Dungeon Noble - Squire

Thankfully, the worst injury they sustained as a group was Alan’s stab wound, which Ari instructed them to bind with a bandage rather than use a potion.

“Not a bad showing from you all for your first Hollow,” Felix said while Jake applied the dressing to Alan’s wounds. “A lot of work to be done yet, but we will work on that as we travel. Ari will purchase that branch from you for twenty Wyrdgeld and do the same for any other items we find.”

“Shouldn’t we keep it to see if we get a better price in Casthorpe?” Rhew asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“Casthorpe has little in the way of crafting occurring within it. If anything, the price would be lower as they have three Dungeons to draw on. The choice is ultimately yours, however.”

“I think we may as well pass it on for the moment. We need the raw Wyrdgeld more than anything,” Jake pointed out, thinking of how close he was to ranking up.

Rhew nodded a moment later, so Jake passed over the branch and took the coins that Ari conjured before splitting them out between them all.

“Good, now, let’s get moving. We have a lot of ground to cover and more training opportunities to take advantage of,” Felix turned and started back to the trail, Ari meandering along behind him.

“At least this sort of training gets us Wyrdgeld,” Rhew muttered, seemingly more to herself than anything.

Jake found it hard to sympathise with Rhew’s distaste for the training they were doing, but he knew that was mainly because he was fully aware of the stakes of what was happening.

The more they trained now, the less they would bleed later. It was an old adage, but one that Jake felt was oddly apt for their current circumstance.

“Come on, standing around won’t get anything done,” Jake started after the other two Classers, ready to put enough work in that he wouldn’t need to bleed at all.

-**-

The rest of their journey was both harrowing and uneventful in equal measure, which somehow made it worse.

They encountered no other travellers on their way to Casthorpe, which meant that there were no witnesses to their presence, but it also gave Felix plenty of time to plan out their training.

The journey took a further four days from their first Hollow, and they had a new encounter on each day.

Ari was tasked by Felix to find what could be useful in the area each morning, meaning that their training for the day varied each time.

Whether another Hollow or a cluster of wandering monsters, Ari led them to each one before he and Felix stood back and judged their approach to dealing with it.

Thankfully, the rest of the Hollows and monsters they fought were less disconcerting than the plant creatures, which Jake learned were called Widurn. Overall, that meant that Jake gained enough Wyrdgeld to rank up on the final day of their travel.

Casthorpe was a reasonably sized town built around a tier two Dungeon, so it was many times the size of the settlement they’d come from but nowhere near the size of Port Emerald.

With the presence of three nearby Dungeons, Casthorpe had a bustling atmosphere and a vibrant energy to it that Jake found almost intoxicating.

He could almost taste the desire of all the Classers present to delve into the Dungeons and earn more Wyrdgeld.

“We’ll get some rooms for the night and run through the tier two Dungeon at first light. That should give us a good understanding of where you all currently are,” Felix said as they walked through the open gates of the town. “This place has little in common with the city you are familiar with, so be careful of who you talk to and who you trust. Understood?”

Jake nodded, but his attention was mainly on the busy streets of the town. They were late enough that a lot of the delvers had already come back, but there were still quite a few armed and armoured Classers wandering the town.

Felix seemed to know where he was going, so Jake and the others settled for following after him as he led them to a run-down inn on the outskirts of town.

An old and creaking sign of a rust-coloured duck in a pond hung over the entrance, with the words ‘Rusty Duck’ underneath.

Even by Jake’s low standards, it didn’t look great.

“I know it’s nothing much to look at, but it’s discreet and out of the way,” Felix said, shooting Ari a glare as the other Classer sighed heavily.

Ari rolled his eyes at the glare and shrugged away Felix’s displeasure. “Yeah, sure, this is fine, I suppose.”

“Get a table. I’ll arrange the rooms,” Felix instructed, giving Ari one last stern look before pushing open the doors of the inn and heading inside.

For all that the exterior was old and dingy, the warmth and inviting smells that spilt out from the open doors were enough to get Jake inside.

The interior of the Rusty Duck felt more well-lived and well-used rather than old and worn, giving the taproom an almost homely feel.

There were only a few other people inside, including the older woman behind the bar at the far end of the room, so they had their pick of seats.

Somewhat predictably, Ari took the largest table in the corner, leaned his sword and pack against the wall and slumped into his chair, propping his feet up next to him.

“Well, this is different,” Alan said, somewhat uncomfortably, as he looked at the room around them.

“Don’t say that too loud. This isn’t some shitty inn in the city. The owner is likely tier two or three,” Ari said, chuckling at the look on their faces.

Tier threes were Classers who’d worked hard and chased their dreams, enough to tier up twice and survive countless dangers in the world.

To think that one of them was running a dingy place like this was baffling to Jake.

“I’ve ordered food and drink, and I’ve opened a tab for while we’re here. I’ll be paying for everything for now, but I expect you to sweat every coin you spend during training, understood?”

Jake exchanged a surprised look with the others before nodding. He hadn’t expected Felix to go this far, but then he supposed that the cost of doing all this was minor for someone at his tier.

Jake couldn’t even imagine what the rewards from a high-tier Dungeon would be, were they just more of the same, or did it get more varied?

Felix had said they’d be starting with the tier two Dungeon, which meant greater rewards, as well as stronger enemies. Hopefully, the first would be enough to warrant the second.

With the intense week of training lying heavy on them, there was little talk around the table until the food arrived.

The same older woman who’d been behind the bar brought the food out, putting a bowl of thick stew, a hunk of crusty bread and a small glass of juice in front of each of them.

“Damn, I wasn’t expecting this,” Ari said, eagerly grabbing his glass and knocking it back with a satisfied sound. “Nice.”

Intrigued, Jake picked up his own glass and tentatively sniffed it before giving the glass a second look. Whatever was in there, it smelled really good.

“No need to look too shocked. I know my business,” the woman grumbled as she deposited the last of the food. “I’ll start your food when you come back from the Dungeon.”

“Thank you, Alma,” Felix said with a respectful nod as he sipped his own drink.

“It’s like fruit juice, but better,” Karl said, knocking back the dregs of his drink eagerly.

“Wyrdfruit juice, but with some extra bits in there to bring out the flavour. Like she said, she knows her business,” Felix said, the corner of his lips curving up slightly as he watched them enjoy their drinks.

If the juice had been good, the stew was even better, with the meat all but melting in Jake’s mouth and bursting with flavour.

“Don’t underestimate a non-combat Class. Alma has a Class that lets her properly prepare and use the meat from Dungeon monsters. Harvesting the bodies of the monsters you fight can be quite profitable, depending on what they are.” Felix explained as he dipped some of his bread into his stew.

Sadly, the bread was ordinary, so it didn’t have quite the same impact as the stew and juice, but that wasn’t to say it was anything less than delicious.

Jake was more than a bit confused about why such a terribly preserved inn had such good food, but he wasn’t going to question it.

Once they’d finished eating, they were all given the keys to their rooms and told to meet back downstairs at dawn the next day.

Jake felt invigorated from the filling meal, but even so, he was quick to head straight to his room.

Their new accommodations were actually quite nice, and Jake had a little more room than before, but he paid it all little attention.

It was time to rank up.

Sufficient Wyrdgeld is present, presenting ascension options for Tier I Rank IV.

You currently have two Trait slots available and two Skill slots available.

At this time, you have unlocked one additional Skill that may be purchased.

Minor Infused Strike - 100 Wyrdgeld

At this time, you have insufficient Wyrdgeld to make any upgrades or purchases.

At this time, you have two available Plexus Points.

Boons available to be upgraded

Hidden Fang - 2 Plexus Points

Would you like to upgrade one of your Boons?

“Yes,” Jake breathed eagerly, excited to finally see what the Plexus Points could do.

There was a brief moment of something querying his mind and seeing what his intent was before something shifted deep within him.

Upgrade completed, continuing with Ascension.

Congratulations, you have ascended to Tier I, Rank IV. The expended Wyrdgeld shall be used to refine your physicality.

Would you like to discard any Skills or Traits at this time?

“No,” Jake said hoarsely, his body tensing as the full impact of the changes flowed through him.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long, leaving Jake free to summon his new status.

Name - Jake Khesh

Patron Deity - The Great Dungeon

Class - Dungeon Noble - Squire

Tier - I

Rank - IV

Dungeon Network - 1

Plexus Strength - Minor

Plexus Manifestations - 1/1

Plexus Points - 0

Traits

Physical - Lesser Noble Constitution (I) - Rare- Descended from a Noble bloodline, you have a minor enhancement to physical characteristics.

Skills

Passive - Personal Plexus (I) - Very Rare - You gain the ability to bind Dungeons and form your own Plexus that may contain Dungeons of minor strength. Currently, Dungeons up to Tier I can be bound. Doubles the Wyrdgeld cost of advancing in Class Rank.

Patron Gifts

Passive - Agent of the Great Dungeon (I) - Very Rare - You are bound to the Great Dungeon by blood. Other followers of the Great Dungeon will recognise you and aid you as they may.

Passive - Sense Dungeon (I) - Rare - As an agent of the Great Dungeon, you are able to passively sense the location of nearby Dungeons in a meagre range.

Plexus Boons

Hidden Fang - II - Granted by the Holrswar Murk Dungeon, this Boon allows you to Manifest a dagger with inherent poisonous properties. Using the dagger, summoning it and dismissing it all draw on the power held within it on Manifestation.

Deed requirement to increase Tier

1 - 5 Tier I or higher Dungeons bound

2 - Rank X

Requirements to increase to Rank V

1 - 160 Wyrdgeld