《The Outlands》


 Foreword

    Hi there! This foreword''s here to answer some questions I think will be asked frequently and to lay out some expectations for the series.


    If you''ve read my other series, The New Chimera, you''ll know bits of what to expect from my writing style. Unlike The New Chimera, though, I decided to lean much heavier into the LitRPG elements of this series, due to the much differing power levels of the protagonists.


    Gender bending happens around chapter 4, and you''ll start seeing the girls love elements soon thereafter.


    As mentioned in the synopsis, this series is going to be weekly as soon as it''s the proper amount behind Patreon. This is up to chapter 18 at the time of writing, but given the two and a half weeks I''ll be doing daily posts I''ll have finished at least two more chapters, with a potential third depending on when the days fall (I haven''t checked), so expect around 20 chapters before it goes weekly.


    I also have author''s notes at the bottom of each chapter, they''re something of a...director''s commentary, I guess? You''ll get some commentary on what I was feeling as I wrote the chapter, as well as some extra unimportant details that just wouldn''t fit in the story proper without completely ruining the flow. On occasion, there might be Skill descriptions or similar things that aren''t important enough to be in the chapter as a whole but I''ve written out on my end, so the compromise is to have them there.


    Chapter word counts are 2,500 (at the minimum) to 3,500-4,000, generally around 3,000.


    This series is also on Patreon, which is five chapters ahead.


    Oh, and if you want to be notified as soon as a new chapter is out, check out my Discord: https://discord.gg/5TuC5ju

 Chapter 1: Beginnings

    Like he did every morning, Thomas laid in bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for Ellie to come and get him. He could have just gotten up, but he relished those few minutes of hazy half-sleep, and this little interaction had long since become a morning ritual for the both of them.


    Right on cue, Ellie poked her head into the room. ¡°C¡¯mon, get up! Grandpa says he¡¯s taking us on a trip after breakfast!¡± She closed the door, followed by the sound of footsteps down the stairs.


    Thomas yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He sleepily threw on some clothes, then stumbled out of his room and made his way down the stairs, emerging into the kitchen. ¡°Morning Gramps, morning Ellie.¡±


    Gramps was a man in his sixties and wasn¡¯t actually Thomas¡¯ grandfather. He was Ellie¡¯s grandfather, and had taken it upon himself to raise Thomas and Ellie after their respective sets of parents had died in a plane crash. He was short but fit, with bright silver hair and an endlessly positive personality, with energy to match.


    As for Ellie, she had just turned 18 and was only a few weeks older than Thomas. She had red hair that went down to her upper back and was about a head taller than her grandfather. When it came to appearance, the only real commonality she had with her grandfather was the striking purple eyes they shared. They were dark, enough so that at a distance they might be mistaken for a dull brown or an especially dark blue, but on closer inspection there was no denying that they were purple.


    Thomas himself was of average height, but that still felt tall when compared to the two short people he lived with. He had short blond hair and hazel eyes, and¡­that was about it. There really wasn¡¯t much more to him, at least in his eyes. He was sure that, were someone else to describe him, they¡¯d point out something that he hadn¡¯t listed, but he couldn¡¯t really think of what.


    As he got more visibility on the kitchen, Thomas found that Gramps had gone all out for breakfast that morning, a buffet of bacon, eggs, sausages, pancakes, hash browns, and other breakfast items were laid out on the counter, and Gramps was still making more.


    ¡°Morning, Thomas!¡± Gramps said with far too much energy for this time of day, ¡°Eat up, we¡¯ve got a big day ahead of us!¡±


    Thomas began to load a plate up with food. ¡°Ellie said we¡¯re going on a trip? Where to?¡±


    Gramps flipped a pancake, eyes sparkling. ¡°Now that Ellie¡¯s eighteen and you¡¯re about to follow, it¡¯s about time I show you youngsters where I work.¡±


    Thomas nearly dropped his plate in shock, and Ellie looked similarly surprised. ¡°I thought that was classified information!¡± He exclaimed.


    ¡°It is!¡± Gramps laughed. ¡°But since I¡¯m the one taking you, you¡¯re cleared to know.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I get that this is a big deal,¡± Ellie said between bites of food, ¡°But there¡¯s no way we¡¯re going to be able to eat all this. I think you¡¯ve gone a little overboard.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Gramps said, waving his spatula dismissively, ¡°We¡¯ll just take the leftovers to my coworkers. I don¡¯t want you running out of anything you might want to eat.¡±


    Ellie shrugged and went back to eating. The rest of the breakfast was relatively quiet as everyone was too preoccupied with eating or making the food to say much more. Once the two had finished eating, Gramps turned off the griddle, and had the kids pack the remaining food into bags so they could take it with them.


    ¡°Alright, everyone ready?¡± Gramps asked once the last bit of food was packed up, ¡°This way!¡± He headed off down the hall, Ellie and Thomas following curiously behind him.


    ¡°Uh, Grandpa, we just passed the garage.¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°We¡¯re not taking the car! You¡¯ll see!¡± He gave them a wink and stopped in front of a featureless part of the wall. He touched it, drew a complex shape with his finger, and then¡­a door appeared. Not like some sort of false wall falling away or something; it wasn¡¯t there one moment, and the next it was sitting there like it had always been there.


    ¡°Woah!¡± Ellie said, ¡°How¡¯d you do that?¡±


    Thomas stood there in stunned silence. He had never so much as caught a glimpse of a door here, and even if there was, it would have just opened into the middle of another room. It was¡­baffling.


    Gramps winked again and opened the door, pulling the two inside.


    They were most definitely not in the house anymore. They were in a large, spacious office, and the windows on the walls showed a lush forest outside of a city, a far cry from the rural town in a wide open plain they lived in.


    ¡°Welcome to the Outlands!¡± Gramps said jovially. ¡°Mael¡¯s best kept secret. It¡¯s a bit of a complicated story but think of it like this; there are a lot of other dimensions out there, and this serves as the hub for the lot of them. Of these dimensions, which we call planes, the one in which Mael is located is a rather new one and is a bit different compared to most of the established planes. It lacks the magical density other planes have, making it a rather safer place, at the expense of magic just¡­not really working there, outside of small things.¡±


    He guided the stunned teenagers over to a couch and sat them down, then sat down on the couch opposite. ¡°The League of Planes, which consists of the leaders of the various countries located across the various planes, have decided to not attempt first contact with Mael just yet, but they still want to have a presence there, so there are one or two of us that they let cross over. Me, Ellie¡¯s parents, and a couple of other families were chosen for the job, so we moved out to various small places on Mael and lay low, keeping an eye on things. We kept Ellie out of the loop when she was growing up because¡­well, kids don¡¯t have much of a filter, but that time¡¯s over, so we get to finally bring you here!¡±


    Thomas frowned. ¡°What about me? My parents weren¡¯t involved in this, were they?¡±


    Gramps shook his head. ¡°No, but I¡¯m raising you, so no one has a case to argue against you. Besides, I¡¯m expecting you¡¯ll actually be my grandkid soon enough, eh?¡±


    Thomas and Ellie both rolled their eyes but didn¡¯t say anything. Gramps often teased them, saying they should ¡°finally start dating¡± or ¡°just get together already¡± or things like that, and they had found it was best to just ignore him when he did.


    ¡°Anyway, this here is the Freelancer¡¯s Guild main branch, of which I¡¯m the guildmaster! The Outlands are by far the plane with the densest magic, which comes with all sorts of dangers and riches, so the Freelancer¡¯s Guild is¡­well, honestly, it¡¯s basically identical to an adventurer¡¯s guild. People submit jobs, freelancers take care of them. As the Outlands aren¡¯t controlled by any one government, this was the League of Planes¡¯ solution to the problem of a protective force. Instead of having a force comprised of people working directly for any government, they¡¯ve left it up to the many intrepid fortune-seekers that come to the Outlands, and so far, it¡¯s worked like a charm.¡±


    He stood up and started walking towards the door, motioning for them to follow. ¡°I believe you both have the makings of fine freelancers, so I¡¯d love for you to give it a go. You¡¯re not forced to by any means, but I can guarantee it¡¯ll be a much more exciting life than just living on Mael will be.¡±


    He led them through various hallways, eventually bringing them to what was obviously the main room. It was a bustling, noisy place, full of people of species that Thomas had never seen in real life. Beastkin, elves, dwarves, angels, demons, and more were going about their business, paying little mind to Thomas¡¯ group.


    Gramps grabbed their hands and tugged them through the crowd, towing them over to what appeared to be a receptionist¡¯s desk. What appeared to be a minotaur was working the counter, his massive frame dexterously handling the comparatively small writing utensils like it was nothing. ¡°Graham, I¡¯m going to be cutting in line. I brought the grandkids I¡¯m always talking about and need to get them registered as freelancers before I can return to work.¡±


    The minotaur started, looking at the three of them. ¡°G-Guildmaster Los!¡± He said, putting his hand over his heart, ¡°Don¡¯t sneak up on me like that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!¡±


    Gramps laughed, patting the burly minotaur on his arm. ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t resist. Could you hand me the forms? I can take care of filing them myself, I just need the actual papers.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing, Guildmaster.¡± Graham said, ¡°Ess will be your scanner today, room 201¡­¡± He trailed off, then looked away, apparently embarrassed. ¡°Sorry, force of habit. I know you know what¡¯s going on.¡± He mumbled.


    Gramps laughed again. ¡°I get it, I get it.¡± He took the sacks of food he was carrying and handed them to Graham. ¡°Put these in the break room, will you? It¡¯s leftovers from breakfast today, anyone can have what they want.¡±


    ¡°Will do. Best of luck, kids!¡±


    And with that, Gramps dragged the two unresisting kids back towards the way they came. Once they were inside the strangely empty hallway, he turned on them. ¡°So, what¡¯d you think?¡±


    ¡°Um, it was¡­overwhelming.¡± Thomas said, Ellie nodding in agreement, ¡°Is it normally this busy?¡±


    ¡°In the mornings. During the day people are generally out on jobs, so it slows down. This office is our busiest as well, and it also handles general paperwork and all the other overhead that comes with an organization like this, so you can expect any other offices to be much less crowded.¡±


    He began to lead them through the halls once more. ¡°These are the employee-only halls. Makes getting around much easier, let me tell you. No need to push through a million and one different people just to get to where you want to go. Feel free to use these whenever you want, you¡¯ll have to walk through them anyway to get back home, so you might as well use them for general navigation.¡±


    They climbed some stairs, and he stopped in front of a door, knocking. It opened to reveal a sleepy looking elf woman, her long black hair draping down over her body in an unkempt mess. ¡°Oh¡­Guildmaster? Come on in, we¡¯ll get your grandkids taken care of.¡±


    Gramps led them into the room. It had a door on the other end, but the main feature was a table surrounded by chairs with a large ball of some glass-like material sitting on a stand in the center. ¡°Go ahead and sit down. We¡¯ll do this one at a time, starting with Ellie.¡± Ess told them, sitting down on the opposite side.


    ¡°How do you know my name?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Guildmaster is constantly talking about you two. I¡¯m pretty sure everyone on the staff knows your names by now. Once they see you with the guildmaster they¡¯ll connect the dots.¡±


    The two sat down, and Ellie obediently placed her hands on the ball.


    Ess was silent for a moment, but then her eyes (or what they could see of them beneath the hair), opened wide. ¡°My apologies, but I think this scanner might be broken.¡±


    Gramps frowned. ¡°I had them all recalibrated yesterday. Try Thomas.¡±


    Ellie retracted her hands and Thomas placed his on. Ess frowned even more, then turned to Gramps. ¡°I think it might be hypersensitive. Their readings are way too polarized. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.¡±


    ¡°Try it with me, then. We know what my readings are.¡± Gramps said, walking forward and putting his hands on the ball after Thomas removed his.


    Ess raised an eyebrow. ¡°They¡¯re exactly correct. Um¡­I guess you just managed to get a couple of really¡­special kids there.¡±


    Gramps took his hands off, smiling wryly. ¡°Carry on as normal, then. I¡¯ll grab the sheets for you.¡±


    Gramps scurried out of the room, and Ess had the two go through the whole ¡°hands on the ball¡± thing again. A couple of minutes later, Gramps returned with a couple of pages, handing one to each of them. ¡°These are your Statuses.¡± He told them. ¡°The little numbers next to your main Attributes are your growth parameters. You¡¯ve got an even chance of your Attribute increasing by any of the numbers next to it every time you level up. These are the real barebones mass-produced sheets we give to everyone, but I¡¯ll give you some magic tools that let you track your Status whenever you want, and far better than what we have here.¡±


    ¡°Is 10 a good growth?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°The best, aside from your Resources, where the growth values are ten times higher than the others.¡± Ess replied. ¡°You hit the jackpot, girl.¡±


    Ellie pumped her fist. ¡°Nice!¡±


    Thomas¡¯ sheet was¡­far more underwhelming than whatever he imaged Ellie had.


    Thomas Los


    Level: 1 (0/100 EXP)


    HP: 100


    10/10/10/10/20


    MP: 100


    10/10/10/10/20


    Stamina: 100


    10/10/10/10/20


    Power: 10


    1/1/1/1/2


    Defense: 10


    1/1/1/1/2


    Magic: 10


    1/1/1/1/2


    Magic Defense: 10


    1/1/1/1/2


    Agility: 10


    1/1/1/1/2


    Luck: 0


    0/0/0/0/0


    Classes:


    None


    Skills:


    None


    Titles:


    #$^@


    Thomas looked down at his sheet, disheartened. ¡°How important are stats?¡± He asked.


    ¡°They¡¯re¡­kind of really important. Sorry, kid.¡± Ess said. ¡°I¡¯ve got to say, I¡¯m¡­not sure how you¡¯re even alive right now. I¡¯ve never, ever, seen someone with Luck as low as yours, nor have I seen a 0 growth. I can only assume that whatever that title is is what¡¯s stopping you from being hit by every possible piece of bad luck you can get.¡±


    Ellie peeked over at his sheet, then winced. ¡°Oh.¡± She said, deflating. ¡°Uh, sorry.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s yours?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Well¡­I¡¯ve got all 10s for each of my growths, and all my stats are starting at 15 or 150. I¡­don¡¯t have any Titles, though, so you¡¯ve got that on me.¡± She said, laying a hand on his. ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll figure something out, though. For all we know that Title¡¯s super awesome, right?¡±


    Gramps nodded. ¡°Titles the scanner can¡¯t display are generally better than average. Come with me, I¡¯ll get you the bands I¡¯ve prepared, they¡¯re top of the line, so they should be able to see it.¡±


    He thanked Ess and led the kids back to the office. He rummaged around in the desk for a moment, before handing each of them a small ball of some smooth, peach-colored material. ¡°Grab it and think about wearing it, it¡¯ll sink into your hands and then you can conjure up your Status at will. If you ever want to take it off for some reason, which you shouldn¡¯t need to, just thinking about doing that and it¡¯ll pop out.¡±


    Thomas grabbed the ball and thought about wearing it. There was a brief, comforting warmth, and then nothing. The ball was gone. ¡°How do we show the Status?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Just think about it. It¡¯ll pop up in the corner of your vision.¡±


    He did, found the window, and looked at the Titles.


    ¡°It¡¯s still not displaying.¡±


    Gramps raised an eyebrow. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not something you see every day. To be honest, you shouldn¡¯t have a Title to begin with, let alone one strong enough to foil top of the line hardware.¡±


    All of a sudden, the display fuzzed. The Status went away, leaving an empty window, save for the Title. The lettering suddenly rearranged, becoming legible, and a message began to write itself below.


    Fortune¡¯s Favored:


    The goddess of Fortune has blessed you.


    Hey there, kid. You really caught my attention with what just happened. You not only got the worst possible set of growths, your friend got the best. I¡¯ll be honest, I had been watching the two of you anyway, given how closely tied you are to the relationship of Mael and the other planes, and I¡¯ve found I like the cut of your jib, so I¡¯ve gone ahead and given you my strongest blessing. To make a long story short, your luck isn¡¯t 0. Or, well, it is, but that¡¯s only because that stat¡¯s completely irrelevant to you now. You¡¯re getting the best outcome possible whenever something luck based comes up.


    Impress me, and I¡¯ll give you some more blessings. Now that I¡¯ve interfered the other gods will be watching the two of you as well, so they might give you something too if they feel like it. Anyway, this one¡¯s got no strings attached. You just get to keep it even if you don¡¯t impress me. Call it my repayment for the crappy hand the universe dealt you. And no, those growths weren¡¯t my doing.


    By the way, feel free to tell those other two about this, but otherwise keep it on the downlow, alright?


    -Fortune


    ¡°Something happen?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°That¡¯s quite the face you¡¯re making.¡±


    Thomas relayed the contents of the message to them both, prompting a whistle from Gramps.


    ¡°That¡¯s fantastic.¡± He said. ¡°Blessings from the gods aren¡¯t particularly common in the first place, and their strongest ones are incredibly rare. It might just make up for your awful stats. Anyway, let me show you to my personal warehouse. We¡¯re going to get you kitted up and then tackle your first dungeon!¡±


    Fighterman481


    Ellie was a huge prodigy, and Thomas...wasn''t. Then, other stuff happens that we''ll get into later, when it''s actually happened (next chapter, maybe next two chapters depending). There are a couple of worldbuilding elements that I like quite a bit, but they''re not here yet so...


    Anyway, the freelancers. I needed there to be an adventurer''s guild, but didn''t quite want to make it that cliche without a reason. I feel like this is a good compromise, and also feel like the reasoning behind it is sound. I had a lot of fun writing the staff, too. Especially Graham. I like Graham. Something about the gap in what a minotaur stereotypically is portrayed and how Graham acts.


    Thomas'' blessing is like...version 2.0 of what it originally was. Originally, it was that Thomas was amazing at timing. Like, supernaturally amazing to the point where he was able to get good results out of RNG in games without any visible indicators. I ended up reworking it into this, which I feel is both more and less broken, just in different areas, while working at the same broad things I need it to work for.


    Anyway, that''s all I have to say so, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 2: Dungeon Diving

    Gramps¡¯ personal warehouse was a large, crowded building a short walk from the guild. It wasn¡¯t cluttered, just¡­full. There was stuff everywhere, arranged into neat rows of shelves, boxes, stands, and other containers. Gramps led them through the stuff, walking with purpose towards what appeared to be a row of armor stands in the back. Once he got there, he led them down the row until he reached two stands with a bin next to each. One set of stand and bin was labeled as ¡°Thomas¡±, and the other as ¡°Ellie.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead and grab your stuff.¡± Gramps told them, ¡°This is the best you can equip without any prerequisites, at least for leather armor and quarterstaffs. I picked those because they were the easiest to use with the minimal training you have. The gloves and boots will boost the power of the martial arts I taught you, but use those as a last resort, at least until you¡¯ve had more real practice. Just use the staffs to hit things at a distance, and if they get close, then you can use your fists.¡±


    As they suited up, Gramps began to tell them the particulars of the gear. ¡°The gloves and boots are each a 10% boost to your unarmed attacks, the armor gives 10 extra Defense and Magic Defense, as well as 10% resistance to elemental damage. The quarterstaffs just add 10 to your Power. That all should keep you pretty safe from basically anything we¡¯re going to encounter in the first dungeon, but I¡¯ve got antidote potions and healing potions in that little satchel in each of your bins. It¡¯s extradimensional, so just reach in and think of what you want, and you¡¯ll be able to take it out.


    ¡°Once you hit level 5, you¡¯ll be able to use the addon to your bands that will let you identify items, so let me know once you get there and I¡¯ll give that to you.¡± He looked over the two, then nodded. ¡°It looks like you¡¯re all suited up, so let¡¯s get this show on the road!¡±


    Gramps led them out of the warehouse and down what Thomas assumed was the main street. People would, on occasion, stop to say hello to Gramps, and he would usually respond by returning the greeting and having a short, friendly conversation before excusing himself and the kids. Eventually, Gramps stopped in front of what was, in essence, a stereotypical wizard¡¯s tower. It was tall and crooked, with small offshoots at seemingly random intervals.


    And, strangest of all, it had a mailbox out front. No¡­not a mailbox, whatever those locker things were that apartment complexes had. Thomas didn¡¯t know the name, as he had never lived anywhere that even had an apartment complex and hadn¡¯t bothered to learn such a small detail.


    ¡°Um,¡± Ellie said, ¡°Is this the dungeon? Why is there a mailbox?¡±


    Gramps smirked. ¡°Sure is. Each floor of a dungeon has a safe area to start with, and for whatever reason safe areas usually have some form of housing built in, complete with bedrooms, running water, electricity, and even internet access. They never used to have any of those last things, not until they started to become common, but now they do, and it baffles absolutely everyone. So, the guild rents those safe spaces out. It¡¯s pretty handy to live next to a potential source of income, so rooms in dungeons are pretty popular, especially in a city like this.¡±


    There was a line in front of the entrance, but Gramps just walked right to the front. There were two guards there, one of which was handling the line, and Gramps called out to the other. ¡°Elias, can I have a moment of your time?¡±


    The guard bolted upright and scurried over. He was, if Thomas was any judge, a dwarf, but Thomas didn¡¯t know what shorter races there were, so he didn¡¯t want to definitively pin down the species in his mind.


    ¡°Ah, Guildmaster, what¡¯re you here for? Inspection¡¯s not for another week¡­right?¡± Elias asked, peering curiously at Thomas and Ellie. ¡°And who are those two?¡±


    Gramps smiled. ¡°You¡¯re right, inspection¡¯s not for another week. These two are my cute little grandkids, and I¡¯m here to bring them on their first dungeon dive. I don¡¯t have the time to spend all day waiting in lines, so I figured I¡¯d just pop on in through the resident¡¯s line. Oh, and I¡¯m still working on getting their paperwork filled, but I can personally vouch for their trustworthiness, so do you think you could let us in?¡±


    Elias rolled his eyes. ¡°You know you don¡¯t have to ask, Guildmaster. Have fun, kids!¡±


    Before either Thomas or Ellie could reply, Gramps towed them through the large door that was propped open. All of a sudden, the atmosphere changed completely; the slight mugginess that had pervaded the air outside had vanished, and the temperature went from warm to perfect, like the place was air conditioned.


    The sound dimmed noticeably as well, and when Thomas looked back, there was nothing but a featureless wall behind them. The room they were in was bigger than the tower had appeared to be from the outside and had significantly less people to boot. There was a hall to the side that was labelled ¡°residents¡±, a large, ornate crystal in the middle of the room, and a couple of wooden stalls where merchants were hawking wares. Directly opposite the resident¡¯s hall, there was a door labelled ¡°Floor one¡±, and aside from that, the space was empty.


    Gramps hopped down from the raised circle they were on and led them towards the crystal. ¡°Each floor has a teleport pad on it. Stand on it and think about the floor you want to go to, and it¡¯ll take you there. You can¡¯t actually enter the dungeon on floors if you haven¡¯t cleared the previous floor, but you can go to the lobby if you want. The pads let you exit the dungeon too, so get used to using them. Don¡¯t worry if someone else is on the pad, it¡¯ll just teleport you, so don¡¯t think you have to stand in line or anything.¡± He reached the crystal and put his hands on it. ¡°Except if you use this. This here is a Party Crystal, which you can use to form a Party. Go ahead and put your hands on it, you¡¯ll understand how to use it.¡±


    Once Thomas did, he found he was vaguely aware of everyone else currently touching the crystal, and he knew that he could invite them to form a Party. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure what a Party entailed, but before he could think about it much, Gramps invited him, and he accepted.


    Gramps took his hands off the crystal. ¡°Parties can use the teleporter together, but they can¡¯t teleport further than the person who¡¯s gone the least in the dungeon. There¡¯s also experience and drop sharing, but the most important feature of a Party is that it lets you use the same instance of a dungeon as other people in your party. Every Party has their copy of the floor, which resets once all party members have left the floor. If someone dies on the floor, their corpse is ejected when everyone¡¯s left, and then they can be taken back to the local revival station to get resurrected. It¡¯s not cheap, nor is it pleasant, so try not to die, alright?¡±


    When he noticed their unsure expressions, he gave them each a pat on the arm. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it too much. I¡¯m going to be signing you two up for the guild¡¯s premium insurance, so don¡¯t even think about the payment, I¡¯ll take care of it.¡±


    And with that, he towed them through the door to the first floor. It opened into a circular room, the edges of which were recessed and filled with water. There was a walkway to a large circular area in the middle, upon which rested a round green blob that could only be a slime.


    ¡°Ah, pattern D.¡± Gramps mused. ¡°Dungeons have a few variations for each floor, the number of which is dependent upon the dungeon itself. In the early ones like this there are only a few variations, but big ones have a lot. Still there are some commonalities between patterns, so the guild gives out info pamphlets to help people out. Since I know this dungeon like the back of my hand, that wasn¡¯t necessary today, but I¡¯ll show you where to get that info when we get back. Anyway, that slime isn¡¯t going to attack until one of us sets foot on that center pillar, so one of you two go fight it. With the gear you have it isn¡¯t even worth being called a threat, so for practice you two should take turns with the slimes we see.¡±


    ¡°Dibs!¡± Ellie called, running forward to the pillar. She took out her quarterstaff and brought it down hard on the slime, which instantly burst apart. A moment later, the remnants of the slime turned into this sort of oily rainbow vapor and vanished, leaving behind what appeared to be a small pile of coins and an orb of some sort.


    ¡°Good job.¡± Gramps said, ¡°Pick up your loot and put it in the other satchel I gave you, we can sell it once we get back to the guild.¡±


    Ellie reached down, her hand passing directly through the orb as she grabbed something. She pulled her hand up to reveal a small coin of the type that the pile was made of, which she put into the satchel.


    ¡°That all?¡± She asked, looking over the room. ¡°That¡¯s kind of underwhelming.¡±


    ¡°Slimes don¡¯t drop anything good.¡± Gramps said, shrugging. ¡°What¡¯d you get, Thomas?¡±


    Thomas walked forward to the pile, bending down and counting the coins. ¡°Looks like 10 of those coins and a little orb thing.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Ellie yelled, ¡°You didn¡¯t even do anything! Not fair!¡±


    Gramps nodded sagely. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if your blessing would affect drops, but it appears that it does. Usually, people get way less or don¡¯t even get drops if they don¡¯t contribute much to a monster kill, maybe a couple of coins if they have high Luck, but what you got is about as valuable as drops from regular slimes get. That little orb is a core, which is used in magic, and those tend to sell nicely. Slimes also drop a couple of pieces of equipment, but they¡¯re bad and only have really niche uses in alchemy, so they¡¯re much cheaper than the core. Given that this variant of slime is known to only ever drop one thing at a time, coins excluded, that really is the best outcome for you. Next kill, try and aim for a piece of equipment, see if you can change what you get at will.¡±


    Thomas nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that makes sense.¡± Ellie said, calmer now, ¡°Looks like you can just be my good luck charm, eh? I can run around and do the killing and you make us a killing!¡± She elbowed him gently, then walked over to Gramps, who had moved to the other end of the room.


    ¡°Wait, I still have to put everything away!¡± Thomas said, grabbing all the stuff. ¡°Is there a faster way to do this?¡±


    ¡°Not until level 15.¡± Gramps said, ¡°Then you can use the autocollect feature of the bags. It¡­usually isn¡¯t a problem, but I suppose you in particular will have some more trouble. Come here when you¡¯re done, the slime in the next room is all yours.¡±


    Once the drops were collected, Thomas ran over, and they went through the door at the far end of the room. The next room was a simple square room, with no distinguishing features save for the slime in the middle.


    Thomas gripped his quarterstaff and strode forward, heart pounding slightly. He was only 5 Strength lower than Ellie when she had fought her slime, and she took it out in a single blow, so it shouldn¡¯t be too hard¡­right?


    He struck out with all his power, squarely hitting the slime.


    Unlike with Ellie, it didn¡¯t blow apart, but all the same it melted in place and turned into that same rainbow haze that Ellie¡¯s had burst into. This time, however, it left behind a pile of coins and¡­a shirt that was dripping with green slime.


    ¡°Is a green slimy shirt one of those pieces of equipment you were talking about?¡±


    Gramps nodded. ¡°The most valuable one of the lot. It¡¯s generally sold for about 5 copper, so honestly, it¡¯s probably not even worth handling for you. You¡¯ll just make your hands sticky and that¡¯s quickly going to become chump change for you, so I wouldn¡¯t bother. How much experience did you get?¡±


    ¡°13. Is that good?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the most those slimes give. These ones have been documented as giving 4 to 13, so it looks like your blessing probably works for experience too. I should note that, unlike drops, you are completely unable to earn experience if you don¡¯t somehow assist in the kill, but that¡¯s pretty easily dealt with if you know what you¡¯re doing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask,¡± Thomas said while picking up the coins, ¡°how does experience scale?¡±


    ¡°Complicated.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°There are no diminishing returns when killing things lower leveled than you, and no greater returns when killing a higher leveled opponent, but when you level up your experience is reset, and you need more to get to the next level.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound too complicated.¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not. The complicated part is how much more you¡¯re going to need. It¡¯s not a percentage increase or anything, it just goes up to a certain amount. Getting to level three takes one hundred and ten, four takes another one hundred and ten, five takes one hundred twenty-five¡­you get the point. There¡¯s a table back at the guild of how much it takes to get to a certain level, up to one hundred and thirty-seven. That¡¯s the highest we have the value for, but we¡¯re pretty sure there¡¯s no hard cap to level. If you ask me, don¡¯t bother looking at the table unless you¡¯re curious or you need to hit a level by a deadline or something and you need to plan. Alright, Ellie, you¡¯re up next.¡±


    The rest of the floor went pretty much the same way. Walk into the room, hit the slime once, grab the loot (which Thomas was keeping to cores), move on. They went through two more rooms like that, before suddenly finding themselves in another safe area, which looked nearly identical to the first.


    ¡°Not bad you two.¡± Gramps said. ¡°This dungeon has 5 floors, with the fifth being just a boss. In this dungeon, each floor is nearly identical and will just give you one more slime than the last floor in each encounter, so you¡¯ll be able to share from here on out. You two should be able to handle that no sweat, so I¡¯m going to meet you on the next floor.¡±


    He teleported away, and Thomas looked to Ellie. ¡°I suppose we should get started then.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll take no time!¡± She said exuberantly, ¡°Heck, we¡¯ll probably take more time picking up your loot than we will killing slimes. Let¡¯s go!¡±


    True to Gramps¡¯ words, the second floor was just about the same as the first but with one more slime, and they sped through it without issue. The most notable thing they discovered was that, apparently, distracting a creature¡¯s ally counted as ¡°helping¡± defeat it, as Thomas was able to gain EXP from the slimes Ellie defeated, and Ellie got normal drops and EXP from the ones Thomas defeated.


    And, it was in the last room that Thomas heard a ¡®ding¡¯ when he killed a slime. Once the room was clear, he checked his Status and then turned to Ellie. ¡°Looks like that ding happens when we level up. I didn¡¯t get any Skills or a Class or anything, but all my abilities went up by the maximum, so I guess that¡¯s something.¡±


    ¡°Lucky.¡± Ellie grumbled. ¡°I¡¯m still thirty-three away from a level.¡±


    Once they reached the safe area of the third floor, Thomas relayed his finding to Gramps.


    ¡°I expected as much.¡± Gramps said, ¡°You won¡¯t get any Skills or Classes from levelling up, those come from other places. I¡¯ll tell you more about them when we finish the dungeon. I¡¯ll meet you on the next floor!¡±


    The third floor was similarly uninteresting. Ellie leveled up, and Thomas went up to level 3, but other than that nothing really happened. Gramps checked in on them and went up to the fifth floor, and they trudged through the fourth. Ellie and Thomas both leveled again, and soon were in the safe area of the fifth floor, which was much more crowded than the previous areas.


    ¡°Ah, there you are!¡± Gramps said jovially. ¡°Ready to do this? I¡¯ll be going in with you to make sure nothing happens, but I¡¯d probably one shot the boss even without any equipment, so I¡¯m going to try and refrain from interfering unless it goes wrong. It shouldn¡¯t, though, it¡¯s a really easy boss.¡±


    ¡°Why is it so crowded?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°The boss drops better stuff, so if people are farming for money, then they¡¯ll generally farm the boss, at least in this dungeon. It varies on a dungeon-to-dungeon basis, but the general theme of boss floors being more crowded tends to hold. Now let¡¯s go, time¡¯s a wasting!¡±


    As they reached the door, Gramps stopped them before they went in. ¡°Just so you¡¯re aware, you can¡¯t proceed through the exit door in the boss room until the boss is dead. You can retreat, but some bosses will try and cut off your exit route. This boss isn¡¯t one of them, so you don¡¯t need to worry about that, but in the future remember that it¡¯s always better to leave and survive than it is to die.¡± With those words, he opened the door and walked in.


    Thomas and Ellie followed Gramps through the door and found themselves in a large circular room. It was featureless, save for the shimmering door on the other side, so their attention was immediately drawn to the enormous slime sitting in the middle of the room. Where the other slimes had reached perhaps half of the way to their knees at the largest, this slime was as tall as a person.


    ¡°This one¡¯s named Big Bertha. She¡¯s just a big slime, nothing special about her aside from that. She¡¯ll take more hits and deal more damage than a normal slime, but she¡¯s not terribly dangerous, so have at it!¡± Gramps said cheerfully.


    Ellie rushed in and gave Big Bertha a whack, the quarterstaff sinking into Big Bertha but not bursting her. In retaliation, Big Bertha rammed herself into Ellie while she was off-balance, causing her to stumble backwards.


    Thomas rushed in and took his own whack, not putting his full strength into it so he didn¡¯t end up like Ellie.


    The staff sank into Bertha slightly, but he just wrenched it out and jumped back as Bertha made another lunge.


    At this point, Ellie tugged her quarterstaff free and hit Big Bertha one more time, killing Big Bertha.


    Thomas heard the ding of a level up but paid it no heed as he looked at the drops. Big Bertha dropped a single silver-looking coin and a core a fair bit larger than the other slimes, so he put the core in his satchel and showed the coin to Gramps. ¡°I¡¯m guessing this is a silver? How many coppers to a silver, and what¡¯s higher than a silver?¡±


    ¡°One-hundred coppers to a silver, one-hundred silvers to a gold, one-hundred golds to a platinum.¡± Gramps replied, moving to the far door. ¡°Think of a copper like a cent, so a silver would be a dollar, a gold would be one-hundred dollars, and a platinum would be ten-thousand dollars.¡±


    ¡°How does the economy not crash with all this money coming in?¡± Thomas asked.


    ¡°It flows out at a pretty similar rate. Some magic, most notably resurrections, use money as part of their components, some Skills use money, some equipment¡¯s powered by money. It all balances out in the end. That¡¯s enough talk though, let¡¯s go get your real reward!¡±


    Before either of them could say anything, he opened the door and walked in, disappearing from sight. The two teens shared a shrug, then followed. The room they found themselves in was small, a large crystal not dissimilar to the Party Crystals in each of the safe areas taking up most of the space.


    ¡°The first time you clear each dungeon, you get an opportunity to use its Rewards Crystal. Touch it, and you¡¯ll get either a Class or a Skill. You can get another opportunity to use the Rewards Crystal if you clear the dungeon from start to finish a certain number of times, the exact number of which varies from dungeon to dungeon. This one you can get four more attempts at 10 clears each, so when you have some free time, I¡¯d recommend working your way towards getting those four attempts. Now, go ahead and try! The Rewards Crystal will give you a pop-up when you use it telling you what you got, so you don¡¯t even need to use your bands!¡±


    Thomas, filled with anticipation, placed a hand on the crystal.


    You have gained the Skill Underdog (Legendary)!


    Underdog (Legendary):


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    When facing an opponent that has a stat that is higher than your equivalent stat, increase that equivalent stat by 10%. For each stat beyond the first that is higher than yours, increase all your stat bonuses from Underdog (Legendary) by 10%.


    You can always find somewhere soft to bite.


    #$^@


    #$^@


    #$^@


    The goddess of Fortune has given you a blessing!


    Metal Detector:


    Automatically places coins received from monster drops in a selected container that is on your person. May be toggled off.


    Uhhhh, hey kid, it¡¯s Fortune again. I hadn¡¯t given that blessing to someone so low level before, so I kiiind of forgot about the coin issue. I swear I wasn¡¯t trying to make things monotonous for you, my b. This should tide you over until you get that autocollect thing your Gramps was talking about.


    P.S: I¡¯d appreciate it if you didn¡¯t tell the others about this if they don¡¯t ask. Kind of ruins my image, don¡¯t you think?


    P.P.S: No, you knowing doesn¡¯t count as ruining my image. You got the blessing, so we¡¯re in this together, got it?


    -Fortune


    Right, so the goddess of Fortune was kind of scatterbrained. Good to know.


    ¡°What¡¯d you get?¡± He asked, turning to Ellie.


    ¡°Swordswoman Class!¡± She said. ¡°You?¡±


    ¡°The Legendary variety of the Underdog Skill.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s perfect for you.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Not that I¡¯m surprised at this point. As for you, Ellie, a Class is great. Swordsman is pretty average, but it¡¯s a Class. Let¡¯s head back to the guild and I¡¯ll tell you more about Classes, OK? Just leave the room the way you came in and you¡¯ll be back in the safe area.¡±


    So, having performed Thomas and Ellie¡¯s first successful dungeon crawl, the party made their way back to the guild.


    Fighterman481


    Also, a fair amount of exposition in these first few chapters, that too.

 Chapter 3: The Rumors

    When they got back to the guild, it was much emptier. Gramps had them line up in Graham¡¯s queue, which was only a couple of people long. A few minutes later, they were at the front, and Thomas and Ellie looked towards Gramps, who shooed them onwards.


    ¡°Um, we¡¯re¡­selling monster materials?¡± Ellie hazarded, looking at Graham.


    Graham caught Gramps¡¯ eye, seemed to reach some sort of understanding, then began to speak. ¡°Sure thing. Are they in a magic bag or do you have them on your person?¡±


    ¡°Bag.¡± Ellie replied.


    ¡°Would you like to sell everything in the bag or just some of it?¡±


    Ellie looked back at Gramps, who shrugged.


    ¡°Everything, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Excellent.¡± Graham replied, taking out a scale-like instrument from below the counter. ¡°If you would go ahead and place the bag on here, I can confirm the contents.¡± Ellie and then Thomas placed their bags on the scale, while Graham typed something up in a computer on the side of the counter.


    ¡°Looks like the missus¡¯s bag¡¯s worth is about¡­1.21 silver, not including the coins already present. The young man¡¯s is¡­¡± He paused, then had Thomas put his bag back on the scale. ¡°Wow, I¡¯ve never seen someone come back that fast with that many cores. That¡¯s an even 50 silver for you.¡±


    He typed in a few more things, then turned back to the two. ¡°With the size of the contents in your bags, we could just empty them here and transfer the worth of the contents to your bank if you would like.¡±


    ¡°Bank?¡± Thomas asked.


    ¡°The guild acts as a bank for freelancers, it helps keep them from needing to carry large amounts of currency everywhere. It¡¯s totally safe, you even get a nifty magic-based credit card.¡± Gramps said, ¡°It¡¯s your choice, though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the bank option.¡± Thomas said.


    ¡°Then I will too!¡± Ellie added.


    ¡°Go ahead and empty the bags, but don¡¯t bother trying to transfer anything.¡± Gramps instructed. ¡°I haven¡¯t officially set up their licenses yet, so you won¡¯t be able to. I¡¯ll just transfer the money to them once I finish.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Graham said. ¡°Your bags, then?¡±


    The two obediently handed their bags over, and Graham walked over to the back of the counter area, where he unloaded the bags into a large trolley. He then walked back and handed the bags back to them.


    ¡°Thanks, Graham.¡± Thomas said.


    ¡°Just doing my job.¡± He replied. ¡°Now, is there anything else I can do for you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be all.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Excellent work as always, Graham.¡± With that, Gramps grabbed the teenagers and once again dragged them off, heading back towards his office.


    Once they were inside, Gramps had them sit again, and began to talk. ¡°So, Classes.¡± He began, ¡°Are a little different. You can have as many Classes as you can get, but only one can be active at a time. They level up just like you do, but instead of boosting your stats, they help your Skills. At certain levels they¡¯ll give you a new Skill, and they also boost the growth of Skills that have levels. A Skill has to fall within the general umbrella of a Class to benefit from this, and the bonus is a percentage increase equal to the level of the Class.


    ¡°In addition, some Classes will give side bonuses, or are prerequisites for using certain Skills or equipment, so make sure you look over each Class you get. If you want to change your Class, you can do so at any Party Crystal or use a Class Crystal. Class Crystals are basically just Party Crystals that only change your Class, but they can be brought outside of dungeons, so they¡¯re pretty handy. Most guild branches will have one lying around, and they shouldn¡¯t charge you to use it if you¡¯re a member. Usually Classes will auto-equip if you don¡¯t have one already, so Ellie shouldn¡¯t need to use a crystal right now. Your Class did equip itself, right?¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Yup!¡±


    ¡°Perfect!¡± He said, standing up and walking over to Thomas and Ellie. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ve got a party that¡¯s agreed to teach you two some real fighting, so let¡¯s go say hi and get you started on your first lesson!¡±


    He once again grabbed them and began to lead them elsewhere. Thomas was beginning to remember why outings with Gramps were always hectic; the man never seemed to run out of energy, and he was always pulling the group along at his own pace, never quite giving them time to breathe.


    As they walked, Gramps pulled out his phone and made a call. There was some short discussion, and then Gramps hung up and turned to the two. ¡°They¡¯re going to meet us at the dungeon we were just at. I¡¯ll bring you to them and then I have to make my way back and finalize your registration. They¡¯re nice people, so I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get along great!¡±


    They took another short walk to the dungeon, and Gramps once again had them skip the line. When they were inside Gramps scanned the assembled people before spotting the group he was looking for. ¡°Hey, over here!¡± He said, waving and beginning walking over.


    The group spotted him as well and the two assembled parties met up.


    ¡°Let me introduce you all.¡± Gramps said, stepping out of the way so everyone could see each other better. ¡°These fine people are the rank 9 party known as The Rumors.¡±


    ¡°Is ranking better if it¡¯s high or if it¡¯s low?¡± Thomas asked.


    ¡°High.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°You start at 1 and work your way up. 10 is generally considered the best rank possible.¡±


    ¡°Cool!¡± Ellie said, ¡°Is there a story behind that name?¡±


    ¡°If you haven¡¯t noticed, we tend to stand out. Rumors tend to spread when we¡¯re out in more rural areas, thus the name.¡± The girl on the left of the lineup said, smirking. ¡°Name¡¯s Alice, I¡¯m the tank-slash-melee person.¡±


    Alice was a short, skinny girl that would have looked like a normal human, were it not for her short green hair and strangely patterned dark brown skin, ridges and swirls running across it that Thomas found not unlike those on wood.


    ¡°The big guy is Ker.¡± Alice continued, motioning at the man in the middle of the group, a hulk of a man that must have been nearly nine feet tall. He had black hair that went down to his shoulders, and a friendly smile that was only slightly ruined by his piercing red eyes.


    ¡°That¡¯s me. I¡¯m technically the healer, but that tends to translate to general handyman. Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m Jin, the party leader.¡± Said the last person in the line-up, a man clearly belonging to one of the smaller races. He had messy brown hair and eyes, and a mischievous smile that was somehow assuring, like he had everything under control. ¡°I¡¯m the mage ¡®round these parts. We¡¯ve got it from here Mr. Los, go on back to your business.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave them in your capable hands.¡± Gramps said with a wave. He then extracted himself from the group, leaving Thomas and Ellie with The Rumors.


    ¡°If¡­you don¡¯t mind me asking, what species are all of you?¡± Thomas asked, ¡°Before this morning the two of us weren¡¯t really even aware that people other than humans existed, so you¡¯ll have to forgive our ignorance.¡±


    ¡° ¡®S all good.¡± Alice replied, ¡°I¡¯m a dryad, Ker¡¯s a goliath, and Jin¡¯s a halfling. You¡¯re Thomas, and the girl¡¯s Ellie, right?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°Cool, cool. What¡¯s the plan, Jin?¡±


    ¡°So,¡± Jin said, moving towards the center of their small group of people, ¡°We¡¯re going to party up, and then our first order of business is to blitz you two through this dungeon until you have your four extra shots at the Rewards Crystal. This is a really short and easy dungeon, so let¡¯s give it, say, four hours. Sound good?¡±


    It was a disheartening four hours for Thomas. His mentors swiftly dealt with everything in the first four floors and left him and Ellie to deal with Big Bertha, saying that she was the only thing in the place that gave any worthwhile drops, experience, and practice. Thomas didn¡¯t even get to pick up his loot on the main floors; they just rushed on through.


    His attempts at the Rewards Crystal were similarly disheartening. Where Ellie got cool things like the Light Magic (Basic) Skill, he only got Skills that increased his resistance to status effects, namely Poison, Paralysis, Freeze, and Petrification.


    And what was worse, he was rapidly eclipsed in his performance against Bertha. Ellie just¡­did everything better. She dealt more damage, dodged Bertha¡¯s blows easier, took less if she did get hit, and all-around made him look useless. So, he was in a rather somber mood as he and Ellie accompanied The Rumors back to the guild.


    In sharp contrast, Ellie was in high spirits, playing with a dancing globe of light on her palm. ¡°Did you see that last fight, Thomas?!¡± She said, grinning, ¡°Just wham, and Bertha was dead! Didn¡¯t even break a sweat!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s cool and all,¡± Alice said, ¡°But it¡¯s generally considered bad manners to one-shot the boss like that. It denies the rest of the party loot and EXP. You¡¯re lucky you made that mistake while in training, because a stunt like that can harm your reputation and make it harder to get into parties.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Sorry.¡±


    ¡°I get it, it¡¯s exciting to get that strong, we were all like that at some point. I¡¯m just letting you know.¡±


    Jin cleared his throat. ¡°Right, right. Now that that¡¯s out of the way, we can start tailoring your training to your abilities. We¡¯ll show you the guild¡¯s training area, and we¡¯ll lend Ellie a practice sword now that she¡¯s got some sword Skills.¡±


    Ker opted not to say anything, instead just looking at Thomas thoughtfully.


    The walk was only about a minute more, and once there The Rumors lead the group through the main hallways. Unlike the employee hallways, they regularly passed people or had to squeeze through traffic jams to get to where they were going. Eventually, they emerged into a large courtyard, filled with training dummies and various people hitting the dummies, sparring with each other, and otherwise¡­training.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go find you a sword.¡± Jin said, motioning for Ellie to follow. ¡°Alice, you know the most about this stuff, come help. Ker, you can get started with Thomas.¡±


    ¡°Got it!¡± Ellie said, following Jin off to the side of the room.


    ¡°Hey, kid, you doin¡¯ alright?¡± Ker asked, squatting down so he was at eye level with Thomas, ¡°I noticed you weren¡¯t exactly¡­full of life. Don¡¯t try and compare yourself to Ellie, she¡¯s a prodigy and a half.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Thomas hesitated, not sure what to say. ¡°Did you get the rundown on our stats?¡±


    Ker shook his head. ¡°No. I can tell Ellie¡¯s got really good Power, Defense, and Agility, but that¡¯s about it. What¡¯s your point?¡±


    ¡°I have all ones and one two for each of my growths.¡± Thomas replied bitterly. ¡°It¡¯s not about comparing myself to her, it¡¯s about comparing myself to anyone. It¡¯s like¡­I¡¯m starting to wonder if I should even bother at this point. My new Skills are underwhelming, and I don¡¯t even have a Class, so I can¡¯t get more Skills without going through another dungeon, which I¡¯m sure are all going to be more difficult than that one, and if this trend continues then I¡¯m not going to be able to do anything but slow Ellie down.¡±


    Ker sighed. ¡°Yikes, that¡¯s rough. Well, you don¡¯t have to work at her pace. You can make a living just fine in some intermediate level dungeons. I won¡¯t sugarcoat things, you¡¯re probably not going to be able to go any further unless you get some crazy Skill or something, but, given some training, you can do just fine for yourself like that.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­what¡¯s the point? If I¡¯m not able to get to the really lucrative stuff, why shouldn¡¯t I just go make a safe living on Mael?¡±


    Ker shrugged. ¡°Personally, I¡¯d say do it, because it¡¯s more exciting and you get to do some real good helping people, but that¡¯s your choice to make, not mine.¡± He said, then put a hand on Thomas¡¯ shoulder, ¡°I think it¡¯d be counterproductive for you to do anything more today. Go ahead and head back to your house and take a rest, think it through. I¡¯m not going to judge you, whatever you decide. It¡¯s a personal choice.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Ker.¡± Thomas said, then walked off, heading back towards Gramps¡¯ office. It had been a bit of a fun day, but even with the goddess of Fortune¡¯s blessing, things just weren¡¯t shaking out. The best he could really do on a team was just leech off their kills and provide them with increased income.


    So, he wandered, lost in thought. Eventually, he found the door to Gramps¡¯ office, and knocked.


    ¡°Come in!¡±


    Thomas entered the room, and Gramps frowned. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You hurt somewhere?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡­I just realized that I¡¯m not cut out for this. The new Skills I got were all status resistance Skills, so if those were the best possible Skills for me, then that can only mean I¡¯m meant to sit on the sidelines and provide better drops for people. I don¡¯t see the point in that when I can just go back to Mael, win the lottery, and live comfortably for the rest of my life.¡±


    Gramps furled his brow. ¡°What resistances?¡±


    ¡°Does it matter?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Which ones?¡±


    ¡°Poison, Paralysis, Freeze, and Petrification. 10% increased resistance to each.¡±


    Gramps¡¯ frown deepened. He stood up, and the atmosphere¡­changed. He began to chant a magic incantation, and a tense, charged feeling filled the air. Then, a moment later, there was a snap, and a light tingling assaulted Thomas.


    ¡°What was that for?!¡± Thomas yelled.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you quite get how status effects work.¡± Gramps said, dusting himself off and walking over to Thomas, ¡°Each attack that inflicts a status effect is a chance to activate. That chance almost never goes above 100 percent, and your resistance decreases that by however much resistance you have. I just hit you with a recursive 100% paralysis spell, which would keep casting until the mana I used ran out, and I put in enough for 15 casts. Seeing as how you¡¯re totally fine, I¡¯d say that your blessing works just fine on status effects. Combined with your blessing, those ¡°resistances¡± are closer to flat out immunity than they are a typical resistance.¡±


    Thomas frowned. ¡°My point still stands. I don¡¯t see the benefit of having near complete immunity to statuses if I can¡¯t deal with the thing inflicting them.¡±


    Gramps grabbed Thomas¡¯ hand gently. ¡°That¡¯s because you don¡¯t have all the information right now. The important thing is that those resistances weren¡¯t random. Not in the sense that they¡¯re the most useful resistances, because they¡¯re not, but because there¡¯s a specific use for that specific set of four resistances. You can go home if you want, but first you have to come with me for one last outing.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    Gramps waved at the wall. ¡°No buts. You don¡¯t even know how to make the door appear, so there¡¯s no getting out of this.¡±


    Thomas sighed, but let himself be towed away once more.


    Thomas looked around the circular chamber that the first room he¡¯d ever seen in the dungeon. ¡°Why are we here, Gramps? I¡¯ve already used all my attempts at the Rewards Crystal, and it¡¯d be more efficient to farm Big Bertha if we wanted money.¡±


    Gramps shook his head. ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. Sometimes, when you¡¯re exploring a dungeon, you¡¯ll find a secret room that¡¯s not always there. These secret rooms have what we call a Challenge, a, well, challenge that¡¯s more difficult that what you would normally find in the dungeon. If you succeed, you get a shot at a Rewards Crystal that offers different rewards than the dungeon¡¯s other Reward Crystals. You get to use each Challenge¡¯s Rewards Crystal once, and it just so happens that this room has the possibility to contain the entrance to a Challenge.¡±


    Gramps reached into a satchel and grabbed a stone, which he threw at the wall. It hit a brick that looked slightly¡­off. The brick indented, and the wall fell forward, creating a path across the water, ending at a door set slightly into the wall.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t show you this before for two reasons. The first is that the Challenge would have been more than the two of you were ready to handle. It¡¯s a group of slimes that, while not physically tougher than regular slimes, have high chances to Poison, Paralyze, Freeze, or Petrify you, and that effect applies if you hit them with anything. The second is that it¡¯s basically pointless. There hasn¡¯t been a single recorded case of someone getting anything from it. But, if it¡¯s you¡­¡±


    He let the sentence hang, and Thomas nodded.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡± Gramps said, ¡°This should be a piece of cake for you. They¡¯ll basically just be regular slimes.¡±


    And so, they entered the room, which contained four oddly-colored slimes. A marbled green and purple one, a yellow one, a blue one, and a grey one. And, true to Gramps¡¯ word, Thomas didn¡¯t have any trouble killing them. The uncreatively named ¡°Poison Slime¡±, ¡°Paralysis Slime¡±, ¡°Freeze Slime¡±, and ¡°Petrification Slime¡± each gave 50 EXP to Thomas (which was not quite enough to level at this point), and they were soon in the next room.


    It looked identical to the other Rewards Crystal room, so Thomas went ahead and planted his hand on the crystal.


    You have gained the Class Monster Breeder!


    Monster Breeder will cause permanent physical alterations (to allow you to use Class Skills) if you equip it. Would you like to equip it?


    Yes/No


    ¡°Well?¡± Gramps asked.


    ¡°I got the Monster Breeder Class. It¡­isn¡¯t equipping itself. It says that it will cause permanent physical alterations if I equip it, and it¡¯s asking me if I want to. Should I?¡±


    Gramps frowned. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­never heard of Monster Breeder. There are a few Classes that are known to cause physical alterations, and it¡¯s never been something that affects someone¡¯s daily life outside of social ramifications and adjusting to them, but they can be rather noticeable. As a tradeoff, those Classes are, generally, more powerful than other Classes. But, with a completely unknown Class like this, it¡¯s going to be up to you if you want to take it.¡±


    Thomas thought about that for a minute. ¡°How much stronger?¡±


    ¡°Quite a bit stronger. And, with a Class that you have this low of a chance to obtain, my money is on it being one of the better ones out there.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it, then.¡±


    ¡°Not here, thou¨C¡± Gramps warning came too late; Thomas had already hit yes and, moments later, Thomas lost consciousness.


    Fighterman481


    Anyway, The Rumors are cool, I like them. I struggled for what to call them for a while, and eventually decided on this. Also, this is about the extent of Gramps'' coddling. Their gear is only going to last them for a few more levels, and he figured he might as well get them great teachers if he couldn''t do it all personally. Oh, and insurance because he could get a really good deal for them.


    This also brings us to the end of the dream that was my inspiration for this series, namely Gramps taking Thomas back to the dungeon, showing him a secret room in attempts to reignite that spark of adventurousness he had.


    Also (to be read in monotone):


    I wonder what Thomas'' physical alterations could possibly be. I suppose it will remain an enigma.


    Jokes aside, you''ll understand why it''s necessary once I start showcasing the Skills. This should be about all for the "setup" chapters, so next time we''ll be "really" getting into things, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 4: Consequences

    Thomas groaned, stirring. He looked around curiously and found himself lying in a bed in an unfamiliar room.


    What was the last thing that had happened¡­?


    Right, he had just picked up the Monster Breeder Class, and Gramps had been saying something about not picking it right away. Whoops.


    ¡°Wazzat?!¡± Ellie blurted out, lurching forward. She had, apparently, been sleeping in a chair beside Thomas¡¯ bed, and was blearily rubbing her eyes. ¡°Thomas?¡± She began hopefully, then froze, staring at Thomas. ¡°Who¡­are you?¡±


    Thomas rolled onto his side, so he was facing her, and glared. ¡°Really? I can¡¯t exactly see myself, but surely my makeover wasn¡¯t extreme enough for you to not recognize¡­me.¡± He frowned. That¡­was not his voice. Not how he remembered it, anyway. It was higher and airier, and he would almost describe it as musical.


    ¡°Ellie, what do I look like?¡±


    ¡°But, you¡­¡± She blinked, then realization dawned. ¡°You¡¯re¡­Thomas?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Thomas!¡± He hissed. ¡°Who else would I be?!¡±


    ¡°Um, uh, I don¡¯t, um,¡± Ellie was blushing furiously, refusing to meet Thomas¡¯ eyes. ¡°Let me get Grandpa, he¡¯ll know what to do.¡± She stood up, dashing out of the room and leaving Thomas alone.


    He was afraid to look himself over. Aside from a weight on his chest and the sensation of all his clothes being loose he felt normal, but he was sure that was the transformation¡¯s doing. He¡­had some suspicions, but he really didn¡¯t want to check to be sure.


    Fortunately, he was saved by Gramps walking through the open door and coming into the room, tailed by Ellie, who was hiding behind Gramps and peeking out at Thomas.


    Gramps took one look at Thomas then sighed, reaching into his bag and somehow pulling out a full-length mirror, which he set on the floor.


    Thomas rolled to face the other direction before he could see anything, closing his eyes. ¡°Is it bad? Tell me it¡¯s not awful.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not bad, just¡­surprising.¡± Gramps said, walking over to Thomas. He laid a hand on Thomas¡¯ shoulder and then, instead of moving to further comfort him, grabbed him and planted him square in front of the mirror. ¡°Open your eyes, there¡¯s no use hiding from it.¡± Gramps said kindly. ¡°You¡¯re stuck like this, so you better face the facts.¡±


    He slowly opened his eyes and recoiled. Standing in the mirror in front of him was an unreasonably beautiful girl just barely taller than Gramps. Her long, blond hair cascaded down her shoulders and down to her back, looking as if it had been carefully straightened, and her body showed no marks whatsoever.


    And, as much as he hated to say it, her figure was good, too. It was hard to accurately gauge anything due to the extremely oversized shirt she was wearing (anything below the waist having fallen into a pile around her feet), but it looked as if she wasn¡¯t exactly lacking in the curves department.


    And, unfortunately, Thomas was forced to admit that it was him in the mirror. ¡°Um¡­¡± She began, ¡°There¡¯s¡­not an undo option, is there?¡±


    Gramps shook his head. ¡°Not an easy one, I¡¯m afraid. Did the Class give you any Skills?¡±


    Thomas quickly checked her Status. ¡°Four.¡±


    Gramps winced. ¡°That¡¯s going to make things very difficult, if you want back to your old self. You¡¯ve got to first find something that will get rid of your Class, and then find four Skill removers, and all of those are on the level of national treasures, especially the Skill removers.¡±


    Thomas wilted, dropping down to the floor. ¡°I¡¯m¡­never going to be able to go back to Mael.¡± She said, tears springing to her eyes, ¡°No one would ever believe I had a spontaneous sex change; I don¡¯t have any paperwork¡­it¡¯s over. I won¡¯t be able to see my friends again; I¡¯ll be stuck here as someone who can¡¯t even measure up to basic standards.¡±


    Gramps scratched his cheek awkwardly. ¡°Well¡­you kind of signed up for that when you allowed yourself to change. Don¡¯t worry, though, I can take care of that. Mael doesn¡¯t know about magic, so some quick memory and record alteration will be a snap. I already got someone on standby while we were waiting for you to wake up, so don¡¯t sweat it.¡±


    Ellie nervously walked over, crouching down so she was at eye level with Thomas. ¡°Well, um, are any of those Skills good?¡±


    Thomas once again brought up her Status and took a full look at the Skills she had received.


    Encode Ability:


    Rarity: Phantasmal


    Type: Passive


    Description: You can absorb a monster¡¯s core into yourself. For every Skill or outstanding physical ability the monster originally possessed, you have a chance to gain a degraded version. This chance decreases for higher rarity Skills. Skills gained this way are permanent and are not removed if the core is removed. You can have a maximum number of cores absorbed equal to your Monster Breeder level. Absorbing a core while at maximum capacity will prompt you to eject a core. Ejected cores are returned to the surrounding mana, and cores may be ejected at any time.


    Slots used: 0/1


    You are what you eat.


    Core Surgery:


    Rarity: Phantasmal


    Type: Passive


    Description: You may take a physical attribute or a Skill from a core you have absorbed and put it into a ¡°database¡± of Attributes. You may take on any of these Attributes or use the original version of the Skill while the attribute or Skill is in your database. Taking on an Attribute in this manner can be reversed at any time and will automatically reversed if you apply the Attribute to a core. Attributes or Skills you have stored may be applied to any core currently in your core bank and disappear once used. When applying Attributes or Skills to a core, the Attributes or Skills applied may not cause the strength of the core to increase greatly beyond the core¡¯s original strength. Every Monster Breeder level will allow you to increase the power of the core further beyond the original strength. The size of your database is equal to your Monster Breeder level. Additionally, provides an interface for all applicable Monster Breeder Skills.


    Slots used: 0/1


    They¡¯ve activated your trap Skill.


    Create Monster:


    Rarity: Phantasmal


    Type: Passive


    Description: You may use up a core in your possession, turning it into an unswervingly loyal servant. When this is done, the core is physically ejected and used to create a monster. Monsters created this way can be turned back into their core at any time and retain memory if the core is absorbed and remade into a monster. Every 10th level of Monster Breeder allows you to have one additional monster created this way.


    Slots used: 0/1


    They¡¯re not undead. I promise. Unless you use a core that has the undead Attribute. Then they¡¯re undead.


    Target of Affection:


    Rarity: Phantasmal


    Type: Passive


    Description: Monsters are more docile towards you and less likely to target you. Most monsters will completely ignore you if you do not interact with them, and if you are damaging them while other people are damaging them, they will always target the others first. Unusually aggressive monsters may target you without provocation, and intelligent monsters may be able to resist the effect. Additionally, your body strives to maintain what you see as ¡°peak¡± beauty, your skin is always pleasant to the touch, feeling cold to those that want to cool down, and warm to those that want to warm up. Furthermore, you are coated in an aroma that, to others, will register as their favorite smell, and your voice has been made to sound as pleasing as possible.


    Rule 1: Be attractive. Rule 2: Don¡¯t be unattractive.


    ¡°Umm¡­what are all the Rarities, Gramps?¡± Thomas asked cautiously.


    ¡°In ascending order of rarity, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythical.¡±


    Thomas gave him a confused look. ¡°What¡¯s Phantasmal, then?¡±


    Gramps froze. ¡°You got a Phantasmal Skill?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re¡­all Phantasmal.¡±


    Gramps sat down on the bed, holding his head. ¡°Good heavens.¡± He whispered, ¡°A single Phantasmal Skill is a find so rare that often whole generations will go by without one cropping up. It¡¯s no wonder no one ever got anything from that Rewards Crystal if this is what it¡¯s offering.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean they¡¯re good?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t always measure the power of a Skill by how rare it is, but a good rule of thumb is the rarer, the better. Phantasmal Skills are a league above any other in terms of rarity, and a further league above in terms of power. You aren¡¯t to tell anyone you have one Phantasmal Skill, let alone four. You¡¯ll immediately become one of the world¡¯s most sought-after people, regardless of your actual ability.¡± He looked away, then began muttering softly, like he always did when he was thinking something through.


    For her part, Ellie gave Thomas a huge smile. ¡°Now we¡¯re even, right? I got the stupid good growths, you got the stupid good Skills. We can be equal partners, right? So, please, don¡¯t leave. I don¡¯t want to do this if you¡¯re not there.¡±


    Thomas shakily smiled back. ¡°Sure, Ellie. As long as you don¡¯t mind me, you know¡­looking like this.¡±


    ¡°Of course I don¡¯t mind.¡± Ellie replied, giving Thomas a hug, ¡°You know I never cared about looks, I won¡¯t get jealous.¡±


    Thomas blinked. ¡°I¡­wasn¡¯t talking about jealousy. I meant now that I¡¯m not¡­me.¡±


    Ellie snorted. ¡°Thomas, the inside¡¯s the same, and that¡¯s what counts. It was really, really shocking at first, but I feel the same about you as I did before.¡± She tapped her chin thoughtfully, ¡°We can¡¯t go around calling you Thomas, though. Not when you¡¯re a bombshell like that. People will ask questions you probably don¡¯t want to answer.¡±


    ¡°Does that even matter?¡± Thomas asked, ¡°It¡¯s just a name.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Ellie replied, suddenly fired up, ¡°There¡¯s no way a girl as cute as you should be a ¡®Thomas¡¯. How does Tess sound?¡±


    ¡°Fine, I guess.¡± Tess grumbled, ¡°If it makes you happy.¡± Oddly enough, she¡­didn¡¯t really care. Another aspect of the transformation, perhaps?


    ¡°That settles it.¡± Gramps interjected. ¡°We¡¯ll have to have The Rumors swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath. I can¡¯t think of anyone else I would trust to train you, and I¡¯m too busy to do it myself. I¡¯ll go get our resident Fatebinder.¡± He stood up and strode towards the door, then paused. ¡°By the way, did you mention something about a new name? What is it?¡±


    ¡°Tess, apparently.¡± Tess replied.


    Gramps nodded. ¡°A good choice. Alright, you two sit tight, I¡¯ll be back in a jiffy.¡± He left the room, closing the door behind him.


    ¡°Sooooo,¡± Ellie said slowly, ¡°What do your Skills do?¡±


    Tess read the Skill descriptions out to her.


    Ellie frowned. ¡°Let me try something.¡± She said, lunging towards Tess. Tess, already being far slower than Ellie, was powerless to stop Ellie as she mercilessly messed with Tess¡¯s hair, doing her best to tangle it and otherwise ruin the look it had going for it.


    When she was done, she stepped back and groaned. ¡°Alright, now that isn¡¯t fair.¡± She replied, motioning at Tess. ¡°I know I just said I wouldn¡¯t get jealous, but that¡¯s something else entirely.¡±


    Tess once again looked herself over in the mirror. Her hair was messy, yes, but it looked purposefully messy, like someone had meticulously arranged it to give the appearance of being messy, while still making it look good. Tess moved to comb it out with her fingers, and the hair just sprung instantly back into its previous, more orderly, state.


    ¡°You don¡¯t even know how much of a pain doing hair is.¡± Ellie whined, ¡°And you just get to not? What¡¯s up with that?!¡±


    ¡°I¡­think it¡¯s part of Target of Affection?¡± Tess replied, ¡°I doubt it¡¯s something the change itself did to me. Speaking of, what did the change¡­look like? I was passed out.¡±


    Ellie made a face. ¡°When Grandpa brought you back, you were in a giant cocoon-looking thing. Or maybe like an egg? It was weird, let me tell you that. No one else seemed too surprised, though, which I think is even weirder. That means this sort of thing must be normal, right?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Gramps did say that some Classes will physically alter you so that you can use their Skills, so it must just look that way any time it happens.¡±


    Ellie thought that over for a moment. ¡°Why did this one change you, then? I can¡¯t think of¡­¡± She paled suddenly, gasping. ¡°Oh no. That¡¯s¡­not great for you.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?! What¡¯d you figure out?!¡±


    Ellie¡¯s eyes flicked from side to side as she stumbled over her words. ¡°U-um, Th- Tess, what¡­what¡¯s the biggest thing women can do that men can¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Have a¡­¡± And then, as the thought struck her, Tess paled as well. ¡°Baby.¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Then¡­I, um, think it¡¯s pretty likely that Create Monster, at least, will, um, make use of that.¡±


    Tess groaned, hiding her face in her hands. ¡°This can¡¯t be happening. No way I can use Skills that do that to me.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be that bad, I can assure you.¡± Gramps said, walking into the room again. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear the exact details, but I¡¯ve heard enough to get the gist. The modifications made to you will most likely make the use of your Skills easier. I can¡¯t guarantee that it will easy, but it shouldn¡¯t be painful. I¡¯d give it a go before writing it off completely. But, that aside, I would like to hear the details of your Skills.¡±


    Tess and Ellie filled him in, though Ellie did most of the work when it came to Create Monster or any talk of ¡°ejecting cores¡±.


    Gramps frowned. ¡°I¡­see the hang-up. Well, cores generally don¡¯t get larger than fist-size unless they¡¯re from something really impressive, so it honestly shouldn¡¯t be a big deal with your modifications. Just¡­think of it like going to the bathroom. That¡¯s going to be a little different too, so¡­go ahead and get used to both at the same time.¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°Assuming that was modified, anyway. I doubt any of us have any desire to do the kind of testing that would be required to check, but it¡¯s a safe assumption. Go ahead and try it with some slime cores, you should be able to find a pretty small one.¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°No! Not while both of you are here! Not happening!¡±


    Gramps sighed. ¡°We¡¯ll go outside then. But you have to do this, Tess. If you want to be able to use your Skills to their full potential, then you¡¯re going to have to confront this some time, and it¡¯s best to just rip the bandage off now. Don¡¯t make a pet or anything, just eject a core. Encode Ability is already one of the most stupidly powerful Skills I¡¯ve ever seen, and all you need for it to work at full capacity is to be able to absorb new cores, even if it means ejecting old ones.¡±


    Feeling like her face was on fire, Tess shooed the two away. ¡°Fine, fine! One time!¡±


    Once the others were out of the room, Tess rummaged through her bag. She had managed to pick up a few cores while working with The Rumors (having claimed that she got one as a drop about as much as she figured Ellie did), as cores were just about the only thing The Rumors did let them pick up during their raid.


    She quickly found the smallest one, which was roughly the size of a bouncy ball. She put the rest back in her bag and rolled her chosen core around on her palm, steeling her nerve. After a few moments of that she took a deep breath, and then went to absorb the core.


    She was about to just eat it when it disappeared in a puff of smoke which, instead of spiraling upwards, raced into Tess through the pores of her skin. Suddenly, a small window popped up in front of her.


    You have absorbed a Slime Core!


    Slots filled: 1/1


    You have gained 10 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    No new Skills or abilities detected!


    Displaying core information:


    Slime Core:


    Level 1


    Estimated Power: 1


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 2


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Amorphous (Slimy) (Fundamental)


    New Attribute discovered!


    Amorphous (Slimy): The body of something using Amorphous (Slimy) is made out of slime, and therefore can be squeezed to fit into very small spaces. If you use Amorphous (Slimy) via the effects of Core Surgery, the effects apply to your equipment as well.


    New concept discovered!


    Fundamental Attributes: Fundamental Attributes are those that are so central to the makeup of a monster that to remove them would fundamentally alter the monster itself. What this alteration entails varies from monster to monster and from Attribute to Attribute. Monsters may have more than one Fundamental Attribute. Fundamental Attributes taken from a monster and stored in your database are not considered Fundamental to you. Fundamental Attributes applied to monsters from which they were not originally obtained may or may not remain Fundamental. Applying an Attribute of another type to a monster may make the Attribute Fundamental and transform the monster.


    That piqued Tess¡¯s interest. If she took it and used it for herself, what were the limits? Could she do just part of the body? Could she freely shape herself if she was made of slime?


    Besides, she already had the core, so it wasn¡¯t like it would cause any distress to just take that Attribute, right? The hard part would be ejecting the core. So, she tried to move Amorphous (Slimy) into her database.


    Of course it wasn¡¯t that easy. Still, she was going to eject the core anyway, so she might as well take this Attribute in the process.


    It took her a further minute to work up the courage to do it, but she eventually managed to take away the Attribute and braced herself for the ejection.


    There was the sensation of something dropping into her bowels, and then the need to push. She listened to her instincts and gave that push, feeling something slide along inside her before eventually exiting from her front. She was briefly able to see a wet core as it fell towards the ground but, before it could hit, it vanished into the same rainbow mist that monsters vanished into.


    Once she was sure it was over, she carefully inspected the area around her. There was a small patch of wetness on the floor directly below her, and her¡­exit was slightly moist as well, but other than that the process had been remarkably clean and relatively comfortable.


    But that core had been tiny. She could already tell that larger cores would be more work, but she had no way of knowing what the limit was before it would get uncomfortable.


    She took a deep breath, then poked her head out the door. Gramps and Ellie both gave her inquisitive looks, so she ushered them in.


    ¡°It¡­wasn¡¯t too bad.¡± She mumbled, looking down. ¡°But it was tiny, so there wasn¡¯t much to get get rid of, you know?¡± She blushed, still keeping her face down, ¡°I¡­might want to save it for the bathroom, though. I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be clean with larger cores.¡±


    Ellie laughed, slinging an arm around Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°See? You¡¯ll be fine. Get anything good from it?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­I can turn myself into slime now.¡±


    Gramps raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really? Care to show us?¡±


    Tess extricated herself from Ellie, then went to activate the Attribute, trying to turn only her arm into slime. It was an almost unconscious process, much like moving or breathing; she just did it, and it happened.


    She swayed on her feet as her whole body turned into green slime. It was harder to keep her balance like this, but she could still stand, albeit rather awkwardly. The sensation was¡­odd, like she was underwater, but¡­not. Moving was slower, and her senses were slightly muted, but not to the same extent they would be if she was underwater. She certainly couldn¡¯t swim through the air or anything. She tried to mold her hand into¡­something, anything other than a hand, but failed. She opened her mouth to try and say something, but all that came out was incomprehensible burbling.


    Right, everything that let her speak was probably slime right now. So, she deactivated the Attribute and returned to a more corporeal form, brushing her completely dry clothes off. ¡°Well, that was an experience.¡± She told her audience. ¡°Probably not something that would be useful unless I need to squeeze into somewhere, but it wasn¡¯t too big a pain to use.¡±


    ¡°That was¡­awesome!¡± Ellie squealed, pulling Tess into another hug. ¡°You¡¯re going to be like some sort of cool blue mage or druid!¡±


    ¡°Remind me what those are?¡± Tess said, shifting so she was slightly more comfortable in Ellie¡¯s suffocating embrace, ¡°I¡¯ve heard the names, but I can¡¯t really remember.¡±


    ¡°Told ya to play more video games,¡± Ellie replied smugly. ¡°A blue mage can use monster¡¯s attacks and a druid can turn into animals and stuff. They¡¯re really fun to play.¡±


    Gramps cleared his throat. ¡°While that is pretty cool, we do have to get on with things. Tho-err, Tess, can you ask Fortune if you can tell The Rumors about your blessing if they¡¯re put under a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath?¡±


    ¡°And that is?¡± Ellie prompted.


    ¡°An oath that magically forces whoever swears it to abide by certain terms. It requires a little ceremony and can only be done by people with the right Skill, but if someone willingly swears one then the only ways to remove the oath are to satisfy conditions laid out in the oath or have whoever they swore it to release them from it while a Fatebinder performs another ceremony.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Umm¡­Fortune, any input?¡±


    A window popped up in front of her.


    Sorry, the number you tried to call is out of service. Please try again.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Just messing with you. No, it¡¯s totally fine to tell The Rumors about my blessing if they can¡¯t¡­spread any rumors. The God of Heroes says they¡¯re pretty cool, and he¡¯s generally right, so I¡¯ll trust them.


    P.S: I probably won¡¯t be as timely about answering you (if I answer at all) in the future. I¡¯m keeping a pretty close eye on you right now for what I should hope are obvious reasons, but there¡¯s no guarantee I won¡¯t be busy later. But, if you continue to be entertaining, then maybe I¡¯ll consider making you my Appointed or something and then we can have a more personal relationship. Right now you¡¯re just someone I find interesting, so work hard on raising that affection level, alright?


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Tess told them, ¡°But Fortune says she won¡¯t be as snappy about answers in the future, so don¡¯t think of me as a hotline or anything.¡±


    Gramps nodded. ¡°I figured as much. Alright, let¡¯s get this taken care of and hopefully, by the time we¡¯re done, we¡¯ll be set to go back to Mael for the night. I¡¯m sure you two are in desperate need of some R&R right about now.¡±


    ¡°You got that right.¡± Tess muttered. ¡°I¡¯m still half hoping this is all going to turn out to be a dream.¡±


    Fighterman481


    I very purposefully chose to make Tess very attractive, because it ties into how I want things to go after this point. The New Chimera focuses more on internal thoughts on the transformation and reconciling that, but I want this series to look at "external" factors more heavily.


    As such, I picked an appearance that would allow me the most opportunity in that regard.


    You''ll also have to forgive if I make any biology errors when talking about how exactly ejecting a core works. I think the broad strokes of it align with what I know, but if the minutiae are wrong then chalk it up to "The change made it easier/more streamlined".


    Target of Affection might also stick out as an odd fourth Skill to some, but I think it fits. The idea there is to reduce aggro and allow you easier access to the monsters you want to get. And, being a high-tier Skill, it should work on people too. But, they''re not nearly as easy to mess with mentally as monsters are, so it went for the next best thing and tried to mess people up by making Tess attractive.


    As for why that route? Well, people subconsciously treat attractive people better. IIRC that''s been about as scientifically proven as something like that can get. It won''t work perfectly on everyone, but it''s also not likely to even be able to be fully blocked by any Skills so I think it kind of balances out.


    That''s...really all I have to say, though. Next time we''ll be finishing up their first day in The Outlands, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 5: New Scenario

    Ellie kept her head straight, trying desperately not to look back at Tess¡¯s lovely new form. She would be lying if she said this wasn¡¯t a situation she had often fantasized about; somehow, Thomas would get transformed into a girl, and would have to go on the run to avoid intensive government probing. As a matter of course, Ellie would flee with the newly transformed Thomas, and the two would, over time, grow closer and closer together until at last they would break their unspoken agreement and become lovers.


    That was scenario A, anyway. The content and how fantastical each scenario was did vary, but they always contained the part about growing closer and becoming lovers. And¡­here she was, in the middle of one. And, to make things crazier, Tess had turned out so much better than she ever had even in Ellie¡¯s most wild fantasies.


    Then, her train of thought ground to a halt as she realized something. There was the potential that, if Tess absorbed the core of an animal-like monster, she could get the ears and tails of that animal. Right, that would be priority number one on her little list of ¡°things to get Tess to do¡±. Scenario D might not be a pipe dream after all. Well, all her scenarios had been pipe dreams until this morning, but that one had been a bit more distant than the others.


    She spent the rest of their walk practically salivating over the possibilities. She would have to play it cool, though; she was still in the closet, and now probably wasn¡¯t the best time to come out. So, she was hoping that the theoretical awkwardness of being around a newly transformed person would cover for her strange behavior.


    Her musings were cut short as her grandpa ushered them into a small room. Inside were The Rumors and, surprisingly, Ess. Gramps shut the door behind them, locking it and muttering a spell.


    ¡°I have already received your permission, but let me ask again,¡± He said, ¡°do all of you, save Ellie and Tess, consent to this Fatebinder¡¯s Oath?¡±


    There was a chorus of assent, so Gramps nodded at Tess. ¡°Go stand over near them. Ess will need you there for the ceremony.¡±


    The Rumors were giving Tess some curious looks, but she walked up to in front of them anyway. Once she had, Ess stepped forward, and began to speak in a slow, careful voice, an almost palpable tension filling the air.


    ¡°Ker, Jin, and Alice, I ask you in the name of the God of Fate if you will swear to tell no one about Tess¡¯s special capabilities or this Oath until the day she dies or releases you from the Oath.¡±


    ¡°By the God of Fate, we swear it.¡± They intoned.


    Ess reached out, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand in one of hers, and reached out her other towards The Rumors, who each grabbed part of it. ¡°Then, as witness, I declare the Oath made, binding yourselves and myself to secrecy.¡± She dropped the hands and then yawned hugely, breaking any atmosphere that she had going on. ¡°I¡¯m going to go nap.¡± She said, ¡°Oaths always take it out of me. Fill me in on the details later, guildmaster.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Gramps replied, ¡°thank you very much.¡±


    Ess exited the room with another yawn, leaving everyone else just sort of¡­standing there.


    But, not for long. Once the door had been shut, Alice began to speak. ¡°Right,¡± she said flatly, ¡°I think it¡¯s time you explain yourself. I take my eyes off of you for two hours and suddenly you¡¯ve got yourself turned into¡­this, and we have to swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath, of all things. Spill it.¡±


    Tess looked to Gramps, who shook his head. ¡°I think it¡¯s best you explain it. It¡¯s your status, after all.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ok.¡± Tess replied nervously. ¡°So, after Ker had me go back home, I went to Gramps¡¯ office so I could¡­go home. And Gramps was grilling me about why I was so discouraged, and so I told him about the Skills I got, and then he had me go beat the dungeon¡¯s Challenge and try the Rewards Crystal and¨C¡±


    Alice raised a hand. ¡°Hold up there.¡± She said, pinching the bridge of her nose. ¡°Why would the guildmaster have you even attempt that? Everyone knows it¡¯s the most worthless one of the lot so the danger isn¡¯t even remotely worth it.¡±


    Tess tapped the tips of her pointer fingers together nervously. ¡°Uh, well, I might have been holding back on some of my capabilities. I was supposed to keep quiet but now that you¡¯ve sworn the Oath I¡¯ve been told it¡¯s OK so¡­¡±


    She took a deep breath. ¡°The Goddess of Fortune has been keeping an eye on me and Ellie because of how closely tied we were to the situation with Mael, and then when I got the worst growths possible and Ellie got the best, she took pity on me and gave me her strongest blessing.¡±


    Ker raised an eyebrow. ¡°And, what does it do?¡±


    ¡°Well, if you, uh, look at my sheet, you¡¯ll notice that my Luck is 0 and has 0 in all its growths. She said that¡¯s because the blessing bypasses my Luck stat entirely and just gives me the best result in any situation it would be used.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Alice yelled, suddenly angry. ¡°You have that, and you wanted to quit?! Do you have any idea how amazing that is!?¡±


    Jin placed a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Alice, calm down. It¡¯s a natural reaction to the day he had.¡± He turned back to Tess, then continued. ¡°Uh, come to think of it, he or she?¡±


    ¡°She is fine, I guess,¡± Tess said sulkily, ¡°I apparently don¡¯t much care, though I¡¯m willing to bet it¡¯s the transformation¡¯s fault for that. And if you didn¡¯t catch it before, everyone¡¯s calling me Tess now, so you might as well do that too.¡±


    Jin nodded. ¡°Right, well, Luck is a vitally important stat for freelancers. It controls how often your effects go off, how often you get hit with things, certain Skills require it to work, and it even affects how much experience you get and how often monsters drop things. It¡¯s not flashy, but it¡¯s effective. Ask Alice, she¡¯s got low Luck, so she knows better than most how important it is.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah!¡± Alice said, ¡°how many cores did you leave on the ground back there?! Surely you got more than the rest of us.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­Every monster dropped a core. So, if I didn¡¯t say anything then it was just left on the ground.¡±


    Alice started to go over that in her head. ¡°You killed probably 100 slimes, that many cores would add up to¡­¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Tess said in a small voice, ¡°every slime. Including the ones you guys killed.¡±


    Alice stopped, staring Tess dead in the eyes. ¡°You¡­that¡¯s hundreds of cores you just left there!¡± She sputtered, ¡°You probably could have made a few gold from that!¡±


    ¡°Actually, that¡¯s something I should talk about,¡± Gramps interrupted, ¡°Tess, I¡¯m going to have to ask that you don¡¯t sell all the cores you get, at least not to other guild branches; there¡¯s a real risk of crashing the market. It probably won¡¯t be an issue with smaller cores like regular slime¡¯s cores, but for things like Bertha¡¯s core it¡¯ll become a problem fast. If you¡¯re around, come to me and I¡¯ll buy them from you in bulk, and we can have the guild hold onto them in case of emergency. If you need cash fast and aren¡¯t here, go ahead and sell a couple to other branches, but be careful about it. The same goes for other drops.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can do that,¡± Tess replied, ¡°that¡¯s a good point.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re getting off-track,¡± Ker said, ¡°and while this is obviously an important secret to keep, I don¡¯t think the guildmaster had us swear an Oath just for that. You were talking about the Challenge, right? Please continue.¡±


    ¡°Oh, um, right,¡± Tess said, ¡°so, I got a resistance Skill for all the elements the slimes in that Challenge use, and Gramps tested it, as long as there¡¯s a possibility for me to resist a negative status effect, I will, so it was perfectly safe for me to try.¡±


    Alice groaned. ¡°That¡¯s not fair. You don¡¯t even know how good you have it.¡±


    ¡°Just ignore her,¡± Jin instructed.


    ¡°R-right. Um, I used the Rewards Crystal, and it gave me this Class called Monster Breeder, which did¡­this,¡± Tess gestured at her body. ¡°And gave me four Skills.¡±


    An expression of understanding flashed across Jin¡¯s face. ¡°Let me guess, one of them¡¯s Phantasmal?¡±


    Tess shrunk back into her oversized shirt. ¡°Um¡­they kind of¡­all are.¡±


    There was a long pause as The Rumors processed this, which was then broken by uproarious laughter from Ker. ¡°I think that this counts as ¡®some crazy Skill or something¡¯,¡± he said, walking over and clapping Tess on the back. ¡°That blessing alone probably would have let you get by in some higher-level dungeons, but four Phantasmal Skills on top of it? You¡¯ll be totally capable of making your way to the very top, stats or no. Let¡¯s hear about them, shall we?¡±


    As Tess explained, Ellie got to thinking. Apparently, the Goddess of Fortune had been keeping an eye on them, and she was at least somewhat involved with Tess¡¯s change, so¡­was it possible that the Goddess of Fortune knew about Ellie¡¯s sapphic scenarios and had tweaked things? It wasn¡¯t¡­right?


    Ellie jumped as a screen popped up in front of her, unbidden.


    Ellie made a mental note to convert to whatever religion followed the Goddess of Fortune later. Well, provided Fortune really was trying to be a wingwoman and not just messing with her and Tess.


    Further rumination was cut off as Tess finished her explanation, and Alice once again burst into speech. ¡°You¡¯re not quitting,¡± she said defiantly, ¡°that¡¯s the most stupid set of Skills I¡¯ve ever heard of. Yeah, your stats are hot garbage, but who even cares at this point?! Like¡­it doesn¡¯t even matter! You could literally just buy your way to power, and you have the best money-making potential of anyone.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that, though,¡± Jin warned, ¡°I feel it would be more advantageous for you to slowly acclimate to the Skills you receive instead of just getting a bunch right off the bat and not knowing how to use them.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to have to absorb many cores.¡±


    ¡°And why not?!¡± Alice protested. ¡°There¡¯s like¡­zero downsides!¡±


    Tess blushed, squirming in place. ¡°Um¡­ejecting cores is¡­¡± She motioned to her privates. ¡°Not exactly pleasant.¡±


    Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°Just suck it up. You¡¯re going to be doing something like that once a month anyway, so hurry up and get used to it.¡±


    ¡°Alice,¡± Ker said disapprovingly, ¡°I seem to recall you complaining about that very topic not two weeks ago. And, unlike you, she hasn¡¯t had a lifetime to grow used to it.¡±


    ¡°But, just listen to her!¡± Alice replied. ¡°She¡¯s practically being fed with a silver spoon and she¡¯s still down in the dumps!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough, Alice.¡± Ker said firmly, ¡°she doesn¡¯t have the experience to know just how nice what she has is. Furthermore, her body¡¯s been changed around a bunch; it¡¯s a totally reasonable response.¡±


    ¡°She knew what she was getting into when she picked the Class!¡± Alice argued. ¡°It¡¯s¨C¡±


    ¡°Both of you, stop,¡± Jin said, ¡°argue if you want, but do it later, when we¡¯re not in front of who you¡¯re arguing about.¡±


    For her part, Tess was seemingly trying to vanish into the shirt without actually physically putting all of herself inside of it. She could probably do that, too, if she huddled up inside and stretched out the fabric.


    Gramps walked over and placed a comforting hand on Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Tensions are running high.¡± He said, ¡°so, let¡¯s all take a break and we¡¯ll talk about this when next we meet. You three can figure out the best way to go about things, I¡¯ll handle making sure Tess gets adjusted. Sound good?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Guildmaster,¡± Jin replied, ¡°that¡¯s an excellent idea. You lot, we¡¯ve got work to do, let¡¯s go.¡±


    And with that, Jin walked out of the room, followed closely by Alice. Ker waited for a bit, though, giving Tess another clap on the back. ¡°Don¡¯t let Alice get to you,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯s just upset because she sees a lot of potential in you and doesn¡¯t want it wasted. Take care, alright?¡± And then he too left, leaving Ellie and Tess alone with Gramps.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get you home, shall we?¡± Gramps said cheerily, ¡°it¡¯s getting late and you have school in the morning.¡±


    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t exist on Mael, Gramps,¡± Tess said shyly, ¡°I don¡¯t think I can go to school.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± He replied. ¡°I was expecting to have to pull a lot more strings to get you to be able to be out and about, so my people are almost finished. All you¡¯ll need is a uniform, and until we can get one that fits better you can borrow one of Ellie¡¯s.¡±


    Ellie chose to let the clear display of political power slide; she had more important things on her mind.


    Namely, the fact that Tess would be wearing a skirt the next day. One of her skirts. Not that the male uniform on a woman didn¡¯t have its own charms, but a skirt was a whole different animal.


    Another thought hit Ellie. ¡°Um, Grandpa, now that you mention it, Tess is going to need underwear.¡±


    He titled his head. ¡°Can¡¯t she just borrow yours?¡±


    ¡°I doubt it. Panties, maybe, but the bra? It¡¯s hard to tell in the baggy clothes, but I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯s, um, quite a bit bigger than me. She¡¯s going to be really uncomfortable without one and having one that¡¯s way too small would probably be even worse.¡±


    Tess hung her head. ¡°Can¡¯t I just wear my old uniform for a bit? I can think up an excuse.¡±


    Ellie shook her head vehemently. ¡°No can do,¡± She said, ¡°one, your old stuff will be way too big for you, two, you¡¯re a girl now, and you¡¯ll get a lot of weird looks. It¡¯ll attract too much attention.¡±


    ¡°So? Gramps said he has people working on the memories. It shouldn¡¯t be a big deal.¡±


    ¡°Ellie¡¯s right,¡± Gramps said, ¡°the memory alteration isn¡¯t perfect, people will be able to start noticing something¡¯s wrong if something too incongruous happens. Where would you have gotten a male uniform from? There¡¯s no reason for one to be lying around the house.¡±


    ¡°And that still doesn¡¯t solve your little underwear crisis,¡± Ellie said, ¡°even if you could wear your old stuff, you¡¯d be going braless and, trust me, you do not want that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s settled, then,¡± Gramps said, ¡°I¡¯ll show you two to a nice clothing shop close to here and we can get Tess some underwear and regular clothes, then we¡¯ll go home.¡±


    ¡°Can I just¡­stay here while you do that?¡± Tess asked hopefully, ¡°I¡¯m not exactly fully dressed at the moment.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll need to take your measurements,¡± Ellie said, ¡°we can go grab your pants and put some pins in them for the walk over, but you have to go.¡±


    Tess sighed. ¡°Fine, whatever.¡±


    A short pitstop and quick pants modification later, the group set out and had another short walk down to the clothes shop.


    ¡°Hey, Grandpa,¡± Ellie asked, ¡°why¡¯s everything so close to the guild? It feels like we¡¯ve barely had to do any walking.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a matter of convenience,¡± He replied, shrugging, ¡°we built it close to the dungeon, and then people naturally built facilities freelancers would want close to the guild. It¡¯s just economics.¡±


    They walked a bit past the dungeon, and Gramps pulled them into a store. ¡°Hey, Rachel, got some customers for you!¡± He yelled.


    ¡°Coming!¡± Someone, presumably Rachel, replied, ¡°give me a minute!¡±


    While she was waiting, Ellie took the opportunity to look around the shop. There were a lot of clothes in all sorts of different styles hanging around on mannequins, handmade if Ellie was any judge.


    Suddenly, there was a myriad of clacking sounds, and a drider emerged from the back of the shop, walking up behind the counter. Were you to ignore the arachnid lower body, she would be the perfect picture of a saleswoman; she had a bright friendly smile, was sharply dressed, and kept her black hair tied neatly up. Not that Ellie minded the spider body; she rather liked the exoticness of it.


    The other strange thing about her was the glasses she had. The woman had a set of human eyes as well as three sets of spider eyes set around them. The glasses had been modified to cover all those eyes, almost reminding Ellie of the tools that optometrists would use to test eyesight.


    ¡°Mr. Los, it¡¯s been a while!¡± She said warmly, ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°Well, Rachel, I recently introduced my grandkids to the freelancer lifestyle, and, well¡­¡± He pulled Tess out from her hiding spot behind him, placing her squarely in Rachel¡¯s view.


    Rachel¡¯s gaze flicked from Gramps, to Ellie, and then to Tess. ¡°Transformee?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Transformee.¡± Gramps confirmed. ¡°This is Tess, she used to be Thomas. Her wardrobe is kind of unusable right now, so I was hoping you could help with that.¡±


    Rachel nodded sagely, scuttling out from behind the counter and putting a gentle hand on Tess¡¯s arm and another behind her back. ¡°That¡¯s rough, dear. Come with me, you¡¯ll feel better once you¡¯re in clothes that actually fit.¡±


    Without waiting for a response, she led a protesting Tess off to the backroom.


    ¡°Just a bra and panties for now!¡± Gramps called out, ¡°Save her measurements, I¡¯ll order a bunch more clothes later, but we need to leave here having covered her up!¡±


    ¡°Will¡­she be OK?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, Rachel¡¯s a sweetheart.¡± He responded, ¡°best seamstress in town too, if you ask me. Even uses her own silk for a lot of what she does. It costs an arm and a leg, but it¡¯s worth it.¡±


    ¡°Why a seamstress, though? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to get something more mass-produced, at least for today?¡±


    ¡°There aren¡¯t many mass-produced clothes sold in the Outlands. Too many people of too many different races congregate here, so mass-produced clothes wouldn¡¯t fit enough people to really be worth the effort when they could be sold places where the demographic is more certain. That¡¯s not to say there aren¡¯t any mass-produced clothes, just that they¡¯re expensive and it can take a while to find what you¡¯re looking for. It¡¯d probably be faster than going to a tailor, sure, but Rachel works incredibly fast, so just the underwear will only be a few minutes, and if we¡¯re getting clothes, we might as well get good ones.¡±


    They waited for about 10 minutes before Rachel led a very red Tess back into the front. ¡°All done!¡± She said happily, ¡°we¡¯ll call that one gold even!¡±


    Without even batting an eye, Gramps dropped a platinum on the counter. ¡°We¡¯ll call this advanced payment for the order I¡¯m making. I¡¯ll send over the exact list in an hour or two, but she needs a whole new wardrobe, so it¡¯ll be a big one. I¡¯ll pick up the change when I pick up the order, alright?¡±


    ¡°Can do, Mr. Los.¡± Rachel replied, saluting and pocketing the platinum, ¡°best of luck, little lady!¡±


    As they left the store, Tess spoke. ¡°Um, Gramps, is it¡­OK to spend that much on me so suddenly? You said that a platinum was ten thousand dollars, so that seems like overkill.¡±


    Gramps shrugged. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s not a big deal. I didn¡¯t get to be in charge of the guild off of administrative talent alone, I was the leader of a rank ten party back in the day. I made a killing then, and managing the guild pays well too, so I¡¯m one of the richest people in the Outlands. Rachel is one of the best in the business, her prices reflect that, and I¡¯m planning on ordering around ten sets of clothes, so dealing in platinum is to be expected. Honestly, though, I¡¯m only expecting to spend about forty gold, which really isn¡¯t that bad.¡±


    He gave Tess a smirk. ¡°Trust me, give it a year or two and you two will be totally capable of making that much in a day, at least in raw materials. Besides, most of the clothes I bought for you when you were growing up have been from Rachel anyway, so it¡¯s a little late to start getting cold feet about them.¡±


    Huh. He never had told them where he got the clothes he gave them, and they had always been super nice, so Ellie had just figured they were a perk of whatever top-secret work he did. Her whole life she¡¯d been wearing clothes straight out of a fantasy world and had never known. It really gave her a new respect for her wardrobe.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s go home for real.¡± Gramps said, ¡°I¡¯m starving!¡±


    Fighterman481

 Chapter 6: Adjustment

    Tess collapsed onto her bed, curling up into a ball underneath the covers. Everything had gone so wrong that day, and it was all catching up to her now. The one bright spot in it all was that her stats were low enough that transitioning back to Mael was easy; it seemed that levelling up automatically adjusted your body to the stat increases, and due to Mael¡¯s low magic density one¡¯s full strength couldn¡¯t be brought out. Therefore, coming back resulted in a sort of odd lethargy, which apparently only got worse as your stats increased. Ellie was already having a rough time of it, although Gramps had told them that they would get used to it and barely even notice after going back and forth enough.


    Speaking of Ellie, her uniform was laid out on Tess¡¯s floor, and Tess had no intentions of touching it until she had to tomorrow morning. She really didn¡¯t want to accept her new reality, but it looked like her new reality had already accepted her; her driver¡¯s license had already changed to reflect her new name and appearance, the photos in the house all showed Gramps with two girls, and she could only assume her other documentation had been changed as well.


    But¡­how would her friends treat her? She was mostly friends with guys, so would they be weird about her? Probably not, but the dynamic would have to change somewhat, right? There now existed the possibility of one of her friends becoming romantically interested in her, and she didn¡¯t really like that possibility.


    Fortunately, it seemed like her sexuality was unchanged, at the least. She made sure to check by looking at some pictures, and she didn¡¯t feel any differently than she had that morning. That meant that her dating pool had narrowed significantly, and, as far as she knew, would unfortunately exclude her current and most of her previous crushes


    Well, and Ellie, but Tess had written her off as a lost cause a long time ago. While she did really like Ellie as a person, and had liked her romantically for quite a while, Ellie had never shown even a shred of interest in Tess, so she had decided to move on and be content with their platonic relationship.


    There was a soft knock on her door, snapping her out of her fugue. ¡°Come in.¡± She mumbled, not bothering to emerge from the covers.


    The door opened and then shut, and soon there was a weight on her bed. ¡°Um¡­do you need to talk?¡± Ellie asked hesitantly. ¡°Today seems like it¡¯s been pretty crappy for you.¡±


    ¡°Just trying to accept that my life¡¯s taken a bad turn and there¡¯s nothing I can do about it.¡±


    Ellie laid a gentle hand on the blankets above Tess. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not that bad. If you ignore the whole sex change thing then you got just as much out of today as I did. The Rumors are saying you have top tier talent, so it¡¯ll just be a matter of getting there. And if you don¡¯t want to, then you¡¯re more than capable of living an easy life here on Mael.¡±


    ¡°The sex change thing is kind of a big deal.¡± Tess responded, ¡°My whole social life has just changed, and I¡¯ve got no idea what to do about it.¡±


    ¡°Your friends are good people.¡± Ellie said reassuringly, ¡°I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t treat you any different if you don¡¯t treat them any different.¡± She paused for a moment, then proceeded. ¡°Do you still like girls or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Thankfully, yes.¡±


    Ellie sighed in what Tess was nearly tempted to say was relief. ¡°That¡¯s good. It shouldn¡¯t be too hard a transition, then. And being a girl really isn¡¯t that bad, half the population has no trouble with it whatsoever. You¡¯ll just need some time to get used to it, that¡¯s all.¡±


    Tess snorted. ¡°Easier said than done.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­your transformation updated your body so this all feels normal, right? So¡­it¡¯s just the other stuff you have to get used to. Not that there isn¡¯t a lot, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be as hard as you¡¯re thinking. And I¡¯ll be with you every step of the way, so you can always count on me.¡±


    Tess sighed. ¡°Thanks. Right now, though, I think I just need some alone time. We¡¯ll talk about it in the morning, OK?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing.¡± She gave the area close to Tess¡¯s head a couple of pats. ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± The weight on the bed vanished as Ellie stood up.


    ¡°Night.¡± Tess muttered.


    ¡°Night.¡± Ellie responded, leaving the room and once again leaving Tess alone with her thoughts.


    Like she did every morning, Tess laid in bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for Ellie to come and get her. She could have just gotten up, but she really didn¡¯t want to leave the safety of her bed. Doing so would mean she would have to face the day ahead, and she wasn¡¯t ready for that. Not yet.


    Time lagged for a while. Ellie¡­didn¡¯t show up. Not like she usually did. So, Tess stared and waited.


    Distantly, she heard the sound of the garage door opening, a car being started, and then the garage door closing. She waited more.


    Eventually, there was a quiet knock on her door. ¡°Tess, can we talk?¡± Gramps asked softly.


    Tess didn¡¯t reply, choosing instead to roll over in bed.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine.¡± Gramps said gently, ¡°I¡¯ve excused your absence from school for the foreseeable future, as I realized last night that you probably need more time to adapt. Um, I¡­forgot that not everyone is as open to change as I am. Go back to sleep if you want, I¡¯ll get you later when I drop off some day clothes for you, and then we¡¯ll talk about things, alright?¡±


    Gramps left, and a relieved Tess let herself drift to sleep.


    ¡°Hey, kid, you should wake up now.¡± Tess jolted awake as a massive hand gently shook her. ¡°It¡¯s not good for your mental state to just lie in bed like this.¡±


    Tess groggily opened her eyes. ¡°Ker? What¡­why are you on Mael?¡±


    ¡°The Guildmaster was busy, so he gave me special permission to come talk to you, so long as I stayed inside the house. I thought you might need a little pep talk.¡±


    He tossed her a shirt and pants. ¡°Put these on, I¡¯ll wait outside until you¡¯re ready.¡± Ker carefully made his way out of the room, crouching to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling.


    Tess grabbed the clothes and looked them over. They were¡­nearly identical to her old favorites, just tailored to fit a woman. Curious, she opened her drawer and grabbed those clothes, giving the two a side-by-side comparison. And, aside from the different sizes, she wasn¡¯t able to find any notable differences. That¡­actually made sense now that she was thinking about it; she had gotten the old set from Gramps, and he said that most of her old clothes had been from Rachel, and she had worn that particular set more than any of her others, so Gramps must have had Rachel make a replica.


    They felt nice and fit perfectly. That wasn¡¯t too much of a surprise, considering the rather extensive measurements that had been taken the previous day. She pointedly tried to ignore the memory as she finished putting everything on, then opened the door.


    Ker was sitting with his back against the wall, watching the door. Once Tess stepped through, he got up into a sort of crouch that just barely let him not hit the ceiling and motioned down the stairs. ¡°Let¡¯s talk over some food.¡± He said, ¡°I find it always helps to face life on a full stomach.¡±


    They made their way to the kitchen, where Ker sat Tess down at the table. ¡°You sit there, I¡¯ll make the food. You wouldn¡¯t guess it from looking at me, but I¡¯m a pretty good cook, if I do say so myself. Good food makes freelancer work much more tolerable, so I made a point of learning how to make things that didn¡¯t taste like garbage.¡±


    Tess fidgeted for a moment before asking about what was on her mind. ¡°Um¡­why are you going so far out of your way for me? We barely even know each other.¡±


    Ker laughed. ¡°Doesn¡¯t feel that way to me, but that¡¯s probably because the Guildmaster won¡¯t shut up about you and Ellie. I¡¯ll bet you anything he¡¯s already bragging about how his grandchildren have some of the most raw potential he¡¯s ever seen. But, even aside from that, I can¡¯t just ignore someone who¡¯s clearly suffering like you are. Not all of us are fortunate enough to be able to pick our lot in life, and sometimes life chooses to put you through the wringer.¡±


    A timer rang and he opened the oven, using his bare hands to pull out a tray of orange rolls that must have been baking since before Ker woke Tess. As he started glazing them, he continued. ¡°And I¡¯m going to be honest, life threw you a couple of lemons yesterday. But you were also given a blender, so I want to make sure you make lemonade, if that makes sense.¡±


    Tess scratched the back of her neck. ¡°I think so? I¡¯m¡­um, not so sure I want to use my abilities, though.¡± She said, frowning. ¡°It¡¯s¡­not an experience I particularly enjoyed. The end result is nice, yeah, but the process is so disconcerting that it seems to balance out.¡±


    Ker popped some bread in the toaster, took a skillet out from the satchel at his waist, and put it on the stove. ¡°Forgive the slight tangent, but let¡¯s say you had everything going for you that first day, that you and Ellie had switched places, would you want to be a freelancer?¡±


    Tess blinked. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d want to try it, at least. It sounds way more exciting than just sitting around here doing nothing. Who wouldn¡¯t want to try out magic and explore a whole new world?¡±


    Ker cracked an egg and began to scramble it. ¡°So, you do want to do freelancer work.¡±


    ¡°I suppose, yeah.¡±


    ¡°I guess what I¡¯m getting at is that it comes down to what¡¯s stronger in you; that desire for adventure you were talking about, or your fear of your new body. And I hate to break this to you, but that body isn¡¯t going away any time soon. Not even your grandpa has the money that would be required to purchase the necessary items, and you¡¯re not getting any of those items yourself without utilizing your abilities.¡±


    Ker got out some butter and a knife, preparing to butter the toast once it was done. ¡°You mentioned that your alternative would be coming back here and winning the lottery, and yeah, you could totally do that. Thanks to the blessing Fortune gave you you¡¯ll never have to work a day if you don¡¯t want to. But, let me tell you a secret; that gets empty fast. People aren¡¯t built to just sit around and do nothing. Go ask Alice; she comes from old money, and she could live just off of the interest her money generates, let alone all the businesses she owns. She tried the whole ¡®do nothing¡¯ thing, and it did awful things to her. So, she went out and became a freelancer, and she¡¯s been much happier since.¡±


    He snatched the toast as it popped up, deftly buttering it and putting more bread in the toaster. ¡°I think she sees herself in you, and she really doesn¡¯t want you to make the same mistakes she did. And I think that, to a certain extent, she has a point when she says to just get used to your body. If you do really want to be a freelancer, then you have to accept that discomfort is part of the job. You don¡¯t have to like it, but just know that it¡¯s not all going to be sunshine and rainbows.¡±


    He finished the eggs and put some food onto two plates, sliding one to Tess and taking the other for himself, sitting down across from her at the table. ¡°As someone who¡¯s been around for a couple hundred years, let me make a recommendation. Give it a shot. Use your abilities to their fullest, but only on the small stuff. Gradually work your way up, find out what your tolerance is. After you¡¯ve done that and tried freelancer work for a couple of months, if you really hate it, then go back to Mael, win the lottery, and find something to do with your life. Maybe start paving the way for Mael to get into contact with the rest of the League of Planes, maybe something else. But, in the end, that¡¯s just my recommendation; it¡¯s your life, so it¡¯s your choice.¡±


    Tess ate her food in silence for a while, digesting what Ker had told her. ¡°Alright.¡± She said eventually, ¡°I¡¯ll try it out for a while. If I do, will you help keep Alice off of my back when I don¡¯t try and absorb something like Bertha¡¯s core right away?¡±


    Ker smiled gently. ¡°Of course, kid.¡±


    After the two finished their meal, Tess helped Ker save the leftovers. ¡°Um,¡± she said, putting the remaining orange rolls in a sealable bag, ¡°You mentioned that you¡¯ve lived for a couple hundred years. Is that a goliath thing or¡­?¡±


    Ker smiled. ¡°Perk of the job, actually. Anyone who gets to a high enough level stops aging. If you get to a really high level like your grandpa, then your aging even starts to reverse until you get back into your prime.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°But Gramps is still old, and he certainly hasn¡¯t gotten any younger since I¡¯ve known him.¡±


    ¡°Has he gotten any older?¡±


    Tess froze. Gramps¡­hadn¡¯t. She hadn¡¯t really thought about it, just assuming that he was at that point where people would look the same for quite a while, but Gramps hadn¡¯t even shown the miniscule changes that most people would. It was hard to notice, as being around him so much made looking for differences day-to-day hard, but she was pretty sure if she looked closely at each of the photos they had, then there would be no difference in his appearance, save for injuries or changes of clothing.


    Ker chuckled. ¡°The anti-aging doesn¡¯t work as well in places that have low ambient mana like Mael, so he still ages while he¡¯s here, but he spends enough time in the Outlands that it just cancels out. He was guildmaster when I joined about a hundred years ago, and I see no sign of him quitting any time soon.¡±


    ¡°So, theoretically¡­¡±


    ¡°You could become ageless, yeah. It¡¯s not based on stats, it¡¯s raw level. We¡¯ve found that your aging slows at level fifty, you stop aging at seventy-five, and aging begins to reverse at one-hundred. Those are all approximations, of course, since it¡¯s hard to quantify something so slow as aging, but it¡¯s a completely achievable milestone. It¡¯ll take you ten or twenty years¡­¡± He paused, looking Tess over, ¡°Scratch that, you and Ellie you could probably make it a lot faster than that, but most people take ten or twenty years getting to seventy-five, and another thirtyish to get to one-hundred. Getting beyond that is an absolute nightmare, though. The required experience jumps up drastically, so it¡¯s slow going. The only reason anyone¡¯s made any real progress is because of a few super high-level dungeons found way out in the wilds of the Outlands.¡±


    As they put the last of the food away, Ker gently shepherded Tess to the door to the Outlands. ¡°Now that we¡¯ve finished, the Guildmaster would like to talk with you.¡± He said, ¡°I¡¯ll wait outside the office for you, but I think this is probably a discussion best had with just the two of you.¡±


    He knocked on the door, and, moments later, it opened. ¡°Come on in!¡± Gramps said, ushering the two inside.


    Ker came out of his crouch, stretching a little. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the two of you to it. See you in a few, Tess.¡± Without waiting for a response, he made his way out of the room.


    Gramps had Tess sit down on one of the couches and sat on the one across from her. ¡°I mentioned it this morning,¡± he began, ¡°But I¡¯ve pulled some strings and got you excused for a while. The pretense is that you¡¯ve got some awful sickness that might take a couple of months to fully get itself out of your system. Ellie will be bringing you your homework every day, which you can turn in when you go back to school.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°I think we should set some ground rules on how you¡¯re going to go about life in this little adjustment period. I¡¯ll give you a week to just loaf around, get physically used to your new body, and come to grips with your situation, but after that you¡¯re going to have to do a bit more.¡±


    ¡°First,¡± he said, holding up a finger, ¡°You have to do your homework every day. Second,¡± he held up another finger, ¡°You must come to the Outlands every day. I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re doing freelancer work with The Rumors or if you find something else to occupy your time, but you have to be in a situation where you can interact with other people. And if you do freelancer work you do have to work with The Rumors, just to keep you talking to people. Finally, I want to hear your thoughts about the day every evening. And that¡¯s all. Does that sound doable?¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, I suppose. Ker convinced me to give freelancing another shot, so I was going to do that anyway.¡±


    Gramps smiled. ¡°Good. Now, what would you like to do for the rest of the day? It¡¯s up to you.¡±


    ¡°I was going to go talk with Ker, and I¡¯ll figure something out. Maybe do some training or something? I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Gramps stood up, walked over to Tess, and gave her a hug. ¡°That sounds good. Just let me know what you decide, alright?¡±


    ¡°OK, Gramps.¡± Tess replied, returning the hug.


    ¡°Atta girl.¡± He said, letting go of the hug. ¡°Now hop to it, you¡¯ll feel better once you¡¯re doing something.¡±


    Tess nodded and left the room. Ker was just outside the door, waiting. ¡°All finished?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yeah. What¡¯d you want to talk about?¡±


    ¡°I was just wondering if you wanted to do some dungeon diving, just the two of us. We can invite the rest of The Rumors if you want, but I figured that you might want to give Alice some time to cool her head, and if we excluded just her it would probably make her attitude worse, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that sounds good.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Let me tell Gramps, then we can go.¡±


    Fighterman481


    I have to ask, does anyone else know what orange rolls are? Because I never hear anyone talk about them ever and they''re delicious. They''re kind of like cinnamon rolls but...better, at least in my opinion.


    Also, don''t worry about Ker being seen through the windows. They''re way out in the middle of nowhere and the chance of someone visiting is close to zero. That and, from a distance, he''d just look like a really tall person, so it''s about as safe as can be.


    Um...not much else to say. It''s late here and I''ve just been starting at the box for a while so I''m just going to end it.


    So, uh, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 7: Cub’s Den

    Tess emerged from Gramps¡¯ office with her new ¡°paperwork¡±, which was actually in the form of some addition to her band. ¡°So, are we going to the slime dungeon again or somewhere else?¡± Tess asked.


    Ker scratched his chin thoughtfully. ¡°There are a couple of other low-difficulty dungeons around here, let¡¯s visit one of them. You want to do the easier or the harder one first? We¡¯ll be going through both of them anyway to get your rewards, but the order is up to you.¡±


    ¡°Easier.¡± Tess said firmly. ¡°Slimes don¡¯t exactly fight back much, so I¡¯d like to get a feel for how tough I actually am.¡±


    Ker nodded. ¡°A wise plan. Alright, let¡¯s go pick up a couple of jobs and then get going.¡± He stood up and walked down the hall, Tess following closely behind.


    ¡°Why the jobs?¡± Tess asked, ¡°We didn¡¯t get any for the other dungeon.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because there aren¡¯t any for that dungeon. It¡¯s one of the most popular already, so it doesn¡¯t need incentive for people to clear it, unlike these other two.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°Why would the guild provide incentive to clear a dungeon? Do they need materials that badly?¡±


    Ker shook his head. ¡°While materials are part of the reason, the main reason has to do with how dungeons work. If someone doesn¡¯t go in and clear them every once in a while, they go ¡°wild¡± and start growing, but the more they¡¯re cleared the longer it¡¯ll take them to go wild. When they do go wild, the living quarters vanish, the dungeon starts to become more difficult, and if you let it go for a really long time then monsters start to leave the dungeon. So, for most dungeons there¡¯s a standing reward for a clear. If you take the job, then your guild identification will track clears for that dungeon. Or at least kills of the boss monster, but there are only like¡­three sets of dungeons that have the same boss, so it¡¯s basically the same thing.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you just farm the boss over and over without taking the time to fully clear the dungeon? That seems like an oversight.¡±


    ¡°Unlike getting Rewards Crystals, only clearing the boss is required to prevent a dungeon from going wild. Scholars have been trying to figure out why for a long time, but no one¡¯s been able to find a satisfactory answer.¡±


    They exited the staff hallways into the main room, which was significantly less crowded than it had been the last time Tess had been there.


    ¡°Anyway, most modern identification will track the last ten or twenty monsters you¡¯ve killed, so you can still get the reward if you don¡¯t take the job, but that limits how long you can stay there and it¡¯s just not efficient when you could take the job and stay for a while.¡± Ker continued, steering her over to the line for one of the counters.


    Ker looked like he was going to keep talking, but there was a commotion from behind the counters and a voice from the far counter called out to them. ¡°Ker, Tess, over here!¡±


    They walked over to the new, line-free counter and were greeted by Graham, the minotaur from the previous day. ¡°Hey there!¡± He said cheerfully, ¡°I¡¯ve been assigned to be a personal receptionist for you, Ellie, and The Rumors.¡±


    Ker raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oh? Why¡¯s that?¡±


    Graham smiled. ¡°Well, Guildmaster Los said that his grandkids had run into some¡­unique circumstances and it would be safer if I just did everything for them. I¡¯ve been told that Tess in particular won¡¯t be selling me her materials most of the time, but I don¡¯t know any of the details other than that it¡¯s confidential. I can make a guess or two from that, but I won¡¯t ask, don¡¯t worry. As for The Rumors, he called it a perk of working with the kids.¡±


    ¡°Is having a personal receptionist a big deal?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Usually it¡¯s reserved for people who¡¯ve helped the guild a great deal or have special circumstances.¡± Graham explained, ¡°It means you get to skip the long lines and always get the same receptionist in your home branch, or one of the better receptionists in other branches. Most people will probably assume it¡¯s the Guildmaster doting on you, but that¡¯s fine, he¡¯s an eccentric guy and he does his job well enough that no one will really care. Well, no one except for jealous freelancers, but they won¡¯t give you any trouble. If they do, then¡­¡± He trailed off, smiling darkly. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that no one is going to make waves over it. Especially in this branch, where everyone can guess who you are. No one wants to be on Guildmaster Los¡¯ bad side.¡±


    ¡°He may not seem it, but he¡¯s kind of a really big deal.¡± Ker told Tess, ¡°He manages the guild, and the guild is the closest thing the Outlands have to an independent governing body. And, given that the Outlands are the most important planes, he¡¯s as high up on the food chain as it gets; emperors would think twice before making him an enemy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just yanking my chain.¡± Tess said in disbelief, ¡°Him? He put relighting candles on my birthday cake when I was thirteen and then tried to pin it on Ellie. You¡¯ll have to forgive me if I¡¯m a little skeptical.¡±


    Graham smirked. ¡°Just because he¡¯s a goofball doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s unimportant. There¡¯s a reason they picked him to prep Mael to be introduced to wider society. He¡¯s great at making friends.¡±


    ¡°And he¡¯s got a lot of friends. Important friends.¡± Ker added. ¡°But we¡¯re getting off-topic, we were going to grab the job for our dungeon delve.¡±


    ¡°Right, which one would that be?¡± Graham asked, turning to the side to use the computer.


    ¡°Cub¡¯s Den.¡± Ker replied.


    ¡°Good choice.¡± He typed a few things into the computer before turning back to them. ¡°Alright, you¡¯re all set.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to update our identification?¡± Ker asked.


    ¡°Not necessary.¡± Graham said, ¡°As your personal receptionist, I can pull your files up without any hassle, and because you both have the new wireless stuff, changes I make reflect automatically. Good luck out there!¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Graham.¡± Ker replied, ¡°I look forward to working with you.¡±


    ¡°Um, me too.¡± Tess said.


    ¡°Likewise!¡± Graham said, waving as Ker and Tess left.


    The two exited the guild onto the main street, and Ker took Tess down a different way than the one that they had gone the previous day. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind my asking, you used planes when you were talking about the Outlands.¡± Tess began, ¡°I thought it was just one plane?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no.¡± Ker replied, ¡°Officially speaking, it¡¯s all one big plane. In reality, it¡¯s a collection of a bunch of planes. Every time we discover an uninhabited plane, it¡¯s treated as part of the Outlands until we decide what to do with it. If it¡¯s deemed safe for general habitation, people move in. If not, we establish a town much like this one and let freelancers work there if they so choose. It¡¯s risky work, going out and exploring the unknown, but a lot of people find the pay worth it; information about what¡¯s out there is worth a lot to the right people, especially if you manage to find a dungeon or some other potentially lucrative thing.¡±


    Tess nodded, and let the conversation die. They walked for a few more minutes before Ker led her to what appeared to be a rock cave rising up out of the otherwise flat ground. It was like someone had taken a ¡°dungeon¡± icon from a game overworld and just plopped it down into the real world.


    He steered her towards a couple of bored-looking watchmen, who let the two pass after checking their identification. The inside was much the same as the slime dungeon; featureless grey brick walls, a teleporter pad, an entrance to the dungeon proper, an entrance to the living areas, and a giant crystal in the center of the room.


    Unlike the slime dungeon, which had two or three stalls on the bottom floor, this only had one, staffed by another bored-looking individual. And, instead of going straight for the Party Crystal, Ker brought Tess to this stall. ¡°We need the dungeon¡¯s information packet, if you would.¡±


    The man in the stall nodded, rummaging around before handing a piece of paper to Ker. ¡°Do you want the maps as well?¡±


    ¡°No thanks.¡± Ker replied, and retreated from the Stall, Tess following closely behind. ¡°The information packet is given free of charge by the guild, any shop that sets up in a dungeon is required to carry them and give them to people. You can get a copy at any guild branch too, but if there¡¯s a shop in the dungeon it¡¯s usually best to grab it there if you plan to go to the dungeon regardless of what¡¯s on the sheet; the process of getting the right packet won¡¯t take as much time. That being said, the guild doesn¡¯t do maps for most dungeons, so they generally cost money and are only sold at shops.


    ¡°If you ask me, they¡¯re not usually worth it, either, so don¡¯t bother with them unless you really need to know what you could find. They¡¯re better for the small dungeons that only have four or five layouts, but for the big ones? They¡¯re practically useless. Yeah, you could find patterns in the floor generation, but any important ones will be on the info sheet, so most freelancers have learned not to rely on them.¡±


    They took a moment to use the Party Crystal, then Ker led Tess to the door. ¡°Um, aren¡¯t we going to look at the packet?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Later.¡± Ker replied, opening the door and shepherding Tess through. As opposed to the grey brick of the previous dungeon, the inside of this one was cave-like; rugged stone walls, stalactites dripping water onto a small carpet of stalagmites, and a vague humidity in the air. It was darker in here, but still bright enough to be visible. The change in lighting and shift from an environment that suggested it was built by people to a natural one was enough to draw Tess¡¯s attention to the fact that there was no visible source of light.


    Actually, now that she was thinking about it, the previous dungeon didn¡¯t have one either. ¡°Ker, where does the light in dungeons come from?¡±


    ¡°Not sure.¡± He replied, shrugging. ¡°Every dungeon¡¯s lighting is different, sometimes they¡¯ll have actual lights like torches or lightbulbs, sometimes it¡¯ll be an omnipresent, constant light like in this one, sometimes it won¡¯t have light, and sometimes it¡¯s a combination of any or all of those. Best not to worry about it, just check the information sheet to find out and have some mounted lights on hand for if you need them.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Tess said, glancing around again. There were no monsters, and further sight into the dungeon was blocked by a twist in the path. Unlike the previous dungeon, it seemed that this wasn¡¯t just a series of rooms connected by doors. Well, unless there was a door beyond the bend, but Tess had a feeling there wouldn¡¯t be. ¡°So, when are we going to read that packet?¡± She asked, keeping a wary eye on the bend in case any monsters came around.


    ¡°I wanted to wait until we were in the dungeon to talk about it, as we won¡¯t have to worry about keeping quiet about your abilities. This is a dungeon where monsters don¡¯t respawn while we¡¯re inside so once we clear out the floor, we¡¯ll have a nice, private place to talk in. As the dungeon¡¯s name implies, we¡¯re mostly dealing with baby monsters, so this shouldn¡¯t be a problem even with your stats.¡± Ker set off down the cave, Tess once against trailing behind.


    Their work was short. There were, in total, 8 monsters on the floor. They were, as promised, all babies of some form or another ¨C bear cubs, fawns, a lion cub¡­well, that was about it for that floor, but Tess had to admit that their cuteness was offset only by their aggressive murderous tendencies. Ker got most of them before Tess even had a chance to give them a whack, so she wasn¡¯t able to get a really good handle on how tough they were compared to her but for the time being they were just clearing the area, not trying to train, so it was fine.


    The layout of the floor ended up revolving around a central intersection, with four branching paths including the one they entered from. Down one of the paths was the exit, and the rest held only monsters.


    ¡°This dungeon is too weak to hold any treasure or traps.¡± Ker explained. ¡°The three small ones in this city were placed here directly by the God of Dungeons to serve as a training ground for those with low levels, and we make sure to keep them cleared so they never have a chance to grow further.


    ¡°He sat down on the rough ground near the exit and took out the information packet, motioning for Tess to sit next to him. Once she was sitting, he passed the sheet to her. ¡°Give it a once-over while I talk.¡± He said. ¡°You¡¯ll notice that the packet is divided into sections. The front page is dedicated to the really important information; number of floors, what floors have bosses, and anything that¡¯s vitally important to keep in mind while traversing the dungeon such as particularly deadly monsters or traps.¡±


    Like he said, the front page contained just that. Under the name of the dungeon, it was listed as having 7 floors, with the only boss on floor seven, and no further vital information.


    ¡°If nothing else, always, always read the first page carefully. It could very well save your life multiple times. Even with insurance you want to avoid dying as much as possible; it¡¯s an awful experience and resurrection isn¡¯t exactly cheap. And if your whole party is wiped and you¡¯re in a dungeon far away from civilization then there¡¯s a real chance you don¡¯t make it back before it¡¯s too late.¡±


    ¡°How late is that?¡±


    ¡°Usually a week. If you¡¯ve signed up for the really nice, expensive packages, then it¡¯s a year. I believe your grandfather put you on that one, but it¡¯s best to pretend you don¡¯t have any insurance at all.


    ¡°Anyway, the next page details some common patterns in the floor layouts, and the pages after that have a list of monsters and traps known to be in the dungeon and brief descriptions. Never take those as complete lists, though. In larger dungeons, it¡¯s relatively common for there to be monsters and traps not on this list simply because there¡¯s a lot of monsters and traps. If you do encounter a monster or trap not on the list, make sure to report it to the guild, and they¡¯ll look into verifying it. Usually a report needs to come from a trusted source or be reported more than once to be put on the list, so it¡¯s rare for there to be misinformation.¡±


    A quick glance showed that the dungeon didn¡¯t have any traps, and the monsters, as expected, were all babies of some form or another. The writeups weren¡¯t terribly detailed (no in-depth stats or anything) but gave a quick overview of behavior and notable characteristics for each monster.


    ¡°After that is a more detailed write-up on bosses. Make sure you read up on the bosses before you fight one, just to make things as smooth as possible.¡±


    Tess nodded, and took a look. The boss for this dungeon was named ¡°Mama Bear¡±, and it seemed simple enough; it had a bunch of minions, which were just regular monsters from the dungeon, and whenever a minion was hurt Mama Bear got stronger in proportion to the damage dealt and started attacking whoever hurt the minion.


    ¡°A list of known Challenges and how to reach them follows. Don¡¯t worry about that for now, I¡¯ll take you to the only one in the dungeon on our way through. It¡¯s a pretty simple one, you just make your way through the Challenge room without killing any of the monsters. The last section is what you in particular want to pay really close attention to, though. It¡¯s got a list of all known rewards from the Rewards Crystal, as well as at what clears you get a shot at the Crystal. Now, this is never a complete list, because there are ultra-rare rewards that just don¡¯t come up often enough for us to have been able to record them. Look through them and let me know what interests you. You can basically choose what you want to get, so if there¡¯s something you think would be really nice then you can grab it.


    ¡°Still, I think it would also be wise to not try and actively pick anything for at least a few of the results if you want to get strong as fast as possible. Your blessing should guarantee you the most optimal results, and there¡¯s always the chance of there being something really nice that you don¡¯t even expect.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Tess said, flipping to the last few pages of the packet, ¡°Do you have a pencil or something? I want to take notes.¡±


    Ker reached into his satchel, pulled one out, and tossed it to her. ¡°Knock yourself out.¡±


    Tess tucked it into her ear and began to read. This dungeon had¡­seven shots at the Rewards Crystal, so she could pick at most seven things she wanted, but she was planning on taking Ker¡¯s advice, so she dropped that down to five. That wasn¡¯t a lot, considering the list was over 100 entries long if she was any judge, so she had her work cut out for her.


    Still, of all the problems she could be having, this was certainly one of the most welcome. So, she smiled and got to work.


    Fighterman481

 Chapter 8: Upward Progress

    ¡°What¡¯s Status Tennis?¡± Tess asked, frowning. ¡°I can¡¯t figure it out by the name.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that.¡± Ker said, tapping his finger on his chin thoughtfully, ¡°Usually it¡¯s considered a pretty trash Skill, but it might have merit for you. Basically, if you resist a status effect, you have the opportunity to reflect it back at your opponent, lowering their resistance against the status. If they succeed, it reflects back to you, giving you the same penalty, if you succeed again it goes back to them at a larger penalty and so on. Higher rarities allow you to turn it off and on at will, and I believe at max rarity you can apply it to statuses you attempt to give enemies, meaning if they resist there¡¯s a shot at getting them anyway.


    ¡°This issue with it is simply a matter of numbers. Yes, it is more likely to hurt your enemy than it is to hurt you, but in the long run those times it backfires become debilitating. Certain status effects can decide a fight by themselves, and sure, getting a few extra kills with it is good, but that doesn¡¯t matter much when it could kill you just as easily. Fortunately, it is a togglable Skill, so most people just keep it off if they get it. However, that drawback isn¡¯t that much of an issue for you, seeing as how your enemies will always get the status if it¡¯s possible for them to get that status, and you will never get it if it¡¯s possible for you to not get it. I¡¯d consider it if I were you, it¡¯s got real potential.¡±


    Tess nodded, putting a check next to the entry for Status Tennis on the packet. It was listed as coming in Uncommon, Rare, and Epic, so Tess figured she might as well just grab the highest rarity version of it. Unless Ker advised against it, anyway. ¡°Is there ever a case where I shouldn¡¯t go for the highest rarity version of something?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ker replied. ¡°Higher rarity versions of Skills or Classes are strictly upgrades, as far as we¡¯re able to tell. If they add extra features to something the new features will be toggleable, so you can just turn off any aspects you don¡¯t like, provided there¡¯s a lower rarity version that lacks those aspects. Oh, but do be sure to specify ¡°highest rarity¡± and not a specific rarity ¨C it¡¯s often the case that rarer Skills have Legendary or Mythical versions that we don¡¯t know about.¡±


    ¡°Good to know. In your opinion, what¡¯s the best magic Class out of the ones offered here?¡± She asked, proffering the packet.


    Ker waved it away. ¡°Yours. As Alice pointed out, it¡¯s the most powerful Class that any of us have ever even heard of. You¡¯d be stalling your progression in it while you work with another, and that¡¯s a bad idea until you get to higher levels. As I understand it, you only have a problem with ejecting cores, and levelling up Monster Breeder will give you more capacity, so you won¡¯t have to eject cores as often, and you get more slots to use Attributes or the original versions of Skills you get. Once we get past the beginner dungeons, you¡¯ll start seeing monsters that can use magic, so you can just get magic Skills from monsters if you want them. But, if I¡¯m wrong about only ejecting cores being uncomfortable, then I¡¯ll give you my recommendation.¡±


    Tess sighed. ¡°No, you¡¯re right. And I did say I would try a bit more with Monster Breeder, so I can wait, I guess.¡±


    She looked over the list a little more. ¡°Is there any reason I wouldn¡¯t take the Magic (All Normal Types) series of Skills over individual attributes?¡±


    ¡°For you, not really.¡± Ker replied, ¡°The main drawback of it is that it starts a step below the other magic Skills in terms of what you can learn. With any type of magic, if you want to get access to the more advanced Skills then you need to have the previous Skills in that tree. The All Magic Skills start a step below, with ¡°Cantrip¡± level magic, while everything else starts at ¡°Basic¡±. It¡¯s also a lot rarer than typed magic, so even the most advanced magic users have at most the Intermediate version. The most use high level people tend to get out of it is that it counts as a prerequisite for higher versions of other magics and removes the lower or equivalent versions from their pool of possible rewards, as the spells it allows them to use are generally obsolete at that point. But, again, you don¡¯t care about the rarity, so you could just take that all the way to the top.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of, how are there any cohesive magic users, with how luck-based getting the ability to cast any of those spells is?¡±


    ¡°Classes. Having high Luck helps too, but for the most part it¡¯s Classes. As far as everyone¡¯s been able to tell, when you get a Skill that lets you use more of an attribute of magic, it just gives you the next level, so even if a Class only gives one or two of those Skills, that could put you well along the path to using the good spells from that attribute, and unless you¡¯ve already got all the spells, it¡¯s equally as useful no matter when you get it.¡±


    ¡°How many ranks of magic Skills are there?¡±


    ¡°Five normally, six if it¡¯s All Magic. We¡­think six for All Magic, anyway, no one¡¯s recorded getting anything over Advanced. There¡¯s a chance there¡¯s no Master or Complete, but we don¡¯t see why there wouldn¡¯t be.¡±


    Tess put a check near Magic (All Normal Types) as well. ¡°So, theoretically I could just get all six All Magic Skills and have the ability to use all magic?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no.¡± Ker replied, ¡°There are combination types that you need Skills for too, and All Magic Types doesn¡¯t grant those. People have theorized that there¡¯s a Magic (All Combination Types) series as well, but there have been no substantiated reports of it. Anyway, with your stats you¡¯re only going to be able to handle maybe one Advanced spell with your mana pool and won¡¯t even be able to use the later tiers. If you really want it get at most Intermediate, but really, I¡¯d recommend picking up a magic Skill only once per dungeon and focus on other things instead. It¡¯ll be more beneficial in the short term, and by the time you have all that magic available to you you¡¯ll actually be able to use most of it.¡±


    ¡°Right, so, I¡¯m getting All Magic and Status Tennis, should I be interested in some sort of weapon Skill?¡±


    ¡°My gut says no.¡± Ker said, ¡°At least not for the time being. You¡¯d be better off taking something that you can use with anything. I¡¯m not exactly sure how your whole Attribute thing works, but there¡¯s a real possibility you¡¯ll be able to take natural weapons from monsters and use them, and weapon-only Skills won¡¯t apply there. Although¡­Skills that buff your unarmed combat might. Maybe pick up something like Stunning Blow that only works with unarmed combat just to test it out. Make sure it¡¯s a Skill that causes a status effect, so that way it¡¯ll help you out even if it doesn¡¯t work with natural weapons.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure being up close and personal is something I¡¯m really suited for with my stat spread.¡± Tess retorted.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure. You¡¯ll likely be at a disadvantage in terms of stats with whatever you meet, yes, but there are ways around that, especially with your Underdog Skill and buffing magic. And most monsters will always go for your teammates first due to Target of Affection, so as long as you¡¯re careful with what you hurt you can choose how many enemies you¡¯re fighting at once. You¡¯ll almost never have to worry about that if you have someone like Ellie with you, so I think it¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°I can try it, I guess. Worst case scenario it¡¯ll be useful in self-defense against other people.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. I¡­¡± He trailed off. ¡°Come to think of it, how specific can your choosing of what you get be? Can you make conditions for what you get?¡±


    ¡°Not sure. Haven¡¯t had much of a chance to rigorously test it.¡±


    ¡°Next time we fight monsters, let¡¯s do an experiment, then. Try and get cores from male monsters, and materials from female monsters. You won¡¯t be able to tell what they are in the heat of battle, so I think it¡¯s a workable way to check. If you can specify conditions, then try and grab Stunning Blow only if it works with natural weapons.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good. Anything else you¡¯d recommend before I make my final choices?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re getting Status Tennis, work on rounding out your list of resistances. Bleeding is a common status, as is Stun and Dazed, since most pure physical Skills have a chance to inflict one of those. Honestly, though, I would just leave it up to your Luck. If I¡¯m right about how it works, and that is an if, since, due to its nature, Luck hasn¡¯t been able to be seriously tested, then until you decide what kind of role you want to fulfill it¡¯ll just give you the best general-use Skills, and those are not to be sneezed at. Yeah, it¡¯s boring, but it¡¯s also highly practical. Once you do figure out what you want to be doing, I would honestly just leave everything up to luck unless you really want something. It¡¯s more exciting and will fill out your toolkit as best as possible.¡±


    ¡°Best how? Who decides?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know who decides or what criteria they use. You¡¯d have to ask Fortune. We really don¡¯t know much about Luck other than what we can observe, and our best observation of people with high Luck is that they have more synergistic toolsets. I mean, so far what you¡¯ve got works really nicely with what you already had, so expect something similar in the future.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Fortune, any input?¡±


    They waited for a moment, but nothing happened.


    ¡°Great. Now I just feel silly.¡±


    ¡°Eh, it was worth a shot.¡± Ker replied, ¡°You ready to go?¡±


    ¡°I still have to look over the Challenge rewards.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Ker said, ¡°The best Skills all come from Challenges, but they¡¯re also the rarest. Our databases for what Challenges give won¡¯t have the really rare stuff in it, so you¡¯ll probably miss out on really nice things if you try and pick.¡±


    Tess sighed, standing up. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right. In that case, I¡¯m ready.¡±


    ¡°Not quite.¡± Ker told her. ¡°You¡¯ve got a free slot for a core, right? Let¡¯s find the smallest one and absorb it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t have any reason not to, yeah.¡± She took the cores out from her bag. The largest cores were from the bear cubs, with the lion cub¡¯s being slightly smaller, and the fawn cores being the smallest. They were generally only barely smaller than a slime¡¯s core, so she felt pretty confident about absorbing it. ¡°If you, um¡­let me use the bathroom after this, I think I would feel comfortable ejecting it and trying another. Something of this size isn¡¯t much worse than pooping.¡±


    Ker smiled. ¡°Good. I¡¯m proud of you.¡±


    Tess blushed and absorbed the core.


    You have absorbed a Dire Deer (Young) Core!


    Slots filled: 1/1


    You have gained 15 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    No new Skills or abilities detected!


    Displaying core information:


    Dire Deer (Young) Core:


    Level 2


    Estimated Power: 3


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 4


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Antlers


    Fur (Fundamental)


    Hooves


    Kemonomimi (Deer) (Fundamental)


    Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental)


    New Attributes discovered!


    Antlers:


    Gives the creature antlers, increasing the effectiveness of abilities that use the skull, such as headbutts.


    Fur:


    Covers the creature in a thin layer of fur. This layer of fur may be augmented or changed with further Attributes.


    Hooves:


    Hardens the creature¡¯s feet into hooves.


    Kemonomimi (Deer):


    Replaces the creature¡¯s regular ears and tail with those of a deer, as well as providing ears or a tail to creatures without.


    Quadrupedal Adaptation:


    Allows the creature to easily walk on four limbs. Quadrupedal locomotion is faster than bipedal locomotion but more tiring with less granular speed, leaving only walking speed or running speed while using four limbs. Requires at least four limbs.


    ¡°Anything good?¡± Ker asked.


    ¡°Not¡­really. The best I could get would be some antlers or the ability to walk on all fours, but I feel like being able to turn into slime would be more useful.¡±


    ¡°Agreed. Are you going to try the lion¡¯s core next?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Um¡­do dungeons have bathrooms? Like, on the safe floors?¡±


    ¡°In the residential area, yeah. They have some that are separate from any private apartments or anything, I¡¯ll show you where.¡±


    They left the floor and Ker brought Tess to the bathrooms. She entered one and locked the door, then sat on the toilet and prepared to eject the core.


    As the core wasn¡¯t that much bigger than a slime¡¯s, the process was nearly identical to ejecting the slime core, with the added bonus of being in a position where she could easily clean up the mess. Once she was done, she tidied herself up and absorbed the lion cub¡¯s core.


    You have absorbed a Monstrous Lion (Young) Core!


    Slots filled: 1/1


    You have gained 25 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    No new Skills or abilities detected!


    Displaying core information:


    Monstrous Lion (Young) Core:


    Level 4


    Estimated Power: 8


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 12


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Fur (Fundamental)


    Kemonomimi (Lion) (Fundamental)


    Night Vision (Inferior)


    Retractable Claws


    Sharp Claws


    Sharp Fangs


    Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental)


    New Attributes discovered!


    Kemonomimi (Lion):


    Kemonomimi (Lion) replaces a creature¡¯s regular ears and tail with those of a lion, as well as providing ears or a tail to creatures without.


    Night Vision (Inferior):


    Provides some extra vision in low-light condition. Extra vision is of worse quality than regular vision and does not have color.


    Retractable Claws:


    Retractable Claws allows the creature to retract their claws at will. Requires claws.


    Sharp Claws:


    Greatly hardens and sharpens the nails of the creature¡¯s hands and feet, turning them into claws. Increases slashing damage dealt with claws. Requires hands or feet.


    Sharp Fangs:


    Greatly sharpens the creature¡¯s teeth, giving them fangs. Increases piercing damage dealt by the teeth. Requires teeth.


    This, on the other hand, had things she could use. She tried to swap Amorphous (Slimy) with Sharp Claws, and there was an odd sort of¡­shifting feeling that lasted for about half a minute, at which point she checked found that the lion cub¡¯s core now had Amorphous (Slimy), and she had Sharp Claws.


    She tried it out and was met with a fluttering sound from around her feet. Looking down, she found that her socks and shoes had¡­vanished. She was barefoot, and her nails (both hand and foot) were certainly looking the part of claws, having thickened up dramatically and elongated to the length of around an inch and a half, sharpened to a nasty-looking point.


    She reverted it and her footwear came back, much to her relief. That done, she exited the bathroom and met back up with Ker. ¡°All done, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Ker nodded, and the pair entered the next floor of the dungeon. ¡°So,¡± Ker asked as soon as they were inside, ¡°What¡¯d you get?¡±


    Tess showed him. ¡°Natural weapons, just like you guessed. No telling how effective they are until I use them, though.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to take the backseat here, so it¡¯s a perfect place to test. This floor¡¯s all you.¡±


    Tess took a step forward, and one problem became immediately obvious; her feet were not suited to walking on the cave floor without shoes. ¡°Well¡­now what?¡± She asked, gingerly placing her foot into a less painful spot, ¡°I can¡¯t go through the whole cave like this.¡±


    Ker rubbed his chin. ¡°We¡¯ll have to see if we can get you footwear that you can put on solely for when your feet are transformed. If we¡¯re lucky anything you¡¯re wearing will just disappear when you stop using the Attribute, like your shoes do when you start using it. Then you can switch back and forth without worrying about this.¡±


    She stopped using Sharp Claws and let her shoes come back. ¡°We can worry about it after we¡¯ve cleared the dungeon once.¡± She said, ¡°For now I¡¯ll just use the staff.¡±


    ¡°Right. I¡¯ll play the role of tank, you just practice going in for the kill. Try and attack the most vulnerable point you can while their attention isn¡¯t on you, to get as much out of their lack of aggro as possible.¡± He adopted a thoughtful expression. ¡°Man, do you know what most assassins would pay for an ability like Target of Affection? It doesn¡¯t work on people but drawing practically no aggro would be so good for them. Might be worth picking up some crit enhancing Skills so you can make full use of that.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen any crits, so they¡¯re not Luck-based, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, forgot you wouldn¡¯t have seen any. You get them when you attack a weak point. Usually, it¡¯s something like the heart, brain, or neck, but it depends on the monster. The basic slimes you fought don¡¯t really have a weak point, so you can¡¯t crit them outside of specially made gear or certain abilities.¡±


    ¡°So¡­just hit the vitals as much as possible?¡±


    Ker shrugged. ¡°Basically. Normally that¡¯s much easier said than done, but most monsters should just let you waltz right up and take them out. Most. I wouldn¡¯t get in the habit of doing that to monsters you don¡¯t know, though. There¡¯s no telling what¡¯s going to be immune and ready to bite your face off. Best wait until an ally has their attention. That¡¯s enough talk, though. The monsters didn¡¯t seem to aim for you when we were clearing out the last floor, so as long as you¡¯re cautious it should be fine.¡±


    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s do this.¡± Tess carefully walked forward, paying close attention to the area in front of her, watching for any monsters. Their first enemy came after only a couple of bends in the corridor, one of the deer monsters. It froze for a long moment when it saw them, and then charged towards Ker, paying the much closer Tess no mind.


    She took aim and, after a second swung her staff with all her might, hitting the deer¡¯s face with a satisfying crack.


    You have crushed Dire Deer (Young)¡¯s skull for a critical 54 damage!


    You have killed Dire Deer (Young)! You gain 23 EXP! Monster Breeder has gained 12 EXP!


    The deer exploded into a pile of coins and a core, which Tess picked up. ¡°That felt¡­pretty good.¡±


    Ker smiled. ¡°Killing a monster like that always does. How much damage did you do?¡±


    ¡°Fifty-four with a critical hit. Do they just double damage or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, baseline crits double damage and pierce some defense. But¡­only 27 after the grinding we did and with a hit like that? Swinging that hard and with the monster running forward as fast as possible? Yikes. What level are you?¡±


    ¡°Eleven.¡±


    Ker hissed. ¡°That¡¯s real nasty. Well, at least that staff isn¡¯t anything special, and you don¡¯t have any bonuses or anything. You¡¯re at your most vulnerable right now, give yourself some time to accumulate Skills and things will get better.¡±


    ¡°How long before monsters start using Skills? I haven¡¯t gotten a single one.¡± Tess replied, frowning


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re probably not going to get any from the three beginner dungeons. Well¡­not from the regular monsters, anyway. The bosses will give you some for sure, and you might get some from the monsters in the Challenges, but those cores are going to be bigger. Whether or not you want to absorb one you¡¯re not comfortable ejecting is up to you, but I¡¯d at least consider it once you have more slots to work with. You don¡¯t have to eject it right away or even eject it at all, but it would greatly help you out.¡±


    Tess paused. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­think about it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about it, there¡¯s no pressure right now. Let¡¯s just finish clearing this floor, eh? I¡¯ll tank, you just get used to getting good shots to the vitals.¡±


    Tess nodded, hefting her staff. ¡°I had some aggression to work out anyway. They won¡¯t know what hit them.¡±


    Fighterman481


    And we still are making progress with Tess as a person, so I''m letting it slide. We should be out of the thick of it for now, and I''ll try to avoid any further "planning" to this extent until Tess decides what she wants her speciality to be, and then I''ll just make an offhand note of her deciding what her picks will be and surprise everyone with them, since I think that''s more fun.


    I almost made the Sharp Claws Attribute shred her shoes completely (and did write it that way for a bit before changing my mind), but decided against it. I''m not a fan of the clothing damage trope in general, and while this instance is justifiable and benign, it wouldn''t be consistent with some of the bigger transformations (such as Amorphous (Slimy)), so I decided to go all or nothing.


    Anyway, that''s all I''ve decided to say (I''m withholding some things as potential spoilers ;) ), so next time we''ll be taking out the Challenge and the boss of Cub''s Den, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 9: Unarmed and Dangerous

    ¡°Hey, before we forget, what dropped from the monster? Was it a core or materials?¡± Ker asked.


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± Tess replied, checking over the drops. ¡°Materials.¡±


    Ker grinned. ¡°Nice, you should have a pretty good ability to set limitations on what you get, then. You can go back to getting cores now if you want, just wanted to check.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll do that. I don¡¯t need the materials for anything.¡±


    With that, the two cleared the rest of the floor. The fights went pretty similar to how the one with the dire deer had, the monsters just charging at Ker and letting Tess wallop them for massive damage.


    While the monsters didn¡¯t give her enough experience to level up herself, Monster Breeder was a different story. Once they had finished with the floor, she stopped Ker before exiting. ¡°Hey, Monster Breeder leveled up.¡± She said, ¡°I think I¡¯m going to absorb one of Big Bertha¡¯s cores, so let me do that before we go further.¡±


    Ker raised an eyebrow. ¡°That was fast, usually Classes level a lot slower than that¡­¡± He trailed off. ¡°Right, your blessing. Forgot. Go ahead, but don¡¯t bother looking through them for size differences; whenever a boss drops a core, it¡¯s identical to any other core they drop.¡±


    Tess nodded and took out one of the cores from her bag. She was still holding onto them, as The Rumors didn¡¯t take her and Ellie to sell their drops from their session at the other dungeon, and she hadn¡¯t had a good opportunity to give Gramps her drops anyway.


    The core was about twice as large as the slime¡¯s core she had absorbed the day before and was glowing a pale blue in the dim light. She took a moment to steel herself, then absorbed it. The process took a bit longer, the amount of smoke coming from the core being understandably larger than the amount that came from the other cores she had absorbed.


    You have absorbed a Big Bertha Core!


    Slots filled: 2/2


    You have gained 50 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    New Skill detected!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Physical Nullification (Inferior)¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Physical Nullification (Miniscule)!


    Physical Nullification (Miniscule):


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Nullifies 1% of physical damage received.


    Sticks and stones can¡¯t break your bones. Well, sticks can¡¯t, the jury¡¯s out on stones.


    Displaying core information:


    Big Bertha Core:


    Level 8


    Estimated Power: 25


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 50


    Current Skills:


    Physical Nullification (Inferior)


    Current Attributes:


    Amorphous (Slimy)


    New Skill discovered!


    Physical Nullification (Inferior):


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Nullifies 5% of physical damage received.


    You¡¯re rubber, they¡¯re¡­no, you¡¯re just rubber. That¡¯s it.


    Tess was tempted to take Physical Nullification (Inferior) right away, but she decided to hold off on it for a bit. ¡°Well, I did get a Skill.¡± She said. ¡°Pretty good one too¡­I think.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Physical Nullification (Miniscule). Bertha had the Minor version of it.¡±


    Ker nodded. ¡°Darn right that¡¯s good. Every little bit of damage reduction helps, especially for someone as fragile as you. Are you stacking both versions right now?¡±


    ¡°No, I want to try something.¡± Tess took off one of her shoes, then activated Sharp Claws, letting her shoes and socks fade away as the claws came out. She then took Retractable Claws from the Monstrous Lion (Young) Core and retracted the claws, placing the shoe back on her foot. At that point she deactivated Sharp Claws and watched as her other shoe came back into being¡­and nothing happened to the one she was wearing.


    ¡°There goes the ability to have a set of footwear specifically for when my claws were out.¡± She said, beginning to take off both her shoes and socks. ¡°I guess that wouldn¡¯t really work if I took off the Attribute anyway. Actually¡­¡± She paused halfway through the process, reactivating Sharp Claws with only one foot wearing a shoe. She took one of Bertha¡¯s cores from her bag and held it with her toes on the foot that was wearing the shoe, then tried to deactivate Sharp Claws.


    There was an odd sensation, but nothing happened. ¡°Well, that¡¯s good to know. Can¡¯t deactivate an Attribute if clothing it would put back on me wouldn¡¯t fit.¡± She frowned, then tried again. ¡°Actually, I feel like I might be able to if I force it. Don¡¯t want to ruin my shoe, though, so I won¡¯t.¡± She put the core back in her bag, deactivated Sharp Claws, finished taking the shoe and sock off, then reactivated Sharp Claws. She then retracted only the claws on her feet and put the footwear back on. ¡°Handy, that. Guess we don¡¯t need to stop by the shoe store.¡±


    ¡°Guess not. I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to try those out next floor, though.¡±


    Tess tilted her head, putting the claws away. ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Challenge. If you want access, you have to go through the entire third floor without hurting anything, and then go through another gauntlet of more tightly-packed monsters without hurting any of them. It¡¯s pretty rough for beginners and they tend to come back to it once they¡¯re better geared, but it should be laughably easy for you. We¡¯ll just waltz on through the floor, I can tank any number of these small fry, so don¡¯t worry about me.¡±


    And, true to his word, he could. By the time they had finished the floor, there were five or six monsters all trying to do some meaningful damage to him (even though they were only barely taller than his ankles), but he was just standing there as if they were puppies play-biting. ¡°Just go through the door.¡± He said, ¡°It¡¯ll take us to the Challenge.¡±


    The room beyond was a single large hallway, made of a dark grey brick and lit by torches. There were arches down the length of it, and Tess could barely make out silhouettes in shadowy alcoves underneath them. They weren¡¯t lacking in presence, however; the hall was filled with a cacophony of growls, snarls, and barks, all clearly hostile. Tess gave Ker a worried look. ¡°You really think they¡¯ll just leave me be? I think they count as ¡®unusually aggressive¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right behind you.¡± Ker said reassuringly. ¡°They¡¯ll go for me first. Even if they don¡¯t, I can outheal any damage they dish out provided you don¡¯t die immediately, and that shouldn¡¯t be an issue. They¡¯re pretty low level, there¡¯s just a lot of them.¡±


    ¡°If you say so¡­¡± Tess took a hesitant step forward, then another. And then she nearly had a heart attack as a window popped up in front of her.


    She exhaled loudly, then resumed her march. Right before she reached the first archway, there was a much louder growl, and then a pair of wolf cubs jumped down from their perches and barreled forward, sparing no time in their quest to injure their target.


    Which, as it turned out, was Ker. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± He laughed, seeing the worried look on Tess¡¯s face, ¡°Keep going.¡±


    The rest of the walk was tense, and Ker had picked up an entourage of twenty-odd beasts by the time they were done, but they made it without incident.


    The sight of the floating Rewards Crystal¡¯s room was gradually becoming familiar to Tess, the rooms containing them having yet to show any deviation whatsoever. She couldn¡¯t help but be filled with a sort of anticipation as she went to get her reward. The last one had completely changed her life in an irreversible way, and while she wasn¡¯t expecting something of that magnitude again, the possibility was there.


    But she wasn¡¯t going to delay because of that, so she put her hand to the crystal.


    You have gained the Skill Parasitizer!


    Parasitizer:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    All your unarmed attacks have a 10% chance to plant a parasite on the target, which deals 10% of that attack¡¯s damage (rounded down, minimum 1) to the target and restores that much HP to you every second until it is removed. Removing a parasite haphazardly will deal 50% of the damage of the attack that planted it on top of damage incurred by the removal method, but careful removal will not deal damage aside from damage incurred by the removal method. A maximum of 10 parasites may be on any target. Planted parasites may be killed off at any time, causing no damage to the host. Planted parasites lose the ability to heal you if you are not within 100 meters of the host, but still do damage. This Skill may be turned off and on at will.


    Turns out they were right. Leeches are good for your health.


    ¡°Is Parasitizer on the list of Skills you can get from this Rewards Crystal?¡± Tess asked.


    Ker looked the list over. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like it. What Rarity is it?¡±


    ¡°Legendary.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯d do it. It¡¯s not a Skill I¡¯m familiar with, mind filling me in?¡±


    Ker listened as Tess explained the Skill to him. ¡°That¡¯s¡­really solid. Really solid. That¡¯s some pretty strong motivation to go unarmed, even if natural weapons don¡¯t count, and now I¡¯m almost completely confident they will. We¡¯ll try it out on the next floor.¡±


    Tess nodded, and the two left the room and immediately entered the fourth floor, where Tess once again extended the claws on her hand and began to watch for enemies. Her wait was, fortunately, not long, as a pair of wolf cubs were waiting just a short way into the floor.


    Like all the monsters she had encountered, they went straight for Ker without paying her so much as a passing glance. She waited for a moment and then slashed out at one of them, her claws tearing through the hide without much resistance.


    You have gouged Monstrous Wolf (Young)¡¯s flank for 19 damage!


    You have planted a parasite on Monstrous Wolf (Young)! It will deal 1 damage and heal you 1 HP every second until removed.


    Tess didn¡¯t feel anything aside from the blood splashing onto her, but she was able to spot a writhing grey leech-like thing protruding from the wound as the wolf wheeled around on her, snarling and preparing itself to strike.


    Ker threw a pebble at it and it instantly turned its attention back to him, resuming its previous trajectory. A second later there was a pleasant tingling sensation, the wolf winced, and another second later it keeled over, body rapidly withering before it burst into rainbow haze.


    ¡°Nice!¡± Ker said, casually dancing around the other wolf, ¡°Remind me never to get into a fistfight with you!¡±


    Tess snorted. ¡°Please, you¡¯d destroy me before I even got in a hit.¡±


    ¡°For now. Give yourself some time to pick up some more Skills and all you¡¯ll need is one hit to cripple me. Unarmed fighting is inherently weaker than using weapons, so, as a tradeoff for not getting the bonuses a good weapon gives, the gods made unarmed Skills far, far more potent than weapon Skills.¡±


    He pinned the wolf down with a foot. ¡°Just take care of this one, cut its throat or something.¡±


    Tess stalked up to the struggling wolf and swiped down with her claws, opening a large gash on its neck and wincing as she was once again spattered with blood.


    You have cut Monstrous Wolf (Young)¡¯s throat for a critical 50 damage!


    Due to an attack on a vital point, you have inflicted Heavy Bleeding on Monstrous Wolf (Young)!


    You have planted a parasite on Monstrous Wolf (Young)! It will deal 5 damage and heal you 5 HP every second until removed.


    You have killed Monstrous Wolf (Young)! You have gained 26 EXP! Monster Breeder has gained 13 EXP!


    Fortunately, the blood evaporated with the rest of the monster when it disappeared, so she didn¡¯t stay dirty for long. She picked up the cores of the monsters, hesitating slightly as she gauged the size of them.


    They were about the same size as the cores of the lions, so she put them on her tentative list of cores she was willing to eject. Provided the lion core ejection wasn¡¯t that bad, anyway. It wasn¡¯t that big so she wasn¡¯t anticipating any trouble, but she couldn¡¯t help but be anxious about it anyway.


    The rest of the dungeon went by in much the same fashion. The floors were all, in essence, one crossroads and however many paths it had. The monsters all just rushed Ker and let Tess take them out with a couple of quick hits.


    Monster Breeder levelled up twice more, and Tess levelled up once, but she chose not to absorb any more cores until she had gone through all of the dungeon, save for the boss. Things were going well enough that she wanted to see all of her options before choosing to absorb anything, so she didn¡¯t have to do any unnecessary ejections.


    As it turned out, she didn¡¯t have to. She had seen all of the monsters the dungeon had to offer already, which meant the only cores she hadn¡¯t absorbed were the wolf cores and bear cores. She hesitated to absorb them both at once, wanting to leave a free slot for Mama Bear¡¯s core, but eventually decided to take them and just eject one later.


    So, at the end of the last floor before the boss, she had them stop before going into the safe area to let her absorb the cores and make adjustments to what Attributes she was using.


    You have absorbed a Monstrous Wolf (Young) Core!


    You have absorbed a Monstrous Bear (Young) Core!


    Slots filled: 4/4


    You have gained 50 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    Monster Breeder has leveled up!


    New cores absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    No new Skills or abilities detected!


    Displaying core information:


    Monstrous Bear (Young) Core:


    Level 5


    Estimated Power: 10


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 16


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Bipedal Adaption (Minor)


    Fur (Fundamental)


    Keen Nose (Inferior)


    Kemonomimi (Bear) (Fundamental)


    Sharp Claws


    Sharp Fangs


    Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental)


    Monstrous Wolf (Young) Core:


    Level 4


    Estimated Power: 8


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 12


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Fur (Fundamental)


    Keen Nose (Inferior)


    Kemonomimi (Wolf) (Fundamental)


    Part of the Pack (Inferior)


    Sharp Claws


    Sharp Fangs


    Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental)


    New Attributes discovered!


    Bipedal Adaption (Minor):


    Allows the user to walk on two legs for a short period of time at a decreased speed.


    Keen Nose (Inferior):


    Slightly strengthens the user¡¯s sense of smell.


    Kemonomimi (Bear):


    Kemonomimi (Bear) replaces a creature¡¯s regular ears and tail with those of a bear, as well as providing ears or a tail to creatures without.


    Kemonomimi (Wolf):


    Kemonomimi (Wolf) replaces a creature¡¯s regular ears and tail with those of a wolf, as well as providing ears or a tail to creatures without.


    Part of the Pack (Inferior):


    Increases the user¡¯s stats (Except for HP, Mana, and Stamina) by 1% (Rounded down, minimum 1) for each ally within 100m.


    That level-up meant she also had three empty slots to put Attributes or Skills in, instead of the two she was expecting. Her first order of business was to put on Physical Nullification (Inferior), and when she did, she was immediately met with a window.


    That was disheartening, but it made sense. In any case, what did she want? An upgrade to her claws would be nice, but she didn¡¯t know if she could even have multiple instances of Sharp Claws in her storage or if they would stack with each other. She was guessing that, at the least, she would be able to carry multiple copies, but she wouldn¡¯t be able to use more than one at once, if they worked similarly to Skills and degraded Skills. So, she took Sharp Claws from the bear core and put it into her storage.


    Possible combination detected! Would you like to try and combine Sharp Claws and Sharp Claws? If you refuse, you may attempt to combine them later at any time.


    New concept discovered!


    Combining Attributes: Some Attributes can be combined with themselves or with other Attributes. Combining Attributes is not always guaranteed to succeed, but higher levels of Monster Breeder will increase the chance of success. A success will result in a new Attribute, and a failure will result in nothing. Regardless of the outcome, the original attributes will be used up in the attempt and will no longer be available.


    Right¡­well, she had an extra Sharp Claws on hand if the combination Skill was completely unusable, and it wasn¡¯t like she was going to fail, so there wasn¡¯t really a reason not to try it out.


    Sharp Claws and Sharp Claws have been successfully combined into Sharp Claws (Moderate)!


    New Attribute discovered!


    Sharp Claws (Moderate):


    Greatly hardens and sharpens the nails of the creature¡¯s hands and feet, turning them into claws. Further increases slashing damage dealt with claws. Requires hands or feet.


    That left two slots for her to work with. Sharp Fangs¡­there was probably a Sharp Fangs (Moderate) too, but that was out. Doing the killing with her hands was already gross enough, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to even try biting her foes.


    Nothing else really caught her interest. Part of the Pack was decent, but she didn¡¯t have the raw stats or number of allies needed to make it truly good. It was possible she could combine it with itself, but that wasn¡¯t a guarantee and she didn¡¯t want to use the slot she was saving for Mama Bear¡¯s core or eject another core, so she wasn¡¯t going to test that.


    She would, however, test Keen Nose. Taking the Attribute from both the bear and wolf cores, she was pleased to find that they were capable of being combined, which she wasted no time in doing.


    Keen Nose (Inferior) and Keen Nose (Inferior) have been successfully combined into Keen Nose (Minor)!


    New Attribute discovered!


    Keen Nose (Minor):


    Somewhat strengthens the user¡¯s sense of smell.


    She tried it out, and just as quickly turned it off. The cave around her didn¡¯t really smell that good in the first place and being able to smell better wasn¡¯t helping. Perhaps in the future, when she had more slots, she would keep Attributes to buff all her senses, but for now she decided to just put Keen Nose away.


    She opted to put it onto Big Bertha¡¯s core, as she wasn¡¯t planning on ejecting that any time soon and it had the most ¡°room¡± for things. There was that odd shifting feeling again, which she was able to ignore as she contemplated her other choices.


    Night Vision was probably a good choice. Being able to see better would come in handy in a lot of situations, and when she didn¡¯t need it, she could just keep it off to avoid any extra sensitivity to bright light it would give. Well, if it gave any in the first place. She¡¯d have to test that out.


    She took that and turned it off. She deliberated for a moment about Quadrupedal Adaptation, but eventually decided it wasn¡¯t worth it and took Part of the Pack instead. ¡°Alright, finished.¡± She told Ker, taking a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡±


    ¡°You got this, kid.¡± Ker replied, giving her a thumbs-up, ¡°It¡¯s going to be a walk in the park. Just ignore the small fry and focus on dealing damage to Mama Bear. If it looks like she¡¯s going to start targeting you I¡¯ll make sure to pull her attention somehow. Even if she ignores your Skill, all I have to do is deal more damage to her or the minions and she¡¯ll get right back to attacking me.¡±


    Tess nodded, and the two left the floor, just to immediately go through the door to the boss. The room awaiting them was one large, cavernous area, strewn with various grasses, fabrics, and other soft things piled up into makeshift beds.


    From the largest bed an enormous figure rose, a bear who, when she stood on her hind legs, easily breached 12 feet tall. She gave the two intruders a cold look and then roared, the room shaking from the deafening sound.


    Something about that sound shook Tess, like it was driving home that the opponent in front of her was something with which she could not compete. Even having dropped down to all fours, Mama Bear was taller than Tess, and her body seemed to be all powerful muscle or sharp claws and fangs, leaving Tess with no doubt that Mama Bear wouldn¡¯t even work up a sweat killing her.


    Even the crisis training Gramps had given her wasn¡¯t of much help. She had practiced these kinds of scenarios, but that was all it had been ¨C practice. There was something different about knowing that this could well be the moment she died.


    And then it hit her, a wave of energy washing over her body and leaving everything it touched feeling much stronger than before. More importantly, it also washed away some of the terror, making her realize that the rules had changed. On Mael she would have been in a horrible position, but here? Here she had the tools to fight back.


    She gave a silent thanks to what could only have been Underdog for snapping her out of it and extended her claws, which she noticed were a further inch longer and somehow even sharper looking than before.


    There was a flash of light from beside her, and Tess was barely able to make out a ray travelling through the air to strike Mama Bear right in the side, causing her to roar and charge at Ker.


    ¡°It¡¯s all you.¡± He said calmly, ¡°Her bark¡¯s worse than her bite, just whittle her down and she¡¯ll be dead in no time.¡±


    That was all the time they had before Mama Bear reached Ker and swiped a massive paw at him, only to be blocked by a shield of light.


    Tess gulped and ran forward, plunging her claws into Mama Bear¡¯s side and pulling downwards, opening a larger gash than expected in the boss¡¯s side.


    You have gouged Mama Bear¡¯s flank for 21 damage!


    You have planted a parasite on Mama Bear! It will deal 2 damage and heal you 2 HP every second until removed.


    Mama Bear reeled backwards, whirling to face Tess before Ker slammed into her, once again bringing her attention to him.


    There was movement from the back of the room, monsters of all the dungeon¡¯s species rising from the nests and throwing themselves into the fray, rushing at Ker. None of them ever so much as touched the experienced adventure, though, as more barriers of light rebuffed their attacks.


    The longer the battle went on, the more confident Tess became. Ker wasn¡¯t taking so much as a hit, and every time she hit Mama Bear, she could feel the parasites dealing more and more damage.


    Not even a couple of minutes later, Mama Bear fell. She didn¡¯t ever even try to remove the parasites planted upon her, and the damage quickly spiraled out of her control.


    Your parasites have inflicted 17 damage on Mama Bear and healed you for 17 HP!


    You have killed Mama Bear! You have gained 150 EXP! Monster Breeder has gained 75 EXP!


    As she fell, so too did all her minions, the room filling with the rainbow haze of defeated monsters. And, while the minions didn¡¯t drop anything, Mama Bear dropped her core, which Tess moved over to inspect.


    It was the biggest Tess had seen so far, clocking in at roughly the size of a small orange. She debated absorbing it then and there but decided to put that on hold in favor of the Rewards Crystal. As such, she pocketed the core and went to the door, waiting for Ker to follow before going in.


    ¡°What are you aiming for?¡± He asked curiously, looking at the crystal with a smirk.


    ¡°The best unarmed Skill I can get.¡± She said, taking a breath and placing her hand on the crystal.


    You have gained the Skill Return to Sender (Mythical)!


    Return to Sender (Mythical):


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    The Mythical version of the Skill Return to Sender. By activating the Skill before an attack hits, you may begin to redirect the attack to another target. The movement made to redirect the attack and the original strength of the attack will affect the cost to activate this Skill, with more efficient movements costing less. Reflecting physical attacks will cost Stamina, reflecting magical or energy-based attacks will cost Mana, and reflecting attacks that have components of both will cost both Stamina and Mana. Reflected attacks deal 50% more damage than they originally would have. If a movement is made such that the cost would be greater than the amount of Mana or Stamina currently possessed, the Skill will fail, consuming all Mana or Stamina.


    No you.


    ¡°And?¡± Ker prompted.


    ¡°Mythical version of Return to Sender.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Seems pretty good.¡±


    Ker chuckled. ¡°You better believe it is. What do you want to do now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to absorb this core and then I want to go through the dungeon enough times to get the next Rewards Crystal. We can just run through all the floors without fighting, so it shouldn¡¯t take too long¡­right?¡±


    Ker nodded. ¡°Sounds good to me. Let¡¯s do it.¡±


    Fighterman481

 Chapter 10: Special Treatment

    Before they left the room, Tess absorbed Mama Bear¡¯s core.


    You have absorbed a Mama Bear Core!


    Slots filled: 5/5


    You have gained 75 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    Monster Breeder has leveled up!


    New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    New Skill detected!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Mother¡¯s Might¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Sibling¡¯s Strength!


    Sibling¡¯s Strength:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Increases the damage of your attacks by 1% each time your allies receive damage in this battle, to a maximum of 100%. This effect ends if 10 seconds pass without you or an ally taking or dealing damage.


    You¡¯re the older sibling kids call to beat up the bullies.


    Displaying core information:


    Mama Bear Core:


    Level: 10


    Estimated Power: 30


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 60


    Current Skills:


    Mother¡¯s Might


    Current Attributes:


    Bipedal Adaption (Minor)


    Fur (Fundamental)


    Keen Nose (Minor)


    Kemonomimi (Bear) (Fundamental)


    Sharp Claws (Moderate)


    Sharp Fangs (Moderate)


    Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental)


    New Attributes discovered!


    Sharp Fangs (Moderate):


    Greatly sharpens the creature¡¯s teeth, giving them fangs. Further increases piercing damage dealt by the teeth. Requires teeth.


    New Skill discovered!


    Mother¡¯s Might:


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Increases the damage of your attacks by 5% each time your allies receive damage in this battle, to a maximum of 500%. This effect ends if 30 seconds pass without you or an ally taking or dealing damage.


    Well, my mom can beat up your mom.


    ¡°Oh, nice!¡± Tess exclaimed, looking at her haul, ¡°I¡¯ll take that. Give me another couple of minutes to shuffle around the Attributes, I got some upgrades.¡±


    Ker smiled at her exuberance, leaning back on the wall. ¡°Take your time, kid. We¡¯re here for you, not me.¡±


    A short series of combinations later, she had a few new Attributes to work with. Most notably, when she created Bipedal Adaption from the Bipedal Adaption (Minor) of the bear cores she had, she was able to combine it with Quadrupedal Adaption to make another new Attribute.


    Bipedal Adaption:


    Allows the user to walk on two legs.


    Facultative Biped (Greater):


    Allows the user to switch between two and four legs with no detriment to either mode.


    Keen Nose:


    Strengthens the user¡¯s sense of smell.


    Sharp Claws (Greater):


    Greatly hardens and sharpens the nails of the creature¡¯s hands and feet, turning them into claws. Greatly increases slashing damage dealt with claws. Requires hands or feet.


    Sharp Fangs (Greater):


    Greatly sharpens the creature¡¯s teeth, giving them fangs. Greatly increases piercing damage dealt by the teeth. Requires teeth.


    She put Facultative Biped, Keen Nose, and Sharp Fangs onto Mama Bear to store them, keeping Sharp Claws on herself and transferring Mother¡¯s Might to fill her latest empty slot. ¡°All done.¡± She said, ¡°You ready?¡±


    Ker pushed himself back onto his feet. ¡°Absolutely. It shouldn¡¯t take us more than a couple of hours, so we should be done in time to greet Ellie when she gets done with school.¡±


    And he was right. Being able to just run straight through the floors with Ker ignoring all the monsters outright and Tess being ignored by the monsters meant that it only took around ten minutes to clear the dungeon, including the Mama Bear fight.


    So, nine runs and a level for both Tess and Monster Breeder later, they were back at the Reward Crystal room, Tess already placing her hand on the crystal and claiming her prize.


    You have gained the Skill Status Tennis (Epic)!


    Status Tennis (Epic):


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    When you successfully resist a status affliction, it will bounce back at your opponent with an additional 10% affliction rate. If your opponent succeeds, it is bounced back to you with the additional 10% affliction rate. If you succeed again, it is bounced back to your opponent with a 20% increased infliction rate and so on, gaining 10% increased affliction rate each time your opponent has to attempt to resist. You may choose to apply the effects of Status Tennis to afflictions you use, starting a volley if your opponent resists. You may choose to turn off Status Tennis at any time.


    Someone¡¯s going to be the dead man at the end of this volley. Probably.


    Tess let out a sigh, stretching. ¡°Well, that was¡­something.¡± She said, ¡°Better than the slime dungeon, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    ¡°Might well be a speed record.¡± Ker said, smiling. ¡°Well, maybe not quite, there are a few people who compete for the fastest times on dungeons, but it¡¯s almost certainly one for your level. Discounting the Mama Bear fight, anyway, you¡¯d be disqualified for having me help, even if it is just tanking.¡±


    ¡°Eh, whatever.¡± She replied, retracting her claws and exiting the room with Ker. ¡°Not really that important to me. Let¡¯s just turn in our request and go say hi to everyone.¡±


    The turn in process was basically the same as picking the request up. Graham just did some typing on his keyboard, handed them some money, and then sent them on their way.


    ¡°Man, personal receptionists are nice.¡± Ker said, ¡°It usually takes at least twice as long as that, and that¡¯s not even counting the time we would have spent waiting in line. I could get used to this.¡±


    ¡°It is nice.¡± Tess agreed, ¡°But we still have like¡­twenty minutes before Ellie gets home, so what do we do until then?¡±


    ¡°I figured we could chat with your grandpa, and maybe the rest of The Rumors if they¡¯re hanging about. We were going to meet up here around the time Ellie was supposed to get off, so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they¡¯re here already.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go talk with Gramps, then.¡± Tess said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to walk around looking for people right now.¡±


    So, the two made their way to Gramps¡¯ office, where Ker knocked politely. ¡°Guildmaster, do you have time?¡±


    ¡°Come on in, not doing much of import!¡± Gramps replied, and the two let themselves in. ¡°Ah, Tess, done with the dungeon for now?¡± He asked, setting aside some papers, ¡°Ellie said she skipped out a little early to come check on you, so she should be here any second now. Anyway, how was the dungeon? Get anything good?¡±


    Tess collapsed into one of the couches. ¡°Yeah, I got a Skill called Parasitizer from the Challenge, and from the regular Rewards Crystal I got the Mythical version of Return to Sender and the Epic version of Status Tennis. Also got a bunch of cool stuff from monster cores.¡±


    Gramps typed something into the computer he was at. ¡°Good. I¡¯ve made a note of that, I¡¯ll go back and update the dungeon¡¯s info sheet later.¡±


    ¡°I thought you needed more than one person¡¯s testimony to update those?¡± Tess asked, frowning.


    ¡°Usually, yes. It¡¯s that or a trustworthy source, and you count as one of those. I¡¯ve gone through the trouble of linking your status bands to mine so I can see if there¡¯s ever a problem, and through that I can check and see what new Skills or Classes you get. All it requires is for you to tell me where stuff came from, and if I trust you, which I do, I¡¯ll update everything. And, since I¡¯m the Guildmaster, I¡¯m free to update listings as needed, no need for verification. Well, beyond a couple of trusted assistants asking me why changes are made, but they¡¯ll understand me making sure the lists are accurate to what my grandkids got.¡±


    ¡°Um, sure, I guess.¡± Tess replied, ¡°I¡¯ve got a bunch of cores, do you want those now or¡­?¡±


    Gramps reached down, came back up with a bag, and tossed it to Tess. ¡°Unload them all in here. I¡¯ll count them up later and transfer the funds to your account.¡± As Tess began moving everything over, he continued. ¡°So, you decided to go for unarmed, eh? Care to explain the reasoning behind that?¡±


    ¡°I got this.¡± Ker said, ¡°I realized that she would likely be picking up quite a few natural weapons from cores, so I hypothesized that she would be able to use unarmed Skills with natural weapons. We did some further testing and found that she could specify criteria on her luck to get information she normally wouldn¡¯t be able to get, such as the sex of a monster or whether or not unarmed Skills would work with¡­¡± He trailed off, eyes widening.


    ¡°Oh goodness, I just realized the kind of information we could get with that. You could lay bare the world¡¯s secrets by asking yes or no questions with monster drops. That¡¯s¡­¡±


    Everyone paused suddenly. A window had appeared in front of Tess, and from everyone¡¯s gazes it seemed they had been given windows as well.


    Oh crap he¡¯s right. Um¡­.Well, I¡¯m just going to put a stop to that now. If you try and game the system too hard, I¡¯m just going to give you random drops. I¡¯ll allow small things like the bit you pulled with checking unarmed Skills and natural weapons, but anything that would be too disruptive is out.


    Sorry about that. You¡¯re the first one with this so I¡¯m still working out all the kinks.


    ¡­I think I¡¯ll have to be paying much closer attention than I thought. Consider my affection level raised, you get the rights to contact me once a day.


    Provided it¡¯s either important, or completely inconsequential. Do be sure to tell me if you find anything interesting like this again, though. If it¡¯s not potentially world-shatteringly broken like this information thing, I¡¯ll give you a sub-blessing that emulates the effect if I end up patching it out. Call it a bonus for finding the exploit in the first place.


    Come to think of it, I¡¯ll patch this thing out in a couple of minutes and give you that sub-blessing for it. I won¡¯t bother interrupting you with a window, it¡¯ll just show up on your Status later, so don¡¯t freak out.


    P.S.:


    No one else got a window this personal. They got the standard high and mighty god speak so don¡¯t tell them I¡¯m so personable, kay?


    P.P.S.:


    Please do chat with me about inconsequential stuff. It¡¯s nice to just talk with people other than the same ten or twenty I¡¯ve been talking to ever since I was born. Don¡¯t be a stranger ;)


    ¡°That¡¯s a disappointment, but I suppose it¡¯s to be expected.¡± Gramps said, ¡°Still, it was a good thought.¡± He opened his mouth to say more, but cut off, looking to the side. ¡°Oh, looks like Ellie¡¯s here.¡±


    Sure enough, a door had appeared on the wall, which opened to reveal Ellie, still in her school uniform. ¡°Hey, grandpa, where¡¯s Te¨C¡± She stopped, seeing Tess. She flew through the doorway, slamming the door shut behind her and hurtling towards Tess. ¡°Teeeeessssssss!¡± She cried, catching the other girl in a big hug. ¡°I was worried about you! How are you doing? Can I help with anything?¡±


    Tess wriggled around but was unable to escape Ellie¡¯s iron grip. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ve just been dungeon diving with Ker.¡±


    ¡°What new Attributes did you get?! Any cool Skills?¡± Ellie asked excitedly.


    ¡°Um, I¡¯m going to need you to let go if you want to see.¡±


    ¡°Ehehe, right.¡± Ellie giggled nervously, finally letting Tess free from her embrace.


    ¡°It¡¯s mostly stuff you can¡¯t see, but watch this.¡± Tess, said, extending her claws. They were up to a full three inches of length and were of a size that clearly couldn¡¯t be hiding in Tess¡¯s hands, so Tess was assuming that it was some sort of extradimensional shenanigans instead of her claws truly retracting and extending.


    For her part, Ellie¡¯s eyes were practically glowing. ¡°Did you kill some animal monster?! Please tell me you can get its ears and tail!¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°I can, but I don¡¯t see the point. It¡¯d maybe help my hearing, but I don¡¯t need the tail getting in the way of things.¡±


    Ellie grabbed Tess¡¯s shoulders, looking directly into Tess¡¯s eyes. ¡°It¡¯s about the principle of the thing! You can¡¯t not try it out, you have to do it at least once!¡±


    Tess, taken aback by Ellie¡¯s sudden intensity tried desperately to find something to say but couldn¡¯t get anything but ¡°uhs¡± and ¡°ums¡± out.


    ¡°Fine, fine. Tell you what, we¡¯ll have a sparring match, if I win, you have to try it out, and if I lose, I have to do any one thing you want.¡±


    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know about that, Ellie. Now that we have stats and stuff, we¡¯re not really on a level playing field, and if I try and use Skills to close the gap¡­I don¡¯t really have a¡­nonlethal setting.¡±


    ¡°The guild keeps a Gauntlet of Challenge on hand for times like this.¡± Ker supplied, ¡°People using it will enter a fight that, if it¡¯s not interrupted by an outsider, will restore the participants to the state they were in before the fight after it¡¯s over. If anyone would die during the fight, they just get immediately restored and taken out of the fight.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll lend it to you if you want, but not now.¡± Gramps said, ¡°The rest of The Rumors are going to be waiting.¡±


    Ellie pointed dramatically at Tess. ¡°Just you wait, I will make you try the animal ears, even if I have to fail a thousand times in the process. My heart will never waver!¡±


    Tess scratched the back of her neck, embarrassed. ¡°Yikes. If it means that much to you, I¡¯ll try it for you when we get home.¡±


    Ellie caught Tess up in another firm hug. ¡°Yay! You¡¯re the best!¡± She squealed, pulling her friend even closer.


    ¡°Um, are you¡­OK? You¡¯re a lot more¡­touchy feely than usual.¡± Tess asked, gently pushing Ellie off.


    Ellie let go, leaping backwards. ¡°Um, oh, uh, sorry. I wasn¡¯t thinking and was just treating you how I would treat other girls.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°Are you sure? I¡¯ve never seen you this intimate with your friends.¡±


    Ellie paused for half a second. ¡°Have you ever seen me try to console them?¡±


    ¡°Well, no, but ¨C¡±


    ¡°There you go. Let¡¯s go meet up with The Rumors, they¡¯re waiting.¡± Elli replied hurriedly, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and pulling her up.


    Ker and Gramps shared a look that Tess couldn¡¯t quite place the meaning of, and then Ker nodded. ¡°She¡¯s right, let¡¯s go figure out what¡¯s on the itinerary. I¡¯m sure Alice and Jin are around here somewhere, no point in wasting time. Freelancers choose their own hours, but Ellie has school in the morning, so we¡¯ve only got so much time.¡±


    ¡°Only for like¡­half a year.¡± Ellie said, ¡°Then I think I¡¯m going to work on freelancing full time. Uh, as long as Tess is, that is. It¡¯s no fun if she¡¯s not going too.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t decided yet.¡± Tess said, ¡°It¡¯s¡­not so bad right now. Better than I was expecting, but I haven¡¯t tried anything big yet, and I haven¡¯t even thought about making a pet. We¡¯ll see how it is after I try those.¡±


    Ellie squeezed Tess¡¯s hand, which she was still holding. ¡°Whatever you decide, I¡¯ll support you, all the way.¡±


    Tess blushed, looking away.


    Unsure if Fortune could even hear her thoughts, Tess cast them towards her anyway. Don¡¯t call me cute, it feels¡­weird. Besides, don¡¯t you have god things to be doing? Something other than being my peanut gallery?


    I can hear you loud and clear. After Ker¡¯s little epiphany I was able to get the boss to let me swap priorities. So, being your peanut gallery is the god things I¡¯m doing right now.


    Also, wasn¡¯t necessarily calling you cute ;). Just letting you know that I¡¯m rooting for you.


    Tess was only paying half attention to her surroundings as she was led into the hallway, focusing more on her conversation with Fortune. Sorry to disappoint, but I¡¯m pretty sure my chances with her are at an all-time low. And what do you mean ¡°the boss¡±? Aren¡¯t gods as high up as they get? Is there a head god or something?


    Tess sighed and gave up on the subject. She was shocked back into reality, however, as Ellie once again squeezed her hand.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± She soothed, ¡°If you ever have any questions about being a girl or anything then my door¡¯s always open. Come wake me up at 4 A.M. for all I care, you¡¯re important to me.¡±


    Tess turned to say something but stopped when she noticed how red Ellie¡¯s face was. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re OK? You¡¯re all red now. Do you have a fever or something?¡±


    Ellie let go of Tess¡¯s hand, turning so Tess couldn¡¯t see her face. ¡°I-I¡¯m fine!¡± She stammered, ¡°Just getting used to the temperature again. It¡¯s throwing me going from winter in Mael to what feels like summer here. Nothing to worry about.¡±


    ¡°You two, stop flirting.¡± Ker said, ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡±


    Ellie jumped. ¡°I-it¡¯s just girl talk! N-nothing flirty about it!¡±


    Ker rolled his eyes. ¡°Alright then.¡± He opened a door, leading them into a small room much like the one The Rumors took their Fatebinder¡¯s Oath in. Now that she was slightly more focused, she was able to see that the walls were lined with a sort of couch or cushioned seating not dissimilar to the ones they had in restaurants, all around a table with a bunch of gear piled on it.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re early.¡± Jin said, standing up. ¡°How¡¯re things?¡±


    ¡°Going smoothly.¡± Ker confirmed. ¡°I went through the first two Rewards Crystals and the Challenge of Cub¡¯s Den with Tess. How are things on your end?¡±


    ¡°Alice and I have mostly been theorycrafting what would be good for Tess to get. Uh, I¡¯m afraid we haven¡¯t been putting as much work in for you, Ellie, but that¡¯s because we can¡¯t really pick and choose what you get. For you it¡¯s mostly going to be just teaching you how to fight monsters and other freelancer stuff. Oh, Ker, mind giving me the details on what Tess got while you two were out? I need to know so we can re-adjust the plan.¡±


    While the two of them talked, Alice walked awkwardly over to Tess and Ellie. ¡°Hey. I¡­said some things I shouldn¡¯t have yesterday. I was jealous and lashed out, I wasn¡¯t considering how you would have been feeling. Sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­fine. It wasn¡¯t the worst thing to happen yesterday, so it wasn¡¯t really sticking in my mind.¡±


    Alice frowned. ¡°Just because it wasn¡¯t the worst doesn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t bad. How can I make it up to you?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°I dunno. Again, it wasn¡¯t really important to me, so I haven¡¯t thought about it at all. If you¡¯re really set on it, maybe just take me dungeon diving on your day off or something?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can do that. Come back on Friday and I¡¯ll take you on a trip to some more out of the way places to get some quick Rewards Crystals, just the two of us.¡±


    ¡°Um, can I come too?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Sorry, but no can do. The guildmaster¡¯s already told us in no uncertain terms to not let you come with us on school days. We¡¯ll both be in hot water if you do. Besides, if I¡¯m doing this to make it up to Tess, then she deserves my undivided attention.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Ellie pouted, ¡°But let the record show that I would prefer to be going. I don¡¯t want Tess to get way stronger than me and leave me behind.¡±


    Alice raised an eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s not happening for a long time. If she wants any shot at getting stronger than you then she¡¯s going to have to absorb a lot of really strong cores. She¡¯ll only ever beat you out with the number of her abilities and the strength and synergy of them. Without that, she¡¯s got no shot at beating you. Well, provided you don¡¯t stall at the level you are now, but seeing as how you¡¯ll be gaining a few levels I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to be a problem.¡±


    ¡°My stats aren¡¯t going to be better than yours.¡± Tess said. ¡°Ever. You¡¯ve already got like¡­twice my stats. I¡¯d have to gain like ten more levels before we¡¯re even. Every level you get is five I have to get, if it¡¯s just raw stats we¡¯re talking about.¡±


    Ellie winced. ¡°I¡­forgot. Sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯ll never get the Rewards Crystals I¡¯m taking her to get,¡± Alice added, ¡°Just think of it as a way to keep you two relatively even while we¡¯re training you. Even Fortune¡¯s blessing isn¡¯t enough to completely narrow the difference in raw firepower between you two. It doesn¡¯t matter what she does if she can¡¯t hurt you at all.¡±


    So, it¡¯s you deciding what¡¯s best when I leave it to my luck to get me the ¡°best¡± possible outcome? Tess asked, Ker and I were wondering about that earlier, but you didn¡¯t answer.


    Ah. Whoops. Um, don¡¯t tell anyone else, kay? Secrets of the universe and all that. The real answer is that there¡¯s an automated system that handles most of it. I only get involved in the important stuff. And, to tell you the truth, I didn¡¯t do most of the work. War and Heroes really like the mental challenge of optimizing people¡¯s toolsets, so they¡¯ve been having a field day with you. I just follow their suggestions when you let me spin the wheel.


    For what it¡¯s worth, unarmed is the way we were planning to nudge you, so you¡¯re on the right track. If you really want the most out of it, I¡¯d recommend you only pick two Skills for every dungeon. We¡¯ve made room in the plan for that, but any more will throw things off. I¡¯ll let you know if something you pick is something we already have planned, so if that happens, I recommend picking something else. They¡¯ve put everything in order of what would be most helpful to at that stage in your progression, so really, just leave it to them unless you really want it at that time.


    So, uh, go and break the news to The Rumors. Let them know it¡¯s Heroes and War making the plan, at least for Skills. They¡¯ve got a bunch of Attributes they would use too, but I¡¯m not supposed to be telling you what those are yet. Not until I officially make you my Appointed.


    But that¡¯s almost a guarantee now, it¡¯s just a matter of time. I¡¯m having too much fun talking with you to not. Unfortunately, the boss won¡¯t let me do it now. She needs you to get stronger first.


    ¡­Uh, no pressure to keep freelancing or anything, though. You can still back down if you want.


    Not that it¡¯ll keep me from pestering you like I am now. I¡¯m going to keep doing that. Anyway, I¡¯m rambling, go tell everyone now.


    ¡°Um, guys?¡± Tess said hesitantly, causing everyone to stop and look at her. ¡°So¡­sorta bad news, I guess. Fortune just contacted me, she said she already has this whole plan for what she is going to be giving me. Apparently, Heroes and War, who I¡¯m assuming are other gods, have mapped it all out, so you guys don¡¯t need to. They¡¯ve left me two picks every dungeon, but they want me to just get what I feel like with those, so I think we should probably leave it to them.¡±


    Jin raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m not going to say I know better than them, so I think you¡¯re right.¡±


    Alice groaned. ¡°Well, there go a few hours of planning. Whatever, let¡¯s just get back to dungeon crawling. You were doing Cub¡¯s Den, right? Might as well go work on finishing that off.¡±


    And so Jin and Alice picked up the gear that was on the table, Ellie put her gear on, and the group left for Cub¡¯s Den.


    Fighterman481

 Chapter 11: Even Outside of School, Grades are Inevitable

    Ellie had to keep herself from skipping as the group made their way to Cub¡¯s Den. Scenario D was a go and she could hardly believe it. It felt like her wildest dreams were coming true one after the other, the universe going out of its way to make her happy.


    ¡°So, when are you going to make a move?¡± Ker asked in a hushed tone, giving her a smirk.


    Ellie blushed. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± She lied.


    Ker rolled his eyes. ¡°Please. From an outsider¡¯s perspective it¡¯s painfully obvious that you¡¯re head over heels for her. Do you want me to help you out? Give Tess some hints?¡±


    Ellie glanced forward at Tess, who was talking with Jin and Alice, then sighed. ¡°I appreciate the sentiment, but not now. First off, it¡¯d be really insensitive to start hitting on her so soon after she changed. It sorta boils down to ¡®Hey your life¡¯s been upturned but now that it has wanna go out¡¯ and that¡¯s kinda scummy thing to do if you ask me. I mean, I know I haven¡¯t been the best at not hitting on her, but by the time I realize what I¡¯m doing I¡¯m like halfway through the action and I figure it would be better to commit instead of being weird and stopping halfway through.


    ¡°Second¡­Tess and Grandpa don¡¯t know I¡¯m a lesbian yet. Once Tess has adjusted, I¡¯m going to come out, but that¡¯s not a bombshell I want to drop on her right now. When the time comes, I definitely want to make some passes at her, just¡­not now.¡±


    Ker nodded. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s understandable. If you need someone to talk to, though, don¡¯t hesitate to come to me. Just because it¡¯s directly affecting Tess doesn¡¯t mean there won¡¯t be some hard times for you, too. No one¡¯s got a monopoly on suffering.¡±


    Ellie hesitated for a second, then shook her head to clear it. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±


    Her mood was only slightly dampened the rest of the walk to the dungeon and was bolstered again when she heard how they would be going about beating this dungeon. ¡°It¡¯s just going to be the two of us?!¡± She asked excitedly, ¡°Aren¡¯t you guys going to bulldoze through it like the other one?¡±


    ¡°Not quite.¡± Alice chuckled. ¡°We¡¯re still going to be watching you¡­in a way.¡±


    Jin handed some bandlike object to Tess. ¡°Here, a peripheral for your Status Band. It basically lets you stream your activities in the dungeon to people you choose. We have one for Ellie too, but she¡¯s too low-level to use it. Unlike the last dungeon, this one is actually useful as a place to learn. Slimes don¡¯t put up enough of a fight to really work as anything more than fodder. We want to see how you two will act in a fight without us as fallbacks.¡±


    ¡°Besides,¡± Ker added, ¡°You¡¯re in no danger whatsoever. Tess could go through this dungeon in her sleep.¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± Tess said bashfully, accepting the peripheral, putting it on, and watching it sink into her band, ¡°I¡¯m¡­not so sure. That¡¯s only because I was confident that Ker could handle anything that came his way if I had to take my time picking an enemy off.¡±


    ¡°I can handle a few small fries no sweat. If they couldn¡¯t take you down, then there¡¯s no chance they¡¯ll be able to do enough damage to take me down.¡±


    ¡°They¡­never attacked me.¡± Tess said, ¡°I have no clue how strong their attacks are.¡±


    Ellie raised an eyebrow. ¡°How- oh, right. I forgot about Target of Affection.¡± That was a lie, at least partially. She couldn¡¯t forget about it, not with its handiwork on full display in front of her. She had just forgotten about the other effect.


    ¡°Well, I just need to tank, right? I have a bit of healing from my light magic, and the stats to handle a couple of hits. The monsters can¡¯t be that tough, right?¡±


    ¡°Going to stop you right there.¡± Alice said sharply. ¡°That¡¯s an attitude that¡¯s going to get you killed. You know basically nothing about this dungeon, and just assuming you can handle the worst it can throw at you by just bulldozing through it isn¡¯t going to work long-term. It¡¯ll work for this dungeon, and maybe some dungeons in the future, but you have to get out of that mindset. It¡¯s going to be hard when you steamroll these beginner dungeons, but you have to remember that they¡¯re beginner dungeons.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± Jin added, ¡°And even if death isn¡¯t exactly¡­permanent for freelancers with enough money, that¡¯s only if you can get someone to bring you back to a healer in time. In out of the way areas that¡¯s not a guarantee.¡±


    ¡°That being said, you shouldn¡¯t have too much trouble with this dungeon. If it came down to it you could just have Tess go and clear the floor on her own, she can handle it.¡± Ker said, turning to Tess, ¡°So long as you¡¯re careful and make sure to always one-shot the opponents it shouldn¡¯t be much harder than going through it with me. Even if a few don¡¯t immediately die I¡¯m confident you can handle them without an issue.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Tess mumbled.


    ¡°I do.¡± Ker replied firmly. ¡°Even if I was tanking, you took down Mama Bear with almost entirely your own damage. You can handle a couple of mooks.¡±


    Tess¡¯s attention was drawn away by something. That had been happening fairly often in the ten or so minutes they¡¯d been together today, and that wasn¡¯t like her at all. Ellie made a note to ask her about it in private later, in case it was something she could help with.


    ¡°Time¡¯s a-wastin¡¯, we¡¯re talking too much.¡± Alice said impatiently, ¡°Jin, you teach Tess how to use that broadcaster while Ker and I teach Ellie about the information sheet.¡± And, without waiting for a response, Alice grabbed Ellie and towed her over to the shop, then showed her how the information sheets worked. Roughly five minutes later, Ellie and Tess had finished their respective lessons, everyone was in a party, and they were ready to begin their delve.


    ¡°We got this!¡± Ellie said confidently, looping an arm around Tess¡¯s shoulders. ¡°We¡¯ll see you on floor two in no time!¡±


    Jin nodded. ¡°See you then.¡±


    And with that, Ellie steered Tess into the dungeon. ¡°Alright, so, I¡¯ll go ahead and tank, you just come in and snipe the monsters when you have a moment, alright?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­sure.¡± Tess replied nervously. ¡°Let¡¯s do that.¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± Ellie replied brightly, striding off further into the floor. It was time for her to implement Operation Keep Tess Safe, which was as simple as the name would suggest ¨C she just would kill anything before it got close to Tess.


    Her first opponent was a baby deer, and as cute as it was, she wasn¡¯t going to show it any mercy. She stepped to the side, flicked out her sword in a dismissive motion, and watched with satisfaction as its head tumbled from its body.


    You have decapitated Dire Deer (Young) for a critical 131 damage!


    You have killed Dire Deer (Young)! You gain 9 EXP! Swordswoman has gained 6 EXP!


    A few coins fell to the floor as the deer¡¯s body dissipated, and Ellie picked those up while Tess made her way over. ¡°Oh, you¡­already got one. You should¡­probably wait until I get there, though. They can¡¯t see what you¡¯re doing if I can¡¯t.¡±


    Ellie laughed, rubbing her neck. ¡°My bad. I¡¯ll pay more attention next time.¡± She waited for Tess to pick up the core, then went ahead, this time at a distance where she would be visible around bends.


    Operation Keep Tess Safe turned out to be a piece of cake.  The monsters were always alone, and she just killed them in one hit, even if she didn¡¯t always get a clean decapitation like she did with the deer.


    They finished the floor in about five minutes. It wasn¡¯t large, the monsters weren¡¯t tough, and they only ran into a few more before they found the exit. Once they did, Ellie waited for Tess to catch up, then proudly made her way through the door.


    ¡°Minus five points.¡± Alice said flatly.


    ¡°W-what?!¡± Ellie protested. ¡°We cleared that like it was nothing!¡±


    ¡°You cleared it like it was nothing.¡± Jin said. ¡°You didn¡¯t even give Tess a chance to learn or work on your teamwork, she was basically just your camerawoman.¡±


    Ellie looked to the side. ¡°I could beat them in one hit, there was no need to put anyone in unnecessary danger.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t buy that.¡± Alice replied, ¡°You made it clear earlier that you could tank, and we all know that Tess isn¡¯t ever going to be targeted, so you¡¯re just stealing EXP from her. And Tess, you have to be more assertive. Freelancer parties, the good ones, anyway, are made up of equals. There may be a ¡°leader¡±, but at high levels leaders are in name only.¡±


    ¡°In the field, that is.¡± Ker added, ¡°We all have different skillsets and usually at those high levels leaders are the best at making decisions out of direct combat, or the best at making snap decisions in the heat of the moment. Our party is made of equals, but, unlike Alice, I think that a leader-subordinate relationship can work if the leader is good. That being said, Alice is right. Tess, if you have something to say, then make sure you say it.¡±


    Tess blushed, looking down. ¡°Um¡­I want to help, Ellie. I don¡¯t feel comfortable just following behind you. It works for now, but it won¡¯t in the future. We can¡¯t get into bad habits while we¡¯re learning¡­right?¡±


    Jin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. I know it¡¯s hard, but you have to treat this like it¡¯s something that could challenge you. So, this next floor, leave it to Tess a little more, kay?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I think I should be in front.¡± Tess said. ¡°The monsters won¡¯t bother with me, and while they¡¯re rushing to attack you, I can get a free hit in. Then, if they¡¯re still alive, you can clean them up.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Ellie pouted, ¡°But if it looks like you¡¯re in trouble I¡¯m going to help.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be pretty easy. Just throw a rock at them and they¡¯ll stop attacking her.¡± Ker said, ¡°Simple as that. It¡¯s really something, seeing her inflict a mortal wound on a monster and then you breathe on it, and it decides you¡¯re a better target.¡±


    Alice raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really? I have to see that.¡±


    ¡°I can show you this floor.¡± Tess volunteered. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure I don¡¯t one-shot stuff and Ellie can do the whole rock thing.¡±


    Ellie fidgeted slightly but nodded. ¡°I can handle that, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Alright, enough jabbering.¡± Jin said, ¡°Just get in there and do it.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Tess said, moving towards the door. ¡°Ready when you are, Ellie.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m ready.¡± Ellie replied, moving so she was next to Tess. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    The two entered the dungeon once again, and this time Ellie let Tess take the lead. It was a little nerve-wracking, watching the much more fragile girl go in front, but Ker was proven right soon enough. When Tess rounded a bend in the path, Ellie was a bit behind, having stopped to pick up a rock, so she was a little startled when she heard Tess yell.


    ¡°There¡¯s a monster here!¡± Tess called calmly, ¡°Get ready!¡±


    Ellie braced herself, tightening her grip on her sword, and went round the bend. The monster was just sort of¡­sitting there, acting as if Tess didn¡¯t even exist. That changed the moment it saw Ellie, the monster suddenly breaking into a mad dash towards her, like monsters usually did when they saw a person.


    Tess waited for the monster to pass her, then struck with her claws, scoring a huge gash down the creature¡¯s flank from which some sort of disgusting leech-thing sprouted.


    The beast whirled, and Ellie threw the rock, hitting it solidly in the side. It immediately whirled back to face Ellie, began running, suddenly faltered, and then exploded into rainbow gas, a single coin falling to the floor as it did.


    ¡°What was that weird wriggly thing?!¡± Ellie exclaimed, looking around warily, ¡°Was that from you?¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°One of my new Skills. Plants a parasite that damages monsters and heals me. It¡¯s pretty handy, even if it is kinda gross.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Is that why it died all of a sudden?¡±


    ¡°Yup. It deals a tenth of the damage I inflicted with the attack every second, and I can have ten parasites on one target, and if they¡¯re not careful about taking it out they take even more damage.¡±


    Ellie stared. ¡°That¡¯s¡­intense.¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s supposed to be balanced around unarmed not receiving the benefits of nice weapons, but¡­¡± She waved her hands around, still sporting those long, gleaming claws. ¡°These don¡¯t count as weapons, apparently.¡±


    Ellie walked over to Tess, throwing an arm around her shoulders. ¡°That¡¯s awesome! My little blue mage is already showing her stuff.¡±


    Tess ducked out of the arm, blushing slightly. ¡°We can talk more about this later.¡± She said, ¡°We¡¯re still in the middle of a dungeon. Let¡¯s finish off this floor before something catches us by surprise.¡±


    That had, perhaps, been a little too forward, but Ellie didn¡¯t regret it. ¡°Sure, sounds good.¡±


    The rest of the floor was, predictably, easy. Tess was clearly capable of clearing the entire thing herself, and the presence of Ellie made it a slaughter. So, after a few minutes of work, they were at the next floor with The Rumors.


    ¡°That was much better, good job.¡± Alice said, a satisfied look on her face. Then, she turned to Tess, an eyebrow raised. ¡°But, Ker really wasn¡¯t kidding about the aggro thing. Are you aware of just how nuts that is?¡±


    Tess looked away, clearly embarrassed. ¡°I can tell it¡¯s not normal. It feels a little cheap, having all the monsters just ignore me like that. A-anyway, are we going to do the Challenge now?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan, yes.¡± Jin replied. ¡°Parties without mentors come back to this one when they¡¯re a higher level, but it¡¯s just a tank test, so it¡¯s not detrimental to your growth for us to carry you through it. So, the three of us will keep Ellie safe while we go through it. You just walk next to us.¡±


    ¡°Um, remind me what the Challenge is again?¡± Ellie asked.


    Alice frowned. ¡°We went over this when we talked about the info sheet. Just don¡¯t hurt anything through this floor, and you¡¯ll get to the Challenge, which is also just not hurting anything. You have to pay better attention than that.¡±


    Ellie blushed. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, just be mindful in the future.¡± Ker said, ¡°Tess, you just let us know if by some miracle something targets you, OK?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, got it.¡± With that, they went into the floor. Immediately, The Rumors grouped up in front of Ellie, Ker and Jin directly in front of her while Alice moved farther ahead. The run through the floor was fast, and the Challenge was faster. Alice used some sort of ability that drew all the monster¡¯s attention to her, and the monsters never seemed to be able to penetrate her armor.


    So, they were at the Rewards Crystal in pretty short order, and Ellie wasted no time getting her reward.


    ¡°Well?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°Lightning Mage Class.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Should I put it on next chance we get or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Up to you, really.¡± Jin said, shrugging. ¡°With your stats, you can¡¯t go too wrong when levelling your Classes. Levelling one Class won¡¯t count against you when levelling another, so just do whatever you feel like first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep Swordsman, then. Tess is gonna need a tank.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. When you feel progress is slowing down in a Class too much, just switch to one of your others. That probably won¡¯t be until you¡¯ve been out of the beginner dungeons for a good while, though.¡±


    ¡°Right, well, don¡¯t got all day, let¡¯s keep at this.¡± Alice said impatiently. ¡°I want to get to at least the second Rewards Crystal for clearing the dungeon by the end of the day, so let¡¯s hop to it.¡±


    Fighterman481


    I''ve got things I want to write after this, such as the events later in this day and Tess''s outing with Alice, but I was stuck for a good way to write out how things went in the dungeon. As such, this chapter is probably lower quality than I like, but unfortunately I just had to keep going if I want to get there.


    I''ll be honest, there''s a good deal more I''d like to say, but I think that it would be better if I didn''t, as it approaches spoiler territory.


    So I won''t. Yet. That''ll be all for today, next time we''ll see Scenario D come to fruition, and probably some more, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 12: Divine Message

    Tess struggled with her pants, trying to put them on in a way that both wouldn¡¯t cover the yellow-blond wolf tail she currently had and would cover the rest of her sufficiently. It¡­wasn¡¯t going well, and she was glad she had anticipated something like this happening and made Ellie leave her room.


    Eventually, she took one of her old pairs of pants and put it on backwards, unzipping the zipper just enough to let her tail out. Then, she got one of her belts and fastened it as tight as it would go, preventing the pants from falling off so long as she didn¡¯t move too much and was cautious when she did.


    Finally, she opened the door and let Ellie in.


    ¡°No. Way.¡± Ellie whispered, ¡°It¡¯s even more adorable than I ever would have thought.¡±


    Tess fidgeted uncomfortably. ¡°Really? It seems like the kind of thing that wouldn¡¯t be as nice in reality as it is in pictures.¡±


    Ellie hesitated for a long moment before replying. ¡°Well, it probably a personal thing, then, because I disagree.¡± She looked to the side embarrassedly, ¡°Um, can I¡­touch them?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­sure, I guess. Just be gentle.¡±


    Tess flinched as Ellie began to gently stroke her tail.


    ¡°Are you OK? Does it feel bad?¡± Ellie asked, withdrawing her hand.


    ¡°No, it was just¡­unexpected. It felt different than anything I¡¯ve felt before, I can¡¯t really describe it aside from that. Not bad, though.¡±


    Ellie hesitantly returned to stroking the tail.


    ¡°What?¡± Tess said, taken aback enough by the sudden question window that she spoke aloud.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Ellie asked, stopping. ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask. You¡¯ve been getting all spaced out suddenly all day. Is there something going on?¡±


    Tess wasn¡¯t sure that was the best policy when it came to potentially world-shakingly important topics, but she wasn¡¯t going to question it too much now. ¡°So, um, one thing sort of led to another and now Fortune¡¯s job is kind of to just watch me all day? I was probably reading a message from her if I was spaced out.¡±


    ¡°Uh, she says hi. And that she¡¯s rooting for you, whatever that means. She told me that earlier too, so¡­take that as you will?¡± Tess turned her head to get a better look at Ellie but was only fast enough to catch a hint of red on Ellie¡¯s face as she turned away, resuming her petting.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Tell her I say hi too, I guess?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just tell her yourself?¡± Tess asked, exasperated, ¡°You¡¯re a god, you don¡¯t need me to pass your notes for you.¡±


    ¡°Paid what, to who?! How does that even work?¡±


    Tess rolled her eyes. ¡°Fortune says that she can hear you fine, but apparently her god-phone plan doesn¡¯t cover talking to you so she¡¯s passing messages through me like I¡¯m some kind of prophet or something.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what a prophet is, doofus.¡± Ellie replied.


    Tess groaned, but didn¡¯t pass on the message.


    ¡°What?¡± Ellie asked curiously, ¡°What did she say?¡±


    ¡°Something dumb.¡±


    Didn¡¯t you want to keep your sociability a secret? Tess asked privately.


    Tess groaned again. ¡°Fine. Ellie, Fortune says jinx and that you owe her a soda.¡±


    Ellie stopped again, before bursting out laughing. ¡°I really am going to have to convert. Where do I sign up?¡±


    ¡°She says to just do whatever, it¡¯ll make its way to her.¡±


    ¡°Well, she¡¯s got herself a follower in me.¡± Ellie chuckled, stopping her ministrations on the tail and moving to Tess¡¯s fluffy ears, ¡°I would love to be put on that god-phone plan, though.¡±


    ¡°She says she¡¯s too broke to do that right now, sorry.¡±


    The door opened, and Gramps poked his head in. ¡°Is everything alright in here? I¡¯ve caught bits and pieces of the conversation and I was getting a little concerned that someone else was in the house or something.¡±


    Ellie froze mid-pet, and a knowing grin spread across Gramps¡¯s face. ¡°Should I just leave you two to it then?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine!¡± Tess said hurriedly, ¡°Um, might as well tell you now, if that¡¯s fine.¡±


    Gramps raised an eyebrow, walking into the room and shutting the door behind him. ¡°Sure, that¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Well, um, after what happened this morning, Fortune¡¯s decided to keep a closer eye on me. She can only really contact me freely because of the blessing and stuff, so we were talking to her through me. So, uh, yeah.¡± Tess explained lamely. ¡°It¡¯s kind of a secret, though. Only the three of us are supposed to know.¡±


    Gramps sighed. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s just another one for the list. Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Um, no.¡± Tess said, ¡°That¡¯s all.¡±


    Gramps¡¯s knowing grin returned, and he gave them a wink. ¡°Alright, you two have fun, then.¡± And, before either of them could recover from their embarrassment to say anything, he slipped out of the door, leaving the two beet-red teenagers alone.


    ¡°Ummmm¡­¡± Ellie began uncertainly. ¡°Now that I think about it, this is kind of¡­¡±


    ¡°Weird?¡± Tess finished for her. ¡°Yeah, but, honestly, when it comes to things you do, I stopped worrying about what was weird a long time ago. So¡­just get it out of your system, it¡¯s not like things can get more embarrassing.¡±


    Ellie shot Tess a grateful look. ¡°Thanks for putting up with me.¡± And with that, she resumed her ministrations.


    Jin watched his party carefully as they prepared for their meeting. He had called it due to the rather tumultuous couple of days they had had and the building friction he was sensing between Ker and Alice, and he could already tell it wasn¡¯t going to be a comfortable meeting for any of them.


    Alice was pacing back and forth restlessly, a conflicted expression on her face. In contrast, Ker was sitting on his favorite chair, studiously going through a couple of documents on his phone. After another couple of minutes, he finally looked up. ¡°I¡¯m ready now, sorry.¡±


    ¡°Finally!¡± Alice burst out, ¡°Jin, why call us here for this? I thought we had the situation handled!¡±


    Jin sighed, crossing his legs, and leaning forward. ¡°Yes and no.¡± He replied, ¡°What we¡¯re doing is working, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s working well.¡±


    Alice frowned, but Ker nodded. ¡°I agree. After watching them today, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s good to leave the two of them alone like that. In fact, I think we should split them up temporarily.¡±


    ¡°Elaborate.¡± Jin requested, arching his brow. Ker was usually on-point when it came to interpersonal judgement, but Jin liked to hear the reasoning behind his assessments.


    ¡°The first big problem is that Ellie is too protective of Tess. As I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed, Ellie¡¯s crushing hard on Tess, and with the stat difference I believe she¡¯s operating under the assumption that Tess is, comparatively, incapable. As a result, she¡¯s trying to protect Tess more than is necessary.


    ¡°I think if we let their party dynamic develop naturally, it¡¯s going to become bad extremely quickly. The issue with Ellie¡¯s assumption is that, for the time being, she¡¯s right. Tess is, way, way overleveled for this dungeon, and she¡¯s still not consistently oneshotting some of the tougher stuff.¡±


    Ker sighed. ¡°But that¡¯s only for now. She¡¯s got the potential to snowball in power really fast, and with Heroes and War personally overseeing her growth, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s an overstatement to say that she could end up as one of the most dangerous people alive in a few years. If she isn¡¯t by then, then she certainly will be in a few decades.


    ¡°Which leads us to problem number two. Tess seems to have some sort of complex, and I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s something preexisting that was exacerbated by the whole stat thing, or is new, but she¡¯s got no self-confidence. Watching Ellie breeze through things she struggles with is only going to make that worse. So, while we train them, I think they should mostly be separated, even put on different regimens so that it¡¯s hard to compare their progress.¡±


    Jin nodded. ¡°Alice?¡±


    Alice gnawed on one of her knuckles, thinking that over. ¡°He¡¯s right. I¡­should have noticed.¡± She said regretfully. ¡°I just¡­see so much potential in her, and it frustrates me that she doesn¡¯t see it herself.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Jin soothed. ¡°But that brings me to the other topic of this meeting. I couldn¡¯t help but notice you two were disagreeing over how we should treat Tess, and I wanted to clear the air before things got more heated. So, let¡¯s just let everything out now. Alice, you seemed to be taking exception the most, what¡¯s your opinion?¡±


    ¡°I just thought we were being too soft on her. That we shouldn¡¯t just let her wallow in self-pity while she¡¯s getting all these amazing things. I dunno¡­I just thought if she would step back and look at things objectively, she¡¯d realize there wasn¡¯t actually that many things to be down about. I was¡­jealous, I guess. I know it¡¯s immature when I have so much, but¡­¡±


    Ker nodded. ¡°We¡¯re all people here. As annoying as it can be, emotions often aren¡¯t logical. I think that, in this situation, that applies to both you and Tess. Logically, she¡¯s got a lot going for her, but I think it¡¯s not easy for her to realize that. With her transformation and that complex I mentioned, I doubt she¡¯s in the best place right now.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been going about things as I have. I think it¡¯s important that we put her in an environment where her strengths can shine and boost her confidence that way. I¡¯ve also been considering having her absorb a strong core to help her feel stronger and more in control, but I¡¯m on the fence about it. It¡¯s entirely possible that she¡¯ll feel like she¡¯s just using a crutch and that it¡¯s not really her strength or something she earned. But, if we do decide to give her a strong core, we have to be really careful about it.¡±


    The three of them started as an ethereal voice filled the room. With it came a hallmark of an official, capital M Message from the Gods ¨C an instinctual, undeniable knowledge of who was speaking. Not every god went about things the same way, some liked telepathy, some liked message windows, but a physical voice was common for public statements.


    Do it. The God of Fate told them. It will be for the better.


    With those succinct words, the presence faded. There was a long silence as The Rumors processed what had just happened, and once again realized just what they had got themselves into.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been doing some thinking and some research.¡± Ker said slowly, tapping his phone, ¡°It¡¯s got to be something with mostly passive Skills, so she doesn¡¯t get anything that would be too big a crutch for her. I¡¯m thinking something like one of the tougher feline or canine monsters, which¡¯ll give her enhancements to her claws and other things. Still, I¡¯m not sure how we¡¯d go about giving one to her in a natural way. Can¡¯t just¡­walk up and say ¡°here, we want you to feel tougher, use this¡±, that¡¯ll defeat the point.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I got this.¡± Alice said, working her way back into her normal exuberance, ¡°I¡¯m taking her out dungeon diving on Friday as an apology for being rude, I¡¯ll give it to her as a sort of¡­additional apology. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll take it without thinking too much about ulterior motives. I was thinking of doing something similar anyway, so it works out.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get back to you tomorrow with ideas for what we can use, and once we decide we can go shopping.¡± Ker looked at Jin. ¡°How should we pay for it, though? Do we want to take it out of our equipment fund, or¡­?¡± He trailed off, waiting for Jin¡¯s reply.


    While Jin was thinking about it, Alice spoke up. ¡°I¡¯ll just buy it myself. I¡¯m not doing much with my extra money anyway, and this isn¡¯t something we should budget ourselves for. So, don¡¯t hold back on any ideas because they¡¯re expensive, provided they¡¯re not so expensive they¡¯re going to bankrupt me. So, just¡­no Calamity level cores, although I doubt you were thinking about using them anyway.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good.¡± Jin said. ¡°Heading back to splitting the two of them up, how do we want to divide our attention? Specifically, curriculum and who will be with them when. Ker, you¡¯ve spent the most time with Tess of any of us, what are your thoughts on her?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a lot more time with her than we do with Ellie, so we¡¯ve got room to work with taking her to more exotic dungeons once she¡¯s out of the beginner ones. That being said, while she¡¯s in a dungeon and not just sparring or something, I think she should only be with one of us at once. And we should let her do most of the work herself unless we need to teach her something, just to show her she can do it.¡± Ker replied.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where we¡¯re going to find someone who can teach her to use claws properly, though.¡±  He continued thoughtfully, ¡°We¡¯ll need to ask the guildmaster about finding some trustworthy beastkin martial artist or something.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do that, since you two are taking care of the core thing.¡± Jin offered. ¡°I¡¯m sure the guildmaster will be more than happy to find someone who¡¯ll fit the bill.¡±


    ¡°That sounds good. If they come on as a permanent tutor, we¡¯ll have them accompany Tess along with whichever one of us is her guide for the day. And, of us, I would recommend it¡¯s either me or Alice. I think we should put her in a similar situation to what her situation with Ellie will be, so we need someone capable of being a tank. We can teach her about protecting others later, right now I just want to get her used to her role.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m guessing the other two will be with Ellie?¡± Alice asked, ¡°Sounds good to me.¡±


    ¡°Fine with me as well.¡± Jin added. ¡°Ker, you be in charge of Tess¡¯s curriculum, and if Alice is fine with it, I¡¯ll be in charge of Ellie¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not good with that stuff anyway.¡± Alice said, ¡°Just let me know what you need me to do.¡±


    Jin nodded. ¡°Alright, if no one else has anything to say, then I think we can call the meeting here.¡±


    The other two agreed, so everyone split, ready to prepare for the next day¡¯s activities.


    Fighterman481

 Chapter 13: Aunt Eyfura

    The next day, Gramps was in his office, tying off a few loose ends before he left for a bit. Jin had come to him and requested him to find someone to tutor Tess in combat with claws. Gramps had been happy to oblige; he couldn¡¯t expect The Rumors to have expertise in such a niche fighting style, not when none of them even had claws to begin with.


    Fortunately, he knew just who to ask. One of his old party members, Eyfura, fit the bill perfectly. She was an old wolfkin who had long since managed the elusive evolution to garmrkin, and she had been a particularly ferocious unarmed combatant before the party had retired. He had made a point of asking Fortune if it was OK to let her in on the secret, and Fortune had given the OK to let Eyfura in, but anyone else coming with her would need to swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath.


    Plus, she owed him a couple of favors and was completely trustworthy, so she was the perfect pick. So, he finished off his work, let the staff know he was leaving, and began his walk to the residential district. As usual, people called out to him fairly often, and he stopped to say hi when he could.


    Eventually, he made it to her house, where he gave their party¡¯s knock. It was something that they had thought up as youngsters, and, silly as it was, they stuck with it as a sort of nostalgic in-joke. A few moments later, a young wolfkin opened the door. ¡°Uncle Evan!¡± She burst out happily, catching him in a hug, ¡°Why are you here?!¡±


    He smiled, tousling the girl¡¯s hair. ¡°Nice to see you, Ilmir. I¡¯m here to talk with your grandma about some business, will you fetch her for me?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing!¡± Ilmir chirped, ¡°Go ahead and take a seat, it¡¯ll be a second!¡± Ilmir detached herself from Gramps, bounding off further into the house with her tail wagging. Gramps ducked into the sitting room next to them and sat down on one of the many couches, enjoying the somewhat nostalgic scent of Eyfura¡¯s house. Soon enough, Ilmir was back, trailed by Eyfura. ¡°Evan, to what do I owe the pleasure?¡± She asked, sitting across from him.


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s confidential.¡± He said, shooting a glance at Ilmir. ¡°Sorry, Ilmir, I¡¯m going to need you to step out for a bit.¡±


    Ilmir pouted, but gave a nod, left, and shut the door behind her. Gramps applied a silencing spell to the room while Eyfura watched curiously. ¡°What¡¯s this about, then?¡± She asked once he had finished with the spell.


    Gramps gave a sigh. ¡°I¡¯ve talked with you about my grandchildren, right?¡±


    Eyfura rolled her eyes. ¡°At length. Can¡¯t say I don¡¯t understand the sentiment, though.¡±


    ¡°Well, I finally introduced them to the Outlands a few days ago.¡±


    ¡°Congratulations. What went wrong?¡±


    Gramps raised an eyebrow. ¡°I never said anything about things going wrong.¡±


    Eyfura waved a hand. ¡°Please. You wouldn¡¯t be here on confidential business if everything is going according to plan.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you could say something went wrong.¡± Gramps admitted. ¡°Thomas got the lowest possible growths and Ellie got the highest. As a result, Fortune took notice and gave Thomas her strongest blessing.¡±


    Eyfura gave a low whistle, but Gramps wasn¡¯t done yet. ¡°So, I took Thomas to the Challenge in Slime Tower, and wouldn¡¯t you know it, he got something from it.¡±


    Eyfura¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Really?! What was it?¡±


    ¡°A class called Monster Breeder. A transformation class, too. It turned him into a girl, but, more importantly, she got four Phantasmal Skills.¡±


    Eyfura was staring in disbelief, so Gramps decided to deliver the final blow. ¡°And, according to Fortune, Heroes and War are personally optimizing her Skills.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re pulling my leg.¡± Eyfura whispered.


    Gramps shook his head. ¡°Deadly serious, I¡¯m afraid. I won¡¯t get into the any details of her kit right now; the important part is she¡¯s an unarmed combatant that has started using claws as her main weapon. I¡¯ve got The Rumors teaching her and Ellie, but they want someone who actually knows how to use claws to show Tess the ropes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m assuming Tess is Thomas¡¯s new name?¡± Eyfura asked. After Gramps nodded, she continued. ¡°Honestly, I would normally say yes, but I¡¯m busy training Ilmir right now, and I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s not allowed into this mess?¡±


    Ah, so that was why Fortune had made the provision about multiple people. ¡°On the contrary, I¡¯d be happy to have her join so long as she swears a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath to keep everything secret, and Fortune herself gave the OK. Oh, you don¡¯t have to make one or anything, we trust you.¡±


    Eyfura mulled that over, then grinned. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s about time I teach Ilmir about how to be in a party anyway. Would you care to do the honors of performing the oath?¡±


    Gramps shrugged. ¡°Might as well.¡± He walked over to the door, opened it, and called for Ilmir.


    There was the sound of footsteps from upstairs, then she appeared on the landing, jumped the entire set of stairs, and rushed to them. ¡°Can I come in now?!¡± She asked excitedly.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Eyfura said, ¡°Come in.¡±


    Ilmir dashed into the room, and Gramps shut the door and reapplied the spell. ¡°So,¡± he began, ¡°We¡¯re willing to let you in on the confidential stuff, as it involves you. But, in return, you have to swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath to not reveal any of it. Is that acceptable?¡±


    Ilmir nodded vigorously. ¡°Sure thing!¡±


    Gramps took Ilmir¡¯s hand gently. ¡°Ilmir, as one blessed by the God of Fate, I ask if you will swear to tell no one about Tess¡¯s special capabilities or this Oath until the day she dies or releases you from the oath.¡±


    ¡°Um, yeah.¡± She said, apparently taken aback. ¡°Who¡¯s Tess?¡±


    Gramps let the hand drop and explained the situation. ¡°Don¡¯t tell them I did the Oath, though. That¡¯s on the down-low and I¡¯m waiting for the right time to tell them.¡±


    Ilmir nodded, tail wagging furiously. ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that I get to be in a party with Tess and Ellie, and that they¡¯re going to be suuuuper strong? That sounds awesome!¡±


    Eyfura, grinned again and clapped Ilmir on the back. ¡°By the time we¡¯re done with you, the three of you are going to be stronger than my party was, no sweat.¡± She stopped for a moment, then shot Gramps a sly look. ¡°You think Ava and Atum would be up to have a couple of their grandkids join in? It would be like the second generation of The Titans.¡±


    Gramps chuckled. ¡°Let¡¯s take it one step at a time. We¡¯ll have to see if Ilmir meshes with them properly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine!¡± Ilmir said happily, ¡°When do I get to meet them?¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow.¡± Gramps assured her, ¡°What level are you right now?¡±


    ¡°Thirty-nine!¡± Ilmir said proudly, ¡°I¡¯ve been doing some grinding.¡±


    Gramps nodded sagely. ¡°So, you¡¯re higher level than them, but that¡¯s fine. It doesn¡¯t really¡­matter with those two. Ellie¡¯s probably going to be just as tough as you at half the level, and Tess is the opposite. We shouldn¡¯t need to alter things too much, then.¡±


    Eyfura shot Ilmir a glance. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to need to talk with Tess¡¯s current trainers about things, so you go through your exercises, alright?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Grandma!¡±


    Eyfura stood up, walking over to Gramps and grabbing his elbow. ¡°Let¡¯s be off then, shall we?¡±


    Tess spent most of the time before Ellie got done with school grinding out Cub¡¯s Den with Ker. They mostly just dashed through the floors while ignoring the monsters, killed the boss, and did it all over again until they reached the Rewards Crystal. Given the short nature of the dungeon, they were able to fully clear it in just about six hours, giving Tess an hour or two to relax before Ellie got there.


    She had, unsurprisingly, made out pretty well from the dungeon. Her two picks had been magic based, the first All Magic Skill, and a Mana saving Skill. Both of those were things Fortune had assured her she would get later, but Tess didn¡¯t really want anything else at the moment, so she opted to get them early.


    All Magic (Cantrip):


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Grants the ability to use all types of magic at a cantrip level.


    Jack of all magics, master of none


    Mana Minder (Mythical):


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Adds a 10% chance to refund 50% of the Mana spent on anything that costs Mana.


    Mind your Mannaners


    The other Skills were to do with her unarmed attacks, unsurprisingly.


    Bloodletter¡¯s Strike (Mythical):


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 50 Stamina to strengthen your next unarmed attack, causing it to deal 50% more damage and inflict Heavy Bleeding at the rate of 100%. The bleeding lasts for ten seconds and deals 20% of the damage of the main attack every second. Additionally, adds a 1% chance for your regular unarmed strikes to inflict Heavy Bleeding at the rate of 100%. This bleeding lasts for five seconds and deals 10% of the damage of the main attack every second. You may choose to turn off the bleed chance for your regular attacks.


    They¡¯re going to need more than a bandage for that one.


    Stunning Blow (Legendary):


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 50 Stamina to strengthen your next unarmed attack, causing it to deal 100% more damage and inflict Stun at the rate of 100%. The stun time is proportionate to the damage dealt divided by 15 in deciseconds, but is never less than one second.


    Stun -> grapple -> repeat -> win


    Unarmed Efficiency (Mythical):


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Adds a 10% chance to refund 90% of the Stamina spent on any unarmed ability that costs Stamina.


    Turns out not using a big heavy weapon is less tiring.


    She hadn¡¯t done much of anything with cores during the time either. Monster Breeder had leveled up twice and she had leveled up five times, but aside from equipping Facultative Biped (Greater) and Keen Nose, nothing much changed.


    After she finished reviewing the day¡¯s work, there was nothing much left to do but wait until Ellie got there.


    Or so she thought. Instead, Jin and Alice entered the room Tess and Ker were waiting in earlier than Tess had been expecting them. ¡°Hey,¡± Alice said, looking at Tess, ¡°How¡¯ve you been?¡±


    ¡°Fine, I guess. How about you?¡± Tess replied.


    ¡°Well, I did a bunch of thinking, and I realized I just wasn¡¯t comfortable only taking you out dungeon diving when that¡¯s what we do anyway, so I got you a present.¡± She reached into her bag and pulled out a core about the size of a baseball, which she tossed to Tess.


    Tess fumbled a bit but managed to catch it. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± She asked, looking at it curiously.


    Alice smiled. ¡°Saberclaw Lion core. I know it¡¯s a bit outside of your comfort zone but go ahead and absorb it anyway. You don¡¯t have to eject it any time soon, and it¡¯ll be a pretty nice addition to your toolset.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°I thought the idea was to not absorb strong cores right away.¡±


    Alice waved a hand. ¡°Yes, but this one¡¯s an exception. It¡¯s got mostly passive stuff that¡¯s going to build on what you already have. It¡¯s not going to make you overly dependent on any one thing, so please use it. Uh, later. We have a bit to talk about first.¡±


    Alice fidgeted nervously. ¡°We had to get you an additional teacher because we can¡¯t teach you how to properly use your claws. So, we went to ask the guildmaster to find one, and he¡­did.¡±


    Ker frowned. ¡°Who¡¯d he get? Why that hesitation?¡±


    ¡°He got Eyfura the Ripper.¡± Jin said.


    Ker sighed. ¡°Of course he did. It makes sense, but I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be able to drag her out of retirement for this.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s a former member of the guildmaster¡¯s party, The Titans.¡± Jin explained.


    ¡°And a legend among anyone who uses melee.¡± Alice interjected. ¡°Like, a legend. Every single person in their party is a legend in their respective roles. So, be respectful, alright?¡±


    Alice looked like she was going to say more, but the door opened, and a tall woman stepped in. Despite her youthful appearance, she had dark gray hair, matching the color of her eyes. She had wolf ears and a tail of the same color, and overall looked somewhat¡­unkempt. Her hair and fur were rather messy, and she was wearing sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt.


    ¡°You must be Tess!¡± She said warmly. ¡°Call me Aunt Eyfura, or just Auntie, whichever you feel more comfortable with. Evan¡¯s told me so much about you, and I¡¯ve been dying to meet you!¡± She scooped Tess up into a hug. ¡°You¡¯re a real cutie, you know that?¡±


    Tess ignored Alice¡¯s jealous look and awkwardly returned the hug. ¡°Um, thanks, I guess. They were saying that you¡¯re going to teach me how to use my claws?¡±


    Eyfura released the hug and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Your grandpa taught you martial arts, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he taught me and Ellie some stuff.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. What he taught you is what I taught him, which is just a modified version of what I use. You should be able to pivot to the proper version without too much trouble.¡±


    Jin cleared his throat. ¡°Before we get into that, we need to discuss the changes we¡¯re making to your curriculum.¡±


    ¡°Ah, right.¡± Eyfura said, taking a seat next to Tess. ¡°I forgot. Please, go ahead.¡±


    Jin nodded. ¡°We¡¯ve decided that, the matter with Eyfura aside, you and Ellie are shaping up differently enough that we can¡¯t just keep you doing the same thing all the time and expect to see optimal results, in no small part due to the difference in time we have with the two of you. So, we¡¯re splitting you up. Tess will always be with Eyfura and one of me, Alice, or Ker, and the rest of us will be with Ellie. We may have you do joint trainings from time to time, but that won¡¯t be the norm.¡±


    ¡°My granddaughter will occasionally join us.¡± Eyfura added, ¡°Only if we¡¯re training outside a dungeon before Ellie gets here or during joint trainings, though. Otherwise we¡¯re sticking her with Ellie. I¡¯m training her as well, and we¡¯re hoping that the three of you can get along well, but if it not, we¡¯ll figure something out.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Jin confirmed. ¡°Today it¡¯s going to be Alice, and she and Eyfura are going to go take you to Rogue¡¯s Hideaway. It¡¯s the last beginner dungeon, and you can think of it like an intro to traps and other dungeon features.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Alice said, pumping a fist, ¡°And once we¡¯re done with this, we can finally start getting into the fun stuff.¡±


    Eyfura stood up, stretching. ¡°Anything else or can we take it from here?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Jin said, ¡°Ker and I will break the news to Ellie.¡±


    Eyfura and Alice were leaving, so Tess chose to make her exit as well.


    ¡°How do we want to go about this, ma¡¯am?¡± Alice asked, falling into line behind Eyfura.


    ¡°Eyfura.¡± Eyfura corrected. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to work if you¡¯re so formal.¡±


    ¡°Uh, right.¡± Alice said, ¡°So, do you want to be the main trainer or me or¡­?¡±


    Eyfura shrugged. ¡°Eh, we¡¯ll play it by ear. Doesn¡¯t really need to be a ¡®main¡¯ trainer if you ask me. Before we decide anything, though, I gotta see how she handles herself out there.¡±


    Alice fell into a thoughtful silence at that, but Eyfura either didn¡¯t notice or didn¡¯t care, keeping up a light conversation with Tess as they walked towards the dungeon. Like with the other dungeons their walk was short, and at this time of day the lines were even shorter.


    The people checking the paperwork all seemed to recognize Eyfura, though they didn¡¯t try and strike up any sort of unnecessary conversation with her like what had happened with Gramps. In fact, now that she was thinking about it, Tess realized that no one had tried to talk to Eyfura; people kept a respectful distance from her, even if that meant going out of their way to do so.


    Well, for the most part people did. Some people didn¡¯t seem to mind, treating her like any other pedestrian and not interrupting their movement just to give her extra space. Still, it was a marked difference from the friendliness people showed Gramps.


    ¡°Right, right, so,¡± Eyfura said once they got into the dungeon¡¯s lobby, ¡°Let¡¯s get to it. Go grab the info sheet and scan through it, then we¡¯re going to use the first floor to give me a feel for how you fight right now. Alice and I will take care of the traps and tanking, you just kill the monsters. After that we can teach you how to handle traps, alright?¡±


    Eyfura and Alice left to take a seat on some chairs near the wall while Tess went to fetch the sheet. A minute or so later when she was done, Tess went and joined them. They were having a hushed conversation about something that she wasn¡¯t quite able to hear, so she decided to leave them alone and look through the pamphlet.


    The monsters seemed to be of the humanoid variety this time around. They were all different types of goblins or kobolds, and apparently came in groups. Individually, they seemed weaker than anything from Cub¡¯s Den, but their teamwork was apparently passable and there were some armed with ranged weapons, so they weren¡¯t to be taken lightly.


    The traps¡­well, trap was a strong word. ¡°Painful prank¡± may have been a better way to phrase it. As far as Tess could tell, none of the traps would be fatal by themselves; instead they were all along the lines of being hit with a small rock or having a board spring up and smack anyone who tripped the trap in the face. They were almost comedic, like they were straight out of a slapstick cartoon. There was even the classic ¡°bucket on top of the doorframe¡± gag.


    The Challenge was just a pure trap gauntlet, with a chance to find the entrance after successfully disarming a trap. A doorway would spring up wherever the trap was, and upon finishing the Challenge, they would be transported back to wherever they entered.


    To finish her short reading off, she looked at the boss. It was, fittingly enough, a goblin chieftain. It would send waves of weak goblins and kobolds at the challengers, who would have to fight through them to reach the chieftain¡¯s throne, all while having to dodge the numerous traps littered throughout the arena. Once they finally reached the chieftain, the battle was pretty much over. It wasn¡¯t much tougher than a regular goblin, and once it went down, all the other enemies did too.


    She shut the little pamphlet and turned to her mentors. ¡°Finished.¡± She told them.


    Eyfura nodded. ¡°Good. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Fighterman481


    Hey, let''s talk flavor text. "Mind your Mannaners" is a horrible pun and I kind of really hate and really love it.


    Stunning Blow''s flavor text is in reference to the strategy my players used in my D&D campaign, especially towards the end of it. The Monk would stun a target, and then the necromancer would pile it with grapples from like 5 zombies and would basically neutralize any one threat. It was nuts.


    Anyway, we''ll be getting some more conflict soon (tm). Not going to lie, the early chapters of this have been fairly aimless (Just setup, even if I was having a bunch of fun writing it), but I think I know how I want to aim the rest of this arc. Give it a chapter or two to kick in ;)


    Also the core absorption is coming next chapter, so don''t worry about it, it wasn''t forgotten or anything lol.


    Anyway, next time we''ll cover a little bit of the next dungeon. Not going to give it as much screentime as Cub''s Den, I think, just enough to give an intro to traps, go through the Challenge and boss, and have some interactions with Eyfura. Shouldn''t be more than a chapter or two, and the rest we''ll handwave. We may also see some of Ellie''s reaction to being split up from Tess, I''m on the fence about it still.


    Oh, and, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 14: More Than Was Promised

    The first floor went much the same as Cub¡¯s Den had gone, except Tess was behind Alice and Eyfura while the older women sprung the traps ahead. There were only goblins at this point, but they were disgusting enough to make her wish that there were kobolds as well.


    Well, provided the kobolds were cleaner. Regardless, the goblins were short and stunted, with proportions that were just¡­off. They weren¡¯t even consistently off, either. Sometimes one of their arms was much shorter than the other, their necks were of dramatically differing lengths, ears weren¡¯t always quite aligned, and they often had large dents and bumps on their body.


    Their clothes weren¡¯t much better; they were ragged and dirty, covered in stains and only patchily covering their bodies. The bodies themselves were green and, like the clothes, covered with dirt and grime. And they stank, too. Tess was glad that she had opted to turn off Keen Nose when not actively using it, because even without it she could clearly smell them from yards away.


    Fortunately, as the info sheet had said, they weren¡¯t anything to write home about when it came to actual combat ability. They generally had a front line/back line thing going on, but since none of the front liners were able to notice Tess, she was able to slip in and take out the back liners with a single strike each. Mopping up the front liners was a little more difficult since they were moving more, but a few well-aimed blows would finish them off too.


    The only real thing of note that happened on the first floor was when they reached the exit. They were about to go through, but Alice stopped them. ¡°Tess, have you absorbed that core yet?¡±


    Tess started. ¡°Oh, right, I forgot. Sorry.¡± She took the core out of her bag, ¡°Let me do that real quick.¡±


    The core was far and away the largest she had ever absorbed, but she wasn¡¯t hurting for empty slots, so she wasn¡¯t worried about potentially needing to eject it later. There was still a slight moment of hesitation, but she powered through it and absorbed the core, watching as the core burst into a huge haze, swirled around her, then rushed in.


    And, unlike the other cores she had absorbed, there was an instant rush of energy and power from it. It was clearly quite a few steps above even the boss cores she had absorbed, and the long list in front of her reflected that.


    You have absorbed an Emperor Lion Core!


    Slots filled: 6/8


    You have gained  5,700 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    Monster Breeder has leveled up!


    Monster Breeder has leveled up!


    For reaching level 10 in Monster Breeder, you have gained a new Skill!


    Form of the Beast:


    Rarity: Phantasmal


    Type: Passive


    Description: You gain an additional slot for Attributes. This slot functions like the ones from Core Surgery, but any Attribute put in this slot is marked as Fundamental, greatly increasing its effects and potentially providing new ones. Every 10th level of Monster Breeder beyond level 10 grants an additional Fundamental slot.


    0/1 Slots used.


    Absorb, Adapt, Become


    Monster Breeder has leveled up!


    Monster Breeder has leveled up!


    Monster Breeder has leveled up!


    Monster Breeder has leveled up!


    New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    New Skills detected!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Command of the Emperor¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Heir¡¯s Will!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Emperor¡¯s Armaments¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Opulent Ordinance!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Pollice Verso¡­


    Congratulations, you have obtained Writ of Execution!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Impenetrable Pelt¡­


    Congratulations, you have obtained Unyielding Hide!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Blood Sport¡­


    Congratulations, you have obtained Bloodwork!


    Heir¡¯s Will:


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 50 Stamina to let loose a roar. Any enemy that can hear this roar has a 25% chance to be Terrified for 20 seconds, causing them to stop what they were doing and run away from you. Beast enemies instead have a 75% chance to be Terrified for 1 minute and have a further 25% chance to become Charmed for 1 minute, nullifying the effects of Terrified and causing them to treat you as an ally and their allies as enemies until they are no longer Charmed. This ability may only be used once every two minutes.


    Claim the respect you are due.


    Opulent Ordinance:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your natural weapons deal 1.5x damage, and effects inflicted with them are 1.5x more effective (1.5x duration, 1.5x damage, 1.5x more likely to be inflicted, etc).


    Only the best.


    Writ of Execution:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 50 Mana and Stamina to mark an enemy with a Writ, causing them to take double damage from your allies for 10 seconds.


    So let it be written, so let it be done.


    Unyielding Hide:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Incoming physical damage is reduced by 25% while you are above 50% HP


    Contrary to popular belief, the best defense is a good defense.


    Bloodwork:


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Any slashing or piercing damage you inflict with natural weapons has a 10% chance to cause the enemy to bleed for 10 seconds, dealing 25% of the original damage every second.


    By imposing a blood tax, you have shown that death and taxes are not so different.


    Displaying core information:


    Emperor Lion Core:


    Level: 102


    Estimated Power: 3,000


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 6,000


    Current Skills:


    Command of the Emperor


    Emperor¡¯s Armaments


    Pollice Verso


    Impenetrable Pelt


    Blood Sport


    Current Attributes:


    Darkvision (Perfect)


    Enhanced Hearing (Perfect)


    Extendable Claws (Major)


    Iron Fur (Fundamental)


    Keen Nose


    Kemonomimi (Lion) (Fundamental)


    Saber Claws (Perfect)


    Saber Fangs (Perfect)


    Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental)


    New Attributes discovered!


    Darkvision (Perfect):


    Allows for perfect sight in nonmagical darkness, even in the complete absence of light. Furthermore, makes the eyes adjust immediately and prevents being stunned, temporarily blinded, or otherwise injured by bright flashes of nonmagical light.


    Enhanced Hearing (Perfect):


    Intensely enhances the user¡¯s hearing without making them any more sensitive to loud sounds. Provides the ability to filter sounds by focusing on certain sounds, allowing the user to pick and choose what they wish to hear.


    Extendable Claws (Major):


    Allows retraction and extension of the claws. Claws can be extended up to half the length of the limb with the hand or foot containing the claw and retracted to nothingness.


    Iron Fur:


    Covers the creature in a thick layer of hard fur, decreasing physical damage by 5% and cold damage by 25%.


    Saber Claws (Perfect):


    Immensely hardens and sharpens the nails of the creature¡¯s hands and feet, turning them into claws. Doubles the damage of attacks made using the claws and increases the efficacy of bleed effects inflicted with them by 1.25x. Claw size may be adjusted prior to placing this Attribute on a core, with a maximum size of no larger than thrice the normal size and no smaller than half the normal size.


    Saber fangs (Perfect):


    Immensely hardens and sharpens the creature¡¯s teeth, giving them fangs. Doubles the damage of attacks made using the fangs and increases the efficacy of bleed effects inflicted with them by 1.25x. Tooth size may be adjusted prior to placing this Attribute on a core, with a maximum size of no larger than five times the normal size and no smaller than the normal size.


    New Skills discovered!


    Command of the Emperor:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 50 Stamina to let loose a roar. Any enemy that can hear this roar has a 50% chance to be Terrified for 30 seconds, causing them to stop what they were doing and run away from you. Beast enemies instead have a 100% chance to be Terrified for 1.5 minutes and have a further 50% chance to become Charmed for 1.5 minutes, nullifying the effects of Terrified and causing them to treat you as an ally and their allies as enemies until they are no longer Charmed. This ability may only be used once every two minutes.


    OBEY.


    Emperor¡¯s Armaments:


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your natural weapons deal double damage, and status effects inflicted with them are twice as effective (double duration, double damage, twice as likely to be inflicted, etc).


    The emperor¡¯s blades are sharper than any other.


    Pollice Verso:


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 50 Mana and Stamina to mark an enemy for death, causing them to take triple damage from your allies and double damage from you for 30 seconds.


    Thumbs down.


    Impenetrable Pelt:


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Incoming physical damage is reduced by 50% while you are above 25% HP


    Despite taking a hundred blows, the emperor remained unharmed


    Blood Sport:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Bleed effects that you inflict last twice as long. Any slashing or piercing damage you inflict with natural weapons has a 20% chance to cause the enemy to bleed for 15 seconds, dealing 25% of the original damage every second.


    A favorite of the masses.


    ¡°You there?¡± Eyfura was waving her hand in front of Tess¡¯s face, a worried look on her face.


    Tess blinked. ¡°What?¡±


    Eyfura smiled. ¡°You were super out of it for a second.¡± She shot Alice a look. ¡°What did you give her? I¡¯ve seen Saberclaw Lion cores before, and that was not one of them. That was at least twice the size.¡±


    Alice looked away, tapping her pointer fingers together. ¡°Well, I figured that if I was in for a penny I was in for a pound, and I keep a fair number of valuable cores around just in case, so¡­I might have picked an Emperor Lion core? It wasn¡¯t like it was more of a sacrifice or anything.¡±


    Eyfura grinned. ¡°I like it.¡± She turned back to Tess. ¡°Don¡¯t tell everyone else yet, they think you got a Saberclaw Lion core. Anything you would have gotten from that core you got from the one you just absorbed, so as long as you don¡¯t use the active abilities, they should have a hard time noticing anything wrong. We¡¯ll tell them about later, but until then it¡¯ll be our secret, OK?¡±


    Tess nodded hesitantly. ¡°Um, OK.¡±


    Alice breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Alright, go switch around your Attributes, Ker said that can take a few minutes. We¡¯ll wait.¡±


    As she tinkered, she quickly found that most of the Attributes were considered upgrades of ones she had, and as such, did not stack. The lion¡¯s Keen Nose was the same as the one she was currently using, so that merged into Keen Nose (Greater).


    Enhanced Hearing (Perfect) was an obvious choice, so she took that, and swapped out her Night Vision for Darkvision (Perfect).  Likewise, Extendable Claws replaced Retractable Claws, and Saber Claws would replace Sharp Claws. Instead of putting it in a regular slot, however, she decided to try and put it in her Fundamental slot.


    A new window popped up the moment she did.


    New User Fundamental Attribute discovered!


    Saber Claws (Perfect) (User Fundamental):


    Immensely hardens and sharpens the nails of the creature¡¯s hands and feet, turning them into claws. Triples the damage of attacks made using the claws and multiplies the efficacy of bleed effects inflicted with them by 1.5. Claw size may be adjusted when putting this in a Fundamental slot with a maximum size of no larger than five times the normal size and no smaller than half the normal size.


    New concept discovered!


    Attributes put in one of the user¡¯s Fundamental slots gain additional effects not present when an Attribute is considered Fundamental for a monster, and any Attribute may be marked as User Fundamental if put in a Fundamental slot.


    She decided to keep her claws the same length before, as she was fairly happy with how they were, and she could make them much longer with Extendable Claws if need be. At that point she had used eight of her fourteen normal slots and her Fundamental slot, so she took all five of the Emperor Lion¡¯s Skills. That left her with one slot remaining, and after some deliberation she decided to equip Saber Fangs (Perfect) and make them only slightly longer than her normal canines. Fortunately, it seemed that only her canines were affected, and she could easily wave away the difference if anyone actually noticed.


    As she finished, she realized that she was sitting down. That¡­was not something she really wanted to be doing, considering the state of the dungeon; it was like an old, moldy cellar, covered in all sorts of grime and grease. The wooden walls were rotting, and she could occasionally see dirt or stone beyond them.


    And the floor was nasty too. It was made of uneven cobbles, small stretches of wood, or just altogether missing. Even when the floor was there, it was covered in plants, rubble, grime, and generally looked like it hadn¡¯t been maintained in years.


    Tess quickly stood up, went to brush herself off, and then decided that it wasn¡¯t worth dirtying her hands any more than they already were, not when the clothes were bound to get dirty again anyway. ¡°Done.¡± She said. ¡°When you have multiple Skills that increase damage or efficiency of things, do they stack? And if so, is it multiplicative or additive?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and generally speaking, they stack additively between other bonuses from the same category, and multiplicative from other categories.¡± Eyfura said, ¡°So, all effects from passive Skills or passive effects from active Skills add up to one multiplier, which is multiplied by active effects, which is multiplied by Titles, which is multiplied by buffs, and so on. The biggest exception to this is damage reduction, which is always multiplicative, regardless of the source.¡±


    Eyfura stopped for a moment. ¡°No clue where your Attributes lie on that, though I¡¯m guessing they¡¯ll be considered their own category.¡±


    ¡°So, what¡¯d you get?¡± Alice asked excitedly.


    ¡°Um, a lot.¡± Tess replied. She gave a quick summary of what she got, and there was a long silence as both Eyfura and Alice stared at her. Eventually, Eyfura pulled out her phone and started tapping on it while Alice watched interestedly.


    Tess squirmed around for a bit. ¡°What?¡± She asked.


    Eyfura slowly shook her head, putting away the phone. ¡°I was doing the math on your bonuses. They¡¯re absolutely busted. Six times damage on claw attacks, which will inflict a bleed for one hundred and twenty seconds, which deals one hundred and five percent of the damage of the original attack every second. And on top of that, you plant a parasite that deals another ten percent of every second and heals you that amount.¡±


    She sighed. ¡°I think that actually bumps your overall damage output to above average for your level. Which, by all rights, shouldn¡¯t be happening given your abysmal statline. Seriously, just imagine if you had Ellie¡¯s stats. You¡¯d be the strongest person to ever live.¡±


    ¡°Um, right.¡± Tess replied awkwardly. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    Eyfura frowned. ¡°What¡¯s there to be sorry about?¡±


    ¡°Never mind. It¡¯s not important.¡±


    Alice and Eyfura shared a look.


    ¡°No, it is.¡± Alice stressed. ¡°That was a hypothetical that would never actually come to pass. Fortune said she chose you because of your low stats. She could have chosen Ellie just as easily, but she didn¡¯t. She very clearly believes in your potential, so you shouldn¡¯t be down about it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡± Tess mumbled., looking away.


    There was a silence then, but Fortune chose to fill it with a message.


    She¡¯s right, you know. Honestly, even if I wanted to give Ellie my blessing, and I didn¡¯t, I couldn¡¯t. It would upset the balance of power way too much. Think of it like this: I believe that, way down the line, you¡¯ll be stronger than Ellie. Not for a long while, yes, but eventually you probably will.


    And if someone with literally the worst possible base can make it to be in contention for the world¡¯s strongest with my blessing, then someone with a good base would break everything. The boss just doesn¡¯t allow it.


    But, that¡¯s completely irrelevant. I wouldn¡¯t have picked someone else. I haven¡¯t picked anyone else. Honestly, I don¡¯t see myself picking anyone ever again. Not in the way I¡¯ve picked you. I¡¯ve realized that my influence is more¡­influential than many of the other gods¡¯ and I don¡¯t think I can trust other mortals as much.


    I mentioned I¡¯d been watching you for a while. By that I mean I¡¯ve been watching ever since you and Ellie first met when you were like¡­two. Parts of your dynamic really caught my interest, and I ended up watching you two waaaay more than I should have. I almost feel like a parent, in a strange way.


    The point of this is that you¡¯re not a waste of potential. I would much rather have you get this blessing then someone who has the theoretical maximum stats I could get away with giving my blessing to, which isn¡¯t even much higher. In a way, I think it¡¯s for the best that you got those stats, which, by the way, isn¡¯t my doing. That¡¯s completely random, and not even I can touch it. Anyway, those low stats just mean I get to talk with you like this.


    ¡°Right, um¡­sorry.¡± Eyfura said, snapping Tess back to the situation at hand. ¡°I probably shouldn¡¯t have said something like that. I¡¯m not trying to say you¡¯re not good enough, you¡¯re plenty good, I was just making wondering what if.


    ¡°People think about the theoretical strongest set of Skills all the time, and that theoretical strongest is often paired with the strongest stats as a matter of course since they¡¯re talking theory anyway. I was just thinking aloud, and I still haven¡¯t fully come to terms with the fact that this hypothetical is playing out right in front of me.¡±


    ¡°I¡­alright. Don¡¯t worry about it, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m just a little stressed right now, sorry. I don¡¯t mean to drag everyone down with my own issues.¡±


    There was an awkward pause, and then Alice spoke up. ¡°Alright, um, Eyfura, what¡¯d you think of Tess¡¯s form?¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Eyfura began slowly, ¡°So, couple of pointers, first, when you go in for a big blow, you hesitate, finding the most exact time and place to strike. That has its time, but if your teammates are under fire, you have to be faster.¡±


    Eyfura activated¡­something, and a pair of gleaming claws materialized on her hands. ¡°Now, the best way to go about it is just aim for the general vicinity of the vitals. Let me show you a couple of ways to maximize your chance of getting a solid hit in¡­¡±


    Fighterman481

 Chapter 15: Unexpected Discord

    The next couple of floors went by without incident. It was mostly just Eyfura giving advice and Tess clumsily trying to disarm traps. She failed as often as she succeeded, especially towards the beginning, but even when she did fail there was still a little bit of time to get out of the way of whatever the trap did.


    Not that that stopped her from getting whacked a few times when she misjudged where the trap was coming from, missed a trap completely and tripped it on accident, or simply reacted too slowly to dodge in time. Fortunately, her parasites were able to heal the damage from these missteps relatively quickly, so the damage wasn¡¯t an issue.


    Kobolds showed up on the third floor, and they were, mercifully, much less nasty than the goblins. They were short reptilian humanoids, and though their clothing was as tattered as the goblins¡¯ clothing, it was generally much cleaner, as was their scaly skin. They were a bit tougher than goblins as well, but they still fell


    Finally, the floor before the boss, Tess¡¯s instructors told her it was time to do the Challenge. They had chosen to hold off until now to give Tess more time to get used to disarming traps, but they wanted her to get the reward before she fought the boss.


    The Challenge was pretty much exactly how she had expected it to be; a long hallway filled with traps that she had to slowly work through. It was slow and tedious work, but eventually they were able to make it to the end with no more than a few bruises on Tess¡¯s end.


    She didn¡¯t waste any time claiming her reward, giving it a quick look-over and letting the others know what it was before moving on.


    All that was left was the boss. Unlike the other beginner dungeons, however, this boss was at the end of a dungeon floor, not on its own separate floor. That didn¡¯t really change how they were going to approach it, not when the dungeon was this easy, but Tess was assured that in the future, bosses were much more likely to be at the end of floors like this.


    The boss itself was located in a large, open room, with a throne of sorts at the far end. It was crudely constructed, and a tall, skinny goblin was sitting on top of it. When the goblin saw the intruders, it screeched something, and a wave of minions jumped down from above, landing in front of the party.


    When Tess looked up, she saw rafters of a sort, and upon them were many goblins and kobolds, looking down at the fight below.


    ¡°Just take out the chieftain.¡± Eyfura said, stifling a yawn. ¡°No sense in fighting through all these mooks when we don¡¯t have to.¡±


    Tess nodded, and ran towards the chieftain. Upon seeing her advance, the chieftain yowled and screeched, pointing at her, but none of the other goblins or kobolds seemed to take any notice. A couple jumped down but looked around in a confused fashion before rushing to fight Eyfura and Alice.


    The chieftain stood up, snarled, and drew his rusty sword when Tess drew near. In response she slowed down, extending her claws as far as they could go. When she did, she was easily able to see why they were called ¡°saber¡± claws; they were huge, both in length and girth, each foot-and-a-half-long claw as thick around as the finger it sprouted from. Fortunately, they didn¡¯t seem any heavier than her hand normally was, something she assumed was the Attribute making it easier to use the claws. They were a bit clunky to work with, tending to hit each other from even small movements of her fingers, so she just kept all her fingers close together and moved them all at once.


    ¡°Nice!¡± Eyfura yelled from behind her, ¡°Show him who¡¯s boss!¡±


    She lunged at the chieftain, slashing downwards with a clawed hand. In response, the chieftain raised his sword to block stopping the strike. There was a clang as metal met keratin, and Tess was surprised to find that not only did her claws hold up to the sword, there wasn¡¯t even a mark on them. On the other hand, the already battered sword had several large gashes where the claws had sliced through it.


    Her claws were stuck in the sword now, but she had another hand, which she speared out at the goblin. He raised his arm to block, and there was a sickening squelch as her claws cleanly punctured through the arm and into the chest it was blocking.


    You have impaled Goblin Chieftain for 66 damage!


    You have planted a parasite on Goblin Chieftain! It will deal 12 damage and heal you 12 HP every second until removed.


    You have inflicted Heavy Bleeding on Goblin Chieftain! It will bleed for 69 damage every second for 120 seconds.


    She pulled her claw out of the chieftain, and a veritable fountain of blood erupted from his chest. A second later, the chieftain just sort of¡­ melted into rainbow haze, a core appearing where he was standing.


    There was an eruption of laughter from Eyfura, and Tess turned around to find her heartily clapping Alice on the back. ¡°The Emperor Lion was so the right call!¡± She wheezed, ¡°That was awesome!¡±


    Alice smiled. ¡°What level are you now?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Twenty-one.¡± Tess responded.


    Eyfura raised an eyebrow. ¡°Awfully high for the beginner dungeons.¡± She commented.


    ¡°She gets the maximum EXP possible whenever she gets a kill.¡± Alice explained. ¡°Part of the whole blessing thing.¡±


    Eyfura nodded. ¡°Nice. What say you we get your reward?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Tess said.


    The process took little time at this point. Just enough for her to walk in, get her Skill, read it and relay the info to her companions, then leave.


    ¡°Alright, not bad, not bad.¡± Eyfura said, ¡°Time to do it again. This time, I want your claws all the way out the whole time except in the rest areas. I want you getting used to how they handle.¡±


    The rest of the day and the beginning of the next passed without any major incident; she wasn¡¯t able to finish grinding the dungeon in that time because they weren¡¯t speeding through it like the others, they were taking time and having Tess disarm every trap they came across. Still, she got another four shots at the Rewards Crystal, giving her resistance to bleed, sleep, and charm, as well as another unarmed status inflictor.


    Ellie had been really clingy that night, too. She had apparently not liked being split up from Tess, claiming that being apart from her took a lot of the fun away. Still, she had acknowledged that it would let them get stronger much more efficiently.


    So, the time came that Ellie and Tess were slated to meet Eyfura¡¯s granddaughter. Tess, Ellie, and The Rumors were all in another of the guild¡¯s private rooms while Eyfura had gone to fetch the girl, who was apparently named Ilmir.


    The door opened without a knock, and Eyfura walked in. ¡°Hey guys, this is Ilmir!¡± She said, ushering in a wolfkin girl.


    She looked like she was in her early 20s, with bright blue eyes, short black hair, and a tail and wolf ears of the same color. She was rather heavily muscled and was wearing what looked to be workout clothes.


    ¡°Hi everyone!¡± She said cheerily, ¡°I¡¯m Ilmir, and I¡¯m gonna be working with you for a while!¡±


    Her tail started to wag. ¡°I heard Ellie and Tess were super strong, can I get a mock battle with them?¡±


    The Rumors shared a complicated look that Tess couldn¡¯t quite figure out the reason for. ¡°That¡­may not be the best idea.¡± Jin said slowly. ¡°What level are you?¡±


    ¡°39!¡±


    ¡°Right. Um, Ellie¡¯s in the low teens, and Tess in the low twenties. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be a fair fight.¡± Jin said.


    ¡°Uncle Evan said it didn¡¯t matter with these two, though?¡± Ilmir replied, cocking her head.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not wrong, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a great idea, especially in such a public place.¡± Jin began.


    ¡°Look, Tess¡¯s abilities are strictly confidential, so a public spar isn¡¯t a great idea, and you have to give them a little more time to grow. They¡¯ve only been really at this for a couple of days.¡± Eyfura interrupted, ¡°You¡¯ll have plenty of time to gauge their strength while you¡¯re diving dungeons with them.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Ilmir pouted. ¡°Are we going to a dungeon today, then?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re going to do a group outing before we split up.¡± Ker said, ¡°Tess is in the middle of Rogue¡¯s Den, and Ellie hasn¡¯t started it, so we thought we¡¯d run through it once to get you all used to each other. You¡¯ve done it already, but there¡¯s probably nothing they could handle you haven¡¯t already done.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°She¡¯s here to polish her skills and get another perspective on how she operates, not add to the mess by getting more new stuff.¡± She gave Ilmir a look that indicated there was no room for argument. ¡°We can let them into it alone, Tess can clear the dungeon in her sleep, and it¡¯ll be a good way to make them work together.¡±


    There was a short break while Ellie and Ilmir got themselves geared up, and then they began their walk to the dungeon.


    ¡°Soooo, how are we going to do things?¡± Ilmir asked. ¡°I lean towards a physically aggressive role like grandma, what about you two?¡±


    ¡°I can do whatever.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I¡¯ve got a pretty good spread of Skills and stuff.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­I guess I¡¯m physically aggressive.¡± Tess said. ¡°At least, for now. I¡¯ve been getting mostly offense-oriented Skills, I don¡¯t know if that¡¯ll change in the future.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, for now.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°Later it¡¯ll be different.¡±


    ¡°Cool, cool.¡± Ilmir replied, ¡°I¡¯ll take point, Ellie can be a caster, and Tess can make sure no one gets past me.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Eyfura said, looking back. ¡°Switch you and Tess. You¡¯re way too strong for this place. They¡¯re not getting past you, and Tess isn¡¯t an effective blocker anyway since she¡¯s nigh-incapable of drawing aggro. You need practice guarding a rear line away, so it works out.¡±


    ¡°That sounds good to me.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how effective my magic will be again these enemies, since I haven¡¯t used it too much, but it was one-shotting monsters in Cub¡¯s Den, so it should be fine, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°The individual monsters here are weaker but there are more of them. You should be able to handle it without issue.¡±


    They made small talk the rest of the walk, and soon found themselves within the dungeon. The veterans gave Ellie a quick rundown of what the dungeon was like, and then sent them in. The run itself was actually not that different from when Tess went in with Eyfura and Alice, save for the fact that the others helped take out the monsters. Tess would be able to take out one or two of the monsters in a group before the rest made it past her, Ellie would take out usually around three in that time, and Ilmir would mop up whatever was left.


    Tess and Ilmir would take care of any traps ahead, and in general it was far quicker than when her partners were just tanking and purposefully not killing monsters to feed Tess experience. They ignored the Challenge this time around so they could let Ellie do it once she learned more about traps, so they soon made it to the boss.


    The boss went much the same way it had before. Tess had Ellie give it a hit so that Ellie also got experience, and then ran up and killed it. And¡­that was it. The dungeon just wasn¡¯t hard enough to give them any more than that taste of how things might work in the future.


    They held off on seriously discussing anything until they got back to the guild, where they could find a soundproofed room to give feedback without worrying about people overhearing.


    ¡°You know, I think I¡¯ve been in the back halls here more in the past week than I have in the past five years. It feels¡­weird, like I¡¯m some important freelancer now.¡± Alice said, plopping down onto one of the couches.


    Eyfura laughed. ¡°You kind of are. Mark my words, these kids are going to be the future, and being their teacher makes you important. You¡¯ll get used to coming back here, it¡¯s not a big deal.¡±


    ¡°Says you, Grandma. The king of Ima dropping by for lunch isn¡¯t a big deal to you.¡± Ilmir ribbed.


    ¡°It¡¯s not!¡± She protested, ¡°He¡¯s an old friend, I knew him before he was king! It¡¯s not a big deal to have lunch with friends from time to time! Most people would call meeting with Evan a big deal but you don¡¯t freak out about it!¡±


    Jin cleared his throat. ¡°Let¡¯s not get distracted. For what it¡¯s worth, I think things went pretty well. It¡¯s hard to get a good perspective when they¡¯re so much stronger than the dungeon they¡¯re raiding, but that¡¯s just the way things are in the low levels.¡±


    ¡°Tess, what level did you say you were?¡± Ilmir asked.


    ¡°Twenty-one.¡± Tess responded.


    Ilmir frowned. ¡°And you were having that much trouble? I¡¯m pretty sure you should have been able to take down way more than you did, and you missed kills once or twice. That¡¯s¡­kinda sad.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s uncalled for!¡± Ellie protested. ¡°She¡¯s been at this for a few days, chill!¡±


    ¡°Look, all I¡¯m saying is strong people like us don¡¯t need to be held back by someone like her. You¡¯re half her level and were doing twice the work. It¡¯s just common sense.¡± Ilmir said, rolling her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t get why you¡¯re trying to defend that. You¡¯ve only been at it for a few days and you didn¡¯t have any issues. If someone¡¯s struggling now, that generally means it¡¯s only going to get worse in the future. I¡¯d advise reconsidering partying with her, one with just the two of us would be way better.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­sorry, I¨C¡± Tess began.


    ¡°Let me handle this, dear.¡± Eyfura said, placing a hand on Tess¡¯s shoulder. Tess turned her head to find Eyfura wearing a warm smile that was incongruous with how hard her voice had become.


    Ilmir froze, a panicked look on her face. ¡°Look, Grandma, it¡¯s just common knowledge. She¡¯s just going to hold Ellie back if things keep going like this. I get that they¡¯re close, but it¡¯s best to rip off the bandage now.¡± She hurriedly replied.


    ¡°Have you listened to a single thing we told you?¡± Eyfura asked, her expression not budging an inch, ¡°I believe we let you know in no uncertain terms that Tess is going to be a late bloomer. Furthermore, trying to break up her party in front of her face is completely unacceptable. I understand that you¡¯re disappointed that she¡¯s not currently as strong as you expected, but that¡¯s no reason to get nasty.¡±


    Eyfura turned back to Tess. ¡°Sorry about this, it¡¯s clear I need to have a talk with my granddaughter.¡± She said, then turned back to Ilmir, walked over, grabbed the girl¡¯s hand, and towed her forcefully out of the room.


    Ellie blinked. ¡°What was that all about?¡± She asked.


    Ker sighed. ¡°Beastkin thing, I¡¯m afraid. They tend to view strength as the most attractive attribute a person could have, so I imagine her situation would be like expecting to party with a couple of supermodels and finding that one of them was only average-looking. Add that to general beastkin hotheadedness and her relatively young age and you get¡­that.¡±


    Ellie gave Tess a hug. ¡°Don¡¯t let it bother you. You¡¯re already waaay better than you were a couple of days ago. If you keep it up, then you¡¯ll be nearly as strong as me in no time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re not going to be a liability.¡± Jin confirmed. ¡°But we don¡¯t need to dwell on that now. Once Eyfura gets back Ker and I will take Ilmir and Ellie out, and Eyfura, Alice, and Tess will get back to what they were doing before.¡±


    Ellie frowned, releasing her hug. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure I want to go with her after what she just said.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know. Just give her a chance for now, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll mellow out a bit, especially if Eyfura is giving her a scolding. Her tagging along is a condition to Eyfura tutoring Tess, so I hope you can bear with it, at least for a little. If she ends up not working well with the two of you, then you won¡¯t need to party with her after your training finishes.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Ellie grumbled. ¡°But if she starts insulting Tess again, I¡¯m going to lose my mind.¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°Um, thanks, but I think that¡¯s something I should handle. It¡¯s between me and her, you don¡¯t need to ruin a potential friendship over me.¡±


    ¡°If she can¡¯t see past a superficial thing like this when she knows full well it¡¯s temporary, then she¡¯s not worth that friendship anyway. I don¡¯t want to be around someone who¡¯s just going to nag me about stupid things all the time. Even if you were holding me back, I wouldn¡¯t want to leave a party with you. Why bother doing work like this if I¡¯m not doing it with people I like?¡±


    Alice cracked a smile. ¡°Wealth and fame?¡±


    Ellie waved a hand. ¡°Overrated. I¡¯d rather be poor and enjoy my day to day work than rich and hate it. But I don¡¯t really want to talk about this right now.¡± She turned her attention back to Tess, ¡°Did you get anything good from the cores in this dungeon?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right. I didn¡¯t check because we didn¡¯t foresee there being anything of value to me in them, and we didn¡¯t want to get out of the flow of things just to see. Might as well do that now.¡± She pulled the dungeon¡¯s cores out of her bag. There were five varieties in total, including the boss core, so she just absorbed one of each, the five cores she was holding all burst into that mist and flying into her.


    You have absorbed a Goblin Chanter Core!


    You have absorbed a Goblin Chieftain Core!


    You have absorbed a Goblin Foot Soldier Core!


    You have absorbed a Kobold Chanter Core!


    You have absorbed a Kobold Foot Soldier Core!


    Slots filled: 11/15


    You have gained 90 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    New cores absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    New Skills detected!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Goblin Chant¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Goblin Verse!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Kobold Chant¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Kobold Verse!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Rallying Cry¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Inspiring Word!


    Goblin Verse:


    Rarity: Common


    Type: Active (Magic)


    Description:


    Spend 10 Mana to begin a 5-second chant. When the chant completes, one of the spells from Goblin Chant will be activated at random.


    Debatably not a placebo effect.


    Kobold Verse:


    Rarity: Common


    Type: Active (Magic)


    Description:


    Spend 10 Mana to begin a 5-second chant. When the chant completes, one of the spells from Kobold Chant will be activated at random.


    Probably better than just shouting at your enemies.


    Inspiring Word:


    Rarity: Common


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 25 Stamina to give a word of inspiration to an ally within 30m, boosting their stats for 10% for the next minute. Using this on an already-inspired ally refreshes the effect.


    ¡°Courage!¡±


    Displaying core information:


    Goblin Chanter Core:


    Level: 3


    Estimated Power: 8


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 10


    Current Skills:


    Goblin Chant


    Current Attributes:


    Goblinoid Language Proficiency


    Humanoid (Fundamental)


    Light Armor User (Clumsy)


    Goblin Chieftain Core:


    Level: 7


    Estimated Power: 20


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 40


    Current Skills:


    Rallying Cry


    Current Attributes:


    Goblinoid Language Proficiency


    Humanoid (Fundamental)


    Light Armor User (Novice)


    Pack Leader (Minor)


    Sword User (Novice)


    Goblin Foot Soldier Core:


    Level: 2


    Estimated Power: 6


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 8


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Goblinoid Language Proficiency


    Humanoid (Fundamental)


    Light Armor User (Clumsy)


    Sword User (Clumsy)


    Kobold Chanter Core:


    Level: 3


    Estimated Power: 8


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 10


    Current Skills:


    Kobold Chant


    Current Attributes:


    Goblinoid Language Proficiency


    Humanoid (Fundamental)


    Scaly Hide (Minor)


    Kobold Foot Soldier Core:


    Level: 2


    Estimated Power: 6


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 8


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Goblinoid Language Proficiency


    Humanoid (Fundamental)


    Scaly Hide (Minor)


    Sword User (Clumsy)


    New Attributes discovered!


    Goblinoid Language Proficiency:


    Allows the creature to speak and understand the various goblinoid tongues.


    Humanoid:


    Gives the creature a humanoid shape and any physical properties that would be expected of a humanoid (such as opposable thumbs or the ability to speak).


    Increased Intelligence (Minor):


    Increases the creature¡¯s intelligence by a small amount.


    Light Armor User (Clumsy):


    Allows the creature to benefit from light armor with requirements at or below the level of 10.


    Light Armor User (Novice):


    Allows the creature to benefit from light armor with requirements at or below the level of 25.


    Pack Leader (Minor):


    Grants all allies working below this creature a 5% bonus to their stats.


    Scaly Hide (Minor):


    Coats the creature¡¯s skin with scales, providing a small amount of natural defense.


    Sword User (Clumsy):


    Allows the creature to benefit from swords with requirements at or below the level of 10. Additionally, grants the bare minimum required knowledge needed to use the weapon, but any further potential learning is limited by the creature¡¯s intelligence.


    Sword User (Novice):


    Allows the creature to benefit from swords with requirements at or below the level of 25. Additionally, grants the bare minimum required knowledge needed to use the weapon, but any further potential learning is limited by the creature¡¯s intelligence.


    New Skills discovered!


    Goblin Chant:


    Rarity: Common


    Type: Active (Magic)


    Description:


    Spend 10 Mana to begin a 5-second chant, at the end of which you can activate one of the following three effects:


    Patch-up ¨C Touch a target and heal it a miniscule amount.


    Powerup ¨C Touch a target to increase its Power by 5 for one minute.


    Scorch ¨C Launch an ember at a foe, dealing minor fire damage.


    ¡°Gob gob gob gob¡± ¨C A goblin, probably


    Kobold Chant:


    Rarity: Common


    Type: Active (Magic)


    Description:


    Spend 10 Mana to begin a 5-second chant, at the end of which you can activate one of the following three effects:


    Patch-up ¨C Touch a target and heal it a miniscule amount.


    Protector ¨C Touch a target to increase its Defense by 5 for one minute.


    Stone ¨C Launch a stone at a foe, dealing minor earth damage.


    The words probably translate to something rude about your mother.


    Rallying Cry:


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 75 Stamina to let loose a cry, rallying all allies within 40m and boosting their stats for 15% for the next 90 seconds. Using this on an already-inspired ally refreshes the effect.


    CHARGE!


    New concept discovered!


    Monster intelligence:


    The intelligence of a monster is usually tied to their estimated power. While this does not always hold true in wild monsters, those made with Create Monster adhere to this unless intelligence modifying Attributes are applied. Intelligence modifying Attributes do not have any effect upon the user when held in slots from Skills such as Core Surgery or Form of the Beast.


    As she had expected, there wasn¡¯t anything really worth her time at the moment. She just took Rallying Cry and left the rest alone. The bit about monster intelligence was interesting, but she wasn¡¯t planning on using Create Monster any time soon, so it wasn¡¯t something she was really worried about.


    ¡°Yeah, nothing much.¡± Tess confirmed, ¡°Um¡­now what?¡±


    ¡°Now we wait.¡± Jin said, settling down in one of the chairs, ¡°I don¡¯t know how long Eyfura¡¯s lecture is going to take, but if the stories about her are true, then it could be a bit.¡±


    Fighterman481


    In the future the way this is handled is I have a "separated" bit that''s just a raw list of all the new stuff she gained, maybe a little bit of commentary depending on what exactly is going on. It''ll be right above the author''s note in a collapsible.


    Anyway, um...yeah. I have things to say on plot stuff, I was going to say more, but we''re delving into spoiler territory again and I''ve decided better safe than sorry.


    For now, yes, Ilmir is being unfair and illogical. That''s purposeful, and...that''s all I think I can say. I was going to say more but it''ll probably come out in the story so I''m not going to. Next time...I think we''re going to have that outing with Alice, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 16: The Upper Crust

    It took half an hour for Eyfura to come back. ¡°Alice, Tess, we¡¯re leaving.¡± She growled. ¡°Ilmir is outside, the rest of you can do with her what you will.¡± She stalked out of the room, not waiting for a reply.


    ¡°Yikes.¡± Alice said, ¡°I don¡¯t think we want to keep her waiting. Come on, Tess.¡±


    She left as well, leaving Tess to say a quick goodbye and follow suit. She passed a rather unhappy-looking Ilmir on her way out, but chose not to engage in conversation, instead following Alice and Eyfura out of the building.


    ¡°Right. We¡¯re changing the plan.¡± Eyfura said, ¡°Once we¡¯re confident Tess knows how to handle a dungeon, we¡¯re just going to steamroll through it as fast as possible. We¡¯ll give her a couple hits on bosses or big groups of enemies for EXP, but other than that we¡¯re just going to kill everything ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Alice asked, ¡°I feel like that¡¯s not going to be good in the long term.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve made a bet.¡± Eyfura replied, not slowing down. ¡°I bet Ilmir that, in a month, Tess would be able to give her a real run for her money in a fight, despite Ilmir¡¯s head start. So, if we play our cards right, we can get Tess enough Skills to make her able to punch up to Ilmir¡¯s level.¡±


    Alice opened her mouth as if to object, but apparently decided against it, choosing instead to remain silent.


    They spent the rest of their day finishing off Rogue¡¯s Den. The last two Rewards Crystals were Tess¡¯s picks, which she put into magic stuff again. That meant another set of All Magic (bringing her up to Basic) and a Skill that provided a scaling increase to her base Mana regeneration, making it always at least 1/900th of her total Mana per second, or enough to completely make it completely refill in 15 minutes.


    And that was the end of their night. It was getting late and there weren¡¯t any dungeons in town that were within Tess¡¯s ability to clear. Alice set up a meeting time for their one-on-one outing the next day, and then Tess went back home and was alone for a couple of hours before Ellie made it back.


    ¡°Ugh, you would not believe how happy I am to be back.¡± Ellie said, flopping down onto the living room couch. ¡°That was the worst. Ilmir just was not talking, and it was way awkward. How were things on your end?¡±


    ¡°Better, I think. At this point they¡¯ve just started rushing me through dungeons as fast as possible. Apparently Eyfura and Ilmir made some sort of bet about me catching up to her in a month or something? Did she mention that to you?¡±


    Ellie shook her head. ¡°No, she was basically sulking the entire time.¡±


    ¡°Go figure. Did Gramps say when he was gonna be home?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s just finishing up a couple of things and then he¡¯s going to be back.¡± Ellie grabbed the TV remote, turned it on, and picked up a controller for her favorite game console. ¡°I need to detox, wanna play together?¡±


    ¡°Sure, I guess.¡± Tess said, picking up one of the other controllers.


    Early the next morning, Tess met Alice in one of the guild¡¯s private rooms. ¡°So¡­what¡¯s the plan?¡± She asked, taking her gear out of the bag and putting it on.


    ¡°There are a bunch of mini-dungeons outside the city, and I¡¯m going to take you out in my hoverer and get most of them.¡± Alice replied, getting out from the chair she was in and stretching a little.


    ¡°Mini-dungeon? Hoverer?¡±


    ¡°Ah, right. Mini-dungeons are exactly what they sound like. They¡¯re kind of like a dungeon floor or two just sort of planted out in the middle of nowhere. They¡¯re a lot more common than ¡°real¡± dungeons, but for the most part their rewards aren¡¯t anywhere near as good, and you only get one shot at the Rewards Crystal. In addition, sometimes they won¡¯t have bosses, never have Challenges or rest floors, and can¡¯t grow like real dungeons.


    ¡°Hoverers¡­they¡¯re like rich people cars. They use magic to propel themselves a bit above the ground, making them nice for avoiding traffic or off-roading. As a nice bonus, the nicer ones are built to be able to compact themselves into a form that¡¯s easy to store in a magic bag, so you don¡¯t have to worry about parking or anything. They run off of cores and repairs are pretty complicated, so they¡¯re pricy to own, but I find them worth it.¡±


    Tess finished getting into her armor, and she and Alice began their walk out of the guild and to the edge of the city. ¡°Why not just take the hoverer?¡± Tess asked once they got outside.


    ¡°Unfortunately, they tend to dump a bunch of magic into the surroundings and that can mess up delicate pieces of magic, so most cities will have restrictions on where they can be used. Given the nature of this city¡­well, there are a lot of those delicate pieces of magic, so in most of the city you can¡¯t use one. It¡¯s nice out and we¡¯re relatively close to the city¡¯s edge, so we might as well just walk.¡±


    It took them about half an hour to get to the outside of the city, passing through a gate in a large wall that encircled the city¡¯s boundaries. From there, Alice took them a bit off of the main road they were on and took the hoverer out of her bag.


    It looked like a cardboard box made of metal, at least until Alice pressed a button on the side. A long, glowing, rectangle appeared on the ground around it, which Alice stepped calmly out of. The area began to pulse, and there were some beeping sounds, and after five seconds the box began to expand, eventually resolving into what looked like a limo without wheels. Alice opened the back door, doing a little bow and waving Tess in. ¡°After you, milady.¡± She said, smirking.


    Tess climbed inside, and found the interior to be¡­luxurious, to say the least. There were a few small refrigerators, TVs, and a bunch of incredibly plush-looking seats around the walls. There was even what appeared to be a bathroom on the far end.


    Alice stepped inside after Tess, shutting the door and walking towards the front of the hoverer, looking at Tess¡¯s face with a rather amused expression. There was a small terminal at the front, which she used for about a minute, at which point the hoverer ascended a little and the trees outside began to blur as the hoverer smoothly accelerated. Alice came back and sitting down across from Tess. ¡°So, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t think I¡¯ve been in anything this fancy before, not gonna lie.¡±


    Alice laughed. ¡°Get used to it. Now that most of the dungeons we¡¯re going to are outside the city, you¡¯re going to be in here a lot.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean it¡¯s always going to be you and Eyfura with me, then?¡±


    Alice shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t know, that¡¯s up to Jin and Eyfura. I¡¯m fine with it, but we¡¯ll see if they want you to get experience with different group compositions.¡±


    Alice opened up one of the fridges next to her, pulling out a bottle of water. ¡°If you want anything just take it out of the fridge next to you. We¡¯ll be at our first stop in like ten minutes, so we¡¯ve got a little time.¡±


    Tess rummaged around before finding some apple juice, which she began to drink. ¡°So¡­does this have autopilot or¡­?¡± She asked between sips.


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s only useable when you¡¯re going to places that are already in the system, but that¡¯s not something you really have to worry about unless you¡¯re heading to a really new dungeon or something. It¡¯s nice, too; manually driving this thing through all these trees would be awful, but the autopilot is advanced enough that we don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡±


    They chatted more on their way to the dungeon, and Tess got to learn more about Alice, and dryads in general. Alice didn¡¯t have much in the way of family, as dryads didn¡¯t really reproduce in the same way other humanoids do. As dryads were an all-female race, they had to find a male of another race in order to reproduce, and any children would always be ¡°mostly¡± a dryad.


    The girl would inherit any secondary characteristics (such as beastkin features like animal ears or a tail) of their father¡¯s race but would be unable to pass them on herself. In fact, Alice said her mother was actually part centaur, and because she had married a human, Alice looked like a ¡°standard¡± dryad.


    Her parents were living a quiet, retired life in one of the other planes, having chosen to pass their businesses on to Alice and live off of their saved wealth for the foreseeable future. She went back and visited them about once a year and had stayed on rather good terms with them.


    Speaking of, Tess found out that Alice didn¡¯t actually run most of the businesses she owned. She left the business decisions to people who were better at them than her, instead acting as a financial backer and face for the business, and occasionally a tiebreaker in decisions or other such things.


    That was all they had time to talk about before the hoverer gently slowed to a stop. Tess and Alice got out, and Alice pressed a button on the side of the hoverer, causing it to pack up into that box form, at which point she put it into her bag. ¡°Alright, this should be pretty simple.¡± She said, ¡°This one is just one floor without a boss. Apparently, the enemies are just a mix of stuff from the beginner dungeons. No traps, either. So¡­I think I¡¯m just going to go ahead and kill anything we come across. Feel free to pick off any stragglers, but I doubt there¡¯s anything here worth our time.¡±


    And she was right. There was nothing new in the mini-dungeon, but the Rewards Crystal at least held something worthwhile.


    Fortunately, the Rewards Crystal room¡¯s exit still sent them back to the beginning of the dungeon. At the point, it was back into the hoverer for another, this time shorter, ride to their next destination. They rinsed and repeated this process for another five or so mini-dungeons, until they had a longer, about half-hour drive to the next one.


    ¡°Hey, um¡­how have you been feeling? With regards to your body, that is.¡± Alice asked awkwardly.


    Tess frowned. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to ignore it, for the most part. I¡¯ve been leveling up fast enough that I¡¯m not running out of slots for cores, and I haven¡¯t expelled anything big, so it¡¯s been¡­fine, I guess. And I haven¡¯t talked to anyone I knew from before except for Gramps and Ellie, so¡­I dunno, I just kind of forget?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good, I guess. Um¡­do you need to talk with anyone? Like, do you have any questions or anything about being a girl? I don¡¯t think the guildmaster has too much experience with that, and I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve talked much with Ellie, but I¡¯m totally open to questions and I¡¯m not gonna be judgmental about it like I was before.¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m worried about¡­that time of the month, you know? I¡¯ve heard horror stories, and I just¡­don¡¯t want to deal with it, but I¡¯m going to have to, right?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, yes. I doubt your transformation would have removed that particular functionality of the body, given the way you process cores. I can help show you how to take care of that when we get back, if you would like.¡±


    Tess nodded shyly. ¡°Yeah. I¡­feel weird talking about it with Ellie and Gramps. I think it¡¯d be better if it was with an older woman like you instead, well, someone my age or an older guy.¡±


    ¡°You calling me old?¡± Alice huffed, crossing her arms and pouting.


    ¡°No, I just, I mean¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just messing with you, I know what you mean.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Um¡­are you sure that this isn¡¯t a bit much for just apologizing for a minor offense? That core can¡¯t have been cheap, and you said that using a hoverer is expensive, too.¡±


    Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°Look, I like you. You seem like a really nice kid, and I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s the handiwork of Target of Affection or just you being you, but I want to protect you and help you grow as much as possible. The more I get to know you, the more I regret the things I said, and even if this is a bit of a disproportionate reaction, it¡¯s something I want to do.


    ¡°Besides, I have way too much money to worry about stuff like this. I could buy that core a thousand times and operate this hoverer constantly for a year and still not be anywhere near spending enough money to notice a difference in my bank account. It¡¯d practically be a rounding error, it¡¯s not a big deal.


    ¡°And, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, that¡¯s just something you¡¯re going to have to get used to, and not just with me. I mean, you¡¯re wearing clothing made as a rush order by Rachel. She¡¯s like¡­the foremost tailor here in the Outlands, and her prices reflect that. The guildmaster¡¯s filthy rich, and most parties above rank eight are pretty well off. Give it ten or twenty years and you and Ellie will easily be rank eight. Heck, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you¡¯re rank nine by then. And given the nature of your blessing, you¡¯ll be even richer than most people are. Like it or not, you¡¯re part of the upper crust now, Tess.¡±


    The conversation just sort of awkwardly stopped there, and it didn¡¯t resume for another few minutes. After that they were able to hit up another two mini-dungeons before lunch, and another four after, neatly tying up all of the ones that Tess could clear within close proximity to the city.


    Her rewards were all fairly similar to the first, something that would modify the properties of her unarmed attacks at the cost of a little Stamina. They were mostly just modifiers to her punches like Pressure Puncher, things that changed the damage type, a few that amplified things like knockback or gave a minor increase in damage.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Alice said, ¡°Before we end this off, I¡¯m going to cheat a little, and I¡¯m going to take you to a mini-dungeon that¡¯s a fair bit out of your level bracket. We¡¯ll grab you the Rewards Crystal, but let¡¯s not absorb any cores you get, just to keep from overloading you too much with new stuff. Then we¡¯ll head back and look at getting you some new gear. You¡¯re still in the starter stuff the guildmaster gave you, and though that¡¯s really nice stuff, I think you¡¯re long overdue for an upgrade.¡±


    ¡°You¡­really don¡¯t have to get me new equipment.¡± Tess said, ¡°You¡¯ve already done so much.¡±


    Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°We¡¯ve been over this, Tess. It¡¯s not a big deal. Operating the hoverer for half an hour will almost certainly be more expensive than whatever we end up getting you. Low-level gear is cheap, because there¡¯s just so much more of it than nice stuff. If it was mid-level or high-level stuff, you¡¯d have more of a point, but you¡¯re seriously underestimating how much money I have.


    ¡°You know that thing about it not being worth billionaires¡¯ time to pick up thousand-dollar bills or whatever? It¡¯s that. I¡¯ll make enough money while browsing the wares to pay for whatever I buy twenty times over. Plus, the outfit you¡¯re wearing, not including the armor, is probably more expensive than what we¡¯re going to get. Seriously, don¡¯t sweat it.¡±


    ¡°I suppose if it¡¯s that cheap you have a point.¡± Tess conceded. ¡°I figured armor was more expensive, but¡­¡±


    ¡°I mean, better stuff can get pricy. There¡¯s just so much of this stuff from people farming bosses or practicing armor making or whatever that it¡¯s barely worth consideration. If it makes you feel better, you can just give me the cores you get from this mini-dungeon. Depending on how many we get, it¡¯ll cover transportation and the armor no problem.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that.¡± Tess replied.


    ¡°Cool. It¡¯ll be like¡­five minutes, and then we¡¯ll be there. When we¡¯re in there, let me go first so I can sweep for traps, you use that long-range attack to tag monsters that I¡¯ve distracted so you get EXP from the kills, and I¡¯ll make sure everything stays on me and kill everything. It¡¯ll be a piece of cake.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been a bit curious, so if you don¡¯t mind me asking, what level are you guys?¡±


    Alice smirked. ¡°I¡¯m level eighty-one. Ker and Jin are around the same, and Eyfura¡­I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯m guessing she¡¯s somewhere around one-hundred and thirty. The guildmaster¡­most people think he¡¯s that level one hundred and thirty-six we know exists somewhere, but he hasn¡¯t confirmed or denied that.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s that strong?¡± Tess asked incredulously.


    ¡°He¡¯s that strong. Their party is widely considered to be the best there¡¯s ever been, and he was the leader.¡±


    The rest of the short trip was Tess asking Alice more about Gramps¡¯s party. There were only a couple of stories short enough to tell during that time, but Tess was able to get the picture. There was a lot of respect out there for Gramps¡¯s party, and they had done a lot of stuff in their day.


    But she wasn¡¯t able to hear more. They had arrived, and Alice had become quite a bit more serious than she had been the rest of the day. ¡°Alright. This is going to require more focus. Just listen to what I tell you and we¡¯ll be just fine. Ready?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go.¡±


    In the following collapsible is the full list of Skills Tess got in this chapter that were not explicitly mentioned:


    Air Fist:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 10 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal air damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time.


    Now with 100% more air!


    Dark Fist:


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 25 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal dark damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time.


    Now with 100% more darkness!


    Decisive Strike:


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 15 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal 10% more damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time.


    This one¡¯s going to hurt.


    Earth Fist:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 10 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal earth damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time.


    Now with 100% more earth!


    Electric Fist:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 10 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal electric damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time.


    Now with 100% more electricity!


    Fire Fist:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 10 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal fire damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time.


    Now with 100% more fire!


    Force Amplification:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 15 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to knock the target back 3m. The force of this push is dependent on your Power and can be resisted (based on the target¡¯s Power). This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks.


    Stay back!


    Ice Fist:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 10 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal ice damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time.


    Now with 100% more ice!


    Light Fist:


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 25 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal light damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time.


    Now with 100% more light!


    Psychic Fist:


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 25 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal psychic damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time.


    Now with 100% more psychic!


    Water Fist:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 10 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal water damage. This does not count as using a Skill for the sake of Skills that affect normal attacks. Only one damage type changer can be used at a time.


    Now with 100% more water!


    Fighterman481


    There wasn''t really a good place to expound more on the reason why mini-dungeons of relatively similar difficulty have rewards so much worse than dungeons of the same. I mentioned their rewards were just ''worse'', but the idea behind it is that normal dungeons have a far larger selection of rewards, with a few very rare nice Skills and Classes that mini-dungeons don''t have, but...rarity doesn''t exactly matter to Tess.


    And the beginner dungeons are a bit more stacked due to their nature. Always nice to help the newbies get off the ground, you know?


    Anyway, I''m having fun writing someone that''s mega-wealthy. Get to show all this fancy stuff and whatnot.


    But that''s about all I have to say, so next time we''ll see this higher-level mini-dungeon, and...probably something else, I''m not sure.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 17: An Unlikely Coincidence

    From just the first monster, Tess could tell that this dungeon was a few cuts above what she had been going through. It was a sort of¡­bipedal animal that vaguely resembled a fox, were the fur to be replaced with a thick, glossy green carapace and the muzzle with something more akin to a lamprey¡¯s maw.


    Alice wrinkled her nose. ¡°I hate it when mini-dungeons get creative. It¡¯s almost never fun to look at.¡± She hefted her shield, planting herself firmly between Tess and the monster. Unlike the other times she had been dungeon diving with Tess, Alice had kitted herself out in a full suit of armor, and Tess was beginning to wonder why she hadn¡¯t been wearing it before; she moved like she wasn¡¯t even wearing the armor, and it somehow wasn¡¯t making any sound. ¡°Alright, give the thing a hit and I¡¯ll take it from there.¡±


    Tess activated Pressure Puncher and lashed out with her claws. There was a strange sense of resistance as she tore through the empty air, and a small gash appeared on the creature¡¯s carapace, a wriggling parasite barely visible over the oozing brown blood.


    The monster screeched and charged towards Tess, but Alice threw her sword at it, stopping it in its tracks. It struggled for a moment, and then the sword flew back to Alice, leaving an enormous crack where it used to be. ¡°Did you do any damage that wasn¡¯t absorbed?¡± Alice asked, hefting her sword again.


    ¡°No.¡± Tess replied.


    ¡°Hit it in the gash I made then. I¡¯m not sure you¡¯ll get EXP if you don¡¯t do any non-absorbed damage.¡±


    Tess made another attack, and this time was met with a small stream of blood spraying out from the monster, through which a wriggling parasite could barely be made out.


    You have gouged Vulpine Petromyzon for a critical 14 damage!


    You have planted a parasite on Vulpine Petromyzon! It will deal 2 damage and heal you 2 HP every second until removed.


    You have Poisoned Vulpine Petromyzon! It will take 2 damage every 5 seconds for 2.5 minutes


    You have inflicted Heavy Bleeding on Vulpine Petromyzon! It will bleed for 14 damage every second for 120 seconds.


    Alice nodded and threw her sword again, landing a hit on the broken spot and causing the monster to disappear into nothingness, leaving behind only a core.


    Alice grimaced, shaking her sword as if to flick off some nonexistent grime. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with. I don¡¯t want to spend any more time around these things than I have to.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°I agree.¡±


    The rest of the mini-dungeon was mostly the same. There were a couple of traps, but mostly it was just fighting those fox-lamprey things until they reached the Rewards Crystal. Fortunately, the reward was worth the discomfort traversing the dungeon put them through.


    They didn¡¯t waste any time getting back into the hoverer, where both women took off their armor. ¡°I must have blocked that one out of my mind.¡± Alice groaned, ¡°Because I didn¡¯t remember it before, and I really wish I don¡¯t remember it now.¡±


    ¡°Is there¡­a lot of this kind of thing in dungeons?¡± Tess asked cautiously.


    ¡°Thankfully not. Mini-dungeons tend to have all the weird-looking stuff, and half the time it¡¯s not even properly functional stuff, either.¡± She opened the fridge near her and grabbed a water, which she unscrewed and, instead of drinking, poured all over herself. There was remarkably little splash, too ¨C most of the water was absorbed the moment it came into contact with her skin.


    Alice let out a contented sigh. ¡°It¡¯s really nice to get out of that armor. It¡¯s just so¡­stuffy. Speaking of armor, what kind are you in the market for? You¡¯re in leather so I¡¯m guessing light armor, but I want to be sure.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s for the best.¡± Tess agreed. ¡°I¡¯m not really confident in moving well in anything bulkier than what I¡¯ve been wearing.¡±


    ¡°Eh, we can teach you if need be. But my guess is that light armor will be best for you anyway, from what I¡¯ve heard there are a bunch of unarmed Skills that incentivize wearing lighter stuff.¡±


    ¡°So, um¡­what should I look for in armor?¡± Tess asked, ¡°Is there anything in particular or will we just be grabbing whatever looks like the best set?¡±


    Alice shrugged. ¡°That really depends on what you want to be doing. In general, though, I think we want to be looking at the effects the armor provides more than the raw defensive bonuses. If all goes well you generally shouldn¡¯t be targeted except by area attacks, so defense isn¡¯t as big a selling point as it is in a lot of other cases. We¡¯ll have to see what¡¯s on offer, because there¡¯s a lot of variety at this level, so honestly we¡¯ll just be grabbing what looks best, yeah.¡±


    The rest of their ride was spent idly chatting until they pulled up to the city walls. ¡°Hey, I uh, just realized, I don¡¯t know the name of this city.¡± Tess said, ¡°That¡¯s weird, right? I mean, I¡¯ve been hanging around here for almost a week, I should know.¡±


    Alice laughed. ¡°The city doesn¡¯t have a name, not really. It¡¯s technically got a lot, but only people from other planes use them. This is the only city city in The Outlands, so we just call it the city. Easier to know what everyone¡¯s talking about when you don¡¯t have to remember a dozen different names.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°Why this? Why not just decide on one?¡±


    Alice shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s a compromise. Everyone from different planes wanted the city to be officially named their idea, and before the guild came into power the name was stuck in bureaucracy. Right now the guildmaster isn¡¯t allowing one name to be officially stamped onto the city, he¡¯s waiting for a name to come into popular use naturally, and more and more it¡¯s seeming like it¡¯s just going to be ¡®the city¡¯.¡±


    They walked through the gates, and Alice began to lead Tess to a district of town she hadn¡¯t been in before. It was filled with all sorts of shops ¨C street stalls, traditional shops, even what appeared to be a couple of mall-type buildings. The place was bustling with people of all sorts, even ones that really didn¡¯t look like freelancers.


    Alice took her into one of the mall-like buildings. ¡°This is the go-to place for armor for low to mid-level people.¡± She explained. ¡°You¡¯ll probably be coming here until you¡¯re around level sixty to seventy, so it¡¯s good to get familiar with it now.¡±


    She took Tess to a signpost that had a map of the building, which she began to look through. ¡°We want an Io¡¯s, if they still have one here. They¡¯re a pretty good series of stores, and though they¡¯re mostly known for their high-level gear they have a couple of outlets where they dump what their apprentices make.¡±


    Tess looked over the map with her, and eventually Tess was able to locate an Io¡¯s. ¡°Right here.¡± She said, pointing it out to Alice.


    ¡°Perfect.¡± Alice said, ¡°That¡¯s not even that far away from here.¡± She and Tess left the sign and made their way to the store, which was up on the second floor.


    But they didn¡¯t make it far inside before they were stopped. ¡°Hey, Alice, is that you?!¡± A cheery man called, ¡°It¡¯s been a while, how¡¯s the armor treating you?¡±


    Alice was already walking over to the source of the voice, motioning for Tess to follow, and Tess turned to see a tall elf with short hair behind the counter, with what appeared to be a dwarf boy next to him, though Tess was just guessing that based on the general build. There wasn¡¯t any of the beard or hair or general heavy clothing or weaponry that Tess expected of a dwarf.


    ¡°Ah, Ten, good to see you!¡± Alice replied, ¡°The armor¡¯s been fantastic, it was worth every penny! Who¡¯s this you have with you?¡±


    Ten smiled. ¡°I could ask you the same question. This is Dmitri, my apprentice.¡± He nudged Dmitri, ¡°Say hi.¡±


    ¡°Um, hi.¡± Dmitri said shyly.


    ¡°This is Alice, member of The Rumors, a rank 9 party, and owner of the Reshi conglomerate.¡±


    Alice watched Dmitri¡¯s expression, smirking. ¡°This is Tess, granddaughter of Guildmaster Los, and she¡¯s gonna be a bigshot one day, mark my words.¡±


    Dmitri had become visibly paler and waved a hand mechanically.


    Ten rolled his eyes. ¡°Dmitri, they¡¯re just people, you don¡¯t need to be so worried about it. You¡¯ll be dealing with lots of important people in the future, so it¡¯s good to get used to it now.¡±


    Alice grinned. ¡°Seems like we¡¯ve been having some similar issues. Tess has been having a hard time acclimatizing to her status too.¡±


    Dmitri frowned. ¡°What¡¯s there to acclimatize to? That kind of thing is something you¡¯re born with.¡±


    Alice waved a hand dismissively. ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but the gist is that she was adopted. It¡¯s not really important right now. What is important is that we¡¯re looking for light armor for her, preferably some that¡¯s less focused on defense and more on effects. Unarmed bonuses, if possible.¡±


    Ten raised an eyebrow. ¡°That¡¯s quite the coincidence, Dmitri is here dropping off some armor that fits that description to a T.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re yanking my chain.¡± Alice replied incredulously.


    ¡°Not at all.¡± Ten said, stepping out from behind the counter, ¡°Follow me, I¡¯ll take you to where we put them. Dmitri, you too.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, sir.¡± Dmitri replied meekly, following his mentor out from behind the counter. The two led Tess and Alice to a back part of the store, where a few robes were sitting on mannequins. Next to each was a small plaque listing their effects, and Dmitri watched nervously as Tess and Alice looked over them.


    ¡°I like this one.¡± Tess said, pointing at what appeared to be a Gi of some sort. According to the plaque, it required a level of 20, offered a bonus of 10 to Defense and Magic Defense, like the leather she was currently using, but gave +10 to Power while unarmed, 50% increase to unarmed damage and a 30% decrease to the Stamina cost of unarmed abilities.


    Alice walked over to it and studied it. ¡°Yeah, that one¡¯s pretty decent. It¡¯s half a gold, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but we¡¯ll slash the price to half that for the two of you. Call it a bonus for being a first-time customer.¡±


    Alice smiled, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a gold piece, which she gave to Ten. ¡°Let the kid keep the change, call it a bonus for providing exactly what we¡¯re looking for. And, hey, maybe we¡¯ll ask for him in the future. There¡¯s enough of these that I¡¯m assuming it wasn¡¯t an accident, right?¡±


    Dmitri nodded shyly. ¡°Y-yes. I have a friend who got a bunch of unarmed abilities, so I thought I¡¯d give it a go. These are the ones that didn¡¯t really fit what he was looking for, he wanted stuff that was more defensively oriented.¡±


    Ten took the armor off of the stand, then handed it to Tess. ¡°There you are, young lady, use it well. If it needs any maintenance make sure you come to one of our stores, don¡¯t try it yourself. We ensure that all armor comes with at least minor self-repair enchantments, so if there are holes or anything, that means it¡¯s probably something more than an amateur should attempt. Chances are you¡¯ll just end up doing more harm than good if you try.¡±


    ¡°What he said.¡± Alice agreed, ¡°Their maintenance fees aren¡¯t expensive, and they usually work pretty quickly, so don¡¯t hesitate to bring your stuff in.¡± Alice started, apparently realizing something. ¡°Oh, uh, Ten, mind if we talk privately for a minute? I have a couple of requests, and don¡¯t particularly want details getting out.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Ten replied, smoothing out his clothes. ¡°I believe this store has an audience room, would you care to follow me there?¡±


    Alice shook her head. ¡°Sure. Tess, come with me.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind if Dmitri joins us as well, then?¡± Ten asked, ¡°I want to give him some experience in the request process.¡±


    Alice frowned. ¡°Best not. While I¡¯m sure he¡¯s a trustworthy boy, it¡¯s something that I would rather as few people know about as possible. Tess already knows, so she¡¯s fine, but¡­¡± She trailed off, and Ten nodded understandingly.


    ¡°Of course.¡± He replied. ¡°Dmitri, wait in the staff room, I¡¯ll come pick you up when we¡¯re done.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Alright, just follow me, then.¡± Ten said, walking off towards the back of the store, Tess and Alice following closely behind. He led them through a few short hallways before showing them into a room behind a nondescript door.


    ¡°These rooms are completely soundproofed, so don¡¯t feel like you need to quiet yourself.¡± Ten told Tess, ¡°No one outside will be able to hear, and we don¡¯t record anything inside the room itself unless our client expressly approves of it.¡± He gave Alice a nod. ¡°I assume you don¡¯t want this recorded?¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t. The guildmaster would have my head if I let any more of this leak than what I¡¯m about to tell you.¡±


    Ten raised an eyebrow. ¡°Intriguing. Do go on.¡±


    ¡°I need to commission gloves and shoes for her.¡± Alice said, waving at Tess. ¡°Something that can adapt with transformation, the fingers and toes will need to be able to open, though I¡¯ll still need something on the bottom of the toes so they¡¯re not on bare ground. Kind of like sandals, but sturdier. If at all possible, no defensive bonuses either, just offensive stuff for unarmed attacks.¡±


    Ten wrote that down in a small book he was carrying. ¡°Understood. Anything to add, young lady?¡±


    ¡°Ummm¡­¡± Tess began, a little taken aback by the suddenness of Alice¡¯s order. ¡°That¡¯s fine, I guess. I didn¡¯t know we were going to be ordering anything custom made so¡­¡±


    ¡°We weren¡¯t.¡± Alice said, ¡°Ten was here and we were looking at stuff and I remembered we¡¯d probably need custom stuff for your hands and feet so it just sort of happened.¡±


    ¡°And what level range would you like this to be?¡± Ten asked.


    ¡°Something usable well into the thirties would be ideal. It¡¯s fine if the minimum ends up being twenty-five, but higher than that is a no-go.¡±


    ¡°Come back a week from today and I¡¯ll have the gloves ready for you. Will there be anything else?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯ll be all. Thanks, Ten.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re most welcome. As for the price, would five gold be considered fair?¡± Ten asked.


    ¡°More than fair.¡± Alice agreed.


    ¡°Excellent.¡± Ten said, standing up. ¡°Follow me and I¡¯ll show you the way out.¡±


    He led them back through the hallways, stopping for a moment to grab Dmitri from the staff room. They parted ways at the counter, Dmitri and Ten going back into the back of the store while Tess and Alice left, though Tess was able to catch the beginning of the conversation Dmitri and Ten had thanks to Enhanced Hearing (Perfect).


    ¡°Dmitri, what did you learn from this?¡±


    ¡°Um, well, when dealing with important people¡­¡±


    Tess stopped paying attention after that, the walls between them making straining to listen to the conversation more trouble than it was worth.


    ¡°So¡­um, anything else you want to do?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°Uh, I guess not.¡± Tess replied.


    ¡°Cool, cool. I¡¯ll just drop you off then, and¡­we¡¯ll be back to normal business tomorrow, I guess?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that sounds good, I guess.¡±


    And, with that awkward conversation, they set off for the guild, their day finally coming to a close.


    Fighterman481


    Um, that''s all, though. Next time we''ll...you know, I''m just going to leave it as a surprise, so look forward to it!


    ...


    ...


    Or not. With the benefit of hindsight I have a little more to talk about. Yeah, I forgot their planned outing to show Tess a little more how to deal with her period, but it is what it is. We''ll say they forgot too, after the whole "really gross monsters" thing and going to get new armor lol


    Anyway, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 18: Sudden Realization

    When Tess got home, she was met by a rather enthusiastic Ellie. ¡°Hey, how was it?!¡± She asked excitedly. ¡°Anything cool?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Eh, not really? More stuff that¡¯s just¡­passively nice, I guess. I did see a couple of things I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m going to be seeing in my nightmares, and I got some new armor, though, so that¡¯s cool.¡±


    ¡°Uh, you want to talk about that or¡­?¡± Ellie said hesitantly


    ¡°Just nasty-looking monsters. Apparently mini-dungeons can get uh¡­.creative. You¡¯ll see what I mean eventually, I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯ll take you there too, so have fun with that.¡± Tess sat down on the couch in the living room, laying down so she took up as much of the couch as possible.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s just wonderful. Can I see the new armor? Is it more leather or something different?¡± Ellie asked, sitting on the couch across from her.


    Tess reached into her bag and took out the armor. ¡°Some sort of¡­I think it¡¯s called a gi?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a Gi.¡± Ellie confirmed. ¡°Could you put it on for me? Please? I wanna see it!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure, why not.¡± Tess replied, lifting herself off the couch. ¡°Stay here, it¡¯ll be a sec.¡± Tess made her way to her room, where she began to change. She struggled a bit to get the armor on, but eventually was able to. Her first thought was that, while the armor was far more comfortable than the leather she had been using, it was still much less comfortable than the clothes made by Rachel.


    That was to be expected, though. Rachel was supposedly one of the best seamstresses out there, and Tess had always thought school uniforms or other clothes were horribly uncomfortable. That made sense now that she was thinking about their quality compared to her day-to-day wear.


    But it wasn¡¯t the worst thing she¡¯d ever worn, not by far. If forced to rank how comfortable her clothes were, she¡¯d probably put it relatively high if she was to ignore the clothes Rachel made. She put that thought aside and went back to the living room, where Ellie was waiting patiently.


    Ellie stared unabashedly at Tess, and Tess could swear Ellie was almost drooling. Tess fidgeted under the gaze for a moment before speaking up. ¡°Does it¡­look weird?¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°No, it looks good. Really good. Like¡­dang, I wish I could look half that nice.¡±


    Tess blushed furiously. ¡°It¡¯s not me, it¡¯s the Skill.¡± She said, looking down. ¡°If that was like¡­suppressed for a bit or something then you wouldn¡¯t be saying that.


    Well, yes but actually no. It¡¯d stop automatically correcting your hair or making adjustments to the way your clothes look on you or that kind of stuff but the base of it is here to stay. You¡¯d still look real nice unless you really let yourself go.


    Don¡¯t see that happening any time soon, though. Phantasmal stuff is preeeetty hard to mess with. Usually only other Phantasmal stuff or blessings from the gods and stuff can do that


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about that.¡± Ellie said, oblivious to Fortune¡¯s message. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯d immediately become ugly or anything, that seems like it would be a little¡­weird.¡±


    Tess relayed the contents of Fortune¡¯s message to Ellie.


    ¡°Well, there you have it.¡± Ellies replied happily. ¡°I know it¡¯s gotta feel a little weird to you, what with¡­ you know, but you are rocking that. Seriously.¡±


    Tess scratched the back of her neck, thoroughly embarrassed. ¡°Thanks? Uh, all that aside, how was your day?¡±


    ¡°Boring.¡± Ellie replied, sprawling out in her seat, ¡°I picked up your homework for the week, Grandpa wants you to work on it over the weekend.¡± She motioned to her backpack, which was slumped against the coffee table. ¡°It¡¯s in the black binder, just take it out when you¡¯re ready. I think the teachers put where to read in the books, too? I only glanced at the papers so I¡¯m not sure.


    ¡°Oh, and Grandpa said he¡¯s gonna talk with The Rumors and Eyfura and make sure we get weekends off, though I think he also said we can go there if we want? You¡¯ll have to talk to him when he gets back, I¡¯m going to go, I think. The faster we finish our training, the better. I want to get to just going out and having adventures with you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to think about whether or not I want to go on the weekends.¡± Tess said, getting back onto the couch, ¡°I¡¯m thinking I¡¯ll end up going only one of Saturday or Sunday, since I need time to study and do homework and that¡¯ll probably take a whole day.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe, if I¡¯m lucky, on the days you¡¯re gone I won¡¯t have to deal with Ilmir, since Eyfura will be free. I¡¯m really not looking forward to spending more time with her, so that¡¯d be nice.¡± Ellie said, grimacing.


    ¡°I guess so. I still think we should try and be friends, though. It¡¯s not worth spending our whole training with someone who we don¡¯t like and who doesn¡¯t like us.¡±


    Ellie sighed. ¡°You¡¯re probably right. I just¡­really don¡¯t like how she was acting. It doesn¡¯t bode well for the future. Whatever, though, let¡¯s just play some games.¡± She booted up the TV and held up a game controller. ¡°You down?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why not.¡±


    The next day, Tess was studying in her room when she heard a knock at the door. Not¡­her door, the front door. Thanks to Enhanced Hearing (Perfect), it still sounded almost as clear as a knock on her door would have been. It was disconcerting, in a way. She felt like she shouldn¡¯t be able to hear nearly this well, not with just her regular ears.


    Perhaps she should consider keeping one of the Kemonomimi Attributes on while she was out and about, most likely wolf. It would serve both as a way to feel less¡­dissonance about having such good hearing, as well a disguise to make it seem less odd if someone saw her claws. She¡¯d have to run it by Eyfura and Alice next time they met up.


    She heard two sets of footsteps move to the door, it open, and then Gramps begin to speak. The conversation was somewhat muffled, but she could still clearly make out the words with a little effort. ¡°Ah, Jacob, how are you doing?¡±


    Tess frowned. Jacob was one of her best friends, but¡­she hadn¡¯t been planning on seeing any of her friends so soon. That being said, she had to wonder why he was here, at least without messaging her first. A quick check of her phone confirmed that he hadn¡¯t sent her any texts, so the behavior was a little baffling to her.


    ¡°Good, Mr. Los.¡± Jacob said, ¡°Um, I was hoping I could check in on Tess and see how she¡¯s doing. I brought over some cookies, too.¡±


    Why¡­oh, right, her cover was that she had some long-term illness that was preventing her from being at school. That would probably explain not contacting her beforehand, at least to a certain extent.


    ¡°Let me go check with her.¡± Gramps replied, ¡°Ellie, go grab him a glass of water, Jacob, go ahead and sit down in the living room, I¡¯ll be back down in a bit.¡±


    She waited as Gramps made his way up the stairs and then knocked on her door. After instructing him to come in, he opened the door, stepped in, and then closed it behind him.


    ¡°So¡­Jacob¡¯s here?¡± She asked.


    Gramps nodded. ¡°Are you alright with seeing him? You don¡¯t have to if you don¡¯t want to.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡± Tess sighed, ¡°I¡­might as well just get it all over with.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Just remember that you¡¯re supposed to be ill, so don¡¯t move around too much or be too energetic, OK?¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡±


    Gramps smiled. ¡°Good. I¡¯m proud of you for being brave and facing this so soon.¡± He left the room, leaving Tess to think while he fetched Jacob.


    Had it really been less than a week? It felt like it had been longer, perhaps because of the¡­ density of her experiences over in the Outlands. The constant activity had helped her forget her worries about her body, but they were rapidly returning as she anxiously waited for Jacob to come up.


    The minute or so it took felt like much longer, but eventually there was another knock at her door.


    ¡°Um¡­come in.¡± Tess said.


    The door opened and Jacob gingerly stepped in. He stopped once he caught sight of Tess, staring for a moment.


    ¡°Is¡­everything alright?¡± Tess asked hoarsely.


    Jacob shook his head as if to clear it, then smiled weakly. ¡°Sorry, was just trying to see if you were looking any different, but you still look fine, I think. How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°It comes and goes. Sometimes I feel fine, but other times it¡¯s just¡­ bad.¡± It wasn¡¯t a complete lie, nights had been rather rough for her. She had needed to figure out a new way to sleep to account for her new anatomy, as sleeping on her stomach the way she had been wasn¡¯t quite as comfortable as it used to be.


    And then during that time she would worry about what her social life was going to be like now that she had changed so drastically. What if someone remembered that she used to be a guy? What if someone had messed up and her documentation wasn¡¯t completely changed?


    ¡°Well, um¡­I hope that you¡¯ll get better soon.¡± Jacob said, blushing and looking aside. ¡°I brought some cookies for you, hopefully it¡¯ll give you some comfort when you¡¯re feeling bad. I gave them to Ellie, she¡¯ll come up and give them to you later.¡±


    He kicked the ground shyly, ¡°Um, well, I know I¡¯m not supposed to visit for too long while you¡¯re sick like this, so¡­just wanted to let you know that you¡¯re in our prayers and that if you need any help with homework just text me and I¡¯ll be more than happy to help out.¡±


    ¡°Uh, thanks.¡± Tess replied awkwardly. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­see you around, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, um, see you around. It was nice talking with you.¡± Jacob said, gingerly leaving the room. She was able to hear him breathe a sigh of relief after he shut the door behind him, as well as a muttered ¡°I swear she wasn¡¯t that hot before.¡±


    Tess also let out a sigh of relief; that¡­wasn¡¯t as bad as she had been worrying it might have been. It wasn¡¯t as good as it might have been, but it seemed like things wouldn¡¯t be too awkward going forward, not once he get used to her new appearance.


    Not that he completely knew what he was getting used to. But, at the very least he didn¡¯t seem to suspect anything. That being said, she didn¡¯t like how it had felt when he had called her hot. It was one thing when people like Ellie or Fortune probably weren¡¯t attracted to her told her she was attractive, but it was another thing entirely when it was someone who did.


    Well, when she didn¡¯t reciprocate the feeling, anyway. It was flattering, but¡­she wasn¡¯t into guys. If it had been, say¡­a lesbian or something, maybe it would be a different case, she didn¡¯t know.


    Still, she didn¡¯t hold it against him at all. That was something that, by all rights, a normal human wouldn¡¯t have been able to hear.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I wouldn¡¯t have been able to hear that a week ago, yeah.¡± Tess whispered.


    ¡°Yes, it feels better in that situation, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°Are you talking about you and Ellie not being attracted to me?¡±


    Tess puzzled that one over. The clear implication was that one of Ellie or Fortune was at least bi and was also attracted to her, but she wasn¡¯t sure who exactly it was. It¡­wasn¡¯t Ellie, right? Yes, she had been really touchy-feely lately, and yes, Tess had lately been catching Ellie staring at her quite often¡­


    Oh. That¡­wasn¡¯t exactly subtle, now that she was thinking about it in this context.


    ¡°Tess!¡± Ellie burst into the room, then scooped Tess into a hug. ¡°How are you doing? Was it uncomfortable? Do you want to talk about it?¡±


    ¡°Um, uh¡­¡± Tess sputtered, ¡°It was fine? He was cool about it. I think he got distracted for a second by my appearance, I caught him mumbling about not remembering me being this hot when he thought I couldn¡¯t hear. Well, I shouldn¡¯t have been able to hear, but, you know, Attributes.¡±


    ¡°Well, he was right. You¡¯re a perfect ten, I¡¯m telling you.¡± Ellie let go of the hug, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and pulling her out of the room. ¡°Let¡¯s get you a cookie and then go play some games, take your mind off of things, kay?¡±


    ¡°Um, yeah, sure.¡± She was blushing, but fortunately Ellie wasn¡¯t looking. If¡­if Ellie was a lesbian, that explained a lot. And, maybe¡­maybe Tess¡¯s own feelings weren¡¯t completely hopeless.


    She had been suppressing them for a long time, after she had decided it was a lost cause, but now that she had a glimmer of hope again, they were starting to force their way back into her awareness.


    She was in the kitchen now, and Ellie was opening a box. It was full of homemade chocolate chip cookies, which were Tess¡¯s favorite. ¡°How many do you want?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Just give me one.¡± Tess replied distractedly.


    Ellie took a cookie out of the box and shut it, then led Tess to the living room, where she began to boot up her favorite console.


    Tess, however, was still thinking about what she had just come to realize. If she was to pursue things with Ellie again, she would need to be stronger, no questions about it. She wasn¡¯t going to hold Ellie back, that wouldn¡¯t be fair to her.


    That settled it. She was unsure about the bet Eyfura and Ilmir had made before, but she had decided now. She was going to play along, and she was going to win.


    Fighterman481

 Chapter 19: Trip Planning

    Later that day, Tess was sitting across from Gramps in the office in their home, looking down nervously at the desk.


    ¡°So, why all the formality?¡± Gramps asked, leaning onto the desk. ¡°Why not just ask me whatever it is you¡¯re going to ask over dinner?¡±


    Tess fidgeted in place. ¡°I¡­I want permission to stay in the Outlands full time for the next month. If you say yes, I¡¯m going to ask one of The Rumors, probably Alice, and Eyfura to go out on an expedition so we can get at some more out-of-the-way dungeons.¡±


    Gramps raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oh? What¡¯s this all of a sudden? Before I give an answer, I¡¯d like to know why you want this.¡±


    ¡°Um, I¡¯m sure you heard about this, but Eyfura and Ilmir made a bet that, in a month, I would be able to give her a good fight. I want to go further, I want to win, just to prove to myself that I can.¡±


    Gramps frowned. ¡°While I appreciate the drive, I don¡¯t know if I would get my hopes up.¡± He said cautiously, ¡°Ilmir is good, and levels slow down dramatically after the first twenty or so. One month of intensive training isn¡¯t going to be enough to catch up to years of her practicing with her kit¡­¡±


    He trailed off, staring into the space just in front of Tess. He stayed silent for a moment, frown deepening. Then he shook his head, sighing. ¡°I¡¯ll talk with them, set something up. Do you know what you¡¯re going to do about homework? I¡¯m not giving you a free pass to ignore your studies just because you¡¯re not here for a bit.¡±


    Tess nodded, baffled by the sudden change in attitude. ¡°I was hoping Ellie could scan whatever she would bring home and email them to me, and I¡¯d take care of it while I was out, bring a laptop or something. If I end up going with Alice in the hoverer, I¡¯d probably do it while we were in transit, as well as in the evenings.¡±


    Gramps sighed again. ¡°I suppose that works. I¡¯ll let you know what the plan is later tonight. You go back to whatever you were doing.¡±


    Dismissed, Tess gladly took her leave, glad to be done with the somewhat stressful conversation.


    ¡°Well?¡± Ellie asked. She was in the kitchen near the office and looked like she had been pacing for a bit. She had clearly been waiting anxiously for Tess to finish her talk with Gramps and was wearing something of a worried look on her face.


    ¡°For the next month I¡¯m going to be staying in the Outlands. Gramps is talking to people right now, but I¡¯m hoping Eyfura and Alice will sort of chaperone me and we can go around and visit a bunch of dungeons outside of town. Like a sort of¡­boot camp. I want to get strong enough to beat Ilmir.¡±


    Ellie frowned. ¡°Why? What do you have to prove? Who even cares if you can¡¯t beat her, she¡¯s got a huge head start on you, so it doesn¡¯t mean anything if you lose.¡±


    Tess shrugged, looking away. ¡°I dunno. Just something I want to do for me. If I can do this, then to me it means I really will be able to keep up with everyone.¡±


    Ellie pouted, crossing her arms petulantly. ¡°But you don¡¯t have to leave for a whole month, that¡¯s a long time!¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one who said that the faster we finish our training the better?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± She trailed off, then sighed. ¡°Fine. But you better call me every night, well, if you have service, anyway.¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m near a dungeon it shouldn¡¯t be an issue, I believe they act as cell towers.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s right. Dungeons are weird.¡± Ellie shook her head. ¡°When are you leaving?¡±


    ¡°I dunno. Gramps is talking with people, he¡¯s going to tell me what the plan is once there is one.¡±


    ¡°Really? I¡¯m surprised he just¡­let you go like that. You weren¡¯t in there for that long.¡±


    Tess nodded, sitting down at the table. ¡°Me too. He just got this far-off look for a second and then changed his tune immediately. Oh, um, I hope you don¡¯t mind, but I kind of volunteered you to scan my homework and send it to me so I could do it.¡±


    Ellie sat down next to Tess. ¡°I¡¯ll do it, but only if you promise to call me every night you can.¡±


    Tess blushed and looked down. ¡°Promise.¡±


    Ellie gave her a side-hug. ¡°I¡¯m going to hold you to that. Now, let me go help you pack. It¡¯s short notice and you need all the help you can get.¡±


    They stood up and made their way upstairs to Tess¡¯s room, where Tess took out her magic bag and began to put her clothes in. Ellie, on the other hand, began finding other essentials such as toiletries, phone chargers, and the like.


    A few minutes passed before Ellie lifted her head. ¡°Uh, Tess, do you have anything to deal with your period?¡±


    Tess started. ¡°Oh, crap. Alice and I were going to pick some up while we were shopping, and I guess we just sort of¡­forgot.¡±


    ¡°Alright, let me go grab some of my stuff for you. If it¡¯s gonna be a month, then¡­¡±


    Tess grimaced. ¡°Yeah, I know. I¡¯m not particularly looking forward to it.¡±


    Ellie patted her on the shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s not pleasant, but you¡¯ll get used to it eventually.¡±


    Ellie left, and Tess resumed her packing. She was about three-quarters of the way through her clothes when who Tess could only assume was Gramps knocked on the door.


    ¡°Come in!¡± Tess said, not bothering to look away from her work.


    ¡°Well, it looks like someone decided to get serious.¡± Eyfura said, putting on a wry smile and leaning against the open doorframe. ¡°Mind telling me the reason?¡±


    Tess¡¯s eyes involuntarily flicked over to the direction of Ellie¡¯s room. She opened her mouth to speak, but Eyfura cut her off before she could, her smile growing even wider. ¡°I see what¡¯s going on here. Frankly, I¡¯m surprised it took you this long to notice.¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°I, um¡­¡± Fortunately, she was saved by Ellie herself.


    ¡°Oh, um¡­hi¡­Eyfura, right?¡±


    Eyfura scowled, straightening up. ¡°That¡¯s Aunt Eyfura or Auntie to you. I will not stand for such unfamiliarity from the grandkid of my dear friend.¡± She chuckled a little, grabbing Ellie and pulling her into a surprise hug.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I really introduced myself when I brought Ilmir over. I was kind of distracted by her¡­less than stellar attitude. I do hope the two of you won¡¯t hold it against her too much, we beastkin don¡¯t really start to mellow out until we¡¯re in our thirties. It¡¯s not an excuse for her behavior, but until she grows up a little, she¡¯s going to listen to emotion over logic. But, if you manage to win her over, she¡¯ll be your staunchest ally, I can guarantee it.¡±


    Ellie returned the hug but frowned anyway. ¡°She just¡­comes off like she¡¯s not thinking at all. I mean¡­you said you told her Tess was going to be a late bloomer, right?¡±


    Eyfura released the hug and scratched her cheek embarrassedly. ¡°I might have overstated how clear I had been. Evan and I only gave her a brief overview of Tess¡¯s stuff, and I don¡¯t think she had all the context I thought she did.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit better, but it was still really rude. I¡¯m glad you talked to her about it, though.¡± Ellie paused briefly before continuing.  ¡°Does she understand now or¡­?¡±


    Eyfura sighed. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure she does but she¡¯s too stubborn to admit it. I¡¯m hoping we can beat it into her this next month. I¡¯ll be honest, I don¡¯t expect you to win, Tess, but I think you¡¯ll be able to give a good showing.¡±


    ¡°So¡­why are you here now?¡± Tess asked, changing the subject, ¡°What if someone sees you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna take you back to meet up with Alice, we¡¯re leaving tonight. And if someone sees me¡­Eh, we¡¯re out in the sticks, and no one is going to believe they saw a real wolf-person when it could just be a cosplayer or whatever they¡¯re called.¡±


    ¡°I guess so¡­¡± Ellie said, ¡°But can¡¯t this wait until morning? It seems a little fast to me, it¡¯s been like¡­ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°I had actually been talking with Alice about where we would take Tess next when Evan came to talk to us, and we want to get on the road ASAP. Overnight we¡¯re going to be in the hoverer on the way to some dungeons that are farther away, and we want to be able to get to our first dungeon around ten in the morning.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s fine, then.¡± Ellie grumbled. ¡°But we gotta finish packing.¡±


    Eyfura pushed herself off of the doorframe and went into the room, where she began to grab Tess¡¯s clothes by the handful and shove them into the bag. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about folding or anything.¡± She said, ¡°This looks like one of Kane¡¯s best, it should have an automatic cleaning and ironing function, and you¡¯re not going to run into any space issues unless you¡¯re stuffing refrigerators or something in there; it should have about the capacity of this room.¡±


    Ellie walked into the room and handed Tess two boxes. ¡°These are pads and tampons.¡± She instructed. ¡°I¡¯m sure Eyfura or Alice can give instructions for you when the time comes, so just ask them, alright?¡±


    Eyfura nodded. ¡°No worries, I¡¯ll make sure to show her the ropes.¡±


    Tess grimaced, but stowed away the boxes. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Eyfura laughed. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it in time. You just have to learn how to deal with it.¡±


    The rest of the packing didn¡¯t take much longer, and soon Tess was saying her goodbyes. ¡°Um¡­I¡¯ll see you in a month, I guess.¡± She told Ellie. ¡°I¡¯ll call every night I can, just like I promised.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Ellie said, giving Tess a hug. ¡°I¡¯m going be waiting every night, so make sure you let me know if you don¡¯t think you¡¯re gonna make it for a bit. I¡¯ll be sad if I¡¯m waiting and you don¡¯t call!¡±


    Behind Ellie, Eyfura gave Tess a huge wink. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll make sure she doesn¡¯t forget. Now let¡¯s get going, time¡¯s a-wasting!¡±


    ¡°What about Gramps?¡± Tess asked, extracting herself from Ellie¡¯s embrace.


    ¡°He¡¯s with Alice, he¡¯ll say bye when we meet up with her.¡± Eyfura answered, opening the door to the Outlands and stepping through.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Tess replied, following after. Eyfura lead her through the back halls of the guild to another of those private rooms, where Gramps and Alice were waiting.


    ¡°Got her!¡± Eyfura announced.


    ¡°Ah, Tess.¡± Alice said. ¡°You really surprised me with this, you know? I had just been telling Eyfura that I was wishing we had more time with you so we could go a little farther out and get some other stuff and¡­well, here we are.¡±


    Eyfura smirked. ¡°Just call it fate.¡±


    Gramps rolled his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t get dramatic. Tess, do you have everything you need?¡±


    Tess patted her bag and nodded. ¡°Yup. It¡¯s all in here.¡±


    Gramps smiled. ¡°Good. Have a good time out there, call back every once in a while, and make sure you do your homework, alright?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Gramps.¡±


    He ruffled her hair. ¡°Love you, kiddo.¡±


    ¡°You too, Gramps.¡±


    He cast a glance at Eyfura and Alice, gaze hardening. ¡°Take good care of her, got it? If I hear she goes through unnecessary hardship, then we¡¯ll have to have a¡­talk.¡±


    Alice gulped and gave a shaky nod, but Eyfura was unfazed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about a thing, I¡¯ll make sure nothing bad happens.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± And with that unusually threatening talk, he left the room, leaving the three women alone.


    Alice breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°That was scary. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen the guildmaster get like that.¡±


    Eyfura shrugged. ¡°He¡¯s really protective of his family. Don¡¯t worry about it too much, I can take responsibility if anything happens.¡± She looked at Tess¡¯s face, then hurriedly added ¡°Which it won¡¯t. But I know how to handle Evan, so don¡¯t worry about that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. Thanks, Eyfura.¡± Alice said, visible relief flooding her face.


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be that bad, right?¡± Tess asked.


    Alice looked away. ¡°The guildmaster can be a scary guy. You really don¡¯t want to see what happens when he gets angry.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°Last time he was angry at me he just grounded me. The lecture was stern, yeah, but¡­¡± She trailed off as Eyfura started laughing.


    ¡°He¡¯s got three kinds of angry. There¡¯s angry at people he really cares about, there¡¯s just angry, and then there¡¯s angry because someone he cares about got hurt. The consequences for the third¡­let¡¯s just say that you really don¡¯t want to see what happens then.¡± Eyfura explained. ¡°You fall squarely into that first category, so you don¡¯t ever really catch the brunt of his wrath.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I¡­didn¡¯t know that.¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of stories about times he¡¯s been angry and the consequences.¡± Alice added. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much of it is true, but I don¡¯t want to risk it.¡±


    ¡°Most of it is exaggeration.¡± Eyfura confirmed. ¡°But you still don¡¯t want to see it.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Alice said, ¡°But, uh, that aside, why the sudden desire to go all in on training?¡±


    Eyfura grinned. ¡°She finally realized that Ellie¡¯s been hitting on her this whole time. I think she wants to impress her by getting strong fast.¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°Well, I mean, I¡­¡±


    Alice grinned too. ¡°We get it, we get it. I won¡¯t rib you any more about it, then. We¡¯ll just make sure you¡¯re strong enough to knock her socks off.¡± She stood up, stretching a little. ¡°Are you all ready to go?¡±


    ¡°Um, yeah.¡± Tess replied.


    ¡°Good. We¡¯re going a few hundred miles outside of the city, there¡¯s a dungeon that¡¯s a step up from the beginner dungeons there, so it¡¯s the logical next step. It should take quite a bit longer to complete that if we want you to do it by yourself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking we¡¯ll just carry her through it after ten or so runs of doing it herself.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°No use wasting time when we¡¯re on a deadline and we know she¡¯s got the point.¡±


    The three chatted a bit more on their way out of the city, and soon they climbed into the hoverer, and Tess¡¯s sudden month away had begun.


    Fighterman481

 Chapter 20: Conflicting Feelings

    Ellie downed Mama Bear with a spell, watching in satisfaction as the charred corpse burst into rainbow haze.


    ¡°That was awesome, Ellie!¡± Ilmir cheered. ¡°Keep it up!¡±


    Ellie frowned. Ilmir had been laying it on thick with the compliments, and it just¡­didn¡¯t feel good. Not with how she had treated Tess. If it had been, say, Ker or Jin, who obviously weren¡¯t playing favorites, or even Eyfura who was clearly trying to help Tess, but given the vast difference in how Ilmir treated people¡­


    ¡°We could have taken care of this faster and profited more if Tess was here.¡± Ellie said sulkily.


    ¡°I¡¯m not so sure. I mean, the monsters here are stronger than the ones in the other dungeon we were at, and she took a while in the boss there, so in fights like this we¡¯d have to divide our attention trying to keep her safe. You really don¡¯t need her, she¡¯s just dragging you down.¡±


    ¡°Actually, she was being considerate.¡± Jin corrected. ¡°From what Alice told me, she was able to take that boss out in one hit when she was on her own, she was just making sure Ellie was able to get a share of the EXP.¡±


    The group had moved back into the lobby at this point, but Ilmir didn¡¯t give the argument up.


    ¡°So? It¡¯s still a goblin and she¡¯s in the twenties. It doesn¡¯t mean anything. When she¡¯s able to do the same to something tanky like Mama Bear or something from a harder dungeon, then we¡¯ll talk. She¡¯s being carried by being way overleveled and that¡¯s not going to last.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but by then she¡¯ll have way better Skills.¡± Ellie argued. ¡°If we¡¯re saying that, then I¡¯m being carried by having way higher stats.¡±


    ¡°Her Skills can only take her so far.¡± Ilmir countered. ¡°She¡¯s got a lot of status stuff, but that doesn¡¯t mean anything if she can¡¯t do any damage. Alright, let¡¯s say she paralyzes something. What then? If she can¡¯t hurt it, she can¡¯t apply her bleed.¡±


    ¡°At that point I come in and give a coup de grace. She¡¯s not working in a vacuum.¡±


    ¡°Not if you¡¯re busy trying to keep three other monsters from taking her out.¡±


    ¡°Theoretically speaking, that¡¯s probably not even necessary.¡± Ker pointed out. ¡°Only bosses or other smart things are going to target her, and if she gets over her fear of using her abilities to their full extent, she¡¯ll have a couple of minions able to take heat for her.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but from what I¡¯ve seen she¡¯s not going to get over it.¡± Ilmir said flatly. ¡°She¡¯s spineless.¡±


    ¡°She is not!¡± Ellie protested. ¡°She¡¯s just going through a lot of changes right now, and she cares about what other people feel, unlike you.¡±


    Ilmir shrugged.  ¡°I¡¯m saving you both hardship in the future. It may hurt now, but, in a few years when you and I are in the harder dungeons, you¡¯ll thank me.¡±


    Ellie grit her teeth. ¡°Grandpa and Aunt Eyfura believe in her, so why can¡¯t you? I¡¯m pretty sure they know better than you.¡±


    Ilmir opened her mouth to reply, but Jin cut her off. ¡°That¡¯s enough. Ilmir, you¡¯re entitled to your opinion, but if you don¡¯t refrain from voicing it, then I¡¯ll have no choice but to call your grandmother. She told me to do that if you started causing problems, and I won¡¯t hesitate. Understand?¡±


    Ilmir gulped. ¡°Y-yes, sir.¡± She replied, immediately cowed.


    ¡°Furthermore, you¡¯re being an awful teammate. Causing dissent in the party like this is liable to get someone killed, and, in my opinion, is more harmful than even having a completely useless person on the team. Ker and I have escorted a couple of people who thought they could handle themselves in a fight and trying to protect them while they go up against something out of their league is much easier than dealing with internal strife.¡± Jin lectured.


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°But nothing. At the end of the day, you¡¯re placing too much focus on raw combat ability and not thinking about other aspects of a team. Even if Tess couldn¡¯t directly contribute to a fight by dealing damage, there are a myriad of other ways she can help out a team, both in and out of combat. By tomorrow, I¡¯ll be expecting you to come back with at least five of those. Otherwise you¡¯ll be given a punishment.¡±


    Ilmir frowned. ¡°You can¡¯t¨C¡±


    ¡°I can and I will.¡± Jin replied calmly. ¡°Eyfura gave me full permission to train you as I see fit. And, the way I see it, you¡¯re too focused on fighting. Now, we¡¯re going to go back in there and we¡¯re going to finish this grind off, and I don¡¯t want to hear another word about it. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ilmir pouted.


    Ellie smiled inwardly. She couldn¡¯t wait for Tess to come back so she could prove Ilmir wrong, but she would be lying if she said there wasn¡¯t a seed of doubt being planted.  What if Ilmir was right? Everything she knew and had been told said that Tess would be strong eventually, but she couldn¡¯t get rid of that nasty ¡°what if¡± in the back of her mind.


    She shook her head, clearing the thoughts away for the moment. All she could do now was believe in Tess and train herself so that when Tess came back, she could properly support her. Ellie hefted her sword, putting on a determined face. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s do this.¡±


    Ellie kicked her feet back and forth on the bed excitedly, holding her phone in front of her. She had just finished her first call with Tess and there was something¡­different about it. It was nice to be able to talk to the target of her affections every day but talking over the phone at night was¡­she couldn¡¯t articulate it. It made her feel like she was really pursuing a relationship.


    Still, she had to wonder why the sudden change in Tess¡¯s behavior. She wasn¡¯t the type to do something so bold without provocation, but Ellie couldn¡¯t figure out what could have done it. She didn¡¯t fully buy the whole ¡°prove to myself¡± thing that Tess had been going on about. That might have been part of it, but it couldn¡¯t be the whole reason; she wouldn¡¯t be so sudden about it. It had to have been something to do with the visit from Jacob, but that didn¡¯t make sense to Ellie either.


    Tess didn¡¯t seem like she had been bothered that much by the visit, and even if she had, then all she had to do was say she didn¡¯t want to have any visitors. Furthermore, there was a determination in Tess that hadn¡¯t been there before. That had not been the bearing of someone who was running away from her problems. So, Ellie was left baffled.


    That¡¯s kiiiiinda my b. There¡¯s a possibility I was getting frustrated with how oblivious she was being to your affections and I was a little too obvious with my hints. I had been trying to be subtle, but I messed up and was wasn¡¯t subtle enough and she kinda figured out you like her


    Sorry


    Oh. That meant that this, in some way, came back to Ellie. Fortunately, Tess hadn¡¯t seemed off-put, if Ellie was any judge. Theoretically, if Tess returned Ellie¡¯s feelings¡­could she be trying to prove that she was good enough to be on a party with Ellie? If so, that was adorable, but Ellie couldn¡¯t get too hopeful just yet. Yes, she had obviously had feelings for Ellie in the past, but that had been years ago.


    Still, she couldn¡¯t help but grab a pillow and squeeze it tightly, letting out a little squeal. Tess was just too much of a cutie for her to handle. She¡¯d once again have to thank her lucky stars that things had turned out this way, because she couldn¡¯t have asked for anything better.


    Ellie bolted upright. Did that mean Fortune was more responsible for Tess becoming a girl than Ellie had thought? She knew Fortune had been somewhat involved, but really wasn¡¯t sure how she felt about her being a more direct cause. On the one hand, it was everything Ellie had ever wanted. But, on the other¡­well, it was really shaking up Tess¡¯s life, and it was causing her a lot of stress.


    Actually¡­was it right that Ellie was so happy about this? Now that she was thinking about it, it kind of felt like profiting from someone¡¯s misfortune. It was everything Ellie had ever wanted, sure, but Tess hadn¡¯t wanted this, and it¡¯s not like Tess seemed any happier for it or anything.


    Ellie frowned. That didn¡¯t completely alleviate her worries with regards to Fortune, but it was better than nothing. Still, she had to pursue this new line of thought about her own feelings. She hadn¡¯t really taken the time to think about how potentially wrong it was.


    It¡­kind of made her feel like a piece of trash. She hadn¡¯t really thought about it in this light before, and certainly hadn¡¯t in any of her scenarios.


    She squeezed her pillow tighter, her joyous feet kicking having completely stopped. This really wasn¡¯t a good feeling; she wouldn¡¯t be pleased if someone else was happy about something bad that happened to her, so she couldn¡¯t imagine Tess would be any different. And that hurt, knowing that the way she felt could potentially hurt the one she loved.


    She groaned, rolling around on the bed. It wasn¡¯t like she could just stop being this happy, not when this had been a long-time hidden dream of hers. No, she¡¯d have no choice but to make it up to Tess however she could. Once Tess was back and this whole bet nonsense was over with, she¡¯d come clean and beg for forgiveness, and hope Tess wouldn¡¯t be too off-put by it.


    It still didn¡¯t make her feel any better, though. She probably wouldn¡¯t until everything was out in the open.


    Her phone buzzed and she jumped, shocked out of her reverie by the device. She turned the screen on to find a message from Tess. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to do your homework too!¡± It read, ¡°I know things are crazy, but Gramps is gonna be really mad if you fail!¡±


    Ellie couldn¡¯t help but giggle and shoot a text back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, I won¡¯t :)¡±


    The two ended up conversing a little while longer, even though they had just finished speaking over the phone, and Ellie had to admit that it lifted her spirits to an extent. She still kind of felt bad about the fact that just talking to Tess helped, but she supposed she could allow herself that. If she didn¡¯t¡­well, the next month was going to be incredibly hard.


    Earlier that day, Tess was woken by Eyfura gently shaking her. ¡°Hey, sleeping beauty, wake up.¡± Eyfura said, smiling faintly.


    Tess groaned, stirring. After the previous night she really shouldn¡¯t have been surprised that the hoverer came with really nice pull-out beds, but she had been regardless.


    It turned out that the hoverer was actually something akin to an RV with a really nice coat of paint on it; a few hours after they had set out, Alice moved to the front and started messing about with the console. A smooth yet distinctly artificial voice rang out, instructing people to stay away from the front end of the craft while a rearrangement was in progress, and the front four rows of seats began to glow.


    After a few seconds, the hoverer glided to a stop and the walls the glowing chairs were attached to began to scoot outwards, eventually stopping once the area was around twice as wide as the other parts of the hoverer. At that point the glowing seats folded back into the wall, and after a moment of stillness a fully-functional kitchen slid out of the walls in their place.


    Alice grinned as she looked at Tess¡¯s slack-jawed expression, and reached into one of the cabinets, pulling out a pot. ¡°Let¡¯s have some soup, shall we?¡±


    After their dinner Alice once again messed with the terminal, and this time the entirety of the sitting area was folded back out to make room for the beds, where the three women slept for the night.


    And that led to where Tess was now, gradually clawing her way back into full wakefulness. Eyfura placed a tray of food on a small table in front of Tess. ¡°Eat up, it¡¯s going to be a long day and you need your breakfast.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Eyfura.¡± Tess mumbled.


    Eyfura slid the table away from Tess. ¡°Nuh-uh-uh.¡± She wagged a finger, still smiling that faint smile. ¡°I¡¯ve changed my mind about things. You call me Auntie from now on. You and Ellie keep forgetting to call me Aunt Eyfura, so I¡¯m putting my foot down.¡±


    Tess hesitated. ¡°Thanks, Auntie.¡±


    Eyfura beamed, pushing the table back to Tess. ¡°Better.¡±


    ¡°Um, we haven¡¯t really even known each other for that long, though.¡± Tess began. ¡°Are you sure about being this intimate?¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t known me for that long.¡± Eyfura corrected. ¡°I¡¯ve known you for a lot longer.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°But when we met a few days ago you said¡­¡±


    ¡°That I was dying to meet you? Yes, but that¡¯s only partially accurate. I was dying to meet you as Tess, but Thomas is a different story. We met back at Ellie¡¯s parent¡¯s funeral.¡±


    Tess¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°But¡­¡±


    Eyfura reached into her bag, taking out a ring. When she put it on her beastkin features vanished, and she looked just like a human. ¡°You¡¯d be surprised how many non-humans were there.¡± She said, smirking. ¡°I¡¯d be surprised if you remember our encounter, it was pretty brief.¡± She took off the ring, putting it back in the bag.


    ¡°But, even more than that, your grandfather won¡¯t shut up about you and Ellie. I mean, I get feeling proud about your grandkids and all, but sometimes I feel like I know more about you than I do Ilmir.¡± Eyfura shrugged. ¡°Just think of me as that one aunt you barely know at the family reunion, if that helps. It¡¯s honestly not too far off from the truth.¡±


    ¡°I¡­yeah, that actually does help.¡± Tess replied, beginning to eat her food.


    ¡°Good to hear.¡± Alice said, coming out from the bathroom. ¡°We¡¯ve got half an hour to be ready, then we¡¯re going in, OK?¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°What¡¯s the dungeon like?¡±


    ¡°Like the other dungeons you¡¯ve been to, but combined. Tougher monsters, tougher traps, bigger floors, more floors.¡± Alice listed, ¡°But the rewards are also better.¡±


    ¡°Not that much better for Tess, actually.¡± Eyfura corrected. ¡°The beginner dungeons¡¯ Rewards Crystal rewards are too good for the difficulty, with the best stuff being as good as the best stuff this place has to offer, just rarer. So, while for most people the Rewards Crystals from dungeons like these are better, that¡¯s not really the case for Tess.


    ¡°Anyway, what this dungeon has that the beginner dungeons don¡¯t is treasure chests. Get used to those, you¡¯re going to see them a lot. The appearance rate and contents are based on the party¡¯s Luck, and¡­well, we know how that¡¯s going to turn out.¡±


    Tess nodded, swallowing a bite of bacon. ¡°Sounds cool.¡±


    Alice shook her head. ¡°I really envy you sometimes,¡± She said, shaking her head. ¡°Still, if we want to make the most of this month, we gotta hurry. While you eat, I¡¯m going to give you the rundown on this dungeon, alright? That way we¡¯re not wasting time.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± Eyfura said, standing up and making her way towards the kitchen, ¡°I¡¯m going to finish cooking the rest of the food, let me know if either of you want seconds, alright?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Ey¨C¡± Tess stopped, correcting herself, ¡°Yes, Auntie.¡± She started, realizing she had forgotten something. ¡°Um, I had been thinking¡­¡± She began nervously.


    ¡°Go on.¡± Eyfura prodded.


    ¡°I was thinking about how weird it felt having so much better hearing now, and how that wasn¡¯t really¡­humanly possible, and I was thinking that, maybe, it might be a good idea to put on like¡­a wolf ear and tail Attribute when I¡¯m in the Outlands, to help give more of an excuse for better senses and the claws and stuff.¡± She babbled, it all just sort of spilling out when she mentioned it, despite the embarrassment she was feeling.


    Eyfura thought about that for a second. ¡°I think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± She eventually said, ¡°I hadn¡¯t even thought of that. Well, I didn¡¯t know that was a thing you could do, but I don¡¯t know if I would have thought of it if you had.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t particularly see a need for it, but if you¡¯re not using those slots for something else then go for it if it makes you feel better.¡± Alice added.


    Tess nodded, taking the Attribute from the Monstrous Wolf (Young) core she had yet to eject and putting it into one of her slots. She had a few she had yet to put anything in, having been content with her current loadout and not really seeing anything worth taking from the cores she had. The only really tempting one was Iron Fur from the Emperor Lion, but she wasn¡¯t particularly interested in growing a layer of fur over her body.


    Especially when she found out how clothes felt over the fur. It was not comfortable. So, she had just left well enough alone; if she really needed anything it didn¡¯t take any time to take it out of the core, only putting an Attribute in did, as far as she could tell.


    Eyfura smiled as the blond ears and tail sprouted, then laughed as she saw Tess¡¯s expression. ¡°Yeah, if you don¡¯t make room for the tail, pants are tricky. The key is to wear them a little lower than you¡¯re used to, the tail will hide anything you¡¯re worried will show. I mean, there¡¯s a little more skin, yeah, but it¡¯s barely even noticeable. And you got your armor from Io¡¯s, right?¡± She continued, seeing Alice¡¯s nod. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the armor, then. It¡¯ll adapt itself to fit.¡±


    She winked and left to cook, while Alice sat down across from Tess and began her explanation. Soon afterwards, everyone was geared up and ready to go. It was time for Tess¡¯s first real dungeon dive.


    Fighterman481


    I don''t really have much to say about this chapter.


    I worry sometimes that I''m making Ilmir too unlikeable, since she''s kind of not being a great person right now, but...well, I guess we''ll just see how it goes.


    Anyway, I like the hoverer. It''s fun to write what really luxurious goods in a world of mixed magic and tech would potentially look like.


    That''s all, I suppose. Next chapter will probably be split between the two like this one, and depending on how long what I''m planning ends up being will be the start of a sort of time lapse or will closely procede one, so...look forward to that I guess?


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 21: Talking it Out

    The lobby of the dungeon was set up¡­differently than the ones in the city. Walls had been erected, turning what was usually a wide-open space into something much more enclosed. The Party Crystal was still in the open area, and the path to the doors that would lead into the ¡°proper¡± dungeon floor was still open, but the rest of the area was behind a door with a keypad, save for what looked strikingly like a receptionist¡¯s desk.


    ¡°Hi there!¡± An elvish man said, walking out from the back and positioning himself behind the counter. ¡°Welcome to the Reshi Suites, are you just here to challenge the dungeon or will you be staying with us?¡±


    Alice gave the somewhat bewildered Tess a huge wink, then walked up to the desk. ¡°Hi, my name¡¯s Alice Reshi, and me and my friends Eyfura Almes and Tess Los,¡± She motioned to Eyfura and Tess, ¡°Are looking for somewhere to stay for a few nights while we clear this dungeon. I trust you have some rooms available?¡±


    Blood drained from the man¡¯s face as he looked between Eyfura and Alice. ¡°U-uh, let me get my manager.¡± He squeaked, scuttling back into the back area of what Tess was beginning to realize was a hotel.


    She heard a brief argument that, even with her enhanced hearing she could only barely make out bits and pieces of, muffled through what sounded like multiple walls. Something about procedure and some sort of test.


    Eventually, a grumpy looking¡­orc, by the looks of it, made his way to the front area. He pulled out a small stone plate, which he laid out on the counter. He gave Alice an unimpressed look and began to speak. ¡°Here at the Reshi Suites we don¡¯t take kindly to impersonators. If you are who you say you are, then I expect you know what to do.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Alice said smoothly, picking up the plate and unceremoniously breaking it with a gauntleted hand. ¡°If you would bring out the real one, please.¡±


    The orc¡¯s expression changed somewhat, becoming a bit more cautious. He bent down and picked up a much smaller plate, which he placed in front of Alice. She placed a finger on it and the plate began to glow softly.


    The orc bent down squinting at something behind the counter that Tess couldn¡¯t see. Then, as if a switched was flipped, he stood to attention. ¡°S-sorry, ma¡¯am.¡± He said hurriedly. ¡°You know how it is. Have to check for imposters.¡±


    Alice laughed. ¡°Nothing to apologize for. I was the one who ordered this system be put into place, so I can¡¯t exactly get angry about it, can I? We¡¯ll have the penthouse suite, so long as it¡¯s available.¡±


    ¡°Of course, let me check¡­¡± The orc tapped away at a computer for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s open. How long will you be staying?


    Alice shrugged. ¡°Three days, give or take a day. Depends on how long we take to fully clear this place.¡±


    The man looked at Eyfura, back to Alice, and then at Tess. ¡°For the little lady, I assume?¡±


    Alice nodded. ¡°This is Tess, she¡¯s the guildmaster¡¯s granddaughter. He¡¯s tasked Eyfura and my party with training her, so we¡¯re on something of an excursion.¡±


    ¡°I¡­see.¡± He was looking at Tess quite a bit more respectfully now, then he shook his head, bending down and grabbing three cards from below the desk. ¡°You know when breakfast is, but if you¡¯re hungry don¡¯t feel afraid to ask for room service, we won¡¯t charge you anything.¡± He said, handing the cards to Alice.


    Alice flashed him a smile, reaching into her bag and pulling out a couple of gold coins. ¡°Much appreciated.¡± She said, handing them to the man. ¡°Here¡¯s your tip, you may go. Please call the other receptionist out here, though, I¡¯d like to speak with him.¡±


    The orc bowed and retreated, and soon the elf was back, looking incredibly nervous. ¡°Y-you wanted to speak with me, ma¡¯am?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Alice said, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°J-James.¡± He stammered.


    ¡°Well, James, you¡¯re doing a fine job.¡± She pulled five gold coins out of her bag and handed them to him, then smiled and patted his shoulder. ¡°There¡¯s your tip, a little payment for having to deal with my teasing. Now, we¡¯re going to be off, let your boss know the room doesn¡¯t need to be ready until eight, we¡¯ll be in the dungeon until then.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, ma¡¯am.¡± He replied, saluting.


    Alice turned around, handing a card to both Eyfura and Tess. ¡°Sorry about the delay, let¡¯s get going, shall we?¡±


    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re not just going to brush that off without explaining¡± Tess said, ¡°Why is there a hotel here?¡±


    Alice smirked. ¡°This was my brainchild, actually. I realized that a lot of dungeon¡¯s living spaces were going unused because they were just too far from anything, and it wasn¡¯t convenient to live there full-time. But freelancers often go to out of the way dungeons like this, so I decided to negotiate with the guild and open up hotels in dungeons like this.


    ¡°So, we house employees here, drop them supplies when needed, and we make a killing. It really beats the camping out people had to do before.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t they just use the empty rooms?¡± Tess asked.


    Alice shrugged. ¡°Dungeons can somehow tell the intent of people trying to use the rooms. If they¡¯re not there to permanently maintain them, then the dungeon won¡¯t give out the keys. We¡¯ve basically got a couple of caretakers with all the keys who maintain the rooms.¡±


    She frowned. ¡°It¡¯s not perfect, though. Some dungeons just won¡¯t let it happen. Usually the ones in cities. Dungeons out in the middle of nowhere are much more likely to let us use them. Anyway, we can talk about this later. I¡¯m itching to get started.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Eyfura said, ¡°Let¡¯s use the Party Crystal and get going.¡±


    The three women formed a party, and soon were in the dungeon itself. The interior was akin to that of the first dungeon she had been in; discrete brick rooms separated by doors, archways, or halls.


    ¡°You¡¯re up front.¡± Eyfura said, nudging Tess forward. ¡°You¡¯re gonna make for an extraordinary scout, so get used to looking for traps. Remember what we taught you in Rogue¡¯s Den, look for suspicious points and especially check areas like places between rooms and chests and stuff.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Tess crept forward carefully, looking for anything¡­wrong. Once she gave the go-ahead, Alice and Eyfura followed behind her, and they made their way through the floor. The monsters were slightly tougher looking goblins, as well as some wolves that the goblins seemed to have¡­controlled, for lack of a better word.


    They had leash-like chains, and weren¡¯t directly attacking the goblins, but they didn¡¯t seem to be trying to directly help them, either. The goblins basically just let the chains go and let the wolves attack the party, which didn¡¯t always work out for them; sometimes the wolves and goblins would trip each other up, letting Tess finish them off much easier.


    They proceeded through the dungeon for a while, going through a couple of floors before the first big change of pace from the previous dungeons; a treasure chest. ¡°Check it for traps before opening.¡± Alice cautioned.


    Tess dutifully checked the chest and found it to be safe, so she opened it up. Inside was a set of bottles in a small container, filled with liquids of all sorts of colors. Tess gingerly took the box of potions out, showing it to Alice and Eyfura. ¡°Do you know what kind of potions these are?¡± She asked.


    Alice shook her head. ¡°Not off the top of my head, no. Hotel staff should be able to identify them for us. If you¡¯re not with me that¡¯ll cost extra, but¡­well, you know how it is.¡± She smirked, ¡°Just put those in your bag. We¡¯ll deal with them later.¡±


    As they went through the dungeon, the teamwork between the goblins and the wolves became better and better, eventually reaching the point where the goblins were riding the wolves. Tess was also clearly able to see the difference in length between this dungeon and the beginner dungeons; even accounting for the fact that this dungeon apparently lacked a Challenge, it had been five hours and 15 floors, and they were only just getting to the boss.


    The boss was a pair boss, consisting of a goblin knight and a big wolf she was riding. It was like Big Bertha in that there weren¡¯t any special mechanics, just a straight fight against a tough enemy.


    It went pretty smoothly. Eyfura kept the wolf distracted while Alice did the same for the knight, and Tess just kept attacking until it died. Tess picked up the cores, and then went to the Rewards Crystal, claiming her prize, and then they went back to the start so they could do it all again.


    After their second run, which was about an hour or so faster now that Tess was getting a feel for the dungeon¡¯s trap placement, they identified the potions and other loot Tess had received. They then retired to the penthouse suite, which was just as fancy as the name implied. From there, Tess had her nightly call with Ellie, absorbed the cores she had gotten that day, shuffled around her Attributes, and then got to work on the homework she still had to do.


    After all that was done it was around eleven o¡¯clock, and she went to sleep, feeling fulfilled; she had a goal now, and working towards that felt far better than just doing the dungeons because she wanted to be stronger.


    ¡°Ker, can we talk? Like¡­alone?¡± Ellie asked, somewhat hesitantly. They had just finished the day¡¯s training and were in the guild taking off their armor and just generally getting ready to finish the day off. And, well¡­Ellie was just feeling a bit lost, and Ker had made the offer to help her before, so she figured it was worth a shot.


    Ker gave a nod to Jin, and the goliath gently took Ellie to the side. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± He asked, concerned.


    ¡°Um, I had just been thinking last night and I realized that¡­I¡¯m really happy that Tess became a girl.¡± Ellie admitted, looking down. ¡°It¡¯s something I had fantasized about for years and just¡­I realized that it¡¯s something that¡¯s causing her a lot of stress. And it¡¯s like...like I¡¯m happy about her suffering. I don¡¯t know, I just¡­feel really bad about it.¡±


    Ker sighed, placing a comforting hand on Ellie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s rough.¡± He said. ¡°I can¡¯t say you shouldn¡¯t feel bad at all, but¡­I think the fact that you¡¯re feeling bad is a good sign. To me that says you care about how Tess feels. But that¡¯s a hard thing to reconcile. If I were you, I¡¯d give her a call and talk it out.¡±


    ¡°But...I want to let her broach the subject.¡± Ellie said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to force this on her when she¡¯s feeling so confused. I might feel bad, but she¡¯s got a lot on her plate. Her wrestling with her new sex has to be just as difficult as wrestling with my sexuality was, and I wouldn¡¯t have wanted complications like this coming up when I was coming to terms with things.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, then, but what are you going to do if she doesn¡¯t bring it up? Just feel awful for however long it takes for her to accept things? That doesn¡¯t seem healthy to me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just going to be a month.¡± Ellie said confidently. ¡°Then she¡¯s going to come to talk to me about it. Um, if she wins, that is.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so you know she knows, then.¡± Ker replied. ¡°Honestly that makes it easier. You¡¯re not springing things on her, in that case. Just talk it out, I can guarantee you¡¯ll both feel better for it.¡±


    ¡°But¡­she¡¯s not talking, so she¡¯s not ready, right?¡±


    Ker raised an eyebrow. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure. I¡¯ve lived a long time, and in my experience a lot of awkward misunderstandings and bad feelings can be cleared up with a simple conversation. Try it, I think you¡¯ll be pleasantly surprised. If Tess was here right now asking you what to do about your feelings, regardless of whether or not she reciprocates I¡¯d tell her to talk it out with you.¡±


    ¡°But what if I hurt her? Like¡­now that she¡¯s a woman I¡¯m gunning for her and saying something just reminds her of what¡¯s causing her problems?¡±


    Ker hesitated. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to be the case, I don¡¯t think it would be nearly her bad as, say, her period will be. But if we¡¯re all right and she¡¯s trying to prove to herself that she¡¯s worth you, then I think it¡¯ll be good for her to hear.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t have to prove that.¡± Ellie protested. ¡°She¡¯s out of my league. I mean, have you seen her? She¡¯s super sweet, really enjoyable to just¡­relax with, has a huge amount of potential, and she¡¯s unbelievably hot.¡±


    ¡°Have you told her that?¡±


    ¡°¡­No.¡± Ellie admitted.


    ¡°Then tell her.¡± Ker pressed. ¡°She¡¯ll feel better for the compliment, at least.¡±


    Ellie was silent for a long moment, thinking on that. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell her tonight.¡±


    Ker smiled, patting her on the back. ¡°Let me know how it goes, okay? I¡¯m rooting for you.¡±


    Ellie gave a weak smile in return. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    The two rejoined the main group, and Ilmir gave Ellie a curious look. ¡°You doing okay? You look like you¡¯re about to head into battle or something.¡±


    Ellie looked away. ¡°Something like that.¡±


    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s anything I can help with, let me know, I¡¯m always here for you.¡± Ilmir replied.


    Ellie bit back a retort. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind, but I¡¯ve got to get going.¡±


    Ilmir smiled at her. ¡°Well, you have a good night, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow, kay?¡±


    Ellie frowned internally but gave a polite ¡°See you tomorrow¡± in response.


    Soon, she was back in Gramps¡¯s office and was creating the door between there and their house in Mael. It was as simple as just pouring some of her Mana into the right area of the wall, though, from what Gramps had told her, that would only work for people he had allowed.


    She went back to her room, and began to do her homework, checking her phone every few minutes to see if she had any messages from Tess. Finally, after a couple hours, her phone began to ring. She jumped in surprise, then hurriedly grabbed the phone, answering the call. ¡°Tess, how are you doing? Is the dungeon raid still going well?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing pretty good, and the dungeon was pretty much the same as yesterday. I¡¯ve gotten a bunch faster, though, so tomorrow Alice and Auntie are going to start clearing enemies and traps and we¡¯re going to try and finish off the rest of this dungeon tomorrow or early the next day. How are things on your end?¡±


    ¡°Um, things are about the same.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Just going through dungeons and trying to tune out Ilmir.¡±


    ¡°Let me know if you can¡¯t handle it anymore. I¡¯ll talk to Eyfura and we can stop the whole training thing. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s worth it if it¡¯s making you that upset.¡±


    Ellie couldn¡¯t help but clutch her heart. Tess was too sweet. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Jin and Ker are keeping her under control. She didn¡¯t say anything too bad about you today, it¡¯s more that she¡¯s constantly complimenting me and kissing up to me and it just¡­feels bad when I think about how badly she¡¯s been treating you.¡±


    Tess was silent for a bit. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to prove her wrong, whatever it takes. Then we won¡¯t have to worry about this.¡±


    Right, well, that was sort of a tie-in to what she really wanted to talk about right now. ¡°Um, can we¡­talk? Like, about something a bit more serious? You might want to be somewhere Alice and Aunt Eyfura can¡¯t hear you.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Uh, yeah, give me a sec.¡± There was some shuffling and the sound of a door opening and then closing, and then Tess began to talk again. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m in a private place now. What¡¯s up?¡±


    Ellie took a deep breath. ¡°Well, um, it¡¯s come to my attention that you, uh, figured out that I am¡­kind of in love with you.¡±


    There was a long, long silence. ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said eventually. ¡°I did. Um¡­¡± She trailed off, obviously unsure of what to say.


    ¡°I¡­just wanted to clear the air.¡± Ellie said, ¡°To be honest, I was really, really, really happy when you turned into a girl. It¡¯s something I¡¯ve had fantasies about for years and years. I always thought you would be just my type, but¡­I¡¯m not into men at all. And so, when it finally happened, I was over the moon.


    ¡°I¡­just guess I want you to know that I¡¯m sorry. I know that¡¯s a really awful thing to feel happy about when it¡¯s stressing you out so much, I just¡­can¡¯t help myself. You¡¯re really sweet, I love to just¡­hang out and chill with you, you¡¯ve got so, so much potential as a freelancer, and you¡¯re honestly the most beautiful woman I¡¯ve ever seen in my entire life. I¡­I don¡¯t know. I know you¡¯re way out of my league, but I was hoping we could maybe go on a few dates when you get back and see how things go from there?¡± Ellie stopped to catch her breath, waiting tensely for Tess¡¯s reply.


    ¡°What?¡± A flustered Tess said, ¡°I¡¯m out of your league? I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s the other way around! You¡¯re like...the most sought-after girl in school, I swear! Do you know how many of my friends have had crushes on you at one point or another? I had a crush on you for a really long time too, but¡­nothing ever came of it, so I just sort of let it go and had to be content with being your friend.¡±


    ¡°I¡­I know. I noticed, I just really, really didn¡¯t want to hurt your feelings, so I pretended I didn¡¯t. Looking back on it, it probably wasn¡¯t the best to give you hope for as long as you had it, I should have come out a long time ago, I was¡­just scared.¡± Ellie admitted. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s fine. That stuff is hard.¡±


    There was another long silence, broken when Ellie spoke up. ¡°You¡­don¡¯t hate me, right? As soon as you realized you left on this trip and I¡­I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve been really clingy and overbearing lately.¡±


    ¡°What? No, absolutely not!¡± Tess said immediately. ¡°I was happy too. I¡­might not be as over you as I thought I was. Um, I¡­might have left to prove that I was worthy of being in a party with you. I don¡¯t want to drag you down like Ilmir is claiming I will.¡±


    Ellie laughed, though there was an edge of shame to it. ¡°See? Stuff like this is why you¡¯re too good for me. I¡¯ve been having all these really, really selfish, hurtful feelings and you¡¯re always thinking of others first.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re totally fine.¡± Tess said soothingly, ¡°I would have been just as happy if you suddenly had swapped orientations and were interested in me and were all panicking about it. This sort of thing doesn¡¯t bother me, especially when I feel the same about you.¡± There was yet another long silence, neither sure what to say.


    ¡°So¡­what now?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°I¡­still want to finish this outing.¡± Tess said determinedly, ¡°It¡¯s something I feel I have to do if I want to be serious about this. But¡­um, after I get back, if I manage to do this, then¡­maybe we can just go straight to dating? It sounds like we both are interested, so¡­why bother with seeing where things go? We know each other well enough at this point.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Ellie squealed. ¡°I¡¯d love to! I¡¯m going to come out to everyone too, so we can ¡°officially¡± be an item. Um, so long as you¡¯re fine with coming out too. I don¡¯t know how you feel about that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that was always my plan.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°I want as few men coming onto me as possible. I¡¯m not attracted to them, so I just¡­don¡¯t want to deal with any of that awkwardness.¡±


    Ellie laughed, this time with pure, relieved happiness. ¡°I totally know how you feel. I¡¯ve had to turn more than one guy down, it¡¯s not fun.¡±


    They talked for the next hour, and when it was over Ellie was grinning from ear to ear. Ker had been totally right ¨C talking it out had made things better for both of them. Well, she couldn¡¯t be completely sure Tess was feeling better, but it sounded like she was. It was like a wall neither of them knew had been erected had been torn down, and Ellie couldn¡¯t be any happier.


    Fighterman481


    Believe me, I was really tempted to have this not here to drag out the tension, but I feel it''s better they acted a bit more realistically.


    Also you probably noticed that I glossed over the exact details of what Tess got. The tentative plan right now is to leave that be, and I''ll drop a full list as an extra chapter of sorts on SH and just in a separate PDF on Patreon, coming whenever Tess has her month of training finished.


    I''m debating whether or not I want it to be before or after her confrontation with Ilmir, but I''m leaning towards after so as to build up a little more suspense for everyone reading ;)


    I''m going to write out the details before the fight, though, just so I have a concrete idea of what I''m working with.


    Anyway, that''s all, next time we''ll be looking at some timeskips, and...I dunno, we''re going to start aiming towards getting to the confrontation in the next couple of chapters. I can''t reasonably justify drawing it out any longer, so look forward to it, I guess.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 22: Boosters

    The next morning, Tess was woken by banging from outside of the hotel room. She yawned, stretching and looking back to see that Eyfura and Alice were still asleep. A glance at the clock told her it was three in the morning, but it didn¡¯t seem like whoever it was was going to go away. So, she shuffled over to the door and looked through the peephole. On the other side she found a rather indignant-looking demon staring at the door, preparing to knock again.


    She was fairly tall, with long black hair, a glossy set of horns, bat wings, and a spade shaped tail. Her skin was perfectly tanned and her clothes, though they were sleepwear and clearly made for comfort, were ornate and obviously expensive. Tess opened the door a crack, not taking off the chain so that the demon couldn¡¯t try to force the door open any more. ¡°Hello?¡± She asked sleepily, ¡°Do you need something? We¡¯re trying to sleep.¡±


    The demon¡¯s face reddened. ¡°Yes, I need something.¡± She hissed. ¡°I put word out among high society that I would be visiting this dungeon sometime this week, and when I got here, I found that some knucklehead had booked the penthouse for some indeterminate amount of time. Do you have any idea how incensed that makes me?¡±


    Tess blinked. ¡°Did you make a reservation?¡±


    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have to. There¡¯s no use spending that extra cash on booking some really expensive room after I made it clear I would be here this week. Just who do you think you are?!¡±


    ¡°Um, I¡¯m Tess. Who are you?¡±


    The demon hissed. ¡°What do you mean ¡°who are you¡±!? How can you not know who I am?!¡±


    Tess shrugged, too tired to care about any of this. ¡°I¡¯m still new to the business, haven¡¯t met many people. It¡¯s not my fault your memo didn¡¯t make it to us.¡±


    The girl growled. ¡°What¡¯s your last name?¡±


    ¡°Los. Why?¡±


    The demon smirked triumphantly. ¡°I¡¯ll be pulling some strings and you¡¯ll soon find it hard to find anyone willing to work with you. You should really learn to watch your tongue around important people.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s cool and all, but I think you should do your research first.¡± Eyfura said calmly, unhooking the chain and opening the door all the way. ¡°The irony of this situation is astounding.¡±


    The girl opened her mouth to retort, but froze as she took Eyfura in. Trembling, she turned to a short elf man who Tess had been unable to see until the door had been opened all the way. ¡°Are there¡­¡±


    The man shook his head. ¡°No illusions, my lady. She¡¯s the real deal.¡±


    Eyfura was smirking. ¡°You see, the funny thing about this little lady right here is that she¡¯s important enough to not really find people like you important at all. So, let me ask you: how can you not know who she is?¡± Eyfura patted Tess¡¯s head, tussling her hair a little.


    ¡°I-I¡¯ve never seen her at any important functions, L-Lady Almes.¡± The demon stuttered. ¡°S-so I assumed¡­¡±


    Eyfura yawned theatrically. ¡°That¡¯s because she hasn¡¯t been to any. However, if you had been paying any modicum of attention to the rumor mill as of late, you would know that Evan¡¯s grandkids have recently begun training as freelancers.¡±


    ¡°Evan¡­¡± She thought on that name for a beat, then understanding dawned on her face and she paled considerably. ¡°You mean Lord Los?¡±


    ¡°He prefers Guildmaster Los, but yes.¡± Eyfura replied lazily, giving Tess another pat. ¡°And, between my presence, the things I¡¯ve told you, this cutie¡¯s name, and the look on your face, you seem to have realized what I¡¯m getting at.¡±


    The demon nodded furiously. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, Lady Los. I didn¡¯t realize, please forgive me.¡±


    ¡°Sure? I guess?¡± Tess replied, bewildered. ¡°That was super rude, but I can understand how coming to a hotel and finding the room you expected to stay in was full would be frustrating.¡±


    ¡°Hey, what are you all making such a racket about this early in the morning?¡± Alice asked grumpily, stalking into the hall. She stopped once she saw the people in the hallway, narrowing her eyes.


    ¡°These people were quite angry that the suite was filled and were giving Tess an earful.¡± Eyfura said innocently, turning to Alice.


    ¡°Did she have a reservation?¡± Alice asked, raising an eyebrow.


    ¡°She said no, but that she had spread word among important people that she¡¯d be coming here sometime this week.¡± Tess said.


    Alice raised the eyebrow even further. ¡°First I¡¯m hearing of this.¡±


    The girl, who had finished having another hurried conversation with the elf, turned back to the others. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, Lady Reshi. I didn¡¯t think to include you because I knew you were too high level to visit such a place normally. I didn¡¯t know you were training a prot¨¦g¨¦.¡±


    Alice shrugged. ¡°The guildmaster wanted us to keep it on the down-low. Tess, has she introduced herself?¡±


    The demon shook her head, then dropped into a curtsey. ¡°M-my deepest apologies. I am Maven Sarlienne, crown princess of the Paumen Kingdom.¡±


    Tess scratched her neck. ¡°I¡¯m Tess Los, uh¡­granddaughter of the guildmaster, I guess? Is there a title for that?¡±


    Eyfura laughed, patting Tess¡¯s head once again. ¡°No, but there doesn¡¯t really need to be, everyone knows not to mess with his family.¡±


    ¡°If you would forgive my rudeness, may I ask why you don¡¯t bear any of Los bloodline¡¯s distinguishing features?¡± Maven asked.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°She means their eye color and their hair color.¡± Eyfura explained. ¡°They¡¯ve all got those purple eyes and that bright red hair, it¡¯s become something of a way to recognize the family.¡±


    ¡°Oh. In that case, I¡¯m adopted.¡± Tess replied. ¡°My parents died in the same plane crash as Ellie¡¯s, so Gramps took us both in.¡±


    The elf snorted in amusement, then quickly schooled his features back to professional blandness. ¡°My apologies.¡± He said, ¡°I had never heard Guildmaster Los referred to in such a way, so it caught me off guard.¡±


    ¡°Tess, you go back to sleep, we¡¯ll take care of this, okay?¡± Eyfura said, giving Tess one last pat.


    ¡°Yes, Auntie.¡± Tess turned to go back to bed, but not before watching Eyfura make eye contact with the elf and give him a wink while the elf struggled to maintain a straight face.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Maven cried out, then blushed as Tess turned around. ¡°Um¡­¡± She floundered, apparently looking for something to say. ¡°I¡­really do apologize. I have been told that, when tired or frustrated, I tend to slip into bad habits. I have been trying to fix that as of late, but¡­I¡¯ve been up for almost twenty hours at this point, so I was in a very foul mood. I hope we can work together in the future, and that this unfortunate incident didn¡¯t sully our relationship too much.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­yeah, sure, I guess. We all have our issues. I¡¯ll¡­see you around?¡± Tess replied, somewhat puzzled by the whole interaction.


    ¡°Yes, I hope we will see each other in the future.¡± Maven said, giving another curtesy.


    Tess awkwardly withdrew, Eyfura turning around and giving her a wink on her way back to her room. She was able to hear a bit more of the conversation on her way back, but it wasn¡¯t particularly interesting, so she tuned it out, choosing instead to fall back asleep.


    ¡°I¡¯m what?¡± Tess asked, taken aback.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to be doing a couple of runs with Maven.¡± Eyfura sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not going to be as fast as we wanted when we were just going through to get extra shots at the Rewards Crystal, but we decided it¡¯s worth it to start networking you, seeing as how the opportunity¡¯s fallen in our lap. That and it¡¯ll give you some experience in situations where you don¡¯t have as reliable party members.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Alice said, grimacing. ¡°Unfortunately, you¡¯re going to have to do most of the heavy lifting, she¡¯s just boosting.¡±


    ¡°Boosting?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s when someone who doesn¡¯t intend to be a freelancer pays other people to take them through dungeons and level them up.¡± Eyfura explained. ¡°Typically, it¡¯s to get the benefits being a high level has on aging, so they have little practical combat experience. Lots of wealthy people do it, so high society is filled with level fifty-something people who don¡¯t know their way around a weapon as well as their level suggests.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°Alright. So, I¡¯m going through the dungeon with her a couple of times for¡­networking? She¡¯s¡­sorry, it¡¯s a little blurry, but she¡¯s someone important, right?¡±


    ¡°Crown princess of the Paumen Kingdom.¡± Alice said. ¡°It¡¯s a decently large kingdom in one of the older planes, named Ores. You two aren¡¯t exactly in the same social circles, but if you hang around the guildmaster long enough you¡¯re going to meet people like her, so it¡¯ll be good to know someone who will eventually be in power.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be anything like this morning, though, so don¡¯t worry. Now that she knows who you are, she¡¯ll be far, far more polite. Yeah, it¡¯s disingenuous, but unfortunately that¡¯s just how things are sometimes. Don¡¯t worry about that too much and just focus on clearing the dungeon and¡­being pleasant, I guess.¡±


    Tess sighed. ¡°Alright, I suppose I can handle that. I¡¯m going to go get breakfast, I¡¯ll be back in like¡­twenty minutes.¡±


    ¡°Alright, take care.¡± Eyfura responded, giving a small wave.


    Still in her pajamas, she left, making her way to the pad and then back to the first floor of the dungeon. She used her card to enter the walled off area of the floor, which housed a dining area much like the hotels she was used to.


    ¡°Ah, Lady Los, good morning. How was your sleep?¡± Maven asked, looking up from her food. ¡°I must apologize again for our misunderstanding. Go get some food and come sit near me, I have much I wish to talk about with you.¡±


    Tess groaned internally. She had been hoping just to be able to have a little time on her own, maybe browse her phone or something, but¡­well, she didn¡¯t have a reason to say ¡®no¡¯ to Maven, so she nodded, dished herself up and sat down next to the girl.


    ¡°Did Lady Reshi and Lady Almes inform you about our upcoming cooperation?¡± Maven asked, ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing your capabilities.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, they told me. Mind if I ask what your preferred style of fighting is? It¡¯ll be good to know so we can figure out how we¡¯re going to go about things.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a sorceress, though I know my way around a bow as well.¡± Maven replied, ¡°Are you capable of maintaining the enemy¡¯s attention?¡±


    Tess shook her head. ¡°I have a few Skills that keep me from being noticed by monsters, and I can¡¯t turn them off.¡±


    ¡°No matter, I have an item that will summon a guardian golem for us.¡± Maven replied, then leaned forward excitedly. ¡°That aside, I am rather curious about your daily life. You live in Mael, correct? What is it like? I have heard that only humans live there, so how does a wolfkin such as yourself go unnoticed?¡±


    ¡°Nothing exciting, really. I go to high school, and I was going to look at going into accounting in college, but¡­I¡¯m looking more into freelancer stuff now. As for the wolfkin thing, I was transformed after taking a Class, and Gramps pulled some strings and had people do some magic, so no one notices.¡±


    Maven frowned. ¡°But magic doesn¡¯t work right on Mael, yes?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know. Some of it works, for example magic bags work fine and magic armor resizes correctly, but I can¡¯t seem to pull up my status or anything. I didn¡¯t really ask Gramps about it, but I¡¯ve seen the results of the magic, so I can confirm it¡¯s working.¡±


    ¡°I see. On that note, how do you live without magic? It seems like such¡­such an unnecessarily hard way to live. I don¡¯t get why the gods allowed such a thing to happen.¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re missing until you have it. Honestly, though, it kind of just seems like magic makes stuff we already have on Mael nicer, so it¡¯s really not as bad as you might be thinking.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating.¡± Maven continued to make small talk with Tess for the remainder of Tess¡¯s meal, and when Tess finished, they agreed to meet back at the first floor in half an hour to begin their run of the dungeon.


    Tess went back to her room and got ready, and soon she was standing in the first floor with Alice and Eyfura, waiting for Maven to show up. ¡°Don¡¯t extend your claws all the way.¡± Eyfura instructed. ¡°Just keep them relatively small, around the length of mine. And don¡¯t be too blatant with your abilities either. She knows not to ask any questions, but she¡¯ll be trying to figure things out anyway. Other than that, go wild.¡±


    Tess nodded, and a few minutes later Maven was there. ¡°Lady Los, are you ready?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Please just call me Tess.¡± Tess said, ¡°I¡¯m not used to being ¡®important¡¯, so the whole ¡°Lady¡± bit feels weird.¡±


    ¡°Understood. In that case, just call me Maven.¡± Maven replied.


    ¡°Cool. Anyway, yeah, I¡¯m ready.¡± With Tess¡¯s acknowledgement, the two made a party, and began to go through the dungeon. It was definitely¡­different than Tess¡¯s other experiences. Maven wasn¡¯t amazing, but she was better than nothing; when using magic, she missed more than Ellie had, but she did hit enough to pull at least some amount of weight.


    The biggest difference, though, was the golem. It was a giant, blocky humanoid made out of brick-like stones, and it would just sort of¡­sit there and take hits in a fight. It seemed that any of Maven¡¯s aggro was redirected to it, making things rather easy on Tess, as she didn¡¯t have to babysit Maven too much. Furthermore, when moving forward, Maven would have the golem go first and spring any traps, which let progress be much faster than Tess was expecting.


    Not as fast as when Eyfura and Alice were doing most of the work, of course, but still fast. The boss was actually not a big deal ¨C the golem was more than capable of taking whatever the boss dished out, so it was just a matter of making sure attention always stayed on it instead of Tess. That wasn¡¯t hard either, Maven just had to hit every once in a while, and she was capable of that, at the least.


    So, they let Maven get her reward, and were soon back in the lobby. ¡°Well, what¡¯d you think?¡± Maven asked proudly, puffing out her chest a little.


    ¡°Mmm, you¡¯re not the worst booster I¡¯ve ever seen. You were clearly trying, and that¡¯s more than I can say for a lot of people.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°If you want to do this as any more than a way to level up, though, get a proper teacher. Right now, you¡¯re just brute forcing things and that¡¯s not going to work long-term.¡±


    Maven looked taken aback, opened her mouth to speak, took a look at Eyfura, then closed her mouth again. She struggled to turn her expression from one of indignation to one of polite civility, and eventually gave a response. ¡°U-understood, Lady Almes.¡± She said shakily.


    ¡°Don¡¯t take it too hard, kid.¡± Eyfura said, unfazed. ¡°It¡¯s your first time being told you weren¡¯t amazing, right?¡± Maven nodded, so Eyfura continued. ¡°A word of advice: find some people who are willing to tell you when your work isn¡¯t so great. It¡¯ll hurt until you get used to it, but trust me, the quality of whatever you¡¯re doing will increase for it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­take that into advisement.¡±


    Eyfura locked eyes with the elf. ¡°Tell her parents what I said. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ve had any input on how people teach their daughter, but this is unacceptable. If they have a problem with it, give me a call and I¡¯ll talk with them myself.¡±


    The elf gave her a relieved look. ¡°Understood.¡±


    ¡°And Tess, you¡¯re doing pretty well. You could stand to be more accurate, though. I know I told you to be fast, but it¡¯s time to start tightening up your strikes.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Got it.¡±


    ¡°Alright, you two go one more time and then we¡¯re going to need to take Tess back and finish this off.¡± Alice said, ¡°We¡¯re on a bit of a schedule, so we can¡¯t spend too long here. Tess, come meet us back in the room when you¡¯re done.¡±


    ¡°That will be more than enough time.¡± Maven said, having regained her composure, ¡°I appreciate you giving me any to begin with, Lady Reshi.¡±


    They were able to finish up their run in forty-five minutes and met back near Tess¡¯s room. ¡°It was a pleasure working with you, Tess.¡± Maven told her, giving a curtsey, ¡°I do hope you¡¯ll give me a call some time in the future, I would be happy to get to know you more.¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah.¡± Tess replied awkwardly. ¡°It was nice, and¡­same, I guess? I dunno, I¡¯m not too good with all this stuff.¡±


    Maven laughed. ¡°It will come in time. I¡¯ll be picking up the rest of my group now, you know where to find me if you need me.¡± She gave a wave and made her way back to the pad, teleporting out. Tess went back into the penthouse suite, where Alice and Eyfura were relaxing.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re finally done.¡± She said, ¡°How many more runs do we have to finish up here?¡±


    ¡°Seven by my count.¡± Eyfura replied, leaping to her feet. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Fighterman481


    So, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 23: Reunion

    Tess gazed down at the core in front of her, took a deep breath, and absorbed it. She waved away the message, as she had already absorbed a core for this monster. A week or two prior, she had realized that, at the rate she was progressing, she was going to lose to Ilmir. And¡­she really didn¡¯t want that; she didn¡¯t want to let herself or Ellie down.


    Fortunately, there was a whole part of her abilities she had been purposefully neglecting until now. It was uncomfortable, but¡­it was time for her to get over herself. So, to that end, she had been training herself by ejecting cores, slowly working her way up to her goal.


    She grimaced as she ejected the core she had just absorbed and felt it slide out and disappear into nothingness. She took a moment to catch her breath, then got off the toilet and steeled her resolve; it was time.


    Ellie¡¯s days fell into a pattern. Go to school, train, do homework, and then wait for her nightly conversation with Tess. Her disposition towards Ilmir gradually improved, going from fairly hostile to just a disliking, and she soon found herself just a couple of days away from Tess¡¯s return.


    She had realized, with some surprise, that the day Tess was coming back and having her fight with Ilmir was also Tess¡¯s eighteenth birthday, so she had spent those days getting a suitable present for her. It had eaten up more of her savings than she¡¯d like to admit, but she had made a fair bit from her training, so she was able to get something that she was confident would be useful to Tess.


    And, finally, the day had come. Ellie was waiting nervously in one of the guild¡¯s private rooms, pacing back and forth.


    ¡°Just chill,¡± Ilmir said, ¡°you¡¯re acting like she¡¯ll have completely forgotten you or something.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that.¡± Ellie said dismissively. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t really understand.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d be surprised.¡± Ilmir retorted. ¡°Try me.¡±


    Ellie didn¡¯t have any intention of letting Ilmir know about her and Tess just yet, but fortunately she didn¡¯t have to. The door opened and in walked Tess, who, for some blessed reason, had those wolf ears and tail out. Ellie rushed over and gave the girl a hug, and Tess reciprocated much more readily than she had before their time apart.


    ¡°I really missed you.¡± Ellie said, resting her head on Tess¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°So you¡¯ve told me.¡± Tess replied. She hesitated, then continued. ¡°But, uh¡­I missed you too.¡±


    Ellie lifted her head off of Tess¡¯s shoulder so she could see the blush spreading across Tess¡¯s face.


    ¡°Alright you two, get a room.¡± Eyfura walked in, smirking.


    Tess blushed even further and extracted herself from the hug, turning away embarrassedly.


    ¡°Right.¡± Ilmir said, seemingly unimpressed. ¡°How are we doing this?¡±


    Eyfura held up a glove-looking thing. ¡°The guild¡¯s Gauntlet of Challenge, of course. Evan¡¯s clearing out the exercise yard now, so you two can go at it no holds barred without worrying about leaking anything about your abilities.¡±


    Ilmir grinned, pushing herself up from the chair she was sitting on. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way.¡± She said. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡±


    It was stormy out, but the charge in the air that Ellie was feeling couldn¡¯t only be from the weather. She was standing on the sidelines of an arena next to Gramps, Eyfura, and The Rumors. In front of them was Ilmir and Tess, who were staring each other down cautiously.


    Ilmir was kitted out like Ellie had never seen her before; usually Ilmir would just use a single sword, but here she was holding one in each hand, and had two more sheathed at her waist. Furthermore, she looked more serious than Ellie had seen her before. Her easygoing attitude was gone, replaced with a sharp wariness as she stared down Tess.


    Tess, on the other hand, looked similarly wary, but her gear was about the same as it had been before she left, save for some new footwear. Still, there was an edge to her that Ellie hadn¡¯t seen before, a determination that said she was going to see this through no matter what.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you one last chance to back down.¡± Ilmir said, ¡°I¡¯m not going to go easy on you, and this is going to hurt.¡±


    ¡°Funny, that. I was going to give you a similar warning. You have no clue what you¡¯ve gotten yourself into.¡± Tess replied.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky.¡± Ilmir snarled. ¡°You haven¡¯t had a chance to see what something really out of your league is like.¡±


    ¡°Alright, you two.¡± Gramps said, ¡°Place your hand on the gauntlet. Once you both have done so with the intent to challenge the other, it will glow, and your duel will begin. Once one of you would hit zero HP, the duel will end and any damage to your bodies sustained during the duel will reverse. Eyfura and I will make sure that there¡¯s no collateral damage, so go wild. Do you both understand?¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡±  Tess said, placing a hand on the Gauntlet.


    ¡°Naturally.¡± Ilmir said, also placing her hand on the Gauntlet. As she did, the Gauntlet began to glow, rising up into the air over the heads of the two.


    Suddenly, Ilmir and Tess were on opposite ends of the field. Tess looked disoriented, but Ilmir had seemingly been ready, as she was already running towards Tess.


    Tess recovered quickly, a set of huge, gleaming claws sliding out from her fingertips. Ellie had recently obtained a Skill that let her see when an ability was in the process of being used, so she watched as the claws grew brighter and brighter to her, Tess stacking Skill on top of Skill on them.


    Then, Tess threw her head back, letting out a roar. There was something¡­primal about it, and even though Ellie wasn¡¯t the target, it still rattled her, her instincts telling her that the source of this roar was something she wanted to be as far away from as possible.


    Ilmir, on the other hand, was stopped in her tracks. She even had begun to turn to flee before her body glowed with the activation of a Skill and she regained her resolve, resuming her mad dash towards Tess.


    As she approached, she raised her swords, quickly activating two Skills. One sword was suddenly wreathed in flame and the other in crackles and sparks of electricity. And, a second later, she was upon Tess, swinging down the flaming sword.


    Tess calmly raised a claw, still glowing brightly from the number of Skills she had activated. Ilmir¡¯s sword hit Tess¡¯s claw, and, contrary to Ellie¡¯s expectations, the sword was bounced back and Tess¡¯s claws didn¡¯t even have a dent.


    Ilmir seemed caught off-guard as well, but recovered quickly, lunging forward with the crackling sword to stab at¡­empty air.


    Tess had activated another Skill, and she was suddenly behind Ilmir, whole body glowing as she turned around and raked a massive set of claws down Ilmir¡¯s back, the glow in them fading as the Skills activated, the glow in her body fading a moment later.


    Oddly enough, there was no visible sign of anything happening, and Ilmir was able to quickly turn around, scoring a deep gash in Tess¡¯s side as she whipped her sword around. Tess crumpled, clutching her side in agony as Ilmir stood triumphantly over her.


    A lot of things happened very quickly. The first was Ilmir¡¯s scream, a raw, throaty sound that spoke of sudden, intense, and unexpected pain. The next was the bright flash of light as Ilmir¡¯s entire body burst into flame, a fountain of blood erupting from her back.


    It was at this point that Ellie cast a casting-time reduced Haste on herself, expending a decent amount of Mana so she could see in more detail what exactly was happening.


    Tess activated another Skill, and a flurry of ten strikes from Tess¡¯s free hand rained down on Ilmir, and then Tess was gone, having activated yet another Skill and backing up, wounds closing rapidly as the parasites she had planted did their work.


    Almost in a panic, Ilmir activated a series of Skills, causing the fire to go out and the bleeding on her back to slow immensely. She shakily stood up straight, now looking at Tess far more cautiously than she had in the past. ¡°I¡¯ll admit, that was good, but you¡¯re going to have to do better than that if you want to beat me. I won¡¯t fall for that once tw¨C¡± She cut off, giving out a yelp and slapping her neck. Focusing a bit more, Ellie was able to barely make out as a spider leapt off of Ilmir, scuttling away into the cobbles below.


    Tess was back on Ilmir in a flash, but Ilmir was ready. As Tess moved Ilmir raised a booted foot and kicked out, halting the smaller girl¡¯s momentum and sending her sprawling back.¡­And back¡­And Tess just kept going, gliding along the ground as if gravity didn¡¯t apply to her. She hit the wall on the other side, but there was no sound of impact, nor any real sense of anything painful happening as Tess stood up, dusting herself off.


    Distance created, Ilmir began to yank out the parasites Tess had planted one by one, keeping a wary eye on Tess as she did. For her part, Tess activated another Skill and the bleeding on Ilmir¡¯s back stopped altogether, followed immediately by Tess beginning to chant a spell.


    Ilmir slashed a sword into the empty air in front of her, and the coating of lightning leapt off of it, coalescing into a disc that hurtled toward Tess, forcing her to stop her incantation and jump to the side, right into the path of the fire from Ilmir¡¯s other sword.


    The blow knocked Tess into the wall, and this time she didn¡¯t seem as prepared, slamming hard into it and falling to the ground in a heap.


    Ilmir advanced on the prone girl, activating a Skill and causing an audible hiss as her wounds began to knit together, closing as she walked. When she reached Tess she placed a foot on her side, pushing down hard. There was a crack as Tess¡¯s bone snapped, and Ilmir gave her a cruel smile.


    ¡°No more Stamina left, eh?¡± She mocked, pointing her sword at Tess¡¯s head, ¡°I told them you wouldn¡¯t be able to do much. Honestly, I don¡¯t get what all the fuss is about. I barely broke a sweat cutting you down to size. Really, Fortune should stop putting effort into you and give it to someone who deserves it, like Ellie.¡±


    ¡°Really, Fortune should stop putting effort into you and give it to someone who deserves it, like Ellie.¡±


    Time stopped. The intense sensation of pain Tess was feeling vanished, replaced by¡­nothing.


    No, not nothing. There was a presence in the air, the sensation that Tess was near something far, far out of her league.


    There were some muffled footsteps, and Tess opened her eyes, the world a dull grey. A figure, the only thing in full color, squatted down so she was at eye level with Tess.


    ¡°You did a good job.¡± Fortune said gently, stroking Tess¡¯s head. She was a short woman with bright blond hair that reached just above her shoulders and golden, almost white glowing eyes. She was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans and was smiling softly. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you.¡±


    ¡°But I¡­I lost.¡± Tess croaked.


    Fortune tousled Tess¡¯s hair. ¡°Yes, but it wasn¡¯t exactly a fair fight. Ilmir has some of War¡¯s blessings, and they so happen to counter the tools you have. But¡­the fight¡¯s not over.¡±


    ¡°But¡­even if I have Isabella break Ilmir¡¯s pin, I don¡¯t have any ways of dealing enough damage to her to win, not when I¡¯m out of Stamina and Ilmir¡¯s healed back up.¡±


    Fortune¡¯s smile turned somewhat shaky. ¡°If you would like, I can guarantee your victory. I¡¯ve finally received permission to make you my Appointed, and if you choose to accept, then I¡¯ll be able to help you even more.¡±


    She sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not a choice you should make just because you want to win this, though. Choosing to accept means you¡¯re committed to this way of life, and you¡¯re willing to get into more serious matters when the time comes that I need your aid. It won¡¯t be easy, but at the least I will do my best to make you and Ellie happy. I mentioned it before, but I just about consider the two of you my own children. I really, really want to help.¡±


    Tess mulled that over for a moment. Fortune seemed completely serious about what she said, and¡­well, Tess had been planning on this anyway. ¡°Alright, I accept.¡±


    Fortune took Tess¡¯s hand, squeezing. ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s turn this thing around, you and me.¡±


    Tess nodded as best she could. ¡°What do I have to do?¡±


    Fortune smiled, squeezing Tess¡¯s hand again. ¡°Repeat after me: I, Tess, accept the position of Fortune¡¯s Appointed¡­¡± She stopped, clearly waiting for Tess to speak.


    ¡°I, Tess, accept the position of Fortune¡¯s Appointed,¡± Tess repeated.


    ¡°To further her cause as I see fit¡­¡±


    Tess once again repeated the words.


    ¡°And to keep secret things mortals should not know.¡±


    Tess finished, looking in Fortune¡¯s eyes. Fortune drew herself upright and began to speak an oath of her own. ¡°I, Fortune, accept Tess as my Appointed, to treat her fairly and respect her as if she were another god, and to be responsible with the power I hold over her. Should I fail to do so, I accept whatever punishment is seen fit.¡±


    There was a moment of silence and then a peal of thunder, and Fortune smiled deeply. ¡°The boss has accepted, so it¡¯s official now. What say we knock ¡®em dead, eh?¡±


    Ellie gritted her teeth as Ilmir mocked Tess, and she had to restrain herself from rushing out there and beating some sense into Ilmir herself. Ilmir swung her sword down¡­


    And then something changed. While it was hard to see with the position Tess was in, her air had changed completely. There was none of the desperate struggle she had had before, it was instead replaced with a calm confidence as she raked a claw across the ground, throwing up a spray of pebbles as she shredded the stone.


    Somehow, the pebbles all struck Ilmir directly in her sword hand, and Ilmir yelped in surprise, dropping her sword. Another claw had raked across the ground, and this time the spray of pebbles impacted the sword, sending it spinning upwards.


    A spirit shot out of Tess, letting loose a horrid screech as it flew into Ilmir. Tess surged upward, upending a paralyzed Ilmir and throwing her backwards as the spirit moved back into Tess. Tess held out a hand, not even looking as she closed it, the falling sword landing perfectly within.


    She looked down at Ilmir, who was scrambling to her feet, and spoke. There was an odd sensation of two people talking, and something about the voice dug deep into Ellie¡¯s subconscious, letting her know exactly who that other person was.


    ¡°Oh, hun.¡± Fortune drawled, flicking Tess¡¯s blood off of the sword and smiling wickedly at Ilmir as she pointed it at her. ¡°You did not just tell me what to do.¡±


    Fighterman481


    Anyway, Ilmir is just too much for Tess to handle as Tess is now. Ilmir''s higher level than her with much higher stats, and she''s got tools to handle Tess''s status inflictions, which, as things are now, are Tess''s main method of attack.


    For the record, if Ilmir didn''t have a way to deal with those statuses, Tess would have won pretty handily. But she did, so that''s a moot point.


    So...that''s it. We''ll get some more details on what exactly is going on with Fortune and Tess next chapter, as well as the conclusion of the fight, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 24: I Am Thou, Thou Art I

    Ilmir scrambled backwards, cursing her own poor luck. Ever since the first time she had seen one, she had known she had never wanted to fight someone who is in the middle of a Descent. She had known Tess and Fortune were at least somewhat more involved than, say, her and War, but she hadn¡¯t known they were this close.


    But now wasn¡¯t the time to think about that. Right now, she had to remember what Grandma and Uncle Even had told her about Descents. Checking her Stamina reserves, she had enough leeway to briefly use Godspeed so long as she only sped up her perception. So, she activated it and let the world slow down around her while she thought.


    Right. The first piece of advice she had been given about Descents was to run ¨C  fighting a god¡¯s avatar was not a battle most were capable of winning. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t really an option at this juncture, so she had to move on to the other methods of dealing with it.


    What was most important was that Descents had a time limit, one that couldn¡¯t be worked around without gravely injuring the avatar. How long varied depending on how long the avatar had been an Appointed, how accustomed they are to Descents, and their level, so Tess wouldn¡¯t have very long, a minute at most.


    And what made this winnable was that, to a certain extent, the god Descending was at least somewhat limited by their avatar¡¯s capabilities. They couldn¡¯t use most of their god powers unless their avatar had something similar, and they couldn¡¯t use more Mana or Stamina than the avatar had available, nor would their stats be buffed unless that was part of that god¡¯s Descent abilities.


    Which led her to the biggest unknown. She had no clue what Fortune¡¯s Descent did. She hadn¡¯t had an Appointed before, so this was new territory for everyone. So, she concluded her best bet right now was to use her superior mobility to keep away from Tess/Fortune during the minute the Descent lasted.


    She let Godspeed drop, backing up as it suddenly began to pour down rain.


    And then she was thrown to the side, her body moving without her consent as a moment later a bolt of lightning struck where she had just been standing, causing her ears to ring.


    Last Resolve has prevented a fatal blow!


    Last Resolve has used all remaining uses of Resolve. Cooldown: 24:00:00


    ¡°My, how unlucky.¡± Fortune taunted, leisurely walking closer to Ilmir, ¡°Well, look on the bright side; it¡¯s incredibly unlikely for lightning to strike the same place twice. Now that that nasty little blessing of yours is out of the way, why don¡¯t we have some real fun?¡±


    Ilmir¡¯s stomach dropped. This fight was already over, and she knew it. If Fortune was able to provoke Last Resolve like that within the five seconds she¡¯d actively been attacking Ilmir, then she was able to end this fight any time she wanted; anything more was just toying with Ilmir.


    Back on her feet now, Ilmir reached into her bag and pulled out a lightning resistance potion, hastily drinking it as Tess/Fortune¡­Fortune¡¯s avatar watched disinterestedly. Once she finished, Fortune¡¯s avatar threw Ilmir¡¯s own sword back at her, forcing Ilmir to jump to the side and¨C


    There was another earsplitting boom as lightning struck the flying sword and it exploded. Ignoring all reason, each individual shard of the sword was blown in such a way that they hit right where Ilmir had dodged, knocking her back and then skewering her to the ground, a large piece of sword lodged in each of her limbs. Each time she tried to struggle free something messed her up ¨C a stray piece of rock, launched into the air by one of the lightning strikes, landed on her and neatly stopped one attempt. In another, the way she moved loosened up the sword¡­only for a large piece of hail to land directly on it, lodging it even deeper.


    Fortune¡¯s avatar smiled, walking over as Ilmir spent the last of her Stamina to activate Flesh Mender, keeping her from bleeding out then and there. If she could just hold on thirty more seconds, the Descent would be over, and she would be able to struggle free and make something happen.


    Fortune¡¯s avatar was standing over her, still smiling that infuriating smile. ¡°Well, you know what they say.¡± She said, ¡°There¡¯s no kill quite like overkill.¡± She reached forward with a claw and scored a deep gash in Ilmir¡¯s neck.


    You have been dealt a critical 594 damage by Tess Los!


    Tess Los has inflicted Heavy Bleeding! You will take 1,002 damage every second for 150 seconds or until the bleeding is stopped!


    That was almost as bad as the nasty hit she had taken at the beginning of the fight, and without any more uses of Resolve she had no way of getting rid of it.


    Fortune¡¯s avatar did something and the bleeding ceased, leaving Ilmir to watch in puzzlement, and then, mounting horror, as Fortune¡¯s avatar stepped back, blew Ellie a kiss, and began to chant a spell.


    By all rights, she shouldn¡¯t have the Mana necessary to cast a spell like this. Ilmir didn¡¯t know exactly what Fortune¡¯s avatar was casting but judging from the several enormous magic circles expanding out around her, it was an incredibly high-level combination spell.


    The wind was picking up speed around her, the temperature plummeting and the rain beginning to fall even harder as thunder roared above.


    Ilmir struggled against the metal pinning her to the ground, but she was once again met with improbable events preventing her from making any headway. It had been over a minute and a half since the Descent had begun, so why was it still going?! It should have ended quite a while ago, but Fortune¡¯s avatar didn¡¯t show even a hint of the damage she was supposed to have.


    The clouds above rumbled ominously, Ilmir¡¯s hair standing up as she felt the lightning approach once again. Fortune¡¯s avatar reached the last stanza of the chant too, but Ilmir¡¯s attention was torn away by a massive cracking sound. The Gauntlet of Challenge, which had been floating patiently above, waiting for a killing blow to be struck, shattered.


    Fortune¡¯s avatar¡¯s expression went from one of smug satisfaction to horror ¨C she couldn¡¯t stop a spell like this, not without backlash. And given the power of the spell and Tess¡¯s frailty, that backlash would likely kill her outright. So, she kept going. ¡°Fimbulvet¨C¡±


    And then, Uncle Evan was there, magic circles running up and down the air around him as he worked a spell.


    ¡°No.¡± Fate boomed, pointing Uncle Evan¡¯s finger downward. The magic circles immediately disappeared, the energy within dissipating harmlessly as Fate¡¯s avatar dispelled the spell with no apparent effort.


    That left the lightning. It likely wouldn¡¯t strike Ilmir directly, but it would still hit the area, and a bolt imbued with divine energy would do some damage, even through the wards on the guild¡¯s headquarters.


    But her grandma had calmly moved into the center of the area, raising a clawed hand. The lightning struck it, but instead of damaging her grandma like it should, it danced about her palm, at least until she closed her fist, crushing the light. ¡°Got it.¡± Dominion puffed. ¡°We should be in the clear now.¡±


    At this point The Rumors had moved over to Ilmir and were extracting the metal from her body, Ker healing her up as the gods conversed.


    ¡°Fortune, stop your Descent now.¡± Fate instructed, ¡°You¡¯re going to hurt Tess.¡±


    ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t!¡± Fortune said, panic in her voice, ¡°Every time I try, I get sucked back into her!¡±


    Fate¡¯s avatar nodded at Dominion¡¯s. ¡°Dominion, can you do anything about this?¡±


    Dominion¡¯s avatar stepped up to Fortune¡¯s avatar and placed a hand on her forehead. There was a pulse of divine energy and then¡­


    ¡°Still here!¡± Fortune replied, ¡°I¡­I think it¡¯s the Class!¡± She said.


    Dominion¡¯s avatar nodded. ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± She agreed, giving Fate¡¯s avatar a meaningful look. ¡°The divine energy in the Class is too strong, and it¡¯s keeping me from doing anything. Thankfully, it also seems to be preventing any of the normal side-effects to a Descent, so Tess should be fine. We¡¯ll have to take her to the Class¡¯s creator, though, get her to deal with this.¡±


    Fate¡¯s avatar grimaced. ¡°Alright.¡± He waved a hand, and then him, Dominion¡¯s avatar, Fortune¡¯s avatar, and, oddly enough, Ellie, were gone.


    Tess blinked, accustoming herself to her new surroundings. They were in a sterile-looking area, all sleek white walls and tile.


    This is the god¡¯s workplace. Fortune told her. They were still in Descent, of course. It was an odd sensation, where they both had control over the body, their intents and thoughts merged in such a way that their every action seemed like it was a mutual decision made with no conscious deliberation.


    It looked like Gramps and Eyfura¡¯s Descents had both, ended, though. Instead, a figure was standing next to each of them, ones who Tess instinctively knew were Fate and Dominion.


    Fate was a tall orc wearing a rather sharp suit, his bald head sparkling. He gave the group a nod, then pulled a phone out of his pocket . ¡°I¡¯ll get the boss.¡± He said, opening a door near him and stepping out of the room, already putting his phone to his ear.


    Dominion was a halfling, and she was small even by their standards. She was dressed casually and had brown hair and eyes, overall just looking¡­ average. Tess wouldn¡¯t have given her a second glance if she passed her in the street.


    ¡°Hey, why¡¯d the Gauntlet break?¡± Fortune asked, ¡°I thought you had made sure those things could handle high-tier spells.¡±


    ¡°I did.¡± Dominion sighed, ¡°But I didn¡¯t test what a Descent would do to them. I didn¡¯t think anyone would Descend in a fight with such low stakes.¡±


    There was silence for a moment, and then Ellie spoke up. ¡°Um¡­can¡­someone explain what¡¯s going on? Where are we? Why can¡¯t Fortune stop the Descent? Who¡¯s this ¡°boss¡± of yours?¡±


    Dominion sighed again. ¡°Right, sorry about all of this.¡± She said. ¡°This is all stuff that normally only Appointed get to know about, but I suppose Fate¡¯s decided you¡¯re fine to know. No, I don¡¯t know why, no one really knows what he¡¯s thinking.¡±


    She frowned. ¡°You haven¡¯t sworn an Oath, to keep anything secret, which is less than ideal. If you mention so much as a hint of this to anyone not in the know, then you¡¯re going to have a few grumpy gods on your case, and I don¡¯t think you want that, right?¡±


    Ellie nodded furiously. ¡°Yeah. Um, might want to have me swear an Oath, though, don¡¯t want to let anything out accidentally.¡±


    ¡°Already laid the groundwork for it, and you just accepted by saying that.¡± Fate said, stepping back into the room, ¡°You were going to find out sooner or later, so this is just moving things up for you, really. Anyway, the boss is on her way.¡±


    ¡°Correction, already here.¡± A woman¡¯s voice said. Tess and Fortune turned around, and, to Tess¡¯s surprise, the boss was a slime person. She was tall and made entirely of green slime, a small smile on her face as she looked at Tess and Ellie¡¯s surprised expressions.


    ¡°Hey there, my name¡¯s Amy.¡± She said, giving a small wave. ¡°I¡¯m in the Administrator in these parts. You can think of Administrators as kind of the creator god, the ones who make everything. No, as far as I can tell, there isn¡¯t anything above that, but Administrators came from somewhere, so I can¡¯t say for sure. Yes, there are others, but I¡¯m the Administrator for this universe, and you probably won¡¯t have to deal with ones from outside this universe so don¡¯t worry about them.


    ¡°Anyway, Fortune, I¡¯ve heard you¡¯re a little¡­stuck.¡±


    Tess and Fortune nodded. ¡°Yeah, every time I try to leave, Monster Breeder just pulls me right back in.¡± Fortune said.


    Amy stroked her chin thoughtfully. ¡°Well, that¡¯s¡­actually, yeah, I wasn¡¯t thinking about that when I made Monster Breeder. Give me a few minutes to look over this to see what I can do.¡± She said, walking over and placing a slimy hand on Tess¡¯s forehead, ¡°Fortune, if people have questions, answer them for me, will you? Dominion and Fate, you can go back to what you were doing.¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± Fate said, giving a small bow and leaving with Dominion.


    ¡°So, how does a Class trap a god?¡± Eyfura asked.


    ¡°Um, I¡¯m not exactly sure.¡± Fortune replied. ¡°Here¡¯s what I understand, Amy, correct me if I¡¯m wrong.¡±


    Amy nodded distractedly, and Fortune continued. ¡°So, um, Monster Breeder was a test by us gods. In order to give out Phantasmal Skills, we have to spend something called Worship and then pick someone to give it to. Me and a couple of the other gods were thinking of ways to get around that, and we came up with the idea to put them into a Class.


    ¡°So, we asked Amy and it turns out that doing something like that was possible, but we weren¡¯t sure how it would work with Rewards Crystals. Amy made the Class because none of us were good enough at that sort of thing to do what we were thinking of, and we put it in a Rewards Crystal with nothing else inside to see what would happen.


    ¡°As it turns out, it just makes the chance of getting the Class so abysmally low that even with the bonus from being the only possible reward, it¡¯s effectively impossible to get. We put the crystal in a beginner dungeon in hopes that, eventually, someone would get the Class and we could see how it worked, but once people found out the crystal didn¡¯t give anything people stopped coming.


    ¡°So, eventually we decided that, when I eventually decided on someone I wanted to give my blessing and make my Appointed, I would lead them to that crystal and see if they got the Class. Obviously, Tess did, but we weren¡¯t thinking about how the Worship would conflict when I Descended.


    ¡°And I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s something to do with how Amy made the Class, but it doesn¡¯t seem to want to let any being that goes inside the user¡¯s soul out, and normally that would be Cores, but¡­ apparently it works for Descents too. And since I don¡¯t show up as a Core or anything, Tess can¡¯t exactly eject me like she would a Core.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it looks like when I made this, I co-opted the Descent mechanism into something for absorbing and holding cores.¡± Amy confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s not a good way to go about things, but I was a lot more inexperienced then and it was probably the easiest way.¡±


    She straightened up. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve got a workaround for the moment.¡± Amy put her hand out and a core dropped into it. She handed the core to Tess. ¡°Absorb this then eject it.¡± She instructed. ¡°It¡¯s an empty core I¡¯ve made some quick modifications to, it¡¯s going to see Fortune just sort of floating around in your soul and latch onto her. When you eject it Fortune will pop out with it, which should solve the issue until I get my other workaround up and running. Don¡¯t worry about making room for her or anything, when the core dissolves that smoke will head back to her real body and she¡¯ll ¡°wake up¡± there.¡±


    Tess took the core, giving it a small glance before absorbing it. It was around the same size as the largest core she had ejected, which was the core for the spirit she was currently using as a pet, Isabella. The process had been uncomfortable and somewhat painful, yes, but it was something she could deal with, so she went ahead and absorbed the core.


    You have absorbed a $z5y^ core!


    $5#k4


    *9D%#


    ¡°Ignore that.¡± Amy said. ¡°It¡¯s just the system freaking out because that was a very non-standard core you absorbed. Just go ahead and eject it, it¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    Tess nodded, blushing a little. ¡°Um, do you mind if we use the bathroom for this? It¡¯s a little messy.¡±


    Amy laughed. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    Fortune helped guide Tess to the nearest bathroom, where she began the ejection process. It took much longer than other cores she had ejected, totaling a few minutes of rather uncomfortable pushing but, eventually, the core was out, and Tess was once again alone in her mind.


    She took a moment to catch her breath, looking around the bathroom as she did. It was¡­normal, like it had been lifted straight from a school or business or something, albeit a fair bit cleaner than most public bathrooms she¡¯d seen.


    Once she was done catching her breath, she cleaned up the other mess that inevitably came with pushing as hard as she had been and left the bathroom.


    She was immediately accosted by Fortune, who caught her in a hug. ¡°Sorry, if I had known what would happen, I would have talked to Amy before all of this. I didn¡¯t mean to cause any trouble for you.¡±


    Tess returned the hug. ¡°I know, it¡¯s fine.¡± And she did know, she had felt Fortune¡¯s panic during the Descent. And, furthermore, she felt like she knew Fortune well enough to know that Fortune didn¡¯t mean for any of this.


    After a few moments, Fortune pulled away. ¡°Right, we should get back. The others are probably worried.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±


    The two made their way back into the room, where it looked like Amy was trying to have a conversation with¡­only partial success. Eyfura and Gramps were talking just fine, but Ellie was just standing there looking awkward, like she wasn¡¯t quite sure she belonged.


    ¡°Oh, Tess, how are you feeling?¡± Ellie asked, rushing over and giving Tess a hug, ¡°I was starting to get really worried.¡±


    ¡°Um, fine now, I guess. How have things been going here?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve mostly just been talking about what happened to you. Um¡­¡± She glanced at Fortune, ¡°Do you mind if I ask what exactly your Descent does? I¡¯m really curious after seeing you two like that.¡±


    Fortune gave her a smile. ¡°Normally I¡¯d say no, but because it¡¯s you I¡¯ll let you in on it, so long as you don¡¯t tell anyone else. Deal?¡± Ellie nodded, so Fortune continued. ¡°It¡¯s honestly really simple. My Descent makes Tess¡¯s Luck stat apply to everything, instead of just chance based things. It even extends to her enemies; they have to make checks against her Luck in order to do anything to her.¡±


    Ellie stared. ¡°So¡­she¡¯s basically invincible.¡±


    Fortune smirked. ¡°Something like that. If her opponent has some blessings, Phantasmal Skills, or something else from a god, that¡¯s somewhat exempt from it, but other than that she just gets to do what she wants, and no one can stop her.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s par for the course with Descents, though.¡± Gramps said, walking up to the group. ¡°But I must admit that, from what I saw, Fortune¡¯s was stronger than most. Anyway, Fortune, Amy needs you to go work with her so she can get your Descent working properly, and I need to take everyone back.¡±


    ¡°Got it. And, uh, thanks, Evan. You and Fate really saved my bacon there.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Just keep taking care of Tess for me.¡±


    Fortune smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t even have to ask.¡±


    Gramps nodded. ¡°Right. It¡¯s been a long day, let¡¯s let the two of you get some rest, eh?¡±


    Fighterman481


    Five dungeons were raided, totaling out to 45 Rewards Crystal Rewards and 5 Challenge Rewards for 50 Skills, with an additional Skill being gained from Monster Breeder reaching level 25. Ten Skills were spent maxing out All Magic, another ten to finish out all the remaining status afflictions (or, enough to just get the system to give a blanket ¡°Resistance to everything¡±).


    Five were spent rounding the remaining fist damage types, with an extra used to tie them all into one Skill and bring the Stamina cost to an even 15 for all damage types (Instead of the 10-25 it would cost otherwise). An additional was spent for Igniting Strike, and 5 each were spent buffing bleed/poison/burning. The remaining three are used for You are Already Dead, Consecutive Normal Punches, and The Fifth Gate.


    Tess leveled up to 31, and Monster Breeder to 25. Cores absorbed, Attributes discovered, and Attributes put into slots are listed below. Below that are descriptions of new status effects seen here.


    From regular Rewards Crystals:


    All Magic (Base & Combined):


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Grants the ability to use all magic, including combination magic. Does not include specialized forms of magic.


    Jack of all magics, master of¡­all of them?!


    Fist of the Rainbow:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 15 Stamina to cause your next unarmed strike to deal damage of any type you choose. Can be used in tandem with other Unarmed Skills, but only one damage type changer can be used at a time.


    Feel the rainbow.


    Status Resistance (All):


    Rarity: Legendary


    Description:


    10% increased resistance to all forms of status effects.


    It¡¯s too much prevention. You¡¯re running the cure companies out of business!


    Igniting Strike (Mythical)


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 50 Stamina to strengthen your next unarmed attack, causing it to deal 50% more damage and inflict Burning at the rate of 100%. The burning lasts for five seconds and deals 50% of the damage of the main attack as fire damage every second. Additionally adds a 1% chance for your regular unarmed strikes to inflict Burning. This burning lasts for 2.5 seconds and deals 25% of the damage of the main attack every second. You may choose to turn off the burning chance for your regular attacks.


    He¡¯s on fire!


    Status Duration Boost (Epic)


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Increases the duration of status effects you apply by 50%. Only applies to status effects you have the Skill for.


    Applicable status effects: Bleeding, Burning, Poison


    Now with extra-long lasting power!


    Status Application Boost (Epic)


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Increases your chance to apply status effects by 10%. Only applies to status effects you have the Skill for.


    Applicable status effects: Bleeding, Burning, Poison


    50% of the time it works every time.


    Status Damage Boost (Epic)


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Increases the damage of your status effects by 50%. Only applies to status effects you have the Skill for.


    Applicable status effects: Bleeding, Burning, Poison


    More damage, less work!


    Is That Supposed to Be Able to Bleed?


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Allows you to apply bleed effects to otherwise immune targets such as automatons. These bleed effects deal 25% of the damage they would deal to non-immune targets.


    N-no, it¡¯s not supposed to be able to bleed. How is it bleeding!?


    Rivers Running Red


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    If you have five or more active bleed effects on a target, their damage is increased by 25% and their durations decrease by .75 seconds instead of a second for every second that passes.


    A plague of your own making.


    Botulin


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    When applying a poison effect, Shock the target for .25 seconds


    No, you can¡¯t use this for cosmetic enhancement. Stop asking.


    Poisoned Blood


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    When applying a bleed effect to an enemy with an active poison effect, the poison effect¡¯s damage is applied twice as often for as long as the enemy has an active bleed effect.


    It¡¯s in their bloodstream now.


    Burning Blood


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    When applying a bleed effect to an enemy with an active burning effect, the damage of the burning effect is increased by 50% for as long as the enemy has an active bleed effect.


    Does not increase the enemy¡¯s fighting capabilities or make them more motivated.


    This Is Fine


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    If you have three or more active burning effects on a target, their damage is increased by 50% and their durations decrease by half a second instead of a second for every second that passes.


    *Sips drink*.


    You Are Already Dead


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 100 Stamina to triple the damage of an unarmed attack but delay dealing the damage and any other effects the attack would have (such as status infliction) for five seconds after the attack lands.


    WHAT?!


    Consecutive Normal Punches


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 100 Stamina to unleash a barrage of 10 blows in the time it would normally take you to throw one. Each attack is treated as a ¡°normal¡± unarmed attack for the purposes of other Skills.


    And you¡¯re not even being serious.


    The Fifth Gate


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    By activating The Fifth Gate, the user¡¯s stats are increased by 50% at the expense of taking 1% of their max HP as damage every second.


    Does not turn your body red.


    From Challenge Rewards:


    Flashstep


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Active (Unarmed)


    Description:


    Spend 50 mana to move to a point you can see within 100 meters. Only works while unarmed. Has a cooldown of 1 second.


    There one moment, gone the next.


    Blood Infusion


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Dispel an active bleed effect that you inflicted to apply that bleed effect to you as a regeneration effect.


    Don¡¯t worry about the blood type.


    Sympathetic Binding


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type Active


    Description:


    Dispel an active bleed effect that you inflicted to link the bleed effect¡¯s target to you. For an amount of time equal to the remaining duration of the dispelled bleed effect, whenever you take damage the enemy will take an equivalent amount of psychic damage.


    Sharing is caring!


    Fast-Acting Poison:


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Poison effects you inflict deal damage twice as often.


    So simple, yet so deadly.


    Wildfire


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    When you apply a burning effect to an enemy, there is a 10% chance to duplicate the effect on a neighboring body part. This effect can trigger on burning applied by this effect.


    Only you can set fires this effectively!


    From Monster Breeder:


    Cores:


    Goblin Rider Core:


    Level: 7


    Estimated Power: 16


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 32


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Goblinoid Language Proficiency


    Humanoid (Fundamental)


    Light Armor User (Clumsy)


    Sword User (Clumsy)


    Riding Proficiency (Clumsy)


    Monstrous Wolf (Juvenile) Core:


    Level 8


    Estimated Power: 20


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 38


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Fur (Fundamental)


    Keen Nose (Inferior)


    Kemonomimi (Wolf) (Fundamental)


    Part of the Pack (Inferior)


    Riding Mount (Clumsy)


    Sharp Claws


    Sharp Fangs


    Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental)


    Goblin Foot Soldier Core:


    Same as the one from Rogue¡¯s Den, but higher level.


    The Skeleton and Zombie cores have levels from 4 to 8, some have armor attributes, some have weapon attributes, others don¡¯t.


    Skeleton Core:


    Level: 4


    Estimated Power: 6


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 12


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Humanoid


    Undead (Fundamental)


    Zombie Core:


    Level: 5


    Estimated Power: 10


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 20


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Humanoid


    Undead (Fundamental)


    Light Armor User (Clumsy)


    Club User (Clumsy)


    Shallow One Conscript Core:


    Level: 8


    Estimated Power: 8


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 40


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Humanoid


    Amphibious (Fundamental)


    Slimy Skin


    Syndactyly


    Spear User (Novice)


    Shallow One Flinger Core:


    Level: 8


    Estimated Power: 8


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 40


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Deep Speech Proficiency


    Humanoid


    Amphibious (Fundamental)


    Slimy Skin


    Syndactyly


    Sling User (Novice)


    Shallow One Flinger Core:


    Level: 8


    Estimated Power: 8


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 40


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Deep Speech Proficiency


    Humanoid


    Amphibious (Fundamental)


    Slimy Skin


    Syndactyly


    Sling User (Novice)


    Shallow One Shaman Core:


    Level: 10


    Estimated Power: 10


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 50


    Current Skills:


    Shallow Spells


    Current Attributes:


    Deep Speech Proficiency


    Humanoid


    Amphibious (Fundamental)


    Slimy Skin


    Syndactyly


    Staff User (Clumsy)


    Giant Spider Core:


    Level: 10


    Estimated Power: 15


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 30


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Arachnid (Fundamental)


    Sharp Fangs


    Spider-Climb


    Sticky Web


    Giant-Sized


    Giant Spider (Venomous) Core:


    Level: 13


    Estimated Power: 20


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 35


    Current Skills:


    Venomous Bite


    Current Attributes:


    Arachnid (Fundamental)


    Sharp Fangs


    Spider-Climb


    Sticky Web (Minor)


    Potent Venom (Minor)


    Giant-Sized


    Vengeful Spirit Core:


    Level: 20


    Estimated Power: 30


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 40


    Current Skills:


    Decaying Touch


    Current Attributes:


    Intangible (Fundamental)


    Levitating


    Humanoid


    Poltergeist Core:


    Level: 24


    Estimated Power: 35


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 60


    Current Skills:


    Decaying Touch


    Haunt


    Current Attributes:


    Intangible (Fundamental)


    Levitating


    Humanoid


    Banshee Core:


    Level: 26


    Estimated Power: 45


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 80


    Current Skills:


    Piercing Wail


    Haunting Wail


    Current Attributes:


    Intangible (Fundamental)


    Levitating


    Humanoid


    Boss Cores:


    Goblin Knight:


    Level 12


    Estimated Power: 25


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 50


    Skills:


    Mounted Charge


    Attributes:


    Goblinoid Language Proficiency


    Humanoid (Fundamental)


    Light Armor User (Novice)


    Riding Proficiency (Novice)


    Sword User (Novice)


    Wolf Mount Core:


    Level 12


    Estimated Power: 25


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 50


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Fur (Fundamental)


    Keen Nose (Inferior)


    Kemonomimi (Wolf) (Fundamental)


    Riding Mount (Novice)


    Sharp Claws


    Sharp Fangs


    Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental)


    Skeletal Necromancer:


    Level 14


    Estimated Power: 70


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 100


    Skills:


    Summon Undead


    Dark Magic (Basic)


    Attributes:


    Common Language Proficiency


    Humanoid (Fundamental)


    Undead (Fundamental)


    Light Armor User (Novice)


    Shallow One Chieftain Core:


    Level: 14


    Estimated Power: 50


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 100


    Current Skills:


    Call of the Shallows


    Current Attributes:


    Deep Speech Proficiency


    Humanoid


    Amphibious (Fundamental)


    Slimy Skin


    Syndactyly


    Light Armor User (Apprentice)


    Pack Leader (Moderate)


    Spear User (Apprentice)


    Blacker Widow Core:


    Level: 18


    Estimated Power: 70


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 180


    Current Skills:


    Pounce


    Venomous Bite


    Current Attributes:


    Arachnid (Fundamental)


    Sharp Fangs


    Spider-Climb


    Sticky Web (Major)


    Potent Venom (Major)


    Giant-Sized


    Lady Isabella Core:


    Level: 30


    Estimated Power: 80


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 200


    Current Skills:


    Piercing Wail


    Haunting Wail


    Decaying Touch


    Induce Despair


    Current Attributes:


    Common Language Proficiency


    Intangible (Fundamental)


    Greater Levitation


    Humanoid


    New Attributes:


    Amphibious:


    Gives the creature the capability to swim and move on land, as well as breathe both water and air.


    Arachnid:


    Gives the creature eight legs and segments their body into a cephalothorax and an abdomen.


    Common Language Proficiency:


    Grants the ability to speak and understand the common language.


    Deep Speech Proficiency:


    Grants the ability to speak and understand Deep Speech.


    Giant-Sized:


    Increases the creature¡¯s size to a meter in length and half a meter in height. Non-functional on creatures larger than a meter in length and half a meter in height.


    Greater Levitation:


    Makes the creature capable of levitation and limited flight (no more than 10 meters above the ground). This costs .1 Stamina per second per kg of the creature¡¯s mass and propels the creature fast enough to move at 4 m/s.


    Intangible:


    Makes the creature intangible to opponents, decreasing any incoming physical damage to 10% but rendering the creature unable to deal physical damage. The creature may spend 10 Stamina per second to move through walls or other objects. Additionally, the creature becomes weightless.


    Levitating:


    Makes the creature capable of levitation and limited flight (no more than five meters above the ground). This costs .1 Stamina per second per kg of the creature¡¯s mass and propels the creature fast enough to move at 2 m/s.


    Potent Venom (Major):


    Increases the damage and duration of the creature¡¯s poison effects by 50%.


    Riding Mount (Clumsy):


    A creature with this Attribute is somewhat fit to be a mount for other creatures and will usually keep their rider on.


    Riding Proficiency (Clumsy):


    A creature with this Attribute is somewhat proficient in riding other creatures and will be able to stay on their mount provided the mount is cooperative.


    Slimy Skin:


    Coats the creature¡¯s skin in a wet layer that makes them harder to be grabbed.


    Spear User (Apprentice):


    Allows the creature to benefit from spears with requirements at or below the level of 30. Additionally, grants a fair amount of knowledge of spearplay, but any further potential learning is limited by the creature¡¯s intelligence.


    Spider-Climb:


    Allows the creature to walk on walls and ceilings.


    Staff User (Clumsy):


    Allows the creature to benefit from staves with requirements at or below the level of 10. Additionally, grants a fair amount of knowledge of spearplay, but any further potential learning is limited by the creature¡¯s intelligence.


    Sticky Web (Major):


    Allows the creature to spin a very sticky web using Stamina.


    Syndactyly:


    The creature¡¯s extremities become webbed, increasing their swimming ability.


    Undead:


    Makes the creature undead, turning most light-attribute healing into damage and most dark-attribute direct damage to healing.


    New Skills:


    Mounted Charge:


    Rarity: Common


    Type: Active (Mounted)


    Description:


    Spend 10 Stamina to charge forward 5 meters with your mount. If you hit an enemy with an attack during this charge, it deals 20% more damage.


    Nyoooooom


    Degraded:


    Mounted Rush:


    Rarity: Common


    Type: Active (Mounted)


    Description:


    Spend 10 Stamina to charge forward 5 meters with your mount.


    Nyoom.


    Summon Undead:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 50 Mana and cast for one second to call forth 1-5 skeletons or zombies (your choice) of a level that is 20% of your own. They come equipped with weapons and armor appropriate to their level.


    Reanimate!


    Degraded:


    Call Undead:


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 50 Mana and cast for one second to call forth 1-3 skeletons or zombies (type chosen at random) of a level that is 15% of your own. They come equipped with weapons and armor appropriate to their level.


    They¡¯re¡­not actually anyone¡¯s bodies or anything. If they were never living or dead to begin with, are they really undead?


    Shallow Spells:


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Provides access to basic water, earth, and mud magic.


    You¡¯ll be the terror of the kiddie-pool.


    Degraded:


    Shallower Spells:


    Rarity: Common


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Provides access to basic water and earth magic.


    You¡¯ll¡­decently frighten the other kids in the kiddie pool? You¡¯ll win the splash fights, at least.


    Call of the Shallows:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    While you are standing upright in water that is at least 10 cm deep, increase the stats of you and your subordinates by 10%.


    A must-have for any monster attacking a beach


    Degraded:


    Whisper of the Shallows:


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    While you are standing upright in water that is at least 20 cm deep, increase your stats by 10%.


    If you lean down and listen to the waves you can hear the ocean.


    Pounce:


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 20 Stamina to leap forward 5 meters and make an attack on an enemy. This attack deals 10% extra damage.


    Get ¡®em, get ¡®em!


    Degraded:


    Prepared Pounce


    Rarity: Common


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 20 Stamina and charge for 1 second to leap forward 5 meters and make an attack on an enemy. This attack deals 10% extra damage.


    You¡¯ll get ¡®em when you¡¯re ready.


    Venomous Bite:


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Passive (Bite)


    Description:


    Your bite attacks inflict Poison at the rate of 20%. This poison inflicts 20% of the damage of the main attack every 10 seconds for 5 minutes.


    It¡¯ll kill them. Eventually.


    Degraded:


    Venomous Nibble:


    Rarity: Common


    Type: Passive (Bite)


    Description:


    Your bite attacks inflict Poison at the rate of 10%. This poison inflicts 10% of the damage of the main attack every 10 seconds for 2.5 minutes.


    It¡­might kill them? Maybe?


    Decaying Touch:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 20 Mana and Stamina to imbue yourself with a decaying aura. The next time you touch an enemy, they take necrotic damage based off of your Magic. This is more effective the closer to vital locations you touch.


    Your enemies will actually be justified when they complain about you touching them.


    Degraded:


    Rotting Touch:


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 20 Mana and Stamina to imbue yourself with a decaying aura. The next time you touch an enemy, they take a little necrotic damage based off of your Magic. This is more effective the closer to vital locations you touch.


    It¡¯s more uncomfortable than truly damaging, but it¡¯ll add up.


    Haunt:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend Mana to move an object within 5 meters. The more Mana you spend, the faster the object is moved. The farther you are from the object and the heavier it is, the more Mana is necessary to move the object.


    No, I swear, the chair just moved on its own!


    Degraded:


    Minor Haunting


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend Mana to move an object within 5 meters. The more Mana you spend, the faster the object is moved. The farther you are from the object and the heavier it is, the more Mana is necessary to move the object. Objects have a speed cap of 5 m/s.


    Not enough to make anyone move out of a house, but enough to give them a spook.


    Piercing Wail:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 20 Mana and Stamina to let out a loud screech, dealing percussive damage based on your Magic to all enemies within 10 meters.


    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


    Degraded:


    Shrill Shriek:


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 20 Mana and Stamina to let out a loud screech, dealing minor percussive damage based on your Magic to all enemies within 5 meters.


    aaaaaaaaaaaa


    Haunting Wail:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your percussive attacks recur, dealing 25% of the damage again 5 seconds after the original hit.


    That attack won¡¯t be the last they hear from you.


    Degraded:


    Echoing Wail:


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your percussive attacks recur, dealing 10% of the damage again 5 seconds after the original hit.


    Echo!


    Induce Despair:


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 50 Mana and Stamina to coat yourself with despair. The next enemy you touch is frozen in despair for half a second, losing the ability to move and taking double damage from the attacks of you and your allies.


    Not a status that¡¯ll guarantee your enemy¡¯s death within a few seconds, but it¡¯s plenty to make them regret coming across you.


    Degraded:


    Induce Hopelessness:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active


    Description:


    Spend 50 Mana and Stamina to coat yourself with despair. The next enemy you touch is frozen in despair for a quarter of a second, losing the ability to move and taking 50% more damage from the attacks of you and your allies.


    Show them what crossing you means.


    Tess gained 1 new User Fundamental slot and put Greater Levitation in it:


    She had 9 unused Attribute slots and put the following in: Haunting Wail, Piercing Wail, Potent Venom (Major), Intangible, Spider-Climb, and Amphibious.


    She currently has in her core slots the Emperor Lion core, all the boss cores from before, and all the new ones except for Lady Isabella and Blacker Widow,. The rest of her cores were ejected, and the two missing boss cores were made into pets.


    Exact stats for Lady Isabella and Blacker Widow will be gone over in the story proper (Note - this has not happened as of the time of posting this chapter to SH. It''s coming, there just hasn''t been a great opportunity lol).


    Statuses:


    Burning deals fire damage over time and can be applied once for each major body part (torso, each arm, each leg, and head for a humanoid).


    Shock messes with the target¡¯s movement, causing it to become slow, jerky, and imprecise. Does not stack with itself, and the Shock with the longest duration is kept if there would be two simultaneous Shock effects.


    And, since it¡¯s not explicitly mentioned in-story (Some of you asked about this already, and I had happened to put this here anyway so...yeah. Really should have been in story proper, if I ever go back to do a thorough edit I''ll change that but for now this will do):


    Bleeding deals damage over time and can be applied as many times as wanted.


    Poison deals damage over time, and when a new poison is applied, half the duration and half the dps of the new poison are added to the existing poison. DPS is capped at 200% of the poison-applying attack that dealt the most damage, and there¡¯s no cap on duration.

 Chapter 25: Home Again

    Ellie shook her head, getting used to her surroundings as Gramps teleported them away from¡­wherever they had been. They were¡­in Gramps¡¯s office in the guild, it seemed, and The Rumors and Ilmir were already there, waiting.


    Ilmir rushed over to Gramps, giving him a hug. ¡°Thanks, Uncle Evan. You saved my life, again.¡±


    Gramps smiled, returning the hug and stroking her hair gently. ¡°No problem. Anyone else would have done the same in my situation.¡±


    ¡°Look, this is touching and all, but couldn¡¯t she just be revived?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Like, yeah it probably wouldn¡¯t have been fun, but no permanent harm would have been done, right?¡±


    Gramps shook his head. ¡°If someone is killed by a god, be it from a smiting, or while the god is in Descent, they can¡¯t be revived. The gods like people they kill to stay dead.¡±


    Ilmir let go of the hug and marched over to Tess, staring her dead in the eyes. ¡°For the record, I¡¯m still calling this my victory.¡± Ilmir said stubbornly. ¡°You only won because Fortune Descended. If she hadn¡¯t, you wouldn¡¯t have had a chance.¡±


    Ellie groaned internally. This was not something that she wanted to deal with right now, and she was sure Tess didn¡¯t either. She opened her mouth to speak, but Tess spoke first, and, a little bit to Ellie¡¯s surprise, was staring right back at Ilmir.


    ¡°Fortune says she wouldn¡¯t have Descended if you hadn¡¯t called her decisions into question. She says it¡¯s entirely your fault, and, as such, should be counted as my win.¡± Tess replied, then looked away. ¡°Um, for what it¡¯s worth, though, you did beat me before that. You would have won if you didn¡¯t open your mouth.¡±


    ¡°But she did.¡± Ellie argued. ¡°She wanted to prove that she was so much better than someone she both had a massive head start on and outleveled, and then crush that person¡¯s spirit when she won. It was karmic retribution, pure and simple. Her hotheadedness caused this, so she has to deal with the consequences.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know she was an Appointed!¡± Ilmir protested, ¡°I just knew she had Fortune¡¯s best blessing and that she wasn¡¯t an Appointed before!¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Not until the middle of the fight.¡±


    Eyfura placed a hand on Ilmir¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Give it up Ilmir, you lost. Were this a real battlefield, that would have got you killed. It almost got you killed and the only reason you weren¡¯t was because Evan and I stepped in to save your hide.¡± She said, ¡°This sort of thing is exactly why I tell you to think things through more. You know what you have to do.¡±


    ¡°But¡­!¡±


    ¡°No buts.¡± Eyfura said firmly. ¡°You. Lost. Call it unfair if you will, but I will also remind you that our bet wasn¡¯t even on if she could beat you, it was if she could give you a good fight or not. And, by my estimation, you would have lost if not for your own blessings and had a decent shot of losing anyway if Tess had chosen to drag it out more.¡±


    She shot Tess a look. ¡°We¡¯re going to review this battle, by the way. There are things I want to talk about with you.¡± She looked back to Ilmir. ¡°So, my point stands. Even if you want to claim you didn¡¯t lose the fight, I think we all agree that you lost the bet.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have that much trouble before the Descent!¡± Ilmir said indignantly, ¡°She got one solid hit on me, that was it! Ellie would have pushed me way farther!¡±


    ¡°One hit is all it takes. That hit forced you to burn through multiple blessings, or you would have been killed. Blessings which, now that I¡¯m thinking about it, Tess probably didn¡¯t know you had until now. That means she was at an information disadvantage too, and probably would have changed how she fought you had she known. And, by my estimation, you were running low on Stamina yourself after all that, don¡¯t give me the ¡°It didn¡¯t give me that much trouble¡± excuse. So, I¡¯m going to repeat myself one last time. Hold up your end of the bargain, or I¡¯ll be forced to give you a much more severe punishment.¡± Eyfura threatened.


    Ilmir grit her teeth. ¡°Fine.¡± She spat. She turned to Tess, gritting her teeth. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She said unconvincingly, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have doubted you.¡±


    Eyfura cleared her throat, giving Ilmir a meaningful look.


    ¡°I mean¡­sorry, really.¡± She said, much more sincerely this time, ¡°I was out of line. Um¡­¡± She hesitated, looking back to Eyfura.


    Eyfura didn¡¯t seem to hold any sympathy, though, giving Ilmir a hard look.


    Ilmir sighed. ¡°Because I lost the bet, I have to separate from Ellie and act purely as your support for a month. I¡¯ll do whatever you say while we¡¯re out, no questions asked.¡± She looked to Ellie, ¡°Is that fine with you?¡±


    Ellie frowned, but nodded. ¡°If I hear so much as a whisper of you being mean to her, though, I¡¯m going to lay the hurt on you myself. Honestly, though, I don¡¯t see why the two of us need to be separated like this. We should start training our teamwork, if you ask me.¡±


    ¡°In due time.¡± Ker replied smoothly. ¡°We really can¡¯t train the two of you at the same time in the same place due to your stat differences. Honestly, having Ilmir is pushing it, but I can let that slide for now because she¡¯s training herself in things not directly related to fighting monsters.¡±


    ¡°Eh, she can just be a tank and scout.¡± Eyfura said, ¡°She needs practice in those roles anyway.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll discuss this later.¡± Gramps said, causing Ellie to focus back in on the conversation, ¡°Tomorrow I¡¯m going to spend the day with Tess teaching her more about being an Appointed. For now, I need to get these two back to Mael to rest.¡± He paused, letting his gaze linger over The Rumors. ¡°I trust you three can keep the fact that Eyfura and I are Appointed secret? It¡¯s not the biggest secret in the world so it¡¯s nothing worth swearing an Oath over, but I¡¯ll be less than pleased if you let this slip.¡±


    Ker nodded smoothly. ¡°Of course. That goes without saying, Guildmaster.¡±


    Gramps smiled. ¡°Good. I¡¯ll see the lot of you around, then. Take care!¡± He gently grabbed Ellie and Tess¡¯s shoulders and steered them back towards his office. While he walked, he gave them some instruction. ¡°I have more work to do here,¡± he said, ¡°So I¡¯ll be at least another couple of hours. Ellie, you keep an eye on Tess and make sure she doesn¡¯t show any signs of injury or fatigue or anything. She shouldn¡¯t, but Amy said there¡¯s a slim possibility, so don¡¯t take any chances.


    ¡°If anything alarming happens, give me a call and I¡¯ll make my way back immediately. Tess, I need you to not act tough. If you feel anything out of the ordinary, you need to let us know immediately. Fortune, if you¡¯re listening right now, would you to hold her to that?¡±


    There was silence for a moment, then Tess shook her head. ¡°No response.¡±


    ¡°Must be too busy with Amy, then. That¡¯s fine, Fate will pass the message along for me. You two go catch up and rest.¡± He said, opening the door to their house.


    Ellie had already gone through and Tess was in the doorway when Gramps spoke up again. ¡°Tess?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to put the animal parts away.¡± He said, smirking. ¡°It¡¯s fine for short periods of time or if you¡¯re somewhere without windows or something, but we don¡¯t want anyone asking difficult questions.¡±


    Tess blushed, and her ears and tail vanished, much to Ellie¡¯s disappointment. ¡°Sorry, I forgot. I¡¯ve been keeping them on to help make my claws seem more natural, and to make my enhanced hearing feel less jarring to me.¡±


    Ah, that was why. It made¡­some sort of sense, but Ellie wasn¡¯t really worried about whether or not it was logical. She was more excited that she¡¯d get to see wolf-Tess on a regular basis.


    ¡°We¡¯ll stop by Rachel¡¯s tomorrow, then.¡± Gramps said, ¡°We can have her make some modifications to your clothes, so they swap between accommodating for a tail and looking like normal human clothes.¡±


    ¡°Oh, um, thanks. How does that¡­work?¡±


    Gramps waved his hand. ¡°Not sure exactly how it works, but Rachel¡¯s the best in the business and she¡¯s got magic for stuff like this. Transforming clothes is a fairly common request of high-end clothes shops, so don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Alright. See you¡­when you finish, then.¡± She said, stepping all the way through the door.


    ¡°Be back soon!¡± Gramps replied, shutting the door.


    Ellie tentatively reached out for Tess¡¯s hand. ¡°Um, you¡­won the bet.¡±


    Tess slipped her hand into Ellie¡¯s, giving a gentle squeeze. ¡°Honestly, it really doesn¡¯t feel like it to me, but I suppose I did.¡±


    ¡°So¡­are we gonna go official or¡­?¡± Ellie asked shyly.


    Tess nodded slowly. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Then, may I¡­¡± She didn¡¯t complete the sentence, but she was looking Tess in the eyes, and Tess seemed to get it, as she nodded. As Ellie leaned in, she was somewhat relieved to note that Tess was as red as Ellie felt she herself was, but that was only a fleeting thought, eclipsed by the sensation of their lips touching.


    It was more awkward than Ellie had expected; she had never kissed anyone before, and she really wasn¡¯t sure what to do. Tess had somewhat more experience and that helped things, but Ellie soon disengaged. ¡°Sorry.¡± She said, looking away. ¡°I don¡¯t really know how to do any of this.¡±


    Tess let out an embarrassed laugh. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I¡¯m not that much better. I¡¯ve only had a few others myself. We¡¯ll have time to figure it out, use the internet if we have to.¡±


    Ellie gave an embarrassed laugh of her own, and there was a silence for a few moments, broken when Tess spoke up.


    ¡°So¡­do we want to tell Gramps today? I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯ll be cool about it, but it¡¯s up to you.¡±


    Ellie froze. She had forgotten about that. It would be hard to keep from someone as observant as Gramps when they would all be living in the same house. She had been just letting it all be for years now, for fear of things changing forever, but¡­Tess was being brave about her own situation, so Ellie felt like she didn¡¯t really have a choice but to step up her game.


    ¡°Yeah. We might as well. I want to tell everyone at school when you come back, too, make sure everyone knows to keep their hands off.¡± She scratched her cheek awkwardly. ¡°I tried to do a bit of discrete digging, and it was getting me weird looks, so eventually I just asked grandpa, but, um, everyone knows you¡¯re a lesbian. Seems like they¡¯ve been given a memory of you coming out a few years ago.¡±


    Tess raised an eyebrow. ¡°Interesting. Wonder how he knew I would still be into girls; I hadn¡¯t even made sure myself by the time he sent people out.¡±


    ¡°Probably asked Fate or Fortune or some other god.¡± Ellie mused. ¡°But, um, speaking of gods¡­wow. I really wasn¡¯t prepared for a bomb like that. You seem to have taken it well, though. Did you know something beforehand?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Fortune let a couple things slip about having a boss, so I wasn¡¯t too surprised. That and I was kind of merged with Fortune at the time and that made it all feel more¡­normal? It was like¡­¡± She paused for a moment, then shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t really describe it, not properly. You have to experience it to really get it.¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Well, um¡­what do you want to do while we wait for Grandpa?¡±


    ¡°I have to unpack my stuff, for one.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Then I have a bit of homework I want to finish up.¡± She hesitated, appeared to rally, then continued. ¡°Um. I¡¯m¡­coming back to school in a couple of days, I think. I¡¯m going to talk about it with Gramps tomorrow, we¡¯ll see how it shakes out.¡±


    Ellie¡¯s eyes widened, and then she rushed in for a huge hug with Tess. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m super excited!¡± She exclaimed, ¡°You have no idea how much I¡¯ve wanted to go with you since you changed. If you ever have any issues or start feeling overwhelmed while we¡¯re there, come talk to me, okay? I¡¯ll be there for you.¡±


    Tess tightened her hug. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll do that.¡±


    Ellie let the hug linger, then froze as she caught sight of something dark on Tess¡¯s Gi. She squinted a bit, then spoke slowly. ¡°Tess, don¡¯t freak out, but there¡¯s a huge spider on your leg. Like¡­really big.¡±


    Tess laughed, extracting herself from the hug. ¡°That¡¯s just Silky.¡± She bent down and picked up the spider, bringing it up in an open palm. Now that Ellie could get a closer look, she saw that it was indeed much larger than most of the spiders she had seen, save for the tarantulas at the zoo. If she had to guess, she would say it was a few inches across, around the same diameter as a baseball. It had a sleek, glossy black carapace with a giant red hourglass on the abdomen.


    ¡°I wanted to surprise you, so I¡­did some practicing and pushed myself, and I¡­made a couple of pets.¡± Tess said, ¡°It was painful, and they didn¡¯t get much of a chance to do anything in the fight with Ilmir, but they¡¯ve been a great help in dungeons.¡±


    ¡°This here is Silky.¡± Tess said, and the spider raised a foreleg in what was clearly a salute. ¡°She¡¯s the boss of a dungeon full of giant spiders, a Blacker Widow. I took away the ¡®giant¡¯ part and now she¡¯s the size of a regular spider, but she keeps all the same stats. She¡¯s...more prone to crushing damage from big things now, but I¡¯m using her as a scout and sneak attacker, she¡¯s been doing a great job of it.¡±


    Ellie eyed Silky warily. She wasn¡¯t fond of spiders at the best of times, but there was something disarming about the way this spider acted. It didn¡¯t hold any of the¡­tenseness she saw in other spiders. Most spiders she saw she felt like would run away, hide, bite, or have some other fight-or-flight if approached, but Silky was perfectly relaxed. She didn¡¯t seem like she would even consider attacking Ellie, and that salute from before was another point in her favor.


    But that didn¡¯t mean Ellie was fully comfortable with her. She backed away, sitting down on the couch. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m going to need some time to get used to her.¡± She said, shaking her head. ¡°You know I don¡¯t like spiders.¡±


    Silky drooped somewhat, somehow managing to look¡­sad.


    ¡°Can she¡­understand us?¡± Ellie asked, curious despite herself.


    Tess nodded. ¡°I gave her an Attribute that gives her proficiency in the ¡°Common Language¡±, which, as it turns out, is English.¡±


    ¡°English is what?¡± Ellie replied, taken aback.


    ¡°Yeah, I ended up asking Fortune about it, and she said that they purposefully make it so that English becomes the dominant language on planes before introducing them to other planes. Said it makes things much less of a headache.¡±


    ¡°I¡­huh. I didn¡¯t even think about that before, since we have a portal here in the house and stepping into the Outlands is so easy, but it was kinda strange that everyone in a different dimension spoke English.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Glad they did, though. Would have been a huge pain to have to learn some other language just to communicate. Anyway, Silky here is going to stay around the house when we¡¯re not in the Outlands, I¡¯m planning to just leave her free to wander. She¡¯ll keep the pests down for us, and if she gets too hungry, she can just use the old cat flap and find something outside.¡±


    Ellie raised an eyebrow. ¡°She¡¯s not gonna get eaten by a bird, right?¡±


    Tess smirked. ¡°She may look like a slightly bigger than average spider but remember that she¡¯s a dungeon boss. She can take out relatively big things like goblins no problem. She¡¯s obviously not as strong here because of the mana density or whatever, but Fortune says she should be more than capable of dealing with whatever wildlife around here that would be interested in her.¡±


    Silky swelled with obvious pride, then turned around so she was facing Tess.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait a minute.¡± Tess said, ¡°I need to show you what room is mine and what room is Ellie¡¯s. You¡¯re not allowed in Ellie¡¯s room while she¡¯s here. No webs in there, either.¡±


    Silky gave another salute.


    ¡°How do you know what she¡¯s asking?¡± Ellie said curiously, ¡°Do you have some sort of mental link with her or something?¡±


    Tess placed Silky back on her leg, and Silky scuttled to Tess¡¯s back, outside of Ellie¡¯s sight. ¡°Nothing quite like that, I just get a feeling.¡± Tess replied. ¡°It¡¯s a weird sort of¡­gut understanding of what she¡¯s asking. Not terribly specific or anything, just enough to get the gist of what it is. Supposedly the more intelligent the creature is and the longer they¡¯ve been my pet the stronger and more specific that feeling is, but I haven¡¯t done much testing yet.¡±


    ¡°Right, um, anyway, I... think I would prefer if Silky stays out of my room altogether, though. It just¡­I don¡¯t know, feels weird knowing that such a huge spider is just chilling there while I¡¯m away.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°That¡¯s fine, I just thought it would help keep your room clean of bugs. She won¡¯t go in if you don¡¯t want her to.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Ellie replied, relieved.


    ¡°Alright, uh, might as well introduce you to Isabella too, while we¡¯re doing this.¡±


    ¡°Isabella? Is she that ghost thing that came out of you right after Fortune Descended?¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Isabella, it¡¯s fine to come out now.¡±


    Far from the vengeful spirit she had seen in the fight, a transparent child in a fancy-looking black dress stepped out from inside of Tess, giving a curtsey. ¡°Hello.¡± She intoned, ¡°I am Isabella. Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the boss of another dungeon I went to, Lady Isabella. Fair warning, she can talk, but she¡¯s not much smarter than a little kid right now. Well, actually, Silky is about that smart too, but it seems different because Silky is way smarter than your normal spider so¡­yeah. Once I¡¯m stronger and have made these two more powerful, they¡¯ll get as smart as full-grown adults.¡±


    Isabella nodded slowly. ¡°That is correct.¡± She said flatly.


    ¡°She¡¯s support for me.¡± Tess continued, ¡°She mostly just sort of haunts me and uses her abilities from inside me, though she does occasionally come out when she has to touch an enemy for her abilities.¡±


    Isabella gave another curtsey and stepped back into Tess, vanishing completely from view. ¡°Right, so, those are my pets¡­¡± She paused, frowning. ¡°No, let¡¯s call them¡­minions for now, I guess. Probably isn¡¯t the most accurate term and would get weird when they got smarter later on. Though, I guess pets can be plenty smart? Whatever, it¡¯s not important, I¡¯m gonna show Silky which room is yours so she¡¯ll know to stay out of it, and then I¡¯m going to go unpack.¡±


    Tess did a small stretch, then started up the stairs.


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait in your room to help you out.¡± Ellie volunteered. ¡°Do you want to pass me the bag or would you rather keep that on you¡±


    Tess reached for the bag, undoing the strap that kept it on her waist, then tossed it to Ellie. ¡°Go ahead, just start with the clothes for now, since those are all coming back here.¡±


    Tess paused. ¡°Well, I might keep a couple of sets in there, I¡¯ll decide later. Just take it all out for now.¡±


    ¡°Got it!¡± Ellie replied, taking it up to Tess¡¯s room and beginning to take out the clothes. It had been a crazy day and it was only barely past four in the afternoon, but she was content. Tess was back, they were going out, and that was all she could really ask for right now.


    Fighterman481


    I''m kind of torn about showing some things related to pets on-camera. Because, on the one hand, Tess got a few ''new concept'' windows that explain things and I probably should have put that in the document that listed all the new stuff she got but I...um, completely forgot.


    I''ll figure something out about it, but we''ll see how it ends up being I guess.


    I also struggled a bit with what Ilmir would have "bet" and this seemed a fitting thing - she lost, so she has to listen to Tess for a bit.


    There''s probably something else I wanted to say but I can''t think of it right now, so next time we''ll be seeing Ellie coming out to Gramps, and maybe a bit of Gramps teaching Tess about being an Appointed, depending on how long everything else takes, so...look forward to it, I guess.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 26: Coming Out

    Tess flopped onto her bed after she finished unpacking, letting out a sigh of contentment. ¡°The hoverer and the hotels were nice and all, but it really just feels good to be back home.¡± She noted idly, looking over at Ellie. ¡°Thanks for helping me unpack, I appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Ellie replied. She opened her mouth to continue, then started. ¡°Wait right there, I¡¯ll be back in a second.¡± She said, dashing out of the room. A couple of minutes later she returned, hands held suspiciously behind her back. ¡°So, um, today¡¯s been kind of nuts, and I don¡¯t know if you remembered or not, but¡­it¡¯s your birthday.¡±


    Tess blinked. She had forgotten, at least partially. There had been just too much going on to really sit down and process it, but she was 18 now, and that was a bit of a strange feeling for her. It was like a milestone in her life had passed and she had just sort of¡­missed it, at least partially.


    While she was thinking about that, Ellie continued what she was saying. ¡°I¡­um, I got you a present.¡± She said shyly, bringing out a small, wrapped box from behind her. She handed it to Tess, blushing.


    Tess tore off the wrapping paper, opening the box to find¡­a core. A decently big one, too.


    ¡°It¡¯s from a monster called the Blightbringer.¡± Ellie continued, growing ever redder. ¡°I did some searching and found a core I thought would suit what you had going for you given what you told me about what Skills you got. It¡¯s a boss of a decently high level dungeon and I think it¡¯ll help you out.¡±


    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t even know what to say.¡± Tess replied, ¡°That¡¯s¡­really thoughtful of you.¡± She grabbed the core in a fist, absorbing it.


    You have absorbed a Blightbringer Core!


    Slots filled: 9/25


    You have gained 1,380 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    Monster Breeder has leveled up!


    New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    New Skill detected!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Blighted Air¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Miasma!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Blightbringer¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Blight¡¯s Harbinger!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Contamination Factory¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Mass-Produced Contamination!


    Miasma:


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    You emit a foul air in an area 25 meters in radius centered on you. Every second, all other breathing creatures within this area have a 5% chance to be inflicted with Poison, dealing 5% of the user¡¯s max HP as damage every thirty seconds for five minutes. This poison¡¯s expiration timer does not start until after the target leaves the miasma.


    Herbs in a mask won¡¯t help.


    Blight¡¯s Harbinger:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Any Poison effects you inflict have a 50% chance to become Blight instead. Blight effects deal double the damage of the original Poison effect and deal the damage twice as often, but last half as long. Blight is treated as Poison with two exceptions: a target may have both Poison and Blight at the same time, and when Blight is cured by any means except the expiration of the effect, it is instead downgraded to Poison.


    A taste of the suffering to come.


    Mass-Produced Contamination:


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Any Poison effects you inflict have a 25% chance to recur after expiring. This recurrent Poison lasts for half the length of the original and deals half the damage.  A Poison inflicted by this recurrence may recur again, cutting length and damage in half again. Further recursion is possible and has no effect on the damage or duration of the Poison.


    If you act now, we¡¯ll make this Poison an inflict-one-get-one-free deal!


    Displaying core information:


    Blightbringer Core:


    Level 62


    Estimated Power: 773


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 1,500


    Current Skills:


    Blighted Air


    Blightbringer


    Contamination Factory


    Current Attributes:


    Blighted Body


    Firmly Rooted


    Living Structure


    Immobile


    Metal Shell


    Structural (Fundamental)


    New Attributes Discovered!


    Blighted Body:


    The creature¡¯s body becomes a host for Blight, granting immunity to all Poison effects and causing any who attack it from within 2 meters to have a 10% chance to receive a Blight, dealing 25% of the damage inflicted by the original wound every two and a half seconds for two and a half minutes.


    Firmly Rooted:


    The creature becomes firmly rooted when placed on ground, causing it to be unable to move from that spot without spending 25 Stamina, but granting immunity to any effects that cause knockback and significantly increasing the strength needed to pick up and move the creature.


    Living Structure:


    If the creature is a structure, it does not receive any immunities to conditions normally granted by being a structure. Outwardly the structure¡¯s makeup appears unchanged, but damage will reveal layers of flesh, blood, and bone beneath the exterior. This Attribute does nothing to creatures that are not structures. If placed on a creature that is a structure, this Attribute removes power instead of adding it for the purpose of power limitations on a core.


    Immobile:


    The creature becomes unable to move under its own power. This Attribute removes power instead of adding it for the purpose of power limitations on a core.


    Metal Shell:


    The creature becomes coated in a thick layer of metal, cutting its Agility in half but increasing its Defense and Magic Defense by 50%.


    Structural:


    The creature becomes a structure, decreasing its Agility by 90%, removing all biological needs, and granting immunity to conditions such as Heavy Bleeding or Poisoned that only affect living targets.


    New Skills discovered!


    Blighted Air:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    You emit a foul air in an area 50 meters in radius centered on you. Every second, all other breathing creatures within this area have a 10% chance to be inflicted with Poison, dealing 10% of the user¡¯s max HP as damage every thirty seconds for five minutes. This poison¡¯s expiration timer does not start until after the target leaves the miasma.


    You¡¯re a walking plague.


    Blightbringer:


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Any Poison effects you inflict have a 100% chance to become Blight instead. Blight effects deal double the damage of the original Poison effect and deal the damage twice as often, but last half as long. Blight is treated as Poison with two exceptions: a target may have both Poison and Blight at the same time, and when Blight is cured by any means except the expiration of the effect, it is instead downgraded to Poison.


    The first seal has been broken, and Pestilence unleashed.


    Contamination Factory:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Any Poison effects you inflict have a 50% chance to recur after expiring. This recurrent Poison lasts for three-quarters the length of the original and deals three-quarters the damage.  A Poison inflicted by this recurrence may recur again, cutting length and damage by three-quarters again. Further recursion is possible and has no effect on the damage or duration of the Poison.


    It¡¯s never truly over.


    Tess quickly got to work rearranging her Attributes. Blightbringer wasn¡¯t important when Blight¡¯s Harbinger was just as good for her purposes, so she made a mental note to put it on Silky whenever she next upgraded her. The other Skills were excellent, and none of the Attributes but Blighted Body interested her in the slightest, she just had to make room for three more in her slots.


    She had an unused one from leveling up, so that just left two. She wasn¡¯t using Facultative Biped, and Haunt wasn¡¯t really important when Isabella also had it and was generally inside of Tess at any given time, so that wasn¡¯t really a priority. Actually, while she was thinking about things she had gotten from ghosts, she had Greater Levitation in a User Fundamental slot, and she didn¡¯t really need the extra benefits that gave, so Blighted Body would probably be a better pick.


    So, she started the process of moving those around and began to speak with Ellie while she waited. ¡°They¡¯re perfect¡± Tess said, ¡°Really, thanks a bunch!¡±


    Ellie smiled. ¡°You¡¯re welcome! Um¡­do you smell something?¡±


    ¡°No, what are¡­oh, that¡¯s probably me. One of my new Skills makes me give off this miasma stuff. Let me turn it off¡­¡± She did so, and Ellie breathed a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Thanks. It honestly wasn¡¯t that bad, but over time I think it would have gotten on my nerves, you know?¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, I know what you mean. We¡¯ll have to ask Gramps if there¡¯s some sort of smell filter device we can get for the people around me for while we¡¯re in dungeons, since I think this will be super helpful in dungeons and stuff.¡±


    ¡°So¡­what exactly does it do? And what else did you get?¡±


    Tess explained, pausing only briefly to move the Attributes and Skills into place once she had put the old ones away.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m relieved.¡± Ellie said after Tess had finished, ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if the Skills that the info listed for this thing would be the same as what you got, but it looks like they were.¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°Again, thanks. I really wasn¡¯t expecting something like this, it must have been expensive.¡±


    Ellie threw an arm around Tess. ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. I got it at a discount from the guild, Grandpa says our party will more than make up for that money with just a small amount of work once we¡¯re higher level. Said he plans to give us discounts whenever we want to buy cores, so long as we don¡¯t buy too much.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll need to if it¡¯s something we¡¯re able to fight.¡± Tess said, laying her head on Ellie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ve already got way more cores than I could possibly use.¡±


    Ellie stiffened, causing Tess to remove her head. ¡°Was that too soon?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Ellie said hurriedly. ¡°No. I just wasn¡¯t expecting it, I was happy, really.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Tess replied, once again resting her head on Ellie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Well, um¡­just let me know if you get uncomfortable, okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie said, pulling Tess in closer, ¡°Will do.¡±


    ¡°So, you wanted to talk to me?¡± Gramps asked, giving Ellie and Tess a look.


    Ellie took a deep breath, then paused, apparently having seconds thoughts. Tess gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and she seemed to take heart in that, continuing on.


    ¡°Um, Grandpa, I¡­I¡¯m a lesbian.¡±


    Gramps smiled. ¡°I¡¯m very proud of you for coming out.¡± He said, glancing at Ellie and Tess¡¯s connected hands, ¡°Anything else?¡±


    Ellie blinked. ¡°Is¡­that it?¡± She asked, clearly taken aback.


    Gramps scratched his neck, embarrassed. ¡°I might have already known. Or, at the least very strongly suspected. I had an inkling of it before Tess transformed, but after that I was almost completely assured. Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t think any less of you for it or anything. It¡¯s a natural thing you don¡¯t have any choice over and I don¡¯t see a reason why it should affect what I think of you at all.¡±


    ¡°O-oh.¡± Ellie said, ¡°I feel a little silly now. Um¡­Tess and I are going out, now, so that was the other thing we were going to talk about.¡±


    Tess nodded in agreement, carefully observing Gramps¡¯s reaction. He had been teasing them about this for a while now, so she was curious to see how he would respond.


    Gramps just gave a simple nod in response. ¡°I see. Well, I wish you two the best of luck, then. I think you two go great together, and you¡¯re both adults so I¡¯m not going to set any curfews or rules or anything, just try not to get wild somewhere I can hear, alright?¡± He said, smirking.


    ¡°Grandpa!¡± Ellie replied, blushing furiously. Tess could feel her cheeks warming too, but Gramps just laughed.


    ¡°I¡¯m just messing with you two. Now, what say you we go have some dinner? I think it¡¯s time we properly celebrated Tess¡¯s birthday, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Is it alright if we go out somewhere?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I¡­I think I¡¯m ready to go back to school, so maybe eating out a restaurant would be okay?¡±


    Gramps smiled. ¡°Of course. If that¡¯s what you want, I can have you back in by the start of next week, does that sound good?¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, that works.¡±


    ¡°Good. We shouldn¡¯t have an issue going out in that case, where¡¯d you like to go?¡±


    Tess thought about that for a second. ¡°How about a diner?¡± She said, ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve been to one.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing!¡± Gramps replied jovially. ¡°Go change out of your armor, we¡¯ll head out as soon as everyone¡¯s ready.¡±


    Tess looked down, realizing that she was still wearing her gi. ¡°Oh, right. Forgot.¡±


    She left, heading back to her room to change into some other clothes. After that she went back downstairs, and they all loaded up into the car, where they began the ten or so minute drive into town.


    ¡°So,¡± Gramps asked, ¡°What made you decide to go back to school so soon? I was ready to wait another month or so before starting to ask you about it.¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°I just sorta realized while I was out that there wasn¡¯t a point delaying it any further. I¡¯m fine talking to people I don¡¯t know, so talking to people I do shouldn¡¯t be a big issue.¡±


    Gramps nodded. ¡°Well, I think you¡¯re going to do just fine.¡± He said, ¡°No one should really see anything odd about you, so there shouldn¡¯t be any issues whatsoever.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said, and the conversation shifted away from the subject. Gramps asked about what the trip was like, and Tess told them some stories to pass the time.


    ¡°So, how was¡­you know, your period?¡± Ellie asked, ¡°You didn¡¯t mention it at all, but I figured you just didn¡¯t want to talk about it. Was it as bad as you were worrying it would be?¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°It never came, actually. Perhaps I¡¯m not once a month like most girls?¡±


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t have one when you were out, it¡¯s more likely you don¡¯t have one at all.¡± Gramps said. ¡°There are a couple of humanoid races that don¡¯t menstruate, and most that aren¡¯t humanoid don¡¯t either, so it would be a bit of an odd thing to make the Class do. You¡¯ll have to ask Fortune about it when she finishes what she¡¯s doing with Amy, she apparently designed the physical changes so she would know.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll do that.¡± Tess agreed. ¡°It¡¯ll be nice to be a little surer about it, at least.¡±


    ¡°I kind of want to grill her myself.¡± Ellie said, ¡°I have a few questions on why some things are the way they are, and we didn¡¯t really have time to talk earlier.¡±


    ¡°Alright, you can be there too.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know when she becomes available.¡±


    They conversed for a little while longer before pulling up into the restaurant. It was a Wednesday night, so it wasn¡¯t all too crowded, and they were seated pretty quickly. They weren¡¯t allowed to talk about things having to do with the Outlands while they were out like this, so the conversation ended up being pretty mundane.


    After they ate, they drove back to the house, and Gramps came out with cake and presents. The presents were much of the same stuff Tess used to get ¨C books, games, that sort of thing. Cake was, thankfully, free of relighting candles this year, and before Tess even knew it it was time for bed.


    Tomorrow she would go and learn more about her duties as an Appointed, but today¡­today she was content to just go to sleep relaxed, happy to once again be at home.


    Fighterman481


    And I don''t think it should be too surprising that Gramps knew about Ellie for a while now; everyone else knew and Gramps is a perceptive guy.


    Uh...don''t really have much else to say, though, so next time we really have Gramps and Tess''s outing, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!


    Oh yeah, and I was going to post Tess''s full status (As stored in my reference document) last chapter and forgot, so here those are. This doesn''t include changes made in this chapter, but I''m short on time ATM so just remember the changes made in this chapter have been applied lol.


    Tess Los


    Level: 31 (0/34,000 EXP)


    HP: 700


    10/10/10/10/20


    MP: 700


    10/10/10/10/20


    Stamina: 700


    10/10/10/10/20


    Power: 70


    1/1/1/1/2


    Defense: 70


    1/1/1/1/2


    Magic: 70


    1/1/1/1/2


    Magic Defense: 70


    1/1/1/1/2


    Agility: 70


    1/1/1/1/2


    Luck: 0


    0/0/0/0/0


    Classes:


    Monster Breeder (Level 25)


    Skills:


    All Magic (Base & Combined)


    Bloodletter¡¯s Strike (Mythical)


    Blood Magic


    Bloodwork


    Botulin


    Burning Blood


    Consecutive Normal Punches


    Core Surgery


    Create Monster


    Decisive Strike


    Encode Ability


    Envenom (Mythical)


    Elemental Fists


    Fast-Acting Poison


    Fist of the Rainbow


    The Fifth Gate


    Flashstep


    Force Amplification


    Goblin Verse


    Heir¡¯s Will


    Igniting Strike


    Inspiring Word


    Is That Supposed to Be Able to Bleed?


    Kobold Verse


    Mana Minder (Mythical)


    Opulent Ordinance


    Parasitizer


    Physical Nullification (Miniscule)


    Poisoned Blood


    Precision Surgery


    Pressure Puncher


    Regenerated Regen (Mythical)


    Resistance (All)


    Return to Sender (Mythical)


    Rivers Running Red


    Sibling¡¯s Strength


    Slowing Strike (Mythical)


    Status Application Boost


    Status Damage Boost


    Status Duration Boost


    Status Tennis (Epic)


    Stunning Blow (Legendary)


    Sympathetic Binding


    Target of Affection


    This Is Fine


    Unarmed Efficiency (Mythical)


    Underdog (Legendary)


    Unyielding Hide


    Water Fist


    Wildfire


    Writ of Execution


    You are Already Dead


    Attributes:


    Amphibious


    Blood Sport


    Call of the Shallows


    Command of the Emperor


    Darkvision (Perfect)


    Decaying Touch


    Emperor¡¯s Armaments


    Enhanced Hearing (Perfect)


    Extendable Claws (Major)


    Facultative Biped (Greater)


    Greater Levitation


    Haunt


    Haunting Wail


    Impenetrable Pelt


    Intangible


    Keen Nose (Greater)


    Kemonomimi (Wolf)


    Mother¡¯s Might


    Part of the Pack (Inferior)


    Physical Nullification (Miniscule)


    Piercing Wail


    Pollice Verso


    Potent Venom (Major)


    Rallying Cry


    Saber Fangs (Perfect)


    Spider-Climb


    Fundamental Attributes:


    Greater Levitation (User Fundamental)


    Saber Claws (User Fundamental)


    Titles:


    Fortune¡¯s Favored


    Metal Detector


    Various others as Fortune figures out what exactly she wants in her strongest blessing and takes things away, giving them back as separated blessings.

 Chapter 27: Safe House

    The next morning, Tess was woken up early by Gramps. ¡°Breakfast is on the table.¡± He said, ¡°We¡¯ve got a long day ahead of us, so make sure to eat your fill.¡±


    Tess yawned, opening her eyes and checking her clock. It was five in the morning, much earlier than she had been expecting. ¡°Why are we up so early?¡± She asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.


    ¡°We have preparation to do.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Go ahead and get changed. Don¡¯t worry about your armor right now, just get into casual clothes and keep the armor in your bag. I¡¯m hoping to be out of the house in twenty minutes, so don¡¯t take too long.¡± He left the room, shutting the door behind him.


    Tess blearily got out of bed, changing into some day clothes and stumbling her way downstairs to the kitchen. There was indeed breakfast waiting there, which she ate while slowly waking up. And, in another ten or so minutes, she was heading through the door to the Outlands with Gramps.


    But, contrary to her expectations, when they entered Gramps¡¯s office, they didn¡¯t go to leave through the exit to the guild. Instead, Gramps rummaged through his drawers, eventually pulling out a bag that was near identical to the one Tess carried, save for looking like it had been used quite a bit more.


    From in there he pulled out a chalk-like substance, then moved to a larger open area to the side of the room, where he began to draw what could only be a magic circle. The runes contained therein were dizzyingly complex to Tess, rivaling even those that had appeared when herself and Fortune had been casting Fimbulvetr in their duel with Ilmir.


    And then he began to pour magic into the circle and even more symbols appeared in the air, a certain tenseness building up as the magic reached its peak¡­and then coalesced into a visible portal, through which she could see¡­a lodge, of sorts. The walls seemed to be made of sturdy wood logs decorated with various heads of which Tess could only identify a few. There were furs lining the floor, and several chairs centered around a fireplace, and what she could see of the room gave off a generally rustic feeling.


    ¡°Hop on in.¡± Gramps said, motioning through the portal, ¡°I¡¯ll explain in a bit.¡±


    Tess made her way through the portal, which was¡­honestly about as smooth as going through the door between Gramps¡¯s office and their house. No sense of disorientation or anything, she was just suddenly in another place.


    What was different, though, was the temperature and feeling of the air. It was cold, a biting cold that immediately made her wish she was wearing something warmer. The cause was clear enough; outside the window she could see a howling blizzard, blowing furiously enough that she couldn¡¯t even make out the surrounding area, or even the ground right below the window.


    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± Gramps said, stepping through the portal and rushing over to the fireplace. ¡°We made this in about as inhospitable a place as we could find.¡± He said, kneeling down and placing his hand in front of the fireplace. A roaring flame sprung into life within, dispelling the cold she had been feeling and bringing the room up to room temperature within an instant.


    ¡°We can¡¯t keep this going all the time because it¡¯s a waste of resources, so it gets really cold in here before it¡¯s lit.¡± He explained. He stood up, dusting himself off and walking back over to where the portal was still sitting. ¡°Give me another minute to rework the spell and then I¡¯ll explain, alright? Just take a seat for now.¡±


    He took out the chalk-like stuff and made a few modifications to the circle that Tess was now noticing was around this side of the portal as well. The portal blinked out of existence and the circle around where it used to be began to glow. Gramps walked back to the area around the fireplace and sat down in a chair next to Tess¡¯s.


    ¡°So, I might have not been telling the whole truth yesterday.¡± He began, ¡°You are here to learn more about being an Appointed, yes, but it¡¯s not going to be just you and me or anything.¡±


    As if on cue, the portal flared into life once more and Eyfura stepped through, the portal closing once she had. ¡°Hello!¡± She said cheerfully, walking over and sitting down in another once of the chairs. ¡°Did I miss anything important?¡±


    Gramps shook his head. ¡°Nope. I was just about to tell her about the meeting.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Carry on, then.¡±


    ¡°Right, so, today we¡¯re going to be having a meeting of sorts. A fair portion of us Appointed keep in contact and when something important happens, like¡­there being a new Appointed, we like to call everyone together and make sure everyone¡¯s up to speed. When it¡¯s something like a war or huge conflict, we decide on a course of action.¡± Gramps explained. ¡°Today I¡¯ve called the meeting to introduce you to everyone.¡±


    Eyfura nodded. ¡°Here¡¯s something the public doesn¡¯t know,¡± She said, ¡°All of the members of your Gramps and I¡¯s party are Appointed. It¡¯s how we met each other in the first place. We had been working together on other business for the gods and chose to team up permanently, start being more proactive in making things go the proper way.


    ¡°That way being keeping the Outlands neutral, of course.¡± She continued, ¡°It¡¯s important as the only easy way of accessing any given plane, so it wouldn¡¯t do to have any one plane achieve a monopoly. We made sure that wouldn¡¯t happen. There were a few bloody fights when the other planes started to realize what we were doing, but we had gathered a group of the strongest freelancers and between them and the rest of the Appointed, it was enough to make them all get the picture.¡±


    Tess gave Gramps a careful look. ¡°Does¡­that mean you¡¯ve killed other people?¡± She asked. She knew it must be true, but it seemed so at odds with everything about Gramps that she couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    He sighed sadly, face somber. ¡°Hundreds, unfortunately. I did my best to resurrect people when I could, but I was in the middle of Descent for much of the conflict and¡­well, let¡¯s just say that siege mages can do a lot of damage, especially when augmented by a god.¡±


    He gave her a sad look. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that chances are good you¡¯ll have to kill other people yourself. Being an Appointed isn¡¯t always a peaceful job, even if there isn¡¯t a war going on. Sometimes the gods need you to deal with people, and those people often don¡¯t come quietly.¡±


    There was a silence as Tess sat there, digesting that. She was about to speak when the portal opened again, two people stepping through it.


    One was a tall¡­she couldn¡¯t really tell, honestly. He was huge, most of his body covered in rusty-green scales that looked tougher than armor plating. He wore only a pair of shorts, allowing her to see that the scales started to become thinner as they went towards his bottom, though they seemed to thicken back up again at the legs. His neck was also covered in the scales, which led up the head and around most of it save for the face, giving him the appearance of wearing a helmet. He was smiling, showing a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, though it, oddly enough, didn¡¯t seem threatening at all.


    The figure beside him was much less imposing. She was human and Tess guessed she was of average height. She had very short black hair and was dressed in a simple white tunic. The only thing about her that really stood out about her were her eyes. There was a certain¡­sharpness to them that Tess couldn¡¯t quite place, a feeling that they were able to see right through Tess and that their owner already knew everything there was to know about Tess.


    ¡°Ah, perfect timing.¡± Gramps said, standing up and grabbing Tess¡¯s hand, having her stand up as well. ¡°Tess, these fine people are Ava and Atum, the other two members of my party. Ava, Atum, this is Tess, my granddaughter.¡±


    Ava looked Tess over. ¡°Transformee?¡± She asked, smiling slightly.


    Gramps nodded. ¡°Yup. She was Thomas before, but she got a Class from that Challenge Crystal in Slime Tower, and this is what she ended up like.¡±


    Ava arched a brow. ¡°I see. Well, nice to see you again, though from the looks of it, it seems you don¡¯t recognize me.¡± She patted Atum¡¯s arm softly, ¡°And I highly doubt you¡¯d recognize Atum here.¡±


    Atum nodded. ¡°The scales kind of dominate all my other features, don¡¯t you think?¡± He said. She had half expected him to have a gravelly voice, but it was smooth, almost comforting. ¡°We met once before at the funeral for Evan¡¯s kids, though I seem to recall you being a bit¡­different then.¡± He gave her a wink, walking forward and proffering a hand.


    Tess reached out and shook. While the handshake was firm, it was clear that he was paying careful attention to how much strength he was using so as not to injure her. Once the handshake was over, he gave her a couple pats on the back. ¡°Before you ask, I¡¯m sarcosuchuskin, an evolved form of crocodilekin. No, shirts don¡¯t really work out, even the tough ones tend to get shredded to pieces by the back scales. Yes, it gets cold, I have a magic item that keeps me warm.¡±


    He laughed, giving her another wink. ¡°Nice to finally get to really meet you. Ava and I have been dying to see how you and Ellie have turned out, mind spilling the beans? Evan¡¯s been a bit stingy about information on your kits aside from the basics.¡±


    Ava walked over, gently pulling Atum away. ¡°Dear, I think you should wait until at least after the meeting before prying into her abilities.¡± She turned back to Tess, placing a hand on Tess¡¯s arm. ¡°Sorry about him, he gets excited about stuff like this. Though,¡± she said, cracking a smile, ¡°I must admit I do as well. I¡¯m just less forward with it. That being said, given your presence here and what Heroes has been telling me, I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re Fortune¡¯s Appointed?¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°As of yesterday, yeah.¡±


    Ava gave her another smile. ¡°Seems Fortune¡¯s been aiming for that for a while, though.¡± She said. ¡°Heroes has been talking my ear off about you for the past month.¡±


    ¡°War too.¡± Atum added. ¡°She got real excited about something to do with monsters and optimized Skills? I¡¯m a bit fuzzy on the details of the monster thing, but she¡¯s been talking theoretical best combinations of Skills with me for a while.¡±


    ¡°Right, well, thanks for coming early you three,¡± Gramps said, ¡°We can discuss this after the meeting, but for now we need to get everything set up.¡±


    Eyfura stood up, stretching. ¡°Yeah, you have a point. Atum, want to help me grab the table?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Atum responded. ¡°Do the rest of you want to get the chairs?¡±


    ¡°Sounds reasonable to me.¡± Ava said, ¡°Follow me, Tess, I¡¯ll show you where everything is.¡±


    Gramps nodded, giving her a gentle push towards Ava. ¡°I have other things to get ready, just follow Ava¡¯s directions for now.¡±


    Ava led Tess to another room, where she opened up a closet. Inside were a bunch of wooden folding chairs, and Ava grabbed a couple, handed them to Tess, then grabbed two under each arm for herself. ¡°So, um¡­how have you been holding up?¡± She asked, moving towards another room that Tess hadn¡¯t yet been in. ¡°I¡¯m guessing things have been kinda turbulent for you this past month.¡±


    ¡°Fine, I guess.¡± Tess replied, ¡°I¡¯m mostly used to everything by now. If you don¡¯t mind my asking, what roles do you and Atum fulfil in your party? I¡¯ve heard a lot of people saying you guys were the best that¡¯s ever been but not a lot of concrete details.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a generalist. That usually ended up meaning I was our scout or, if Evan was busy, a backup healer or mage. Atum was our dedicated tank, and a good one at that; the rest of us hardly ever took any heat from monsters. But that was a long time ago, as far as the public¡¯s concerned we¡¯re retired now. We¡¯re just living in the city, enjoying a quiet family life with our kids and grandkids.¡±


    They were in the other room now, a long, thin one. There was a fireplace and the walls were filled with mysterious heads of what Tess could only assume were monsters, but other than that the room was empty. Ava placed the chairs down and unfolded them, motioning for Tess to do the same.


    ¡°But really we¡¯re not all that retired. The public also knows that if anyone wants to poke the bear that is the city, they¡¯re going to have to tangle with some of the most powerful people out there. No one has in a while, but it can¡¯t hurt to stay vigilant.¡±


    She gave Tess a wink. ¡°Of course, besides our role as deterrent, we¡¯re doing Appointed things on the side, as well as making sure our family knows how to defend themselves. It¡¯s a fulfilling life, all things considered.¡±


    Having finished opening those chairs, the two returned to the closet in the other room to grab the rest. By the time they were back in the room they were putting the chairs, Gramps was placing what looked to be wood in the fireplace and Eyfura and Atum were busy opening what looked to be a fairly large wooden table.


    ¡°Why not just keep the table set up?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Seems like a lot of hassle to go through this every time you have a meeting.¡±


    ¡°This room is used for other things too.¡± Atum grunted. ¡°We can¡¯t have the table getting in the way of other things if someone else needs to use this place. We only have a meeting once or twice a year, though, so it¡¯s not generally a problem.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°What exactly is this place? I¡¯ve gathered that you all built this, but if it¡¯s not just for private meetings, what is it?¡±


    There was a whoosh as the wood in the fireplace was lit and Gramps stood up. ¡°General-purpose Appointed safehouse.¡± He said. ¡°If you¡¯re in trouble and have the time to make the proper circle you can pop in here and wait things out. We also use it to temporarily store stuff we might not want the public to see, or even to keep prisoners while the gods decide what to do with them, should it come to that.


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you how to get here and how to run the place after we finish with the meeting.¡± He continued, ¡°The warping process requires a tiny amount of Worship as a sort of validation, so generally only Appointed can get in here, though theoretically anyone that knows how to draw the circle and has a god put Worship in it could get here that way. And we¡¯re deep in the ¡®unexplored¡¯ regions of the Outlands, up a high mountain cloaked in an eternal blizzard that¡¯s also swarming with tough monsters. It¡¯s about as safe as a location can be, provided you don¡¯t go too far away.¡±


    Eyfura and Atum finished putting the table up and everyone began to arrange the chairs around it. Soon everything was set up, and Gramps motioned for them to follow him back into the room they had first warped into. ¡°Looks like we have a little extra time before people start showing up.¡± He said, ¡°Thanks for helping out, the work would have gone much slower with just the two of us.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even mention it.¡± Atum said, waving a hand dismissively. ¡°But, if we¡¯ve got the extra time, I really would like to hear more from Tess and how she¡¯s shaping up.¡± He shot Ava a glance. ¡°Surely you can allow me that, right?¡± He asked pleadingly.


    Ava sighed. ¡°I suppose so, but only if Tess is fine with it.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, let me sit down first, though.¡± She took a seat in a chair by the fireplace. ¡°So, um, it started a few days after Ellie¡¯s birthday¡­¡±


    Fighterman481


    Anyway, we finally get to meet the rest of The Titans! With this I think we start to see why exactly Tess (and Ellie) have so much attention from the gods on them; it''s because they''re connected to a lot of people who are Appointed. It''s kind of nepotism, in a way. They got noticed easier because they were around people the gods pay a lot of attention to.


    Also, re: Appointed and the gender of their god - We''d only seen Appointed who matched the gender of their god before this, but that''s not always the case, as Ava and Atum show. It''s more common to have the Appointed match the gender of their god (for comfort reasons on both their ends), but it''s certainly not a requirement. Honestly, it really depends on the god and if they''re willing to have an Appointed of a different gender.


    Anyway, that''s all for now. Next time we''ll meet more Appointed and have the meeting, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 28: Appointed’s Meeting

    The door to the cabin flew open, interrupting Tess¡¯s story and letting in a howling burst of wind and snow. A huge four-armed figure shook off the snow that was coating him, then slammed the door shut behind him. While he wasn¡¯t as tall as a goliath like Ker, he more than made up for it in sheer¡­thickness. He was incredibly muscled, with shaggy brown hair that blended into the heavy furs he was wearing.


    And then there was the bow. It was massive, a fair bit taller than the man was, made of some sort of imposing-looking bone. She¡­honestly didn¡¯t see how it was supposed to work. From her admittedly minimal knowledge of bow making, she was sure the bone should snap, or not bend enough, or even that it would require such an unreasonable amount of strength to pull the string back that it would be unfeasible to use¡­not that strength seemed to be a concern for the mammoth of a man in front of her.


    ¡°What¡¯s the big idea, Evan?!¡± He growled, ¡°The yearly meeting¡¯s not scheduled for another two months and I was in the middle of hunting a particularly nasty Phosphorescent Mangler. If there¡¯s not a very good reason for this, I¡¯m not going to be happy.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Valin, I didn¡¯t call this just to call it.¡± Gramps soothed, patting the back of Tess¡¯s chair. ¡°We¡¯ve got a new member.¡±


    Valin arched a brow, staring Tess down with a look that suggested he was looking at more than just her appearance. ¡°Really?¡± He said skeptically, ¡°She looks rather underwhelming to me.¡±


    Gramps smirked. ¡°Looks can be deceiving.¡± He said, waving a hand and causing some sort of¡­motionless body to appear in the room. ¡°Please give the dummy a good hit, Tess.¡± He instructed, ¡°Full power, no need to hold back for fear of leaking secrets.¡±


    Tess nodded, unsheathing her claws and stalking towards the dummy. She activated all her Skills and, slashed downwards, then hurriedly jumped back so she was out of the way of the status explosion that would hit after You Are Already Dead¡¯s time was up.


    Curious as to the exact numbers, Tess expanded the window. Due to the ever-increasing length of the windows she was getting with each hit, Fortune had given her a Blessing that let her collapse them, so they weren¡¯t so obnoxious.


    You have hit Training Dummy for 830 damage!


    You have planted a parasite on Training Dummy! It will deal 186 damage and heal you 186 HP every second until removed.


    You have inflicted Blight on Training Dummy! It will take 933 damage every 1.25 seconds for 112 seconds!


    You have Shocked Training Dummy for .5 seconds!


    You have set Training Dummy on fire! It will take 1,037 damage every second for 3.75 seconds!


    Fire has spread to another part of Training Dummy¡¯s body, duplicating the effect!


    Fire has spread to another part of Training Dummy¡¯s body, duplicating the effect!


    Fire has spread to another part of Training Dummy¡¯s body, duplicating the effect!


    Fire has spread to another part of Training Dummy¡¯s body, duplicating the effect!


    Due to having more than 3 body parts on fire, all burning effects on the target have their damage increased by 50% and have their durations decrease half as fast!


    You have Slowed Training Dummy! It will move 25% slower for 5 seconds!


    You have inflicted Heavy Bleeding on Training Dummy! It will bleed for 1,369 damage every second for 150 seconds.


    Due to applying a bleed effect to a burning target, the damage of the burn effects are increased by 50%!


    Due to applying a bleed effect to a Poisoned target, the poison deals damage twice as often!


    ¡°Blessing?¡± Valin grunted.


    ¡°Yup. Any check that is influenced by her Luck automatically gives her the most favorable result.¡± Gramps replied.


    Valin stared off into space for a second, then nodded. ¡°I see how it is. Who are we still waiting on? I¡¯d like to get back to the hunt as soon as I can.¡±


    ¡°Aside from the five of us you¡¯re the first one here.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°We still have about twenty minutes before the meeting¡¯s slated to start.¡±


    Valin gave a noncommittal grunt and moved to walked out through a door to a room Tess hadn¡¯t been in before, but stopped, squinting at Tess. ¡°You seem to have a ghost haunting you.¡± He said, ¡°Shall I take care of it?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s fine, she¡¯s mine.¡±


    Valin nodded curtly and left.


    ¡°I¡­thought people teleported here?¡± Tess asked once he was gone.


    ¡°Valin prefers to use his own means of transport when possible. He¡¯s got a few quirks but he¡¯s generally a pretty decent guy once you get to know him.¡± Ava said, ¡°Anyway, you were talking about that bet you had, do continue.¡±


    Tess finished her story in around ten minutes, during which another couple of people filtered in through the portal. As they came through, they gave Tess a curious look, looked back at the other, and then left the room without comment.


    Once Tess had finished, Atum gave her a smile and patted her on the back. ¡°Don¡¯t feel too beat up about not being able to beat Ilmir without a Descent.¡± He said, ¡°She¡¯s quite a big stronger than average and she¡¯s got those blessings to boot. Still, she treated you awfully, I promise she¡¯s not usually like that. Have you sat down and talked with her about why she acts the way she does?¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°She thinks I¡¯m weak, and that I¡¯m holding Ellie back. Pretty sure she also has the hots for Ellie and doesn¡¯t want me in the way of things, though,¡± and Tess couldn¡¯t help but smirk a little while saying this, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯s already lost to me on that front.¡±


    Ava nodded. ¡°I think you¡¯re partially right and partially wrong. It¡¯s not our place to say more, though, so for now I recommend you force her to sit down and have a talk with you as soon as possible. You¡¯re her acting party leader so she¡¯s going to have to listen to you about stuff like this, and I¡¯m sure Eyfura will make sure she doesn¡¯t try to weasel out of it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll do that.¡± Eyfura replied, standing up and stretching. ¡°I¡¯m going to grab some food from the pantry before we start, does anyone want anything?¡±


    ¡°I just ate.¡± Tess said.


    ¡°The two of us did too.¡± Atum added.


    ¡°I as well.¡± Gramps finished.


    ¡°Ah well.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°Tess, you might as well come with me anyway, it¡¯s good to know where everything is.¡±


    Gramps nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll meet you two in the meeting room, then. Remember, we start in ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, got it.¡± Eyfura said, moving away and motioning for Tess to follow. She led her through a couple of rooms until they were in a cozy-looking kitchen. ¡°Stick with me here until the meeting starts.¡± She said, beginning to rummage through the pantry, ¡°I want to talk real quick and it¡¯s probably best you¡¯re with one of us until everyone knows who you are.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Tess said, sitting down at a table, ¡°What about?¡±


    ¡°Ilmir.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°I¡¯m not going to tell you everything now because that¡¯s really her story to tell, but I want to give you some context that I don¡¯t think she even consciously realizes.¡± She paused for a moment, scanning the shelves, picking up a can of something, looking at it for a moment, then putting it back and resuming her search.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you remind her of what she thinks of as her own failures.¡± Eyfura sighed. ¡°She got super pumped when her stats came in and she was way above average, and even more so when her Skills started to work together really well. She was getting convinced that she was different, better than everyone else. She started bugging me to let her tag along on one of the outings I do occasionally. Nothing big, of course, but something that could give her a good challenge.¡±


    Eyfura came back out of the pantry with some sort of bread-like substance, sitting down across from Tess. ¡°I was like that at her age too, and so I thought it would be wise to give her a reality check of sorts and decided to grant her wish.¡± She sighed again, shaking her head. ¡°I really should have talked with Evan or someone about it, scouted more, just¡­made the entire thing more of a controlled situation. I¡¯m not going to go into details here because that really is her story to tell, but things ended up going poorly, and she blames herself, no matter how much we try to convince her it¡¯s not her fault.


    ¡°Since that day she¡¯s convinced herself that there are some gaps in raw power that are just too large to bridge. It¡¯s achieved the goal of making her more wary, but she¡¯s built her worldview around it. I¡¯ve tried to break her of that, but¡­well, trauma does weird things to people, and I¡¯m nowhere near qualified to tackle something like that.


    ¡°But you¡­you fly in the face of everything she believes. You¡¯re near constantly at similar deficits to the one she was facing, and she can¡¯t bring herself to believe that they can be tackled without outside intervention. If she faces the fact that you can make things work¡­she has to consider that maybe she could have made things work then, too.¡±


    She stared down at her bread, which had laid untouched as she talked. ¡°She couldn¡¯t have done it on her own, of course, and she actually did far better than I ever would have expected her to do, but I¡¯m not sure she realizes just how special a case you are. She thought she was special too, and that brought her nothing but problems, so she thinks the situations are the same. In her own misguided way, she really is just trying to be kind¡­though I can¡¯t deny her ¡®having the hots for Ellie and wanting you out of the way¡¯. It¡¯s just¡­less of a motivator than you might think.¡±


    Eyfura gave Tess a weak smile. ¡°So¡­please try to not be too harsh on her. My own poor choices are partially at fault here. I can¡¯t expect you to forgive and forget immediately, just¡­ give her some time to come to grips with things.¡±


    ¡°Is¡­that so?¡± Ava asked softly. She had gotten right behind Tess without Tess even noticing, something that hadn¡¯t happened to Tess since she had first gotten Enhanced Hearing (Perfect).


    Ava sat down in a chair between Eyfura and Tess. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware she was still hung up about that.¡± She said. ¡°Would you like me to have a talk with her?¡±


    Eyfura opened her mouth to speak, but Ava cut her off. ¡°Just because it¡¯s something you did doesn¡¯t mean you have to be the only one to try and fix it.¡± Ava said, patting Eyfura¡¯s hand.


    Eyfura paused, looked into Ava¡¯s eyes, blushed, then looked away. ¡°I¡­was hoping she¡¯d mellow out more with age.¡± She admitted. ¡°I thought that something like this wouldn¡¯t come up until she had. And¡­I¡¯m not able to handle this on my own. If¡­ if you could talk with her sometime soon, I would appreciate it. I¡¯ll let you know when a good time is.¡±


    Ava smiled, nodding. ¡°Of course. Just give me the word and I¡¯ll be there.¡± She turned to Tess, ¡°Sorry you got caught up in all of this.¡± She said. ¡°Normally we try not to let people see our failures like this, but¡­you¡¯re one of us now.¡±


    She grabbed Tess¡¯s hand between hers, giving Tess a gentle smile. ¡°It can be really hard, having to put up a tough front like this, but even if you think we¡¯re busy, any of the four of us will be more than willing to listen to your troubles and give advice, even directly help you if we think it necessary. We¡¯re your seniors here, so don¡¯t feel shy about it.¡±


    ¡°R-right.¡± Tess said.


    ¡°Right.¡± Ava repeated. ¡°Let me give you our phone number, Atum and I will make sure to get back to you as soon as we see your call or text or however you choose to go about this.¡±


    Tess fumbled around in her pocket for a moment before eventually pulling out her phone and putting in the information that Ava gave her.


    ¡°You can reach either of us through this number, this is our house phone.¡± Ava explained. ¡°Well, we say house phone but it¡¯s actually just Atum¡¯s cell phone that we put for most things that want a ¡°house phone¡± or ¡°main phone¡± or whatever.¡±


    ¡°Right, I¡­get it, I think. Um, if you don¡¯t mind my asking¡­what¡¯s your relationship with Atum? I don¡¯t know anything about you two, really, and thought I might as well ask.¡± Tess said hesitantly.


    Ava laughed. ¡°We¡¯re married.¡± She explained. ¡°Going strong for over two-hundred years at this point, and we¡¯ve no intention of quitting now. When you have some free time we¡¯ll have to introduce you to the rest of our family, it¡¯ll be nice for them to finally meet one of the grandchildren Evan¡¯s so proud of.¡±


    ¡°Not going to be for a while.¡± Eyfura said, seemingly having regained her composure. ¡°There¡¯s a lot that¡¯s going into her training at the moment and every minute counts. I¡¯m really hoping we can get her to the point where she¡¯s able to take on dungeons a fair bit above her level soon, and, seeing as how she¡¯s going back to school soon, we need all the time we can get. After she¡¯s ready, though, we can set something up. Ellie too, for that matter.¡±


    They conversed for a few more minutes while Eyfura finished her bread, and then Ava led them back to the conference room, which had filled up considerably. There were, including Gramps¡¯s party members and herself, 11 people around the table. Gramps sat at the end of the table, and he motioned for Tess to sit down in an empty chair just around the corner from his own. Tess did, and Ava and Eyfura made their way to a couple of empty seats near them.


    ¡°Good, we¡¯re all here. Well, except for Rachel, but she¡¯s always late.¡± Gramps said, ¡°We might as well begin.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± An oddly familiar looking demon with her feet up on the table said. ¡°Can we assume the girl has something to do with this?¡±


    Gramps nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll get to that in time, Amara. Before we do, though, are there any matters that need to be brought up?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to get overworked with the new dungeons.¡± Valin grumbled. ¡°I¡¯ve done what I can in some of the publicly unknown dungeons, but I just don¡¯t have enough time to deal with what¡¯s overflowing from the new dungeons and keep the old dungeons in check. If you could find some way to surreptitiously release the locations of three or so mid-level dungeons that would really help.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll organize an expedition that should finish around the end of the year. Will you be able to hold on by yourself for that long, or will you need help?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll probably be fine so long as the new dungeons don¡¯t begin to grow faster than expected. I¡¯ll let one of you know if I need help. It¡¯ll just be cleanup of level fiftyish stuff, so shouldn¡¯t be a problem for anyone.¡±


    ¡°Right. I¡¯ll begin making the preparations, then. Anyone else?¡±


    There was a silence, so Gramps continued. ¡°Alright. In that case, I suppose we should get to the main topic of the meeting.¡± He motioned at Tess with a hand as he spoke, ¡°This is Tess, my granddaughter. As of yesterday, she is Fortune¡¯s Appointed and the newest member of the group. As always, I¡¯ve called the meeting so everyone can get to know each other. Tess, if you would?¡±


    He gently prompted Tess to stand up, so she did. ¡°Um¡­hi, I guess.¡± She said, suddenly nervous. ¡°I¡¯m Tess, and I¡¯m still new to freelancing and this sort of stuff in general, but I¡¯m Fortune¡¯s Appointed. Um¡­¡± She looked to Gramps, unsure of what to say next.


    Hi everyone, sorry, I know it¡¯s polite to Descend during the first introduction, but that¡¯s not really in the cards right now. Fortune interjected, an audible voice filling the room, Tess has an experimental Class that we had Amy help make and, long story short, it¡¯s messing with Descents. We¡¯re working on a solution, but for now I¡¯ll just have to talk like this. I look forward to working with you all!


    ¡°Thank you, Fortune.¡± Gramps said, indicating to Tess that she could sit, ¡°For the six of you who haven¡¯t introduced yourselves, it would be great if you would do so now.¡±


    ¡°Valin.¡± Valin grunted, ¡°Hunt¡¯s Appointed.¡±


    The demon smiled, taking her feet off of the table and standing up. ¡°Don¡¯t be such a grump, Valin.¡± She teased, ¡°It¡¯s not the girl¡¯s fault that your hunt was interrupted, she probably didn¡¯t even know about you until today.¡± She turned to Tess, giving her a smile. ¡°I¡¯m Amara Sarlienne, Subterfuge¡¯s Appointed and former Queen of Paumen. I believe you¡¯ve already met my great-granddaughter, she told me all about your little run in at the dungeon.¡±


    Ah, that was why she had looked familiar. Now that Tess was looking more closely, she could see the resemblance; she had the same long black hair, glossy horns and wings, spade tail, and perfectly tanned skin as Maven. Amara gave Tess a wink before sitting back down in her chair, putting her feet back up on the table.


    ¡°Name¡¯s Alberich.¡± A rugged-looking dwarf said kindly. He was on the tall side for dwarves, but otherwise he looked like a stereotypical dwarf; brown hair, huge beard, and dressed in practical heavy clothes. ¡°I¡¯m Magic¡¯s Appointed. I mostly handle experimentation with magic and don¡¯t do much field work, so I don¡¯t get the honor being called best mage in the world like your grandfather, but I know just about anything about Magic there is to know. Ask me if you have any questions, I¡¯ll be happy to answer them.¡±


    ¡°Guess we¡¯ll go, then.¡± An¡­elf said, standing up and motioning to a similar looking elf at his side. They were different from normal elves, to the point where Tess wasn¡¯t sure if they even counted as elves anymore. They had the general build and the ears, sure, but they also had pale turquoise skin and blue hair and gills on the side of their necks.


    ¡°I¡¯m Carel Suennon, and this is my brother, Meison, Appointed of Sea and Storms respectively.¡± He took Tess¡¯s gaze in, then smiled. ¡°Aquatic elves. We¡¯re not too common on the surface because the water¡¯s just more comfortable for us. Anyway, the two of us mostly deal with marine problems, so if you need any help in the water, we¡¯re your guys. Anything else to say, Meison?¡±


    Meison shook his head, causing Carel to pat him on the back. ¡°Don¡¯t mind him, he¡¯s just shy around new people. Nothing you did or anything.¡± He sat back down, looking to the last person at the table.


    ¡°That¡¯s me.¡± A human said, standing up. He was short and had messy black hair, but by far the most attention grabbing part of him was the long coat he was wearing. It had a ton of pockets sown onto it, and each of them appeared to be full of¡­something that Tess couldn¡¯t quite make out. ¡°I¡¯m Kane Io, Artifice¡¯s Appointed. If you need special gear to accommodate your blessings or Descent abilities, let me know and I¡¯ll get it made for you, no charge. I might need your help gathering materials or something, but for Appointed business it¡¯s free.


    ¡°As for other stuff, I¡¯ll give you a hefty discount, but I think even with that I might be well out of your price range, given how new to freelancing you are. How¡¯s the bag treating you, by the way?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tess asked, confused.


    ¡°Your magic bag. Your grandfather had me make the ones you and Ellie are using.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± She did vaguely remember Eyfura mentioning something along the lines of the bag being one of Kane¡¯s best.  ¡°No problems so far. Been better than I could ask for, honestly.¡±


    Kane smiled. ¡°Glad to hear it.¡±


    ¡°Sorry I¡¯m late!¡± The door opened, and in scuttled¡­Rachel, the seamstress that Gramps had taken Tess to her very first day in the Outlands. ¡°I had lost track of time putting the final touches on the cookies I made for everyone last night.¡± She motioned to a box of cookies that was sitting on her abdomen. ¡°What¡¯d I miss?¡±


    She looked around, saw Tess, and then blinked all eight of her eyes in surprise. ¡°Tess, what are you doing here?¡±


    Gramps smirked. ¡°She¡¯s our newest member. Fortune made her, her Appointed yesterday.¡±


    Understanding dawned on Rachel¡¯s face and she made her way over to the table, taking the box of cookies from her abdomen and placing it on top of the table. ¡°I made extras, so there should be plenty.¡± She said, ¡°Have we already done introductions?¡±


    ¡°We were just finishing.¡± Gramps said, ¡°You¡¯re the only one left.¡±


    ¡°Ah, perfect. Well, you already know me, but on top of my day job I¡¯m Hearth¡¯s Appointed.¡± She moved to an area of the table that, now that Tess was looking, was conspicuously lacking in a chair, sort of¡­settling herself down in a position that sort of approximated sitting.


    ¡°It¡¯s my job to help keep the peace and make people feel welcome in the Outlands, as well as keeping kids safe from those that might harm them.¡± She smirked somewhat, ¡°Oh, and making sure none of us Appointed start having any fights. Dealing with the fallout of those is not something the gods want to have to do. Everyone here is fine, of course, some of the others are just¡­a little wild.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s all for our little group, I guess.¡± She continued, nodding at Gramps, ¡°Anything else in this meeting?¡±


    Gramps shrugged. ¡°Not really. I figured I¡¯d let you all get to know her a little bit.¡± He paused briefly, then continued. ¡°We¡¯ll probably have another one of these soon, though. I¡¯ve been told that a few gods have their eyes on my other granddaughter, and she already knows about Amy, so I think she¡¯ll be here sooner rather than later.¡±


    Kane raised an eyebrow. ¡°We haven¡¯t had any new members in what¡­a couple hundred years, and here we are getting two in such a short period of time. Should we be preparing for something big to happen?¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re trying to make Mael¡¯s eventual introduction to wider society as smooth as possible, and we thought that having some big hitters on their side is hopefully going to make them seem like less of a target. That and those two just happened to be perfect candidates for Appointed in their own ways.¡± Gramps explained. ¡°That being said, you all know the drill.¡±


    He stood up, walking over and grabbing a couple of cookies from the box. ¡°Try not to overwhelm her with too many questions right off the bat, but feel free to ask her whatever. Just know that information on her Class is classified due to its nature, so no one outside this room can know without direct approval from me or one of the gods.¡±


    He sat back down in his chair, handing a cookie to Tess. ¡°Try one, Rachel¡¯s cookies are amazing.¡± He told her.


    She took the cookie and gave it a try. Just as Gramps had said, it was the best she¡¯d had in quite a while.


    ¡°So, my great-granddaughter was quite curious as to what exactly you could do.¡± Amara began, ¡°I won¡¯t tell her, of course, but she did pique my curiosity somewhat. She mentioned that you seemed to inflict ailments much more often than should reasonably be expected, I¡¯m assuming that has something to do with Fortune?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, anything involving my Luck automatically gives me the most favorable result. I actually held back when she was around, generally I always inflict those statuses.¡± Tess confirmed.


    Amara nodded. ¡°Makes sense. So¡­how would you feel about working with her again? She¡¯s trying to get better, but her parents aren¡¯t having it. They never really approved of the whole freelancing thing, so they¡¯re being purposefully lazy with getting her ¡°teachers¡±. She¡¯s got talent, but¡­it¡¯s being squandered, and her parents won¡¯t listen to me when I tell them to get her some actual teachers.¡±


    She sighed. ¡°I know you¡¯re not in a position to teach anyone yourself, but I was hoping you could at least teach her some of the stuff you¡¯ve been learning from Eyfura and The Rumors. It¡¯ll be better than whatever booster is in charge of her now, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    Eyfura scratched her chin thoughtfully. ¡°Let¡¯s wait until Tess finishes school on Mael before we think about grouping them up, but I¡¯m not wholly opposed to the idea. Their team certainly could benefit from another member or two, and it¡¯s not like money¡¯s going to be an issue for them.¡±


    ¡°You two can talk about that later.¡± Alberich said, ¡°I¡¯m quite curious about that Class of hers. Fortune said it was experimental, right? What does that mean?¡±


    And so, for the second time that day, Tess settled down and began to tell a group of the world¡¯s strongest about her abilities.


    Fighterman481


    I meant to talk about this earlier, but it should be becoming fairly apparent that there''s a fair bit of nepotism going on with Appointed and people getting the attention of the gods. It''s...just how it is, really. You are naturally more likely to be noticed if you''re hanging around people who the gods are watching more closely than normal. Yes, it''s unfair, but the gods really don''t have time to check in on each and every person''s life and give them even a little bit of time. There are just too many people for that.


    Anyway, we get to meet more Appointed! A fair few of them are closer to the previous events in the story than might have been expected. Gramps and Fate have had their hands a little deeper in Tess''s experiences than she knows ;)


    I have more to say (mostly about Ilmir) but, alas, that falls into spoiler territory, so all I''m going to say is that it is nice to finally start showing more...human sides to Eyfura and Gramps, instead of the unstoppable juggernauts who don''t really make mistakes. They do make mistakes, of course, they''re people. They just...can''t really show that to outsiders, they''ve got an image to maintain.


    Next time we''ll have a bit more explanation of what exactly being an Appointed entails, and probably some other stuff, I''m not sure, so...look forward to it, I guess.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 29: Divine Duty

    Tess settled back in her chair, basking in the warmth of the fire and letting out a sigh of relief. Some of the other Appointed had left, leaving just Gramps¡¯s party, Rachel, Amara, and herself. Amara was in a different room talking with Eyfura about Maven, so that left only Rachel and the rest of Gramps¡¯s party.


    ¡°So, what¡¯d you think?¡± Gramps asked.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Tess began, thinking that over, ¡°Honestly, were it not for all the important-sounding things everyone was talking about, it kind of seemed more like a bunch of old friends meeting up rather than a bunch of emissaries of the gods having an important gathering.¡±


    Rachel laughed. ¡°That¡¯s sort of the idea. When I proposed this I was hoping to do away with the barrier between us that was being wary of everyone all the time, even if that wariness ended up just being diplomatic politeness. And it worked, too, cooperation between Appointed is higher than it¡¯s ever been before; you would have never seen things like your Grandpa¡¯s party.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°So¡­um, what do we do? I didn¡¯t really get all that dungeon talk during the meeting.¡±


    Rachel motioned at Gramps. ¡°He¡¯s in charge of that. Well, in charge of most things, actually. We¡¯re not technically in any sort of hierarchy, but he¡¯s got the aptitude for leading and the stuff he has from Fate is really useful in planning, so he¡¯s our de-facto leader.¡±


    Gramps smirked. ¡°It¡¯s not as glamorous as all that.¡± He said, ¡°Really it just means more work for no extra benefits.¡± He glanced at Tess¡¯s face, continuing on. ¡°No, I can¡¯t tell people to do things, not without good reason. They¡¯re not going to blindly listen to orders just because I¡¯m the planner. The only amount of power I have is the ability to call meetings like this, but any one of them can do it too, so that¡¯s a moot point.


    ¡°Anyway, our job is making sure society progresses and everyone gets stronger. We want to make sure everyone has room to grow and flourish, and that duty broadly falls into two categories.¡±


    He raised a finger. ¡°First is domestic. We make sure no empires crop up that completely dominate all planes, keep intelligent races from being wiped out, stop people from taking slaves, keep religious ideologies from getting too radical or exclusionary, and the like. We can¡¯t and don¡¯t stop all of this stuff, nor should we, but we keep the really bad stuff down.


    ¡°The dungeons fall into the domestic category,¡± He continued, ¡°We oversee the growth of new dungeons, allowing them to grow to sizes that are beneficial to people without letting them get strong enough to wipe out all of civilization. Right now, Valin takes care of most of that, as he doesn¡¯t have any other pressing business to attend to and that was something he did as Hunt¡¯s Appointed before we formed our little group. Only real difference is now he calls us up if he starts to struggle.


    ¡°Each individual god has unique duties they give to their Appointed as well, and I had Fate get Fortune to make a list of hers during one of her breaks from working with Amy, but we¡¯ll get to those in a second. Our other duty is a bit more¡­complex.¡±


    He frowned as he got into this next part, ¡°Every few decades we¡¯ll get called out to do battle away from our universe, something we call a Conflict. I¡¯m not totally privy to the details of how it all works, but planes sort of just¡­pop into existence, and all the Administrators have to figure out who gets them. Of course, not every Administrator gets along, so eventually it devolved into fights over new planes.¡±


    He waved a hand, ¡°We¡¯ll get more into detail on this when it becomes relevant, but the long of the short of it is that Appointed help serve as soldiers in this fight, usually directly alongside the gods. Don¡¯t worry about it too much, there¡¯s this whole code of conduct that generally keeps anything permanent from happening to the participants. We¡¯re actually due for one in a couple of years, but I highly doubt you¡¯ll be directly involved. Usually new Appointed are spectators for their first couple of Conflicts to let them get a feel for how everything works. ¡°


    He reached into his pocket, bringing out his phone. ¡°Enough of that for now, though. Let¡¯s look over this list¡­¡± He hummed as he tapped away, eventually letting out a small ¡°a-ha!¡± as he presumably found what he was looking for.


    ¡°So, your list for domestic tasks is pretty short for now.¡± He said, looking up from the phone, ¡°And Fortune¡¯s said that she¡¯s not going to expect you to do too much until you¡¯re out of training, though if something becomes enough of a problem, she might have you deal with it.


    ¡°Your first duty is to punish those who are misusing her name. That one¡¯s pretty standard, you basically just deal with people falsely claiming they¡¯re acting under her instruction or saying she said things she didn¡¯t, stuff like that. Any questions so far?¡±


    Tess shook her head, so he continued. ¡°The next thing is¡­¡± He looked down at the phone, ¡°Ah. Once you¡¯re out of training, you¡¯re going to reveal yourself to the leadership of the Church of Fortune. You¡¯re to be the intermediary between her and them. Basically, any big announcements or changes will be run by you first. If you determine the change to be something worth running by Fortune, you do. Otherwise, you use your own judgement to answer.¡±


    ¡°Wait, doesn¡¯t that basically¡­put me in charge?¡±


    Rachel snickered. ¡°Yes. You¡¯re the most direct link to Fortune out there, so it makes sense to put you in charge of her church. Or, at the least, you¡¯re her mouthpiece to the church. The public¡¯s not going to know anything about you other than that you exist, you¡¯re basically additional confirmation to people that the church is the real deal. Their structure or mode of operation doesn¡¯t really change much¡­¡± She trailed, off, looking at Gramps.


    Gramps nodded. ¡°That was next on the list. Her church needs an audit. She hasn¡¯t had a good way to go through it and root out all the unscrupulous people, not without getting much more hands-on than is really prudent for a god. She left it to me the last couple of times it became really necessary, but now that you¡¯re here she wants you to handle it. Hopefully your existence alone will make that task far easier than it might be otherwise.¡±


    Tess sighed. ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll have to study the church, then. I¡¯ll ask Alice or Eyfura about it some time.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Gramps gave her an encouraging smile. ¡°Lastly, you¡¯re going to have to do some reforms with gambling society. That¡¯s a big ask, but it¡¯s not supposed to be immediate. She wants you to help make gambling a little less¡­unsavory than it is now, start standardizing practices and making sure at least the biggest parlors and casinos don¡¯t cheat their patrons.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t expect you to root out every predatory establishment out or anything, she just wants you to help make sure there are trustworthy places available for people to use. Hopefully, that should drive some of the really bad places out of business.¡± He put his phone back into his pocket. ¡°That¡¯s it for now, you might get more later, or some of these duties might be removed. It all depends on how things shake out, this is a first for Fortune so she¡¯s not quite sure what she wants or needs. Any last questions before we continue?¡±


    Tess blinked. ¡°Is the gambling culture as¡­shady as it is on Mael?¡±


    Gramps shook his head. ¡°Worse. The Luck stat leads to a lot of sketchy odds and scams. Unfortunately, a lot of the worst offenders are high level as well, but that shouldn¡¯t be an issue by the time you¡¯re actually dealing with this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you around a casino sometime.¡± Ava added. ¡°I¡¯ve got some ways of looking nondescript, so people won¡¯t be able to recognize us or anything.¡±


    Tess grimaced. ¡°Great. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s going to be a blast.¡±


    ¡°Welcome to being an Appointed,¡± Atum snorted. ¡°It¡¯s dirty work, but important. You¡¯ll be making a lot of people¡¯s lives better, so just keep that in mind, I find it helps with some of the harder stuff.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I will.¡± Tess replied, looking back to Gramps. ¡°There¡¯s more? You said you were going to continue.¡±


    ¡°Not duties or anything, just things you should know.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°Now that you¡¯re an Appointed, you don¡¯t follow the same set of rules that everything else does. Your body and soul have a much higher concentration of Worship going through them than that of normal people, and because of that, there are a few things you have to be careful with.


    ¡°The first is revival after death. Normal revival methods just aren¡¯t strong enough to bring an Appointed back, there has to be Worship involved somehow. If you want revival on the spot, it needs to be through a Blessing or Phantasmal Skill. Otherwise, Fortune¡¯s responsible for bringing you back. And, since she¡¯s not one of the gods that normally deals with revivals, that¡¯s going to mean those revivals will be inconvenient.


    ¡°From what I understand, she doesn¡¯t really know how to do repairs, so she¡¯s going to do the equivalent of copy-pasting your body from a backup. If her bond is anything like Fate¡¯s, that backup is made roughly once a week, though she can do it manually. Unfortunately, that backup takes a few days to make, and she can only really put it in places with strong ties to her such as her church, or even some of the bigger casinos.


    ¡°But that backup doesn¡¯t include any of your stuff, including clothes. Fortunately, anything to do with Monster Breeder should be fine, since the cores you¡¯ve absorbed are in your soul, not your body. So¡­don¡¯t die, it¡¯s really not good for anyone involved.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re near the city, have one of your companions bring your body to me.¡± Rachel said, ¡°I¡¯ve got a revive that works on Appointed. Only works within twenty-four hours from when you originally died, though, so after that it¡¯s up to Fortune.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Gramps said, ¡°And that higher concentration of Worship that keeps you from being revived is something that, if you¡¯re not careful, can be identified. People have figured out ways to detect Worship, well¡­they call it divine power or divine energy, but it¡¯s Worship. Anyway, some advanced magic detectors can figure out if you¡¯re an Appointed.


    ¡°If you aren¡¯t careful, that is. Your body has safeguards in place to prevent people detecting the Worship in it, so you really only need to worry about it when you¡¯re using Stamina or Mana. So, for the rest of the day, I¡¯m going to be teaching you how to control yourself so that you don¡¯t leak Worship when you use this stuff. And you won¡¯t be able to slack on it, either, Eyfura will stay on your case about it while you¡¯re training. It needs to become second nature to do these things, or you could find yourself targeted by some¡­less than savory people.¡±


    Tess gulped, giving a nod. ¡°So¡­what do I need to do?¡±


    Gramps frowned. ¡°That¡¯s the hard part. There¡¯s no easy way to describe that, it¡¯s like moving a limb. So, I¡¯m going to have to do it for you. Usually this is the job of the Appointed¡¯s god, but since you¡¯re in a bit of a unique situation and can¡¯t go into Descent, we can¡¯t really do that. So, as long as you¡¯re fine with it, I¡¯m going to essentially mind-control you with a spell, activate a Skill for you while doing the broad strokes of this¡­holding back thing, and we¡¯ll repeat that until you can start doing it by yourself.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine,¡± Tess agreed. ¡°Let me know when you want to start, I guess.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll need to get the table in the meeting hall taken down.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°That room¡¯s the only one big enough for this kind of stuff. Do you mind fetching Eyfura so she and Atum can get that taken care of?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Tess replied, standing up and stretching a little.


    ¡°Thanks a bunch. The rest of us will take down the chairs while you do.¡±


    Tess made her way over to the room where Eyfura and Amara were talking.


    ¡°And school on Mael ends when?¡± Amara asked.


    ¡°A few months from now, sometime around the beginning of summer, I think.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°I¡¯m not completely sure myself, but that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been told. Can you have her parents convinced by then?¡±


    Amara smirked. ¡°It¡¯s just a matter of framing it right. It¡¯ll take a couple of months of working at this, tops. Worst comes to worst I just play the card that is ¡°the Appointed of Fate thinks it¡¯s a good idea¡± and they¡¯ll fall in line. Hopefully it won¡¯t come to that, because there¡¯ll be no end to their grumbling, but I doubt they¡¯ll be that stubborn.¡±


    She glanced over at the door, smiling at Tess. ¡°We were just finalizing plans to have Maven join your party. Do you need something?¡±


    ¡°Um, yeah,¡± Tess said, ¡°Gramps wanted Eyfura to help Atum take down the table, he¡¯s going to teach me how to prevent the Worship in me leaking and needs the space.¡±


    Eyfura nodded, standing up. ¡°Sure thing. We¡¯ll finish talking about this after I do that, is that OK, Amara?¡±


    ¡°Sure, I was getting a little hungry anyway.¡± Amara hopped off of the bed she was on, making her way over to a door. ¡°I¡¯m going to grab a snack, I¡¯ll meet you guys in the hall once I¡¯m done eating.¡±


    Tess followed Eyfura into the hall, where most of the chairs surrounding the table were already in the process of being dealt with. A few were moved to the side, but most were being folded up and taken away.


    Getting the hall clear only took a few minutes, most of which was just waiting as Eyfura and Atum disassembled and then carried the table back to where it had been stored before. Soon most everyone had taken a seat, leaving Gramps and Tess standing in the center of the room.


    ¡°So, uh¡­is everyone just going to watch me or¡­?¡± Tess asked, glancing at the assembled Appointed.


    Rachel laughed. ¡°For a little bit. I want to get a taste of what you can do, I¡¯m rather curious.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have her demonstrate once Amara gets here,¡± Gramps said. ¡°But until then, we¡¯re just going to do a bit of practice. Now, Tess, this is going to feel weird, but I need you to bear with me while we do this. Just say the word and I¡¯ll start, alright?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± As soon as she said it, Gramps raised his hand, a magic circle appearing around him as he cast a spell. There was an odd, slippery sort of sensation, and her body stopped listening to her, becoming rigid as foreign control as influenced.


    Her hand raised itself, and then faltered, control of her body returning. ¡°Uh¡­¡± Gramps said, scratching the back of his neck embarrassedly, ¡°Could you extend your claws for me? I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know how to do that. I tried, but it didn¡¯t feel like using other Skills so I¡¯m not sure where to start.¡±


    Tess nodded, extending her claws. ¡°Does it matter?¡±


    ¡°Probably not, but Phantasmal Skills have been known to have some odd interactions with this technique. I want you to get used to doing this with them out because you¡¯ll generally have them out when you¡¯re using this anyway. We¡¯ll try it without the claws later just to make sure it¡¯s the same. Mind if I resume the control?¡±


    With a nod from Tess, Gramps recast the spell, and Tess once again lost control of herself. There was a slight pause, and then a Skill activated, one of her cheaper ones, from what she could tell. There was a strange sense of¡­hesitance about it, almost like she hadn¡¯t fully committed to using the Skill, but it had activated anyway.


    Well, not really like that, but she couldn¡¯t describe it better. A training dummy similar to the one Gramps had made to have her show off to Valin appeared in front of her, and Gramps slashed Tess¡¯s claws out, letting the Skill do its work on the dummy. He repeated the process of using the Skill a few times, then dropped the spell. ¡°Alright, you give it a go now.¡±


    Tess activated the Skill, trying to emulate that odd hesitance that had been there when Gramps was doing it. It took her a few tries, but eventually she hit on¡­something. It wasn¡¯t quite as¡­complete as what Gramps had done, but she could tell if she played around with it a little, she would eventually get there.


    ¡°Good.¡± Gramps said, ¡°Keep trying there. You¡¯ll get there soon.¡±


    And so, she spent the morning and most of the early afternoon in practice. Once Amara had finished with her snack she came in and Tess gave her and Rachel a similar demonstration to the one she had given Valin, and after that the rest of the Appointed filtered out over the course of a couple of hours.


    In the end, just her, Gramps, and Eyfura remained the whole time. Finally, Tess reached a point where she was able to hold back the Worship without failing even once over the course of thirty Skills.


    ¡°We¡¯ll call that good for now.¡± Gramps said. ¡°I have a couple more things to teach you, like the magic needed to teleport here, and then I think I¡¯ll send you home for the day. Sound good?¡±


    Tess yawned. ¡°Sounds perfect. I need a nap.¡±


    She said her goodbyes to Eyfura and headed home with Gramps. She changed into some pajamas and collapsed into bed, the exhaustion of getting up early finally catching up to her.


    Fighterman481


    Um...it''s really late here. There''s probably more I should say or would want to say in the morning, but I want to upload this early so I have some more time for homework tomorrow...uh, today, at this point.


    Anyway, next time we''ll be having one or two more important conversations, depending on how long they take, so look forward to that.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 30: Taken to Task

    Tess woke up with a yawn, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. Through the light filtering in from her window she could tell it was early evening, meaning she had been out for a good couple of hours.


    Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve only really got one, but Ellie said she wanted to talk, and I don¡¯t know what she wanted to ask.¡±


    Tess got off of the bed, leaving her room and knocking on Ellie¡¯s door.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Ellie called out.


    ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± Tess said. ¡°Fortune says she has time to answer your questions now, if you want.¡±


    The door opened and Ellie came out. ¡°Finally.¡± She said, ¡°I¡¯ve been itching to get at this. Where are we doing this?¡±


    Tess motioned to her room, leading Ellie inside and shutting the door behind them.


    Before we begin, I figured I should let the two of you know that we¡¯re officially retiring the Challenge Crystal that gives Monster Breeder. It¡¯s served its purpose, so we¡¯re replacing it with one that¡¯ll actually give stuff to people. As a consequence, we¡¯re also retiring Monster Breeder, meaning Tess is going to be the only one to ever exist. That was a Class designed very early on in things, and um¡­we kinda forgot about it when designing other stuff. People are not meant to get some of the stuff it can potentially give you access to.


    Not to mention the weird interactions with Descents and some other similar abilities like possession. It¡¯s a mess we don¡¯t want more than one of running around.


    Anyway, go ahead and ask your questions, I¡¯ll do my best to answer.


    Tess relayed the information to Ellie, paused briefly, then proceeded. ¡°Um¡­do I¡­get periods? I haven¡¯t yet and I¡¯m beginning to wonder.


    ¡°Right, uhhh¡­¡±


    Ellie gave Tess an expectant look, and Tess sighed before repeating everything back to her. ¡°That¡¯s all I wanted to ask. What about you, Ellie?¡±


    Ellie straightened. ¡°Right. Basically, I need some answers to things that have been bugging me for a bit. Fortune, you mentioned that, while you approve of our relationship and were actively seeking for us to get together, it wasn¡¯t the main reason you pushed this onto Tess. Then, you mentioned that it was basically a requirement for your Appointed to try for this, meaning when you gave that Blessing to Tess you knew you were, for all intents and purposes, turning her into a girl with it.¡±


    She took a deep breath before continuing. ¡°And, while I want to talk about that a bit, the real thing that¡¯s on my mind is why the Class turns the user into a girl in the first place. You mentioned  it being a part of the design process, so why? Surely there would be other ways to eject cores. And when I was wondering about this earlier you told me you couldn¡¯t tell me everything yet, but I think we¡¯re past that point now. So, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    There was a long pause before another window popped up in front of Tess with a strange reluctance to it that Tess couldn¡¯t quite place.


    That was¡­entirely my fault. This isn¡¯t really an excuse, because what I did was wrong and this doesn¡¯t change that, but I was young at the time. I knew I wanted my future Appointed to have this Class, but I wasn¡¯t comfortable with the possibility of the Appointed being a man knowing that I would have to Descend into a man¡¯s body and that¡¯s just not something I wanted. I was selfish and figured it wouldn¡¯t be that big a deal to change someone¡¯s sex, and it would like¡­double my options compared to just looking at women to be my Appointed.


    So, I campaigned for that particular change under the guise of it being easiest and got it into the Class. I¡¯m over that hang-up now, but we couldn¡¯t exactly change the Class without spending a bunch of Worship, so I had to live with that mistake. I¡¯m sorry, really, really sorry.


    Tess let that sink in for a minute. She¡­didn¡¯t know how to feel about that, not really. On the one hand, it really hadn¡¯t been a big deal in the end, but it still felt¡­not cool, knowing that Fortune purposefully led her down this path. But, on the other, Fortune seemed remorseful enough, and Tess knew there, at least, wasn¡¯t any malice in the decision.


    ¡°Well?¡± Ellie asked, ¡°did she respond?¡±


    Tess absentmindedly read off the message while she thought of how to respond, but, before she could, Ellie spoke up again.


    ¡°So, why Tess? Why not pick some other person with low stats? You say it¡¯s because you¡¯re close to us, but why were you even watching us? Didn¡¯t you have better things to be doing?¡±


    Well¡­Evan was going through a lot of turmoil around when his kids died, and he had just adopted you two. I honestly didn¡¯t have too much else to be doing and was bored, so I gave him a watch because it was different from everything else I had ever really paid attention to. That¡¯s actually kind of the norm for Appointed, the people around them just tend to get more attention from the gods.


    But, in my watching, I¡­well, I got attached to you two. And then Fate caught me peeking and encouraged me to keep doing so, so I¡­did. And after that we got¡­here, I guess.


    And no, I honestly really didn¡¯t have much better to be doing. My influence among mortals was pretty limited because I hadn¡¯t really given any sufficiently strong Blessings or otherwise invested enough in a person to be in a place to give mortals orders, and most of the other things I have to do boil down to making sure automated systems are working properly. Leaves me with a lot of free time, you know?


    Ellie waited for Tess to read the latest message to her, then continued her questioning. ¡°Alright, fine, but still, why do this to Tess if you knew how much stress it would cause? Why pick her when you could pick a woman or, even better, a trans woman?¡±


    When Tess got those stats, I knew she would be hurting. And no one else was going to use Worship on someone with such low stats, regardless of how close they are to Evan. It was the only thing I could really do to help.


    The two of you fit the ideal qualities I want in an Appointed, so I had resolved to make one of you my Appointed if you met my stat requirements. Tess happened to meet those requirements, so I¡­went with it. Honestly, I wasn¡¯t even in the market for an Appointed or anything, it just¡­happened.


    I thought it¡¯d be fine since I was confident that she¡¯d be happier in the end, but¡­I was being selfish. I¡¯m sorry, really, really sorry.


    And while I can¡¯t really argue with the bit about choosing a woman, being trans actually doesn¡¯t factor into this. There¡¯s widely available magic to change someone¡¯s sex, so trans people can generally rectify things whenever they want.


    No, it won¡¯t work on you, Tess, sorry. You¡¯ll need to get rid of Monster Breeder and all the associated Skills and I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s even possible. The removal items are usually made by the god of Magic, and the problem is that, unfortunately, Monster Breeder is made by Amy, and none of anything made with our Worship can mess with things made of her Worship.


    I could ask her about removal, though, if you¡¯d like. No promises she¡¯ll do anything, but I¡¯ll do my best to help.


    Tess sighed. ¡°Look, I¡¯m going to level with you. It really wasn¡¯t cool to push me to Monster Breeder without giving me all the information first, especially about what it would do to me. If we¡¯re going to be cooperating like this, you can¡¯t keep things from me like this. If it¡¯s something like this that involves me, I deserve to know about it, and I want you to tell me.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Good. Now, are you keeping anything else like this from me?¡±


    ¡°In that case, I forgive you. Just¡­remember our promise and don¡¯t do stuff like this again. And¡­as for asking Amy¡­don¡¯t for now. As things stand, I¡¯m content with my lot in life, so¡­maybe in the future I might take you up on that, but for now it¡¯s fine.¡±


    She was right; Ellie was shifting from foot to foot, looking anxiously at Tess in clear curiosity.


    ¡°Oh. Right, sorry.¡± Tess said, ¡°Let me get you caught up.¡±


    After a quick explanation, Ellie sighed. ¡°Well, I suppose I can¡¯t be too mad if she¡¯s fine with things. That¡¯s all I had to ask, though¡­¡± She gave Tess a hesitant look. ¡°but, you¡¯re¡­content? Are you sure? You seemed pretty¡­well, stressed about it before.¡±


    ¡°I got used to it while I was out. At least out in the Outlands, no one really treats me differently, well, no, that¡¯s a lie, guys tend to stare, but I can¡¯t really blame them, I¡¯d probably stare too. I mean, I think going to school and talking to people who I used to interact with as a guy before will probably be harder, but we¡¯ll see.¡±


    A sly smile crept across Tess¡¯s face as she got an idea. ¡°Plus, it allows me to be with you.¡±


    Ellie froze, expression rapidly flickering between emotions but steadily growing more red. Finally, she was able to splutter out some words, ¡°I¡­you¡­that¡¯s not fair, ambushing me like that.¡±


    Tess debated going for the kill and giving Ellie a quick kiss on the cheek but decided against it. As much as she wanted to see Ellie even more flustered, that was a little too forward and embarrassing for Tess. Instead, she just kept smirking. ¡°You liked it, though, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Duh,¡± Ellie responded immediately, ¡°it was just surprising. I leave you for one month and you come back all flirty. Not that it¡¯s a bad thing or anything, just surprising.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Fortune said she has to get back to work, so it¡¯s just the two of us now. Um, if you¡­don¡¯t mind my asking, how did you know Fortune was so¡­involved with my changes? You said she talked to you about it before? When?¡±


    ¡°I was really stressing about how happy I was that you were a girl now, and how it was like¡­years of my fantasizing coming true, and I realized that she had made some comments that suggested to me she was pretty¡­involved with your change. And she sent me some messages saying yes, she was, but it was more complicated than that and she couldn¡¯t tell me more yet.¡±


    ¡°I¡­see. We talked about this before, but are you still feeling bad?¡±


    Ellie paused. ¡°A bit. Not nearly as much, but even if you tell me it¡¯s fine it still feels a little scummy, you know?¡±


    Tess grabbed Ellie¡¯s hand, giving it a little squeeze. ¡°Something Alice and Auntie taught me is that it¡¯s okay to be selfish sometimes. You¡¯re not hurting anyone right now, so just let it be. You¡¯re fine.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°But nothing.¡± Tess said firmly. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about this. It¡¯s fine.¡±


    Ellie sighed. ¡°You¡¯re right, you¡¯re right.¡± She sat down on Tess¡¯s bed, and, to Tess¡¯s surprise, pulled Tess onto her lap, smiling slightly. ¡°Might as well start now, eh?¡±


    ¡°I¡­uh¡­yeah, that¡¯s fine.¡±


    Ellie hugged Tess tightly. ¡°You smell really good.¡± She said. ¡°I know it sounds kind of creepy, but it¡¯s true.¡±


    Tess leaned back into Ellie, letting herself relax. ¡°That¡¯s Target of Affection for you.¡±


    ¡°Well, can¡¯t say I don¡¯t appreciate it. Anyway, while we¡¯re talking about serious stuff, what are you going to do about Ilmir? It sounds like you¡¯re stuck with her for the next month, which really doesn¡¯t sound pleasant.¡±


    Tess grimaced. ¡°Apparently there¡¯s some trauma in her past that we need to clear the air about. I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s going to help, but Auntie and some of her and Gramps¡¯s party members gave me advice on dealing with her. They said I have to be firm and never give ground on anything, at least while I¡¯m in charge of her. It sounds counterproductive to me, but they¡¯ve assured me that, in this specific situation where she has no power over me, it¡¯ll make her respect me more.¡±


    Ellie gave Tess a reassuring squeeze. ¡°Well, if worst comes to worst we can just ditch her early. Aunt Eyfura is here to teach you how to use your claws, but surely you¡¯re getting the gist of things and won¡¯t necessarily need her anymore if things get bad, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡­guess. I¡¯d kind of feel bad, Auntie really seems to be enjoying this, but¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay to be selfish sometimes.¡± Ellie said smugly. ¡°It¡¯s not worth keeping people like Ilmir in your life. Not when she¡¯s so nasty for no good reason.¡±


    Tess smiled, embarrassed. ¡°Well, I guess you got me there.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure Aunt Eyfura will understand.¡± Ellie soothed. ¡°She hasn¡¯t seemed the happiest with Ilmir either.¡±


    ¡°I guess. She seems to be thinking it¡¯s mostly her fault, though, so she wants me to be a little more lenient with Ilmir for her sake. We¡¯ll see how things turn out tomorrow, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Well, until then would you like to just relax with me?¡±


    Tess smiled, turning around and leaning up so she could give Ellie a kiss. ¡°I¡¯d love to.¡±


    Fighterman481


    Other than that...I don''t have too much to say, really. So, um, next time we''ll be confronting Ilmir, so look forward to that I guess.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 31: Angry Outbursts

    Tess took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself as she opened the door to one of the guild¡¯s private rooms. She stopped for a moment as she surveyed the room. Ker, Ilmir, and Eyfura were all there, but, surprisingly, so was Ava.


    ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± Ilmir said flatly. ¡°Are we going or what?¡±


    Tess cleared her throat a little. ¡°No. We need to talk, Ilmir.¡±


    Ilmir looked around at the gathered people. ¡°Oh. That¡¯s why Ker and Ava are here. Spit it out, what do you want?¡±


    ¡°We have to talk about your attitude.¡± Tess took a seat across from Ilmir. ¡°I want to know why you¡¯re so hung up on stats. That isn¡¯t normal, even I can tell that much.¡±


    ¡°None of your business,¡± Ilmir grumped. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter much to you, does it?¡±


    ¡°It does,¡± Tess said firmly. ¡°If we¡¯re going to be working in a team, I need to know why you don¡¯t like me. I didn¡¯t do a thing to you and you¡¯ve been nothing but rude and condescending to me.¡±


    Ilmir growled, a sound that was more akin to that of a beast than that of a person. ¡°I said it¡¯s none of your business.¡±


    Tess looked Ilmir directly in the eyes. ¡°Then stop acting like a child. If you don¡¯t want to talk about it, then start treating me like a person and not a walking set of stats. If you¡¯re not capable of doing that, then we need to talk.¡±


    Uncertainty flickered across Ilmir¡¯s face, but she held Tess¡¯s gaze. ¡°You haven¡¯t been through the ringer.¡± She replied. ¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve gotten yourself into. You¡¯re only going to get yourself and the people around you hurt. You think you¡¯ve got something going for you, but once you come across a real opponent you won¡¯t have a leg to stand on.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a little unfair, dear?¡± Ava asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think her abilities have had a chance to settle. She¡¯s rather lopsidedly built at the moment but that¡¯s not going to stay the case.¡±


    Ilmir paused, not taking her eyes off of Tess. ¡°How do you know? That¡¯s all just theory, and I learned the hard way that reality doesn¡¯t always conform to theory, no matter how much you want it to.¡±


    ¡°I know because I helped put her abilities together.¡± Ava said calmly. ¡°And, in this case, we can guarantee that reality will conform. What makes you think otherwise?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s good for you to talk about it.¡± Ava continued. ¡°You¡¯ve been thinking about this alone for a while, right?¡±


    Ilmir briefly broke Tess¡¯s gaze, eyes flickering over to Ava and then right back to Tess. ¡°But¡­I thought¡­¡±


    ¡°That it¡¯s confidential? It is, but nothing¡¯s really confidential between Appointed. For the purpose of confidential information, we¡¯re treated the same as our god. Tess already knows a little about it, and we¡¯ve gotten permission for The Rumors to know, due to it being pertinent information for training you.¡±


    ¡°You told Tess?!¡± Ilmir exclaimed, horror briefly flashing across her expression ¡°Yesterday when we talked you said you wouldn¡¯t tell anyone!¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t, I did.¡± Eyfura interjected. ¡°And I didn¡¯t give her any real details, I only let her know about my side of the story, my mistakes. She doesn¡¯t know anything other than I misjudged things and you suffered for it, and that your opponent was of far higher stats than you.¡±


    ¡°So,¡± Tess said, ¡°we can either talk about it, or you can continue to be a child and try and bully me for something that¡¯s not my fault.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re younger than me. Stop calling me a child.¡± Ilmir pouted.


    ¡°Well, you don¡¯t act like you¡¯re older than me. I shouldn¡¯t have to lecture you about basic courtesy. So, since you obviously don¡¯t want to talk, can you stop treating me like dirt?¡±


    Ilmir hesitated. ¡°And if I refuse to do either?¡±


    ¡°Then you get kicked out.¡± Tess said flatly. ¡°I¡¯m not going to tolerate you acting like this.¡±


    ¡°Grandma goes with me if you do. We¡¯re a package deal,¡± Ilmir said, a hint of smugness to her tone. ¡°She¡¯s not going to prioritize you over her own kin.¡±


    ¡°Wrong,¡± Eyfura said. ¡°At the very least I won¡¯t be helping you for the month you would have to be with Tess. And if you¡¯re being this stubborn, I¡¯m going to have to consider dropping you entirely, at least until Tess has been trained more. She¡¯s basically family too and getting an Appointed into fighting shape is more important than training a spoiled brat. Talk it out or stop being so mean.¡±


    Ava laid a hand on Ilmir¡¯s thigh. ¡°It¡¯s alright to talk about it, sweetie. No one here is going to make fun of you. Remember what we talked about yesterday.¡±


    Ilmir fully broke Tess¡¯s gaze, turning to Ava and whispering something that she presumably thought Tess couldn¡¯t hear. ¡°How do I back down while retaining my pride?¡± Ilmir asked. ¡°And I can¡¯t just¡­go against what I just said a minute ago.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s fine to just go back on it,¡± Ava whispered back, winking at Tess. ¡°We won¡¯t think less of you. It¡¯s a traumatic thing, we understand.¡±


    ¡°If you understand, why are you making me talk about it with people I barely know?¡± Ilmir hissed.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s affecting how you treat them, and because I think they¡¯ll be able to help make you feel better. Give it a go, you don¡¯t have to carry this burden yourself.¡±


    Ilmir let out a heavy sigh. ¡°Look, none of you are allowed to make fun of me, alright? You all wouldn¡¯t have done much better.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Of course. I wouldn¡¯t do something like that.¡±


    Ilmir gave Ava another hesitant glance, and, after getting a nod from Ava, slowly began to talk. ¡°It was a couple of years ago. I had just hit level thirty, and my kit was starting to click into place. I had gotten pretty lucky with Skills and Classes, and, out of everyone close to my level, I was far and away the strongest I knew of. I got cocky and started pestering Grandma to let me go on one of her Appointed trips. Not one of the ones that required real high-level stuff, I wasn¡¯t that dumb, but I thought one of her easier ones would be well within my capabilities.¡±


    She began to talk faster now, as if she had gotten over her hesitance. ¡°I was wrong, of course. We went to prevent a potential despot from gaining too much power, and things got¡­ugly. I wanted to take the despot out myself and impress Grandma, and the guards around the despot¡¯s house I was able to take out with no problem, so even though Grandma had told me the despot was too strong for me, I figured it would be pretty safe if I went on ahead. How tough could the despot be if her guards were that weak? They¡¯re theoretically supposed to be stronger than her so they can guard her, right? So, I slipped away from Grandma while she was fighting five or six of the guards, and I made my way to where the despot¡¯s room was.


    ¡°The despot was¡­a lot stronger than I thought. She had good stats and was at least twenty or thirty levels higher than me with really good gear. She overpowered me with barely any effort, and it turns out she had some Skill that let her possess people. I was a prisoner in my own body as she had some guards ¡®tie me up¡¯ and leave me somewhere Grandma would find me. They had given me a small dagger with the venom of some really, really nasty monster on it and were going to use me to stab Grandma when her guard was down.¡±


    ¡°Grandma found me, of course, and dispatched the guards ¡®guarding¡¯ me with barely a thought. Then, as she was untying me, the despot made me get a good hit in on the hand that was undoing my bindings. She had to take a moment to get rid of that venom, and the despot wriggled away, using my own body to take me hostage. She said if her original body was killed while she was possessing someone she would just remain in the body forever, so she told Grandma to leave if she ever wanted to see me again.


    ¡°Grandma didn¡¯t want to take any chances and went into Descent, and the despot slit my throat then and there. She wanted to make Grandma waste time with me while she ran away, and¡­well, Grandma didn¡¯t want to leave me and didn¡¯t have healing that would get me back on my feet quick enough to let her still catch the despot through whatever exit plan the despot had set up.


    ¡°So, she threw me over her shoulder and there was apparently some discourse with the gods, because War gave me my Blessings then and there. I was able to use them to heal back up, but Grandma didn¡¯t let me go. Grandma, still in Descent, waded through a ton of guards with even less trouble than she had before, despite only having one free hand. She chased after the despot, but while the despot had been possessing me, she had someone take her body away, and they teleported somewhere.¡±


    Ilmir balled her fists and glared at Tess. ¡°We followed them through one or two teleports, but Grandma ran out of time for her Descent and didn¡¯t have the Skills or Mana to follow any further. We failed and it was because of me, get it? I thought that unusually synergistic Skills and really good stats would carry me through level difference and let me do more than I should be able to at my level, but I didn¡¯t even get the opportunity to try anything. I was crushed with raw stats before I could. That defeat made me stop even trying for a long time, and you¡¯re going to have to deal with this stuff every day!


    ¡°So¡­if I couldn¡¯t, what makes you different?!¡± She was almost yelling now, her voice rising in intensity as she spoke. ¡°Why does everyone tell you that you can get by with Skill synergies when I know that¡¯s not always going to be the case! What are you going to do against people so much stronger than you that you might as well be level one?! What does it matter that your ailments always hit if you can only ever do chip damage?! I¡¯m not even a tank and a surprise attack with a million different bonuses only did a third of my health!¡±


    She stood up, glaring down at Tess. ¡°I don¡¯t get it, why would Fortune pick someone like you?! Why would she purposefully pick someone with such low potential when someone with such high potential was right next to you?! You¡¯re not even Uncle Evan¡¯s real granddaughter! Why do you get such special treatment and I don¡¯t?!¡±


    She stood there, panting as she finished her rant.


    That last bit, about not being Gramps¡¯s real granddaughter was the last straw, Tess wasn¡¯t going to take this anymore. She stood up, taking a deep breath. ¡°Anything else?¡± She asked icily. ¡°Because I think it¡¯s my turn to talk.¡±


    Not waiting for a response, she continued. ¡°You have no right to determine whether or not I¡¯m Gramps¡¯s ¡®real¡¯ granddaughter.¡± She said in a low, cold voice. ¡°And what do you know about the wringer?! Do you even know what life¡¯s put me through? My entire biological family is dead! No siblings, parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, anything! I don¡¯t know anyone in your family other than Auntie, or if they¡¯re alive or what the deal with that is, but even if they¡¯re not alive, at least you had someone else! I would have been put in an orphanage if it wasn¡¯t for Gramps!¡±


    Tess glared defiantly at Ilmir. ¡°Do you know what that feels like? Waking up one day and suddenly being all alone? Realizing that you¡¯re about to be thrown into a notoriously cold-hearted, even abusive system? How many times have you cried yourself to sleep because you knew you weren¡¯t going to see the people you loved most again? Have you ever pondered suicide because you felt there wasn¡¯t anything else left for you and thought even the chance of seeing your family again was worth it? I was ten when I was thinking that.


    ¡°But those long nights crying myself to sleep? Gramps always came in and sat with me until I was finally asleep, no matter how long it took. He was the one to remind me that there were people who cared, that there was still worth in living life. He never treated me any different from Ellie, and while I never knew my biological grandparents, if that¡¯s not being a ¡®real¡¯ grandparent then I don¡¯t know what is. So, shut up. You know nothing about my relationship with Gramps.¡±


    Ilmir recoiled, visibly taken aback. ¡°I¡­didn¡¯t think, I¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course you didn¡¯t think.¡± Tess snapped. ¡°You haven¡¯t spent a second thinking about how I feel this entire time.¡± Tess took a moment to collect herself. She wanted to rub the fact that she and Ellie were dating in Ilmir¡¯s face, but¡­that¡¯d be stooping down to Ilmir¡¯s level. It might make her feel better in the short term, but that wouldn¡¯t do anyone any good in the long run.


    Ilmir sat down, face a bright red. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She whispered. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize.¡±


    Tess was feeling a bit calmer now, though she could tell her face was also bright red. ¡°Right. I¡­got a bit carried away there. And, well, there are reasons for why Fortune picked me. I don¡¯t know if I can tell you them¡­¡±


    ¡°Right. Well, Fortune¡¯s saying it¡¯s OK to tell you all, but she wasn¡¯t allowed to give her Blessing to someone with even average potential. It¡¯s just too strong, so she can only give it to really weak people like me. The gods were afraid that it would become too much of a problem otherwise. That¡¯s why she didn¡¯t pick Ellie. And my Skill synergy is entirely different than your Skill synergy. I get the best possible set of Skills, not just good ones that happen to work together, as well as access to abilities that people shouldn¡¯t have thanks to my Class.¡±


    Tess sat herself back down, looking embarrassedly at the other three in the room. ¡°Sorry for my outburst.¡± She said. ¡°I got a bit carried away there.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, dear.¡± Ava said soothingly. ¡°Everyone needs to let their feelings out sometime. Do the two of you understand each other better, now?¡±


    ¡°A little.¡± Tess said. ¡°I still don¡¯t think that what she¡¯s been through justifies treating me like she has been, though.¡±


    ¡°You are correct, but I have my own observations to make, if I may.¡± Ker said. He waited for Tess¡¯s approval before continuing. ¡°It seems to me that, while Ilmir¡¯s behavior has been reprehensible, much of the blame here lies with Eyfura. I think she could have prevented quite a bit of this if she was more explicit when telling Ilmir about Tess¡¯s abilities, was more discerning when choosing to bring Ilmir along with her on that mission, or more proactive when trying to deal with the trauma.


    ¡°That¡¯s not to absolve Ilmir or anything, but I don¡¯t think we should entirely pin the blame on her. She hasn¡¯t yet fully gotten out of the rash stage of beastkin youth and won¡¯t for another few years. We should look at the adults in the situation first.¡±


    Contrary to what Tess was expecting, Eyfura just nodded glumly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re right. There were a lot of things I could have done to prevent this and was too prideful to. Ilmir, I think I¡¯ve told you this, but I took you on that mission with the intent to have you fail and be humbled. But¡­I misjudged things and didn¡¯t watch you close enough so it ended up being a lot worse than I was hoping. I was trying to humble you and ended up scarring you instead. I should have asked for someone¡¯s help in talking to you about it and didn¡¯t, I should have been more thorough in explaining how Tess¡¯s abilities worked, I shouldn¡¯t have gotten agitated and made the bet with you.¡±


    She gave Tess an apologetic look. ¡°I¡­probably should have asked for your permission for this punishment too, since it affects you. I wasn¡¯t taking your feelings into account either.¡±


    Ava nodded. ¡°Ilmir, what do you have to say for yourself?¡±


    Ilmir hung her head sadly. ¡°I¡­took things too far too. I didn¡¯t want to admit I was wrong after I had already been so harsh. So, I dug in my heels and refused to give an inch. I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ll try and be better in the future.¡±


    She looked up. ¡°I¡¯m not giving up on Ellie, though. I know you have eyes for her, but my feelings for her have nothing to do with you. We¡¯ll be love rivals going forward.¡±


    Tess scratched the back of her neck. ¡°About that¡­You¡¯ve kind of already lost. Ellie and I are in a relationship as of a couple days ago. It¡¯s not because of our fight or anything, she really doesn¡¯t care how strong someone is, it¡¯s more about how their personality is. And, um, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve noticed, but she really doesn¡¯t like you. She thinks you¡¯re shallow and mean-spirited.¡±


    Ilmir wilted. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Is it¡­because of how I treated you?¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m¡­pretty sure you¡¯ve already ruined whatever chances you had with her. She¡¯s not the type to let stuff like this go easily.¡±


    Ilmir gave a sigh. ¡°I¡­need to go think. Grandma, is it alright if I stay home for the next¡­while? We can start the whole month of her being party leader later. I¡­need some alone time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Just¡­let me know when you¡¯re ready, alright? We¡¯ll talk about this more then.¡±


    Ilmir stood up, giving Tess a rather conflicted look as she left the room.


    ¡°So¡­now what?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Oh. Right. The Rewards Crystal in Slime Tower got replaced now that the gods are done with it. Fortune says the four of us can go get a new thing from it now.¡±


    Eyfura stood up, stretching. ¡°Yeah, sounds good to me. I need to move around a bit after all this.¡±


    ¡°We might as well grab Evan too.¡± Ava said, standing up as well. ¡°He¡¯ll get us through the papers check faster and we¡¯ll need him to confirm that the Rewards Crystal has changed, too.¡±


    So, the four of them left, soon to head back to where this had all started for Tess.


    Fighterman481


    Regardless, we won''t be seeing too much of her for a while. Anyway, next time we''ll be getting that thing from the Rewards Crystal and...something else I don''t know yet, so...look forward to it?


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 32: Where it All Began

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯d love to go with you.¡± Gramps said, standing up from his seat at his desk, ¡°Monthly inspection¡¯s soon so this works out anyway.¡± He walked around the desk to meet up with the group, giving Ker a faux-apologetic smile. ¡°Sorry for making you accompany the three of us old timers on our day trip. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll only get in your way.¡±


    Ker rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not buying it, Guildmaster. I¡¯ve seen Eyfura fight, and I¡¯ve seen your spellcasting. Assuming Ava¡¯s kept up as well as you two have, I¡¯m pretty sure any one of you ¡®old timers¡¯ could take out my entire party without even breaking a sweat.¡±


    ¡°Got that right.¡± Atum said, closing the door behind him. ¡°I¡¯ve scrapped with plenty of parties like yours. Sorry to say it, but you three have a ways to go before you¡¯re ready to break into the real top-tier of freelancing.¡±


    He turned to Tess, laughing as he saw her surprise. ¡°What, you think I¡¯m missing this? Not a chance. War let me know you all were going to go out together and there¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to be the only one left out.¡±


    Gramps smiled. ¡°Sounds great. Ava, Atum, do the two of you have any other plans for the day?¡±


    Atum shook his head. ¡°Not really. Ava was planning to spend most of the day helping smooth things out between Tess and Ilmir, and things are relatively peaceful right now, so I don¡¯t have much work.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. In that case, we¡¯ll just stay out until Ellie gets done with school, after which we¡¯ll come back and then disperse, I have some business with my grandkids. Ker, why don¡¯t you get the rest of your party, and we¡¯ll all go out together. I¡¯m sure Alice, at the least, would never let me hear the end of it if I didn¡¯t let her come with.¡±


    Ker blinked, momentarily taken aback at the sudden turn of events. ¡°Uh, yeah. Give me a sec, they should still be hanging about here.¡± He left the room, leaving Tess with just the other Appointed.


    ¡°So¡­what¡¯s the plan?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°I figured we¡¯d go get the stuff from the Rewards Crystal and then we could do some training with The Rumors.¡± Gramps said. ¡°We haven¡¯t had the opportunity to spar as a party lately, so I thought we could do some mock battles, you and The Rumors against us. We¡¯d be going easy, of course, wouldn¡¯t really be fair otherwise. More to teach you about fighting people and help give The Rumors a little training too for their help in training you and Ellie.¡±


    Atum grinned, punching his palm with a fist. ¡°Sounds good to me. I haven¡¯t had the opportunity to spar with anyone halfway decent in a while. It¡¯ll be nice to see what rank nine looks like these days.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re middle of the line as far as rank goes.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°Competition¡¯s a bit stiffer these days, though. Back in our heyday they could have probably passed for low rank ten.¡±


    Atum grunted. ¡°It¡¯ll at least be a bit of a challenge, then. Mind letting me at them one-on-one? I don¡¯t want to have it end too fast.¡±


    ¡°Only so long as I get to go first.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°I have some things of my own I want to drill into them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all fine.¡± Gramps said. ¡°We¡¯ve got plenty of time.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­I think I might want to just watch.¡± Tess said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m anywhere near capable of doing anything in any sort of serious fight between you all and The Rumors.¡±


    Ava grabbed Tess¡¯s hand, smiling warmly. ¡°That may be so, but there¡¯s still plenty you can learn from fighting an expert. You don¡¯t have to participate in fighting our whole party if you don¡¯t want to, but I hope you¡¯ll at least consider sparring with one of us while Atum or Eyfura is taking The Rumors on by themself.¡±


    There was a polite knock at the door, prompting Gramps to call for whoever it was to come in.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s going on, Guildmast¡­¡± Alice trailed off as she saw the rest of the group. ¡°Woah.¡±


    ¡°Ah, perfect timing.¡± Gramps said. ¡°I¡¯ll explain once the door¡¯s properly shut.¡±


    Alice seemingly snapped out of a stupor, moving out of the doorway and letting Jin and Ker into the room.


    Jin closed the door behind him, nodding smoothly at Gramps. ¡°Quite the gathering we have here. To what do we owe the pleasure?¡±


    ¡°Well, the Challenge Crystal in Slime Tower is being replaced.¡± Gramps explained. ¡°It¡¯s served its purpose, so the gods are getting a new one installed, one that¡¯ll actually benefit people. We all needed to go pick it up, so I thought we¡¯d take you all for a sort of day trip, at least until Ellie gets off  school. Then I have business with her and Tess, so I¡¯ll have to duck out. What happens then will be up to the rest of you.¡±


    Alice raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m not complaining or anything, but surely beating the Challenge and getting the reward won¡¯t take more than half an hour. We¡¯ve got like¡­five before Ellie gets here, what¡¯s the plan then?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re gonna fight.¡± Atum said. ¡°Some friendly sparring, us against you. We¡¯ll give you a little teaching as thanks for all the help you¡¯ve given Evan.¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Um, uh¡­thanks. At least for one round, though, will you go all out against us? I¡¯ve always wondered what it would feel like to fight against you guys.¡±


    Atum chuckled. ¡°Sorry, but all out is a no-go. Descending just for sparring is too dangerous. But I think we can manage using everything but that for a round or two.¡±


    ¡°Ah. So, is it safe to assume that you and Ava are Appointed as well?¡± Jin asked. ¡°I was wondering about it after Eyfura and the Guildmaster revealed themselves.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re all Appointed.¡± Ava confirmed.


    ¡°I see.¡± Jin replied. ¡°That certainly does explain a thing or two. Shall we be going, then?¡±


    ¡°I think we should.¡± Gramps said. ¡°We¡¯ve only got so much time, after all.¡± And, with that, the group made their way out of the guild and towards Slime Tower. They garnered quite a few looks as they walked down the street, to the point where a few people even stopped entirely, staring at Gramps and the rest of his party.


    ¡°Do you guys not go out together much?¡± Tess asked. ¡°This is even worse than it normally is.¡±


    Ava laughed. ¡°Yeah, usually we prefer to meet up in private or in disguise to avoid all this attention, but every once in a while, we like to make a public appearance. Helps remind people that we¡¯re still around here, that they have to deal with us if they get ideas about taking over the Outlands.¡±


    The rest of their short trip was filled with idle chatter between Gramps and the rest of The Titans, as well as the occasional question directed at Tess. The Rumors were mostly silent, though Alice would occasionally chip in with something, usually talking to Eyfura when she did.


    And, eventually, they were at the line to Slime Tower. It was still by far the longest line Tess had seen, though, now that she had seen the freelancers in other dungeons, she could tell that the ones waiting for Slime Tower were¡­subpar. It was always something. Perhaps their gear was ill-maintained, perhaps their attitude showed that they were treating this as just a day job, something they did to survive, no real risk, no real satisfaction.


    Or maybe they were just new. Which wasn¡¯t really anything against them, but it was just evident that, in general, the people that were here were either very inexperienced or completely over-prepared for the dungeon.


    ¡°Elias, how¡¯re you holding up over there?!¡± Gramps said, walking up to the guard for the resident line.


    Elias peered up at the assembled people, then back at Gramps. ¡°Uh¡­fine?¡± He said nervously. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Inspection!¡± Gramps replied, beaming. ¡°Everyone here was going to go on a day trip with me, and we figured we¡¯d stop by real quick since this was on the way.¡±


    ¡°Oh, um, right. Let me grab the paperwork¡­¡± He bent down below the little stall he was sitting behind and rummaged around for a moment before bringing up some papers. ¡°Sorry, I would have had these in a more easily accessible place had I known you were going to come today.¡±


    Gramps grabbed the papers, waving his free hand dismissively. ¡°Don¡¯t even worry about it, there¡¯s really no way you could have known.¡±


    Elias smiled weakly. ¡°In you go, then. Um¡­have a good time, I guess?¡±


    Soon the eight of them were at the Party Crystal, putting themselves in one big party together, and then they were off to the first floor.


    ¡°You go in first, Tess.¡± Gramps said, ¡°That should guarantee we get a floor with a Challenge on it.¡±


    Tess nodded, opening the door and stepping into the dungeon proper. It was¡­exactly the same as it was when she had last been here, down to the slime sitting on the floor of the raised area directly in front of her.


    Gramps nudged her forward. ¡°Take care of it while I look for the Challenge room, alright?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Tess walked forward, unsheathing her claws as the slime sat there, patiently waiting for someone it could actually target to enter its radius. She paused for a moment, then positioned a claw over the slime, bringing it down with no more force than she would use when popping a balloon.


    You have punctured slime for 34 damage!


    You have killed slime! You gain 13 EXP! Monster Breeder has gained 6 EXP!


    And, much like a balloon, the slime burst, flying apart into rainbow mist. ¡°A bit of a far cry from the first slime you killed, don¡¯t you think? You barely even instakilled that first one, and you dispatched this with no effort.¡± Gramps said, smirking somewhat. He turned his attention back to the wall, pulling out a small stone from his bag, looking around, and then nailing the loose brick.


    As it had before, the wall fell forward, leaving a path to the Challenge in front of them. ¡°Now that I¡¯m thinking about it¡­I don¡¯t think I ever absorbed the cores of the monsters in here. Those would¡­probably be pretty helpful.¡±


    ¡°Quite.¡± Atum said. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t before.¡±


    ¡°I forgot about the cores in everything that was going on and they ended up getting sold pretty soon after I got Monster Breeder. And then I just¡­forgot to get more.¡± Tess said sheepishly.


    ¡°Us too.¡± Alice said. ¡°But, in our defense, no one ever really thinks about this Challenge. There¡¯s never really been a reason to.¡±


    ¡°I suppose it¡¯s not really important right now.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°She can absorb those now, no big deal.¡±


    As they entered the Challenge room, Gramps fired a spell, instantly killing the four slimes. Tess walked over, picked up the cores, and absorbed them all at once.


    You have absorbed a Poison Slime Core!


    Slots filled: 10/26


    You have gained 25 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    You have absorbed a Paralysis Slime Core!


    Slots filled: 11/26


    You have gained 25 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    You have absorbed a Freeze Slime Core!


    Slots filled: 12/26


    You have gained 25 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    You have absorbed a Petrification Slime Core!


    Slots filled: 13/26


    You have gained 25 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    New cores absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    New Skills detected!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Poisoned Blows¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Poisoned Strikes!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Paralyzing Blows¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Stuttering Strikes!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Freezing Blows¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Chilling Strikes!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Petrifying Blows¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Stony Strikes!


    Poisoned Strikes:


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your unarmed attacks have a 5% chance to inflict Poison at the rate of 50%. This Poison lasts for 1 minute and deals 5% of the damage of the main attack every five seconds.


    I¡¯m pretty sure this is technically venom.


    Stuttering Strikes:


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your unarmed attacks have a 5% chance to inflict Paralysis to the affected area at the rate of 25%. This Paralysis lasts for five seconds.


    Red light.


    Chilling Strikes:


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your unarmed attacks have a 5% chance to inflict Freeze to the affected area at the rate of 25%. This Freeze lasts for five seconds.


    Like, chill out, man.


    Stony Strikes:


    Rarity: Uncommon


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your unarmed attacks have a 5% chance to inflict Petrification to the affected area at the rate of 25%. This Petrification lasts for five seconds.


    You¡¯re¡­making one stone with one strike? I guess? That translates to two birds though so you¡¯re coming out with a net increase in stuff.


    Displaying core information:


    Poison Slime Core:


    Level 5


    Estimated Power: 15


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 20


    Current Skills:


    Poisoned Blows


    Current Attributes:


    Amorphous (Slimy) (Fundamental)


    Paralysis Slime Core:


    Level 5


    Estimated Power: 15


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 20


    Current Skills:


    Paralyzing Blows


    Current Attributes:


    Amorphous (Slimy) (Fundamental)


    Freeze Slime Core:


    Level 5


    Estimated Power: 15


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 20


    Current Skills:


    Freezing Blows


    Current Attributes:


    Amorphous (Slimy) (Fundamental)


    Petrification Slime Core:


    Level 5


    Estimated Power: 15


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 20


    Current Skills:


    Petrifying Blows


    Current Attributes:


    Amorphous (Slimy) (Fundamental)


    New Skills discovered!


    Poisoned Blows:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your attacks have a 10% chance to inflict Poison at the rate of 100%. This Poison lasts for 2 minutes and deals 10% of the damage of the main attack every five seconds.


    No, it¡¯s still venom. Most ¡°poison¡± in Skills is, come to think of it. Huh.


    Paralyzing Blows:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your attacks have a 15% chance to inflict Paralysis to the affected area at the rate of 75%. This Paralysis lasts for five seconds.


    Red light, but like¡­then you turn back to green light for one second and then you¡¯re right back to red light and it¡¯s getting annoying for everyone else playing


    Freezing Blows:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your attacks have a 10% chance to inflict Freeze to the affected area at the rate of 50%. This Freeze lasts for ten seconds.


    Cool as ice.


    Petrifying Blows:


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your attacks have a 5% chance to inflict Petrification to the affected area at the rate of 25%. This Petrification lasts for fifteen seconds.


    Unfortunately it¡¯s still just one stone with one strike. The bird market is safe¡­for now.


    Tess nodded in satisfaction. She didn¡¯t really want to trade out any of her current Attributes for a slight increase in efficacy to any of these ailments when it was¡­mostly just increasing the time they were afflicted for and she could just reapply the effects to keep things going.


    Well, actually, Poisoned Blows had a decent benefit to having the original Skill and she really wasn¡¯t using Call of the Shallows. She¡¯d make sure to replace that with Poisoned Blows later when she had some more time, but right now she needed to head into the Rewards Crystal room with everyone else.


    ¡°You go first, Tess.¡± Ava prompted. ¡°You¡¯ll probably have the most to digest with whatever you get. We¡¯ll all get ours while you read over your stuff.¡±


    Tess placed her hand on the crystal, then read the window she got.


    You have gained the Class Artisan of Affliction!


    For gaining the Class Artisan of Affliction, you have gained the Skills Artisanal Afflictions, Potent Punishment, Symphony of Suffering, and Lasting Impression!


    Artisanal Afflictions


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description: Every time you apply a status effect with a more severe version (such as with Poison and Blight), you have a chance to upgrade that status effect to its more severe version. This chance is equal to your level in Artisan of Affliction as a percentage (currently 1%).


    The best artisans know how to get the most out of their tools.


    Potent Punishment:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description: When applying a status effect, ignore an amount of the target¡¯s resistance equal to your level in Artisan of Affliction (currently 1%).


    Something of lesser craftsmanship wouldn¡¯t work, but your craftsmanship isn¡¯t lesser.


    Symphony of Suffering:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description: Status effects you inflict deal more damage based on your Artisan of Affliction level as a percentage (currently 1%). This effect applies multiplicatively after all other effects.


    Each new instrument makes the whole that much louder and that much more painful.


    Lasting Impression:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description: Status effects you inflict last longer based on your Artisan of Affliction level as a percentage (currently 1%). This effect applies multiplicatively after all other effects.


    The works of the great leave people thinking on them for longer than the works of the masses.


    The moment Tess waved the window away, another one popped up in its place.


    Hey, so, uh, here¡¯s that thing I was talking about, I helped get this Class made just for you.


    Well, I mean, it¡¯s not just for you like Monster Breeder ended up being. It¡¯s being added to a bunch of Rewards Crystals in some of the newer dungeons we¡¯re rolling out, so eventually other people are going to get it. It¡¯s pretty rare, though.


    Anyway, I made this with your toolkit in mind. Artisanal Afflictions is obviously far more useful to you at level 1 than it is to other people, and that 1% from Potent Punishment can make all the difference when determining whether or not you can apply an effect (though Status Tennis has you covered there too? I mean¡­can¡¯t hurt to have redundancy, you know? That and it was thematically fitting), but I still think this as a whole will greatly increase your usefulness. It¡¯s basically double everything at max level so¡­yeah


    Anyway, as you¡¯ve noticed, leveling slows down quite a bit after level 25, so I don¡¯t think it would hurt for you to equip Artisan of Affliction until you get it to level 25, and just re-equip Monster Breeder when you want to absorb a big core so you actually get the EXP.


    Hm. Actually, I¡¯ll have to check with Amy on how EXP from absorbing cores works. Because there¡¯s honestly a real chance that we forgot to make that action only give experience to Monster Breeder and it just gives you generic ¡°Class¡± experience instead, like killing things does.


    Uh¡­can you do me a favor and absorb the core from the slime you killed earlier? Well, when you change Classes, I mean. I want to check and be sure what the interaction there is.


    But, yeah, that¡¯s it. I gotta get back to work, I¡¯ll see you soon!


    Tess waved the window away, making a mental note to absorb the slime core later. Everyone else seemed to be done and were clearly waiting for Tess to finish reading her stuff. ¡°New Class.¡± Tess said in response to their unasked question. ¡°As in, like¡­they just made it and started putting it into Rewards Crystals new, apparently. Basically, it just makes my status effects more deadly, I¡¯ll write down the details for Gramps later.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be appreciated, thank you.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°Shall we get on with the inspection?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Tess said. ¡°But¡­what exactly are we inspecting?¡±


    ¡°We can get into more detail later if you want, but I¡¯m basically just checking the dungeon for signs that it needs to be cleared to stop it from growing and check for other anomalies. It¡¯s almost never an issue for the beginner dungeons, but complacency can lead to disaster, so I make sure we don¡¯t skip their inspections. We¡¯ll just have to go through the dungeon once, and then I¡¯ll do some paperwork based on what I see. It shouldn¡¯t take long, so don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that makes sense.¡±


    Jin waited to be sure there was no more conversation forthcoming, then spoke. ¡°The three of us are ready.¡±


    ¡°As are the rest of us.¡± Ava replied.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s be off, then!¡± Gramps said jovially, making a speedy exit from the room. The rest followed him, ready to get through the dungeon and to the real main event of the day.


    Fighterman481


    Uh, real quick, re: status effects - Paralysis, Freeze, and Petrification are basically the same thing. They take the affected body part (like with burning) and completely stop its movement. Freeze gives that body part a weakness to bludgeoning/fire damage, petrification gives resistance to physical damage. Generally speaking, though, Paralysis is easier to apply but doesn''t last long, Freeze is "neutral" in application difficulty and lasts a medium amount of time, Petrification is harder to apply but lasts longer.


    Anyway, I''m kind of surprised just this much took up a full chapter. I was expecting to squeeze in more, but this is ~3,500 words, so I guess that''ll just go next chapter.


    And, those of you with particularly sharp memories may notice that Artisan of Affliction gave Tess its Skills immediately, while Monster Breeder waited until after the Class was equipped. The reason behind this is pretty simple - Monster Breeder''s Skills couldn''t be used without the physical modifications made, so the acquisition of the Skills had to wait until after those had been made. This pattern holds true for any other Class that requires physical modifications.


    Anyway, next time we''ll get a little taste of what The Rumors and The Titans can really do, and then we''ll be dealing with...whatever Gramps has planned. That''s a secret to you all, though ;). That being said, look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 33: Take Them to Church

    Tess, Gramps, Atum, and Ava were sitting down on the grass, watching as Eyfura stared down The Rumors. They had taken a short trip outside of town to a clearing in the forest where they were less likely to draw the attention of other people. Gramps hadn¡¯t wanted to monopolize the guild¡¯s training yard for a whole morning, and nothing they would be doing was too secret.


    Well, Tess¡¯s abilities were still technically secret for the time being, but she wasn¡¯t planning on doing too much active training this morning and could always stop if someone detected other people around.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you all make the first move.¡± Eyfura said lazily. Despite the casualness with which she said that, she looked anything but ¨C for the first time Tess had seen, she was wearing armor, a set made of what Tess could only assume was dragon scales and hide. Her claws were fully extended, reaching a length just shorter than Tess¡¯s own, and she just¡­looked imposing.


    The Rumors seemed to think so as well; they were in a tight formation, Alice firmly planting her tower shield so as to shield her party members from Eyfura as they began casting spells. Eyfura patiently waited for the casts to complete, watching as Alice glowed with a sort of light as the spells took effect.


    ¡°Alright, seems like I¡¯m good to start, then.¡± Eyfura said, tensing.


    Alice was fast, already throwing her sword as Eyfura was talking. Eyfura, however, was faster, catching the speeding blade between two claws, and throwing it back, even faster than it had been before. Alice hurriedly moved her shield to intercept and the blade embedded itself within the metal, the force of the impact pushing Alice back slightly.


    Eyfura herself was only a second behind, speeding forward at a rate Tess could barely even follow. Jin let out some sort of¡­force wave spell, a wall of purple force heading out to meet Eyfura, followed closely by arrows of light from Ker.


    Eyfura just raked down with a hand, claws tearing open a hole in the magic which she ran through. As the arrows homed in on her she crouched and made a leap, propelling herself even faster as she jumped over the arrows, landing a short distance in front of Alice.


    Alice, having pried her sword out from her shield, thrust outwards towards Eyfura, a strike which Eyfura casually dodged. Eyfura dashed forward, running headlong into towards the tower shield and then suddenly jumped ever so slightly, landing with both feet on the shield and kicking off, a shimmering magical bubble-shaped barrier appearing over The Rumors as she did.


    The arrows, which were still tracking Eyfura, arced upwards but didn¡¯t turn fast enough, their momentum carrying them right into Alice¡¯s shield.


    Ker and Jin didn¡¯t let up the assault, a series of magic hitting the point where Eyfura landed. Eyfura was momentarily obscured from view by the projectiles, but that obstruction soon passed, revealing a slightly singed but relatively uninjured Eyfura, who was somehow holding one of Jin¡¯s spells, a nasty-looking fiery lance.


    She rushed forward and jumped, throwing the spell down and over the shield, hitting Alice and sending her stumbling backwards. This was swiftly followed by a strike from her claws, hitting the place where Alice¡¯s shield had been and shattering the barrier.


    From there Eyfura kicked out at the tower shield, the force of her blow actually knocking Alice off of her feet and down onto the ground. And then she lashed out, stopping her claws just before they punctured Ker and Jin¡¯s necks. ¡°And I think we¡¯ll call it there.¡± She said, standing up straight and dusting herself off. ¡°That was curtains for you two and I don¡¯t think Alice wants to try her luck one on one.¡±


    ¡°That was¡­something else.¡± Alice wheezed, propping herself up on her elbows. ¡°I haven¡¯t felt that thoroughly outclassed for years.¡±


    Eyfura shrugged. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve had a long time to deal with people who employ similar strategies. Honestly, it does work pretty well on most single enemies who use melee, but I¡¯m afraid it tends to fall apart against people who have ways to close in on you. The pushback spell is good, especially if you¡¯re confident that your enemy doesn¡¯t have any dispel, but after that¡­¡± She trailed off, looking at each member of the party in turn. ¡°Did anyone catch the flaw?¡±


    Jin nodded. ¡°It¡¯s because we keyed the barrier to let our attacks through and then anchored it on Alice¡¯s shield, right?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. A tough physical anchor like Alice is a great way to shore up a barrier, but if that anchor is moved, then the barrier becomes much weaker than it otherwise should be. And the keying is a good way to get around the problem that is having an offensive presence while inside a barrier, but you have to think about your attacks being turned against you. Most things can¡¯t dodge homing spells like me, and the vast majority of things can¡¯t physically interact with magic like me, but some things can.


    ¡°And, once that barrier is broken, your tank is probably off-balance, and your mages are exposed. So, this is a strategy you can only really employ if you¡¯re confident you know all of your opponent¡¯s abilities beforehand. It works amazingly well if they don¡¯t have any answers to any one of the threats it poses, but you can¡¯t rely on it. Now, are you ready for round two? I want you to try one of your other strategies on me.¡±


    Ava stood up, nudging Tess slightly. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come with me?¡± She asked. ¡°We can do some one-on-one training away from distractions. Effie¡¯s going to be a bit, and there probably won¡¯t be anything that¡¯s really interesting or relevant to you that you haven¡¯t already seen.¡±


    Gramps nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll call you when it¡¯s time for all four of us to spar with The Rumors, so don¡¯t worry about that. Have a good time out there!¡±


    Tess followed Ava for a while before Ava eventually stopped at another clearing nearby. ¡°So, before anything, I have to ask¡­do you plan on continuing to train with Ilmir after this month?¡±


    Tess paused, frowning at the sudden question. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Probably not, all depending on how things go. If I¡¯m going to be training with Ellie again, then Ilmir is probably out for sure. If not, then¡­I don¡¯t know. I guess it depends on how she is over the month. I might try and stop training with her earlier, might not, I just¡­yeah.¡±


    ¡°I see. Do you mind if I ask why you¡¯re hesitating so much?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­if I do, then I stop training with Auntie, and¡­well, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll see her often after that. And I don¡¯t want to essentially cut ties with her.¡±


    Ava gave her a reassuring smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, that¡¯s out of the question. The four of us have basically chosen to take on the role of making sure you don¡¯t lack for training in areas that The Rumors might not be able to teach you. Effie will still stop by every so often to make sure everything¡¯s going well.


    ¡°But, that sort of ties into why I was asking. I wanted to let you know that, if you all can¡¯t work together with Ilmir and Effie stops helping you so she can train her, then I¡¯m going to step in and take her place. One of the four of us will be with you all the time until you¡¯re done training, as an Appointed you¡¯re too important to let your early training be anything less than the best we can give.¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°I guess I just wanted to let you know that you shouldn¡¯t worry about making a decision because of stuff like this, we¡¯ll take care of things. Make your choice based on what you feel. Your early training really shouldn¡¯t feel miserable because of your teammates.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll¡­keep that in mind.¡± Tess said. ¡°So¡­what now?¡±


    ¡°Ah, right. I wanted to help you learn how best to use Return to Sender, or at least let you know what to practice. I want to demonstrate, so come at me with a punch, and I¡¯ll show you how to reflect it, and then we¡¯ll do that slower and slower until you get it and can start trying it yourself, alright?¡±


    The rest of the morning went by fairly fast. It took Tess a fair bit of time to get to the point where she could redirect attacks with any kind of speed, but by the time Gramps called the two back she could redirect a normal punch the ¡°right¡± way almost every time.


    She skipped out on sparring against Gramps¡¯s party, since she didn¡¯t really feel taking a beating. True to Atum¡¯s word, the first couple of rounds Gramps¡¯s party didn¡¯t hold anything back, and The Rumors were, predictably, swiftly dispatched. Any time they tried any spell Gramps immediately countered it, and there wasn¡¯t even time for Eyfura and Atum to get into melee range as Gramps and Ava would both cast spells that completely immobilized or otherwise incapacitated The Rumors.


    ¡°I must admit that was rather humbling.¡± Ker said on the ride back to town. ¡°I haven¡¯t felt like this since we were rank six. After that point it always felt like we could do something in a fight, but we were just¡­completely helpless.¡± He smiled bitterly. ¡°Rank ten is just seeming further and further away.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get dispirited.¡± Gramps said. ¡°The top of rank ten is essentially a rank all to itself, and we¡¯re a step above that. You¡¯ll make rank ten in no time.¡±


    Ava smiled. ¡°What¡¯s he¡¯s not telling you is the praise Eyfura was giving you earlier. She was saying that back in the ¡®golden age¡¯ of freelancing, back when we were still establishing things, you all would have probably been rank ten already. A lot of people like to romanticize that ¡®era¡¯, but, frankly, freelancers in general are more powerful now than they¡¯ve ever been. People just remember the strongest ones, and a lot of those are Appointed.¡±


    Eyfura blushed. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t tell them that, you¡¯re embarrassing me!¡± She coughed, looking away. ¡°Uh, that being said, don¡¯t put so much stock in rank ten. Honestly, the whole rank thing is in need of an overhaul anyway, since rank ten is starting to get a little¡­crowded. In terms of power, there¡¯s no telling what you can expect from people in it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been telling you this for a long time, Evan.¡± Atum ribbed. ¡°Hopefully today¡¯s outing has shown you that maybe we shouldn¡¯t have such a gap between the top of rank ten and the middle of rank nine, even if there really aren¡¯t many people who are in those top ranks.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. I¡¯ll get around to in the next few weeks.¡± Gramps said, raising his hands.


    Alice blinked. ¡°Just like that? It seems like¡­kind of a big deal to decide so fast.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been in the works for a while.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°It¡¯s just moving up the timeframe. We¡¯ll have to make some tests for parties currently at rank ten, but we¡¯ll figure it out when the time comes.¡±


    The rest of the hoverer ride back was mostly The Rumors chatting with Gramps¡¯s party about how best to improve. Tess was mostly content to just sit and listen, as she felt she didn¡¯t really have much to add.


    And so, she and Gramps bid their goodbyes to the rest, returning to Gramps¡¯s office, where Gramps opened up the door to their house and ushered Tess through.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s this about?¡± She asked, stepping through the door. ¡°Are we just waiting here until Ellie gets back or¡­?¡±


    Gramps smiled. ¡°Our business is here on Mael, actually. I have some people I need to take you and Ellie to meet.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that about me?¡± Ellie asked, stepping through the garage door.


    ¡°Perfect timing.¡± Gramps said, clapping his hands together. ¡°We¡¯re all going to church.¡±


    Ellie stared at him. ¡°What? It¡¯s the middle of the week and it¡¯s not a holiday or anything, so why?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± Gramps replied, a mischievous glint in his eyes. ¡°Go change out of your uniform and then I¡¯ll drive you both down. Tess, you might want to grab something to eat while we¡¯re here.¡±


    Tess nodded, and headed over to the kitchen, making herself a quick sandwich while she waited for Ellie. After that they all piled into the car and began the ten or so minute drive to the nearest church.


    The drive was filled with Ellie¡¯s usual questions about Tess¡¯s day, and she was more than happy to sit and listen to all the things Tess told her about the training they had and the things she saw The Rumors and Gramps¡¯s party do.


    And soon enough they found themselves in front of the church. It was one of the more ostentatious buildings in town, built in that imposing way that all churches were. Lots of spires and huge windows, polished stone floors, the works. It was supposedly to help build the proper atmosphere for the church faithful while they were praying or something, Tess had never paid too much attention to religion, though, now that she was thinking about it, the knowledge she had gained about the nature of the world put this all into a new light. She had barely even thought to ask Fortune if Life and Death were¡­well, real gods.


    Ellie seemed to be having similar thoughts, if her face was anything to go by. Gramps gently pulled the two along and into the church, where he confidently walked up to the chamber where the on-duty priest was doing work, giving a solid knock.


    A man with untidy brown hair opened the door, giving the group a curious glance. ¡°What can I do for all of you?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Ah, right, you must be the new priest. I¡¯m Evan Los, and my grandchildren and I need to go to the Holy Room.¡±


    The man shook his head, a confused look on his face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir, but I¡¯m afraid only clergy can enter the Holy Room. May I ask what business you have there?¡±


    Gramps gave him a smile. ¡°I think you¡¯ll find that you¡¯re somewhat mistaken. Go grab Pastor Faust, she¡¯ll clear things up for you.¡±


    The man sighed. ¡°Sir, I don¡¯t know how they usually do things out in the country, but the pastor is unable to give permission to enter the Holy Room. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re expecting.¡±


    ¡°Brother Avery, what seems to be the matter? I was passing by and heard you talking about me, so I thought I¡¯d check up on things.¡± Pastor Faust asked, walking into the room Jared was in through a door on the other end. She was a short woman with greying hair and a near constant friendly smile. She had been the one who had sheltered Tess for the couple of days between her parents¡¯ death and Gramps taking her in, and Tess had found her to be as kind and gentle as her demeanor and appearance suggested.


    Pastor Faust stopped when she caught sight of Gramps. ¡°Ah. I was wondering when we were going to run into this issue. Come on in, Mr. Los. You kids wait in the chapel, alright?¡±


    Gramps shook his head. ¡°They¡¯re coming too today.¡±


    ¡°I see. Well, you all come inside, then, I¡¯ll send Brother Johnson to clear the Holy Room.¡± She poked her head through the door she came in through, briefly conferring with someone while Gramps guided Ellie and Tess into the room.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think this is allowed, Pastor.¡± Brother Avery protested. ¡°The higher-ups will be very displeased if they find out about this.¡±


    Pastor Faust smiled. ¡°They know, this is all above board. Mr. Los here is an emissary of the gods, and, as such, has priority access to the Holy Room.¡±


    Brother Avery started, staring at Gramps in disbelief. ¡°I¡¯m¡­having a hard time believing this.¡± He finally said.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Pastor Faust replied. ¡°Send a letter to one of the cardinals, they¡¯ll confirm this. For now, just know that Mr. Los is able to bring whoever he likes into the Holy Room whenever he likes.¡±


    ¡°The Holy Room is clear, Pastor.¡± A man, presumably Brother Johnson, said, peeking his head into the room.


    ¡°Thank you, Brother Johnson. Mr. Los, you know the way, I¡¯ll stay here and explain a bit more to Brother Avery.¡±


    Gramps nodded, guiding Tess and Ellie out of the room and through the halls before they reached a large door, which Gramps opened. Beyond was a windowless room which contained two statues, one of Life, and one of Death.


    She didn¡¯t have much time to process it, though. The moment the three of them were inside and the doors were closed there was a flash of light and they found themselves in the god¡¯s workplace, where three figures were waiting for them.


    The first was Fortune, who gave the group a friendly wave. The other two were¡­Life and Death, Tess assumed. She hadn¡¯t really paid attention to the statues, but it certainly looked like them.


    ¡°I¡¯m the god of Life.¡± The one on the right said. He was a tall human, wearing a simple black shirt and pants and holding a large scythe. He was¡­boring, in a weird way. His tone was subdued, and despite the height his posture and bearing just sort of¡­made him fade into the background.


    ¡°And I¡¯m Death!¡± The one next to him chirped. She was human as well, a short girl wearing a vibrant blue shirt and a matching skirt. ¡°And we wanted to talk to you, Ellie. Let¡¯s have a chat, shall we?¡±


    Fighterman481


    TBH I''m kind of surprised I got this out at all. I was just about to take a break because I had a few projects due all at once, but most of them got pushed back a ways and I was left with a fair amount of breathing room, so here we are.


    Anyway, I wasn''t sure just how much to show of the ''fights'' in this chapter. I wanted to show at least some to give people a taste of what Gramps''s party is capable of, but I didn''t want to firmly nail down everything just yet, so I settled on this.


    Uh...don''t let this make you think The Rumors are weak or anything, though. Gramps''s party is packed with like...the best out there and have a lot of experience dealing with parties like The Rumors. The Rumors are stronger than most parties, just...not anywhere near that level lol.


    Also forgive me if any of the religious titles in this are off, I''m not really familiar with the nuances of clergy and their ranks. AFAIK this all should be relatively accurate to how are IRL but I don''t know for sure.


    But that''s all I''m going to say for now. Next time we''ll continue this little talk, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 34: Words of Gods

    Ellie twiddled her thumbs nervously, glancing over at Tess and then at Fortune, who gave her a thumbs-up. ¡°Um¡­what do you want with me, um¡­¡± She began, not quite sure how to address the two.


    Death waved a hand dismissively. ¡°Life and Death is fine. No need to stand on ceremony, really. You already know the broad strokes of what¡¯s going on behind the scenes, so formalities are just going to get in the way.¡±


    Life loudly cleared his throat, drawing attention back off of Death ¡°Forgive our rudeness,¡± he said, motioning for Ellie to turn around, ¡°please take a seat. As Death said, formalities really aren¡¯t needed right now.¡±


    Ellie turned around to find a set of comfortable-looking armchairs, so she nervously sat down in the one closest to her. ¡°Um, thanks.¡±


    Tess and Gramps sat down on either side of her, and Life and Death sat down in chairs of their own that Ellie had been too distracted to properly take note of. For her part, Fortune sat down a decent distance to the side, halfway between the two groups.


    ¡°So, how familiar are you with the circumstances of Mael?¡± Death asked, ¡°Like, I know it¡¯s only been a month or two since you were formally introduced to the other planes, but I think it¡¯s good to get a feel for how much you know before we actually start talking here.¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­it¡¯s like¡­Mael is still in the process of being introduced to the other planes, right? And¡­Grandpa¡¯s in charge of that or something?¡±


    ¡°More or less.¡± Death said. ¡°But there are a couple of complications. The first is that magic is next to non-existent on Mael. The Mana there is way less dense, so a bunch of the systems we have in place don¡¯t really¡­work. That¡¯s on purpose, Amy has a prot¨¦g¨¦ who unwittingly found herself in a similar situation, so she wanted to work through it herself so she could help give advice.¡±


    Fortune shot a glance at Tess. ¡°She actually used to live here, by the way. You¡¯ve met her relatives, the Sarlienne family. She¡¯s Amara¡¯s like¡­50 greats great aunt or something. It was a long time ago, she was working as a sub administrator when I was born if that gives you any idea. Her name¡¯s Kali, I¡¯ll have to introduce you next time she stops by, she likes to keep tabs on how her family¡¯s doing.¡±


    Life coughed, and Fortune jumped, blushing slightly. ¡°Right, right, sorry. Got distracted. Carry on.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, that leaves kind of a huge power gap between Mael and¡­everyone else.¡± Death continued, ¡°Especially since their tech advantage is minor at best. So, um, I¡¯m pretty sure you see where this is going ¨C history has been pretty clear about what happens when people discover a much weaker civilization with vast amounts of natural resources. Trust me, I would know better than most.¡±


    Life nodded. ¡°As you have probably gathered, Death and I are the resident gods of Mael. Amy likes to introduce one or two new ones with every plane, and that¡¯s us. Of course, as said gods, it in large part falls to us to make sure that this transition goes smoothly.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not leaving them out to dry or anything.¡± Fortune blurted out. ¡°Like, we still help out and everything, it¡¯s just an explicit part of their ¡®godly duties¡¯ until the introduction period ends. It¡¯s sort of a rite of passage. And, now that I¡¯ve chosen someone from Mael as my Appointed, it¡¯s partially my responsibility too. Not as much, but, you know, it still is.¡±


    Life gave another cough and Fortune stopped once again, face even redder. ¡°Sorry, sorry. Can¡¯t help it. I¡¯ll try to be quiet.¡±


    Death laughed. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Fortune. You¡¯re just as much a part of this discussion as us. You know how Life gets, don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡±


    ¡°As I was saying,¡± Life said, ¡°that leaves us in something of a bind. Right now, the main thing keeping some of the more¡­ambitious planes from invading now is the presence of your grandfather and the rest of the Appointed who are keeping the Outlands from being used as a staging ground for a war. That and the fact that many of their war tactics simply wouldn¡¯t¡­work right in the absence of magic, but that¡¯s something they can work around if they have a secure bulkhead from which to launch an assault.¡±


    ¡°Like, eventually Mael¡¯s going to get its background Mana levels up to par with everywhere else, but we can¡¯t really¡­wait for that.¡± Death added, ¡°It¡¯ll take way too long, like, it¡¯ll probably be another couple millennia before people start being able to cast basic spells. And given how Amy¡¯s using Mael as a mirror to Kali¡¯s situation and Kali¡¯s probably going to be reintroducing her planes to each other in the next few decades, Amy would like to get a move on with introducing Mael to everywhere else.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got twenty more years to prepare, tops.¡± Life said. ¡°And we have quite a few things we have to take care of in that time. Fortunately, we have the tools necessary to bring Mael up to par in that time.¡± He gave Ellie a careful look. ¡°Do you get where we¡¯re going with this?¡±


    Ellie gave Tess a nervous glance, and in response Tess reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently.


    And, suddenly, she didn¡¯t feel quite so nervous. ¡°You want us to help, right?¡±


    ¡°Broadly speaking, yes, but a bit more than that.¡± Death replied. ¡°Think of this as a sort of¡­scouting meeting. We¡¯re interested in having you as our Appointed, and we want to talk with you about things first. We¡¯re doing things¡­differently. Life and I are pretty close as far as gods go, and our Appointed candidates are, um¡­really limited right now. So, we were hoping to do something new and make you the Appointed of both of us.


    ¡°We went ahead and checked with Amy, and it¡¯s safe so long as we¡¯re careful about it. Your¡­body¡­soul¡­uh, it¡¯s not really either so¡­vessel, I guess? Whatever we want to call it, you¡¯re able to hold a fair bit more Worship than most people, probably in no small part due to your stats and the fact that your grandfather is an Appointed, so you¡¯ll be able to take the strain of it under a few conditions.¡±


    ¡°Essentially, if you choose to accept our offer, you¡¯ll get both our strongest Blessings, but only have access to one set of our abilities at once, except under extreme conditions.¡± Life explained. ¡°In addition, only one of us will be able to Descend at any given time. That being said, you should be able to pull out both of our Blessings at once if it becomes truly necessary, though that runs many of the same risks Descents do. Anyway, what are your thoughts so far? If you¡¯re opposed to the idea, we¡¯ll stop with this talk here and look at other potential ways to go about this.¡±


    Ellie frowned. ¡°I¡¯m honestly not really sure how I feel right now, I want to know more about what being an Appointed means. Like, I know that it involves helping out the gods, but I don¡¯t know what I¡¯d be doing.¡±


    To her surprise, Life turned to Gramps. ¡°Do you mind doing the explaining, Evan?¡± He asked. ¡°You¡¯ve got the most experience of anyone here.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Gramps said, standing up and facing Ellie. ¡°It changes from god to god, but generally speaking Appointed are in charge of being the link between their god and the church of that god, as well as one or two duties unique to the god. Furthermore, there are a couple of general management things all Appointed share responsibility for that help keep the world growing, and some¡­rather intense fighting that the exact nature of is confidential until you¡¯re actually an Appointed, but that¡¯s only once every few decades at the most frequent. Life and Death will have to tell you what their particular duties are, though.¡±


    ¡°I got this.¡± Death said. ¡°So, basically, you would have to deal with people who are really messing with the cycle of life and death or are going to. So, like¡­people who are going do really damaging terrorist attacks, or necromancers who make undead like ghosts or things that trap the soul after death. Nothing too out there but it¡¯s an important job to help keep people feeling safe in their homes and in their afterlife.¡±


    ¡°That¡­doesn¡¯t seem too bad.¡± Ellie said hesitantly. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I can accept just yet. I have to get to know you two better, like¡­I dunno, could we do something kind of like what Fortune did with Tess, where we chatted and stuff for a few months beforehand? I don¡¯t want to tie the rest of my life to people I¡¯m only just meeting now, you know?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s perfectly understandable.¡± Life said smoothly. ¡°We were expecting something like this anyway. We¡¯ll keep in touch with you, and we¡¯ll talk more about where you want to go with things around the time you get out of school. Sound good?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± Death agreed. ¡°This is a two way street. So, we¡¯ll go ahead with that, but¡­do you want to chat for a bit now? We freed up a bunch of time just in case, and it would be a shame not to have some more in-person time.¡±


    Ellie blinked. ¡°Sure, I guess. Well, as long as Grandpa and Tess are OK with it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine by me.¡± Gramps said.


    ¡°Take your time.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯m not in a rush to be anywhere.¡±


    ¡°Right, that settles it.¡± Death said, clapping her hands. ¡°Come over here, it¡¯ll be easier to talk informally.¡±


    Ellie glanced over to find Gramps and Tess already walking over to Fortune, so she stood up and moved over to where Life and Death were, a third chair popping up next to them as Ellie moved. She tentatively sat down in it, giving the two gods a somewhat nervous look. Fortune had been one thing ¨C Ellie had never heard of her before learning about the Outlands, and she was a goofball, so interacting with her had never seemed too hard, but Life and Death were another.


    She had grown up going to the Church of Life and Death, well, going on special occasions, anyway, and while she had never personally had any strong feelings about their existence one way or the other, she knew quite a lot of people who did. So, it was kind of surreal and a little scary to be sitting in front of them and talking with them.


    ¡°Right, um¡­I guess, before we begin¡­¡± She began, not quite sure where to start. ¡°Uh¡­sorry for immediately converting to Fortune¡¯s religion as soon as I found out about her, I guess?¡±


    There was a half second of silence and then Death burst out laughing. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. That sort of thing really isn¡¯t important to us, and we didn¡¯t expect anyone in your family to really go all-in on worshipping us. And, for the record, if you do choose to become an Appointed, that generally means stopping worship of any god, outside of that needed to maintain your identity as an Appointed a secret.¡±


    Ellie blinked. ¡°What? Even you two? Why?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s for ease of¡­well, everything. Being an Appointed means that, in general, you are treated as another god, at least among the gods. It¡¯s to prevent us gods from even thinking about abusing our Appointed, and there are dire consequences if we do anyway. So, it¡¯s kind of weird to be worshipping people who are in a very real way your equals. They don¡¯t even get anything out of it like they would from normal worship. Appointed are just too closely tied to the gods for that.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Right, that makes sense, I guess.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°So¡­what do you want to talk about?¡±


    Death shrugged. ¡°Dunno, just things, I guess? Like¡­getting to know you kind of questions? Not sure, I¡¯m sorta winging it.¡±


    ¡°I¡­see. Then, if you don¡¯t mind my asking¡­isn¡¯t the scythe kinda your thing? Why does Life have it?¡±


    Life frowned. ¡°She borrowed it from me for one appearance, and it just so happened to be a high-profile one, and now everyone associates it with her. It¡¯s supposed to represent farming and bountiful harvests and now everyone thinks it¡¯s for harvesting souls.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I thought it looked cool and it did!¡± Death protested. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault everyone thinks it¡¯s mine now. You hold it every time we talk to someone and they still haven¡¯t gotten the message, so I don¡¯t know to tell you.¡±


    Life coughed. ¡°I suppose, but we can talk about this later, when we don¡¯t have company.¡± He turned to Ellie, the faintest hint of a blush on his face. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind my asking, though, what are your opinions on us? From before meeting us, that is. I¡¯d like to know where we¡¯re starting from, so to speak.¡±


    Ellie scratched the back of her neck. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s strange to talk about it with the people in question, but I guess it¡¯s just¡­standard religious stuff for Mael? Like, I never really thought about it too much or anything. I went to church when it was an important day and I didn¡¯t really¡­believe or disbelieve, I guess?


    ¡°As for my impressions of you¡­it¡¯s really just what the church taught. Omnipotent, omniscient beings who created the world and everything in it, though¡­from what I understand that isn¡¯t really the case, right?¡±


    Death made a face. ¡°Yes and no, I guess. To an extent it¡¯s right? Like, we helped Amy do some of the fine-tuning of the plane, but that¡¯s about the limit of ¡®creating the world¡¯. And yeah, we¡¯re nowhere near omnipotent or omniscient. Amy¡¯s not omnipotent or omniscient, nor are any of her sub-administrators, so there¡¯s no way we are.¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Yeah, I thought so. Um¡­otherwise, I dunno, I hadn¡¯t really thought of you as people before, if that makes sense. It was more like you were forces of nature than anything. There¡¯s scripture and all, but I always felt it was more about¡­people than it was about you two.¡±


    Life grimaced. ¡°Thank you for reminding me. Much of that scripture is incorrect after all this time. Sometimes it was poor copying, sometimes it was intentional manipulation, but if you do become our Appointed then you¡¯ll have to help fix that.¡±


    ¡°How much of it¡­actually happened?¡± Ellie asked hesitantly. ¡°I¡¯m kind of afraid to ask, to tell you the truth, given how many people I know who treat it all as perfect truth.¡±


    ¡°A lot of it.¡± Life replied. ¡°Most of the creation story is false, but that¡¯s on purpose. As far as the general public is concerned, the gods did make the planes they¡¯re in charge of, or at least arrived with those planes. Amy wishes to keep her existence secret, so we tell those lies to everyone who¡¯s not an Appointed or so closely tied to them that it¡¯s harder not to.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re that second one, by the way.¡± Death added. ¡°Not including us you have two or three gods who would love to make someone like you their Appointed. At the very least chances are you¡¯ll come out with someone¡¯s strongest Blessing, and if not that then, well, you¡¯ll be working with Tess and the two of you are close enough that it¡¯d be rough on her and Fortune to keep things secret. So, really, no pressure to accept our offer because you know secrets or anything.¡±


    ¡°As I was saying,¡± Life continued, ¡°much of the scripture has roots in truth. Most stories have been changed in some way from what originally happened, and many have been removed entirely, but generally speaking, our scriptures are based on events that happened.¡±


    ¡°I get it, I think. So¡­what¡¯s your opinion on the church, then?¡±


    ¡°They try their hardest, and they¡¯re a lot better than they were.¡± Death said, shrugging. ¡°It¡¯s helped a lot to have Evan as someone we can pretty easily get ahold of to give announcements, though I think our current prophet is a little confused as to why we tend to go through Evan more than him. We¡¯ll sit down and have ¡®the talk¡¯ with him once we introduce Mael to other planes, or perhaps a bit earlier if you end up accepting the position.¡±


    They ended up conversing a bit more on the subject of religion before the topic shifted to more personal things, such as more about Ellie¡¯s life, as well Life and Death¡¯s lives. Life and Death were both highly accomplished souls that Amy chose to reincarnate as gods. That apparently wasn¡¯t always the case with the gods, as some, like Fortune, were directly made as gods and had never been mortal.


    After around half an hour or so the conversation petered out, and Death stood up. ¡°Well, we still have time¡­do you want to play some video games? We have a few consoles in our living area.¡±


    Ellie blinked, standing up as well. ¡°Um, yeah, sure. Do you want to do just the three of us or¡­¡± She trailed off, letting the sentence hang.


    ¡°Life probably won¡¯t play, he never really liked games.¡± Death said, prompting a nod from Life. ¡°But go ahead and invite Tess and Fortune, then we¡¯ll have four.¡±


    Ellie glanced over only to find that Gramps was gone, Tess had her wolf parts out, and Fortune happily rubbing them. She began walking over, causing Fortune to look up, turn bright red, and cease her ministrations. For her part, Tess gave Ellie a rather embarrassed look as well. ¡°So¡­we going home?¡± She asked.


    ¡°No, Death invited me to play some video games and wanted to know if you two wanted to play.¡± Ellie replied.


    ¡°Oh, yeah, um¡­sure, I¡¯m game.¡± Tess said.


    ¡°Uh, me too.¡± Fortune mumbled.


    Life bade goodbye to the rest of them, and soon Ellie found herself in a rather cozy area that featured some pretty high-end electronics. Death walked over to an end table near one of the couches and motioning for the others to sit down. As they did, Death booted up the TV and a console, tossing each of the other three a controller, then settling back in while she loaded a game.


    Fortune took one of the ends of the couch and Tess sat next to her, so Ellie sat down next to Tess and Death ended on the other end next to Ellie. There was some small talk as the game finished loading, and then it was go time, and Ellie settled in for what was likely to be the strangest gaming session of her life.


    Fighterman481


    Uh, anyway, the chapter. This hopefully isn''t too much of a surprise to anyone. Ellie''s pretty attractive from both a numbers standpoint and a social connections standpoint, so I think it makes sense that she''s got a few gods wanting her to be their Appointed.


    The whole dual-Appointed thing is an idea I''ve been toying with as well. It...probably wouldn''t work were it not for A: Ellie being built sturdy, and B: Life and Death being so cognitively intertwined that, in a sense, they''re practically inseparable from a religious, conceptual, and just administrative standpoints.


    Also, I''ve been really dancing around the issue here in author''s notes, but I suppose it''s time to finally address the elephant in the room here now that I''ve officially confirmed a timeline. Yes, this story and The New Chimera technically share a universe. We''re not likely to see too much interaction between the two series, at least not outside of the realm of cameos. Amy appears in a chapter of The New Chimera and Kali is likely to show up once or twice in the future.


    I had a perfectly good setting built that allowed for this sort of disconnected-connectedness, so I just decided to go for it. I''m toying with the idea of doing some sort of kind of canon one-offs where I can write the main characters interacting with each other, but those two aren''t likely to see any true canon interaction.


    I''ve debated saying more but I feel that (and maybe this is just the posting at 5AM talking) I don''t really have anything...interesting to add, so next time we''ll get...not sure yet, honestly. I have a couple of ideas and we''ll see what sticks.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 35: Appointed Anxiety

    Tess was getting ready to go home and had just finished playing games with Ellie and Death. Fortune had been called away by Amy, and they had reunited with Gramps who had come from¡­she didn¡¯t know where he had disappeared to, but around the time they were finishing up he found his way to the room they were in.


    ¡°Before you go, let me give you three a little something.¡± Death said, walking over to Ellie, placing a hand on her shoulder and waiting for a moment, then repeating the process with Gramps and Tess. There was a slight tingling of sorts that faded as soon as Death took her hand off of Tess, and then Death stepped back, surveying the three of them and then nodding her head in satisfaction.


    ¡°I¡¯ve put some of my Worship on you.¡± She explained. ¡°Just enough to be noticeable if you¡¯re used to looking for it. Should help deal with that nosy guy, and it¡¯ll be gone by the time you get home. You all have a safe trip, and Ellie, I¡¯ll talk to you later, alright?¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Death.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Don¡¯t hesitate to ask if you need anything.¡±


    ¡°We will.¡± Life replied, stepping into the room. ¡°Thank you, we don¡¯t know what we¡¯d do without you.¡±


    Gramps smiled. ¡°You¡¯d manage. Even if no one else was around, you two are resourceful, you¡¯d figure something out.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re glad we don¡¯t have to.¡± Death said. ¡°I¡¯ll be sending you back now, is that alright?¡±


    ¡°If you two are ready, yeah.¡± Gramps replied, looking at Ellie and Tess. ¡°Don¡¯t forget the ears.¡±


    Tess started, putting away the ears and tail. She had entirely forgotten she had them out while they were playing. ¡°Uh, right. Ready.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡± Ellie agreed. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll¡­uh, talk to you later, then?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± Death replied, waving. ¡°Later! Oh, and don¡¯t be too harsh on the guy, he¡¯s just doing what he thinks is right.¡±


    They were teleported out in a flash of light, and when Tess¡¯s eyes cleared, she found that they were back in the Holy Room.


    They weren¡¯t alone, either. She could hear someone frantically scrabbling around behind her and she spun to find Brother Avery on his behind, staring wide-eyed at the group and backing up.


    ¡°W-what¡¯s going on?!¡± He whimpered once Tess caught his eye. ¡°T-this shouldn¡¯t be possible!¡±


    Tess glanced at Gramps who shrugged. ¡°We were having a conversation with Life and Death. I believe Pastor Faust explained it to you, right?¡±


    ¡°But¡­I thought¡­¡±


    ¡°That it was all some conspiracy? You wouldn¡¯t be the first. Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.¡± Gramps looked around the room for a moment, then back to Brother Avery. ¡°Looking for a secret passage of some sort? Don¡¯t bother, as far as I can tell there aren¡¯t any here. I mean, I¡¯m not going to stop you from looking, but you¡¯re wasting your time.¡±


    He pointed to a small box that was built into the floor between the statues of Life and Death, right next to where Avery was laying. ¡°The Diviner is in there. You can use it to verify that we really were talking with Life and Death.¡±


    Brother Avery looked at the box as if seeing it for the first time. ¡°R-right.¡± He stuttered, shakily moving towards it and fumbling around for a moment before finally getting it open. He took out a short black rod of sorts and his face screwed up in concentration as he pointed the rod first at Tess, and then at her companions.


    After a long minute of silence, he gingerly put the Diviner back in the box, sealing it up with an audible click and then turning around to face everyone, noticeably paler. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He said hoarsely. ¡°I was just¡­¡±


    ¡°Doing what you thought was right?¡± Gramps finished. ¡°Death told us. Don¡¯t worry about it too much, it¡¯s a natural reaction to this. We won¡¯t tell the pastor. Just¡­try to have a little more faith in her. She¡¯s a great person, being out in the sticks doesn¡¯t make her any less trustworthy.¡±


    ¡°U-understood, thank you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and before we go, don¡¯t tell anyone outside of the clergy about this. The town as a whole is still in the dark.¡±


    Brother Avery nodded, and Gramps smiled. ¡°Good.¡± He said, gently placing a hand on Tess and Ellie¡¯s backs. ¡°We¡¯ll see you around.¡± And with that, he herded the two out of the room. They took a short detour for Gramps to let Pastor Faust know they were done with the Holy Room, and then they left for home.


    Later that night Tess¡¯s homework was interrupted by a knock on her door.


    ¡°Hey Tess, it¡¯s me.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Do you have some time to talk?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Tess replied, putting her pencil down. ¡°The door¡¯s unlocked, come on in.¡±


    The door opened and Ellie walked in, gingerly closing it behind her. ¡°So¡­um¡­can we talk about being Appointed and stuff? I¡¯m kind of going in mental circles thinking about it and wanted to hear what you think.¡±


    Tess sat down on the bed and motioned for Ellie to sit next to her. ¡°What exactly are you struggling with?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how much help I¡¯ll be but I¡¯ll do what I can.¡±


    Ellie sat down, leaning her head on Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I dunno. Like¡­what made you decide to be Fortune¡¯s Appointed?¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°Um, it was kind of spur of the moment, but Fortune had been dropping hints and I had always just sorta assumed I would do it? And then during the fight I had with Ilmir she gave me the option and I decided I might as well. She¡¯d been pretty good to me and¡­well, it sounded like an opportunity to do some good in the world and I wanted to continue freelancing anyway, so I thought it was worth it.¡±


    ¡°I¡­see. And how have you felt afterwards?¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°It¡¯s really intimidating, I¡¯m not going to lie. I have a bunch of big tasks in front of me, but I¡¯ve got you, Gramps, and everyone else to help me out, so that¡¯s been helping a lot.¡± She paused for a moment, then continued, somewhat nervously. ¡°Um, as long as you don¡¯t mind helping out with Appointed stuff. I won¡¯t make you if you don¡¯t want to.¡±


    ¡°Of course I will.¡± Ellie said instantly. ¡°You don¡¯t even have to ask.¡±


    Tess let out a sigh of relief. ¡°That¡¯s really good to hear. Uh¡­does that mean it¡¯s not the actual work as an Appointed that¡¯s making you wary?¡±


    Ellie stopped for a moment. ¡°I¡­guess it¡¯s not. I didn¡¯t even realize that until you brought it up. I guess¡­I dunno, I feel like I don¡¯t deserve it, you know? I haven¡¯t actually done anything aside from having really good stats and being related to Grandpa, and neither of those were things that I actually did. It just feels¡­well, like nepotism. What makes me more qualified than someone like Jin who¡¯s actually done some really amazing stuff?¡±


    She stopped again, taking her head off of Tess¡¯s shoulder and staring off into the space in front of her.


    ¡°Did Life or Death contact you?¡± Tess asked. She wasn¡¯t sure how she looked when reading Fortune¡¯s windows, but she imagined it was something like that.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie said distractedly. She was silent for a few moments before once again resting her head on Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Death says that a large part of it is nepotism, yes, but that even without that I would still be on the radar of the gods. The nepotism just means that they know more about me in advance and have an easier time getting information on me.


    ¡°She also says that the connections I have as Grandpa¡¯s granddaughter and the fact that I¡¯ve lived on Mael my entire life just makes things perfect for them. There are apparently only two or three other families from other planes on Mael, so their options are really limited if they want someone they know will be strong and I¡¯m far and away the best.¡±


    She stopped again, looking forward as she presumably got another window. ¡°Life says I would apparently be the best even if their options weren¡¯t limited. And he says not to feel bad about the nepotism thing because most Appointed are, in some way, closely tied to other Appointed or people who the gods are watching closely. It just makes things easier for both the gods and their Appointed.¡±


    Ellie sighed. ¡°That¡­does make me feel better, though, to be honest, I feel bad. Like¡­you were just starting to come into your own and get strong compared to me, and now I¡¯m sort of¡­taking away your thing. And you¡­you deserve better, life in general has just been hard on you and I feel like I¡¯ve just been handed everything on a silver plate.¡±


    Tess gently extracted herself from Ellie, then turned so she was facing her, placing her hands on Ellie¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Ellie, don¡¯t think like that.¡± She said firmly. ¡°I¡¯ve been through some hardships, yeah, but it¡¯s because of those that I met Fortune, and that I¡¯m going out with you now. Good things have come of them too. And it¡¯s not about who the stronger of us is. We¡¯re working together, so in a way that just indirectly makes me stronger.¡±


    She blushed a little as she continued. ¡°And if you do decide to be an Appointed, I fully intend to help you out with your duties too. So, really, stop worrying about it.¡±


    Trust me, she¡¯s not going to overshadow you. Well, not in the long term. You¡¯re already proving to be stronger than we thought you would be on paper. Turns out the combination of my Blessing and Monster Breeder is much more powerful than expected.


    But between your stats and also being an Appointed Amy has decided you¡¯re allowed to get the broken stuff.


    Uh¡­as long as you don¡¯t like¡­go mad with power, that is. So long as you have people in place to keep you from doing anything too upsetting to the balance of power in the world without permission, you¡¯ll be fine. I doubt we¡¯ll ever get remotely close to that happening but I thought you should be aware, you know?


    Oh, and we¡¯re still working on the whole Descent thing. We¡¯ve got a working solution but it¡¯s really not ideal, so we¡¯re going to poke at it some more and see if we can get something better. Worst comes to worst we can use what we have now, though.


    Anyway¡­uh, sorry, I talked a bit too much. You should probably get back to your talk with Ellie.


    Tess looked back to find Ellie, who was also bright red, waiting patiently. ¡°Sorry, Fortune was talking to me. She says not to worry about overshadowing me, at least not in the long term. Apparently, they didn¡¯t expect Fortune¡¯s Blessing and Monster Breeder to be so strong when put together.¡±


    Ellie smiled. ¡°That¡¯s honestly really good to hear.¡± She appeared to struggle with something for a moment, then made up her mind. She leaned in, giving Tess a kiss.


    They held that for a few moments then separated, Ellie smiling from ear to ear. ¡°I really love you, you know that?¡±


    Tess, also smiling, nodded. ¡°I love you too.¡±


    Maven gleefully threw off the dress she was wearing, slipping into the much more comfortable shirt and pants she usually wore. She hated the dresses she had to wear for formal occasions, and she hated going to said formal occasions. They always took time away from things she actually wanted to be doing, like going to dungeons.


    Really, it should be her brother inheriting the throne. But noooo, it was ¡°tradition¡± and ¡°Paumen has been ruled by a woman for millennia and stopping now would be a bad move for us.¡±


    Her parents always gave her the same spiel about how it would destabilize their rule and it would mean they wouldn¡¯t be able to drum up support from some of the more traditional nobility when it came to really important matters like bridging the gaps between Paumen and some of their historical enemies.


    They said that, since the general population had already had all of those laws abolished, it didn¡¯t really affect the people¡¯s day-to-day life and that the people would be more appreciative if they were able to open up trade routes with other countries and make others see Paumen in a better light, and that changing that rule was something they¡¯d do shortly before Maven inherited, taking the heat for her so she didn¡¯t have to deal with as much of it.


    For what seemed like the millionth time, Maven decided her first act as queen would be to demolish that rule if her parents hadn¡¯t already, then she was going to give her brother the throne and then be free. People always said they wanted to be in charge, but they never really knew how much responsibility it was. Yeah, there were perks, but it was so stressful.


    Fortunately, her brother was completely on board with the idea, so she¡¯d just have to smile and pretend she wasn¡¯t bothered until she could actually do something about it.


    There was a polite knock at the door, and then one of her butlers entered. ¡°Lady Amara wishes to see you, your highness.¡± He said, giving a vaguely disapproving glance at the dress on the ground. ¡°Shall I show her in?¡±


    Maven perked up. ¡°Yes, please do!¡± She said excitedly. She loved whenever her great-grandmother came to visit her ¨C she always had such interesting stories, and she seemed to get it more than her parents or even her grandparents. She was basically the coolest person Maven knew.


    The butler gave a bow and left, and soon Maven¡¯s grandmother was walking into the room, shutting and locking the door behind her.


    ¡°Maven,¡± she said warmly, ¡°how¡¯s my favorite princess doing?¡±


    ¡°Fine, Grandma. I hate having to come listen to these stupid marriage proposals, but my day is looking better now that you¡¯re here.¡±


    Amara chuckled, giving Maven a hug. ¡°Just bear with it for now.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m working on getting your parents to come around, but you know how they are. Anyway, I got that letter you sent me, and I came to ask you about it in-person.¡±


    It took Maven a moment to remember what her grandmother was talking about. ¡°Oh, the one about meeting Guildmaster Los¡¯s granddaughter?¡±


    Amara smiled. ¡°Yes, that one. You seemed pretty excited, so I wanted to hear a little more, so long as you still want to talk about it.¡±


    Maven beamed. No one else ever wanted to hear about her adventures, so it was nice that someone listened. ¡°Yeah, it was crazy! I was going to a dungeon to train, and when we got there, we found the penthouse suite was booked, even though put word out that we were going to be there. And when I knocked this girl came to the door and¡­well, um, I might have snapped at her?¡±


    Maven blushed a little as she spoke. ¡°I know I¡¯m not supposed to, but it was really late, and I was tired and I didn¡¯t recognize her so I thought it would be fine? I made some pretty awful threats and¡­well I didn¡¯t intend to follow through but then Lady Almes and Lady Reshi showed up and scolded me and then we got to talking and I got to go on a couple of runs with Lady Los, it was crazy.¡±


    Amara let go of the hug and sat down on the desk, still smiling fondly. ¡°What¡¯d you think of her?¡± She asked.


    ¡°It was kind of humbling, to be honest.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°She¡¯s like¡­the most beautiful person I¡¯ve ever met. Like, maybe even more beautiful than you, it really kinda seemed unfair, since she was still super good-looking right after waking up. And she was half my level, but she was stronger than me, and I don¡¯t even think she was going all-out. I mean, I guess it makes sense when you think about who her teachers are compared to who my teachers are, but it was still crazy to me.¡±


    ¡°And did you like her as a person?¡±


    ¡°I only got to talk with her a little, but she seemed a lot more genuine than most people I meet, especially considering her rank. I liked her.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I was coming to ask because I actually met her myself the other day and had a bit of a talk with her.¡±


    Maven gaped. ¡°How did that happen?¡±


    Amara winked. ¡°I was at a meeting with some old acquaintances, and The Titans were there and happened to bring Tess along. Want to hear about it?¡±


    Maven nodded eagerly, so Amara continued. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t tell you all the details, but the important part is that Lady Almes and I got to talking, and I think I have some good news for you.¡±


    She paused, glancing mischievously at Maven. ¡°So, in a few months, after Tess and Ellie get out of school, Lady Almes agreed to let you work with them, provided you were OK with it. If you want, you¡¯ll be able to be a part of Tess and Ellie¡¯s party, and The Rumors and Lady Almes will help train you too. Does that sound like something you¡¯d be interested in?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Maven squealed in delight. ¡°I¡¯d love to! Anything to actually get some excitement!¡±


    Amara laughed. ¡°I thought you¡¯d be happy. Now, don¡¯t tell your parents yet, I still have to bring them around, but I can guarantee you I can get it done. You¡¯ve got a lot of potential and I don¡¯t want to see it go to waste.¡±


    She hopped off of the desk and Maven rushed over to give her a hug. ¡°Thanks so much!¡± She said. ¡°I can¡¯t wait!¡±


    Amara laughed again, reciprocating the hug. ¡°Now, I think we should go out and let you have some fun, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s been a draining morning. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely!¡± Maven replied enthusiastically. ¡°Let me go get some shoes!¡±


    Fighterman481


    So I''m starting to see this repeated pattern of barely squeaking out chapters these last couple of weeks. I legit thought I wasn''t going to have a chapter this week and then things ended up clearing up and I was able to get most of this written Friday and Saturday. I might have to take a break soon if classes don''t let up somewhat now that I''m over the hill that is midterms. (Hey, it''s me from the present again. Things have mostly wound down by now. I have one big project left, finishing coding my virtual machine, but that''s it, just a couple of stray homework assignments and then I''m done for the semester. I''m currently probably going to take a break for the week of Christmas, but I''ll use that time to get caught up with my other series, so...yeah. Planning to put a lot of work into that one once I''m out of school again since I just haven''t had time during the semester.)


    Anyway, it''s time for talking about the actual chapter. I...honestly don''t have that much to say. It was mostly just characters talking to each other and in these types of chapters I tend to have less to say.


    Uh, I wanted a scene with Brother Avery like this but it was harder to write than I thought. And then I wasn''t sure if I wanted to skip forward to what will be happening next chapter but decided against it in favor of this.


    And the whole thing with Maven was a late addition (read: like a few hours before finishing was when I had the idea) but I had a lot of fun writing it and I think it''s a fun little diversion.


    But that''s all for me, next time we''ll be seeing Tess go back to school, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 36: Back to School

    Like she used to every morning, Tess laid in bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for Ellie to come and get her. It was not quite the calming ritual it used to be, though. The prospect of the day to come had her all sorts of nervous, and she was acutely aware of the pounding of her heart.


    She wasn¡¯t the only one to notice, either. Silky was scuttling worriedly between Tess¡¯s heart and the nightstand, where she could get a better look at Tess¡¯s face. Isabella, too, seemed nervous ¨C she was faux-sitting on the chair for Tess¡¯s desk, watching over her with¡­well, her face hadn¡¯t changed from her constant neutral expression, but Tess got a distinct feeling of worry from her.


    It was cute, how her pets were so worried for her, even though they didn¡¯t really seem to understand the situation at hand. Come to think of it, was pet really the right word for them? Minion felt too¡­cold and evil overlord-y, and children was too personal. Something along the line of servant was good but still was that little bit too detached.


    But the line of thought was good. She thought for a while longer before eventually deciding on attendants. Something about it just¡­fit. It wasn¡¯t too personal but also relayed that sense of being closer than a regular servant.


    Further rumination was stopped as Ellie opened the door, already letting out an enthusiastic ¡°good morning¡± as she walked in. She paused once she had time to take in the room, however, looking from Isabella to Silky and then to Tess. ¡°Everything alright?¡± She asked.


    Tess sighed, gently picking Silky up and placing her on the nightstand before sitting up. ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re just picking up on how nervous I am.¡±


    Ellie smiled, walking over and giving Tess a kiss on the cheek. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it so much.¡± She said. ¡°No one¡¯s going to remember how you were before. It¡¯s just going to be business as usually for everyone, so it¡¯s nothing to freak out about.¡±


    She sat down on the bed next to Tess and grabbed her hand comfortingly. ¡°If it would make things easier, we don¡¯t have to come out as being in a relationship today. You¡¯ve got enough to stress you out.¡±


    Tess shook her head. ¡°No, that¡¯s fine. I think that¡¯ll help, actually, making sure people know I¡¯m taken and not to hit on me. It¡¯s just¡­you know, a little scary.¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°I know how you feel, I¡¯m feeling a nervous myself.¡° She squeezed Tess¡¯s hand. ¡°We¡¯ll get through it together.¡±


    Tess threw the blankets off with her free hand then stood up, pulling Ellie up with her. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± She said. ¡°I suppose we might as well get this over with, it¡¯ll all get easier from here¡­right?¡±


    Ellie chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s my understanding of things. Grandpa¡¯s cooking breakfast for us, though, why don¡¯t we go eat?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sounds good to me.¡±


    Isabella took this as a sign to float back into Tess and resume her standard pseudo-possession state, but Silky remained on the nightstand, giving a little wave as Ellie and Tess left the room.


    ¡°Morning, Tess!¡± Gramps said. ¡°Your new uniforms are in the living room, don¡¯t forget to wear one of them instead of one of your old uniforms.¡±


    Tess flinched, having entirely forgotten about the whole uniform thing. She was¡­not looking forward to that. She hadn¡¯t yet worn any skirts or dresses, and wasn¡¯t sure if there was anything in particular she had to do to keep herself from¡­well, exposing herself.


    She assumed it couldn¡¯t be that hard, since kids did it, but she was more worried about old habits causing problems than she was about the actual things she¡¯d have to do.


    Ellie must have picked up on what Tess was thinking about, because she smiled reassuringly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, it¡¯s not that bad. Just keep your legs together and you¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why skirts are required for the uniform anyway.¡± Tess grumbled. ¡°We¡¯re way past the point in society where we should be mandating that.¡±


    Gramps shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s a small town and they tend to be more old-fashioned. Unfortunate consequence of where I picked to settle down, really. I didn¡¯t want the information risk that came with being around more people, so being out here was much safer.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Tess sighed. ¡°I just would prefer not having to do this.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only for a couple months.¡± Ellie soothed. ¡°Then you don¡¯t ever have to wear one again. Well, probably won¡¯t have to outside of super formal situations, but shouldn¡¯t come up often.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a freelancer, so you can get away with not wearing dresses.¡± Gramps confirmed. ¡°A nice suit should work just fine in most situations.¡±


    Ellie¡¯s eyes lit up at that. ¡°Ooh, I really want to see you in a suit. We should get one ordered.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°It¡¯s already being taken care of.¡±


    ¡°Really? Why¡¯s that?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± Gramps said, smiling mischievously. ¡°It won¡¯t be done for a while yet, though, so you¡¯ll have to wait to find out.¡±


    The conversation died down after that, and Tess finished eating her breakfast. After that, she headed into the living room, where she found five uniforms lying on the couch, waiting for her. She scooped them up and took them up to her room, where she opened up her dresser and put all but one in.


    She stared at the outfit in her hands for a moment before sighing and changing into it. It felt¡­different. Well, not that different, but she still felt almost¡­uncovered, not wearing pants. The last time she had worn anything remotely similar was when she was a kid and had used her dad¡¯s oversized shirt as pajamas, so it just felt¡­odd.


    She was snapped out of her reverie by the tapping of a small leg on her hand. She looked down to find that Silky had climbed up her leg and onto her arm. Once Silky saw that she had Tess¡¯s attention, she pointed to Tess¡¯s nightstand with a leg,


    Curious, Tess walked over to find that her attendant had been busy. Laid out on the stand before her was the phrase ¡°You can do it!¡± in shaky letters, written with spider silk. Surrounding that was a crude picture of a spider next to a sheet-with-eyeholes type ghost, as well as a few hearts.


    Silky looked up at Tess, an obvious air of encouragement about her. Tess reached over with her other hand, giving Silky a couple of pats with two fingers. ¡°That¡¯s really sweet.¡± She said. ¡°Thank you, that really does help.¡±


    And it did. It was a really sweet gesture, and one that did make her feel a little better about all of this. She left the room and went to knock on Ellie¡¯s door. ¡°Hey, Ellie, you in there?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s up? Need help with something?¡± Ellie asked, opening the door. She froze for a few seconds as she took Tess¡¯s clothing in, only coming back to reality when Tess waved a hand in front of her face.


    ¡°Oh. Uh, sorry, you just¡­well, you look really nice in that.¡° She stuttered, already bright red. ¡°I wasn¡¯t as ready for the skirt as I thought I was, I think. Uh, what did you need?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to show you something.¡± Tess replied. She led Ellie into her room, over to the dresser, where she motioned at the drawing Silky had made. ¡°Look at this. Isn¡¯t it adorable?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, this is¡­really cute.¡± Ellie admitted. ¡°Did Silky make it?¡±


    Silky scuttled about, climbing up Tess so she was in sight of Ellie, and then gave a salute.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s great.¡± Ellie told her. ¡°Perhaps I was a bit too harsh on you earlier.¡±


    Silky raised two legs as if she was shrugging.


    Tess laughed, giving Silky another set of pats before scooping her up and placing her on the nightstand. ¡°Alright, I have to go to school now. You can¡¯t come with me, sorry, people are going to notice you if you¡¯re in my clothes and if you¡¯re in my bag it wouldn¡¯t be exciting anyway. So, you just keep getting set up around the house, OK?¡±


    Silky drooped a little but gave another salute.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, Isabella and Ellie will be with me basically the whole time.¡± Tess told her worried attendant. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    Silky paused, then gave one last salute before hopping off of the nightstand and scurrying out of sight, presumably to go create more webs or hunt some prey.


    ¡°I really need to get her some sort of telepathy.¡± Tess mused. ¡°It¡¯ll make her life a lot easier. Anyway, are you about ready to go to school?¡±


    Ellie shook her head. ¡°I need a couple more minutes to finish putting my makeup on. Unlike some people, I have to put effort into maintaining my appearance.¡±


    Tess scratched the back of her neck embarrassedly. ¡°Right, sorry. You¡¯re just normally done by now so I just kind of assumed.¡±


    Ellie smiled, leaning over and giving Tess a quick kiss on the cheek. ¡°I usually am, but I¡¯m putting extra attention into it today, seeing as how we¡¯re going public. I don¡¯t want to look too plain in comparison to you, futile though that may be.¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°You¡¯re exaggerating, you look great.¡±


    Ellie laughed, moving over to the door. ¡°And you¡¯re selling yourself way short. I really do need to go finish, though, don¡¯t want to be late on your first day back.¡± She shut the door as she left, and then there was the sound of Ellie¡¯s door opening and closing as she went back into her room.


    A few short minutes later they were in the car, and Ellie was driving them to school. The ride was mostly uneventful and filled with nervous small-talk, and shortly after Tess found herself walking through the doors to her school for the first time in months.


    It was a little surreal, seeing how everything was¡­exactly the same, really. Her entire world had been flipped upside-down, and the school was just¡­business as usual. The office was still there at the entrance, students were walking around the halls like they always had, and it all just seemed normal.


    She got a few curious looks as she and Ellie went to their lockers and began to get the stuff they needed for their first couple of classes. And, after that, it was off to homeroom.


    Or, it would have been, but she was intercepted on her way to the classroom by her homeroom teacher, Mr. Wallace.


    ¡°Tess, do you mind if we have a little talk before homeroom?¡± He asked. ¡°I just want to ask you a couple of questions and make sure we don¡¯t tax you too much with anything, as well as talk a bit about how we¡¯re going to go about things.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, um, sure.¡± She replied. ¡°What do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°Come with me to the teacher¡¯s lounge, we can talk more privately there.¡±


    She gave Ellie a nod and then followed Mr. Wallace down the hall to the teacher¡¯s lounge. Once they both were inside, Mr. Wallace shut the door and motioned for her to sit down in one of the chairs.


    ¡°So, before anything, I guess I should ask how you¡¯re feeling. I know you¡¯ve been keeping up with your homework, which I think is a good sign, but I want to make sure you¡¯re not forcing yourself too much.¡±


    Tess shook her head. ¡°No, nothing like that. I¡¯m feeling better than I have for quite a while, and I¡¯m basically back to full capacity.¡±


    Mr. Wallace sat back, letting out a sigh of relief. ¡°That¡¯s honestly really good to hear. You had me worried there for a while.¡±


    ¡°Sorry. I just¡­wasn¡¯t up to being around people. I was able to move around a bit, but school would have been too much for me.¡± Tess replied a little guiltily. It wasn¡¯t entirely a lie, and she knew she wasn¡¯t allowed to tell him everything, but it still felt bad not giving the whole truth to Mr. Wallace. He had always been a really understanding teacher, one that had been always ready to step up to bat for his students.


    ¡°Nothing to apologize for. It was out of your control, don¡¯t worry about it too much. But¡­you said you¡¯re ¡®basically¡¯ back up to full capacity. Is there anything we need to know? And, if so, what can we do to help?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­I guess I tend to get tired faster than I used to when talking to people, so maybe let everyone know?¡±


    ¡°Of course, that¡¯s no problem at all.¡± Mr. Wallace said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ll tell everyone when I tell them you¡¯re back. With that out of the way, let¡¯s talk about how the next few months are going to look. We don¡¯t want you to have any health problems as a result of coming back, so for the next couple of weeks we¡¯re going to make you exempt from gym. If you¡¯re still looking to be in good health then, we¡¯re going to start giving you some light exercise. Does that sound OK to you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine.¡± Tess said. ¡°I should be fine for gym, though, everyone is saying I¡¯m in the clear now.¡±


    Mr. Wallace shrugged. ¡°We know, we just want to be extra sure you don¡¯t have any more complications during these last few months. Life¡¯s been hard enough for you this past month or so, there¡¯s no shame in taking it easy now.¡±


    ¡°I¡­suppose. So¡­what am I going to be doing during gym, then?¡±


    ¡°You can either study in the library or wait on the sidelines in the gym, whichever you prefer.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Alright, um¡­anything else or¡­?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s it. Go finish your preparations for class, and I¡¯ll see you when homeroom starts.¡± He walked over to the door, opening it and motioning for her to leave.


    ¡°Alright, thanks, Mr. Wallace.¡± Tess said, standing up and leaving the room.


    Ellie must have been waiting for Tess outside the room, because the moment Tess was out, Ellie was there. ¡°How was it?¡± She asked. ¡°Anything bad?¡±


    ¡°No, not really. Just Mr. Wallace checking up on me and making sure everything¡¯s OK.¡± Tess replied. ¡°And letting me know that I¡¯m excused from gym for a couple of weeks. They want to be really sure it¡¯s safe for me to do gym before making me or something. It¡¯s not a big deal, though. I¡¯m just going to sit in the library during gym time and do homework.¡±


    Ellie smirked a little. ¡°Shame, I was looking forward to seeing you after you¡¯d worked up a sweat in gym clothes. Suppose that¡¯ll have to wait for a bit, eh?¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°You¡¯re really flirting a lot more than usual today, you know that?¡±


    Ellie laughed. ¡°You¡¯ve got me all excited, of course I¡¯m going to flirt more than usual.¡± She reached down, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand in one of her own. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get to class. We¡¯ve got an announcement to make.¡±


    Fighterman481


    Um....that''s it, though, I think. I''m kinda fried ATM due to homework so if there was something else I''m probably forgetting it. Next time we''ll get into school proper, so look forward to that, I guess.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 37: Class Reunion

    Tess sat down in her seat nervously, glancing around at the rest of her class. She was garnering her fair share of curious looks, but it seemed that they had been given some sort of a talk, because no one, not even Jacob, was coming up to talk to her. Instead they all just sort of awkwardly pretended not to stare while stealing glances at her whilst talking amongst themselves.


    And, thanks to her Attributes, she could make out their conversations much clearer than she was really comfortable with.


    ¡°Does she look different to you?¡±


    ¡°A little more¡­fragile, I guess? Must still be recovering from her sickness.¡±


    ¡°She looks about the same as she did when I visited her a few weeks ago.¡± That last one was Jacob, and it was at that point Tess decided it was time to stop listening in. It was eavesdropping, and beyond the privacy issues, she really didn¡¯t want to listen to everyone talking about her. So, she turned off the Attribute and looked over to Ellie for reassurance.


    Ellie smiled, reaching over and giving Tess¡¯s hand a squeeze. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± She whispered. ¡°No one¡¯s going to be mean or anything, so relax. It¡¯ll be like how it was before.¡±


    Tess looked around at the other students apprehensively. ¡°You sure?¡± She asked.


    Ellie nodded firmly. ¡°Positive. Trust me, there hasn¡¯t even been one incident. It¡¯s gonna be fine.¡±


    She chatted with Ellie for the remaining time before class started so as to help keep her mind off of things, but she was soon snapped out of the pleasant conversation and back into her anxieties as the bell rang.


    ¡°Alright, everyone settle down.¡± Mr. Wallace said. ¡°Before I start free time, we need to discuss the elephant in the room. Tess, if you would?¡±


    Tess stood up, giving the room one last nervous look before taking a breath and beginning to speak. ¡°Um¡­hi. I¡¯m¡­um, finally better. The doctors say they aren¡¯t expecting any complications, so I should be fine for the rest of the year.¡±


    Mr. Wallace smiled encouragingly. ¡°Thank you, you can sit.¡± Tess sat down gratefully, and Mr. Wallace continued. ¡°Even though the doctors aren¡¯t expecting anything, we¡¯ve decided to err on the side of caution. For the next couple of weeks, Tess won¡¯t be joining you in P.E. so don¡¯t be alarmed if she doesn¡¯t show up. Furthermore, we¡¯ve also been told that she tires more easily than she used to, so please don¡¯t bombard her with questions right away. Give her a bit to settle back into things before that, OK?¡±


    He gave the class a nod then sat down behind his desk. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s free time, you all know the drill.¡±


    There was a somewhat subdued buzz of conversation as Tess¡¯s classmates got to talking amongst their friend groups. It was at this point that Jacob finally walked over to Tess and Ellie¡¯s desks, sitting backwards at the desk in front of them so he was facing them. ¡°So¡­How¡¯re you feeling?¡± He asked, somewhat hesitantly. ¡°I mean, you¡¯re¡­looking fine, I guess, but I can¡¯t help but worry, you know?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I guess.¡± Tess sighed. ¡°It feels a little weird coming back to school, but¡­it is what it is.¡±


    Jacob gave her a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, give it a couple of days for people to realize you¡¯re not going to die if they don¡¯t treat you with care and it¡¯ll be fine.¡± He looked her up and down, frowning slightly. ¡°Speaking of which, is it just me or are you looking more muscular than before?¡±


    Tess froze, looking down to see that she was indeed more¡­toned than she used to. Nothing really noticeable unless you were looking for it, but there was a difference. She supposed it must have come from all the freelancing she¡¯d done ¨C it was basically exercising all day, so it probably wasn¡¯t that surprising that she was putting some muscle on.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that I was pretty weak when you came to visit.¡± Tess lied. ¡°I¡¯ve been out and about more so of course I¡¯m looking more muscular.¡±


    Jacob¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°Are you sure? You didn¡¯t look that weak before, so you¡¯ll have to forgive me if I¡¯m a little confused.¡±


    ¡°She had to do these sort of rehab exercises.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Even if she looked fine before she didn¡¯t really feel fine, so they had to help her get used to things again. Don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡±


    ¡°Alright, if you say so.¡± Jacob said, obviously unconvinced. ¡°Speaking of appearances, you¡¯re looked more¡­dressed up than usual, Ellie. You have something important later or¡­?¡±


    Ellie looked over to Tess, who nodded. ¡°Well¡­um, to tell you the truth, kind of, yeah.¡± Ellie said nervously.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Jacob prompted, giving an encouraging smile.


    ¡°Um¡­the thing is¡­I¡¯m sort of a lesbian and kinda going out with Tess right now, and I decided now was the best time to come out.¡± Ellie blurted out.


    Jacob laughed, giving Ellie a slap on the back. ¡°Thought you might be. Uh, might be a lesbian, that is. Wasn¡¯t prepared to hear about you two going out, though, that was a surprise.¡±


    Ellie blushed. ¡°You too? How?¡±


    ¡°Too? I¡¯m assuming someone else figured it out as well?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Grandpa did too. But, seriously, how did you know?¡±


    ¡°Please. I¡¯ve seen how you look at girls. I¡¯ve seen how you look at Tess. Though, I must say, I¡¯m surprised you two finally got together. I figured Ellie would have gone for it long before now if it was going to happen but shows what I know.¡±


    Ellie shrugged, looking to the side. ¡°I was still in the closet, so¡­too afraid, you know? But so far it¡¯s been fine, so¡­maybe I don¡¯t need to be?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯ve you told so far?¡±


    ¡°Basically just you and Grandpa. I¡¯ve decided that today is the day I¡¯m coming out, I don¡¯t want to have to resist being all intimate with Tess in public.¡±


    ¡°I suppose I wouldn¡¯t want to resist either.¡± Jacob admitted. ¡°So, um¡­congratulations? I¡¯m sure you two will be happy together.¡±


    Ellie beamed. ¡°Thanks, I¡¯m sure we will too.¡±


    ¡°But, uh, back to what I was saying earlier, you said you¡¯re feeling fine, but what does that¡­mean? Like, do you feel as good as normal, is it just better than it has been, what¡¯s going on? I won¡¯t lie, I¡¯ve been pretty worried about you.¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Physically, almost completely back to normal. It¡¯s taken a bit of an emotional toll, though, I feel¡­awkward, just coming back after all this time. Like I can¡¯t just¡­jump back into things like that, you know?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be a problem, everyone understands.¡± Jacob assured. ¡°When you feel you¡¯re up to hanging out, though, let me know. The guys and I have been itching to do some laser tag and it just isn¡¯t the same without you.¡±


    Ellie started suddenly, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and giving it a sudden squeeze.


    ¡°Um, everything alright?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°You¡¯re looking a little¡­strange.¡±


    ¡°Um, sorry, it just sort of hit me exactly what I¡¯ve done in coming out. Sorry for alarming you.¡± She squeezed Tess¡¯s hand sharply a couple of times, clearly trying to communicate something, though Tess couldn¡¯t tell what.


    ¡°No, I get it.¡± Jacob said. ¡°I¡¯m sure this sort of thing is really hard, just know that I¡¯m behind you all the way.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But¡­you were saying something about laser tag?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah. I was just saying that the guys and I have been wanting to do laser tag and it just isn¡¯t the same without Tess. You too, Ellie. Whenever you guys are feeling up to it, we¡¯d love to have another round with you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll do that, though it¡¯ll probably be a couple of weeks. I don¡¯t think people will be too happy if I start pushing myself so soon.¡± It wasn¡¯t a complete lie, she couldn¡¯t just¡­take a day off without letting her tutors know, but she also wasn¡¯t sure her cover would allow her to do such a physically intensive activity so soon.


    ¡°We figured as much, so don¡¯t feel rushed or anything. We¡¯d rather you¡¯re safe than you push yourself just to hang out with us.¡± Jacob said. ¡°But, um, some other people wanted to talk to you, are you feeling up to that?¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Might as well. For now, I think I¡¯d just like to¡­get it over with, you know?¡±


    Jacob nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll let them know.¡± With that he retreated back to the other side of the room, where he entered into a hushed conversation with some of their classmates, and a couple of them walked over shortly after.


    It was a pair of girls, Jenna and Carly. Tess hadn¡¯t really known them particularly well, but they were friendly enough, so it wasn¡¯t too out of character for them to come greet her like this.


    ¡°Hey, are you holding up OK?¡± Jenna asked. ¡°It musta been pretty rough, catching something that bad.¡±


    ¡°It could have been a lot worse.¡± Tess said. ¡°Gramps and Ellie were there, and I wasn¡¯t too starved for things to do. I was still able to move around the house and all, so¡­yeah. Wouldn¡¯t want to go through it again, but I¡¯m thankful it¡¯s been just about worked through.¡±


    Jenna nodded, but Carly seemed a little distracted, staring down at Tess and Ellie. Finally, she spoke up. ¡°Um, are you two¡­holding hands?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, um¡­I¡¯m a lesbian too, and now the two of us are going out.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°I didn¡¯t think it would be fair to Tess to date her while still in the closet and to put that pressure on her, so I guess I¡¯m officially coming out, you know?¡±


    Jenna and Carly shared a look. ¡°I guess?¡± Carly said. ¡°Might want to be careful who you¡¯re intimate around, though. Neither of us care, but a few of our friends are pretty hardcore Life devotees and you know how they can get about homosexual people.¡±


    Ellie made a face. ¡°All too well. But they don¡¯t scare me, we¡¯ve been through much worse than a few bigots.¡±


    Jenna shrugged. ¡°If you say so. Well, I¡¯m glad to hear that you¡¯re doing OK, Tess. We¡¯ll talk to you later.¡±


    The two retreated, and a couple more classmates took their place. That pattern repeated itself for the next few minutes, and then, finally, Tess and Ellie were left alone.


    Ellie leaned in close to Tess and began to whisper in her ear. ¡°Death says that, later down the line, she wants us to start introducing more people to the Outlands, and he¡¯s probably first on the list, seeing as how he¡¯s so close to us.¡±


    Tess stared at Ellie. ¡°Seriously?¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Yeah, I was surprised too.¡±


    ¡°When?¡±


    Ellie paused, looking ahead. ¡°A few months to a year. After graduation at the earliest, she was hoping around when you start performing your Appointed duties in earnest.¡±


    ¡°How are we gonna do that? We¡¯re gonna be way ahead of him in training and like¡­we¡¯re gonna be busy, you know?¡±


    ¡°Apparently we¡¯re not supposed to be in charge of training him, and we¡¯re not going to force him to try and be a freelancer, though we both know he will anyway.¡±


    ¡°And how¡¯s he going to get there? He can¡¯t just come through our house every time, right?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re going to figure something out.¡±


    ¡°Hey, what are you lovebirds talking about?¡± Jacob asked, sitting down in front of them again.


    ¡°Some private stuff.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Sorry, can¡¯t say more.¡±


    Jacob shrugged. ¡°Suppose I shouldn¡¯t pry, then. So¡­um, what have you two been doing lately? I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re staying cooped up in the house and keeping each other company, since Ellie¡¯s always been busy, but¡­what¡¯ve you been doing?¡±


    ¡°Games, mostly.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Games and helping Tess with homework.¡±


    There was some small talk, and then their thirty minutes of homeroom was up, and it was time for their first class of the day. Ellie and Tess had matching schedules, so fortunately they were able to stay together for the rest of the day. Most of their classes went about the same as homeroom had, albeit with less chatting with their classmates.


    There weren¡¯t any real problems until lunch, when Tess and Ellie were approached by a girl. She was short and unassuming-looking, but her eyes said that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation.


    ¡°Tess and Ellie, right?¡± She said, lip curled in distaste.


    ¡°That¡¯s us.¡± Tess replied, pretending she didn¡¯t sense the open hostility the girl was given them. ¡°What can we do for you?¡±


    ¡°First, I suppose I should congratulate you for your good fortune in being enough in Life¡¯s good graces that you made such a swift recovery.¡±


    Tess and Ellie shared a look and then Tess patted Ellie¡¯s hand to forestall her inevitable angry remarks, turning back to the girl. ¡°Yes, I have been very Blessed lately. The gods perhaps have given me more attention than I deserve.¡±


    ¡°Quite.¡± The girl sneered. ¡°So then, may I ask why you have the gall to spit in His face as you have?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure what you mean.¡± Tess said in faux innocence. ¡°To the best of my knowledge I have done nothing that would anger him. In fact, the last I checked, I was in his good graces.¡±


    ¡°You know what you¡¯ve done.¡± She growled, motioning at Ellie. ¡°It is an abomination for you to enter into a relation with someone of the same sex. I¡¯ve tolerated you because you have been content to not act on your urges, but now that you have, I must warn you of your sins.¡±


    A month ago, she might have been more nervous, arguing against someone who clearly had no intention of listening to her and hated her for something that was really outside of her control, but the past while had been a great boost to her confidence. This was far tamer than confronting Ilmir had been, and the fact that it was on a religious matter just made it easier.


    Well, at least religious matters insofar as they related to Life, Death, and Fortune. Tess had talked to Life, and never once had he shown a hint of disdain for Tess and Ellie¡¯s relationship. So, she tilted her head in mock confusion and continued to address the girl. ¡°But¡­nowhere in the scriptures does it mention this being wrong. And I never heard Pastor Faust have any issue with it either, so I don¡¯t know where you¡¯re getting this idea.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to.¡± The girl hissed. ¡°It goes against everything Life stands for to be capable of bearing a child and then willingly entering into a relationship where you have no hope of ever doing so.¡±


    ¡°But it would be fine if it was with an impotent man?¡±


    ¡°Science and miracles can help with that. There is at least a chance. With this there is none, so don¡¯t try and weasel your way around it.¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡± Ellie interrupted. ¡°You have no idea what the gods would actually want. You¡¯re just projecting your own biases onto them and using it as an opportunity to be a bigot. Go actually study religion if you want to argue from that perspective, you¡¯ll find there¡¯s no grounds.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and you¡¯re so knowledgeable about the whims of the gods? Offer proof that what I¡¯m saying is untrue, I guarantee I¡¯m more experienced than you in these matters and can refute it.¡±


    Ellie smiled. ¡°You haven¡¯t offered any, so why should I? But, if you must insist, I believe the Archpriest has officially said that the belief that homosexuality is wrong is a myth? Trust me, I looked into this subject a lot, as it kinda affects me a lot more than it affects you.¡±


    Ellie grabbed Tess, leaning over and giving her a quick kiss. ¡°Now, leave my girlfriend and I alone, or I¡¯m going to go get one of the aides and tell them you¡¯re being disruptive and won¡¯t let us eat our lunch. I don¡¯t want to have this pointless argument any longer.¡±


    The girl, face red with anger, opened her mouth a couple of times as if she wanted to speak, decided against it, then stormed off.


    ¡°For the record, Life says he¡¯s totally cool with us.¡± Ellie said once the other girl was out of earshot. ¡°He says that they weren¡¯t able to weed out that fringe belief. Lots of people think it was a change made to accommodate changes in society, but it was never canon in the first place so¡­yeah.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you do choose to become their Appointed, if you publicly announce that while in Descent you might well be able to destroy that belief entirely with one move. Not sure if the whole ¡®people instinctively know when it¡¯s a god speaking¡¯ thing works over TV, but worth a shot, right?¡±


    Ellie paused, looking off in front of her, presumably reading a window. ¡°Yeah. Death says it does. She also says the announcement thing is a good idea, and that she wouldn¡¯t be against making it publicly known that the Appointed of Life and Death and the Appointed of Fortune are dating. Says we¡¯ll probably ¡®debut¡¯ together anyway so might as well get the word out there and see if it helps integrate the planes smoother.¡±


    ¡°Worth a shot, I think.¡± Tess replied, smiling.


    ¡°By the way, I think it¡¯s worth mentioning that your innocent act there was hot. Even hotter because you¡¯re standing up for me.¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°Well, I mean, she was kinda insulting me too.¡±


    ¡°My point stands.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But, uh, how are you doing after that? I mean, it¡¯s kinda one of the things you were worried about, right?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Honestly¡­it was a lot easier than I thought it¡¯d be. I know for a fact that she¡¯s just spouting nonsense, and dealing with Ilmir was way more stressful, so I think I¡¯m good.¡±


    Ellie gave her a relieved smile. ¡°Good to hear. I was a little worried.¡±


    Tess smiled back. ¡°Well, I think I¡¯m past the point of being anxious about it, so I think we¡¯re in the clear. Now, let¡¯s get back to eating, shall we? I¡¯d like to finish before lunch is over.¡±


    Fighterman481

 Chapter 38: Hotfix

    Tess sat in the library, idly looking over her homework. While she would have preferred to be in P.E. where she could move about, it was fine to have some time to do her homework. She was always pretty tired after dungeon runs, and that wasn¡¯t really a great state to be in for homework.


    Tess was snapped out of focus by someone slamming a hand down on her table and talking to her in a low, angry voice. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the big idea?¡±


    Tess looked up to see who it was. It took her a second to realize that the person talking to her was Aaron, one of her classmates that she had never really gotten along with. They had never seen eye to eye on¡­well, anything. He had always been disrespectful, condescending, and generally acted as if he was entitled everything. She vaguely recalled that he was the heir to some¡­real estate empire or something, but that didn¡¯t really matter to her. He was rude, and that was enough.


    ¡°What do you need, Aaron?¡± She said, holding back an exasperated sigh.


    ¡°You know good and well what I need.¡± He growled, giving her a glare. ¡°You¡¯ve been leading me on for months, you¡¯re not allowed to suddenly get a girlfriend and pretend you weren¡¯t.¡±


    She blinked in shock, nearly dropping her pencil as she stared at him. ¡°What?¡± She asked, the word coming out of her mouth unbidden.


    ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb.¡± Aaron continued. ¡°You and I know full well you¡¯ve been making eyes at me when nobody else is looking.¡±


    Tess shook her head. ¡°No, I haven¡¯t. I have no clue what you think I¡¯ve been doing, but it certainly wasn¡¯t ¡®making eyes¡¯ or whatever. If you haven¡¯t noticed, I¡¯m kind of a full-blown lesbian. Frankly, even the thought of trying to get together with you kind of makes my stomach turn.¡±


    Aaron didn¡¯t take that well, lips curling back into a snarl as he looked at her. ¡°Please. You¡¯re just saying that to keep away people who aren¡¯t persistent enough. What does someone like her have that I don¡¯t?¡±


    Tess arched a brow, cupping her chest. ¡°I¡¯ll give you two guesses. Like, seriously, have you seen girls? I¡¯ve openly come out as a lesbian and am currently dating a girl. What makes you think I have even a remote romantic interest in you or any other guy?¡±


    Aaron sputtered a little, face growing red with anger. ¡°Please, you don¡¯t have to be romantically interested to make passes at me. You just want my money and status and were using your looks to get me to treat you nice, then threw me away when you were done. It¡¯s disgusting, and you should be ashamed of yourself. Take responsibility like an adult, at the least make a public apology, or you¡¯ll find your school life substantially harder.¡±


    Tess felt Isabella stirring inside her, a clear sense of resentment and indignation growing inside of the spirit as Aaron continued to talk. She shook her head, sending Isabella ¡°it¡¯s fine¡± vibes as best she could, though she wasn¡¯t sure how much of that got through.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I will. I¡¯m not afraid of what you could do to my ¡®school life¡¯.¡± Tess replied, glaring defiantly back at Aaron. ¡°And I don¡¯t think you want to be on my bad side, so lay off it or I¡¯m going to be forced to take¡­drastic measures.¡±


    ¡°Oh no, I¡¯m shaking in my boots.¡± Aaron sneered. ¡°Little miss pretty here is going to take drastic measures. What are you going to do? Whine to your ¡®girlfriend¡¯, and, when that fails, seduce some boys into beating me up? Please, I¡¯ve been given the best martial arts training in this podunk town, I¡¯d beat the crap out of whoever fights me.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll deal with you myself.¡± Tess was completely out of patience. Aaron had been annoying her for years, and she wasn¡¯t going to sit around and take it now that she could actually do something about it. ¡°I¡¯ll give you one chance to leave me alone. If you don¡¯t, I¡¯ll make you regret it.¡±


    He snorted derisively. ¡°Not happening. I¡¯ll give you to the end of the week to make your apology, and then I¡¯m going to get to work.¡± He straightened up, turning around and walking away with a triumphant smirk on his face.


    ¡°Alright, I warned him.¡± Tess mumbled. ¡°Isabella, while we¡¯re at school, I need you to follow him around and make his life hard. Push his stuff off of his desk, hide things when he¡¯s looking away, that sort of thing. Don¡¯t do enough that other people would notice, but make it hard for him to work, got it? After school ends come meet us at Ellie¡¯s car, we¡¯ll wait for you before leaving.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Isabella whispered, a sense of glee coming from her as she floated out of Tess and then into Aaron. For his part, Aaron shivered slightly, but didn¡¯t seem to notice anything terribly wrong, leaving the library with only one or two glances back at Tess.


    Fortunately for Tess, the rest of the day passed without incident. She met back up with Ellie, and, the couple made their way to Ellie¡¯s car, where Tess stopped her. ¡°Wait a minute, we have to¡­¡±


    She was interrupted by Isabella floating up from the ground beneath the car and back into her usual place within Tess. ¡°Right, we¡¯re good to leave now. Isabella¡¯s back.¡±


    Ellie gave Tess a curious look. ¡°Back? Where¡¯d she go?¡±


    Tess smirked. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you once we¡¯re driving.¡±


    Ellie shrugged, turning the car on and pulling out of the parking lot. ¡°So, what¡¯s up with Isabella?¡±


    ¡°So, I was minding my own business, studying in the library, right? All of a sudden, Aaron walks up and slams his hand down on the table. Any guesses as to what he wanted?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing it wasn¡¯t to wish your recovery well.¡±


    ¡°Nope. See, apparently, he was taking issue with our relationship because he thought I had been ¡®leading him on¡¯ for the past few months. Went on this whole rant about how I should take responsibility like an adult, and either go out with him or make a public apology by Friday, or else he¡¯d make my school life intolerable¡±


    Ellie winced. ¡°Yeah, that sounds about right.¡± She sighed. ¡°So, what does that have to do with Isabella?¡±


    Tess chuckled. ¡°I told him that wasn¡¯t going to happen and that he should be afraid of me. When he didn¡¯t back off, I told Isabella to make his life miserable by haunting him and basically being a spiteful poltergeist.¡±


    ¡°Serves him right. What are you gonna do if he hasn¡¯t given up by Friday, though?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m going to tell him I¡¯ll make the hauntings worse. And then I will. And they¡¯ll keep getting worse until he apologizes.¡±


    Ellie chuckled. ¡°It¡¯ll be nice to see him put in his place. Anything else exciting happen?¡±


    ¡°No, just that. Everyone else seems pretty¡­well, unaware of things or cool with them, so that¡¯s nice.¡±


    Ellie gave Tess a smile. ¡°See? I told you it¡¯d be fine. No one¡¯s even so much as considered that you weren¡¯t always who you are now.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. Um, how were things for you, though? I know you were stressing a bit too, so¡­¡±


    ¡°You were there for most of it. I got a couple of dirty looks in the locker room, but other than that girl from lunch no one directly confronted me about it, so it went about as smoothly as I could have hoped.¡±


    ¡°How are you feeling now?¡± Tess asked, somewhat worried. ¡°I know it¡¯s a little late to say it now, but¡­do you wish you had waited until after graduation when you wouldn¡¯t have had to deal with these people again?¡±


    Ellie snorted. ¡°You kidding? Being able to flirt with you in public is way better than not having to deal with a couple of bigots. I¡¯d do it again in a heartbeat, even if it was as bad as I had worried it might be.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. I¡¯d hate to think I was making things hard for you.¡±


    ¡°As if. Don¡¯t even think that for a second, I¡¯m literally living out my wildest dreams right now, so, if anything, it should be me apologizing for making things harder on you.¡± The conversation died down after that, and the two ended up spending the rest of their trip just listening to music and enjoying themselves.


    They were soon back home, and the moment Tess was through the door she was surprised by a weight gently falling onto her head, followed immediately by the sensation of a couple of small, smooth legs rubbing the top of her head as if they were trying to console her by stroking her hair.


    Tess laughed, reaching up and scooping Silky off of her head. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± She told the obviously worried spider. ¡°Everything was fine. There were a couple of mishaps, but I took care of them.¡±


    Silky gave her master a conflicted look before scuttling onto Tess¡¯s shoulder, firmly planting herself down and making it clear that she wasn¡¯t going to leave Tess¡¯s side for the rest of the day.


    Tess smiled, walking over to her room, where she changed into her casual clothes and grabbed her magic bag. By the time she was out, Ellie was waiting in the hall, door to the Outlands already summoned. ¡°That was fast.¡± Tess said. ¡°You¡¯re going out to train with your makeup on? I can¡¯t imagine you had time to remove it.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°I¡¯m going to remove it while I¡¯m waiting for The Rumors to get ready. There¡¯s usually a few minutes of waiting between getting there and The Rumors showing up, so there¡¯s time.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Tess said. ¡°Should we knock or what? I usually went through with Gramps in the mornings, so I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s gonna happen if he¡¯s in a meeting or something.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. He has a way to redirect the exit point of this door if he¡¯s going to be busy and we can¡¯t go through the office.¡± Ellie yanked the door open, stepping through. Tess followed, and found herself in Gramps¡¯s office.


    Gramps himself was sitting at his desk behind a stack of paperwork, and looked up as Ellie and Tess came in. ¡°Ah, you two.¡± Gramps said, looking up. ¡°Ellie, you go on ahead, Ker and Jin are going to be ready for you in a minute. Tess, you stay here, we have to go talk to Fortune and Amy. They¡¯ve finished their hotfix for Monster Breeder, but there are some¡­complications, so we¡¯re going to have to talk with them in person about it.¡±


    Ellie gave them a worried look. ¡°Should I be concerned about this?¡±


    Gramps shook his head. ¡°No, not really. We just have to lay out some ground rules with how this is going to work for the time being. It¡¯s nothing that¡¯s going to hurt Tess or anything.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Ellie replied. She leaned over to Tess, giving her a kiss on the cheek. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later, alright? If you need someone to talk to about all this, just let me know, I¡¯m willing to listen to whatever you have to say.¡±


    Tess smiled, reaching over and giving her girlfriend¡¯s hand a squeeze. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know how it goes.¡±


    Ellie gave a somewhat weaker smile in return, squeezing Tess¡¯s hand back before letting go and heading out of the room.


    ¡°Alright, ready?¡± Gramps asked. Once Tess nodded, he made a motion with his hand, and she was suddenly back in the increasingly familiar clean white area that was the gods¡¯ workspace. Fortune and Amy were seated on a couple of chairs behind a coffee table, upon which was resting a large diamond-shaped crystal.


    ¡°Ah, good, you¡¯re here.¡± Amy said, motioning to a couple of empty chairs across from them. ¡°Sit down, we have to talk.¡±


    Tess nervously sat down, rubbing her hands together on her lap. ¡°So, Gramps said you guys had finished your fix but there was a problem?¡±


    Amy shrugged. ¡°You could say that, yeah. Look, I¡¯m just going to level with you. This isn¡¯t something I think is ideal, and I would rather continue looking for a better solution, but Fortune has convinced me that you can handle this responsibility. I¡¯m not omniscient, and she knows you much better than I do, so I¡¯m going to defer to her judgement, but you do not want to make me regret this, am I clear?¡±


    Tess gulped, nodding nervously. ¡°U-understood. I¡¯ll do my best, ma¡¯am. Um¡­what am I doing?¡±


    ¡°So, we needed a way to let Fortune get out of Descent without going through that whole ejection process we had to last time. And part of the issue is that my Worship was keeping her trapped inside you, since it anchors other souls to your own.


    ¡°So¡­she proposed we don¡¯t separate her soul and yours. At least, not the clean separation that is normally done when a Descent ends. Instead, she¡¯s going to make a sort of¡­permanent residence, within you. In this case, she¡¯s going to take up one of your pet slots, and one of your User Fundamental Attribute slots is going to be used to house an ability that lets her essentially sever her connection with you temporarily.


    ¡°This has one extremely important side effect, though. While she is in Descent, she is, for all intents and purposes, one of your pets. And that makes her subject to a mind-altering affect that makes her unswervingly loyal to you. Normally, gods are immune to mind-altering affects, but this one is originating directly from my Worship, so it bypasses that immunity.


    ¡°Fortunately, she¡¯s still got some resistance to it, since it¡¯s a passive effect, not something I¡¯m actively pushing with. We¡¯re estimating that she has roughly five minutes a week that she can safely be in Descent without being affected, though in really important situations we can stretch that time limit out a bit so long as she spends a longer time recovering.


    ¡°So. Absorb this crystal, it¡¯s going to cement Fortune and that ability into their slots. Those slots aren¡¯t even going to show up on your interface, since those things wouldn¡¯t display properly anyway, so don¡¯t be confused when they don¡¯t.


    ¡°I¡¯m trusting you and Fortune both to not push that five minutes a week limit, but if I find that you two are, I¡¯m going to have to cut you off and we¡¯re going back to the drawing board. Seriously, don¡¯t test me on this. In the meantime, Fortune¡¯s going to be working both on a more permanent solution and a way to optimize the one we currently have so we have more breathing room. Got it?¡±


    Fortune nodded. ¡°We won¡¯t, I promise.¡±


    Tess nodded fervently. ¡°Really, I don¡¯t even want to use Descent unless it¡¯s a super big emergency. I won¡¯t push it, promise. Uh¡­is there a¡­timer or something we can use to know how much safe time we have?¡±


    Amy nodded. ¡°Fortune and I built that into the ability you¡¯re getting that lets her escape. Fortune, if you start feeling weird and that time limit isn¡¯t up yet, I expect you to disengage at the earliest possible time that won¡¯t directly endanger Tess. Tess, if she¡¯s staying in and she really shouldn¡¯t be, you should be able to use that ability to forcefully push her out, and I expect you to do so. Understood?¡±


    After both Tess and Fortune signaled their agreement, Amy continued. ¡°Do you have both a free User Fundamental slot and a pet slot?¡±


    ¡°I have two pet slots and I¡­¡± She paused, briefly checking her slots. ¡°Oh, I got another User Fundamental slot at level thirty, I forgot. Yeah, they¡¯re free.¡±


    Amy motioned at the crystal, and Tess went ahead and absorbed it, prompting another one of those glitchy windows similar to the one she got when absorbing the ¡®empty¡¯ core.


    Amy stood up, walking over to Tess and inspecting her. ¡°Everything looks good so far.¡± She said after a moment. ¡°Descend, I need to see what it looks like.¡±


    Fortune nodded at Tess, and after a moment there was the odd sensation of Fortune¡¯s mind sliding into place beside her own, and she could see Fortune¡¯s body go limp in the chair it was sitting in. Sorry about the trouble. Fortune told her. I wanted to get this fix out sooner rather than later, and I know I can trust you with this solution until we get something real working.


    You have gained the Title God Tamer!


    You have gained the Title Two Souls, One Heart!


    You have gained the Title Omnilingual!


    You have gained the Title Mortal Divinity!


    You have ~297 seconds of safe Descent remaining!


    Amy groaned. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me.¡± She said, grabbing some of her slimy hair and squeezing it in frustration. ¡°Alright, separate.¡±


    There was a slight wrenching sensation, and then Fortune was back in her own body.


    Amy raised a brow. ¡°Seriously? Well, whatever, I¡¯m not going to worry about it, we haven¡¯t used proper avatars in millennia, so it doesn¡¯t really matter. Descend again, I need to check the automatic warning functions.¡±


    And then Fortune was right back inside Tess, the two of them once again sharing the headspace. The window about gaining Omnilingual and Mortal Divinity popped up, but Fortune just dismissed it.


    ¡°So¡­what¡¯s this about avatars?¡± Tess asked.


    Amy waved a hand. ¡°Gods have this system where they can have a mortal body that works autonomously when they¡¯re not in it. We used it when we didn¡¯t have as much leeway to make Appointed and work with the mortal world that way, and those Titles were part of it. They gave the ability to understand all human language and gave the physical body immunity to mind-altering affects while the god wasn¡¯t in it. You have that anyway during Descent, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Are those other Titles fine?¡± Fortune asked.


    Amy paused, giving them a discerning look. ¡°Yeah, should be fine, let me just¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a name change and some slight effect downgrades, but it shouldn¡¯t impact her at all, since I don¡¯t think you¡¯re planning on giving her any taming abilities.¡± Amy said. ¡°Don¡¯t want people getting weird ideas if they look at her Titles. Go ahead and look over their effects while we wait, we¡¯re just killing time for fifty seconds here.¡±


    Tess pulled up her Titles, giving the two a look.


    Tamer of Myth:


    You have successfully tamed a being that has power far exceeding your own. Taming creatures of lower power than the being you tamed is twice as easy.


    Two Souls, One Heart:


    You have successfully housed one of your tamed creature¡¯s spirits inside of you and achieved a perfect synchronicity. Allows telepathic communication with all of your tamed creatures on the same plane as you. This communication is subtle and cannot be prevented by any means other than divine intervention, though it may still be listened to by other parties if it is discovered.


    Tess took a moment to look that over before trying something out. Silky? She asked, mentally sending out a message.


    Mistress?! Can you hear me!? Silky¡¯s ¡°voice¡± was, unexpectedly, deep and smooth, much like the stereotypical ¡°older sister¡±, though it didn¡¯t sound quite old enough to be called motherly.


    Yeah, I can hear you.


    Silky began to scuttle about excitedly on Tess¡¯s shoulder, occasionally stopping and waving about two of her front legs before resuming her scuttle. I¡¯m so happy! I wanted to talk too!


    Tess smiled. Well, now you can. Uh, what are you doing?


    Dancing! Too happy, can¡¯t be still!


    ¡°Perfect.¡± Amy said. ¡°Alright, you two can stop Descent now, this should work. And, remember, I¡¯m watching you. Don¡¯t even think about staying out past that time limit unless it¡¯s something serious.¡±


    Tess blinked as Fortune once again withdrew from her and she was suddenly alone in her head.


    ¡°Right, that should do it.¡± Amy said. ¡°You two can go now. Thanks for bringing her here, Evan. Hopefully she¡¯ll be able to do it herself soon as we won¡¯t have to rely on you all the time.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°I¡¯m more than happy to help my granddaughters out while they¡¯re unable to do it themselves. I¡¯ll let you know if I see them doing anything reckless.¡±


    ¡°Much appreciated.¡±


    Gramps nodded. ¡°Fortune, anything to say before we go?¡±


    ¡°No, um¡­thanks.¡± Fortune said. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to you soon, Tess.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­later, I guess.¡± Tess replied.


    And with that, Gramps waved his hands and the two were back in his office. ¡°Well, that went pretty well, I¡¯d say.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Just don¡¯t push that time limit and you¡¯ll be fine. Anyway, Alice is waiting for you in your usual meeting spot, so you go have fun, alright?¡±


    ¡°OK. I¡¯ll see you later, Gramps!¡± Tess took a moment to reactivate her ears and tail before opening the door and heading out to meet with Alice, ready to work out some stress and get some training done.


    Fighterman481


    If you don''t know, podunk is somewhat derogatory slang for ''the middle of nowhere'', and it conveys this feeling to it that I don''t know if you can really...get the same way without having been in a podunk town.


    Those of you who have done road trips in the US know what I mean, and there are likely equivalents in other countries but I''ve only ever been to Panama and only ever really in the capitol (and a couple more tourist-y places) there so...yeah


    Basically, take a bunch of farms or other large plots of land, roughly cluster them around a main group of buildings like a wal-mart (if you''re lucky and the town is even that big), a couple fast food places, a gas-station, and a couple of schools and churches. Make one or two suburbs scattered about if you''re feeling adventurous. Then, run everything down. Not necessarily to the point of being completely broken, but enough that you can tell. Random broken, maybe even rotting boards are hanging out near farm plots, there are broken down sheds on the side of the road, and even as you get into "town" the buildings don''t look...nice.


    Generally, the scenery can''t be good either. Podunk towns are dreary places, not somewhere you want to be for longer than is absolutely necessary. There are quite a few of them in the US, and you''ll pass through them if you''re driving long distances somewhere.


    Anywhere, large linguistic tangent aside, let''s talk about the ''fix'' to the Descent problem. It''s a fun little reversal of the normal dynamic of Descents, because it''s not Tess who''s worrying about being harmed, it''s Fortune.


    And it''s not really a good fix either. Unlike with normal Descents, Fortune and Tess can''t really get more ''used'' to Descending and lengthen their time like that. Experienced Appointed like Gramps can spend hours in Descent if need be, and Tess and Fortune are capped at five minutes a week. That''ll increase somewhat as time progresses and Fortune tinkers with things, but until they can properly figure out a way to fix the issue, Tess is going to be able to be in Descent for much shorter periods of time than other Appointed.


    Though, a weird quirk of how it works is that it''s also far less taxing for both to be in Descent. It''s much easier for Fortune to move into Descent and it''s got practically no adverse effects on Tess (well, at least for relatively short periods of time. If she was permanently in Descent things would eventually get messed up, but it would take a long time of 24/7 Descent).


    Anyway, I''m rambling so I''m going to cut things off here, next time Tess will be...having some talks, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!


    Oh, and I forgot originally, but...


    You''re not allowed to squish Amy''s hair. If you do, she''ll bonk you.


    With a crowbar.


    Don''t do it.

 Chapter 39: Stuck in a Rut

    Tess opened the door to the private room that had been her usual meetup with Alice and Eyfura, already reaching for her bag to take out her gi.


    ¡°Ah, there you are.¡± Alice said, standing up from her chair. ¡°Don¡¯t bother with the armor, we¡¯re not training today.¡±


    Tess tilted her head, withdrawing her hand. ¡°Why not?¡±


    Alice frowned, shaking her head. ¡°Eyfura needed some more time to think things through. She let me know she and Ilmir wouldn¡¯t be coming today, so I figured I could¡­well, show you around a bit. I mean, you¡¯re an Appointed now, so that means you¡¯ve got to know a bit more about the world outside of this city and Mael, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that makes sense, I think. Where are we going?¡±


    Alice blushed a little, looking away. ¡°Well, I figured we could¡­I dunno, go to the plane I grew up on? To my parent¡¯s place, to be exact. They¡¯ve been nagging me to visit them for a while and I thought it might be good for you to meet them, you know?¡±


    Tess blinked, surprised. ¡°I mean, sure, I guess. Do I need to like¡­dress fancy or anything? They were like¡­big CEOs, right?¡±


    Alice shook her head vigorously. ¡°No, they¡¯d rather you didn- I mean, it¡¯s just a social visit. You¡¯re coming as my pupil, so there¡¯s really no need for that.¡±


    Tess raised an eyebrow. ¡°They¡¯d rather I didn¡¯t?¡±


    Alice sighed, once again looking away. ¡°They might have also been nagging me to let them meet you.¡±


    ¡°You told them about me?¡±


    ¡°Not everything!¡± Alice said quickly. ¡°Not that you¡¯re an Appointed or you got those Skills or anything. I mean, I can¡¯t tell them that stuff, but I wouldn¡¯t!¡±


    ¡°No, not that, I was just surprised that you thought this was something worth telling your parents about, apparently to the point where they keep asking to meet me.¡±


    This time, Alice raised her eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re joking, right? This past like¡­month and a half has been the craziest of my life. It¡¯s not every day you start tutoring the grandchildren of the world¡¯s most influential man and start working with your childhood hero. I mean, I¡¯ve gotten at least two messages directly from the gods, and I watched you become an Appointed.¡±


    She paused, giving Tess a look. ¡°Well, I guess you get messages directly from the gods enough that two doesn¡¯t seem significant, but it is. Most people don¡¯t even get one in their entire life. So, yeah, I¡¯ve talked to my parents about things. I¡¯ve gotta tell someone about it.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I, um, didn¡¯t think about that, I guess? Everything¡¯s all new enough to me that I don¡¯t know what¡¯s ¡®normal¡¯ so¡­guess, yeah, I just didn¡¯t consciously think it would be anything out of the ordinary for someone strong and politically important like you.¡±


    ¡°I dunno about that whole politically important bit, but this is definitely unusual for strong people. No one I know has had a similar experience.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°Come to think of it, why are you tutoring me? Gramps and Eyfura were implying that you¡¯re pretty close to rank ten, so surely you all could be working on that, right?¡±


    Alice gave another sigh. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you while we¡¯re traveling. Uh, not necessarily to my parents¡¯, if you don¡¯t want to go, but we¡¯d at least go somewhere so¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine meeting your parents. How are we getting there?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a sort of portal nexus that connects the planes. We¡¯ll hop through one of the portals there and then we¡¯ll take the hoverer to my parents¡¯ estate.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good. Should we get going, then?¡±


    Alice nodded and Tess stepped back so she could follow her out of the room. Alice began to lead her out of the guild and through the city, hesitantly beginning to talk as she did. The sentences were slow and deliberate, and she often paused for long periods of time, apparently thinking through her next words carefully.


    ¡°So, we¡¯re¡­not exactly in a good place right now.¡± She began. ¡°Like, we just hit this sort of wall, you know? We¡¯re able to pretty easily raid dungeons around our level, but it feels like the moment we try anything harder we just¡­crumble. And, you know, the answer could be just ¡®more grinding¡¯, but that doesn¡¯t seem¡­right.


    ¡°It¡¯s not party composition either, we think. I mean, the Titans only have four people, and most rank ten parties don¡¯t have more than six, some even just have one or two. And, as it stands, we¡¯re pretty balanced and all our needs are met, so we think adding another person this late into it will just complicate things, and even if we did want to add someone there aren¡¯t exactly a lot of rank nine people in need of a party.¡±


    They reached a large plaza of sorts, filled with archways that had shimmering glows about them. People were walking into them and vanishing, and others were walking out from thin air, so Tess assumed these must be the portals Alice had been talking about.


    Alice steered her through one somewhat absentmindedly. The sensation was not unlike that of going through one of Gramps¡¯s portals, and after a moment Tess found herself on the other side of a similar arch. They were in a courtyard of sorts, high walls surrounding them and giving the whole area a sort of cramped feel despite it being open to the sky. That walls were something of an afterthought, though. The whole area was dominated by a large, ostentatious building in front of them, from which people streamed in and out.


    ¡°Sorry, hold on a second, I have to get you through customs and stuff.¡± Alice said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, once they read your status band and see who you are, they¡¯ll let you through in a heartbeat. Guild registrations generally act as passports anyway, and they¡¯re certainly not going to stop the Guildmaster¡¯s granddaughter if she wants to go through.¡±


    ¡°That¡­seems pretty lax.¡± Tess said. ¡°On Mael they¡¯re a lot stricter about this kind of stuff.¡±


    Alice shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not like there¡¯s a way to put up a nation-sized teleport blocker, and it would hurt the economy and people¡¯s quality of life if they did, so customs are more of a formality than anything. It¡¯s more there so people don¡¯t smuggle in stuff that can¡¯t be teleported. Well, at least don¡¯t smuggle it in easily.¡±


    Alice walked confidently into the building, and Tess followed. The entry hall was huge, with smooth marble floors and decorated many imposing statues. Alice didn¡¯t pay it much mind, leading Tess through the huge area to a series of checkpoints, each consisting of a booth and a bar, much like a toll gate. From there, she found an empty one, and then ushered Tess through the area a line would be.


    Behind it was a bored-looking human woman who glanced up briefly before returning her attention to her computer. ¡°Can I see your ID?¡± She asked.


    Alice reached into her bag and retrieved a card of some sort, which she passed to the woman. The woman took the card, quickly swiping it across a small card reader she had, then handed it back. ¡°I need the kid¡¯s ID too, miss¡­¡± The woman froze in mid-sentence, looking intently at the computer screen.


    There was silence for a long moment before the woman gulped and began to speak again. ¡°Sorry for the rudeness, Lady Reshi. Um¡­I¡­still need her ID, though.¡± She said, motioning to Tess.


    Alice smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, it¡¯s a draining job. This is Tess, she¡¯s got guild ID.¡±


    The woman nodded, reaching down and pulling out a rectangular machine with a large hole in it, much like an electronic pencil sharpener, but larger. ¡°If you would just put your band in here, miss¡­¡± She trailed off, looking at Tess expectantly.


    ¡°Los.¡± Tess replied, before looking to Alice. ¡°Um, how do I take it off again?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t need to.¡± Alice said. ¡°You¡¯ve got one of the new bands, so you can just stick your arm in there and it¡¯ll scan. If you want to, though, just think about it, the band will come out from your arm.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± She turned back to the woman, who was looking at Tess noticeably more cautiously. Ignoring her, Tess stuck her hand into the slot. There was a brief whirring, and then the woman spoke again.


    ¡°You can take your hand out, um¡­Lady Los.¡± Tess did, and the woman continued. ¡°Everything checks out. Um, we still have to do a search, though, sorry. It¡¯s just protocol, I can¡¯t change it.¡±


    Alice nodded, grabbing her bag and putting it on the counter. ¡°Just put your bag on the counter, Tess. She¡¯ll scan it from there.¡±


    Tess unhooked her bag from her pants, placing it next to Alice¡¯s. The woman took out something that looked remarkably similar to a barcode scanner, moved it up and down over the bags, and then over Alice and Tess.


    She breathed a sigh of relief, putting the scanner back. ¡°You¡¯re clear. Enjoy your stay in Loma!¡± The bar lifted, and Alice and Tess were soon through and into the other side of the room. Alice wasted no time in walking over to one of the many arches on the far end, explaining to her that it was the portal that would take them to the city closest to Alice¡¯s parents¡¯ estate. After going through the portal, they found themselves in a much smaller building, which they left. Once outside, Alice set up the hoverer and ushered Tess inside, taking a moment to input some directions before coming back to sit next to Tess. ¡°So, where was I¡­right, party members.


    ¡°So, we don¡¯t think it¡¯s the number of people or our party makeup. We¡¯re sure we¡¯re just missing¡­something, but we don¡¯t know what. So, we¡¯ve been metaphorically bashing our heads against this metaphorical wall, and we were in the city when the Guildmaster approached us. He said that, perhaps, what we needed was a change of pace.


    ¡°He proposed we teach you and Ellie, that maybe revisiting the basics would help illuminate what was keeping us from progressing. If we were still having trouble after that, he even offered to give us some coaching himself. And, of course, he would pay our living costs during the time we were teaching you, since we¡¯re not exactly earning as much as we otherwise would. And we figured he probably knew what he was talking about, and that it couldn¡¯t hurt to take a few months off and sort of refresh ourselves.¡±


    Alice scratched the back of her neck. ¡°And that¡¯s pretty much it, to be honest. Hope that doesn¡¯t disillusion you about us or anything.¡±


    Tess shook her head. ¡°No, I get it. Uh¡­how¡¯s this been working out for you?¡±


    ¡°Honestly? There are a couple of things about the way we fight that we think we might be able to change and start progressing again. The mock battles against the Titans helped a ton in pointing out the weaknesses in our formations.¡± She stared off into the distance, a slight smile on her face. ¡°They really are the real deal. You hear all these stories about them, and they all seem too crazy to be true, but now that I¡¯ve actually seen them in action I believe those stories a whole lot more. It¡¯s nice to know that the people you¡¯d always looked up to live up to the hype, you know?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°I think I know the feeling, but I can¡¯t help but feel a little strange about that. I mean¡­he¡¯s my grandpa. It¡¯s weird to learn that he¡¯s some sort of crazy-powerful hero and that a lot of people really look up to him for it.¡±


    Alice raised an eyebrow. ¡°You don¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do, just¡­not for that reason. All that power stuff aside, he¡¯s one of the best people I know, and I want to be like that.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that makes sense.¡± Alice admitted. ¡°But, you know, you¡¯re going to have to deal with being looked up to yourself someday. It¡¯s something that tends to come with hitting rank ten, and there¡¯s no way you and Ellie aren¡¯t going to end up there relatively fast. You two just have too much explosive growth to not hit rank ten.¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°That¡¯s a long time from now, though. Levels are slowing down, so it¡¯s going to take us a long time to get on that level.¡±


    Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°Please. The only thing you really care about with regards to level is gear, and, according to Ker and Jin, Ellie¡¯s already ready to take on things way above her level. It¡¯s going to come sooner than you think.¡±


    They kept up the conversation for a few minutes before the hoverer slowed to a stop. Alice stood up, opened the door, hopped out, and held it open like she was some sort of chauffer, even going so far as to give a little bow. ¡°Please, after you.¡± She said, smirking slightly.


    Tess hopped out of the hoverer, and Alice began to put it away while Tess stared at the buildings in front of her.


    It was a large gated compound, set on the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. There were all sorts of things inside, from a greenhouse to a large pool to what looked to be a stable, but what drew the eye the most was the enormous mansion these were all gathered around.


    Alice finished putting away the hoverer and placed a hand on Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s excessive, I know. But, in my parents¡¯ defense, they¡¯re doing their best to give back to the community. We, uh, just have more money than we can really spend on any of that. It sorta happens when your company gets as big as ours does.¡±


    ¡°How¡­much did this cost?¡±


    ¡°Honestly? I have no idea. Dad grew up around here, so he wanted to use local workers for everything. There were some troubles in getting everything this nice because of it, but it made dad happy and the payment was going mostly to people he grew up with, so mom didn¡¯t really mind. Um, all that being said, no idea what the finally tally ended up being, but probably a few million gold? No idea what that translates to in Mael¡¯s currency, but it was certainly pricy even for us.¡±


    Alice walked up to the gate, placing a hand on it. After a moment the gate swung open, granting entry. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡± Alice said, tensing slightly and turning back to Tess. ¡°Ready?¡±


    Tess nodded, and the two set off down the long path to the house, ready to face whatever was lying in wait for them there.


    Fighterman481


    ...Not that I got that much of a break, I still had to do a bunch of work on my virtual machine, but that''s not as big a deal when it''s not accompanied by a bunch of other assignments. (Hey, present me here, if anyone''s wondering, I got flawless marks on the virtual machine, and I got a high B and a bunch of As in my other classes, so hooray for that, I suppose? This upcoming semester (starts Monday) I''m not taking any big classes like that so hopefully I shouldn''t be as overburdened with work as I was last semester. The semester after will be my last and I have two big classes, AI and compilers, though, so...yeah)


    Anyway, I don''t really have that much to say about this chapter. Or really...anything at all. Maybe that''s a product of having just finished work on said virtual machine and being kinda burnt, but that aside I''m pretty sure I wouldn''t have much to say anyway.


    So, uh, next time we''ll be getting to meet Alice''s parents, so...look forward to it.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 40: Social Visit

    ¡°So, do I just ring the doorbell or¡­?¡± Tess asked, glancing at Alice. She was crouching down, messing with some of the greenery on the path a little ways behind them


    ¡°Yeah, just use the doorbell.¡± Alice confirmed. ¡°One of the servants will get it.¡±


    Tess nodded, turning back to the door and ringing the doorbell. There was a long pause, and then the door opened, revealing a sleepy-looking elf in a butler¡¯s outfit who gave Tess a curious look. ¡°How did you get in here? I don¡¯t believe we¡¯re expecting visitors today¡­¡±


    He trailed off, looking further down the path to where Alice was, then turned back to Tess. ¡°I see. My apologies, Alice was rather fond of those plants when she was younger, so she tends to loiter there for a while when visiting.¡± He told Tess, then looked back to Alice. ¡°It isn¡¯t proper to make guests get the door for you, Alice.¡± He called.


    Alice turned to him, blinking in surprise. ¡°What guest?¡± She frowned, looking between Tess and the butler. ¡°Are you talking about Tess? She¡¯s not¡­¡± Alice blushed furiously, looking back to the plants. ¡°Ah, right. Sorry, Tess, I wasn¡¯t thinking about that. Take her in, Tamas, I¡¯ll come in in a bit.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what do you mean by that?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I¡¯m not a guest?¡±


    ¡°Nothing, just a slip of the tongue.¡± Alice said hurriedly. ¡°Go with Tamas, he¡¯s really nice.¡±


    Tamas, brow raised, ushered Tess into the house. ¡°May I ask what your relationship with Alice is?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Her party¡¯s tutoring me. She¡¯s been the main one working with me, and we were basically living together for about a month when she took me on this sort of dungeon-clearing road trip.¡±


    Understanding filled Tamas¡¯s face. ¡°I see, you must be the Guildmaster¡¯s granddaughter, then. This way, I¡¯ll take you to the sitting room.¡± He began to lead Tess down the hall, stopping briefly to tell another servant to ¡°Go fetch the masters.¡±


    Eventually they reached a rather comfortable-looking room which several large couches and plush chairs arranged around a coffee table, as well as a piano sitting in the corner of the room. ¡°Take a seat, we¡¯ll have some refreshments in momentarily, and the masters will be with you in a few minutes.¡±


    He bowed and left the room, leaving Tess to think as she sat down in one of the chairs. It was a bit scary, suddenly finding that she was expected to meet Alice¡¯s parents by herself while Alice¡­did whatever she was doing with those plants. It seemed¡­out of character for her to do so, she had gotten pretty aware of how things like this might make Tess feel during their trip together.


    Her train of thought was interrupted by another servant bringing over a plate of cookies and some sort of drink pitcher and cups. ¡°I have some apple juice here; would you prefer something else?¡± The servant asked, placing the plate down on the table.


    Tess shook her head. ¡°Uh, no, I like apple juice.¡±


    The servant nodded, pouring the juice into a cup and leaving the pitcher on the table before making a curtsy and retreating.


    Tess took the cup and had a sip of the juice. It was¡­regular apple juice. She wasn¡¯t really sure what she had been expecting, but she was sort of surprised that they even had apples in places other than Mael. She had figured there would be¡­different fruits they would make juice from.


    The cookies were good too. They were chocolate chip, her favorite kind, and tasted like they were fresh out of the oven. Magic had to be involved there, right? They hadn¡¯t known guests were coming and it seemed like a huge coincidence that a fresh batch of cookies had been finished as soon as there were guests, so magic seemed more plausible.


    After a couple minutes Tess heard the sound of approaching footsteps, as well as soft conversation. ¡°Are you ready, honey? You¡¯re not going to let your guard down, right?¡± A man¡¯s voice asked.


    ¡°Of course not. I¡¯ve been preparing for this for a while, I¡¯ll restrain myself until I know it¡¯s fine.¡± A woman replied.


    That was¡­probably Alice¡¯s parents? She wasn¡¯t sure what that talk about restraining was, though. Were they worried Tess might be an assassin or a spy of some sort? That made sense, in a way, she couldn¡¯t exactly expect people in their position to trust someone they were meeting for the first time.


    After another minute or so, a pair of people walked into the room. The one she noticed first was a tall human man with black hair dressed in a nice suit. He struck an imposing figure, not at all helped by his rather serious expression.


    The other was a humanoid woman with wooden skin and a fancy dress. She was the spitting image of Alice, something that struck Tess as odd, as she had been given to understand that Alice¡¯s mom was a centaur. Was there some sort of transformation in play, or was she just misremembering?


    The two people, oblivious to Tess¡¯s musings, sat down on one of the couches across from her. ¡°Forgive our daughter¡¯s rudeness,¡± The woman said, ¡°we¡¯ll make sure to have a talk with her about this. I¡¯m Avery, and this is my husband, Jared.¡±


    Jared nodded. ¡°Pleasure to meet you. As you know, we¡¯re Alice¡¯s parents and the former heads of the Reshi conglomerate. What can we do for you?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Tess paused, unsure what to say. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know? Alice said she wanted to visit you and you wanted to meet me, so¡­yeah.¡±


    Avery was getting strangely tense, clenching a hand on her couch¡¯s armrest. Jared placed a placating hand on her knee, looking at Tess as he responded. ¡°Ah, just a social visit, then. That¡¯s good to hear, we get precious few of those these days. Could you tell us a little about yourself?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­well, I¡¯m the Guildmaster¡¯s granddaughter, I guess. That¡¯s apparently a big deal around here? I don¡¯t know much about that; I was raised on Mael and he¡¯s just your average person there so it¡¯s all a little strange to me.¡±


    ¡°I can see how that would be confusing for you.¡± Avery said weakly. ¡°Please, continue.¡±


    ¡°So, I¡¯m in school, but I¡¯m planning on becoming a freelancer when I get out. Alice has been tutoring me, and she¡¯s been a big help. She¡¯s a little¡­overbearing at times, but, I dunno¡­she kinda makes me more comfortable being out and about, like she¡¯s got my back, you know? She was scary at first but after I got to know her more when we were on our trip together, I just realized she was thinking about me in her own way.¡±


    ¡°Alright I can¡¯t take this anymore.¡± Alice stepped into the room, face red with embarrassment. ¡°Sorry guys, I know you wanted a little more alone time with her, but I can¡¯t listen to this anymore, it¡¯s too embarrassing.¡±


    She pulled one of the chairs over so it was next to Tess¡¯s and took a seat. ¡°Sorry about that. I didn¡¯t want to leave you alone, but they really wanted some alone time with you.¡±


    ¡°We just wanted to see what you were like without Alice around, sorry.¡± Jared said. ¡°But I think we got what we wanted to from it, wouldn¡¯t you say, dear?¡±


    Avery nodded distantly. ¡°Yeah, we did.¡±


    ¡°Right, so, she already introduced herself, but mom, dad, this is my prot¨¦g¨¦, Tess. Tess, these are my parents.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you. Um¡­¡± Tess said, trailing off as she looked at Avery.


    Alice followed Tess¡¯s gaze, then seemed to understand what Tess was wondering. ¡°Oh, right, should have told you. Mom has a ring that gives her a human form, and she usually uses that around the house. It¡¯s a lot more convenient than being a centaur indoors.¡±


    Avery idly thumbed a ring on her right hand. ¡°I can you show you if you want.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s fine for now, no need to go out of your way.¡± Tess said.


    There was a pause, and then Avery leaned over to her husband, whispering something she thought Tess couldn¡¯t hear. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much longer I can hold on. She¡¯s too much!¡±


    Jared sighed. ¡°Tess, would you mind indulging my wife for a bit? She¡¯s a bit¡­touchy at times.¡±


    Tess looked to Alice who gave a sigh not unlike her father¡¯s. ¡°It¡¯ll probably be fine.¡± She said. ¡°Mom has a hard time containing herself around things she finds cute. It¡¯s probably best to just let her get it out of her system.¡±


    Tess, taken aback, nodded. ¡°Um, I suppose that¡¯s fine, I guess?¡±


    Avery¡¯s demeanor changed instantly. She straightened up and, with sudden speed, was right next to Tess, grabbing her hand excitedly. ¡°You are just the cutest thing! Seriously, how is it even possible to be this cute?! Your ears look so¡­soft, can I touch them?!¡±


    Tess blinked, slightly overwhelmed. ¡°I don¡¯t mind, just¡­be gentle.¡±


    Avery nodded eagerly, reaching up and softly rubbing Tess¡¯s wolf ears. ¡°What do you use to wash these? Some product from Mael?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­I have a Skill that does it for me, actually. I just use whatever¡¯s in the shower, it doesn¡¯t make a difference in the end.¡±


    ¡°Do you even need to shower?¡± Alice asked curiously. ¡°Most of that is taken care of by Target of Affection, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no? I don¡¯t have to do it to take care of my hair or skin, but I still have to wash off if I get dirty. That and it just feels¡­wrong to not shower, so I do it anyway.¡±


    ¡°Lucky girl.¡± Avery mumbled. ¡°Still, can¡¯t say the results aren¡¯t nice.¡± She stopped rubbing Tess¡¯s ears, and stood up straight. ¡°Alright, thanks a bunch, I should be good for the time being. Do you want to take a tour around the place? We can talk while we do.¡±


    Tess looked to Alice again, who just shrugged. ¡°Sure, why not?¡± Tess replied. ¡°I suppose we might as well.¡±


    Avery smiled. ¡°Excellent. Do you want to start with the inside or the outside? I¡¯ve got something I¡¯m saving for the end that I think you and Alice will like, but other than that we can go wherever you want.¡±


    ¡°Inside, since we¡¯re already here.¡± Tess replied, standing up.


    Alice and Jared stood up as well, and the four began to make their way through the luxurious mansion. There were all sorts of amenities such as a couple of movie theater type rooms, bowling galleries, a sort of concert hall, and more.


    She wasn¡¯t given much time to look at any of those, however, as there was apparently enough that if they lingered too long on anything they wouldn¡¯t have time to get to any of the really ¡°cool¡± stuff.


    And during that time, Tess got to learn more about the Reshi family and what Alice¡¯s life had been like when she was young. Apparently, the company had been passed down through her mother¡¯s side of the family, and her dad had been entirely unrelated to it until he was in his thirties.


    Well, not entirely unrelated. He had had a couple of part time jobs in one of the stores owned by the Reshi conglomerate, but he definitely wasn¡¯t close to any management or anything. He met Avery by complete accident, she was in the area for business and had gone out to a local band¡¯s show incognito, and the two really hit it off. One thing led to another and the two ended up dating. He hadn¡¯t even known she was head of the company until a few months into their relationship.


    Another few years after that they were married and thinking about having a kid, so they began work on the estate, and, once it was finished, started trying for kids. After Alice was born, she ended up going to the same school as her dad, though she also had some private lessons on the side to help teach her what would be required to run the family business.


    ¡°We can show you her old room, if you would like.¡± Avery offered. ¡°We keep it untouched since she comes to visit from time to time.¡±


    ¡°No, absolutely not!¡± Alice protested, blushing. ¡°That¡¯s way too embarrassing.¡±


    Jared smiled. ¡°I figured as much. Don¡¯t worry about it, we won¡¯t show her if you don¡¯t want her to see. We should probably show Tess her room, though.¡±


    ¡°My room?¡± Tess asked, taken aback.


    ¡°Mom and dad like to have dedicated guest rooms for people close to the family.¡± Alice said quickly. ¡°Ker and Jin have one too, and Ellie might get one depending on how much we end up working together later on down the line.¡±


    Avery and Jared shared a look that Tess couldn¡¯t quite place but didn¡¯t say anything. The room in question was¡­nice. It was much the same as the rooms in the dungeon suites that Tess had stayed at, packed with all sorts of amenities and just generally¡­comfortable looking.


    ¡°We¡¯ll key you into the security system later.¡± Avery said. ¡°But for now, let¡¯s show you around outside, there¡¯s nothing else of interest in here.¡±


    Alice shot her mother a shocked look, but quickly schooled her expression when she saw Tess was looking.


    They left the mansion and, once they were outside, Avery twisted her ring and she was suddenly a centaur. Her dress had shifted so that it was covering her horse parts as well, much like a horse blanket. ¡°Tess, would you like to ride me?¡± She asked. ¡°The grounds are large, and it wouldn¡¯t do to get you all tired out so soon.¡±


    Tess hesitated. She was sure she could handle a little walking, but it would be rude to refuse an offer, right? ¡°Um¡­yeah, sure, but¡­I¡¯ve never even ridden anything like a horse before, so I¡¯m not sure I¡¯d be¡­able to ride you if I tried.¡±


    Avery laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m pretty good with newbies. Just hold my waist and you¡¯ll be fine.¡± She knelt down so that Tess could mount her more easily, and Tess climbed up gingerly, wrapping her arms around Avery¡¯s waist.


    ¡°Perfect, just like that.¡± Avery said, standing up straight again. ¡°We¡¯ll show you around and then we¡¯ll end on our little surprise, alright?¡±


    The ride around the grounds was a little bumpy and slightly uncomfortable, but all in all was much easier than Tess had expected. The grounds themselves had facilities for quite a few different activities. There was the greenhouse she had seen earlier, which contained all sorts of exotic plants, and a large garden complete with hedge maze that contained plants that were suited to grow in the climate.


    The stables only held a couple of horses, but they also a very nice grooming area, apparently for when Avery wanted to clean her centaur parts. There was a swimming pool, an area for playing outdoor sports, and a path down the cliff to the beach, where Tess could make out a boathouse and a dock.


    And, finally, it was time for the ¡°surprise¡±. There was a domed building on the grounds that hadn¡¯t been explained during their tour, and Alice didn¡¯t seem to know what it was either, so Tess was burning with curiosity by the time they reached it.


    Once they were in front, Avery knelt down and instructed Tess to get off, using her ring to shift back into a humanoid form once Tess had safely dismounted.


    ¡°Alright guys, what is this?¡± Alice asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been hyping it up for a bit now and I need to know.¡±


    Avery grinned, taking a key out from a pocket in her dress and unlocking the door to the building. She opened it and motioned for everyone to step inside.


    Tess stepped inside to find herself in a large circular room. There were a few large TVs lining the walls, plush couches on the edges of the room, and a console of sorts near the couches. More interestingly, though, most of the room¡¯s floor was made up of some sort of glass, letting her peer down into a vast empty chamber below them, going down what appeared to be several stories in height.


    ¡°So, while you were off training your prot¨¦g¨¦,¡± Avery said, ¡°we thought it would be as good a time as any to invest into an Arena. We¡¯re both rather out of practice, so we thought it¡¯d be a good way to get ourselves back into shape as we start thinking about pushing to level one-hundred. Plus, we thought it might be interesting to watch you go through some of the simulations and see how you¡¯re able to handle yourself.¡±


    Alice¡¯s eyes were sparkling. ¡°Really?! I¡¯ve been wanting to try one of these for ages but never had the time! Can we have a go?!¡±


    ¡°Sure thing.¡± Jared said, smiling. ¡°As long as Tess is OK with it, that is.¡±


    ¡°Um, this¡­may be a stupid question,¡± Tess began, ¡°but what¡¯s an Arena?¡±


    ¡°The latest in combat simulation technology!¡± Alice said excitedly. ¡°It essentially creates virtual opponents for you to spar against, can simulate a ton of different environments, lets you customize your opponent¡¯s abilities, even make it so enemies are stronger for one participant but not for another¡­they¡¯re awesome!¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Sounds cool, um¡­¡±


    ¡°You OK there?¡± Avery asked, concerned. ¡°Are you tired? You can sit out if you¡¯d like.¡±


    Tess gave Alice a look that she hoped conveyed the worries she had had. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. I was just thinking. Yeah, I¡¯m totally down to give it a go. How do we start?¡±


    Alice grinned. ¡°There should be some sort of magic necklace we wear. Mom, where do you keep them?¡±


    Avery opened a small box near the couches, rummaged inside for a moment, then handed a necklace to both Tess and Alice. ¡°Here you go.¡± She said. ¡°Go use the console and select the type of simulation you want, then hit start and everyone wearing a necklace will be teleported down. The necklace will simulate the damage you take and deal and your resource expenditure, but you won¡¯t actually be hurt by anything or use anything up. You can turn off pain and wound simulation in the options too, if you want, it¡¯s under ¡®advanced¡¯. Either way, once your necklace has received enough simulated damage that you would be at zero HP, you¡¯re teleported back up here.¡±


    ¡°And is there a dressing room we can use to change into armor?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°Just to the left of the main sitting area there¡¯s a door that leads to bathrooms and locker rooms. You can get changed there.¡± Jared told them.


    ¡°Perfect. Come on, Tess, let¡¯s get changed!¡± Alice said, bounding off towards the door. ¡°I¡¯m kind of excited to see what it¡¯s like to be on relatively even footing with you, so let¡¯s go!¡±


    Tess followed, and soon found herself in what looked an awful lot like the locker rooms she was used to on Mael. Alice ducked into a stall, and Tess heard her begin to put on her armor, so she slipped into a nearby stall and began to prepare herself as well.


    Fighterman481


    And, frankly, though I liked it in concept, it just didn''t work. It felt way too forced, especially when I wanted to pivot to the more friendly relationship they display later in the chapter.


    So, I ended up scrapping that entirely and going with what I have now.


    That''s really all of import that I can talk about right now, so next chapter we''ll get into the Arena and, depending on how long that takes, one or two other things, so look forward to that.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 41: The Arena

    Tess waited outside of the dressing room for Alice to finish getting her armor on. Tess had finished putting on her gi first, as slipping into it took much less time than it took Alice to put on her full set of armor.


    Didn¡¯t knights back on Mael usually have squires to help with that sort of thing? Plate mail wasn¡¯t easy to get into by any stretch, but did Alice¡¯s armor even work like that? Tess hadn¡¯t taken a close look at it and even if she did, she wouldn¡¯t know what to look for, so it probably wasn¡¯t worth thinking about for the time being.


    Alice was out a few minutes later, and the two made their way over to the settings console. Alice¡¯s parents had already taken a seat and were conversing amongst themselves. Tess had turned off Enhanced Hearing (Perfect) earlier so as to better respect their privacy, so she couldn¡¯t quite make out what they were saying, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves.


    ¡°So, I was thinking we should try out the urban environment.¡± Alice said, entering that into the console. ¡°We haven¡¯t had any good opportunities to get you versed in urban combat. You haven¡¯t experienced any real monster surges yet, and even if you had the guild¡¯s defenses protect the City super well, so it wouldn¡¯t have spilled into the streets anyway, but you need to know how to deal with this sorta thing. You¡¯ll get called out to deal with it in more remote areas from time to time as you get to a higher rank.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Sounds reasonable. Can we turn off the pain and wound simulation, though? I kinda want it to be a bit more¡­leisurely than regular training, you know?¡±


    Alice shrugged. ¡°I mean, you¡¯re not going to take much damage anyway, but sure.¡± She started thumbing through the other options, muttering to herself as she did. ¡°Enemy scaling on, enemy AI normal, end condition kill all enemies, starting pack¡­we¡¯ll say two of each kind of restoration potion¡­I think that¡¯s about everything interesting. Any changes you want made?¡±


    Tess looked over the options menu for a moment. ¡°Any way we can force an end time if it ends up going super long?¡±


    ¡°Just take off the necklace.¡± Alice said. ¡°You¡¯ll be teleported back up here immediately. If it gets too late, we¡¯ll just stop prematurely.¡±


    ¡°Then I think that¡¯s all.¡± Tess replied.


    ¡°Awesome.¡± Alice hit the ¡°create environment¡± button, and a loading bar reading ¡°constructing environment¡­¡± appeared on the console.


    When Tess looked down through the glass and into the chamber below, she was able to see a city-like area being constructed in front of her eyes, buildings slowly rising out from the floor.


    ¡°It¡¯s not actually real.¡± Alice informed Tess. ¡°Or, it is, but it¡¯s not something that we could use for actual cities. The materials don¡¯t last too long outside the environment of the chamber below, which apparently insulates Mana really well or something, I don¡¯t know how it works exactly. Still, it¡¯s a little crazy to watch, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Tess nodded, mesmerized by the city below her. It only took a couple of minutes for it to finish constructing itself entirely, and soon there was a full-fledged city block below them, the walls growing hazy before an illusion of a city beyond settled into place.


    ¡°We can¡¯t get too far away from each other, but if we both move in the same direction it¡¯ll generate more city for us to traverse while keeping us in the same relative position. You won¡¯t even notice a thing; it¡¯ll just feel like you¡¯re moving normally. We¡¯re going to have to do that if we want to find all our enemies, since not all of them are going to be loaded at the start. You just let me take the aggro, and you dish out damage, alright?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sounds¡­wait, what about Isabella and Silky? Will they be able to help?¡±


    Alice started. ¡°Oh, right. They won¡¯t be able to interact with the monsters, but they should come down with us as long as Isabella¡¯s inside of you and Silky¡¯s in one of your pockets or something. They should be able to help scout, but they should remain pretty close to us at all times. I¡¯m not sure if the Arena will notice them and stop scrolling things, but best not to risk it.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then I¡¯m set.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯m starting us.¡± Alice hit start, and a glowing 5 appeared on the floor, counted down to 0, and then Tess and Alice were teleported into a building in the cityscape below. Silky immediately hopped out of Tess¡¯s gi, giving a salute. Ready to roll, mistress! Just point me in the direction you want scouted!


    Tess looked to Alice. ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan here?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re doing a search and destroy type thing here, so we need to find the monsters. Silky, you should be able to look at the streets without being noticed, so go ahead and look around, just remember not to get too far away.


    Silky gave another salute. On it!


    ¡°¡­And me?¡± Isabella asked.


    ¡°The same.¡± Tess said. ¡°But you be in charge of looking through the buildings, since you can get past the walls easier.¡±


    ¡°¡­Got it.¡± Isabella said, drifting out of Tess and up through the ceiling.


    ¡°While we wait for them to give their preliminary reports, the important thing to remember is collateral damage. Unless absolutely necessary, try to avoid using big area of effect abilities or things that could damage structures. The goal is to not destroy the town you¡¯re trying to protect, you know?


    ¡°If it¡¯s life or death, though, go wild. There¡¯s no guarantee people will be able to resurrect you if you¡¯re in the stomach of a monster. Buildings aren¡¯t more important than your life.¡±


    Two dog things in the street, mistress! Silky informed.


    ¡°Silky says there are a couple of monsters in the street.¡± Tess said, prompting a quizzical look from Alice.


    ¡°How long have you been able to talk to Silky like that?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Got it recently.¡± Tess replied. ¡°So, we going or¡­?¡±


    Alice nodded. ¡°Yeah. Let me take point, and we should be able to deal with these no sweat.¡±


    And they did. Between the two of them, the ¡°dog things¡± were taken out pretty quickly. And so they began to move their way through the city, methodically taking care of the monsters as they did.


    It was almost disappointing, how easy it was. Things Tess hit just sort of¡­.melted, evaporating the moment she so much as grazed them.


    ¡°Are you sure the difficulty scaling is set right?¡± Tess eventually asked. ¡°Normal monsters aren¡¯t anywhere near this weak.¡±


    ¡°It seems alright to me.¡± Alice said, frowning. ¡°And it takes a hit or two for me to kill things, so I¡¯m not sure¡­¡± She trailed off, then seemed to have an epiphany of sorts. ¡°Oh, the default scaling is based off of your stats, not your level. Yeah, it¡¯s no wonder you¡¯re having such an easy time of it, monsters haven¡¯t been this close to you in stats since like¡­Slime Tower. Next time we run through this I¡¯ll make sure to make it scale off of level, so you¡¯ll be challenged.¡±


    ¡°I thought we were only going to do the one run today?¡±


    Alice froze. ¡°Yeah, we are, I was just¡­I dunno, I was sort of figuring we could come back again, you know? If we¡¯ve got another free day, I think it would be nice to unwind here, there¡¯s a lot we can do here, and I don¡¯t think my parents mind at all.¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Sure, as long as they¡¯re OK with it then I suppose I don¡¯t have an issue with it.¡±


    Alice gave her a relieved smile. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Nothing else of interest happened during their trip. Alice kept teaching her things about clearing monsters in a city, and after another hour or so they had cleared the Arena and were teleported back up above.


    When they did, Avery took Alice to the side, talking to her in a hushed tone. And, as Tess had forgotten to turn off Enhanced Hearing (Perfect) again after the Arena was done, she was able to catch the beginnings of it.


    ¡°Have you not told her yet?¡± Avery asked.


    Tess shut off the Attribute there. Even if Alice wasn¡¯t telling her something, she would rather hear it directly from Alice, not find it out through eavesdropping. She trusted that it wasn¡¯t anything terribly important or dangerous, so whatever it was could wait a bit.


    Emphasis on ¡®a bit¡¯. She was going to make a point of asking Alice about it when they were on their way home. Alice had been acting¡­weird that day, and she was guessing that whatever Alice wasn¡¯t telling her had something to do with it.


    Alice glanced over at Tess, so Tess reached up and folded her ears down to indicate that she had turned off the Attribute. Alice gave her a nod in response, then turned back to her mother and resumed talking.


    Jared, on the other hand, walked over to Tess. ¡°While they¡¯re talking, let¡¯s go get you keyed into the security system.¡± Jared said, smiling. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t take more than a few minutes, I took the liberty of getting the stuff ready while you two were in the Arena.¡± He motioned to the side of the room near where he had been sitting before, an area which now held a table upon which a few instruments were resting.


    ¡°Uh, yeah, sure.¡± Tess replied, walking over to the table with Jared following close behind. ¡°Are you¡­sure about this, though? I mean, we only met today, it seems a little¡­fast, you know?¡±


    Jared laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much about it. If we regret it, we can remove you whenever we want, but we¡¯re confident in our assessment of your character. We¡¯ve done our homework, and everyone generally has pretty good things to say about you. More importantly, though, Alice and her teammates think really highly of you.¡±


    Tess wrinkled her brow. She wouldn¡¯t exactly call that grounds for essentially being given a key to the house, but it wasn¡¯t her house, so she didn¡¯t really feel like it was her place to make that call.


    Once they were at the table, Jared picked up a small plate connected via cord to some sort of tablet, then handed the plate to Tess. ¡°Go ahead and circulate some of your Mana through here like you¡¯re activating a magic item, we need to get a read on what your magic signature is like.¡±


    Tess placed a hand on the plate, willing some of her Mana through it. There was a beep from the tablet, and she could see words of some sort scrolling through it.


    After a moment, Jared nodded. ¡°Perfect. We¡¯ll need to take a couple more readings to make sure there weren¡¯t any issues, but there shouldn¡¯t be.¡±


    And, after another minute or two of taking readings, they were confident that they had everything accurate. ¡°I¡¯ll get these hooked up into the gate key now, and when you leave, I¡¯ll update it.¡± Jared said, unhooking the tablet from the plate and hooking it into another device. ¡°When you want to come in to the compound, just place your hand on the plate on the gate and put magic through it. It¡¯ll open right on up for you.¡±


    ¡°And don¡¯t feel shy about visiting!¡± Avery said, walking up to the table. ¡°You¡¯re free to bring your friends or your girlfriend here whenever, so long as you can be sure they won¡¯t mess anything up and come say hi whenever you visit.¡±


    Alice, blushing furiously, nodded. ¡°Um, yeah. Uh¡­we should probably get going, though. We need to get you home before it gets too late.¡±


    Avery pouted a little. ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to stay for dinner? We don¡¯t mind, really!¡±


    Alice shook her head. ¡°Sorry. The Guildmaster won¡¯t be happy if I keep her out much later than this on such short notice. It¡¯ll have to wait for some other time.¡±


    ¡°I suppose I can allow that. Love you, sweetie.¡± Avery said, giving Alice a hug and then, to Tess¡¯s surprise, gave her one as well. ¡°I hope to see you two soon, OK?¡±


    Jared nodded and pulled Alice into a hug, ruffling her hair, and giving her a kiss on the forehead. ¡°Love you, Alice. Just let us know if you need anything, alright?¡± He let the hug go, giving Tess a wink. ¡°That goes for you too. And thanks for treating Alice nicely, she has precious few people she can call her friends.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough you guys, you¡¯re embarrassing me!¡± Alice said, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and gently beginning to lead her to the changing rooms. ¡°Though, uh, I¡­love you too.¡±


    Her parents just smiled, waving as Alice and Tess went to go change. They were gone by the time Alice and Tess had finished, and there was a long silence as they walked out of the compound and Alice set up the hoverer. Finally, once they were inside and on their way back to the Outlands, Alice spoke up. ¡°So¡­how much of that conversation with my mom did you hear?¡± She asked, still blushing slightly.


    ¡°Just that she was surprised you hadn¡¯t told me something.¡±


    ¡°I¡­see.¡± She said, a difficult expression on her face.


    ¡°Um¡­are you OK?¡± Tess asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been acting kind of weird all day.¡±


    Alice sighed, blush growing slightly. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Just¡­embarrassed. I suppose I might as well tell you, though. I didn¡¯t expect they were going to be so¡­open about things.¡± She spoke somewhat haltingly, stopping and starting as if she was struggling to get the words out. ¡°I just¡­I don¡¯t know, this is going to sound kind of weird and clingy, but¡­you mean a lot to me.


    ¡°Like, I know we¡¯ve only known each other for a couple of months and all, but it feels like it¡¯s been a lot longer than that. Aside from my parents, you¡¯re up there with Ker and Jin when talking about the people I¡¯m closest to. It¡¯s¡­almost like you¡¯re the little sister I never had. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s Target of Affection or if it¡¯s something else, but¡­I dunno, you just mean a lot to me.¡±


    She looked down, blushing even harder than she had been while talking to her parents. ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose contact with you when we stop training you. The thought scares me, and I know it¡¯s weird because, again, we¡¯ve only known each other for a couple of months, but¡­¡± She trailed off, and Tess waited for a few moments to see if she had anything else to say.


    When she didn¡¯t continue, Tess spoke up. ¡°Um, I¡­get it, I think. I feel the same way about you and Auntie. Like¡­I guess that for a long time I haven¡¯t really had any family figures in my life except for Gramps and kinda Ellie, and after our month out I guess I just sorta¡­latched onto you two?¡± Tess was blushing now as well. ¡°I do really hope we can keep working together after I¡¯m done training.¡±


    Alice looked up, cracking an unsteady smile. ¡°Hey, maybe when you and Ellie are higher level you can join our party.¡±


    ¡°I¡­wouldn¡¯t be opposed to that, but I think Ellie might be. I get the feeling she would prefer it to be just people our age for now. Though¡­I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be strong enough to be considered for your party for quite a while, so she might change her opinion by then. Either way, I want to keep hanging out with you.¡±


    Alice, still blushing hugely, glanced to the side. ¡°I get where she¡¯s coming from. At that age I didn¡¯t want to party with people older than me either.¡±


    Their conversation died out, and it took a while before they were able to start having normal conversation again. The rest of the way back to the Outlands was slightly awkward, but still a pleasant trip, and they soon found themselves back in one of the guild¡¯s private rooms.


    ¡°So¡­um, this is sorta a forward request,¡± Alice said, ¡°but¡­can I hug you before you go?¡±


    Tess walked over to Alice, giving her a hug. ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡±


    They held the hug for a moment before Alice broke it, giving Tess a smile. ¡°See you then.¡±


    Fighterman481


    Um...I suppose...well, I guess I worry I made Alice and Tess''s relationship growth too rushed? They''re both in a rather...different position than most people so I let it slide, but...


    Well, no use worrying about it now, what''s done is done. Next time we''re going to probably going to look a bit more into Tess''s second day at school and deal with the fallout of the Ilmir situation, so...look forward to it, I guess?


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 42: Change of Pace

    Tess¡¯s next day of school went relatively smoothly. No one came and yelled at her, so that was a plus, but that didn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t receive some dirty glances when she and Ellie flirted during lunch. Aaron didn¡¯t do anything except for once, when he stared at her expectantly from across the room when no one was looking.


    In response, she held his gaze, and Isabella undid his belt buckle and the button on his pants. She was in the process of unzipping his fly when Aaron noticed, prompting Tess to wink and turn away as he began to fumble with his pants as surreptitiously as possible, hoping no one had seen.


    So, she was soon back in The Outlands, heading to her usual meeting place with Alice and Eyfura. But, unlike normal, Alice and Eyfura weren¡¯t there waiting for her. No one was, actually. Tess shrugged it off, assuming that perhaps Alice and Eyfura were in the middle of something that was causing them to be a little late.


    While she waited, Tess prepared for the day ahead, putting on her gi and activating her wolf parts. Alice and Eyfura still hadn¡¯t shown up, so she took out her phone and began to mess around on it, just whiling away the time until they showed up.


    It took around ten minutes for Alice and Eyfura to show up. And when they did, they looked¡­somber. Eyfura walked over and took a seat next to Tess, while Alice sat down to the side.


    ¡°Um¡­is everything OK?¡± Tess asked. ¡°You guys look kind of grim.¡±


    Eyfura sighed, turning so she was facing Tess. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m resigning as one of your instructors.¡± She said sadly. ¡°It¡¯s not because of anything you did or anything, I¡¯ve had a great time training you, I just¡­¡± She paused, struggling for a moment. ¡°I¡¯ve come to realize that I¡¯m a poor teacher. I know that if I was better you could have beaten Ilmir. I know that, but I don¡¯t know what to do better.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine if I¡¯m just training someone like Ilmir, I can get the basics into someone, it¡¯s¡­well, you need better. You need fine technique, and that¡¯s something that¡¯s instinctual to me. And I feel like I¡¯m stifling The Rumors¡¯ teaching with my presence. Add that to the fact that you¡¯re an Appointed and that we can¡¯t afford to let your training be stunted, I can¡¯t justify teaching you any longer.¡±


    She reached in, giving Tess a hug. ¡°I still want to drop in from time to time, but it¡¯s not going to be more than once every couple of weeks. And Ilmir won¡¯t be coming anymore either. I¡¯m effectively changing the consequence of the bet to making her cool her head for a month¡­um, unless you would rather she train as a member of your party underneath you as originally planned.¡±


    Tess returned the hug. ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s going to be sad not seeing you, though, I¡¯m going to miss you.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡± Eyfura replied, giving Tess a little squeeze. ¡°Next time you have some free time, let me know and I¡¯ll introduce you to the rest of my family, OK?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing. So, um¡­what now?¡±


    Eyfura broke the hug, ruffling Tess¡¯s hair. ¡°Now I go catch up on some of the duties I¡¯ve been slacking on.¡± She stood up, heading over to the door. She stopped before she left, turning back to Tess. ¡°And if you need anything, I¡¯m just a call away, alright?¡± And with that she left, leaving Tess and Alice alone.


    Tess looked to Alice. ¡°So, it¡¯s just us, then?¡±


    Alice shook her head. ¡°Ava wants to join us, but she¡¯s going to be another few minutes.¡±


    ¡°Ava¡¯s coming?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Yeah. When she heard Eyfura was going to quit she volunteered to take her place. Something about not wanting to leave you without one of The Titans overseeing your growth at this critical stage.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that.¡± Ava said, announcing her presence by closing the door. ¡°To tell you the truth, I¡¯m probably best suited to be the one teaching you for now. You¡¯re going to end up fulfilling a role remarkably similar to my own, so I can teach you the ins and outs of it.¡±


    She turned to Alice. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind, but I have a curriculum thought up. I figured we could go over it, but I also don¡¯t want to step on your toes, so you don¡¯t have to use any of it if you don¡¯t want to.¡±


    Alice blinked. ¡°I, uh, um¡­I¡¯m honestly sort of winging it and teaching her things as they come up in dungeons, since we¡¯re still getting her Skills rounded out. So, if you have some further structure then I¡¯m open to it.¡±


    Ava smiled, walking over and sitting down in a chair across from Alice and Tess. ¡°Perfect. So, my first thought is that we¡¯re going to dramatically cut down on dungeon time. We¡¯ll still do some runs, but they¡¯re mostly going to be to get Skills or levels, not to teach her things.


    ¡°Instead of just dungeons there are three main things I want to focus on. The first is getting her to learn about the wider world. She¡¯s an Appointed now, it¡¯s necessary for her to have at least a basic knowledge of the other planes and their cultures. The second is training and teaching her combat theory. I¡¯ll be teaching her things in low stress situations, and she¡¯ll practice what she¡¯s learned on the two of us so we can be sure she¡¯s got it exactly right.


    ¡°And the last is practical combat, which is going into dungeons with the express purpose of letting her use what she¡¯s learned there or for levels and Skills. We¡¯ll set up certain situations and she¡¯ll have to adapt to them on the fly. We won¡¯t be able to recreate every situation she¡¯ll end up in, but we can at least pretend she¡¯s in parties of differing compositions.¡±


    ¡°Actually,¡± Alice said, ¡°my parents have given us permission for her to visit their manor whenever, and they recently got an Arena. I can talk to them and ask if we could use it for training.¡±


    Ava¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Really? I¡¯d love to try that out! I¡¯ve always wanted to really see what they could do. In that case, I¡¯ll have to rebalance the time investment I was thinking of so she gets levels and Skills at roughly the same pace as I was planning¡­¡± She trailed off, thinking that over. ¡°Well, I can look that over later, today I was hoping to get her familiar with the culture here. Specifically gambling culture, since that¡¯s the most immediately relevant to her.¡±


    Alice frowned. ¡°Are we¡­sure we should be throwing her into that right away? It can get pretty seedy and she¡¯s not fully able to defend herself if someone gets frisky. I know we¡¯ll be there but if she somehow gets separated from us¡­¡±


    Ava waved a hand. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, I¡¯ll keep a close eye on her. Still, you have a valid point, so I have a bit of¡­insurance.¡± She reached into her bag, pulling out a couple of rings and then tossing them to Tess and Alice. ¡°Just funnel some Mana into that bad boy and everyone else wearing a matching ring will know exactly where you are. If you get in trouble just put in some Mana then Alice and I will come running.¡±


    Alice nodded. ¡°That does make me feel a bit better, but¡­¡±


    Ava sighed. ¡°I know. Still, she has to jump into this sometime. She¡¯s been tasked with reforming the system and she can¡¯t do that if she doesn¡¯t know anything about the system. I¡¯d like for her to be able to think about her plans during training and see if she can¡¯t figure something out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine with it as long as you two are with me.¡± Tess said. ¡°I trust you to keep me safe. Besides, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to be immediately targeted just for going into a casino, right?¡±


    ¡°I suppose you two are right.¡± Alice admitted. ¡°But we¡¯re going to need disguises, right? I can¡¯t imagine we¡¯d get a good feel for the culture if we¡¯re recognized and get immediately taken to the higher-stakes areas.¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡± Ava said, rummaging around in her bag. ¡°I have just the thing, though.¡± She took out a core and a few coats, walking over and giving the core and a coat to Tess and one of the other coats to Alice. ¡°Go ahead and absorb that core, it¡¯s from a fox monster. Just swap out your ears and tail and that¡¯ll make it that much harder for people to recognize you. The coats have recognition inhibitors too, but they¡¯re not foolproof and I figured it was so easy for Tess to add another layer of anonymity that we might as well.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Before I absorb this, there¡¯s some¡­Class Crystal or something that can let me change my Class here in the guild, right? Fortune wants me to do that before I absorb this.¡±


    ¡°I brought one with me.¡± Ava said, taking a small but shiny crystal out of her bag. ¡°Go ahead and change your Class, let us know when you¡¯re done.¡±


    She gave Tess the crystal, and Tess mentally willed it to change her Class to Artisan of Affliction.


    Once she confirmed that her Class had changed, she absorbed the core she had been given.


    You have absorbed a Monstrous Fox (Young) Core!


    Slots filled: 10/26


    You have gained 25 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    No new Skills or abilities detected!


    Displaying core information:


    Monstrous Fox (Young) Core:


    Level 3


    Estimated Power: 7


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 11


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Fur (Fundamental)


    Kemonomimi (Fox) (Fundamental)


    Night Vision (Inferior)


    Sharp Claws


    Sharp Fangs


    Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental)


    New Attributes discovered!


    Kemonomimi (Fox):


    Kemonomimi (Fox) replaces a creature¡¯s regular ears and tail with those of a fox, as well as providing ears or a tail to creatures without.


    She swapped Kemonomimi (Wolf) for the fox version, and another window popped up in front of her.


    Well, that was¡­not what I expected to happen. You¡¯re not really supposed to be able to gain experience on Classes that aren¡¯t active, you should have just not gained experience at all or gained experience in Artisan of Affliction.


    Uh¡­guess we just hardcoded the act of absorbing cores to give experience to Monster Breeder? I mean on the one hand it¡¯s a lot better than not getting experience at all, but on the other it means we can¡¯t absorb a bunch of cores to swiftly level up new Classes.


    Ah well, it is what it is. Thanks for testing that out for me.


    She nodded, waved away the window, handed the crystal back to Ava, and put on the coat. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m ready.¡± She said.


    Ava put the crystal away and put on her coat as well. ¡°I think we¡¯ll be heading to the city¡¯s largest casino, the Vermillion Arc. Does that sound alright to you, Alice?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Alice replied, relief in her voice. ¡°As far as I know they¡¯re about as up and up as these things get, so I don¡¯t have too much of a problem with them.¡±


    Ava smiled. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t throw her right into the seedy side of things immediately, she doesn¡¯t even know how gambling works with the presence of stats, let alone how to spot a scam.¡±


    She turned to Tess. ¡°With that in mind, don¡¯t win every single game. We¡¯re going to have you play a few and I know you have the capability to always win, but you can¡¯t. If you do, we¡¯re going to get caught cheating and kicked out, and needless to say we don¡¯t want that. Just win barely over half, alright? People won¡¯t get suspicious then.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°I can handle that. So, we¡¯re actually going to be gambling then?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Not much of a better way to get a feel for gambling culture than to actually gamble. Things can get kind of complicated, so just listening to me tell you about it won¡¯t be as good as actually experiencing it for yourself. We¡¯re going to give you a pretty small sum to work with, just a gold coin, but it should be enough to do just about everything.¡±


    And with that the group left the guild and began their walk through the city. Their trip took them to a part of the city that Tess had never been in before, where the buildings began to get bigger and flashier, and the people began to look seedier. It wasn¡¯t that they looked directly harmful looking, just that there were a lot of drunkards, people hawking sketchy goods, and even a couple of people advertising places that Tess suspected were brothels of some sort.


    Alice pulled Tess a little closer. ¡°Just¡­stick close, alright? People aren¡¯t going to try and mug you or pickpocket you on this street, but you could get scammed. Don¡¯t make eye contact with anyone and don¡¯t respond if they call to you.¡± She instructed.


    ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t. But¡­is it really OK to have this sort of sketchy place in the city?¡±


    ¡°There kind of has to be one.¡± Ava said. ¡°This is the city of freelancers, and, as the name implies, they tend not take kindly to people telling them what they can and can¡¯t enjoy. If we tried to ban them outright, we¡¯d lose a lot of support from people in the guild, and that would greatly destabilize things in the region. So, we figured we¡¯d impose restrictions and then try and keep all the more¡­potentially scummy businesses in one area and police it heavier. For the most part it¡¯s kept things from spilling over too much, but we haven¡¯t had the means to do much more.¡±


    They kept walking for a few more minutes before they stopped in front of a particularly elaborate building. It was big and colored red, with a large flashing sign that read ¡°Vermillion Arc¡± adorning the front.


    They went into the building, and the inside was¡­about what Tess had expected. Plush carpets, ornately designed counters and walls, flashing lights all over, and some sort of music going in the background. Ava led them over to a counter, where a lady greeted them with a smile. ¡°Welcome to the Vermillion Arc!¡± She said. ¡°How many tokens can I get for you?¡±


    Ava placed three gold coins onto the counter. ¡°Exchange these, please.¡±


    The lady smoothly took the coins, reached down, deposited the coins, then dropped three stacks of small discs onto the counter. ¡°There you are. Remember, tokens cannot be taken out of the establishment and can be exchanged for currency again at any time. Anything else I can do for you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be all, thank you.¡± Ava said. She gave a stack of the tokens to Tess and one to Alice, taking the last for herself. She led the group away from the counter and into one of the more open areas. ¡°We¡¯ll start with some of the easiest stuff to grasp, and gradually work our way into the more complicated stuff, alright?¡±


    Tess nodded. She felt a little wary about this all, but she reminded herself that, unless the machines were totally rigged, there was no risk for her, and she could focus on learning how everything worked. ¡°Let¡¯s go, I guess.¡±


    Fighterman481


    And the whole instructor swap is something I have been planning for a while. It''s something that allows for a better, well, change of pace and a more comprehensive education. The Rumors were never really contracted to be history and culture teachers, but that''s something that''s kind of really important to Tess''s situation so...


    Also, this isn''t the last we''ll be seeing of Ilmir and Eyfura. I have something else planned for that, but I''ll have to wait until later on to really dig into it.


    Anyway, that''s about all I have to say. Next time we''ll be looking at how gambling works, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 43: Vermillion Arc

    Tess was standing in front of a slot machine, Ava and Alice to her side. ¡°Go ahead and put a little of your mana into the panel on the side.¡± She instructed. ¡°The machine has to scan your Luck to know what odds to give you.¡±


    Tess did as she was told, and soon a glowing ¡°50¡± appeared on the panel. A moment after that, two boxes appeared to either side, one reading ¡°adjusted¡± and one reading ¡°standard¡±. ¡°What are these?¡± Tess asked, looking curiously at them.


    ¡°It¡¯s a way of changing the chance that each symbol comes up.¡± Alice explained. ¡°It¡¯s a way for people with high or low Luck to be able to have a fair chance at things. By selecting adjusted, the machine changes its odds so that, with your Luck, you¡¯ll get things at the ¡®normal¡¯ rate with normal payouts. Standard has the machine not account for Luck at all, so the chances of you getting what you want might increase or decrease, but the payout will increase or decrease accordingly.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°And what if there¡¯s someone with super high Luck? Wouldn¡¯t they just win every time and always make money?¡±


    ¡°A good observation.¡± Ava replied. ¡°Most machines have a cap on the positive odds, not letting people go past about sixty percent in their favor. And if you do have odds higher than standard, many places also implement an additional fee for playing at those odds. You¡¯ll still make money if you win, but places have done the math; over the long run, the house always wins. Go ahead and put in some tokens and take it for a few spins on both settings.¡±


    Tess inserted a token into a slot and pressed the ¡°adjusted¡± button. The reels of the machine started to spin, so she pulled the lever and watched as they came to a stop. She won part of what she had put in back, but not the whole thing.


    A few spins later and she had a sum that was slightly more than what she had started with, so she pressed the button that read ¡°end¡± and gathered the dispensed tokens, inserting them again to try the ¡°standard¡± setting.


    The part of the screen that showed what each combination of things was worth changed, the numbers going up to reflect a relatively lower Luck. She won things a lot less often that time, eventually stopping once she was at around half of the amount she originally had. ¡°Alright, I think I¡¯m done.¡± She said. ¡°Now what?¡±


    Ava smiled. ¡°What do you think about this system? Is it a good and fair one?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°On paper, I guess. But¡­what assurance do I have that the adjusted probabilities are what they say they are? Couldn¡¯t they tip things in their favor slightly so I¡¯m not really getting normal odds?¡±


    Ava nodded. ¡°Good. There isn¡¯t really a regulating body for this sort of thing, so this sort of scam is all too common. High profile places like this are generally clean, but there¡¯s really not a good way of telling, so people have to get by on reputation. What else?¡±


    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know what Luck the machine is calibrated around, so I can¡¯t confirm I¡¯m getting fair odds that way, either? Also, there should probably be a cap on low Luck like there is high Luck, or at least a cap on number of successive tries with low Luck, since it seems to me like people will go on huge losing streaks there with no realistic chance of payout.¡±


    ¡°Excellent observations. Though, when it actually comes time to start cleaning things up, you might want to hold off on that last suggestion until things are somewhat under control. You¡¯re going to get a lot of pushback on it, and it¡¯s debatably less predatory, since people at least think they know what they¡¯re getting into. Best to save that until you¡¯ve established yourself more and can afford to throw that sort of suggestion around. Anything to add, Alice?¡±


    Alice shook her head. ¡°No, I¡­can¡¯t think of anything off the top of my head. Do we want to move on to the next thing?¡±


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s.¡± Ava said, leading the group down past the slots and to another set of machines. They went through several different types of gambling machines like this, Ava pointing out how they could be rigged. They all had in common the ¡°adjusted/standard¡± system, but aside from that they differed wildly in how they played.


    Eventually, they had exhausted all the ¡°simple¡± games, and it came time to get into the more complex ones.


    ¡°So, things get messy when you have multiplayer games, since everybody¡¯s Luck is going to affect things in different ways.¡± Ava explained. ¡°And that has a lot of potential for abuse. Right now, the only truly safe way to bet when multiple people are involved is in something that doesn¡¯t have anything to do with Luck, like races. There are just too many factors otherwise.¡±


    They stopped at what appeared to be a roulette table with a few people gathered around it. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t stop people.¡± Ava whispered. ¡°They have all these formulas for how the odds change when people place their bets, but the system has a lot of problems. See if you can find them when we have a play, alright?¡±


    ¡°Ah, newcomers.¡± The man behind the roulette said. ¡°Please take your seat at the table, we¡¯ll begin in three minutes.¡±


    Alice, Tess, and Ava sat down at a seat that was as far away from the other participants as possible. Like with the other machines, there was a plate to verify her Luck, so Tess went ahead and did so.


    After she did, a display on the table lit up, showing all the different things she could bet on and the odds for each of them. Unlike with the single player games, there was no option to adjust for her Luck, so she punched in something that gave a decent return, putting about a fourth of her tokens as the bet.


    As she did, the odds updated to account for her bet, and the screen displayed a message that read ¡°One bet change used. Bets may be changed another two times before the round begins.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a way for people to change their bets if the odds change to something they don¡¯t like after the round starts.¡± Alice explained.


    After three minutes, the display dimmed, and the man behind the roulette pressed a button, releasing a ball onto the wheel. It went around the edge a few times before eventually landing in the slot that Tess had bet on.


    A few people groaned and slid their tokens over to the man, who redistributed them to the winners, along with a couple of extra tokens he had to the side.


    They played a couple more rounds before leaving. Once they were out of earshot, Ava asked the question she had asked Tess after every game they had played. ¡°How could this be manipulated?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­I¡¯m not sure how the odds account for that dealer guy. He would affect them, right?¡±


    Alice nodded. ¡°Yup. People just have to live with that fact and assume what the casinos are showing is accurate. That¡¯s one way shady places get you.¡±


    ¡°And I can¡¯t be sure whatever formula they use is accurate, right? I don¡¯t have any idea how Luck affects things, so¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s another one.¡± Ava agreed. ¡°What else?¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know, I can¡¯t think of any other obvious ones at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes casinos will hire people with high Luck to skew odds.¡± Ava explained. ¡°They give their winnings back to the casino, which further puts the odds in favor of the casino. That one¡¯s always a risk with multiplayer things, but there¡¯s no way to be sure it¡¯s not happening, so again we just have to rely on reputation.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°That¡¯s not going to be fun to deal with. Seems a bit harder to police than everything else.¡±


    ¡°Just keep thinking about it.¡± Ava encouraged. ¡°After we leave, I¡¯d like to hear your preliminary thoughts and we¡¯ll hash things out together. For now, though, let¡¯s just keep going.¡±


    Tess nodded, and the group moved on to their next activity. After about an hour or so, they had seen every type of gambling this casino had offered, and they retreated back to an exchange counter.


    ¡°Thank you for visiting the Vermillion Arc!¡± The cashier said. ¡°How many tokens would you like to exchange?¡±


    Tess placed their winnings, which amounted to just slightly more than they came in with, onto the counter, and the cashier took them, counted them up, and then gave some coins back. ¡°There you are, come visit us again!¡±


    They took the money and left. Once they were out of the casino, Ava turned to Tess. ¡°So, what do you think of it, in general? I have a silencing spell up right now, so don¡¯t worry about being overheard.¡±


    ¡°I dunno, it seems¡­complicated. It was a lot simpler on Mael where we didn¡¯t have Luck to deal with.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t be for long.¡± Ava replied, smirking. ¡°But, do you think you can handle this?¡±


    ¡°I¡­maybe.¡± Tess said. ¡°I was sort of thinking that the first thing I could get started with was introducing a standardized form of machine for stuff like slots. If I could somehow get in charge of the producers, then we could have machines that have my stamp of approval, which are guaranteed to be safe. Problem is, I don¡¯t know how to manufacture those and don¡¯t have the means to do that anyway.¡±


    ¡°I could help with that.¡± Alice volunteered. ¡°I have the resources and it sounds like something that would make a lot of money, so don¡¯t feel like you¡¯re putting me out or anything.¡±


    ¡°Would you? That¡¯d help out a bunch!¡± Tess replied enthusiastically. As silly as it sounded, she really hadn¡¯t thought of having Alice help before. She had only been thinking in terms of what she, Fortune, and maybe Ellie could do, so the thought hadn¡¯t even crossed her mind.


    Ava nodded in satisfaction. ¡°Good, that¡¯s a start. Who¡¯s going to do the math when it comes to Luck? You¡¯re going to need to get those equations somehow.¡±


    Tess blinked. ¡°I was figuring I could just ask Fortune, she should know, right?¡±


    Yeah, I can get those to you.


    Let me know when you need them, and I¡¯ll just send them to you like this so you can write them down.


    ¡°Fortune says she can do that.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°So that¡¯s that problem.¡±


    Ava gave her a smile. ¡°I¡¯m glad you were already thinking of that.¡± She said. ¡°This is just as much Fortune¡¯s responsibility as it is yours, so don¡¯t feel shy in asking her for help. A lot of new Appointed tend to feel like they¡¯re putting their god out, so remember that you¡¯re equal partners. You¡¯re already doing a lot of work for her, so it¡¯s the least she can do to help you with things like this.¡±


    ¡°Right, so that¡­should take care of the single player things.¡± Tess continued. ¡°I mean, I¡¯d have to do inspections or something to make sure everything¡¯s as intended, but¡­¡± She trailed off. ¡°Wait, I can just do that with random monster drops. That¡¯s should work, right, Fortune?¡±


    Oh yeah, that bit of pseudo-divination you did way back when. I forgot about that since you haven¡¯t used it at all.


    Yeah, go ahead, that¡¯s just a time saver for your duties, not really abusing anything too much. Plus, it¡¯ll keep people on their toes, since they won¡¯t have any idea how you¡¯re getting that information. I like it.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine, so there¡¯s that taken care of too. I¡¯ll just do that every once in a while, and that should be that.¡±


    Ava gave Tess a curious look. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to know too.¡± Alice agreed. ¡°It¡¯s the first I¡¯m hearing of it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, Ker probably didn¡¯t tell you. There was an oversight in Fortune¡¯s Blessing that lets me use it as a way to essentially ask the universe yes or no questions, and ask for certain drops on a yes and certain drops on a no. Then depending on what I get, I know the answer. She¡¯s since fixed the issue and given me another Blessing that lets me do that so long as I don¡¯t abuse it.¡±


    Alice raised an eyebrow. ¡°So, you¡¯re telling me you have a completely accurate way of getting an answer to whatever question you have?¡±


    ¡°Yes? I don¡¯t want to use it for just anything, though. Again, it¡¯ll get taken away if I just start using it willy-nilly, so I only want to use it for important stuff.¡±


    Alice just shook her head. ¡°I suppose I shouldn¡¯t be too surprised at stuff like this at this point. I can¡¯t hold you to the same standards I hold everyone else.¡±


    ¡°To be fair,¡± Ava said, ¡°that can pretty easily be emulated by just¡­asking Fortune what you need to know. This is just a more automated way of going about that. Anyway, that¡¯s the single player stuff taken care of, have you given thought to multiplayer games?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a bit.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯d want there to be ways for it to be more transparent, like the dealer has to have a ¡°default¡± outcome they want and their Luck needs to be made visible to the players, so they know what they¡¯re getting into, so there might need to be some sort of standard machine or something that can be used to display that. Shouldn¡¯t be too hard, since there are already Luck scanners.


    ¡°I¡¯m more concerned about those hired people you guys mentioned earlier, though. I can¡¯t think of a way to really prevent that aside from¡­well, opening my own casino? I don¡¯t know how good of an idea that is, though, since the goal here is to reform the culture around it as a whole and opening just one guaranteed-safe place seems like a patch job.¡±


    ¡°You could just make it forbidden and use that same divination thing you mentioned earlier to determine if places are doing it.¡± Alice suggested. ¡°Should be simple enough.¡±


    ¡°Right, duh.¡± Tess said, slapping a hand to her forehead. ¡°I literally just talked about doing that with checking machines, I shoulda thought of that.¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s what we¡¯re here for.¡± Alice said. ¡°To help you think of ideas.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what else I can think of. Maybe some sort of certification for dealers that shows they¡¯re not scamming? Though I would want a way to check them for evidence of wrongdoing that doesn¡¯t involve me manually confirming each one. It¡¯s one thing to do that for ten or so big establishments or chains, but for hundreds or thousands of dealers? That¡¯s just far too much work.¡±


    ¡°You could call in the dealers for questioning with one of Truth¡¯s lie detectors and revoke the certificate if people break the rules.¡± Ava suggested. ¡°Make a small organization here in the city and have people renew their certifications here every few months. Then all you have to do is check if anyone in your agency has broken the rules.¡±


    Tess tapped her chin thoughtfully. ¡°I suppose I could make it with like¡­ten people that handle things like allegations of cheating, and then I could check everyone in a batch and only look deeper if any of them have done something shady. Though¡­I can¡¯t help but wonder if there¡¯s a better way to disincentivize breaking the rules than just removing a license. Are there like¡­curses that the gods can give?¡±


    Ava nodded. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s not something they like to do willy-nilly, though, so it would have to be for big-time rule breakers. For smaller ones I think just a ban from getting certified again would be enough. Still something worth considering if Fortune¡¯s up to it, though.¡±


    ¡°She says she can do big rule breakers.¡± Tess relayed. ¡°So, that¡¯s that, I suppose. And that¡¯s really all I was thinking about, aside from game specific things, don¡¯t know if you want to hear those.¡±


    ¡°Lay it on us.¡± Alice said. ¡°We¡¯re not doing anything right now anyway.¡±


    And so, the rest of their walk was filled with discussion, and by the time they had gotten back to the guild Tess was feeling a lot better about her upcoming task. It was a big task, sure, but she had a clear way to go about things now.


    ¡°Thanks for your help.¡± She told Ava and Alice. ¡°I really do appreciate it, I was lowkey stressing about this all.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what we¡¯re here for.¡± Ava said, waving a hand dismissively. ¡°Now, for the rest of the day I was thinking we would do some training in the training yard, does that sound good to you two?¡±


    There were no objections, so they made their way to the training yard, where the rest of their day was spent teaching Tess how to more effectively use the Skills she had. And, a few hours later, they were done, Tess said her goodbyes, and then was off for home, where dinner, relaxation, and, eventually, sleep would be waiting.


    Fighterman481


    A lot of this chapter was getting things established for how gambling works in-universe. It''s a bit of a different thing, but I think it''s important to lay the groundwork for what we''re going to be seeing in the future.


    But it''s also, in a way, the first of Tess''s Appointed duties, so that''s pretty cool.


    Next time we''ll be...well, I don''t know, we''ll get it figured out, so...yeah.


    But, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 44: She’s a Witch

    Tess didn¡¯t flinch as Aaron¡¯s palm collided with the wood of the library desk she was sitting at.


    ¡°Take back what you¡¯ve done, you¡­you witch!¡± He hissed, face red with anger.


    Tess held up a finger, finishing the process of writing out the equation she was working on before placing her pencil down and giving Aaron a smile. ¡°And what would that be?¡±


    ¡°You¡­you know!¡± He blustered. ¡°You put some kind of curse on me or something! Hurry up and remove it!¡±


    ¡°Curse?¡± Tess asked, faking innocence. ¡°Magic¡¯s not real, so I don¡¯t see how I could do something like that.¡±


    Aaron grit his teeth. ¡°You¡¯re the only one who¡¯s seen the stuff that¡¯s been happening to me! You even winked at me once!¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t the foggiest idea what you¡¯re talking about. Are you sure I wasn¡¯t¡­what was the phrase you used¡­ah, that¡¯s right ¡®making eyes at you¡¯?


    ¡°I¡¯ll ruin you.¡± Aaron replied. ¡°I don¡¯t care if you¡¯re a witch or whatever, you won¡¯t find any peace in this town, no, in this country.¡±


    Tess gave him her best winning smile. ¡°Let¡¯s say, for the sake of argument, I am ¡®a witch or whatever¡¯. Wouldn¡¯t I be able to do a lot more than just¡­minor pranks? Perhaps whatever you think you¡¯re experiencing might only be a warning.¡±


    Aaron paled slightly but glared at her indignantly regardless. ¡°Not necessarily. You¡¯re just trying to scare me off. If you could do worse, you would.¡±


    Tess maintained her smile as best she could. ¡°Aaron, not everyone goes straight for the throat like you.¡±


    ¡°A witch would.¡±


    Tess looked carefully around and, once she was sure no one was watching, stood up. She took a moment to activate Induce Hopelessness, the degraded version of one of the Skills she had received from Isabella¡¯s core, then placed a hand over the one Aaron still had on the desk.


    The Skill was weaker on Mael than it normally was, but it was still enough to briefly freeze Aaron in place as she stood up on her tiptoes to speak into his ear. ¡°Trust me, I can be a lot nastier if I want.¡± She whispered, extending a claw on the finger of her free hand.


    Aaron watched in horror as she sliced the claw through the edge of the desk, cutting through it like it was made of butter. Tess took her hand off of his, giving him a smile.


    Aaron fell onto the floor, looking up at Tess in terror. ¡°You¡¯re¡­you¡¯re a monster!¡± He exclaimed. ¡°I-I¡¯m going to the church! They¡¯re going to come and hunt you down!¡±


    Tess held the finger to her lips, claw already retracted. ¡°Quiet. We¡¯re in the library. And, for the record, I¡¯m on very good terms with the church, so go ahead and try to tell them about, I guarantee you¡¯ll find no success. Now leave, I need to finish my homework.¡±


    She sat down as if nothing had happened, picking up her pencil and resuming work on the problem.


    ¡°Y¡­you¡¯re going to regret this!¡± Aaron said, scrambling back to his feet and slowly beginning to walk backwards.


    Tess sighed, putting the pencil back down and turning back to face the trembling Aaron. ¡°Really? Do you really want to play this game again? I won¡¯t be so nice this time around, so, by all means, antagonize me more. I just want to live a quiet life here, but I¡¯m getting real sick of people pushing me around because they think they can get away with it.


    ¡°Your parents may be some bigshots, but that doesn¡¯t give you the right to walk all over people like they¡¯re lesser because they weren¡¯t born into money. Trust me when I say that, sometime in the future, you¡¯re going to realize just how insignificant you are. When that time comes, come find me. Perhaps I¡¯ll be willing to give you some advice.¡±


    Her gaze hardened, and she made a shooing motion. ¡°Now, get out of my sight. I need all the time I can get for this homework, and I don¡¯t want to waste it arguing with someone too self-obsessed to realize that other humans are people too.¡±


    Aaron turned around, going from slow back-walk to a run as he fled from Tess. In his place, Isabella remained, giving Tess a questioning look.


    ¡°Did I do¡­good? Should I continue?¡± She asked.


    Tess smiled. ¡°You did perfect. You can come back into me now, you don¡¯t need to worry about him anymore.¡±


    Isabella smiled, and floated back into Tess. Tess placed a hand on the gouge in the desk and muttered a mending spell, putting all the Mana she could muster into it. It wasn¡¯t enough to fully heal the desk, not on Mael, but it was enough to make it appear as if it had just been nicked by something minor like a set of scissors.


    A few moments later, one of the librarians rounded the corner. ¡°Is everything OK, Tess?¡± He asked, giving her a worried look. ¡°I heard a commotion.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Mr. Evans.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Aaron was coming in to give me a hard time, but we worked it out. The desk got nicked, though, sorry.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright.¡± Mr. Evans said. ¡°He didn¡¯t hurt you, did he? He¡¯s been acting¡­erratic lately and a few of us have been getting worried he might do something reckless.¡±


    Tess shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯m perfectly fine. He tried to threaten me and distracted me from my homework, but that¡¯s all.¡±


    Mr. Evans sighed. ¡°I¡¯m going to need to write up an incident report, then. Let¡¯s go back to my office, I need to know what he tried to do.¡±


    Tess followed Mr. Evans back to his office, where he had her sit down at his desk. ¡°Would you like some candy?¡± He asked, opening his drawer and holding up a piece of chocolate.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Tess replied, grabbing the chocolate and unwrapping it.


    Mr. Evans sat down at his desk. ¡°So, what exactly happened?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Do you want me to start from last time he tried this or now?¡±


    Mr. Evans pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°He tried to threaten you before? Alright, start from there.¡±


    ¡°So, a few days ago I was in the library studying, and he came to me when we were alone. He claimed I had been ¡®making eyes at him¡¯ and ¡®leading him on¡¯ for months and said that I wasn¡¯t allowed to just suddenly get a girlfriend and pretend I wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°I told him I wasn¡¯t and had no romantic interest in him, and he said I didn¡¯t have to have romantic interest, I just wanted his money and used my looks to get him to treat me well. He told me to ¡®take responsibility¡¯ and, at the least, make a public apology or he¡¯d make my school life miserable.


    ¡°I said no and told him not to mess with me or I¡¯d have to try and deal with things. He said he wasn¡¯t scared and that I had one week, and that was that.¡±


    Mr. Evans groaned. ¡°You know, you really shouldn¡¯t have threatened him back. Not just because, as a faculty member, I¡¯m obligated to tell you that, but because it¡¯ll make things a lot harder if we try and get him in trouble. He¡¯ll have at least some excuse for his behavior, flimsy as it is.¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°I know, I just¡­was done with dealing with him, you know? Anyway, today he barged in again and claimed told me to ¡®take back what I¡¯ve done¡¯ and called me a witch. He said that I put some sort of curse on him and to fix it. I, of course, told him magic wasn¡¯t real. We argued for a bit more, then he freaked out, told me he was gonna call the church on me and get them to hunt me down, like people still burn witches at the stake, and then ran away.¡±


    Mr. Evans frowned. ¡°And that¡¯s all that happened?¡±


    ¡°Just about. How am I supposed to convince him I¡¯m not some sort of witch? That¡¯s an inherently unprovable statement.¡±


    ¡°Did anything else happen that you¡¯re not telling me about?¡±


    ¡°Not¡­really?¡± Tess lied. ¡°I mean, I could tell you about the paranormal things he claimed I did, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s really important. It¡¯s just gibberish.¡±


    Mr. Evans gave another sigh. ¡°Alright, you can go, then, I need to write this up. Let me know immediately if anything else happens, okay?¡±


    Tess nodded, and left the office. The rest of the school day was uneventful, and she soon found herself in the car with Ellie.


    ¡°No need to wait for Isabella anymore.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯ve dealt with Aaron, so she¡¯ll be with me again.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ellie responded. ¡°What happened?¡±


    Tess relayed everything that happened while Ellie began driving. After hearing the story, Ellie gave her a worried look. ¡°Are you sure you weren¡¯t too reckless, showing him your claws like that? Rumors are going to start going around.¡±


    ¡°Let them.¡± Tess replied. ¡°No one¡¯s really going to believe that sort of stuff, and the desk definitely doesn¡¯t have a gouge in it like he¡¯s going to say. Besides, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to be around here much later on in life, so I don¡¯t really see it coming back to bite me in the butt. Yes, I might have been reckless, but I think it was worth it. I¡¯m done putting up with his crap and I don¡¯t want to just sit there and take it anymore. Especially because he¡¯s clearly attracted to me and I really don¡¯t want to deal with that.¡±


    ¡°But¡­school¡¯s going to get harder, Tess. You¡¯re going to be ostracized, even if it¡¯s just because of the rumor, not because he tells them to.¡±


    Tess rolled her eyes. ¡°Oh no, people I don¡¯t really care about are going to avoid me for like three months, whatever am I going to do?¡± She said sarcastically. ¡°Our friends aren¡¯t going to care, and it doesn¡¯t affect my relationship with you or anyone in the Outlands, so it doesn¡¯t really bother me. Besides, we¡¯re supposed to start introducing people to the Outlands and stuff anyway, so it works, right?


    ¡°Tess, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s how they wanted us to do it.¡± Ellie paused. ¡°Alright, Death sent me a message, but I¡¯m not reading it until we get home. I¡¯m not taking my eyes off of the road. We¡¯ll talk about that then, alright?¡±


    So that particular conversated was halted until they got home, when Ellie took a moment whatever Death had sent her. ¡°Fine, apparently your intimidation was technically within the realms of what we¡¯re supposed to do, but it is a bit premature. Death says it¡¯s fine if we do a couple of things here and there, but she wants us to hold off from spreading supernatural events in earnest until school¡¯s over.¡±


    ¡°How much are we going to do that, by the way? I mean, I know we¡¯re introducing Jacob to the Outlands and probably a few other people, but exactly how much are we going to let the town know?¡±


    Ellie stared off into space, clearly reading a message. ¡°Life says they want this place to be a paranormal hotspot. Like, world-famous level hotspot, they want this to be the place people go to if they¡¯re investigating the supernatural. They say that you¡¯re kind of integral to that plan, since you bring a lot of manpower to the table with Monster Breeder. You can make all sorts of different things happen.¡±


    ¡°What happens when the government inevitably gets involved?¡± Tess asked. ¡°They can¡¯t ignore something like that forever.¡±


    Ellie read another message. ¡°We¡¯re apparently going to meet with the Prime Minister and explain everything ourselves. Well, us and Gramps, as envoys of the gods. So, um, that¡¯s going to be a fun adventure, I guess?¡±


    Tess laughed nervously. ¡°That¡¯s going to be kind of weird. It¡¯s one thing to meet with all these other important people I¡¯d never heard of before, but like¡­I dunno, the Prime Minister just feels more¡­real, you know?¡±


    ¡°I felt the same way about Life and Death.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­weird. We¡¯re important now, Tess.¡±


    ¡°Have not.¡± Tess countered. ¡°I was basically a nobody until I moved in with Ellie and Gramps.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Ellie asked, confused.


    Tess blushed. ¡°Uh, Fortune sent a message saying ¡®always have been¡¯ when you said we were important now. And, you know, you were because you¡¯re related to Gramps, but like¡­until Gramps adopted me, I was just some random kid.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s just because my family was friends with Ellie¡¯s. If we hadn¡¯t been, I¡¯d just be some orphan.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not totally sure of the context, but don¡¯t say that.¡± Ellie said firmly. ¡°There¡¯s no use talking about what ifs. In the end, a lot of important people are important because of an accident of birth. If I wasn¡¯t related to Grandpa, I would just be some orphan too, so we¡¯re in the same boat.¡±


    Tess frowned. Even though they were in the middle of a conversation, something more important had occurred to her. ¡°Ellie, I just realized. There¡¯s magic that brings people back from the dead, right? Why¡­why didn¡¯t Gramps bring your parents back?¡±


    Ellie opened her mouth to speak, then shut it, staring off into space as she read a message. Tess wasn¡¯t left out either, though, as Fortune gave her a message too.


    Ah, um, that. It¡¯s...well, I suppose you deserve to know. He tried, he really, really tried. He was even going to bring your parents back too and let all of you in on the secret at once, since he knew that reviving Ellie¡¯s parents would mean she would probably move back to the Outlands with them and couldn¡¯t bear the thought of you just¡­being left completely alone.


    But¡­well, it was too late. Their plane was at the bottom of the ocean by the time he heard, and as strong a magician as he is, even he couldn¡¯t pull off getting them out with Mael being so restrictive to magic, and when he tried to get Fate to Descend, Amy stopped it.


    She¡­well, she said that these things happen, and that there would be some serious ramifications if we allowed what would inevitably end up being a high-visibility use of magic here before everything was ready.


    Please don¡¯t blame him, he really did everything he could. He still hasn¡¯t fully forgiven himself and it would probably break his heart if you and Ellie blamed him as well.


    Tess made eye contact with Ellie, who had presumably received a similar window. There was a brief moment while the two processed, and then Tess leaned in and gave Ellie a big hug.


    ¡°Sorry for bringing it up.¡± Tess mumbled. ¡°I know it¡¯s painful.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just as painful for you.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°And it was a question that was worth asking, so don¡¯t feel bad about it. But, again, what¡¯s done is done. We¡¯re here now, and all we can do is keep moving forward.¡±


    After a minute or so, they separated, though they were still holding hands.


    ¡°And for now, continuing forward means finishing our training.¡± Ellie said, pulling Tess towards the door to the Outlands. ¡°So, let¡¯s get this done. I want to be able to be in a party with you full-time as soon as possible, alright?¡±


    Fighterman481


    (Note from present me: over the sickness by now. Head stayed fuzzy for a couple of weeks after the time of writing this author''s note, but I''ve made a full recovery by now.)


    Uh, that aside, the chapter. Well, I''m gonna be a bit brief because of said aforementioned head fuzziness, but there are a couple of things I want to touch on. First is that I actually wanted a scene similar to one in the beginning of this chapter back when Aaron first confronted Tess.


    But I decided then was the wrong time and instead I had her flex her claws now. So...yeah.


    And, um, also, the whole parents thing. I''ve been trying to find a way to drop that in for a while, since it could be seen as a plot hole without knowing the whole story behind it, and I wasn''t actually planning to do it now, but things just sort of progressed that way and I took the opportunity.


    Anywho, that''s all for me, I''m going to forcibly cut myself off here before I start rambling too much. Next time we''re gonna...probably do stuff with dungeons, since it''s been a hot minute and we need to progress with Tess''s training. Or maybe not. We''ll see how it feels when I write it out, I suppose.


    Oh, and, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 45: Two’s Company

    Ellie sliced the boss clean in two, dusting herself off as the remains fell behind her.


    It was a couple of months after Tess had returned to school, just a week or two before their graduation. She had both Friday and Monday off school for a holiday, so Ker and Jin had insisted she come visit some dungeons that were further away from the city.


    And, loathe as she had been to be away from Tess for that long when things were finally starting to get good between them, she knew that this would greatly speed up the process of finishing her training, which in turn meant she would be in a full-time party with Tess that much faster.


    Still, fighting the Blacker Widow in this dungeon felt¡­wrong. It, well, it was the monster Silky was based on, and even though it was far bigger than Silky, she couldn¡¯t help but feel bad striking it down. She had warmed up significantly to the spider since she had first met her, and every time she fought this boss it kind of felt like fighting Silky, and she hated that.


    ¡°Excellent work.¡± Jin said. ¡°Let¡¯s get your reward and then we¡¯ll be on our way back.¡± He opened the door to the Rewards Crystal room, giving Ellie a nod and motioning for her to walk through.


    Ellie strode through the door and up to the Rewards Crystal, placing a hand on it. There was a long moment, longer than usual for getting her reward, and then, finally, a window popped up.


    You have gained the Class Aegis!


    For gaining the Class Aegis, you have gained the Skills Living Shield, Bulwark, and An Ounce of Prevention!


    Living Shield


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description: While you are over 25% HP, 50% of any damage done to party members within 100 meters is instead dealt to you. This redirection is done before any damage calculation occurs but applies the defensive benefits of both you and the original target. Any other effects of the attack are halved but apply to the original target. This Skill may be turned off or on at will.


    Two defenses are better than one.


    Bulwark


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Active


    Description: You may spend Stamina to reduce the damage of incoming attacks by an amount equal to (Aegis level)% of the Stamina spent for (Aegis level) seconds. This reduction applies after all other damage reduction. While you are under the effects of Bulwark, Living Shield absorbs (Aegis level)% more of the damage dealt to allies.


    Just say no to damage.


    An Ounce of Prevention


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description: Gain (Aegis Level/2)% resistance to all status ailments and (Aegis Level/5)% resistance to all damage.


    ¡­Is worth a pound of cure.


    Ellie waved the window away only to be greeted with another one.


    Hey, it¡¯s me, Fortune! So¡­long time no talk, right?


    I¡¯m sure you¡¯re wondering why I¡¯m talking to you now, and that might be because I may or may not have just tampered with probability to give you that Class. Uh, call it a graduation present, I guess?


    Anyway, you don¡¯t have to use it if you don¡¯t want to, but I remembered your ¡°Operation Keep Tess Safe¡± and I thought this would make your life a lot easier if you still wanted to do that.


    Ellie smiled, giving Fortune her thanks mentally. Operation Keep Tess Safe had been put on the backburner for a while, but she hadn¡¯t given up on it. Tess could fend for herself, yes, but that didn¡¯t mean that Ellie wouldn¡¯t have opportunities to help her out.


    Hopefully Fortune was listening in on those thoughts, but if she wasn¡¯t, Ellie could just ask Tess to relay a message.


    She stopped, thinking about that a bit more. Tess and her would get interrupted by messages from the gods in their conversations with each other on a pretty regular basis, and then they¡¯d have to tell each other what had been said, and it wasn¡¯t really an ideal situation. She¡¯d have to ask Life or Death and see if there was a way that they could have like¡­a group message or something. It would certainly make things a lot easier.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ellie said, turning to Ker and Jin. ¡°New Class.¡±


    Ker raised a brow. ¡°Which one?¡±


    ¡°Aegis.¡± Ellie replied, smirking.


    ¡°Seriously? Alice is gonna be burning with envy, she¡¯s been wanting that for ages.¡±


    ¡°Can we take a moment for me to switch Classes before we leave? I want to start getting this as leveled up ASAP.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t say I blame you.¡± Jin replied. ¡°But be fast about it. You have an appointment with the Guildmaster you can¡¯t afford to be late for, right?¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will.¡± She left the room, striding over to the Party Crystal and changing her class, before moving over to the dungeon¡¯s exit. She did have an appointment with her grandfather, an important one at that. Fortunately, this dungeon was only a few hours outside of the city by hoverer, so she would be able to make it in time.


    That didn¡¯t make it any less nerve-wracking, though. She was finally going to give her answer to Life and Death, and she wanted to do it in person, so she needed her grandfather to teleport her. The only other way she knew to get there was through the Holy Room in the church in Mael, but that seemed like a lot of trouble when her grandfather could just take her himself. Plus, he said he had some business that could be done while he was waiting for her, so it worked out.


    The trip seemed to both take forever and be over in an instant, and she was soon outside of her grandfather¡¯s office, knocking on the door.


    ¡°Come in!¡± He said cheerfully.


    Ellie opened the door and stepped into the room, gingerly closing the door behind her. ¡°I¡¯m ready, Grandpa.¡±


    He gave her a reassuring smile. ¡°Whatever you decide, no one¡¯s going to think differently about you. It¡¯s a very personal choice and it¡¯s okay to say no if you so choose.¡± He walked over to a cleared area in the center of the room, leaning down and giving the floor a tap.


    A complex magical formation burst into existence, and he motioned for her to step inside. ¡°Head on in and we¡¯ll be off.¡±


    Ellie took a cautious step in, and then, suddenly, she was in that clean, professional-looking area that was the domain of the gods.


    Life and Death were waiting for her, sitting in a set of chairs off to the side. ¡°Hey, Ellie!¡± Death chirped, patting a chair next to her. ¡°Come take a seat!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave you three to it.¡± Gramps said, turning to leave the room as Ellie went to sit down.


    ¡°Thank you, Evan.¡± Life said. ¡°I¡¯ve said it before, but I¡¯ll say it again. I really don¡¯t know what we¡¯d do without you.¡±


    Gramps chuckled. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. I¡¯m just doing my job.¡± With that he exited, leaving the three of them alone.


    ¡°So, Ellie,¡± Life began, ¡°I understand you have decided on whether or not you¡¯d like to be our Appointed?¡±


    Ellie nodded, gulping. ¡°Yeah, I have.¡± She said. ¡°And the answer is yes.¡±


    ¡°Sweet!¡± Death said, pumping a fist. ¡°Mind telling me what made you decide that?¡±


    Ellie blushed, scratching her cheek. ¡°I¡¯m not going to lie, part of it was just so that I had it in common with Tess, but I thought about it and realized that¡­well, I dunno, it¡¯d allow me to put my skillset to work doing something that really helps people out. I think that if I didn¡¯t accept this offer, some part of me would always regret it, and I don¡¯t want to live like that.¡±


    Death smiled. ¡°Awesome. Give us a minute to give our Blessings to you, and then we¡¯ll officially make you our Appointed, sound good?¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Um, before we start, I have an idea I want to pitch.¡±


    Life raised an eyebrow. ¡°We¡¯re listening. Remember, we¡¯re equal partners in this relationship, so we¡¯re not going to dismiss anything out of hand.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­well, I was thinking, and¡­when Tess and I are talking, we end up having to repeat what you guys or Fortune say a lot, so I was wondering¡­is it at all possible for us to like¡­have some sort of group message? Something that would let us all communicate with each other at the same time, maybe even let Tess and I send messages to you guys the same way?¡±


    Life stroked his chin thoughtfully. ¡°A valid point. I¡¯m not sure something like this has ever been tried, but I see no reason it wouldn¡¯t work. I¡¯ll check in with Amy by the end of the day and see if it¡¯s possible. If it is, then I¡¯ll let you know, and you¡¯ll just need to convince Tess, and we¡¯ll convince Fortune.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be fine with it.¡± Death replied. ¡°They¡¯re pretty chill. I think it¡¯s a great idea, I kinda wish I had thought of it myself.¡±


    Ellie smiled. ¡°I¡¯m glad you agree with me. Um¡­I guess that¡¯s all, though, I¡¯m ready now.¡± She braced herself for the process, causing Death to laugh.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much.¡± She said. ¡°You won¡¯t feel a thing.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a lie.¡± Life said. ¡°You¡¯ll probably feel some sort of a surge of power, but it won¡¯t be unpleasant, I can promise you that much.¡±


    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s do this!¡± Death raised her hand, and Life raised his as well. ¡°On the count of three, one¡­two¡­three!¡±


    There was an odd sensation as Ellie felt something alien enter her body. It was¡­not really comparable to anything she had felt before, but Life was right; it felt good. It was like the scope of her senses had been increased, everything feeling sharper, more real. It lasted for a few moments before ebbing away, though if she focused, she could still feel faint echoes of it.


    Life and Death have granted you their Blessings, as well as Context Switch!


    Breath of Life:


    You may spend 250 Mana to fully recover any allies within 100 meters, restoring all of their HP and Stamina, as well as removing any status ailments. Has a cooldown of five minutes.


    Additionally, you may bring a dead person back to life. The Mana cost of this scales based on how long the person has been dead, starting at 1,000 Mana and capping at 10,000 Mana. This effect cannot be used past seven days from the time of death.


    Appointed may also be brought back to life for twice the normal cost. This effect cannot be used past three days from the time of death.


    Blades of Death:


    Manifest four flying ethereal blades that move according to your will. You may interact with these blades as if they were solid, but they are otherwise completely incorporeal except to your target. You may recall any blade at any time, bringing it to you instantly. You may choose to make the blades visible or invisible at will, and may change the form each blade appears in, though no individual blade may be longer than one meter, wider than ten centimeters, or thicker than one centimeter.


    The Blades of Death are anathema to undead. If a Blade of Death touches an undead, the undead is instantly destroyed if it is less than level 100. Undead over level 100 instead take a percentage of their max HP equal to 200 minus their level as damage (minimum 25%). Undead killed with the Blades of Death do not grant experience. Additionally, each Blade has a unique property, listed below:


    The Blade of Lasting Death:


    Beings killed by the Blade of Lasting Death are unable to be revived by any means short of divine intervention.


    The Blade of Slow Death:


    Wounds inflicted by the Blade of Slow Death cannot be healed by magic and do not heal naturally for seven years. You may choose to end this effect early, allowing the wounds to heal normally.


    The Blade of Swift Death:


    Attacks made by the Blade of Swift Death will always deal critical damage.


    The Blade of Sudden Death:


    Attacks made with the the Blade of Sudden Death instantly kill targets under 25% HP.


    Context Switch:


    Only one of Breath of Life or Blades of Death may be active at once. You may focus on this ability for one minute to switch between them, or you can spend Stamina and Mana to switch instantly. The Stamina and Mana cost for an instant switch starts at 1,000, increases by 1,000 every time this ability is used, and decreases by 1,000 for every hour this ability is unused. If Life or Death Descends while you are using the other¡¯s Blessing, you automatically switch to using their Blessing for free.


    Currently using Breath of Life.


    ¡°How you feeling?¡± Death asked. ¡°Up for going straight into being an Appointed?¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°I think so. Are we Descending right away like Tess?¡±


    Death laughed. ¡°Not right away, though we will have to test it out before you leave, just to make sure it¡¯s working as intended. Is that okay?¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine to try it whenever, I was just wondering.¡±


    ¡°Perfect, I suppose we might as well do this then.¡± Death stood up, her whole air changing, becoming more¡­dignified as she looked at Ellie.


    Life stood up as well, grabbing Death¡¯s hand. ¡°Ellie, repeat after me: I, Ellie, accept the position of Life and Death¡¯s Appointed, to further their cause as I see fit, and to keep secret things mortals should not know.¡±


    Ellie stood as well, looking into their eyes. ¡°I, Ellie, accept the position of Life and Death¡¯s Appointed, to further their cause as I see fit, and to keep secret things mortals should not know.¡±


    ¡°We, Life and Death, accept Ellie as our Appointed, to treat her fairly and respect her as if she were another god, and to be responsible with the power we hold over her.¡± Death said, smiling. ¡°Should we fail to do so, we accept whatever punishment is seen fit.¡±


    There was a tense moment and then there was a distant rumbling, like thunder. That nice feeling she had received when she got the Blessings flared up, briefly intensifying before it simmered back down and she felt normal again.


    ¡°And that¡¯s that!¡± Death said, letting go of Life¡¯s hand, her demeanor returning to her usual casualness. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°It felt¡­nice. So¡­what now?¡±


    Death shrugged. ¡°Dunno. At some point here we gotta test Descents, but other than that I was thinking we¡¯d just sorta¡­chill until Evan¡¯s done with whatever he¡¯s doing.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind if we test it now?¡± Life asked. ¡°I have a few things I want to take care of myself.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Ready when you are.¡±


    Life sat back down. ¡°Alright, doing it now.¡± His body went limp and a sort of shock ran through Ellie as she felt Life sort of¡­slide into her. It was an odd sensation, being able to feel his thoughts, having shared control of the body, sort of¡­feeling the same.


    That in and of itself wasn¡¯t wholly unpleasant, but it also came with a feeling like her body was fuller than it could handle and was bursting apart at the seams, and that wasn¡¯t pleasant in the slightest. Yet, at the same time, she also felt¡­invincible, like she could do anything if she just tried. It was an odd dichotomy that she wasn¡¯t quite sure how she felt about.


    Sorry about that. Life told her. I¡¯m afraid that Descents are gonna feel like this for a while. Once you¡¯re more used to this and can stay in Descent longer it won¡¯t feel anywhere near this bad. This is what it feels like when you¡¯ve been in Descent long enough that it¡¯ll be dangerous soon.


    ¡°Alright Life, let¡¯s try switching.¡± Death said, sitting down in a chair of her own.


    There was a wrenching sensation and Death¡¯s body went limp as Life regained control of his own.


    And that painful bursting feeling multiplied in intensity, causing Ellie to drop to her knees. Oh crap I¡¯m so sorry I didn¡¯t realize it¡¯d be this intensive to do a mid-Descent switch.


    Almost immediately Death retreated from Ellie¡¯s body, leaving her feeling sore. ¡°Why did it suddenly get so much worse?¡± She croaked.


    ¡°We figured out a way to switch places during descent, but it would shorten the time we could be in Descent. We just¡­didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be that much. Sorry, let me go get you a drink, what¡¯d you like? We have literally everything you could ask for.¡±


    ¡°Orange juice¡­would be nice.¡± Ellie replied, getting back into the chair she had been sitting in.


    ¡°Be back in a couple of minutes, you¡¯ll start feeling better within like half an hour, just try and push through it, alright?¡±


    Ellie nodded, and Death left.


    A few moments later, Life stood up. ¡°I¡¯m going to go talk to Amy about that group chat thing.¡± He moved to leave the room but lingered in the doorway. ¡°And, um, thanks. It helps us out a ton to have you as our Appointed, more than you probably realize. Just let us know if you need anything, and we¡¯ll help you out as much as we can.¡±


    He left the room, leaving Ellie on her own. So, she sat and waited for Death to get back, the gravity of the decision she had just made finally starting to sink in.


    Fighterman481


    And I also wanted to do an Ellie chapter, and this was far and away the best thing to show her doing on-camera after a timeskip.


    Some time probably...next chapter or the chapter after we''ll get the list of what Tess got during the timeskip. It''s not going to be nearly as much as the last timeskip despite being longer, though, since not only is she not focusing on dungeon-diving full-time, she''s not dungeon diving nearly as much.


    Next time we''ll be picking up when Ellie breaks the news to Tess, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 46: IRC

    ¡°So, what¡¯s this big news?¡± Tess asked, shoveling a bite of food into her mouth. It was one of the rare days in which her, Ellie, and Gramps ate dinner together, something which had become increasingly rare after Tess and Ellie were introduced to the Outlands. Gramps had apparently grown busier as of late, and between that and Tess and Ellie getting home from training at different times, it had become harder to find the time to sit down with everyone and eat.


    Ellie laid down her silverware, smiling nervously. ¡°I decided about the Appointed thing. I went and talked with Life and Death, and¡­well, I said I¡¯d do it. So, we sat down and got it all taken care of, and it¡¯s official now.¡±


    Tess gulped down her food and gave Ellie a smile. ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± She said enthusiastically. ¡°It¡¯s cool that we get to share something like this!¡± She turned to Gramps, who was finishing chewing his own food. ¡°Are we going to have another meeting?¡±


    Gramps nodded. ¡°Two days from now.¡± He said. ¡°Our yearly meeting¡¯s scheduled for then, so it works out pretty well.¡±


    ¡°Meeting?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Once a year or when important things happen, a bunch of us Appointed get together and have a meeting to keep in touch.¡± Gramps explained. ¡°We had one to introduce Tess, and we would have an impromptu one to introduce you if the yearly meeting wasn¡¯t now. You¡¯ll get to meet everyone else, and¡­well, let¡¯s just say I¡¯ve got a bit of a surprise for you, something you¡¯ve been wanting for a couple of months now.¡±


    Ellie frowned. ¡°Something I¡¯ve been wanting for a couple of months now? Nothing really springs to mind, can I have a hint?¡±


    Gramps smiled mischievously. ¡°It¡¯s not exactly for you per-se, but trust me, you¡¯re going to like it a lot, you mentioned wanting this right after Tess became an Appointed. That¡¯s all the hints I¡¯m giving, though, if you can¡¯t figure it out from that it¡¯ll just have to be a surprise.¡±


    Ellie thought about that for a moment, glanced at Tess, then quickly glanced away. ¡°I¡­think I know what it is.¡± She said, a hint of excitement creeping into her voice. ¡°And if it is what I think it is, then you¡¯re right, I am going to like it a lot.¡±


    Gramps laughed. ¡°Oh, believe me, you don¡¯t know the half of it.¡±


    The rest of dinner was relatively uneventful, consisting mostly of small talk as the three of them caught each other up with what had been happening at school, training, or, in Gramps¡¯s case, work. It was a calm, pleasant event, and Tess found herself wishing that they were able to do it more often.


    She knew that was just wishful thinking, though. With school ending soon it was nearly time for her and Ellie to make their debut as Appointed, and to start freelancing full-time. Their days were about to become busier than ever, and she doubted they would have time to get together like this on any sort of regular basis.


    After doing the dishes, Tess went to her room and began to do what was left of her homework. It felt¡­decidedly mundane, but it was something she recognized as important. She may not plan to use most of what she learned in the near future, but she had been told that it was almost guaranteed that she would live for a very, very long time, and there was no telling when this stuff would come in handy.


    Life: Is this thing working?


    Tess nearly jumped out of her seat as the window popped up in front of her. Fortune had said something about a group message of sorts and Tess had said it sounded nice, but she wasn¡¯t expecting something so¡­quickly.


    Fortune: New god-phone who dis


    Death: We¡¯re not interested in anything you¡¯re selling


    And, somehow Tess knew that, unlike the standard windows she received from Fortune, she could respond to these ones. She was beaten to the punch, however, by the others.


    Life: It literally says who I am right there next to my message. And I¡¯m not selling anything. What would I even sell to you?


    Ellie: They know, they¡¯re just messing with you


    Tess: Is this how you guys normally make all these windows? Thinking all this out and watching it pop up without more input feels kinda¡­weird


    Fortune: Yeah it takes some getting used to. You¡¯ve basically got full god-phone privileges now, you can even send messages to us without us opening the chat first. And you can send private messages between any one of us or combination of us in here, and view message history. There¡¯s a mute function too, though it doesn¡¯t work if someone marks stuff as ¡°priority¡±. It defaults to muting for an hour, but you can customize the length if you want


    Death: This whole thing¡¯s pretty sweet, I wish we had tried something like this earlier


    Life: It probably wouldn¡¯t have worked earlier. The fact that both Ellie and Tess are Appointed now effectively let us use a little Worship to trick the system into thinking you¡¯re both gods. If Ellie wasn¡¯t an Appointed yet I don¡¯t think we could have pulled this off.


    Ellie: This is way cooler than what I had in mind when I said ¡°group chat¡±, I just meant a one-way sorta thing for the gods to send messages to both me and Tess


    Fortune: It works out pretty well for us, since we want to keep in pretty close contact with you, even more than other gods and their Appointed, especially with this whole introducing Mael to other planes thing. Makes it so we don¡¯t have to always keep one metaphorical ear open in case you want to talk with us


    Tess: Well, uh, cool. Um, I gotta get this homework done, so I¡¯m gonna try that mute thing Fortune mentioned. Anyone need me for anything else before I do?


    Death: Life and I are fine


    Fortune: Go ahead!


    Ellie: I¡¯ll just knock if it¡¯s important lol


    Tess turned her attention away from the window, mentally willing it to ¡°mute¡±. The window vanished, and Tess was free to focus back in on her homework.


    Ellie shivered, the cold of the cabin biting down to her bones. This was not what she had been expecting when she had heard about the Appointed¡¯s meeting, she thought it would be more¡­glamorous. That they would be in some hi-tech secret bunker or a boardroom or something, not a cabin half-buried in snow.


    Warmth rushed into the room as Gramps lit a fire. ¡°I¡¯m going to go finish altering all the spellwork.¡± He said, moving over to the area where they had teleported into the cabin. ¡±Tess, will you explain to Ellie what this place is while I do?¡±


    ¡°Sure, Gramps.¡± Tess said, turning to Ellie. ¡°So, this place is a sort of¡­safe house for Appointed. Apparently, this is in one of the most inhospitable places they could find, the blizzard outside never stops, though, now that I¡¯m thinking about it, I¡¯m not sure how the snow doesn¡¯t just endlessly pile up, I mean, it¡¯s about the same depth as it was when I was here last¡­¡±


    Fortune: It¡¯s part of the magic of the blizzard. Any snow that piles up over like¡­six feetish immediately melts. It accumulates up to that depth quicker than normal, too. Pretty cool, right?


    ¡°Right. Uh, anyway, my understanding is this place is like¡­general use for Appointed? If we need a place to store something that¡¯s classified or if we need to lock up a person for a bit or something, we can use this place. And if we¡¯re in a bunch of trouble and need to hide out this is where we go. And then I think we¡¯re also allowed to just sorta come here whenever? Is that right, Gramps?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but if someone else is keeping stuff here or doing stuff here don¡¯t mess with it unless you have good reason.¡± Gramps replied, standing up from the magic circle on the floor. ¡°I¡¯ll show Ellie how to make the circle after the meeting, would you show her around the place? We might not have a good opportunity after, and some of the others should be here soon to help set up, so don¡¯t worry about that.¡±


    Tess nodded, grabbing Ellie¡¯s hand and towing her away. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I¡¯m not incredibly familiar with this house.¡± She said. ¡°But I guess I¡¯m better than no tour guide so¡­yeah. Um, it¡¯s¡­honestly not anything crazy, aside from the fact that it¡¯s¡­you know, where it is.¡± She led Ellie into a room to the side. ¡°This is the kitchen, there¡¯s a pantry that¡¯s¡­well, I dunno how it¡¯s done, but it seems to be constantly stocked? It¡¯s convenient, though.¡±


    Life: From what I¡¯m told it¡¯s thanks to Hearth. Most of the conveniences in this place, like the heat, electricity, and plumbing are, actually. He spent a fair bit of Worship here. He wanted to make sure this place was ready in case we ever really needed it.


    Ellie paused for a moment to take that in before replying.


    Ellie: Have you?


    Fortune: More often than you would think. Being an Appointed isn¡¯t exactly the safest job and having a place you can head to and lick your wounds where no one can follow is a huge benefit. Especially when you¡¯re far away from civilization


    ¡°Huh. I¡­hadn¡¯t thought about the plumbing before.¡± Tess said. ¡°I guess I had just taken it for granted, there¡¯s no way there would be any companies that service stuff out here.¡±


    Death: Utilities of the Gods?, ¡°We serve your location or 50% off your first month!¡±


    Fortune: But if you don¡¯t serve their location, they won¡¯t be able to get that 50% off


    Death: Exactly! It¡¯s a flawless business strategy


    Fortune: I want as many shares as you can give me


    Life: Sorry to put a damper on things, but neither of you can do anything like that. You¡¯d have to rope Hearth or someone into it.


    Death: I can at least provide funerary services?


    Fortune: Pretty sure that¡¯s not under the umbrella of utilities?


    Death: Yeah but we¡¯re the gods we get to decide these things


    Tess: You¡¯d probably still have to check with Hearth, I think he¡¯s the one that gets to decide what ¡°utilities¡± means


    Death: Killjoys >:(


    Fortune: Killing is your area of expertise tho


    Life: Tess is supposed to be giving Ellie a tour. We should let her do that.


    Death: Oh, right, my b. Carry on


    Ellie chuckled. She was glad that, at the least, the gods were enjoyable to be around. She wasn¡¯t sure she¡¯d be able to handle being an Appointed if they all were constantly formal and stuffy. Though¡­it might cause a bit of religious hubbub if people knew that conversing with them was sometimes like talking in an internet chatroom.


    Death: OK but have you considered that internet chatrooms are like¡­the pinnacle of communication tech? You¡¯re literally having nigh-instant communication with people that are sometimes whole planes away from you. Seriously, a millennium or so ago most people didn¡¯t even know how to read and¡­here we are now and it¡¯s almost a given. We¡¯re just keeping with the times. Plus, it¡¯s fun, we didn¡¯t used to be able to talk to people like this


    Tess: What?


    Death: Sorry was reading Ellie¡¯s mind, force of habit. I¡¯ll try to scale that back in the future, I¡¯m not used to like¡­communicating with people outside of the plane of the gods normally. I always had to read their minds to get ideas of what I wanted. Please call me out if I do it again, I really don¡¯t want to be rude


    Ellie: ¡®s fine, not like it was anything important. Just keep it in mind in the future, try not to do it unless I¡¯m in the middle of something and can¡¯t talk or it¡¯s really important


    Death: Got it, will do my best


    The rest of the safehouse wasn¡¯t anything too crazy. There was a multipurpose room, a couple of bedrooms and bathrooms, as well a rather large basement that was used for storage, but that was about it. She would never have guessed that this was a hideaway for some of the world¡¯s most important people if she was shown this place without knowing beforehand.


    ¡°Well, if it isn¡¯t little Ellie! Finally one us?¡± Their tour was interrupted by a man¡¯s voice coming from behind them.


    Ellie whirled around to find a large, shirtless crocodile-person in the doorway of the room. ¡°Um¡­yeah? Do I¡­know you?¡±


    The man laughed. ¡°Yes and no. My name¡¯s Atum, I¡¯m one of your grandpa¡¯s party members. We met briefly at your parent¡¯s funeral, but I was looking a little more human then.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Uh¡­hi, I guess?¡±


    Atum gave another laugh, walking over and clapping Ellie on the back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t expect you to remember, Tess didn¡¯t either.¡±


    ¡°How have you been, Atum?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you in a while.¡±


    Atum smiled. ¡°Bit lonely, to tell you the truth. I feel like everyone else has had a lot of opportunity to hang around you two, and I¡¯ve just been doing my normal stuff all this time. That¡¯s gonna change soon, though. Ellie, you were planning to work on being a tank, right?¡±


    Ellie blinked. ¡°Yeah. Why?¡±


    Atum grinned, pointing a finger at his chest. ¡°Well, I¡¯m the best in the business. I figured I could give you some pointers.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m definitely not going to say no.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°What were you thinking?¡±


    ¡°Your grandpa¡¯s been busy organizing an expedition. They¡¯re like¡­big events for the guild that have to do with exploring the Outlands. If you¡¯re up for it, we wanted to have you two go, and Ava, Eyfura, and I would tag along and teach you some things along the way.¡±


    Ellie grimaced. ¡°Would that mean Ilmir¡¯s coming? I¡¯d rather not deal with her if I can avoid it.¡±


    Atum¡¯s smile fell. ¡°Probably. I know you three aren¡¯t exactly¡­on the best terms, but I think that it¡¯s not something that can¡¯t be salvaged. Ava¡¯s been helping her work through a lot of her problems, and she¡¯s getting better.¡±


    Ellie opened her mouth to speak, but Tess put a hand on her shoulder. There was a moment of silence, and then Tess spoke up.


    ¡°I want a rematch.¡± She said firmly. ¡°No Descents, nothing, just her versus me. And then, I¡¯m going to impose my own terms for when I wipe the floor with her. I don¡¯t know if she¡¯s been training, but I have. I¡¯m going to win.¡±


    Ellie gave Tess a surprised look. ¡°Are you¡­sure about that? I thought she was like¡­a hard counter to you.¡±


    Tess smiled. ¡°When we first fought, I treated her like she was just some random monster. I fought stupid, but I know better now. She¡¯s not going to know what hit her.¡±


    Atum raised an eyebrow. ¡°A bold statement. I¡¯m sure we can set something up, though, I¡¯m positive she also wants a rematch.¡±


    ¡°Good. Let¡¯s try for before whenever this expedition is.¡± She paused, turning to Ellie. ¡°You think we should bring Jacob? I want to show off a bit.¡±


    Ellie blinked. ¡°I¡­huh. Um, I guess there¡¯s not much of a reason not to, unless we¡¯re not allowed to tell him we¡¯re Appointed.¡±


    Death: That¡¯s cool I figured you would anyway. Just make sure to have him swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath and all that jazz. Evan can probably take care of that for you


    Tess frowned. ¡°Actually, while we¡¯re on that subject¡­weren¡¯t we supposed to be getting Maven as an addition to our party? Do we need to keep that a secret from her?


    Fortune: Goodness, no, that would be super frustrating for everyone involved. Nah, she¡¯s good, she¡¯s trained in keeping state secrets so she¡¯s not going to leak things like this. Amara¡¯s gonna sit her down and explain everything, she won¡¯t dream of telling anyone, but we¡¯ll have her swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath too just in case


    ¡°Are you sure we want to try having another party member? I¡¯m a little skeptical after how Ilmir turned out.¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°Nah, she¡¯ll be fine.¡± Tess replied. ¡°She had a bit of an ego at times, but I think she¡¯s got her heart in the right place.¡±


    Fortune: She was super impressed with you, too, so the whole stats thing won¡¯t be an issue. Plus, I don¡¯t think that ego¡¯s ever really gonna clash with you two. She already thinks you¡¯re at least her equals in social standing, and she doesn¡¯t even know you¡¯re Appointed


    ¡°There you have it. I say we give it a go, and if it¡¯s awful we can just break it off.¡± Tess said.


    ¡°Alright, if you say so.¡± Ellie replied.


    Atum cleared his throat. ¡°Sorry to interrupt, but I actually came here for a reason. Evan wanted me to get¡­well, he said Tess, but I¡¯m assuming he means both of you and wanted it to be a surprise. Anyway, he wants you guys to meet him back in the living room, says he has something to give Tess.¡±


    Ellie¡¯s thoughts were forcibly torn away from the subject of parties. If this was what she thought it was, it was far more important than such trifles. ¡°Will do, thanks Atum!¡± She said, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and practically dragging her back to the living room. She couldn¡¯t wait for a second longer.


    Fighterman481


    Except for Life, he''s not as...in touch with this sort of thing.


    Also, props to anyone who can figure out what the surprise is without going back to look for things. It was mentioned a grand total of once (I believe) in a relatively unimportant line, so I''ll be impressed.


    Anyway, that''s all for me, next time we''ll be seeing that surprise, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 47: New Uniform

    When Tess and Ellie got back to the main room, Gramps was waiting with a human man in a large coat that was absolutely brimming with pockets. ¡°Ah, good, you¡¯re here.¡± Gramps said. ¡°I need to go back to helping set up, I¡¯m trusting you can take it from here, Kane?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± The man, Kane, replied. As Gramps left the room, Kane turned to Ellie. ¡°Nice to meet you, Ellie. I¡¯m Kane Io, Artifice¡¯s Appointed.¡± He said, sticking his hand out.


    Ellie shook the offered hand. ¡°Um, guess I¡¯m Ellie, Life and Death¡¯s Appointed. I¡¯ve¡­heard the name Io before, could you remind me?¡±


    Kane smiled. ¡°I own something of a chain of workshops, and the bag you¡¯re using was made by me. You¡¯ve probably either seen the shops or someone mentioned my name in regard to your bag.¡±


    Right, that was where she had heard the name. ¡°Yeah, I got my armor and weapon from one of your stores.¡± She confirmed. ¡°So¡­Grandpa says you have something for us?¡±


    Kane nodded. ¡°That I do. Unfortunately, I only have something for Tess right now, but if you want, I can help get something together for you, we can talk about it later if you would like.¡±


    Ellie waved a hand dismissively. ¡°I¡¯m not particularly fussed about that, can we see it?¡± She said excitedly.


    ¡°You seem to be getting¡­weirdly excited about this.¡± Tess said. ¡°Does this have to do with the surprise Gramps was talking about yesterday?¡±


    Ellie nodded eagerly. ¡°Yup! I¡¯ve been waiting for this for a while!¡±


    Kane raised an eyebrow. ¡°Seems like you have an idea of what¡¯s coming.¡± He said. ¡°Humor me for a moment while I explain what this is for, alright?¡±


    Ellie nodded, and Kane continued. ¡°So, Fortune wanted you to have¡­¡± He paused, clearly searching for the right word. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll call it a uniform, for lack of a better term. There¡¯s a lot of money in gambling, and over time it¡¯s become expected for people involved with it to be dressed sharply. As such, having Fortune¡¯s Appointed running around in just¡­random armor would end up subtracting from her influence.


    ¡°With that in mind, she and Evan asked me for help in making something that you could use for this purpose, something we wouldn¡¯t have to replace as you grew stronger. He took care of the materials for me, and so, I made you this.¡± he said, reaching into one of his coat¡¯s many pockets and pulling out a sharply-tailored dark black suit, complete with socks, shoes, gloves, a tie, and what appeared to be a simple black masquerade mask. ¡°Rachel did all the sewing, since she still has your measurements, but I put together all the effects.¡±


    He handed the suit to Tess, smiling as he passed it off. ¡°This is an item that grows with your abilities, unlocking additional features as you get experience while wearing it. The defense bonuses from it are minimal at best, but between that and the fact that most of its abilities rely on a Luck trigger to activate, I was able to pack a bunch of other stuff in there too.¡±


    He pulled out a list from a different pocket, which he began to read off. ¡°Let¡¯s see here¡­to begin with, all these clothes can transform to allow for any changes to your body Monster Breeder might make and still keep themselves fitting properly. And if you pour a bit of Mana into it, you can turn this into a more¡­casual set of clothing, in case you don¡¯t want to be dressed up like this all the time.


    ¡°It cleans itself automatically, and the pockets all double as openings to a shared space that works just like the bag you¡¯re using now, with a slightly higher maximum capacity. Furthermore, once you put it on, it¡¯s going to key itself to you, and if anyone else tries to put it on, its abilities won¡¯t activate. You¡¯ll also be able to call it to you if you draw out a magic circle that Evan will teach you later, so you shouldn¡¯t need to worry about it getting lost.


    ¡°And, finally, if you put on that mask, it serves as a powerful recognition scrambler. While it¡¯s on people won¡¯t recognize you unless you want them to. Additionally, you can choose to make them recognize you as Fortune¡¯s Appointed if you want, so think of it as a way to keep your identity private while you¡¯re working out in public.


    ¡°That¡¯s all it does at the moment, but once you start unlocking its other abilities you can start getting into the good stuff. The first few should come pretty quickly, but after that it¡¯s going to start taking longer and longer. And all these abilities I¡¯m going to talk about now would have a one percent chance of activating normally, but seeing as how your Blessing effectively makes that a guarantee, I¡¯m going to be talking like they are guaranteed.


    ¡°So, in the order you¡¯re going to unlock these abilities, it¡¯s going to double the physical damage you deal, double the effectiveness of ailments you inflict, double the magic damage you deal, reduce the Mana and Stamina cost of abilities by fifty percent, halve the effectiveness of incoming ailments and halve their chance of being inflicted, and, finally, halve the damage of incoming attacks.¡±


    ¡°And sometime between the doubled magic and reduced ability cost, it gets another non-combat effect that will essentially provide you with a space suit, which will keep you at a comfortable temperature in almost all situations, provided you¡¯re not like¡­stepping in lava or something, and will provide air for you to breathe if there isn¡¯t any and regulate the pressure of the surrounding area so you don¡¯t get crushed.¡±


    He scratched his cheek awkwardly. ¡°I tried to work that into the effects that you don¡¯t have to unlock, but even with Artifice¡¯s help I was pushing it almost as far as it could go, so I had to make it something gated behind an unlock, sorry.¡±


    Tess blinked, looking down at the clothing. ¡°No, that¡¯s¡­honestly way more than I expected. I mean, I wasn¡¯t expecting anything, but certainly not something like this. This sounds¡­super amazing, thank you!¡±


    Kane shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s my job. Just make sure to keep a bit of a lid on the full extent of its effects to people who don¡¯t know you¡¯re Appointed, alright? I had to Descend to get this finished, so it¡¯s far beyond the quality that the majority of people have access to.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­going to go put it on.¡± Tess said. ¡°Excuse me for a minute.¡± She slipped away towards the bathroom, leaving Ellie alone with Kane.


    Kane watched Tess go, a faint smile on his face as he did. Then, once she was out of sight, he turned to Ellie. ¡°So, just so you¡¯re aware, I do help out when it comes to gear for Appointed. If it¡¯s something that needs to be made to accommodate for your Blessings or your Descent abilities, I make it for free, though I might ask for help in gathering materials.


    ¡°For anything else I¡¯ll give you a pretty hefty discount, but I think that might be out of your price range for a while, I¡¯m guessing you and Tess aren¡¯t exactly raking in enough money to afford that yet. Give it some time for your level to go up, and you¡¯ll get there, though. So, just¡­come see me when you have something you¡¯re interested in and need custom-made.¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to do that. Um¡­probably won¡¯t be for a while, though. Like you said, we don¡¯t make enough to afford even some of the nicer stuff in your shops, and I¡¯m guessing those aren¡¯t anywhere near the quality you put out yourself.¡±


    Kane laughed. ¡°Yeah, most of the good stuff is custom made by myself or some of the other people who I have on staff. If you don¡¯t mind my asking, though, what would be your dream set of equipment? I like to think about how I would go about making equipment, so it would be nice to know what you¡¯re looking for right now.¡±


    Ellie shrugged. ¡°Um, armor that¡¯s defensive would be nice. I want to be a tank for Tess, so I need to be able to soak hits. The weapon isn¡¯t too important, since I have a bunch of nice ones thanks to Death¡¯s Blessing, but I can only have those out part of the time, so it needs to be¡­well, useable, I guess?


    ¡°Beyond that the only thing I really want is increased regeneration for Mana and Stamina. Switching between Life and Death¡¯s Blessings costs a bunch if I want to do it fast, so being able to actually afford to do that seems like it would be important.¡±


    Kane nodded. ¡°I see. Thank you, I¡¯ll be thinking about that for when you decide you¡¯re ready to order from me.¡±


    There was a short silence, and then Ellie heard the click of a door opening and shutting from the hallway.


    Tess walked into the room, and anything else Ellie had been thinking about was immediately put on hold as she took in the vision in front of her. She had known Tess would look good in a suit, but this good? She hadn¡¯t been prepared for that.


    The suit fit Tess perfectly, and its simple yet elegant design lent a sort of¡­powerful air to her, like she was the CEO of a company and she knew she was the most important person in the room. She gave off an almost untouchable feel, like no matter how much Ellie tried, she could never even approach the level Tess was on.


    And then, Tess gave a sort of worried smile, that untouchable air vanishing as she looked to Ellie. ¡°How do I look?¡± She asked. ¡°It feels nice, and I thought it looked OK in the mirror, but¡­¡±


    Ellie let out a breath she didn¡¯t know she had been holding. Her eyes are up there. She mentally chided herself, tearing her eyes away from the feast in front of her to focus on Tess¡¯s face. ¡°Um¡­like¡­good. Uh¡­r-really good. Um¡­really really good.¡± Ellie felt her face grow red as the words fell out of her mouth. ¡°Like¡­like¡­¡±


    Kane chuckled, and Ellie silently thanked him for stopping her from making more of a fool of herself. ¡°You look great. If you ever find that it needs to be refit, go find Rachel, she knows how to deal with this sort of stuff without breaking it.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­I thought it magically refits itself?¡± Tess said.


    ¡°It does, but that enchantment works better if the clothes fit well in the first place. Just the enchantment is enough to make things passable for most people, but Fortune wanted you to look sharp, and so we need the clothes to fit you well without the enchantment.¡±


    Tess twisted from side to side, examining the suit more closely. ¡°What¡¯s this made out of?¡± She asked. ¡°It¡¯s way easier to move around in than most formal clothes I¡¯ve worn, and is just¡­I dunno, more comfortable too?¡±


    Kane shrugged. ¡°Materials from a few very high level monsters, as well as Rachel¡¯s silk. You¡¯d have to ask her for the exact details, as she was the one who actually made all of that into the clothes, but I believe one of the bigger names on that list is the wool of a Tectonic Ram.¡±


    ¡°Well, um¡­thanks. Like¡­a lot.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯m honestly kind of at a loss for words, this is insanely generous.¡±


    Kane waved a hand dismissively. ¡°If you want to thank anyone, thank your grandfather and Rachel. They did all the heavy lifting of getting the materials and making the clothes, I just put on the enchantments. And that¡¯s well within my duties as Artifice¡¯s Appointed, so it¡¯s really not that big a deal.¡±


    He gave Ellie a look, smiled slightly, then turned back to Tess. ¡°That¡¯s all, though, I gotta go help get things ready now. Nice talking with you, Ellie.¡± He gave Ellie a nod and a wink, then left.


    Fortune: Looking good, Tess! Sorry for keeping this from you, I just¡­well, I thought it would be a pleasant surprise this time, so I figured it was okay. It¡­is okay, right?


    Tess: Yeah, you¡¯re good, I wasn¡¯t talking about this sorta thing when I said not to hide stuff from me. Um¡­thanks, though, I really wasn¡¯t expecting something like this.


    Fortune: Nonsense, I could hardly be called responsible if I let you go without equipment that¡¯s actually suited for you


    Death: But you can hardly be called responsible regardless of this


    Fortune: I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯m very responsible


    Death: Responsible for leaking classified information to Tess, yeah


    Fortune: That doesn¡¯t count, aside from that I haven¡¯t had any issues


    Life: I believe it does indeed count. She was not an Appointed when you made those statements.


    Fortune: Ellie wasn¡¯t either and Fate leaked stuff to her, those two are exceptions and you know it


    Death: ¡­Oh. I forgot about that¡­uh¡­but what about¡­Life, help me out here, I need something else to tease her with


    Life: I cannot think of any other incidents.


    Fortune: See, even Life thinks I¡¯m responsible enough. If that doesn¡¯t prove it, I don¡¯t know what will


    Life: I never said that. I just said that I cannot think of any other infractions you may have made.


    ¡°Ellie, Tess, what do you think?¡± Gramps said, walking into the room.


    Ellie tore her attention away from the gods¡¯ conversation to look at her grandfather. ¡°It um¡­I like it. It looks¡­uh, nice¡­um, yeah.¡± She babbled. Apparently, she wasn¡¯t quite as mentally recovered as she thought she had been.


    ¡°It feels really nice, and I wasn¡¯t expecting something this¡­strong.¡± Tess said. ¡°Thanks a lot, I heard that you did a lot of the work in getting materials.¡±


    Gramps laughed. ¡°Not a big deal, the guild had most of it just lying around collecting dust. I just had to swing a few favors and pay a small amount of money to get it, didn¡¯t take long at all.¡±


    ¡°How¡­much did it cost?¡± Tess asked tentatively.


    ¡°Less than you¡¯ll make the guild in return.¡± Gramps said firmly. ¡°Seriously, don¡¯t worry about it, it really wasn¡¯t a big deal.¡±


    There was a flash of light and the portal they had come in through sprung up. After a moment, Rachel walked through, and the portal closed behind her. ¡°Ah, Tess, you¡¯re wearing the suit!¡± She said cheerfully. ¡°Looks great on you! How does it feel?¡±


    ¡°Feels great, thanks, Rachel.¡±


    ¡°My pleasure!¡± She replied. ¡°It¡¯s always fun to work with the really nice stuff, so it was a fun exercise. And seeing the end result, it really makes me happy to see that it works so well!¡±


    She turned to look over at Gramps, saw Ellie, then paused. ¡°Ellie? I assume this means you accepted Life and Death¡¯s offer?¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Um¡­yeah. You¡¯re¡­an Appointed too?¡±


    Rachel smiled. ¡°Yup! Hearth¡¯s Appointed, to be exact.¡± She looked back to Gramps. ¡°I¡¯m guessing this means I¡¯m not late this time?¡±


    ¡°Nope. We still have a couple minutes before we¡¯re ready to start.¡± Gramps replied.


    ¡°Awesome, I¡¯ll go set this stuff down, then!¡± Rachel said, motioning to a box on her abdomen and scuttling out of the room.


    Tess walked over to Ellie, grabbing her hand gently. ¡°Are you alright?¡± She asked. ¡°You seem a little¡­overwhelmed right now.¡±


    ¡°Fine!¡± Ellie said quickly. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­¡±


    ¡°Just¡­?¡± Tess prompted.


    ¡°Um¡­you look so good in that you kind of short-circuited my brain.¡± Ellie said, blushing. ¡°I wasn¡¯t ready for it.¡±


    Tess froze, facing growing red as she processed what Ellie said.


    Gramps laughed. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll leave you two to it, then. I¡¯ll come get you when it¡¯s time for the meeting, alright?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­yeah, thanks, Gramps.¡± Tess said.


    Gramps gave them a nod and exited the room, leaving the two very red girls alone.


    ¡°Uh¡­maybe we should head somewhere else, so our conversation isn¡¯t interrupted by people coming in?¡± Tess suggested.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡­uh, yeah.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Let¡¯s do that.¡±


    And so, the two left for a more private room, where they whiled away the time before the meeting just enjoying each other¡¯s company. And soon, Gramps was knocking on the door, telling them it was almost time for the meeting to start.


    Ellie stood up, holding Tess¡¯s hand. She had, thankfully, mostly recovered and was able to speak properly now, but she couldn¡¯t help but be a little nervous. These people were important, and it didn¡¯t quite feel like she deserved to be on the same level as them.


    Tess gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, they¡¯re nice people.¡± She said. ¡°You¡¯ll do great.¡±


    Ellie smiled, feeling more than a bit better. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡±


    Fighterman481


    Also the divine peanut gallery''s banter, that''s fun too.


    But that stuff aside, the armor''s been something that''s kinda been in the works for a bit. Or, perhaps not so much in the works as "planned". Most of this stuff would normally never fly as effects that would be able to be put on a piece of armor without downsides, but as Kane mentions, the "one-percent" activation chance and next to no defensive bonuses make able to barely all be put on the gear without it exploding from magic overdose. That and Artifice''s help, of course.


    Anyway, that''s all I really have to say, next time we''ll get into the meeting (it''ll be different this time, though), so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 48: Another Introduction

    Ellie sat at one end of a long table, next to Tess and her grandfather. The rest of the table was filled with diverse group of impressive-looking people, and she couldn¡¯t help but be a little intimidated by them.


    ¡°I suppose we might as well start now that everyone¡¯s here.¡± Gramps said. ¡°First off, I would like to introduce our new newest member.¡± He smiled slightly, motioning at Ellie with a hand. ¡°Like I mentioned last time, this is Ellie, my other granddaughter. She became Life and Death¡¯s Appointed a couple of days ago, so I figured we would just introduce her now instead of calling a separate meeting. Ellie, would you please introduce yourself?¡±


    Ellie nodded, standing up nervously. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m Ellie.¡± She said. ¡°Like Grandpa said, I¡¯m Life and Death¡¯s Appointed, um¡­¡± She¡­wasn¡¯t totally sure what she was supposed to do now. Tess had told her that generally the gods Descended during their first introduction, but there were two for Ellie and¡­she couldn¡¯t exactly switch between them during Descent yet.


    Then Death Descended, that odd sensation of invincibility paired with her body tearing itself apart filling her as Death did. I got this. Death told Ellie


    ¡°Hi folks!¡± Death said, giving a little wave. ¡°Life and I are both sorta¡­sharing Ellie, it¡¯s a bit of a unique situation and unfortunately we¡¯re not all used to each other yet to get Life to Descend as well, so¡­yeah. If you need something from either of us, don¡¯t hesitate to ask even if the other is currently working with Ellie. Anyway, I gotta jet now, don¡¯t wanna tax Ellie¡¯s body too much, we look forward to working with you!¡±


    And, like that, Death was gone, leaving Ellie standing there awkwardly.


    ¡°You can sit now.¡± Gramps said, smiling. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Ellie gratefully sat, and Gramps turned his attention back to the others. ¡°Would the rest of you like to introduce yourselves now?¡±


    One by one, the other people at the table stood and gave their introductions, and eventually Gramps began to speak once again. ¡°With that out of the way, unless anyone has anything pressing, I would like to go over some updates on what we talked about last meeting.¡±


    Gramps waited a moment for someone to speak up, and, when no one did, continued. ¡°I¡¯ve finished all the preparations for an expedition, I¡¯ll be making the official announcement tomorrow, and it¡¯ll depart a month from then. I¡¯m going to send it out East, and that should catch at least three or four of the old dungeons we¡¯ve yet to disclose the location of.¡±


    He nodded at the enormous four-armed man. ¡°I¡¯ll share the route with you after we¡¯re done here, Valin.¡±


    Valin grunted. ¡°Much appreciated.¡±


    ¡°With that out of the way, since last meeting it¡¯s been made clear to me that the old guild ranking system is falling apart a little faster than I expected. So, I¡¯ve moved up its expansion, and will be announcing the changes with the expedition. I¡¯m currently working on bettering the system when it comes to classifying very large groups working as a team, and I¡¯m hoping to officially launch this by this time next year.


    ¡°So, I believe it¡¯s about time we start getting to work on preparing for the introduction of savage dungeons. I¡¯ve spoken with Dungeons on the subject and she said that, provided a few of us are able to help out, she can begin placing them by next month. Does anyone have enough free time to be able to work on a few of those?¡±


    ¡°Depends.¡± Valin said, leaning forward, excitement visible in his expression. ¡°How far out are these going to be?¡±


    ¡°Pretty far out, but since this is something of a long-term commitment, Dungeons is willing to give a minor Blessing that will teleport you to and from a dungeon she¡¯ll key to you.¡± Gramps replied.


    ¡°One moment, Evan.¡± Amara said. ¡°Tess, you look like you¡¯re a little confused? Please, don¡¯t feel shy about asking questions, we don¡¯t expect you to know everything right away, and you and Ellie are just as important as the rest of us here.¡±


    Tess gave a slow nod. ¡°Um, I mean, I don¡¯t know what this whole savage dungeon thing is about, but I figured I¡¯d ask Gramps about that later, so¡­uh, yeah.¡±


    ¡°A new type of dungeon that we¡¯ve been meaning to make for a while.¡± Valin explained. ¡°They¡¯re going to be a lot bigger than normal dungeons, but they won¡¯t be instanced, so everyone inside the dungeon is in the same space. The monsters are gonna be tougher and the important ones, like bosses, will hopefully retain a fair amount of memory from their past lives. There won¡¯t be living quarters, either; we¡¯re hoping to make the experience a lot more challenging than normal dungeons, so we can give greater rewards and push people to become stronger.¡±


    Ellie¡¯s mind began to race with what this could potentially mean, not really for her, but for Tess. The increase in monster strength directly correlated to an increase in Tess¡¯s strength, and she was all for making her girlfriend as strong as possible.


    Still, one thing bothered her. ¡°Why are we pushing people to get stronger?¡± She asked. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that just indirectly make our jobs harder?¡±


    ¡°Ah, good question.¡± Alberich said. ¡°It has to do with the lifecycle of planes. You see, planes just sort of¡­pop up out of nowhere, and all the Administrators have to decide who gets to have them. This wouldn¡¯t be a problem if all the Administrators agreed with each other or if there were more than enough planes to go around, but neither is the case, so they have to fight for them.


    ¡°A long time ago they quantified a set of rules, so there¡¯s something like an¡­exhibition match over each of the new planes, with the Administrators using a few people from their planes as combatants. So, it¡¯s to their benefit to have the inhabitants of their planes as strong as possible so they can win those matches.¡±


    Alberich stroked his beard, eyes twinkling as he spoke. ¡°But that poses its own share of problems. I won¡¯t get into Administrator politics now, that¡¯s far too complicated for this meeting, but the long of the short of it is that Administrators need planes to prevent overcrowding and resource depletion, as well as to generate more Worship so they can help better their people¡¯s lives.


    ¡°But¡­well, ambient Mana behaves oddly. The collection of an Administrator¡¯s planes, what we call a universe, has its own level of ambient Mana that¡¯s determined by the number of planes it has. And that ambient Mana is sorta¡­added to the base ambient Mana of the planes within. There are ways around this, or else Mael wouldn¡¯t be the way that it is, but those are costly and not something that¡¯s feasible to put on every single plane or even keep on one plane for too long.


    ¡°And the higher ambient Mana is, the more powerful the monsters that appear will be, which necessitates the inhabitants of the planes be more powerful to compensate. We¡¯ve done several of these little power boosts, the first of which was ¨C¡±


    ¡°They get the point.¡± Valin interrupted. ¡°I can hear you getting your ¡®teacher voice¡¯ on, and we don¡¯t need an hour long lecture right now. The point is, people need to get stronger so they can live peacefully. We try to provide ways for them to get stronger that aren¡¯t so easy they make people complacent and aren¡¯t so hard they wipe out the population of entire planes. So, savage dungeons are just another one of the programs we¡¯ve cooked up to make that happen.¡±


    ¡°My apologies.¡± Alberich said, a blush faintly visible behind his beard. ¡°I get excited when talking about this topic.¡± He turned to Ellie and Tess, smiling. ¡°If you¡¯d like to hear more, come talk to me after the meeting, or if you don¡¯t have time then, I¡¯m available at the city¡¯s university. Come ask for me and if I¡¯m not teaching a class, I¡¯ll be more than happy to answer whatever questions you have on any topic.¡±


    ¡°Just know you won¡¯t get away without a full understanding of the topic.¡± Amara teased. ¡°Alberich¡¯s an educator at heart.¡±


    ¡°Guilty as charged.¡± Alberich chuckled.


    ¡°Right, so, if we can get a teleport like that, I¡¯d be able to take some time to work on the new stuff.¡± Valin said. ¡°Especially since I can stop worrying about a few of those other dungeons now.¡±


    Gramps nodded. ¡°Good to hear, anyone else?¡±


    ¡°I think it would be good if Tess and Ellie shared responsibility for one.¡± Ava offered. ¡°It would be a good idea to have a lower-level dungeon, and it would help ease them into some of their miscellaneous duties as Appointed.¡±


    ¡°As long as it¡¯s alright with both Dungeons and them, I think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Ellie, Tess, what are your thoughts?¡±


    Ellie shared a look with Tess. ¡°I¡¯m fine with it if you are.¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°I suppose I¡¯m alright with it too, then. Though, I would like it if one of you all helped us out for the first time or two, just so we know what we¡¯re actually supposed to be doing.¡±


    ¡°I can take care of that.¡± Valin grunted. ¡°That¡¯s usually my job anyway, so I¡¯m probably best qualified.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Gramps said. ¡°I¡¯ll bring up the idea with Dungeons soon, then.¡±


    No need. A voice filled the room, one that Ellie instinctually knew was Dungeons¡¯. Apologies for eavesdropping, Fate informed me that you were discussing the savage dungeons and I had to listen in. I have no issues with letting Tess and Ellie be in charge of a lower-level dungeon.


    ¡°There we have it, then.¡± Gramps said. ¡°But we¡¯d still prefer if there were two or three more people available to help.¡±


    ¡°I can handle a couple.¡± Rachel volunteered.


    ¡°I as well.¡± Kane said.


    ¡°Perfect, that should be all we need. That¡¯s all I had for business, is there anything else that needs to be brought up here?¡±


    ¡°Tene is getting all aggressive again.¡± Amara said, looking down at her fingernails. ¡°It looks like just their usual bluster, though, so I¡¯m guessing it¡¯ll die down in a couple of years. Still, I¡¯m going to keep an eye on them, and I¡¯ll let you all know if it looks like they¡¯re actually going to declare war on someone this time.¡±


    ¡°Good to know. What else?¡±


    ¡°Meison and I have noticed that sea monsters on Achy have been getting bolder lately. We¡¯re worried about the possibility of a monster surge.¡± Carel, one of the aquatic elves, said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll send some people out to investigate.¡± Gramps told them. ¡°Anything more?¡±


    There was a long silence, and then Gramps smiled. ¡°Alright, good. If that¡¯s all, then let¡¯s call the meeting here, and we¡¯ll meet up again at the usual time next year, sound good?¡±


    There was a chorus of assent, and the people around the table began to stand up, most breaking up into small groups and chattering amongst themselves.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­it?¡± Ellie asked, looking at Gramps.


    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± He confirmed. ¡°These meetings are pretty routine, just check-ups to make sure nothing¡¯s going too wrong. Afterwards we tend to socialize and talk about things we can¡¯t really talk to normal people about, but that¡¯s optional.¡± He nodded at Valin, who was already leaving the room. ¡°Valin, for instance, prefers to get back to work right away.¡±


    ¡°Yo!¡± Amara said, walking over to the side of the table where Ellie, Tess, and Gramps were. ¡°I wanted to catch you all before you left today, I wanted to talk about Maven and your party and all that.¡±


    ¡°We were planning to get her in our party once our school ends in a couple of weeks, right?¡± Tess asked.


    Amara nodded. ¡°Yup, I just wanted to make sure you two were still fine with that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine with it.¡± Tess replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to give it a go.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But if it turns out she¡¯s not compatible with us, I don¡¯t want to keep going with her in the party. I¡¯ve learned that lesson already.¡±


    Amara gave them a smile. ¡°She won¡¯t be anywhere near as troublesome as you¡¯re worried about.¡± She said reassuringly. ¡°I have a feeling you¡¯ll get along just fine.¡±


    ¡°So¡­when exactly are you thinking we begin meeting up?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s going to be coming starting two and a half weeks from today, on Monday. I¡¯ve got her renting out a place in the city a little ways from the guild, and she¡¯ll meet you in the guild every morning.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a princess, right?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Doesn¡¯t she have important functions to go to or something? Will we have to work around that?¡±


    Amara smirked. ¡°Not usually. Maybe once or twice a year she¡¯ll have something, but I¡¯ve convinced her parents that networking with you two is worth missing a few events here or there. They¡¯re not going to bug you too much for a few years.¡±


    Ellie gave her a doubtful look. ¡°How¡¯d you pull that off? I get that we¡¯re technically important, seeing as how Grandpa¡¯s some bigshot, but it¡¯s not like we actually are going to inherit something or anything like that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s less about that and more about how connected you are to Evan.¡± Amara explained. ¡°You are the two people he cares about most, and being able to have connections to people that close to someone like Evan is more important to having connections to some random noble kids. Plus, in the long run, you¡¯re going to end up far more competent than any of those aforementioned kids, so from a political standpoint it¡¯s a pretty big gain.¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°It sounds cold saying it that way, but that¡¯s sorta how you have to talk with people like Maven¡¯s parents. Their first concern is what is best for the country, and they¡¯re only going to allow for more leisurely things like Maven¡¯s training when it doesn¡¯t negatively affect her ability to run the country.


    ¡°Still, it¡¯s a pretty well-known fact among the rulers of Paumen that if I push for something, they¡¯re supposed to listen. I¡¯ve been around a lot longer than they have, and I haven¡¯t been wrong on something like this in centuries.¡± She paused for a moment before continuing. ¡°By the way, let me know if you ever find yourself needing a place to stay in Paumen or Ores, I can set something up for you. Most of the other Appointed are the same for their home plane, don¡¯t feel shy about asking. We all help each other out when we can.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Um¡­I don¡¯t think Tess or I will be able to do the same for Mael, though. We kinda live out in the sticks and don¡¯t know anyone important.¡±


    Amara laughed. ¡°Not yet, anyway. Give it some time and you¡¯ll be able to ask the church of Life and Death, if no one else. I don¡¯t know much about them, but I highly doubt they¡¯d refuse a request from their Appointed.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°Come to think of it, where is the headquarters for Fortune¡¯s church? I should probably know that, but I hadn¡¯t thought to ask before.¡±


    ¡°The main branch is located in the Outlands, but the church itself is pretty decentralized. Unlike most, Fortune has decently large followings in all the planes save for Mael, so if you look hard enough you can always find¡­something.¡±


    Fortune: Yeah, originally it wasn¡¯t supposed to be like this but somewhere along the way I kinda turned into the god people turn to when they¡¯ve got absolutely nothing else, when they get really desperate. And I was introduced with the Outlands, so I wasn¡¯t really tied to any one plane in the minds of the people and¡­here we are I guess.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± Tess said. ¡°That makes my job a bit harder, I suppose.¡±


    Amara made a face. ¡°I really don¡¯t envy you the task of wrangling her church, it¡¯s quite a bit bigger than most and there¡¯s only so much we could do to keep it in check while Fortune didn¡¯t have an Appointed. The biggest parts should all immediately fall in line, though, so hopefully it won¡¯t be¡­too bad, but you never know with these things.¡±


    ¡°Give us a call when it comes time for you to deal with Sais or Aldous.¡± Ava said, placing a gentle hand on Tess¡¯s shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s where Atum and I are from, so we can help you get started if you need.¡±


    Tess jumped slightly. ¡°You startled me!¡± She said, placing a hand over her heart. ¡°I can never get used to how quiet you are!¡±


    ¡°Sorry, force of habit.¡± Ava said. ¡°The family gets on me about it all the time too.¡±


    Atum snorted. ¡°You can stop whenever you want, you just like messing with them.¡±


    ¡°Maybe if they didn¡¯t get so jumpy all the time I would stop!¡± Ava said, smiling faintly.


    ¡°I believe that¡¯s called victim blaming.¡± Gramps interjected. ¡°It¡¯s kind of hard for someone to just passively pick up when someone as stealthy as you is trying to sneak up on them.¡±


    ¡°How do you do that?¡± Tess asked curiously. ¡°I can usually pick up when someone¡¯s walking a couple of rooms away, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard you.¡±


    ¡°Couple of Skills, and a lifetime of learning how not to be noticed by things that have hearing as good as yours. Just keep practicing what I¡¯ve taught you and, in a few decades, you¡¯ll be good enough you forget you¡¯re doing it.¡±


    ¡°She could probably get better than that faster.¡± Eyfura said thoughtfully. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how exactly how it would play into things, but I¡¯m sure she could pick up some abilities from monsters that greatly increase how stealthy she is.¡±


    From there, the group fell into a comfortable conversation, lazily talking away the rest of the morning until, eventually, it was time for Ellie, Tess, and Gramps to be on their way. They might have taken the morning off for the meeting, but Gramps still wanted them back at school in time for their afternoon classes.


    So, Ellie soon found herself walking into school with Tess, still deep in thought about that morning¡¯s events.


    Fighterman481


    All that aside, the chapter itself introduces (or explains in more detail) a few things that are going to be important in the relatively near future. I...probably shouldn''t talk about those quite yet, though, so just keep some of this stuff in the back of your head going forwards.


    Um...not much else to say, though, next time we''ll be looking at the end of school for Tess and Ellie, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 49: Witch Hunting

    Tess had a hard time focusing on anything, her mind drifting to topics like her future and freelancing in general whenever she tried. It was¡­weird, going from talking about potentially world-shatteringly important events in the morning to listening to a teacher talk about math in the evening. It was almost like a dream, where one sequence of events led into another in a way that made little sense.


    ¡°Alright everybody, pack up.¡± Her teacher said, snapping Tess back to attention. ¡°It¡¯s time to do yearbook signing. Get your stuff and then go out to the back of the school, we¡¯ll be doing it outside until school would normally be over.¡±


    Tess had entirely forgotten that was supposed to be today. She began to hurriedly put away her things, then turned to Ellie. ¡°I totally forgot about this, how about you?¡±


    ¡°Same.¡± Ellie laughed. ¡°Suppose we just¡­had other things on our minds, eh?¡±


    The two chatted a bit more as they packed up, before heading to their lockers to grab the rest of their stuff and then finally out back, where a large line was beginning to form around a few folding tables that had been set up. Near each line a teacher held a sign that contained a range of letters, indicating which line should be used by people with a last name starting with one of the contained letters.


    Tess and Ellie obediently lined up in the line for L, and in a few minutes, they were receiving a yearbook from the person manning that station. And, following that, they mingled with the other students, giving signatures and obtaining some in return.


    And that was all well and good until one of the walls of the school was lit up by a powerful projector, and the music that had been playing over the football stadium¡¯s speakers suddenly stopped.


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, do I have an announcement for you!¡± A voice said jovially, crackling to life over the speakers that had just moments before been playing the music. Tess looked up to the broadcaster¡¯s room and saw, much to her displeasure, Aaron sitting in the windowsill with a microphone in hand, looking down at Tess with an infuriatingly smug smile.


    When he saw that Tess was looking at him, he gave her a little wave, smile growing deeper before he turned to face the equipment he had set up in the room. ¡°You see,¡± he began, pressing a button and causing a countdown to appear on the side of the building, ¡°I had a little¡­beef with one of the students here. I¡¯m sure many of you know her, a girl by the name of Tess Los, graduating here in a couple of weeks.


    ¡°I confronted her about leading me on, using my goodwill for her own gain before discarding me, and do you know what she did? Not only did she laugh in my face, she had the gall to threaten me. Me, of all people! She said that I would keep quiet about all of this if I knew what was good for me. I, of course, am not one to take such threats lying down.¡±


    The countdown edged its way closer to zero, but Tess¡¯s attention was torn away by a window that appeared in front of her.


    Death: Well, I¡­suppose this¡­kinda works out. Look, he¡¯s probably gonna try to out you as a ¡°witch¡±. I just did a quick check, he had a camera somewhere on his clothes when he confronted you that second time and he¡¯s got video. We have two options here, one, you deny everything and continue as normal these next two weeks. Well, not as normal, you¡¯re probably gonna be shunned by a bunch of people but not much we can do about that.


    Two, you admit it. We mentioned we wanted to make this town a paranormal hotspot, right? Make a big show of something here, you¡¯ll be really shunned these next two weeks and people will probably shun you after too, but¡­well, they¡¯re not that big a deal. Hopefully your close friends would be cool with it. Um¡­your call, though, we can always just start our plan in a couple of weeks like we had intended.


    Tess: No. I¡¯m game to do this now, I¡¯m done playing by his rules.


    Fortune: Yeah, stick it to the man!


    Death: We¡¯re ¡°the man¡±, Fortune. As far as the world knows, we¡¯re as high on the totem pole as it gets


    Fortune: You know what I mean


    Life: You two, enough, she needs to focus. Fortune, would you be able to feed her some Worship? Death and I did some testing, she should be able to use it to fuel her abilities in place of Mana and Stamina, so they can function normally.


    Fortune: Can do! Knock ¡®em dead, Tess!


    Tess looked over to Ellie, giving her a nod and beginning to shoulder her way through the crowd. Up on the side of the building, Aaron and Tess¡¯s latest confrontation was playing out, people watching in shock as, in it, Tess sliced through the hardwood desk like it wasn¡¯t there.


    The stairs leading up to the broadcasting room were barred by two huge men who were giving Tess hostile stares. ¡°No one gets through until he¡¯s done with his speech. Especially you.¡± One said.


    ¡°So, there you all have it!¡± Aaron said gleefully, either unaware or uncaring of Tess below. ¡°She¡¯s a monster and needs to be punished. So, I¡¯m going to make a call for action now. None of you should associate with her or the Los family, as you¡¯ll only be inviting evil into your lives. Make sure your families know too, it¡¯s just not safe.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to give you the chance to move aside now.¡± Tess said, calmly looking up at the men that were towering over her. ¡°You saw the video. You don¡¯t want to fight me.¡±


    The man who had spoken before snorted and hefted a baton. ¡°Special effects.¡± He said. ¡°You don¡¯t scare me.¡±


    ¡°Wrong answer.¡± Tess said, smiling. She tensed as a charged feeling entered her body, pure energy crackling within. She threw her head back, channeling the Worship into Command of the Emperor and letting out a roar. It was an enormous, inhuman sound that easily drowned out the crowd¡¯s chatter and the noise of Aaron over the speakers, and when she finished not a sound was to be heard.


    You have applied Terror to 859 people! Artisanal Afflictions has upgraded Terror to Frozen With Fear!


    She pushed her way past the now unresisting bodyguards and ascended the stairs until she reached the door to the broadcasting room. She tried to open it, but it was locked, so she unsheathed her claws and brought them down on the door, cutting through the old metal with only a moderate effort. She reached in through the hole she had made and unlocked the door, opening it to reveal a panicking Aaron.


    She walked over and wrested the microphone from his hands, flashing him a smile as she tapped it. ¡°I believe it¡¯s only fair that I get to say my side of the story.¡± She said, watching as Command of the Emperor¡¯s effect expired and people began to move again. For his part, Aaron bolted out of the room and headed down the stairs, leaving Tess alone to talk.


    ¡°My apologies for scaring you all like that.¡± She said. ¡°I had to get past the bodyguards and that was the easiest non-violent way I had.¡± It wasn¡¯t, she could have teleported past them with Flashstep, but the people she was talking to didn¡¯t need to know that. Besides, if she had done that, there was a chance they would have tried to catch up to her on the stairs, and she really didn¡¯t want to hurt them.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m not¡­well, I guess you could call me a witch, but it¡¯s a rather poor term to describe what I am. I¡¯m not much good at magic, though I can do a little. But, that aside, Aaron was lying to you. I threatened him, yes, but he threatened me first. I never laughed at him either, and certainly never led him on or even gave him the remotest sign that I had any interest in him.


    ¡°And, as you all just saw, I could have done much worse to him if I had chosen to. I just set a minor poltergeist on him, so he¡¯d get the message, and he didn¡¯t. I really don¡¯t want to hurt anyone, and I¡¯m definitely not evil. In fact, I¡¯m a rather firm follower of Life and Death, make a point of praying to them daily, and letting them know what I do.¡±


    That was¡­kind of true, if you could call their chatting prayer. And if you left out the fact that she was, technically, their equal, so being a ¡°follower¡± was something of a stretch. ¡°I make a point of closely adhering to the wishes of the gods, and I bear no ill will against anyone here. I¡¯ll understand if you can¡¯t trust me after this, and I won¡¯t blame you if you choose to stop associating with me. I just want to say that not everything different or unknown is scary, and that perhaps you should take a moment and decide for yourself who¡¯s really in the right here.¡±


    She paused, eyeing the fearful crowd. ¡°Anyway, I guess that¡¯s all I wanted to say, I¡¯m going to get out of your hair now. I¡¯d still love to be friends with anyone who still wants to talk to me.¡± She put the microphone down and left the room, taking a moment to cast a mending spell on the door and fully repair it. Then, she jumped off of the stairway, using Greater Levitation to slow her descent until she landed, unharmed, on the ground below.


    Tess: Ellie, let¡¯s go to the car, I don¡¯t think we should stick around.


    Ellie: Way ahead of you, I¡¯m already on my way.


    She took off at a run, dashing through a crowd that parted before her. A short time before she fully cleared the crowd, she caught sight of Jacob behind her, sprinting to try and catch up but steadily losing ground.


    She slowed, allowing him to catch up to her just as she stepped onto the parking lot¡¯s pavement.


    ¡°What¡­what was that!?¡± He huffed. ¡°What¡¯s going on, Tess!?¡±


    Death: Now¡¯s a good time to let him in on it, too. Probably want to do it away from the school, though.


    ¡°Meet Ellie and I at our house.¡± Tess told him. ¡°We¡¯ll explain there, but right now we gotta leave before things get more complicated.¡±


    ¡°Ellie¡¯s in on this too? Look, I¡­¡± He trailed off as he stared at her face, then shook his head. ¡°Alright. But you better be ready to tell me everything.¡±


    Tess smirked. ¡°I¡¯m ready, but I don¡¯t think you are.¡± She said. ¡°See you in a few minutes.¡± And with that she took off for Ellie¡¯s car, quickly opening the passenger seat¡¯s door and hopping in. ¡°Jacob¡¯s gonna meet us at our place.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯re explaining everything to him then. Hit it!¡±


    Ellie grinned, quickly accelerating and leaving the parking lot behind them. ¡°Did you see the look on Aaron¡¯s face as he left? He looked like he was about to die of fright!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get a good look, no.¡± Tess said. ¡°Wish I had, though, I¡¯m sure it was great.¡±


    ¡°Not as great as you.¡± Ellie said. ¡°That was¡­super hot. Especially the bit in the video, that was¡­something else. Have I ever told you how lucky I am that you¡¯re my girlfriend?¡±


    Tess smiled. ¡°Once or twice.¡±


    ¡°Not enough, then. I¡¯d give you a kiss, but I don¡¯t want to crash this car. You better believe you¡¯re getting one the moment we get home, though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡± Tess replied, smiling slightly.


    And so, the two drove home, Jacob following behind them.


    Jacob got out of his car, locking the door behind him as he rushed to the front door. He was still in shock over what had just happened. His best friend had¡­what did he even call what she had done? It was¡­it was like she had temporarily turned into some sort of beast, an avatar of destruction.


    He involuntarily shuddered as he recalled that roar. While it hadn¡¯t frozen him like it had most of the students, that was not a human sound. It was primal, bestial, something that had reached deep down into the most instinctual part of his brain and set it screaming about how there was something so incredibly dangerous nearby that the only way to survive was to run.


    And those claws, the way she had shredded the door like it was made of tissues¡­well, those only served to reinforce that notion. The sensation had, blessedly, faded soon after Tess had begun to speak, but it was something Jacob knew he would never forget. Had¡­she been able to do that the whole time he¡¯d known her?


    Before he could even knock, the door opened, and Tess pulled him inside. ¡°Right, explanation time.¡± She said, tugging him over to her living room and sitting him down on one of the chairs. ¡°Go ahead and ask your questions, I¡¯ll answer whatever you want.¡±


    Jacob stared at her. ¡°Um¡­I¡­where do I start? I guess¡­well, what were those claws?¡±


    Tess nodded, sitting down next to Ellie on a loveseat across from Jacob. She raised her hands, flexed slightly, and a gleaming claw sprouted from each finger. They were about two feet in length, and looked sharper than any blade Jacob had ever seen, making them seem somehow more dangerous now that he was looking at them up close.


    ¡°This¡­sorta ties into everything that¡¯s been happening.¡± She said. ¡°I got these from¡­¡± She paused, clearly trying to figure out how to word her next phrase. ¡°Alright, no, it really doesn¡¯t make sense unless I explain everything else first.¡±


    Jacob frowned. ¡°Alright then, I¡¯m listening.¡±


    Tess nodded, then paused for a moment, looking slightly away from him, almost as if she was reading something. After a couple of seconds, she turned back to him. ¡°Sorry about that.¡± She said. ¡°This¡­is probably not going to be a pleasant experience for you, but it needs to be done.¡±


    The claws vanished and she placed her hands in her lap, looking at him intently. ¡°Do you remember in middle school, when we were getting ready for gym in the locker room and I realized I had left my uniform at home, and I had to borrow an extra from you, and I ended up falling into a bunch of mud? And then I brought that uniform home to wash it and forgot them both the next day?¡±


    Jacob thought back for a moment. ¡°Yeah, what about it?¡±


    ¡°Think hard.¡± Tess told him. ¡°Does that make sense?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why n¡­¡± He trailed off, wincing as he felt a sudden pain in his head. That¡­didn¡¯t make sense, now that he was thinking about it. ¡°I seem to recall us picking lockers that were close together, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But?¡± Tess prompted.


    He closed his eyes, putting a hand to his head. It was really starting to hurt, but something told him he needed to keep going. ¡°But you¡¯re a girl.¡± He said. ¡°There¡¯s no way we could have lockers next to each other in the locker rooms. But¡­no, we definitely did. How¡­¡±


    The pain rose to a crescendo, and then something snapped. As suddenly as it had arrived, the pain had vanished¡­and as it left, he found he could remember. He opened his eyes, looking at Tess cautiously. ¡°Thomas?¡± He whispered, scarcely believing what he was seeing.


    Tess gave him a nervous smile. ¡°Yup. Um, I¡¯m Tess for good now, though. I¡­guess I should start at the beginning, it¡¯s a long story.¡±


    Fighterman481


    I probably shouldn''t say more for fear of spoilers though, so next time we''ll be...formally introducing Jacob to everything, so...look forward to it, I guess.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 50: More Introductions

    ¡°And¡­well, that¡¯s where we are now.¡± Tess said, folding her hands in her lap nervously. ¡°It¡¯s¡­a lot to take in, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­one way of putting it.¡± Jacob said, giving her a disbelieving stare. ¡°I¡­I, well, to be frank, I can¡¯t believe it. I don¡¯t really want to call you a liar, but¡­well, it¡¯s too much. Obviously, yes, you somehow turned into a girl, and you clearly got those claws somehow, but¡­you two being direct servants of the gods? A whole other set of dimensions? You¡¯re¡­just yanking my chain, right?¡±


    Fortune: Hold my Ambrosia


    Tess braced herself, and sure enough she soon felt a sort of¡­tingle that she knew on some instinctual level meant that Fortune wanted to Descend. So, she let Fortune in, and the tingle strengthened to that electric, powerful feeling that Tess had come to associate with Descent.


    ¡°Hello, Jacob.¡± Fortune said.


    Jacob straightened immediately, a sort of awestruck look filling his eyes as he looked at Tess and Fortune. ¡°Um¡­hi?¡±


    ¡°I would ask that you not doubt Tess and Ellie any further, everything is as they say. Still, I know you are not familiar with me, so if you wish we could have Life or Death speak to you as well. I just elected to do so because Ellie is less¡­used to being an Appointed and it takes a much greater toll on her than it does Tess.¡±


    Jacob shook his head vigorously. ¡°N-no, ma¡¯am.¡± He said meekly. ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary.¡±


    Fortune laughed. ¡°Very well then. I shall take my leave now. Tess, Ellie, I think it would be wise to take him to Evan and have him swear an Oath. I know you trust him, but we cannot afford the risk at this crucial point in time.¡±


    And with that Fortune left, and Tess gave Jacob a nod. ¡°It¡¯s just me again.¡± She said.


    Jacob breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°That scared the living daylights out of me.¡± He said. ¡°I¡­I¡¯ve never felt anything like that, is talking with the gods¡­always like that?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie. ¡°It¡¯s to make sure that people don¡¯t try and impersonate them. When they talk, they want you to know it¡¯s them talking. You get used to it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­not so sure.¡± Jacob said nervously. ¡°It¡¯s¡­super nerve wracking, you know? I didn¡¯t know any of this existed until today. The gods were just¡­something that were there in the background, so I just¡­I¡¯m overwhelmed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s a big thing to just drop on someone. If you would like, as soon as we get Gramps to have you swear an Oath, we can send you back home and we can come back to this whenever you¡¯re ready.¡±


    Jacob shook his head. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine, I just¡­give me a minute or two more before we go on, I¡¯m still kinda processing the whole Thomas thing. It¡­I just didn¡¯t even think anything was off, not in the slightest.¡±


    ¡°Sorry again about the rough handling.¡± Tess said. ¡°There wasn¡¯t really any pleasant way to do that, not until we¡¯re ready to take that away from everyone, and we thought you deserve to know the truth.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m definitely glad you did.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°How¡­did you guys do that, though?¡±


    ¡°Ah, Fortune did that.¡± Tess said. She hadn¡¯t known that herself until just earlier. ¡°She just worked a bit of magic that would prevent people from remembering anything was wrong.¡± Magic was probably the wrong term to use, since Worship¡­technically wasn¡¯t magic, but Jacob wasn¡¯t allowed to know about that, so it was the best alternative.


    ¡°I suppose that figures. There¡¯s no way things could have been this smooth otherwise.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°It was just so¡­fast. I never, in a million years, would have guessed that something like this was the real reason you were out of school for a while. Though, I must say that after I visited, I thought you looked remarkably good for someone who was, supposedly, out with some sort of serious illness.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m actually in the best shape of my life right now.¡± Tess said. ¡°But it¡¯s not like we could give the real reason, I¡¯m sure you understand.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I get it, I don¡¯t think I would want to come to school for a bit either.¡± Jacob said.


    There was a long, awkward pause where no one was quite sure what to say, and then Jacob spoke up again. ¡°So¡­what now?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Well,¡± Tess began, ¡°I was planning to wait until you had collected yourself, and then we need to go get Gramps to have you swear an Oath.¡±


    ¡°What is this Oath thing anyway? Can¡¯t I just swear one with you two?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s more complex than that.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It¡¯s done officially using someone connected to the god of Fate, and physically prevents you from breaking it. Well¡­not physically? Magically? Point is, once you swear an Oath, you can¡¯t leak anything, even if you wanted to. And, well¡­like Fortune said, as much as we trust you, this is too important to have even the potential for a leak. Most of the people we work with are under similar Oaths, so it¡¯s not just you or anything.¡±


    ¡°Yikes.¡± Jacob replied, scratching the back of his neck. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say I don¡¯t see why. Um¡­where is Mr. Los, though?¡±


    ¡°Probably in his office.¡± Tess replied. ¡°He tends to have good timing about these sorts of things. We should be able to just pop in and see him, then we can show you about the place if you¡¯d like. Just¡­try not to stare too much, alright? We don¡¯t want people thinking you¡¯re a weirdo.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re¡­going to another dimension? Now?¡± Jacob replied, somewhat incredulous. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Not as big a deal as you¡¯re thinking, actually.¡± Ellie finished. ¡°It¡¯s more like¡­well, there¡¯s not really a good analogue here, but it¡¯s more like just heading to another city. It¡¯s a pretty normal thing for a lot of people.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but not here it¡¯s not.¡± Jacob countered. ¡°This sort of thing would rock society if it was made public.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re working on it.¡± Tess replied. ¡°We¡¯re going to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible, so we don¡¯t end up with a total collapse of order. It¡¯s gonna be a little harder here since there¡¯s not really any magic, but most of the other planes have gone through something similar at one point or another. It¡¯ll all work out, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Jacob replied dubiously. ¡°How are we going to do this? Are you going to open a portal or¡­?¡±


    ¡°We have a hidden door in the house. You just pour a bit of Mana in, and it pops up and you can go between The Outlands and Mael at will. Easy as that.¡±


    ¡°Easy as that? You¡¯re having way too much fun with this.¡± Jacob said, shaking his head slightly. Still, he was wearing a small smile, so it seemed they hadn¡¯t pushed him too far.


    ¡°Just let us know when you¡¯re ready.¡± Ellie said, reclining slightly.


    ¡°Well, I think I¡¯m as ready as I¡¯m ever going to be today.¡± Jacob said, standing up. ¡°Where¡¯s this door?¡±


    Tess stood, and she and Ellie brought him to the hall where the door was. She poured a bit of Mana into the wall, and the door bled its way into existence, much to the shock of Jacob. Tess opened the door and stepped through, finding herself in Gramps¡¯s office.


    ¡°Ah, Tess, is it safe to assume you¡¯re coming with Jacob?¡± Gramps asked, looking up from his desk.


    ¡°Yeah. We just had an¡­incident at school, and we let him in on everything. We need him to swear an Oath so he¡¯s secure, so we were hoping you could do that.¡±


    ¡°Well, you can tell me about it later.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Go on and bring him in, we¡¯ll get this taken care of.¡±


    Tess nodded, turning to the still-open doorway. ¡°Come in,¡± she called, ¡°Gramps is here, he¡¯ll have you swear that Oath now.¡±


    Jacob stepped into the room, stopping as he saw the windows and the forest beyond. ¡°Woah.¡± He said in an awe-filled tone. ¡°That¡¯s¡­woah.¡±


    ¡°Come on.¡± Ellie said, gently nudging him forward so she could get through. ¡°You¡¯ll have plenty of time to look later, Grandpa¡¯s a busy guy so we don¡¯t want to take up too much of his time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Gramps said, smiling. ¡°I thought something like this might happen, so I blocked out an hour or two.¡±


    Death: It¡¯d be real nice if Fate shared some of his insights with us too, not just Evan. We were in the dark about all of this until it happened


    Life: It¡¯s a learning experience. We should have realized that that boy was planning something and kept an eye on him. If Fate told us everything all the time, then we wouldn¡¯t be able to grow as gods, and we would be doing our Appointed a disservice.


    Fortune: Well, my guess is Fate wasn¡¯t sure this was gonna happen either. He thought it might, but he¡¯s been wrong in the past, especially if it¡¯s a matter he¡¯s not paying much attention to. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he had Evan waiting during all the assemblies or other such times in case Aaron tried it then.


    Life: My point still stands. This was not his responsibility in the first place, so he has no obligation to tell us anything. We need to take care of ourselves.


    ¡°How did you know, Mr. Los?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°It all seemed pretty sudden to me.¡±


    ¡°I have my ways.¡± Gramps said, smiling mischievously. ¡°So, any questions before we begin?¡±


    Jacob blinked. ¡°Now? Won¡¯t there need to be some sort of¡­ceremony or something, since this is magical and all?¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡± Gramps replied, standing up and walking over. ¡°Just grab my hand.¡± He said, holding out a hand.


    Jacob tentatively reached out and took the proffered hand, and the atmosphere around Gramps changed, becoming much more serious as he cleared his throat and began to talk. ¡°Jacob, I ask you in the name of the god of Fate if you will swear to tell not reveal the existence of these other planes to people who are unaware of them until the day they become public knowledge on Mael.¡±


    Jacob paused, then nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Furthermore, will you swear to tell no one about Tess and Ellie¡¯s positions as Appointed or any associated abilities unless you have been given express permission by Tess, Ellie, or one of the gods?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Gramps nodded, letting go of his hand. ¡°Then it¡¯s done.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Jacob asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Gramps confirmed. ¡°Anything else you need from me? I can talk a bit if you would like.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­I was kind of hoping that I could get a look at my stats or whatever.¡± Jacob said. ¡°How do I do that?¡±


    ¡°If you want, you can sign up for registration at the guild here. It¡¯ll provide a form of ID for you and you¡¯ll get your status scanned as part of it. You won¡¯t be under any obligation to actually do anything if you don¡¯t want, so I¡¯d highly recommend you sign up if you¡¯re planning to visit here again. Mael IDs aren¡¯t accepted anywhere yet, so it¡¯ll be hard if you end up needing one.¡±


    Jacob nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do that. Um¡­how¡­¡±


    ¡°We can show you.¡± Tess said. ¡°Give me a second¡­¡± She took a brief moment to turn on Kemonomimi (Fox). She had been using that in place of the wolf version ever since Ava had given it to her before going to the Vermillion Arc, and it would feel strange if she went out without it.


    Oddly enough, no one had commented on the difference. Not that she had really had close interaction with anyone other than Graham, her receptionist, but he seemed to have noticed and then chosen not to say anything.


    ¡°Tess?!¡± Jacob exclaimed, eyes going wide. ¡°What are those?¡±


    ¡°Did¡­we not tell you?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°She masquerades as beastkin to help make her claws seem more¡­normal. Also, because I like it a lot, but that¡¯s neither here nor there.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, it just slipped my mind.¡± Tess said sheepishly. ¡°It¡¯s sort of second nature to put them on at this point, I forget they¡¯re even there. Also feels a lot more natural to use my enhanced hearing like this, since¡­well, dunno, it just feels like human ears shouldn¡¯t hear that well. It always kinda catches me by surprise when I hear something I really shouldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Jacob frowned, then began to blush slightly. ¡°If you have enhanced hearing, mm¡­back when I visited did you, did you¡­¡±


    ¡°Hear you talking after you left the room? Yeah, sorry. I can hear most of everything that happens in the house.¡±


    Jacob groaned, putting his head in his hands. ¡°Sorry about that. I was kind of flabbergasted seeing you for the first time. Didn¡¯t know that then, but¡­well, that makes a lot more sense now. Was sorta a shock for reasons I couldn¡¯t quite place.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯d you say?¡± Ellie asked curiously.


    Tess could make out a faint blush through Jacob¡¯s hands. ¡°I said something like ¡®I swear she wasn¡¯t that hot before¡¯, which¡­well¡­yeah, makes sense now.¡±


    Ellie laughed, placing a hand on Jacob¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I had the same reaction, can¡¯t blame you at all.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I understood.¡± Tess said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Um, anyway, Gramps, is registration something we can go to a personal receptionist for or should we use the general-use lines?¡±


    Gramps frowned, tapping his chin. ¡°Better use the personal receptionist line.¡± He said after a moment of deliberation. ¡°Normally you shouldn¡¯t, but circumstances are a bit¡­extenuating, so it¡¯s probably for the best if you do. Just tell Graham that Jacob¡¯s a friend from school and he¡¯ll get the gist of things.¡±


    ¡°Alright, thanks Gramps.¡± Tess said. ¡°We should probably be on our way, then.¡±


    ¡°Very well, let me know if you all need anything!¡± Gramps said, giving them a wave.


    Tess and Ellie led Jacob out of the room and began working their way through the halls of the guild.


    ¡°Remember, try not to stare.¡± Ellie whispered. ¡°There are a lot of non-humans about, so you¡¯re going to draw attention if you act like that¡¯s unusual.¡±


    ¡°Is it bad like in books, where someone will challenge me to a fight or something?¡± Jacob whispered back. ¡°I don¡¯t think I could handle that.¡±


    ¡°No, nothing like that.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°This branch of the guild is much too orderly for something like that to happen. You just might¡­get a reputation, you know?¡±


    ¡°Hey, Tess, Ellie! You¡¯re here early, shouldn¡¯t you still have school?¡±


    Tess whirled to find Alice walking down the hallways towards them, smiling brightly. ¡°Who¡¯s this with you?¡± She asked, coming to a stop next to the group.


    ¡°Oh, Alice.¡± Tess replied, giving the older girl a quick hug as she approached. ¡°This is Jacob, he¡¯s one of my friends from school.¡±


    Alice raised an eyebrow. ¡°From school? But wouldn¡¯t that make him from Mael?¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± Jacob replied politely. ¡°Um¡­I just sort of found out about all of this now.¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you two waiting to do anything until after you graduated?¡± Alice asked. ¡°You still have a week or two left, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, there was sort of an¡­incident at school, and we decided it would be a good opportunity to kick things off. So, we decided we¡¯d let Jacob in on it too, since we figured there was no point in waiting until after school was over to give him answers.¡±


    ¡°An incident?¡± Alice asked, a worried expression on her face. ¡°Is everything alright?¡±


    ¡°Do you remember that Aaron guy I told you about? He apparently had some sort of video of the last time he confronted me, and played it in front of the whole school to try and out me. So¡­I did him one better and used my abilities to get to him and give my side of the story, then I left. The next little bit is going to be¡­interesting, but I can handle some random people thinking I¡¯m a witch or whatever.¡±


    Alice nodded hesitantly. ¡°If you¡­say so. Just remember I¡¯m open to talk about it if you need to, okay?¡±


    ¡°Of course. If things start getting bad, I¡¯ll let you know.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Alice replied, ruffling Tess¡¯s hair before turning to Jacob. ¡°My name¡¯s Alice, I¡¯m one of Tess and Ellie¡¯s teachers.¡± She said, sticking out a hand. ¡°Dryad, if you were wondering.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Um, nice to meet you, I guess.¡± Jacob replied, shaking the hand. ¡°Like Tess said, my name¡¯s Jacob, I¡¯m just a friend from school.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you as well.¡± Alice said, turning back to Tess. ¡°So, can I take this to mean that regular training is going to be on hold for the day?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I was kinda thinking we would spend a while showing him around, maybe even run him through Slime Tower once or twice if he¡¯s feeling up to it.¡± Tess replied. ¡°At the very least, right now we¡¯re going to get him registered so he has ID and we can see his stats.¡±


    Alice nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll let the others know. If you¡¯d like, I could tag along once you¡¯re done registering, we could sort of hang out and then I could take you all to dinner or something.¡±


    ¡°As long as Jacob and Ellie are fine with it, I am.¡± Tess aid.


    ¡°I¡¯m down.¡± Ellie said, giving Jacob a glance. ¡°No pressure on you, though. We¡¯ll totally understand if you don¡¯t want to spend the rest of the day with someone you just met.¡±


    Jacob shook his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I like meeting new people, and the offer of food is tempting, so I don¡¯t see why not.¡±


    Alice smiled. ¡°Perfect. I¡¯ll wait in the usual room, so come find me when you¡¯re done, alright?¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Gramps is having us go through Graham, so it shouldn¡¯t take too long.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯ll see you in a bit!¡±


    With that, Alice left, and the remaining three left for the main room, ready to get Jacob registered.


    Fighterman481


    Um...what else...actually, I don''t have much more to say, so next time we''re going to be seeing a bit more of Jacob''s introduction to things, so look forward to that!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 51: Registration

    Tess gently tugged Jacob further into the guild¡¯s main hall, trying to get her stunned friend moving again. ¡°Remember, don¡¯t stare.¡± She hissed. ¡°I know it¡¯s hard.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t stare when you first saw this too!¡± Jacob whispered back.


    ¡°People already knew we were from Mael, and it was way more crowded than this, so we were less conspicuous.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°We¡¯re trying to keep the fact that you¡¯re from Mael on the down-low, since people are going to treat you differently if they know. Someone might try and take advantage of you.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t tell me you¡¯re any different!¡± Jacob protested.


    ¡°Unfortunately, we are.¡± Tess responded, steering the group towards the line for people with personal receptionists. ¡°People aren¡¯t going to try and take advantage of us because we¡¯re related to Gramps, and they¡¯re way too scared of him to do anything.¡±


    ¡°Him?¡± Jacob said incredulously. ¡°He¡¯s the least threatening guy I know! He put relighting candles on your birthday cake that one time and nearly died laughing when you couldn¡¯t blow them out! He can¡¯t be that scary.¡±


    ¡°Well, this is a familiar conversation.¡± Graham said, taking his place behind the desk. ¡°As I told Tess, him being goofy doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s any less scary. Trust me, if you had seen him in action, you wouldn¡¯t think the same way.¡± He paused, giving Jacob a careful look. ¡°You¡¯re a new face around here, are you a friend of these two?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, from school.¡± Tess replied. ¡°We¡¯re here to get him registered, and Gramps told us to use this line.¡±


    Understanding dawned on Graham¡¯s face. ¡°I see how it is. Alright, give me a moment and I¡¯ll pull out the papers¡­¡± He reached down, groped around for a moment, and then looked up, giving them an embarrassed smile. ¡°I forgot, we don¡¯t keep registration papers at this desk. Let me go grab some.¡± He stood up and walked over to one of the other counters, where he began talking to the receptionist manning it.


    ¡°Is he a minotaur?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°Looks like one, but I don¡¯t want to assume, you know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie confirmed. ¡°Really nice guy, too. Puts up with the weirdness that Tess and I occasionally put him through without any complaint.¡±


    Graham returned to the counter, sitting down and sliding a small stack of papers and a pen to Jacob. ¡°So, this is going to work a little differently than normal.¡± He said, pulling something up on the desk¡¯s computer. ¡°Ignore any fields that have to do with where you live, other identification, and things that would immediately give you away as being from Mael. The Guildmaster will figure out something to put there that won¡¯t be too conspicuous. If you have questions about if something would give you away or any other questions, feel free to ask, alright?¡±


    Jacob nodded, and began filling out the sheet in front of him. There was a minute or so of him writing away before he looked up at Graham questioningly. ¡°So¡­couple of questions.¡± he began. ¡°First, this ¡®Special Skills¡¯ field, does that refer to general things I know how to do or is it like¡­the abilities you get from dungeons or whatever?¡±


    ¡°Proper Skills you get from dungeons.¡± Graham confirmed. ¡°Most newcomers don¡¯t have any, so we don¡¯t bother checking for them, but occasionally they do, so we have that field. There¡¯s a rare item or two that will grant Skills that our scanners won¡¯t pick up very well, so we just like to make sure.¡±


    Jacob nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll just put ¡®none¡¯, then. So, for my other question, it wants to know about prior experience and capabilities, is that like¡­work experience in general or just dungeon-y type stuff or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Work experience in general.¡± Graham confirmed. ¡°Freelancers don¡¯t just raid dungeons, they do all sorts of odd jobs, so it¡¯s important to know beforehand what they¡¯re able to do. For you specifically, you probably shouldn¡¯t name any specifics, since that¡¯ll¡­probably give things away, but go ahead and list anything you can do.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Jacob replied, getting back to work on the application. It took him a few more minutes to finish, but once he had, he slid the papers back over to Graham. ¡°Alright, now what?¡±


    ¡°Now, we go get you scanned.¡± Graham replied. ¡°Ess is going to be your scanner today, room 210. Tess and Ellie should be able to lead you there.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Yup. Thanks, Graham!¡±


    Graham gave them a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. You all have fun, alright?¡±


    ¡°Will do!¡± Ellie replied, and the group left the counter and began trekking back through the halls of the guild until they reached room 210. Tess knocked, and there was some shuffling from within the room.


    ¡°Come in.¡± A sleepy voice said. The group entered the room, and Ess, the elf woman who had first scanned Tess and Ellie, was waiting for them inside. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you two again.¡± She said. ¡°Here for your friend?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We were hoping to get him scanned, you can take care of that, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my job. Sit there, if you would.¡± She said, motioning to a chair at a table with a large glass ball similar to the one that was first used to scan Tess and Ellie. Jacob obediently sat, and Ess sat down across from him. ¡°Place your hands on the ball and we¡¯ll have this done soon.¡±


    Jacob did so, and Ess stared into the ball for a few moments before nodding and standing up. ¡°Give me a moment to grab the sheet and then we¡¯ll be done.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Jacob asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Ess confirmed. ¡°Give me a moment.¡± She exited the room, leaving the three alone.


    ¡°So¡­what are your stats, and what¡¯s normal?¡± Jacob asked.


    ¡°Um¡­well, I¡¯ve got the worst, and Ellie has the best.¡± Tess said. ¡°I guess average is¡­five for each of the normal stats and fifty for HP and stuff? I don¡¯t really have a good frame of reference for what¡¯s normal, though, so take that with a grain of salt.¡±


    ¡°So¡­they¡¯re not that important then, right? I¡¯m assuming the gods only pick people who are really good, so¡­¡±


    Ellie shook her head. ¡°No, Tess is just an exception, stats are super important. Fortune is working off of different rules than the others.¡±


    ¡°I¡­see. So, do I just¡­hope that I don¡¯t get trash, then?¡± Jacob said, somewhat apprehensively.


    ¡°Pretty much.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°It¡¯s almost completely random, to my knowledge. I mean, apparently genetics have some limited role in things, but not that much. And it¡¯s basically going to be entirely random if your parents would have had good stats or not, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    The door opened and Ess came back in. ¡°Here you are.¡± She said, handing Jacob a paper.


    Jacob read over it for a moment, then shrugged. ¡°Seems¡­average. High magic defense, but nothing else really noteworthy, I think.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely serviceable.¡± Ess said lazily. ¡°You can make a living with those stats, no problem. Anyway, you¡¯re all done, your ID will be ready in a couple of hours, so come pick it up then. If you don¡¯t, we¡¯ll send it to your address within the week. Now, hurry on out, we need to keep this room open for other registrants, and I¡¯m sure you have other plans.¡±


    ¡°We do, thank you Ess.¡± Tess said, opening the door and stepping out. She was followed Ellie and Jacob, whom she took to the room that she usually met up with Alice in.


    ¡°Yo, all done?¡± Alice said as they walked in.


    ¡°Yup.¡± Tess replied. ¡°They¡¯re making his ID now.¡±


    ¡°Good. What¡¯s the plan?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Dunno, I think we should leave it up to Jacob. What would you like to do first?¡± She asked, turning to Jacob. ¡°We can see the sights of the city, run through the beginner dungeon once or twice¡­basically whatever, really.¡±


    ¡°Um, I mean, going through a dungeon sounds like a neat experience, but I don¡¯t think any of us are exactly equipped to do that right now.¡±


    Alice snorted. ¡°Tess is always equipped to do something, and Ellie and I could run through Slime Tower with our bare hands if we wanted to. It¡¯s really not a threatening dungeon at all.¡±


    ¡°I have some hand-me-down armor and a weapon that you can use, though.¡± Tess replied, reaching into her bag and pulling out the quarterstaff and leather armor she had been given on her first day in the Outlands. ¡°I don¡¯t really use weapons and have way better armor so¡­¡±


    ¡°He has a point, though, we should probably change out of our uniforms, at least.¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°Oh, yeah, wouldn¡¯t those have kind given us away as being from the same school?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°I thought we were trying to avoid that.¡±


    ¡°Nah, you¡¯re good.¡± Alice replied. ¡°No one¡¯s ever really seen those two in their uniforms before, they¡¯re more likely to think that you¡¯re some friend they met at some noble¡¯s fancy party or something.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but why would they be at some noble¡¯s fancy party?¡± Jacob responded. ¡°It¡¯s not like they could just waltz into one, and I don¡¯t think they¡¯re exactly important enough to get an invite, no offense.¡±


    Alice smirked. ¡°Wrong there. I¡¯ve turned down at least three requests to introduce Tess to some pretty important people, and I¡¯m not even her guardian, just a teacher. I¡¯m sure the Guildmaster¡¯s gotten way more. Plus, they¡¯ve got a literal crown princess joining their party in a couple of weeks.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re messing with me, right?¡± Jacob asked, laughing nervously. ¡°There¡¯s no way that¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°Their grandfather is the de-facto ruler of the most important plane, the strongest mage alive, and, in a way, the most influential person in existence right now.¡± Alice said. ¡°In many respects, they¡¯re far more important than the crown princess of some random kingdom. As far as most people know, they may not have any direct impact on how laws change, but they¡¯re the people the Guildmaster cherishes most, and knowing them could mean having some degree of influence with him.¡±


    ¡°So¡­what makes this other princess any different, then? Why does she get to meet them when everyone else doesn¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the descendant of an old colleague of Gramps¡¯s.¡± Tess said. ¡°We met her by happenstance, and one thing led to another and¡­well, she has promise, so we¡¯re going to try things out with her for a bit, see how it goes.¡±


    ¡°I¡­see.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°I suppose that¡­makes sense. Well, let¡¯s give this thing a go, and who knows, maybe I¡¯ll like it and I can look into joining your party too?¡±


    Tess and Ellie shared a look. ¡°Um¡­we¡¯ll have to wait and see what stuff you get from running the dungeon.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Our party is¡­well, for the time being it¡¯s only open to people who are really above the average. We¡¯ll have to see if you¡¯re capable of keeping up before we can make a decision.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I know it¡¯s kind of disappointing.¡± Tess said. ¡°But, well, right now we can¡¯t afford to take on people we aren¡¯t sure will be able to keep up. We¡¯re going to be doing some dangerous stuff while working for the gods, and we don¡¯t want you to get hurt. Even if you can¡¯t, though, we¡¯re still totally down to run a few dungeons with you from time to time.¡±


    ¡°Tell you what,¡± Alice said, ¡°if the day comes that you can handily beat one of Tess¡¯s attendants in single combat, then that¡¯ll probably be indication that you¡¯re equipped to keep up with her. Call it a goal of sorts.¡±


    Jacob frowned. ¡°Attendants? What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, forgot to mention.¡± Tess said. ¡°I have a couple of¡­well, think of them like tamed and customized monsters. Um¡­here, Silky, Isabella, come introduce yourselves.¡±


    Understood! Silky said enthusiastically, scuttling out from within Tess¡¯s shirt and onto her shoulder. She gave a little salute and then an approximation of a bow while Jacob stared on.


    ¡°This is Silky.¡± Tess said, giving the spider a couple of fond pats. ¡°She¡¯s super smart and loyal, a real ball of sunshine to be around.¡± Tess could feel Silky beaming with pride, so she continued. ¡°She¡¯s even able to read and write a little, so don¡¯t go underestimating her.¡±


    ¡°¡­I suppose it is my turn.¡± Isabella droned, floating out of Tess and giving a small curtsey. ¡°I am Isabella.¡± She said, then retreated back to her usual hiding place.


    ¡°She¡¯s a little shy, but she¡¯s every bit as much a valuable member of our little crew as Silky.¡± Tess explained.


    Jacob gave Silky a calculating look. ¡°I¡­just have to beat one of them, right?¡± He asked. ¡°I could¡­probably take Silky.¡±


    In response, Silky raised her front legs and swiped them in front of her as if she was a boxer warming up for a match.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡± Ellie warned. ¡°Not yet. Silky may look like just a slightly bigger than normal spider, but she could kill you in a heartbeat. She¡¯s made from the boss of a level thirtyish dungeon, just without the whole giant-size thing that normally comes with, trying to squash her with a shoe wouldn¡¯t cut it. You¡¯re not anywhere near strong enough to think about fighting her.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Jacob replied, deflating a little. ¡°I suppose we should¡­get ready, then.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Sorry.¡± Tess said, handing him the quarterstaff and armor. ¡°This stuff is magic, it¡¯ll automatically resize itself. You can go ahead and put it on over your clothes, I need to go to a changing room since my armor is more like¡­well, regular clothes, honestly.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m just going to change into regular clothes.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be more than a couple of minutes.¡±


    Jacob nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll just¡­wait here, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Let me know if you¡¯re having issues.¡± Alice volunteered. ¡°I wear heavy armor, so I know a thing or two about getting stuff on.¡±


    Tess and Ellie left the room and began heading towards the changing room further down the hallway. ¡°Do you think we were¡­too harsh? About the party thing, that is.¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Ellie replied, frowning. ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell with this sort of thing. I don¡¯t know if there was a gentler way to say that, but I think we were pretty close to as gentle as we could get without being patronizing. Who knows, maybe he will get something crazy and we can add him to our party, but¡­¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t really like his odds, though. It would be nice, but¡­yeah.¡± They reached the changing rooms and the two girls parted momentarily, slipping into separate stalls as they changed their clothing.


    A minute or so later, Tess left the changing room. She had chosen to keep her armor in suit mode for the time being, since Alice had yet to see it, but she imagined that she¡¯d usually keep it as casual clothing; wearing a suit all the time seemed like it¡¯d draw attention and she didn¡¯t want that.


    Ellie appeared to still be changing, so Tess waited outside the door for her to finish. It probably wasn¡¯t necessary, but Tess didn¡¯t want Ellie to somehow end up waiting for her when she had already finished, so she did it just in case. Plus, Jacob was still probably getting his armor on, so it wasn¡¯t really a waste of time, either.


    After another couple of minutes, the door to Ellie¡¯s stall opened. ¡°Thanks for waiting, Tess, I¡­¡± Ellie trailed off as she stared at Tess, mouth still slightly open as her eyes roamed up and down Tess¡¯s body.


    ¡°What?¡± Tess asked, blushing. ¡°You saw me in this earlier, didn¡¯t you get this all out of your system then?¡±


    ¡°I¡­thought so, but I guess not.¡± Ellie replied sheepishly. ¡°Um¡­we should get back to the room, Jacob¡¯s probably done changing.¡±


    The two walked back to the room, where Jacob was indeed done changing.


    ¡°Woah.¡± Alice said, blinking in surprise. ¡°Where¡¯d you get that? What is that?¡±


    Tess blushed, looking away. ¡°Um, Fortune had Gramps custom-order it as something to specifically go with my Blessing. She wanted me to have a uniform of sorts so I wouldn¡¯t look scruffy while dealing with gambling places. But, um, if I do this,¡± she said, pouring a bit of Mana into it and watching as it changed to a simple shirt and pants, ¡°it changes to something better for day to day wear.¡±


    Alice raised an eyebrow, walking over and looking intently at the clothing. ¡°This is some seriously good stuff.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m no expert, but this is definitely not your ordinary set of armor, right? Mind if I ask who made it?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡±


    Fortune: It¡¯s probably fine to tell her who, it¡¯s not like we¡¯d directly be outing Kane as an Appointed, and it¡¯s fine if she harbors some suspicion, she¡¯s already under an Oath anyway. Plus, those who know would probably recognize his handiwork anyway.


    ¡°I believe his name was¡­Kane Io, I think.¡± Tess said, pretending she was trying to remember his name. Hopefully that would help give the idea that Kane was just someone Gramps had commissioned, not another Appointed.


    Alice gave a low whistle. ¡°Kane himself, eh? That musta cost the Guildmaster an arm and a leg, he doesn¡¯t do things cheap.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, it didn¡¯t¡­seem like it was costing Gramps a bunch of money.¡± Tess said. ¡°That¡¯s not the impression I got, anyway. Maybe Kane owed him a favor or something?¡±


    Alice nodded. ¡°That makes sense. Mind if I ask what exactly it does?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine. As long as Jacob is fine with hearing it and wouldn¡¯t rather just get to things straight away.¡±


    ¡°What? Um, no, that¡¯s, uh, fine.¡± Jacob said awkwardly, looking away.


    ¡°Are you sure? It can wait until later.¡± Alice offered.


    ¡°No, really, um, just getting used to the armor.¡± Jacob replied.


    Ellie slung an arm around his shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re just flustered because she looked good in that suit, aren¡¯t you?¡± She teased.


    ¡°No!¡± Jacob said quickly.


    Ellie raised an eyebrow. ¡°Really now?¡±


    Jacob sighed. ¡°Fine. Maybe a little. It¡¯s just¡­still a little weird for me, like, she was a guy before and then she just suddenly wasn¡¯t and I didn¡¯t remember and then¡­I don¡¯t know, I just had to reconcile that again.¡±


    ¡°What she¡¯s not telling you is that she was way more flustered when she first saw the suit than you are.¡± Tess said, smiling slightly.


    ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t have to tell him that!¡± Ellie protested, face turning red.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t worry about it, I get it.¡± Tess said. ¡°It was weird for all of us at first. Alice, I¡¯ll tell you about the armor later, I think it would be for the best if we got him actually doing things for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good.¡± Alice said. ¡°So, Slime Tower, then?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Fighterman481


    We''ll be seeing maybe half a chapter more of this particular bit, and then we''ll be moving on to other things, so...look forward to that, I guess.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 52: Changed Lives

    ¡°We¡¯ll be right behind you if you run into trouble, but you really shouldn¡¯t.¡± Tess said. ¡°Slimes are like¡­trivial. You could just kick it to death and there wouldn¡¯t be any issues.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Jacob replied, gripping the quarterstaff nervously. ¡°It¡¯s still nerve wracking to know that I could potentially die here.¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡± Alice replied. ¡°You¡¯re in no danger whatsoever as long as we¡¯re here, not from anything in this dungeon. If you go to other dungeons, though, that might be a possibility, but for now you really don¡¯t need to worry about it. You¡¯ll see once you actually fight a slime.¡±


    ¡°We can offer proof if you would like.¡± Ellie offered. ¡°We could take out the slimes from a distance without breaking a sweat.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°I can do this.¡± And, as if to stave off any further discussion, he opened the door to the first floor of the dungeon and strode in, leaving the others to follow him.


    Inside the first room there was, of course, a slime waiting. Jacob stopped for a moment while he stared at the slime, before walking forward and swinging the staff. It wasn¡¯t exactly a skilled swing, more raw power than any sort of finesse, and something more mobile probably would have dodged it easily, but the slime wasn¡¯t that mobile, and Jacob landed the hit.


    The slime burst into rainbow haze, and Jacob breathed a sigh of relief, slouching a bit as he turned back to the others. ¡°Is¡­that it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said, smiling. ¡°Told you it¡¯d be nothing to worry about. The only thing in this dungeon that can actually be a threat is the boss.¡± She paused, thinking for a second. ¡°And the Challenge, but that¡¯s not something you should be thinking about until later on, those can be¡­well, challenging.¡±


    ¡°Will¡­you guys be helping me with the boss?¡± Jacob asked.


    ¡°If you run into trouble.¡± Tess replied. ¡°We¡¯d probably have a hard time not one-shotting it, so it would be better if we could let you try it yourself first. We have healing magic, so don¡¯t worry if you get a few bumps and bruises from it, you¡¯ll be good as new by the time we get you home.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll¡­well, I¡¯ll take your word for it.¡± Jacob replied.


    So, they made their way through Slime Tower. Jacob was able to take care of all of the slimes fairly easily, though once they started appearing in groups of more than two, he began to occasionally take a couple of hits from them.


    And, after another ten or twenty minutes, they had made it to the top floor. It was about as crowded as Tess had remembered it, mostly people who were looking to make relatively easy money farming the boss for its drops.


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of people here.¡± Jacob whispered. ¡°Do we need to wait until whoever¡¯s in there is done, or¡­?¡±


    ¡°No, this is just the easiest boss in the city, and you can make kind of okay money with very little skill here, so a lot of newer freelancers tend to earn some starting cash by just fighting the boss a bunch for a while. And, occasionally, civilians who have need for extra money will come here in their free time.¡± Alice explained. ¡°So, this place is generally pretty crowded.¡±


    ¡°I¡­see. I guess I hadn¡¯t really¡­though about it that way.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°So, do we just go in, then?¡±


    ¡°Pretty much.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Just go ahead, we¡¯ll be right behind you, ready for if things turn sour, so just go for it.¡±


    Jacob nodded, and the group entered the boss room. The fight went smoothly, Jacob took a few hits, but after a few minutes he managed to kill it. ¡°That wasn¡¯t that bad, I guess.¡± He said, panting and sitting down on the floor. ¡°It hurt a little, but I can handle that.¡±


    ¡°You get used to it after a while.¡± Alice said. ¡°Want to grab your reward? We can take a breather in the lobby; it¡¯ll be more comfortable.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that sounds good.¡± Jacob replied, standing back up. ¡°Is it that other door?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the one.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Lead the way.¡±


    Jacob made his way to the door, with everyone else following, and they were soon in the room with the Rewards Crystal. Jacob walked up and touched it, then waited for a moment before turning back to Tess and Ellie. ¡°Did it work?¡±


    ¡°It¡­should have.¡± Tess said, frowning. ¡°Did you not get a window explaining what you got to you?¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t have one of the nice bands.¡± Alice said. ¡°He¡¯ll have to get scanned when he gets back to the guild.¡±


    ¡°Oh. That¡¯s¡­a little disappointing, I guess.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°I don¡¯t really feel different, I¡¯m¡­not sure what I expected.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you usually don¡¯t.¡± Alice confirmed. ¡°And portable Skill scanners aren¡¯t that expensive, you could probably get one by the time you fully clear Slime Tower if you make sure to pick up all your drops.¡±


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll save up, then.¡± He said.


    ¡°Nah, I can get you one.¡± Tess told him. ¡°I make a fair bit of money and have nothing to spend it on. My gear¡¯s about as good as I can get, and I don¡¯t need weapon upgrades, so¡­yeah.¡±


    ¡°You sure about that? I¡¯m not sure of the value of this money, but it¡¯s gotta be worth a fair amount, right?¡± Jacob asked.


    ¡°I probably made at least a fourth of the cost just taking you through here.¡± Tess said. ¡°I get the maximum amount of money dropped even if I don¡¯t participate in the kill, I just have to be in the party and present at the kill.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Jacob said. ¡°I¡­didn¡¯t realize.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a little nuts.¡± Tess replied. ¡°But we can discuss that later. What do you want to do now? Do you want to go again, or would you rather grab some food?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s eat.¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯m hungry and more than a little curious as to what kind of food people eat here.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good.¡± Alice said. ¡°I know just the place.¡±


    And with that, the group left the dungeon, off to eat and see what else the day might have in store for them.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this, Maven.¡± Maven¡¯s mother said, giving her a pleading look.


    Maven wasn¡¯t falling for that act. She could see in her mother¡¯s eyes that she had already accepted that Maven wasn¡¯t going to be dissuaded. ¡°I do, Mother.¡± She replied curtly. ¡°You and I both know that I have potential, and I¡¯m not going to squander it by just boosting my way up to a high level.¡±


    ¡°Boosting is not squandering potential.¡± Her father said indignantly. ¡°It¡¯s a time-honored way of getting your strength up, much like any other form of training. If anything, it gets you to the point where you can actually begin doing the interesting things faster.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and have no basic competencies that you should have at that level.¡± Maven countered. ¡°I¡¯ve met people half your level who would be able to beat you with one hand.¡±


    ¡°That is no way to talk to your father.¡± Her mother said sternly. ¡°And I very much doubt that you¡¯ve met anyone meeting that description.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be in a party with her.¡± Maven replied defiantly. ¡°You may not believe me, but you didn¡¯t see what I saw. She was easily able to clear that dungeon, and I know she was holding back, I could feel it.¡±


    ¡°You may feel that way,¡± her mother replied, ¡°but you don¡¯t have the proper experience to know what someone is capable of. I think you were just overestimating her because she¡¯s related to the Guildmaster.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough, Abarrane.¡± Amara said, stepping out of the hoverer that was waiting behind them. ¡°We¡¯ve already had this discussion multiple times. Dragging it out further would be¡­less than productive.¡± She said, giving Maven¡¯s mother a meaningful look. ¡°It would be best if we didn¡¯t delay things further.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Maven¡¯s mother, Abarrane, trailed off as she looked into Amara¡¯s eyes. ¡°Yes, Grandmother.¡± She said, looking away.


    Amara looked back to Maven¡¯s father. ¡°I trust you have no other objections, Saburo?¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t queen anymore, Amara.¡± Saburo said. ¡°Do not talk to my wife that way.¡±


    Amara¡¯s gaze hardened, a sort of threatening aura surrounding her as she looked at Maven¡¯s father. ¡°I may not be queen, but I¡¯m still her ancestor, and as such the duty of making sure she behaves falls, in part, to me. I¡¯ve done it for every queen before her, and I will continue to do so until the day this family no longer holds the throne. If you have an issue with that, might I remind you of the several revolts I¡¯ve prevented by doing this exact thing?¡±


    ¡°Preventing tyranny and interfering with parents raising their children is entirely different!¡± Saburo protested, though his tone was notably shakier than it had been moments ago. ¡°You¡¯re overstepping your bounds.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough, dear.¡± Abarrane said, placing a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Grandmother is right, we need to let them go.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why!¡± Saburo retorted. ¡°It¡¯s not like it¡¯s going to matter if they¡¯re a few minutes late!¡±


    ¡°I said we need to let them go.¡± Abarrane said firmly. ¡°Do not push this subject further. I can explain more after they are gone.¡±


    Saburo stared at Amara and Maven for a moment longer before giving a sigh. ¡°Fine. Be safe out there, Maven.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Father.¡± Maven replied obediently.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to write, either.¡± Abarrane added. ¡°And if it becomes too much at any time, remember that we will always welcome you back here.¡±


    ¡°I will keep that in mind.¡± Maven said, stepping into the hoverer.


    A moment later, Amara stepped in after her and closed the door, before walking up to the control console and setting the hoverer on its way. When she was finished, she came and sat next to Maven. ¡°Before we can truly begin this journey, it is time that you learn our family¡¯s secret.¡± She said, gently grabbing Amara¡¯s hand. ¡°This is something that every queen learns at some point, and now is the time for you. Are you ready?¡±


    Maven gulped, staring intently at her grandmother, ¡°Y-yes, I think.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Amara said. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you may have been wondering why I, of all people, have remained so close to the throne for all this time, were you not?¡±


    Maven nodded. ¡°Kind of, yeah. All of the other queens have sort of¡­stayed retired, so I always thought it was a bit odd that you didn¡¯t, but I figured there was some sort of reason for it.¡±


    ¡°There is. I¡¯m not just your everyday former queen.¡± Amara said, smiling. ¡°My main job is as Subterfuge¡¯s Appointed.¡±


    There was a silence as Maven processed that information. ¡°So¡­¡± she finally began, ¡°you¡¯ve been pulling the strings of all of us in the background this whole time?¡±


    Amara laughed. ¡°Goodness, no. The whole ¡®ruling a country¡¯ thing is way too much trouble when it¡¯s in addition to my duties as Appointed. Plus, if I did want that sort of power, I would have much easier ways of getting it. No, I¡¯m content just making sure my family doesn¡¯t get themselves killed by angry mobs of citizens.¡±


    ¡°So¡­why tell me this now?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Surely this would be better saved until I actually take the throne, right?¡±


    ¡°Normally, yes. But circumstances are¡­unique here. What I am about to tell you cannot be told to another soul. As such, when we get to the city, we will be having you swear a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath to prevent you from leaking it. Is this acceptable?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Maven paused, considering that. A Fatebinder¡¯s Oath was a big responsibility, and she didn¡¯t like the idea of having restrictions on what she could and couldn¡¯t do. ¡°Is there any way to¡­back out once I hear the information if I decide it¡¯s too much?¡±


    Amara nodded. ¡°I can wipe your memory of this whole conversation, and we can take you back to the castle like nothing happened.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Maven said. ¡°Then let me hear it.¡±


    ¡°As you may have surmised, it pertains to Tess and Ellie. And, as you¡¯re about to be joining their party, having you out of the loop would be frustrating for everyone involved. To get to the point, Tess is Fortune¡¯s Appointed, and Ellie is the Appointed of Life and Death. They¡¯re still in training, but they¡¯re already starting to take on some of their duties.


    ¡°You won¡¯t have to participate in those duties if you don¡¯t wish to, but you will be expected to keep any secrets related to their status as Appointed and the abilities they have as a result of it.¡± She paused, giving Maven a careful look. ¡°What are your thoughts right now?¡±


    ¡°I¡­well, I wasn¡¯t expecting that.¡± Maven said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. I¡­I mouthed off to Tess when I first met her, that¡¯s¡­scary in retrospect. Scarier than it already was.¡±


    Amara laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it too much, they¡¯re really nice kids. As long as you treat them well, they¡¯re not going to hold it against you. And don¡¯t stand on ceremony around them either, they were raised as entirely ordinary, unimportant people, so you can just¡­be yourself.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­actually really good to hear.¡± Maven replied. ¡°I wasn¡¯t quite sure how to address Tess when I met her.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just don¡¯t overthink it and you¡¯ll be fine. So, do you think you can handle keeping the secret?¡±


    Maven hesitated, then nodded. ¡°Yeah. It shouldn¡¯t be¡­too big a deal.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. Now, we need to discuss your lodgings and how your days are going to look. I managed to convince your parents to let you go without an escort, so you¡¯ll be living on your own.¡±


    Maven perked up. ¡°Really? How¡¯d you do that?¡±


    ¡°I made sure your mother knew that the Guildmaster probably wouldn¡¯t be happy if his grandkid¡¯s secrets got leaked to some random bodyguard.¡± Amara replied, smirking. ¡°And I had to assure her that you¡¯d be well taken care of, that your new teachers would be far more competent at actually protecting you in a dangerous situation than whatever random person they¡¯d hired.¡±


    ¡°Got that right.¡± Maven huffed. ¡°Most of the time it was just one of the higher-leveled servants. They tried their best, but only a couple of them seemed like they actually earned the levels themselves and didn¡¯t boost.¡±


    Amara smiled faintly as she continued. ¡°I¡¯ll show you some good shops in the area, and how best to get your necessities. Do you know how to cook?¡±


    ¡°I know enough. I got curious and made some of the kitchen staff show me when I was a kid, and I¡¯ve done it from time to time. I should be able to make enough to eat.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll show you a few dishes anyway, just in case. I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ll take lunch with Tess and Ellie most days, so you should really only need breakfast and dinner.¡±


    And so, the rest of their trip was spent conversing on this and similar subjects, and soon, Maven found herself stepping out of the hoverer and into her new life, one that would hopefully last for as long as possible.


    Fighterman481


    Anyway, it''s vaguely interesting writing out things for people like Jacob who don''t have all the...conveniences (read: expensive stuff) that Tess and Ellie have, the ones that sort of get taken for granted like...seeing exactly what you got from a Rewards Crystal or being able to pull up your status at will.


    But that''s really all I have to say, so next time we''re going to...well, finish off this day that''s dragged on for far too long, and probably start looking towards speeding up time until about Tess and Ellie''s graduation. So...look forward to it, I suppose.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 53: A Chance Meeting

    Tess smiled as the waiter brought their food. She had come to find that, though many of the ingredients differed from what she was used to, most of the time restaurant food was remarkably similar to what was on Mael. There were a few common plants, and farm animals, but there were also a bunch of other new things to try as well.


    But the menus still tended to end up with various assortments of salads, sandwiches, soups, and¡­well, if you could find it back on Mael, you could probably find an analogue somewhere in the Outlands.


    So it was that she had ordered a sandwich with a few things she hadn¡¯t tried yet on it. The waiter placed their food and retreated, and Tess began to eat.


    ¡°Is that¡­Tess?!¡± Tess turned to find that Maven and Amara were passing by, presumably being led to a table by the waitress that was standing next to them.


    ¡°Maven? When¡¯d you come to the city? I mean, I just¡­didn¡¯t realize you were here already, I guess. I sorta thought you¡¯d come here when we officially started working together.¡±


    Amara smiled. ¡°I was bringing her here to get her settled into living on her own for a bit before she really got into things.¡±


    Alice gave the waitress who was waiting near the two an understanding look. ¡°Why don¡¯t we have those two sit with us?¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯ll cover their meal, so don¡¯t worry about that.¡±


    The waitress gave her a relieved look and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll fetch a couple of menus.¡± She said, and scurried off towards the back of the restaurant.


    Maven grabbed one of the empty chairs at the table and sat down across from Tess. ¡°Thank you, Lady Reshi. That¡¯s very generous of you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Alice said, waving a hand. ¡°Have you two met Ellie before?¡±


    ¡°I met Ellie earlier today, actually.¡± Amara replied. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve had the pleasure of meeting this young man before.¡± She gave Jacob a nod. ¡°I¡¯m Amara Sarlienne, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­Jacob Ernest.¡± Jacob said. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m Maven Sarlienne, her lots-of-greats granddaughter.¡± Maven said, standing up and giving a small curtsey. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet both of you.¡±


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m Ellie Los, though I¡¯m guessing you knew that already.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Nice to meet you as well.¡±


    Maven nodded. ¡°If you would forgive my asking, what are you all doing here? I thought you still had school for a couple of weeks?¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, there was a bit of an¡­incident, and today we ended up leaving early. Jacob¡¯s a friend from school, and we began to introduce him to¡­well, everything after.¡±


    An understanding look filled Maven¡¯s face. ¡°I see.¡± She said, turning to Jacob. ¡°How are you holding up, then? This must be quite overwhelming for you.¡±


    ¡°Um, fine, I guess?¡± Jacob replied. ¡°I¡¯m probably gonna need more time to really¡­process everything later, but for now everything¡¯s good. But¡­um, ¡®Lady¡¯ Reshi? Is Alice some sort of noble or something?¡±


    Alice chuckled. ¡°Nothing of the sort. I just happen to own a decently large business, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°Decently large is¡­one way of putting it.¡± Amara said, smirking. ¡°But, yes, the whole ¡®lady¡¯ thing is just a way of being respectful, nothing more.¡±


    ¡°And, speaking of that, please just call me Alice.¡± Alice said. ¡°Same with the rest of my party. We¡¯re going to be working together in the future, so it¡¯s going to get frustrating if we¡¯re all standing on ceremony all the time. So, really, just don¡¯t worry about it, we¡¯re not going to care.¡±


    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll do that, then.¡± Maven said. ¡°Might I ask what your plan for the rest of the day is?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°We¡¯re playing it by ear. We were just showing Jacob around the Outlands, and we came to get food after dungeon raiding. We don¡¯t really have a plan for what¡¯s next at the moment. All depends on how Jacob¡¯s feeling, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­I think I¡¯m ready to go home.¡± Jacob said. ¡°I¡¯m going to need to shower, and I still have some homework to do, so I can¡¯t be out all night. Plus, my parents are probably gonna get worried if I¡¯m gone for too long, since I only said I was gonna be hanging out with you guys for a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Understandable.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°We¡¯ll take you home after we finish eating, then. If you want to come back here, just let us know and we¡¯ll bring you back.¡±


    Death: Let him know we¡¯re working on a way for other people to go to and from the Outlands without having to go through you, but it¡¯ll probably have to wait until after school¡¯s over


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Death¡¯s saying they¡¯re working on a way to let other people go here without having to come to us each time, but that it¡¯s not going to be ready until after we finish school.¡±


    Death: Thanks. We¡¯re still hashing out the details with Evan, since he¡¯s gonna be the one physically setting it up. We¡¯ll let you know when it¡¯s done.


    Jacob blinked. ¡°You¡­just talked with Death? Like¡­right now?¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Yeah, Life, Death, and Fortune are generally paying at least a little attention to Tess and I, so it¡¯s not uncommon for them to chime in when they feel it¡¯s important. Especially with things like this that pertain to relations between Mael and the rest of the planes.¡±


    ¡°I¡­suppose that makes sense.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°It just feels¡­I dunno, like a bit of a monumental thing to just¡­drop in casual conversation. Revelations from the gods are kinda a big deal, you know?¡±


    Alice chuckled. ¡°Yeah, it really shocked me, too.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯ve sorta become numb to it at this point, but even so, it still catches me a little off-guard every time they say something like that.¡±


    ¡°Me as well.¡± Maven said. ¡°I can assure you that this is not a normal thing here, either.¡±


    ¡°Actually, come to think of it, aren¡¯t Life and Death already supposed to have a mouthpiece in the Archpriest?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°Does that mean¡­¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ellie said quickly. ¡°It doesn¡¯t make him any less legitimate. Think of it like¡­he¡¯s in charge of all the religious aspects like spreading the teachings and all the bureaucracy stuff that comes with running a church. Appointed are like¡­well, we¡¯re like the direct¡­tools of the gods. And their direct mouthpieces too, that function was just relegated to the Archpriest since Life and Death didn¡¯t have an Appointed yet.


    ¡°The idea is that, when it comes to things that the gods want communicated to everyone, they give the message to their Appointed, who passes it on to the leader of their religion, so they can focus on that work. When it¡¯s something that needs to be done in secret, or if it¡¯s something that the regular people just don¡¯t need to be involved in, or even just small things that don¡¯t merit a big fuss, we Appointed take care of it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re also sort of¡­inquisitors, I guess is the right word.¡± Tess added. ¡°We make sure that nobody tries to use the religion maliciously. Just to give the people an additional guarantee that nothing that¡¯s being taught has been corrupted in any way, you know?¡±


    ¡°I guess that makes sense.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°It¡¯s still just¡­odd that it¡¯s you two. Doesn¡¯t feel¡­real.¡±


    Maven nodded. ¡°I know how you feel.¡± She said. ¡°The identities of Appointed aren¡¯t really public knowledge, and so they all kinda felt¡­way above everyone else. You always hear these crazy stories about what they can do and¡­well, now you find out they¡¯re just sort of¡­people too.¡±


    Ellie smiled. ¡°To tell you the truth, it kinda feels the same to me, like the other Appointed are all these really important, strong, larger than life people, and we¡¯re just¡­two people who have barely finished figuring out what we¡¯re doing.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, that¡¯s reassuring.¡± Jacob said. ¡°It¡¯s good to know that I¡¯m not the only one that feels a little¡­out of my depth, you know?¡±


    ¡°Right?!¡± Maven said. ¡°I was starting to feel a little out of place myself, so I guess it¡¯s nice to know that they can be nervous about stuff too.¡±


    And from there the conversation turned to other things. Jacob and Maven seemed to get along surprisingly well once Jacob got past the whole ¡®princess¡¯ thing, and they spent an enjoyable hour or so just talking.


    When they were done, Tess, Ellie, and Jacob said their goodbyes and made their way back to the guild, where Tess and Jacob changed back into their normal clothes. They took a moment to look at what Jacob had received from the dungeon, and found it was nothing particularly special, so Tess and Ellie took Jacob back through the door that led back to Mael and walked with him to his car.


    ¡°Well, um, thanks.¡± Jacob said awkwardly. ¡°I¡­well, I dunno. I wasn¡¯t expecting something like this when I woke up this morning, but I¡¯m glad you¡¯re willing to trust me with your secret. I¡¯ll, um¡­talk to you on Monday, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°We¡¯ll talk to you then. If you have any questions or anything though, feel free to give us a call, we¡¯ll be more than happy to talk.¡±


    Jacob nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll do that.¡± He said. ¡°Though I might just hold off until Monday when we can talk in-person. I want some time to just¡­think about things, you know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we get it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°No rush or anything, just do things at your own pace. We¡¯ll be ready when you¡¯re ready, so just take your time.¡±


    ¡°I will, thanks.¡± Jacob replied, getting into his car. After a moment, the car started, and he pulled out of the driveway, leaving Tess and Ellie alone.


    ¡°He took that¡­pretty well, I¡¯d say.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Think he¡¯ll warm up to the idea of coming to the Outlands more or¡­?¡±


    ¡°I think he will.¡± Tess said. ¡°Just give him some time to warm up to things and I¡¯m sure he¡¯s going to be itching to come back.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡± Ellie said. There was silence for a moment, then Ellie spoke up. ¡°Wanna go play some games? I¡¯ve finished all my homework, so I¡¯m free for the rest of the night.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I¡¯ve finished mine too.¡±


    ¡°Perfect.¡± Ellie said, leaning in and giving Tess a quick kiss. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    School the following Monday was¡­awkward, to say the least. Most everyone, even the teachers, gave Tess a wide berth. Classes were sort of stilted, with the teachers and students often stealing glances at Tess and losing their train of thought before trying to pretend they hadn¡¯t looked and going back to whatever they were doing. And, when she did interact with people, it felt like they were walking on eggshells, trying their best not to make her upset.


    Even at lunch, where there was normally a lot of competition for places to sit, Tess and Ellie didn¡¯t have any trouble finding one. In fact, there was a circle of empty tables around them, where no one seemed to be willing to sit. Jacob didn¡¯t have lunch at this time either, so it ended up being just Tess and Ellie eating alone.


    ¡°Probably shoulda seen this coming.¡± Tess muttered. ¡°Still feels weird that everyone¡¯s¡­well, afraid of me. Even the teachers, like¡­I dunno, I know I made a big show of things but still, surely some people weren¡¯t there, and rumor can¡¯t have spread this fast, right? Were we in the news or something?¡±


    ¡°I checked, but no.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It seems like the news outlets didn¡¯t believe it or something. Though, given how flashy you were, I¡¯m surprised they didn¡¯t report something. I mean, the door you to the broadcast room is kinda verifiably shredded.¡±


    Life: That¡¯s thanks to Evan. He¡¯s been making sure people aren¡¯t reporting on it until you finish school. We¡¯re going to give it some time to stew in people¡¯s minds, and then, once you¡¯ll be available more, we¡¯re going to let people speculate as much as they want. We want you to be able to be responsive when the time comes.


    Death: For what it¡¯s worth, though, it¡¯s basically all anyone here has been talking about when you¡¯re not around. I¡¯d be more surprised if there was someone here who didn¡¯t know. It¡¯s less rumor now and more¡­uh, accepted fact? Dunno if there¡¯s a word for something between fact and rumor but you get the gist


    Ellie: Oh, well that explains that, good to know, thanks


    Tess: Actually, should I be worried about getting in trouble for defacing the school? I wasn¡¯t thinking about that when I broke the door


    Fortune: Nah, you¡¯re good. You completely repaired it, so it¡¯s not like anyone can verify anything. School might try and get you for it, but I doubt it. And that video of your claws? We blurred it, so it¡¯s gonna look like it¡¯s been taken with a thirty year old video camera, no one¡¯s gonna believe it thanks to the quality of it


    Ellie: Wait, does that mean that some of those paranormal videos are actually real and you¡¯ve just messed with the quality?


    Death: Some of them, yeah. Ghost hunters and whatever have learned to accept it by now, but the general populace hasn¡¯t, and that¡¯s what matters


    Life: Not all of them are real, though. And we don¡¯t degrade the quality of all videos taken, just a bunch of them. We try and mix it up, so people don¡¯t catch on.


    Fortune: I am so ready for videos of you two to be in clickbait videos titled things like ¡°Top Seven Unexplained Videos That STILL Haven¡¯t Been Explained¡±, it¡¯s gonna be hilarious.


    Death: Number three WILL shock you!!!


    Tess chuckled, turning her attention away from the conversation and beginning to eat her lunch. She couldn¡¯t help but wonder what the people around her would think if they knew about the conversation she was having. Especially people like that one girl who had accused her of going against Life¡¯s teachings.


    Not that their opinions really mattered. At the end of the day, she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was doing the right thing, so the opinions of people who didn¡¯t know the full story didn¡¯t carry any weight to her.


    Or so she told herself. It still was a little sad to be shunned by her classmates, but it was something she could deal with. It was only going to be for two more weeks, and she had more than enough friends in the Outlands, so she just reminded herself that something like this wasn¡¯t going to seriously impact her life.


    The rest of the day passed in much the same manner, and soon Tess and Ellie were heading back to the Outlands. When they arrived, they found that the door led them outside of Gramps¡¯s office, something that usually meant he was in a meeting.


    Furthermore, everything was¡­livelier than normal. More people were moving about in the hallways, and the quiet buzz of conversation that was always audible in the guild was much louder than usual.


    ¡°Do you think something¡¯s going on?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Probably.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find out before we start¡­doing whatever we¡¯re doing today.¡±


    The two hurried to their usual meeting place, where Ava and The Rumors were waiting.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Everyone seems¡­worked up by something.¡±


    ¡°Evan¡¯s announced an expedition.¡± Ava explained. ¡°They¡¯re basically big events organized by the guild where people go and explore the Outlands. And between that and the rank system changes, people are getting all excited.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, that.¡± Tess said. ¡°When does it start?¡±


    ¡°A month and a half.¡± Alice replied. ¡°So¡­do you two want to go?¡±


    ¡°How long do they last?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Usually a few months.¡± Ava said. ¡°Though you two will have ways to go back and forth to deal with Appointed business, so you don¡¯t need to feel like you¡¯re being tied down or anything.¡±


    ¡°Sound fun, then.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I¡¯m fine with it if Tess is.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m down.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Though we¡¯ll probably have to double check with Maven.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s fine with it.¡± Ava said. ¡°I checked with Amara, since I thought you two would be wondering.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. How do we sign on, then?¡± Ellie asked.


    Jin stood up. ¡°We go to the receptionists and do some paperwork.¡± He said. ¡°We¡¯ve yet to do ours, since we were waiting on you two deciding things, so why don¡¯t we go do that now?¡±


    Tess nodded, and the group left for the main room. It was extremely crowded, even the line for personal receptionists having five or so groups waiting. So, they got in line, and began to wait.


    Fighterman481


    I think it might have been clickbait ''unexplained'' videos? How many of you have watched those? I have a fondness for horror-type content so I''ve watched a few, but mostly they''re all just...entirely too unbelievable, to a point where it''s almost hilarious.


    Still, it can be fun if you suspend your disbelief.


    Ummm, can''t think of anything else, so...I guess next time we''ll be getting into the expedition prep and explanation, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 54: Market Street

    Tess handed in her paperwork, giving Graham a small nod as she did.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± He said, smiling in return. ¡°I¡¯ll get this all filed away for you.¡±


    ¡°Sorry for eating up some of your time.¡± Tess said. ¡°I know you¡¯re probably pretty busy today.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all good.¡± Graham said, giving a wink. ¡°It just means I don¡¯t have to deal with the general lines for a little bit and no one can complain about it. Definitely worth it.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Tess said. ¡°See you around!¡±


    ¡°¡®Till next time!¡± He replied, waving as the group left.


    ¡°So¡­now what?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Now we just wait.¡± Jin replied. ¡°And we show up on the day of the expedition. We¡¯re expected to pack at least some provisions for ourselves, but if you¡¯re with the main column of the guild you¡¯ll at least be given basic food and shelter. Depending on how things go, however, it¡¯s not uncommon to have smaller groups break from the main one to check out interesting landmarks.¡±


    ¡°What kind of things should we pack, then?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I¡¯m assuming food and water, do we need a tent or¡­?¡±


    ¡°I was assuming you¡¯d bunk with us in the hoverer. It¡¯s safer and more comfortable than your standard tent.¡± Alice said. ¡°But it can¡¯t hurt to have stuff for camping in your bags, you never know what¡¯s going to happen out there.¡±


    ¡°Oh no.¡± Ellie said, making a face. ¡°Not her again.¡±


    Tess frowned, looking to where Ellie was looking. Sure enough, Ilmir was walking over to the group, Eyfura trailing her at a distance. There was an odd air of apprehension around the two of them as they approached, as if they were gearing up for some sort of confrontation.


    A few tense moments later, she had arrived. ¡°What do you want, Ilmir?¡± Ellie growled. ¡°I thought I was abundantly clear about how I felt the last time we talked.¡±


    ¡°I-I know.¡± Ilmir squeaked, looking down. ¡°I¡¯m not going to ask to be let back in or anything. I burned that bridge, I understand. I just¡­I need to apologize.¡± She said, stealing a glance at Tess. ¡°I¡¯m¡­well, I did a lot of horrible things, I¡¯m starting to realize that. I don¡¯t really think I¡¯m¡­ready to be in a party, not for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make this about you.¡± Ellie snapped. ¡°This was never about your readiness or not, this is entirely about the way you treated Tess, and the way you tried to pull us apart. If you¡¯re going to apologize, do it properly, look Tess in the eyes, be specific, and don¡¯t try to turn this around to trying to make us feel bad for you. Even if you¡¯re not ready to be in a party, that doesn¡¯t excuse treating Tess like dirt.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t trying to do that!¡± Ilmir replied, shrinking away. ¡°I was getting to the specifics, I swear.¡± She fidgeted for a moment before looking up at Tess, locking eyes with her. ¡°I¡­I shouldn¡¯t have said you don¡¯t deserve what you have, and I shouldn¡¯t have tried to break up your party. I really shouldn¡¯t have said what I did about you and your grandfather, and I just¡­sorry.¡±


    Tess thought for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not going to just say it¡¯s fine.¡± She said finally. ¡°You caused both Ellie and I a lot of stress, and I don¡¯t know if I can just¡­accept an apology like that. I mean, I can, but¡­¡± She trailed off, struggling to find the right words. ¡°But it also doesn¡¯t feel¡­right. I can¡¯t just say we¡¯re at a clean slate right now, not when everything is so fresh. This is a start, but it¡¯s just¡­not enough.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Ilmir said. ¡°I get it. I wouldn¡¯t accept it either. If you want, I¡¯m willing to do whatever it takes to make up for it, but I¡¯m guessing that you probably would rather just not deal with me, so I¡¯m going to leave you alone. If you ever need anything, though, I¡¯m ready to help.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right, I would rather just not deal with you, but before that happens, I want one thing, unrelated to this whole apology business.¡±


    Ilmir nodded slowly. ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can. What can I help with?¡±


    ¡°I want a rematch.¡± Tess said. ¡°No Descent, none of anything like that. Now that I know what you¡¯re capable of, I want to fight again after I graduate from school.¡±


    Ilmir blinked in surprise. ¡°I¡­that¡¯s fine.¡± She said. ¡°Just let Grandma know when and I can be there. Um¡­I¡¯m going to let her talk to you now, and I¡¯m going to go. Goodbye.¡± She hurriedly ducked away, leaving Eyfura to step up and take her place.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­well, I¡¯m sorry too.¡± She said. ¡°I let things get way out of hand. I was really just¡­hoping things would work out, but I¡­didn¡¯t put in the effort to make that happen. Um¡­I¡¯ve started taking her to a counselor, and, um,¡± she blushed as she continued, ¡°I¡¯m taking teaching lessons myself. I realized just how bad of a job I did and¡­yeah.¡±


    Ava smiled, patting Eyfura¡¯s arm gently. ¡°Not everyone¡¯s good at everything the first try, there¡¯s no shame in admitting to your mistakes and trying to improve.¡±


    ¡°I¡­yeah.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning to come and talk to you all for a bit, but Ilmir insisted on apologizing and I figured that was fine for now.¡± She shook her head. ¡°I won¡¯t drag things out any more than this, though. I¡¯ll just¡­see you all around, I guess.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you around, Auntie.¡± Tess said, giving her a quick hug.


    Eyfura smiled weakly. ¡°Now that you¡¯re in the habit, Aunt Eyfura works fine.¡± She said. ¡°Perhaps when we¡¯re seeing each other more again we can go back to it, but for now, it¡¯s¡­it¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Tess asked, a note of concern entering her voice. ¡°I really don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡­I think so.¡± Eyfura replied., ruffling Tess¡¯s hair. ¡°I really do need to get going, though. Sorry for taking time out of your day.¡± She extracted herself from the hug and made a hasty exit, leaving the group alone once again.


    There was a short silence before Tess spoke up. ¡°Ellie, did you have a conversation with Ilmir where you talked to her about how you felt?¡± She asked. ¡°She left pretty shortly after everything went down, so I¡¯m just¡­wondering when that happened.¡±


    ¡°She bumped into me right after you all had your¡­talk.¡± Ellie explained, a sour look on her face. ¡°She wanted to know if what you said was true and I didn¡¯t like her. I said that, if I was being completely honest, I would greatly prefer it if she just wasn¡¯t around. I told her the only reason I tolerated her was because Eyfura was helping you learn how to use your claws, and if it wasn¡¯t for that I would have asked if we could go back to it just being the two of us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­guessing she didn¡¯t take that well?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think she did.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I mean, she didn¡¯t really stick around, but I can tell that it really bothered her. I felt a little bad, but¡­well, she¡¯s said a lot worse to us. I¡¯d had enough of being tactful.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I get that.¡± Tess replied. ¡°But¡­that¡¯s enough about that for now. I was kinda hoping that we could all go shopping, maybe learn about what sorts of things we wanna buy for extended trips out like this.¡±


    ¡°Seems like a good idea.¡± Alice said. ¡°What do you think, Jin?¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Jin replied. ¡°It can¡¯t hurt to start teaching them how to prepare for wilderness excursions.¡±


    ¡°Shall we go to the market, then?¡± Ava said. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s going to be crowded, but we can use the waiting time to explain things a bit more, so it shouldn¡¯t be that big a deal.¡±


    The Rumors shared a glance. ¡°Actually, for basic supplies, if we¡¯re not in a hurry we usually just buy from Alice¡¯s company.¡± Ker said. ¡°We basically just put in a list of things we want and then submit it as an order. Full price, of course, we try not to abuse things like that, it¡¯s just a way of avoiding haggling and lines.¡±


    ¡°Can we go to the market anyway?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Like, not to get normal stuff, I was wanting to get a couple more¡­exotic cores. Nothing high level or anything, still just stuff around my level, I¡¯m thinking about tweaking Silky and Isabella¡¯s abilities, maybe fill out a couple of gaps in mine.¡±


    Ava nodded. ¡°Can¡¯t hurt. We can discuss what you all need to get on the way.¡±


    With that the group gathered up and began to move through the crowd. Soon, they were out of the building and into the streets, which, while less crowded than the guild itself, were still rather clogged.


    ¡°So, food and water are obvious.¡± Ava said. ¡°The bags you two have will help preserve food, but it¡¯s not perfect, so things that don¡¯t perish easily are preferable. And you want huge drums of water if possible, bulk storage. There are some spells to purify water, Tess should know them, so unless you¡¯re going to the desert or something then you should be more worried about storage than anything.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you two some good ones.¡± Alice said. ¡°You want sturdiness, since you¡¯re going to use them a lot, and it¡¯ll generally be in harsh environments.¡±


    ¡°How are we gonna refill big drums like that?¡± Tess asked. ¡°It seems a little¡­unwieldy.¡±


    ¡°Just take it out of your bag while you¡¯re on the shore of a river or other body of water.¡± Jin said. ¡°The nicer ones have tops that can be removed relatively easily, so all you have to do is place it down and remove the top. Then you just seal it up, put it back in your bag, move it somewhere safe, and purify it.¡±


    ¡°What happens to the water on the outside of the barrel when you put it in?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Does it end up going in the bag too?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Alice replied. ¡°The openings of the bags naturally repel liquid. If it¡¯s in a sealed container, then the repulsion isn¡¯t strong enough to cause it to break the container, so it goes in, but otherwise it just slides off.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying I could use the bags as a quick way to dry clothes, right?¡± Ellie said. ¡°That seems handy.¡±


    Ker chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s a little more effective than wringing out the clothes yourself, but it¡¯s not worth it, I¡¯m afraid. Believe me, I¡¯ve tried it before. Any spare drops of water that do get in the bag have to be emptied by like¡­turning the bag upside-down and trying to reach in for water and it¡¯s just a mess.¡±


    ¡°So¡­for food, I¡¯m just guessing canned food and stuff, right?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Pretty much.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Canned food, dry pasta, honey, rice, basically anything with a long shelf life will do you good. If you¡¯re only planning on being out for a short period of time, like a month, you can take things like non-canned vegetables and even things you¡¯d have to refrigerate normally, those should last you that long. But you should always have long-term food in your bags just in case.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense. So, aside from that, what else?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a bunch of stuff.¡± Alice said. ¡°Rope is a good one, you can¡¯t go wrong with having a few coils of rope around, you never know when that¡¯s going to come in handy. We also like to use this sort of¡­magical rope launcher things for stuff like rappelling, basically just shoots out a beam of force that attaches onto a surface so you can climb easy.¡±


    ¡°Always have something that will let you make fire.¡± Jin added. ¡°Matches are good, lighters can also be good, and you want to keep at least one everlasting torch around.¡±


    ¡°Everlasting torch?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Is that like¡­an always burning torch?¡±


    ¡°Pretty much.¡± Jin said. ¡°You light it up, and then as long as it¡¯s within about five feet of you, it¡¯ll keep burning. It takes a bit of Mana as substitute for fuel every five or so minutes, but it¡¯s a pretty trivial amount, even for Tess. As long as you¡¯re not actively using Mana, natural regen should more than make up for it.¡±


    ¡°But bring a good flashlight too.¡± Ker said. ¡°The torch is more useful for warding off weaker monsters, providing light in a wide area, and for cases where you might want fire around, but a flashlight is more convenient if you need something fast.¡±


    ¡°Even you, Tess.¡± Alice said. ¡°I know you have that crazy good night vision, but sometimes you¡¯re going to need to show other people something, and flashlights are just¡­handy. Especially the really bright ones, you can use those to blind something if you¡¯re really in a pinch, though¡­to be honest you in particular are probably better off just getting an ability that lets you blind things, so scratch that last point.¡±


    ¡°I have the money.¡± Tess said, shrugging. ¡°Not like I have much else to spend it on, aside from cores. Can¡¯t hurt to be prepared.¡±


    The group turned onto what was clearly a market street; there were all sorts of stall lining the sides, and the buildings all had displays showing various wares. ¡°Keep your eye out for any magic supply stores, or any stalls selling miscellaneous things.¡± Ava informed. ¡°Magic supply stores will always have a decent selection of cores, and stalls selling miscellaneous stuff are generally temporary things where freelancers sell spoils if they don¡¯t want to sell it to the guild or companies.¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t they do that?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Seems like less work.¡±


    ¡°They can get a higher price by selling it themselves.¡± Ava explained. ¡°And if you¡¯re buying here, it¡¯ll probably be cheaper than what companies sell too, so it¡¯s a win all around. The only problem is that there¡¯s no consistent selection of anything, so unless it¡¯s a super common item you¡¯re not guaranteed to find it.¡±


    ¡°This is where I got that core I gave you as a present, actually.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Picked it up off of some people who had just come back from some sort of dungeon run. I had a few cores I thought would be good, so I stopped by here from time to time to see if anyone had any. I found there¡¯s also a bunch of gear from dungeons here, but I don¡¯t really know how that¡­stacks up to custom-made stuff.¡±


    ¡°Usually worse, but a lot cheaper.¡± Ker said. ¡°It¡¯s not bad, but if you want something truly nice, you have to order it. Still, especially around these levels, this sort of gear is more than enough to get you through.¡±


    There was a tap on Tess¡¯s shoulder, and she whirled to find Amara standing there, smiling. ¡°Fancy meeting you all here.¡± She said. ¡°Gearing up for the expedition?¡±


    ¡°Grandma, don¡¯t leave me like that!¡± Maven said, pushing her way through the crowd and up to Amara. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you guys. Are you here to prepare for the expedition?¡±


    ¡°Sort of.¡± Tess replied. ¡°We¡¯re just here to pick up some cores for my Class. We¡¯re going to be doing the rest of our shopping through Alice¡¯s company.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome to join us when that time comes, by the way.¡± Alice said. ¡°You¡¯re going to be as much a part of this party as they are, so it¡¯d be helpful if everyone was on the same page. Plus, you don¡¯t have to wait in lines if you don¡¯t want to.¡±


    Maven¡¯s eyes lit up, and she turned to Amara. ¡°Do you think that¡¯s a good idea, Grandma?¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a great one.¡± Amara said. ¡°We¡¯ve already picked up a few things, but we¡¯re not finished yet, so might as well do it that way. As you said, things are hectic around here right now.¡±


    ¡°By the way, Maven, have you met the rest of the team?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°I have met Lady Vogel a few times, but I do not believe I have met the other two, no.¡± Maven replied.


    Ava laughed. ¡°Please, just call me Ava if we¡¯re not at a formal function.¡± She said. ¡°The whole ¡®Lady Vogel¡¯ thing is far too stuffy for my tastes.¡±


    Maven nodded. ¡°Understood.¡± She turned to Ker and Jin, giving a small curtsey. ¡°My name is Maven Sarlienne, pleased to meet you.¡±


    Ker smiled. ¡°I¡¯m Ker Riis, nice meeting you too.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m Jin Yu.¡± Jin said. ¡°Pleasure to meet you, as well.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­if you¡¯re not gonna continue shopping for regular stuff, do you want to come look at cores with us?¡± Tess asked. ¡°We were talking about what stuff you usually need for extended stays, so it might be worth hearing.¡±


    Maven smiled. ¡°Of course. Might I ask why you need cores, though? Surely you don¡¯t use enough strong magic to need to stockpile before leaving¡­¡± She trailed off, giving Tess and Ellie an appraising look. ¡°Well, you might, I understand you and Ellie are¡­exceptions.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I don¡¯t.¡± Tess said. ¡°I mean¡­I can use magic that requires cores, but I don¡¯t have the Mana pool to do it much. No, I have a¡­unique use for them, I¡¯ll tell you more about it when we¡¯re in private.¡±


    Maven arched a brow. ¡°You have my curiosity. I¡¯m looking forward to your explanation.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I got this.¡± Ava said. ¡°I can give us a sort of¡­perception filter that¡¯ll keep people from taking notice, then we can talk while we look.¡±


    ¡°Perfect.¡± Tess said. ¡°I suppose we can all sort of talk about our party dynamic too, while we¡¯re at it.¡±


    ¡°Good. Give me a moment, then.¡± Ava said, then began to mutter a spell. Once she finished, Tess began to explain in detail her abilities to an increasingly stunned Maven.


    It was in the middle of that explanation that they stumbled across a stall that could only have been manned by freelancers. ¡°Sorry to interrupt,¡± Ava said, ¡°but I¡¯m going to have to drop the spell if we want to take a look at the wares. Would you prefer to wait until after your explanation is done, or should we go now?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind either way.¡± Tess said. ¡°Up to Maven, really.¡±


    ¡°I can wait.¡± She said. ¡°It would be best to get in line now.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Ava said. There was a moment¡¯s pause, then she continued. ¡°Spell¡¯s down. Shall we take a look, then?¡±


    Fighterman481


    The last names match the general sort of...culture of the first names. Namely, Ker is Norse, Jin is Chinese, and Ava is Germanic. Actually, Ava was going to have an Egyptian last name due to being married to Atum, but on a whim I decided that instead, Atum took Ava''s last name, so...yeah.


    Anyway, adventuring gear. I''m not going to list absolutely everything that they pick up because...well, I''m not good with camping/wilderness survival, so I don''t know everything that would go into it. That and it would just really bog things down, so it''s not really something I feel is necessary when we can just...assume it''s there.


    Oh, and next time I''m finally going to be getting into both what Tess got from the timeskip as well as showing exactly what''s up with Silky and Isabella''s abilities (I kept meaning to and there was never a good time, so...it''s happening now, I suppose), so look forward to that!


    Note from the future - unfortunately, I was not able to get into Silky and Isabella. The TL;DR is that I got my Covid vaccine and had a pretty rough time of it the day after and it was either not do those or delay the chapter. It''s probably for the best, though, that ended up taking quite a bit more space than I expected and would have made the chapter run super long.


    Note from even more in the future (the present, as of the time of posting here on SH), I'' had my second dose about a week ago and there were no lasting effects, so...I''m (mostly) immune now, which is awesome!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 55: Big Spender

    Tess sighed, stepping back from the stall. Unfortunately, it did not seem this stall in particular had anything that she was particularly looking for. There were a bunch of cores, yes, but none of them were anything¡­special. There was only a single boss core among them, and it didn¡¯t really suit the needs of her or her attendants.


    ¡°I-is there anything else we can do for you?¡± The woman running the shop asked, shooting a glance at Ava that wasn¡¯t nearly as inconspicuous as she hoped it was.


    ¡°No, thank you for your time.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Best of luck, though!¡± With that, the group withdrew, and Ava once again cast the perception filter spell.


    ¡°So¡­you were talking about the monsters you could make?¡± Maven prompted, eyes alight with curiosity.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°Basically, I can design monsters who will work with me, I call them my attendants.¡± She held out a hand and Silky obediently crawled out, giving a small salute once she had stopped moving. ¡°This is Silky, a Blacker Widow.¡± Tess explained. ¡°She¡¯s primarily a scout right now, but I¡¯m planning to build her into something of an assassin.¡±


    ¡°A¡­Blacker Widow.¡± Maven said. ¡°As in¡­the boss monster.¡±


    ¡°Yup. I took away the stuff that made her giant and some of her other stuff and instead put a bunch of mobility on her. She keeps the same raw stats, but¡­well, she was always built around abilities, so they¡¯re not the most impressive around. Then, for the other member of our little team, there¡¯s Isabella.¡±


    She waited for a moment, and Isabella drifted out and gave a brief curtsy. ¡°I am Isabella.¡± She droned, and then faded back into Tess.


    ¡°She¡¯s support. Telekinesis, some area-of-effect status and attacks, as well as intangibility and limited flight mean she¡¯s good at doing just about anything. Not the greatest at killing anything, but a force multiplier all the same.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s another freelancer¡¯s stall over there.¡± Ellie interrupted, pointing further down the street. ¡°Shall we get in line?¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­I don¡¯t want to just stop in the middle of explaining again, but unless Maven has any questions on the specifics of Silky and Isabella, I think everything else we can just talk about normally, right? Like, for the party dynamics type stuff.¡±


    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t think I have any right now.¡± Maven said slowly. ¡°I¡¯m curious as to what exactly you¡¯ve got in you right now, but that¡¯s something that can wait until we¡¯re in a better place to talk about this.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll drop the spell and we can get in line, then.¡± Ava said. ¡°Party dynamic stuff should be fine to talk about.¡±


    A few moments later, they were lined up, and they returned to discussing their party. ¡°So¡­what¡¯s your¡­thing?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Like, what role do you fill?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m primarily a sorceress.¡± Maven explained. ¡°Though if I¡¯m out of Mana, I use a bow. What do you do?¡±


    ¡°Bit of everything.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Right now, I¡¯m leaning towards playing the tank, though. I got the Aegis Class pretty recently, and I plan to make use of it.¡±


    ¡°You what?!¡± Alice said. ¡°Do you have any idea how long I¡¯ve wanted that?!¡±


    ¡°If it makes you feel better, it was a gift from the gods.¡± Ellie said, scratching her cheek sheepishly. ¡°To help me better complement Tess.¡±


    Alice sighed. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s a little better than just random chance giving it to you, but¡­still. That one¡¯s really nice, so make sure you appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I want to go all in on the defensive role, so that means using that Class a lot.¡± She turned back to Maven. ¡°But my stats are perfectly even otherwise, all at max. I¡¯ve got a variety of other Classes, so I can do basically anything in a pinch, but I would prefer tanking.¡±


    Maven nodded. ¡°Good. It¡¯s good to have another person drawing attention. I have a golem that should greatly benefit us in that regard, too.¡±


    ¡°A word on that, if I may.¡± Ker said. ¡°I had a brief discussion with Alice about this, and I believe it would be for the best if, for now, you didn¡¯t use the golem.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Maven asked, frowning.


    ¡°Encourages bad habits.¡± Alice replied. ¡°There¡¯s no real analogue at higher levels, not unless you¡¯re someone who specializes in manufacturing golems. Using it to clear traps and draw all the aggro is going to make you lazy, and that really doesn¡¯t work beyond level¡­forty or fifty, when most golems on the market will start collapsing in a couple of hits. If you want to be serious about this, you¡¯re going to have to learn to do things the normal way.¡±


    ¡°I¡­understand.¡± Maven said. ¡°I will defer to your wisdom on this, then.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Amara said. ¡°Make sure you listen to them when they give you advice, they know what they¡¯re talking about. If it conflicts with something your parents or your tutors taught you, forget whatever you used to know. These people are much better equipped to teach you how things work nowadays.¡±


    Jin shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s still merit to some of what they¡¯ve taught you, just¡­take it with a grain of salt. A lot of what is taught to people who are boosting is only relevant if you¡¯re trying to level up quickly in a safe environment. Not quite as useful in the ¡®real world¡¯, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯ve ever got a question, just ask.¡± Alice added. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can tell you why we aren¡¯t doing things the way you¡¯re used to.¡±


    Their conversation was cut short as they reached the front of the line. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± A smiling man asked. ¡°We¡¯ve been going through some level fifty or sixty dungeons on Ilen and have some good loot for sale!¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°I¡¯m looking for cores, especially from bosses.¡± She said. ¡°Do you have any that match that description?¡±


    The man stroked his chin thoughtfully. ¡°A couple.¡± He said. ¡°They might be kind of out of your price range, though. You¡­are new to this, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. How¡¯d you know?¡±


    ¡°A guess.¡± He replied, waving a hand. ¡°You looked a little young to be level fifty or sixty, and if you were high enough level to have reversed aging, you wouldn¡¯t need to be buying from me.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Tess said. ¡°Well, don¡¯t worry about that, I¡¯ve been saving up for a while and have more than enough.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± The man replied dubiously. ¡°Let me fetch what we have, we do have a couple of cores that might be what you¡¯re looking for.¡± He stepped back for a moment, rummaging through a couple of boxes before taking out two cores and placing them on the counter. ¡°This one,¡± he said, tapping the one on the left, ¡°is from a Spitfire Phoenix. Particularly nasty dungeon boss, but the core is great for fire magic and recovery magic.¡±


    He tapped the other core. ¡°This one¡¯s from a Mountainous Mole. Annoying to deal with, but not too bad. Only really useful for earth magic, though. We¡¯ll say¡­seventy five gold for the Spitfire Phoenix core, fifty for the Mountainous Mole core.¡±


    Tess flinched. ¡°If I¡­bought them both together, would you be willing to accept a platinum?¡±


    The man thought about that for a moment. ¡°I suppose so.¡± He said.


    ¡°Alright, I got this.¡± Alice replied, stepping up and reaching into her bag.


    ¡°No!¡± Tess said hurriedly. ¡°I mean, I appreciate the gesture, but¡­well, I want it to feel like something I earned for myself, you know?¡±


    Alice paused. ¡°Are you sure? I really don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure.¡± Tess said firmly. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m using it elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Alice said. ¡°Just keep that in mind for the future.¡±


    Tess turned back to the bewildered man, pulling a platinum out of her pocket. She had, as usual, taken the time to change into her armor once she got home, and she had already transferred most of her bag¡¯s contents to her armor, leaving only a couple of things in there in case, for some reason, she had access to the bag but not the armor.


    The man accepted the platinum and handed the cores over. ¡°Anything else?¡± He asked.


    Tess shook her head. ¡°No, thank you. That was most of my savings anyway, so I don¡¯t think I could afford more.¡± She stepped back, pocketing the cores. ¡°Anyone else want anything?¡±


    No one did, so the group retreated back to the main street. ¡°How did you get that much money?¡± Maven asked. ¡°People our level don¡¯t usually make enough to afford that much, so I¡¯m curious. Did Guildmaster Los give you some allowance, or¡­?¡±


    Tess shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s all from me.¡± She said. ¡°When you¡¯ve got Luck like mine, all those drops add up pretty quick.¡± That wasn¡¯t to say that it wasn¡¯t a sizeable amount to her; she had only ten or fifteen gold left after that, and knowing that she had bought those cores for what would amount to the price of a pretty decent used car was a little scary.


    But she couldn¡¯t transfer that money to Mael in any reasonable manner, and she was content with her current lodgings, so the money was, essentially, just sitting there gathering dust. ¡°Well...I got everything I want that I can afford, does anyone else want anything?¡±


    Ellie shrugged. ¡°Nothing that can¡¯t wait until we order stuff later.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡± Maven agreed.


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s get going.¡± Jin said. ¡°I was planning to do a couple of dungeon raids today, but¡­well, plans changed. I think that, if Maven has time, now would be a good time to really hammer out how things are going to work from now on.¡±


    ¡°We have time.¡± Maven said. ¡°We were planning to spend quite a bit longer shopping. That¡­is okay, right Grandma?¡±


    Amara nodded. ¡°I see no issue with it. Seems like a good use of your time.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Jin replied. ¡°We¡¯ll make our way to one of the private rooms in the guild, and we can talk more in detail there. For now, continue hashing out the broad strokes of things.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s just me who hasn¡¯t said my place, right?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I¡¯m like Ellie, capable of doing anything in a pinch, though¡­that¡¯s for the future. Right now, I¡¯m more suited to close-quarters fighting. If it comes down to it, I can use almost any sort of magic, but if it¡¯s more advanced than intermediate level, I¡¯ll probably need to cause some bleeds to give me secondary source of Mana if I even want to be able to cast it.¡±


    ¡°Ah, may I take that to mean you have the Skill that grants all magic types?¡± Maven said curiously. ¡°And presumably at a rather high rank at that. If that¡¯s the case, might I ask why you aren¡¯t focusing on becoming a mage?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­a little complicated. We¡¯ll get into it more at the guild. Short answer is I don¡¯t have the Mana to make it worthwhile. Not yet, anyway. I¡¯m rather¡­unique in that regard. But, for now, just know that I¡¯m going to end up being a generalist like Ava, and I¡¯m going to be the one checking for traps, doing most of the scouting, and other odd jobs.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°That seems like rather a lot to handle. I¡¯m sure I can take over at least some of it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Scouting and trap checking come as sort of a package deal, and everything else is just super minor. It¡¯s not as bad as it may sound.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Just know that I¡¯m willing to pick up any slack you want any time you want. I¡¯m as well suited to generalizing as you are.¡±


    ¡°In the short run, yes.¡± Ava said. ¡°In the long run, no. Tess will have much better Skills for it, so I¡¯m trying to get her used to doing it now.¡±


    ¡°How do you know?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Is there some method to let you pick Skills that I¡¯m not aware of?¡±


    Ava laughed. ¡°No. Tess is¡­the only exception to that rule. Think about it this way: Luck influences what you get from a Rewards Crystal, right? Higher Luck means better stuff?¡±


    Maven paused. ¡°I seem to recall that, yes.¡±


    ¡°So, for the sake of argument, if your Luck was, let¡¯s say infinite¡­¡±


    Maven paused again, and after a moment comprehension dawned. ¡°I see. But, still¡­how do you know what she¡¯s going to get?¡±


    Ava smiled faintly, looking to Amara. ¡°Amara, may I take that to assume she doesn¡¯t know?¡±


    Amara shook her head. ¡°I was leaving it up to you guys if you wanted to tell her.¡±


    Ava nodded. ¡°Well, in that case, since she¡¯s going to be around so much, dancing around the topic will be¡­frustrating.¡± She turned back to Maven. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that me and my party are in the same line of work as Tess, and I¡¯m helping her bosses plan for her.¡±


    Maven blinked. ¡°Oh. I¡­¡± She trailed off, looking to Amara, then to Ava, and then to Tess and Ellie before shaking her head as if to clear it. ¡°Sorry,¡± she said, ¡°it just took me a moment to process that. I understand. That makes sense now, thank you.¡±


    The conversation continued like that until they got to the guild, where they began to go over the specifics of what they could do. For Tess, that was roughly the same as it had been before her training with Ava, though she had a few new abilities she had obtained over the course of the aforementioned training:


    Accident Proof


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description: Decreases the damage from attacks that don¡¯t directly target the user by 50%.


    Focus on me when you¡¯re trying to kill me, will you?


    Reverse Engineer


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Active


    Description: When trying to disarm a dungeon¡¯s trap, you may spend 50 Stamina to obtain a better understanding of the trap. If you have not disarmed a trap of the same type before, you become aware of where the key parts of the trap are. If you have previously successfully disarmed a trap of the same type, you instead gain some understanding of how the trap works. After analyzing 5 different traps of this type, you gain knowledge on how to set up the trap, and after analyzing 10 traps, you gain knowledge of how exactly it works.


    Not a substitute for a trapmaking degree.


    Sneak Attack (Mythical)


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description: Attacks on enemies unaware of your presence deal triple damage.


    +1d6 damage for every two levels in rogue


    Brutal Critical (Mythical)


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description: Doubles the damage of your critical strikes.


    Makes things that hurt bad hurt worse


    Active Camouflage


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Active


    Description: You may spend 50 Stamina to turn on Active Camouflage. While Active Camouflage is active, your body and your equipment appear to change colors to other beings, appearing to blend almost perfectly into the background. When moving, there is a very slight delay before the color fully changes, allowing very observant creatures to see you. While stationary, Active Camouflage drains 5 Stamina per second, increasing to 10 Stamina per second while moving.


    Unleash your inner octopus.


    That was all she had for the moment. She had had less time to devote to freelancing since restarting school, and combining that and the fact that the she wasn¡¯t rushing through the dungeons, the fact that dungeons were actually reasonably long at this level, and that she wasn¡¯t even always in a dungeon when training, she hadn¡¯t even fully finished clearing the one she had been working on.


    And, while she couldn¡¯t speak for exactly how much Maven had changed since their encounter, Ellie seemed to have begun to solidify her abilities. She had received a smattering of magical Skills, enough to make her competent, but, for the most part, she seemed to have mostly gained things that pushed her towards physical combat.


    Their talking lasted for another couple of hours before Maven had to leave, at which point they said their goodbyes and Tess and Ellie went back to Mael. ¡°I¡¯m going to go absorb these cores and upgrade Silky and Isabella.¡± Tess said. ¡°So, I¡¯m going to be in my room for a while. I¡¯ll let you know when I¡¯m done, okay?¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Sure thing. I¡¯ll see you in a bit, love you!¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°Y-yeah. See you in a bit, I love you too.¡± And so, she set off for her room, steeling herself for what she was about to do. She had yet to modify Silky and Isabella since she had made them, as doing so would require ejecting their cores again and that was not an experience she wished to replicate.


    But it wasn¡¯t something she couldn¡¯t bear. She knew that, if she wanted to be stronger, it was something she had to do. So, it was that she sat on her bed, absorbed the cores, and got to reading and working out what exactly she wanted on her attendants.


    Fighterman481


    I know I said I was going to put the stats in for Silky and Isabella, but...well, basically what happened is I got my Covid vaccine (hooray!) and it ended up basically putting me out of commission for a couple of days (boo). For whatever reason, I in particular didn''t take too well to it (the rest of my family who was with me was fine, I was more akin to my mom who got vaccinated a few weeks ago) and lost a couple days of potential work. So it ended up being delay the chapter or not put those in, and the chapter was full length without them so I figured I could put them in next chapter.


    Though, in better news, those symptoms were super short-lived. It was just those two days (got it on Thursday) and after getting a lot of sleep I feel almost good as new. And, you know...I''ve begun the road to being immune to the global pandemic, so that''s a plus too.


    (Update from the present, though I probably mentioned this last chapter: I had my second shot a few weeks ago and am completely over symptoms. It''s a great feeling!)


    Anyway, the chapter itself. For people who might have forgotten the rough exchange rate, think of a platinum as $10,000 (100 golds which are $100 each). It''s a lot of money. But, even selling wholesale to the guild and not getting full profit for each, boss cores are expensive.


    I debated a bit over whether I wanted Alice to offer to buy it for Tess or not, and eventually I decided she totally would. In terms of absolute money and product moved, her company is bigger than giants in the real world like Amazon (though, relatively speaking, it doesn''t dominate as much of the market), and people who own those companies make that much money in like...half a minute, so she makes probably about as much if not more. It''s like...similar to if you made ten dollars an hour and gave your little sibling a penny (using Jeff Bezos''s estimated hourly earnings as a base, which to be honest is super ridiculous). Not something you''d bat an eye at.


    Um...that''s all I really have to say, though, next time we will (for sure this time!) get into those stats. And maybe something else, we''ll see how long the stats take. Anyway, look forward to it, I guess?


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 56: Attendant Upgrades

    Tess surveyed the window she had received from absorbing the cores, thoughtfully considering what things would go best where.


    You have absorbed a Spitfire Phoenix Core!


    Slots filled: 12/27


    You have gained 1,590 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    Monster Breeder has leveled up!


    You have absorbed a Mountainous Mole Core!


    Slots filled: 13/28


    You have gained 1,035 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    New cores absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    New Skills detected!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Phoenix Fire¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Wreathed in Flames!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Reborn from the Ashes¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Fragile Rebirth!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Purifying Flames¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Soothing Flames!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Fire Magic (High)¡­


    User already has Fire Magic (Moderate). No Skill obtained.


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Mountain out of a Molehill¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Soil Sanctuary!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Earth¡¯s Embrace¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Ground Grip!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Regenerative Retreat¡­


    Congratulations, you have successfully obtained Healing Hideaway!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Earth Magic (High)¡­


    User already has Earth Magic (Moderate). No Skill obtained.


    Wreathed in Flames


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    You are coated in a layer of deadly flames. These flames do not affect you or your possessions in any way, but creatures have a 20% chance to be set on fire every second they are within five feet of you. This fire lasts for 10 seconds and deals 10% of your health as damage per second. These flames can be turned on and off, and their temperature can be adjusted at will. Without adjustment, the temperature defaults to 1,100¡ãC, can go as low as 30¡ãC and as high as 1,350¡ãC. 25 Mana per second can be spent to further increase the temperature, allowing it to go as high as 1,700¡ãC. Creatures take damage from the extreme temperature as normal, though the temperature drops off ten feet away from you. Any effect from an outside source that would set the user on fire instead strengthens these flames, doubling their volume and range for the duration.


    Is it hot in here¡­never mind, it¡¯s just you.


    Fragile Rebirth


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    When you reach zero HP, an egg forms around you. If the egg remains intact for three minutes, you return to life with half HP, Mana, and Stamina, otherwise you die as normal. The egg has health equal to twenty-five percent of your maximum health, and its defensive stats are equal to double yours. Your passive Skills continue to apply while you are in the egg.


    Better than dying, but if you¡¯re in a situation where you died in the first place it¡¯s probably not going to help that much.


    Soothing Flames


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your flames are both weapon and panacea. Your allies do not take direct damage from your fire attacks, and any time they would take damage from your flames have a 10% chance to be healed of any one status affliction. Your allies suffer the effects of the heat of the flames as normal.


    Your fire would be a great tool for medicine if it didn¡¯t have the unfortunate habit of cooking anything not properly shielded. Amazing if you¡¯re trying to heal a fire elemental, though.


    Soil Sanctuary


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active


    Description:


    If you are touching dirt, sand, or other loose material, you may spend 500 Stamina to bring much of it to the surface, creating an enormous wall of the material encasing a small clear area with you as the center. This small hill is as packed and durable as it would be if that amount of material had been moved to the surface manually and left to settle. This Skill may be used while underneath loose material to open a path to the surface for only 100 Stamina.


    While it may not be more sturdy than normal dirt, there¡¯s a lot of it.


    Ground Grip


    Rarity: Rare


    Type: Active


    Description:


    You may spend 100 Stamina to have the ground itself reach up and grab a target, encasing it in up to 10 feet of whatever material the target is standing on, but not more than 1 foot taller than the target. If there is not enough material to fully encase the target, points of mobility are targeted first.


    Is conveniently bio-degradable. Usually.


    Healing Hideaway


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Active


    Description:


    You may spend 1,000 Stamina and Mana to designate an enclosed space with no more than one opening to the outside as a healing zone. You and your allies regenerate 1% of your maximum HP and Stamina every five seconds while inside this area. You may only have one space designated as a healing zone at a time, and if more than one opening is ever created, the zone is rendered inactive until there is only one opening.


    Just camp your opponents out. They have to come to you now.


    Displaying core information:


    Spitfire Phoenix Core:


    Level 68


    Estimated Power: 1,200


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 2,400


    Stats:


    HP: 4,400


    MP: 13,100


    Stamina: 5,000


    Power: 325


    Defense: 290


    Magic: 660


    Magic Defense: 630


    Agility: 690


    Luck: 540


    Current Skills:


    Fire Magic (High)


    Phoenix Fire


    Purifying Flames


    Reborn from the Ashes


    Current Attributes:


    Exceptional Flier


    Feathers (Fundamental)


    Fire Immunity


    Fire Affinity


    Sharp Beak (Major)


    Sharp Talons (Major)


    Wings (Fundamental)


    Mountainous Mole Core:


    Level 55


    Estimated Power: 900


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 1,700


    Stats:


    HP: 10,000


    MP: 4,200


    Stamina: 10,000


    Power: 750


    Defense: 510


    Magic: 110


    Magic Defense: 240


    Agility: 275


    Luck: 300


    Current Skills:


    Earth¡¯s Embrace


    Earth Magic (High)


    Mountain out of a Molehill


    Regenerative Retreat


    Current Attributes:


    Earth Affinity


    Earth Swimmer


    Fur (Fundamental)


    Sharp Claws (Major)


    Stereo Smell (Greater)


    Tremorsense (Perfect)


    New Attributes Discovered!


    Earth Affinity:


    Strengthens the effect of Earth Magic cast by the creature by 50%


    Earth Swimmer:


    Allow for effortless travel through any loose soil, sand, or similar material, and limited burrowing through most types of rock.


    Exceptional Flier:


    Allows the creature to fly in ways that should barely be possible, enabling it to perform various acrobatic maneuvers and even giving the ability to hover in place, regardless of the creature¡¯s biology.


    Fire Immunity:


    Gives the creature immunity to fire damage from most sources and grants the creature complete resistance to temperatures warmer than 30¡ãC that are colder than 2,250¡ãC, as well as partial resistance up to 2,500¡ãC.


    Fire Affinity:


    Strengthens the effect of Fire Magic cast by the creature by 50%


    Stereo Smell (Greater):


    Greatly heightens the creature¡¯s sense of smell, to the point where it can be easily used as a replacement for sight or other, similar senses.


    Tremorsense (Perfect):


    Enormously heightens the creature¡¯s sense of touch, allowing it to ¡®see¡¯ through solids it is touching, with a range of up to 300 feet. This heightening of sense is not subject to any sort of sensory overload from heavy vibrations.


    New Skills Discovered!


    Earth¡¯s Embrace


    Rarity: Epic


    Type: Active


    Description:


    You may spend 50 Stamina to have the ground itself reach up and grab a target, encasing it in up to 20 feet of whatever material the target is standing on, but not more than 1 foot taller than the target. If there is not enough material to fully encase the target, additional material will be created to allow fully encasing the target. This extra material disappears after 10 minutes.


    Does it count as being bio-degradable if it disappears into nothing?


    Mountain out of a Molehill


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Active


    Description:


    If you are touching dirt, sand, or other loose material, you may spend 500 Stamina to bring a huge amount of it to the surface, creating a titanic wall of the material encasing a small clear area with you as the center. A smaller amount of rock and other harder material is brought with the loose material, strengthening it immensely. This miniature mountain is as packed and durable as it would be if that amount of material had been moved to the surface manually and left to settle, and is additionally reinforced magically, making it roughly three times harder than the material would otherwise be. This Skill may be used while underneath loose material to open a path to the surface for only 100 Stamina.


    This is why we didn¡¯t want you to make a mountain out of a molehill. It¡¯s a pain to clean up.


    Phoenix Fire


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    You are coated in a layer of deadly flames. These flames do not affect you or your possessions in any way, but creatures have a 20% chance to be set on fire every second they are within ten feet of you. This fire lasts for 15 seconds and deals 20% of your health as damage per second. These flames can be turned on and off, and their temperature can be adjusted at will. Without adjustment, the temperature defaults to 1,300¡ãC, can go as low as 30¡ãC and as high as 1,500¡ãC. 25 Mana per second can be spent to further increase the temperature, allowing it to go as high as 1,900¡ãC. Creatures take damage from the extreme temperature as normal, though the temperature drops off twenty feet away from you. The user can spend 50 Mana per second to concentrate these flames into a lash of fire that can reach up to 60 feet away from the user. This lash can be controlled at will, and may be shaped in any way the user desires.  Any effect from an outside source that would set the user on fire instead strengthens these flames, doubling their volume and range for the duration.


    Ok seriously turn down the heat, this is getting excessive


    Purifying Flames


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Your flames are both weapon and panacea. Your allies do not take direct damage from your fire attacks, are immune to any negative effects of the heat of the flames, and any time they would take damage from your flames have a 20% chance to be healed of any one status affliction.


    Forget leeches, just burn it instead. It¡¯ll work, I promise.


    Reborn from the Ashes


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    When you reach zero HP, you are revived with full HP, Mana, and Stamina after one minute. Each time this ability is used in a day, the amount of health regained is reduced by an amount equal to the damage dealt to you by the hit that brought you to zero HP. If you would regain less than one third of your maximum health, instead an egg forms around you. If the egg remains intact for three minutes, you return to life with full HP, Mana, and Stamina, otherwise you die as normal. The egg has health equal to twenty-five percent of your maximum health, and its defensive stats are equal to double yours. Your passive Skills continue to apply while you are in the egg.


    ¡­We really should have nerfed this before you got it. Oh well, if it¡¯s a problem, we¡¯ll nerf it later, no big deal.


    Regenerative Retreat


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Active


    Description:


    You may spend 1,000 Stamina and Mana to designate an enclosed space with no more than two openings to the outside as a healing zone. You and your allies regenerate 2% of your maximum HP and Stamina every five seconds while inside this area. You may only have one space designated as a healing zone at a time, and if more than two openings are ever present, the zone is rendered inactive until there are only two openings.


    Yeah, running and hiding is kinda lame but it¡¯s also optimal so don¡¯t let anyone give you flak for it


    Well, that hadn¡¯t been what she was planning on getting, but she was absolutely going to use quite a few of those for herself. First off, she had an extra slot available for an Attribute now, so she moved Blighted Body from a User Fundamental slot to it. She really wasn¡¯t gaining that much more benefit from it than if she kept it in a regular slot, so she was going to put something else in the newly-freed slot.


    And her gut said that something else would have to be Tremorsense (Perfect). Being able to basically see through the floor, around corners, through walls¡­it was too good to pass up, and even if putting it in a User Fundamental slot only increased the range, it would be well worth it.


    So, she did¡­and then immediately let out a yelp as she was bombarded with all sorts of unfamiliar new sensations. She didn¡¯t even really register the window that popped up informing her of what it did in a User Fundamental slot until a moment later, as she just¡­processed all the new information.


    New User Fundamental Attribute discovered!


    Tremorsense (Perfect) (User Fundamental):


    Enormously heightens the creature¡¯s sense of touch, allowing it to ¡®see¡¯ through solids it is touching, with a range of up to 450 feet. This effect works at drastically reduced capacity through liquids and gases; every foot of liquid is equivalent to 15 feet of a solid, and every foot of gas is equivalent to 30 feet of a solid. This heightening of sense is not subject to any sort of sensory overload from heavy vibrations.


    She could feel as Ellie ran from her room, practically sprinting as she sprang up from her bed and burst into the hallway before throwing the door to Tess¡¯s room open. ¡°Tess, are you okay?!¡± She asked, looking around wildly. ¡°Did something go wrong?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s fine.¡± Tess said, waving a hand. ¡°I¡¯m just¡­still getting used to this new Attribute. I just got an entirely new sense from it, so I was shocked at first.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡­um¡­I¡¯ll leave you alone to get used to it, then, this probably isn¡¯t helping. Let me know when you¡¯re ready to talk, I want to hear about it.¡± Ellie said awkwardly, shutting the door as softly as she could and walking back to her room.


    Tess could feel Silky skittering about worriedly on the bed behind her, as well as the mice in the walls and the insects and¡­she took a deep breath, calming herself. It honestly wasn¡¯t as bad as she might have thought. It wasn¡¯t actually giving her a headache or anything, it worked perfectly fine, it was just a little overwhelming to basically be able to ¡®see¡¯ the entire house and some of the outside all at the same time.


    She¡¯d have to force herself to get used to it later, and she was guessing she¡¯d keep it off when it wasn¡¯t necessary, since she didn¡¯t really want to be privy to everything like this, but it was definitely an addition that would help her out greatly.


    She turned it off, and got to deciding where to put everything else. The magic Skills would be going on Isabella, since she had a much higher Magic stat than either Tess or Silky. Regenerative Retreat would go on¡­either Silky or Isabella, since Tess didn¡¯t even have enough Mana or Stamina to use it, but those two did.


    She¡¯d be taking Phoenix Fire, Purifying Flames, and Reborn from the Ashes, while Earth¡¯s Embrace would be for Silky, and Mountain out of a Molehill would go to Isabella, which took care of all of the Skills.


    Which just left the Attributes. The Affinity Attributes would go to Isabella, and that took care of pretty much everything she wanted for her, making Isabella much more of an offensive presence than she was before.


    She¡¯d take Fire Immunity for herself, and that was everything she wanted. To make room for that, she removed Part of the Pack (inferior), since that was really just a placeholder, got rid of Keen Nose (Greater) since she barely ever used it and she was planning on giving Stereo Smell (Greater) to Silky anyway, and finally, Rallying Cry she¡¯d give to Silky, leaving her with room for everything.


    And that just left what she wanted for Silky. Earth Swimmer was probably not very useful without Tremorsense (Perfect), but if she could fit it in, that would be something to give to her, just in case. Next would be Stereo Smell (Greater), to give Silky yet another tool for scouting and make it so Tess didn¡¯t need to worry about smell-enhancing Attributes.


    And, finally Wings, and Exceptional Flier. She had originally decided that wings weren¡¯t worth it on Silky since the jump in ¡®current power¡¯ was quite large and Silky would be able to scale walls and other things anyway, but it turned out that there were still situations in which flying would be beneficial for her, so she had decided it was worth it.


    She really wished she was able to sort of¡­migrate her attendant¡¯s form to other cores, giving them the stats of the new core with the body type of the old, or just otherwise increase their stats of their original core, but that was apparently something that came later on in the Class, so for right now she had to work around their current limitations.


    Fortunately, she had left a fair bit of room in their ¡®current power¡¯ as opposed to their maximum, so she probably had enough breathing room to put in everything she wanted, as well whatever else she had lying around, so she could maximize that ¡®power¡¯ and make them as strong as possible.


    ¡°Alright you guys.¡± She told them. ¡°Do you know of a way to just return to your cores or do I have to¡­¡± She trailed off, not wanting to say what she was thinking. She really didn¡¯t want to kill these two if she could avoid it, it would just¡­leave a bad taste in her mouth.


    Don¡¯t worry! Silky said, scuttling around so she was in Tess¡¯s line of sight. We can do it, so long as we have permission! Do you want us to do it now?


    ¡°Yes, please.¡± Tess replied, relieved. ¡°Though Isabella may want to come out of me first.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Isabella droned, floating out of Tess. She gave a small curtsey, then just sort of¡­faded out of existence, a core falling to the floor when she was done.


    For her part, Silky gave a salute, and then began fading much as Isabella had, until there were only two cores on the floor.


    Tess picked them up and absorbed them, prompting a window to show up, informing her that she had absorbed her attendant¡¯s cores and that the slots had been freed up. She was somewhat surprised to note that their cores had leveled up somewhat in the time they were out, allowing her a little more breathing room with their modifications.


    Furthermore, there was a special Attribute for their memories, meaning that, in a pinch, she could just transplant them to a different core entirely if she didn¡¯t mind making them look completely different. She was satisfied with how they were now, though, and she didn¡¯t want to move them to a much stronger core for fear of instilling bad habits in them and in her from them being so overleveled.


    Now that she had Precision Surgery, she could adjust their stats too, so she did that as well. Silky wasn¡¯t really built for damage, so she took as much as she could out of Power and Magic and placed it into Agility and called it good. Isabella, on the other hand, had a lot of stats she wasn¡¯t using, since she spent most of her time undetected inside of Tess. HP, Power, Defense, Magic Defense, and Agility were all put as low as they could go, and the extra points put into Magic and Mana.


    With that, all that was left to do was transfer Skills and Attributes she wanted over to them and a couple extras to fill get their power as close to maximum as possible. After she was finished, she took one last look at them before preparing to bring them back into existence.


    Blacker Widow Core:


    Level 25


    Estimated Power: 498


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 500


    Stats:


    HP: 2,040


    Mana: 2,100


    Stamina: 2,030


    Power: 103 (144 - 28%)


    Defense: 113


    Magic: 102 (142 - 28%)


    Magic Defense: 111


    Agility: 334 (253 + 81)


    Luck: 125


    Current Skills:


    Decaying Touch


    Earth¡¯s Embrace


    Induce Despair


    Rallying Cry


    Current Attributes:


    Amphibious


    Arachnid (Fundamental)


    Common Language Proficiency


    Exceptional Flier


    Increased Intelligence (Moderate)


    Night Vision (Greater)


    Sharp Claws (Major)


    Sharp Fangs (Greater)


    Silky¡¯s Memories


    Spiderclimb


    Stereo Smell (Greater)


    Sticky Web (Major)


    Wings


    Lady Isabella Core:


    Level 31


    Estimated Power: 605


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 610


    Stats:


    HP: 1,470 (2,050 - 28%)


    Mana: 5,100 (4,100 + 1,000)


    Stamina: 1,640


    Power: 93 (130 - 28%)


    Defense: 93 (129 - 28%)


    Magic: 457 (310 + 147)


    Magic Defense: 223 (310 - 28%)


    Agility: 73 (102 - 28%)


    Luck: 155


    Current Skills:


    Dark Magic (Basic)


    Decaying Touch


    Earth Magic (High)


    Fire Magic (High)


    Haunt


    Haunting Wail


    Induce Despair


    Mountain out of a Molehill


    Paralyzing Blows


    Piercing Wail


    Regenerative Retreat


    Summon Undead


    Current Attributes:


    Common Language Proficiency


    Earth Affinity


    Fire Affinity


    Increased Intelligence (Moderate)


    Intangible (Fundamental)


    Isabella¡¯s Memories


    Greater Levitation


    Humanoid


    Night Vision (Greater)


    She nodded her head in satisfaction, took a deep breath, then sent a message to Ellie.


    Tess: I¡¯m going to be ejecting Silky and Isabella¡¯s cores. I¡¯m probably going to make some noise since this is¡­not a particularly pleasant process. Don¡¯t freak out, OK?


    Ellie: How long does this normally take? When should I start being worried?


    Tess: Like¡­five minutes for the both of them. It¡¯s not long, but¡­yeah. Um, I¡¯ll let you know when I¡¯m done


    Ellie: Got it. Talk to you then


    Tess sighed, made her preparations, and got to work.


    A few minutes later she had both Silky and Isabella back, had finished using the towel she had laid out to clean up any remaining mess, and had dressed herself again.


    Tess: I¡¯m done


    Ellie: Oh thank goodness. Are you feeling OK? Anything still hurting? That¡­did not sound fun.


    Tess: Aside from a slight soreness, I¡¯m fine. If it¡¯s like last time, I¡¯ll be feeling completely fine in like ten minutes


    Ellie: That¡¯s good to hear. Um¡­after that, what do you want to do?


    Tess: Dunno, I¡¯m good for whatever, I guess


    Ellie: Well¡­Grandpa says he¡¯s not going to be home until really late tonight. Maybe we should make some dinner and then have some¡­fun?


    Tess: Sounds great. We can get started on dinner now, if you¡¯d like


    Ellie: No, you stay there. I¡¯ll start on dinner, you come once you¡¯re feeling better. I don¡¯t want to see you for at least ten minutes, alright?


    Tess: Got it. Um, thanks


    Ellie: Don¡¯t mention it. I¡¯ll see you in a few minutes, love you!


    Tess: Love you too!


    Tess smiled slightly, sitting on her bed. ¡°How are you two feeling?¡± She asked.


    Better than ever! Silky said happily. I¡¯m feeling¡­stronger, smarter, everything is better!


    ¡°I agree.¡± Isabella said. ¡°It feels¡­good. Thank you, mistress.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Let me know if anything starts feeling off, we¡¯ll get it fixed.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Isabella replied, taking her usual position inside of Tess.


    Got it! I¡¯m gonna go eat, let me know if you need me! Silky said, scuttling out under the door and into the rest of the house.


    Tess took out her phone, made note of the time, and began to mess around. Now that the thing she was most worried about was out of the way, it was looking like the night was going to be a good one, and she couldn¡¯t wait.


    Fighterman481


    Sorry about the big windows if you don''t like those, I guess, there wasn''t really much of a way around it otherwise. I''m going to try and avoid showing their full statuses in the future just to streamline things more, so that should help cut down on things.


    Anyway, for those curious, it''s mentioned that their cores leveled up. Silky was originally level 18, and Isabella level 30. Silky obviously gained more levels due to starting much lower and also because, as I...believe I''ve mentioned (early on in the story), experience to the next level jumps drastically every 25th level.


    And, if you''re wondering how their stats would compare, Tess had 58 in all her stats at level 25, and at level 31 had 70 in every stat (she''s level 32 now, so 72 in everything). Of course, it''s worth noting that boss monster stat scaling works differently than normal people scaling, but that only really comes into effect at higher levels. At this level, bosses are actually not too different from regular monsters their level, just with somewhat higher stats.  And they tend to be a fair few levels higher than other monsters in their dungeon, so that puts them apart too.


    But after about level 50, they start to have stats that would not be possible if they used normal stat growths (especially in the resources). For example, the Mountainous Mole has 750 Power at level 55, but Ellie would only have 555 (since she started at 15 and not 10 like Tess), and she''s the limit for people.


    There are exceptions, though. The Spitfire Phoenix, for example, has much lower stats than would normally be expected for a magic-oriented boss at that level. That''s because most of its strength comes from its Skills (and most of that is from Reborn from the Ashes lol).


    Oh, and those of you with particularly good memories may note that the ''estimated/maximum power'' thing for Silky and Isabella is quite different than their base cores were when we saw those originally. I did a quick and dirty reworking of those numbers for the important things, but it''s not that big a deal, so don''t really worry about it.


    Next time...we''re probably going to see Tess and Ellie''s graduation, and depending on how long that takes, something else. So, look forward to that, I guess.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 57: Hunter and Hunted

    Tess stood in the line nervously, trying to ignore the barely concealed stares from those around her. It was graduation day, and it was finally time for the thing to actually start. It had been a long morning, the school had made them do a rehearsal for graduation, and, much like in school itself, no one was quite sure how to act around her. It was a lot like how she imagined people would treat a potentially live explosive; lots of staring and maintaining distance, very little actual contact.


    She had grown used to it in these past two weeks, but it still hurt. She had grown up with most of these people, known them for over half of her life, and here they were treating her like she would snap at any moment.


    But she couldn¡¯t blame them for that. They didn¡¯t know the whole picture, and she probably would have reacted the same way if she was in their shoes. Still, it had made for quite the awkward morning, and she was glad that it was finally reaching its end.


    The principal began to read off the names of the students, and the line began its agonizing march towards the podium. And¡­nothing happened. She got through the line, there was a slightly strained handshake with the principal, and then she was given her diploma and was directed to sit down while the ceremony concluded.


    Unfortunately, that conclusion took another half hour, and only then it was time for people to go meet with their families and mingle with their peers.


    Not that Tess expected to hang around very long. Gramps was her only family here, and she doubted anyone would be looking to stay and chat with her.


    And then she found herself caught in a friendly headlock, a familiar voice sounding from behind her. ¡°Surprise!¡±


    ¡°Alice?¡± Tess asked, blinking. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    Alice let go of her headlock, and Tess turned to face her. She looked¡­different. Her skin was still that same dark brown, but it had lost its wooden texture, and her hair had gone from a leafy green to a subdued black.


    Alice grinned, holding up her hand so Tess could see a ring on one of her fingers. ¡°I got special permission from the Guildmaster to be here for you. Figured it was a big enough day for the two of you that I should come.¡±


    Tess smiled and gave the older girl a hug. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad you did. It was getting a little¡­lonely, I¡¯m not going to lie.¡±


    ¡°I thought it might.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Let¡¯s go say hi to everyone else, shall we?¡±


    ¡°Everyone else?¡±


    ¡°Ker and Jin are here, and so is the rest of the Guildmaster¡¯s party.¡± Alice informed.


    ¡°Oh, um¡­yeah, let¡¯s go say hi!¡± Tess said. She hadn¡¯t been expecting such a¡­large group to turn up, but she was happy they had. It made this whole thing seem just that much more tolerable.


    It appeared that Ellie was already talking with Jin and Ker, who were¡­much shorter and much taller, respectively, though their appearances were otherwise the same. Standing next to them were Gramps, Ava, Atum, and Eyfura.


    It was odd, seeing Eyfura and Atum looking like humans when she was so used to them being¡­well, not human. ¡°Hey, everyone.¡± She said. ¡°Um¡­thanks for coming, you really didn¡¯t have to.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Ava replied, waving a hand. ¡°We couldn¡¯t just let you two have just Evan for company today, you deserve more than that.¡±


    Eyfura clapped her on the back. ¡°Congratulations.¡± She said, smiling widely. ¡°You¡¯re all done with your education, how does it feel?¡±


    ¡°Weird.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I was always assuming I was going to go to college after this, learn how to be an accountant, but¡­well, I¡¯m kind of glad I¡¯m not going to. It just seems like it¡¯d be¡­boring.¡±


    Eyfura snorted. ¡°You¡¯re telling me. I couldn¡¯t imagine sitting at a desk all day doing math. I would probably die of boredom after a week. Why would you want to go into something like that, anyway?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Seemed like good money, and I don¡¯t mind math, so¡­I thought it would be kind of cool.¡±


    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s money you¡¯re after, you¡¯d be insane to do anything other than what you¡¯re doing now.¡± Alice said wryly. ¡°Might not transfer to here the best, but I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve already noticed how unusually high your income is.¡±


    Tess scratched the back of her neck embarrassedly. ¡°Yeah, I was kind of made aware of that when I got those cores the other week. Feels almost unfair, to tell you the truth.¡±


    Fortune: It is, that¡¯s kind of the point


    Death: Speaking of unfair drops, could I borrow Tess for a bit?


    Life: What could you possibly want that she could get for you?


    Death: I¡¯ve been grinding for a drop in one of the MMOs I play and I¡¯ve gone like¡­four times the drop rate without getting one and I¡¯m getting sick of it


    Life: You cannot be seriously suggesting using a Blessing to cheat at a video game.


    Death: It¡¯s not my fault they don¡¯t have a way of accounting for Luck, so it¡¯s not cheating, it¡¯s just¡­abusing a loophole


    Ellie: This game is from Mael, isn¡¯t it


    Death: ¡­Maybe. What¡¯s your point?


    Ellie: Then, technically, it is your fault that they don¡¯t know about stats and stuff


    Death: Nonono you can¡¯t pin that on me that decision goes all the way up to Amy, and we¡¯re in the process of fixing that right now


    Fortune: Is account sharing even allowed according to the game¡¯s rules?


    Death: Well, yes, but actually no. Years ago, when the game started, it was, but nowadays everyone does it and no one bats an eye. The devs know and everything, they just haven¡¯t gotten around to messing with the rules¡­I think. I haven¡¯t checked for a few years


    Tess: How would you even account for high Luck, anyway? Shouldn¡¯t it theoretically go through whatever measures they put in place?


    Fortune: We¡¯ve introduced a sort of formula that can be used to calculate someone¡¯s Luck, all they have to do is consent to the formula being used and it just spits out their Luck. TBH, the formula doesn¡¯t actually work, it¡¯s more a¡­shortcut that just tells the system to spit out that person¡¯s Luck, but since it relies on random number generation no one can actually do the math to verify it by hand.


    Death: Anyway, they just use the Luck they ¡°calculate¡± to adjust the drop rates so everyone has a relatively equal chance to get things¡­not that it would affect you. Anyway, you in or not?


    Life: I do not believe this is a productive use of her time. She and Ellie still need to be preparing for their debut as Appointed.


    Death: ¡­Fine.


    Tess: Tell you what, you keep grinding and if you still haven¡¯t got it by the time we¡¯ve debuted, then I¡¯ll help you get it


    Death: Score!


    Tess: Keep track of those numbers, though. Have Life take a look at them, and I¡¯ll compare what he has now to what you have then, just to make sure you¡¯ve been doing it


    Death: Yeah, I can work with that.


    Tess drew her attention away from the window and to the rest of the group, who were looking at her with an amused expression. ¡°Uh¡­sorry.¡± She said, blushing. ¡°Fortune kind of stole my attention away for a bit and then Death started talking and¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure she was.¡± A voice drawled. ¡°Do you have any last words?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tess replied, flabbergasted. She turned to find a girl approaching her. She was¡­vaguely familiar, and it took Tess a moment to realize that it was that same girl who had confronted her and Ellie about their relationship when Tess had returned to school.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡­don¡¯t understand.¡± Tess said. ¡°Last words before I never see you again? Uh¡­leave me alone?¡±


    The girl smiled a mirthless smile. ¡°No, last words before I set the Hunter on you. We¡¯re going to give you one chance to leave and never return, so make your choice.¡±


    Tess blinked. ¡°A Hunter? The church hasn¡¯t used Hunters in hundreds of years. What are you on about?¡±


    Death: Nah they¡¯re still around. You see, weak monsters do actually pop up from time to time. People have this innate potential for magic, and when that¡¯s blocked like it is here¡­well, let¡¯s just say it¡¯s handy to have some people who know how to deal with them discretely. Don¡¯t worry too much, you¡¯re like¡­way stronger than any Hunter has ever been, they¡¯re like¡­novice freelancers in terms of stats and have no actual Skills. Now that this idiot has warned you one¡¯s coming, you¡¯re in basically no danger. Shouldn¡¯t even need Worship to deal with her


    The girl grinned. ¡°As you well know, monsters are quite real, and so the Hunters remained. You can still find them, if you know where to look for them, and a few people in the community know where to look. Choose. Now¡±


    There was a barely concealed snicker from Eyfura, causing the girl to look over at the others for the first time. ¡°I don¡¯t know who you people are, but I would suggest clearing out. I¡¯m guessing things are about to get ugly, and I would rather no more innocents get hurt because of this¡­thing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± Eyfura said lazily, still smiling slightly. Ava and Atum were much the same way, and Gramps was scanning the surrounding area carefully, muttering what Tess could only assume to be a spell.


    Alice, on the other hand, was fuming. She looked like she was about to storm over and deck the girl there and then, but Jin laid a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Ellie says she¡¯ll be fine.¡± He said quietly, giving Alice a meaningful look. ¡°Best not stir up any more trouble.¡±


    Alice harumphed. ¡°Fine. I¡¯m gonna keep watch, though, just in case.¡±


    Tess just shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not going to leave. I haven¡¯t done anything wrong.¡±


    The girl gave a shrug. ¡°Very well. Farewell, monster, you should have left when you had the chance.¡± She whirled around and stormed off, leaving the group alone.


    Tess didn¡¯t waste any time, activating Tremorsense (Perfect) and Enhanced Hearing (Perfect). She had been training with Tremorsense over the past few weeks, and she had more or less become able to use it without getting too distracted by all the new information. It wasn¡¯t at the level where she was totally comfortable keeping it on in a combat scenario, but this was, apparently, not going to be much of a threat.


    And, there she was. About a hundred feet away, mixed in with the crowd, there was a short woman who had a lot of concealed weaponry beneath her clothes, and she was making her way towards Tess. Tess waited, and, once the Hunter was within thirty or so feet, Tess turned and stared directly at her.


    The Hunter froze, locking eyes with Tess. There was a tense moment as the two stared, and then the Hunter began to carefully approach the group. When she was about ten feet away, she stopped.


    ¡°My apologies.¡± She said. ¡°I am afraid this is my duty as a Hunter. I hold no personal grudge, but order must be maintained.¡± She reached into a pocket, and Tess could feel her taking out some sort of¡­gun loaded with a dart.


    ¡°Enough.¡± Tess turned to see Pastor Faust striding towards the Hunter. ¡°The girl has done nothing that warrants this treatment.¡± She said. ¡°And she¡¯s a devout follower of Life and Death. I¡¯ve known her since she was a child, surely you can leave her be?¡±


    The Hunter wavered for a moment, then whipped out the dart gun and shot. Tess threw herself to the side, but the Hunter was fast, and managed to land a shot into Tess¡¯s thigh. Tess braced herself, waiting for whatever poison was coating the dart to take effect¡­but it never did.


    The Hunter sighed to herself, putting the gun away and taking out a small but vicious-looking knife. ¡°She must be a changeling.¡± The Hunter said, not looking at Pastor Faust. ¡°Normal people don¡¯t sprout claws and tear through metal doors.¡±


    Pastor Faust floundered. ¡°That can¡¯t be, I¡­as the head of the church in this region, I¡¯ve had her thoroughly inspected. She was deemed to be safe to let stay in society. I don¡¯t know what fringe group told you about her, but they¡¯ve greatly exaggerated things.¡±


    The Hunter looked up at Pastor Faust for the first time. ¡°Pastor, with all due respect, I can¡¯t exactly take the word of a branch this small. You may believe it¡¯s safe, but I¡¯ve met my share of monsters that could fool a pastor. The girl you knew is long dead, this is just something wearing her face.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Pastor Faust said firmly, putting herself between the Hunter and Tess, ¡°she¡¯s not. I would stake my life on that. She may be¡­less than ordinary, but the girl I know is still very much there, and I would go so far as to say that she¡¯s better for our community than whomever alerted you to her.¡±


    The Hunter gave Pastor Faust a pitying look. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it has you under its spell. This may hurt a little, but when you wake up, you¡¯ll be all better.¡± She stepped forward, pulling a syringe out of her coat, before bringing it down on Pastor Faust.


    Or, she would have, had Tess not intercepted the syringe with a claw, neatly slicing it in two. ¡°At the very least,¡± Tess said, ¡°can we leave the innocents out of this? I would really rather not fight, but if we have to, then you and I should be the only ones involved.¡±


    Death: Wait actually I got this let me try something


    There was the sudden sensation of something washing over Tess, and the Hunter¡­stopped, looking up at Tess with wonder. ¡°I feel¡­my¡­goddess?¡± She whispered. ¡°But¡­that can¡¯t¡­you¡¯re a¡­¡±


    Death: Sick, it worked. Do me a favor and ask her to be at the church at 11 PM sharp. I think I might want to give a little¡­divine revelation. It would be handy to have a Hunter about, so we don¡¯t get a bunch of them trying to put a stop to things. I¡¯ll feed her something that won¡¯t totally blow our cover


    Tess nodded, straightening a little and looking the Hunter dead in the eyes. ¡°Be at the church at eleven PM tonight.¡± She said. ¡°You might find some answers then.¡±


    With that, she turned around and walked towards her group. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She said. ¡°I don¡¯t think it would be wise to stay much longer.¡±


    ¡°Evan put up a barrier that prevented people from noticing what was going on here, but I think you¡¯re right.¡± Ava said. ¡°Alice looks like she¡¯s about to tear someone¡¯s head off.¡±


    Tess looked at Alice, who was silently fuming, then back at Ava. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯d rather not spend any more time here than I need to, anyway.¡±


    Gramps gave them a nod. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get going, then, before traffic gets too bad.¡±


    And so, they did, packing into a couple of cars and heading back to Tess¡¯s house. When they got back, Tess was surprised to find that streamers had been hung in the kitchen, and there were a few celebratory balloons floating about. Furthermore, there was a cake on the counter, and Gramps seemed to be fetching party favors out of the fridge.


    ¡°I thought we¡¯d have a little party to celebrate your graduation.¡± He said. ¡°Things might not have gone great at the ceremony itself, but I don¡¯t see any reason why we can¡¯t have a little fun of our own. What do you say?¡±


    ¡°I think that sounds¡­good.¡± Tess said. ¡°Just so long as I¡¯m not being attacked, it¡¯s fine by me.¡±


    Ellie giggled. ¡°Oh, I might attack you later, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s what you meant.¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°N-not in front of everyone!¡± She said. ¡°That¡¯s embarrassing.¡±


    Ellie laughed, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and giving it a little squeeze. ¡°Couldn¡¯t resist, sorry.¡±


    Gramps gave them a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s kick this thing into gear, then!¡±


    Fighterman481


    Mostly with Pastor Faust, getting to show her a bit more. And, if you''re wondering why she''d throw down her life to protect Tess, aside from being a good person who basically raised Tess for a month or two, she also knows that Tess is like...important to Life and Death and wouldn''t want to risk something happening.


    Would Life and Death probably save her? Yes, but, as far as Pastor Faust is concerned, that saving might come in the form of Pastor Faust, so that''s no excuse not to try her best. Plus, Hunters aren''t known for wanton slaughter to get at a target, that kinda defeats the point.


    ¡­Not that people IRL bothered with that, but maybe sometimes things are nicer in fiction.


    Anyway, next time...well, I''m debating between two options and we''ll see which one wins out. So it''s a surprise, look forward to it, I guess?


    And, as always, thanks for reading!


    Edit: Just realized I totally forgot to mention my side project finally has enough chapters to launch here on SH, and I''ve been doing so these past few days. Check it out if you want:

 Chapter 58: Planning for a Debut

    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s not dead!¡± The man in front of Marie shouted, banging his fist on the table.


    Marie, the Hunter, sighed, pushing his fist away. ¡°I mean I won¡¯t be killing her.¡± She said. It was something of a relief, if she was being honest. Human-looking monsters were always emotionally taxing to kill, but even more than that¡­she felt like she couldn¡¯t kill the girl.


    The girl just had this air about her, and even when Marie had been about to shoot her, there was an odd sort of¡­confidence about her, like she wasn¡¯t afraid of whatever Marie could do. Most monsters, even the tougher ones Marie had fought, showed at least some fear, but not this girl. And then, when those claws came out¡­


    Marie shuddered a little as she recalled it. The girl had gone from unusual to terrifying in an instant. Marie had seen her share of nasty claws over her career, but those were something else; they made the claws of even a dire bear look like toothpicks. And the look in her eyes¡­Marie could tell the girl had more than one easy way to kill or disable her, and she was just trying to figure out what would draw the least attention.


    ¡°Why not!¡± The man cried, gesturing at the shell-shocked teenager to his side, the one who had confronted the girl back at the graduation. ¡°It¡¯s traumatized my girl, and the whole community lives in fear of it! This is your job, so do it!¡±


    Marie shook her head. ¡°No. My job is to deliver death to things that would break the order of the world, things that should not be. Whatever she is, that girl is not one of them.¡± Or, if she was, then she was breaking order that the gods wanted broken. Marie had never in her life felt the presence of Death as strong as she had on that girl, and the pastor had seemed to agree.


    The man growled. ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll deal with it ourselves.¡± He stood up, but Marie laid a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from storming off.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t, if I were you.¡± She said, giving him an even stare. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with her, and I¡¯m the best in the business. Attempting to do so is just going to end with you getting hurt.¡±


    The man grit his teeth. ¡°What do we do, then? Just let it continue to terrorize the town?¡±


    Marie shrugged. ¡°To be honest, from what I¡¯ve gathered, there¡¯s no concrete evidence of her doing anything strange without being provoked, so my advice is to just not poke the bear. If she wanted to actually hurt people, she would have done so by now.¡±


    ¡°But, my congregation¨C¡±


    ¡°Is not under my purview.¡± Marie said, cutting him off. ¡°The only reason I came is because I sensed a potential threat to the good people of this town, and I have decided that there is no threat. I did not come because the leader of some fundamentalist fringe movement wanted me to. My loyalties are to the gods and their church, and if you¡¯re going to stir up fear in your congregation, that¡¯s none of my business.


    ¡°The official stance of the church here is that there is nothing to be worried about, and I intend to follow their direction.¡± She turned to leave, paused, then turned back to the teenager. ¡°You.¡± She said.


    ¡°Y-yes?¡± The girl squeaked.


    ¡°A word of warning, stop poking your head into other people¡¯s business.¡± She said. ¡°Life teaches that everyone has the right to choose what they believe and how to put that into practice. Death will judge them when She comes for them, there is no need to do so in this life. You¡¯re only going to get yourself into trouble if you continue down this path.¡±


    She paused, then continued. ¡°I would also strongly recommend a careful examination of your beliefs. Are they something you believe, or something you believe because your father tells you to believe in them?¡±


    The girl gave her a meek nod, but her father had other ideas. ¡°Don¡¯t speak to my daughter that way!¡± He exclaimed, outraged. ¡°Why, I oughta¡­¡±


    Marie gave him a glare. ¡°I am merely repeating the words of the gods, if you have issue with that, then I would suggest reading the scriptures more closely. Furthermore, if your daughter chooses not to believe in your teachings after careful thought, that says more about your teachings than it does anything else.¡± She turned and strode out of the building, ignoring the protests of the man.


    She got in her car and drove to the church. She was a few hours early, yes, but she wanted some time to meditate and prepare herself for the words of the goddess.


    Marie¡¯s meditation was interrupted by a knock on her door. ¡°Um, Marie?¡± A voice said. ¡°It¡¯s almost eleven.¡±


    Marie opened the door to the private room she was in to find Pastor Faust outside, looking nervous. ¡°Apologies for my rough treatment earlier.¡± Marie said. ¡°I was truly under the belief that the girl was dangerous, I hope you can forgive me for questioning your judgement.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Pastor Faust replied. ¡°I understand. I have cleared the Holy Room, would you like me to lead you there?¡±


    Marie nodded. ¡°That would be much appreciated.¡±


    The two walked in silence as they made their way to the Holy Room. Eventually, they reached the door, which Pastor Faust opened for Marie. ¡°I will wait outside.¡± She said.


    No. Marie jumped as Death¡¯s voice rang out in her head, rooting deep into her subconscious and making it abundantly clear that it was Death speaking. It would be best if you hear this too.


    ¡°Yes, my goddess.¡± Pastor Faust replied, stepping into the Holy Room. Marie followed, and Pastor Faust shut the door behind them.


    Thank you for coming here. Death said. You had an encounter with one of my servants today, and, as a result, I have decided to give you new instructions.


    Marie dropped to her knees. ¡°I am at your command, my goddess.¡±


    Great changes will be coming to this world, and this town is soon to become the focal point for them. Numerous strange events will occur, and, as some of my chosen servants, that girl and her family will be at the heart of most.


    I need you to let these events happen, and to keep the rest of the Hunters satisfied that all is well here. I will contact the leadership, of course, but should a Hunter choose to come here anyway, I will need you to deal with them.


    Do not engage in conflict with the girl or her family. They wield power far beyond what is normal for this world, and to fight them would only result in your ruin. Furthermore, they are to be considered as my instruments at all times. Should they ask you to do something, I expect you to do it without question.


    And that is all. But, before I go, as thanks for your service, I will allow you one question. Ask, and I will answer should it be something mortals are allowed to know.


    Marie pondered that for a moment. ¡°Why choose me? Surely there are better Hunters for this job. I¡¯m¡­not the best with people.¡±


    There was a short pause. But you are strong. Though you may not be the best with people, you are someone they can look to for security in times of danger. That is why you were chosen.


    ¡°I¡­understand. Thank you, my goddess.¡±


    And with that, the holy presence that had filled the room withdrew, leaving only Marie and Pastor Faust.


    Marie slowly looked up at Pastor Faust. ¡°Might I ask for a room? I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m suddenly in need of semi-permanent lodgings here.¡±


    Tess was getting ready for bed when she received a message from Death.


    Death: Alright I¡¯ve dealt with the situation. The Hunter, Marie, is going to be hanging about here for a while. I¡¯ve told her not to bug you guys and to try and keep the other Hunters off your back, so that should deal with that issue. Oh, and she¡¯s supposed to listen to whatever you guys say, so if you need her for something feel free to ask her.


    Tess: Thanks, I appreciate it


    Death: Don¡¯t mention it, just doing my job


    Fortune: Speaking of, we need to get you and Ellie ready for your debuts. Think you can stop by tomorrow and we¡¯ll talk?


    Tess: Yeah, I don¡¯t think we have anything in particular going on. How long do you think it¡¯s gonna take? I just wanna let Alice and Ava know so they know when to show up for training


    Fortune: Dunno, an hour or two?


    Tess: Got it. I¡¯ll let them know to meet me at noon, then, and then I can stop by your place at like¡­ten, provided Ellie¡¯s fine with that.


    Ellie: Sounds good to me. Weren¡¯t we supposed to start training together with Maven tomorrow, though?


    Tess: Oh, yeah. Um¡­I think I have her phone number somewhere, I¡¯ll let her know.


    Ellie: Cool. Should we just have Grandpa teleport us in or¡­?


    Life: Come to the church¡¯s Holy Room, Death and I will teleport you in from there.


    Tess: Alright, talk to you then, I guess.


    Death: Yeah, ¡®till then. I¡¯m gonna go work on getting that drop, later!


    Tess nodded to herself, set her alarm, texted Alice and Maven, then climbed into bed. The next morning, she and Ellie made their way to the church, where they knocked on the on-duty priest¡¯s door.


    To Tess¡¯s surprise, Marie opened the door. ¡°How may I help¡­¡± She trailed off, staring at Tess and Ellie. ¡°Oh. Um¡­my apologies for yesterday, miss Los. I was unaware of your circumstances and was out of line.¡±


    Tess blinked. ¡°No, it¡¯s cool, you were just doing your job. Um, Ellie and I need to get into the Holy Room, we have¡­business there. Can you let Pastor Faust know?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Marie said. ¡°Please step inside while I fetch her.¡± She motioned towards the inside of the room, where a couple of chairs were set out. Tess and Ellie walked in and took a seat, closing the door behind them.


    Marie left the room, and returned a few minutes later with Pastor Faust in tow.


    ¡°I¡¯ve cleared the Holy Room for you girls.¡± Pastor Faust said, giving them a smile. ¡°How long do you need it for?¡±


    ¡°Up to a couple of hours.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°We¡¯re not exactly sure yet. We¡¯ll let you know when we¡¯re finished, though.¡±


    ¡°Take as much time as you need.¡± Pastor Faust replied. ¡°We have no pressing need to use it, so we can wait for however long it takes.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Ellie said, standing up. ¡°Also, uh, sorry, I know this is pretty sudden, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Your business is far more important than our prayer, everyone here understands. Besides, we can occasionally feel the presence of the gods linger after you or your grandfather leave, it is an honor to have you use our facilities.¡±


    ¡°Ah, really?¡± Ellie said. ¡°That¡¯s good, then. Uh, could you lead us to the Holy Room? I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s been a bit and I don¡¯t remember the exact path.¡±


    ¡°Of course. This way, please.¡±


    Marie stayed behind as Pastor Faust took them to the Holy Room. Pastor Faust dropped them off in front of the room, and the two walked inside. The moment the door was shut, they were enveloped in a flash of light, and then they were in the realm of the gods.


    ¡°Yo!¡± Death said. ¡°Good to see you. Come take a seat and we can get started.¡±


    Life, Death, and Fortune were all in chairs across from a small loveseat, waiting expectantly. Once Tess and Ellie were seated, Fortune began to speak. ¡°So, honestly, there aren¡¯t any hard and fast rules for debuts, but the general idea is to make some sort of big public appearance so that everyone knows you¡¯re a thing.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°So, what did you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m not entirely sure.¡± Fortune replied. ¡°It¡¯s not like there are any super visible gambling scams that you could bust in and stop, and I was sorta hoping to have you debut together with Ellie, so that wouldn¡¯t really work either.¡±


    ¡°Crime is at an all-time low in the Outlands, so there isn¡¯t some murderer you two can bust there, though I believe I could find a high profile one in one of the other planes if you want.¡± Death said. ¡°Though I¡¯d honestly prefer if it was something to do with the Outlands, since that¡¯s much more of a¡­neutral area and word will get out to everywhere faster.¡±


    Tess thought about that, stroking her chin contemplatively. ¡°Could we like¡­appear right before the expedition leaves, offer our goodwill or something?¡±


    ¡°I think you might be on to something.¡± Life said. ¡°There will be a lot of reporters there, people tend to turn out to watch expeditions go. Plus, it will raise the expedition¡¯s morale. I think it¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    ¡°Right, so, if we¡¯re doing that, what do we need to do?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Like, during the debut itself.¡±


    ¡°For you in particular, not much.¡± Death said. ¡°Mostly just be there to let people know you¡¯re around. People in planes other than Mael don¡¯t really have many dealings with Life and I, so we just want it known that you¡¯ll be in their way if they get any ideas about Mael.¡±


    ¡°And Tess, you¡¯ve got a bit more to do, but really not that much.¡± Fortune added. ¡°Basically, you¡¯ll just need to say that you¡¯re going to be auditing my church and then work on reforming gambling. Shouldn¡¯t be more than like, two minutes.¡±


    ¡°The both of you will be wearing recognition-scrambling items like the one Tess¡¯s uniform has.¡± Life said. ¡°And Tess will, of course, be in full uniform for this.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and I was actually kinda hoping you could pretend to be a rabbitkin.¡± Fortune said. ¡°I¡¯ll get you a core with the Trait later, but I feel the rabbit parts just¡­complete the aesthetic, you know? You don¡¯t have to if you don¡¯t want to, though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine with that.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Doesn¡¯t really make much of a difference to me.¡±


    ¡°Awesome.¡± Fortune replied.


    ¡°Um¡­will I need a uniform or anything?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°I was thinking that like¡­black robes would work fine for now.¡± Death said. ¡°We can get you some fancy plate armor or something later.¡±


    ¡°Actually, let¡¯s get her some decorative plate armor now. That way people won¡¯t wonder what the robe was later on.¡± Life interjected. ¡°I¡¯m sure Kane can whip something up in time if it doesn¡¯t have any effects.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Death replied. ¡°Does that sound good to you, Ellie?¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Sounds great.¡±


    ¡°Good. Oh, and, just so you know, you¡¯re probably gonna have to do a separate debut on Mael. That¡¯s going to come later, though, so don¡¯t worry about it too much right now.¡±


    ¡°I figured as much.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°We¡¯ll cross that bridge when we get to it.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Fortune said. ¡°So, shall we get to discussing specifics or¡­?


    ¡°Sure.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Might as well, since we¡¯re all here.¡±


    And so, they spent the next hour or so fine-tuning how exactly Tess and Ellie would debut, after which the two were returned to the Holy Room. They left, only to find Marie waiting for them outside.


    ¡°May I speak with the two of you?¡± She asked politely. ¡°After you let the pastor know you¡¯ve finished, of course.¡±


    Tess hesitated, then nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± She said. ¡°Just so long as you don¡¯t attack me again.¡±


    ¡°I will never attack you again unless you wish it.¡± Marie said firmly. ¡°It would not only go against the wishes of my goddess, it would be tantamount to suicide. I¡¯m not that foolish a person.¡±


    Tess raised an eyebrow. ¡°Very well, then. I¡¯m assuming you¡¯d like to talk in private?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I will show you to the pastor, then I thought we could talk in my chambers.¡±


    ¡°Lead the way.¡± Ellie said. Marie took them through the church to Pastor Faust¡¯s room, where Ellie let her know they had finished with the Holy Room, then they went to a small room at the back of the building, presumably where Marie was sleeping.


    ¡°First, let me introduce myself.¡± Marie said. ¡°I am Marie, senior Hunter. I¡­was hoping I could ask you a couple of questions. I understand if you¡¯re not at liberty to discuss everything, but as someone who is going to be working with you, I would like as much information as you¡¯re willing to give me.¡±


    Tess paused. ¡°There are many things we cannot say, but I suppose I have no reason to hold back anything we can tell you. Ask away.¡±


    ¡°What¡­are you?¡± Marie asked. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything quite like those claws, and I heard rumors claiming that you cut through a metal door with no apparent effort. Is that true?¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°I did cut through a metal door, yeah. As for what I am¡­well, there isn¡¯t really a word for it, but human is the closest there is, believe it or not. At the very least, I used to be completely human. Then¡­well, things happened.¡±


    Marie frowned. ¡°I¡­see. Second, can you teach me anything about fighting? I¡¯m positive those claws aren¡¯t the only trick up your sleeve, and I¡¯m always looking to better myself in whatever ways are possible.¡±


    ¡°Actually, you¡¯re probably better than me.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°In terms of skill, anyway. I¡¯m still relatively new to everything, I just have¡­circumstances. My way of fighting really isn¡¯t compatible with normal people anyway, so I wouldn¡¯t be of much help to you even if I were more skilled.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that makes sense.¡± Marie admitted. ¡°Last, would you be willing to let me know in advance when supernatural events are about to occur? I would like to be on top of things in case I¡¯m needed.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can do that.¡± Tess said. ¡°Do you have a cellphone?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Marie replied, taking out a phone. ¡°Would you like my number?¡±


    ¡°Please. Ellie or I will text you when things are about to go down.¡± Tess stopped, realizing she hadn¡¯t introduced herself. ¡°Oh, right, I¡¯m Tess, and this is Ellie. We¡¯re both working for the gods, so¡­yeah.¡±


    ¡°A pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡± Marie said.


    ¡°I¡­suppose it is.¡± Ellie said. ¡°What¡¯s that number?¡±


    Marie gave them the phone number, and Tess and Ellie both sent her a message, so she had theirs.


    ¡°Alright, anything else, or can we get going?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°No, that is all. Thank you for your time.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­goodbye, then.¡± Tess said, and she and Ellie retreated from the room and back to Ellie¡¯s car, then headed back to their house. It was, finally, time to start their careers in earnest.


    Fighterman481


    Anyway, we''re getting close to the beginning of Tess and Ellie''s work proper! Much of that is going to occur after their debut, and that''s still a few chapters away, but there are still a couple of things that will be done in the meantime.


    Which, I guess is what we''ll be getting into next time, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 59: Together Again

    ¡°Sorry for the wait.¡± Tess said, opening the door to the private room where everyone was meeting. ¡°We were just working things out, you know how it is.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I do.¡± Alice said, a faintly amused expression on her face. ¡°I don¡¯t think¡­how¡¯d you put it in your text¡­¡®stopping by Fortune¡¯s place for an hour or two to talk with her¡¯ is normal.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Um, well¡­you understand, though, right?¡± Tess asked.


    Alice chuckled. ¡°Yes, I understand. I¡¯m just teasing.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Good.¡± Tess replied. ¡°So¡­what¡¯s the plan, then?¡±


    Jin stepped forward. ¡°Well, we¡¯re going to be training the three of you as a group.¡± He said. ¡°And we think you¡¯re about at the point where you can handle Jagged Cliffs, one of the city¡¯s two mid-level dungeons.¡±


    Maven blinked in surprise. ¡°That¡¯s¡­for people level thirty five-ish, right?¡± She said warily. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be trying something¡­closer to our level if we¡¯re not boosting?¡±


    Ker shook his head. ¡°No. You all are roughly level thirty, and given what I know about your abilities, you should be able to handle this. It¡¯ll be a challenge, yes, but it¡¯s one that you three can take.¡±


    ¡°Of course, we¡¯ll be there to keep an eye on you.¡± Ava said reassuringly. ¡°If it ever looks like you¡¯re going to die, we¡¯ll step in and save you. Hopefully it shouldn¡¯t come to that, but it¡¯s possible, so we¡¯ll be vigilant.¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Alright. So, should we get going now, or...is there anything we need to do first?¡±


    ¡°This dungeon is a little different.¡± Jin said. ¡°We¡¯re going to need to prepare for it a bit more than the others. We¡¯re going to want to head down, get an information pamphlet, and then we¡¯re going to have the three of you decide what you¡¯ll need. We already have everything we need on hand, so you won¡¯t need to worry about actually getting it, but we want you to get used to preparing.¡±


    ¡°Sounds sensible.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Let¡¯s get going, then.¡±


    With that, the group went out to the guild¡¯s main hall, which, while busy, was much less busy than it normally was earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon. That meant that the personal receptionist line was empty, so they walked up to the counter and waited for Graham.


    About half a minute later, Graham made his way to the desk, giving them all a smile. ¡°Big group today. What can I do for you all?¡±


    ¡°We want the information packet for Jagged Cliffs, as well as to officially accept the standing request for clearing it.¡± Jin explained.


    Graham raised an eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re having them take that on already? Impressive. Give me a moment to go grab that for you.¡± He stood up from the chair he had sat in, bending down so he could access the drawers below. He rummaged around for a few moments before coming back up with a pamphlet, which he handed to Jin. ¡°Looks like that request¡¯s reward is five gold right now, I¡¯ve gone ahead and updated your bands with that. Anything else I can do for you?¡±


    Jin shook his head. ¡°No, thank you very much.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Graham said, waving a hand dismissively. ¡°Best of luck out there!¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Graham.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯ll see you around, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°See you later!¡±


    The group retreated from the desk, and made their way back to the private room. Jin handed Ellie the packet, and she opened it and began to read. ¡°So¡­it looks like, as the name suggests, the dungeon is a bunch of cliffs. Unlike the dungeons we¡¯ve been going to, there are some levels in it that are like¡­vertical, and we need to mountaineer up.¡±


    ¡°I can work with that pretty easily.¡± Tess said. ¡°I can just walk straight up. But we¡¯ll probably need climbing gear for you two, ropes¡­uh I don¡¯t know what else you need for climbing, but climbing stuff.¡±


    ¡°Hold on for a second.¡± Maven said. ¡°You can just walk up?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, when I was clearing the dungeon that I got Silky from, all the spiders had this Trait called Spiderclimb that lets me just climb up walls. I¡¯ve kept it on just in case.¡± To prove her point, Tess got out of her seat and moved over to the edge of the room, where she placed her feet on the wall and walked up.


    It was a bit of an odd sensation. She felt like gravity should be pushing against her body at every step, but it just¡­didn¡¯t. In fact, it felt like gravity was pushing her against the wall, not the floor. She had asked Fortune about it once, and Fortune had told her that gravity actually was pushing her against the wall.


    ¡°Gravity doesn¡¯t actually use the formula you¡¯ve been taught.¡± Fortune explained. ¡°Well, it does, but that whole ¡®gravitational constant¡¯ isn¡¯t a constant. It¡¯s a value that¡¯s dependent on a bunch of other things, the biggest of which are Mana and a value that we set for every plane, so the main planets all have roughly the same gravity as the main planets of other planes.


    ¡°And¡­well, you¡¯re kinda really really similar to a monster in a lot of ways? Basically, that Trait works by stimulating its user¡¯s background Mana, so it changes gravity to pull them towards the wall. Not your active Mana pool, the stuff you can¡¯t normally use, the stuff that¡¯s always flowing through you to make you¡­work. And most people don¡¯t have enough of that, but you have about as much as a monster now, so¡­it just works.¡±


    Tess walked up onto the ceiling, then sat down. ¡°It¡¯s not perfect, though. If all my body parts lose contact with the wall, then I just fall off completely.¡±


    Maven stared up at her curiously. ¡°How long can you keep that up for?¡±


    ¡°Forever?¡± Tess said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t use Mana or Stamina, no more than regular walking does.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Maven began, ¡°stuff like this usually costs Stamina, right?¡±


    Tess thought that over for a second. ¡°To make a long story short, I qualify as a monster for things like this. I¡¯m using the monster version of the ability, not the person version.¡±


    ¡°Surprised me at first too, but I¡¯ve come to find that it¡¯s pretty safe to assume she¡¯s using monster stuff if the ability is¡­unusual.¡± Alice said. ¡°And they generally don¡¯t have the costs that people versions have. Like everything else with that Class of hers, it¡¯s kind of super unfair.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll say.¡± Maven replied, watching as Tess got up and walked down the wall and back to her seat. ¡°Seems useful, though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it is.¡± Tess said. ¡°I figure I can act as like¡­an anchor for us. Like, I¡¯ll be the one in the lead, and then we¡¯ll all be tied together by rope, and then if one of us falls I can help keep us on the wall.¡±


    ¡°Are you strong enough for that?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I¡¯m going to start wearing plate armor, and that¡¯s kinda super heavy. I don¡¯t want to pull anyone off because I got swatted off by a monster.¡±


    Tess hesitated. ¡°Um¡­worst case scenario I cast some flight magic or something. It¡¯d take most of my Mana, but I can probably carry you until you can get back to safety.¡±


    Ellie pondered that for a moment, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. ¡°Actually, let me try something real quick.¡± Four translucent, wickedly sharp blades popped into existence, orbiting gently around Ellie. They didn¡¯t stay blades for long, however, as they stretched and widened to an appearance that looked more like a long, rectangular beam. The four ¡°blades¡± fit themselves neatly together, forming a sort of floating platform, which Ellie stepped onto.


    ¡°Sick.¡± She said. ¡°Can this take me up, too?¡± A moment later the platform began to rise, though its ascent was much slower than its formation. ¡°Alright, not very fast, but it can.¡±


    Then the platform moved to the side, unceremoniously dropping Ellie to the floor. She managed to land on her feet, but teetered a bit, nearly falling over. ¡°Okay, maybe I tried to get a little too fancy a little too fast.¡± She said, a chagrined expression on her face. The platform separated and the components turned back into blades, which began to orbit Ellie once more before they vanished completely.


    ¡°I did not have nearly as much traction as I thought I did.¡± She explained. ¡°So¡­for now it looks like it¡¯s only a up and down thing, but I can probably catch myself with it if things get too dicey. Which¡­just leaves Maven, I guess.¡±


    Maven flapped her wings. ¡°I can fly.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s tiring, but no more than climbing would be. A fair bit easier, too. Tess, you have those¡­attendants you¡¯re calling them, yes? Will they be fine?¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Isabella mostly stays inside of me, and Silky can climb walls like me. Even if she couldn¡¯t, I recently gave her wings, so she¡¯s totally fine.¡± She reached into a pocket and took Silky out. ¡°Wanna show them?¡±


    Silky saluted. Yes, ma¡¯am! She replied, and part of her back that had been covered in glossy carapace split open to reveal two beetle wings, which Silky used to fly around for a bit before returning to Tess¡¯s hand.


    Apparently not wanting to be left out, Isabella drifted outside of Tess. ¡°I¡­can fly too.¡± She said, rising a few feet in the air. ¡°And I can catch mistress if she falls.¡± And, having said her piece, she floated back into Tess, leaving the room silent for a moment.


    ¡°So¡­I suppose that¡¯s the climbing taken care of.¡± Tess said. ¡°Are we missing anything?¡±


    ¡°I want some gear just in case.¡± Ellie said. ¡°For if we need to move sideways. I¡¯m not confident I can get the hang of doing that in the next¡­twenty minutes or however long it¡¯s going to be before we go to the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°A wise decision.¡± Ker said. ¡°Fortunately, climbing isn¡¯t as hard as it is on Mael. We have magic items that let you cling to walls much easier, so you shouldn¡¯t need anything too crazy. Just some good rope and something to make handholds, but those swords or Tess¡¯s claws should more than suffice for that.¡±


    ¡°What else does the packet say?¡± Tess asked.


    Ellie opened the packet back up. ¡°It¡¯s apparently cold. Like¡­well, like climbing a mountain. And a bunch of the levels have snow or fog or other environmental effects on them. It seems¡­nasty.¡±


    Maven frowned. ¡°I¡¯ll say. What are the monsters like?¡±


    Ellie flipped through the packet for a bit. ¡°Not bad, actually. There apparently aren¡¯t as many as there are in most dungeons, and while they¡¯re at the dungeon¡¯s level, they don¡¯t seem to have any crazy abilities or anything. Honestly, it kind of seems like the environment itself is the biggest challenge here.¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± Jin confirmed. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean you can ignore the monsters. They¡¯re weak on paper, but they¡¯re not affected by the environment whatsoever. They¡¯re a lot harder to deal with when you can¡¯t see more than ten feet in front of you and you¡¯re in the middle of scaling a mountain.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°So¡­we¡¯ll want really warm clothing, probably some goggles or something, and¡­snow boots, maybe? I¡¯m not sure how that¡¯s going to work with armor.¡±


    ¡°Not well.¡± Alice replied, grimacing. ¡°I have a hand-me-down set I can give to Ellie, it has some enchantments that help you walk in snow and sand and stuff. Temperature control, too, so that should settle her.¡±


    ¡°My armor has temperature control too.¡± Maven said. ¡°So, that will be no issue. I would like an extra set of climbing gear, however. I don¡¯t want to risk flying if the storm gets bad.¡±


    ¡°We can arrange it.¡± Jin replied. ¡°How about you, Tess?¡±


    ¡°My armor will get some temperature control effects later, but it doesn¡¯t have them yet.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯ve only unlocked the first effect, so I¡¯ve still got quite a ways to go before I get it, too.¡±


    ¡°Less of a ways than you think, actually.¡± Ava corrected. ¡°The armor¡¯s designed to hit full effectiveness when you hit level forty, so my guess is you¡¯ll get that effect sometime around level thirty-five or so. Until then, you can probably get away with just wearing heavy winter clothing, since you don¡¯t need to worry about monsters targeting you.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there a magic item that will keep me warm?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I think Atum mentioned he had one.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re usually built into clothing.¡± Alice explained. ¡°I got a hoodie for you that¡¯ll provide that effect for your whole body without being too bulky.¡±


    Maven shot her a surprised look. ¡°That¡¯s pretty expensive, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say your armor has temperature control?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but that¡¯s different. My armor has gloves, shoes, a helmet, basically a piece for every part of my body. It¡¯s relatively easy to apply temperature control in bits and pieces spread over a set of equipment, but it¡¯s pretty hard to put it all on one piece and have it cover the entire body. And that difficulty makes it much, much more expensive.¡±


    ¡°Consider it a graduation present if you want.¡± Alice said, waving a hand dismissively. ¡°It¡¯s really not that expensive, so it¡¯s no big deal. I picked it up more as a whim than anything else, don¡¯t sweat it.¡± She reached into her magic bag and pulled out a red hoodie, which she tossed to Tess. ¡°The hood will morph to fit your ears, too. That¡¯s pretty standard for hoodies, though.¡±


    Tess caught the hoodie, then put it on. The room was already at a pretty comfortable temperature, but the moment the hoodie was on it just felt¡­better. Like the air conditioning had somehow reached that temperature that was just right, not even the slightest bit hot or cold. She reached up to her neck and felt at the hood, which did indeed have two flaps for her fox ears now.


    ¡°This feels¡­really good, actually. Thank you!¡± She said.


    Alice gave her a satisfied smile. ¡°Don¡¯t even mention it.¡± She replied. ¡°It¡¯s no big deal.¡±


    ¡°It looks good on you.¡± Ellie said appreciatively.


    ¡°It feels like you say that every time I wear new clothes.¡± Tess said, smirking. ¡°You¡¯re going to wear that compliment out.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± Ellie protested. ¡°You look great in like¡­everything! You¡¯d make me jealous if we weren¡¯t dating!¡±


    ¡°Get a room, you two.¡± Ker teased. ¡°If you¡¯re going to keep flirting, then we¡¯ll just take Maven to the dungeon on her own and leave you behind.¡±


    Ellie blushed, looking away. ¡°Sorry.¡± She said. ¡°Couldn¡¯t help it.¡±


    Ker laughed. ¡°I¡¯m just messing with you. That should be just about everything you need, though, so I think it¡¯s about time we got moving.¡±


    ¡°Give me a minute to go change into my armor.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be ready.¡±


    ¡°I will need to change as well.¡± Maven added.


    ¡°We¡¯ll wait for the two of you here.¡± Jin said. ¡°We¡¯re hoping to clear the dungeon at least once before the day¡¯s over, though, so try to hurry a little.¡±


    A few minutes later, Ellie and Maven returned, and then the group set off for the dungeon. As far as dungeons went, it wasn¡¯t anywhere near as popular as any of the beginner dungeons had been, which Tess supposed was to be expected; there were less people capable of clearing it, and it was a much riskier thing to clear than the beginner dungeons.


    But even beyond that, it just seemed¡­emptier than a dungeon in a city like this should have been. ¡°Do people not use this dungeon?¡± Tess asked. ¡°No one¡¯s here, and the standing request reward was pretty high too. At least, high compared to what I¡¯ve been getting, more than just the level difference would suggest.¡±


    Ava nodded. ¡°Even for dungeon standards, this one is not fun to go through. There aren¡¯t many monsters, so you don¡¯t earn much from their drops, the weather effects and climbing sections are pretty miserable, and it takes a long time to boot. The only people who really come here are people who are getting the Skills from it and the people who live here.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Now that I¡¯m thinking about it, though, I realized that I never checked for a Challenge in the packet, Ker stopped me before I got there. Does this dungeon have one?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Jin said. ¡°It¡¯s a particularly rough climb in especially harsh weather, but there are no monsters. You have to make one of the climbs after floor fifteen in under ten minutes to be offered it, we¡¯ll help keep monsters off your back once we reach a climbing floor so you can attempt it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Maven said. ¡°Shall we use the Party Crystal and be off, then?¡±


    Fighterman481


    Ellie''s sword trick is something I had been planning for a little bit, too. They''ve got a surprising amount of utility to them, even given their limitations. There''s a lot you can do with four shapeshifting things that you can telekinetically control with little effort.


    ¡­Incidentally, I ended up looking up the average woman''s foot width while I was making sure this worked within the limitations of the Blessing, and it did, but it really just sort of drives home how odd the things writing will make you look up.


    Same goes for running a D&D game. Incidentally, have you ever wondered how many nickels would fit inside a completely hollowed-out human corpse? I had to do the math on that because one of my players, a good necromancer (longish story), was trying to carry back a dragon''s hoard in a zombie.


    ¡­I don''t remember off of the top of my head, but I believe the answer was in the high tens of thousands, though that assumed all space was perfectly taken up and there were no gaps like coins would usually make if you just stuffed them into something.


    Uh, that''s all I really have to say, though, next time we''ll be getting into the dungeon, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 60: Jagged Cliffs

    Tess flinched as she stepped through the door into the dungeon proper and was immediately hit with a rush of cold air. It was an odd sensation; she felt like the wind should be making her colder, and she could somehow tell that the wind was cold, but the hoodie Alice had given her kept her perfectly warm.


    She took a moment to survey her surroundings as everyone else entered the floor. Unlike most of the dungeons she had been to, this one recreated an outdoor space; there was a sky overhead, and the area to her sides and behind her was flat and wide open, stretching out as far as the eye could see. The only exception was the door they had come through, which was standing in stark contrast to the completely natural-looking area near it.


    More immediately attention-grabbing, though, was the mountain in front of her. It was¡­well, big. Bigger than anything she had seen in or outside of a dungeon; it seemed to stretch up and up with no end in sight. It was¡­awe-inspiring, something that made Tess feel very, very small. The only mountain she had ever been on or near was the one where the Appointed safehouse was located, and she couldn¡¯t really¡­see anything while in there, so this felt like her first time really seeing a mountain.


    ¡°Jaws off of the floor, you two.¡± Alice said. ¡°Don¡¯t forget this is still a dungeon.¡±


    Tess shook her head. ¡°Sorry, I forgot. I¡¯ve just¡­never really seen a mountain before, you know? We didn¡¯t really travel much on Mael, so I just saw foothills. This is¡­something else.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll say.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I feel¡­tiny.¡±


    ¡°You get used to it.¡± Ker said. ¡°You stop even noticing they¡¯re there after a bit.¡± He smiled wistfully as he looked at the mountain. ¡°Kind of a shame, really. They can be so pretty, but you just start to take them for granted when you¡¯re around them for long enough.¡±


    Tess shook her head once again, forcibly clearing out the wonder, then began to activate the Attributes and Skills she kept off in public.


    Maven jumped as Tess burst into flame, a thin layer of fire spreading out and covering her body and clothes.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Tess said. ¡°Probably should have warned you. I¡¯m¡­still not quite used to this ability, so I¡¯m not great at controlling the appearance.¡± She focused for a bit, mentally willing the fire to become as thin and cold as it could go. Eventually, it settled into just giving Tess a faint glowing outline. ¡°There we go. Uh, give me a moment here¡­¡±


    She reached into her pocket and pulled out a thin, circular badge of sorts, which she affixed to the hoodie. ¡°This neutralizes the smell of my Blighted Air, that way you don¡¯t have to smell that.¡± She activated Blighted Air, then turned on Tremorsense (Perfect).


    She took a moment to process the new information, then nodded. She still wasn¡¯t fully used to it, but she had been practicing leaving it on when she wasn¡¯t focusing on anything, so she wasn¡¯t completely overwhelmed whenever she tried to use it in more¡­stimulating situations. She had yet to use it in a real fight, but she was confident that she would be fine, at least while she was scouting.


    ¡°So, I¡¯m guessing the floor¡¯s exit is going to be up the mountain?¡± She said. ¡°I can¡¯t see anywhere else important to go, and it would be weird for it to be elsewhere, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Apparently once we get high enough, a door will appear next to us and we can leave that way.¡±


    ¡°What happens if we keep going up?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Surely there¡¯s some sort of size limit or something¡­right?¡±


    ¡°For this dungeon, yes.¡± Jin said. ¡°If you start getting too high, you¡¯ll be surreptitiously teleported lower down the mountain, so you¡¯ll just keep climbing forever. Same thing happens if you try to go too far in any of the other directions, you just get teleported back and it feels like the plain keeps going forever. You won¡¯t even notice if you¡¯re not paying very careful attention.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Interesting. Well, I¡¯m going to start scouting ahead. I¡¯ll let you know if there are any traps or monsters hiding in the undergrowth or anything.¡±


    Ellie looked like she wanted to protest, paused, had a brief moment of internal debate, and then nodded. ¡°Stay within eyesight.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t plan to be farther than a hundred yards or so.¡± Tess said. ¡°If I raise my hand, stop moving. That means there¡¯s a monster or a trap and we¡¯re going to need to deal with it. If it¡¯s a monster, I¡¯ll come back and tell you about it. If it¡¯s a trap, I¡¯ll try and disarm it, and I¡¯ll raise both arms if I succeed.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Maven said. ¡°I will keep my eyes on our rear. If any monsters come, I¡¯ll give you a shout.¡±


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll watch the sides, then.¡± Ellie said. ¡°And I¡¯ll keep an eye on you too, of course.¡±


    Tess gave another nod, then made her way out in front of the party and began to lead them towards the foot of the mountain. It was an unusual experience for her; not because she was leading Ellie and Maven now, but because there just¡­wasn¡¯t anything. Usually, when going through a dungeon, there was always something to keep track of, be it monsters ahead or a trap or even just carefully walking over very rough terrain, but here there was¡­nothing. She didn¡¯t encounter any signs of trouble for a solid five minutes, at which point something finally came up.


    There, in front of her, expertly concealed in the underbrush, was a rectangular pitfall, about five meters deep, ten meters across, and five meters wide. It wasn¡¯t just¡­leaves on top of a hole, either; there was a thin layer of soil over the hole, with grass on top. She might not even have noticed it were it not for her tremorsense, the only real giveaway was the lack of any large vegetation on top of the trap.


    She held up a hand, waiting to confirm that the group behind her had stopped before continuing her investigation. The trap would probably be simple to disarm, she just needed to put enough force on top of the trap to collapse it, but she activated Reverse Engineer anyway.


    The Skill told her that the soil on top was held together by a thin layer of magic, there was another layer of magic on the bottom, and that the layers of magic were the ¡°key¡± components of the trap.


    Tess frowned. Usually, she would just collapse the trap and be done with it, but she was wary of that other layer of magic on the bottom of the trap, so she took a moment to cast an analysis spell on it.


    Unfortunately, she didn¡¯t get much out of the spell. The layer of magic keeping the dirt together was muddying the results, and Tess wasn¡¯t great at deciphering this sort of thing in the first place. Ava had been teaching her how to, but it was still rough trying to figure out what was important and what was superfluous, and that was without another layer of magic on top making things worse.


    Tess sighed, and made her way back to Ellie and Maven. ¡°It¡¯s a pitfall.¡± She said. ¡°There¡¯s a really loose layer of soil held together by magic on top of it, and if you fall in it¡¯s about five meters deep, but there¡¯s also another layer of magic that will probably trigger when the trap collapses. I tried to figure out what it did, but with the other magic in the way I just couldn¡¯t, sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So, are we just going to go around it, then?¡±


    ¡°I believe the information packet should have something on the trap.¡± Maven said. ¡°Perhaps we should check that first?¡±


    ¡°Good idea.¡± Ellie said, reaching into her bag and taking out the packet. ¡°Let¡¯s see here¡­ah, apparently, if you trigger the trap, it summons a couple of monsters to attack you while you¡¯re trapped in there.¡±


    ¡°Probably best we go around it, then.¡± Tess said. ¡°We don¡¯t want to tire ourselves out before we even get to climbing.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°That good with you, Maven?¡±


    ¡°I will defer to your wisdom on this.¡± She said. ¡°When I was boosting, we went out of our way to fight every monster we could, but I imagine that doesn¡¯t really translate to actual dungeon delving.¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡± Ker said approvingly. ¡°It¡¯s vital to know how to pace yourself. Otherwise you¡¯re going to end up slowing down your progress, since you won¡¯t be able to do as much in a single day. If you can avoid confrontation, it¡¯s often best to do so.¡±


    Maven nodded. ¡°I understand.¡± She said. ¡°Very well.¡±


    ¡°Stay close to me, I¡¯ll lead you around it.¡± Tess said. ¡°You¡¯ll be able to see where the trap is if you look for a rectangular area with nothing but grass on top of it, but it¡¯s best if you just don¡¯t stray too far from me anyway.¡±


    Tess carefully guided the group around the trap, and they resumed their march towards the mountain. After another uninteresting few minutes, the ground began to slope upwards more, and another few minutes after that, Tess¡¯s tremorsense picked up their first monster. It was a snake, hiding in one of the bushes.


    Tess signaled for everyone to stop, and cautiously made her way towards the snake, inspecting it carefully. Like most monsters, it showed no reaction to her presence, and she was able to get a good look at it. It wasn¡¯t particularly big, but it was colored such that it blended in with its surroundings near perfectly, and Tess could only assume it was venomous.


    She regrouped with the others, letting them know what she had found. ¡°How do we want to deal with this?¡± She asked. ¡°I could just take it out on my own, but we want to share experience, right? It doesn¡¯t look particularly durable, so¡­¡±


    ¡°I can set the bush on fire, and Ellie can kill it when it comes out.¡± Maven suggested. ¡°That should get us all experience, right?¡±


    ¡°I think so.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But I¡¯m kind of worried about starting a wildfire.¡±


    ¡°We can just put it out with magic.¡± Maven said confidently. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be a big deal.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Tess, can you lead me to the snake? Maven, when I raise my arm, you set the bush on fire.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Maven replied.


    Tess nodded, and brought Ellie forward until she was about twenty meters away from the snake. ¡°It¡¯s in that bush.¡± Tess said, pointing at the snake. ¡°Get ready.¡±


    Ellie maneuvered the Swords of Death so they were just above the bush, then raised an arm. Maven began to chant, and a moment later the bush burst into flame. The snake shot out like an arrow, heading straight for Ellie, but Ellie swung down with the swords, cutting the snake into neat slices.


    The snake burst into rainbow particles, and Tess waved away the message detailing the experience she gained as she walked over to the core the snake dropped and absorbed it.


    You have absorbed a Highland Rattle-less Snake Core!


    Slots filled: 14/28


    You have gained 330 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    No new Skills detected!


    Highland Rattle-less Snake Core:


    Level 32


    Estimated Power: 250


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 500


    Stats:


    HP: 900


    MP: 900


    Stamina: 900


    Power: 167


    Defense: 118


    Magic: 60


    Magic Defense: 74


    Agility: 140


    Luck: 102


    Current Skills:


    Venomous Bite


    Current Attributes:


    Coiling Strike


    Potent Venom (Moderate)


    Scales (Fundamental)


    Scrubland Camouflage


    Stereo Smell (Miniscule)


    Tremorsense (Miniscule)


    New Attributes Discovered!


    Coiling Strike:


    The creature builds up each of their attacks, allowing them to lunge forward with each attack and deal additional damage at the cost of not being able to attack as rapidly.


    Scrubland Camouflage:


    Causes the creature to change colors to a mottled green, yellow, and brown that allows it excellent camouflage in scrublands.


    ¡°Anything good?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Not particularly.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Though there is a weaker version of the tremorsense I¡¯m using. I¡¯ll have to start building those up so I can get some good tremorsense for Silky. Oh, and I can make her venom better, too.¡±


    Thank you very much, mistress, but I would rather you get your own upgraded first! Silky said. I have plenty of other ways to sense things right now!


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­going to be a lot of ejecting cores.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Are you sure about that?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Well, these cores aren¡¯t anywhere near as big as Silky or Isabella¡¯s cores, and I¡¯ve more or less grown used to things this small. I can¡­probably handle it.¡±


    ¡°What are you two talking about?¡± Maven asked, walking up to them.


    ¡°Oh, I was just saying that the snakes don¡¯t really have anything good, just some Attributes that¡¯ll make venom more powerful and some weak tremorsense.¡± Tess explained. ¡°I¡¯m going to be combining those up so I can upgrade Silky later.¡±


    ¡°But¡­what was that about ejecting cores?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Uh¡­it¡¯s not a particularly¡­pleasant process, so Ellie was just making sure I¡¯d be okay with that. And I am.¡±


    ¡°I see. In that case, shall we continue?¡±


    The three continued to make their way up the foothills. There were a couple more pitfalls and a few more encounters with snakes, but nothing really seemed that bad yet. The floor was just¡­bigger than all the other floors Tess had been on before. In terms of sheer distance traveled, it felt like it was at least twice as large as the next largest floor she had seen, and this was just the first in this dungeon.


    Eventually, as Tess was walking, a door just appeared out of nowhere in front of her. She stopped, turning back to the rest of the group, and waited for them to catch up. ¡°So¡­looks like this is the end of the first floor.¡± She said. ¡°Everyone ready to leave?¡±


    ¡°I think so.¡± Ellie said. ¡°That wasn¡¯t so bad. It probably gets a lot worse later on, sure, but I think we can handle this.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky.¡± Jin warned. ¡°This was a warm-up, I¡¯d be concerned if you didn¡¯t find it really easy. The real test comes later.¡± He opened the door and stepped through, and everyone else followed.


    ¡°The next floor has intense snow, so here are some goggles.¡± Alice said, reaching into her bag and pulling out three pairs of goggles, which she handed to Tess, Ellie, and Maven. ¡°We¡¯re going to stay behind you, but you can barely see, so it¡¯s really easy to get lost. I¡¯d advise you stick together as much as possible.¡±


    Ellie nodded, reaching into her bag and taking out two coils of rope. ¡°Let¡¯s tie ourselves together.¡± She said, handing a coil to Tess and Maven. ¡°Tie one end around your waist and then the other to me. Sound good?¡±


    ¡°I think so.¡± Tess said. ¡°I can probably mitigate at least some of the danger with tremorsense, and help us keep our sense of direction, too. We want to just keep going up, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Alice confirmed. ¡°Much like the last floor, a door will appear once you¡¯ve gone up far enough.¡±


    ¡°This good with you, Maven?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Maven said, handing Ellie one end of her rope, the other already tied securely around her waist. ¡°This is sensible, I think.¡±


    Ellie took the other end of the rope, then reached into her bag and pulled out yet another coil, which she tied around her own waist before tying one end to Maven¡¯s rope. ¡°Good.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯re probably going to be mostly relying on Tess for things, but keep your eyes on the sky. I¡¯m guessing her tremorsense won¡¯t be able to see through the falling snow very well.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t see why it wouldn¡¯t.¡± Tess said idly, tying her coil of rope around herself and handing the other end to Ellie. ¡°There¡¯ll be a lot of interference in the air, but if I just look for one huge blob of something then I should be able to find airborne monsters. That being said, tremorsense doesn¡¯t have a lot of aerial range, so¡­yeah, might as well keep your eyes peeled, I guess.¡±


    Ellie finished tying the ropes together, put on her pair of goggles, and began walking to the door. Tess and Maven followed, and the moment they were through, the atmosphere changed drastically.


    The biting wind from the last floor was now pushing countless flakes of snow, all but erasing visibility after only five or so feet. Snow was slamming against her, only to melt against the thin layer of fire coating her, and then evaporate into steam, causing a loud hiss as it did.


    Tess turned off Phoenix Fire, and the snow immediately began to pile up on her hoodie. She ignored it, instead focusing her attention on her tremorsense. The air around her felt like¡­like looking at static on a TV, but she was able to make out the ground and things attached to it just fine.


    She motioned for the team to follow her and began to lead them up the mountain. It was a difficult trek, but the traps and monsters were the same as they were on the floor below, pitfalls and snakes. Admittedly, both would have been much harder to spot and deal with were it not for Tess¡¯s tremorsense, and they still had to be a bit more cautious when it came to fighting the snakes, but they still made it to the exit without much issue.


    Ellie breathed a sigh of relief as they left the floor. ¡°I did not like that.¡± She said. ¡°But I¡¯m glad you were here, Tess. I really don¡¯t know what we would have done without your tremorsense.¡±


    ¡°Move a lot slower, probably.¡± Ava said, smiling faintly. ¡°Much of the threat of that particular floor is in the surprise factor of the enemies and traps, forcing you to take it slower so you don¡¯t get caught off-guard.¡±


    ¡°Is the next floor still going to be snowing?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be, no.¡± Alice replied. ¡°You should be good to take the goggles off, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re wondering. It¡¯s going to be foggy, though, so might want to consider keeping that rope on.¡±


    Tess nodded, taking off the goggles and putting them into her pockets. ¡°Right. Shall we get going, then?¡±


    Fighterman481


    Ker''s rumination on forgetting the mountains are there is also something that comes from experience. You move into a place that has gorgeous mountains and for the first while you just sorta look at them in appreciation and then, after a few months...they just become part of the background. A fact of life.


    I dunno, maybe I''m talking too much about mountains, but I find the psychology fascinating. They''re these huge, impossible to miss things, and then after enough time you just...stop noticing them, at least consciously.


    Uh...the other thing I wanted to talk about is rope. I''ve actually kind of experienced being tied to other people with a rope like this except also not? Basically, when I was in high school, I was on the cross country team, and there was this one race we''d do where they would have groups of 5-7 people run together while holding a rope for the first ~2 miles.


    Oh, and it started and ended on a horse racing track and it was dusty and the start was the WORST since there were like over 100 people all in that little space and...anyway, it was a really interesting experience. My first time in that race I was one of the worst people on the team (though, you have to cut me a little slack there, I had never done any sort of distance running before then) and made a personal best by like a minute (which is a huge deal, though not as much when your time was as bad as mine lol).


    But the other time I was one of the best...well, in that race. I was, for most of the time after my first year, "JV man", or the guy who was one spot below varsity. For the uninitiated, varsity/JV were the two categories of people (and this was separated by gender, too, so there were separate varsity/JV splits for men and women) that races were held for, with varsity being the better and JV being the worse. Unlike in some other sports where the coach would pick, varsity/JV was decided purely by time, with the best 7 runners being varsity and the rest JV (Except in first race of the season, then the coach picked). Wasn''t necessarily a bad spot to be in, though, our team was 2nd best in the state (though it was neck and neck for first), so varsity had competition.


    Uh...anyway, that particular race where I was the best in the JV team, I was like...a minute slower than usual. I guess it''s just the difference between pulling and being pulled. It was a very interesting way to make a sport that was usually pretty individual a team-based thing.


    ...I talked for way too long about stupid things. Next time, we''ll be getting into a bit more of the dungeon, so look forward to that!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 61: A Climb

    The fog turned out to be no great hinderance to Tess. She was worried it might mess with her tremorsense like the snow, but it actually enhanced it, at least compared to air. Since fog was mostly just¡­a lot of water droplets in the air, her tremorsense was able to see a bit further through it. Not as much as regular water, of course, but enough to be noticeable.


    It seemed Ellie and Maven preferred the fog to the snow as well. Normal visibility was higher, and there was no snow to build up on their clothing. Furthermore, there was no wind pushing against them and making their climb harder.


    That being said, the floor wasn¡¯t all good news. It wasn¡¯t actively snowing, but there was about a foot of snow on the ground, making movement much more difficult. And then, when you added that to the fact that the slope was only getting steeper, moving forward was about as hard as it had been before.


    Or it would have been, were it not for Phoenix Fire. By turning its heat up, Tess was able to effectively melt any snow within ten feet of her and burn away some of the fog. She was fortunate that, by using Purifying Flames and Phoenix Fire together, she was able to effectively negate the heat of the flames for her allies and their possessions ¨C otherwise the rope would have burnt away long ago. Perhaps the others¡¯ equipment would have too, but Tess doubted it. Their equipment was enchanted to resist extreme temperature, after all.


    But that was irrelevant to the situation. What was important was that they had an easy, dry hike up the slope. The melting and subsequent evaporation of the snow was still making a lot of noise and there was some steam that hindered vision, but the three of them had collectively decided it was worth it to potentially reveal themselves to monsters to make their trek faster and easier.


    The monsters supposedly weren¡¯t anything special without environmental factors making them dangerous, and Tess would be able to spot any monsters well before they would be an immediate threat to the trio. And the steam, while annoying, really was just an extension of the fog, so the visibility detriment wasn¡¯t that bad either.


    ¡°This is really something.¡± Maven said, watching the snow melt in fascination. ¡°I can tell how hot it is by how fast the snow is melting, but I can¡¯t feel a thing, even through my clothes¡¯ temperature monitor function. Not the cold, not heat, it¡¯s just¡­nice.¡±


    ¡°Is that why I can tell it was supposed to be cold?¡± Ellie asked curiously. ¡°I was wondering what that was.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, most stuff that grants resistance to extreme temperatures comes with some sort of a gauge that will let you know what it¡¯s supposed to be like outside. Usually, if you¡¯re outside, you can guess, but with places like dungeons, it can be really hard to tell, so it¡¯s a handy feature.¡± Alice explained. ¡°That being said, I have to agree with Maven here. I¡¯m pretty sure temperature isn¡¯t supposed to work like that.¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me.¡± She said. ¡°The Skill just says the heat of my flames doesn¡¯t affect allies or our belongings. I don¡¯t decide what¡¯s what.¡±


    Fortune: You do, actually. It¡¯s entirely based off of what your perception of an object or creature is.


    Tess: Oh. Why am I not¡­totally scorching the ground or burning bushes or anything, then? I¡¯m pretty sure those aren¡¯t ¡°mine¡±.


    Fortune: I put a limiter in place once I realized just how badly things could go if you used that in a populated area. It shouldn¡¯t affect ¡°the environment¡± unless you want it to, like with the snow. Things like vegetation, the ground, and buildings should be totally fine unless you want them to not be. Uh¡­if your heat does catch like¡­a monster on fire or something, then that fire spreads normally, so just be careful? Try not to set people on fire in flammable buildings unless it¡¯s necessary I guess


    Death: Yessss my child, embrace your inner pyromaniac, destroy everything, reap every soul and bring me your dark harvest


    Life: We¡¯re supposed to prevent strong people from wiping out whole towns for no good reason, not actively encourage them. Besides, reaping is my thing, and you don¡¯t get any souls, so that makes no sense.


    Death: You can¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t realize that was a joke


    Life: I thought I should clarify things on the off-chance Tess misinterprets your humor. It is better safe than sorry.


    Ellie: Well, I realized it was a joke


    Fortune: Thought it was pretty obvious myself


    Tess: Sorry, I¡¯m with them on this one


    Life: Someone has to be the responsible one here. If there is the slightest chance of it going catastrophically wrong and I can prevent that outcome by just saying so, then I will.


    ¡°What are they doing?¡± Maven whispered, having fallen back as much as the rope would let her, so she could better talk with the instructors. ¡°They¡¯re just staring into space.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re talking with the gods.¡± Ker whispered back. ¡°They apparently have some sort of¡­godly group chat that they use to keep in touch, and it works via status windows. The gods will offer commentary from time to time, especially when it comes to Tess¡¯s abilities.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t like that at the lunch we were at.¡± Maven argued. ¡°They just¡­said it happened, they didn¡¯t¡­zone out entirely.¡±


    ¡°That must have been a short message, then.¡± Ava replied quietly. ¡°They¡¯re probably replying to the gods right now, which takes a bit more effort.¡±


    ¡°Is that safe? I mean, again, we¡¯re in a dungeon.¡±


    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t, the gods wouldn¡¯t have contacted them like this.¡± Ava said. ¡°Tess still is keeping track of everything. Aren¡¯t you, Tess?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Tess stopped, turning her attention away from the window and back to the others. She had only been paying a bit of attention to their conversation, so it took her a moment to process the question. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m paying attention.¡± She said. ¡°There¡¯s nothing around for a while, we¡¯re still in the clear.¡±


    Maven blinked, though she kept walking with the others, catching up to Tess. ¡°How did you¡­¡±


    ¡°Enhanced hearing, remember?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I was like fifty feet behind you and we were whispering! There¡¯s supposed to be a limit to how enhanced something can be!¡±


    ¡°I got this hearing from an emperor lion.¡± Tess replied. ¡°It¡¯s really, really good. At times it feels like it¡¯s only a step below like¡­echolocation. You¡¯d probably need to be twice as far away before I really would struggle to hear you.¡±


    Maven shook her head in wonder. ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. I¡¯ll¡­keep that in mind, I suppose.¡±


    ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I try to keep it off in town.¡± Tess said. ¡°For privacy¡¯s sake. It¡¯s only on when necessary and¡­well, I guess sometimes it¡¯s on for a little bit after I¡¯m done using it, when I forget to turn it off. I try and turn it off the moment I notice it¡¯s on, though.¡±


    ¡°Oh. That¡­is actually reassuring, thank you.¡±


    The conversation faded away, after that, and the floor traversal went smoothly. The traps had increased in variety from just pitfalls to pitfalls, trees that dropped large pockets of snow that contained monsters, and traps that would cave you in under large pockets of snow, forcing you to find a way out or slowly die.


    The snakes had gone away and were replaced with white fox monsters that focused on stealth and harrying attacks, meant to strike once and then disappear back into the snow only to come back later and continue whittling down anyone raiding the dungeon.


    That, of course, didn¡¯t work as well when there was no snow whatsoever in a wide area near their targets. Any foxes that showed up were quickly taken care of by Ellie and Maven, and their cores didn¡¯t hold that much of interest, either.


    You have absorbed a Whiteout Fox Core!


    Slots filled: 19/28


    You have gained 350 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    No new Skills detected!


    Whiteout Fox Core:


    Level 33


    Estimated Power: 260


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 520


    Stats:


    HP: 1300


    MP: 500


    Stamina: 1300


    Power: 122


    Defense: 73


    Magic: 80


    Magic Defense: 98


    Agility: 183


    Luck: 107


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Fur (Fundamental)


    Keen Nose (Moderate)


    Kemonomimi (Fox) (Fundamental)


    Quadrupedal Adaptation (Fundamental)


    Sharp Claws


    Sharp fangs


    Snow Camouflage


    Snow Walker


    New Attributes Discovered!


    Snow Camouflage:


    Causes the creature to change colors to a white that allows it excellent camouflage in snowy areas.


    Snow Walker:


    Allows the creature to effortlessly walk on top of snow without making a sound, leaving footprints, or otherwise leaving any trace of its passing.


    Snow Walker looked like it could be handy, but she didn¡¯t need any snow mobility right now thanks to Phoenix Fire, so she decided to just keep that one in the back of her mind as she continued through the dungeon.


    The next five or so floors were much the same, though each was ever so slightly more difficult than the last. The difficulty increase mostly came in the form of monsters and traps coming more often and the monsters becoming tougher, but that was something Tess¡¯s party was more than equipped to deal with.


    And then, Tess opened the dungeon door and stepped through to find that the ground in front of her rose sharply upwards. There was no snow or fog, and no snow on the ground, but there was only one narrow, treacherous-looking path upwards.


    ¡°Ah, the first climb floor.¡± Alice said. ¡°At least it¡¯s one of the ones with a path, not one where it¡¯s just a cliff. Don¡¯t get complacent, though, these ones have nastier traps and enemies to make up for the less physically demanding travel.¡±


    Tess nodded, then turned to Ellie and Maven. ¡°Should we untie ourselves from the rope?¡± She asked. ¡°I think it might get in our way, especially now that I can scout ahead more.¡±


    Ellie hesitated, then nodded. ¡°I think it might be best. If one of us falls, we won¡¯t bring the others with us that way.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Maven said. ¡°It is unnecessary in this situation. We all have methods to catch ourselves, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I can move the swords fast enough to do that.¡±


    Tess untied her rope, handing it to Ellie once she was done. Once Ellie and Maven had also finished, Tess began her climb up the trail. It was¡­odd, a lot easier than she had expected. Spiderclimb made the path feel much flatter than it was, with only large deviations in the path¡¯s slope feeling like actual hills.


    So, she scouted forward until she reached the first bend in the path, a small cave cut into the side of the mountain. She paused, then made her way back to Ellie and Maven.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Something come up?¡±


    Tess shook her head. ¡°No. The path is just going to take me out of sight of you two. Usually, at times like this, I leave Silky with the rest of the party and just have her tap someone when I want them to stop. So¡­who wants her?¡±


    Ellie frowned. ¡°Can¡¯t you just message me via the chat?¡±


    Tess blinked. ¡°Oh. Right, I¡­kinda forgot about that. I¡¯ll just¡­do that, then. Does that sound OK to you, Maven?¡±


    ¡°I have no objections.¡± Maven replied.


    ¡°Right. Then I¡¯ll just¡­keep going, then.¡± Tess said, and made her way back to the cave. Within it was a rather simple trap, a pressure plate that would open a chute underneath whoever stepped on it, which in turn would funnel them out of the cave and drop them on the unforgiving slope below.


    Alice was right, that was nasty. If someone fell through and didn¡¯t have a way of recovering from that fall, it was almost certain death. Luckily, the trap was simple to disarm, there weren¡¯t any magical components according to Reverse Engineer. All she had to do was remove the pressure plate, and the trap was as good as disarmed.


    She sent a quick message to Ellie warning her not to come into the cave until Tess had cleared away the trap, and got to work removing the pressure plate. It was a relatively simple task, all she needed to do was cut into the surrounding rock with her claws, then pop the pressure plate off like she would a lid.


    Still, it took a minute or so to do it carefully, and by the time she had finished, the rest of the group had arrived at the mouth of the cave.


    ¡°It¡¯s all good now.¡± Tess said, holding up the pressure plate. ¡°Be super careful, though, these traps will just dump you off of the mountain wholesale, it¡¯s kind of brutal.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Have you seen any monsters yet?¡±


    ¡°No, have you?¡±


    ¡°There were a couple of birds circling above us.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡¯m willing to bet those are monsters.¡±


    ¡°Seems likely.¡± Tess said. ¡°How high above you were they?¡±


    ¡°Hard to tell, they were just dots in the sky.¡± Maven replied. ¡°That being said, I¡¯m not sure why they didn¡¯t attack immediately, they were clearly following us.¡±


    ¡°Well, you two keep an eye out, then. Let me know if they look like they¡¯re getting closer and I¡¯ll come back to help.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°You ready to keep going?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, let me just get rid of this.¡± Tess said, tossing the pressure plate to the side. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know if something comes up.¡±


    It didn¡¯t, not for a bit. There were a couple more traps, all of which seemed to attempt to push their victims off of the mountain in some way or another, but Tess didn¡¯t encounter a single monster.


    But the birds in the sky continued to grow in number. Tess would glance up every once in a while, only to find that they had gone from two to four, then to five, and so on. When the number of birds hit ten, Tess stopped and returned to the main group.


    ¡°We need to do something about the birds.¡± She said. ¡°I don¡¯t like how many of them there are.¡±


    ¡°I could try and attack them with the Blades of Death.¡± Ellie volunteered. ¡°My control isn¡¯t very fine at that range, but I might be able to take out one or two.¡±


    ¡°They go that far?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°As far as I can tell, their range is effectively infinite.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°As long as I can see where I¡¯m putting them, I can move them there. Again, I don¡¯t have fine control at that range, but I do have control.¡±


    ¡°I can fly up.¡± Maven volunteered. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can take all of them out, but I might be able to lure them back here.¡±


    ¡°I will help too.¡± Isabella said, floating out of Tess. ¡°May I ride in you, Maven?¡±


    Maven blinked. ¡°Uh¡­yeah, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I will provide covering fire for you.¡± Isabella replied, then floated into Maven.


    I wanna help too! Silky said. I can just fly, though!


    ¡°Silky says she¡¯s going to help too.¡± Tess relayed. ¡°Perhaps I should invest in some wings for myself.¡± She mused. ¡°I thought Spiderclimb would be mostly sufficient, but that¡¯s clearly not the case. Maybe I¡¯ll just pick them up from these birds, they might come in handy. Hopefully they¡¯ll have an Attribute that improves flying, too, so I don¡¯t have to learn everything on the fly.¡±


    Maven shook her head in wonder. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m ever going to get used to you saying things like that.¡±


    ¡°You will.¡± Alice said helpfully. ¡°Takes a little bit, but you learn to stop questioning it.¡±


    ¡°So, is our plan good?¡± Maven asked. ¡°What would you recommend?¡±


    Jin hesitated for a moment, then looked to Ava, who shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m going to refrain from commenting.¡± She said. ¡°We can talk about it after you¡¯ve cleared the floor.¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Alright, shall we do this, then? Just take off when you¡¯re ready, I¡¯ll send my swords after you. I¡¯m going to keep them invisible so the birds can¡¯t see them, but they¡¯ll be there, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Maven said. She flapped her wings for a few moments, and then began rising into the sky, ascending rapidly towards the flock of birds above. Silky followed, and after half a minute or so of climbing, Maven made contact with the birds. She stayed a fair distance below them, and began to cast some spell.


    Tess couldn¡¯t really tell what Isabella and Silky were doing, but the birds swooped down towards Maven, and she responded by turning around and beginning to descend. She finished casting her magic and a sort of barrier appeared between her and the birds, halting several of their attacks.


    The others were hit with a sort of large fireball, and several died then and there, their corpses dissolving into nothingness and their cores falling down where they had died. At around that time, another one died for seemingly no reason, so Ellie had presumably gotten it with the swords.


    And then, after just ten to fifteen seconds, Maven was making a landing, the remaining few birds screeching and cawing as they tried to attack both Maven and Ellie. Tess spent a bit of her Mana, using Phoenix Fire as a weapon to nail one of the distracted birds in its side as it tried to get at Ellie through her armor.


    You have scorched Bird of a Feather for 431 damage!


    (Effects hidden)


    You have killed Bird of a Feather!


    You gain 290 EXP!


    Artisan of Affliction has gained 145 EXP!


    The damage was¡­lower than she was used to. As powerful as the Phoenix Fire was, it didn¡¯t have most of the multipliers her damage usually had. She didn¡¯t have the bonus from using claws, it didn¡¯t trigger any unarmed effects, and she hadn¡¯t hit it in a spot that would cause the damage to be critical, so she only had the bonus from Sneak Attack to work with.


    Still, it was usable enough, so she helped mop up the remaining birds before absorbing one of their cores.


    You have absorbed a Bird of a Feather Core!


    Slots filled: 27/28


    You have gained 295 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    No new Skills detected!


    Bird of a Feather Core:


    Level 31


    Estimated Power: 200


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 400


    Stats:


    HP: 700


    MP: 700


    Stamina: 700


    Power: 151


    Defense: 73


    Magic: 80


    Magic Defense: 40


    Agility: 150


    Luck: 92


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Feathers (Fundamental)


    Good Flier


    Part of the Pack (Moderate)


    Sharp Beak (Minor)


    Sharp Talons (Minor)


    Wings (Fundamental)


    New Attribute Discovered!


    Good Flier:


    Increases the creature¡¯s flying capabilities, allowing it to perform various acrobatic maneuvers with ease.


    Right, well, she didn¡¯t need Greater Levitation or Physical Nullification (Inferior), so she could just swap those out for Wings and Good Flier. ¡°Give me a moment to make the swap here.¡± Tess said. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t take more than a couple of minutes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll cover you.¡± Ellie said, moving up so she was next to Tess. ¡°Let me know when you¡¯re done.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± And, after waiting a couple of minutes for the Attributes that she had inside her to come out and be put in a core, she was able to swap in the new ones. As soon as she did, a pair of brown, feathery wings sprouted from her back, her hoodie melting into her as her armor split open holes to allow the wings out.


    Now that the hoodie wasn¡¯t ¡°actually¡± being worn, she should have been able to feel the cold, but Phoenix Fire was keeping the area near her nice and warm, so she wasn¡¯t really bothered.


    ¡°I forgot that the hoodie would melt into me like that.¡± Tess said, flexing her new wings experimentally. ¡°I¡¯m really glad for the fire.¡±


    ¡°Can I touch them?¡± Ellie asked, eyes gleaming. ¡°They look super soft and I want to see if they¡¯re actually that soft!¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°As long as you make it quick. I don¡¯t want to give the birds any more time to build up again.¡±


    Ellie nodded, then reached out, and her hands passed harmlessly through the fire coating the wings, allowing her to gently grab one of Tess¡¯s wings. She rubbed it for a moment, which was a rather odd sensation, then withdrew. ¡°Yup.¡± She said. ¡°Soft.¡±


    ¡°I¡­have never seen someone grow wings before.¡± Maven said. ¡°Curious. The wings look similar to the ones the birds had, but Silky¡¯s seemed to match her body. Do you know why that is?¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡± Tess said. ¡°They¡¯re both the exact same Attribute. I¡¯m guessing that, if the monster has a specific type of wings that would look good on them, then they get those wings, otherwise it just¡­I dunno, gives the wings that I think they should get? Hard to say, I haven¡¯t played around with it much.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how magic that temporarily gives wings works.¡± Jin confirmed. ¡°The same probably holds true here.¡±


    Tess nodded, then put away the wings. ¡°I¡¯ll only take them out when I need them, I think.¡± She said. ¡°Otherwise, I feel like I¡¯ll bump them into things if I¡¯m not careful. But we¡¯ve been waiting for too long, I¡¯m going to get back to scouting.¡±


    The rest of the floor went about the same. They had to cull the birds once more, and Tess had indeed been able to fly well enough to go up and help herself, but other than that, nothing of interest really happened.


    ¡°So,¡± Ava began once they were in the lobby for the next floor, ¡°your plan worked, but it had a few flaws. First, you waited until there were too many birds. You should have done something about them sooner, you would have had a much easier time of it that way. Second, you couldn¡¯t be sure the birds wouldn¡¯t be able to outpace Maven and attack her until you saw them in action. That was risky, and Maven¡¯s barrier worked, but it was unnecessarily dangerous.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Maven said, a hint of disappointment in her tone. ¡°I will be more careful in the future.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t take it too harshly.¡± Ker said comfortingly. ¡°You can¡¯t be expected to do everything perfectly right away, especially now that you don¡¯t have someone constantly holding your hand. It worked, so as long as you learn from it, there¡¯s no harm done. Making mistakes is a part of learning, it¡¯s entirely normal.¡±


    Maven hesitated, then nodded. ¡°Sorry.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m not used to receiving criticism for things like this. I¡¯m trying my best, but it¡¯s still a new experience for me.¡±


    ¡°We get it.¡± Ker said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and we were partially responsible too.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We thought the plan was good enough as well.¡±


    ¡°It was a team effort, and a team responsibility.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°So, let¡¯s just learn from it and keep moving on, together.¡±


    Maven gave them a smile. ¡°Thank you.¡± She said. ¡°It pleases me to hear that. I¡­suppose we should continue on our way, then?¡±


    Fighterman481


    I honestly don''t have that much more to say. We''re probably going to have one more chapter on this dungeon before we start looking at other things, so look forward to that I guess.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 62: Challenges and Bosses

    The next twenty or so floors were nothing special. They just continued to gradually ramp up the difficulty from the previous floors ¨C more monsters began showing up, more than one type began showing up on one floor, and traps became more commonplace.


    The weather continued getting worse too, as much as that was even possible. The wind blew more, the fog was denser, and the snow was even worse. It became normal to have the snow they were trudging through be as deep as two feet, something that would be a great hinderance if Tess wasn¡¯t actively melting it.


    That was basically only when it actively snowing, though. In those situations, Tess preferred to keep Phoenix Fire off; there was just too much snow in the air, and the hissing of its evaporation was deafeningly loud. The high winds and low visibility would still hamper their progress significantly, so they weren¡¯t even able to speed up that much, either.


    They encountered one of the sheer, vertical climb sections that they had been warned about, but in a way, it was actually easier than the non-sheer ones. Tess and Maven naturally had no trouble getting up, and Ellie¡¯s ride on her swords was stable, so as long as no monsters attacked her, she was safe. That meant Tess and Maven had to deal with the monsters, but they were just the birds from earlier and required no great effort to exterminate.


    For their part, the instructors just¡­took the hoverer. Apparently, if they ramped up its power consumption, it was able to rise a fair distance in the air. They didn¡¯t have to worry about the monsters, either, since Tess and Maven were already taking care of them for Ellie, so they had a smooth ride.


    Furthermore, there were few traps on the floor, and it was much shorter than the other floors they had traversed so far. And, to add to that, the couple of traps that were there were attached to the wall, and, so as long as a certain distance was kept from the wall, there was no need to even look for the traps, since the triggers didn¡¯t extend that far away.


    It was a shame that they had hit that floor before floor fifteen, otherwise they might have been able to knock the Challenge out then and there. Tess wasn¡¯t timing their ascent, but it certainly felt fast enough to qualify them for the Challenge. Fortunately, they encountered another vertical climb at floor twenty-three, and they were set to attempt the Challenge.


    If they were fast enough, that was. Still, like Jin had said before they entered the dungeon, the instructors helped keep their students safe from monsters and traps so they could focus on speed.


    Said help came in the form of Ava lounging atop the hoverer and casually sniping any monsters with a spell the moment they showed up. The ease with which she cast the spells and their precision was awe-inspiring; she had the air of someone who was casually kicking pebbles across the road, not someone who was slaughtering whole groups of monsters. She even took care of traps in the same fashion, not that it was particularly necessary.


    And those acts of support alone allowed the three younger women to ascend at a reckless pace, paying little regard for normal, ¡°safe¡±, dungeon crawling procedure. The Challenge¡¯s climb was a fair bit shorter than the other climb floors, too, so it was with relatively little effort that they were able to make it to the top in time.


    ¡°I will be honest, I have not been in a Challenge room.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°My instructors called them a waste of time, seeing as how we were entirely focused on raising my level. Does it operate in the same way as normal Rewards Crystals?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡± Alice said. ¡°Just put a hand on it and you¡¯re done.¡±


    Tess didn¡¯t wait for them to finish their talk, choosing instead to place her hand on the Rewards Crystal and obtain the reward as quickly as possible.


    You have gained the Skill Damage Diffusion!


    Damage Diffusion:


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    You may designate up to 5 targets within 30m to share in the damage you take. Each target will take up to 10% of the damage of an attack for you, reducing the damage taken by their defenses. Non-willing targets may be designated, but only have a 10% chance to receive the damage.


    Share the hate.


    Tess looked to Ellie, who seemed to have had a similar idea. ¡°Get anything good?¡± She asked.


    Ellie shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s a dud.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s a Skill that lets me convert some of my own HP into direct damage. It sounds nice, but it only deals like¡­half of the HP I put into it. It¡¯s just the rare variety of the Skill, though, the rarer versions are better. I seem to recall seeing them and getting interested. Anyway¡­how about you?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­kinda same, actually? Except it¡¯s not a dud.¡± Tess said. ¡°It sorta looks¡­super good?¡±


    Ellie raised an eyebrow. ¡°Do tell.¡±


    ¡°Basically, any five things within thirty meters each take ten percent of the damage I take, though it¡¯s reduced by their defenses too. It¡¯s supposed to only have a ten percent chance to work on things that aren¡¯t willing, but¡­.¡± She trailed off, and Ellie nodded.


    ¡°Yeah, I get it.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t have five enemies about, feel free to make me one of those targets. I¡¯m already doing that with Aegis, so a little more isn¡¯t any issue. Actually¡­¡± She turned to look at Ava. ¡°How do those two stack? Additive or multiplicative?¡±


    ¡°Multiplicative, sorry.¡± Ava replied. ¡°Tess isn¡¯t going to be completely immune to damage while you and at least four other things are around. Her reductions should apply first, starting with ones like this that redirect damage and then going onto ones that just reduce it, and then your ability from Aegis will kick in.¡±


    ¡°Shame, but I suppose that makes sense.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Maven, you get anything decent?¡±


    Maven blinked in surprise. ¡°Uh¡­I¡¯m¡­not totally sure, to be honest. It¡¯s a Skill that I spend some Stamina to turn on, and it drains my Stamina for as long as I keep it active, but makes my physical attacks do ten percent more damage.¡±


    ¡°I know the one.¡± Alice said. ¡°Have it myself, actually. It¡¯s pretty good if you¡¯re going to attack a bunch in a row, but otherwise not great. And since you¡¯re mostly a magic-user, it¡¯s probably not going to be super helpful to you.¡±


    ¡°I understand, thank you.¡± Maven said. ¡°Shall we move on, then?¡±


    And so, they did, climbing floor after floor until, eventually, they reached the last one. ¡°So¡­¡± Tess began, ¡°want to crack open that pamphlet one more time? I want to know what we¡¯re getting into before we just waltz in.¡±


    ¡°Already on it.¡± Ellie replied, reaching into her bag and pulling out the pamphlet. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­it¡¯s something called a Zephyr Eagle, and¡­well, it looks like it fights dirty. The arena is a nest on the pinnacle of the mountain, and it seems that the boss¡¯s main strategy is to try and push you off of the mountain with wind. It¡¯s got high Agility and pretty decent Magic, but that¡¯s about it. The trouble is pinning it down long enough to do any sort of meaningful damage.¡±


    ¡°I¡­can do it.¡± Isabella droned, peeking out from within Tess. ¡°I can keep its wings still¡­long enough.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be relying on you, then.¡± Tess said. ¡°I can get close to it, Isabella can cripple it, and then we go to town on it, rinse, repeat. Is there anything in the pamphlet that would suggest that wouldn¡¯t work?¡±


    Ellie looked down at the pamphlet for a while more before handing it to Maven. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything, but two sets of eyes are better than one.¡±


    Maven took the pamphlet gingerly. ¡°Are you sure?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯m not as experienced in these matters as you two.¡±


    Ellie waved a hand dismissively. ¡°Well, everyone¡¯s gotta start somewhere. You¡¯re a member of this party, so you deserve to have some input.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°I agree. Besides, there¡¯s a real chance you bring up something that both Ellie and I missed, you¡¯ve got a bit of a different perspective on this than us.¡±


    ¡°Very well then.¡± Maven replied, looking the pamphlet over. She was silent for a long moment as she read, carefully scrutinizing the document before looking back up at Tess and Ellie. ¡°What do we do if Ellie gets blown away? Tess and I can catch ourselves, but Ellie isn¡¯t so fortunate.¡±


    ¡°I was planning on using my swords as an anchor. I doubt the wind will be strong enough to blow me back if I¡¯m having the swords push against it.¡±


    ¡°And if that doesn¡¯t work?¡±


    ¡°Then we do the thing we were discussing before coming here where Tess catches me. It really shouldn¡¯t come to that, though. If the swords can¡¯t catch me that way, I can thrust them into the ground and hold on using my own power too. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m a lightweight, anyway, with my armor on I¡¯m heavy.¡±


    Maven paused, then nodded. ¡°Alright. And Tess, how are you going to get close? You don¡¯t have any experience in flying in high winds, so I¡¯m a little skeptical.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just relying on the Attribute.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Silky¡¯s got a similar one and it¡¯s never steered her wrong. If that doesn¡¯t work, then we can have Isabella just fly to the boss on her own. She¡¯s not concerned about the wind and she can take a hit or two.¡±


    ¡°I understand. And what if something else happens and we can¡¯t do this specifically? What¡¯s plan B?¡±


    Ellie shrugged. ¡°I figure if things start going too far off the rails, then I could start going all-out and try to kill it on my own. I should have overall better stats, so with my swords I¡¯m definitely better.¡±


    ¡°And¡­well, if it looks like we¡¯re going to die, I can always¡­you know¡­¡± She trailed off, looking at the other two meaningfully. ¡°It¡¯s basically a guaranteed victory, but I¡¯m really trying not to rely on it, so I don¡¯t develop bad habits.¡±


    Maven blinked. ¡°Right. I¡­forgot that was an option. I have nothing else to say, then.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this thing.¡± Ellie said, walking over to the door. The others followed, and soon they were stepping through into the boss arena. As advertised, they were on top of the mountain, in some sort of huge nest. Beyond the nest, the mountain sloped sharply down, though how far the drop was, Tess couldn¡¯t say ¨C just a few feet down there was a solid wall of clouds stretching out as far as the eye could see, blocking the ground below from view.


    There was a screech as the brown bird in the center of the nest spread its wings and took off. It was huge, easily twice the size of Tess, and it looked angry. Aside from the size, the only thing that set it apart from a regular bird was the pulsating streaks of glowing green that ran through its body, their glow intensifying as the wind suddenly picked up.


    Tess didn¡¯t waste any more time, spreading her own wings and taking off in pursuit of the bird. It was¡­well, hard. Good Flier helped keep her from immediately spinning out of control, but it became immediately apparent that she wasn¡¯t going to be able to catch the bird if she just followed after it.


    Fortunately, the bird had begun to circle the nest, and it was taking no notice of Tess, its eyes instead focused on Ellie and Maven. So, Tess cut across to the other end of the nest, aiming to meet it the next time it circled around.


    And then she was blown completely off course by a particularly strong gust of wind that came from the opposite direction the wind had been blowing just a moment prior. She spiraled for a moment, and then her body stopped, Isabella¡¯s magic keeping her from plummeting any further.


    Thanks, Isabella. Tess said. That could have been bad. Thanks given, she resumed her journey to the other end of the circle, keeping a careful eye on Ellie and Maven as she did.


    They seemed to be doing fine; neither of them had been thrown off of the cliff, and they were performing counterattacks of their own. Maven was casting some sort of spell, while Ellie had one of her blades peel away from the others and chase the boss.


    Tess tore her attention away from them as she reached her destination, waiting for the boss to come close. And, within about ten seconds, it had. Alright Isabella, do your thing. Tess instructed, turning off Phoenix Fire so the bird didn¡¯t pre-emptively take notice of her.


    The eagle stopped suddenly, plummeting as its wings stopped working. Tess chased after it, touching down next to it as it fell onto the straw-like material of the nest. She unsheathed her claws, activated her Skills, then thrust down at the eagle¡¯s neck. As she did, all four of Ellie¡¯s swords struck the beast, and a spell of Maven¡¯s scorched its side, leaving Tess as the last one to hit.


    She pierced the eagle, withdrawing her claws and waiting for You Are Already Dead to kick in. After a moment, it did, and there was a spray of gore that immediately evaporated into rainbow mist as the eagle¡¯s body disintegrated.


    You have slit Zephyr Eagle¡¯s throat for a critical 2,530 damage! You have killed Zephyr Eagle! 1,000 experience gained! Artisan of Affliction has gained 400 experience! Artisan of Affliction has leveled up!


    ¡°How much damage did you two deal?¡± Maven asked, shocked. ¡°That was¡­like¡­.as fast as my tutors would be able to do it.¡±


    ¡°About two thousand.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Turns out the Blades of Death are good at killing things. Who woulda guessed?¡±


    ¡°About two and a half thousand here.¡± Tess said. ¡°Caught me off-guard too. I was¡­expecting a bit more resistance than that, so I went all in with Skills.¡±


    Maven shook her head in disbelief. ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. Don¡¯t you have like¡­eighty Strength?¡±


    Fortune: Haha, multipliers go brrrrr


    Death: ¡­What was the final multiplier on that?


    Fortune: Like somewhere around 160 or 170 times damage?


    ¡°Yeah, but I have a lot of multipliers.¡± Tess said. ¡°If you take all those away, and I just did like¡­a normal attack, it only would have been like one hundred and fifty damage. Well¡­including multipliers I get from using the claws, so if we take those away too, that¡¯s like¡­ten to thirtyish damage?¡±


    Fortune: Just under fifteen before accounting for the critical hit. And the multiplier is almost exactly 170, so¡­yeah. Brrrrr.


    ¡°Fourteen.¡± Tess corrected. ¡°Give me a second, I¡¯ll tell you how much defense it had, for reference.¡± She grabbed the core the boss had dropped and absorbed it, glancing over its stats.


    You have absorbed a Zephyr Eagle Core!


    Slots filled: 28/28


    You have gained 500 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    New Skills detected!


    Attempting to degrade and obtain Wind Magic (High)¡­


    User already has Wind Magic (Moderate). No Skill obtained.


    Displaying core information:


    Zephyr Eagle Core:


    Level 37


    Estimated Power: 1,200


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 2,400


    Stats:


    HP: 5,000


    MP: 6,000


    Stamina: 5,000


    Power: 200


    Defense: 300


    Magic: 400


    Magic Defense: 300


    Agility: 500


    Luck: 250


    Current Skills:


    Wind Magic (High)


    Current Attributes:


    Exceptional Flier


    Feathers (Fundamental)


    Sharp Beak (Major)


    Sharp Talons (Major)


    Wind Affinity


    Wind Surfer


    Wings (Fundamental)


    New Attributes Discovered!


    Wind Affinity:


    Strengthens the effect of Wind Magic cast by the creature by 50%.


    Wind Surfer:


    Guides the creature¡¯s flying, allowing it to obtain the most benefit or least detriment possible from the wind.


    ¡°Three hundred Defense on the dot.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°Now¡­let¡¯s go get our reward, we can talk about this more in there.¡± She motioned to the door that had appeared next to where the eagle had died.


    She stepped through the door without waiting for a reply and began sorting through the new Attributes. She¡¯d take Exceptional Flier for herself, since Silky already had it, and would give Silky Wind Surfer when she next upgraded her attendants. Silky would probably benefit far more from Wind Surfer than Tess would, seeing as how Silky was a lot smaller than Tess, and therefore more likely to be blown about by wind.


    And Isabella would get Wind Magic and Wind Affinity. Though¡­she was already pushing their ¡°estimated maximum power¡±, so she might have to figure something else out. Worst case scenario, she transplanted their memories into other cores, but that was¡­less than ideal. She liked their current forms a lot, there were a lot of advantages to them that weren¡¯t so easily shown on a status page.


    Fortune: Just keep leveling up Monster Breeder, I¡¯m¡­pretty sure there¡¯s something that lets you like¡­transplant the level and stats of cores onto other cores.


    Tess: Oh, good. I¡¯m glad I won¡¯t have to move their memories like that, then. It feels like it just¡­wouldn¡¯t be the same.


    Fortune: Yeah, I get what you mean.


    Tess: Actually, I¡¯ve got another question I¡¯ve been meaning to ask. Is there any way to like¡­give them proper souls? I¡­well, they¡¯ve got some sort of intelligence now instead of¡­whatever they had before, so I wanted to see if I could go the extra mile in making them¡­people.


    Fortune: Off of the top of my head, I don¡¯t know. But it¡¯s¡­probably not really possible. If we did, then I¡¯m guessing the system might freak out and not know how to handle them, since they¡¯re not just both monsters and people, but also completely tied to your soul. Still, since they are so tied to your soul, they¡¯re much more ¡°people-y¡± than normal monsters, and should be able to get as smart as regular people. I¡¯ll talk to Amy about it, though, and we¡¯ll see where it goes.


    Tess: Thanks a bunch!


    Fortune: Don¡¯t even mention it


    ¡°Tess, are you gonna get your reward?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been spacing out for a bit there.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Tess said. ¡°Was just managing the Attributes and stuff.¡± She walked forward to the Rewards Crystal and laid a hand on it, taking a moment to read over her reward.


    You have gained the Skill Quickswap!


    Quickswap:


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Active


    Description:


    You may spend 200 Mana to swap positions with a creature within 30m. If the creature is unwilling, there is a chance to fail based on the difference between your Magic and their Magic Defense. If the creature is willing, the swap happens without fail.


    The ole switcheroo


    ¡°Well?¡± Ellie asked curiously.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Skill that basically lets me swap places with any creature within thirty meters.¡± Tess said. ¡°So, I can already think of a few uses for it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely a good one.¡± Ava agreed. ¡°It¡¯s gonna take a lot of your Mana, though, so be careful how you use it.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t need to tell me twice. How¡¯d you two fare?¡±


    ¡°I got a buff to fire magic.¡± Maven said. ¡°Just increases its damage a bit.¡±


    ¡°And I got an active Skill that lets me reflect some damage using a shield. Pretty handy, it seems.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°So¡­ready to go again?¡±

 Chapter 63: A Day Off

    Tess woke up feeling¡­groggier than usual. She had stayed up late last night, since today was their day off, and she had¨C


    Her recollection was interrupted by a slight shifting in the bed next to her. Ellie was there, snoring peacefully as she unconsciously adjusted to Tess sitting up. Right. Tess and Ellie had had some¡­fun the previous night, and ended up both falling asleep in Tess¡¯s bed afterwards.


    Tess gingerly extracted herself from her bed, taking care not to wake Ellie in the process. As she got dressed, she began to think about what would come next. And she¡­honestly wasn¡¯t really sure what she was planning to do with her day. It had been a few weeks and their group was dangerously close to fully clearing the Jagged Cliffs, but Ava and The Rumors wouldn¡¯t allow them to go on their day off, even for this.


    In general, Tess had been wanting to go into dungeons as much as possible, but her tutors had said it was important to have days where she rested her body and mind, that going all in on the grind would wear her down way too much. So, she had reluctantly bowed to their wisdom and taken Fridays off. Still, she wished she had something to do, so she wasn¡¯t just at home all day doing nothing.


    Fortune: Boy do we have an offer for you. How would you feel about making a little mischief?


    Tess: You¡¯re talking about causing supernatural phenomena, right?


    Fortune: Bingo. Look, your friends have been wanting to play laser tag with you, right? Just go with them, then send Isabella a few buildings away to cause havoc. You¡¯ll have an alibi, we¡¯ll keep ramping up the incidents, and I get to watch live as people get scared out of their minds! It¡¯s a win-win-win!


    Tess: That last one really didn¡¯t sound like something a goddess should be saying, you know


    Fortune: Yeah, well¡­gods are kinda in a way vaguely reflections of the people, and the people say watching ghost videos is a good time. Have you seen how many views those get? I am doing my godly duty by watching this!


    Death: You¡¯re reaching hard.


    Fortune: Shut up I know you want to watch too.


    Death: Yeah but I¡¯m not pretending this somehow fits into my duties. Come to think of it¡­I even like¡­practically own the concept of ghosts on this plane so if anyone gets that excuse it¡¯s me.


    Death: ¡­


    Death: So, as I was saying it¡¯s my godly duty and no one else¡¯s to watch this. Especially not Fortune¡¯s.


    Fortune: I¡¯m being your assistant, you need someone to have a second camera, so you have all angles of the shot.


    Death: Fine, I suppose Fortune¡¯s my assistant, so this is her job too.


    Ellie groaned, sitting up. ¡°Where¡­¡± She paused, looking around before catching sight of Tess, blinking a couple of times. She looked down and noticed that she still wasn¡¯t wearing any clothes, then shrugged and got up, walking over to her pile of discarded clothing and beginning to dress herself.


    Ellie: I¡¯m down for this if Tess is.


    Tess: I¡¯m down. I haven¡¯t played in a while and I¡¯m kind of interested to see if I¡¯m any better at it now.


    Fortune: Sick.


    Tess got her phone out and began to text Jacob. You mentioned that the guys have been wanting to go for a round of laser tag? She asked. I know that was before¡­everything, but¡­I was hoping maybe we still might be able to get together.


    While she waited, she and Ellie went down to the kitchen for breakfast, and they were able to get halfway through before Jacob responded.


    Yeah, I can put something together. Jacob replied. Leave contacting everyone to me, what time works for you?


    Any time today, it¡¯s our day off


    Cool. I¡¯ll try and plan around seven in the evening, then, plan to meet at the laser tag place. If plans change, I¡¯ll text you


    Awesome, see you then


    See you then!


    Tess looked up from her phone. ¡°Jacob says he¡¯s going to deal with gathering everyone, and to meet him at the laser tag place at seven.¡±


    Ellie checked the time on her phone. ¡°That leaves us with¡­about eight hours. What do we do until then?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­I guess we just hang out?¡± Tess replied. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can think of something.¡±


    Ellie smirked. ¡°Want to pick up where we left off last night, then?¡±


    Tess blushed deeply. ¡°Later.¡± She said. ¡°For now, let¡¯s sorta¡­kick back for an hour or two, I guess?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Ellie replied, spearing some of her eggs with a fork and taking a bite. ¡°Just let me know if you want to, I¡¯m ready any time. Uh, no pressure, though, if you don¡¯t want to.¡±


    ¡°No, I do.¡± Tess said quickly. ¡°I just want a bit more time to wake up first.¡±


    ¡°Well, take all the time you need. We¡¯ve got a long future ahead of us, after all.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess replied, giving Ellie a smile. ¡°We do.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t help but feel a little nervous.¡± Tess said. ¡°I know they¡¯re our friends and all, but they were so¡­distant during school, and I don¡¯t know how they¡¯re gonna be around me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ellie soothed. ¡°Even if they are uncomfortable around you, I doubt they¡¯re going to confront you or anything like that, they¡¯d be too scared to. You shouldn¡¯t have to worry about anything, I think.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°It¡¯d still feel¡­kinda bad, though, you know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°But give them some time, they¡¯ll realize you¡¯re still you. And if they don¡¯t¡­well, then they weren¡¯t worth being friends with anyway.¡±


    Tess nodded, unbuckling herself and reaching for the door, then stopping. ¡°Right, gotta send Isabella out.¡±


    Isabella drifted out of Tess and gave a slight curtsey. ¡°Where should I perform my work, mistress?¡±


    ¡°Not sure.¡± Tess said. ¡°Fly around, find somewhere with people you think will be spooked. I trust your judgement on this.¡±


    ¡°Understood. I will not let you down.¡± Isabella gave another curtsey before leaving the car and flying down the street in search of her victims.


    ¡°I kinda feel bad for the poor people who are gonna be on the receiving end of her pranks.¡± Ellie admitted. ¡°But¡­well, they¡¯re not actually going to be in any danger, so I guess there¡¯s no real harm in it? And it¡¯ll get people talking about things other than you, so¡­you know what, best not to worry about it. Let¡¯s just go.¡±


    Ellie opened the door and stepped out of the car, and Tess followed suit. They were parked towards the back of the parking lot, so it took them a bit to make it to the entrance of the place. And, there, in front of the door, were five guys talking amongst themselves.


    Jacob noticed Tess and Ellie approaching, and waved his hand. ¡°Hey guys, over here!¡± He called out, giving them a big smile.


    ¡°Uh¡­hey guys, it¡¯s been a while.¡± Tess said, glancing at her friends. ¡°How¡¯ve you been doing?¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh¡­hey, Tess.¡± One of them, a boy named Eric, said, face cramping slightly. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were coming.¡±


    ¡°I said I was getting the whole gang back together.¡± Jacob said innocently. ¡°Why would you assume she wouldn¡¯t be here?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­you know, after everything I just sorta thought she wouldn¡¯t be around.¡± Eric replied lamely. ¡°But this is fine too.¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Are we missing anyone?¡±


    ¡°Nolan and his girlfriend are going to be here too.¡± Jacob said.


    ¡°When¡¯d Nolan get a girlfriend?!¡± Ellie asked, taken aback. ¡°He was single when we graduated, right?¡±


    ¡°A couple of weeks ago, it seems.¡± Jacob replied. ¡°I didn¡¯t find out until today either.¡±


    There was some stilted chat for a couple of minutes until, at last, Nolan and his girlfriend showed up. To Tess¡¯s shock, his girlfriend was the hardcore Life devotee who had come to ¡°warn¡± Tess about her mistakes and set Marie on her at the graduation.


    She looked about as surprised to see Tess as Tess was to see her, and her face immediately filled with anxiety. For his part, Nolan looked like he wasn¡¯t expecting this either, and was looking between Tess and his girlfriend with a worried expression.


    ¡°Hey, you.¡± Ellie spat. ¡°Fancy seeing you here. Come to attack us again?¡±


    The girl shrunk back, and Nolan reached out, grabbing her hand gently. ¡°You can do this.¡± He encouraged.


    The girl nodded, then stepped forward. ¡°No. I¡­actually came here because I wanted to see if Jacob could put me in contact with you. I¡­wish to apologize.¡±


    Tess blinked. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I had a talk with Marie after everything that happened, and she gave me a lot of things to think about. And¡­well, I did a lot of thinking and studying of the scriptures, and I even talked with Marie and Pastor Faust at length. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that my father is wrong, his teachings misguided. I don¡¯t know what you are, but¡­Marie and Pastor Faust trust you, and that will have to be enough.¡±


    The girl bowed her head slightly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the hurtful things I said, they were completely uncalled for. Even if the correct teaching was that homosexuality is wrong, which now I realize it is not, I should have let things be. It is not my place to judge you for it. That is for Death, and Death alone to do.¡±


    Death: Well, not really, there¡¯s very little judgement going on unless the person in question happens to be important, and we¡¯re trying to figure out if they should go to the afterlife in case we need them, or if they should just get reincarnated like everyone else


    Death: But she¡¯s got the spirit of the thing and she¡¯s reforming so¡­good for her, I guess?


    There was a long silence, which Tess eventually broke. ¡°Um¡­thanks, I think? I¡¯ll be honest, it kinda hurt, what you did, but it¡¯s not really a huge deal to me, I¡¯ve dealt with worse. And¡­well, if I was in your situation, at the graduation, I probably would have done the same? Like, I wish you hadn¡¯t, but I kinda get it.


    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t think I¡¯m ready to be friends or anything, but as long as you keep heading in the right direction and trying to reform yourself, I¡¯m not going to hold it against you. Now, whether Ellie forgives you is an entirely separate matter, but¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to defer to Tess on this one.¡± Ellie said. ¡°She was the one most affected, so if she forgives you, I will too. If I find out you backslide on this, though, then I¡¯ll take issue. Don¡¯t make your mistakes again.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± The girl said. ¡°I¡¯m¡­going to leave now. I don¡¯t want to intrude more than I already have, sorry.¡±


    ¡°Before you go, I¡­don¡¯t believe I ever caught your name. What is it?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Sarah.¡± The girl replied. ¡°Sorry for not introducing myself earlier.¡± And with that, she whispered something to Nolan, soft enough that Tess couldn¡¯t hear, then left.


    After she left, Nolan turned to the group. ¡°Sorry for bringing the mood down like that.¡± He said sheepishly. ¡°It was just important to her and she wouldn¡¯t take no for an answer. We all still good to go?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah.¡± Jacob said.


    ¡°No, no we¡¯re not.¡± Another guy, Max, said. ¡°What was all that about?¡±


    ¡°Ah, she came and got in our face about being in a relationship.¡± Tess said. ¡°A bit rude, but it¡¯s whatever.¡±


    ¡°She set a Hunter on Tess, too.¡± Ellie added. ¡°Or, well, her family did, but she was the messenger or something? Whatever, point is, she¡¯s been super rude to us.¡±


    Max blinked. ¡°A¡­Hunter. She called a Hunter. You don¡¯t just get to¡­gloss over that.¡±


    Tess sighed. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s any big secret that I¡¯m not¡­fully human anymore. They freaked out after I made a show of my new abilities and somehow managed to convince an actual Hunter to come over. The Hunter and I talked it out, and we¡¯re cool now, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    Max raised an eyebrow. ¡°If you say so. Just as long as we¡¯re not going to be interrupted by a Hunter barging in on us.¡±


    ¡°Not gonna happen.¡± Tess replied confidently. ¡°She knows better now, and she¡¯s keeping the other Hunters away from this place, so it¡¯s no big deal. We¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    Most of her friends shared a skeptical look, but Jacob just nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s just get started. It¡¯s really not a big deal, she¡¯s the same as she¡¯s ever been. You guys will see, I promise.¡±


    Reluctantly, the group made its way inside, and Jacob dropped back so he was next to Tess. ¡°Uh¡­I probably shouldn¡¯t need to say this, but¡­you¡¯re not gonna¡­you know¡­¡±


    ¡°Cheat?¡± Tess said. ¡°No. I¡¯ve already turned all that stuff off. Honestly, except for when I go to sleep, I haven¡¯t turned off my night vision in¡­months. I almost feel blind, to tell you the truth.¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh¡­good.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I think I might in our last round, though.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°I just want to see how much of a difference it makes in an environment like this, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll have another opportunity for a long time.¡±


    ¡°Just¡­let everyone else know first, okay? I don¡¯t want them to get all upset.¡± Jacob said warily.


    ¡°I will. Don¡¯t worry about that.¡±


    They reached the counter, where her other friends were already getting out cash to split the bill. Fortunately, Tess and Ellie did have some money; Gramps gave them an allowance for situations like this.


    Now that she was thinking about it, she wasn¡¯t sure where Gramps got his money either. As far as she could tell, he didn¡¯t do any work on Mael, so she couldn¡¯t see where it was coming from. They weren¡¯t just¡­poofing it into existence, right? That was sure to cause an economic disturbance if they made too much.


    Ellie: Hey do any of you know where Grandpa gets his money? I just realized I¡¯ve never seen him actually do work here on Mael.


    Life: We have the church pay him a stipend. He mostly handles rubbing elbows with important people and subtly prepping them for what¡¯s to come. It¡¯s not stuff you would see, as he uses a series of doors he installed in his office in the guild to travel.


    Ellie: Oh, that makes sense, thanks.


    Death: Speaking of doors, we got something figured out for Jacob and anyone else we want to introduce to the Outlands. We¡¯ve set up a spot outside of town, and you¡¯ll just need to take him there and show him how to operate the door, it¡¯s just like the one in your house. Think you might be up to that after this?


    Tess: Sounds good to me.


    Ellie: Ditto.


    Death: Awesome. I¡¯ll give you directions when the time comes.


    The group finished paying for an hour of eight people playing, and were led to one of the smaller arenas. Seeing as how all of them had been there before, they were let in to do things as they pleased. They split themselves into two teams of four, and got started.


    They played a series of games, and Tess found that it was¡­easier than she had expected. It took her a couple of games to get used to having to navigate in a dim area, something she hadn¡¯t had to do since she got her night vision, but once she did, it was all uphill. Aside from when she and Ellie were on opposite teams, things were just¡­easy.


    Their friends made a lot of noise, even when they tried to be sneaky, and Tess was pretty reliably able to figure out where anyone within a ten or twenty foot radius was just by the sound. Looking for monsters and traps in dungeons had made her much more aware of her surroundings, and it was really showing here.


    Ellie was better, but she didn¡¯t have the raw stealthiness that Ava had been drilling into Tess. That was sort of to be expected, though; Tess was serving as a scout, and Ellie was serving as a tank. It was unreasonable to expect her to be just as sneaky as Tess was. Ava had said that she would eventually get around to teaching Ellie some of that stuff, but, until then, Tess had quite the advantage over Ellie in that regard.


    And soon they found themselves gearing up for the last match of the hour. ¡°Uh¡­hey, I have a bit of a weird request.¡± Tess said. ¡°Would it be cool if, for this round, it was me and Ellie against everyone else?¡±


    Max gave her a curious look. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­I¡¯ve kind of been holding back.¡± Tess said awkwardly.


    ¡°That was holding back?¡± Nolan replied incredulously. ¡°Could have fooled me.¡±


    ¡°I may or may not usually have supernaturally good senses and chose to use normal ones while we were playing. I want to try and see how I do with them on.¡±


    There was a brief pause before Nolan spoke up. ¡°Again, they were off? I swear you could always find me ages before I could find you.¡±


    Tess rubbed the back of her neck. ¡°No, that¡¯s just regular person stuff. I got some training since we last played together and it kind of translates super well to this, so¡­you know.¡±


    ¡°Unbelievable.¡± Max said, shaking his head in disbelief. ¡°I thought we agreed that we were to always go all in, no matter what the situation, and here you¡¯ve been holding back on us? Unacceptable. We¡¯re gonna do four on four like we always do, and you¡¯re not gonna hold back.¡±


    Tess felt a wave of relief wash over her. It seemed like at least a couple of the guys were warming back up to her after they realized that she was still¡­her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you guys get it.¡± Jacob said. ¡°It¡¯s like¡­cheating levels of good. It¡¯s really not fair.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Max said, holding up his hands in surrender. ¡°We¡¯ll do a two on six. Just don¡¯t come crying to us when we overwhelm you with sheer numbers.¡±


    ¡°Please.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I was gonna tell you not to whine at us when you get destroyed. There¡¯s no way you win this.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s on!¡±


    The match was one-sided. Thanks to her tremorsense, Tess had a near perfect idea of where everyone was at all times, and was able to use that to thwart their attempts at attacking her. She even tried to aim without sight a couple of times, using tremorsense as an alternative, and while she wasn¡¯t as successful with it as she would have liked, she was surprised to find she hit more often than not.


    She would have to train herself with that later, until she reached the point where it was just as easy as using her eyes. She could tell that it only required fixing her mindset and trusting what the tremorsense gave her, so it would almost be more like trying to break a habit than actually learning a new skill.


    After a few minutes, the match ended, and everyone began to put their gear away. Save for Jacob, the guys were all in disbelief over just how much of a difference her not holding back had made.


    ¡°How¡­did you do that?¡± Nolan asked. ¡°I was behind you, hadn¡¯t moved for like¡­a minute, and the moment I peeked out from my pillar you nailed me without even looking! How did you know?!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­how do I put this¡­I basically have a minimap but better? I could tell exactly where everyone was the entire time.¡±


    ¡°That explains a thing or two.¡± Max admitted. ¡°I might have underestimated you.¡±


    ¡°In your defense, it¡¯s literally supernatural.¡± Tess replied. ¡°You couldn¡¯t really have known to expect that.¡±


    There was a silence at that. ¡°Right.¡± Max said slowly. ¡°I¡­forgot. If¡­if you don¡¯t mind my asking, how long have you been able to do¡­everything?¡±


    ¡°Since I was out of school a few months ago.¡± Tess said. ¡°That¡¯s about when everything happened.¡±


    ¡°I thought something about you seemed a little¡­different after you got back.¡± Nolan said. ¡°Guess I must have been picking up on that?¡±


    ¡°¡­Yeah.¡± Tess said. The conversation petered out, and the group finished putting all their gear back and left the building.


    ¡°Well, it was good to hang out with you all again.¡± Jacob said. ¡°How would you guys feel about doing something like this more frequently?¡±


    The group was silent for a bit before one of the others, Ethan, spoke up. ¡°I¡­guess it¡¯s fine.¡± He said. ¡°As long as we don¡¯t get caught up in supernatural nonsense or anything.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t.¡± Tess said. ¡°If people come looking for me or something, I¡¯ll just leave and deal with them on my own. You shouldn¡¯t need to worry about a thing.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Jacob said. ¡°I¡¯ll text you all some time next week, then, we¡¯ll get together. But¡­for now, I guess I¡¯ll catch you all later?¡±


    The group began saying their goodbyes, and Tess slipped up to Jacob¡¯s side. ¡°Hey.¡± She whispered. ¡°I need you to follow us once everyone¡¯s gone.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this about?¡± Jacob whispered back.


    ¡°You know¡­that place. We figured out a way for you to get there if you want. Just follow our car as we leave, we¡¯ll bring you there.¡±


    Understanding dawned on Jacob¡¯s face. ¡°Got it.¡±


    Tess nodded, heading back to Ellie. ¡°I let him know.¡± She said. ¡°He¡¯s gonna follow us there.¡±


    ¡°Cool. Did you get Isabella back yet?¡±


    ¡°Doing it now.¡± Tess replied, before sending a mental message to Isabella instructing her to return to the car.


    After a few minutes, Tess and Ellie made their way back to the car, where Isabella was waiting. Isabella went back inside Tess, and Ellie gave a nod. ¡°Shall we be off, then?¡±


    Fighterman481


    Anyway, um...I''m not really sure what to say. I guess I''m not sure exactly how battle skills would translate into something like laser tag, but I would assume that people who are familiar with combat IRL would be better than just normal civilians, so I sorta went with it.


    Well...and then you also have Tess being able to cheat, but that''s an entirely separate matter. And you can argue that it isn''t cheating, but seeing as how it''s something no one else can do and the rules weren''t designed with something like that in mind, I''m gonna go ahead and call it cheating.


    Though, if this was taking place somewhere where magic was known, it honestly might not be, if the rules don''t explicitly forbid using Skills or magic. That would be kind of interesting, to see how something like this pans out when throw magic into the mix.


    Anyway, next time we''re gonna look a little at the new door and then probably do something else, not quite sure. We''ll see where it goes, so...look forward to it, I guess?


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 64: Pretenses

    As Ellie drove, Tess relayed directions from Death to her. They were being taken out of the town proper, into areas that were more farmland than anything else. Eventually, they were told to turn off the road and onto a dirt path, which led to a dilapidated sort of¡­warehouse. The property had seen better days; there were scattered odds and ends everywhere, the warehouse clearly hadn¡¯t seen any maintenance in decades, and there were rather obvious signs that wild animals were living in or around the building.


    Death: It¡¯s an abandoned piece of church property that was used back in the good old days when they were moving into the building they¡¯re in now. It¡¯s just sat here unused, so I decided not to let it go to waste


    Ellie: Yeah and this place doesn¡¯t look sketchy at all


    Death: Would you rather we put it in the middle of town where someone can see it?


    Fortune: Hey look at it this way: you¡¯ll now always have an out of the way place you can bring people to so you can¡­have a ¡°friendly chat¡± with them


    Tess: Why would we need that we¡¯re not part of the mob or¡­even beholden to the justice system? If we really want information out of someone we can just have you take it straight from their brains, we don¡¯t need to do any of that stuff


    Fortune: Yeah but what if you do need to? You¡¯ll be glad you have this


    Tess: Isn¡¯t that kind of also literally what the Appointed hideout is for?


    Fortune: But¡­that place is nice. Where¡¯s your sense of atmosphere?! Besides, what if you need to interrogate someone from Mael and can¡¯t take them there?


    Tess: Name a single situation where it would be efficient to bring them here instead of keeping them somewhere more convenient


    Fortune: ¡­It¡¯s not about practicality, it¡¯s about sending a message


    Ellie: What message are you trying to send?


    Fortune: Be afraid I can dump you in this spooky place and no one will ever find your body


    Ellie: This is one of the first places I would check for a body if I was in the police


    Death: We could also just have them show off some magic and that would probably have a bigger effect than whatever message you¡¯re trying to send


    Fortune: Look sometimes you just need a spooky abandoned hideout


    Death: Like Tess said, name one situation where that would be helpful


    Fortune: I¡¯m the older god and that means I don¡¯t have to explain things, go figure out the deep meaning behind my words and come back when you have, it¡¯ll be helpful for your growth, I promise


    There was a rap on Ellie¡¯s window, causing her to jump in surprise. She turned her head to find Jacob outside, wearing an amused expression. Ellie turned off the car and stepped out, a slightly chagrined expression on her face.


    ¡°So¡­is this really the place?¡± Jacob asked curiously. ¡°It seems¡­way too run down to be a gateway between worlds.¡±


    ¡°That is, apparently, the point.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s some sort of old storage area the church isn¡¯t using. They picked this place so no one would see you traveling between worlds.¡±


    ¡°I¡­guess that makes sense.¡± Jacob admitted. ¡°Won¡¯t people think it¡¯s weird if they see cars parked here, though?¡±


    Fortune: We can put up decorations to fool people into thinking it¡¯s the base of some sort of infernal cult, no one will ever suspect a thing.


    Life: Save your jokes for when they¡¯re not in the middle of a conversation.


    Fortune: I wasn¡¯t joking, though? It¡¯ll add on to the whole ¡°supernatural mystique¡± you guys are going for.


    Life: I suppose that is¡­acceptable, then.


    ¡°The gods say they¡¯re going to have decorations put up so they can fool people into thinking a cult¡¯s taken up residence here.¡± Ellie translated. ¡°They say it¡¯ll add some spice to the supernatural events we¡¯re going to be fabricating.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you guys are¡­gonna be doing more of that stuff?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°The goal is to make this place into the epicenter of paranormal activity. We¡¯ve already started, actually.¡±


    ¡°When?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°I don¡¯t remember hearing about anything weird aside from the stuff I¡¯ve seen you do.¡±


    ¡°While we were playing laser tag, I had Isabella go haunt some of the buildings in town. That¡¯ll get things started, at least. I think the plan is to ramp things up slowly until we get to a point where it can¡¯t be ignored anymore.¡±


    ¡°So¡­hanging out was just a pretense?¡± Jacob said, visibly disappointed.


    Fortune: He¡¯s actually right and just has it backwards, we were trying to get you to go have a life and you fell for it lol


    Death: Haha get pranked nerds


    Life: That is not the correct way to broach this subject. We will talk more on this matter after we have settled our business here, but suffice it to say our main purpose was to get you two out and about. We fear it is bad for your development to be as work-focused as you have been these past weeks.


    Death: Alright you can¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t pick up on the joke this time.


    Life: I cannot say that I did.


    Death: It¡¯s the way people in those prank videos talk, you must have seen one, even if it was just from being in the same room as me when I was watching one.


    Life: I try not to pay attention to such things. They are vapid and a waste of time.


    Death: I mean¡­like¡­that¡¯s true but shouldn¡¯t we at least check them out? They¡¯re super popular, and I feel it¡¯s kinda irresponsible of us to not keep up to date with what people are doing. How can we effectively serve the people if we don¡¯t even know them?


    Life: ¡­We will discuss this after the business with Jacob is concluded.


    Fortune: Speaking of, Tess, you can tell Jacob that we tricked you into this. Actually, tell him I want his help, I want him to drag you two out to places more often


    Ellie tore her attention away from the gods¡¯ conversation and focused back in on Tess and Jacob.


    ¡°What?¡± Jacob asked, confused. ¡°I¡¯m confused. How is it being a pretense both right and wrong?¡±


    Tess rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. ¡°It¡¯s right in that the reason I messaged you was a pretense. It¡¯s wrong in the fact that¡­well, the pretense was apparently the actual motive the whole time? Fortune was the one who came up with the idea and she is now telling me that the whole thing was just a ploy to, quote, ¡°get me to go have a life¡±. Um¡­¡±


    Tess blushed, looking away in embarrassment. ¡°She also says she wants your help dragging us out to go do things more.¡±


    ¡°Hold up.¡± Jacob said, pinching the bridge of his nose. ¡°You can¡¯t just drop that on me. That was¡­basically a divine command, right?¡±


    Fortune: I mean you could say that but it¡¯s really not? Tell him he¡¯s under no obligation just let him know that I¡¯m not gonna like¡­care about him ¡°taking time away from your duties¡± or anything, and that I would appreciate it but I¡¯m not gonna think worse of him if he can¡¯t or whatever.


    ¡°Uh¡­Fortune says not really.¡± Tess said. ¡°She just says she wants you to know that you don¡¯t have to worry about potentially like¡­taking time away from my duties, and that she¡¯s not gonna think worse of you if you don¡¯t. It¡¯s just¡­a request, nothing official.¡±


    Jacob hesitated, then nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡­can handle that. Still, I wish you would have asked me without needing to be tricked into it. That just¡­doesn¡¯t feel great, you know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I get where you¡¯re coming from.¡± Tess said. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve just been so focused on my work lately and¡­well, I¡¯m always tired when I get back, and it¡¯s hard to make time.¡±


    ¡°You say that like you wouldn¡¯t be working every day and spending longer in dungeons during those days if we didn¡¯t hold you back.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize it myself, not until I really started thinking about it earlier, but¡­we really don¡¯t hang out with anyone outside of freelancing anymore, and that¡¯s more like work than¡­well, hanging out. We¡¯ve just been at home doing stuff together. We have like¡­no social life right now.¡±


    Tess blinked. ¡°I¡­mean, I guess you¡¯re right. People always say that you tend to grow apart from your friends after high school, so I just sort of assumed it was normal?¡±


    ¡°I suppose, but our situation is different.¡± Ellie argued. ¡°It was sort of an artificial change, not the sort of gradual, over time thing you would normally expect. Besides, what harm is there in getting out a bit more? If we don¡¯t make time for something outside of work, then what are we even doing with our lives? What¡¯s the point? At the very least, we need some more hobbies.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. But¡­we can deal with that later, right now we need to show Jacob how to get to the Outlands.¡± Tess said. ¡°And¡­sorry.¡± She added, looking over to Jacob. ¡°I¡¯m going to try and be more proactive about hanging out from now on.¡±


    Jacob nodded. ¡°Good. So¡­where¡¯s this door? I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not curious.¡±


    Death: Go inside, hook a left, and it¡¯ll be at the corner of the building, straight ahead of you.


    ¡°This way.¡± Ellie said, making her way to warehouse¡¯s door. She tried it, only to find that it was locked. ¡°Um¡­¡±


    ¡°I got this.¡± Tess said, striding up to the door. She reached into her pockets and, after a moment of rummaging, pulled out what could only be a set of lockpicks. She got to work on the door, and, after only a couple of moments, there was a click and Tess opened the door.


    ¡°When did you learn that?¡± Ellie asked curiously.


    ¡°Ava taught me when she was teaching me how to disarm traps.¡± Tess answered. ¡°You never know when you¡¯ll need to get into somewhere without just¡­smashing your way in.¡±


    ¡°Even so, that was fast.¡± Jacob said. ¡°You¡¯ve only been training for a couple of months, right? Are there a lot of locks in dungeons to practice on or have you just been working on it in your free time?¡±


    ¡°There are only occasionally locks. Sometimes chests will have them or whatever, but to be honest, most of that speed comes from the fact that I can see the inner workings of the lock with tremorsense. It really cuts down on the sort of¡­fiddling that comes with having to feel out the lock.¡±


    ¡°I see. Does that work for magical locks, or¡­actually, there are magical locks, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Magical locks are harder to deal with, but I¡¯ve got tools for those too. I¡¯m not really great with them yet, though, so they take me a while.¡± Tess replied, stowing the lockpicks back in her pockets.


    ¡°And you just¡­carry those around.¡± Jacob said flatly. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I carry everything around.¡± Tess said. ¡°This is actually my armor.¡± She focused for a moment, and then her clothes shifted, becoming the suit that was her armor¡¯s default form. ¡°The pockets are magic bags.¡± She focused for another moment, and the armor shifted to become their school uniform. ¡°I actually have a lot of control over what I can make it look like. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve worn anything but pajamas and this for¡­months.¡±


    ¡°And it doesn¡¯t get dirty? You¡¯re adventuring all day, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Automatic cleaning function.¡± Tess said smugly, shifting her armor back to the appearance it had been in before. ¡°It¡¯s basically the only clothing I¡¯ll ever need.¡±


    ¡°How much does something like that cost?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°You¡¯ve got my attention.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­couldn¡¯t tell you.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°This was custom-made to help me as an Appointed. Even if it weren¡¯t for the combat effects, I really don¡¯t know how much this would cost. Uh¡­probably a lot, though, if you wanted one just like this. Probably less if you don¡¯t get it tailored and just rely on the size changing function, but still a lot.¡±


    ¡°I kinda figured as much.¡± Jacob said. ¡°Sorry, uh, kinda getting distracted. Where¡¯s the door?¡±


    Ellie opened the door and stepped into the warehouse. ¡°Should be directly to the left.¡± She said. ¡°Just follow the wall, and it¡¯ll be in the corner.¡± She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, lighting the area up with her camera.


    It was¡­well, it was an abandoned warehouse. Years of adventurous teens breaking in to ¡°explore¡± had taken their toll; shelves were knocked over, stuff was spread on the floor, and the whole place generally looked¡­bad.


    They picked their way over the debris until they reached the far wall, where Ellie stopped. ¡°Right here.¡± She said. ¡°Just put some Mana in and it¡¯ll open right up.¡±


    ¡°Right. Uh¡­how?¡± Jacob asked.


    ¡°Um¡­just put your hand on it and sort of¡­will it in. The door should recognize what you¡¯re trying to do, and it¡¯ll suck out the Mana for you.¡±


    Jacob nodded, laying a hand on the wall. A moment later, a door faded into existence. ¡°I¡­did it.¡± He said, a note of surprise present in his tone. ¡°It¡­really was that easy.¡±


    ¡°Yup, nothing to it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Wanna go through just to make sure it works?¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s it gonna put us?¡± Jacob asked. ¡°We were trying to keep my being¡­well, from Mael on the down-low, right? Won¡¯t this kind of be a giveaway if someone sees?¡±


    Death: We ended up basically reserving a room in the guild for this. No one should be in there for like¡­a long time, so it¡¯s all good


    ¡°They¡¯ve reserved a private room.¡± Tess said. ¡°No one except guild staff is in the back of the guild on any sort of regular basis, so no one should notice except them, and they can keep their mouths shut.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s peek in, then.¡±


    They took a minute to walk through the door and ensure that everything was working before heading back through. They said their goodbyes and headed back home, where they were almost immediately contacted by the gods.


    Life: I believe we were going to talk about your social life. As we have said before, it is our opinion that you are withdrawing too much into your work and not balancing your life properly. While this is doable in the short term, it has been shown time and time again that, over the course of years, this has a negative impact. Having no other ways to spend your time will end up with you burning out, and that is not something we can afford.


    Fortune: Or, to put it less stiffly, we¡¯re getting worried about your mental health. We¡¯re worried that if you keep this up, you¡¯re going to end up hating life, and that¡¯s about the furthest thing from what we want. So¡­well, we tried to sort of nudge you into getting out more and it didn¡¯t really work so we¡¯re putting our feet down.


    Death: Yeah. We¡¯ve already talked to Evan and gotten him in on it, so if you two don¡¯t get out and socialize at least once a week, we¡¯re gonna bar you from entering the Outlands. We can do that, and we will, so don¡¯t test us on this.


    Fortune: We¡¯re gonna be somewhat lenient; so long as you make a sincere effort we¡¯re not going to mind if you miss a week or two, but if it becomes a problem, we¡¯ll stop being so lenient. And while hanging out with your friends on Mael is encouraged, we¡¯re not opposed to hangouts with people you¡¯ve met in the Outlands. Just so long as it¡¯s with someone and is not related to work. Uh¡­unless it¡¯s on Mael and you¡¯re causing a paranormal incident as part of it, that¡¯s cool. Just as long as it¡¯s a side thing and not the main reason.


    Life: This is a serious matter and is not open for debate. So, are our terms understood?


    Tess: Yeah, I get it. I¡­sorry.


    Fortune: You don¡¯t need to apologize. We understand how it happened, but we also can¡¯t let things continue like this. This is entirely for your benefit, so please don¡¯t think we¡¯re angry with you or something, just concerned.


    Tess: Alright. Um¡­thanks. I¡¯m¡­glad you care.


    Fortune: Of course we care, silly. I¡¯ve said it before and I¡¯ll say it again, you two are like daughters to me. I worry about this sort of thing more than you¡¯d think, and I¡¯m sure Life and Death do too.


    Life: That aside, do you understand, Ellie?


    Ellie: I understand. We¡¯ll be better in the future, promise.


    Life: Good. I will let you enjoy the rest of your evening, then.


    Death: Don¡¯t listen to him, he¡¯s just too shy to admit he¡¯s worried too. But¡­seriously, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re not like¡­offended about this or anything. I was worried you¡¯d take this the wrong way.


    Ellie: No, I understand where you¡¯re coming from, don¡¯t worry.


    Death: Ah, good. Um¡­well, I¡­really will leave you to your night, now. You two have a good one, k?


    Fortune: Ditto


    Tess: Will do


    Ellie: Roger that!


    Ellie absentmindedly reached over and grabbed Tess¡¯s hand, giving it a squeeze. ¡°So¡­what do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m kinda tired, so¡­maybe just some video games or something?¡±


    Ellie leaned in and gave her a kiss. ¡°Sounds great. Let¡¯s get to it, then.¡±


    Fighterman481


    Well, I had to go back and rework things more than once, which is...not exactly ideal, but it is what it is, I guess. The chapter''s probably better for it.


    Uh...that''s really about all, next time...well, I have a couple of ideas, but we''ll get there when we get there, so...look forward to it, I guess?


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 65: Answering Questions

    The next day, Tess was in the middle of breakfast when she got a text message from one of her friends, Nolan.


    Hey¡­sorry for the awkwardness last night. It read. I¡­well, was not expecting you to be there. If I had known, I wouldn¡¯t have let Sarah come. I would have preferred to give you the option to meet her rather than just¡­bringing her to see you. So¡­sorry again.


    Tess contemplated that for a moment before responding. It¡¯s fine, you didn¡¯t know. Sarah¡¯s your girlfriend, right?


    I thought she gave you her name?


    Now that I think about it, I remember that. I¡¯m a little groggy right now, sorry


    Oh, I see. Um¡­by the by, do you have time to meet up later? I have some¡­questions that I would rather talk about in-person. Uh, without Sarah, of course.


    Not until after five. Tess responded. After that I¡¯m free, though


    Can I drop by your place at six, then?


    I don¡¯t see why not


    Cool, see you then


    See you then


    Tess put her phone down and returned to her breakfast, only to be interrupted by an inquisitive Ellie.


    ¡°Who was that?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Was it Alice, or Maven or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Nolan actually.¡± Tess said between bites of toast. ¡°He wanted to apologize for last night and asked if we could meet up later. I told him six was fine, so it looks like he¡¯s coming over then.¡±


    ¡°Did he say why? It seems kinda weird to ask that after not contacting us for months.¡±


    ¡°He said he has some questions he wanted to ask in person, so it¡¯s probably something to do with magic. Can¡¯t say I really blame him, I would be curious too.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can.¡± Ellie replied, frowning. ¡°He basically ignored us for months, started dating the girl who¡¯s been super hostile to us, and then just¡­pretended nothing was wrong. That¡¯s kind of awful if you ask me.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but we basically ignored him for months too, and I doubt he knew about our beef with his girlfriend before they started dating. Plus, I think it¡¯s reasonable to be intimidated about reaching out to us. I mean¡­I literally showed supernatural powers, wouldn¡¯t you be wary of reaching out to a friend of they started sprouting claws and tearing through metal doors?¡±


    Ellie shifted uncomfortably. ¡°I kind of feel like, if it was someone I¡¯d known for a long time and they specifically mentioned still wanting to be friends after tearing through said metal door, that I¡¯d try and learn magic from them. Come on, you know being able to do all this stuff is cool, don¡¯t pretend you wouldn¡¯t try and learn if you had the opportunity.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯m not quite that¡­courageous. Still, that aside, even if we say he¡¯s been awful, isn¡¯t it our job as Appointed to be the bigger people? We have to be an example, right?¡±


    Fortune: No, actually. As long as you¡¯re not showing up in an official capacity people won¡¯t know you¡¯re an Appointed, so you¡¯re free to be as petty as you want


    Death: Yeah, you wouldn¡¯t believe how petty I can be when I¡¯m online when people are jerks, you don¡¯t have any responsibility to set an example lol


    ¡°I think you¡¯re just a bit too forgiving sometimes, Tess.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Even the gods think it¡¯s fine to be a little selfish. You don¡¯t have to just¡­roll over and let anyone do whatever they want.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± Tess protested. ¡°Nolan¡¯s a friend, and he deserves the benefit of the doubt! We can¡¯t just¡­not even listen to his side of the story!


    Life: She is correct. You cannot burn bridges because of such a minor perceived slight. While you are able to act as petty as you wish without tarnishing the reputation of the gods, that does not mean you should do so. I believe it is for the best that you at least hear Nolan out. If afterwards you wish to be angry or¡­whatever you feel towards him, then that is fine, but otherwise you are being unfair.


    Fortune: I know what I said earlier, but I agree. I was just correcting a misconception and probably should have worded it better, sorry


    ¡°There you have it.¡± Tess said. ¡°Besides, if we turned up our nose at him, we¡¯d have to turn up our nose at everyone. He hasn¡¯t really done more than anyone else, aside from start dating someone who¡¯s apologized and is trying to be better.¡±


    Ellie sighed. ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡± She admitted. ¡°I just don¡¯t like the thought of everyone being all buddy-buddy with you after they abandoned you those last couple of weeks at school.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that was kind of hurtful.¡± Tess said. ¡°But I can¡¯t say I wouldn¡¯t have done something similar, so I really can¡¯t get that mad at them. That¡¯s really not an easy situation to be in, especially given how much influence Aaron has around here. Anyone who is too public about consorting with me was risking facing lasting consequences.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not so sure I agree, but let¡¯s leave it at that.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°We gotta finish our breakfasts if we want to be on time.¡±


    Tess glanced at the time on her phone. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re right!¡± With that, she began to wolf down her food, trying to fit in as much as possible before she had to head out and start the day¡¯s work.


    Tess sat down on the couch letting out a small groan as she did. She was sore all over from the day¡¯s dungeon dive. They were getting towards the end of the Jagged Cliffs, and had been picking up the pace so they could finish in time for the expedition.


    As a result, the climbing had become a lot harder. Her various abilities made it much easier on her than it would normally have been, but even they weren¡¯t enough to fully nullify the strain of climbing a mountain as fast as possible.


    ¡°Can we just like...call in a rain check on meeting Nolan?¡± Ellie asked, sitting down and laying her head on Tess¡¯s lap. ¡°I¡¯m so tired it feels like I could just¡­fall asleep any moment.¡±


    ¡°I know, but¡­it¡¯s not going to get any better in the next week or so, so I think we should just suck it up and deal with it.¡± Tess replied, stroking Ellie¡¯s head absently.


    Ellie sighed. ¡°Fine, I suppose you have a point. Has he texted you since this morning?¡±


    Tess pulled her phone out of a pocket and checked for new messages. Sure enough, there was one from ten minutes earlier. Going to be running a few minutes late. It read. Mom¡¯s making me do a bunch of cleaning before I go, sorry


    ¡°He¡¯s gonna be late.¡± Tess said.


    ¡°He always is.¡± Ellie chuckled. ¡°What¡¯s his excuse this time?¡±


    ¡°His mom is making him do chores.¡± Tess replied.


    ¡°Sounds about right.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°He give you a time frame?¡±


    ¡°A few minutes, so¡­not really. You know how long his ¡°minutes¡± can be.¡±


    Ellie smirked. ¡°That I do, that I do. So¡­we have a bit of extra time, what do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°I feel like we haven¡¯t played games together in a while, do you have any good ones?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°A couple.¡± Ellie said, taking her head off of Tess¡¯s lap and standing up. ¡°Give me a minute to go get it ready.¡± She walked over to the TV, turning both it and the console below it on. She picked up a couple of controllers, changed the input on the TV, then walked back over to Tess and handed her one of the controllers. ¡°I¡¯m thinking a party game so we can drop it at like¡­any moment if we need to. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m up for anything.¡± Tess said, shrugging. ¡°I just want to spend time with you.¡±


    Ellie blushed and gave Tess a quick peck on the cheek. ¡°You¡¯ve been getting awfully forward as of late.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m not complaining, I love it, but¡­what¡¯s changed?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know. I¡¯m just¡­more comfortable in my own skin now. I¡¯ve gotten used to being a girl, and I¡¯ve found something in life that I¡¯m reasonable competent at. Plus¡­well, plus I know you like it when I act like this and all I have to do is say what I¡¯m actually feeling, so¡­it works out.¡±


    ¡°You are too cute sometimes.¡± Ellie said, sitting down and throwing an arm around Tess. ¡°I don¡¯t deserve you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s funny, because that¡¯s exactly how I feel about you.¡± Tess replied, turning and giving Ellie a kiss. ¡°I couldn¡¯t ask for a better girlfriend.¡±


    Ellie blushed even harder. ¡°Stop it, you. If you don¡¯t, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to hold myself back, and we don¡¯t have time to fool around before Nolan gets here.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Tess giggled. ¡°Let¡¯s get to playing, then.¡±


    They ended up playing for another half an hour before Nolan texted them again saying that he had finished and was on his way. But, given that he lived over twenty minutes away and it was already six, they still had plenty of time to squeeze in a couple more rounds.


    Or they would have, had Nolan not shown up fifteen minutes after. ¡°S-sorry I¡¯m late.¡± He panted. ¡°I was as fast as possible, but mom sprung those on me at the last minute.¡±


    ¡°Nah, I get it.¡± Tess replied, waving dismissively. ¡°Come on in.¡± She led him through the house and to the living room, where Ellie was waiting. ¡°Go ahead and take a seat. You had a couple of questions you wanted to ask?¡±


    Nolan sat down nervously, while Tess sat back down with Ellie.


    ¡°Actually, I want an explanation first.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you contact us for so long? And why did you think it was totally cool to date someone who literally tried to get Tess killed?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been over this, Ellie.¡± Tess said. ¡°We need to give him some time, we shouldn¡¯t grill him on this right now.¡±


    ¡°No, we need to give him the benefit of the doubt. He¡¯s had enough time, and we are perfectly entitled to an explanation.¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°But¨C¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Tess.¡± Nolan said. ¡°I was prepared to answer those questions anyway, so it¡¯s no big deal. So¡­I didn¡¯t contact you because I wasn¡¯t sure I¡­should? I mean¡­I know you said you still wanted to be friends and all, but how was I supposed to just¡­approach you once school ended? For all I knew, you were like¡­on the run or something. How am I supposed to just¡­text you like nothing happened? So, I sorta figured I would wait and see if you guys contacted me first.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°I was sort of waiting to see if others would contact me first, so¡­I guess we were sorta at an impasse, huh?¡±


    Nolan chuckled. ¡°I guess so. As for Sarah¡­well, I met her a few days after graduation, and it wasn¡¯t like I knew she had history with you two or anything. She didn¡¯t know I knew you guys either, so we just sort of started hanging out and one thing led to another and it became official.


    ¡°When she found out I was in your friend group, she really wanted to start to make amends, so I made her tell me everything, and¡­I figured that perhaps I should, at the very least, help with that. I¡­know this is kind of selfish, but could you¡­maybe have another meeting with her? I know she¡¯s been awful, and I know this is a lot to ask, but she really is trying to change.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Ellie said doubtfully. ¡°Again, she tried to get Tess killed. That¡¯s not the kind of thing you just¡­forget.¡±


    ¡°I think we should meet with her.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡­well, I can¡¯t say I fully get it, but at the very least I understand wanting to protect your loved ones from something dangerous. And¡­people deserve a second chance. If she¡¯s really willing to change, then I think I should at least hear her out.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Nolan said, relief flashing across his face. ¡°Um¡­that¡¯s not the main reason I¡¯m here, though. I was¡­wondering where you learned to do all this¡­stuff. I mean¡­you said you were normal until that little bit where you were out of school, right?¡±


    Tess hesitated. She wasn¡¯t sure she wanted to bring Nolan in on everything just yet; he was terrible with keeping secrets. And now that he was close to Sarah, that was even worse. As much as Tess was willing to hear the girl out, she definitely didn¡¯t want to be letting her in on any secrets. ¡°I can¡¯t say right now. You¡¯ll find out in the future, but now¡¯s not the time.¡±


    ¡°I was sort of expecting that.¡± Nolan said, shaking his head slightly. ¡°But it was worth a shot. I assume you mean you wouldn¡¯t be able to teach me, either?¡±


    ¡°Not right now, sorry. You¡¯ll definitely have an opportunity to learn stuff in the future, though.¡±


    Nolan perked up a little. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Really.¡± Tess confirmed.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­good to hear. Um¡­you mentioned having like a¡­minimap, is there anything else you can do that you¡¯re not telling us? Um¡­if it¡¯s something you can say, that is.¡±


    Tess rubbed the back of her neck. ¡°To be honest? A lot. Even amongst people who can use magic, I have a lot of¡­strange abilities.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m really not at liberty to discuss it all, though, so¡­yeah.¡±


    ¡°I think I get it. So¡­there are other people who can use magic, then? I assumed so, since it would be weird if there was literally only one person, but¡­¡± He shook his head again. ¡°What about Ellie and your grandpa?¡±


    Tess hesitated again, but Ellie stepped in. ¡°We can¡¯t do the things she does.¡± She said. ¡°And don¡¯t get your hopes up about meeting other magic users in the area, either, it¡¯s basically just Tess.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡­was my next question.¡± Nolan replied. ¡°Which¡­I guess really only leaves me with one more. What¡­are your plans after this? I can¡¯t imagine you¡¯re going to keep trying to be an accountant, right?¡±


    Tess shook her head. ¡°No. I¡¯ve got some more¡­uh¡­magical work lined up. As Ellie mentioned, though, there aren¡¯t any other magic users around here, so I won¡¯t be working locally. I should still be about, though, so feel free to ask to hang out and stuff.¡±


    ¡°If¡­you¡¯re not working locally, then how will you still be around here? Is it just going to be on the weekends that you¡¯re here or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Magic.¡± Tess said. ¡°I¡¯ve actually been working like this for months now. Even did it a bit while I was in school.¡±


    Nolan blinked. ¡°Oh, duh. I¡­probably should have thought about that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it,¡± Tess said, giving him a reassuring smile, ¡°it¡¯s way outside the norm, so it¡¯s only natural you wouldn¡¯t think of it. So¡­if that¡¯s all your questions, do you want to hang out for an hour or two? Seems kind of a waste to come all the way out here for just that much.¡±


    Nolan paused, then shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t see why not. What do you guys want to do?¡±


    ¡°Well, Ellie and I were playing party games, and there¡¯s room for a third¡­¡±


    Fighterman481


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 66: A Rematch

    Tess had just finished using the bathroom and was returning to their dedicated private room in the guild when she ran into Ilmir. The two sort of¡­awkwardly stopped, not quite sure what to say or do.


    After a moment, Ilmir hesitantly spoke up. ¡°Uh¡­hey.¡± She said. ¡°Long time no see, I guess. Um¡­do you mind if I ask a question?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Tess said warily. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±


    ¡°Ah, good.¡± Ilmir replied, scratching the back of her neck embarrassedly. ¡°You¡­wanted a rematch, right? I was just wondering what sort of time frame you¡¯re thinking for that. Before, you said it would be after you graduated, but it¡¯s been a few weeks since then so¡­just curious.¡±


    Tess started. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I kinda forgot, I was focused on other things. I¡¯m ready any time, really. Probably not today, since we¡¯re finishing up the Jagged Cliffs, but any day after is fine.¡±


    ¡°How does tomorrow sound, then?¡± Ilmir asked. ¡°I¡¯m kind of looking forward to this, and I want to nail down a date.¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow works.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°I¡¯ll let everyone know, and we can meet here at like¡­noon. Don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to go the same as last time, though, I¡¯ve gotten much stronger than before.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten stronger too.¡± Ilmir said. ¡°So, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s going to go as you plan, either.¡±


    ¡°Linear warriors, quadratic wizards.¡± Ellie said, stepping up to the two of them.


    ¡°What?¡± Tess and Ilmir both asked, turning to face the newcomer.


    ¡°Just saying that one of your growth rates is a bit more¡­exponential than the others.¡± Ellie replied with a smirk. ¡°What¡¯s all this about, anyway?¡±


    ¡°Ilmir was asking me about the rematch I mentioned wanting to have.¡± Tess explained. ¡°We ended up setting it up for tomorrow. Though¡­why are you here? Weren¡¯t you waiting with everyone else?¡±


    ¡°I got some info that there had been a bit of a disturbance, so I came to take a look. Also, why not just do this thing now?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Because right now we¡¯re finishing off the Jagged Cliffs, remember?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but this should only take like¡­ten or twenty minutes.¡± Ellie countered. ¡°We just go grab a Gauntlet of Challenge, have you two duke it out, then once Tess wins, we pack up and go on our way.¡±


    Ilmir raised an eyebrow. ¡°You seem awfully confident that she¡¯s going to win.¡± She said. ¡°Surely you of all people know the difference between your stats.¡±


    ¡°Ilmir, you¡¯re backsliding.¡± Eyfura said gently, walking up to her. ¡°Remember what Doctor Miras says about that.¡±


    Ilmir jumped slightly. ¡°G-grandma, when did you get here?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s beside the point.¡± Eyfura replied. ¡°You need to stop letting your prejudice affect you.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, Grandma.¡± She turned back to Ellie and Tess. ¡°Sorry.¡± She mumbled. ¡°That was uncalled for.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I know changing your way of thinking is hard.¡±


    Ilmir perked up. ¡°Really? You¡¯re not mad?¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not happy about it, but I can understand it. As long as you¡¯re genuinely trying to change, I see no reason not to forgive you for it.¡±


    ¡°So, what¡¯s all this about, then?¡± Eyfura asked, walking over to Tess and giving her a quick hug. ¡°Not that I¡¯m not happy to see you or anything, just curious as to what you all are getting heated over.¡±


    Another quick explanation later, Eyfura nodded. ¡°I get it.¡± She said. ¡°I can go get a Gauntlet prepped if you would like.¡±


    ¡°We need to make sure this is fine with Maven and The Rumors first.¡± Tess said. ¡°Just¡­hang tight and I¡¯ll go ask them.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re fine with it.¡± Maven said. ¡°And before you ask, we came in case you needed help or something. We didn¡¯t exactly get a lot of details from Ellie.¡±


    Ellie looked to the side awkwardly. ¡°Sorry.¡± She said. ¡°I just wanted to get here as soon as possible, so¡­¡±


    ¡°We get it.¡± Ker soothed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it too much. It was mostly because Alice was worried, and we figured it couldn¡¯t hurt to come check.¡±


    Alice blushed and looked away. ¡°I just¡­you know, this is a sensitive topic. I wanted to make sure things didn¡¯t get too heated.¡±


    Maven walked over to Ilmir, looking her up and down with an unimpressed expression. ¡°So, you¡¯re the Ilmir I¡¯ve heard so much about, huh?¡±


    ¡°I¡­suppose I am.¡± Ilmir replied. ¡°What have you heard about me?¡±


    ¡°Do you want the political answer or the honest answer?¡± Maven asked.


    Ilmir winced. ¡°Honest. I need to know, sorry.¡±


    Maven shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve heard you¡¯re an insensitive jerk who used trauma as an excuse to try and cause a rift between these two so you could get closer to Ellie. Or¡­well, I know that¡¯s not entirely accurate, but my understanding of the situation doesn¡¯t paint you in a very positive light.¡±


    Ilmir¡¯s ears and tail drooped. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re¡­completely right to think that way.¡± She said. ¡°I was pretty awful. I¡¯m¡­trying to be better, though.¡±


    ¡°So long as your mistakes are not repeated, I have no reason not to believe that.¡± Maven replied, sticking a hand out. ¡°Pleasure meeting you.¡±


    Ilmir tentatively accepted the proffered hand and shook. ¡°Likewise, I think.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go get a Gauntlet, then.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°We don¡¯t have the luxury of having a cleared arena this time around, so we¡¯re going to have to find one ourselves. The next best thing is probably going to be a dungeon, I¡¯m thinking¡­probably inside Big Bertha¡¯s chamber in Slime Tower. If we just clear her out of the way, we should have plenty of room for a good fight.¡±


    ¡°Are you allowed to take the guild¡¯s Gauntlet outside?¡± Maven asked curiously. ¡°Those are supposed to only be used under direct supervision of guild staff, right?¡±


    Eyfura grinned. ¡°One, I¡¯m technically one of the guild¡¯s highest ranking officers. Two, I¡¯m not getting the guild¡¯s Gauntlet. I have a few spares for¡­reasons. So, we¡¯ll be using one of my personal ones just in case.¡±


    ¡°How¡­¡± Maven trailed off, then shot a glance at Ava, who nodded. ¡°Ah. I see. Reasons.¡±


    ¡°Got it in one. Now, I gotta go grab that Gauntlet, so you all meet me in the lobby of Slime Tower¡¯s top floor, I should only be like¡­ten or fifteen minutes.¡± And with that, Eyfura departed, hurriedly making her way down the hall towards the exit.


    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s our cue.¡± Jin said. ¡°Let¡¯s get going.¡±


    The walk over was quiet; Ilmir didn¡¯t seem up to initiating much conversation, Ellie was more than happy to ignore her, Tess and Maven weren¡¯t quite sure what they would even say, and any attempts at conversation made by The Rumors just ended up dying quickly.


    So it was no small relief when Eyfura showed up to Slime Tower¡¯s top floor only five or so minutes after the rest of them had arrived.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t keep you waiting too long, right?¡± She asked. ¡°I ran into a bit of traffic, there was some¡­I don¡¯t even know what was happening, but there was a huge crowd outside some business on the way to my house, and I had to take a detour.¡±


    ¡°Not at all.¡± Ker said. ¡°It¡¯s only been a minute or two.¡±


    ¡°Oh, good. Shall we all party up and head on in, then?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Alice said, a note of agitation in her tone. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with.¡±


    Partying up, entering the boss room, killing Big Bertha, and then preparing for the duel took only a couple of minutes. Most of that time was taken up by Eyfura making some sort of¡­protective circle for the noncombatants to stand in, so they would be safe from any collateral damage.


    And soon, Tess and Ilmir were placing their hands on the Gauntlet. After but a moment, they were teleported to opposite edges of the room, and the fight begun in earnest.


    Unlike in their first fight, Ilmir didn¡¯t immediately rush in. Instead, she kept her distance, coating her swords in lightning and fire and sending the beams towards Tess. That was fine, though; she had ways of dealing with that now.


    Isabella, take care of the lightning. Tess instructed. Silky, use Rallying Cry and buff us up.


    On it, mistress! Silky said. There was a squeak from within Tess¡¯s shirt sleeve, where Silky was hiding, and Tess was suddenly just that bit faster and stronger. Isabella erected a wall of earth that the lightning beam crashed into and dissipated against, and Tess rushed around the wall, running directly through the beam of fire.


    As she did, she activated Phoenix Fire, and watched as the beam of fire was incorporated into her own coating and the flames grew ever brighter. She deactivated Purifying Flames and, for a brief moment, burned through some Mana to not only focus the coating into a line that speared towards Ilmir, but also turned up the heat as far as it would go.


    And that was hot. The fire went from a dull red to a brilliant blue in a moment, and the air distorted from the sheer heat of the mass of flame. Not that Ilmir seemed to mind the heat itself; she likely had equipment that compensated for extreme temperatures.


    But the lance of fire itself wasn¡¯t something to be ignored; it was as thick around as Tess¡¯s body, and the temperature was really just a secondary effect. Ilmir deftly dodged its first pass, but Tess brought it right back around to hit her back, then let the flames return to their usual shape.


    You have scorched Ilmir Almes for 83 damage!


    (Effects hidden)


    Tess took a moment to expand the list of effects and keep them expanded by default for the remainder of the fight. She wanted to keep track of exactly how much she was doing to Ilmir, so she could adjust her strategy accordingly.


    You have scorched Ilmir Almes for 83 damage!


    You have applied the Napalm condition to Ilmir Almes, dealing 180 damage every .25 seconds for 60 seconds!


    Napalm has spread to another part of Ilmir Almes¡¯s body, duplicating the effect!


    Napalm has spread to another part of Ilmir Almes¡¯s body, duplicating the effect!


    Napalm has spread to another part of Ilmir Almes¡¯s body, duplicating the effect!


    Napalm has spread to another part of Ilmir Almes¡¯s body, duplicating the effect!


    Napalm has spread to more than 3 parts of Ilmir Almes¡¯s body, increasing its damage by 50% and doubling its remaining duration!


    Ilmir yelped in pain and quickly put out the flames using her Blessing. ¡°What even is Napalm?!¡± She yelled, lashing out with her lightning sword once again. At the same time, she sheathed her fire sword and pulled out another which instantly began to drip water.


    ¡°Fire that has tripled duration and deals damage twice as often!¡± Eyfura called out. ¡°Very rare condition!¡±


    ¡°¡­Pointless.¡± Isabella whispered from within Tess, bringing up yet another wall of earth to block the lightning.


    Ilmir seemed to have been prepared, however; she used the wall to block Tess¡¯s view of her and sheathed the lightning sword before drawing another. Tess couldn¡¯t tell exactly what element was coating it using tremorsense, but the effects it gave off were blocky, which Tess could only assume meant earth or ice or something.


    Still under the impression that Tess couldn¡¯t see what she was doing, Ilmir moved up to the base of the wall and began to listen intently for Tess¡¯s approach, swords at the ready.


    Tess grinned, activating all of her unarmed Skills and rushing straight towards where Ilmir was hiding. Isabella, fake some footsteps to the right and then destroy that wall please. She said, thrusting out with a claw, already moving to pierce Ilmir¡¯s skull.


    The wall fell mere moments before Tess¡¯s claw would impact Ilmir, and Ilmir seemed to have bought Tess¡¯s ruse, as she was in the process of sending out her sword beams. Though, oddly enough, she was completely invisible to the naked eye; she was clearly using something similar to Active Camouflage. Not that it mattered; tremorsense told Tess exactly where to strike, and she was on top of Ilmir before the girl could even realize what was happening.


    Even so, Ilmir¡¯s body reacted, throwing itself out of the way of Tess¡¯s blow and sending her beam flying wildly away. Ilmir landed deftly a few yards away, a shocked expression on her face.


    Silky, immobilize her! Isabella, if she escapes, make her still again!


    The ground around Ilmir lifted itself up and encased her lower body, briefly keeping her from moving. A half-second later, there was a boom and a burst of crackling electricity and debris, and Tess immediately used Flashstep to teleport past the wave and right next to Ilmir.


    ¡­And right into Ilmir¡¯s waiting blade. After a movement that was too fast for Tess to track, there was a moment of brief, white-hot pain followed by another swift strike to Tess¡¯s head, and then¡­nothing.


    Exactly one minute later, Tess resumed her existence, a burst of flame signifying her revival as Reborn from the Ashes did its work. Tess blinked and reoriented herself; the Gauntlet was still spinning gently in the air above them, and Ilmir was¡­on her knees, panting heavily and looking at Tess with eyes filled with terror and expectation.


    She struggled to her feet, one arm dangling limply by her side, horrible burn marks running up and down its length. Still, she lifted her dripping sword and stumbled towards the completely unblemished Tess.


    It was too easy. There was no burst of flames, no trick as Silky once again encased her in earth, and Ilmir could do naught but watch with a defeated expression as Tess casually walked over and pierced her skull with a claw.


    And then, suddenly, the two were back in the center of the arena, completely unharmed.


    ¡°I¡­lost.¡± Ilmir said, disbelief etched into her face. ¡°It¡­that didn¡¯t even feel close.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t.¡± Ellie said smugly. ¡°The moment Tess got rid of your Blessing, it was over. All she had to do was get near you, and that was it.¡±


    Ilmir shook her head. ¡°I¡­don¡¯t understand. I thought I had her when she teleported next to me, but¡­¡±


    ¡°I was being risky.¡± Tess said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if you would be able to react, but I knew that, even if you did kill me, I would win by getting close. I got a couple of auras that apply status conditions to anything that gets too close, and they stay active even after I¡¯m dead.¡±


    ¡°Not that, I get that, I think, how did you¡­come back?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that. I took the ability from a Spitfire Phoenix core.¡± Tess replied.


    ¡°And¡­how many more times could you have done that?¡±


    ¡°Two or three? Depends on how hard you hit me when you kill me. Your stats were actually working against you there, you nearly killed me with that first blow so the second one only did a little bit of damage. And, well, after that you would have had to destroy an egg that I would be in, but if you got that far you could probably handle that.¡±


    ¡°O-oh.¡± Ilmir replied. ¡°And how¡¯d you know where I was behind the wall? I made sure to go invisible and hide my scent and everything.¡±


    ¡°I can literally feel where you are by the¡­well, it¡¯s hard to describe it to someone who hasn¡¯t experienced it, but it¡¯s kind of like echolocation. As long as you still have a physical body, I can ¡®see¡¯ you if you¡¯re close enough.¡±


    ¡°Well played, then.¡± Ilmir said. ¡°And¡­I don¡¯t know if I said it before, but¡­I was wrong about you. Once again, I apologize for my behavior, I will endeavor not to act like that in the future, regardless of who I¡¯m talking to.¡±


    ¡°I¡­accept your apology.¡± Tess said slowly. ¡°I¡¯m over it by now. I¡¯m not going to invite you into our party or anything, but I¡¯m willing to start over with you, give you a second chance. Just¡­don¡¯t do anything like this again.¡±


    Ilmir froze, then, a moment later, broke into a wide smile. ¡°T-thank you.¡± She said. ¡°I won¡¯t let you down, I promise.¡±


    Tess stuck out her hand, and after a moment, Ilmir shook. ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear it.¡± Tess said. ¡°Now, as much as I would like to stick around and chat, we really need to go complete the Jagged Cliffs.¡±


    She ended the handshake and walked over to Eyfura, giving her a hug. ¡°Am I going to see you at the expedition?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Eyfura said, returning the hug, ¡°We¡¯re going. Feel free to stop by any time you like, any of you. We could use the company.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you up on that.¡± Tess said, letting go of the hug and turning back to the rest of her party. ¡°Shall we be off, then?¡±


    Fighterman481


    I worried somewhat about Ilmir being too...comparatively weak since the last fight, but Tess has gotten quite a few power hikes since that time and, while Ilmir may have got a couple of new tricks, they weren''t anywhere near as drastic improvements as what Tess got. She got the thing that makes her ailments always upgrade, stuff from the cores she bought, and she upgraded Silky and Isabella. And that''s on top of the Skills she got in her training, though those are more secondary.


    And I haven''t forgotten about those, either, the new ones from the Jagged Cliffs should be coming next chapter when that gets finished off, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 67: Finishing the Cliffs

    Tess watched in satisfaction as the boss fell, knowing that she wouldn¡¯t have to go through this dungeon again for a long time.


    ¡°Nice work, ladies.¡± Ellie said. ¡°What say you we get our reward and never come back again?¡±


    ¡°I think that is an excellent idea.¡± Maven said, panting slightly. ¡°This was¡­incredibly unpleasant to go through, and not just because I wasn¡¯t boosting this time around.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, no one really likes this one.¡± Alice said lazily. ¡°But you gotta get it out of the way, you know? Though, I must say, thanks to Tess, you three really didn¡¯t get the full experience. Wading through that snow and having to be constantly on alert for nasty camouflaged enemies was not a fun time.¡±


    ¡°Yes, thank you for that.¡± Maven said, giving Tess a nod. ¡°I¡­was having a hard enough time as is. I shudder to think what it would be like if it was worse.¡±


    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t mention it.¡± Tess said, looking to the side in embarrassment. ¡°Just doing my job.¡±


    ¡°Have some pride, girl!¡± Ellie said, slinging an arm around Tess¡¯s neck. ¡°You deserve it!¡±


    ¡°T-thanks.¡± Tess replied, blushing. ¡°Um¡­why don¡¯t we go get our rewards instead of hanging out here? Maybe we can like¡­go out to dinner as a celebration or something.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be my treat, if we do.¡± Alice said. ¡°Call it a reward for persevering without complaining too much.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to bow out if we do get dinner.¡± Ava said. ¡°I promised my grandkids I would be home tonight, and I¡¯m not going to hear the end of it if I¡¯m even a little late.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not get too ahead of ourselves, that¡¯s contingent on if Maven and Ellie want to go.¡± Ker said. ¡°What are your thoughts?¡±


    ¡°I think it sounds like a great idea.¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°I am always open to eating out.¡± Maven added. ¡°I will admit my cooking is not¡­as good as I would like it to be.¡±


    ¡°Eh, no one¡¯s great when they first start out.¡± Jin said. ¡°You¡¯ll get the hang of it with time. So, let¡¯s take care of your last Rewards Crystal here, then we can talk about where we want to eat, okay?¡±


    ¡°Way ahead of you.¡± Ellie replied, stepping through the doorway that appeared and into the room with the Rewards Crystal. Tess followed a moment later, wasting no time in placing her hand on the crystal and receiving her reward.


    As she did, she took a moment to think back to the other things she had got from this dungeon. There were four of them, and they¡­weren¡¯t anything as fancy as what she had originally received, but they were useful, nonetheless.


    Quick Burn:


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Halves the damage interval of your fire effects (effectively doubling their damage), but halves their duration.


    The candle that lasts half as long burns twice as brightly.


    Beast Basher (Mythical):


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Doubles damage against beast-type monsters. This doubling applies after all other bonuses.


    Beasts beware!


    Avian Aggressor (Mythical):


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Doubles damage against avian-type monsters. This doubling applies after all other bonuses.


    Never fear geese again!


    Piscatorian Punisher (Mythical):


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Doubles damage against fish-type monsters. This doubling applies after all other bonuses.


    Like shooting fish in a barrel.


    And that just left the new Skill she got.


    You have gained the Skill Strength in Health (Mythical)!


    Strength in Health (Mythical):


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Increases all damage you deal by the percentage of health you have remaining (so at full health you deal 100% more damage, and at 50% health you deal 50% more damage, etc).


    Just don¡¯t take any damage.


    ¡°Nothing great.¡± Ellie said. ¡°How about you? Just another Skill for extra damage to a certain type of monster?¡±


    ¡°No, actually.¡± Tess replied. ¡°It increases my damage the more health I have remaining.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Strength in Health.¡± Jin said. ¡°I have that one myself. Quite a handy Skill if you¡¯re not usually in the line of fire.¡±


    ¡°How about you, Maven?¡± Tess asked, turning to her teammate.


    ¡°I got the Huntress Class.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how useful it¡¯ll end up being, since it doesn¡¯t really work well with any of my abilities, but I suppose it might have some Skills that help with a bow.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate Classes that don¡¯t fit well with what you have.¡± Ker advised. ¡°I don¡¯t know if your tutors were like this, but many who boost others advise they stick with one Class or a small group of them. While this is somewhat sensible under the premise of boosting, as it lessens the mental load a booster has in combat, that does not hold true for an actual freelancer.


    ¡°It is incredibly rare that having a Skill works to your disadvantage, and it is much, much more common that having that Skill helps you out in some way. Even if it doesn¡¯t mesh with what you want to be doing, or what the rest of your kit is working towards, it is better to have that option than not.


    ¡°Now, I¡¯m not saying you drop everything and start leveling that Class immediately. What I¡¯m saying is you should keep it in the back of your mind. When you hit a roadblock level like twenty-five or fifty in your ¡®main¡¯ Classes, it¡¯s often worth it to take a break from them and level up any other random ones you may have. By the time you return to your main Classes, especially in these early middle levels, you¡¯re usually fighting higher level enemies and that roadblock is less significant.¡±


    Maven pondered that for a moment. ¡°I have a few Classes like that. I haven¡¯t touched them at all since my tutors told me not to, would it be wise to switch now?¡±


    ¡°When was the last time your main Class leveled up?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°About two weeks ago.¡± Maven said.


    Alice winced. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re gonna wanna switch ASAP. You¡¯re going to be getting a lot more benefit out of putting that experience in Classes that are gonna see rapid growth.¡±


    ¡°I¡­see. I will take care of that after dinner, then.¡±


    ¡°Just pop by the Party Crystal on our way out.¡± Alice instructed. ¡°Huntress is a pretty okay Class for you to switch to right now, unless you have something you think would be better for your archery or magic.¡±


    Maven shook her head. ¡°I do not.¡±


    ¡°There you go, then. Shouldn¡¯t take more than a minute. So¡­where we thinking about eating?¡±


    Ava gave the group a smile. ¡°I believe this is where I make my exit. I¡¯ll see you all tomorrow, okay?¡± With that, she exited the room, leaving the rest of the group to talk about food. They eventually decided on a small eatery tucked into an out of the way part of town; they didn¡¯t want anything too formal or crowded, and Jin vouched for the place¡¯s quality, so they decided it was as good a place as any.


    About half an hour later, they were seated and were waiting for food. ¡°So¡­the expedition is in a couple of weeks.¡± Maven said. ¡°We¡¯re going, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan.¡± Jin confirmed.


    ¡°So¡­what are we doing until then?¡±


    ¡°Mmm¡­well, we¡¯ve exhausted all of the dungeons you can do near town.¡± Alice said. ¡°I think we¡¯re going to take a break from leveling and work on polishing your technique and getting you to use your new Skills properly.¡±


    ¡°Can you ask your folks if we can use their Arena?¡± Ker asked. ¡°That¡¯s probably the most efficient way if we want to focus purely on technique.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I was thinking.¡± Alice said. ¡°I¡¯ll ask them if we can stay there, too, so we don¡¯t have to go back and forth every day.¡±


    ¡°The two of us are going to need to make a couple of trips back to Mael in that time.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We have to introduce ourselves to the Archpriest on¡­uh¡­soon?¡±


    Life: We have set it up for Sunday.


    ¡°Sunday.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯re doing it on Sunday, so¡­two days, I guess.¡±


    Fortune: You know, if they let us¡­borrow their hoverer, we could probably install a door to your house in it. Would be a lot easier during the expedition, too, if Tess and Ellie need to go back to Mael


    Death: Oh yeah, that¡¯s a good idea, Life, can you go ask Artifice if she would be willing to help make sure we don¡¯t mess up the hoverer when we do that?


    Life: If The Rumors agree to let them use the hoverer, I will.


    ¡°Hey, this is kinda random, but can we¡­um¡­borrow your hoverer?¡± Tess asked. ¡°The gods are saying they could probably get a door to our house installed in there. I realize that¡¯s kind of¡­sudden and¨C¡±


    She was cut off by Alice taking the hoverer out of her bag in compacted form and sliding it over the table to Tess. ¡°Knock yourself out.¡± She said. ¡°Worst case scenario I just get another. Heck¡­honestly we might as well just give you guys that one and I get another anyway.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­would we even be able to power that consistently?¡± Tess asked.


    Ker raised an eyebrow. ¡°It runs off of cores. You of all people should have no trouble running it.¡±


    ¡°I know it runs off of cores, I just don¡¯t know how many it needs. It could end up costing more than I¡¯m able to make.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not as bad as you¡¯re thinking.¡± Alice said. ¡°With the exception of most bosses, you can generally assume a core¡¯s fuel efficiency is based off of the level of the monster it came from, and level thirty-ish cores tend to last around an hour. Fuel efficiency doesn¡¯t increase linearly, so level fifty monsters go for like¡­three hours, level seventy five go for almost sixteen, and if you¡¯re crazy enough to use a level one hundred core that can probably last you for days. It¡¯s not an issue for you.¡±


    ¡°But¡­these things are expensive, right?¡± Tess said hesitantly. ¡°I¡¯m not sure we can accept something like that so suddenly.¡±


    Alice waved a hand dismissively. ¡°Tess, you¡¯re talking to someone with enough money to buy several small countries. This may be a nice model, but it¡¯s so insignificant to me it¡¯s not even funny.¡±


    Ellie turned to Maven. ¡°Maven, do you know how much a hoverer like theirs costs?¡±


    Maven inspected the cube that was the hoverer. ¡°This seems to be one of Io¡¯s, from a couple years back¡­I¡¯m not an expert, but I¡¯m guessing that this would go for like¡­fifty to seventy five platinum. The one my family uses, when we bought it new, was one hundred platinum, so I¡¯m just guessing based off of that.¡±


    Tess paused, doing some mental math. ¡°That¡¯s¡­at least half a million dollars.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s like twice as much as the house I live in.¡±


    Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°And your armor would probably cost a hundred times as much as that hoverer, but you seem to have no problem with that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s different. This was¡­¡± She glanced around, making sure no one was listening. ¡°Well, my bosses had Gramps pull out a few favors. I can¡¯t very well say no when it¡¯s kind of directly related to my job performance.¡±


    ¡°So is this.¡± Alice said, smirking. ¡°Are you still going to say no?¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°Tell you what.¡± Jin said. ¡°Let¡¯s do it this way. If you impress us on the expedition, we¡¯ll give it to you guys. If not, we¡¯ll wait until Ker and I decide you¡¯ve earned it, sound good?¡±


    ¡°I¡­guess that¡¯s better than just getting it for free.¡± Tess admitted.


    ¡°Well, for the record, I have no problem with just taking it now.¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°I admit it would be nice to have a hoverer for the future.¡± Maven said. ¡°I have been dreading going without.¡±


    ¡°There you have it.¡± Alice said. ¡°Before the expedition, I¡¯ll grab another one for my party, and you three can use that one for sleeping in. You can ride in the new one I¡¯m getting so there are more people to talk to if you like, or you can ride on your own, your call.¡±


    Tess hesitantly took the hoverer and stored it away. ¡°I¡­well, we¡¯ll talk about it amongst the three of us, I guess.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine with riding with The Rumors.¡± Ellie volunteered.


    ¡°As am I.¡± Maven said. ¡°It cannot hurt to have more company on long trips.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­I guess that settles it, we¡¯ll be riding with you, then.¡± Tess said. ¡°That¡¯s more fuel-efficient anyway.¡±


    Ellie: Wait a sec how are we going to get this to you guys?


    Life: Give it to your grandfather, he will be able to get it to us.


    Ellie: Oh, that makes sense. We should¡­probably learn how to get to your place ourselves


    Death: Don¡¯t sweat it, Evan¡¯s an exception. Getting here takes a lot of Mana, and you have to be super precise, so only a couple of Appointed are actually able to do it without the aid of Worship.


    Fortune: To be honest, Tess probably won¡¯t even be able to without converting a bleed effect into Mana, and even then it¡¯ll need to be a meaty one. Ellie might be able to scrounge up the Mana once she¡¯s closer to level 100, but she¡¯ll probably need some efficiency Skill or something in order to make it work. So¡­yeah, seriously, don¡¯t worry about it.


    ¡°Going back a bit, how is your progress with your armor?¡± Ker asked. ¡°What was next again?¡±


    ¡°I just unlocked double magic damage recently, so¡­I think it was mentioned that the next was sort of like a better temperature regulator? It like¡­provides oxygen and deals with pressure and stuff.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a way of telling how long until your next unlock?¡±


    Tess focused on the armor for a moment, and a window popped up next to her, informing her that her next unlock was in roughly thirty thousand experience. ¡°Just about thirty thousand XP, so¡­gonna be a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, it might be worth getting that before we head out on the expedition.¡± Alice mused. ¡°There¡¯s no telling what we¡¯re going to encounter out there. Shouldn¡¯t be that difficult, I can take you on a day trip to a high level dungeon and just kill a bunch of things for you.¡±


    ¡°I thought that sort of thing didn¡¯t work.¡± Maven said, frowning. ¡°You generally get less experience if you don¡¯t do much, right?¡±


    ¡°Tess is an exception, remember? She just has to have any chance at getting the experience to get all of it.¡± Ker said.


    ¡°I¡­forgot it applied to experience.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°I should have made that connection.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like we generally talk about it.¡± Tess said. ¡°Can¡¯t really blame you.¡±


    Further conversation was interrupted by their food arriving. As they ate, the conversation meandered from topic to topic, until eventually they had all finished and were getting ready to leave.


    ¡°I suppose this is where we go our separate ways.¡± Maven said. ¡°I will see you all tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s meet up in the usual place, and then we can take the hoverer to my parents¡¯ estates.¡± Alice said. She paused, then looked at Tess. ¡°Those modifications won¡¯t take more than the rest of tonight, right?¡±


    Life: Artifice says it should ¡°be done in a jiffy¡±, so no, you¡¯ll have it available tomorrow.


    ¡°No, they¡¯ll be done before then.¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°Good. These things aren¡¯t exactly easy to get on short notice, so I was worried I might have to borrow my parents¡¯ hoverer.¡± Alice said. ¡°But this will be a lot easier.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Yeah. Um¡­well, we gotta go deliver this, so¡­see you all tomorrow!¡±


    The rest all said their farewells, and Tess and Ellie headed back to the guild. When they arrived, they gave the hoverer to Gramps, then went through the door and back to their house on Mael.


    ¡°So¡­what do you want to do for the rest of the evening?¡± Ellie asked, resting her head on Tess¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°How about some TV, and then maybe we can see where things go from there?¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a plan, then.¡± So, the two made their way to the living room couch, sat down, and spent the rest of the night enjoying the other¡¯s company.


    Fighterman481


    Next chapter is probably going to be visiting the Archpriest, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 68: Archpriest

    Ellie: So¡­how are we going to get to the Archpriest? He¡¯s like a thousand miles away and teleporting is super jank on Mael, right?


    Death: Head to the Holy Room, we¡¯re going to teleport you into our realm, have a little chat about how exactly we want to go about this, and then we¡¯re going to teleport you into the Holy Room.


    Tess: Oh. I assume you mean like¡­the big one? The original?


    Death: That¡¯s the one, yeah


    Tess: Isn¡¯t the Archpriest supposed to be the only one allowed in there?


    Death: It¡¯s our Holy Room it¡¯s our rules. We said that because it gives that room weight in people¡¯s minds, and that weight makes it easier for us to do stuff there. So long as no one finds out except for the Archpriest, it¡¯s not going to do any harm.


    Life: To be precise, it is acceptable to tell those who are under Oath to keep your secrets about this. If they already know you are Appointed, then there is little harm in letting them know; they likely already assume you can enter, anyway. It will only become a problem if the general public gets to know.


    Death: The Archpriest has been in there all day, praying and preparing himself in preparation for what is to come. He doesn¡¯t know exact details, but he knows he¡¯s going to be getting a super important revelation, so¡­yeah, not gonna have to go get anyone else to go get him either. Anyway, we¡¯ll talk more in the divine realm so just pop on over and we can talk more, k?


    Ellie: Alright, on our way, be there in a bit


    Death: See you soon!


    Tess and Ellie got in Ellie¡¯s car, and began their drive over to the church.


    ¡°So¡­how are you feeling?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Are you nervous?¡±


    ¡°A little, yeah.¡± Ellie admitted. ¡°I know, academically, that we¡¯ve met with more important people, that we live with someone more important, but, like¡­I dunno, this is the Archpriest. He was like¡­number one on the list of super important people growing up. It just feels different, you know?¡¯


    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Tess said. ¡°I feel the same. Like¡­it just sorta drives home that we¡¯re not¡­the same as we were before. I mean, obviously I¡¯m not the same, but like¡­in terms of status it shows that we¡¯re different.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Just¡­yeah.¡± Ellie replied. The two ended up falling into an awkward, nervous silence for the rest of the car ride over, and all too soon were walking into the Holy Room in the church. In a flash, they found themselves whisked away from Mael and back to the plane of the gods, where Life, Death, and Fortune were awaiting them.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Death said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. The guy¡¯s almost as stuffy as Life is, but there is zero chance he¡¯s even going to think about being disrespectful, not after I Descend.¡±


    ¡°But¡­what are we even doing?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Just introducing ourselves, or¡­?¡±


    ¡°That, and you¡¯re also going to be in charge of introducing the concept of the other planes to him, as well as laying out our plans for what we¡¯re doing. If you get lost as to what to say, we¡¯ll just feed you lines via chat.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be Descending too, as part of that.¡± Fortune added. ¡°Help add a bit more oomph to the idea of there being more out there, if you know what I¡¯m saying.¡±


    ¡°Seriously, just wing it, you¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s not gonna get easier if you keep worrying about it, so might as well just do.¡± Death said.


    ¡°That is not the right thing to say in this situation.¡± Life chided. ¡°They are feeling anxious, you cannot just say ¡°stop feeling anxious¡±, that is unhelpful and often counterproductive.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m saying!¡± Death protested. ¡°I¡¯m reassuring them that they¡¯ll be fine and telling them it¡¯s best to just get it over with, and then they can stop feeling anxious. They¡¯ll feel better once it¡¯s over.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re stalling.¡± Fortune said. ¡°Is there anything else you to tell them before we send them in, or shall we just go?¡±


    ¡°I¡­think I get it. I¡¯m ready.¡± Tess said. She wasn¡¯t ready, but that didn¡¯t matter; she felt like she was never going to be ready, so waiting until she was just wasn¡¯t going to work out.


    ¡°Yeah, I think Death is right, I just want to get it done.¡± Ellie added.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have anything more to say.¡± Death said. ¡°How about you, Life?¡±


    ¡°Make sure you remind him that the scythe is mine.¡± Life said. ¡°I wish to get that misconception cleared up, and this is a perfect opportunity.¡±


    ¡°I can handle that.¡± Ellie replied.


    ¡°Perfect. Fortune and I will preemptively descend, then, and we¡¯ll be off!¡± Death said.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Fortune asked.


    Tess nodded, and Fortune¡¯s body sort of¡­went limp as she Descended and entered Tess. Death, likewise, did the same, and the four of them were suddenly whisked away.


    Tess found herself in an austere room unlike the one they had teleported into the god¡¯s realm from. There were no statues or decorations, save for a single red rug upon which the Archpriest was kneeling. He was a man in his sixties, wearing a simple brown priest¡¯s gown. He didn¡¯t look like anything special, he wasn¡¯t someone Tess would pick out of a crowd had she not seen him on TV before.


    He was praying with his eyes closed, though he seemed to be aware of their presence, as he lifted his head and opened his eyes shortly after they teleported in.


    The Archpriest stared at them in confusion for a moment, and then Death spoke up. ¡°My child, I have come here today to introduce to you my Appointed.¡±


    ¡°Your Appointed, my Goddess?¡± The Archpriest asked, frowning slightly for a moment before catching himself.


    ¡°Yes. Life and I have made this girl our Appointed, our hands in the mortal realms.¡± Death explained. ¡°Her name is Ellie, and you are to treat her as you would me or Life. Her commands are our commands, and she is to be treated with respect second only to the respect given to me or Life. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, my Goddess.¡±


    ¡°You appear to have questions. Speak.¡±


    ¡°W-who is the other, and why¡­why make an Appointed? Have I failed you in some way?¡±


    Death shook her head. ¡°You have not failed me. In fact, your works have been to my satisfaction. No, an Appointed fills a different role than you do. You are my mouthpiece, the one who informs the people at large of my will. She is my sword, the one who performs tasks that cannot be left to any except to one of exceptional ability and devotion.¡± Death paused briefly, then nodded at Tess and Fortune.


    The two stepped forward, and Tess let Fortune speak. ¡°I am Fortune.¡± She said.


    The Archpriest let out a gasp, eyes widening as Fortune¡¯s voice drilled itself into his soul, informing him exactly who was speaking.


    ¡°I am, as my name implies, the Goddess of Fortune.¡± Fortune continued. ¡°I am one of several other gods in charge of the other planes, and this is my Appointed, Tess. We are working closely with Life and Death in regard to Mael, and as such, are here as representatives of the other planes.¡±


    Oh, wait I have an idea! Fortune said to Tess. I¡¯m gonna activate your fox traits, that cool?


    Do it. Tess replied.


    There was another gasp from the Archpriest as he beheld Tess¡¯s now-inhuman appearance, but he said nothing, waiting respectfully for Fortune to continue.


    ¡°We have many things planned for this plane, but our time runs short.¡± Fortune said. ¡°Mortal bodies are not fit to house the power of gods for an extended time. As such, we will be leaving shortly, but our Appointed will remain to explain our plans. You are welcome to ask questions, but know that the events of which they speak are non-negotiable. They will happen as they are being explained, despite any protests you or others may have.¡±


    ¡°Do not try to disrespect these two because of their age or the fact that we are not physically present within them any longer.¡± Death added. ¡°We will be watching, and will be very displeased if you do so. Do you understand?¡±


    The Archpriest nodded. ¡°Yes, my Goddess.¡±


    ¡°Good. When we are finished here, we will collect our Appointed in the same manner as we brought them. You are not to speak of their existence to anyone until you receive revelation saying otherwise. Even then, you are never to reveal their identities, only their existence. Farewell.¡± And with that, Death and Fortune stopped their Descents, leaving Ellie and Tess alone with the Archpriest.


    ¡°So¡­hey.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Like the gods said, I¡¯m Ellie and this is my girlfriend, Tess.¡±


    The Archpriest swallowed. ¡°It is an honor to meet you.¡± He said nervously. ¡°I am Archpriest Lucius the Fifth. How may I be of service?¡±


    Ellie shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ll get to that. For the time being, there is little we require of you, we¡¯re just relaying the gods¡¯ plans and making our presence known.¡±


    The Archpriest nodded. ¡°I understand. Please, tell me their will.¡±


    Ellie frowned, looking to Tess. ¡°Where do we start with this?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I suppose it¡¯s best I begin?¡± Tess said. ¡°As Fortune mentioned, this plane or dimension is not the only one in existence. There are, in fact, dozens of others, of which Mael is the newest. With Mael, the gods decided to run an experiment; they would withhold knowledge of the other planes and the usage of magic from the people to see how they would grow in its absence.¡±


    She held out her hand and let a ball of phoenix fire appear on her palm. The Archpriest watched, captivated, as the flame flickered and danced, and Tess continued to talk. ¡°The time is fast approaching for their experiment to end. Within the next thirty to forty years, the gods will be granting this plane magic, and will introduce it to the greater universe.¡±


    Tess closed her hand, extinguishing the fire. ¡°The two of us are in charge of overseeing this process. As natives of this plane, we will be its defenders from those who seek to take advantage of it for its inexperience with magic. I am afraid that Mael is at a significant disadvantage in this regard; the other planes know of its existence and have a modicum of information about it already. We will have much to catch up on if we hope to make Mael powerful enough to not need our help.¡±


    The Archpriest was listening attentively, and was struggling to keep his expression neutral, but Tess could tell he was bursting with questions. ¡°Ask your questions.¡± She instructed. ¡°We are here to answer.¡±


    The Archpriest nodded. ¡°You¡­said you are a native of Mael?¡± He asked. ¡°Are there¡­other nonhumans living here without our knowledge?¡±


    Tess paused. Back when Gramps had first introduced them to the Outlands, he had mentioned offhandedly that there were a couple other families from the other planes living on Mael, but she didn¡¯t know their species. That would have to be something to ask Fortune about later.


    Fortune: Evan¡¯s family was the only human family among the ambassadors, so¡­yeah, there are like a dozen others. Also, sorry for reading your mind, this is kind of too important to not be doing that.


    Tess: No, it¡¯s cool I was sorta expecting you to be anyway.


    ¡°There are roughly a dozen in the entirety of Mael.¡± Tess said. ¡°The rest of them are not affiliated with the gods as the two of us are, however. You have no need to fear them, they are not hostile to this plane. If they were, we would have taken care of them by now.¡±


    ¡°I understand. Are there¡­many non-human races?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tess said. ¡°In fact, they greatly outnumber humans. From my estimation, humans make up perhaps five percent of the total population, discounting Mael. With the introduction of Mael to the other planes, that percentage will likely increase to seven or eight.¡±


    The Archpriest nodded. ¡°That is all my questions for now.¡±


    Tess nodded to Ellie, who stepped forward. ¡°We are beginning our work already. We are attempting to get more people to accept the existence of the supernatural in hopes that it will make the eventual transition that much easier.  We are based in the town of Kaas, in the United Federation. You may have already been told this, but we would very much appreciate it if you do not send Hunters to that area.


    ¡°Do not misunderstand that request; it is not for our safety. We are at the point where Hunters can pose no threat to us. It is simply an annoyance that we do not wish to have to deal with regularly.¡±


    The Archpriest let out a sort of unconscious shiver, but nodded. ¡°I understand. I will make sure to inform the head of the Hunters. I am afraid that my word is not always to be accepted in cases such as this, however; as a countermeasure against mind-altering anomalies, the Hunters have to do their own investigation whenever unusual requests like this are made.¡±


    ¡°That is fine.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We have been given to understand that some might come regardless of what we tell them, so as long as they are kept to a minimum, it is acceptable.¡± She paused briefly before continuing. ¡°And, finally, Life wants to stress that the scythe is his, and not Death¡¯s. I am sure you have been told before, but it seems important to him.¡±


    The Archpriest sighed. ¡°I am aware, but unfortunately changing the perception of the people is not a simple task. I have tried to fix this issue multiple times, but it is always sidelined for ¡°more important issues¡± or even ignored. At the very least, I have been able to stop it from appearing in new statues and paintings, but getting more than that has proved troublesome.¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°Very well then. I suppose we¡¯ll have to take matters into our own hands when we debut publicly.¡±


    The Archpriest looked to Tess and then back to Ellie. ¡°This is somewhat presumptuous, but, when you make a public appearance, could you find time to publicly announce your relationship?¡± He asked. ¡°I am afraid I have attempted to deal with those that denounce homosexuality, but many simply will not listen. Like with the scythe, there is a culture around certain things, and my word alone cannot change that. However, knowing that the handmaiden of the gods is homosexual should greatly alleviate the issue.¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°I am glad you asked. We were, in fact, planning on doing so. However, our public debut is going to wait until people are more¡­receptive of the supernatural, so the issue will, unfortunately, have to be put off until then.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± The Archpriest replied.


    ¡°Good. Are there any other questions you have before we take our leave?¡±


    The Archpriest shook his head. ¡°How should I address you?¡±


    ¡°Just use our names.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯re not much for standing on ceremony.¡±


    ¡°Very well, then. Thank you for taking the time out of your schedules to meet with me.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Thank you for your service of the gods. We will be getting out of your hair now, enjoy the rest of your evening.¡±


    And with that, Tess and Ellie found themselves pulled back into the realm of the gods.


    ¡°See, told you it wouldn¡¯t be that bad.¡± Death said. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Better.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not quite sure what I was worried about in the first place, he seemed¡­well, harmless enough.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid introducing yourself to my church isn¡¯t going to be so easy.¡± Fortune said, grimacing. ¡°It¡¯s¡­quite a bit more corrupt. Life and Death got pretty lucky with their clergy, and they¡¯ve only had to have a couple of audits.¡±


    Tess sighed. ¡°Well, at least I haven¡¯t been looking to whoever¡¯s in charge of your church as an authority figure for my entire life.¡± She said. ¡°What¡¯s the worst that can happen? He tries to beat me up, and I Descend and kick his teeth in?¡±


    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s one way to look at it.¡± Fortune giggled. ¡°I¡¯d be more worried about her trying to ruin you financially, but that¡¯s¡­also pretty much a nonissue. Either way, it¡¯s probably best not to reveal your identity to her, she could get nasty about it.¡±


    ¡°Ah, the head of your church is a woman?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Yeah. But¡­enough about that for now.¡± Fortune said. ¡°Do you two want to hang out? It¡¯s been a while since we all played games together.¡±


    Tess looked to Ellie, who shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m game if Tess is.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m down too, so¡­why not?¡±


    ¡°Perfect!¡± Fortune said. ¡°Death, you in?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely!¡± Death replied. ¡°By the way, since you¡¯ve technically debuted, do you remember that item I wanted from that MMO? Well¡­I¡¯ve been working and haven¡¯t gotten one yet, so I was kiiind of hoping you could take care of that while you were here, Tess.¡±


    ¡°Did you write the numbers down like I asked?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I even had Life look them over, right, Life?¡±


    Life rolled his eyes. ¡°She did. She has been working at this, so I suppose it is acceptable for Tess to help her.¡±


    ¡°Cool, just tell me what I need to do, then.¡± Tess said.


    Death grinned. ¡°I¡¯ll show you, it should only take like five minutes, it¡¯s not at the end of a raid or anything. Ellie and Fortune, you wanna get things set up and maybe start a round or two of a game while we¡¯re out?¡±


    ¡°On it.¡± Fortune said. ¡°This way, Ellie!¡±


    She and Ellie left, and Death towed Tess a few rooms over to what appeared to be a bedroom, decorated in bright colors and with a lot of plushies, figurines, and various other paraphernalia. She sat down at a computer, logged into the game, then stood up and motioned for Tess to sit. ¡°So, first you need to cast a couple of spells, I¡¯ve set their hotkeys to one and two, so just press those. Then you¡¯re going to go inside that door¡­¡±


    Fighterman481


    Um...I really don''t have much to say, though, next time we''ll probably do a little bit of prep for the expedition and debut, so...look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Holiday Special 2021

    Fighterman481


    Apologies for the shouting, but this chapter is different and there are a few things that need to be taken into account before you read. If you are not caught up in my other works, and care about spoilers, there are some spoilers to keep in mind - The New Chimera is spoiled to ~chapter 30 to 40 (and minor spoilers for an event that occurs ~chapter 85), and Swarming Sovereignty is spoiled to like...recently? Mid twenties to mid thirties.


    I also decided to post this to each of my series, with the PoV character being that series'' main character. The chapters are, by and large, the same, though there are some differences in the beginnings and a couple of other places. If like those series and want to read from that character''s PoV, go ahead and switch now. If you''ve already read this special before, please feel free to skim and look for the "big" differences.


    Anyway, with all the important stuff out of the way, some notes on the special itself. As some people know, I''ve been wanting to do a sort of crossover special for a while, and never really found a good time. This week, I decided that this was as good an opportunity as it gets, so...this is what we got. These are mostly unedited, since I wanted to keep it as casual as possible for the holidays, so there are probably one or two mistakes. That''s fine, and these chapters aren''t going to receive any real editing because...well, things are busy and this is a casual thing anyway.


    And, finally, this special is...quasi-canon. You can consider it to be canon until something else proves it otherwise, but it will have no tie-in into the main plots of any of my series, so you''re not missing anything if you want to call it non-canon either. So...basically, if you want it to be canon it is, if you don''t, it''s not.


    Anyway, that''s all I really have to say, so...happy holidays, and stay safe out there!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!


    Tess lurched forward, caught in mid-stride by a sudden teleport. ¡°Huh? What happened? Where are we?¡±


    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know.¡± Ellie said. ¡°And I¡¯m¡­in a dress?¡±


    ¡°Ah, this thing.¡± Amy said. Tess turned to face her, and found, to her surprise, that Amy had a sort of¡­dress made of slime on. ¡°Transdimensional party.¡± She said. ¡°Bunch of seemingly random but important people get teleported here from different times and different places, we all have a nice party, then we get teleported back with no memory of what happened.¡±


    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s just us and Amy from our planes this time.¡± Amara said. ¡°For now, you two can just sort of¡­wait around until we find somewhere for you to be. And you will find somewhere to be, so just¡­relax and let it happen, I guess.¡±


    Already, people were beginning to walk up and talk to Amy, and Amara seemed to know a fair number of people too, so Tess and Ellie were just left¡­awkwardly standing there.


    ¡°So¡­this isn¡¯t how I expected our evening to go.¡± Ellie said. ¡°But¡­I guess this could be a good time.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, I guess it depends on who we¡¯ll be matched up with.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯s¡­well, a little weird knowing that everyone here is from a different time and place.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that is a little strange, but I guess that¡¯s not too different from when we first went to the Outlands.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°The from a different place part, not the time part. Though¡­I guess having hovercars is a bit futuristic?¡±


    ¡°I suppose it is, now that you mention it.¡± Tess admitted.


    She and Ellie kept chatting until, after a minute or two more, Amara showed up again. ¡°Hey, you two, I have someone to introduce you to, follow me!¡± She grabbed Tess and Ellie¡¯s arms, and gently towed them off to Amy, who was talking with a pair of people.


    One was a succubus that bore an odd resemble to Amara, while the other seemed to be some sort of tall angel-demon hybrid. The hybrid made Tess feel strangely; though her posture was nervous, something about her was oddly intimidating, and definitely not normal, even when compared to the other hybrid species Tess had seen.


    Tess didn¡¯t have time to explore that feeling more, though, as Amara motioned at the succubus. ¡°Tess, Ellie, this is Kali. She¡¯s my distant ancestor, and she runs that set of planes that Amy is preparing to help with, with the whole merger of Mael.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Tess said awkwardly. She¡­vaguely remembered someone like that being mentioned, but it was entirely different to meet the person in question. ¡°Nice to meet you?¡±


    Kali laughed. ¡°I forgot how cute you two were when you were younger. I¡¯m from fiftyish years in your future, so I guess¡­nice to meet you again! Thanks for taking care of Maven for me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­welcome, I think.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°So¡­if you¡¯re from the future, is there anything cool coming up that we should know about?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to be that easy to get it out of me.¡± Kali replied, eyes twinkling. ¡°The unwritten rule here is to not talk about the future. It has a tendency to sour the party.¡±


    ¡°It was worth a shot.¡± Ellie replied, shrugging.


    ¡°Lilith, this is Tess,¡± Kali said, motioning to Tess, ¡°and this is Ellie.¡± She motioned at Ellie. ¡°They¡¯re¡­well, it¡¯s a thing Amy does on her planes, they¡¯re kind of like messengers for the Higher Beings of Amy¡¯s plane. You might meet their future selves some time later, but for now they¡¯re still getting used to everything.¡±


    ¡°Actually, why don¡¯t you three chat?¡± Amara said. ¡°I think you all will have a lot in common, seeing as how you all were born on a world without much magic.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡± Kali said. ¡°It¡¯ll give me some time to catch up with some other people, too.¡± She turned back to Lilith. ¡°Is that okay with you?¡±


    ¡°Why not, I guess?¡± She said. ¡°Beats being an awkward third wheel.¡±


    ¡°Awesome.¡± Kali replied. ¡°I¡¯ll let you three get¨C¡±


    ¡°Take these two, too!¡± A man said, bursting into the conversation. ¡°Sorry, but I really don¡¯t know what to do with them, and that weird gut feeling is telling me this is the place!¡± He practically pushed a tall, green woman with a dress made of leaves and a kitsune in a red dress into their midst. ¡°Oh, and it¡¯s roughly year thirty-two forty-five Amy time for me.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­hi?¡± Tess ventured. ¡°And¡­weird gut feeling?¡±


    ¡°It happens from time to time at these events.¡± The plant woman said. ¡°You get a feeling like someone needs to be somewhere and it won¡¯t go away until you bring them there. Anyway, my name is Rose, and this is Lia, my Queen.¡±


    ¡°Right, well, we¡¯ll leave the five of you to it.¡± Amy said. ¡°Feel free to wander around, you¡¯re as safe as can be. No one¡¯s able to hurt each other here.¡±


    ¡°And yes, conversion counts as harmful in this context.¡± The man, most likely the new girls¡¯ Administrator, said. ¡°Not that you¡¯d be able to get away with it, you two are probably the weakest people in this little group.¡±


    Rose gave the other three a thoughtful look. ¡°I suppose I am a fair bit weaker than I was the last time I was at one of these things.¡±


    ¡°To be quite honest, you don¡¯t beat out Lilith even at the height of your old power. She is, for all intents and purposes, on the same level as the gods.¡± The other Administrator said. ¡°And Tess and Ellie, the blonde and redhead, are pretty close to the gods too, plus Amy¡¯s planes are generally stronger, so¨C¡±


    ¡°Let them make their own introductions.¡± Amy interrupted. ¡°We¡¯ll just be stifling their conversation.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright.¡± He said. ¡°But, seriously, behave yourselves.¡±


    ¡°We will, don¡¯t worry.¡± Rose assured.


    ¡°Good, thank you.¡± He replied, nodding his head. And with that, all the other people walked away, leaving Lilith alone with the four strangers.


    There was silence for a moment, then Ellie spoke up. ¡°So¡­you¡¯re on the same level as the gods? What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I guess?¡± Lilith replied, scratching the back of her neck. ¡°We¡¯re the same category of being. How much do you know about Administrators?¡±


    ¡°Enough.¡± Ellie said. ¡°They¡¯re like a step above the gods, right?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s an Administrator?¡± Lia asked. ¡°I¡­sorry, this is all a little overwhelming.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°Um¡­I don¡¯t know if we should talk about this in front of you, then. Um¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Rose said. ¡°She won¡¯t remember a thing when this is over. At least I didn¡¯t the three or four times I¡¯ve been to one of these.¡±


    ¡°Right. Then, I¡¯m what¡¯s called a Higher Being, they¡¯re what most gods are. Lords of Monsters, too, if the planes you guys are from use those.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Lia said, flinching back. ¡°The Lord of Monsters is a god?! How are we supposed to¡­¡±


    Rose laid a hand on her shoulder. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s more to it than that, or else no Lord of Monsters would ever be defeated.¡±


    Lilith shrugged. ¡°Power levels vary. To my knowledge, most Lords of Monsters only get abilities that relate to monsters. Or, at least, I did.¡±


    Lia¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You¡¯re a Lord of Monsters?! But you¡¯re not¡­omnicidal!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a side job. I¡¯m pulling double duty for my world.¡± She turned back to Tess and Ellie. ¡°Speaking of, Amara mentioned that you¡¯re from a plane without magic like me?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tess said. ¡°I mean, yeah. We were just introduced to it like¡­half a year ago.¡±


    ¡°It can get pretty overwhelming at times, right?¡± Lilith said. ¡°I felt the same way sometimes. You get used to things after a while, so don¡¯t stress it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I think we¡¯re getting there.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So¡­does your world just have angels and demons or is it more¡­cosmopolitan?¡±


    ¡°When I was born, just humans, at least as far as people who didn¡¯t know about magic. There are a bunch of other species too, but not nearly as many as there are humans. And, yes, I used to be human. I was just your regular human dude and then I got turned into¡­this. It¡¯s like¡­well, I doubt your planes have a similar concept, but I¡¯m every species in existence at the same time, which means I¡¯m a lot stronger than the average person, since I get every single species-specific ability.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you used to be a guy too?¡± Tess said, taken aback. ¡°That¡¯s crazy, so was I!¡±


    ¡°And I.¡± Rose said. ¡°I suppose we have more in common than it seems.¡±


    ¡°Alright, are the rest of you really not freaking out or are you just good at not showing it?¡± Lia blurted out. ¡°This is weird, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen a lot of weird in my time.¡± Lilith said. ¡°I¡¯m numb to it.¡±


    ¡°Same.¡± Tess said. ¡°This is only barely in the top three.¡± Discovering Gramps was arguably the most important man alive was definitely number one, and her transformation after getting Monster Breeder was two, but this event was¡­probably number three. It was in fierce competition with going back to school as a girl, though.


    ¡°Yeah, what she said.¡± Ellie added. ¡°I¡¯m just sorta dealing by pretending it¡¯s not weird.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯ve been here before.¡± Rose said. ¡°The novelty wears off by the second or third time.¡±


    ¡°So, as the one who¡¯s been here before, what do we do?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Do we just stand around talking or what?¡±


    ¡°I suppose we begin by eating some food, then proceed to activities afterwards.¡± Rose mused. ¡°Let¡¯s talk more over dinner, okay?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go find a table.¡± Lilith volunteered. ¡°Uh, let me see if I can¡­¡± She paused for a moment, and then a nearly-identical copy of her appeared beside her. ¡°Sick. Alright, I¡¯m gonna get us a table, then I¡¯ll send this one to go dish up. So, if you find me and I¡¯m not responding, it¡¯s because my consciousness is in this spare body, not because I¡¯m being rude.¡±


    She smirked, then walked off to find a table, leaving the double standing lifelessly in front of them. ¡°Um¡­I guess we should go dish up, then?¡± Lia ventured.


    ¡°Yeah, um¡­sounds like a plan.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°We¡¯ll catch you at the table, I guess.¡± She gently pulled Tess away from the group, and off to one of the tables piled with food. ¡°That Lilith¡¯s a character, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Does something about her feel¡­different to you?¡±


    Ellie frowned, grabbing a plate. ¡°Now that you mention it, yeah. Maybe it¡¯s because she¡¯s, you know, like a god?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s it.¡± Tess said. ¡°I can¡¯t put my finger on it, but it¡¯s almost like¡­like¡­there¡¯s this weird familiarity to her presence.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably because she¡¯s a dungeon.¡± Amara said, grabbing a shrimp from a basin next to Tess. ¡°Or at least, that was the plan with her. Kali¡¯s discussed it with me, and dungeons in her world are going to work similarly to savage dungeons, but the dungeon itself is going to be intelligent. Anyway, how are you two doing? Things aren¡¯t too awkward, I hope.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a little awkward, but our groups have a weird amount in common.¡± Ellie said. ¡°And they seem like nice enough girls.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the groups tend to be like that.¡± Amara said. ¡°It¡¯s just the way these things go. You¡¯ll get used to it after a few more of them.¡±


    ¡°How many have you been to?¡± Tess asked.


    Amara frowned, tapping her chin. ¡°Five or six? Mostly it happens when I¡¯m in the middle of some world-changing project, but, including now, I¡¯ve been to two when I wasn¡¯t. Evan¡¯s usually here, though, so it¡¯s a little weird that he¡¯s not, but there¡¯s not much rhyme or reason to attendees, so it is what it is.¡±


    She finished getting her shrimp, then gave Tess and Ellie a smile. ¡°Anyway, I have to get back now, I¡¯ll catch the two of you later!¡±


    After she left, Tess and Ellie focused on getting their food and finding the table Lilith had saved for them. It took them a minute, since they were shorter than most of the crowd, and Tess¡¯s tremorsense behaved¡­oddly in this place, cutting out seemingly at random, but they eventually were able to find the table, and sat down.


    ¡°Ah, you two, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask, what do you do?¡± Lilith asked. ¡°Like, as jobs. You seem to be teenagers, so are you in school or¡­?¡±


    ¡°We just graduated high school.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°And we¡¯re training as freelancers, sort of¡­explorers slash hunters slash odd job doers. Then we¡¯re also acting as messengers of the gods, enacting their will, that sort of thing. What about you?¡±


    Lilith shrugged. ¡°To tell you the truth, most days it¡¯s nothing but training. I¡¯m functioning as sort of¡­the icon of justice, so to speak. I step in when it looks like people are going to commit genocide or if the magical community looks like they¡¯re about to subjugate people who are way weaker than them. But, by and large, I¡¯m just there as a threat to keep people in line.¡±


    ¡°Been there, done that.¡± Rose sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t envy you for your position.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that bad.¡± Lilith said. ¡°I get to hang around with my girlfriends and my family, and I don¡¯t want for anything, so I¡¯m content.¡±


    ¡°But what about meeting new people and going out to see places?¡± Rose asked. ¡°You can¡¯t do that anymore, right?¡±


    ¡°No, I can.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°I just use a separate body or magic and no one is the wiser.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Rose said. ¡°I¡­really wish I could have done that.¡± There was silent for a moment, then Rose shook her head. ¡°But that¡¯s in the past. Let¡¯s talk about something more pleasant, okay?¡±


    They made more small talk while they ate, and eventually they finished, and began to drift towards the activities.


    ¡°So¡­what do they have to do here?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I can¡¯t really¡­see over all these people.¡±


    ¡°I believe it is entirely dependent on who is looking.¡± Rose said. ¡°We should find a variety of activities that we are familiar with. They¡¯ll just¡­appear when we look.¡±


    Ellie and Tess shared a look. ¡°Are any of you familiar with laser tag?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°It¡¯s Tess and I¡¯s favorite activity, but we, uh, haven¡¯t been able to have a fair game in a while.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m familiar.¡± Lilith said. ¡°Provided it works similarly to how it does on my world. Though¡­I¡¯m not sure how fair the game will end up being, especially if we go all out.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry, we¡¯d make sure Tess doesn¡¯t use any of the real cheat-y stuff, but we just want to do it with people who are¡­you know, actually used to being on a battlefield and have experience.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it was Tess she was worried about.¡± Rose said, raising an eyebrow. ¡°She is a god, after all.¡±


    ¡°Gods don¡¯t have any intrinsic advantages in this sort of thing.¡± Ellie said matter-of-factly. ¡°While Tess has the advantage of being able to use all sorts of additional senses that normal people don¡¯t get access to.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a god.¡± Lilith said. ¡°Not technically. But she is right, Higher Beings don¡¯t automatically get better at this sort of thing just because we¡¯re Higher Beings. That being said, you weren¡¯t here when I explained, but my species thing includes monsters. I have access to every monster and species-specific benefit at the same time. So, I also have those senses, and probably more. Though, hypothetically speaking, I might not have access to the kind of stuff you¡¯re referring to, due to differences in monsters and abilities between planes.¡±


    ¡°Does it even matter if you¡¯re not going to use them?¡± Lia asked quietly. ¡°Just the basic five should be fine, right?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± Lilith said. ¡°How are we splitting up the teams? Tess and Ellie on one and the rest of us on the other? You two are probably the most experienced so that seems the fairest.¡±


    ¡°How do you play?¡± Rose asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s easy.¡± Ellie said. ¡°You ever used a gun before?¡±


    ¡°No?¡± Rose asked, tilting her head. ¡°What¡¯s a gun?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s kind of like a handheld cannon.¡± Lia explained. ¡°It¡¯s this long tube that you like¡­pack with some sort of powder and then it explodes and fires a projectile at something.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Rose replied. ¡°I have used a crossbow before, if that helps?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s good enough.¡± Ellie said. ¡°In my world, guns are a lot simpler than all that, you just load in the bullet and press the trigger, no need to pack the powder yourself or anything. Laser tag guns are even simpler, you just press a button on the side of the gun to reload, and then you point it at your opponent and shoot. Everyone wears these vest things, and they light up when you get hit.¡±


    ¡°Depending on the arena there are also other things you can shoot.¡± Tess added. ¡°Like pillars and stuff. They each give different amounts of points, and whichever team has the most points at the end of the game wins.¡± She turned to Lilith. ¡°Have you used a gun before?¡±


    ¡°Guns are my main weapon, to tell you the truth.¡± She admitted. ¡°But I don¡¯t have my¡­well, long story short, I don¡¯t have my aim assist with me, so I¡¯ll be a little worse than I usually am.¡±


    ¡°Aim assist?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Alternate consciousness with a biological supercomputer built into my body.¡± Lilith said. ¡°Again, long story. But, yes, I use guns extensively.¡±


    ¡°And there¡¯s the laser tag, I think.¡± Rose said, pointing towards the back of the room. ¡°Shall we?¡±


    The group made their way over, and suddenly found themselves teleported to a different space entirely. Their clothes had changed, too, from formal wear to nondescript clothes that were easy to move around in, vests and guns already in place. ¡°Please wait a moment while teams are selected.¡± A synthetic-sounding voice said. ¡°Teams selected. Please remain silent while the rules are read.¡±


    Lilith and Rose¡¯s vests had begun glowing orange, while the other vests glowed blue. ¡°This is a ten minute experience with the aim of obtaining the most points possible.¡± The voice said. ¡°Points are obtained by shooting your opponents or their home base, a large pillar on their side of the field. Pillar shots are worth five hundred points, while shots on an opponent are worth one hundred.


    ¡°While running, jumping, climbing, flying, and other such activities are actively encouraged, purposeful physical contact with the other team is discouraged, and will result in a fine of one thousand points. To ensure fairness, your statistics will be evened out, your senses tuned to the same degree, and any active abilities, or passive abilities that may negatively affect the game, will be disabled. If you wish to play without this tuning, you may choose to do so after this game. You will be transported to your side of the field in three¡­two¡­one¡­¡±


    And then Tess was in a dimly lit room, along with Ellie and Lia. It took her a moment for her eyes to adjust to the lighting, but, once they had, the arena didn¡¯t look that different from most others she had been in.


    ¡°Alright, so, I¡¯ll take left, Tess, you take right, and Lia, you handle the middle.¡± Ellie instructed. ¡°We have numbers on our side, so we can afford to have one person just camp their base while the others run interference.¡±


    ¡°Camp their base?¡± Lia asked, tilting her head in confusion.


    ¡°Doing nothing but sitting there and shooting the base until someone interrupts them.¡± Tess translated.


    ¡°Oh. Can I do that? I feel like it¡¯ll be easier to get used to the gun that way.¡± Lia said.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Just find yourself a decent hiding place and blast away.¡±


    ¡°The other team will be given a substantial point boost for having fewer players.¡± The synthetic voice suddenly said. ¡°Game begins in five¡­four¡­three¡­two¡­one¡­¡± A horn blared, and the area around them lit up. Or, rather, the walls, floor, and various bits of cover began glowing with neon light, not bright enough to do anything more than provide an indication of the arena¡¯s general shape and where you were walking.


    The three girls immediately split up, and even in the early minutes Tess could tell that she was a fan of playing with people who knew how to fight. It was mostly the fact that they were a lot quicker to react than her friends, and were stealthier to boot. Tess found herself blindsided several times, something that just hadn¡¯t happened with her friends.


    It was probably a good thing that she wouldn¡¯t remember this afterwards; it would likely ruin playing with her friends for her. The game progressed far too quickly, and when it finished her only wish was that there were more people in their group, so they could get a nice and big game going. The game was close, too; her team won by a slim margin, but it definitely could have gone either way.


    They ended up playing a couple more games with different team compositions, and all agreed there was too much variance in their abilities to try playing a game without the built-in limiters. So, once they decided to leave, they found themselves teleported back to the main room, back in the party wear they had been in before.


    ¡°Where to next?¡± Lilith asked.


    ¡°We did our thing, do you guys have any ideas?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m partial to miniature golf myself.¡± Lilith said, taking Tess by surprise. She hadn¡¯t expected Lilith to enjoy something so¡­pedestrian.


    Lilith, seemingly not noticing Tess¡¯s surprise, turned to Lia and Rose. ¡°What about you two?¡±


    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t have much experience with recreation.¡± Rose admitted.


    ¡°Where I¡¯m from, we don¡¯t have anything as complex as what we just played, but¡­I play cards a lot, I guess?¡± Lia said. ¡°I¡¯d like to try whatever this miniature golf is, though.¡±


    So, the evening progressed, and they went from activity to activity until, eventually, they all simultaneously got the feeling that it was time to go. ¡°Well, it was fun hanging out with you guys.¡± Lilith said. ¡°Hopefully I¡¯ll see you around at one of these, or perhaps even in real life.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Lia said. ¡°As long as it¡¯s not because you¡¯re coming to invade my world or anything. I don¡¯t think I could handle that.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about that.¡± Lilith laughed. My world is on very good terms with your world. Even if we weren¡¯t, my world isn¡¯t in any place to be invading other worlds. You shouldn¡¯t have to worry about any of that stuff until you¡¯ve conquered your world at the very earliest.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­that is good to hear.¡± Lia said. ¡°Hopefully, sometime in the future, we can meet in real life, then. I¡¯m sure the five of us would get along just as well.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It all depends on circumstance, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you two will almost certainly be meeting Lilith at some point.¡± Kali said, eyes twinkling as she stepped up. ¡°But not for quite a while. She hasn¡¯t even been born in your time.¡±


    ¡°Wait, really?¡± Tess asked, blinking in surprise. ¡°You just seemed older than us, so I assumed¡­¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m five or six years older than you right now, but I¡¯m also from fifty or so years in your future, apparently.¡± Lilith replied. ¡°Though, I guess¡­things do get a little fuzzy, but that¡¯s neither here nor there. I¡¯ll see you all when I see you, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Thanks again for taking care of Maven!¡± Kali said cheerfully, giving them a wave. And then they were just¡­gone.


    ¡°Time¡¯s up, you two!¡± Lia¡¯s Administrator said, running up to them. ¡°They didn¡¯t bother you too much, right?¡±


    ¡°They were fun to be around.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± The Administrator said. With that, their group of three vanished, leaving Tess and Ellie alone.


    ¡°Well, I suppose we just wait for Amy?¡± Tess said.


    ¡°I¨C¡± Ellie didn¡¯t have time to finish her thought, as the two found themselves transported back to the dungeon they had been in, all memory of the event erased from their minds.

 Chapter 69: Dungeons

    As Tess and Ellie were leaving, they passed by a tall angel woman. It wasn¡¯t the first time they had passed other people in the hallways of the gods¡¯ domain, but this woman was different; she blinked in surprise as the group passed, then turned to follow them. ¡°Oh, hey, wait up!¡± She called. ¡°I need to talk to you two!¡±


    Tess stopped, giving her a puzzled look. ¡°Sorry if this is rude, but¡­do we know you?¡±


    The woman shook her head. She was¡­well, tall, with short black hair and bright yellow eyes. She was wearing a t-shirt and a set of shorts, and had an overall pleasant feel to her. ¡°Sorry, you wouldn¡¯t.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m Dungeons, and I kept meaning to get with you about the whole savage dungeon thing, but then I ended up working out some kinks with some of the higher level ones I placed and you guys were busy so I just forgot.¡±


    ¡°Breathe, Dungeons.¡± Fortune said, smiling faintly. ¡°You don¡¯t need to justify yourself, we get that you¡¯ve been busy.¡±


    ¡°Right, right.¡± Dungeons replied, taking a deep breath. ¡°Are you guys in a hurry, or do you have some time to hash out how we¡¯re going to deal with the one you¡¯re in charge of?¡±


    ¡°No, we were just heading back home, we cleared our schedules just in case things took longer than expected.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So¡­yeah, we have time.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. Let¡¯s go sit down, then, and we¡¯ll hash this out.¡± Dungeons said, motioning for them to follow.


    ¡°You all go on ahead.¡± Death said. ¡°I¡¯ll catch up with you once I finish putting everything away.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll help, you guys start without us.¡± Fortune added.


    ¡°We¡¯ll just be in the side room here.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°Take your time.¡±


    The two gods left, and Dungeons brought Ellie and Tess to a side room as promised. ¡°So, I¡¯ve already put a couple of the high level savage dungeons in, and I¡¯ve worked through most of the major kinks with the more experienced Appointed, so, fortunately you two are just going to have to deal with balancing and making sure this dungeon doesn¡¯t run wild. Uh¡­it¡¯s been a bit, do you two need a refresher on how savage dungeons are going to work?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯d be nice.¡± Tess said. ¡°They¡¯re like¡­dungeons where more than just your party can be in at the same time, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the shape of it, yeah.¡± Dungeons confirmed. ¡°And¡­well, where other dungeons are more¡­randomly generated, for lack of a better term, these dungeons are static and completely handcrafted. At the same time, they¡¯re also going to be more difficult. Uh¡­if you¡¯ve played MMOs, think of it like the difference between a raid dungeon and just your run of the mill normal dungeon.


    ¡°The idea is to try and force people to work in larger groups than just a party, at least if they want to beat it on-level. I¡¯m also curious to see what sort of social situations come out of this, if people try and set up waystations in the dungeon, that kind of thing.¡±


    She paused briefly, shifting in her chair. ¡°The one you guys are going to be dealing with is the dungeon we¡¯re going to be using as the intro to savage dungeons. Nothing hugely difficult, just something to get you used to the mechanics. It¡¯s designed for large groups of about level twenty five, so it might give you two a bit of trouble, but you should be able to take care of it no sweat.¡±


    Ellie nodded. ¡°So¡­what exactly is our job? Also, I¡¯m assuming the Rewards Crystal is still a thing, how does that work? I¡¯m assuming they don¡¯t have the same floor setup as normal dungeons, so¡­is it still clearing from the beginning, or¡­?¡±


    ¡°Good question.¡± Dungeons replied. ¡°There are still some teleporters, but there aren¡¯t always going to be clearly delineated floors. You just have to beat the dungeon without using a teleporter to have a shot at it. The dungeons are going to be quite a bit longer than normal too, so expect to only have to go through a single dungeon ten or so times to get all the rewards.


    ¡°As for your job, you¡¯re both beta tester and maintenance crew. You¡¯re going to run through the dungeon and make sure there are no fatal flaws in the design, and until we are ready to have the public discover it, or someone just randomly stumbles upon it, you¡¯re going to clear it once a month or so and make sure it doesn¡¯t start overflowing.¡±


    ¡°We miss anything important?¡± Fortune asked, opening the door and walking in.


    ¡°No, just catching them up on their duties and what savage dungeons are.¡± Dungeons replied. ¡°Go ahead and take a seat.¡±


    ¡°Can do.¡± Fortune and Death walked in and sat down near Tess and Ellie.


    ¡°So¡­what can you tell us about this dungeon? Do you have an info packet or something like the guild?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°I do, but I¡¯m not going to give it to you until you¡¯ve seen all the surprises the dungeon has. While most people will go through the dungeon with that information, it¡¯s also important to make sure there isn¡¯t anything too unfair if someone doesn¡¯t have it. Once you¡¯ve been through everything major, though, I¡¯ll drop you a packet with one of the boss kills.¡±


    ¡°And if there is something unfair?¡± Ellie prompted.


    ¡°If you die to it, then I give the Worship required to resurrect you to your god. Otherwise¡­well, then we just deal with the problem after you discover it.¡±


    ¡°How are we going to get there?¡± Tess asked. ¡°It¡¯s going to be kind of¡­out in the middle of nowhere, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, I¡¯m supposed to give you two a Blessing that¡¯ll teleport you there and back. You¡¯ll need to be on the same plane, in this case the main plane of the Outlands, and you can¡¯t already be inside a dungeon, but other than that, you¡¯ll just put in a bit of Mana and you¡¯ll just blink on over. Then, just put Mana in again when you¡¯re ready to leave, and you¡¯ll teleport back to where you last used it from. Here¡­give me a second¡­¡±


    You have been given the Blessing Instant Transportation (Unnamed Dungeon)!


    ¡°There you go. If you¡¯re curious, this particular dungeon is far to the west of the known area of the Outlands, and there aren¡¯t many people exploring there now. I¡¯m projecting this will take a couple of decades to see the light of day, so you should have plenty of time to get everything taken care of before the public lays their hands on it.¡±


    ¡°And if you ever get into a sticky situation, we¡¯ll just Descend and that should¡­probably take care of it, provided you don¡¯t get instakilled. Don¡¯t stress about it.¡± Fortune added.


    ¡°I¡¯ve learned since last time!¡± Dungeons said defensively. ¡°That hasn¡¯t happened in centuries!¡±


    ¡°See? Nothing to worry about.¡±


    ¡°Last time?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°I made a stupid mistake and accidentally introduced a trap that could kill without warning immediately upon entering a room if you happened to meet a specific set of criteria. I was working overtime and just¡­goofed. Seriously, I¡¯ve triple checked this dungeon, there isn¡¯t anything like that in there. Evan would kill me if there was.¡±


    ¡°Can gods even die?¡± Tess interjected.


    ¡°Contrary to popular belief, yes. We just need a little Worship, and then we¡¯re right as rain, though.¡± Fortune said. ¡°But Evan wouldn¡¯t actually kill her, so it¡¯s a moot point.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but he¡¯d make me wish he had.¡± Dungeons grumbled. ¡°The last time I had to listen to one of his tongue lashings¡­¡± She shivered a bit as she recalled it. ¡°Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s not an incident I¡¯m keen on repeating.¡±


    ¡°So¡­back on topic, we just go through the dungeon as normal and keep an eye out for anything that seems unfair? Anything else to keep in mind?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°We like to introduce new abilities and monsters alongside new dungeons. Try not to show those off when unrelated people are around.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°It¡¯s never been an issue before, but be careful, just in case. But other than that¡­that¡¯s it. It¡¯s not really a big deal, more of a¡­chore than anything. Once I get my own Appointed, you won¡¯t have to deal with this sort of thing as much, so¡­yeah. Thanks for doing this for me.¡±


    ¡°How is your Appointed search coming, by the way?¡± Death asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­coming. I kicked it back into high gear once you guys got yours, but I¡¯m honestly just kind of¡­lost. I¡¯m not sure exactly what I should be looking for, you know?¡±


    ¡°You probably don¡¯t need someone with super great stats.¡± Fortune mused. ¡°Your Appointed probably won¡¯t be in the public eye all that much. You just need someone who can clear dungeons and get along well with the other Appointed. I mean, you might need them to do something if a dungeon is being mismanaged, but¡­¡±


    Dungeons frowned. ¡°Probably best I get one before we formally introduce savage dungeons, then.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯ve got a couple of decades, then.¡± Fortune said. ¡°Plenty of time.¡±


    ¡°Easy for you to say.¡± Dungeons grumbled. ¡°You never had any pressure to get one. This is kind of super important.¡±


    ¡°What about Maven?¡± Death volunteered. ¡°She¡¯s a nice enough girl, loves the work, and she¡¯s above average with stats to boot.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Amara¡¯s however many greats granddaughter.¡± Death supplied. ¡°She¡¯s in Tess and Ellie¡¯s party right now, so you can even take the however long it takes to get savage dungeons out there to drill your Blessing into the basics of how she fights. That way, you don¡¯t need to get someone already used to fighting used to using a crazy powerful new tool.¡±


    ¡°That¡­is tempting.¡± Dungeons admitted. ¡°Is she in line for the throne?¡±


    ¡°Crown princess, but planning to abdicate to her brother ASAP.¡± Death replied.


    ¡°Well¡­if she¡¯s planning to abdicate her royal duties, it shouldn¡¯t get too in the way of things.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°I¡¯ll look into her, thanks for letting me know about her.¡±


    ¡°Is this how the process for finding an Appointed normally goes?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Someone just gets recommended by another god?¡±


    Fortune shrugged. ¡°Usually, yeah. There are a lot of people, and frankly, it¡¯s easier to pick from the pool of ¡®people we know¡¯ than it is to pick through every single person and find someone who meets our criteria. There are obvious exceptions, like with people who have gone above and beyond in fields relating to a god, but by and large, it¡¯s just nepotism.¡±


    ¡°Have they met the other Appointed?¡± Dungeons asked.


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve been to the meeting.¡± Tess replied.


    Dungeons shook her head. ¡°No, not them. There are a few more¡­unruly Appointed who don¡¯t attend the meetings. They¡¯re mostly with gods who aren¡¯t on the best terms with our¡­¡± she paused, clearly searching for the right word. ¡°Clique. I think Commerce and Passion have Appointed not in the group, and¡­one or two others I can¡¯t think of right now.¡±


    ¡°And yes, we have friend groups.¡± Fortune said. ¡°We¡¯re people too, and there are like¡­forty or fifty of us. We¡¯re all mostly cordial with each other, but there¡¯s been some beef in the past, and so we try and¡­well, not work with people we don¡¯t get along with unless we have to. Just saves headache, you know? Don¡¯t worry about them for now, you¡¯ll meet their Appointed eventually, but they¡¯re not important at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I was just wondering.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°No reason or anything. Anyway, I¡¯m gonna¡­well, I¡¯m going to go snoop on this Maven, if I like what I see I¡¯ll give her a Blessing and see how things go.¡±


    ¡°Let us know if you do.¡± Death said. ¡°And if you don¡¯t, let us know why, that way we can help narrow in on what kind of person you¡¯re looking for.¡±


    ¡°Will do.¡± Dungeons replied, standing up. ¡°Thanks for the talk, you two. Go ahead and start clearing¡­well, let¡¯s say after you leave on the expedition, that should give you time to get everything in order.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll do that.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯ll¡­see you around, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Yup. Later!¡± Dungeons replied, giving a little wave as she left the room.


    ¡°So, what¡¯d you think?¡± Fortune asked.


    ¡°Of Dungeons, or of our job?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Both.¡±


    ¡°Dungeons seems pretty nice, and the job is simple enough. How about you, Ellie?¡±


    ¡°Basically the same, yeah.¡± Ellie replied, turning to Death. ¡°Any reason you mentioned Maven in particular as a candidate?¡±


    ¡°Convenience, really.¡± Death said. ¡°She¡¯s already in the loop on a bunch of stuff, and she¡¯s a bit¡­different from standard freelancers. I figured Dungeons hadn¡¯t picked a ¡®normal¡¯ freelancer for a reason, so I thought maybe someone more¡­unique might suit her tastes. But, yeah, mostly because she¡¯s just in a really convenient position for us. The Rumors are too, if a bit worse, but I¡¯ll see how Dungeons feels about Maven before suggesting them.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t The Rumors be better than Maven?¡± Tess said. ¡°They¡¯re a lot more experienced.¡±


    ¡°I mean, yeah, but it¡¯s a little awkward to make only one person in a party an Appointed, especially when the party is already established. But, at the end of the day, their circumstances are enough to override that awkwardness. Anyway, we really should be getting you back about now, anything else you wanna do here?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­think so.¡± Tess said. ¡°Can you think of anything, Ellie?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m good.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Thanks for having us over!¡±


    ¡°Any time.¡± Death said, smiling. ¡°Let¡¯s go find Life, make sure he¡¯s good, and then get you two home, eh?¡±


    The four of them left the room and began searching through the various rooms until, eventually, they found Life. ¡°Ready to go back?¡± He asked, looking up from a book he was reading.


    ¡°Yeah, we just wanted to make sure you didn¡¯t need anything before we left.¡± Tess said.


    ¡°No, I am fine.¡± Life replied. ¡°Have a nice night, you two.¡±


    ¡°Yup, see you later!¡± Fortune added.


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll see you around.¡± Death said.


    ¡°Bye, guys!¡± Tess said, giving a wave.


    ¡°Later!¡± Ellie said. And then, Death waved a hand, and the two found themselves back in the Holy Room in their local church.


    Fighterman481


    I actually debated a long time over whether or not I even wanted to bring Maven up in this context. Eventually, I decided that, given how things are in this setting, she would be a good candidate for an Appointed, so I brought her up but elected to not make any hard-and-fast decisions until later.


    Anyway, next time is...probably going to be the lead up to the expedition, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 70: Debut

    Tess was sitting down with the rest of her party and the Rumors in their private room in the guild, a magical television of sorts in front of them. Displayed on the screen was Gramps, standing behind a podium, a myriad of microphones arrayed in front of him.


    He cleared his throat, and the faint buzz from his audience faded. ¡°As you are all well aware, the guild¡¯s expedition leaves tomorrow, and with it, we are officially changing our ranking system. As such, I have called this meeting to lay out how exactly we will be handling this change, and what this means for those of you that aren¡¯t in the guild.


    ¡°For a while now, those towards the higher ranks have noticed that rank ten is far too broad a categorization, and, unlike other ranks, the strength of those within varies drastically. So, from here on out, we will be moving to a twenty rank system. Those at rank ten will not be automatically promoted. Their performance in the upcoming expedition and a series of tests will determine their new rank.


    ¡°That being said, we are endeavoring to not make rank twenty the new rank ten, at least for a while. It is inevitable that, as people grow stronger, the highest rank will become as crowded and diverse as it currently is, but we wish to avoid that for as long as possible. As such, the requirements for reaching the higher ranks will be far more stringent than they are for lower ranks.


    ¡°In fact, we don¡¯t expect anyone to reach rank twenty for a long time; the highest we are expecting people to reach after the expedition is fifteen. Now, for those of you who aren¡¯t active freelancers, this has a few ramifications¡­¡±


    He talked for a while longer on how civilians would be affected by this change, before, eventually, opening the floor up for questions.


    ¡°Where will the Titans be placed in this new ranking?¡± A reporter asked.


    ¡°My party will have to meet the same requirements as everyone else.¡± Gramps said calmly. ¡°We will not be automatically promoted, nor will we receive special treatment during the tests. I understand that it¡¯s a bit of a difficult situation, with me being the head of the guild and all, but I will be making sure there are impartial judges and that the tests are recorded, so anyone who suspects foul play can check for themselves.


    ¡°Of course, when I said that we do not expect anyone to reach higher than rank fifteen, that includes my party, so do not be surprised when we aren¡¯t an exception.¡±


    ¡°As if.¡± Alice snorted. ¡°If they¡¯re not rank twenty material, I don¡¯t know who is.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he basically say no one is?¡± Ellie said. ¡°At least, not now?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but he¡¯s lying.¡± Alice said. ¡°The fact that all four of them are Appointed instantly bumps them up a few ranks, at least in terms of raw power. They can¡¯t even use their strongest stuff openly, and they¡¯re still better than everyone else.¡±


    ¡°She¡­has a point there.¡± Ker mused. ¡°While ranks are not a perfect indicator of how strong someone is, a party almost never loses to one of a lower rank, not unless one of those parties is ranked incorrectly. While the exact mechanics of Descents are pretty guarded, it¡¯s usually considered they make someone effectively invincible. If that¡¯s not worth bumping them up a few ranks, then they¡¯ve really tightened up the rank requirements.¡±


    ¡°Wait, do we have a rank?¡± Tess asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know if we¡¯ve like¡­officially made a party or anything.¡±


    ¡°The Guildmaster put the two of you in a party when he registered you, I checked your paperwork.¡± Jin said. ¡°But even if you weren¡¯t in a party, everyone that¡¯s registered with the guild has a rank. You haven¡¯t taken any tests or anything, so you should still be rank one, but don¡¯t let that get to you. You¡¯re still learning, and once you¡¯re done training, you¡¯ll probably be able to get to rank four or five, easy.¡±


    ¡°When are we finished training?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°It¡¯s been¡­well, a while.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, you¡¯re getting pretty close.¡± Jin said. ¡°We were thinking that, depending on how the expedition goes, we¡¯d have you ¡°graduate¡± after it¡¯s over. If it goes poorly¡­well, it depends on how poorly it goes, but you¡¯ll be with us a little longer. But, given your performance in the Jagged Cliffs, I¡¯m confident you¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­going to be lonely.¡± Tess said. ¡°It¡¯ll feel weird not having you guys around.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll still be about.¡± Alice said, throwing an arm around Tess and pulling her into a side-hug. ¡°You can come see us any time you want. In fact, I¡¯d be offended if you didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure the gods would have something to say about it, too.¡± Ker said, smiling faintly. ¡°The Guildmaster told us what they said about your social conduct as of late.¡±


    ¡°Does everyone know about that?¡± Ellie groaned.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡± Maven said. ¡°The Guildmaster said that both he and the gods were very concerned.¡±


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re a princess, right? Surely you understand getting caught up in your work, right?¡± Ellie asked, a desperate edge to her tone.


    ¡°Not in the slightest.¡± Maven replied. ¡°I make an effort to avoid that work whenever possible.¡±


    Fortune: Look, I get it, number go up make monkey brain feel good but you really gotta help make your person brain feel good too, and sometimes that means pushing yourself to do things you don¡¯t necessarily want to.


    Death: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy and all that, you know? But¡­seriously it¡¯s really not healthy to be as focused on work as you two were, and it¡¯s our job to make sure you guys don¡¯t hurt yourselves while working for us. So¡­yeah, seriously, we really don¡¯t want to see you two become social recluses.


    ¡°It¡¯s not necessarily a bad thing that you¡¯re willing to put so much of your time into your job, but that¡¯s only if you know your limits and have a good work-life balance.¡± Jin said. ¡°I thought we were clear about that when we talked about taking days off each week, but I suppose that is something we should hammer home more.¡±


    ¡°And what if we pass your test during the expedition? You won¡¯t have time to hammer that in, then.¡± Ellie said, raising a brow.


    ¡°Who said anything about not doing that on the expedition?¡± Jin countered. ¡°Just because you¡¯re out with the guild doesn¡¯t mean everything has to be about freelancing. There are ways to pursue your hobbies while traveling, and we¡¯ll make sure to show you how.¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you guys planning to do your Appointed debut tomorrow, too?¡± Maven asked. ¡°How are we going to meet up afterwards?¡±


    ¡°Ah, yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°So, it¡¯s going to go like this¡­¡±


    Tess and Ellie stood nervously in the gods¡¯ realm, dressed in their respective uniforms. For Tess, that meant swapping out her foxkin traits for rabbitkin traits and wearing her suit, while Ellie was wearing an ornate set of weight-reduced plate armor crafted for the occasion. Of course, both were also equipped with divine-tier recognition blockers that would allow them to keep their public identities secret, but that didn¡¯t really help with the nerves.


    ¡°You two will be fine.¡± Life said. ¡°I have the utmost confidence in your abilities. You don¡¯t have to do anything particularly impressive, you just need to get yourselves out there. And remember, if you begin to falter, we will be here to bail you out.¡±


    ¡°Evan¡¯s just about done talking!¡± Death said, looking up from the television she was using to scry the mortal realm. ¡°It¡¯s go time!¡±


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s do this thing.¡± Fortune said, grabbing Tess¡¯s hand and giving it a squeeze. ¡°You ready to Descend?¡±


    ¡°As I¡¯ll ever be.¡± Tess replied. And with that, Fortune slid into Tess¡¯s mind, her hand going limp as she left her body. A glance to their side revealed that Death had done the same with Ellie, and the four of them shared a nod before teleporting down to the top of the wall that Gramps had been addressing people from.


    There was a murmur from the crowd as Gramps turned, an array of spellwork spreading out behind him. He knew they were coming, of course, but he had to keep up appearances.


    ¡°No.¡± Ellie and Death said, snapping a finger. The crowd gasped as Gramps¡¯s spellwork crumbled, and they became aware of just who was talking.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to forgive us for interrupting, but we have an announcement to make.¡± Tess said, giving a small bow at Fortune¡¯s prompting. ¡°As our appearance here must be making clear, we are the two newest Appointed.


    ¡°I am Fortune¡¯s Appointed, and she,¡± Tess said, motioning towards Ellie, ¡°is my girlfriend, the Appointed of Life and Death. And, with our advent, we will be making some changes to the way things are.¡±


    There was a beat, and then Ellie stepped forward. ¡°The majority of you will not feel my influence, provided you are not¡­foolish.¡± She said, Life¡¯s voice now entwined with hers instead of Death¡¯s. ¡°I will be carrying the dual duty of being Mael¡¯s protector and being one to guard the general public from those that would greatly disturb the cycle of souls.


    ¡°This means that I will be personally handling any who would cause mass death outside of wartime, terrorists and serial killers that the law does not have the resources to handle. In practice, this will generally refer only to those who are too high level to be dealt with conventionally, but I might step in in other circumstances, should they be considered dire enough.


    ¡°And, as I mentioned before, I am the protector of Mael. The time is approaching for Mael to be fully integrated into the wider community of planes, and those who try and invade while Mael is still adjusting will face my wrath.¡±


    ¡°And, of course, as her partner, I will be assisting her in that endeavor.¡± Tess said. ¡°Should any of the countries be foolish enough to draw our ire, I promise that it¡¯s not just their armies that will be suffering.


    ¡°But the rest of my duties will be much more applicable to the rest of you. Aside from auditing Fortune¡¯s church, I will be taking it upon myself to reform gambling. I will say now that gambling will never be a consistent path to riches, and often it is best to avoid it altogether.


    ¡°Still, I understand that attempting to abolish gambling altogether is both futile and unwanted. So, I will be opening a company of my own, which will not only provide accreditation of gambling parlors, but will be manufacturing machines that are guaranteed to be devoid of trickery.


    ¡°In two months¡¯ time, I will be officially opening this company for accreditation services, and in another four months, I will begin providing machines.¡± Tess let her own presence fade and Fortune came to the forefront, tweaking the instant recognition that came with her voice so people would know it was only Fortune speaking.


    ¡°Unfortunately, talented though she may be, my Appointed is only one person. Her time is limited, and as such we cannot provide accreditation for free. We will be keeping the fee as insignificant as possible, and as such will be completely inflexible with our price. If you cannot afford it, I would personally advise against going into the gambling business altogether.


    ¡°This accreditation will expire after one year, at which point you will need to pay the fee again. If we determine your company has cheated anyone at any time while you have been accredited, you will be blacklisted, and will not be able to obtain accreditation again for a period of twenty years, after which you will be required to pay an exorbitant fine if you wish to obtain accreditation again.


    ¡°Furthermore, if we determine you have been particularly egregious in your conduct, I will be personally punishing those responsible.¡±


    Fortune let Tess once again step up so the two were presenting equally. ¡°As for the machines, I will not be able to personally make all of those, either. I will be providing designs and outsourcing the work to manufacturers, and we will work to offer these machines at competitive prices.


    ¡°Those making my machines will be held to an extremely strict standard, and any misconduct will be met with severe and immediate punishment. If you wish to be involved in this production, issue a public statement, and I will contact you if I determine you to be a good fit for the job.


    ¡°For the public, once I begin providing official accreditation, I highly advise you only gamble at places I have accredited. Those who are not accredited are either trying to cheat you, or are too poor to pay out anything more than small sums. Either way, your money would be best spent elsewhere.¡±


    She turned to Gramps and gave another small bow. ¡°Our apologies for hijacking your speech. We wish you the best of luck on your expedition and would like to remind everyone once more to not do anything that will draw our ire.¡± She grabbed Ellie¡¯s hand, and the two were teleported back to the realm of the gods.


    Immediately, Ellie hunched over and began coughing. Death walked over and began rubbing her back, a concerned look on her face. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± She asked. ¡°I know switching in the middle of Descent is rough on you.¡±


    ¡°F-fine.¡± Ellie wheezed. ¡°I was just holding it in for a bit, and it caught up to me. I¡¯ll be fine in a couple of minutes, I think.¡±


    ¡°Good job.¡± Tess said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently. ¡°Nobody could tell a thing, I guarantee it.¡±


    ¡°Good job yourself.¡± Ellie said weakly. ¡°You sounded great. Thanks for doing all the talking for me.¡±


    ¡°Any time.¡± Tess said. ¡°Besides, most of the talking was for my stuff, anyway.¡±


    ¡°You both did great.¡± Fortune said. ¡°I¡¯m proud of you two.¡±


    ¡°I agree, but I am afraid our time here is short.¡± Life said. ¡°I need to get you two sent back to your companions. Are you ready to leave?¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t be a party pooper!¡± Death protested. ¡°They can stay for a few more minutes!¡±


    ¡°The guild is already starting to mobilize. They are going to hold back their companions if they don¡¯t leave soon.¡± Life replied. ¡°So, once again, are you ready to leave?¡±


    Tess looked towards Ellie, who gave a nod, then looked back at Life. ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡± She said.


    ¡°Good. Enjoy yourselves out there.¡± Life said. There was a lurching, and then Tess and Ellie were back in the private room in the guild.


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re back.¡± Jin said. ¡°Good job up there.¡±


    ¡°And congratulations on taking another step towards becoming fabulously wealthy!¡± Alice said, throwing an arm around Tess¡¯s neck. ¡°We¡¯re still planning on having my company manufacture some of those machines, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Tess said. ¡°But money really isn¡¯t why we¡¯re doing this.¡±


    ¡°I know, but you have to admit it¡¯s a nice benefit.¡± Alice replied, smirking.


    ¡°Are you feeling alright, Ellie?¡± Maven asked. ¡°You look a little¡­worn out.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Switching gods mid-Descent is really tiring. I¡¯ll be fine in a minute.¡±


    ¡°Does healing help?¡± Ker asked. ¡°I can try it, if you¡¯d like.¡±


    Ellie shook her head. ¡°No, sorry. It¡¯s more¡­pain in the soul than in the body. Trust me, I¡¯ve tried healing myself with my Blessing, and it just doesn¡¯t help.¡±


    ¡°It might still be worth a shot, then.¡± Ker said. ¡°Your Blessing is¡­well, it¡¯s somewhat related to the issue, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°I¡­suppose.¡± Ellie replied.


    ¡°Are you well enough to walk?¡± Jin asked. ¡°If so, we¡¯ll have Ker try and help you on the way. We need to get going if we don¡¯t want to be left behind.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ellie said, taking a step forward before faltering.


    Ker caught her before she fell, shaking his head slightly. ¡°Sure you will. Look, I¡¯ll just carry you until we reach the hoverer. No shame in it, I can¡¯t begin to imagine how taxing it is.¡±


    ¡°At least let me walk and just use you as a crutch.¡± Ellie protested. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be carried all the way out of the city, people might notice! Plus, we¡¯ve tested this before, I will be fine, so just¡­let me walk, okay?¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Ker said doubtfully. ¡°But if I think you¡¯re looking like you¡¯re pushing yourself too much, I¡¯m picking you up.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It won¡¯t come to that, though.¡±


    ¡°Right, clock¡¯s ticking, so let¡¯s get going!¡± Alice said. ¡°This is gonna be an experience you guys aren¡¯t going to forget any time soon!¡±


    Fighterman481


    Next time we''ll be getting into the beginning of the expedition, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 71: On the Road

    ¡°So¡­how long until something interesting happens?¡± Ellie asked, looking up from her cards. ¡°We¡¯ve been on the road for hours.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­we are somewhat limited by the speed of the busses.¡±  Tess replied.


    Members of the expedition who didn¡¯t have their own means of transport were riding on one of a number of large, armored, vehicles that the guild had supplied. They were hoverers of a sort, though much less¡­nice-looking than the one Tess was used to using. They were clearly meant for moving large numbers of people or bulk goods, but they were also bulky and slow.


    ¡°I would not expect much of interest to occur for a few days yet.¡± Maven said, placing a card down on the table that was in the middle of the hoverer. ¡°And I believe this means I win.¡±


    Alice groaned. ¡°Isn¡¯t this your first time playing? How are you so good?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve played similar games in the past.¡± Maven explained. ¡°But, that aside, would my guess be correct?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, basically.¡± Alice said. ¡°We¡¯re not going to hit unknown territory for a while. Until then, it¡¯s mostly just driving. Once we¡¯re there, we¡¯ll get to do more exciting things.¡±


    ¡°How far away is this unknown territory, anyway?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Surely you¡¯ve mapped quite a bit of the Outlands, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no.¡± Alice replied. ¡°It¡¯s not like Mael, we can¡¯t just send up satellites and get a picture of things that way. I mean, we¡¯ve tried, but they have a tendency to get offed by monsters before they ever make it to orbit, at least on this main plane. Turns out there¡¯s some really nasty stuff lurking in the skies, and we can¡¯t get past it. On some of the sub planes that broadly fall under the definition of the Outlands, we¡¯ve managed to get satellites off, but it¡¯s just too expensive to do it here just to have it fail again.


    ¡°Add to that the fact that this main plane is far bigger than Mael, and infinitely more dangerous to traverse, and you¡¯ve got a recipe for lots of uncharted land. We¡¯re heading off towards the least-charted area, but even that¡¯s a good three thousand or so miles away from where we are now.¡±


    Fortune: Don¡¯t tell them, but the whole ¡°dropping satellites out of the sky¡± thing is our doing. We like to leave unexplored territory out here because it gives people an incentive to get more powerful and explore.


    Death: Also we have these giant monsters we keep around ¡°just in case¡± and we never get to use them sooooo


    Life: That is not an actual reason for dropping the satellites, do not listen to her.


    Death: Look sometimes it¡¯s fun to destroy things with giant monsters


    Life: I have never once thought that would be fun.


    Death: Yeah but watching paint dry is more exciting than your idea of fun


    Life: My reading is plenty stimulating, I¡¯ll have you know.


    Death: Okay grandpa, that¡¯s nice, let¡¯s take you back to your room now


    Life: We are the same age.


    Death: Yet you act like an old person while I¡¯m a vivacious youth who¡¯s ready to party. It¡¯s the spirit of the thing


    Life: We can discuss this later. I believe we are rather rudely interrupting a conversation.


    Death: Fortune started it


    Life: And you continued it. Apologies, you two, you may get back to your conversation now.


    Death: Well you continued it too


    Tess dismissed the window and looked up to find Alice and Maven patiently looking at her and Ellie. ¡°Uh, sorry.¡± Tess said. ¡°The gods gave some clarification and then got all distracting on us.¡±


    ¡°Got¡­distracting?¡± Maven asked? ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°Death started teasing Life about being boring.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Pretty standard fare, as far as those two go.¡±


    ¡°They¡­tease each other in their divine messages to you.¡± Maven said flatly. ¡°You¡¯ll have to forgive me if I find that hard to believe.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re people too.¡± Ellie said, shrugging. ¡°And our divine messages are a little¡­different than most. We use a sort of¡­shared channel that we can all freely talk in, since the five of us are working together so closely. We probably shouldn¡¯t say much more, though, confidential stuff and all that.¡±


    ¡°Sure, sure.¡± Alice said, placing a freshly shuffled deck back on the table. ¡°Up for another round?¡±


    For the next week or so, the expedition fell into a sort of rhythm. They would travel for around thirteen hours, at which point the busses would come to a halt, and everyone would pile out, stretch their legs, and begin setting up camp. For most people this involved setting up tents while the guild staff prepared a meal, but for Tess¡¯s party and The Rumors, they just relaxed in the hoverer until the food was done.


    At that point, they¡¯d emerge and make their way to wherever Gramps was, and they¡¯d have a meal. They¡¯d usually be joined by guests, often someone from Gramps¡¯s party, but on one occasion a high-ranking guild official sat in with them.


    That all changed on the night of the seventh day. They were eating dinner as normal, when, suddenly, Maven dropped her plate, staring forward with a shocked expression on her face.


    ¡°Maven, are you alright?¡± Ker asked, rushing over to her. ¡°You¡¯re not having an allergic reaction or anything, right?¡±


    ¡°N-no.¡± Maven stammered. ¡°I¡­I just got a Blessing. Two of them, actually.¡±


    ¡°Two Blessings?¡± Jin asked. ¡°Did you do anything recently that would merit them?¡±


    ¡°No! This is completely unprovoked!¡±


    ¡°Do you feel comfortable telling us who they¡¯re from?¡± Gramps asked. ¡°We might be able to shed some light on the situation.¡±


    Maven blinked, then slowly nodded. ¡°I suppose you would be able to. Um, they¡¯re from Dungeons.¡±


    Tess shared a knowing glance with Ellie, then looked back to Maven. ¡°Ah.¡± She said. ¡°Yeah, Ellie and I talked with Dungeons the other day and you came up. I¡¯m not sure how much I can say right now, but the possibility of giving you a Blessing came up. Do you mind sharing with us what they do?¡±


    ¡°One increases my stats while in dungeons and lets me know where traps are, and the other teleports me to an unnamed dungeon, apparently.¡± Maven said. ¡°What does that mean? Just a random unnamed dungeon, or what?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Um¡­give me a second here, I need to ask for some clarification before I say anything.¡±


    Ellie: Hey guys, Maven just got a Blessing that presumably transports her to the same dungeon Tess and I can go to, can you get in touch with Dungeons? Maven¡¯s a little confused and I want to touch base with Dungeons before I do any explaining.


    Fortune: Oh sweet, I guess she liked what she saw with Maven. Yeah, I¡¯ll go fetch her, give me like two minutes.


    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be a couple of minutes.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So¡­um¡­hold tight, I guess?¡±


    ¡°Actually, why don¡¯t we move somewhere more private?¡± Gramps suggested. ¡°Just the four of us, sorry.¡± He added, looking at The Rumors. ¡°You three may be more in the know than the average person, but there are some things we¡¯re still not allowed to tell you.¡±


    ¡°I understand, guildmaster.¡± Jin said smoothly. ¡°We¡¯ll clean up the mess here, you do what you need to do.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Jin.¡± Gramps said. ¡°You three, follow me, we¡¯ll go to my personal hoverer.¡±


    He led them through the camp and to a hoverer that was¡­well, not as impressive as either of the ones Alice owned, to put it kindly. It was smaller than hers, and had several large scrapes and dents, making it clear just how much use it had seen.


    ¡°It¡¯s an older model, and I¡¯ve had it for quite a while.¡± Gramps said, eyes twinkling with amusement. ¡°It¡¯s served me well and I haven¡¯t had need of an upgrade in many a year.¡±


    ¡°W-why bring that up all of a sudden?¡± Ellie asked, face red; it seemed she had been thinking along the same lines as Tess.


    ¡°I¡¯ve raised you two long enough that I can tell what you¡¯re thinking.¡± Gramps chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s written all over your faces.¡± He opened one of the hoverer¡¯s doors and ushered the trio inside, before climbing in himself and shutting the door. ¡°While we¡¯re waiting, allow me to congratulate you, Maven. It¡¯s not every day you receive a Blessing.¡±


    ¡°Oh, um¡­thank you.¡± Maven said quietly. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know how to respond. It¡¯s kind of¡­overwhelming.¡±


    ¡°I imagine it is. I was overwhelmed when I got my first Blessing, too.¡± Gramps replied.


    ¡°You were overwhelmed?¡± Maven asked incredulously.


    ¡°I sure was.¡± Gramps chuckled. ¡°I didn¡¯t start out a seasoned veteran who¡¯s seen everything. No one starts out like that. I was just as green as you are.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t imagine you like that.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°It just seems¡­wrong.¡±


    Fortune: OK I got Dungeons. She did have a few answers to questions she thought you¡¯d ask, so let me list those before you ask any other questions. First, yes, that Blessing takes her to the same dungeon you two are going to be working with. Dungeons decided to see how she handles working with this new, unfamiliar type of dungeon as part of her ¡°trial period¡±, so to speak.


    Fortune: Second, you¡¯re allowed to tell her about what makes this dungeon different and all that, but don¡¯t tell her everything about how new dungeons are made and stuff. Just say that you two have been tasked with analyzing this one, since it¡¯s of a new kind and all that.


    Fortune: Third, don¡¯t tell her that Dungeons is testing the waters for an Appointed. She¡¯d rather see how Maven responds to all of this without any of that extra baggage.


    Fortune: Finally, and this isn¡¯t really an answer to a question so much as a reminder, but she wants you to start work on clearing the dungeon tomorrow. So¡­what other questions do you have?


    Tess: How much should we tell The Rumors?


    Fortune: She says to just tell The Rumors that she was doing a bit of a test, and she needed people around your level to make it work. Don¡¯t tell them about savage dungeons or anything like that.


    Ellie: Does Maven need to be responsible for clearing the dungeon periodically like we are?


    Fortune: No. She¡¯s welcome to come if she wants to, but she doesn¡¯t need to do any of that.


    Tess: Wait¡­if we use this Blessing while we¡¯re in a hoverer, and it moves away, do we return to where the hoverer is or where we were when it was used?


    Fortune: The Blessing is smart enough to bring you to where the hoverer is. If it ends up being compacted or put in a bag, you just get put in the nearest open space to where it is.


    Tess: OK good, I just realized that could have been super bad


    Fortune: Yeah, don¡¯t sweat it we woulda helped you out if something like that happened.


    Ellie: Well¡­I don¡¯t think I have any more questions. Keep Dungeons on the line though, I¡¯m sure Maven might have a couple.


    Tess: Same. Give us a couple of minutes.


    ¡°Alright, we talked with Dungeons.¡± Ellie said, looking towards Maven. ¡°So, Tess and I are working on analyzing this new kind of dungeon, and Dungeons wanted people around our level, so she decided to give you the option to work on this with us.¡±


    ¡°A¡­new kind of dungeon?¡± Maven asked. ¡°What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­have you played online games before?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°I have not.¡± Maven said. ¡°I never had that luxury.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Um¡­that makes the analogy a little harder, but think of it like this: usually, when you go into a dungeon floor, it¡¯s just your party, right?¡±


    ¡°Correct. Does this new kind of dungeon not have that limitation?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. And I believe there aren¡¯t randomly shifting layouts like there are in normal dungeons, it¡¯s completely static. I think. Anyway, Tess and I are going to be going to this new one starting tomorrow, and you¡¯re welcome to join if you wish.¡±


    ¡°How¡­safe is it?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I¡¯m reluctant to go without our supervisors.¡±


    Ellie paused. ¡°I can¡¯t say for certain, I¡¯ve never been there. Umm¡­¡±


    ¡°If anything happens to you, I¡¯ll personally make sure you¡¯re fixed up.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, guildmaster Los. That¡­does help assuage many of my worries.¡± She gave him a grateful smile, then turned back to Ellie. ¡°What about the other Blessing, though?¡±


    ¡°That one¡¯s a freebie.¡± Ellie said. ¡°For dropping this on you so suddenly. You don¡¯t need to feel any pressure because of it, you can continue like you have been without any repercussions. In fact, you can ignore all of this if you want, there won¡¯t be any divine consequences or anything like that.¡±


    Death: Oooh, nice improv


    Life: Hush. They¡¯re having a conversation.


    ¡°I¡­see.¡± Maven said. ¡°But¡­I think I will join you two in checking out this new type of dungeon. It sounds rather exciting.¡±


    ¡°Glad to hear it.¡± Tess said. ¡°And, just by the by, the whole ¡®new type of dungeon¡¯ thing is something we¡¯re keeping secret from The Rumors. The ¡®official¡¯ story is that Dungeons is doing some testing and needs people around our level to make it work, so keep it vague.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Maven replied. ¡°The secret is safe with me.¡±


    ¡°I imagine it is.¡± Gramps said, smiling slightly. ¡°Do you have any other questions?¡±


    ¡°Why me?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Surely there are better-qualified people out there.¡±


    ¡°Convenience.¡± Tess said. ¡°You¡¯re working closely with Ellie and I, and are already in on many of our secrets. Plus, you¡¯ve got above average stats and are pretty decent at raiding dungeons, so it¡¯s not like you¡¯re unqualified.¡±


    ¡°I¡­suppose so.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°I guess that¡¯s all the questions I have, then.¡±


    Fortune: Cool, I¡¯ll let Dungeons go now. Thanks for helping out with this, you two


    Tess: Any time!


    ¡°Let¡¯s get you all back to The Rumors, then.¡± Gramps said. ¡°You sound like you have a long, exciting day ahead of you tomorrow, so you¡¯ll need all the rest you can get.¡±


    The four of them returned to where they had been eating dinner, and, after a short explanation, headed off to Alice¡¯s hoverer to sleep. It looked like, after a week of nothing, they were finally going to be getting some action.


    Fighterman481


    Me. I woulda guessed. I live in the western US and have family in a different state, which means I make 5-6 hour road trips a couple of times a year. Driving along the roads is...monotonous, to say the least.


    Anyway, I decided to go ahead and give Maven that Blessing I was debating about giving her. Still not fully decided on whether or not I want to make her a full Appointed, though. Gonna play that by ear, depending on how this next dungeon goes.


    Anyway, that''s all I have to say, next time we''ll get into the savage dungeon, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 72: The Savage Dungeon

    ¡°Where are we?¡± Maven asked, looking around.


    ¡°If I¡¯m being honest, I have no idea.¡± Tess replied. They had used their Blessings to teleport to the savage dungeon they were supposed to clear, and had been deposited in what appeared to be a series of foothills. The land around them was brown and covered in shrubs, with hardly a tree in sight. They were next to a teleporter, Party Crystal, and a large doorway that was akin to those found in the Jagged Cliffs when moving to the next floor.


    ¡°Did they not tell you where this was located when they gave you your task?¡± Maven asked.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t ask.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It¡¯s not really relevant to our job, so it just slipped my mind. Can¡¯t speak for Tess, though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I forgot to ask.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re going to be going outside and trying to find our way home or anything, so¡­yeah. All I really know is that we¡¯re way deep into uncharted territory. To the¡­west, I believe.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s where they said it was.¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°So¡­if we stepped out of this dungeon, we¡¯d be the first people to ever lay eyes on this spot?¡± Maven asked.


    ¡°I guess if you don¡¯t count the gods, then¡­yeah.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind if I step out?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I have always wanted to be an explorer like that.¡±


    ¡°Knock yourself out.¡± Tess replied. ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Maven said, walking through the doorway. After a moment, Tess followed, emerging onto a grassy cliff that overlooked a large body of water. She hesitated to call it an ocean, because she had no way of knowing if it was actually an ocean or just a very large lake or something, but it certainly looked like an ocean.


    ¡°Is this¡­the other side of the Somorian Ocean?¡± Maven asked, looking down at the water.


    ¡°Never heard of it, so I can¡¯t really say.¡± Tess said.


    ¡°The Somorian Ocean is one of the edges of the current map of this plane.¡± Maven explained. ¡°Oceans tend to be difficult to traverse in the Outlands, and, with the Somorian Ocean being so far away from civilization, putting together a sturdy enough fleet to explore it is not yet worth it.¡±


    ¡°What about aquatic people?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Surely they could explore it?¡±


    ¡°They could, but the issue is getting them there. Higher level people can get out of the water by themselves, but getting a mass number of people to relatively thoroughly explore such a large area is another matter. There are easier targets for both ocean dwellers and people who live on land. So¡­well¡­we could very well be the first people to set foot on this side of the ocean, not that anyone would know aside from us.¡±


    Fortune: You¡¯re not. Some of the other Appointed have been here before.


    ¡°Fortune is telling us we¡¯re not.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Apparently some of the other Appointed have been here before. Though¡­I suppose that does make you the first non-Appointed to be here.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Maven said, disappointment clear in her tone. ¡°That¡¯s¡­not as good, but I¡¯ll take what I can get, I suppose.¡±


    Fortune: To be honest, almost every major exploration first you can think of was taken by an Appointed. You¡¯re kind of our guinea pigs for making sure things are ¡°safe¡±.


    ¡°Well, according to Fortune, Appointed get almost all of the ¡°exploring¡± firsts, but I¡¯m sure there¡¯ll be other firsts for you to get.¡± Tess said. ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it too much. We¡¯re definitely the first people in this dungeon, and we could probably swing things soyou¡¯re the first diplomat to officially make contact with the governments of Mael.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­that¡¯s not as fun as being one of the first to explore a new place.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°Diplomacy is boring. It¡¯s a lot of carefully watching what you say and trying to figure out what the opposing party is actually thinking, and I hate that stuff.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Want to get to the dungeon now?¡±


    Maven nodded. ¡°That would be wise. It is probably best not to be out here for too long; there¡¯s no telling how strong the monsters will be, and getting caught unawares would be disastrous.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, probably a good idea.¡± Tess said, turning around. Behind her was what appeared to be a small, ruined tower, the well-maintained door they had stepped through standing out starkly against the rest of the tower.


    Tess stepped back through and into the scrubland beyond, and waited for her companions to follow before beginning to speak. ¡°So, how do we want to go about this?¡± She asked. ¡°We have absolutely no information on what¡¯s coming, other than that the dungeon is meant for large groups of people somewhat below our level, so we¡¯re going to have to tackle this differently than we have the other dungeons.¡±


    Maven nodded. ¡°I believe we should make scouting our top priority. You have the unique ability of being able to pass by monsters without them caring, so that makes you the logical choice.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking.¡± Ellie agreed. ¡°We¡¯ll just move forward really slowly while you get a grasp on what kind of thing we should be expecting.¡±


    ¡°Alright, sounds like a plan. In that case¡­where do you think we should head? I¡¯m not exactly seeing anything that sticks out, so I¡¯m kinda thinking we just head to the tallest hill and see if we can see anything there.¡±


    ¡°I see no reason to disagree.¡± Maven said. ¡°Lead the way.¡±


    ¡°Same.¡± Ellie replied. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    Tess nodded, then looked down at her breast pocket. ¡°Alright you two, it¡¯s showtime.¡± She said.


    On command, Silky crawled out of the pocket, gave a salute, then hopped down to the ground. I¡¯m ready! She said enthusiastically.


    ¡°As am I.¡± Isabella said, floating out of Tess. ¡°Where would you have me go?¡±


    ¡°Silky, you fly up and see if you can find anything that looks important. Isabella, I want you to stay back with Ellie and Maven, scout around the sides and the back and help make sure they don¡¯t get ambushed. I¡¯m heading for that hill over there,¡± Tess pointed at the largest hill she could see, ¡°so meet up there when I call, got it?¡±


    Understood! Silky said, saluting once again before spreading her wings and flying off into the sky.


    ¡°Consider it done.¡± Isabella droned, hovering off towards their rear.


    That taken care of, Tess began to walk ahead, carefully checking for traps and monsters as she did. And, while she found no traps, there was no shortage of monsters. It was like someone had taken all the things that normally live in this type of area, and then made them into monsters; snakes, rabbits, and the occasional hawk or coyote all made appearances, but they were swiftly dealt with by the party.


    It took the party roughly fifteen minutes to reach the top of the hill, at which point Tess called her attendants back, and reconvened with Ellie and Maven to share info.


    I saw a cool cave thingy! Silky said excitedly. It¡¯s reeeeeally big and probably important! You have to keep walking the way you¡¯ve been walking and then you¡¯ll find it!


    ¡°Silky is saying there¡¯s a big cave in the direction we¡¯re going.¡± Tess translated. ¡°Sounds like a good first destination to me. Any of the rest of you see anything?¡±


    ¡°I did not.¡± Maven confirmed.


    ¡°Me neither.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Sounds like that cave is our best bet, though.¡±


    ¡°Right. Then, if no one disagrees, I¡¯m going to head for the cave.¡± Tess said. ¡°We¡¯ll proceed as we have been, and then change things up once we get there.¡±


    Her party members nodded in agreement, so Tess had Silky show her the way to the cave. The walk over was exactly like the walk over to the hill had been, so they were able to reach it with little incident.


    The inside of the cave was drastically different than what she had expected. The harsh yellows and browns of the surrounding land contrasted starkly with the lush green that permeated the cave; the floor and parts of the walls were covered with a soft-looking moss, and the ceiling dripped water from some unseen source. The only thing breaking it up was a teleport pad conspicuously placed inside an alcove a little way into the cave, the pure, unblemished white at odds with the rest of the overgrown cave.


    Tess stopped at the entrance and waited for her party before making a move. ¡°So, I think it¡¯s safe to say that whatever is in this cave is important.¡± She said, nodding at the teleport pad. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to just march in willy-nilly. Tremorsense isn¡¯t picking up any obvious monsters or traps, but I¡¯m a little concerned about that moss. I don¡¯t know if we can¡­trust that it¡¯s just moss, and isn¡¯t like¡­super poisonous or a moss monster or something.¡±


    ¡°I have a spell that can detect toxins.¡± Ellie volunteered. ¡°Won¡¯t tell us if the moss is a monster or dangerous in some other way, though.¡±


    Maven bent over, grabbed a stone from the ground, then threw it into the cave. The three girls watched tensely as the stone impacted the moss, but after a moment it became clear that nothing was going to happen to it.


    ¡°I believe that rules out the possibility of it being a mindless thing that reacts only to motion.¡± Maven said. ¡°Though if it is a monster, there is still a possibility of it choosing to ignore the rock.¡±


    ¡°You could burn it away, maybe?¡± Ellie said hopefully. ¡°Then we wouldn¡¯t have to deal with it.¡±


    ¡°Worth a shot, but I doubt it¡¯ll help.¡± Tess said, throwing a lance of phoenix fire at the cave floor. It smoldered for a moment, but the embers were quickly extinguished. ¡°Yeah, I think it¡¯s too wet in there.¡± Tess said. ¡°But I also didn¡¯t get any damage notifications or anything, so it¡¯s¡­probably not a monster?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll cast that spell, then.¡± Ellie said, stepping up so she was only a few feet from the moss. She chanted a quick spell, then shook her head. ¡°No toxins.¡± She said. ¡°It should be safe to touch if it really isn¡¯t a monster.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go first, then.¡± Tess said. ¡°Since it won¡¯t get me if it is a monster.¡±


    Ellie opened her mouth to protest, paused, then spoke. ¡°Only if you go all the way to the teleport pad first.¡± She said. ¡°If it is a monster, and one of us steps up behind you, there¡¯s a possibility you get caught in the crossfire somehow.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s correct.¡± Maven said. ¡°I think it would be best if you waited on the teleport pad, so you can come to our aid if we get into trouble.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Tess said. ¡°Here goes nothing¡­¡±


    She tentatively stepped on the moss, and when that didn¡¯t prompt a response, made her way over to the teleport pad. As she stepped on it, it lit up beneath her feet, causing her to take a step backwards in surprise. ¡°Um¡­that could be an issue.¡± She said.


    She backed away from the teleport pad and braced herself, but nothing happened. After a few more moments of tense waiting, however, she got a message.


    Death: No, you¡¯re good. We made the pads in these dungeons flash once you ¡°activate¡± them so you know you can teleport to it. Anyone in your party that touches a pad for the first time activates it for everyone in the party that¡¯s in the dungeon.


    Tess and Ellie both let out a sigh of relief, and Tess stepped onto the pad.


    ¡°We¡¯re in the clear.¡± Ellie said. ¡°The gods just did that so we know when we¡¯re able to use the pad.¡± She explained. ¡°Apparently you can use a pad after anyone in your party touches one for the first time while you¡¯re in the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Maven said. ¡°That is good to hear. Shall we head in ourselves, then?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡± Ellie said. ¡°You know, since I¡¯m the tank and all.¡± She stepped up to the moss, tightened her grip on her sword, then stepped onto the moss.


    Nothing happened. The moss didn¡¯t peel itself off of the floor and walls and turn into some monster, Ellie didn¡¯t lose all strength in her limbs and drop to the floor, she just¡­stepped on moss.


    ¡°I¡­think it¡¯s just moss.¡± Tess said. ¡°Sorry I got everyone worked up.¡±


    ¡°No, you were in the right.¡± Maven said. ¡°It is better for us to be prepared for the worst and have nothing happen than it is for us to be caught off guard. Doubly so without our tutors here to bail us out.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s got a point.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯re more blind than we¡¯ve ever been in a dungeon, and it¡¯s a new kind of dungeon to boot. Approaching it recklessly would be a huge mistake.¡±


    Fortune: She¡¯s right, but it doesn¡¯t make looking on any less funny when you know what¡¯s actually going on


    Life: Do not tease them about this. This is serious business, and it would not do for them to stop being cautious because they¡¯re afraid of making you laugh.


    Fortune: What? I said she was right, that was the correct course of action.


    Life: That does not make my point any less valid. They are doing their best, and there should not be anything humorous about that.


    Ellie: Eh, it¡¯s fine. We don¡¯t take any offense, right, Tess?


    Tess: I would be calling Fortune out like this too if our positions were reversed.


    Fortune: Oooh, that¡¯s a fun idea. It¡¯d be cool if we could like¡­switch bodies for an evening, and you and Ellie could watch while Death and I tried a dungeon or a simulation or something.


    Death: I¡¯m down if you two are


    Tess: Sounds fun, but we¡¯ll have to talk about it later. Ellie and I need to get back to the dungeon.


    Fortune: Oh, right. Sorry.


    ¡°Sorry about that, the gods were chatting again.¡± Tess said. ¡°But it looks like this really is just moss. That¡¯s no reason not to be careful if we see a change in color or texture or something. How do we want to go about this going forward? Just have me and Silky scout out front and Isabella in the back, or do we want to stay closer together in the cave?¡±


    ¡°I see no reason to change tactics.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It should work even better now that there are less places for enemies to be coming from.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Maven said.


    ¡°Cool. I was sorta thinking the same, so I¡¯m glad you guys agree. I¡¯ll let you two know if I encounter something weird, okay? And don¡¯t hesitate to shout if you get caught off-guard.¡±


    With that, Tess began to head deeper into the cave, heart pounding with excitement. Things had been pretty easy so far, but she was sure that was just the start of the dungeon; things had to get much more interesting further in.


    Fighterman481


    Anyway, next time we''re probably going to end this trip in the savage dungeon (probably), so...look forward to it, I guess.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 73: Tactical Retreat

    Ellie walked with Maven while Tess scouted in front of them. It was almost too easy, really; unlike when she had been training without Tess, all she had to do was watch for enemies coming up behind them and deal with any enemies Tess found.


    She was of half a mind to ask Tess to let her do the scouting. Not because Tess was doing poorly or anything, but because she was afraid that she would never get proper experience in doing things herself if Tess kept up the way she was. Whether she liked it or not, she wouldn¡¯t always have Tess to count on for this kind of thing. There would be times they would be separated, and she would do poorly if she didn¡¯t have these skills.


    Tess signaled for them to meet up at her position, and after a few more moments of walking, Ellie and Maven reached her position. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°The cave branches off up ahead.¡± Tess explained. ¡°I can sense three big rooms, and no clear indication of which way to go. Do either of you have a preference between left, right, and center?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go left.¡± Maven said. ¡°We can always pick left on our first time through a place, and then work our way to the right, just as a way to keep track of things.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We should leave markings, too, or¡­actually, would that ruin things for future people who are discovering this place? Um, give me a second to ask the gods.¡±


    Fortune: It¡¯s all good. Normally the answer would be yes, markings will persist between attempts, as long as they would last outside of a dungeon, but we¡¯re going to be refreshing the interiors of all the savage dungeons just before they¡¯re about to be found, so knock yourselves out.


    ¡°The answer is yes, it would normally ruin things, but the gods are gonna wipe all that sort of stuff before people find the dungeon.¡± Tess said. ¡°So, we¡¯re fine to do whatever. I¡¯ll mark everything with chalk as we go, but don¡¯t forget that we can¡¯t just rush through this place once we figure out the correct path, we have to try everything and make sure nothing is too unfair.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but we¡¯ll worry about that later. Right now, let¡¯s just work on finishing the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°I know, I just wanted to remind you.¡± Tess said.


    ¡°It¡¯s all good.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Anything else to report?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s it. I¡¯ll get back to scouting now.¡± Tess replied, heading back down the tunnels. Ellie and Maven followed her at a distance, and they soon reached the three-way split that Tess had reported earlier. The path to the left had already been marked with chalk, so they took a turn, and began walking down the sloping path.


    After just a short walk, the path opened up into a wide room, full of narrow pathways over a giant lake. Small crystals shining with light seemed to be embedded into the walls and ceiling, granting the whole place an ethereal glow that allowed for navigation without a light.


    It also allowed them to see the monsters that were wandering about the cavern. There were a large number of bats flitting around, lizards were crawling up and down the walls, and Ellie was able to make out flashes of motion in the water below.


    Tess was waiting for them at the entrance to the room. ¡°I think there are some traps up ahead. I¡¯m going to try and disarm them, so¡­just chill here for a bit, I guess. I have no clue how aggressive these bats are, but I¡¯ll try and rush back if they start attacking you guys.¡±


    ¡°Can you make out what¡¯s in the water?¡± Maven asked.


    ¡°Fish, I think? The water is at the edge of my tremorsense, and it doesn¡¯t go very far through water anyway, but the shapes are¡­vaguely fishlike. They¡¯re big, though, so¡­uh, try not to fall, I guess?¡±


    ¡°No need to tell us twice.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I¡¯d rather not find out what¡¯s down there that way. We¡¯ll just camp out here until you¡¯re done.¡±


    But, as it turned out, it wouldn¡¯t be as simple as just sitting there and waiting while Tess worked on the traps. Ellie and Maven were spotted by the bats after only a minute or two, and were thrown into battle. Individually, the bats weren¡¯t any issue, and took no more than one or two hits to kill, the problem was that they came in groups.


    Even with all four of the Swords of Death attacking bats, and Maven casting area of effect spells as fast as she could, Tess still had plenty of time to notice the fight was happening, get to a stable point in her trap disarming, run over, and join the fight before they had even killed half of the bats that had swarmed them.


    And, as the combat dragged on, more and more monsters began to notice their presence and move towards them. Even with Silky and Isabella¡¯s help, the three girls found themselves slowly but surely being pushed back towards the entrance of the room they were in.


    For the first time in quite a while, Maven was starting to take hits. Tess was still fine, mostly due to the fact that nothing targeted her until she targeted them, and she tended to instantly kill anything she targeted, but that really only served to increase the number of things that were targeting Ellie or Maven.


    Fortunately, the damage was more psychological than physical. The monsters were five or six levels below Maven, and Ellie¡¯s Aegis halved what damage was done, but it was still a little disheartening.


    So it was that, after around five or ten minutes of fighting, Ellie called the retreat. ¡°We need to get back into the tunnel, you two!¡± She shouted. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to work!¡±


    ¡°You sure?!¡± Tess yelled back. ¡°I think they¡¯re starting to thin out!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Maven¡¯s getting hit too much, this isn¡¯t sustainable! We need to re-evaluate our strategy!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m almost out of Mana, too!¡± Maven shouted. ¡°A break would be much appreciated!¡±


    ¡°Got it!¡± Tess replied. ¡°You two start retreating, I¡¯ll cover you!¡±


    Ellie and Maven began focusing on moving more than fighting, and progress towards the mouth of the cave sped up. Within a minute or two, they had made it, and the intensity of the assault began to fade. Using the mouth of the cave as a chokepoint, Ellie was able to keep most of the monster¡¯s attention off of Maven, and Tess dealt with any stragglers that looked like they might get through.


    Once Tess crossed the threshold, Ellie began to head backwards into the tunnels, and the monsters soon lost interest. ¡°So, that¡¯s not gonna work.¡± She said. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re capable of handling that many monsters with just the three of us. There¡¯s no telling if or when they¡¯re gonna respawn, so I¡¯d rather not try and clear it out in bits and pieces unless we have no other options.¡±


    ¡°I could go through and disable all the traps beforehand, then come back and the three of us could try and run through it as fast as possible.¡± Tess offered.


    ¡°But what if we find out partway through our run that we won¡¯t make it?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Then we¡¯d be out in the middle of everything with nowhere to run to.¡±


    Tess frowned. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡± She admitted. ¡°But we have to fight them eventually, right? I can sneak through them, but I don¡¯t know about you two.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have access to literally every spell?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Surely there¡¯s something that can be of use.¡±


    ¡°Probably, but the issue is the Mana cost. I have to land some pretty meaty bleeds to even cast most higher tier spells, and there¡¯s no way I can get one that strong without instantly killing one of those monsters. And then, even if I can cast the spell, the upkeep will probably suck me dry in half a minute. Though, at that point, I could probably just use smaller bleeds to handle the upkeep, so¡­it might work, I just need to get that big bleed off.¡±


    ¡°I could ¨C¡± Ellie began, but Tess cut her off.


    ¡°I¡¯m not hitting you.¡± She said. ¡°Not unless there is literally no other option.¡±


    Ellie sighed. ¡°I was just offering, just wanted to let you know it was on the table, you know?¡±


    ¡°And I took it off.¡± Tess said matter-of-factly. ¡°Not only would it leave a really bad taste in my mouth, but it would also hurt, and you¡¯d be left injured or low on Mana from healing the injury.¡±


    ¡°Back on topic,¡± Maven said, ¡°what about the water? Water breathing spells are pretty cheap, all we¡¯d really have to worry about is the fish and whether or not there¡¯s any traps or anything in the water.¡±


    ¡°I can go check, if you want to give me like five minutes.¡± Tess volunteered. ¡°It should give Maven some time to regenerate Mana, too.¡±


    ¡°I already drank a Mana potion, I¡¯ll be full in about a minute.¡± Maven said. ¡°So that¡¯s not an issue for the time being.¡±


    ¡°Eh, we can discuss more while she¡¯s out.¡± Ellie said. ¡°More information can¡¯t hurt.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± Maven said. ¡°Would you please go check the water for us, Tess?¡±


    ¡°On it.¡± Tess replied, scampering back down the tunnel and out of sight.


    There was silence for a moment, then Maven spoke up. ¡°Were you serious about letting her create a bleed on you?¡±


    Ellie paused, then nodded. ¡°Yeah. I was pretty sure she wouldn¡¯t want to, but if it came down to it, I would be willing.¡±


    ¡°I¡­do not believe I would be able to do the same.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°I really don¡¯t want to be on the receiving end of those claws, ever. They almost look nastier than your swords¡­almost.¡±


    ¡°They might well be. I¡¯d probably do more damage than her in the short term, it¡¯s all the other stuff that¡¯ll get you. Though¡­I guess with my swords it¡¯s kinda the same way? Anyway, you have any other ideas for getting through that room?¡±


    Maven shrugged. ¡°Try a different room and come back once we¡¯ve got the reward from this dungeon?¡± She ventured. ¡°This dungeon does seem like a bit¡­much for us, so there¡¯s no harm in making a tactical retreat, right?¡±


    ¡°I suppose so, I just¡­it feels wrong, leaving it untouched. Like¡­I should be able to do something about it, you know?¡±


    ¡°There are a lot of things that we can¡¯t do anything about.¡± Maven said. ¡°It¡¯s not a reflection on your character, it¡¯s just the way the world works. Though¡­I suppose that goes less so for you, since you¡¯re an Appointed, but my point stands.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know¡­I just feel like I¡¯ll have failed if I do that, and it¡¯s¡­embarrassing, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll all have failed together.¡± Maven replied. ¡°Responsibility for this adventure falls equally on the three of us. We¡¯re a team, and that means sharing both the successes and the failures.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± Ellie sighed. ¡°My head knows that, but¡­controlling my emotions is hard.¡±


    ¡°It is, but having correct self-talk is the first step. Force yourself not to think of it as a failure, but as having made the right choice. No one would call it a failure to run from an enemy that is far stronger than you, especially if you¡¯re planning on coming back when you¡¯re a little stronger.¡±


    ¡°Alright, you two!¡± Tess called out from down the tunnel. ¡°I went in the water for a bit, and I¡¯ve got a report!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk more about this later.¡± Maven said, turning to face the tunnel. ¡°What¡¯s the news?¡± She yelled.


    A few moments later, Tess jogged up next to them. ¡°So, good news and bad news.¡± She said. ¡°The bad news is that I¡¯m pretty sure the fish are bigger than they were when we first entered the room. They¡¯re nasty-looking things, too; they¡¯re like¡­all pulsing with this red fleshy stuff. I even killed one and absorbed the core, and it seems like they get stronger when things die near them.


    ¡°On the bright side, there aren¡¯t that many of them, and there are a lot of little islands in the water. So¡­I guess we might be able to navigate through the water, but it seems a risky proposition. The fish are, individually, stronger than the other monsters we¡¯ve fought in here, and we¡¯ll be at a disadvantage fighting in the water.¡±


    ¡°Did you get a good view of the end of the room?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Is there a good path up to the exit?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a decent enough path, but it¡¯ll require some climbing. Nothing as bad as we had to deal with in the cliffs, though, it should be a piece of cake in comparison.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯d the fish react when you attacked it?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°And how hard was it to kill?¡±


    ¡°It took me a few hits, and it got really big and aggressive when I hit it. I just surfaced and activated my wings, then hovered a bit out of reach until it died, so I can¡¯t really say how hard it would be if you were actively fighting it in the water, but¡­now that I¡¯m thinking about it, the other fish got really aggressive when there was blood in the water.


    ¡°There was a lot of splashing from other parts of the lake, but it all went away as soon as the fish died and all of its blood vanished. So¡­I guess they¡¯re kinda like piranhas? They¡¯ll just swarm to the blood, so¡­maybe the lake isn¡¯t our best option.¡±


    Maven bit her lip thoughtfully. ¡°Let¡¯s check out the other rooms.¡± She said. ¡°Just to make sure there isn¡¯t something that¡¯s more our speed there. We can come back here later, when we¡¯re stronger.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine with that if you two are.¡± Tess said. ¡°Ellie?¡±


    Ellie sighed. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s do that.¡±


    The three girls hiked back up to where the path had split, and Tess erased the chalk marking before marking the middle path. They descended down the tunnel, only to come running back a few minutes later as the room presented them with a similar problem as the previous room. There wasn¡¯t treacherous footing or anything, just a lot of random monsters.


    They were weaker than the monsters in the last room, but their individual strength had never been the problem. There were just too many of them for the three girls to comfortably handle. So, they erased the mark to that room as well, and headed to their last available option.


    When Ellie caught sight of the contents, she couldn¡¯t help but breathe a sigh of relief. ¡°Thank goodness.¡± She said, looking down at the solitary monster that was roaming the cavern. ¡°We can take it.¡±


    ¡°Can we?¡± Tess said dubiously. ¡°That¡¯s at least a miniboss, and we know absolutely nothing about it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but we¡¯re tearing through the other monsters like they¡¯re made of tissues, there are just too many of them.¡± Ellie said confidently. ¡°I can hold this one¡¯s attention, though, and you two can hit it to your heart¡¯s content. We¡¯ve got plenty of single-target nova damage, and if we can¡¯t take this thing out, there¡¯s no way we¡¯re taking the boss out.¡±


    ¡°She has a point there.¡± Maven said. ¡°I think it¡¯s our best option.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I guess.¡± Tess said. ¡°How are we doing this?¡±


    Ellie gave the monster a closer look. It seemed to be some sort of giant slug, and its movements were, well, sluggish. ¡°Just get some big hits on it, stack those ailments, and I¡¯ll kite it around the room. We¡¯re way faster than it is, so I¡¯ll just keep its aggro and stay out of range, easy peasy.¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll go get myself into position, and I¡¯ll hit it once it looks like you¡¯re ready.¡± She said, trotting into the chamber.


    As usual, the slug ignored Tess as she walked behind it and readied herself to strike. So, shield raised high, Ellie cast a haste spell on herself, let out a war cry and charged into the room, Swords of Death already flying towards the thing.


    Tess pounced, slicing her claws into the creature¡¯s slimy flesh before blinking away. A few moments later there was a spray of gore and the slug stopped its slow movement towards Ellie, beginning to turn towards Tess instead.


    Then the Swords of Death hit it, and it turned right back to Ellie. It swelled alarmingly, and then spat out a ball of mucus from its mouth. Fortunately, with her haste, Ellie had plenty of time to jump out of the way, and the ball impacted the ground with a sizzling sound.


    Maven cast a barrage of fireballs and took to the air, but that proved to be pointless; about halfway through the fireballs, the slug collapsed before dissipating into that rainbow mist that accompanied the death of a monster.


    ¡°See?¡± Ellie said. ¡°Easy.¡±


    ¡°You were right.¡± Tess said. ¡°That was¡­a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s partially because of my other Blessing?¡± Maven said. ¡°I really underestimated how much it would help against things that didn¡¯t just die in one hit, I was dealing a lot more damage than I normally do against strong monsters.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯d do it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°So¡­shall we keep going?¡±


    ¡°Give me a few minutes to shuffle around some of my Attributes.¡± Tess said. ¡°That slug had some nice stuff on it. Like¡­adding acid to my natural weapons.¡±


    Ellie nodded and sat down. ¡°Fine with me.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind another break.¡± Maven said, landing and sitting down next to Ellie. ¡°Just let us know when you¡¯re ready to go.¡±


    Fighterman481


    That being said, I don''t have anything to say that wasn''t discussed in the chapter itself, so...next time we''re gonna actually finish this dungeon, so...look forward to it, I guess?


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 74: First Clear

    Tess looked at her current list of Attributes, mentally going through them and trying to decide what to get rid of. The new ones she had received form the slug were quite a bit nicer than she had expected for a monster that was level twenty-four, if the core was to be believed. Even so, its stats and abilities wouldn¡¯t make sense on something of that level unless it was a boss.


    She supposed that was because savage dungeons were meant to be harder than normal dungeons. Making the mid-bosses around the strength of a normal dungeon¡¯s main boss would certainly serve that purpose. Fortunately, that sort of difficulty only served to make the rewards she got from it that much better.


    In particular, she was looking at two Attributes, and trying to figure out what to replace for them.


    Acid Neutralizer:


    Grants the user immunity to acid, and renders any acids that touch the user¡¯s body (and were not produced by the user) inert.


    Ample Acid:


    Coats the user¡¯s natural weapons in acid, causing them to deal an extra 100% of their attacks¡¯ damage as acid damage. This acid is similar in composition to the user¡¯s gastric acid (including enzymes and other components of digestion), or hydrochloric acid if the user does not have gastric acid. This acid is far more concentrated than normal stomach acid, allowing it to dissolve materials far quicker than the stomach would. The user and their possessions are immune to this acid and any side-effects (such as dissolution).


    She had been focusing on Artisan of Affliction for the past while, so she hadn¡¯t leveled up Monster Breeder in a while. Fortunately, as she looked through her list of Attributes, there were two she hadn¡¯t used in quite a while, Haunting Wail and Decaying Touch. Both where things she had received from Isabella¡¯s core, and since Isabella was inside Tess most of the time, she was the one that usually ended up making use of that kind of stuff.


    These two new Attributes would work with her skillset far more cleanly than those two ever had, so she really didn¡¯t feel bad about letting them go. After the few minutes it took to remove the Attributes from herself, she put the new ones on, and almost immediately her claws began to drip with a clear liquid. The acid sort of¡­evaporated a few seconds of being away from Tess¡¯s claws, and unlike the ball of acid the slug hat spat, it didn¡¯t sizzle or otherwise react with the floor.


    ¡°What kind of acid is that?¡± Maven asked, giving Tess¡¯s claws a wary glance.


    ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s the same as whatever stomach acid is made of, but a lot stronger?¡± Tess said. ¡°So¡­um, don¡¯t touch it?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning on it.¡± Maven said. ¡°Just curious.¡±


    Tess switched off the Attribute, watching as the liquid on her claws disappeared. ¡°I¡¯m going to keep that off unless we¡¯re in battle.¡± She said. ¡°It seems like it¡¯ll just be too easy for accidents to happen if I don¡¯t. Anyway, that¡¯s all I needed, you two ready to go?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s be off, then.¡± Ellie said, standing up.


    The three of them resumed their trek through the dungeon, and were met with similar results to how things were before. Roughly two thirds of the rooms they came across were the kind with a lot of weak monsters, and while they tried a few of those, they eventually decided to avoid them for the time being.


    The other rooms varied, but fit a few main themes. The easiest of those themes to deal with was rooms with fewer, but stronger monsters. This might mean a miniboss, like the slug, or it could be a few large monsters that weren¡¯t quite strong enough to be minibosses on their own.


    Unfortunately, neither of the other minibosses really fit with Tess¡¯s kit. There was one that was magic based that Tess noted as potentially containing some upgrades for Isabella, as well as a sort of¡­knight that mostly had Attributes dealing with weapons.


    Aside from those, there were rooms that were filled to the brim with dangerous traps that required slow, careful progress to make sure each and every little trap was found and defused. Tess and the others set off a trap on more than one occasion, and the results were generally less than pleasant, ranging from simply spewing noxious gas to just summoning a miniboss in the room.


    That trap had been the worst by far; it had contained a false trigger that had tricked Tess into thinking it was disarmed when it wasn¡¯t, then summoned that magic focused miniboss. The trio then had to fight the miniboss in a room that had only been half-cleared of traps, greatly limiting their movement.


    And, finally, there were rooms that were clearly meant to be puzzles of some sort. By and large, those posed obstacles that weren¡¯t really threatening to a party as small and versatile as Tess¡¯s. Some rooms had large gaps that practically required flight to get across, others had a smattering of monsters that respawned the moment anyone left the room while most of the room was supposedly rigged to erupt in deadly spikes if too many people were on it, and others still required things like briefly splitting the party and having the members solve individual challenges.


    The flight rooms were no issue, as both Tess and Maven were capable of flight, and Ellie could ferry herself across with the Swords of Death. They didn¡¯t even realize the respawning monster room was a puzzle until they were finished with it; only then did the gods inform them about the unnoticeable trap in the floor and the nature of the monster respawns. It was apparently supposed to challenge people to create groups small enough to safely traverse the room while also remaining large enough and balanced enough to deal with the threat of the monsters.


    And, while the individual challenges were annoying, they were designed for people with a much lower level than that of Tess¡¯s party, so they were able to clear them with only a little forethought. The only puzzle room that actually gave them any trouble was one which required a series of buttons to be pressed in the proper order within a very small period of time. The buttons were too spread apart for their small group to reach all of the required ones within the time limit, so they had to get creative with their positioning, allowing each of the three to run to a different button after they had pressed their first.


    Even with Silky and Isabella being able to press two of the buttons, they were still just slightly too slow, and had to rely a combination of Tess¡¯s short-range teleportation and a thrown stone to get the final button pressed in time.


    But all in all, they made progress pretty smoothly as long as they avoided most of the rooms that simply contained huge numbers of monsters. They encountered a few more teleporters, and with each there was a slight but noticeable bump in the difficulty of the dungeon. It began with there being ever so slightly more monsters in puzzle rooms, the traps becoming just that bit harder to disarm, minibosses being accompanied by regular monsters, but eventually culminated in things such as the miniboss summoning trap and there being two minibosses in a singular room.


    Still, they were able to handle that with relative ease, and soon found themselves in front of what could only be the boss room. While there wasn¡¯t a door or anything, a multitude of paths converged into a single area containing a teleporter and a singular tunnel leading downwards, conspicuously clean of all moss.


    ¡°How are you two doing?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Do we need to go back and take a break before we tackle the boss?¡±


    Tess took a moment to check her HP, Mana, and Stamina, then shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m probably fine to go in as is, but I would also benefit from a break.¡± She said. ¡°Not like¡­leaving the dungeon break, but like¡­five or ten minutes to sit and wait for things to recover.¡±


    ¡°I have some potions that could help with that.¡± Maven offered. ¡°We could all take some and wait.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do that, then.¡± Ellie said. ¡°You two wanna wait here or teleport to the outside and wait there?¡±


    ¡°I thought we decided it was too risky to be outside the dungeon?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Oh, no, sorry. I mean the outside that¡¯s in the dungeon, the like¡­scrubby area.¡± Ellie clarified.


    ¡°I think I like it more in here.¡± Tess said. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen any monsters wandering the tunnels yet, and I think the inside of the cave is nicer than outside. At least the moss doesn¡¯t have goatheads, you know?¡±


    ¡°Goat heads?¡± Maven asked, frowning.


    ¡°Those little pokey things that get in your shoes.¡± Ellie explained.


    ¡°Oh, those. Why are they called goatheads?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but it¡¯s probably because they look kinda like a goat¡¯s head?¡± Ellie replied. ¡°That¡¯s just what people call them. That or like¡­stickers or something. Do they not have those in Paumen?¡±


    ¡°If we do, they are not found near the capital.¡± Maven said.


    ¡°Lucky.¡± Ellie grumbled. ¡°They¡¯re everywhere near where we live, and they¡¯re a huge pain.¡±


    ¡°I would imagine so.¡± Maven replied, smiling slightly as she reached into her bag. ¡°What kind of potions are you two in need of?¡±


    ¡°Mana and Stamina, please.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Nothing terribly strong, just enough for like¡­a thousand points.¡±


    ¡°I only need a couple hundred points in Stamina.¡± Tess said. ¡°The weakest you have will probably be plenty.¡±


    Maven nodded, pulling out a few vials from her bag. ¡°Here you are.¡± She said, handing one to Tess and two to Ellie. ¡°The potion I gave you is probably a bit overkill for your needs, but it¡¯s the weakest I have.¡± She told Tess, taking out another vial for herself. ¡°These should bring us up to fighting strength in five minutes.¡±


    ¡°Thanks a bunch.¡± Tess said, then turned her attention over to Silky and Isabella. ¡°How are you two doing?¡± She asked, placing Silky upon her palm.


    Right as rain! Silky said proudly, giving a salute. Let me at ¡®em!


    ¡°I am fine as well.¡± Isabella intoned, peeking her head out of Tess. ¡°I am ready for action.¡±


    ¡°These two are fine.¡± Tess told the others. ¡°So just let me know when you two are ready, I guess.¡±


    ¡°What kind of boss do you think it¡¯s going to be?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°I mean¡­those minibosses we killed were relatively tough for how much lower level they were, so the boss has got to be too, right?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all around level twenty-five, and their stats are pretty comparable to bosses of the same level.¡± Tess said idly. ¡°I¡¯d imagine that the actual boss is going to be roughly equivalent to the boss of like¡­a normal level thirty-five dungeon.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s like raid bosses in video games, it¡¯ll probably have a ton of HP and a lot of area attacks.¡± Ellie mused. ¡°Since it is supposed to threaten multiple parties at once.¡±


    ¡°Can you really compare video games with real life like that, though?¡± Maven asked. ¡°It seems¡­ill-advised to go in with assumptions based on that.¡±


    Tess and Ellie shared a look. ¡°You¡¯re probably right, but it¡¯s not as bad an idea as you¡¯re thinking.¡± Tess said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the gods take some ideas from mortals when it comes to designing things.¡±


    Death: I think we just got called out


    Fortune: But she¡¯s right


    Death: It¡¯s still a call out


    Life: I thought we were not supposed to give these two any hints until they had gathered enough information themselves?


    Death: It wasn¡¯t a hint until you said that


    Fortune: Yeah, we were just talking about general-case scenarios, and we don¡¯t even know the thought process behind Dungeon designing this boss


    Ellie: Does she play video games?


    Death: Not as much as you or me, but she dabbles. It¡¯s like¡­a Tess level of video games. She¡¯ll play with others, but generally prefers to do other stuff in her free time. Like think up dungeon gimmicks. Or watch people going through dungeons for the first time. She just likes dungeons, you know?


    ¡°Are the gods giving insight on the boss?¡± Maven asked curiously. ¡°You¡¯ve been spaced out for a while.¡±


    Tess paused, pondering how best to phrase what she was going to say. Fortunately, she didn¡¯t have to think for long, since Ellie spoke up first. ¡°Sorta. I¡¯m right about the video game thing, so I¡¯m pretty sure we can expect lots of HP and area attacks.¡±


    The three of them continued discussing until their resources were, eventually, recharged, at which point they began walking down the suspiciously clean slope. After a long descent, the tunnel evened out, turning into a large, circular room, completely clear of moss.


    Standing in the center of the room was a gaunt humanoid figure that had to be over ten feet tall. It was so skinny Tess could see what looked like each and every one of its bones, and its mouth was already drooling as it stared at the mouth of the tunnel. Even so, it didn¡¯t move at all, just¡­sat there and watched them intently.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Ellie whispered.


    ¡°As I¡¯ll ever be.¡± Tess said.


    ¡°Please, go ahead.¡± Maven said. ¡°We will play support, as always.¡±


    Ellie nodded, raising her shield before dashing into the room. The moment she did, the boss sprung into action, running towards her with its long, spindly fingers outstretched. Tess ran in behind Ellie, activating her Skills and preparing her strike.


    As she did, she was met with a biting chill and gnawing hunger, one that had to be just in her head. Hunger aside, both her armor and Phoenix Fire should have kept her perfectly safe from any normal chill. She ignored the chill, and ran up to deliver her strike when, to her shock, the boss swatted a lightning-quick hand at her.


    She teleported forward and landed her strike anyway, but that radically shifted her perception of this boss. It wasn¡¯t like other monsters she had fought; even though it already had a target, and Tess had yet to attack it, it was still capable of attempting to hurt her. Target of Affection wasn¡¯t going to prevent it from hurting her, so she¡¯d have to be more careful.


    After a moment her attack landed, and the creature reeled backwards in pain before turning its baleful eyes upon Tess.


    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t!¡± Ellie yelled, barreling into the thing and slicing at it with her swords. ¡°You fight me!¡±


    It threw back its head and howled, and there was a sudden wind, bringing with it a deep chill, one that sapped the strength from Tess¡¯s bones and just made her want to sit down and sleep. The hunger intensified as well, to the point where it felt as if she hadn¡¯t eaten in days.


    And then Maven¡¯s fireball hit it directly in the mouth, cutting it off mid-howl. And, suddenly, the cold and hunger were just that little bit better. Furthermore, the flames from the fireball were far more effective than they would normally be, most of the creature¡¯s upper torso erupting into flames that lingered for just a bit too long.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t me, I think it¡¯s weak to fire!¡± Maven shouted.


    Ellie grunted, swinging her sword again, and then¡­it just died. ¡°Oh.¡± She said. ¡°It was under twenty five percent HP, I guess.¡±


    ¡°A little anticlimactic, but whatever, I guess.¡± Tess said. ¡°Now¡­where¡¯s the Rewards Crystal?¡±


    ¡°Probably down that hallway.¡± Maven said, motioning down a tunnel that Tess could have sworn wasn¡¯t there before. And, sure enough, they found a Rewards Crystal just sort of¡­sitting there at the end. It was odd, seeing one outside of the rooms they came in in every other dungeon, but a touch revealed that it was, indeed, an authentic Rewards Crystal.


    You have gained the Skill Surging Strikes!


    Surging Strikes:


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Any unarmed attacks made while under a haste effect hit their target twice. Any additional effects on the original attack (such as increased damage or status effects from a Skill) apply to the second hit as well.


    Your afterimage hurts just as bad as the real thing


    Tess blinked, surprised that she hadn¡¯t gotten this sooner. It seemed like a rather important addition to her abilities, effectively doubling any damage she would deal.


    Fortune: This is the first opportunity for you to get it. It¡¯s one of those Skills that¡¯s usually in much higher level Rewards Crystals, but savage dungeons get to bump up the tier of their rewards, so¡­yeah.


    Tess: Oh, thanks.


    ¡°Anything good?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Really good.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°I need to start hasting myself now to take advantage of it, so that¡¯s probably gonna be a bit of a Mana drain, but it¡¯s workable.¡±


    ¡°Well, I got access to more magic, so that¡¯s always nice.¡± Ellie said.


    There was a long silence as Tess and Ellie waited for Maven to speak up, but she didn¡¯t. Tess turned back to talk to her, but¡­she was gone.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Do you think Dungeons¡­¡±


    ¡°Probably.¡± Tess replied, sitting down. ¡°I suppose there¡¯s nothing for it but to wait.¡±


    Ellie sighed. ¡°I suppose so.¡±


    Fighterman481


    Um...I''m sure I had something else to say, but words are escaping me and there''s no use delaying things further than they have been, so...uh, next time we''re going to get into what''s going on with Maven, so...look forward to it, I guess?


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 75: Three’s a Charm

    ¡°What is¡­¡± Maven trailed off as she saw the tall angel in front of her. Given Maven¡¯s sudden teleportation out of the dungeon, there was only one person this could really be ¨C the goddess of Dungeons herself.


    ¡°Apologies for the sudden transfer.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°But I saw you had cleared the dungeon and it was earlier than I had expected and¡­¡± She trailed off, then took a deep breath. ¡°That¡¯s not important. What¡¯s important is you and me. So, I¡¯m just going to cut to the chase; I¡¯m in the market for an Appointed, and I think you really have promise.¡±


    ¡°M-me?¡± Maven asked in a small voice. ¡°B-but I wasn¡¯t even a real freelancer until a few months ago.¡±


    ¡°Immaterial.¡± Dungeons said, waving a hand. ¡°Your statline is decent, you¡¯re well connected, and you¡¯re pretty amiable. As a bonus, you¡¯re in a party with Ellie and Tess, which makes a lot of things a lot easier.¡±


    ¡°But my stats are just¡­above average, not Appointed-tier!¡± Maven protested. ¡°Surely there¡¯s someone better suited for the job!¡±


    ¡°And why should stats be the most important part of this equation?¡± Dungeons asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°Yes, there are some Appointed who are practically required to have amazing stats, but mine is not one of them. Most of the work will be done in dungeons, and believe me, with my Blessings, even someone with Tess¡¯s stats could make something work. It¡¯d be harder, yes, but not a dealbreaker by any stretch of the imagination.


    ¡°I¡¯m more in the market for someone who¡¯s got the proper mindset, people skills, and connections.¡± Dungeons continued. ¡°By virtue of being a crown princess, you fit two of those categories practically by default.¡± She paused, giving Maven an expectant look. ¡°You do, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡­perhaps?¡± Maven said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what connections you¡¯re referring to. But¡­I¡¯m planning to abdicate the moment I get the throne, that¡¯s¡­a problem, right?¡±


    ¡°Not at all!¡± Dungeons grinned. ¡°In fact, it¡¯d be more inconvenient if you didn¡¯t abdicate. Being tied down by all that¡­busywork just isn¡¯t my style. We could make it work if something happens, but it¡¯s just a pain, you know?¡±


    Maven blinked in surprise. ¡°Yeah, I do.¡± She said. ¡°I¡­didn¡¯t expect you to feel the same way.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°It might work for someone like Subterfuge, but my sort of work would all but require you to be away from Paumen for long periods of time, deep in unexplored territory. There¡¯s a high chance you¡¯d be away from civilization for a while, just you, your vehicle, and perhaps Tess and Ellie for company. It can be a demanding lifestyle at times, do you think you could handle that?¡±


    Heart beating in her chest, Maven nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t mind if I¡¯m just living out of a hoverer.¡± She said. ¡°The comforts of home are more¡­bindings than anything, I can absolutely make do with just the simple stuff, especially if it means I get to go explore and be¡­active.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Dungeons said, giving her a smile. ¡°And that¡¯s the mindset I was talking about. So, you fit all my criteria perfectly, would you be up for the job?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely.¡± Maven said firmly. ¡°I¡­have to admit I would be lying if I hadn¡¯t thought¡­no, dreamed about something like this happening before. I¡¯m more than happy to accept.¡±


    ¡°Perfect.¡± Dungeons said, grinning. ¡°Time for the fun stuff, then.¡±


    ¡°The fun stuff?¡± Maven asked.


    ¡°Well, I gave you a minor Blessing, but if you¡¯re going to be my Appointed, you need my strongest Blessing. It¡¯s sort of a¡­well, a given for any Appointed, and I¡¯m not gonna let mine be different.¡± She waved a hand, and Maven received a window.


    Dungeons has granted you the Blessing Dungeon Overlord!


    Due to Dungeon Overlord already containing the effects of the Blessing Dungeon-Adapted, Dungeon-Adapted has been removed to slightly strengthen its effect in Dungeon Overlord!


    Dungeon Overlord:


    You are second only to Dungeons herself when it comes to authority over the dungeons of the world. While within a dungeon, you may call up a mental map that shows the layout of the current floor, complete with monsters, traps, and any treasure or other features contained within that floor. Furthermore, you have the ability to see all open instances of a dungeon floor, and enter or exit them at will, regardless of your party status. You are able to freely teleport into and out of dungeons.


    By spending Mana and Stamina, you are able to transform parts of the dungeon itself. You can permanently alter its outer appearance, the general layout of floors, environmental effects, types of monsters or traps spawned (though monsters and traps must remain within the dungeon¡¯s level bracket unless that is also changed), and anything else about the dungeon. These changes can also be made temporarily, and limited arbitrarily in scope (such as spawning a single monster, or opening a tunnel within a floor you are traversing).


    You are able to control the monsters and traps of dungeons at will. Dungeon traps will not trigger for you unless you will it, and you can disarm, rearm, pause their function, or alter their function with a thought. Dungeon monsters will not attack you unless you will it, and you are able to telepathically order them to do your bidding, which they will do to the best of their abilities.


    Finally, all your stats are tripled while inside of a dungeon (including lobbies, Rewards Crystal rooms, and any other subspaces tied to a dungeon).


    Maven read the Blessing over and over, marveling at the sheer power of it. She had thought the fifty percent stat boost from her old Blessing had been strong enough, but¡­triple? And the ability to be able to just¡­shape dungeons however she wanted? That was insane.


    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s, um¡­a little limited in scope.¡± Dungeons said, blushing. ¡°You¡¯re exactly the same as any other person outside of a dungeon, but¡­well, inside of a dungeon you should be more than a match for even someone like Evan. Um¡­provided you¡¯re of roughly similar level and in a decently high-leveled dungeon.¡±


    ¡°This is¡­limited?¡± Maven asked slowly. ¡°This is a lot more powerful than I was expecting. Almost too powerful.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah.¡± Dungeons said embarrassedly. ¡°You haven¡¯t seen the other gods¡¯ strongest Blessings. I mean¡­Fortune¡¯s is so powerful Amy made her limit it to people with really low stats like Tess. And then you have stuff like Dominion¡¯s Blessing that allows Eyfura to do things like temporarily steal Skills or¡­I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m just a bit self-conscious about it, since it¡¯s only really useful in one area whereas the others are useful everywhere.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Maven said in what she hoped was a soothing tone. For what felt like the first time, she was grateful for her family¡¯s lessons; even feeling as¡­mentally stimulated as she was, she was able to maintain a level of outward calm with relatively little effort. ¡°From what I¡¯ve gathered, Life and Death¡¯s Blessings only really function when killing or healing. There¡¯s nothing wrong with doing one thing and doing it really well.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Dungeons asked, perking up slightly. ¡°You¡¯re fine with it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more than fine with it.¡± Maven said. ¡°Like I said, it seems extraordinarily strong, and it¡¯s not like I need more power outside of dungeons if most of my work will be done inside of them, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡­guess so.¡± Dungeons admitted. ¡°It just feels a little¡­unfair.¡±


    ¡°Not everyone needs to be amazing at everything.¡± Maven said. ¡°As they say, no army can march without support, and I don¡¯t think any freelancer would properly function without dungeons, let alone Appointed. I don¡¯t need to be fighting on the front lines, I¡¯m perfectly content as support. Yes, I admit that fighting can be a lot of fun, but I can get that out of my system in dungeons.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°I¡­thank you.¡± She straightened up slightly, giving Maven a smile. ¡°Before we officially make you my Appointed, are there any questions you have for me?¡±


    ¡°What exactly is my job? I assume it¡¯s stuff similar to what I¡¯m doing now, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°You¡¯ll help test stuff like this, and then, once you¡¯re a higher level and done training and all that, you¡¯ll be running through undiscovered dungeons to keep them from going out of control for too long. Once or twice a year we¡¯ll just take you around and you can¡­well, with my Blessing you¡¯ll just kill completely unresisting monsters. Then, when we think people will discover the dungeon within a year or two, we just have you¡­stop visiting that dungeon.¡±


    Maven nodded. ¡°May I assume that, since that¡¯s a manual process, other Appointed are doing that for me right now? Why not just wait to make the dungeon until people are going to find it?¡±


    ¡°Yup. And I don¡¯t do that because it¡¯s cheaper. When making dungeons this way I can let them grow naturally instead of forcing them to grow myself. Gods have this thing called Worship that¡¯s¡­well, it¡¯s like Mana but a lot harder to get. Making dungeons the way we want them right before people find them is super draining, and I can¡¯t do that often. Plus, it gives me time to tweak the dungeon based on the feedback of the other Appointed, and they get a crack at the Rewards Crystals far before everyone else, which helps keep them on top of the game, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°Ah. And¡­who is this Amy you mentioned earlier?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, you don¡¯t know yet. She¡¯s what¡¯s called an Administrator, like¡­a step above the gods. She was the one who made us and the system and stuff. She¡¯s basically head of the gods. She¡¯s occupied right now, but you¡¯ll meet her eventually.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Maven wasn¡¯t sure how to respond to that. It upended just about everything she knew about the way the gods worked, but¡­it also answered quite a few questions people had had about the gods, even if it created several more.


    There was a bit of a silence as Maven processed that, then Dungeons spoke up. ¡°Um¡­any other questions?¡±


    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t think so? No, actually, do I need to convert to your religion? You don¡¯t really¡­have one, right?¡±


    Dungeons laughed. ¡°No. I don¡¯t have an official religion. But, even if I did, you wouldn¡¯t convert. In fact, we want you to deconvert from whatever religious beliefs you hold. Though the public is unaware, Appointed are considered to be equals of the gods, so having Appointed worship any god is problematic, to say the least. That¡¯s only in private, though; in public, you¡¯re free to worship whatever way makes things easiest for you. If that means not worshiping anyone in particular, that¡¯s fine, if it means¡­actually, does Paumen have a particular god they favor?¡±


    Maven shook her head. ¡°Officially, no, but most of our populace worships Hearth, so it¡¯s not uncommon for members of the royal family to worship him. I have not made an official stance on the matter myself, so I suppose it would be easiest to just do general worship.¡±


    ¡°Perfect!¡± Dungeons beamed. ¡°Shall we get started, then?¡±


    Maven nodded. ¡°I¡­suppose so. How does it work?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s simple. Just repeat after me,¡± Dungeons paused, waiting until she was sure Maven was ready, then continued, ¡°I, Maven, accept the position of Dungeons¡¯s Appointed, to further her cause as I see fit, and to keep secret things mortals should not know.¡±


    Maven repeated, and Dungeons smiled hugely. ¡°I, Dungeons, accept Maven as my Appointed, to treat her fairly and respect her as if she were another god, and to be responsible with the power I hold over her. Should I fail to do so, I accept whatever punishment is seen fit.¡±


    There was a beat, and then a distant rumbling like thunder. A relaxing feeling washed over Maven, and she basked in it for a few moments before it faded away, leaving her feeling normal again.


    ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°I ¨C¡±


    Death: We got fresh meat in the house boissss


    Life: I believe I am the only man in this message group.


    Death: It¡¯s a figure of speech. Like ¡°ya boi¡± or ¡°guys¡±. I dunno, it just feels like there isn¡¯t an equivalent so I¡¯m using that until I get a better word


    Maven jumped in surprise as a window popped up in front of her. This¡­had to be what Tess and Ellie were always looking at, right?


    Tess: Wait, does this mean Maven got officially made an Appointed?


    Ellie: ^


    Dungeons: Yes. I wasn¡¯t expecting Amy to have us hooked up to this group so fast, but she must have had everything set up already and just did it when she officially accepted Maven as my Appointed.


    Ellie: Congrats! Uh¡­she can see this, right?


    ¡°How do I¡­respond?¡± Maven asked, looking at the window.


    ¡°Just think it with the intent of sending it through.¡± Dungeons instructed. ¡°There¡¯s also like¡­one on one messaging and a whole bunch of other stuff, but it all follows the rule of think it out with the proper intent. You can also temporarily mute this or give priority messages that go through mutes, it¡¯s a lot like any online chatroom, just¡­built into the bond, I guess.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never used a chatroom.¡± Maven said. ¡°My internet access has always been very carefully monitored.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Well, give it a go, you¡¯ll figure it out soon enough, it¡¯s really easy to use.¡±


    Maven: Does this work? And yes, I can see that.


    Ellie: Sure does! And, if Dungeons hasn¡¯t told you already, you¡¯re more than welcome to initiate messages in this chat room, we¡¯re all just sorta hanging out here, it¡¯s usually nothing formal or anything


    Fortune: Except Life, he¡¯s all serious all the time


    Life: I don¡¯t have anything against your shenaniganry when it¡¯s not interrupting something important. Which, might I add, is more often than I would like.


    Tess: We really don¡¯t mind, Life, but thanks for thinking of us.


    Life: Well, someone has to.


    Death: Just so you know he¡¯s not angry or put out or anything, that¡¯s just the way he talks in this chat


    Maven: Did he say something that would make him seem that way?


    Death: It¡¯s the periods, you know? Like how when you¡¯re texting or online and someone puts a period at the end of their message when you don¡¯t expect one and you¡¯re all ¡°oh no why is that there am I in trouble¡± sorta thing


    Maven: I¡­do not know. I¡¯m not well versed in this sort of thing.


    Death: Oh. Well, if he comes across as snippy he doesn¡¯t mean to


    Life: Unless I¡¯m rebuking you for distracting them in the middle of a conversation for the umpteenth time. I believe I have a right to be ¡°snippy¡± then.


    Maven¡¯s attention was torn away from their chatroom by a knocking sound coming from behind her. She turned to find that the room she was in had a rather plain-looking door. For some reason she had been expecting to be in sort of a¡­private space with just her and Dungeons, but she supposed there wasn¡¯t any reason the godly realm couldn¡¯t be shared between all the gods.


    ¡°Come in!¡± Dungeons called out.


    The door opened to reveal Amara, smiling proudly. ¡°Maven, I heard you became an Appointed, and just had to come talk to you!¡± She said, rushing in and scooping Maven up into a hug. ¡°How do you feel?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­a little unreal.¡± Maven admitted. ¡°My life¡¯s trajectory just changed so much, I¡¯m not going to be forced into sitting on a throne for the rest of my days, I get to go out and explore and¡­live!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see the looks on your parents¡¯ faces when they find out.¡± Amara laughed. ¡°They¡¯ve been nagging me, trying to get me to convince you to come back, so this is going to be a shock for sure.¡±


    ¡°We get to tell them?¡± Maven asked. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°Family is generally considered to be allowed to know if they¡¯re under a Fatebinder¡¯s Oath. Yours are already under a very liberal one that prevents them from revealing the identities of any Appointed, so we don¡¯t even have to get them to swear to a new one.¡±


    ¡°I can take you there now, if you¡¯d like. Tess and Ellie too, if you want.¡± Amara offered. She paused, letting go of the hug and looking around. ¡°Speaking of, where are the other two?¡±


    Dungeons looked away. ¡°I might have forgotten to transfer them here in my rush.¡±


    ¡°Could you bring them here?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I would like to speak with my parents, and¡­having them there would be comforting, I think.¡±


    Dungeons: Tess, Ellie, would you be fine if I transferred you to the divine realm?


    Ellie: Yup. We¡¯re not doing anything so go ahead


    A moment later, there was a flash of light and Tess and Ellie appeared in the room. ¡°Hey, congrats!¡± Ellie said, pulling Maven into a side-hug. ¡°Welcome to the club!¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Maven said. ¡°I hope you will not mind if I ask you two questions whenever I have any.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all good.¡± Tess said. ¡°We¡¯re a team, of course we¡¯ll answer questions. Even if we¡¯re not around, just ask away in our chat and I¡¯m sure someone will get to it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that.¡± Fortune said, walking into the room. ¡°We¡¯re all here for you, don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I¡­thank you, Lady Fortune.¡±


    ¡°Nope. No ¡®Lady Fortune¡¯, none of that.¡± Fortune said. ¡°You are my equal, we can¡¯t have you use honorifics or anything. It might seem uncomfortable, but it¡¯s important to get in the proper mindset as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°I¡­understand.¡± Maven replied. ¡°I will do my best to stop that, then.¡±


    There was a brief pause, then Dungeons spoke up. ¡°Maven, didn¡¯t you have something else you were going to ask them?¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes. Thank you for reminding me.¡± Maven said, turning back to Tess and Ellie. ¡°Grandmother is going to take me back to my parents, and I¡¯m going to formally abdicate.¡± She said. ¡°They have, apparently, been pressuring her to bring me back, and I would like to make it clear that such a thing is no longer remotely plausible. And¡­I was wondering if you two would be willing to come with me as moral support?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m cool with it if Tess is.¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why not, I guess.¡± Tess said. ¡°Um¡­is it alright to bring us into¡­wherever you live, though? I imagine security is tight.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it covered, don¡¯t sweat it.¡± Amara said. ¡°This is a bit of a secret visit anyway, since Maven is, officially, out at the expedition, so no one else is going to even see us.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Then¡­yeah, it¡¯s all good.¡±


    ¡°Perfect.¡± Amara said. ¡°Let¡¯s get this show on the road, shall we?¡±


    Fighterman481


    Which actually fits the concept I was going for with Dungeons, a very spontaneous person who makes quick decisions.


    Um...I don''t really have much else to say, though. Next time we''ll be confronting Maven''s parents, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 76: Parental Problems

    Maven looked nervously up at the door to her parents¡¯ chambers. Her grandmother had teleported their group into Maven¡¯s chambers, then left to inform Maven¡¯s parents of their arrival. A few minutes later she had returned, and they had entered the hallway and moved down to the entrance of her parents¡¯ chambers, where she was now.


    She took one more moment to work up her courage before knocking on the door. ¡°Mother, father, I need to speak with you.¡± She said. After a moment, the door opened, revealing her parents beyond.


    ¡°Maven, dear, it¡¯s good to see you back!¡± Abarrane said. Surprise flashed through her eyes for just a moment as she saw Tess and Ellie, but she quickly recovered. ¡°And you must be the Guildmaster¡¯s grandchildren, thank you for taking care of her for all this time. She wasn¡¯t too much trouble, was she?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Tess said. ¡°She¡¯s been a pleasure to be around.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re glad to hear that.¡± Saburo replied. ¡°Thank you for coming to see her off, you are more than welcome to come visit her in the future if you so desire. Just send a letter first, we will need to schedule a time, as Maven is going to be very busy in the coming months.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Maven said quietly.


    ¡°What was that, dear?¡± Abarrane said, giving Maven a stern look.


    ¡°I said no.¡± Maven said, louder this time. ¡°I will not be busy in the coming months, and they are not here to see me off.¡±


    ¡°Do not speak to your mother that way, young lady.¡± Saburo said, a hint of anger audible in his tone. ¡°It is not your place to say what you will or will not be doing. You may have gotten used to dictating your schedule in the time you were away, but now that you are home again, you will have to return to your old routine.¡±


    ¡°No, I will not.¡± Maven said. ¡°But this is not the place for this conversation. We¡¯re coming in.¡±


    Saburo¡¯s face grew red, and he looked up at Amara angrily. ¡°What have you been teaching her?!¡± He accused. ¡°You know full well the responsibilities she will be facing in the future, she cannot afford this sort of sloppy behavior as queen!¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Amara said. ¡°I¡¯ve had little more contact with her than you. But I do suggest moving into your chambers, this isn¡¯t the type of thing you¡¯d want outsiders to hear.¡±


    ¡°We will choose if this enters our quarters or not.¡± Saburo snarled. ¡°That is not for you to decide.¡±


    Amara tensed, and suddenly the air around her was¡­different. One moment she had been the relaxed, almost casual woman she always was, and the next she was intense, overwhelming, striking a figure that was larger than life. Yet, as much as the atmosphere seemed to have changed for Maven, her parents seemed even more affected.


    Abarrane had flinched, and Saburo actually shied back as Amara stepped forward. ¡°I didn¡¯t make that decision, Maven did. However, it is a decision that I fully back. This discussion is too important to have in the open.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± Abarrane said, voice trembling slightly. ¡°But the Los children must wait outside if this is truly such a private discussion.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Maven said firmly. ¡°They come too. They¡¯re just as much a part of this as we are.¡±


    ¡°But ¨C¡± Saburo began, but was quickly silenced by a withering glare from Amara.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Abarrane said. ¡°If you insist.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Maven said, stepping into her parents¡¯ chambers. She pushed past her parents, then turned to her companions. ¡°Tess, Ellie, follow me.¡±


    The two shared a glance, then followed her through. Maven led them to a sitting area, where they waited for her parents and her grandmother to join them. When they arrived, Amara no longer was exuded that overwhelming aura, and casually made her way over to where Maven was, taking a seat next to her.


    ¡°What is this about, dear?¡± Abarrane asked, sitting down across from them. ¡°I thought you were going to be coming back?¡±


    ¡°You assumed I was going to be coming back.¡± Maven said. ¡°I have come to inform you that, in reality, I will not be returning, not now, and perhaps not ever. I am formally abdicating my position as crown princess and handing the title to Taru.¡±


    Abarrane frowned. ¡°We¡¯ve been over this, dear. You cannot simply abdicate because you do not wish to be queen. That is not how this works.¡±


    Maven shook her head. ¡°That was true before. But, as of today, things have changed. Not one hour ago, I was officially made Dungeons¡¯ Appointed, and my duties as her Appointed leave me with little time to be queen. And, as they concern the entirety of sapient existence, they are more important, as well.¡±


    There was a prolonged silence as her parents digested this. ¡°This¡­better not be another scheme to attempt to get out of your duties.¡± Her father said weakly. ¡°That is taking things a little too far.¡±


    An odd feeling washed over Maven, one that she could instinctually tell meant that Dungeons wished to Descend and was asking for her permission. Wordlessly, she accepted, and she suddenly found herself filled with what felt like pure, raw, power. And, suddenly, the world looked¡­different.


    It was like another world had been overlaid on the ¡°real¡± world, a world that Maven felt she could reach out and touch. And, through her connection with Dungeons, Maven was made aware of what exactly was happening; Dungeons¡¯ Descent effectively turned the world around her into a dungeon, activating Maven¡¯s Blessings that required her to be within a dungeon, and allowing her to manipulate the world in the area around her as if it were a dungeon.


    But that was something she would have to explore more later, she and Dungeons had a job to do. So, Dungeons opened their mouth, and the two spoke. ¡°It is true.¡± They said. ¡°I saw Maven as a kindred spirit, and given her positioning she was far and away the best candidate for the position.¡±


    They rose from their seat, looking down on Maven¡¯s seated parents. ¡°Her duties to this country matter little in the face of her newfound duty to society at large.¡±


    ¡°But¡­succession.¡± Saburo said weakly. ¡°We won¡¯t have an heir.¡±


    Dungeons thought about that for a moment. Do you mind if I give my opinion? She asked Maven. That they should consider doing away with the ¡°queens only¡± thing? It¡¯s your kingdom, I don¡¯t want to unnecessarily force my opinion on them.


    Go ahead. Maven confirmed. I don¡¯t mind, it¡¯s long overdue.


    Got it. Dungeons replied, then, opened their mouth to speak. ¡°It may not be my place to say, but it is my opinion that your system of only allowing female rulers has long since passed its expiration date. I see no reason that your son cannot inherit instead of Maven. Tradition has its place, but not when it comes to equality and basic rights.¡±


    ¡°Can we at least delay the announcement of Maven¡¯s abdication and the new law allowing men to rule until a more opportune time?¡± Abarrane asked. ¡°Things are a bit¡­rocky now.¡±


    ¡°I will leave that decision up to you and Maven.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°But I must now take my leave, my time here runs short. Farewell.¡± Dungeons left, and then, suddenly, the world was normal again. Now that Dungeons had left, she felt weaker. Not just because she was no longer in Descent, but she was strangely tired, and her whole body was sore.


    She sat down into her seat, managing to keep her gaze steady as she looked at her parents. ¡°You have five years.¡± She said. ¡°That should give you more than enough time to stabilize things and give Taru any training he needs.¡±


    ¡°Five years isn¡¯t a lot of time, honey.¡± Abarrane said. ¡°You know how tenuous our position is at times.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s always like this.¡± Maven snapped. ¡°Every single time I brought the subject up, for the past ten years, it¡¯s always that things are too unstable. Have you considered that, maybe, things are unstable because of your unwillingness to change how the regime works? Maybe showing that the royal family doesn¡¯t consider half the population ¡°less fit to rule¡± will help!¡±


    Saburo frowned. ¡°You are out of line, young lady. Do not speak to your mother like that, especially in front of outsiders.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not outsiders.¡± Maven protested. ¡°They¡¯re my closest friends!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve known them for a couple of months.¡± Saburo said. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you can call them your closest friends. Surely Ishtal would be closer?¡±


    Maven rolled her eyes. ¡°As if. This might be news to you, but perhaps people who aren¡¯t always jockeying for your favor make for better friends than those who do. Ishtal is nice, but, at the end of the day, she wants something from me. These two don¡¯t. That makes a world of difference.¡±


    Saburo cast an almost pleading look towards Tess and Ellie. ¡°Do you two really have no reservations about this?¡± He asked. ¡°Surely having Maven as an Appointed will put pressure on your party. It might alleviate some tension if she had to spend time at home from time to time.¡±


    Fortune: Is he seriously still trying to convince Maven to not abdicate


    Death: He¡¯s got guts, I¡¯ll give him that


    Fortune: Go ahead and tell them. They¡¯re not stupid, they¡¯re going to figure things out when they realize Maven¡¯s working together with two relatively new Appointed.


    Ellie took a deep breath. ¡°Are you serious? Are you trying to guilt trip Maven through her friends? That¡¯s low.¡±


    Saburo¡¯s eyes grew sharp. ¡°Granddaughter of the Guildmaster or not, that is no way to speak to royalty, in their own home no less. Care to rephrase that?¡±


    ¡°Is that all you know how to say? That that¡¯s ¡®no way to speak to someone¡¯? That¡¯s twice now that you¡¯ve said that.¡± Ellie taunted. ¡°But, no, I don¡¯t care to rephrase that. As far as I¡¯m concerned, I¡¯m talking to a friend¡¯s parent, your status means nothing to me.¡±


    ¡°Tone it down.¡± Abarrane said. ¡°Both of you. This is no place to be fighting in. Saburo, they are, technically our guests, and though this might be our chambers, we still need to show the courtesy they deserve. Ellie, I understand you feel strongly on these matters, but surely you can understand how awkward of a position we have been put in? As Saburo said, you¡¯ll be affected by this as well.¡±


    Ellie raised an eyebrow. ¡°On Mael we had many countries in this sort of situation, though they were usually patriarchal. They¡¯ve allowed women to rule for centuries now, I don¡¯t see why you can¡¯t follow suit.¡±


    Tess laid a hand on Ellie¡¯s arm. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t get too confrontational.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯re here as moral support, not to cause a fight.¡±


    ¡°The guards would put a stop to that anyway.¡± Saburo muttered. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡±


    Tess looked him directly in the eyes. ¡°That would end very poorly for you.¡± She said. ¡°We don¡¯t really care whether or not Maven¡¯s an Appointed, it doesn¡¯t change our party dynamic much. If anything, it¡¯ll only make us closer. We¡¯re not going to insult your intelligence here; you¡¯ll figure it out as soon as Maven does much in the public eyes. I¡¯m Fortune¡¯s Appointed, and Ellie is the Appointed of Life and Death.¡±


    Tess shrugged, as if what she was saying wasn¡¯t a big deal. ¡°As you might imagine, we support Maven¡¯s decision wholeheartedly, and we¡¯re not going to let you intimidate us with your position.¡±


    Abarrane frowned deeply, turning to Amara. ¡°What are your thoughts on this, Grandmother?¡± She asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been quiet, but you of all people must understand how dangerous this could be.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been quiet because this is Maven¡¯s decision, and she deserves to be the one making her arguments.¡± Amara said. ¡°And, like Tess and Ellie, I support Maven completely. Tradition has served us well, but this is a tradition that needed to end a long time ago. The country will survive having a king, and in the end will be better for it. Five years is a generous enough timeframe to get your affairs in order.¡±


    Abarrane wilted. ¡°Fine, I understand.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯ll be ready before five years are up.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Amara said. ¡°I will hold you to that.¡±


    ¡°D-dear?¡± Saburo said. ¡°After millennia of tradition, are you sure we should give up this easily?¡±


    ¡°What else?¡± Abarrane asked. ¡°We¡¯ve been told to do this by both Grandmother and a god. Grandmother knows this country better than anyone, and a god is a god. Any more resistance would be foolish.¡±


    Maven nodded. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re seeing sense.¡± She said. ¡°Now, we need to speak with Taru. Send him to my rooms, we¡¯ll wait for him there.¡± She stood up, trying to prevent her legs from wobbling. ¡°Farewell, Mother, Father.¡±


    ¡°Y-you¡¯re leaving, just like that?¡± Saburo said. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to take some time and catch up with us?¡±


    Maven shook her head. ¡°As much as I would love to, I have my duties to attend to, and I am still supposed to be away at the expedition. Every moment I stay here is another moment I risk my cover being blown. We can catch up after the expedition has concluded.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± Abarrane said, standing up. ¡°I will fetch him myself, so the servants do not ask any unpleasant questions.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Mother.¡± Maven said. ¡°We will be waiting, then.¡± She motioned for Tess and Ellie to follow as she moved towards the door out of her parents¡¯ chambers.


    ¡°Hold up for a second.¡± Amara said, catching up with her. ¡°Let me make sure no one¡¯s in the hall first.¡± She peeked out the door, then motioned for Maven to follow as she walked towards Maven¡¯s chambers.


    They quickly walked through the halls and back into Maven¡¯s chambers, and, once inside, Maven heaved a sigh of relief and nearly collapsed into a chair. ¡°Is a Descent always that¡­tiring?¡± She asked.


    ¡°At first, yes.¡± Amara said. ¡°Once you get stronger, and the bond between you and Dungeons deepens, though, it won¡¯t be nearly as bad. Nowadays I can be in Descent for nearly an hour without side-effects, and I can go for almost two if I¡¯m willing to exhaust myself. I think the record for any Appointed is somewhere in the realm of five hours, but that left Valin unable to do much of anything for a week afterwards.¡±


    Maven grimaced. ¡°What could possibly need five hours of Descent to deal with?¡± She asked.


    ¡°An army.¡± Amara said simply. ¡°Back when the war for the Outlands was happening, he singlehandedly took on an entire army, and he used his Descent to stop any of them from escaping.¡±


    Maven¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°The deserter army.¡± She breathed. ¡°That¡¯s what happened to it?¡±


    ¡°Are we missing context on something here?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Back when the war was raging, a bunch of opportunistic soldiers deserted and began looting and pillaging whatever they could get their hands on. They started picking up steam, with more soldiers from many different nations joining them, until eventually they were large enough that no other army could handle them, and they were about to start pillaging completely uninvolved countries when we stepped in.¡±


    Maven nodded. ¡°If his Descent let him do anything close to what I felt I could do, then¡­I think I might be surprised that it even took five hours.¡±


    Fortune: What does your Descent do, by the way?


    Dungeons: It turns the world around us into a dungeon, which we can mold at will.


    Death: Sick


    Maven paused. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind my asking, what do your Descents do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m granted near complete control of the minds of those around me, and they¡¯ll never even be able to tell that anything¡¯s changed.¡± Amara said. ¡°For obvious ethical reasons, I don¡¯t change people¡¯s personalities or thoughts unless we have no other choice, but it does come in handy for wiping memories, and occasionally controlling monsters.¡±


    ¡°Mine makes my Luck stat apply to everything.¡± Tess said. ¡°And, since I have infinite Luck¡­¡± She trailed off, letting the implications speak for themselves.


    ¡°How does that work?¡± Maven asked curiously. ¡°Does everything just go your way or¡­?¡±


    ¡°It basically warps reality around her.¡± Ellie volunteered. ¡°I saw it in a fight once, it was ridiculous; lightning from the day¡¯s storm struck wherever she wanted without even using any magic, to the point where it once hit a sword mid-flight and each fragment of exploding metal hit her enemy and perfectly pinned her to the floor. Then, any time she tried to get up, something equally ridiculous would happen and she¡¯d make no progress.


    ¡°As for me, it depends on who¡¯s Descending, obviously. Life grants me the ability to completely heal someone, including Mana, Stamina, and anything else that might be incurable even with magic, for almost no cost, while Death prevents me from dying and ¨C¡± She was cut off by a knock on the door to the chambers. ¡°Well, it basically just super-buffs the Blades of Death.¡± She said quickly. ¡°But I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s your brother?¡±


    Amara was already at the door, looking through the peephole. After a moment, she opened the door and ushered in Maven¡¯s brother, who was looking very confused.


    ¡°Grandmother? Maven?¡± He asked, frowning. ¡°What¡¯s going on here? And who are these other girls?¡±


    ¡°These are Tess and Ellie, my party members and dear friends.¡± Maven said. ¡°Please, come take a seat, we have much to discuss.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t this have waited until my lessons were finished?¡± Taru complained, walking over and sitting down on one of Maven¡¯s couches. ¡°We were just getting to the good part.¡±


    ¡°This could not have waited.¡± Maven said. ¡°I will be leaving the moment we¡¯re finished talking. You see, Taru, I have just formally abdicated the throne, and that leaves you as crown prince.¡±


    Taru narrowed his eyes. ¡°And Mother and Father let you? We¡¯ve been over this, Maven. I would like nothing more than to take the throne, but Mother and Father just won¡¯t budge.¡±


    ¡°That was before.¡± Maven said. ¡°Not even an hour ago I was named the Appointed of Dungeons, and with my new title and Grandmother¡¯s help, we were able to force them to change their ways. They have been given five years to make the public announcement, and during that time period you will be given the proper schooling needed to make you a king. I just wished to inform you of this myself before I left.¡±


    Taru¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°I see. Congratulations, then.¡±


    ¡°Same to you.¡± Maven said. ¡°Do you have any questions before we take our leave?¡±


    Taru looked at Tess and Ellie with a calculated expression. ¡°They are your party members, the Guildmaster¡¯s grandchildren, yes?¡± He asked. ¡°Would, by any chance, either of them be available for ¨C¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re lesbians.¡± Maven said flatly. ¡°And they¡¯re dating each other. No, they¡¯re not single.¡±


    ¡°It can be in name only.¡± Taru said. ¡°We could all benefit greatly from ¨C¡±


    ¡°Not interested.¡± Tess said. ¡°And, sorry to say it, but I doubt your kingdom has anything we¡¯re interested in that we couldn¡¯t get ourselves.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t come from the same environment we do.¡± Amara said gently. ¡°An arranged marriage holds little attraction for them. I would advise not bringing the topic up again.¡±


    Taru shrugged. ¡°It was worth a shot.¡± He said. ¡°No further questions, then.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll be off.¡± Maven said. ¡°Grandmother, could you please take us back to where we came from?¡±


    ¡°Way ahead of you.¡± Amara said. She snapped her fingers, and then they were gone, returned to the divine realm.


    Fighterman481


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 77: A Change in Dynamic

    ¡°It was good seeing you again.¡± Amara said, giving Maven a hug. ¡°But I have to go get things ready for the meeting.¡±


    ¡°The meeting?¡± Maven asked. ¡°What meeting?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± Tess said. ¡°Once or twice a year, or whenever something important happens, a bunch of us Appointed will get together and have a meeting.¡± She paused, looking to Amara. ¡°How many Appointed aren¡¯t in our group?¡± She asked. ¡°I remember Dungeons saying Commerce and Passion had Appointed, but also that there were some she couldn¡¯t remember.¡±


    ¡°Aside from those two, I think it¡¯s just Mysteries that has an Appointed that isn¡¯t with us.¡± Amara confirmed.


    ¡°Is there a reason they aren¡¯t with this group you¡¯re talking about?¡± Maven asked.


    ¡°Those gods aren¡¯t really on the best of terms with us. There¡¯s no bad blood or anything, they just don¡¯t really get along with our group of gods. And that just sort of naturally filtered to their Appointed.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I wasn¡¯t expecting there to be any sort of¡­politicking amongst Appointed or gods.¡±


    ¡°No one does.¡± Amara said. ¡°We try to keep that from the public eye. But, at the end of the day, gods and Appointed are people, just like everyone else, and not everyone gets along. But I really must be going, we¡¯ll be having the meeting tomorrow, and we need to give people time to prepare. Tess, Ellie, will you tell your grandfather for me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°We¡¯ll take care of it.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Amara replied, giving a wave as she made for the room¡¯s exit. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to it.¡± She said, heading out the door and to who-knows-where.


    There was a slight pause, then Maven turned to Tess. ¡°Do we need to know what time this meeting is at?¡±


    Tess froze. ¡°Um¡­I don¡¯t know.¡± She admitted. ¡°I think there¡¯s a standard time the meetings are held at? The two I¡¯ve been to were both at the same time, but Gramps also set both of those up¡­¡± She trailed off, shaking her head. ¡°I guess he¡¯ll know. Worst case scenario we just ask the gods and they¡¯ll tell us.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of, we should probably find the gods.¡± Ellie said. ¡°We¡¯ll need Dungeons to send us back to the dungeon so we can go head back to the expedition properly.¡±


    ¡°I gotcha.¡± Death said, walking into the room, followed by Fortune, Life, and Dungeons. ¡°Sorry it took so long to get here, we were kinda on the other side of the building.¡±


    ¡°And, yes, the meeting time is consistent.¡± Life added. ¡°It makes it less of a headache to organize. Specifically, it occurs at ten a.m. according to the time in the gods¡¯ realm on the day it is scheduled for. Given the time zone the expedition is currently in, that¡¯s going to be around noon tomorrow for you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, good, we can sleep in for a bit.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Nice.¡±


    Life nodded. ¡°That you can.¡±


    ¡°You sure you guys don¡¯t want to hang out a bit before you leave?¡± Death asked. ¡°You know we always enjoy the company.¡±


    ¡°They probably shouldn¡¯t.¡± Life said sternly. ¡°Evan is a busy man, and he should know about this as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°But Fate can ¨C¡±


    ¡°Fate could, but they also need to inform The Rumors of Maven¡¯s new duties. The rest of their day is likely to be busy, they do not have time to spend lounging around.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re no fun.¡± Death pouted. ¡°It¡¯s nice to actually be able to hang out in person.¡±


    ¡°We can hang out tomorrow.¡± Tess said reassuringly. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have anything pressing to do then.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡± Death said. ¡°Got it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we got it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Shall I send you back then?¡± Dungeons asked.


    ¡°Yes, please do.¡± Maven said.


    Dungeons waved a hand, and then they were back at the beginning of the dungeon. From there, they activated their Blessings, and were sent back to their hoverer.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re back.¡± Alice said, looking up from her phone. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡±


    ¡°Ask Maven.¡± Tess said, pulling out her own phone. ¡°I gotta do something real quick.¡±


    Alice raised an eyebrow, turning to Maven. ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Maven paused, not sure where to start. ¡°A lot has happened.¡±


    ¡°How much can you tell us?¡± Ker asked.


    ¡°A fair bit. I¡­am now Dungeons¡¯ Appointed, and I have formally abdicated the throne. Freelancing will be my full-time focus from now on.¡±


    ¡°You what?!¡± Alice asked, eyes widening. ¡°That came out of nowhere.¡±


    ¡°It did for me as well.¡± Maven said. ¡°Becoming an Appointed, that is. I have been attempting to abdicate for years now, and I was blocked each time. I was finally able to use my new status to force my parents to let me.¡±


    ¡°Congratulations.¡± Jin said. ¡°It seems as if today has been an excellent day for you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I think it has.¡± Maven agreed.


    ¡°Alright, Gramps wants us to step outside the hoverer.¡± Tess said, looking up from her phone. ¡°Says that it¡¯s easier to pick us up that way.¡±


    ¡°Pick you up?¡± Ker asked.


    ¡°We need to talk to him about Maven being an Appointed.¡± Tess said. ¡°There¡¯s a couple of things we need to go through.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Alice said, pressing a button on her phone. ¡°The hoverer should be stopped now, so just step on out. Should we wait for you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. If we need to get back, we¡¯ll text you and you can stop again. Until then, though, it¡¯s probably best that we don¡¯t get too far behind.¡±


    Alice nodded. ¡°Just give me the word.¡±


    The three younger girls stepped out of the hoverer, there was a lurching, and then they found themselves in the interior of another hoverer.


    ¡°What¡¯s this about?¡± Guildmaster Los asked, looking at Tess.


    ¡°Maven?¡± Tess prompted.


    Maven swallowed hard. She had interacted much more with Guildmaster Los these past few months than she ever had before, but it was still somewhat nerve-wracking to talk to him. Try as she might, she couldn¡¯t just see him as the grandparent of her friends. He commanded universal respect and even a certain amount of fear, and that had only been made worse by the more¡­classified things that had been taught to Maven in her youth.


    Her family may not have known that he was an Appointed, but they didn¡¯t have to, to make him scary. It had long been speculated that he was the person with the highest level, but her family¡¯s intelligence put him as approaching level one hundred and fifty. And, as if that wasn¡¯t enough, all of their spies sent to gather intelligence on him had returned in states ranging from confused to downright terrified, with nothing to show for it. He was the top of the do-not-cross list, and so Maven had always been very careful around him.


    Maven took a deep breath and began to speak. ¡°I was named Dungeons¡¯ Appointed earlier today and have since abdicated the throne.¡± She said. ¡°And Grandmother wished for me to inform you of a meeting tomorrow. She did not give me a time or place, but the gods told me that the time is consistent.¡±


    Guildmaster Los smiled. ¡°Congratulations!¡± He said. ¡°And yes, the time is consistent, as is the place. If you haven¡¯t been told, the place is a special hideaway we Appointed have, accessed through a unique form of magic. We¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re taught how to access it tomorrow, among other things.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind taking us with you when we go?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°That seems easiest.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Guildmaster Los said. ¡°Did Amara ask you to help with any of the other Appointed that are in this expedition?¡±


    Tess shook her head. ¡°Just you.¡±


    ¡°Very well then. We¡¯ll leave at eleven o¡¯clock tomorrow.¡± Guildmaster Los replied. ¡°How did the dungeon go?¡±


    ¡°It went good.¡± Tess said. ¡°We had to avoid some areas because we were getting overwhelmed, but that probably won¡¯t be a problem going forward.¡±


    ¡°Glad to hear it.¡± Guildmaster Los said. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind my asking, Maven, what does your new Blessing do?¡±


    ¡°I do not mind, Guildmaster Los.¡± Maven began, but stopped when she saw Guildmaster Los waving a hand.


    ¡°Please,¡± he said, ¡°call me Gramps. Now that you¡¯re an Appointed, we¡¯re equals, and since you¡¯re going to be around my granddaughters for quite some time, that seems best for now.¡±


    Maven paused. ¡°Are you sure?¡± She asked. ¡°That seems¡­¡±


    ¡°Informal? Disrespectful?¡± Guildmaster Los prompted.


    ¡°Yes. It feels¡­wrong.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose Evan would be any better?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps a bit, but not much.¡±


    ¡°Then Gramps it is.¡± Guildmaster Los said firmly. ¡°We need to get you used to your new status, and I think I prefer the name ¡®Gramps¡¯ when it¡¯s coming from my granddaughters¡¯ close friend.¡±


    ¡°If¡­if you insist.¡± Maven replied. ¡°As for my Blessing, it allows me to control dungeons and the monsters therein, on top of a few other things.¡±


    Guildmaster¡­no, Gramps, nodded. ¡°A powerful Blessing indeed. A word of caution, however; using your Blessing to go through dungeons with no resistance from the monsters within will only serve to stifle your growth. There will come a time when that is very useful, but now is not that time.¡±


    ¡°Because we need to learn how to fight properly, right?¡± Maven asked.


    ¡°Got it in one.¡± Gramps said, smiling.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard something similar before, from The Rumors.¡± Maven admitted.


    ¡°Well, they give good advice.¡± Gramps said. ¡°There¡¯s a reason I asked them to train my grandchildren, and not some other group. Anyway, is there anything else you all need?¡±


    ¡°I do not believe so.¡± Maven said.


    ¡°Perfect. I¡¯ll see you at eleven tomorrow, then.¡±


    ¡°So¡­how are we getting there?¡± Maven asked. ¡°And where exactly are we going?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a place on the very fringes of the Outlands.¡± Gramps explained. ¡°So remote and inhospitable that no one except Appointed will be able to get there, not for a very long time. As for how we¡¯re getting there, we¡¯ll be using this.¡± He said, tapping a circle drawn onto the floor of his hoverer.


    ¡°This is a special magic circle that only works for Appointed. We¡¯ll show you how to draw it up later, but once you have, you just have Dungeons help you pour a miniscule amount of Worship into it, and it¡¯ll take you right to our hideout. Don¡¯t feel shy about using it, either; this is an all-purpose retreat for us. If you need to get away from somewhere surreptitiously, or are being chased and need a quick out, this is the way to do it.¡± He snapped his fingers, and a shimmering portal appeared above the circle, showing a sort of lodge beyond. ¡°If you would be so kind as to follow me, we can get started on introducing you to the facilities.¡±


    Maven stepped through the portal after him, followed closely by Tess and Ellie. As she stepped through, the sound of a roaring fire became audible, and Tess breathed a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Good, someone¡¯s already set up a bit.¡± She said. ¡°I was worried we¡¯d need to get the fire going.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Amara¡¯s likely already in the process of setting up.¡± Gramps said. He walked over to the fire, motioning for Maven to follow. ¡°This place is high on a mountain, surrounded by a perpetual blizzard.¡± He explained. ¡°And, as such, it gets incredibly cold. To combat that, we have a fire enchanted by Hearth himself to warm it back up.


    ¡°There¡¯s a set of logs in the fireplace that never burn out, just light them however you prefer, and the place will warm right up for you. If you don¡¯t have any magical means of doing so, there¡¯s a lighter in the drawer directly to the left of the fireplace that should do it for you.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you need kindling?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Magic lighter.¡± Gramps said, waving his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Now¡­before we begin showing you around, we should probably find your grandmother. I¡¯m sure she¡¯d want to say hello. She¡¯s probably helping get things set up in the meeting room, follow me.¡±


    He took them through a door to aa large room that was dominated by a partially set-up table. ¡°Amara, are you in here?¡± He called out.


    After a few moments, Amara poked her head out from behind the table, where she was apparently working on setting up the legs. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re all here, good!¡± She said, vaulting over the table and rushing over to give Maven a hug. ¡°What do you think?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I have not seen very much of the place yet.¡± Maven said. ¡°So, I suppose I do not have much of an opinion at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Well, don¡¯t get too excited.¡± Gramps said. ¡°This place is nothing fancy. Just has enough to allow someone to live here for a few weeks, and some space for holding things if we need it. Still, it¡¯s more than adequate for our needs.¡±


    ¡°Would you three give her the tour?¡± Amara asked. ¡°I would love to do it myself, but I need to finish setting up here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of that for you, don¡¯t worry.¡± Gramps said.


    ¡°Would you really?¡± Amara asked hopefully. ¡°I¡¯d really appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°Of course I will.¡± Gramps said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help too.¡± Tess volunteered. ¡°Many hands make for light work and all that.¡±


    ¡°I can pitch in as well. You two go bond.¡± Ellie added.


    ¡°Thanks everyone.¡± Amara said, grabbing Maven¡¯s hand. ¡°Ooh, I¡¯m so excited! Here, follow me!¡±


    Amara began towing Maven through the building, giving her a quick overview of what each room was for. Their tour went uninterrupted until about halfway through, when they went to the kitchen. Sitting there, eating some sort of sandwich, was an absolutely enormous four-armed man. He was all muscle, wearing a bunch of rugged furs, and was¡­oddly familiar, for some reason.


    As they entered, he turned to look at them. ¡°Ah. This must be that granddaughter that you were talking about.¡± He said gruffly. ¡°What was her name again? Isara?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my great-grandmother.¡± Maven said. ¡°My name is Maven.¡±


    The man grunted. ¡°Could never keep track of all of you. Whose Appointed are you?¡±


    ¡°Dungeons.¡± Maven replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s about time.¡± He grumbled. ¡°I¡¯ve had to pick up that slack while she didn¡¯t have one. When do you start you work for real?¡±


    ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know.¡± Maven admitted.


    ¡°The same time Tess and Ellie do.¡± Amara said. ¡°When they¡¯re all finished training. But¡­aren¡¯t you forgetting something?¡±


    The man frowned, thinking about that. After a few moments, he seemed to realize what Amara was getting at. ¡°Ah, sorry ¡®bout that. Name¡¯s Valin, Hunt¡¯s Appointed.¡± He finished off his sandwich, then stood up to go make another, revealing an absolutely enormous bow that had been hidden by the way he was sitting.


    And then it all clicked for Maven. She had seen this man before, in confidential documents. He was what her country had designated a ¡°high-risk unidentified person¡± ¨C someone who had had done something of note in Paumen in the past, but for whatever reason they had not been able to gather any information on.


    Every hundred or so years there seemed to be a sighting of him shortly before or after the corpse of some incredibly threatening monster was found.  He had only been seen in Paumen once, but too little was known about him, given the circumstances in which he was seen. The leading theory, of course, was that he was hunting the monsters, but there remained the possibility of them somehow being attracted to him, or him experimenting on them or something, so they had decided to be extra alert about him, just in case.


    And¡­now that she was thinking about it, her grandmother had mentioned him briefly, as being the one that had dealt with the deserter army. ¡°Is it true that you were responsible for the disappearance of the deserter army?¡± She asked.


    Valin paused in the middle of making his sandwich. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°The deserter army, you defeated them, right? Grandmother told me about it.¡±


    ¡°No, I heard you, what¡¯s the deserter army?¡±


    Maven blinked. Did he actually not know? She opened her mouth to clarify, but her grandmother beat her to it.


    ¡°That army you destroyed during the war for the Outlands, the one that you were in five hours of Descent for.¡±


    Understanding dawned in Valin¡¯s eyes. ¡°Oh, that. Yeah, that was me.¡± He said sourly. ¡°That was an experience I¡¯d rather not go through again. Mark my words, kid, killing people is not a pleasant experience. We spend our lives doing things that prevent people from getting in too much danger, so it always stings when you have to kill someone yourself, especially on that scale.¡±


    ¡°So¡­those monsters people always see you around, you¡¯re the one who kills them?¡±


    Valin¡¯s expression brightened. ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve heard of me? I¡¯m surprised, I generally try and stay out of sight as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°She was the crown princess until recently.¡± Amara explained. ¡°Paumen has files on a lot of people like you. They¡¯re not sure if you¡¯re hunting those monsters or causing them somehow.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m hunting them.¡± He said. ¡°Occasionally something too dangerous for the public will find its way into an area it really shouldn¡¯t be in, and it¡¯s my job to make sure as few civilians as possible die from it.¡±


    Maven frowned, thinking on that. ¡°What qualifies as too dangerous?¡± She asked. ¡°We get monsters over level one hundred from time to time, so if those don¡¯t qualify, then¡­what does?¡±


    Valin chuckled. ¡°Depends on the era. Right now the limit is anything over level one hundred and twenty five. Once we finish introducing savage dungeons, that¡¯s getting bumped up to one fifty. We still need to threaten people, we just don¡¯t want them to be completely out of their depth. Now, did you two have something you needed from me in particular, or can I get back to eating?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be all, thanks Valin.¡± Amara said. ¡°We should get going, Maven, we need to finish his up before the meeting properly begins.¡±


    Fighterman481


    I also want to talk a bit about the Gramps thing because I haven''t really had a good time to talk about it, and it would have been made clear(er than it already was) in this chapter anyway if I didn''t cut a scene I felt didn''t work just right.


    ...Well, there''s not much to talk about, actually. Basically, Gramps just likes the name Gramps. This sorta stemmed from my indecision on what to call him in scenes where he is the PoV character, and then deciding to just run with the name Gramps.


    So, Gramps he is. Aside from that, though...I think next time we''ll finish off the meeting and then actually get back to the expedition (provided the meeting doesn''t take a whole chapter, which it...shouldn''t), so...look forward to it, I guess.


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 78: Threat of a Surge

    Maven couldn¡¯t help but be a little starstruck as she looked at the people seated around the table. It was like someone had made a list of the most influential or mysterious people in the world and put all their top picks in one room.


    There were, of course, the four people that made up The Titans: the Gui¡­Gramps, Eyfura, Ava, and Atum. They needed no introduction, being the most famous freelancers of all time and widely considered to be the strongest people the world had to offer if you discounted the Appointed. Of course, they were Appointed, so in Maven¡¯s mind, that made it all the more likely that they were the strongest people alive.


    Valin was undoubtedly the most enigmatic of the group, but, from just their short interaction earlier, Maven was starting to get a read on him. There was no question that he was in the same league as The Titans when it came to strength, and he didn¡¯t seem like a bad person. Just¡­not used to socializing.


    There was Alberich, head of the city¡¯s university of magic. Maven had met him a few times before, and he had seemed every bit the earnest academic. Having him here was¡­odd, in a sense; why did he research things, if he had direct access to the gods who could give him the answer? Surely there was something, but she couldn¡¯t think of what, so she¡¯d just have to ask him later.


    The two aquatic elves seemed to occupy a similar space to Valin, enigmatic people that she was vaguely aware of due to Paumen¡¯s files on them, but who she didn¡¯t really have details on. Even in the case of Paumen¡¯s files, there was less than they had on Valin, just that they were sighted during a couple of very important events relating to the oceans.


    Kane Io was the world¡¯s lead magic tool maker, a person who held as much power as any head of state. His business was big, and made the best devices around. Maven had once received a magic bag made by him personally, an upgrade to the older one she had been using. It was almost shocking how big a difference it made; reaching into her old one had at times felt weird and uncomfortable, but with his¡­it was like reaching into a normal bag, and it had yet to show even a hint of degradation.


    Finally, there was Rachel, one of the world¡¯s best seamstresses. She was highly in demand among the rich and famous, and getting a custom order from her meant not only paying an absurd amount of money, but waiting for months or even years for it to be processed.


    And now that she was thinking about it¡­Tess and Ellie¡¯s casual clothes all seemed to be made by her. Did they have some sort of a deal with her? She¡¯d have to ask them about it; if there was any chance she could get a set of clothes made by Rachel just for use in private, she¡¯d love to have some.


    Amara, to Maven¡¯s shock, put her feet up on the table as she began to speak. ¡°So, I¡¯m guessing you all have realized why I¡¯ve gathered you here today.¡±


    ¡°Your granddaughter¡¯s been made an Appointed, yes?¡± Rachel ventured. ¡°Have a cookie, by the way.¡± She continued, nodding at Maven. ¡°I made them myself.¡±


    Maven hesitantly grabbed a cookie and bit into it. To her surprise, it was one of the best she¡¯d ever had, even including all the various renowned chefs that had cooked for parties Maven had attended.


    Rachel smirked as she saw Maven¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯m not just a seamstress.¡± She said. ¡°I dabble in other crafts as well.¡±


    Amara shifted the position of her feet. ¡°To answer your question, yes, Maven here has been made an Appointed. Maven, would you like to introduce yourself?¡±


    Maven stood up and gave a curtsy. ¡°I¡¯m Maven Sarlienne, former crown princess of Paumen and new Appointed of Dungeons.¡±


    There was a sort of prompting feeling that Maven was already beginning to associate with Dungeons wishing to Descend, one which Maven allowed.


    ¡°And, of course, you already know me, but I¡¯m Dungeons.¡± Dungeons said. ¡°With the introduction of Savage Dungeons around the corner, I figured it was high time for me to get an Appointed of my own. Please take care of her in the future.¡± And then Dungeons was gone, leaving Maven back in sole control of her body.


    ¡°I¡¯m still in training, but I plan to be working closely with Tess and Ellie when my training is done.¡± Maven continued. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you all.¡±


    ¡°Good job, Maven.¡± Amara said, reaching up and patting her on the head. ¡°Why don¡¯t the rest of you all introduce yourselves?¡±


    Maven sat, and the people around the table began to introduce themselves. By and large, they fit the roles that Maven would have expected from them. That¡­made sense, she supposed; many of these people were important because of their great skill in an area, so them being Appointed of gods related to those areas wasn¡¯t much of a surprise.


    Once everyone had introduced themselves, Amara spoke up again. ¡°I suppose. while we¡¯re here. we might as well discuss business, too. How¡¯s the expedition going, Evan?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going well.¡± Gramps said. ¡°We should be entering uncharted territory within the week, and we should be hitting our destination by the end of next week. Given the turnout, I¡¯m expecting to discover all of the dungeons in the area within a month after that. We¡¯ll give it another two weeks after the last dungeon is discovered, and then we¡¯ll head back.¡±


    Maven blinked, surprised to hear that the expedition had a schedule like that. As far as the public knew, the expedition just ended when supplies were running low, and no new discoveries were being made. She supposed it¡­made sense that the Appointed would know what the expedition was looking to uncover, but she hadn¡¯t thought about it until that moment.


    ¡°Ah, forgive me, Maven.¡± Gramps said, looking at her. ¡°I understand you¡¯re probably a little confused. As you may be guessing, the guild¡¯s expeditions have all been organized with the specific intent of revealing certain things to the public. In the future, we¡¯ll be using them to unveil savage dungeons, like the one you¡¯ve been visiting, but currently, we are just looking to decrease the number of dungeons us Appointed have to maintain.¡±


    ¡°These expeditions will be your best friend in the future, trust me.¡± Valin said. ¡°The number of dungeons we have to deal with can be overwhelming sometimes.¡±


    ¡°How many are you currently handling?¡± Maven asked.


    ¡°Myself? Thirty or forty. If you include all other Appointed, it¡¯s probably in the realm of fifty or sixty.¡± Valin said. ¡°And, when you¡¯re done training, you¡¯ll be the one in charge of them.¡±


    ¡°Sixty? By myself?¡± Maven said in a small voice. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to do that.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not as bad as he¡¯s making it out to be.¡± Amara said comfortingly. ¡°Especially with your new Blessing. That should make upkeep a snap, you¡¯ll just have to travel there.¡±


    ¡°Which is also a non-issue.¡± Gramps said. ¡°We¡¯ll almost certainly arrange for you to get some sort of teleportation ability, so you¡¯ll only have to make the trek out there once.¡±


    ¡°Unless you¡¯re crazy like Valin and want to walk everywhere.¡± Rachel teased.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the fun in teleporting?¡± Valin grumbled. ¡°You don¡¯t get to see the sights.¡±


    ¡°It also saves you months of time.¡± Gramps said. ¡°For someone like Maven who likely wants to maintain a presence in society, not spending all her time traveling would be important.¡± Gramps paused, looking at Maven. ¡°Unless you want to be a recluse, there¡¯s nothing wrong with it.¡±


    Maven shook her head. ¡°As much as I love exploring, I think I would go crazy if that¡¯s all I did. I would like to keep a fa?ade of a standard freelancer¡¯s life.¡±


    Gramps nodded. ¡°Then we¡¯ll figure something out. But for now, don¡¯t worry about it, that¡¯s still at least a few years out. Anyway, there¡¯s nothing else to report on the expedition, does anyone else have any business?¡±


    One of the aquatic elves, Carel, spoke up. ¡°We mentioned a meeting or two ago the possibility of a monster surge on Achey.¡± He said. ¡°And as of recent days, we¡¯ve become all but certain that there will be one within the year.¡±


    Maven winced. Monster surges were never good news, and Achey was a relatively new plane, and thus was relatively less used to them. A lot of people were going to die, and there really wasn¡¯t much she could do to prevent that. The issue with monster surges was that they were prolonged events, where tens of thousands of monsters would throw themselves at towns over weeks and months.


    It would be fine if it were just for one or two days, but¡­even the highest level people still needed to sleep, and the monsters weren¡¯t going to wait for them to recover. And since the assault was near-constant, there was very little time with which to safely conduct repairs on walls or buildings.


    ¡°Have you noticed any particularly large build-ups of monsters?¡± Gramps asked. ¡°Or any especially strong monsters?¡±


    Carel paused, thinking on that. ¡°Things are still in the early phases.¡± He said. ¡°So, it¡¯s hard to say. We¡¯ll keep an eye on things, and if it gets too dangerous, we¡¯ll call for help. For the three of you newbies, we like to do careful pruning of potential monster surges and make sure they¡¯re not going to absolutely destroy people. We try to keep them dangerous, but not to the point where people trying their absolute best can¡¯t manage it.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Maven asked. ¡°We¡¯ve been trying to figure out monster surges for ages, do¡­do the gods just tell us where to go?¡±


    Alberich shrugged. ¡°Sometimes?¡± He said. ¡°The thing with monster surges is that a lot of the signs aren¡¯t visible unless you¡¯re either explicitly looking for them or actually know why they happen. You see, the current theory among the academic world is that they¡¯re related to dungeons going out of control, and that¡¯s not true at all. While they share many symptoms, the root cause ¨C¡±


    ¡°Look for areas with odd concentrations of ambient Mana.¡± Valin interrupted. ¡°That¡¯s all there really is to it.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a bit more complicated than that, but that¡¯s the shape of the thing.¡± Alberich said, seemingly unfazed by the interruption. ¡°It has to do with levels of ambient Mana stabilizing themselves between planes. With planes with lower ambient Mana, they draw more from other planes, and when it hits a critical point, it gets converted into monsters, which then seek out people. This results in ¨C¡±


    ¡°When enough monsters have been created it¡¯s like someone punched a hole in a bucket and the rest come out all at once.¡± Valin said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the technicalities of it, we¡¯ll be here all day if you do.¡±


    Maven frowned. ¡°But wait¡­if it¡¯s Mana coming in from other planes, what about those other planes? They still have monster surges.¡±


    ¡°That happens when the ambient Mana gets too low.¡± Alberich explained. ¡°They have a sort of¡­resting ambient Mana they try to stick to, and they draw energy from somewhere, we don¡¯t know where, which causes a phenomenon similar to what happens with low ambient Mana planes. In either case, once the monsters have been killed, the Mana used in their creation is dispersed into the surroundings, and the plane¡¯s ambient Mana becomes ever so slightly higher.


    ¡°It¡¯s generally hard to tell when they¡¯re coming and where the worst parts will be because most modern tools aren¡¯t sophisticated enough to detect the minute differences we¡¯re looking for until quite a ways into the process. We, on the other hand, have access to more sophisticated abilities by virtue of being able to use Worship, so we can sniff things out relatively easily.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡­guess that makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Feel free to ask me about it more after our meeting is finished.¡± Alberich said. ¡°I love to talk about this sort of thing, but, unfortunately, Valin is right; if we just let me talk, we¡¯ll be here all day, and not all of us have time for that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all for us, then.¡± Carel said. ¡°Anyone else?¡±


    There was silence for a moment, and then Amara spoke up. ¡°Looks like that¡¯s all.¡± She said. ¡°Let¡¯s call the meeting here, then.¡±


    There was a chorus of assent, and people began to stand up and mingle amongst themselves. ¡°So, what¡¯d you think?¡± Amara asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­all?¡± Maven said. ¡°These people are¡­like, really important, and the meeting took all of ten minutes, if that.¡±


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re all on the same page.¡± Amara giggled. ¡°We don¡¯t have to have major arguments about anything, so that makes things a lot simpler. Honestly, these things are almost more of a social event than anything.¡±


    ¡°It also helps that we¡¯ve had three meetings in rather quick succession while nothing¡¯s going on.¡± Rachel said, skittering over to the two. ¡°We¡¯re a little out of things to talk about.¡±


    ¡°How often are these usually held?¡± Maven asked. ¡°I know there are semiannual scheduled meetings, but what about these ¡®unscheduled¡¯ meetings?¡±


    ¡°Very rarely.¡± Rachel replied. ¡°Once or twice a decade on average. This past year has been something of an outlier.¡±


    ¡°Hey guys.¡± Ellie said, walking over to them with Tess in tow. ¡°How¡¯re things?¡±


    ¡°Pretty good.¡± Rachel said. ¡°How are things with you two? Are you settling in okay, Tess? I kept meaning to ask, but never got around to it, you know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve more or less completely adjusted.¡± Tess said, blushing slightly. ¡°Not something I would have expected those first couple of days, but I¡¯m¡­really happy right now.¡±


    ¡°Well, you certainly look better than you did when you were brought into my shop that first day. I¡¯m happy to hear it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I was meaning to ask,¡± Maven began, ¡°but do you three have some sort of deal? I noticed that all of Tess and Ellie¡¯s casual clothes are made by you and was sort of wondering.¡±


    Tess blinked. ¡°Is that a big deal?¡± She asked.


    ¡°A little.¡± Rachel giggled. ¡°I do have a bit of a waiting list.¡±


    ¡°How long?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Usually at least half a year.¡± Rachel admitted. ¡°As for deals¡­well, I give priority to clothes for Appointed, as long as you don¡¯t abuse the system. I give discounts, too!¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Maven asked hopefully. ¡°How much?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll generally run you about three or four gold a set.¡± Rachel said.


    Maven¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Only three or four gold?!¡± She said. ¡°Um¡­do you mind if I order three sets, then?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing!¡± Rachel said. She reached into a shirt pocket and pulled out a phone. ¡°Here, let¡¯s trade contact info. I¡¯ll take your measurements real quick and you can just text me what you want.¡±


    ¡°Bring her back when you¡¯re done.¡± Amara said. ¡°We still need to teach her how to hide her Worship and how to make the circle that brings her here.¡±


    ¡°Will do!¡± Rachel said cheerfully. ¡°Follow me, dear!¡±


    Fighterman481


    Next time we''ll be getting back to the expedition for real, though, so...look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 79: Arrival

    The hoverer slowed to a stop earlier than Tess had grown used to. ¡°Are we here?¡± She asked, looking around at the hoverer¡¯s other occupants.


    Alice grinned, standing up from her seat. ¡°I think so, let me go double check.¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± Ker said, walking over to them from the far end of the hoverer. ¡°I just checked. We¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Finally!¡± Alice said, pumping a fist. ¡°I am so over all this waiting!¡±


    ¡°We should go meet up with the expedition¡¯s main contingent before we do anything else.¡± Jin said, looking up from his phone. ¡°They¡¯re giving further instructions in ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°Way ahead of you.¡± Alice replied, opening one of the hoverer¡¯s doors and jumping out. ¡°Everyone out, we gotta get this thing packed up.¡±


    ¡°Patience, Alice.¡± Ker said, smiling faintly. ¡°Perhaps we should get into our gear before we pack away our changing spot.¡±


    Alice paused, then begrudgingly stepped back into the hoverer. ¡°Fine. I guess you¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m already geared up.¡± Tess said, motioning at her clothes. Her party had already been to the savage dungeon that day, and so Tess had already changed into her armor. Ellie and Maven had changed out of theirs once they had returned to the hoverer, but seeing as how Tess¡¯s armor was highly comfortable, she had opted to stay in hers and just change its appearance to be more casual.


    ¡°Do be quick with your changing.¡± Jin said. ¡°We still have to walk over there, which could take a couple of minutes.¡±


    ¡°No need to tell me twice.¡± Alice mumbled, making her way to the hoverer¡¯s bathroom.


    ¡°Jin and I will change over near our beds.¡± Ker said. ¡°You two are free to change near yours, we won¡¯t peek. If you feel uncomfortable with that, then go ahead and change in the bathroom after Alice finishes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good changing near my bed.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Tess, feel free to peek as much as you want.¡±


    Tess rolled her eyes. ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± She replied.


    ¡°I will wait for Alice to finish.¡± Maven said. ¡°My apologies, you four, I trust you, I just¡­prefer to be alone while changing.¡±


    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s cool.¡± Tess said. ¡°I get it.¡±


    A few minutes later, everyone had changed, Alice had packed up the hoverer, and they began their walk over to the gathering place. ¡°How do you know where we¡¯re going, Jin?¡± Ellie asked curiously.


    ¡°I have an app for it. I¡¯ll show you how to download it after we¡¯re done here. It provides information from the guild, allowing you to view requests in your area, updates on monster movements and weather, news, updates on events like this, and even requests that specifically ask for your party, if you¡¯re famous enough to get those. It¡¯s a pretty indispensable piece of tech in this business.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like it.¡± Ellie agreed.


    ¡°You can also make it a dead man¡¯s switch for if your party wipes in a dungeon.¡± Alice volunteered. ¡°That way they can recover your bodies if you die in an out of the way dungeon. It might be the difference between getting resurrected and dying for good, so it¡¯s something to keep in mind.¡±


    Tess shared a glance with Ellie and Maven. ¡°I don¡¯t think that particular function is much use to the three of us, given our circumstances.¡± She admitted. ¡°Things are a little¡­different for us, you know?¡±


    Alice frowned, then seemed to understand what Tess was getting at. ¡°I see.¡± She said. ¡°Still, it¡¯s worth knowing about.¡±


    They chatted on the topic for a couple minutes more until they eventually reached a large gathering of people. Gramps was standing on a raised patch of earth overlooking everyone with Ava, Atum, and Eyfura behind him. He spotted Tess¡¯s group as they walked up and gave them a wave. A lot of people in the crowd turned to look, but that didn¡¯t stop Tess from waving back, even if she did so a little embarrassedly.


    A few minutes after that, Gramps cast a spell and cleared his throat, the sound magically amplified so everyone could hear. The low buzz of conversation died away, and Gramps began to speak. ¡°As you are no doubt aware, we have finally reached our destination!¡± He said jovially. ¡°Before I let you all loose to do as you will, I would like to give a few words of advice for those who have not yet gone on one of our expeditions.


    ¡°This is an exciting time, but it is also a dangerous one. We are deep in uncharted territory, and there is no telling what may lurk in these lands. Our scouts have not yet seen any monsters over level sixty roaming around, but that is not to say that a level sixty monster is as dangerous as it gets out here. The average level for monsters in this area seems to stabilize around fifty, with packs of up to five or more being common. And, given that information, we are proceeding under the assumption that there might be monsters of up to level eighty that we have not seen.


    ¡°We advise any parties containing members below level fifty to be exceedingly careful. If your party consists of mostly people below level fifty, it would be wise to stick with the group explorations we sponsor. We will not force you to do so, but know that people often die during these expeditions, and revival is not cheap or even guaranteed. Our resources are finite, and we cannot afford to resurrect people constantly.¡±


    A slightly mournful expression crossed Gramps¡¯s face as he continued, though it was so subtle that Tess doubted anyone who wasn¡¯t intimately familiar with him would notice. ¡°We would also ask that for any explorations, their intended locations, and estimated duration be reported to guild staff before leaving. Every expedition, people fail to heed this advice and perish in places where we cannot locate them.


    ¡°We know it is an annoyance, but it is for your own safety. Even the greatest healer cannot revive someone without access to their corpse. Likewise, if you discover a dungeon, please report it to the guild before venturing inside. My party will personally clear the dungeon and give an estimation on its difficulty. There are no punishments for failing to report an excursion, or for going into a dungeon before it is fully explored, and not even for failing to report the presence of a dungeon.


    ¡°The only punishment is the potential of permanent death. That being said, being meticulous about reporting your actions will reflect well on you when it comes time to apply for a rank increase. And, finally, any major discoveries such as dungeons or points of extreme interest such as deposits of magical metals, monster nests, or extraordinarily powerful monsters will be rewarded monetarily, proportionate to the importance of the discovery.


    ¡°You may check in using our app, or, failing that, we have a temporary desk set up near the buses.¡± He paused briefly, surveying the crowd. ¡°Food will be served every four hours from sunup to sundown. Dismissed.¡± He stepped backwards, and the crowd began murmuring amongst themselves again.


    ¡°Well¡­shall we be on our way?¡± Alice asked. ¡°Maven, any idea where we should head?¡±


    Maven gave Alice a confused look. ¡°Why me?¡±


    Alice rolled her eyes. ¡°Maven, you of all people should be able to point us to something exciting.¡±


    ¡°Me of all¡­oh. Right.¡± Maven said. ¡°Um¡­I don¡¯t, actually. Not yet anyway. I, um¡­kind of don¡¯t want to, though. I¡¯m not going to be able to have this experience again in the future, so¡­for now, let¡¯s just¡­go at it like everyone else.¡±


    Alice sighed. ¡°Fair enough. I guess that would take some of the fun out of it.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll just proceed as normal.¡± Jin said. ¡°Does anyone have preferences in where we go?¡±


    ¡°Do we have any information on what the terrain is like?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Preliminary reports say everything in the area looks about like this.¡± Jin confirmed, motioning around. The area they were standing in was unremarkable; it was just hills and grass, no trees, no bodies of water, not even any wildlife that she could see. Just grass, grass, and more grass.


    ¡°I guess maybe in the opposite way from where we came, then?¡± Tess ventured. ¡°Otherwise, we run the risk of exploring places the scouts have already seen.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really care.¡± Ellie said, stretching an arm. ¡°Not if nobody¡¯s seen anything exciting, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Likewise.¡± Maven agreed.


    ¡°We¡¯ll head northwest, then.¡± Jin said. ¡°I¡¯m going to mark us as being out for a day while we do preliminary reconnaissance. If we find something, we can extend that, since we¡¯re not exactly hurting for supplies.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Alice said. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving, you can input all that on the way.¡±


    ¡°A word before you leave, if I may.¡± Ava said, tapping on Tess¡¯s shoulder.


    Tess jumped, whirling around to find Ava standing behind her. She hadn¡¯t sensed her approach, and by the looks of it, none of the others had either. Even the crowd seemed completely unaware of her presence. ¡°Um¡­yes, Ava?¡± She said weakly.


    ¡°I would like to remind the three of you to be cautious.¡± She said, looking at Maven and Ellie. ¡°Just because you are Appointed does not mean you are invincible. Descent can only get you out of a tight spot so often, and this area is far deadlier than you are used to.¡±


    She paused, then looked at each of The Rumors in turn. ¡°I will not be able to accompany you during the course of this expedition, so I leave the three of them to you.¡± She said. ¡°So long as you are cautious, you should be able to keep them safe without too much issue.¡± Her gaze lingered on Alice as she continued. ¡°Do not let your excitement get the better of you, and remember your duties as their teachers.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t let you down.¡± Ker said firmly. ¡°Leave it to us.¡±


    ¡°Glad to hear it.¡± Ava said. ¡°Have a good time out there, alright?¡±


    ¡°We will, thank you.¡± Ker said.


    And then Ava was gone. She didn¡¯t walk away, or vanish in a puff of smoke, she was just¡­gone, like she had never been there.


    Jin shook his head, smiling slightly. ¡°I suppose she¡¯s the best in the business for a reason.¡± He said. ¡°Shall we be off, then?¡±


    They began to move away from the gathered people, off towards the northwest. ¡°When exploring the wilderness like this, there are a few things you want to keep in mind.¡± Ker said. ¡°The first is to be wary at all times. Like Ava implied, it is easy to become complacent and make mistakes.


    ¡°The second is that monsters act differently in the wild than in dungeons. In the wild, monsters behave like other animals; they¡¯re not going to fight you to the death like they do in dungeons. They will stalk you like you¡¯re prey, and once they realize they can¡¯t win, they¡¯ll flee.¡±


    ¡°The bodies don¡¯t disappear or give drops, either.¡± Alice added. ¡°But, on the bright side, they always have a core, even if you do have to dissect the thing to get at it.¡±


    ¡°Huh.¡± Ellie said. ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought about that, actually. Good to know.¡±


    ¡°No one knows why it¡¯s like this, but that¡¯s just the way things are.¡± Alice said, shrugging. ¡°We just accept it.¡±


    Fortune: It¡¯s like this because we decided hauling bodies out of dungeons would be a huge pain. That was before magic bag tech was even thought of, so it¡¯s not an issue now, but we can¡¯t exactly change it at this point sooooo


    Dungeons: The drops monsters give in dungeons were meant to be a sort of consolation prize for not getting the actual body. But, ironically enough, those drops are now more desirable than the bodies for a lot of people


    Life: In fairness, not only does the world economy now run off of the coins we made them drop, but we have also consistently made those drops better as time went on. And even then, people still prefer to get the corpses from incredibly powerful monsters.


    ¡°The gods just told you why, didn¡¯t they?¡± Alice said flatly.


    ¡°Um, yeah, sorry. We probably shouldn¡¯t tell you the exact reasoning, just in case.¡±


    ¡°Whatever, it doesn¡¯t really matter in the big scheme of things.¡± Alice replied. ¡°Point is, when you¡¯re out in the wilderness, be careful of monsters and always keep your eyes out for shelter that you can use in case of an emergency. Hoverers work as impromptu tents, but you don¡¯t want to get your hoverer shredded by monster attacks while you¡¯re sleeping, so it¡¯s best to find a secluded space and keep watch anyway. Of course, if a dungeon is nearby, that¡¯s the best place to sleep as long as the dungeon¡¯s not out of control, but you can¡¯t always rely on that, especially in situations like this; dungeons are almost always out of control when they¡¯re first discovered.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll point out to you the kind of things we¡¯re looking for while we¡¯re on the move.¡± Jin said. ¡°But we also need to set some ground rules. I need you three to stay between Ker and Alice at all times, unless you are specifically asked to move. We¡¯re going to do our best to keep you out of direct combat unless we determine it¡¯s safe, but there¡¯s no telling what might happen out there, and we¡¯ll need you three in a place where we can keep you safe if we get blindsided.¡±


    ¡°We can handle that.¡± Tess said.


    ¡°Good. Don¡¯t hesitate to let us know if you see something important, or if you need a break.¡± Jin said. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get started, shall we?¡±


    Fighterman481


    That''s all I really have to say, though, next time we''ll look at some actual exploration, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 80: A Wild Monster Appears

    As the group was on their way out of camp, they were stopped by a group of five young-looking people. ¡°You¡¯re The Rumors, right?¡± One of them, a girl who couldn¡¯t have been older than Tess, asked, stepping forward.


    ¡°We are.¡± Jin said guardedly. ¡°What¡¯s your business with us?¡±


    ¡°We saw you at the gathering, and¡­¡± she trailed off, glancing at Tess, Ellie, and Maven, ¡°and¡­well, we were wondering if you were offering your services as protectors.¡±


    ¡°We can definitely pay more than those three!¡± One of the others added. ¡°We¡¯ve been saving up for a long time.¡±


    Alice chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re not from the city, are you?¡± She asked their leader.


    ¡°Huh?¡± The leader replied. ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t recognize these three.¡± Alice replied, patting Tess¡¯s head affectionately. ¡°Of course, you could have just not been paying attention to recent events, but it seemed more likely that you just weren¡¯t from the region. Anyway, to answer your question, no, we¡¯re not offering to protect people during the expedition, sorry.¡±


    She paused, glancing up at the boy who had spoken up. ¡°And I don¡¯t think you¡¯re aware of just how much money requesting a party of our caliber costs. Unless you¡¯re heirs to a fortune, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll have enough money for us.¡±


    ¡°Try us.¡± The boy said. ¡°You¡¯d be surprised.¡±


    ¡°I-I don¡¯t think we should push them on this.¡± Another boy said. ¡°They said no, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve got a good reason for being with those girls.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who looks up to them the most, Alex!¡± The first boy protested. ¡°We can¡¯t just leave!¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± one of the others, a girl, began, ¡°Aisha and I think we remember seeing those girls on like¡­a tabloid or something. We¡­think they¡¯re important?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re the Guildmaster¡¯s grandchildren, plus a close friend.¡± Alice said. ¡°The Guildmaster personally asked us to take care of them, and he would have our heads if we let them get injured, so we can¡¯t afford any other distractions.¡±


    ¡°See?¡± Alex said. ¡°They have a good reason. Now let¡¯s leave them alone.¡±


    The first boy sighed. ¡°Fine. Sorry to have bothered you.¡±


    The group of kids left, and Alice sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry out of here before anyone else asks.¡± She said.


    ¡°Does this sort of thing happen often?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Somewhat.¡± Ker replied. ¡°We¡¯re pretty well-known for a rank nine party, so we get escort requests like this from time to time. We like to do them when it¡¯s reasonable, but if we take every request sent our way, then more people will ask, and we¡¯ll be flooded with ones that really aren¡¯t worth our time.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s something to keep in mind when you three inevitably get famous.¡± Jin said. ¡°Just because a request asks for you in particular, does not mean you should do it. Rejecting a request is not frowned upon, so long as you don¡¯t do it rudely. Often, people with more money than sense will ask for you to do things that could reasonably be handled by someone much less qualified.


    ¡°You should take note of what kind of rewards are generally offered for requests around your level, and, regardless of how difficult the request given to you is, charge around one and a quarter to one and a half times more than those rates.¡±


    ¡°Unless it¡¯s a request that needs you specifically, and isn¡¯t just someone asking for a party they¡¯ve heard the name of or someone wanting something done fast.¡± Ker added. ¡°You can be much more lenient on your pricing then. The real point of charging more is so people don¡¯t call for you willy-nilly when anyone else could do. If they want you specifically, then they¡¯re paying extra for the generally quicker response times that come with personal requests, or for having it done by a ¡°name brand¡± party, so to speak.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just how the industry is.¡± Jin said. ¡°People should be expecting this if they request you directly. But Alice is right, we need to get going, we can talk more later, when we¡¯re not at risk of being interrupted.¡±


    They made slower progress than Tess had expected. They moved at the same pace they would use in a dungeon, being slow and methodical about it. While they didn¡¯t have to search for traps, the time that would have been spent doing that was filled with making a map. Fortunately, they didn¡¯t have to use paper, or even manually make one; Alice had handed Tess an orb that she said was compiling a map from their surroundings, but it required them to go fairly slowly for it to work.


    After about half an hour, Tess stopped the group. ¡°There¡¯s a monster in the bushes to our left.¡± She whispered. ¡°It¡¯s close to the edge of my tremorsense, so¡­four hundred feet or so?¡±


    Jin nodded. ¡°What can you tell us about it?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Quadrupedal, with¡­I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s fur? It¡¯s kind of hard to tell through tremorsense, but it¡¯s definitely not scales or feathers. And, um¡­it¡¯s the size of a big dog, has some long claws and is vaguely cat-shaped? That¡¯s all I really have, though, sorry.¡±


    Alice gave Tess an affectionate pat on the head. ¡°That¡¯s plenty.¡± She said, turning towards the left. ¡°Point at it, would you?¡±


    Tess obliged, and Alice squinted across the distance. ¡°Yeah, can¡¯t see anything, too far away.¡± She said, planting her shield firmly in front of her. ¡°Jin, care to smoke it out for us?¡±


    ¡°On it.¡± Jin said, beginning to cast a spell. A few moments later, a wave of magic pulsed out from Jin, smoothing down the grass as it flew towards the bushes. As it hit the bushes, a tan creature was hurled out, yowling fiercely. It recovered from the magic admirably, somehow managing to twist in the air and land on its feet.


    The moment it landed, it shot towards the party, hissing angrily. It was faster than most monsters Tess had seen, but Alice was faster still, throwing her sword and hitting the creature firmly in its side before calling the sword back. That stopped the monster dead in its tracks, and it eyed the party before beginning to limp away.


    But it appeared Alice wasn¡¯t going to let that fly; she reeled back, carefully taking aim before once again hurling her sword. Once again, it hit the creature squarely in the side, but this time there was a flash of light, a scream, and then the creature was dead.


    ¡°Tess, do you sense anything else nearby?¡± Ker asked.


    Tess frowned, closing her eyes and focusing on her tremorsense. ¡°I don¡¯t¡­think so.¡± She said. ¡°Or¡­at least, everything else are¡­like rats and stuff. I think. I mean¡­those could be monsters, but everything like that that I¡¯ve seen so far has avoided us.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Ker said. ¡°Let us know if you see anything as we get closer and dissect the body. Ellie, Maven, we¡¯ll teach you two how to dissect a monster for materials, so pay attention, alright?¡±


    ¡°Tess, we¡¯ll teach you later, when we¡¯re somewhere safer.¡± Jin said. ¡°I¡¯m sure the Guildmaster will be able to get us some corpses for you to work on, the guild tends to dissect a lot of corpses on expeditions, and I doubt this one will be different.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Got it.¡±


    Fortunately, it didn¡¯t appear there were any other monsters in the area, and they were able to safely approach the corpse. As they did, Ker reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of thick gloves, which he put on. ¡°Always wear gloves, even if you have armor on over your hands already.¡± He said. ¡°These ones are, again, specially made for dissecting. The insides of monsters can be caustic or poisonous or otherwise damaging, and it pays to have special gloves made to withstand those sorts of things.¡±


    Ker reached into his bag and pulled out a wicked-looking knife before kneeling down over the corpse. ¡°The next thing to keep in mind when dissecting a monster is what you¡¯re going to do with the pelt. You see, the issue with monsters is that their pelts are simultaneously valuable and incredibly annoying to work with.¡± Ker continued, kneeling down over the monster. ¡°They¡¯re annoying to work with because they¡¯re a lot harder than animal pelts. And they¡¯re valuable for¡­well, the same reason, really. Materials from high level monsters are used in the creation of high level armor and weapons, so you can¡¯t just hack into them willy-nilly.¡±


    Ker took his knife and carefully maneuvered it to one of the cuts Alice¡¯s sword had made. ¡°In general, I like to start from wounds that are already on the monster. You¡¯ve already got an incision, so you don¡¯t have to fight through the hide as much.¡± He held up the knife so Ellie and Maven could see it, then began cutting into the creature. ¡°I have this special knife I ordered for the purpose of dissecting monsters, but even then, it¡¯s not as effective at piercing the hide as an actual weapon. If the monster has been somehow killed without clear wounds, using magic or poison or something, then you sort of have to¡­find a place and go with it.


    ¡°Those pelts are worth more, but I wouldn¡¯t purposefully try to take monsters down without damaging the pelt unless you specifically need the pelt in good condition or are overwhelmingly stronger than the monster. Your life isn¡¯t worth making a little bit of extra money.¡±


    He began to methodically cut with the knife, carefully guiding it so as not to damage the pelt further. ¡°Every monster is a little different in how you need to go about skinning it.¡± He said. ¡°So there¡¯s no catch-all trick to dissection, but there are some things that apply to almost every monster. You want the hide, you want whatever they use as weapons, and you want any special features the monster might have, such as toxin glands or magical organs. And, of course, you want their core.


    ¡°That means you have to be extra careful when cutting around those regions so as not to damage the parts. You are, unfortunately, going to do so in your first few dissections, but don¡¯t get discouraged; with enough practice, you¡¯ll get to the point where you can pretty cleanly do it without much issue.¡±


    ¡°Where is the core?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°It varies from monster to monster, but it¡¯s generally near the brain or near the heart. If the monster doesn¡¯t have those, it¡¯s generally near some other vital organ. If the monster doesn¡¯t really have vital organs, like slimes, then¡­well, you have to look for it, the core is the vital organ.¡±


    He continued to answer questions and give more tips until he had, eventually, managed to take the pelt off of the monster. ¡°Now comes the question of the meat.¡± He began. ¡°Generally speaking, the meat isn¡¯t worth much. Some delicacies use monster meat, but often the meat just doesn¡¯t taste very good. It¡¯s usually most useful when you¡¯re out on an extended trip and want to make your supplies last a little longer, but that¡¯s really only an issue if you find you¡¯re going to be out longer than you expected.


    ¡°Most people just leave the meat where it is for scavengers to eat. We won¡¯t be doing that here, since we¡¯re bringing the materials back for the guild to examine, but in general I would recommend leaving it behind. If you need the bones, then strip the meat off if you want, but your bags are the nice kind, so you can just stick the meat in with any bones and it won¡¯t cause issues.¡± He began to carefully feel around the body, first near the head, then near the heart.


    ¡°Here we are.¡± He said, grabbing a circular object before bringing his knife around and cutting away the flesh near it. After a moment, he pulled his hand out to reveal the core, which was covered in bits of meat and gore. ¡°Tess, catch.¡± He said, tossing it over to her.


    Tess started in surprise, but was able to catch the core regardless. ¡°You want me to absorb this?¡± She asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit high level for a core given as a gift?¡±


    Ker shook his head. ¡°Normally we¡¯d want you to stay away from high level cores you didn¡¯t earn, but this is a special situation. For one, it¡¯s not likely to contain anything really useful to you, since you¡¯ve already absorbed an Emperor Lion¡¯s core. But, even if it did, we¡¯d rather you absorb it anyway; you are uniquely able to tell us exactly what these monsters are capable of, and that¡¯s something we can¡¯t afford to ignore. Knowing what these things can do is directly tied to keeping ourselves safe.¡±


    Tess nodded, and absorbed the core. Like any other core, it burst into mist and dissolved into her, but unlike other cores she had absorbed, it had stuff attached; the bits of gore that were on it no longer had anything to hold on to, so they just sort of¡­fell into Tess¡¯s hand. She grimaced, dropping the rest of the flesh to the ground before briefly activating Phoenix Fire to clean the rest of it off of her.


    You have absorbed a Hill Panther Core!


    Slots filled: 21/29


    You have gained 750 EXP in Monster Breeder!


    Congratulations, Monster Breeder has leveled up!


    New core absorbed! Scanning for abilities¡­


    No new Skills or abilities detected!


    Displaying core information:


    Hill Panther Core:


    Level 48


    Estimated Power: 1,000


    Estimated Maximum Power if Enhanced: 2,000


    Stats:


    HP: 3,000


    MP: 2,000


    Stamina: 3,000


    Power: 400


    Defense: 300


    Magic: 200


    Magic Defense: 200


    Agility: 400


    Luck: 250


    Current Skills:


    None


    Current Attributes:


    Darkvision (Major)


    Enhanced Hearing (Major)


    Extendable Claws


    Fur (Fundamental)


    Keen Nose


    Kemonomimi (Panther) (Fundamental)


    Sharp Claws (Major)


    Sharp Fangs (Major)


    Quadrupedal Adaption (Fundamental)


    ¡°Nothing special.¡± Tess confirmed. ¡°It¡¯s basically just a big cat, no Skills or anything, just a lot of passive stuff.¡±


    ¡°What level?¡± Ker asked.


    ¡°Forty-eight. Stats are nothing to write home about either, so it¡¯s probably not a big threat. I¡¯m pretty sure Ellie, Maven, and I would be able to take one down ourselves without much issue. Um¡­I did level up Monster Breeder, though, and it finally hit level thirty, so I get some pretty big upgrades from this. Can someone else keep watch while I look through that?¡±


    ¡°I got it.¡± Alice volunteered, standing up. ¡°Take your time.¡±


    Tess gave her a thankful smile. ¡°Thanks.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know when I¡¯m done.¡±


    Fighterman481


    Anyway, that''s all I have to say, next time we''ll be looking at some actually exciting features of the area, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 81: Upgrades and Danger

    Tess sat down on a rock, instructed Silky and Isabella to keep an eye out for any monsters, just in case, and began looking through her options.


    The first thing she took note of was that she had yet another slot for an attendant, putting her up to four, but she wasn¡¯t quite sure she wanted to make another couple at that moment. She had yet to find anything as¡­low visibility as Silky and Isabella, and she was leveling up just fast enough that she felt that, unless she used a rather powerful core as a base, whatever she made would become quickly become obsolete and she¡¯d have to upgrade it soon after.


    She was running into that problem with Silky and Isabella again, too. She was of half a mind to just keep them stored within her core storage, where they¡¯d be a little safer than they would hiding around her, but they provided just enough utility that Tess felt it was worth keeping them outside.


    So, she wrote that particular avenue off, and decided to revisit it once she hit level fifty and leveling slowed down once again. Instead, it was time to look at her Attributes. Fortunately, she had a core from the boss of the savage dungeon, and while she had given it a quick once-over after finishing the dungeon, the excitement with Maven had put truly sitting down and tinkering with it out of her mind, and she had only hastily put one of its abilities into her list. So, she pulled up the core and the derived Skills she had received from it and looked through them again, dismissing any Attributes that had to do with shape or body composition.


    Cold Affinity:


    Strengthens the effect of Cold Magic cast by the creature by 50%


    Mad Dash:


    Allows the creature to instantly stop moving or instantly accelerate to top speed while preventing the normal side effects of such drastic changes in speed. If the user chooses to accelerate in this fashion, they are rendered unable to turn until they stop.


    Monstrous Strength:


    Lifts the usual restrictions tying physical condition to the Power stat, effectively allowing the creature to fight at full strength regardless of damage taken or the overall health of their body. Prevents the normal negative effects that would come from fighting while heavily wounded, sick, malnourished, or the like. Increases Power by 50%.


    One With the Wind and Cold:


    Provides immunity to wind and cold damage from most sources. Additionally grants the creature complete resistance to temperatures warmer than -100¡ãC, and partial resistance up to -200¡ãC. Prevents wind from pushing or otherwise affecting the user unless they wish it.


    Skills:


    Aura of Terror


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    You project an aura of fear, causing any enemy that is lower leveled than you that comes within 30 feet to be afflicted with Terror for 10 seconds. Provides immunity to fear effects.


    You¡¯ll probably still appear in their nightmares for weeks to come.


    Baleful Bound:


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    For five seconds after hitting their top speed, the user deals triple damage on all attacks.


    Speed begets strength.


    Glutton¡¯s Reward


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Allows the user to regenerate missing HP, Mana, and Stamina by consuming food at the cost of the food not filling their stomach. HP, Mana, and Stamina restored is directly proportional to how much the food would fill.


    They ate until long past the point their body should have given out, then ate some more.


    Invoke the Mountains


    Rarity: Mythical


    Type: Active


    Description:


    You may spend 250 Mana to call the fury of the mountains upon the area. For ten minutes, the area in a half-mile radius around you becomes filled with the cold, wind, and feeling of hunger. This chills the area to -20¡ãC, creates a 65 km/h wind in the direction of your choosing, and makes all within feel as if they have not eaten in three days. The chill and wind from this effect cannot be mitigated by any source save One With the Wind and Cold.


    If you wish to stand atop the world, then you must withstand the dangers that accompany it.


    Derived Skills:


    Aura of Fear


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    You project an aura of fear, causing any enemy that is lower leveled than you that comes within 30 feet to be afflicted with Frightened for 10 seconds at a 50% rate. Provides immunity to fear effects.


    You¡¯ll probably still appear in their nightmares for weeks to come.


    Speed Demon:


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    For three seconds after hitting their top speed, the user¡¯s attacks deal double damage.


    Watch out for cops.


    Taste Test


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Passive


    Description:


    Allows the user to regenerate missing HP, Mana, and Stamina by consuming food at the cost of the food not filling their stomach. HP, Mana, and Stamina restored is proportional to how much the food would fill.


    It may not look that different, but it¡¯s less efficient than its counterpart, promise.


    Call Upon the Mountains


    Rarity: Legendary


    Type: Active


    Description:


    You may spend 250 Mana to call the spirit of the mountains upon you and your enemies. For ten minutes, the area in a 250 meter radius around you becomes filled with the cold, wind, and feeling of hunger. This chills the area to 0¡ãC, creates a 25 km/h wind in the direction of your choosing, and makes targets feel as if they have not eaten in a day. The chill and wind from this effect cannot be mitigated by any source save One With the Wind and Cold.


    The mountains care not for those upon them. If they cannot withstand the mountains, they deserve their fate.


    Fortunately, much of this core could safely be ignored. While many of its effects were powerful, they also came with downsides or were simply not worth her time ¨C Invoke the Mountains and its derived Skill affected everything in the area, including Tess and her allies, which made it less than ideal for her purposes.


    Glutton¡¯s Reward was tempting, but its effect was, ultimately, niche. Taste Test would serve her almost as well in most purposes, so the slot was better spent elsewhere. Aura of Terror was likewise a Skill that was overshadowed by its derived version; the Frightened condition would upgrade to Terror thanks to Artisanal Afflictions, and while that meant she was missing out on Terror becoming Frozen With Fear, that was a minor thing. And, finally, she didn¡¯t use cold damage enough for Cold Affinity to be worth it.


    That just left the rest. Baleful Bound was in a rather interesting spot; its effect was enormous, but effectively required her to use Mad Dash if she wanted to get the most out of it. She wasn¡¯t opposed to that, but that meant it effectively cost two slots to use. Alternatively, she could make do with Speed Demon, but the difference between double and triple damage was enough to make her weigh her options.


    To make matters worse, Monstrous Strength and One With the Wind and Cold simply seemed too good to pass up. Monstrous Strength was, effectively, a fifty percent damage increase before all other bonuses. The issue with a Skill like Baleful Bound was that it was, well, a Skill; it ¡°only¡± stacked additively with all other passive Skills, meaning that outside of a vacuum, it wouldn¡¯t actually triple her damage.


    She hadn¡¯t run the numbers in a bit, but she seemed to recall having double, maybe triple damage from all her passive Skills combined, so in practice, Baleful Bound would ¡°just¡± double her damage, while the fifty percent boost from Monstrous Strength applied directly to her Power and stacked multiplicatively with basically everything.


    That was if she put it in a regular slot, anyway. During a particularly boring stretch of the hoverer ride over, she had taken a few hours to check what all her Attributes did in user fundamental slots, and while most didn¡¯t really provide enough of a bonus to be worth considering over the two she already had, Monstrous Strength had given her pause.


    Which¡­well, really meant that it was the only one that would even go in that slot anyway, so she locked it in, transferring it to her user fundamental slot and confirming the effect.


    Monstrous Strength (User Fundamental):


    The user¡¯s body continues operating at perfect strength, regardless of the state it is in, and all negative effects from pushing it while it is in a heavily wounded state (such as attempting to sprint with broken legs) are prevented. Pain is not prevented, but the user may choose to dull their sense of pain somewhat. Furthermore, the user¡¯s Power is increased by 100%.


    One With the Wind and Cold was the Attribute she had put into her slot she had received from level twenty-nine, replacing a more¡­filler Attribute she had had in there before. That was¡­almost certainly not going to be replaced, so she really only had one more slot to work with.


    She scrolled through her Attributes and realized, to her surprise, that she still had one of the Skills she had obtained from Isabella in there, Piercing Wail. She hadn¡¯t used that in¡­months, it seemed. After reviewing its effect once more, she decided that it wasn¡¯t worth the slot she had put it in and took it out in favor of Mad Dash before filling her last slot with Baleful Bound.


    Her work done, she stood back up and walked over to the group. ¡°Finished.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you more about it later if you want, but just know I should be a fair bit stronger now, since levels that are multiples of ten are power spikes for Monster Breeder.¡±


    ¡°We finished a few minutes ago and were just cleaning up.¡± Ker said. ¡°You never want to have the scent of blood on you while you¡¯re traveling in the wild; there¡¯s no telling what might come after you. Usually it¡¯s nothing, but on the rare occasion that aggressive monsters with particularly strong senses of smell are in the area, you¡¯ll be glad you cleaned yourself up.¡±


    ¡°And don¡¯t stay at the site of a kill for long if you can help it.¡± Alice added. ¡°Which means we should leave as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Tess said. ¡°I would have waited if I was thinking more.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Alice said firmly. ¡°You made the right call. You spent maybe five minutes, ten tops, sorting out your Attributes, and if the power spike is as good as what you¡¯re saying, then that time is absolutely worth it. We really only had two or three minutes of waiting, so it¡¯s not like it was delaying us for long either.¡±


    ¡°One of the things doubled my Power stat.¡± Tess said. ¡°That alone is worth it, right?¡±


    Alice gave her a flat look. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s worth it.¡± She said. ¡°That¡¯s absurd. How did you¡­¡±


    ¡°Something from the boss of that dungeon we went to.¡± Tess said. ¡°Boosted in effect because of putting it in a user fundamental slot. It also lets me ignore pain and fight at full strength regardless of the state my body is in without further damaging it, but I don¡¯t know how much that¡¯s really gonna come up.¡±


    ¡°What happens if your arm gets cut off or something?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°How can you fight at full strength then?¡±


    Dungeons: That¡¯s assuming the arm can be fully severed. It can¡¯t, not anymore.


    Tess: Wait, how does that work? What if someone like¡­pins me down and really tries to saw it off?


    Dungeons: Their attempts will do damage to you as if they have fully severed the limb, but a few bits of sinew, muscle, and bone will remain attached, which will let you use your arm as normal. It will, however, be excruciatingly painful, and you¡¯ll be feeling that even through Monstrous Strength, so I would suggest not letting that happen.


    ¡°Apparently, it can¡¯t.¡± Tess said, for the benefit of The Rumors. ¡°It¡¯ll just hurt really badly, and a few bits of arm will stay attached so I can still use it.¡±


    Alice sighed. ¡°Do I even want to know what kind of monsters you three fought in there?¡±


    ¡°Confidential, sorry.¡± Tess said. ¡°Anyway, you were saying we should get moving?¡±


    ¡°Right, right.¡± Alice said. ¡°Tess, do you mind holding the mapper again?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Tess said. ¡°Who has it right now?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Maven said, holding out the orb for Tess to take.


    ¡°Thanks, Maven.¡± Tess said, grabbing the mapper.


    With that, the group set off once again in search of new sights. And, for the next few hours, it went about the same as it had previously; slow walking to allow the mapper to create its map, with the occasional monster spotted.


    And then, finally, they found something. After cresting a particularly tall hill, they were able to catch sight of a ravine that looked to be half a mile or so away, a large gash in the terrain that spread out to the edges of their line of sight, disappearing behind yet more hills.


    Alice¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Jackpot!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°Alright you three, one thing to keep in mind is that dungeons tend to be in notable locations such as this.¡± She instructed. ¡°So, whenever some part of the landscape stands out, it¡¯s a good idea to go check it out.¡±


    ¡°Even more important is to remember caution.¡± Jin advised. ¡°If there truly is a dungeon in this ravine, it has probably grown out of control due to no one having cleared it before. I¡¯m sure Maven, as the crown princess of Paumen¨C¡±


    ¡°Former crown princess.¡± Maven said.


    ¡°Former crown princess.¡± Jin corrected himself. ¡°She¡¯s probably received some sort of training or accounts on what dungeons that have gone feral are like, but Ellie and Tess probably have no experience with it, right? Unless your duties have taken you to one while we weren¡¯t here.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Tess said. ¡°They haven¡¯t, and I don¡¯t have any experience, so I¡­assume Ellie doesn¡¯t either?¡±


    Ellie nodded in agreement, so Jin continued. ¡°Feral dungeons have this nasty tendency to spew their monsters out into the surrounding area. The monsters don¡¯t tend to leave the vicinity of the dungeon unless there¡¯s a truly huge number of them outside of the dungeon already, but what that means is that there¡¯s a good chance that ravine is crawling with monsters. So, we¡¯ll be on high alert the entire time we¡¯re in there.¡±


    Life: If things look hairy, we will Descend. However, during our Descent, your safety will be our first priority; we are only safely able to inhabit your bodies for a couple of minutes, so we will prioritize fleeing, first and foremost. Let The Rumors know of this, but also let them know that, if it comes down to it, we will leave them to die. Their bodies can be recovered and revived. The three of you are not so easy.


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Ellie began. ¡°Life says that, if things get too bad, the gods will Descend so the three of us can run. But¡­he also wants you to know that the gods will focus entirely on us running away. They might help if there¡¯s an opportunity, but if push comes to shove, they¡¯ll leave you to die. He says your bodies can be recovered and revived, but¡­well, Appointed have to jump through a few more hoops.¡±


    Jin nodded gravely. ¡°I expected as much. To be blunt, fleeing is probably the best thing you could do to help us in an emergency. If we come under sustained assault from a horde of monsters, your Descents would likely end before it well and truly ends. The three of us came here knowing the risk, and we¡¯re prepared to do what needs to be done.¡±


    ¡°But hopefully it won¡¯t come to that.¡± Ker said, cracking a smile in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood. ¡°If we come across monsters that are a bit too high leveled or a bit too numerous for comfort, we¡¯ll flee. Discretion is the better part of valor, after all.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough sitting and talking about it.¡± Alice said. ¡°Just remember that you three are to obey all of our orders at all times while in the canyon. Do not question it, just do it; even a moment of hesitation could make all the difference.¡±


    ¡°We understand.¡± Maven said. ¡°Please, lead the way.¡±


    Fighterman481


    I also planned to actually get into the ravine itself this chapter, but...hashing out upgrades took longer than I had expected it to, so...whatever.


    Speaking of, we finally got to see the stuff from the boss of the savage dungeon! I do want to say that, yes, its abilities are way stronger than normal, they''re supposed to be, it''s a raid boss. But I also wanted to say that One With the Wind and Cold in particular is...not as strong as it seems.


    Obviously it''s still leaps and bounds stronger than, say, Fire immunity (which Tess got from the Spitfire Phoenix core), but lumping wind and cold damage immunities together really isn''t that much stronger than just cold immunity. Wind damage isn''t particularly common, so the secondary effect of being able to ignore the wind is the big part of that.


    And, while Invoke the Mountains seems kinda...garbage, that''s because...okay, well it is garbage, but only in the context of Tess using it. Obviously the boss didn''t have allies to worry about and was immune to the wind and cold from the ability, but the hunger thing is actually a benefit to that specific boss. It''s designed to feast on the corpses of the things it kills, so it can regen mid-fight, and that ability keeps it from feeling full regardless of how much it has eaten.


    Anyway, I''ve been talking for much too long, next time we''re gonna explore the ravine, so look forward to it!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 82: Overgrown Canyon

    In no time at all, the group had reached the edge of the canyon. ¡°Alright, first things first, we need to find a path down.¡± Alice said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Everyone here is capable of somehow flying down there or otherwise climbing down easily, so why not just¡­go?¡±


    ¡°If this was a normal request, you¡¯d be right.¡± Ker said. ¡°It would be more efficient to just head down. However, this is not a normal request; we¡¯re exploring the area, and paving the way for other freelancers to explore. Not everyone is going to be able to fly down, so we¡¯ll receive a better evaluation if we find a relatively safe route down into the canyon instead of just exploring the bottom of the canyon.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Makes sense.¡±


    ¡°Tess, we¡¯ll be somewhat relying on you for that.¡± Jin said. ¡°You have the easiest time seeing the condition of the walls of the canyon without going down too far, so let us know if you see anything promising.¡±


    ¡°I can also fly out and scan the canyon from the air.¡± Maven volunteered.


    ¡°I would advise against that.¡± Jin said. ¡°While it would help us find a path down the canyon faster, it¡¯s also far too risky. There¡¯s no telling what¡¯s lurking inside of the canyon, and you¡¯ll be a fair bit out of our reach. Were we in a safer area, that would be a good idea, but as things are now, it¡¯s not something we can afford to try.¡±


    ¡°I¡­understood.¡± Maven said.


    ¡°Is there anything in particular I should keep an eye out for?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Like, obviously a trail down, yeah, but how¡­well-defined of a trail does it need to be?¡±


    ¡°Well-defined?¡± Alice asked, frowning. ¡°We¡¯re not going to find anything more than a game trail, and that¡¯s the best case scenario.¡±


    ¡°No, not like that.¡± Tess said quickly. ¡°Uh¡­how do I say this¡­like¡­does it need to be a clear path down, without many breaks or drops or anything, or is it fine of there are drops of a couple feet or something?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I think I see what you¡¯re getting at.¡± Alice said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t need to be an easy path down, though that¡¯s obviously preferable. We¡¯re just looking for something that could be traversed without equipment by the average freelancer.¡±


    ¡°If possible, try to look for a route that has spaces with a little bit of fighting room.¡± Ker added. ¡°Just in case.¡±


    Tess nodded. ¡°Got it. I, um, probably won¡¯t be able to see down the entirety of the canyon wall, depending on how deep it is, but I¡¯ll give what direction I can.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it too much.¡± Ker said. ¡°The fact that we have you at all to check the walls is more than almost anyone else can get without expending some sort of resource, so you¡¯re doing more than enough.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Tess said. ¡°Um, no other questions, I¡¯m ready to go, I think.¡±


    And so, they began to carefully move along the edge of the canyon, looking for any relatively easy way down they could find. There were several false starts and paths that ultimately led to nowhere, but after a few hours of searching, they were eventually able to find a good enough way down.


    The bottom of the canyon was¡­not quite what Tess had expected. Instead of dry scrub or barren rock, it was lush and moist. And it wasn¡¯t a gradual thing, either; upon stepping past a certain point, the environment changed, like a switch had been flipped.


    ¡°Woah.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Weird.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s weird?¡± Ker asked.


    ¡°The humidity change.¡± Ellie said. ¡°You can feel that, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Ker confirmed. ¡°Stuff like this is fairly normal here in the Outlands. Environments with lots of Mana in them tend to do things like this. I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s not something that happens on Mael?¡±


    Ellie shook her head. ¡°Never. Not without a non-magical reason, anyway.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Well, it¡¯s nothing to worry about, we¡¯ll just need to make a note in our report.¡± Ker said.


    ¡°It stinks down here.¡± Maven said, wrinkling her nose. ¡°Or¡­not stinks? I don¡¯t know, something feels wrong here, and I can¡¯t quite put my finger on what it is or why I feel it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t smell anything.¡± Tess said. ¡°Well, anything out of what I would expect, anyway.¡±


    Dungeons: Oh, you¡¯re probably sensing the excess Mana the out of control dungeon is producing.


    Maven: Now that I focus on it, it does seem familiar. Kind of like¡­actually, it almost reminds me of Tess, in a weird way.


    Tess: What? Why me?


    Maven: I don¡¯t know.


    Fortune: I do! We literally just repurposed most of the mini-dungeon systems when we made Monster Breeder. So, Tess shares a lot of similarities with dungeons. I¡¯m kind of surprised you can pick up on that, though, I would have thought it was more¡­subtle


    Maven: I didn¡¯t until I was focusing more on the sensation. But I suppose that means there is a dungeon down in this canyon?


    Dungeons: Yes. Want to know exactly where it is?


    Maven: I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find it. If we have too much trouble, then you can say.


    Dungeons: Got it


    ¡°It would seem that I am sensing dungeon Mana.¡± Maven said. ¡°Specifically, that of an out of control dungeon.¡±


    Jin nodded. ¡°Thought it might be something like that.¡± He said. ¡°Any idea which direction we should be heading?¡±


    Maven paused, then shook her head. ¡°No. We¡¯ll need to walk around a bit more so I can feel out which direction the Mana seems thicker in.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll just head to our right, then.¡± Jin said. ¡°Tess, I need you to keep a very careful eye out for monsters. Now that we know for sure there¡¯s an out of control dungeon in here, we¡¯re going to have to be extra cautious.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Tess said. ¡°Will we be using the same formation we were up above?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll grab the front, and Jin and Ker will take the back.¡± Alice replied. ¡°It¡¯s a lot easier to keep guard now that we don¡¯t have to worry as much about attacks from all sides. Sure, something can and likely will come crawling down the ravine walls, but those monsters are gonna be a lot rarer than monsters that just walk the canyon like we are now. Tess, you stay right behind me, since you¡¯re the least likely of you three to get targeted, and that¡¯s technically the weakest spot of this formation. Maven and Ellie, you just stick close to Ker and Jin, they¡¯ll make sure you don¡¯t get hurt.¡±


    ¡°You two make sure to keep an eye above us as well.¡± Ker said. ¡°If something does come crawling down the canyon walls, then it would be good to have your eyes on it.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Ellie said confidently. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get too comfortable.¡± Maven said quietly. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve seen how bad an out of control dungeon can get.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a few monsters, right?¡± Ellie asked. ¡°Is it really that bad?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really that bad.¡± Ker confirmed. ¡°There¡¯s a reason we make sure to never let dungeons get out of control if we can help it.¡±


    Maven: In particularly dire cases, the number of monsters can approach that of some of the rooms in the savage dungeon we¡¯re working on. I do not believe this particular case is that bad, but we have no way of knowing for sure as of yet.


    Fortune: Well, unless you ask us, but you¡¯ve already made your stance on that clear soooo


    Ignoring Fortune, Maven turned to Jin. ¡°Are you absolutely sure we should be doing this?¡± She asked. ¡°Surely it would be prudent to inform the Guildm ¨C¡±


    Dungeons: Were he here, he would probably want me to remind you to call him ¡°Gramps¡±


    ¡°To inform Gramps of the situation, and have a larger expedition sent out?¡±


    Jin frowned. ¡°To be honest, no, I¡¯m not totally sure we should be doing this. However, we don¡¯t exactly have proof that isn¡¯t strictly confidential. If we bring a report like that back, people will want to know what kind of monsters to expect and a rough location of the dungeon. Right now, we don¡¯t have any information on the monsters, and people are going to ask questions.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but surely Gramps could come up with some pretense.¡± Maven argued. ¡°People don¡¯t have to know there¡¯s a dungeon here.¡±


    ¡°If we were a normal party, we wouldn¡¯t have this knowledge, and didn¡¯t you want to act like a normal party?¡± Alice asked. ¡°A normal party would proceed cautiously, and only report back once they caught wind of something weird going on. If things get bad, we¡¯ll just leg it out of here, no sweat. I mean, what, worst-case scenario you three go into Descent and run away, the three of us die, and you go get the Guildmaster to send a rescue mission? Yeah, dying¡¯s unpleasant, but it¡¯s not like the three of us haven¡¯t died before. We¡¯ll live.¡±


    Tess snorted. ¡°I don¡¯t think you will. Dying kind of by definition means you¡¯re not living.¡±


    ¡°You know what I mean.¡± Alice said, giving Tess a playful swat to the arm. ¡°It¡¯s an unpleasant situation, yes, but not one that we won¡¯t come back from.¡±


    ¡°I¡­suppose.¡± Maven said. ¡°Let us proceed, then.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ker assured her. ¡°Freelancing is never without risk, and as far as risks go this is pretty safe. If we thought we were likely to die in this venture, we wouldn¡¯t be trying it.¡±


    ¡°We really should be going, though.¡± Jin said. ¡°It isn¡¯t good to linger. Maven, let us know if you think we¡¯re going the right direction, okay?¡±


    They got themselves into formation and began to carefully pick their way through the canyon. There was an air of¡­tension that wasn¡¯t really present in their walk through the hills, a sense that something could go wrong at any moment. So it was that, when Maven spoke up roughly five minutes later, Tess jumped, the sudden noise alarming her.


    ¡°I am pretty sure we are getting further away from the dungeon.¡± Maven said. ¡°I think we should turn around.¡±


    Jin nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡± He said. ¡°We¡¯ll do that. Everyone, swap positions.¡±


    There was a somewhat awkward shuffle as everyone rearranged themselves, and then began to go back the way they had come. This time, however, it wasn¡¯t as uneventful; after just a few minutes of walking, Tess picked something up on the edge of her tremorsense.


    ¡°There¡¯s something around the bend.¡± She reported. ¡°It feels like¡­a boulder of some sort? But it¡¯s moving, so I don¡¯t think it is?¡± She frowned, focusing more on the object. ¡°That¡¯s very strange. Its bottom sort of¡­merges with the ground, and there¡¯s something weird under the ground but it¡¯s like¡­superimposed over the ground that¡¯s already there so I can¡¯t get a good grip on what it actually is.¡±


    ¡°How fast is it?¡± Alice asked, drawing her sword.


    ¡°Not very.¡± Tess replied. ¡°If we sit here, it¡¯ll come into view in maybe three minutes?¡±


    ¡°Plenty of time to prepare, then.¡± Alice mused. ¡°If it¡¯s lugging a boulder around with it, then it likely has high Defense and HP, Magic Defense is iffy, and it probably relies more on surprise than anything for dealing damage. That, or it¡¯s not a predator and is using the boulder as¡­cover? I can¡¯t imagine what it would gain from having that boulder in the first place, though, rather than just staying underground. Either way, it¡¯s probably best to try and shatter the boulder with magic and see if we can¡¯t force it out of the ground.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure the boulder is normal?¡± Jin asked. ¡°There might be something to do with it that would give us a clue.¡±


    Tess shrugged. ¡°To be honest, I can¡¯t really tell from here. Tremorsense is a bit weird that way; it really only lets me know if something is a solid, a liquid, or a gas, and that¡¯s about it. The boulder doesn¡¯t seem to be a shell or anything, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re wondering, it¡¯s solid all the way through. If there was meat in there, I¡¯d probably be able to see some sort of liquid for the blood, but that¡¯s not the case.¡±


    Alice opened her mouth to say something, then shook her head, apparently thinking better of it. ¡°Well, any of you that have spells, get them ready, and Tess, let us know when it¡¯s about to come into view. We¡¯ll hit it all at once.¡±


    ¡°Us too?¡± Maven asked nervously.


    ¡°You too.¡± Alice confirmed. ¡°No reason for you not to take part in this, if it¡¯s just spellslinging from afar.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­should I?¡± Tess ventured. ¡°My spells are kind of¡­lackluster right now.¡±


    Fortune: Give it time, we¡¯re still working through unarmed stuff. Once we¡¯re done there, we¡¯ll work on getting your magic up to snuff


    ¡°Nah, no use wasting your Mana. You just focus on it and let us know if it does anything strange. To be honest, having Ellie and Maven help is probably overkill, but¡­well, might as well, I guess.¡± Alice replied.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Tess said. ¡°I can do that.¡±


    So, they waited. Ellie, Maven, Ker, and Jin all readied spells, while Tess watched the monster limp ever closer to the bend. A couple minutes later, it was about to enter line of sight, so Tess warned the others and watched as it finally rounded the bend.


    Maven let her spell fly first, a lance of fire spearing out and barely hitting the edge of the boulder as it inched into view. There was a brief pause, and then the boulder sped up, its ponderous passage turning into something more akin to a person¡¯s walking pace as it accelerated towards the group.


    Ker, Jin, and Ellie released their spells the moment the monster was in full view. Ellie¡¯s bolt of lightning hit first, followed closely by Ker¡¯s arrow of light and Jin¡¯s spear of ice. There was a resounding boom, and the boulder cracked, then split along the middle.


    The earth beneath them trembled ever so slightly as some sort of birdlike monster popped out of the ground, the remnants of the boulder trembling as they attempted to flow onto the creature¡¯s wings. Only one of the halves of the boulder was able to attach itself to the monster, but even that was enough to fully coat the creature¡¯s wings. It moved to cross its wings in front of its head, but Alice was faster, having thrown her sword the moment the thing had popped out of the earth.


    It struck the monster dead in the eyes, the monster¡¯s wings coming together a fraction too late to stop the sword. It wobbled in place for a moment, and then was struck by a pillar of light descending from above. It screeched in pain and then, finally, keeled over, dead.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go fetch the corpse.¡± Jin said. ¡°The rest of you, get ready to move. We¡¯re hightailing it out of here.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Ellie said, taken aback. ¡°But we just killed it, and we¡¯re nowhere near our limit!¡±


    ¡°I said move.¡± Jin replied calmly. ¡°Ker will explain on the way.¡± He chanted a brief spell, then blinked out of existence, reappearing next to the monster¡¯s corpse.


    ¡°Are we taking the normal path out of here or are we flying up?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°Flying.¡± Alice said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a large metallic box with straps on, taking a moment to shrug the straps over her shoulder. ¡°Anti-gravity device.¡± She explained. ¡°Runs on cores, so it can be expensive to use for extended periods of time. Ellie, stop gawking and make your platform thing. As soon as you¡¯re ready, we¡¯re leaving.¡±


    The Swords of Death made themselves into that platform Ellie used for flight, and she stepped on. ¡°Fine, ready. So, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°We made too much noise.¡± Ker explained, pushing a button on his anti-gravity device and beginning to float upwards. ¡°Given how little we know about the area, it¡¯s entirely possible that every predator and scavenger within miles is on its way to our location. We don¡¯t want to stick around.¡±


    Tess enabled the Attribute that gave her wings, flexed them briefly, then took off into the sky, followed closely by Maven. After a moment Tess slowed, realizing that she and Maven were ascending much faster than the other four. She briefly considered stopping her flight and instead walking up the wall of the canyon with Spiderclimb, but decided against it; Maven wasn¡¯t going to have that luxury, and if something was waiting for them up top, Tess would prefer someone was there to help Maven.


    Fortunately, that wasn¡¯t the case, and everyone was able to safely ascend. ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s head back towards base camp.¡± Jin said. ¡°We¡¯ll report our discovery, and rest the night in safety. We¡¯ll talk more about this incident once we¡¯re safe, alright?¡±


    Everyone nodded, and began their trek back towards the expedition¡¯s encampment. It was not the outcome they had hoped for, but at least they had found something.


    Fighterman481


    The whole Monster Breeder/mini-dungeon similarity was something I had in the back of my mind since almost the inception of this story, and I never had a good place to put that tidbit. I figured that this was as good a place to put it as I was going to get.


    That aside, I actually planned for this chapter to go differently. In my mind, there was going to be some major wrench thrown in the works; they were going to encounter some huge swarm of monsters or other freelancers being chased by them or something, but as I wrote it just really wasn''t happening.


    In fact, Maven almost talked me out of having them down there in the canyon at all. Which is a bit of a weird thing to say, but my writing is generally so...spontaneous that most of the minutiae of situations (such as exact dialogue) is done on the fly. And, when writing the wariness over an out of control dungeon, I almost decided it would make more sense to have them leave the canyon altogether after confirming the presence of an out of control dungeon.


    But I ended up having them press forward anyway, and I was going to have them run into trouble next chapter, but I decided they needed to see more "wildlife" than they would otherwise, and had them run into a monster, when then prompted the need to flee.


    And I decided it would be cool to have this scene where they have to run back up the path they came in on whilst avoiding monsters, but then I realized I was thinking along the lines of what a normal person without access to magic or expensive magic tools would have to do, and it made more sense to just fly out.


    And, since I try to have the characters exhibit common sense when appropriate, this is what we ended up with. Anyway, next time we''re probably gonna meet back up with Gramps, and then...maybe something else? So, uh, look forward to it, I guess?


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 83: Retreat

    The next hour or so was tense, but, finally, Jin broke the silence. ¡°We should be in the clear now.¡± He said. ¡°We¡¯re almost to the expedition¡¯s camp.¡±


    ¡°Already?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Well, I mean, I guess we weren¡¯t going slow, but I thought for sure it¡¯d take longer.¡±


    ¡°It should be about ten more minutes.¡± Jin said. ¡°Now, Ellie, Maven, I assume you¡¯ve already figured out what your mistakes were. Let¡¯s start with you, Maven.¡±


    ¡°I was too early.¡± Maven said. ¡°And it threw everyone else¡¯s timing off.¡±


    ¡°Correct.¡± Jin said. ¡°This isn¡¯t a huge mistake, but keep in mind that it¡¯s generally better to wait for your hardest hitter to attack before you let fly. Their attacks may well break your opponent¡¯s armor, and allow you to be more effective. There are situations in which this isn¡¯t the case, but if you¡¯re just dealing damage and not applying debuffs or status effects, most of the time you want to wait. Now, Ellie, how about you?¡±


    ¡®It¡¯s¡­because I made too much noise, right?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Yes. While lightning magic does deal a lot of damage, it also is highly visible and incredibly loud. This is less likely to be an issue in a standard dungeon environment, as monsters are more likely to be stuck in one location, but in an open area where there are probably hundreds of monsters nearby, it¡¯s not wise to do so.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Ellie said. ¡°It won¡¯t happen again.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s all I can really ask for.¡± Jin said. ¡°Remember that it¡¯s normal to make mistakes, and that there is no shame in it unless you repeat your mistakes.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything I should make note of?¡± Tess asked.


    Jin shrugged. ¡°Not really. For better or for worse, you didn¡¯t really have an opportunity to make a mistake. You informed us of any approaching threats, and that¡¯s about as much as we could have asked of you.¡±


    Tess wasn¡¯t exactly sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, she had done her job flawlessly. On the other¡­Jin had basically said that she had been useless otherwise. She knew logically that it made sense, that her magic simply wasn¡¯t suited to cracking the sort of defenses that monster had, but it was one thing to know a fact or even to say it herself, but it was something entirely different when someone else said it. It was a petty emotion, and one that made Tess feel a little guilty, but¡­there wasn¡¯t a lot she could do about it, other than tell herself to get over it.


    ¡°Jin, phrasing.¡± Alice said sharply, shooting him a glare. ¡°We very well could have asked her to do more, but that would have been too dangerous when we¡¯re supposed to be protecting her.¡±


    Jin blinked. ¡°Sorry. I thought that didn¡¯t need to be said. Yes, obviously, we could have asked more from all of them, but we had to limit it to only things that wouldn¡¯t put them in unnecessary risk.¡±


    ¡°I mean, Target of Affection makes attacking monsters pretty safe for me, right?¡± Tess said. ¡°I can be helping, I think.¡±


    ¡°Not exactly.¡± Ker said, shaking his head. ¡°You¡¯ve only tested that Skill on dungeon monsters. Monsters in the wild act differently, more¡­¡± he paused, face wrinkling as he looked for a word, ¡°real. It¡¯s highly likely that Target of Affection doesn¡¯t work the way we¡¯re used to. Then again, it is Phantasmal, so we could be being overly cautious, but¡­better safe than sorry.¡±


    Dungeons: This is because all monsters are, to some extent, puppets of the system. Even the ones that seem to have language and intelligence are just given a bit more attention by the system. Dungeon monsters in particular are almost entirely driven by the system to prevent them from killing each other or going where they¡¯re not supposed to. It is highly likely that Target of Affection simply hijacks this mechanism to do its work.


    Tess: So¡­would it work on monsters outside of a dungeon?


    Dungeons: Sort of. Outside of dungeons, the system mainly provides increased aggression and faux intelligence to monsters, and lets instincts handle the rest. You wouldn¡¯t be affected by any of the increased aggression they have, but they would still react as a normal animal would. Still, they¡¯ll probably target others before you if they have a choice.


    ¡°The gods say they won¡¯t be as aggressive as normal, but Target of Affection won¡¯t completely prevent things the way it does in dungeons.¡± Tess said.


    ¡°Then we made the right call.¡± Ker said firmly. ¡°We had no information on that monster, and there was no telling what it could have done to you. You¡¯re a close-combat specialist, and it would be silly if we expected you to keep up with the mages in magic. Just because you can use any magic, doesn¡¯t mean you necessarily should.¡±


    Fortune: Yet.


    With that, the conversation sort of fizzled, and there was a silence as they continued their march towards the camp. This continued until they crested a hill and the camp came into view, which was immediately followed by a buzzing from Tess and Ellie¡¯s phones. Tess pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked it to find that it was a text from Gramps, instructing them to come meet him in the largest tent once they returned.


    ¡°Gramps wants us to go meet with him when we¡¯re back.¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not keep him waiting, then.¡± Jin said. ¡°Where does he want us to go?¡±


    ¡°The biggest tent.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Don¡¯t know where that is, though.¡±


    ¡°Probably near the center.¡± Alice said. ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll see it when we¡¯re close.¡±


    And see it they did; tent was, perhaps, an understatement. It was more akin to a small warehouse than it was to a tent. The walls were made of compacted earth raised to a height of five or six meters, and the only tentlike part about it was the cloth that acted as a roof. Tess could also make out large piles of wood and stone that people were hauling about and using to reinforce those walls.


    ¡°It doubles as a fort.¡± Gramps chuckled, stepping out from behind a nearby tent and clapping Ellie on the shoulder. ¡°In the future, this will become a semi-permanent base of operations for anyone wanting to do anything in this region, so we don¡¯t like to take half-measures with it. So, how¡¯d it go?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­well, I think?¡± Ellie said. ¡°I¡¯m not totally sure.¡±


    ¡°It went about as well as we could have expected, Guildmaster.¡± Jin said. ¡°There were no major incidents, and we were able to find something, at least.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Walk with me, if you would.¡± He began walking off down the path between the tents, making some motions with his hands as he did.


    Tess hurried to follow, and once everyone had more or less caught up, Gramps began to speak again. ¡°I¡¯ve taken the liberty of warding our conversation from outside observers. Please, feel free to speak freely on any confidential topics you wish.¡±


    ¡°We found a canyon, and upon our entrance, I detected the Mana of a dungeon in the area.¡± Maven said. ¡°But we had to leave early, as we made too much commotion while down there.¡±


    ¡°We charted our route with a mapping orb.¡± Alice volunteered. ¡°Do you want it, or should we put it through the normal channels?¡±


    ¡°I can take it now.¡± Gramps replied. ¡°Where is it?¡±


    ¡°Uh, gimme a second here¡­¡± Tess said, reaching into one of her pockets and pulling out the orb. ¡°Here you go.¡±


    Gramps took the orb and deftly placed it into his own bag. ¡°Thank you. Did the wildlife give you any trouble?¡±


    ¡°Nothing we couldn¡¯t handle.¡± Jin said. ¡°We got into a few fights, but we didn¡¯t encounter anything over level fifty or sixty. We¡¯ve dismantled some of the corpses so we could teach the kids how to dismantle them, but we¡¯ve kept the rest in the same condition they were in when they died.¡±


    Gramps smiled. ¡°Excellent work, as usual. Please, fill me in on the rest as we walk.¡±


    So, they did. As Gramps led them into the under construction fortress, they took turns telling him about the terrain they had walked through, the monsters they had found, and any other little detail that popped into their mind.


    Much of it was able to be condensed to ¡°there were a lot of empty hills¡±, so by the time Gramps had brought them to a large office-like room, they had gone through most of their story. As they reached the door, Gramps turned around and gave The Rumors a small smile.


    ¡°Thank you for seeing the kids through this first day.¡± He said. ¡°Unfortunately, the rest of your exploration will have to wait until tomorrow. Expeditions are even busier work for Appointed than they are for regular people, and I¡¯m afraid that goes for these three as well. Please, go take a well-deserved break, and I¡¯ll have them back to you in the morning, alright?¡±


    Jin nodded. ¡°We understand, Guildmaster. Take care.¡±


    Gramps ushered the three younger girls into the room, where they found the rest of Gramps¡¯s party, and, strangely enough, Rachel, sitting around a table waiting for them.


    ¡°You¡¯re on the expedition?¡± Tess asked Rachel. ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t a freelancer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not, and I¡¯m not on the expedition.¡± Rachel said. ¡°I just popped by for this meeting.¡±


    ¡°You just¡­popped by, to a place that¡¯s thousands of miles away from any sort of civilization.¡± Maven said flatly.


    ¡°Get used to it.¡± Eyfura said, smirking. ¡°The normal rules don¡¯t really apply to Appointed. You yourself just ¡°popped by¡± to visit your parents, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I¡­did not think of it that way.¡± Maven admitted.


    ¡°Anyway, we have to get down to business.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°Has Evan explained why we¡¯re here yet?¡±


    ¡°Sort of.¡± Ellie said, taking a seat at the table. ¡°Something about it being a busy time for Appointed?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. The guild is something of a peacekeeping force in a lot of places, and most of its high profile members tend to join these expeditions.¡± Eyfura explained. ¡°So there tend to be a lot of opportunistic people who think an expedition is a perfect time to do bad stuff.¡±


    ¡°We leave enough people behind to deal with petty criminals.¡± Gramps added. ¡°But that¡¯s not why we¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°It¡¯s frankly not worth our time to go after every second rate thief. We¡¯re more worried about the big fish that are going to make their move.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t expect you three to be dealing with anything unless it¡¯s directly related to your gods¡¯ domains, and even then, you¡¯ll have our backup.¡± Ava said. ¡°And, in Maven¡¯s case, that¡¯s not even likely to be an issue at all. Even if it was, she hasn¡¯t debuted yet, so she¡¯d basically only be coming along as an understudy.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°So, we wanted to hold this little meeting so we can lay out the ¡°usual suspects¡± for you three, and give you an idea of what kinds of things we¡¯re keeping our eyes on. Atum?¡±


    Atum nodded. ¡°So, first on our list, as it¡¯s more directly related to you three, is the head of Fortune¡¯s church. Though¡­perhaps it would be better to leave that one to Fortune to explain.¡±


    Fortune: Right, so, her. She¡¯s like¡­well, she¡¯s always been rotten, but not rotten enough to actually warrant getting her removed. Without an Appointed to be my mouthpiece, it was a lot harder to get rid of high profile people in my church so long as didn¡¯t do anything too bad. Evan¡¯s purges helped cleanse the lower ranks, and keep them from becoming too¡­fetid, but I had to keep the top brass in line myself with threats.


    Fortune: The head, a woman by the name of Olga, has been annoying, because she¡¯s been very careful in pushing the line, so she never was quite worth removing, but was always just that little bit frustrating. She¡¯s been preparing for some time now to make a getaway, but we¡¯ve been putting off actually dealing with her so you can get stronger. She may be somewhat out of practice, but she¡¯s still level 60 or 70 and it would certainly be convenient if you were strong enough to deal with her without having to resort to Descent.


    Fortune: But now seems like a pretty good time to make a getaway, so we¡¯re betting she¡¯s going to try something. If she doesn¡¯t, perfect, we¡¯ll wait and bring justice to her on our schedule. If she does¡­then you¡¯re stepping in.


    Fortune: That¡¯s all from me, so please let them know they can continue.


    ¡°Fortune¡¯s done explaining, she says to continue.¡± Tess said.


    ¡°Perfect. So, her aside, the next on our watchlist is the Principality of Orellia.¡± Atum continued.


    Maven made a face. ¡°I¡¯m not surprised.¡± She muttered.


    ¡°Do you have history with them?¡± Tess asked curiously.


    ¡°The country is one of Paumen¡¯s neighbors, and is particularly aggressive.¡± Maven explained. ¡°Dealing with them has never been enjoyable.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Atum said. ¡°And they keep trying to claim land other people own, be it from surrounding nations, small settlements in the Outlands, or even the City itself. As of late, they seem to have realized that expeditions really aren¡¯t better than other times to make blatant power grabs, and they¡¯ve been relatively quiet. Still, we don¡¯t fully trust them yet.¡±


    Atum continued listing more people or organizations that the Appointed were keeping track of, explaining a bit about each. The list ran the gamut from individuals to countries, but more often than not consisted of smallish groups, such as crime families. Maven seemed to be familiar with many of the names presented, but even she didn¡¯t know all of them.


    Finally, when Atum finished, Rachel began to speak. ¡°You don¡¯t actually have to do most of the watching, in these cases.¡± She said. ¡°Especially since you¡¯re busy out here. Generally speaking, your gods will be in charge of determining when these people are about to commit a severe enough infraction to warrant your intervention. Still, it¡¯s good to do your own research on these entities so you have some familiarity with the subject if it comes up.¡±


    ¡°How often do we get called in, on average?¡± Ellie asked.


    ¡°Usually only once or twice per expedition.¡± Rachel said. ¡°Sometimes more, sometimes less. Currently, we¡¯re guessing only the head of Fortune¡¯s church and maybe one other group will make their move, so it should be relatively quiet. But people are people, and may change plans, so we cannot say for sure what will happen.¡±


    She reached down into a pocket, then pulled out a parcel larger than the pocket, which she slid down the table to Maven. ¡°But enough of that. I actually dropped by today because I finished your clothes, and wanted to hand them over in person. I just figured I¡¯d join this meeting as something of a social activity.¡±


    ¡°Already?¡± Maven asked, picking the parcel up. ¡°I¡¯m impressed.¡±


    ¡°I work fast.¡± Rachel said, smiling. ¡°Do let me know if anything isn¡¯t fitting quite right, I¡¯ll be more than happy to resize it for you.¡±


    ¡°I will, thank you.¡± Maven said, stowing the parcel away in her bag. ¡°Did you get the payment?¡±


    ¡°Sure did!¡± Rachel said happily. ¡°Let me know if you have anything else you need made!¡±


    ¡°I¡­will, thank you.¡± Maven said.


    ¡°Now¡­¡± Rachel said, reaching once again into the pocket that must have been some sort of bag, ¡°I brought some food. Care to eat?¡±


    Fighterman481


    Anyway, next time we''re going to probably return to the canyon, so...look forward to it, I guess?


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 84: An Unexpected Burden

    The group shared a pleasant meal, after which the three young girls were shown to back of the bottom floor of the fort. ¡°These are the baths.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Well, baths and showers, but mostly baths; there are a fair few species for whom showering doesn¡¯t really work very well, and everyone can bathe. Regardless of how they do it, though, everyone feels better after getting cleaned up, so we make a point of setting these up early. Anyway, I have to get back to guild business now, just head back up to the meeting room once you¡¯re finished.¡±


    He gave them a wave and headed back into the fort proper, leaving the girls¡­not alone, even now the place was too busy to be truly alone, but without the company of anyone they knew.


    ¡°Shall we, then?¡± Maven said, motioning towards the side marked ¡°women¡¯s¡±.


    ¡°Are¡­you sure you¡¯re alright with me being there?¡± Tess asked in a small voice. ¡°Since, you know¡­¡±


    Maven frowned. ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit weird?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°No?¡± Maven said, as if it were obvious. ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re just trying to peep or anything. Your general situation is a lot more common than you would think, no one here thinks twice about it. If it really bothers you, just take a quick shower and then head back up.¡±


    ¡°I might.¡± Tess admitted. ¡°I haven¡¯t really done something like this before.¡±


    ¡°You got changed for gym in the girl¡¯s locker room, though.¡± Ellie argued.


    ¡°That was different. I just kept my head down and got out of there as quick as possible.¡± Tess replied. ¡°It wasn¡¯t like¡­an extended trip or anything.¡±


    Understanding dawned on Maven¡¯s face. ¡°I think you¡¯re misunderstanding what this is going to be like.¡± She said. ¡°This is not like a hot spring or something, we¡¯re not going to be sitting and relaxing. We¡¯re going to get in, clean up, and get out. It would be rude to take up a bath for an extended period of time when so many other people are going to be using them.¡±


    Fortune: There are over a dozen baths, six of which are in use. If you all cram in one bath, and they¡¯re plenty big enough for that, you could probably get away with chilling in one for a bit. I¡¯d even tell you when it looks like things are getting crowded and there¡¯s a wait


    Maven: I¡­see. I suppose many people would be out exploring at the moment, but I doubt ¡°cramming in one bath¡± would be an enjoyable experience.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just be quick about it.¡± Tess said. ¡°You two can take your time if you want.¡±


    ¡°I also intend to be fast.¡± Maven said. ¡°No point in lingering.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not gonna be the only one there, so I¡¯ll just hurry too.¡± Ellie said.


    ¡°That settles it.¡± Maven said firmly. ¡°Let us go.¡±


    Maven half towed, half lead the other two girls into the changing rooms, which were¡­remarkably similar to locker rooms Tess had seen in gyms or rec centers. The most obvious difference was the absence of lockers or any other furniture, followed by the general¡­roughness of it; the room¡¯s floor was made of some sort of smooth-ish stone, and the walls were of the same compacted earth as the outer walls.


    So, in a sense, it really wasn¡¯t much like locker rooms she had seen, but she could definitely tell that was what they were going to be. Already stalls to change in were set up, with earthen walls and curtains for doors, and there were piles of material that were undoubtedly for lockers.


    Standing incongruously next to this rough changing room was a much more finished area that was clearly for the baths and showers; there were the several small stone rooms labeled ¡°bath¡± or ¡°shower¡±, a few large bins labeled ¡°clean towels¡± or ¡°dirty towels¡±, and the general sound of water coming from that direction.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to use one of the showers.¡± Maven said, already walking towards the showers. ¡°I¡¯ll meet you two back up at the meeting room.¡±


    ¡°Me too, I guess.¡± Tess said. She followed Maven¡¯s lead, grabbing a towel, taking one of the free showers and quickly disrobing. Unfortunately, there weren¡¯t any lockers, and as her clothes were her bag, she didn¡¯t have a bag to put them in. Fortunately, there was a platform just above her where she could place her clothes, out of reach of the stream of water.


    As Tess took some shampoo and conditioner out of her clothes and stored them away, Silky worriedly scuttled about on the floor. What should I do? She asked. Should I wait outside like normal?


    No. Tess replied. It would be bad if someone saw you. Just wait on top of my clothes, alright?


    Got it. Silky replied, hurrying up the wall before pointedly turning away from Tess.


    Tess turned to the wall containing the showerhead, scanning it up and down for controls. She quickly found a set of magic sigils glowing on the wall, and after some fiddling was able to get the shower to a¡­more or less comfortable warmth.


    She turned off her fox features and began to get herself clean. Animal ears and tails were generally a pain to wash and turning them off and back on cleaned them up anyway, so she tried to avoid showering or bathing with them whenever possible.


    After a quick shower, she reached for the towel, then hesitated. She hadn¡¯t actually tried before, having mostly showered on Mael, where she tried not to use magic too much, but¡­yes, a quick test showed that flicking Phoenix Fire on and off neatly evaporated any trace of water on her, leaving her bone dry.


    She hurriedly dressed herself, turned her fox features back on, left the shower, tossed the towel in one of the dirty towel bins since it had been on the floor, then headed back up to the meeting room. She was the first of the three younger girls to make it back, so she sat down and began to chat with Eyfura, Ava, and Atum.


    The rest of her party arrived shortly after, and everyone just relaxed and enjoyed each other¡¯s company. Or, they did until Gramps showed back up, a serious expression on his face. ¡°Ava, Atum, Eyfura, we¡¯re heading out.¡± He said. ¡°We have to go recover some bodies.¡±


    Atum grimaced, standing up. ¡°Fun.¡± He said sarcastically. ¡°You three go find The Rumors. We¡¯re going to be a while.¡±


    Life: They are currently waiting for food in the general line. You should be able to locate them without too much trouble.


    Tess: Thanks, Life


    Life: You are welcome.


    As Tess and her party said their goodbyes, Eyfura heaved a sigh and walked over to them. ¡°I really hate to do this to you after¡­everything, but could you three watch Ilmir for me while I¡¯m gone? You don¡¯t have to take her anywhere if you don¡¯t want to, but just¡­I don¡¯t know, she¡¯s mellowed out significantly since beginning therapy, but I¡¯m still worried she¡¯ll do something stupid and get herself killed.¡±


    Ellie grimaced. ¡°It¡¯s not an ideal situation, but I¡¯m going to vote whatever Tess votes. She¡¯s the one Ilmir was beefing with, after all.¡±


    ¡°I, likewise, will defer judgement.¡± Maven said. ¡°It is not really my place to weigh in on this.¡±


    Tess gave a sigh of her own. Like Ellie said, it wasn¡¯t ideal, but Tess was willing to put her past issues with Ilmir aside for the moment. ¡°Yeah, I think we can handle that.¡± She said after a moment. ¡°Just¡­don¡¯t expect it to be a more permanent arrangement.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Eyfura said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting to have something go wrong so soon. I was going to send her on one of the supervised expeditions, but they don¡¯t start until tomorrow. It won¡¯t happen again. Will you three wait here while I go fetch her?¡±


    ¡°That is acceptable.¡± Maven said. ¡°I will try and contact Jin while you do.¡± She pulled out her phone and began typing up a message on it.


    ¡°Thanks, guys.¡± Eyfura responded, flashing them a shaky smile. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a bit.¡±


    As she left, Ellie turned to Tess. ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s someone else that could handle this here.¡±


    ¡°Time is probably of the essence.¡± Tess said. ¡°And if Ilmir really has mellowed out, then it shouldn¡¯t even be that bad.¡±


    ¡°After you defeated her, I doubt she would be willing to look down on you as I heard she did before.¡± Maven said, looking up from her phone. ¡°You have proved your strength, and that is generally extremely important to beastkin.¡±


    ¡°Well, whatever the case, we can deal for a day or two.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Not a problem.¡±


    They fell into silence, and a few minutes later the door opened again, revealing a rather nervous-looking Ilmir. ¡°Um¡­hey.¡± She said awkwardly. ¡°Thanks for agreeing to take care of me while Grandma¡¯s away.¡±


    ¡°Just so long as you don¡¯t get up to any of your shenanigans.¡± Ellie said flatly. ¡°If you do, we¡¯ll pass you off to someone else without hesitation.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡­I understand.¡± Ilmir replied. ¡°So, um¡­how are we going to go about this?¡±


    ¡°Jin said he would like us to meet his party at the cafeteria area.¡± Maven said. ¡°I informed him of the situation, so your presence should not come as a surprise.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get going, then.¡± Ellie said. ¡°Might as well get this over with.¡±


    Ignoring Ilmir¡¯s wince, Ellie walked out of the room, and was swiftly followed by the others. They made their way out of the fort and over to the area where food was being served, conveniently marked by a large flag that was taller than anything else around.


    From there, it only took them a couple of minutes to locate Ker; like the flag, he stood head and shoulders above almost everyone else. And, while there were a few other goliaths, they were either grouped together, in which case it was safe to assume none were Ker, or were easily distinguishable from Ker. So, they soon found themselves trotting up to The Rumors, Ilmir in tow.


    ¡°We¡¯ve heard the details.¡± Alice said sourly. ¡°Ilmir, if you so much as step a toe out of line, there are going to be repercussions.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t exactly kick her out.¡± Ker gently reminded Alice. ¡°We are, technically, not the ones watching over her.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say we were going to.¡± Alice said. ¡°I was thinking more along the lines of banning her from my businesses for a year or two.¡±


    Ilmir paled. ¡°T-that won¡¯t be necessary m-ma¡¯am.¡± She stuttered. ¡°I¡¯ve learned my lesson.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you have.¡± Alice said dryly. ¡°So, did Eyfura leave you guys any instructions?¡±


    ¡°She said we don¡¯t have to take Ilmir anywhere if we don¡¯t want to.¡± Ellie relayed. ¡°We just have to watch her until Eyfura gets back.¡±


    ¡°Well, I, for one, am not particularly thrilled about having yet another person to watch out for.¡± Alice said. ¡°We can handle the three of you easily enough, especially since we¡¯re guaranteed that you can get out of danger if it comes down to it, but adding one more seems like more trouble than it¡¯s worth. We can just wait out the day or two it takes for The Titans to get back.¡±


    ¡°Eyfura said she was going to send Ilmir on one of the supervised expeditions, if The Titans have not returned by then, then I think that is our best option.¡± Maven said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go with that, then.¡± Jin said.


    The group fell into an uneasy silence, no one quite sure what to say. This went on for a fair while before, finally, Maven began to ask some questions. They were small things, mostly, such as what Ilmir had been doing for training, or what each of The Rumors¡¯ favorite adventure they had been on was, but they were a welcome reprieve from the awkward silence.


    It was impressive, the way she was able to keep everyone involved in the conversation and keep things from becoming too heavy or awkward. Tess could only assume that was what a lifetime of training for politics taught a person; ways to navigate even the toughest of social situations.


    This was a fact that Tess found herself thankful for on more than one other occasion the rest of the evening. Ilmir was¡­different than she had been before; whereas before she had been exuberant, belligerent, and either rude or near sycophantic, now she was quiet, withdrawn, and polite. It was a drastic change, and one that Tess wasn¡¯t sure could be fully attributed to any amount of therapy.


    She found it hard to believe that someone could change so radically over the course of a few months. Perhaps she was projecting from her own experience in therapy, but she was pretty sure it wasn¡¯t something that could radically change a person like this.


    Fortune: It¡¯s not, usually. This is more a combination of the therapy and you beating her in combat. You¡¯ve sort of directly proved she was wrong before by beating her, and she¡¯s not totally sure how to react


    Death: Are you reading Ilmir¡¯s mind? That seems kind of rude


    Fortune: One, we¡¯re gods, we¡¯re allowed to read minds and be rude. Two, I¡¯m not actually reading her mind, it¡¯s armchair psychology. Tess isn¡¯t as familiar with how beastkin think as most people would be, so I¡¯m helping give that context


    Ellie: What¡¯s this about?


    Life: This is what happens when you send private messages in the general chat. You should probably have kept it between the two of you.


    Fortune: Yeah, but the general chat is more lively. And, Ellie, Tess was thinking about how different Ilmir is


    Maven: Wouldn¡¯t reading Tess¡¯s mind also be considered rude?


    Tess: We just sort of roll with it. It gives us more opportunities to talk like this, and that¡¯s nice


    Fortune: It¡¯s just surface-level thoughts anyway, nothing too private


    ¡°Are Tess, Ellie, and Maven okay?¡± Ilmir asked. ¡°They¡¯ve been staring off into space for a bit.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tess asked, snapping back to attention at the mention of her name. ¡°Sorry, was talking with the gods.¡±


    Ilmir blinked. ¡°You were what?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, you probably don¡¯t know. Um, basically we have a window of communication open with the gods. Like the windows the status bands give, but different. It¡¯s hard to explain.¡±


    Ilmir frowned. ¡°Wait, then¡­¡±


    Death: Wait, she doesn¡¯t know?


    Life: It would not have been pertinent information for her, I presume.


    Dungeons: Well, I suppose it¡¯s fine to tell her. She sorta knows everything else anyway


    ¡°Yes, all three of us are Appointed.¡± Maven said. ¡°I of Dungeons, and Ellie of both Life and Death.¡±


    ¡°I sort of figured Ellie was, but you too?¡± Ilmir asked. ¡°How long?¡±


    ¡°Since the middle of the drive over here.¡± Maven replied. ¡°So, not long at all.¡±


    The topic turned to Appointed and what they did, and that proved a difficult subject. There were many things that even The Rumors and Ilmir, knowledgeable as they were on the identities of Appointed, were not allowed to know, so many questions could only be answered by saying that the answer was classified, or something similar.


    This caused them to swiftly move on from the subject, and time ended up passing quickly. The next morning, the group got confirmation from Eyfura via the gods that sending Ilmir on a supervised excursion was alright, and after seeing her off, they finally were able to head back to the canyon.


    The trip over was much faster than it had been the first time. They didn¡¯t have to slow down for the mapping orb, nor did they worry too much about dealing with the corpses of their kills; they just threw them in a bag and called it good.


    Once they reached the canyon, Jin stopped the group and turned to Maven. ¡°Can you sense the dungeon¡¯s Mana from here?¡± He asked.


    Maven¡¯s face screwed up in concentration. ¡°No.¡± She eventually replied. ¡°Whatever¡¯s causing the environment to change down there must be trapping the Mana.¡±


    ¡°I figured as much.¡± Jin replied. ¡°No point in taking the long way down when we can just go down here, though.¡±


    And so, they geared back up, and began their careful descent, thinking about how this time, they were going to do it right. They would find that dungeon, and they would do it without major incident.


    Fighterman481


    I was going to completely handwave the shower bit, but I figured that surely some people would be curious how that worked in the context of a camp that was still in the process of being set up, and so I decided to write a bit more there.


    Then I was going to jump almost immediately to the canyon, but I realized that Ilmir was kind of left out to dry and then I had to figure out something to do with her and that turned into a whole ordeal in and of itself and by the time I got back to the canyon I had already written enough for a full chapter and I was running low on time so I had to leave it off there.


    So, yeah, it was a bit of an adventure lol. Next time we''ll actually get into the canyon, though, so...look forward to it, I guess?


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 85: Overrun Canyon

    The party traversed through the lush canyon carefully. They made extensive use of Tess¡¯s tremorsense to watch for any monsters, and The Rumors didn¡¯t mess around when they spotted one. Instead of involving the younger girls in the process, The Rumors elected to go full-force and eliminate the monsters as quickly and quietly as possible.


    It was a stark change of pace from anything Tess had really seen from them. Even when they had been speeding through Slime Tower, or any of the other low leveled dungeons, The Rumors had maintained an air of relaxation, an ease that came from being so dramatically overleveled that they were, effectively, invincible.


    And, while they were still easily handling the monsters in the area, Tess could see that they were starting to be at least somewhat challenged. One or two monsters were easy enough for them to handle, sure, but then the monsters started coming in packs of three or four, and then five or six.


    Tess almost felt like she could watch their attitudes change in real time as they proceeded further into the canyon. Their stops became briefer, only enough time for a few terse words to be spoken regarding the direction they were going or asking if there were any monsters up ahead.


    And, increasingly, there were. Just as the size of the groups of monsters got larger, the frequency with which the party encountered them likewise grew. It was almost baffling, in a way; Tess had imagined that monsters, devoid of the system¡¯s pressure to stay in a small area without killing each other, would spread out more, instead of clustering densely around a dungeon.


    She waited expectantly, but for once didn¡¯t get an answer from the gods. They probably didn¡¯t want to distract her in the increasingly tense situation she found herself in, so she decided it was time to follow suit and redoubled her efforts in looking for monsters or other things of interest using her tremorsense.


    Things really started to get hairy when Tess discovered a group of eleven monsters around a bend. Or, rather, group of eleven was perhaps the wrong term; it was more akin to two groups of five and six. They were separated by ten or so feet, and were pacing around each other carefully.


    ¡°I think there¡¯s some sort of fight about to break out ahead of us.¡± Tess whispered. ¡°Six of those lizard-y things and five of the crab things.¡±


    Ker frowned. ¡°Are any of them injured?¡± He whispered back.


    ¡°None are obviously injured, like missing legs or anything, but I can¡¯t tell if they¡¯ve got minor injuries.¡± Tess replied.


    ¡°Are there any ways around it?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°Not if we keep going the way we¡¯re going. I mean, I guess we could go up and then come back down on the other side of them, but that puts us at risk of dropping down onto another group of monsters.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a valid point.¡± Alice said. ¡°What are they doing now?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re just sort of pacing around each other.¡± She paused, focusing on the monsters. ¡°I think the lizards might be getting ready to make a move, though. They keep darting forward like they¡¯re going to attack, so I think they¡¯re testing the waters.¡±


    Alice sighed, turning to Jin. ¡°What do you think?¡± She asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit too chaotic, I don¡¯t like it.¡± He replied. ¡°I think we should wait it out and clean up whatever side remains afterwards. If it was just the three of us, I would say we could probably just rush through it, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Ker said. ¡°Tess, keep us updated on the battle, let us know if it¡¯s moving over here or if it¡¯s almost over.¡±


    ¡°Should I try and pay attention to the rest of our surroundings, too?¡± Tess asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Alice said quickly. ¡°Better to just focus on one thing, so you don¡¯t miss something important. We¡¯ll keep watch over here and make sure we don¡¯t get ambushed.¡±


    Tess nodded and turned her attention back to the monsters. It took less than a minute for the fight to begin in earnest; one of the lizards darted in, but instead of backing away like they always had before, the rest of the lizards joined in too, and things got hectic.


    While tremorsense was superior to vision in many ways, it did not come without its drawbacks. Foremost among those was the fact that she only saw outlines and shapes. Without the ability to tell the material of an object, aside from whether or not it was a solid, she was left to extrapolate details for herself.


    Bodies generally were composed of liquids and solids, so telling if something was living or had once been living was usually easy enough, but that was about as far as she got. When the lizards would go in to bite the crabs, and especially when the lizards would crawl on top of the crabs, the two shapes essentially merged into one big misshapen blob.


    Even so, she was able to tease out a general picture of what was happening. The lizards¡¯ main goal was to get on top of the crabs; the crabs were a fair bit larger than the lizards, so the lizards would use that to their advantage and get in places the crabs had a hard time reaching. Once there, they would do¡­something that she couldn¡¯t quite make out, and, eventually, the crab would either manage to get the lizard off, or would stop moving, and the lizard would move on to another crab.


    The whole fight took perhaps three minutes, ending in the eventual defeat of the crabs, though they did manage to take a lizard out with them. Tess presumed a few of the remaining lizards were injured, as she had seen multiple lizards take blows, but she couldn¡¯t really check their condition with tremorsense, so that was mostly just an assumption.


    ¡°They¡¯re done.¡± She whispered. ¡°Lizards won. There are still five of them, and I think some are injured but I can¡¯t be sure from here.¡±


    ¡°Good enough.¡± Jin said. ¡°You three, these monsters are likely to be even more territorial than normal since they¡¯re still at the site of their kill. We¡¯re going to do our best to keep them from getting to you, but they outnumber the three of us, so it¡¯s very possible one or two might slip through the cracks. If that happens, handle the stragglers yourself. I believe we determined that the lizards are probably safe for you if it¡¯s only one or two of them, yes?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tess said. ¡°They¡¯re nothing special, it¡¯s just the level gap. Shouldn¡¯t be too different from fighting a miniboss or something. They seemed to like testing out their opposition with feints if that last fight was any indicator, so we should probably be able to get the first hit.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Jin said. ¡°We¡¯re going, then.¡±


    Alice cautiously led the group around the bend, where five lizards in varying states of injury were feasting on crab corpses, shells melted and dripping onto the floor below. As they came into view, the lizards whipped around form their meals and began scurrying towards the group, getting into the formation that Tess had seen them use against the crabs.


    Unfortunately for the lizards, probing the space between them and their enemies was a lot less effective when said enemies had ranged attacks. Alice¡¯s sword and a couple of spells slammed into one of the injured lizards, finishing it off rather soundly.


    Realizing that their old plan wouldn¡¯t work, the lizards rushed in and began their attack in earnest. Alice managed to intercept one with her shield, bashing it backwards before it was able to find any purchase to climb over. Jin and Ker each began to cast as quickly as possible, spells that would push the lizards back or freeze them in place while Alice delivered quick strikes of her sword.


    Even so, one of the injured lizards was able to slip past them, skittering up the canyon wall and deftly dodging the spell that had been aimed at it. ¡°You three!¡± Jin barked between spells. ¡°Take care of it!¡±


    Maven immediately began to cast a spell, while Ellie moved to place herself between the lizard and the open flank of The Rumors. For her part, Tess began activating her Skills, then prepared herself. When the lizard came down from the wall, she activated Mad Dash, feeling a strange rush as she suddenly was moving much faster than she had anticipated. She was barely able to get her claws in front of her to impale the monster, the force of her speed carrying the monster forward with her as she stopped barely before impacting the canyon wall.


    Then, You Are Already Dead kicked in, and the monster took the damage.


    You have impaled Canyon Lizard for 2,143 damage!


    (Effects hidden)


    Even with that, it was still alive, flailing wildly as it tried to get off of Tess¡¯s claw. Tess quickly sheathed her claws, pulling away just barely too slow to avoid a blow to the stomach from the lizard¡¯s limbs. The force of it threw her backwards, and even if her fall was cushioned by the lush canyon floor, it still knocked the wind out of her.


    You have been dealt 313 damage by Canyon Lizard!


    And then the Swords of Death and Maven¡¯s spell impacted the creature, and it finally died. Tess shakily got to her feet, and only then remembered the other effect of Monstrous Strength, to dull her pain. She activated it and felt¡­better. She could still tell that the wound was there, but it was in the back of her mind, the kind of thing she would subconsciously tune out the moment she stopped paying attention to it.


    The Swords of Death vanished as Ellie raised a hand and a pulsing green wave washed out from her open palm, traveling across the canyon. Immediately, all pain vanished, and Tess felt less tired than she did before as Breath of Life fully restored both her HP and Stamina.


    Alice jumped as the wave impacted her, clearly not expecting the sudden rush of energy. For the briefest of moments she faltered, but was able to smoothly recover and deliver a blow to the lizard in front of her, neatly chopping off its head. The Rumors had dispatched another lizard while Tess¡¯s party had been focused on their lizard, so that left only one.


    It wasn¡¯t long for this world, however; The Rumors focused in on it, and within a few seconds their combined attacks brought it down. The moment it was, Alice turned to the younger girls. ¡°Is everything alright?¡± She asked worriedly. ¡°I assume that was Ellie¡¯s Blessing, right? Did someone get hurt?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it was me.¡± Tess said, walking over to her. ¡°I impaled the lizard, and it didn¡¯t die, and it hit me while it was trying to get off my claw. I probably shoulda blinked away, but I thought I was going to be fast enough to dodge.¡±


    ¡°We should take a look at it.¡± Alice said. ¡°Where¡¯d it hit you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably fine.¡± Tess protested. ¡°I mean that was literally the best healing on offer, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah, but it¡¯s better safe than sorry.¡± Alice said. ¡°Again, where¡¯d you get hurt?¡±


    Tess sighed and lifted her shirt, poking at her stomach. ¡°Right here.¡± She said. ¡°Feels perfectly fine now.¡±


    Alice bent down, inspecting the area and gently squishing it with her hand. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem to be any bruising. This doesn¡¯t hurt, right?¡±


    ¡°Nope, perfectly fine.¡± Tess said. ¡°We good?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re good.¡± Alice confirmed. ¡°Let¡¯s get those bodies into our bags and keep going.¡±


    ¡°Already done.¡± Jin said. ¡°We took the crabs, too. Maven, we¡¯re still going the right direction, right?¡±


    ¡°I believe so.¡± Maven replied. ¡°I think we are fairly close, too, but I won¡¯t be able to know for sure until I get a feel for how out of control dungeons normally¡­feel.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, we can¡¯t expect you to be perfect on your first try.¡± Ker said comfortingly.


    And so, they carried on, navigating through the twisty mess that was the canyon. Incidents like the one with the lizards became more and more common, until it reached the point where it became common for Tess¡¯s party to pitch in with fights, just to help close the numerical gap between them and the enemies.


    There was a growing sense that they should just call it quits and head back up when they finally found something. Tess was, of course, the first to notice, her tremorsense allowing her to take note of the object before it came into visual range.


    ¡°There¡¯s something ahead, just around the corner.¡± Tess whispered. ¡°Lots of living matter around a hole in the canyon wall. Judging by how stationary it is, I assume it¡¯s plants, and seeing as how there¡¯s a bit of¡­oddness near the hole, I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Jackpot!¡± Alice whispered excitedly. ¡°Any monsters near it?¡±


    ¡°None that I can sense.¡± Tess replied. ¡°Do we need to be worried about being attacked when entering the lobby, or is it safe?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s safe.¡± Alice whispered back. ¡°The out of control part really only means that we can¡¯t access the lodgings or other amenities. The lobbies still function as normal, so once we¡¯re in we should be safe. We can sit pretty while we contact the guild. Heck, we could even set up the hoverer in the lobby and have access to all its facilities while we wait.¡±


    ¡°Better get in fast.¡± Ker said. ¡°We can talk more inside.¡± At that, the group hushed up and hurried around the corner to see, as Tess had assumed, a hole in the canyon wall surrounded by vines.


    ¡°That¡¯s definitely it.¡± Maven said. ¡°I can feel it.¡±


    ¡°Should we make a break for it?¡± Tess asked. ¡°Or should we move cautiously?¡±


    Jin frowned, and then chanted a quick spell. As he finished, a spear of fire flew out from his palm and impacted the vines surrounding the dungeon entrance. They smoldered for a moment, and then the embers went out, the green of the vines rapidly returning to the blackened area where the spell had hit.


    ¡°Good, just vines.¡± Jin said. ¡°You three make a break for it. I¡¯m going to set up a beacon that¡¯ll allow the guild to home in on our position, and Alice and Ker will cover me as I do. You three will be safer inside. It shouldn¡¯t take long, so if we¡¯re not inside after ten minutes, confer with the gods about how you¡¯re going to get out.¡±


    ¡°Will do.¡± Tess said. She turned to the cave, prepared herself briefly, and then activated Mad Dash, immediately running full sprint towards the dungeon entrance. She crossed the hundred or so yards between it and herself in only about five seconds, slowing herself just in time to cross the threshold into the dungeon, emerging into a lobby like any other she had seen in dungeons, though it was more¡­bare.


    ¡°You got that from the savage dungeon¡¯s boss, right?¡± Ellie asked, running in a few seconds later. ¡°How does that feel, speeding up and slowing down so fast? Seems like it¡¯d give you whiplash or throw you off balance or something.¡±


    ¡°Magic, I guess?¡± Tess said, shrugging, then giving a little wave as Maven came in. ¡°Feels normal to me. I imagine the gods didn¡¯t want that boss hurting itself each time it stopped and started moving, so that effect transferred to me, too?¡±


    Fortune: Yeah, what she said. And yes, we were keeping quiet earlier so as not to break your focus. What were you wondering about, again?


    Tess: I think I was wondering why there were so many monsters sticking close to the dungeon instead of spreading out more?


    Dungeons: Ah, The Rumors could have told you that, actually. Even though they¡¯re nominally free from the dungeon, the monsters it created still crave the dungeon¡¯s Mana. This desire wanes the longer they have been outside, but never fully goes away, leading to the behavior you noted


    Ellie: Huh, interesting


    ¡°We¡¯re done.¡± Alice said, walking inside. ¡°Nothing chanced upon us. We¡¯ve contacted the guild, The Titans should be here within an hour.¡±


    Dungeons: If you would like, I can give you the dungeon¡¯s specs and you can figure out if it¡¯s something you all want to attempt, instead of waiting for those four to ¡°officially¡± rate it


    ¡°Dungeons says she can give us the information if we want to attempt it early.¡± Maven said.


    ¡°I¡¯m good for now.¡± Alice replied. ¡°I think I speak for the three of us when I say I need some time to recover before diving into an unknown dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Ker said. ¡°Let¡¯s see how we¡¯re doing in a couple of hours.¡±


    Alice nodded, reached into her bag and pulled out the miniaturized hoverer, then set it up a little ways away from the main group. She opened the door nearest her, and motioned for everyone to get in. ¡°After you.¡±


    Everyone climbed into the hoverer, and Tess breathed an involuntary sigh of relief. Now that she was back in a familiar place, the tension that had filled her in the canyon finally started to fade.


    ¡°See? Told you.¡± Alice said, smirking. ¡°Nothing beats a bit of relaxation after a job well done.¡±


    Fighterman481


    Next time we''re going to...probably meet up with Gramps, decide what to do about the dungeon, and depending on how that goes, some other things, so look forward to ti!


    And, as always, thanks for reading!

 Chapter 86: A Short Break

    As it turned out, Alice¡¯s idea of relaxation was to carefully go over her gear and make sure everything was well-maintained. Ker and Jin on the other hand, simply headed to the back of the hoverer and went to go take a nap. That really just left the three younger girls on their own, trying to figure out what they were going to do with their free time.


    ¡°I have a handheld, we could set it up on the floor and try and get something going.¡± Ellie ventured.


    ¡°A handheld what?¡± Maven asked.


    ¡°Game console. I¡­think I have enough extra controllers in my bag for us all to play.¡±


    ¡°I think I will have to decline.¡± Maven said. ¡°I¡¯m feeling rather tired myself.¡±


    ¡°Well, the back¡¯s always open, if you don¡¯t mind Jin¡¯s snoring.¡± Alice said, looking up from her sword. ¡°Should be plenty of room back there.¡±


    Maven paused for a moment, then nodded and made her way to the back. As she did, Tess turned to Ellie and gave her a smile. ¡°Want to head back to Mael for a bit?¡± She asked. ¡°We can have some¡­alone time.¡±


    ¡°Mael how are we¡­¡± Ellie said. ¡°Oh, right, the door in our hoverer. Yeah, that sounds good to me.¡±


    ¡°Make sure you¡¯re not using fertility boosters.¡± Alice said distractedly, scrubbing hard at a particularly grimy part of her sword.


    ¡°Fertil ¨C we¡¯re both girls!¡± Ellie said, face as red as Tess¡¯s felt. ¡°Those don¡¯t do anything!¡±


    Alice paused, her expression indicating that her brain was catching up with what she had just said. ¡°I keep forgetting you guys are from Mael. Fertility boosters in the wider world most certainly get around the issue of being the same sex. Anyway, you two enjoy, I¡¯ll hit you up if you¡¯re not back before they get here.¡±


    Still blushing, the two exited the hoverer and set up their own on the other end of the room, then climbed in and went through the door leading to Mael. ¡°I¡¯m kind of surprised Alice picked up on that while she was distracted.¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t exactly subtle.¡± Ellie chuckled. ¡°Not that I don¡¯t share your eagerness. It¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve had an opportunity like this. So¡­even if we only have an hour, let¡¯s make the most of it, hm?¡±


    Unfortunately, Tess and Ellie had to cut their fun a little shorter than they would have liked, as Tess¡¯s phone started to ring only forty five minutes later. The two girls hurriedly disengaged, and Tess grabbed her phone.


    After a brief confirmation that it was indeed Alice, Tess answered it. ¡°They¡¯re here already?¡± She asked, panting slightly.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Alice said, voice filled with barely repressed mirth. ¡°Fair warning, I wasn¡¯t getting good signal inside the dungeon, what with it being out of control and all, so I had to go in your hoverer and get into your house. So¡­uh, make sure you¡¯re presentable before you come downstairs.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Alice.¡± Tess said. ¡°See you in a minute.¡±


    ¡°See you in a minute.¡± Alice replied, hanging up the phone.


    ¡°So, Alice is downstairs.¡± Tess said, turning to Ellie. ¡°We should probably try and get a little cleaned up.¡±


    Ellie cast her gaze over to the window, which had its curtains drawn. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to try and cast a quick purification slash healing spell.¡± She said. ¡°I haven¡¯t tried much on Mael, but if I¡¯m willing to spend a fair bit more Mana than usual it should work, right?¡±


    Life: Correct.


    Ellie began chanting a spell, face screwing up in effort as she did. A few moments later, her chant finished, and a soothing sensation washed over Tess. She repeated her spell for herself, then shuffled over to her clothes and began to dress herself. Tess followed suit, and soon the two were heading down the stairs together.


    ¡°Looking good, lovebirds.¡± Alice said, grinning. ¡°But fun time¡¯s over, it¡¯s time to get back to work.¡±


    Tess blushed. ¡°Um, yeah.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s perfectly normal, nothing to be ashamed of.¡± Alice said, clapping Tess on the back. ¡°But let¡¯s not keep the Guildmaster waiting too long, okay?¡± She led the group back through the house and into the dungeon lobby, where Gramps and his party were waiting.


    ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± Gramps asked, giving the girls a huge smile.


    Tess motioned for Ellie to talk while she packed up the hoverer. ¡°Pretty well, I think?¡± Ellie said. ¡°We had to help out towards the end, there were too many monsters for just The Rumors to take on their own.¡±


    ¡°I assumed you might have to.¡± Gramps said. ¡°Was anyone seriously hurt?¡±


    ¡°Tess took a nasty hit towards the end there when she didn¡¯t one hit kill one of the monsters, but we dealt with it.¡± Ellie said. ¡°No lasting damage.¡±


    ¡°Then all¡¯s well.¡± Gramps said, nodding his head. ¡°The four of us are going to run through this dungeon, we¡¯re estimating we¡¯ll be finished in a few hours. If you get enough info to think you¡¯re capable of taking on the dungeon, feel free. Just remember your charges, and don¡¯t go in if you think you can¡¯t handle protecting them, too. If you wish to go through this dungeon by yourselves, please wait until the four of us return, and we will take care of the girls while you go through it once or twice.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll do that, Guildmaster.¡± Jin said. Judging by his disheveled state, he hadn¡¯t taken any time to make himself look nice after his nap ¨C he had just rolled out of bed and called it good. Ker was the same way, but Maven was, at least, a little neater, though remarkably less so than she usually was.


    ¡°Should I ask Dungeons for the information, then?¡± Maven asked.


    ¡°I think so.¡± Jin said. ¡°We can get an idea for how well we¡¯re going to do and make a decision from there.¡±


    Gramps nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll leave you to it, then. We have a dungeon to clear.¡±


    Ava and Eyfura waved at the group as they headed towards the entrance into the dungeon, and Atum gave a thumbs-up. Gramps followed shortly behind, and then they were gone, into the dungeon and out of reach.


    ¡°Woah.¡± Maven said. ¡°That is¡­bizarre.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Alice asked.


    ¡°I just felt something new pop up.¡± Maven replied. ¡°The instance they went into. I think I could take us in if I wanted.¡±


    ¡°Best not to.¡± Ker replied. ¡°We¡¯d just be getting in their way. What¡¯s Dungeons say about this dungeon¡¯s difficulty?¡±


    Dungeons: Mmmm¡­it¡¯s really hard to say. The Rumors could probably handle it on their own, but they also need to protect you three. Were you any other three people, I would say it¡¯s definitely not a good idea, but you¡¯re not any other three people. You and Tess are significantly stronger within a dungeon, and all of the monsters in here save for the boss are going to completely ignore you. And Ellie is way more capable of taking hits than most people around her level.


    Dungeons: Maybe give it a shot and see how you do? Short of just making the monsters do nothing, I would recommend leveraging the full power of your Blessing in this instance, though; that will drastically decrease the risks associated with guarding you three.


    Fortune: She could just order the monsters to not attack her party. They could basically just tag along for the ride while The Rumors do all the heavy lifting, and they would only be at risk of splash damage


    Dungeons: ¡­I should have thought of that myself


    Fortune: You¡¯re not used to instructing someone working with your Blessing, and it¡¯s a very complicated Blessing at that. Besides, that¡¯s what this chat is here for, to help all of us collaborate and learn things together


    Life: Fortune is correct. Together, we are much more efficient than we would be otherwise. I feel that, if this continues to be as productive as it currently is, it will become the new normal for Appointed and gods. Perhaps one day we might even have access to one of these ¡°chatrooms¡± that contains every Appointed and every god, even the ones that do not have Appointed.


    Death: Together we will synergistically increase our core competencies and amplify our unique skillsets and¡­uh¡­I¡¯m running out of buzzwords


    Fortune: Can we work pain points in there somewhere?


    Death: Probably but that¡¯s too much work for a bit


    Life: I do believe The Rumors are waiting.


    Death: You started it


    ¡°The gods say that, were you three alone, you could probably handle this.¡± Maven said. ¡°With the three of us, it becomes much more¡­murky. However, I am capable of ordering the dungeon monsters to ignore just my party, so the only risk from us would be taking damage from area of effect attacks, if that is something you would prefer.¡±


    ¡°You can do that?¡± Alice asked. ¡°I knew you could mess with dungeons, but the monsters too?¡±


    ¡°And the traps.¡± Maven said. ¡°Essentially, any part of a dungeon is mine to control as I wish. The more complex changes such as transforming the dungeon require Mana, but commanding already existing monsters and traps is free.¡±


    Ker whistled softly. ¡°So, you can just walk through dungeons entirely unopposed?¡±


    ¡°If I want to, yes. The Guildm ¨C Gramps has already warned me about doing so, however. He said that it will be useful later, but right now it will just stifle my growth.¡±


    Jin nodded. ¡°Of course. It would essentially be boosting, without the extra step of having a bodyguard fight for you. I would have said much the same if it looked like that was something you were planning on doing any time soon.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s fine for now, though.¡± Alice said. ¡°If the gods think the three of us can safely handle this dungeon, I don¡¯t have a problem with them using that ability to tag along while we do. They¡¯re not going to gain a ton of EXP or anything, so they¡¯re really only getting some extra Skills or Classes, which¡­I mean, they¡¯re probably gonna be stronger than what they normally get around this level, but they¡¯re already using stuff way more unfair than an extra couple of Skills.¡±


    ¡°You just want to get into the dungeon, don¡¯t you?¡± Ker asked, smiling faintly. ¡°But you have a valid point. I don¡¯t see any harm in it for now.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Jin said. ¡°Let¡¯s suit up and be ready to go in¡­let¡¯s say ten minutes. Sound good?¡±


    The dungeon turned out to be rather similar to the canyon in structure, at least for the first few floors. In fact, those floors were a little easier than the canyons; yes, the monsters weren¡¯t fighting amongst themselves like they did in the canyon, but there were fewer monsters overall. That and Maven¡¯s ability to make the dungeon monsters ignore the younger girls made traversing those floors much quicker than their movement through the actual canyon.


    Tess offered to do her usual scouting job, but The Rumors turned her down, saying that they wanted the practice themselves. Tess had nearly forgotten that The Rumors were only tutoring her party because they were in something of a slump and were struggling to breach the barrier between rank nine and rank ten.


    And that got her wondering about ranks and how promotion was usually handled. She had heard the explanation before, but she was, admittedly, getting bored and wanted some conversation, so she decided to ask the gods about it.


    Tess: So, I know it¡¯s been explained in the past, but¡­how does rank and getting promotions work in the guild again?


    Fortune: Why this all of a sudden?


    Tess: I was just thinking about The Rumors and their rank


    Fortune: Well, usually you apply for a promotion and the guild reviews your performance and puts you through some tests. Things are going to get a little wild and whacky for the next bit because of the rank system changes, but that¡¯s the shape of it.


    Tess: So, it¡¯s not automatic?


    Life: Not unless a person or party racks up so many achievements that it would be ridiculous to not promote them.


    Death: What were you wondering about The Rumors? Also, ¡°wild and whacky¡±? Really?


    Fortune: I¡¯m in a whimsical mood


    Tess: I was thinking about how they were in a slump before they started tutoring us, and I was wondering if they would be able to cross over to rank ten now.


    Dungeons: As they are now, I believe they would be capable of passing the tests. While they have not gained levels or even that many Skills, they¡¯ve put a lot of thought into how they fight and what they could do to improve since they sparred with Evan¡¯s party. They were already right on the border of the ranks, so that nudge is probably enough.


    Ellie: What do you think our party would be ranked?


    Dungeons: Taking into account your Blessings, and assuming you¡¯re not allowed to use Maven¡¯s to trivialize dungeons? Probably rank four or five. It would be a rank or two higher were you more experienced, but you¡¯ve only been doing it for¡­what, half a year? That really drags your rank down


    Maven: And I assume removing our Blessings from the equation brings us down a couple of ranks?


    Dungeons: Yes and no. Tess is in this really weird grey area where she can¡¯t be properly evaluated because her Blessing is so integral to¡­everything. But, if we assume the strictest of secrecy with your Blessings, then the lack of them puts you down a rank all on its own, and¡­depending on how you count Monster Breeder in relation to the Blessing, Tess¡¯s presence might drag you down another, sorry. Too much of your kit is too integrated with your Blessing, and your stats look really bad on paper. If the evaluation takes Monster Breeder into account, though, she wouldn¡¯t drag you down


    Tess: Yeah, I was sort of figuring that would be the case. Uh, the bit about me that is, not about our ranking, because I had no clue what we would be


    Further conversation was cut off as they reached the end of the floor they were on, and stepped into the lobby.


    ¡°How are you guys holding up? It¡¯s not too boring, right?¡± Ker asked.


    ¡°I am used to this already.¡± Maven said. ¡°Frankly, even without finishing off the monsters myself like I did when I was boosting, this is still more exciting than Boosting. Your fights are much¡­flashier than my tutors.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because they were probably mostly people who were just leveraging their stats to kill things.¡± Alice snorted. ¡°They weren¡¯t actually fighting, just doing chores.¡±


    ¡°I¡­cannot disagree with that.¡± Maven said. ¡°You should have seen how my father acted when I suggested boosting wasn¡¯t as ¡®real¡¯ an education as you teaching me. He said it was a ¡®time-honored tradition¡¯ and got mad.¡±


    ¡°Lots of people are like that.¡± Ker said. ¡°They like to tell themselves that they¡¯re still as qualified as people who actually worked for what they have. It¡¯s just the way people tend to think.¡±


    ¡°Maven, I don¡¯t know how to say this politely, but¡­the more I hear from your father, the less I like him.¡± Ellie said. ¡°He, um¡­does not exactly seem like the sharpest tool in the shed, and his ego seems a lot bigger than is deserved.¡±


    Maven sighed. ¡°As much as it pains me to admit it, you are correct.¡± She said. ¡°His marriage with my mother was mostly political, and I think my mother hoped she could teach him enough to beat some of the¡­less intelligent parts of him out. They do love each other, I think, but my mother does have to put her foot down quite a lot. He puts a lot of stock in ¡®the way things have always been done¡¯ and that is often not the best for the country.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about this over food.¡± Jin interjected. ¡°I think the three of us could use a break to restore our resources, and it is getting to be quite a while since we last ate.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Alice said quickly. ¡°I¡¯m starving.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll whip something up for us, then.¡± Ker said. ¡°Give me ten minutes, alright?¡±


    Fighterman481


    I don''t have a lot to say about this chapter. Or, well, about the contents.  I''m going to keep things rather brief, but the TL;DR was that I saw I was suffering from burnout and that my series were suffering for it, so I''ve decided to take an extended break (2 months).


    And, during this break, I''ll be taking the opportunity to...reevaluate my priorities with this story, in a sense. Take a step back and determine what I want to spend the story''s time on. So, it is highly plausible that next chapter I end up taking focus away from the expedition and onto other things. I''m hoping that whatever I decide translates into higher overall quality going forward.


    That''s...uh, all I really have to say, though, so...as always, thanks for reading.