17- Dungeon Delvers

Armor’s integrity, Checked. Dagger’s condition, checked. Condition of my carry bag?, Checked. Adventurer’s basic item kit, checked. New expensive crossbow which has put me further in debt? Painfully checked.

At some point during the party, the guildmaster handed me a “equipment order” note, I was overly excited because he told me the guild would supply me with new gear, better gear to protect me better as well as more tools to use in all this adventuring endeavors. What I didn’t know is that this order was not paid by the guild, it was gear supplied and there was no need to pay it. No need to pay it immediately, that is. And to make matters worse, Feugan somehow managed to find her when she went for the gear, to his insistence I ended up getting not only higher (more expensive) quality gear, but also, This crossbow. This Crossbow!

I couldn’t help but to repeat myself as I hold up in front of me the aggravating (to my debts) piece of gear. Truly an incredible piece of ingenuity, capable of allowing the untrained person to have access to ranged attacks. While the Bow and arrow remain as the king of ranged attacks within the kingdom, the ease of use made the crossbow quite convenient and a popular tool among midlevel adventurers… Midlevel! The ones with much more coin to spare!

After checking the state of the rest of my gear and provisions, then, next is wrapping up several of the daily chores I had remaining. Chores that a proper adventurer was supposed to tackle as part of their daily routines. Or, at least the guildmaster would drill this belief to us every morning. While mentally reviewing list of the contents in my bag and pouches, I actually found it a tad soothing, helping me to try and calm down a bit, to try and find a moment of mental solace… for the thirteenth time just this morning!!

For starters! Why is it so bright today? I didn’t drink that much yesterday! Ok. No. I am calm, yeah, very very calm, deep breaths. All the new gear I was fitted, to properly send me into even more dangerous jobs fit for a Champion. Yeah -none- of that is stressing me out!.. NONE!

Now, just getting some extra things done, focusing as best as i could on my usual morning routines to try and focus on something other than the current chaotic state of my life. After a few extra trips here and there along the city, we could finally get the day truly started, nothing extraordinary at all by this point, after getting done most of the usual revisions. Now, some extra rations just in case for Feugan, perhaps. I am preeety sure he mentioned at some point that he can just eat up wild animals, although his personal preference is cooked food, he also made a point about “by-the-fire-pit game while on a Raid” to be ok. Whatever that meant, some sort of custom of his previous master maybe. So, anyway, a few extra dried meat rations just to be on the safe side. And maybe for me, a couple Cacao & Honey Biscuits from Jeanne’s… to be on the extra (delicious) safe side.

Having finished my usual rounds, plus the extra added of helping Feugan brush up. We were again back at the guild. Equipment ready, weapons ready. I steeled my resolve, again, as we both entered the building and made a beeline towards the counter.

The plan was simple enough. The guildmaster was to leave orders for a few choice jobs to be put aside for me and Feugan to tackle together. A joint effort in having Feugan learn the ropes on formal adventuring, manners customs and the like, all with the idea that he wont go and make any sort of social blunder due to a misunderstanding on etiquette. Which in all honesty wasn’t a whole lot, most of the adventurers in the guild have a good heart, but they shouldn’t kiss their mother’s cheek with their mouths, and table manners? “what are those? Can they help you get food on the table?” would be the most common response.

All the while Feugan will be assisting me to learn and use the “menus” that master kept talking about just like any other useful “up grey dish” or whatever master might have tried to spout in his drunken speech.

Without much preamble at all, Kara welcomed us and then just made a motion to let us know she would be back as she went to the back to grab on the job requests that had been set apart for us. While waiting, I couldn’t help to notice the Guild seemed even louder than usual. Maybe I was too tense, but I swear I could almost hear some of the adventurers whispering about us almost as if I was just in front of them listening to them.

Bringing me back from it, Kara brought a sheaf of parchments, putting them on the counter for us to see. I nodded in agreement and thanked her for her assistance with the drinks the night prior as well. I was really glad for that. Without much else to exchange she gave a small bow as i replied in kind, then she went on to attend another adventurer that had arrived. Being confident in me being able to discern the contents of the requests.

“{What are we to do, then? Is it demon slaying?}” 

“Oi! Don’t say stuff like that! this is supposed to be training to learn the ropes, for the both of us!”

“{Is that so? Maybe some hydras or adamantoises?}”

“You! Just what do you think the word training implies?! We are starting from the bottom here! Gathering, scouting and maybe the lowest enemies, here see this? Goblins! Goblins and Slimes see?! This is the real starting line! (Also what in cakes name is an Adamantoise?!)”. Having said that, I show Feugan the respective parchment requests, both with the usual easy-to-understand text and draws.

Although the level of literacy was higher in big cities like the kingdom and therefore, the same could be expected from an adventurer’s guild, since the requests could be shared between Adventurer’s and mercenaries, it is an usual custom to have them portray easy to understand pictures. Just like how this one had a drawing of a green slime, a number indicating the minimum amount and the reward following the same core idea, a picture of a gold coin and a number indicating how many will be paid upon fulfillment.

Wait.

Roll back.

Green slime?! Gold coins?!!

I immediately pulled back the parchments I had in front of Feugan and started double checking the contents. Must have made a mistake, I mean, it couldn’t be, slimes are usually depicted as blue or clear, any variant in color meant it was a different species altogether.

Yup. Here it is. Clear. Clear as day.

A clear green slime picture… which can only mean…

Yup. Here it is too. Actually now that I look at all the requests properly, all of them indicate the same. The domain of the Forest’s Lord… Is this a Joke? This is not a starting ground! Regardless of being a forest it was known among adventurers with a slightly different name.

“Oi! Kara! Come here, this cannot be right! All these job orders are for the Forest’s Lord Dungeon!”

“{Oh a dungeon? I like that idea!}”

Truly, even though it is a Forest, the Domain of the Forest’s Lord, it’s also recognized as a proper dungeon in itself, due to the forest sharing a plethora of qualities found only in dungeons. Even to the point of containing a Dungeon guardian. A superior magical being that safeguards the dungeon and its inhabitants, an abundance of magic that feeds the same inhabitants as well as plants inside, the same magic being confined within the limits of the “dungeon”

“Oh! Yes, sorry I forgot about it, Mimiru!”

“Right? I mean it’s obviously too difficult if it’s only the 2 of us!”

“Yeah you are right. It is my bad, sorry, I got a little distracted here. Ehem. The Guildmaster has left orders to tell you that: ‘You are an old enough adventurer, you and your companions should learn from this and grow fast, to help me retire soon, ga ha ha ha’…” Said Kara. With a red face, almost shrinking down in size due to sheer embarrassment, right after she made a very poor imitation of the master’s boisterous laugh.

...

...

“Did you… the old man left explicit orders to even repeat the laugh, didn’t he?” I didn’t even need to ask, poor little Kara just nodded, she cannot even look me in the eye right now… This surely counts as some sort of harassment.

Wait.

“Oi… did you just said ‘companions’?”

“{I think she did}”

“Yup, she sure did” Was said by an overly familiar and unwelcome voice from behind us.

Slowly turning around, trying to maintain composure. Surely I misheard the voice, surely I misheard Kara too.

“Heyoo there, newbies!” Came the annoying greet from the (fool) tall handsome (depending on who you ask, opinions vary greatly) man in front of us. Just as he gives a wide smile and brushes his brown hair back in a practiced motion as is if trying to be charming.

Overconfident smile to the point of being annoying, accompanied by an overly familiar and slightly disrespectful attitude. A full plate with a white pearly finish to it, accompanied by a long sword to the side and a shield on his back

“The ever gallant and heroic Bannon Cena Galvalnor, truly yours here shall be your companion!” said the (fool) thing man in front of us while giving an overly dramatic bow and curtsy.

“tsk!”

“Oh you hurt me so much my little Mimiru!”

“If only I could hurt you enough”

“Oh the abuse! Surely you understand just how big of a favor this is? If master didn’t vehemently ask for my assistance, wouldn’t be able to put aside ALL my responsibilities to come help you!”

“Drinking and skirt chasing don’t count as responsibilities you know?”

“{Oh, Kara is slowly fleeing…}”

“Oh but how can you hope to go to the Forest Dungeon without a proper shield?! Surely you understand the paramount blessing me being here is?”

“Dead by poison slimes is a risk I’m willing to take over a Curse”

“Oh! When my dear sister heard I was taking you to the Forest Dungeon she gave me some her famous red curry buns, you know?!”

“Thank you for coming! We will be in your care!”