Thraisly got frustrated when she learned about my [dead by nightfall] and seemed to discount my victory, which in turn aggravated me, but I had to let it go. We shared info on our skills and stats afterward.

[nature’s wrath]: a [druid] can control the plants nearby, implementing them as tools, weapons, or terrain. Uses a sample of the specific plant manipulated as the component. 2-second cooldown, 10 seconds to recharge, 3 charges.

[barrier tier 2]: a level 2 magic that creates a yellow barrier anywhere in a 40-foot range. Has a cooldown of 3 minutes. The tier determines the spell’s cooldown, durability, and range. Uses glass as a component.

[fire bolt tier 3]: creates a bolt of fire that shoots towards a location. Has a cooldown of 7 seconds. The tier determines its cooldown and power and, by extension, the range of the fire.

[leap tier 2]: Increases the user’s jump height and speed. Has a cooldown of 4 hours. Uses a spring as a component.

Her mule, Milo, also had some skills to help her carry people and gallop quicker. Her intermediate class: [mount], gave her the skill, [rush].

[rush]: 3 charges. [rush] causes the user to run at 1.5x their normal speed for 1 minute.

I spent the next few days training as I had planned. I got more and more used to my falchion and shield, and Cobaltio and I tried to train his [fire breath] before anyone woke up since I tended to be the first awake. I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to cut through his fireball, but it felt exciting to do, so I didn’t stop.

One thing I was reluctant to do, though, was train Cobaltio to read. I was under the assumption he wouldn’t easily pick up on written language.

It was very quickly proven that his intelligence couldn’t be underestimated. After just a few hours of teaching him basic sentence structure, when I wrote, {the leaf falls} then let go of a leaf, training him at the beginning of the fifth day, he took my chalk and began to scribble something onto a nearby buried rock. His opposable fingers weren’t very effective since his hands were more like a genetic misfit’s, with a finger vaguely similar to a thumb and claws that could shred me to bits if he were older. Still, he gave it his all and wrote,

{the rock falls}

Cobaltio snatched a nearby pebble, held it to his eye level, and dropped it. He looked up at me with anticipation, his hands placed just in front of his feet to let him stand tall while his stubby lizard tail flicked back and forth behind him.

I hugged him.

This was going to be easy!

On the sixth day, we found a fell bat’s trail. Julius volunteered to track it down, and once we found it, feasting on a deer’s carcass, Julius set up a trap, and Dota shot at it in ambush, with Reco following behind. The ‘fight’ ended as quickly as it started, but I still got some Exp.

Cobaltio gained 7 Exp from [shared experience].

Reco guessed its appearance, as well as the one Maladrain and I had fought, were related to the monster outbreak. I had to wonder just how bad the outbreak was. If fell bats were common among the creatures that escaped...would this really be as easy a mission as we thought?

Over the course of my journey, I Gained:

+1 Exp for sword maintenance

+2 Exp for training your pet

+1 Exp for training your swordsmanship

And Cobaltio gained:

+56 Exp from cobalt

+1 Exp for learning language

+1 Exp for training [fire breath]

+7 Exp (as just mentioned)

Me: 54 Exp

Cobaltio: 91 Exp

We approached the mine not long into the seventh day. The site was built atop a small mountain, which was likely a part of the mountain range that Cobalt Valley was part of. On quarried, flat ground, buildings made of black stone had been made, each very utilitarian. We had walked up the gravel mountain trail for a good twenty minutes before we arrived, and ended up standing on the black pavement.

The entrance to the mine was massive. The black stone that Hannem’s east side was made of, ‘moorlite’, accounted for most of the mine’s walls. Lying on the ground in front of it, dozens of monster carcasses littered the ground, thrown into a pile.

The buildings weren’t doing well, themselves. The fell bat’s acidic slobber had melted much of them in, holes were made in them, and parts of the buildings had collapsed.

The grotesque sight of the fallen creatures and the horrid stench of acidified stone and rotting corpses made my, and especially Cobaltio’s, nose shrivel in disgust.

Maladrain had given Reco a map to the mine, which was how we navigated on her watch, and he had also insisted that there was somebody we needed to meet up with in the mine’s living quarters.

“Eww, why do I need to be stuck with these jobs...” Reco said, holding her shirt over her nose as we faced towards the entrance.

“Now, now, Milo. You’ll be fine.” Thraisly said, brushing her mule’s snout as it backpedaled. “And stop complaining about it, Reco. Seriously, you should show at least a little self-respect since you’re leading us.

Ritta nodded in agreement. “It is unbefitting of one so esteemed to act so childish.”

Asher snorted in agreement.

“Ok, ok!” Reco said. “I’ll stop complaining.”

“Ahh, its good to see you again, Reco, Saya,” A familiar voice suddenly said, walking from one of the buildings near us.

Symantha, holding Keen’s hand, grazed her eyes across the group, then bowed her head, a hand to her chest.

“And I assume the rest of you are the Intermediate Junior Squad Maladrain mentioned.”

The Squad began to introduce themselves with their class, level, name(plus last name, in Ritta’s case), and age.

Once they were finished, Symantha nodded. “And I am Symantha, Class: [maid], age 15, level 11. This is Keen.”

Keen, the young little runt who took after his father’s straight blonde hair, serious eyes, and regal posture(but only when he felt like it), failed to introduce himself.

Symantha tugged on his arm. “Young master -if you would please introduce yourself?”

“O-oh, yeah,” he said, suddenly seeming nervous. “I’m Keen Moorland, Level 12, age 11, class: [striker]. I am here in, uhh, in stead of my father, so you can take my word as his.”

His [maid] shrugged as he said the last part. “We have been sent to help determine the reason of the monster outbreak. Because master Luxo is quite busy, he was unable to be here, so Keen is here to make the calls regarding the treatment of the Moorland’s land.”

Ritta spat to the side. “Moorland? That’s who we’re working for? Those unscrupulous merchants that conned the Lucill family out of their legendary seal, only to sell it to the highest bidder?”

“Do not speak of my master in such a way, Gallant,” Symantha snapped.

Symantha and Ritta met eyes. “I’ll speak of the Moorland family exactly like they deserve to be spoken of, [maid].”

“CH! Then I’ll speak exactly as I think about you, Gallant. If you’re so quick to judge people you haven’t met, perhaps you aren’t as Gallant as your name suggests. The last time I heard about your family, you laid w-”

“Symantha,” Keen said, instantly shutting her up.

“Yes?” Symantha responded, not breaking eye contact with Ritta.

“Dad says we shouldn’t disrespect the general’s houses.”

“I was merely defending your reputation.”

“Yeah, I get it...” Keen said, head downcast. He had seemed more like a runt when he was running around that mansion, but Keen was more mellow than I’d expected. It was difficult for me to realize that he was only two years younger than me -he looked so small.

Though, looking around, I admittedly wouldn’t have been excited to be spending days in this place, either.

Symantha sighed. “I apologize for my behavior,” she said almost casually.

Ritta just rolled his eyes.

“Ok, great, are we done with the drama?” Reco asked.

“Yes,” Ritta said. “If I have it in my soul to tolerate Herbert, I can surely do the same for merchantmen.”

“Ok, cool. So, what do we need to do?”

Symantha nodded. “My understanding of the situation is that monsters suddenly appeared and overran the miners. It is likely you encountered the traces of a [fell bat] or [epirna] on your way here, and that’s because monsters are leaking from the inside.” She pointed to the mine. “Master Luxo suspects we mined into a dungeon.”

“A dungeon?” Reco asked. “We ain’t paid enough to clear one of those. Well, not that this band of rookies could do that anyway...”

I’d love to try, though.

“We have no intent to make you clear it, just to investigate further and secure the area. If possible, we will use explosives to seal it off.” She pointed to a warehouse not far away.

“That’s fair,” Reco said.

Dota seemed curious about the slaughter outside the entrance. “What happened there, could I know?”

“The miners fought the first wave of creatures there. There were a few casualties. I have been...cleaning the mess,” her expression scrunched in disgust and maybe guilt.

“Oh, sorry, we couldn’t help you with that.”

“So, should we just get going, or...” Julius said, eyeing the cave.

“Unless you feel the need to stay in this...these ruins, then we can go. Keen and I will also be joining you if it isn’t a bother.”

Reco shrugged. “I guess having some extra backup wouldn’t be unappreciated, but in that case...”

“....It is in our best interests that Keen is protected,” Symantha finished for Reco.

“Yeah.”

“I can handle myself!” he said, annoyed in a familiar manner.

“Sure, sure,” Reco replied dismissively. “So, let’s get ready. Where’s the changing rooms?”

Some of the Junior Squad needed to change into different clothes and take out or prepare equipment, including me, so we took a few minutes to get ready.

I, myself, changed into my Seraph’s robes since apparently, the guild valued ‘style’.

And I mean, I wasn’t complaining.

I found a mirror in the girl’s restroom since I hadn’t bothered to check how I looked with all my equipment yet and found myself pleasantly surprised by how well my stuff fit with the robes.

I twirled around a little, looking mostly at my belt and sword. My robe’s somewhat grey hue and my Falchion’s shine complemented each other, and my brown belt, shield, slate, and backpack made me feel like a real adventurer. I guess it hasn’t come up, but I’ve got reddish-brown, wavy hair that I keep a little above my shoulders.

I smiled, hopping up and down, ready for my first official adventure.

“Ha! What are you doing?” Juda asked lightheartedly, walking out of a stall. “You look really excited, bouncing around like that.”

I nodded.

“Well, I guess I am too,” she admitted, looking at a mirror then fiddling with her hair, looking at herself too. “Everyone is a whole lot nicer than I expected. Its not the same as it was getting to these lands...the adventurers here are...nice,” she said as if the word were replacing a more insulting one. “But I feel like I belong with the guild, here.” She looked back at me. “And you too. I mean, I’m still a little frustrated I lost so easily to you, but, I mean, you’re chill.”

{You’re cool, too.} I wrote back, finding the flattery harmless.

She frowned. “If you say so.”

We met right in front of the cave.

“Is everyone ready?” Reco asked in front of everyone like she was about to begin a drill. “We don’t know what’s going to be down there, so don’t cut corners unless you need to.”

There was a unanimous agreement we were ready.

“Good. And, uhh, before we leave...S-symantha?”

Symantha casually rested her weapon on her shoulder, its handle extending far past her hand. “Yes, Miss Reco?”

“First, we don’t use prefixes, second...well...I just didn’t really...take you for the...”

“The battleaxe type of girl?”

“Yeah.”

Symantha smiled as she swung it down, stopping her battleaxe before it hit the stone below. “Oh, I get that a lot! I just don’t feel safe without a big stick to swing.”

Keen raised his hand. “Dad says it makes her more helpful, but I don’t see a point in a strong [mai-”

“Hmm? What was that, Keen?” Symantha said, looming behind the kid. He shied away, clearly intimidated. She returned to a more relaxed position and began twisting it around in her hand. One side was an axe, the other was a pick. “As master Luxo said himself, intimidation and niceties go handaxe in hand.”

“That’s not even a handa-”

“So, Reco, should we go? I have a map of the mine as well if you could provide enough light to see it.”

“Oh, yeah. Dota, get out the dungeneering gear!”

“Yesirree,” He replied, taking a sack from his backpack, then opening it to reveal a variety of gear, including torches.

Symantha said, “We should have light runes in the majority of the mines, created by the mine’s [overseer], but yes, those are no replacement for proper torches.”

“Speaking of preparations...” Thraisly said, taking a bundle of vines from her backpack, “I need to wrap this around everyone.”

She began to string the vines through all of our belts, creating what she called a ‘plant harness’ that could let her attack enemies or move us in dangerous situations.

In just a few minutes, we finished our preparations and finally went into the mine.