Dungeon Noble - Squire

“I didn’t get a chance to ask you before, but are you okay?” Jake asked Nepthys as they walked along behind Felix.

“More or less,” Nepthys said, giving Jake a somewhat strained smile. “I’d more or less accepted what was going to happen when that classer got through to me when you arrived. A few more minutes, and it would have been a very different situation.”

“Yeah, that’s been on my mind as well,” Jake said softly, thinking of how close he’d been to being too late. He didn’t even want to consider how he’d have reacted if that had been the case.

“But you didn’t, and that’s what matters,” Nepthys said firmly, taking a breath and seemingly pushing past the negative thoughts. “Actually, I meant to say earlier that things were odd while they were moving me. The Seeker and his people barely interacted with me, but only the Seeker seemed to know why they were heading to that outpost.”

“That confused us as well. Did he give any hint as to why?”

“No, and he came down hard on anyone questioning it as well. I assumed it was some sort of secret order.”

Jake nodded slightly before looking back to Ari, who was walking behind them with Alan. “Hey, Ari. What happened to the Seeker?”

“Felix took care of him before those masked folks arrived,” Ari said, the corner of his mouth curling into a smirk. “Arrogant bastard thought I was the real threat. With the main threat dealt with, we kept the rest busy until shit got too chaotic and then pulled out as best we could.”

“I wonder if any of the Triarchy guards survived, then,” Jake said, his brow furrowing as he considered what the official response would be to everything that had happened.

“Doubtful,” Ari said with an idle shrug. “There weren’t that many, to begin with, and only a few of the stronger masked classers went after us when we pulled out. Any guards left would have been cut down easily when they got back.”

Jake nodded as the group lapsed into silence once more, each of them considering the uncertain future they faced.

-**-

Attention - Your status as a Citizen of the Triarchy has been revoked. Any obligations derived from this status are no longer enforced.

Jake froze mid-bite of his rations, his eyes going wide as he read the update. It had been four days since they had parted with Karl and Rhew, and they’d spent that time reaching the safehouse that Felix had known of.

Felix had already reached out to his contacts to gain more information about what the Triarchy was doing. They’d yet to hear back, but this made the Triarchy’s initial response clear.

-**-

“It’s been confirmed,” Felix said, closing the door to the cabin behind him and heading over to take a seat near the fire. “My contacts just reported in on the Triarchy.”

It had been a further three days since the update from the System, and Jake had spent the whole time worrying about Karl and Rhew.

It wasn’t a big jump to go from him to them, after all, and the Triarchy wasn’t known for moderate responses.

“What did they say?” Nepthys asked from where she was sat sharpening her swords. They weren’t exactly like those she’d had when they first met, but Felix’s contacts had managed to get something reasonably similar.

“Jake is being blamed for the massacre at the outpost,” Felix said with a grave expression. “He has been declared an enemy of the Triarchy. Thankfully, there is nothing they can do via the System, but they are hunting for you even more fervently now.”

“What about Karl and Rhew?” Jake asked, ignoring the ball of gnawing cold that was building in his gut.

“They’ve been ignored for now; the focus is on the two of you. Even Ari hasn’t been called out officially, which is odd. There was no mention of any masked classers either, which perhaps means that they cleaned up the area after we left.”

“Yeah, these fuckers are sounding more and more organised as time goes on. I don’t like it,” Ari said with distaste from where he was pouring himself a cup of coffee. “Nice as this place is, though, we can’t stay here forever.”

“No, we can’t,” Felix said, a tired look crossing his expression for a brief moment. “We’ll start planning out our next moves tomorrow. It looks like you’ll need to leave sooner than expected, though. Staying here will be a death sentence.”

Jake nodded in agreement before calling up his status.

Name - Jake Khesh

Patron Deity - The Great Dungeon

Class - Dungeon Noble - Knight

Tier - II

Rank - I

Dungeon Network - 5

Plexus Strength - Minor

Plexus Manifestations - 3/3

Plexus Points - 2

Traits

Physical - Lesser Noble Constitution (IV) - Rare - Descended from a Noble bloodline, you have a medium enhancement to physical characteristics.

Mental - Lesser Delver’s Will (I) - Common - Gird your will, advance endlessly. Provides a minor bonus to willpower when delving Dungeons.

Skills

Passive - Personal Plexus (I) - Very Rare - You gain the ability to bind Dungeons and form your own Plexus that may contain Dungeons of minor strength. Currently, Dungeons up to Tier I can be bound. Doubles the Wyrdgeld cost of advancing in Class Rank.

Active - Infused Strike (I) - Uncommon - You are able to infuse your weapon with a minor amount of Wyrd, strengthening your blows and sharpening the edges of your weapon.

Patron Gifts

Passive - Agent of the Great Dungeon (II) - Very Rare - You are bound to the Great Dungeon by blood. Other followers of the Great Dungeon will recognise you and aid you as they may.

Passive - Sense Dungeon (II) - Rare - As an agent of the Great Dungeon, you are able to passively sense the location of nearby Dungeons in a meagre range.

Passive - Authority of The Great Dungeon (I) - Very Rare - You have the approval of The Great Dungeon and may enact rituals in its name. You gain the knowledge of the Ritual of Castigation. Misuse of this authority may result in its removal.

Plexus Boons

Hidden Fang -(II)- Granted by the Holrswar Murk Dungeon, this Boon allows you to Manifest a dagger with inherent poisonous properties. Using the dagger, summoning it and dismissing it all draw on the power held within it on Manifestation.

Orchard’s Gift -(II)- Granted by the Aptofir Veranis Dungeon, this Boon allows you to Manifest an apple infused with vitality. Ingesting the apple transfers this vitality, healing and sating the hunger of its consumer.

The Mighty Drake - (I) - Granted by the Engans Deja Dungeon, this Boon allows you to Manifest Moby, a mighty drake, to aid you. The Manifestation is consumed in maintaining Moby’s presence, not his actions.

Plexus Development -(II)- This Boon may only be increased in rank by choosing it at additional Dungeons, but it has no cap on its rank level. Increases Manifestations available by one per rank. Granted by the Haugask Deja and Wilfek Murk Dungeons.

Deed requirement to increase Tier

1 - 5 Tier II or higher Dungeons bound

2 - Rank X

Requirements to increase to Rank II

1 - 440 Wyrdgeld

He’d come a long way in the last month and a half, but he still had a long way to go, and Strovia was only becoming more dangerous for him.

Jake muttered a prayer to the Great Dungeon, but he knew that he was the ultimate arbiter of his own fate right now.

If he’d learned one thing since Ascending, it was that the more work he put in, the faster and farther he advanced. That meant the solution to all this was simple. Jake just had to be willing to work harder and risk more than those trying to find him.

Jake had dreamed of becoming powerful, of being someone who caused change. He’d had his first taste of that, but his vision of The Great Dungeon had shown him just how far he had to go to truly reach the top.

Perhaps it was impossible for someone like him to reach those heights, but he’d be damned if he let anything stop him from trying.