by J. J. Thorn
Chapter 12 – Test
“What do you think, Barda?” Gavin said, sizing up the students sitting to his right in the wagon.
Barda opened his eyes and looked directly at Gavin.
“…”
“I know you never wanted us to take this mission,” Gavin said. “But he’s my best friend and I want to make sure his daughter is ready for this life.”
Barda continued to stare.
“Yes, his friends seem like they're dedicated. I had to give them a bit of a kick in the ass, but they’re working hard now. Jen seems to be talented like John, and her Affinity could prove to useful. Cassie seems less driven, but it’s always good to have a healer on your team. And Britta I’ve known her whole life. The two I can’t quite grasp are Terrence and Zane.”
“…”
“Yes, Terrence seems to have a good head on his shoulders, but his Affinity seems like one that could go either way. It could be near useless, or it could have infinite possibilities. It’s still too early to tell because of how abstract it is.”
“…”
“Yes, Zane is an issue but for another reason altogether. Favian had us leave after the rest of the wagons because of what happened when they first came. We’ll also deal with less monsters since they’ll clear some of the way for us.”
“…”
“That’s exactly it. He just seems like a regular kid. I heard the stories and thought he would follow in his father’s footsteps more. We’ll just have to keep an eye on him. There’s too many things that can go wrong.”
“…”
“But what is a test going to accomplish?”
“…”
“Okay, you make a good point. Give me a bit and we’ll give them a chance to test themselves. It’s better that they try now, rather than later on.”
Barda nodded, closed his eyes, and went back to meditating.
“Thanks, Barda,” Gavin said, grinning. “We’ll see how they do.”
* * * * *
“Okay, everyone, off!” Gavin yelled. He started to provide directions to those in the front, asking them to pull to the side of the road.
I stopped meditating and looked at Gavin and the rest of my friends in the wagon. They seemed caught off guard by the abrupt stop, but I knew I was eager to leave the wagon and stretch my legs. The trip had already taken twice as long as my ride to Krader, and we still had a third of the way to go.
We knew a break would be coming eventually, but I thought it would have happened overnight. But instead, the sun was rising as Gavin moved us all off of the wagon.
“Okay, we’re going to take an hour to rest here. In the meantime, you’ll be doing some sparring.”
“Yes!” Britta exclaimed.
“Haha! Yes, I know you were feeling cramped in the back, but it’s going to be a bit different. Quinn, Tara, can you bring back five from the nearby forest. Aim for G-Rank, but if you get an F-Rank I’ll also be happy.”
“Okay, but we get to sit in the back for the rest of the way,” Tara said. “That Graham guy won’t stop talking about his horses. I think he’s hitting on me or something.”
“Haha, yes. He is very fond of those horses. Deal. Now go, we can’t rest here for too long.” He pushed them to get going.
Tara and Quinn sprinted into the forest. Due to the density of the trees beside the road, it was difficult to see them after a couple minutes. After we had left the plains surrounding Krader, most of the trip had been spent going through patches of dense trees.
“You’re having us fight monsters?” Zane said.
“Is there an issue with that?” Gavin turned towards us
“We’re just students, Uncle Gavin,” Britta croaked. “We’ve never fought any monsters.”
“So? Remember what I said? We are putting our lives at risk by bringing you on this mission. My team and I are here to make sure you’re safe, but that is not at the expense of our own lives! I asked you before, but I’ll ask you again. Do you believe this is a field trip? Some country-side jaunt with your friends and funny uncle?”
He stepped forward, towering over her.
“Um, well.”
“Didn’t you say that you’d be the shield that protects your family? I know you’ve said that before!”
“Hey, leave her alone!” Jen shouted.
“Oh, your leader is here to protect you. And here I thought you’d be the one protecting the others. The shield protects the rest, does it not?”
“That’s enough!” Jen ran up and grabbed Britta at the shoulders.
Britta was not yet crying, but her shoulders were slumped, and she stood there dumbfounded.
“You all act like this is some game for you to play. Like you’re a bunch of nobles and we’re just your escorts. But you seem to forget that we can choose to leave you in Borson. I will tell your father that I didn’t think it was safe to bring all of you deeper into the forest. We’ll collect the Skinks without the interference of some selfish brats unwilling to put in any real work.”
“We’re all willing to put in work!” I shouted. “We’ve been doing what you said for the entire ride.”
“Yes, and without my prompting, you would have all spent the trip gossiping and planning.”
“We’re just Rank 1, and we haven’t even finished our first semester!” Jen growled.
“Exactly!” Gavin screamed. “And how much longer are you going to keep using excuses like that. Prove to me that I can trust you if we get jumped by a group of monsters. Prove to me that I don’t have to leave you in Borson. Prove to me that you can be—”
“Useful. We can be useful,” Zane cut him off, and stepped up towards Britta and Jen.
Cassie and I now stood alone, a few steps behind the rest of them.
“Yes…Useful. I will settle for you not being a hindrance. John, you’re participating as well, depending on what they bring back.” Gavin turned and walked back to the front of the wagon.
“Yes, master,” John said, as Gavin walked away from us.
“I swear, Uncle Gavin isn’t usually like this,” Britta murmured. “I don’t know why he’s being such an asshole.”
Oddly enough, it was John who came to her aid.
“He means well.” John didn’t step closer, but there was a soft note in his voice. “It may seem harsh, but in school, they don’t show you how often low-Ranking people die fighting monsters. He wants to give you some experience.”
“Sure, but he could’ve said it better than that,” Zane snapped. “I have enough shitty male role models in my life. But thanks.”
“No problem.” John opened his bag, retrieving his daggers. “Get ready. They’ll be back soon.” He walked away.
I couldn’t believe how nice he was being, but I couldn’t spend too much time thinking about it.
“He’s right, guys,” I said. “We should get our weapons and equipment. Who knows what they’ll bring back.”
“I’ll be okay, Jen.” Britta wiped her cheeks dry. “Let’s get our stuff!”
We had spent majority of the trip with our gear on, but everyone went back to the wagon and got anything else they might need. I put on my arm guards and grabbed my sword before sitting down.
After what felt like thirty minutes, Tara and Quinn came jogging back towards the road. They dragged a series of monsters, tied up in thick grass and vines. As they got closer, we could hear the monsters whimpering and pleading.
Gavin jumped off the wagon and went to meet them. Graham, the wagon, and the horses also took off a bit further away. Probably to not startle the horses.
“Okay, looks like we have an F-Rank Monkin, a G-Rank Monkin, an F-Rank Serwolf, and a G-Rank Chipper. Good selection, you two.” He clapped his teammates on the shoulder. “Now, who’s going first?” he asked us.
“I’ll go.” Jen stepped forward.
“Haha, good initiative, Jen. John will go after you. What will you pick?”
“Can I ask my team?”
“Sure
, you get one opportunity to discuss it.” Gavin smiled and went over to Tara who had now used some Skill to tie the monsters directly to the ground.
Jen walked over to our team and we got into a quick huddle.
“Terrence, is there anything odd about any of these monsters?” Zane asked. “Any weird tricks we should know about?”
I thought back to my monster behaviour classes. Luckily, I had heard some details about each of these monsters.
“The Monkin are the most common monster in the Dungeon. The G-Rank will be weaker on the ground since they usually use the trees to drop down and hit with their tails. With that said, still avoid the tail if you can. The F-Rank is basically the same, just stronger. You can notice it from its arms. You’ll have to avoid its arms and tail, but it might be a bit slower because of the size.
“The Serwolf is a regular wolf, but since it’s a monster it’ll be a bit faster and tougher. At F-Rank, it’s going to be fast, but as long as you avoid its mouth, you should be okay. Probably.
“The Chipper I don’t know as much about, but their teeth and claws are sharp. It’s G-Rank, so I think it’ll be slower than the rest of the monsters. I think I heard they usually use their teeth to chip away at trees and use the falling tree to find food. But like I said, I don’t know too much about that one.”
“Which one is the most dangerous?”
“I think it’s the F-Rank Monkin. The Serwolf should be fast but predictable. The Monkin doesn’t have a tree, but those arms are strong.”
“Okay, then it’s settled. Jen is going first, so I think you should pick the chipper. Based on the numbers, I think three of us will have to face one of the F-Rank monsters. Depending on who John picks, either Zane or I will fight the other G-Rank.”
“I didn’t think about us fighting the F-Rank. I just volunteered… Should I back out?” Jen hissed.
“No, you did the right thing.” Zane touched her arm. “Now just go win.”
She smiled at us. Zane had come up with a good enough plan, for now, so we all agreed to it.
“Are you ready?” Gavin yelled. “Like I said, we can’t stay here for long. The wailing of the monsters will attract others. I’ve already sent Quinn as a lookout for anything else that might come.”
We broke the huddle, and walked a bit closer.
“Yes, we’re ready.” Jen drew her sword. “I’m taking the Chipper.”
“Good. Caged!” Gavin yelled and shards of ice came falling to the ground surrounding the monsters. The shards were not large, only reaching waist-height, but they were spread apart enough that they acted like a quasi-dome.
In his creation of the dome, he created an opening for Jen to enter.
From the opening, Tara and Gavin walked out holding the other monsters. The Chipper had been left in the middle of the enclosure.
Jen said nothing more as she walked into the ring and stood across from the Chipper.
“Are you ready, Jennifer?” Gavin yelled.
We walked up closed to the ring and stood outside.
“Yes.” She readied her sword.
Without any indication, Tara did something which made the vines start to wither across the Chipper’s body.
The Chipper took a second to realize it was free, then started to look around. Its face looked in each direction, searching for a way out. Eventually, it realized there was no way and looked directly at Jen.
It clicked its teeth at Jen menacingly as Jen gripped her sword tighter.
And then charged at her.
As expected, it wasn’t that fast, but it would still reach her within seconds.
As it gained ground, I worried about Jen and her ability to act. We had sparred constantly for weeks, and she had been training with a sword for most of her life, but she had never fought a real monster. None of us had. Let alone by herself.
We all stayed silent as we waited for Jen to act.
When the Chipper got within arm's length, she raised her sword and swiped it down towards the Chipper’s head.
The Chipper stood on two legs, with small arms that didn’t reach very far. Instead, its mouth stuck out very far, like a duck. In its mouth, it had several rows of razor-sharp teeth.
It noticed Jen’s attack and ground to a halt.
As her sword fell towards the Chipper’s head, it opened its mouth and caught her blade right in its jaw.
As soon as it did, the Chipper closed its mouth completely. The sword wasn’t broken, but as Jen tried to pull her sword back, she noticed it was completely caught in the Chipper’s teeth.
With that, the Chipper started to swing its head back and forth. Jen lost her grip completely and stood there, defenseless.
The monster took a few steps back and dropped her weapon on the ground.
To the others, this probably looked like a sign of intelligence, but I knew that it probably just didn’t know what else to do.
“Ren, why would it put it down?” Cassie asked.
“It probably has to deal with the low-Ranking Monkin’s often. I bet it catches their tails all the time in its mouth when they drop from the trees. Once that happens, it probably got used to just spitting the tails back out. It probably has that as its only weapon, and it doesn’t want to waste time eating the tails. Instead, it just puts down the tail, finishes off the Monkin, and then eats everything at once.
“And since she tried to attack it from overhead, I feel like it’s just treating her like another Monkin. Now that she doesn’t have her tail, it knows she isn’t too dangerous. Damnit! If she had attacked any other way, she probably would have won.”
Britta heard me and called towards her uncle. “She’s defenseless! Let us help her!”
Gavin didn’t look away from the fight. “A non-Affinity guard is capable of killing a Chipper by themselves. If Jennifer can’t handle the Chipper at this point, she doesn’t deserve to go with us on the Hunting trip.”
Jen kept her eyes on the Chipper, her focus entirely on the monster in front of her and the sword behind it.
The monster then went back to its original plan and advanced on her again.
This time it knew the ‘tail’ was gone and the ‘Monkin’ was probably injured, so it wasn’t as cautious. As it reached Jen, it opened its mouth and tried to bite at her leg.
Before it could reach her, Jen leapt to the side, dodging the bite. As she rolled, she started to dart towards the monster.
The monster had likely seen this before, because as soon as its mouth clamped down onto nothing, it stepped back and was once again directly in front of the sword.
This went on for a few minutes as Jen tried to dodge the Chipper, then reach for her sword.
Each time the Chipper would stay close to the sword, where it would try to clamp down on her arms or legs when she got close.
Jen was faster, but the Chipper always stayed close to the sword, so it had less distance to cover.
Jen even tried luring it further out, but it refused to leave the sword.
I tried to think about what else she could do, but couldn’t think of anything. Her Affinity was SWORD and she had lost her sword…
But Jen didn’t need a sword!
“Jen, use your Skill!” I yelled from behind the ice.
She was trying to lure the Chipper again, but wasn’t getting anywhere. She took a quick look at me.
“What is her Skill going to do for her?” Cassie said. “It can’t hurt anything.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t know that,” I whispered back. “Use your SKILL” I yelled.
Jen looked at me and as our eyes met, she finally caught on to what I was saying.
She stayed well away from the Chipper as she conjured one sword of light into her hands.
The Chipper paused, confused, and darted between the sword in her hands and the sword behind it on the ground.
Jen started to walk closer to the beast so that she was once again in its general range.
The monster did what it always had, and started
to clatter towards her.
This time, Jen held her position as it lumbered forward.
Once again, as it reached striking distance, she took the sword and swung downwards for the Chipper.
Like the first time, the beast raised its head to catch the sword.
But instead, it felt nothing. No impact in its mouth.
The Chipper’s line of sight was lost when it opened its mouth, so it couldn’t see what was happening from above its overextended jaws.
After a couple seconds, when it didn’t feel anything, it closed its mouth and looked around.
During this time, Jen did not sit still.
As soon as her sword descended far enough towards the Chipper, she ‘let go’ of its grasp and allowed it to shatter in the air.
In the time that the Chipper stood there confused, she bounded towards her sword.
At this point, the monster realized something was wrong and started to look around for Jen.
But it was already too late.
Jen thrust her sword directly into the Chipper’s torso.
It stood there for a moment, shocked, before it fell to the ground. Dead.
Britta and Cassie cheered. Zane and I jumped for joy. Jen also had a huge smile as she exited the ice ring. She re-sheathed her sword and ran over to hug us.
“Good job, Jennifer.” Gavin wandered into the ring. “You finally remembered you were an Affinity user. Good thing young Terrence was here to help you.” He grabbed the Chipper and discarded its remains into what must have been an Inventory Satchel.
We all stood there a bit less enthusiastic after his admonishment.
“All good, Jen.” I gave her a hug. “You still did great.”
“Thanks. And really, thanks for your help.” She smiled back at me.
“John, you’re next. Show them what they can hope to do in a year.”
“Okay, master. I choose the Serwolf.” John flicked out a dagger and jumped into the ring.
After him, Gavin deposited the Serwolf on the far end of the ring and walked out, leaving John alone with the monster.
Like last time, the vines withered and the Serwolf was free.
John did not wait for the Serwolf to gather its bearings. He sprinted towards the beast and stabbed for it