Dungeon Noble - Squire

Jake’s eyes opened to the usual nondescript room he was taken to after dying in the Dungeon. Normally, he’d feel drained and exhausted, but otherwise, he was in good health.

This time, however, Jake could feel lingering pain in his right leg. It wasn’t much, but it was sensitive and felt like a mostly healed burn was covering everything from ankle to thigh.

Hiking up his clothing to get a look, Jake couldn’t see any lingering damage to the area, but it was sensitive to the touch, and the pain wasn’t fading.

Taking a moment to get his bearings and settle himself, Jake pushed himself up and left the room, heading over to where Felix was waiting for them.

“I see you’re suffering from that burn,” Felix said, looking slightly amused by Jake’s limp as he walked over.

Jake grunted and resisted the urge to glare at the older Classer. “How long will it take to heal?”

“Enhanced monsters deal minimal soul damage. You’ll likely recover in the next day or so, less if you spend the time relaxing and taking care of yourself.”

“So I shouldn’t be training?”

“Oh no, you should train through the pain. It will be a good learning experience for you,” Felix said, his amusement taking on a malicious undertone as he cocked his head to one side. “Unless a lingering burn is too much for you?”

Jake gave Felix the closest he could manage to a withering look, but the older Classer just chuckled.

The other four joined them one by one, though only Karl was having the same issues as Jake, though in his case, it was his hand.

“How does it feel?” Jake nodded to Karl’s left hand, which he was holding tight to his body.

“Really strange, it feels distant and almost disconnected from the rest of me,” Karl said, looking down at his hand as he slowly made a fist. “It almost feels like it’s someone else’s hand.”

“That sounds pretty bad,” Rhew said with a concerned expression before looking uncertainly over to Nepthys. “Are you sure it will be healed up, right?”

“Definitely, it’s happened to me before, and I’m fine,” Nepthys said, giving Rhew a reassuring nod. “I think some rest is what we all need after that.”

“Indeed, let’s head back to the inn so I can pass out your earnings,” Felix said, hefting a small sack that had been sitting off to one side before leading them back out of the Dungeon.

There was a group of delvers waiting in the area around the entrance when they came outside. Interestingly, the group looked to be marginally better equipped than Jake’s group despite there being only four of them.

Felix gave the group a nod as they went past, and the group of four headed into the Dungeon to take their slot.

Considering that there were several paths to take within the Dungeon, it did drive home just how many other delvers there were within the town if some groups had to queue.

-**-

“So, which would you like first,” Felix asked once they were back at the inn and sat at the same table where they’d had their breakfast. “The money or the feedback?”

“The money,” Rhew answered before the rest of them could even open their mouths, making Jake chuckle and shake his head. Their Caster was single-minded when it came to making Wyrdgeld.

“Very well,” Felix said, the corner of his mouth twisting into a slight smile. “You reached the seventh floor of the Dungeon, so I’ve included all the Wyrdgeld to that point. That means the total in raw coins is one hundred and ninety Wyrdgeld. The cuts of meat you found are worth about a Wyrdgeld each as well, so that brings you to two hundred and ten. I’ve already made a deal with our proprietor to take any steaks you wish to sell.”

“I say we sell them all,” Rhew said, looking to the rest of them for confirmation before nodding. “An even split works for me for the rest.”

“Very well.” Felix began to portion out piles of Wyrdgeld, passing each of them forty-two Wyrdgeld. “Please remember that it is only due to my intervention that you have any of this. The day will soon come when you will have no safety net to gather Wyrdgeld for you.”

“Once we pay this tax, I’m going to give some to Ivaldi to store in the long term,” Jake said, more to himself than anything. “That way, I can always have some as an emergency to buy supplies with.”

“A wise preparation to make, and one that I recommend the rest of you follow suit with.” Felix gave Rhew a particularly hard look, making the Caster shift uncomfortably as she absorbed her Wyrdgeld.

“Are we going to be delving tomorrow?” Alan asked, looking between Felix and the rest of them.

“I doubt you’ll feel up to it,” Felix said with a shake of his head. “This was a tier two Dungeon, which means that it takes longer to heal from soul damage it deals. That also includes revival sickness.”

“How much longer will it take?” Karl looked a little worried as he idly rubbed at the hand he’d lost.

“It’s been quite a while since I was in your shoes,” Felix said, leaning back as he frowned in thought. “I seem to remember that just short of a day would be enough for tier one, whereas tier two was a day and a half.”

“We don’t have long left. Will that be enough?” Alan looked a little pale as he turned to Rhew questioningly.

“Yes, if we do one of those tier-one Dungeons twice, we should have enough,” Rhew said after a few moments of thought. “What about you, Jake?”

“I think it will be the same for me,” Jake said, wondering silently how much quicker he would recover. As it was, he was usually fine by mid to late afternoon.

“There are two Dungeons in the area that are tier one,” Felix interjected, drawing their attention back to him. “I believe you can do both in one day or the same one several times. If you are delving into the same Dungeon several times, it’s considered polite to leave a short gap between runs. That way, a Dungeon won’t be dominated by just a few groups.”

“Good, that will sort that, then,” Rhew said, some tension leaving her posture as she sank back into her chair and rubbed her head. “Stressing about all this while recovering from the Dungeon is more than I need.”

“Speaking of recovering,” Felix said, leaning in with a malicious glint in his eye. “Let’s talk about where you all fucked up.”

-**-

An hour later, Jake was finally free to head back to Ivaldi’s. Felix had run them through the entire delve, giving observations on everything they’d done wrong.

Some of it, like poor footwork or a shaky attack, was easy enough to resolve. Other parts, like the best way to handle Enhanced creatures or an adverse environment, were a bit tougher.

Thankfully, the environmental problem was Rhew’s headache, not his, so Jake didn’t have to worry about that right now.

Still, Felix had given them more advice than they knew what to do with. In time, hopefully, they would put it all to good use.

For now, though, Jake was interested in meeting whoever Ivaldi had spoken of earlier.

Making his way over to the odd-looking store, Jake stepped inside, blinking in surprise as he found someone else already present and sitting with Ivaldi.

“Jake Khesh, be welcome in my Domain,” Ivaldi said, inclining his head to Jake as he gestured to the other side of his table, where an empty stool was waiting. “This is Varin Droth.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Varin said in a hushed voice, seeming to unfold himself as he rose from the chair to shake Jake’s hand.

Varin was a few inches taller than Jake but was almost unhealthily thin, with a gaunt face and pale skin. His eyes were a particularly pale grey, far more so than Jake’s, and his dark hair hung languidly down to his jaw.

Jake gave a slightly strained smile as he took Varin’s hand, not wanting to offend the other man but still feeling strained from the Dungeon.

“Varin is who I wanted you to meet,” Ivaldi said as the two of them took their seats. With a look at Jake’s tired expression, Ivaldi grabbed a sealed vessel of mead and poured them all a mug. “He will be acting as support for you but not helping within the Dungeon.”

“What sort of support do you mean?” Jake asked curiously as he sipped at the delicious drink.

“I have a non-combat crafting Class,” Varin said, his voice coming across as a loud whisper more than anything. “I will be able to help you strengthen yourselves with items, but you will need to supply me with Wyrdgeld and materials.”

“Oh.” Jake blinked, momentarily caught off guard. “Do you have a Patron, too?”

“I serve the Woven Artificer,” Varin said in a reverent tone. “My Class is the Novice variant of Weaver of Crafts.”

“The Artificer is part of the same pantheon as the Great Dungeon and the Watcher,” Ivaldi said with what Jake almost thought was an undercurrent of amusement.

“I see,” Jake said, gathering his thoughts as he focused on the immediate concerns. “What tier and rank are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I am at rank ten in the first tier. All I need is to create more worthy items, but I need materials for that, and dealing with normal Classers has been dangerous.”

“That I can understand,” Jake said with a soft sigh, regretting how easy his life would have been without his Patron. “Okay, so what sort of thing would you need for an example?”

“For a Woven item, I would need the item itself and one hundred Wyrdgeld. If it is a mundane item, I would need suitable dungeonous material as well.” Varin paused to smile sadly at the shocked look on Jake’s face. “For an Infused item, I would need only the material you wish me to use and the base item.”

“So, there’s no cost to Infused items?”

“Not beyond the materials used in their creation.” Varin shrugged slightly and spread his hands. “I lack the skills to harvest the materials myself, but bring me what you can, and I will create something for you.”

“To check I understand this, you will be travelling with us as a supporting crafter. Making items and equipment for us as we complete Dungeons?”

“That’s right.”

“So, what do you get out of this?”

Varin cocked a single brow in surprise at Jake’s question. “Protection, resources and the chance to aid those working to the same ends as my Patron.”

“I see,” Jake said, shrugging slightly as he turned over the offer in his head and found nothing too offensive about it. “Well, welcome to the team. Do you want to meet everyone now?”

“Perhaps once I’ve made the first item for you,” Varin said, looking a little apprehensive at meeting the full team. “I find that proof of my Class goes a long way to ease any concerns.”

“Alright, well, how do I reach you?”

“I have a room at one of the inns.” Varin gave Jake directions to where he was staying, which was apparently only a few minutes from the inn Jake was at.

Finishing his drink, Jake got wearily back to his feet and bid the two goodbye.

As much as he hated it, he needed to get his daily training in.