But for a Slime

The priest considered a moment before bowing, “I declare the debt paid.” Joe thanked him with a sliding handshake as well then paid him for his services. He then turned and left the small group winding his way back to the temple of Baldur. The two lizard kin leapt with joy and came forward, Zilnek offering the customary sliding hand caress while Kilniara seemed to dawdle around Joe, uncertain how to respond. Joe just smiled then bowed to her instead, then turned around to leave.

“Alright, time to head to the dungeon for some more fighting. You coming, Garnedell?”

Garnedell nodded his head quickly, then looked back at the two lizard kin, “Uh.. mas.. Joe? What of the Acokzau?”

“Acokzau? Oh… right… Zilnek and Kilniara are Acokzau.”

“Ah… yes.. they are Acokzau.”

“Oh… cool. What of them…”

“Well… uh…”

“They can come. They can move on. They can do as they wish.”

“Could you… could you accept them… ah… could you teach them?”

Joe stopped and looked back at the two siblings, “Uh… well… Like I said, I’m not taking any apprentices. None. Not you either, Garnedell! But if you want to stay with me and learn, I have no problem teaching you! But I’m not a master! I’m just,” Joe cut himself off and restarted on a new note. “But if you have nowhere else to go and want to hang out with me, I’ll do my best to help you and … well… am I supposed to take care of you as well? I’ll do it. I don’t mind, but I don’t want to offend.”

Zilnek seemed uncertain while Kilniara held a bit of hope. Joe thought for a bit more then quickly turned to Kukurnal, “Hey, can you do another truth spell thingy?”

“Thingy?”

“You know what I mean…”

“I don’t...”

“I meant just… check if I’m speaking the truth.”

“OK.”

Joe then turned to the two Acokzau. “I promise that I will try, to the best of my ability, to keep you from harm. You are free to come and go as you please, but I’ll do my best by you as well. If you need my support, I will try as well.” Joe then turned to Kukurnal, “Truth or lie.”

Kukurnal’s eyes rose a bit before he nodded, “All truth.”

Zilnek and Kilniara looked to one another, considering as Joe then turned to Garnedell, waving him over. Before he turned to leave, he spoke to the siblings one last time, “Why don’t you guys figure things out while Garnedell and I hunt. With your debt gone, you have no need to hunt the dungeons anymore. I will always hunt. I need to grow and must keep hunting or seeking out dungeons. You may not wish such a life. If you want, you may join me and I will help you as well. It is your choice, though. Use today to make your choice, although I would recommend that you stay away from anywhere you might be alone or where the usurer might find you. Maybe hang out with Kukurnal then meet us back at the inn for supper? Kukurnal probably will join us. You can hang out in the temple district. Don’t bother Kukurnal too much.”

Joe waved to the two lizard kin and headed out, Garnedell stopping for a few moments before also waving and running after Joe. Joe didn’t really look back, just moving on. It would have probably been odd if he had, so he just focused on his day and quickly made it to the dungeon and down into the depths. Today was going to be a different day. Time to see what it takes to level a skill.

Joe had to get cudgels first, and stopped by a carpenter for a couple cudgels. He had intended to ask for some made from iron from a blacksmith, but realized metal weapons thrust into beings made from literal lightening would be a very bad idea. Would still be a good idea to get a couple fighting sticks, nunchucks, and tonfas to round out my armory. He quickly purchased several poorly made cudgels before heading to the dungeon. He made it to the dungeon and the always-there-line at the entrance. The twenty minute wait passed quickly as Joe settled for some small talk with Garnedell as well as training Garnedell in the use of stick fighting, training him in some simple stances. As he did so, he was surprised to see several people looking on strangely. Several seemed to mock Joe’s efforts while others simply dismissed it as odd. Joe continued for a few moments more before the awkwardness of the situation embarrassed him enough to stop. Huh… I guess making a spectacle is not approved of on every planet. Glad mom’s not here!

Joe giggled a bit to himself at the last comment before a crushing sadness came over him. I’m never seeing her again! Joe stood and turned away from Garnedell, waving off their training and using the crowd’s reaction as an excuse, “We don’t want to bother everyone. We’ll continue training later. Joe faced forward with his head down, turning his back to the faces behind him as tears started falling. He quickly took control of his breathing, settling into severe deep breathing exercises to calm his emotions, the trembling of his fist clenched hands slowing even as the powerful tension in his fists released. The calming breaths had his trembling and hitched breathing under control and now only his tears streaming from his eyes were enough to reveal the soul-crushing loneliness that enveloped his heart as he realized he was likely to never see friends or family again. It was the first time he was actually happy for the long wait time to get into the dungeon and although he only had a few moments left, it was enough to calm his heart and still the tears.

He was far from recovered. It’s time to remember and mourn… guess I’ll do that tonight, eh? After Garnedell’s in bed maybe. By the time they made the entrance, he felt a bit more in control but still really only barely holding it together so let Garnedell deal with the entrance guards before heading down. As usual, they turned into their side entrances and Joe sent Garnedell on alone.

“Let’s see how you do now, Garnedell. Here are the star weapons, grab one and go take out each of the sparks. Clear the hallway to the first room for us. Let me see how you do,” Joe commanded Garnedell, handing a wooden cudgel to him as well. “Use one of the left over wooden spears as a staff. You can use a staff as an adventurer. Let me see how you fight. But! Trap the spark in a star first! I want you safe.”

Garnedell went forward excitedly and did exactly as Joe asked, although Joe only watched to keep Garnedell safe while he let his seething emotions come to rest. By the time Garnedell had cleared the hallway to the first room, a good thirty minutes had passed and Joe finally felt more in control of himself towards the end and took the time to evaluate Garnedell’s last few fights. Although he had missed the first fights, Joe was actually quite pleased with Garnedell’s progress and found himself smiling at what he was doing. Granted, he was still an absolute novice, but the boy show strong promise and Joe offered both praise and pointers while the two made it to the last room. Garnedell glowed from Joe’s attention and nodded eagerly at what Joe’s instructions. Joe smiled at Garnedell’s eager reaction and actually felt his heart settle at seeing Garnedell’s puppy like response.

“Right! Let’s keep going. You need to keep practicing and we need to level up, so let’s get this done! Set the stars here and just start the first row of sparks. Leave the ones in back. We’ll go through them carefully so we can practice a bit. Besides, I need to level my cudgel skill, so… let’s see how that goes!”

Garnedell, “Yes, mas… Joe. I obey.”

Joe sighed at Garnedell’s response but said nothing at grabbed two stars, shoving them in place with the makeshift wooden poles before returning to drop them off at the pile of stars. Joe saw Garnedell finish maneuvering the last star in place then turned to begin his own training.

“Yell if you need me, Garnedell! It’ll be hard for me to see you.”

“Yes, Joe. Thank you for watching out for me?”

“Of course, man! We’re a team! Try to stay close, if you can, right?”

“Yes, Joe.”

Joe dropped the conversation settled into his fight with the sparks, his two cudgels blurring as he whipped them at, and through, the spark, easily avoiding the up-thrusting shafts of his star weaponry. It took him a bit to settle into using the two cudgels as both were poorly made and poorly balanced compared to what he was used to. He took his time shifting his grip and settling into their use until he finally was easily able to flow through his various forms that worked well with the cudgel. He fell into a steady rhythm that emptied his mind of time and he grunted with a bit a surprise when the spark died, the easy rhythm of the forms settling him into a distant meditation of form and movement. Joe stepped back and sighed. First kill, let’s see how cudgel is doing.