The Pinnacle Warrior

“Ran into another irregular today?” The guards at the gate asked as Astrid carried the party’s fifth irregular into the city. Another week had passed, and they were pushing themselves as hard as they ever had, their goals to hunt at least 100 gnolls every day. Three days after the ambush of Markus‘s party, they’d run into another irregular, this one being, again, a brawler. With it all alone, it was simple to dispatch, and nothing more than a quick and easy bonus. Today, though, the irregular was a ranger. All three of the delvers had to fight to keep from snapping at the innocent guardsman’s quip as they walked into town. Skandr took a breath, forced himself to smile, and nodded.

“This one… it sucked. Don’t feel like there’s anything else to say about it. Here you go.“ He flicked a single copper over to the guard as they continued on their path. Muti carried the large bow in her hands, its body made out of a twisted ivory of some sort that was banded with a strange metal while Astrid didn’t mind that she was hunched over under the body. After all, that hid the half dozen new holes in her armor that the guards sometimes mentioned, and yes, each hole was courtesy of the damned irregular.

Different from the other two types of irregular that they had fought, the ranger was hyper aware of its surroundings and refused to be ambushed the way its other companions had been. Even when their ambush had failed to get the full opening hit on  the shaman and brawler, the monsters had closed to fight against them and they hadn’t had time to be prepared for the fight. With the ranger, though, it stayed far away and continued shooting arrows at any individual that it saw. Astrid had managed to block most of the arrows that came her and Skandr’s way, but she was forced to take a couple hits to keep the Lightningmage from taking the blow to his torso, which would probably have pierced his armor.

Finally, between Skandr nearly exhausting his mana, throwing spells and Skills at it, and Muti getting a lucky break as she sprinted from around Astrid’s protection into melee with the monster, the creature was finally in range of Astrid and Muti’s rage. Despite everything else, they made sure to preserve the corpse and kept from taking out their anger on the materials. After all, the frustration wasn’t worth losing out on an extra silver.

They walked past the checkpoint and continued on towards the center of the city. In the past week, the party had largely kept to themselves as they delved even more than before. On the third floor, as they acclimated themselves to ambushing and taking out the patrolling gnolls, they were able to totally throw themselves into efficiency in hunting. Muti disliked it, but with a couple traps set up, as well as some more stones to throw and slow the monsters, they could pretty simply deal with most of the packs. Once there were more than seven of the gnolls, though, they would simply step back and let them pass. Muti’s senses were better than the monsters, and with just a little bit of forethought, they were able to avoid detection from those who would potentially slow or injure them. That wasn’t something to continue thinking about, as she was just done with the Dungeon for now.

As Astrid let the corpse thunk to the ground in the square in front of the inn, she checked her experience.

9,684/12,000

Getting close to level 10. Just a couple more days, and they would be at the final level before the next watershed. Astrid wondered what Quick Recovery would look like at Bronze. She almost wanted to go back into the Dungeon and see what she and her party could do to hurry along. She shook the thought away and instead focused entirely on the present.

First was, of course, that the two new additions to the Guild were supposed to be showing up in the next day or so, so they probably wouldn’t be doing the full days delving tomorrow. Just a half-day, stopping once they killed at least 60 gnolls to ensure they were ready to introduce themselves to the newcomers and make a good impression. With the money that they would be making from today, there would only be another 50 silver that they would have to pay. That 21 of that, actually 24, now that she thought about it, was entirely because of interest, made Astrid re-swear to herself that she would never get into debt again. She knew that a large part of this was because she had taken out a loan with somebody who was decidedly not reputable, but even so, she hated the feeling. At least they’ve been able to pay off the first loan and reduce the daily interest accrual on the second day.

“You’ve been pretty lucky, huh?“ Anders said as he walked out. “We never see this many irregulars on the third floor. You’re sure you’re not going onto the fourth?“

“Not for now. If we can get these new delvers tomorrow to join with us, yes, we’ll probably get to the fourth floor before too long, but for now, we’ll be happy on the third where the packs don’t ever get to 10 or more.“

“Well, then you’re quite lucky.” The Scribe repeated. “And you have this one’s bow?“

“Of course. Here it is. What’s this worth?“

“Of the irregular additional materials, the ranger actually has the best ones. The bow’s body has a special drake infusion in it… you really don’t need to know the specifics of it. Effectively, it’s worth an additional two silver. Looking at the body, 9 silver 50 copper, so the total for the irregular will be 11 silver and 50 copper, which added with the rest of your trophies and materials will come out to exactly 22 silver and 50 copper.”

Astrid felt her eyebrows rise as she realized that it wasn’t going to be 50 silver left to pay, but 40. As Anders went to collect the sufficient payment to take care of the delvers, he quickly returned. Astrid took the payment, nodded her thanks, and went into the inn’s main room as soon as they were taken care of. There, as she, Skandr, and Muti all paid for their dinner, Astrid nodded to her companions.

“Let’s take care of repairs and drop off this money in the morning, then we will do our delving as fast as we can. I want to make sure that we’re all at least mostly clean when we have our first encounter with these rookies tomorrow, OK? If we do this, I want to give us the best chance of getting them to join with us.“

“Yes, we got it.“ Skandr shook his head in annoyance at her newest reminder, but agreed. “I’m looking forward to having someone who can heal us and delve at our side. Tomorrow, we’re delving on the third floor, but once we meet up with these new companions, are we going to instead move to the second or even the first floor?“

Astrid pursed her lips, having had this conversation with Anders before. On days when there wasn’t anything interesting to turn in, she was frequently the only person to bring in the trophies and materials. When she had asked the assistant representative about what they could do when delving with these new people, he had said that if they were to hunt at all on the second floor, then the rule was that their maximum for hunting would become 80, even if the bulk of their delving took place on the third floor instead.

“If we do that, we can hold steady keeping off the interest, but we won’t be able to make any headway on it. Though I hate it, I think that we should probably do that for a couple days before we transition to the third floor once again. Even if we need to have them take more of a backseat for a while, ensuring that we get enough income to pay off the debt will be most important in the short term.“

“All right. Sounds like we have a plan, so once I’m done here, I’ll get going.“ Skandr scarfed down the last couple bites of his stew and did just as he said, walking down the hall to his room. Astrid watched and listened specifically as he went, and when he reached his room, she heard the door open, close, and lock.

“We should probably do the same.“ Astrid‘s suggestion was accepted by Muti, though the Barbarian was always one to retire quickly to her room. Whatever Astrid wasn’t sticking around, she would usually take the food into her room if possible. This night was no different.

***

Benedict

At this point, marching along while continuing to play notes on his flute was second nature to him. He’d been delving for over a year by now, and hurrying himself and his companions along was just the Bard’s natural impulse at this point. Now that he was traveling with a Bodyguard, they both helped each other out immensely. Felix had an immensely high Fortitude, and he could keep running all day long, as far as Benedict could tell. At least, compared to the Bard, he could.

“I don’t believe that you have to play this exact tune to help boost us.” The two delvers hadn’t known each other, not really, until they both decided to go to Kznietch together and delved a little together.

“I was wondering how long it would take for you to insist on that…“ Benedict grinned widely. “I didn’t think it would take three days.“

“You lied to me?“ Felix rubbed at his forehead, at least as much as he could manage under his faceless helmet. He had to lift the brow plate up to do so, but he seemed dedicated enough to showing his exasperation to do so.

“I’d call it a joke. I mean, didn’t really harm either of us, did I?“

“I don’t know if I could agree. I mean, I’ll need you to pay something to fix my eardrums.“

“It’s a good thing that I can heal you all by myself! No money needed.“ Benedict couldn’t help but laugh as, now that he’d finally been called out, he changed the painfully annoying, monotonous trilling song for a more ordinary marching tune.

Felix bent down, picked up a small rock, and tossed it at Benedict, but the Bard pulled his mouth back from the flute, turned, and blew hard and the direction of the rock, enough to make it fly back at the Bodyguard. Having expected it, Felix waved off the counterattack and resumed jogging forward. It was well past lunchtime at this point, but they had both decided to continue moving while they made their way towards their next destination. After all, there was plenty of relaxation to be had once they got their rooms in the new inn.

The sun beat down overhead, and Benedict wished he had one of the large straw hats that he’s grown up wearing on the farm. Sure, they weren’t particularly fashionable, and probably didn’t suit the image of a Bard, but they also were super comfortable, so there was a give and a take. The sun was already baking his ears, and even though he’d gotten much more tan over the past year, he was still a pretty fair-skinned man.

“How long do you think it’s going to be for us to arrive?”

“Probably today.” Benedict had wanted a more specific answer than that, but he deserved a bit of sass from Felix after delving for a day and traveling for another two while tormenting the broad shouldered man with his inane “speedy song“. Quickened Step was a marvelous Skill, and Benedict enjoyed using it whenever he could, though he also recognized that pissing off his frontliner was far from the best choice he could make. As such, he started using his Doubletalk Skill and danced between the tones of Quickened Step and Song of Healing to bolster the (hopefully) only jokingly upset Bodyguard. Felix quickly felt the difference, leveled a gaze at Benedict, then nodded once in acquiescence.

Benedict grinned widely, feeling the thready notes change as his lips moved from where they should. With a thought, he changed his positioning, changed the tone of his song, and continued on their path. Even so, he didn’t keep the genuine happiness from his face and actions as he nearly skipped forward towards their destination. Another hour passed before Benedict squinted through the trees and turned to Felix, saying, “I’m pretty sure I see a wall there. Am I going crazy?“

Felix squinted for a moment, then seemed to give up. “I’ve never had the best eyes, but I think I see something.“

“Then should we race?“

The serious Bodyguard rolled his eyes and side, but before Benedict could fully react, his frontliner burst into a dead sprint and left him in the literal dust.

“You play dirty! I approve!“ Just as soon as he said it, Benedict stopped mentally applying the Quickened Step buff to Felix. He saw the Bodyguard slow, but he didn’t stumble over his feet as his Alacrity dropped to its original peak. Redoubling his Skill’s effect on himself, Benedict threw himself forward, swiftly gaining on the Bodyguard. Then, as he slowly drew past Felix, Benedict aimed a kick at the Bodyguard’s ankle. He didn’t stumble, but Felix nearly got his ankle stepped on in return, so instead, he focused only on running, quickly outpacing his companion. Once Felix was at least 30 paces behind him, Benedict could see the walls clearly, a pair of guards looking in their direction. He raised a hand to give his greeting while he continued to blow in his flute, but then he felt Felix use a Skill.

“As you said, I’ll play dirty!“ As Felix said as much, he used his aggro Skill, and Benedict was pulled to a stop as he was forced to turn his attention back to the Bodyguard. He took three steps back before Felix blazed past and he could return his focus on moving towards their destination. For a moment, Benedict considered using his fourth Skill on his ally, but he quickly decided against it. They were using Skills, but they weren’t actively hurting each other. He wasn’t about to do that to his ally, especially not for a petty race.

Despite his buff, Benedict couldn’t catch up. The Bodyguard knew what he was doing, and he’d absolutely destroyed the Bard’s momentum. As such, Benedict pulled his handkerchief out and waved it in a white flag of surrender as he jogged to a stop outside of the city’s walls, where Felix grinned wildly. As he gave his greetings, he threw his arm around the thinner man’s shoulders as he roughly said, “I’m a competitive bastard. You challenge me, this will happen pretty frequently. Happy to work with you though, so long as you change up your tune sometimes.“

“Fair on all accounts.“ Benedict fought to catch his breath, but Felix seemed entirely unconcerned with the jogging through the day tapped off with the final sprint. The Bodyguard turned to the guards, nodded his head, and said, “My name is Felix Bodyguard, and this is Benedict Bard, the Guild should be expecting us.“

“Oh, you’re the ones that Skandr is hoping will join his party! Maybe you’ll be able to climb the ranks as fast as he and his ladies are!“

“Oh, ladies? I am a Bard, after all. Most women do like music.“

“Most people like music.“ The guard rebutted with the shape of his hand.“Too bad for you, I’ve actually met some Bards, and I know that the stupid stories about all of you Class being able to woo any woman at any time are, every one, blatantly untrue.“

Benedict wiped the sweat from his brow with his handkerchief, his smile wide as he bowed. “Well, you can’t blame a guy for trying to show off a little bit. But yes, I just know a little flute, nothing that any woman I’ve ever spoken with actually cares about.“

“All right well if you’re known to the Guild, they’ll have paid for your entrance, so just don’t make trouble, and we’ll be happy to be seeing you around. Got it?“

“Of course.” Felix bowed severely as he said as much. “There wouldn’t happen to be any information you need us to pass to anyone in the Guild, do you?“

Both guards merely shook their heads as they discounted the two delvers as their problem any longer. Benedict bowed his head as he flipped a copper over to each of the guards. One smirked and said, “You’ll get along with Skandr. The other ones in his party, they;ll be who you need to impress. Wish you luck!“

“My thanks.“

The two walked past, taking in the sights of the town they were in. It was generally unremarkable, with stone walled buildings and thatch roofs. The streets were cobbled, and it was obvious that the people in town generally took pride in keeping their town clean. Even so, it was just another one of hundreds of towns that existed in the country. The two men made idle conversation as they walked through the streets towards the inn, where they would present themselves. Given that they were a frontliner and a healer, or at least a support Class that could heal, they would be able to take their pic of which class to delve with, even if “Skandr” did so desperately want to delve with them.

“No, put the damned swords away. A challenge of a fight is not going to get you what you want. We’ve had this conversation before, Muti, so I don’t know why you’re thinking that suddenly my decision will change.“

Benedict and Felix met eyes as they cocked their heads and the Bodyguard opened the door into the Guild’s inn. Filling the room were mostly regular looking delvers, hardened men and wary women who kept their eyes open and their backs to the wall when they could. In the center of the room, however, were two truly massive women, one with hair like crimson flame, and the other like golden fields ready to reap. Neither wore armor, but the way they carried themselves screamed their combat capability, and how dangerous they could be. The golden haired one had both hands on swords hanging at her hips, while the fiery haired one had her companion by the ear.

“Leader, I must prove myself as worthy! If they do not see our strength, they will not join the Dungeon with us!“

“That’s not how it works. Now sit down.“

The golden haired one bared her sharp, jagged teeth at her “leader“ in response to the command, but she did as she was told and thudded down into her seat. Then, the fiery haired one turned, smiled a not jagged tooth smile at the two men, and said, “Welcome to Kznietch! My name is Astrid Warrior, pleasure to meet you.“