Dungeon Noble - Squire

Jake managed to amass hundreds of Wyrdgeld over the seven delves, allowing him to reach rank nine overnight. His friends managed the same, though their requirement to reach the peak of the first tier was one hundred and eighty Wyrdgeld, whereas his was three hundred and sixty.

The double cost had never felt so imposing as considering those two numbers, especially as their parity had only come from Jake working himself to the bone for the last two days.

Alan was quick to report that he now had an option for a new Skill that allowed him to infuse arrows, but he was pushing for rank ten first. While that was good for Alan, it also meant that his ideas around stabilising the Wyrd within the weapon were sound.

Now wasn’t the time, but Jake made a note to speak to him about it when they were next on the move, to try and put that knowledge towards improving his own Skills.

“I have news for you all,” Felix said as they started over to the Dungeon for their full day of delving. “We have been able to determine where they are taking Nepthys, and it isn’t back to one of the cities. Instead, she is being taken west to a small outpost that maintains a skeleton garrison.”

“Wait, what?” Jake frowned, surprise warring with worry as he processed what Felix had said. “Are they sure?”

“They’ve been able to confirm it independently. That is as close to sure as we’ll get until they actually leave in that direction,” Felix said, turning one hand palm up as he met Jake’s eyes. “Our source might have been turned, but if so, I don’t see what this would get them.”

“Could it be an effort to get us to go to the wrong place?” Alan asked hesitantly, his brow furrowed in thought.

“It’s possible,” Felix said with a reluctant nod. “Which is why we’ll stick to our current schedule for the moment but head back to Casthorpe rather than directly to the ambush point. If they stick to the original route, then we can get there before them if we move swiftly, and if they pick the new route, we can reassess our plan.”

Jake frowned as he tried to think of why the Triarchy would change their plan like this, it just didn’t make sense to him. “Do you know anything about the outpost they mentioned?”

“Not much,” Felix said, shaking his head as they reached the doors of the Dungeon. “It’s an older one from the early days of the occupation. The note I was sent said that it has a skeleton garrison and isn’t known to be an active site for the Triarchy. Really, we just don’t know why they are thinking of using it. Assuming that the change of route isn’t an effort to shake us off, as Alan mentioned.”

“I don’t like it,” Jake said before sighing slightly and looking over to Felix. “But I don’t suppose there’s anything we can do, is there?”

“No, there isn’t,” Felix said, not unkindly.

“Alright, then we best get delving,” Jake said, looking around at the others to make sure they were all ready before heading inside the Dungeon.

-**-

Thankfully, the seemingly endless practice of the day before meant that they were able to breeze through the first delve, using Alan’s new ability to its full extent against the grebe at the end of the Dungeon.

Considering how useful it was now, Jake was looking forward to when Alan had enough Wyrdgeld saved up to purchase the Skill.

With Alan’s example to draw on, Jake did his best to refine his technique for infusing his sword with Wyrd to mixed results. By the time they were on their fourth delve of the day, he felt like he was achieving a much better flow of Wyrd, but it still wasn’t perfect.

Jake already had the Skill available, but he felt the temptation to push further, to do as much as he could himself. He wasn’t sure if it was pride or enjoying the challenge, but there was something satisfying about putting the work in and seeing it improve.

In total, they did six delves as a group before others decided to prioritise training their Skills over more Wyrdgeld. Jake didn’t have that same luxury, however, and pushed on with Felix’s assistance for another three.

Nine delves in one day left Jake weary to the bone despite the quickened recovery times from Felix’s Trait. He was done; he’d found his limit.

Slumping down at one of the benches outside the Dungeon, Jake passed over the small mound of fish fillets that he’d gotten from the Dungeon to Felix. “If I never see another one of those damn fillets or hear a bloody goose honk, I’ll be a happy man.”

“A sentiment I think you’ve earned,” Felix said, placing the pile of fish to one side and producing the requisite Wyrdgeld for Jake. “Here, five Wyrdgeld per pack, as usual.”

Jake absorbed the Wyrdgeld Felix had given him, as well as everything in his pouch, a small smile touching his lips as he felt something shift within him. He had enough to rank up, which meant he had enough to get to the second tier.

It was a scary proposition, not only because he’d be taking a step further into the world of being a classer but because this was his last chance to turn away from being a Dungeon Noble, to renounce his Class.

Despite his heavy limbs and burgeoning headache, Jake had a question he needed to ask, one that had been burning within him for the last two days. “Felix, we’ve gotten almost ninety packs of fish fillets today, and you’ve bought them all. What are you even going to do with all that?”

“I wondered if you’d ever question it,” Felix murmured with an amused smile. “I’ll store them with Ivaldi for now, but I may sell them to a restaurant in a higher Realm or simply eat them myself.”

Jake went to ask how Felix intended to eat that many fillets himself before they went bad but stopped and considered what the older man was saying. Jake already knew that Ivaldi was more than he seemed, and he’d had food and drink from him before, all of which was perfectly fresh and preserved.

Jake had assumed that the apples he’d stored would last for a while, but this changed things. He’d have to ask Ivaldi about some of the details when they next spoke, but at the very least, he wouldn’t need to worry about feeding himself if they went to some Dungeon out in the wilderness.

It would cost Wyrdgeld to store and retrieve things, of course, but with the hundreds flowing through his hands like water at the moment, that hardly felt like an issue.

Rubbing his face, Jake decided he was too tired to consider the implications any further. What little mental capacity he had left he wanted to use to reach rank ten and consider what, if any, options he had.

They would be heading back to Casthorpe tomorrow, which put them on a direct course to fighting the Triarchy, and Jake wanted every scrap of power that he could get before that happened.

If that meant buying or upgrading Skills now rather than waiting for better options, then so be it.

Getting to his feet, Jake left Felix to store his fish and made his way back to where they were staying.

-**-

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

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

At this time, you have unlocked the following Skills and Traits that may be purchased.

Skill - Infused Strike - Uncommon - 200 Wyrdgeld

Trait - Lesser Endurance - Uncommon - 200 Wyrdgeld

Trait - Improved Recovery - Uncommon - 200 Wyrdgeld

At this time, you have sufficient Wyrdgeld to upgrade the following Skills and Traits.

Skill - Personal Plexus (I) - Very Rare - 80 Wyrdgeld

Trait - Lesser Noble Constitution (I) - Rare - 40 Wyrdgeld

At this time, you have two available Plexus Points.

Boons available to be upgraded

The Mighty Drake - 2 Plexus Points

Would you like to purchase or upgrade a Skill, Trait or Boon?

“Yes.”

Confirmed. Please state the desired changes.

Jake winced as he felt a wave of information flow through his mind, detailing what he could get and the combinations of things available to him. It was a touch overwhelming at first, but he quickly filtered it down to what he wanted. “I’d like to purchase Infused Strike and upgrade Lesser Noble Constitution by three ranks.”

Purchase and upgrade completed, continuing with Ascension.

Congratulations, you have ascended to Tier I, Rank X. 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, bracing himself for the process to begin, only for his eyes to widen as the System continued past the usual point.

Congratulations, you have fulfilled the requirements for ascending to the next tier.

Would you like to renounce your Patron, The Great Dungeon?

Jake hesitated. Even knowing what he wanted, he still found it difficult to say the word. In the end, though, he needed power, he needed strength, and the path before him was the way to get those “No.”

Would you like to Advance, Alter or Augment?

Jake felt the System feed him information once more, detailing the options he had.

Advancement was progressing his current Class to tier two, as he had intended, and was the option he would go for.

Alter seemed to be resetting his progress at this tier but changing his Class, which would be what Ivaldi had referred to when explaining Jake’s options.

Augment was the third and most tempting option, as it allowed for a new Class to be added. Jake’s impression of the option was that the options it gave were determined by the Deeds he’d done. As both Classes then had to be increased at the same time, it made sense to push forward with one for now and then get a better second Class in the future.

Well, Jake hoped that made sense anyway; he was mostly shooting blind here.

“Advance, please,” Jake said eagerly. Now that he was past the choice of committing to The Great Dungeon, he was more than ready to see what the next tier would bring.

Confirmed. Advancing Dungeon Noble Class.

Please choose between advancing a Class Ability and purchasing a Class Ability.

Jake perked up as he read through the prompt and further understanding was passed through to him. He could either advance one of the Class Abilities, so his Skill or Trait, by one rank, or he could get a new one of a rarity linked to his tier.

As he was going into tier two, he could only get a common Ability, but a single rank in one of the others wasn’t really that useful right now. If he had one at rank ten, he felt like this could advance the Ability, but without that, he might as well get a new one.

Jake went through the list for a few minutes before making his choice. “Purchase Lesser Delver’s Will.”

Congratulations, you have ascended to Tier II, Rank I. Your soul has been purified and refined.

Jake had barely a moment to understand the final message before energy surged through him, and he was dragged down into unconsciousness.