeah, and we were partially responsible too.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We thought the plan was good enough as well.¡± ¡°It was a team effort, and a team responsibility.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°So, let¡¯s just learn from it and keep moving on, together.¡± Maven gave them a smile. ¡°Thank you.¡± She said. ¡°It pleases me to hear that. I¡­suppose we should continue on our way, then?¡± Chapter 62: Challenges and Bosses The next twenty or so floors were nothing special. They just continued to gradually ramp up the difficulty from the previous floors ¨C more monsters began showing up, more than one type began showing up on one floor, and traps became more commonplace. The weather continued getting worse too, as much as that was even possible. The wind blew more, the fog was denser, and the snow was even worse. It became normal to have the snow they were trudging through be as deep as two feet, something that would be a great hinderance if Tess wasn¡¯t actively melting it. That was basically only when it actively snowing, though. In those situations, Tess preferred to keep Phoenix Fire off; there was just too much snow in the air, and the hissing of its evaporation was deafeningly loud. The high winds and low visibility would still hamper their progress significantly, so they weren¡¯t even able to speed up that much, either. They encountered one of the sheer, vertical climb sections that they had been warned about, but in a way, it was actually easier than the non-sheer ones. Tess and Maven naturally had no trouble getting up, and Ellie¡¯s ride on her swords was stable, so as long as no monsters attacked her, she was safe. That meant Tess and Maven had to deal with the monsters, but they were just the birds from earlier and required no great effort to exterminate. For their part, the instructors just¡­took the hoverer. Apparently, if they ramped up its power consumption, it was able to rise a fair distance in the air. They didn¡¯t have to worry about the monsters, either, since Tess and Maven were already taking care of them for Ellie, so they had a smooth ride. Furthermore, there were few traps on the floor, and it was much shorter than the other floors they had traversed so far. And, to add to that, the couple of traps that were there were attached to the wall, and, so as long as a certain distance was kept from the wall, there was no need to even look for the traps, since the triggers didn¡¯t extend that far away. It was a shame that they had hit that floor before floor fifteen, otherwise they might have been able to knock the Challenge out then and there. Tess wasn¡¯t timing their ascent, but it certainly felt fast enough to qualify them for the Challenge. Fortunately, they encountered another vertical climb at floor twenty-three, and they were set to attempt the Challenge. If they were fast enough, that was. Still, like Jin had said before they entered the dungeon, the instructors helped keep their students safe from monsters and traps so they could focus on speed. Said help came in the form of Ava lounging atop the hoverer and casually sniping any monsters with a spell the moment they showed up. The ease with which she cast the spells and their precision was awe-inspiring; she had the air of someone who was casually kicking pebbles across the road, not someone who was slaughtering whole groups of monsters. She even took care of traps in the same fashion, not that it was particularly necessary. And those acts of support alone allowed the three younger women to ascend at a reckless pace, paying little regard for normal, ¡°safe¡±, dungeon crawling procedure. The Challenge¡¯s climb was a fair bit shorter than the other climb floors, too, so it was with relatively little effort that they were able to make it to the top in time. ¡°I will be honest, I have not been in a Challenge room.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°My instructors called them a waste of time, seeing as how we were entirely focused on raising my level. Does it operate in the same way as normal Rewards Crystals?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Alice said. ¡°Just put a hand on it and you¡¯re done.¡± Tess didn¡¯t wait for them to finish their talk, choosing instead to place her hand on the Rewards Crystal and obtain the reward as quickly as possible.
You have gained the Skill Damage Diffusion! Damage Diffusion: Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: You may designate up to 5 targets within 30m to share in the damage you take. Each target will take up to 10% of the damage of an attack for you, reducing the damage taken by their defenses. Non-willing targets may be designated, but only have a 10% chance to receive the damage. Share the hate.
Tess looked to Ellie, who seemed to have had a similar idea. ¡°Get anything good?¡± She asked. Ellie shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s a dud.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s a Skill that lets me convert some of my own HP into direct damage. It sounds nice, but it only deals like¡­half of the HP I put into it. It¡¯s just the rare variety of the Skill, though, the rarer versions are better. I seem to recall seeing them and getting interested. Anyway¡­how about you?¡± ¡°Uh¡­kinda same, actually? Except it¡¯s not a dud.¡± Tess said. ¡°It sorta looks¡­super good?¡± Ellie raised an eyebrow. ¡°Do tell.¡± ¡°Basically, any five things within thirty meters each take ten percent of the damage I take, though it¡¯s reduced by their defenses too. It¡¯s supposed to only have a ten percent chance to work on things that aren¡¯t willing, but¡­.¡± She trailed off, and Ellie nodded. ¡°Yeah, I get it.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t have five enemies about, feel free to make me one of those targets. I¡¯m already doing that with Aegis, so a little more isn¡¯t any issue. Actually¡­¡± She turned to look at Ava. ¡°How do those two stack? Additive or multiplicative?¡± ¡°Multiplicative, sorry.¡± Ava replied. ¡°Tess isn¡¯t going to be completely immune to damage while you and at least four other things are around. Her reductions should apply first, starting with ones like this that redirect damage and then going onto ones that just reduce it, and then your ability from Aegis will kick in.¡± ¡°Shame, but I suppose that makes sense.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Maven, you get anything decent?¡± Maven blinked in surprise. ¡°Uh¡­I¡¯m¡­not totally sure, to be honest. It¡¯s a Skill that I spend some Stamina to turn on, and it drains my Stamina for as long as I keep it active, but makes my physical attacks do ten percent more damage.¡± ¡°I know the one.¡± Alice said. ¡°Have it myself, actually. It¡¯s pretty good if you¡¯re going to attack a bunch in a row, but otherwise not great. And since you¡¯re mostly a magic-user, it¡¯s probably not going to be super helpful to you.¡± ¡°I understand, thank you.¡± Maven said. ¡°Shall we move on, then?¡± And so, they did, climbing floor after floor until, eventually, they reached the last one. ¡°So¡­¡± Tess began, ¡°want to crack open that pamphlet one more time? I want to know what we¡¯re getting into before we just waltz in.¡± ¡°Already on it.¡± Ellie replied, reaching into her bag and pulling out the pamphlet. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­it¡¯s something called a Zephyr Eagle, and¡­well, it looks like it fights dirty. The arena is a nest on the pinnacle of the mountain, and it seems that the boss¡¯s main strategy is to try and push you off of the mountain with wind. It¡¯s got high Agility and pretty decent Magic, but that¡¯s about it. The trouble is pinning it down long enough to do any sort of meaningful damage.¡± ¡°I¡­can do it.¡± Isabella droned, peeking out from within Tess. ¡°I can keep its wings still¡­long enough.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be relying on you, then.¡± Tess said. ¡°I can get close to it, Isabella can cripple it, and then we go to town on it, rinse, repeat. Is there anything in the pamphlet that would suggest that wouldn¡¯t work?¡± Ellie looked down at the pamphlet for a while more before handing it to Maven. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything, but two sets of eyes are better than one.¡± Maven took the pamphlet gingerly. ¡°Are you sure?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯m not as experienced in these matters as you two.¡± Ellie waved a hand dismissively. ¡°Well, everyone¡¯s gotta start somewhere. You¡¯re a member of this party, so you deserve to have some input.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°I agree. Besides, there¡¯s a real chance you bring up something that both Ellie and I missed, you¡¯ve got a bit of a different perspective on this than us.¡± ¡°Very well then.¡± Maven replied, looking the pamphlet over. She was silent for a long moment as she read, carefully scrutinizing the document before looking back up at Tess and Ellie. ¡°What do we do if Ellie gets blown away? Tess and I can catch ourselves, but Ellie isn¡¯t so fortunate.¡± ¡°I was planning on using my swords as an anchor. I doubt the wind will be strong enough to blow me back if I¡¯m having the swords push against it.¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°And if that doesn¡¯t work?¡± ¡°Then we do the thing we were discussing before coming here where Tess catches me. It really shouldn¡¯t come to that, though. If the swords can¡¯t catch me that way, I can thrust them into the ground and hold on using my own power too. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m a lightweight, anyway, with my armor on I¡¯m heavy.¡± Maven paused, then nodded. ¡°Alright. And Tess, how are you going to get close? You don¡¯t have any experience in flying in high winds, so I¡¯m a little skeptical.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just relying on the Attribute.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Silky¡¯s got a similar one and it¡¯s never steered her wrong. If that doesn¡¯t work, then we can have Isabella just fly to the boss on her own. She¡¯s not concerned about the wind and she can take a hit or two.¡± ¡°I understand. And what if something else happens and we can¡¯t do this specifically? What¡¯s plan B?¡± Ellie shrugged. ¡°I figure if things start going too far off the rails, then I could start going all-out and try to kill it on my own. I should have overall better stats, so with my swords I¡¯m definitely better.¡± ¡°And¡­well, if it looks like we¡¯re going to die, I can always¡­you know¡­¡± She trailed off, looking at the other two meaningfully. ¡°It¡¯s basically a guaranteed victory, but I¡¯m really trying not to rely on it, so I don¡¯t develop bad habits.¡± Maven blinked. ¡°Right. I¡­forgot that was an option. I have nothing else to say, then.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do this thing.¡± Ellie said, walking over to the door. The others followed, and soon they were stepping through into the boss arena. As advertised, they were on top of the mountain, in some sort of huge nest. Beyond the nest, the mountain sloped sharply down, though how far the drop was, Tess couldn¡¯t say ¨C just a few feet down there was a solid wall of clouds stretching out as far as the eye could see, blocking the ground below from view. There was a screech as the brown bird in the center of the nest spread its wings and took off. It was huge, easily twice the size of Tess, and it looked angry. Aside from the size, the only thing that set it apart from a regular bird was the pulsating streaks of glowing green that ran through its body, their glow intensifying as the wind suddenly picked up. Tess didn¡¯t waste any more time, spreading her own wings and taking off in pursuit of the bird. It was¡­well, hard. Good Flier helped keep her from immediately spinning out of control, but it became immediately apparent that she wasn¡¯t going to be able to catch the bird if she just followed after it. Fortunately, the bird had begun to circle the nest, and it was taking no notice of Tess, its eyes instead focused on Ellie and Maven. So, Tess cut across to the other end of the nest, aiming to meet it the next time it circled around. And then she was blown completely off course by a particularly strong gust of wind that came from the opposite direction the wind had been blowing just a moment prior. She spiraled for a moment, and then her body stopped, Isabella¡¯s magic keeping her from plummeting any further. Thanks, Isabella. Tess said. That could have been bad. Thanks given, she resumed her journey to the other end of the circle, keeping a careful eye on Ellie and Maven as she did. They seemed to be doing fine; neither of them had been thrown off of the cliff, and they were performing counterattacks of their own. Maven was casting some sort of spell, while Ellie had one of her blades peel away from the others and chase the boss. Tess tore her attention away from them as she reached her destination, waiting for the boss to come close. And, within about ten seconds, it had. Alright Isabella, do your thing. Tess instructed, turning off Phoenix Fire so the bird didn¡¯t pre-emptively take notice of her. The eagle stopped suddenly, plummeting as its wings stopped working. Tess chased after it, touching down next to it as it fell onto the straw-like material of the nest. She unsheathed her claws, activated her Skills, then thrust down at the eagle¡¯s neck. As she did, all four of Ellie¡¯s swords struck the beast, and a spell of Maven¡¯s scorched its side, leaving Tess as the last one to hit. She pierced the eagle, withdrawing her claws and waiting for You Are Already Dead to kick in. After a moment, it did, and there was a spray of gore that immediately evaporated into rainbow mist as the eagle¡¯s body disintegrated.
You have slit Zephyr Eagle¡¯s throat for a critical 2,530 damage! You have killed Zephyr Eagle! 1,000 experience gained! Artisan of Affliction has gained 400 experience! Artisan of Affliction has leveled up!
¡°How much damage did you two deal?¡± Maven asked, shocked. ¡°That was¡­like¡­.as fast as my tutors would be able to do it.¡± ¡°About two thousand.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Turns out the Blades of Death are good at killing things. Who woulda guessed?¡± ¡°About two and a half thousand here.¡± Tess said. ¡°Caught me off-guard too. I was¡­expecting a bit more resistance than that, so I went all in with Skills.¡± Maven shook her head in disbelief. ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. Don¡¯t you have like¡­eighty Strength?¡±
Fortune: Haha, multipliers go brrrrr Death: ¡­What was the final multiplier on that? Fortune: Like somewhere around 160 or 170 times damage?
¡°Yeah, but I have a lot of multipliers.¡± Tess said. ¡°If you take all those away, and I just did like¡­a normal attack, it only would have been like one hundred and fifty damage. Well¡­including multipliers I get from using the claws, so if we take those away too, that¡¯s like¡­ten to thirtyish damage?¡±
Fortune: Just under fifteen before accounting for the critical hit. And the multiplier is almost exactly 170, so¡­yeah. Brrrrr.
¡°Fourteen.¡± Tess corrected. ¡°Give me a second, I¡¯ll tell you how much defense it had, for reference.¡± She grabbed the core the boss had dropped and absorbed it, glancing over its stats.
You have absorbed a Zephyr Eagle Core! Slots filled: 28/28 You have gained 500 EXP in Monster Breeder! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ New Skills detected! Attempting to degrade and obtain Wind Magic (High)¡­ User already has Wind Magic (Moderate). No Skill obtained. Displaying core information: Zephyr Eagle Core: Level 37 Estimated Power: 1,200 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 2,400 Stats: HP: 5,000 MP: 6,000 Stamina: 5,000 Power: 200 Defense: 300 Magic: 400 Magic Defense: 300 Agility: 500 Luck: 250 Current Skills: Wind Magic (High) Current Attributes: Exceptional Flier Feathers (Fundamental) Sharp Beak (Major) Sharp Talons (Major) Wind Affinity Wind Surfer Wings (Fundamental) New Attributes Discovered! Wind Affinity: Strengthens the effect of Wind Magic cast by the creature by 50%. Wind Surfer: Guides the creature¡¯s flying, allowing it to obtain the most benefit or least detriment possible from the wind.
¡°Three hundred Defense on the dot.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°Now¡­let¡¯s go get our reward, we can talk about this more in there.¡± She motioned to the door that had appeared next to where the eagle had died. She stepped through the door without waiting for a reply and began sorting through the new Attributes. She¡¯d take Exceptional Flier for herself, since Silky already had it, and would give Silky Wind Surfer when she next upgraded her attendants. Silky would probably benefit far more from Wind Surfer than Tess would, seeing as how Silky was a lot smaller than Tess, and therefore more likely to be blown about by wind. And Isabella would get Wind Magic and Wind Affinity. Though¡­she was already pushing their ¡°estimated maximum power¡±, so she might have to figure something else out. Worst case scenario, she transplanted their memories into other cores, but that was¡­less than ideal. She liked their current forms a lot, there were a lot of advantages to them that weren¡¯t so easily shown on a status page.
Fortune: Just keep leveling up Monster Breeder, I¡¯m¡­pretty sure there¡¯s something that lets you like¡­transplant the level and stats of cores onto other cores. Tess: Oh, good. I¡¯m glad I won¡¯t have to move their memories like that, then. It feels like it just¡­wouldn¡¯t be the same. Fortune: Yeah, I get what you mean. Tess: Actually, I¡¯ve got another question I¡¯ve been meaning to ask. Is there any way to like¡­give them proper souls? I¡­well, they¡¯ve got some sort of intelligence now instead of¡­whatever they had before, so I wanted to see if I could go the extra mile in making them¡­people. Fortune: Off of the top of my head, I don¡¯t know. But it¡¯s¡­probably not really possible. If we did, then I¡¯m guessing the system might freak out and not know how to handle them, since they¡¯re not just both monsters and people, but also completely tied to your soul. Still, since they are so tied to your soul, they¡¯re much more ¡°people-y¡± than normal monsters, and should be able to get as smart as regular people. I¡¯ll talk to Amy about it, though, and we¡¯ll see where it goes. Tess: Thanks a bunch! Fortune: Don¡¯t even mention it
¡°Tess, are you gonna get your reward?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been spacing out for a bit there.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Tess said. ¡°Was just managing the Attributes and stuff.¡± She walked forward to the Rewards Crystal and laid a hand on it, taking a moment to read over her reward.
You have gained the Skill Quickswap! Quickswap: Rarity: Mythical Type: Active Description: You may spend 200 Mana to swap positions with a creature within 30m. If the creature is unwilling, there is a chance to fail based on the difference between your Magic and their Magic Defense. If the creature is willing, the swap happens without fail. The ole switcheroo
¡°Well?¡± Ellie asked curiously. ¡°It¡¯s a Skill that basically lets me swap places with any creature within thirty meters.¡± Tess said. ¡°So, I can already think of a few uses for it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s definitely a good one.¡± Ava agreed. ¡°It¡¯s gonna take a lot of your Mana, though, so be careful how you use it.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t need to tell me twice. How¡¯d you two fare?¡± ¡°I got a buff to fire magic.¡± Maven said. ¡°Just increases its damage a bit.¡± ¡°And I got an active Skill that lets me reflect some damage using a shield. Pretty handy, it seems.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°So¡­ready to go again?¡± Chapter 63: A Day Off Tess woke up feeling¡­groggier than usual. She had stayed up late last night, since today was their day off, and she had¨C Her recollection was interrupted by a slight shifting in the bed next to her. Ellie was there, snoring peacefully as she unconsciously adjusted to Tess sitting up. Right. Tess and Ellie had had some¡­fun the previous night, and ended up both falling asleep in Tess¡¯s bed afterwards. Tess gingerly extracted herself from her bed, taking care not to wake Ellie in the process. As she got dressed, she began to think about what would come next. And she¡­honestly wasn¡¯t really sure what she was planning to do with her day. It had been a few weeks and their group was dangerously close to fully clearing the Jagged Cliffs, but Ava and The Rumors wouldn¡¯t allow them to go on their day off, even for this. In general, Tess had been wanting to go into dungeons as much as possible, but her tutors had said it was important to have days where she rested her body and mind, that going all in on the grind would wear her down way too much. So, she had reluctantly bowed to their wisdom and taken Fridays off. Still, she wished she had something to do, so she wasn¡¯t just at home all day doing nothing.
Fortune: Boy do we have an offer for you. How would you feel about making a little mischief? Tess: You¡¯re talking about causing supernatural phenomena, right? Fortune: Bingo. Look, your friends have been wanting to play laser tag with you, right? Just go with them, then send Isabella a few buildings away to cause havoc. You¡¯ll have an alibi, we¡¯ll keep ramping up the incidents, and I get to watch live as people get scared out of their minds! It¡¯s a win-win-win! Tess: That last one really didn¡¯t sound like something a goddess should be saying, you know Fortune: Yeah, well¡­gods are kinda in a way vaguely reflections of the people, and the people say watching ghost videos is a good time. Have you seen how many views those get? I am doing my godly duty by watching this! Death: You¡¯re reaching hard. Fortune: Shut up I know you want to watch too. Death: Yeah but I¡¯m not pretending this somehow fits into my duties. Come to think of it¡­I even like¡­practically own the concept of ghosts on this plane so if anyone gets that excuse it¡¯s me. Death: ¡­ Death: So, as I was saying it¡¯s my godly duty and no one else¡¯s to watch this. Especially not Fortune¡¯s. Fortune: I¡¯m being your assistant, you need someone to have a second camera, so you have all angles of the shot. Death: Fine, I suppose Fortune¡¯s my assistant, so this is her job too.
Ellie groaned, sitting up. ¡°Where¡­¡± She paused, looking around before catching sight of Tess, blinking a couple of times. She looked down and noticed that she still wasn¡¯t wearing any clothes, then shrugged and got up, walking over to her pile of discarded clothing and beginning to dress herself.
Ellie: I¡¯m down for this if Tess is. Tess: I¡¯m down. I haven¡¯t played in a while and I¡¯m kind of interested to see if I¡¯m any better at it now. Fortune: Sick.
Tess got her phone out and began to text Jacob. You mentioned that the guys have been wanting to go for a round of laser tag? She asked. I know that was before¡­everything, but¡­I was hoping maybe we still might be able to get together. While she waited, she and Ellie went down to the kitchen for breakfast, and they were able to get halfway through before Jacob responded. Yeah, I can put something together. Jacob replied. Leave contacting everyone to me, what time works for you? Any time today, it¡¯s our day off Cool. I¡¯ll try and plan around seven in the evening, then, plan to meet at the laser tag place. If plans change, I¡¯ll text you Awesome, see you then See you then! Tess looked up from her phone. ¡°Jacob says he¡¯s going to deal with gathering everyone, and to meet him at the laser tag place at seven.¡± Ellie checked the time on her phone. ¡°That leaves us with¡­about eight hours. What do we do until then?¡± ¡°Uh¡­I guess we just hang out?¡± Tess replied. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can think of something.¡± Ellie smirked. ¡°Want to pick up where we left off last night, then?¡± Tess blushed deeply. ¡°Later.¡± She said. ¡°For now, let¡¯s sorta¡­kick back for an hour or two, I guess?¡± ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Ellie replied, spearing some of her eggs with a fork and taking a bite. ¡°Just let me know if you want to, I¡¯m ready any time. Uh, no pressure, though, if you don¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°No, I do.¡± Tess said quickly. ¡°I just want a bit more time to wake up first.¡± ¡°Well, take all the time you need. We¡¯ve got a long future ahead of us, after all.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess replied, giving Ellie a smile. ¡°We do.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t help but feel a little nervous.¡± Tess said. ¡°I know they¡¯re our friends and all, but they were so¡­distant during school, and I don¡¯t know how they¡¯re gonna be around me.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ellie soothed. ¡°Even if they are uncomfortable around you, I doubt they¡¯re going to confront you or anything like that, they¡¯d be too scared to. You shouldn¡¯t have to worry about anything, I think.¡± ¡°I know.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°It¡¯d still feel¡­kinda bad, though, you know?¡± ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°But give them some time, they¡¯ll realize you¡¯re still you. And if they don¡¯t¡­well, then they weren¡¯t worth being friends with anyway.¡± Tess nodded, unbuckling herself and reaching for the door, then stopping. ¡°Right, gotta send Isabella out.¡± Isabella drifted out of Tess and gave a slight curtsey. ¡°Where should I perform my work, mistress?¡± ¡°Not sure.¡± Tess said. ¡°Fly around, find somewhere with people you think will be spooked. I trust your judgement on this.¡± ¡°Understood. I will not let you down.¡± Isabella gave another curtsey before leaving the car and flying down the street in search of her victims. ¡°I kinda feel bad for the poor people who are gonna be on the receiving end of her pranks.¡± Ellie admitted. ¡°But¡­well, they¡¯re not actually going to be in any danger, so I guess there¡¯s no real harm in it? And it¡¯ll get people talking about things other than you, so¡­you know what, best not to worry about it. Let¡¯s just go.¡± Ellie opened the door and stepped out of the car, and Tess followed suit. They were parked towards the back of the parking lot, so it took them a bit to make it to the entrance of the place. And, there, in front of the door, were five guys talking amongst themselves. Jacob noticed Tess and Ellie approaching, and waved his hand. ¡°Hey guys, over here!¡± He called out, giving them a big smile. ¡°Uh¡­hey guys, it¡¯s been a while.¡± Tess said, glancing at her friends. ¡°How¡¯ve you been doing?¡± ¡°Oh, uh¡­hey, Tess.¡± One of them, a boy named Eric, said, face cramping slightly. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were coming.¡± ¡°I said I was getting the whole gang back together.¡± Jacob said innocently. ¡°Why would you assume she wouldn¡¯t be here?¡± ¡°Well¡­you know, after everything I just sorta thought she wouldn¡¯t be around.¡± Eric replied lamely. ¡°But this is fine too.¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Are we missing anyone?¡± ¡°Nolan and his girlfriend are going to be here too.¡± Jacob said. ¡°When¡¯d Nolan get a girlfriend?!¡± Ellie asked, taken aback. ¡°He was single when we graduated, right?¡± ¡°A couple of weeks ago, it seems.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°I didn¡¯t find out until today either.¡± There was some stilted chat for a couple of minutes until, at last, Nolan and his girlfriend showed up. To Tess¡¯s shock, his girlfriend was the hardcore Life devotee who had come to ¡°warn¡± Tess about her mistakes and set Marie on her at the graduation. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. She looked about as surprised to see Tess as Tess was to see her, and her face immediately filled with anxiety. For his part, Nolan looked like he wasn¡¯t expecting this either, and was looking between Tess and his girlfriend with a worried expression. ¡°Hey, you.¡± Ellie spat. ¡°Fancy seeing you here. Come to attack us again?¡± The girl shrunk back, and Nolan reached out, grabbing her hand gently. ¡°You can do this.¡± He encouraged. The girl nodded, then stepped forward. ¡°No. I¡­actually came here because I wanted to see if Jacob could put me in contact with you. I¡­wish to apologize.¡± Tess blinked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I had a talk with Marie after everything that happened, and she gave me a lot of things to think about. And¡­well, I did a lot of thinking and studying of the scriptures, and I even talked with Marie and Pastor Faust at length. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that my father is wrong, his teachings misguided. I don¡¯t know what you are, but¡­Marie and Pastor Faust trust you, and that will have to be enough.¡± The girl bowed her head slightly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the hurtful things I said, they were completely uncalled for. Even if the correct teaching was that homosexuality is wrong, which now I realize it is not, I should have let things be. It is not my place to judge you for it. That is for Death, and Death alone to do.¡±
Death: Well, not really, there¡¯s very little judgement going on unless the person in question happens to be important, and we¡¯re trying to figure out if they should go to the afterlife in case we need them, or if they should just get reincarnated like everyone else Death: But she¡¯s got the spirit of the thing and she¡¯s reforming so¡­good for her, I guess?
There was a long silence, which Tess eventually broke. ¡°Um¡­thanks, I think? I¡¯ll be honest, it kinda hurt, what you did, but it¡¯s not really a huge deal to me, I¡¯ve dealt with worse. And¡­well, if I was in your situation, at the graduation, I probably would have done the same? Like, I wish you hadn¡¯t, but I kinda get it. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t think I¡¯m ready to be friends or anything, but as long as you keep heading in the right direction and trying to reform yourself, I¡¯m not going to hold it against you. Now, whether Ellie forgives you is an entirely separate matter, but¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to defer to Tess on this one.¡± Ellie said. ¡°She was the one most affected, so if she forgives you, I will too. If I find out you backslide on this, though, then I¡¯ll take issue. Don¡¯t make your mistakes again.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± The girl said. ¡°I¡¯m¡­going to leave now. I don¡¯t want to intrude more than I already have, sorry.¡± ¡°Before you go, I¡­don¡¯t believe I ever caught your name. What is it?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Sarah.¡± The girl replied. ¡°Sorry for not introducing myself earlier.¡± And with that, she whispered something to Nolan, soft enough that Tess couldn¡¯t hear, then left. After she left, Nolan turned to the group. ¡°Sorry for bringing the mood down like that.¡± He said sheepishly. ¡°It was just important to her and she wouldn¡¯t take no for an answer. We all still good to go?¡± ¡°Y-yeah.¡± Jacob said. ¡°No, no we¡¯re not.¡± Another guy, Max, said. ¡°What was all that about?¡± ¡°Ah, she came and got in our face about being in a relationship.¡± Tess said. ¡°A bit rude, but it¡¯s whatever.¡± ¡°She set a Hunter on Tess, too.¡± Ellie added. ¡°Or, well, her family did, but she was the messenger or something? Whatever, point is, she¡¯s been super rude to us.¡± Max blinked. ¡°A¡­Hunter. She called a Hunter. You don¡¯t just get to¡­gloss over that.¡± Tess sighed. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s any big secret that I¡¯m not¡­fully human anymore. They freaked out after I made a show of my new abilities and somehow managed to convince an actual Hunter to come over. The Hunter and I talked it out, and we¡¯re cool now, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Max raised an eyebrow. ¡°If you say so. Just as long as we¡¯re not going to be interrupted by a Hunter barging in on us.¡± ¡°Not gonna happen.¡± Tess replied confidently. ¡°She knows better now, and she¡¯s keeping the other Hunters away from this place, so it¡¯s no big deal. We¡¯ll be fine.¡± Most of her friends shared a skeptical look, but Jacob just nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s just get started. It¡¯s really not a big deal, she¡¯s the same as she¡¯s ever been. You guys will see, I promise.¡± Reluctantly, the group made its way inside, and Jacob dropped back so he was next to Tess. ¡°Uh¡­I probably shouldn¡¯t need to say this, but¡­you¡¯re not gonna¡­you know¡­¡± ¡°Cheat?¡± Tess said. ¡°No. I¡¯ve already turned all that stuff off. Honestly, except for when I go to sleep, I haven¡¯t turned off my night vision in¡­months. I almost feel blind, to tell you the truth.¡± ¡°Oh, uh¡­good.¡± ¡°Honestly, I think I might in our last round, though.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°I just want to see how much of a difference it makes in an environment like this, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll have another opportunity for a long time.¡± ¡°Just¡­let everyone else know first, okay? I don¡¯t want them to get all upset.¡± Jacob said warily. ¡°I will. Don¡¯t worry about that.¡± They reached the counter, where her other friends were already getting out cash to split the bill. Fortunately, Tess and Ellie did have some money; Gramps gave them an allowance for situations like this. Now that she was thinking about it, she wasn¡¯t sure where Gramps got his money either. As far as she could tell, he didn¡¯t do any work on Mael, so she couldn¡¯t see where it was coming from. They weren¡¯t just¡­poofing it into existence, right? That was sure to cause an economic disturbance if they made too much.
Ellie: Hey do any of you know where Grandpa gets his money? I just realized I¡¯ve never seen him actually do work here on Mael. Life: We have the church pay him a stipend. He mostly handles rubbing elbows with important people and subtly prepping them for what¡¯s to come. It¡¯s not stuff you would see, as he uses a series of doors he installed in his office in the guild to travel. Ellie: Oh, that makes sense, thanks. Death: Speaking of doors, we got something figured out for Jacob and anyone else we want to introduce to the Outlands. We¡¯ve set up a spot outside of town, and you¡¯ll just need to take him there and show him how to operate the door, it¡¯s just like the one in your house. Think you might be up to that after this? Tess: Sounds good to me. Ellie: Ditto. Death: Awesome. I¡¯ll give you directions when the time comes.
The group finished paying for an hour of eight people playing, and were led to one of the smaller arenas. Seeing as how all of them had been there before, they were let in to do things as they pleased. They split themselves into two teams of four, and got started. They played a series of games, and Tess found that it was¡­easier than she had expected. It took her a couple of games to get used to having to navigate in a dim area, something she hadn¡¯t had to do since she got her night vision, but once she did, it was all uphill. Aside from when she and Ellie were on opposite teams, things were just¡­easy. Their friends made a lot of noise, even when they tried to be sneaky, and Tess was pretty reliably able to figure out where anyone within a ten or twenty foot radius was just by the sound. Looking for monsters and traps in dungeons had made her much more aware of her surroundings, and it was really showing here. Ellie was better, but she didn¡¯t have the raw stealthiness that Ava had been drilling into Tess. That was sort of to be expected, though; Tess was serving as a scout, and Ellie was serving as a tank. It was unreasonable to expect her to be just as sneaky as Tess was. Ava had said that she would eventually get around to teaching Ellie some of that stuff, but, until then, Tess had quite the advantage over Ellie in that regard. And soon they found themselves gearing up for the last match of the hour. ¡°Uh¡­hey, I have a bit of a weird request.¡± Tess said. ¡°Would it be cool if, for this round, it was me and Ellie against everyone else?¡± Max gave her a curious look. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well¡­I¡¯ve kind of been holding back.¡± Tess said awkwardly. ¡°That was holding back?¡± Nolan replied incredulously. ¡°Could have fooled me.¡± ¡°I may or may not usually have supernaturally good senses and chose to use normal ones while we were playing. I want to try and see how I do with them on.¡± There was a brief pause before Nolan spoke up. ¡°Again, they were off? I swear you could always find me ages before I could find you.¡± Tess rubbed the back of her neck. ¡°No, that¡¯s just regular person stuff. I got some training since we last played together and it kind of translates super well to this, so¡­you know.¡± ¡°Unbelievable.¡± Max said, shaking his head in disbelief. ¡°I thought we agreed that we were to always go all in, no matter what the situation, and here you¡¯ve been holding back on us? Unacceptable. We¡¯re gonna do four on four like we always do, and you¡¯re not gonna hold back.¡± Tess felt a wave of relief wash over her. It seemed like at least a couple of the guys were warming back up to her after they realized that she was still¡­her. ¡°I don¡¯t think you guys get it.¡± Jacob said. ¡°It¡¯s like¡­cheating levels of good. It¡¯s really not fair.¡± ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Max said, holding up his hands in surrender. ¡°We¡¯ll do a two on six. Just don¡¯t come crying to us when we overwhelm you with sheer numbers.¡± ¡°Please.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I was gonna tell you not to whine at us when you get destroyed. There¡¯s no way you win this.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s on!¡± The match was one-sided. Thanks to her tremorsense, Tess had a near perfect idea of where everyone was at all times, and was able to use that to thwart their attempts at attacking her. She even tried to aim without sight a couple of times, using tremorsense as an alternative, and while she wasn¡¯t as successful with it as she would have liked, she was surprised to find she hit more often than not. She would have to train herself with that later, until she reached the point where it was just as easy as using her eyes. She could tell that it only required fixing her mindset and trusting what the tremorsense gave her, so it would almost be more like trying to break a habit than actually learning a new skill. After a few minutes, the match ended, and everyone began to put their gear away. Save for Jacob, the guys were all in disbelief over just how much of a difference her not holding back had made. ¡°How¡­did you do that?¡± Nolan asked. ¡°I was behind you, hadn¡¯t moved for like¡­a minute, and the moment I peeked out from my pillar you nailed me without even looking! How did you know?!¡± ¡°Uh¡­how do I put this¡­I basically have a minimap but better? I could tell exactly where everyone was the entire time.¡± ¡°That explains a thing or two.¡± Max admitted. ¡°I might have underestimated you.¡± ¡°In your defense, it¡¯s literally supernatural.¡± Tess replied. ¡°You couldn¡¯t really have known to expect that.¡± There was a silence at that. ¡°Right.¡± Max said slowly. ¡°I¡­forgot. If¡­if you don¡¯t mind my asking, how long have you been able to do¡­everything?¡± ¡°Since I was out of school a few months ago.¡± Tess said. ¡°That¡¯s about when everything happened.¡± ¡°I thought something about you seemed a little¡­different after you got back.¡± Nolan said. ¡°Guess I must have been picking up on that?¡± ¡°¡­Yeah.¡± Tess said. The conversation petered out, and the group finished putting all their gear back and left the building. ¡°Well, it was good to hang out with you all again.¡± Jacob said. ¡°How would you guys feel about doing something like this more frequently?¡± The group was silent for a bit before one of the others, Ethan, spoke up. ¡°I¡­guess it¡¯s fine.¡± He said. ¡°As long as we don¡¯t get caught up in supernatural nonsense or anything.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t.¡± Tess said. ¡°If people come looking for me or something, I¡¯ll just leave and deal with them on my own. You shouldn¡¯t need to worry about a thing.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Jacob said. ¡°I¡¯ll text you all some time next week, then, we¡¯ll get together. But¡­for now, I guess I¡¯ll catch you all later?¡± The group began saying their goodbyes, and Tess slipped up to Jacob¡¯s side. ¡°Hey.¡± She whispered. ¡°I need you to follow us once everyone¡¯s gone.¡± ¡°What¡¯s this about?¡± Jacob whispered back. ¡°You know¡­that place. We figured out a way for you to get there if you want. Just follow our car as we leave, we¡¯ll bring you there.¡± Understanding dawned on Jacob¡¯s face. ¡°Got it.¡± Tess nodded, heading back to Ellie. ¡°I let him know.¡± She said. ¡°He¡¯s gonna follow us there.¡± ¡°Cool. Did you get Isabella back yet?¡± ¡°Doing it now.¡± Tess replied, before sending a mental message to Isabella instructing her to return to the car. After a few minutes, Tess and Ellie made their way back to the car, where Isabella was waiting. Isabella went back inside Tess, and Ellie gave a nod. ¡°Shall we be off, then?¡± Chapter 64: Pretenses As Ellie drove, Tess relayed directions from Death to her. They were being taken out of the town proper, into areas that were more farmland than anything else. Eventually, they were told to turn off the road and onto a dirt path, which led to a dilapidated sort of¡­warehouse. The property had seen better days; there were scattered odds and ends everywhere, the warehouse clearly hadn¡¯t seen any maintenance in decades, and there were rather obvious signs that wild animals were living in or around the building.
Death: It¡¯s an abandoned piece of church property that was used back in the good old days when they were moving into the building they¡¯re in now. It¡¯s just sat here unused, so I decided not to let it go to waste Ellie: Yeah and this place doesn¡¯t look sketchy at all Death: Would you rather we put it in the middle of town where someone can see it? Fortune: Hey look at it this way: you¡¯ll now always have an out of the way place you can bring people to so you can¡­have a ¡°friendly chat¡± with them Tess: Why would we need that we¡¯re not part of the mob or¡­even beholden to the justice system? If we really want information out of someone we can just have you take it straight from their brains, we don¡¯t need to do any of that stuff Fortune: Yeah but what if you do need to? You¡¯ll be glad you have this Tess: Isn¡¯t that kind of also literally what the Appointed hideout is for? Fortune: But¡­that place is nice. Where¡¯s your sense of atmosphere?! Besides, what if you need to interrogate someone from Mael and can¡¯t take them there? Tess: Name a single situation where it would be efficient to bring them here instead of keeping them somewhere more convenient Fortune: ¡­It¡¯s not about practicality, it¡¯s about sending a message Ellie: What message are you trying to send? Fortune: Be afraid I can dump you in this spooky place and no one will ever find your body Ellie: This is one of the first places I would check for a body if I was in the police Death: We could also just have them show off some magic and that would probably have a bigger effect than whatever message you¡¯re trying to send Fortune: Look sometimes you just need a spooky abandoned hideout Death: Like Tess said, name one situation where that would be helpful Fortune: I¡¯m the older god and that means I don¡¯t have to explain things, go figure out the deep meaning behind my words and come back when you have, it¡¯ll be helpful for your growth, I promise
There was a rap on Ellie¡¯s window, causing her to jump in surprise. She turned her head to find Jacob outside, wearing an amused expression. Ellie turned off the car and stepped out, a slightly chagrined expression on her face. ¡°So¡­is this really the place?¡± Jacob asked curiously. ¡°It seems¡­way too run down to be a gateway between worlds.¡± ¡°That is, apparently, the point.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s some sort of old storage area the church isn¡¯t using. They picked this place so no one would see you traveling between worlds.¡± ¡°I¡­guess that makes sense.¡± Jacob admitted. ¡°Won¡¯t people think it¡¯s weird if they see cars parked here, though?¡±
Fortune: We can put up decorations to fool people into thinking it¡¯s the base of some sort of infernal cult, no one will ever suspect a thing. Life: Save your jokes for when they¡¯re not in the middle of a conversation. Fortune: I wasn¡¯t joking, though? It¡¯ll add on to the whole ¡°supernatural mystique¡± you guys are going for. Life: I suppose that is¡­acceptable, then.
¡°The gods say they¡¯re going to have decorations put up so they can fool people into thinking a cult¡¯s taken up residence here.¡± Ellie translated. ¡°They say it¡¯ll add some spice to the supernatural events we¡¯re going to be fabricating.¡± ¡°Oh, you guys are¡­gonna be doing more of that stuff?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°The goal is to make this place into the epicenter of paranormal activity. We¡¯ve already started, actually.¡± ¡°When?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°I don¡¯t remember hearing about anything weird aside from the stuff I¡¯ve seen you do.¡± ¡°While we were playing laser tag, I had Isabella go haunt some of the buildings in town. That¡¯ll get things started, at least. I think the plan is to ramp things up slowly until we get to a point where it can¡¯t be ignored anymore.¡± ¡°So¡­hanging out was just a pretense?¡± Jacob said, visibly disappointed.
Fortune: He¡¯s actually right and just has it backwards, we were trying to get you to go have a life and you fell for it lol Death: Haha get pranked nerds Life: That is not the correct way to broach this subject. We will talk more on this matter after we have settled our business here, but suffice it to say our main purpose was to get you two out and about. We fear it is bad for your development to be as work-focused as you have been these past weeks. Death: Alright you can¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t pick up on the joke this time. Life: I cannot say that I did. Death: It¡¯s the way people in those prank videos talk, you must have seen one, even if it was just from being in the same room as me when I was watching one. Life: I try not to pay attention to such things. They are vapid and a waste of time. Death: I mean¡­like¡­that¡¯s true but shouldn¡¯t we at least check them out? They¡¯re super popular, and I feel it¡¯s kinda irresponsible of us to not keep up to date with what people are doing. How can we effectively serve the people if we don¡¯t even know them? Life: ¡­We will discuss this after the business with Jacob is concluded. Fortune: Speaking of, Tess, you can tell Jacob that we tricked you into this. Actually, tell him I want his help, I want him to drag you two out to places more often
Ellie tore her attention away from the gods¡¯ conversation and focused back in on Tess and Jacob. ¡°What?¡± Jacob asked, confused. ¡°I¡¯m confused. How is it being a pretense both right and wrong?¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Tess rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. ¡°It¡¯s right in that the reason I messaged you was a pretense. It¡¯s wrong in the fact that¡­well, the pretense was apparently the actual motive the whole time? Fortune was the one who came up with the idea and she is now telling me that the whole thing was just a ploy to, quote, ¡°get me to go have a life¡±. Um¡­¡± Tess blushed, looking away in embarrassment. ¡°She also says she wants your help dragging us out to go do things more.¡± ¡°Hold up.¡± Jacob said, pinching the bridge of his nose. ¡°You can¡¯t just drop that on me. That was¡­basically a divine command, right?¡±
Fortune: I mean you could say that but it¡¯s really not? Tell him he¡¯s under no obligation just let him know that I¡¯m not gonna like¡­care about him ¡°taking time away from your duties¡± or anything, and that I would appreciate it but I¡¯m not gonna think worse of him if he can¡¯t or whatever.
¡°Uh¡­Fortune says not really.¡± Tess said. ¡°She just says she wants you to know that you don¡¯t have to worry about potentially like¡­taking time away from my duties, and that she¡¯s not gonna think worse of you if you don¡¯t. It¡¯s just¡­a request, nothing official.¡± Jacob hesitated, then nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡­can handle that. Still, I wish you would have asked me without needing to be tricked into it. That just¡­doesn¡¯t feel great, you know?¡± ¡°Yeah, I get where you¡¯re coming from.¡± Tess said. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve just been so focused on my work lately and¡­well, I¡¯m always tired when I get back, and it¡¯s hard to make time.¡± ¡°You say that like you wouldn¡¯t be working every day and spending longer in dungeons during those days if we didn¡¯t hold you back.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize it myself, not until I really started thinking about it earlier, but¡­we really don¡¯t hang out with anyone outside of freelancing anymore, and that¡¯s more like work than¡­well, hanging out. We¡¯ve just been at home doing stuff together. We have like¡­no social life right now.¡± Tess blinked. ¡°I¡­mean, I guess you¡¯re right. People always say that you tend to grow apart from your friends after high school, so I just sort of assumed it was normal?¡± ¡°I suppose, but our situation is different.¡± Ellie argued. ¡°It was sort of an artificial change, not the sort of gradual, over time thing you would normally expect. Besides, what harm is there in getting out a bit more? If we don¡¯t make time for something outside of work, then what are we even doing with our lives? What¡¯s the point? At the very least, we need some more hobbies.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. But¡­we can deal with that later, right now we need to show Jacob how to get to the Outlands.¡± Tess said. ¡°And¡­sorry.¡± She added, looking over to Jacob. ¡°I¡¯m going to try and be more proactive about hanging out from now on.¡± Jacob nodded. ¡°Good. So¡­where¡¯s this door? I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not curious.¡±
Death: Go inside, hook a left, and it¡¯ll be at the corner of the building, straight ahead of you.
¡°This way.¡± Ellie said, making her way to warehouse¡¯s door. She tried it, only to find that it was locked. ¡°Um¡­¡± ¡°I got this.¡± Tess said, striding up to the door. She reached into her pockets and, after a moment of rummaging, pulled out what could only be a set of lockpicks. She got to work on the door, and, after only a couple of moments, there was a click and Tess opened the door. ¡°When did you learn that?¡± Ellie asked curiously. ¡°Ava taught me when she was teaching me how to disarm traps.¡± Tess answered. ¡°You never know when you¡¯ll need to get into somewhere without just¡­smashing your way in.¡± ¡°Even so, that was fast.¡± Jacob said. ¡°You¡¯ve only been training for a couple of months, right? Are there a lot of locks in dungeons to practice on or have you just been working on it in your free time?¡± ¡°There are only occasionally locks. Sometimes chests will have them or whatever, but to be honest, most of that speed comes from the fact that I can see the inner workings of the lock with tremorsense. It really cuts down on the sort of¡­fiddling that comes with having to feel out the lock.¡± ¡°I see. Does that work for magical locks, or¡­actually, there are magical locks, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. Magical locks are harder to deal with, but I¡¯ve got tools for those too. I¡¯m not really great with them yet, though, so they take me a while.¡± Tess replied, stowing the lockpicks back in her pockets. ¡°And you just¡­carry those around.¡± Jacob said flatly. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Oh, I carry everything around.¡± Tess said. ¡°This is actually my armor.¡± She focused for a moment, and then her clothes shifted, becoming the suit that was her armor¡¯s default form. ¡°The pockets are magic bags.¡± She focused for another moment, and the armor shifted to become their school uniform. ¡°I actually have a lot of control over what I can make it look like. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve worn anything but pajamas and this for¡­months.¡± ¡°And it doesn¡¯t get dirty? You¡¯re adventuring all day, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Automatic cleaning function.¡± Tess said smugly, shifting her armor back to the appearance it had been in before. ¡°It¡¯s basically the only clothing I¡¯ll ever need.¡± ¡°How much does something like that cost?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°You¡¯ve got my attention.¡± ¡°Um¡­couldn¡¯t tell you.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°This was custom-made to help me as an Appointed. Even if it weren¡¯t for the combat effects, I really don¡¯t know how much this would cost. Uh¡­probably a lot, though, if you wanted one just like this. Probably less if you don¡¯t get it tailored and just rely on the size changing function, but still a lot.¡± ¡°I kinda figured as much.¡± Jacob said. ¡°Sorry, uh, kinda getting distracted. Where¡¯s the door?¡± Ellie opened the door and stepped into the warehouse. ¡°Should be directly to the left.¡± She said. ¡°Just follow the wall, and it¡¯ll be in the corner.¡± She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, lighting the area up with her camera. It was¡­well, it was an abandoned warehouse. Years of adventurous teens breaking in to ¡°explore¡± had taken their toll; shelves were knocked over, stuff was spread on the floor, and the whole place generally looked¡­bad. They picked their way over the debris until they reached the far wall, where Ellie stopped. ¡°Right here.¡± She said. ¡°Just put some Mana in and it¡¯ll open right up.¡± ¡°Right. Uh¡­how?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°Um¡­just put your hand on it and sort of¡­will it in. The door should recognize what you¡¯re trying to do, and it¡¯ll suck out the Mana for you.¡± Jacob nodded, laying a hand on the wall. A moment later, a door faded into existence. ¡°I¡­did it.¡± He said, a note of surprise present in his tone. ¡°It¡­really was that easy.¡± ¡°Yup, nothing to it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Wanna go through just to make sure it works?¡± ¡°Where¡¯s it gonna put us?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°We were trying to keep my being¡­well, from Mael on the down-low, right? Won¡¯t this kind of be a giveaway if someone sees?¡±
Death: We ended up basically reserving a room in the guild for this. No one should be in there for like¡­a long time, so it¡¯s all good
¡°They¡¯ve reserved a private room.¡± Tess said. ¡°No one except guild staff is in the back of the guild on any sort of regular basis, so no one should notice except them, and they can keep their mouths shut.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s peek in, then.¡± They took a minute to walk through the door and ensure that everything was working before heading back through. They said their goodbyes and headed back home, where they were almost immediately contacted by the gods.
Life: I believe we were going to talk about your social life. As we have said before, it is our opinion that you are withdrawing too much into your work and not balancing your life properly. While this is doable in the short term, it has been shown time and time again that, over the course of years, this has a negative impact. Having no other ways to spend your time will end up with you burning out, and that is not something we can afford. Fortune: Or, to put it less stiffly, we¡¯re getting worried about your mental health. We¡¯re worried that if you keep this up, you¡¯re going to end up hating life, and that¡¯s about the furthest thing from what we want. So¡­well, we tried to sort of nudge you into getting out more and it didn¡¯t really work so we¡¯re putting our feet down. Death: Yeah. We¡¯ve already talked to Evan and gotten him in on it, so if you two don¡¯t get out and socialize at least once a week, we¡¯re gonna bar you from entering the Outlands. We can do that, and we will, so don¡¯t test us on this. Fortune: We¡¯re gonna be somewhat lenient; so long as you make a sincere effort we¡¯re not going to mind if you miss a week or two, but if it becomes a problem, we¡¯ll stop being so lenient. And while hanging out with your friends on Mael is encouraged, we¡¯re not opposed to hangouts with people you¡¯ve met in the Outlands. Just so long as it¡¯s with someone and is not related to work. Uh¡­unless it¡¯s on Mael and you¡¯re causing a paranormal incident as part of it, that¡¯s cool. Just as long as it¡¯s a side thing and not the main reason. Life: This is a serious matter and is not open for debate. So, are our terms understood? Tess: Yeah, I get it. I¡­sorry. Fortune: You don¡¯t need to apologize. We understand how it happened, but we also can¡¯t let things continue like this. This is entirely for your benefit, so please don¡¯t think we¡¯re angry with you or something, just concerned. Tess: Alright. Um¡­thanks. I¡¯m¡­glad you care. Fortune: Of course we care, silly. I¡¯ve said it before and I¡¯ll say it again, you two are like daughters to me. I worry about this sort of thing more than you¡¯d think, and I¡¯m sure Life and Death do too. Life: That aside, do you understand, Ellie? Ellie: I understand. We¡¯ll be better in the future, promise. Life: Good. I will let you enjoy the rest of your evening, then. Death: Don¡¯t listen to him, he¡¯s just too shy to admit he¡¯s worried too. But¡­seriously, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re not like¡­offended about this or anything. I was worried you¡¯d take this the wrong way. Ellie: No, I understand where you¡¯re coming from, don¡¯t worry. Death: Ah, good. Um¡­well, I¡­really will leave you to your night, now. You two have a good one, k? Fortune: Ditto Tess: Will do Ellie: Roger that!
Ellie absentmindedly reached over and grabbed Tess¡¯s hand, giving it a squeeze. ¡°So¡­what do you want to do?¡± ¡°I¡¯m kinda tired, so¡­maybe just some video games or something?¡± Ellie leaned in and gave her a kiss. ¡°Sounds great. Let¡¯s get to it, then.¡± Chapter 65: Answering Questions The next day, Tess was in the middle of breakfast when she got a text message from one of her friends, Nolan. Hey¡­sorry for the awkwardness last night. It read. I¡­well, was not expecting you to be there. If I had known, I wouldn¡¯t have let Sarah come. I would have preferred to give you the option to meet her rather than just¡­bringing her to see you. So¡­sorry again. Tess contemplated that for a moment before responding. It¡¯s fine, you didn¡¯t know. Sarah¡¯s your girlfriend, right? I thought she gave you her name? Now that I think about it, I remember that. I¡¯m a little groggy right now, sorry Oh, I see. Um¡­by the by, do you have time to meet up later? I have some¡­questions that I would rather talk about in-person. Uh, without Sarah, of course. Not until after five. Tess responded. After that I¡¯m free, though Can I drop by your place at six, then? I don¡¯t see why not Cool, see you then See you then Tess put her phone down and returned to her breakfast, only to be interrupted by an inquisitive Ellie. ¡°Who was that?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Was it Alice, or Maven or¡­?¡± ¡°Nolan actually.¡± Tess said between bites of toast. ¡°He wanted to apologize for last night and asked if we could meet up later. I told him six was fine, so it looks like he¡¯s coming over then.¡± ¡°Did he say why? It seems kinda weird to ask that after not contacting us for months.¡± ¡°He said he has some questions he wanted to ask in person, so it¡¯s probably something to do with magic. Can¡¯t say I really blame him, I would be curious too.¡± ¡°Well, I can.¡± Ellie replied, frowning. ¡°He basically ignored us for months, started dating the girl who¡¯s been super hostile to us, and then just¡­pretended nothing was wrong. That¡¯s kind of awful if you ask me.¡± ¡°Yeah, but we basically ignored him for months too, and I doubt he knew about our beef with his girlfriend before they started dating. Plus, I think it¡¯s reasonable to be intimidated about reaching out to us. I mean¡­I literally showed supernatural powers, wouldn¡¯t you be wary of reaching out to a friend of they started sprouting claws and tearing through metal doors?¡± Ellie shifted uncomfortably. ¡°I kind of feel like, if it was someone I¡¯d known for a long time and they specifically mentioned still wanting to be friends after tearing through said metal door, that I¡¯d try and learn magic from them. Come on, you know being able to do all this stuff is cool, don¡¯t pretend you wouldn¡¯t try and learn if you had the opportunity.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know about that.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯m not quite that¡­courageous. Still, that aside, even if we say he¡¯s been awful, isn¡¯t it our job as Appointed to be the bigger people? We have to be an example, right?¡±
Fortune: No, actually. As long as you¡¯re not showing up in an official capacity people won¡¯t know you¡¯re an Appointed, so you¡¯re free to be as petty as you want Death: Yeah, you wouldn¡¯t believe how petty I can be when I¡¯m online when people are jerks, you don¡¯t have any responsibility to set an example lol
¡°I think you¡¯re just a bit too forgiving sometimes, Tess.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Even the gods think it¡¯s fine to be a little selfish. You don¡¯t have to just¡­roll over and let anyone do whatever they want.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± Tess protested. ¡°Nolan¡¯s a friend, and he deserves the benefit of the doubt! We can¡¯t just¡­not even listen to his side of the story!
Life: She is correct. You cannot burn bridges because of such a minor perceived slight. While you are able to act as petty as you wish without tarnishing the reputation of the gods, that does not mean you should do so. I believe it is for the best that you at least hear Nolan out. If afterwards you wish to be angry or¡­whatever you feel towards him, then that is fine, but otherwise you are being unfair. Fortune: I know what I said earlier, but I agree. I was just correcting a misconception and probably should have worded it better, sorry
¡°There you have it.¡± Tess said. ¡°Besides, if we turned up our nose at him, we¡¯d have to turn up our nose at everyone. He hasn¡¯t really done more than anyone else, aside from start dating someone who¡¯s apologized and is trying to be better.¡± Ellie sighed. ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡± She admitted. ¡°I just don¡¯t like the thought of everyone being all buddy-buddy with you after they abandoned you those last couple of weeks at school.¡± ¡°Yeah, that was kind of hurtful.¡± Tess said. ¡°But I can¡¯t say I wouldn¡¯t have done something similar, so I really can¡¯t get that mad at them. That¡¯s really not an easy situation to be in, especially given how much influence Aaron has around here. Anyone who is too public about consorting with me was risking facing lasting consequences.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not so sure I agree, but let¡¯s leave it at that.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°We gotta finish our breakfasts if we want to be on time.¡± Tess glanced at the time on her phone. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re right!¡± With that, she began to wolf down her food, trying to fit in as much as possible before she had to head out and start the day¡¯s work.
Tess sat down on the couch letting out a small groan as she did. She was sore all over from the day¡¯s dungeon dive. They were getting towards the end of the Jagged Cliffs, and had been picking up the pace so they could finish in time for the expedition. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. As a result, the climbing had become a lot harder. Her various abilities made it much easier on her than it would normally have been, but even they weren¡¯t enough to fully nullify the strain of climbing a mountain as fast as possible. ¡°Can we just like...call in a rain check on meeting Nolan?¡± Ellie asked, sitting down and laying her head on Tess¡¯s lap. ¡°I¡¯m so tired it feels like I could just¡­fall asleep any moment.¡± ¡°I know, but¡­it¡¯s not going to get any better in the next week or so, so I think we should just suck it up and deal with it.¡± Tess replied, stroking Ellie¡¯s head absently. Ellie sighed. ¡°Fine, I suppose you have a point. Has he texted you since this morning?¡± Tess pulled her phone out of a pocket and checked for new messages. Sure enough, there was one from ten minutes earlier. Going to be running a few minutes late. It read. Mom¡¯s making me do a bunch of cleaning before I go, sorry ¡°He¡¯s gonna be late.¡± Tess said. ¡°He always is.¡± Ellie chuckled. ¡°What¡¯s his excuse this time?¡± ¡°His mom is making him do chores.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Sounds about right.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°He give you a time frame?¡± ¡°A few minutes, so¡­not really. You know how long his ¡°minutes¡± can be.¡± Ellie smirked. ¡°That I do, that I do. So¡­we have a bit of extra time, what do you want to do?¡± ¡°I feel like we haven¡¯t played games together in a while, do you have any good ones?¡± Tess asked. ¡°A couple.¡± Ellie said, taking her head off of Tess¡¯s lap and standing up. ¡°Give me a minute to go get it ready.¡± She walked over to the TV, turning both it and the console below it on. She picked up a couple of controllers, changed the input on the TV, then walked back over to Tess and handed her one of the controllers. ¡°I¡¯m thinking a party game so we can drop it at like¡­any moment if we need to. What do you think?¡± ¡°I¡¯m up for anything.¡± Tess said, shrugging. ¡°I just want to spend time with you.¡± Ellie blushed and gave Tess a quick peck on the cheek. ¡°You¡¯ve been getting awfully forward as of late.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m not complaining, I love it, but¡­what¡¯s changed?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know. I¡¯m just¡­more comfortable in my own skin now. I¡¯ve gotten used to being a girl, and I¡¯ve found something in life that I¡¯m reasonable competent at. Plus¡­well, plus I know you like it when I act like this and all I have to do is say what I¡¯m actually feeling, so¡­it works out.¡± ¡°You are too cute sometimes.¡± Ellie said, sitting down and throwing an arm around Tess. ¡°I don¡¯t deserve you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s funny, because that¡¯s exactly how I feel about you.¡± Tess replied, turning and giving Ellie a kiss. ¡°I couldn¡¯t ask for a better girlfriend.¡± Ellie blushed even harder. ¡°Stop it, you. If you don¡¯t, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to hold myself back, and we don¡¯t have time to fool around before Nolan gets here.¡± ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Tess giggled. ¡°Let¡¯s get to playing, then.¡± They ended up playing for another half an hour before Nolan texted them again saying that he had finished and was on his way. But, given that he lived over twenty minutes away and it was already six, they still had plenty of time to squeeze in a couple more rounds. Or they would have, had Nolan not shown up fifteen minutes after. ¡°S-sorry I¡¯m late.¡± He panted. ¡°I was as fast as possible, but mom sprung those on me at the last minute.¡± ¡°Nah, I get it.¡± Tess replied, waving dismissively. ¡°Come on in.¡± She led him through the house and to the living room, where Ellie was waiting. ¡°Go ahead and take a seat. You had a couple of questions you wanted to ask?¡± Nolan sat down nervously, while Tess sat back down with Ellie. ¡°Actually, I want an explanation first.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you contact us for so long? And why did you think it was totally cool to date someone who literally tried to get Tess killed?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been over this, Ellie.¡± Tess said. ¡°We need to give him some time, we shouldn¡¯t grill him on this right now.¡± ¡°No, we need to give him the benefit of the doubt. He¡¯s had enough time, and we are perfectly entitled to an explanation.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Tess.¡± Nolan said. ¡°I was prepared to answer those questions anyway, so it¡¯s no big deal. So¡­I didn¡¯t contact you because I wasn¡¯t sure I¡­should? I mean¡­I know you said you still wanted to be friends and all, but how was I supposed to just¡­approach you once school ended? For all I knew, you were like¡­on the run or something. How am I supposed to just¡­text you like nothing happened? So, I sorta figured I would wait and see if you guys contacted me first.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°I was sort of waiting to see if others would contact me first, so¡­I guess we were sorta at an impasse, huh?¡± Nolan chuckled. ¡°I guess so. As for Sarah¡­well, I met her a few days after graduation, and it wasn¡¯t like I knew she had history with you two or anything. She didn¡¯t know I knew you guys either, so we just sort of started hanging out and one thing led to another and it became official. ¡°When she found out I was in your friend group, she really wanted to start to make amends, so I made her tell me everything, and¡­I figured that perhaps I should, at the very least, help with that. I¡­know this is kind of selfish, but could you¡­maybe have another meeting with her? I know she¡¯s been awful, and I know this is a lot to ask, but she really is trying to change.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Ellie said doubtfully. ¡°Again, she tried to get Tess killed. That¡¯s not the kind of thing you just¡­forget.¡± ¡°I think we should meet with her.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡­well, I can¡¯t say I fully get it, but at the very least I understand wanting to protect your loved ones from something dangerous. And¡­people deserve a second chance. If she¡¯s really willing to change, then I think I should at least hear her out.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Nolan said, relief flashing across his face. ¡°Um¡­that¡¯s not the main reason I¡¯m here, though. I was¡­wondering where you learned to do all this¡­stuff. I mean¡­you said you were normal until that little bit where you were out of school, right?¡± Tess hesitated. She wasn¡¯t sure she wanted to bring Nolan in on everything just yet; he was terrible with keeping secrets. And now that he was close to Sarah, that was even worse. As much as Tess was willing to hear the girl out, she definitely didn¡¯t want to be letting her in on any secrets. ¡°I can¡¯t say right now. You¡¯ll find out in the future, but now¡¯s not the time.¡± ¡°I was sort of expecting that.¡± Nolan said, shaking his head slightly. ¡°But it was worth a shot. I assume you mean you wouldn¡¯t be able to teach me, either?¡± ¡°Not right now, sorry. You¡¯ll definitely have an opportunity to learn stuff in the future, though.¡± Nolan perked up a little. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°That¡¯s¡­good to hear. Um¡­you mentioned having like a¡­minimap, is there anything else you can do that you¡¯re not telling us? Um¡­if it¡¯s something you can say, that is.¡± Tess rubbed the back of her neck. ¡°To be honest? A lot. Even amongst people who can use magic, I have a lot of¡­strange abilities.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m really not at liberty to discuss it all, though, so¡­yeah.¡± ¡°I think I get it. So¡­there are other people who can use magic, then? I assumed so, since it would be weird if there was literally only one person, but¡­¡± He shook his head again. ¡°What about Ellie and your grandpa?¡± Tess hesitated again, but Ellie stepped in. ¡°We can¡¯t do the things she does.¡± She said. ¡°And don¡¯t get your hopes up about meeting other magic users in the area, either, it¡¯s basically just Tess.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡­was my next question.¡± Nolan replied. ¡°Which¡­I guess really only leaves me with one more. What¡­are your plans after this? I can¡¯t imagine you¡¯re going to keep trying to be an accountant, right?¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°No. I¡¯ve got some more¡­uh¡­magical work lined up. As Ellie mentioned, though, there aren¡¯t any other magic users around here, so I won¡¯t be working locally. I should still be about, though, so feel free to ask to hang out and stuff.¡± ¡°If¡­you¡¯re not working locally, then how will you still be around here? Is it just going to be on the weekends that you¡¯re here or¡­?¡± ¡°Magic.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯ve actually been working like this for months now. Even did it a bit while I was in school.¡± Nolan blinked. ¡°Oh, duh. I¡­probably should have thought about that.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it,¡± Tess said, giving him a reassuring smile, ¡°it¡¯s way outside the norm, so it¡¯s only natural you wouldn¡¯t think of it. So¡­if that¡¯s all your questions, do you want to hang out for an hour or two? Seems kind of a waste to come all the way out here for just that much.¡± Nolan paused, then shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not. What do you guys want to do?¡± ¡°Well, Ellie and I were playing party games, and there¡¯s room for a third¡­¡± Chapter 66: A Rematch Tess had just finished using the bathroom and was returning to their dedicated private room in the guild when she ran into Ilmir. The two sort of¡­awkwardly stopped, not quite sure what to say or do. After a moment, Ilmir hesitantly spoke up. ¡°Uh¡­hey.¡± She said. ¡°Long time no see, I guess. Um¡­do you mind if I ask a question?¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± Tess said warily. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°Ah, good.¡± Ilmir replied, scratching the back of her neck embarrassedly. ¡°You¡­wanted a rematch, right? I was just wondering what sort of time frame you¡¯re thinking for that. Before, you said it would be after you graduated, but it¡¯s been a few weeks since then so¡­just curious.¡± Tess started. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I kinda forgot, I was focused on other things. I¡¯m ready any time, really. Probably not today, since we¡¯re finishing up the Jagged Cliffs, but any day after is fine.¡± ¡°How does tomorrow sound, then?¡± Ilmir asked. ¡°I¡¯m kind of looking forward to this, and I want to nail down a date.¡± ¡°Tomorrow works.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°I¡¯ll let everyone know, and we can meet here at like¡­noon. Don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to go the same as last time, though, I¡¯ve gotten much stronger than before.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve gotten stronger too.¡± Ilmir said. ¡°So, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s going to go as you plan, either.¡± ¡°Linear warriors, quadratic wizards.¡± Ellie said, stepping up to the two of them. ¡°What?¡± Tess and Ilmir both asked, turning to face the newcomer. ¡°Just saying that one of your growth rates is a bit more¡­exponential than the others.¡± Ellie replied with a smirk. ¡°What¡¯s all this about, anyway?¡± ¡°Ilmir was asking me about the rematch I mentioned wanting to have.¡± Tess explained. ¡°We ended up setting it up for tomorrow. Though¡­why are you here? Weren¡¯t you waiting with everyone else?¡± ¡°I got some info that there had been a bit of a disturbance, so I came to take a look. Also, why not just do this thing now?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Because right now we¡¯re finishing off the Jagged Cliffs, remember?¡± ¡°Yeah, but this should only take like¡­ten or twenty minutes.¡± Ellie countered. ¡°We just go grab a Gauntlet of Challenge, have you two duke it out, then once Tess wins, we pack up and go on our way.¡± Ilmir raised an eyebrow. ¡°You seem awfully confident that she¡¯s going to win.¡± She said. ¡°Surely you of all people know the difference between your stats.¡± ¡°Ilmir, you¡¯re backsliding.¡± Eyfura said gently, walking up to her. ¡°Remember what Doctor Miras says about that.¡± Ilmir jumped slightly. ¡°G-grandma, when did you get here?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s beside the point.¡± Eyfura replied. ¡°You need to stop letting your prejudice affect you.¡± ¡°Y-yes, Grandma.¡± She turned back to Ellie and Tess. ¡°Sorry.¡± She mumbled. ¡°That was uncalled for.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I know changing your way of thinking is hard.¡± Ilmir perked up. ¡°Really? You¡¯re not mad?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not happy about it, but I can understand it. As long as you¡¯re genuinely trying to change, I see no reason not to forgive you for it.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s all this about, then?¡± Eyfura asked, walking over to Tess and giving her a quick hug. ¡°Not that I¡¯m not happy to see you or anything, just curious as to what you all are getting heated over.¡± Another quick explanation later, Eyfura nodded. ¡°I get it.¡± She said. ¡°I can go get a Gauntlet prepped if you would like.¡± ¡°We need to make sure this is fine with Maven and The Rumors first.¡± Tess said. ¡°Just¡­hang tight and I¡¯ll go ask them.¡± ¡°We¡¯re fine with it.¡± Maven said. ¡°And before you ask, we came in case you needed help or something. We didn¡¯t exactly get a lot of details from Ellie.¡± Ellie looked to the side awkwardly. ¡°Sorry.¡± She said. ¡°I just wanted to get here as soon as possible, so¡­¡± ¡°We get it.¡± Ker soothed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it too much. It was mostly because Alice was worried, and we figured it couldn¡¯t hurt to come check.¡± Alice blushed and looked away. ¡°I just¡­you know, this is a sensitive topic. I wanted to make sure things didn¡¯t get too heated.¡± Maven walked over to Ilmir, looking her up and down with an unimpressed expression. ¡°So, you¡¯re the Ilmir I¡¯ve heard so much about, huh?¡± ¡°I¡­suppose I am.¡± Ilmir replied. ¡°What have you heard about me?¡± ¡°Do you want the political answer or the honest answer?¡± Maven asked. Ilmir winced. ¡°Honest. I need to know, sorry.¡± Maven shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve heard you¡¯re an insensitive jerk who used trauma as an excuse to try and cause a rift between these two so you could get closer to Ellie. Or¡­well, I know that¡¯s not entirely accurate, but my understanding of the situation doesn¡¯t paint you in a very positive light.¡± Ilmir¡¯s ears and tail drooped. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re¡­completely right to think that way.¡± She said. ¡°I was pretty awful. I¡¯m¡­trying to be better, though.¡± ¡°So long as your mistakes are not repeated, I have no reason not to believe that.¡± Maven replied, sticking a hand out. ¡°Pleasure meeting you.¡± Ilmir tentatively accepted the proffered hand and shook. ¡°Likewise, I think.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to go get a Gauntlet, then.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°We don¡¯t have the luxury of having a cleared arena this time around, so we¡¯re going to have to find one ourselves. The next best thing is probably going to be a dungeon, I¡¯m thinking¡­probably inside Big Bertha¡¯s chamber in Slime Tower. If we just clear her out of the way, we should have plenty of room for a good fight.¡± ¡°Are you allowed to take the guild¡¯s Gauntlet outside?¡± Maven asked curiously. ¡°Those are supposed to only be used under direct supervision of guild staff, right?¡± Eyfura grinned. ¡°One, I¡¯m technically one of the guild¡¯s highest ranking officers. Two, I¡¯m not getting the guild¡¯s Gauntlet. I have a few spares for¡­reasons. So, we¡¯ll be using one of my personal ones just in case.¡± ¡°How¡­¡± Maven trailed off, then shot a glance at Ava, who nodded. ¡°Ah. I see. Reasons.¡± ¡°Got it in one. Now, I gotta go grab that Gauntlet, so you all meet me in the lobby of Slime Tower¡¯s top floor, I should only be like¡­ten or fifteen minutes.¡± And with that, Eyfura departed, hurriedly making her way down the hall towards the exit. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s our cue.¡± Jin said. ¡°Let¡¯s get going.¡± The walk over was quiet; Ilmir didn¡¯t seem up to initiating much conversation, Ellie was more than happy to ignore her, Tess and Maven weren¡¯t quite sure what they would even say, and any attempts at conversation made by The Rumors just ended up dying quickly. So it was no small relief when Eyfura showed up to Slime Tower¡¯s top floor only five or so minutes after the rest of them had arrived. ¡°I didn¡¯t keep you waiting too long, right?¡± She asked. ¡°I ran into a bit of traffic, there was some¡­I don¡¯t even know what was happening, but there was a huge crowd outside some business on the way to my house, and I had to take a detour.¡± ¡°Not at all.¡± Ker said. ¡°It¡¯s only been a minute or two.¡± ¡°Oh, good. Shall we all party up and head on in, then?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Alice said, a note of agitation in her tone. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with.¡± Partying up, entering the boss room, killing Big Bertha, and then preparing for the duel took only a couple of minutes. Most of that time was taken up by Eyfura making some sort of¡­protective circle for the noncombatants to stand in, so they would be safe from any collateral damage. And soon, Tess and Ilmir were placing their hands on the Gauntlet. After but a moment, they were teleported to opposite edges of the room, and the fight begun in earnest. Unlike in their first fight, Ilmir didn¡¯t immediately rush in. Instead, she kept her distance, coating her swords in lightning and fire and sending the beams towards Tess. That was fine, though; she had ways of dealing with that now. Isabella, take care of the lightning. Tess instructed. Silky, use Rallying Cry and buff us up. On it, mistress! Silky said. There was a squeak from within Tess¡¯s shirt sleeve, where Silky was hiding, and Tess was suddenly just that bit faster and stronger. Isabella erected a wall of earth that the lightning beam crashed into and dissipated against, and Tess rushed around the wall, running directly through the beam of fire. As she did, she activated Phoenix Fire, and watched as the beam of fire was incorporated into her own coating and the flames grew ever brighter. She deactivated Purifying Flames and, for a brief moment, burned through some Mana to not only focus the coating into a line that speared towards Ilmir, but also turned up the heat as far as it would go. And that was hot. The fire went from a dull red to a brilliant blue in a moment, and the air distorted from the sheer heat of the mass of flame. Not that Ilmir seemed to mind the heat itself; she likely had equipment that compensated for extreme temperatures. But the lance of fire itself wasn¡¯t something to be ignored; it was as thick around as Tess¡¯s body, and the temperature was really just a secondary effect. Ilmir deftly dodged its first pass, but Tess brought it right back around to hit her back, then let the flames return to their usual shape.
You have scorched Ilmir Almes for 83 damage! (Effects hidden)
Tess took a moment to expand the list of effects and keep them expanded by default for the remainder of the fight. She wanted to keep track of exactly how much she was doing to Ilmir, so she could adjust her strategy accordingly.
You have scorched Ilmir Almes for 83 damage! You have applied the Napalm condition to Ilmir Almes, dealing 180 damage every .25 seconds for 60 seconds! Napalm has spread to another part of Ilmir Almes¡¯s body, duplicating the effect! Napalm has spread to another part of Ilmir Almes¡¯s body, duplicating the effect! Napalm has spread to another part of Ilmir Almes¡¯s body, duplicating the effect! Napalm has spread to another part of Ilmir Almes¡¯s body, duplicating the effect! Napalm has spread to more than 3 parts of Ilmir Almes¡¯s body, increasing its damage by 50% and doubling its remaining duration!
Ilmir yelped in pain and quickly put out the flames using her Blessing. ¡°What even is Napalm?!¡± She yelled, lashing out with her lightning sword once again. At the same time, she sheathed her fire sword and pulled out another which instantly began to drip water. ¡°Fire that has tripled duration and deals damage twice as often!¡± Eyfura called out. ¡°Very rare condition!¡± ¡°¡­Pointless.¡± Isabella whispered from within Tess, bringing up yet another wall of earth to block the lightning. Ilmir seemed to have been prepared, however; she used the wall to block Tess¡¯s view of her and sheathed the lightning sword before drawing another. Tess couldn¡¯t tell exactly what element was coating it using tremorsense, but the effects it gave off were blocky, which Tess could only assume meant earth or ice or something. Still under the impression that Tess couldn¡¯t see what she was doing, Ilmir moved up to the base of the wall and began to listen intently for Tess¡¯s approach, swords at the ready. Tess grinned, activating all of her unarmed Skills and rushing straight towards where Ilmir was hiding. Isabella, fake some footsteps to the right and then destroy that wall please. She said, thrusting out with a claw, already moving to pierce Ilmir¡¯s skull. The wall fell mere moments before Tess¡¯s claw would impact Ilmir, and Ilmir seemed to have bought Tess¡¯s ruse, as she was in the process of sending out her sword beams. Though, oddly enough, she was completely invisible to the naked eye; she was clearly using something similar to Active Camouflage. Not that it mattered; tremorsense told Tess exactly where to strike, and she was on top of Ilmir before the girl could even realize what was happening. Even so, Ilmir¡¯s body reacted, throwing itself out of the way of Tess¡¯s blow and sending her beam flying wildly away. Ilmir landed deftly a few yards away, a shocked expression on her face. Silky, immobilize her! Isabella, if she escapes, make her still again! The ground around Ilmir lifted itself up and encased her lower body, briefly keeping her from moving. A half-second later, there was a boom and a burst of crackling electricity and debris, and Tess immediately used Flashstep to teleport past the wave and right next to Ilmir. ¡­And right into Ilmir¡¯s waiting blade. After a movement that was too fast for Tess to track, there was a moment of brief, white-hot pain followed by another swift strike to Tess¡¯s head, and then¡­nothing. Exactly one minute later, Tess resumed her existence, a burst of flame signifying her revival as Reborn from the Ashes did its work. Tess blinked and reoriented herself; the Gauntlet was still spinning gently in the air above them, and Ilmir was¡­on her knees, panting heavily and looking at Tess with eyes filled with terror and expectation. She struggled to her feet, one arm dangling limply by her side, horrible burn marks running up and down its length. Still, she lifted her dripping sword and stumbled towards the completely unblemished Tess. It was too easy. There was no burst of flames, no trick as Silky once again encased her in earth, and Ilmir could do naught but watch with a defeated expression as Tess casually walked over and pierced her skull with a claw. And then, suddenly, the two were back in the center of the arena, completely unharmed. ¡°I¡­lost.¡± Ilmir said, disbelief etched into her face. ¡°It¡­that didn¡¯t even feel close.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t.¡± Ellie said smugly. ¡°The moment Tess got rid of your Blessing, it was over. All she had to do was get near you, and that was it.¡± Ilmir shook her head. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t understand. I thought I had her when she teleported next to me, but¡­¡± ¡°I was being risky.¡± Tess said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if you would be able to react, but I knew that, even if you did kill me, I would win by getting close. I got a couple of auras that apply status conditions to anything that gets too close, and they stay active even after I¡¯m dead.¡± ¡°Not that, I get that, I think, how did you¡­come back?¡± ¡°Oh, that. I took the ability from a Spitfire Phoenix core.¡± Tess replied. ¡°And¡­how many more times could you have done that?¡± ¡°Two or three? Depends on how hard you hit me when you kill me. Your stats were actually working against you there, you nearly killed me with that first blow so the second one only did a little bit of damage. And, well, after that you would have had to destroy an egg that I would be in, but if you got that far you could probably handle that.¡± ¡°O-oh.¡± Ilmir replied. ¡°And how¡¯d you know where I was behind the wall? I made sure to go invisible and hide my scent and everything.¡± ¡°I can literally feel where you are by the¡­well, it¡¯s hard to describe it to someone who hasn¡¯t experienced it, but it¡¯s kind of like echolocation. As long as you still have a physical body, I can ¡®see¡¯ you if you¡¯re close enough.¡± ¡°Well played, then.¡± Ilmir said. ¡°And¡­I don¡¯t know if I said it before, but¡­I was wrong about you. Once again, I apologize for my behavior, I will endeavor not to act like that in the future, regardless of who I¡¯m talking to.¡± ¡°I¡­accept your apology.¡± Tess said slowly. ¡°I¡¯m over it by now. I¡¯m not going to invite you into our party or anything, but I¡¯m willing to start over with you, give you a second chance. Just¡­don¡¯t do anything like this again.¡± Ilmir froze, then, a moment later, broke into a wide smile. ¡°T-thank you.¡± She said. ¡°I won¡¯t let you down, I promise.¡± Tess stuck out her hand, and after a moment, Ilmir shook. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear it.¡± Tess said. ¡°Now, as much as I would like to stick around and chat, we really need to go complete the Jagged Cliffs.¡± She ended the handshake and walked over to Eyfura, giving her a hug. ¡°Am I going to see you at the expedition?¡± She asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± Eyfura said, returning the hug, ¡°We¡¯re going. Feel free to stop by any time you like, any of you. We could use the company.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take you up on that.¡± Tess said, letting go of the hug and turning back to the rest of her party. ¡°Shall we be off, then?¡± Chapter 67: Finishing the Cliffs Tess watched in satisfaction as the boss fell, knowing that she wouldn¡¯t have to go through this dungeon again for a long time. ¡°Nice work, ladies.¡± Ellie said. ¡°What say you we get our reward and never come back again?¡± ¡°I think that is an excellent idea.¡± Maven said, panting slightly. ¡°This was¡­incredibly unpleasant to go through, and not just because I wasn¡¯t boosting this time around.¡± ¡°Yeah, no one really likes this one.¡± Alice said lazily. ¡°But you gotta get it out of the way, you know? Though, I must say, thanks to Tess, you three really didn¡¯t get the full experience. Wading through that snow and having to be constantly on alert for nasty camouflaged enemies was not a fun time.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you for that.¡± Maven said, giving Tess a nod. ¡°I¡­was having a hard enough time as is. I shudder to think what it would be like if it was worse.¡± ¡°Ah, don¡¯t mention it.¡± Tess said, looking to the side in embarrassment. ¡°Just doing my job.¡± ¡°Have some pride, girl!¡± Ellie said, slinging an arm around Tess¡¯s neck. ¡°You deserve it!¡± ¡°T-thanks.¡± Tess replied, blushing. ¡°Um¡­why don¡¯t we go get our rewards instead of hanging out here? Maybe we can like¡­go out to dinner as a celebration or something.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be my treat, if we do.¡± Alice said. ¡°Call it a reward for persevering without complaining too much.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to bow out if we do get dinner.¡± Ava said. ¡°I promised my grandkids I would be home tonight, and I¡¯m not going to hear the end of it if I¡¯m even a little late.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not get too ahead of ourselves, that¡¯s contingent on if Maven and Ellie want to go.¡± Ker said. ¡°What are your thoughts?¡± ¡°I think it sounds like a great idea.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I am always open to eating out.¡± Maven added. ¡°I will admit my cooking is not¡­as good as I would like it to be.¡± ¡°Eh, no one¡¯s great when they first start out.¡± Jin said. ¡°You¡¯ll get the hang of it with time. So, let¡¯s take care of your last Rewards Crystal here, then we can talk about where we want to eat, okay?¡± ¡°Way ahead of you.¡± Ellie replied, stepping through the doorway that appeared and into the room with the Rewards Crystal. Tess followed a moment later, wasting no time in placing her hand on the crystal and receiving her reward. As she did, she took a moment to think back to the other things she had got from this dungeon. There were four of them, and they¡­weren¡¯t anything as fancy as what she had originally received, but they were useful, nonetheless.
Quick Burn: Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Halves the damage interval of your fire effects (effectively doubling their damage), but halves their duration. The candle that lasts half as long burns twice as brightly. Beast Basher (Mythical): Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Doubles damage against beast-type monsters. This doubling applies after all other bonuses. Beasts beware! Avian Aggressor (Mythical): Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Doubles damage against avian-type monsters. This doubling applies after all other bonuses. Never fear geese again! Piscatorian Punisher (Mythical): Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Doubles damage against fish-type monsters. This doubling applies after all other bonuses. Like shooting fish in a barrel.
And that just left the new Skill she got.
You have gained the Skill Strength in Health (Mythical)! Strength in Health (Mythical): Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Increases all damage you deal by the percentage of health you have remaining (so at full health you deal 100% more damage, and at 50% health you deal 50% more damage, etc). Just don¡¯t take any damage.
¡°Nothing great.¡± Ellie said. ¡°How about you? Just another Skill for extra damage to a certain type of monster?¡± ¡°No, actually.¡± Tess replied. ¡°It increases my damage the more health I have remaining.¡± ¡°Oh, Strength in Health.¡± Jin said. ¡°I have that one myself. Quite a handy Skill if you¡¯re not usually in the line of fire.¡± ¡°How about you, Maven?¡± Tess asked, turning to her teammate. ¡°I got the Huntress Class.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how useful it¡¯ll end up being, since it doesn¡¯t really work well with any of my abilities, but I suppose it might have some Skills that help with a bow.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate Classes that don¡¯t fit well with what you have.¡± Ker advised. ¡°I don¡¯t know if your tutors were like this, but many who boost others advise they stick with one Class or a small group of them. While this is somewhat sensible under the premise of boosting, as it lessens the mental load a booster has in combat, that does not hold true for an actual freelancer. ¡°It is incredibly rare that having a Skill works to your disadvantage, and it is much, much more common that having that Skill helps you out in some way. Even if it doesn¡¯t mesh with what you want to be doing, or what the rest of your kit is working towards, it is better to have that option than not. ¡°Now, I¡¯m not saying you drop everything and start leveling that Class immediately. What I¡¯m saying is you should keep it in the back of your mind. When you hit a roadblock level like twenty-five or fifty in your ¡®main¡¯ Classes, it¡¯s often worth it to take a break from them and level up any other random ones you may have. By the time you return to your main Classes, especially in these early middle levels, you¡¯re usually fighting higher level enemies and that roadblock is less significant.¡± Maven pondered that for a moment. ¡°I have a few Classes like that. I haven¡¯t touched them at all since my tutors told me not to, would it be wise to switch now?¡± ¡°When was the last time your main Class leveled up?¡± Alice asked. ¡°About two weeks ago.¡± Maven said. Alice winced. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re gonna wanna switch ASAP. You¡¯re going to be getting a lot more benefit out of putting that experience in Classes that are gonna see rapid growth.¡± ¡°I¡­see. I will take care of that after dinner, then.¡± ¡°Just pop by the Party Crystal on our way out.¡± Alice instructed. ¡°Huntress is a pretty okay Class for you to switch to right now, unless you have something you think would be better for your archery or magic.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Maven shook her head. ¡°I do not.¡± ¡°There you go, then. Shouldn¡¯t take more than a minute. So¡­where we thinking about eating?¡± Ava gave the group a smile. ¡°I believe this is where I make my exit. I¡¯ll see you all tomorrow, okay?¡± With that, she exited the room, leaving the rest of the group to talk about food. They eventually decided on a small eatery tucked into an out of the way part of town; they didn¡¯t want anything too formal or crowded, and Jin vouched for the place¡¯s quality, so they decided it was as good a place as any. About half an hour later, they were seated and were waiting for food. ¡°So¡­the expedition is in a couple of weeks.¡± Maven said. ¡°We¡¯re going, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the plan.¡± Jin confirmed. ¡°So¡­what are we doing until then?¡± ¡°Mmm¡­well, we¡¯ve exhausted all of the dungeons you can do near town.¡± Alice said. ¡°I think we¡¯re going to take a break from leveling and work on polishing your technique and getting you to use your new Skills properly.¡± ¡°Can you ask your folks if we can use their Arena?¡± Ker asked. ¡°That¡¯s probably the most efficient way if we want to focus purely on technique.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I was thinking.¡± Alice said. ¡°I¡¯ll ask them if we can stay there, too, so we don¡¯t have to go back and forth every day.¡± ¡°The two of us are going to need to make a couple of trips back to Mael in that time.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We have to introduce ourselves to the Archpriest on¡­uh¡­soon?¡±
Life: We have set it up for Sunday.
¡°Sunday.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯re doing it on Sunday, so¡­two days, I guess.¡±
Fortune: You know, if they let us¡­borrow their hoverer, we could probably install a door to your house in it. Would be a lot easier during the expedition, too, if Tess and Ellie need to go back to Mael Death: Oh yeah, that¡¯s a good idea, Life, can you go ask Artifice if she would be willing to help make sure we don¡¯t mess up the hoverer when we do that? Life: If The Rumors agree to let them use the hoverer, I will.
¡°Hey, this is kinda random, but can we¡­um¡­borrow your hoverer?¡± Tess asked. ¡°The gods are saying they could probably get a door to our house installed in there. I realize that¡¯s kind of¡­sudden and¨C¡± She was cut off by Alice taking the hoverer out of her bag in compacted form and sliding it over the table to Tess. ¡°Knock yourself out.¡± She said. ¡°Worst case scenario I just get another. Heck¡­honestly we might as well just give you guys that one and I get another anyway.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­would we even be able to power that consistently?¡± Tess asked. Ker raised an eyebrow. ¡°It runs off of cores. You of all people should have no trouble running it.¡± ¡°I know it runs off of cores, I just don¡¯t know how many it needs. It could end up costing more than I¡¯m able to make.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not as bad as you¡¯re thinking.¡± Alice said. ¡°With the exception of most bosses, you can generally assume a core¡¯s fuel efficiency is based off of the level of the monster it came from, and level thirty-ish cores tend to last around an hour. Fuel efficiency doesn¡¯t increase linearly, so level fifty monsters go for like¡­three hours, level seventy five go for almost sixteen, and if you¡¯re crazy enough to use a level one hundred core that can probably last you for days. It¡¯s not an issue for you.¡± ¡°But¡­these things are expensive, right?¡± Tess said hesitantly. ¡°I¡¯m not sure we can accept something like that so suddenly.¡± Alice waved a hand dismissively. ¡°Tess, you¡¯re talking to someone with enough money to buy several small countries. This may be a nice model, but it¡¯s so insignificant to me it¡¯s not even funny.¡± Ellie turned to Maven. ¡°Maven, do you know how much a hoverer like theirs costs?¡± Maven inspected the cube that was the hoverer. ¡°This seems to be one of Io¡¯s, from a couple years back¡­I¡¯m not an expert, but I¡¯m guessing that this would go for like¡­fifty to seventy five platinum. The one my family uses, when we bought it new, was one hundred platinum, so I¡¯m just guessing based off of that.¡± Tess paused, doing some mental math. ¡°That¡¯s¡­at least half a million dollars.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s like twice as much as the house I live in.¡± Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°And your armor would probably cost a hundred times as much as that hoverer, but you seem to have no problem with that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s different. This was¡­¡± She glanced around, making sure no one was listening. ¡°Well, my bosses had Gramps pull out a few favors. I can¡¯t very well say no when it¡¯s kind of directly related to my job performance.¡± ¡°So is this.¡± Alice said, smirking. ¡°Are you still going to say no?¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°Tell you what.¡± Jin said. ¡°Let¡¯s do it this way. If you impress us on the expedition, we¡¯ll give it to you guys. If not, we¡¯ll wait until Ker and I decide you¡¯ve earned it, sound good?¡± ¡°I¡­guess that¡¯s better than just getting it for free.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°Well, for the record, I have no problem with just taking it now.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I admit it would be nice to have a hoverer for the future.¡± Maven said. ¡°I have been dreading going without.¡± ¡°There you have it.¡± Alice said. ¡°Before the expedition, I¡¯ll grab another one for my party, and you three can use that one for sleeping in. You can ride in the new one I¡¯m getting so there are more people to talk to if you like, or you can ride on your own, your call.¡± Tess hesitantly took the hoverer and stored it away. ¡°I¡­well, we¡¯ll talk about it amongst the three of us, I guess.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with riding with The Rumors.¡± Ellie volunteered. ¡°As am I.¡± Maven said. ¡°It cannot hurt to have more company on long trips.¡± ¡°Well¡­I guess that settles it, we¡¯ll be riding with you, then.¡± Tess said. ¡°That¡¯s more fuel-efficient anyway.¡±
Ellie: Wait a sec how are we going to get this to you guys? Life: Give it to your grandfather, he will be able to get it to us. Ellie: Oh, that makes sense. We should¡­probably learn how to get to your place ourselves Death: Don¡¯t sweat it, Evan¡¯s an exception. Getting here takes a lot of Mana, and you have to be super precise, so only a couple of Appointed are actually able to do it without the aid of Worship. Fortune: To be honest, Tess probably won¡¯t even be able to without converting a bleed effect into Mana, and even then it¡¯ll need to be a meaty one. Ellie might be able to scrounge up the Mana once she¡¯s closer to level 100, but she¡¯ll probably need some efficiency Skill or something in order to make it work. So¡­yeah, seriously, don¡¯t worry about it.
¡°Going back a bit, how is your progress with your armor?¡± Ker asked. ¡°What was next again?¡± ¡°I just unlocked double magic damage recently, so¡­I think it was mentioned that the next was sort of like a better temperature regulator? It like¡­provides oxygen and deals with pressure and stuff.¡± ¡°Do you have a way of telling how long until your next unlock?¡± Tess focused on the armor for a moment, and a window popped up next to her, informing her that her next unlock was in roughly thirty thousand experience. ¡°Just about thirty thousand XP, so¡­gonna be a little bit.¡± ¡°Honestly, it might be worth getting that before we head out on the expedition.¡± Alice mused. ¡°There¡¯s no telling what we¡¯re going to encounter out there. Shouldn¡¯t be that difficult, I can take you on a day trip to a high level dungeon and just kill a bunch of things for you.¡± ¡°I thought that sort of thing didn¡¯t work.¡± Maven said, frowning. ¡°You generally get less experience if you don¡¯t do much, right?¡± ¡°Tess is an exception, remember? She just has to have any chance at getting the experience to get all of it.¡± Ker said. ¡°I¡­forgot it applied to experience.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°I should have made that connection.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like we generally talk about it.¡± Tess said. ¡°Can¡¯t really blame you.¡± Further conversation was interrupted by their food arriving. As they ate, the conversation meandered from topic to topic, until eventually they had all finished and were getting ready to leave. ¡°I suppose this is where we go our separate ways.¡± Maven said. ¡°I will see you all tomorrow.¡± ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s meet up in the usual place, and then we can take the hoverer to my parents¡¯ estates.¡± Alice said. She paused, then looked at Tess. ¡°Those modifications won¡¯t take more than the rest of tonight, right?¡±
Life: Artifice says it should ¡°be done in a jiffy¡±, so no, you¡¯ll have it available tomorrow.
¡°No, they¡¯ll be done before then.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Good. These things aren¡¯t exactly easy to get on short notice, so I was worried I might have to borrow my parents¡¯ hoverer.¡± Alice said. ¡°But this will be a lot easier.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah. Um¡­well, we gotta go deliver this, so¡­see you all tomorrow!¡± The rest all said their farewells, and Tess and Ellie headed back to the guild. When they arrived, they gave the hoverer to Gramps, then went through the door and back to their house on Mael. ¡°So¡­what do you want to do for the rest of the evening?¡± Ellie asked, resting her head on Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°How about some TV, and then maybe we can see where things go from there?¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan, then.¡± So, the two made their way to the living room couch, sat down, and spent the rest of the night enjoying the other¡¯s company. Chapter 68: Archpriest
Ellie: So¡­how are we going to get to the Archpriest? He¡¯s like a thousand miles away and teleporting is super jank on Mael, right? Death: Head to the Holy Room, we¡¯re going to teleport you into our realm, have a little chat about how exactly we want to go about this, and then we¡¯re going to teleport you into the Holy Room. Tess: Oh. I assume you mean like¡­the big one? The original? Death: That¡¯s the one, yeah Tess: Isn¡¯t the Archpriest supposed to be the only one allowed in there? Death: It¡¯s our Holy Room it¡¯s our rules. We said that because it gives that room weight in people¡¯s minds, and that weight makes it easier for us to do stuff there. So long as no one finds out except for the Archpriest, it¡¯s not going to do any harm. Life: To be precise, it is acceptable to tell those who are under Oath to keep your secrets about this. If they already know you are Appointed, then there is little harm in letting them know; they likely already assume you can enter, anyway. It will only become a problem if the general public gets to know. Death: The Archpriest has been in there all day, praying and preparing himself in preparation for what is to come. He doesn¡¯t know exact details, but he knows he¡¯s going to be getting a super important revelation, so¡­yeah, not gonna have to go get anyone else to go get him either. Anyway, we¡¯ll talk more in the divine realm so just pop on over and we can talk more, k? Ellie: Alright, on our way, be there in a bit Death: See you soon!
Tess and Ellie got in Ellie¡¯s car, and began their drive over to the church. ¡°So¡­how are you feeling?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Are you nervous?¡± ¡°A little, yeah.¡± Ellie admitted. ¡°I know, academically, that we¡¯ve met with more important people, that we live with someone more important, but, like¡­I dunno, this is the Archpriest. He was like¡­number one on the list of super important people growing up. It just feels different, you know?¡¯ ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Tess said. ¡°I feel the same. Like¡­it just sorta drives home that we¡¯re not¡­the same as we were before. I mean, obviously I¡¯m not the same, but like¡­in terms of status it shows that we¡¯re different.¡± ¡°Yeah. Just¡­yeah.¡± Ellie replied. The two ended up falling into an awkward, nervous silence for the rest of the car ride over, and all too soon were walking into the Holy Room in the church. In a flash, they found themselves whisked away from Mael and back to the plane of the gods, where Life, Death, and Fortune were awaiting them. ¡°Hey.¡± Death said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. The guy¡¯s almost as stuffy as Life is, but there is zero chance he¡¯s even going to think about being disrespectful, not after I Descend.¡± ¡°But¡­what are we even doing?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Just introducing ourselves, or¡­?¡± ¡°That, and you¡¯re also going to be in charge of introducing the concept of the other planes to him, as well as laying out our plans for what we¡¯re doing. If you get lost as to what to say, we¡¯ll just feed you lines via chat.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to be Descending too, as part of that.¡± Fortune added. ¡°Help add a bit more oomph to the idea of there being more out there, if you know what I¡¯m saying.¡± ¡°Seriously, just wing it, you¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s not gonna get easier if you keep worrying about it, so might as well just do.¡± Death said. ¡°That is not the right thing to say in this situation.¡± Life chided. ¡°They are feeling anxious, you cannot just say ¡°stop feeling anxious¡±, that is unhelpful and often counterproductive.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m saying!¡± Death protested. ¡°I¡¯m reassuring them that they¡¯ll be fine and telling them it¡¯s best to just get it over with, and then they can stop feeling anxious. They¡¯ll feel better once it¡¯s over.¡± ¡°We¡¯re stalling.¡± Fortune said. ¡°Is there anything else you to tell them before we send them in, or shall we just go?¡± ¡°I¡­think I get it. I¡¯m ready.¡± Tess said. She wasn¡¯t ready, but that didn¡¯t matter; she felt like she was never going to be ready, so waiting until she was just wasn¡¯t going to work out. ¡°Yeah, I think Death is right, I just want to get it done.¡± Ellie added. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have anything more to say.¡± Death said. ¡°How about you, Life?¡± ¡°Make sure you remind him that the scythe is mine.¡± Life said. ¡°I wish to get that misconception cleared up, and this is a perfect opportunity.¡± ¡°I can handle that.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Perfect. Fortune and I will preemptively descend, then, and we¡¯ll be off!¡± Death said. ¡°Ready?¡± Fortune asked. Tess nodded, and Fortune¡¯s body sort of¡­went limp as she Descended and entered Tess. Death, likewise, did the same, and the four of them were suddenly whisked away. Tess found herself in an austere room unlike the one they had teleported into the god¡¯s realm from. There were no statues or decorations, save for a single red rug upon which the Archpriest was kneeling. He was a man in his sixties, wearing a simple brown priest¡¯s gown. He didn¡¯t look like anything special, he wasn¡¯t someone Tess would pick out of a crowd had she not seen him on TV before. He was praying with his eyes closed, though he seemed to be aware of their presence, as he lifted his head and opened his eyes shortly after they teleported in. The Archpriest stared at them in confusion for a moment, and then Death spoke up. ¡°My child, I have come here today to introduce to you my Appointed.¡± ¡°Your Appointed, my Goddess?¡± The Archpriest asked, frowning slightly for a moment before catching himself. ¡°Yes. Life and I have made this girl our Appointed, our hands in the mortal realms.¡± Death explained. ¡°Her name is Ellie, and you are to treat her as you would me or Life. Her commands are our commands, and she is to be treated with respect second only to the respect given to me or Life. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Y-yes, my Goddess.¡± ¡°You appear to have questions. Speak.¡± ¡°W-who is the other, and why¡­why make an Appointed? Have I failed you in some way?¡± Death shook her head. ¡°You have not failed me. In fact, your works have been to my satisfaction. No, an Appointed fills a different role than you do. You are my mouthpiece, the one who informs the people at large of my will. She is my sword, the one who performs tasks that cannot be left to any except to one of exceptional ability and devotion.¡± Death paused briefly, then nodded at Tess and Fortune. The two stepped forward, and Tess let Fortune speak. ¡°I am Fortune.¡± She said. The Archpriest let out a gasp, eyes widening as Fortune¡¯s voice drilled itself into his soul, informing him exactly who was speaking. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°I am, as my name implies, the Goddess of Fortune.¡± Fortune continued. ¡°I am one of several other gods in charge of the other planes, and this is my Appointed, Tess. We are working closely with Life and Death in regard to Mael, and as such, are here as representatives of the other planes.¡± Oh, wait I have an idea! Fortune said to Tess. I¡¯m gonna activate your fox traits, that cool? Do it. Tess replied. There was another gasp from the Archpriest as he beheld Tess¡¯s now-inhuman appearance, but he said nothing, waiting respectfully for Fortune to continue. ¡°We have many things planned for this plane, but our time runs short.¡± Fortune said. ¡°Mortal bodies are not fit to house the power of gods for an extended time. As such, we will be leaving shortly, but our Appointed will remain to explain our plans. You are welcome to ask questions, but know that the events of which they speak are non-negotiable. They will happen as they are being explained, despite any protests you or others may have.¡± ¡°Do not try to disrespect these two because of their age or the fact that we are not physically present within them any longer.¡± Death added. ¡°We will be watching, and will be very displeased if you do so. Do you understand?¡± The Archpriest nodded. ¡°Yes, my Goddess.¡± ¡°Good. When we are finished here, we will collect our Appointed in the same manner as we brought them. You are not to speak of their existence to anyone until you receive revelation saying otherwise. Even then, you are never to reveal their identities, only their existence. Farewell.¡± And with that, Death and Fortune stopped their Descents, leaving Ellie and Tess alone with the Archpriest. ¡°So¡­hey.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Like the gods said, I¡¯m Ellie and this is my girlfriend, Tess.¡± The Archpriest swallowed. ¡°It is an honor to meet you.¡± He said nervously. ¡°I am Archpriest Lucius the Fifth. How may I be of service?¡± Ellie shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ll get to that. For the time being, there is little we require of you, we¡¯re just relaying the gods¡¯ plans and making our presence known.¡± The Archpriest nodded. ¡°I understand. Please, tell me their will.¡± Ellie frowned, looking to Tess. ¡°Where do we start with this?¡± She asked. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s best I begin?¡± Tess said. ¡°As Fortune mentioned, this plane or dimension is not the only one in existence. There are, in fact, dozens of others, of which Mael is the newest. With Mael, the gods decided to run an experiment; they would withhold knowledge of the other planes and the usage of magic from the people to see how they would grow in its absence.¡± She held out her hand and let a ball of phoenix fire appear on her palm. The Archpriest watched, captivated, as the flame flickered and danced, and Tess continued to talk. ¡°The time is fast approaching for their experiment to end. Within the next thirty to forty years, the gods will be granting this plane magic, and will introduce it to the greater universe.¡± Tess closed her hand, extinguishing the fire. ¡°The two of us are in charge of overseeing this process. As natives of this plane, we will be its defenders from those who seek to take advantage of it for its inexperience with magic. I am afraid that Mael is at a significant disadvantage in this regard; the other planes know of its existence and have a modicum of information about it already. We will have much to catch up on if we hope to make Mael powerful enough to not need our help.¡± The Archpriest was listening attentively, and was struggling to keep his expression neutral, but Tess could tell he was bursting with questions. ¡°Ask your questions.¡± She instructed. ¡°We are here to answer.¡± The Archpriest nodded. ¡°You¡­said you are a native of Mael?¡± He asked. ¡°Are there¡­other nonhumans living here without our knowledge?¡± Tess paused. Back when Gramps had first introduced them to the Outlands, he had mentioned offhandedly that there were a couple other families from the other planes living on Mael, but she didn¡¯t know their species. That would have to be something to ask Fortune about later.
Fortune: Evan¡¯s family was the only human family among the ambassadors, so¡­yeah, there are like a dozen others. Also, sorry for reading your mind, this is kind of too important to not be doing that. Tess: No, it¡¯s cool I was sorta expecting you to be anyway.
¡°There are roughly a dozen in the entirety of Mael.¡± Tess said. ¡°The rest of them are not affiliated with the gods as the two of us are, however. You have no need to fear them, they are not hostile to this plane. If they were, we would have taken care of them by now.¡± ¡°I understand. Are there¡­many non-human races?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tess said. ¡°In fact, they greatly outnumber humans. From my estimation, humans make up perhaps five percent of the total population, discounting Mael. With the introduction of Mael to the other planes, that percentage will likely increase to seven or eight.¡± The Archpriest nodded. ¡°That is all my questions for now.¡± Tess nodded to Ellie, who stepped forward. ¡°We are beginning our work already. We are attempting to get more people to accept the existence of the supernatural in hopes that it will make the eventual transition that much easier. We are based in the town of Kaas, in the United Federation. You may have already been told this, but we would very much appreciate it if you do not send Hunters to that area. ¡°Do not misunderstand that request; it is not for our safety. We are at the point where Hunters can pose no threat to us. It is simply an annoyance that we do not wish to have to deal with regularly.¡± The Archpriest let out a sort of unconscious shiver, but nodded. ¡°I understand. I will make sure to inform the head of the Hunters. I am afraid that my word is not always to be accepted in cases such as this, however; as a countermeasure against mind-altering anomalies, the Hunters have to do their own investigation whenever unusual requests like this are made.¡± ¡°That is fine.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We have been given to understand that some might come regardless of what we tell them, so as long as they are kept to a minimum, it is acceptable.¡± She paused briefly before continuing. ¡°And, finally, Life wants to stress that the scythe is his, and not Death¡¯s. I am sure you have been told before, but it seems important to him.¡± The Archpriest sighed. ¡°I am aware, but unfortunately changing the perception of the people is not a simple task. I have tried to fix this issue multiple times, but it is always sidelined for ¡°more important issues¡± or even ignored. At the very least, I have been able to stop it from appearing in new statues and paintings, but getting more than that has proved troublesome.¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Very well then. I suppose we¡¯ll have to take matters into our own hands when we debut publicly.¡± The Archpriest looked to Tess and then back to Ellie. ¡°This is somewhat presumptuous, but, when you make a public appearance, could you find time to publicly announce your relationship?¡± He asked. ¡°I am afraid I have attempted to deal with those that denounce homosexuality, but many simply will not listen. Like with the scythe, there is a culture around certain things, and my word alone cannot change that. However, knowing that the handmaiden of the gods is homosexual should greatly alleviate the issue.¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°I am glad you asked. We were, in fact, planning on doing so. However, our public debut is going to wait until people are more¡­receptive of the supernatural, so the issue will, unfortunately, have to be put off until then.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± The Archpriest replied. ¡°Good. Are there any other questions you have before we take our leave?¡± The Archpriest shook his head. ¡°How should I address you?¡± ¡°Just use our names.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯re not much for standing on ceremony.¡± ¡°Very well, then. Thank you for taking the time out of your schedules to meet with me.¡± ¡°Likewise.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Thank you for your service of the gods. We will be getting out of your hair now, enjoy the rest of your evening.¡± And with that, Tess and Ellie found themselves pulled back into the realm of the gods. ¡°See, told you it wouldn¡¯t be that bad.¡± Death said. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Better.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not quite sure what I was worried about in the first place, he seemed¡­well, harmless enough.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid introducing yourself to my church isn¡¯t going to be so easy.¡± Fortune said, grimacing. ¡°It¡¯s¡­quite a bit more corrupt. Life and Death got pretty lucky with their clergy, and they¡¯ve only had to have a couple of audits.¡± Tess sighed. ¡°Well, at least I haven¡¯t been looking to whoever¡¯s in charge of your church as an authority figure for my entire life.¡± She said. ¡°What¡¯s the worst that can happen? He tries to beat me up, and I Descend and kick his teeth in?¡± ¡°I suppose that¡¯s one way to look at it.¡± Fortune giggled. ¡°I¡¯d be more worried about her trying to ruin you financially, but that¡¯s¡­also pretty much a nonissue. Either way, it¡¯s probably best not to reveal your identity to her, she could get nasty about it.¡± ¡°Ah, the head of your church is a woman?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Yeah. But¡­enough about that for now.¡± Fortune said. ¡°Do you two want to hang out? It¡¯s been a while since we all played games together.¡± Tess looked to Ellie, who shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m game if Tess is.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m down too, so¡­why not?¡± ¡°Perfect!¡± Fortune said. ¡°Death, you in?¡± ¡°Absolutely!¡± Death replied. ¡°By the way, since you¡¯ve technically debuted, do you remember that item I wanted from that MMO? Well¡­I¡¯ve been working and haven¡¯t gotten one yet, so I was kiiind of hoping you could take care of that while you were here, Tess.¡± ¡°Did you write the numbers down like I asked?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Yeah, I even had Life look them over, right, Life?¡± Life rolled his eyes. ¡°She did. She has been working at this, so I suppose it is acceptable for Tess to help her.¡± ¡°Cool, just tell me what I need to do, then.¡± Tess said. Death grinned. ¡°I¡¯ll show you, it should only take like five minutes, it¡¯s not at the end of a raid or anything. Ellie and Fortune, you wanna get things set up and maybe start a round or two of a game while we¡¯re out?¡± ¡°On it.¡± Fortune said. ¡°This way, Ellie!¡± She and Ellie left, and Death towed Tess a few rooms over to what appeared to be a bedroom, decorated in bright colors and with a lot of plushies, figurines, and various other paraphernalia. She sat down at a computer, logged into the game, then stood up and motioned for Tess to sit. ¡°So, first you need to cast a couple of spells, I¡¯ve set their hotkeys to one and two, so just press those. Then you¡¯re going to go inside that door¡­¡± Holiday Special 2021 Tess lurched forward, caught in mid-stride by a sudden teleport. ¡°Huh? What happened? Where are we?¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know.¡± Ellie said. ¡°And I¡¯m¡­in a dress?¡± ¡°Ah, this thing.¡± Amy said. Tess turned to face her, and found, to her surprise, that Amy had a sort of¡­dress made of slime on. ¡°Transdimensional party.¡± She said. ¡°Bunch of seemingly random but important people get teleported here from different times and different places, we all have a nice party, then we get teleported back with no memory of what happened.¡± ¡°Looks like it¡¯s just us and Amy from our planes this time.¡± Amara said. ¡°For now, you two can just sort of¡­wait around until we find somewhere for you to be. And you will find somewhere to be, so just¡­relax and let it happen, I guess.¡± Already, people were beginning to walk up and talk to Amy, and Amara seemed to know a fair number of people too, so Tess and Ellie were just left¡­awkwardly standing there. ¡°So¡­this isn¡¯t how I expected our evening to go.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But¡­I guess this could be a good time.¡± ¡°Maybe, I guess it depends on who we¡¯ll be matched up with.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s¡­well, a little weird knowing that everyone here is from a different time and place.¡± ¡°Yeah, that is a little strange, but I guess that¡¯s not too different from when we first went to the Outlands.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°The from a different place part, not the time part. Though¡­I guess having hovercars is a bit futuristic?¡± ¡°I suppose it is, now that you mention it.¡± Tess admitted. She and Ellie kept chatting until, after a minute or two more, Amara showed up again. ¡°Hey, you two, I have someone to introduce you to, follow me!¡± She grabbed Tess and Ellie¡¯s arms, and gently towed them off to Amy, who was talking with a pair of people. One was a succubus that bore an odd resemble to Amara, while the other seemed to be some sort of tall angel-demon hybrid. The hybrid made Tess feel strangely; though her posture was nervous, something about her was oddly intimidating, and definitely not normal, even when compared to the other hybrid species Tess had seen. Tess didn¡¯t have time to explore that feeling more, though, as Amara motioned at the succubus. ¡°Tess, Ellie, this is Kali. She¡¯s my distant ancestor, and she runs that set of planes that Amy is preparing to help with, with the whole merger of Mael.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Tess said awkwardly. She¡­vaguely remembered someone like that being mentioned, but it was entirely different to meet the person in question. ¡°Nice to meet you?¡± Kali laughed. ¡°I forgot how cute you two were when you were younger. I¡¯m from fiftyish years in your future, so I guess¡­nice to meet you again! Thanks for taking care of Maven for me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­welcome, I think.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°So¡­if you¡¯re from the future, is there anything cool coming up that we should know about?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not going to be that easy to get it out of me.¡± Kali replied, eyes twinkling. ¡°The unwritten rule here is to not talk about the future. It has a tendency to sour the party.¡± ¡°It was worth a shot.¡± Ellie replied, shrugging. ¡°Lilith, this is Tess,¡± Kali said, motioning to Tess, ¡°and this is Ellie.¡± She motioned at Ellie. ¡°They¡¯re¡­well, it¡¯s a thing Amy does on her planes, they¡¯re kind of like messengers for the Higher Beings of Amy¡¯s plane. You might meet their future selves some time later, but for now they¡¯re still getting used to everything.¡± ¡°Actually, why don¡¯t you three chat?¡± Amara said. ¡°I think you all will have a lot in common, seeing as how you all were born on a world without much magic.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡± Kali said. ¡°It¡¯ll give me some time to catch up with some other people, too.¡± She turned back to Lilith. ¡°Is that okay with you?¡± ¡°Why not, I guess?¡± She said. ¡°Beats being an awkward third wheel.¡± ¡°Awesome.¡± Kali replied. ¡°I¡¯ll let you three get¨C¡± ¡°Take these two, too!¡± A man said, bursting into the conversation. ¡°Sorry, but I really don¡¯t know what to do with them, and that weird gut feeling is telling me this is the place!¡± He practically pushed a tall, green woman with a dress made of leaves and a kitsune in a red dress into their midst. ¡°Oh, and it¡¯s roughly year thirty-two forty-five Amy time for me.¡± ¡°Um¡­hi?¡± Tess ventured. ¡°And¡­weird gut feeling?¡± ¡°It happens from time to time at these events.¡± The plant woman said. ¡°You get a feeling like someone needs to be somewhere and it won¡¯t go away until you bring them there. Anyway, my name is Rose, and this is Lia, my Queen.¡± ¡°Right, well, we¡¯ll leave the five of you to it.¡± Amy said. ¡°Feel free to wander around, you¡¯re as safe as can be. No one¡¯s able to hurt each other here.¡± ¡°And yes, conversion counts as harmful in this context.¡± The man, most likely the new girls¡¯ Administrator, said. ¡°Not that you¡¯d be able to get away with it, you two are probably the weakest people in this little group.¡± Rose gave the other three a thoughtful look. ¡°I suppose I am a fair bit weaker than I was the last time I was at one of these things.¡± ¡°To be quite honest, you don¡¯t beat out Lilith even at the height of your old power. She is, for all intents and purposes, on the same level as the gods.¡± The other Administrator said. ¡°And Tess and Ellie, the blonde and redhead, are pretty close to the gods too, plus Amy¡¯s planes are generally stronger, so¨C¡± ¡°Let them make their own introductions.¡± Amy interrupted. ¡°We¡¯ll just be stifling their conversation.¡± ¡°Alright, alright.¡± He said. ¡°But, seriously, behave yourselves.¡± ¡°We will, don¡¯t worry.¡± Rose assured. ¡°Good, thank you.¡± He replied, nodding his head. And with that, all the other people walked away, leaving Lilith alone with the four strangers. There was silence for a moment, then Ellie spoke up. ¡°So¡­you¡¯re on the same level as the gods? What does that mean?¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess?¡± Lilith replied, scratching the back of her neck. ¡°We¡¯re the same category of being. How much do you know about Administrators?¡± ¡°Enough.¡± Ellie said. ¡°They¡¯re like a step above the gods, right?¡± ¡°What¡¯s an Administrator?¡± Lia asked. ¡°I¡­sorry, this is all a little overwhelming.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°Um¡­I don¡¯t know if we should talk about this in front of you, then. Um¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Rose said. ¡°She won¡¯t remember a thing when this is over. At least I didn¡¯t the three or four times I¡¯ve been to one of these.¡± ¡°Right. Then, I¡¯m what¡¯s called a Higher Being, they¡¯re what most gods are. Lords of Monsters, too, if the planes you guys are from use those.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Lia said, flinching back. ¡°The Lord of Monsters is a god?! How are we supposed to¡­¡± Rose laid a hand on her shoulder. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s more to it than that, or else no Lord of Monsters would ever be defeated.¡± Lilith shrugged. ¡°Power levels vary. To my knowledge, most Lords of Monsters only get abilities that relate to monsters. Or, at least, I did.¡± Lia¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You¡¯re a Lord of Monsters?! But you¡¯re not¡­omnicidal!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a side job. I¡¯m pulling double duty for my world.¡± She turned back to Tess and Ellie. ¡°Speaking of, Amara mentioned that you¡¯re from a plane without magic like me?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Tess said. ¡°I mean, yeah. We were just introduced to it like¡­half a year ago.¡± ¡°It can get pretty overwhelming at times, right?¡± Lilith said. ¡°I felt the same way sometimes. You get used to things after a while, so don¡¯t stress it.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think we¡¯re getting there.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So¡­does your world just have angels and demons or is it more¡­cosmopolitan?¡± ¡°When I was born, just humans, at least as far as people who didn¡¯t know about magic. There are a bunch of other species too, but not nearly as many as there are humans. And, yes, I used to be human. I was just your regular human dude and then I got turned into¡­this. It¡¯s like¡­well, I doubt your planes have a similar concept, but I¡¯m every species in existence at the same time, which means I¡¯m a lot stronger than the average person, since I get every single species-specific ability.¡± ¡°Wait, you used to be a guy too?¡± Tess said, taken aback. ¡°That¡¯s crazy, so was I!¡± ¡°And I.¡± Rose said. ¡°I suppose we have more in common than it seems.¡± ¡°Alright, are the rest of you really not freaking out or are you just good at not showing it?¡± Lia blurted out. ¡°This is weird, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of weird in my time.¡± Lilith said. ¡°I¡¯m numb to it.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Tess said. ¡°This is only barely in the top three.¡± Discovering Gramps was arguably the most important man alive was definitely number one, and her transformation after getting Monster Breeder was two, but this event was¡­probably number three. It was in fierce competition with going back to school as a girl, though. ¡°Yeah, what she said.¡± Ellie added. ¡°I¡¯m just sorta dealing by pretending it¡¯s not weird.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°And I¡¯ve been here before.¡± Rose said. ¡°The novelty wears off by the second or third time.¡± ¡°So, as the one who¡¯s been here before, what do we do?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Do we just stand around talking or what?¡± ¡°I suppose we begin by eating some food, then proceed to activities afterwards.¡± Rose mused. ¡°Let¡¯s talk more over dinner, okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go find a table.¡± Lilith volunteered. ¡°Uh, let me see if I can¡­¡± She paused for a moment, and then a nearly-identical copy of her appeared beside her. ¡°Sick. Alright, I¡¯m gonna get us a table, then I¡¯ll send this one to go dish up. So, if you find me and I¡¯m not responding, it¡¯s because my consciousness is in this spare body, not because I¡¯m being rude.¡± She smirked, then walked off to find a table, leaving the double standing lifelessly in front of them. ¡°Um¡­I guess we should go dish up, then?¡± Lia ventured. ¡°Yeah, um¡­sounds like a plan.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°We¡¯ll catch you at the table, I guess.¡± She gently pulled Tess away from the group, and off to one of the tables piled with food. ¡°That Lilith¡¯s a character, isn¡¯t she?¡± ¡°Yeah. Does something about her feel¡­different to you?¡± Ellie frowned, grabbing a plate. ¡°Now that you mention it, yeah. Maybe it¡¯s because she¡¯s, you know, like a god?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s it.¡± Tess said. ¡°I can¡¯t put my finger on it, but it¡¯s almost like¡­like¡­there¡¯s this weird familiarity to her presence.¡± ¡°That¡¯s probably because she¡¯s a dungeon.¡± Amara said, grabbing a shrimp from a basin next to Tess. ¡°Or at least, that was the plan with her. Kali¡¯s discussed it with me, and dungeons in her world are going to work similarly to savage dungeons, but the dungeon itself is going to be intelligent. Anyway, how are you two doing? Things aren¡¯t too awkward, I hope.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a little awkward, but our groups have a weird amount in common.¡± Ellie said. ¡°And they seem like nice enough girls.¡± ¡°Yeah, the groups tend to be like that.¡± Amara said. ¡°It¡¯s just the way these things go. You¡¯ll get used to it after a few more of them.¡± ¡°How many have you been to?¡± Tess asked. Amara frowned, tapping her chin. ¡°Five or six? Mostly it happens when I¡¯m in the middle of some world-changing project, but, including now, I¡¯ve been to two when I wasn¡¯t. Evan¡¯s usually here, though, so it¡¯s a little weird that he¡¯s not, but there¡¯s not much rhyme or reason to attendees, so it is what it is.¡± She finished getting her shrimp, then gave Tess and Ellie a smile. ¡°Anyway, I have to get back now, I¡¯ll catch the two of you later!¡± After she left, Tess and Ellie focused on getting their food and finding the table Lilith had saved for them. It took them a minute, since they were shorter than most of the crowd, and Tess¡¯s tremorsense behaved¡­oddly in this place, cutting out seemingly at random, but they eventually were able to find the table, and sat down. ¡°Ah, you two, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask, what do you do?¡± Lilith asked. ¡°Like, as jobs. You seem to be teenagers, so are you in school or¡­?¡± ¡°We just graduated high school.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°And we¡¯re training as freelancers, sort of¡­explorers slash hunters slash odd job doers. Then we¡¯re also acting as messengers of the gods, enacting their will, that sort of thing. What about you?¡± Lilith shrugged. ¡°To tell you the truth, most days it¡¯s nothing but training. I¡¯m functioning as sort of¡­the icon of justice, so to speak. I step in when it looks like people are going to commit genocide or if the magical community looks like they¡¯re about to subjugate people who are way weaker than them. But, by and large, I¡¯m just there as a threat to keep people in line.¡± ¡°Been there, done that.¡± Rose sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t envy you for your position.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that bad.¡± Lilith said. ¡°I get to hang around with my girlfriends and my family, and I don¡¯t want for anything, so I¡¯m content.¡± ¡°But what about meeting new people and going out to see places?¡± Rose asked. ¡°You can¡¯t do that anymore, right?¡± ¡°No, I can.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°I just use a separate body or magic and no one is the wiser.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Rose said. ¡°I¡­really wish I could have done that.¡± There was silent for a moment, then Rose shook her head. ¡°But that¡¯s in the past. Let¡¯s talk about something more pleasant, okay?¡± They made more small talk while they ate, and eventually they finished, and began to drift towards the activities. ¡°So¡­what do they have to do here?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I can¡¯t really¡­see over all these people.¡± ¡°I believe it is entirely dependent on who is looking.¡± Rose said. ¡°We should find a variety of activities that we are familiar with. They¡¯ll just¡­appear when we look.¡± Ellie and Tess shared a look. ¡°Are any of you familiar with laser tag?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°It¡¯s Tess and I¡¯s favorite activity, but we, uh, haven¡¯t been able to have a fair game in a while.¡± ¡°I¡¯m familiar.¡± Lilith said. ¡°Provided it works similarly to how it does on my world. Though¡­I¡¯m not sure how fair the game will end up being, especially if we go all out.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry, we¡¯d make sure Tess doesn¡¯t use any of the real cheat-y stuff, but we just want to do it with people who are¡­you know, actually used to being on a battlefield and have experience.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe it was Tess she was worried about.¡± Rose said, raising an eyebrow. ¡°She is a god, after all.¡± ¡°Gods don¡¯t have any intrinsic advantages in this sort of thing.¡± Ellie said matter-of-factly. ¡°While Tess has the advantage of being able to use all sorts of additional senses that normal people don¡¯t get access to.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a god.¡± Lilith said. ¡°Not technically. But she is right, Higher Beings don¡¯t automatically get better at this sort of thing just because we¡¯re Higher Beings. That being said, you weren¡¯t here when I explained, but my species thing includes monsters. I have access to every monster and species-specific benefit at the same time. So, I also have those senses, and probably more. Though, hypothetically speaking, I might not have access to the kind of stuff you¡¯re referring to, due to differences in monsters and abilities between planes.¡± ¡°Does it even matter if you¡¯re not going to use them?¡± Lia asked quietly. ¡°Just the basic five should be fine, right?¡± ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± Lilith said. ¡°How are we splitting up the teams? Tess and Ellie on one and the rest of us on the other? You two are probably the most experienced so that seems the fairest.¡± ¡°How do you play?¡± Rose asked. ¡°It¡¯s easy.¡± Ellie said. ¡°You ever used a gun before?¡± ¡°No?¡± Rose asked, tilting her head. ¡°What¡¯s a gun?¡± ¡°It¡¯s kind of like a handheld cannon.¡± Lia explained. ¡°It¡¯s this long tube that you like¡­pack with some sort of powder and then it explodes and fires a projectile at something.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Rose replied. ¡°I have used a crossbow before, if that helps?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s good enough.¡± Ellie said. ¡°In my world, guns are a lot simpler than all that, you just load in the bullet and press the trigger, no need to pack the powder yourself or anything. Laser tag guns are even simpler, you just press a button on the side of the gun to reload, and then you point it at your opponent and shoot. Everyone wears these vest things, and they light up when you get hit.¡± ¡°Depending on the arena there are also other things you can shoot.¡± Tess added. ¡°Like pillars and stuff. They each give different amounts of points, and whichever team has the most points at the end of the game wins.¡± She turned to Lilith. ¡°Have you used a gun before?¡± ¡°Guns are my main weapon, to tell you the truth.¡± She admitted. ¡°But I don¡¯t have my¡­well, long story short, I don¡¯t have my aim assist with me, so I¡¯ll be a little worse than I usually am.¡± ¡°Aim assist?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Alternate consciousness with a biological supercomputer built into my body.¡± Lilith said. ¡°Again, long story. But, yes, I use guns extensively.¡± ¡°And there¡¯s the laser tag, I think.¡± Rose said, pointing towards the back of the room. ¡°Shall we?¡± The group made their way over, and suddenly found themselves teleported to a different space entirely. Their clothes had changed, too, from formal wear to nondescript clothes that were easy to move around in, vests and guns already in place. ¡°Please wait a moment while teams are selected.¡± A synthetic-sounding voice said. ¡°Teams selected. Please remain silent while the rules are read.¡± Lilith and Rose¡¯s vests had begun glowing orange, while the other vests glowed blue. ¡°This is a ten minute experience with the aim of obtaining the most points possible.¡± The voice said. ¡°Points are obtained by shooting your opponents or their home base, a large pillar on their side of the field. Pillar shots are worth five hundred points, while shots on an opponent are worth one hundred. ¡°While running, jumping, climbing, flying, and other such activities are actively encouraged, purposeful physical contact with the other team is discouraged, and will result in a fine of one thousand points. To ensure fairness, your statistics will be evened out, your senses tuned to the same degree, and any active abilities, or passive abilities that may negatively affect the game, will be disabled. If you wish to play without this tuning, you may choose to do so after this game. You will be transported to your side of the field in three¡­two¡­one¡­¡± And then Tess was in a dimly lit room, along with Ellie and Lia. It took her a moment for her eyes to adjust to the lighting, but, once they had, the arena didn¡¯t look that different from most others she had been in. ¡°Alright, so, I¡¯ll take left, Tess, you take right, and Lia, you handle the middle.¡± Ellie instructed. ¡°We have numbers on our side, so we can afford to have one person just camp their base while the others run interference.¡± ¡°Camp their base?¡± Lia asked, tilting her head in confusion. ¡°Doing nothing but sitting there and shooting the base until someone interrupts them.¡± Tess translated. ¡°Oh. Can I do that? I feel like it¡¯ll be easier to get used to the gun that way.¡± Lia said. ¡°Sure.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Just find yourself a decent hiding place and blast away.¡± ¡°The other team will be given a substantial point boost for having fewer players.¡± The synthetic voice suddenly said. ¡°Game begins in five¡­four¡­three¡­two¡­one¡­¡± A horn blared, and the area around them lit up. Or, rather, the walls, floor, and various bits of cover began glowing with neon light, not bright enough to do anything more than provide an indication of the arena¡¯s general shape and where you were walking. The three girls immediately split up, and even in the early minutes Tess could tell that she was a fan of playing with people who knew how to fight. It was mostly the fact that they were a lot quicker to react than her friends, and were stealthier to boot. Tess found herself blindsided several times, something that just hadn¡¯t happened with her friends. It was probably a good thing that she wouldn¡¯t remember this afterwards; it would likely ruin playing with her friends for her. The game progressed far too quickly, and when it finished her only wish was that there were more people in their group, so they could get a nice and big game going. The game was close, too; her team won by a slim margin, but it definitely could have gone either way. They ended up playing a couple more games with different team compositions, and all agreed there was too much variance in their abilities to try playing a game without the built-in limiters. So, once they decided to leave, they found themselves teleported back to the main room, back in the party wear they had been in before. ¡°Where to next?¡± Lilith asked. ¡°We did our thing, do you guys have any ideas?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I¡¯m partial to miniature golf myself.¡± Lilith said, taking Tess by surprise. She hadn¡¯t expected Lilith to enjoy something so¡­pedestrian. Lilith, seemingly not noticing Tess¡¯s surprise, turned to Lia and Rose. ¡°What about you two?¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t have much experience with recreation.¡± Rose admitted. ¡°Where I¡¯m from, we don¡¯t have anything as complex as what we just played, but¡­I play cards a lot, I guess?¡± Lia said. ¡°I¡¯d like to try whatever this miniature golf is, though.¡± So, the evening progressed, and they went from activity to activity until, eventually, they all simultaneously got the feeling that it was time to go. ¡°Well, it was fun hanging out with you guys.¡± Lilith said. ¡°Hopefully I¡¯ll see you around at one of these, or perhaps even in real life.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Lia said. ¡°As long as it¡¯s not because you¡¯re coming to invade my world or anything. I don¡¯t think I could handle that.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about that.¡± Lilith laughed. My world is on very good terms with your world. Even if we weren¡¯t, my world isn¡¯t in any place to be invading other worlds. You shouldn¡¯t have to worry about any of that stuff until you¡¯ve conquered your world at the very earliest.¡± ¡°Well¡­that is good to hear.¡± Lia said. ¡°Hopefully, sometime in the future, we can meet in real life, then. I¡¯m sure the five of us would get along just as well.¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It all depends on circumstance, I guess.¡± ¡°Oh, you two will almost certainly be meeting Lilith at some point.¡± Kali said, eyes twinkling as she stepped up. ¡°But not for quite a while. She hasn¡¯t even been born in your time.¡± ¡°Wait, really?¡± Tess asked, blinking in surprise. ¡°You just seemed older than us, so I assumed¡­¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m five or six years older than you right now, but I¡¯m also from fifty or so years in your future, apparently.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°Though, I guess¡­things do get a little fuzzy, but that¡¯s neither here nor there. I¡¯ll see you all when I see you, I guess.¡± ¡°Thanks again for taking care of Maven!¡± Kali said cheerfully, giving them a wave. And then they were just¡­gone. ¡°Time¡¯s up, you two!¡± Lia¡¯s Administrator said, running up to them. ¡°They didn¡¯t bother you too much, right?¡± ¡°They were fun to be around.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Good.¡± The Administrator said. With that, their group of three vanished, leaving Tess and Ellie alone. ¡°Well, I suppose we just wait for Amy?¡± Tess said. ¡°I¨C¡± Ellie didn¡¯t have time to finish her thought, as the two found themselves transported back to the dungeon they had been in, all memory of the event erased from their minds. Chapter 69: Dungeons As Tess and Ellie were leaving, they passed by a tall angel woman. It wasn¡¯t the first time they had passed other people in the hallways of the gods¡¯ domain, but this woman was different; she blinked in surprise as the group passed, then turned to follow them. ¡°Oh, hey, wait up!¡± She called. ¡°I need to talk to you two!¡± Tess stopped, giving her a puzzled look. ¡°Sorry if this is rude, but¡­do we know you?¡± The woman shook her head. She was¡­well, tall, with short black hair and bright yellow eyes. She was wearing a t-shirt and a set of shorts, and had an overall pleasant feel to her. ¡°Sorry, you wouldn¡¯t.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m Dungeons, and I kept meaning to get with you about the whole savage dungeon thing, but then I ended up working out some kinks with some of the higher level ones I placed and you guys were busy so I just forgot.¡± ¡°Breathe, Dungeons.¡± Fortune said, smiling faintly. ¡°You don¡¯t need to justify yourself, we get that you¡¯ve been busy.¡± ¡°Right, right.¡± Dungeons replied, taking a deep breath. ¡°Are you guys in a hurry, or do you have some time to hash out how we¡¯re going to deal with the one you¡¯re in charge of?¡± ¡°No, we were just heading back home, we cleared our schedules just in case things took longer than expected.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So¡­yeah, we have time.¡± ¡°Perfect. Let¡¯s go sit down, then, and we¡¯ll hash this out.¡± Dungeons said, motioning for them to follow. ¡°You all go on ahead.¡± Death said. ¡°I¡¯ll catch up with you once I finish putting everything away.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll help, you guys start without us.¡± Fortune added. ¡°We¡¯ll just be in the side room here.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°Take your time.¡± The two gods left, and Dungeons brought Ellie and Tess to a side room as promised. ¡°So, I¡¯ve already put a couple of the high level savage dungeons in, and I¡¯ve worked through most of the major kinks with the more experienced Appointed, so, fortunately you two are just going to have to deal with balancing and making sure this dungeon doesn¡¯t run wild. Uh¡­it¡¯s been a bit, do you two need a refresher on how savage dungeons are going to work?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯d be nice.¡± Tess said. ¡°They¡¯re like¡­dungeons where more than just your party can be in at the same time, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the shape of it, yeah.¡± Dungeons confirmed. ¡°And¡­well, where other dungeons are more¡­randomly generated, for lack of a better term, these dungeons are static and completely handcrafted. At the same time, they¡¯re also going to be more difficult. Uh¡­if you¡¯ve played MMOs, think of it like the difference between a raid dungeon and just your run of the mill normal dungeon. ¡°The idea is to try and force people to work in larger groups than just a party, at least if they want to beat it on-level. I¡¯m also curious to see what sort of social situations come out of this, if people try and set up waystations in the dungeon, that kind of thing.¡± She paused briefly, shifting in her chair. ¡°The one you guys are going to be dealing with is the dungeon we¡¯re going to be using as the intro to savage dungeons. Nothing hugely difficult, just something to get you used to the mechanics. It¡¯s designed for large groups of about level twenty five, so it might give you two a bit of trouble, but you should be able to take care of it no sweat.¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°So¡­what exactly is our job? Also, I¡¯m assuming the Rewards Crystal is still a thing, how does that work? I¡¯m assuming they don¡¯t have the same floor setup as normal dungeons, so¡­is it still clearing from the beginning, or¡­?¡± ¡°Good question.¡± Dungeons replied. ¡°There are still some teleporters, but there aren¡¯t always going to be clearly delineated floors. You just have to beat the dungeon without using a teleporter to have a shot at it. The dungeons are going to be quite a bit longer than normal too, so expect to only have to go through a single dungeon ten or so times to get all the rewards. ¡°As for your job, you¡¯re both beta tester and maintenance crew. You¡¯re going to run through the dungeon and make sure there are no fatal flaws in the design, and until we are ready to have the public discover it, or someone just randomly stumbles upon it, you¡¯re going to clear it once a month or so and make sure it doesn¡¯t start overflowing.¡± ¡°We miss anything important?¡± Fortune asked, opening the door and walking in. ¡°No, just catching them up on their duties and what savage dungeons are.¡± Dungeons replied. ¡°Go ahead and take a seat.¡± ¡°Can do.¡± Fortune and Death walked in and sat down near Tess and Ellie. ¡°So¡­what can you tell us about this dungeon? Do you have an info packet or something like the guild?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I do, but I¡¯m not going to give it to you until you¡¯ve seen all the surprises the dungeon has. While most people will go through the dungeon with that information, it¡¯s also important to make sure there isn¡¯t anything too unfair if someone doesn¡¯t have it. Once you¡¯ve been through everything major, though, I¡¯ll drop you a packet with one of the boss kills.¡± ¡°And if there is something unfair?¡± Ellie prompted. ¡°If you die to it, then I give the Worship required to resurrect you to your god. Otherwise¡­well, then we just deal with the problem after you discover it.¡± ¡°How are we going to get there?¡± Tess asked. ¡°It¡¯s going to be kind of¡­out in the middle of nowhere, right?¡± ¡°Oh, right, I¡¯m supposed to give you two a Blessing that¡¯ll teleport you there and back. You¡¯ll need to be on the same plane, in this case the main plane of the Outlands, and you can¡¯t already be inside a dungeon, but other than that, you¡¯ll just put in a bit of Mana and you¡¯ll just blink on over. Then, just put Mana in again when you¡¯re ready to leave, and you¡¯ll teleport back to where you last used it from. Here¡­give me a second¡­¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
You have been given the Blessing Instant Transportation (Unnamed Dungeon)!
¡°There you go. If you¡¯re curious, this particular dungeon is far to the west of the known area of the Outlands, and there aren¡¯t many people exploring there now. I¡¯m projecting this will take a couple of decades to see the light of day, so you should have plenty of time to get everything taken care of before the public lays their hands on it.¡± ¡°And if you ever get into a sticky situation, we¡¯ll just Descend and that should¡­probably take care of it, provided you don¡¯t get instakilled. Don¡¯t stress about it.¡± Fortune added. ¡°I¡¯ve learned since last time!¡± Dungeons said defensively. ¡°That hasn¡¯t happened in centuries!¡± ¡°See? Nothing to worry about.¡± ¡°Last time?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I made a stupid mistake and accidentally introduced a trap that could kill without warning immediately upon entering a room if you happened to meet a specific set of criteria. I was working overtime and just¡­goofed. Seriously, I¡¯ve triple checked this dungeon, there isn¡¯t anything like that in there. Evan would kill me if there was.¡± ¡°Can gods even die?¡± Tess interjected. ¡°Contrary to popular belief, yes. We just need a little Worship, and then we¡¯re right as rain, though.¡± Fortune said. ¡°But Evan wouldn¡¯t actually kill her, so it¡¯s a moot point.¡± ¡°Yeah, but he¡¯d make me wish he had.¡± Dungeons grumbled. ¡°The last time I had to listen to one of his tongue lashings¡­¡± She shivered a bit as she recalled it. ¡°Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s not an incident I¡¯m keen on repeating.¡± ¡°So¡­back on topic, we just go through the dungeon as normal and keep an eye out for anything that seems unfair? Anything else to keep in mind?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°We like to introduce new abilities and monsters alongside new dungeons. Try not to show those off when unrelated people are around.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°It¡¯s never been an issue before, but be careful, just in case. But other than that¡­that¡¯s it. It¡¯s not really a big deal, more of a¡­chore than anything. Once I get my own Appointed, you won¡¯t have to deal with this sort of thing as much, so¡­yeah. Thanks for doing this for me.¡± ¡°How is your Appointed search coming, by the way?¡± Death asked. ¡°It¡¯s¡­coming. I kicked it back into high gear once you guys got yours, but I¡¯m honestly just kind of¡­lost. I¡¯m not sure exactly what I should be looking for, you know?¡± ¡°You probably don¡¯t need someone with super great stats.¡± Fortune mused. ¡°Your Appointed probably won¡¯t be in the public eye all that much. You just need someone who can clear dungeons and get along well with the other Appointed. I mean, you might need them to do something if a dungeon is being mismanaged, but¡­¡± Dungeons frowned. ¡°Probably best I get one before we formally introduce savage dungeons, then.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯ve got a couple of decades, then.¡± Fortune said. ¡°Plenty of time.¡± ¡°Easy for you to say.¡± Dungeons grumbled. ¡°You never had any pressure to get one. This is kind of super important.¡± ¡°What about Maven?¡± Death volunteered. ¡°She¡¯s a nice enough girl, loves the work, and she¡¯s above average with stats to boot.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Amara¡¯s however many greats granddaughter.¡± Death supplied. ¡°She¡¯s in Tess and Ellie¡¯s party right now, so you can even take the however long it takes to get savage dungeons out there to drill your Blessing into the basics of how she fights. That way, you don¡¯t need to get someone already used to fighting used to using a crazy powerful new tool.¡± ¡°That¡­is tempting.¡± Dungeons admitted. ¡°Is she in line for the throne?¡± ¡°Crown princess, but planning to abdicate to her brother ASAP.¡± Death replied. ¡°Well¡­if she¡¯s planning to abdicate her royal duties, it shouldn¡¯t get too in the way of things.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°I¡¯ll look into her, thanks for letting me know about her.¡± ¡°Is this how the process for finding an Appointed normally goes?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Someone just gets recommended by another god?¡± Fortune shrugged. ¡°Usually, yeah. There are a lot of people, and frankly, it¡¯s easier to pick from the pool of ¡®people we know¡¯ than it is to pick through every single person and find someone who meets our criteria. There are obvious exceptions, like with people who have gone above and beyond in fields relating to a god, but by and large, it¡¯s just nepotism.¡± ¡°Have they met the other Appointed?¡± Dungeons asked. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve been to the meeting.¡± Tess replied. Dungeons shook her head. ¡°No, not them. There are a few more¡­unruly Appointed who don¡¯t attend the meetings. They¡¯re mostly with gods who aren¡¯t on the best terms with our¡­¡± she paused, clearly searching for the right word. ¡°Clique. I think Commerce and Passion have Appointed not in the group, and¡­one or two others I can¡¯t think of right now.¡± ¡°And yes, we have friend groups.¡± Fortune said. ¡°We¡¯re people too, and there are like¡­forty or fifty of us. We¡¯re all mostly cordial with each other, but there¡¯s been some beef in the past, and so we try and¡­well, not work with people we don¡¯t get along with unless we have to. Just saves headache, you know? Don¡¯t worry about them for now, you¡¯ll meet their Appointed eventually, but they¡¯re not important at the moment.¡± ¡°Yeah, I was just wondering.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°No reason or anything. Anyway, I¡¯m gonna¡­well, I¡¯m going to go snoop on this Maven, if I like what I see I¡¯ll give her a Blessing and see how things go.¡± ¡°Let us know if you do.¡± Death said. ¡°And if you don¡¯t, let us know why, that way we can help narrow in on what kind of person you¡¯re looking for.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± Dungeons replied, standing up. ¡°Thanks for the talk, you two. Go ahead and start clearing¡­well, let¡¯s say after you leave on the expedition, that should give you time to get everything in order.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll do that.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯ll¡­see you around, I guess.¡± ¡°Yup. Later!¡± Dungeons replied, giving a little wave as she left the room. ¡°So, what¡¯d you think?¡± Fortune asked. ¡°Of Dungeons, or of our job?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Both.¡± ¡°Dungeons seems pretty nice, and the job is simple enough. How about you, Ellie?¡± ¡°Basically the same, yeah.¡± Ellie replied, turning to Death. ¡°Any reason you mentioned Maven in particular as a candidate?¡± ¡°Convenience, really.¡± Death said. ¡°She¡¯s already in the loop on a bunch of stuff, and she¡¯s a bit¡­different from standard freelancers. I figured Dungeons hadn¡¯t picked a ¡®normal¡¯ freelancer for a reason, so I thought maybe someone more¡­unique might suit her tastes. But, yeah, mostly because she¡¯s just in a really convenient position for us. The Rumors are too, if a bit worse, but I¡¯ll see how Dungeons feels about Maven before suggesting them.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t The Rumors be better than Maven?¡± Tess said. ¡°They¡¯re a lot more experienced.¡± ¡°I mean, yeah, but it¡¯s a little awkward to make only one person in a party an Appointed, especially when the party is already established. But, at the end of the day, their circumstances are enough to override that awkwardness. Anyway, we really should be getting you back about now, anything else you wanna do here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡­think so.¡± Tess said. ¡°Can you think of anything, Ellie?¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯m good.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Thanks for having us over!¡± ¡°Any time.¡± Death said, smiling. ¡°Let¡¯s go find Life, make sure he¡¯s good, and then get you two home, eh?¡± The four of them left the room and began searching through the various rooms until, eventually, they found Life. ¡°Ready to go back?¡± He asked, looking up from a book he was reading. ¡°Yeah, we just wanted to make sure you didn¡¯t need anything before we left.¡± Tess said. ¡°No, I am fine.¡± Life replied. ¡°Have a nice night, you two.¡± ¡°Yup, see you later!¡± Fortune added. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll see you around.¡± Death said. ¡°Bye, guys!¡± Tess said, giving a wave. ¡°Later!¡± Ellie said. And then, Death waved a hand, and the two found themselves back in the Holy Room in their local church. Chapter 70: Debut Tess was sitting down with the rest of her party and the Rumors in their private room in the guild, a magical television of sorts in front of them. Displayed on the screen was Gramps, standing behind a podium, a myriad of microphones arrayed in front of him. He cleared his throat, and the faint buzz from his audience faded. ¡°As you are all well aware, the guild¡¯s expedition leaves tomorrow, and with it, we are officially changing our ranking system. As such, I have called this meeting to lay out how exactly we will be handling this change, and what this means for those of you that aren¡¯t in the guild. ¡°For a while now, those towards the higher ranks have noticed that rank ten is far too broad a categorization, and, unlike other ranks, the strength of those within varies drastically. So, from here on out, we will be moving to a twenty rank system. Those at rank ten will not be automatically promoted. Their performance in the upcoming expedition and a series of tests will determine their new rank. ¡°That being said, we are endeavoring to not make rank twenty the new rank ten, at least for a while. It is inevitable that, as people grow stronger, the highest rank will become as crowded and diverse as it currently is, but we wish to avoid that for as long as possible. As such, the requirements for reaching the higher ranks will be far more stringent than they are for lower ranks. ¡°In fact, we don¡¯t expect anyone to reach rank twenty for a long time; the highest we are expecting people to reach after the expedition is fifteen. Now, for those of you who aren¡¯t active freelancers, this has a few ramifications¡­¡± He talked for a while longer on how civilians would be affected by this change, before, eventually, opening the floor up for questions. ¡°Where will the Titans be placed in this new ranking?¡± A reporter asked. ¡°My party will have to meet the same requirements as everyone else.¡± Gramps said calmly. ¡°We will not be automatically promoted, nor will we receive special treatment during the tests. I understand that it¡¯s a bit of a difficult situation, with me being the head of the guild and all, but I will be making sure there are impartial judges and that the tests are recorded, so anyone who suspects foul play can check for themselves. ¡°Of course, when I said that we do not expect anyone to reach higher than rank fifteen, that includes my party, so do not be surprised when we aren¡¯t an exception.¡± ¡°As if.¡± Alice snorted. ¡°If they¡¯re not rank twenty material, I don¡¯t know who is.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t he basically say no one is?¡± Ellie said. ¡°At least, not now?¡± ¡°Yes, but he¡¯s lying.¡± Alice said. ¡°The fact that all four of them are Appointed instantly bumps them up a few ranks, at least in terms of raw power. They can¡¯t even use their strongest stuff openly, and they¡¯re still better than everyone else.¡± ¡°She¡­has a point there.¡± Ker mused. ¡°While ranks are not a perfect indicator of how strong someone is, a party almost never loses to one of a lower rank, not unless one of those parties is ranked incorrectly. While the exact mechanics of Descents are pretty guarded, it¡¯s usually considered they make someone effectively invincible. If that¡¯s not worth bumping them up a few ranks, then they¡¯ve really tightened up the rank requirements.¡± ¡°Wait, do we have a rank?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know if we¡¯ve like¡­officially made a party or anything.¡± ¡°The Guildmaster put the two of you in a party when he registered you, I checked your paperwork.¡± Jin said. ¡°But even if you weren¡¯t in a party, everyone that¡¯s registered with the guild has a rank. You haven¡¯t taken any tests or anything, so you should still be rank one, but don¡¯t let that get to you. You¡¯re still learning, and once you¡¯re done training, you¡¯ll probably be able to get to rank four or five, easy.¡± ¡°When are we finished training?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°It¡¯s been¡­well, a while.¡± ¡°Honestly, you¡¯re getting pretty close.¡± Jin said. ¡°We were thinking that, depending on how the expedition goes, we¡¯d have you ¡°graduate¡± after it¡¯s over. If it goes poorly¡­well, it depends on how poorly it goes, but you¡¯ll be with us a little longer. But, given your performance in the Jagged Cliffs, I¡¯m confident you¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­going to be lonely.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯ll feel weird not having you guys around.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll still be about.¡± Alice said, throwing an arm around Tess and pulling her into a side-hug. ¡°You can come see us any time you want. In fact, I¡¯d be offended if you didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure the gods would have something to say about it, too.¡± Ker said, smiling faintly. ¡°The Guildmaster told us what they said about your social conduct as of late.¡± ¡°Does everyone know about that?¡± Ellie groaned. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡± Maven said. ¡°The Guildmaster said that both he and the gods were very concerned.¡± ¡°Hey, you¡¯re a princess, right? Surely you understand getting caught up in your work, right?¡± Ellie asked, a desperate edge to her tone. ¡°Not in the slightest.¡± Maven replied. ¡°I make an effort to avoid that work whenever possible.¡±
Fortune: Look, I get it, number go up make monkey brain feel good but you really gotta help make your person brain feel good too, and sometimes that means pushing yourself to do things you don¡¯t necessarily want to. Death: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and all that, you know? But¡­seriously it¡¯s really not healthy to be as focused on work as you two were, and it¡¯s our job to make sure you guys don¡¯t hurt yourselves while working for us. So¡­yeah, seriously, we really don¡¯t want to see you two become social recluses.
¡°It¡¯s not necessarily a bad thing that you¡¯re willing to put so much of your time into your job, but that¡¯s only if you know your limits and have a good work-life balance.¡± Jin said. ¡°I thought we were clear about that when we talked about taking days off each week, but I suppose that is something we should hammer home more.¡± ¡°And what if we pass your test during the expedition? You won¡¯t have time to hammer that in, then.¡± Ellie said, raising a brow. ¡°Who said anything about not doing that on the expedition?¡± Jin countered. ¡°Just because you¡¯re out with the guild doesn¡¯t mean everything has to be about freelancing. There are ways to pursue your hobbies while traveling, and we¡¯ll make sure to show you how.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t you guys planning to do your Appointed debut tomorrow, too?¡± Maven asked. ¡°How are we going to meet up afterwards?¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Ah, yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°So, it¡¯s going to go like this¡­¡±
Tess and Ellie stood nervously in the gods¡¯ realm, dressed in their respective uniforms. For Tess, that meant swapping out her foxkin traits for rabbitkin traits and wearing her suit, while Ellie was wearing an ornate set of weight-reduced plate armor crafted for the occasion. Of course, both were also equipped with divine-tier recognition blockers that would allow them to keep their public identities secret, but that didn¡¯t really help with the nerves. ¡°You two will be fine.¡± Life said. ¡°I have the utmost confidence in your abilities. You don¡¯t have to do anything particularly impressive, you just need to get yourselves out there. And remember, if you begin to falter, we will be here to bail you out.¡± ¡°Evan¡¯s just about done talking!¡± Death said, looking up from the television she was using to scry the mortal realm. ¡°It¡¯s go time!¡± ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s do this thing.¡± Fortune said, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and giving it a squeeze. ¡°You ready to Descend?¡± ¡°As I¡¯ll ever be.¡± Tess replied. And with that, Fortune slid into Tess¡¯s mind, her hand going limp as she left her body. A glance to their side revealed that Death had done the same with Ellie, and the four of them shared a nod before teleporting down to the top of the wall that Gramps had been addressing people from. There was a murmur from the crowd as Gramps turned, an array of spellwork spreading out behind him. He knew they were coming, of course, but he had to keep up appearances. ¡°No.¡± Ellie and Death said, snapping a finger. The crowd gasped as Gramps¡¯s spellwork crumbled, and they became aware of just who was talking. ¡°You¡¯ll have to forgive us for interrupting, but we have an announcement to make.¡± Tess said, giving a small bow at Fortune¡¯s prompting. ¡°As our appearance here must be making clear, we are the two newest Appointed. ¡°I am Fortune¡¯s Appointed, and she,¡± Tess said, motioning towards Ellie, ¡°is my girlfriend, the Appointed of Life and Death. And, with our advent, we will be making some changes to the way things are.¡± There was a beat, and then Ellie stepped forward. ¡°The majority of you will not feel my influence, provided you are not¡­foolish.¡± She said, Life¡¯s voice now entwined with hers instead of Death¡¯s. ¡°I will be carrying the dual duty of being Mael¡¯s protector and being one to guard the general public from those that would greatly disturb the cycle of souls. ¡°This means that I will be personally handling any who would cause mass death outside of wartime, terrorists and serial killers that the law does not have the resources to handle. In practice, this will generally refer only to those who are too high level to be dealt with conventionally, but I might step in in other circumstances, should they be considered dire enough. ¡°And, as I mentioned before, I am the protector of Mael. The time is approaching for Mael to be fully integrated into the wider community of planes, and those who try and invade while Mael is still adjusting will face my wrath.¡± ¡°And, of course, as her partner, I will be assisting her in that endeavor.¡± Tess said. ¡°Should any of the countries be foolish enough to draw our ire, I promise that it¡¯s not just their armies that will be suffering. ¡°But the rest of my duties will be much more applicable to the rest of you. Aside from auditing Fortune¡¯s church, I will be taking it upon myself to reform gambling. I will say now that gambling will never be a consistent path to riches, and often it is best to avoid it altogether. ¡°Still, I understand that attempting to abolish gambling altogether is both futile and unwanted. So, I will be opening a company of my own, which will not only provide accreditation of gambling parlors, but will be manufacturing machines that are guaranteed to be devoid of trickery. ¡°In two months¡¯ time, I will be officially opening this company for accreditation services, and in another four months, I will begin providing machines.¡± Tess let her own presence fade and Fortune came to the forefront, tweaking the instant recognition that came with her voice so people would know it was only Fortune speaking. ¡°Unfortunately, talented though she may be, my Appointed is only one person. Her time is limited, and as such we cannot provide accreditation for free. We will be keeping the fee as insignificant as possible, and as such will be completely inflexible with our price. If you cannot afford it, I would personally advise against going into the gambling business altogether. ¡°This accreditation will expire after one year, at which point you will need to pay the fee again. If we determine your company has cheated anyone at any time while you have been accredited, you will be blacklisted, and will not be able to obtain accreditation again for a period of twenty years, after which you will be required to pay an exorbitant fine if you wish to obtain accreditation again. ¡°Furthermore, if we determine you have been particularly egregious in your conduct, I will be personally punishing those responsible.¡± Fortune let Tess once again step up so the two were presenting equally. ¡°As for the machines, I will not be able to personally make all of those, either. I will be providing designs and outsourcing the work to manufacturers, and we will work to offer these machines at competitive prices. ¡°Those making my machines will be held to an extremely strict standard, and any misconduct will be met with severe and immediate punishment. If you wish to be involved in this production, issue a public statement, and I will contact you if I determine you to be a good fit for the job. ¡°For the public, once I begin providing official accreditation, I highly advise you only gamble at places I have accredited. Those who are not accredited are either trying to cheat you, or are too poor to pay out anything more than small sums. Either way, your money would be best spent elsewhere.¡± She turned to Gramps and gave another small bow. ¡°Our apologies for hijacking your speech. We wish you the best of luck on your expedition and would like to remind everyone once more to not do anything that will draw our ire.¡± She grabbed Ellie¡¯s hand, and the two were teleported back to the realm of the gods. Immediately, Ellie hunched over and began coughing. Death walked over and began rubbing her back, a concerned look on her face. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± She asked. ¡°I know switching in the middle of Descent is rough on you.¡± ¡°F-fine.¡± Ellie wheezed. ¡°I was just holding it in for a bit, and it caught up to me. I¡¯ll be fine in a couple of minutes, I think.¡± ¡°Good job.¡± Tess said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently. ¡°Nobody could tell a thing, I guarantee it.¡± ¡°Good job yourself.¡± Ellie said weakly. ¡°You sounded great. Thanks for doing all the talking for me.¡± ¡°Any time.¡± Tess said. ¡°Besides, most of the talking was for my stuff, anyway.¡± ¡°You both did great.¡± Fortune said. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you two.¡± ¡°I agree, but I am afraid our time here is short.¡± Life said. ¡°I need to get you two sent back to your companions. Are you ready to leave?¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be a party pooper!¡± Death protested. ¡°They can stay for a few more minutes!¡± ¡°The guild is already starting to mobilize. They are going to hold back their companions if they don¡¯t leave soon.¡± Life replied. ¡°So, once again, are you ready to leave?¡± Tess looked towards Ellie, who gave a nod, then looked back at Life. ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡± She said. ¡°Good. Enjoy yourselves out there.¡± Life said. There was a lurching, and then Tess and Ellie were back in the private room in the guild. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re back.¡± Jin said. ¡°Good job up there.¡± ¡°And congratulations on taking another step towards becoming fabulously wealthy!¡± Alice said, throwing an arm around Tess¡¯s neck. ¡°We¡¯re still planning on having my company manufacture some of those machines, right?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Tess said. ¡°But money really isn¡¯t why we¡¯re doing this.¡± ¡°I know, but you have to admit it¡¯s a nice benefit.¡± Alice replied, smirking. ¡°Are you feeling alright, Ellie?¡± Maven asked. ¡°You look a little¡­worn out.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Switching gods mid-Descent is really tiring. I¡¯ll be fine in a minute.¡± ¡°Does healing help?¡± Ker asked. ¡°I can try it, if you¡¯d like.¡± Ellie shook her head. ¡°No, sorry. It¡¯s more¡­pain in the soul than in the body. Trust me, I¡¯ve tried healing myself with my Blessing, and it just doesn¡¯t help.¡± ¡°It might still be worth a shot, then.¡± Ker said. ¡°Your Blessing is¡­well, it¡¯s somewhat related to the issue, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I¡­suppose.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Are you well enough to walk?¡± Jin asked. ¡°If so, we¡¯ll have Ker try and help you on the way. We need to get going if we don¡¯t want to be left behind.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ellie said, taking a step forward before faltering. Ker caught her before she fell, shaking his head slightly. ¡°Sure you will. Look, I¡¯ll just carry you until we reach the hoverer. No shame in it, I can¡¯t begin to imagine how taxing it is.¡± ¡°At least let me walk and just use you as a crutch.¡± Ellie protested. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be carried all the way out of the city, people might notice! Plus, we¡¯ve tested this before, I will be fine, so just¡­let me walk, okay?¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Ker said doubtfully. ¡°But if I think you¡¯re looking like you¡¯re pushing yourself too much, I¡¯m picking you up.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It won¡¯t come to that, though.¡± ¡°Right, clock¡¯s ticking, so let¡¯s get going!¡± Alice said. ¡°This is gonna be an experience you guys aren¡¯t going to forget any time soon!¡± Chapter 71: On the Road ¡°So¡­how long until something interesting happens?¡± Ellie asked, looking up from her cards. ¡°We¡¯ve been on the road for hours.¡± ¡°I mean¡­we are somewhat limited by the speed of the busses.¡± Tess replied. Members of the expedition who didn¡¯t have their own means of transport were riding on one of a number of large, armored, vehicles that the guild had supplied. They were hoverers of a sort, though much less¡­nice-looking than the one Tess was used to using. They were clearly meant for moving large numbers of people or bulk goods, but they were also bulky and slow. ¡°I would not expect much of interest to occur for a few days yet.¡± Maven said, placing a card down on the table that was in the middle of the hoverer. ¡°And I believe this means I win.¡± Alice groaned. ¡°Isn¡¯t this your first time playing? How are you so good?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve played similar games in the past.¡± Maven explained. ¡°But, that aside, would my guess be correct?¡± ¡°Yeah, basically.¡± Alice said. ¡°We¡¯re not going to hit unknown territory for a while. Until then, it¡¯s mostly just driving. Once we¡¯re there, we¡¯ll get to do more exciting things.¡± ¡°How far away is this unknown territory, anyway?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Surely you¡¯ve mapped quite a bit of the Outlands, right?¡± ¡°Yes and no.¡± Alice replied. ¡°It¡¯s not like Mael, we can¡¯t just send up satellites and get a picture of things that way. I mean, we¡¯ve tried, but they have a tendency to get offed by monsters before they ever make it to orbit, at least on this main plane. Turns out there¡¯s some really nasty stuff lurking in the skies, and we can¡¯t get past it. On some of the sub planes that broadly fall under the definition of the Outlands, we¡¯ve managed to get satellites off, but it¡¯s just too expensive to do it here just to have it fail again. ¡°Add to that the fact that this main plane is far bigger than Mael, and infinitely more dangerous to traverse, and you¡¯ve got a recipe for lots of uncharted land. We¡¯re heading off towards the least-charted area, but even that¡¯s a good three thousand or so miles away from where we are now.¡±
Fortune: Don¡¯t tell them, but the whole ¡°dropping satellites out of the sky¡± thing is our doing. We like to leave unexplored territory out here because it gives people an incentive to get more powerful and explore. Death: Also we have these giant monsters we keep around ¡°just in case¡± and we never get to use them sooooo Life: That is not an actual reason for dropping the satellites, do not listen to her. Death: Look sometimes it¡¯s fun to destroy things with giant monsters Life: I have never once thought that would be fun. Death: Yeah but watching paint dry is more exciting than your idea of fun Life: My reading is plenty stimulating, I¡¯ll have you know. Death: Okay grandpa, that¡¯s nice, let¡¯s take you back to your room now Life: We are the same age. Death: Yet you act like an old person while I¡¯m a vivacious youth who¡¯s ready to party. It¡¯s the spirit of the thing Life: We can discuss this later. I believe we are rather rudely interrupting a conversation. Death: Fortune started it Life: And you continued it. Apologies, you two, you may get back to your conversation now. Death: Well you continued it too
Tess dismissed the window and looked up to find Alice and Maven patiently looking at her and Ellie. ¡°Uh, sorry.¡± Tess said. ¡°The gods gave some clarification and then got all distracting on us.¡± ¡°Got¡­distracting?¡± Maven asked? ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Death started teasing Life about being boring.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Pretty standard fare, as far as those two go.¡± ¡°They¡­tease each other in their divine messages to you.¡± Maven said flatly. ¡°You¡¯ll have to forgive me if I find that hard to believe.¡± ¡°They¡¯re people too.¡± Ellie said, shrugging. ¡°And our divine messages are a little¡­different than most. We use a sort of¡­shared channel that we can all freely talk in, since the five of us are working together so closely. We probably shouldn¡¯t say much more, though, confidential stuff and all that.¡± ¡°Sure, sure.¡± Alice said, placing a freshly shuffled deck back on the table. ¡°Up for another round?¡±
For the next week or so, the expedition fell into a sort of rhythm. They would travel for around thirteen hours, at which point the busses would come to a halt, and everyone would pile out, stretch their legs, and begin setting up camp. For most people this involved setting up tents while the guild staff prepared a meal, but for Tess¡¯s party and The Rumors, they just relaxed in the hoverer until the food was done. At that point, they¡¯d emerge and make their way to wherever Gramps was, and they¡¯d have a meal. They¡¯d usually be joined by guests, often someone from Gramps¡¯s party, but on one occasion a high-ranking guild official sat in with them. That all changed on the night of the seventh day. They were eating dinner as normal, when, suddenly, Maven dropped her plate, staring forward with a shocked expression on her face. ¡°Maven, are you alright?¡± Ker asked, rushing over to her. ¡°You¡¯re not having an allergic reaction or anything, right?¡± ¡°N-no.¡± Maven stammered. ¡°I¡­I just got a Blessing. Two of them, actually.¡± ¡°Two Blessings?¡± Jin asked. ¡°Did you do anything recently that would merit them?¡± ¡°No! This is completely unprovoked!¡± Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Do you feel comfortable telling us who they¡¯re from?¡± Gramps asked. ¡°We might be able to shed some light on the situation.¡± Maven blinked, then slowly nodded. ¡°I suppose you would be able to. Um, they¡¯re from Dungeons.¡± Tess shared a knowing glance with Ellie, then looked back to Maven. ¡°Ah.¡± She said. ¡°Yeah, Ellie and I talked with Dungeons the other day and you came up. I¡¯m not sure how much I can say right now, but the possibility of giving you a Blessing came up. Do you mind sharing with us what they do?¡± ¡°One increases my stats while in dungeons and lets me know where traps are, and the other teleports me to an unnamed dungeon, apparently.¡± Maven said. ¡°What does that mean? Just a random unnamed dungeon, or what?¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Um¡­give me a second here, I need to ask for some clarification before I say anything.¡±
Ellie: Hey guys, Maven just got a Blessing that presumably transports her to the same dungeon Tess and I can go to, can you get in touch with Dungeons? Maven¡¯s a little confused and I want to touch base with Dungeons before I do any explaining. Fortune: Oh sweet, I guess she liked what she saw with Maven. Yeah, I¡¯ll go fetch her, give me like two minutes.
¡°It¡¯s gonna be a couple of minutes.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So¡­um¡­hold tight, I guess?¡± ¡°Actually, why don¡¯t we move somewhere more private?¡± Gramps suggested. ¡°Just the four of us, sorry.¡± He added, looking at The Rumors. ¡°You three may be more in the know than the average person, but there are some things we¡¯re still not allowed to tell you.¡± ¡°I understand, guildmaster.¡± Jin said smoothly. ¡°We¡¯ll clean up the mess here, you do what you need to do.¡± ¡°Thank you, Jin.¡± Gramps said. ¡°You three, follow me, we¡¯ll go to my personal hoverer.¡± He led them through the camp and to a hoverer that was¡­well, not as impressive as either of the ones Alice owned, to put it kindly. It was smaller than hers, and had several large scrapes and dents, making it clear just how much use it had seen. ¡°It¡¯s an older model, and I¡¯ve had it for quite a while.¡± Gramps said, eyes twinkling with amusement. ¡°It¡¯s served me well and I haven¡¯t had need of an upgrade in many a year.¡± ¡°W-why bring that up all of a sudden?¡± Ellie asked, face red; it seemed she had been thinking along the same lines as Tess. ¡°I¡¯ve raised you two long enough that I can tell what you¡¯re thinking.¡± Gramps chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s written all over your faces.¡± He opened one of the hoverer¡¯s doors and ushered the trio inside, before climbing in himself and shutting the door. ¡°While we¡¯re waiting, allow me to congratulate you, Maven. It¡¯s not every day you receive a Blessing.¡± ¡°Oh, um¡­thank you.¡± Maven said quietly. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know how to respond. It¡¯s kind of¡­overwhelming.¡± ¡°I imagine it is. I was overwhelmed when I got my first Blessing, too.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°You were overwhelmed?¡± Maven asked incredulously. ¡°I sure was.¡± Gramps chuckled. ¡°I didn¡¯t start out a seasoned veteran who¡¯s seen everything. No one starts out like that. I was just as green as you are.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t imagine you like that.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°It just seems¡­wrong.¡±
Fortune: OK I got Dungeons. She did have a few answers to questions she thought you¡¯d ask, so let me list those before you ask any other questions. First, yes, that Blessing takes her to the same dungeon you two are going to be working with. Dungeons decided to see how she handles working with this new, unfamiliar type of dungeon as part of her ¡°trial period¡±, so to speak. Fortune: Second, you¡¯re allowed to tell her about what makes this dungeon different and all that, but don¡¯t tell her everything about how new dungeons are made and stuff. Just say that you two have been tasked with analyzing this one, since it¡¯s of a new kind and all that. Fortune: Third, don¡¯t tell her that Dungeons is testing the waters for an Appointed. She¡¯d rather see how Maven responds to all of this without any of that extra baggage. Fortune: Finally, and this isn¡¯t really an answer to a question so much as a reminder, but she wants you to start work on clearing the dungeon tomorrow. So¡­what other questions do you have? Tess: How much should we tell The Rumors? Fortune: She says to just tell The Rumors that she was doing a bit of a test, and she needed people around your level to make it work. Don¡¯t tell them about savage dungeons or anything like that. Ellie: Does Maven need to be responsible for clearing the dungeon periodically like we are? Fortune: No. She¡¯s welcome to come if she wants to, but she doesn¡¯t need to do any of that. Tess: Wait¡­if we use this Blessing while we¡¯re in a hoverer, and it moves away, do we return to where the hoverer is or where we were when it was used? Fortune: The Blessing is smart enough to bring you to where the hoverer is. If it ends up being compacted or put in a bag, you just get put in the nearest open space to where it is. Tess: OK good, I just realized that could have been super bad Fortune: Yeah, don¡¯t sweat it we woulda helped you out if something like that happened. Ellie: Well¡­I don¡¯t think I have any more questions. Keep Dungeons on the line though, I¡¯m sure Maven might have a couple. Tess: Same. Give us a couple of minutes.
¡°Alright, we talked with Dungeons.¡± Ellie said, looking towards Maven. ¡°So, Tess and I are working on analyzing this new kind of dungeon, and Dungeons wanted people around our level, so she decided to give you the option to work on this with us.¡± ¡°A¡­new kind of dungeon?¡± Maven asked. ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°Um¡­have you played online games before?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I have not.¡± Maven said. ¡°I never had that luxury.¡± ¡°Oh. Um¡­that makes the analogy a little harder, but think of it like this: usually, when you go into a dungeon floor, it¡¯s just your party, right?¡± ¡°Correct. Does this new kind of dungeon not have that limitation?¡± ¡°Yeah. And I believe there aren¡¯t randomly shifting layouts like there are in normal dungeons, it¡¯s completely static. I think. Anyway, Tess and I are going to be going to this new one starting tomorrow, and you¡¯re welcome to join if you wish.¡± ¡°How¡­safe is it?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I¡¯m reluctant to go without our supervisors.¡± Ellie paused. ¡°I can¡¯t say for certain, I¡¯ve never been there. Umm¡­¡± ¡°If anything happens to you, I¡¯ll personally make sure you¡¯re fixed up.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that.¡± ¡°Thank you, guildmaster Los. That¡­does help assuage many of my worries.¡± She gave him a grateful smile, then turned back to Ellie. ¡°What about the other Blessing, though?¡± ¡°That one¡¯s a freebie.¡± Ellie said. ¡°For dropping this on you so suddenly. You don¡¯t need to feel any pressure because of it, you can continue like you have been without any repercussions. In fact, you can ignore all of this if you want, there won¡¯t be any divine consequences or anything like that.¡±
Death: Oooh, nice improv Life: Hush. They¡¯re having a conversation.
¡°I¡­see.¡± Maven said. ¡°But¡­I think I will join you two in checking out this new type of dungeon. It sounds rather exciting.¡± ¡°Glad to hear it.¡± Tess said. ¡°And, just by the by, the whole ¡®new type of dungeon¡¯ thing is something we¡¯re keeping secret from The Rumors. The ¡®official¡¯ story is that Dungeons is doing some testing and needs people around our level to make it work, so keep it vague.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Maven replied. ¡°The secret is safe with me.¡± ¡°I imagine it is.¡± Gramps said, smiling slightly. ¡°Do you have any other questions?¡± ¡°Why me?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Surely there are better-qualified people out there.¡± ¡°Convenience.¡± Tess said. ¡°You¡¯re working closely with Ellie and I, and are already in on many of our secrets. Plus, you¡¯ve got above average stats and are pretty decent at raiding dungeons, so it¡¯s not like you¡¯re unqualified.¡± ¡°I¡­suppose so.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°I guess that¡¯s all the questions I have, then.¡±
Fortune: Cool, I¡¯ll let Dungeons go now. Thanks for helping out with this, you two Tess: Any time!
¡°Let¡¯s get you all back to The Rumors, then.¡± Gramps said. ¡°You sound like you have a long, exciting day ahead of you tomorrow, so you¡¯ll need all the rest you can get.¡± The four of them returned to where they had been eating dinner, and, after a short explanation, headed off to Alice¡¯s hoverer to sleep. It looked like, after a week of nothing, they were finally going to be getting some action. Chapter 72: The Savage Dungeon ¡°Where are we?¡± Maven asked, looking around. ¡°If I¡¯m being honest, I have no idea.¡± Tess replied. They had used their Blessings to teleport to the savage dungeon they were supposed to clear, and had been deposited in what appeared to be a series of foothills. The land around them was brown and covered in shrubs, with hardly a tree in sight. They were next to a teleporter, Party Crystal, and a large doorway that was akin to those found in the Jagged Cliffs when moving to the next floor. ¡°Did they not tell you where this was located when they gave you your task?¡± Maven asked. ¡°We didn¡¯t ask.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It¡¯s not really relevant to our job, so it just slipped my mind. Can¡¯t speak for Tess, though.¡± ¡°Yeah, I forgot to ask.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re going to be going outside and trying to find our way home or anything, so¡­yeah. All I really know is that we¡¯re way deep into uncharted territory. To the¡­west, I believe.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s where they said it was.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So¡­if we stepped out of this dungeon, we¡¯d be the first people to ever lay eyes on this spot?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I guess if you don¡¯t count the gods, then¡­yeah.¡± ¡°Do you mind if I step out?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I have always wanted to be an explorer like that.¡± ¡°Knock yourself out.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Maven said, walking through the doorway. After a moment, Tess followed, emerging onto a grassy cliff that overlooked a large body of water. She hesitated to call it an ocean, because she had no way of knowing if it was actually an ocean or just a very large lake or something, but it certainly looked like an ocean. ¡°Is this¡­the other side of the Somorian Ocean?¡± Maven asked, looking down at the water. ¡°Never heard of it, so I can¡¯t really say.¡± Tess said. ¡°The Somorian Ocean is one of the edges of the current map of this plane.¡± Maven explained. ¡°Oceans tend to be difficult to traverse in the Outlands, and, with the Somorian Ocean being so far away from civilization, putting together a sturdy enough fleet to explore it is not yet worth it.¡± ¡°What about aquatic people?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Surely they could explore it?¡± ¡°They could, but the issue is getting them there. Higher level people can get out of the water by themselves, but getting a mass number of people to relatively thoroughly explore such a large area is another matter. There are easier targets for both ocean dwellers and people who live on land. So¡­well¡­we could very well be the first people to set foot on this side of the ocean, not that anyone would know aside from us.¡±
Fortune: You¡¯re not. Some of the other Appointed have been here before.
¡°Fortune is telling us we¡¯re not.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Apparently some of the other Appointed have been here before. Though¡­I suppose that does make you the first non-Appointed to be here.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Maven said, disappointment clear in her tone. ¡°That¡¯s¡­not as good, but I¡¯ll take what I can get, I suppose.¡±
Fortune: To be honest, almost every major exploration first you can think of was taken by an Appointed. You¡¯re kind of our guinea pigs for making sure things are ¡°safe¡±.
¡°Well, according to Fortune, Appointed get almost all of the ¡°exploring¡± firsts, but I¡¯m sure there¡¯ll be other firsts for you to get.¡± Tess said. ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it too much. We¡¯re definitely the first people in this dungeon, and we could probably swing things soyou¡¯re the first diplomat to officially make contact with the governments of Mael.¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­that¡¯s not as fun as being one of the first to explore a new place.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°Diplomacy is boring. It¡¯s a lot of carefully watching what you say and trying to figure out what the opposing party is actually thinking, and I hate that stuff.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Want to get to the dungeon now?¡± Maven nodded. ¡°That would be wise. It is probably best not to be out here for too long; there¡¯s no telling how strong the monsters will be, and getting caught unawares would be disastrous.¡± ¡°Yeah, probably a good idea.¡± Tess said, turning around. Behind her was what appeared to be a small, ruined tower, the well-maintained door they had stepped through standing out starkly against the rest of the tower. Tess stepped back through and into the scrubland beyond, and waited for her companions to follow before beginning to speak. ¡°So, how do we want to go about this?¡± She asked. ¡°We have absolutely no information on what¡¯s coming, other than that the dungeon is meant for large groups of people somewhat below our level, so we¡¯re going to have to tackle this differently than we have the other dungeons.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°I believe we should make scouting our top priority. You have the unique ability of being able to pass by monsters without them caring, so that makes you the logical choice.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking.¡± Ellie agreed. ¡°We¡¯ll just move forward really slowly while you get a grasp on what kind of thing we should be expecting.¡± ¡°Alright, sounds like a plan. In that case¡­where do you think we should head? I¡¯m not exactly seeing anything that sticks out, so I¡¯m kinda thinking we just head to the tallest hill and see if we can see anything there.¡± ¡°I see no reason to disagree.¡± Maven said. ¡°Lead the way.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Tess nodded, then looked down at her breast pocket. ¡°Alright you two, it¡¯s showtime.¡± She said. On command, Silky crawled out of the pocket, gave a salute, then hopped down to the ground. I¡¯m ready! She said enthusiastically. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°As am I.¡± Isabella said, floating out of Tess. ¡°Where would you have me go?¡± ¡°Silky, you fly up and see if you can find anything that looks important. Isabella, I want you to stay back with Ellie and Maven, scout around the sides and the back and help make sure they don¡¯t get ambushed. I¡¯m heading for that hill over there,¡± Tess pointed at the largest hill she could see, ¡°so meet up there when I call, got it?¡± Understood! Silky said, saluting once again before spreading her wings and flying off into the sky. ¡°Consider it done.¡± Isabella droned, hovering off towards their rear. That taken care of, Tess began to walk ahead, carefully checking for traps and monsters as she did. And, while she found no traps, there was no shortage of monsters. It was like someone had taken all the things that normally live in this type of area, and then made them into monsters; snakes, rabbits, and the occasional hawk or coyote all made appearances, but they were swiftly dealt with by the party. It took the party roughly fifteen minutes to reach the top of the hill, at which point Tess called her attendants back, and reconvened with Ellie and Maven to share info. I saw a cool cave thingy! Silky said excitedly. It¡¯s reeeeeally big and probably important! You have to keep walking the way you¡¯ve been walking and then you¡¯ll find it! ¡°Silky is saying there¡¯s a big cave in the direction we¡¯re going.¡± Tess translated. ¡°Sounds like a good first destination to me. Any of the rest of you see anything?¡± ¡°I did not.¡± Maven confirmed. ¡°Me neither.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Sounds like that cave is our best bet, though.¡± ¡°Right. Then, if no one disagrees, I¡¯m going to head for the cave.¡± Tess said. ¡°We¡¯ll proceed as we have been, and then change things up once we get there.¡± Her party members nodded in agreement, so Tess had Silky show her the way to the cave. The walk over was exactly like the walk over to the hill had been, so they were able to reach it with little incident. The inside of the cave was drastically different than what she had expected. The harsh yellows and browns of the surrounding land contrasted starkly with the lush green that permeated the cave; the floor and parts of the walls were covered with a soft-looking moss, and the ceiling dripped water from some unseen source. The only thing breaking it up was a teleport pad conspicuously placed inside an alcove a little way into the cave, the pure, unblemished white at odds with the rest of the overgrown cave. Tess stopped at the entrance and waited for her party before making a move. ¡°So, I think it¡¯s safe to say that whatever is in this cave is important.¡± She said, nodding at the teleport pad. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to just march in willy-nilly. Tremorsense isn¡¯t picking up any obvious monsters or traps, but I¡¯m a little concerned about that moss. I don¡¯t know if we can¡­trust that it¡¯s just moss, and isn¡¯t like¡­super poisonous or a moss monster or something.¡± ¡°I have a spell that can detect toxins.¡± Ellie volunteered. ¡°Won¡¯t tell us if the moss is a monster or dangerous in some other way, though.¡± Maven bent over, grabbed a stone from the ground, then threw it into the cave. The three girls watched tensely as the stone impacted the moss, but after a moment it became clear that nothing was going to happen to it. ¡°I believe that rules out the possibility of it being a mindless thing that reacts only to motion.¡± Maven said. ¡°Though if it is a monster, there is still a possibility of it choosing to ignore the rock.¡± ¡°You could burn it away, maybe?¡± Ellie said hopefully. ¡°Then we wouldn¡¯t have to deal with it.¡± ¡°Worth a shot, but I doubt it¡¯ll help.¡± Tess said, throwing a lance of phoenix fire at the cave floor. It smoldered for a moment, but the embers were quickly extinguished. ¡°Yeah, I think it¡¯s too wet in there.¡± Tess said. ¡°But I also didn¡¯t get any damage notifications or anything, so it¡¯s¡­probably not a monster?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll cast that spell, then.¡± Ellie said, stepping up so she was only a few feet from the moss. She chanted a quick spell, then shook her head. ¡°No toxins.¡± She said. ¡°It should be safe to touch if it really isn¡¯t a monster.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go first, then.¡± Tess said. ¡°Since it won¡¯t get me if it is a monster.¡± Ellie opened her mouth to protest, paused, then spoke. ¡°Only if you go all the way to the teleport pad first.¡± She said. ¡°If it is a monster, and one of us steps up behind you, there¡¯s a possibility you get caught in the crossfire somehow.¡± ¡°She¡¯s correct.¡± Maven said. ¡°I think it would be best if you waited on the teleport pad, so you can come to our aid if we get into trouble.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Tess said. ¡°Here goes nothing¡­¡± She tentatively stepped on the moss, and when that didn¡¯t prompt a response, made her way over to the teleport pad. As she stepped on it, it lit up beneath her feet, causing her to take a step backwards in surprise. ¡°Um¡­that could be an issue.¡± She said. She backed away from the teleport pad and braced herself, but nothing happened. After a few more moments of tense waiting, however, she got a message.
Death: No, you¡¯re good. We made the pads in these dungeons flash once you ¡°activate¡± them so you know you can teleport to it. Anyone in your party that touches a pad for the first time activates it for everyone in the party that¡¯s in the dungeon.
Tess and Ellie both let out a sigh of relief, and Tess stepped onto the pad. ¡°We¡¯re in the clear.¡± Ellie said. ¡°The gods just did that so we know when we¡¯re able to use the pad.¡± She explained. ¡°Apparently you can use a pad after anyone in your party touches one for the first time while you¡¯re in the dungeon.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Maven said. ¡°That is good to hear. Shall we head in ourselves, then?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡± Ellie said. ¡°You know, since I¡¯m the tank and all.¡± She stepped up to the moss, tightened her grip on her sword, then stepped onto the moss. Nothing happened. The moss didn¡¯t peel itself off of the floor and walls and turn into some monster, Ellie didn¡¯t lose all strength in her limbs and drop to the floor, she just¡­stepped on moss. ¡°I¡­think it¡¯s just moss.¡± Tess said. ¡°Sorry I got everyone worked up.¡± ¡°No, you were in the right.¡± Maven said. ¡°It is better for us to be prepared for the worst and have nothing happen than it is for us to be caught off guard. Doubly so without our tutors here to bail us out.¡± ¡°She¡¯s got a point.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯re more blind than we¡¯ve ever been in a dungeon, and it¡¯s a new kind of dungeon to boot. Approaching it recklessly would be a huge mistake.¡±
Fortune: She¡¯s right, but it doesn¡¯t make looking on any less funny when you know what¡¯s actually going on Life: Do not tease them about this. This is serious business, and it would not do for them to stop being cautious because they¡¯re afraid of making you laugh. Fortune: What? I said she was right, that was the correct course of action. Life: That does not make my point any less valid. They are doing their best, and there should not be anything humorous about that. Ellie: Eh, it¡¯s fine. We don¡¯t take any offense, right, Tess? Tess: I would be calling Fortune out like this too if our positions were reversed. Fortune: Oooh, that¡¯s a fun idea. It¡¯d be cool if we could like¡­switch bodies for an evening, and you and Ellie could watch while Death and I tried a dungeon or a simulation or something. Death: I¡¯m down if you two are Tess: Sounds fun, but we¡¯ll have to talk about it later. Ellie and I need to get back to the dungeon. Fortune: Oh, right. Sorry.
¡°Sorry about that, the gods were chatting again.¡± Tess said. ¡°But it looks like this really is just moss. That¡¯s no reason not to be careful if we see a change in color or texture or something. How do we want to go about this going forward? Just have me and Silky scout out front and Isabella in the back, or do we want to stay closer together in the cave?¡± ¡°I see no reason to change tactics.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It should work even better now that there are less places for enemies to be coming from.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Maven said. ¡°Cool. I was sorta thinking the same, so I¡¯m glad you guys agree. I¡¯ll let you two know if I encounter something weird, okay? And don¡¯t hesitate to shout if you get caught off-guard.¡± With that, Tess began to head deeper into the cave, heart pounding with excitement. Things had been pretty easy so far, but she was sure that was just the start of the dungeon; things had to get much more interesting further in. Chapter 73: Tactical Retreat Ellie walked with Maven while Tess scouted in front of them. It was almost too easy, really; unlike when she had been training without Tess, all she had to do was watch for enemies coming up behind them and deal with any enemies Tess found. She was of half a mind to ask Tess to let her do the scouting. Not because Tess was doing poorly or anything, but because she was afraid that she would never get proper experience in doing things herself if Tess kept up the way she was. Whether she liked it or not, she wouldn¡¯t always have Tess to count on for this kind of thing. There would be times they would be separated, and she would do poorly if she didn¡¯t have these skills. Tess signaled for them to meet up at her position, and after a few more moments of walking, Ellie and Maven reached her position. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°The cave branches off up ahead.¡± Tess explained. ¡°I can sense three big rooms, and no clear indication of which way to go. Do either of you have a preference between left, right, and center?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go left.¡± Maven said. ¡°We can always pick left on our first time through a place, and then work our way to the right, just as a way to keep track of things.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We should leave markings, too, or¡­actually, would that ruin things for future people who are discovering this place? Um, give me a second to ask the gods.¡±
Fortune: It¡¯s all good. Normally the answer would be yes, markings will persist between attempts, as long as they would last outside of a dungeon, but we¡¯re going to be refreshing the interiors of all the savage dungeons just before they¡¯re about to be found, so knock yourselves out.
¡°The answer is yes, it would normally ruin things, but the gods are gonna wipe all that sort of stuff before people find the dungeon.¡± Tess said. ¡°So, we¡¯re fine to do whatever. I¡¯ll mark everything with chalk as we go, but don¡¯t forget that we can¡¯t just rush through this place once we figure out the correct path, we have to try everything and make sure nothing is too unfair.¡± ¡°Yeah, but we¡¯ll worry about that later. Right now, let¡¯s just work on finishing the dungeon.¡± ¡°I know, I just wanted to remind you.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s all good.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Anything else to report?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s it. I¡¯ll get back to scouting now.¡± Tess replied, heading back down the tunnels. Ellie and Maven followed her at a distance, and they soon reached the three-way split that Tess had reported earlier. The path to the left had already been marked with chalk, so they took a turn, and began walking down the sloping path. After just a short walk, the path opened up into a wide room, full of narrow pathways over a giant lake. Small crystals shining with light seemed to be embedded into the walls and ceiling, granting the whole place an ethereal glow that allowed for navigation without a light. It also allowed them to see the monsters that were wandering about the cavern. There were a large number of bats flitting around, lizards were crawling up and down the walls, and Ellie was able to make out flashes of motion in the water below. Tess was waiting for them at the entrance to the room. ¡°I think there are some traps up ahead. I¡¯m going to try and disarm them, so¡­just chill here for a bit, I guess. I have no clue how aggressive these bats are, but I¡¯ll try and rush back if they start attacking you guys.¡± ¡°Can you make out what¡¯s in the water?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Fish, I think? The water is at the edge of my tremorsense, and it doesn¡¯t go very far through water anyway, but the shapes are¡­vaguely fishlike. They¡¯re big, though, so¡­uh, try not to fall, I guess?¡± ¡°No need to tell us twice.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I¡¯d rather not find out what¡¯s down there that way. We¡¯ll just camp out here until you¡¯re done.¡± But, as it turned out, it wouldn¡¯t be as simple as just sitting there and waiting while Tess worked on the traps. Ellie and Maven were spotted by the bats after only a minute or two, and were thrown into battle. Individually, the bats weren¡¯t any issue, and took no more than one or two hits to kill, the problem was that they came in groups. Even with all four of the Swords of Death attacking bats, and Maven casting area of effect spells as fast as she could, Tess still had plenty of time to notice the fight was happening, get to a stable point in her trap disarming, run over, and join the fight before they had even killed half of the bats that had swarmed them. And, as the combat dragged on, more and more monsters began to notice their presence and move towards them. Even with Silky and Isabella¡¯s help, the three girls found themselves slowly but surely being pushed back towards the entrance of the room they were in. For the first time in quite a while, Maven was starting to take hits. Tess was still fine, mostly due to the fact that nothing targeted her until she targeted them, and she tended to instantly kill anything she targeted, but that really only served to increase the number of things that were targeting Ellie or Maven. Fortunately, the damage was more psychological than physical. The monsters were five or six levels below Maven, and Ellie¡¯s Aegis halved what damage was done, but it was still a little disheartening. So it was that, after around five or ten minutes of fighting, Ellie called the retreat. ¡°We need to get back into the tunnel, you two!¡± She shouted. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to work!¡± ¡°You sure?!¡± Tess yelled back. ¡°I think they¡¯re starting to thin out!¡± ¡°Yeah, Maven¡¯s getting hit too much, this isn¡¯t sustainable! We need to re-evaluate our strategy!¡± ¡°I¡¯m almost out of Mana, too!¡± Maven shouted. ¡°A break would be much appreciated!¡± ¡°Got it!¡± Tess replied. ¡°You two start retreating, I¡¯ll cover you!¡± Ellie and Maven began focusing on moving more than fighting, and progress towards the mouth of the cave sped up. Within a minute or two, they had made it, and the intensity of the assault began to fade. Using the mouth of the cave as a chokepoint, Ellie was able to keep most of the monster¡¯s attention off of Maven, and Tess dealt with any stragglers that looked like they might get through. Once Tess crossed the threshold, Ellie began to head backwards into the tunnels, and the monsters soon lost interest. ¡°So, that¡¯s not gonna work.¡± She said. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re capable of handling that many monsters with just the three of us. There¡¯s no telling if or when they¡¯re gonna respawn, so I¡¯d rather not try and clear it out in bits and pieces unless we have no other options.¡± ¡°I could go through and disable all the traps beforehand, then come back and the three of us could try and run through it as fast as possible.¡± Tess offered. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°But what if we find out partway through our run that we won¡¯t make it?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Then we¡¯d be out in the middle of everything with nowhere to run to.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡± She admitted. ¡°But we have to fight them eventually, right? I can sneak through them, but I don¡¯t know about you two.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have access to literally every spell?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Surely there¡¯s something that can be of use.¡± ¡°Probably, but the issue is the Mana cost. I have to land some pretty meaty bleeds to even cast most higher tier spells, and there¡¯s no way I can get one that strong without instantly killing one of those monsters. And then, even if I can cast the spell, the upkeep will probably suck me dry in half a minute. Though, at that point, I could probably just use smaller bleeds to handle the upkeep, so¡­it might work, I just need to get that big bleed off.¡± ¡°I could ¨C¡± Ellie began, but Tess cut her off. ¡°I¡¯m not hitting you.¡± She said. ¡°Not unless there is literally no other option.¡± Ellie sighed. ¡°I was just offering, just wanted to let you know it was on the table, you know?¡± ¡°And I took it off.¡± Tess said matter-of-factly. ¡°Not only would it leave a really bad taste in my mouth, but it would also hurt, and you¡¯d be left injured or low on Mana from healing the injury.¡± ¡°Back on topic,¡± Maven said, ¡°what about the water? Water breathing spells are pretty cheap, all we¡¯d really have to worry about is the fish and whether or not there¡¯s any traps or anything in the water.¡± ¡°I can go check, if you want to give me like five minutes.¡± Tess volunteered. ¡°It should give Maven some time to regenerate Mana, too.¡± ¡°I already drank a Mana potion, I¡¯ll be full in about a minute.¡± Maven said. ¡°So that¡¯s not an issue for the time being.¡± ¡°Eh, we can discuss more while she¡¯s out.¡± Ellie said. ¡°More information can¡¯t hurt.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± Maven said. ¡°Would you please go check the water for us, Tess?¡± ¡°On it.¡± Tess replied, scampering back down the tunnel and out of sight. There was silence for a moment, then Maven spoke up. ¡°Were you serious about letting her create a bleed on you?¡± Ellie paused, then nodded. ¡°Yeah. I was pretty sure she wouldn¡¯t want to, but if it came down to it, I would be willing.¡± ¡°I¡­do not believe I would be able to do the same.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to be on the receiving end of those claws, ever. They almost look nastier than your swords¡­almost.¡± ¡°They might well be. I¡¯d probably do more damage than her in the short term, it¡¯s all the other stuff that¡¯ll get you. Though¡­I guess with my swords it¡¯s kinda the same way? Anyway, you have any other ideas for getting through that room?¡± Maven shrugged. ¡°Try a different room and come back once we¡¯ve got the reward from this dungeon?¡± She ventured. ¡°This dungeon does seem like a bit¡­much for us, so there¡¯s no harm in making a tactical retreat, right?¡± ¡°I suppose so, I just¡­it feels wrong, leaving it untouched. Like¡­I should be able to do something about it, you know?¡± ¡°There are a lot of things that we can¡¯t do anything about.¡± Maven said. ¡°It¡¯s not a reflection on your character, it¡¯s just the way the world works. Though¡­I suppose that goes less so for you, since you¡¯re an Appointed, but my point stands.¡± ¡°I know, I know¡­I just feel like I¡¯ll have failed if I do that, and it¡¯s¡­embarrassing, I guess.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll all have failed together.¡± Maven replied. ¡°Responsibility for this adventure falls equally on the three of us. We¡¯re a team, and that means sharing both the successes and the failures.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± Ellie sighed. ¡°My head knows that, but¡­controlling my emotions is hard.¡± ¡°It is, but having correct self-talk is the first step. Force yourself not to think of it as a failure, but as having made the right choice. No one would call it a failure to run from an enemy that is far stronger than you, especially if you¡¯re planning on coming back when you¡¯re a little stronger.¡± ¡°Alright, you two!¡± Tess called out from down the tunnel. ¡°I went in the water for a bit, and I¡¯ve got a report!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll talk more about this later.¡± Maven said, turning to face the tunnel. ¡°What¡¯s the news?¡± She yelled. A few moments later, Tess jogged up next to them. ¡°So, good news and bad news.¡± She said. ¡°The bad news is that I¡¯m pretty sure the fish are bigger than they were when we first entered the room. They¡¯re nasty-looking things, too; they¡¯re like¡­all pulsing with this red fleshy stuff. I even killed one and absorbed the core, and it seems like they get stronger when things die near them. ¡°On the bright side, there aren¡¯t that many of them, and there are a lot of little islands in the water. So¡­I guess we might be able to navigate through the water, but it seems a risky proposition. The fish are, individually, stronger than the other monsters we¡¯ve fought in here, and we¡¯ll be at a disadvantage fighting in the water.¡± ¡°Did you get a good view of the end of the room?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Is there a good path up to the exit?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a decent enough path, but it¡¯ll require some climbing. Nothing as bad as we had to deal with in the cliffs, though, it should be a piece of cake in comparison.¡± ¡°How¡¯d the fish react when you attacked it?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°And how hard was it to kill?¡± ¡°It took me a few hits, and it got really big and aggressive when I hit it. I just surfaced and activated my wings, then hovered a bit out of reach until it died, so I can¡¯t really say how hard it would be if you were actively fighting it in the water, but¡­now that I¡¯m thinking about it, the other fish got really aggressive when there was blood in the water. ¡°There was a lot of splashing from other parts of the lake, but it all went away as soon as the fish died and all of its blood vanished. So¡­I guess they¡¯re kinda like piranhas? They¡¯ll just swarm to the blood, so¡­maybe the lake isn¡¯t our best option.¡± Maven bit her lip thoughtfully. ¡°Let¡¯s check out the other rooms.¡± She said. ¡°Just to make sure there isn¡¯t something that¡¯s more our speed there. We can come back here later, when we¡¯re stronger.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with that if you two are.¡± Tess said. ¡°Ellie?¡± Ellie sighed. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s do that.¡± The three girls hiked back up to where the path had split, and Tess erased the chalk marking before marking the middle path. They descended down the tunnel, only to come running back a few minutes later as the room presented them with a similar problem as the previous room. There wasn¡¯t treacherous footing or anything, just a lot of random monsters. They were weaker than the monsters in the last room, but their individual strength had never been the problem. There were just too many of them for the three girls to comfortably handle. So, they erased the mark to that room as well, and headed to their last available option. When Ellie caught sight of the contents, she couldn¡¯t help but breathe a sigh of relief. ¡°Thank goodness.¡± She said, looking down at the solitary monster that was roaming the cavern. ¡°We can take it.¡± ¡°Can we?¡± Tess said dubiously. ¡°That¡¯s at least a miniboss, and we know absolutely nothing about it.¡± ¡°Yeah, but we¡¯re tearing through the other monsters like they¡¯re made of tissues, there are just too many of them.¡± Ellie said confidently. ¡°I can hold this one¡¯s attention, though, and you two can hit it to your heart¡¯s content. We¡¯ve got plenty of single-target nova damage, and if we can¡¯t take this thing out, there¡¯s no way we¡¯re taking the boss out.¡± ¡°She has a point there.¡± Maven said. ¡°I think it¡¯s our best option.¡± ¡°Alright, I guess.¡± Tess said. ¡°How are we doing this?¡± Ellie gave the monster a closer look. It seemed to be some sort of giant slug, and its movements were, well, sluggish. ¡°Just get some big hits on it, stack those ailments, and I¡¯ll kite it around the room. We¡¯re way faster than it is, so I¡¯ll just keep its aggro and stay out of range, easy peasy.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll go get myself into position, and I¡¯ll hit it once it looks like you¡¯re ready.¡± She said, trotting into the chamber. As usual, the slug ignored Tess as she walked behind it and readied herself to strike. So, shield raised high, Ellie cast a haste spell on herself, let out a war cry and charged into the room, Swords of Death already flying towards the thing. Tess pounced, slicing her claws into the creature¡¯s slimy flesh before blinking away. A few moments later there was a spray of gore and the slug stopped its slow movement towards Ellie, beginning to turn towards Tess instead. Then the Swords of Death hit it, and it turned right back to Ellie. It swelled alarmingly, and then spat out a ball of mucus from its mouth. Fortunately, with her haste, Ellie had plenty of time to jump out of the way, and the ball impacted the ground with a sizzling sound. Maven cast a barrage of fireballs and took to the air, but that proved to be pointless; about halfway through the fireballs, the slug collapsed before dissipating into that rainbow mist that accompanied the death of a monster. ¡°See?¡± Ellie said. ¡°Easy.¡± ¡°You were right.¡± Tess said. ¡°That was¡­a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s partially because of my other Blessing?¡± Maven said. ¡°I really underestimated how much it would help against things that didn¡¯t just die in one hit, I was dealing a lot more damage than I normally do against strong monsters.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯d do it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So¡­shall we keep going?¡± ¡°Give me a few minutes to shuffle around some of my Attributes.¡± Tess said. ¡°That slug had some nice stuff on it. Like¡­adding acid to my natural weapons.¡± Ellie nodded and sat down. ¡°Fine with me.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind another break.¡± Maven said, landing and sitting down next to Ellie. ¡°Just let us know when you¡¯re ready to go.¡± Chapter 74: First Clear Tess looked at her current list of Attributes, mentally going through them and trying to decide what to get rid of. The new ones she had received form the slug were quite a bit nicer than she had expected for a monster that was level twenty-four, if the core was to be believed. Even so, its stats and abilities wouldn¡¯t make sense on something of that level unless it was a boss. She supposed that was because savage dungeons were meant to be harder than normal dungeons. Making the mid-bosses around the strength of a normal dungeon¡¯s main boss would certainly serve that purpose. Fortunately, that sort of difficulty only served to make the rewards she got from it that much better. In particular, she was looking at two Attributes, and trying to figure out what to replace for them.
Acid Neutralizer: Grants the user immunity to acid, and renders any acids that touch the user¡¯s body (and were not produced by the user) inert. Ample Acid: Coats the user¡¯s natural weapons in acid, causing them to deal an extra 100% of their attacks¡¯ damage as acid damage. This acid is similar in composition to the user¡¯s gastric acid (including enzymes and other components of digestion), or hydrochloric acid if the user does not have gastric acid. This acid is far more concentrated than normal stomach acid, allowing it to dissolve materials far quicker than the stomach would. The user and their possessions are immune to this acid and any side-effects (such as dissolution).
She had been focusing on Artisan of Affliction for the past while, so she hadn¡¯t leveled up Monster Breeder in a while. Fortunately, as she looked through her list of Attributes, there were two she hadn¡¯t used in quite a while, Haunting Wail and Decaying Touch. Both where things she had received from Isabella¡¯s core, and since Isabella was inside Tess most of the time, she was the one that usually ended up making use of that kind of stuff. These two new Attributes would work with her skillset far more cleanly than those two ever had, so she really didn¡¯t feel bad about letting them go. After the few minutes it took to remove the Attributes from herself, she put the new ones on, and almost immediately her claws began to drip with a clear liquid. The acid sort of¡­evaporated a few seconds of being away from Tess¡¯s claws, and unlike the ball of acid the slug hat spat, it didn¡¯t sizzle or otherwise react with the floor. ¡°What kind of acid is that?¡± Maven asked, giving Tess¡¯s claws a wary glance. ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s the same as whatever stomach acid is made of, but a lot stronger?¡± Tess said. ¡°So¡­um, don¡¯t touch it?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning on it.¡± Maven said. ¡°Just curious.¡± Tess switched off the Attribute, watching as the liquid on her claws disappeared. ¡°I¡¯m going to keep that off unless we¡¯re in battle.¡± She said. ¡°It seems like it¡¯ll just be too easy for accidents to happen if I don¡¯t. Anyway, that¡¯s all I needed, you two ready to go?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s be off, then.¡± Ellie said, standing up. The three of them resumed their trek through the dungeon, and were met with similar results to how things were before. Roughly two thirds of the rooms they came across were the kind with a lot of weak monsters, and while they tried a few of those, they eventually decided to avoid them for the time being. The other rooms varied, but fit a few main themes. The easiest of those themes to deal with was rooms with fewer, but stronger monsters. This might mean a miniboss, like the slug, or it could be a few large monsters that weren¡¯t quite strong enough to be minibosses on their own. Unfortunately, neither of the other minibosses really fit with Tess¡¯s kit. There was one that was magic based that Tess noted as potentially containing some upgrades for Isabella, as well as a sort of¡­knight that mostly had Attributes dealing with weapons. Aside from those, there were rooms that were filled to the brim with dangerous traps that required slow, careful progress to make sure each and every little trap was found and defused. Tess and the others set off a trap on more than one occasion, and the results were generally less than pleasant, ranging from simply spewing noxious gas to just summoning a miniboss in the room. That trap had been the worst by far; it had contained a false trigger that had tricked Tess into thinking it was disarmed when it wasn¡¯t, then summoned that magic focused miniboss. The trio then had to fight the miniboss in a room that had only been half-cleared of traps, greatly limiting their movement. And, finally, there were rooms that were clearly meant to be puzzles of some sort. By and large, those posed obstacles that weren¡¯t really threatening to a party as small and versatile as Tess¡¯s. Some rooms had large gaps that practically required flight to get across, others had a smattering of monsters that respawned the moment anyone left the room while most of the room was supposedly rigged to erupt in deadly spikes if too many people were on it, and others still required things like briefly splitting the party and having the members solve individual challenges. The flight rooms were no issue, as both Tess and Maven were capable of flight, and Ellie could ferry herself across with the Swords of Death. They didn¡¯t even realize the respawning monster room was a puzzle until they were finished with it; only then did the gods inform them about the unnoticeable trap in the floor and the nature of the monster respawns. It was apparently supposed to challenge people to create groups small enough to safely traverse the room while also remaining large enough and balanced enough to deal with the threat of the monsters. And, while the individual challenges were annoying, they were designed for people with a much lower level than that of Tess¡¯s party, so they were able to clear them with only a little forethought. The only puzzle room that actually gave them any trouble was one which required a series of buttons to be pressed in the proper order within a very small period of time. The buttons were too spread apart for their small group to reach all of the required ones within the time limit, so they had to get creative with their positioning, allowing each of the three to run to a different button after they had pressed their first. Even with Silky and Isabella being able to press two of the buttons, they were still just slightly too slow, and had to rely a combination of Tess¡¯s short-range teleportation and a thrown stone to get the final button pressed in time. But all in all, they made progress pretty smoothly as long as they avoided most of the rooms that simply contained huge numbers of monsters. They encountered a few more teleporters, and with each there was a slight but noticeable bump in the difficulty of the dungeon. It began with there being ever so slightly more monsters in puzzle rooms, the traps becoming just that bit harder to disarm, minibosses being accompanied by regular monsters, but eventually culminated in things such as the miniboss summoning trap and there being two minibosses in a singular room. Still, they were able to handle that with relative ease, and soon found themselves in front of what could only be the boss room. While there wasn¡¯t a door or anything, a multitude of paths converged into a single area containing a teleporter and a singular tunnel leading downwards, conspicuously clean of all moss. ¡°How are you two doing?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Do we need to go back and take a break before we tackle the boss?¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Tess took a moment to check her HP, Mana, and Stamina, then shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m probably fine to go in as is, but I would also benefit from a break.¡± She said. ¡°Not like¡­leaving the dungeon break, but like¡­five or ten minutes to sit and wait for things to recover.¡± ¡°I have some potions that could help with that.¡± Maven offered. ¡°We could all take some and wait.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s do that, then.¡± Ellie said. ¡°You two wanna wait here or teleport to the outside and wait there?¡± ¡°I thought we decided it was too risky to be outside the dungeon?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Oh, no, sorry. I mean the outside that¡¯s in the dungeon, the like¡­scrubby area.¡± Ellie clarified. ¡°I think I like it more in here.¡± Tess said. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen any monsters wandering the tunnels yet, and I think the inside of the cave is nicer than outside. At least the moss doesn¡¯t have goatheads, you know?¡± ¡°Goat heads?¡± Maven asked, frowning. ¡°Those little pokey things that get in your shoes.¡± Ellie explained. ¡°Oh, those. Why are they called goatheads?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but it¡¯s probably because they look kinda like a goat¡¯s head?¡± Ellie replied. ¡°That¡¯s just what people call them. That or like¡­stickers or something. Do they not have those in Paumen?¡± ¡°If we do, they are not found near the capital.¡± Maven said. ¡°Lucky.¡± Ellie grumbled. ¡°They¡¯re everywhere near where we live, and they¡¯re a huge pain.¡± ¡°I would imagine so.¡± Maven replied, smiling slightly as she reached into her bag. ¡°What kind of potions are you two in need of?¡± ¡°Mana and Stamina, please.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Nothing terribly strong, just enough for like¡­a thousand points.¡± ¡°I only need a couple hundred points in Stamina.¡± Tess said. ¡°The weakest you have will probably be plenty.¡± Maven nodded, pulling out a few vials from her bag. ¡°Here you are.¡± She said, handing one to Tess and two to Ellie. ¡°The potion I gave you is probably a bit overkill for your needs, but it¡¯s the weakest I have.¡± She told Tess, taking out another vial for herself. ¡°These should bring us up to fighting strength in five minutes.¡± ¡°Thanks a bunch.¡± Tess said, then turned her attention over to Silky and Isabella. ¡°How are you two doing?¡± She asked, placing Silky upon her palm. Right as rain! Silky said proudly, giving a salute. Let me at ¡®em! ¡°I am fine as well.¡± Isabella intoned, peeking her head out of Tess. ¡°I am ready for action.¡± ¡°These two are fine.¡± Tess told the others. ¡°So just let me know when you two are ready, I guess.¡± ¡°What kind of boss do you think it¡¯s going to be?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I mean¡­those minibosses we killed were relatively tough for how much lower level they were, so the boss has got to be too, right?¡± ¡°They¡¯re all around level twenty-five, and their stats are pretty comparable to bosses of the same level.¡± Tess said idly. ¡°I¡¯d imagine that the actual boss is going to be roughly equivalent to the boss of like¡­a normal level thirty-five dungeon.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s like raid bosses in video games, it¡¯ll probably have a ton of HP and a lot of area attacks.¡± Ellie mused. ¡°Since it is supposed to threaten multiple parties at once.¡± ¡°Can you really compare video games with real life like that, though?¡± Maven asked. ¡°It seems¡­ill-advised to go in with assumptions based on that.¡± Tess and Ellie shared a look. ¡°You¡¯re probably right, but it¡¯s not as bad an idea as you¡¯re thinking.¡± Tess said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the gods take some ideas from mortals when it comes to designing things.¡±
Death: I think we just got called out Fortune: But she¡¯s right Death: It¡¯s still a call out Life: I thought we were not supposed to give these two any hints until they had gathered enough information themselves? Death: It wasn¡¯t a hint until you said that Fortune: Yeah, we were just talking about general-case scenarios, and we don¡¯t even know the thought process behind Dungeon designing this boss Ellie: Does she play video games? Death: Not as much as you or me, but she dabbles. It¡¯s like¡­a Tess level of video games. She¡¯ll play with others, but generally prefers to do other stuff in her free time. Like think up dungeon gimmicks. Or watch people going through dungeons for the first time. She just likes dungeons, you know?
¡°Are the gods giving insight on the boss?¡± Maven asked curiously. ¡°You¡¯ve been spaced out for a while.¡± Tess paused, pondering how best to phrase what she was going to say. Fortunately, she didn¡¯t have to think for long, since Ellie spoke up first. ¡°Sorta. I¡¯m right about the video game thing, so I¡¯m pretty sure we can expect lots of HP and area attacks.¡± The three of them continued discussing until their resources were, eventually, recharged, at which point they began walking down the suspiciously clean slope. After a long descent, the tunnel evened out, turning into a large, circular room, completely clear of moss. Standing in the center of the room was a gaunt humanoid figure that had to be over ten feet tall. It was so skinny Tess could see what looked like each and every one of its bones, and its mouth was already drooling as it stared at the mouth of the tunnel. Even so, it didn¡¯t move at all, just¡­sat there and watched them intently. ¡°Ready?¡± Ellie whispered. ¡°As I¡¯ll ever be.¡± Tess said. ¡°Please, go ahead.¡± Maven said. ¡°We will play support, as always.¡± Ellie nodded, raising her shield before dashing into the room. The moment she did, the boss sprung into action, running towards her with its long, spindly fingers outstretched. Tess ran in behind Ellie, activating her Skills and preparing her strike. As she did, she was met with a biting chill and gnawing hunger, one that had to be just in her head. Hunger aside, both her armor and Phoenix Fire should have kept her perfectly safe from any normal chill. She ignored the chill, and ran up to deliver her strike when, to her shock, the boss swatted a lightning-quick hand at her. She teleported forward and landed her strike anyway, but that radically shifted her perception of this boss. It wasn¡¯t like other monsters she had fought; even though it already had a target, and Tess had yet to attack it, it was still capable of attempting to hurt her. Target of Affection wasn¡¯t going to prevent it from hurting her, so she¡¯d have to be more careful. After a moment her attack landed, and the creature reeled backwards in pain before turning its baleful eyes upon Tess. ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t!¡± Ellie yelled, barreling into the thing and slicing at it with her swords. ¡°You fight me!¡± It threw back its head and howled, and there was a sudden wind, bringing with it a deep chill, one that sapped the strength from Tess¡¯s bones and just made her want to sit down and sleep. The hunger intensified as well, to the point where it felt as if she hadn¡¯t eaten in days. And then Maven¡¯s fireball hit it directly in the mouth, cutting it off mid-howl. And, suddenly, the cold and hunger were just that little bit better. Furthermore, the flames from the fireball were far more effective than they would normally be, most of the creature¡¯s upper torso erupting into flames that lingered for just a bit too long. ¡°That wasn¡¯t me, I think it¡¯s weak to fire!¡± Maven shouted. Ellie grunted, swinging her sword again, and then¡­it just died. ¡°Oh.¡± She said. ¡°It was under twenty five percent HP, I guess.¡± ¡°A little anticlimactic, but whatever, I guess.¡± Tess said. ¡°Now¡­where¡¯s the Rewards Crystal?¡± ¡°Probably down that hallway.¡± Maven said, motioning down a tunnel that Tess could have sworn wasn¡¯t there before. And, sure enough, they found a Rewards Crystal just sort of¡­sitting there at the end. It was odd, seeing one outside of the rooms they came in in every other dungeon, but a touch revealed that it was, indeed, an authentic Rewards Crystal.
You have gained the Skill Surging Strikes! Surging Strikes: Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Any unarmed attacks made while under a haste effect hit their target twice. Any additional effects on the original attack (such as increased damage or status effects from a Skill) apply to the second hit as well. Your afterimage hurts just as bad as the real thing
Tess blinked, surprised that she hadn¡¯t gotten this sooner. It seemed like a rather important addition to her abilities, effectively doubling any damage she would deal.
Fortune: This is the first opportunity for you to get it. It¡¯s one of those Skills that¡¯s usually in much higher level Rewards Crystals, but savage dungeons get to bump up the tier of their rewards, so¡­yeah. Tess: Oh, thanks.
¡°Anything good?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Really good.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°I need to start hasting myself now to take advantage of it, so that¡¯s probably gonna be a bit of a Mana drain, but it¡¯s workable.¡± ¡°Well, I got access to more magic, so that¡¯s always nice.¡± Ellie said. There was a long silence as Tess and Ellie waited for Maven to speak up, but she didn¡¯t. Tess turned back to talk to her, but¡­she was gone. ¡°Oh.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Do you think Dungeons¡­¡± ¡°Probably.¡± Tess replied, sitting down. ¡°I suppose there¡¯s nothing for it but to wait.¡± Ellie sighed. ¡°I suppose so.¡± Chapter 75: Threes a Charm ¡°What is¡­¡± Maven trailed off as she saw the tall angel in front of her. Given Maven¡¯s sudden teleportation out of the dungeon, there was only one person this could really be ¨C the goddess of Dungeons herself. ¡°Apologies for the sudden transfer.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°But I saw you had cleared the dungeon and it was earlier than I had expected and¡­¡± She trailed off, then took a deep breath. ¡°That¡¯s not important. What¡¯s important is you and me. So, I¡¯m just going to cut to the chase; I¡¯m in the market for an Appointed, and I think you really have promise.¡± ¡°M-me?¡± Maven asked in a small voice. ¡°B-but I wasn¡¯t even a real freelancer until a few months ago.¡± ¡°Immaterial.¡± Dungeons said, waving a hand. ¡°Your statline is decent, you¡¯re well connected, and you¡¯re pretty amiable. As a bonus, you¡¯re in a party with Ellie and Tess, which makes a lot of things a lot easier.¡± ¡°But my stats are just¡­above average, not Appointed-tier!¡± Maven protested. ¡°Surely there¡¯s someone better suited for the job!¡± ¡°And why should stats be the most important part of this equation?¡± Dungeons asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°Yes, there are some Appointed who are practically required to have amazing stats, but mine is not one of them. Most of the work will be done in dungeons, and believe me, with my Blessings, even someone with Tess¡¯s stats could make something work. It¡¯d be harder, yes, but not a dealbreaker by any stretch of the imagination. ¡°I¡¯m more in the market for someone who¡¯s got the proper mindset, people skills, and connections.¡± Dungeons continued. ¡°By virtue of being a crown princess, you fit two of those categories practically by default.¡± She paused, giving Maven an expectant look. ¡°You do, right?¡± ¡°I¡­perhaps?¡± Maven said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what connections you¡¯re referring to. But¡­I¡¯m planning to abdicate the moment I get the throne, that¡¯s¡­a problem, right?¡± ¡°Not at all!¡± Dungeons grinned. ¡°In fact, it¡¯d be more inconvenient if you didn¡¯t abdicate. Being tied down by all that¡­busywork just isn¡¯t my style. We could make it work if something happens, but it¡¯s just a pain, you know?¡± Maven blinked in surprise. ¡°Yeah, I do.¡± She said. ¡°I¡­didn¡¯t expect you to feel the same way.¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°It might work for someone like Subterfuge, but my sort of work would all but require you to be away from Paumen for long periods of time, deep in unexplored territory. There¡¯s a high chance you¡¯d be away from civilization for a while, just you, your vehicle, and perhaps Tess and Ellie for company. It can be a demanding lifestyle at times, do you think you could handle that?¡± Heart beating in her chest, Maven nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t mind if I¡¯m just living out of a hoverer.¡± She said. ¡°The comforts of home are more¡­bindings than anything, I can absolutely make do with just the simple stuff, especially if it means I get to go explore and be¡­active.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Dungeons said, giving her a smile. ¡°And that¡¯s the mindset I was talking about. So, you fit all my criteria perfectly, would you be up for the job?¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± Maven said firmly. ¡°I¡­have to admit I would be lying if I hadn¡¯t thought¡­no, dreamed about something like this happening before. I¡¯m more than happy to accept.¡± ¡°Perfect.¡± Dungeons said, grinning. ¡°Time for the fun stuff, then.¡± ¡°The fun stuff?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Well, I gave you a minor Blessing, but if you¡¯re going to be my Appointed, you need my strongest Blessing. It¡¯s sort of a¡­well, a given for any Appointed, and I¡¯m not gonna let mine be different.¡± She waved a hand, and Maven received a window.
Dungeons has granted you the Blessing Dungeon Overlord! Due to Dungeon Overlord already containing the effects of the Blessing Dungeon-Adapted, Dungeon-Adapted has been removed to slightly strengthen its effect in Dungeon Overlord! Dungeon Overlord: You are second only to Dungeons herself when it comes to authority over the dungeons of the world. While within a dungeon, you may call up a mental map that shows the layout of the current floor, complete with monsters, traps, and any treasure or other features contained within that floor. Furthermore, you have the ability to see all open instances of a dungeon floor, and enter or exit them at will, regardless of your party status. You are able to freely teleport into and out of dungeons. By spending Mana and Stamina, you are able to transform parts of the dungeon itself. You can permanently alter its outer appearance, the general layout of floors, environmental effects, types of monsters or traps spawned (though monsters and traps must remain within the dungeon¡¯s level bracket unless that is also changed), and anything else about the dungeon. These changes can also be made temporarily, and limited arbitrarily in scope (such as spawning a single monster, or opening a tunnel within a floor you are traversing). You are able to control the monsters and traps of dungeons at will. Dungeon traps will not trigger for you unless you will it, and you can disarm, rearm, pause their function, or alter their function with a thought. Dungeon monsters will not attack you unless you will it, and you are able to telepathically order them to do your bidding, which they will do to the best of their abilities. Finally, all your stats are tripled while inside of a dungeon (including lobbies, Rewards Crystal rooms, and any other subspaces tied to a dungeon).
Maven read the Blessing over and over, marveling at the sheer power of it. She had thought the fifty percent stat boost from her old Blessing had been strong enough, but¡­triple? And the ability to be able to just¡­shape dungeons however she wanted? That was insane. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s, um¡­a little limited in scope.¡± Dungeons said, blushing. ¡°You¡¯re exactly the same as any other person outside of a dungeon, but¡­well, inside of a dungeon you should be more than a match for even someone like Evan. Um¡­provided you¡¯re of roughly similar level and in a decently high-leveled dungeon.¡± ¡°This is¡­limited?¡± Maven asked slowly. ¡°This is a lot more powerful than I was expecting. Almost too powerful.¡± ¡°Well, yeah.¡± Dungeons said embarrassedly. ¡°You haven¡¯t seen the other gods¡¯ strongest Blessings. I mean¡­Fortune¡¯s is so powerful Amy made her limit it to people with really low stats like Tess. And then you have stuff like Dominion¡¯s Blessing that allows Eyfura to do things like temporarily steal Skills or¡­I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m just a bit self-conscious about it, since it¡¯s only really useful in one area whereas the others are useful everywhere.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Maven said in what she hoped was a soothing tone. For what felt like the first time, she was grateful for her family¡¯s lessons; even feeling as¡­mentally stimulated as she was, she was able to maintain a level of outward calm with relatively little effort. ¡°From what I¡¯ve gathered, Life and Death¡¯s Blessings only really function when killing or healing. There¡¯s nothing wrong with doing one thing and doing it really well.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Dungeons asked, perking up slightly. ¡°You¡¯re fine with it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m more than fine with it.¡± Maven said. ¡°Like I said, it seems extraordinarily strong, and it¡¯s not like I need more power outside of dungeons if most of my work will be done inside of them, right?¡± ¡°I¡­guess so.¡± Dungeons admitted. ¡°It just feels a little¡­unfair.¡± ¡°Not everyone needs to be amazing at everything.¡± Maven said. ¡°As they say, no army can march without support, and I don¡¯t think any freelancer would properly function without dungeons, let alone Appointed. I don¡¯t need to be fighting on the front lines, I¡¯m perfectly content as support. Yes, I admit that fighting can be a lot of fun, but I can get that out of my system in dungeons.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°I¡­thank you.¡± She straightened up slightly, giving Maven a smile. ¡°Before we officially make you my Appointed, are there any questions you have for me?¡± ¡°What exactly is my job? I assume it¡¯s stuff similar to what I¡¯m doing now, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°You¡¯ll help test stuff like this, and then, once you¡¯re a higher level and done training and all that, you¡¯ll be running through undiscovered dungeons to keep them from going out of control for too long. Once or twice a year we¡¯ll just take you around and you can¡­well, with my Blessing you¡¯ll just kill completely unresisting monsters. Then, when we think people will discover the dungeon within a year or two, we just have you¡­stop visiting that dungeon.¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Maven nodded. ¡°May I assume that, since that¡¯s a manual process, other Appointed are doing that for me right now? Why not just wait to make the dungeon until people are going to find it?¡± ¡°Yup. And I don¡¯t do that because it¡¯s cheaper. When making dungeons this way I can let them grow naturally instead of forcing them to grow myself. Gods have this thing called Worship that¡¯s¡­well, it¡¯s like Mana but a lot harder to get. Making dungeons the way we want them right before people find them is super draining, and I can¡¯t do that often. Plus, it gives me time to tweak the dungeon based on the feedback of the other Appointed, and they get a crack at the Rewards Crystals far before everyone else, which helps keep them on top of the game, so to speak.¡± ¡°Ah. And¡­who is this Amy you mentioned earlier?¡± ¡°Oh, right, you don¡¯t know yet. She¡¯s what¡¯s called an Administrator, like¡­a step above the gods. She was the one who made us and the system and stuff. She¡¯s basically head of the gods. She¡¯s occupied right now, but you¡¯ll meet her eventually.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Maven wasn¡¯t sure how to respond to that. It upended just about everything she knew about the way the gods worked, but¡­it also answered quite a few questions people had had about the gods, even if it created several more. There was a bit of a silence as Maven processed that, then Dungeons spoke up. ¡°Um¡­any other questions?¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t think so? No, actually, do I need to convert to your religion? You don¡¯t really¡­have one, right?¡± Dungeons laughed. ¡°No. I don¡¯t have an official religion. But, even if I did, you wouldn¡¯t convert. In fact, we want you to deconvert from whatever religious beliefs you hold. Though the public is unaware, Appointed are considered to be equals of the gods, so having Appointed worship any god is problematic, to say the least. That¡¯s only in private, though; in public, you¡¯re free to worship whatever way makes things easiest for you. If that means not worshiping anyone in particular, that¡¯s fine, if it means¡­actually, does Paumen have a particular god they favor?¡± Maven shook her head. ¡°Officially, no, but most of our populace worships Hearth, so it¡¯s not uncommon for members of the royal family to worship him. I have not made an official stance on the matter myself, so I suppose it would be easiest to just do general worship.¡± ¡°Perfect!¡± Dungeons beamed. ¡°Shall we get started, then?¡± Maven nodded. ¡°I¡­suppose so. How does it work?¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple. Just repeat after me,¡± Dungeons paused, waiting until she was sure Maven was ready, then continued, ¡°I, Maven, accept the position of Dungeons¡¯s Appointed, to further her cause as I see fit, and to keep secret things mortals should not know.¡± Maven repeated, and Dungeons smiled hugely. ¡°I, Dungeons, accept Maven as my Appointed, to treat her fairly and respect her as if she were another god, and to be responsible with the power I hold over her. Should I fail to do so, I accept whatever punishment is seen fit.¡± There was a beat, and then a distant rumbling like thunder. A relaxing feeling washed over Maven, and she basked in it for a few moments before it faded away, leaving her feeling normal again. ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°I ¨C¡±
Death: We got fresh meat in the house boissss Life: I believe I am the only man in this message group. Death: It¡¯s a figure of speech. Like ¡°ya boi¡± or ¡°guys¡±. I dunno, it just feels like there isn¡¯t an equivalent so I¡¯m using that until I get a better word
Maven jumped in surprise as a window popped up in front of her. This¡­had to be what Tess and Ellie were always looking at, right?
Tess: Wait, does this mean Maven got officially made an Appointed? Ellie: ^ Dungeons: Yes. I wasn¡¯t expecting Amy to have us hooked up to this group so fast, but she must have had everything set up already and just did it when she officially accepted Maven as my Appointed. Ellie: Congrats! Uh¡­she can see this, right?
¡°How do I¡­respond?¡± Maven asked, looking at the window. ¡°Just think it with the intent of sending it through.¡± Dungeons instructed. ¡°There¡¯s also like¡­one on one messaging and a whole bunch of other stuff, but it all follows the rule of think it out with the proper intent. You can also temporarily mute this or give priority messages that go through mutes, it¡¯s a lot like any online chatroom, just¡­built into the bond, I guess.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never used a chatroom.¡± Maven said. ¡°My internet access has always been very carefully monitored.¡± ¡°Oh. Well, give it a go, you¡¯ll figure it out soon enough, it¡¯s really easy to use.¡±
Maven: Does this work? And yes, I can see that. Ellie: Sure does! And, if Dungeons hasn¡¯t told you already, you¡¯re more than welcome to initiate messages in this chat room, we¡¯re all just sorta hanging out here, it¡¯s usually nothing formal or anything Fortune: Except Life, he¡¯s all serious all the time Life: I don¡¯t have anything against your shenaniganry when it¡¯s not interrupting something important. Which, might I add, is more often than I would like. Tess: We really don¡¯t mind, Life, but thanks for thinking of us. Life: Well, someone has to. Death: Just so you know he¡¯s not angry or put out or anything, that¡¯s just the way he talks in this chat Maven: Did he say something that would make him seem that way? Death: It¡¯s the periods, you know? Like how when you¡¯re texting or online and someone puts a period at the end of their message when you don¡¯t expect one and you¡¯re all ¡°oh no why is that there am I in trouble¡± sorta thing Maven: I¡­do not know. I¡¯m not well versed in this sort of thing. Death: Oh. Well, if he comes across as snippy he doesn¡¯t mean to Life: Unless I¡¯m rebuking you for distracting them in the middle of a conversation for the umpteenth time. I believe I have a right to be ¡°snippy¡± then.
Maven¡¯s attention was torn away from their chatroom by a knocking sound coming from behind her. She turned to find that the room she was in had a rather plain-looking door. For some reason she had been expecting to be in sort of a¡­private space with just her and Dungeons, but she supposed there wasn¡¯t any reason the godly realm couldn¡¯t be shared between all the gods. ¡°Come in!¡± Dungeons called out. The door opened to reveal Amara, smiling proudly. ¡°Maven, I heard you became an Appointed, and just had to come talk to you!¡± She said, rushing in and scooping Maven up into a hug. ¡°How do you feel?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­a little unreal.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°My life¡¯s trajectory just changed so much, I¡¯m not going to be forced into sitting on a throne for the rest of my days, I get to go out and explore and¡­live!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see the looks on your parents¡¯ faces when they find out.¡± Amara laughed. ¡°They¡¯ve been nagging me, trying to get me to convince you to come back, so this is going to be a shock for sure.¡± ¡°We get to tell them?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°Family is generally considered to be allowed to know if they¡¯re under a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath. Yours are already under a very liberal one that prevents them from revealing the identities of any Appointed, so we don¡¯t even have to get them to swear to a new one.¡± ¡°I can take you there now, if you¡¯d like. Tess and Ellie too, if you want.¡± Amara offered. She paused, letting go of the hug and looking around. ¡°Speaking of, where are the other two?¡± Dungeons looked away. ¡°I might have forgotten to transfer them here in my rush.¡± ¡°Could you bring them here?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I would like to speak with my parents, and¡­having them there would be comforting, I think.¡±
Dungeons: Tess, Ellie, would you be fine if I transferred you to the divine realm? Ellie: Yup. We¡¯re not doing anything so go ahead
A moment later, there was a flash of light and Tess and Ellie appeared in the room. ¡°Hey, congrats!¡± Ellie said, pulling Maven into a side-hug. ¡°Welcome to the club!¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Maven said. ¡°I hope you will not mind if I ask you two questions whenever I have any.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all good.¡± Tess said. ¡°We¡¯re a team, of course we¡¯ll answer questions. Even if we¡¯re not around, just ask away in our chat and I¡¯m sure someone will get to it.¡± ¡°Yeah, that.¡± Fortune said, walking into the room. ¡°We¡¯re all here for you, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Oh. I¡­thank you, Lady Fortune.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Fortune said. ¡°No ¡®Lady Fortune¡¯, none of that.¡± Fortune said. ¡°You are my equal, we can¡¯t have you use honorifics or anything. It might seem uncomfortable, but it¡¯s important to get in the proper mindset as soon as possible.¡± ¡°I¡­understand.¡± Maven replied. ¡°I will do my best to stop that, then.¡± There was a brief pause, then Dungeons spoke up. ¡°Maven, didn¡¯t you have something else you were going to ask them?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. Thank you for reminding me.¡± Maven said, turning back to Tess and Ellie. ¡°Grandmother is going to take me back to my parents, and I¡¯m going to formally abdicate.¡± She said. ¡°They have, apparently, been pressuring her to bring me back, and I would like to make it clear that such a thing is no longer remotely plausible. And¡­I was wondering if you two would be willing to come with me as moral support?¡± ¡°I¡¯m cool with it if Tess is.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not, I guess.¡± Tess said. ¡°Um¡­is it alright to bring us into¡­wherever you live, though? I imagine security is tight.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got it covered, don¡¯t sweat it.¡± Amara said. ¡°This is a bit of a secret visit anyway, since Maven is, officially, out at the expedition, so no one else is going to even see us.¡± ¡°Oh. Then¡­yeah, it¡¯s all good.¡± ¡°Perfect.¡± Amara said. ¡°Let¡¯s get this show on the road, shall we?¡± Chapter 76: Parental Problems Maven looked nervously up at the door to her parents¡¯ chambers. Her grandmother had teleported their group into Maven¡¯s chambers, then left to inform Maven¡¯s parents of their arrival. A few minutes later she had returned, and they had entered the hallway and moved down to the entrance of her parents¡¯ chambers, where she was now. She took one more moment to work up her courage before knocking on the door. ¡°Mother, father, I need to speak with you.¡± She said. After a moment, the door opened, revealing her parents beyond. ¡°Maven, dear, it¡¯s good to see you back!¡± Abarrane said. Surprise flashed through her eyes for just a moment as she saw Tess and Ellie, but she quickly recovered. ¡°And you must be the Guildmaster¡¯s grandchildren, thank you for taking care of her for all this time. She wasn¡¯t too much trouble, was she?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Tess said. ¡°She¡¯s been a pleasure to be around.¡± ¡°We¡¯re glad to hear that.¡± Saburo replied. ¡°Thank you for coming to see her off, you are more than welcome to come visit her in the future if you so desire. Just send a letter first, we will need to schedule a time, as Maven is going to be very busy in the coming months.¡± ¡°No.¡± Maven said quietly. ¡°What was that, dear?¡± Abarrane said, giving Maven a stern look. ¡°I said no.¡± Maven said, louder this time. ¡°I will not be busy in the coming months, and they are not here to see me off.¡± ¡°Do not speak to your mother that way, young lady.¡± Saburo said, a hint of anger audible in his tone. ¡°It is not your place to say what you will or will not be doing. You may have gotten used to dictating your schedule in the time you were away, but now that you are home again, you will have to return to your old routine.¡± ¡°No, I will not.¡± Maven said. ¡°But this is not the place for this conversation. We¡¯re coming in.¡± Saburo¡¯s face grew red, and he looked up at Amara angrily. ¡°What have you been teaching her?!¡± He accused. ¡°You know full well the responsibilities she will be facing in the future, she cannot afford this sort of sloppy behavior as queen!¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± Amara said. ¡°I¡¯ve had little more contact with her than you. But I do suggest moving into your chambers, this isn¡¯t the type of thing you¡¯d want outsiders to hear.¡± ¡°We will choose if this enters our quarters or not.¡± Saburo snarled. ¡°That is not for you to decide.¡± Amara tensed, and suddenly the air around her was¡­different. One moment she had been the relaxed, almost casual woman she always was, and the next she was intense, overwhelming, striking a figure that was larger than life. Yet, as much as the atmosphere seemed to have changed for Maven, her parents seemed even more affected. Abarrane had flinched, and Saburo actually shied back as Amara stepped forward. ¡°I didn¡¯t make that decision, Maven did. However, it is a decision that I fully back. This discussion is too important to have in the open.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± Abarrane said, voice trembling slightly. ¡°But the Los children must wait outside if this is truly such a private discussion.¡± ¡°No.¡± Maven said firmly. ¡°They come too. They¡¯re just as much a part of this as we are.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± Saburo began, but was quickly silenced by a withering glare from Amara. ¡°Fine.¡± Abarrane said. ¡°If you insist.¡± ¡°I do.¡± Maven said, stepping into her parents¡¯ chambers. She pushed past her parents, then turned to her companions. ¡°Tess, Ellie, follow me.¡± The two shared a glance, then followed her through. Maven led them to a sitting area, where they waited for her parents and her grandmother to join them. When they arrived, Amara no longer was exuded that overwhelming aura, and casually made her way over to where Amara was, taking a seat next to her. ¡°What is this about, dear?¡± Abarrane asked, sitting down across from them. ¡°I thought you were going to be coming back?¡± ¡°You assumed I was going to be coming back.¡± Maven said. ¡°I have come to inform you that, in reality, I will not be returning, not now, and perhaps not ever. I am formally abdicating my position as crown princess and handing the title to Taru.¡± Abarrane frowned. ¡°We¡¯ve been over this, dear. You cannot simply abdicate because you do not wish to be queen. That is not how this works.¡± Maven shook her head. ¡°That was true before. But, as of today, things have changed. Not one hour ago, I was officially made Dungeons¡¯ Appointed, and my duties as her Appointed leave me with little time to be queen. And, as they concern the entirety of sapient existence, they are more important, as well.¡± There was a prolonged silence as her parents digested this. ¡°This¡­better not be another scheme to attempt to get out of your duties.¡± Her father said weakly. ¡°That is taking things a little too far.¡± An odd feeling washed over Maven, one that she could instinctually tell meant that Dungeons wished to Descend and was asking for her permission. Wordlessly, she accepted, and she suddenly found herself filled with what felt like pure, raw, power. And, suddenly, the world looked¡­different. It was like another world had been overlaid on the ¡°real¡± world, a world that Maven felt she could reach out and touch. And, through her connection with Dungeons, Maven was made aware of what exactly was happening; Dungeons¡¯ Descent effectively turned the world around her into a dungeon, activating Maven¡¯s Blessings that required her to be within a dungeon, and allowing her to manipulate the world in the area around her as if it were a dungeon. But that was something she would have to explore more later, she and Dungeons had a job to do. So, Dungeons opened their mouth, and the two spoke. ¡°It is true.¡± They said. ¡°I saw Maven as a kindred spirit, and given her positioning she was far and away the best candidate for the position.¡± They rose from their seat, looking down on Maven¡¯s seated parents. ¡°Her duties to this country matter little in the face of her newfound duty to society at large.¡± ¡°But¡­succession.¡± Saburo said weakly. ¡°We won¡¯t have an heir.¡± Dungeons thought about that for a moment. Do you mind if I give my opinion? She asked Maven. That they should consider doing away with the ¡°queens only¡± thing? It¡¯s your kingdom, I don¡¯t want to unnecessarily force my opinion on them. Go ahead. Maven confirmed. I don¡¯t mind, it¡¯s long overdue. Got it. Dungeons replied, then, opened their mouth to speak. ¡°It may not be my place to say, but it is my opinion that your system of only allowing female rulers has long since passed its expiration date. I see no reason that your son cannot inherit instead of Maven. Tradition has its place, but not when it comes to equality and basic rights.¡± ¡°Can we at least delay the announcement of Maven¡¯s abdication and the new law allowing men to rule until a more opportune time?¡± Abarrane asked. ¡°Things are a bit¡­rocky now.¡± ¡°I will leave that decision up to you and Maven.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°But I must now take my leave, my time here runs short. Farewell.¡± Dungeons left, and then, suddenly, the world was normal again. Now that Dungeons had left, she felt weaker. Not just because she was no longer in Descent, but she was strangely tired, and her whole body was sore. She sat down into her seat, managing to keep her gaze steady as she looked at her parents. ¡°You have five years.¡± She said. ¡°That should give you more than enough time to stabilize things and give Taru any training he needs.¡± ¡°Five years isn¡¯t a lot of time, honey.¡± Abarrane said. ¡°You know how tenuous our position is at times.¡± ¡°It¡¯s always like this.¡± Maven snapped. ¡°Every single time I brought the subject up, for the past ten years, it¡¯s always that things are too unstable. Have you considered that, maybe, things are unstable because of your unwillingness to change how the regime works? Maybe showing that the royal family doesn¡¯t consider half the population ¡°less fit to rule¡± will help!¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Saburo frowned. ¡°You are out of line, young lady. Do not speak to your mother like that, especially in front of outsiders.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not outsiders.¡± Maven protested. ¡°They¡¯re my closest friends!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve known them for a couple of months.¡± Saburo said. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you can call them your closest friends. Surely Ishtal would be closer?¡± Maven rolled her eyes. ¡°As if. This might be news to you, but perhaps people who aren¡¯t always jockeying for your favor make for better friends than those who do. Ishtal is nice, but, at the end of the day, she wants something from me. These two don¡¯t. That makes a world of difference.¡± Saburo cast an almost pleading look towards Tess and Ellie. ¡°Do you two really have no reservations about this?¡± He asked. ¡°Surely having Maven as an Appointed will put pressure on your party. It might alleviate some tension if she had to spend time at home from time to time.¡±
Fortune: Is he seriously still trying to convince Maven to not abdicate Death: He¡¯s got guts, I¡¯ll give him that Fortune: Go ahead and tell them. They¡¯re not stupid, they¡¯re going to figure things out when they realize Maven¡¯s working together with two relatively new Appointed.
Ellie took a deep breath. ¡°Are you serious? Are you trying to guilt trip Maven through her friends? That¡¯s low.¡± Saburo¡¯s eyes grew sharp. ¡°Granddaughter of the Guildmaster or not, that is no way to speak to royalty, in their own home no less. Care to rephrase that?¡± ¡°Is that all you know how to say? That that¡¯s ¡®no way to speak to someone¡¯? That¡¯s twice now that you¡¯ve said that.¡± Ellie taunted. ¡°But, no, I don¡¯t care to rephrase that. As far as I¡¯m concerned, I¡¯m talking to a friend¡¯s parent, your status means nothing to me.¡± ¡°Tone it down.¡± Abarrane said. ¡°Both of you. This is no place to be fighting in. Saburo, they are, technically our guests, and though this might be our chambers, we still need to show the courtesy they deserve. Ellie, I understand you feel strongly on these matters, but surely you can understand how awkward of a position we have been put in? As Saburo said, you¡¯ll be affected by this as well.¡± Ellie raised an eyebrow. ¡°On Mael we had many countries in this sort of situation, though they were usually patriarchal. They¡¯ve allowed women to rule for centuries now, I don¡¯t see why you can¡¯t follow suit.¡± Tess laid a hand on Ellie¡¯s arm. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t get too confrontational.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯re here as moral support, not to cause a fight.¡± ¡°The guards would put a stop to that anyway.¡± Saburo muttered. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡± Tess looked him directly in the eyes. ¡°That would end very poorly for you.¡± She said. ¡°We don¡¯t really care whether or not Maven¡¯s an Appointed, it doesn¡¯t change our party dynamic much. If anything, it¡¯ll only make us closer. We¡¯re not going to insult your intelligence here; you¡¯ll figure it out as soon as Maven does much in the public eyes. I¡¯m Fortune¡¯s Appointed, and Ellie is the Appointed of Life and Death.¡± Tess shrugged, as if what she was saying wasn¡¯t a big deal. ¡°As you might imagine, we support Maven¡¯s decision wholeheartedly, and we¡¯re not going to let you intimidate us with your position.¡± Abarrane frowned deeply, turning to Amara. ¡°What are your thoughts on this, Grandmother?¡± She asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been quiet, but you of all people must understand how dangerous this could be.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been quiet because this is Maven¡¯s decision, and she deserves to be the one making her arguments.¡± Amara said. ¡°And, like Tess and Ellie, I support Maven completely. Tradition has served us well, but this is a tradition that needed to end a long time ago. The country will survive having a king, and in the end will be better for it. Five years is a generous enough timeframe to get your affairs in order.¡± Abarrane wilted. ¡°Fine, I understand.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯ll be ready before five years are up.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Amara said. ¡°I will hold you to that.¡± ¡°D-dear?¡± Saburo said. ¡°After millennia of tradition, are you sure we should give up this easily?¡± ¡°What else?¡± Abarrane asked. ¡°We¡¯ve been told to do this by both Grandmother and a god. Grandmother knows this country better than anyone, and a god is a god. Any more resistance would be foolish.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re seeing sense.¡± She said. ¡°Now, we need to speak with Taru. Send him to my rooms, we¡¯ll wait for him there.¡± She stood up, trying to prevent her legs from wobbling. ¡°Farewell, Mother, Father.¡± ¡°Y-you¡¯re leaving, just like that?¡± Saburo said. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to take some time and catch up with us?¡± Maven shook her head. ¡°As much as I would love to, I have my duties to attend to, and I am still supposed to be away at the expedition. Every moment I stay here is another moment I risk my cover being blown. We can catch up after the expedition has concluded.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± Abarrane said, standing up. ¡°I will fetch him myself, so the servants do not ask any unpleasant questions.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mother.¡± Maven said. ¡°We will be waiting, then.¡± She motioned for Tess and Ellie to follow as she moved towards the door out of her parents¡¯ chambers. ¡°Hold up for a second.¡± Amara said, catching up with her. ¡°Let me make sure no one¡¯s in the hall first.¡± She peeked out the door, then motioned for Maven to follow as she walked towards Maven¡¯s chambers. They quickly walked through the halls and back into Maven¡¯s chambers, and, once inside, Maven heaved a sigh of relief and nearly collapsed into a chair. ¡°Is a Descent always that¡­tiring?¡± She asked. ¡°At first, yes.¡± Amara said. ¡°Once you get stronger, and the bond between you and Dungeons deepens, though, it won¡¯t be nearly as bad. Nowadays I can be in Descent for nearly an hour without side-effects, and I can go for almost two if I¡¯m willing to exhaust myself. I think the record for any Appointed is somewhere in the realm of five hours, but that left Valin unable to do much of anything for a week afterwards.¡± Maven grimaced. ¡°What could possibly need five hours of Descent to deal with?¡± She asked. ¡°An army.¡± Amara said simply. ¡°Back when the war for the Outlands was happening, he singlehandedly took on an entire army, and he used his Descent to stop any of them from escaping.¡± Maven¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°The deserter army.¡± She breathed. ¡°That¡¯s what happened to it?¡± ¡°Are we missing context on something here?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Back when the war was raging, a bunch of opportunistic soldiers deserted and began looting and pillaging whatever they could get their hands on. They started picking up steam, with more soldiers from many different nations joining them, until eventually they were large enough that no other army could handle them, and they were about to start pillaging completely uninvolved countries when we stepped in.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°If his Descent let him do anything close to what I felt I could do, then¡­I think I might be surprised that it even took five hours.¡±
Fortune: What does your Descent do, by the way? Dungeons: It turns the world around us into a dungeon, which we can mold at will. Death: Sick
Maven paused. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind my asking, what do your Descents do?¡± ¡°I¡¯m granted near complete control of the minds of those around me, and they¡¯ll never even be able to tell that anything¡¯s changed.¡± Amara said. ¡°For obvious ethical reasons, I don¡¯t change people¡¯s personalities or thoughts unless we have no other choice, but it does come in handy for wiping memories, and occasionally controlling monsters.¡± ¡°Mine makes my Luck stat apply to everything.¡± Tess said. ¡°And, since I have infinite Luck¡­¡± She trailed off, letting the implications speak for themselves. ¡°How does that work?¡± Maven asked curiously. ¡°Does everything just go your way or¡­?¡± ¡°It basically warps reality around her.¡± Ellie volunteered. ¡°I saw it in a fight once, it was ridiculous; lightning from the day¡¯s storm struck wherever she wanted without even using any magic, to the point where it once hit a sword mid-flight and each fragment of exploding metal hit her enemy and perfectly pinned her to the floor. Then, any time she tried to get up, something equally ridiculous would happen and she¡¯d make no progress. ¡°As for me, it depends on who¡¯s Descending, obviously. Life grants me the ability to completely heal someone, including Mana, Stamina, and anything else that might be incurable even with magic, for almost no cost, while Death prevents me from dying and ¨C¡± She was cut off by a knock on the door to the chambers. ¡°Well, it basically just super-buffs the Blades of Death.¡± She said quickly. ¡°But I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s your brother?¡± Amara was already at the door, looking through the peephole. After a moment, she opened the door and ushered in Maven¡¯s brother, who was looking very confused. ¡°Grandmother? Maven?¡± He asked, frowning. ¡°What¡¯s going on here? And who are these other girls?¡± ¡°These are Tess and Ellie, my party members and dear friends.¡± Maven said. ¡°Please, come take a seat, we have much to discuss. ¡°Couldn¡¯t this have waited until my lessons were finished?¡± Taru complained, walking over and sitting down on one of Maven¡¯s couches. ¡°We were just getting to the good part.¡± ¡°This could not have waited.¡± Maven said. ¡°I will be leaving the moment we¡¯re finished talking. You see, Taru, I have just formally abdicated the throne, and that leaves you as crown prince.¡± Taru narrowed his eyes. ¡°And Mother and Father let you? We¡¯ve been over this, Maven. I would like nothing more than to take the throne, but Mother and Father just won¡¯t budge.¡± ¡°That was before.¡± Maven said. ¡°Not even an hour ago I was named the Appointed of Dungeons, and with my new title and Grandmother¡¯s help, we were able to force them to change their ways. They have been given five years to make the public announcement, and during that time period you will be given the proper schooling needed to make you a king. I just wished to inform you of this myself before I left.¡± Taru¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°I see. Congratulations, then.¡± ¡°Same to you.¡± Maven said. ¡°Do you have any questions before we take our leave?¡± Taru looked at Tess and Ellie with a calculated expression. ¡°They are your party members, the Guildmaster¡¯s grandchildren, yes?¡± He asked. ¡°Would, by any chance, either of them be available for ¨C¡± ¡°They¡¯re lesbians.¡± Maven said flatly. ¡°And they¡¯re dating each other. No, they¡¯re not single.¡± ¡°It can be in name only.¡± Taru said. ¡°We could all benefit greatly from ¨C¡± ¡°Not interested.¡± Tess said. ¡°And, sorry to say it, but I doubt your kingdom has anything we¡¯re interested in that we couldn¡¯t get ourselves.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t come from the same environment we do.¡± Amara said gently. ¡°An arranged marriage holds little attraction for them. I would advise not bringing the topic up again.¡± Taru shrugged. ¡°It was worth a shot.¡± He said. ¡°No further questions, then.¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll be off.¡± Maven said. ¡°Grandmother, could you please take us back to where we came from?¡± ¡°Way ahead of you.¡± Amara said. She snapped her fingers, and then they were gone, returned to the divine realm. Chapter 77: A Change in Dynamic ¡°It was good seeing you again.¡± Amara said, giving Maven a hug. ¡°But I have to go get things ready for the meeting.¡± ¡°The meeting?¡± Maven asked. ¡°What meeting?¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± Tess said. ¡°Once or twice a year, or whenever something important happens, a bunch of us Appointed will get together and have a meeting.¡± She paused, looking to Amara. ¡°How many Appointed aren¡¯t in our group?¡± She asked. ¡°I remember Dungeons saying Commerce and Passion had Appointed, but also that there were some she couldn¡¯t remember.¡± ¡°Aside from those two, I think it¡¯s just Mysteries that has an Appointed that isn¡¯t with us.¡± Amara confirmed. ¡°Is there a reason they aren¡¯t with this group you¡¯re talking about?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Those gods aren¡¯t really on the best of terms with us. There¡¯s no bad blood or anything, they just don¡¯t really get along with our group of gods. And that just sort of naturally filtered to their Appointed.¡± ¡°Oh. I wasn¡¯t expecting there to be any sort of¡­politicking amongst Appointed or gods.¡± ¡°No one does.¡± Amara said. ¡°We try to keep that from the public eye. But, at the end of the day, gods and Appointed are people, just like everyone else, and not everyone gets along. But I really must be going, we¡¯ll be having the meeting tomorrow, and we need to give people time to prepare. Tess, Ellie, will you tell your grandfather for me?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°We¡¯ll take care of it.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Amara replied, giving a wave as she made for the room¡¯s exit. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to it.¡± She said, heading out the door and to who-knows-where. There was a slight pause, then Maven turned to Tess. ¡°Do we need to know what time this meeting is at?¡± Tess froze. ¡°Um¡­I don¡¯t know.¡± She admitted. ¡°I think there¡¯s a standard time the meetings are held at? The two I¡¯ve been to were both at the same time, but Gramps also set both of those up¡­¡± She trailed off, shaking her head. ¡°I guess he¡¯ll know. Worst case scenario we just ask the gods and they¡¯ll tell us.¡± ¡°Speaking of, we should probably find the gods.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯ll need Dungeons to send us back to the dungeon so we can go head back to the expedition properly.¡± ¡°I gotcha.¡± Death said, walking into the room, followed by Fortune, Life, and Dungeons. ¡°Sorry it took so long to get here, we were kinda on the other side of the building.¡± ¡°And, yes, the meeting time is consistent.¡± Life added. ¡°It makes it less of a headache to organize. Specifically, it occurs at ten a.m. according to the time in the gods¡¯ realm on the day it is scheduled for. Given the time zone the expedition is currently in, that¡¯s going to be around noon tomorrow for you.¡± ¡°Oh, good, we can sleep in for a bit.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Nice.¡± Life nodded. ¡°That you can.¡± ¡°You sure you guys don¡¯t want to hang out a bit before you leave?¡± Death asked. ¡°You know we always enjoy the company.¡± ¡°They probably shouldn¡¯t.¡± Life said sternly. ¡°Evan is a busy man, and he should know about this as soon as possible.¡± ¡°But Fate can ¨C¡± ¡°Fate could, but they also need to inform The Rumors of Maven¡¯s new duties. The rest of their day is likely to be busy, they do not have time to spend lounging around.¡± ¡°You¡¯re no fun.¡± Death pouted. ¡°It¡¯s nice to actually be able to hang out in person.¡± ¡°We can hang out tomorrow.¡± Tess said reassuringly. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have anything pressing to do then.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡± Death said. ¡°Got it?¡± ¡°Yeah, we got it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°Shall I send you back then?¡± Dungeons asked. ¡°Yes, please do.¡± Maven said. Dungeons waved a hand, and then they were back at the beginning of the dungeon. From there, they activated their Blessings, and were sent back to their hoverer. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re back.¡± Alice said, looking up from her phone. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± ¡°Ask Maven.¡± Tess said, pulling out her own phone. ¡°I gotta do something real quick.¡± Alice raised an eyebrow, turning to Maven. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Maven paused, not sure where to start. ¡°A lot has happened.¡± ¡°How much can you tell us?¡± Ker asked. ¡°A fair bit. I¡­am now Dungeons¡¯ Appointed, and I have formally abdicated the throne. Freelancing will be my full-time focus from now on.¡± ¡°You what?!¡± Alice asked, eyes widening. ¡°That came out of nowhere.¡± ¡°It did for me as well.¡± Maven said. ¡°Becoming an Appointed, that is. I have been attempting to abdicate for years now, and I was blocked each time. I was finally able to use my new status to force my parents to let me.¡± ¡°Congratulations.¡± Jin said. ¡°It seems as if today has been an excellent day for you.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think it has.¡± Maven agreed. ¡°Alright, Gramps wants us to step outside the hoverer.¡± Tess said, looking up from her phone. ¡°Says that it¡¯s easier to pick us up that way.¡± ¡°Pick you up?¡± Ker asked. ¡°We need to talk to him about Maven being an Appointed.¡± Tess said. ¡°There¡¯s a couple of things we need to go through.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Alice said, pressing a button on her phone. ¡°The hoverer should be stopped now, so just step on out. Should we wait for you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. If we need to get back, we¡¯ll text you and you can stop again. Until then, though, it¡¯s probably best that we don¡¯t get too far behind.¡± Alice nodded. ¡°Just give me the word.¡± The three younger girls stepped out of the hoverer, there was a lurching, and then they found themselves in the interior of another hoverer. ¡°What¡¯s this about?¡± Guildmaster Los asked, looking at Tess. ¡°Maven?¡± Tess prompted. Maven swallowed hard. She had interacted much more with Guildmaster Los these past few months than she ever had before, but it was still somewhat nerve-wracking to talk to him. Try as she might, she couldn¡¯t just see him as the grandparent of her friends. He commanded universal respect and even a certain amount of fear, and that had only been made worse by the more¡­classified things that had been taught to Maven in her youth. Her family may not have known that he was an Appointed, but they didn¡¯t have to, to make him scary. It had long been speculated that he was the person with the highest level, but her family¡¯s intelligence put him as approaching level one hundred and fifty. And, as if that wasn¡¯t enough, all of their spies sent to gather intelligence on him had returned in states ranging from confused to downright terrified, with nothing to show for it. He was the top of the do-not-cross list, and so Maven had always been very careful around him. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Maven took a deep breath and began to speak. ¡°I was named Dungeons¡¯ Appointed earlier today and have since abdicated the throne.¡± She said. ¡°And Grandmother wished for me to inform you of a meeting tomorrow. She did not give me a time or place, but the gods told me that the time is consistent.¡± Guildmaster Los smiled. ¡°Congratulations!¡± He said. ¡°And yes, the time is consistent, as is the place. If you haven¡¯t been told, the place is a special hideaway we Appointed have, accessed through a unique form of magic. We¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re taught how to access it tomorrow, among other things.¡± ¡°Do you mind taking us with you when we go?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°That seems easiest.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Guildmaster Los said. ¡°Did Amara ask you to help with any of the other Appointed that are in this expedition?¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°Just you.¡± ¡°Very well then. We¡¯ll leave at eleven o¡¯clock tomorrow.¡± Guildmaster Los replied. ¡°How did the dungeon go?¡± ¡°It went good.¡± Tess said. ¡°We had to avoid some areas because we were getting overwhelmed, but that probably won¡¯t be a problem going forward.¡± ¡°Glad to hear it.¡± Guildmaster Los said. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind my asking, Maven, what does your new Blessing do?¡± ¡°I do not mind, Guildmaster Los.¡± Maven began, but stopped when she saw Guildmaster Los waving a hand. ¡°Please,¡± he said, ¡°call me Gramps. Now that you¡¯re an Appointed, we¡¯re equals, and since you¡¯re going to be around my granddaughters for quite some time, that seems best for now.¡± Maven paused. ¡°Are you sure?¡± She asked. ¡°That seems¡­¡± ¡°Informal? Disrespectful?¡± Guildmaster Los prompted. ¡°Yes. It feels¡­wrong.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t suppose Evan would be any better?¡± ¡°Perhaps a bit, but not much.¡± ¡°Then Gramps it is.¡± Guildmaster Los said firmly. ¡°We need to get you used to your new status, and I think I prefer the name ¡®Gramps¡¯ when it¡¯s coming from my granddaughters¡¯ close friend.¡± ¡°If¡­if you insist.¡± Maven replied. ¡°As for my Blessing, it allows me to control dungeons and the monsters therein, on top of a few other things.¡± Guildmaster¡­no, Gramps, nodded. ¡°A powerful Blessing indeed. A word of caution, however; using your Blessing to go through dungeons with no resistance from the monsters within will only serve to stifle your growth. There will come a time when that is very useful, but now is not that time.¡± ¡°Because we need to learn how to fight properly, right?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Got it in one.¡± Gramps said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ve heard something similar before, from The Rumors.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°Well, they give good advice.¡± Gramps said. ¡°There¡¯s a reason I asked them to train my grandchildren, and not some other group. Anyway, is there anything else you all need?¡± ¡°I do not believe so.¡± Maven said. ¡°Perfect. I¡¯ll see you at eleven tomorrow, then.¡±
¡°So¡­how are we getting there?¡± Maven asked. ¡°And where exactly are we going?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a place on the very fringes of the Outlands.¡± Gramps explained. ¡°So remote and inhospitable that no one except Appointed will be able to get there, not for a very long time. As for how we¡¯re getting there, we¡¯ll be using this.¡± He said, tapping a circle drawn onto the floor of his hoverer. ¡°This is a special magic circle that only works for Appointed. We¡¯ll show you how to draw it up later, but once you have, you just have Dungeons help you pour a miniscule amount of Worship into it, and it¡¯ll take you right to our hideout. Don¡¯t feel shy about using it, either; this is an all-purpose retreat for us. If you need to get away from somewhere surreptitiously, or are being chased and need a quick out, this is the way to do it.¡± He snapped his fingers, and a shimmering portal appeared above the circle, showing a sort of lodge beyond. ¡°If you would be so kind as to follow me, we can get started on introducing you to the facilities.¡± Maven stepped through the portal after him, followed closely by Tess and Ellie. As she stepped through, the sound of a roaring fire became audible, and Tess breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Good, someone¡¯s already set up a bit.¡± She said. ¡°I was worried we¡¯d need to get the fire going.¡± ¡°Yes, Amara¡¯s likely already in the process of setting up.¡± Gramps said. He walked over to the fire, motioning for Maven to follow. ¡°This place is high on a mountain, surrounded by a perpetual blizzard.¡± He explained. ¡°And, as such, it gets incredibly cold. To combat that, we have a fire enchanted by Hearth himself to warm it back up. ¡°There¡¯s a set of logs in the fireplace that never burn out, just light them however you prefer, and the place will warm right up for you. If you don¡¯t have any magical means of doing so, there¡¯s a lighter in the drawer directly to the left of the fireplace that should do it for you.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you need kindling?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Magic lighter.¡± Gramps said, waving his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Now¡­before we begin showing you around, we should probably find your grandmother. I¡¯m sure she¡¯d want to say hello. She¡¯s probably helping get things set up in the meeting room, follow me.¡± He took them through a door to aa large room that was dominated by a partially set-up table. ¡°Amara, are you in here?¡± He called out. After a few moments, Amara poked her head out from behind the table, where she was apparently working on setting up the legs. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re all here, good!¡± She said, vaulting over the table and rushing over to give Maven a hug. ¡°What do you think?¡± She asked. ¡°I have not seen very much of the place yet.¡± Maven said. ¡°So, I suppose I do not have much of an opinion at the moment.¡± ¡°Well, don¡¯t get too excited.¡± Gramps said. ¡°This place is nothing fancy. Just has enough to allow someone to live here for a few weeks, and some space for holding things if we need it. Still, it¡¯s more than adequate for our needs.¡± ¡°Would you three give her the tour?¡± Amara asked. ¡°I would love to do it myself, but I need to finish setting up here.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take care of that for you, don¡¯t worry.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Would you really?¡± Amara asked hopefully. ¡°I¡¯d really appreciate it.¡± ¡°Of course I will.¡± Gramps said. ¡°I¡¯ll help too.¡± Tess volunteered. ¡°Many hands make for light work and all that.¡± ¡°I can pitch in as well. You two go bond.¡± Ellie added. ¡°Thanks everyone.¡± Amara said, grabbing Maven¡¯s hand. ¡°Ooh, I¡¯m so excited! Here, follow me!¡± Amara began towing Maven through the building, giving her a quick overview of what each room was for. Their tour went uninterrupted until about halfway through, when they went to the kitchen. Sitting there, eating some sort of sandwich, was an absolutely enormous four-armed man. He was all muscle, wearing a bunch of rugged furs, and was¡­oddly familiar, for some reason. As they entered, he turned to look at them. ¡°Ah. This must be that granddaughter that you were talking about.¡± He said gruffly. ¡°What was her name again? Isara?¡± ¡°That¡¯s my great-grandmother.¡± Maven said. ¡°My name is Maven.¡± The man grunted. ¡°Could never keep track of all of you. Whose Appointed are you?¡± ¡°Dungeons.¡± Maven replied. ¡°It¡¯s about time.¡± He grumbled. ¡°I¡¯ve had to pick up that slack while she didn¡¯t have one. When do you start you work for real?¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°The same time Tess and Ellie do.¡± Amara said. ¡°When they¡¯re all finished training. But¡­aren¡¯t you forgetting something?¡± The man frowned, thinking about that. After a few moments, he seemed to realize what Amara was getting at. ¡°Ah, sorry ¡®bout that. Name¡¯s Valin, Hunt¡¯s Appointed.¡± He finished off his sandwich, then stood up to go make another, revealing an absolutely enormous bow that had been hidden by the way he was sitting. And then it all clicked for Maven. She had seen this man before, in confidential documents. He was what her country had designated a ¡°high-risk unidentified person¡± ¨C someone who had had done something of note in Paumen in the past, but for whatever reason they had not been able to gather any information on. Every hundred or so years there seemed to be a sighting of him shortly before or after the corpse of some incredibly threatening monster was found. He had only been seen in Paumen once, but too little was known about him, given the circumstances in which he was seen. The leading theory, of course, was that he was hunting the monsters, but there remained the possibility of them somehow being attracted to him, or him experimenting on them or something, so they had decided to be extra alert about him, just in case. And¡­now that she was thinking about it, her grandmother had mentioned him briefly, as being the one that had dealt with the deserter army. ¡°Is it true that you were responsible for the disappearance of the deserter army?¡± She asked. Valin paused in the middle of making his sandwich. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°The deserter army, you defeated them, right? Grandmother told me about it.¡± ¡°No, I heard you, what¡¯s the deserter army?¡± Maven blinked. Did he actually not know? She opened her mouth to clarify, but her grandmother beat her to it. ¡°That army you destroyed during the war for the Outlands, the one that you were in five hours of Descent for.¡± Understanding dawned in Valin¡¯s eyes. ¡°Oh, that. Yeah, that was me.¡± He said sourly. ¡°That was an experience I¡¯d rather not go through again. Mark my words, kid, killing people is not a pleasant experience. We spend our lives doing things that prevent people from getting in too much danger, so it always stings when you have to kill someone yourself, especially on that scale.¡± ¡°So¡­those monsters people always see you around, you¡¯re the one who kills them?¡± Valin¡¯s expression brightened. ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve heard of me? I¡¯m surprised, I generally try and stay out of sight as much as possible.¡± ¡°She was the crown princess until recently.¡± Amara explained. ¡°Paumen has files on a lot of people like you. They¡¯re not sure if you¡¯re hunting those monsters or causing them somehow.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m hunting them.¡± He said. ¡°Occasionally something too dangerous for the public will find its way into an area it really shouldn¡¯t be in, and it¡¯s my job to make sure as few civilians as possible die from it.¡± Maven frowned, thinking on that. ¡°What qualifies as too dangerous?¡± She asked. ¡°We get monsters over level one hundred from time to time, so if those don¡¯t qualify, then¡­what does?¡± Valin chuckled. ¡°Depends on the era. Right now the limit is anything over level one hundred and twenty five. Once we finish introducing savage dungeons, that¡¯s getting bumped up to one fifty. We still need to threaten people, we just don¡¯t want them to be completely out of their depth. Now, did you two have something you needed from me in particular, or can I get back to eating?¡± ¡°That¡¯ll be all, thanks Valin.¡± Amara said. ¡°We should get going, Maven, we need to finish his up before the meeting properly begins.¡± Chapter 78: Threat of a Surge Maven couldn¡¯t help but be a little starstruck as she looked at the people seated around the table. It was like someone had made a list of the most influential or mysterious people in the world and put all their top picks in one room. There were, of course, the four people that made up The Titans: the Gui¡­Gramps, Eyfura, Ava, and Atum. They needed no introduction, being the most famous freelancers of all time and widely considered to be the strongest people the world had to offer if you discounted the Appointed. Of course, they were Appointed, so in Maven¡¯s mind, that made it all the more likely that they were the strongest people alive. Valin was undoubtedly the most enigmatic of the group, but, from just their short interaction earlier, Maven was starting to get a read on him. There was no question that he was in the same league as The Titans when it came to strength, and he didn¡¯t seem like a bad person. Just¡­not used to socializing. There was Alberich, head of the city¡¯s university of magic. Maven had met him a few times before, and he had seemed every bit the earnest academic. Having him here was¡­odd, in a sense; why did he research things, if he had direct access to the gods who could give him the answer? Surely there was something, but she couldn¡¯t think of what, so she¡¯d just have to ask him later. The two aquatic elves seemed to occupy a similar space to Valin, enigmatic people that she was vaguely aware of due to Paumen¡¯s files on them, but who she didn¡¯t really have details on. Even in the case of Paumen¡¯s files, there was less than they had on Valin, just that they were sighted during a couple of very important events relating to the oceans. Kane Io was the world¡¯s lead magic tool maker, a person who held as much power as any head of state. His business was big, and made the best devices around. Maven had once received a magic bag made by him personally, an upgrade to the older one she had been using. It was almost shocking how big a difference it made; reaching into her old one had at times felt weird and uncomfortable, but with his¡­it was like reaching into a normal bag, and it had yet to show even a hint of degradation. Finally, there was Rachel, one of the world¡¯s best seamstresses. She was highly in demand among the rich and famous, and getting a custom order from her meant not only paying an absurd amount of money, but waiting for months or even years for it to be processed. And now that she was thinking about it¡­Tess and Ellie¡¯s casual clothes all seemed to be made by her. Did they have some sort of a deal with her? She¡¯d have to ask them about it; if there was any chance she could get a set of clothes made by Rachel just for use in private, she¡¯d love to have some. Amara, to Maven¡¯s shock, put her feet up on the table as she began to speak. ¡°So, I¡¯m guessing you all have realized why I¡¯ve gathered you here today.¡± ¡°Your granddaughter¡¯s been made an Appointed, yes?¡± Rachel ventured. ¡°Have a cookie, by the way.¡± She continued, nodding at Maven. ¡°I made them myself.¡± Maven hesitantly grabbed a cookie and bit into it. To her surprise, it was one of the best she¡¯d ever had, even including all the various renowned chefs that had cooked for parties Maven had attended. Rachel smirked as she saw Maven¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯m not just a seamstress.¡± She said. ¡°I dabble in other crafts as well.¡± Amara shifted the position of her feet. ¡°To answer your question, yes, Maven here has been made an Appointed. Maven, would you like to introduce yourself?¡± Maven stood up and gave a curtsy. ¡°I¡¯m Maven Sarlienne, former crown princess of Paumen and new Appointed of Dungeons.¡± There was a sort of prompting feeling that Maven was already beginning to associate with Dungeons wishing to Descend, one which Maven allowed. ¡°And, of course, you already know me, but I¡¯m Dungeons.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°With the introduction of Savage Dungeons around the corner, I figured it was high time for me to get an Appointed of my own. Please take care of her in the future.¡± And then Dungeons was gone, leaving Maven back in sole control of her body. ¡°I¡¯m still in training, but I plan to be working closely with Tess and Ellie when my training is done.¡± Maven continued. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you all.¡± ¡°Good job, Maven.¡± Amara said, reaching up and patting her on the head. ¡°Why don¡¯t the rest of you all introduce yourselves?¡± Maven sat, and the people around the table began to introduce themselves. By and large, they fit the roles that Maven would have expected from them. That¡­made sense, she supposed; many of these people were important because of their great skill in an area, so them being Appointed of gods related to those areas wasn¡¯t much of a surprise. Once everyone had introduced themselves, Amara spoke up again. ¡°I suppose. while we¡¯re here. we might as well discuss business, too. How¡¯s the expedition going, Evan?¡± ¡°It¡¯s going well.¡± Gramps said. ¡°We should be entering uncharted territory within the week, and we should be hitting our destination by the end of next week. Given the turnout, I¡¯m expecting to discover all of the dungeons in the area within a month after that. We¡¯ll give it another two weeks after the last dungeon is discovered, and then we¡¯ll head back.¡± Maven blinked, surprised to hear that the expedition had a schedule like that. As far as the public knew, the expedition just ended when supplies were running low, and no new discoveries were being made. She supposed it¡­made sense that the Appointed would know what the expedition was looking to uncover, but she hadn¡¯t thought about it until that moment. ¡°Ah, forgive me, Maven.¡± Gramps said, looking at her. ¡°I understand you¡¯re probably a little confused. As you may be guessing, the guild¡¯s expeditions have all been organized with the specific intent of revealing certain things to the public. In the future, we¡¯ll be using them to unveil savage dungeons, like the one you¡¯ve been visiting, but currently, we are just looking to decrease the number of dungeons us Appointed have to maintain.¡± ¡°These expeditions will be your best friend in the future, trust me.¡± Valin said. ¡°The number of dungeons we have to deal with can be overwhelming sometimes.¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°How many are you currently handling?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Myself? Thirty or forty. If you include all other Appointed, it¡¯s probably in the realm of fifty or sixty.¡± Valin said. ¡°And, when you¡¯re done training, you¡¯ll be the one in charge of them.¡± ¡°Sixty? By myself?¡± Maven said in a small voice. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to do that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not as bad as he¡¯s making it out to be.¡± Amara said comfortingly. ¡°Especially with your new Blessing. That should make upkeep a snap, you¡¯ll just have to travel there.¡± ¡°Which is also a non-issue.¡± Gramps said. ¡°We¡¯ll almost certainly arrange for you to get some sort of teleportation ability, so you¡¯ll only have to make the trek out there once.¡± ¡°Unless you¡¯re crazy like Valin and want to walk everywhere.¡± Rachel teased. ¡°Where¡¯s the fun in teleporting?¡± Valin grumbled. ¡°You don¡¯t get to see the sights.¡± ¡°It also saves you months of time.¡± Gramps said. ¡°For someone like Maven who likely wants to maintain a presence in society, not spending all her time traveling would be important.¡± Gramps paused, looking at Maven. ¡°Unless you want to be a recluse, there¡¯s nothing wrong with it.¡± Maven shook her head. ¡°As much as I love exploring, I think I would go crazy if that¡¯s all I did. I would like to keep a fa?ade of a standard freelancer¡¯s life.¡± Gramps nodded. ¡°Then we¡¯ll figure something out. But for now, don¡¯t worry about it, that¡¯s still at least a few years out. Anyway, there¡¯s nothing else to report on the expedition, does anyone else have any business?¡± One of the aquatic elves, Carel, spoke up. ¡°We mentioned a meeting or two ago the possibility of a monster surge on Achey.¡± He said. ¡°And as of recent days, we¡¯ve become all but certain that there will be one within the year.¡± Maven winced. Monster surges were never good news, and Achey was a relatively new plane, and thus was relatively less used to them. A lot of people were going to die, and there really wasn¡¯t much she could do to prevent that. The issue with monster surges was that they were prolonged events, where tens of thousands of monsters would throw themselves at towns over weeks and months. It would be fine if it were just for one or two days, but¡­even the highest level people still needed to sleep, and the monsters weren¡¯t going to wait for them to recover. And since the assault was near-constant, there was very little time with which to safely conduct repairs on walls or buildings. ¡°Have you noticed any particularly large build-ups of monsters?¡± Gramps asked. ¡°Or any especially strong monsters?¡± Carel paused, thinking on that. ¡°Things are still in the early phases.¡± He said. ¡°So, it¡¯s hard to say. We¡¯ll keep an eye on things, and if it gets too dangerous, we¡¯ll call for help. For the three of you newbies, we like to do careful pruning of potential monster surges and make sure they¡¯re not going to absolutely destroy people. We try to keep them dangerous, but not to the point where people trying their absolute best can¡¯t manage it.¡± ¡°How?¡± Maven asked. ¡°We¡¯ve been trying to figure out monster surges for ages, do¡­do the gods just tell us where to go?¡± Alberich shrugged. ¡°Sometimes?¡± He said. ¡°The thing with monster surges is that a lot of the signs aren¡¯t visible unless you¡¯re either explicitly looking for them or actually know why they happen. You see, the current theory among the academic world is that they¡¯re related to dungeons going out of control, and that¡¯s not true at all. While they share many symptoms, the root cause ¨C¡± ¡°Look for areas with odd concentrations of ambient Mana.¡± Valin interrupted. ¡°That¡¯s all there really is to it.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s a bit more complicated than that, but that¡¯s the shape of the thing.¡± Alberich said, seemingly unfazed by the interruption. ¡°It has to do with levels of ambient Mana stabilizing themselves between planes. With planes with lower ambient Mana, they draw more from other planes, and when it hits a critical point, it gets converted into monsters, which then seek out people. This results in ¨C¡± ¡°When enough monsters have been created it¡¯s like someone punched a hole in a bucket and the rest come out all at once.¡± Valin said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the technicalities of it, we¡¯ll be here all day if you do.¡± Maven frowned. ¡°But wait¡­if it¡¯s Mana coming in from other planes, what about those other planes? They still have monster surges.¡± ¡°That happens when the ambient Mana gets too low.¡± Alberich explained. ¡°They have a sort of¡­resting ambient Mana they try to stick to, and they draw energy from somewhere, we don¡¯t know where, which causes a phenomenon similar to what happens with low ambient Mana planes. In either case, once the monsters have been killed, the Mana used in their creation is dispersed into the surroundings, and the plane¡¯s ambient Mana becomes ever so slightly higher. ¡°It¡¯s generally hard to tell when they¡¯re coming and where the worst parts will be because most modern tools aren¡¯t sophisticated enough to detect the minute differences we¡¯re looking for until quite a ways into the process. We, on the other hand, have access to more sophisticated abilities by virtue of being able to use Worship, so we can sniff things out relatively easily.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡­guess that makes sense.¡± ¡°Feel free to ask me about it more after our meeting is finished.¡± Alberich said. ¡°I love to talk about this sort of thing, but, unfortunately, Valin is right; if we just let me talk, we¡¯ll be here all day, and not all of us have time for that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all for us, then.¡± Carel said. ¡°Anyone else?¡± There was silence for a moment, and then Amara spoke up. ¡°Looks like that¡¯s all.¡± She said. ¡°Let¡¯s call the meeting here, then.¡± There was a chorus of assent, and people began to stand up and mingle amongst themselves. ¡°So, what¡¯d you think?¡± Amara asked. ¡°That¡¯s¡­all?¡± Maven said. ¡°These people are¡­like, really important, and the meeting took all of ten minutes, if that.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re all on the same page.¡± Amara giggled. ¡°We don¡¯t have to have major arguments about anything, so that makes things a lot simpler. Honestly, these things are almost more of a social event than anything.¡± ¡°It also helps that we¡¯ve had three meetings in rather quick succession while nothing¡¯s going on.¡± Rachel said, skittering over to the two. ¡°We¡¯re a little out of things to talk about.¡± ¡°How often are these usually held?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I know there are semiannual scheduled meetings, but what about these ¡®unscheduled¡¯ meetings?¡± ¡°Very rarely.¡± Rachel replied. ¡°Once or twice a decade on average. This past year has been something of an outlier.¡± ¡°Hey guys.¡± Ellie said, walking over to them with Tess in tow. ¡°How¡¯re things?¡± ¡°Pretty good.¡± Rachel said. ¡°How are things with you two? Are you settling in okay, Tess? I kept meaning to ask, but never got around to it, you know?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve more or less completely adjusted.¡± Tess said, blushing slightly. ¡°Not something I would have expected those first couple of days, but I¡¯m¡­really happy right now.¡± ¡°Well, you certainly look better than you did when you were brought into my shop that first day. I¡¯m happy to hear it.¡± ¡°Oh, I was meaning to ask,¡± Maven began, ¡°but do you three have some sort of deal? I noticed that all of Tess and Ellie¡¯s casual clothes are made by you and was sort of wondering.¡± Tess blinked. ¡°Is that a big deal?¡± She asked. ¡°A little.¡± Rachel giggled. ¡°I do have a bit of a waiting list.¡± ¡°How long?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Usually at least half a year.¡± Rachel admitted. ¡°As for deals¡­well, I give priority to clothes for Appointed, as long as you don¡¯t abuse the system. I give discounts, too!¡± ¡°Really?¡± Maven asked hopefully. ¡°How much?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll generally run you about three or four gold a set.¡± Rachel said. Maven¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Only three or four gold?!¡± She said. ¡°Um¡­do you mind if I order three sets, then?¡± ¡°Sure thing!¡± Rachel said. She reached into a shirt pocket and pulled out a phone. ¡°Here, let¡¯s trade contact info. I¡¯ll take your measurements real quick and you can just text me what you want.¡± ¡°Bring her back when you¡¯re done.¡± Amara said. ¡°We still need to teach her how to hide her Worship and how to make the circle that brings her here.¡± ¡°Will do!¡± Rachel said cheerfully. ¡°Follow me, dear!¡± Chapter 79: Arrival The hoverer slowed to a stop earlier than Tess had grown used to. ¡°Are we here?¡± She asked, looking around at the hoverer¡¯s other occupants. Alice grinned, standing up from her seat. ¡°I think so, let me go double check.¡± ¡°No need.¡± Ker said, walking over to them from the far end of the hoverer. ¡°I just checked. We¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Finally!¡± Alice said, pumping a fist. ¡°I am so over all this waiting!¡± ¡°We should go meet up with the expedition¡¯s main contingent before we do anything else.¡± Jin said, looking up from his phone. ¡°They¡¯re giving further instructions in ten minutes.¡± ¡°Way ahead of you.¡± Alice replied, opening one of the hoverer¡¯s doors and jumping out. ¡°Everyone out, we gotta get this thing packed up.¡± ¡°Patience, Alice.¡± Ker said, smiling faintly. ¡°Perhaps we should get into our gear before we pack away our changing spot.¡± Alice paused, then begrudgingly stepped back into the hoverer. ¡°Fine. I guess you¡¯re right.¡± ¡°I¡¯m already geared up.¡± Tess said, motioning at her clothes. Her party had already been to the savage dungeon that day, and so Tess had already changed into her armor. Ellie and Maven had changed out of theirs once they had returned to the hoverer, but seeing as how Tess¡¯s armor was highly comfortable, she had opted to stay in hers and just change its appearance to be more casual. ¡°Do be quick with your changing.¡± Jin said. ¡°We still have to walk over there, which could take a couple of minutes.¡± ¡°No need to tell me twice.¡± Alice mumbled, making her way to the hoverer¡¯s bathroom. ¡°Jin and I will change over near our beds.¡± Ker said. ¡°You two are free to change near yours, we won¡¯t peek. If you feel uncomfortable with that, then go ahead and change in the bathroom after Alice finishes.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good changing near my bed.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Tess, feel free to peek as much as you want.¡± Tess rolled her eyes. ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± She replied. ¡°I will wait for Alice to finish.¡± Maven said. ¡°My apologies, you four, I trust you, I just¡­prefer to be alone while changing.¡± ¡°Nah, it¡¯s cool.¡± Tess said. ¡°I get it.¡± A few minutes later, everyone had changed, Alice had packed up the hoverer, and they began their walk over to the gathering place. ¡°How do you know where we¡¯re going, Jin?¡± Ellie asked curiously. ¡°I have an app for it. I¡¯ll show you how to download it after we¡¯re done here. It provides information from the guild, allowing you to view requests in your area, updates on monster movements and weather, news, updates on events like this, and even requests that specifically ask for your party, if you¡¯re famous enough to get those. It¡¯s a pretty indispensable piece of tech in this business.¡± ¡°Sounds like it.¡± Ellie agreed. ¡°You can also make it a dead man¡¯s switch for if your party wipes in a dungeon.¡± Alice volunteered. ¡°That way they can recover your bodies if you die in an out of the way dungeon. It might be the difference between getting resurrected and dying for good, so it¡¯s something to keep in mind.¡± Tess shared a glance with Ellie and Maven. ¡°I don¡¯t think that particular function is much use to the three of us, given our circumstances.¡± She admitted. ¡°Things are a little¡­different for us, you know?¡± Alice frowned, then seemed to understand what Tess was getting at. ¡°I see.¡± She said. ¡°Still, it¡¯s worth knowing about.¡± They chatted on the topic for a couple minutes more until they eventually reached a large gathering of people. Gramps was standing on a raised patch of earth overlooking everyone with Ava, Atum, and Eyfura behind him. He spotted Tess¡¯s group as they walked up and gave them a wave. A lot of people in the crowd turned to look, but that didn¡¯t stop Tess from waving back, even if she did so a little embarrassedly. A few minutes after that, Gramps cast a spell and cleared his throat, the sound magically amplified so everyone could hear. The low buzz of conversation died away, and Gramps began to speak. ¡°As you are no doubt aware, we have finally reached our destination!¡± He said jovially. ¡°Before I let you all loose to do as you will, I would like to give a few words of advice for those who have not yet gone on one of our expeditions. ¡°This is an exciting time, but it is also a dangerous one. We are deep in uncharted territory, and there is no telling what may lurk in these lands. Our scouts have not yet seen any monsters over level sixty roaming around, but that is not to say that a level sixty monster is as dangerous as it gets out here. The average level for monsters in this area seems to stabilize around fifty, with packs of up to five or more being common. And, given that information, we are proceeding under the assumption that there might be monsters of up to level eighty that we have not seen. ¡°We advise any parties containing members below level fifty to be exceedingly careful. If your party consists of mostly people below level fifty, it would be wise to stick with the group explorations we sponsor. We will not force you to do so, but know that people often die during these expeditions, and revival is not cheap or even guaranteed. Our resources are finite, and we cannot afford to resurrect people constantly.¡± A slightly mournful expression crossed Gramps¡¯s face as he continued, though it was so subtle that Tess doubted anyone who wasn¡¯t intimately familiar with him would notice. ¡°We would also ask that for any explorations, their intended locations, and estimated duration be reported to guild staff before leaving. Every expedition, people fail to heed this advice and perish in places where we cannot locate them. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°We know it is an annoyance, but it is for your own safety. Even the greatest healer cannot revive someone without access to their corpse. Likewise, if you discover a dungeon, please report it to the guild before venturing inside. My party will personally clear the dungeon and give an estimation on its difficulty. There are no punishments for failing to report an excursion, or for going into a dungeon before it is fully explored, and not even for failing to report the presence of a dungeon. ¡°The only punishment is the potential of permanent death. That being said, being meticulous about reporting your actions will reflect well on you when it comes time to apply for a rank increase. And, finally, any major discoveries such as dungeons or points of extreme interest such as deposits of magical metals, monster nests, or extraordinarily powerful monsters will be rewarded monetarily, proportionate to the importance of the discovery. ¡°You may check in using our app, or, failing that, we have a temporary desk set up near the buses.¡± He paused briefly, surveying the crowd. ¡°Food will be served every four hours from sunup to sundown. Dismissed.¡± He stepped backwards, and the crowd began murmuring amongst themselves again. ¡°Well¡­shall we be on our way?¡± Alice asked. ¡°Maven, any idea where we should head?¡± Maven gave Alice a confused look. ¡°Why me?¡± Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°Maven, you of all people should be able to point us to something exciting.¡± ¡°Me of all¡­oh. Right.¡± Maven said. ¡°Um¡­I don¡¯t, actually. Not yet anyway. I, um¡­kind of don¡¯t want to, though. I¡¯m not going to be able to have this experience again in the future, so¡­for now, let¡¯s just¡­go at it like everyone else.¡± Alice sighed. ¡°Fair enough. I guess that would take some of the fun out of it.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just proceed as normal.¡± Jin said. ¡°Does anyone have preferences in where we go?¡± ¡°Do we have any information on what the terrain is like?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Preliminary reports say everything in the area looks about like this.¡± Jin confirmed, motioning around. The area they were standing in was unremarkable; it was just hills and grass, no trees, no bodies of water, not even any wildlife that she could see. Just grass, grass, and more grass. ¡°I guess maybe in the opposite way from where we came, then?¡± Tess ventured. ¡°Otherwise, we run the risk of exploring places the scouts have already seen.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really care.¡± Ellie said, stretching an arm. ¡°Not if nobody¡¯s seen anything exciting, anyway.¡± ¡°Likewise.¡± Maven agreed. ¡°We¡¯ll head northwest, then.¡± Jin said. ¡°I¡¯m going to mark us as being out for a day while we do preliminary reconnaissance. If we find something, we can extend that, since we¡¯re not exactly hurting for supplies.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Alice said. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving, you can input all that on the way.¡± ¡°A word before you leave, if I may.¡± Ava said, tapping on Tess¡¯s shoulder. Tess jumped, whirling around to find Ava standing behind her. She hadn¡¯t sensed her approach, and by the looks of it, none of the others had either. Even the crowd seemed completely unaware of her presence. ¡°Um¡­yes, Ava?¡± She said weakly. ¡°I would like to remind the three of you to be cautious.¡± She said, looking at Maven and Ellie. ¡°Just because you are Appointed does not mean you are invincible. Descent can only get you out of a tight spot so often, and this area is far deadlier than you are used to.¡± She paused, then looked at each of The Rumors in turn. ¡°I will not be able to accompany you during the course of this expedition, so I leave the three of them to you.¡± She said. ¡°So long as you are cautious, you should be able to keep them safe without too much issue.¡± Her gaze lingered on Alice as she continued. ¡°Do not let your excitement get the better of you, and remember your duties as their teachers.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t let you down.¡± Ker said firmly. ¡°Leave it to us.¡± ¡°Glad to hear it.¡± Ava said. ¡°Have a good time out there, alright?¡± ¡°We will, thank you.¡± Ker said. And then Ava was gone. She didn¡¯t walk away, or vanish in a puff of smoke, she was just¡­gone, like she had never been there. Jin shook his head, smiling slightly. ¡°I suppose she¡¯s the best in the business for a reason.¡± He said. ¡°Shall we be off, then?¡± They began to move away from the gathered people, off towards the northwest. ¡°When exploring the wilderness like this, there are a few things you want to keep in mind.¡± Ker said. ¡°The first is to be wary at all times. Like Ava implied, it is easy to become complacent and make mistakes. ¡°The second is that monsters act differently in the wild than in dungeons. In the wild, monsters behave like other animals; they¡¯re not going to fight you to the death like they do in dungeons. They will stalk you like you¡¯re prey, and once they realize they can¡¯t win, they¡¯ll flee.¡± ¡°The bodies don¡¯t disappear or give drops, either.¡± Alice added. ¡°But, on the bright side, they always have a core, even if you do have to dissect the thing to get at it.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought about that, actually. Good to know.¡± ¡°No one knows why it¡¯s like this, but that¡¯s just the way things are.¡± Alice said, shrugging. ¡°We just accept it.¡±
Fortune: It¡¯s like this because we decided hauling bodies out of dungeons would be a huge pain. That was before magic bag tech was even thought of, so it¡¯s not an issue now, but we can¡¯t exactly change it at this point sooooo Dungeons: The drops monsters give in dungeons were meant to be a sort of consolation prize for not getting the actual body. But, ironically enough, those drops are now more desirable than the bodies for a lot of people Life: In fairness, not only does the world economy now run off of the coins we made them drop, but we have also consistently made those drops better as time went on. And even then, people still prefer to get the corpses from incredibly powerful monsters.
¡°The gods just told you why, didn¡¯t they?¡± Alice said flatly. ¡°Um, yeah, sorry. We probably shouldn¡¯t tell you the exact reasoning, just in case.¡± ¡°Whatever, it doesn¡¯t really matter in the big scheme of things.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Point is, when you¡¯re out in the wilderness, be careful of monsters and always keep your eyes out for shelter that you can use in case of an emergency. Hoverers work as impromptu tents, but you don¡¯t want to get your hoverer shredded by monster attacks while you¡¯re sleeping, so it¡¯s best to find a secluded space and keep watch anyway. Of course, if a dungeon is nearby, that¡¯s the best place to sleep as long as the dungeon¡¯s not out of control, but you can¡¯t always rely on that, especially in situations like this; dungeons are almost always out of control when they¡¯re first discovered.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll point out to you the kind of things we¡¯re looking for while we¡¯re on the move.¡± Jin said. ¡°But we also need to set some ground rules. I need you three to stay between Ker and Alice at all times, unless you are specifically asked to move. We¡¯re going to do our best to keep you out of direct combat unless we determine it¡¯s safe, but there¡¯s no telling what might happen out there, and we¡¯ll need you three in a place where we can keep you safe if we get blindsided.¡± ¡°We can handle that.¡± Tess said. ¡°Good. Don¡¯t hesitate to let us know if you see something important, or if you need a break.¡± Jin said. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get started, shall we?¡± Chapter 80: A Wild Monster Appears As the group was on their way out of camp, they were stopped by a group of five young-looking people. ¡°You¡¯re The Rumors, right?¡± One of them, a girl who couldn¡¯t have been older than Tess, asked, stepping forward. ¡°We are.¡± Jin said guardedly. ¡°What¡¯s your business with us?¡± ¡°We saw you at the gathering, and¡­¡± she trailed off, glancing at Tess, Ellie, and Maven, ¡°and¡­well, we were wondering if you were offering your services as protectors.¡± ¡°We can definitely pay more than those three!¡± One of the others added. ¡°We¡¯ve been saving up for a long time.¡± Alice chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re not from the city, are you?¡± She asked their leader. ¡°Huh?¡± The leader replied. ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t recognize these three.¡± Alice replied, patting Tess¡¯s head affectionately. ¡°Of course, you could have just not been paying attention to recent events, but it seemed more likely that you just weren¡¯t from the region. Anyway, to answer your question, no, we¡¯re not offering to protect people during the expedition, sorry.¡± She paused, glancing up at the boy who had spoken up. ¡°And I don¡¯t think you¡¯re aware of just how much money requesting a party of our caliber costs. Unless you¡¯re heirs to a fortune, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll have enough money for us.¡± ¡°Try us.¡± The boy said. ¡°You¡¯d be surprised.¡± ¡°I-I don¡¯t think we should push them on this.¡± Another boy said. ¡°They said no, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve got a good reason for being with those girls.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who looks up to them the most, Alex!¡± The first boy protested. ¡°We can¡¯t just leave!¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± one of the others, a girl, began, ¡°Aisha and I think we remember seeing those girls on like¡­a tabloid or something. We¡­think they¡¯re important?¡± ¡°They¡¯re the Guildmaster¡¯s grandchildren, plus a close friend.¡± Alice said. ¡°The Guildmaster personally asked us to take care of them, and he would have our heads if we let them get injured, so we can¡¯t afford any other distractions.¡± ¡°See?¡± Alex said. ¡°They have a good reason. Now let¡¯s leave them alone.¡± The first boy sighed. ¡°Fine. Sorry to have bothered you.¡± The group of kids left, and Alice sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry out of here before anyone else asks.¡± She said. ¡°Does this sort of thing happen often?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Somewhat.¡± Ker replied. ¡°We¡¯re pretty well-known for a rank nine party, so we get escort requests like this from time to time. We like to do them when it¡¯s reasonable, but if we take every request sent our way, then more people will ask, and we¡¯ll be flooded with ones that really aren¡¯t worth our time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s something to keep in mind when you three inevitably get famous.¡± Jin said. ¡°Just because a request asks for you in particular, does not mean you should do it. Rejecting a request is not frowned upon, so long as you don¡¯t do it rudely. Often, people with more money than sense will ask for you to do things that could reasonably be handled by someone much less qualified. ¡°You should take note of what kind of rewards are generally offered for requests around your level, and, regardless of how difficult the request given to you is, charge around one and a quarter to one and a half times more than those rates.¡± ¡°Unless it¡¯s a request that needs you specifically, and isn¡¯t just someone asking for a party they¡¯ve heard the name of or someone wanting something done fast.¡± Ker added. ¡°You can be much more lenient on your pricing then. The real point of charging more is so people don¡¯t call for you willy-nilly when anyone else could do. If they want you specifically, then they¡¯re paying extra for the generally quicker response times that come with personal requests, or for having it done by a ¡°name brand¡± party, so to speak.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just how the industry is.¡± Jin said. ¡°People should be expecting this if they request you directly. But Alice is right, we need to get going, we can talk more later, when we¡¯re not at risk of being interrupted.¡±
They made slower progress than Tess had expected. They moved at the same pace they would use in a dungeon, being slow and methodical about it. While they didn¡¯t have to search for traps, the time that would have been spent doing that was filled with making a map. Fortunately, they didn¡¯t have to use paper, or even manually make one; Alice had handed Tess an orb that she said was compiling a map from their surroundings, but it required them to go fairly slowly for it to work. After about half an hour, Tess stopped the group. ¡°There¡¯s a monster in the bushes to our left.¡± She whispered. ¡°It¡¯s close to the edge of my tremorsense, so¡­four hundred feet or so?¡± Jin nodded. ¡°What can you tell us about it?¡± He asked. ¡°Quadrupedal, with¡­I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s fur? It¡¯s kind of hard to tell through tremorsense, but it¡¯s definitely not scales or feathers. And, um¡­it¡¯s the size of a big dog, has some long claws and is vaguely cat-shaped? That¡¯s all I really have, though, sorry.¡± Alice gave Tess an affectionate pat on the head. ¡°That¡¯s plenty.¡± She said, turning towards the left. ¡°Point at it, would you?¡± Tess obliged, and Alice squinted across the distance. ¡°Yeah, can¡¯t see anything, too far away.¡± She said, planting her shield firmly in front of her. ¡°Jin, care to smoke it out for us?¡± ¡°On it.¡± Jin said, beginning to cast a spell. A few moments later, a wave of magic pulsed out from Jin, smoothing down the grass as it flew towards the bushes. As it hit the bushes, a tan creature was hurled out, yowling fiercely. It recovered from the magic admirably, somehow managing to twist in the air and land on its feet. The moment it landed, it shot towards the party, hissing angrily. It was faster than most monsters Tess had seen, but Alice was faster still, throwing her sword and hitting the creature firmly in its side before calling the sword back. That stopped the monster dead in its tracks, and it eyed the party before beginning to limp away. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. But it appeared Alice wasn¡¯t going to let that fly; she reeled back, carefully taking aim before once again hurling her sword. Once again, it hit the creature squarely in the side, but this time there was a flash of light, a scream, and then the creature was dead. ¡°Tess, do you sense anything else nearby?¡± Ker asked. Tess frowned, closing her eyes and focusing on her tremorsense. ¡°I don¡¯t¡­think so.¡± She said. ¡°Or¡­at least, everything else are¡­like rats and stuff. I think. I mean¡­those could be monsters, but everything like that that I¡¯ve seen so far has avoided us.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Ker said. ¡°Let us know if you see anything as we get closer and dissect the body. Ellie, Maven, we¡¯ll teach you two how to dissect a monster for materials, so pay attention, alright?¡± ¡°Tess, we¡¯ll teach you later, when we¡¯re somewhere safer.¡± Jin said. ¡°I¡¯m sure the Guildmaster will be able to get us some corpses for you to work on, the guild tends to dissect a lot of corpses on expeditions, and I doubt this one will be different.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Got it.¡± Fortunately, it didn¡¯t appear there were any other monsters in the area, and they were able to safely approach the corpse. As they did, Ker reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of thick gloves, which he put on. ¡°Always wear gloves, even if you have armor on over your hands already.¡± He said. ¡°These ones are, again, specially made for dissecting. The insides of monsters can be caustic or poisonous or otherwise damaging, and it pays to have special gloves made to withstand those sorts of things.¡± Ker reached into his bag and pulled out a wicked-looking knife before kneeling down over the corpse. ¡°The next thing to keep in mind when dissecting a monster is what you¡¯re going to do with the pelt. You see, the issue with monsters is that their pelts are simultaneously valuable and incredibly annoying to work with.¡± Ker continued, kneeling down over the monster. ¡°They¡¯re annoying to work with because they¡¯re a lot harder than animal pelts. And they¡¯re valuable for¡­well, the same reason, really. Materials from high level monsters are used in the creation of high level armor and weapons, so you can¡¯t just hack into them willy-nilly.¡± Ker took his knife and carefully maneuvered it to one of the cuts Alice¡¯s sword had made. ¡°In general, I like to start from wounds that are already on the monster. You¡¯ve already got an incision, so you don¡¯t have to fight through the hide as much.¡± He held up the knife so Ellie and Maven could see it, then began cutting into the creature. ¡°I have this special knife I ordered for the purpose of dissecting monsters, but even then, it¡¯s not as effective at piercing the hide as an actual weapon. If the monster has been somehow killed without clear wounds, using magic or poison or something, then you sort of have to¡­find a place and go with it. ¡°Those pelts are worth more, but I wouldn¡¯t purposefully try to take monsters down without damaging the pelt unless you specifically need the pelt in good condition or are overwhelmingly stronger than the monster. Your life isn¡¯t worth making a little bit of extra money.¡± He began to methodically cut with the knife, carefully guiding it so as not to damage the pelt further. ¡°Every monster is a little different in how you need to go about skinning it.¡± He said. ¡°So there¡¯s no catch-all trick to dissection, but there are some things that apply to almost every monster. You want the hide, you want whatever they use as weapons, and you want any special features the monster might have, such as toxin glands or magical organs. And, of course, you want their core. ¡°That means you have to be extra careful when cutting around those regions so as not to damage the parts. You are, unfortunately, going to do so in your first few dissections, but don¡¯t get discouraged; with enough practice, you¡¯ll get to the point where you can pretty cleanly do it without much issue.¡± ¡°Where is the core?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°It varies from monster to monster, but it¡¯s generally near the brain or near the heart. If the monster doesn¡¯t have those, it¡¯s generally near some other vital organ. If the monster doesn¡¯t really have vital organs, like slimes, then¡­well, you have to look for it, the core is the vital organ.¡± He continued to answer questions and give more tips until he had, eventually, managed to take the pelt off of the monster. ¡°Now comes the question of the meat.¡± He began. ¡°Generally speaking, the meat isn¡¯t worth much. Some delicacies use monster meat, but often the meat just doesn¡¯t taste very good. It¡¯s usually most useful when you¡¯re out on an extended trip and want to make your supplies last a little longer, but that¡¯s really only an issue if you find you¡¯re going to be out longer than you expected. ¡°Most people just leave the meat where it is for scavengers to eat. We won¡¯t be doing that here, since we¡¯re bringing the materials back for the guild to examine, but in general I would recommend leaving it behind. If you need the bones, then strip the meat off if you want, but your bags are the nice kind, so you can just stick the meat in with any bones and it won¡¯t cause issues.¡± He began to carefully feel around the body, first near the head, then near the heart. ¡°Here we are.¡± He said, grabbing a circular object before bringing his knife around and cutting away the flesh near it. After a moment, he pulled his hand out to reveal the core, which was covered in bits of meat and gore. ¡°Tess, catch.¡± He said, tossing it over to her. Tess started in surprise, but was able to catch the core regardless. ¡°You want me to absorb this?¡± She asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit high level for a core given as a gift?¡± Ker shook his head. ¡°Normally we¡¯d want you to stay away from high level cores you didn¡¯t earn, but this is a special situation. For one, it¡¯s not likely to contain anything really useful to you, since you¡¯ve already absorbed an Emperor Lion¡¯s core. But, even if it did, we¡¯d rather you absorb it anyway; you are uniquely able to tell us exactly what these monsters are capable of, and that¡¯s something we can¡¯t afford to ignore. Knowing what these things can do is directly tied to keeping ourselves safe.¡± Tess nodded, and absorbed the core. Like any other core, it burst into mist and dissolved into her, but unlike other cores she had absorbed, it had stuff attached; the bits of gore that were on it no longer had anything to hold on to, so they just sort of¡­fell into Tess¡¯s hand. She grimaced, dropping the rest of the flesh to the ground before briefly activating Phoenix Fire to clean the rest of it off of her.
You have absorbed a Hill Panther Core! Slots filled: 21/29 You have gained 750 EXP in Monster Breeder! Congratulations, Monster Breeder has leveled up! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ No new Skills or abilities detected! Displaying core information: Hill Panther Core: Level 48 Estimated Power: 1,000 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 2,000 Stats: HP: 3,000 MP: 2,000 Stamina: 3,000 Power: 400 Defense: 300 Magic: 200 Magic Defense: 200 Agility: 400 Luck: 250 Current Skills: None Current Attributes: Darkvision (Major) Enhanced Hearing (Major) Extendable Claws Fur (Fundamental) Keen Nose Kemonomimi (Panther) (Fundamental) Sharp Claws (Major) Sharp Fangs (Major) Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental)
¡°Nothing special.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s basically just a big cat, no Skills or anything, just a lot of passive stuff.¡± ¡°What level?¡± Ker asked. ¡°Forty-eight. Stats are nothing to write home about either, so it¡¯s probably not a big threat. I¡¯m pretty sure Ellie, Maven, and I would be able to take one down ourselves without much issue. Um¡­I did level up Monster Breeder, though, and it finally hit level thirty, so I get some pretty big upgrades from this. Can someone else keep watch while I look through that?¡± ¡°I got it.¡± Alice volunteered, standing up. ¡°Take your time.¡± Tess gave her a thankful smile. ¡°Thanks.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know when I¡¯m done.¡± Chapter 81: Upgrades and Danger Tess sat down on a rock, instructed Silky and Isabella to keep an eye out for any monsters, just in case, and began looking through her options. The first thing she took note of was that she had yet another slot for an attendant, putting her up to four, but she wasn¡¯t quite sure she wanted to make another couple at that moment. She had yet to find anything as¡­low visibility as Silky and Isabella, and she was leveling up just fast enough that she felt that, unless she used a rather powerful core as a base, whatever she made would become quickly become obsolete and she¡¯d have to upgrade it soon after. She was running into that problem with Silky and Isabella again, too. She was of half a mind to just keep them stored within her core storage, where they¡¯d be a little safer than they would hiding around her, but they provided just enough utility that Tess felt it was worth keeping them outside. So, she wrote that particular avenue off, and decided to revisit it once she hit level fifty and leveling slowed down once again. Instead, it was time to look at her Attributes. Fortunately, she had a core from the boss of the savage dungeon, and while she had given it a quick once-over after finishing the dungeon, the excitement with Maven had put truly sitting down and tinkering with it out of her mind, and she had only hastily put one of its abilities into her list. So, she pulled up the core and the derived Skills she had received from it and looked through them again, dismissing any Attributes that had to do with shape or body composition.
Cold Affinity: Strengthens the effect of Cold Magic cast by the creature by 50% Mad Dash: Allows the creature to instantly stop moving or instantly accelerate to top speed while preventing the normal side effects of such drastic changes in speed. If the user chooses to accelerate in this fashion, they are rendered unable to turn until they stop. Monstrous Strength: Lifts the usual restrictions tying physical condition to the Power stat, effectively allowing the creature to fight at full strength regardless of damage taken or the overall health of their body. Prevents the normal negative effects that would come from fighting while heavily wounded, sick, malnourished, or the like. Increases Power by 50%. One With the Wind and Cold: Provides immunity to wind and cold damage from most sources. Additionally grants the creature complete resistance to temperatures warmer than -100¡ãC, and partial resistance up to -200¡ãC. Prevents wind from pushing or otherwise affecting the user unless they wish it. Skills: Aura of Terror Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: You project an aura of fear, causing any enemy that is lower leveled than you that comes within 30 feet to be afflicted with Terror for 10 seconds. Provides immunity to fear effects. You¡¯ll probably still appear in their nightmares for weeks to come. Baleful Bound: Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: For five seconds after hitting their top speed, the user deals triple damage on all attacks. Speed begets strength. Glutton¡¯s Reward Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Allows the user to regenerate missing HP, Mana, and Stamina by consuming food at the cost of the food not filling their stomach. HP, Mana, and Stamina restored is directly proportional to how much the food would fill. They ate until long past the point their body should have given out, then ate some more. Invoke the Mountains Rarity: Mythical Type: Active Description: You may spend 250 Mana to call the fury of the mountains upon the area. For ten minutes, the area in a half-mile radius around you becomes filled with the cold, wind, and feeling of hunger. This chills the area to -20¡ãC, creates a 65 km/h wind in the direction of your choosing, and makes all within feel as if they have not eaten in three days. The chill and wind from this effect cannot be mitigated by any source save One With the Wind and Cold. If you wish to stand atop the world, then you must withstand the dangers that accompany it. Derived Skills: Aura of Fear Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: You project an aura of fear, causing any enemy that is lower leveled than you that comes within 30 feet to be afflicted with Frightened for 10 seconds at a 50% rate. Provides immunity to fear effects. You¡¯ll probably still appear in their nightmares for weeks to come. Speed Demon: Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: For three seconds after hitting their top speed, the user¡¯s attacks deal double damage. Watch out for cops. Taste Test Rarity: Legendary Type: Passive Description: Allows the user to regenerate missing HP, Mana, and Stamina by consuming food at the cost of the food not filling their stomach. HP, Mana, and Stamina restored is proportional to how much the food would fill. It may not look that different, but it¡¯s less efficient than its counterpart, promise. Call Upon the Mountains Rarity: Legendary Type: Active Description: You may spend 250 Mana to call the spirit of the mountains upon you and your enemies. For ten minutes, the area in a 250 meter radius around you becomes filled with the cold, wind, and feeling of hunger. This chills the area to 0¡ãC, creates a 25 km/h wind in the direction of your choosing, and makes targets feel as if they have not eaten in a day. The chill and wind from this effect cannot be mitigated by any source save One With the Wind and Cold. The mountains care not for those upon them. If they cannot withstand the mountains, they deserve their fate.
Fortunately, much of this core could safely be ignored. While many of its effects were powerful, they also came with downsides or were simply not worth her time ¨C Invoke the Mountains and its derived Skill affected everything in the area, including Tess and her allies, which made it less than ideal for her purposes. Glutton¡¯s Reward was tempting, but its effect was, ultimately, niche. Taste Test would serve her almost as well in most purposes, so the slot was better spent elsewhere. Aura of Terror was likewise a Skill that was overshadowed by its derived version; the Frightened condition would upgrade to Terror thanks to Artisanal Afflictions, and while that meant she was missing out on Terror becoming Frozen With Fear, that was a minor thing. And, finally, she didn¡¯t use cold damage enough for Cold Affinity to be worth it. That just left the rest. Baleful Bound was in a rather interesting spot; its effect was enormous, but effectively required her to use Mad Dash if she wanted to get the most out of it. She wasn¡¯t opposed to that, but that meant it effectively cost two slots to use. Alternatively, she could make do with Speed Demon, but the difference between double and triple damage was enough to make her weigh her options. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. To make matters worse, Monstrous Strength and One With the Wind and Cold simply seemed too good to pass up. Monstrous Strength was, effectively, a fifty percent damage increase before all other bonuses. The issue with a Skill like Baleful Bound was that it was, well, a Skill; it ¡°only¡± stacked additively with all other passive Skills, meaning that outside of a vacuum, it wouldn¡¯t actually triple her damage. She hadn¡¯t run the numbers in a bit, but she seemed to recall having double, maybe triple damage from all her passive Skills combined, so in practice, Baleful Bound would ¡°just¡± double her damage, while the fifty percent boost from Monstrous Strength applied directly to her Power and stacked multiplicatively with basically everything. That was if she put it in a regular slot, anyway. During a particularly boring stretch of the hoverer ride over, she had taken a few hours to check what all her Attributes did in user fundamental slots, and while most didn¡¯t really provide enough of a bonus to be worth considering over the two she already had, Monstrous Strength had given her pause. Which¡­well, really meant that it was the only one that would even go in that slot anyway, so she locked it in, transferring it to her user fundamental slot and confirming the effect.
Monstrous Strength (User Fundamental): The user¡¯s body continues operating at perfect strength, regardless of the state it is in, and all negative effects from pushing it while it is in a heavily wounded state (such as attempting to sprint with broken legs) are prevented. Pain is not prevented, but the user may choose to dull their sense of pain somewhat. Furthermore, the user¡¯s Power is increased by 100%.
One With the Wind and Cold was the Attribute she had put into her slot she had received from level twenty-nine, replacing a more¡­filler Attribute she had had in there before. That was¡­almost certainly not going to be replaced, so she really only had one more slot to work with. She scrolled through her Attributes and realized, to her surprise, that she still had one of the Skills she had obtained from Isabella in there, Piercing Wail. She hadn¡¯t used that in¡­months, it seemed. After reviewing its effect once more, she decided that it wasn¡¯t worth the slot she had put it in and took it out in favor of Mad Dash before filling her last slot with Baleful Bound. Her work done, she stood back up and walked over to the group. ¡°Finished.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you more about it later if you want, but just know I should be a fair bit stronger now, since levels that are multiples of ten are power spikes for Monster Breeder.¡± ¡°We finished a few minutes ago and were just cleaning up.¡± Ker said. ¡°You never want to have the scent of blood on you while you¡¯re traveling in the wild; there¡¯s no telling what might come after you. Usually it¡¯s nothing, but on the rare occasion that aggressive monsters with particularly strong senses of smell are in the area, you¡¯ll be glad you cleaned yourself up.¡± ¡°And don¡¯t stay at the site of a kill for long if you can help it.¡± Alice added. ¡°Which means we should leave as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Tess said. ¡°I would have waited if I was thinking more.¡± ¡°No.¡± Alice said firmly. ¡°You made the right call. You spent maybe five minutes, ten tops, sorting out your Attributes, and if the power spike is as good as what you¡¯re saying, then that time is absolutely worth it. We really only had two or three minutes of waiting, so it¡¯s not like it was delaying us for long either.¡± ¡°One of the things doubled my Power stat.¡± Tess said. ¡°That alone is worth it, right?¡± Alice gave her a flat look. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s worth it.¡± She said. ¡°That¡¯s absurd. How did you¡­¡± ¡°Something from the boss of that dungeon we went to.¡± Tess said. ¡°Boosted in effect because of putting it in a user fundamental slot. It also lets me ignore pain and fight at full strength regardless of the state my body is in without further damaging it, but I don¡¯t know how much that¡¯s really gonna come up.¡± ¡°What happens if your arm gets cut off or something?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°How can you fight at full strength then?¡±
Dungeons: That¡¯s assuming the arm can be fully severed. It can¡¯t, not anymore. Tess: Wait, how does that work? What if someone like¡­pins me down and really tries to saw it off? Dungeons: Their attempts will do damage to you as if they have fully severed the limb, but a few bits of sinew, muscle, and bone will remain attached, which will let you use your arm as normal. It will, however, be excruciatingly painful, and you¡¯ll be feeling that even through Monstrous Strength, so I would suggest not letting that happen.
¡°Apparently, it can¡¯t.¡± Tess said, for the benefit of The Rumors. ¡°It¡¯ll just hurt really badly, and a few bits of arm will stay attached so I can still use it.¡± Alice sighed. ¡°Do I even want to know what kind of monsters you three fought in there?¡± ¡°Confidential, sorry.¡± Tess said. ¡°Anyway, you were saying we should get moving?¡± ¡°Right, right.¡± Alice said. ¡°Tess, do you mind holding the mapper again?¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Tess said. ¡°Who has it right now?¡± ¡°I do.¡± Maven said, holding out the orb for Tess to take. ¡°Thanks, Maven.¡± Tess said, grabbing the mapper. With that, the group set off once again in search of new sights. And, for the next few hours, it went about the same as it had previously; slow walking to allow the mapper to create its map, with the occasional monster spotted. And then, finally, they found something. After cresting a particularly tall hill, they were able to catch sight of a ravine that looked to be half a mile or so away, a large gash in the terrain that spread out to the edges of their line of sight, disappearing behind yet more hills. Alice¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Jackpot!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°Alright you three, one thing to keep in mind is that dungeons tend to be in notable locations such as this.¡± She instructed. ¡°So, whenever some part of the landscape stands out, it¡¯s a good idea to go check it out.¡± ¡°Even more important is to remember caution.¡± Jin advised. ¡°If there truly is a dungeon in this ravine, it has probably grown out of control due to no one having cleared it before. I¡¯m sure Maven, as the crown princess of Paumen¨C¡± ¡°Former crown princess.¡± Maven said. ¡°Former crown princess.¡± Jin corrected himself. ¡°She¡¯s probably received some sort of training or accounts on what dungeons that have gone feral are like, but Ellie and Tess probably have no experience with it, right? Unless your duties have taken you to one while we weren¡¯t here.¡± ¡°No.¡± Tess said. ¡°They haven¡¯t, and I don¡¯t have any experience, so I¡­assume Ellie doesn¡¯t either?¡± Ellie nodded in agreement, so Jin continued. ¡°Feral dungeons have this nasty tendency to spew their monsters out into the surrounding area. The monsters don¡¯t tend to leave the vicinity of the dungeon unless there¡¯s a truly huge number of them outside of the dungeon already, but what that means is that there¡¯s a good chance that ravine is crawling with monsters. So, we¡¯ll be on high alert the entire time we¡¯re in there.¡±
Life: If things look hairy, we will Descend. However, during our Descent, your safety will be our first priority; we are only safely able to inhabit your bodies for a couple of minutes, so we will prioritize fleeing, first and foremost. Let The Rumors know of this, but also let them know that, if it comes down to it, we will leave them to die. Their bodies can be recovered and revived. The three of you are not so easy.
¡°Um¡­¡± Ellie began. ¡°Life says that, if things get too bad, the gods will Descend so the three of us can run. But¡­he also wants you to know that the gods will focus entirely on us running away. They might help if there¡¯s an opportunity, but if push comes to shove, they¡¯ll leave you to die. He says your bodies can be recovered and revived, but¡­well, Appointed have to jump through a few more hoops.¡± Jin nodded gravely. ¡°I expected as much. To be blunt, fleeing is probably the best thing you could do to help us in an emergency. If we come under sustained assault from a horde of monsters, your Descents would likely end before it well and truly ends. The three of us came here knowing the risk, and we¡¯re prepared to do what needs to be done.¡± ¡°But hopefully it won¡¯t come to that.¡± Ker said, cracking a smile in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood. ¡°If we come across monsters that are a bit too high leveled or a bit too numerous for comfort, we¡¯ll flee. Discretion is the better part of valor, after all.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough sitting and talking about it.¡± Alice said. ¡°Just remember that you three are to obey all of our orders at all times while in the canyon. Do not question it, just do it; even a moment of hesitation could make all the difference.¡± ¡°We understand.¡± Maven said. ¡°Please, lead the way.¡± Chapter 82: Overgrown Canyon In no time at all, the group had reached the edge of the canyon. ¡°Alright, first things first, we need to find a path down.¡± Alice said. ¡°Why?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Everyone here is capable of somehow flying down there or otherwise climbing down easily, so why not just¡­go?¡± ¡°If this was a normal request, you¡¯d be right.¡± Ker said. ¡°It would be more efficient to just head down. However, this is not a normal request; we¡¯re exploring the area, and paving the way for other freelancers to explore. Not everyone is going to be able to fly down, so we¡¯ll receive a better evaluation if we find a relatively safe route down into the canyon instead of just exploring the bottom of the canyon.¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Makes sense.¡± ¡°Tess, we¡¯ll be somewhat relying on you for that.¡± Jin said. ¡°You have the easiest time seeing the condition of the walls of the canyon without going down too far, so let us know if you see anything promising.¡± ¡°I can also fly out and scan the canyon from the air.¡± Maven volunteered. ¡°I would advise against that.¡± Jin said. ¡°While it would help us find a path down the canyon faster, it¡¯s also far too risky. There¡¯s no telling what¡¯s lurking inside of the canyon, and you¡¯ll be a fair bit out of our reach. Were we in a safer area, that would be a good idea, but as things are now, it¡¯s not something we can afford to try.¡± ¡°I¡­understood.¡± Maven said. ¡°Is there anything in particular I should keep an eye out for?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Like, obviously a trail down, yeah, but how¡­well-defined of a trail does it need to be?¡± ¡°Well-defined?¡± Alice asked, frowning. ¡°We¡¯re not going to find anything more than a game trail, and that¡¯s the best case scenario.¡± ¡°No, not like that.¡± Tess said quickly. ¡°Uh¡­how do I say this¡­like¡­does it need to be a clear path down, without many breaks or drops or anything, or is it fine of there are drops of a couple feet or something?¡± ¡°Oh, I think I see what you¡¯re getting at.¡± Alice said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t need to be an easy path down, though that¡¯s obviously preferable. We¡¯re just looking for something that could be traversed without equipment by the average freelancer.¡± ¡°If possible, try to look for a route that has spaces with a little bit of fighting room.¡± Ker added. ¡°Just in case.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Got it. I, um, probably won¡¯t be able to see down the entirety of the canyon wall, depending on how deep it is, but I¡¯ll give what direction I can.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it too much.¡± Ker said. ¡°The fact that we have you at all to check the walls is more than almost anyone else can get without expending some sort of resource, so you¡¯re doing more than enough.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Tess said. ¡°Um, no other questions, I¡¯m ready to go, I think.¡± And so, they began to carefully move along the edge of the canyon, looking for any relatively easy way down they could find. There were several false starts and paths that ultimately led to nowhere, but after a few hours of searching, they were eventually able to find a good enough way down. The bottom of the canyon was¡­not quite what Tess had expected. Instead of dry scrub or barren rock, it was lush and moist. And it wasn¡¯t a gradual thing, either; upon stepping past a certain point, the environment changed, like a switch had been flipped. ¡°Woah.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Weird.¡± ¡°What¡¯s weird?¡± Ker asked. ¡°The humidity change.¡± Ellie said. ¡°You can feel that, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Ker confirmed. ¡°Stuff like this is fairly normal here in the Outlands. Environments with lots of Mana in them tend to do things like this. I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s not something that happens on Mael?¡± Ellie shook her head. ¡°Never. Not without a non-magical reason, anyway.¡± ¡°Huh. Well, it¡¯s nothing to worry about, we¡¯ll just need to make a note in our report.¡± Ker said. ¡°It stinks down here.¡± Maven said, wrinkling her nose. ¡°Or¡­not stinks? I don¡¯t know, something feels wrong here, and I can¡¯t quite put my finger on what it is or why I feel it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t smell anything.¡± Tess said. ¡°Well, anything out of what I would expect, anyway.¡±
Dungeons: Oh, you¡¯re probably sensing the excess Mana the out of control dungeon is producing. Maven: Now that I focus on it, it does seem familiar. Kind of like¡­actually, it almost reminds me of Tess, in a weird way. Tess: What? Why me? Maven: I don¡¯t know. Fortune: I do! We literally just repurposed most of the mini-dungeon systems when we made Monster Breeder. So, Tess shares a lot of similarities with dungeons. I¡¯m kind of surprised you can pick up on that, though, I would have thought it was more¡­subtle Maven: I didn¡¯t until I was focusing more on the sensation. But I suppose that means there is a dungeon down in this canyon? Dungeons: Yes. Want to know exactly where it is? Maven: I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find it. If we have too much trouble, then you can say. Dungeons: Got it
¡°It would seem that I am sensing dungeon Mana.¡± Maven said. ¡°Specifically, that of an out of control dungeon.¡± Jin nodded. ¡°Thought it might be something like that.¡± He said. ¡°Any idea which direction we should be heading?¡± Maven paused, then shook her head. ¡°No. We¡¯ll need to walk around a bit more so I can feel out which direction the Mana seems thicker in.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just head to our right, then.¡± Jin said. ¡°Tess, I need you to keep a very careful eye out for monsters. Now that we know for sure there¡¯s an out of control dungeon in here, we¡¯re going to have to be extra cautious.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Tess said. ¡°Will we be using the same formation we were up above?¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll grab the front, and Jin and Ker will take the back.¡± Alice replied. ¡°It¡¯s a lot easier to keep guard now that we don¡¯t have to worry as much about attacks from all sides. Sure, something can and likely will come crawling down the ravine walls, but those monsters are gonna be a lot rarer than monsters that just walk the canyon like we are now. Tess, you stay right behind me, since you¡¯re the least likely of you three to get targeted, and that¡¯s technically the weakest spot of this formation. Maven and Ellie, you just stick close to Ker and Jin, they¡¯ll make sure you don¡¯t get hurt.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°You two make sure to keep an eye above us as well.¡± Ker said. ¡°If something does come crawling down the canyon walls, then it would be good to have your eyes on it.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Ellie said confidently. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get too comfortable.¡± Maven said quietly. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve seen how bad an out of control dungeon can get.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a few monsters, right?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Is it really that bad?¡± ¡°It¡¯s really that bad.¡± Ker confirmed. ¡°There¡¯s a reason we make sure to never let dungeons get out of control if we can help it.¡±
Maven: In particularly dire cases, the number of monsters can approach that of some of the rooms in the savage dungeon we¡¯re working on. I do not believe this particular case is that bad, but we have no way of knowing for sure as of yet. Fortune: Well, unless you ask us, but you¡¯ve already made your stance on that clear soooo
Ignoring Fortune, Maven turned to Jin. ¡°Are you absolutely sure we should be doing this?¡± She asked. ¡°Surely it would be prudent to inform the Guildm ¨C¡±
Dungeons: Were he here, he would probably want me to remind you to call him ¡°Gramps¡±
¡°To inform Gramps of the situation, and have a larger expedition sent out?¡± Jin frowned. ¡°To be honest, no, I¡¯m not totally sure we should be doing this. However, we don¡¯t exactly have proof that isn¡¯t strictly confidential. If we bring a report like that back, people will want to know what kind of monsters to expect and a rough location of the dungeon. Right now, we don¡¯t have any information on the monsters, and people are going to ask questions.¡± ¡°Yes, but surely Gramps could come up with some pretense.¡± Maven argued. ¡°People don¡¯t have to know there¡¯s a dungeon here.¡± ¡°If we were a normal party, we wouldn¡¯t have this knowledge, and didn¡¯t you want to act like a normal party?¡± Alice asked. ¡°A normal party would proceed cautiously, and only report back once they caught wind of something weird going on. If things get bad, we¡¯ll just leg it out of here, no sweat. I mean, what, worst-case scenario you three go into Descent and run away, the three of us die, and you go get the Guildmaster to send a rescue mission? Yeah, dying¡¯s unpleasant, but it¡¯s not like the three of us haven¡¯t died before. We¡¯ll live.¡± Tess snorted. ¡°I don¡¯t think you will. Dying kind of by definition means you¡¯re not living.¡± ¡°You know what I mean.¡± Alice said, giving Tess a playful swat to the arm. ¡°It¡¯s an unpleasant situation, yes, but not one that we won¡¯t come back from.¡± ¡°I¡­suppose.¡± Maven said. ¡°Let us proceed, then.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ker assured her. ¡°Freelancing is never without risk, and as far as risks go this is pretty safe. If we thought we were likely to die in this venture, we wouldn¡¯t be trying it.¡± ¡°We really should be going, though.¡± Jin said. ¡°It isn¡¯t good to linger. Maven, let us know if you think we¡¯re going the right direction, okay?¡± They got themselves into formation and began to carefully pick their way through the canyon. There was an air of¡­tension that wasn¡¯t really present in their walk through the hills, a sense that something could go wrong at any moment. So it was that, when Maven spoke up roughly five minutes later, Tess jumped, the sudden noise alarming her. ¡°I am pretty sure we are getting further away from the dungeon.¡± Maven said. ¡°I think we should turn around.¡± Jin nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡± He said. ¡°We¡¯ll do that. Everyone, swap positions.¡± There was a somewhat awkward shuffle as everyone rearranged themselves, and then began to go back the way they had come. This time, however, it wasn¡¯t as uneventful; after just a few minutes of walking, Tess picked something up on the edge of her tremorsense. ¡°There¡¯s something around the bend.¡± She reported. ¡°It feels like¡­a boulder of some sort? But it¡¯s moving, so I don¡¯t think it is?¡± She frowned, focusing more on the object. ¡°That¡¯s very strange. Its bottom sort of¡­merges with the ground, and there¡¯s something weird under the ground but it¡¯s like¡­superimposed over the ground that¡¯s already there so I can¡¯t get a good grip on what it actually is.¡± ¡°How fast is it?¡± Alice asked, drawing her sword. ¡°Not very.¡± Tess replied. ¡°If we sit here, it¡¯ll come into view in maybe three minutes?¡± ¡°Plenty of time to prepare, then.¡± Alice mused. ¡°If it¡¯s lugging a boulder around with it, then it likely has high Defense and HP, Magic Defense is iffy, and it probably relies more on surprise than anything for dealing damage. That, or it¡¯s not a predator and is using the boulder as¡­cover? I can¡¯t imagine what it would gain from having that boulder in the first place, though, rather than just staying underground. Either way, it¡¯s probably best to try and shatter the boulder with magic and see if we can¡¯t force it out of the ground.¡± ¡°Are you sure the boulder is normal?¡± Jin asked. ¡°There might be something to do with it that would give us a clue.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°To be honest, I can¡¯t really tell from here. Tremorsense is a bit weird that way; it really only lets me know if something is a solid, a liquid, or a gas, and that¡¯s about it. The boulder doesn¡¯t seem to be a shell or anything, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re wondering, it¡¯s solid all the way through. If there was meat in there, I¡¯d probably be able to see some sort of liquid for the blood, but that¡¯s not the case.¡± Alice opened her mouth to say something, then shook her head, apparently thinking better of it. ¡°Well, any of you that have spells, get them ready, and Tess, let us know when it¡¯s about to come into view. We¡¯ll hit it all at once.¡± ¡°Us too?¡± Maven asked nervously. ¡°You too.¡± Alice confirmed. ¡°No reason for you not to take part in this, if it¡¯s just spellslinging from afar.¡± ¡°Um¡­should I?¡± Tess ventured. ¡°My spells are kind of¡­lackluster right now.¡±
Fortune: Give it time, we¡¯re still working through unarmed stuff. Once we¡¯re done there, we¡¯ll work on getting your magic up to snuff
¡°Nah, no use wasting your Mana. You just focus on it and let us know if it does anything strange. To be honest, having Ellie and Maven help is probably overkill, but¡­well, might as well, I guess.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Okay.¡± Tess said. ¡°I can do that.¡± So, they waited. Ellie, Maven, Ker, and Jin all readied spells, while Tess watched the monster limp ever closer to the bend. A couple minutes later, it was about to enter line of sight, so Tess warned the others and watched as it finally rounded the bend. Maven let her spell fly first, a lance of fire spearing out and barely hitting the edge of the boulder as it inched into view. There was a brief pause, and then the boulder sped up, its ponderous passage turning into something more akin to a person¡¯s walking pace as it accelerated towards the group. Ker, Jin, and Ellie released their spells the moment the monster was in full view. Ellie¡¯s bolt of lightning hit first, followed closely by Ker¡¯s arrow of light and Jin¡¯s spear of ice. There was a resounding boom, and the boulder cracked, then split along the middle. The earth beneath them trembled ever so slightly as some sort of birdlike monster popped out of the ground, the remnants of the boulder trembling as they attempted to flow onto the creature¡¯s wings. Only one of the halves of the boulder was able to attach itself to the monster, but even that was enough to fully coat the creature¡¯s wings. It moved to cross its wings in front of its head, but Alice was faster, having thrown her sword the moment the thing had popped out of the earth. It struck the monster dead in the eyes, the monster¡¯s wings coming together a fraction too late to stop the sword. It wobbled in place for a moment, and then was struck by a pillar of light descending from above. It screeched in pain and then, finally, keeled over, dead. ¡°I¡¯m going to go fetch the corpse.¡± Jin said. ¡°The rest of you, get ready to move. We¡¯re hightailing it out of here.¡± ¡°What?¡± Ellie said, taken aback. ¡°But we just killed it, and we¡¯re nowhere near our limit!¡± ¡°I said move.¡± Jin replied calmly. ¡°Ker will explain on the way.¡± He chanted a brief spell, then blinked out of existence, reappearing next to the monster¡¯s corpse. ¡°Are we taking the normal path out of here or are we flying up?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Flying.¡± Alice said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a large metallic box with straps on, taking a moment to shrug the straps over her shoulder. ¡°Anti-gravity device.¡± She explained. ¡°Runs on cores, so it can be expensive to use for extended periods of time. Ellie, stop gawking and make your platform thing. As soon as you¡¯re ready, we¡¯re leaving.¡± The Swords of Death made themselves into that platform Ellie used for flight, and she stepped on. ¡°Fine, ready. So, what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°We made too much noise.¡± Ker explained, pushing a button on his anti-gravity device and beginning to float upwards. ¡°Given how little we know about the area, it¡¯s entirely possible that every predator and scavenger within miles is on its way to our location. We don¡¯t want to stick around.¡± Tess enabled the Attribute that gave her wings, flexed them briefly, then took off into the sky, followed closely by Maven. After a moment Tess slowed, realizing that she and Maven were ascending much faster than the other four. She briefly considered stopping her flight and instead walking up the wall of the canyon with Spiderclimb, but decided against it; Maven wasn¡¯t going to have that luxury, and if something was waiting for them up top, Tess would prefer someone was there to help Maven. Fortunately, that wasn¡¯t the case, and everyone was able to safely ascend. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s head back towards base camp.¡± Jin said. ¡°We¡¯ll report our discovery, and rest the night in safety. We¡¯ll talk more about this incident once we¡¯re safe, alright?¡± Everyone nodded, and began their trek back towards the expedition¡¯s encampment. It was not the outcome they had hoped for, but at least they had found something. Chapter 83: Retreat The next hour or so was tense, but, finally, Jin broke the silence. ¡°We should be in the clear now.¡± He said. ¡°We¡¯re almost to the expedition¡¯s camp.¡± ¡°Already?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Well, I mean, I guess we weren¡¯t going slow, but I thought for sure it¡¯d take longer.¡± ¡°It should be about ten more minutes.¡± Jin said. ¡°Now, Ellie, Maven, I assume you¡¯ve already figured out what your mistakes were. Let¡¯s start with you, Maven.¡± ¡°I was too early.¡± Maven said. ¡°And it threw everyone else¡¯s timing off.¡± ¡°Correct.¡± Jin said. ¡°This isn¡¯t a huge mistake, but keep in mind that it¡¯s generally better to wait for your hardest hitter to attack before you let fly. Their attacks may well break your opponent¡¯s armor, and allow you to be more effective. There are situations in which this isn¡¯t the case, but if you¡¯re just dealing damage and not applying debuffs or status effects, most of the time you want to wait. Now, Ellie, how about you?¡± ¡®It¡¯s¡­because I made too much noise, right?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Yes. While lightning magic does deal a lot of damage, it also is highly visible and incredibly loud. This is less likely to be an issue in a standard dungeon environment, as monsters are more likely to be stuck in one location, but in an open area where there are probably hundreds of monsters nearby, it¡¯s not wise to do so.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It won¡¯t happen again.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s all I can really ask for.¡± Jin said. ¡°Remember that it¡¯s normal to make mistakes, and that there is no shame in it unless you repeat your mistakes.¡± ¡°Is there anything I should make note of?¡± Tess asked. Jin shrugged. ¡°Not really. For better or for worse, you didn¡¯t really have an opportunity to make a mistake. You informed us of any approaching threats, and that¡¯s about as much as we could have asked of you.¡± Tess wasn¡¯t exactly sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, she had done her job flawlessly. On the other¡­Jin had basically said that she had been useless otherwise. She knew logically that it made sense, that her magic simply wasn¡¯t suited to cracking the sort of defenses that monster had, but it was one thing to know a fact or even to say it herself, but it was something entirely different when someone else said it. It was a petty emotion, and one that made Tess feel a little guilty, but¡­there wasn¡¯t a lot she could do about it, other than tell herself to get over it. ¡°Jin, phrasing.¡± Alice said sharply, shooting him a glare. ¡°We very well could have asked her to do more, but that would have been too dangerous when we¡¯re supposed to be protecting her.¡± Jin blinked. ¡°Sorry. I thought that didn¡¯t need to be said. Yes, obviously, we could have asked more from all of them, but we had to limit it to only things that wouldn¡¯t put them in unnecessary risk.¡± ¡°I mean, Target of Affection makes attacking monsters pretty safe for me, right?¡± Tess said. ¡°I can be helping, I think.¡± ¡°Not exactly.¡± Ker said, shaking his head. ¡°You¡¯ve only tested that Skill on dungeon monsters. Monsters in the wild act differently, more¡­¡± he paused, face wrinkling as he looked for a word, ¡°real. It¡¯s highly likely that Target of Affection doesn¡¯t work the way we¡¯re used to. Then again, it is Phantasmal, so we could be being overly cautious, but¡­better safe than sorry.¡±
Dungeons: This is because all monsters are, to some extent, puppets of the system. Even the ones that seem to have language and intelligence are just given a bit more attention by the system. Dungeon monsters in particular are almost entirely driven by the system to prevent them from killing each other or going where they¡¯re not supposed to. It is highly likely that Target of Affection simply hijacks this mechanism to do its work. Tess: So¡­would it work on monsters outside of a dungeon? Dungeons: Sort of. Outside of dungeons, the system mainly provides increased aggression and faux intelligence to monsters, and lets instincts handle the rest. You wouldn¡¯t be affected by any of the increased aggression they have, but they would still react as a normal animal would. Still, they¡¯ll probably target others before you if they have a choice.
¡°The gods say they won¡¯t be as aggressive as normal, but Target of Affection won¡¯t completely prevent things the way it does in dungeons.¡± Tess said. ¡°Then we made the right call.¡± Ker said firmly. ¡°We had no information on that monster, and there was no telling what it could have done to you. You¡¯re a close-combat specialist, and it would be silly if we expected you to keep up with the mages in magic. Just because you can use any magic, doesn¡¯t mean you necessarily should.¡±
Fortune: Yet.
With that, the conversation sort of fizzled, and there was a silence as they continued their march towards the camp. This continued until they crested a hill and the camp came into view, which was immediately followed by a buzzing from Tess and Ellie¡¯s phones. Tess pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked it to find that it was a text from Gramps, instructing them to come meet him in the largest tent once they returned. ¡°Gramps wants us to go meet with him when we¡¯re back.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Let¡¯s not keep him waiting, then.¡± Jin said. ¡°Where does he want us to go?¡± ¡°The biggest tent.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Don¡¯t know where that is, though.¡± ¡°Probably near the center.¡± Alice said. ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll see it when we¡¯re close.¡± And see it they did; tent was, perhaps, an understatement. It was more akin to a small warehouse than it was to a tent. The walls were made of compacted earth raised to a height of five or six meters, and the only tentlike part about it was the cloth that acted as a roof. Tess could also make out large piles of wood and stone that people were hauling about and using to reinforce those walls. ¡°It doubles as a fort.¡± Gramps chuckled, stepping out from behind a nearby tent and clapping Ellie on the shoulder. ¡°In the future, this will become a semi-permanent base of operations for anyone wanting to do anything in this region, so we don¡¯t like to take half-measures with it. So, how¡¯d it go?¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Um¡­well, I think?¡± Ellie said. ¡°I¡¯m not totally sure.¡± ¡°It went about as well as we could have expected, Guildmaster.¡± Jin said. ¡°There were no major incidents, and we were able to find something, at least.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Walk with me, if you would.¡± He began walking off down the path between the tents, making some motions with his hands as he did. Tess hurried to follow, and once everyone had more or less caught up, Gramps began to speak again. ¡°I¡¯ve taken the liberty of warding our conversation from outside observers. Please, feel free to speak freely on any confidential topics you wish.¡± ¡°We found a canyon, and upon our entrance, I detected the Mana of a dungeon in the area.¡± Maven said. ¡°But we had to leave early, as we made too much commotion while down there.¡± ¡°We charted our route with a mapping orb.¡± Alice volunteered. ¡°Do you want it, or should we put it through the normal channels?¡± ¡°I can take it now.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°Where is it?¡± ¡°Uh, gimme a second here¡­¡± Tess said, reaching into one of her pockets and pulling out the orb. ¡°Here you go.¡± Gramps took the orb and deftly placed it into his own bag. ¡°Thank you. Did the wildlife give you any trouble?¡± ¡°Nothing we couldn¡¯t handle.¡± Jin said. ¡°We got into a few fights, but we didn¡¯t encounter anything over level fifty or sixty. We¡¯ve dismantled some of the corpses so we could teach the kids how to dismantle them, but we¡¯ve kept the rest in the same condition they were in when they died.¡± Gramps smiled. ¡°Excellent work, as usual. Please, fill me in on the rest as we walk.¡± So, they did. As Gramps led them into the under construction fortress, they took turns telling him about the terrain they had walked through, the monsters they had found, and any other little detail that popped into their mind. Much of it was able to be condensed to ¡°there were a lot of empty hills¡±, so by the time Gramps had brought them to a large office-like room, they had gone through most of their story. As they reached the door, Gramps turned around and gave The Rumors a small smile. ¡°Thank you for seeing the kids through this first day.¡± He said. ¡°Unfortunately, the rest of your exploration will have to wait until tomorrow. Expeditions are even busier work for Appointed than they are for regular people, and I¡¯m afraid that goes for these three as well. Please, go take a well-deserved break, and I¡¯ll have them back to you in the morning, alright?¡± Jin nodded. ¡°We understand, Guildmaster. Take care.¡± Gramps ushered the three younger girls into the room, where they found the rest of Gramps¡¯s party, and, strangely enough, Rachel, sitting around a table waiting for them. ¡°You¡¯re on the expedition?¡± Tess asked Rachel. ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t a freelancer.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not, and I¡¯m not on the expedition.¡± Rachel said. ¡°I just popped by for this meeting.¡± ¡°You just¡­popped by, to a place that¡¯s thousands of miles away from any sort of civilization.¡± Maven said flatly. ¡°Get used to it.¡± Eyfura said, smirking. ¡°The normal rules don¡¯t really apply to Appointed. You yourself just ¡°popped by¡± to visit your parents, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡­did not think of it that way.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°Anyway, we have to get down to business.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°Has Evan explained why we¡¯re here yet?¡± ¡°Sort of.¡± Ellie said, taking a seat at the table. ¡°Something about it being a busy time for Appointed?¡± ¡°Yeah. The guild is something of a peacekeeping force in a lot of places, and most of its high profile members tend to join these expeditions.¡± Eyfura explained. ¡°So there tend to be a lot of opportunistic people who think an expedition is a perfect time to do bad stuff.¡± ¡°We leave enough people behind to deal with petty criminals.¡± Gramps added. ¡°But that¡¯s not why we¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°It¡¯s frankly not worth our time to go after every second rate thief. We¡¯re more worried about the big fish that are going to make their move.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t expect you three to be dealing with anything unless it¡¯s directly related to your gods¡¯ domains, and even then, you¡¯ll have our backup.¡± Ava said. ¡°And, in Maven¡¯s case, that¡¯s not even likely to be an issue at all. Even if it was, she hasn¡¯t debuted yet, so she¡¯d basically only be coming along as an understudy.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°So, we wanted to hold this little meeting so we can lay out the ¡°usual suspects¡± for you three, and give you an idea of what kinds of things we¡¯re keeping our eyes on. Atum?¡± Atum nodded. ¡°So, first on our list, as it¡¯s more directly related to you three, is the head of Fortune¡¯s church. Though¡­perhaps it would be better to leave that one to Fortune to explain.¡±
Fortune: Right, so, her. She¡¯s like¡­well, she¡¯s always been rotten, but not rotten enough to actually warrant getting her removed. Without an Appointed to be my mouthpiece, it was a lot harder to get rid of high profile people in my church so long as didn¡¯t do anything too bad. Evan¡¯s purges helped cleanse the lower ranks, and keep them from becoming too¡­fetid, but I had to keep the top brass in line myself with threats. Fortune: The head, a woman by the name of Olga, has been annoying, because she¡¯s been very careful in pushing the line, so she never was quite worth removing, but was always just that little bit frustrating. She¡¯s been preparing for some time now to make a getaway, but we¡¯ve been putting off actually dealing with her so you can get stronger. She may be somewhat out of practice, but she¡¯s still level 60 or 70 and it would certainly be convenient if you were strong enough to deal with her without having to resort to Descent. Fortune: But now seems like a pretty good time to make a getaway, so we¡¯re betting she¡¯s going to try something. If she doesn¡¯t, perfect, we¡¯ll wait and bring justice to her on our schedule. If she does¡­then you¡¯re stepping in. Fortune: That¡¯s all from me, so please let them know they can continue.
¡°Fortune¡¯s done explaining, she says to continue.¡± Tess said. ¡°Perfect. So, her aside, the next on our watchlist is the Principality of Orellia.¡± Atum continued. Maven made a face. ¡°I¡¯m not surprised.¡± She muttered. ¡°Do you have history with them?¡± Tess asked curiously. ¡°The country is one of Paumen¡¯s neighbors, and is particularly aggressive.¡± Maven explained. ¡°Dealing with them has never been enjoyable.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Atum said. ¡°And they keep trying to claim land other people own, be it from surrounding nations, small settlements in the Outlands, or even the City itself. As of late, they seem to have realized that expeditions really aren¡¯t better than other times to make blatant power grabs, and they¡¯ve been relatively quiet. Still, we don¡¯t fully trust them yet.¡± Atum continued listing more people or organizations that the Appointed were keeping track of, explaining a bit about each. The list ran the gamut from individuals to countries, but more often than not consisted of smallish groups, such as crime families. Maven seemed to be familiar with many of the names presented, but even she didn¡¯t know all of them. Finally, when Atum finished, Rachel began to speak. ¡°You don¡¯t actually have to do most of the watching, in these cases.¡± She said. ¡°Especially since you¡¯re busy out here. Generally speaking, your gods will be in charge of determining when these people are about to commit a severe enough infraction to warrant your intervention. Still, it¡¯s good to do your own research on these entities so you have some familiarity with the subject if it comes up.¡± ¡°How often do we get called in, on average?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Usually only once or twice per expedition.¡± Rachel said. ¡°Sometimes more, sometimes less. Currently, we¡¯re guessing only the head of Fortune¡¯s church and maybe one other group will make their move, so it should be relatively quiet. But people are people, and may change plans, so we cannot say for sure what will happen.¡± She reached down into a pocket, then pulled out a parcel larger than the pocket, which she slid down the table to Maven. ¡°But enough of that. I actually dropped by today because I finished your clothes, and wanted to hand them over in person. I just figured I¡¯d join this meeting as something of a social activity.¡± ¡°Already?¡± Maven asked, picking the parcel up. ¡°I¡¯m impressed.¡± ¡°I work fast.¡± Rachel said, smiling. ¡°Do let me know if anything isn¡¯t fitting quite right, I¡¯ll be more than happy to resize it for you.¡± ¡°I will, thank you.¡± Maven said, stowing the parcel away in her bag. ¡°Did you get the payment?¡± ¡°Sure did!¡± Rachel said happily. ¡°Let me know if you have anything else you need made!¡± ¡°I¡­will, thank you.¡± Maven said. ¡°Now¡­¡± Rachel said, reaching once again into the pocket that must have been some sort of bag, ¡°I brought some food. Care to eat?¡± Chapter 84: Unexpected Burden The group shared a pleasant meal, after which the three young girls were shown to back of the bottom floor of the fort. ¡°These are the baths.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Well, baths and showers, but mostly baths; there are a fair few species for whom showering doesn¡¯t really work very well, and everyone can bathe. Regardless of how they do it, though, everyone feels better after getting cleaned up, so we make a point of setting these up early. Anyway, I have to get back to guild business now, just head back up to the meeting room once you¡¯re finished.¡± He gave them a wave and headed back into the fort proper, leaving the girls¡­not alone, even now the place was too busy to be truly alone, but without the company of anyone they knew. ¡°Shall we, then?¡± Maven said, motioning towards the side marked ¡°women¡¯s¡±. ¡°Are¡­you sure you¡¯re alright with me being there?¡± Tess asked in a small voice. ¡°Since, you know¡­¡± Maven frowned. ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit weird?¡± Tess asked. ¡°No?¡± Maven said, as if it were obvious. ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re just trying to peep or anything. Your general situation is a lot more common than you would think, no one here thinks twice about it. If it really bothers you, just take a quick shower and then head back up.¡± ¡°I might.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°I haven¡¯t really done something like this before.¡± ¡°You got changed for gym in the girl¡¯s locker room, though.¡± Ellie argued. ¡°That was different. I just kept my head down and got out of there as quick as possible.¡± Tess replied. ¡°It wasn¡¯t like¡­an extended trip or anything.¡± Understanding dawned on Maven¡¯s face. ¡°I think you¡¯re misunderstanding what this is going to be like.¡± She said. ¡°This is not like a hot spring or something, we¡¯re not going to be sitting and relaxing. We¡¯re going to get in, clean up, and get out. It would be rude to take up a bath for an extended period of time when so many other people are going to be using them.¡±
Fortune: There are over a dozen baths, six of which are in use. If you all cram in one bath, and they¡¯re plenty big enough for that, you could probably get away with chilling in one for a bit. I¡¯d even tell you when it looks like things are getting crowded and there¡¯s a wait Maven: I¡­see. I suppose many people would be out exploring at the moment, but I doubt ¡°cramming in one bath¡± would be an enjoyable experience.
¡°I¡¯ll just be quick about it.¡± Tess said. ¡°You two can take your time if you want.¡± ¡°I also intend to be fast.¡± Maven said. ¡°No point in lingering.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not gonna be the only one there, so I¡¯ll just hurry too.¡± Ellie said. ¡°That settles it.¡± Maven said firmly. ¡°Let us go.¡± Maven half towed, half lead the other two girls into the changing rooms, which were¡­remarkably similar to locker rooms Tess had seen in gyms or rec centers. The most obvious difference was the absence of lockers or any other furniture, followed by the general¡­roughness of it; the room¡¯s floor was made of some sort of smooth-ish stone, and the walls were of the same compacted earth as the outer walls. So, in a sense, it really wasn¡¯t much like locker rooms she had seen, but she could definitely tell that was what they were going to be. Already stalls to change in were set up, with earthen walls and curtains for doors, and there were piles of material that were undoubtedly for lockers. Standing incongruously next to this rough changing room was a much more finished area that was clearly for the baths and showers; there were the several small stone rooms labeled ¡°bath¡± or ¡°shower¡±, a few large bins labeled ¡°clean towels¡± or ¡°dirty towels¡±, and the general sound of water coming from that direction. ¡°I¡¯m going to use one of the showers.¡± Maven said, already walking towards the showers. ¡°I¡¯ll meet you two back up at the meeting room.¡± ¡°Me too, I guess.¡± Tess said. She followed Maven¡¯s lead, grabbing a towel, taking one of the free showers and quickly disrobing. Unfortunately, there weren¡¯t any lockers, and as her clothes were her bag, she didn¡¯t have a bag to put them in. Fortunately, there was a platform just above her where she could place her clothes, out of reach of the stream of water. As Tess took some shampoo and conditioner out of her clothes and stored them away, Silky worriedly scuttled about on the floor. What should I do? She asked. Should I wait outside like normal? No. Tess replied. It would be bad if someone saw you. Just wait on top of my clothes, alright? Got it. Silky replied, hurrying up the wall before pointedly turning away from Tess. Tess turned to the wall containing the showerhead, scanning it up and down for controls. She quickly found a set of magic sigils glowing on the wall, and after some fiddling was able to get the shower to a¡­more or less comfortable warmth. She turned off her fox features and began to get herself clean. Animal ears and tails were generally a pain to wash and turning them off and back on cleaned them up anyway, so she tried to avoid showering or bathing with them whenever possible. After a quick shower, she reached for the towel, then hesitated. She hadn¡¯t actually tried before, having mostly showered on Mael, where she tried not to use magic too much, but¡­yes, a quick test showed that flicking Phoenix Fire on and off neatly evaporated any trace of water on her, leaving her bone dry. She hurriedly dressed herself, turned her fox features back on, left the shower, tossed the towel in one of the dirty towel bins since it had been on the floor, then headed back up to the meeting room. She was the first of the three younger girls to make it back, so she sat down and began to chat with Eyfura, Ava, and Atum. The rest of her party arrived shortly after, and everyone just relaxed and enjoyed each other¡¯s company. Or, they did until Gramps showed back up, a serious expression on his face. ¡°Ava, Atum, Eyfura, we¡¯re heading out.¡± He said. ¡°We have to go recovery some bodies.¡± Atum grimaced, standing up. ¡°Fun.¡± He said sarcastically. ¡°You three go find The Rumors. We¡¯re going to be a while.¡±
Life: They are currently waiting for food in the general line. You should be able to locate them without too much trouble. Tess: Thanks, Life Life: You are welcome. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
As Tess and her party said their goodbyes, Eyfura heaved a sigh and walked over to them. ¡°I really hate to do this to you after¡­everything, but could you three watch Ilmir for me while I¡¯m gone? You don¡¯t have to take her anywhere if you don¡¯t want to, but just¡­I don¡¯t know, she¡¯s mellowed out significantly since beginning therapy, but I¡¯m still worried she¡¯ll do something stupid and get herself killed.¡± Ellie grimaced. ¡°It¡¯s not an ideal situation, but I¡¯m going to vote whatever Tess votes. She¡¯s the one Ilmir was beefing with, after all.¡± ¡°I, likewise, will defer judgement.¡± Maven said. ¡°It is not really my place to weigh in on this.¡± Tess gave a sigh of her own. Like Ellie said, it wasn¡¯t ideal, but Tess was willing to put her past issues with Ilmir aside for the moment. ¡°Yeah, I think we can handle that.¡± She said after a moment. ¡°Just¡­don¡¯t expect it to be a more permanent arrangement.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting to have something go wrong so soon. I was going to send her on one of the supervised expeditions, but they don¡¯t start until tomorrow. It won¡¯t happen again. Will you three wait here while I go fetch her?¡± ¡°That is acceptable.¡± Maven said. ¡°I will try and contact Jin while you do.¡± She pulled out her phone and began typing up a message on it. ¡°Thanks, guys.¡± Eyfura responded, flashing them a shaky smile. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a bit.¡± As she left, Ellie turned to Tess. ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s someone else that could handle this here.¡± ¡°Time is probably of the essence.¡± Tess said. ¡°And if Ilmir really has mellowed out, then it shouldn¡¯t even be that bad.¡± ¡°After you defeated her, I doubt she would be willing to look down on you as I heard she did before.¡± Maven said, looking up from her phone. ¡°You have proved your strength, and that is generally extremely important to beastkin.¡± ¡°Well, whatever the case, we can deal for a day or two.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Not a problem.¡± They fell into silence, and a few minutes later the door opened again, revealing a rather nervous-looking Ilmir. ¡°Um¡­hey.¡± She said awkwardly. ¡°Thanks for agreeing to take care of me while Grandma¡¯s away.¡± ¡°Just so long as you don¡¯t get up to any of your shenanigans.¡± Ellie said flatly. ¡°If you do, we¡¯ll pass you off to someone else without hesitation.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡­I understand.¡± Ilmir replied. ¡°So, um¡­how are we going to go about this?¡± ¡°Jin said he would like us to meet his party at the cafeteria area.¡± Maven said. ¡°I informed him of the situation, so your presence should not come as a surprise.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get going, then.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Might as well get this over with.¡± Ignoring Ilmir¡¯s wince, Ellie walked out of the room, and was swiftly followed by the others. They made their way out of the fort and over to the area where food was being served, conveniently marked by a large flag that was taller than anything else around. From there, it only took them a couple of minutes to locate Ker; like the flag, he stood head and shoulders above almost everyone else. And, while there were a few other goliaths, they were either grouped together, in which case it was safe to assume none were Ker, or were easily distinguishable from Ker. So, they soon found themselves trotting up to The Rumors, Ilmir in tow. ¡°We¡¯ve heard the details.¡± Alice said sourly. ¡°Ilmir, if you so much as step a toe out of line, there are going to be repercussions.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t exactly kick her out.¡± Ker gently reminded Alice. ¡°We are, technically, not the ones watching over her.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say we were going to.¡± Alice said. ¡°I was thinking more along the lines of banning her from my businesses for a year or two.¡± Ilmir paled. ¡°T-that won¡¯t be necessary m-ma¡¯am.¡± She stuttered. ¡°I¡¯ve learned my lesson.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you have.¡± Alice said dryly. ¡°So, did Eyfura leave you guys any instructions?¡± ¡°She said we don¡¯t have to take Ilmir anywhere if we don¡¯t want to.¡± Ellie relayed. ¡°We just have to watch her until Eyfura gets back.¡± ¡°Well, I, for one, am not particularly thrilled about having yet another person to watch out for.¡± Alice said. ¡°We can handle the three of you easily enough, especially since we¡¯re guaranteed that you can get out of danger if it comes down to it, but adding one more seems like more trouble than it¡¯s worth. We can just wait out the day or two it takes for The Titans to get back.¡± ¡°Eyfura said she was going to send Ilmir on one of the supervised expeditions, if The Titans have not returned by then, then I think that is our best option.¡± Maven said. ¡°Let¡¯s go with that, then.¡± Jin said. The group fell into an uneasy silence, no one quite sure what to say. This went on for a fair while before, finally, Maven began to ask some questions. They were small things, mostly, such as what Ilmir had been doing for training, or what each of The Rumors¡¯ favorite adventure they had been on was, but they were a welcome reprieve from the awkward silence. It was impressive, the way she was able to keep everyone involved in the conversation and keep things from becoming too heavy or awkward. Tess could only assume that was what a lifetime of training for politics taught a person; ways to navigate even the toughest of social situations. This was a fact that Tess found herself thankful for on more than one other occasion the rest of the evening. Ilmir was¡­different than she had been before; whereas before she had been exuberant, belligerent, and either rude or near sycophantic, now she was quiet, withdrawn, and polite. It was a drastic change, and one that Tess wasn¡¯t sure could be fully attributed to any amount of therapy. She found it hard to believe that someone could change so radically over the course of a few months. Perhaps she was projecting from her own experience in therapy, but she was pretty sure it wasn¡¯t something that could radically change a person like this.
Fortune: It¡¯s not, usually. This is more a combination of the therapy and you beating her in combat. You¡¯ve sort of directly proved she was wrong before by beating her, and she¡¯s not totally sure how to react Death: Are you reading Ilmir¡¯s mind? That seems kind of rude Fortune: One, we¡¯re gods, we¡¯re allowed to read minds and be rude. Two, I¡¯m not actually reading her mind, it¡¯s armchair psychology. Tess isn¡¯t as familiar with how beastkin think as most people would be, so I¡¯m helping give that context Ellie: What¡¯s this about? Life: This is what happens when you send private messages in the general chat. You should probably have kept it between the two of you. Fortune: Yeah, but the general chat is more lively. And, Ellie, Tess was thinking about how different Ilmir is Maven: Wouldn¡¯t reading Tess¡¯s mind also be considered rude? Tess: We just sort of roll with it. It gives us more opportunities to talk like this, and that¡¯s nice Fortune: It¡¯s just surface-level thoughts anyway, nothing too private
¡°Are Tess, Ellie, and Maven okay?¡± Ilmir asked. ¡°They¡¯ve been staring off into space for a bit.¡± ¡°What?¡± Tess asked, snapping back to attention at the mention of her name. ¡°Sorry, was talking with the gods.¡± Ilmir blinked. ¡°You were what?¡± ¡°Oh, right, you probably don¡¯t know. Um, basically we have a window of communication open with the gods. Like the windows the status bands give, but different. It¡¯s hard to explain.¡± Ilmir frowned. ¡°Wait, then¡­¡±
Death: Wait, she doesn¡¯t know? Life: It would not have been pertinent information for her, I presume. Dungeons: Well, I suppose it¡¯s fine to tell her. She sorta knows everything else anyway
¡°Yes, all three of us are Appointed.¡± Maven said. ¡°I of Dungeons, and Ellie of both Life and Death.¡± ¡°I sort of figured Ellie was, but you too?¡± Ilmir asked. ¡°How long?¡± ¡°Since the middle of the drive over here.¡± Maven replied. ¡°So, not long at all.¡± The topic turned to Appointed and what they did, and that proved a difficult subject. There were many things that even The Rumors and Ilmir, knowledgeable as they were on the identities of Appointed, were not allowed to know, so many questions could only be answered by saying that the answer was classified, or something similar. This caused them to swiftly move on from the subject, and time ended up passing quickly. The next morning, the group got confirmation from Eyfura via the gods that sending Ilmir on a supervised excursion was alright, and after seeing her off, they finally were able to head back to the canyon. The trip over was much faster than it had been the first time. They didn¡¯t have to slow down for the mapping orb, nor did they worry too much about dealing with the corpses of their kills; they just threw them in a bag and called it good. Once they reached the canyon, Jin stopped the group and turned to Maven. ¡°Can you sense the dungeon¡¯s Mana from here?¡± He asked. Maven¡¯s face screwed up in concentration. ¡°No.¡± She eventually replied. ¡°Whatever¡¯s causing the environment to change down there must be trapping the Mana.¡± ¡°I figured as much.¡± Jin replied. ¡°No point in taking the long way down when we can just go down here, though.¡± And so, they geared back up, and began their careful descent, thinking about how this time, they were going to do it right. They would find that dungeon, and they would do it without major incident. Chapter 85: Overrun Canyon The party traversed through the lush canyon carefully. They made extensive use of Tess¡¯s tremorsense to watch for any monsters, and The Rumors didn¡¯t mess around when they spotted one. Instead of involving the younger girls in the process, The Rumors elected to go full-force and eliminate the monsters as quickly and quietly as possible. It was a stark change of pace from anything Tess had really seen from them. Even when they had been speeding through Slime Tower, or any of the other low leveled dungeons, The Rumors had maintained an air of relaxation, an ease that came from being so dramatically overleveled that they were, effectively, invincible. And, while they were still easily handling the monsters in the area, Tess could see that they were starting to be at least somewhat challenged. One or two monsters were easy enough for them to handle, sure, but then the monsters started coming in packs of three or four, and then five or six. Tess almost felt like she could watch their attitudes change in real time as they proceeded further into the canyon. Their stops became briefer, only enough time for a few terse words to be spoken regarding the direction they were going or asking if there were any monsters up ahead. And, increasingly, there were. Just as the size of the groups of monsters got larger, the frequency with which the party encountered them likewise grew. It was almost baffling, in a way; Tess had imagined that monsters, devoid of the system¡¯s pressure to stay in a small area without killing each other, would spread out more, instead of clustering densely around a dungeon. She waited expectantly, but for once didn¡¯t get an answer from the gods. They probably didn¡¯t want to distract her in the increasingly tense situation she found herself in, so she decided it was time to follow suit and redoubled her efforts in looking for monsters or other things of interest using her tremorsense. Things really started to get hairy when Tess discovered a group of eleven monsters around a bend. Or, rather, group of eleven was perhaps the wrong term; it was more akin to two groups of five and six. They were separated by ten or so feet, and were pacing around each other carefully. ¡°I think there¡¯s some sort of fight about to break out ahead of us.¡± Tess whispered. ¡°Six of those lizard-y things and five of the crab things.¡± Ker frowned. ¡°Are any of them injured?¡± He whispered back. ¡°None are obviously injured, like missing legs or anything, but I can¡¯t tell if they¡¯ve got minor injuries.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Are there any ways around it?¡± Alice asked. ¡°Not if we keep going the way we¡¯re going. I mean, I guess we could go up and then come back down on the other side of them, but that puts us at risk of dropping down onto another group of monsters.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a valid point.¡± Alice said. ¡°What are they doing now?¡± ¡°They¡¯re just sort of pacing around each other.¡± She paused, focusing on the monsters. ¡°I think the lizards might be getting ready to make a move, though. They keep darting forward like they¡¯re going to attack, so I think they¡¯re testing the waters.¡± Alice sighed, turning to Jin. ¡°What do you think?¡± She asked. ¡°It¡¯s a bit too chaotic, I don¡¯t like it.¡± He replied. ¡°I think we should wait it out and clean up whatever side remains afterwards. If it was just the three of us, I would say we could probably just rush through it, but¡­¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Ker said. ¡°Tess, keep us updated on the battle, let us know if it¡¯s moving over here or if it¡¯s almost over.¡± ¡°Should I try and pay attention to the rest of our surroundings, too?¡± Tess asked. ¡°No.¡± Alice said quickly. ¡°Better to just focus on one thing, so you don¡¯t miss something important. We¡¯ll keep watch over here and make sure we don¡¯t get ambushed.¡± Tess nodded and turned her attention back to the monsters. It took less than a minute for the fight to begin in earnest; one of the lizards darted in, but instead of backing away like they always had before, the rest of the lizards joined in too, and things got hectic. While tremorsense was superior to vision in many ways, it did not come without its drawbacks. Foremost among those was the fact that she only saw outlines and shapes. Without the ability to tell the material of an object, aside from whether or not it was a solid, she was left to extrapolate details for herself. Bodies generally were composed of liquids and solids, so telling if something was living or had once been living was usually easy enough, but that was about as far as she got. When the lizards would go in to bite the crabs, and especially when the lizards would crawl on top of the crabs, the two shapes essentially merged into one big misshapen blob. Even so, she was able to tease out a general picture of what was happening. The lizards¡¯ main goal was to get on top of the crabs; the crabs were a fair bit larger than the lizards, so the lizards would use that to their advantage and get in places the crabs had a hard time reaching. Once there, they would do¡­something that she couldn¡¯t quite make out, and, eventually, the crab would either manage to get the lizard off, or would stop moving, and the lizard would move on to another crab. The whole fight took perhaps three minutes, ending in the eventual defeat of the crabs, though they did manage to take a lizard out with them. Tess presumed a few of the remaining lizards were injured, as she had seen multiple lizards take blows, but she couldn¡¯t really check their condition with tremorsense, so that was mostly just an assumption. ¡°They¡¯re done.¡± She whispered. ¡°Lizards won. There are still five of them, and I think some are injured but I can¡¯t be sure from here.¡± ¡°Good enough.¡± Jin said. ¡°You three, these monsters are likely to be even more territorial than normal since they¡¯re still at the site of their kill. We¡¯re going to do our best to keep them from getting to you, but they outnumber the three of us, so it¡¯s very possible one or two might slip through the cracks. If that happens, handle the stragglers yourself. I believe we determined that the lizards are probably safe for you if it¡¯s only one or two of them, yes?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°They¡¯re nothing special, it¡¯s just the level gap. Shouldn¡¯t be too different from fighting a miniboss or something. They seemed to like testing out their opposition with feints if that last fight was any indicator, so we should probably be able to get the first hit.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Jin said. ¡°We¡¯re going, then.¡± Alice cautiously led the group around the bend, where five lizards in varying states of injury were feasting on crab corpses, shells melted and dripping onto the floor below. As they came into view, the lizards whipped around form their meals and began scurrying towards the group, getting into the formation that Tess had seen them use against the crabs. Unfortunately for the lizards, probing the space between them and their enemies was a lot less effective when said enemies had ranged attacks. Alice¡¯s sword and a couple of spells slammed into one of the injured lizards, finishing it off rather soundly. Realizing that their old plan wouldn¡¯t work, the lizards rushed in and began their attack in earnest. Alice managed to intercept one with her shield, bashing it backwards before it was able to find any purchase to climb over. Jin and Ker each began to cast as quickly as possible, spells that would push the lizards back or freeze them in place while Alice delivered quick strikes of her sword. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Even so, one of the injured lizards was able to slip past them, skittering up the canyon wall and deftly dodging the spell that had been aimed at it. ¡°You three!¡± Jin barked between spells. ¡°Take care of it!¡± Maven immediately began to cast a spell, while Ellie moved to place herself between the lizard and the open flank of The Rumors. For her part, Tess began activating her Skills, then prepared herself. When the lizard came down from the wall, she activated Mad Dash, feeling a strange rush as she suddenly was moving much faster than she had anticipated. She was barely able to get her claws in front of her to impale the monster, the force of her speed carrying the monster forward with her as she stopped barely before impacting the canyon wall. Then, You Are Already Dead kicked in, and the monster took the damage.
You have impaled Canyon Lizard for 2,143 damage! (Effects hidden)
Even with that, it was still alive, flailing wildly as it tried to get off of Tess¡¯s claw. Tess quickly sheathed her claws, pulling away just barely too slow to avoid a blow to the stomach from the lizard¡¯s limbs. The force of it threw her backwards, and even if her fall was cushioned by the lush canyon floor, it still knocked the wind out of her.
You have been dealt 313 damage by Canyon Lizard!
And then the Swords of Death and Maven¡¯s spell impacted the creature, and it finally died. Tess shakily got to her feet, and only then remembered the other effect of Monstrous Strength, to dull her pain. She activated it and felt¡­better. She could still tell that the wound was there, but it was in the back of her mind, the kind of thing she would subconsciously tune out the moment she stopped paying attention to it. The Swords of Death vanished as Ellie raised a hand and a pulsing green wave washed out from her open palm, traveling across the canyon. Immediately, all pain vanished, and Tess felt less tired than she did before as Breath of Life fully restored both her HP and Stamina. Alice jumped as the wave impacted her, clearly not expecting the sudden rush of energy. For the briefest of moments she faltered, but was able to smoothly recover and deliver a blow to the lizard in front of her, neatly chopping off its head. The Rumors had dispatched another lizard while Tess¡¯s party had been focused on their lizard, so that left only one. It wasn¡¯t long for this world, however; The Rumors focused in on it, and within a few seconds their combined attacks brought it down. The moment it was, Alice turned to the younger girls. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± She asked worriedly. ¡°I assume that was Ellie¡¯s Blessing, right? Did someone get hurt?¡± ¡°Yeah, it was me.¡± Tess said, walking over to her. ¡°I impaled the lizard, and it didn¡¯t die, and it hit me while it was trying to get off my claw. I probably shoulda blinked away, but I thought I was going to be fast enough to dodge.¡± ¡°We should take a look at it.¡± Alice said. ¡°Where¡¯d it hit you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably fine.¡± Tess protested. ¡°I mean that was literally the best healing on offer, right?¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but it¡¯s better safe than sorry.¡± Alice said. ¡°Again, where¡¯d you get hurt?¡± Tess sighed and lifted her shirt, poking at her stomach. ¡°Right here.¡± She said. ¡°Feels perfectly fine now.¡± Alice bent down, inspecting the area and gently squishing it with her hand. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem to be any bruising. This doesn¡¯t hurt, right?¡± ¡°Nope, perfectly fine.¡± Tess said. ¡°We good?¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re good.¡± Alice confirmed. ¡°Let¡¯s get those bodies into our bags and keep going.¡± ¡°Already done.¡± Jin said. ¡°We took the crabs, too. Maven, we¡¯re still going the right direction, right?¡± ¡°I believe so.¡± Maven replied. ¡°I think we are fairly close, too, but I won¡¯t be able to know for sure until I get a feel for how out of control dungeons normally¡­feel.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, we can¡¯t expect you to be perfect on your first try.¡± Ker said comfortingly. And so, they carried on, navigating through the twisty mess that was the canyon. Incidents like the one with the lizards became more and more common, until it reached the point where it became common for Tess¡¯s party to pitch in with fights, just to help close the numerical gap between them and the enemies. There was a growing sense that they should just call it quits and head back up when they finally found something. Tess was, of course, the first to notice, her tremorsense allowing her to take note of the object before it came into visual range. ¡°There¡¯s something ahead, just around the corner.¡± Tess whispered. ¡°Lots of living matter around a hole in the canyon wall. Judging by how stationary it is, I assume it¡¯s plants, and seeing as how there¡¯s a bit of¡­oddness near the hole, I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s the dungeon.¡± ¡°Jackpot!¡± Alice whispered excitedly. ¡°Any monsters near it?¡± ¡°None that I can sense.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Do we need to be worried about being attacked when entering the lobby, or is it safe?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s safe.¡± Alice whispered back. ¡°The out of control part really only means that we can¡¯t access the lodgings or other amenities. The lobbies still function as normal, so once we¡¯re in we should be safe. We can sit pretty while we contact the guild. Heck, we could even set up the hoverer in the lobby and have access to all its facilities while we wait.¡± ¡°Better get in fast.¡± Ker said. ¡°We can talk more inside.¡± At that, the group hushed up and hurried around the corner to see, as Tess had assumed, a hole in the canyon wall surrounded by vines. ¡°That¡¯s definitely it.¡± Maven said. ¡°I can feel it.¡± ¡°Should we make a break for it?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Or should we move cautiously?¡± Jin frowned, and then chanted a quick spell. As he finished, a spear of fire flew out from his palm and impacted the vines surrounding the dungeon entrance. They smoldered for a moment, and then the embers went out, the green of the vines rapidly returning to the blackened area where the spell had hit. ¡°Good, just vines.¡± Jin said. ¡°You three make a break for it. I¡¯m going to set up a beacon that¡¯ll allow the guild to home in on our position, and Alice and Ker will cover me as I do. You three will be safer inside. It shouldn¡¯t take long, so if we¡¯re not inside after ten minutes, confer with the gods about how you¡¯re going to get out.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± Tess said. She turned to the cave, prepared herself briefly, and then activated Mad Dash, immediately running full sprint towards the dungeon entrance. She crossed the hundred or so yards between it and herself in only about five seconds, slowing herself just in time to cross the threshold into the dungeon, emerging into a lobby like any other she had seen in dungeons, though it was more¡­bare. ¡°You got that from the savage dungeon¡¯s boss, right?¡± Ellie asked, running in a few seconds later. ¡°How does that feel, speeding up and slowing down so fast? Seems like it¡¯d give you whiplash or throw you off balance or something.¡± ¡°Magic, I guess?¡± Tess said, shrugging, then giving a little wave as Maven came in. ¡°Feels normal to me. I imagine the gods didn¡¯t want that boss hurting itself each time it stopped and started moving, so that effect transferred to me, too?¡±
Fortune: Yeah, what she said. And yes, we were keeping quiet earlier so as not to break your focus. What were you wondering about, again? Tess: I think I was wondering why there were so many monsters sticking close to the dungeon instead of spreading out more? Dungeons: Ah, The Rumors could have told you that, actually. Even though they¡¯re nominally free from the dungeon, the monsters it created still crave the dungeon¡¯s Mana. This desire wanes the longer they have been outside, but never fully goes away, leading to the behavior you noted Ellie: Huh, interesting
¡°We¡¯re done.¡± Alice said, walking inside. ¡°Nothing chanced upon us. We¡¯ve contacted the guild, The Titans should be here within an hour.¡±
Dungeons: If you would like, I can give you the dungeon¡¯s specs and you can figure out if it¡¯s something you all want to attempt, instead of waiting for those four to ¡°officially¡± rate it
¡°Dungeons says she can give us the information if we want to attempt it early.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡¯m good for now.¡± Alice replied. ¡°I think I speak for the three of us when I say I need some time to recover before diving into an unknown dungeon.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Ker said. ¡°Let¡¯s see how we¡¯re doing in a couple of hours.¡± Alice nodded, reached into her bag and pulled out the miniaturized hoverer, then set it up a little ways away from the main group. She opened the door nearest her, and motioned for everyone to get in. ¡°After you.¡± Everyone climbed into the hoverer, and Tess breathed an involuntary sigh of relief. Now that she was back in a familiar place, the tension that had filled her in the canyon finally started to fade. ¡°See? Told you.¡± Alice said, smirking. ¡°Nothing beats a bit of relaxation after a job well done.¡± Chapter 86: A Short Break As it turned out, Alice¡¯s idea of relaxation was to carefully go over her gear and make sure everything was well-maintained. Ker and Jin on the other hand, simply headed to the back of the hoverer and went to go take a nap. That really just left the three younger girls on their own, trying to figure out what they were going to do with their free time. ¡°I have a handheld, we could set it up on the floor and try and get something going.¡± Ellie ventured. ¡°A handheld what?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Game console. I¡­think I have enough extra controllers in my bag for us all to play.¡± ¡°I think I will have to decline.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡¯m feeling rather tired myself.¡± ¡°Well, the back¡¯s always open, if you don¡¯t mind Jin¡¯s snoring.¡± Alice said, looking up from her sword. ¡°Should be plenty of room back there.¡± Maven paused for a moment, then nodded and made her way to the back. As she did, Tess turned to Ellie and gave her a smile. ¡°Want to head back to Mael for a bit?¡± She asked. ¡°We can have some¡­alone time.¡± ¡°Mael how are we¡­¡± Ellie said. ¡°Oh, right, the door in our hoverer. Yeah, that sounds good to me.¡± ¡°Make sure you¡¯re not using fertility boosters.¡± Alice said distractedly, scrubbing hard at a particularly grimy part of her sword. ¡°Fertil ¨C we¡¯re both girls!¡± Ellie said, face as red as Tess¡¯s felt. ¡°Those don¡¯t do anything!¡± Alice paused, her expression indicating that her brain was catching up with what she had just said. ¡°I keep forgetting you guys are from Mael. Fertility boosters in the wider world most certainly get around the issue of being the same sex. Anyway, you two enjoy, I¡¯ll hit you up if you¡¯re not back before they get here.¡± Still blushing, the two exited the hoverer and set up their own on the other end of the room, then climbed in and went through the door leading to Mael. ¡°I¡¯m kind of surprised Alice picked up on that while she was distracted.¡± ¡°You weren¡¯t exactly subtle.¡± Ellie chuckled. ¡°Not that I don¡¯t share your eagerness. It¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve had an opportunity like this. So¡­even if we only have an hour, let¡¯s make the most of it, hm?¡±
Unfortunately, Tess and Ellie had to cut their fun a little shorter than they would have liked, as Tess¡¯s phone started to ring only forty five minutes later. The two girls hurriedly disengaged, and Tess grabbed her phone. After a brief confirmation that it was indeed Alice, Tess answered it. ¡°They¡¯re here already?¡± She asked, panting slightly. ¡°Yeah.¡± Alice said, voice filled with barely repressed mirth. ¡°Fair warning, I wasn¡¯t getting good signal inside the dungeon, what with it being out of control and all, so I had to go in your hoverer and get into your house. So¡­uh, make sure you¡¯re presentable before you come downstairs.¡± ¡°Thanks, Alice.¡± Tess said. ¡°See you in a minute.¡± ¡°See you in a minute.¡± Alice replied, hanging up the phone. ¡°So, Alice is downstairs.¡± Tess said, turning to Ellie. ¡°We should probably try and get a little cleaned up.¡± Ellie cast her gaze over to the window, which had its curtains drawn. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to try and cast a quick purification slash healing spell.¡± She said. ¡°I haven¡¯t tried much on Mael, but if I¡¯m willing to spend a fair bit more Mana than usual it should work, right?¡±
Life: Correct.
Ellie began chanting a spell, face screwing up in effort as she did. A few moments later, her chant finished, and a soothing sensation washed over Tess. She repeated her spell for herself, then shuffled over to her clothes and began to dress herself. Tess followed suit, and soon the two were heading down the stairs together. ¡°Looking good, lovebirds.¡± Alice said, grinning. ¡°But fun time¡¯s over, it¡¯s time to get back to work.¡± Tess blushed. ¡°Um, yeah.¡± ¡°It¡¯s perfectly normal, nothing to be ashamed of.¡± Alice said, clapping Tess on the back. ¡°But let¡¯s not keep the Guildmaster waiting too long, okay?¡± She led the group back through the house and into the dungeon lobby, where Gramps and his party were waiting. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± Gramps asked, giving the girls a huge smile. Tess motioned for Ellie to talk while she packed up the hoverer. ¡°Pretty well, I think?¡± Ellie said. ¡°We had to help out towards the end, there were too many monsters for just The Rumors to take on their own.¡± ¡°I assumed you might have to.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Was anyone seriously hurt?¡± ¡°Tess took a nasty hit towards the end there when she didn¡¯t one hit kill one of the monsters, but we dealt with it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°No lasting damage.¡± ¡°Then all¡¯s well.¡± Gramps said, nodding his head. ¡°The four of us are going to run through this dungeon, we¡¯re estimating we¡¯ll be finished in a few hours. If you get enough info to think you¡¯re capable of taking on the dungeon, feel free. Just remember your charges, and don¡¯t go in if you think you can¡¯t handle protecting them, too. If you wish to go through this dungeon by yourselves, please wait until the four of us return, and we will take care of the girls while you go through it once or twice.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll do that, Guildmaster.¡± Jin said. Judging by his disheveled state, he hadn¡¯t taken any time to make himself look nice after his nap ¨C he had just rolled out of bed and called it good. Ker was the same way, but Maven was, at least, a little neater, though remarkably less so than she usually was. ¡°Should I ask Dungeons for the information, then?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I think so.¡± Jin said. ¡°We can get an idea for how well we¡¯re going to do and make a decision from there.¡± Gramps nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll leave you to it, then. We have a dungeon to clear.¡± Ava and Eyfura waved at the group as they headed towards the entrance into the dungeon, and Atum gave a thumbs-up. Gramps followed shortly behind, and then they were gone, into the dungeon and out of reach. ¡°Woah.¡± Maven said. ¡°That is¡­bizarre.¡± ¡°What?¡± Alice asked. ¡°I just felt something new pop up.¡± Maven replied. ¡°The instance they went into. I think I could take us in if I wanted.¡± ¡°Best not to.¡± Ker replied. ¡°We¡¯d just be getting in their way. What¡¯s Dungeons say about this dungeon¡¯s difficulty?¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Dungeons: Mmmm¡­it¡¯s really hard to say. The Rumors could probably handle it on their own, but they also need to protect you three. Were you any other three people, I would say it¡¯s definitely not a good idea, but you¡¯re not any other three people. You and Tess are significantly stronger within a dungeon, and all of the monsters in here save for the boss are going to completely ignore you. And Ellie is way more capable of taking hits than most people around her level. Dungeons: Maybe give it a shot and see how you do? Short of just making the monsters do nothing, I would recommend leveraging the full power of your Blessing in this instance, though; that will drastically decrease the risks associated with guarding you three. Fortune: She could just order the monsters to not attack her party. They could basically just tag along for the ride while The Rumors do all the heavy lifting, and they would only be at risk of splash damage Dungeons: ¡­I should have thought of that myself Fortune: You¡¯re not used to instructing someone working with your Blessing, and it¡¯s a very complicated Blessing at that. Besides, that¡¯s what this chat is here for, to help all of us collaborate and learn things together Life: Fortune is correct. Together, we are much more efficient than we would be otherwise. I feel that, if this continues to be as productive as it currently is, it will become the new normal for Appointed and gods. Perhaps one day we might even have access to one of these ¡°chatrooms¡± that contains every Appointed and every god, even the ones that do not have Appointed. Death: Together we will synergistically increase our core competencies and amplify our unique skillsets and¡­uh¡­I¡¯m running out of buzzwords Fortune: Can we work pain points in there somewhere? Death: Probably but that¡¯s too much work for a bit Life: I do believe The Rumors are waiting. Death: You started it
¡°The gods say that, were you three alone, you could probably handle this.¡± Maven said. ¡°With the three of us, it becomes much more¡­murky. However, I am capable of ordering the dungeon monsters to ignore just my party, so the only risk from us would be taking damage from area of effect attacks, if that is something you would prefer.¡± ¡°You can do that?¡± Alice asked. ¡°I knew you could mess with dungeons, but the monsters too?¡± ¡°And the traps.¡± Maven said. ¡°Essentially, any part of a dungeon is mine to control as I wish. The more complex changes such as transforming the dungeon require Mana, but commanding already existing monsters and traps is free.¡± Ker whistled softly. ¡°So, you can just walk through dungeons entirely unopposed?¡± ¡°If I want to, yes. The Guildm ¨C Gramps has already warned me about doing so, however. He said that it will be useful later, but right now it will just stifle my growth.¡± Jin nodded. ¡°Of course. It would essentially be boosting, without the extra step of having a bodyguard fight for you. I would have said much the same if it looked like that was something you were planning on doing any time soon.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s fine for now, though.¡± Alice said. ¡°If the gods think the three of us can safely handle this dungeon, I don¡¯t have a problem with them using that ability to tag along while we do. They¡¯re not going to gain a ton of EXP or anything, so they¡¯re really only getting some extra Skills or Classes, which¡­I mean, they¡¯re probably gonna be stronger than what they normally get around this level, but they¡¯re already using stuff way more unfair than an extra couple of Skills.¡± ¡°You just want to get into the dungeon, don¡¯t you?¡± Ker asked, smiling faintly. ¡°But you have a valid point. I don¡¯t see any harm in it for now.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Jin said. ¡°Let¡¯s suit up and be ready to go in¡­let¡¯s say ten minutes. Sound good?¡±
The dungeon turned out to be rather similar to the canyon in structure, at least for the first few floors. In fact, those floors were a little easier than the canyons; yes, the monsters weren¡¯t fighting amongst themselves like they did in the canyon, but there were fewer monsters overall. That and Maven¡¯s ability to make the dungeon monsters ignore the younger girls made traversing those floors much quicker than their movement through the actual canyon. Tess offered to do her usual scouting job, but The Rumors turned her down, saying that they wanted the practice themselves. Tess had nearly forgotten that The Rumors were only tutoring her party because they were in something of a slump and were struggling to breach the barrier between rank nine and rank ten. And that got her wondering about ranks and how promotion was usually handled. She had heard the explanation before, but she was, admittedly, getting bored and wanted some conversation, so she decided to ask the gods about it.
Tess: So, I know it¡¯s been explained in the past, but¡­how does rank and getting promotions work in the guild again? Fortune: Why this all of a sudden? Tess: I was just thinking about The Rumors and their rank Fortune: Well, usually you apply for a promotion and the guild reviews your performance and puts you through some tests. Things are going to get a little wild and whacky for the next bit because of the rank system changes, but that¡¯s the shape of it. Tess: So, it¡¯s not automatic? Life: Not unless a person or party racks up so many achievements that it would be ridiculous to not promote them. Death: What were you wondering about The Rumors? Also, ¡°wild and whacky¡±? Really? Fortune: I¡¯m in a whimsical mood Tess: I was thinking about how they were in a slump before they started tutoring us, and I was wondering if they would be able to cross over to rank ten now. Dungeons: As they are now, I believe they would be capable of passing the tests. While they have not gained levels or even that many Skills, they¡¯ve put a lot of thought into how they fight and what they could do to improve since they sparred with Evan¡¯s party. They were already right on the border of the ranks, so that nudge is probably enough. Ellie: What do you think our party would be ranked? Dungeons: Taking into account your Blessings, and assuming you¡¯re not allowed to use Maven¡¯s to trivialize dungeons? Probably rank four or five. It would be a rank or two higher were you more experienced, but you¡¯ve only been doing it for¡­what, half a year? That really drags your rank down Maven: And I assume removing our Blessings from the equation brings us down a couple of ranks? Dungeons: Yes and no. Tess is in this really weird grey area where she can¡¯t be properly evaluated because her Blessing is so integral to¡­everything. But, if we assume the strictest of secrecy with your Blessings, then the lack of them puts you down a rank all on its own, and¡­depending on how you count Monster Breeder in relation to the Blessing, Tess¡¯s presence might drag you down another, sorry. Too much of your kit is too integrated with your Blessing, and your stats look really bad on paper. If the evaluation takes Monster Breeder into account, though, she wouldn¡¯t drag you down Tess: Yeah, I was sort of figuring that would be the case. Uh, the bit about me that is, not about our ranking, because I had no clue what we would be
Further conversation was cut off as they reached the end of the floor they were on, and stepped into the lobby. ¡°How are you guys holding up? It¡¯s not too boring, right?¡± Ker asked. ¡°I am used to this already.¡± Maven said. ¡°Frankly, even without finishing off the monsters myself like I did when I was boosting, this is still more exciting than Boosting. Your fights are much¡­flashier than my tutors.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because they were probably mostly people who were just leveraging their stats to kill things.¡± Alice snorted. ¡°They weren¡¯t actually fighting, just doing chores.¡± ¡°I¡­cannot disagree with that.¡± Maven said. ¡°You should have seen how my father acted when I suggested boosting wasn¡¯t as ¡®real¡¯ an education as you teaching me. He said it was a ¡®time-honored tradition¡¯ and got mad.¡± ¡°Lots of people are like that.¡± Ker said. ¡°They like to tell themselves that they¡¯re still as qualified as people who actually worked for what they have. It¡¯s just the way people tend to think.¡± ¡°Maven, I don¡¯t know how to say this politely, but¡­the more I hear from your father, the less I like him.¡± Ellie said. ¡°He, um¡­does not exactly seem like the sharpest tool in the shed, and his ego seems a lot bigger than is deserved.¡± Maven sighed. ¡°As much as it pains me to admit it, you are correct.¡± She said. ¡°His marriage with my mother was mostly political, and I think my mother hoped she could teach him enough to beat some of the¡­less intelligent parts of him out. They do love each other, I think, but my mother does have to put her foot down quite a lot. He puts a lot of stock in ¡®the way things have always been done¡¯ and that is often not the best for the country.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s talk about this over food.¡± Jin interjected. ¡°I think the three of us could use a break to restore our resources, and it is getting to be quite a while since we last ate.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Alice said quickly. ¡°I¡¯m starving.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll whip something up for us, then.¡± Ker said. ¡°Give me ten minutes, alright?¡± Chapter 87: Secrets Shared
Death: Ok, sooooo we¡¯ve kinda got a situation on our hands. Jacob¡¯s trying to reach you two, hoping that you happen to be somewhere that has a connection to his network because his parents have been grilling him about where he¡¯s been going, and his cover is hanging with you guys but now they¡¯re wanting to talk to you and he¡¯s panicking because he can¡¯t exactly tell them you guys are out of service when he said he hung out with you literally like 10 minutes ago Fortune: Breathe, Death Death: I¡¯m breathing, now what? Fortune: Now we calmly discuss this like rational people. I¡¯ll start: we are all doomed and the world is coming to an end around us. Our best course of action seems to be to accept our inevitable demise. Death: Drama queen Life: I do not believe now is the time for one of your comedy routines. We should make a plan of action first. Tess: I mean we can just like¡­head back home for a bit, it¡¯s not like that much out of our way. The trip will be like an hour, tops, right? Ellie: Yeah, but what are we going to say? What are they even suspicious about? Life: If you recall, you two have some¡­less than savory rumors going around about you. Mostly Tess, but Ellie gets some by association. Ellie: Oh yeah. Umm¡­ Tess: We could just tell them the truth. I mean, we¡¯re trying to slowly introduce more people to the other planes, right? This seems like a good opportunity. Dungeons: She does bring a valid point. At the rate you¡¯re going, you¡¯re not going to be anywhere near where we want to be when we introduce Mael to wider society. Life: In fairness, we have been holding off until the two of them are a little more well-established. Dungeons: It¡¯s just two people, right? It would be one thing if you were going to dump the entire town into another plane or something, but this seems incredibly low-risk. Even if they do blab about it, who¡¯s going to believe them? Maven: She brings a valid point. I am not fully up to date with how this particular job is going, but this does not seem like a big deal. Death: Yeah sure let¡¯s go for it Life: Very well then. Maven: I¡¯ll inform everyone here of the situation. You two go take care of this. Tess: You sure? I know you¡¯re curious about Mael, and if you get one of those rings that make you look human you can come with us. Maven: My presence seems a bit superfluous, does it not? Tess: Jacob¡¯s already met you, and you¡¯re a better diplomat than me or Ellie. You¡¯d make a great first non-human for them to meet. Maven: Very well then. Death: Oh, actually, I just remembered, we should probably take this opportunity to let that Hunter in on this. Pastor Faust, too, while we¡¯re at it. I¡¯ll get in touch with them and have them meet you at Jacob¡¯s house
¡°Hey, guys, sorry, but we gotta dip.¡± Ellie said, nodding at The Rumors. ¡°Appointed business came up. We¡¯ll probably be out for a couple of hours, if not more. Just, if you see him, let Grandpa know that the three of us are going to be on Mael or in the City for a bit, depending on how things go.¡± ¡°Are we allowed to ask what¡¯s going on?¡± Alice asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°Or is it confidential?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Remember that friend from school we introduced to you a while back? His parents are getting all suspicious so we¡¯re going to come clean to them and bring them in on¡­everything. We¡¯re looking to get more people in the know anyway, so it was a convenient opportunity for us.¡± ¡°Good luck, then.¡± Alice said. ¡°Tell us how it goes later.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± Tess said, standing up from her seat and making for the door to the outside of the hoverer. ¡°I¡¯m going to go get things ready, you two should probably change out of your armor while I do.¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, right.¡± Ellie said, looking herself over. ¡°I am also in need of a way to disguise myself as human.¡± Maven said. ¡°I do not suppose anyone has a tool that could do that for me? I will give it back once I return.¡± ¡°Yeah, you can use mine.¡± Alice said. ¡°Give me a sec and I¡¯ll grab it for you.¡± Tess stepped out of her hoverer and into the lobby room they had returned to while making their lunch. Once there, she took out the collapsed hoverer from her bag and set it up, then stepped inside and opened up the door to her house. As she closed the door behind her, the lighting went dim, and it took her a moment to realize that it was rather late at night back where she lived. Her phone immediately began to buzz as she received a barrage of messages that had piled up while she was out of range. And¡­now that she was thinking about it, it was strange that she was able to get some semblance of service on the expedition, at least enough to interface with the guild¡¯s systems. She¡¯d have to ask Gramps about that when she got back, but now wasn¡¯t really the time to ponder on such things. Instead, she called Jacob, waiting impatiently as the phone rang. ¡°Tess?¡± He asked, surprise present in his voice. ¡°I thought you were, you know, away.¡± ¡°I was. Death let us know that you were having a situation, so we¡¯re here to take care of it.¡± ¡°Death did?!¡± Jacob exclaimed ¡°Why was she¡­¡± ¡°Paying attention to our texts? Well, we mentioned it briefly, but this exact situation is kind of our highest priority as Appointed, so of course she¡¯s going to be monitoring for complications.¡± Tess explained. ¡°So, we¡¯re here. We¡¯ll be over at your house as soon as we can drive there.¡± ¡°We? Ellie¡¯s coming too, then? That¡¯s¡­probably for the best.¡± ¡°Maven as well.¡± Tess added, walking over to the kitchen and grabbing the keys to Ellie¡¯s car. ¡°But she¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Not human? Already taken care of. We¡¯ve got disguise rings that¡¯ll make someone look human. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time nonhumans have come to Mael for visits ¨C in fact, there were¡­¡± Tess paused to mentally count, ¡°six nonhumans at graduation. Seven if you include me, but I¡¯m only inhuman by a technicality, really. Anyway, we¡¯ve discussed it a bit, and we¡¯re going to be letting your parents in on the existence of¡­well, everything else. Pastor Faust and that Hunter we have in town too, while we¡¯re at it.¡± Jacob was silent for a long moment. ¡°You¡¯re¡­sure about this?¡± He finally said. ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯re going to believe you.¡± ¡°Worst case scenario we give a divine message, and they fall in line.¡± Tess replied, shrugging to no one in particular. ¡°It¡¯s not like they can hurt us, and if they look like they¡¯re about to do something rash, the three of us have plenty of ways to restrain them without injuring them.¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The door to their hoverer opened, and Maven stepped through, looking like a perfectly ordinary human. She was definitely from out of the country, sure, but no one would ever suspect the truth. ¡°Ellie said she will be a little while longer.¡± Maven said. ¡°Her plate may be lighter than normal plate, but it is still plate armor.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Tess said. ¡°I was just letting Jacob know we¡¯re on our way. Ellie will apparently be a couple more minutes, so we¡¯re going to leave as soon as she gets here. Knowing her, we¡¯ll probably speed on our way over, so we should be there in¡­let¡¯s say twenty minutes.¡± ¡°Should I let my parents know you¡¯re coming?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°No.¡± Tess said. ¡°They might get weird about it. Just¡­dodge the question if it comes up, and we¡¯ll take care of it when we get there.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just hole up in my room.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°Send me a text when you¡¯re almost here.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll keep you in the loop.¡± Tess said. ¡°Talk to you in a bit.¡± ¡°Talk to you in a bit.¡± Jacob replied, then hung up the phone.
Tess: Ellie, we¡¯ll be in the car. What¡¯s your ETA? Ellie: Like one minute, I¡¯m just finishing with the last piece of the armor and then I need to head over. Do you want to drive or should I? Tess: I can drive.
¡°Maven, follow me, let me show you the garage.¡± Tess said, waving Maven over. ¡°Do you know what a car is?¡± ¡°I do not believe I am familiar.¡± Maven replied, walking over to Tess. ¡°It¡¯s like a hoverer but worse in¡­just about every way.¡± Tess explained, leading Maven down the hall. ¡°Without magic, things are a lot less¡­convenient, so people had to get creative.¡± She opened the door to the garage, and then opened the garage door behind Ellie¡¯s car. ¡°We¡¯ll be in that one.¡± She said, motioning at Ellie¡¯s car. ¡°Hop in whichever seat you want, except for the one behind the wheel.¡± Maven nodded, making her way to the backseat of the car and opening one of the doors, while Tess got into the driver¡¯s seat, started the car, and backed it up into the driveway. ¡°Have you used a seatbelt before?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Once or twice, but I¡¯ll admit I¡¯m not fully sure what exactly this one entails.¡± Tess walked her through the short process of getting her seatbelt on, and by the time they were finished, Ellie was walking up to the car. She quickly opened the door and hopped in, giving the two other girls an apologetic look. ¡°Sorry, I got here as fast as I could.¡± She said. ¡°Any updates on the situation?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Tess said, backing out into the street and shutting the garage door. ¡°I just called Jacob and let him know we¡¯ll be on our way. I said we¡¯d probably speed on the way over, so I gave him an estimate of about twenty minutes.¡± ¡°Speed?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Roads on Mael have a speed limit, and if you go faster than it, you can get fined.¡± Tess explained. ¡°There aren¡¯t many cops here, though, so we¡¯ll probably be fine, and even if we do get pulled over, we can do some magic or something to get out of the situation fast.¡± ¡°Death says they¡¯re keeping an eye on the roads and will let us know if it looks like we¡¯ll cross paths with the police.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Or anyone else, for that matter. Go wild and ignore as many laws as you want, for the time being we¡¯re in the clear.¡± Tess nodded and stepped on the gas, accelerating down the street to an almost reckless degree, soon reaching speeds that she would never otherwise even think about driving at. Fortunately, the road was pretty straight and empty, and they made it over three quarters of the way to Jacob¡¯s house before they had to slow down and respect the rules of the road. Still, they made it to Jacob¡¯s house in only ten minutes, and Tess didn¡¯t waste any time walking up to the door and ringing the doorbell. Through her tremorsense, she could tell that there were five people inside; Jacob was almost certainly the one in his room, which meant the other four were likely his parents, Pastor Faust, and Marie the Hunter. It wasn¡¯t a huge surprise that they had beaten Tess¡¯s group to the house; the church was just around the corner from Jacob¡¯s house, so even if they walked, it would only take two or three minutes. One of the people inside, Jacob¡¯s dad, if Tess was reading their silhouettes right, stood up and walked over to the door. After a moment, the door opened, revealing, as Tess had assumed, Jacob¡¯s dad. ¡°Tess?¡± He asked, a note of surprise in his voice. ¡°How did you get over here so fast? And who is this with you?¡± ¡°She¡¯s Maven, we¡¯ll introduce her later.¡± Tess said. ¡°And we came as fast as we could. May we come in?¡± Jacob¡¯s dad paused, looking back towards the family room. ¡°Please don¡¯t worry about them, they¡¯re here for us too.¡± Tess said. ¡°We wanted to have them in for the talk we¡¯re going to have.¡± ¡°I fail to see why they¡¯d be necessary.¡± Jacob¡¯s dad said uncertainly. ¡°We¡­just wanted to make sure Jacob wasn¡¯t getting up to anything strange.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll become clear in a moment, but we should really talk inside.¡± Tess said, giving him a smile. ¡°This conversation isn¡¯t exactly well suited for a doorstep.¡± ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡± He admitted. ¡°Come inside.¡± He led the three girls around the corner and into the living room where his wife was sitting across from Marie and Pastor Faust. ¡°Ah, Tess.¡± Pastor Faust said. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Please sit down.¡± Tess told Jacob¡¯s dad. ¡°We¡¯re going to be dropping a few bombshells on you, and it¡¯s probably best that you¡¯re sitting.¡± Jacob¡¯s dad visibly bristled, but sat anyway. ¡°So, what do you have for us that¡¯s so important you called over these two as well?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard your fair share of rumors about me these past few months.¡± Tess said. ¡°And while I haven¡¯t heard them myself, I imagine they¡¯re only slightly exaggerated.¡± She unsheathed her claws, eliciting a gasp from Jacob¡¯s mom. Tess sheathed her claws, giving the assembled group a smile. ¡°I¡¯m not going to hurt you.¡± She said. ¡°If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so already.¡± She didn¡¯t miss Jacob¡¯s dad¡¯s eyes flicking over to Marie, who also seemed to catch the movement. ¡°I couldn¡¯t stop her if I wanted to.¡± She said. ¡°She¡¯s out of my league. Out of any Hunter¡¯s league.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re wondering what this has to do with Jacob.¡± She turned to face the stairs, where Jacob was on his way down. She gave him a wink, then turned back to the assembled people. ¡°But first I¡¯m going to have to ask you another question. Aside from Marie, do you all remember Thomas?¡± A look of confusion crossed over the faces of the three who had known Tess before everything. ¡°Familiar, yes?¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s just in the corner of your mind, something you can¡¯t quite put your finger on, right? What if I told you I used to go by Thomas?¡± Jacob¡¯s parents frowned, but something seemed to flip in Pastor Faust¡¯s mind, her eyes widening as she looked over Tess. ¡°Thomas?¡± She whispered. ¡°You¡­what? How? Why?¡± Tess smiled. ¡°Magic.¡± She said. ¡°And it¡¯s a long story.¡± Jacob¡¯s parents still seemed to be struggling, so Tess decided to give them another push. ¡°Before about¡­half a year ago, I was a boy named Thomas.¡± She said. ¡°Jacob¡¯s best friend. Remember? He lent me his gym clothes that one time, we shared lockers¡­stuff that wouldn¡¯t work if I was a girl.¡± And then that same lightbulb seemed to go off, and a sort of deep confusion dawned on their faces. ¡°Yes. I know that likely wasn¡¯t pleasant, but I wanted to get it out of the way before we proceeded.¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t understand.¡± Marie said. ¡°You were a man six months ago? All the records say otherwise. There are pictures of you as a little girl.¡± ¡°Life and Death helped work potent magic to cover my identity change.¡± Tess said. ¡°We didn¡¯t want our cover to be blown just yet.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Pastor Faust said. ¡°But¡­cover for what? You demonstrated magic quite publicly already, what else is there to cover for?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to question that?¡± Jacob¡¯s dad asked, taken aback. ¡°Surely that¡¯s some sort of religious affront.¡± ¡°I have no reason to think she¡¯s lying.¡± Pastor Faust said calmly. ¡°The gods have been very clear on their involvement with her and her family. It would be stranger if they weren¡¯t involved with everything.¡± ¡°Which is a good segue into what we¡¯re talking about.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯re¡­ambassadors for another world, in essence. Mael isn¡¯t everything the universe has ¨C there are dozens of other dimensions, and Mael is the only one not fully integrated into that community. In the coming years, Tess and I, and perhaps Maven here, will be helping integrate Mael into the wider world.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°And that¡¯s where Jacob¡¯s been. He¡¯s been on one of these other planes, learning the culture and doing work over there. And we decided it was time to let you four in on the secret. The old church compound outside of town is our gateway to the other world, and we¡¯d like to take you there tonight, if you have time.¡± ¡°I find this hard to believe.¡± Jacob¡¯s mom said uncertainly. ¡°It seems so¡­outlandish.¡± Tess had to hold back a chuckle. ¡°It¡¯s all true, I assure you. Maven?¡± Maven nodded, taking off her ring and prompting another round of gasps from the assembled people. She stood up, and gave them a curtsey. ¡°Maven Sarlienne, crown princess of the Paumen kingdom of Ores, pleasure to meet you.¡± She said. ¡°As you can see, I am a succubus, and I serve as Tess and Ellie¡¯s companion in their travels. May I have your names?¡± There was a stunned silence, and Marie was the first to recover. ¡°I¡¯m Marie, one of the Hunters.¡± She said, then nodded at Pastor Faust. ¡°I¡¯m Amy Faust, a clergywoman in service to Life and Death.¡± She said. She paused, looking at Jacob¡¯s parents, but they seemed too shocked to speak, so Pastor Faust spoke for them. ¡°These are Robert and Lucia Ernest, and this is their son, Jacob.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve met.¡± Jacob said, giving Maven a hesitant wave. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you again.¡± ¡°Likewise.¡± Maven said, flashing him a smile. At this point, Lucia seemed to come to her senses. ¡°You¡­want to bring us there tonight?¡± She asked. ¡°Right now, even.¡± Ellie said. ¡°If you have time, of course. If not, then tomorrow.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have a right to refuse, do we?¡± Robert asked flatly. ¡°Not entirely.¡± Tess said. ¡°Again, it¡¯s fine to put it off for a day or two if you need, but if it comes down to it, we¡¯re not above essentially kidnapping you and bringing you there. This is much too important to let you just skip out.¡± ¡°The two of us are fully ready to come tonight.¡± Pastor Faust said. ¡°We came here expecting to be away for a while.¡± ¡°How long is this going to take?¡± Robert asked. ¡°I have work in the morning.¡± ¡°No longer than an hour if you wish, but I imagine you¡¯ll want to spend a little time exploring over there.¡± Tess replied. ¡°We¡¯ll show you how to get there whenever you want.¡± Robert heaved a sigh. ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll come with you. Just¡­don¡¯t try anything funny, alright?¡± Marie smiled darkly. ¡°If they tried anything funny, I don¡¯t think any of us would be able to stop them. But¡­I will say I¡¯m very curious. Shall I go grab a truck for us?¡± Chapter 88: Destination Outlands ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want me or Pastor Faust to drive?¡± Marie asked, looking warily at the young girl in front of her. They were standing near the truck she had brought back from the church. Everyone was there, sans Jacob, who had decided to rest in his room, citing tiredness from his day¡¯s work and the fact that the truck only sat six as his reasons for not coming. ¡°I¡¯ll be faster.¡± Ellie said confidently. ¡°And we¡¯re a little strapped for time, so faster is important.¡± ¡°Why¡­you know what, I¡¯m not going to question it.¡± Marie replied, tossing her the keys and making her way to the back. ¡°I¡¯ll sit in the bed so there¡¯s room for you all up front.¡± ¡°It¡¯s better if I sit in the bed.¡± Tess said. ¡°I won¡¯t be bothered by the wind or the temperature, and we¡¯re going to be going much faster than normal, it¡¯s not safe for you.¡± Marie hesitated. ¡°But I ¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got magic, I¡¯ll be significantly better for this.¡± Tess said. ¡°Just trust me, okay?¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Marie relented, heading to the passenger side door. ¡°I¡¯ll sit up front with Ellie and Maven, the rest of you can be in the backseats.¡± ¡°Works for me.¡± Ellie said, twirling the keys around a finger. ¡°Maven, you¡¯ll be in the middle. I¡¯ll help you buckle up if you need.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Maven replied, blushing slightly. As everyone got into the truck, Marie took the time to reassess the situation. She¡­wasn¡¯t exactly sure what to make of everything, if she was being honest; Tess was as much of an enigma as ever, and the story she and her friends were telling was almost unbelievable. Almost. She had no doubts that Pastor Faust, Robert, and Lucia were even more skeptical than she was, but even discounting the fact that she had received a divine mandate to listen to Tess and Ellie, too many things just¡­added up for Marie to dismiss the idea. First and foremost, it answered a question that had always been bothering her; why some myths and legends would become real monsters, and some wouldn¡¯t. All monsters that Hunters faced were, in some way, reflections of the collective unconscious; there was always an urban legend, old story, or mythological basis that could be directly tied to a manifestation, but the reverse was not true. It was well-known among the Hunters that, as a myth became more famous, their associated manifestations would increase, but there was a large category of creatures that simply never appeared. Angels, demons, centaurs, minotaurs, elves, dwarves¡­the list went on and on. Scholars among the Hunters were always trying to find the reason why in hopes that it would reveal some fundamental truth that would help them understand manifestations, but no one had ever been able to prove anything. Some of the more radical scholars had even conducted experiments in which they purposefully manufactured relatively harmless legends, and often they had been able to influence future manifestations to become those legends, but for many well-known legends they just¡­couldn¡¯t replicate it. And, after Maven had revealed herself to be a demon, the gears had started to turn in Marie¡¯s head; those species were people, not monsters. You could tell the difference if you took long enough to interact with them, and Marie had become pretty good at picking up the signs. Monsters, even those that imitated humans, were¡­robotic, in a sense. If you talked with them enough, and asked just the right questions, you could expose certain quirks that would immediately out the creature as inhuman. Marie hadn¡¯t spent enough time with Maven to really probe for that, but Tess and Ellie had introduced her as a person, and Marie would be much more surprised if it turned out that Maven was a monster, if only because she was an actual demon. Ellie started up the truck, and Marie felt a pang of guilt as she looked back at Tess in the bed of the truck. Not only because she was out back in what was apparently going to be a very bumpy ride, but because Marie¡­probably could have realized Tess was a person if she actually spent some time to talk instead of going in guns blazing. It had just seemed like such an open and shut case; there was video evidence of her doing distinctly monstrous things and hundreds of eyewitness accounts of the event. Marie would have bet her life savings on Tess being a monster before everything went down, and yet¡­here she was. She had also, apparently, been a man not even six months ago? That felt strange, as Tess carried herself much more comfortably and confidently than Marie imagined she herself would, had she been in Tess¡¯s situation. She was broken out of her thoughts by Pastor Faust laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. ¡°Marie, are you alright?¡± She asked. ¡°You¡¯re not responding.¡± ¡°What? Sorry, I got lost in thought. Certain things are beginning to make a lot more sense.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure exactly what you¡¯re referring to, but I¡¯m not surprised they are.¡± Ellie said. ¡°You¡¯ve been missing a rather significant piece of the puzzle so far. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to unpack that later, though; I have some instructions and information to give you before we make it there.¡± ¡°Those thoughts can wait, so¡­please carry on.¡± Marie said. ¡°Right. So, first instruction, don¡¯t tell anyone you¡¯re from Mael.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Not unless they seem trustworthy and figure it out on their own. We¡¯re trying to keep things somewhat on the down-low, and going around telling everyone you¡¯re from Mael is going to draw a lot of attention. It¡¯s going to get out eventually, but the longer it takes to do so, the easier your lives are going to be.¡± ¡°How so?¡± Robert asked warily. ¡°It¡¯s not like they can come over here¡­right?¡± ¡°Maven is right there.¡± Pastor Faust pointed out. ¡°And she has already said she¡¯s not from Mael.¡± ¡°But she¡¯s a special case.¡± Robert argued. ¡°Not everyone will be able to.¡± ¡°Give it anywhere from ten to forty years.¡± Ellie said lazily, slamming her foot on the gas as they left the city proper. ¡°We¡¯re going to be establishing permanent public access portals between here and the Outlands, just like every other plane. But that¡¯s not why I¡¯m saying it¡¯ll make your life easier. I¡¯m imagining you¡¯ll want to spend much of your free time there, and being known as people who are unaware of how the world works is going to make you a target for people with less-than-pure intentions.¡± ¡°Why would we want to spend time there?¡± Lucia asked. ¡°Our plates are full without going to an entirely different dimension every night.¡± ¡°Does eternal youth sound alluring to you at all?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Because if you work hard enough and get your level up to fifty, you stop aging.¡± ¡°What?¡± Marie asked, blinking. ¡°That¡¯s¡­unbelievable. Death comes for everyone in the end.¡± ¡°It is true.¡± Maven said. ¡°Many of my distant ancestors are still alive. Large concentrations of Mana tend to slow or even reverse aging.¡± ¡°What was this about levels?¡± Pastor Faust asked. ¡°Like¡­in the games the kids like to play?¡± ¡°Pretty much.¡± Ellie said. ¡°You kill monsters, get EXP, and then level up and get more powerful.¡± Marie frowned. ¡°I never felt anything like that, and I¡¯ve killed plenty of monsters.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°The system¡¯s functions are halted on Mael.¡± Ellie explained. ¡°And levels and stats aren¡¯t at full strength here, nor is the whole eternal youth schtick. Once we perform the merger, everyone here is going to get access to the system, the Mana density is going to get higher, and Mael is going to begin to look much more similar to the other planes. And, speaking of, we need to talk about culture and religion. ¡°As you no doubt have realized, there are many species other than humans on the other planes. There aren¡¯t many more humans than there are any other species, meaning that the majority of people you see won¡¯t be human. They may be different, but they¡¯re in no way less of a person than you or I. This should go without saying, but you¡¯re expected to treat them with the basic respect and dignity you would give any human.¡± They hit a particularly large bump in the road, and Marie almost unconsciously turned back to check on Tess. She not only looked unaffected by the jostling, but she looked bored, an arm on the edge of the truck¡¯s bed as she stared out at the landscape blurring by them. ¡°Their cultures are likewise different than what you¡¯re used to, but you shouldn¡¯t need to worry too much about making a faux pas.¡± Ellie continued. ¡°The Outlands is the largest melting pot in existence, so most people ignore any minor slights, considering them to be unintentional, unless the intent is obviously there. Do not, however, ask someone about their abilities unless it is directly related to work you will be doing with them in the future; that is considered universally rude, and will not make you any friends. Likewise, you are not expected to answer any such questions about your own abilities.¡± She paused, casting a quick glance towards Pastor Faust and Marie. ¡°And, finally, religion. Life and Death aside, there¡¯s thirty or forty other gods. Life and Death are the patron gods of Mael, and aren¡¯t particularly well-worshipped in the other planes, nor is there an organized religion. There are, however, many different religions for the various other gods, and those are just as valid as ours. ¡°Life and Death work in tandem with the other gods, and it¡¯s important to know that their relationship is not in any way adversarial. They are not going to be upset if any of you decide to convert to another religion, just as the other gods would not be upset if people converted to Life and Death.¡± Lucia gave a look to Pastor Faust that wasn¡¯t nearly as subtle as she was intending it to be, and Pastor Faust gave her a look in return. ¡°If she says so, it is almost certainly true.¡± Pastor Faust said carefully. ¡°Unless Life or Death directly give instructions to the contrary, we should consider her words on topics of religion to be correct. The same applies for Tess.¡± ¡°Maven as well.¡± Ellie said. ¡°You likely won¡¯t see her as often, but she¡¯s working closely with us on this matter.¡± ¡°If you end up with questions about the wider world, please do not hesitate to ask me.¡± Maven added, giving them a smile. ¡°That¡¯s about everything, I think.¡± Ellie said, slowing down as she took a turn before speeding back up again. Maven leaned over and whispered something to Ellie, who nodded. ¡°Yeah, good call.¡± Ellie said. ¡°One more thing, actually. If you spend any time digging into religion, and probably even if you don¡¯t, you¡¯re going to run into talk of a group of people called Appointed. Some gods have a person they name their Appointed, who serves as their direct mouthpiece and tool in the world. ¡°It¡¯s sort of like¡­well, the Archpriest, or whatever they call the head of their church, they deal with administrative manners, and the day to day running of the faith. The Appointed deals with auditing the faith, serving as an assurance that mortal biases are not polluting the doctrine. They may make public announcements from time to time, but usually they go through the head of the religion. ¡°For the most part, though, they focus on boots on the ground work, punishing people who egregiously disregard the teachings of their god. For example, Hearth¡¯s Appointed makes a point of personally dealing with child trafficking rings. That¡¯s not something I think any of you are going to fall afoul of, but if you¡¯re worried, as long as you¡¯re not breaking any laws, you should generally be in the clear.¡± ¡°So¡­they¡¯re kind of like the Hunters, but closer to their god?¡± Marie asked. ¡°A separate arm of the religion that does work behind the scenes?¡± ¡°Sort of, except there¡¯s only one Appointed per god.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Calling them an arm of the religion is¡­perhaps not a little much, as they can definitely do the work of an entire arm if need be, but they¡¯re more an extension of their god than anything.¡± ¡°Do Life and Death have Appointed?¡± Pastor Faust asked. ¡°And¡­if so, does the Archpriest know?¡± ¡°Life and Death are unique in that they share an Appointed. I¡¯ve talked with her once or twice, as she¡¯s sort of in charge of this whole¡­integration operation, and yeah, the Archpriest knows about her. Don¡¯t ask me who, Appointed make a point of keeping their identities secret, so I have no clue. I assume she¡¯s one of the other ambassadors in other parts of Mael, but¡­that¡¯s just speculation.¡± Yeah, Marie didn¡¯t buy that for a second. Ellie clearly knew exactly who this Appointed was, and Marie was almost certain it was Tess. She had certainly seemed like an incarnation of Death in the moment Marie had fought against her, and she had never felt her Goddess¡¯s presence stronger than she had on Tess. A silence Marie didn¡¯t realize had fallen upon the group was broken by Pastor Faust. ¡°Would¡­I be correct in assuming your grandfather knows about all of this?¡± She asked. To Marie¡¯s surprise, Maven was the one who answered. ¡°Yes. Her grandfather is the one who was publicly leading relations with Mael before Life and Death named their Appointed. He leads the freelancer¡¯s guild, is perhaps the single strongest person alive, and widely considered to be the most influential person alive as well. He is currently away, leading the guild on an expedition deep into the Outlands, so he sent us back to deal with this matter.¡± ¡°We¡¯re supposed to be on that expedition as well, so keep the fact that you met with us quiet.¡± Ellie added. ¡°In fact, probably better to not mention that you know us unless whoever you¡¯re talking about knows you¡¯re from Mael. It¡¯ll probably be a dead giveaway. But it¡¯s not like it¡¯s going to come up in casual conversation, so it shouldn¡¯t be an issue. Um¡­that¡¯s all we had, though, any questions?¡± ¡°How did Te¡­Thomas end up transformed?¡± Pastor Faust asked. ¡°And why does referring to her ¨C I mean him as Tess feel so natural?¡± ¡°She¡¯s fully embraced her identity as Tess, so please don¡¯t feel forced to refer to her by her old name. As for how she ended up that way¡­it¡¯s complicated.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Long of the short of it is that she picked up a Class from a dungeon that transformed her, and accepted it before knowing what the consequences were. And the memory filter and associated lingering side effects were made with a little help from the gods. Such a noticeable change would blow our cover, and they wanted her to still be able to operate here on Mael. Such grandiose magic is out of the realm of¡­just about anyone, really.¡± ¡°Your grand ¨C I mean, Gramps or Alberich likely could.¡± Maven said. ¡°But those two aside, no other single person would be able to do something on this scale.¡± ¡°Evan is that capable?¡± Pastor Faust asked, taken aback. ¡°As I said, he is likely the strongest person alive.¡± Maven replied. ¡°He and his party are perhaps the largest reason the Outlands remain as a self-governed territory. No one is eager to try and take it again after what happened the last time.¡± Marie thought back to the brief moment she had seen the man. He had looked like a harmless older man, but¡­now that she was thinking about it, neither him nor the people around him had felt frightened by her presence. Aside from the dark-skinned woman, it had looked like they were¡­holding back, waiting to see how things progressed before stepping in. The woman¡­Alice, they had called her, had looked like she was about to storm in and was only being held back by the others. ¡°Are those the people that came with him to the funeral and your graduation?¡± Pastor Faust asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Ellie said. ¡°And the other three who came with them to the graduation are our tutors, a high ranking party in the guild.¡± ¡°How strong are people, compared to Tess?¡± Marie asked. ¡°I know it¡¯s sudden, but you have me wondering.¡± Maven chuckled. ¡°That is a deceptively complicated question.¡± She said. ¡°Tess is, in a sense, outside of the normal hierarchy of strength. But¡­you could consider her to be somewhere in the lower middle echelon in terms of strength, at least amongst people who are actively training, not civilians. ¡°If you¡¯re indirectly wondering how you compare, my understanding is that your technique is significantly better than the majority of freelancers, but your stats are no better than a raw recruit. Given some time to level yourself up and accrue Classes and Skills, I have no doubt that you could break into the upper echelons of power fairly easily.¡± ¡°I¡­see.¡± Marie said. There was a long silence, during which Marie made a point of examining Pastor Faust, Robert, and Lucia more closely, trying to gauge their reactions. Robert and Lucia seemed to be in a state of shock, one that Marie had seen all too often. It was a sort of disbelief that came when people were faced with events that greatly shook their worldview. They were in for a rough night, but they would likely be back to normal in a while. Pastor Faust, on the other hand, was far less surprised than Marie had expected her to be. It didn¡¯t look like she had expected this, but it was clear that she had expected something; there was¡­almost more curiosity than surprise in her. Almost. ¡°Is there something on my face, Marie?¡± Pastor Faust asked. ¡°You¡¯re staring.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Marie mumbled. ¡°I was trying to see how you three were taking things. But¡­you don¡¯t seem nearly as surprised as I thought you would be, so I was thinking about it.¡± Pastor Faust shrugged. ¡°Ever since Evan began frequenting the church, I figured something big was going on, and after everything with Tess, I became even more certain. It was just a matter of what world shaking revelation would come.¡± The vehicle began to slow down outside of an old, obviously abandoned warehouse. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Ellie said. ¡°This is where our secret gateway between the worlds is set up. Hop out and we¡¯ll show you the way, alright?¡± Holiday Special 2022 Part 1 Tess took a step forward and suddenly found herself in a large ballroom, dressed in a formal suit. ¡°Looks like it¡¯s this time again.¡± Amy sighed. ¡°I wish there was some preparation I could make for this, but I suppose there¡¯s nothing I can do about it. Now¡­who¡¯s with me tonight?¡± As she spoke, Tess took her own stock of the situation. Herself and Ellie were there, of course, and Amara made a return as well, along with a couple of the gods that Tess wasn¡¯t super familiar with. Slightly more surprising, however, was Maven. ¡°What¡­happened? Where are we?¡± Maven asked faintly. ¡°Oh. You¡¯re new, right.¡± Amy said. ¡°Amara, Tess, Ellie, get Maven up to speed while I go figure out where everyone¡¯s supposed to be.¡± Amara placed a comforting hand on Maven¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re perfectly safe, don¡¯t worry.¡± She said. ¡°This is¡­a sort of inter-universal party. No one is quite sure what it is, how it happens, or¡­really anything about it, but the important bits are that it is completely impossible to hurt people here, that this place exists outside the normal laws of reality, and that we¡¯re going to forget all about this once it¡¯s over.¡± ¡°But you and Amy remember.¡± Maven argued. ¡°And what do you mean by outside the normal laws of reality?¡± ¡°You remember once you come back here.¡± Tess supplied. ¡°Ellie and I were here at what we¡­assume is the last one? It¡¯s kind of impossible to tell, but it was a fairly enjoyable night.¡± Amara nodded gratefully. ¡°As for being outside the normal laws of reality¡­well, time and space don¡¯t really work right here. Everyone from other planes is likely from a vastly different time period than us, and this place is effectively infinite, despite looking completely finite. If you go wandering, looking for an activity you want to do, you¡¯ll find it with no issues. ¡°Even more, this party has some sort of¡­will of its own. Everyone has a place they¡¯re supposed to be, and if you get too off-track, you get gently guided back. One of the other Administrators, Jerry, is notorious for trying to figure out how this place works only to be somehow shut down. Still, he makes advancements from time to time, which is how we know much of what we know.¡± ¡°Though, admittedly, I¡¯m reasonably confident that these strides are only being made because this place wants me to make them. ¡°A tall man that Tess vaguely recognized said, butting into the conversation. ¡°I don¡¯t think I introduced myself last time,¡± he said, nodding at Tess and Ellie, ¡°the name¡¯s Jeryl, but I prefer Jerry. I¡¯m Rose and Lia¡¯s Administrator.¡± Following behind him were Rose and Lia, looking much the same as they had at the last party Tess had been to. ¡°Good to see you again.¡± Rose said. ¡°It¡¯s only been a few days for us, how long has it been for you?¡± Ellie shrugged. ¡°A few months, I think?¡± ¡°A couple of years for me.¡± Lilith said, walking up to them. ¡°Pleasure meeting you all again.¡± ¡°Maven!¡± Kali said delightedly, rushing over to them. ¡°I believe this is your first time meeting me!¡± Maven frowned. ¡°You look¡­familiar. Have I seen you before?¡± Kali smiled. ¡°Probably in your family¡¯s portrait gallery. I think they still have one of me floating around there somewhere.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Amara said. ¡°Though no one but us older folks really remember who you are.¡± ¡°It¡¯d be more troublesome if they did, really.¡± Kali said, then turned back to Maven. ¡°I¡¯m Kali, and I was second in line to Paumen¡¯s throne ten or so generations before Amara.¡± She explained. ¡°I never had kids or anything, I ended up becoming a sort of intern Administrator for Amy, then graduated to being a full-time Administrator of my own universe. I¡¯m actually the one Amy is running Mael to help out with.¡± Maven blinked. ¡°I¡­think I remember Grandmother mentioning you. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡± Kali laughed. ¡°I forgot how stiff you were back in the day.¡± She said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll meet for real soon, at least for you. I¡¯m from fifty or sixty years in your future, so I¡¯ve already met you, and I¡¯d say we¡¯ve grown relatively close. As close as we can be when I live in an entirely different universe, anyway.¡± ¡°Speaking of,¡± Lilith said, ¡°I actually met the future you since we last had this party. You¡¯re a little different than you are now, but also the same in many ways. It¡¯s mostly being more experienced and confident, but there are a¡­couple major differences.¡± ¡°Like?¡± Ellie prompted. ¡°Well, all three of you are married, for one.¡± Lilith said. ¡°To each other.¡± She continued, eyes twinkling. ¡°What?!¡± Maven blurted out. ¡°But¡­I¡­I am not even attracted to women!¡± Lilith laughed. ¡°I¡¯m just pulling your chain.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m not going to say more than that, though, seriously talking about the future is frowned upon at these events. It puts a damper on the party, apparently. But I¡¯m getting ahead of myself. I¡¯m Lilith, Kali¡¯s wife and her only Higher Being. I¡¯m planning on hanging out with you guys again for the rest of the night, if that¡¯s good with you.¡± ¡°I was assuming we would.¡± Ellie said. ¡°And Rose and Lia, as well.¡± ¡°Um, yeah.¡± Lia said awkwardly. ¡°Not sure what else I would be doing, really. And, um, I¡¯m Lia, no one really special in comparison to all of you.¡± Rose patted Lia gently on the back. ¡°The very fact that we¡¯re here with them means that, at the very least, this party considers us to be as important as they are.¡± ¡°And to be honest, that¡¯s probably a better indication of your true status than anything else.¡± Jerry said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. ¡°This party is¡­as close to omniscient and omnipotent as anything I¡¯ve ever seen, and if it wants you to hang out with these people, it probably means you would either fit in well with them or are involved with each other in some way unknown to us in reality. You¡¯d be surpri ¨C ack!¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Jerry was cut off as a trolley nimbly rolled through the crowd, swerving around people without spilling anything or hitting anyone, all to strike Jerry in the side of the knee. ¡°Fine, fine, I get it.¡± He grumbled. ¡°I¡¯ll go enjoy myself somewhere else. You¡¯re always like this, can¡¯t you¡­¡± His voice was quickly lost in the background chatter as he began walking away from the group. ¡°And he¡¯s always like that.¡± Kali chuckled. ¡°But I need to get going as well, you guys have fun tonight!¡± She too, left, leaving the six of them alone ¡°Well, I¡¯ll go reserve us a table, like last time.¡± Lilith said. ¡°I¡¯m assuming everyone¡¯s fine with getting food, right?¡± ¡°Seeing as how the three of us were conveniently plucked away from our lives just before dinner, I would assume so.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯re the same.¡± Rose confirmed. ¡°You can generally assume everyone at one of these parties will be hungry at the beginning. And, if you¡¯re wondering, I don¡¯t think you need to worry about watching what you eat here, since every time I returned, I was just as hungry as when I left.¡± Lilith gave a nod, then sort of¡­stepped out of her own skin, leaving an identical duplicate of herself in her wake. Even Maven and Rose seemed a little unnerved at the sight, but Lilith just smirked and headed off towards the dining tables. ¡°What¡­is she?¡± Maven asked carefully. Rose chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s complicated.¡± She said, leading the group over to the serving tables. ¡°But I believe the answer is she is literally every species in her universe at once, something called a ¡®Perfect Chimera¡¯. They apparently take nearly as much Worship as Higher Beings to create, and due to their unprecedented adaptability, they¡¯re one of the few types of people who can safely use eldritch abilities.¡± ¡°She, um, is also a Lord of Monsters.¡± Lia added. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that.¡± ¡°A what?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Do you not have those?¡± Lia asked, taken aback. ¡°I don¡¯t believe Amy¡¯s planes ever needed one.¡± Rose replied. ¡°Maven, you can consider the Lord of Monsters to be¡­a sort of god who acts in opposition to people to give them a reason to grow, a common enemy to fight. They unify all monsters and launch a direct war against the sapient races, only to be barely defeated by the end.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t she pulling like¡­double or triple duty, too?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I thought she mentioned about being the Higher Being in charge of a lot of stuff.¡± ¡°I think all Higher Beings in Kali¡¯s planes are just Lilith or one of her alternate personalities.¡± ¡°Alternate¡­personalities?¡± Maven questioned. ¡°Is she¡­okay?¡± ¡°I think it was another eldritch thing.¡± Rose said. ¡°I haven¡¯t actually met any, but it seems like they¡¯re closer to full-fledged people of their own than they are alternate personalities. Even if they aren¡¯t, she seems remarkably stable, and none of the Administrators seem to think anything¡¯s wrong, so she¡¯s probably fine.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not gonna try and hurt anyone, if you¡¯re worried about that.¡± Lia said, piling some shrimp onto a plate. ¡°For a Lord of Monsters, she¡¯s very friendly.¡± ¡°Technically, I¡¯m not the one in charge of that.¡± Lilith said, walking up to them. ¡°That¡¯s Eve. She¡¯s a bit more feisty, but she¡¯s a nice enough girl once you learn to read between the lines and listen to what she means, not what she¡¯s saying.¡± ¡°Another of your personalities, yes?¡± Maven asked. ¡°How do you manage those?¡± Lilith shrugged. ¡°They¡¯ve all got their own bodies, they¡¯re basically separate people, even if we generally share all our senses all the time. Aside from that, the only thing that really separates me from them is that if I die, they all die too. They all still treat me like the ¡®main personality¡¯, but after so long of them being their own thing, that feels silly. Still, they insist, so I¡¯m not gonna push them too hard on it.¡± ¡°That is a fascinating way of life.¡± Maven said. ¡°It makes mine look dull by comparison.¡± ¡°You can say it¡¯s weird.¡± Lilith smirked. ¡°I fully embrace that fact, being out of the norm is kind of my schtick. I am well aware that I am maybe the only person in existence who lives like this.¡± Maven blushed, turning away. ¡°Even so, you are my aunt, and I should show you at least a little respect.¡± ¡°Oh yeah!¡± Ellie interjected. ¡°You said Kali¡¯s your wife! When did you two tie the knot?¡± ¡°A year or so ago.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°Maven and Amara were there, actually. Or¡­will be there, for you guys? Time is weird.¡± They continued making small talk as they dished up, and then Lilith led them back to a table where her double was sitting. Lilith set her tray down in front of the double, and then sat down on top of her double, melting into it until there was only one Lilith left. ¡°So, any exciting developments since we last spoke? We¡¯ve talked about me getting married, of course, anything comparable for you all?¡± ¡°I¡­met Jerry for real for the first time.¡± Lia said. ¡°It¡¯s given me a lot to think about.¡± ¡°I bet.¡± Lilith replied, spearing a piece of ham, but not eating it yet. ¡°I was a lot less surprised than I should have been when I learned about everything, but that¡¯s reincarnation for you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re reincarnated?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Kind of.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°I have no memories of my past life, but it comes back to me in the form of emotions. Plus, I look the same as I used to, minus all the¡­chimeric traits.¡± ¡°May I assume you were someone important, then? May I ask who?¡± ¡°Kali¡¯s lover, a succubus who also went by Lilith.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°Honestly, there¡¯s a chance you can still meet her, she¡¯s still¡­not alive, but exists as a soul in your time. And don¡¯t feel bad that she¡¯s¡­gone, either; I apparently have her old personality, and she went into this fully expecting this outcome. I¡¯m sure that, given the choice, she¡¯d do it again in a heartbeat. I would if I were in her situation, so I think it¡¯s safe to assume she would as well.¡± Lia groaned. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad I¡¯m not you.¡± She said. ¡°Your life seems way too complicated for me. At least my goal is straightforward. Take over the world by any means necessary. No politicking, no memories of past lives, just¡­doing things.¡± ¡°I hate to burst your bubble, but memories of past lives play a pivotal role in our operation.¡± Rose pointed out. ¡°What?¡± Lia asked, taken aback. ¡°Oh, right. Sorry, I meant my memories, or memories that would conflict with being raised from birth instead of just poofed back into existence. You know, that sort of thing.¡± ¡°Well, I, for one, am happy to be neither of you.¡± Ellie said. ¡°You two seem to be in charge, and from what I¡¯ve gathered from Maven, it¡¯s not particularly pleasant at the top.¡± ¡°I¡¯m only at the top in spirit.¡± Lilith said. ¡°I don¡¯t have any administrative oversight or anything, I just get to do what I want and occasionally step in and bonk people who are being naughty.¡± ¡°I presume that, by ¡®bonk¡¯, you mean using force to punish egregious lawbreakers?¡± Maven asked. ¡°In that respect, your work is not quite so different from our own. In fact¡­I cannot help but wonder, if we were to fight, which of us would come out on top. Your universe is rather low-powered, and ours is one of the highest-powered, yes?¡± ¡°Yup. That being said, there¡¯s no chance you guys can put up a fight against me.¡± Lilith said lazily. ¡°From what I¡¯ve seen, you just don¡¯t have enough power or versatility to match what I can output. Not yet, anyway; your future selves are a significantly different story.¡± Tess couldn¡¯t help but be a little annoyed at that. ¡°I¡¯m used to always having lower stats.¡± She said. ¡°And I¡¯m specifically built to get over that hurdle. I¡¯m sure I could give you some challenge.¡± Lilith raised a brow. ¡°Bold words. Perhaps, after dinner, we should put those to the test? I¡¯m sure there¡¯s some sort of safe arena we can use here.¡± ¡°There is.¡± Rose confirmed. ¡°And I must admit, I find myself intrigued by this fight; I would love to see what you¡¯re truly capable of.¡± ¡°That settles it, then.¡± Tess said. ¡°You and me, after this, we¡¯ll go have a duel. No stakes, just a friendly spar.¡± Lilith grinned. ¡°I could use a little exercise. And who knows? Maybe you¡¯ll surprise me.¡± Tess gulped down a bite of food. Lilith¡¯s unshakable confidence scared and annoyed her in equal measure; it annoyed her that she though so little of Tess, and, by extension, the rest of her party, but it scared her because Lilith didn¡¯t seem like the kind of person to exaggerate her ability. Still, there was only one way to find out if Lilith could walk the walk, and it wasn¡¯t like anything permanently damaging could happen here, so¡­what was the worst that could happen? Holiday Special 2022 Part 2 Lilith stood impassively in front of Tess, her very presence striking fear into the center of Tess¡¯s heart. Tess was¡­no longer quite so sure that this duel had been a good idea. No lasting harm was going to come her way, yes, but she was going to make a fool of herself, she could feel it. But¡­she was here, so there was nothing to do but make the best of it. She unsheathed her claws, her formal party suit melting away into the familiar sensation of her armor. Lilith¡¯s partywear likewise faded, resolving into a simple shirt and shorts, a pair of pistols materializing on her waist. ¡°Um¡­begin?¡± Lia ventured, voice crackling to life over the speakers. ¡°They can hear me, right?¡± ¡°We can hear you, Lia.¡± Lilith said calmly, making no move to draw her pistols. ¡°Tess, would you rather I made the first move, or you? I¡¯m fine with either.¡± Tess grit her teeth. Lilith was definitely looking down on her, but that would only make Tess¡¯s job a bit easier. She began stacking all of her Skills onto her claws, then rushed for Lilith. As she ran, she let loose Command of the Emperor, and watched in gratification Lilith flinched, and then¡­did nothing. Far from turning to run like Ilmir had, Lilith¡¯s expression hardly even changed. Tess used Flashstep to blink right in front of Lilith, claw mere inches from Lilith¡¯s heart ¨C She stopped. Not because she wanted to, but because she was being held in place by some sort of tentacle that had grown out of Lilith¡¯s stomach. ¡°Not bad.¡± Lilith said. ¡°You¡¯re a lot faster than I had thought you were going to be. I suppose that just goes to show the difference in our worlds¡¯ strengths.¡± Tess Flashstepped out of the tentacle, only to be caught again the instant she rematerialized. ¡°FYI, I can sense where you¡¯re going to appear.¡± Lilith said casually. ¡°I ¨C¡± She was cut off as Tess slashed down into the tentacle that was holding her. They waited for a second before You Are Already Dead kicked in, and the hit properly registered, neatly severing the tentacle.
You have inflicted ??? damage on Lilith Clements! (Effects Hidden)
She expanded the list and blinked in shock at what she saw topping the list.
You have failed to inflict Heavy Bleeding on Lilith Clements!
In fact, it appeared that most of her statuses had failed to proc. She had been standing next to Lilith for quite some time, and both Contamination Factory and Phoenix Fire seemed to be completely ineffectual against her. ¡°Ow.¡± Lilith said, sounding more impressed than hurt. ¡°Looks like I was underestimating you a little.¡± She drew her guns, lazily twirling one of the pistols as she did. ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t going to be able to give me a real fight until you were older and more trained.¡± Silky, Isabella, distract her! Tess ordered. I¡¯m going to need to land more of those if we want to win! Yes, Mistress! Silky said, leaping off of Tess¡¯s shoulder and ¨C There was a crack as Lilith fired her pistol, neatly intercepting Silky with a bullet that sent the spider flying. Tess felt a disturbance from within her, and knew instinctually that Silky had just been killed. Or¡­not killed, just removed from the fight; Silky¡¯s corpse had disappeared, and Tess could feel her reappear in the spectator¡¯s booth. ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t think she could ¨C eh?¡± Silky¡¯s voice came in over the speakers. ¡°Wait, how¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Silky!¡± Tess called. ¡°You did your best!¡± Isabella, new plan, focus on defense. We lose if one of those hits me. We¡¯ll have to ¨C A shot grazed the air next to Tess. ¡°Fight¡¯s still going!¡± Lilith reminded her cheerfully. ¡°I gave you that bit to recover since that whole speaker thing was a bit of a surprise, but I can¡¯t give you all day!¡± Isabella threw up a defensive wall while Tess turned and ran. Mountain out of a Molehill, now. Tess commanded. It¡¯ll only buy us a little bit, but I need to think, we can¡¯t approach this blindly. Isabella obliged, an absolutely titanic wall of earth encasing Tess, looking for all the world like there had been a hill there the entire time. Never fear, Fortune is here! Fortune¡¯s voice rang out in Tess¡¯s mind. What? Tess said blankly. But you weren¡¯t ¨C I just got summoned here and I have a vague idea of what¡¯s going on. I¡¯m going to Descend, alright? Please do! A sensation of omnipotence fell over Tess as Fortune fully slipped into her body. So, I¡¯m assuming our opponent has Worship, right? Yes. She¡¯s a Higher Being, with some sort of extra thing kind of like Monster Breeder tagged on? To be honest, I¡¯m a little fuzzy on the details. Is she from ¨C The wall broke as a worm-like creature tunneled through it, writhing and shifting before eventually resolving back into Lilith. Tess? Yeah? We¡¯re going to lose. What?! I can¡¯t beat her. She¡¯s highly resistant to status effects, and my probability manipulation is going to work at greatly reduced effectiveness. I¡¯m not built for combat, and she¡¯s built especially for combat. ¡°Oh, is this the god you¡¯re working for?¡± Lilith asked curiously. ¡°Pleased to meet you, my name¡¯s Lilith.¡± ¡°Likewise.¡± Fortune said. ¡°I¡¯m Fortune. I don¡¯t suppose there¡¯s any chance of you going easy on us?¡± Lilith flashed a grin. ¡°I¡¯m only using as much strength as I feel is necessary to win, if that counts.¡± ¡°Good enough, I suppose. Let¡¯s go, then.¡± Fortune said. As if on cue, a spiderweb of cracks spread out from the tunnel Lilith had made, and the dome of earth collapsed in on itself, a trick of the sliding soil leaving a perfect space around Tess, which they were able to use to clamber up and away from Lilith. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re kind of like Isa.¡± Lilith said calmly, emerging from the landslide completely unharmed. ¡°Annoying, that. Suppose we¡¯re going to be doing hand to hand combat, then.¡± She tucked away her guns and rushed forward, nimbly weaving around loose patches of dirt that hadn¡¯t been there moments before as she sped towards Tess. For their part, Tess and Fortune were doing their best to make Lilith¡¯s life difficult. They stacked up Skills on their claws once again, and in the meantime cast small spells in an effort to make as much chaos as possible, even if it seemed ineffectual. Storm clouds had blown in from somewhere, and the wind and rain was already beginning to pick up. As Lilith neared Tess, the storm finally built to the point where a bolt of lightning was able to discharge, but Lilith barely even hesitated, her skin taking on a distinctive rubbery sheen as the lightning struck her and harmlessly dissipated. Or, no, there was some damage, but it very obviously wasn¡¯t as much as the lightning would have otherwise done. The rubber melted away from her skin, replacing itself with a smooth black carapace. Lilith¡¯s hand morphed into a large cudgel-like shape, which she brought down on Tess in one swift motion. Tess and Fortune raised one clawed hand to block, an action that was met with a resounding crack. And, for the first time since she had obtained them, Tess¡¯s claws chipped¡­and then cracked¡­and then shattered completely, the shrapnel unanimously choosing to fly towards Lilith instead of anywhere else. Tess used the opportunity to swing her remaining claws down at Lilith, who calmly raised a carapace-covered arm to block. There was a horrible screeching sound, like nails on a chalkboard, and a dizzying array of impossibly-shaped symbols stopped Tess¡¯s blow cold. And then You Are Already Dead kicked in, and Tess erupted into flame. She staggered backwards in bewilderment as her Phoenix Fire absorbed the flame, prodding a deep gash in her arm where it appeared her own claws had made a wound. There was even a wriggling parasite inside, which Tess unceremoniously ripped out, wincing at the sensation. Pain may have been severely dulled in this place, but it didn¡¯t make the parasite any less¡­gross. Just as Tess was beginning to give up hope, Ellie appeared in front of her, a simple sword replacing the Blades of Death she normally wielded. She threw her hand back towards Tess, and a soothing sensation washed over her as Life¡¯s power restored Tess to full health. ¡°Oh?¡± Lilith said, arching a brow. ¡°More of you?¡± ¡°We wanted to see a fairer fight.¡± Ellie said, Life¡¯s voice overlayed with her own. ¡°And the four of us are apparently the ticket. Maven, Dungeons, don¡¯t forget that Lilith is a dungeon herself!¡± ¡°Yeah, we weren¡¯t forgetting anytime soon.¡± Maven and Dungeons responded, face screwed up in concentration. ¡°One problem with that, we can¡¯t do anything to her!¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re doing things to me alright.¡± Lilith said, voice audibly strained. ¡°This is supremely uncomfortable.¡± She blinked out of existence before reappearing some distance away from the trio of avatars. ¡°Alright then¡­¡± she muttered, pulling out her guns. ¡°I doubt this will work, but it¡¯s worth a shot.¡± She aimed one pistol at Tess and the other at Maven, then fired, the sound far louder than Tess thought such small guns should be making. Ellie was already in the process of dashing forward, shield raised and a Skill activated, drawing the bullets towards her. The bullets, however, didn¡¯t seem to care much about the Skill, only deviating slightly from their course of action. Still, between that and the chaos that Fortune¡¯s Descent was causing, it was enough to let both Tess and Maven remain unscathed. Lilith fired a third shot towards Ellie, then slammed her guns together, forming a new long-barreled gun that was clearly much larger than even both of her old pistols combined. Ellie yelped as the bullet punched through her magically-reinforced shield like it was made of paper, hitting her squarely in the arm. She and Life cast some sort of healing spell, but instead of expelling one normally-shaped bullet, a spiderwebbing mess of some unidentified black material erupted from Ellie¡¯s arm, badly mangling it before it sealed itself back up. What can we even do here? Tess asked Fortune. I think we¡¯re the wincon. Fortune replied. ¡°Ellie, Life, heal us in five seconds!¡± She shouted, bringing a clawed hand up to her throat. With only a moment¡¯s hesitation, they sliced their own throat open, nearly killing themselves from the damage and inflicting a massive bleed on themselves. Before it had time to tick, they activated Blood Magic, converting the bleed into a huge, temporary source of Mana. A moment later, Ellie and Life¡¯s healing impacted them, bringing them back up to full health as they began to chant the most destructive spell in their arsenal. There was a blinding flash and an earsplitting boom as Lilith¡¯s gun went off, the projectile impacting Ellie¡¯s shield, and, instead of punching a hole through it, crumpled the shield into a mangled mess which impacted Ellie, sending her flying what had to be almost ten yards backwards. But Ellie healed herself up once again, shakily casting off the ruined remains of her shield as she did. ¡°You¡¯re still alive?¡± Lilith said. ¡°Impress ¨C¡± She cut off, skin writhing and shifting, as if a huge mass of worms had taken residence within her and wanted out. Tess and Fortune continued their chant as she struggled, and then, suddenly, whatever was happening to Lilith abruptly stopped. ¡°It looks like the kid gloves are off.¡± Lilith said, grinning. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Two figures blinked into existence next to her, like they had always been there. One appeared to be a nearly identical copy of Lilith, but the other looked to be an angel child in a blood-red dress, holding a pair of swords far too big for a child her age. The three shared a look, and then took off, each running towards a different person. Lilith herself took the charge against Maven, her clone ran for Ellie, and the child came for Tess. A wave of awe and terror impacted Tess and Fortune, and they faltered in their chant, the spell dying on their lips before it had even been halfway completed. They grit their teeth and rallied their spirits, shrugging off the foreign emotions as they tried to encroach on their shared mind. They barely had time to bring up their claws as the young girl bore down on them, and while they were able to block one sword, the other sliced through their claws like a knife through butter and left a shallow gash in Tess¡¯s skin. In the back of their mind, they were aware that they had taken an incongruously large amount of damage from the blow, and were nearly dead. That sword is bad news! Fortune warned, a note of panic creeping into her tone. It¡¯s like¡­like a conceptual antithesis to life in general! A pulse of healing rang out, and Tess¡¯s eyes flicked to the side, catching for the briefest of moments the glimpse of Ellie without one of her arms. The healing¡­didn¡¯t quite work on the wound the sword had made, healing back only about half of the damage that had been done. ¡°Don¡¯t get distracted.¡± The child said coldly, swinging that sword down for what would surely be the killing blow. Tess moved to Flashstep out of the way, but some unseen force completely stonewalled the attempt, and it was too late to ¨C She was thrown backwards as Isabella surged out of her, blasting her back with a spell before evaporating the moment the blade touched her. Rising to her feet unsteadily, Tess ¨C The child impacted her with a tackle, feeling for all the world like an unstoppable force as she bowled Tess over and forced her her to the ground. ¡°Yield.¡± She said, placing her sword against Tess¡¯s neck, the slight contact prompting a burning that would have been nearly debilitating had her pain not been dulled by this place. ¡°You¡¯re not beating me, and I¡¯d rather not hurt you more than I have to.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Tess paused, casting her eyes to her companions. Maven was nowhere to be found, and Lilith was on her way to help her clone take care of Ellie. And, seeing as how Ellie seemed to be constantly receiving grave injuries that were only healed because of Life¡¯s Descent, she doubted Ellie would last much longer. Tess herself would be able to revive once or twice, but ¨C ¡°Well?¡± The child asked impatiently. ¡°Five seconds before I take your head off.¡± ¡°I yield.¡± Tess said, squeezing her eyes shut. In an instant, she found herself in some sort of viewing booth, Fortune at her side. ¡°Good job, you guys.¡± Rose said. ¡°You held out a lot longer than Lia and I would have.¡± Lia shuddered. ¡°She¡¯s a monster.¡± She whispered. ¡°I knew she was tough, but¡­¡± ¡°In all fairness, the whole idea behind me in the first place was to be as strong as possible while completely ignoring any semblance of balance.¡± Lilith said. ¡°And the three of them are not anywhere near their full potential yet. I¡¯m sure that, were I to fight the three of them from the present, I¡¯d be absolutely destroyed.¡± ¡°How far in the future are you?¡± Fortune asked. ¡°Fifty years, give or take.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°Though I like to think that whoever is from the furthest in the future is from the ¡°real¡± present, and I¡¯m sure someone at this party is farther ahead in the timeline than me.¡± ¡°Jerry looked into this phenomenon at one of these parties.¡± Life mused. ¡°I believe his conclusion was that all times people are from are equally the present. He had some reasoning that escapes me at the moment, but it boiled down to not being able to apply the normal rules to this space. ¡°And, though attempting to teach you anything is a pointless endeavor due to the nature of this place, I would suggest you three treat this as a lesson; Descents are the bare minimum for combat if you are to engage Higher Beings in combat, not the instant victory they are in normal situations.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like¡­I don¡¯t know how to describe it, but it¡¯s not fair in the same way normal combat is fair.¡± Death said. She was nonchalantly sitting on a counter and kicking her feet back and forth, acting like she had been there the whole time. ¡°Everyone¡¯s got some stupid busted ability, and you basically have to be a Higher Being or otherwise infused with a lot of Worship to even have a shot at resisting those.¡± The child nodded. ¡°I¡¯m also well suited for this style of combat.¡± She explained. ¡°I basically double or triple dipped on Worship, so I¡¯m more resistant than normal to whatever ¡°unfair¡± stuff other Higher Beings have.¡± She paused for a moment, then looked as if she recalled something. ¡°Right. I¡¯m Eve, she¡¯s Nuwa,¡± Eve motioned towards the clone of Lilith that, now that Tess was looking closely, seemed just a little bit smaller than Lilith, ¡°and you can¡¯t see her, but Mae is in Lilith¡¯s head as our resident numbers gal slash supercomputer. We¡¯re all alternate personalities of Lilith, but are treated as the same person for the purpose of Skills and stuff.¡± To be precise, I am distributed around all parts of her body in order to maximize processing power. A voice rang out in Tess¡¯s mind. It is good to meet you. ¡°Wait, if you can do that double dip or whatever, why doesn¡¯t everyone do it?¡± Lia asked. ¡°Seems like a no-brainer.¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know, actually.¡± Eve admitted. ¡°I never really thought about it.¡± ¡°I have.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°Usually, it¡¯s a matter of numbers. Creating a new Higher Being is expensive, and they usually perform a vital task for the planes they oversee. Not many people are able to mentally handle such strain, and I believe Lilith only can because of her unique circumstances. ¡°The offensive benefits of such an endeavor are usually low, too; their resistance to other tampering increases, but outside of a few cases, each individual ability they possess does not become harder to resist. And, as combat between Higher Beings only occurs in the wars for planes, it is often seen as wasteful to put all your eggs in one basket for an event that only happens infrequently, especially when it results in such an increased workload to the Higher Being. Lilith is the exception to this rule, however, being able to split her mind as she has.¡± Lilith shrugged. ¡°Eldritch stuff may have poor compatibility with most people, but my whole schtick is being compatible with everything, so I get to use it worry-free. Anyway¡­what was with those mid-fight powerups? At the end there, it was a very different fight to what we set out to try.¡± ¡°I wanted to see both of you put your full potential out there.¡± Rose volunteered. ¡°Though¡­perhaps your capabilities were not as fully tested as I thought they would be.¡± ¡°Yeah, you didn¡¯t seem to be using anything expressly unfair.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Except for that one time you reflected Tess¡¯s attack. Surely, you¡¯ve got something, right?¡± ¡°Much of it isn¡¯t great for this kind of friendly fight,¡± Lilith said, ¡°and what is isn¡¯t flashy. I have lots of stat increases, ways to steal abilities or permanently seal the abilities of my foes, and even an instant-kill if I¡¯m willing to either spend enough Worship or dip into my own health to do it. I didn¡¯t want to try that last one, since it¡¯s a bit risky and I¡¯m not sure it would even work against you all.¡± ¡°And I mostly command monsters.¡± Eve added. ¡°Not that they allowed me any of mine.¡± ¡°They wouldn¡¯t have been much help.¡± Nuwa said quietly. ¡°They don¡¯t have any Worship in them, except for Saria, and she doesn¡¯t have enough to make a huge difference. Tess and Fortune alone likely would have shut them down by just existing.¡± ¡°What was with that sword of yours, by the way?¡± Fortune asked. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen anything quite like it.¡± ¡°Necessity is the mother of invention.¡± Eve said, drawing the sword out from some unseen place and very gingerly setting it down on a table. ¡°Perfect Chimeras are every species at once, so some genius got the idea to make a material specifically geared at combating them. This sword is¡­special, though. It was the first of these weapons to be produced, and people have already built up a mythos surrounding it. I¡¯m pretty sure that like¡­I dunno, almost meets the criteria for it getting Worship? It doesn¡¯t have any, yeah, but it definitely feels like¡­more than a normal weapon.¡± ¡°It is not uncommon for particularly notable weapons to obtain some power from how they are perceived.¡± Life said. ¡°Though I must admit that I have never seen one with quite as deadly a base as that get the treatment.¡± ¡°To be honest, I can¡¯t even touch the blade without gloves.¡± Eve admitted. ¡°If I do, I get horribly burnt and it takes way longer than it should to heal. The only reason I even use it is because I can safely take it out of reach of anyone but me at a moment¡¯s notice, otherwise that thing would stay locked up until the end of time. Not worth carrying my one weakness with me and all that.¡± ¡°May I?¡± Death asked, motioning towards the sword. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m Death, by the way. Life and I share Ellie as our appointed, two sides of the same coin and all that.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± Eve said. ¡°Just be careful with it. I¡¯m guessing this party won¡¯t let you hurt yourself too much, but I don¡¯t like to take risks with that thing.¡± Death carefully picked up the sword, then stepped back from the others and gave it a few test swings. ¡°Man do I wish I had this thing when I was making the Blades of Death.¡± She said approvingly. ¡°I totally would have co-opted it into one of them.¡± ¡°Mind if I take a look at these blades?¡± Eve asked curiously. ¡°I want to see how they stack up.¡± ¡°Knock yourself out. They¡¯re not as good as your sword, but they also don¡¯t have like¡­a story to them yet, so they don¡¯t have that weird power bump. Give it a few hundred years or a particularly bloody conflict and they might well rival this thing.¡± Death said, a set of swords materializing on the table where Eve¡¯s sword had laid previously. She picked up the swords, absentmindedly growing another pair of arms so she had a hand for each of the four swords. ¡°To tell you the truth, I would absolutely trade you if I could.¡± She admitted. ¡°That thing is much too dangerous to me specifically, and it¡¯s usually overkill anyway. These swords are much more fit for general use.¡± ¡°How did you get this thing storied so quickly, anyway?¡± Death asked. ¡°It only feels a few years old.¡± ¡°A combination of a lot of things.¡± Eve said. ¡°For one, it killed another of our personalities, and for two it¡¯s kinda like the first atomic bomb in how it changed the dynamic of warfare. The fact that I¡¯ve been publicly using it to great effect helps, too. We¡¯re at a turning point in our planes, the kind of time when legends are made. It was the perfect storm, so to speak.¡± ¡°What is an atomic bomb?¡± Lia asked quietly. ¡°And this sword killed one of you?¡± ¡°She got better.¡± Eve said nonchalantly. ¡°Very long story, but the short version is that the ¡®main¡¯ personality ¨C¡± ¡°Inasmuch as any of us can be called a main or side personality anymore.¡± Lilith interrupted. ¡°The main personality,¡± Eve continued, rolling her eyes, ¡°was actually split from a previous soul that Kali messed up in reincarnating. And that other personality that died was the other half. She let herself get killed so the two could merge, becoming the Lilith you see before you today.¡± ¡°And, to answer your other question,¡± Lilith said, not giving Eve time to continue, ¡°an atom bomb is an incredibly destructive weapon constructed entirely without magic, one strong enough to wipe an entire city off the map with one firing.¡± ¡°That strong?¡± Tess asked doubtfully. ¡°I know bombs can level a building or two, but an entire city?¡± ¡°That strong.¡± Death confirmed. ¡°We¡¯ve very deliberately prevented that technology from being researched in any sort of detail; there are no good outcomes when nuclear weapons are involved, and the positives can be easily replicated with magic.¡± She paused, looking at Lilith. ¡°Did they get any stronger since our day? Were they used again?¡± Lilith sighed. ¡°Estimates put us at three thousand times stronger before magic was involved, and five to six times that now that people have begun to incorporate magic.¡± Life shuddered, the out of character act convincing Tess of the gravity of these weapons more than the words ever did. ¡°You do have plans to curb their development, yes?¡± He asked. ¡°This seems¡­excessive.¡± ¡°Eventually.¡± Lilith confirmed. ¡°Once things stabilize.¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± Lia interjected, ¡°don¡¯t you guys do like¡­wars for new planes or something? Surely these bombs would be helpful there, right?¡± ¡°No.¡± Lilith said. ¡°Most Higher Beings have ways to survive a nuclear weapon, and they can leave the land where they detonate uninhabitable for a long time to come. As Death said, there are no good outcomes when nuclear weaponry is involved.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s a downer of a topic.¡± Fortune said, clapping her hands. ¡°We¡¯re at a party, let¡¯s have a little fun with it! First off, introductions. I¡¯m the god of Fortune, resident cool lady and the god Tess is an Appointed of.¡± Everyone went around one by one and introduced themselves, and, once they had, Fortune began to speak again. ¡°So, what¡¯s on the agenda? More mock battles? Ooh, or maybe we could run a trial dungeon as a group!¡± ¡°That¡¯s a thing here?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Everything¡¯s a thing here, as long as it¡¯s entertaining.¡± Fortune said, waving a hand dismissively. ¡°Though I can¡¯t guarantee it¡¯ll be much like the dungeons we know.¡± ¡°I¡­think I¡¯ll have to pass on that.¡± Lia said quietly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be of much use when all of you are around.¡± ¡°Nonsense.¡± Fortune said. ¡°Anything is possible here, we can easily standardize our abilities so everyone has a ¨C¡± She cut off, disappearing from existence abruptly. A quick look around revealed that the other gods and Lilith¡¯s Parallels had disappeared as well, and Silky and Isabella weren¡¯t where Tess could sense them. ¡°I suppose they didn¡¯t have a proper invitation, and their time here was limited.¡± Rose said. ¡°A shame, but a smaller group is likely better for the time being, I think Lia was getting a bit overwhelmed.¡± Lia nodded. ¡°Sorry.¡± She said. ¡°I know they¡¯re important to you. And¡­literally you, I think?¡± She directed that last part at Lilith, a slightly confused look on her face. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡± Lilith sighed. ¡°I know it¡¯s confusing, sorry. It sort of comes with the territory of technically being an eldritch abomination.¡± ¡°Eldritch?¡± Lia asked, frown deepening. ¡°The word¡¯s been thrown around a couple of times but I¡¯m not quite sure what it means.¡± ¡°A very esoteric section, forbidden section of magic.¡± Rose explained. ¡°While it brings great power, those who use it tend to go insane.¡± ¡°It only even works for me because of the way I am.¡± Lilith said. ¡°When your whole schtick is compatibility with everything, you get a lot of leeway in things like this. Up to and including the systems of other universes, though we haven¡¯t tested that much. Just had a brief moment in their universe,¡± Lilith said, motioning to Tess and Ellie, ¡°and then Amy shut it down.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°What did your stats translate to?¡± ¡°Gibberish.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°All my stats and growths had decimal portions, my level wasn¡¯t even a number and was glitched out, as were Skills, Classes, and Titles. As Amy said, it was very broken.¡± ¡°But you did have numbers, right?¡± Ellie pressed. ¡°What were they?¡± ¡°Fifteen hundred on the low end, twenty four hundred on the high end.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°But I don¡¯t think you should put much stock in those numbers, your system threw a fit and wasn¡¯t handling me correctly. What¡¯s the normal range?¡± ¡°For someone level forty to fifty? Two hundred and fiftyish.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°The maximum growth you can get is ten, or one hundred for resources, and the highest leveled person on our planes is¡­level one sixty, I think? And his highest stat is only about fifteen hundred and fifty, so I think you might well have higher stats than would even be possible in our universe.¡± Lilith shrugged. ¡°Again, don¡¯t put too much stock in those numbers. If my lowest is that close to your universe¡¯s highest, then the details have to be wrong. What level are you guys?¡± ¡°Late thirties, early forties.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I have the best stat spread and Tess has nearly the worst, so we¡¯re not exactly good reference points, Maven would be better.¡± ¡°True as that may be, you did not move like someone with that much Agility would move, unless you were holding back significantly at the end.¡± Maven added. Lilith shook her head. ¡°I was holding back a little bit, but not a lot.¡± ¡°Then, yes, the stats you saw were indeed incorrect.¡± Maven said. ¡°While my eye is still somewhat untrained, I would not estimate your Agility to be greater than one thousand.¡± ¡°Sounds about right.¡± Lilith said. ¡°So, for real, what¡¯s next?¡± ¡°Cards?¡± Lia offered. ¡°I don¡¯t feel like doing anything too physical at the moment.¡± ¡°I¡¯m down to play cards.¡± Ellie replied. And, after everyone else said they were fine with cards, they did. After cards they did a couple more activities, and just as Tess was beginning to get tired, she was back in her home universe, completely unaware of what had just taken place. Chapter 89: Late Night Scan Marie watched in wonder as Ellie placed her hand against a seemingly innocuous portion of wall, and a door drew itself into existence in front of them. ¡°I¡¯ll teach you all how to do this once we get back. You just have to put a bit of Mana into it, and it¡¯ll appear, nothing to it. Even if you can¡¯t figure it out tonight, Jacob can teach you, so¡­yeah, not a big deal.¡± ¡°Jacob knows how?¡± Lucia asked faintly. ¡°But that¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Magic?¡± Marie finished. ¡°If he truly has been going back and forth from this other world, then it should not come as much of a surprise that he can use some magic.¡± She paused, then looked up at Ellie. ¡°What are the requirements for using magic, by the way?¡± ¡°You get a Skill that allows you to do so.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Or a Class that grants a Skill that allows you to do so. Raid two or three dungeons and you¡¯ll almost certainly have at least one Skill to facilitate magic.¡± Marie frowned. ¡°So, you get Skills from dungeon raiding, then?¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s pseudo-random, dependent on your Luck stat, but even if you have abysmal Luck, chances are you¡¯ll get something magic related.¡± Ellie explained. ¡°Fair warning, most Skills don¡¯t work well on Mael, if they even work at all. Tess is something of an exception, since hers work differently, but don¡¯t expect to be throwing fireballs around once you get back.¡± ¡°Is that a normal thing people can do?¡± Marie asked guardedly. ¡°How is there any semblance of law and order?¡± ¡°There¡¯s always a bigger fish.¡± Ellie said, opening the door. ¡°I¡¯m sure that, hundreds of years ago, people would say much the same about guns. It¡¯s not perfect, and yes, there are occasionally significant incidents, but by and large people know that if they begin rampaging or abusing their abilities, they¡¯re pretty quickly going to be brought to heel by someone much stronger than they are. And if there isn¡¯t someone much stronger than them who will step in, then the Appointed themselves will do the job, and believe me, you do not want to be on the receiving end of their wrath.¡± Ellie stepped through the door, followed closely by Maven. Tess stayed behind, keeping a watchful eye on the group. There was a brief moment of inaction as none of the group from Mael moved to step through the door, but the spell was broken when Tess spoke up. ¡°Go ahead and go through.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s perfectly safe, you¡¯d putting yourself in more danger by taking a bath.¡± ¡°Right, sorry.¡± Pastor Faust said, shaking her head and stepping through the door. ¡°I was just¡­a little stunned, there.¡± Marie followed her lead and stepped through herself. She¡­wasn¡¯t sure what she had been expecting, but the transition was significantly easier than whatever that might have been. One second, she was outside, the next she was in an air conditioned room, like she had just, well, walked through a door into a building. The others were through only a moment later, and Tess tapped the doorframe, causing the door to disappear. ¡°I¡¯m going to go scout things out real quick and see how we should proceed. I¡¯ll be back in a few minutes.¡± And then, suddenly, Marie found herself unable to recognize Tess. It didn¡¯t seem like her appearance had changed, though she couldn¡¯t really even properly picture the appearance of the woman in front of her, and the logical part of her brain knew it was Tess, but something within her just refused to accept that she knew the woman that was standing where Tess had been. The woman gave the group a nod, then slipped out of the room. ¡°Who¡­was that?¡± Robert asked, frowning deeply. ¡°We¡¯re not going to run into any trouble because she saw us, right?¡± Marie gave him a flat look. ¡°That was Tess. We¡¯re fine.¡± Robert shook his head. ¡°Tess left to go¡­scout or whatever she said, that was someone else.¡± Marie groaned. ¡°Look, I know she did some magic, but please, think logically; Tess vanished, that woman appeared, and then she left after nodding at us. It had to be Tess.¡± Robert frowned even deeper. ¡°I¡­suppose that makes sense.¡± He admitted. ¡°But it feels wrong. Are you sure?¡± ¡°I think she¡¯s right.¡± Pastor Faust said. ¡°This must be some sort of¡­recognition scrambling magic, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Grandpa gave the three of us some tool that help hide our identities, so we don¡¯t blow our cover while we¡¯re here. Don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡± ¡°But you have to admit it was a little startling, right?¡± Lucia asked. ¡°Suddenly having a stranger appear like that.¡± ¡°Our devices are linked.¡± Maven said. ¡°The three of us can still recognize each other fine.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that going to cause a bit of a problem if we leave this room?¡± Marie asked. ¡°The four of us will essentially be walking with strangers, and it¡¯s going to be¡­weird.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll figure something out.¡± Ellie said confidently. ¡°Again, don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s something you can just¡­figure out.¡± Marie said. ¡°Not if that magic is strong enough that these guys didn¡¯t even realize that it was Tess when she turned on the device right in front of them.¡± ¡°Speaking of, how did you recognize her?¡± Pastor Faust asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t even realize, and I like to think I¡¯m fairly close to her.¡± Marie shrugged. ¡°Lots of monsters have mind affecting abilities. Hunters train in techniques to help mitigate the impact of those abilities, and I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s most of the reason. The big thing is learning how to block out everything your instincts, emotions, and common sense are telling you and rely on pure logic; it¡¯s a lot harder than it sounds, but it¡¯ll insulate you from the worst of those types of abilities.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Maven asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°Yes?¡± Marie said. ¡°Do you know a better technique?¡± Maven shook her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s not that.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± she paused, frowning, ¡°I am not quite sure how to explain this. But, that sort of technique is unusual in the wider world. Unless you work in espionage or are very high level, most people focus on external sources of protection. Armor that increases your resistance, consumables that cure you of the effect, or other similar things are much more popular. The general perception is that manual techniques are much too much trouble for the benefit they give, so I was surprised that it seemed so simple.¡± Marie frowned. ¡°That seems ill-advised.¡± She said. ¡°Equipment is notoriously fallible in the presence of monsters, but your training is always going to be accessible. Of course, if you have equipment that helps, that¡¯s good, but it should be a supplementary thing, not your main line of defense.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I believe you¡¯re misunderstanding. I¡¯m not totally sure how monsters are on Mael, but things are different here. Due to the existence of stats, oftentimes that sort of training is simply less effective than getting your level up. Obviously, that breaks down when you get to higher levels and you can¡¯t increase your level, but before that it¡¯s usually more efficient to focus on training yourself in other ways. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°See, the issue is that, from what I¡¯ve been given to understand, monsters you get on Mael are generally pretty weak, the strongest being the equivalent of a level ten to fifteen boss. That means that the effects they can use are pretty weak, and a reasonable difference can be made just by your own strength of will. More powerful effects tend not to give you that luxury unless your stats are pretty high. ¡°And equipment is pretty different from what you¡¯re used to as well, it mainly ¨C¡± Ellie was cut off by the door opening, and a stranger stepping in. Once again, Marie¡¯s entire being was screaming at her that she had no idea who this woman was, but logic told her that it was probably Tess, seeing as how Ellie and Maven didn¡¯t seem to be reacting. And a moment later, whatever block was on her mind was removed, and she found herself able to recognize Tess again. ¡°Okay, so, here¡¯s how it is.¡± Tess said. ¡°The guild has the night shift crew working right now, and we don¡¯t know any of them. Graham is still here in the City, but he¡¯s at home and we¡¯re not going to call him in just for this. Instead, we¡¯re just going to¡­commandeer one of the scanning rooms without telling anyone, and if they come and ask, we¡¯re just going to say we¡¯re on business for Gramps. If they push more¡­then we¡¯ll probably just call him. But it shouldn¡¯t be an issue in the first place, the guild is dead right now.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s going to do the scanning?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I do not believe any of us have tried before.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± Ellie volunteered. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be too hard as long as I have instructions, right?¡± ¡°I suppose.¡± Tess said. ¡°Either way, we¡¯re going to need to get to that room, which means we¡¯ll have to activate our recognition scramblers, and I understand you guys were having some issues when I activated mine earlier.¡± ¡°How did you know?¡± Pastor Faust asked. ¡°You¡­weren¡¯t here.¡± ¡°I have my ways.¡± Tess said, giving her a wink. ¡°Unfortunately, we can¡¯t really turn down the intensity of those scramblers, so you guys are going to have to rely on logic to remember that you¡¯re not with strangers. It should only be for two or three minutes while we walk, though, so I trust you¡¯ll be able to handle it.¡± ¡°Could we try it out just in this room?¡± Robert asked. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure we can.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Sure. That okay with you two?¡± She asked, looking over at her party members. ¡°I have no objections.¡± Maven said. ¡°On the count of three, then.¡± Ellie confirmed. ¡°One¡­two¡­three.¡± And, just like that, Marie was in a room with three perfect strangers. Even though she had been prepared for it, it was still a battle to get past the large parts of her that were telling her that she didn¡¯t know these girls. ¡°How¡¯s this?¡± One of them asked. ¡°Can you stomach this for three minutes? If it helps, just pretend we¡¯re waiters taking you to a seat or something.¡± ¡°It is¡­strange, but manageable.¡± Pastor Faust said. ¡°Especially since we were told to be cautious with our situation, but we¡¯ll live.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Another said. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry it up, then.¡± As they walked, Marie tried her best to take these girls¡¯ appearances and overlay them over how she remembered Tess, Ellie, and Maven looking, but it just¡­didn¡¯t work. The moment she tried to picture one of them, or make a comparison, the mental image slid out of her head, or she would lose focus and begin thinking about something else, or something else would happen and she found herself unable to make a proper comparison. If she just passed these girls on the street, she probably wouldn¡¯t have given them a second glance, even if she was specifically looking for one of them. All she could remember were broad details ¨C what sex they appeared to be, their species, that they were adults¡­and that was about it. Actually, she could probably say the one with visible demon parts was Maven, but¡­why did one of them have fox ears and a tail? When did one of them grow those? As far as she knew ¨C Her thoughts were cut off as they stopped in front of a door, and were quickly ushered inside. The moment they were inside, and the door was shut, Marie once again found herself able to distinguish between the girls. ¡°Tess?!¡± Pastor Faust asked, taken aback. ¡°When did you¡­¡± ¡°In the middle of the walk over.¡± Tess said, twirling her tail around a finger. ¡°I wanted to see if you guys would notice, and it kind of looked like Marie did, but the rest of you were none the wiser.¡± ¡°What¡­are you?¡± Marie asked. ¡°You¡¯re obviously not human, so¡­what?¡± ¡°Good question.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯m not really anything. Or to be precise, the answer is ¡®generic person¡¯, which¡­doesn¡¯t really mean anything. I used to be human, and then I picked up a Class, and wasn¡¯t anymore. A word of advice: don¡¯t accept a class that says it will have permanent changes unless you look up the Class and are ready for those permanent changes. Um, if anyone else has even had the Class and knows what the changes are, that is.¡± ¡°What sort of changes should we be wary of?¡± Lucia asked. ¡°You seem normal enough at first glance. Uh¡­aside from the whole sex change thing.¡± ¡°Some relatively common examples are Classes that only work for certain species or groups of species, commonly ones that have traits most people lack.¡± Maven explained. ¡°Arachne, centaurs, merfolk, and some beastkin are most often associated with these sorts of Classes, and if you get one, you will be given the option to have your species transformed. ¡°These Classes are usually more powerful than normal, and they come with the added benefit of adjusting you to your new body instantly, so many choose to take them if they get the choice, but there is a small, if significant, fraction of people who don¡¯t. I assume you four will fall under that later category, if only because these changes would make it rather difficult to live your old life on Mael.¡± ¡°But we¡¯re putting the cart before the horse here.¡± Ellie said. ¡°First off, we need to find out what your stats are. That will greatly inform you of what you¡¯re capable of and what your roles in combat would be.¡± She walked over to a table where some sort of crystal ball was sitting. ¡°Who wants to go first?¡± ¡°Do we need to know this?¡± Lucia asked. ¡°If we¡¯re not going to fight much, it¡¯s not important, right?¡± ¡°If you want to live longer, you do.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Even outside of the whole aging thing, knowing how to defend yourself is always going to be important. Opening up Mael to the rest of the world is going to eventually increase the frequency with which monsters appear, and while that is easily offset by just gaining a few levels, you¡¯re not going to gain levels if you don¡¯t do some fighting.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°Everyone gains levels as a matter of course. The average adult is at least level ten and has gone through one or two dungeons and picked up some Skills and Classes from them. You will likely need to be an even higher level than that, as you live in one of the less populated areas of your country¡¯s territory, and armies likely will not patrol those areas as often. Your community will have to solve their own problems, and a higher level will act as insurance if you do run into trouble.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡± Marie volunteered. ¡°It seems like this is something that is going to be directly tied to my job anyway, so I might as well take a look.¡± Ellie nodded. ¡°Just come place your hands on the ball and I¡¯ll take care of the rest.¡± She instructed. Marie obeyed, and after a brief moment Ellie gave a satisfied nod. ¡°No wonder you¡¯re the best in the business back on Mael.¡± She said appreciatively. ¡°Pretty high growth across the board, especially in Magic Defense and Luck. Yeah, you¡¯re going to grow in power pretty explosively once you start training here. Just be aware that you won¡¯t be able to leverage all of your stats or abilities back on Mael, but you won¡¯t have any problems with the small fry that spawn there.¡± ¡°Where should I start training?¡± Marie asked. ¡°If everything back on Mael is small fry, then I shudder to think of what lurks out in the wilds here.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a dungeon called Slime Tower that is the beginner dungeon.¡± Tess said. ¡°The monsters within are as close to harmless as you can get, with your expertise you¡¯ll be able to clear it without breaking a sweat. There are a couple of other beginner dungeons here too, but I¡¯d hold off on those until after you¡¯ve cleared Slime Tower, since those can actually hurt.¡± ¡°You should perhaps consider partying with Jacob.¡± Maven said. ¡°He might be higher level than you, but you should narrow that gap quickly, and having a partner is always beneficial. You will likely need to teach him how to fight once you get to higher levels, however; your skill will surely outshine his once you even the level gap.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll consider it.¡± Marie said. ¡°I admit I have been having thoughts of taking an apprentice, and he would do as well as any. I¡¯ll talk with him more once we return and see how I feel about him.¡± At some point in the conversation, Tess had vanished, and was now returning with a sheet of paper. ¡°Your growths.¡± She said. ¡°Ten is the highest growth, one the lowest, and your stat randomly increases by one of the five values shown below the stat. Anything above seven or so is considered good, and nine or higher is great. HP, Mana, and Stamina are like the other stats, but multiplied by ten.¡± Marie grabbed the sheet and scanned through it. She only had one or two potential growths that were under seven, and she even had a few tens. Like Ellie had said, Magic Defense and Luck were especially noteworthy for having two and three tens respectively, which was good to hear. She was vaguely aware of Ellie beginning to read off the stats of someone else, but that really wasn¡¯t important to her at the moment. ¡°Could you explain what these stats actually affect?¡± She asked Tess. ¡°I would like to know the basics before I start making any plans.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Tess said. ¡°So, first is HP¡­¡± Chapter 90: Ambassadors About an hour and a half later, Tess and her party had finished showing the adults the City. There had only really been one snag, when they wanted to show them Slime Tower but hadn¡¯t yet properly done any paperwork for them. But in the end, those guarding the dungeon weren¡¯t actually allowed to stop them; they just had to give warnings about how the residential areas had cameras and how whatever happened within the dungeon was still punishable by law, despite it technically being even more of a neutral area than the City already was. Admittedly, Tess had completely forgotten that the guild posted guards in front of the dungeons in the City. Most of the dungeons she had been to recently were outside of the City, and were inhabited only by a skeleton crew of people who ran the Reshi Suites. Still, Tess couldn¡¯t help but wonder what the guild¡¯s guards were doing if they weren¡¯t even allowed to prevent entry into the dungeon. Fortunately, she had a pretty easy way to get the answer to her question.
Tess: So, uh, what¡¯s the deal with the guards? They can¡¯t stop anyone from going into a dungeon, right? Then like¡­what¡¯s the point? Dungeons: Security, mostly. Since dungeons create a subspace where only a person¡¯s party members can enter, people have historically used them for various nefarious purposes, and while we don¡¯t allow people to bar entry to dungeons for most discriminatory reasons, we are totally on board with catching criminals. Death: And not like, jaywalking criminals or ¡®I broke some law that¡¯s only in place in this country¡± criminals, but people who have committed crimes that people universally consider bad. You know, murder, grand theft for purposes of greed, rape, that sort of a thing. Scum, in a word. Dungeons: The people who staff the Reshi Suites fulfil a similar role, to tell you the truth; though they aren¡¯t as active about it due to not being in even remotely law-enforcement related positions, they still have an agreement with the guild and most local law enforcement agencies to hand over information on known or suspected criminals who enter the dungeon.
Tess dismissed the window, and looked back up at the guild. ¡°Just through here and we¡¯ll be done.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯ll teach you how to use the door and drive you home.¡± They walked into the guild and made their way into the halls. Even though she had been assured that guild staff didn¡¯t stop anyone going into the halls unless they went into the truly restricted areas, Tess still felt a little nervous. She was so used to all the staff recognizing her on sight that she half-expected someone would come and stop them just to see what they were doing back there. But no one did, and they made it back to the room Gramps had set aside for people from Mael without any incident. Once safely within the room, Tess and her party dropped their identity concealers, and Ellie motioned for the four other humans to come over to where the door back to Mael would be. ¡°Now I need to teach you how to make the door.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s not hard, even on Mael, but it¡¯s slightly easier here, so I figure this is a good place to teach you. You need to put some of your Mana through the door, and it¡¯ll recognize you and pop right up. In order to do that, sort of¡­reach around inside of yourself and look for the Mana. It doesn¡¯t matter how you conceptualize the looking, just that you¡¯re focusing on looking. Eventually, you¡¯ll find the Mana, and then you just will it into the door and it¡¯ll appear. ¡°Your first couple of times may take a minute or two, but after that it¡¯ll become second nature, because¡­well, people are actually built to use Mana, people from Mael just have to unlock it first. Now¡­who wants to go first?¡± Ellie was met with a few seconds of silence, and then Marie stepped up. ¡°I¡¯ll give it a go.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s right here, right?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Just go ahead, put your hand on the wall, then give it a try.¡± Marie nodded, placing a hand on the wall and narrowing her eyes slightly. To Tess¡¯s surprise, the door drew its way into existence after only a couple of seconds, leaving Marie looking very pleased with herself. ¡°Well, that wasn¡¯t as hard as I thought it was going to be.¡± She said. ¡°The Mana was pretty obvious once I went looking for it.¡± Tess wouldn¡¯t have agreed when she was first starting out, but she supposed Marie¡¯s prior training probably made her significantly more aware of how her body and mind felt than Tess had been, so she wasn¡¯t going to comment. ¡°Impressive.¡± Ellie said. ¡°The rest of you, don¡¯t feel bad if you don¡¯t get it as fast. She naturally has more Mana than you and is probably better suited to recognize it anyway. Tess and I took at least ten or twenty times that long on our first times using the door.¡± ¡°And even then, we were on the fast side, apparently.¡± Tess said. ¡°It would seem Marie is something of an outlier.¡± Marie shrugged. ¡°I was trained to be very aware of my body and foreign sensations. Picking up on the Mana now that I know it¡¯s there is far easier than detecting the influence of a monster.¡± Ellie reached over and placed a hand on the door to dismiss it, then turned back to the others. ¡°Who¡¯s next?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± Pastor Faust said slowly. ¡°It won¡¯t¡­hurt, right?¡± Ellie laughed. ¡°Not in the slightest. Mana is meant to leave the body constantly, the worst you¡¯ll feel is somewhat tired, and that¡¯s only if you¡¯ve used all of your Mana. You don¡¯t need more than a point or so to get the door to appear.¡± Pastor Faust nodded, walking up to the door and placing a hesitant hand on the spot where it would appear. Her face screwed up in concentration, and a long minute or so went by, silence interrupted only by the occasional word of encouragement from Tess or Ellie. And, finally, the door began to appear, Pastor Faust¡¯s face lighting up in delight as it did. ¡°I see.¡± She said. ¡°That¡¯s a little different, but I should get the hang of it in a few tries.¡± Ellie gave her a smile. ¡°You did great.¡± She said. ¡°Which of you two wants to go next?¡± She asked, nodding at Jacob¡¯s parents. ¡°I suppose I can try.¡± Robert said. He stepped forward, and a process not dissimilar to Pastor Faust¡¯s began, though it took a fair bit longer. And, after about a minute and a half, the door appeared. Lucia was almost identical in terms of time taken, and soon everyone was through the door and back on Mael. ¡°The door will go away on its own if you leave it for a minute or so, but if you want to dismiss it earlier, just put some Mana through it again.¡± Ellie instructed. ¡°And¡­that¡¯s all you really need to know for now. If you have questions, text Tess or I and we¡¯ll get to you when we can. We¡¯re only going to have patchy service for the next month or so, but after that we should pretty consistently be able to get back to you. Until then, though, Jacob¡¯s probably the next most knowledgeable person on these things, so just ask him.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Marie nodded. ¡°If I want to register for this guild, is there anything I need to be aware of?¡± Ellie frowned. ¡°Grandpa had to pull some strings for Jacob, so¡­probably, but we¡¯ll get it taken care of. Just wait to register until we contact you and you¡¯ll be fine.¡± Marie asked a few more questions as they headed back towards the truck they had arrived in, but Tess was cut off from the conversation as they got in and she took her place in the bed. She could have just used her enhanced hearing to hear what was going on, but¡­if it was important, she¡¯d get a message from the gods, so there was no need to eavesdrop at the moment. As she pulled out her phone, though, she came across an unexpected message from a number she didn¡¯t recognize, addressed to both her and Ellie. Thomas, Ellie, this is Aleksander, it read, I know we haven¡¯t talked in a couple of years and this is a new number and it¡¯s late there but I¡¯m lowkey freaking out and mom and dad say you guys know about everything and I just need to talk with people in the same situation Tess frowned. Aleksander¡¯s family was an ¡°old family friend¡± of Gramps¡¯s, which, now that she was thinking about it, likely meant they were from the wider world. It was the most logical explanation, but she didn¡¯t want to make assumptions and give anything away. But, just as she was going to ask the gods, it seemed they had taken notice of the situation.
Death: Wait they were telling him today? Life: Checking my calendar, it seems that is indeed his birthday. I was not expecting him to text these two, however. Tess: So, his family are ambassadors or whatever we¡¯re calling them, right? Life: Correct. Tess: How many more are there, exactly? I don¡¯t think I ever got a hard number Life: Discounting your family and his, three others. Tess: And are they all in the dark too? Life: Yes. You two were the first to know, and Aleksander was second. Tess: Okay, we need to set up a meeting between all five families, then. There¡¯s some rule that the kids can¡¯t know until they¡¯re eighteen, right? Surely, we can bend that if the others are going to be eighteen soon. Death: I guess six months isn¡¯t that big a difference, and if we¡¯re ramping things up over here anyway then who cares Life: I suppose you have a valid point. Very well, I¡¯ll have Fate get in touch with Evan and have him set something up. Tess: Thanks
Tess turned back to her phone and began to type out a message of her own. Yeah, we know. She replied. Where are you now? Can you get to the City? Uh, the city? Which one? Aleksander asked. THE City. It¡¯s just called ¡°City¡±. The one with the guild headquarters. Oh, um, apparently, we have a door in our house that takes us to another house in the city or something? I¡¯m there now. Can you get us the address? We¡¯ll be there in probably forty minutes. Aren¡¯t you on the other side of the continent? How are you getting here so fast? Same way you do. We¡¯ll explain more when we get there. We¡¯re going to look different and will probably have another person with us, though, so just prepare yourselves and let your parents know we¡¯re coming over. If they ask questions, tell them our grandpa sent us back home on an errand, they¡¯ll understand. Um, thanks for coming over on such short notice. No prob. We¡¯ll help talk you through things. Aleksander sent the address, and Tess threw it into her phone¡¯s GPS before updating her party¡¯s group chat.
Tess: I let him know we¡¯re coming. Still¡­what are the odds that we got called back for two things in one night? Dungeons: Better than you think. Fate has a tendency to dabble in these things, even if it¡¯s just passively. Fortune: Even if it¡¯s usually just to make things more convenient. He doesn¡¯t like to do anything too noticeable, give people at least some agency in things. But¡­changing the timing of an event that was going to happen anyway, or causing a chance meeting? He doesn¡¯t really care. Maven: That would certainly explain a few things.
The rest of the car ride went without incident, and Tess was soon climbing out of the bed of the truck as the rest piled out of the front. Everyone began to go their separate ways, but to Tess¡¯s surprise, instead of staying in the truck to head back to the church, Marie got out with everyone else while Pastor Faust moved over to the driver¡¯s seat. Tess didn¡¯t comment until her party was safely in Ellie¡¯s car and on the way back home. ¡°Why¡¯s Marie staying?¡± She asked. ¡°She wanted to talk with Jacob now.¡± Ellie explained. ¡°But what¡¯s this about Aleksander?¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± Tess said. ¡°His family are ambassadors too, and they just let him know about everything. He¡¯s freaking out and wants to talk to us, so I said we¡¯d head over. Maven, you don¡¯t have to come if you don¡¯t want to, but if you do, I mentioned you might be there as well.¡± ¡°I am not doing anything else at the moment, so I see no reason not to come.¡± Maven said. ¡°Unless you believe it would be easier if I was not present.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Tess said. ¡°He¡¯s more likely to freak out about me than he is about you.¡± ¡°Very well then.¡± Maven replied. ¡°Where is he? I assume we¡¯re meeting him in the Outlands, right?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s a door in his house that leads to the City. Not the guild building like ours does, but a house. He gave me the address and I told him we¡¯d be there in forty minutes or so.¡± ¡°May I ask who this Aleksander is?¡± Maven asked as she got herself buckled up. ¡°I have gathered that he is another one of the ambassadors to Mael, but perhaps I might recognize his last name?¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± Tess frowned, trying to think back and see if she remembered his last name. Like Aleksander had said, their families had lived on opposite ends of the continent, and they had only met up on a few occasions. He was kind of like one of those cousins you only met at family reunions, someone who she knew the name and face of, but didn¡¯t really know well. ¡°I think it¡¯s Aesal?¡± Ellie ventured. ¡°I remember because I always thought it was a funny name when I was young.¡± ¡°Then I am afraid I do not recognize the name. I am sure his family has some sort of standing somewhere, but I couldn¡¯t tell you what it is.¡±
Death: I could tell you, but I¡¯m worried it might be a little¡­insincere? That¡¯s not the right word, but I feel like it¡¯ll be a bit more comforting to him if he¡¯s the one telling you about everything, instead of you already knowing. Fortune: There are some advantages to knowing, it makes them seem like they¡¯re confident and in control, I think. Death: But that also makes them seem like they¡¯re ¡°in on it¡±? He wants to talk to people who are in the same boat as him, and they¡¯re obviously not in the same boat as him anymore, but he doesn¡¯t know that. Ellie: You guys talk about that and let me know what you decide later, I gotta get driving.
Ellie got the car moving, once again taking it somewhat slow in town before slamming on the gas outside of it. As they drove, there was more discussion in the group chat before it was eventually decided to leave Tess and her party in the dark on what Aleksander¡¯s family pedigree was; it wasn¡¯t information that would change how they approached the situation, and having a more genuine reaction was deemed important in the situation. They soon got back to Tess¡¯s house, then made their way through the door in the house and back onto the streets of the City. Tess pulled up her GPS again, and set the destination before guiding the group on their way. It was, admittedly, slightly nerve-wracking for her; while she had learned to deal with people who were angry, she was still somewhat out of her depth when it came to being comforting, especially when she wasn¡¯t sure exactly what the problem was. Still, being nervous about it wasn¡¯t going to get her anywhere, so she did her best to put it out of her mind, and instead began to think about how exactly she was going to explain her transformation to Aleksander. Chapter 91: Reassurance Aleksander paced nervously in front of the door to what was supposedly his room, resisting the urge to feel his ears. The past day had been so completely overwhelming that he was still half-sure that he had slipped into some sort of coma and was dreaming. It really was like he had slipped into a parallel world. Yes, that was literally what had happened, but more in a¡­metaphorical sense. The house on this side of things contained family photos he recognized from his own home, but¡­different. In them, his family had their distinctly nonhuman appearance, despite the fact that they had very much been human in those pictures. His parents had said that they had taken additional photos with some device that pierced the enchantments they had used to hide their true forms. And yet, even with the evidence on his own head, Aleksander couldn¡¯t help but feel like he was being duped somehow. Though his parents had always told him the supernatural was real, he never actually believed. They hadn¡¯t provided any hard evidence and¡­well, society was past that, or so he had thought. He was brought back to the real world, if it could even be called that, by the sound of a doorbell ringing. He tentatively opened the door to the room he was in and began down the stairs, already able to catch bits and pieces of a conversation. ¡°Look how you two have grown!¡± His mother said in that tone of voice that older adults reserved for children they hadn¡¯t seen in years. ¡°And you¡¯re¡­a Sarlienne, right?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± A young woman Aleksander couldn¡¯t quite see said. He was still having a slight amount of trouble navigating this new house. ¡°Maven Sarlienne, crown princess of Paumen. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am sorry to intrude, but I am in these two¡¯s party, and they are my transport back, so I need to stick with them for the time being.¡± Aleksander finally was able to orient himself and locate the path to the entryway, where he could vaguely make out three young women taking their shoes off. To his surprise, one of them was clearly inhuman, a demon by the looks of it, and¡­ he only actually recognized one of them. ¡°Ellie?¡± He asked. ¡°Where¡¯s Thomas?¡± ¡°That¡¯s me.¡± One of the girls, a bombshell of a blonde said. ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but I¡¯m going by Tess now.¡± Aleksander blinked. ¡°You were trans?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Not really? But¡­perhaps I wasn¡¯t attached as I thought? I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s hard to tell. I didn¡¯t choose this, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re thinking. Again, long story, and we¡¯re not here to talk about me right now.¡± ¡°That seems like kind of a big deal, though.¡± Aleksander says. ¡°We can¡¯t just gloss over that, right? I mean¡­¡± He paused, forcing his eyes to stop running up and down Tess¡¯s body. It would have been one thing if he¡­she¡­Tess was normal-looking, but even in clothes that wouldn¡¯t normally be flattering, she was very clearly incredibly attractive. It was hard to reconcile his memories of Thomas with the girl in front of him, and it was wildly distracting. ¡°Why don¡¯t you four sit down in the family room first.¡± Aleksander¡¯s mom instructed. ¡°This isn¡¯t a talk to be had in the entryway.¡± Aleksander nodded dumbly, eyes lingering on his mother¡¯s pointy ears as he looked past her and towards the living room. He carefully picked his way over to one of the armchairs, and was followed shortly by the others. ¡°I¡¯ll get you some refreshments.¡± His mother said. ¡°And thank you for coming to visit, you guys, I understand you¡¯re a bit busy right now.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°We were doing errands for Gramps anyway, so it wasn¡¯t really too out of our way.¡± ¡°Speaking of, please don¡¯t tell anyone we were here.¡± Ellie added. ¡°We¡¯re trying to keep it on the down-low as much as possible.¡± ¡°Is it that big of a deal?¡± Aleksander asked tentatively. ¡°You were just at home, right?¡± Ellie shook her head. ¡°We¡¯re supposed to be a few thousand miles away, on an expedition with the guild. Grandpa is debatably the most powerful magician to ever live, so he was able to teleport us back home to deal with another emergency, and he¡¯ll bring us back after we¡¯re finished.¡± Well, it wouldn¡¯t be the strangest thing to happen today; moving through dimensions was apparently possible, so moving through space in one dimension was¡­probably easier. ¡°Right. Um, so¡­Tess, about¡­you. What happened? Is this a normal thing around here?¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°Quite uncommon. Certain Classes transform your body to allow you to properly use their Skills. They¡¯ll always warn you beforehand, but I was too hasty and accepted one before I fully thought through the consequences. I was¡­not in a great place mentally at that moment, and while I don¡¯t regret that decision now, it was one that made my life harder for a little bit. Rest assured that you probably won¡¯t have to deal with a choice like that for a while, if ever, and as long as you think it through you won¡¯t have any trouble.¡± ¡°Besides, even if you do end up transforming into something entirely non-humanoid, there are ways around that.¡± Ellie paused, staring slightly at Aleksander¡¯s ears. ¡°It¡¯s not the end of the world.¡± Aleksander reached up and once again felt the point of his ears. ¡°Right, um¡­I guess I should ask, aside from you, Maven, are either of you¡­not human?¡± Ellie and Tess shared a look. ¡°Sort of?¡± Tess said. ¡°That transformation made me technically not human, but it doesn¡¯t really¡­count. You¡¯d only be able to find out if you like¡­dissected me, and even then, probably only if you were looking.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Aleksander said awkwardly. For all he had led with that question, he hadn¡¯t actually expected either of them to be inhuman. He had braced himself for that when they had told him they would look different, but then he had assumed they were just referring to Thomas being a girl, especially when Maven had walked in being so¡­obviously inhuman. ¡°Well, um, you probably noticed, but I¡¯m¡­not.¡± He said lamely. ¡°Human that is.¡± And then, like a dam had burst, he began to spill everything. ¡°I mean, I just found out about it today! It was like¡­whoops, you thought you were human your whole life, but it turns out you¡¯re an elf, surprise! How was I supposed to react to that?! They tried to tell me that it¡¯s not a big deal, but it is! I¡¯m not crazy, right? I¡¯m not the only one who thinks that way, yeah?¡± ¡°I can see why you¡¯d feel that way.¡± Maven said soothingly. ¡°It must have been quite a shock. If you don¡¯t mind my asking, is there anything in particular that is distressing you about not being human? I am not trying to judge, of course, I just wish to be able to help as best as possible.¡± Aleksander bit his lip. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know. It just feels like¡­like my life is a lie, you know? Not only is magic real, I¡¯m a mythical creature, and the one thing I could count on, or¡­at least, would have counted on if I even thought about counting on it, is wrong. I don¡¯t get why they think it wouldn¡¯t be a big deal.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°I believe that would just be a culture difference.¡± Maven said. ¡°Here, it is not a big deal in the slightest. The differences between forest elves such as yourself and humans are next to nonexistent, simply whether or not the ears are pointed and a century or two of lifespan. You might as well be the same as far as most people are concerned.¡± Aleksander frowned. ¡°A century or two of lifespan seems like a big difference.¡± He said. ¡°It¡¯s actually not.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Leveling up slows aging, and even stops or reverses it once you become high enough level. Anyone with enough time, money, or talent can live however long they want.¡± ¡°And overcrowding?¡± Aleksander asked cautiously. ¡°We are far from reaching that point.¡± Maven said. ¡°In actuality, the number of people who become ageless is less than you would believe, and doing so tends to reduce your virility. It is nearly impossible to conceive past level fifty without seeking out powerful artifacts or spells. Assuming no population growth beyond the usual, we don¡¯t anticipate running into any crowding concerns within habited spaces for at least a thousand years, not taking into account the appearance of new planes like Mael or further colonization of the planes of the Outlands the guild doesn¡¯t enforce neutrality in.¡± ¡°The guild¡¯s the government in this country, right?¡± Aleksander asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I quite understood when it was explained to me.¡± ¡°Yes and no.¡± Tess said. ¡°The guild¡­in some ways acts like a government, but only here. They enforce basic laws like those forbidding murder or theft, and give a sort of¡­certificate of property ownership, but they don¡¯t gather taxes, have a standing army, or any of that. In return, branches are just about everywhere, including other countries, and guild identification is often seen as a form of ID or passport.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I don¡¯t get.¡± Aleksander said frustratedly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound functional. How do they get the money to operate? Why hasn¡¯t this place been conquered by some country or another? Why do the people not care that they¡¯re living in a system with no elected officials or any promise of responsibility to do well by the people? It seems wrong.¡± Ellie sighed. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s weird, I know. But the type of people who live here are the type who value individual autonomy and don¡¯t much care for living under the thumb of another. In their eyes, the guild is the perfect governing body; just hands on enough to prevent complete lawlessness, and hands off enough to feel like it¡¯s not restricting them. Other than that, you really only get organizations like academies that want to remain neutral and purely pursue knowledge, or businesses that appreciate the light hand. It¡¯s not somewhere your ¡®normal¡¯ person is going to live. ¡°As for money, the guild works as a sort of job agency and overseer of dungeons. They provide a place for anyone of any level to find work of almost any level, and are the biggest wholesalers of dungeon products. Anyone who doesn¡¯t want to bother finding a buyer for their monster materials or dungeon loot can sell it to the guild for a bit lower than market price, and the guild in turn sells that stuff to people who want to buy it.¡± ¡°I think there are some people who are hired to go get dungeon loot for the guild, too?¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯m not particularly familiar with that side of things, but I think I¡¯ve heard talk of it once or twice?¡± ¡°Oh, they¡¯re landlords for dungeons, too.¡± Ellie said. ¡°At least the ones around here. They¡¯re not gouging anyone or anything, it¡¯s more¡­providing regulation so people don¡¯t try and intimidate someone out of their housing or unfairly monopolize it or something. That¡¯s not exactly a huge profit, though.¡± ¡°I believe the Reshi Suites also has a contract with the guild.¡± Maven added. ¡°And a myriad of other business ventures. And people have tried to conquer these lands before, there was an inter-planar war some centuries ago, and the guild came out on top.¡± ¡°Inter-planar?¡± Aleksander asked. ¡°A world war.¡± Tess translated. ¡°In this world, it is often quality over quantity, and the guild has by far the most strong people of any organization, and in many ways, they help keep other economies running, especially those of more remote settlements, by providing work and resources.¡± ¡°And, if my experience is any judge, most rulers live with the understanding that if they become too much of a threat to the guild, or start to threaten the neutrality of the Outlands, the Guildmaster will take it personally, and deal with the situation as he sees fit.¡± Maven said. ¡°That¡¯s Mr. Los, right?¡± Aleksander asked. ¡°I find it hard to believe that big countries would be scared of him. I mean¡­he¡¯s just one guy.¡± He paused, glancing at Tess and Ellie. ¡°Uh, no offense, I guess?¡± Ellie flashed him a smile. ¡°None taken.¡± She chuckled. ¡°But remember that Maven is a crown princess, she would know better than anyone what rulers are afraid of.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°In many ways, the Guildmaster is the scariest person alive, simply by virtue of being the strongest. He and his party are the single most effective combat unit to ever live, and I do not believe they have been bested in combat even a single time, not since they rose to prominence. Our estimation was that our army would likely be able defeat them given enough time and the unlikely event that they engaged in a straight fight, but the losses would be devastating, and we would be weakened to the point where some of our more opportunistic neighbors would easily conquer us.¡± Tess raised an eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s significantly more cautious than I thought, especially given your dad¡¯s¡­temperament.¡± She said. ¡°Father has little to do with it.¡± Maven said. ¡°Grandmother and Mother were the ones pushing that line of thought. And I believe you still have not grasped the full extent of the status their party has. You have still yet to see them truly angry or even truly serious, and the displays of raw power and competence they showed during the war were enough to leave the world shaken. Every time some fool with delusions of grandeur tries to pull one over them¡­¡± She trailed off, shaking her head. ¡°They don¡¯t last long, if they even get to the point where they have a confrontation with the Titans. But we have gotten off-topic. The point is that most sensible countries have given up on the notion of any serious confrontation with the guild.¡± ¡°It¡¯s different, but it works.¡± Tess said. ¡°You have to take a while to get used to things, but trust me, you will. I can¡¯t pretend I know exactly how you¡¯re feeling, but I went through some changes of my own.¡± She said, smiling wryly. ¡°The first month or two will likely be hard, but after that you¡¯ll forget anything even changed. Well, at least with regards to your body, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find new things to surprise you for quite some time, but even that will become another sort of normal after a time.¡± ¡°And if I don¡¯t?¡± Aleksander asked. ¡°What then?¡± ¡°Then you can live on Mael and pretend none of this ever happened.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But that¡¯s not something you can keep up forever. We¡¯ve been in contact with the Appointed of Life and Death, and she says that the plan is to fully introduce Mael to the other planes in a few decades. Even before then, you might find yourself needing to move before people start wondering why you haven¡¯t aged as much as you should have.¡± Aleksander bit his lip, thinking on that for a while. He had entertained that prospect briefly before, but had discarded it. He knew that that, not only would he eventually get too curious to hold himself back, but he would always know in the back of his mind that he was living a lie. And that revelation that the planes would merge or whatever cemented that. His thoughts were interrupted by his mother coming back into the room. She set a few drinks and a pile of homemade wafers down on the living room table, and flashed the group a smile. ¡°Lembas wafers and milk for you.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you four to it, okay?¡± And with that, she retreated back into the house, leaving the group alone once again. ¡°Thank you, Mrs. Aesal.¡± Tess said. ¡°We appreciate it.¡± She reached for one of the wafers and began to nibble on it before speaking up again. ¡°Honestly, my advice to you is to give it a couple of days to settle. Everything is new and different and frightening, but after a bit you¡¯ll realize that¡­well, everyone is just people, and things may work a little differently, but at the end of the day, life is¡­life, just more convenient.¡± ¡°But¡­what do I do?¡± Aleksander asked. ¡°There¡¯s so¡­much.¡± ¡°Level up a few times, go clear Slime Tower.¡± Ellie advised. ¡°It¡¯s easy, pretty safe, and you¡¯ll get yourself a few Skills and maybe a Class. Even if you don¡¯t end up freelancing, it never hurts to have stuff you can defend yourself with, and magic has applications outside of combat. Then go down to a library and read an encyclopedia or browse the internet or something, just go learn about the world.¡± ¡°Do you have any recommendations for good places to start if I¡¯m reading up on things?¡± Aleksander asked. ¡°That seems like where I¡¯d want to begin.¡± ¡°Right, so there¡¯s this one site¡­¡± They ended up chatting a little more, and by the end of it, Aleksander felt¡­a little better. It wasn¡¯t some magic bullet that made all his worries go away, but at the very least he had an idea of where to start with everything. Chapter 92: Water is Thicker than Blood As they got back to the house, Maven spoke up. ¡°This may be presumptuous of me, but would you mind if I used your shower before we head back? I have not had a proper wash in a while. I know we have washed in the hoverer and camp, but¡­it is just not the same as washing in an established place.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It¡¯s probably not anywhere near as fancy as you¡¯re used to, though. Even the temporary showers at the headquarters were perhaps on par. Sure the floor wasn¡¯t as nice, but they were certainly much roomier.¡± ¡°That will be fine.¡± Maven said. ¡°I will admit I am also somewhat curious as to what showers on Mael are like, as you cannot just generate the water on demand like you do elsewhere.¡± ¡°It¡¯s pretty much the same.¡± Tess said. ¡°Just that the water has to be piped in. Unfortunately, that also means that if you take too long, all the hot water will run out, though, but it should still last you a good twenty or thirty minutes.¡± ¡°I do not intend to take that long,¡± Maven said, ¡°so it should not be a problem.¡± ¡°Just turn the knob on the wall of the shower, the more it points to the red side, the hotter it is, and the more it points to the blue, the colder.¡± Ellie instructed. ¡°Pull it out when you think it¡¯s at a good spot. You may want to pre-emptively pull it out while you undress so it has some time to warm up, it takes a bit.¡± ¡°Pull it out?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Like a drawer?¡± ¡°Sort of.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Just pull the knob, it should slide out pretty easily, and the water will come on. You don¡¯t need to pull hard or anything, and once it feels like you¡¯re hitting resistance you can stop.¡± ¡°I see. Where may I find your towels?¡± ¡°Should be one hanging in the bathroom. If not, let us know and we¡¯ll get one for you.¡± Ellie said. ¡°The bathroom is through the door right next to the door we used to get here. Take your time, we¡¯ll be out in the living room, playing games or something.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°I will take my leave, then.¡± She said, stepping out of the car and hurrying into the house. Tess and Ellie followed at a more relaxed pace, taking their time as they walked inside and made their way down the hall to the living room. ¡°So¡­games?¡± Tess prompted. ¡°What do we have time for? Tetris or something?¡± ¡°Tetris sounds good.¡± Ellie agreed, the noise of the shower turning on audible as she spoke. ¡°You can¡¯t really go wrong with that.¡± And, as they were setting up the game, they were interrupted by a sudden, girlish yelp from the bathroom.
Tess: Is everything okay in there? Maven: My apologies. I twisted the knob a small amount and the result was much more drastic than I expected. Ellie: Yeah, showers here will do that. Each shower is different, and you have to get a feel for every one. It¡¯s a huge pain, but you get used to it. Maven: I do not think I wish to get used to it. This is much more inconvenient than normal showers. Tess: Well, we had to make do without magic somehow. If you need to make any adjustments to the temperature while you¡¯re already in the shower, I¡¯d suggest getting out of the stream of the water as much as possible and feeling the temperature out with your hand. Maven: I understand. How would you go about taking care of wings or a tail in here? Tess: I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve tried, when I¡¯m here I¡¯m always¡­almost always without those Attributes activated. As you might guess, these showers are not made for nonhuman people. You might just have to not wash those bits for now. Maven: A shame, but I believe you are correct. Ellie: Actually, come to think of it, the shower in Grandpa¡¯s room is unusually big. Do you think¡­ Tess: Actually, you¡¯re right. I didn¡¯t even think about it because I never use it, but it is super big for seemingly no reason. Give me a sec to check it out, I think it might fit your wings Maven: I would appreciate that. Would he mind if I used it? Ellie: No. He even has some shampoo and body wash in there specifically for guests, though it¡¯s¡­not from a brand from here. I had always assumed he had it ordered online or from his job, but¡­
Tess got up from the couch and walked back through the hallway to her grandfather¡¯s room and then into the connected bathroom. And, as she examined the shower within, activating a few Attributes to check, her suspicions were confirmed.
Tess: This shower is absolutely made to accommodate other species, even with a tail and wings I have room to spare in here. And I¡¯m pretty sure the shampoo is from Alice¡¯s company. It¡¯s the same kind they have in the dungeon hotel bathrooms, anyway. Fortune: Yeah, it¡¯s made by a subsidiary company. Maven: If this shower is used by guests, did none ever question why the shampoo is made by a company they have never heard of? Death: I think he just takes the shampoo out and uses local stuff. It¡¯s not like he receives many visitors from Mael anyway, most of them are from other planes Tess: Wait really Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Death: I¡¯d say like a solid 95% of people who have stayed at your house overnight have been from other planes. Fortune: That¡¯s, like, a whole ten people, my socks have been blown off Death: That is an infinite amount more than anyone else in this town Fortune: Is that how infinity works? Death: No clue but it sounds right Ellie: Go ahead and dry yourself off and switch showers. Grandpa¡¯s room is in that same hall, we can have like¡­Tess leave the door open or something, so you know which door Tess: On it. We won¡¯t look, so just wrap your towel around yourself or something, no need to get fully dressed just to undress again in a minute Maven: I¡­will consider it.
The sound of the shower stopped, and Tess returned back to the living room, where Ellie had already set up a Tetris game for them. But they only had a few minutes before they were interrupted again.
Maven: My apologies if this is an insensitive question, but who is your grandmother and what happened to her? I do not see any pictures of anyone that might be her in this house and she is not public knowledge either. Ellie: Oh, her. Yeah, it¡¯s not a big deal. She was a real piece of work, her and Grandpa had some sort of relationship going on, like¡­friends with benefits or casually dating or something, she told him she was using birth control and wasn¡¯t or it was defective or something like that, got knocked up, had my mom, then ditched them when my mom was two or so. I don¡¯t remember her name or even know if she¡¯s still alive or what, and frankly I don¡¯t care to. Tess: Gramps says he thinks she had some sort of undiagnosed mental health problem or something. He doesn¡¯t hold it against her as much as he maybe should, but there¡¯s not much to really say about that. Maven: I must admit, I have a hard time believing he was in a relationship with someone like that. He strikes me as a much better judge of character than that. Still, if they did not want children, why did they not have an abortion? Ellie: He said he was ¡°young and dumb¡±, and didn¡¯t recognize the warning signs until it was too late. As for the abortion¡­well, she didn¡¯t want one, and he wasn¡¯t going to make her get one. And of course, he wasn¡¯t going to abandon my mom after raising her for so long just because his partner did something stupid. But, while the circumstances may have been less than ideal, he says his family is the best thing that ever happened to him, and he wouldn¡¯t change a thing. Maven: Oh. I¡­thank you for indulging my curiosity. Tess: It¡¯s really not a big deal. She may be Ellie¡¯s biological grandmother, but to us she¡¯s just someone who did wrong by Gramps back in the day. A story, not a relative. Fortune: Did we keep track of what happened to her? Life: I believe this all occurred before Evan became an Appointed, and we did not believe she was important enough to track. Perhaps Fate might know, but if he does, he has not told any of us.
Tess¡¯s attention was torn away from the conversation by the game flashing in front of her, a line of garbage being sent over to her side before she even realized what was happening. ¡°Hey!¡± She protested. ¡°We were in the middle of something!¡± ¡°All¡¯s fair in love and war.¡± Ellie said smugly. ¡°And this is both.¡± She leaned over, giving Tess a quick peck on the cheek. ¡°Besides, we both know you can get exactly what you need to clear those lines if you wanted.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not using a Blessing to cheat at a game.¡± Tess said, rolling her eyes. ¡°Where was that attitude when Death asked you to help her out?¡± Ellie teased. ¡°You seemed fine with helping her cheat at a game.¡± ¡°That was different.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s not like she was actively competing against other people for that, and she had put in the work, she was just getting really unlucky, and I counterbalanced it.¡± ¡°Excuses, excuses.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°And your excuses are making you fall ever further behind. You sure you don¡¯t want to turn on god mode?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take my defeat with grace, thank you very much.¡± Tess said. ¡°In the end, I¡¯ll have won the moral victory.¡± ¡°Sounds like loser talk to me.¡± Ellie chuckled. And she was right; Tess lost in short order after that, too much of her attention having been taken away from the game by their conversation. A couple games later, Maven emerged from the bathroom, slightly red. ¡°Thank you.¡± She said. ¡°I understand I was something of a¡­complicated guest.¡± ¡°Seriously, don¡¯t sweat it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I¡¯m guessing this isn¡¯t going to be the last time you shower here, so you might as well learn the layout of the place. And it¡¯s not like we were the most helpful hosts, either; we live here, and we didn¡¯t even think about Grandpa¡¯s shower. Anyway, give us a minute or two to finish this round and we¡¯ll be ready to go.¡± Tess and Ellie quickly finished up their game and put everything away before heading back to the hall and materializing the door that would take them back to their hoverer. From there, they exited the hoverer, packed it up, then went into The Rumor¡¯s hoverer. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re back.¡± Alice said, looking up from her phone. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± ¡°Well, I think?¡± Tess said. ¡°It was hard to gauge their reaction when they were so¡­shell-shocked.¡± ¡°I think we may have introduced the next big freelancer to the business?¡± Ellie added cautiously. ¡°She¡¯s the best in the business back home and I think I saw two of her growths that were below seven. She¡¯s a monster in the making.¡± ¡°Is that that Hunter lady that attacked Tess during the graduation ceremony?¡± Alice asked, frowning. ¡°I still have some¡­pointed words to share with her.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°We¡¯re square now, so you really don¡¯t need to worry about her.¡± Alice shook her head. ¡°You two may be fine now, but that doesn¡¯t forgive her for the sloppy job she did in investigating you. If she had taken even a bit, she would have realized that something more was up.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a little unfair.¡± Tess said. ¡°I was rather blatantly using actual monster abilities, and the only place on Mael you¡¯d see those is in real monsters. You don¡¯t have to do much investigation when your target has basically admitted to being the kind of thing you¡¯re supposed to get rid of.¡± Alice sighed, walking over and throwing an arm around Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re way too forgiving, you know that?¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to drill some cynicism into you if you¡¯re going to be able to deal with the gambling world seriously.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about cynicism!¡± Tess protested, allowing Alice to lead her back to where Alice had been sitting before, then sitting down with Alice. ¡°It was a genuine accident brought on by her having no way to know about the wider world. The moment she knew what was going on, she changed her tune!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be the judge of that.¡± Alice said matter-of-factly. ¡°You¡¯re going to bring her to me, and we¡¯ll have a¡­civilized chat.¡± Tess heaved a sigh of her own. ¡°Fine. Just don¡¯t rough her up too badly, okay?¡± ¡°If I determine she doesn¡¯t deserve it, I won¡¯t hurt her. If she doesn¡¯t impress me¡­well, I¡¯ll show her that she¡¯s not top dog anymore.¡± Alice stopped, scanning Tess¡¯s expression before continuing. ¡°With a Gauntlet of Challenge, of course, but I¡¯m not going to make the experience pleasant.¡± ¡°If you insist.¡± Tess said. ¡°But that aside, did Gramps and his party finish their run of the dungeon yet?¡± ¡°Yeah, they got back an hour or two ago.¡± Alice said. ¡°Ker and Jin are in the lobby talking with them. Once you got here, I was gonna let them know you were back and we would finish off this run. Uh, if you¡¯re not too tired, that is.¡± ¡°How many floors are left in the dungeon again?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Thirteen.¡± Maven responded. ¡°And the final floor is just the boss, so we should not have to worry about it.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m fine.¡± Tess said. ¡°Ditto.¡± Ellie added. ¡°And me as well.¡± Maven finished. ¡°Good, good.¡± Alice said. ¡°You guys will be fine during the boss, right? You could get hit by stray AoE attacks or something.¡± ¡°I will make sure the boss does not target us, and will coordinate with them to keep us out of any area of effect attacks.¡± Maven said. ¡°Do not worry about us.¡± ¡°Good, just making sure.¡± Alice said. ¡°Now, let¡¯s go get this show back on the road!¡± Chapter 93: Exit, Pursued by an Appointed Their trek up to the boss was uneventful. The Rumors methodically cleared the floors, and Maven kept the younger girls from being targeted by monsters or hurt by the dungeon¡¯s traps. ¡°Man, is this how it feels like to be you?¡± Ellie had asked Tess. ¡°It¡¯s weird watching all the monsters ignore me.¡± And that pretty much summed up the feelings of Ellie and Maven. Tess had grown accustomed to this treatment, but it seemed Ellie and Maven were still basking in the novelty of it. Admittedly, Tess found herself a little bored by the experience, since she wasn¡¯t contributing much, but it didn¡¯t take them long to get to the boss, so it wasn¡¯t a big deal. ¡°Let¡¯s go over the plan one more time.¡± Jin said, stopping the group before they entered the boss room proper. ¡°Maven, you¡¯re in charge of making sure your party doesn¡¯t get injured. If it looks like things are going to get too dangerous, I expect you to make the boss stop doing anything. I don¡¯t care about our experience fighting it, it¡¯s more important that you remain safe.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°I understand. You have my word that the three of us will come to no harm.¡± ¡°We appreciate it. Feel free to take potshots if you so wish, so long as it would not get in the way of our efforts.¡± Jin said. ¡°Which it shouldn¡¯t.¡± Ker added. ¡°Just be careful, alright? We¡¯d hate to see any of you get hurt because we wanted to get an early crack at this dungeon.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°We trust you.¡± Ker said, giving her a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s go beat this thing, okay?¡± The group moved through the door and into the boss room, a blast of warm, dry air greeting them as they did. Before them was a large plain not unlike the top of the canyon, dry scrubland as far as the eye could see. There was just one major difference; everything was huge, even the smallest of bushes that only would barely reach Tess¡¯s knee outside were gargantuan, easily two to three times her size. And, lurking behind the bushes about two hundred feet away, she could make out a huge snake through her tremorsense, the beast watching the group of people warily. Alice raised her shield, taking a step forward. ¡°Good thing this is a wide arena.¡± She muttered. ¡°You three, keep well to the side and support from afar, alright?¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Maven said. ¡°Tess, Ellie, follow me.¡± She strode off to the left, veering away from the snake and The Rumors. As she led her party members through the spacious room, the plants parted for them, the stems and branches of the plants bending themselves into perfectly-sized tunnels for them to walk through. ¡°I must admit this is much more convenient than I thought it would be.¡± Maven said. ¡°Changes such as this cost a pittance, and I am close to regenerating fast enough to recoup all of my resource losses.¡± ¡°That¡¯s probably to be expected.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I mean, both Death and Fortune¡¯s Blessings require no resources to use, and Life¡¯s Blessing is far more efficient than regular healing. Blessings are all about convenience, at least the strong ones.¡± ¡°I suppose so.¡± Maven said. ¡°Do you believe we are far enough away now?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± Tess said. ¡°Should we just fire an attack each and then watch the show?¡± ¡°That seems reasonable.¡± Maven replied. The bush around them opened up a clear path towards the boss. Once the way was clear, she chanted a quick spell and a bolt of light flew out to hit the snake, which was already in the thick of battle with The Rumors. Tess and Ellie followed suit, but when Tess moved to site down, Maven stopped her. ¡°Wait one moment, please.¡± She said. ¡°I believe I can make something for us to sit on.¡± The bush around them peeled back even more, and a couch grew out of the floor, which Maven promptly sat down on. ¡°It would appear that I can also make items that appear in dungeon housing.¡± She explained. ¡°I do not believe it will come up much, but it should be a benefit to us regardless.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not going to look a gift couch in the mouth.¡± Ellie said, collapsing onto the couch. ¡°Not bad at all.¡± The three sat for a while as The Rumors fought, and within only a few minutes the snake was felled. As it burst into rainbow smoke, Alice immediately turned her head, obviously looking for Tess¡¯s party. As she located them, she dashed over, and Tess¡¯s party got up to meet her halfway. ¡°A couch?¡± Alice asked, raising a brow. ¡°Where¡¯d you get that from?¡± ¡°I made it.¡± Maven said. ¡°It is the same type that dungeons make for the living spaces, and therefore within the purview of my Blessing.¡± ¡°That makes more sense.¡± Alice said, scratching the back of her head. ¡°I thought you had it in one of your bags or something.¡± ¡°Nothing like that.¡± Maven said. ¡°Though I do not doubt we could fit one in a bag if we so wished.¡± ¡°I know, I just thought it was a strange thing to have in a bag.¡± Alice said. ¡°Though I suppose there¡¯s some use for it. Anyway, are any of you hurt at all?¡± ¡°Not in the slightest.¡± Maven said. ¡°There were no complications whatsoever.¡± ¡°Good. In that case, let¡¯s go get our rewards, okay?¡± Alice led them over to where the door to the Rewards Crystal was, and everyone piled in and placed their hand on the crystal, receiving their reward.
You have gained the Skill Beastmaster¡¯s Bond! Beastmaster¡¯s Bond: Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: You and your tamed monsters or summoned creatures share all passive abilities, buffs, debuffs, and status conditions. Multiple instances of the same passive ability, buff, debuff, or status condition do not stack. Sharing is caring, and you care a lot.
An odd sensation passed over Tess, and her attendants stirred within her. Mistress, I feel so¡­strong! Silky said. Is this what it feels like to be you? I don¡¯t know. Tess replied. How much stronger do you feel? I do not believe we have your Blessing. Isabella said. But your other Skills are enough on their own.
Tess: How does this work with Attributes? Fortune: Jankily. None of the effects that transform your body apply, but basically anything that has a non-physical, passive effect does. This includes effects on Attributes that also happen to give you physical alterations. People who have this Skill aren¡¯t supposed to be able to ¡°peek behind the curtain¡± and see how Attributes actually work, so they¡¯re none the wiser to the fact that they¡¯re not technically getting the entire effect of an Attribute Ellie: What¡¯s this about? The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Tess: New Skill I got, will explain more out loud.
¡°So,¡± Alice said, looking at Tess, ¡°what¡¯d you get?¡± ¡°A Skill that allows me to share passive abilities, buffs, debuffs, and status conditions with my summons or tamed beasts, and vice-versa.¡± Tess said. ¡°Including those originating from Attributes.¡± Alice¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°So if we hit all three of you with a damage buff ¨C¡± ¡°Multiple instances of the same thing don¡¯t stack.¡± Tess said quickly. ¡°So no dice there, unfortunately. Still, it¡¯s plenty powerful.¡± ¡°As always.¡± Alice said. ¡°Standard fare for me, nothing great, nothing terrible.¡± ¡°Same here.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It¡¯s a bit better than what I¡¯m used to, but I imagine that¡¯s because the dungeon is higher level, not because I got slightly lucky.¡± ¡°Probably.¡± Ker agreed. Jin tapped his chin thoughtfully. ¡°Maven, can you create Rewards Crystals?¡± Maven blinked in surprise. ¡°I never thought to do that. Give me a moment.¡±
Dungeons: You can, but they won¡¯t be effective unless whoever touches them meets the requirements to gain a reward.
¡°Yes, but they will not work unless you could normally get a reward from them.¡± Maven relayed. Jin shrugged. ¡°It was worth thinking about. Shall we call it a day?¡± Maven nodded. ¡°I am ready for some food and relaxation.¡± ¡°I think we all are, but you three in particular have had a long day. I¡¯ll whip something up for you, do you all have any preferences?¡± Ker asked. ¡°Can you make some bread?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Your bread just hits different.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Ker chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll get the jams out, too.¡± ¡°Oh, and Tess, don¡¯t forget to absorb the boss¡¯s core this time.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Don¡¯t let it stew too long like you did with the last one.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll do it once we get back.¡± Tess said. ¡°How did that boss fight, by the way? I¡¯m assuming with poison or acid or something, right?¡± Alice groaned. ¡°Worse, it was with a base.¡± ¡°A base?¡± Tess asked, taken aback. ¡°You know, like in chemistry. The opposite of an acid. The stuff they use in cleaning products.¡± Alice explained. ¡°Real nasty stuff, though it¡¯s fortunately pretty rare as a combat tool.¡± ¡°And that means what exactly?¡± Ellie asked curiously. ¡°Well, you see, both acids and bases burn you. But bases, like¡­don¡¯t do as much immediate damage, but they do more damage over time and are harder to remove. And the nastiest of enemies use both, coating you in a base and then neutralizing it with an acid. It¡¯ll remove the DoT effect and do a bunch of damage in the process all the while being supremely uncomfortable.¡± Alice grimaced, apparently recalling an unpleasant memory. ¡°Trust me, you do not want a chemical reaction occurring on or within your body.¡± They chatted a bit more as they headed back into the lobby and got the hoverer set up and themselves situated inside. And, right after she sat down, Tess absorbed the core of the boss.
You have absorbed a Basic Bushland Boa Core! Slots filled: 23/30 You have gained 1,500 EXP in Monster Breeder! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ New Skills detected! Attempting to degrade and obtain Highly Based¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Based! Displaying core information: Basic Bushland Boa Core: Level 63 Estimated Power: 1,750 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 3,500
Tess¡¯s focus was snapped away from the window as another appeared right it front of it.
Fortune: Hate to cut this short but duty calls, again. Tess: We weren¡¯t done for the day? Fortune: I¡¯m pretty sure Fate wasn¡¯t meddling with this, and it was just dumb luck. Death: Don¡¯t be so harsh on yourself there Life: Now is NOT the time, Death. Fortune: He¡¯s right. The head of my church is trying to exit stage left and we gotta go stop her. Now. She¡¯s packing up the few vital things left in her office, and I give it five minutes before she¡¯s gone through a secret exit she built into the place. Switch your gear around, we¡¯re dropping in hot.
Tess stood up, the casual clothing she normally kept her armor in bleeding back into a suit, a mask appearing around her eyes. ¡°Gotta go.¡± She said. ¡°Be back¡­soon.¡± Not waiting for a response, she activated the Attribute that gave her rabbitkin traits, activated the recognition scrambler on her armor, pulled the sleeves of her gloves down because it just felt right, activated Descent, and then was gone. She landed on one knee, standing up from the sudden crouch as a wind whipped at her hair. She was forty or fifty stories up on a balcony, and the twinkling lights of the City below backlit her silhouette against the large glass sliding doors. Beyond them was an office in minor disarray, though notably the large executive chair was both on the wrong side of the desk and facing away from the balcony, so Tess could only barely make out the figure of a woman sitting on it. Still, her Tremorsense gave her a pretty good idea of who she was looking at; a relatively tall elven woman with short hair, sipping some unidentified liquid from a goblet. A small chunk of loose plaster chose that moment to dislodge itself from the ceiling, landing squarely on the balcony door¡¯s lock, applying just enough pressure to unlock the door and allow a sudden fierce gust of wind to slam it open. The hand holding the goblet reached out to the side, lazily motioning for the door to be shut. ¡°Be a dear and shut the door behind you on your way in, miss Appointed of Fortune.¡± The woman said. ¡°It¡¯s rather chilly tonight. That being said, I do believe this is our first time meeting, so introductions are in order. I am Olga Aesal, humble servant of the goddess of Fortune, at your service. To what do I owe this¡­unexpected visit?¡± Aesal? Tess asked. Is she ¨C Somewhat-distant aunt. Not even close to on speaking terms with Aleksander¡¯s family, but technically related. ¡°You know full well why we¡¯re here.¡± Fortune said. ¡°You didn¡¯t really believe you could get away this easy, did you?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Olga tittered. ¡°I was sure you¡¯d try to stop me, but I¡¯m sure we can come to an¡­agreement. Care for some wine? I left a goblet for you on the desk.¡± Fortune didn¡¯t dignify that with a response, instead sighing and shaking their head. ¡°What went wrong, Olga? You were so good at the beginning, so full of faith and willingness to work towards the betterment of society.¡± ¡°I realized the true nature of society, Fortune.¡± Olga responded. ¡°People are creatures that run only on greed; once they gain a taste of living large, they¡¯ll do anything for more. Too many people receive our handouts only to return under cover of night and try to pilfer more. Too many come to us in hopes of a sudden turnaround of their luck, a massive windfall that will propel them into a life of hedonistic delight, one which they will inevitably lose as they fail to put in even a scrap of effort to maintain it. ¡°People are selfish, greedy, ungrateful fools, so what does it matter if I give myself a little extra pleasure? Everyone else would certainly do the same if they had the opportunity, even your little Appointed. You of all people must understanding this, so why bother with this charade any longer? I have served you well these past decades, so let me quietly disappear. You cannot afford turmoil in such an unstable time, so do the smart thing and take the easy way out, will you?¡± ¡°Not happening.¡± Fortune said flatly. ¡°And I¡¯m not going to waste time arguing against your twisted philosophy, either. You have two options right now; one is to come quietly, sign a Contract stating that you will publicly resign out of a sense of guilt, and the other is to resist and make me force you to sign the Contract. Choose.¡± ¡°You are far too predictable for the goddess of Fortune.¡± Olga sighed. ¡°Here¡¯s a counteroffer. We duel like civilized people; if I win, I walk away scot-free. If I lose, I submit to any and all demands, and I declare that as Contract.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± Fortune said. ¡°Consider your Contract accepted.¡± There was a charge to the air as a magical bond was created, one which Tess instinctively knew was similar to a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath, except more¡­bidirectional. These Contracts are usually supposed to bind two parties to a very specific set of terms. Fortune explained quickly. It won¡¯t work on us. If by some miracle we lose, we¡¯ll just send in Evan or someone else and she won¡¯t get away again. ¡°I will try not to hurt you too badly.¡± Fortune said, unsheathing their claws and maneuvering their body closer to the desk. ¡°But no promises.¡± Olga tutted to herself. ¡°That¡¯s barbaric.¡± She said. ¡°I said we would fight duel like civilized people.¡± She reached into a bag, pulling out two large¡­somethings before finally wheeling her chair around for the first time and tossing one to Tess. Tess and Fortune caught it, sparing only enough time to ensure it wasn¡¯t dangerous before returning their eyes to Olga. She had a near identical device of her own that she was fitting onto her arm, some sort of bracer which projected out a holographic display marked with a series of strange, marked rectangles that seemed vaguely familiar despite the fact that Tess was sure she hadn¡¯t seen much quite like it. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there like a buffoon.¡± Olga said, reaching into her bag once again and pulling out two stacks of cards, which she fed into a slot on her machine. ¡°Put on your Duel Terminal. It¡¯s time we settle this.¡± Chapter 94: Its Time to Duel
Death: FOOLISH MORTAL, YOU COME TO MY DOMAIN, AND DARE TO CHALLENGE ME AT MY GAME? YOU AND YOUR PATHETIC CARDS ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT I HAVE IN STORE Ellie: what Maven: Do we need to be worried about this? Life: No, Death is just being dramatic. We will explain more when this is over. Death: I¡¯m videotaping this don¡¯t worry I gotchu fam ¨C I mean HOW COULD SHE BE SO FOOLISH?! SHE HAS DUG HER OWN GRAVE, AND I WILL GLADLY EXPEDITE HER JOURNEY TO IT
¡°You may be from Mael, but surely you have heard of Planar Duels, yes?¡± Olga said, voice dripping with condescension. ¡°Or have you been too busy getting pampered by the guildmaster to learn about the culture here?¡± This thing is safe to put on, right? Tess asked Fortune. Go ahead. Fortune replied, already helping Tess slot the machine onto her arm. ¡°No.¡± Tess said to Olga. ¡°I¡¯ve been too busy properly doing my job, unlike you.¡± Olga snorted. ¡°I can hear it in your tone already.¡± She said. ¡°You think this is some foolish attempt to stall out your Descent, a stalling tactic to avoid ¡°real¡± conflict. Nothing could be further from the truth; for us who are so very Blessed with luck, what more perfect battle could there be than one of cards? ¡°Planar Duels is the perfect blend of luck and skill, a way of carefully crafting a plan and then putting it all on the line and letting fate decide how well you can execute it. Working your way around shortcomings, creating new plans on the fly¡­it truly is a game to end all games. Now, in our session I have placed two decks, you may pick one and¡­¡± Tess¡¯s attention was torn away by the chat window appearing once again.
Death: FORTUNE, DO THE THING
¡°No need, we have our own.¡± Fortune said, swiping their hand to the side, fingers straight out and held together, thumb hovering a ways below. Within their waiting hand, a deck began to fade into existence, the cards appearing starting at the bottom and working their way to the top, like they were burning in reverse. Fortune nimbly handled the sleeved cards, feeding them into one of the slots and eying Olga coldly. ¡°This will be plenty.¡± That was way too practiced a motion for you to have not done this before. Death and I play from time to time and sometimes we like to be silly. I know generally how this deck plays, but if we ever get into an iffy situation, just do what Death tells us. Fortune instructed. She came in third at the inter-planal championship with this deck.
Death: That¡¯s right, there¡¯s no WAY we lose to a scrub like Olga. She thinks she¡¯s soooooo cute, putting those decks in like that; the obvious high-rolly deck is totally countered by the other, and even if you do pick that other deck, I can see the cards in those sideboards, to be subbed in before you start. She¡¯s 100% aiming to crush you in an unfair way, assuming you don¡¯t know the game well enough. TOO BAD, GET ABSOLUTELY WRECKED Ellie: wait are they playing cards Life: Yes, asinine as that may be. Truly, I do not know what she was thinking, attempting to win in a game of luck against Fortune herself is the height of hubris. Death: Actually, she totally woulda won were I not here, those decks leave nothing to luck. They¡¯re competently constructed, I¡¯ll give her that, but they¡¯re nothing compared to true power.
¡°Very well.¡± Olga said. ¡°We will, of course, play without Luck equalization, and I¡¯ll dispense with the formalities of randomly decided who chooses who goes first; we both know that you will win. Now, are you going first or second?¡± ¡°First.¡± Fortune said, hitting a button on the Duel Terminal, causing seven cards to be spit out of the machine. Why do people use these? Tess asked. This seems highly impractical. Usually, it¡¯s to mitigate Luck, but we¡¯re not doing that right now. Other than that, it makes cheating harder and removes manual dexterity from shuffling. That and it¡¯s faster, easier, flashier, and magic makes programming game state interactions relatively easy so you don¡¯t need to worry about rules questions. ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± Olga asked impatiently. ¡°You¡¯re not going to mulligan, so just go already.¡± ¡°We take an Adventurous Mana for turn, and play Founding of the Guild to gain another, then pass turn.¡± Fortune said, placing a card in an indentation on the Duel Terminal. Two gray lights lit up on the left side, and the card Fortune had played was sucked into the Duel Terminal before being shot out near the deck. Wait, that¡¯s Gramps on the art. Tess said. Is this based on real people? Most of the cards reference real-world events in some way, shape, or form. Evan is far too ubiquitous a figure to not be in here. For most people, the idea of someone else as the leader of the guild is almost nonsensical. ¡°Draw for turn, Monstrous Mana, Mama Bear¡¯s Cub, go.¡± Olga said, placing a card down on her Duel Terminal. In response, a red light blinked to life on the right side of Tess and Fortune¡¯s Duel Terminal, and holographic card appeared just above the Terminal, reading out the stats of the card. The stats were¡­the same as they were in real life, except scaled down and missing Luck, Dexterity, Stamina, and Mana, a stat called ¡°Energy¡± seemingly having replaced Stamina and Mana. Tess was about to begin reading the text, but Fortune interrupted her. Don¡¯t bother. It doesn¡¯t do anything now, but it gets bigger each time something on her side of the field dies. She probably has some way to infinitely make and kill monsters in there.
Death: Academic Mana now, we gotta get stun online before she gets the combo off. Fortune: Understood. How long do we have left? Death: Given that she will have the worst possible luck¡­three or four more of her turns. She¡¯s playing the counterpick deck, and it¡¯s annoyingly consistent.
¡°Done reading?¡± Olga said impatiently. ¡°Let¡¯s get this show on the road.¡± ¡°Yes. We¡¯ll be choosing Academic Mana and then playing Academic Curiosity.¡± Fortune said, playing the card they just drew without even looking at it. ¡°We¡¯ll draw another card and then play Guildmaster¡¯s Call to Arms and make two Rank 1 Adventurer tokens then pass.¡± Olga drew a card, then clicked her tongue in annoyance. ¡°Adventurous Mana, tap a Minion, Horde of Rookies.¡±
Death: Creates a Rank 1 Adventurer token every upkeep if she controls a Minion. Just getting dudes on the board for her strat, nothing to worry about. More Academic Mana for card advantage this turn, use the ramp you get to ramp up Adventurous, cast The Ripper¡¯s Tax the turn after
Fortune sighed, drawing a card. ¡°Olga, why did you think you could defeat me in any contest?¡± She asked. ¡°Surely you know that no mortal has challenged the gods and won, yes?¡± ¡°I took a calculated risk.¡± Olga said. ¡°I saw the writing on the wall, and knew this was my only chance at a favorable outcome. But more curious is you; you¡¯re a god, why do you know how to play this game? And don¡¯t feed me the lie that it¡¯s your Appointed, I know she¡¯s one of the Guildmaster¡¯s grandchildren, and neither of them have had any contact with the game, as far as my informants can tell.¡± ¡°Am I not allowed to study the culture of the mortal world?¡± Fortune asked. ¡°Academic Mana, Diligent Study, cast both copies of Founding of the Guild, pass.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Olga frowned. ¡°You are allowed, yes, but this is more than simply knowing the game; you¡¯re clearly practiced with it. Civilized Mana, Disposable Pawns searching Monstrous Reincarnation, saccing both of my tokens for cost, swing with Mama Bear¡¯s Cub. Blocks?¡±
Death: Take the hit. Her combo is nearly online, she needs one more search to make it happen, which is¡­not hard for her, she¡¯s probably one or two draws off. Just play The Ripper¡¯s Intimidation and the game is basically over, though.
¡°We take it.¡± Tess said. ¡°But, really, what sort of hubris is required to even think you¡¯d be able to outwit a god?¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯ve known about your escape scheme since the moment you started planning it.¡± ¡°Likely story.¡± Olga snorted. ¡°I know you¡¯re not omniscient, Fortune. If you knew, you would have stopped me earlier. Second main¡­pass turn.¡± Fortune drew a card. ¡°I decided to give you a chance.¡± She said. ¡°One chance to correct yourself now that I have an Appointed. And you failed.¡± ¡°You could have told me.¡± Olga huffed. ¡°This could have been resolved with conversation.¡± ¡°Olga, I know you. Or¡­the you that you have become.¡± Fortune said. ¡°You would pretend to go along with it until you felt firmly entrenched enough to resume some of your old sins. Perhaps not to the extent that you were before, but you would relapse nonetheless. This change had to come from you, or it was meaningless.¡± ¡°If you know me so well, you would have known that I wouldn¡¯t do that.¡± Olga snorted. ¡°I knew.¡± Fortune said calmly. ¡°But I hoped otherwise. I play Academic Curiosity, followed by The Ripper¡¯s Intimidation. Do you have an out, or is the game over?¡± Tess spared a look at the card they had just played; it simply made any creature attacking her flip a coin before attacking, the attack being negated on tails. So¡­yes, in this situation, if Olga had no method of dealing with it or dealing indirect damage, Olga had no chance of winning. ¡°My out is decking you.¡± Olga said. ¡°You¡¯ve drawn too much, and I can stall for as long as I want.¡± Fortune raised an eyebrow. ¡°Awfully confident. Go ahead, I pass turn.¡± Olga drew a card. ¡°Adventurous Mana, Disappearance of the Deserter Army, preventing all attacks for three turns. Go ahead.¡± Fortune shook her head. ¡°It truly is a shame that it came to this. I wish I had done things differently when you were just starting out; perhaps we wouldn¡¯t have had to be here. Draw, Academic Mana, Tournament of Magic.¡± Olga¡¯s face soured, and she slid a card into a slot as Fortune did the same. The cards popped up on screen, and Fortune nodded to herself. ¡°As my card is more expensive, I cast it for free. Calling The Titans, fetching one each of Guildmaster Los, Eyfura the Ripper, Atum the Unbreakable, and Ava the Shadow. Since I control ¡°The Ripper¡¯s Intimidation¡±, and you currently control a Boss¡¯s Minion, Mama Bear¡¯s Cub, I can summon Eyfura the Ripper for free. On summon, she and your Boss¡¯s Minion fight.¡± The card that contained the information for Mama Bear¡¯s Cub vanished. ¡°Since Eyfura the Ripper fought and defeated one of your creatures, I elect to spend her Energy to choose another of your creatures for her to fight, your token being the only remaining option. And, as a member of The Titans has taken damage this turn, I may summon Atum the Indomitable for a reduced cost, spending all of my remaining Mana to do so. I can¡¯t attack you this turn, so go ahead.¡± Olga drew, her face growing sourer with every move that was made. ¡°Natural Mana, Weather the Storm. Go ahead.¡± ¡°Draw, Adventurous Mana, play Guildmaster Los. On summon, he may end one ongoing effect, and as Weather the Storm makes your other effects unable to be interacted with, I will opt to end it. I will use all of his Energy to end another effect, in this case Disappearance of the Deserter Army. Combat, swing with Eyfura and Atum.¡± ¡°I have no choice but to take it.¡± Olga said. ¡°End turn.¡± Olga sighed, drawing a card. ¡°I play another Disappearance of the Deserter Army. Go.¡± ¡°Draw, Civilized Mana, play Ava, use her effect to deal damage equal to her power to any target, burning you for game.¡±
Death: FOOL, YOUR HUBRIS WAS YOUR DOWNFALL. NO ONE CHALLENGES THE GODS AND WINS
The Duel Terminal flashed, and the deck of cards was spit back out. Fortune took it and sent it back to Death, giving Olga a cold look all the while. ¡°As the Contract states, you must now submit to any and all of my demands. But first, I hereby revoke your Blessing and bestow upon you a Curse, locking your Luck stat at one forever.¡±
Ellie: Remind me when the last time you beat me in Tetris was? Death: You don¡¯t count. As are well aware, you are considered to be an equal of the gods, therefore you are technically a god, and my statement is valid, Q.E.D.
Olga let out an involuntary gasp, dropping to her knees as part of herself was ripped away, only to be replaced with something that constricted her very soul. Tess would have winced if Fortune wasn¡¯t there to steady their body; Tess couldn¡¯t imagine that the process was remotely pleasant. It''s not pleasant. Fortune confirmed. I am told it feels absolutely horrendous.
Ellie: Even more technically, I¡¯m not a Higher Being, and thus not a god. Death: Semantics. Higher Beings are not inherently gods, the position of ¡°god¡± is an artifact made by the Administrators of the world. And, as Amy has indicated that you are equal to the gods, you are effectively a god. Life: Both of you, shut up. They¡¯re in the middle of something very important Ellie: Sorry, didn¡¯t know they were done done
Tess set her window to private mode, blocking any further messages from the others. ¡°Demand one,¡± Fortune began, ¡°you must step down publicly and admit your wrongdoing under the guise of repentance. Demand two, you are to liquidate all personal assets aside from daily necessities, one house, and one platinum coin, and bring the resulting funds to this office, where my Appointed will take them for use in the gambling reform. ¡°Demand three, you are never to enter into the gambling business again, not that you would find success if you tried. And for my final demand, all demands from my Appointed are to be obeyed as if she was me. These demands are to be followed to the spirit of the demand and are to be carried out as soon as possible, with the stipulation that demand two must be completed before demand one. Finally, as you declared that you must obey any and all demands I have, I am leaving this list open to modification indefinitely.¡± Olga somehow paled even more than she already had. ¡°That¡¯s¡­the rest of eternity! Surely that¡¯s not within the spirit of the Contract!¡± Fortune raised an eyebrow. ¡°Why does that matter?¡± She said. ¡°Just be grateful I am not going further than this; I have full access to rewrite your mind however I please without even expending power; all I have to do is ask and your very soul will bend over backwards to make your mind match my instruction.¡± Olga let out a frustrated sigh. ¡°Very well then.¡± She put her Duel Terminal and cards back in a bag at her waist, then took off the bag and threw it at Tess. ¡°If I may, I would ask that these cards and Duel Terminals are excluded from the liquidation; give them to your Appointed and teach her to play. That bag contains all items I own relating to Planar Duels, and I would rather they go to someone who can properly use what I have made.¡± Tess could feel Fortune resist the urge to sigh. Why did her old self only surface for this? She mused. But¡­perhaps she is not too far gone. Maybe, some time in the distant future, she¡¯ll have repented, and I can remove the Curse, but¡­she doesn¡¯t need to know that¡¯s an option. ¡°That is acceptable.¡± Fortune said, tucking the bag in one of Tess¡¯s pockets. ¡°We will be taking our leave now, do not disappoint me further than you have.¡± Fortune snapped her fingers, and suddenly she and Tess were back in the domain of the gods and out of Descent. ¡°Wait, aren¡¯t you not supposed to be able to put bags in a bag?¡± Tess said, reaching into a pocket and taking out Olga¡¯s bag. ¡°I mean, I know the suit pockets aren¡¯t technically bags, but you know what I mean.¡± ¡°Kane and Artifice do good work.¡± Fortune said, pulling Tess over to a couch and sitting them both down before resting her head on Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°But¡­that¡¯s not important. Um¡­would you be willing to stay here with me for a bit? That was¡­more emotionally taxing than I thought it would be.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t even need to ask.¡± Tess said, giving Fortune a slight smile. ¡°Take as long as you need.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Fortune said, leaning further on Tess. ¡°You know, it¡¯s odd. I view you and Ellie as my children of sorts, but now it feels like you¡¯re all grown up, and I¡¯m wondering where the time went. I used to think about what life would have been like if I wasn¡¯t born a god, and was just a regular girl, with a normal family, but¡­I don¡¯t think I need to wonder anymore, at least not about kids. I¡¯m sure this is what a mother must feel like when watching her kids grow up.¡± Tess just smiled, wrapping her arm around Fortune. ¡°You would be a good mom.¡± She said. ¡°Though you would probably need a partner who could be the disciplinarian, while you were the fun mom.¡± Fortune giggled. ¡°I¡¯m sure my theoretical wife and I would figure something out.¡± She paused, then gave a sigh. ¡°But¡­that¡¯ll just have to stay theory, I¡¯m not really compatible in that way with any of the other gods except maybe Death, but¡­she¡¯s straight, so I¡¯ll just settle for best friends and hope that one of the new gods that gets made down the line will be an option. Until then, I¡¯ll just have to be married to the job.¡± ¡°Well¡­it may not be traditional, but you have a family of sorts with me and Ellie.¡± Tess said reassuringly. ¡°And we¡¯re not going away any time soon, so you¡¯re stuck with us for the long haul.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way.¡± Fortune replied. The two slipped into a comfortable silence for quite some time before Fortune stood up. ¡°Thanks again. I¡¯m gonna send you back now, okay?¡± Tess paused, then shook her head hesitantly. ¡°Actually¡­do you think I can talk to Amy alone for a bit? I have some things I want to ask her about.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s about making a new god who¡¯s compatible with me, you really don¡¯t need to.¡± Fortune said. ¡°It was just idle musings, I¡¯m perfectly content where I am now.¡± Tess shook her head again. ¡°No, not that. I just¡­had some ideas that she might be interested in, and just wanted to see if they were feasible before I brought them up with you.¡± Fortune, face alight with curiosity, nodded. ¡°I think we can do that. But, even if the ideas aren¡¯t feasible, will you tell me what they were? Maybe I could help you work something out.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Tess said, standing up as well. ¡°So¡­how do we do this? Do we just like¡­wander around looking for her?¡± Fortune chuckled, pulling her phone out of her pocket. ¡°Nothing like that. I¡¯ll just shoot her a text like so¡­and she should be back to us soon. She¡¯s usually pretty prompt about these things.¡± After a moment, Fortune¡¯s phone buzzed. ¡°Yeah, she has time.¡± Fortune relayed. ¡°Let me bring you to her.¡± An anxious knot welled up in Tess¡¯s stomach, but she pushed it down. She hadn¡¯t interacted much with Amy, but¡­Amy seemed amiable enough, so Tess was hopeful that she¡¯d be receptive to Tess¡¯s requests, so she just had to go for it, for Fortune¡¯s sake, if nothing else. ¡°Alright.¡± She said. ¡°Where to?¡± Chapter 95: A Bold Proposition Tess entered the room apprehensively, a somewhat worried Fortune seeing her off. ¡°Hey there, Tess.¡± Amy said, straightening up and setting down a tool. She had been hunched over a desk of some sort, working on some piece of machinery that Tess couldn¡¯t figure out the purpose of. ¡°Glad you¡¯re feeling comfortable enough to come talk to me.¡± Tess blinked in surprise. ¡°Really? You¡¯re not mad that I¡¯m bothering you?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Amy laughed. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t get mad at any of the gods, and the Appointed are essentially the same in my eyes. You guys handle the physical work, they handle the spiritual. Neither of you would be as effective without the other, so it wouldn¡¯t do to treat you differently. Actually¡­I should give you my contact details. Here, hand me your phone.¡± Tess walked over to Amy and hesitantly handed her phone over. ¡°Um, do you need the password?¡± Amy held the phone in her hand for a moment, then handed it back, having not even turned the screen on. ¡°No need, I¡¯m done.¡± Tess took the phone back, slightly relieved to find that none of Amy¡¯s slime had stayed on the phone. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Please, if I couldn¡¯t do this sort of thing, I wouldn¡¯t be in charge.¡± Amy said. ¡°When you get back, will you give the number to Ellie and Maven, too? And make sure to let them know that I¡¯m open to talk any time.¡± ¡°Actually, that was one of the things I was gonna ask about.¡± Tess said. ¡°I, um, actually have three requests, if that¡¯s okay.¡± Amy chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m not some fairytale wish granter.¡± She said, a mischievous look on her face. ¡°You can ask me for more than three.¡± ¡°I can only really think of three.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°But, um, I was wondering if maybe we could expand the group chat thing you have for my group to everyone? Not like, everyone in one room all the time, but like¡­multiple little rooms? It would be nice to have an easy way to contact everyone.¡± ¡°Already on it.¡± Amy grinned. ¡°I¡¯m making sure it scales up correctly, but I think I should have it rolled out in a couple of weeks.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Tess said. ¡°For, uh, my second, can you promise not to tell Fortune about it?¡± Amy raised a brow. ¡°No.¡± She said. ¡°I won¡¯t tell her if it¡¯s something minor, but if it¡¯s important, then she deserves to know.¡± Tess scratched the back of her neck nervously. ¡°Well, you see, the thing is she kiiiiind of told me not to ask you this, but I think it¡¯s important anyway.¡± Amy paused for a moment, studying Tess¡¯s face. ¡°Let me guess, there¡¯s something she wants, and she¡¯s too shy or embarrassed to ask me herself and she doesn¡¯t want you to bother me with it.¡± ¡°Um, yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°Then it¡¯s probably fine, I won¡¯t tell her for¡­quite some time, anyway.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°The thing is¡­well, Fortune¡¯s lonely.¡± She said. ¡°Not just socially, but romantically. She feels that none of the gods really mesh with her in that way, and she doesn¡¯t want to make any demands or anything. She says she¡¯s content, but I¡¯m not sure she is. I was thinking that¡­maybe next time a new god is introduced, we might be able to set things up for her?¡± Amy drummed her fingers on the desk, the noise far quieter than one that would be made by fingers of flesh. ¡°Yeah.¡± She said. ¡°I see where you¡¯re coming from with this. Unfortunately, making a new god isn¡¯t exactly something that happens often. Let me do some asking around, get a sense of how people are feeling; I might need to consider relaxing the rules on contact with mortals. Maybe if we started by letting them video chat and allowing long-distance relationships¡­¡± She trailed off, then shook her head. ¡°No, I can think about that later. You said you had three requests?¡± Tess blushed. ¡°Well, um, the last one is the weird one.¡± She said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if this will even work, but I thought I¡¯d bring it up with you just in case.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve probably heard weirder.¡± Amy said, giving Tess a comforting smile. ¡°Go ahead.¡± ¡°Well, the main problem with my Descent is potentially enforcing loyalty to me that shouldn¡¯t be there, right?¡± Tess asked. ¡°That¡¯s the main one, yes.¡± Amy said curiously. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Well, I was thinking¡­what if we tweaked how that loyalty manifests?¡± Tess said. ¡°Is that a thing we can do?¡± ¡°I suppose it is.¡± Amy said. ¡°It would require some work, yes, but we could do it. I assume you mean for only the slot we have reserved for Fortune, right?¡± Tess nodded, and Amy continued. ¡°Then, yeah, as long as it doesn¡¯t stray too far from the original intent of reinforcing some sort of loyal relationship, it should be doable. What did you have in mind?¡± Tess blushed, kicking a foot apprehensively. ¡°Well, Fortune mentioned again today how she feels like a mother to me and Ellie, and how it feels like she¡¯s watching her kids grow up, and I couldn¡¯t help but think¡­well, why not make it official? If we change that reinforcement to be a mother-daughter bond it would solve that loyalty issue, and Fortune would be that much less lonely.¡± Amy tapped her chin thoughtfully, then smiled. ¡°You know what, I like it.¡± She said. ¡°But only if both you and Fortune agree to it. Obviously, you¡¯re fine with it, since you¡¯re asking, but I need her permission too. Go call her in, I¡¯ll start preparing things now.¡± ¡°We¡¯re doing it now?¡± Tess asked, taken aback. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Why not? I know exactly what modifications I need to make and it¡¯s a relatively short process, so there¡¯s no reason to put it off if you both agree. It¡¯ll be an unconventional Appointed-god relationship, but not a bad one. You may not technically be treating each other as equals, but you¡¯re following the spirit of the rule. That rule is to prevent gods from treating their Appointed as ¡°mere mortals¡±, not to stymie any other sort of relationship, especially if both of you agree to it.¡± ¡°Oh, that makes sense, I was figuring it would take a lot longer.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°I made a point of refamiliarizing myself with that Class after the first incident, figuring something like this would happen.¡± Amy replied. ¡°I see. I¡¯ll go get Fortune, then, she¡¯s probably waiting outside.¡± Tess said, walking back over to the door and opening it. ¡°Um, Fortune, can you come in for a second?¡± ¡°Absolutely.¡± Fortune replied immediately. ¡°Is everything okay? You¡¯re being awfully nervous about this.¡± Tess was silent for a moment, unsure of how to begin, but Amy came to her rescue. ¡°Tess, this was your idea, you should just tell her.¡± Amy said gently. ¡°But if you need to, I can.¡± ¡°No.¡± Tess said, shaking her head. ¡°Um, Fortune, I have a¡­proposal.¡± Tess said. ¡°You know how our Descent is super risky because of my Class?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t need to get rid of the Class if you don¡¯t want to, and we don¡¯t need to stop Descending.¡± Fortune said. ¡°I can handle this, and I¡¯m not going to cripple you because you¡¯re worried about me.¡± ¡°No, no, nothing like that.¡± Tess said quickly. ¡°I just had an idea about how to fix it, but it¡¯s a bit¡­um, embarrassing.¡± ¡°Tess, you can tell me anything.¡± Fortune said solemnly. ¡°I may joke around a lot, but I¡¯m not going to make fun of you for something you¡¯re obviously taking seriously. And if I ever do step out of line with jokes, tell me, okay?¡± Tess¡¯s face began heating up, and she wished she had some way of hiding the blush. ¡°Well, I talked with Amy, and the issue with our Descent is that long-term it could impose unacceptable levels of loyalty and subordination in you. So, um, I was thinking that maybe, if we could redirect that loyalty into something healthier, we wouldn¡¯t have an issue anymore, and Amy agreed.¡± Fortune nodded. ¡°And this relationship is embarrassing?¡± She said softly. ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Tess kicked a foot nervously, looking away slightly. ¡°Well, we were just talking, and I thought, maybe, we could make a mother-daughter thing? Like, officially enforce it, and I know it¡¯s a big ask because that would be changing both of our minds, and it¡¯s kind of like I¡¯m asking you to adopt me and¡­¡± She trailed off as she looked back at Fortune¡¯s face. ¡°Are you crying? I¡­I hope those are happy tears, but if I overstepped my bounds, I¡¯m sorry, I ¨C¡± Fortune rushed over and caught Tess in a huge hug, lifting her off of the ground. ¡°Tess, I don¡¯t think you could possibly have made me happier in this moment.¡± She said. ¡°This isn¡¯t much of a change for me, but I know it¡¯s big for you. The fact that you¡¯re willing to do this for my sake is¡­I don¡¯t have words. Thank you.¡± Tess returned the hug, and they stayed like that for a while. As they finally broke apart, Amy spoke up, a smile on her face. ¡°I was thinking we¡¯d make the modifications now.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯ll take an hour or two, and I¡¯ll have both of you be asleep for it. If you want, I¡¯ll let everyone know what¡¯s going on, too.¡± Fortune nodded. ¡°Thank you, Amy.¡± She whispered. ¡°I¡­thank you. Let¡¯s do it now, and you can tell them if you need.¡± Tess nodded, thankful that she wouldn¡¯t have to go through that slightly awkward conversation. ¡°Please do, thanks.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Amy said. ¡°I can tell this will make you two happy, and I¡¯m not about to keep that from you.¡± She waved a hand, and everything went black.
¡°So, what¡¯s up?¡± Ellie asked. She and Maven had suddenly been called into the realm of the gods suddenly, which was a little concerning. ¡°Is Tess okay?¡± ¡°We¡¯re just as lost as you are.¡± Death said. ¡°Amy called us here and didn¡¯t tell us why.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing bad.¡± Amy said, walking through the open doorway and into the room. ¡°But there¡¯s going to be a bit of a change going forward. Tess came to me with a proposal that would make her Descent safe for Fortune, and I agreed. ¡°As such, I am changing the way that the slot of Monster Breeder reserved for Fortune works. Instead of reinforcing absolute, unquestioning loyalty, it will be reinforcing a mother¡¯s loyalty, and for Tess, she will be getting an equal sense of loyalty to a mother. In essence¡­Fortune will be adopting Tess. ¡°The effect is to be immediate, and so I found it prudent to come and answer any questions you may have. Oh, and I go their permission to tell you about it instead of them, so don¡¯t worry about that.¡± Ellie didn¡¯t really know how to take that. It was so¡­sudden. ¡°Um, is this going to affect our group dynamic at all? I like what we have going.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell you.¡± Amy said. ¡°At the very least, Fortune will likely act the same; she already viewed you and Tess as daughters of a sort, this only makes it official, so to speak. Tess is the big unknown here, but if Fortune stays relatively the same, she¡¯ll probably return to some semblance of how she acted before. It won¡¯t be exactly the same, but close enough, I think.¡± ¡°And¡­Tess suggested this?¡± Death asked. ¡°Was there some sort of trigger? Her mission went fine, right?¡± ¡°No problems there, no.¡± Amy confirmed. ¡°They were talking afterwards, and I think the conversation turned to personal matters, and¡­well, I won¡¯t say more than that out of respect for their privacy, but this is definitely something Tess is doing more for Fortune than herself. In a way, it almost feels like fixing her Descent is an excuse, not the reason she¡¯s asking for this.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°Well, I wish them the best.¡± She said. ¡°How long will this modification take?¡± ¡°After I finish up here, probably an hour.¡± Amy said. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be too hard.¡± ¡°That is¡­not as long as I thought it would be.¡± Maven said. ¡°Tess said the same thing.¡± Amy laughed. ¡°And, like I told her, I made a point of getting familiar with Monster Breeder again. That Class is a mess, and I figured I would have to mess with it again in the future.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to it, then.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Do you mind if I hang out here with Death while I wait?¡± ¡°Ellie, you could live here, and I wouldn¡¯t mind. Appointed are gods in everything but name and the level of Worship you have in you. You have all the same rights and privileges they do.¡± ¡°Told you so.¡± Death said smugly. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be a Higher Being to be a god, it¡¯s the spirit of the thing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯m missing some context here, but the idea of making Appointed Higher Beings has been on my mind lately.¡± Amy mused. ¡°There are a lot of benefits that come with being a Higher Being, and we could leave the domains you¡¯re in charge of blank. I¡¯d have to retool Descent a bit, but if we leave you low on Worship most of the time it should be close enough to how things work now.¡± ¡°Amy, Death made some big statement about gods not losing to mortals, and Ellie reminded her about how she constantly loses in Tetris.¡± Life said flatly. ¡°She was making excuses and stretching words to try and make Appointed gods so a mortal, however technical that status is, didn¡¯t defeat her.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Death said. ¡°My points were valid! Amy agrees with me!¡± ¡°Sort of agree.¡± Amy corrected. ¡°I¡¯ll give the idea some more thought, though. I¡¯m rethinking a lot of things right now, and this is a fairly opportune time to make changes.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any questions.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°I¡¯m happy for them, and if any problems come up, we¡¯ll deal with it then. But, until that time, I trust you one this.¡± ¡°I am of much the same opinion.¡± Life said. ¡°And it would seem Ellie is eager to get the process started so she can see Tess again.¡± ¡°I¡¯m all good, I¡¯ll go hang out with Ellie now, and I will beat her in Tetris.¡± Death said, walking over and grabbing Ellie¡¯s hand. ¡°You¡¯ve thrown down the gauntlet, and I¡¯m not backing down.¡± Ellie let herself be pulled along, waving at the others. ¡°See you guys in a bit!¡± Chapter 96: Mother ¡°Tess, are you awake?¡± Fortune asked gently. ¡°Five more minutes, Mom.¡± Tess mumbled, causing Fortune¡¯s heart to jump a little in her chest. She had always wanted a family of her own, a wife, children, everything. She had daydreamed of a situation like this before, where she would wake her children up for school, and gently but firmly get them ready for the day, despite their complaints. ¡°Tess, you need to get up.¡± Fortune said, shaking Tess gently. ¡°Everyone¡¯s waiting for us.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Tess groaned, sitting up. ¡°What were we doing again?¡± She paused for a moment, blinking as she fully woke up. ¡°¡­Mom?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me.¡± Fortune said, hugging Tess as her eyes started to water. ¡°Thank you, Tess. This means so, so much to me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a problem, Mom.¡± Tess said, hugging her back. ¡°I was just¡­fixing our Descent.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe that for a second.¡± Fortune said, squeezing Tess close. ¡°I know you well enough by now, you just needed an excuse after our talk, and this was the perfect one.¡± There was a moment of silence, and then Tess spoke up. ¡°Yeah.¡± She admitted. ¡°I just¡­I hated seeing you look so lonely.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the best daughter a mother could ask for.¡± Fortune said. The two of them sat in each other¡¯s embrace for a long moment, then Tess gently pushed away. ¡°E-everyone¡¯s waiting for us, right?¡± She said. ¡°We should go talk to them.¡± Fortune smiled, grabbing her daughter¡¯s hand and helping her up from the bed. She gently led Tess out of the room and into the hall, only to be stopped when Tess asked a question. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve been in this part of the god¡¯s realm before.¡± She said quietly. ¡°Where is this?¡± They were in a plushily carpeted hallway, lit by a series of warm lights. It was a comforting, homey space, but one that Fortune had never taken Tess before. Yes, she had taken Tess to the living space before, but only the living rooms and kitchens. ¡°This is where the bedrooms are.¡± Fortune said. ¡°This hall is my wing, so to speak; I keep most of my extra stuff here, and have a couple of bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Each of the gods has their own similar space, to be used as we see fit.¡± She paused briefly, an anxious knot forming in her stomach. ¡°Um, this is a bit presumptuous, and I hope you don¡¯t mind, but I¡¯ve set aside the room you were just in for your personal use. If you want, you can sleep here any time, and I¡¯ll figure out a way to let you go between here and the mortal world more easily.¡± Tess paused. ¡°When did you do that?¡± She asked. ¡°Seeing as how I woke up there, that must have been something Amy knew about beforehand, right?¡± Fortune looked away in embarrassment. ¡°Since you became my Appointed?¡± She said. ¡°I just¡­didn¡¯t know how to bring it up without sounding weird. And, um¡­you¡¯re free to bring Ellie in there whenever you want, the rooms are completely soundproof, and I don¡¯t care if she stays the night or anything.¡± Fortune looked back just in time to see Tess turning her face away, a blush rising to her cheeks. ¡°Um, uh¡­thanks.¡± She said. ¡°I¡­I¡¯ll talk with her about it. Um¡­Amy doesn¡¯t mind, right?¡± ¡°Not in the slightest.¡± Fortune said firmly. ¡°For every personal or social purpose, Appointed are considered gods. She¡¯d even prepare a wing for you if you asked; several other Appointed have their own place here, so it¡¯s not a problem at all.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Tess said. ¡°Well¡­I¡¯ll just use this room whenever I stay here, so I won¡¯t need a wing.¡± Fortune¡¯s heart melted once again as Tess confirmed that she¡¯d use the room, at least occasionally. She wasn¡¯t sure what she had done to deserve this sort of happiness, but she silently renewed her private vow to do everything in her power to make sure Tess¡¯s life was as happy as possible. It was the least she could do for everything her daughter had given her. Fortune¡¯s life had been one of monotony, but the dull days she had spent in the past few centuries had been filled with color once more; every day brought something new, and the group chat they were in was so energetic and fun. She had gained people other than Death with which she could let her hair down, she had gained a family, and she had regained the spark she had lost ages ago. Even so, the way this had turned out, at least in the beginning, ate at her still. As much as Monster Breeder was a technical wonder and had been helpful for Tess, it was her greatest shame. She had been young when she had spearheaded the Class¡¯s design, and knowing that her Appointed would almost certainly have the Class had led her to make mistakes. She wasn¡¯t as comfortable in her skin back then as she was now. She had still been solidifying her identity, and the thought of being in a man¡¯s body for any length of time had made her supremely uncomfortable. She had been arrogant, and had thought that a mortal¡¯s desires, their comfort, were below her own. It was something she regretted more and more with each passing day. Every time she looked at Tess and Ellie¡¯s relationship she felt a pang of guilt, knowing that, while it had worked out, their relationship was built on the back of her sin. ¡°Um, Mom, you okay?¡± Tess asked. ¡°You¡¯re spacing out.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Fortune mumbled, pulling Tess close. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t remember if I said it before, but I¡¯m so, so sorry.¡± ¡°What?¡± Tess asked, bewildered. ¡°What¡¯s this about? Whatever it is, I forgive you; you haven¡¯t done anything you need to apolo ¨C¡± ¡°I have.¡± Fortune sniffed. ¡°With Monster Breeder, and how it¡¯s changed you. I upended your life with my arrogance, and that¡¯s something you can¡¯t just forgive, but you¡¯ve given me so much and ¨C¡± ¡°Mom.¡± Tess said sternly. ¡°We already went over this once, but I¡¯ll say it again. It wasn¡¯t good that you didn¡¯t warn me beforehand, but I forgive you completely. I¡¯m the happiest I¡¯ve ever been, and it¡¯s all thanks to you. And to be honest, even if I was offered a no-strings attached, no life changes whatsoever way back to being a man, I wouldn¡¯t take it. I¡­comparing the two, I like being a girl more, I think. But it seems to me that you won¡¯t be satisfied with just words. So, I¡¯m going to be giving you a punishment.¡± Fortune wiped her eyes, pulling back and looking into Tess¡¯s face. ¡°Anything.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m going to need you to spoil me a whole lot, okay?¡± Tess said, a smile on her lips. ¡°I normally wouldn¡¯t ask, but I¡¯ll allow myself this bit of selfishness just this once.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Fortune gave one of those odd sob-laughs, shocked by the sheer kindness of the request. It was, after all, what Fortune wanted to do anyway. ¡°That¡¯s not ¨C¡± ¡°I know it¡¯s a bit too harsh a punishment for what you did, but it¡¯s what I want the most right now.¡± Fortune was silent for a long moment. ¡°You¡¯re too good for me, Tess.¡± She finally said. ¡°I¡¯ll spoil you to your heart¡¯s content.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Tess said, giving Fortune a hug. ¡°I love you, Mom.¡± ¡°Love you too, sweetie.¡±
Tess gripped her mother¡¯s hand tightly, trying to sort out her feelings as they walked. To her shame and her happiness, she felt the same towards her biological parents as she had before. Happy, because her feelings towards them had not diminished, ashamed for fearing that they would. As for the new feelings¡­Fortune felt to Tess just like Tess¡¯s biological mother had; warm, comforting, someone who made Tess feel safe and loved. Now that she was looking at it somewhat objectively, those feelings were much the same as how she felt towards Gramps, though there was something different about Gramps that Tess just couldn¡¯t put her finger on. Either way, Tess was content, and seeing her mother so overjoyed only reaffirmed to her that she had made the right decision. Something had subtly changed in Fortune, her usual exuberance just a little fuller, a little more¡­real. It made Tess want to see more of Fortune¡¯s wishes come true, for her to meet more people and become happier. She deserved it, as much as she would probably argue that she didn¡¯t. Her apologetic outburst had stunned Tess; Tess was under the impression that they had handled the situation, that it was water under the bridge, but apparently it had still been eating away at Fortune. She would have to make sure there was nothing else Fortune was worrying about, but that was a conversation to be had later; it would take a while, and they were nearly at the room were Death and Ellie were playing games. ¡°Ready?¡± Fortune whispered, squeezing Tess¡¯s hand gently. ¡°I¡¯m ready, Mom.¡± Tess replied quietly. Fortune nodded, then pushed the door open. The TV was on, and Ellie and Death were playing Tetris, and like always, Ellie was destroying Death, the match not even close. The moment she heard the sound of the door opening, Ellie paused the game and turned around. ¡°Tess!¡± She exclaimed, hopping off of the couch she was on and rushing over to Tess. ¡°How are you feeling? It doesn¡¯t hurt anywhere or anything, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Tess said, letting go of her mother¡¯s hand and hugging Ellie. ¡°No pain or fuss or anything like that. It went perfectly.¡± ¡°Does it feel strange?¡± Ellie asked. Tess smiled. ¡°No, it feels normal. I¡¯m not just saying that, either. And¡­besides,¡± Tess said, glancing over to Fortune, who had walked over and was talking with Death, ¡°look how happy she is. Even if it didn¡¯t make me feel nice too, that alone is worth it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re too nice for your own good sometimes.¡± Ellie said, holding Tess closer. ¡°But that¡¯s one of the things I love about you.¡± Tess rested her head on Ellie¡¯s chest. ¡°Mom gave me a room in her wing of this place. She said you were welcome to stay with me overnight, whenever we want; it¡¯s completely soundproofed, so we don¡¯t have to worry about disturbing her. She said she¡¯ll figure out a way for me to get up here more easily, and I assume I¡¯ll either be able to take you with me or that same method might work if you do it.¡± ¡°How are the rooms here, by the way?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen them.¡± ¡°Everyone has their own suite of rooms, and the rooms themselves are¡­they¡¯re not super fancy, but they¡¯re nice. They¡¯re a bit bigger than our rooms at home, and I think I saw a TV, computer, and some game consoles in mine? I don¡¯t know if everyone has those, though; that might be something Mom put in. Apparently, if we wanted, we could get suites here too, some of the other Appointed have them.¡± ¡°Amy did say she wouldn¡¯t mind if we lived here.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But I think until we have a really easy way of getting back and forth it would be a lot more convenient to just live in the City. Which¡­speaking of, do you think we should start looking for an apartment or a house or something? We can¡¯t just live in Grandpa¡¯s house forever.¡± ¡°I mean, you could.¡± Fortune said, walking over to the two of them. ¡°I feel like he would be delighted if you did.¡± ¡°That does sound like him.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°By the way, do you know how expensive houses in the City are?¡± ¡°Depends.¡± Fortune said. ¡°If you go cheap as can be, in some of the seedier parts of town, that¡¯ll run you a few thousand gold. Dungeon housing is all full up, but they generally go for about ten thousand gold a piece, which is around how much an okay house will cost. If you want something nice, expect fifty to one hundred thousand gold for it.¡± Tess winced. ¡°So¡­we¡¯ll have to save up for a bit, then.¡± She said. ¡°I don¡¯t think renting is a particularly good idea with our circumstances.¡± ¡°How much gold do you have right now?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I think I have seventyish?¡± ¡°A few hundred.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Which I guess is a lot, but also nowhere near enough for a house. I think if I sell all my cores I can get¡­probably a thousand or two, but we¡¯d only maybe get a house in the bad part of town and that seems like a terrible idea.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still selling your cores at a big discount to the guild, right?¡± Ellie said thoughtfully. ¡°Yeah, but even if I sold them for full price that¡¯s maybe another two thousand. It¡¯s going to be a long while before we can afford a remotely decent house.¡± ¡°Give it a year or two.¡± Fortune said. ¡°Dungeons only really start getting lucrative once they¡¯re level fifty or sixty, and with the number of cores you¡¯ll be getting¡­you¡¯ll have more money than you¡¯ll know what to do with.¡± ¡°Or you could just go win the lottery and get the cash now.¡± Death said. ¡°That¡¯d leave you set for quite a while.¡± ¡°No, I want to earn it.¡± Tess said, shaking her head. ¡°It would be more satisfying that way. If we ever get desperate, sure, the lottery is there, but for now¡­I¡¯d rather earn things myself.¡± ¡°Looks like your wife is gonna be the big earner of the family.¡± Death said, grinning and elbowing Ellie. ¡°How does that make you feel?¡± ¡°One, we¡¯re not married yet, and two, she¡¯s just as involved in my earnings as I am.¡± Tess said. ¡°Her contribution isn¡¯t lessened even if most of the drops are in my name.¡± ¡°Yet?¡± Death teased, still grinning. ¡°So, you are going to get married, then. Why not just do it now?¡± Tess blushed, looking away. ¡°I want to wait for the proper time.¡± She said. ¡°Once training is done and things are settled. Then I can give Ellie the wedding she deserves.¡± ¡°I¡¯d be more than happy to do it now.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not like we need any more time to figure out if we¡¯re compatible or anything, we both know where this relationship is going. We could get back from the expedition, hold a big ceremony, and then keep living our lives. We basically act like we¡¯re married already, so we¡¯re just making it official.¡± Tess blinked in surprise, taking a moment to digest that information. ¡°I¡­guess you¡¯re right.¡± She admitted. ¡°It¡¯s not that big a change.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s official.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I¡¯ll get us a couple of rings, and take care of the wedding preparation.¡± ¡°W-what?!¡± Tess exclaimed. ¡°B-but¡­¡± Ellie rolled her eyes. ¡°Tess, I know you.¡± She said. ¡°You¡¯re always going to put it off because it¡¯s never ¡°the right time¡±, and so if we both agree that we want to get married, then we should. If you truly think we should wait more to see if marriage is something we really want, then I have no problem with waiting, but if you¡¯re just ¡°waiting for the right moment¡±, then I say ¡°the right moment¡± is now.¡± ¡°I¡­yeah, okay. But I could at least help with the wedding preparations!¡± Tess protested. ¡°Tess, I¡¯ve been preparing for this ever since Grandpa showed us the Outlands.¡± Ellie said. ¡°All I need is for you to tell me what you want, and I¡¯ll take care of the rest. I want to do this, and I know that you don¡¯t, so we both win here.¡± Tess sighed. ¡°Fine.¡± She said. ¡°But the moment it becomes a burden, I expect you to come and have me help, okay?¡± ¡°I promise I¡¯ll ask for help if the preparations get too taxing.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Now, get me a list of your demands, on the double.¡± ¡°Congratulations, you two.¡± Death said, smiling like this had been her plan from the start. ¡°I¡¯ll start picking out some wedding presents. In the meantime, you should probably go let Maven know that everything went well, she¡¯s still in the dark about this.¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± Ellie said, pulling out her phone. ¡°Yeah, good idea, let me hit her up.¡± While she typed, Fortune gave Tess another hug. ¡°I¡¯m so happy for you two.¡± She said. ¡°Congratulations. I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m going to go talk to Amy about getting permission for us gods to go down to the mortal realm for the wedding. Do you need anything else from me before I go?¡± Tess returned the hug. ¡°No, Mom.¡± She said. ¡°Thanks.¡± Fortune released the hug, giving Tess a broad smile before walking out of the room. As she left, Tess took a moment to think back on the day. It had taken a wildly different form than how she had expected it to, but¡­here as she closed in on the end of the day, she was far happier than she thought she would be, and that was all she could have ever asked for. Chapter 97: Mixed Feelings Alice tore her eyes away from her phone as she felt the air in the dungeon¡¯s lobby shift. Sure enough, Tess and Ellie had appeared, returning from the plane of the gods. To Alice¡¯s relief, Tess looked unharmed, as Maven promised she would be, but Alice rushed over to check regardless. ¡°Tess, are you okay?!¡± She asked, pulling the younger girl into a hug. ¡°Maven said you were fine, but you¡¯ve been gone for a while and I can¡¯t help but be worried. Are you allowed to tell us what happened?¡± ¡°A lot.¡± Tess said, returning the hug. ¡°And¡­yes, it looks like I can, you¡¯ll probably figure it out anyway so there¡¯s no harm in letting you know.¡± ¡°Good, good.¡± Alice replied, disengaging from the hug and pulling Tess and Ellie over to the couch she had brought into the lobby. ¡°What was so urgent?¡± Tess rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. ¡°The leader of Fortune¡¯s church was trying to make a getaway now that she knew she couldn¡¯t get away with her wrongdoings any longer. We had a bit of a fight and then once she was soundly beaten, we forced her into a Contract that would ensure a graceful change of power.¡± ¡°That¡­must have been quite the fight.¡± Alice said. ¡°Were you up there healing, or¡­?¡± Tess blushed slightly. ¡°So, uh, the thing about that is we didn¡¯t fight fight. We, uh, played a game called Planar Duels?¡± Alice stared at Tess blankly, not quite processing what she had just said. ¡°You¡­fought using Planar Duels.¡± She said flatly. ¡°You didn¡¯t just beat her up¡­why?¡± ¡°Well, she proposed the duel, and it was an easier way to get her to do what we wanted. A fight would have a lot of messy collateral damage, and this was completely discrete. And¡­honestly, I think Fortune didn¡¯t want to hurt her too bad. It seems that she had once been a good person, and Fortune had been holding on to the hope that my arrival would ¡®snap her out¡¯ of her current state of mind. It¡­very much didn¡¯t.¡± Alice frowned, her mind trying to catch up to the conversation. ¡°Wait, that doesn¡¯t sound like it should take multiple hours. Did something else happen?¡± Tess blushed harder. ¡°Well, uh, yeah. So, Fortune and I were talking after and one thing led to another and I figured out there was a way of fixing my Descent if we sort of maybe had her adopt me, so we did?¡± ¡°Sorry, say that again?¡± Alice said. ¡°I thought I heard you say that Fortune adopted you?¡± Tess nodded awkwardly. ¡°Yeah. And, um, as a side-effect it fixed my Descent, and now we can stay in Descent as long as we want? Probably?¡± Alice stared blankly at Tess for a few moments. ¡°So¡­you are now the daughter of a goddess.¡± She said. ¡°And¡­have the ability to have a free, infinite, literal god-mode any time you need it.¡± ¡°Well, the idea is to not use it whenever possible.¡± Tess said. ¡°Since using it as a crutch will be detrimental to my long-term growth.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the point!¡± Alice said exasperatedly. ¡°The point is that every time I think I¡¯ve gotten used to the surprises you¡¯re throwing at me, you somehow manage to one-up yourself!¡± ¡°We also decided to formally tie the knot.¡± Ellie added, a mischievous smile on her face. ¡°I¡¯m going to make preparations for the ceremony as soon as the expedition is over.¡± ¡°Oh, I was wondering when you two were going to make it official, congratulations!¡± Alice said, seizing onto the more ordinary talking point. ¡°How¡¯d it happen?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing spectacular or anything.¡± Tess said. ¡°We were just sort of talking and the subject came up and when we both confirmed it was something we wanted in the future, Ellie decided there wasn¡¯t a point in waiting, really.¡± ¡°Waiting for what?¡± Maven asked, walking up to the three of them. ¡°And, I am glad to see you again, Tess. Are you feeling well?¡± ¡°Waiting to get married until we were more settled.¡± Tess said. ¡°And I¡¯m feeling perfectly fine, no problems whatsoever.¡± The briefest of complicated expressions flashed over Maven¡¯s face, fast enough that Alice was confident that neither Tess nor Ellie had noticed. She made a mental note to talk to Maven about it later; things like marriages that changed the party dynamic often had rocky transitions, and she wanted to make sure this one went as smoothly as possible. ¡°Congratulations.¡± Maven said, giving them a smile. ¡°I¡¯m happy for you two. When are you planning to have the wedding?¡± ¡°Some time after the expedition is over.¡± Ellie said excitedly. ¡°I¡¯m going to start planning in earnest when we get back.¡± ¡°Would you like some help?¡± Alice offered. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what weddings are like on Mael, but I know where to get all the stuff you¡¯ll need for a wedding, and I probably own most of those, so we can get you anything you want and I¡¯ll have them bill me later.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Ellie said slowly. ¡°I don¡¯t want to impose, and my understanding is wedding stuff can be expensive, I don¡¯t want to essentially make your company pay for it.¡± Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°Ellie, the hoverer I¡¯m gifting your party is worth significantly more than this wedding will cost, and this is a once in a lifetime event. I¡¯m not going to let you guys skimp on it because you¡¯re worried about your party¡¯s finances.¡± ¡°For what it is worth, I believe that Gui ¨C Gramps would insist on paying for everything if Alice does not.¡± Maven said. ¡°He has made it abundantly clear in high society that he is rather looking forward to both of your weddings, and I doubt he would want you to hold back for monetary reasons.¡± ¡°Maven, are you alright?¡± Alice asked. ¡°You suddenly went pale.¡± ¡°Fortune just told us that a few of the gods are planning on coming too.¡± Ellie said. ¡°And also that it¡¯s fine to tell you, since you¡¯ll recognize almost everyone else anyway, and I imagine it isn¡¯t that big a leap to guess who the unknowns would be, given our circumstances.¡± Alice, shock being pushed ever further, stared blankly at Ellie. ¡°Wait, so¡­we¡¯re going to be meeting the gods in person? I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m ready for that.¡± ¡°Um, Mom says to relax, and you¡¯ll do fine.¡± Tess said. ¡°Also, um, that she¡¯s going to say hi at the first opportunity, to thank you for helping me.¡± Alice sighed. ¡°Well¡­at least she¡¯s more personable than most gods, so it won¡¯t be overly frightening, just¡­mildly so. But¡­for now, let¡¯s talk more in the hoverer; we should start making our way back to base camp.¡± ¡°Um¡­actually, Mom suggests we go through this dungeon a few more times.¡± Tess said. ¡°Something about it being really important that I get the next Skill from here before we leave.¡± ¡°We can stay in one of the dungeon¡¯s rooms.¡± Maven said. ¡°I will make sure it provides us with all the accommodation we need.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not arguing with the gods.¡± Alice said. ¡°Give me a minute to let the guys know, why don¡¯t you get started with the room? I assume we¡¯ll be taking the penthouse because¡­why not, so I¡¯ll just meet you guys there.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Right, we¡¯ll see you there.¡± Ellie replied. The three of them left, and Alice made her way back to the hoverer, where Ker and Jin were relaxing. She opened the door and quickly stepped in, letting out a sigh. ¡°Well, Tess and Ellie are back.¡± She said. ¡°You don¡¯t sound particularly happy about it.¡± Ker said worriedly. ¡°Is Tess alright?¡± ¡°She¡¯s fine, but I¡¯m going to need some time to process things, and I think you guys are too.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Jin said, moving down the hoverer so he was closer to Alice. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not my place to say.¡± Alice replied. ¡°They can tell you. For now, plans have changed, it¡¯s apparently important that Tess gets the next Skill from this dungeon before leaving, so we¡¯re going to be spending the night in the penthouse suite. Maven and them are up there now making sure it¡¯s working properly.¡± ¡°Convenient, that.¡± Jin said. ¡°I suppose we can talk more up there, then.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get moving.¡± Ker agreed. ¡°I¡¯m itching to know what¡¯s happening.¡±
Maven sat anxiously in one of the penthouse suite¡¯s rooms, waiting for Alice to come and talk to her. After they had come in and gotten their stuff put away, Tess and Ellie had given the news to Ker and Jin. They were suitably shocked, as Alice had been, but afterwards Alice had approached Maven privately and asked to talk. Maven wasn¡¯t quite sure what to make of that; though she tried not to show it, she too was affected by the news, and her thoughts and emotions were all over the place. She was still getting used to being an Appointed, and while Fortune and Death had admittedly done a good job of demystifying themselves and their small group, she wasn¡¯t so sure she could handle other gods. After all, they were gods. And, what was worse, she was supposed to interact with them on equal footing. If she was still having trouble referring to Guildmaster Los as ¡°Gramps¡±, overcoming all the reverence towards the gods that had been instilled within her since childhood would be a task she wasn¡¯t sure she could pull off in such short order. There was a knock at the door, bringing Maven¡¯s contemplation to an end. ¡°Come in!¡± She called out. The door opened, and Alice stepped in. She quietly closed and locked the door behind her, then gave Maven a smile. ¡°Mind if I take a seat?¡± ¡°Um, go ahead.¡± Maven said. ¡°What do you want to talk about?¡± Alice pulled a chair away from the room¡¯s desk, turned it to face Maven, then sat down. ¡°I might just be imagining things, but you seemed to have some mixed feelings about Tess and Ellie getting married.¡± She said. ¡°I wanted to hear any concerns you might have, just in case you need someone to talk to. If you don¡¯t want to, you don¡¯t have to, of course, but I think it¡¯s bad to keep these things bottled up.¡± ¡°You noticed?¡± Maven said. ¡°I tried to keep it from showing but I guess I didn¡¯t do as good a job as I thought I did.¡± Alice smiled wryly. ¡°I had to take a bunch of lessons on politics too.¡± She said. ¡°Reading expressions and emotions is pretty important in business.¡± ¡°I suppose it would be.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡­well, to be honest, the wedding news was so sudden, and learning that more gods than just ours will be in attendance is shocking.¡± Alice nodded. ¡°I get where you¡¯re coming from.¡± She said. ¡°Sometimes Tess and Ellie make me feel like the crazy one when they talk about the gods so casually. I¡¯ll admit it¡¯s a bit of a breath of fresh air to have someone in your circle talk more¡­normally about it.¡± ¡°Right?¡± Maven said, relaxing a little. ¡°It feels like they don¡¯t properly understand the magnitude of some of the things they say and do.¡±
Dungeons: To be fair, the religious culture on Mael is significantly different than it is elsewhere. There is still an element of doubt among the populace regarding even the existence of Life and Death, not the certainty there is here. And, even though it would be unthinkable here, over there they even have normal, mentally sound people who are atheists, simply because we have yet to give any sort of concrete evidence over there.
¡°Must just be a product of their upbringing.¡± Alice mused. ¡°Given that the Guildmaster is the Appointed of a god entirely unrelated to Life and Death, he probably didn¡¯t raise them very religiously. It would probably be weird to be so closely tied to a god and have your children worship different gods entirely.¡± Maven knew that wasn¡¯t the case, since Gramps didn¡¯t worship Fate at all, but that wasn¡¯t public knowledge, so she chose to keep it to herself. ¡°Dungeons also says that religious culture in general is pretty different over there.¡± She said. ¡°Apparently there are even atheists, and not the crazy type we occasionally get here. The gods just aren¡¯t¡­a fact like they are everywhere else.¡± ¡°Weird.¡± Alice replied. ¡°But that wasn¡¯t exactly what I was hoping to talk to you about.¡± Maven blinked in surprise. ¡°What else could there be?¡± ¡°It was before you even knew that the gods would be in attendance.¡± Alice said. ¡°When you first heard they were getting married. You looked conflicted.¡± ¡°I did?¡± Alice frowned. ¡°I guess I could be wrong, but it seemed pretty distinct. You even frowned for a split second.¡± Maven frowned as well. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know.¡± She admitted. ¡°My feelings are all mixed up right now, I don¡¯t know exactly what I¡¯m feeling.¡± ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± Alice asked. ¡°I promise I won¡¯t judge, and I might be able to help you sort it out.¡± Maven thought on that for a long moment. ¡°Okay.¡± She said finally. ¡°Do you mind if I just speak my mind uninterrupted for a little while?¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± Alice said. ¡°I¡¯ll wait until you¡¯re done.¡± ¡°It¡­well, I suppose I¡¯m jealous of them.¡± Maven said slowly. ¡°All my life, I have wished to be able to find true love, to be married to someone whom I genuinely connect with, but I know that that just¡­isn¡¯t on the table. My marriage would be politically motivated, no matter what. So, when I see them together, obviously comfortable with each other and obviously in love, it makes my heart hurt a little, because I know I won¡¯t have that.¡± She let that hang for a bit, then shook her head. ¡°I suppose that wasn¡¯t as complicated as I thought it might be. Really, that¡¯s it; I just wish I could have what they have, but I know that¡¯s a silly thing to be upset at them for, so it¡¯s best if I keep it to myself. So¡­I guess I didn¡¯t need that much time to speak uninterrupted; please, say what you will.¡± Alice nodded. ¡°Why can¡¯t you have what they have?¡± She asked. The question shocked Maven, and for a brief moment she couldn¡¯t help but stare at Alice. ¡°My situation is¡­different. Royalty doesn¡¯t get to just¡­marry for love.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re not the crown princess anymore.¡± Alice said. ¡°And you¡¯re an Appointed now, your parents can¡¯t really force you into anything anymore, since you can just pull the Appointed card on them.¡± ¡°I¡­suppose you¡¯re right.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°Still, I just can¡¯t see myself having what they have. It¡¯s so¡­carefree and casual, just people who love each other and are happy to spend all their time together. Their energy is infectious, and seeing them move on without me makes me feel¡­lonely, I suppose. I wish I could be there, but I just¡­can¡¯t.¡± Alice frowned. ¡°Hold up.¡± She said. ¡°It kind of feels like we¡¯re talking about something else now. Are you sure you¡¯re not longing to be with them specifically?¡± Maven didn¡¯t know how to respond to that, and she found herself staring at Alice once again. ¡°Of course not.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m not attracted to women, I determined that quite a while ago; I realized that they simply don¡¯t make me feel the same things men do.¡± Alice gave Maven a thoughtful look. ¡°Interesting. Humor me for a minute, if you would; let¡¯s say we removed the concept of anything sexual from the relationship. You would still sleep together, go on dates, and the like, but there would be no physical intimacy. In that scenario, would you wish to be a part of what they have?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Maven said immediately. ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t? They¡¯re such fun people, and it would be nice to just¡­be around them; I¡¯ve rather enjoyed the time I¡¯ve spent with them on this expedition, and I¡¯d be happy to keep things the way they are indefinitely. Were sexual aspects off the table for all relationships, they would be near the top of the list of people I¡¯d like to spend my life with.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t.¡± Alice said softly. ¡°It¡¯s nothing against what they have, of course, but I can¡¯t see myself in that sort of relationship with anyone but a man. It just wouldn¡¯t feel right.¡± Maven frowned in confusion. ¡°What does it matter, if there¡¯s no physical intimacy?¡± She asked. ¡°Their personalities would be the only thing that mattered.¡± ¡°I suppose, in theory, you¡¯re right.¡± Alice said. ¡°But I just can¡¯t see myself there. The thought of being so intimate with another woman is just¡­it just doesn¡¯t work for me.¡± ¡°Well, either way it¡¯s irrelevant.¡± Maven said, a touch more testily than she would have liked. ¡°I¡¯m not attracted to them, and that¡¯s that. I just need a bit of time to come to terms with their marriage, and then things will be back to normal.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Alice said. ¡°Just remember that if you so need, I¡¯m here to talk. Ker and Jin are, as well; we¡¯d hate to see your party ruined over something like this, and talking it out can help.¡± ¡°I¡­yes.¡± Maven said. ¡°Thank you, Alice.¡± Alice nodded, standing up and making her way over to the door. ¡°You get a good rest tonight, alright? We¡¯ll be speedrunning the dungeon tomorrow, and we¡¯ll want you as well-rested as possible.¡± ¡°I will.¡± Maven promised. Alice left the room, and Maven got off of the bed she was on to lock the door, then returned. There was no way she was in love with her party members, she just¡­wanted what they had. She just needed to take some time, and things would go back to normal, like they always had. So, shutting out the annoying what-ifs that kept popping up in her head, she turned out the lights and went to bed. Holiday Special 2023 Tess¡¯s relaxation was interrupted by an abrupt teleport, leaving her, Maven, Ellie, and Amy in the increasingly familiar party room. Amy cast her gaze around, only to stop abruptly when she looked at Tess and her party. ¡°It¡¯s the young version of you guys?¡± She said incredulously. ¡°Why in the world¡­no, better not to question it.¡± ¡°Young?¡± Maven asked. ¡°So, you¡¯re from our future?¡± Amy squinted at the three of them. ¡°Yeah. Looks like¡­you¡¯re still pretty early on in things, probably close to the beginning of your time as Appointed, right?¡± ¡°At the end of our apprenticeship to the Rumors.¡± Maven confirmed. ¡°Yeah, that checks out. Well, I¡¯m from about sixty years in your future, around the same time as the Lilith and Lia you met in the previous parties were from.¡± Amy said. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m almost completely certain you guys are with Lilith and Lia¡¯s groups again, so I trust you can make it there on your own?¡± ¡°That sounds right.¡± Tess said. ¡°I think we can.¡± ¡°Perfect.¡± Amy replied. ¡°I¡¯ll be off now, you guys enjoy.¡± She left, and Tess and her group left too, wandering around in search of Lilith. After only a couple of minutes they found the others already grouped up and in the middle of conversation. ¡°T-though, um, I won¡¯t say no to being watched over.¡± Lia was saying. ¡°It¡¯d be nice for my peace of mind.¡± ¡°What¡¯s this about being watched over?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Oh, more people this time, nice to meet you!¡± The groups had expanded somewhat; Eve, one of the Parallels Tess had fought against last time, had joined Lilith¡¯s group, and there were three new women with Lia¡¯s group. ¡°Ah, you were so cute when you¡¯re young, I forgot!¡± One of the new women said, smiling at Tess. ¡°What are you three up to at this point? What year is it for you?¡± ¡°We are in the middle of our final exam for our training with The Rumors.¡± Maven said. ¡°I presume you are from our future, like the other members of your group?¡± ¡°Oh, right, I forgot how stiff you were back in the day.¡± She replied. ¡°Yes, everyone else here is from fifty to sixty years in your future.¡± ¡°Why does everyone feel the need to comment on how cute we are?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°We¡¯re basically fully grown, we can¡¯t have changed that much.¡± Eve chuckled. ¡°Physically, maybe. I think it¡¯s just the contrast between the you in our time and the you from your time being so big that people can¡¯t help but notice. And yes, you¡¯ve changed a little physically, but it¡¯s mostly attitude and how you hold yourself that does it.¡± ¡°I guess.¡± Tess said. ¡°Anyway, who are the new people?¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯m Jerry, if you couldn¡¯t tell.¡± One of the other women said. ¡°Things are happening in the future, you¡¯ll understand in a while. But really, I should be going, Kali, are you coming with?¡± ¡°No, I feel like my place is here today.¡± Kali said. ¡°You go enjoy, though!¡± Jerry nodded, then left the group alone. There was a moment of silence, then Eve spoke. ¡°Well, you guys met me briefly during that sparring session last time, but I¡¯m Eve, one of Lilith¡¯s Parallels. Dunno why I¡¯m here today, but I¡¯m not gonna complain about a free party.¡± ¡°Um, I¡¯m Connie.¡± The woman who had commented on their cuteness said. ¡°I¡¯m the girlfriend of these three, and god of commerce for Jerry.¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes turned to the last woman, and after a moment she sighed. ¡°I¡¯m Amelia, and we don¡¯t need protecting. I¡¯m more than capable of beating any of you, so don¡¯t test me.¡± Eve snorted. ¡°That¡¯s what you said when we met in real life. You were¡­just about the fourth weakest person in the room, then. And yes, you were fully unbound, and even more powerful than you used to be.¡± ¡°Fourth weakest?!¡± Amelia said indignantly. ¡°I find that hard to believe.¡± ¡°U-um, who was in the room?¡± Connie asked. ¡°Everyone who¡¯s here now plus Jerry, Amy, and Fortune.¡± Eve said. ¡°It took Lilith about five seconds to kill Amelia. Or¡­effectively kill, we kept it nonlethal.¡± ¡°As if!¡± Amelia said. ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯d lose that fast!¡± ¡°Um¡­sorry, Amelia, I think you might.¡± Connie said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be taking my chances with her, unbound or not.¡± Rose added. ¡°I could see myself having a chance at beating you, I can¡¯t see myself having a ghost of a chance against Lilith fighting all-out.¡± ¡°Y-yeah.¡± Lia said. ¡°You didn¡¯t see her fight, she¡¯s¡­different.¡± ¡°More different than we thought.¡± Lilith said. ¡°And Eve, stop antagonizing Amelia, you know how she gets.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know me.¡± Amelia said flatly. ¡°I don¡¯t know who you met, but it couldn¡¯t have been me.¡± Connie sighed. ¡°Amelia, they¡¯re literally from our future.¡± She said. ¡°There¡¯s a possibility that they¡¯ve met you.¡± Eve snorted. ¡°We haven¡¯t just met her, we¡¯ve been spending hours every day studying with her and attempting to make friends. While I will admit she¡¯s a little feistier now than she is in our time, it¡¯s still definitely Amelia.¡± ¡°S-so, we so get to know you in a few years?¡± Lia asked. ¡°How?¡± Lilith, Kali, and Eve shared a glance. ¡°Probably best not to say.¡± Kali said. ¡°But it¡¯s under friendly terms, don¡¯t worry.¡± Lia let out a sigh of relief. ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we talk about this over food?¡± Tess suggested. ¡°Good idea.¡± Eve said. ¡°I¡¯ll go save the table.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see you all in a bit, okay?¡± Kali said, linking arms with Lilith and dragging her towards the buffet tables. Eve likewise went off to find a table for them to sit at, leaving Tess and Lia¡¯s groups alone. ¡°I apologize, but I have some business with Eve.¡± Maven said. ¡°I am going to hurry and grab my food separately so I may speak with her before everyone arrives.¡± ¡°Huh? I mean¡­sure, but this seems sudden.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Again, my apologies.¡± Maven said. ¡°I have some personal developments that I feel she would help with. I feel that, should I be unable to, that I would not be able to properly enjoy this party.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like we can stop you.¡± Tess said. ¡°Go on ahead, we¡¯ll meet up with you later.¡± ¡°I think we¡¯ll go on our own too.¡± Lia said. ¡°We¡¯ll meet back up with you at the table.¡± Everyone went their separate ways, and Tess and Ellie had an enjoyable time chatting as they dished up. They took their time, going slowly and checking all of the buffet tables so that Maven had ample time to talk with Eve, then headed back towards the table. ¡°Woah.¡± Tess said, stopping as she reached the table. ¡°What¡¯s happening here?¡± Amelia was currently watching Lilith intently, while Lilith, for some reason, had six arms. Tess couldn¡¯t really think of what circumstances would lead to this situation, so she was more than a little curious about what was going on. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°We¡¯re explaining to Amelia just how different we are from everything she knows.¡± Eve said. ¡°Watch.¡± Tess could feel as an immense amount of power build up in Amelia before being fired at Lilith. There was a momentary pause as it impacted, but¡­nothing happened. ¡°See?¡± Lilith said, removing her extra arms. ¡°Base form.¡± Amelia immediately cast the spell again, and once again nothing changed. ¡°That¡¯s not¡­I¡¯m unbound here, I shouldn¡¯t¡­¡± Connie laid a hand on Amelia¡¯s shoulder, shaking her head. ¡°Lilith doesn¡¯t play by our rules.¡± She said. ¡°In that sense, she¡¯s almost like an Administrator, just¡­ignoring different rules.¡± ¡°She¡¯s an Administrator now too!¡± Kali said happily. ¡°Or¡­sub-Administrator, pending full status once she finishes her training.¡± ¡°Or never, if we can¡¯t find a way for Kali and I to share our planes.¡± Lilith said. ¡°Look, things are happening in the future, and things are moving fast because of it.¡± Connie gave Lilith a wary look. ¡°Does this have to do with why Jerry¡­?¡± Lilith sighed. ¡°Yes. Yes, it¡¯s what you think. No, it¡¯s not projected for centuries or millennia, we just know it¡¯s a certainty at this point. We¡¯re pretty sure we¡¯re the only faction that knows right now, so we¡¯ve got a huge head start, and by the time the others realize we¡¯re hoping to be too far ahead to be stopped. Don¡¯t worry about it for now, it¡¯s under control for the moment.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Connie said quietly. ¡°What¡¯s she talking about?¡± Lia asked. ¡°Administrator politics.¡± Connie said. ¡°There¡¯s one thing in particular that would cause Jerry to act like this, and it¡¯s not the most ideal thing.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about it, not any of you.¡± Eve said. ¡°We¡¯re very optimistic about things, and your future selves are thriving. Just enjoy the party for now, okay?¡± ¡°If you insist.¡± Connie said. They had some small talk while they ate, nothing particularly consequential, but they got to know each other and generally had a good time. And then the dinner ended, and Amelia stood and gave Lilith a look. ¡°I want to duel.¡± She said. ¡°Prove you¡¯re not just all talk.¡± Lilith shrugged, looking at the others. ¡°Only if everyone else is fine with it.¡± She said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to stall everyone else out on account of us.¡± ¡°I, for one, would be interested.¡± Rose said. ¡°Jerry aside, Amelia is the strongest person I know, and I would like to see how you compare.¡± ¡°Um¡­as long as you won¡¯t be mad when you lose, Amelia. I promise, promise, promise you that you can¡¯t beat her.¡± Connie said. ¡°She¡¯s just a god, you of all people know I can handle gods.¡± ¡°She handled three at once last time and didn¡¯t break a sweat.¡± Tess said. ¡°I don¡¯t think she showed even half of her full potential.¡± ¡°Yes, but five seconds?¡± Amelia said. ¡°It can¡¯t be that bad.¡± ¡°If the party allows, we can settle that here and now.¡± Lilith offered. ¡°It has no collateral damage whatsoever.¡± Tess could feel the two of them gather of power¡­and then, no less than a couple seconds later, Amelia crumpled like a ragdoll. ¡°I could have made that lethal just as easily.¡± Lilith said calmly. ¡°To paraphrase what Connie said when this happened in my time, you¡¯re a very big fish in a small pond.¡± ¡°Was that that instakill you mentioned last time?¡± Tess asked. ¡°It looked like nothing happened and then she just¡­fell.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Lilith said. ¡°I didn¡¯t use it last time because I felt like it would be unsporting, but¡­Amelia wanted me to prove that it only took five seconds.¡± ¡°I told you, Amelia.¡± Connie said quietly. ¡°Lilith is in the running for the most powerful non-Administrator in our faction.¡± She paused, looking up at Lilith. ¡°Is that decided by your point in time?¡± Lilith shrugged. ¡°Not really? We haven¡¯t dueled, not really, but she says she¡¯s fairly certain I¡¯ve eclipsed her.¡± ¡°Is this someone we know?¡± Ellie asked curiously. ¡°Sort of.¡± Lilith said, smiling wryly. ¡°Sort of?¡± Maven said. ¡°So, someone we have heard of but have not met?¡± ¡°Should we tell them?¡± Lilith asked, looking at Kali and Connie. ¡°Eh, why not.¡± Kali said mischievously. ¡°Might as well, I suppose.¡± Connie added. ¡°It¡¯s Tess.¡± Eve said. ¡°It¡¯s why we were so confident we¡¯d beat her last time, her older, significantly stronger, self told us that she wasn¡¯t sure she could win.¡± There was no way that was true. However far Lilith was in the future, there was no possible way that she¡¯d be stronger than someone like Gramps in that time, not unless it was centuries later. ¡°You¡¯re messing with me.¡± She accused. ¡°You¡¯re what, fifty years in the future? There¡¯s no way I¡¯m stronger than people like Gramps by then.¡± ¡°All three of you are.¡± Lilith said. ¡°I haven¡¯t met Evan personally, so I can¡¯t truly compare, but everyone I¡¯ve met points to Tess as the strongest, and the two of you as second and third. Of course, this is counting Descent in the mix, but at this point it¡¯s generally accepted that Appointed and their gods are treated as one unit for this purpose.¡± ¡°The other two can¡¯t, but you can beat Descended Evan even without Descent.¡± Kali added. ¡°It turns out that Monster Breeder was far, far, far stronger than anyone had any way of knowing.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± Connie asked. ¡°Things are happening and we learned some new stuff recently that we flat-out couldn¡¯t have known earlier.¡± Kali said. ¡°You remember that conversation we had right before you started dating those three?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°We now know for sure that it wasn¡¯t a coincidence, and those three,¡± Kali motioned at Tess, Ellie, and Maven, ¡°Fortune, and even you were part of it as well.¡± Connie froze, staring at Kali with wide eyes. ¡°O-oh.¡± She said. ¡°What¡¯s this all about?¡± Amelia wheezed, getting back to her feet. ¡°I don¡¯t appreciate all this cryptic talk.¡± ¡°We really shouldn¡¯t say more.¡± Eve said. ¡°Honestly we probably said a bit too much already. For now, just be content knowing that it¡¯s a huge boon to you in the short term.¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± Amelia sighed. ¡°What were we going to do again?¡± ¡°Games?¡± Lia suggested. ¡°They have a bunch of stuff we¡¯re not used to here.¡± Tess and Ellie shared a look. ¡°I¡¯d kind of like to try laser tag with all of us.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯ll be more interesting than when it was just five of us.¡± ¡°Laser¡­tag?¡± Amelia asked. ¡°A game from their universe.¡± Rose said. ¡°Lia and I played it with them during our first meeting at these parties.¡± ¡°I-it¡¯s in some of the other planes in our universe too.¡± Connie said. ¡°So, I know the gist.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s worth a try, I guess.¡± Amelia said. So, the group set off to find the laser tag arena again. Like before, they found it fairly quickly, and were starting a game in no less than ten minutes. This time, the teams ended up being significantly more evenly matched, and the results were as well. Or¡­were until they tried playing without any stat equalization or Skill limitation. That game was, in a word, chaos. They were free to do any terrain-alterations they wished, as the participants were kept safe by magical shields that prevented them from taking any damage, and the arena would reshape itself every so often. Furthermore, each member of Tess¡¯s party was given their Descent abilities, and Ellie even got both Life and Death¡¯s abilities, though neither was particularly helpful in a non-combat situation. And, right out of the gates the game was completely unrecognizable as a normal game of laser tag. Rose immediately flooded the entire arena with roots, only for the roots to be stopped by a spell from the other team, Eve took off from Tess¡¯s home base, ignoring all the obstacles in her path, demolishing them just by virtue of moving through them, and Tess could make out Maven using her Descent¡¯s dungeon manipulation on the other side. ¡°Well, this is going to be interesting.¡± Kali said dryly. ¡°I¡¯ll stay back and make sure our home base is safe, the rest of you go on ahead.¡± ¡°U-um, alright.¡± Lia said. ¡°I-if you say so.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll do great.¡± Kali said, flashing her an encouraging smile. ¡°You¡¯re perfectly safe here, so just have fun.¡± ¡°O-okay.¡± Tess took off, and she was slightly surprised to find that she performed much better than she thought she would. Her Descent thrived in the chaotic environment, and though it didn¡¯t prevent her from being hit by any of the other team, them all having some form of Worship to counteract the Descent, it did help her keep a low profile. And that was sort of how the game played out. Rose, Maven, Eve, and Amelia all did huge flashy things, while everyone else worked around them. It was far and away the most frantic and overwhelming game of laser tag she had ever played, but it was fun. In the end, Tess¡¯s team won, and in a remarkably convincing way. Once it was over, Tess had expected Amelia to complain a bit more about losing, but instead Amelia gave a sigh of relief, rushing over to Lia. ¡°There you are!¡± She said. ¡°I hadn¡¯t seen you in a while and was getting worried.¡± ¡°Um, yeah, I was a little overwhelmed, but Lilith helped calm me down and keep me from the worst of it, so it¡¯s fine now.¡± Lia said. Amelia stopped, then turn to Lilith. ¡°Thank you.¡± She said, nodding her head in acknowledgement. ¡°I appreciate you being there for her when I wasn¡¯t.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more than happy to help.¡± Lilith said. ¡°You guys are my friends in the future, and it hurts me to see you hurting. Anyone would do the same, really.¡± ¡°It¡¯s reassuring to know we¡¯ve made such a potent friend.¡± Connie said. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just me, all of us are friends in the future.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°There¡¯s a reason this group was picked to be together for the party.¡± There was a silence, then Tess spoke. ¡°Well¡­that¡¯s probably enough laser tag for now, then. Perhaps we should try something less stimulating for a bit?¡± ¡°Mini golf?¡± Eve suggested. ¡°It should keep us moving but it¡¯s not exactly¡­hard work.¡± ¡°That sounds good.¡± Lia said. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Mini golf?¡± Amelia asked. ¡°It¡¯s a very simple game, I¡¯ll explain it to you on the way over.¡± Rose said. And so the rest of the evening went. They played a few more games together, watched a movie, and generally ended up chatting until, finally, it felt like it was time for the party to end. ¡°Right, well, I suppose I¡¯ll see you all at the next party, and, failing that, I¡¯ll see you all¡­well, for me, probably tomorrow, for you guys¡­decades to a few years, depending on when you¡¯re from.¡± Lilith said. ¡°Pleasure hanging out with you.¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Kali said. ¡°It was a lot of fun!¡± ¡°I agree.¡± Eve said. ¡°Keep up the good work.¡± Their group vanished, and Tess turned to everyone else. ¡°Well, it¡¯s been nice seeing you all again.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s good to hear that we¡¯ll be getting along in the future. I know the three of us are, apparently, different in the future, but I hope that we can get along like this then, too.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not that different.¡± Connie said. ¡°Just surer of yourselves. I¡¯m sure that, when the time comes, we¡¯ll get along swimmingly.¡± ¡°I hope so.¡± Maven said. ¡°This was a pleasure.¡± ¡°Yeah, it was a good time!¡± Ellie agreed. ¡°Later!¡± Tess gave a huge yawn, stretching and getting up from the chair she was in. It was getting late, and it was about time for her to head to bed. So, she slipped her phone into her pocket and headed off to the bathroom, ready to shower and then sleep. Chapter 98: A Long Overdue Look-Over ¡°What do you think Alice wanted to talk to Maven about?¡± Ellie asked idly, tapping away at her phone as she did. ¡°Dunno.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll just have to ask when we see her next. Chances are it¡¯s not really our business, though, otherwise Alice probably would have just talked to her with us there.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess you¡¯re right.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Anything you wanna do while we wait for bedtime?¡± ¡°I was in the middle of looking at the core for the boss of this dungeon when everything went down.¡± Tess said. ¡°I think I¡¯m gonna take a minute and look over that now. After that we can play a game or something, I guess.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Let me know when you¡¯re finished.¡± Tess nodded, and pulled up the log of past windows. It was a feature she tended not to use much, since combat windows were rarely useful outside of combat, and she only ever really got non-combat windows in safe situations, but it did have a couple of niche usages like this. In this instance, it was nice to be able to look at the initial core absorption message, as it helpfully listed out new Attributes and Skills, as well as showing her what the degraded versions she got were without her having to rifle through her Skills to find ones she didn¡¯t have before. Fortunately, she hadn¡¯t received many windows since that time, so it didn¡¯t take too long to find.
You have absorbed a Basic Bushland Boa Core! Slots filled: 23/30 You have gained 1,500 EXP in Monster Breeder! New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ New Skills detected! Attempting to degrade and obtain Highly Based¡­ Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Based! Based: Rarity: Rare Type: Passive Description: Damage dealt by bases you apply is increased by 50%. Damage dealt by the reaction of a base you applied and an acid you applied is increased by a further 50%. On what? Displaying core information: Basic Bushland Boa Core: Level 63 Estimated Power: 1,000 Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 2,000 Stats: HP: 10,000 MP: 5,000 Stamina: 15,000 Power: 1,250 Defense: 400 Magic: 110 Magic Defense: 400 Agility: 275 Luck: 300 Current Skills: Highly Based Poison Magic (High) Current Attributes: Apodous Adaptation Base Neutralizer Bountiful Bases Scales (Fundamental) Sharp Fangs (Major) Stereo Smell (Greater) New Attributes Discovered! Base Neutralizer: Grants the user immunity to bases, and renders any bases that touch the user¡¯s body (and were not produced by the user) inert. Bountiful Bases: Coats the user¡¯s natural weapons in a base, causing them to deal an extra 100% of their attacks¡¯ damage as base damage. This base is similar in composition to ammonia hydroxide, but is far more concentrated than most natural ammonia hydroxide, allowing much more severe burns to develop quickly. The user and their possessions are immune to this base and any side-effects. New Skills Discovered! Highly Based Rarity: Epic Type: Passive Description: Damage dealt by bases you apply is increased by 100%. Damage dealt by the reaction of a base you applied and an acid you applied is increased by a further 100%. No, really, based on what???
Fortune: I know it¡¯s been a bit since this has been relevant to your build, but there¡¯s a combination with the acid and base Attributes. It shouldn¡¯t take any more room in your storage, so you just need to temporarily make a slot or two of room so you can combine the neutralizer Attributes and the¡­uh, producer Attributes? Whatever we want to call the ones that produce the acid and base. And, uh, I¡¯ll let you know when important ones come up in the future, so don¡¯t worry too much about trying all possible combinations unless you want to. Tess: Thanks, Mom. That¡¯ll make the decision-making process a lot easier. Fortune: Any time, sweetie!
Heeding her mother¡¯s advice, Tess took the opportunity to shove two Attributes onto the core, waiting the minute or so it took for them to actually leave. Once they had, she put on Base Neutralizer and Bountiful Bases, waited for the combination window to pop up, then initiated the combinations.
Possible combinations detected! Would you like to try and combine Acid Neutralizer and Base Neutralizer? If you refuse, you may attempt to combine them later at any time. Would you like to try and combine Ample Acid and Bountiful Bases? If you refuse, you may attempt to combine them later at any time. Acid Neutralizer and Base Neutralizer have been successfully combined into Natural Neutralizing Agent! Ample Acid and Bountiful Bases have been successfully combined into Countless Chemicals! New Attributes discovered! Natural Neutralizing Agent: Grants immunity to damage and corrosive effects from acids and bases, and renders any harmful acids or bases that touch the user¡¯s body or equipment (and were not produced by the user) inert. Countless Chemicals: Coats the user¡¯s natural weapons in both an acid and a base, causing them to deal an extra 100% of their attacks¡¯ damage as acid damage and another 100% as base damage. The composition of the acid and base are the same as those produced from Ample Acid and Bountiful Bases. The user and their possessions are immune to these chemicals and any side-effects. These chemicals will not react with anything until two seconds after they have left contact with the user or their possessions.
¡°Alright, I¡¯m done.¡± Tess said. ¡°We have an hour or two before bed, so I¡¯m sure we can fit a game or two.¡± Ellie smiled, looking up from her phone. ¡°I have a couple of handhelds in my bag, let¡¯s take a look and see what strikes our fancy.¡± She reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of consoles. ¡°Catch.¡± She said, tossing one to Tess. Tess deftly caught the console, giving Ellie a shocked look as she did. ¡°What if I didn¡¯t catch it?!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°If you didn¡¯t catch it, I would be absolutely shocked.¡± Ellie said, turning on the console she still had. ¡°We¡¯re basically superhumans, and you do way harder stuff without breaking a sweat. And, even if you did fumble it, I could just catch it with magic, not a big deal.¡± ¡°I guess.¡± Tess replied, turning on the console she had been given. ¡°When¡¯d you get two of these, anyway?¡± ¡°I got them just before the expedition, because I figured we¡¯d be in a situation like this.¡± Ellie explained. ¡°There should be a bunch of multiplayer games on there, pick whichever strikes your fancy.¡± ¡°And you got the money where?¡± Tess asked idly, thumbing through the games. ¡°There are a lot of games here and we don¡¯t exactly have much income on Mael.¡± ¡°Death hooked me up. I paid her the equivalent amount of gold, which¡­honestly was surprisingly little compared to how much we make nowadays, and she got me the console and the games.¡±
Death: Little did you know I already took the liberty of adding you two as friends on my system, without so much as your consent. Truly evil, I know. However, this great act of villainy brings me to my true aim in all this¡­I wanna play too. Fortune: You dastardly fiend! To think you would go take such extreme measure and not even include me in them! The unmitigated gall you have astounds even me! Death: Worry not my loyal henchgod, I am a villain who rewards loyalty! Look within the deepest recesses of your pockets and you will find the reward for your years of loyal service! Fortune: Your evilness, your foresight and grace astounds even me! Truly, you are a master worth following! Ellie: You two are nerds, you know that, right? If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Death: Hey! That¡¯s goddess of the nerds to you! Ellie: Yes, yes. Anyway, I¡¯m down to have you two join as long as Tess is fine with it. Tess: That sounds good to me. Lots of games are better with four players anyway.
The group took a bit to browse the list of games, chose one, then booted it up and began to play. They spent the next couple of hours relaxing and enjoying each other¡¯s company, using the group chat to communicate with each other in lieu of voice chat or the barebones in-game quick chat. It was a nice way to unwind and wash away all the stress from the very long day they had had. And, as it turned out, Tess was more tired than she had realized; it seemed as if one moment she was playing games with everyone, and the next Ellie was shaking her awake. ¡°Wake up, sleepyhead.¡± Ellie said, giving her a smile. ¡°If you want to sleep, you should do it in bed and in your PJs, not in a chair in your normal clothes.¡± ¡°Mm, yeah, sorry.¡± Tess mumbled, absentmindedly transforming her gear into a set of pajamas and giving Ellie a hug. ¡°Guess I was more tired than I thought.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing to apologize for, silly.¡± Ellie chuckled, giving Tess a kiss on the forehead and then scooping her into her arms. Ellie carried her over to the bed, then gently placed her down. Ellie walked over to the other side of the bed, got in, then pulled the covers over the two of them. ¡°I love you.¡± She said, cuddling up to Tess. ¡°Love you too.¡± Tess replied, then drifted off to sleep once again.
¡°Alright, let¡¯s see what¡¯s so important that we needed to spend another day here getting it for you.¡± Alice said eagerly, rubbing her hands together. ¡°Not that I¡¯m complaining, mind you, we¡¯re getting stuff out of this too, I¡¯m just dying to know.¡± The group was currently standing in front of the dungeon¡¯s Rewards Crystal, having just finished their fifth run of the dungeon. Unfortunately, Maven wasn¡¯t able to bring them straight to the Rewards Crystal or change the number of runs needed to get a reward without changing the dungeon for everyone, so they had to do things the normal way. Maven had offered to disable all the monsters and traps to allow them easy passage through the floors, but if they were going to be moving through the floors, The Rumors wanted to actually have some stimulation in the form of fights. The four runs they had done that day had been a lot faster than the ones they had done the previous day; now that The Rumors had gone through the dungeon and knew what to expect, they took significantly less time going through it, pausing only briefly if an unexpected situation turned up. And, as a result, it only took them a few hours to reach the Rewards Crystal again. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s take a look¡­¡± Tess said, placing her hand on the crystal. As always, she received a window a moment later, displaying her new acquisition.
You have gained the Skill Together Strong! Together Strong: Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: If you would be subject to a debuff that would also apply to an ally, if the debuff would fail to apply to you or the ally, it instead doesn¡¯t apply to you or any of your allies. If you or an ally would normally not receive the opportunity to apply your resistance to this debuff, you or that ally receive the opportunity to resist the debuff. If you wanna be my debuffer, you better debuff my friends
¡°Ah.¡± Tess said. ¡°I think I see.¡± ¡°What?¡± Alice asked. ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡± ¡°It makes it so any multi-target debuffs that include me in the target have to successfully debuff all my allies they target or none of my allies get debuffed. And if any of us wouldn¡¯t get the chance to resist, we do. The last Skill I got makes me share all buffs, debuffs, passive Skills, and the like with my attendants, and so if they got targeted for the debuff, and it hit them, I would get it, even if it normally couldn¡¯t affect me.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just plugging a hole that last Skill introduced, I see.¡± Ker said. ¡°I can see why it was so important you got it.¡±
Fortune: If you¡¯re willing to repeat this dungeon enough to get one more shot at the Rewards Crystal, there¡¯s another Skill in this series. The buff isn¡¯t quite as big as the first but this is your only shot at it for a while, it¡¯s a pretty new Skill. Death: By that she means she helped make it specifically for you and got it put into this Rewards Crystal so you could get it Fortune: Hey, that was supposed to be a secret! Death: She was gonna find out eventually Fortune: I mean, yeah, but it¡¯d be less embarrassing twenty or thirty years from now
¡°Fortune says that if you¡¯re willing to go through this dungeon enough to get the reward again then there¡¯s another Skill for Tess that she wouldn¡¯t otherwise be able to get for a long time.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It¡¯s apparently not as powerful as these first, though, so we don¡¯t have to stay if we would rather do something else.¡± Jin paused, thinking on that for a moment. ¡°Maven, how many more times would we need to run through this dungeon to fully clear it? He asked. Maven was silent for a moment before answering. ¡°Seventy.¡± She said. ¡°Five more to the next reward, fifteen more for the reward after that, and twenty-five more each for the last two rewards. And, like I have mentioned, there is no Challenge for this dungeon, so no need to worry about that.¡± ¡°I think we can go through five more times.¡± Alice said. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to finish this dungeon eventually, and if we go five more times, we should still have enough time to make it back to the expedition camp before nightfall.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± Ker said. ¡°Though¡­Maven, are there any other dungeons reasonably close to the expedition camp? If not, we might as well continue working through this dungeon, instead of exploring normally.¡± ¡°Will that not reduce your evaluation for the coming rank changes?¡± Maven asked. ¡°While we have found this dungeon, and that is indeed a good look on your resume, I worry that failing to do more exploration and focusing on yourselves will be a negative point. Yes, you can provide information on this dungeon, but¡­that¡¯s not the main focus of this expedition, mapping and general exploration is.¡± ¡°Ugh, she¡¯s right.¡± Alice said regretfully. ¡°That¡¯s unfortunate, really. I would rather just continue working through this dungeon with you guys but this is kind of important for us.¡± ¡°This is only a negative if there are no other dungeons we can find.¡± Jin pointed out. ¡°So, Maven, are there?¡± ¡°Give me a moment to check.¡±
Dungeons: Within easy reach of your group? One. There are six others that we intend to have the expedition find, but those each require treks of at least two days to find. If you want to maintain a good evaluation for The Rumors, you can probably only visit the close one and maybe two of the others, and you can¡¯t spend more than a day at any.
¡°There is one relatively nearby.¡± Maven relayed. ¡°The rest are at least two days¡¯ journey out. Dungeons estimates that, if we wish to maintain a good evaluation for you, we can visit the nearby one and perhaps two of the others, provided we spend no less than a day at each.¡± ¡°Better than nothing, I suppose.¡± Alice said. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get to work clearing this thing again.¡± With that decided, they began the process of running through the dungeon again. The runs themselves were much the same as the ones they had done earlier in the day, but, on their second run after decided to go for the next Rewards Crystal, they bumped into another group of freelancers in the lobby. ¡°Hey.¡± One of them said, stepping forward. ¡°You¡¯re The Rumors, right? Anything we should know before running this dungeon?¡± ¡°That¡¯s us.¡± Jin confirmed. ¡°We¡¯ve logged everything we know in the guild¡¯s app. If you study up on that and be careful, and if you¡¯re within or above the level range of the dungeon, you¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± ¡°We do.¡± Alice said, hurriedly shepherding Tess¡¯s party into the first floor. Once they were safely inside, Alice turned to the girls and began to speak. ¡°Be careful when freelancers ask you for something.¡± She said. ¡°Sometimes they¡¯re just trying to get their foot in the door to ask you for something else. Given the circumstances, these people could be legitimately seeking for advice, but like Jin said, everything we know about the dungeon is on the app now, they don¡¯t need to ask us for anything.¡± ¡°As callous as it may sound, you need to remember that your time is valuable.¡± Ker said. ¡°Even if you only end up as famous as our party, which I find highly unlikely, you¡¯ll get a lot of requests for advice or for help with some problem or another. If you get a reputation as people who will help any freelancing party, you will get people trying to take advantage of that, and clients for prospective jobs will want to pay you less. ¡°If you become as famous as The Titans, which I could see happening, you wouldn¡¯t have time to do anything if you helped out everyone. You¡¯d just spend all day doing meaningless things, and the three of you have much, much more important things to do. You don¡¯t need to be rude about refusing people, just be careful with how you act.¡± ¡°We will keep that in mind, thank you.¡± Maven said. The rest of the day went without incident. They didn¡¯t run into any huge variations in the dungeon, no monsters snuck up on The Rumors and caused them to get hurt, it was just¡­normal. And, soon enough, Tess found herself laying a hand on the Rewards Crystal yet again, waiting anxiously to see what she would get.
You have gained the Skill Uniform Upgrades! Uniform Upgrades: Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: If you would receive a percentage stat-increasing buff or percentage heal that would also apply to an ally, you and all allies who would receive that buff or heal instead received a modified version that grants the largest absolute gain in stats or HP that the buff or heal would give to a recipient. Our buff.
Tess frowned, trying to make sense of that. ¡°Um¡­one sec, let me make sure this does what I think it does.¡±
Tess: Mom, this Skill, it makes it so that if me and another thing share a buff or heal that uses percents, everyone like¡­gets the most benefit anyone would get out of it? Like, if Ellie and I were both healed, and she would get healed for 1,000 and I would get healed for 100, it instead heals us both for 1,000? Fortune: That¡¯s exactly right. Sorry, I couldn¡¯t find a good way to word it and we prefer to shy away from examples inside Skill descriptions, so I figured you could just ask me if you were worried, and others would just get info from the guild or the internet.
Tess gave a nod. ¡°Yeah, okay, that¡¯s what I thought. Basically, if a buff that would increase stats by a percent or a heal that would heal a percent is applied to me and an ally at the same time, all allies involved in that buff or heal get the most benefit out of it that anyone would. So, if Ellie would heal one thousand and I would heal one hundred, we both heal one thousand.¡± Ellie¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°And that¡¯s less powerful than the first one?¡± She asked. ¡°Are we sure?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°This is just numbers go up. The other basically allows me to have extra slots for Attributes, and that opens the door to a lot of things.¡± ¡°Well, either way it¡¯s super strong.¡± Alice said. ¡°Now¡­why don¡¯t we go start the trip back? I¡¯d like to be back before they stop serving food.¡± ¡°We have our own food.¡± Jin said, smiling slightly. ¡°It won¡¯t be a huge deal if we miss out.¡± ¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s our food.¡± Alice countered. ¡°And everyone knows that food someone else is paying for tastes better. We¡¯re not doing anything important here, so we might as well move, we¡¯re burning daylight!¡± Chapter 99: The End of an Expedition The rest of the expedition turned out to be much less exciting than the beginning was. Most of their time was spent out on missions to chart land that they knew had no dungeons, and though there was a brief break to raid the other nearby dungeon, once they had finished they were right back to the monotony of regular exploration. And, as Alice had once put it, regular exploration was a lot less exciting when they knew they wouldn¡¯t find any dungeons. Still, even regular exploration had its benefits. The terrain was far more varied than Tess had expected, and they did come across some rather stunning views from time to time. And, as they explored, it had eventually dawned on Tess that she had never actually really seen untouched wilderness before, not in the same way she was here. She had been camping before, of course, but nothing like this. In the places Gramps had taken her, there had always been campsites or hiking trail or any other number of signs that people had been there before. Out here, they couldn¡¯t even reliably find a game trail, and they often had to forge their own path. It was a fresh experience, and one that she enjoyed, but all the same she was happy when Gramps finally announced that the expedition was coming to an end. After the announcement, the guild gave everyone a week to return before Gramps would give a closing speech and the convoy would pack up and begin the trip back to the City. And soon enough, Tess found herself standing amidst a large crowd of people, waiting for the closing speech to start. Tess was surprised to see that her group got more than a few surreptitious glances, and that not all of those were directed at The Rumors. Tess, Ellie, and Maven received a not-insignificant portion of the attention, which felt¡­weird. She had gotten used to being gawked at at school, but people here weren¡¯t looking at her like she was some sort of freak. Tess couldn¡¯t quite place the emotion, but it was something more akin to curiosity than anything else, like¡­almost like what she imagined she would look like if she randomly came across a celebrity. ¡°Something up, Tess?¡± Alice whispered. ¡°You seem distracted.¡± ¡°I noticed people were looking at us. And not like, you, but like, us.¡± Tess replied, motioning at her teammates. ¡°It just seems sort of odd.¡± ¡°You and Ellie are the subject of some of the hottest gossip out there at the moment.¡± Alice replied, barely constrained mirth evident in her tone. ¡°Everyone wants to know what the Guildmaster¡¯s grandchildren are like. Everyone in the guild who has been keeping their ears to the ground knows how fond the Guildmaster is of you, and that makes you people to keep an eye on. Again, be wary of people approaching you out of nowhere; there¡¯s a good chance they might want to use you for your connections.¡± ¡°It probably helps that you¡¯re the most beautiful person here by a longshot.¡± Ellie said, elbowing Tess playfully. ¡°I can¡¯t exactly blame people if they can¡¯t keep their eyes off of you.¡± ¡°Oh, stop exaggerating.¡± Tess said, elbowing her back. ¡°There¡¯s got to be someone better looking than me here.¡± ¡°You literally got a Skill that constantly brings you towards the ideal of beauty.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m exaggerating.¡± ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s my ideal, and I prefer someone more¡­cute than traditionally beautiful.¡± Tess countered. ¡°And while there is a lot of overlap, there are thousands of high-level people here, I¡¯m sure someone is using illusions to make themselves as beautiful as can be.¡± ¡°If they¡¯re doing that, then they¡¯re not a good freelancer.¡± Ker snorted. ¡°That¡¯s an extravagant waste of Mana. Even though we¡¯re theoretically safe here, if there is some sort of attack, there¡¯s no guarantee of our safety. The Titans may be here, and I¡¯m sure they¡¯re more than capable of handling anything this region has to throw at us, but they¡¯re just one party. It wouldn¡¯t be unreasonable for one or two people to slip through the cracks of their defenses.¡± ¡°In general, you shouldn¡¯t be wasting time with pointless spells like that unless you have a good reason.¡± Jin said. ¡°There is a time and place for them, but not¨C¡± He was cut off as Gramps¡¯s voice began to echo throughout the area. ¡°Hello everybody, and thanks for coming along on this expedition!¡± He said cheerfully. ¡°It pleases me to say that, thanks to your tireless efforts, it¡¯s been yet another successful trip!¡± A cheer rose up from the audience, and Gramps gave them all a smile while he waited for the cheer to die down. ¡°But, as fun as this has been, it is time to pack it up and return to our daily lives once again. The main convoy will be leaving tomorrow morning at ten, but for those of you who wish to continue activities in this area, as always, there are a few options. ¡°First off, this base is going to be expanded upon to become our guild hall for the region. If you wish to help in its construction, we will provide a wage for each day you work. So long as you work on construction for at least three days a week, we will provide meals free of charge. You will not be under any obligation to stay for any length of time and are free to leave when you wish, but do note that we will not provide transportation back until after construction is finished. ¡°We will also be hard at work setting up a teleport gate here, but we do not expect that to come online for at least another few months. Those of you who are able to teleport manually, we have posted the coordinates of this location to our app, but do be aware that it takes approximately sixty-two hundred Mana to teleport a single person here from the City. ¡°And, finally, one month from today we will begin rank re-evaluations and testing, starting with my party. As always, examinations for ranks nine and above will be personalized and public, and schedules will be posted in the guild hall and in the app as they are made. Time slots are first-come first-serve, and we will be making extra time for them for one month after they are opened. Now, I do believe that is all, so go enjoy your night! We will be having our customary feast in one hour, which will last until sundown. Dismissed!¡± There was another cheer, and people began to go their separate ways. ¡°So¡­what now?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Do we just hang out until the feast? We don¡¯t exactly have anything to pack.¡± ¡°If you three younger girls would come with me, that would be fantastic.¡± Ava said, causing Tess to jump. Like always, Tess had no idea she had approached, even with her tremorsense and other heightened senses active. ¡°Evan wishes to speak with you.¡± Jin nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll leave them in your capable hands, then.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Much appreciated.¡± Ava said, flashing him a smile. ¡°We¡¯ll return them to you before the night is up.¡± ¡°What¡¯s this about?¡± Tess asked as Ava led her and her party away. ¡°Work stuff?¡± ¡°Sort of.¡± Ava replied. ¡°And you can say Appointed, I¡¯ve got my standard obscuring magic up, no one will hear what we¡¯re saying.¡± ¡°What do you mean sort of?¡± Ellie asked curiously. ¡°How can it be only sort of Appointed stuff?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not official business, but an informal get-together we like to have after major events we were involved in. It¡¯s usually not required, but Evan wanted to make sure you three attended the first one you could.¡± ¡°So, it will be us and your party, correct?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Rachel will be there, and perhaps Amara as well.¡± Ava said. ¡°They tend to do a lot of work keeping the peace while we¡¯re away.¡± They chatted a little more as they proceeded, Ava guiding them into the camp¡¯s main structure as they did. The structure itself had changed remarkably from how it had been at the beginning of the expedition, the temporary-looking wood or earth walls having been replaced with¡­whatever modern buildings were made of. It was probably some combination of a bunch of materials, but Tess had never really looked into what went into buildings. Whatever it was made out of, the point was that it no longer looked like it was temporary or a work in progress, and now looked like it wouldn¡¯t be out of place in any regular city. And, in doing so, it had become quite out of place where it was, a normal building out in the middle of nowhere, no other signs of civilization to be seen. Once they were inside, Ava led them into the employees-only section of the building, and then up the stairs to one of the private rooms. Within they found Gramps, Rachel, Eyfura, and Atum sitting around a large table laden with food, already beginning to dish up and eat. ¡°Ah, you three, glad you could make it!¡± Rachel said warmly. ¡°I made everything myself and there¡¯s plenty to go around, so please eat as much as you want!¡± ¡°Thanks, Rachel.¡± Tess said, grabbing a plate from a stack at the end of the table. She took a moment to figure out where she should start, and then decided potatoes were as good a place as any, and headed over to start adding them to her plate. ¡°So, what are these things usually like?¡± Ellie asked, grabbing a plate and moving over to a pot of pasta. ¡°We basically just have dinner and chat.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Talk about any troubles we had and how we might improve next time.¡± ¡°And speaking of chatting, you¡¯ve got quite a bit of explaining to do, Tess.¡± Eyfura said, smiling slightly. ¡°From what I understand, some very big stuff has happened and I haven¡¯t gotten the full story yet. So, let¡¯s hear it, what exactly happened?¡± ¡°Give her a break, Eyfura.¡± Atum chuckled. ¡°She hasn¡¯t even finished getting her food yet. Her stuff is going to take the longest to get through, so we should go through everything else first so she can have some time to eat.¡± ¡°I guess.¡± Eyfura huffed. ¡°I¡¯ve just been dying to know, and Dominion won¡¯t tell me anything, she says it¡¯s not her place to say.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that long of a story.¡± Tess said. ¡°I don¡¯t think you need a play by play of how I dealt with Olga or anything, and the rest really isn¡¯t as complicated as you might think.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s start with that, then.¡± Gramps said. ¡°I believe Olga attempted to flee right around when we got to base camp, correct?¡± Tess nodded, setting her half-filled plate down and sitting herself down in the nearest seat. ¡°It was right when we found that first dungeon.¡± She said. ¡°We had just finished going through it or there was downtime or something, and I got called away while I was sifting through cores. I cut off Olga as she was leaving, and she offered a competition to us instead of a fight, thinking she could beat us by using a game neither of us knew. ¡°Death knew the game, so we beat her with Death¡¯s help and then sent her packing. After we got back, Mom and I had a long, private talk, and I went to Amy with the request. By changing how Fortune would be seen by Monster Breeder, we fixed the problems with our Descent, got me adopted, and as a sidenote made Descent essentially unlimited for us.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°And really, that¡¯s all there is to it. Like I said, unless you want a play by play of the game, it¡¯s not too long; most of my reasoning revolves around that private talk, and I don¡¯t want to divulge the contents of that talk without Mom¡¯s consent.¡± ¡°How has that worked out for you?¡± Ava asked. ¡°It¡¯s quite the atypical relationship.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been great!¡± Tess said happily. ¡°I go and visit Mom about once a week, and the group chat was a little awkward for the first week or two, but we¡¯ve more or less returned back to normal. Mom¡¯s noticeably happier now, and it¡¯s nice to have a mother figure in my life again. I still feel the same about my birth parents and about Gramps, though, so don¡¯t worry about any of that. It¡¯s just¡­more happiness.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re glad you¡¯re enjoying it.¡± Rachel said, smiling warmly at her. ¡°Why don¡¯t you finish dishing up? We¡¯ve kept you from your food for too long as it is.¡± Tess nodded, then grabbed her plate and resumed getting her food. Once she had finished grabbing everything she wanted, she found her way over to where Ellie and Maven were sitting and took a place besides them. Once she was properly seated, Gramps began to speak again. ¡°So, Rachel, would you like to go next, or should we?¡± He asked. ¡°Mine is pretty fast, so I¡¯ll go.¡± Rachel said. ¡°It was business as usual, really. There was the standard uptick in criminal activity in the City, but I kept the worst of it at bay. As far as Hearth and I can tell, there isn¡¯t anything else worth worrying about that happened. So, pretty boring, but that¡¯s for the best. How about you guys?¡± Gramps grimaced. ¡°I think we made a mistake announcing the rank changes before the expedition.¡± He said. ¡°Unfortunately, there were a lot of reckless people this time around, no doubt looking to increase their standings before rank re-evaluation happens. We had a lot more deaths, and we couldn¡¯t retrieve nearly as many as I would have liked, only seventy five percent or so.¡± Ava sighed. ¡°Admittedly, I had hoped that we were past this.¡± She said. ¡°We give them this warning every time we have an expedition, and if they had done their research, they would know that every expedition has a death toll, but there are always some people who don¡¯t listen. Usually, those people are inexperienced, but this time we even had a few deaths from people who really, really should have known better.¡± ¡°The next few times we have an expedition, we need to arrange for there to be more body retrieval personnel.¡± Atum mused. ¡°I imagine that with the expanded space in the upper ranks, we¡¯re going to get a lot more people trying to make something of themselves, even years down the line. The parties we had on standby weren¡¯t enough now, and I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be enough next time.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°This place was relatively tame, too. We still have a couple of high-level areas that need discovering, and those are sure to come with higher body counts.¡± There was a slight lull in the conversation, then Gramps turned to the three younger girls. ¡°What do you three think?¡± ¡°Us?¡± Ellie asked confusedly. ¡°I¡¯m not sure we really know enough to say, though.¡± ¡°Humor me.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°I¡¯d like to get a fresh perspective on this.¡± ¡°Well¡­it¡¯s better to err on the side of caution.¡± Ellie said slowly. ¡°And it seems to me that much of our issue comes from people not wanting to go on the guiding outings because they want to have their own achievements, right? If we could¡­I don¡¯t know, make smaller outings led by very competent parties, then we could make each participants¡¯ contribution bigger, so they¡¯d be more attractive to more people.¡± Maven frowned. ¡°You would have to regulate that closely.¡± She pointed out. ¡°These outings would be more dangerous, and if an entire outing gets wiped out, then the burden of retrieval becomes significantly larger.¡± ¡°Not as much as you would think.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°The problem is mostly the time spent getting to the place of death and looking for the corpses. The number of corpses doesn¡¯t have a very significant impact. I think the idea has merit, but Maven is right in that we¡¯d have to set strict regulations for it to work. It¡¯s something we¡¯ll consider for sure, though.¡± From there, the conversation turned to more trivial things, and a sort of comfortable atmosphere filled the room. It felt¡­well, it felt almost like Tess was back in civilization again; the food was phenomenal, the building was modern and the furniture comfortable, and the conversation was pleasant and oftentimes unrelated to freelancing. So, she let herself relax and enjoy the moment; the next day she would have to begin the journey back, but that was something she would deal with later. Chapter 100: Exams Begin As it turned out, the return trip from the expedition was slated to be much quicker than the one they had taken on their way to the expedition site. It was by no means fast, still a matter of a couple of weeks of travel, but it was better than the month or so they had taken to get there. While the buses were still slow, they didn¡¯t have to do any mapping, and they only needed to scout briefly, so they could go almost full speed the entire way. Still, after a week of travel, Tess couldn¡¯t wait to be back home. Yes, she could visit her home on Mael almost any time she wanted thanks to the door the gods had built into her party¡¯s hoverer, but that wasn¡¯t the same; they could only do that for brief moments while the caravan had stopped, and it was often more trouble than it was worth. So, like on the trip over, she spent most of her time playing games with Ellie, Alice, Maven, and occasionally Jin or Ker in The Rumors¡¯ hoverer. Even that, though, was slightly different; Maven was acting¡­oddly around Tess and Ellie, slipping back into more formal ways of speaking when she had previously been getting less and less formal around them. And, via tremorsense, Tess was able to catch Maven sneaking glances at the pair when Maven thought they weren¡¯t looking. Tess couldn¡¯t read expressions through tremorsense very well, but she could tell enough to know that Maven likely wasn¡¯t angry at them. With that in mind, Tess decided not to confront her about it until after the wedding; it was entirely possible that Maven was just thinking about the wedding or something, and confronting her about it would only put her in an awkward position. So, she let it go and carried on as normal. And the routine they fell into carried on until they were roughly two days away from the City, at which point The Rumors called for a meeting to be had within the hoverer. Once all six occupants of the hoverer had assembled, Jin began to speak. ¡°So, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re wondering what this is about.¡± He said, looking at the three members of Tess¡¯s party, who were seated across from the three members of The Rumors. ¡°The three of us have been talking about training, and when we would consider you fully trained. And, after some deliberation, we have come to a decision. ¡°First off, we¡¯d like to congratulate you on your performance on this expedition. You learned quickly from mistakes you made, and you listened to our orders well. That might seem unremarkable, but believe me; people you escort or teach in the future are not all so cooperative. Many are, simply put, liabilities beyond what their status as someone being escorted would suggest. ¡°But you¡¯ve learned your lessons well, and we think we would feel comfortable with you handling simple requests on your own. To that end, we have a pair of final tests for you before we can truly call you trained. First off, we want your party to take the ranking tests coming up soon, and if you are put in rank four or better, we will consider that test passed. ¡°Second, in the month leading up to the ranking tests, we wish for you to operate separately from us, to complete requests on your own initiative. We¡¯ve talked with the Guildmaster, and he¡¯ll be reporting to us with the details on the requests you complete and your evaluation on those requests. ¡°Furthermore, you will not receive any aid from us during this time, material or otherwise. We have decided that it would be prudent to give you the hoverer as we had discussed before the expedition, but you¡¯re otherwise on your own. If your conduct in this month satisfies us, then we will consider that test passed. If you fail either test, we will continue to mentor you for three more months, at which point we will redo any of the tests that you failed, and reassess things then. Questions?¡± ¡°Um¡­are we allowed to call you just to talk?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Not ask for advice or anything, just as friends.¡± ¡°Please do!¡± Alice said. ¡°I¡¯m more than happy to talk with any of you at any time, for any reason. And, of course, I¡¯ll likely be reaching out to Tess regarding business for the new gambling machines she¡¯s introducing as an Appointed.¡± ¡°Likewise, the two of us are happy to talk as friends, or be emotional support.¡± Ker added, motioning towards Jin. ¡°And this goes for the future as well. We happen to like working with you girls, and we think it would be a shame if we never spoke again after your training is completed.¡± ¡°I feel the same, but I can¡¯t speak for the others.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I, too, would like to work with you again in the future.¡± Maven said. ¡°And, of course, I would love to keep in touch with you guys.¡± Tess said. ¡°It just wouldn¡¯t be the same without you guys around.¡± ¡°Glad to hear it.¡± Alice said warmly. ¡°Now, since we have two days left before we get back to the City, please use this time to ask us any last questions you may have before your test starts. Consider this your information gathering period, okay?¡±
¡°So, let¡¯s talk scheduling.¡± Ellie said, sitting down at a table she had set up in one of the guild¡¯s private rooms. ¡°And, before we get into anything else, I don¡¯t expect preparations for the wedding to conclude before this month is out, so we shouldn¡¯t need to worry about that. And we don¡¯t need to worry about me needing to stay in the City for prep, I can just use the hoverer to get back to our house on Mael and then the portal there to get to the City.¡± ¡°Alright, so, I guess, first question, do we want to do our work in the City?¡± Tess asked. ¡°It seems like there are a lot of requests we can pick up there, but I¡¯m not sure they¡¯re suitable for us. I¡¯ve been given to understand that there¡¯s pretty fierce competition for requests at our level that are entirely contained within the City, but stuff that takes us outside is relatively open. We¡¯d probably be near guaranteed to have work near our skill level, but it¡¯d probably take longer than otherwise.¡± ¡°As far as I¡¯m aware, that is correct, yes.¡± Maven said. ¡°And do note that we do not need to be worried about completing a large number of requests, The Rumors simply said that they would be watching our activity. If we attempt to complete a lot of requests and only do mediocre work, I imagine we would fail. I believe this is to be more an examination of our standard day to day as freelancers, not a test on how quickly we can do things.¡± ¡°I think we should find an area outside of the City with a dungeon around our skill level and do work there.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯ll be able to both make progress on a new dungeon and be able to work in an area where there¡¯s less competition.¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°I agree.¡± Tess said. ¡°But the problem is finding a good place.¡± ¡°That is not a concern.¡± Maven said. ¡°I know of several within Paumen.¡± ¡°Is that¡­alright?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Our results might be considered not as genuine because people might be reporting that we did better than we actually did to get on the good side of royalty?¡± Maven blinked. ¡°I¡­had not thought of that.¡± She admitted. ¡°Still, it shouldn¡¯t be a big deal; the guild keeps a database of dungeons, we just need to look at the ones in our level range and find one that is located close to a city.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°I see. In that case, I don¡¯t have any objections. What about you, Maven?¡± ¡°I would be more than happy to travel.¡± Maven said. ¡°The City is nice, but visiting different environs is more fun.¡± ¡°So, we¡¯re traveling then.¡± Ellie said. ¡°When do we leave?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have any obligations or anything, and all my stuff is in my bags.¡± Tess said. ¡°So, I can leave whenever.¡± ¡°Likewise, everything of import that I own is in my bag.¡± Maven said. ¡°And I do not have any prior engagements here.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯ll just need to tell Grandpa and The Rumors about this and we¡¯ll be set. So, let¡¯s decide on a place and get going, shall we?¡±
With a little help from the gods, they were able to decide where they wanted to go without much trouble, and they were on their way in less than two hours. After some deliberation, they had chosen a town named Eris high up in the mountains in one of the older planes. This was for a couple of reasons; first, the environment was harsher there; it was cold and snowy all year round, and that would make for different types of requests than they had worked on in the past. Over the course of their training, The Rumors had had them do a couple of requests, just to get them familiar with the process, and Tess¡¯s party wanted to show The Rumors that they could handle different things. Second, the town was in a rather unique position where permanent housing wasn¡¯t much in demand; the environment was harsh at all times, doubly so in the winter, and the only reason there was much of a town at all was because it was nestled in a mountain pass on a major trading route. In essence, the only people that lived there full-time were people who ran small businesses catering to travelers. As such, the dungeon¡¯s housing wasn¡¯t in use as housing for the town¡¯s residents, and instead the Reshi Suites were operating a hotel within. They had briefly considered asking Alice to help them make arrangements, but had decided that wouldn¡¯t be a good look for their test and went to do things like everyone else. The travel time to the town was still about half a day even with the hoverer at max speed, but it wasn¡¯t as bad as the trip to and from the expedition. For one, they were moving significantly faster, and passing by inhabited places made Tess feel like they were making more progress than moving through the wilderness. For two, the scenery was just more interesting; it was much less flat, and their view wasn¡¯t obstructed by a convoy of hoverers. So, they trip went by quickly, and they reached their destination just before nightfall. Or, rather, when nightfall would be back at home; here, night had fallen a few hours prior. The dungeon was located in the center of town, and stood out starkly from the rest of the town, being a large structure made out of snow, as opposed to the more standard materials the rest of the buildings were made of. They got out of the hoverer and packed it up, then entered the dungeon. Within the lobby was the familiar sight of a receptionist¡¯s counter, staffed by a bored-looking dwarf on his phone. As they entered, he looked up disinterestedly at them. ¡°You lot look like freelancers.¡± He said. ¡°Here to stay, or just to raid?¡± ¡°We¡¯re here to stay.¡± Tess said, walking up to the counter. ¡°We¡¯re looking for a room for a month, what do you have available?¡± ¡°Let me check.¡± The dwarf said, turning to a computer nearby. He typed away for a few moments, then looked back up at the group, frowning. ¡°Tess Los and co? Can I see your ID?¡± He asked. Tess blinked in surprise. ¡°What? How did you know?¡± ¡°Says here there¡¯s a reservation in your name for the penthouse suite and a note to give to you, and that it was a surprise.¡± He said. ¡°I just need your ID to confirm.¡± ¡°Um, sure.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯ve got it on my band, how are we doing this?¡± The dwarf rummaged down below for a moment before pulling out a small stone plate. ¡°Put your finger here, please, it¡¯ll read your band for you.¡± Tess did as instructed, and after a moment the dwarf nodded. ¡°Your ID checks out.¡± He said, pulling out a set of keys and a small folded up piece of paper. ¡°Here are the keys and the note, breakfast is from eight to noon, and on the day of your checkout we¡¯d like you cleared out before noon. Enjoy your stay, and let us know if there¡¯s anything we can help you with.¡± Tess accepted the items, then turned to her party members. ¡°Shall we go?¡± They set off for the teleporter, and once they were safely inside their room, Ellie turned to Tess. ¡°What does the note say?¡± She asked curiously. Tess unfolded the note, and began to read it aloud. First things first, I¡¯m glad that you¡¯re taking this seriously and not using us in any way. It read. But for something like this it¡¯s not super important. This is just a matter of your comfort and I fully expect you to use me to help you get lodgings in the future, so it¡¯d be silly to have you not use me here. This is not just an expectation; it is a threat. If I find out that you¡¯ve been ignoring my advice and paying for your stays, I will put you on the VIP list and make sure you¡¯re treated uncomfortably well. So, if you don¡¯t want that, check in with me first. Having someone who¡¯s like a sister to me pay for staying in my buildings makes me feel bad, and I can¡¯t be having that. Plus, it¡¯ll give us more chances to talk, and that¡¯s always nice. Love, Alice. ¡°Uncomfortably well?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I believe she means near sycophantic treatment; you would receive copious amounts of free high-end food and luxury items, priority in every single way, up to and included kicking guests out of their rooms if the rooms are full, that sort of a thing. Essentially, you would be causing a great deal of trouble for the hotel staff.¡± Maven explained. ¡°Yeah, not happening, just the thought of it makes me uncomfortable.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯ll just talk with Alice beforehand.¡± ¡°Well, if we get free lodgings, I don¡¯t mind.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t think we have time to do work tonight, so is there anything you guys wanna do before bed?¡± ¡°Um¡­this might be presumptuous, but I would like to try video games.¡± Maven said. ¡°Is there something you have that could be played with the three of us. Preferably something that allows us to be on the same team¡± ¡°It¡¯s not presumptuous at all, we¡¯d love to play with you!¡± Ellie said, beaming at Maven. ¡°And I have plenty of games that fit that description; I figured there¡¯d be a TV here, so I brought some consoles in my bag. Now, what kind of game are you in the mood for, platformers, party games, shooters¡­anything.¡± ¡°I am not really familiar with game genres.¡± Maven said. ¡°Pick one you think I would enjoy.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll get you something simple, then¡­probably a 2D platformer, most of those only use a couple of buttons so they¡¯re relatively easy to pick up. Give me a second and I¡¯ll have it ready, okay? Oh, uh, if that¡¯s fine with you, Tess.¡± ¡°Yeah, sounds good.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯ll give her the rundown while you work.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Maven said. ¡°What is our objective in these games?¡± While Ellie set up, Tess explained the genre to Maven. It was a little weird, having to explain things that she took for granted, but it made sense that someone who grew up with little to no contact with games wouldn¡¯t understand all the unspoken rules of game design. Still, Maven was smart, and Tess was sure she¡¯d pick things up quickly. And, as it turned out, she did. Within just an hour or so, she had mastered the basics of the game and was able to play pretty well. They played for another couple of hours after that, before eventually turning in for the night, refreshed and ready to begin their test proper the next morning. Chapter 101: Tests Within Tests ¡°Man, I really need to get casual clothes that have temperature regulation magic on them, I look so out of place compared to you two.¡± Ellie said, rubbing the sleeves of her heavy winter coat. ¡°Maven, do you know how much it would cost to enchant some of my clothes with that?¡± ¡°I believe you could find an artisan who would do it for ten or fifteen gold per article of clothing.¡± Maven said. Ellie winced. ¡°Well, I suppose it¡¯ll have to wait for when we have our own place and have a bit more disposable income.¡± ¡°You could just wear your armor if you¡¯re cold.¡± Tess suggested. ¡°That has temperature regulation, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, but full plate armor isn¡¯t exactly comfortable, no matter how lightweight it is.¡± Ellie said. ¡°And it still doesn¡¯t change the fact that I¡¯d look weird compared to you two. So, I¡¯d rather just wear a coat, the walk to the guild¡¯s building isn¡¯t that long.¡± ¡°Suit yourself.¡± Tess said. ¡°Let¡¯s pick up the pace, then, just so we¡¯re out of the cold as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Fine by me.¡± Ellie said, speeding up. Tess and Maven sped up to match, and soon they found themselves in front of the town¡¯s guild hall. Tess had to admit that she had been expecting a little more, but she also had to admit that it was an unfair expectation; she had only really seen the guild hall in the City and the temporary one set up for the expedition, which barely counted, so it made sense that this one was underwhelming in comparison. The building itself was modest, no larger than Gramps¡¯s house on Mael, and it was built out some sort of dark brown wood. With the snow piled around it, it gave off a sort of pleasantly rustic vibe, like it was the type of place you could stop by after a long day of travel for a hot meal. Ellie opened the door and stepped inside, Tess and Maven close behind. As they entered, a bored-looking woman at the receptionist desk and gave them a disinterested look. ¡°Welcome to the guild hall,¡± she said, ¡°are you here to put in a request or to accept requests?¡± ¡°Accept requests, please.¡± Ellie said, walking over to the counter. ¡°What do you have available?¡± ¡°Rank?¡± The receptionist asked. Ellie gave a glance at Tess and Maven. ¡°Technically one, but that¡¯s only because we haven¡¯t taken the exam yet.¡± The receptionist sighed. ¡°In that case, I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to assign you any requests that require leaving town or entering the dungeon.¡± She said. ¡°This area is simply too dangerous for people of your rank.¡± ¡°I believe we should have records of clearing dungeons higher level than the average for this area, if you check our identification.¡± Maven said. ¡°Under guild rules, that should suffice as proof that we are capable of taking non-exceptional requests in this area, correct?¡± ¡°Provided you had no assistance, it would.¡± The receptionist said, raising an eyebrow. ¡°May I see your IDs?¡± Tess¡¯s party stepped forward and presented their bands. The receptionist scanned them with a device, then turned to her computer and began typing away. As she did, a shocked expression crossed her face, replaced quickly by barely-repressed nervousness. ¡°T-this does indeed seem to check out.¡± She said. ¡°May I suggest taking a dungeon clear request first? It would make clients feel more comfortable with your skills.¡± ¡°That sounds fine to me.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯ll take it.¡± ¡°V-very good.¡± The receptionist said. ¡°I¡¯ll get that entered for you, please return once you have cleared the dungeon.¡± ¡°Thanks a bunch!¡± Tess said. ¡°We¡¯ll be back in a bit!¡± As they left, Tess couldn¡¯t resist turning on her hearing enhancements, and she was able to hear the receptionist breathe a sigh of relief as they left the building. ¡°Seems she wasn¡¯t expecting a party like ours.¡± Tess said. ¡°I would imagine not,¡± Maven said, ¡°meeting the guildmaster¡¯s grandchildren is by no means an everyday occurrence. Most people would become nervous in that situation.¡± ¡°Still, I was kind of hoping we could jump right into other requests once they saw that our capabilities were above our rank.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Still, I suppose that it makes sense that people would like some sort of proof of our competency in this region, since we are technically rank one.¡± ¡°Well, we were planning to do the dungeon anyway, so it¡¯s not like it¡¯s a waste of time or anything.¡± Tess said. ¡°How fast do we want to clear this? I imagine that having a fast turnaround time on the dungeon clear would look good for us.¡± ¡°Not too fast.¡± Maven said. ¡°If we are too quick, I believe it would instead be suspicious. We should just proceed at our normal pace and let what happens happen.¡± And that¡¯s exactly what they ended up doing. The dungeon itself wasn¡¯t anything particularly notable, being a rather standard dungeon that focused on wearing its raiders down via extreme cold, but with the advanced protections on their gear, the environmental effects were a non-issue for Tess¡¯s party. Likewise, the boss didn¡¯t have anything worth noting in terms of its strength or the abilities Tess took from it, just¡­more cold stuff. The Skill Tess obtained from the Rewards Crystal, however, was a different story.
You have gained the Skill Flash Freeze! Flash Freeze: Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: When you apply a freezing effect to an enemy, there is a 10% chance to duplicate the effect on a neighboring body part. This effect can trigger on freezing applied by this effect. Your opponents probably wish they packed antifreeze.
The whole trip took about five hours, and they soon found themselves back in the guild office, staring down a different receptionist than the one who had seen them before. As the group entered, she gave them a carefully neutral look. ¡°Would you three be willing to come meet with the branch head?¡± She asked. ¡°It is by no means required, but she does wish to have a short chat with you.¡± ¡°I do not believe that would be a problem, unless my teammates have objections.¡± Maven said. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The woman waited for a moment to give time for Tess and Ellie to speak, then gave a nod when they didn¡¯t. ¡°Follow me, then.¡± She said, opening a small gate on the side of the receptionist¡¯s desk. She led the group down a short hallway, then knocked at a door on the end. ¡°Please see them in!¡± A woman¡¯s voice called out from the back. The woman who had guided them opened the door, and Tess¡¯s party stepped through. The room beyond was a small office dominated by a large desk, behind which a foxkin woman was sitting. ¡°Thank you for coming and talking with me.¡± She said, giving them a smile. ¡°I¡¯m Lucille and I¡¯m the branch head around here.¡± ¡°I am Maven, and these are my party members, Tess and Ellie.¡± Maven said, moving over to the desk but not sitting in the three chairs that were provided. ¡°Ah, pardon my manners, please sit.¡± Lucille said. ¡°I just wanted to have a quick talk about the requests you¡¯re wishing to take.¡± The girls sat themselves down, and Lucille looked gave them another smile. ¡°Thank you for taking time out of your day to come meet with me. I understand you¡¯re likely busy, so I¡¯ll cut the small talk and get straight to it. I¡¯m afraid that you may have chosen a poor place to do work. ¡°While, personally, I have no doubts about your capabilities, the people who submit requests to us are, by and large, merchants. As such, many requests are somewhat time-sensitive, and the requesters don¡¯t wish to have parties without a suitable rank or an equivalent r¨¦sum¨¦ waste time on something they might not be able to complete. This leaves you in a bit of a sticky situation. While I don¡¯t know your exact business here, I imagine you¡¯re here to pad out your resume before the upcoming rank exams, correct?¡± ¡°Close enough.¡± Tess said. ¡°We were planning to operate here for the month, but if you think it¡¯s not viable, we can try somewhere else.¡± ¡°Normally it wouldn¡¯t be viable.¡± Lucille said. ¡°However, given you are who you are and your rather excellent record of dungeon clears, I would be willing to be your guarantor for your activities here. In essence, should you fail to complete a request satisfactorily, I will personally go and complete it myself. ¡°As you might imagine, I would rather not complete these requests, so I would like to propose a series of tests. Since your time is valuable, these tests would take the form of completing some requests we have around that haven¡¯t been taken for quite some time. These are less desirable requests, either due to their reward or the nature of the work, but they would still be just as valuable as any others for the purpose of the rank exams. ¡°Should that not be to your liking, there is also the option of simply revealing your backgrounds to potential clients. This would open many doors for you, but it would also potentially cause inconvenience, as your clients may try to use your standing to their benefit in whatever ways they can, and perhaps even attempt contact outside of their requests. Still, it is an option that I felt you could consider. So, what are your thoughts?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with taking these tests.¡± Ellie said. ¡°If we were in it for the rewards, we wouldn¡¯t be doing this anyway.¡± ¡°Likewise, I am fine with this.¡± Maven added. ¡°I see little disadvantage for us.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m cool with it too.¡± Tess finished. ¡°When can we start?¡± Lucille gave them a relieved smile. ¡°Right now, if you would like. I have three requests picked out, and I¡¯ve given the details to Amy, the receptionist who led you here. Just go ask her and she¡¯ll show you the requests and you can pick which to start on. Any other questions?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Tess said, glancing at her party members. When they didn¡¯t object, she turned back to Lucille. ¡°If that¡¯s all, we¡¯ll go get started.¡± ¡°The only other thing I have to say is that my guarantor status will go into effect the moment you complete the last request, so you can feel free to pick a normal request the moment you have. That is all, though, thank you for taking time out of your schedules to meet with me.¡± Tess¡¯s party said their goodbyes, then headed back to the lobby, where Amy the receptionist was waiting. ¡°We¡¯d like to look at those requests.¡± Tess said. ¡°Would you mind pulling them up for us?¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± Amy said. ¡°Please head to the front of the counter, and I¡¯ll be able to use our display to show you.¡± They obliged, and once they were in front of Amy a screen to her left lit up. ¡°These are the requests.¡± She said. ¡°Please peruse them at your leisure, we do not anticipate the other freelancers in the area being back within the next half an hour.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Tess said, turning her attention over to the list of jobs displayed on the screen. She and her party read them over, then left the counter to sit in some chairs that were placed at the back of the room whilst they discussed their options. The first request was a fairly cut and dry one, find a nest of creatures that had been annoying travelers and destroy it. While none of the three had heard of these monsters before, the guild¡¯s app had a handy database of known monsters, and they were able to look up information on them there. The creatures, which the app said were known formally as ¡°Irettis¡±, and informally as ¡°those stupid goat things¡±, were little more than pests that happened to be around level forty. They were ¡°manavores¡±, creatures that used Mana as their primary food source, and such creatures were near-universally despised in the freelancing world. As most freelancers used enchanted equipment, they appeared as buffets to these manavores, who would drain the enchantments from their opponents¡¯ equipment before draining the Mana of the opponent. Most manavores wouldn¡¯t kill a person outright, but they¡¯d damage their gear and leave them vulnerable to attacks from other monsters. These ones in particular were cowardly, preferring hit and run attacks and fleeing from direct combat, making them a pain to hunt down and kill. Fortunately for Tess and her party, their gear was made by some of the best in the business, and it wouldn¡¯t crumble to simple manavore attacks. At worst, it would need to be ¡°recharged¡± with some cores, which were, of course, no issue for Tess¡¯s party. So, the mission would be more about locating the monsters than it would be about difficult combat. The second mission was much more¡­pedestrian. Literally pedestrian, in this case; the guild needed someone to go along and fill in potholes and smooth out the roads within five kilometers of the city. The guild had special tools for the job, they just needed people to go and do the legwork before things got too bad. The issue with that was, of course, that the tools for that job weren¡¯t exactly subtle. The noise and emitted Mana often drew the attention of local wildlife, and those operating the tools would often find themselves attacked by enterprising monsters. And, finally, the guild needed someone to go around to each of the town¡¯s permanent residents, and collect detailed notes on how they were holding up and any complaints they may have about the traders who had passed through since the last time the survey had been taken. That one was, in a sense, the odd one out; it wasn¡¯t typical guild work, but the reward was passable and it didn¡¯t seem too difficult, so it seemed strange that it hadn¡¯t been taken yet. After a short discussion, Tess¡¯s party returned to Amy. ¡°Um, we do have one question.¡± Tess said, giving Amy a nervous glance. ¡°Why is it that the last request part of our test? It seems to be an entirely different beast than the other three.¡± ¡°Good question.¡± Amy said. ¡°While Lucille didn¡¯t tell me the details, I can hazard a guess; this request is something we generally only give to people that we can trust to be honest with us and, though we don¡¯t know you personally, your pedigree is enough to qualify you for it. Furthermore, it¡¯s about time we take the survey anyway, so your arrival is simply convenient timing. Otherwise, we¡¯d have to actively scout out freelancers who fit our criteria.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°I see. In that case, is it alright if we take the first two requests at the same time? It seems to us that we repairing the roads might attract the beasts, and we could follow them back to their nest if they come. If not, we¡¯ll be out of town anyway, so if we have time we can search for them.¡± Amy mulled that over for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you can only officially take one or the other,¡± she said, ¡°even though we know no one else will take it, there are other freelancers active in the area, so we need to follow guild policy and only allow you to take one request at a time. That being said, we can provisionally update your bands to track the subjugation request. ¡°Essentially, if you complete the subjugation request whilst working on the road maintenance, we¡¯ll consider the request completed, but if someone else wishes to take the request then your bands will stop tracking it and it will be considered theirs.¡± ¡°That works fine for us.¡± Ellie said. ¡°If it¡¯s alright with you, can we receive the road repair kit now and we¡¯ll be on our way?¡± ¡°Of course. First, however, I¡¯ll need to tell you how to use it¡­¡± Chapter 102: Idle Minds Wander Maven quickly came to realize why the road repair was such an unpopular request; it was boring. Even with Tess being able to near-instantly detect any potholes or irregularities with her tremorsense, the job ended up being mostly just walking along the roads and occasionally fixing an issue. Watching the tool they had been given work was interesting the first couple of times, but the novelty quickly wore off. The tool just scanned whatever portion of road it was pointed at, conjured some concrete to fill any holes or other irregularities that it detected, then aged the new concrete to be roughly on par with the surroundings while reinforcing the rest of the road within a hundred or so meters. As they had been warned, the process was noisy and did occasionally draw the attention of monsters, but that had only happened once or twice in the few hours they had been out. So, much to Maven¡¯s displeasure, she had a lot of time to think. It wasn¡¯t that she was being purposefully ignored by the other two or anything, but that she had withdrawn from them. She felt guilty about it, but being around them was making her feel weird at the moment, and she didn¡¯t want to ruin their moods. It perplexed her, really; it was fine when they were actively working on something, but when they started to unwind and relax more, she got¡­uncomfortable feelings. It was probably indirectly Alice¡¯s fault; she had put the idea into Maven¡¯s head that what she was feeling might be some sort of romantic affection, but that was simply impossible. The thought was driving her up the wall, but no matter how she tried she couldn¡¯t seem to fully put it away. Perhaps her father was right and she should have worked harder at controlling herself instead of doing the bare minimum her tutors required, but if he was right, it was only by accident. If he had actually foreseen those lessons coming in handy in a situation like this, then he would have had to foresee her escaping from her role as heir to the throne, and Maven knew he had harbored no intentions of letting her do so. Still, until this very moment, she had always been perfectly capable of staying calm, no matter the situation. Even becoming an Appointed hadn¡¯t shaken her up as much as this, and ¨C
Life: Maven, my apologies for contacting you so suddenly, do you have a moment to talk? Maven: I suppose this job doesn¡¯t really need my full attention, but if something happens, I¡¯ll have to stop talking for that, sorry. Life: Of course, I would not expect you to keep talking to me in that case. Still, thank you for making this time for me. While I am not fully appraised of the situation, I could not help but notice that you seem to be struggling with something. Since you have not gone to the others with this, I thought that, as someone with a different perspective and attitude, I might as well offer my ear. I cannot force you to talk, of course, but I wanted to let you know that I am open to talk at any time.
Maven paused for a moment. In a weird way, talking with Life about this did seem a little better than talking to the other gods, even Dungeons. He seemed like the type of person who wouldn¡¯t be blinded by thoughts of love, and Maven knew that he would keep their talk strictly confidential unless she wished otherwise.
Maven: If you don¡¯t mind, I think that might be nice. How much do you know? Life: Not a lot, if I am being honest. Dungeons has mentioned a couple of times how you have been oddly distant since Tess and Ellie announced their engagement, and that she is worried but did not want to press you about it in fear of the situation becoming worse. Maven: I see. To be honest, I haven¡¯t gone to the others because I feel this is something that is purely an issue with me, and that I simply need to take some time and fix myself. I don¡¯t wish to worry them unduly, but I felt that perhaps a little distance would help me cool my head. Life: I understand. At times, I have felt rather stimulated myself being in such constant contact with everyone, and the only change for me was the addition of this chat function. I can only imagine that it would be even more jarring for you, as your whole living situation has changed. Maven: A little, yeah, but that¡¯s not why, not really. It¡¯s not helping matters, but it¡¯s definitely not the root cause of things. I¡­well, this sounds silly, but I found myself wanting what Tess and Ellie have with each other, and Alice put the idea into my mind that it¡¯s not wanting what they having, it¡¯s wanting to be a part of what they have. That¡¯s obviously not the case, I¡¯m not attracted to women, and I¡¯m sure it¡¯s just her having love on the brain after the announcement, but I can¡¯t get the thought out of my head, no matter how much I try.
There was a long pause, Life clearly thinking about what to say next.
Life: May I make a bit of a bold suggestion? Maven: Anything if it¡¯ll help me get over this. Life: Why not speak to your great-aunt Kali about this? Maven: Remind me who that is? The name sounds familiar but I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve never met her before. Life: Amara likely mentioned her to you before, and her picture is up in your family¡¯s portrait gallery. Quite some time ago, Amy made her a sub-Administrator, and then she graduated into being a full one a while after that. She is actually the reason we have worked with Mael as we have; Mael is simply a test run so Amy can help Kali with an issue facing her own planes. Still, Kali comes and visits fairly regularly, and she has become quite close with Amara. Maven: I think I remember Grandmother talking about her. Why would you suggest her? Life: My reasoning is twofold. For one, Kali is far removed from the situation, and will not have any preconceived notions based on how she sees your relationship with them. For two, Kali is remarkably perceptive when it comes to these matters. She has lived for a long time, and I cannot think of someone I would trust more to get to the heart of the matter. She has helped many a Higher Being and Administrator sort themselves out.
Maven thought over that for a while before responding. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Maven: I think I would like that. Are you sure she would be willing to speak with me, though? We¡¯ve never met before. Life: She would be thrilled, I assure you. She has already expressed her excitement about meeting you, and she loves helping her family however she can. What time would work best for a meeting? Maven: The evenings, I suppose. Just when it would not interrupt work. Life: I will contact Kali now, then, and let you know when she can meet you. Thank you for taking this time to talk with me, and please remember that I am always open if you need someone to talk to you. Maven: I will, thank you, Life.
After that distraction, the road repair continued. And, oddly enough, having a concrete situation lined up where she was going to think about the situation helped her focus. She was better able to put her thoughts away, and within a couple of hours was back to interacting with Tess and Ellie almost as normal. Unfortunately, it only barely helped with the monotony of the job. By the time they had finished up the roads on one half of the city, it was well past three in the afternoon, and they were well overdue for lunch. So, they took out the hoverer, set the autopilot to take them back to town, and grabbed some food from their bags to eat on the way. And, after that short break, they were right back to fixing roads. Fortunately for them, there was only one road in and out of the city, so they would be done after they finished this side, but it was still a task Maven wasn¡¯t looking forward to. And, as it turned out, she was right to not look forward to it. It was every bit as boring as their other work had been, right up until they were about two thirds of the way done. They were fixing a hole, just like all of the other times, but this time, Tess sent the other two a window around halfway through the process.
Tess: Enemies, and I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s our target this time. Five goat-looking things, around one hundred yards to our right. Ellie: What¡¯s the plan? Tess: I have some spells that¡¯ll let us track them back to where they came from. I say we kill these five, store the bodies, mark this place to come back to later, then finish our work on the road and catch these guys on our way back. Maven: That seems fine to me. Let us know when they seem to be ready to strike. Tess: They¡¯re closing fast. Do you want my help? Ellie: Given what we¡¯ve read on these things, I doubt we¡¯ll need it. Just keep an eye out for any more and make sure the road gets fixed. Tess: Got it. ETA on the monsters fifteen seconds.
Ellie and Maven turned their attention to their right, and sure enough Maven could make out a faint rustling coming from beyond the tree line. She prepared a spell, and a few moments later the monsters burst from the trees, and Ellie and Maven attacked. It¡­did not go well for ¡°those stupid goat things¡±. The first one out of the tree line was immediately skewered by all five Swords of Death, killing it nearly-instantly, and the second caught the full force of Maven¡¯s spell, sending it flying back into the tree line but not killing it outright. By the time Maven had finished casting her second spell, two more of the creatures had fallen to the Swords of Death, and the remainder had turned to flee. She let her spell fly, killing the creature she had injured before, and Ellie killed the last of the things, leaving them in silence once again. ¡°Well, that wasn¡¯t too bad.¡± Ellie said, moving over to the corpses and beginning to put them in her bag. ¡°But¡­how are we marking this place?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to melt a bunch of snow off to the side once I¡¯m done with this.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s not supposed to snow today, so that should be enough for us to recognize this.¡± ¡°And your tracking magic won¡¯t lose its potency after a couple of hours?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t, not so long as we have the bodies.¡± Tess said. ¡°Perfect.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Let¡¯s knock the rest of this out and get back to it, then.¡± So, they did. They weren¡¯t really able to speed up the process of fixing the road, not when they were limited by the speed of the device, but they only had a little bit left anyway, so they found themselves back at the scene of their fight relatively soon. ¡°Ellie, may I see one of the corpses?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I only need it to cast the spell, and then we can put it back in your bag.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Ellie said, reaching into her bag and withdrawing one of the corpses. She grunted in exertion before tossing it on the ground, and Tess gave her a grateful nod before walking over to it. Tess took about ten seconds to chant the spell, then turned her eyes up towards the forest. ¡°I¡¯ve got the trail.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m gonna start moving forward, Ellie, you stow that body, cast a silencing spell on you and Maven, then follow me from a distance, okay?¡± Ellie and Maven did as instructed, and they were soon moving through the snowy trees, following a trail of footprints so faint as to be nearly-imperceptible. Despite the snow, the faintness of the trail wasn¡¯t surprising; many monsters who lived in snowy areas had abilities that allowed them to mask their passing. Fortunately, these monsters didn¡¯t have any of the abilities that warded against magical detection, so Tess was able to track them without any difficulty. They weren¡¯t led directly back to the nest, it seemed the monsters had been patrolling the area for potential sources of food, but they were able to take the path quickly, using Tess¡¯s enhanced senses to scout the area far better than even the animals and monsters who lived there. And, after only half an hour or so, Tess signaled for them to stop.
Tess: I think the nest is up ahead, set into some sort of cave. I can¡¯t tell how many are in there from out here, but we need to be extra quiet on the approach. It¡¯s possible they have a back entrance to the place, and we don¡¯t want to spook them out. Ellie: We could just send Silky or Isabella to check, right? Tess: We could, but these things can sense Mana. I don¡¯t know the range on it or if they¡¯d be able to pick out Silky and Isabella, but I don¡¯t think we should risk it. Ellie: Fair enough. Maven: Surely their Mana sense would not outrange your tremorsense, right? It¡¯s from a mid to high level boss monster, so I cannot imagine these random monsters would have a sense that works better. Ellie: Wait wait wait, let¡¯s back off. If we dismantle one of the corpses and have Tess absorb the core, we can see exactly what the range on it is. Tess: Good point.
They retreated from the lair¡¯s entrance, moving about a kilometer away before dissecting one of the goats and removing its core. Tess absorbed it, and after a minute or so of silence she suddenly hissed, bringing a hand to her head. ¡°Tess, are you okay?!¡± Ellie asked, rushing over to her side. ¡°F-fine.¡± Tess groaned. ¡°I put on the Mana vision and it¡¯s really messing with my head. It¡¯s going to take some time to get used to it, but the range is about half that of my Tremorsense, so we should be good for now. Now, let¡¯s get back to the cave.¡± The way back to the cave was slightly slower, as Tess wasn¡¯t moving as fast as she was before, but they made relatively good time anyway. Once they reached the cave again, Tess confidently strode up to it, then informed the others via window that there were another four monsters within the cave, young ones, by the look of it. Their ambush was swift and brutal. With Ellie¡¯s initial attack taking out one of the monsters entirely, each member of the party was free to focus on one monster, and the things didn¡¯t stand a ghost of a chance. Once they were finished, they explored the rest of the cave to confirm they weren¡¯t missing any monsters, took some pictures of the den before and after they destroyed it for purpose of evidence, then did one last sweep around the entrance to make sure there were no tracks that would indicate another hunting party had been sent out. When they were satisfied that the monsters were well and truly eliminated, they packed up and made their way back to the road. By the time they reached it was beginning to grow dark, so Maven was more than happy to be able to get back in the hoverer and be on their way back to town, where they could report their work and then rest for the rest of the evening. Chapter 103: Family Reunion(?) ¡°Ah, you¡¯re back.¡± The receptionist, the first one they had met, said. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve completed both the road repair and the monster extermination.¡± Tess said, stepping up to the counter and handing the receptionist the road repair device. ¡°We have photo documentation for the extermination on our phones, I believe we can send it to you via the guild¡¯s app?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The receptionist said. ¡°I¡¯ll assign you the quest and the app should automatically update to give you a space with which you can easily upload the documentation. Your bands should also have tracked the kills of the monsters, provided you haven¡¯t killed too many things since.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t come across anything on our way back, so they should still be on the kill list.¡± Ellie confirmed. ¡°Perfect. Give me one moment¡­¡± As they worked, Maven just sort of sat and watched, grappling with herself and trying to keep herself from thinking about anything romantic. Though her talk with Life had helped, that was when she was working. Now she couldn¡¯t give herself that excuse, and she was getting all out of sorts again. Fortunately, she didn¡¯t have to be alone with her thoughts for long; Tess and Ellie finished reporting quickly, and they were soon on their way back to the hotel. Once there, Maven had a brief dinner, jumped in the shower, then headed back to her room, where she could read a book to take her mind off of things. She had been reading for about an hour when a window appeared in front of her, causing her to jump slightly.
Life: I have finished speaking with Kali. She has time for you tomorrow, if you would like. Maven: Tomorrow? That seems quite soon for someone who surely must have a lot on her plate. Life: Much of an Administrator¡¯s work is in planning, monitoring, and maintenance. Their schedules tend to be rather flexible unless they are in the middle of actively implementing a change. Maven: I see. In that case, please tell her that I would be happy to meet with her tomorrow, likely around this time. Life: I will. Thank you for your time, Maven.
Maven closed the window and carefully set her book down. When she had agreed to the meeting, she hadn¡¯t expected tomorrow to be when it would be held. She hadn¡¯t even expected Kali to have gotten back to Life within that time frame, much less be available and ready for a meeting. Sighing, Maven got out of her bed and made her way to the suite¡¯s main room, where Tess and Ellie were playing a video game together. ¡°My apologies for interrupting your time together,¡± she said, waiting to see that their game had paused before continuing, ¡°but I wish to inform you that I will be having an appointment tomorrow evening at around this time, so we will either need to be done with our business by then, or I will need to leave a little early.¡± ¡°Oh, uh, yeah.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Um¡­is everything alright?¡± Maven put on her best sincere tone for her next words. ¡°I am not sure what you mean.¡± She lied. ¡°The appointment is nothing serious, one of the other Administrators is my distant aunt, and she simply wished to meet me and talk. It will likely be mostly talk about Paumen and its history, so I am sure you would find it dreadfully boring.¡± Tess and Ellie shared a look, then after a moment Tess shook her head. ¡°If you say so.¡± She said. ¡°Just know that if there is anything bothering you, we¡¯re more than willing to talk at any time. We¡¯re a team, and we wouldn¡¯t want you feeling¡­left out or anything.¡± Maven ignored the pang in her gut as she gave them a smile. ¡°I appreciate it, but that will not be necessary at this time.¡± She said. ¡°It really is not a big deal. That being said, I am going to turn in early for the night; I would like to make a good impression on her, and it would not do for me to be exhausted during the meeting.¡± ¡°Um, alright.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯ll see you tomorrow, okay?" ¡°Yes, I will see you then.¡± Maven replied, retreating back into her room. She felt guilty about lying to them, but what was she supposed to do? Spill everything to them? It would only make things worse if she came to them without being sure herself, so¡­honesty could wait for one day. Thoughts on the brief exchange, Maven prepared for bed, then tucked herself in, hoping she¡¯d be able to get some semblance of sleep before the night was over.
The next day was something of a blur for Maven. The type of work they were doing was something she was intimately familiar with from her lessons, and she was able to coast through most of it without much thought. They went around, gathering complaints from the townspeople and making detailed notes to give back to the guild. Maven couldn¡¯t help but be thankful for that; by taking charge of the effort, she was able to thrust everything else out of her mind, and she soon found herself returning to the guild with the rest of her party. They turned in their request, told the receptionist that they would not be taking further requests for the day due to a preexisting appointment, then made their way back to the hotel. There were still a couple of hours to go until the meeting, so Maven suggested making use of their Blessings to speed through the dungeon a couple of times, just to help work their way towards the next Rewards Crystal. And, once they had finished two runs, Maven made herself presentable, then asked Life to bring her to the realm of the gods. He did, and a moment later Maven found herself standing in front of him, a gentle look on his face. ¡°Kali will be here in a few minutes.¡± He said, giving her an almost grandfatherly smile. ¡°Make yourself comfortable, this will all be sorted out soon, okay?¡± ¡°A few minutes?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I thought the appointment wasn¡¯t for another half an hour.¡± ¡°She asked that I let her know when you arrived, so she did not keep you waiting too long.¡± Life replied. ¡°There are refreshments on the table, I will see myself out now.¡± He gave her another smile and left, and Maven hesitantly went over to one of the couches in the room, sitting down nervously. As Life had said, there were some sweets on the table, as well as some drinks, and Maven allowed herself to eat a bit while she waited. She didn¡¯t wait long. After what must have been less than two minutes, the door opened, and a very familiar-looking succubus stepped in. The royal family of Paumen had, for better or worse, made sure that their children took heavily after their mothers, meaning that the general look of the family had stayed the same across the generations, so Maven was able to instantly recognize that this woman was, indeed, her ancestor. ¡°Maven!¡± She said warmly, walking over and taking a seat across from Maven. ¡°Amara has told me all about you. I¡¯m Kali, your¡­I don¡¯t know, a lot of greats great-aunt.¡± ¡°It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Aunt Kali.¡± Maven said, standing up and giving her a curtsey. ¡°Thank you for taking time to come meet with me.¡± ¡°No, thank you!¡± Kali said, giving Maven a bright smile. ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting to meet you for a long time, and I¡¯m super glad that you¡¯re willing to ask for my advice with a problem, even if you haven¡¯t met me. And please, no need to stand on ceremony, I¡¯ve long since abandoned my title and prefer to be treated as any regular person.¡± ¡°If you insist.¡± Maven said, sitting down. ¡°I¡­have heard good things about you from Life, and so I decided it would be wise to consult with you; though I have not met you personally, I figured that it would not be that dissimilar from seeing a therapist, and an outside perspective would be greatly appreciated right now.¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Kali nodded, leaning forward and resting her chin on her hands. ¡°Tell me all about it.¡± She said. ¡°Pleasantries can come later, I¡¯d like to help get you sorted out if that would make you more comfortable.¡± Maven nodded, and began to tell Kali about the situation. It was a hesitant thing at first, but as Maven talked the hesitancy began to fade, and after a period she had almost forgotten that Kali was effectively a stranger. There was something about the woman that made Maven feel comfortable and safe, helped in no small part due to Kali¡¯s resemblance, both in attitude and appearance, to Maven¡¯s grandmother. Kali listened attentively to Maven¡¯s story, occasionally asking Maven a question or prompting her for more details. And Maven found herself spilling everything to Kali, her confused feelings, her frustrations with herself, even some gripes about her upbringing. She wasn¡¯t sure how the topic had come up, but she had found herself explaining that to Kali as well, the way she had been raised to think about relationships, her parents, everything. Maven found herself surprised to find that Kali knew the names of the rest of Maven¡¯s immediate family, as well as their personalities and even stories from Maven¡¯s childhood. She would never have guessed that Kali lived in another universe, and when she said as much, Kali gave her a sad sort of laugh. ¡°I don¡¯t have the opportunity to get out much.¡± Kali had said. ¡°Keeping up with the family is one of the few joys I have. Your grandmother has done a great service to me, helping keep me sane and grounded, and I couldn¡¯t be more thankful for her.¡± The conversation went on for almost an hour before Maven finally ran out of things to say. As she did, Maven found herself unsure how exactly to continue, and looked to Kali for help. ¡°Um¡­and that¡¯s basically it.¡± She said. ¡°So¡­what do you think?¡± Kali gave her an encouraging smile. ¡°I think that you¡¯re a fine young woman, and you¡¯re in a very confusing situation. You¡¯re trying your best, and I think it¡¯s completely understandable that you¡¯re lost right now.¡± ¡°You do?¡± Maven asked, surprised. ¡°I do.¡± Kali confirmed. ¡°Would you mind if I gave my opinion on what your feelings are?¡± Maven nodded. ¡°Please do; that is why I am here, after all.¡± ¡°I think you really are in love with Tess and Ellie.¡± Kali said. ¡°The way you describe it is the way I feel about my girlfriend, and I know for certain that¡¯s love.¡± Maven frowned. ¡°But¡­I¡¯m not attracted to them.¡± She said. ¡°And that¡¯s what makes this situation so confusing. You said that, were the relationship purely emotional, no physical intimacy, that you would jump at the chance to be part of their relationship, yes?¡± ¡°I would, yes.¡± Maven confirmed. ¡°It sounds wonderful.¡± ¡°Then there you have it.¡± Kali said. ¡°See, the problem is that your sexual orientation and your romantic orientation don¡¯t match.¡± Maven felt like almost like she had been struck by lightning, staring at Kali dumbfoundedly. ¡°That¡¯s¡­possible?¡± ¡°It is. You¡¯ve heard of asexual people who still want to be romantically involved with others, right?¡± ¡°I¡­have.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°Well, you¡¯re kind of similar, I think; though you have physical attraction to men, it sounds like you¡¯re romantically attracted to, well, people in general, regardless of what their gender is.¡± And, when Kali put it that way, it just made sense. Just those few sentences Kali said had shattered the trappings of Maven¡¯s preconceived notions, and Maven felt like she was able to see the situation with new eyes. ¡°I¡­I think you are right.¡± Maven said. ¡°It seems so obvious now.¡± Kali beamed at Maven. ¡°It¡¯s not obvious at all when you¡¯re caught up in it.¡± She said affectionately. ¡°It¡¯s completely understandable for you to be so confused, it¡¯s not common at all, and not the way most people think about these things.¡± Kali paused for a moment, a look of hesitancy crossing her face. ¡°If you would like, I could fix that for you.¡± She said. ¡°Not to say anything¡¯s wrong with you, of course, just that I can make those two orientations match if it would make you feel better.¡± ¡°You can?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I can, in whatever way you want. If you want make it so you¡¯re only romantically attracted to ¨C¡± ¡°No!¡± Maven blurted out, then blushed profusely. ¡°My apologies for interrupting.¡± She said. ¡°I¡­I would like it if my sexual orientation was changed, not romantic. Personally, I feel that the romantic portion of it is the more¡­important part of things. Sexual attraction is hormones, romantic is¡­I cannot really put it into words, but it just feels more important to me personally. And¡­yes, I would very much like it if you could make my sexual orientation match my romantic one. If you have the time¡­¡± Kali nodded. There was a strange¡­disconnect, the room abruptly feeling as if it centered on Kali, despite the fact that the couch she was on was against a wall. The colors felt more vivid, the shadows deeper, everything more¡­real, and then, as quickly as it had happened, it was over. ¡°What¡­was that?¡± Maven said. ¡°I updated your sexual orientation.¡± Kali said matter-of-factly. ¡°And made sure it would stick. It¡¯s not an enchantment, that¡¯s your base now. And, sorry for not asking you but I sort of remembered mid-process, but I checked your mind real quick and made sure that my guess was correct and not just speculation.¡± ¡°And¡­was it?¡± Maven asked, though she already knew the answer. ¡°It was.¡± Kali confirmed. ¡°And¡­now the two orientations match? No more¡­confusion?¡± ¡°They match.¡± Kali said, smiling gently. ¡°I can¡¯t promise there won¡¯t be more confusion, but I can promise that it won¡¯t be because of the mismatch.¡± Before she even had time to process what she was doing, Maven found that she had stood up from the couch, and was barreling towards Kali, arms outstretched. Kali caught Maven¡¯s, stroking Maven¡¯s back as they hugged. ¡°You¡¯ve been doing great.¡± Kali said. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine how hard it must have been.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Maven whispered, tears streaming down her face. ¡°Thank you so much.¡± ¡°I just did what any responsible family member would.¡± Kali said. ¡°It¡¯s the least I could do, really.¡± ¡°Father would not have done this.¡± Maven said. ¡°Responsible family member.¡± Kali emphasized. ¡°Though it pains me to say it, your father is much more concerned with politics than love. When it comes to these matters, I would disregard him; you¡¯re your own person, and, whether he likes it or not, you¡¯re more important than him and he can¡¯t tell you to marry for the queendom¡¯s sake.¡± ¡°I do not think he would object to this marriage.¡± Maven said, making that odd little cry-laugh people made when they were crying. ¡°As the Guildmaster¡¯s grandchildren, they are two of the most politically important bachelorettes out there.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s secondary.¡± Kali said. ¡°That¡¯s not important for you, so it¡¯s not important period.¡± Maven nodded into Kali¡¯s chest. There was a long period of silence before Maven let go of the hug. She retreated back to her couch, giving Kali a nervous smile but not saying anything. ¡°So,¡± Kali said eventually, ¡°when are you going to tell them?¡± ¡°W-what?¡± Maven said. ¡°Not for some time, they need to marry and then get settled before I would even dream of approaching them about this.¡± ¡°No, no, no.¡± Kali said. ¡°I know that thought process, I¡¯ve had that thought process. If you don¡¯t work up the courage now, you¡¯ll always have some excuse. Nothing has been announced publicly yet, so we have time. What¡¯s the monogamy culture like on Mael?¡± ¡°I am not sure, but I believe that, so long as everyone consents, they do not care.¡± Maven said. ¡°Then I would recommend talking to them about it soon, maybe as soon as you get back.¡± Kali said. ¡°From what I understand. they¡¯re worrying about you, and they really do care for you. And, if they¡¯re not up to it, then it¡¯s better to find out now than to pine about it for years.¡± Maven was silent for a while. ¡°You are right.¡± She admitted. ¡°I¡­yes. When I get back, I¡¯ll tell them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit!¡± Kali said. ¡°Maven, though it might seem weird to hear this when you don¡¯t know me well, I am so, so proud of you; I¡¯ve been hearing about you since you were a baby, and I couldn¡¯t be happier with how things have turned out for you. You¡¯ve taken control of your own life and sparked the seeds for social progress in Paumen. You¡¯re a bright young woman, and I look forward to getting to know you better in the future.¡± ¡°Please do.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡­I would like to know you better as well. If it is not too much trouble, will you let me know when you visit? I would love to meet with you more.¡± ¡°I was planning on it!¡± Kali said. ¡°I do the same with Amara, too, and having a third in our conversations would be fantastic!¡± ¡°Are you meeting with her after this, then?¡± Maven asked. ¡°That was the plan.¡± Kali replied. ¡°We could¡­call her in now.¡± Maven said. ¡°And I could tell her everything so you do not feel the need to keep things from her.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re okay with that, then sure!¡± Kali said. ¡°Give me one moment.¡± So, they called Amara in, and Maven explained what Kali had helped her discover, and what Maven was planning to do when she got back. For her part, Amara was incredibly supportive, and very happy to see things looking up for Maven. After that discussion, they chatted for a couple hours more on the current state of the world, and what Kali¡¯s planes were like, and then it was finally time for Maven to head home. She said her goodbyes to her grandmother and Kali, then took a deep breath as she went to find Life. Fortunately, he was waiting in the next room over, and gave Maven a smile as she walked in. ¡°It would seem things went well, judging by your demeanor.¡± He said. ¡°Are you feeling better?¡± Maven nodded. ¡°It was love.¡± She said. ¡°Kali and I talked it out, and she helped me realize that I may not have been sexually attracted to anyone but men, but romantically speaking I do not discriminate. She changed my sexual orientation to match, and things make significantly more sense now.¡± Maven paused for a moment. ¡°When I get back, I will be telling them.¡± She said. ¡°I know it is sudden, but Kali was right; if it is not now, then there will always be an excuse for me not to say, and it would be better to just get it out now so we are on the same page and they can stop worrying.¡± Life smiled at her. ¡°I am happy to hear that.¡± He said. ¡°And I would like to say that I approve of that decision, and no matter what happens I will treat you the same as always.¡± He stood up, walking over and putting a hand on Maven¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I am rooting for you.¡± He said. ¡°Would you like me to send you back?¡± Maven nodded. ¡°I would like to do this before I get cold feet.¡± ¡°Good luck.¡± Life said, and then Maven was back in her room in the hotel. She took a deep breath, then went to her door, steeling her courage for what she was about to do. Chapter 104: Laying Feelings Bare Tess paused the game as she heard Maven¡¯s door open. ¡°It sounds like Maven¡¯s back. Do you think we should¡­¡± Tess trailed off, leaving space for Ellie to talk, but Maven entered the room first, a sort of giddy but nervous expression on her face. ¡°Do you two have a moment? I¡­¡± Maven trailed off, then shook her head before looking back at Tess and Ellie, expression solidifying into one of determination. ¡°I have a matter of great importance I need to talk to you about.¡± ¡°We always have time for you, Maven.¡± Ellie said. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Maven swallowed. ¡°I must admit I lied to the two of you last night.¡± She said. ¡°A comment from Alice before we left had shaken me up greatly, and, as you have noticed, I have been rather perturbed as of late. I just finished meeting with my ancestor, Kali, and we sorted things out completely, so I now feel it appropriate to talk with you about it.¡± Maven paused, took a deep breath, then continued. ¡°I have come to realize that I have fallen in love with the two of you.¡± She said bluntly. ¡°I was under the impression that it could not have been love, as I was not attracted to women, but Alice brought up the possibility, and as much as I tried, I could not completely deny it. ¡°To that end, Life helped me set up this meeting with Kali, as she is an expert on the matter. And not only did talking with her help me realize that it was a simple mismatch of sexual and romantic orientations, she helped fix the mismatch for me, and updated my sexual orientation to match my romantic one. ¡°I understand this is a lot to drop on you, and I did not want to do this before your wedding, but she was correct when she told me that if I did not do it now, I likely never would do it. So, as inappropriate as the timing may be, I wanted to let the two of you know, so that the air is clear between us. You do not need to answer me now, and I will understand if you deny me, but I just needed to let you know.¡± She turned to leave, but Tess stood up, and Maven stopped. ¡°Yes?¡± Tess took a deep breath. ¡°I think we should try it, as long as Ellie agrees.¡± Both Maven and Ellie stared at her with dumbfounded expressions. ¡°Tess?!¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m not against it, I would love to try it too, but I¡¯m surprised to hear you say that.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°To tell you the truth¡­I¡¯m not sure how much it changes at this point. We spend all day together anyway, and we all like each other well enough, so this just means we get intimate with each other too. So¡­there you have it, Maven, you¡¯re our girlfriend now.¡± Maven continued to stare at her. ¡°Just like that?¡± She asked. ¡°Just like that.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°What about the wedding?¡± ¡°The wedding can wait.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I¡¯ll continue researching venues and planning, but if, in a few months, we¡¯re all happy with the situation, then we¡¯ll all get married together.¡± ¡°I¡­oh.¡± Maven said in a small voice, eyes watering. ¡°I did not think¡­¡± Tess moved around the couch, and gave her new girlfriend a big hug. ¡°I¡¯m glad you told us.¡± She said. ¡°We were all really worried about you, and¡­well, I have a feeling this is going to turn out for the better.¡± ¡°I was thinking the same.¡± Ellie said, walking over and joining the hug. ¡°Welcome aboard, Maven.¡±
Fortune: EEEEK! I was not expecting that! I am so happy for you guys! Death: Woah, me neither. That makes the last few days make way more sense, and I think you guys will make a great match, super happy for you! Dungeons: Me too. Congratulations, Maven! Life: I told you that I approve, and I meant it. Truly, I am overjoyed for this turn of events. Maven: I am sorry I did not talk to you more about it, everyone, and especially Dungeons. I just¡­felt like this was a problem purely on my end, and that I could sort it out. Dungeons: It¡¯s fine. And¡­in the spirit of coming clean and being totally honest, I kind of feel less like your god and more like¡­collectively one of the gods to all three of you, if that makes sense. Like Fortune, Life, and Death are just as much your god as I am, and I am just as much the god to Tess and Ellie as they are. Fortune: You too? Death and I had talked about it but sort of thought it was an us thing. Tess: You know, I kinda get that vibe too. I mean, Death helped out a ton when I was dealing with Olga, and it just wouldn¡¯t feel the same if it was just me and Mom. Life: I had not thought about it like that, but now that you mention it¡­that does feel like the case. Maven: I sort of felt that as well, especially with Life helping me. Ellie: Yup, same here! So¡­do we just want to officially throw our lots in together, then? Life: Elaborate. Ellie: We just make it official. Publicly, Tess will be the Appointed of Fortune, Maven the Appointed of Dungeons, and me the Appointed of Life and Death, but, privately, we don¡¯t bother with that. We¡¯ll get rid of that divide and just sort of¡­share. That way it won¡¯t feel weird going to one god or one Appointed instead of another. I mean, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to share Descents or anything, but that¡¯s more¡­secondary I feel. Fortune: I like it. Death: Me too! Tess: I¡¯ll probably still chat a bit more with Mom than the other gods but¡­she¡¯s my mom, so that¡¯s different. Other than that, I totally agree. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Maven: I¡­that sounds lovely. Dungeons: I think so too! Life: And I as well. I will tell Amy about it, if that is okay with all of you. Fortune: That would be great. Thanks, Life. Death: Yeah. You three leave that sort of stuff to us, and go enjoy your new relationship! Dungeons: Why don¡¯t the four of us go to Amy together? In the spirit of¡­well, sharing. Fortune: Yeah, you right, good call. Life: I will come fetch you, we should take this out of the chat so they can get to it.
Tess let go of the hug, then sat on the back of the couch. ¡°So, let¡¯s talk boundaries.¡± She said. ¡°Mostly for Maven¡¯s sake; for the record, I¡¯m comfortable with anything except sex; that¡¯ll need to wait until we¡¯re a little more intimate, and have probably kissed a few times, but that¡¯s it. I just don¡¯t want to rush Maven into anything she¡¯s not ready for.¡± ¡°Yeah, that sounds like about what I think.¡± Ellie said. ¡°What about you, Maven?¡± Maven blushed fiercely. ¡°I will likely not be ready for sex for some time yet, but kissing and cuddling sounds¡­nice.¡± ¡°How about now?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I mean¡­may I kiss you?¡± ¡°If you say yes, I want to too.¡± Tess added. ¡°Um, yes, if you w¨C¡± Ellie pulled Maven into a kiss, and Tess smiled as she watched Maven get into it. It was cute the way her wings and tail sort of melted as she relaxed into the kiss, and when the two separated, Maven had an uncharacteristically dopey grin on her face. Seizing the opportunity, Tess got off the couch and pulled Maven into a kiss of her own. Maven eagerly reciprocated, and they went for about as long as Maven and Ellie had kissed before ending it. ¡°W-wow.¡± Maven said. ¡°I could get addicted to that.¡± ¡°Tess.¡± Ellie stage-whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to alarm you, but our girlfriend is really cute right now.¡± ¡°Great minds think alike.¡± Tess stage-whispered back before grabbing Ellie. ¡°But don¡¯t think you¡¯re getting away without a kiss from me, either.¡±
When Maven came out of her happy stupor, she was greeted with the sight of Tess and Ellie kissing, something which sparked feelings in her like she had never felt before when looking at women. She knew it was silly to think this way, but she couldn¡¯t help but be baffled at how she didn¡¯t see the charms of women before, their pleasing shape, their softness...she was really glad she had asked Kali for help. She might have gone her whole life without this door being opened to her, and that felt like a great disservice. Again, she knew that was a silly way to think; it was a biological matter more than it was any sort of mental thing, but she supposed that was simply an effect of having a sudden change in orientation. And, with both her orientations now matching, it was like a switch had been flipped, and the effect was far greater than Maven had expected. In a way, it felt like a dream. That morning she had woken up full of anxiety, stressed and unsure about what the day would hold, faintly hoping that she could put this whole ¡°interested romantically in Tess and Ellie¡± thing behind her, and¡­here she was, dating them. And the best part was that her parents couldn¡¯t do anything about it, even if they had wanted to. She had been freed from the shackles of Paumen, and it hadn¡¯t really¡­sunk in until now. ¡°Maven, are you okay?¡± Tess asked, walking over and giving Maven a worried smile. ¡°Just thinking, why?¡± Maven asked ¡°You¡¯re crying.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Did you not know?¡± Maven reached a hand up to her face and was surprised to find that her cheeks were wet. She wasn¡¯t sure when she had started crying, but the emotion of the situation must have gotten to her. ¡°S-sorry for showing you something unsightly.¡± She said, wiping her eyes. ¡°I had not realized¡­¡± She trailed off as Tess caught her in a hug. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Tess said soothingly. ¡°It¡¯s not unsightly, and even if it was, being in a relationship means helping your partners through ¡®unsightly¡¯ times.¡± ¡°It does?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I had thought¡­well, I have little experience with conventional courtship. My parents¡¯ relationship was not one of passion, and I had always assumed that mine would be the same. I thought I would end up with¡­well, with someone like my father. I had resigned myself to that fate and never thought much of it, but¡­¡± Tess rubbed Maven¡¯s back, and Maven was surprised by how much the little gesture made her feel at ease. ¡°Then we¡¯ll just have to teach you about normal relationships.¡± She said. ¡°And we won¡¯t be anything like your father.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Your father is a bad example. I don¡¯t know much of what he was like in private, but from what I¡¯ve heard I think you can pretty safely assume most of what he did is not the way you should go about things.¡± Tess let go of her hug, only for Ellie to take her place. There was a long silence as the three enjoyed the moment, then Maven hesitantly disengaged from the hug. ¡°Um¡­I suppose we should talk logistics.¡± She said. ¡°Would it be alright if we refrained from telling others about this until we finished in this town? I just¡­I just want to make sure this works out before making it public, so as to avoid awkward conversations in the event we decide to call the relationship off.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll take things at your pace.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re strapped for time or anything.¡± ¡°But your wedding¡­¡± Maven said. ¡°Can wait, like I said.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°I didn¡¯t have a concrete date yet, so no one is going to notice or care if I push back the date a little more than I had initially planned. And, to be honest, this kind of gives me a better excuse to ease up on prep while we¡¯re out. If I¡¯m moving the date out, then I don¡¯t need to do as much right this second. So, in a weird way, it¡¯s kind of convenient for me.¡± ¡°But, if you want to hold it for the three of us, would people not notice in the planning?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Nah.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°There¡¯s a ton of stuff I can do that doesn¡¯t require me to specify the number of people getting married. Like¡­choice of venue, who¡¯s catering, that sort of thing. Seriously, don¡¯t sweat the wedding. Though, I guess I should ask¡­do you have anything in particular you¡¯ve wanted for your wedding? Because if you do, I¡¯m more than happy to accommodate. I don¡¯t know how they do weddings in Paumen, but I¡¯m sure we can integrate elements into our ceremony.¡± Maven blinked. ¡°I had not ever considered it.¡± She admitted. ¡°I assumed my wedding would not be a happy occasion, and the planning would be done by my parents, so I did not think much about it. And¡­please, let us ignore Paumen¡¯s weddings for this; I do not have particularly fond memories of them, and I would much rather have a wedding how they do it where you are from.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But if you do happen to think of anything you want, please let me know; when we do end up getting married it wouldn¡¯t do for you to feel left out.¡± ¡°You say that like you¡¯re confident this¡¯ll work.¡± Tess said, smirking slightly. ¡°You¡¯re not?¡± Ellie replied, raising an eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re the one who said this wouldn¡¯t change much, and you¡¯re right. We basically set ourselves up to live our lives together anyway, and we wouldn¡¯t be here if we didn¡¯t mesh well together.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just teasing.¡± Tess said. ¡°I feel the same.¡± Maven blushed furiously. ¡°R-really?¡± She said. ¡°I was worried that¡­I don¡¯t know, I would be intruding.¡± ¡°If anything, you¡¯re intruding less now.¡± Tess chuckled. ¡°I mean, not to say that you were intruding, it more felt like we were intruding on you. I was always sort of worried about being that sort of obnoxious couple that you get tired of.¡± ¡°Oh, she got tired of it, alright.¡± Ellie said, giving Maven a smirk. ¡°She got tired of not being in it.¡± ¡°I¡­suppose I did.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°But¡­um¡­I am glad I did. I just¡­if you had told me yesterday that right now I would be¡­would be involved, and would be so happy to be involved¡­I¡­um¡­¡± Maven floundered, words failing her. ¡°S-sorry. I am quite flustered at the moment.¡± ¡°Maven.¡± Tess said seriously. ¡°Y-yes?¡± ¡°You are really cute right now.¡± Maven¡¯s blush deepened. ¡°T-thank you. I¡­um¡­well¡­can I kiss you again?¡± Tess flashed her a grin. ¡°You know, I was wondering the same thing. C¡¯mere, we have a lifetime of affection to make up for.¡± ¡°A-a lifetime?! Why¨C¡± Maven was cut off by Tess pulling her into a kiss. As their lips touched, Maven melted into the kiss, barely able to register as Ellie began to speak. ¡°From what we understand, you didn¡¯t have much physical intimacy with your family. And, honestly, the way you¡¯re acting now kinda underlines that point. You needed this for a long time, and now it¡¯s our job to provide.¡± Maven, unable to respond while kissing and unwilling to break the kiss off, just made a sort of happy sigh. It wasn¡¯t how she had expected the day to end, but if she had known then what she knew now, she wouldn¡¯t have wanted it to end any other way. Once again, her wildest dreams were being realized, and she hoped she¡¯d never wake up. Chapter 105: Taking it Slow Maven awoke sandwiched between a naked Tess and a naked Ellie, and it took her a moment to realize she was naked herself. And, as she woke, the memories started to come back to her; the last night had been a sort of happy blur, and Maven had found herself craving more and more physical affection as the night went on. One thing led to another, and the three girls had discovered that their definition of ¡°taking it slow¡± was simply waiting a few hours before they got to business. Tess had been right; the three were closer than their time spent together would suggest. Perhaps it was because of the monumental changes the three had gone through together, or perhaps they were simply innately compatible, but whatever it was all three of them found themselves frustrated by limiting themselves to kisses. More than once Tess and Ellie had accidentally begun to get more into their kisses than they had intended, and when Maven found that she too was getting more into the kisses than she had expected, they decided that enough was enough and just took it to the bedroom. It had been the best night of Maven¡¯s life, and she still couldn¡¯t believe that it wasn¡¯t a one-off thing, that it was her life going forward. Maven shifted slightly, and the movement caused Tess to stir. After a moment, Tess opened her eyes and turned her head to the side before giving Maven a groggy kiss. ¡°Good morn¡­oh.¡± Tess said, seemingly waking up fully as she disengaged from the kiss. She began to blush deeply, an embarrassed look on her face. ¡°I¡­sorry.¡± ¡°For what?¡± Maven asked, blinking in surprise. ¡°For kissing you without warning. I was still waking up and thought you were Ellie. And, um, also for not taking it slow like we intended.¡± ¡°Tess, if you took it any slower, I was going to explode.¡± Maven said. ¡°I think we went at the right pace.¡± Maven was interrupted by a gentle hand on her cheek, prompting her to turn her head and receive a kiss from Ellie. ¡°Morning, Tess, you talki¡­sorry about that, Maven.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Maven giggled. ¡°Tess just did the same, and I don¡¯t mind, really.¡± ¡°Oh, good.¡± Ellie said, a relieved smile on her face. ¡°What were you two talking about?¡± ¡°Tess was apologizing for not taking it slow and I told her that I¡¯m glad we didn¡¯t and that I think we went at the right pace. It was probably the best night of my life and, well, I¡¯ve needed this for a long time, I think.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say things like that.¡± Ellie said. ¡°You¡¯re making me want to spend all day here pampering you, and we have work to do.¡± Maven sighed. ¡°I suppose we do.¡± She said. ¡°But¡­we can do this again tonight, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯d love to.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s a date, then.¡± Ellie replied, standing up and stretching a bit before picking her underwear and pajamas up off of the floor and beginning to put them on. Tess and Maven followed suit, and the three soon found themselves eating breakfast. Maven had been tempted to follow her girlfriends¡¯ lead and go down for breakfast in her pajamas, but in the end, she decided to let herself slip back into ¡°work mode¡± and put on some daywear instead. Once the three were eating breakfast, Tess spoke up. ¡°You know, I can¡¯t help but be reminded of the time we first met¡­what was it, nine months ago?¡± ¡°I believe it was closer to four.¡± Maven said. ¡°Though admittedly I have not been counting the days.¡± Tess blinked. ¡°Really? Feels like longer. But, whatever the case, I never would have imagined that things would turn out like this. In fact, I thought I was never going to see you again after that day.¡± ¡°Remind me how you two met?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I seem to recall something about it being at a dungeon, but I¡¯m fuzzy on the specifics.¡± ¡°It is an embarrassing story.¡± Maven said, looking away from them and blushing slightly. ¡°I was not exactly at my best at that time, and let some of my father¡¯s mannerisms rub off on me. But¡­embarrassing thought it is to hear, I must admit I am curious to know your perspective on it, Tess.¡± ¡°Well, this was back when Alice, Eyfura, and I were training together, one night at a dungeon I was woken by banging on the door. I opened it and Maven was there, mad that the penthouse she had let people know she was using was full. She made some threats and then Eyfura opened the door and sort of took over the conversation. Which¡­actually, how did you feel about that, Maven?¡± ¡°I was scared out of my mind.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°I was incredibly tired and irritable, and when I was giving an innocent girl an earful, a living legend walked up behind her and began defending her. I was afraid I had made a terrible mistake and potentially soured relations between Paumen and the City, especially when I learned who Tess was. It was, perhaps, the most scared I have ever been in my entire life.¡± ¡°That scary?¡± Tess asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°Did Eyfura or Alice give you a hard time after I went back to sleep? Because it didn¡¯t seem like they were trying to be scary from my perspective.¡± ¡°They did not.¡± Maven confirmed. ¡°In fact, Eyfura was the one to offer letting me go on a couple of runs with you in the morning. It was baffling, though it makes significantly more sense when I look back on it knowing what I know now. Regardless, I feel the need to apologize about my behavior during that time once again. I know I have before, but it truly was a horrid way to treat you and I feel bad whenever I am reminded of it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re cute.¡± Tess said, leaning over and giving Maven a quick kiss on the cheek. ¡°You¡¯ve more than made up for it, and I really didn¡¯t mind that much. You were clearly tired and were expecting to relax in a nice room, and it would have been super upsetting to find out that you had to downgrade.¡± Ellie frowned. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you make a reservation?¡± ¡°As far as my tutors and I were aware, it was not necessary.¡± Maven said. ¡°Reservations of penthouse suites cost extra money, and the penthouse suites are rarely taken in low-level dungeons. Simply putting out word that you would be staying there amongst other boosters practically guaranteed that you would get the room, so we chose to save the cost of the reservation. Of course, had we known that Alice was training a prot¨¦g¨¦, we would have acted differently.¡± ¡°That was my first question for her too.¡± Tess said. ¡°And Alice¡¯s first question for her too. But, yeah, the next morning I found out I was doing a couple of runs with her, and she was nice enough then, so I just assumed it was all politics and did my best to be polite.¡± ¡°As much as it pains me to admit it, I am glad events transpired the way they did.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°It was the catalyst that led to me becoming happier than I had ever dreamed possible. And, for that, I am forever in your debt.¡± ¡°I think forever is bit of a long time.¡± Tess said, smirking. ¡°But, if you insist on being so in debt, I suppose I¡¯ll have to keep you as my lover forever.¡± Maven¡¯s cheeks went crimson at the unexpected flirting. ¡°I¡­I¡­my heart wasn¡¯t ready for that.¡± She said, momentarily shocked out of proper speech. ¡°That was¡­was¡­I don¡¯t know. Um, thank you.¡± ¡°You know, I¡¯m really glad we went through with this.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I always thought you were cute, but you somehow became a hundred times cuter since you met with Kali, and I¡¯m really glad you¡¯re ours now because it means I get to do things like this.¡± Ellie scooped Maven up into her arms, and Maven let out a surprised squeak at the sudden action. Ellie held Maven¡¯s gaze for a moment before giving her a kiss, then finally set her back down in her chair. ¡°See? A hundred times cuter than you were this time yesterday.¡± ¡°I¡­I¡¯m happy to, I mean, I am happy to hear that.¡± Maven said. ¡°By the way, you really don¡¯t need to be all stiff around us.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Or at all, really. You¡¯re not crown princess anymore, you¡¯re just a freelancer, and that means you don¡¯t have to pay attention to whatever etiquette your tutors taught you; just do whatever you want.¡± ¡°I am still crown princess until it is officially announced that I have abdicated.¡± Maven said. ¡°But¡­your point is taken; when we are in private, I will endeavor to be more casual. I cannot promise a total, immediate switch in behavior, but I will try.¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°It sounds like we just need to keep doting on you, then.¡± Ellie said. ¡°That always seems to get you to break character.¡± Maven blushed fiercely yet again. ¡°That¡­sounds very nice.¡± She said. ¡°I would be happy if you did, though I fear I am not adept at returning the favor. Still, I will try my best; I do not wish to be receiving more than I give.¡± ¡°That just means we have to dote on you extra hard.¡± Tess said. ¡°We have to teach you somehow.¡± ¡°You two are going to make me die of embarrassment and happiness.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡­I cannot thank you enough for that. My life has been so much better since I joined up with you, and flirting aside I truly mean that I feel I owe you a great deal. But¡­I suppose that means I will have to dote on you extra hard once I learn how.¡± Tess and Ellie shared a grin. ¡°Well, looks like you¡¯re getting the hang of flirting already.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But we should probably stop talking about this; at this rate I really will take you back upstairs for the rest of the day, and we can¡¯t have that.¡± --- The rest of the month flew by, Maven feeling as if she was in a perpetual happy daze as it did. This was partly due to the fact that the days felt rather formulaic; in the morning they would do two or three runs of the dungeon, then they would proceed to the guild where they would look for jobs for the day. By and large the jobs they took on fell under one of two categories; first, requests to do something about monsters in the area. While this usually was just killing the monster or monsters in question, on occasion people wanted materials from the monster, and Maven¡¯s party had to either bring the corpse back in as good a condition as possible, or dismantle the corpse themselves and bring back the requested parts. Those requests were simple enough, the hardest part was usually just finding the monsters. And, to Maven¡¯s surprise, that wasn¡¯t much of an issue, though Maven probably shouldn¡¯t have been surprised by it. Tess had been trained by Ava herself, one of the world¡¯s best trackers, and though most of her training had been within dungeons, dungeons held enough resemblance to real-life environments that it didn¡¯t matter. So, the monster requests were never an issue, and it would have been easy to just take those all of the time, but they wanted to show they were capable of different things, so they didn¡¯t. The other requests they took were odd jobs that could be completed within a single day, and those were a bit more interesting, if much rarer. Most odd job requests that came through this place were for guarding goods overnight or on the road to a merchant¡¯s next destination, and neither was something they wanted to take often. They took one night guard request, just to show they were capable, but they were holding off on taking requests that would lead them to another town until they were ready to actually leave. That really just left the few other requests that popped up from time to time, mostly from the people who lived here full time. Those were much more varied in content, and ranged from needing people to clear out a mouse infestation to looking for earth magic users to help landscape their yards. Fortunately, their party was versatile enough that any job that didn¡¯t need much technical knowledge was within their capabilities. And, once again, Tess was their greatest asset for these jobs; though her magic was not yet strong enough to be reliably used in battle, not compared to her claws, she did have access to all types of magic, and they didn¡¯t need raw firepower for these requests. Furthermore, Ava¡¯s training had given Tess quite a few random proficiencies that came in handy. Disarming traps didn¡¯t directly translate to anything outside of a dungeon, but dungeon traps were incredibly varied in construction and in the methods needed to disarm them. So, when it came to surface-level knowledge on things like detecting problems in machinery, altering already-existing furniture or appliances, and even simple work with electricity or magic circuits, Tess was generally able to have some useful piece of knowledge that would help out. That was¡­probably purposeful, from a dungeon design standpoint. The goal of dungeons was to strengthen people, and though knowledge of these sorts of things didn¡¯t directly translate to fighting capability, it would help in a myriad of small ways in the context of a war or hunting expedition. Just having someone around who could at least kind of handle many situations would help alleviate the burden on the experts who would otherwise need to deal with those situations, or get a squad out of a pinch, or any number of things. Seeing it in action left Maven with a newfound respect for Ava. She had, of course, respected Ava greatly before, she was part of the universe¡¯s strongest party and one of the most powerful people alive, but Maven hadn¡¯t realized just how much went into the work she did, both as a teacher and as a freelancer. Likewise, Maven saw Tess in a new light as well. Much of Tess¡¯s work in disarming traps and scouting the area ahead took place out of Maven¡¯s line of sight, or in a way that Maven couldn¡¯t see the specifics in action. She hadn¡¯t thought Tess wasn¡¯t doing her share of the work or anything, she knew what Tess did was vital to the party¡¯s success and was incredibly grateful for her, but she just hadn¡¯t known the scope of what she did. The thing that stuck out to Maven the most was just how well Tess had taken to her role; Ava being a stellar teacher wouldn¡¯t explain Tess¡¯s skill with her work, nor would it explain the sheer amount of knowledge she seemed to remember. Tess had clearly worked hard and had innate talent with what she was doing, or else she wouldn¡¯t be as competent as she was. In a way, it was almost suspicious, like she had been fated to be in this specific role in a party from the very start, but that seemed silly. As far as Maven was aware, the gods weren¡¯t able to touch stat distributions without using Worship, and weren¡¯t in the business of altering the circumstances of anyone¡¯s birth. And if they wouldn¡¯t interfere and let the Gu ¨C Gramps save his children, then Maven found it hard to believe that they would purposefully tune down Tess¡¯s growths in some vague hope that she would become Fortune¡¯s Appointed. Not only was it far from likely, the price of failure would be immense, leaving Tess with little prospective future as a freelancer and wasting Worship for no real reason. Maven knew that Fate had been interfering with events regarding Maven¡¯s girlfriends, but it wouldn¡¯t have been to this extent. And, with him out of the question, Amy similarly unlikely to move, and Fortune having said she didn¡¯t alter Tess¡¯s growths, there was basically no being that would have the means or desire to do such a thing. And that left Maven to assume it was random chance, as astronomically unlikely as it was. Still, there were close to a trillion people alive, and over the almost one hundred thousand years of recorded history it stood to reason that something like this was bound to happen once or twice. And, really, whether this situation was manufactured or just the product of freak chance didn¡¯t change anything. Tess was still working hard, and the situation had improved Maven¡¯s life in ways she hadn¡¯t even dreamed were possible before. That thought led into Maven¡¯s favorite part of the last month, the evenings. After they had finished their work for the day, they sat back and bonded. They went on a couple of dinner dates, but the town lacked much in the way of entertainment, so for the most part they stayed in the penthouse suite and watched movies or played games. In many ways, it was the same as how they spent their evenings before, but the small changes made them feel completely different to Maven. For one, there was a lot more flirting involved, and Maven found that she liked flirting a lot. Receiving confirmation that someone liked her for her and not for her status and being able to return the sentiment made her feel good in a way she had never really felt before. The flirting aside, Maven felt like some sort of invisible barrier in her mind had been torn down. Before she had always been keeping at least some sort of distance, she had assumed out of a desire to give the couple their space, but now she suspected it was a way to subconsciously suppress her own feelings. Regardless of the source, though, that wall was gone, and she allowed herself to get as close as she wanted. She had thought she had been comfortable around them before, but that was simply not true; she just hadn¡¯t been truly comfortable around anyone before, and they had just been the most comfortable she had been. But this¡­this was something different, something new. At first she had to constantly remind herself to switch out of her ¡°work mode¡± and into ¡°relaxation mode¡± in the evenings, but after a week or two she found that the dynamic had switched. Instead of forcing herself to relax, she was forcing herself to tighten up and act more formal, and that provided her a bit of rebellious satisfaction. Her parents had worked very hard to ensure she always acted like a ¡°proper princess¡±, and it had taken remarkably little time for her to make significant headway in undoing that conditioning. Still, she would have to force herself to act the part until her parents officially named Taru heir. As much as she disliked the formality her parents had forced upon her, she recognized its usefulness in preventing political incidents, and she didn¡¯t wish to harm Paumen. That was another snag she had stumbled upon; her status would impact the wedding. After the first week or so the three of them were all pretty sure that this was going to work out, and after they had officially decided to share a bed every night instead of sleeping separately, they had become certain; Ellie had even begun officially changing plans so as to include Maven. Unfortunately, Maven didn¡¯t want to officially announce that she was married while she was still crown princess; it would set certain expectations, and when those expectations were shattered there would be at least some negative impact on Paumen. Tess and Ellie had said they were content with a private wedding, family and close friends only, but Maven didn¡¯t want them to have to settle because of her. After some discussion, Tess and Ellie had convinced Maven to consult with her grandmother once they began to tell people about their relationship. Amara was the person with the best read on Paumen¡¯s political state that any of them knew, and she was far more familiar with these types of things than they were. That would have to wait for a couple of days, though. The party was in the midst of escorting a merchant¡¯s caravan towards the portal back to the City, and once they arrived they would be taking the rank exam before telling their friends and family. Ellie in particular was filled with a sort of mischievous delight with the situation, claiming that she couldn¡¯t wait to see all of their faces. Maven wasn¡¯t quite so enthused. She could already picture Alice¡¯s smug expression when she realized that she had been right and it had been live, and she wasn¡¯t looking forward to it. But¡­aside from that, she was happy to tell everyone. ¡°Maven, Ellie, monsters to the right!¡± Tess called out, snapping Maven out of her reverie. She was still on the clock, and though her services were only required when Tess found monsters, she couldn¡¯t afford to be distracted during those times. So, she hopped off of the back of the cargo hoverer that was carrying the goods, and began to get to work. Chapter 106: Results Maven had to keep herself from fidgeting nervously as she stared at the guild building. They had finally finished their month away, and it was time to meet back up with The Rumors and break the news to them. Intellectually she knew that they would be perfectly accepting, but she couldn¡¯t help but worry anyway. She took a deep breath as Tess and Ellie caught up to her, and the group made their way into the building. The Rumors were waiting near the entrance, Alice ambushing Tess with a big hug. ¡°Well, how was it?¡± She asked excitedly. ¡°Did you guys run into any problems?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Tess said, hugging Alice back. ¡°It was mostly just, you know, doing jobs, nothing we couldn¡¯t handle.¡± ¡°I¡¯d say so.¡± Ker said, giving them a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the private room and we can talk about your performance in detail.¡± The Rumors led the party into the back of the guild and then into the private room they had been assigned. Once they were all inside, Maven spoke. ¡°Before we begin, there is something of an announcement the three of us would like to make.¡± Jin raised an eyebrow. ¡°Do tell.¡± ¡°Well, whilst we were away, I had cause to do much soul-searching.¡± Maven said, noticing how a knowing look spread across Alice¡¯s face. ¡°And, with some help from the gods, I was able to realize that I was, in fact, in love with Tess and Ellie. I simply¡­was not sexually attracted to women, even though I was romantically attracted. The gods helped me fix that, and when I informed Tess and Ellie, we decided to tentatively try dating. One thing led to another¡­and I will now be the third bride at their wedding.¡± There was a long pause as The Rumors digested that, and then Alice walked over to Maven and gave her a hug. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you.¡± She said. ¡°That can¡¯t have been an easy thing for you to do.¡± Maven hesitated for only a moment before returning the hug. ¡°It was.¡± She said. ¡°Thank you for not¡­gloating about it.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Alice said. ¡°This isn¡¯t something to gloat about, I¡¯m just happy that you figured it out.¡± After a moment longer, Maven let go of the hug and moved to sit down. ¡°This is not public information yet, so please do not spread it around. Until I can speak with Grandmother and find a satisfactory way to let it be known that we are wed that will not set expectations for the future of Paumen, it will be confidential.¡± ¡°We understand.¡± Ker said. ¡°It¡¯s a shame that you can¡¯t be public about it, though.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that big a deal.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Really, it just means no PDA, and that¡¯s barely even a restriction. And we might have to make the wedding a bit more private, but that¡¯s fine with us; all the attendees we really want attending will know anyway.¡± ¡°We¡¯re really not bothered by it.¡± Tess added. ¡°If anything, it¡¯s nice that we won¡¯t have to deal with all sorts of weird political rumors.¡± ¡°Regardless, we have taken up too much time with this already.¡± Maven said, attempting to change the topic. ¡°I do believe we had an evaluation to get to?¡± Jin took a seat, and everyone else followed suit. ¡°Yes. We¡¯ve been keeping an eye on your progress, and we¡¯ve got a few things to say and a couple of questions about your work. First and foremost, well done on taking your own initiative to go somewhere new and broaden your horizons, but why did you choose that place in particular?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Well, honestly it just looked like a good place to go. It was right around our level range, it had a dungeon, and it wasn¡¯t hugely popular with freelancers so we¡¯d probably have work.¡± Jin nodded. ¡°Right. And was there any particular reason you chose to balance your time in the dungeon and your time doing requests the way you did?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We knew we were planning to stay in town for the whole month, so we figured we could take the dungeon slow and just have it finished by the time we were done in town. And even if we didn¡¯t properly finish by then, we always had the option of using Maven¡¯s Blessing to finish whatever we had left. Ideally it wouldn¡¯t come to that, and it didn¡¯t, so we felt the pace was fine.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice you have that option.¡± Alice said, shaking her head in disbelief. ¡°Blessings really are something else.¡± ¡°Back on topic, what was your reasoning behind taking the types of requests you did? We saw that you generally favored monster extermination quests and didn¡¯t do many guard requests, and I¡¯d like to know why.¡± ¡°It was simply the most prudent course of action.¡± Maven said. ¡°At that particular town, most non-combat requests were guard requests, and of those guard requests most were for guarding a caravan to another town or night shifts. We wished to keep our sleep schedule stable for our time there, so we only did the ones we did to show that we were capable. We took non-combat requests when they were available and fit our schedule but otherwise, we stuck to combat.¡± Jin gave another nod. ¡°That¡¯s all the questions I had. Personally, I think you all did a commendable job, and your logic behind going about things the way you did puts to rest any concerns I may have had. Ker?¡± ¡°I feel basically the same.¡± Ker said. ¡°I would advise you against making a habit of mostly taking combat requests, though. It looks really good on your resume to have a balanced history of combat and non-combat requests. It¡¯ll help you rank up faster, at least initially. Once you get to around rank eight or nine that starts to break down, but it¡¯s important early on.¡± ¡°Why does it stop being important?¡± Tess asked curiously. ¡°Because at that point it¡¯s mostly a waste of your abilities.¡± Ker replied. ¡°People that are lower ranked than you can handle most of those kinds of requests, but they can¡¯t handle monster slaying requests that you can. And, since those requests involve high level or otherwise troublesome monsters, they¡¯re often of greater importance than lower-leveled monster slaying requests. ¡°When you do end up taking on non-combat requests, they¡¯ll probably end up being more long-term things, like our tutoring of you, or they¡¯ll be requests in places where no one else is around to take the requests. But you won¡¯t really have to worry about that for a while yet, so just keep your requests balanced when possible and you¡¯ll be fine. That¡¯s it from me, though. Alice?¡± ¡°Remember what I told you about contacting me before you stay in one of my hotels.¡± Alice said sternly. ¡°I¡¯m not kidding about this. Not only does it make me feel bad, it¡¯s just not good sense as a freelancer. If something is offered to you with no strings attached, you take it. The more money you can save, the better gear you can get, and the easier it is to stay alive. Yes, right now it may seem like you¡¯ll have more money than you know what to do with, but gear gets expensive at high levels, and Tess will be needing rare and expensive cores to grow her strength. Save up.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Um, for what it¡¯s worth, we get pretty hefty discounts on gear courtesy of Artifice¡¯s Appointed.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So, we¡¯re probably not going to spend as much as you think on gear.¡± Alice stopped, staring at Ellie for a second before sighing and shaking her head. ¡°You know what, I should have expected that; Appointed need good gear, and who better to make it than that? Still, the part about cores stands, and if I recall correctly, you guys were in the market for a house? Point is, there are all sorts of expenses you don¡¯t think about, and saving on one of those is only good. ¡°As for your conduct¡­I appreciate that you didn¡¯t use your social status in any way. Status is a weapon to be wielded carefully, and that was not the right time to use it. You definitely would have been worse off for it in the long run, if only for your mental health. Oh, and you can definitely get away with spending a lot longer in the dungeon than you did. ¡°It¡¯s generally accepted that freelancers focus on themselves first in most cases, and that means going to nearby dungeons. The later dungeons get really long, so if you¡¯re only spending a couple of hours each day in them you¡¯d be stuck in one place for months or years. Though, if you want to look good, you¡¯ll alter your time in the dungeon based on where it¡¯s located. ¡°In major cities you only really need to keep an eye on the requests and make sure they¡¯re not building up. In fact, as far as the guild is concerned, it¡¯s preferable if you ignore requests if there aren¡¯t many; you get to keep progressing in the dungeon and bringing back loot, and the people who want to do requests get to actually have requests to do. ¡°In places the size of the city you were in, half the day spent in the dungeon is a good rule of thumb, again, provided that the requests aren¡¯t getting backed up. In even smaller towns¡­well, there won¡¯t be as many requests, so just keep an eye on things. If something is trivial, like¡­I dunno, painting a house or something, you don¡¯t need to worry about prioritizing that over the dungeon. If it¡¯s something important, like monsters attacking people, you wanna do that ASAP. ¡°The guild likes people who are keeping an eye on the state of the requests, it looks good for rank evaluations. Now, if there¡¯s a dungeon without a guild office nearby¡­well, that¡¯s pretty rare, most of my hotels have at least one guild member on staff to handle standing dungeon requests and the like, but say you¡¯re going to a dungeon like the ones we went to on the expedition without much civilization nearby, it¡¯s expected you¡¯re going to stay there for an extended period; it¡¯s way too inefficient otherwise, so don¡¯t worry about that.¡± ¡°Quick question.¡± Tess said. ¡°I just realized that I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen a dungeon hotel that wasn¡¯t yours. Surely other companies have tried, right?¡± ¡°A couple, I guess, but they¡¯re mostly local.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Making a dungeon hotel is way harder than it sounds, and much less profitable. You have to follow a strict set of guidelines that aren¡¯t officially laid out or the dungeon just won¡¯t let you try and make it a hotel. You have to set the prices so you¡¯re only profiting slightly, you have to make sure the place is kept immaculate, you have to have trustworthy people on staff¡­the list is long. ¡°At first there were a couple of competitors, but once we struck a deal with the guild they basically vanished. For most companies, the profit you get just isn¡¯t worth the effort you put in, but for mine? Well, I¡¯m not too bothered by the profit, and as an active freelancer the project helps me out. That combined with the feeling of satisfaction that comes with providing a high-quality, very in-demand service for the population makes it all worth it. ¡°The Reshi Suites are actually entirely owned by me, I funded it out of my own pocket instead of using company money, so I have full control over the direction it takes. When I finish freelancing, however many centuries from now that¡¯ll be, watching over it is going to be my retirement of sorts. I want to make sure it stays in business, and I don¡¯t really trust anyone else to keep it¡­well, not profit focused. Obviously, I¡¯ll need to make some profit so I can survive, but¡­you know, no greed for the sake of it. Take it from me, money by itself doesn¡¯t make you happy, once you have enough you don¡¯t need more.¡±
Dungeons: Please let her know that I¡¯ll get her a list of my actual requirements soon, and that I would be more than happy to officially endorse the Reshi Suites once Maven makes her debut, provided she keeps the mindset she has now. I¡¯m kinda taking advantage of her since the Reshi Suites helps get people into out of the way dungeons, and that helps get me Worship, so it¡¯s the least I can do.
¡°Apologies for interrupting, but Dungeons has just given me a message.¡± Maven said. ¡°She would like to tell you that she will soon give you the full list of her requirements, and that provided you keep your current mindset she will officially endorse the Reshi Suites once I make my debut.¡± Alice stopped in her tracks, eyes widening. ¡°R-really?¡± She asked. Maven nodded. ¡°She greatly values how the Reshi Suites helps people journey to remote dungeons, and is quite thankful to you for providing that service, so she would like to help you in this way.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an honor.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Please tell her that I¡¯m really grateful.¡± ¡°She¡¯s for sure listening in on the conversation right now, you can just tell her yourself.¡± Tess said. ¡°It might feel a little weird talking to thin air, but she¡¯ll definitely hear you.¡± ¡°Oh. Um, thank you, Your Worship.¡± Alice said, standing up and dropping into a curtsey. ¡°I really appreciate it.¡±
Dungeons: Tell her that I heard her and she can just call me Dungeons. Don¡¯t tell her this part, but it feels weird to hear that coming from her. Same for the rest of The Rumors. Fortune: Ditto Death: ^ Life: I suppose I would say the same.
¡°She says she heard you, and that she would like it if the three of you would just call her Dungeons. Fortune, Life, and Death also request that you use their names instead of titles.¡± Maven relayed. ¡°But¡­we have interrupted you for long enough. I believe you were talking about our performance?¡± Alice blinked, sitting down. ¡°R-right.¡± She said. ¡°Um, yeah that¡¯s basically it. As far as the three of us are concerned you guys passed our little test, so¡­once you take the tests and are officially bumped up in rank, that¡¯ll be it for your apprenticeship.¡± She gave them a bittersweet smile. ¡°This may be a little presumptuous of us, but we were hoping that in a few years, when you¡¯re about as strong as we are, that you¡¯d be open to working with us for a while, as equals this time. Not forever, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get stronger than us pretty quickly, but just¡­for a bit.¡± ¡°We¡¯d love to.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°And our door is always open if you have problems or anything, or just want to visit or whatever. You¡¯re our friends and mentors, and that¡¯s not going to change if we get stronger than you.¡± ¡°When, not if.¡± Jin corrected. ¡°You¡¯ve got a lot of advantages over us when it comes to leveling, getting Skills and Classes, and even some when it comes money. It took us decades to get to where we are now, and we think that if you work hard, it¡¯ll only take you guys a few years. That growth isn¡¯t going to slow significantly until you¡¯re past level one hundred, and at that point it¡¯s almost a given that you¡¯ll have better gear and more abilities than us.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s not for some time.¡± Ker said cheerfully, clearly trying to brighten the mood. ¡°Right now, we¡¯re still your instructors and you have a test coming up soon. So, we¡¯ve prepared some study guides on the topics we only visited briefly, and for the next couple of days that¡¯ll be our focus.¡± He reached into his bag and pulled out three booklets, which he tossed to Tess, Ellie, and Maven. ¡°Why don¡¯t you guys start reading through them? If you have any questions, we¡¯ll be here to answer.¡± Chapter 107: Rank Exam Tess waited in line, occasionally looking around her nervously. Fortunately, it seemed that no one had realized she was the Guildmaster¡¯s granddaughter, since no one was giving her a second glance. Or, rather, there were second glances, but they were mainly from young men who were not-so-subtly checking her out, but she had gotten used to those. It was finally the day for testing ranks, and Tess was currently waiting for her written test, held inside the City¡¯s university. She and her girlfriends had come in together, but they had been put into separate divisions for the written test, likely to avoid cheating. After the written test she would apparently be reunited with her party for a practical exam, but until then she was on her own. It was funny, in a way; the guild had all sorts of detection systems that would prevent cheating using magic or Skills, but those didn¡¯t really have an impact on Tess. The main ways she would cheat if she was interested in cheating were undetectable by those wards; either she would get help from the gods, which the wards obviously couldn¡¯t detect, or she would use Attributes. Attributes were considered parts of Tess¡¯s body for this purpose, just like her eyes or ears or any other mundane part of herself, so they wouldn¡¯t trip magical sensors that weren¡¯t specifically tailored to find them. All of this was purely theoretical, as she wasn¡¯t planning on cheating, of course, she was just amused by the thought that she had multiple ways of cheating when the test was usually completely cheat-proof. The test¡¯s proctor froze as Tess reached the front of the line, surprise crossing his face for a moment before he returned it to professional neutrality. ¡°Ms. Los, correct?¡± He asked, handing her a sheet of papers and a pen. ¡°You¡¯ll be in seat thirty-two, here is your test and your pen, you will have a time limit of two hours, after which you will need to return your supplies to me. The testing packet will remain locked until I send the signal to unseal it after everyone is seated, so don¡¯t be alarmed when you can¡¯t open it immediately. ¡°You will be monitored for any sign of magical cheating, and I will be using scrying magic to make sure no one is cheating mundanely. If you need to use the restroom, simply raise your hand. I will give an affirmative or denial, and in the case of an affirmative you may proceed to the back of the room, where we have a restroom. ¡°Do note that we can check if magic bags are used, and our wards are particularly strong in the bathroom area, to make up for the lack of scrying. Should you be found to be in violation of any of these rules, you will be immediately disqualified and your rank reduced by one. Now, if you would stay still a moment, I am going to inspect you for electronic and magical devices. If any are outside of a magic bag, I would suggest putting them in now.¡± He paused for a moment, then continued. ¡°Do you have any questions while I perform the search?¡± He pulled out some sort of device, and Tess obediently let him scan her. ¡°Do you give this speech to everyone who goes through? Surely it¡¯d be more efficient to give it all at once.¡± ¡°Perhaps so, but I like to make sure people are listening.¡± The proctor chuckled. ¡°You¡¯d be shocked how many people accidentally violate the rules because they weren¡¯t paying enough attention.¡± He finished the scan, then nodded. ¡°If I may ask, you seem to have a rather large number of bags on your person, as well as highly-enchanted clothing.¡± He said. ¡°Is there a reason for that?¡± Tess scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment. ¡°They¡¯re all one bag, actually.¡± She said, putting her hand into the pocket of her pants before pulling out her phone. She put it back in the pocket, then withdrew it from another and put it back in. ¡°These clothes double as my armor, and I didn¡¯t even think about it. I, uh, have a change of clothes in here somewhere I¡¯m pretty sure, I¡¯d be happy to change if you would prefer.¡± The proctor thought on that, but was interrupted by Graham jogging over. ¡°Glad I caught you, Wilson.¡± He said. ¡°Have you scanned her yet?¡± Wilson nodded. ¡°I just finished. What are you doing here, Graham?¡± ¡°The guildmaster assigned me as her personal receptionist for her party.¡± Graham explained. ¡°She has some extenuating circumstances about her, I just wanted to let you know that I have the full specs for her clothes and know that they can¡¯t be used to cheat. Believe me, no more enchantments could be snuck upon those things, no matter who tried.¡± Wilson raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°They were a present from Gramps.¡± Tess said. ¡°Something to accommodate those extenuating circumstances.¡± Understanding dawned on Wilson¡¯s face. ¡°That makes significantly more sense. Though I must ask¡­why are they casual clothes and not proper armor?¡± ¡°Extenuating circumstances.¡± Graham said. ¡°Sorry, but we¡¯re really not at liberty to say much more, Guildmaster¡¯s orders. Now, I¡¯ve held up the line for long enough, so I¡¯m going to get going, best of luck, Tess!¡± He jogged back off, and Wilson gave Tess a nod. ¡°I think I understand. If you have any further questions whilst taking the test, raise a closed fist and I will call you over. Best of luck, Ms. Los.¡± As Tess walked to her seat, she couldn¡¯t help but ask her mother a question.
Tess: Mom, how much does Graham know? I wasn¡¯t expecting him to know about my armor. Fortune: He knows you and your girlfriends are Appointed. He absolutely would have figured it out anyway, so Evan chose to let him in on it, provided he swore an Oath. It¡¯s not exactly a huge logical leap to make when you¡¯re the only person recorded to have my strongest Blessing, the fact that you and Ellie are dating and the Appointed of Fortune is dating the Appointed of Life and Death, and when Maven eventually joins the picture¡­yeah. He¡¯s a professional, tight-lipped guy, so he hasn¡¯t said anything because it wasn¡¯t relevant. Tess: Thanks, Mom. Fortune: Any time, sweetie! Good luck on your test!
Tess took her seat and waited a few minutes more for the rest of the line to clear, and soon she was sitting in a fully-packed classroom, though ¡°classroom¡± was probably selling the room short. It was more akin to a lecture hall, with what must have been around one hundred seats as well as an area to the side with desks for non-humanoid people like centaurs or arachne. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Alright everyone, silence please!¡± Wilson called out. ¡°The test will begin now, and talking is strictly prohibited! Your packets are now unlocked, when you finish, please bring them to me and you will be free to leave.¡± Tess opened her packet and began to skim through the test. On the advice of The Rumors, she was going through and answering all the easy, quick questions first. According to them, it was better to make sure she got all the easy points she could in case she potentially got stuck on a problem. It was apparently quite common for people to not finish the test, and to an extent it was even expected, so showing the foresight to do what you can before moving on to stuff you were unsure of reflected well on you. Likewise, they had advised her to simply put ¡°I don¡¯t know¡± if she didn¡¯t know the answer to a question. The test was not scored strictly like the ones Tess was used to from her time in school; instead, it was a tool used to get a grip on a freelancer¡¯s mindset in addition to their knowledge. In the field, simply guessing how something worked was often quite risky, and obvious guesses on the test were similarly risky. To Tess¡¯s surprise, however, most questions on the test fell under the ¡°quick and easy¡± category for her. It wasn¡¯t that the questions were all about one topic, the test covered everything from relatively simple math to tactics to identifying monsters, nor was it that the questions were obvious things that everyone would know, but it seemed that Ava¡¯s education in particular had been far more comprehensive than Tess had expected. That wasn¡¯t to downplay the contributions that The Rumors had to her teaching, but it seemed that almost every place where The Rumors¡¯ teaching didn¡¯t cover something, Ava¡¯s did. Most of the time, that was stuff that would usually be outside the wheelhouse of Tess¡¯s role; stuff that people like tanks or healers would be expected to know, not a scout. That was the thing, Tess supposed; Ava¡¯s training hadn¡¯t been just about scouting, though that was where the bulk of it had been. Ava had been grooming Tess to fill a generalist role with a focus on scouting, and apparently Tess had absorbed more of that knowledge than she had thought. In fact, the questions that gave her the most trouble weren¡¯t the short answer questions, which had given her problems in school, but were the multiple-choice questions. Most of the short answer questions asked things like how she would approach a specific group of monsters or what she would do if her party was lost in the wilderness, and those were things that Tess¡¯s training had covered extensively. On the other hand, multiple-choice questions dealt with more specific information, like what the name of a species of monster was. That hadn¡¯t been covered nearly as much in her training; it had been focused more in the generals than the specifics. Still, most of those questions had to do with things Tess had dealt with in the past, so there only ended up being a couple of questions that she truly didn¡¯t know the answers to. When she stood up to turn in the sheet, it seemed that only a couple others had already finished, and Wilson gave her a smile as he took her packet. ¡°Very good, Ms. Los. Best of luck in your practical.¡± Tess left the room, and began the walk back to the lobby. Yet, before she could actually reach the lobby, she was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Ah, Tess, good to see you!¡± Alberich, Magic¡¯s Appointed said. ¡°Here to take your exam?¡± Tess turned and gave him a smile. ¡°Just finished, actually. Or, the written portion, anyway, I¡¯m waiting for the others to finish so we can do our practical.¡± Alberich gave her a smile in return. ¡°Good, how are you feeling about it? You seem to have finished rather fast.¡± ¡°I¡¯m feeling pretty good.¡± Tess replied. ¡°The Rumors, Ava, and Eyfura taught me a lot more than I had realized.¡± ¡°Well, they were picked to be your tutors for a reason.¡± Alberich chuckled. ¡°Well, I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t chat for too long, I was on my way to my next class and just wanted to say hi, best of luck on your practical!¡± ¡°Thanks, Alberich!¡± Tess replied. ¡°Oh, before I go, do take this, though.¡± Alberich said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out three sheets of paper. ¡°This is all the classes and times I¡¯m teaching, as well as an endorsement from myself.¡± He said, handing the paper to Tess. ¡°If any of these classes interest you, I¡¯d love to have you sit in on one. And, though it¡¯s not a common thing by any means, if anyone asks you about your enrollment or tries to bar you from entering the university, show them this and it should all clear up. There are copies Ellie and Maven too, so please pass the message along for me.¡± Tess took the papers, giving Alberich a grateful smile. ¡°I appreciate it.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯ll look it over and see what interests me.¡± Alberich gave her a smile and clapped her shoulder. ¡°No pressure to come by any means, just wanted you to have the option. I¡¯ll see you around!¡± With that the dwarf left, and Tess finished her journey back to the lobby. After about half an hour, Maven entered the lobby and walked over to Tess. ¡°Ah, finished already?¡± She asked. ¡°How did it go?¡± ¡°Easy.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Suspiciously easy.¡± Maven raised an eyebrow. ¡°I would not go that far.¡± She replied. ¡°But I feel I performed adequately.¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Ava taught me a lot more than I had realized. I feel like I had a good answer to most of the questions. Oh, by the way, I ran into Alberich on my way out, he wanted me to give you this.¡± Tess said, reaching into her pockets and pulling out one of the papers Alberich had given her. ¡°It¡¯s a schedule of his classes and an endorsement from him, so if we¡¯re ever stopped on the way to a class on campus we won¡¯t get in trouble.¡± Maven¡¯s eyes widened, and she grabbed the paper. ¡°You do not recognize the worth of this, do you?¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid not. I mean, I know he¡¯s kind of a big deal and that he teaches here, but that¡¯s it.¡± ¡°He is the head of the university, and his classes are renowned for being the best the university offers, and they have a constant, long waiting list. It is not easy to get into one, and having taken even one of them is considered a large plus on any professional magic user¡¯s resume. This is an open invitation for¡­any class in the future, it would seem, and that is something that is practically unheard of.¡±
Fortune: Just so you know, he absolutely would teach you guys one-on-one or one-on-three or whatever. The guy just likes to teach people, and he¡¯d be super pumped to teach you Appointed-specific stuff. He doesn¡¯t get a chance to talk about it much, because all the other Appointed are basically up to speed on things. Maven: I have been meaning to ask, I find it odd that he works as a researcher of magic while having direct access to Amy herself. What does he actually research? Fortune: Worship and the fundamental properties of the multiverse, mostly. I mean, don¡¯t get me wrong, he does research the system, but it¡¯s more in a¡­¡°how can we best exploit this and what unintended consequences due to design might there be¡± way. He¡¯s helped us patch a lot of holes in the system, but it¡¯s really not his main job. Life: There is a lot out there that we simply do not know. He, along with Magic, help push the boundaries on that. Maven: I see. That makes much more sense now, thank you.
Tess and Maven chatted for another ten minutes before Ellie joined them. ¡°Shoulda known you two would finish before me.¡± She said. ¡°How¡¯d you do?¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty confident.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I felt like I had pretty good answers to everything.¡± ¡°I was not quite so confident, but I feel confident that I will not drag us down significantly.¡± Maven added. ¡°Yeah, same boat here.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°As long as I took things slow and thought about it, it wasn¡¯t a problem. So¡­you two ready for the practical, or do you want a break? Because I¡¯m raring to go, personally.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been done for about forty-five minutes, I¡¯ve had enough of a break, but I wouldn¡¯t say no to lunch if Maven wanted to.¡± ¡°I think it would be prudent to go now. The practical fields will get significantly more crowded soon, we were amongst the first to finish. So¡­let us be on our way, then.¡± Chapter 108: Receiving a Ranking When Tess and her girlfriends reached the building where the practical exams took place, they were pleased to find that it was mostly empty, and they only had to wait a few minutes for their turn. A bored-looking centaur that was wearing the uniform of the academy looked them over as they walked up to him. ¡°A party exam, then?¡± He asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°Party name?¡± ¡°Uhh¡­¡± Tess said, ¡°I don¡¯t think we ever actually decided on one. I think Gramps probably just put something as a placeholder in the system until we figured it out.¡± ¡°We should probably decide on one soon.¡± Ellie replied, then turned to the centaur. ¡°Sorry about that, will reading our bands work instead?¡± The centaur sighed, then pulled a scanning machine out from a bag. ¡°Stick your hands in here, please.¡± He said. Tess went first, putting the arm with her band on it into the machine. The centaur looked over it lazily¡­then his eyes opened wide, and he scanned the readings again. ¡°M-Ms. Tess Los, correct?¡± He stammered. ¡°In a party with Ellie Los and Maven Sarlienne?¡± ¡°That¡¯s us.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Do you want our bands too?¡± ¡°Y-yes, it¡¯s protocol.¡± He said. ¡°I have to, sorry.¡± ¡°It is no problem at all.¡± Maven said, walking forward to stick her hand in the machine after Tess withdrew hers. Once Ellie had done the same, the centaur cleared his throat. ¡°U-um, do you have a specific rank you are shooting for in the practical? It says here you are unranked at the moment, and your level ranges qualify you to attempt up to rank five.¡± Tess shared a glance with her girlfriends, then turned back to the centaur. ¡°Rank five, please.¡± ¡°A-as you wish. I¡¯ll be your proctor today, follow me and I¡¯ll take you to the Arena where the exam is held. While we walk, do any of you need explanation on what an Arena is?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like a VR simulator thing, right?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°It allows people to set up a simulation, and you can like¡­practice all sorts of things safely.¡± ¡°That is the gist of it, yes.¡± The proctor replied. ¡°We have three simulations we will be running you through, and I must warn you that the pain simulators will be on at full intensity and no scaling will be applied to the monsters, so as to better emulate real life conditions. Furthermore, though it might seem obvious, we are obligated to inform you that your attempts will be recorded for review by guild staff.¡±
Dungeons: FYI, Evan cheated just a little and made sure that the people who will be reviewing your footage will be totally trustworthy, and he handpicked the proctors for the practical with Alberich¡¯s help, so you don¡¯t need to worry about using most of your abilities. Just hold back on the Blades of Death, don¡¯t make any drastic changes to your body using Monster Breeder, and speak a little vaguely and you¡¯ll be fine. Ellie: Thanks for the head¡¯s up. Is Breath of Life fine? Life: If you¡¯re careful, yes. So long as you don¡¯t show off the Stamina-recovering effect, there are any number of abilities at this level that you could be using to get the same effect. Ellie: Can I turn that off? The description doesn¡¯t specify and there hasn¡¯t really been a need to, so I haven¡¯t tried. Life: You should be able to. Blessings of this type are significantly more flexible than their descriptions indicate, if you know what you are doing. Give me a moment and I will send you instructions in a private message. Ellie: Thanks, Life. Life: Of course. This is my job, and I would be a poor patron god if I didn¡¯t even do this much. No thanks are necessary. Fortune: Good luck, sweetie!!! I¡¯m rooting for you guys!!! Tess: Thanks, Mom Death: Fortune you¡¯ve totally turned into a doting mother. Have you no shame? Fortune: I¡¯m living out my fantasies right now let me have this Death: You¡¯re not in a fantasy, Fortune Fortune: I know, and that¡¯s what makes this so great. Tess made me the happiest girl in the world, and I can¡¯t help it Death: Fine, I suppose I can let you be happy, but you¡¯re on thin ice Fortune: What happens if the ice breaks? Death: I dunno, I sigh and roll my eyes or something? Tess: Looks like we¡¯re here, I¡¯m gonna put this message on silent for now. Talk to you later!
A few moments later, the proctor ushered them into a large room not dissimilar to the one Alice¡¯s parents had in their estate, just on a far larger scale. The proctor helped Tess¡¯s party get into the Arena, then began to speak over some sort of speaker built-in to the Arena. ¡°The first scenario is a simple one; you are defending a small village against a monster surge. While the higher-rank freelancers are on the front lines, you are picking off stragglers that enter the village and making sure to keep casualties to a minimum. By this point most villagers have evacuated, but a few still stubbornly refuse to leave their homes. ¡°You will be given a map and five minutes to prepare, and then you must survive until the wave of monsters is defeated. Any questions?¡± ¡°No, sir.¡± Tess said. ¡°I believe we¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°Very well. Your time starts now.¡± A window appeared in the corner of Tess¡¯s vision, almost like a mini-map, and she quickly took note of the layout of the village. It was small enough to fit inside the Arena, and consisted only of nine or ten buildings, and some roads leading off to what Tess assumed would be farms and other outlying buildings were this real. Helpfully, the houses which had people in them were marked on the map, so that took one element of guesswork out of this. ¡°Okay, I have the beginnings of a plan.¡± Tess said. ¡°Want to hear?¡± ¡°Lay it on us.¡± Ellie said. ¡°First things first, I¡¯m going to check the houses and make sure the information we have is accurate. If I don¡¯t get back to you guys after checking the houses, assume the people are where we expect. In the actual combat, I can keep about half the village in my sensory radius at any given time, so I¡¯m going to take that back part with all the grouped houses and alleyways. ¡°Ellie, if you could take the big open area in front of us, and if Maven could keep watch from the air, I¡¯ll have my summons patrol to patch up any weak spots. If any of you see anything, just give a signal. Any objections or other ideas?¡± ¡°Sounds good enough to me.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I will get started.¡± Maven added, taking off into the air. Tess set her attendants to patrolling the village, then began to check the houses while Ellie went to the open area.
Private Message (Tess, Ellie, Maven) Tess: Send the signal this way, that way there¡¯s no missing it. The reviewers can just assume it¡¯s telepathy or something Ellie: Is that Private Message notifier new? Tess: Amy¡¯s overhauling this system in preparation to give it to all the gods and Appointed and hook us up in one big network. Looks like she¡¯s started to implement it, I bet we¡¯ll get full connectivity soon. Maven: Now is not the time for this.
Tess quickly checked the houses using her tremorsense, making sure to say out loud whether or not the house was empty, and if not, where the inhabitants were within the house, so the reviewers knew she actually was checking, just in a way they couldn¡¯t see from the recording. A few minutes later, the monsters started to arrive. It wasn¡¯t like when she had run through the Arena with Alice, where the monsters had scaled to her stats and went down with hardly a problem, but these monsters were still well within the party¡¯s capability to handle. Oftentimes a monster would be defeated before the others even got to it, and after a bit they started only calling each other when they figured they couldn¡¯t take the monster out quickly. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. The only somewhat tricky part was that Target of Affection didn¡¯t work on the Arena monsters, but, thanks to her training with Ava, Tess wasn¡¯t nearly as reliant on it as she used to be. So, things went on like that for another ten minutes before the village melted into nothingness and the girls found themselves teleported to the middle of the Arena. ¡°Well done.¡± The proctor said. ¡°For your second task, we¡¯ll be simulating a floor of a level fifty dungeon. You will each be given a small info packet and five minutes to read through it, and then you will need to clear the floor in whichever way you want. Any questions?¡± The proctor waited for a moment, then continued. ¡°Very good. Your time begins¡­now.¡± A packet fell into Tess¡¯s hands, and she began to flip through it. The proctor was correct, and it was a rather small packet compared to usual info packets, but it was still enough that Tess was sure she wouldn¡¯t be able to finish it all in five minutes. ¡°Looks like there are three floor groupings to look at here.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯ll only be on a single floor, so I think the best way to go about this is to split up and read a section each. If we have extra time we can go on to the next, but otherwise we¡¯ll just have whoever read the section fill the others in on it.¡± ¡°That sounds reasonable.¡± Tess replied. ¡°It looks like there¡¯s also a boss section in the back, we might want to read it too, there¡¯s a good chance it¡¯ll be the last task.¡± ¡°They did not say our packets would be removed after five minutes.¡± Maven pointed out. ¡°Once we determine what floor we are on, I think we should go through that part of the packet as a team. It is better to be a little slower and have everyone know all the information than it is to get a faster time, I think.¡± ¡°Good point.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°If the packets don¡¯t vanish, then we¡¯ll definitely do that. Now, it looks like the first section is the shortest, so I¡¯ll take the second section, Maven, why don¡¯t you take the third, and Tess, you can take the first and the boss. Sound good?¡± There weren¡¯t any other comments, so the three of them got down to reading. After a few minutes, the Arena started to shift around them, taking the shape of a moist stone structure, seemingly underground if Tess¡¯s tremorsense was any judge. ¡°It would seem our packets have not disappeared, and that we are in the third section.¡± Maven said. ¡°If you two would quickly read on this section, I will finish and read up on the boss as well.¡± ¡°I got through most of the boss too.¡± Tess added. ¡°I think the two of us can just fill Ellie in on the highlights of that on the way, it¡¯s not too complicated.¡± They got back to reading, and a few minutes later were ready to take on the floor. As Tess had suspected, it wasn¡¯t anything complicated, there simply wasn¡¯t enough time given to read the packets for that to be fair, but what it lacked in complexity it made up for in relentlessness. It was a constant barrage of things, with barely a moment¡¯s worth of breathing time. And, in one of those moments, Maven had something to say.
Maven: This is not how a dungeon floor would be laid out. Dungeons: You got that right. Like, it¡¯s a Challenge at best, but it¡¯s definitely not a Challenge I would put in. Ellie: If we just pretend it¡¯s not a dungeon it¡¯s probably fine? I mean¡­presumably they took some creative liberties to make for a better exam experience. Fortune: Maven and Dungeons can still judge them for it. Test makers aren¡¯t immune to getting graded. Plus, as the dungeon people here it¡¯s kind of their job to make note of these things? Life: I think it is a good mindset to be in, not just for them, but for all of us. Now that we have formally blown away most normal Appointed/God barriers, we share in each other¡¯s responsibilities more than we did before. After all, we will be working together on these things for the most part, we might as well get into the mindset. Death: Yeah, you right. Um, we should probably stop bugging them, though, time is ticking for them. Life: Thank you for reminding me. Best of luck you three.
By the time the floor was over, they had more or less managed to get Ellie filled in on the upcoming boss, and cleared the optional objectives. That meant defeating all monsters to meet the conditions for a hypothetical Challenge floor, and picking up the few chests that were scattered about on the floor. As they reached the end, the Arena once again returned to its blank state, and the proctor spoke. ¡°Good work. As you have surmised, the last task we have for you is to slay the boss. Do you wish to have any extra time to prepare, or shall I send you in now?¡± ¡°No, we got this.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So long as that info packet was accurate, we should be more than capable of beating this as we are now.¡± And she was right. The boss was, simply put, a joke. That wasn¡¯t to say it was designed to be one, but it was mostly a big bundle of stats with very simple attack patterns. And, even then, its stats were worse than the boss of the Savage Dungeon, so it was simple to take down. Once the boss had been felled, the three found themselves teleported outside of the Arena, where the proctor was waiting for them. ¡°Excellent work. You three didn¡¯t fail any individual task, so we¡¯ll be sending the footage over to the guild to review. Seeing as how you¡¯re one of the first groups to finish the entire testing process and decisions are made in the order the tests are submitted, you can expect your answer in a couple of hours.¡± ¡°That fast?¡± Tess asked, surprised. ¡°I believe you are eleventh in line at the moment. The guild has five or six teams reviewing tests, and it takes thirty minutes to an hour for a group to decide a rank, so I would be surprised if you didn¡¯t have your results before the end of the day. Still, I¡¯m afraid that I will need to usher you out now, as much as I would like to talk more, we do need to keep the process moving.¡± The proctor led them back out into the lobby, and Tess was surprised to find The Rumors there waiting for them. ¡°So, how do you feel about it?¡± Ker asked, walking over and clapping Ellie on the shoulder. ¡°We were watching your practical, by the way, we¡¯d been given permission to as your instructors.¡± ¡°Well, we generally feel good about the written exam, and I feel like we did well on the practical, but what do you guys think?¡± Tess asked. ¡°You¡¯d know better than us how we did for the practical.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it over lunch.¡± Jin suggested. ¡°We¡¯ll need to wait a bit for your rank determination, anyway.¡± ¡°The proctor said we were eleventh in line for the judging, so depending on how long lunch takes, it is possible that we get results during lunch.¡± Maven said. ¡°You guys are speedy.¡± Alice said, already starting to lead the group out of the lobby. ¡°You sure you did fine on the written? And, speaking of, how long did you guys take on the written? Who finished first?¡± ¡°Tess finished first, by a lot.¡± Ellie said. ¡°She was done like thirty minutes before Maven, and I was like fifteen after Maven.¡± Alice raised an eyebrow, opening the lobby door and holding it open for the others. ¡°That fast?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°You and Ava taught me a lot. I honestly spent more time writing than I did actually thinking about the answers. Compared to some of the situations Ava ran me through, the test questions were child¡¯s play, and I was pretty surprised to realize just how much I knew.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what training from one of the world¡¯s best will do for you.¡± Ker chuckled. ¡°A lot of the people taking this exam don¡¯t even have formal training, much less from members of The Titans.¡±
Fortune: Oh yeah, even if you graduate here your training still isn¡¯t technically done. Some of the other Appointed want to take a crack at you. Well, mostly Ellie and Maven, Tess has been pretty well covered by Eyfura and Ava. Death: It¡¯ll be much less of a consistent thing, though, just a few weeks off and on every few months.
¡°What are they saying?¡± Alice asked quietly. ¡°Hm?¡± Tess replied, looking up from the window. ¡°Sorry, say that again?¡± ¡°You know, what are you reading?¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± Tess said, looking around to make sure no one was within earshot. ¡°Just a few others are gonna come teach us every so often. Ellie and Maven, mostly, but I¡¯m guessing I¡¯ll get a little of that too.¡± ¡°Yeah, suppose that makes sense.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Anyway, there¡¯s a pretty good restaurant nearby, it should only be a few minutes¡¯ walk.¡± They chatted a bit more as they made their way to the restaurant, and The Rumors gave them their opinion on the practical exam they took. For the most part, The Rumors thought that they did fine, and had only minor suggestions, mostly around the defense portion of the exam. That topic dried up pretty quickly, though, and they just ended up having a pleasant chat while they ate. After a while, the topic shifted to their party, and Tess remembered something the proctor had said. ¡°Oh yeah, we still need to decide a party name.¡± She said. ¡°Uh¡­anyone got any ideas?¡± ¡°If anyone suggests ¡®Girl Power¡¯ or something stupid like that I will be very disappointed.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But¡­it¡¯s not like I have any better ideas, so¡­¡± ¡°What do you think of ¡®Maelstrom¡¯ for our name?¡± Maven asked. ¡°It¡¯s cool, but¡­why Maelstrom?¡± Ellie replied. ¡°My reasoning is twofold.¡± Maven said. ¡°First, we will be at the forefront of a maelstrom of change. Second¡­well, it is a pun; you two are from Mael, we will be dealing with Mael quite heavily¡­it just seemed fitting.¡± ¡°You know what, I like the way you think.¡± Tess said. ¡°And it¡¯s not like we can¡¯t change it if we decide there¡¯s something better.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t keep that mindset forever.¡± Jin warned. ¡°After a certain point, enough people will recognize your party name that changing it simply becomes a foolish choice.¡± ¡°Well, I figure by the time we¡¯d have to worry about that we¡¯d have a name we know we want to keep forever.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So, it¡¯s a minor thing. And I approve of Maelstrom, so¡­let¡¯s go with that, I guess. Next time we talk with Graham we¡¯ll get the paperwork taken care of.¡± With that settled, they returned to their idle chat, up to the point where all three members of the newly-dubbed Maelstrom got a notification on their phones at the same time. ¡°Well, that can only be your ranking result.¡± Alice said, a hint of nervous excitement in her voice. ¡°Go on, read it.¡± Tess nodded, taking out her phone and opening the notification. ¡°After some deliberation, we have decided to award your party, Placeholder, with rank four.¡± She read. ¡°While your test results are outstanding, you do not have a long enough history of unsupervised work as a party to warrant rank five. In three months¡¯ time, we will review your work history, and if it is deemed acceptable, you will be automatically promoted to rank five. We look forward to seeing your growth in the future!¡± ¡°Well, there you have it.¡± Alice said wistfully, leaning back in her chair. ¡°That was about as good as we could have hoped for, honestly. I¡­guess that means our tutoring job is done. It feels a little sad, to tell you the truth; I¡¯m gonna miss this. I had never taken myself for the teaching type, but this was fun.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll miss it too.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s gonna be weird being on our own after so long being in someone¡¯s care, and I¡¯m gonna miss spending time with you guys.¡± ¡°Yeah, same here.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It feels like it just won¡¯t be the same.¡± ¡°That is because it will not be the same.¡± Maven pointed out. ¡°But¡­I agree with the sentiment.¡± Ker gave the young girls an encouraging smile. ¡°You¡¯ll do great, I know it. And, in a few years, when you¡¯re on our level, I¡¯ll be looking forward to working with you guys on an equal footing. And, of course, I¡¯ll miss having you guys around too, but that goes without saying, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Jin nodded. ¡°It¡¯s been one of the most enjoyable times of my work as a freelancer.¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯m sad to see you guys go, but I¡¯m excited to watch where you go from here. And remember, if you ever have any questions or want to talk or anything, our door is always open. Now¡­why don¡¯t we go celebrate? You only graduate to full-time freelancer status once, and it¡¯d be a shame to let that go without a little fanfare. I know just the place, too¡­¡± [author][/author] Chapter 109: The Trouble With In-Laws Tess fidgeted nervously in front of the door to Gramps¡¯s office, then took a deep breath and knocked on it. After a moment it swung open, revealing Gramps on the other side. ¡°Ah, you three, congratulations on your rank up!¡± He said jovially. ¡°How was your trip?¡± ¡°It was good, Gramps.¡± Tess said. ¡°But, um, there¡¯s something we need to talk to you about.¡± Gramps nodded solemnly. ¡°We won¡¯t be interrupted here. What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Ellie began, ¡°when we were out, some stuff happened, and one thing led to another and now all three of us are going to be married to each other, not just me and Tess.¡± The briefest hint of surprise flashed across Gramps¡¯s face, but it turned into his usual smile so fast that Tess wasn¡¯t even sure she actually saw it. ¡°That¡¯s wonderful news.¡± He said. ¡°I suppose this had something to do with whatever was bugging Maven when you set out?¡± ¡°You knew about that?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Dungeons and Life came and asked me for advice on it.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°I didn¡¯t know any details, just that something was bothering Maven and they didn¡¯t know how to approach the topic.¡± ¡°I see. Yes, that was what was bothering me; Alice brought up the possibility of me being in love with them, and I thought that could not be the case because I was not sexually attracted to women. Life helped set up a meeting with my aunt Kali, and she helped me realize that I was romantically attracted to women, even though I was not sexually attracted. She helped me fix that problem, and¡­well, we wanted to take it slow at first, but we quickly abandoned that thought.¡± Gramps gave Maven a warm smile. ¡°You really do look happier than you did before.¡± He said. ¡°I assume this is somewhat secret for the time being?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Maven confirmed. ¡°We are going to Grandmother right after this, and we are going to see if she can help us figure out a way to make our relationship more public without adversely affecting Paumen. Aside from that, we are currently in the process of informing the rest of those close to us about the change in our relationship status.¡± ¡°I can send you to her now, if you would like.¡± Gramps offered. ¡°She should just be at her estate in Paumen right now.¡± ¡°If you could send us out front, Gui ¨C Gramps, that would be ideal.¡± Maven said. ¡°We were assuming we would need to travel there ourselves or get the assistance of the gods, so this is convenient.¡± ¡°I suppose I¡¯m actually going to be your grandfather now.¡± Gramps chuckled. ¡°Welcome to the family, Maven.¡± Maven blushed and turned away. ¡°Thank you, Gramps. I appreciate it.¡± ¡°Just to check, you two are fine with me sending you over now, right?¡± Gramps asked. ¡°Yeah, that was the hope.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°Thanks, Gramps.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± He replied, waving his hand dismissively. ¡°Just shoot me a text when you need to get back and I¡¯ll teleport you back over.¡± ¡°Will do, Grandpa.¡± Ellie said. Gramps waved his hand again, and suddenly the three girls were standing in front of a gated manor, a shocked-looking guard staring at them. ¡°P-Princess?¡± The guard asked, placing a hand over her chest. ¡°You scared the living daylights out of me. How¡¯d you get here?¡± ¡°We have business with Grandmother, so the Guildmaster teleported us here.¡± Maven explained. ¡°Could you fetch her for us?¡± ¡°No need, I¡¯ve been given instructions to let you and your party members in whenever you wish.¡± The gatekeeper replied. ¡°Mistress Amara should be in her room right now, you know the way, yes?¡± ¡°Yes, Erin.¡± Maven replied. ¡°Thank you.¡± The gate swung open, and Maven led the group down the path and into the manor. They were only two halls into the manor when Amara emerged from the other side, a happy but curious expression on her face. ¡°Tess, Ellie, Maven, to what do I owe the pleasure?¡± She asked, giving them a smile. ¡°We have news, Grandmother.¡± Maven replied. ¡°Do you have a private place in which we can talk?¡± Amara¡¯s expression grew serious, and she walked a few feet down the hall to open a seemingly random door. ¡°All of these rooms are secure.¡± She explained. ¡°Come in, we¡¯ll talk inside.¡± The three younger girls followed her into what appeared to be some sort of sitting room, and Amara shut and locked the door behind them. ¡°So, what¡¯s going on?¡± Amara asked curiously, taking a seat on one of the chairs. ¡°Appointed business?¡± ¡°No, Grandmother.¡± Maven replied, sitting on a chair across from her. ¡°We have come here to seek your advice on a sensitive matter that concerns Paumen.¡± ¡°Oh? Well, you¡¯ve come to the right place. Lay it on me.¡± As Tess and Ellie sat down next to her, Maven continued. ¡°After some discussion, we have decided that we wish for the three of us to all be wed to each other.¡± Maven explained. ¡°And the upcoming wedding will be modified to include me as well. However, we wish to know if there is a way to let our relationship be known to the public without destabilizing Paumen once it is announced that I am no longer the heir to the throne.¡± Amara stared at Maven in shock. ¡°Already?¡± She asked. ¡°Last I heard, you had just started to date them.¡± Maven blushed slightly. ¡°As it turns out, we were more compatible than expected. We moved much quicker than planned, and after only a couple of weeks we knew we wanted to keep this arrangement forever.¡± Amara stared at her for a few moments more before chuckling. ¡°Well, you three are cute together.¡± She said. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°This last month has been¡­incredibly happy, more than I could have dared dream of.¡± Maven said. ¡°But I feel bad for forcing our relationship to be more private because of my circumstances, as much as they say that they don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°The whole privacy thing shouldn¡¯t be much of a problem, actually.¡± Amara said. ¡°It¡¯s convenient for me, even.¡± ¡°It is?¡± Maven asked, clearly surprised. ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve been on Abarrane¡¯s case about getting her affairs in order for the announcement, and she has done a fine job preparing. It¡¯s a bit earlier than planned, but I think we¡¯re just about ready, so using this as a final push to get them to make the announcement will be good. Otherwise, they¡¯re going to stall out the entire five years just because they can. ¡°So, after you let them know about your upcoming wedding, I¡¯ll start pressuring them to officially announce Taru as heir. They may be set in their ways, but Abarrane isn¡¯t heartless enough to put a damper on your wedding for that, and Saburo¡­well, he¡¯ll fall in line eventually. He¡¯s been significantly more cooperative once I gave Abarrane permission to tell him I¡¯m an Appointed. Anyway, what¡¯s the timeline like for the wedding? I understand it¡¯s been delayed somewhat but I¡¯m unsure the specifics.¡± ¡°We¡¯re thinking a month from now.¡± Ellie said. ¡°That gives us enough time to redo any preparations that need to be redone for three, and invite anyone we need to for Maven. Though, now that it¡¯s not just people ¡®in the know¡¯, I know that all of the Appointed in our circle are planning on attending, and a few of the gods as well. Will this cause issues with Maven¡¯s guests?¡± ¡°Some recognition-inhibition magic will do just fine.¡± Amara said, waving a hand dismissively. ¡°Subterfuge and I do this sort of thing all the time; for people who don¡¯t know personally know the gods or the less-public Appointed, they¡¯ll barely even process their presence. You don¡¯t need to worry about that sort of thing, I¡¯ll take care of it, okay?¡± ¡°Thanks, Amara.¡± Tess said. ¡°No. None of that. I¡¯m Grandma now.¡± Amara said sternly. ¡°Or Grandmother, Nana, Gram-Gram, Granny¡­any term for grandmother will do.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Yes, Grandma.¡± Tess said obediently. ¡°Um¡­thanks for being so accepting.¡± Amara gave them a huge smile. ¡°Of course!¡± She said happily. ¡°You two are the sweetest little things, and knowing I get to dote on you as my granddaughters makes me very happy! Plus, once Maven¡¯s no longer crown princess, I can actually behave like a grandmother instead of having to pay attention to propriety. That¡¯s something I never really got to do with my granddaughters, only my grandsons, so I¡¯m looking forward to it!¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Surely there were princesses that weren¡¯t in line for the throne.¡± ¡°You¡¯d really think so.¡± Amara sighed. ¡°But, no. The royal line of Paumen is¡­stuffy when it comes to heirs. There are all sorts of rules about it; all queens are given an enchantment that makes their children take heavily after them, so the appearance stays ¡®recognizable¡¯, once they have a daughter they must use magic to ensure future kids are male, the heirs can¡¯t be ¡®coddled¡¯, the list goes on and on. ¡°I¡¯ve been pushing for change when I can, but it¡¯s never actually materialized. I can only push so much without jeopardizing my position as advisor to the family, and it just wasn¡¯t high on the priority list for most queens. I¡¯ve been talking with Taru, though, and he said he¡¯ll change that along with some of the other reforms he¡¯s planning, so I¡¯m rather excited for his reign.¡± ¡°And I am glad I am not the one having to make all these reforms.¡± Maven said. ¡°Of the many things about ruling I was not looking forward to, that might have been the thing I was most dreading. Hearing Father¡¯s complaints about all of them was not going to be pleasant.¡± ¡°I, for one, am rather looking forward to his complaining.¡± Amara said, smirking. ¡°Now that he knows who I am, he¡¯ll start protesting and then suddenly clam up, it¡¯s great. Anyway, when are you planning to tell them? If you want, I can send you over right now and you can take care of it. I know they don¡¯t have anything going on at the moment, so it¡¯s a good time.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind, but we were going to have Gramps teleport us back when we were done here, will it cause issues if we¡¯re too far away from your place?¡± Tess asked. ¡°For most people, yeah, for Evan, no. I¡¯ll shoot him a text and let him know you¡¯re at Paumen¡¯s palace and he¡¯ll be able to get you no problem when you¡¯re done.¡± ¡°In that case, I see no reason for us to put this off further.¡± Maven said. ¡°Provided Ellie is okay with it, of course.¡± ¡°Perfectly fine with it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Really should just get it out of the way.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll teleport you to the front of the palace, then, let me know how it went when you¡¯re done!¡± Amara said. She began to chant a spell, and a few moments later Tess and her girlfriends were standing in front of an unfamiliar opulent palace. It took a moment to occur to her that she hadn¡¯t actually seen the palace from the outside, only from the inside, but she didn¡¯t have any further time to reflect as the sound of a blade being drawn took her attention. ¡°Halt! Who ¨C Princess?!¡± A guard said, brandishing a sword. ¡°Forgive me, Your Highness, you startled me.¡± ¡°You are just doing your job, Michael.¡± Maven said. ¡°My party members and I have urgent news for my parents, so Grandmother sent us here. We will be coming through now, understood?¡± ¡°Y-yes, Your Highness.¡± The guard replied, then pulled a device out from his pocket. ¡°Open the gates, the princess wishes to pass!¡± He instructed. The gates opened, and Maven led Tess and Ellie through them and into the palace. She stopped only briefly to confirm her parents¡¯ locations with one of the butlers, then guided Tess and Ellie through the palace and into the private wing, stopping in front of her parents¡¯ door and knocking on it. A few seconds later, Abarrane opened the door. ¡°Maven?¡± She asked quizzically. ¡°You have urgent news?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Maven confirmed. ¡°It is sensitive information, may we come in?¡± ¡°I suppose.¡± Abarrane said reluctantly. ¡°Do you need Saburo here for this as well?¡± ¡°Yes, having Father here would be ideal.¡± Maven confirmed. ¡°Saburo!¡± Abarrane called out. ¡°We need you here!¡± There was some grumbling from one of the other rooms, and Maven¡¯s father emerged a short time later. ¡°Yes?¡± He asked grumpily. ¡°Maven has some important news for us, apparently.¡± Abarrane said, motioning for Saburo to sit next to her. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯ve decided to go back on this silly ¡®abdicating the throne¡¯ nonsense, have you?¡± Saburo asked, taking a seat. ¡°No, Father, and I never will.¡± Maven said firmly. ¡°I came here to inform you that in one month¡¯s time I will be wed to Tess and Ellie, and, as my parents, I would like to formally invite you to our wedding. It will, unfortunately, be a private affair, as I do not wish to give the people the false impression that their next queen will be married to the Guildmaster¡¯s grandchildren. As you can imagine, I fear that it will destabilize things if this is public information when it is announced that I am no longer crown princess, and will make the announcement significantly harder.¡± There was a prolonged silence as Maven¡¯s parents digested that information. ¡°That is wonderful, Maven.¡± Abarrane eventually said, a slightly-too-perfect smile on her face. ¡°We will be happy to attend your wedding. Who else is on the guest list?¡± ¡°It is mostly our acquaintances.¡± Maven replied. ¡°People who know about the three of us and who will not have any political opinions on the matter. Mostly, it is people who the Guil ¨C Gramps introduced us to, as well as people like Grandmother who are in the know anyway.¡± ¡°Young lady, you do not call the Guildmaster Gramps.¡± Saburo said sternly. ¡°That is highly disrespect ¨C¡± ¡°Father, Gramps specifically requested that I stop calling him Guildmaster and to instead call him Gramps.¡± Maven said politely, cutting her father off before he could launch into a lecture. ¡°And I would remind you that he is soon to be my grandfather-in-law, so the term is accurate. Likewise, Grandmother has requested that my fianc¨¦es refer to her as Grandma, so I will not accept you telling them off for a perceived slight against her.¡± ¡°Do not cut me off.¡± Saburo said sharply. ¡°Appointed or not, I am your father, and I expect to be respected as such.¡± Maven¡¯s eyes narrowed dangerously. ¡°I¡¯ll do what I want, Dad.¡± She said, suddenly dropping into casual speech and emphasizing the ¡°disrespectful¡± way of address. ¡°I¡¯m not part of the line of succession anymore, and I¡¯ll treat you with the respect you have earned, not the respect you think should be required of me by my royal lineage. I won¡¯t let you lecture me on topics that you have no understanding of. ¡°Even Dungeons expects me to stop her if she makes wrong assumptions, and you certainly haven¡¯t earned more respect than a literal god. I came here today to invite the two of you to my wedding as my parents, not as royalty, and I¡¯m fully willing to rescind that invitation if I think you¡¯ll cause any sort of trouble. ¡°I¡¯ll level with you, Dad; throughout the years you¡¯ve given me the impression that you see me as little more than a political tool, and don¡¯t care for me outside of that role. Now that I¡¯m more familiar with non-noble families, I¡¯ve come to realize that this is, simply speaking, not how a good father acts. In fact, I cannot think of a single instance where you said you love me, or did more than the minimum required of you by propriety. ¡°And though you¡¯re better, Mother, you¡¯re still more distant than the stupid rules binding the family dictate you have to be. I¡¯m tired of it, I just want actual parents, not people who want me to be some perfect princess for the sake of the dynasty. If that¡¯s not something you¡¯re willing to put the effort into being, then I have no problems cutting contact with you. ¡°I hope that isn¡¯t the case. As unearned as it might be, I do love you two to an extent, and I would rather not cut contact. But, if it¡¯s only going to cause stress for me and my fianc¨¦es, then it¡¯s not enough to stop me. So¡­yeah, I¡¯m done with it. I¡¯m going to go tell Taru now, and I¡¯ll leave you two to reflect on your mistakes.¡± Maven stood indignantly, shaking slightly as she turned to leave. ¡°Come on you two, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Maven, wait!¡± Abarrane cried out desperately. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m sorry. As distant though I was, I truly do love you, and I would hate to lose you. I promise I¡¯ll try my best to be better so¡­please don¡¯t go.¡± Maven stopped, then collapsed back into her chair, the reality of what she had just said seeming to hit her. ¡°No¡­I¡¯m sorry too.¡± She said. ¡°I lost my temper and let out my frustrations when it really wasn¡¯t that big of a slight. I should have discussed this more rationally.¡± There was a silence, and Tess frowned inwardly. If this had been her family, it would be where her father would have apologized as well, but Saburo clearly had no intention of doing so. ¡°Perhaps we should discuss this later, perhaps with Grandmother to mediate?¡± Abarrane suggested. ¡°We can sit down and air out all our grievances in a controlled manner instead of letting our emotions get the better of us.¡± ¡°Yes¡­I¡¯d like that.¡± Maven said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to ruin things more than I have.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t ruin things.¡± Abarrane said gently. If Tess was reading Saburo right, he didn¡¯t agree, but he also wasn¡¯t going to speak up. Tess made a mental note to comfort Maven about this later, her father¡¯s behavior was extraordinarily telling, and Tess knew she¡¯d feel bad about it if she was in Maven¡¯s shoes. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go tell Taru?¡± Abarrane continued. ¡°I¡¯ll go contact Grandmother and we¡¯ll set something up, okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do that, Mother.¡± Maven replied. She stood and began to leave, and Tess and Ellie followed. Once they were out of Maven¡¯s parents¡¯ quarters, Maven turned to Tess and Ellie. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for making you sit through that.¡± She said. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d get so heated. Everything just sort of¡­came out all at once.¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s fine.¡± Ellie said, slinging an arm around Maven¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ve wanted to say something similar to your dad and I¡¯ve only met him a couple of times. Also, it¡¯s really brave to stand up for yourself, and no matter what ends up happening, know that we support you fully.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Maven replied, grabbing Ellie¡¯s free hand and giving it a squeeze. ¡°Let¡¯s go tell Taru, it shouldn¡¯t be nearly as¡­emotionally charged as that.¡± And it wasn¡¯t. Taru just smiled and gave them his congratulations and a promise to attend the wedding, They texted Gramps after that, and within a couple of minutes they were back in his office. ¡°So, how¡¯d it go?¡± Gramps asked. ¡°There was a bit of a fight with my parents when I let my anger get the best of me, but we¡¯re settling it with the help of Grandmother soon. Other than that, it was smooth sailing, though.¡± ¡°Did Saburo say something out of line?¡± Gramps guessed. ¡°Nothing more than usual, it was me who was out of line. He was upset that I called you Gramps, and I stopped him as he was winding up to lecture me. He got mad that I interrupted him, and then¡­well, all my repressed feelings sort of bubbled up. I¡¯ve¡­gotten worse at keeping those inside since I stopped paying so much attention to how I talk.¡± Maven said, blushing slightly. ¡°It¡¯s fine to show your emotions more.¡± Tess said comfortingly. ¡°You were just repressed more than most people. Honestly, as far as arguments go, I¡¯ve had much worse with my parents and Gramps. I¡¯m imagining you haven¡¯t had many before?¡± ¡°Not since I was a small child.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°I learned quickly not to talk back.¡± ¡°Well, this is normal.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Now, why don¡¯t we head back to our place on Mael, and we can help you relax? I¡¯m sure you need it after today.¡± Maven nodded eagerly. ¡°Yes, please. I would like nothing more.¡± Chapter 110: Meeting Parents...? ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s okay to just walk in?¡± Ellie whispered. ¡°We didn¡¯t announce our visit or anything.¡± Ellie was currently standing in front of an opulent mansion found in a plane called Loma. It was, apparently, the house of Alice¡¯s parents, and Ellie couldn¡¯t help but feel a little daunted now that she was looking at it in person. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve been here with Alice a few times, and they¡¯ve made it incredibly clear that they want me to just walk in any time I want to visit.¡± Tess replied, walking up to the gate and placing her hand on it. ¡°It¡¯s sweet, really.¡± The gate swung open at her touch, and Tess walked through confidently. She led Ellie and Maven down a path through an immaculately-kept garden, eventually ending up in front of a large pair of double doors. Without even so much as hesitating, Tess knocked on the door, and it opened a few moments later to reveal a sleepy-looking elf in a butler¡¯s outfit. ¡°Ah, Mistress Tess, do come in.¡± He said. ¡°The masters will be delighted to see you again, and even more so to meet your companions. May I ask to what we owe the pleasure to?¡± ¡°Yeah, I wanted to tell them about some changes to our wedding plans, and I thought it¡¯d be nice to do it in person since I haven¡¯t seen them in a while.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Delightful. In that case, I won¡¯t inform them, so you can tell them the news yourself.¡± ¡°I appreciate it, Tamas. Where should we go in the meantime?¡± ¡°Head into the sitting room and I¡¯ll have them with you shortly.¡± Tess gave him a nod, then walked down a hallway, trailed by Ellie and Maven. After a moment, she led them into a side room, then had them sit down on one of the couches with her. They chatted for a few moments before a pair of people walked into the room, smiling at them. ¡°Tess, what a pleasant surprise!¡± The woman, a humanoid dryad that was the spitting image of Alice, said brightly. ¡°And you brought your party members, too! It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you two, I¡¯m Avery, and this is my husband, Jared, we¡¯re Alice¡¯s parents.¡± ¡°Likewise, it is a pleasure to meet you as well.¡± Maven said. ¡°I am Maven, party member of Tess.¡± ¡°Same. I¡¯m Ellie, Tess¡¯s fianc¨¦e.¡± Avery beamed at them, sitting down on the couch opposite the trio. ¡°So, what can we do for you today?¡± ¡°Well, um, we came here because I wanted to tell you about some changes to the wedding plan.¡± Tess said. ¡°Oh?¡± Jared asked. ¡°Nothing bad, I hope.¡± ¡°No, nothing of the sort.¡± Tess said quickly. ¡°Um, we¡¯ve decided to move it out a bit because we¡¯ve decided to marry Maven too.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fantastic!¡± Avery squealed, her eyes glinting strangely. ¡°How¡¯d that happen?¡± ¡°Well, Maven had sort of been unaware of her own feelings, and once she realized it, she let us know, and one thing sort of led to another and¡­here we are.¡± Tess said. ¡°It all happened really fast, but it just felt right.¡± ¡°I would ask that you keep this next part secret until the public announcement has been made, but I have abdicated my position as crown princess, so there will be no diplomatic confusion over my role in this.¡± Maven said. ¡°So, please do not feel the need to treat me with that sort of dignity, it is not me anymore.¡± Ellie smiled inwardly. It seemed that Maven was as nervous as she was, judging by the fact that Maven had seemingly fallen back on her etiquette training to help her handle the situation. ¡°Sorry, I know it¡¯s a lot to drop on you when it¡¯s our first time meeting each other, but we were out letting people know and Tess wanted to tell you in person.¡± Ellie added. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about it.¡± Jared said, waving a hand dismissively. ¡°We¡¯re at least somewhat aware of you and your situation thanks to Alice, so it doesn¡¯t feel like you¡¯re total strangers or anything. And Avery¡¯s been talking about wanting to meet you for a while, so we¡¯re glad you visited in person.¡± ¡°Would you three like to stay for dinner?¡± Avery offered. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re hungry, and I¡¯d love to get to know you over some food.¡± Tess glanced at Ellie and Maven, and after they nodded to signal their agreement, turned back to Alice¡¯s parents. ¡°That sounds great, thank you.¡± She said. ¡°Perfect! The staff was just getting dinner ready, follow us to the dining room and we can start!¡± Avery said, standing up and turning to leave the room. The rest of the group followed, and Ellie soon found herself in a small but luxurious dining room. She sat down at one of the eight chairs around the table, fidgeting nervously as she did. ¡°So,¡± Jared began, sitting at the head of the table, ¡°I¡¯ve heard you did pretty well on your rank exam, and that you¡¯ve graduated from your apprenticeship. What are your plans now?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°Well, right now I think we¡¯re just sort of planning on getting settled. We¡¯re going to look for a cheap place to rent in the City, then probably take requests there until the wedding. After that we¡¯ll start travelling more, like normal freelancers, and when we¡¯re earning more we¡¯ll look for something more permanent.¡± ¡°If you¡¯d like, we own some property in the City, and could get you a big discount if you want to buy from us.¡± Avery offered. ¡°We could even call it your wedding gift, if it makes you feel better.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to discuss our budget first.¡± Tess said. ¡°But I think we might well end up taking you up on that. Finding someone we can trust to rent to us or sell us property isn¡¯t something we were looking forward to.¡± Ellie held back a grimace. ¡°Isn¡¯t something we were looking forward to¡± was an understatement; the City held very lax laws when it came to property and business, and so long as something wasn¡¯t theft it was basically fair game. It was an unfortunate side-effect of the way the City was founded and run, and while most even remotely popular businesses had to be honest or risk losing business to others, the same couldn¡¯t be said for housing. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. If they rented, there was no obligation for the landlord to do basically anything except make sure the house didn¡¯t collapse unless it was specifically outlined in a contract. And, since there was a limited amount of space in the City, it was much harder to simply find another option like you could for groceries. This wasn¡¯t an issue if you were looking for any property that was priced for people with a moderate level of income, but a moderate level of income for the City was higher than it was in many other places. Even with Tess being a veritable money printer, their party simply wasn¡¯t raiding dungeons that held desirable enough cores and loot to give them enough money to reasonable afford that. In half a year to a year they¡¯d be able to, but for the time being it wasn¡¯t in the cards. Their ideal housing was, of course, in a dungeon; Maven and Dungeons would be able to customize the house as they pleased, they could make practically any appliance or piece of furniture, there would be no need to worry about neighbors or landlords or anything¡­the advantages kept piling up, but it simply wasn¡¯t feasible to get dungeon housing in the City. Dungeon housing was highly sought-after in the City, and there was a waitlist for anyone who wanted a house in a dungeon. Furthermore, there was a fifty-year limit on the amount of time they could spend in the housing before they would have to relocate, to prevent those houses from simply being occupied forever by the same set of people, so it wasn¡¯t permanent, either. Of course, they could simply make a new housing floor in a space no one else would be able to access, but that came with its own issues. They wouldn¡¯t be able to receive any mail, since they wouldn¡¯t officially be living there, they couldn¡¯t invite over anyone who didn¡¯t know Maven was an Appointed, and most pressingly, people would eventually notice and start asking questions. Eventually they¡¯d relocate to a dungeon somewhere, but until they felt that Mael didn¡¯t need much more help integrating, they wanted to stay in the City. There, they¡¯d be close to a significant portion of the Appointed in their circle, and it was a place that was easy to reach for their friends, most notably The Rumors, and had easy transportation to just about everywhere. And, unfortunately, that meant navigating the perils of the low-to-medium income housing market in the City. Still, if Alice¡¯s parents were offering a better solution¡­well, Ellie wasn¡¯t going to complain. She had been half-expecting to end up staying in her childhood home for a while more, and that felt weird to do now that she was getting married. ¡°Do let us know when you know what your budget is and what you¡¯re looking for in a house, we¡¯ll be sure to get you something that¡¯ll fit!¡± Avery said enthusiastically. ¡°And if it would make things easier, we¡¯re totally willing to let you pay in parts.¡± ¡°Ellie, Maven, forgive my wife¡¯s enthusiasm.¡± Jared chuckled. ¡°And don¡¯t feel pressured to take the offer; she¡¯s just a bit of a pamperer, and we don¡¯t exactly have anyone she¡¯s in a position to pamper anymore.¡± ¡°Oh, you should have seen Alice when she was younger.¡± Avery replied nostalgically. ¡°She was such a mama¡¯s girl. She was always clinging to me, asking to play with me and showing me all the of the stuff she learned at school and anything else that had happened that day. I sometimes wonder how that little girl became the big, strong, woman she is now. She hasn¡¯t asked me for anything in ages, and it makes me kinda lonely.¡± ¡°Alice was?¡± Ellie asked incredulously. ¡°I can¡¯t even imagine it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± Jared confirmed. ¡°I worked from home and Avery was always off running the business, so Alice loved it when she was home. And she wasn¡¯t an absent parent or anything, she just tended to work a little late, so Alice only had an hour or two with her before bedtime. Avery spent as much time with Alice as was physically possible, and Alice absolutely adored her.¡± ¡°She was so sweet back then. Of course, talking about any of this embarrasses her to no end, but a mom¡¯s job is to embarrass her kids, so it¡¯s fine. And¡­on the topic of embarrassing childhood stories, I don¡¯t suppose any of you have any you¡¯re willing to share? Not necessarily of yourself, but of each other. I¡¯m dying to know what you were like as kids.¡± Jared rolled his eyes. ¡°Not on our first meeting, Avery.¡± He said. ¡°That can wait until we know them better.¡± ¡°I guess I¡¯ll drop it.¡± Avery pouted. ¡°But only if you three promise to come and see us again.¡± ¡°I do not see any issue with that.¡± Maven replied. ¡°Though we may have to wait until after the wedding for that; I anticipate being rather busy in the coming days.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Avery replied. ¡°It was like that for our wedding too. In fact¡­¡± She trailed off as servants entered the room, bringing a large amount of food with them. ¡°Ah, probably best not to get into a long story right as we eat. Please, don¡¯t worry about manners here, and just take things as you wish. We won¡¯t feel offended, this is a casual dinner, not an occasion.¡± ¡°We¡¯re serious, by the way.¡± Jared added, reaching over Avery to grab some meat from a platter further down the table. ¡°I¡¯m not from money, and Alice takes after Avery in this regard; when in private we prefer to let all of that go.¡± Tess didn¡¯t need any more prompting, grabbing a few rolls from one of the platters and beginning to scarf them down. Ellie reached out a little more hesitantly, but Maven floundered, seemingly unable to throw away her manners. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Tess said gently, laying a hand on Maven¡¯s arm and tossing a roll onto her plate. ¡°I¡¯ve eaten here before, they¡¯re not kidding. If having good table manners makes you more comfortable, do that. If it doesn¡¯t, then be casual, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± ¡°I¡­I understand.¡± Maven said. ¡°I hope you do not mind if I still use a certain level of etiquette, it is simply ingrained into me for situations such as this.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t mind at all.¡± Avery said. ¡°Really, whatever¡¯s comfortable for you is best.¡± They ended up making some more small talk whilst they ate, but things didn¡¯t get really interesting until halfway through the meal, when one of the doors to the room burst open. ¡°You came here without even telling me?!¡± Alice panted. ¡°I didn¡¯t find out until half an hour ago when Tamas texted me. She hasn¡¯t done anything too embarrassing, right?!¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been telling them about how much of a mama¡¯s girl you were, but that¡¯s it. And what do you mean she hasn¡¯t? What about your father?¡± Avery said, smirking and motioning at the empty chair next to her. ¡°Come, have some food.¡± ¡°Dad¡¯s not the one I¡¯m worried about.¡± Alice groaned, walking over and taking a seat. As she did, servants were already bringing another set of dishes for her to use, and she gratefully took them and started to grab food. ¡°Ellie, Maven, sorry about her. As I¡¯m sure you saw, she¡¯s a bit excitable.¡± ¡°It is¡­preferable, when you consider the alternatives.¡± Maven said. ¡°I enjoyed her exuberance myself.¡± ¡°This means she¡¯s nervous, not that she¡¯s like¡­treating you differently, by the way.¡± Alice said. ¡°From what I¡¯ve been given to understand, as of late she only gets formal like this when she¡¯s nervous.¡± ¡°W-who told you that?¡± Maven stuttered. ¡°Tess.¡± Alice replied nonchalantly. ¡°We text a lot, and I was asking how you and Ellie were doing. She happened to mention it, even called it really cute. At the time I thought it was a bit strange, since it seemed a little out of character to say something like that, but now that I know the context, I think I get it.¡± ¡°And who¡¯s the one embarrassing people now?¡± Jared asked, giving Alice a playful smile. ¡°You can¡¯t exactly get on her case when you go and do something like that right after.¡± ¡°I was just giving some context so you guys didn¡¯t get the wrong impression.¡± Alice protested. ¡°It¡¯s totally different.¡± ¡°And I was just giving context so they didn¡¯t get the wrong impression of you.¡± Avery said. ¡°So it¡¯s not really that different.¡± ¡°Oh please, that¡¯s not what you were doing and you know it.¡± Alice replied. ¡°They know me already, they won¡¯t be getting the wrong impression now.¡± ¡°You did admit that it was going to embarrass her and that you knew it.¡± Tess said. ¡°Okay, maybe I did knowingly embarrass her.¡± Avery admitted. ¡°But it¡¯s my job as a mother. You all will understand when you have kids of your own.¡± With the addition of Alice, the dinner became even more lively, and Ellie found that she enjoyed herself quite a bit more than she thought she would. In fact, Ellie was surprised when it came time to leave, as she felt she hadn¡¯t really spent that long there. And so they left, Ellie feeling more confident about the future than she had before. Chapter 111: Budgeting ¡°Alright, so, we need to talk about our budget.¡± Tess said. It was a couple days after their visit to Alice¡¯s parents, and she was currently she was at her home in Mael, sitting in the living room with her fianc¨¦es. Gramps had told them in no uncertain terms that Maven was to be staying in the guest room until the three of them moved out together, saying that time with loved ones was precious and something to be taken whenever the opportunity arose. Maven wouldn¡¯t even have to wear her humanizing ring if she didn¡¯t want to, since they had already started the process of making the area a paranormal hotspot. So, Maven had happily moved in. She didn¡¯t have very much stuff in her old place, and it would seem that the contract on her old place had very purposefully been made so that she could cut it off at any time, so the move had only taken a few hours. For now, Maven was keeping most of her stuff in a couple of magic bags, so they were doing their best to expedite the process of getting their own place. ¡°I think that since Alice¡¯s parents have offered to help us out, we should look at a more permanent residence, instead of a starter one.¡± Maven said. ¡°It¡¯ll cost a bit more now, but it¡¯ll probably save money in the long run. And as long as we have enough money for utilities, groceries, and a little bit for entertainment, we don¡¯t really have much else to spend money on, so we can opt for a rather large monthly payment.¡± ¡°That sounds about right to me.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°You thinking buying or renting?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see a reason not to buy. I think it¡¯d be nice to get to the point where we¡¯re not completely dependent on freelancing for our income, and I¡¯m sure after a few years we¡¯ll get to a point where we¡¯re easily outstripping what we are paying monthly and can start putting it towards other things.¡±
Fortune: Don¡¯t forget that you¡¯ll be getting royalties from the gambling reforms we¡¯re going to introduce. You really shouldn¡¯t underestimate the sheer amount of cash that¡¯ll bring in. You probably don¡¯t have to worry too much about money once that gets going. Tess: Thanks for reminding me, Mom. Um, do you have any input on how much money we should be spending here? Fortune: Mmm¡­I¡¯d run it by Alice if I were you guys. She has a better idea on what sort of properties her parents have and how much you can get away with paying as low-ish rank freelancers. Plus, I don¡¯t exactly have a ton of experience with actually budgeting and handling money, I mostly just watch people make really bad decisions about how they use theirs. So¡­uh, don¡¯t gamble it all away? Death: Wouldn¡¯t she just end up with more than she started with? Fortune: I guess? As a mother it feels wrong to tell my daughter to go wild gambling, though Death: This just in, Goddess of Fortune denounces gambling! More details at eleven! Fortune: Uh¡­it¡¯d¡­make the money she has feel less earned? Something something sense of satisfaction and building character? Dungeons: She was an orphan for a long time, I think she¡¯s built enough character Fortune: Um¡­well, the money feeling less earned thing is still accurate Life: I believe we are sidetracking them. Fortune: Right, sorry. Yeah, uh, anyway, Alice would have a better idea than me. Looks like she¡¯s free right about now, she¡¯d probably respond if you called her. Maven: We really don¡¯t mind it, the levity is nice. And thank you for the advice, we¡¯ll do that.
Tess grabbed her phone, and quickly dialed up Alice¡¯s number. ¡°Tess?¡± Alice said, picking up after only a few rings. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Well, we were talking about our budget for moving out, and Mom suggested that you might have a better idea of what we kind of budget we should be aiming for than she did.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t she kind of a money god?¡± Alice asked, a note of incredulity in her voice. ¡°She says she doesn¡¯t actually have much experience with budgeting and that kind of stuff.¡± Tess explained. ¡°As a god there¡¯s no need for her to personally buy things, and in terms of how she interacts with money, she mostly just watches people make bad decisions on what they do with theirs.¡± ¡°Oh, that makes sense. Uh, yeah, I can help out with that. Do you wanna do it over the phone or¡­¡± Tess glanced at her fianc¨¦es. ¡°Do you two want to meet up with Alice or talk over the phone?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s meet up with her.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We might as well take the opportunity to go and see her.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± Maven said. ¡°I think that we should try and meet in person with people when we can, and something important like this is better done in person anyway.¡± Tess gave them a nod. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s talk in person. Do you have a place in mind?¡± ¡°Where are you guys right now?¡± Alice asked. ¡°I¡¯m just hanging out at my place in the City.¡± ¡°We¡¯re at Gramp¡¯s house in Mael.¡± Tess replied. ¡°You can come over if you want, we¡¯re not really worried about the whole non-human thing anymore, so you wouldn¡¯t even have to disguise yourself.¡± ¡°Eh, why not. Meet me at the guild lobby in ten minutes?¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be there, talk to you soon.¡± Tess said. ¡°Talk to you soon!¡± Alice replied, then hung up the phone. ¡°Alice says she¡¯s cool down to come over, and that she¡¯ll be at the guild lobby in ten minutes.¡± Tess relayed. ¡°If you two want to come, you can, or you can stay here, your call.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take some time to get out of my pjs.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°You can go on without me.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll freshen up a bit.¡± Maven added. ¡°Unless you want someone to come with you, in which case I¡¯ll come.¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll be good just on my phone.¡± Tess said, morphing her armor from pajamas into regular day wear. ¡°I¡¯ll be off now, call if you need anything.¡± As Tess left, she took a moment to appreciate how easy and convenient her routine was; since her armor could change appearance and was self-cleaning, it basically negated the need for having other sets of clothes outside of using them as a reference. And, between that and Target of Affection keeping her always looking and smelling her best, she basically didn¡¯t need to do anything to go anywhere. She still did basic hygiene like showering and brushing her teeth, Target of Affection didn¡¯t clear away dirt or bits of food, but even that technically wasn¡¯t necessary most of the time. If she was really in a hurry, she could use Phoenix Fire at maximum heat to flash burn away most stuff, but it left a lingering smell wherever she did it and it didn¡¯t feel clean, so she tried to avoid it. As Tess stepped through the door and into the Outlands, she turned on her fox traits, took out her phone, and idly brought up a game, using her tremorsense to navigate in lieu of her eyes. And that too made her realize just how far she had gotten from her old self. Before she had become Tess, and was just regular old Thomas, she was¡­well, a normal human. And now, even by magical standards, she was on the stranger side of things. It was something she didn¡¯t really stop to think about much, how she used senses the vast majority of people would never have, how if she wanted, she could simply walk up a wall without even expending Mana, how at a moment¡¯s notice she could become something that looked completely alien to how she did before. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. She finished navigating through the back halls of the guild, pushing open the door and giving a quick hello to the attendant at the nearby desk, who was doing some sort of paperwork while watching to make sure nobody unauthorized got into the back of the guild. From there, she made her way over to one of the many chairs the guild had set up in the lobby for people who were waiting, and began to write a text to Alice. Hey Alice, I¡¯m in the lobby¡¯s sitting area. She wrote. No need to rush yourself or anything, Ellie and Maven are getting themselves ready, I just came early because I wasn¡¯t going to be doing anything but be on my phone anyway. Let me know when you get here Tess sent the message, then returned to her game, mind still wandering. She wasn¡¯t exactly sure what had got her thinking like this, perhaps it was just because she was thinking about big life changes, or perhaps she was just in an introspective mood, but regardless her mind was kept occupied until Alice arrived. ¡°Hey.¡± Alice said, giving Tess a smile. ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been pretty good.¡± Tess replied, closing her game and putting her phone back in her pocket before standing up and giving Alice a quick hug. ¡°It¡¯s been a little busy, juggling freelancing and starting the process of going through our stuff in preparation for moving, not to mention moving Maven out, but it¡¯s been fulfilling.¡± ¡°Do you want any help?¡± Alice offered. ¡°Ker, Jin, and I are all staying in town until after the wedding, and we¡¯d be more than happy to pitch in.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll let you know if we need any, but we¡¯ll probably be fine on our own. With magic bags to put stuff in and the fact that we¡¯re just stronger and have more endurance than we used to, we¡¯re not anticipating much trouble. Really, the hardest part is probably going to be deciding what furniture to get, but we¡¯ve decided to hold off on even thinking about that until we have a better idea of what our finances will look like.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that.¡± Alice said, waving a hand dismissively. ¡°I can get you a huge discount on nice stuff, and we¡¯ll make sure you have a comfortable house. I¡¯d feel really guilty if you were living with all budget secondhand furniture that¡¯s probably half-broken when I could have done something.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯d be that desperate.¡± Tess laughed, motioning for Alice to follow her towards the back of the guild. ¡°We¡¯d probably just put in a little extra time in one of the dungeons to make up for it and buy it piece by piece, and that¡¯s worst-case scenario.¡± ¡°In some ways, that¡¯s even worse!¡± Alice protested. ¡°You¡¯d be going around without furniture!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t really need that much.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Just a bed that¡¯s big enough for the three of us, a table, and some chairs. The rest is all luxuries. Plus, if we¡¯re bored, we can always go hang out at my mom¡¯s place, she¡¯s got some pretty nice stuff there.¡± Alice shook her head in disbelief. ¡°No matter how many times I hear you call her Mom, it never gets any less mind-boggling.¡± She said. ¡°Nor does you just ¡®hanging out at her place¡¯. I sometimes wonder if you really know just how abnormal that is.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Tess admitted, giving a nod to the attendant before leading Alice into the corridors of the guild and towards the exit to their home. ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t have the same¡­sense of scale that you do, everything was so¡­nebulous growing up. The existence of the gods wasn¡¯t a confirmed thing, and our family wasn¡¯t even particularly religious.¡± ¡°It makes sense, but it still seems funny, all things considered.¡± Alice said. They chatted a bit more while they walked, and they were soon in the living room in Tess¡¯s house, where Ellie and Maven were waiting. ¡°Oh, good, you¡¯re here.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Maven and I were going through our income and what we have on hand, and we¡¯d just finished tallying up the money the two of us have.¡± ¡°How much?¡± Alice asked, taking a seat on the couch across from Ellie and Maven. ¡°Though¡­it¡¯s probably not as much as Tess has, everything considered, so that¡¯ll still be on the low end of things.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got about six hundred gold between the two of us.¡± Maven said. ¡°And that¡¯s including assets we can easily liquidate such as extra cores or miscellaneous loot.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I¡¯ve got no clue how much everything I have is worth.¡± Tess admitted, sitting down next to Maven. ¡°In raw cash, I think I have anywhere from five hundred to one thousand gold? The side-work the three of us did on the expedition was¡­quite a bit more lucrative than I had expected. And in terms of cores¡­well, it¡¯s hard to say, I don¡¯t sell at market price, I just give the surplus to Gramps every so often and he gives me a reasonable amount of money in return. ¡°I don¡¯t sell all of them at once, just in case we need some, so I¡¯ve got a bunch sitting around in my bag right now. If we set a portion aside for the operation of the hoverer, I¡¯m guessing we¡¯d get another fifteen-hundredish from them from Gramps? A ton more if we take the time and sell them piece by piece, but that takes a lot of time so we don¡¯t flood the market too much.¡± ¡°Tell you what,¡± Alice said, ¡°I can just buy whatever you have from you at the rate the guild would give you. And don¡¯t think I¡¯m just offering to help out and being troubled by it, I¡¯d be making a net profit by doing so. In a company the size of Reshi Industries, we go through a ton of cores, and we buy from the guild, who obviously sells at higher than they buy for. I can pretty easily wave away my acquisition, it wouldn¡¯t be the first time I¡¯ve bought cores in bulk from some random freelancer who wants to offload, so it should be risk-free, too.¡± ¡°That sounds good to me, but let me check with the gods real quick.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Life and Dungeons probably know whether or not it¡¯s a safe amount to dump.¡±
Death: Dungeons I get, but you mention Life and not us? Rude Fortune: Do you have any idea whether or not offloading that many cores would be fine? Death: No, why do you ask? Fortune: Just wondering. Anyway, Dungeons, Life? Life: While I do not keep fully abreast of the core market, I do not think selling the amount she has in a private deal would be an issue. Dungeons: Yeah, it¡¯s fine. I mean, don¡¯t get me wrong, it¡¯s a lot, but Alice does legitimately have a business that uses that much. Tell her that by my estimations the whole trove will probably last her a month, she¡¯ll know what to do from there Tess: Got it
Tess turned her attention back to Alice. ¡°Yeah, they say it¡¯s fine, it¡¯ll probably be about a month¡¯s worth of cores for you.¡± Alice gave Tess a dumbfounded look. ¡°A month?! How many cores do you have in there?!¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°At least five thousand, more likely ten to twenty thousand? I don¡¯t know, a lot.¡± ¡°When did you even kill that many monsters?!¡± Alice exclaimed. ¡°I haven¡¯t sold since before the expedition, and I was keeping a stockpile in case we needed a lot of money fast. Plus, we killed a lot of monsters in our other work during the expedition, and also every single monster that was killed in the dungeons we went to on the expedition, including the ones you guys killed, all the ones we killed in the runs we did at the dungeon over our one-month stint by ourselves¡­it adds up really fast when literally every monster drops one.¡± ¡°How do you only have less than a thousand gold?!¡± Alice replied. ¡°How much does the Guildmaster give you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll generally offload batches of a few thousand to him, and he¡¯ll give me fifty to a hundred gold for them. Yes, I know that it¡¯s way below market rate, but for the time being we want to keep our income at just above what a normal party our level would make, and he¡¯s paying out of pocket; it would be kind of hard to explain to the guild¡¯s treasurers what that much money is going towards if he paid me even half the price the guild normally pays.¡± ¡°Okay, we¡¯re going to have to come back to the numbers on this, I seriously underestimated how many you had.¡± Alice said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can explain away a purchase of that size with just ¡®I picked them up from a deal with a freelancer¡¯. No one keeps that many cores on hand.¡± ¡°I have a suggestion.¡± Maven said. ¡°And, of course Tess has the final say on this, since they¡¯re her cores, but why don¡¯t you just take the cores, and work something out with your parents? They offered to give us a discount on a house as a wedding gift, and this way you won¡¯t have to put anything on an official record. Assuming you have enough, you can pay for the house out of pocket, and then slowly make fake trades and give the company a portion of the cores in exchange for the equivalent purchase price refunded to you.¡± ¡°Good idea, Maven.¡± Tess said. ¡°One correction, though; they¡¯re not my cores, they¡¯re our cores. Without you and Ellie, I wouldn¡¯t have gotten nearly as many of them. But, yeah, totally on board for that.¡± Alice seemed to recover from her shock, a mischievous smile rising to her lips. ¡°Yes, I like that idea.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯ll just put down an amount equivalent to our core budget for a month, and we can transfer the cores whenever. How much room do they take?¡± ¡°Um¡­I dunno?¡± Tess ventured. ¡°A lot? The cores vary in size and the bag I use is comically large, so I haven¡¯t really needed to keep track of them. Assume like¡­one of those big industrial mixers, but I¡¯m absolutely just guessing.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll have to fetch some separate bags for them.¡± Alice said. ¡°And also a transfer tool, because there¡¯s no way we can do this by hand. I¡¯ll go get the process started, you guys kick back for the night. Oh, and don¡¯t buy any furniture for the house; I can easily roll it into the cost of the house, and I can get you stuff better suited to your needs. Just leave it to me, okay?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the expert.¡± Tess said. ¡°Thanks, Alice.¡± ¡°No, thank you.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Believe me, in the long run this¡¯ll more than pay for itself.¡± And with that she said her goodbyes, and soon the three girls were alone once again. ¡°So¡­now what?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I was sort of expecting budgeting to take most of the rest of the day.¡± ¡°For now, veg out on the couch?¡± Ellie suggested. ¡°Maybe have some more fun later?¡± ¡°Way ahead of you.¡± Maven said, already standing up and heading towards the guest room. ¡°Let me go change again.¡± Ellie sighed dramatically. ¡°Well, now I feel like I just should have kept my pajamas on.¡± She moaned. ¡°Now I¡¯ve got to go to all the effort of changing back because someone had to be sitting on a fortune.¡± ¡°Literally!¡± Maven called out from down the hall. Tess chuckled, sliding a hand into one of the pockets that served as the entrance to her bag. ¡°Sorry. Guess I¡¯ll just have to make it up to you. How about a shoulder rub?¡± ¡°I suppose.¡± Ellie replied, giving Tess a playful smile and a quick peck on the cheek. ¡°Why don¡¯t you find us something to do while Maven and I are changing?¡± Tess gave her a smile back, then picked up the TV remote and began to thumb through their options. Chapter 112: New Digs Tess and her fianc¨¦es opened the door to the Outlands only to find that Alice was already waiting in their arrival room. It was only two days after they had met with her to talk about housing, and apparently Alice and her parents had already got a place in mind. ¡°Hey, you guys!¡± Alice said cheerfully. ¡°So, like I said, my parents and I have a really nice place in mind, and it¡¯s pretty comfortably within the budget, too. If you like it, I¡¯ll hand you the keys as soon as we¡¯re done and it¡¯s yours. If not, we¡¯ll go back to the drawing board.¡± ¡°That was pretty quick.¡± Tess said, giving Alice a curious look. ¡°Only a couple of days?¡± ¡°Well, your budget was kind of a limit.¡± Alice said. ¡°When we looked at the options with your budget in mind, there were really only a few viable options.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, I figured that¡¯d be the case.¡± Alice gave Tess a smug look. ¡°I think you¡¯ll be pleasantly surprised at what we were able to get for you.¡± She said. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get walking, we can talk on the way.¡± Alice began walking out of the room, leaving Tess and her fianc¨¦es to follow. ¡°So, what exactly was your process?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Even if you were limited by our budget, I still think you were awfully quick.¡± ¡°Well, my parents were already thinking about places, and the budget was a bit more limiting than we had expected.¡± Alice explained. ¡°With that in mind, there were really only a few properties that were feasible.¡± They chatted a bit more as Alice led them through the guild, and soon they were standing outside the entrance to the guild. ¡°Make a note of the path to the neighborhood.¡± Alice instructed. ¡°It¡¯s one of ours, and it¡¯s the only one that had houses in your price range. Even if you don¡¯t like this house, it¡¯s likely that whatever you get will end up being in this neighborhood. I¡¯ll get you coordinates and the address, too, but you might as well start learning the route.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Tess replied, and began to pay careful attention as Alice led them through the streets. Within only a few turns, they were in a part of the City that was unfamiliar to Tess. The only time she had ever visited the residential areas was when she had helped Maven move out, and they were in a completely different part of the City than her apartment had been in. Still, one thing stood out to her as she walked. ¡°Uh, Alice, are you sure we¡¯re going the right way? The houses seem to have been getting fancier as we go.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah.¡± Alice said. ¡°These houses were out of the budget, they¡¯re just on the way. Ignore them. Our neighborhood is a bit further on. It¡¯s a tad far from the guild compared to the others, but it¡¯s pretty close to a bunch of amenities, so it balances out.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like we expected something right next to the guild in the first place.¡± Ellie said. ¡°How much further is it?¡± ¡°Like five minutes.¡± Alice said. ¡°So, like a half hour walk if you go at this pace, could easily get it down to ten or fifteen minutes if you jog, even less if you fly or bike.¡± ¡°Well, unless Ellie¡¯s not coming with us, flying is probably out.¡± Tess said. ¡°She doesn¡¯t exactly have a good way of doing that yet. Well, not one that¡¯s suitable for non-combat work.¡± ¡°You two could always just fly ahead of me to pick a job and I¡¯ll meet you there.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It¡¯s not like all three of us need to be there are the same time or anything.¡± ¡°Whatever the case, it¡¯s not a problem.¡± Maven added. ¡°That was about my travel time to the guild before, anyway.¡± After a few minutes more, Alice stopped in front of the gate to a neighborhood full of houses even larger and fancier than the ones they had passed on the way over. ¡°Here we are. Tess, if you place your hand on the slate near the gate, it should open. When my parents registered you in our systems, they did so as someone with admin access, and that extends to all of our properties. For you two, we¡¯ll get you keyed in as soon as the house thing is official.¡± ¡°Hold up.¡± Tess said. ¡°I thought you said all those other houses were out of budget? They were¡­not nearly as nice as this. And why did your parents register me as someone with admin access?!¡± Alice blushed, looking away. ¡°I said I see you as a sort of little sister, and they took that seriously. And I say admin access, but it¡¯s more like¡­all-purpose access? You can¡¯t actually change anything in the system, you can just get into anywhere that isn¡¯t like¡­confidential, as well as my place, my parents¡¯ place, and our vacation properties. It¡¯s just a higher level of access than normal, Ker and Jin have it too.¡± ¡°Okay, fine, but the budget?¡± Alice faced Tess once again. ¡°I was serious. Do you have any idea how much money you gave me?¡± Tess paused. ¡°I don¡¯t know? A month¡¯s worth of core costs for your company?¡± Alice nodded. ¡°And do you know just how much we spend on cores?¡± ¡°No.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°A huge amount. Even if we¡¯re not even in the top twenty-five biggest companies, we¡¯d probably still be larger than the largest company on Mael.¡± Alice explained. ¡°And we use cores for a not-inconsiderable number of things. You gave me a sum so large that we only had so many houses that would fit the bill.¡± Alice paused for a moment. ¡°Admittedly, this neighborhood would likely still fall just outside of your price range without the discount, but the fact that you even approached the cost needed to buy a house here is absurd.¡±
Fortune: Probably like 100-200 million in Mael money, BTW Tess: And no one told me? Maven: I thought you knew. Ellie: I knew it was going to be a lot, but¡­wow. Dungeons: There¡¯s a reason Evan doesn¡¯t let you just dump all the cores you get into the market. You might well cause a not-insignificant dip in the economy if you did. Seriously, have you been paying attention to how many cores Ellie and Maven get? You easily get six to seven hundred times as many as they do. Ellie: It can¡¯t be that much more. And even if she did, that wouldn¡¯t be enough to crash the economy. Dungeons: It can be that much more, and no, it wouldn¡¯t crash the market, but there would be a noticeable impact, and that¡¯s already alarming. Cores are supposed to be the monster¡¯s rarest drop, and usually only the person who ¡°contributed¡± most to the kill gets them. And cores get much rarer and more valuable as monsters get higher in level, she completely ignores that. Fortune: It¡¯s funny, in a way. Going to a few high-level dungeons and doing runs would net you cores worth more than a modest lottery payout, but you realistically can¡¯t sell that many cores to¡­anyone, really. Anyone that¡¯s not a major company, anyway This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Ellie: I didn¡¯t realize Grandpa was paying so little in comparison to how much they¡¯re worth, I mean, I know we wouldn¡¯t be able to sell them anyway, but¡­ Life: Evan has a fund set aside for proper payment for your cores, to be given to you when you reach the point that normal freelancers would find they are not significantly limited by money. It still is nowhere near the full price, but it is much more than you would otherwise be able to get for the cores. Tess: I wasn¡¯t really bothered by it, but it¡¯s nice to know. Thanks, Life. Life: Of course. I did not wish you to think less of Evan for this. We should let you get back to your new house, though.
¡°What is it?¡± Alice whispered. ¡°Mom was just telling me how much that was worth in Mael money, and we were talking a little bit about how much I was being paid by Gramps.¡± Tess explained. ¡°Apparently he puts the rest of the sale price aside for when we¡¯re higher-level and money wouldn¡¯t be an issue normally.¡± Alice gave Tess a sort of relieved look. ¡°Good. Because I had half a mind to confront him about how he was basically robbing you, and that was not a pleasant prospect.¡± Maven raised an eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯d really confront Gramps about that? That¡¯s¡­bold. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to, and¡­you know.¡± ¡°I probably wouldn¡¯t have actually done it, but it¡¯s still a relief to hear that he¡¯s not shortchanging you like I thought.¡± Alice admitted. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go in. Tess, if you would?¡± Tess placed her hand on the slate, and the gate swung open. ¡°What are the points of these gates anyway?¡± She asked. ¡°What if someone just flies over?¡± ¡°Anti-flight wards.¡± Alice said. ¡°The neighborhood¡¯s basically in a giant cage that pushes against anyone who tries to fly in and keeps them out. It¡¯s pointless against someone high-level enough to outmuscle the pushing, but so is the fence. All the homes in here have top of the line security, though, and smaller wards are more powerful, so don¡¯t worry about being targets for robbery or anything.¡± Alice led them through the neighborhood until they reached a house that was significantly smaller than most of the rest in the neighborhood, though still much larger than an average home. ¡°We figured you didn¡¯t need a giant house or anything, so we instead opted for one of our high-tech models.¡± ¡°High-tech models?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t know how it is on Mael, but in the wider world we have a lot of tech that simply isn¡¯t feasible for general use because of its prohibitive costs, usually because of it requiring high-level artisans to make or needing a significant number of cores to keep it running. So, we have some smaller houses that are more loaded with that sort of tech. Of course, for you, the up-front cost of the tech isn¡¯t an issue, and core upkeep¡­well, something tells me that you won¡¯t have any issue with that whatsoever.¡± ¡°Probably not.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯m glad it¡¯s smaller than the rest of the houses here, though, if we had a big house, we probably wouldn¡¯t use most of it and it¡¯d get really dusty.¡± ¡°Dust isn¡¯t a huge issue in houses like this.¡± Alice said. ¡°We have tools that help clean the place so it doesn¡¯t get too bad, and to keep out pests while they¡¯re at it. So long as you¡¯re not actively using a room, it shouldn¡¯t get dirty at all.¡± ¡°Handy.¡± Ellie said. ¡°That one of those high-upkeep things you mentioned?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Alice replied. ¡°It is powered by cores, yeah, but you shouldn¡¯t need to refill it more than once every few months. It¡¯s more in the category of things that require a skilled craftsman to make. It¡¯s relatively affordable, though, so it¡¯s common in a lot of mid to high price-range homes. Anyway, let¡¯s take a look inside, shall we?¡± Alice pulled out a small slate from her pocket and placed it against the door. ¡°This also has the same kind of biometric scanner as the gate, so we¡¯ll have to key you into that, too. Oh, and it¡¯s completely unconnected from any sort of network, so don¡¯t worry about that, only you guys and people you key into it would have access. And this slate is a more traditional key if you need to give someone temporary access or if the scanner malfunctions or something.¡± Alice opened the door, motioning for the girls to step inside. ¡°So, for the basic rundown of the main level, we¡¯ve got five bedrooms including the main bedroom, each with their own attached bathroom and walk-in closet. Then there¡¯s the kitchen, dining room, a couple of offices, and few general-purpose rooms. ¡°Upstairs has more specific rooms like a library and a display room slash hub for large gatherings, and the basement is mostly an entertainment room and a lot of storage areas. We¡¯ve taken the liberty to fill said storage rooms with almost all of the latest electronic and magical leisure devices, as well as some pretty beefy computers in case you need them. You can just throw that stuff into your bags and sort out what to do with it later, it was just a convenient storage place for it all. ¡°I know Ellie and Tess have some of their own electronics, but I wasn¡¯t sure about Maven, and figured that it couldn¡¯t hurt to have some stuff that wasn¡¯t from Mael. Oh, also, none of the biggest furniture like beds or couches is actually in place yet, we have it all in storage awaiting your final go-ahead, so the place is a little bare right now, but this way you can pick where you want everything.¡± ¡°Yeah, most of our stuff from Mael isn¡¯t compatible with stuff here.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We were going to have to replace most of it eventually, so having some computers and stuff already here does save us some trouble. Also, why¡¯s the entertainment room separate from the general-purpose rooms? Wouldn¡¯t it just be one of them?¡± Alice smirked. ¡°It¡¯s not a high-tech house for nothing.¡± She said. ¡°The entertainment room is probably different from what you¡¯re picturing, but I think we¡¯ll save that for last, it¡¯s the most complicated room in the house.¡± Once everyone was inside, Alice shut the door and began to give them the tour of the house. As she took them room by room, Tess almost found herself tuning out the explanations, a sense of awe falling over her as the amount of wealth she was capable of producing was finally put into scale. The main level itself was nothing overly complicated¡­or, rather, nothing that Tess hadn¡¯t seen or heard of before. It was big, it was fancy, and it was equipped with what seemed like every possible extra Tess could ever want, and a whole pile more for good measure. Food storage that effectively froze the food in time, a heating and air conditioning system that could instantly change a room to exactly a desired temperature, lights that could be remotely activated if you had a way of channeling Mana into them at a distance, near-perfect soundproofing, the list went on and on. The upstairs was similar, with the exception of the library; the library was¡­small, with only a singular row of bookshelves and a sitting area with a floor to ceiling window in the back. ¡°This isn¡¯t the whole library.¡± Alice said, walking over to a panel near the bookshelves. ¡°The bookshelves are more for the aesthetic, really. Most everything is stored in a subspace, and you can swap out the shelves via this panel. It¡¯ll automatically organize the books for you as it does, too. Just press a book to this panel, and the system will remember it. ¡°From time to time the system will get the details wrong, usually if the cover is extremely nonstandard or missing or something, so just give the information a once-over before hitting confirm and it¡¯ll be fine. Oh, and that window over there isn¡¯t actually a window, it¡¯s a magic projector of sorts. Right now, it¡¯s set to display what¡¯s directly outside, but if you have the coordinates of somewhere, you can punch them in and it¡¯ll show you that place, provided there are no scrying wards in the way. ¡°There are ways to favorite coordinates and stuff too, so try it out, I think you¡¯ll like it. Just don¡¯t leave it running, while you¡¯re away, it absolutely guzzles cores if it¡¯s not in the mode it is now. I mean¡­I guess the only time that¡¯ll even be the slightest concern is at your current level, the moment you get into like, level forty or fifty dungeons, Tess will be getting enough cores in a day to power this thing for months of nonstop use.¡± ¡°Is there some device that¡¯ll give us coordinates if we happen to stumble across a place we like while scrying?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Magic coordinates are¡­I still can¡¯t figure out how you¡¯re even supposed to derive them, they¡¯re so¡­complicated.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a reason we go on expeditions instead of scrying places.¡± Alice said. ¡°I mean, aside from the Mana cost and the fact that going there in person is more rewarding and lets you actually do stuff there. Anyway, there¡¯s a spell that¡¯ll give you it, and some scanners that have the spell built into them. I think there¡¯s an add-on for status bands that does it? Heck, you and Tess probably have it, since your bands are still the best model that¡¯s commercially available. I¡¯ll show you how to use it later.¡±
Fortune: Don¡¯t bother trying to use math to get magic coordinates unless you feel like tormenting yourself for an entire day. It¡¯s a lot of very long and incredibly complicated equations, and most of the gods haven¡¯t even tried Death: TBH we mostly just use one of Amy¡¯s viewports and get stuff that way. No point in doing all that complicated math when you can just open up the literal Administrator console and pan the camera around until you find what you want. You know, like the satellite views on the planes we actually let people launch stuff into space. Just¡­way better.
¡°Let me guess. The gods have some other way of getting coordinates that they¡¯re telling you about?¡± Alice asked. ¡°Basically.¡± Maven said. ¡°It¡¯s not something that mortals would ever be able to use, so it¡¯s not important.¡± ¡°Figures.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s about all for the upstairs, let¡¯s head downstairs, shall we?¡± Chapter 113: Housewarming ¡°So, this is the basement.¡± Alice said, flicking on the lights as she reached the bottom of the stairs. ¡°As you can see, the entertainment room is just to the right, and the hall to the left leads to all the storage rooms. Before we get to the entertainment room, though, there is one more thing I have to show you.¡± Alice led the girls down the hall towards the storage rooms, then stopped at a panel near one of the doors. ¡°This is the core control unit.¡± She said, tapping at the panel. ¡°From here, you can turn off and on any devices that use cores, view your current consumption and storage, and feed new cores to actually power everything.¡± Alice pulled a handle to the side, revealing a small chute. ¡°Just chuck the cores in here and it¡¯ll take care of the rest. If the storage is full, then it¡¯ll spit the core right back out, so don¡¯t worry about overloading it. And if for some reason you need to, you can withdraw cores from storage with the panel, but I imagine that¡¯s not going to be much of a concern for you.¡± ¡°We may be in possession of cores that are not currently known to the public, will that cause issues with the system?¡± Maven asked. Alice paused. ¡°You know, I didn¡¯t even think about that, but I guess it¡¯s not too surprising that you three would have something like that. Uh, yeah, don¡¯t put any of those in there, the system scans the core you put in and checks it against an internal database to determine how much power it¡¯ll give and where it would be most efficiently used, so if you throw in something new it¡¯s going to freak out. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m not totally sure about the specifics of how they designed this thing, hopefully freaking out will just equate to spitting the core back out, but you probably shouldn¡¯t risk it. And you shouldn¡¯t need to update the database often, just like¡­after each expedition or when a new dungeon is found or something like that. It syncs with the guild for the list of cores, so it should only take a couple days for them to fill out the list of new cores.¡± Alice paused once again, giving Tess a thoughtful look. ¡°Were any of those unknown cores in the stuff you sent me?¡± She asked. ¡°Because I shouldn¡¯t be using those, if so.¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°No, I made sure to sort those out first.¡± She replied. ¡°We can¡¯t have those going public yet.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Alice said, a hint of relief in her voice. ¡°I¡¯m glad I don¡¯t need to worry about that. Anyway, let me show you to the entertainment room.¡± She turned and walked back down the hall, and the girls followed. The entertainment room was¡­an extraordinarily large, completely empty room, the only notable feature being a panel on the wall near the entrance. ¡°It may not look like much now, but appearances can be deceiving.¡± Alice said, walking over to the panel. She tapped at it for a few moments, and then the room began to shift. The carpeted floor melted away, turning into tile, and a deep pit formed in the middle of the room, the sides and bottom made of the same tile. After a moment, the pit filled with water, and soon there was a completely filled swimming pool sitting there, looking for all the world like it had been there the entire time. ¡°This room can change into many different leisure facilities.¡± Alice explained. ¡°Basically, as long as it can fit into this space, this room can make it. You can even mix and match, too.¡± Alice tapped at the panel again, and after a moment the pool shrunk down to about a quarter of its former size, a clear glass dividing wall and door popping up between it and the rest of the room. The tile faded away from the part of the room that wasn¡¯t connected to the pool, and was replaced with what appeared to be a miniature movie theater, complete with a small concession¡¯s stand to the side. The lighting dimmed for a moment, but then Alice tapped on the panel and it returned to normal. ¡°Pretty neat, huh?¡± Alice said proudly. ¡°And yes, the stand over there does make food, it just takes a lot of core juice to do so. It¡¯s why they generally bring normal food for expeditions, it¡¯s just a lot more economical. But, once again, I doubt you will have any trouble with that.¡± Alice showed them a few more things the room could turn into, let them play around with it for a bit, then took them back upstairs. ¡°So, what¡¯d you think?¡± She asked. ¡°It¡¯s¡­a lot fancier than I thought it was going to be.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°I was expecting¡­I don¡¯t know, like the kind of house an average family would have, not a mansion or whatever you call this.¡± Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°Tess, you were never getting away from this without a house that¡¯s nicer than normal. Even if you hadn¡¯t been sitting on a ton of cash, my parents don¡¯t even own any properties that are at ¡®average family¡¯ level.¡± Alice paused briefly. ¡°Well, not in the City, anyway.¡± She amended. ¡°Point is, a normal house wasn¡¯t in the cards. And no one is even going to bat an eye at you three having a nice house, it¡¯d almost be weirder if you didn¡¯t have one. Everyone knows the Guildmaster adores you, and he¡¯s filthy rich, this wouldn¡¯t even be a huge purchase for him.¡± ¡°I must admit that having a house like this would make me more comfortable.¡± Maven said quietly. ¡°I can handle less, obviously, but having some more of the comforts I¡¯m used to would be nice.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go with this place, then.¡± Tess said. ¡°Well, as long as Ellie¡¯s fine with it, anyway.¡± ¡°I¡¯m definitely not complaining.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡± ¡°Perfect!¡± Alice said, smiling brightly. ¡°Let¡¯s go take care of all the paperwork, and then we can get you all settled in!¡±
A few days later, Alice found herself walking back into Tess¡¯s house, Ker and Jin in tow. Tess and her fianc¨¦es had decided to hold a small housewarming party, and the three members of The Rumors weren¡¯t about to miss it. To Alice¡¯s surprise, when they walked through the door, they weren¡¯t greeted by Tess or her fianc¨¦es. Instead, a short woman with bright blond hair and bright yellow, almost white, eyes gave them a huge smile. ¡°Alice, Ker, Jin, it¡¯s so good to finally meet you in person!¡± She said, smiling warmly at them. ¡°Thank you for taking care of my daughter for all this time!¡± It took Alice a moment to comprehend what exactly that meant. She had met Maven¡¯s parents, Ellie¡¯s were dead, and Tess¡¯s mother¡­was Fortune. And that could only mean that the woman wearing rather informal clothes and smiling hugely at them was the Goddess of Fortune herself. Alice had only seen her in statues and paintings, and the woman she saw here dressed so differently and carried herself so differently that Alice hadn¡¯t even made the connection. ¡°U-um¡­¡± Alice stammered. ¡°I-it¡¯s nice to meet you too, Your Worship.¡± ¡°None of that.¡± Fortune said, grabbing Alice¡¯s hand and pulling her inside. ¡°It¡¯s just Fortune, remember?¡± ¡°Um, yes, Fortune.¡± Jin said, walking through the doorway with Ker close behind. ¡°To what do we owe the pleasure, Fortune?¡± Ker asked. ¡°I thought we wouldn¡¯t meet until the wedding.¡± ¡°Oh, that.¡± Fortune said, letting go of Alice¡¯s hand. ¡°Well, since this was such a private thing, I figured it¡¯d be a good opportunity to come say hi, and it would be a little rude to miss my daughter¡¯s housewarming party. I¡¯ve got a perception filter on, so no one that I don¡¯t want knowing I¡¯m here will realize it¡¯s me.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Fortune shrugged, as if her presence here wasn¡¯t a big deal. ¡°But, really, I¡¯m here because I can be. And since I can be here, why would I purposefully choose to miss this? Anyway, we¡¯ve set up in the ballroom, why don¡¯t you come up, we¡¯ve got some real nice food courtesy of Hearth¡¯s Appointed.¡± ¡°Um, if it¡¯s not too much to ask, are there any other important guests we¡¯re allowed to know about?¡± Alice asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I can take another surprise like this.¡± ¡°Nah, it¡¯s not too much to ask, and please, just treat me like a friend¡¯s mom for this party, we¡¯re here to celebrate, not be awkward.¡± Fortune replied. ¡°Death¡¯s planning to stay basically the entire time, and Life and Dungeons will probably pop in for a bit at some point. All of The Titans are here, of course, and a few other Appointed, plus some high-profile people they know via Evan. Oh, and Maven¡¯s mother and grandmother, but I imagine you expected them. That¡¯s¡­honestly most of the guests, but there are a few people from Mael that plan on coming too.¡± Ker chuckled. ¡°It kind of sounds like the only people they know here are important.¡± He said. ¡°Perhaps we should have had them socialize with regular freelancers a bit more.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll end up doing that over the course of their career, and even if they don¡¯t, we¡¯ll make sure they get some experiences with normal people; keeping in touch with the public is too important to our jobs to let them go without.¡± Fortune led the group up the stairs and to the large multipurpose room that they were apparently hosting the party in. The room was still relatively bare, as the girls had chosen to wait until they had trophies of their own to display here instead of filling the space with other stuff, but there were some basic folding tables and chairs set up, and there was a solid dozen or so people already there, so it didn¡¯t feel totally empty, either. As they entered, Tess waved them over, no doubt having seen them coming with her tremorsense. Alice hurried over, catching Tess in a quick side-hug. ¡°How¡¯re you settling in?¡± She asked. ¡°It¡¯s taking a bit of getting used to, but having stayed in the penthouse suites a lot has helped.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°It still feels surreal that this is¡­ours.¡± ¡°Eh, might as well live in a nice place.¡± A short, black-haired human woman in a bright red shirt and skirt said, placing a hand of cards down on the table she and Tess were sitting at. ¡°Oh, and I¡¯m Death, by the way. Nice to meet you guys in person!¡± ¡°Nice to meet you as well.¡± Alice said, giving her, her best smile. ¡°We¡¯re not interrupting, right?¡± ¡°Nah, we¡¯re just vibing while we greet people.¡± Death replied. ¡°Fortune¡¯s been here too, but she wanted to go meet you guys herself instead of having Tess do it. There are a couple more groups we¡¯re waiting for, so you guys go on ahead, go have some food and we¡¯ll catch up later. Also, Fortune, just FYI, you and Tess have two turns before I kill you into the sun, so¡­yeah, good luck with that.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Tess said. ¡°I tried, but there was only so much I could do.¡± ¡°Yeah, I was sorta expecting it¡¯d go like this.¡± Fortune said, taking a seat at the table next to Tess. ¡°Um¡­¡± Alice said, unsure if she should even ask what was going on. Tess, seeing Alice¡¯s expression, placed her own hand of cards down. ¡°We¡¯re playing Planar Duels.¡± She explained. ¡°Fortune and I are teaming up on Death, because Death¡¯s like¡­some sort of world champion or something.¡± ¡°No, I took third last time, but I¡¯m still a pro and Tess is still learning.¡± Death corrected. ¡°This just felt fairer than a straight free for all.¡± ¡°But when would you have¡­¡± ¡°The tournament is held online, and I use a pseudonym and transform myself so as to keep it on the down-low.¡± Death explained. ¡°And no, she doesn¡¯t cheat.¡± Tess added. ¡°She¡¯s just legitimately really good at the game.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no fun in cheating.¡± Death replied. ¡°And even if I did cheat, I couldn¡¯t get third at an event like that without really knowing the game, the other players are too good for just cheating to net you a win without a lot of knowledge.¡± ¡°Is it¡­common for the gods to do stuff like that?¡± Jin asked. ¡°It¡¯s mostly just me and Fortune for now, but I¡¯m guessing more will get into it eventually.¡± Death said. ¡°We just keep more up to date on newer trends than most of the gods. Believe me, it¡¯s important to keep ourselves occupied with hobbies, just to make sure our hobbies don¡¯t become messing with mortals. Or¡­well, messing with mortals¡¯ lives, I do enjoy a bit of harmless trolling in online games. Which, by the way, I¡¯m always open to play with people. Hit Tess up and she can get us connected if you want to play.¡± ¡°Um, yeah.¡± Alice said. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m still a little shocked by meeting you like this.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all good.¡± Death said, giving her an encouraging smile. ¡°Go get some food, it¡¯ll give your brain a bit of time to mentally catch up, we can talk later.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll do that, thanks.¡± Jin said. The three members of The Rumors walked away, and as they did Alice couldn¡¯t resist turning to her companions talking about what had just happened. ¡°That was¡­different.¡± She said slowly. ¡°They seemed so¡­so¡­¡± ¡°Normal?¡± Ker supplied. ¡°Like they had been stripped of their mysticism?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Alice said. ¡°I mean, I guess I knew they were like that to an extent, the girls mention them goofing off in their ¡®group chat¡¯ from time to time, but it¡¯s just¡­weird to see them like that. Fortune more so than Death, since I grew up hearing about her, but still¡­¡± ¡°I know what you mean.¡± Jin said. ¡°It¡¯s something of a surreal experience.¡± As they neared the dining tables, they were approached by Rachel, one of the world¡¯s foremost tailors. ¡°Hey guys!¡± She said brightly. ¡°Glad to see you could make it! If there¡¯s any food that isn¡¯t here that you want, let me know, I¡¯ve got a bunch of extra stuff in my bag!¡± Alice¡¯s eyes widened. Fortune had said the food was provided by Hearth¡¯s Appointed, and since Rachel was acting as if she was the one who made the food, that could only mean that she was Hearth¡¯s Appointed. Probably. Rachel, seeing Alice¡¯s expression, laughed. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Hearth¡¯s Appointed.¡± She said. ¡°We don¡¯t need to be too tight-lipped around you, since you¡¯re under Oath to keep our identities secret. But, even if I wasn¡¯t, I¡¯d probably still be around here, I¡¯ve been helping Tess with her wardrobe ever since everything happened and I feel like I at least would have some camaraderie with her because of that.¡± Rachel paused for a moment. ¡°I guess I haven¡¯t helped much since she got that armor, but I made the base for that, so in a way she still wears only my clothes.¡± ¡°Oh, Tess told me Kane Io made the armor.¡± Alice said. ¡°Though I guess the tailoring is quite a bit nicer than most artificer-made equipment¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I helped.¡± Kane said, walking up to them. ¡°Artifice and I had to do the enchanting, you can¡¯t fit that many enchantments with that level of precision and strength onto a piece of an equipment without some divine help. And yes, I¡¯m Artifice¡¯s Appointed, though I imagine you already suspected as much if you knew I worked on Tess¡¯s armor. By the way, it¡¯s nice to see you all again, how¡¯s business, Alice?¡± Alice felt like her brain was overheating from the amount of confidential information that was just casually being dumped on her. ¡°Um, it¡¯s fine, but¡­¡± ¡°Like I said, you¡¯re under Oath, we don¡¯t need to be too tight-lipped.¡± Rachel repeated. ¡°We assumed you¡¯d figure out at least some of us were Appointed anyway, even with Evan¡¯s connections it¡¯d be a little odd that the three of them would find themselves in close with us so quickly.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Kane agreed. ¡°You find yourselves in a position that not many others are in; most of us were well-established with our abilities before we became Appointed, and I don¡¯t think there have been any others that were in-training while they were made Appointed.¡± ¡°I did think that was a little strange.¡± Ker said. ¡°Are we allowed to know why that is?¡± Rachel shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s Fortune¡¯s fault.¡± She said. ¡°Her Blessing has a very limited number of people it can reasonably be applied to, and she felt close with Tess already. Then, since Tess was an Appointed and Ellie¡­well, you¡¯ve seen her stats, she was the perfect choice for Life and Death. Likewise, Maven fit the bill for Dungeons, who had been looking for an Appointed for quite some time and needed one that was a little¡­different than normal. And since nothing about those three is normal, it fit.¡± ¡°To tell you the truth, they sometimes make me feel like I¡¯m going crazy.¡± Alice admitted. ¡°The way they talk about important things like they aren¡¯t a big deal makes me feel like I¡¯m the weird one. Or, at least, Tess and Ellie do, Maven understands common sense a bit more.¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s just you guys and Jacob that we talk like that to!¡± Ellie protested, walking over to them with Maven in tow. ¡°We¡¯re mostly aware that this is less than normal, and besides, the gods wanted to be a bit more casual with you, so you can¡¯t totally blame us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure they can.¡± Maven said. ¡°You know you could phrase things a little different and still be ¡®more casual¡¯ with them.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s such a pain.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°And it would detract from us paying attention to their lessons or something.¡± ¡°Perhaps we should sit down before we talk more.¡± Rachel suggested. ¡°These three were about to get food, so we shouldn¡¯t keep them from it for too long.¡± ¡°That sounds great, thanks.¡± Jin said. ¡°Where do we start?¡± Rachel smiled happily. ¡°So, we¡¯ve got plates and utensils at either end, but starting nearest to us, we have some simple sandwich ingredients if you¡¯re not feeling any of the pre-made dishes¡­¡± Chapter 114: A Hunted Hunter Tess put down her cards, shaking her head in amazement. ¡°You know, Death, sometimes I feel like we couldn¡¯t beat you even if we were in Descent.¡± ¡°I tried it, once.¡± Fortune volunteered. ¡°I gave Death time to theorycraft and then used my regular deck. She beat me by a lot.¡± ¡°Only because I knew what was in that deck and custom-built a deck to counter it. Had I just used one of my other decks, I would have lost.¡± Death said, then struck a dramatic pose. ¡°But you, mortal as you are, have no chance of defeating me!¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you once try to argue that Ellie was a god?¡± Tess asked. ¡°She did.¡± Fortune confirmed. ¡°And I believe her logic went something along the lines of ¡®Appointed are supposed to be equal to the gods therefore they may as well be gods¡¯. And, if you take that statement to be true, and add in the fact that Tess is my daughter, I believe that makes her double-godly.¡± ¡°Oh no!¡± Death cried out theatrically. ¡°My own reasoning is being used against me! My self-esteem is crumbling as we speak!¡± ¡°What¡¯s this about self-esteem?¡± Ellie asked, walking up to the three of them. ¡°Nothing, we¡¯re just goofing around while waiting for the last guests to show up.¡± Death replied. ¡°You know, the usual.¡± ¡°Who hasn¡¯t made it here yet?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I haven¡¯t really been keeping track.¡± ¡°Pastor Faust, Jacob, that Hunter, Marie, and Maven¡¯s mom.¡± Fortune supplied. ¡°Jacob ended up having to work late, and Maven¡¯s mom is wrapping up some sort of meeting. I dunno about Abarrane, but Jacob and the Hunter should be here soon, they were coming together but Jacob got called in to work a little late.¡± ¡°Ah, gotcha. Anyway, I was just coming over to see if you wanted me to grab you some food while you waited.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll¡­probably be fine.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯ll only be a few minutes more, if Jacob and Marie get here and Maven¡¯s mom hasn¡¯t come yet, we¡¯ll come and join the rest of the party, and we can just greet her whenever she shows up.¡± ¡°Alright. Maven and I are eating with The Rumors at one of the tables, come see us when you¡¯re done here, alright?¡± ¡°We might do a circuit and chat with everyone else first, but we¡¯ll definitely stop by.¡± Tess said. ¡°If you finish and we haven¡¯t come yet, just let us know, okay?¡± ¡°Will do.¡± Ellie replied, giving Tess a quick kiss on the cheek before heading back towards the dining tables. ¡°Think we have time for another round?¡± Fortune asked. ¡°Probably not.¡± Death replied. ¡°Not unless you¡¯re okay with being interrupted halfway through.¡± ¡°We can just chat.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s only a couple of minutes.¡± ¡°You know what, let me just check on where they are.¡± Death said. ¡°Give me like, a minute.¡± Death vanished, and Tess turned back to her mother. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask, how exactly do you guys check on things in the mortal world again?¡± ¡°Depends. Some of us, like Fate, use their own methods of scrying, but people like me and Death who aren¡¯t great at it just use one of a few terminals Amy has set up. I¡¯ll have to show you how to use them later, they¡¯re pretty handy.¡± ¡°Those don¡¯t need Worship to run?¡± ¡°Well, they kind of do?¡± Fortune said. ¡°It¡¯s more like they just need to be topped up every few months, and you need next to nothing to charge it up. Heck, if you were a Higher Being, you¡¯d probably already be getting enough Worship to offset a couple uses a day and you would earn basically no Worship whatsoever. But, yeah, it¡¯s totally cool for Appointed to use those even for unimportant things like this, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡± A few moments later, Death reappeared. ¡°Pastor Faust, Jacob, and Marie are one street down.¡± She informed them. ¡°I give it like, a minute until they¡¯re here. And Abarrane¡­ seems to be getting ready? Don¡¯t know how long she¡¯ll take, though.¡± ¡°Right. Well¡­why don¡¯t we all go down and greet them?¡± Fortune asked, a mischievous smile on her face. ¡°I like the way you think.¡± Death replied, a similar smile creeping across her face. Tess rolled her eyes. ¡°You know you¡¯re going to give them a heart attack, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the point!¡± Fortune said. ¡°And we can trust them. We weren¡¯t subtle about things, and Marie¡¯s already almost completely sure that you and Ellie are Appointed anyway, so we had her swear an Oath, she can¡¯t leak info. And Pastor Faust¡­we¡¯ll need her to swear an Oath eventually, but she¡¯s more than proven herself trustworthy at this point.¡± ¡°Is it normal for Appointed to have this many people in the know?¡± Tess asked. ¡°More or less? Most of their families know, and close friends often do as well. Not making Appointed lie to their loved ones is half the reason we came up with Oaths in the first place.¡± Fortune explained. ¡°It just feels¡­cruel, when we can do something about it. Anyway, wanna head to the door?¡±
Marie looked up at the opulent house in front of her, double checking the invitation card she had received to make sure she had the address right. She wasn¡¯t sure what to expect when she was invited to this housewarming party, and wasn¡¯t sure she should even really be there, but Jacob had told her that Tess and Ellie likely viewed her as a coworker of sorts. And, between that and her being Jacob¡¯s mentor, they probably decided they wanted to invite her. She really hadn¡¯t expected them to be in such a rich area; she had been given to understand that they had earned the money themselves. But¡­if Ellie really was Fortune¡¯s Appointed, then it would make sense that they had more money than normal. Assuming Fortune¡¯s Blessings impacted the Luck stat in some regard, there were any number of ways with which they could easily earn a massive amount of money in a short period of time. ¡°Is this really the place?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°It¡¯s got the right address.¡± Marie confirmed. ¡°I believe this invitation should just work to open the gate like it did for the gate to the neighborhood.¡± ¡°Shall we try, then?¡± Pastor Faust asked. The invitation they had been given doubled as a temporary access key; they just had to press it against the lock to the neighborhood¡¯s gate, and it opened. This house was surrounded by a similar gate, and pressing the invitation against its lock caused it to swing open, confirming that this was indeed the right place. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. They walked up the path to the door, and Marie rang the doorbell. After only a couple of moments, the door swung open, revealing three women; Tess, an unfamiliar blonde, and a woman who was the spitting image of Death. ¡°Ah, glad you three could make it!¡± Tess said brightly. ¡°This is my mother, Fortune, and this is Death, they wanted to come say hi.¡± ¡°Hi!¡± Death said cheerfully, giving them a wave. ¡°Thanks for coming!¡± ¡°You got adopted and didn¡¯t say anything?!¡± Jacob blurted out. ¡°Wait¡­Fortune and Death? As in¡­the gods?¡± ¡°That¡¯s us!¡± Fortune said, her voice worming its way down into Marie¡¯s soul and leaving her with no doubt that it was, in fact, Fortune speaking. Then she continued, and her voice lost that quality, becoming like any other person¡¯s voice. ¡°And you¡¯ll have to forgive her for not telling you earlier, not many people are allowed to know that I adopted her and it¡¯s not something she can bring up over unsecured communication.¡± Marie frowned internally. That seemed odd, given what she knew of the situation. Why hadn¡¯t Fortune adopted Ellie? ¡°You have it backwards, by the way.¡± Death said, looking at Marie. ¡°Tess is Fortune¡¯s Appointed, and Life and I share Ellie. We just work together a ton, so I pitched in to help bail her out of that situation at the graduation. Not that she needed it, you and I both know she could have dealt with the situation handily, but it prevented further violence.¡± ¡°I-I am honored to be in your presence, Your Worship.¡± Marie said, falling to one knee. ¡°No, none of that.¡± Death said. ¡°Not today. Today we¡¯re here to have a party, not stand on ceremony. The same goes for you two, no matter who you meet, ignore standing, that¡¯s the rule in this house.¡± Marie got up. ¡°I will try my best, but I don¡¯t think I can make promises.¡± She said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much if you slip up.¡± Fortune said. ¡°We¡¯re not trying to stress people out, we just want things to remain casual here.¡± ¡°You okay, Pastor Faust?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Sorry, I tried to tell them it would be a bit much, but they insisted.¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m f-fine.¡± Pastor Faust stammered, looking not at all fine. ¡°J-just s-surprised.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you come in and sit down?¡± Tess suggested. ¡°Eat some food, give yourself a little time to recover, and we can talk more then.¡± ¡°That sounds good right about now.¡± Jacob said. ¡°I thought you were done with the shocking reveals.¡± ¡°She¡¯s probably got a few left in her.¡± Fortune said, chuckling. ¡°Don¡¯t get comfy.¡± Jacob opened his mouth, then seemingly thought better of it and shut it again. ¡°Out with it.¡± Death prompted. ¡°Informal, remember?¡± ¡°It was just sarcasm about how comforting that is.¡± Jacob said. ¡°Nothing important. It doesn¡¯t really work now that the moment¡¯s passed, anyway.¡± ¡°Well, you might as well come on in, we¡¯ll give you the tour later, for now we¡¯re just eating while everyone arrives.¡± Tess said, stepping back and motioning for the group to come in. ¡°If you have any questions, don¡¯t hesitate to ask.¡± Jacob hesitantly stepped inside, and Fortune laid a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Thanks for sticking with Tess and Ellie, by the way.¡± She said. ¡°It means a lot to them.¡± ¡°Mom, you¡¯re embarrassing me!¡± Tess protested, blushing. ¡°But¡­yeah, it does.¡± Fortune ushered Jacob through the door, and after a moment Marie and Pastor Faust followed. They walked in silence for a few moments before Pastor Faust put on a brave face and spoke. ¡°Um, forgive my rudeness, but I have to know¡­how did you afford this place?¡± She asked. ¡°My talks with Evan gave me the impression that your party had only somewhat above average earnings for someone of your level. I¡¯m glad to see you doing well, obviously, I¡¯m just¡­confused.¡± ¡°I struck a deal with one of my mentors for a discount, and just dumped a whole bunch of cores I had on her as payment.¡± Tess said. ¡°Apparently, they were worth a lot more than I thought, I wasn¡¯t expecting something like this either. But¡­it¡¯s helping Maven adjust, and I have to admit that it¡¯s pretty nice to have a place like this to come back to after work.¡± ¡°My Blessing gives her effectively infinite Luck.¡± Fortune explained. ¡°So whenever anyone in her party kills a monster in a dungeon, she gets the most money she can from it as well as the most valuable drop. Incidentally, it¡¯s also why your tranquilizer didn¡¯t work on her, Marie.¡± Marie frowned. ¡°What does Luck have to do with that?¡± She asked. ¡°With the system¡¯s functions almost completely halted on Mael, usually nothing. But, as you can imagine, divine Blessings work just fine. You technically tried to inflict her with a status effect, and so long as she has even the slightest chance to resist one, she will. Likewise, if she has the slightest chance to inflict you with a status effect, she will.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Marie replied. ¡°And¡­doesn¡¯t Luck affect Rewards Crystals as well? Would that mean¡­¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Fortune said smugly. ¡°Her build is incredibly optimized, and I fully intend to make her the strongest person alive by the time we¡¯re through with her.¡± ¡°Mom!¡± Tess hissed. ¡°Please!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a mother¡¯s right to brag about her daughter.¡± Fortune said matter-of-factly. ¡°And I won¡¯t have many chances to do that, so I¡¯m doing it now.¡± ¡°To be fair, half of that bragging is bragging about stuff you gave her.¡± Death said. ¡°Irrelevant. Even if I somehow stopped existing right now, she¡¯d still have all of that, therefore it¡¯s hers.¡± Fortune said. ¡°And she¡¯s the one putting in the effort to get stronger, not me.¡± ¡°We¡¯re here!¡± Tess said loudly, interrupting the two gods. ¡°Why don¡¯t you all go grab a bite to eat? Take however much you want, as long as you¡¯re not like, taking the entire plate of food each time you grab something. We have plenty to go around. Oh, and sit wherever you¡¯d like, we¡¯re not assigning seats or anything.¡± Tess practically pulled Death and Fortune away, leaving Marie, Pastor Faust, and Jacob standing in the doorway of a large room with ten or twenty people milling about inside. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s our cue to go eat?¡± Jacob ventured, stepping inside the room. ¡°I believe so.¡± Pastor Faust replied. The three of them walked over to the long tables filled with food, and began to dish up. Most of the food was at least superficially familiar to Marie, though she couldn¡¯t be sure the ingredients were what she was used to, so she was able to put together a plate of food that she could be pretty confident she¡¯d like. The relative peace only lasted until a couple minutes after Marie had sat down to eat, though, as she was approached by a dryad that she could only assume was the dark-skinned woman she had seen with Tess at the graduation. ¡°Marie the Hunter, right?¡± She said coldly, looking Marie over. ¡°That¡¯s me, yes.¡± Marie said guardedly. ¡°You look quite familiar, would I be correct in assuming you were one of the people at Tess¡¯s graduation?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m Alice Reshi, owner of the Reshi Conglomerate, which includes the Reshi Suites, Reshi Industries, and a few other companies. More importantly, I¡¯m a member of a rank-nine party, The Rumors, and one of Tess¡¯s mentors. I¡¯d been meaning to have a chat with you for a while, so I¡¯m glad you were invited here today.¡± Alice was clearly trying to intimidate Marie, and Marie had to admit it was working. Marie had faced insurmountable odds before, but this was something entirely different; yes, Marie was significantly stronger now, but Alice had her beat in every respect; money, level, likely even combat experience. This was a woman who could kill Marie with barely a thought, or financially ruin her, or any number of other things. ¡°If I may, I would like to apologize for my behavior at the graduation.¡± Marie said, standing up and giving Alice a quick bow. ¡°My haste and failure to do a basic investigation caused an incident, and for that I am sorry. While you were not my target, I still ruined your outing with my carelessness.¡± Alice paused, visibly deflating. ¡°Oh.¡± She said. ¡°Look, I¡¯m going to level with you, you made me seriously angry. I view Tess as something of a little sister, and the only reason I didn¡¯t step in and deal with you personally is because Ellie and my party members held me back. Look, I¡¯ve been told by Tess that you¡¯re in the know now, so I expect you can understand how monumentally stupid it would be to try something like that again, right?¡± Marie shuddered a little, thinking about how difficult her life would have become if she had by some miracle actually managed to harm Tess during their first meeting. ¡°Yes. I have no intention of doing anything that would endanger Miss¡­does she still use the last name Los after being adopted?¡± Alice nodded, and Marie continued. ¡°As I was saying, I have no intention of trying to take advantage of or endanger Miss Los in any way, and knowing what I do, I consider her and Ellie to be my superiors, second only to the gods themselves. I won¡¯t cause any more trouble.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Alice said. ¡°I¡¯m going to be keeping my eye on you for a while, though, and if I find that you¡¯ve stepped out of line, there will be consequences, understand?¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Alice!¡± Tess said, walking over with an exasperated look on her face. ¡°Leave the poor woman alone, she¡¯s more than made up for things by now!¡± Alice turned to Tess, a slightly chagrined expression on her face. ¡°I had to see for myself.¡± She said. ¡°I told you a while back that I¡¯d be talking to her.¡± ¡°Yes, but not now, now¡¯s a time to relax!¡± Tess countered. ¡°You can sort things out with her sometime later, okay?¡± ¡°We had already more or less finished, but fine.¡± Alice said. ¡°Remember what I said, okay?¡± ¡°I will.¡± Marie said, nodding. ¡°You won¡¯t find me lacking.¡± With that, Tess pulled Alice away, and Marie resumed her meal, intent on finishing quickly so she could interact with the other guests more. Chapter 115: Making Up By and large, the housewarming party went pretty well. Aside from the slight incident with Alice and Marie, no one made any trouble and generally seemed to get along decently well. Maven¡¯s mother showed up about fifteen minutes after Jacob and his group, and she stayed for about an hour before returning to her duties. Likewise, Life and Dungeons came by for half an hour or so, then left, promising to return when there were less mortals around. Not that there were many of those to begin with. As it had turned out, the only attendees who weren¡¯t gods or Appointed were Maven¡¯s mother, The Rumors, and Jacob¡¯s group. Maven had been somewhat amused by that, as it seemed that Tess and Ellie didn¡¯t fully grasp just how influential the people they normally associated with were. Fortune had apparently told The Rumors that she¡¯d be hiding her identity from people she didn¡¯t want knowing, but that was literally only Maven¡¯s mother. Maven sighed as her thoughts turned to her mother. Things had been¡­strained since her outburst a week or so prior. When Maven had invited her mother to the housewarming, the conversation had been stilted and awkward, neither really sure what exactly they should be saying. Fortunately, Maven¡¯s mother didn¡¯t ask about her husband; it seemed she understood that he wasn¡¯t invited without needing to be told. Maven feared that she might have permanently burned bridges with him. And, what was worse, she didn¡¯t feel as bad about it as she thought she would have. Ever since she had joined her fianc¨¦es¡¯ party, she had found herself growing increasingly disillusioned with her father. It had been small things at first, like seeing how Gramps interacted with the two of them, but once she had begun dating them her disillusionment began to accelerate. The way they approached relationships and their opinions on intimacy were something foreign to Maven, but in a decidedly welcome way. Maven had known her family life was atypical, but she hadn¡¯t realized just how much she had desired true intimacy until then. And a lot of things began to make sense after she made that realization; why she always looked forward to meeting with her grandmother so much, despite their relatively common meetings, why she was always dissatisfied with her lot in life, and why her father angered her so. She was truly beginning to believe that her father didn¡¯t love her. Or, at least, didn¡¯t love her beyond her use as a political tool; his behavior in the past week had made that clear. Unlike Maven¡¯s mother, he had made no move to reconcile with Maven, not immediately after the event nor in the following week. Shortly after the incident had occurred, Maven had gotten in touch with her grandmother, explaining what had happened and asking if she could sit in on a conversation between Maven and her mother as a relatively impartial third party who would keep things from getting heated. Or¡­rather, she had asked for a meeting with her and both her parents, but her father had apparently denied. That, unfortunately, didn¡¯t surprise Maven. Her father was a strict man who put a lot of stock in rank and tradition, and by acting like she had, Maven had spat in the face of that. He had barely forgiven any outbursts she had made as a child, and now that she was an adult Maven didn¡¯t think he would find it in himself to give a second chance. Maven couldn¡¯t help but sigh again, but this time it prompted a reaction from Tess. ¡°Hey, you okay?¡± Tess asked, sliding over and placing a comforting arm around Maven¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I am¡­I¡¯m fine.¡± Maven said. ¡°Just¡­thinking about my parents.¡± Tess squeezed Maven a little closer. ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± She asked. Maven thought on that for a moment. ¡°I guess¡­I don¡¯t know. I think things might be over between me and my father, and I¡¯m realizing that that doesn¡¯t bother me as much as it feels like it should.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let him get under your skin.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s doing it on purpose. I bet he wants you to come crawling back to him to say that you¡¯re sorry and you¡¯ll be better next time. And you know what? I don¡¯t think you should. I¡¯ve said it before and I¡¯ll say it again, the more I hear about him, the less I like him. He¡¯s a tool, both literally and figuratively; a tool for his family to gain influence, and a tool of a person.¡± Maven frowned. ¡°What does that mean?¡± She asked. ¡°Uh¡­I couldn¡¯t actually tell you exactly, it¡¯s just sort of a vibe.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Um, let me see if someone on the internet has a description¡­yeah, here we go. This uses more slang you¡¯re probably not familiar with, but I can translate that better. Basically, a tool is a person who thinks they¡¯re better than they are and only cares about themselves. Just generally unpleasant people to be around, lots of bullies fall into this category.¡± ¡°Any parent worth their salt would do anything to reconnect with you.¡± Tess said. ¡°I know Gramps would do literally everything in his power to keep contact with me, or at the least keep me safe, and Mom and my birth parents would too. You¡¯re not the one who should be feeling bad about this, he should be feeling bad for being a failure of a father.¡±
Fortune: Aww, that¡¯s so sweet of you to say. And you¡¯re right, I would. And, for what it¡¯s worth, I think they¡¯re right, Maven. You let him know you were open to sitting down and talking things out like a rational adult, and he denied. I can¡¯t pretend I know him well, but I¡¯ve seen the type a lot, and if he really is waiting for you to go begging for forgiveness, then he deserves to be cut out of your life. But¡­whatever you choose to do about him, know that the rest of us are in your corner, okay? If you want to keep in touch, even if it means playing his game, then we¡¯ll support you. Death: Yeah. Slight correction, though, if it looks like he¡¯s trying to take advantage of you and doesn¡¯t actually feel any remorse or lingering attachment to you, I¡¯m not gonna stay quiet about it, I¡¯ll let you know. Maven: I appreciate the sentiment, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll get that far; I¡¯m done letting him walk all over me. I¡¯ll let him know the door is open if he wants to have a discussion, but I won¡¯t be one-sidedly apologizing or anything. If that¡¯s his condition for retaining contact with me, then Fortune¡¯s right, he doesn¡¯t deserve it. Maybe if he had been better when I was growing up, I¡¯d give him the benefit of the doubt, but¡­not now. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Death: And remember, you¡¯re like 900 times more important than he is now. He doesn¡¯t have the capability to literally have the gods smite someone. He has nothing over you; if he tries to use his position as blackmail somehow, Amara will END him. Ellie: That¡¯s¡­not something we can do, right? We can¡¯t just call in a smiting¡­can we? Life: Actually, yes. Remember, you are considered equals of the gods. If you well and truly believe that someone has done something worth a smiting, we will oblige. Dungeons: Speaking of, hasn¡¯t Amy been talking about finally making the Appointed Higher Beings? When that happens, they can just do the smiting themselves Tess: I do recall her mentioning it when I brought up expanding this chatroom to everyone, but I haven¡¯t heard about it since. Fortune: I¡¯ll ask her about it next time I see her. The only reason we hadn¡¯t done it before was because we couldn¡¯t figure out how to do it and keep Descents working, but I¡¯m kinda getting the vibe that Amy¡¯s figured something out. Life: It is probably because of working on Monster Breeder. It seems to have given her fresh insight on the matter. Death: Hopefully this will help straighten things out with our janky ¡°only one set of Blessings at once¡± thing with Ellie. I doubt we¡¯ll be able to simultaneously Descend or anything, that¡¯s probably a bit much, but as a Higher Being you should theoretically be able to cram a lot more power into your soul. I think. TBH I¡¯m not good at this sorta thing, that¡¯s more Alberich and Magic¡¯s wheelhouse. Fortune: Maybe? Sounds like a distinct possibility. Life: To get back to the topic, just do what your heart tells you, Maven. We¡¯ll be there to support you. Dungeons: Yeah. And if he insists on being awful to you, he better watch himself around dungeons, I¡¯ve come to realize I¡¯m not above being a little petty. Death: We¡¯ve taught her so well, Fortune Fortune: It brings a tear to my eye Life: You are terrible influences. Death: But we¡¯re your terrible influences, right? Life: ¡­I suppose. Maven: I¡­this means a lot to me. Thank you, all of you.
Maven turned her attention away from the window, snuggling up closer to Tess. ¡°Do you mind staying like this a little longer?¡± She asked. ¡°I need it right now.¡± ¡°I¡¯d be happy to stay like this as long as you need.¡± Tess replied. ¡°It¡¯s the least I can do.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not the least you could do, believe me.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡¯ve seen the least someone can do, and this isn¡¯t it.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not someone, I¡¯m me, and I couldn¡¯t imagine doing less.¡± Tess said, giving Maven a smile. ¡°I love you, Maven.¡± Maven¡¯s heart did a little flip, as it did every time Tess or Ellie said that. ¡°I love you too.¡±
Maven sat down across from her mother, forcing herself to look her in the eyes. They were currently at their grandmother¡¯s residence, meeting to talk about the incident, and Maven couldn¡¯t help but be nervous. She hadn¡¯t actually directly stood up to her parents like she had in that moment since she was a child, and she was worried she¡¯d have to do so again. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m glad you two trust me enough to have me mediate this, but let me make one thing clear: I¡¯m just here to stop things from getting out of hand.¡± Amara said, sitting down on a chair situated to the side of Maven and Abarrane. ¡°If I sense that there¡¯s a misunderstanding, or that things are getting too heated, I¡¯ll say something, but unless that happens it¡¯s up to you two to talk this out. ¡°Even though I suspect you¡¯re both aware of my stance on many things, I won¡¯t be giving my opinions on anything. This is your matter to resolve, and it¡¯s meaningless unless you are the ones to do it. Understood?¡± ¡°I understand, Grandmother.¡± Abarrane said. ¡°And I appreciate you doing this for us.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Maven added. ¡°But¡­I have to admit I¡¯m not sure how to start.¡± ¡°I am.¡± Abarrane said. ¡°I want to apologize for your father. I tried to convince him to come, but¡­you know how he is.¡± ¡°I do.¡± Maven sighed. ¡°And I didn¡¯t expect him to come. To tell you the truth, I would not be surprised if we never reconnect. I would love to have a conversation like this with him, but I won¡¯t one-sidedly apologize, if that¡¯s what he wants.¡± Abarrane was silent for a moment. ¡°It is.¡± She said. ¡°He told me that he¡¯s expecting you¡¯ll cave and apologize before the wedding to prevent it from being awkward, and he does not think he has done anything wrong so he will not make the first move.¡± ¡°Then he¡¯s not invited.¡± Maven said flatly. ¡°If he isn¡¯t willing to talk this out like an adult, then we won¡¯t interact. I recognize that I could have handled things better, and I¡¯m willing to own up to my mistakes, but if he¡¯s not willing to do the same then I¡¯m not willing to speak with him.¡± ¡°I will let him know.¡± Abarrane replied. ¡°And I will try to convince him to talk things out with you, but¡­I expect it won¡¯t go well.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t, but I appreciate the effort.¡± Maven said. ¡°Right. Well¡­I suppose I should start by apologizing for being more distant than I needed to.¡± Abarrane said. ¡°I¡­I was unsure how I should treat you, to tell you the truth. My mother is much more in line with Saburo in terms of her views on familial relationships. I was taught that nothing good would come of becoming too familiar with my children, that it would potentially cause me to make decisions that weren¡¯t in the country¡¯s best interests. ¡°Grandmother convinced me otherwise, to an extent, but I suppose I never fully got over it. I thought what we had was fine since it was significantly closer than my own parents and I, but I suppose that was really just an excuse I made to myself. I¡­I was scared of messing things up, and I didn¡¯t have a good way of knowing how to act. ¡°I know this all sounds like excuses, and¡­well, they are, but I want you to know that I am over them. I¡¯m going to work with Grandmother on learning how to be a better parent, and I am going to try my best. I know I will make mistakes, but I hope you¡¯ll be willing to work through them with me.¡± Maven hesitated for a moment as her breath caught in her chest, then nodded. ¡°Y-yeah.¡± She said. ¡°I¡­I would like that. And I want to apologize for acting out so much. I resented my lot in life for reasons I wasn¡¯t even sure of until recently, and I vented that stress in whatever way I could. It wasn¡¯t a healthy way to deal with my emotions, and I should have been better.¡± Abarrane gave Maven a shaky smile. ¡°You were still growing, and even if you are a princess, you¡¯re still a person, just like the rest of us. I will not lie and say it did not bother me, but I think we can call it water under the bridge. So¡­would you like to start over?¡± ¡°I think I would¡­Mom.¡± Maven said. ¡°May¡­may I hug you?¡± ¡°Please.¡± Abarrane whispered. As Maven went to hug her mother, Amara gave them both a fond smile, then waited for them to finish their hug before speaking. ¡°I have some food prepared, why don¡¯t we go eat as a family?¡± She suggested. ¡°You knew it would end like this, didn¡¯t you?¡± Maven accused. Amara shrugged. ¡°I had my suspicions, and more importantly I had faith in the two of you. You didn¡¯t really need me, but I saw no reason not to accept the offer if it would make you more comfortable.¡± ¡°Thank you, Grandmother.¡± Abarrane said. ¡°I would not mind eating together, if Maven has time.¡± ¡°I blocked out a lot more time in case things went poorly.¡± Maven said. ¡°And I¡¯d love to eat as well. Thanks for being so willing to work with me on this.¡± ¡°Of course. I love you, Maven,¡± Abarrane said, ¡°and I don¡¯t want to ruin our relationship over something like this.¡± ¡°I love you too, Mom.¡± Chapter 116: The Titans, Tested Tess sat down in the stands, looking down at the Arena in anticipation. It was a big day; Gramps and his party were having their rank evaluated, and the event was to be done publicly, to help combat any potential accusations of rank fixing. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t stop those accusations, people would still make them when Gramps¡¯s party inevitably got a high rank, but at least they would have something to point to back up whatever rank they got. Making it publicly viewable also served the secondary purpose of reminding people exactly why The Titans were so respected and feared. The value their name had and the fear it put into people was a huge contributing factor towards the peace that the Outlands had. People knew that, if they wanted to attack the Outlands, they would have The Titans to contend with, and that was an intimidating thought. ¡°So, what do you think they¡¯re going to have them do?¡± Ellie asked, sitting down next to Tess. ¡°I mean¡­what would even be a reasonable test for them?¡± ¡°It almost certainly has something to do with why The Rumors say they won¡¯t be here.¡± Maven said. They had, of course, asked The Rumors if they wanted to watch the event together, but The Rumors said they would be busy and unable to watch with them, so the three members of Maelstrom had come alone. ¡°Have room for one more?¡± Amara asked, taking a seat next to Maven. ¡°If you¡¯re on a date then I won¡¯t intrude, but I thought I¡¯d at least come say hi while I was here.¡± ¡°Ama ¨C Grandma?¡± Tess asked, taken aback. ¡°How did you know we were going to be here?¡± Amara waved her hand, giving Tess a smile. ¡°I didn¡¯t, but I figured you wouldn¡¯t miss it, and you know I don¡¯t exactly have trouble finding people if I¡¯m looking. Plus, even if you weren¡¯t going to be here, I thought it¡¯d be a good timewaster. I haven¡¯t seen the four of them work in ages, and they¡¯re sure to make this flashy.¡± ¡°Well, we could use the company.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We asked The Rumors, but they¡¯re apparently busy.¡± ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s what¡¯s happening.¡± Amara said, nodding her head sagely. ¡°You know what¡¯s going on?¡± Maven asked. ¡°We assumed they were involved somehow, but we¡¯re not sure how.¡± ¡°I have a guess, and now I¡¯m about eighty percent confident. I know the kind of people Evan hires, and I¡¯m familiar with how the guild operates. With that in mind, I had a few guesses on how they¡¯d handle the matter of the rank exam. Honestly, guessing about this kind of thing is more of a game to me than anything. After so long of doing what I do it¡¯s ingrained into me to think about stuff like this, even when it¡¯s not work-related; it helps keep me sharp, and it¡¯s fun, too. Still, I think I¡¯ll leave you in the dark a bit more; if I¡¯m wrong, it¡¯d be awfully embarrassing.¡± That made sense. As Subterfuge¡¯s Appointed, this was the kind of thing that Amara dealt with as her job, even if this wasn¡¯t that important in the grand scheme of things. Of course she would have a better idea than Tess would about what was happening. ¡°You know we¡¯re going to ask you later if you were right, right?¡± Tess teased. ¡°Are you just going to lie if you get it wrong?¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t planning on it, I¡¯d just be embarrassed and own up to it.¡± Amara admitted. ¡°But I like to keep the suspense going. Tell you what, though¡­¡± Amara reached into her bag and pulled out a pen and paper. ¡°I¡¯ll write my guess down here, and hand it to you. Put it in your bag, and you can take it out later to confirm I¡¯m not lying.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, we trust you, I was just teasing.¡± Tess said. ¡°I know, but where¡¯s the fun in that?¡± Amara replied, giving her a wink and writing down something on the paper before folding it up and handing it to Tess. ¡°It¡¯ll make this more exciting for me.¡± ¡°If you insist.¡± Tess replied, taking the paper and storing it in her pockets. ¡°Anything you are willing to share?¡± ¡°Well, I know you¡¯ve already figured out that they¡¯re involving The Rumors, but I¡¯d ask you to think about why they chose them. After all, we all know that, as good as The Rumors are, they¡¯re not even close to a match for Evan¡¯s party if they were just going to duke it out.¡± ¡°Could they be using the Arena to equalize their stats?¡± Ellie suggested. ¡°Then it¡¯d be a test of skill, both actual Skills and you know, like, combat experience.¡± ¡°That¡¯s one of the ideas I considered.¡± Amara said. ¡°It might be part of what¡¯s happening, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s everything. Any guesses as to why?¡± ¡°Well¡­that¡¯s not really what they¡¯re testing, right?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Equalizing stats isn¡¯t exactly going to wow people when The Rumors have been active for way less time than Gramps¡¯s party. They weren¡¯t even rank ten before this, it would make more sense to choose a rank ten party that¡¯s been around for longer.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Amara said, smiling proudly. ¡°I see Ava¡¯s taught you well, you sound just like her. The whole reason this is being done publicly and is even being televised, is because they want to demonstrate that the inevitable high ranking their party gets isn¡¯t because Evan is the guildmaster. That¡¯s not exactly something you can do by defeating a party that isn¡¯t your match.¡± ¡°Do people really doubt their capabilities?¡± Maven asked skeptically. ¡°Everyone knows they¡¯re the strongest.¡± ¡°You¡¯d be surprised.¡± Amara replied. ¡°They haven¡¯t had a public display of power in decades, and many people who haven¡¯t seen them in action tend to assume that their reputation is exaggerated. I doubt you¡¯d find anyone like that amongst people above rank seven or eight, but public trust in the process is important. ¡°You know, it¡¯s funny. Even though they have clearly stated that no one will be getting above rank fifteen or so in this exam, I think many higher-ranked people are going to think that The Titans are intentionally downgrading their rank to placate people who think they¡¯re only getting a good rank because of nepotism.¡± ¡°I mean¡­they basically are, right?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Is there anyone stronger than them?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Amara confirmed. ¡°The only people I can even see potentially getting stronger than them within the next hundred years are you three. Still, they¡¯re trying to future-proof the system, and making them the highest rank from the get-go kind of ruins that.¡± ¡°You¡¯re joking, right?¡± Tess asked. ¡°There¡¯s no way we¡¯re going to catch up to Gramps by then. I don¡¯t see myself ever catching up to him.¡± ¡°Serious as the grave.¡± Amara replied. She paused for a moment, then cast a spell. ¡°As Appointed, you have access to resources that other people don¡¯t. For instance, you¡¯ve reaped the benefits of a savage dungeon before the public even knew they existed. ¡°Even without that, you all have a fast-track to success; once your training is done and you no longer need to worry about falling into bad habits, you can simply walk into literally any dungeon and clear it. You can farm EXP by having monsters sit still while you kill them, so you¡¯ll hit high levels in record speed. ¡°Ellie has the literal best stats possible and two different Blessings, and I don¡¯t think you fully realize how significant your Blessing is, Tess. With each and every Skill you get serving to enhance your build in the best way possible, your growth is exponential rather than linear, and that¡¯s not even getting into the sort of things Monster Breeder grants you, because there are some frankly absurd abilities that only monsters get.¡± ¡°Surely, The Titans would beat us as a party, though.¡± Maven argued. ¡°They outnumber us, have more experience working together, and as an individual I¡¯m not especially strong outside of a dungeon.¡± Amara shrugged. ¡°Without Descent, sure. But, when you reach our level, it¡¯s a given that Descent is active in any serious conflict. And, when it comes to Descent, you happen to have some very strong ones on your side. Have you ever actually seen Fortune¡¯s Descent in action?¡± ¡°No, but I¡¯ve heard about what it does.¡± Maven admitted. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Have Tess show you later.¡± Amara suggested. ¡°Since her Descent is risk-free, which is another completely absurd thing, by the way, it shouldn¡¯t be a big deal to whip it out for a private demonstration. I don¡¯t think you quite realize how good it is; it¡¯s easily the strongest Descent out there.¡±
Fortune: I actually had Death take some video of it so I could look over it later and see how I could improve. I can show you, if you¡¯d like. Oh, and BTW, I talked to Amy about the whole ¡°making Appointed Higher Beings¡± thing this morning, and she says she¡¯ll be doing it later, when she rolls out this chatroom to everyone. Maybe let Amara know while she¡¯s here? I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll get told later, but might as well get her in the loop now, it¡¯s not secret or anything.
¡°Fortune says she has video of the incident.¡± Maven said. ¡°And she wants us to tell you that, soon, Amy will be rolling out the chatroom feature we have to encompass every Appointed and god, and will be making Appointed Higher Beings at the same time.¡± Amara froze. ¡°What? I was under the impression that that was impossible if we wanted Descent to work.¡± ¡°Was impossible.¡± Tess said. ¡°She seems to have figured something out after all the work she did on Monster Breeder in order to get it to work properly with Descent.¡± Amara sat back in a daze. ¡°Wow.¡± She said. ¡°I was¡­not expecting that. That¡¯s a big deal, you know.¡± ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m totally clear on what a Higher Being is.¡± Ellie admitted. ¡°Care to refresh me?¡± ¡°They¡¯re the step between regular people and Administrators.¡± Amara explained. ¡°Gods are almost always Higher Beings, but Higher Beings aren¡¯t always gods. For instance, our Aunt Kali was a Higher Being before being a sub-Administrator, but she wasn¡¯t a god. You and Tess haven¡¯t met her yet, but I believe she¡¯ll be at your wedding, so you can ask her about it then. ¡°Gods are, basically, an arbitrary subdivision of Higher Beings who have Domain over a certain area. We¡¯ll probably end up with no Domain or a small share in our patron god¡¯s Domain or something, but that¡¯s still plenty to give us benefits. In all likelihood we¡¯ll see an increase in our stats and our Skills will become more efficient, but that¡¯s not even the important stuff. ¡°We¡¯ll start earning our own Worship passively, and we¡¯ll be able to actually use it on our own, which has a lot of possibilities. We also get what basically amounts to immunity against mind-altering effects that don¡¯t use Worship, and it¡¯ll make it so we cannot die permanently without another Higher Being doing some very specific things to stop us coming back. If we get fed some Worship or would have accumulated that Worship naturally over time, we just come right back no worse for wear. It¡¯ll make reviving us a little more expensive, but that¡¯s really the only downside.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Ellie said. ¡°That¡¯s¡­a lot.¡± ¡°Like I said, a big deal. We may be nominally equal to the gods now, but we don¡¯t actually have the power to back it up. After that, we will, for all intents and purposes, be gods, just probably with lower Worship gain and no public recognition as divine beings.¡± ¡°Anyway, we sort of interrupted you, please continue what you were saying earlier.¡± Maven said. ¡°Give me a moment to collect my thoughts.¡± Amara replied. ¡°That was a bit of a bombshell.¡± She took a deep breath, but was cut off by the magically-enhanced voice of Gramps. ¡°Hello, everyone, and thank you for taking the time to come watch our examination. As a reminder, all examinations of parties that are rank nine or above will be public in this same manner, and we have a schedule posted on our website, so do check those out if you¡¯re interested.¡± He said. He was dressed in a heavy robe, and holding an innocuous-looking staff that Tess could only assume was his weapon of choice. ¡°Before we begin, there is something I would like to address. I am sure that many of you watching today have concerns that the results of this specific examination will be tainted because I am the guildmaster. While it is impossible to completely and utterly assuage every worry, we will be doing our best to make the process as transparent as possible. ¡°For this examination and this examination only, the deliberation of those reviewing our performance will be videotaped and made public, along with full transcripts of their notes and a document containing their individual thoughts on what our rank should be and their reasoning for that choice. ¡°Additionally, after some deliberation, for this exam only we have decided to allow some respected public figures act as examiners to avoid conflicts of interest. They will be advised by a member of guild staff on best practice and how ranks are determined, but the guild staff members will have no input on our actual rank. ¡°For those who have graciously accepted the offer to be our examiners, we have Alberich Stonewarden, head of the City¡¯s university, Kane Io, former rank nine freelancer and owner and head artificer of the leading equipment chain for freelancers, Elara the Bold, hero in the war for the Outlands and commentator for the Challenger¡¯s League¡­¡± Gramps listed five or six more names, but Tess only recognized Alberich and Kane. ¡°So, I¡¯m assuming these people are all big names, right? And what¡¯s the Challenger¡¯s League?¡± She asked. ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re all important,¡± Amara confirmed, ¡°and there¡¯s enough variety in them that most reasonable people won¡¯t find too much bias in their overall judgement. The Challenger¡¯s League is an organization that for exhibition fighting. To put it in terms of things you have on Mael, consider it to be similar to martial arts competitions.¡± ¡°With introductions out of the way, I will be handing the proverbial mic over to Headmaster Stonewarden, who has volunteered to be the spokesperson for our examiners today. He and the other examiners may make comments during our test, but rest assured that those of us in the Arena will be unable to hear them unless the comment is specifically directed at us. In order to minimize confusion for the viewers, such communications will be preceded by a short tone.¡± Gramps continued, motioning at Alberich. Alberich cleared his throat, the sound magically amplified over the stands. ¡°Thank you, Guildmaster Los. As agreed, I will now be sending your party into the Arena, where I will give a short overview of the first test we have for you. After the overview, you will have ten minutes to prepare, and I will explain to our viewers why we have chosen this test.¡± Gramps disappeared, then reappeared in the area underneath the Arena with the rest of his party. Like Gramps, they were each properly decked out in their gear, and they exuded an air of competence and caution. A short chime rang out, and Alberich began to speak. ¡°For your first test, we have opted to give you a defense mission; a monster surge of unprecedented proportions has hit the City, blindsiding everyone. You must organize the City¡¯s defenses in the limited time you have before the monsters reach it, and deal with any unforeseen issues as they arise. ¡°As this is a rather complex scenario, Kane will be manually controlling the Arena to simulate areas you are not in, advised by the rest of us to help maintain as much realism as possible. You will start out in the Guildmaster¡¯s office in the main branch of the guild, and a sheet of your available resources you have and the gathered information on the monster surge will be laid out on the table. ¡°After your ten minutes of preparation are up, we will prompt you to present your planned defense, as well as which part of the City you would like to be in when the surge hits. We will then reshape the Arena and give you one minute to regain your bearings, after which the test will start in earnest. Any questions?¡± Gramps shared a glance with the rest of his party, then looked up at the roof of the Arena. ¡°No, Headmaster.¡± ¡°Very well. Your time begins now.¡± The Arena took on the familiar shape of Gramps¡¯s office, and The Titans immediately grabbed the paper that was sitting on his desk and began to read. As they did, the televisions set up around the viewing area lit up to show a closer view of their party, as well as the transcript of the paper to the side. And, as they spoke amongst themselves, captions appeared on the screen below, subtitling their inaudible words. ¡°Now, for the viewers, allow me to explain a little more.¡± Alberich said, his words appearing as captions on the top of the screens. ¡°Currently, we have muted their audio while we explain more about this setup and why we have chosen it, but if that doesn¡¯t interest you, feel free to tune us out and read their dialogue on screen. When our explanation is finished, we will unmute them and allow you to hear what they are hearing.¡± Alberich looked over at Kane. ¡°First and foremost, I anticipate that some of you will be concerned about the scope of this scenario and if it is in our capabilities to actually present it accurately. For those unaware, the Arena is Kane¡¯s own invention, and he has had a hand in the design of most of the preset scenarios that come with one. With him operating the Arena, as well as the advice of myself and the rest of the examiners, there should be no mechanical issues with the test. ¡°As for the contents of the test, defense scenarios are common in freelancer rank examinations. These scenarios allow examiners to test the examinees¡¯ decision-making skills in times of crisis, show how they deal with protecting civilians, and ascertain how the examinees fight when they have to be mindful of how destructive they are. ¡°For The Titans, a standard defense mission simply isn¡¯t enough to properly gauge their capabilities. As many of you are no doubt aware, The Titans played pivotal roles in every monster surge that has impacted the City, and even once defended a small city from one by themselves. ¡°We had to create an exceptional scenario if we wanted to give them any sort of proper challenge. The monster surge we will be simulating is twice the size of the largest recorded monster surge, and contains significantly more high-level monsters than usual. For the curious, the exact details of this scenario will be posted online with the rest of the documents regarding this test, but I¡¯m afraid we don¡¯t have time to go over the specifics now. ¡°And, with out of the way, it¡¯s almost time to turn the focus back to The Titans. But, before that, a quick word on how the examiners¡¯ commentary will be handled¡¯; if any of us examiners have important commentary or explanations, it will be broadcast audibly and the sound from the Arena dimmed while we speak. ¡°For those of you watching online, we will have a separate stream that is purely focused on the examiners, so you can hear all of what we say if you wish. Furthermore, a full transcript of our conversations will be included in the aforementioned documents surrounding this exam. Now, The Titans.¡± Chapter 117: The Titans, Triumphant Tess watched in fascination as her grandfather worked. In all of the time she had known him, she had only ever seen him truly serious about a job a handful of times, and never when it wasn¡¯t directly related to her or Ellie. In some ways, it was like she was looking at a different person entirely; the goofy and affable man she knew had taken the back stage, and instead a man who was hypercompetent and calculating had taken his place. The same went for the other members of the Titans, with the exception of Ava. To Tess and Ellie, the three of them had always been kind, even doting on occasion, but right now they were all business. Tess had seen Ava serious plenty of times, she had made a point of showing Tess what doing their job at a high skill level was like, but Eyfura and Atum had never needed to be serious around her, so seeing them like that felt strange. The four of them were like a well-oiled machine, digesting information and coming up with plans at a frightening rate. It wasn¡¯t the kind of thing that would be explained by raw talent or book-learning, either; with every moment that passed, it became increasingly clear to Tess that their skills had been sharpened by countless years of experience and significant amounts of time dedicated to study, training, and overall honing their craft to perfection, learning from even the smallest of mistakes. Had she not seen a glimpse of that world from Ava¡¯s training, she probably wouldn¡¯t have picked up on it as much as she did, but now that she knew what she was looking for, the signs were incredibly obvious. It was the little things, the way that they seemed to instantly know where the others where going when they brought up a point, the way they all thought about different topics without even deciding who would tackle what issue¡­those sorts of things. There was a surprising amount of silence in their work process, too; it seemed they only spoke up when they wanted confirmation on an idea or needed a little more information on a topic or something similar. Otherwise, they just seemed to trust the others¡¯ judgement on matters and focused on their own tasks. By the time the ten minutes of prep were up, Tess wasn¡¯t sure what their full plan was, but the Titans certainly did. When prompted, they began giving a series of instructions detailing how they would rally their forces, where said forces would be placed, how the City would be evacuated, and a couple of other miscellaneous tasks. After they had finished, they took a short recess to allow for the examiners to decide how effective those plans would be, and for Kane to rework the simulation to account for them. And, after five or ten minutes, the Arena began to reshape itself, turning into the top of a wall. Gramps and his party had opted to spread defenders somewhat evenly, and they themselves were situated at the point they expected the strongest monsters to be. This was, of course, because they evaluated themselves to be the strongest fighting force the City had to offer. That would probably seem arrogant to some, but Tess knew better; even without Descent, the Titans were a cut above the rest, and even if it seemed arrogant, placing them at the most dangerous point would end up minimizing the damage to the City and its inhabitants. And, in the end, that was what was important. It would be one thing if they didn¡¯t have the ability to back up their claim that they were the strongest, but if it was proven that they were, and that was half the reason this test was happening in the first place, then they would be vindicated. There was a murmur of anticipation from the crowd as the first monster appeared, its stats helpfully displayed on the TVs that were broadcasting the event. And, as Tess had expected, it was a strong one; it was a level one hundred and fifteen wolf, with sky-high offensive stats and what seemed like decent defenses, and it was already barreling towards the wall. Atum jumped off of the wall, raising a gauntleted arm and catching the wolf¡¯s bite before grabbing its muzzle with a hand and forcing it shut. As he did, his HP popped up on the monitor, showing that he had taken about five hundred damage from the attack out of his total of over twenty thousand. That could only have been the work of a Skill, Title, or Class, since even if Atum had gained the maximum amount of HP every level, he would have to be over level two hundred to reach that amount of HP. The monster thrashed about, but Atum was firm, holding it in place until Eyfura descended, neatly decapitating it with a single strike of her claws. Unsurprisingly, this instantly killed the monster, and the two frontliners instantly moved on to the next. While they worked, Gramps and Ava supported them with spells, buffing them, warding away or killing monsters, and generally shaping the battlefield so that it was as advantageous as possible for the defenders. Not that the defenders who weren¡¯t part of the Titans had much to do for the time being. The Titans had the battlefield locked down, absolutely dominating the fight and keeping anything from getting too close. Some of the defenders with ranged attacks took potshots at the monsters, but they weren¡¯t making nearly as much of a difference as any individual member of the Titans. ¡°For those of you who haven¡¯t experienced a monster surge, don¡¯t take this as any indicator of how the rest of it will go.¡± One of the commentators, the woman who commentated for the Challenger¡¯s League, said. ¡°Right now, only the fastest monsters will have made it to the walls. In a minute or two, the bulk of the horde will be upon them. ¡°Still, I have to admit, I haven¡¯t seen such raw skill on display in a long time; for the layman it might be hard to tell, but they aren¡¯t wasting a single point of their resources. There¡¯s no excessive overkill, no unnecessary overlap in their targets, and despite everything they¡¯re doing they seem to be running a net neutral in their resource expenditure. If we could have their resources displayed on screen¡­yes, there we go.¡± Four windows, one for each of the Titans, popped up on the displays, containing their HP, Mana, and Stamina. ¡°As you can see, they¡¯re hovering just below max in everything. They¡¯re making the most of their regenerative abilities, using just enough to swiftly dispatch their enemies. This is a lot harder to do than it looks, and it requires a deep knowledge of your own capabilities and enough experience to determine how much is needed for each opponent.¡± The commentator, Elara, paused, and then a veritable army of monsters descended upon the Titans. ¡°And now comes the real meat of it.¡± Elara said. ¡°I¡¯m curious to see how they handle this.¡± Atum roared, and the wave of monsters instantly honed in on him, dozens flocking him and blocking the camera¡¯s view of him. From the status bars shown on-screen, though, it was clear that his HP was declining at an alarming rate before suddenly stopping at exactly half of his maximum. A moment later the monsters that were on him were violently flung away from him, his visibly battered figure once again becoming visible. It wasn¡¯t battered for long, though; he sprang into action, delivering lightning-quick finishing blows to the monsters, each one healing his wounds until he was eventually back at full. As he worked, Eyfura and Ava picked off anything that wasn¡¯t targeting Atum, backed up by the rest of the defenders. It was all going well, and it was clear that ¨C The fur on Tess¡¯s ears and tail stood on end, and she reflexively shrank back into her seat as a charged feeling suddenly descended on the area. The camera¡¯s focus instantly changed to Gramps, who was in the middle of chanting a spell, several absolutely enormous and dizzyingly complex magic circles shining brightly around him. He pointed his staff forward and there was a brief pause, followed by an enormous flash of light, bright enough to make Tess look away for a moment to escape its sheer intensity. She couldn¡¯t properly hear the sound, the Arena¡¯s soundproofing preventing it from coming through anywhere but the speakers on the displays, but even that was overwhelmingly loud. When the dust settled, there were no more monsters. The glass separating the Arena from the rest of the world was cracked, and a hushed silence fell across the crowed. Elara was the first to speak up. ¡°W-what?¡± She stammered. ¡°R-replay that on the displays, the cameras should have been able to see through that flash of light.¡± A moment later, the figure of Gramps pointing his staff forward was once again visible on the displays. As he finished his spell, the displays went into slow motion, and what appeared to be bolts of black lightning erupted from the circles around him, homing in on the monsters and arcing through their ranks. The bolts melted through the monsters like nothing, eventually reaching up and hitting the flying monsters. That seemed to be where the cracks in the Arena¡¯s glass had come from, impact from the bolts as they continued on their path upwards as they finished eviscerating the last of the monsters. Gramps drank a potion, his prodigious Mana pool beginning to refill after being almost completely emptied, then nodded at Ava. ¡°I¡¯m bringing us to the next location.¡± He announced. ¡°The rest of the defenders on this wall should be able to hold it from here.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. A chime rang, and then Alberich spoke. ¡°No need.¡± He said. ¡°The Arena won¡¯t be able to handle much more than that, and I think we examiners have seen all we need to. We¡¯ll end the simulation there, and begin the next phase of your test. We will be bringing you to one of the university¡¯s private rooms for a one-hour recess, after which we will lead you back to stadium three for testing. ¡°For those watching at home, there will be a short five-minute break as we change locations, then we will be streaming the examiner¡¯s deliberation until the next phase of the test begins. For those of you here in person, this deliberation will occur in stadium three, and will be broadcast to the displays in this stadium as well. Feel free to make your way to stadium three at your leisure.¡± An excited murmur began as people started to rise from their seats. Tess, already rising, added to this murmur by asking a simple question. ¡°What did Gramps just do?¡± ¡°Obscenely high-level magic.¡± Amara replied, standing up as well and beginning to walk towards the aisle. ¡°Him and Alberich are probably the only ones who can manage something on that scale. To be honest, I¡¯m kind of surprised to see him pull it out here, he must really want to make an impression.¡± ¡°And that thing Atum did?¡± Ellie asked, getting up and following Amara, Tess and Maven close behind. ¡°He absorbs damage dealt to him then reflects it to anything within a certain radius.¡± Amara explained. ¡°Whenever he hits half health, he becomes invincible for fifteen seconds, and all effects he has, positive and negative, are removed. This effect refreshes when he regains, or would regain if he¡¯s at max HP, the equivalent of his entire HP pool without any outside aid, and he has a lot of ways to regain HP. Against swarms like this, he¡¯s practically unkillable. Ava and Eyfura have similarly overwhelming abilities, as do most high-level people, but they weren¡¯t necessary in this case. I imagine we¡¯ll see them before this test is over, though.¡± The four of them relocated to stadium three, chatting all the while. As promised, The examiners began to talk about their thoughts on the test, but it wasn¡¯t anything Tess hadn¡¯t expected. They seemed a little disappointed that the scenario had to be cut short, but ultimately reasoned that the fact that they had to cut it short at all was a good enough indicator of their power; no one else had actually managed to damage an Arena unintentionally, and it was clear that they had the situation well and truly under control before they stopped. Soon enough, time for the second part of their test arrived, and the Titans were led out into the stadium proper. Once they were in, Elara began to speak, and a hush fell over the audience. ¡°Welcome, everyone, to the final part of this exam!¡± She said brightly. ¡°While there would normally be a written examination in this test, we have ultimately decided that it would be meaningless. The Titans have shaped most of the guild¡¯s policy on how events are to be handled, and as such most grading would simply boil down to seeing if their advice is consistent. ¡°That being the case, we decided the previous test would be a good enough test of their decision-making capabilities, and instead want to provide people with something a bit more¡­concrete. As such, this test will be an endurance competition! We have gathered every rank nine and ten party who is taking the rank examination, and will be having them face off against the Titans back-to-back! ¡°For the sake of not completely overwhelming the rank nine parties, we will be starting with the parties the guild has estimated to be the strongest and working our way down, so by the time the are reached, the Titans will be low on resources and the fight will be somewhat fairer. We will, of course, be using a Gauntlet of Challenge for this, and fights will have as little downtime between them as possible. ¡°Likewise, stalling for time inside of a fight to allow for resources to regenerate is forbidden, and will be handled on a case-by-case basis. But, without further ado, let¡¯s begin with the party the guild reckons to be the strongest in our list of combatants¡­the rank ten party, Stargazers!¡± ¡°Is this what you expected?¡± Ellie asked Amara. ¡°Yup. It makes sense; if you want to prove that the Titans are the strongest, what better way to do it than to have them fight literally everyone else in contention? I don¡¯t think any of these parties are here because actually believe they¡¯ll be able to beat the Titans in combat, but I¡¯m sure this will be factored into their examinations. Plus, it¡¯s not every day you get the opportunity to spar with a party on the level of the Titans, and a lot of experienced freelancers would jump at that opportunity.¡± Six people in full battle attire walked out into the stadium, and the displays zoomed to show as they walked up to the Titans, their leader holding out a Gauntlet of Challenge. To Tess¡¯s surprise, as Gramps went through the motions, Ava turned so that she was looking directly at Tess, and her voice rang out in Tess¡¯s mind. Watch me carefully during these exhibition bouts. She instructed. This will be an excellent demonstration of many of the principles I taught you applied at a high level, and I hope you can learn something from this. She turned back to the other party, and the match began shortly thereafter. And, though the other party had a numbers advantage, it was clear from the onset that they wouldn¡¯t be winning the fight. Just like when The Rumors had sparred with the Titans, the other party just wasn¡¯t able to do anything; each time they tried, it was shut down. The spellcasters were completely countered by Gramps, Atum intercepted the physical fighters, Eyfura kept the enemy pinned down with constant attacks, and Ava filled in where there were any gaps. In general, Tess was surprised by just how much of a problem Ava was for her opponents. While she may not have been as durable as Atum, as powerful as Eyfura, or as magically adept as Gramps, she was the glue that held their team together, her timely intervention allowing the others to operate almost exclusively in the areas they excelled in. Furthermore, she was just hard to deal with in general; she made liberal use of damage-reflecting abilities like Return to Sender and evasive tricks like short-distance teleports to keep her opponents on their toes, and if she ever had a moment¡¯s leeway, she would buff her allies, debuff her enemies, or land a nasty strike from an unexpected angle. The turning point of the fight came only a minute or two in, when Ava¡¯s figure suddenly disappeared, followed shortly by the other party¡¯s healer dropping. And, with him gone, they were no longer able to keep up with the sheer damage Eyfura was outputting. ¡°And that¡¯s one of Ava¡¯s big abilities.¡± Amara commented. ¡°For a hefty sum of Mana and Stamina, she can make everyone around her completely lose track of her. You have to focus really hard to pick her out again, and that¡¯s kind of a big ask when you factor in how stealthy she is normally and the fact that you¡¯re dealing with the rest of her party. The fight¡¯s over.¡± As if she had heard what Amara was saying, Eyfura¡¯s figured blurred, her speed increasing to absurd levels as she began to systematically dismantle what remained of her opposition. ¡°And that would be one of Eyfura¡¯s trump cards.¡± Amara said. ¡°They¡¯re using a lot of resources, but I¡¯m guessing they determined that dragging it out would use more overall. These early fights are the scariest for them; they¡¯re against people who are projected to be their strongest opponents, and resource management here is critical. ¡°The biggest question here is how long the time between each fight will be. Even just a difference of one minute will mean that they can probably go net neutral on Stamina and Mana once they start getting into the weaker rank ten parties, and at that point¡­well, if they¡¯re really careful with ability usage they can even start regenerating more than they spend when you take in-fight time into account, and at that point the rest is just a formality.¡± As Amara spoke, Eyfura took down the other mage in the party, Atum and Ava forcing their opponents to turn their focus elsewhere. And, with no mage to interact with Gramps¡¯s spells, the fight quickly turned into a one-sided affair, and the Titans emerged victorious. As it turned out, the time between fights was only fifteen or so seconds. Alberich would teleport the losers away before teleporting the new fighters in, then they would set up the fight and continue on. But, even with minimal time to regenerate their resources, the next few fights went much the same way as the first had. The Titans seemed to have an innate understanding of how best to counter their opponents, time and time again exploiting even the tiniest flaws before cracking their opponents¡¯ formations wide open and mercilessly finishing them off. After that, though, things began to slow; thanks to the displays, Tess could see the tax on the Titans¡¯ resources starting to show, and they began to be more conservative with their abilities, making fights last longer. Still, they showed no signs of being cornered, plowing through party after party as their resources inched closer and closer to empty. Then, after what seemed like almost an hour of straight fighting, things began to change. The fights began to slowly but surely grow faster, The Titan¡¯s resources emptying slower and slower as they were able to dispatch their opponents quicker. By the time The Rumors showed up about thirty minutes after that, it had reached a point where they were nearly at equilibrium, and the resulting fight was just as one-sided as it had been when The Rumors sparred with the Titans while they were training the members of Maelstrom. And, when a total of almost two hours had elapsed, no one else came. ¡°That¡­marks the end of them.¡± Elara said dumbfoundedly. ¡°the Titans win in a landslide victory. We will take a five-minute recess while the other examiners and I retire to a secluded place to deliberate without being interrupted. As promised, this deliberation will be streamed, and we will show it on the displays here in stadium three if you have attended in-person and wish to see it. Those of you who were involved in today¡¯s test are officially dismissed.¡± ¡°Well, that was a fun few hours.¡± Ava said, sitting in a seat next to Amara like she had been there the whole time. ¡°What¡¯d you all think?¡± Tess nearly jumped out of her skin at her unexpected appearance, but quickly rallied. ¡°it was impressive.¡± She said. ¡°Really impressive.¡± ¡°Well, that was kind of the point, so I¡¯m glad to see it worked. Anyway, the rest of my party and I are going to get lunch, and we figured we¡¯d invite you four while you¡¯re here. What do you say?¡± ¡°I¡¯m down.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I don¡¯t have any plans for the rest of the day.¡± ¡°Same.¡± Tess added. ¡°Me as well.¡± Maven agreed. ¡°Lunch sounds good.¡± Amara said. ¡°Where are we eating?¡± ¡°A little diner near here, I¡¯ll text you the address. Meet us there in¡­let¡¯s say fifteen minutes?¡± And with that Ava was gone, back with the rest of her party down below. ¡°I suppose we should go reserve a table, then.¡± Maven said, standing up. ¡°Shall we?¡± Chapter 118: Lunch and Life Changes ¡°So, I have to ask¡­were you ever actually in danger of losing?¡± Tess asked. ¡°It didn¡¯t feel like it, but I¡¯m guessing you were trying to downplay any moments of weakness.¡± ¡°Sort of?¡± Atum said, spearing a piece of stake with a fork. ¡°In any individual match, no. The four of us are reasonably confident that we can beat any party registered with the guild, but if we were off in our calculations, we could have used too many of our resources in the first few rounds and run out of steam later.¡± ¡°The format wasn¡¯t exactly ideal for our opponents.¡± Ava said. ¡°It sounds fine on paper, and for a lot of parties it would work fine, but our examiners severely underestimated the extent of our regeneration. Of course, Alberich and Kane wouldn¡¯t make that mistake, but they probably didn¡¯t have enough sway in the group to fix that.¡± ¡°Eh, I¡¯m sure they could if they really wanted to, but I¡¯m betting they chose to not reveal that they knew more about our abilities than everyone else.¡± Eyfura speculated. ¡°They probably used that effort to try and make the simulation harder, not that that worked out well for them.¡± Eyfura flashed everyone a grin. ¡°I haven¡¯t had an opportunity to rampage like that in ages, not as myself, I¡¯d forgotten how good it can feel. Did you see the look on Elara¡¯s face when she realized that we¡¯d started regaining more than we were spending? It was priceless.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask, but how were The Rumors?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Do you think they¡¯re going to rank up?¡± ¡°They¡¯ve been on the cusp of a promotion for a while now,¡± Gramps replied, ¡°and they¡¯ve grown a lot since the last time we sparred. Don¡¯t tell them I said this, I wouldn¡¯t want to put ideas into their heads and influence how they do things, but I think they¡¯ll finally hit rank ten this exam.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear it,¡± Ellie said, ¡°I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be ecstatic. Uh, changing the topic a bit again, but do you mind telling us more about Elara? I heard a bit about her from Amara, but she took a pretty prominent role in narrating things, so I¡¯m curious.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure we have nothing to say about her that Amara hasn¡¯t told you.¡± Ava replied. ¡°She¡¯s a war hero who works as a fight commentator now. The only reason she talked so much was because that¡¯s her job; she needed to make sure normal people could have even a slight understanding of what was happening. That¡¯s not to say she didn¡¯t have a hand in other parts of the process, I¡¯m sure she did, but all those examiners probably had a tacit understanding that she¡¯d do most of the explaining to the public during and those sections of the test.¡± ¡°She seemed surprised by your abilities.¡± Tess said. ¡°Did she not work much with you in the war?¡± ¡°We showed off some stuff we haven¡¯t shown in public before.¡± Gramps explained. ¡°We¡¯ve gained some new abilities since the war, and we don¡¯t often fight publicly. We aren¡¯t very close, so she had no real way of knowing what we¡¯re capable. Only Alberich and Kane really did.¡± Their conversation was interrupted as the server came to take their orders. Once he left, they resumed. ¡°So, do you have a guess as to where they¡¯re going to place you?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Rank-wise, that is.¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re assuming somewhere in the realm of rank fourteen or fifteen.¡± Atum replied. ¡°The idea with the new ranks was to spread out the top of rank ten to ranks eleven to thirteenish, and our performance was hopefully a step above theirs. Plus, I don¡¯t think a lot of the higher-ranked parties would be happier if we were lower, since we feel almost unattainably strong to a lot of them, and having us lower makes those ranks feel out of reach.¡± ¡°But you¡¯re opening the ranks all the way up to twenty now, right?¡± Ellie asked, frowning. ¡°How will people know when it¡¯s time to start applying for the next ranks?¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be as levels rise and as we introduce new initiatives.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Savage dungeons will definitely be one of those, but other than that it¡¯s a process that¡¯s going to take hundreds or thousands of years.¡± ¡°Ah, right. To tell you the truth, I sometimes forget the time scale we¡¯re working with now.¡± Ellie admitted. ¡°Somewhere in the back of my mind I still expect to be dead in eighty years, you know?¡± ¡°I would certainly hope you won¡¯t be!¡± Maven said, reaching over and grabbing Ellie¡¯s hand. ¡°Though I suppose I can¡¯t really understand the mindset. Natural lifespan just¡­isn¡¯t really a factor for a lot of people, as long as they¡¯re willing to put in the effort with running dungeons and leveling up. I always assumed that I would only permanently die if I was careless or a sudden monster surge happened or there was a rebellion or something and people couldn¡¯t resurrect me in time. But¡­those are the sorts of things that don¡¯t happen often.¡± Tess couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of her parents¡¯ deaths, how, if things had been slightly different, they would still¡­be here. If they hadn¡¯t crashed over the ocean, or if Gramps had been allowed to use magic to retrieve them, or¡­any one of a number of things. She hoped that, if they had gone to the afterlife instead of being reincarnated, that they were happy, and that they were proud of her. She¡¯d¡­have to ask her mother or Amy about it, and see if she could just¡­talk with them one more time if they were still around. Tess only realized she had become lost in her thoughts when Maven laid a hand on her thigh. ¡°Oh. I¡­forgot about your parents.¡± She said embarrassedly, looking down. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to make things awkward.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, I¡¯m about as over it as I can be.¡± Tess said. ¡°I just get lost in thought sometimes, you know?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no point in walking on eggshells around every topic like this.¡± Ellie added. ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything wrong.¡± Gramps gave Maven a sad smile. ¡°Unfortunately, this is the nature of life.¡± He said. ¡°Tragedy happens, and none of us are immune, as much as we might wish we were.¡± ¡°But, when it does happen, remember that you have us, and as much as some people might wish, we can¡¯t die permanently so long as we haven¡¯t done something to revoke our status as Appointed.¡± Amara added. ¡°Us and the gods. We¡¯re all in this together, so ¨C¡± Tess winced as there was a sudden unpleasant sensation that, blessedly, was gone as quickly as it had arrived, leaving only a window in its wake.
Global Chat: Amy: Hey everyone, it¡¯s Amy. You may or may not have heard that in the past month or two, I¡¯ve been working on a new system of communication for the gods and Appointed, and I¡¯m happy to say that I have just put it into practice. For those of you who are familiar with online messaging apps, this will likely be pretty easy to adjust to. Like with other windows, this is going to be controlled entirely through your mind, and there isn¡¯t going to be any Worship cost associated with it; I¡¯ve paid it all up-front. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. I¡¯ve left a short tutorial for anyone who wants it, just focus on it and it¡¯ll appear. If you have any other questions about it in practice, I¡¯m always available, and Tess, Ellie, Maven, Fortune, Life, Death, and Dungeons have been using this system with slightly fewer features for a few months now, I¡¯m sure they¡¯d be willing to help if you¡¯re polite about it. Also, please refrain from using global chat unless it¡¯s important ¨C everyone will get the message, and it could be distracting. You can make separate rooms with only certain people, though, I¡¯d advise messing around with those, you should find them much more convenient than phones. Oh, and while I have you all here, starting tomorrow, I will begin making all Appointed Higher Beings. I¡¯m having to go through a bit more of an intensive process in order to keep Descents working, and this will involve everyone, including gods without Appointed. So, please message me to set up a day for me to make the modifications. And do it through a private chat with this new system, just so I know you¡¯ve figured it out. This will, for the most part, be first-come first-serve, but Tess, Ellie, and Maven will have priority due to their wedding being soon and their schedules being busy. Speaking of, since I have been asked about it a couple of times, there are no restrictions on going to the mortal realm for the wedding, so long as you have a perception filter up for people who don¡¯t know of their status as Appointed. If you¡¯re interested in attending, speak to them about it.
Group Message (Amy, Death, Dungeons, Ellie, Fortune, Life, Maven, Tess) Amy: Hey you all, just sending you an extra window to let you know there are some new features you may want to check out. I don¡¯t want to expand the tutorial just for that, and I see you all are in the middle of lunch, so I¡¯ll send you a message running over the features and various other tweaks I¡¯ve made when you¡¯re finished. And, of course, feel free to hit me up if you have questions. I¡¯ll leave you all to it now, enjoy!
There was a couple minutes of silence as everyone read the windows. ¡°You know¡­¡± Tess began, ¡°I always wondered what exactly the limitations on the gods coming here were. I don¡¯t think I ever actually asked.¡±
Group Message (Amara, Ava, Atum, Death, Dungeons, Ellie, Evan, Eyfura, Fortune, Life, Maven) Fortune: They¡¯re more suggestions than hard limitations, really. Oh, and before anyone asks, I included Amara and the Titans here so they wouldn¡¯t be left out of the conversation Death: There¡¯s gotta be a way to shorten the participant list¡­well, after lunch, I guess. Anyway, yeah, we¡¯re not, like, explicitly banned or anything, we usually just need to let Amy know and also be completely incognito. Amy was basically just getting the perception filter rules out there so others didn¡¯t have to ask. Tess: That¡¯s not as much as I thought, honestly. With how little everyone seems to come down¡­ Fortune: There¡¯s not much to do down there that we can¡¯t do up here. We can¡¯t exactly form normal relationships with mortals, so the internet is¡­basically as good as we can get in terms of interacting with people outside of the gods and Appointed. Some gods like to take walks in uninhabited places and stuff but at least the four of us are homebodies. Ava: So, this is what it¡¯s like. Heroes and I always talk telepathically, so I had always sort of wondered how the whole window-chat thing was. That aside, most of the gods I¡¯ve spoken to share the sentiment Fortune and Death talk about, so the restrictions aren¡¯t something they tend to think about.
That question answered, the conversation drifted to other subjects, and the food came shortly thereafter. All too soon, the lunch had finished, everyone said their goodbyes, and the members of Maelstrom began their trip home. On their way, they received the promised message from Amy.
Group Message (Amy, Death, Dungeons, Ellie, Fortune, Life, Maven) Amy: Okay, so, I¡¯ve made a few upgrades and tweaks to the system you¡¯ve been using. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve already noticed that all message groups, by default, come with a notifier that says who is in it. I¡¯ve added a settings window for each group, so if you want to turn it off for your usual group you can. And, yes, Death, there is a way to shorten the participant list, focus on settings and you¡¯ll be able to create ¡°groupings¡± that will display merge groups of people under a nickname. If you have multiple valid groups in a group message, the largest is displayed. Aside from that, I¡¯ve added support for sending images as well as telepathic communication. They work a little differently than standard apps; for the images, you have two ¡°modes¡±, one that just captures the entirety of what you can currently see, and one that will only capture something you define as a discrete ¡°image¡±. Basically, as long as you can clearly separate it from the rest of your vision, you can post it. Good for like, showing the screen of your phone or capturing a screenshot of a window. For the telepathic communication, well that¡¯s actually pretty similar to most voice chats, but the main difference is that it preserves a log of the communication. It actually wasn¡¯t significantly harder to store than raw text, but it doesn¡¯t have a search function. Yet. I¡¯m working on it. Also, I added a function that gives you access to the internet from the windows, and I¡¯m working on expanding it to function as an entire computer, but that¡¯s a bit more complicated. Give it a month or two, though, and I¡¯ll have it out. For computer stuff, the windows work as a touchscreen, or you can control the ¡°mouse¡± and ¡°keyboard¡± with your mind. And before you ask, Death, copy-pasting works. I did have a few of the ¡°entire computer¡± functions ready, so those have been rolled in already; first, a note app, nothing crazy but I imagine people will find use for it. Then there¡¯s a clock/timer/alarm, set to your current time by default but you can check the time at any locale pretty easily. And, finally and most importantly, I¡¯ve integrated the map function of the viewing terminals into this system. You¡¯ll have to put a bit of Worship in to get it to work, but it¡¯s pretty miniscule, so even just your passive income should be enough for normal usage when you become Higher Beings. Anyway, that should be most everything big, the rest is mostly backend optimizations and minor text changes. If you encounter any bugs or anything, though, make sure to let me know, okay? Life: We will, thank you, Amy.
¡°Well¡­about our appointments¡­¡± Ellie began, ¡°I have an opening on Friday, so I was sort of thinking about getting it done then.¡± ¡°I was angling for tomorrow.¡± Tess said. ¡°But I¡¯m pretty flexible, I only have a few things this week.¡± ¡°Likewise.¡± Maven added. ¡°You take tomorrow, then, and I¡¯ll take the day after.¡± ¡°Deal, let me ask Amy now.¡± Tess replied.
Direct Message (Amy): Tess: Hey, Amy, do you have an opening tomorrow for the whole Higher Being thing? Amy: Absolutely. It¡¯ll take twelve or thirteen hours, is that alright? You¡¯ll be unconscious for 99% of it, but you just won¡¯t be able to do much else that day. Tess: That¡¯s fine, when should I be there? Amy: 8 AM your time would be ideal. Tess: Alright, I¡¯ll be there. Ellie and Maven have days in mind too, so expect messages from them soon. Amy: Thanks, see you tomorrow! Tess: See you tomorrow!
¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be leaving at eight in the morning tomorrow.¡± Tess relayed. ¡°Amy said it¡¯ll take twelve or thirteen hours, so I won¡¯t be back until late. Also, I let her know that you two have days in mind and that you¡¯d be messaging her, so feel free to get that hashed out whenever.¡± Maven nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll get on that.¡± She said. She and Ellie took turns messaging Amy, and then the three of them began to chat for the rest of their walk home. Tess couldn¡¯t help but be a little nervous about tomorrow, but she trusted in Amy, and it wasn¡¯t like she would even be awake for most of it. So, there was nothing for it but to put it out of her mind and enjoy the moment. Chapter 119: Higher Being ¡°So, um, what¡¯s this going to be like?¡± Tess asked nervously. ¡°I know you said I¡¯ll be unconscious, but¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s totally understandable to be nervous.¡± Amy said reassuringly. ¡°You¡¯re undergoing a huge change, most people would be nervous about that sort of thing.¡± Amy patted a padded table in the middle of the room. ¡°Just lay here and I¡¯ll take care of everything. As for how it¡¯ll affect you, it depends on the person, but you¡¯ll probably feel a little off for a day or two after; your soul is adapting to Worship, and unfortunately there¡¯s not much of a way around it. ¡°Hopefully the fact that you¡¯re an Appointed and are already more accustomed to Worship than the average soul will ease the process, but if you have a headache or feel queasy, I would recommend just resting. It won¡¯t actually help you recover faster or reduce the intensity of the symptoms, since this is a soul issue and not a body issue, but you¡¯ll probably feel more comfortable. Likewise, medicine and healing magic isn¡¯t going to help, but most people say it¡¯s not much worse than having the flu.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Tess asked, blinking in surprise. ¡°Yup. Before we begin, though, do you have any questions about Higher Beings and what it means for you to become one?¡± ¡°So¡­I¡¯ve heard a bit and just sort of want to make sure I¡¯m understanding right, but I¡¯m basically becoming one of the gods, but like¡­not publicly?¡± ¡°Yes and no.¡± Amy replied. ¡°Gods are, in essence, just Higher Beings with a defined role and place in society, it helps with the efficient gathering of Worship. At a base level, though, the only difference is that you won¡¯t have a Domain.¡± She held up a hand, forestalling any further comment. ¡°A Domain is an area that I have explicitly put you in charge of. Any Worship-generating activities related to that Domain will go primarily to whatever Higher Beings are in charge of that Domain, with only a bit going to me. ¡°After a year or two has passed and I¡¯m absolutely sure there are no unexpected side-effects related to Descent, I¡¯m going to revisit Domains with the Appointed. There¡¯s a very good chance I can make it so all Appointed are collectively in charge of the ¡®Appointed Domain¡¯ and that¡¯ll help boost your Worship production a bit. ¡°Other than that, you¡¯re mostly just going to be getting a suite of benefits that come with being a Higher Being; most notably, you¡¯re going to stop aging regardless of your level, you¡¯ll be effectively immune to mental effects that don¡¯t use Worship, and if you die, there is absolutely no chance of you ever being permanently dead. To permanently kill a Higher Being, you have to go through a very specific process, the only way it could happen is if another Higher Being tries to do it to you, and I will notice far before it gets remotely dangerous for you. ¡°Unfortunately, being a Higher Being does mean that even most resurrection spells that would have worked on you as an Appointed won¡¯t work anymore, I think Life is basically the only one who has something that can do the trick aside from me. But, even if you don''t get resurrected with an ability, you¡¯ll revive after you would gather enough Worship via normal means or if someone provides that Worship. ¡°I don¡¯t foresee it being a problem, though, we haven¡¯t had an Appointed die in centuries, and even if you¡¯re in training you always have Descent to back you up. Really, your daily life shouldn¡¯t see many changes¡­wait, I¡¯m lying. Just by virtue of being a Higher Being, you¡¯ll find it easier to use system-based abilities on Mael, thanks to your innate Worship.¡± Amy frowned. ¡°But you¡¯ve already been using Monster Breeder¡­no, I suppose that has too much Worship in it to count, even if the individual abilities tied to it don¡¯t. Regardless, you¡¯ll find yourself more powerful on Mael. Anyway, does that answer the questions you had?¡± Tess nodded, climbing up onto the table and laying down. ¡°I think so. I¡¯m ready to start whenever.¡± ¡°Alright, we¡¯re done.¡± Amy said, leaning over Tess. ¡°What?¡± Tess asked groggily. ¡°But we didn¡¯t even¡­¡± ¡°I put you to sleep the moment you said you were ready.¡± Amy explained. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Tess sat up, turning her attention to her own body. ¡°Fine?¡± She said questioningly. ¡°No different than I did before, and I don¡¯t feel sick or anything.¡± Amy raised an eyebrow. ¡°Nothing at all?¡± She asked skeptically. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you suddenly being right over me, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell you had done anything.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°I suppose that you would be much more accustomed to Worship than most Appointed¡­well, no use in dwelling on it, you¡¯re definitely a Higher Being now.¡± Amy said, shrugging. ¡°Your mother is waiting just outside the room, why don¡¯t you go talk to her and let her know you¡¯re okay?¡± Tess nodded, hopping off of the table. ¡°Thanks, Amy.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Amy replied, giving Tess a fond smile. Tess left the room, and sure enough Fortune was sitting on a chair outside, wearing a worried expression. As the door opened, she looked up, then burst into a relieved smile. ¡°How do you feel?¡± She asked, standing up and walking over to give Tess a hug. ¡°I feel fine, Mom.¡± She said. ¡°Not sick or anything. Amy thinks it¡¯s because I¡¯m more used to Worship than most Appointed.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear it.¡± Fortune said, stroking Tess¡¯s hair gently. ¡°Amy assured me it¡¯d be fine, but I couldn¡¯t help but worry, you know?¡± Tess smiled happily. ¡°Thanks.¡± She said. Fortune blinked. ¡°For what?¡± ¡°For waiting for me. It makes me happy to know you care that much.¡± ¡°Of course I care!¡± Fortune said emphatically. ¡°I¡¯d do anything for you.¡± Tess rested her head on her mother¡¯s chest. ¡°Um, if you don¡¯t mind, do you want to grab something to eat with me?¡± She suggested. ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten since the morning and I¡¯m hungry.¡± ¡°I¡¯d love to.¡± Fortune said. ¡°While we¡¯re on the way to the kitchen, why don¡¯t you let everyone else know you¡¯re alright? They¡¯re worrying too.¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Yeah, I will.¡±
Tess: Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know that we finished and I¡¯m feeling fine. I¡¯m going to grab some dinner with Mom and then I¡¯ll be heading home, so don¡¯t freak out when I¡¯m a little late. Death: Oh, good! Glad to hear it! Life: Likewise. Don¡¯t push yourself for the next day or two, however, just to be safe. Dungeons: Yep, strictly R&R for you until we¡¯re 100% sure you¡¯ve fully adjusted. Tess: No, really, I¡¯m fine, Amy thinks that I¡¯m just more used to Worship than other Appointed. Besides, she said resting won¡¯t actually help, since it¡¯s a soul thing and not a body thing. Maven: Even if you feel fine, it would put our minds at ease. Ellie: ^ Tess: Fine, I¡¯ll abstain from any strenuous activity. Ellie: Good. We¡¯ll talk more when you get home, k?
Tess smiled as she dismissed the chat window, then gave her mother another hug. ¡°I¡¯m so lucky to have you guys.¡± She said. ¡°I love you.¡± Fortune turned, giving Tess a smile as she returned the hug. ¡°I love you too.¡±
Tess shifted nervously before she spoke. ¡°Um, hey, it¡¯s been a while, Mom, Dad.¡± She said, laying the bouquet of flowers down on the grave in front of her. She was in the cemetery in her town in Mael, and while these graves didn¡¯t actually contain her parents¡¯ bodies, they had made a point of making them anyway. It had just felt¡­right. ¡°You might not recognize me, but it¡¯s me, Thomas. I¡­haven¡¯t been by to visit in a while, and a lot has changed.¡± ¡°We know.¡± The voice of Tess¡¯s father rang out, causing her to look up in shock. There, in front of her, were the transparent figures of her parents, hovering slightly over their grave. ¡°Mom¡­Dad?¡± Tess croaked. ¡°Is it¡­really you?¡± Tess¡¯s mother nodded. ¡°Fortune asked Amy for permission for us to come talk to you, she knew you had been curious about us. When she got permission, she came and had a chat with us, and gave us enough god power to appear for half an hour.¡± ¡°So¡­you did go to the afterlife, then?¡± Tess asked. ¡°You weren¡¯t reincarnated?¡± Tess¡¯s father reached out to tousle Tess¡¯s hair, but he had no physical presence, so his hand ended up going straight through her. ¡°Yes. Given how you¡¯d be adopted by Evan, Amy brought us and Ellie¡¯s parents to the afterlife instead of reincarnating us, on the off-chance you¡¯d become important like this.¡± ¡°I¡­I¡¯m sorry.¡± Tess said, tears starting to form in her eyes. ¡°I know it may not seem like it, but not a day has gone by that I haven¡¯t missed you.¡± ¡°We know.¡± Tess¡¯s mother said gently. ¡°And love isn¡¯t a zero-sum game, Tess. Fortune cares for you deeply, and we don¡¯t feel like your love is diminished just because you found another parent. More than anything, we¡¯re just overjoyed that you¡¯ve found family again. Seeing you so happy lately has, in turn, made us incredibly happy.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been watching you this whole time.¡± Her father added, reaching out to ineffectually wipe away the tears that were starting to spill from Tess¡¯s eyes. ¡°And we want you to know that we are unbelievably proud of you. You¡¯ve been through so, so much, and you¡¯re every bit the intelligent, strong, confident, gorgeous young woman we knew you could be.¡± ¡°Not that we knew you would be a woman, but I always had wanted a daughter.¡± Tess¡¯s mother said, giving her a smile. ¡°Just to be absolutely sure, but you¡¯re fine with this, right? I¡¯m sure there are ways to get you back to being a boy, and if we raise a big enough stink, we can make it happen.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Um, to be honest, if I could make it so that everything about my life would stay the same but I went back to being a boy¡­I wouldn¡¯t. I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s not like I would be devastated if that happened, but¡­well, this is me now. It hasn¡¯t even been a year, but I¡¯ve had so many new and amazing experiences in the time that it feels like it¡¯s been much longer. ¡°Looking back¡­I¡¯m even grateful it happened. If it hadn¡¯t, then Ellie and I wouldn¡¯t be together, and the same would probably go for Maven. It caused me a lot of distress at the start, but it¡¯s given me more happiness, if that makes sense.¡± ¡°Of course it does.¡± Tess¡¯s father replied. ¡°And we wholeheartedly support you with whatever you choose to do with your life. Which¡­speaking of, congratulations on the wedding. We¡¯ll be watching in spirit, even if we can¡¯t be there in person.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see what you look like as a bride.¡± Tess¡¯s mother said. ¡°Or¡­knowing Ellie, you¡¯ll probably be dressed as the groom, but whatever you wear, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be absolutely stunning. Really, it makes me wonder where you got that beauty from, because it certainly wasn¡¯t your father.¡± Tess¡¯s father rolled his eyes. ¡°Very funny, we all know exactly where it came from. Don¡¯t listen to her, Tess, even with your changes, I can see plenty of myself and your mother in you still. And even if I didn¡¯t, you¡¯re still our precious daughter, and nothing will ever change that.¡± Tess sniffed, reaching up and wiping her eyes. ¡°Thank you.¡± She whispered. ¡°It means the world to me to hear you say that. Um¡­¡± Tess floundered, wiping her eyes once again. ¡°There are so many things I wanted to say to you two if I ever talked with you again, but I just¡­can¡¯t seem to find words right now.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Tess¡¯s father said soothingly. ¡°Take your time. Even if we run out of the thirty minutes of time we have, we¡¯ll be listening from the afterlife.¡± ¡°I just¡­I just wish I had told you I loved you more.¡± Tess sniffed. ¡°I wish I had been more appreciative of everything you did for me. I took it all for granted, and I didn¡¯t realize how good I had it until you were gone.¡± ¡°Tess, you were a child.¡± Tess¡¯s mother said. ¡°It¡¯s okay that you were unaware. We never thought that you didn¡¯t love us, and raising you was our joy. We said it before, but we really couldn¡¯t be happier with how you¡¯ve turned out, you¡¯ve gone so far above and beyond everything we ever could have dreamed possible.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think any of us could have envisioned anything like this being even remotely possible.¡± Tess said wryly. ¡°Yes, but even if we ignore the more supernatural part of it all, we¡¯re still happy with how you behave and the direction you¡¯ve decided to take your life.¡± Her father replied. ¡°You have the capability to do a lot of good, and we¡¯re happy to see you pursue that.¡± ¡°Speaking of supernatural,¡± Tess¡¯s mother began, ¡°Fortune mentioned that you went through an enormous change yesterday? She wouldn¡¯t tell us what, though, she said it was your news to share.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Tess asked. ¡°You were watching, right?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t see any system messages, nor can we pierce attention-deflecting wards or see into the realm of the gods.¡± Tess¡¯s mother explained. ¡°So, we¡¯re in the dark.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Tess replied. She took a moment to look around, prompting a laugh from her father. ¡°Fortune warded the area, no one can see or hear us.¡± He said. ¡°She said everyone will just see you paying respects at your parents¡¯ grave as normal. So, do feel free to share.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°I¡­well, how familiar are you with the gods? You mentioned Amy, so you know her, at least.¡± ¡°We know she is the head god, but we¡¯ve only heard her name.¡± Tess¡¯s father said. ¡°And other than that we only really know of the existence of the other gods and of you and your wives¡¯ status as Appointed.¡± Tess took a deep breath. ¡°Well, without getting into too many details¡­as of yesterday, I am effectively a god in all but name and public perception. Ellie, Maven, Gramps, all of the Appointed will follow suit in the next few months.¡± There was a prolonged moment of silence, Tess¡¯s parents looking at her in disbelief. ¡°That may be the most shocking thing I¡¯ve ever heard, and I heard a lot of shocking things after I died.¡± Tess¡¯s mother said. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it.¡± Tess¡¯s father said, a hint of amusement in his tone. ¡°Our little girl, all grown up and ascended to godhood.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not¡­really like that, but it¡¯s the closest analogue.¡± Tess said. ¡°Appointed won¡¯t suddenly become as powerful as the gods, but it was a step we recently figured out how to take. It doesn¡¯t affect our relationships or feelings at all.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just teasing.¡± Tess¡¯s father replied, giving her a smile. ¡°I know, I just¡­¡± Tess paused, words failing her once again. ¡°I love you.¡± She said. ¡°I love you two so much. I don¡¯t want you to feel like I¡¯m leaving you behind or anything.¡± Tess¡¯s parents shared a look. ¡°We love you too.¡± They replied. They spent the rest of the half hour they had together talking and reminiscing, and all too soon they were saying their goodbyes. Once Tess¡¯s parents had returned to the afterlife, Tess took a moment to dry her eyes again, then set off for home, feeling like a weight she didn¡¯t know she had been carrying had been lifted. Chapter 120: Filling in Friends Nolan knocked on the door of Tess¡¯s house, an odd apprehension filling him. She and Ellie had invited him and the rest of the regular crew to their house for¡­something important, but they hadn¡¯t specified what. More curiously, however, they had instructed Nolan to bring along his girlfriend, Sarah, the woman who had literally tried to get Tess killed a few months ago. Sarah gripped Nolan¡¯s hand tighter. He could understand her worry; though he was loathe to admit it, he was still a little afraid of Tess. Though she had claimed to be pretty chill with the whole ¡°set a Hunter on her¡± thing, not many people really could just drop something like that. Nolan probably couldn¡¯t, and he doubted Sarah would be able to either, thus the nervousness. ¡°Oh, seems I made it just in time to not hold anyone up.¡± Jacob said, walking up behind the two of them. ¡°I ¨C¡± The door opened, and an unfamiliar but strikingly beautiful woman about Nolan¡¯s age greeted them. ¡°Ah, Nolan, Sarah, Jacob, please, come in.¡± ¡°Nice to see you, Maven.¡± Jacob said. ¡°You as well.¡± The woman, Maven, replied, flashing Jacob a smile. ¡°You two haven¡¯t met me yet, I¡¯m Maven. We¡¯ll explain more inside, come meet us in the living room.¡± Maven vanished back inside, and Nolan shot Jacob a curious glance. ¡°You know her?¡± ¡°Best to let them explain.¡± Jacob said. The three of them entered the house, Jacob shutting and locking the door behind them, then they walked into the living room, where everyone was already waiting. ¡°Oh, good, everyone¡¯s here.¡± Tess said, giving the three latecomers a smile. ¡°Please, take a seat.¡± Nolan couldn¡¯t help but notice that Pastor Faust and the Hunter, of all people, were also in the room, sitting next to Tess, Ellie, and Maven, Jacob heading over to sit next to them. This¡­was more than a little disconcerting; whatever was about to happen, it wasn¡¯t going to be normal. Nolan squeezed Sarah¡¯s hand comfortingly, gently leading her over to the two empty chairs left in the room, then looked up at Tess. Tess gave the room a quick glance, then nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to need you all to bear with me for a bit.¡± She said. ¡°This is going to be very unpleasant, but unfortunately it has to happen before we can actually start talking. Rest assured, you¡¯ll be perfectly safe, Jacob, Pastor Faust, and Marie have all been through this.¡± ¡°You¡¯re sorta creeping me out here.¡± Max, another of their friends, said. ¡°This isn¡¯t anything¡­supernatural, right?¡± Tess sighed. ¡°For a given value of supernatural, no. However, let me make one thing abundantly clear; I harbor no ill will or resentment towards any of you. Yes, even you, Sarah; you¡¯ve grown and though you were snobby and rude about it, calling a Hunter likely was the right thing to do in your situation, given the knowledge you had. I am doing this strictly because it is necessary, and not because I wish to see you uncomfortable.¡± Tess sat up straighter, taking a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s just rip the bandage off; before I took my break, I was a boy named Thomas.¡± Nolan was assaulted with a sudden headache, something in him really wanting to tune out whatever Tess was saying. But, try as he might, Nolan couldn¡¯t ignore the small part of him that was saying that this was right, that there was merit to what he was being told. ¡°The memories you have of me as Tess are fabrications the gods put in place to help keep my transformation secret.¡± Tess continued, giving Ellie a nod. Nolan¡¯s phone buzzed in his pocket, and reflexively, he turned his attention to it, the part of him trying to run away from the situation seeking refuge in the distraction. Unfortunately, as he opened the notification, he was greeted with a picture of a strikingly familiar man, one he swore he had seen before. In fact, it looked like ¨C Something inside of him snapped, the pain vanishing and a flood of memories returning. He whipped his head up, giving Tess a baffled look, and he could see his friends doing the same. All, that was, except for Sarah, who wasn¡¯t in the group chat the message was sent in. ¡°The gods? What? I¡­my head¡­¡± Sarah stammered. Nolan wasted no time, shoving his phone, picture still open, into her line of sight. ¡°Look at this.¡± He commanded. ¡°You¡¯ll understand.¡± She obeyed, and then a moment later she looked up at Tess in shock. ¡°You¡­¡± ¡°Yes, hello everyone.¡± Tess said awkwardly, waving a hand as if she was greeting them. ¡°Sorry, we had to get this out of the way. To pre-empt some questions, I have fully embraced my life as a woman now, and I would be happy if you kept calling me Tess. Yes, my break wasn¡¯t due to illness, it was me adjusting to becoming a woman, among¡­other things. Before that, I was a perfectly ordinary human, no magic of any sort. ¡°We¡¯ve called you here today for a few reasons. First, Ellie and I would like to announce that we are getting married, with the ceremony being held in a couple of weeks, and everyone here is invited. Second, we¡¯d like to introduce you to Maven, our party member and fianc¨¦e. And, lastly, we are going to introduce you to the wider world, the stuff Mael is, as of yet, in the dark about.¡± Maven stepped forward, a demon¡¯s horns and tail sprouting as she dropped into a curtsey. ¡°I am Maven Sarlienne, former crown princess of Paumen. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡± ¡°W-wider world?¡± Sarah stammered, her eyes glued on Maven¡¯s tail. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Mael is just one plane of existence, the newest one.¡± Ellie said. ¡°There are hundreds of others, all joined together with magic. Grandpa is one of the most powerful magicians who have ever lived, if not the most powerful, and leader of the Freelancer¡¯s Guild. Many call him the most important man alive, and he¡¯s here as an ambassador of sorts. Tess and I, likewise, are serving as ambassadors.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Life and Death are helping oversee the process of integrating Mael with the wider world, as you might have gathered from the whole ¡®godly memory manipulation¡¯ thing.¡± Tess added. ¡°And today, you¡¯ll be visiting one of the collection of planes that makes up the group known as the ¡®Outlands¡¯, neutral planes effectively governed by the Freelancer¡¯s Guild. We¡¯ll be holding our wedding there, and it would do you well to get familiar with it. During that process, you will almost certainly learn magic; it¡¯s a very natural part of life everywhere but Mael, and it¡¯s much, much easier than you would think.¡± There was a stunned silence, but Ellie quickly filled the space. ¡°I know this is sudden, but it¡¯d really do you well to get used to it now. In¡­thirty, forty years at the very most, Mael will be officially introduced to the wider world, and everyone will know. Life as we know it will be forever changed, and even aside from the huge benefits you¡¯ll get from just¡­doing things over there, you¡¯ll be put way far ahead of everyone else when the time comes that the system is expanded to Mael.¡± ¡°The system?¡± Nolan asked. ¡°Sorry, this is all a bit much, you¡¯ll have to forgive me for being skeptical.¡± ¡°The system is what lets people use magic.¡± Ellie said patiently. ¡°When Mael is formally connected with the other planes, the system¡¯s functions will be expanded to it. As you may or may not have noticed, we have one of the church¡¯s buses with us, and we¡¯re going to show you how to get from Mael to the Outlands, we¡¯ll explain more on our way there.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know about this.¡± Eric, yet another of their friends, said tentatively. ¡°This is not optional, unfortunately.¡± The Hunter said. ¡°This is a mission granted to us directly by the Appointed of Life and Death. I know you are not familiar with Appointed yet, but they are the gods¡¯ hands and feet in the mortal realm, even going so far as to have the gods Descend into their bodies when needed. Their instructions are more than just instructions, they are divine commands.¡± The eyes of most people in the room strayed to Pastor Faust, who nodded gravely. ¡°Marie speaks the truth.¡± She said. ¡°The Archpriest handles matters of doctrine and the day-to-day minutiae of the religion, Appointed are the ones who do dirty work, and who perform audits of the church when necessary. Consider them as something similar to the Hunters, just significantly more connected with the gods.¡± As she spoke, Pastor Faust¡¯s expression morphed into one of shock, her eyes locked on the hallway to Nolan¡¯s left. Nolan turned to follow her gaze, only to find that a woman was standing in the hallway; even though she was close, he couldn¡¯t quite make out her features, the only thing he could really feel was a sense of¡­intimidation, like she was some sort of greater power. He felt like a mouse staring down a cat, small and cornered. ¡°I am the Appointed of Life and Death, here with Life himself.¡± She said. As she spoke, there was an odd sense of two people speaking, the voice burrowing its way down deep into Nolan¡¯s soul, leaving him with the undeniable knowledge that Life was speaking with her. ¡°And I would ask that you listen to them. This is a vital step for the growth of Mael, and my girlfriend, the Appointed of Fortune, and I have been working closely with these two and their grandfather to help prepare Mael for the transition. ¡°In all things they tell you regarding the other planes, and religion in particular, consider them as speaking for the gods. We have given them careful instructions on how they are to teach you, and it is absolutely vital that you listen well to their words. I expect none of you have issue with this?¡± She waited for a moment, then nodded approvingly. ¡°Good. Farewell.¡± She suddenly vanished, and the room¡¯s atmosphere returned to normal, Nolan letting out a breath he didn¡¯t know he had been holding. ¡°That¡­was Life really with her? I felt like it was true, but with magic¡­¡± ¡°Whenever the gods speak, you get that feeling.¡± Tess said. ¡°If anyone ever tried to replicate it, they would be struck down where they stand. Life was there, yes.¡± ¡°I thought she was going to wait until we were in the Outlands.¡± Marie said weakly. ¡°Apparently she decided that her presence was needed now.¡± Ellie said, standing up. ¡°All of you, follow me, it¡¯s time to leave.¡±
As Ellie explained things to the rest of Tess¡¯s friends, Jacob sidled up to her. ¡°Who was that?¡± He whispered. ¡°Ellie was right there, so who¡­¡± ¡°That was Life, in a female body.¡± Tess whispered back. ¡°We made a snap decision since the gang was looking a little too overwhelmed. You, uh, took it with a lot more grace than they did.¡± ¡°And you also Descended almost immediately.¡± Jacob said. ¡°Besides, I was just coming off of the whole yearbook signing incident, the shock hadn¡¯t worn off and I was just relieved to have some immediate answers.¡± Their conversation was interrupted as another of their group, Jean, approached the seat Tess and Jacob were sitting at. ¡°Um, Tess, can I¡­talk to you alone for a bit? I know we¡¯re supposed to be getting instructions right now but I can¡¯t concentrate until I get confirmation on something.¡± He asked. Tess gave a nod. ¡°Jacob, you go help Ellie and Maven explain.¡± She said. ¡°We can pick this conversation up later.¡± Jacob stood up. ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± He left, and Jean took his place next to Tess. ¡°Um¡­I¡­don¡¯t know how to say this, but¡­whatever happened to you, is it¡­common?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°The sort of thing? Yes. The exact thing? As far as I¡¯m aware, I might be the only one alive in this particular situation, there were some¡­extenuating circumstances.¡± Jean fidgeted nervously. ¡°So¡­sex changes aren¡¯t normal, then?¡± And suddenly, Tess understood what was happening. ¡°You¡¯re trans, aren¡¯t you?¡± Jean, blushing furiously, nodded. ¡°Um, I think so. I¡¯d been questioning and then when you lifted that memory thing, I realized I was actually really jealous, and so I thought I might as well ask on the off-chance that¡­well, you know.¡± Tess smiled. ¡°You¡¯ll be pleased to know that sex transformation spells are readily available. Now, that being said, if you want something that changes your base form, that¡¯ll cost a bit since you need a powerful mage to do it, but ones that last until dispelled are pretty cheap. Either way, I can probably swing something with Gramps to get you fixed up. ¡°Still, it¡¯s going to be hard to explain a change like that, and the gods are very unlikely to be willing to do the memory thing they did for me because, and again I¡¯ll remind you that there are extenuating circumstances, I literally cannot change back without some national-treasure level items. But, even with that being the case we still have options. ¡°If you want immediate results, you can try and arrange a few months away from home, we¡¯ll get you a place to stay in the Outlands and we¡¯ll transform you immediately. If you don¡¯t want to leave home quite yet, and are willing to wait, in a couple months we¡¯ll be really ramping up the ¡®paranormal happenings¡¯ around here, and transforming you would be totally in line with what we¡¯re trying to do, but you¡¯d also become something of a spectacle. ¡°Really, though, it¡¯s your choice, and even if you choose the latter option, you can change your mind at any time. Uh, that being said, do you have another name you want me to call you? And should I start using female pronouns for you?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± Jean replied. ¡°Um, can you give me some time to think on this?¡± ¡°Of course I can. And if it would help you, we can even transform you for a day or so, to give you a taste for it so you can be absolutely sure it¡¯s what you want.¡± ¡°That sounds wonderful.¡± Jean replied. ¡°Um¡­would you mind recapping the instructions Ellie¡¯s giving for me? I kind of missed a lot of them thinking about this.¡± Tess smiled. ¡°Of course. So, first, on religion¡­¡± Chapter 121: Wedding It had been a whirlwind week for Tess. Introducing the rest of her friends to the wider world had gone¡­more or less as expected, though Tess had to admit she took a guilty sort of pleasure in watching Sarah¡¯s shock when Life, speaking as the Appointed of Life and Death, had announced that the aforementioned Appointed had a girlfriend. After that, all her focus had turned to the wedding. While Ellie and Maven handled prepping the venue and taking care of any last-minute arrangements with catering and the like, Tess handled invitations. She took a day or two to get the designs just right, then worked on getting them out. And, admittedly, she was finished a day or two before Ellie and Maven, so the rest of that time had mostly been spent running around and doing whatever tasks still needed doing. Tess took a deep breath, focusing and looking herself over one more time in the mirror. Her hair, though it was usually fine without any attention, had been carefully straightened and styled, and she had her armor in its suit form. Fortunately, Target of Affection made makeup unnecessary, so this was all it had taken to get ready. And, vain as it sounded, she had to admit that she looked good, which was the point; she wasn¡¯t going to embarrass Ellie and Maven by looking scruffy on their wedding day. Tess finished her look over, then stood up, heart beating fast in her chest. She couldn¡¯t believe she was actually¡­here, having a wedding, getting married to two wonderful women. It was something that she hadn¡¯t really considered even just six months prior; she hadn¡¯t even graduated from high school, and so much was on her mind that things like marriage or buying a house were all ¡°the distant future¡± for her. She opened the door to the dressing room and stepped out into the hallway, where her mother was waiting for her. ¡°You look great, sweetie.¡± Fortune said, moving in for a hug and then seemingly thinking better of it and pulling back. Tess gave her a hug anyway. ¡°Thanks, Mom.¡± ¡°Careful, you don¡¯t want to mess up your hair.¡± Fortune said, chuckling. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°I¡¯m excited, of course, but I¡¯m also nervous and almost in disbelief. It just doesn¡¯t feel real, getting married was always something that only adults did, but¡­I don¡¯t really feel grown up at all, you know? Just¡­the same as I have always been.¡± Tess paused, looking down and then back up at her mother. ¡°Well, aside from, you know¡­¡± she said, motioning at her chest, ¡°the whole girl thing. But, well, that¡¯s not a huge deal, so it barely counts.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯d be surprised how much you¡¯ve changed.¡± Fortune said affectionately. ¡°I¡¯ve been watching you for a long time, and you¡¯ve really come into your own in these past few months. You¡¯re more¡­confident and driven, and if the you from before all of this could meet the you know, I think he¡¯d be really happy with how you are. Well, if he could get over the whole ¡®becoming the most beautiful girl he¡¯s ever seen¡¯ thing.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that¡­¡± Tess said, blushing. ¡°I¡¯m definitely not the most beautiful girl I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± Fortune raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. ¡°I designed that Skill so it would make you your ideal of beauty. How could you not be?¡± ¡°I like ¡®cute¡¯ more than beautiful.¡± Tess said. ¡°I mean, I appreciate beautiful, don¡¯t get me wrong, but¡­I dunno, I just prefer the girl next door to a supermodel, if you know what I mean.¡± ¡°Let me amend that statement, then. He¡¯d have to get over becoming the most attractive girl he¡¯s ever seen.¡± Fortune replied. Tess, blushing furiously, shook her head. ¡°No, no, it¡¯s really not like that, personality factors into it to, beauty is only skin deep and all. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d be attracted to me, I¡¯m not attracted to me, or, I mean I can appreciate the body but it¡¯s not like I¡¯m ¨C¡± ¡°Well, I think that your beauty goes all the way to your core, and that¡¯s a godly guarantee.¡± Fortune replied, giving Tess a kiss on the forehead. ¡°Now, get out there, you¡¯re just going to psych yourself out by staying here, and you don¡¯t want to keep them waiting. I¡¯ll be right behind you, okay?¡± Tess nodded, then set off down the hall towards the grand hall where the ceremony proper was to be held. Gramps, Maven, and Fortune had insisted that they book one of the City¡¯s grand cathedrals, specifically the one dedicated to Hearth, for the event, and though Ellie and Tess had initially wanted a more lowkey wedding, Maven deserved a say in it, and some good points had been made in favor of it. Even if the three of them didn¡¯t have to give the gods any extra respect and knew that none of them would take issue with a smaller venue, there were people in attendance who both knew there would be gods attending and didn¡¯t know the true nature of god-Appointed relationships. So, they had to at least appear as if they were pulling out all the stops to accommodate the gods. Tess pushed open the large double doors to the main room, her breath catching in her throat as she took in the view. It was a large, ostentatious room, split down the middle by a carpeted aisle. They hadn¡¯t assigned seating, but the guests had sort of split themselves anyway, those closest to the trio, people like The Rumors, Gramps¡¯s party, Tess and Ellie¡¯s friends, Amara, Maven¡¯s mother, and her brother, were on the left, while the rest, mostly gods and other Appointed, were on the right. More gods had turned out than Tess had expected, and even Amy was in attendance, but Tess¡¯s focus wasn¡¯t on them. Instead, her eyes were glued to Ellie and Maven, who were, as they had insisted, standing at the altar with Gramps behind them, waiting for Tess. Ellie was in a classic white wedding dress, and was practically glowing with excitement as she looked between Tess and Maven. Maven, on the other hand, was in an ornate black dress of a style Tess had never seen before. It was, apparently, Paumen¡¯s own traditional wedding dress, and Maven had chosen to keep the look secret from her fianc¨¦es until this day. It made an impression unlike anything Tess had ever seen before; the dress itself was simple in structure, hugging Maven¡¯s body snugly but not exposing much skin, and instead the surface was covered in intricate patterns. A wedding march began to play, prompting Tess to stop staring. She took a nervous step forward, then another, steadily approaching the altar until, finally, she was standing next to Ellie and Maven. The song played for a few moments more, then stopped, a palpable silence falling over the room. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. After a moment, Gramps spoke up. ¡°Today, we are here to celebrate the union of these three souls.¡± He said, a rare sense of gravitas to his usually lighthearted tone. ¡°They have chosen to bind themselves together under the eyes of the gods, and to proclaim their love for all mortals to see.¡± He turned to Ellie, a fond smile on his face. ¡°Ellie Los, do you take Tess and Maven as your wives, to love through good times and bad, to care for and protect for as long as you are able?¡± ¡°I do.¡± Ellie said, tearing up slightly. Gramps turned to Maven, still smiling that same smile. ¡°Maven Sarlienne, do you take Tess and Ellie as your wives, to love through good times and bad, to care for and protect for as long as you are able?¡± Maven smiled hugely. ¡°I do.¡± And, finally, Gramps turned to Tess, his own eyes slightly misty. ¡°And do you, Tess Los, take Ellie and Maven as your wives, to love through good times and bad, to care for and protect for as long as you are able?¡± Tess, trying to keep her voice steady, nodded. ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Then, as a servant of the gods, I pronounce you married. May the gods bless your union.¡± Gramps said. Tess, Ellie, and Maven shared a hug, giving each other a quick kiss on the cheek as they did, then separated. There was a short pause, then Gramps spoke again. ¡°We will now move to the reception.¡± He said. ¡°Please exit through the middle door on your left side, and follow the hall to its end, where you will find the multipurpose room where we will be holding the reception. Leave any gifts on the table immediately to your left as you enter the room, and feel free to grab food once you¡¯re inside. In ten minutes, we¡¯ll be hearing a few words from the brides, so please be make sure you are there, thank you!¡± ¡°I never would have thought that my wedding would be attended by a god, let alone so many.¡± Maven said quietly. ¡°And¡­I never thought I would care about my wedding, I assumed I would be marrying someone like my father. I¡­thank you.¡± Ellie squeezed her close. ¡°No need to thank us, it¡¯s what you deserve.¡± She said. ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess agreed, joining in on the hug. Once they had finished, they quickly headed down the hall towards the reception room, where Tess was surprised to see that a large pile of presents had already formed. ¡°That¡¯s¡­more than one per person, right? Who brought multiple?¡± She asked, looking the pile up and down. ¡°A few of us got excited, sorry.¡± A man¡¯s voice said from behind the pile. ¡°We very rarely get to go to events like this, so we tend to make a bigger deal out of them than other people. I¡¯m helping manage things here, so don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡± Tess peeked around the pile to find a short elf man, likely one of the gods, and she began searching her memory for who it could be. ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about it, this is our first time actually talking, I mostly hear about you through Rachel or see you via terminal when there¡¯s an Appointed meeting or you¡¯re doing something really important.¡± The man chuckled, sticking out a hand. ¡°I¡¯m Hearth, pleasure to formally meet you.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry for not recognizing you sooner.¡± Tess said, blushing in embarrassment and shaking his hand. ¡°Thanks for coming.¡± ¡°Really, it¡¯s fine.¡± Hearth laughed. ¡°We can hardly expect you to have all our appearances memorized when you didn¡¯t even know we existed a year back. Heck, most people wouldn¡¯t know unless they worshipped me or gods who publicly interact with me often. Seriously, don¡¯t sweat it.¡± He turned to Ellie, and Maven, giving them a smile. ¡°Of course, pleasure formally meeting you two as well. Congratulations on the wedding, you three are great for each other!¡± He shook their hands as well, then smiled at the group again. ¡°Now, you run along, I¡¯ll make sure everything¡¯s properly sorted and that we don¡¯t run out of room here, and that all the food stays stocked, you three just have a good time, okay?¡± ¡°Thank you, Hearth.¡± Maven said. ¡°Um¡­does your church know you¡¯re here?¡± ¡°No, but I think my Archpriest will be able to tell after we leave.¡± Hearth replied, eyes sparkling mischievously. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be the first time I¡¯ve left some of my power at a high-profile wedding as a ¡®mark of approval¡¯, so he shouldn¡¯t think too much of it. Of course, I¡¯ve never catered one like Rachel and I are doing for this one, but he doesn¡¯t need to know it was us.¡± ¡°Come to think of it, where are the priests?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I saw a couple in the halls, but I thought they¡¯d want to make sure we weren¡¯t accidentally destroying things or something.¡± ¡°As per my orders, they oblige any reasonable requests people who are having weddings here have.¡± Hearth explained. ¡°Normally they would have some oversight, but we obviously need some degree of privacy from people who might catch on to the presence of the gods, so Evan helped arrange this for us. They couldn¡¯t ignore his request outright, so they asked me, and when I gave the okay, they were plenty cooperative, so don¡¯t worry about it, they¡¯ll stay out of our hair.¡± ¡°Right. Well, um, thanks again!¡± Tess replied. ¡°And, um, you don¡¯t have to be doing this if you don¡¯t want to, I¡¯m sure we can find someone else to take your place.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s a good thing I want to be doing this, then!¡± Hearth replied jovially. ¡°This wouldn¡¯t be a problem if we didn¡¯t get so excited, so it¡¯s only natural one of us takes care of it. Now, really, you should get going, there are other people who want to talk to you and I can¡¯t be hogging all of your time.¡± Tess and her wives moved on, spending the rest of the time until they were slated to say some words mingling with people. They mostly gave short greetings and introduced themselves to the other gods who were there but they had not yet met, and then, all too soon, Gramps was passing them a microphone and telling them to say some words. Ellie took the microphone first. ¡°Well, I¡­probably should have scripted this out, but I wanted it to be genuine so this is what you¡¯re getting, I guess. Um, well, really, these past months have felt like a dream come true to me. Don¡¯t get me wrong, it¡¯s had its ups and downs, but overall, I¡¯ve been deliriously happy, and today just feels like a culmination of that. I can¡¯t picture my life without these two anymore, and I¡¯m so, so excited to face the future with them. Um¡­yeah. Tess, you go now.¡± Ellie hurriedly thrust the mic into Tess¡¯s hands, and Tess gave her an amused look before beginning to speak. ¡°Now I feel like anything I say would just be copying Ellie.¡± She joked. ¡°I mean, things were a struggle at the beginning, but Ellie, and later Maven, really helped me come into my own, and for that I¡¯ll forever be grateful. I mean¡­what can I say?¡± Tess stopped for a moment, then continued, her voice catching slightly. ¡°I¡¯m just happy they¡¯re as happy to be with me as I am to be with them.¡± She passed the mic to Maven, who gave Tess a small smile as she accepted it. ¡°I owe more to these two than I could ever articulate.¡± She said, voice wavering almost imperceptibly. ¡°Since the moment I met Tess for the first time and, admittedly, gave an absolutely terrible first impression, my life has been on a trajectory I could never have predicted. I have met so many people, done so many things, and my life is looking better than it ever has.¡± She paused, clearly fighting to control her emotions. ¡°It has all felt like one extended dream, and more than once I have had to remind myself that it is all real, and I will never have to wake up, because there is nothing to wake up from. And, try as I might to repay the favor, these two wonderful women keep finding ways to put me further in their debt. ¡°I know many of you here do not know me as well as you know the two of them, but it still means much to me that you were willing to be here, despite all the turbulence we have thrust into your lives. Thank you.¡± She reached up and wiped her eyes, then passed the mic back to Gramps, who began to say something, but Tess¡¯s couldn¡¯t pay attention. ¡°I¡­need a moment.¡± Maven whispered. ¡°Sorry, I did not want to get emotional, but¡­¡± Ellie slung an arm around her shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s nothing to be sorry for, I was crying too, earlier.¡± ¡°I¡¯m on the verge, too.¡± Tess added, cracking a shaky smile. ¡°I¡­love you two, I love you a lot.¡± Ellie nodded in agreement. ¡°Me too. I¡¯m so¡­so happy right now. I love you two to pieces.¡± Maven gave them a watery smile. ¡°And me as well. Thank you, I love you two so much.¡± Gramps was still speaking, but the three were lost in their own little world. They had each other, and in that moment, that was all that mattered. Chapter 122: An Unexpected Problem The rest of the reception was a blur for Tess. There was a lot of talking to people and accepting congratulations, but not many in-depth conversations, as people tried to keep their talking limited so everyone had a chance to speak with the brides. There was an hour or two of that, then the group took some pictures, and then¡­it was over, and the only people that were left were those who had helped put the reception together, there to take down all the decorations. ¡°You three go enjoy your wedding night.¡± Fortune instructed sternly, handing them a small bag. ¡°This has all the wedding presents in it, make sure they¡¯re opened tomorrow at the latest, there are some time-sensitive things in there.¡± Tess accepted the bag, frowning. ¡°Time-sensitive things?¡± She asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± Fortune replied mysteriously. ¡°Just be sure that they all get opened by then. And don¡¯t worry about the bag, it¡¯s a failed prototype Kane had laying around from when he was trying to make magic bags that could be put in other bags. ¡°It technically works, but it degrades quickly if it has stuff in it while it¡¯s in another bag and has small capacity, so it¡¯s not practical to use. Do whatever you want with it when it¡¯s empty. Now, get out of here and go enjoy yourselves, okay? We¡¯ve arranged transportation, so just change out of your outfits when you get home, no need to bother figuring it out here.¡± Fortune practically pushed the trio out of the room, and, with not much else to do, they made their way out of the cathedral, where, to their surprise, Rachel was sitting in the driver¡¯s seat of a carriage, clearly using some sort of magic to make herself humanoid. ¡°Hop on in, lovebirds.¡± She said, smiling fondly at them as one of the carriage doors opened on its own. ¡°Alice already gave me a pass to get into your neighborhood, so we¡¯ll get you there lickety-split.¡± ¡°Thanks, Rachel.¡± Maven said, walking forward and smoothly hopping in the carriage. Tess was able to get on without much issue, but Ellie was a different story, her ornate wedding dress making the task difficult. Tess and Maven helped her up, and the three sat as the carriage began to move. ¡°You know,¡± Ellie began, ¡°it¡¯s kind of funny, I¡¯ve ridden a horse before, but I¡¯ve never actually been in a carriage.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Maven asked curiously. ¡°But¡­now that you mention it, I haven¡¯t seen any on Mael. They do have them there, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, but they¡¯re more a novelty than anything.¡± Tess explained. ¡°Cars pretty much invalidate any utility they have. It looks like you¡¯ve been on one before, though, was that a normal thing for you as a princess?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Maven replied. ¡°Much like with the City, we disallow most use of hoverers in many parts of our capital so as to avoid disturbing any delicate spellwork, and we don¡¯t really have cars in the same way Mael does. If people need to get around the capital, they walk, use public transit, or ride carriages.¡± ¡°Is that actually a thing?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Like, I¡¯ve never had any trouble casting magic around a hoverer.¡± ¡°Only for ritual magic.¡± Maven replied. ¡°You likely haven¡¯t had much contact with it, since it holds little application in freelancing, but for large-scale spells you often need Mana from multiple people or Mana added to the spell over the course of a few days if you want the spell to work, and hoverers can mess with that. ¡°Hoverers do expel Mana into the air as they burn the cores used as fuel, and if it was just one hoverer it probably wouldn¡¯t cause problems, but if everyone was using one¡­well, there have been some very destructive incidents before and no one is keen on repeating them. So, it¡¯s safer just to blanket ban hoverers inside cities that may have those sorts of spells going on.¡± Ellie raised an eyebrow. ¡°Destructive? How destructive are we talking?¡± ¡°Depends on the spell, but usually, if a spell is big enough to need rituals, it¡¯ll cause a massive explosion if it gets messed up. Sometimes the explosion will have side-effects relating to the spell that was originally being cast, but not always. Regardless, it¡¯s better not to find out.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s probably the right call.¡± Tess agreed. ¡°So, uh, slight change of subject, but what are we doing when we get home? Presents now, or¡­?¡± Ellie grinned. ¡°It¡¯s our wedding night, I think presents can wait until we¡¯ve had our fun.¡± ¡°I think¡­yeah.¡± Maven said, blushing furiously. ¡°I agree, let¡¯s do that.¡±
One excitement-filled night later, the three newlyweds sat in their living room and began to take the presents out of the bag. They decided to start by opening the presents from the people from Mael, and they were mostly semi-fancy dinnerware. That was what had been expected, though; the people from Mael didn¡¯t have much money, and all the guests had been instructed not to give appliances because the house was already stocked with everything the trio could possibly need, and they would feel bad if they received a gift that they would likely never use. Next came the presents from The Rumors. They had opted to give a gift as a party, a three-part gift containing something for each member of Maelstrom individually. Alice had reiterated that this was something they had specifically worked to save up money for, no dipping into pre-existing funds or money from the Reshi Conglomerate; it was the result of weeks of pure effort on the part of The Rumors. According to Maven, this was pretty common amongst wealthy people. After you had enough money, just buying a gift didn¡¯t seem¡­genuine enough, and whoever you were buying it for could likely just afford it anyway. Instead, they tended to opt for something that required them to go out and do something, often handmade goods and the like, as a way to show more sincerity. In this case, The Rumors had gotten them equipment upgrades. Better armor for Ellie, a new staff and bow for Maven, and a pair of high-leveled cores for Tess. Though Tess was curious to see what the cores held, she put them aside for the time being, just as Maven and Ellie put aside examining their new gear. Sorting through cores took time, and new equipment was best tested in actual combat, so saving it for later just seemed like the best option. Alice¡¯s parents, though they already had supposedly given a gift with a discount on the house, gave them a set of high-quality but clearly handmade dishes, Maven¡¯s mother gave them a knit quilt, and Pastor Faust and Marie pooled their funds and got the trio a set of traditional decorated earthenware pots made by an artisan on Mael. Next were gifts from the various gods and Appointed who had attended the wedding. They were, by and large, practical in nature, but were also the kind of things that only they could give. To Tess¡¯s surprise, they all seemed to center around one theme; the hoverer, and specifically, an addon Kane and Artifice had worked to make. The addon in question would take any hoverer and essentially turn it into a magic bag that people could go inside, allowing the space inside to be expanded far beyond what was normal. Altogether, the gifts allowed for any hoverer to be made into a series of rooms that rivaled even the penthouse suites in dungeons. What was even more impressive, though, was that some of the other gods had worked out a way to allow the occupants to cast spells and use ranged abilities from inside, meaning there would be no need to leave to defend from most monster attacks. And, to put the cherry on top, Amara and Subterfuge had provided a stealth module that was nothing short of miraculous. On top of providing invisibility and making it phase through living beings, it also canceled out the emissions the hoverer made, allowing it to be used in any area without trouble. The gifts did incur a minor decrease in fuel efficiency for the hoverer, but the decrease was shockingly small for the effect they gave, and fuel was never going to be an issue as long as Tess was around, so it was a complete nonissue. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. On top of that, though, Fortune, Life, Death, Dungeons, Gramps, and his party, had provided one additional gift for the newlyweds. The small, unassuming box contained only a stack of papers and a note, which Tess began to read aloud. Congratulations on your wedding! It read. We¡¯re so incredibly happy to see you take this next step in your life, there¡¯s just¡­one issue; we couldn¡¯t help but notice that you had no solid plans for a honeymoon! After some careful consideration (and some furtive mind-reading and subconscious questioning while you slept to be sure you¡¯d be okay with this), we¡¯ve put together a trip that you¡¯ll be sure to never forget! We have reservations for some of the top resorts in both Mael and the rest of the world, as well as some tickets to some top-of-the-line experiences to be had! This trip will last you two weeks, and we will make sure everything is taken care of with regards to your duties during this time, so just relax and let yourself enjoy it! P.S: Sorry about the deeper-than-normal mind reading thing, we just didn¡¯t want to give you something you wouldn¡¯t really like and wanted it to be a surprise. ¡°Remind me what a honeymoon is again?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I¡¯ve heard the term, but no one I¡¯m familiar with has actually had one, and I tried to avoid wedding-related stuff so as to avoid getting any ideas that would never be feasible for someone of my standing, so it¡¯s a bit of a foreign concept to me.¡± ¡°Basically, newlyweds go and have a vacation to celebrate their wedding, often to other countries or far-away places.¡± Ellie explained. ¡°I was waiting to see how our finances and work schedule would look after the wedding before bringing it up, but I guess we don¡¯t need to worry about that.¡± ¡°That sounds lovely.¡± Maven replied. ¡°What are the dates?¡± ¡°Give me a second here¡­¡± Tess said, rifling through the papers, ¡°looks like our first hotel has us booked for a week starting two days from now, and another in Mael a week after that. Though¡­the resort is a little far from here, so we¡¯ll need to¡­ah, they¡¯ve thought of that, they have a place they¡¯ll be teleporting us to that¡¯s decently close.¡± ¡°In that case, let¡¯s go pack!¡± Ellie said cheerfully. ¡°Tess, I know you have everything you need in your bag, so give us the documents and Maven and I will prepare. In the meantime, you absorb those cores and get that all taken care of, okay?¡± ¡°Will do.¡± Tess said, nodding and holding out the papers. Maven took them, and she and Ellie began to walk away. ¡°I¡¯ve never actually packed for myself, so would you mind helping?¡± She asked. ¡°I would love to.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°So, this is all going to depend on where we¡¯re going¡­¡± As they left, Tess made her way to the bathroom, where she began the process of ejecting a couple of junk cores to make room for the new ones. To her surprise, the process was¡­different; she just sort of¡­breathed out a rainbow haze, and then the core was gone. No muss, no fuss, nothing. Frowning, she opened up her chat window, and sent a message out to her mother and Amy, marking it as urgent.
Urgent Private Message (Tess, Fortune, Amy) Tess: Hey, um, I just ejected a couple of cores and it¡¯s working completely differently now. Do either of you two know what¡¯s happening? Amy: I don¡¯t, and that¡¯s more than a little concerning. What happened? Fortune: How are you feeling?! Does anything hurt or feel strange?! Tess: I feel perfectly fine, and basically nothing happened. I just breathed out a haze that was kind of like the one you see when dungeon monsters die, and then the cores were gone. Amy: Is this the first time you¡¯ve ejected cores since becoming a Higher Being? Tess: Yeah. Amy: Then that¡¯s likely the underlying cause, but this still doesn¡¯t make sense, that shouldn¡¯t do that. Fortune: Should we check her out? Amy: Yeah, we should. If there¡¯s even the slightest chance that there are negative side-effects, then we need to deal with it. I¡¯m clearing my schedule, Tess, let everyone know I¡¯m going to spend the rest of the day examining you, and that I¡¯ll have you back before it¡¯s time for your honeymoon. Tess: Will do, thanks, Amy.
She closed the window, then opened the ¡°standard¡± chat group.
Tess: Hey, uh, so, I just ejected some cores and the process is working differently now. I just talked to Amy about it, and she wants to spend a while checking me out to make sure this isn¡¯t a problem. She said she¡¯ll have me back before the honeymoon Ellie: Are you okay?! Tess: I feel fine. Maven: You¡¯re not just saying that, right? Tess: No, seriously, I feel 100% normal. I just breathed out a bit of haze like the kind you see when monsters die, and that¡¯s all it took to eject the cores. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve done this since becoming a Higher Being, so Amy thinks that has something to do with it, even though she says it shouldn¡¯t have affected it. Life: Strange, but if she thinks that is the cause, then it probably is. Death: Didn¡¯t she spend a lot of time examining Monster Breeder recently, and that¡¯s part of the reason she was able to get Descents to work when both parties are Higher Beings? Dungeons: Yes, so this is definitely strange. Fortune: I¡¯ve been looking over it a lot too, there was absolutely nothing in there that should interact with being a Higher Being. Well, theoretically, anyway, it¡¯s entirely possible I made some mistakes and got some wires crossed when I was helping put together the Class. It¡¯s incredibly hard to read. Dungeons: Regardless, don¡¯t stress about it too much. Amy is the best there is, and if there¡¯s a problem, she will find it and fix it. Death: Yeah. Even if she didn¡¯t see it before, now that she knows to look for it and can have you replicate the process it shouldn¡¯t be an issue. Life: Even if it cannot be fixed immediately, remember that you are a Higher Being now; there is no threat of permanent damage to you, the very worst that can happen is that you die until the Class is fixed, and then you come back completely normal. Fortune: That¡¯s probably not the most comforting way to put it, but he¡¯s right. You¡¯re much more insulated from this sort of thing than you were before. Maven: But¡­isn¡¯t this caused by her becoming a Higher Being? Won¡¯t that¡­you know, complicate things? Life: It does not work like that. In order to do any sort of irreversible harm to a Higher Being, you have to jump through many highly specific hoops, and there is no chance of any of those hoops being accidentally jumped through by a Class, no matter how poorly constructed. Outside forces would have to act to make such a thing possible, and they cannot do that without having access to these planes, which they cannot gain without Amy being aware. She is safe. Maven: Oh¡­good to know. Keep us updated on the situation, okay? Tess: Will do. Um¡­Mom, are you two just going to teleport me up or¡­? Fortune: On it.
Tess hurriedly got off the toilet and pulled her pants up, just in time for the teleportation to take effect. As it finished, she found herself in the same room Amy had used to make her a Higher Being, Amy and Fortune already there. ¡°Sit down for a second.¡± Amy instructed. ¡°I¡¯m manufacturing some completely blank cores so I can watch the process without any extraneous data getting in the way.¡± Tess obediently sat, and Fortune grabbed her hand, squeezing it comfortingly. ¡°This is strange, but we¡¯ll get it figured out.¡± She said. ¡°Sorry you¡¯re going through this.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Mom.¡± Tess replied. ¡°As long as this isn¡¯t a problem, then I¡¯m glad; it¡¯s certainly a lot more comfortable than how it used to be.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit.¡± Fortune said weakly. ¡°Just relax, we¡¯ll have this figured out in no time.¡± Amy nodded, walking over and holding out a small core in her slimy hand. ¡°Take this and eject it.¡± She said. ¡°I want to see the process.¡± Tess obliged, absorbing the core and then ejecting it, breathing out another puff of that rainbow haze. ¡°Everything seems normal¡­¡± Amy muttered. ¡°Give me a bit to look at the Class again¡­in the meantime, feel free to use your phone or whatever; this is going to take a bit, and I really only need you here to monitor you and occasionally have you eject cores. So long as you¡¯re not using magic or interacting with the system, and you don¡¯t leave this room, you¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ll be casting a silencing spell on my ears so I can focus, so feel free to talk with your mom. Just wave at me or send me a message if you need me, okay?¡± ¡°Thanks, Amy.¡± Tess said. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, it¡¯s my job.¡± Amy said, waving a hand. ¡°And it¡¯s partially my fault that the Class is this way in the first place, so really I¡¯m just helping fix a problem I caused.¡± Fortune squeezed Tess¡¯s hand again. ¡°I can go get some game consoles, if you like.¡± She offered. ¡°And I¡¯ll stay with you as long as you want.¡± ¡°That would be nice.¡± Tess said. ¡°Thanks, Mom.¡± Fortune gave Tess a kiss on the forehead, then let go of Tess¡¯s hand, stepping back. ¡°Be back in a moment, okay?¡± Chapter 123: Prodigy? ¡°Okay, so¡­good news and bad news.¡± Amy said. ¡°I¡¯d ask you what you want to hear first, but it doesn¡¯t really make sense without the good news, so we¡¯ll start to that. The good news is that, as far as I can tell, you¡¯re safe to go about your business for the time being. I have literally been doing nothing else but work on this for the last twenty-four hours, and while you were asleep, I got Jerry, the Administrator who invented systems, to look over you and confirm that I was right.¡± ¡°You can trust her on this.¡± Fortune added, squeezing Tess¡¯s hand gently. ¡°I know you¡¯re still new to the scene and aren¡¯t quite as familiar with their reputations, but if both of them can¡¯t see anything wrong, then there either isn¡¯t anything wrong, or it¡¯s something we just aren¡¯t physically capable of seeing.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for it, I don¡¯t have any reason to doubt you.¡± She said. Amy smiled guiltily. ¡°Well, you do, since I¡¯ve said Monster Breeder was fine before and we ended up in this situation anyway, but I appreciate the vote of confidence. Still, that does lead into the bad news. The bad news is that, clearly, something is very odd here, and we don¡¯t know what. As far as Jerry and I could tell, the¡­code comprising Monster Breeder, for lack of a better term, has always been built to work this way, and we all know that simply isn¡¯t true. I have a snapshot of the ¡®code¡¯ from when I was working on it before, and it still shows it working like it used to.¡± Tess frowned. ¡°What does that mean, though?¡± She asked. ¡°Like¡­does it mean that someone was messing with the system?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the thing.¡± Amy said, beginning to pace back and forth. ¡°That was baked into the Class, you can¡¯t just modify that willy-nilly unless you do that in the middle of creating the Class, not without spending a good chunk of Worship. If someone changed the Class while it was being worked on, Fortune and I would have noticed, and if that much Worship was spent to modify the system afterwards, the alarms built into the system would have tripped and we would have known. ¡°Still, we believe you¡¯re right; some entity has changed the Class, it¡¯s the only logical explanation. What that entity could be, I don¡¯t know. The only verifiable entities that could do so without triggering any alarms are the Outer Gods, but they have absolutely no reason to be messing around with you or the Class. Plus, they tend to make their presence known in ways that cause chaos, not something that removes an inconvenience for one person. Still, they¡¯re a possibility, they think in ways entirely alien to us. ¡°Aside from them, we enter the realm of speculative entities. Some people posit that it¡¯s ¡®Administrators all the way down¡¯, that there is some other category of being greater than an Administrator, that functions as one for all existence, and just like most people are unaware of the existence of Administrators, we, too, are unaware of this category of being. Some people posit that existence itself has a will and makes certain events happen¡­there are other, similar, theories, but you get the point. Essentially, it would be something that we just currently aren¡¯t able to understand.¡± Amy sighed. ¡°I know it¡¯s unsatisfying to leave you with this, but that¡¯s just what we have. I¡¯ve set some monitors on you, and every time you absorb or interact with cores, that data is going to be beamed back to me directly. You should be in the clear to go about your life as normal, and I¡¯ll be periodically checking the logs to make sure everything is in the clear. The only caveat is that I would like you to be with me next time you make a¡­what are you calling them, attendants? The things like Silky and Isabella.¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m calling them attendants for now, though I have considered changing it if I find something more suitable.¡± Amy gave a nod in return. ¡°Right. Just consult with me before you do so I can monitor the process myself and make sure it¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll be sending you back to your wives now, but I¡¯m going to keep going over this for the next couple of days, and Jerry will be as well. I won¡¯t lie, this is a bit of an unprecedented situation, but our foremost interest is in making sure everything is still safe to use, and that there is no threat to you or anyone else from this. Um¡­any questions?¡± Tess shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Just don¡¯t try anything crazy and everything will be fine, right?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Amy replied. ¡°Now, before I officially ¡®discharge¡¯ you, would you do me the favor of absorbing those cores The Rumors got you? I¡¯d like to make sure everything goes well with a ¡®live¡¯ core instead of the dummy ones I¡¯ve been using.¡± ¡°Will both at once be fine?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Are you sure we shouldn¡¯t do one at a time?¡± ¡°It¡¯s exactly the same if you do one or two.¡± Amy replied. ¡°It¡¯s just a difference in the amount of stuff coming in, and even though those are some decently nice cores, it¡¯s not enough to get anywhere close to overwhelming you now.¡±
You have absorbed a Totem of Draining Core! Slots filled: 29/50? You have gained 2,530? EXP in Monster Breeder! You have absorbed a Totem of Weakness Core! Slots filled: 30/50? You have gained 2,530? EXP in Monster Breeder! ^(#%*^ Degradation-Proof: Rarity: Phantasmal Type: Passive Description: Skills obtained via Monster Breeder no longer degrade. All previously degraded Skills are returned to their original states. ^#($!@) New cores absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­ New Skills detected! You have gained the Skill Aura of Draining and Restoration! You have gained the Skill Targeted Aura! You have gained the Skill Aura Amplification! You have gained the Skill Aura of Weakness and Strength! Aura of Draining and Restoration Rarity: Mythical Type: Passive Description: Your presence alone saps the resources of your enemies. Every enemy within 20 meters has 1% of their HP, Mana, and Stamina drained per second. The total amount drained is then divided and redistributed to every ally within 20 meters. What¡¯s yours is ours. Targeted Aura Rarity: Legendary Type: Active Description: You may spend Mana and Stamina to limit the number of targets of any ¡°Aura of¡± Skill, intensifying the effect based on the number of targets excluded, capped at 10x base strength. For instance, cutting the number of targets in half would double the intensity of the aura on remaining targets. This costs the number of targets excluded squared in Mana and Stamina per second, and cost is calculated independently for each aura. Allies and enemies are treated as separate auras for auras that affect both allies and enemies, such as Aura of Draining and Restoration. For auras that divide a total amongst allies, such as Aura of Draining and Restoration, the total amount split is not boosted when an ally is excluded, instead the remainder receive a bigger share of the total. Perhaps your enemies should have just come alone? Aura Amplification Rarity: Legendary Type: Active Description: You may spend Mana and Stamina to multiply the effects of any ¡°Aura of¡± Skill by a whole number. Doubling the effect of the aura costs 25 Mana and Stamina per second, and the cost is multiplied by 5 for each number higher than 2 (125 for 3, 625 for 4, and so on). This cost is calculated independently for each aura, and aura that affect both allies and enemies are treated as one aura for the purpose of calculation. Kick it into auverdrive! Aura of Weakness and Strength Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.Rarity: Epic Type: Passive Description: Your presence alone weakens your enemies. Every enemy within 20 meters has their non-resource stats reduced by 10% while they are within the aura. The total amount reduced is then divided and redistributed to every ally within 20 meters for as long as they are in the aura. The bigger they are, the bigger your friends become. Core information truncated. Focus to expand. New Attributes Discovered! Auric Hub: All positive effects applied by the creature¡¯s ¡°Aura of¡± Skills are duplicated and applied to the creature. Immovable: Grants the creature immunity to any outside effects that would move it.
Amy sighed. ¡°That Skill was¡­not what I expected.¡± ¡°What? Nothing bad, right¡± Tess asked. She felt a little funny, but it wasn¡¯t a bad sort of funny. Or a good sort of funny, for that matter, it was an almost¡­empty feeling, vaguely like the kind she got when she was low on Mana. ¡°You seem to have unconsciously used all of your Worship there to make that new Skill.¡± Amy replied. ¡°That wasn¡¯t in the system ten minutes ago. That¡¯s why there¡¯s no flavor text and the description is not quite in the format we would usually use, it¡¯s fresh and made by someone who isn¡¯t familiar with the process.¡± ¡°I¡­what? Is that why I¡¯m feeling weird?¡± Seeing her mother¡¯s face grow increasingly concerned, Tess hurried to clarify. ¡°Like, in an empty way, not in a bad or even uncomfortable way.¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re empty on Worship now.¡± Amy confirmed. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m impressed, not everyone takes to Worship as well as you seem to have. Still, the other changes to the normal window, those question marks in particular are¡­huh?¡± ¡°What?¡± Fortune asked worriedly. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°She¡¯s got a nascent Domain.¡± Amy replied. ¡°It seems to have almost entirely encompassed Monster Breeder.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a thing?¡± Fortune asked. ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s extremely uncommon nowadays. New Higher Beings that are particularly attuned to Worship sometimes accidentally make one in a subject they¡¯re highly proficient in while they¡¯re training. Nowadays, new Higher Beings are relatively rare, and they usually already have Domains in anything they¡¯re highly proficient in. More experienced Higher Beings have more control and don¡¯t accidentally form Domains like this. ¡°I think this is the first time this has happened in¡­tens of thousands of years? At least, the first time in our faction, I imagine it¡¯s much more common in other factions where they¡¯re not necessarily as good to their Higher Beings as us.¡± As she spoke, Amy sagged, an air of palpable relief about her. ¡°This all but solves the mystery, too; it¡¯s almost certain that all the strangeness is just a result of this Domain forming and you unconsciously upgrading Monster Breeder with it. The changes are all beneficial to you, and stuff you likely wished for on some level, which lines up with how these Domains usually shake out. ¡°So, with that in mind, I¡¯m officially pronouncing you safe. I¡¯ll be letting your Domain form on its own, it¡¯s safer and the resulting Domain is usually more effective at gathering Worship, if more limited, than if it¡¯s forced to completion immediately. Your Descent is highly nonstandard, so I don¡¯t think this will cause issues with Descent like I¡¯m worried about for the other Appointed. I¡¯ll be keeping a close eye on it to ensure absolutely nothing goes wrong anyway, but¡­congratulations, you¡¯re a prodigy!¡± Fortune beamed, hugging Tess close. ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± She said enthusiastically. ¡°Fantastic, even!¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know about the whole prodigy thing.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t feel like I understand how any of this works or like I made that Skill or this Domain. Are you sure I¡¯m doing this?¡± ¡°All the traces left in the system and in the Domains of this universe trace back to you.¡± Amy confirmed. ¡°And you may not think you¡¯re doing it, but Worship is different than what you¡¯re used to; while we have developed techniques and structured ways of using it, at its core Worship is power generated by the collective unconscious, and works based on feeling, wishing, and even just vibes. It¡¯s pretty common for beginners to use it without knowing it, especially if they¡¯re as in tune with it as you clearly are.¡± Amy paused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. ¡°You know what, after your honeymoon, why don¡¯t we have you and your wives come in once a month and I can teach you some of the basics of Worship manipulation and being a Higher Being? It¡¯ll prevent further incidents like this, and it¡¯ll really accelerate your growth.¡± ¡°And the question marks in the window I got? What are those about?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Likely the result of the modifications you¡¯re making being incomplete and not standard with how we do things. Looking at it them, my guess is that you¡¯re just increasing the number of slots you have for things; that¡¯s an incredibly simple change to make, and as a Higher Being you have more room in your soul for that sort of thing, so it¡¯s an easy outlet for you to be improving things. When everything seems to have settled down, I¡¯ll iron out any kinks so the system can display things properly.¡± ¡°This¡­won¡¯t affect the balance of power, will it?¡± Tess asked cautiously. ¡°That¡¯d be a problem, right?¡± ¡°What?¡± Amy asked, giving Tess a puzzled look. ¡°The balance of power.¡± Tess said. ¡°You know, the whole reason you put a stat limit on Mom and her most powerful Blessing.¡± Amy frowned deeply. ¡°I did do that, didn¡¯t I?¡± She said. ¡°But, for the life of me, I can¡¯t remember why, what with the battles for planes being what they are, and anyone who would get that Blessing liable to be Fortune¡¯s Appointed¡­I must have forgotten to say it was fine for her Appointed to have any statline? Regardless, you¡¯re a Higher Being now; concerns about the balance of power don¡¯t apply to you. Feel free to make that Class as strong as you can, as things are, it¡¯s your exclusive Class, no one else can get it.¡± ¡°That makes a lot more sense.¡± Fortune said. ¡°Plus, the restriction didn¡¯t actually affect my decision-making in any meaningful capacity and all but ensured I got this wonderful daughter, so I¡¯m rather happy with how it turned out.¡± ¡°As am I, to tell you the truth. I don¡¯t think you could have picked a better candidate for the position, and not just because she¡¯s a prodigy with Worship.¡± Amy replied, smiling at Tess. Tess blushed, looking away in embarrassment. ¡°Again, it doesn¡¯t really feel like I¡¯m a prodigy, but I guess I¡¯ll have to take your word for it. Um¡­anything else, or can I go tell everyone the good news?¡± ¡°By all means, you have a honeymoon to be on and I¡¯ve kept you for too long as it is.¡± Amy said. ¡°Would you like to be teleported back to your room?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°I would, thanks.¡± She turned, hugging her mom tighter. ¡°Bye Mom, I love you.¡± ¡°I love you too, sweetie.¡± Fortune replied, giving Tess a kiss on the forehead. ¡°You have a great time, alright?¡± And, just like that, Tess found herself back on her bed. Her wives didn¡¯t seem to be in the room, so she immediately opened up their group chat and began to message everyone.
Tess: Hey everyone, Amy just finished looking into everything, and good news, I¡¯m perfectly safe. Ellie: Oh thank goodness. What happened??? Tess: So, according to Amy, I¡¯m apparently some sort of prodigy with Worship and began making Monster Breeder into a Domain. She thinks everything that¡¯s happening is a result of me unconsciously upgrading the Class to be more convenient. I don¡¯t really feel like I¡¯m some sort of prodigy, but apparently Worship can be used without consciously thinking about it or being aware that you used it. Life: That is correct. It is the power of belief and the collective unconscious, it operates in a way unlike anything else. It¡¯s highly impressive for you to be making your own Domain when you¡¯re so new to being a Higher Being, I don¡¯t think any of the gods could have managed such a thing. Maven: Wow! So¡­what does this mean for your future? Dungeons: It means her growth is going to accelerate significantly. Having Monster Breeder as a Domain isn¡¯t exactly going to be lucrative for the purposes of gathering Worship, but¡­no, actually, it might include any sort of monster taming or ranching, which wouldn¡¯t be that bad for gathering Worship. Uh, anyway, if she¡¯s modifying the Class with Worship, it¡¯s going to get a lot stronger than it was, and it was already easily the strongest. Death: Wasn¡¯t it made with a lot of Worship anyway? Will it be that much of a buff? Regardless, big congratulations, that¡¯s super impressive! Fortune: She gained over twenty core slots, and looking at it now, the same number of Attribute slots, and Five User Fundamental and attendant slots, and we¡¯re guessing that number is only going to continue to climb. Tess: Wait, that many? I haven¡¯t looked yet. Fortune: Yeah. Like Amy said, they¡¯re easy changes to make, so it¡¯s not surprising you could make them. Ellie: Sounds like you have a lot of theorycrafting to be doing, then. When will you be back? Tess: I¡¯m in our room now, and theorycrafting will wait until after the honeymoon. I want to be entirely focused on you and Maven during it. Maven: Perfect. Ellie and I are downstairs, we¡¯ll leave whenever you¡¯re ready, then. Tess: On my way.
Tess got up and made her way downstairs, where she was ambushed with hugs from both of her wives. ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re okay.¡± Ellie whispered. ¡°I was terrified for a bit there.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Maven added. ¡°I don¡¯t want to imagine what it would be like if something happened to you.¡± ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have to.¡± Tess replied, giving each of her wives a kiss in turn. ¡°You¡¯re not getting rid of me that easy. Now, why don¡¯t we get going? We¡¯ve got two weeks of luxury and time together to look forward to!¡± Chapter 124: Honeymoon To her surprise, Tess hadn¡¯t been prepared for the luxury of the resort they had been given tickets to. She had thought that, since she had become accustomed to staying in the penthouse of the Reshi Suites, she would have some sort of idea of what a luxury resort was like, but she had been painfully wrong. The main difference was that the Reshi Suites weren¡¯t geared towards luxury. Yes, the penthouse was luxurious, but not in the same way the resort Tess and her wives had been given tickets to was. For one, everything around the suite was better; the resort had all sorts of complementary amenities, from a movie theater to an Arena, it felt like Tess could spend the entire week she was there just in the resort and still not experience everything it had to offer. The food was exquisite, and if they ever needed anything, the resort had room service that would take care of it for them. Tess had suspected that the impeccable service was partially due to their status as daughters of the world¡¯s most influential man, but Maven had assured her that it wasn¡¯t the case; the resort really did offer this sort of service to everyone. Well, everyone that could afford the stay, anyway. Tess had deliberately avoided finding out how much their week¡¯s stay would cost, because she was sure it would be more than she could imagine. As amazing as the resort was, they actually ended up spending more time outside of it. It was situated in an absolutely stunning section of nearly untouched wilderness, a mountain range bordering on the ocean. The staff of the resort spent a significant amount of time combing the wilderness, performing upkeep on the trails and hunting monsters, meaning the trails were as close to safe as trails got in the Outlands. So, the hiking and outdoors activities were something of a novelty. For Maven, it was a novelty because she hadn¡¯t had an opportunity to really experience hiking for fun before, and for Tess and Ellie it was a novelty because it was the first time they had done a casual hike with full benefit of their stats, Skills, various other abilities, and the significant exercise they had been doing while freelancing. The difference between these hikes and the last time Tess had gone hiking was like night and day. While Gramps had made sure that Tess and Ellie never truly got out of shape, Tess had never been anywhere close to as fit as she was now, and that combined with her stats and plethora of Attributes and Skills made the task absolutely effortless. Even with them chatting most of the time during the hikes, Tess rarely found herself getting out of breath, even when the terrain got rough. It was nice, just¡­being in nature and not having to worry about monsters trying to eat her face. When Tess had mentioned that, Maven had assured her that such a thing wasn¡¯t a major concern anywhere except the Outlands, and most cities and villages were kept pretty safe by soldiers or town guards. Of course, because potentially running into a monster was far more dangerous than potentially running into something like a bear, hiking and camping had never really taken off in the same way they had on Mael. That didn¡¯t mean it was inaccessible, though; all you really needed was a friend or guide that was ten or so levels above the area¡¯s level range to stay with you during the hike and you were fine. In fact, that was supposedly a relatively common, if low-paying, request for freelancers. This area had monsters that were around ten levels lower than Tess and her wives, so with the added benefit of knowing the resort was regularly sweeping the area and culling monsters, the only consideration they really had to make was to have Tess keep a metaphorical eye on her tremorsense. Even that ended up being unnecessary, though, as they didn¡¯t encounter even a trace of monsters on their hikes. Aside from the beauty of nature, they had received tickets to a few things, from a visit to a symphonic orchestra that was playing nearby to a theme park that was¡­also nearby; it seemed that the small town the resort was near had focused itself entirely around tourism, something that was quite convenient for cutting down on travel time for the members of Maelstrom as they went about their honeymoon. Both the orchestra and the theme park were new experiences for Tess, or, at least, were new experiences for a given value of new experiences. She had been to both on Mael, but the ¡°symphonic music¡± was almost an entirely different genre compared to the symphonic music from Mael, and the attractions in the theme park were likewise vastly different. For the orchestra, even though most of the instruments she saw could be roughly compared to an instrument Tess was familiar with, all the small differences added up to give the orchestra a different tone from the orchestras she was used to. Likewise, the genre of music was different; on the program, it was listed as ¡°Ayonic Classical¡±, and the short information blurb explained that it had originated roughly eight thousand years ago on the plane of Ayon. The music itself was more akin to dance music than the classical music from Mael, almost exclusively fast-paced and lively, something Tess wouldn¡¯t even blink at were it to be played at a club. According to Maven, at that period of time on Ayon, the trend was to write music that showed off the musicians¡¯ technical skill when played, the rapid beat and significant swings sometimes needing the benefit of high stats and even Skills to fully master. And, though the performance was not quite what Tess had expected, it nonetheless turned out to be quite enjoyable. As for the theme park, the presence of magic allowed for a significant number of rides and attractions that simply weren¡¯t possible on Mael. As Tess had expected, nearly all the rides used magic in some way or another, and especially common was the use of illusion magic to enhance the ambiance of an attraction. While on them, it felt like they really were in whatever place the attraction was set in. Of course, with that came a caveat; those with decent Magic Defense had to wear a special bracelet that was keyed to the devices in the park, effectively allowing the devices to bypass the user¡¯s Magic Defense so the illusions actually worked. Of course, for safety reasons, the bracelets could be removed at any time, and no one was obligated to wear one if they didn¡¯t want to, but they wouldn¡¯t receive the full experience of the rides if they didn¡¯t. Seeing as how the gods would likely warn them if there was an issue that needed the bracelets to be taken off, Tess and her wives had no issue wearing the bracelets.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The experience was both better and worse than Tess had expected. On the one hand, the sheer quality and ingenuity of the rides blew Tess¡¯s mind, but on the other, she just¡­wasn¡¯t the same as she had been before all of this. The thrill of it, though still present, was diminished by the fact that she had been through similar before, and could replicate many of the more mundane rides on her own. Still, that was only a minor thing. By and large, she was able to enjoy the theme park as she had in the past, she just had to get herself out of the freelancing mindset that Ava had ingrained into her. Plus, her wives, Maven in particular, were having an absolute blast, which made the whole thing that much better. Just like with hiking, Maven had never had the opportunity to go out to a theme park before. She eagerly flitted from place to place, trying food from the stalls, excitedly pointing out rides she had read about, and altogether being a bundle of excited joy that brought the mood up like no other. After a happy week, they packed up and left for Mael, hopped in Ellie¡¯s car, then drove to the nearest airport, an hour or so away. They considered packing some suitcases for the sake of appearances, but then the gods told them that it was fine if people thought it was a little weird that they had no bags, it¡¯d just feed into the supernatural reputation they were trying to build, if anyone even noticed at all. To Tess¡¯s surprise, Maven had never been on an airplane or any other flying vehicle before. In the wider world, if people needed to get somewhere faster than a hoverer could go, they teleported. On many planes, particularly in the Outlands, the skies were home to their own ecosystem of monsters, ones that didn¡¯t much care for the world below, but fiercely attacked anything higher than half a mile or so off of the ground. Often those monsters didn¡¯t go higher than level fifty or so, but fighting them was a lot harder than fighting ground monsters. You couldn¡¯t just stop your vehicle, hop out, and fight like you could on the ground, and flying vehicles were often clumsier than grounded vehicles. So, it was just easier to stay out of the skies and go via land or teleportation. The resort they ended up staying at was, though very nice, lacking in some of the conveniences the last resort had. This was, of course, not the resort intentionally leaving those things out, but instead a result of there being no magic on Mael. But, in the end, those were really just small things, like ordering food from room service taking longer due to the chefs having to actually cook the food, instead of having a stock of hot meals in stasis in a bag somewhere. The events they had been given tickets for were mostly different as well. The only overlap was an orchestra, but the genre of music was going to be completely different, so it wouldn¡¯t be that similar anyway. Aside from that, they had tickets for a magic show, an acrobatic performance, and a zoo, leaving most of their days filled. To Tess¡¯s surprise, Maven enjoyed these events as much as, if not more than, the ones they had been to the previous week. She thought the orchestra was great, but the others were the real stars for her; she was fascinated by the wildlife native to Mael, and throughout the entire trip to the zoo was constantly glued to the informational plaques, absorbing the information and excitedly sharing whatever interesting thing she saw, and Tess and Ellie were more than happy to guide her to their favorites. Tess couldn¡¯t help but be slightly amused during the whole trip to the zoo; not because of how Maven was acting, though it was adorable, but because she knew that, at any time, Maven or herself could stop being human and instantly become an exhibit that would draw more stares than anything else in the zoo. She was impressed by the magic show, too, especially after the first act. During the first act, she had begun guessing what Skills and spells the magician was using, only to be reminded that it wasn¡¯t real magic, it was all sleight of hand and manual dexterity. The first act also reminded Tess that she needed to turn off her tremorsense; she had become so used to keeping it on that she hadn¡¯t even thought about it when starting the show, and it ruined the first trick, as she was able to easily see what the magician was trying to hide. A magic show was an act that only existed on Mael, where actual magic wasn¡¯t real. It was an industry that would have to go through significant changes in order to work in the future, but Tess was hopeful that it could. Perhaps having devices onstage that detected the usage of spells and Skills could allow the industry to survive, or¡­maybe, depending on the audience, that wouldn¡¯t even be necessary, as enough people would be able to tell when actual magic was used for the usage of magic to be infeasible. Still, she had quickly moved beyond that line of thinking; it was an interesting thought, but it was one to be had when she wasn¡¯t enjoying her time with her wives. Maven was equally impressed with the acrobatic performance, as were Tess and Ellie. It was humbling, in a way; Tess could replicate the act, sure, but not without the assistance of her stats, Attributes, and Skills. This was a display of pure training and skill, people who had trained their bodies to the extreme and spent years mastering their craft. If Tess was forced to attempt this sort of show in the way they were doing it, she¡¯d fall immediately. The events aside, they spent their time exploring the nearby city and relaxing at the beach the resort was built near. It was a great couple of weeks, and all too soon it had come to an end. So, the three members of Maelstrom regretfully began the trip back to home. And, as they got off of the plane and into Ellie¡¯s car, Tess sent a message in their group chat.
Tess: I imagine you probably already know, but we¡¯ve touched down safely and are about to drive home now. Thanks a bunch for the trip, it was a blast! Maven: I agree. I had never imagined that a honeymoon could be so fulfilling, so I¡¯m ever so grateful for the opportunity. Ellie: Gonna start driving so I won¡¯t be reading this until I¡¯m done, but I wanted to chime in and say thanks too Fortune: You¡¯re sweet, it¡¯s what you three deserve Death: Yeah, what she said, it¡¯s the least we can do, really Dungeons: I can only really say ¡°same¡± Tess: Anything important come up while we were enjoying ourselves? Life: Your transgender friend has decided what they wish to do in the immediate future, but otherwise no. They have chosen not to contact you because they did not wish to interrupt your honeymoon, but you should probably reach out to them soon. Tess: Will do, thanks, Life. Life: It is simply my job.
That taken care of, Tess sat back and let the car¡¯s movement lull her to sleep. It had been a long day, and a little nap sounded fantastic. The next day she would get back to work, but for now¡­rest was nice. Chapter 125: Fixing a Friend Tess walked into one of the side rooms in the guild, trailed by her wives. Inside was her friend Jean, fidgeting nervously. ¡°Ah, uh, hey.¡± Jean said awkwardly. ¡°Thanks for¡­everything.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Tess replied, smiling. She and her wives sat across from Jean, then Tess continued. ¡°So, I heard you¡¯ve decided what you want to do?¡± ¡°Yeah. Um, first¡­well, you had asked me before if I had a new name in mind, and if you should refer to me with female pronouns, and I think I¡¯m ready. I¡­picked Joan, I know it¡¯s almost the same but, I don¡¯t know, it felt right.¡± Tess gave Joan another smile. ¡°That¡¯s a lovely name.¡± She replied. Joan blushed, looking down. ¡°Thanks.¡± She mumbled. ¡°Um, so, while you were on your honeymoon, Mr. Los gave me that ¡®trial run¡¯ of a woman¡¯s body, and he even offered to make it permanent right then and there, but¡­I think¡­I think I want to wait.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want it, of course, it was amazing, but¡­I want my parents there with me for the change. ¡°I came out to them a week ago, and they¡¯ve been super supportive. Mom is all excited about getting me a wardrobe and looking into how to help me transition, and Dad¡­well, he¡¯s less enthusiastic, but he¡¯s made it clear he¡¯s behind me, no matter what. It wouldn¡¯t feel right if I couldn¡¯t show them the real me as soon as I can.¡±
Death: Eh, I think we can just do it. We¡¯ll pay her a visit at her home, have Fortune Descend to give Tess a little extra oomph, then get it done. Tess theoretically has access to all types of magic, so as long as she¡¯s got the Mana and a little know-how, she¡¯ll be fine Tess: What Skill would this sort of magic even fall under?
¡°I think we might be nearing the point where we can just do it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Let us check with Grandpa, and then if he signs off on it, we¡¯ll just visit your house and have Tess do it. In fact, let me text him now, we¡¯ll see what he says.¡±
Death: Uh, good question. Do any of you know? Dungeons: Transfiguration, I think? That¡¯s where the base spell would be, but I think you need Chronomancy to make it permanent? You have to combine a couple of spells to get it to stick, you can¡¯t just throw one of the system¡¯s prebuilt spells out and have it work. It¡¯s really simple, though, you¡¯ll have it down after getting it right once or twice. Ten minute learning process, tops. Life: And, if you know what you are doing, you technically do not need any Skills to use magic. You simply lose access to the system¡¯s guidance; the best mages can do so, but Evan and Alberich are the only mortals proficient enough that they can entirely ignore the system. Fortune: For however long they¡¯ll be mortal, anyway, I think they¡¯re both scheduled to become Higher Beings soon
¡°Really?¡± Joan asked. ¡°Tess, you¡¯re capable of that?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Tess confirmed, tearing her attention away from the group chat. ¡°It¡¯s not trivial, but I can do it.¡± ¡°Alright, Grandpa texted back.¡± Ellie said, looking up from her phone. ¡°He¡¯s given us the go-ahead.¡± Joan shot them a look of disbelief. ¡°Just like that?¡± She asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t he, you know¡­busy?¡± ¡°He tends to keep his schedule open when we have important meetings like this, just in case.¡± Maven replied. ¡°It¡¯s not a surprise.¡±
Ellie: Also, if you were wondering the text I sent was just me telling him we¡¯re doing it and that it¡¯s under the pretext of him giving permission, so he doesn¡¯t get confused if Joan thanks him later. Not like we actually need his permission, you know? Death: Yeah, we don¡¯t need no authority figures telling us what to do! Fortune: I love me a good rebellion, let¡¯s do this! Life: We are literally the authority figures in this instance. Fortune: Party pooper
¡°O-oh. Um, what now, then?¡± Joan asked. ¡°Now, you go home, and I¡¯ll get the preparations done.¡± Tess replied. ¡°We¡¯ll meet you there in an hour, alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll go get ready, then.¡± Joan said, standing up. ¡°Can I tell my parents?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess replied. ¡°They¡¯re going to see the result in an hour anyway, so there¡¯s no real reason to be cagey about it.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Joan replied. ¡°I¡­thank you so much.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even worry about it.¡± Tess said. ¡°Even aside from the fact that our job is to ease people into the idea of magic and it being a positive thing, you¡¯re our friend, and we want to help.¡± Joan stood up, her eyes showing the faintest hints of wetness as she gave the three members of Maelstrom a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­see you in an hour, then.¡± After she left, Tess sent a message in the group chat.
Tess: Any chance one of you can teleport me up there so we can have in-person practice for the spell? Fortune: I can just Descend and we can do it that way, it¡¯d probably be more efficient that way, since you¡¯ll get the feeling of your body doing it. Plus, since I¡¯ll be there to help you cast the spell when we do it for reals, you don¡¯t need a ton of training, just enough to make it look smooth Tess: Oh, actually, that makes a lot more sense Ellie: Sometimes I get jealous that you two can just casually Descend whenever and not worry about consequences Fortune: Give it some time, your restrictions will relax eventually Death: We still need to do some more in-depth testing now that you¡¯re a Higher Being, get a feel for your limits. It¡¯s probably going to be easier on you now. Probably. Ellie: That doesn¡¯t exactly instill confidence Death: Thanks, I strive every day to not quite instill confidence wherever I can Life: In all seriousness, now that you are a Higher Being, your body and soul are more resilient than they used to be. Now that Amy has worked out the kink that previously prevented Descent from working when both parties are Higher Beings, everything will be a bit more efficient for you, Descent included.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Fortune: Alright, I¡¯m going to Descend now, okay? Tess: Wait, do we need a practice target? Fortune: No, the spell will just fizzle if we target a wall or something, and that¡¯ll be enough for you to get the feel of it.
A moment later, Tess felt her mother requesting Descent, and obliged. ¡°Okay, so, this is pretty simple,¡± Fortune began, ¡°if we want to make the transformation stick, we just do this¡­¡±
¡°Um, Mom, Dad, there¡¯s¡­something I have to tell you.¡± Joan said, watching her parents nervously. ¡°Did something happen, sweetie?¡± Joan¡¯s mother asked. ¡°You look nervous.¡± ¡°Well, sort of.¡± Joan replied. ¡°Do¡­do you remember my friend Tess?¡± Her father frowned. ¡°The one that¡¯s some sort of witch?¡± Joan nodded awkwardly. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s her.¡± She said. ¡°Um, she¡¯s a good person, though; both Pastor Faust and a Hunter have vouched for her, and if you need, we can call them to confirm it. She¡¯s different, but not bad, you know? But, um¡­she¡¯s gonna be here in half an hour, and she¡¯s gonna work some magic to¡­fix my body.¡± There was a moment of silence as Joan¡¯s parents digested this. ¡°You mean¡­she¡¯s going to give you the body of a biological woman?¡± Her father asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Joan replied. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­actually had it done for a shorter period of time just before I came out to you, just to be sure I was trans. It¡¯s legit.¡± ¡°That sounds great, but¡­what about your ID?¡± Joan¡¯s mother asked. ¡°No one would believe that you¡¯re the same person. Normally, people don¡¯t spontaneously change sex.¡± Joan froze. ¡°I¡­hadn¡¯t thought of that.¡± She admitted. ¡°But they probably have something lined up, we can ask her when she gets here.¡± ¡°They?¡± Her father asked. ¡°Who else is coming?¡± ¡°Her wives.¡± Joan replied. ¡°Ellie, and a woman named Maven who isn¡¯t from around here. Perhaps Mr. Los as well, but probably not.¡± ¡°Well¡­as long as they have a plan for your ID and can guarantee the process is safe, I don¡¯t see a problem with this.¡± Joan¡¯s mother said slowly. ¡°Your happiness is our priority, and it sounds like this will make you happy.¡± ¡°What do you need us to do?¡± Her father asked. ¡°We¡¯ll help however we can.¡± ¡°Just¡­be there.¡± Joan replied. ¡°They offered to put me up out of town while I went through the process, so it would be less suspicious, but I wanted you there.¡± Joan¡¯s mother frowned. ¡°Why not do that anyway? We can be there with you and then get you a hotel for a few months.¡± ¡°Well¡­there are some potential reasons.¡± Joan replied. ¡°We can talk about it more when they get here, they can explain it better than me.¡± ¡°Alright. You prepare whatever else you need to, and I¡¯ll get the living room all cleaned up.¡± Joan¡¯s mother turned to her husband. ¡°Dear, will you get some snacks ready? It wouldn¡¯t do to greet someone doing such a service for our daughter without at least that much.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Joan¡¯s father replied, standing up. ¡°I can handle that.¡± ¡°Um, I¡¯m¡­going to go get some clothes I bought during that ¡®trial run¡¯, ones I know will fit my new body.¡± Joan said. ¡°Mine aren¡¯t exactly going to fit. And, um, I only got a couple of pairs, I knew you¡¯d want to go help me pick stuff out, Mom.¡± Joan¡¯s mother gave her a smile. ¡°You know me too well. We¡¯ll call for you when they¡¯re here, so you just relax, alright?¡± Joan left to her room to gather her things and collect her thoughts, and, after what seemed like ages, heard the sound of the doorbell. She hurriedly made her way up the stairs and to the front door, where her mother was already letting Tess and her wives inside. ¡°Thank you again for coming.¡± She said quietly. ¡°This means the world to me.¡± ¡°Like I said, it¡¯s no problem at all.¡± Tess replied. ¡°It¡¯s just the right thing to do.¡± ¡°Um, we¡­did have a question, though; what are we gonna do about my ID?¡± Joan asked. ¡°Ah, that.¡± Tess replied. ¡°We were hoping to do this in a public space, so there would be eyewitnesses.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Joan¡¯s mother exclaimed. ¡°Why would you ever want that?!¡± ¡°Under the direction of Life and Death, we are trying to get people used to the idea of magic.¡± Tess explained. ¡°It¡¯s why I¡¯ve been so public about my magic. Having eyewitnesses should hopefully smooth the process over. If you do end up having trouble with it, then we¡¯ll call in some favors and pull some strings and we should be able to get it taken care of.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a big claim to make.¡± Joan¡¯s father said suspiciously. ¡°How do we know you¡¯re not just trying to trick us?¡± Joan shot her father a flat look, but she couldn¡¯t exactly tell him about the other planes if Tess wasn¡¯t going to, so she stayed silent. ¡°You can ask Pastor Faust if you want, but if it really doesn¡¯t sit right with you, we can do it in private.¡± Tess replied. ¡°It¡¯s going to make the process of getting an updated ID a lot more complicated, though.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine with it being in public.¡± Joan said. ¡°It might attract some attention, but that¡¯s fine. It¡¯s a small price to pay, really. If we¡¯re really lucky, I can get some TV deals and fund college with them.¡± ¡°And if we¡¯re unlucky, you¡¯ll be taken to a government lab and experimented on.¡± Her father pointed out. ¡°It¡¯s too risky.¡± ¡°We have friends in high places to keep that from happening.¡± Tess replied. ¡°And, on the off-chance it does, I can just go rescue her myself. Believe me, with the people I know, there¡¯s nothing in this country that could stop me from saving her.¡± ¡°And how would you know that, young lady?¡± Joan¡¯s father asked reproachfully. ¡°I¡¯m sure there are all sorts of secret projects the government has that might be capable of stopping you, magic or no.¡± ¡°Um, she¡¯s probably right, Dad.¡± Joan said. ¡°It¡¯s kind of secret, so I can¡¯t say exactly who, but I¡¯ve met some of the people she knows. They could probably handle whatever problems come up with their eyes closed; if she says she can save me, then she probably can.¡± ¡°As long as you know the risks, then we¡¯ll support you.¡± Joan¡¯s mother said, laying a hand on her husband¡¯s arm. ¡°We don¡¯t know much about magic, so we¡¯ll just have to believe you when you say that she can handle it.¡± ¡°Good. In that case, we¡¯ll be doing it just outside the church.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I¡¯ve already cleared it with Pastor Faust, so don¡¯t worry about getting in trouble or anything, we¡¯ll just walk down there and get it done.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Joan¡¯s mother asked. ¡°You don¡¯t need more prep time or anything?¡± ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°I¡¯ve already prepared all I needed to before coming here.¡± ¡°Uh, let me go get my shoes and a change of clothes. Oh, and I¡¯ll grab your shoes too, Mom and Dad.¡± Joan replied. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± She walked back to the mud room to grab the shoes, and once she returned, Tess held her hand out. ¡°Give me the change of clothes. I¡¯ll put it in my bag and we can change inside the church.¡± Joan handed the clothes over, then watched in surprise as Tess stowed them in her pockets, not even a hint of them remaining. Seeing the shock on Joan¡¯s face, Tess laughed. ¡°My clothes double as my magic bag. You wouldn¡¯t believe the amount of stuff I have in them.¡± And, with that, they were off. The town they lived in was tiny and Joan¡¯s family lived near the city proper, as much as it could even be called that, so the walk to the church took only fifteen or so minutes. Once they were in front of the path leading up to the church proper, Tess whirled, giving Joan a smile. ¡°Alright, this will only take a moment, if everyone but Joan could stand back, that would be excellent, thanks.¡± Once they had, Tess began to chant, a strange charged feeling entering the air as magic circles began to appear around her. Joan couldn¡¯t help but look around, noticing that, as the chant wore on, cars had stopped in the street around them, and a small group of people had exited the church, everyone watching with wide eyes as Tess chanted her spell. And, what felt like ages later, Tess stopped chanting, gave Joan another smile, and let loose her magic. A rush of energy filled Joan¡¯s body, and she could feel herself begin to change. It was slower than when Mr. Los had done it, taking place over the span of a few seconds rather than instantaneously, but the sensation was no less intense. The foreign power flowed down from her head until it reached her toes, leaving everywhere it touched changed. And, once it had finished its work, there was another pulse of power, and everything faded, Joan feeling¡­not the same, but right. Her body felt normal, yes, but in a way that her male body never had. She was finally who she was meant to be, and it felt wonderful. ¡°There you are.¡± Tess said, dusting her hands off theatrically. ¡°That¡¯ll be you forever, unless you get someone to do the same thing in reverse. Any dispelling effects will bring you back to this form. Oh, and you might want to grab your pants before they fall off, they¡¯re getting close.¡± Joan hurriedly clutched at her pants, and a moment later felt the arm of Pastor Faust over her shoulder. ¡°Congratulations.¡± She whispered, then turned to the people gathered outside of the church doors and, more loudly, continued. ¡°Everyone go back to what you were doing! I¡¯m going to bring this poor girl inside and get her some fitting clothes, and I don¡¯t want any of you seeing her if there¡¯s an accidental wardrobe malfunction!¡± The people scattered, and Pastor Faust guided the group into the church and to a side room. Once inside, Tess took Joan¡¯s clothes out of her pockets, handed them over, and everyone left. And, as Joan changed, the emotions overwhelmed her. Tears began to flow freely from her eyes as she realized that¡­this was her now, and for forever. Still crying, she finished changing and left the room, giving her parents a hug before giving Tess one as well. ¡°Thank you again.¡± She croaked. ¡°I don¡¯t know how I¡¯ll ever repay you.¡± ¡°You already have.¡± Tess replied, returning the hug. ¡°Just letting us do this in public is payment enough. Now, let us know if you have any trouble with publicity or government agents knocking or anything, and we¡¯ll make sure it all goes away, alright?¡± ¡°And you can trust that you will have the full weight of the church behind you.¡± Pastor Faust said. ¡°Life and Death themselves are watching over the events here, and watching over you. If they need us to move, then we will, no matter the cost.¡± Joan¡¯s father looked up at Pastor Faust. ¡°So¡­they really are working for you, then?¡± ¡°They work for the gods, and them alone.¡± Pastor Faust replied. ¡°But we can speak of this later; you should be celebrating, not worrying about theological issues. I¡¯ve arranged for a car to drive you home, so you won¡¯t get swarmed by curious people on your way back, so you just run along, and whatever problems come up, we¡¯ll take care of, alright?¡± ¡°Thank you, Pastor Faust.¡± Joan said. ¡°Mom, Dad, let¡¯s go home. I¡¯m¡­tired, emotionally speaking, and I want to rest.¡± Chapter 126: Mael: the Unseen World As Tess and her wives were walking down the street after finishing up with Joan, they were stopped by a young man that Tess didn¡¯t recognize running up to them. ¡°Can I ask for an interview?¡± He asked breathlessly. ¡°I saw you and just had to ask.¡± ¡°Uhh¡­Come again?¡± Tess asked, taken aback. ¡°Right, right, sorry.¡± The man replied, standing up straighter. ¡°I¡¯m Marley Smith, host of Mael: the Unseen World, and we¡¯re here in town to investigate the strange happenings. You¡¯re Tess Los, the girl who recently made a splash at her high-school yearbook signing, correct?¡± Tess raised an eyebrow. ¡°And you¡¯re not afraid of me?¡± She asked. ¡°Most people who know of me tend to steer clear.¡± ¡°They just don¡¯t know what an actual threat looks like.¡± Marley laughed. ¡°By all accounts you¡¯re polite and reasonable, I once hunted down a bone horror, so this is barely even comparable in terms of the fear factor.¡± ¡°You actually chased after one of those?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Did you have any sort of protective gear?¡± ¡°Some body armor and a gun, it tends to ward things off well-enough. If you make monsters think you¡¯re too hard of a target, they¡¯ll generally back off. Plus, there was a Hunter with me, so it wasn¡¯t as big a risk as you¡¯re thinking. It¡¯s episode twenty-two, if you¡¯re curious. You sound like you have experience with them, would you mind sharing?¡± Maven thought on that. ¡°The three of us have killed a few.¡± She admitted. ¡°I was just surprised a civilian had the guts to go after one.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and I walk that line every day.¡± Marley replied. ¡°I take it the two of you are also in touch with the occult, then?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we take this somewhere more private?¡± Ellie suggested. ¡°And, yes, we¡¯re involved with the occult.¡± Marley looked to Tess, who nodded. ¡°We¡¯re fine with being interviewed.¡± She confirmed. ¡°But Ellie is right, the street is no place for an interview like this.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve rented out a studio just down the block that we¡¯ve set up for stuff like this.¡± Marley replied. ¡°We were actually in the middle of filming when I saw you three out the window.¡± ¡°Lead the way, then.¡± Tess said. Marley began walking down the street, turning to give Tess and her wives a smile as he did. ¡°You know, most young women are more hesitant to be taken to another location until I show them proof I am who I say I am. I assume you¡¯re not particularly worried about it being a trap, then?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°We just know you couldn¡¯t actually hurt us if you tried. Believe me, we¡¯re regularly in much more dangerous situations.¡± ¡°I did just admit to working with Hunters, you know.¡± Marley replied. ¡°Who¡¯s to say I don¡¯t have some waiting in the studio?¡± ¡°Again, it wouldn¡¯t make a difference.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯ve already encountered the woman who is supposedly the best in the business, and she wasn¡¯t capable of doing anything to stop me. I¡¯m more worried about holding back so as not to kill them if they insisted on fighting.¡± Marley raised an eyebrow. ¡°And you¡¯re still just walking about in broad daylight? You¡¯re not worried about her coming back for revenge?¡± Tess snorted. ¡°If she did, I¡¯d be more worried about her, because she¡¯d clearly be under some sort of magic or is being blackmailed or something. She¡¯s on quite good terms nowadays with us nowadays; in fact, if you want to interview her, just head down to the church in the evenings and ask for Marie. Tell her I sent you, and she¡¯ll be more than happy to clear her schedule.¡± Marley stopped, an incredulous look on his face. ¡°I¡¯ll actually do that, you know.¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of being laughed at.¡± ¡°I¡¯m serious.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Worst that¡¯ll happen is that she¡¯ll call me to verify.¡± ¡°Is there a reason you¡¯re so buddy-buddy with her?¡± Marley asked, beginning to walk again. ¡°Usually, hunters don¡¯t get along well with supernatural elements.¡± ¡°We¡¯re both servants of the gods, and once we actually sat and talked things out, she realized I wasn¡¯t a monster and that we¡¯d be much more productive if we worked together rather than being at each other¡¯s throats. And they don¡¯t get along well with monsters, I¡¯m a person, and that makes a world of difference.¡± Marley stopped in front of a building, opening the door. ¡°After you, ladies.¡± He said. ¡°First room on the right.¡± Tess and her wives confidently strolled into the building and into the room that Marley had pointed out. The room was large, and a stage of sorts had been laid out near the back, dressed up so as to give the impression that it was a cozy library with two comfy chairs arranged around a fireplace. The crew milling about spoke in hushed whispers which, thanks to Tess¡¯s enhanced hearing, Tess was able to hear perfectly. It was, of course, about her and her wives, the crew wondering if the videos they had seen were real or just hoaxes, and if it was safe to have them in the studio. ¡°I won¡¯t be hurting any of you.¡± Tess said, smiling at them. ¡°As a heads-up, yes, I can hear everything you¡¯re whispering about right now, and we can prove that later if you would like, but don¡¯t talk about anything private if you don¡¯t want me hearing.¡± Marley walked in a moment later. ¡°I¡¯ll be holding you to that. In the meantime, do you mind waiting while we fetch some seats? I already have people grabbing them.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t mind, but we can do you one better, if you don¡¯t mind people¡¯s inevitable accusations of blatant fraud.¡± Tess replied. Marley raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oh? Elaborate.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be blunt, I¡¯m willing to do just about anything you ask of me, and a lot of people are going to have a hard time believing it¡¯s not CGI. I know I wouldn¡¯t have believed it before I got involved in all of this. But, here, watch.¡± Tess reached into her pocket and pulled out a folding chair that she had stored in there, setting it up and sitting down. ¡°Extradimensional storage, I keep lots of stuff like this in there just in case it¡¯ll come in handy.¡± There was a long moment of silence as the crew stared at Tess, but they rallied shockingly quickly. ¡°That might be a bit much.¡± Marley admitted. ¡°Let¡¯s stick to the stuff we¡¯ve already seen you do, and maybe a bit of extra magic, nothing too flashy.¡± Tess nodded, standing up and putting the chair away. And, as she did, a few people came into the room, carrying two more chairs with them. They placed them on one side of the fireplace, and Marley motioned for Tess and her wives to take a seat. They did so, and Marley sat down opposite them. ¡°We¡¯ll start rolling as soon as you¡¯re ready.¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯ll give a little intro, just follow my lead and it¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ve got a list of questions here, you can read through them if you¡¯d like but it¡¯s fine if it¡¯s just off the cuff. I¡¯ll be making some pauses that might seem awkward, but they¡¯re there for the sake of editing, so we can make smoother cuts and whatnot.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve probably got answers cooked up to any questions you can ask.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡± Marley looked to Tess, who nodded, then cleared his throat. ¡°Alright, three, two, one¡­start filming, please.¡±
Marley turned to the camera, putting on a big smile. ¡°Hello folks, right now I¡¯m in a studio in the town of Kaas with a trio of very special guests, would you mind introducing yourselves?¡± The camerawoman turned the camera over to Tess, who turned and gave the camera a smile of her own. ¡°Hello! I¡¯m Tess Los, and these are my wives. You may recognize me from a few videos that have been circulating online lately, and I¡¯m here to help answer questions about them.¡± She turned and nodded at the redhead to her left, who spoke up. ¡°My name¡¯s Ellie, and I¡¯m going to let Tess do most of the talking, since, you know, she¡¯s the one who¡¯s front and center in this whole thing, but I¡¯ll probably pipe up from time to time.¡± ¡°And I am Maven.¡± The black-haired woman to their right added. ¡°Like Ellie, I will mostly be quiet, but I likely will speak up if a topic comes up that I feel I am more suited to speaking about.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The camerawoman panned back over to Marley, who was still smiling. ¡°Now, if you don¡¯t know what these young women are talking about, allow us to take a moment to share the videos in question.¡± He paused momentarily, then continued. ¡°Fascinating videos, aren¡¯t they?¡± He turned to Tess, then continued. ¡°So, I have to say, this is a first for us; we¡¯ve never actually been able to interview the subject of an episode before, usually they¡¯re too busy trying to eat us. You¡¯re different, though, would you mind telling us why?¡± Tess shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll admit I haven¡¯t seen an episode of your show before, but chances are that¡¯s because you¡¯ve been chasing down monsters. I¡¯m a person, and I was completely ordinary until seven or eight months ago. You don¡¯t just become some sort of maniac after getting magic.¡± ¡°Any chance you can tell us how one would go about learning magic?¡± Marley asked. ¡°It¡¯s not something you can just learn, I¡¯m afraid.¡± Tess replied. ¡°You have to have someone who can use magic initiate you, and there aren¡¯t that many of us. Last I checked I think there were around¡­twenty to thirty people in the world who can use magic? And it¡¯s not something those of us who know magic can just go around handing out willy-nilly, either, there¡¯s a whole process to it, and you have to be prepared to get seriously injured if you¡¯re not careful. Point is, it''s not something you can just go and learn if you want to.¡± ¡°I figured it wouldn¡¯t be that easy.¡± Marley chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you don¡¯t want to entrust it to someone you just met, either?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I need to have more than just ¡®you run a TV show¡¯ if I¡¯m gonna trust you with this. I need to get at least some idea of what your character is like, first.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s fair enough, I don¡¯t think it¡¯d be wise to just hand out those sorts of secrets willy-nilly.¡± Marley said. ¡°But I¡¯m sure the viewers all want to see some real magic, do you have any you care to show us? And, folks, like always, don¡¯t be shocked if the camera quality takes a sharp drop; it¡¯s not some sort of error, it always happens when the supernatural is caught on camera.¡± Marley paused, giving Tess an appraising look. ¡°Actually, do you happen to know any ways around that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s something Life and Death put in place to help keep the supernatural from causing panic.¡± Tess replied. ¡°If the video quality remains poor, it¡¯s easy to write off what¡¯s in the video as fake. However, times are changing; I think you¡¯ll find that you¡¯re not going to have that issue going forward. It¡¯s not my place to say why, but I can say that I¡¯m putting myself out there so much for the same reason. Now, what would you like to see first?¡± Marley would have liked to take a moment to digest that, but he had an interview to film, so he gathered himself and pressed on. ¡°Well, let¡¯s start with the big one, I suppose; can you show us those claws?¡± Tess nodded. ¡°Any specific way you¡¯d like me to show this off?¡± She asked. ¡°Like, should I just bring them out while I¡¯m sitting here or do you want a close-up shot or what? There¡¯s not a huge difference on my end, so as long as you don¡¯t want me to hurt anyone, I¡¯ll do whatever.¡± ¡°Elias, bring out the slow-mo cam, please.¡± Marley called out. ¡°I¡¯d like to get a shot of those claws coming out.¡± ¡°This¡¯ll be interesting.¡± Ellie mused. ¡°I¡¯ve never gotten a good look at them coming out before, it¡¯s too quick to really see.¡± As Elias wheeled out the camera, Marley made some more conversation. ¡°So, how often do you end up needing to use those claws?¡± He asked. ¡°Every day.¡± Tess replied. ¡°We¡¯re doing very dangerous work, and they¡¯re my main weapon.¡± ¡°The monsters you have seen pale in comparison to what we deal with.¡± Ellie added. ¡°There¡¯s a reason that the only monsters people see are the kind that can be dealt with without magic.¡± ¡°So, the magic community deals with them, then?¡± Marley pressed. ¡°Yeah. The main job of people like us is to make sure that civilians can live their lives without fear of the supernatural.¡± Ellie confirmed. Elias finished bringing the camera to the camerawoman, and Marley gave him a smile. ¡°Thank you, Elias.¡± He said. ¡°Tess, would it mess things up if you let your hands rest on this end table? It¡¯ll make for a more stable shot.¡± ¡°No problem at all.¡± Tess replied, walking over to the table and laying her hand on it. ¡°Let me know when you¡¯re ready.¡± Marley waited for the camerawoman to signal that she was ready, then nodded at Tess. ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡± It was a blink and you¡¯ll miss it moment; one second, Tess had perfectly normal human hands, the next her delicate-looking fingers were encased in thick keratin, the nearly foot-long claws that looked sharper and more deadly than any Marley had ever seen. Marley stood and walked over to the end table, inspecting the claws as best he could. ¡°Fascinating.¡± He breathed. ¡°How do these claws compare to those of the monsters you fight?¡± ¡°You would be hard pressed to find better.¡± Maven said. ¡°To put it in terms that are more easily digestible to the audience, you can consider these claws to be on par with those of the toughest of dragons.¡± ¡°So, dragons are real, then?¡± Marley asked idly, shifting around to get a view of the claws from another angle. ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m told Mael hasn¡¯t had a real dragon appear in centuries.¡± Tess replied. ¡°The most that we¡¯ve had to deal with are wyverns.¡± She paused, looking at Marley with the faintest hint of amusement. ¡°You can touch the claws if you want, just be careful; they¡¯re incredibly sharp.¡± Marley nodded. ¡°If the videos are any indicator, then I don¡¯t doubt it.¡± He ran a finger down the top of one of the claws, carefully analyzing its texture. It felt just like any other claw Marley had handled, and he had handled more than his share of odd claws, the only discrepancy being that this claw was completely unblemished, no nicks or imperfections to be found in it. ¡°You must take quite good care of these.¡± He observed. ¡°It looks immaculately kept.¡± ¡°Eh, not really, they¡¯re away most of the time.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Magic helps keep them fresh, and I¡¯ve yet to have any sort of serious damage to them, they¡¯re significantly more durable than most stuff I¡¯ve come across.¡± ¡°Even that door at your school? Surely a metal door left some impact on you, no matter how flimsy.¡± ¡°Not even that door.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°I¡¯ve taken swords, claws, magic, all sorts of things to these claws, and they¡¯ve yet to show any signs of damage. They¡¯re made of extremely sturdy stuff.¡± ¡°Can you slice through this end table for me?¡± Marley asked. ¡°Uh, provided you can mend it, that is.¡± ¡°Yeah, I can do that, I¡¯ll just make a relatively small cut. Stand back, please.¡± Marley hurriedly stepped away, and Tess pulled her hands back, the claws becoming significantly shorter as she did. Then she flicked a finger downwards in an almost casual way, the claw slicing through the wood without even a hint of slowing. ¡°Like Maven said, think of them like the claws of a dragon. If a dragon¡¯s claws were significantly damaged by clashing with a knight¡¯s sword, then it wouldn¡¯t be a very good dragon, would it? I¡¯m going to do the repair now, would you like to move the camera so you have a better angle on it?¡± ¡°Yes, give us just a moment, folks¡­in the meantime, Tess, eyewitnesses report feeling frozen with an instinctual fear when you roared that day, would you mind enlightening us a bit more?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Tess replied. ¡°It¡¯s another one of my abilities, and it makes people and monsters I view as enemies feel that instinctual fear. Really, it¡¯s better at dealing with monsters, particularly ones that have animalistic traits. That day at the yearbook signing was one of the very few times I¡¯ve used it on a person, I generally don¡¯t get into any sort of serious conflict with people, just monsters.¡± ¡°Would you be alright demonstrating it for us here?¡± Marley asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem that the viewers at home will get the same sensation, but I want to experience it for myself.¡± ¡°How soundproofed is this room?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I don¡¯t want this affecting any people on the street who didn¡¯t ask for this.¡± ¡°It has pretty decent soundproofing, but perhaps you should roar as quietly as possible, just in case.¡± Marley suggested. Tess nodded. ¡°Alright then. Anyone who doesn¡¯t want to feel this, leave the room now, anyone who plans to stay, please make sure you¡¯re not holding anything dangerous or valuable; everyone reacts a bit differently and I can¡¯t guarantee you won¡¯t drop something.¡± To Marley¡¯s pride, none of his crew left. These sorts of things were always optional, it was a little outside of the paygrade of a camera crew, but most people who had stayed on his crew long enough were people passionate about this. They wanted the truth out to the world, even if others mocked them for it. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± Tess asked after a moment. ¡°I¡¯m going to count down, if you¡¯re not, just shout. Three¡­two¡­one¡­¡± Tess waited for just a moment more, then threw her head back and let out a roar. It was unlike anything Marley had ever heard before; he had heard the sounds monsters made on the hunt, but this was something different. It was the kind of roar that dug straight down into the most primal part of his brain and shut off all higher brain function, overriding it with the simple desire to get away. If he stayed where he was, the beast at the other end of that roar was going to find him and kill him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He had never felt so completely and utterly helpless before, so weak and insignificant. He tried to command his limbs to move but it was like he was in a dream, his body reacting sluggishly if at all. And, then, after what felt like ages, the sensation abruptly vanished, and he felt normal again. Sweat dripping down his face, he looked up at Tess. ¡°You said it¡¯s better against monsters?¡± He rasped. ¡°Because that felt pretty effective to me.¡± ¡°Yes. For people, they just freeze in place. For monsters, they drop absolutely everything and run. It doesn¡¯t matter if that puts them into the path of someone else, they¡¯ll run right off of a cliff or into a spear if it means getting away from me. Of course, if you¡¯re considered an ally¡­¡± she suddenly let out another roar, and though the sound invoked the briefest flash of the fear he had previously felt, it was only by association; he wasn¡¯t frozen in place, could still think clearly, and if he had heard this version first, he would have had no real reaction other than to wonder how a girl like her made that noise. ¡°See?¡± Tess said. ¡°Perfectly fine. No scarier than a normal roar.¡± Marley nodded, reaching up and wiping the sweat from his brow. ¡°Truly fascinating.¡± He said, then turned to the camera. ¡°Sorry about this, folks, I¡¯m sure it didn¡¯t feel like much to you, but that was something the likes of which I¡¯ve never felt before, it just completely shut me down for a few seconds. So, even though this was a controlled test, I¡¯m going to take a moment to make sure everyone is alright just in case. We¡¯ll be back in just a moment.¡± He turned back to Tess. ¡°Sorry about that, do you mind if we take a five-minute break to collect ourselves? I like to make sure everyone is still doing alright after particularly frightening events, and though this was something we were bracing for, it¡¯s better safe than sorry.¡± ¡°By all means.¡± Tess replied. ¡°We¡¯re not in a rush.¡± He flashed her a relieved smile. ¡°Thank you.¡± He said, then hurried off to check on his crew, taking the time to calm himself as he did. Fortunately, Tess was indeed quite the polite young woman; if she had been the monster some had claimed her to be¡­Marley suppressed a shiver at the thought. That wasn¡¯t the case, and there was no use psyching himself out by dwelling on it. So, he told himself to just push through, and have a breakdown later; this was the biggest interview of his career, and he couldn¡¯t afford to blow it by being all nervous on camera. Holiday Special 2024 Part 1 Thomas took a step and suddenly found himself standing in some sort of large convention center, wearing a suit. As he looked around, he rubbed his eyes, then pinched himself to make extra sure he wasn¡¯t dreaming. He didn¡¯t think he was, since there was no gap in memory between his walking the halls of his school and his appearing here, but what he was seeing was simply too unbelievable. There were¡­mythological beings everywhere. Angels, demons, elves, a woman made of slime, and most of them were just acting like nothing weird was happening. ¡°Oh great.¡± A woman¡¯s voice groaned from behind him. He whirled, catching sight of Ellie to his right and a demon woman to his left, as well as¡­a copy of Ellie and the demon woman, standing alongside the single most attractive woman he had ever seen. ¡°How do we explain this?¡± The woman, a blonde human, asked. Thomas had to force himself to look away from the blonde as she spoke, gaze honing in on the copy of Ellie beside her, looking strangely confident considering the odd situation they were in. ¡°Uh¡­is that you, Ellie? What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m right here.¡± The Ellie beside Thomas said. ¡°But it¡¯s weird that she looks just like me.¡± The copy of Ellie smirked. ¡°Half-right. I¡¯m from¡­half a year to a year in your future.¡± ¡°Y-you will have to forgive me for my conduct earlier this morning, Miss Los.¡± The demon beside Thomas said, face pale as she gave a curtsey. ¡°I was completely out of line.¡± The future version of her made a face. ¡°Ugh, why¡¯d it have to be from then?¡± She asked. ¡°It couldn¡¯t have been literally a day later?¡± The demon, seemingly noticing her double for the first time, gave her a stern look. ¡°And who are you supposed to be?¡± She asked icily. ¡°Are you the one who kidnapped me and brought me here?¡± Her future self sighed. ¡°It¡¯s going to be a long night, isn¡¯t it? As with Ellie, I¡¯m you, from the future.¡± ¡°Right, we all don¡¯t know each other yet.¡± Future Ellie said. ¡°Let¡¯s make some introductions. The two of them already know me, but I¡¯m Ellie Los, Appointed of Life and Death, and these are my two lovely wives, Tess Los, Appointed and daughter of Fortune, and Maven Los, Appointed of Dungeons and former Crown Princess of Paumen.¡± The version of Maven next to Thomas stared at Future Ellie. ¡°Impossible.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m not Appointed material, and I¡¯m definitely not¨C¡± ¡°Attracted to girls?¡± Her future self finished. ¡°We weren¡¯t. It¡¯s¡­complicated. Long story short, we are, romantically, and we got our sexual orientation updated to match.¡± ¡°Speaking of,¡± Future Ellie interjected, walking over to Thomas and throwing her arms around him in an uncharacteristically seductive way, ¡°I¡¯ve known for a long time that you¡¯ve had an unrequited crush on me, but I¡¯m sorry to tell you that I¡¯m a lesbian, and unless you¡¯re one of those two, you don¡¯t have even the faintest chance of getting with me.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Ellie exclaimed, walking over and laying a hand on her future self¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I don¡¯t know what may happen between us and Thomas in the future, but that¡¯s no excuse to treat the him of now like that! Apologize!¡± Future Ellie disengaged herself from Thomas, then whispered something into the present Ellie¡¯s ear. In response, Ellie gave her future self a shocked look, then turned to Thomas. ¡°But, um¡­she¡¯s right, sorry. I didn¡¯t want to tell you like this, but it¡¯s true, I¡¯m a lesbian, and it would never work out between us.¡± The blonde, who must have been Tess, groaned. ¡°Would you stop teasing him!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°Just look at him, it looks like he¡¯s about to cry!¡± Tess walked up to him, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. ¡°Hey, sorry about Ellie, she¡¯s just teasing, and went too far. And, uh, sorry about this, I guess? You probably don¡¯t want to hear this, but I¡¯m you from the future.¡± Thomas stared down at her in disbelief. ¡°But¡­you¡¯re like, way shorter than me.¡± He said weakly. ¡°Hormones wouldn¡¯t do that, and I don¡¯t think they¡¯d make me¡­¡± He trailed off, but Tess seemed to pick up on what he meant. ¡°You¡¯re right, they wouldn¡¯t.¡± She said, giving him a weak smile. ¡°Magic can and did, though. How long until Ellie¡¯s eighteenth birthday?¡± ¡°It¡¯s December, so¡­three or four months?¡± Thomas replied, bewildered. ¡°That¡¯s when all¡­this happens.¡± Tess replied, motioning at herself. ¡°We learn about the rest of the world and magic, and also in the process get turned into a girl. We get over it pretty quickly, though.¡± ¡°But¡­I¡¯m not trans.¡± Thomas protested. ¡°We weren¡¯t, yeah.¡± Tess paused, then shook her head. ¡°At least, I think we weren¡¯t? Nowadays, I wouldn¡¯t go back for the world, but¡­it¡¯s complicated.¡± The demon next to Tess, Maven, if Future Ellie¡¯s introduction was correct, seemed to come out of some sort of funk, tentatively walking up to Tess. ¡°Miss Ellie said that you are the daughter of Fortune? I was under the impression that you are mortal.¡± She said shyly. ¡°Would you be opposed to explaining the situation to me?¡± Tess reached out as if she was going to hug Maven, then drew back. ¡°Sorry.¡± She said, scratching the back of her neck just like Thomas would when he was embarrassed. ¡°We¡¯re married in my time, so it was just instinct. Uh, it¡¯s kind of complicated, but the gist is that Fortune adopts me a few months into your future. And, no, I wasn¡¯t an Appointed when we met the first time, that happens a week or two from your time period.¡± ¡°What is an Appointed?¡± Ellie interjected. ¡°The word keeps being thrown about and I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± ¡°As far as the public is aware, we¡¯re like the hands and feet of the gods in the mortal plane.¡± Future Maven explained. ¡°In reality, we¡¯re equal partners with them. And, as of recently, we¡¯re the same category of being. As far as the laws of the universe are concerned, we are gods now.¡± ¡°I beg your pardon?¡± Maven asked indignantly. ¡°That is blasphemy of the highest order!¡± ¡°It¡¯s true, though.¡± A woman said, walking up to the group. As she spoke, her voice drilled deep down into Thomas¡¯s soul and making it clear that it was the Goddess of Fortune speaking. It was a disconcerting feeling; Thomas hadn¡¯t even known there was a Goddess of Fortune, but ever single fiber of his being was screaming at him that this was her, and he couldn¡¯t bring himself to believe otherwise. ¡°Oh, hey, Mom!¡± Tess said. ¡°You¡¯re here too, this time?¡± ¡°Sort of.¡± Fortune replied. ¡°I¡¯m from Lilith¡¯s time period, so¡­fiftyish years in your future?¡± ¡°L-Lady Fortune, it¡¯s an honor.¡± Maven said, dropping into a curtsey. ¡°Is it true what they have been saying?¡± ¡°I dunno what they¡¯ve been telling you, but whatever they say is probably true.¡± Fortune replied casually, her voice now just like any normal person¡¯s. ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll explain more when everyone¡¯s here, but this place doesn¡¯t follow the normal rules of reality. And don¡¯t stand on ceremony with anyone you meet here, that¡¯s not the kind of place this is. It¡¯s a party, not¡­a ball. I mean, it kind of is, but it¡¯s a place to relax, not make social connections or anything. You¡¯ll forget all about this until my time, so don¡¯t sweat it too much.¡± ¡°Wait, you figured out a way to preserve our memories of this place?¡± Future Ellie asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± Fortune replied. ¡°I¡¯ll let Lilith explain more, though, it was her breakthrough. Anyway, Thomas and the Ellie from that time period, are you two holding up okay? I know it¡¯s a lot to dump on you all at once.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­not sure.¡± Thomas admitted. ¡°I feel kind of numb to it all right now, to tell you the truth.¡± ¡°And I feel the same.¡± Ellie echoed. ¡°I feel like I should be more suspicious of all of this but I can¡¯t bring myself to be.¡± ¡°Eh, that¡¯s probably just the party doing what it does.¡± Fortune replied. ¡°It¡¯s hard to enjoy your evening if you¡¯re breaking down from finding out magic is real, you know?¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°And¡­you end up adopting me? Why?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a complicated story that you don¡¯t have all the pieces to really understand, but it was your idea, actually.¡± Fortune replied. ¡°Again, complicated story, but I had been watching over you and Ellie since around the time your parents died, so I already sort of felt like a mother to you two, in a weird way.¡± ¡°But¡­why? Why watch us?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°It is not that surprising, is it?¡± Maven asked. ¡°They don¡¯t know about the Guildmaster.¡± Future Maven said quickly. ¡°They¡¯re just normal people as far as they know.¡± ¡°The Guildmaster?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Gramps.¡± Tess said. ¡°Turns out he¡¯s, like¡­one of the most important people in the world?¡± ¡°Hey, everyone.¡± An angel child with blood-red hair said, walking up to the group. ¡°I see you¡¯ve got the whole past-self thing to deal with too.¡± ¡°Hey, Eve.¡± Future Ellie replied. ¡°Yeah, we do. Uh, to make introductions, this is Eve, she¡¯s a friend from another universe, we¡¯ve met at these parties before. She¡¯s also our distant aunt via Maven, and apparently, we spend a lot of time with her in the future.¡± ¡°Does that mean she¡¯s older than she looks?¡± Thomas asked. Thomas gaped as Eve rapidly aged into adulthood, her fancy dress refitting itself to fit her new form. ¡°Sort of. I¡¯m thirty, I just take that form to throw off my enemies. And, it did sort of work, but honestly not as well as I had hoped?¡± She aged back down to the childlike appearance she had had when Thomas had first seen her. ¡°I mostly just stay this way because it¡¯s what I¡¯m used to at this point. Also, because it entertains me when people see me change ages for the first time, but that¡¯s just a minor perk.¡± ¡°But which one is your real form?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Both, and neither.¡± Eve said, shrugging. ¡°I don¡¯t play by normal rules, basically anything can be my real form. But I suppose if we wanted to get really philosophical about it¡­¡± Eve rapidly aged up once again, a demon¡¯s tail sprouting behind her and her hair turning black. ¡°This is what you¡¯d consider the ¡®default¡¯ version of me.¡± She just as rapidly returned to her old appearance, giving yet another shrug. ¡°That would get confusing really quickly, though, so me and the rest of me try to distinguish ourselves how we can.¡± ¡°The rest of you?¡± Maven asked. ¡°It¡¯s very complicated, but I¡¯m essentially five people in one. ¡° Eve said. ¡°One soul, five separate consciousnesses and personalities. That appearance was from the ¡®main body¡¯, Lilith, you¡¯ll see her here soon. The rest of us aren¡¯t here, but they don¡¯t particularly mind; they¡¯re not always the most sociable types, and they get all the memories of it at night, as clear as if they had lived them.¡± Ellie frowned and opened her mouth, but Eve shook her head, cutting her off. ¡°Like I said, it¡¯s complicated. I live an incredibly non-standard life, and it¡¯s hard enough to explain to people who are familiar with magic, let alone people who just learned about it. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have more time to ask as this party progresses, but for now we need to go meet up with everyone else, it¡¯ll be easier to explain all at once.¡± Eve turned and began to walk off, the future versions of Thomas, Ellie, and Maven quick to follow. Maven took a second to decide before following, but while Thomas was still in shock, Fortune walked over and grabbed his hand gently. ¡°Are you still feeling okay?¡± She asked. ¡°If either of you two need to take a minute, then I¡¯ll let everyone know.¡± ¡°I-I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ellie stammered. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for¡­whatever you did, I¡¯d still be half-convinced I¡¯m dreaming.¡± Fortune smiled at Ellie. ¡°That¡¯s a tool we use so that people can¡¯t impersonate the gods.¡± She explained. ¡°It makes you know who¡¯s speaking in a way that can¡¯t be replicated with ordinary magic, and it¡¯s come in handy when explaining things to people from Mael. Never thought I¡¯d use it to help you two understand, but that¡¯s the thing about these parties; you never can know for sure what¡¯ll happen.¡± ¡°Um¡­I think I¡¯m ready too.¡± Thomas said. ¡°We can go.¡± Fortune reached out as if to stroke his hair affectionately, but quickly withdrew her hand. ¡°Sorry, force of habit.¡± She said, blushing slightly. ¡°I know you don¡¯t know me now, but we¡¯re close in the future and I keep forgetting, and¡­yeah.¡± To his surprise, Thomas found himself chuckling at the awkwardness the goddess was showing. ¡°Uh, sorry.¡± He said, quickly clamping his free hand over his mouth. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be disrespectful or anything, I¡­¡± He trailed off as Fortune began laughing herself. ¡°I don¡¯t mind at all.¡± She said, gently pulling him in the direction Even had gone, Ellie following behind. ¡°Remember, in my time, you¡¯re my daughter. And, that aside, our group, you, me, Ellie, Maven, Life, Death, and the Goddess of Dungeons, are all good friends. We poke fun at each other all the time, so just relax, no one here is out to get you.¡± Fortune paused for a moment. ¡°Well, there¡¯s this Amelia girl we¡¯ll probably be seeing, but she¡¯s just standoffish in general, don¡¯t let her get to you. It¡¯s nothing personal or anything, she¡¯s still figuring out how to handle properly having emotions and doesn¡¯t have much of a filter. Don¡¯t worry about it, though, someone will almost certainly be around to keep her from getting too aggressive.¡± ¡°Hold up a second.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Did you say Life and Death? As in¡­ the Life and Death?¡± ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re the one who is technically their Appointed, but after a while we decided that sticking to a hard-and-fast sort of thing isn¡¯t our style and we all just share duties. It only matters for who can Descend into who.¡± Seeing the look of confusion on Thomas¡¯s face, she continued. ¡°Descent is when a god temporarily shares a body with their Appointed for the purposes of¡­well, usually it¡¯s for making a statement or giving the Appointed an extra power bump if they need it. But that¡¯s getting a bit too into details that aren¡¯t important to you at the moment, so let¡¯s catch up to the others, shall we?¡± Fortune picked up the pace, and they managed to catch up to the rest of their group just as Eve finished leading them to a group of seven. ¡°Got them!¡± Eve called out. A half-angel, half-demon who, seeing as how she was identical to the form Eve took earlier, must have been Lilith, turned to them. ¡°Ah, good to see you all!¡± She said brightly. ¡°When are you all from?¡± ¡°I¡¯m from the present.¡± Fortune volunteered. ¡°We¡¯re¡­well, we¡¯ve just married and finished our honeymoon.¡± Tess said. ¡°Past me and Ellie are from a few months before everything goes down, and the Past Maven is from a month or so after, right after the two of us first met.¡± They began chatting a bit, and as they did, a man sidled up next to Thomas. ¡°You¡¯re¡­also from a place with no magic, right?¡± ¡°Um, yeah.¡± Thomas said. ¡°Who¡­¡± ¡°Right, right, sorry.¡± The man said. ¡°My name¡¯s Lucas, I¡¯m apparently the past version of Lilith. I heard a bit about you from her, and seeing as how you¡¯re the only guy here aside from that one important-looking dude, I thought I¡¯d introduce myself.¡± ¡°The name¡¯s Thomas, and there are a lot of women here, now that you mention it.¡± Thomas admitted. ¡°Strange.¡± ¡°If you only count the future versions of people like us, he¡¯s the only man in this group.¡± Lucas said. ¡°It¡¯s downright uncanny.¡± ¡°He becomes a woman too.¡± Fortune said, glancing back at them. ¡°And it¡¯s uncanny, but it¡¯s not an accident, either; most of the people in each group are romantically involved with each other in some form or another, and many of them are attracted to women only. So, yeah, not that big of a deal, but ¨C¡± Fortune was cut off by Lilith clapping her hands and gathering the attention of the group. ¡°Okay, there are a lot of us here today, and this is the first party for half of us, so I think it¡¯s prudent we get any questions out of the way now.¡± Lilith began. ¡°This place is¡­well, it¡¯s complicated to explain, especially since some of you here haven¡¯t even been exposed to magic, but we¡¯re in sort of a place outside the regular flow of time. Every so often people get whisked away here, we have a party, and then get plopped back wherever we were, none the wiser.¡± Lilith paused, smirking. ¡°Or, that was the case. As of my time, we have figured out a way to keep our memories of this place, and we¡¯ve made a point of making sure all of you get yours back. You won¡¯t get them back until my time period, so it¡¯s anywhere from three to fifty or sixty years off, depending on which group you¡¯re in, so it won¡¯t affect your lives immediately, but just don¡¯t do anything embarrassing because you think you won¡¯t remember it. ¡°A couple of you are probably already wondering if I have knowledge of future parties from your future selves, and the answer is no, we¡¯re ninety percent confident those haven¡¯t happened yet. Don¡¯t worry about it too much right now, this place is way outside the normal rules of time and it¡¯s not worth hurting your head thinking about it right this second. ¡°Alright, now, the big one. There¡¯s going to be a lot of talk about Higher Beings and Administrators; to keep it short, you can think of Higher Beings as the gods and Administrators as the head of the gods. The three main groups here are from planes ruled by three different Administrators that are in an alliance with each other. Full disclosure; my wife Kali and I share the duty of Administrator for our planes, but you don¡¯t need to worry about standing on ceremony or anything. ¡°As of my period in time, all of you are Higher Beings. It may seem strange, but you absolutely have the qualifications to stand on this sort of stage. Even if you weren¡¯t Higher Beings in the future, just being here makes you more important than even some Administrators. I¡¯m not kidding; only seriously important people get an ¡®invite¡¯ to these things. ¡°All that being said, I¡¯m getting the feeling that we should split into groups for this one. This party has a way of drawing you to where you need to be, just walk in a general direction and you¡¯ll end up with the right group. And don¡¯t try and fight it either,¡± Lilith said, looking between two women Thomas had yet to meet, ¡°whether you like it or not, you¡¯ll end up where the party wants you to go. People have tried, it never works and generally makes for an annoying and unfun night, so just go with the flow. Alright, now¡­let¡¯s get to it, I guess!¡± ¡°Do we really just walk off and it¡¯ll work out?¡± Thomas asked doubtfully. ¡°Yup, and I feel like going¡­this way.¡± Fortune replied, picking a seemingly random direction and walking off. ¡°Funny, I was going to go the same way.¡± Lucas said. ¡°Well¡­nice talking to you Thomas, maybe I¡¯ll see you around? I guess¡­if not then we¡¯ll meet again in the future? Kind of?¡± He headed off after Fortune, leaving Tess and Ellie alone amidst the crowd. ¡°I was going to head there too.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So¡­that¡¯s confirmation, right? It¡¯ll just work?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t as sure about all of this, but that was the place I was thinking about heading.¡± Thomas admitted. ¡°So¡­shall we head off, then? ¡°Might as well.¡± Ellie said, starting after Fortune. Thomas followed, not quite sure where any of this was heading, but there wasn¡¯t much he could do except soldier on and pray that his brain wouldn¡¯t be too broken by the end of the evening. He¡­didn¡¯t have much hope. Holiday Special 2024 Part 2 Tess stood with her wives, waiting to see who else was going to be in their little group. She felt quite lucky to have the privilege of getting to stay with her loved ones for dinner, as the quick glimpses of the other groups had shown her that the other polycules that seemed to make up the attendees for this party had been split up. She hadn¡¯t really thought of it like that before, but the group she had become accustomed to meeting up with at these parties was indeed made of distinct polycules; Lia and her lovers, and¡­well, maybe whatever was going on with Lilith, Kali, and Eve didn¡¯t count? Regardless, polycules weren¡¯t exactly common, so it was kind of interesting that she had not only found herself in one, but the others here had as well. ¡°Um, hey guys.¡± Connie said, walking up to them. ¡°I guess I¡¯m with you all today?¡± ¡°Nice to have you, Connie!¡± Ellie said. ¡°Uh, which time are you from?¡± ¡°Same time as Rose.¡± Connie said. ¡°Past me is off with Jerry.¡± ¡°Oh, not here with the rest of us?¡± Maven asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°To be honest, he wouldn¡¯t have much to talk about with us.¡± Connie admitted. ¡°Ever since the whole swarm thing, I¡¯ve become a lot more¡­in touch with normal people, less stuffy and focused on godly business all the time, you know?¡± ¡°I know exactly what you mean.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how well my past self will be able to keep up, but hopefully she doesn¡¯t have too hard a time.¡± ¡°We saw her heading over to my future self.¡± The past version of Lilith said, walking up to the group with Kali. ¡°Hopefully she¡¯ll be able to keep her at least somewhat engaged with the conversation.¡± ¡°I hope so.¡± Maven said. ¡°Allow me to introduce the three of us; I¡¯m Maven, and these are my wives Tess and Ellie.¡± ¡°I know who you three are.¡± Lilith giggled. ¡°Kali¡¯s told me a lot about you in my time.¡± She turned to Connie, giving her a smile. ¡°I¡¯m afraid this is my first time meeting you, though.¡± ¡°Ah, um, I¡¯m Connie, a Higher Being from Jerry¡¯s planes.¡± Connie said. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you as well!¡± Lilith said brightly. ¡°I think this is probably everyone for our group, do you all want to go get some food?¡± Kali suggested. ¡°Sounds good.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Did anyone see the tables?¡± ¡°They¡¯re to our left.¡± Connie volunteered. ¡°Right. Lilith, are you going to leave a body there, or¡­¡± Tess trailed off, frowning as she saw the look of confusion on Lilith¡¯s face. ¡°Oh, right, you probably can¡¯t do that yet. Uh¡­how are we going to save the table?¡± ¡°Just leaving something on it will do the trick.¡± Kali said. ¡°Lots of people like to leave some materialized Mana on it.¡± ¡°You can materialize Mana?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s not very useful in combat, which is probably why you don¡¯t know about it yet.¡± Kali explained. ¡°I believe Arenas use that to make it work.¡± ¡°I can do the Mana thing.¡± Connie said. ¡°Perfect. Let¡¯s go grab a table, then.¡± Kali said, beginning to walk over towards the tables. The group followed her over, and once they had reached the table, Connie put her hand out over it, a small greyish globe dropping from her palm onto the table. ¡°There we go.¡± She said. ¡°That should keep our spot safe.¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to go grab our food, we¡¯ll meet you back here.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°See you in a few minutes.¡± As they left, Tess couldn¡¯t help but ask her wives a question. ¡°What did you think of your past selves?¡± ¡°I mean¡­she was about what I expected?¡± Ellie said. ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe she was a tiny bit more restrained than I thought she would be? I might just be seeing things that aren¡¯t there, though, since she¡¯s still closeted.¡± ¡°Speaking of, you didn¡¯t have to go quite so far with that little prank,¡± Tess said reproachfully, ¡°that was a little mean. I could handle something like that now, but I don¡¯t think the me from back then is mentally resilient enough for that sort of thing.¡± Ellie raised an eyebrow. ¡°Have you really changed that much?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Tess replied. ¡°After my body changed, I went through a lot of stuff, and grew a lot mentally. He¡¯s still that same boy who doesn¡¯t quite know what life is like outside of his hometown.¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably just hard to tell because you¡¯ve been with Tess this whole time, save during the period she first met me.¡± Maven said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to notice changes in people who you¡¯re always around.¡± ¡°Well, what about your past self?¡± Ellie asked as they arrived at the serving tables. ¡°What are your thoughts on her?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I can properly put that to words.¡± Maven sighed, grabbing a plate. ¡°I can¡¯t help but pity her a little for her life as it is at this very moment; she¡¯s repressing her feelings, but she feels trapped and like no one listens to her. She just needs a little more love, and she doesn¡¯t even know it.¡± They got their food and returned to the table to find that they were the last ones to arrive, and that the others were already in the middle of a conversation. ¡°We talked about it, it¡¯s fine. Lilith, uh, the present Lilith, made it clear that I can act however I want with this Lilith.¡± Kali said, leaning over and giving the past Lilith a peck on the cheek. ¡°After all, she¡¯ll be getting those memories at the end of the night anyway.¡± ¡°Uh, didn¡¯t Lilith take a snapshot of the memories as they were at the beginning of the party?¡± Connie pointed out. Kali froze. ¡°Uh¡­yeah, now that you mention it.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯re just too used to them getting live updates, I guess.¡± ¡°I think she left a channel open for me?¡± Lilith said questioningly. ¡°I can feel something odd in the back of my mind, and I¡¯m pretty sure I can just funnel tonight¡¯s memories through there?¡± ¡°You know how to do that?¡± Kali asked. ¡°It¡¯s just sort of a feeling I¡¯m getting.¡± Lilith said, shrugging. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna think about it too hard, though. Worst case scenario you try and grab a copy of my memories to give to her.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not good at that.¡± Kali admitted. ¡°That¡¯s more the wheelhouse of, well, future you, what with the eldritch stuff and all.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then past Lilith probably has some part of that skill.¡± Tess said, taking a seat. ¡°And if our Lilith did leave a path open for her, it¡¯s probably not that hard for her to do.¡± ¡°I can go find her and talk to her, if you¡¯d like.¡± Lilith offered. ¡°Would you? I don¡¯t want to do anything that even feels kind of like cheating.¡± Kali asked guiltily. Lilith stood and gave Kali a smile. ¡°And that¡¯s part of the reason I love you. I¡¯m sure the future me is at one of these tables, I¡¯ll be as quick as I can.¡± She left, and Connie chuckled. ¡°I almost feel like calling this a love triangle, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s quite accurate, is it?¡± ¡°If it is a love triangle, it¡¯s the strangest one I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Two of the sides are the same person and seem totally chill with the other having the third side, who is also in love with both other sides.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a love triangle.¡± Kali chuckled. ¡°I just¡­feel strange about it, I had made my peace with her memories being gone, then tonight happens and I find out that she¡¯s getting them back, and I also suddenly have one night with the her from way back when¡­it just really reminds me of my own shortcomings. Anyway, you three are from after your wedding, right?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°We just finished our honeymoon a little bit ago.¡± Kali smiled fondly at them. ¡°And so the legend of the faction¡¯s biggest power throuple begins.¡± She said. ¡°What¡¯s next on your agenda?¡± ¡°You¡¯re exaggerating.¡± Tess said, blushing. ¡°We¡¯re sort of playing it by ear. We recently did an interview on some sort of ghost-hunting show, so we¡¯re going to be keeping an eye on the reception of that while we continue running some of the higher-level dungeons in the City.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not exaggerating.¡± Connie said. ¡°You three are the strongest Higher Beings in the faction until Lilith comes along, remember? If it came down to it, I¡¯m sure some of you could individually take down some of the weaker Administrators provided you had the support of your gods, and as a unit I think you¡¯d be able to topple some of the medium-to-high power Administrators, and that¡¯s with their access to the full suite of Administrator benefits.¡± ¡°Which are¡­?¡± Tess prompted. ¡°Mostly increased resistance to your magic, their magic is more effective on you, and they have access to a lot more Worship than regular Higher Beings. Think of it like the difference between Higher Beings and mortals, except a little less steep.¡± ¡°Is it really possible to punch up like that?¡± Tess asked. ¡°The gulf in power seems rather large, you know.¡± ¡°Amelia took me out without breaking a sweat.¡± Connie said. ¡°Granted, she¡¯s basically halfway to being a Higher Being as is, and I¡¯m not exactly a fighter, but she did it. Regardless, mortals with a certain amount of Worship-fueled abilities and who are exceptional combatants do it all the time. The Appointed were known to often be able take out Higher Beings without Descent in the battles for planes before they became Higher Beings, and they¡¯ve become even scarier now that they are Higher Beings. We¡¯ve only had one of those battles between that point and my time, but you and the rest of the Appointed dominated the battlefield.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you three in particular scared the other factions half to death.¡± Kali chuckled. ¡°You were new to the battles and still were on par with or better than the rest of the Appointed. If I were them, I¡¯d be quaking in my boots at the prospect of my enemies being able to raise such potent fighters in only a century or so.¡± ¡°Only a century?¡± Ellie asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°The time scale of Administrators is pretty different than that of mortals.¡± Lilith said, sitting back down at the table. ¡°And, real quick, yes I asked her, she said it should work, and that even if it didn¡¯t you be fine to do whatever with me. Also, she says you¡¯re cute. Anyway, what were we talking about?¡± ¡°The gap between Administrators, Higher Beings, and regular people when it comes to combat prowess.¡± Kali replied. ¡°Oh, yeah, that.¡± Lilith said, grabbing a piece of chicken from her plate and popping it into her mouth. ¡°Yeah, it usually works to assume that Administrators beat Higher Beings and Higher Beings beat mortals, but sometimes that just doesn¡¯t work. So, don¡¯t get too comfy just because your opponent is ostensibly lower on the totem pole than you are.¡± ¡°Yeah, learned that lesson the hard way.¡± Connie said, shaking her head in embarrassment. ¡°What happened?¡± Lilith asked. ¡°Amelia happened.¡± Connie said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you interacted with her much tonight, but she¡¯s basically a pseudo-Higher Being formed as the result of a bug in the system she was born in. She¡¯s a genius with magic, she completely revamped and improved one of Jerry¡¯s systems, and for a bit we had her unconscious while we tried to figure out how to deal with the damage such unrestrained usage of Worship as a non-Higher Being did to her. ¡°The mechanism that was keeping her unconscious was tied to the new system she had made, and we didn¡¯t realize that she had a failsafe put in place in case she was unconscious longer than expected. She woke up, and when I came into the room to see what was going on, she captured me in the same thing that was keeping her unconscious, and I had to be bailed out by Jerry. I didn¡¯t even get a chance to process what was going on before it was all over.¡± ¡°Sheesh.¡± Lilith said. ¡°Scary stuff.¡± ¡°By the way, those two are dating now.¡± Kali said mischievously. ¡°I think that¡¯s a meet cute for the ages.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think assault counts as a meet cute.¡± Lilith chuckled. ¡°I thought I made a poor first impression on my future wife, but I think Amelia¡¯s one-upped me on that.¡± Maven said. ¡°Remind me.¡± Connie said. ¡°I¡¯m not as familiar with your story, sorry.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t expect you to be.¡± Maven said. ¡°Basically, I mouthed off at her for taking a hotel room that I hadn¡¯t reserved because we hadn¡¯t thought it necessary. Eyfura came out and scared me straight, and we ended up running a dungeon together the next day.¡± The conversation moved on from there, the group animatedly talking about whatever topic came to mind. Tess had to admit that, while having everyone together was fun, there was something nice about this smaller gathering as well; it felt like each person had more opportunity to be involved in the conversation, and the others were good conversation partners. Once everyone seemed just about done with their food, Tess decided to bring up the topic of their next activity. ¡°So¡­what now?¡± She asked. ¡°If it¡¯s alright with you four, I¡¯d like to do whatever Lilith wants.¡± Kali said. ¡°She doesn¡¯t often get to be corporeal, so this is a good opportunity for her to try things.¡± ¡°You really don¡¯t have to.¡± Lilith protested. ¡°I¡¯m more than happy just eating again and trying whatever things you all think are fun.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t see a problem with you picking the activity.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I think we¡¯d likely just end up playing laser tag or something, that¡¯s kind of what¡¯s happened before.¡± ¡°I have always wanted to try laser tag.¡± Lilith admitted. ¡°Mini-golf too, they look like fun.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we start with a round of mini golf and then go to laser tag, then?¡± Connie asked. ¡°Uh, provided Tess and Maven are fine with it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± Tess said. ¡°Maven?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any issues with it either.¡± Maven confirmed. With their course of action set, they set off in a random direction, in search of whatever sort of mini-golf the party would provide. When they found it and began playing, one thing became abundantly clear; Lilith was terrible at it. While she generally had the right idea as to what shot she should take, she was constantly misjudging the power behind her shots. It was a bit of a shock, because her future self was pretty good at this sort of thing. Still, good or not, Lilith really looked like she was having the time of her life, and when the game was over, she was all smiles. ¡°Man, that was great!¡± She said enthusiastically. ¡°I¡¯d forgotten what holding something like that felt like!¡± ¡°You had?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Surely you¡¯ve picked up something roughly similar recently.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ve picked up a couple of things, but when I¡¯m corporeal, long and hard things are the furthest thing from my mind.¡± Lilith said, winking and grabbing Kali¡¯s thigh suggestively. ¡°Being dead for a few thousand years sorta makes you forget what using tools is like. I barely managed eating like a civilized person, and that¡¯s only because whenever I¡¯m corporeal the two of us have dinner together.¡± Tess had forgotten that this Lilith was dead. ¡°Um¡­so¡­this may be a little insensitive, but¡­what¡¯s being dead like? You¡¯ve got me curious.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine.¡± Lilith laughed. ¡°I¡¯ve made my peace with it, and you¡¯ve seen my future self, it looks like I¡¯ll soon be living enough lives to make up for all this lost time! Jokes aside, it¡¯s¡­different. There¡¯s a very small plane that serves as our afterlife, where we can mill around and talk with other dead people. ¡°We can¡¯t interact with anything physically, but the plane is set up to make our souls project an illusion of what we looked like in life and to let us talk with magic. A few of us have figured out how to manipulate the illusion somewhat, but we mostly use it to make dice and playing cards, so we can do something other than watch the mortal world. We actually have a rather active tabletop role-playing game group, if you know what those are.¡± ¡°We have a couple of those on Mael.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Great, then you know what I¡¯m getting at. But, yeah, there¡¯s that, we can watch the mortal world using those terminal thingies, we often use them to watch television from the mortal plane, and¡­that¡¯s about it. Occasionally we¡¯ll ¡®sleep¡¯, we¡¯ll go unconscious and the projections of our bodies will disappear, but other than that we just relax unless Kali comes to visit or we decide we want to be reincarnated. ¡°As for me, I spend most of my time with Kali in her Administrator plane. We do our best to make the relationship work with my lack of a proper body, and I¡¯m rather fulfilled. Though, at the moment I was plucked from, I was literally seconds away from being reincarnated into Lucas, so it looks like I¡¯ll be starting another adventure soon.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Kali mumbled, looking down. ¡°I really wish I had done better.¡± Lilith grabbed her in a hug. ¡°Well, I was absolutely prepared for that outcome, and look at us now! It may be thirtyish years delayed, but all the memories will be back and it¡¯ll be like nothing ever happened! I may act ever so slightly differently, but I think I would have anyway, growing up a second time will do that to you. Anyway, are you all still fine with doing laser tag?¡± They were, so they went and played a few games. Lilith was much better at it than she was at mini-golf, probably because she didn¡¯t have to gauge how much strength to use like she did with mini golf. She seemed to have just as much of a blast with laser tag as she did with mini-golf, and by the time they finished, she was practically glowing with enthusiasm. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be glad to be able to do this more often in my next life!¡± She said brightly. ¡°But that¡¯s all I could really ask for from this night, does anyone else have anything they want to do?¡± ¡°I have a few card games from my universe that I think you might like.¡± Connie volunteered. The group thought that sounded great, so they found another table and spent the rest of their time that night playing cards. The time flew by, and it seemed like only a moment later Tess felt that feeling that meant it was time to go home. ¡°Uh, seems like it¡¯s about time for me to go.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯ll see you all¡­whenever the next one of these parties is or whenever I remember this, whichever comes first.¡± ¡°Uh, it¡¯ll kinda be both.¡± Kali said. ¡°In real time, you¡¯ll remember this event first, since the future parties haven¡¯t happened yet, but in party-time, if the next party is still with a you from before you remember, you¡¯ll remember the other parties but not the memories of your present self. And then your present self will get the memories of you from now¡­it¡¯s very complicated and¡­uh, well, probably best not to get into it now. I¡¯ll see you real soon!¡± Tess blinked, mentally chiding herself for losing focus. She was out on a dungeon run with her wives, and a moment¡¯s inattention could be all the difference between them getting hurt and being safe. So, she focused back in on the dungeon, and continued to carefully scan the place for enemies or traps.