Dungeon Noble - Squire

Jake’s second attempt at the Guardians of the Dungeon wasn’t quite as successful as the first.

The first issue came when a grasping root tripped him on the way in, forcing Jake to use his dagger to kill the first two rootlings to reach him.

The second issue was that the delay meant that the malignant tender had the chance to shower him with sap.

Thankfully, Jake managed to cover his face with his shield at the last moment, but he screamed in pain as the sap stuck to him and burnt into his body.

Gritting his teeth, Jake threw his shield at the nearest rootling, knocking it back, before pulling out one of his potions and pouring it over the sap.

The potion didn’t do much for the damage the sap had already done, but it helped wash off what was there and prevent it from worsening.

The root that had tripped Jake was now at his shoulder, and two more were trying to bind around his legs. The thick roots were too dense for his sword to cut through quickly, and Jake was running out of time, so he dropped his shield in favour of his dagger.

Three quick cuts left poison flowing up the plant’s roots to the stem, giving Jake enough freedom to scramble away.

Only a sliver of power was left in the Manifestation, so Jake threw the dagger, pinning one of the flowers to the side of the stem.

The dagger lasted just long enough to pump its poison into the plant before breaking apart.

Infusing his Wyrd into his sword, Jake turned his attention to the remaining rootlings and the tendrae. It would be tough, but he could do this.

-**-

Jake groaned in pain as Felix pulled out a piece of root that had gotten several inches into the back of his thigh. Thankfully, it was the only one that had managed it, but the pain as it came out was intense.

“There, now drink this,” Felix said, throwing the bloody root aside before passing Jake a potion. “You’ve gone through most of the supply I brought, but I’m impressed nonetheless.”

“Yay,” Jake said, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back onto the firm dirt. “Are we done for the day?”

“I think so, yes,” Felix said before gesturing to Jake’s reward pile. “Would you like me to purchase the Wyrdfruit and the branch?”

“No, I think I’ll keep them all,” Jake said, thinking back on how useful the Wyrd-infused apples had been earlier.

Felix shrugged, clearly unbothered, before tossing Jake a pouch bulging with Wyrdgeld. “You’ve worked hard today. Here are your spoils.”

As battered, aching and weary as he was, Jake couldn’t help but stare in disbelief at the pouch in his hands. From the thick scent of Wyrdgeld, he knew it had to be a lot, and a quick glance inside showed that some of the coins were of a higher denomination than usual.

“How many are there?” Jake was proud of how steady his voice was despite how his eyes were locked onto the wealth of coins.

“Around a hundred and eighty, I believe, a good amount in raw coinage.”

Jake wasted no time in absorbing all the coins, noticing a certain weight develop within him as he absorbed enough for him to rank up.

“I’m going to Ivaldi’s, then I’m going to pay my tax,” Jake said, getting to his feet and gathering his things. “Well, this has been horrible, and I’m never looking at plants the same way again. Even so, thank you for your help today.”

“I’ve trained quite a few Classers in my time, and I think you’re the first to thank me for something like this,” Felix said with a touch of amusement that quickly faded as he gave Jake a serious look. “Do you think you could clear this Dungeon tomorrow without Karl?”

“If I had the other three, yes, easily,” Jake said without hesitation. Just Alan’s ability to attack at range or Nepthys’s shields would make a lot of the issues here easier to deal with.

“Good, he’ll be doing this tomorrow then,” Felix said with a nod as the two of them left the Dungeon. “I’ll stay with you until you pay your tax. I doubt there will be an issue, but I wish to be sure.”

Jake nodded, a little relieved that Felix would be accompanying him. It wasn’t that Jake expected there to be a problem; it was just that the idea of dealing with the Triarchy directly once more made him uncomfortable.

Putting that aside for the moment, Jake stepped into Ivaldi’s and paid five Wyrdgeld to store the large sack of Wyrdfruit until he next needed it. Jake wasn’t sure exactly what he’d use all the fruit for, but it felt good to have something in reserve.

That done, Jake passed the wood he was carrying over to Ivaldi, asking him to pass it on to Varin when he could.

With two pieces to work with, Jake was hoping Varin could produce something interesting for them to use. He didn’t know what the crafter’s capabilities would be, but he was hopeful.

With that done, they made their way into the centre of Casthorpe, where the Triarchy had an administration centre.

Felix had explained on the journey to Casthorpe that administration centres were set up in all the cities of Strovia and several of its towns. Due to its three Dungeons, Casthorpe was one of the few granted such a dubious honour.

“Strange,” Felix muttered as they turned a corner and came into view of the admin centre.

The centre was a blocky building that was out of place with its surroundings. It was larger than the other buildings around it and was obviously newer, making Jake wonder what had been there before the Triarchy arrived.

A pair of pale-skinned triarchean guards stood outside the doors of the admin centre, and as the two of them approached, three more emerged and went off on patrol.

“What is it?” Jake asked, his eyes not leaving the pale-skinned guards.

“There shouldn’t be a posted guard in a town like this, or if there were, it would be only one person. We should be careful.” Felix had a worried look that he quickly smoothed away before they got too close.

Doing his best to do the same, Jake followed Felix past the guards, who ignored them, and into the building.

The interior was a waiting room of sorts, with seating for Classers while they waited. At the far end of the room was a pale-skinned clerk with a desk who was speaking with someone.

Felix led them over to take a seat, and a few moments later, the other Classer left. There weren’t any others waiting, so Felix motioned Jake forward.

“Advancement to declare?” The Clerk’s eyes flicked up at Jake as he approached before going back down to the paperwork they were completing.

“No,” Jake said, hating the slight questioning tone it came out with.

The clerk’s cold eyes returned to rest on Jake for a long moment before softening slightly. “First time?”

“Yes, sorry.” Jake hated to apologise to a triarchean, but he had to play the part.

“Place the Wyrdgeld here,” the clerk said, tapping a square container on one side of the desk. “Then push some Wyrd into it. It will confirm the amount and mark you as paid within our records. When you reach tier two, report it on arrival, and we will update your agreement.”

Jake nodded jerkily as he conjured the Wyrdgeld, doing his best to compress it so that he only had ten coins worth ten each. Dropping them in, he pushed some Wyrd into the container and watched sadly as the Wyrdgeld was absorbed into it.

A hundred Wyrdgeld, gone just like that.

The clerk glanced up and motioned for Jake to be on his way before dismissing him and returning to their work.

Jake felt like a pressure was lifted from him the moment they stepped out of the admin centre, but Felix was quick to keep him moving.

“I was expecting something more,” Jake said once they were far enough away from the guards.

“There’s no need for it,” Felix said heatedly. “They take our Wyrdgeld and funnel it to their own ends, never taking enough to provoke matters. Those with the power to change things must move on, and the rest are constantly leeched to fund the growth of the Triarchy.”

“It’s not that much, though, not for established Classers?” Jake frowned as he considered that he’d made more than he needed in one day. He had no doubt he could do even better in a few ranks if he put some effort in.

“For every Classer that advances, there is another who lingers in their tier, unwilling to push themselves,” Felix said bitterly, his hand tightening around the hilt of his blade. “By only taking a small amount, they are never pushed to move on, but consider how much Wyrdgeld they gather. There are thousands of Classers in Strovia, giving them hundreds of thousands of Wyrdgeld.”

“Thousands…” Jake’s eyes were wide as he considered what he could do with so much Wyrdgeld. He could advance directly to rank ten, letting him focus on tiering up rather than making money to live.

“Don’t let it bother you right now,” Felix said, his shoulders slumping as his anger seeped away. “Allowing the Dungeons to grow once more will help more than anything else. Besides, my main concern was if they had marked you, but it seems they don’t know your identity yet.”

“What if they had?” Jake asked, not realising that Felix had considered that a risk.

“Then I would have killed them all, and we would have left town,” Felix said simply, giving Jake a look that told him he was being deadly serious.