Chapter 13

They all reluctantly got out of the bed and collected their clothes and chose to simply put on robes to wear to the bathroom instead. Passing an extra one to Cassandra, we all headed to the showers. Cassandra went to her room to collect clothes for the day, and I saw that Dilbar and Ilthvana were busy helping Theresa with food in the kitchen. I had to keep them in check as we got into the shower, since all three of them kept getting handsy with me and each other. Still, I was able to herd those horny little scamps into getting washed and prepared for the day. Cassandra was going to work with the trio, as she felt she would be getting the experience to unlock some new runes soon. I reminded her to go to the Knowledge Center to see if there was anything within her level to purchase and to do so within reason.

Cassie agreed, “I will talk to Brot’k, and I think I could use the smithing coffers instead of our person funds.”

“I don’t want to put you guys out of too much money if you can help it,” I replied. “I would hate to have you guys become limited in your ability to purchase because of this,”

Cassandra laughed, “Pathios, we have half a million gold in surplus right now. We make at least ten to fifteen thousand gold a day so far. Mind you that is after the pact house coffers take their portion. With some new runes that could increase it even more.”

I was shocked at the amount, not realizing how much they were profiting from the changes that had been made. Still, I hoped that it wouldn’t be too expensive. Enti was going to be working with Dilbar and Ilthvana on a quest or two on the lower levels, just to get out and get some money. We all sat down and had a fantastic breakfast. Theresa had gone all out making sure there was food to meet everyone’s tastes.

“I am really excited to see how things will work with Wolfie today,” Theresa exclaimed as we cleaned up before heading out.

“Well then let’s go get dressed and we will head to the first floor,” I replied, gesturing to the door near my room.

“Yes, go,” Entivala added, “we will take care of getting this all cleaned up. You go get ready. Katie, are you going out with them today?”

She shook her head, “I am going to work on my potions today, I will be taking some to Ral’talia to see if she would be willing to sell them. I have been tinkering with some things and I am hoping she will.”

“Well let us know how it goes and if we need help, I will send a raven,” I told her, happy to see how excited she was about her work.

We headed in and began getting dressed in our gear. Theresa was so excited to put on her circlet and we assisted her to get into her leather armor, it was the typical gear anyone could get, and we explained to her to see how this feels to move around and let us know.

“Why do you want to know how it feels to move around,” She asked, confused as to why it was important.

I gestured to her and explained, “Because we want you protected but comfortable. Our armor is flexible, but highly protective. That is due to it being made of dragon hide and scales. Even Amenthia’s helmet is covered in the bones and some scales of a dragon. This gives us added protection against heat, along with the protection from physical damage.”

“Oh, so you had that specially made,” Theresa exclaimed, in surprise. “It must have cost a lot to have them made.”

I smiled and shook my head, “Brot’k makes most of our tools, and equipment for the most part. He made our starting weapons, but there are some of us who have gotten our hands on unique weapons during our time in the dungeon. So, we can tailor a set of armor to be perfect for you. You haven’t seen Entivala’s armor, but it was made to look like a Jedi from star wars.”

Theresa’s eyes widened, “Oh, my. Well then, I will keep that in mind. I would love to have something specially made eventually.”

“For now, let’s focus on you getting used to fighting with your partner,” Amenthia suggested. “We will worry about the equipment set up after. Just let us know how you feel when we are done. We will have you try cloth armor as well, to see which suits you better.”

I grabbed one of Katie’s hand crossbows, grabbing a few clips and a hip holster that Brot’k had designed with the help of Gordwin. I showed her how to holster and draw the weapon, how to load the clips and prepare it to fire.

“You had this designed to match guns from our world,” Theresa said, as she eyed the weapon in her hands. “I grew up in the country and my father wanted me and my sister to know how to use a gun. It was more so due to the wild animals that could be found in the woods outside our house.”

I watched as she ran through it with deft speed that came with years of experience. I had a newfound respect for her and looked forward to seeing how things would go. With our gear set, we used the transit tube to the first-floor pact house and headed out. We decided on the same path that we had used yesterday, and I could see Theresa’s anticipation build as we neared the gate.

As we neared, I waved down a guard, I asked, “Sorry to bother you, but what are the rules in regard to beast tamers within the village?”

“There have been only a few of those, but if I recall, beasts can be in the town as long as the collar is visible. I would suggest don’t call them until you’re outside of the town, as it limits panic.”

I thanked the guard, and we headed out of the western gate. Once we were a fair distance away from the village, Theresa tapped the crystal on her bracelet, and we watched as an energy ball emerged out of the crystal. The ball shot a few feet ahead of us and the dire wolf formed in front of us. It glanced around for a few moments and then it finally saw Theresa. It was an odd sight to see a giant wolf with spikes emerging out of it, sauntering to Theresa for pets as its tail wagged. The change of its demeanor was big, but it highlighted that they were designed to be a threat, but that can change based on the environment. We followed the planned path I had created, and it wasn’t a surprise to see that there was no mob sign around the village. The area roughly a kilometer around the village was easy pickings for new adventurers and thus they are always mob free. This allowed us to get used to having the wolf with us, though things would change once we came across targets.

We didn’t have to wait long until we came across our first mob, a group of two boars. They were grazing in an open area that was surrounded by thick trees and bushes. I nodded at Theresa and gestured to the targets, telling her to attempt dealing with her first mob. She nodded, taking a few deep breaths, she pulled the hand crossbow and then told Wolfie to attack. The Dire wolf dashed towards the unsuspecting boars, moving swiftly and silently. As it got close to the targets, it launched into the air and came bearing down on the first boar. It latched its jaws onto the boar’s neck and with a quick twist, it broke the boar’s neck, causing it to disappear in a cloud of black smoke. Theresa cheered and drew the focus of the boar. She hadn’t noticed that we had stepped back and were out of sight. It was a little cruel, but we needed to see how she would do in such circumstances.

She glanced around to find us not there and then back to the boar. It was moving quickly enough to keep the wolf at bay. She looked terrified and it seemed that she was about to call for help, when her face changed. The fear left and she got a determined look on her face. Theresa drew up the crossbow and fired at the boar, catching it in the leg causing it to tumble to the ground and allowing Wolfie to catch up and dispatch the boar. She then deflated a bit and seemed to need to calm down now that the danger had passed. We emerged from our hiding places and saw some semblance of relief wash over Theresa.

“Sorry about that Theresa, but experience has taught us that we can end up separated when in a dangerous situation,” I explained, hoping she would understand why we did that.

Theresa looked a bit angry but nodded, “I understand why you did that, but I still think it was pretty mean thing to do to me. You could have told me you were going to test me this way so that I could be prepared. I was worried you ditched me to go off and do something else.”

“We would never do that,” Amenthia replied, pulling the upset woman in for a hug. “What would make you think that?”

Theresa sighed, “I have always been shy and as such people would ditch me to go do things on their own before. I just got used to it and I guess I was a little hurt that you were just like those others.”

“I apologize, Theresa,” I said, pulling her in for a hug. “I didn’t think of you having an issue like that, so it’s my fault that you had that reaction. I just needed to make sure you would be able to protect yourself in case we are separated.”

“I understand, but please don’t ever do that to me again!” She exclaimed as she beat a fist against my chest.

We continued grinding kills for the next few hours, first having her deal with all the threats, and then assisting her only if she really needed it. She was quick on her feet, able to adapt to each battle and seemed to thrive. When we took our break for our midday meal, we showed her how the safe zones worked.

“Okay Theresa, let’s bring up your stats and see what increases we have gotten so far,” I said between bites of bread.

She smiled and tapped the jewel on her bracer, scrolling through the screens to bring up her stat screen.

Theresa Naumann

Level 1:

Health: 100

Mana: 50

Strength 1

Defense 1

Speed 3

Vitality 1

Magic 1

Wisdom 1

Agility 2

Awareness 3

“As you can see, your stats have increased in some places but not in others. We will have to find ways to have you increase your stats in those areas. Melee combat is the only way to build your strength and taking hits are how you build your defense. When you level up, your stats go up two levels for each stat. Still, levels are based on what I believe is a mix of already built-up stats and key events happening. Right now your magic will not go up until you have spell abilities unlocked at level four. For now we will focus on getting time in on building your stats and going from there. We also do some close combat training so that you are able to defend yourself when the situation calls for it. Amenthia and Entivala are ranged fighters and they both can hold their own. Our plans are to get to a village on the sixth floor to open that floor up, but it is a big jump in difficulty between the fifth and sixth floors.”

“So, then what am I going to do to catch up?” Theresa asked, sounding a little dejected.

“It will be fine Theresa,” I replied. “You are going to be paired with some of us for the next few weeks, though there may be times where you will be taking days off. We have a quest to try and complete on the fifth floor and given the level disparity, you wouldn’t be safe there. The upside is I will be pairing you with Katie, for when you aren’t with us, to help you collect more creatures. This will assist in your growth and allow you to fight on other floors. Normally we bypass the lower floors given the strength disparity, but due to you being in our group, we need to be down here.”

Theresa looked at me a little confused and asked, “What do you mean that you bypass floors?”

“There is an archway on the main floor of the tower that leads to the first floor. Once you reach level five, walking through the archway will have you step onto the fifth floor. You would have to use the transit tubes to activated pact houses on a particular floor in order to go back to any floor below five,” explained my blonde companion.

“Oh, okay,” replied Theresa. “I guess that it makes sense. What should we do then? I don’t want to be a bother.”

I smiled and tried to ease her fears, “It’s fine. We will focus on working with you on your tactics and see how we can make your pet work within the structure of the group. I am confident that we can move on from here.”

“Where are you thinking of next Pathios?” asked the gorgeous blonde. “I don’t think it is much different on the second floor, just more evolved versions of bears, boars and wolves.”

“I am thinking of the third floor,” I replied, as I thought about it some more. “There are at least two more creatures that would be helpful for her.”

Theresa looked at me excitedly, “What creatures are on there that you think would be good to try and get?”

“There are drakes, which are wingless dragons with some limited fire breathing. Then there are harpies, which would help deal with threats up in the air. While the wolf is fast and agile, there is little to protect it from damage. A drake has a ranged flame breath and hardened scales that would let it last in a fight a bit longer. The harpy would be able to stay out of range of ground enemies and help deal with flying pests. I would think about trying to get those two.”