by Dakota Krout
“We’re ready, Drill Instructor!” the reply boomed from every single person in the barracks. It was true. Since they never knew what time they were supposed to be getting up, everyone slept in their clothes and armor, as well as keeping their weapons handy.
It was the start of Joe's second day with the Dwarves, and his first morning. He had never gotten the steak promised from Sarge for joining the Dwarves, but that was the least of his worries at this moment. Joe wasn't exactly certain what he was supposed to be doing, but it appeared that the Dwarves weren't going to make him choose for himself.
They had tossed him into Legionnaire training, along with the new batch of Dwarven ‘recruits’. It was somewhat telling that there were only thirty people total in this group, but apparently the training started on Monday each week. He had just gotten ‘lucky’ enough to get in this batch as soon as he joined up. Besides the voice waking them up, Joe had another surprise waiting for him.
Characteristic training complete. +2 Strength, Constitution.
Just being in this environment was enough to train his strength and constitution, which meant that by the time he woke up, he had already trained the maximum that he could. That was unfortunate, since he was already exhausted, and the training day was just about to begin. Maybe he could convince them to let him train other characteristics?
Moving as quickly as he could, Joe still found that he was the last person getting out the door. Concerned that he would either be punished, or people would try to ‘greet him’ again, he activated Retaliation of Shadows and Exquisite Shell. Both had gone up a skill level the day before, a direct result of so many people bashing their head against his to say ‘hello’ and test the strength of their forehead against his shielding. Remembering the upgrade he had gained, Joe smiled and checked it one more time.
You have reached the Journeyman ranks for Retaliation of Shadows! Journeyman bonus gained: When you attack or cast a spell, there is now a 10% chance that it will trigger a shadow version that is 25% as potent as the original. (Personal attack or spell use. Group spells and rituals are not impacted.)
Exquisite Shell had only reached Beginner seven, but every little piece of protection was very welcome. Joe joined the formation, getting in position just as crossbow bolts flew from… apparently everywhere around them. A bolt passed in front of him, behind him, to his left, and to his right. Joe was about to take cover and find a way to strike back when the voice of their Drill Instructor rang out once more. “If you were hit by a bolt, you are not in the correct space. You’re out of formation, and you will rectify that!”
“Dude, look at all that blood coming out of my arm! Sick!” the Dwarf two spaces to the left of Joe called out, grinning as he looked at his injured limb. “That's got to have some serious armor penetration!”
“That’s right, and don't you forget it!” the Drill Instructor confirmed curtly. “Also, shaddup! Get in groups of four; that's one less than the total number of digits on your hand unless you cut something off between the barracks and here! Move!”
The Dwarves moved so fast that they left small whirlwinds of dust behind. By the time Joe looked around, everyone had partnered up. Well, all but one small group. They were looking at him questioningly, then staring pleadingly at the Drill Instructor. One of them, the one with the most magnificent mustache, shouted at the Drill Instructor with a gravelly voice, “Look at this guy! He can't keep up! You’re gonna give him the opportunity to drag us down? What happened to the high standards that used to be required for joining the Legion?”
A bearded Dwarf in the same group spat to the side. “I'm so happy they are getting the chance for inclusion, but humans just don't have the same physical abilities as the rest of us! We are going to end up carrying its gear, having to support it on ruck marches, and what about fighting monsters? Forget about it!”
“Oh, I didn't realize that you were the one making the rules now!” the Drill Instructor shouted back, leveling a crossbow at the bearded Dwarf. “You must be on the Officer’s track, or hoping to get on it? Those are the people making the rules, after all.”
There was a collective inhale at the implied threat, and not a single Dwarf made another sound as Joe shamefacedly joined the party of three. The Drill Instructor grinned evilly and motioned for everyone to follow him. “You all know the rules. Try not to die during training. It sets you back a day, which means you lose all the reputation you would have gained for being an upstanding member of the Legion! You get paid every night at lights out. If you aren’t there, I'm keeping that rep for myself! I'll drink an ale in your honor, then be back in the morning to work you twice as hard!”
“Pick your role in your new party, and get friendly! This is who you will be with until the end of training! If you fail, they fail. Remember, the only way out of the Legion is reaching neutral with the Dwarven Council!” At those words, Joe perked up and hurriedly looked at his reputation score with the Dwarven factions.
Current reputation:
Dwarven Legionnaires: -1000, Cautious.
Dwarven Council: -1000, Cautious.
“What the…?” Then Joe remembered that his deity bonus did not work with the Dwarves, because they also used reputation as currency. Before he started cursing this Zone again, he shouted at the Drill Instructor. “How much are we getting paid?”
Strangely enough, surprise was the main expression on the faces of the Dwarves around him. The magnificently mustachioed member of his party blinked, then snorted at him. “Who cares? The only thing that you can do with all that money is get out of training, out of the Legion! Who the abyss would want to have that kind of opportunity?”
“Success is its own reward!”
There was a roar of approval at these words, words that Joe would later learn was the mantra of the Oligarchy as a whole. He decided that he would just have to wait for the pay to hit his account that night so he could see for himself what he was earning. The Drill Instructor fired his crossbow at various trainees until order was restored, then continued with his explanation of what they would be doing. “Today, we are going to clear out a monster nest: Stone Lizards! Whatever group kills the most of them wins a week of characteristic training materials or a weapon upgrade; whoever kills one of them in the most impressive fashion gets an armor upgrade!”
“Weapons and armor!”
“Yeah!”
“Celestials, I hope it is really heavy! If I could just find a two hundred pound helmet-”
“Shaddup, the armor is mine! You don't have to worry about if it will-”
Every discussion in the area devolved into a massive fist fight. Strangely enough, anyone in a team did not attack each other, instead working to defend and take down the others with impressive efficiency. Joe looked around, waiting for the Drill Instructor to step in, sighing when he finally realized that the Dwarf in charge of their training had joined in the brawl.
Eventually, they calmed down and got into a marching formation, being led to a cave system and warned not to come out before killing at least two monsters for each member of the party. Joe took a moment to check the different roles that he could choose in the party, surprised to see that they were selectable, rather than based on class or levels. “Attacker, Vanguard, Scout, Support. I’m pretty well set up to be a support; any of you have an issue with me taking that?”
The other three just laughed and walked into the caves, making Joe question what they knew that he didn’t. He shrugged and selected ‘Support’, then looked at the information that was available for their party. After closing his eyes and attempting to calm himself, he followed the three Dwarves on his team—all of them had chosen ‘Attacker’.
“Can I at least get your names?” Joe asked as he ran to catch up to his stout team. He stood head and shoulders above even the tallest of them, but their speed was still higher than his, and he was having trouble forcing his way through the thick, energy-rich air of this plane. “All I see in my party interface is ‘D1, D2, D3’. D
o you guys really not have names?”
Joe was outright ignored at first. Then he grinned as he realized that he knew exactly how to handle people like this. He was prior service, and they were still trainees. He had tricks they would never see coming. “After all, if no one knows what to call you, you can’t win the rewards, or be in charge.”
There was a long pause, and the Dwarves came to an abrupt halt. The bearded Dwarf stepped forward and stomped the floor, leaving a deep indent. “I’m Broski. I’m the team leader.”
“Eat feces, Broski! I’m Dudette, I’m in charge around here!” The intensely mustachioed Dwarf snarled at the first that spoke. Joe blinked at the realization that facial hair might be the only way to differentiate male and female in this zone… for him, at least. As far as the human could tell, there were no other differences. Their heads were all bald, and the armor that was worn constantly meant that there was no other clear way to-
*Wham*.
Dudette was punched into the stone wall by the final mustachioed Dwarf. “I’m Dudette, and I’m the party leader!”
Joe watched the fight play out over the next few minutes as the cave entrance they had chosen was painted with fresh flecks of blood, wondering yet again if he had made a terrible, terrible decision.
Chapter Six
Joe cast Lay on Hands on Broski, wincing at the sound of the Dwarf’s facial bones realigning and mending themselves. A glance at the party interface revealed that the three hundred points of damage he had just repaired had not even gotten the Dwarf close to his maximum health. The Dwarves had a crazy high constitution, and a rough estimate—by how much he had just healed up—placed Broski around two thousand health. If these Dwarves were the low-level ones, he would not want to fight a high-level version.
“It’s settled then, ri~ight? We all had the chance, and proved our merit,” Dudette smugly informed the others with a toss of her majestic mustache. Then she lifted a fist, getting a wince from the other mustached Dwarf. “I am Dudette, she is Diane. That’s what you get for being so weak, Diane! People are gonna haveta think to remember your name! Last, that’s Broski, the party leader.”
“My name is Joe. Nice to officially meet you all,” Joe chimed in, getting an eye roll from Dudette for his trouble. “We have monsters to kill, right? Anyone know anything about these, or are we all finding out together?”
“Stone Lizards, support Bro,” Broski snorted and grimaced at the others. “Can you believe this guy? Can't even remember what we are going to be fighting. I thought humans were supposed to be brainiacs like those grass-fed Elves. So glad we get to learn that was a lie all along.”
“Good one, Broski!” Diane high-fived the ‘party leader’, and the three Dwarves started walking deeper into the tunnel without another word. Joe was very uncertain how they were moving in sync like that, but he assumed they would just tell him to ‘get on their level’ if he asked.
The small party continued advancing along the tunnel, and to Joe's surprise, they soon emerged in a huge open plain. As soon as they were out of the tunnel, the Dwarves turned around and looked up. Behind them was a massive cliff face with strange nests built along the side. Dudette grabbed a rock and threw it at one of the nests, hitting it spot-on and getting a loud squawk in reply. Broski suddenly had a double-sided war axe in his hands, which he swung forward at nothing that Joe could see.
At the apex of his swing, Broski’s war axe slammed into a translucent, two-headed lizard with wings. “Whoa, I actually got it!”
“Cool!” Dudette started swinging her oversized hammers at the air, but she didn't manage to hit anything, much to her disappointment. Joe was fairly certain that she thought that the air was supposed to be filled with monsters.
“That’s wild, Broski; finish it off!” Diane ordered Broski as the lizard fell to the ground with a hiss.
“Yo, I'm the party leader, I say when I finish it off!” The male Dwarf waited a long moment, then cut the lizard in half. “Look at that; each half still has a head!”
Joe stared at the strange lizard that was definitely dead, looked at the Dwarves, then looked up at the cliff face. “I really hate to have to ask this, but I thought we were killing Stone Lizards? These seem to be more like… air lizards?”
A blast of wind hit Diane as she turned to yell at Joe, cutting off the ring finger on her left hand and spinning her in place. Broski snarled at Joe, “What are you doing, distracting us in the middle of a fight like that? Are you damaged, bro? These are Stone Lizards, because the best way to kill ‘em is to hit them with rocks! Or we can get them onto the rock and cut them down! Why would you want to call them Air Lizards? Those ones are practically made of rock! You don't want to hit Stone Lizards with an air spell; they’re pretty much immune to it!”
“Stupid human, not even understanding basic combat interactions. Every monster is strong in one area and weak in another! Stone Lizards are weak on—or when hit with—stone.” Dudette paused in her admonishment as her hammer hit the left head of another lizard that was flying at her. “Wow! I got one! I guess… thanks for the chance to teach you something, support bro?”
The other head of the lizard bit at her, creating a cavitation bubble that blasted her hammer in the other direction as it came at the head. Sharp blades of wind formed, cutting deeply into her forearm armor, but the sharp currents failed to penetrate. Seeing this, Joe realized that if the bite had landed, it might have deposited that air bubble directly into the arm; then likely would have blown it straight off. He double-checked his Exquisite Shell with a gulp and tried to spot any lizards that were flitting around them.
He knew they were nearby only because they sounded just like hummingbirds, emitting a low-pitched droning noise that put bumblebees to shame. They were just too fast for him to lock onto, certainly too fast to hit them with a directed spell. That meant there was only one thing for Joe to do; focus on his role in combat. He ducked down, scooped up the finger that had been torn off Diane, then grabbed her hand, aligned the finger against her protest, and cast Mend.
Her finger reattached without issue, and her health shot upward as her blood was replenished. Diane looked at her hand, gave it a test squeeze, then grunted and got back to the fight. Joe tried to think of what to do next. He was a support, but he should have spells that would work against these monsters. For instance, his Acid Spray was technically an earth spell? Or… was it a water spell? Either way, it was not air, so it should be at least somewhat effective against them.
All three of the Dwarves were facing the cliff directly, but the droning lizards were circling them at high speeds. Joe tried to equip his staff, but for some reason, it did not appear in his hand when he called it from his Codpiece of Holding. He thought it might have something to do with being in combat, though that had never been an issue before. He gave up and simply focused on casting Acid Spray up in an arc behind them.
Damage dealt: 106 (130—33 magic resist + 10% title bonus)
A cacophony of trilling shrieks tore through the air as the swarm of winged lizards dove through the green liquid and started to melt. Joe had never managed to regain his ability to channel spells, else he would have been pumping the air full of acid for the next few seconds.
Three things happened in quick succession after that: first, the lizards became much more visible, since their inner bodies were exposed. Apparently, only their scales allowed them to keep their camouflage working. Second, the Dwarves got very excited and started swinging at the lizards far more accurately. Thirdly, all of the lizards that had been hit by the acid tried to attack Joe at the same time.
Joe dove to the side, dodging out of the way of the first few air streams that were shot toward him, and confusing the Dwarves. Broski was at his side in an instant, pulling him upright. “Human bro, why are you getting out of the way? How are you going to train up your constitution if you aren't taking hits?”
“I can't take hits like you can!” Joe had finally lost his temper. These Dwarves were w
ay too ridiculous! “I only have-”
He paused as he inspected his current health pool. “Holy guacamole, I have nine hundred and eight health?”
“Oh, wow.” Broski pulled his hand off of Joe, concerned that he might accidentally damage the fragile human, “You're not kidding, man. You could only take like… three or four hits total from these little beasties before your whole body collapses!”
“Joe, bro,” Dudette called as she walked over with her left arm swinging from her right hand, “Can you put my arm back on? I saw you work with Diane; can you do arms too?”
“You called me by my actual name…?” Joe stared at the open wound gushing blood where her arm should be, then jumped into action. While the other two Dwarves focused on smacking the lizards out of the air like irritating flies, Joe coaxed the flesh and bone of Diane’s shoulder and arm together into a unified whole once more.
It turned out that a lizard had managed to land on her, then both heads had bitten in two opposite places at the same time, cleanly blowing the limb off. Joe had to pump a thousand points of healing into her, but soon she was using both of her hammers once more. A few minutes after that, they were surrounded by a dozen dead lizards. Joe looked at the notifications he had gained at the end of combat.
For focusing on your chosen role during combat, you get a perfect 1/4 split of experience! As your party has three members who have contested a role, they split the remaining experience!
Experience gained: 600 (50 * 12 ‘Stone’ Lizards)
Skill increase: Mend (Student 9).
Broski looked at the others with a huge grin. “I know we could go back, but that's already half as many as the whole platoon got yesterday before everyone died! Why did they wait till today to put us in parties? This rocks! Why don't we go fight another nest?”
“Yeah, Broski!” Dudette called with a fist pump.
Diane sidled up to the bearded Dwarf and leaned on him. “Best party leader ever!”