These rulers know nothing of the wider world. I fear that in their ignorance they will challenge us. That they will force our hand because they do not realize the difference between heaven and earth. I know some of our fellows would relish the chance to show the wrath of the storm, but I have always been one who prefers more peaceful winds. – Letter from the Voice Cirrus

Niels was unsure what to make of the man that came stumbling into their camp far below him. He looked like one of the army’s necromancers, covered in bones and with a heavy stench of blood surrounding him. Deciding to simply sit back and observe for now, he watched as Theo called out to the newcomer.

Nobody liked the recyclers, as the military's death mages were often known. The soldiers disliked the knowledge that if they fell these would be the men who made their bodies dance. The brass didn’t like that each had basically sole command of an army. The citizens didn’t like them because they made the children cry and they were just plain creepy. Hell, they didn’t even like each other because that meant they were competing for resources.

If this guy was another one of those corpsefuckers…well the army wouldn’t miss one more living should-be-warcrime. Besides, better one dead necromancer rather than four undead explorers. Nobody would even have to know.

Wait, what was he thinking? If he killed a nation’s living weapon, they would come down on him like the hammer of a transcendent.

He wasn’t one hundred percent certain why he felt so much antipathy toward this man. He didn’t like the military death mages, but he had never hated them so much as to want to murder them in cold blood like this. And certainly not enough to risk a military investigation over fighting one for no reason.

The feelings were strange. When he tried to explore them, to look for what the root source might be, there was nothing. Then he discovered that the feeling almost felt hollow. Manufactured.

Wait, was that it?

Before he had a chance to second guess himself, he released the magic holding him forty feet in the air. As he plummeted to the ground, the newcomer suddenly snapped his head upward. The look of shock on this Elijah individual was understandable. The wave of malicious intent rising up in Niels was not. Not unless his theory was correct.

As he got closer, he began to make out details in the armor. Yeah, there it was. He might just be right after all.

#

The man who had yelled at Elijah had skin slightly darker than his own and a goatee beard that seemed sharply trimmed. The light of the dim moon reflected off the man’s bald head with an almost metallic gleam. A high collared over light brown cloak with diagonal buttons running from the man’s waist and up to his right shoulder covered much of his body. The bottom of his coat flared out at the hem, ending at about mid-thigh. Pockets and straps covered the outside of the cloak, securing a variety of vials and bottles. His shins were protected by studded leather in the same color and tall boots with thick heels.

Elijah could only gape. The entire situation was insane. A man, looking like some kind of biker mad scientist in a leather Frankenstein lab coat, was yelling at him from within a palace of ice constructed in a forest of zombie creatures. The absurdity of the entire thing hit him for a moment and he found himself unable to properly respond.

The moment of silence was enough to hear the hoots, growls, and grunts of the monsters in the woods around him. They crashed about the forest, shaking the underbrush in the wild and desperate scramble of combat. Strangely, they seemed to break around the clearing like river water around a large rock. Every moment, though, a few pushed closer. Breaking through the invisible barrier.

One of the men on the ground, the one to the left of the central pillar, said something Elijah couldn’t quite make out, but he recognized the irritation in the younger man’s gaze. The man had rich, hazel skin and wore something very near a dark brown leather parka. The coat was trimmed in a reddish-brown fur and reinforced with leather plate in areas. He kept his hands in deep pockets on the front of the coat. A closer inspection of the man revealed cat like eyes and long, pointed ears hidden in the waves of his long chestnut hair.

Shaking his head at Elijah, the younger man called out to him in a louder voice, “You heard him! Who the fuck are you?”

Deciding that just being honest was probably his best bet, he called back, “I’m Elijah. I got lost some weeks ago and wandered my way out here. Any chance you all can help me get out?”

“Bullshit! This gods damned forest is on the ass end of nowhere. Nobody just gets ‘lost’ out here!”

“Now calm down there Rory,” said the third man, the one who hadn’t spoken yet, exploded at Elijah’s story.

He was a tall man, easily six and a half feet or more, and lean. Like the second man he had inhuman eyes, though these were far more serpentine in nature. The impression was not helped by a small patch of scales around each eye, appearing almost like orange-green eyeliner in contrast to his otherwise light skin. It was hard to make out much else of the man, as he wore something almost like an oversize gi and cloak. Both were dyed pure black and had excess material that billowed around him and obscured his features. Within the hood he thought he caught site of long, black hair tied back in a ponytail.

As the third man opened his mouth to continue speaking, Elijah noted his split tongue. “If you are here to rob us, you picked the wrong target. May as well just turn around and go home!”

Before Elijah could answer, he felt it again. The strange feeling of physically present defiance. It was weird, it felt like the source should have been in front of him, but it wasn’t coming from any of these three. Besides, he still felt…distance from the source. But different…

Like it wasn’t horizontal distance.

Snapping his head upward, Elijah saw a fourth figure hurtling through the air toward him. The man was literally falling from the sky, like some kind of wrathful angel come from heaven to crush Elijah into the ground.

The man wore what almost seemed like the armor version of a dark tan three-piece suit. A jacket with pads of leather arranged artfully around the outside, the stitches attaching the pieces arranged into various patterns that glowed with mana. A vest like set of chainmail underneath, the metal sandwiched between out layers of cloth probably meant for comfort. All of this covering some kind of white, skin tight shirt that hugged the man’s body. His pants were also coated in large pieces of thicker leather glowing with strange symbols marked by the stitching and he wore a pair of knee-high leather boots.

And on his brow, he wore a crown exactly like Elijah’s. A band of some kind of dark metal. Small pieces of carved bone inlaid in the material in place of gems, making it almost seem as if the band was made of fingers. Seven tall points made from the twisted horns that had crowned the Ghoul Bear’s head.

The man himself looked like your average forty-year-old, white corporate business man, if said business man had aged perfectly while following the workout routine of an Olympic athlete. His skin was flawless and his hair was the perfect blend of brown and gray to achieve the silver fox look. He kept his hair in a business cut, slightly long on top, and he wore the kind of effortless five o’clock shadow that usually meant it had been carefully trimmed for three hours.

Then take that person and apply one of those high end photoshop programs used by magazines for their cover models. Give him a pair of short swords hung from one hip and a look of absolute confidence. Like nothing could ever surprise him and he had the solution to every one of life’s problems.

And that man was falling through the sky with every apparent intention of smashing Elijah into the ground with his own body.

#

At the last moment Niels compressed a bubble of air beneath his feet to slow his fall. He could have survived the impact, but it would have been very painful and this Elijah individual did not appear overly antagonistic. Besides, if his theory was right every feeling of danger and threat that was coming off this man could actually be traced back to the crowns that they both wore.

Landing lightly, he asked the stranger, “You feel that too Elijah? That voice screaming to kill each other way off in the distance?”

While stepping back to more comfortably look up at Niels, the man’s eyes clouded over as he considered his words seriously. The stranger was easily the shortest person in the clearing, with even Rory having three or four inches on the man. His hooded brown eyes and severe cheekbones leant a feeling of incredible intensity as he seemed to debate his answer. “Yes, I can hear the crown demanding I try to kill you. I am hoping we are better than to give in to a piece of jewelry.”

“Good, you’re smart enough to notice!” Smiling widely, Niels stepped back and gestured to their fortifications. “Why don’t we go ride out the rest of this little mess and we can talk more when everything calms down a bit. Surprised the beasties out there have given us this long without an interruption, but I don’t think they like dealing with two crowns much. I’m Niels. The dramatic one on the pillar is Theo, the cranky one is Rory, and the mysterious one is Seba.”

Turning his back on Elijah, Niels began walking back towards the frozen walls. He kept one hand on his sword, but doubted the man would try anything. It was still a relief when Elijah just followed behind him, not giving off even a hint of hostile intent.

Pausing like he hadn’t given a single thought to the matter before now, Elijah called out a question, “You good in a fight Elijah? Maybe got some useful magic, anything you think you can do to help with the defenses? Many hands make light the work and all.”

Obviously, Elijah would hold something back. Nobody would show off their entire spell set to a potentially hostile stranger. Still, every little bit helped and Niels was still not sure how this situation would shake out. Better to get as many surprises out of the way early as possible.

As they passed through the outer ice obstacles, Elijah remained silent. When he glanced back, the dark-skinned man seemed deep in thought over how much to reveal. The mop of coarse, springy curls on his head fell down into his eyes, desperately in need of a trim. He had the look of a man weighing every word before he spoke them.

“I have an aura spell that I can set up. Pretty sure I can exclude you all from its effects as well. It will take time to have any real affect though, so not sure how useful it will be. Still, might ward a few off. Especially the smaller creatures.”

Pausing briefly, Elijah swung the large backpack he was wearing off his shoulders, “Bit brisk with all this ice around.”

Opening the pack, which Niels saw was overflowing with various camp equipment, the man pulled the thickest coat Niels had ever seen out. It even made Rory’s parka look small in comparison, poofing out so much that Niels was concerned about Elijah’s ability to actually move in the thing. As Elijah slipped it on, Niels noted that the coat must have been multiple sizes too large for the diminutive man. The hem of the thing was hanging down to nearly his ankles, but his wide shoulders seemed to almost fill it out. Especially with that armor on.

Continuing with his happy-go-lucky attitude, Elijah adjusted the coat, “I have to say I am thankful there aren’t any sharp edges on this armor. It seems like the only thing missing in comparison to some ancient death knight in a tower’s ancestral battle armor or whatever. Not exactly my first pick in style and I would have hated to watch the spikes and blades and whatnot tear up my coat.”

Cracking a smile at the man’s attempt at a joke, Niels gave a small chuckle, “Glad to hear you didn’t pick that getup out for your own sense of fashion. I’m sure we can get you something a bit nicer looking once this is all over. For now, though, why don’t you tell me a bit about this aura spell?”

Bag slung back over his shoulder, Elijah gestured that he was ready to continue and began explaining his spell, “It’s called Blood Roil Aura and is a debilitating spell that strengthens over time. When the effects kick in, targets will start having problems moving around and properly controlling their body. It doesn’t have an effect on their mental state as far as I can tell. I can expand it out to cover most of the clearing, but it will take forever to have an effect at that range.”

“Don’t bother then. Most of these things are small fry. Barely going to take a minute to get rid of them,” Glancing back Niels estimated Elijah to be in his late twenties or early thirties. “How long you been fighting monsters? You don’t have the look of someone who’s been doing this for a living. Not at your age.”

The stranger flushed at Niels’ assessment, obviously not expecting the question and worried about how to respond, “And what do I look like Niels? I’ve been holding my own out here, seems like that is all that should matter.”

“No offense meant man. I’m just saying you don’t fit the part. You got the look of someone who’s never gone a day outside the city. Too used to all those fancy commodities like air conditioning magic to keep you comfy and automated transports to get you around.” Going out of his way to take an obvious inventory of Elijah’s gear, Niels pointed toward Elijah’s chestplate. “You got that fancy armor and sword, but that’s all. You don’t have a full kit. You’re missing obvious pieces of gear.”

Staring for a moment, Elijah eventually conceded this man might have a point, “You aren’t entirely wrong. This is the first time I’ve had to deal with monsters and a cursed forest. I have some military training, but it isn’t exactly comparable to what I’ve been forced to learn the last few weeks-”

With a scream, one of the Ghoul Rabbits came flying out of the woods. Propelled by its powerful legs, the creature quickly closed the distance and hopped over the various barriers erected in the clearing. Reacting quickly, instincts probably honed by continuous combat and stress in recent days if his story was to be believed, Elijah drew his blade and spun to confront the creature. Just in time to see the rabbit seemingly explode in front of him. It was like the monster had been caught in an invisible blender set to puree.

Niels was proud of this particular spell, a carefully controlled bit of pure contained destruction and death. Blood was ripped from flesh, flesh was torn from bones, and bones were smashed into splinters. Despite that, the viscera was contained behind an invisible barrier, leaving him clean and untouched by gore. Experience message received and with nothing of value on the monster’s corpse, he used a small twitch of mana to fling the exsanguinated corpse back into the woods.

Glancing back at his guest, Niels smiled apologetically, “Sorry, should have been paying attention. Such a pain that the weak monsters are also the dumb ones. First to get desperate and try to take on threats they shouldn’t.”

When he saw the look on Elijah’s face, he couldn’t help but smile more genuinely. Awe mixed with just a little bit of annoyance. Seemed like he had figured out Niels’ little game. I think I might like this one.

#

Elijah was not sure he liked Niels. He should have easily been able to kill that rabbit long before it got that close without difficulty. The man was testing Elijah. That wouldn’t have been a problem if he had just been honest about the fact, but he insisted on this “subtle” testing method. Of being so roundabout and dishonest about the entire thing. Trying to get under Elijah’s skin.

Still, the man was certainly capable. Terrifyingly power given he was almost certainly the person who killed the first Ghoul Bear. Experienced enough to pick out professional versus unseasoned individuals in his own field and the apparent leader of this group given how quickly the other three had deferred to him. A very capable team as far as Elijah could tell, as he watched them keep an eye on the surroundings from their personal fortress.

He might not have immediately liked Niels, but he certainly respected the man. He was also likely Elijah’s greatest chance at escaping the dungeon. Overall, he thought he could work for the man.

“So did I pass?” Elijah asked.

The man in the suit was still wearing that insufferable grin. “You’ve got potential. A little slow though don’t you think? You’ll need to work on that if you want to be a part of my team.”

Elijah sighed in relief at the implication. “Thank you. Your help getting out of here means a lot.”

“Don’t get too excited, we’ll see how you do overnight and the team and I will talk in the morning. Show us what you’ve got and we’ll talk more tomorrow.”

#

Overall, the Forest of Anarchy dungeon event proved to be a painless trial. With the strange effect of the crowns both Elijah and Niels wore reducing the number of monsters that even attempted to enter the clearing. When the monsters did come, they came in waves. As their numbers built around the edges, their confidence would slowly swell proportionally until eventually they collectively grew enough courage to charge. The result was a night filled with long minutes of calm broken by short, intense moments of violence.

Still, a full team of four experienced adventurers could almost effortlessly keep the area clear. The group moved like a well oiled machine. Mostly they worked as support for Niels as he flew from place to place ripping the enemy apart, but they would easily break off into individual tasks when the man was otherwise occupied and new problems cropped up. From there, they could easily pivot back into the support group when their personal job was done or when the situation demanded it.

Elijah pitched in where he could, which mostly meant going out into the maze of ice blocks and distracting rat hordes, raptors, or other lesser monsters that lacked an easy way to bypass their defenses. Niels was prioritizing the stronger monsters like the badgers and boars, while the rest of the team would emphasize wiping out any creature that could close the gap and cause them immediate issues. The work was not fun, but easily within Elijah’s capabilities.

Thankfully, Theo had been pretty quick to note what Elijah was up to. When he stopped the first rat horde with a Blood Roil Drop, dragging the creatures to the earth with their own blood, Elijah had begun killing the creatures one by one. It was a slow but necessary task as the things would quickly recover once he had been out of the way. Theo had glanced down at Elijah and seen a prime opportunity for his own magic. With a yell to get out of the horde, he started pulling items from the pockets on his coat. Strange dust, what appeared to be motes of silver light, a white pebble, and a glass vial.

Filling the vial with the items, Theo had begun to do something with his mana, causing his hands and eyes to glow with deep, golden swirls of light. Taking his queue, Elijah himself had quickly vacated the area. Before the rats had enough time to recover, Theo had thrown the vial down on the horde. When the glass shattered, a glowing white fog had exploded out and quickly consumed the horde. As the cloud dispersed almost as quickly as it appeared, all that had been left behind was the creatures’ bones and a message from the system alerting him that he had gained one Experience and one Evolution Point.

From there it had simply been Elijah running around and collecting attention from various monsters until Theo eventually took note and wiped them out with one of his vials. The things had various effects, assumedly based off of what he put into them, but most were explosive in one way or another. All of them were universally deadly to any monster that was caught inside. At least anything that Elijah had to deal with, which admittedly was not saying much.

Rory and Seba had done their part to help him as well, apparently keeping an eye on his progress throughout the night. Whenever Elijah got the attention of something too dangerous for him to simply ignore for extended periods, Seba would come hopping across the tops of the barriers to quickly kill the thing before retreating back into cover. Meanwhile, if one of Theo’s explosives or an attack from a monster managed to damage one of the barriers, Rory was quick to rebuild it. He would also occasionally throw up extra defenses for Elijah to use for a brief rest as the night went on.

Overall, by the time the sun started to break and the stream of monsters trickled to a stop Elijah believed he had acquitted himself well. The group obviously didn’t have any kind of dedicated front line or anyone designed to draw the monsters’ aggression. Elijah, on the other hand, was great at getting their attention and keeping their focus. It seemed like the team had trained to work around that particular lack rather than find someone to fill it, which left Elijah a little cautious but happy he had something to offer them.

Coming down from the sky, Niels said the first thing that hadn’t been a command since their initial talk, “Good work everyone. Let’s get a few hours sleep and then we can get a little conversation going about what happened. Seba, you have first watch.”

“If you say so boss. Eager to hit the hay, but always happy to help out. Unless anyone else wants first watch?” The cloaked man was surprisingly chipper for being told he would need to wait to sleep after spending all night running around stabbing things. Elijah could see the large bags forming under his green-gold eyes, which were dropping heavily even as he spoke. Elijah almost offered to take the first watch himself, but he was hardly in better shape.

In fact, he was certainly the worst off in the group. The Ghoul Bear, followed by running, followed by even more fighting had left him dead on his feet. By the time the end of the night came around, he had been too tired to dodge attacks. Only the blood saved up in his armor had kept him being seriously injured, quickly healing the knicks and cuts that had accumulated.

He didn’t entirely trust these people. Not yet. But if they had wanted him dead, they could have easily left him to fend for himself during the fighting. That would be enough for now. He simply didn’t have the energy to keep his eyes open anymore and this was likely the safest chance he had had for sleep in who knew how long.

#

About ten minutes after Niels believed Elijah had fallen asleep, he finally felt confident enough to call together a meeting with the other three. He didn’t want any chance of the unknown man overhearing their conversation, and everyone on his team was capable of dealing with much more than some light fighting and an overnighter before crashing. He had made sure of that.

Deciding not to beat around the bush, Niels jumped right into the topic. “Alright, I’ll make this short so you can all hit your sacks. What do you all think of this Elijah guy?”

Rory practically started speaking before Niels even finished, eager to give their two cents. “I don’t trust this guy. What kind of dumbass does he take us for that he just ‘wandered into’ this shithole? I say we ditch the fucker.”

Smacking Rory lightly on the back of the head, Niels chastised the younger adventurer, “Language Rory. You aren’t part of some two-bit street gang anymore. I don’t mind some cursing, but try to keep it in moderation. You cursing up a storm is bad for Hidden Opportunity’s image.”

“Sorry boss, I’ll keep it in mind.” Rubbing their head in embarrassment, Rory pushed the conversation back to their point, “I still don’t trust him though, Besides, how useful is he really going to be? I didn’t see anything too impressive from him besides dropping that rat swarm.”

Raising his hand to signal he wanted to talk, Theo waited until Niels gave him a nod to begin. “I disagree with Rory. I think Elijah could be useful. You never know when you might need a good meatshield, and he’s got all the makings of one. Besides, he makes it easy for me to hit things with my bombs.” Losing himself in a tangent, the rest of the man’s words were a barely audible mumble. “The things might have been small fries, but I got a decent experience haul out of it. Fifteen or twenty all told throughout the night.”

Nodding, Niels turned to the last member of their group. “What about you Seba? Got anything you want to say about this guy?”

“Sh-,” Niels watched as Seba opened his mouth, remembered the chewing out Rory had just received, and snapped it back shut. The rogue took a moment to collect his thoughts and began again. “I think the guy could have his uses. Pretty sure he is like me, set up more for taking down hard targets rather than the little stuff. Besides, it’s just for one mission ain’t it? I say we keep him around.”

Unable to keep their temper in check as they watched the rest of the party depart from their opinion, Rory shot up from their seat and paced in aggravation. “But what if he’s a spy for the old man? Or someone else hired for the same job that is planning to swipe the reward at the last minute? What if he’s just useless? I still say we ditch him!”

Eyes hardening a bit, Niels let a little steel into his voice. “Rory, sit down and calm yourself. You really think I would just let that happen? That I would just let someone in to spy on us or to steal our payday?”

Hunching in on themself as he responded, Rory answered contritely, “Of course not boss. I know you take good care of us. We’re lucky for that.”

“Good. And if he can’t pull his weight in a fight, we’ll see if there is something else he can do. If he’s entirely useless, well we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. The other two don’t think that will be a problem and I happen to agree with their assessment.”

“Alright boss, I trust you.” Rory’s response brought a smile to Niels’ face. This was his team and it was good that they trusted him to lead them well.

Replaying Elijah’s performance throughout the night, Niels got back on topic. “It sounds like we’ll have a new travel companion then. He’s got some rough spots that we’ll need to knock out of him if we want to get the most out of his presence. Probably will be worthwhile though. Seba, you think you can help him out a bit? I know it’s not exactly comparable, but you’re the melee expert of the party.”

Grinning a bit at the thought, Seba nodded in assent. “Sure thing boss, I’ll get him standing right in no time.”

“Take it a bit easy on him, don’t fleece him of every coin. No point in taking in a tank that doesn’t want to protect anyone because you’ve gone and robbed him blind.”

“Ain’t robbery to let a fool take a bad bet. And the rest is just teaching him a lesson on the importance of perception.”

Tone harsh and eyes flinty, Niels gave one final command, “And Seba, if he does anything even slightly suspicious bring it to me immediately. If this man is some sort of con-man or scavenger hoping to make a big score off us with some confidence scheme...Well he’s going to regret it. Figure out who he is and why he was in the area. I want to know everything about him.”

Light flashing off his cheshire grin, Seba replied, “Course boss.”

#

When Elijah woke in the morning, it was to all four other men busily tearing down their small camp. Elijah had simply rolled out his sleeping bag, peeled off his armor, and fallen asleep using his backpack and coat as a pillow. It was strange to sleep without armor, but the plates of bone that covered his new equipment made it highly impractical to wear the stuff to bed. His reinforced leather armor had been bad enough.

In comparison, this new group had set up a full scale camp while he was asleep. They each seemed to have their own small cot and tent centered around a small fire pit they had constructed out of scavenged rocks. A small cook station with various pots, pans, and other utensils was set up on what appeared to be a folding table of some kind next to their fire. He had no idea where it had all come from, he had only seen two small backpacks carried by Theo and Rory between the four of them.

On the ground next to his sleeping bag, Elijah saw a small plate loaded with toasted bread, eggs, and bacon. It was cold by this point, but his mouth watered at the sight of the food. He hadn’t had a chance for something so delicious in weeks. Even when he had spent evolution points on food, it had only been for bare essentials. Basically a meal replacement bar that tasted like wet cardboard.

Grabbing the food and quickly beginning to scarf it down, Elijah almost teared up at the taste. Salt, pepper, and some kind of hot sauce flavored the eggs, giving him flavors he had started dreaming of after the fourth or fifth meal of unseasoned meat. He pulled out some fresh apples he had picked the day before, adding the refreshing flavor to the meal. He couldn’t believe how fantastic the bread was, the butter permeating its toasted surface.

Calling out to the others, Elijah thanked them for the meal, “Who made this? It’s delicious. Possibly the best thing I’ve ever eaten!”

Chuckling at his overenthusiastic response, the cloaked man Elijah vaguely remembered was named Seba raised his hand, “That’d be me. Glad you liked it newbie, though I’m guessing you’ve been living off blandness and fruit for a while now.”

“True enough. The fruit was a godsend, but I missed spices. Little sad though, I was hoping I could woo you all with my cooking skills.”

“Oh I’m sure you’ll get the chance. Only thing I can cook is eggs. Rory can bake, weirdly enough, but ain’t much chance for that on the road. Niels can do some simple stuff without screwing up too bad, but Theo can’t get near a cookfire without burning everything. Weird problem for an alchemist, but he always whines about the ‘imprecision of the fire’ screwing him up.”

Elijah couldn’t keep a small laugh from his words “Well, I’ll do what I can. I don’t cook over a fire often, but it shouldn’t be that difficult.”

“Good to hear. You need to move your ass though, we’ve gotta get going!” Pulling Elijah up, Seba headed back to the fire and began throwing dirt on top to extinguish the flame.

#

By the time Elijah had cleaned the plate, packed away his sleeping bag, and struggled back into his armor, the other four had long finished their own packing and were sitting on stools playing cards around a tiny folding table. The armor had been far more difficult than his old leathers, and he was beginning to miss them dearly. The Ghoul Bone Armor had seemed perfectly comfortable the previous day, but no matter what he did the plates no longer seemed to sit right on his body. They constantly shifted, pinched, and dragged at him.

Ignoring Rory’s laughter, Elijah had eventually decided he had done well enough. He had ended up looking a little...lopsided, but there wasn’t much he could do about that particular issue. The breastplate sagged a bit, but didn’t cause him too much of an issue when he moved anymore. He had given up on the shoulder bits, they just would not fit.

Smiling a bit at his predicament, Niels poked Seba in the shoulder, “Go help him get sorted out. Can’t have his armor falling off him as we walk.”

“Sure thing boss. Wouldn’t want the team’s image ruined by two clowns anyway. Theo is enough for one party,” Seba declared as he rose from the table with a flourish, walking off to help Elijah.

“Who the hell are you calling a clown you ass! See if I help you out next time you need a potion of water walking or ‘stamina’ recovery!” Theo shouted after him in irritation.

Flipping Theo off good naturedly as he approached Elijah, Seba began showing the younger man how to properly buckle his armor. “No, see you want to tighten this strap first. If you do it the way you did, the plate is always going to be either too loose or too tight because you are basically guessing how the entire thing will be sitting.”

As Elijah was slowly brought into a combat ready state, Niels had paused from looking at his cards to shoot a few words Elijah’s way, “We took a vote while you were asleep Elijah. If you want to join up with us we got a spot for you. There are a few caveats though.”

Swallowing nervously, Elijah asked what those caveats would be.

“Nothing too onerous. You’ll need to chip in where you can. I’m sure you’ve noticed we don’t have a tanker in our party. That’s going to be your job. Going to be honest, it’s not a fun one either. Your duty is to piss off as many monsters as you can and get your teeth kicked in while we try to kill the things before they can kill you. It ain’t a gig most people are willing to sign on for.”

Cracking a smile, Elijah responded, “That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve been getting a lot of experience with angry things trying to claw my face off the last few weeks. I think I can manage as your tank. At least as long as you aren’t asking me to jump in front of attacks from a Ghoul Bear or something. I only managed to kill the last one because I did a lot of prep work and was willing to constantly retreat.”

“That’s fair. We’ll need to practice a bit. See just how much you can handle, but I won’t ask you for anything unreasonable. The team always comes first.”

“Thanks. Any other requirements?” Elijah’s response was relieved, scared that Niels had an inflated estimation of his abilities. A few practice runs sounded perfect.

“Oh we’re just getting started. You have a decent set of abilities and the right mindset, but your foundation and equipment is terrible. You have gaps all over the place and a bunch of obvious weak points. As far as I can tell, you haven’t even started cultivating your Ki channels. That’s an absolute must for a physical combatant. We’re going to be training you from the ground up. Make sure you are as useful as possible.”

“That...that actually sounds amazing! Thank you!”

Niels’ eyes went a little hard at Elijah’s response, “This is going to be hard work Elijah. And you are going to pay us back for every minute of effort we put into you, understand that? Either with your work here in the dungeon or, if you don’t meet our standards, gold once we leave this dungeon. Training under a D rank is expensive, so you best prove you are worth the effort.”

Straightening his shoulders and coming to attention like he would back in training for the national guard, Elijah responded with absolute conviction, “Of course. You won’t regret this decision, I’ll put every effort into being up to snuff as soon as possible.”

“Good. Well then, Elijah, welcome to the Hidden Opportunities party.” Seeing Seba had finished helping get Elijah’s armor sorted out, Niels swept up the playing cards and called out to the team. “All right men, let’s head out.”