Chapter 26

Copycat

Janus froze, water dripping from his face. Rowan was shaking his arms in an attempt to dry them off.

“Uh. Woops?” said Janus.

Hashilli and Janus had gotten the brunt of the water. The other [Enhancer] loomed over Janus, cup still in hand.

“What skill was that?” Hashilli asked.

Janus hadn’t meant to reveal his [Spell Weaving] skill. “It’s, uhm, it’s hard to explain.”

“You made water! Like Hashilli!” Tara stated. She appeared strangely dry.

“Yeah. I guess I did.”

“I’m a soaking wet mess, I am!” Rowan cried, and began pulling off segments of leather armor.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean—“

Tara cut off Janus with her laughter. “Bwahahaha, look at you Mr. [Trickster]. And to think you tried to tell me you had ‘abs’.”

Rowan had his shirt off at this point and was wringing water out of the fabric. He froze for a moment when Tara spoke. After a second of indecision, he crammed himself back into his shirt.

“I’m still getting definition! I don’t judge you for your appearance!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tara said, grabbing Rowan’s head and shoving it under her arm.

“Ow! Ow! The metal Tara! The metal!” Rowan howled.

Tara’s plate armor was pinching the poor [Trickster]’s neck. Janus noted that it looked particularly painful.

“Oh, shit! Sorry! I forget about the armor sometimes.” Tara said awkwardly, releasing Rowan.

“Let us not stray too far from the subject at hand,” said Hashilli. “How did you do that?”

It took a moment for Janus to register that Hashilli was talking to him. The antics of Tara and Rowan had thoroughly distracted him.

How much do I tell these people?

“I have a skill that can—sort of—copy spells,” Janus explained. “It doesn’t do a very good job.”

“That sounds incredible. What other stuff can you copy?” Tara ventured.

“Uh, nothing that crazy. Just, like, simple spells.”

Janus raised his hand and formed a revealing light. He hoped his explanation would sate their curiosity.

“Interesting. Are you still thirsty?” asked Hashilli.

“Uh, no. I’m fine now.”

“Very well. We should return to Bear Station.”

Janus was glad to hear that the trio was headed the same way as he was and wordlessly followed Hashilli.

-

Traveling in a group was much better than traveling alone, Janus decided. He spoke very little himself, but Tara and Rowan regularly bickered. Perhaps he would have been annoyed if it hadn’t been so long since he had seen another person.

The first time the group had stopped, they took pity on Janus when he brought out his stale bread to eat. Rowan had brought along preserved meats, nuts, butter, and other assorted foods.

Tara had a strange, runic device that produced a directed flame when activated. Hashilli added water to the pot and Rowan dumped in some ingredients. A few minutes later, there was a stew simmering in the tunnel between everybody. Hashilli passed out bowls, and they all began to eat.

Janus was unaware of just how hungry he really was. He had gotten used to eating very little over the past weeks. Not to mention that the stew was warm and rich. It was almost too much.

“I don’t want to pry or anything,” said Rowan. “But you look like you were tossed into a meat grinder.”

Looking down at his robe, Janus didn’t blame Rowan. It was a tattered mess. The blue color had faded where it was still visible under grime and bloodstains. His sleeve was torn up almost all the way to the shoulder.

“I had a rough time.” Janus explained.

“Talking can help,” interjected Hashilli.

Janus stared up at the tunnel wall. “I’ve been having a rough time since Crow Station was destroyed. I think… I think just being here is already helping.”

“Alright, alright. I won’t push ya’.” Said Rowan.

They had the rest of the meal in an awkward silence, but Janus didn’t mind. He was just glad to feel safe.

-

The next few days went by in a flash. It was like all of Janus’ tension was causing time to move slower.

The group encountered only a few monsters, but they were all quickly dispatched. Janus didn’t even have to take part. The other three delvers worked like a well-oiled machine, efficiently taking out whatever came across their path.

They were only a few days away from Bear Station when Janus finally asked a question that had been on his mind.

“I was wondering if, uh, if you guys were looking for more team mates?” asked Janus.

“Hmm, the three of us have been working out for a couple months now…” said Tara.

“Right. I guess I just wasn’t sure.”

“Four people is better than three, in my opinion. But that means less money. Considering how rare it is for us to hit a big writ, I don’t know if we could even afford our lodgings.” Tara explained.

“Perhaps now is an opportune time to discuss my departure.” Said Hashilli.

“What! You’re not sticking around?” Rowan actually looked genuinely upset.

Hashilli was as unreadable as always. “I have another job lined up. This was always a temporary thing.”

“Come on, man, I thought we were gettin’ along!” complained Rowan.

Janus’ earlier disappointment was turning to excitement. If Hashilli was leaving the group, then surely Rowan and Tara would look for another [Enhancer].

“If Hashilli is leaving, then you guys would need someone to replace him?” asked Janus.

Rowan and Tara shared a look.

“You know what? I guess this sort of works out, anyway. We lose our [Enhancer], but pick up another one along the way,” said Tara.

Janus felt a little guilty. He only had one real enhancer skill. If he had to guess, he was more like a [Magus]. But he would not let that get in the way.

“I guess. Hashilli is just so uptight, ya’ know? Makes it easy to mess with him” Rowan looked genuinely upset to lose his victim.

“I, uh, I’m sort of unfamiliar with the process,” said Janus.

“I imagine it’ll be the same as your last team, aye? The Bear Station delvers guild is a bit more… high end than the one in Crow Station, but the policies should be the same.” Rowan responded.

Right, they think that I already had a team.

Janus tried to correct his mistake. “No, of course, my last team sort of handled all that stuff for me. They were excited to get an [Enhancer].”

“I guess that makes sense. Don’t worry about it. It’s a simple process. All that matters is that your name is on the writ when we take a job,” said Tara. “It’s as easy as signing a document!”

Tara’s explanation of the process put Janus at ease. It made sense. Delver groups shifted members around all the time. It was easiest if each writ got assigned on an individual job to job basis.

“I have some things I need to take care of before I go on a job, though,” Janus explained.

“That’s fine. I’m ready to sleep in a nice bed. Although, I have a question…” said Tara.

“Yeah?”

“The dungeon clear. Do you care if we claim the reward for our writ? I would be willing to give you a share of my reward,” Tara continued. She looked at Rowan and Hashilli. “The others would be happy to share, too!”

“Hey wait just a—“

Tara’s metal fist came down on Rowan’s head with a thud! “We would be happy, too. Right?”

“Ow! Stars! Yes, yes, okay!” Rowan sputtered.

Honestly, the reward hadn’t even crossed my mind…

“That’s fine. I could use the money anyway,” said Janus. “By the way. I’m curious about your classes. I haven’t seen a [Paladin] before. [Trickster] is a strange one, too.”

“Oh, the mighty [Paladin], spreading the word of God to the heathens!” Rowan threw his hands out to either side.

“Shut up, Rowan. You know I don’t believe in that stuff.”

Rowan smirked. “Oh right. The godless [Paladin]! Explain to me how that works again?”

Tara scowled at Rowan and lifted her fist to prepare for another strike.

“No! Spare me, holy one! Do not smite me so!” Rowan cried.

Janus wasn’t particularly religious. The most he had learned was about the protective spirits and a bit about old world Christianity.

“Honestly, the System must have been playing some kind of joke on me with this class.” Tara ran fingers through her hair and down her braid, giving it a little tug. “I don’t believe in God, or spirits, or any of that stuff.”

“Are [Paladin]s usually religious?” asked Janus.

“As far as I know, most [Paladin]s are god crazed crusaders. Many people expect the same out of me. It can be kind of a pain.” Tara looked embarrassed as she explained.

“What about skills? You moved insanely fast when I first saw you. And that jump into the ravine.”

“Oh, right. Well, I have [Righteous Stride]. It basically allows me to dash in a straight line. And, uhm, I sort of broke both my legs jumping into the ravine.”

“Wait, what?” Janus asked over Rowan’s laughter.

“Yeah. I have [Lay Healing]. I just fixed myself up before you guys finished climbing down…” Tara continued.

“Oh. I didn’t realize.”

She broke both of her legs? For fun?

“Well, I wanted to see if I could stick the landing.” Tara grinned. “Maybe in another ten levels or so.”

She’s insane!

“Tara is what we like to call an occupational hazard in the delving business.” Rowan quipped.

“Your mouth is the real occupational hazard,” threatened Tara.

Janus wasn’t eager to see Rowan take another shot to the head and hurriedly changed the subject.

“What about you, Rowan? I haven’t even read about [Trickster]s. Are you like a [Rogue]?”

“Bah, [Rogue]s. They’re always in the limelight. No! I tell ya’ what. My class is the cream of the morally ambiguous crop!” Rowan stated. “I have nuance.”

“Right, and that nuance is?” Janus ventured.

Rowan winked at Janus. “Well, ya’ saw it with my dagger. I have a skill called [Return]. It’s very versatile. But I can’t just reveal all of my tricks. Maybe when we get a new writ.”

Initially, Janus found himself annoyed at Rowan. If they worked together, they should share their abilities. The hypocrisy was lost on Janus for a moment until he remembered he was hiding [Spell Weaving] from the others.

-

The group was less than 24 hours from Bear Station, and the tunnels there amazed Janus. Some sections of tunnel were entirely metal. He swore that they were even ventilated. Everything was perfectly lit and his map showed this region as a perfect grid of intersecting tunnels.

It was like night and day compared to the tunnels by Crow Station. As far as he could tell, every tunnel was lit and regularly maintained. The group even occasionally encountered other delvers or earth manipulators.

Janus was slowly getting used to the idea of returning the civilization. Being with Tara, Rowan, and Hashilli had been great. But Janus was looking forward to simply walking the streets of Bear Station. He even looked forward to visiting his college.

Of course, his first order of business was figuring out as much as he could about Crow Station. He needed to know if there were any refugees and, more importantly, if his dad was in the station.

He was also concerned about Devon. The last time he had seen the scarred swordsman was as they both tumbled from a stone tower. If the man hadn’t made his way to Bear Station, Janus felt responsible. He could have spent longer looking for Devon under the rubble. Instead, he had selfishly left to look for his father.

I am so close.