Growth Hero

by Brent Tyman

  His voice was the deepest I had heard in this world and had an air of superiority to it. That was something I picked out immediately.

  “My priority is the safety of my students, above all else,” the older man fumed. “And I will not allow you to jeopardize that.”

  “All matters related to the Tasberg Sovereignty will be decided by me, alone. Remember that. Any student from the Sovereignty will jump at the opportunity and therefore, it is out of your hands.”

  The old man let out a tired sigh, folding his hands together before looking up at our approach.

  “I see you have called your daughter here already. Welcome, young Juliana.”

  “A pleasure to see you again headmaster,” Juliana bowed slightly. Yet again, she was speaking in a very formal tone.

  I couldn’t feel more out of place if I tried.

  The headmaster gave me a quick once over, but I could tell he was trying to place me. His view was suddenly blocked as Juliana’s father rose from his seat and turned to face us.

  “Good of you to join us,” he said, offering the smallest of smiles for his daughter. “I have new orders for you and yours. I expect you to listen.”

  “Of course, father,” Juliana replied, dipping her head.

  “Good, I…” He paused.

  “Who is this man?” he asked, pointing to me. “You haven’t been frolicking with those Yunissan ants, have you?”

  “No father, this is my guest. His name is Alex Augere and I had hoped to introduce him to you. He saved my life a few weeks ago, if you’ll remember.”

  Recognition finally dawned on the man, and he looked me over in great detail. I could tell that his gaze was analyzing my very being.

  “Ah yes. I remember. So, this is he…”

  Since I had a good view of his face, I decided it only right I examined Juliana’s father in equal detail. For one, he had good looks and could be described as handsome, but not annoyingly so, like Daiver. His face was gruff and had a hint of some stubble forming, though his short hair looked freshly cut.

  As I had expected, he wore red clothes that were more akin to a uniform than anything else. He wore fine red silk pants, with a surcoat over light mail. There was also a red cape draped over one shoulder all the way to his thighs.

  I had spotted a glimpse of chain mail under the surcoat, so no doubt his attire was more functional than it looked.

  “I’m surprised to see the man my daughter described in the flesh. The way she described the tale, it was more akin to a fantasy than reality.”

  “Father,” Juliana protested. “Please.”

  He chuckled, but the smile never reached his eyes. “Very well, I thank you for your service to my daughter. It wouldn’t do for a ruler to dismiss such things.”

  “It was no trouble,” I said, more out of reflex than anything else. My brain reminded me to be formal.

  “I was glad I was able to help her out when she needed it. She’s in turn been a great help during my stay in the city, as well.”

  “Oh? Please elaborate,” he said, but despite the ‘please’, I could instantly tell it was more of an order than a request.

  “Well, she gave me a lift into the city, then let me know several basic things I needed to know about the Dungeon. She saved my life yesterday, when we fought those Demons.”

  At the mention of Demons, Juliana’s father's face lit up with interest and I looked to see Juliana suddenly squirm on the spot.

  “So, it was true,” he said to himself, before turning to the headmaster. “See Zandur, my daughter is more than up to this task.”

  The headmaster shook his head and let out another heavy sigh.

  “I have already given up on making you see reason. Perhaps if this young man and young Juliana detail their encounter with these Demons, we might have a clearer picture of…”

  While they argued for a moment, I turned to Juliana. “I have no clue what’s happening,” I whispered. “Was I not supposed to mention the Demons?”

  “Not as such,” she replied. “I hadn’t told my father why I collapsed yesterday. He must be planning something overly ambitious, as usual.”

  “Juliana, Alex!” he suddenly snapped, turning back to us. “Tell us everything that happened related to your encounter with these Demons. If only to reassure the headmaster.”

  The both of us looked at each other and I shrugged. Why not?

  We took turns in recounting the tale, starting with me and Clarissa and how I had asked Juliana to come join us on the fifth floor. I tried to focus on Juliana’s amazing help with distracting the Demons during the fight, as that was what really made it possible for me to defeat the Demons.

  That spell she used was pretty overpowered now that I thought about it.

  Juliana, on the other hand, hammered on my own efforts, which her father seemed quite interested in, for some reason.

  “Hmm, feral Demons on the fifth floor? What would you gauge their Strength to be Zandur? Eighty? Ninety?” Juliana’s father asked absently, using a gloved hand to stroke his chin.

  “No more than one hundred,” Zandur, the headmaster, answered. “To think three students faced two feral Demons and lived to tell the tale…”

  I wanted to downplay that, but when that Demon had pinned me down, I knew I was moments away from the worst.

  “This answers all I needed for today. Juliana,” he barked, “here are your new orders. Take one hundred men and head north to Valdura, the Beastkin Deep town. They’ve dug deep enough down that they broke into a small part of a Dungeon. As a consequence, Demons have driven Ogres, of all things, upwards to the surface and the Beastkin have called for assistance.”

  Both Juliana and I blinked at that, but she instantly objected.

  “Ogres are still far above what is safe for us to handle,” she complained.

  “Weaker than Demons and you would be doing the city a service,” he replied with no hint of emotion. “This Beastkin town provides an important export of rare minerals for Tringall, and the city state council has expended all their troops clearing the Dungeon of Demons. The fools have spread themselves too thin, between the city and the Dungeon.”

  He looked over at the headmaster, who shrugged nonchalantly.

  “This is an excellent opportunity to prove to the city state council how much they need the Sovereignty. We all wish to be good friends, no? Don’t you agree, Zandur?”

  The headmaster let out another rather frustrated sigh, tapping his fingers along the table.

  “Ogres can easily reach seventy or eighty in Strength, which is far above Juliana’s current stats the last we checked. A dangerous gamble.”

  “Ridiculous, my daughter’s bloodline is impeccable. In fact…” he looked to me of all people and I saw a gleam in the man’s eyes.

  “Take this Alex with you, Juliana. I’m sure that if he can fell Demons, he is more than up to dealing with Ogres. He seems more bearable than Hexladanis’s idiot of a son.”

  I wanted to laugh, since I was pretty sure he was referring to Daiver. Even Juliana’s father had it out for him?

  “Uhh… Thanks?” I offered. “I don’t have much else to do, until the Dungeon is declared safe enough to open again, so I guess I can tag along with Juliana.”

  “Excellent.”

  “Father, I must object,” Juliana hissed. Her face had gotten noticeably angrier in her time of silence. “Sending me, my retinue, and Alex with only a hundred men to fight Ogres is a laughable plot.”

  “Not just any Ogres,” he continued, waving her comment away. “These are the Dernka kind, with civilized levels of intelligence. Why they are fleeing the Demons is anyone’s guess, but the city state council pleaded with me to send help.”

  Of all the times to show emotion, Juliana’s father's face turned slightly red as he rambled on.

  “I will not fall behind in favor to the Hogannan and Yunissan whelps. You have already disappointed me with your standing in the Academy. Do not disappoint me in this. Leave fo
rthwith. I expect you to set off for Valdura in the next two hours. Dismissed.”

  Juliana bristled when her father turned his back on her, but after a moment, she took a breath and then let it out. She grabbed hold of my arm and we left. She got a few salutes as we left the headmaster’s chamber but didn’t say a word to the guards.

  She walked down the hall and started down the stairs in a brooding silence. This silence finally got to me after a minute or two of walking down the endless stairs, so I decided to speak.

  "You know, Kesara was right. Your father really can be overbearing. It was like talking to a wall, trying to convince it not to fall on top of you. God…”

  It took a moment, but Juliana finally laughed. I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding.

  “Yes, he is quite the taskmaster. I’m… sorry I’ve dragged you into this mess. My intension was for you to meet my father, to introduce you to him, and remind him how you saved my life, but…”

  “Hey!” I said, stopping on the stairs and taking both her hands. “Without you, Clarissa and I would have gone into the fifth floor by ourselves, and who knows what would have happened. As far as I’m concerned, helping you out is much more important than anything else I have going on, right now.”

  Juliana looked like she was about to swoon, but she regained her balance, pulled me close and kissed me hard on the lips. I heard the hushed whispers of the few students who happened to walk past the stairwell below us, but that didn’t matter.

  Juliana was all that mattered. Her lips were soft and perfect.

  “Thank you,” she murmured when we parted.

  “Any time,” I replied, as we continued along the endless stairs.

  It wasn’t nearly as bad as when we’d had to walk up them, but when Juliana reached out to hold my hand as we descended…

  I didn’t want this moment to end…

  18

  Like Juliana had been with her father, the rest of her retinue protested about going off to fight Ogres.

  Karl thought it was foolhardy. Vencia mentioned it would be difficult, but she would do anything for her Lady. Kesara made some comment about me and that she’d only come along if I was going, but then mentioned she wasn’t keen on the idea.

  Daiver, of all people, was the only one who seemed remotely interested out of the bunch and assured us he would personally dispatch all the Ogres he could see… if only Vencia or Kesara healed his hand, though.

  Which both ladies promptly denied him.

  I was happy enough to travel with Juliana. To be honest, the idea of meeting Beastkin of all races and facing off against Ogres excited me. Maybe it was the extra Defense I had accumulated that gave me this confidence, but I was sure that with a party this large, we would be just fine.

  It couldn’t be worse than those feral Demons, right?

  Once we were ready, Juliana led us out of the Academy and we traveled to the city’s outskirts.

  The city itself had returned to its usual hustle and bustle, from what I could tell. There were a number of ruined shops, both buildings and stalls, but otherwise, things seemed to have returned to normal.

  Of course, anytime I heard any conversations from the locals, there was only one topic on anyone’s mind.

  “Why would the Demons do this?”

  “It’s like they went mad.”

  “The city state council better make sure this doesn’t happen again!”

  Yeah, it seemed Demons weren’t popular around here anymore. There was also talk of Demonkin, which Juliana explained were the offspring of Demons and other races. In other words, they were half-Demons, or Demon blooded. Some of them had also gone crazy from the bond that Karl mentioned, though many hadn’t. People were angry at Demons and Demonkin, in general, so I wondered how the city state council would handle things from here.

  Nevertheless, Juliana had all of us accompany her outside the city where one hundred red-dyed soldiers awaited us. There were also a host of servants, who carried provisions and took care of the horses, so I guessed I didn’t need to worry about bringing supplies and food for this trip.

  “I haven’t marched with this many soldiers before,” I said to Juliana. “Or marched anywhere, really. Anything I should know?”

  “Ugh,” Juliana muttered. “My father wouldn’t lend me the carriage, nor did he send Doyle. I’m glad this armor of mine is resistant to the elements.”

  She was wearing a rather form fitting red leather dress that left her midriff exposed, as well as her thighs. It was honestly candy for my eyes, with how deep her neckline dipped. And while I loved the look of it, I wouldn’t exactly call it ‘weather resistant’.

  “And no Alex, there’s nothing you need to know. Please walk with me. Hopefully we can arrive at Valdura in two days.”

  “I can always carry you, if you end up feeling tired,” I suggested, smirking. “You weren’t all that heavy, last time.”

  Juliana blushed and held a hand to her mouth as she tried to stifle a sudden bout of giggles. “Ahh… well…”

  “Are there naughty things going on here?” Kesara butted in and Juliana rolled her eyes.

  “Nothing improper, I assure you.”

  “I’m not so sure…” Kesara teased, looking me up and down. “Are you sure that leather armor will be enough, Alex? There’s a terrible gash at your shoulder.”

  “Oh yeah, from the Demon,” I said, remembering the battle. “I’ve gotten used to this armor to be honest and have been saving my coin in case something spectacular came along.”

  “Now’s the time to upgrade,” Kesara declared. “I’m sure I can help you find something more fitting.”

  “No, that’s quite alright, Kesara,” Juliana quickly said as she grabbed my arm. “We have a few moments before the men are ready to leave, so I will take Alex to the armor smith and get him some better gear.”

  “That’s not fair,” Kesara whined. “I mentioned it first.”

  “Noted. Thank you for pointing it out to me. This way, Alex.”

  “You’re no fun at all, Juliana!” Kesara shouted as we headed back into the city. “I’m going to have to go pester Daiver, now.”

  Juliana led me through the gates of the city once more, flashing some identification badge that allowed us to pass through without waiting.

  “Are you sure we have time? This leather armor has served me pretty well so far. The gash isn’t much, really,” I said.

  “Nonsense, Kesara is right for once. If new armor ensures you survive a blow, it will be worth it. How much coin have you accumulated? I can always lend you a few from my own stash,” she said, smiling.

  That was a good question. Everything I came back with from the Dungeon, I sold to the Adventurer’s Guild, either when we got back each evening, or the next morning. I opened up the Clan interface screen to have a look, the red background enveloping most of my sight.

  Welcome to the Clan Management Interface

  Clan Name: Augere

  Current Members: 2

  Clan Coin: 21,735

  Clan Storage Slots: 8 Available… 2 In Use

  Clan Messages: 1

  “Just over twenty-one thousand, which is about two gold, right?” I asked.

  “Ahh, yes. I’m surprised you have so much after such a brief stay in the city. Did you bring any of this wealth with you from your home?”

  “Nope, earned all of it from drops in the Dungeon.”

  “I see, that’s quite… impressive.”

  In all honesty, it would have been a lot more, as I regularly had to leave a lot of loot behind during my Defense stat training with Clarissa. Whenever I had her along, my focus had shifted from gathering more coin, so I didn’t make any extra trips back to the guild to sell off my loot.

  I sighed, thinking of all I’d had to leave behind. The Clan storage had definitely helped though, and I saw that I had yet to sell two things from it. What could that be?

  Demon Horns - Dropped from the Demon Junatak

  Co
ndition - Excellent

  May be used for weapon or armor crafting material

  Oh nice! I had totally forgotten that I had picked up those Demon horns from the feral Demons I’d killed. The other Demon horn was listed right under the first.

  I had no idea that the Clan storage had this type of information available when I stored something in it. I typically used the bag the guild had given me to haul things in and out of the dungeon without a thought.

  Now, I wondered what it said about Rat pelts and Raven feathers?

  “I still have to sell the Demon Horns I looted off the feral Demons,” I said. “Clarissa said those should be pretty valuable.”

  “Ah, yes, they are,” she agreed. “In fact, it is best to craft them into weapons. A well-crafted Demon-horn weapon would make quite the powerful blade.”

  “Do better weapons scale better with more Strength?”

  “Not in a measurable way, but better weapons will naturally do more damage.”

  Other than my fight with the Demons, almost everything I had faced thus far had been defeated with a single blow most of the time. With tougher opponents on the horizon, it made sense that trend wouldn’t continue.

  I probably needed more Strength…

  “Gonna set my Growth skill on Strength, I’m presumably good for Defense after seeing all of your reactions to it.”

  “Yes, it surely is remarkable. I hope to see similar gains for your Strength after fighting these Ogres. Don’t… push yourself too hard, though,” Juliana said as she blushed all of a sudden.

  “Trust me, I’ll be careful,” I reassured her.

  I looked around, not recognizing this part of the city. “Where are we going? We’ve been walking for a while now.”

  “Yesterday’s events ruined most armor smiths’ shops. I learned of one that wasn’t affected when I had a servant check which route was best to take for leaving the city. It shouldn’t be much further, now.”