NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 6: Party Formation
“You can’t be serious?” Nivian said as the eight of them sat around the table, plates full of piled food. “Cal wants to stay behind? Here? By herself?”
“That’s what she told me,” Seeyela said, and Hiral looked to the empty ninth chair set at the large table.
The healer hadn’t come out of her room, not even once, since they’d arrived, but Seeyela had found a way in. When she’d come back out for dinner, she’d dropped the news on them: Cal didn’t plan to leave until Fallen Reach came around again.
“What’s she going to do here by herself?” Wule asked. “It’s not just a few hours alone. It’s basically a whole rotation.”
“She’s got that mirror,” Hiral said, thinking back to the item she’d gotten from the Troblin Throne dungeon. “The Mirror of Memories, I think it was called when I used View on it.”
“Any idea what it even does?” Wule asked. “No, never mind, that’s not important. We need to change her mind. Bring her with us.”
“You suggesting we tie her up and make Nivian carry her over his shoulder?” Seena asked. “Cause, from what Seeyela was telling me, that’s what it’s going to take.”
“She’s shaken. Badly,” Seeyela said. “The loss… What happened to… to the others… She thinks we never should’ve left that first dungeon. Partly blames herself too, I think, since she was the group’s healer.”
“She wasn’t even there… or conscious… for most of it,” Wule said. “How can she blame herself?”
“So, you think we should just leave her?” Wule asked.
“I think we should consider her wishes,” Left said.
“I hate to be the one to say this…” Yanily started, “but I’m going to anyway. Cal staying behind—as much as I don’t like it—solves an issue about party size and dungeons.”
Hiral’s spoon paused on the way to his mouth, a mix of relief and hesitance churning in his chest. He’d been thinking the same thing—everybody must’ve been—but it was always the question of who was going to mention it. Thank you, Yanily. From the looks on the others’ faces, Hiral wasn’t the only one feeling that way.
“Yanily… has a point,” Seena agreed. “Look, I’m not happy about it either, but with the Party Interface option and the limits on going into the dungeons, it’s something we need to actually talk about. We can’t just pretend it’s not a thing.”
“We could hold off on forming the party through the interface,” Nivian offered. “Do it like we’ve always done it. Alternate somebody in and out to get all seven of us through the dungeon.”
“That’s always an option… if she agrees to come with us,” Seena said. “Seeyela, really, if we hold off on leaving for a bit, do you think she’ll change her mind? From what Left says, we don’t have to head out immediately.”
“To be clear, there are a number of unknowns,” Left said. “Sooner would be better, but… there is probably some leeway.”
“She’s not going to change her mind—at least, not any time soon,” Seeyela said. “I’ve seen her like this before.”
“Should one of us stay with her?” Wule asked, but all eyes settled on Seeyela. Out of everybody, it would have to be her. Wule, Nivian, and Hiral were all needed for the dungeon runs. They were part of Seena’s party, so it meant she would be going, and then Yanily… well… Yanily wasn’t somebody who got left behind to offer moral or emotional support.
Seeyela was already shaking her head. With a threat to Fallen Reach—and her daughter, Favela—there was no way Seeyela was staying behind. “It’s Cal’s choice, and at least we know she’ll be safe here. There’s plenty of food, and we don’t have to worry about the Enemy, according to Dr. Benza.”
“So, that’s it, then,” Seena said. “We’re going. The six… er, eight of us. Like Left said, sooner is better, but we’ve been pushing hard since The Mire. I suggest we take a bit of time to make sure we’re rested and ready to go. Once we’re on the road again, who knows the next time we’ll be able to let our guard down?
“Twenty hours, I’d say. Any objections or suggestions?”
“I just want to check, one final time,” Wule spoke up. “We’re really doing this? Leaving Cal behind?”
The two sisters exchanged a look, their lips parting like they were each going to say something. Then, as if they had the same thought at the same time, their mouths tightened, and they nodded at each other.
“I hate it too, Wule,” Seena said. “But, if this threat to our islands is real, we have to go. We have to try.”
“We don’t even know what the threat is,” Nivian pointed out, then sighed and faced his brother. “And staying here won’t tell us. She’s right.”
Wule looked in the direction of the dormitory, as if he could see through the walls to Cal in her room. “I know she is. It’s… probably better this way. Cal is safer here than she would be out there, and if she’s distracted… then she puts us all at risk. It’s the wrong choice for the right reasons.”
“Then it’s settled,” Seeyela said, her face clearly a mask of forcing a strong front. “Twenty hours.”
“I can prep some other food to take with us,” Nivian said, after the weight of the choice settled on the party’s shoulders. “The rations are good and all, but there’s enough here to add some variety to them. Stuff that’ll keep.”
“Might offer some different buffs as well, depending on the situation,” Yanily said.
“Good idea,” Seena said. “Need any help?”
At least five sets of eyes widened at Seena’s offer, and every head around the table quickly shook.
“We want buffs, Seena,” Yanily said. “Not debuffs.”
“Maybe we should leave Yanily behind after all,” Seena said to her sister. “Tie Cal up instead, drag her along. Could be worth it.”
“I’m good taking care of the cooking,” Nivian said. “Could use a few volunteers to maybe test things and see what kind of buffs the food gives, though.”
“Looks like this,” Hiral said, pointing at his dish while he had one eye on his status window, “gives bonuses to endurance and attunement.”
“Good buff while we’re traveling,” Wule said. “And I can help be a taste-tester.”
“We can all help,” Seeyela clarified.
“Right and Left also found out something interesting,” Hiral said when the food conversation seemed finished. “We got currency from the Troblin Throne. The chips…”
“The currency is called wats,” Left said.
“Oh? Thanks,” Hiral said. “Anyway, these wats accumulate as we defeat monsters, absorbing some of the solar energy released. We can, in turn, spend the currency at the Asylum interfaces for equipment. Left was saying we already have quite a bit from killing the Troblin Lord several times, and he has some suggestions as far as what we should spend it on. Left?”
“The current equipment we can purchase from the interface Shop is relatively limited, but there was one very stand-out item,” Left said. “So stand-out, in fact, that I almost feel like the PIMP is suggesting we purchase it.”
“What kind of item?” Yanily asked. “A weapon?”
“The item is called an Interspatial Ring,” Left said. “According to the description, it’s some kind of storage device that contains an instanced sub-space, similar to a dungeon. It will allow us to carry far more supplies than a normal backpack would, and without all the extra weight. It’s simply a ring.”
“How do you store something in a ring?” Seena asked.
“I’m not sure on all the details,” Left admitted with a shrug. “We have enough wats to purchase six of the rings, though.”
“That’s oddly convenient,” Nivian said.
“Which isn’t unusual for the PIMP,” Hiral said. “I’m pretty sure it’s doing what it can to tailor our paths towards whatever will make us strongest, without simply gifting us that power.”
“Says the guy who got an S-Rank weapon,” Yanily mumbled.
“Which, based on what we learned from Dr. Benza, means he earned it,” Seena said. “If you want an S-Rank weapon, I guess that means you’ll have to work harder. We all will. Anyway, about the ring, let’s buy one and see how it works. If it’s useful, we’ll pick up the others. Can we put things like tents in it?”
“I think so,” Left explained. “I did see some limits to what it would hold, and I believe it takes time to deposit or withdraw items, so it may not work well in combat.”
“Either way, pick one up after we finish here and let us know?” Seena said.
“Certainly. I’d also like to spend some time doing what I can to reconfirm our route.”
“Please,” Hiral said. “I’d hate to get lost along the way. We should also form a party through the Party Interface ability. I poked around a bit, and one person has to act as the party leader and invite the other five.”
None of the others spoke up, but they all looked at Seena, then at Seeyela, and back to Seena again.
Right. Seena was the party leader, but Seeyela was the—what did they call it?—raid leader.
“Go ahead,” Seeyela said. “This is your party, after all.”
“You sure?” Seena asked.
“Yeah. Slot me in as a damage dealer, I guess.”
“Whoa, I thought I was going to be a damage dealer now?” Wule said.
“Throwing snowballs doesn’t make you a damage dealer,” Yanily said. “Not like we’re going to be fighting more Lizardmen in the next zone anyway.”
“I think you’ll be a good fit to our party,” Seena said, ignoring the others with practiced grace. “Hiral has his RHCs, but with Left and Right up with Nivian and Yanily, it’s getting kind of crowded at the front line. We should probably take a few hours and do some training together before we head out. Get used to the new flow.”
“I think Yanily needs a couple hours to work on his new move, and I’d like a few to finish what I was doing in the workshop as well,” Hiral said. “Can we meet up after that to practice together?”
“Knowing you, you’d just be off in your own little world if I asked you to train before you were ready anyway,” Seena said with a smirk. “That works. So, here’s the plan. A few hours on our own to get ready. A few more after that to smooth out our teamwork. Rest. Save Fallen Reach. Simple, huh?”
“I like how you just slid that last bit in there like it was no big thing,” Yanily said.
“Yeah, now we just need to figure out what exactly we’re saving it from,” Hiral said, putting another spoonful of the stew in his mouth.