They look around at each other, waiting for someone to speak before James says, “You wanna take this one, Abe? You’re the bard after all.”

Abe scoffs and says, “I’m an artist, not a damn storyteller, but fine. It’s not even that much of a story anyway. James and I were in one of Maria’s classes-”

“That the university made me teach if I wanted to keep getting grant funding for research mind you,” Maria says.

“Yeah, that class,” Abe says while rolling his eyes at her interruption. “Anyway, it was finals day, and we were all sitting around getting ready for the test when the lights went out. That’s when the screaming began. Everyone hunkered down thinking it was a shooter-”

“Not everyone,” James laughs. “This motherfucker pulled out a big ass knife and hid at the door. Keep in mind this was a ‘weapon-free’ campus,” he finishes with air quotes.

“You should be glad I had it! I saved your life with that big ass knife! Anyway. Yeah, I hid against the door with my Ka-Bar in case a shooter tried coming in the room while we were testing. I figured it was this one kid who hadn’t shown up for the final. He always kind of felt to me like he might show up with a gun one day,” Abe goes to continue.

“Sorry to interrupt, but do you mind me asking what you were studying to need metallurgy? I know James was getting a minor in Materials Science with his engineering degree, but you seem pretty dedicated to music,” I ask.

Abe answers me, saying, “I was actually getting a Materials Science minor to complement my Music Theory degree. I wanted to see if I could find better ways of creating instruments, see if I could create a unique sound with it, and make my way into the industry that way.”

“Getting back to the story, I was sat by the door when a Goblin rushed in. I almost didn’t react because I was so surprised. I’m not sure how you reacted the first time you saw a monster, but it was freaky as hell for me. It took me a second to shake myself out of my surprise, and by that point it had already jumped onto another student. The little green asshole was stabbing this lanky kid who never really talked in class,” Abe says with a smile toward James. “I ended up saving his life, and so he started following me around like a puppy dog ever since.”

“Up until I realized I’d be the one saving your life and keeping you safe,” James retorts.

“Yeah, but how far would you have gotten without my buffs? You’d probably be attached to one of those Orgs that try and recruit the weaker divers outside of The Haul,” Abe responds.

James stops to consider for a moment, but before he can open his mouth to say something witty back, Abe speaks again. “Then the two of us grabbed the professor here,” he gestures toward Maria, “and we booked it out of there. We hunkered down for a bit at an old sandwich shop we found abandoned. We weren’t really sure what was going on at the time, but we found out afterward that a dungeon had opened up in the middle of campus and monsters had started flooding out, killing students indiscriminately.”

“How did you guys end up in the picture?” I ask Robin and Carlos.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Damn son, let me tell the story; I’m getting there!” Abe says.

“Actually, I can tell this part if you want Abe,” Carlos says. “I was there for it after all.”

“Go for it; my eggs are getting cold, and everyone else seems to want to tell the story they asked me to tell anyway,” Abe responds as he begins shoveling eggs into his mouth.

“Ok, where to begin? I guess I’ll just say I was up and coming on the MMA scene. I was scheduled for my first major fight and got there early with my coach to analyze my opponents last few fights for weaknesses. Right as they started letting people into the arena, a sinkhole opened up underneath the arena. When the monsters started crawling out of it, a few of the security guards and I stayed back to try and let the rest of the audience get out,” Carlos says as he begins to tell his story. Hearing him tell it, it seems like a fighter class would have been a great fit for him. I almost feel like Robin and Carlos would do better if they swapped classes.

After a brief pause, he continues, “Unfortunately, a good chunk of the audience thought it was some kind of special effect that was supposed to jazz up the fight and make things exciting. In order to keep them safe, we ended up fighting the Kobolds back toward the portal. It wasn’t all that hard, all things considered, and so I got cocky. I pushed too far. In the chaos, I didn’t realize I’d left everyone else behind until I was completely alone.” Robin puts her hand on Carlos’ arm, but the rest of The Misfits suddenly find their empty plates pretty interesting. It looks like this story isn’t likely to end happily.

Carlos sighs before pushing on with his story: “By the time I did, it was too late. The thing about Kobolds is that they aren’t strong. Not even remotely. But they come in swarms. They’re like ants. You may kill a hundred, but if you stick around, you’re gonna find yourself in a world of pain. Eventually I got a wound, and then another, and another. Eventually they wore me down and shoved a blade into my chest. I freaked out. I’ve been hit by some pretty strong punches, but the way I could feel my life racing out of me and even measure it with my HP had me panicking in a way that no punch ever had.” Even Robin is having a hard time looking at him now, and I don’t blame her; if I didn’t see him in front of me, I could be convinced he might die in this story.

“I started searching through everything I could to try and stay alive. I’d already hit Level ten by that point, so I eventually found the Class Upgrade Menu. I think maybe the system sensed how desperate I was to live and catered to that. Maybe it was just chance. All I know is that I only had two options to choose from. I chose [Font of Life] over [Perceptive Striker] in the hopes it would allow me to live.” With Carlos’ face turned down, it’s only when I see a tear fall that I realize he’s crying.

After a shuddering breath, he wipes his eyes and continues, “The Bleed effect from the sword lodged in my chest went from the reason I was dying to my greatest ally in that moment. I started healing at twice the speed of the damage I took from the effect. That, plus the health I gained from the Class Upgrade were barely enough for me to escape with my life. Once I made it out and realized what my class was, once I realized what I’d lost in the class I didn’t choose, I learned that it was too late. There aren’t redos.” I realize in that moment why Carlos had been so cold to me after I got my class. He got offered a class that matched everything he’d been working for in his life and had to leave it behind to save his own life. Not only did I get to do exactly what he’d dreamed of, he had to help power level me and keep me safe while watching me happily growing in the exact way he couldn’t.

He looks up to smile at Robin. “I sat around depressed in my apartment for a couple of days before I ran out of food. That’s when I headed out to see if somehow I could grow my class into something that would allow me to fight again. I ended up running into a Monk who didn’t have a healer and couldn’t shut her mouth. After a week of working with her, since no one else wanted a healer who was depressed, I smiled for the first time. I started teaching her how to actually fight, since she seemed like a mess on her own,” he says.

A squeak of dry erase marker on Robin's whiteboard draws my attention as she writes out, “You mean to say, you kicked my ass for a week straight.”

This draws out a laugh from Carlos, as he says, “Training is training, and you agreed to it! Plus, look how capable you are now. Anyway, eventually, through heading into the dungeons, we ran across the rest of these bozos in a rough spot, and Robin made me heal them. We escorted them out of the dungeon and got along pretty well, so we decided to try working together. I guess the rest is history.”

“I- uh, thank you all for sharing. I’m not really sure how to respond, but I feel like I know you guys a bit better now,” I say.

He looks up at the table, seeming to realize that it’s silent apart from me, and says, “Well shit, I didn’t mean to ruin breakfast.”

“S’all good, Car,” Abe says, as he changes the topic and slowly the mood of the table begins to lighten up.

We sit talking for a while, until everyone excuses themselves to go and work on something or other.