Dungeon Noble - Squire

“Gods above, are you alright, Jake?” Alan hurried over, fumbling a potion from his belt and pushing it into Jake’s hands.

“No, but I’ll be fine,” Jake said, ignoring the tremble to his left hand as he downed the second potion.

“Both of the Corrupters are dead, so my work here is almost done. I will stay behind and bury the bodies. You two should head back to the town,” the woman said, approaching them with a familiar-looking pack in hand. It seemed even she went to Ivaldi for her supplies.

“You better not skip out on us,” Jake said as Alan helped him to his feet. “You owe us answers now.”

“Have no fear. I will join you later today, and we can discuss these matters further. As a gesture of goodwill, let me introduce myself. My name is Nepthys.” She inclined her head slightly to them.

“I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but this whole situation kind of ruins it,” Jake said drily, the corner of Nepthys’s mouth twitching up into a smile at his words.

“Indeed, I hope our next meeting will be less eventful,” Nepthys said, her smile growing for a moment before fading as she looked over to the body of the male Corrupter. “Now, I must attend to my duties and ensure that any lingering….energy… is purged.”

Jake sighed at the obvious censorship of what she’d been about to say, but she’d already agreed to answer questions later, so there wasn’t much else he could do about it now.

“Right, come on, Alan, we’ve got places to be,” Jake said, taking a moment to get his bearings before heading back the way they’d come.

“Are you okay to be walking?” Alan asked as they made their way back through the woods yet again. Jake was already sick of traipsing through the undergrowth, and the throbbing pain from his arm wasn’t helping.

“Yeah, my legs are fine,” Jake said, ignoring the look Alan gave him in response. “Look, it’s not like we’ve got many options, okay?”

“I suppose not,” Alan said reluctantly, a slightly guilty expression on his face. “I just feel bad that you went through all that, and I was safe off in the woods.”

“Don’t think of it that way,” Jake shook his head firmly, not wanting Alan to start blaming himself for any of Jake’s injuries. It probably didn’t help that his arm looked a mess, though at least the potions had stopped the bleeding now. “You were doing the right thing by your Class. It’s not your fault that we went headlong into a dangerous situation. That’s on me.”

Calling the Corrupters dangerous was somewhat of an understatement on Jake’s part. Whatever energy it was that the Corrupters were using, it was incredibly caustic, and even the heavily reduced shot that had hit his chest was enough to leave him with a hole in his tunic and a wide swathe of blistered skin.

Alan grunted, not quite convinced but unwilling to argue about it any further, leaving them to walk back to town at a slow but steady pace.

Thankfully, they didn’t come across any other travellers, and before too long, they were coming to the outskirts of the settlement.

“So, where do we go first?” Alan asked, looking at Jake with a concerned expression. “We’ve got to report this, right?”

“Yes, but to whom?” Jake’s mind went to Ari or Felix first of all, but they were off dealing with whatever was going on elsewhere.

“Maybe we should ask the others,” Alan offered hesitantly before glancing down at Jake’s chest. “For that matter, I still have one potion, but maybe we should go to Ivaldi and see if he can give you some more?”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Jake said, balancing the need to tell someone about what had happened with the steady pain that his injuries were inflicting. It didn’t help that the pain from his injuries was making it difficult to focus.

“Yeah, maybe that’s where we start,” Alan said, casting his eyes over Jake before nodding and starting towards Ivaldi’s.

Quite a few of the new arrivals were out and about in the town, and those that were close enough to see Jake and Alan paid little heed to his injuries. It was odd to think that he could walk by all these people and have no one really care about it, but he supposed that exposure to the grim realities of the Dungeon would make such things feel commonplace.

Following that thought took Jake to a strange place as he realised how many times he’d seen Alan get ripped apart by monsters, yet his friend was whole and hale right in front of him. That sort of odd contrast would no doubt get worse the longer he did this, making Jake wonder how the older Classers managed.

“Jake, we’re here,” Alan nudged him with a concerned expression, breaking Jake from his thoughts as he realised they were outside Ivaldi’s.

“Sorry, lost in my head,” Jake said, shaking his head and banishing the odd thoughts as he followed Alan inside.

Ivaldi’s store was the same as ever, and the storekeeper’s familiar rumble came from further within the building as they stepped inside. “Jake Chant, be welcome in my domain.”

“Thank you, Ivaldi,” Jake said, realising as he spoke that Alan didn’t know as much about Ivaldi as he did. He’d have to be careful not to let any hints slip. “I was hoping I could get a fresh pack from you or refresh this one if possible?”

“Of course,” Ivaldi said as he stepped into view, setting his usual chair down before eyeing Jake’s wounds critically. “I see you’ve been making new and unusual friends.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Jake said, his lips quirking into a smile despite himself as Ivaldi pulled out three potions and sat them on the table.

“Here, the potions to replenish your equipment and a gift from me to help with your wardrobe malfunction,” Ivaldi said with the barest hint of a smile as he pulled out a fresh tunic, laying it alongside the pair of potions for Jake.

“Thanks, Ivaldi, that’s most appreciated,” Jake said, putting his pack and shield down before pulling off what little was left of his existing top. Picking up a potion, he poured some on his wounds before drinking the rest, repeating the actions with the second potion.

The extra two potions were enough to deal with the worst of Jake’s wounds. They didn’t regrow all of the flesh that had been lost, but enough that Jake’s arm looked more like normal. Everything was sealed as well, and the pain was gone, which was a blessing in itself.

“Yeah, thanks,” Alan echoed as he took his replacement potion and put it into the pouch at his side.

“My pleasure,” Ivaldi said, his dark eyes glittering as he took the empty vials back from them. “Please remember I can’t provide additional potions for free beyond the two you receive as part of your pack, but you can replenish that pack as needed.”

“Ah, in that case, can you replenish my pack, please?” Jake asked with a sly smile that widened as Ivaldi produced a further pair of potions for him.

“Now, is there anything else you require?” Ivaldi looked between the two of them, inclining his head when they both said they were fine. “Very well, good luck on your future delves.”

“Thanks, Ivaldi,” Jake said as he moved to leave. A small gesture from the large shopkeeper made him pause, though. “Actually, you go on ahead, Alan. I’ll catch up.”

Jake pretended to fumble with his potions until Alan had left, leaving him alone with Ivaldi. Turning to the big man with a questioning expression, Jake waited for him to explain why he’d asked him to stay behind.

“I won’t keep you for long, just long enough to deliver a warning,” Ivaldi said after a moment of thought, any trace of a smile long gone. “I can sense the lingering taint of Skryx on your wounds. I hope for your sake that you dealt with whatever was wielding it as swiftly as possible. Those who wield such power are your greatest threat. Unfortunately, I am limited in what I know of the world beyond these walls, and I’m equally limited in what assistance I can offer.”

“Wait, you know about Corrupters?” Jake asked eagerly, subconsciously taking a step towards Ivaldi in his desire to know more. “What can you tell me about them?”

“I know of them, yes, but I can tell you little, not until you dedicate yourself to your Patron when you reach your next tier,” Ivaldi said, stonewalling Jake once more. This time, though, he looked genuinely frustrated at his inability to tell Jake more.

“I understand,” Jake said reluctantly, noting the extra information that Ivaldi had given him and thinking of how he could use that to lever more answers from Nepthys.

“Good, be careful,” Ivaldi said, rising from his chair and stepping back out of sight.

Taking the dismissal for what it was, Jake turned and followed after Alan, his mind awhirl with questions he desperately wanted answers to.

“Everything okay?” Alan asked as Jake joined him outside.

“Yeah, everything is fine,” Jake said, waving off Alan’s concern. Ivaldi’s words had made him really consider their next steps, especially if these Corrupters were a specific threat to him due to his situation. “I’ve had a few thoughts, though.”

The last thing Jake wanted was to out himself or to somehow make himself easier for them to target. There was also the potential issue of telling people that two Classers were dead and that Nepthys had buried them out in the woods.

After all, anyone they told would only have their word that things had gone down the way they said. Jake was in no particular rush to be blamed for anything.

No, now that his mind was clearer, Jake was certain that going straight to the rest of their group, or whoever else they might choose, with what had happened was a mistake.

“A few thoughts?” Alan echoed questioningly.

“I think we should hold off on talking about this any further with other people until we’ve had a chance to speak with Nepthys. She said she’d come to the tavern to meet us, and I think we should wait until she does and give her the opportunity to explain what’s happened.”

“I’m not comfortable with hiding this from people or lying about what has happened,” Alan said, pitching his voice low and glancing around despite the fact that there was no one nearby.

“Just give me the time to find out what’s going on so we can make an informed decision. That’s all I ask,” Jake said, reaching out to rest a hand on Alan’s shoulder. “Please, trust me on this.”

“Alright, I’ll keep quiet for now, but if she doesn’t show by this evening, I’m telling people what’s happened.” Alan sounded reluctant, but Jake didn’t need him to be enthusiastic about it all. He just needed Alan to follow his lead.

“That’s fine by me, so come on, let’s head back and get a drink, okay?”

“Okay, but you’re buying,” Alan gave him the barest hint of a smile, making Jake relax a little.