NOVEL SIMPLE 039.2 - Nightmares Arrive
* * *
Joe woke in the morning, stiff all over and more tired than he had been in a long time. He woke to the bright shining of his available skills screen. The memory of the nightmare came back to him and he wilted, oozing on to the bed without any desire to get up. He finally waved off the status screen in a fit of frustration but couldn’t dismiss the dream as easily. His body begin shaking. The room was warm yet he couldn’t stop shivering, the feeling of a cold that wasn’t physical seared deep into his soul. He wrapped his arms around himself as he slowly calmed down and tried distracted himself from the dream. It took a bit of time for him to finally calm himself and face the day.
Joe settled back into his typical morning preparations of searching his status and reevaluating his plans for his future job choices. He discovered nothing new but was able to reaffirm his choices and was ready to head out to continue working on his cudgel skill. He was surprised that Gardenell was still sleeping so he decided to spend the false dawn stretching practicing his forms using Tai Chi. He’d made it to around half way when Gardenell sat up quickly, glancing towards Joe with embarrassed apology. Joe quickly waved him away, dismissing the apology.
Status
Blessing
Current Job
Available Jobs
Current Skills
Available Skills
Log
Skill
Level
Skill
Level
Skill
Lev
Skill
Level
Skill
Level
Commoner
20
Char: Cudgel
.23
Calculate Taxes
Villager
10
Farmer
10
Use Plow & Scythe
Waiter
10
Balance Glasses
Bartender
10
Calculate Tab
Chief
10
Day Laborer
10
Inn Keeper
10
Reeve
10
Popular
Forester
10
Read Plants
Trapper
10
Read Animals
Fisherman
10
Read Pond
Hunter
15
Char: Bow
1.11
Find Trails
Silent Stalking
.02
Miner
10
Read landscape
Baker
10
Make Flour
Bread
Cook
10
Grains
Flour
Metropolitan
20
Basic Self Defense
Calculate Taxes
Basic Attack
Burgher
10
Waiter
10
Balance Glasses
Bartender
10
Calculate Tab
Day Laborer
10
Cook
10
Grains
Flour
Baker
10
Flour
Bread
Groom
10
Becalm Horse
Butcher
10
Butcher
Inn Keeper
10
Sign & Logo
Merchant
10
Becalm Horse
Citizen
20
Adv Self Defense
Adv Attack
Specialist
20
+50% Agility
Char: +50% to Learning
0.01
Educated
20
%$ @#$!*
Scholar
20
IQ + 50%
Wisdom +25%
Philosopher
20
Theorist
29
Job Guidance
.05
%&*$ #)($ !)#@)
%&*$ !*)@ ^*
Double Learning
.01
Linguist
26
Read Heart Family of Lang.
Polyglot
20
Language Expertise (1)
.02
Language Expertise (2)
“Don’t worry about it, kid! You’re young. You’re supposed to sleep in.”
Gardenell said nothing, looking to Joe for several moments before nodding with a smile.
“Good. Now get ready. Let’s head down to breakfast and make our plan for today. Depends a bit on what the siblings say, but… I think we’ll head out to the beginners dungeon, see what benefits we get from conquering a dungeon, hey?”
Gardenell cocked his head, “You wish to go to a beginner’s dungeon?”
“You guys told me we get benefits from defeating a dungeon?” Joe asked with some perplexity, “Are they not worth it?”
“They are definitely worth it. But, defeating a dungeon.”
“It’s hard?”
“Very.”
“Harder than the expert dungeon?”
“I… well… no.”
“Is defeating a dungeon harder than the first and second floor of the expert one we’ve done?”
“It is harder, yes… but the dungeon itself is very simple. Only five floors. It’s the boss that is hard,” Garnedell thought for a few moments before adding in, “And the labyrinth on the fourth floor is not … well, it’s not too bad, but we might want a map or something.”
“Hm… we’re allowed to take maps?”
“Of course. But any aid counts against our taking of the dungeon.”
“Oh! Really? So getting help lowers the reward?”
“In some way, yes. If the help has already defeated the dungeon, the reward is much lower. If the help hasn’t, then no, the reward remains the same.”
“Huh, that’s interesting! OK. Let’s try to do this alone! Ha!”
Garnedell smiled and shook his head before he rose from the bed and prepared for the morning. By the time Garnedell had finished using the small water basin in the room, Joe had finished his forms and stretches and took advantage of cleaning himself up as well. Both were still reasonably clean although Joe did miss the bathing time at the stream even if it had been chilly. Bathing with just a cloth was quite unpleasant. Maybe there is a bath in the city? Or can we get a bath to our rooms? Hm…
“Garnedell. Can we get a bath to our rooms?”
“Uh… maybe in a more expensive inn, ma… Joe. But not … I don’t think we could at this inn.”
“Mmm… I’ll ask the inn keep anyway. It would be nice to have.”
They finished their morning preparations and headed downstairs for breakfast, finding Kukurnal already waiting with nervous energy at a table for them. Joe smiled as he joined them and waved over some food.
“Did the siblings come down yet?”
“What? Ah. No. I have not seen them, Joe,” Kukurnal responded.
“Hm. Maybe they’re not coming?”
“I can go and check,” Garndell offered as he jumped off and ran to the stairs.
“No. You don’t… never mind.” Joe watched as Garnedell was already at the stairs by the time he was able to respond and he simply sighed in resignation. “Really wish he would relax around me. He’s so uptight.”
“You’re his master, right?”
‘Ah… well. Yeah. But still. He doesn’t need to be so uptight. As long as he’s respectful, that’s all that matters.”
“But this is a sign of respect. He hears your desire and tries to address it as soon as possible.”
“But that’s the thing. It’s a sign. Not respect.”
Kukurnal cocked his head in confusion at that. “It is respect.”
“No. It can show respect, but it itself is not respect. Signs are not the things themselves.”
“How else would anyone know that he is respecting you?”
“Why would I need others to think he is respecting me?”
Kukurnal blinked at that before countering, “People need to know the apprentice is respecting the master.”
“Why?”
Kukurnal was actually stumped at this point, fumbling in reply, “Because … it’s right.”
Joe dropped the argument at that point, not wishing to get into the moral merits of students respecting their teachers, saying nothing and offering little by way body language. Kukurnal stared at Joe for several moments before continuing, “Is respect not important?”
“Respect is very important.”
“Then why do you begrudge your apprentice his respect for you?”
“I do not begrudge his respect. I simply dislike his subservient attempt to please me in everything. That is not respect.”
“It is respect. It is how you show respect.”
“It may be how you show respect in certain cultures, but it is not respect.”
“How… why do you …” Kukurnal shook his head with some consternation, “Then what is respect?”
“Respect is to esteem someone, to… look up to someone. To… think greatly of someone.”
“You do not like Garnedell to think this way of you?”
“I’m honored that he does.”
“Then why do you fight it?”
“I do not fight his respect. I fight his efforts. To respect… to feel greatly for someone does not mean that one must work for that person. They are who they are. This does not give them a right to your time or work. Just because someone is great doesn’t mean that you have to suck up to them.”
“Suck… up? Huh… how strange, but I believe I understand the meaning. It is to appeal or appease the other.”
“Exactly. Garnedell has no reason to appease me. We are friends. He needs to relax and just be friends.”
“But you are not friends. He is your apprentice. You are his master.”
“Yes. But again. He gains my teaching and I give it freely. He does not need to appease me.”
“That is always the way of the master and apprentice. The apprentice offers little to nothing to the master. The master gains a servant in return for the teaching.”
Joe’s eyes lifted at that, as realization came to him. Pondering with some silence, Joe’s consideration was bit longer than typical conversation before he finally returned to the conversation, “Huh. OK. I can see that. But … I guess I’m OK that he wants to help me. That’s a good thing. Great. Nice, even. But I wish he did it because he knew that his… place? Position?... His apprenticeship is … he doesn’t have to worry about losing anything with me or losing his apprenticeship. He and I are good. He just needs to focus on doing his best and helping out where he thinks he can. And I’ll do the same, teaching as best as I can and helping out where I can. But I feel like he’s always… afraid and worried that he will … that I will … that I don’t want him, or that I’ll kick … push him away.”
“Have you told him that?”
Joe blinked a few times at that, “No.”
“Have you completed the rite of apprenticeship?”
“Uh…. What rite?”
“Oh dear!” Kukurnal actually face-palmed at that and Joe had to hide a sniggering laugh, quickly turning it into a cough before he quickly schooled himself.