Dungeon Champions

Chapter 13: Decisions

The door to the dungeon hadn’t even finished closing before Merielle and her companions read over their Tablets.

There was an excitement in the air—fear and worry, sure, but hope, too. They were four broken, abandoned women—five if you counted Sadie—who maybe, just maybe, had a chance to turn their lives around.

Merielle, for one, wasn’t going to throw away the opportunity. Not without a really good reason.

Touching the epic-tier magical devices felt odd to her, as if it was ephemeral. The Tablet was smaller than she expected, but considering the first she’d seen up close and in person was Jordan’s she didn’t really have a great frame of reference.

Merielle noticed a line on the top of the screen. It was outlined in red, and the text was silver. It was also written in Elvish, which was strange, because everything was always in Mundane. Was it a quirk of the Tablet?

Thankfully Merielle knew how to read enough elvish to get by, and she vowed to figure out how to change it if she accepted the thing.

Notice: Until [Jordan] formally grants you this Tablet, you are unable to interact with it other than to review class selection. If you choose to leave the area, it will vanish.

Merielle read her class options quietly to herself, then out loud when the others expressed interest. When she was finished, she looked up at her companions. “All of those sound incredible, except maybe Ballistic Knight. Why do you think it’s there?”

“The magic in each Tablet has a touch of Fate in it,” Britney said. “At least, that’s what my father told me. Each of those three options reflects who you are, or who you want to be, with respect to your life.”

She leaned over, her little wings fluttering to help her balance. “Can you share your Tablet?”

Merielle did as asked, and as soon as she selected to share the temporary Tablet with the others, it switched to Mundane.

Without skipping a beat, the celestial pointed at the text on Merielle’s Tablet.

“Fury’s Enforcer is obvious, and Disrupting Fist isn’t far behind. The more we progress, the more magic will be a big challenge, especially if we go into dungeons.” Using her fingertip to scroll down the blocks of text, the celestial tapped on Ballistic Knight with a well-manicured but dirty fingernail. “I think this one is a whole new way for you to approach fighting.”

Zuri put a hand to Merielle’s shoulder. “It’s about asking yourself the role you’d want to take in a party,” she said. “If you choose to join Jordan, what would the Ballistic Knight give you that the others would not?”

Merielle hesitated to think for only a fraction of a moment. “Tactical options,” she said, in a tone that sounded a lot like reverence to her ears. “It would let me protect my friends.”

The half-gorgon nodded approvingly. “Don’t ignore the broad Experience Criteria either. Every word matters. Getting experience from any challenging combat may be superior to the alternatives. You might level up faster with that one.”

“Okay. Sure.”

There was a lot to think about, and she didn’t have to make a decision yet. Merielle dismissed the temporary Tablet. She could think through every option in the quiet recesses of her own mind and come to a decision later.

It had absolutely nothing to do with how much she hated to be the center of attention.

Biting her lip, Merielle looked across the others. “Enough about me. Who wants to talk theirs through next?”

“Me!” Nym waved her arm around like it was on fire. After a quick reminder from Zuri, the catgirl shared her Tablet, making the words visible to them all. She squeezed in next to Merielle and Zuri, in order to let them read what it offered her.

Her ears practically quivered with excitement and her tail lashed back and forth.

“That’s something,” Britney said, her usual haughtiness toward the catgirl muted. “My father told me a good bit about class selection. I’ve never heard of someone getting something quite so…differentiated. Scouring Tyrant sounds like a standard offensive spellcasting class, but with an interesting twist. The other two feel…tricky.”

“I love animals,” Nym said. “Summoning animals with Nature’s Hand sounds like fun.”

Merielle made an uncertain noise. “Your first spell means they have to be equal to or less than your power. That would be the equivalent of throwing Sadie at monsters.”

“Oh. Well, I don’t want to do that. Also, I’m not sure how comfortable I’d be sending animals into combat anyway. So maybe I won't pick that one.”

Sadie meowed, almost as if in agreement.

“The last one seems interesting,” the catgirl said, skimming the text. “Summoning constructs specifically made for combat is better than summoning fuzzy friends.”

Merielle nodded. “The destruction-based spell list also sounds like it might make you a decent damage dealer. Would be nice to have a damage-focused spellcaster on our side.”

Zuri shot Merielle a look. “If you decide to join Jordan’s party, it might be smart to discuss those with him, Nym. He may have a plan for the team he’s building that could benefit more from one or the other.”

“True!” Nym brightened. “He seems really knowledgeable about this sort of thing. I bet he’ll have great insight.”

Britney scoffed. “Catgirls. You’re all the same. You get around one handsome man, and the next thing you know, you’re in heat.”

Sadie snarled at the celestial, and Nym’s ears flattened back along her head.

“Don’t be rude, Britnayel,” she snapped, her tail going rigid and poofy behind her. “That is an awful lie. My kind do not go into heat like animals.”

“Uh huh. Sure.” Britney rolled her eyes. That condescension was back, the kind that made it clear Britney thought she was better than Nym. Merielle wanted to slap it out of her mouth, but held herself back.

“Listen, the way you lit up when Zuri suggested talking to him absolutely suggests you want to rub your scent all over him.” Sarcasm dripped from the celestial’s every word.

Merielle expected Nym to get defensive or upset. But instead, she just drew back, her hands cradled in front of her chest. The catgirl’s ears drooped, and her tail smoothed out. “He’s just nice. That’s all.”

Stepping in front of the retreating catgirl, Merielle pointed at Britney. “I see what you’re doing. Stop it.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Britney said with that haughty tone. She turned her nose up toward the sky.

“Bullshit. I’m not going to stand here and let you guilt Nym. Or anyone.” Merielle frowned as her tone took on a softer cadence. “We just found out the Sisterhood we pledged ourselves to was a lie. It’s perfectly natural to suspect other things they said were untrue, including what they told us about men. Who knows what other half-truths they fed us, just to keep us under their thumbs? They certainly didn’t give us Tablets and the freedom to make our own choices.”

Something crossed over Britney’s face—uncertainty?—but Merielle didn’t let the celestial speak just yet. “If she wants to trust the man who saved all of us without asking for a single thing in return? If any of us do? You don’t get to tell her that’s wrong.”

Britney put a hand to her chest, eyes wide and mouth gaping. Merielle could tell it was an act—the celestial wasn’t exactly subtle—but she still tried to defend herself. “I’m just saying that throwing ourselves at the first man who comes along is—”

Merielle growled, ready to start yelling to put the celestial in her place, but Zuri placed a hand to her arm, stilling her.

“She told you to stop. It’s time for you to listen.” Zuri spoke coolly, evenly. “It’s clear to me that all of us are seriously considering his offer.”

Something dangerous glinted in her eyes, and Merielle remembered that she was Medusa-kin. Half monster. It made her mothering take on an entirely different aspect, and one Merielle respected.

“If you make yourself the problem,” Zuri continued, “I assure you, the rest of us will ask him to revoke his offer to you. Then you can enjoy trying to walk home in those ridiculous shoes of yours. Back to the family that loved you so much they sent you to die in a dungeon. Alone.”

Merielle winced, thinking that had been a step too far, but Britney sagged under the woman’s pointed words. Her hands fell at her sides and she looked at the ground. Big tears welled in her eyes. “I’m just trying to say—”

“I know what you’re worried about,” Zuri said. Her tone was still clipped, but at least the cold anger had thawed a bit. “The truth is, the Sisterhood wanted us isolated. They wanted us to be obedient. I never said anything about it, because a lot of their mandates actually did make sense, especially to someone who comes from a monstrous background. But there has always been one thing that always struck me as incorrect.”

“What’s that?” Nym asked.

“The celibacy mandate. Forcing all of us to remain celibate until we graduated. They explained it as keeping us from getting distracted, or pregnant. But now, I wonder how necessary that was.” Zuri looked back toward the dungeon, biting her bottom lip in consternation. “There are herbs to protect against unwanted children, and any girl unfocused enough to leave the Sisterhood over a man probably didn’t need to be there in the first place.”

That gave Merielle pause. She was right, and it was strange now that she thought about it.

But Britney looked up sharply, her eyes practically bulging out of her head. She aimed a pointed and vicious finger at Zuri. “You want to sleep with him, don’t you!?”

Zuri gave the celestial a bland, flat look. “What any of us want to do with him is absolutely none of your business.” She waved a hand at her temporary Tablet. “This discussion has always been about potentially choosing a class, and whether or not we join his adventuring party. You, Britnayel, are the one who keeps making it about sex.” She smiled. The expression was neither kind nor friendly. “I think that says more about you than any of us.”

Merielle snorted a laugh, then tried to cover it with a cough. Nym slapped a hand over her mouth, and Sadie sneezed.

Zuri just continued to stare down Britney, daring her to continue the conversation.

The celestial relented with a sigh. “Well, he is handsome,” she said, mostly under her breath.

Merielle gave Zuri an appreciative nod. While Merielle had done what she could to keep the peace, Britney was a problem. The celestial’s attitude was a constant thorn in her side, but it was never bad enough to warrant physical intervention.

In all honesty, Merielle was relieved Zuri had been the one to put the celestial in her place. She just hoped there wasn’t retaliation.

“Now,” Zuri said, dusting a hand across her skirts, “if we’re done discussing trivial things…shall we discuss your classes?” She looked at Britney and motioned with one hand toward the temporary Tablet she was obviously still holding.

The celestial balked, drawing the temporary Tablet to her chest. “My classes? Well…what about yours first?”

The half-gorgon clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “My class has been chosen for me already.”

“What, how?”

Zuri shared her Tablet before turning it over.

Merielle skimmed the very first class before laughing. Nym and Britney followed behind, with Nym’s laughter being genuine and wholesome, while Britney’s was more of a forced chuckle.

Surprise, I’m a Chef! was obviously the only answer for the medusa-kin.

“Oh, these Tablets are funny!” Nym said.

“Pretty sure they inherit some of their owner’s mannerisms. My father’s always had a really dry, sarcastic, text.” Britney sighed and turned her Tablet around, likely after sharing it. “All right, I guess I’m last. What about me?”

They read the options in silence.

“I don’t have a good feeling about Nag Witch,” Nym said, pausing before adding, “even if I can see why it chose to offer it to you.”

Britney glared at the catgirl. “Not funny.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stomped a foot. “And…I agree. I don’t think mind control is right for me.”

“Is being a pure healer right for you, either?” Merielle said. “I remember one time you mentioned how your father basically assigned you the responsibility from birth. Right?”

“Yeah.” The celestial relaxed a little. “Each of my siblings was given a specific role. Mine was healing.”

“How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

“A lot.” Britney sighed. “One of our mandates as celestials is to rebuild our population as much as possible. As of my last counting, Father had another thirty-seven children.”

Merielle felt herself blinking owlishly. “That’s…so many.”

“Not as many as some goblins,” Nym said, squirming in discomfort.

“Yeah but that’s…”

Zuri cleared her throat. “Back on topic?” The half-gorgon tapped Britney’s temporary Tablet. “I think you’ve got two good choices. If you’re going to join the rest of us on Jordan’s team, maybe talk with him about that, too.”

“Tch. You make that sound like you know what the others have decided already.”

Then, the celestial paused. She looked at Nym, then turned to look at Merielle. Whatever she saw on her face turned her sour look into a softer one. “Oh. I see,” she said, finally.

Merielle shrugged. “He’s a good person.” She looked to the closed dungeon doors, where the man had vanished. “He saved all of us, then offered to help us with our objectives, no strings attached. You know what someone like that’s called right?”

“What?”

“A hero,” Nym, Merielle, and Zuri said, nearly in harmony.