Ava POV
As we passed through the stone walls that encompass Brahmstone I feel the shift that goes through everyone in the party. Out there we’re a simple copper ranked adventuring party, but in here I’m a noble woman, Lia is my attendant, Z is an ex-thief, Jay is a trophy son, and Hal . . . Hal is just a peasant, but at least he has a loving family that cares for him. We already agreed that the whole party would present our findings to the Guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild’s Brahmstone Branch. Afterwards I would give a report to my father with only Lia as backup, not like she could do much to help me though other than be there.
Regardless, it was time to get moving, the sooner these reports got finished the sooner we could receive our rewards and be back to adventuring. Our plan was for Jay to rank up his class and then we would use the dungeon to level him back up to around 11 or 12 depending on the experience drop off. Hopefully we could even find out how to challenge that Vinepaw that appeared to be the dungeons extra boss.
Extra bosses were a common dungeon mechanic that they used as a defensive measure when an overleveled group came into a dungeon. Sometimes they were held in reserve as a last line of defense, like what happened during our delve. Hopefully once the dungeon completed its next floor we would be able to challenge the extra boss for more rewards.
As we approached the entrance to the Guild Hall I could see my party start to go on guard. We weren’t the most appreciated group in the city due to having too many high profile party members. The fact that we were also all in our 20’s didn’t help either. As we entered the Guild Hall the first thing that hit me was the noise, quickly followed by the smell. Luckily the worst of both has a special annex where the tavern was, the Guild needs to appeal to potential clients after all. Unfortunately it was already past the 11th bell, which meant the doors to the tavern were propped open and adventurers moved back and forth between examining jobs and getting sloshed. I walked straight up to one of the late night desk clerks with my party following closely behind.
“Ava Brahm and my party, here to turn in a copper quest and give a special report to the Guildmaster” I say, trying to get through it as quickly as possible. I really don’t want to be here when the 2nd bell rings and all the drunken bastards get kicked from the tavern.
“What is your registered party name?” The clerk says. It's really a simple question, I just hate answering it. I can already hear snickers from the rest of my party behind me. I sigh and just deal with it, it's too late to change it even if I wasn’t outvoted.
“Ava’s Own” I say in a defeated tone. It wasn’t my fault the rest of them thought the name was funny. Z was the one to suggest it as a joke, which is great and all, until Jay decided that it rolled off the tongue well. Then it was just a snowball effect where everyone decided to chime in on how great the name was. My suffering over the name only insured my own demise, after seeing how much I hated the name the vote was unanimous among everyone but myself. 4v1, even Lia betrayed me.
“Ok, I see the quest and have confirmed your party’s completion of it. Were there any complications? The clerk asks, going through all the things she’s required to say.
“There was a complication that requires I report to the Guildmaster” I say, keeping my voice as low as I can without drawing too much attention. A complication that requires the Guildmaster only means one thing, a dungeon. Everything else could technically be resolved by a lower ranked guild official.
The clerk raises an eyebrow at me and I stay silent. After several seconds she eventually acquiesces and stands up to move around the desk. “Luckily, Guildmaster Tor is currently available, please follow me” She says as she begins to head for the stairs leading to the higher floors of the Guild Hall. My party and I follow behind her up 3 flights of stairs to the 4th floor which has both the working and living space of the Guildmaster on it. The 4th floor is effectively a penthouse suite for the Guildmaster, designed so that he’s never too far away in case of an emergency.
The clerk knocks on the door three times and waits. “Enter” The deep voice of the Guildmaster can be heard through the thick wooden door. The clerk opens the door with a small exertion of effort and walks inside with us in tow.
“The Copper Ranked Adventurer Party Ava’s Own is here to give a high priority report sir.” The clerk says to him. The Guildmaster is a large man who’s built like a tower of muscle. The pair of Mithril colored stars braided into his 2 foot beard openly displaying his strength. The Guildmaster is a 2 star Mithril Rank placing his level somewhere in the 281-300 range, my personal guess is high 280’s if he were a 290 he would’ve been summoned by the main branch to level in the only 3 star dungeon on the continent.
“Good, good, you may return to your duties” Guildmaster Tor says while stroking his beard. He always tries to speak in a manner that makes it seem like he's old and wise, when really he’s just old. As the clerk leaves and closes the door behind her the Guildmaster turns to me his face much more serious.
“So then” he begins “I assume you already delved it.” He states more than asks. After we all nod our heads in the affirmative he continues. “Good, give me a full report. I want to know everything and I also want a written report. Before you argue, keep in mind that all of this is required if you want the benefits.”
I nod my head and step forwards to begin the report “It’s likely the best dungeon discovery since the Mithril Dungeon that the headquarters is built on” I then go over everything that happened. From how we found the dungeon all the way to the extra boss that was guarding the core. I also include all of my own personal thoughts and theories where I feel they are relevant and make sure to call on each of my party members as well to give their own. We also show the Guildmaster our tokens and lesser items to confirm our story.
“A legacy dungeon that’s at least millenia old. That certainly sounds fake, but all your reasoning was sound. It is likely that the dungeon will continue to improve as more of its older features become active. The core being right under the first floor also implies that its previous floors either caved in or were disconnected somehow, otherwise the dungeon would’ve been under its inactive floors.” The Guildmaster continues to speak his own thoughts on the matter aloud using this as a chance to increase our own knowledge of dungeons.
“This is certainly the best find of our century, I’ll make sure you’re rewarded properly as the discoverers. How about priority access with one slot a day and a 2% fee.” The Guildmaster says with a grin.
I give an innocent smile as I activate my trump card “Lia” is all I need to say as my personal maid activates her Greater rank mercantile passive skill, the only skill she kept from her family. Lia begins the negotiations with the Guildmaster and my smile turns into a grin as I see the old man sweat for the first time.
“Darn, in the end I wasn’t able to get everything I wanted,” Lia says, disappointed with her own performance.
“Relax, you did fantastic.” I tell her and it's the truth. She managed to secure us priority access (a given) 3 slots a day, a 4% discovery fee, unlimited access to the guilds mercantile and crafting contacts, as well as priority service in the Guildhall making us the first VIP’s of our branch. Honestly she did even better than I was expecting and I made sure to tell her that in an effort to cheer her up.
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“I know, I know, I just really wanted to get as much as I could considering I’ll be useless in your next negotiation” Lia says looking at me with concern.
“You let me deal with my father, it's necessary and I know you’re not able to talk to him on equal footing.” I try to mollify Lia before she makes herself depressed. She hates feeling useless, more so than most.
I manage to steer the topic of conversation to lighter things as Lia and I are forced to separate from the party to head towards the Lord’s Manor. Everyone else heads off into the city to do their own thing. We all agreed to meet up the next day so that we could try for another dive into the dungeon.
I pass through the gates onto my family estate walking towards the main house. Servants open the doors for me and Lia follows a few steps behind me with her head bowed in a gesture of subservience. This is just one of the reasons I hate coming home. Lia is forced to be a mere servant instead of my best friend, she’s practically my sister for god's sake.
I walk through the winding halls of the manor and up two flights of stairs. Eventually making it to my father’s office which is located on the third floor. According to my father the family was originally going to make their estate a massive mage tower but decided not to as a favor to the king, really I think they didn’t do it because the locals would’ve revolted if a big ugly tower were the centerpiece of the city.
The servant that is `leading me` knocks on the door of my father’s office and performs a duty that mirrors that of the clerks at the adventurers guild only with more noble pomp. Once I’m finally able to enter my father’s office I dismiss the servant leaving only my father, Lia, and myself in the room. Father has yet to even look up from the papers he’s currently working on.
“So, my wayward daughter returns home for the first time in 3 weeks. Done adventuring already? Perhaps you're here to finally agree to fulfill your role in this family” My father says, beginning our conversation strong by making me already want to punch him. The droll way in which he speaks to me, as though I’m not even worth his time. I swear if this wasn’t necessary I wouldn’t be doing it.
“No, I’m not here to marry some nobleman, I’m here to give a report” I say using the 12 years of tutors I received to school my expression and tone into one that is blankly neutral.
“A report? I’m surprised, I always thought you liked your privacy too much to give a proper report to me” His response may feign disinterest, but the fact that he put down his papers and is now looking at me tells me I have his full attention.
“My party and I discovered a Dungeon at the base of the Farza Mountains just east of the Ferlin Forest. It is a legacy training dungeon at least a thousand years old and it has recently begun reactivating.” I say, technically most of that is speculation, but the Guildmaster agreed with it so it's basically fact at this point.
I watch as Fathers face goes through a range of emotions, I can tell he’s using the accelerated thinking speed of a high intelligence stat to figure out what his best move is. It's actually a little funny watching his goatee and bushy eyebrows move about on his face as it scrunches this way and that.
“In that case I presume that-” He begins but not before I cut him off.
“I already told the adventurers guild and gave them most of the authority over it. The only thing left unsettled is the tax and whether or not I’m willing to give up one of my daily slots.” I say making sure to keep a neutral expression despite the sheer joy I was feeling. That's right you bastard, I have all the power here, well most of it at least.
I watch as my father closes his eyes and releases a drawn out weary sigh before once more looking up at me. “What do you want for it Ava?” He says in a tired voice that causes me to freeze for a moment. He hasn’t spoken my name since I refused to ever marry and was subsequently kicked out of the house. But the way he just deflated reminds me of back when I used to call him Dad instead of father. It's too late now though, I’ve made peace with it already.
“I want you to openly allow my brothers to see me, I want 2 commendations for the vault, and I want to be allowed to visit any family grounds whenever I want. In return I’ll give House Brahm the right to tax the dungeon and 1 slot per day.” I tell him, the party already agreed to let me negotiate this and there was no way we were using 3 dive slots a day anyways.
“Very well, is that all Ava?” He says acquiescing to my demands immediately. I honestly expected him to argue more, but I guess it makes sense. My demands were quite reasonable for what I was offering him, he also knows that while I would happily screw him over I wouldn’t do the same to my brothers. Even if I didn’t squeeze him for every drop I’m satisfied knowing that I got every demand I actually wanted.
“Yes father, that is all.” I say ready to leave so I can return to my actual home.
“Then the head butler will take you into the vault so you may select your items before leaving.” Father says before turning back to his papers to continue working.
I simply nodded and turned to leave, Lia opened the doors for me before following behind. The Head butler was already waiting and after giving a quick formal greeting he led us to the family vault. He gave me 2 tokens dense with magical script.
“Does the lady know how to properly use the vault?” He asked me before opening the vault doors.
“Yes, I learned from my brothers when I was younger” I tell him and with that he lets me inside. The family vault had many treasures locked away in it each displayed on special pedestals. If one wanted to take something without getting obliterated by the defensive enchantments they needed a commendation token. After an item was taken a token had to be placed on the pedestal which would then register that it had been removed from the vault. These defenses had been put into place by the first Brahm mage who had been a 3 star aether mage and aether magic doesn’t fuck around when it comes to raw power.
As I walked through the vault I had to decide on what I would be taking. I already had one item in mind, it was the second one I was unsure of. I honestly expected father to fight me more and the number of commendation tokens was going to be the thing I `gave up`. Now I just had an extra one. I would hopefully find something worth taking, if not I would just grab one of the boxes filled with gold coins.
I walked straight to the back of the vault to reach the item I had truly been after. A large tome with a cover made of shining metal. I checked the tag of the metallic book Legacy of Xander Brahm (Superior). This is what I was after. The family archives had information on every member of the family, although the older ones are a little unreliable. Xander Brahm had been the first son at one point, however his affinity for earth disqualified him from inheriting the title. Regardless of this he went on to become a powerful strength-vitality build using his Superior Metal class Steelforged Protector. He was the tank in the party that discovered the 3 star metal dungeon and was one of the first people to dive it. Unfortunately he died in the dungeon, but not before he created a legacy to pass on. Since he had no children or students it was given back to the family and hasn’t been used yet.
I planned on letting Hal use this legacy. As someone born a (relatively) poor commoner, he didn’t have the same chances to raise his skills as the rest of us. I was almost certain that without a legacy Hal would end up stuck in his lesser class, maybe he could get a greater class on his own, but to me it wasn’t worth the risk. This legacy was a guaranteed path for him all the way to superior.
With my decision already made I picked up the Legacy Tome and placed one of my tokens onto the pedestal in its place. I made sure to place the tome into a lockbox before putting it in my bag. Now I would just decide on a second item on my way out. I really didn’t know what to get. Almost everything in our vault was built with our families affinities in mind, with only a handful of items that would be useful to anyone without them.
As I walked back towards the entrance of the vault to leave I spotted an item that gave me an idea. An idea that, if it works, would be incredibly good for me. I use my last token and take the item, placing it in the lockbox with the Legacy Tome before exiting the vault and heading towards the house I owned by the Guildhall. Time to return to adventure.