Dungeon Noble - Squire

Silence stretched over them for a few long moments as the others gave Felix’s question the thought it deserved.

Part of Jake would have preferred an instant response that they’d stay, but he knew that it was better they consider it fully and come to a true decision.

“I’m sorry, Jake,” Karl said, lifting his head with a guilty expression. “I want to, and if we’d been exposed, I would have. As it is, though, I need to step away. I haven’t really talked about my life before Ascending, but my father was a classer and fought in the war against the Triarchy. He died during the final invasion, but one of his comrades declared that he betrayed us and helped the Triarchy.”

“Your father would never have done that,” Felix said, his words making Karl start in surprise. A slight smile touched Felix’s lips as he continued with a distant look in his eyes. “I helped train him, and you are the spitting image of him when I first met him. That is why I agreed to first train you. Kristoff was a Worthy student of mine, one of the first.”

“I never realised…” Karl looked shaken by the revelation but eventually pulled himself back together. “You’re right, though. He never would have betrayed us. I mean to prove that and find out who framed him. To do so, I’ll need to stay here for a while, and you’re already at the next tier. I can’t hold you back, and I won’t give up on this.”

Jake met Karl’s gaze and nodded before walking over and holding out his hand. “I understand, and I can only thank you for coming as far as you have.”

“Thanks, Jake, I appreciate it,” Karl said, getting up and taking Jake’s hand. “If you need me, just send word, and I’ll do what I can.”

Jake gave his big friend a slight smile before letting go and turning to Rhew. He’d already noticed how she’d been shifting uncomfortably and knew what was coming.

“Guess I was obvious, huh?” Rhew asked with a shake of her head as she looked up at him.

“We’ve spent enough time together that I know when your heart isn’t in it anymore,” Jake said with a shrug. “Besides, I know you and Karl were thinking of continuing together.”

The two blushed at Jake’s words, but neither denied it. Rhew stood up to shake Jake’s hand as well. “Like Karl said, send word if you need help with anything. My story is less noble than his, but there’s no need to burden you with it at this point.”

“I’m happy to hear it,” Jake said softly as he went back to where he’d been sitting, giving Rhew some space. “Who knows, I might be able to help somehow.”

“Maybe…” Rhew got a distant look in her eyes for a few moments before shaking it off. “I’m the only current classer in my family, but the Triarchy claimed that my grandfather stole from them. Until we pay back what they say he stole, they take twice as much tax on everything we make. My parents have lived with it their whole life and have barely even made a dent.”

Jake nodded, things making a lot more sense to him now about how Rhew acted with money. “How much is left?”

“Just over ten thousand Wyrdgeld, and starting this month, I’ll be forced to pay double the tax as well. I was lucky they gave me this first month at the normal rate,” Rhew said with a look of distaste at even coming close to thanking the Triarchy.

“Just what exactly did they say he stole?” Ari asked with a look of disbelief.

“They won’t say. I used to think the bastards made it up, but I’m not so sure now. Regardless, if you meet a classer called Ghent Larian, I’d appreciate it if you could put me in contact with him. I want some answers.”

Jake nodded absently, still stunned by the amount the Triarchy held over Rhew and her family. How could they expect her family to even come close to paying that off without a classer?

Mentally shaking himself, Jake promised that he’d keep an eye out for Rhew’s grandfather before looking over to Alan questioningly.

The Scholar had been quiet so far, and he’d had a thoughtful expression since Felix posed the question, but Jake wasn’t sure if that was an indicator that he was coming with them or not.

“Alan?” Jake spoke up, a feeling of dread building in his gut as he waited for a response. He wasn’t losing Karl and Rhew permanently, but this felt like the nearest thing, and he could already feel the hole in the party that their absence would bring.

“I think that in any other situation, I’d leave as well,” Alan said eventually as he let out a heavy breath. “The Triarchy is huge and terrifying. Fighting back against them feels like an impossibility, and the more time we spend as classers, the less it feels like they will matter.”

“You’re not wrong,” Jake said, thinking back on how insurmountable that hundred Wyrdgeld had felt when he first went to the Dungeon. Now, it was just three delves, and that could be done in a day.

“Which is why I thought I’d just go my own way, but I don’t think I can. Things are wrong here, and whatever your Patron has you doing, I think it will try to fix that. I’m not brave or strong, but I don’t think I can walk away from that.”

“Just like your mother,” Ari said with a wink and a grin, some of his usual cheer starting to return now that he’d had a chance to rest a little.

Alan flushed bright red but didn’t argue the point, instead lifting his chin a little.

“Well, I know I’ll be glad to have you along, Alan,” Jake said, grinning at the Scholar as he felt a surge of relief that someone was staying with them.

Karl looked uncomfortable following Alan’s speech, but Jake made sure to reassure him that he thought no less of him for not staying.

After listening to Karl and Rhew talk about what was driving them, Jake understood why they wanted to avoid the attention of the Triarchy if possible.

“Very good. Now that we’ve established who’s doing what, we should get moving and put some more distance between us and the outpost,” Felix said with a gesture over his shoulder. “Then tomorrow, we split up and go in different directions.”

“Where should we go?” Karl asked as they gathered their things and began trudging south once more.

“Back west, I’d say, but somewhere that has a branch of the Association. Check in with them when you arrived and say you split off from us in Casthorpe after the Seeker incident as you didn’t want to be involved.”

Jake listened as Felix ran through the options that Rhew and Karl had, feeling thankful that they had this opportunity to get clear.

With these masked classers being involved, everything felt far more complex now, and only time would tell what consequences this battle would have for them.

-**-

Rhew and Karl split off from the group the next day, heading west to a town with a branch of the Association and a popular first tier Dungeon.

Karl made Jake promise to send them word if he needed anything, and Rhew seemed equally determined to help.

What exactly they could do, Jake wasn’t sure, but he appreciated the sentiment.

“So,” Jake said, turning to look at Felix. “What do we do now?”

“We head north-east, there’s a resistance hideaway we can use while gathering information about what’s going on. I’ll reach out to some friends and contacts, both about the Triarchy and those masked classers.”

“And in the meantime,” Ari said, a menacing smile slipping over his face. “We’ll be doing some training to make sure you’re ready for whatever comes next.”

Jake exchanged a worried look with Nepthys and Alan; any training that Ari seemed this excited about was probably going to be bad.

Still, that wasn’t quite what Jake meant. “Okay, but what about overall? I mean, I’ve reached the second tier now.”

“Well, the way I see it, we have two real options,” Felix said thoughtfully. “You can either travel to the next Realm, which would mean going into the heart of the Triarchy presence in Strovia, or you can leave Strovia and escape the Triarchy that way.”

“Leaving Strovia sounds the easier of the two,” Nepthys said, but Jake and Alan were both shaking their heads.

“You came by ship, didn’t you,” Jake said, making the question into more of a statement.

Nepthys nodded with a slightly confused expression, so Alan took over the explanation. “Strovia is bound by the ocean to the west and south, the mountains to the north and the Viridian Expanse to the east.”

“They’re not wrong; any of those options will be difficult, but with adequate preparation, anything is doable,” Felix said, motioning for them to start walking. “For now, though, let’s get to a secure location and start planning.”