Joe headed outside, once again, and the two turned to head towards the dungeoneering guild. This guild turned out a bit easier to slip in and out of, the cards handed in without the fanfare from the other guild, although Joe made sure to keep Dulanad’s card out from the pile that was handed in. Wait? How did the bounty guy know who the bounty belonged to? They can’t read… Gotta ask Garnedell later. Asking for an ID card proved easy as well, and Joe made sure they had the pickup date the same as the other guild and soon the two were headed back outside and towards the dungeon.

As they walked down the street, Joe began questioning Garnedell, “So… how was the adventurer’s guild bounty clerk able to tell who the bounty was? He can’t read, right?”

“Ah… um… he is the bounty clerk. He should know the bounties?”

Joe took a minute before he nodded, accepting the statement. Makes sense. No national or global bureaucracy, or database, only local data… probably small enough that the serious offenders would be known on sight, especially by the main clerks. I can see that. Joe had fallen into silence while he pondered but quickly came back, focusing on Garnedell as they chattered about nothing, both excited to finally be able to speak easily and deeply with one another. When they arrived near the dungeon wall gate, Garnedell interrupted Joe before they entered.

“Joe. Do you want to have a partier put us in a group?”

“Crap. That’s back at the adventurer’s guild, right?”

“Most likely, but we could try at the dungeoneering guild as well, Joe.”

Joe grimaced, annoyed at having to waste more time heading back to where they had just been, but considering their attempt to lay low, out of sight from the bounty clerk, Joe wasn’t surprised that they had forgotten at least one thing.

“So. Any person you could recommend?”

“I do not know of a partier, but we could go to the guild and see?”

“Let’s try the dungeoneering guild. It’s closer right?”

“Yes, Joe.”

“Alright, let’s turn around again. Thanks for reminding me.”

The two turned around and headed back to the large dungeoneering guild. The two entered the building and found several lines and counters, although Joe wasn’t quite able to figure out what the counters represented since they were only represented by stylized pictographs of some kind which were alien to him. Garnedell led him to a single counter off to the side with no one in line.

“We seek a partier to form a party for two.”

“There are several available. Which do you seek?”

“Could you give us details of what they offer?”

“Certainly. If you only need a party of two, it is possible with the weakest partier. The strongest partier can offer you a group of six but we do not have any who can do so.”

Garnedell asked, “We only need the two partier then, yes?”

“For only a party of two.”

Joe interjected quickly, “Is there any other difference?”

“You may have heard rumors of higher level partier’s offering greater experience, but that is only a rumor.”

Joe nodded before accepting what the counter worker said. Rumors often have a hint of truth, though, right? “Um. Could we have your strongest partier here?”

“Certainly, although she does charge the same whether you seek a party of two or six.”

Joe nodded his head and accepted the claim, not wishing to argue since he had no data, “Thank you. Where could we find this partier?”

“She is in the room through the door to my right. Seek out Shirnacou. She is our highest and strongest partier today.”

“My thanks.”

Joe turned to leave but then noticed that Garnedell was nodding to the desk worker with a hint and he decided it would be best to simply directly ask, “What’s wrong, Garnedell? Did I miss something?”

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Garnedell leaned forward and whispered quietly, “You must pay for the help.”

“Oh, really? How much?”

Garnedell’s whisper was a little less forced as Joe did not hide his own voice, but embarrassment seemed to tinge Garnedell’s reply, “Ten tin is considered appropriate.”

Joe cocked his head a bit in confusion and asked, “What’s a tin, again?”

“A.. yes… a triangle coin.”

“Oh. Triangle no hole,” Joe asked in English?

“Yes.”

“Ah. Thank you, Garnedell,” Joe said to Garnedell then turned to the counter worker. “I deeply apologize. I come from a distant land. In our land, those who help are not paid by visitors. They are paid by the company that hires them. I did not know I was expected to pay. Please accept this small extra as an apology.” Joe then offered the man twenty triangle coins as payment for the advice.

The man accepted readily enough and seemed actually a bit understanding of Joe’s predicament, his hidden anger soothing quickly as Joe explained his situation. After a farewell, Joe walked into the side entrance with Garnedell and sought out Shirnacou.

“May I ask which one is Shirnacou,” Joe called to the five members lounging in the room. Three were crouched around some form of game, a combination of dice and a board game, while the other two seemed a bit remote. One seemed to be sleeping on a longer seat and the other was performing some kind of exercise that Joe wasn’t able to understand the purpose of.

The woman performing exercises straightened and turned to Joe, “I am Shirnacou.”

“Ah. Greetings. I was told that you were the best partier here at the moment.”

The woman nodded slightly and replied, “I am.”

“May I ask that we two become a party?”

“Certainly.”

She performed some form of arcane action and Garnedell reacted to something appearing in front of him. Obviously a popup showed up?

Shirnacou began explaining, “Please press the left box on the screen you are seeing in front of you. Pressing the right box causes the party to fail. Please be cautious to not press the right box or I will charge a second time for a second attempt.”

Garnedell listened to Shirnacou’s advice and hesitantly pressed something on the screen in front of him and Shirnacou smiled and acknowledged Garnedell’s success, “Excellent. You have joined my party.”

Shirnacou once again performed the same actions and Joe saw a popup appear on the screen asking if he wished to join Shirnacou’s party, with a yes and no button underneath. Even as Joe reached up and pressed the yes button, she began explaining quickly.

“Please press the left box… Ah. I see you have been in a party before. Excellent. I will now leave the party. After I have left the party, the party will last about a week, maybe two. Please return to renew the party when the party has failed.”

“Certainly. It was wonderfully done, Shirnacou. Thank you.”

Shirnacou offered her palm and they shook with the strange caressing handshake that always left Joe feeling awkward and a bit skittish and he pulled his hand back just a bit too quickly.

“So, how much should we pay for your service?”

“Ah. It is a bronze, please.”

Joe turned to Garnedell with a questioning look and he quickly replied, “One bronze is the triangle hole.”

“Triangle one hole?”

“Yes.”

“Thanks, Garnedell,” Joe replied with a bright smile as he dug out a bronze and offered it to Shirnacou. He then considered carefully and decided to see if he could get more information about whether a higher level partier could increase experience, and figured it would be a skill. I just need to see her skills page to read it! Ah, but then she’ll wonder or think I can read this, and in a world without reading! Joe decided to drop it and figured he would see it soon enough. I’ll just pay for the most expensive one for now. I’ve got the money. I can worry about the details later after I get the job myself.

Joe and Garnedell then left the guild and headed back to the dungeon. Another forty minutes of waiting finally saw them through and dropping to the first floor as they always did. Using a wooden spear and some rope, not parachute cord, he formed another grounding trap for sparks. He’d actually been pretty pained by the loss of the parachute cord and used, instead, a bit of the rope that he’d just bought from the cloth worker. He made two of them, although he ended up breaking Garendell’s wooden spear so that it wouldn’t register as a spear anymore and he could hold it. They used two iron bars as their grounding weapon and wooden spears as a handle. They then headed into the dead end parts of the maze. It was now time to kill sparks!

Joe let Garnedell clear the path to the first room this time, and when they made it to the first room, they cleared out the sparks diligently while maintaining a companionable silence. They cleared the next few rooms and corridors, and when the made it to the furthest dead end, Joe called Garnedell to sit against the dead end wall and take a break. It was time to explain some of the more discrete details about why Joe was changing and leveling so many jobs, especially since Garnedell had asked for it.

“Garnedell, before you were asking about why and how I was able to change so many jobs and grow them so quickly.”

Garnedell perked up and turned to Joe quickly, “Yes, Joe! Please tell me how.”

Joe nodded but lowered his voice conspiratorially, “Please listen carefully, and please be quiet! Tell no one of this, OK?”

“Garnedell nodded quickly, “Yes, master. I will.”

Huh. It seems like if I used commands or tell him what to do, he falls back to using the word ‘master.’ Maybe he’ll get better at it? Or… gotta try not to do commands for a while? Maybe? Joe leaned in a bit closer and lowered his voice slightly. “OK. First. For every job that you have grown, you gain a small part of its power based on its growth.”

Garnedell’s eyes shot open at this, shock plain on his face, “Every job?”

“As far as I can see, Garnedell. How many jobs are there?”

“Thousands! Thousands and thousands!”

Joe smiled brightly at that revelation, satisfied as it proved his path. Ha! Seems like I’m doing the right thing. “Well. Excellent. Because the more jobs there are, Garnedell, the greater my power will grow!”

“How much does it grow, Joe?”

“Per job?”

“Yes, Joe! How much does each job help your strength?”

“Ten percent per job.”

“Percent? What is percent?”