Jonas called for a break following the ordeal of going through Adjustment again. Although they’d seen it with Ira’s, it had been as terrible as the original. Fire coursing through all of his blood, hammer-like blows tenderizing his muscles, and a vice squeezing inside his head. It was not long, but painful in ways fights were not. When Labyrinth critters attacked him, they bit and clawed and bruised. This was deeper. More primal in ways hard to articulate.

But at last, they were now all at tier-two, with a new slew of titles.

Team

Professions

Health

Mind

Jonas Sims

Aetherseer (31)

271/286

310/325

Jonathan Gilbert

Layman (31)

300/312

220/236

Ira Heard

Layman (43)

693/693

396/396

Guss Fullmore

Hospitaler (31)

280/295

310/323

Laura Harvey

Smasher (31)

301/325

281/293

Alton Raby

Piercer (31)

356/370

270/283

“So what do we do?” Ira asked him.

“We figure out our new skills, we get some levels… and we try to find more lairs. I’d love to find a lair that’s easier than that boar-infested ruin,” Jonas replied.

He walked toward Laura and Guss, who were discussing around the partially filled hole in front of the Plaza.

“So? Still looking for an explanation?”

“Yes. But we haven’t figured out what could have been there, and who or why it was removed,” Laura replied.

“Not enough information. I agree,” Jonas said.

“Well, Guss has ideas,” she added, looking at the Hospitaler.

“There’s probably something special about Plazas, beyond the obvious regeneration boost and the fact that you can get new Professions.”

“Maybe,” Jonas offered.

“The outfit my cousin work in is about getting special stuff from the Labyrinth. Not the Power Crystal thing, but more high-price stuff.”

“So? Do you think they came and dug out some statue or something?”

“Who knows? I’m sure there’s a market for works of art if there’s any to be found in the Labyrinth,” Guss said.

Jonas pursed his lips, adopting a dubious look. “That hole looks big. It seems a lot of trouble for some statue.”

“Well, if they can sell it for 100 quid… Or even a grand. Or maybe more,” Guss countered.

“Who could pay that? 100 pounds is… more than my master makes in a year. A good year,” Jonas said.

“You didn’t work for a wealthy merchant. But yes, 1,000 pounds would be a fortune for Mister Morvell. He does make more than that a year, but spending that…” Ira said.

“There’s always nobles with more money than you can dream. I know, we see some at the store,” Guss replied.

Jonas contemplated the hole a bit more, trying to gauge what had been buried into the earth before being dug.

“Even then. It looks large and would be terrible to transport. Notably in the mountains without a road.”

Laura noted, “which probably meant it wouldn’t be transported too far. Maybe only a few zones.”

“Maybe,” Jonas offered before shrugging the suggestion as wholly impossible to gauge.

Both Laura and Guss bent again over the hole, trying to make more guesses about the nature of the ‘statuary’ lifted from there. If it was statuary. Jonas spotted Jonathan trying to swing his swords as if getting used to the new Profession. He and Ira made their way to his side.

“So, how is your new Layman Profession working out,” Ira asked.

“Trying to see if I get skills. So far, nothing,” he replied.

“I got all of them during combat. Heck, all of us got theirs during combat,” he noted.

“Well, not exactly. Got one when I wore that mask,” he said, gesturing toward the leather band covering his eyes.

“You still seeing through it?” asked Jonas.

“Yes. And I still have all my old skills. I was worried they’d go away as you said for Guss, but I think you worried for nothing.”

Jonas frowned, then realized immediately a possible reason.

“Watcher was Environment/Defence, right? And Layman is Physical/Defence. So that’s still defence, just a different way.”

“Just like me, when I switched from Personal/Defence to Physical/Defence. Still counts as Defence,” Ira added.

“Oh? Does this mean I was some kind of… defender something?”

“No, I don’t think so. The vital points you get in levelling were very different.”

Jonas quickly added, “however, if you still have your old skills, then you can still do the same things you used to. At least for now. Until you get more health and equipment and new skills.”

“Speaking of which,” Ira said, rummaging in his belt pouch. He pulled out his old cap and handed it to Jonathan, who took it and turned it in his hands. Without visible eyes, it was hard to read him, but he was clearly ‘frowning’.

“The only thing on it is the Defence rating, right?”

Flimsy Light Ringmail Cap

Head

Starter equipment

Requires: none

Provides: +2 defence rating

“Yes. It’s that starter gear we got back when we…” Ira explained.

“Then I think my mask is currently better. Got 6 defence rather than 2.”

“That sounds… well, that sounds weird. I mean, that cap is armour, not some leather stuff…”

“And even then, your cap changes how much critters hit your legs. Labyrinth stuff, right?” Jonathan said.

Jonas acknowledged the remark by shrugging.

“I think he’s right, Ira.”

The main Layman frowned, before acknowledging defeat.

“Okay, I’ll keep that cap. Don’t worry. Stuff will come.”

“Okay, everyone. Time to move. I suggest we keep this Plaza as our base, even if we can’t Recall to it. By the way, try not to start Recall. If we get back to Ovildian, we’ll have to trek back here, and that’s lost time.”

The team gathered, ready to follow Jonas.

“So far we’ve seen three lairs, but the last one is way too high for us to attempt. We should get more levels quickly now, and if nothing else, we’ll try the frog lake soonest. But if we can find another easier lair, that would be good.”

Jonas looked around before settling in a direction.

“So far we’ve followed the river on both sides, and we came by that pass. There are a couple more passes going out, so let’s see what this zone has for us.”

The whole valley looked like a sinkhole of a kind. Trails were snaking around the edges, offering multiple ways of descending until they reached an overhang and plunged into semi-darkness. Even from there, Jonas could see some light coming from the depths.

What worried him, however, was the things crawling around. They looked like flattened livestock. A grey leather skin, limbs that stretched around, and weird eyes with a barely visible nose.

Irritable Grey Newt

Level 74 veteran

Health: 1124

Mind: 414

Endurance: 585

Aether: 668

“Never saw a newt. Just heard some witches use them…” Guss started.

“You see them on the Thames. If you’re lucky. Those are twenty times bigger. And look meaner too,” Alton interrupted.

“Aren’t they poisonous?” Guss asked.

“They are. Can’t eat them, or you sicken. Of course in the Labyrinth, they’re certainly worse.”

“Got a skill against poison,” Guss beamed.

Jonas shook his head, interrupting the exchange.

“We’re definitively not going down this lair. That’s an obvious lair, but no way we’re doing that. The boars will be much, much easier.”

The pass had four trees aligned on each side. The trees looked almost planted. All of the same height, all in a row, at almost regular intervals. Jonathan spotted the box to the side.

Jonas looked carefully around, and seeing nothing, knelt over the box, trying to budge it open. Unlike all the various chests they’d seen so far, however, this one remained closed. It did not seem to have a lock or anything, its lid just didn’t open.

The rest of the team congregated around Jonas, and both Alton, then Laura with her highest Strength, tried to pry open the box, without any success either.

“Why doesn’t it open?” Ira finally asked.

Nobody answered for a while. Then Guss hazarded an explanation, “Maybe because we haven’t fought its guardian yet?”

“Then where is it? There’s nothing around. It doesn’t even look like we’re in a lair area or anything like that. The last cat on the way up to this pass was a single normal, not even a veteran.”

“Monster day off?” Alton joked.

Jonas tried to find a good answer and failed. He then shelved the question for later. Understanding all the subtleties of the Labyrinth took more than a month.

The second trip out of the Plaza yielded a better prospect for a lair. From a distance, the plateau looked like it held a smaller copy of the Plaza. When coming closer, they could see that the pillars were in disrepair, compared to the pristine state of the Plaza. Not quite ruins, but definitively run-down. The knock-off plaza’s floor was cracked, fissures and loose chunks of marble at the edges. But, more importantly, where the Profession choices would have popped up, a spiral staircase was inviting them down into darkness.

Similar to the stone cellar in Ovildian, the marble staircase had self-lighting torches spread at close intervals along the spiral path downward. Once they reached the bottom, however, they found themselves facing three corridors branching from the landing, and no further stairs.

Ira peered into each tunnel before picking one at random. At least, all of them looked to have a good amount of torches, making the subterranean construction more inviting than the gloomy cellar.

The first room they found was a hexagonal room, with vaulted arches reaching down to shoulder height. They didn’t have time to take in more details, as the room held two child-sized furred critters who noticed the exploring group immediately.

Lost Mole Digger × 2

Level 67 veteran

Health: 1018

Mind: 381

Endurance: 903

Aether: 0

“Bollocks! High levels!” Ira screamed in warning upon seeing the beady eyes turning toward him.

Ira… and Jonathan stepped up to intercept the two oversized two-legged moles. For a second, Jonas almost stopped the former Watcher to let Alton absorb the attacks as usual, but he realized that their new defender needed to get more skills in defence. And confidence. If things went wrong, he’d try to get Alton involved, but otherwise…

“Focus on the second one. The one on Jonathan comes first!” Jonas shouted, before starting his Flame Bolts. He’d keep aether enough to use one or two Air Bursts to create chaos, but otherwise, it was time to use all of his reserves, as fast as humanly possible.

Lost Mole Digger slashes wildly for 50 damage. One hit noticed.

Both Alton and Laura yelled as the long, extended claws raked across them. Neither had moved into position yet, and the attack had managed to catch them by surprise. Jonathan was the only one to avoid damage, as his previous skills still worked.

This didn’t last, as he grunted, receiving a more focused clawed punch in the belly, the claw sinking straight into his leather jacket.

Lost Mole Digger claws for 58 (60-2) damage (16 defence).

“These things hit harder than anything I’ve seen. We won’t last the fight. Not with two of them,” Ira warned, having received his own deep punch in the guts.

Jonas instantly decided to try running away. This was the kind of fight he’d dreaded, and in those confined areas, it would be hellish. But if those digger-things did so much damage, they couldn’t survive long.

“Run. Everyone, get out of that room and run as fast for the stairs…”

The team turned as one and ran for the door. The corridor was thankfully large enough that they could run in a hurry without hampering themselves, but Alton yelled twice as one of the moles raked him from behind. He had already lost over half of his not-inconsiderable health. As they sprang out of the corridor, another claw hit brought him down to below 100.

Ira stopped, slashing and kicking at the moles as the rest of the team rushed to the stairs. Then Jonas saw that only one mole had come out of the room and was still trying to get them. Somehow, they’d managed to lose the other. Maybe it had been blocked by its companion and lost track of them.

“Stop. There’s only one left. And we can’t let it attack again from behind!” Ira said.

The team turned and looked at the Layman engaged with the mole creature. Then, they rallied and moved back from the stairs into position.

“Alton, if you get slashed again, retreat. No sense in getting killed… even if Ira can resurrect you afterwards,” Jonas warned.

The Piercer silently acknowledged the order as he slid behind the mole, to use his Backstabs. Laura squeezed herself next to him, to avoid a repeat of the wild slashes. Guss frenetically pumped Ira’s health as it went down.

Lost Mole Digger : 1136XP/6 contributors = 189XP. Level up.

“Okay. Too high a lair. We’re retreating,” Jonas said, looking at the mole's corpse stretched on the floor.

“Yea. Too close for me,” Alton whispered.

Now dead, it looked more like a real mole rather than the humanoid furry nightmare from the Labyrinth. Laura reflexively checked the corpse for anything useful and was surprised to see an item folded under their pursuer.

Simple Grey Leather Trousers

Legs

Basic equipment

Requires: Level 59

Provides: +7 defence

“Some leggings…” she commented.

“Well,” Jonas said. “If we really don’t have anything better by then, we may still use them. I mean, most of us still have our starter equipment without any benefits either.”

“Really?” she asked.

“It might even count as an upgrade for me,” Ira confirmed.

Seeing her incredulous look, he quickly added, “The chainmail coif I have does have less rating. It’s like with Jonathan’s mask. Just because it’s not sturdy chainmail doesn’t mean it’s bad for the defence.”

Jonas reached down, picked the leggings and put them over his shoulder, not trying to fit them into his bag.

“We’re just 34 now… well, except for Ira, so it’s going to be a long time until we can use that. And until then, it’s useless. But let’s head out, right now,”

He gestured toward the entrance.

“The last critter might come back, and we’re not in shape to fight again yet. This fifth lair is not a good thing.”

“It could have been worse if it had been the newt things,” Guss said. “Hospitaler hasn’t gotten me many benefits yet.”

“Yes. And in that case, we might have needed to come back for the dead. Maybe even for more than one,” Jonas said.

Hospitaler

(tier 2)

Required: 25 WIS

Provides:

+5 health/+2 endurance/+3 mind/+8 aether per level

+1 Milestone per 14 levels

Hospitaler Milestone: +5 WIS, +3 FOC, +2 STR, +1 INT, +1 STA, 5% healing

Skillset: Aether / Support