by Tao Wong
“Not many Catkin and Guidong natives around this part. I’m Bartosz,” he replied, offering his hand.
Daniel frowned, standing up and shaking it. “Daniel as you know. And that’s Asin and Omrak.”
“Ah, Omrak.” Bartosz next shook the other two’s hands, exclaiming at the end as he eyed the Northerner. “You must be a new addition. Niko didn’t mention you.”
“Niko.” Daniel’s lips compressed as he stared at Bartosz. Of course, the little green robin emblem on his chest should have told Daniel where his alliance lay. “He spoke of us?”
“Mentioned you to those of us working the lower floors,” Bartosz said, gesturing back to his party who were busy cooking a meal. “Care to join us?”
“Certainly,” Omrak nodded his head quickly before he strode over without hesitation. “I have some beef to add to the pot!”
“Omrak…” Daniel started and sighed. Already, the friendly Northerner was chatting with the group, the roast in his hand.
“Don’t worry. We aren’t trying to recruit you. Niko just mentioned you two as friendly,” Bartosz said and then, glancing around to make sure no one else was around, added. “You’ll find that not every guild is that friendly. Too much competition you know.”
“I do,” Daniel said, still wary. To his surprise, Asin stared at Bartosz for a moment before stalking over to join Omrak. Daniel frowned, wondering why the change of heart – after all, she had been extremely angry at Tevfik before. Still, with both his friends at the cooking stove, it would be churlish of him to refuse the invitation.
“What are you cooking?”
“Meat and bread,” Bartosz said with a shrug. “The usual. I think Reka is adding some onions to it today, and jojo shoots.”
“Sounds like you’re a bit tired of that,” Daniel said.
“We’ve been down here for three days now. And that’s all everyone thought to bring,” Bartosz made a face. “I like meat. And bread. But after so many days…”
Daniel chuckled, slapping Bartosz on the shoulder. Already, Daniel could smell the spices that Asin had drawn from her stash, the chili and peppers likely to liven up the meal. If it didn’t kill them. In either case, friends, even friends with agendas, would be useful down here.
Chapter 7
“Surprised to see you here,” Seth said, eyeing Daniel who had arrived early in the morning. The young man was just wearing his breastplate, though as always, he carried his shield and hammer with him. “Thought you’d be focused on the second floor.”
“We just came back from our second delve. Five days in the Dungeon is a bit much,” Daniel said with a grimace. They’d spent a few hours just adjusting to the greater light outdoors yesterday when they exited, squinting like old men.
“Har,” Seth said, shaking his head. “Well, good choice not to go in anyway. You might not get back out before the tournament.”
“That’s the other reason,” Daniel said and glanced back at the extremely crowded training yards. Unlike most times, the training yard beside the Adventurers Guild was packed. Since the yard was subsidised for registered Adventurers, newer and cheaper Adventurers made use of their services while more experienced Adventurers would often hire private trainers or visit one of the many private training grounds. “Busy today.”
“Busy week,” Seth said with a shrug. “Who do you want to see?”
“Angie, if she’s free?”
“Angie?” Seth said, eyes wide in surprise. “You mean one-eyed Angie? You sure?”
“Yes, that Angie,” Daniel said. “Is there another one?”
“No. Huh, you’re one of those,” Seth said. “One silver. And she’s free.”
Daniel shook his head in surprise as he paid the coin and was directed to Angie. The muscular trainer was standing next to one of the training grounds where she was heckling the trainees within. Daniel had to hide a slight smile, her constant comments about their lack of fitness, agility and common sense were humorous. To him at least.
“Angie?” Daniel called when he was closer.
“Oh, shit, I’ll pay you… oh, hey. You’re that Healer guy!” Angie said, the look of concern wiped from her face. “What are you doing here?”
“Training,” Daniel said as he held up her chit. Angie’s eye widened slightly before she broke into a grin.
“Har! I knew you were smart. Come on; we’ll leave these two losers alone,” Angie said with a sniff. Their trainer, an older man who had a shield and sword propped near his feet, shot Daniel a grateful look before he turned back to his students. With Angie leaving, they began to slack off which made the trainer start shouting.
“Where are we going?” Daniel asked.
“To find a spot to practise, of course,” Angie said with a sniff. “So, I beat you into learning how to grapple eh?”
“Well, I’d like to learn how not to lose so much,” Daniel said with a grimace.
“Well, there isn’t much I can teach you in such a short time, but we’ll at least lay the foundation,” Angie said, rubbing her chin. Having found an out of the way spot, she pointed to Daniel next. “Strip.”
“Huh? I-”
“Your armor, stupid. Unless you like bruises,” Angie said. Daniel flushed slightly but complied while Angie continued to speak. “Right, I should tell you some things. Firstly, what I’m going to teach you is most effective against humanoids at first. I’m also going to teach you principles, ideas and concepts mostly, rather than specific moves. It’ll take you longer to learn, but it means once you get it, you can start using some of these skills against monsters.”
“Monsters?” Daniel said, frowning.
“Yup,” Angie said with a grin. “Like joint locks. Don’t care if it’s a hound, a Qimm or a Kobold, if it has a joint, it moves in a certain direction. You just need to know which way to hurt them. Oh yeah, should go without saying. Don’t grapple slimes, oozes, jellyfish and their like.”
“People have tried that?” Daniel said, trying to imagine how that’d go. The mind boggled.
“I’ve had some dumb students,” Angie said matter of factly.
“Oh,” Daniel said quietly, unsure where to go from there.
“Since you’re a Healer, I’m going to skip my usual spiel about joints, tendons, nerves and the like. Now, give me your hand…” Angie continued on, ignoring the awkwardness of the situation as she strode over to Daniel. Warily, Daniel extended his hand and she grabbed it, pulling him towards her quickly and twisting it. “Now, the first thing you want to do when you grapple is take their balance. Unbalanced individuals lack a base which means they can’t generate as much strength to hit you. Of course, if they’ve got claws, are elementals or have spikes, that’s a less of a concern for them. But…”
Hours later, Daniel sat on the ground, groaning softly. Angie had been relentless, her philosophy being that something felt was more easily learned than something spoken. As such, with each joint manipulation, each lock, each imparted piece of wisdom, she demonstrated on Daniel. Of course, once she got past the basics, she let Daniel test out the movements on her body. But it still left Daniel sore and hurting, especially since Angie’s most common refrain was, “Suck it up or heal yourself. Now come on, do that again.” After which, when Daniel failed to properly lock her down, she’d escape and show him a new and innovative way to make him eat dirt.
“So, I know we’ve been having fun, but that silver was only for two hours,” Angie said leadingly as she sat on a chair, swigging from a flask. Even from here, Daniel could smell the red wine that it contained.
“Sorry. I’ll pay Seth later,” Daniel said. “Or I could-”
“Nah, if you say you’re good for it, I believe you.”
Daniel nodded his thanks, glad that he could just wait for his body to stop aching. Unbeknownst to Angie, he had tapped into his Gift slightly rather than a spell like she had expected. Mostly to fix torn muscles and twisted joints, boosting their healing speed. The sore muscles and exhaustion he left alone
.
“How come-” Daniel started and then stopped, unsure if it was impolitic to continue further.
“How come I don’t have more students?” Angie said and sighed. “Most people, they’d rather hit things. And they figure they can just hit things till a friend comes along to save them. Maybe they’d come over for a few lessons to learn some escapes. A few ways to get out and back up, but mostly? It’s bash, bash, bash.”
“Ah,” Daniel said with a grimace. That was after all what he had come here to learn too.
“It’s okay. I get it. At your level, most of your skills are weapon based. Hard to use a Cleave without a sword. Or a Shield Bash without a shield,” Angie said. “You got to go with where your Skills are. But, you know, with a little more training, when you’re getting up? You could break a limb or two, take the bastard down. Keep them from hurting you or your friend.”
“How much more training?” Daniel said with a frown. That sounded… reasonable.
“A couple of months,” Angie said. “For a humanoid. Maybe a few more to get comfortable enough to use it against non-humanoids.”
“Oh…” Daniel said, pausing as he considered her words. He was only twenty-two this year, so spending half a year studying a series of skills that was only marginally useful seemed intimidating. Then again, it was a skill he would need, might need for the rest of his, hopefully, long career.
“Well, you done resting?” Angie said, bouncing back to her feet as she pushed aside any doubt. “We got more to learn today. If you’ve got the money for it, that is.”
“I do,” Daniel said with a nod. Over in the corner, Daniel noted that Omrak was also training, having arrived an hour ago to study how to wield his sword better. They had only a few days left for the tournament after all.
The last few days passed in a haze of training. Daniel would stumble back to their inn, exhausted to take his meal from Erin’s waiting hands. Sometimes alone, sometimes with his friends, Daniel would consume multiple portions of the meal in silence before stumbling upstairs to sleep. It was only because the Guild had bathhouses that he was at all presentable, his exhaustion so great that Daniel would never have thought of making his way to another building.
To Daniel’s astonishment, somehow, Omrak always managed to stay up later than him, spending at least a few hours longer in the common room, drinking and otherwise partying with newfound friends. Even with the attractive prizes offered by the tournament, not all parties took part, preferring to save their coin and take advantage of the quieter floors to complete Quests and their exploration.
Asin, on the other hand, was even more enigmatic, spending her days training away from the Guild. When questioned, she just indicated she had found a training location in the Beastkin district. Daniel, noting her reluctance to speak, left the matter alone even as curiosity gnawed at him.
Still, the day before the tournament started, all three were seated in the crowded inn. Many of the other Adventurers intent on joining the tournament were taking the day off as well, content to let their bodies heal and not daring to risk a minor injury the day before the event. It ensured that Erin and her workers were extremely busy that day, running to fill orders. Even if Daniel could heal their bodies, he could do nothing about their mind, and so the team too took the day off – they had spent the entirety of the last few weeks doing their best to catch up, after all.
“How did you all do?” Daniel asked curiously.
“I leveled up my two-handed weapons skill,” Omrak said proudly, grinning. “You see before you a Novice 4 two-handed sword wielder.”
“Nice,” Daniel said. “That’ll give you more options the next time you gain a Level, right?”
“Yes,” Omrak nodded. “I am curious to see what options are available. It would have to be extremely attractive to take me away from Cleave, however.”
“Har,” Daniel chuckled. He knew that Omrak had been lusting over the powerful single strike attack for a while. He would have taken it before, but the need for a crowd control ability had taken precedence for the party. It was a sacrifice that Daniel fully appreciated. “Well, we’ll find out.”
“Yes, we will,” Omrak said, then grinned. “We might just Level in the tournament.”
“Maybe.” Daniel shrugged. The introduction of new monsters normally gave fighters a boost to their experience which was part of why the tournament was so popular. Of course, normally was the important word. If an Adventurer did not gain enough experience from fighting it – whether due to a quick battle or just a lack of perception – they would not gather that bonus. “Asin?”
“Leveled. New Skill. Bone breaker,” Asin said.
“You gained a Level?” Daniel said, surprised.
“Close. Dungeon. Friend,” Asin said with a shrug.
“Really, a friend took you to the Dungeon,” Daniel said again slowly. “Who we haven’t met.”
“Jealous?” Asin asked, her ears shifting and tail now straight up behind her. Daniel frowned, reading the displeasure in her tail and paused, considering her words. Why was she angry?
“No. Not jealous. Just worried,” Daniel said slowly, considering his own roiling emotions. “And surprised. Never thought you’d keep a friend like that to yourself.”
Asin sniffed slightly at Daniel’s word, her nose wrinkling. The silence stretched but slowly, her tail relaxed and started waving again. In the end, ducking her head into the mug, she said one more word, quietly. “Tevfik.”
“Tevfik!?!” Daniel exclaimed then lowered his voice, embarrassed. Not that anyone heard, the numerous conversations around them drowning out his own exclamation. “Sorry. Just surprised.”
“What is Tevfik?” Omrak asked, turning to stare at his two friends.
“Oh. Hmmm…” Daniel paused, realising that the pair had left the Catkin out of their stories about Silverstone. After all, Tevfik was more a personal matter than a Dungeon matter. “He was Asin’s ummm… boyfriend?”
“Boyfriend,” Asin replied with a firm nod. “Is.”
“Oh. You’re back together. Of course, you are,” Daniel said, shaking his head. A niggle of worry rose up in him, concerned that his young friend was getting in over her head again. Recalling how her father had suggested that he keep an eye on his daughter in Karlak, Daniel could not help but worry for her. When Asin glared at him, he ducked his head and just made a note to keep an eye on this.
“Congratulations!” Omrak said, clapping Asin on the shoulder and nearly knocking the slender Catkin off her chair. She snarled at Omrak who just laughed.
“You?” the Catkin said and then leaned in, sniffing slightly. “Sara?”
“Nothing happened!” Omrak said, almost jumping in his seat as he hastily spoke. “Nothing. We’re just talking.”
“You know she wants to do more than talk, right?” Daniel said, his lips tugging upwards slightly.
“This…” Omrak flushed and then stared straight at Daniel as he changed the topic. “What did you learn?”
“It’s okay to talk about these things you know, it’s perfectly natural - especially for us Adventurers,” Daniel said, eyes glinting with humor.
“What. Did. You. Learn.”
Chuckling softly, Daniel dropped the topic. “I spent the last few days learning grappling – unarmed combat really – with Angie.”
Both his friends frowned slightly at Daniel who snorted, “I’m not stupidly strong or agile like some people. This gives me more options when I’m on my back. My Unarmed Combat skills progressed because of it along with my Combat Sense.”
With that said, the group fell silent. In the end, it was Omrak who broached the subject that was on all their minds. “Can we win?”
“We’ll find out tomorrow,” Daniel replied.
Asin too shrugged before waving to the waitress and took the three mugs of ale from her. Quickly paying the waitress who was already on the way back to the bar, Asin lifted her mug to her friends.
“Victory.”
“Victory!” The pair cheered with her, draining their mug. Whatever happened tomorrow, at least it would be interesting, thought Daniel.
Chapter 8
To keep things running smoothly, and to ensure the tournament would be over in time, the battles for the lowest tier parties were being held first. This would allow the largest number of contestants to be run through the arena as quickly possible. The battles were also planned this way to ensure that the Adventurers had enough time to heal from minor injuries before entering Artos if they won.
As such, the trio found themselves amongst a large group of other parties, each eyeing the competition warily. A few groups, disregarding the tension, spoke with one another happily, grouping in distinct clumps. Most of these groups were older, with better equipment and held badges for the larger guilds in town.
It was not really surprising to Daniel. If the team had not rushed the first floor, it could easily take any other party a few good months to clear fully, especially if you included injury and recovery time. Many groups would rarely progress to the next Level immediately, even if they could, eking out as much of their gains as possible. The second floor, as Daniel and team had found out, would be even more difficult. Even with their advantages, Daniel did not expect them to clear the Dungeon floor in less than three months. That was with, what Daniel considered, ample time to rest – but he also knew that their party had a work ethic that few other parties seemed to hold. Too many Adventurers were content to earn enough for a few months fun and rest before taking a break. Perhaps it was because Daniel had been forced to wait so long that he felt the ever-present rush of time.
“Welcome, everyone,” a loud voice called as a man in a waistcoat and with a cane stood on a box that had been laid out for him. “My name is Jules Sherred. I’ll be the ringmaster and announcer today. Firstly, thank you for arriving early. In a moment my people will begin allocating all of you to your respective waiting rooms. Due to the number of parties involved, we’re going to have you fighting in groups of five. The first round will be a timed event. If you fail to defeat your monsters in the five minutes allocated, you will not move on to the second round.”