Dungeon Noble - Squire

Nobody said anything for a few tense seconds, and Felix looked at each of them in turn, his expression impassive as he seemed to judge their commitment.

Eventually, Felix nodded and shut the door before gesturing to the woman who’d entered with him. “This is Michelle. She is my contact in the area for the resistance. We’ve worked together in the past when I’ve been able to return to this Realm. She will be making inquiries into the situation with Nepthys.”

“I wish I were meeting you all under better circumstances,” Michelle said with a terse nod. “We all know the pain of living under the rule of the Triarchy, but we also know their methods. They will want to interrogate your friend, which means they will hold her for several days while an escort is sent over. They will then travel towards either Port Emerald or another coastal city.”

“Which is when we will strike,” Felix said, smoothly taking over the thread of conversation. “They will be prepared for something, but we have little choice. If she reaches the city, she is lost to us. We will be training hard over the next few days to prepare. I want each of you to think of one thing you wish to develop more than anything else. Ari and I will work to help it become a reality.”

“If there is anything we can do to assist, let us know. For now, though, I need to get back and see what the situation is,” Michelle said, clasping arms with Felix and giving the rest of them a nod before hurrying back out of the cottage.

“Felix,” Jake said, deciding to speak up before they got any further. “I’ve told them about my Class. Not the specifics, but they know about my Patron.”

“I see,” Felix said in a way that made it clear that he didn’t fully approve. “And there are no objections to this? You are all still in favour of working with us to rescue Nepthys?”

“To this, yes,” Rhew said, shifting a little before giving Jake an apologetic look. “I’m not so sure about after this is done. I hate the Triarchy for my own reasons, and I’m grateful to Nepthys, but I can’t risk being caught up in this.”

“I understand. I’ve only recently come to terms with it myself,” Jake said with a slight shrug, noting the sharp look that Felix gave him. He’d have to update Felix on his decision after this. “What about you, Karl? Or you, Alan?”

“The Triarchy killed my father,” Karl said heatedly. “I will take any opportunity to pay them back for that. I’m not sure about the gods, though.”

They turned to Alan next, who was frowning in thought. “I don’t hate the Triarchy the same way as the rest of you. I dislike it, but not so personally. That being said, I will happily help rescue Nepthys. Beyond that, I’m not sure. I won’t commit to staying with you, but I’m not leaving for definite either.”

Jake nodded, unable to quite keep his disappointment from showing. He’d been hoping that they could all carry on as they were, but he could understand why that wasn’t possible.

It wasn’t like the Triarchy would forget about Jake or Nepthys after this; they would be hunted even more diligently than now. He couldn’t blame the others for not wanting to get involved in that.

“Regardless of the future, you should all take your chance to rest now. We set off within the hour toward another Dungeon. We will need to move fast to get to both it and one of the other choices with enough time to return when they move Nepthys.”

“Wait, new Dungeons?” Alan asked, cocking his head to one side. “Would it not be safer to stay here and be surreptitious rather than risk travelling to somewhere new and drawing attention?”

“Usually, yes,” Felix said, glancing over to Jake before continuing. “However, Jake’s Class progresses with each new Dungeon completed. The rest of you will only be able to advance to the peak of the first tier, but Jake could make it to tier two in time for the rescue.”

“Ah, I think I understand more now,” Alan said, nodding to himself. “That’s why we came here to begin with. For the new Dungeons.”

Felix nodded and quickly carried on before Alan could ask anything else. “Go now, rest and think on what you wish aid with. We will work you hard in the Dungeons and push you as far as you can.”

“Will you give us the Wyrdgeld we need to advance quickly?” Rhew asked before Felix could do more than start to turn.

“No.” Felix’s tone was hard as he turned back to the ice mage. “You are still new to this life, but it is frowned upon for those of a higher tier to give such aid. It weakens you and undermines your will to push on.”

“Surely it can’t make that much of a difference?” Rhew challenged, folding her arms as she faced off with Felix. “Our lives will be on the line doing this. We should be as strong as possible!”

“Then you need to push yourself to prepare for it,” Felix said flatly, unmoved by her display. “I have seen what happens when you pave the way for new classers. The best intentions can cripple their future. I’ve seen promising youngsters fail to reach tier two when their rank outpaced their skill, and I’ve seen those who were helped falter in the face of the higher realms. Pain and struggle now prepares you for the challenges of the future.”

“That’s all well and good…” Rhew began to argue before Karl put a hand on her shoulder and whispered something in her ear, making her deflate slightly. “Fine.”

As if Rhew’s acceptance was a signal, everyone began to drift out of the cottage’s living room, with Jake leading the way to the kitchen.

If they were going to be travelling, he wanted to be sure he was doing it on a full stomach.

-**-

True to his word, Felix had them on the march within the hour, waiting just long enough for them to catch their breath and eat some food.

Thankfully, the cottage had supplies for travel as well, with tents and bedrolls on hand for those in need. Considering how they’d all rushed out of Casthorpe, small amenities like that were well appreciated.

The first hour or two of their march north passed in relative silence, with them all lost in their own thoughts. For Jake, he was worrying about Nepthys, both for what might be happening now and what would happen if they failed to get her out.

Realising his mind was going in circles, Jake kicked up his pace to approach Felix at the front of the group. “So, what Dungeon are we going to?”

It felt like a trite question, but Jake needed something to occupy his mind.

“It’s one quite similar to your first, based around insects and tight caves. Your familiarity with it should let you cut through without too much issue,” Felix said, looking over to Jake consideringly. “Have you considered what you wish my aid with?”

“I have. I want your help in improving one of the Skills I have available,” Jake said, tapping his sword on the hilt. “Manually infusing my sword has given me an option, but I want something better.”

“I see. Are you sure this is what you would like?” Felix asked, giving no sign of whether he judged it a good use of his time or not.

“I am,” Jake said firmly. “I want to be able to do more when I’m fighting things which can ignore mundane attacks. I could get the one I have, but I remember you mentioning that you can improve the offering if you do better.”

Felix considered Jake’s words for a few moments before nodding slightly. “Very well, we’ll spend some time working on it this evening. In the meantime, consider how you would go about doing this yourself.”

With that, the older classer dropped back to have similar conversations with the others, seeing what they wanted assistance with.

Part of Jake wanted to chastise them all for how eagerly they were taking up Felix’s offer when one of them had been captured, but he knew that was just his frustration talking.

Deciding to channel it to something worth doing, Jake focused on what Felix had asked him. The obvious answer was to simply do it better, which would hopefully prompt the System to award him a better variant of the Skill.

That seemed an underwhelming answer, though. Surely, there was more to Skills than simply doing something better. But, then again, what even was a Skill?

Jake hadn’t bought any beyond those he’d been granted, so he had no idea how much difference there was between what he did now and what he’d do if he bought that Minor Infused Strike Skill.

Jake’s thoughts tumbled over each other as they carried on, and by the time they set up camp for the evening, he found that he had no real answer.

“So, did you think about my question earlier?” Felix asked as he took him aside as the others set about making the evening meal.

“Yes, but I feel like I’m missing something. It seems like it should be that I just improve my current way of doing it, but that feels too simple.”

“And yet, it’s the truth,” Felix said, a slight smile touching his lips for a moment. “Do you know what the difference would be between you performing a strike manually and using a Skill for it?”

“The Skill is better?”

“Yes, but why?” Felix waited a moment for Jake to shake his head before explaining. “A Skill comes with knowledge from the System. Knowledge on how to do something better, how to do it more efficiently. It takes the raw basics you create and polishes it to be something better. Often, it improves it, adding in parts you never considered before.”

“What about if you discard the Skill?” Jake asked, not sure how he felt about something messing with what he did or didn’t know.

“Then you lose most of that extra knowledge. You still keep a glimmer of it, though. There are some Classers that change Skills regularly to learn new things and improve their foundation. Do not underestimate them. They are often the most efficient Wyrd users out there.”

“I think I understand.” Jake frowned in thought as he reframed everything he knew about Skills. “What about Traits, then?”

“Traits are a catalogue and measure of your Deeds. They represent a certain weight behind what you do, one that causes ripples with every action you take. Enough on that for now, though. Show me your infusion technique.”

Jake blinked, confused by Felix’s explanation of Traits. He sort of understood, but not really. Shrugging it aside, he did as Felix asked and infused his blade.

“Passable, but your control is poor. Explain your technique to me as you do it again.” Felix motioned for Jake to continue, in what was no doubt the first of many repeats.