Chapter Four Hundred and Forty-Nine — Superego
Chapter Four Hundred and Forty-Nine — Superego The team couldn't exactly leave right away. Instead, Jean-Piere led us out of the forest and back towards the sorta-cliffside where I'd come into the floor from. We crossed the sign by the entrance, then paused."Did you encounter anything on ze first floor?" he asked.I nodded. "Yeah. Some monsters that repeated anything I said. Mimicry murlocks? They were kind of creepy? Not very strong, though."He nodded. "I knew zere were a few left. If you took more out, zen ze return will be zat much easier. Alright. I'll take point, if you don't mind. Seeing as how you're not one of the new recruits, I suppose you can do what you want."I blinked, but I supposed that made some sense.The Exploration Guild's field test was meant to see if people were competent enough to join. If someone passed, and if they, for example, were sent on quick missions by the Guild Master, then it was probably safe to say that they were at least somewhat good at the whole exploration thing.And Jean-Pierre seemed willing to assume that much about me.It was actually kind of nice. I didn't mind people underestimating me, or seeing if I needed help with something. I wasn't the sort of bun to be insulted so easily. But it was nice to have someone that was a professional just assume that I was capable as well.I moved a bit closer to Jean-Pierre, leaning down because of the difference in height between the two of us so that the others wouldn't overhear as easily. "How far along in the testing have you gotten?" I asked, under my breath.He smiled. "Hmm. Not zat far, but enough to get a feel for some of zese recruit's potentials.""Can I help? The mission was kind of cut short and all."He rubbed at his chin. "I suppose I wouldn't mind ze help. Would you say you're a good judge of character?""I'd like to think so," I said. "And I have a few skills that help with that.""Ah, right. An airship captain would want a few skills to manage zeir crew... how many are zere, on your ship?""Uh, myself, the first mate, Awen over there is our mechanic, and Calamity is from our... away party? After that, there's six more, and one permanent stowaway. Oh, and the ship's cat."He nodded, and I was thankful he made no comment, because calling Caprica a permanent stowaway probably wasn't very flattering, even if it was technically true. "Okay. Good enough. If you could talk with everyone, see what zeir like. Zat might help. Part of being a good member of the guild is being able to work with others, forming... if not friendships, zen at least professional relationships.""That makes perfect sense," I said. "I'm not sure how much I'll learn between here and Rockstack, but I'll do what I can! Oh, uh, but it wouldn't be too fair to judge my own friends."He shrugged. "Calamity is a shoe-in. Good hunter skills translate well. He's good enough with others too. Awen is a little less... field-ready, but her skills for dungeoneering are decent enough. She's not a whining noble brat. And at ze same time... her family name?""Ah, Bristlecone?" I asked. "You're wondering about Abraham.""Any relation?""He's her uncle," I said. "We actually came to Port Royal with him.""Ah, ze famous niece. Well, I zink I would have a hard time not accepting her. It's good zat she seems competent enough, because it'll save me having to argue with zat man.""I don't think Awen would want to be treated special because of her family," I said."Zat speaks well of her character too," he said. "Right, let's not linger too much longer. Ze recruits seem to have caught zeir breath."Was that why we stopped? I looked back and saw that Calamity and Awen were both fine, but at least three of the recruits looked a little winded, and some of the others weren't in top form.I'd never been anything exceptional back on Earth, and ever since arriving on Dirt, I'd always felt the need to push hard to keep up with all the strong people around me. However ... I was starting to get the feeling that my friends and I weren't quite normal, anymore, at least compared to the average person. We weren't super high-levelled or anything, but we did have classes and skills that were handy for adventuring."Alright everyone, enough sitting around. Let's head out. Miss Bunch will be chatting with each team, to make sure you're all doing well."Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.I nodded along, confirming what he said, then I watched as the group started to move. I let them move on ahead of me, with Awen and Calamity right behind Jean-Pierre. I waved them on, and my friends didn't seem to mind my new sorta-job.The next team was the one with two grenoil gentlemen, then the team with the human and the person in the mage's robes, and finally the team with the two younger grenoil.I slipped in next to them. "Hi!" I said. "I'm Broccoli.""Uh," the grenoil boy said. "Hey. Nice to meet you?""You're a full-fledged member?" the girl asked, sounding maybe a tough suspicious."I am! Something came up, and we need Jean-Pierre back in Port Royal. So I guess the exercise will be cut a little short. Sorry?""No, it's fine," the girl said. She didn't sound like she thought it was fine though. She frowned, and cast her eyes down."So, what are your names?" I asked. That seemed like a nice neutral ground to start with."I'm Davis," the boy said. He gestured to the grenoil girl. "This is Hannah.""Hello, Davis and Hannah," I said. "Is this your first time in a dungeon?"These two, of all the new recruits, seemed the least prepared. They had big backpacks, and it looked like Hannah was carrying half of a household's worth of stuff, but it wasn't all that well packed, and I couldn't imagine it all being useful. Plus, it was covered in mud and looked wet. It was no wonder she, at least, needed a small break.The rest of their gear wasn't great either. Two spears, and even if I wasn't an expert of any sort, it didn't look like either of them were too used to carrying them. The knives by their hips looked better used."Is it that obvious?" Hannah asked. She sounded worried about it."We're both at the level cap," Davis said. "We can manage a dungeon, I'm sure."I nodded along. "I'm sure! Your first is a little tricky. I'm sorry we won't be going all the way to the end of this one. But now you know a little more of what to expect. At least from this one, specifically.""Have you done a lot of them?" Hannah asked."Uh... a few?" I tried. "Let's see... I can't remember all of their names, but there was one near... nevermind that one. Then two in Mattergrove, then two on the way south, one in sylphfree, then another up north. I think I've gone through seven dungeons so far?"Davis looked a little stunned, and Hannah a little awed.I scratched at the side of my neck. It felt kinda embarrassing.The other two teams, the ones with the human and the mage, and the two grenoil, were moving a lot faster, so I gestured to them. "We should try to keep up," I said. "But if you have any questions about dungeons, I'd love to help. At least, as much as I can!""Uh, do they always have... things in them? Like the flies?" Davis asked."You mean monsters?" I asked."Yeah."I nodded. "Almost all dungeons have monsters, although the mixture varies. Some have a lot of monster types, others have only one. Though ... there was dungeon we went through that had almost no monsters. That one was weird.""Why was that weird?" Hannah asked."There were a bunch of traps instead of monsters. And the dungeon was a huge, huge tree," I said. I smiled at Hannah's impressed look, then remembered that I was supposed to be learning about these two, not impressing them with my vast experience stumbling through dungeons. "But enough about me. Have you had trouble so far? I hope the mimicry murlocks weren't too annoying."Davis nodded. "They were a bit, yeah. Hard to find when they weren't copying us. I think we could have dealt with them easier, but... yeah. I don't know if we were really ready for them.""We're... not fighters," Hannah said. "Well, not this kind of fighter. There's lots of fighting back home, but not like in here.""Where are you from?" I asked.Hannah and Davis glanced at each other before Hannah answered. She almost sounded ashamed about it. "Port Royal. Not the nice parts of the city.""Oh," I said. It didn't take much to understand what she was trying to say. It was hard not to feel for them. "What are your classes?" I asked."We're both level ten, we hit the level cap last winter," Davis said, and that was all he said.Maybe drawing things out of these two would be trickier than I'd thought.
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Chapter Four Hundred and Fifty — Fishing for Information
Chapter Four Hundred and Fifty — Fishing for Information Jean-Pierre made us come to a stop at the end of the tunnel between the first and second floors, which was probably a good thing. Poor Hannah's breath was ragged as she struggled under the weight of her bags. She looked half-ready to chuck them aside."Give us five?" I called out to Jean-Pierre.He scanned me and the two new recruits, then gave me a firm nod. One of the others, a grenoil in the other all-grenoil team, scoffed, but no one else protested."Alright," I said as I turned to Hannah. "Let's get that gear off of your back. You're going to injure yourself.""She insisted," Davis said with a sigh."You don't know what we might need," Hannah shot back.She had certainly packed for every possibility. There were a few pots and pans on the outside of her pack, and a full set of cutlery, as well as one small bag that looked like it was stuffed with far more tinder than she could ever possibly need.There were more handy things too, canned foods and tarp and a blanket. I helped her out from under all the weight, then washed Cleaning magic over all her stuff (and Davis)."What is that?" Hannah asked."Cleaning magic," I said. "It's kind of my speciality when it comes to magics!" She looked a little doubtful at that. "It's not great in a fight, most of the time, but when it is, it's very strong! Also, my friends and I are the cleanest crew in the world, I think. You wouldn't think that matters a lot, but we never have to worry about mud or diseases, and our food is always safe, and having fresh clothes and equipment means we have one less thing to worry about, so we focus better.""I guess," Hannah said. "Never really thought about it. Never really invested much into magic either. I can barely start a fire."I nodded along. I... suspected that that wasn't all that uncommon. Magic was super useful, but that didn't mean that everyone would learn some. Still, it was a little weird that people weren't taking some time to pick at least a bit of magic up along the way. Simple spells like Light were super handy, and not exactly had to learn. Most people would probably get a few skills to rank C, even if they were stopping at level 10.I supposed that Hannah meant that she didn't have a more... broad and useful knowledge of magic. Stuff like offensive spells.I helped Hannah unpack a few of her things, then we reorganised them so they'd be easier to carry. "I'll take one of these too," I said. "I rushed out here without any luggage, so I don't mind carrying some.""Thank you," Hannah said, and she sounded genuinely happy.Ding! For doing a Special Action in line with your Class, you have unlocked the skill: Chivalry!I gasped. "I got it!" I said."Got what?" Davis asked.I flung an arm around each of them, squeezing them close to me in a warm double-hug. They'd helped me and they deserved it!"Chivalry! It's a skill that I've been meaning to pick up since forever," I said. "Or any skill like it, really."Now all I needed to do was wait for the prompt to combine Chivalry with Adorable and I'd never again be plagued by that unmentionably bad skill!Any moment now...I blinked, my instant enthusiasm dying off slowly. "Maybe it'll take a minute," I muttered.ChivalryRank F — 00%The ability to be chivalrous. Your moral code shows in the strength of your actions.That was a weird description, but okay. I didn't think I had a moral code. Was 'be nice' a moral code? It felt a little flimsy.Maybe it was because I didn't have a specific goal? I wanted to be a good person, and a helpful one, and maybe if I could have a clear goal then the system would be able to pick it up better?Well, whatever! It was something I'd have to talk to Amaryllis about later, or maybe Caprica, she'd know more about knightly stuff like this. But neither of them were here now, and the crew of new recruits were, so it was back to work for me!"Alright, all packed up. Ready?" I asked.Davis and Hannah looked a lot more comfortable now, and after a minute of packing up, the Exploration Guild was ready to move through the first floor."Can you guys move up to the front?" I asked. "Right behind Mister Jean-Pierre. I'll check in with the other teams in the meantime."Davis nodded, then he and Hannah hurried along the tunnel and caught up to the front of the line, leaving me at the very back of the group. I skipped forwards, catching up to the duo now taking up the rear.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author."Hi!" I said."Gah, uh, hi," the human said, startled. He looked a bit nervous.His companion, the mage in a grey robe and hood, nodded my way. "Good morning," they said. Their voice was feminine, and quite pretty."I'm Broccoli. Are you guys alright? That was a bit of a tough fight back there."The human chuckled nervously. "Yeah, it was," he said. "But we've done our share of fighting before. I'm Jake. You're a full member of the Guild?"I nodded. "Sure am. Got my pin and everything," I said, holding it up to the light."So, you're a scout then?" Jake asked."Not exactly," I said. "Calamity is a scout. I'm kind of more the, ah, the captain? And I have a few skills that let me do a bunch of stuff.""Captain? You really have an airship?" Jake asked."We sure do," I said.He hummed. "Man, you Exploration Guild people are all loaded. You were right, this is a good move," he said to the mage next to him."Your greed is showing," the mage said.Jake rolled his eyes. "Hey, don't be a spoilsport, Kerri. I'm just saying, if this whole exploration thing doesn't work out, maybe I can ask one of these guys for a loan. I'll pay them back, you know?"Kerri sighed, and I couldn't tell if it was exasperated or fond. "Sure, Jake. So, Miss Captain, why are you walking with us?""To make sure everyone is doing alright," I said."You're like the test supervisor or something?" Jake asked shrewdly. He was a little rough around the edges, but it was clear he was at least somewhat sharp."Or something," I said with a grin. "I'm really just helping since the mission was cut short."Jake nodded. "Nice, nice. How hard are you going to judge us?""Well, you've been nice so far, so that's good," I said."Is being nice important?" Kerri asked."I'd say so. If you can't work with others, you're going to have a really hard time adventuring, or doing anything," I said. "It's important to be nice and friendly.""It can't be the only thing, though," Kerri argued. "You've got to be competent. It doesn't matter if you're the nicest person around — if you can't handle a fight or find a way out of a tough spot, then you won't do much for your friends.""Oh, I suppose that's true," I said. I hoped my friends didn't just keep me around for my Cleaning and hugging abilities. "So, speaking of skills....""Are you trying to interrogate us about our classes and levels and stuff?" Jake asked."I'm a bit curious, yes," I admitted. "Is that bad?""Naw," he said. "Kerri's a bard, and I'm an explorer.""A bard, really?" I asked. I had pinned her as a mage."Yes, I'm a bard," she said. Her hood turned to me, and even though I couldn't see her eyes, I could feel the glare."Sorry? I had kind of assumed you were a wizard or something. It's the outfit, I think. You look all mysterious and stuff.""It's practical. I wear this and people won't recognise me as a bard. I'd rather not deal with that hassle.""Okay," I said. "Do you play an instrument? Or do you use magic to make music or something?"Kerri shrugged, but Jake jumped in. "She can sing. Her voice is great!""I can kinda sing," Kerri said. "But... no, I don't play any instruments. Or do pantomimes. I'm a magic bard. That's all. I copy spells.""Oh, I see," I said. That sounded pretty useful. "Well, I've never worked with a bard before, I don't think. I'm sure you must have a bunch of useful skills.""It's not all bad," Kerri said. "But my family's bardic traditions are... not as bard-like as people expect. I don't like it when people assume that just because I'm a bard I can entertain and jump around making a fool of myself. I'm a respectable member of the O'Key family, not some jumped-up jester."Jake chuckled. "You are pretty respectable. Don't mind her. She's a bit sore about the whole thing. It's not like her family forced her to become a bard, but the O'Keys have a long history and she doesn't want to tarnish their reputation.""I can understand that," I said. I glanced to the front, but I could still hear the sounds of the others talking, and the soft clink of equipment. So far, no mimics. Just a lot of wet, soggy ground to cover. Was the dungeon letting up because we were heading out?
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