New Story -- Chapter 27

Chapter 27

“Watch out! Coming through!”

Thaden moved away from the unfamiliar Charee carrying a large stack of chairs further into the Adventurer Coalition building, barely avoiding causing an accident that would’ve disturbed more than just the two of them. The mess it might’ve caused would’ve impeded the dozens of other Charee flitting around the building, scrambling around with a frenzy that bordered on hysterical, as they attempted to get everything ready. It was almost as if they were some sort of small-town manufacturing plant getting ready for a visit by the President of the United States and all that entailed, though he supposed for them, it was equally important.

Because the Contenders from Earth would be arriving at some point in the next few hours.

It had been an incredibly boring and repetitive three months for Thaden, though he kept himself busy enough throughout that entire time.  He now knew the Mausoleum of Despair even better than the people in the town of Ashcleft, though that wasn’t saying much; the townsfolk had never really taken to him, either because he looked different, wore an “evil” robe at times, or because he was an Adventurer. After the first week, at least, they largely ignored him and dealt with him in terms of buying his loot and selling him food and clothing. They didn’t like him, necessarily, but they also didn’t seem to despise him anymore. He’d take that as a win any day of the week.

Even Virlo, the Ashcleft Town Guard, had become accustomed to his comings and goings and didn’t make any remarks about his robe when he came back to town, though it was still obvious he didn’t care for it. But he at least didn’t say anything about it, or really say much of anything at all to him other than a simple acknowledgement that he existed.

Again, that was perfectly fine with him. He felt disconnected from the Charee in town, not just because he was different from them, but because they seemed like they were purposefully distancing themselves from anything he had to do with. The only exception was Boydlen, the Coalition branch Leader, who treated him exactly the same way as he had after upgrading his badge a few Ranks, though as the days got closer and closer to the Contenders arriving, the poor Charee was super stressed-out. Thaden had taken to leaving him alone for the most part over the last week, which was just about when the first of the others arrived to start getting things ready for the big arrival.

There were dozens of them that seemed to have a place within the structure of the Coalition. From Maids that were assigned to both preparing and then later maintaining the rooms meant for Adventurers – such as his own, who appreciated their cleaning, as he’d been a bit lax in that respect – to Receptionists who stationed themselves behind the counters, waiting to assign Quests or confirm delivery of Quest collection items, they were all scrambling to prepare for the upcoming event.

Unfortunately, there had been no sign as of yet of any Class Representatives, Support or otherwise.

Thaden was waiting for them, however, hoping to catch them just after they arrived so he could finally acquire his new Class.  He had no idea how many Contenders would be coming to this town, but he could only assume that the Representatives would be busy in the upcoming days; he could only hope that getting in early would have the benefit of not having to wait and be seen by so many other people. More specifically, other people from Earth.

Strangely enough, he was more nervous to see people from home than he was walking into he Mausoleum for the first time. Of course, any trace of that nervousness was gone after having delved through the dungeon nearly 100 times over the last few months; it would’ve been even more, but there was a 6-hour wait after he completed it before he could enter again. He wasn’t sure if that wait time applied to other people or parties entering the dungeon, or just him, and he’d never got a chance to find out. That was probably because he’d yet to meet any other Adventurers, as no more had joined the Coalition in Ashcleft, and none came from any neighboring towns or cities to visit the Mausoleum while he was there.

He was busy enough just completing the dungeon multiple times on Medial difficulty to wonder why no one else ever showed up. He’d completed it once on Minimal difficulty and never did it again, as the Undead inside were all Level 8 to 13 and similar to the ones he saw outside the dungeon now, with the Boss something called a “Wicked Lich” that at Level 16 wasn’t really a challenge – not that any of it really was at that point. Even the Medial difficulty was much easier than it had been when he first went, as while they were the same Undead as his first delve through the dungeon, they were all generally 5 Levels lower in strength.

He wasn’t sure if them being weaker led to worse loot, or if it had only been because of the SPECIAL Quest, but there were only half as many chests to open and half as many weapons on the racks when he got to the treasure room – at least on Medial difficulty. When he completed the Minimal difficulty on the one and only time he delved all the way through, he was presented with a chest that held a pouch containing all of 5 silver. No weapons, no armor, and no other loot.

Even the loot in the Medial dungeon was sub-par compared to his first time there, with most of the items he was able to obtain and fit in his packs Uncommon with only a few random Rares every once in a while. The amount of coinage he received from the chests was also only a fraction of what he’d gotten before, but was still at least a gold’s worth, if not a little more.

He contemplated attempting the Maximal difficulty and asked Boydlen about it, but after he heard that the Undead started at Level 40, which was the highest Level that his protective spells would prevent damage, he decided to wait until he’d at least gotten his new Class.

With the loot he’d been able to bring out of the dungeon, however, Thaden was now a comparatively rich man. Netting on average (for each visit) a little over 5 gold from the coins looted from the dungeon, from selling the items he’d pulled out, and completing Quests, the Assistant Healer now had a little over 600 gold in the Coalition’s bank, with another 25 gold in his personal possession just in case. Unfortunately, despite completing the dungeon so many times, Thaden still hadn’t found anything else that was suitable for his Class, neither a weapon nor a piece of armor; there were a few Rare accessories such as a bone necklace and ring he’d found, but they also weren’t compatible with his Class and he ended up simply selling them like he did everything else.

Other than his frequent trips to the Mausoleum Dungeon, Thaden hadn’t really done much else. He’d bought another few sets of clothing to wear around town, including a finer set made of a tough, silky material that felt like butter against his skin; it cost him a little over a gold for it, but he hadn’t hesitated to splurge a little on it because it made him feel nice. With a deep-red-colored shirt and black pants, he felt like he looked like a proper gentleman – which was why he was wearing it while he waited for the Class Representatives to show up. He wanted to make a good impression on them so that they hopefully wouldn’t question what a Contender was doing there before all the others were supposed to arrive.

As he stood against the inside wall, as out of the way as he could get, Thaden contemplated checking his message feed for at least the thousandth time over the last few months. He’d made a choice to stop checking it completely just before he entered the Mausoleum for the second time more than 80 days ago. Why? Because it would do more harm than good – and he figured that it would be beneficial in the long run.

Essentially, he was doing the same thing he’d done when he first arrived in Tarth by ignoring his messages completely; this time, though, he was doing it intentionally. By not acknowledging them, he discovered that they didn’t actually affect him yet; this was obvious to see when he looked at his Character Report and saw that his Competencies hadn’t shifted from where they were all that time ago, though he knew that they had to have gone up a lot from all the use he got out of his spells.

What was more important was that the PICK that he earned from slaying so many Undead was also delayed. At least, that’s what he hoped. He couldn’t be sure that he wasn’t automatically not earning any PICK because his limit had already been reached… or if it was being held in reserve for judgment until he checked his messages. He was hoping for the latter, because he intended to choose his new Class before he checked it, which would allow him to accumulate more PICK once the restriction on Leveling had been lifted. He was a little bit iffy on how all that worked, and whether he had been ignoring his messages for nothing, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt anything to try. He certainly hadn’t felt like he missed out on anything by waiting, even if he had managed to accumulate a few more Achievements along the way.

At the same time, Thaden had also made a deliberate decision not to use his remaining 14 Free Stat Points.  For one thing, he wasn’t lacking in anything, and while he thought that more Fortuity might be worthwhile, such as getting better loot in the dungeon, he didn’t believe it would be beneficial in the end. Secondly, and most importantly, he wanted to save it until he got his new Class, as he didn’t know if he needed something different than where he thought to stick it. When he added in the fact that all of his already accumulated PICK (even disregarding whatever might happen when he checked his message feed) would allow him to Level-up even further, the stat points he would get with those Levels might influence what he should choose.

The activity in the Coalition building slowly ramped up over the next few hours as Thaden continued to wait, which he didn’t think was possible, but the industrious Charee proved him wrong. He felt a little bad just watching them all work while he stood against the wall out of the way, but he felt like even offering to help them would mess up their busy-yet-coordinated preparations.

Just when he didn’t think it could be any busier, the frantic work reached a crescendo, filled with running people and shouting voices. He looked on in wonder as he looked around, noticing the large room was now completely spotless without speck of dust, and the Receptionists behind the counters rapidly cleaned up their areas with some last-minute arranging. Boydlen’s desk had been moved from where it had been before, which was now located in a separate office space behind all the counters, though the Quest Board remained; the biggest difference was that it had expanded in size so that it was nearly four times as large, with enough Quests to fill it up completely – other than the SPECIAL section, which was both noticeably small and empty at the moment. There hadn’t been any other SPECIAL Quests since the one that Thaden had completed, so he could only assume that there wouldn’t be any others until after the Contenders arrived.

At some point, the noise began to settle, quietly ramping down little-by-little as everyone seemed to take their places behind the counters, including the little café area that looked like some sort of coffee shop, and they stood there waiting, completely silent. For some reason, Thaden felt like he should hold his breath at the sense of anticipation in the air, and he had to think about breathing normally lest he accidentally pass out from lack of oxygen.

Finally, after what felt like hours of silence but was probably only about five minutes, the front doors opened and five people walked in…

…and they weren’t Charee.

They weren’t Human, either, but some other race that he’d never seen nor heard of before.  Standing at least 9 feet tall, they were humanoid in appearance, but they had dull, silvery skin that appeared smooth to the touch, and large eyes that were completely black with no obvious pupils. Their faces reminded him of depictions of aliens back on Earth, the “greys” that featured so prominently in movies and TV, what with their relatively flat appearance with just holes to mark nostrils and a mouth. Even their long, three-fingered hands were similar to those movie images, but there were a few important things that didn’t match up.

First was the fact that they were all wearing black, old-fashioned outfits, like one would see on rich people or nobility in period films from the 1600s. If they were more modern-looking, he would say that these people looked like they were part of some super-secret governmental agency; then again, he supposed since this planet was fantasy and medieval-themed, they certainly fit the part of a super-secret governmental agency set in the time period.

Secondly, they weren’t bald like those stereotypical “grey” aliens depicted in movies and TV. Instead, they all had thick white hair that was pushed back and cascaded down their backs, each of the individual hairs approximately 50 times the thickness of a human hair. He could almost count the individual strands even from across the room, which was unusual to see.

Lastly, they all walked in with literal smiles on their faces, looking overjoyed to be there – though it was creepy at the same time. Their teeth were sharpened instead of straight like his own, though not like some sort of nightmarish monster or a shark, instead, they simply came to a gentle sharp point and they fit in between one another perfectly when the bottom and top rows were brought together.

He looked closer at the one in the front of the group after getting over his initial shock at seeing them, and saw something above its head.

Fighter Class Representative

Level ????

There was no name or race of the person indicated in the words she read, only what he assumed was their profession of “Fighter Class Representative”. What was the most confusing was the fact that their Level said “????”, which was a bit frightening, given that he could feel a sense of power radiating from them even from a distance. Looking at the others, they all appeared to be the same, just for different types of Classes.

Mage Class Representative

Level ????

Scout Class Representative

Level ????

Control Class Representative

Level ????

Support Class Representative

Level ????

Ah, there they are. Finally.

Thaden didn’t move as the Class Representatives moved toward the empty counter where Boydlen had indicated they would be a few months ago, as he thought it wouldn’t be a good idea stopping them when everyone was watching them enter with a solemnity and touch of awe that he couldn’t help but feel himself. As soon as they settled in their positions less than a minute later, standing perfectly still with their creepy smiles on their faces, he started to take a step forward so as to beat whatever rush was coming when the other Contenders arrived.

Unfortunately, that one step unbalanced him enough that he fell straight to the floor when it felt like his body was torn apart and his mind was pierced with a billion sharp points of light. He didn’t feel it when he hit the recently cleaned floor, nor could he even perceive what was happening to him; all that he was conscious of, albeit just barely, was that something momentous was happening and his body and mind were paying the price for that momentousness.

Thaden had no idea how long he suffered like that, as the passing of time was hard to judge when his entire world was pain, but when he finally felt the agony subsiding, he could feel the cool floor pressing against his cheek. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see that he was still in the Coalition building, which was just as silent as it had been before, and that he had drool that had – at some point – dribbled out of his mouth. Picking himself up with a groan and an instinctive cast of Minor Regeneration, he wiped away the drool and looked around. Surprisingly, everyone was still in their positions, and while many of the Receptionists looked at him curiously, none of them had moved to check up on him; the Class Representatives, on the other hand, didn’t even seem to register that he was there.

“What—” he croaked out, wondering about what had just happened, but he was interrupted by a message window popping up in front of his eyes.

Oh. Oh, my.