But for a Slime

* * *

Garnedell was quite confused by Joe’s actions, uncertain why Joe would ever offer any mercy to these thieves and party killers. He did feel some sense of pride at Joe’s honor, but wondered over the problems that may result. These men had already been ready to let one group die and even sought them out to kill them. There were no guards in the dungeon! There was no one to protect them there! It was foolish, at least in his own humble opinion, for his master to allow these men mercy. Master is master. I will obey. He’s proven himself again and again. He knows exactly when he can change his job. How, I don’t know. And he never chooses a poor job. My master must have some plan for this!

Garnedell turned to the guards and began explaining what had happened, “Dungeon Guardian. My Master wishes me to report these men as party killers. They tried to scavenge a previous party yesterday, watching as they became overwhelmed by a spark. And today, they sought us out and tried to kill us. Only my master’s great skill saved us. They waited for us to engage two sparks before they came at us from behind.”

The Dungeon Guardian turned to Garnedell and raised his eye, “Do you have corroboration of yesterday’s attack?”

“We could bring you the two who were left to die in a few days, although we do not know their living quarters. We met them only by chance yesterday and killed the sparks that were overwhelming them.”

“And today?”

“As I said, great Dungeon Guardian, the came upon us from the rear, silently. My teacher was being quite cautious in his attacks and saw them coming before he left his spark to engage them.”

“What did you do?”

“I kept attacking my spark.”

The Dungeon Guardian’s eyes rose sharply at that statement, “You did not help defend?”

‘No. I would have failed badly. These men could easily kill me, I believe.”

“But he overwhelmed three adventurers alone.”

“Yes, Dungeon Guardian.”

“How?”

Garnedell took longer to explain, not quite able to sufficiently detail the fight simply because Joe’s actions had been so fast it was difficult to follow, so he gave a simple description, “My master struck the first one with an arrow in his thigh. He then rushed forward to the next one and pressed harshly with his shield into the second man, staggering him back such that the man fell onto his back. Even as the man flew, my Master leapt forward and wounded the man grievously in his thigh with his spear. The last man engaged my master carefully, but my Master was able to overwhelm him quickly with a stunning strike to his head and then a sweep to the man’s calves. The man fell after and Master disarmed him and demanded their surrender. He then bound them and their wounds before bringing them here.”

As Garnedell described the fight, the surrounding gaggle of adventurers entering and leaving the dungeon, as well as the Dungeon Guardians, all fell silent; a hush deadening the sound within the dungeon walls while movement froze, all eyes now staring at Master in shock. The Guardians were able to maintain their stoic faces, somewhat, but the other adventurers began looking towards Joe with some shocked measuring eyes. The Guardian Garnedell was speaking to considered carefully before nodding his head and replying, his speech and body posture taking on a new respect. Garnedell stood straighter in response, pride swelling as he realized his Master was great enough to give the Dungeon Guardians pause.

“What does your great master wish?”

Garnedell turned to Joe and repeated the Dungeon Guardian’s question, “What guard do bad men?”

Joe considered a bit but then simply sighed and waved his hand, clearly disgruntled by the question and the Dungeon Guardian paled slightly before bowing his head and interjecting quickly.

“We will process and punish these men accordingly. Is that good for your Master?”

Garnedell got Joe’s approval for the Dungeon Guardian’s plan and gave the much relieved Dungeon Guardian his Master’s response. The Guardians quickly took control of the offending adventurers and took them away as Joe stood up, easily seen as relieved that the issue had been resolved quickly. Joe was even magnanimous, gifting the captured armor and weaponry to the Dungeon Guardians, a move obviously calculated to garner face in front of so many witnesses even though his Master was so far above the Guardians he had no need to offer such a gift. As Joe stepped back into the dungeon, Garnedell powered quickly after but heard a few parting whispers of those behind him.

“A bowman AND a spear?”

“Bow and spear!”

“No! Bow and spear AND SHIELD!”

The whispers quickly faded away as Joe and Garnedel faded into the dungeon depths.

* * *

Joe felt only relief as he escaped into the dungeon entrance, leaving behind the weaponry and armor simply because he had no desire to lug around any more than he already had. Armor… huh. Maybe I should look into some leather at least? Maybe? Joe soon found himself back in the depths of the … ha! Depths?! I’m only on the first floor of this dungeon! Joe laughed a bit to himself at the honest realization. I’m still so weak. I wonder if I could take the second floor? Maybe? But Joe steadied himself and focused back on the sparks on the first floor. I’m growing fast enough, and without any injuries! I can’t afford to be hurt. Even a simple sprain could have me lose a couple weeks. Anything worse, like a broken bone or a deep puncture would have me bed ridden for months and I haven’t seen anything like healing at all!

Joe and Garnedell returned to their killing, taking out one side of the first floor maze before taking out the other side of the maze as they came into the afternoon. The rest of the afternoon passed in such a relaxed mood that Joe was surprised when Garnedell asked if they could call it a day. The lack of paranoia giving him a peace the shocked him quite a bit! I’m going to have to figure out what happened, but obviously I was feeling the tension of those guys, I guess? Do I have a danger sense now? That would be SOO cool! Man! Let me put that on my ‘thinking’ list for tonight!

Joe managed to hit level sixteen by the end of the day, surprising him by his quick speed, but realized that he’d hit fifteen quite early this morning so had basically a whole day on sixteen, which was what his math had shown for his last job: about one level per day for getting from sixteen to twenty. They headed back to the inn and sat for the meal. Joe tried to engage Garnedell in some language learning, feeling relieved and relaxed, but he quickly realized that Garnedell was actually feeling quite stressed. Huh.. guess that makes sense! I’ve been feeling worried about what’s coming the last two days. Now it’s gone, I’m relaxed. But Garnedell’s been hit by the sudden stress of what happened today.

Joe called an end to the language lesson for the day, letting Garnedell relax even as he tried to offer bad, poorly translated jokes to ease Garnedell’s fears. Garnedell gamely tried to enjoy Joe’s poor attempts at humor, but the effort proved ineffective and Joe let the table slip into silence as he watched the boy. Joe gave the boy an extra bit of money, telling him to go blow off steam, and the boy thanked him but didn’t leave the inn. Instead, he chose to stay and buy some alcoholic beverages, which actually made Joe a bit uncomfortable, and Garnedell enjoyed his time in the common area. Joe decided to leave the boy to his partying in the common room and headed back up to his room for evening chores: washing clothes and body.

After cleaning and under the shimmering glimmer of his lantern, he added to his diary then opened his miscellaneous notebook to consider what had happened in regards to his ‘danger’ sense. He wrote down his notes regarding the day and then started fiddling through his notes, looking for anything that might hint at what had happened. He first looked at what his current skills were, but couldn’t find anything that would point out what he’d been feeling. He did receive a boost to his IQ but it didn’t seem to be anything that would give him this kind of fear or advanced warning. Finding nothing, he then went back through each of the tabs in his status and nothing really stood out until he an old skill popped back to his mind under his blessings: instinctual. He pressed on it, bringing up the popup detailing it once again.

Instinctual (Greater Blessing): You have gained the favor and blessing of a greater natural power. You are blessed with a hyper aware instinctive ability that allows you to react and respond at a subconscious level to accomplish conscious goals or to protect yourself from harm.

Huh. I wonder if that’s what it was. Instinct to protect myself from harm? Joe couldn’t really think of anything else that might have brought about that feeling of intense wrongness and warning. Joe continued exploring the menus but couldn’t find anything and ultimately decided to let it be the answer. He had no other clear explanations nor any other options. He wrote down his notes regarding his thoughts about instinctual and his reactions over the last day or so, then went to bed.

* * *

Joe woke the next morning and was surprised to see that Garnedell didn’t rise as well. Must have really gotten a bit hung over last night? Joe took care of his morning needs and left Garnedell to sleep, going downstairs to enjoy a leisurely breakfast, not wishing to wake the kid. After a long hour breakfast, Joe felt a bit uncomfortable to let the rest of the day linger, and he packed a breakfast for Garnedell before heading back up to the room. Luckily, Garnedell had woken already, bleary eyed and struggling to dress in a bit of a panic. When Joe came in the room, he could see the panic flood Garnedell’s face as he froze in the process of dressing. Joe just smiled and laughed a bit, gesturing towards Garnedell.

“Don’t worry about it, kid! Relax. You had a hard time yesterday, so it’s fine. I brought you breakfast, so don’t wor… um.. I am OK! I am happy! Garnedell is good! OK?”

Garnedell’s confusion washed away in understanding before finally settling on a tremulous and hopeful smile. Joe nodded a few times, and the boy went back to preparing himself for the day. Joe grabbed all their belongings and handed the boy his breakfast, carrying the extra tools they used when dungeon diving so the boy’s hands were free to eat. Garnedell tried to fuss a bit, but Joe refused and shoved the breakfast into the boy’s hands.

“You eat! Relax, Garnedell! Eat!”

The boy nodded in response and the two tromped down the stairs and out the door, heading towards the dungeon even as Garnedell ate quickly. Joe slowed the boy’s eating down a bit, not wanting to upset his stomach. It took a bit of explaining but Garnedell seemed to understand and soon ate his food carefully, albeit with a bit more speed than his normal breakfasts.

Aside from the unusual start to the morning, Joe and Garnedell continued their dungeon hunt as usual, scouring the first floor side mazes, the dead end mazes, for sparks and slaughtering them. Joe was surprised to hit seventeen almost as soon as they entered and managed to hit eighteen that evening. The next day played out the same and Joe was astonished to find he’d made twenty just at the end of the day. They had to stay a bit longer than their normal dungeon dives, but it was only another twenty or so minutes longer. Wow? I’m hitting fifteen to twenty in only three days now? This is… nuts! Awesome, but nuts!

Status

Blessings

Current Job

Available Jobs

Current Skills

Available Skills

Log

Joe McConnell

Status

Physical Resistances

Magical Resistances

HP

20.00

Physical:

MP

20.00

Piercing

0.00

Attack

20.00

Crushing

0.00

Defense

20.00

Slashing

0.00

Magic

20.00

Magic Defense

20.00

Strength

20.00

Dexterity

20.00

Agility

20.00

Scholar

20

Speed

20.00

Endurance

20.00

IQ

160.00

Wisdom

160.00

Learning

120.00

Luck

0.00

The late day had them threading the streets to home at dusk, the sun already set, but Joe’s excitement drowned out the dark nature, both literally and figuratively, of the night. The meal was quick, and while Garnedell congratulated him, he seemed to be a bit too down since he hadn’t made even a single level in all that time, still stuck at fifteen. Joe tried to engage in the language exchange, but Garnedell’s grumpy mood left him disinterested in the exchange. Joe decided to let the boy rest for the evening and headed up to his room. He did look at newly available jobs and skills and was extremely excited for the new jobs, although the new skills, fifty percent bonus to IQ and twenty five percent to wisdom, were not very useful since they could only be useable while he was using the job or with a ‘char:’ skill. Despite the lackluster skills, the stat boost and the new jobs excited him, and he was able to head to bed with a sense of satisfaction. A satisfaction that he was well and truly to completing his goal.

Huh? I guess the next job is going to be the linguist job! I hope this is it. I don’t want to go too much further on this quest.

Status

Blessings

Current Job

Available Jobs

Current Skills

Available Skills

Log

Citizen

Crafting

Education

Nobility

Commoner

20

Crafter

Educated

20

Groom

10

Villager

10

Scholar

20

Farmer

10

Philosopher

Waiter

10

Bartender

10

Chief

10

Day Laborer

10

Inn Keeper

10

Reeve

10

Forester

10

Trapper

10

Fisherman

10

Hunter

10

Miner

10

Baker

10

Cook

10

Metropolitan

20

Burgher

10

Cartographer

Waiter

10

Bartender

10

Day Laborer

10

Teacher

Cook

10

Mana-ologist

Humanities

Baker

10

Groom

10

Butcher

10

Engineer

Inn Keeper

10

Physician

Merchant

10

Linguist

Chemist

Mathematics

Citizen

20

Gypsy

0

Beggar

0

Gambler

0

Animal Tamer

0

Specialist

20