Chapter 29

Grilled

“What do you mean? Why did you go through my mail?” asked Janus. His head was spinning from the evening’s drinks.

“Your mail?” remarked Hashilli. “I know what that envelope is. It contains an ID for a new delver. I just needed to see for myself.”

The realization took a moment to dawn on Janus.

He thinks I was already in a delving team, that my teammates died in the [Deepstone Ravine].

“I want to know what you were doing in that dungeon. How was it cleared?” Hashilli grilled.

“I, uh, I….” The words escaped Janus. But he knew that he would have to explain himself to Tara and Rowan, eventually. The problem was, who would believe him? “I cleared it myself.”

“You cleared an entire dungeon yourself? The guild projected the boss to be level 40!”

“It was. Uh, level 40, that is. A [Crystal Golem].”

The statement seemed to only agitate Hashilli even more. He knitted his brow in consternation.

Hashilli’s voice was cool once more. “You have to understand what kind of position this puts me in.”

“I don’t understand, though!”

“You just came from Crow Station! Reports are that a single individual attacked it. They collapsed the rail line to protect the other stations. The best way for anyone to find Bear Station would have been through the tunnels.”

Janus remembered the massive hole that the [Beast Lord] had bored through the earth to reach Crow Station.

If he knew the direction, he wouldn’t have bothered with the tunnels….

“You think I had something to do with the attack on Crow Station,” said Janus.

“No. I’m saying that I don’t know. You have a strange skill, you claim to have cleared a dungeon on your own, you went along with Tara’s incorrect guess that you must have had a delving team.”

It surprised Janus that he found himself getting angry. “You think I am complicit in the deaths of my friends, the people of Crow Station, and maybe even my father? You’re just the dickhead going through my mail!”

“I don’t mean… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you were responsible. I just, I don’t know what I thought. Understand where I’m coming from, though. I’m letting you stay at my place, my home.”

“You know what? I’ve been struggling to survive for weeks! Navigating the tunnels on my own, dealing with everything that came my way. I need to sleep. I can tell you whatever you want to know tomorrow.”

Janus wasn’t used to confrontation like this. He had just wanted to sleep off his slight drunkenness and enjoy clean sheets and mattress.

“Right. You tell me what I want to know in the morning, otherwise I’m going to have to ask you to find another place to stay.”

“Whatever.” Janus muttered. “Where am I sleeping?”

“There’s a second bedroom through there.” Said Hashilli. He was pointing at a small hallway past the living room. “It’ll be the empty one.”

Stepping carefully around Hashilli’s furniture, Janus eyed the man. He hadn’t expected this from Hashilli. He probably heard him speak more in the last five minutes than he had the entire trip back from [Deepstone Ravine]. The second doorway in the hallway opened to an empty room. Janus was relieved to see the bed topped with a hefty blanket and an assortment of pillows. He was asleep almost as soon as he laid down.

-

The morning came and the last thing Janus wanted to do was leave the comfort of his bed. Unfortunately, a soft knock sounded at his door and he remembered the promise he had made the night before.

Sleep dulled his anger somewhat, but he was still upset about Hashilli opening his mail.

Who does that?

Janus slipped out of bed and saw that Hashilli was waiting for him in the living room. There was an empty seat opposite of the other [Enhancer].

After sitting down, Janus was the first to speak. He explained what had happened in Crow Station and why he had to travel through the tunnels. It was impossible to avoid the details of his skills, and at this point, Janus was tired of dissembling.

“You can reconstruct any spell?” asked Hashilli.

“I mean, not exactly. Some stuff is just too complex for me to get a handle on. The mana array for your water spell is deceptively difficult to replicate, even though the spell seems so simple,” explained Janus.

“What if I demonstrated the spell again?”

Hashilli had really focused on Janus’ [Spell Weaving] skill. It was the single thing that he asked Janus the most questions about. The man almost seemed eager to experiment.

Janus had to admit, he was getting a bit excited himself. “Yeah, if I could get a better look at it, I think I could replicate it. It might take a few tries, though.”

“Here, come to the sink.” Hashilli was already standing up mid-sentence.

Janus followed him over to the kitchen. A small array of runes appeared below Hashilli’s down-turned palm, a small stream of water emerged from the center of the array.

“Try,” said Hashilli.

It still amazed Janus that the array appeared to be so complicated. He could see the mana doing something to the surrounding air, but he wasn’t sure what. Maybe it was collecting moisture? The specifics didn’t matter as long as Janus could replicate the way the array was constructed and the way the mana moved.

His first few attempts didn’t even create a trickle of water. Janus was constructing the array much more carefully after his explosive failure in the tunnels. Finally, the array coalesced below his own hand and water slowly poured into the sink.

“This is… This is incredible,” said Hashilli. “With this, you could know more than ten spells. You could know all the spells. Wait, can you also mimic holy energy?”

“Holy energy?” asked Janus.

“That’s what Tara uses for her spells. I’m certain you will get a chance to see it. But let’s see if you can replicate my other spells first.”

He’s just going to let me see all of his spells?

“Yeah, well, I’m not going to complain about more spells, but….” said Janus. “I thought you were, uh, suspicious of me?”

Some of the excitement left Hashilli’s face. “I’m inclined to take you at face value after hearing your story. I still have my suspicions, but I am convinced that you are not some agent of destruction. I am sorry for last night.”

Janus wasn’t sure if Hashilli was being completely up front about his apology. The man mostly seemed more interested in studying [Spell Weaving] than anything else.

“If I’m going to stay here, I’d prefer it if you didn’t go through my mail.” Now that Janus was sober, he found himself somehow even more indignant at the breach of privacy.

“Yes, of course. I assure you last night is not representative of how I usually act,” insisted Hashilli.

“Well. I did travel with you for about a week. I’d be lying if I said the way you acted last night didn’t catch me off guard.”

“Again, I apologize.”

“Uh, apology sort of accepted, I guess. I appreciate you letting me stay here.” Janus paused for a moment before remembering that he was meant to meet Tara and Rowan around noon. “Wait, what time is it?”

“A bit after nine in the morning.” Hashilli motioned towards a small clock on a nearby shelf.

“Alright, good.”

Janus spent the rest of the morning experimenting with Hashilli. The other [Enhancer] even insisted that he attempt to replicate [Pow. Enhancement]. Unfortunately, it was an exercise in futility. The problem was that Janus couldn’t see or understand what the mana was doing inside of a person or object.

A question occurred to Janus while he was attempting to replicate [Gust].

“Why do you know so many, I don’t know, small spells?”

“Ah, you mean cantrips? Some are very useful, like the spell I used to create water. I am embarrassed to admit that [Enhancer] would not have been my first choice.”

“Why not?”

“I wanted to be a [Magus], or any class that dealt with spells, really. I know that I am not stuck with [Enhancer], but most people do not receive a class evolution until well after level 50. And, [Enhancer] is a lucrative class to have. Besides, I can still learn cantrips because it is a magic-aligned class.”

That explains why he is so obsessed with [Spell Weaving].

Janus was confused on one point, however. “I’ve read about people that evolve their classes really early. Like a [Warrior] becoming a [Shining Knight].”

“Ah, it’s not always that easy. [Warrior] is a very unspecialized class, unlike [Enhancer]. Even so, many [Warrior]s do not see a class evolution at all. Metamages still argue about what conditions must be met for a class evolution.”

The answer was enough to appease Janus’ curiosity. After all, the only experience Janus had with a [Warrior] evolving early was “The Runed Knight,” one of his favorite novels.

A glance at the clock informed Janus that he should get moving if he wanted to meet Tara and Rowan on time.

“I should get going,” said Janus.

Hashilli stood in response. “Coincidentally, I have a meeting with my new team in about an hour. I’ll walk to the commons with you.”

The pair began making their way down the many flights of stairs between them and the ground floor.

“I heard that they have elevators in Eagle Station,” said Janus with a huff.

Hashilli simply grunted in reply and started heading out towards a bar in the commons. Janus had a look around and didn’t spot his other companions.

They must not be here yet. I guess I am a few minutes early.

Janus followed Hashilli, sitting on a bar stool to the right of the other [Enhancer]. He continued to sit in silence as Hashilli ordered a drink and sipped on it. Thankfully, the awkward silence did not last long.

“Janus! Hashilli!” he heard Tara call.

Moments later, the excitable [Paladin] was taking a seat next to Janus.

“You are aware that the guild frowns upon skill usage in the commons, right Tara?” Hashilli admonished.

“You’re always a sour sport, Hashilli.”

“I do not enforce the rules, only inform you of them.”

Janus could hear Rowan approach from behind. The [Trickster] was gasping for air.

“Tara, why leave me in the dust like that? Have I wronged ye’?” The diminutive redhead asked.

“Only when you open your mouth,” said Tara.

“Is that right, a—“

“Ah. My new team has arrived early.” Rowan glared when Hashilli interrupted what must have been a clever comeback.

Janus scanned the room as Hashilli stood from his seat. He spotted Pella and Devon near the guild entrance.

It took a moment for him to put everything together.

“Wait, they’re your new team?”

Janus stood and hurriedly followed after Hashilli. Rowan and Tara shared a look before Rowan shrugged.

“Wait for us, Janus!” said Rowan before chasing after Janus. Tara was not far behind.

The two groups met near the edge of the commons.

“Janus, I was unaware that you had met our new teammate.” Devon said, giving each of them a look.